March 21, 2015 - March 21, 2015, The Afro-American
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Volume 123 No. 33
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MARCH 21, 2015 - MARCH 27, 2015
Selma’s Lesson: The Fight For Voters’ Rights Continues
Police Make Arrest in Morgan Stabbing
By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
Thousands of people, including President Obama and politicians from both sides of the aisle, gathered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., to memorialize the 50-year anniversary of the seminal march that compelled passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In many ways, Selma’s Bloody Sunday – when nonviolent protestors marching to secure the voting rights of African Americans were bludgeoned and bloodied by state troopers and White posse members – epitomized the battle for voting rights during the Civil Rights Movement. “I thank God the violence is not as bad as it was [then],” said senior attorney and Director of Voter Protection Katherine Culliton-Gonzalez, of the Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization. Still, while the battle for voting rights against a brutish Jim Crow may be over, the fight against a more polished Jim Crow Esq., continues, activists say. “Certainly things are not as bad as it was 50 years ago, but there are a lot of similarities,” said Sean Young, an attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “It seems that whenever we take two steps forward, we take one step back and in
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By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO Police have arrested a suspect in the stabbing of two persons on the campus of Morgan State University. On March 17, Baltimore Police responded to a report of a stabbing around 2 p.m., according to information provided by Det. Ruganzu Howard of the media relations section of the Baltimore Police Department. Police initially thought three persons had been stabbed, but upon providing medical treatment it was found that two men had been stabbed, while another received abrasions in the altercation in which the stabbing took place. One victim was stabbed in the chest, the other in the back and buttocks. A suspect was identified by Baltimore Police detectives working alongside Morgan State University Police in what Howard called a “mutual investigation”. The suspect was apprehended on the morning of March 18, and is currently being booked for the attack at the Baltimore City Jail. The Baltimore Police Department does not release the names of living victims, but Howard says that the victim stabbed in the back and buttocks has been treated for his injuries and released, while the other remains hospitalized but is expected to survive his injuries. ralejandro@afro.com
Depiction by Albert Waud
First African-American voters after the 15th amendment was passed.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Touts Apprenticeships for Broad Economic Prosperity By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO The American economy continues to improve while too few reap the benefits, requiring more pathways into the middle-class, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. He shared these thoughts while speaking
Advocates Come Out Swinging in Round Two of Police Bill of Rights Hearings By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO
Advocates appeared much better prepared for a second round of hearings on Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill Of Rights (LEOBR) reforms in Annapolis. They were caught a bit flat footed during the first go around. On Feb. 26, Senate Judicial
Proceedings heard testimony on Senate Bill 566, which would reform Maryland’s Law Enforcement Officers Bill Of Rights. Changes include allowing chiefs of police to intervene in the discipline of officers at an earlier stage than is currently permitted, giving chiefs greater power to suspend officers accused of misconduct without pay, and removing a number
he said, 5 million jobs open and awaiting someone to fill them. “We clearly have a wind at our back,” said Perez, “but I’ll be the first to say, and the president will be the first to say, that this is not the time to spike the football because we all know that there are a lot of people who haven’t been lifted by this rising tide.” Perez noted that the Wall Street bonus pool in 2014 was roughly twice the total earnings of all fulltime minimum wage workers in the country. He added that it is time for the country to invest in its human
capital infrastructure by building a skills super highway whose destination would be middle-class jobs. In order to build the skilled workforce Perez referred to, multiple pathways beyond our reliance on four-year college degrees are needed. Among those pathways, said Perez, should be trade apprenticeships. “We need to redouble our efforts in the apprenticeship context, because I have seen in my travels across not only the country, but the world, that apprenticeship is a proven route to Continued on A6
Before & After
Continued on A10
Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s Law Enforcement Agenda Facing Strong Headwinds in Annapolis By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO
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at a Greater Baltimore Committee breakfast March 16. According to Perez, the U.S. has seen 60 consecutive months of private sector job growth with about 12 million jobs created during that period, and is currently experiencing the lowest unemployment rate since the spring of 2008. There are,
Mayor Stephanie RawlingsBlake faced down tough questions from lawmakers in Annapolis while testifying in favor of creating a new felony for police officers that commit crimes while on duty. House Bill 363, sponsored by Del. Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City) on
behalf of the mayor, creates a felony of ‘misconduct in office’ for any law enforcement officer who commits a misdemeanor or felony while on duty. This would carry possible sentences of over one year to 10 years, with sentence running consecutively to any other sentence received by the officer for her crimes. In her testimony before the
Continued on A10
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The Rev. Drew Kyndall Ross was able to “Overcome” and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Read story on A7.
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The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
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NATION & WORLD Rev. Dr. Willie T. Barrow, ‘The Little Warrior’ and Rainbow/ Push Organizer, Dies at 90
The Rev. Willie T. Barrow, a venerable civil rights leader who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma and helped found the organization that became the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition died March 12. The 90-year-old had been hospitalized toward the end of February for a blood clot, but no cause of death has been declared. Known as “The Little Warrior” for her petite size but dynamic nature, Barrow was on the frontlines of the civil
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Rev. Dr. Willie T. Barrow
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rights, labor and other struggles. The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., with whom Barrow had toiled in the trenches for more than 50 years, called her “a woman of unusual courage, character and ability.” In the mid-1960s, Barrow helped Jackson found Operation Breadbasket on Chicago’s South Side and, when the organization evolved into Rainbow/PUSH, she was the first female to assume its helm. She also played central roles in Jackson’s unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988. “She was an authentic freedom fighter in the lineage of Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer,” Jackson said in a statement. “In sickness and death her body was frail, but her spirit and good works were never feeble. Our memories of her will never die. Her flame of hope, freedom and justice will forever burn.” President Obama also issued a statement saying he and the first lady were “deeply saddened” by the death of their fellow Chicagoan. “Nowhere was Reverend Barrow’s impact felt more than in our hometown of Chicago. Through Operation Breadbasket, the Rainbow/PUSH coalition, and her beloved Vernon Park Church, she never stopped doing all she could to make her community a better place,” Obama said. “To Michelle and me, she was a constant inspiration, a lifelong mentor, and a very dear friend. I was proud to count myself among the more than 100 men and women she called her ‘Godchildren,’ and worked hard to live up to her example. I still do.” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel ordered flags lowered at all city facilities in Rev. Barrow’s memory. “Rev. Barrow was small in frame but her voice was powerful, and contributed immeasurably to the cause of fairness, justice and opportunity in our community and the nation,” Emanuel said in a statement. “We mourn her loss but give thanks for the impactful life she lived.” While her contributions to Chicago are significant, Barrow’s pursuit of equality and justice began further south. Barrow was raised in rural Texas on a farm with her six siblings. In 1936, at 12 years old, Barrow organized her fellow Black schoolmates and confronted school officials, demanding that they be allowed onto the all-White school bus. It would be the first of many times, Barrow would demonstrate her “unusual gift of being able to take a scared group of people and inspire them to take militant non-violent action to correct a wrong,” as Rev. Jackson described it. At the age of 16, she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the ministry. And, while studying in Portland, Ore., founded the first African-American Church of God. During World War II, she also worked as a welder in a Portland shipyard, where she met her husband, Clyde Barrow and became involved in the labor movement. After their marriage, the pair moved to Chicago in 1943, where she studied at the Moody Bible Institute and the Central Conservatory of Music in addition to her duties with her church. In the 1950s she became a field organizer in the Civil Rights Movement, helping to organize marches, sit-ins and boycotts across the U.S.
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She also journeyed to Vietnam and Nicaragua to protest the wars there, and to South Africa, where she met Nelson Mandela when he was released from jail. When her only son, Keith Barrow, came out as gay, Barrow also became an advocate on LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She nursed her son through the disease – he died in 1983 – and made one of the early pieces of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.
President Obama Issues Student Aid Bill of Rights
President Obama on March 10 issued and signed a memorandum establishing a “Student Aid Bill of Rights,” part of a suite of actions the administration plans to undertake to make college more accessible. “One of the things that’s been uppermost on my mind is how do we make sure that every young person in this country who is willing to put in the effort can afford to go to college,” Obama said in the Oval Office while signing the memorandum. “This is part of it. It’s an executive action that we’re able to take to streamline and improve the manner in which the federal government interacts with students when it comes to student loans,” he added. More than 40 million Americans have student loan debt at an average of $28,400 in federal and private loans, according to the memo. But, 1 in 8 of federal borrowers default on those loans within three years of graduation. But, according to the White House’s “Bill of Rights,” every student (1) deserves access to a quality, affordable education at a college that’s cutting costs and increasing learning and (2) should be able to access the resources needed to pay for college. Additionally, students who have to borrow money to finance college (3) has the right to an affordable repayment plan and (4) to quality customer service, reliable information, and fair treatment, even if they struggle to repay their loans. To fulfil this vision, the president’s memo directed the Department of Education and other federal agencies to coordinate their efforts and to take several steps to help borrowers afford their monthly loan payments. Those steps include: Establishing by July 2015 a stateof-the-art complaint system to ensure quality service and accountability for the Department of Education, its contractors, and colleges, and allows borrowers to monitor their complaints’ progress through resolution. The department will also be expected to submit yearly reports analyzing information received and actions taken in the process. They also involve taking measures to help students responsibly repay their loans, such as helping them set affordable monthly payments and requiring enhanced disclosures from direct loan servicers, as in the case of a loan transfer from one servicer to another; and strengthened consumer protections, such as providing adequate notification of pending defaults. The White House will also require fair treatment of distressed borrowers. That includes, raising the standards for student debt collectors, including ensuring that they are not charging borrowers excessive fees; and providing clarity on the rights of borrowers in bankruptcy, among several other measures. Lastly, agencies will be expected to take new steps to analyze student debt trends and recommend legislative and regulatory changes.
Survey: Many Black Men Report Lower Well-Being
A recent Gallup survey found that younger and older Black men report lower well-being than men in other racial and ethnic groups. Younger Black men between the ages of 18 and 34 averaged a score of 59.1 on Gallup’s Well-Being Index, 1.8 points lower than the average for all non-Black men. Older Black men (over 65) scored 1.9 points lower on average. “Young black males as a group have higher unemployment, lower graduation rates, less access to healthcare and higher incarceration rates than other racial, age and gender groups in the U.S. And in 2014, the particular difficulties this group has in dealings with law enforcement became headline news after events in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, occurred involving the Stock Image deaths of certain young Younger and older Black men black men at the hands report lower well-being than of police,” according to men in other racial and ethnic the report. groups. Between the ages of 35 and 64, Black men show similar scores to their White counterparts. This is, perhaps, an indication that problems affecting African American well-being are more pronounced in early and late adulthood, periods during which most persons have lower income than in their middle years, according to a recent report on race and wealth from the St. Louis Federal Reserve. “Income, wealth and financial-health scores typically rise as we observe people at older ages. . . . Income typically declines in old age, but wealth and financial health often do not decline until very advanced ages,” the Federal Reserve report stated. For its measure of well-being, Gallup compiled data based on telephone interviews of almost 98,000 American men over the age of 18, between January and December 2014.
March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015, The Afro-American
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WOMEN’S HEALTH Beijing Platform for Action Cites Health of Women Globally Needs Improvement By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO In 1995, 189 countries and 4,000 organizations made a pledge to commit to a future in which women had equal rights. Known as the Beijing Platform for Action, the goal of the international commitment was to remove all the obstacles to women’s active participation in all spheres of public and private life. This was to occur through a full and equal share in economic, social, cultural and political decision-making. Twenty years later, in conjunction with International Women’s Day, the United Nations Women found dismal levels of advancement and continued disparities, even among AfricanAmerican women. UN Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, announced recently, that none of those countries had achieved gender equality. Calling the statistics sickening, Mlambo-Ngcuka said the UN was “calling on governments, everywhere in the world, to Step It Up. By 2030 at the latest, we want to live in a world where at least half of all parliamentarians, university students, CEOs, civil society leaders and any other category, are women. Real progress requires 50-50.” The findings, shed critical light on the progress women have made since the adoption of the landmark blueprint for advancing women’s rights. Noting areas of advancement, stagnation, and decline, the report reveals that improvements have been unacceptably slow, particularly slow for women and girls who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. And the bad news for African-American women, is that despite living in a country where healthcare is available, a lack of access to resources leaves many Black women as vulnerable to disease and death as those in underdeveloped nations. In Detroit, for instance, increased numbers of Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at a rate higher than in places like Libya, Uruguay and Vietnam. The average maternal death rate in the city is also triple the national average. Intensifying those rates, according to Roberto Romero, director of the Perinatal Research Branch of the
Global Health Initiative by UN Women By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO Despite having a higher life expectancy rate from birth than men, across the globe, women tend to have a more disadvantaged quality of life and face gender-based discrimination that reduces those numbers. Globally, between 1990 and 2012, female life expectancy increased from 67 years to 73 years, while men’s life expectancy increased from 62 years to 68 years. In the agreed conclusions adopted at the fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission urged governments to reiterate their commitment to improving access to timely, affordable and quality health care for women and girls and to ensuring the gender sensitivity of health policy and programming by encouraging the active participation of women and girls in its design and implementation. The initiatives expounded during International Women’s Day also emphasized the need to strengthen sexual and reproductive health services as key entry points for women and girls who are at risk of violence, especially sexual violence. The Commission further emphasized the continued need to promote and protect the sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights of all women and to ensure universal access to comprehensive prevention, affordable treatment, care and support services for HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, free of stigma and discrimination.
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Living in this country does not ensure equality in healthcare despite increasing access.
“By 2030 at the latest, we want to live in a world where at least half of all parliamentarians, university students, CEOs, civil society leaders and any other category, are women. Real progress requires 50-50.”
– Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
UN Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka National Institutes of Health, is a shortage of primary care physicians, many who not accept Medicaid and the inability of pregnant women to find safe housing, healthy food and transportation. Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that African-American women may lack access to screening and treatment, whereas Latinas face cultural and language barriers. In thirteen percent of incident cancers were caused by a failure to follow-up. Elucidating the root causes of these disparities continues to be confounded by the interaction of behavioral, social, economic, and environmental demographics, such as poor health literacy, limited transportation, and mistrust of the care provider. The Platform for Action called for the realization of women’s right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. It acknowledged that women’s health is determined by the social, political and economic context of their lives as well as by their biological characteristics. It emphasized that gender as well as other inequalities based on ethnicity, class and geographic location were important barriers for the achievement of women’s health and that gender responsive health policy and programming required a thorough analysis of these factors. Globally, the gender gap for economic participation and opportunity has closed by just 4 percentage points since 2006. “On our current
trajectory,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said, “it will take another 81 years to reach equality. This is a wake-up call. Even where we are doing best, progress remains uneven; and discrimination against women continues in law and in practice. Women still face the main burden of unpaid care work… and violence against women remains a pandemic with one out of three women experiencing either intimate partner violence or nonpartner sexual violence in her lifetime.” The Platform for Action calls for greater efforts to increase women’s access to appropriate, affordable and quality health care throughout the life cycle; the strengthening of preventive programs that promote women’s health; and increased resources for women’s health and monitoring mechanisms to ensure gender mainstreaming and the implementation of women’s health policies and programs. The Commission on the Status of Women will present an implementation platform based on the study’s results this week in New York.
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The Afro-American, Afro-American, March March 21, 21, 2015 2015 -- March March 27, 21,2015 2015
Mayor Announces Inaugural Forum on Reducing AfricanAmerican Homicides By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake called for a community dialogue on reducing African-American homicides and increasing the number of mentors available to young Black males in Baltimore City. “My goal is to convene community leaders and experts and let us all work together to discuss what’s working, what we need to improve, and hopefully have a conversation about new ideas and approaches that will be helpful,” Rawlings-Blake said during a March 16 press conference at City Hall. The conversation the mayor referenced will begin Tuesday, March 24 at the Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant’s Empowerment Temple. The forum’s speakers include Bryant; Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts; Councilman Brandon Scott (D-2nd Council District); Selwyn Ray, senior vice president of community engagement for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Chesapeake; and Munir Bahar, founder of COR Community
and the 300 Men March Movement. The mayor also announced that the city will be recruiting men to serve as mentors, tutors, and job training coaches in order to connect them with existing organizations looking for additional help. “We want to have some large conversations and some small ones at homes and community meetings all throughout Baltimore’s neighborhoods,” said Rawlings-Blake. “Individually, none of us have all the answers, but I believe that, working together, we can make a real difference in our community. This issue is too important for us to fall short.” During the press conference, the mayor avoided references to ‘Black on Black crime’ contained in her mention of this effort during last week’s State of the City address. Rawlings-Blake received some criticism for characterizing the problem of violence in Baltimore in those terms, with some arguing that language blames Black people and ignores broader, structural issues that contribute to or drive violence. Batts, joining the mayor at the press
conference, said, “There are [violent crimes] over disrespect. When you don’t have a lot to hold onto in the world, and those little things are taken away from you, you hold onto them tight and it results in violence. And I think those outcries, or those acts of violence are outcries of pain, and there’s pain in different parts of our community, so how we address that becomes critical.” Scott also spoke at the press conference, directly addressing criticism of the mayor, saying, “We know there are lots of other issues, of course. I’m a young Black man in America, I know that racism still exists. I know that every day when I wake up I have to be 10 times better than my White counterparts in the same age group. But, with that being said, it doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. We can work on both issues, and this issue is just as important as the other.” Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Scott said part of the reason mentorship initiatives geared towards Black males are so important is because structural racism has made Whites the principal and
problematic source of depictions of Black masculinity for many Black youth. “What we have to realize, and this is something that folks don’t like to talk about – especially with these young Black men – the images of Black men in America have not changed since Birth of a Nation, right?” said Scott. “And Black men aren’t in control of those images. Folks believe that Black folks are in charge of Hip Hop, but they’re not. Folks believe that Blacks are in charge of the images that they see on TV or hear on radio but they’re not. And the question has to be asked, why is it that those images haven’t changed, they’ve just been modified? . . . It’s the same image just redone overtime and systematically it keeps the belief to these young Black men, they grow up thinking that that’s all they can be.” The Mayor’s forum begins at 6 p.m. March 24 at Empowerment Temple, 4217 Primrose Ave., Baltimore, Md. ralejandro@afro.com
Health Commissioner Seeking Community Engagement as City Prepares to Expand B’more for Healthy Babies to Kids and Teenagers By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO Community input will be key as the city looks to expand its successful B’more for Healthy Babies initiative to kids and teenagers. This is being done to reduce racially disparate outcomes in health, says new Baltimore City Health Department Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced the planned expansion in her State of the City address on March 9, where she touted the success of B’more for Healthy Babies in reducing Baltimore’s infant mortality rate by 24 percent since 2010. Noting that the effectiveness of B’more for Healthy Babies was driven in part by collaboration with over 100 partner agencies, Wen says that, “We want to use the same energy and the same concept of working together, to go across the life course, because we know that it’s not enough to just address infant mortality. We also have to make sure that our kids are school ready, to make sure that they’re healthy children, and that they become healthy teens who can continue to
to find out what it is that’s most important to our communities,” said Wen, who did not want to announce specific targets before completing her community engagement. “We want to do this in a strategic way that fully engages all of our partners, as we’ve done with B’more for Healthy Babies. That’s the reason why B’More for Healthy Babies was so successful, that it fully engaged our communities as equal partners in the process.” In designing the new initiative, Wen is acutely aware of the role race plays in poor health outcomes in Baltimore City, and says this is something that the new initiatives will be consciously oriented towards addressing. “One of the main things that [B’more for Healthy Babies] helped us address is these (health) injustices in race, because the people who are the most affected by adverse health outcomes are African American, they are people who live in inner cities, they are the poor. And so, everything that we do may increase the health outcomes of rich White kids, frankly, by a little bit, but they will make the most difference to African American, poor city children.” ralejandro@afro.com
these laws, netting wins in states such as Texas, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas, where restrictive voter ID laws were struck down; and in Ohio and Florida, where voter roll purges were successfully challenged. But there are continuing obstacles in jurisdictions like Wisconsin, Ohio, and North Carolina; for example, Advancement Project is currently speaking to the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its arguments on the believed unconstitutionality of Wisconsin’s voter ID law. Young said, unlike yesteryear, there is also a challenge of activating people to agitate on behalf of their voting rights – since many seem to believe that racism is over. CullitonGonzalez, however, said she has seen a promising level of activism. “People’s response to the assault on voting rights has been to fight back,” she said, citing considerable turnout among Black voters in 2012 despite new restrictive laws and also the
ongoing Moral Monday protest movement initiated by the NAACP’s Rev. William Barber in North Carolina and replicated in other states. Both activist-lawyers said they hope to see similar momentum in Congress, where bills to renew the VRA’s Section 4 – as required by Shelby – have languished. “What better way to honor the memory and sacrifice of the Selma marchers than to consider and debate at least one of these bills,” Young said. Pushing Congress to act, marshalling community outrage and challenging disenfranchising laws in court will be part of the modern-day fight for voting rights, a fight that will likely be ongoing, Young said. “Racial discrimination is a stubborn beast and I don’t know that there is a magic bullet to destroy it,” he said. “[But while] we may not win every battle, we’re hopeful we’ll win the war.”
learn and then become productive citizens in our city.” By focusing on the life course of the child through adolescence, B’More for Healthy Kids and B’More for Healthy Teens will seek to take a comprehensive approach to pediatric health, and address a wide array of health disparities including in mental health, oral health, youth violence, asthma, school attendance, vision health, and childhood obesity. The health department is still in the early
Selma’s Lesson Continued from A1
that sense it feels like 50 years ago,” he added. “The The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the crown jewel of the Civil Rights Movement, but it didn’t end everything. People still had to fight.” And that’s because like half-a-century ago, the impetus behind voter suppression remains the same. “What we’re seeing today is a wave of voter suppression bills that surged after African-American turnout surged in 2008. That response to the exercise of AfricanAmerican voting power is a repeat of history,” Young said. On Feb. 3, 1870, Congress ratified the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, granting African-American men the right to vote. The law and other political gains made by African Americans during the Reconstruction, however, spurred a backlash – poll taxes, literacy tests, gerrymandering, etc. – that blocked Black enfranchisement from being fully realized for almost a century. “Those [efforts] were surgically precise in diminishing the voting power of African Americans,” Culliton-Gonzalez said. Now, she added, demographic trends predicting that Latinos and other minorities will soon gain the majority – and the resulting political power – have prompted voter suppression redux. “Every time a voting restriction is struck down by the courts, state legislatures turn around and find new ways to attackvoting rights. It’s almost like playing a game of whack-a-mole,” said Young. Voting rights advocates suffered a stunning loss in that game when the Supreme Court, in the June 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision, essentially gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required states with a history of voter discrimination to seek federal preclearance for any change to their election law. The crack in that legal floodgate has since unleashed a torrent of previously stymied anti-
stages of developing its strategy for the new initiatives and determining the desired targets for the various areas of health, but community input in this process will be key. “It’s important for us to engage our communities with designing our intervention and with figuring out our targets as well, and we have not yet completed . . . our community engagement
voting rights efforts. “In the Shelby decision, the Supreme Court took the life out of the Voting Rights Act, which was supposed to be an umbrella of protection for voters,” Culliton-Gonzalez said. “And in the two years since that decision, we’ve experienced a true deluge and thunderstorm of restrictive and suppressive voter laws.” Many of these new restrictions were introduced in states across the country, but the majority were in the South in jurisdictions previously covered by Section 5. In North Carolina, for instance, the state legislature has passed 40 voting changes since Shelby, in what Culliton-Gonzalez called a “monster voter suppression law.” The 56-page Voter Information Verification Act, includes a restrictive photo ID law; cuts early voting period to 10 days; eliminates Sunday voting; eliminates same-day registration; jettisons provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct; abolishes straight-ticket voting; prohibits counties from extending voting hours on Election Day; allows more people, including partisan poll observers, to challenge a voter’s right to vote; and many more. “We think we have very strong evidence of discrimination in this law,” Culliton-Gonzalez. “They want to take away the things that help voters of color.” Of course, proponents of these laws cite motivations such as ending voter fraud – an almost non-existent problem – cutting costs, etc. That too is reminiscent of the battles of the past. “What the states are doing, to the casual observer, may not seem as egregious, but they are [just] getting better and better at disguising what they are trying to do,” Young said. “All of these measures are, on their face, racially neutral, but they all have a disproportionate impact on African Americans [and other voters of color].” Activists have been using Section 2 of the VRA and other legal bases to challenge
Secretary of Labor Continued from A1
the middle-class,” said Perez. He noted that the youth unemployment rate in Germany is less than half that of the U.S. A big reason for this, he said, is German teenagers can sign onto apprenticeships around age 15 or 16, apprenticeships enjoy the same stature as college degrees. Apprenticeships have been devalued in the U.S., according to Perez, who referred to apprenticeships as “the other college, except without the debt.” The secretary’s comments come at a time when Del. Cory McCray (D-Baltimore City) has been pushing for legislation in General Assembly to require contractors to pay the full cost of apprenticeship programs for those apprentices under their employ. McCray says that efforts like the one contained in his bill – House Bill 370 – are essential to rebuilding the middle-class that was once the backbone of Baltimore City. “[Apprenticeship] is how you can still make $60, $70, $80,000 with a high
school diploma, with a driver’s license, with one year of algebra, with being 18 years of age, and this is how our city and our state was built,” said McCray. McCray was grateful Perez added his voice to the issue of apprenticeships and how this pathway can help expand the middle-class. Too often, McCray said, conversations about alternative paths to economic prosperity are confined only to those segments of the population who might benefit directly from programs such as apprenticeships, segments whose voices seldom have the impact of the Secretary of Labor. “There [aren’t] enough people, there [aren’t] enough voices talking about opportunities for our young men, our young women, in our neighborhoods and how it can be doubled down, just like Secretary Perez said, rebuilding the middle-class in reference to apprenticeship opportunities.” ralejandro@afro.com
March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015, The Afro-American
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Baltimore’s First Youth Poet Laureate Wants to Challenge Perspectives on Emotion and Masculinity
By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO Derick Ebert, recently named Baltimore’s first youth poet laureate, wants to challenge problematic notions of masculinity as he works with Dew More Baltimore to increase community engagement through the literary arts. Ebert was named youth poet laureate on Feb. 23 after a competition. This was organized by Dew More Baltimore, a non-profit that seeks to increase community engagement through the literary arts, in collaboration with Urban Word NYC, a non-profit that created the Youth Poet Laureate initiative and has spread the effort nationally, according to Kenneth Morrison, executive director of Dew More Baltimore. Ebert tells the {AFRO} that he took up poetry a year ago while working through a relationship he says ended in heartbreak. “I guess I am one of those cliché poets . . . who get out of a relationship and are like, ‘Well I’m going to write poetry to express myself,’ because I didn’t really know how to [express] emotion,” said Ebert. That struggle to express his emotions has partially informed the direction in which Ebert wants to take his poetry: deconstructing the idea that expressing one’s emotions is not compatible with being a man.
“When males are sometimes sensitive, or considered overly sensitive, it’s considered a problem. [But] why? So for me, with what I want to do with my poetry is kind of have discussions. Even if the discussion’s not talked about now after (I perform) the poem, it will be talked about at some point within the week. That’s my goal, it’s to just get people talking about it or thinking about it, because things that make people uncomfortable are usually the things that need focus.” In addition to his own struggles to express his emotions, Ebert has been shaped by the tack he has seen others take, who assume that his being a poet also means he must be gay. “Being a heterosexual poet, it’s often looked at like, ‘Oh, you must be homosexual.’ There are plenty of times when I’ve gotten, ‘You must be homosexual because you do poetry,’ and it’s like, ‘No, I write poetry to express myself.’ Then [the conversation] gets to why do you view poetry as being homosexual or even effeminate in any way? Why can’t this be a masculine form of art? Or why can’t heterosexual males engage in this activity.” Challenging assumptions about masculinity through his poetry is a continuation of the social justice themes which Ebert, who is currently a sophomore English major at the University of Baltimore, has generally tackled in his work. “The first few poems that I’ve ever written were not anything like break-up poems or love poems, they were more social justice poems about how I’ve dealt with being biracial to relationships with my father – and that’s how I found Dew More Baltimore, which works with youth poets to create advocates,” said Ebert, who cites James Baldwin as one of his principal influences. “I like James Baldwin not only because he’s a really good writer but because of his endings. He leaves you with his ending. You remember the content being well but you remember the ending the most because it’s so powerful and he leaves you with, ‘This was the point of my writing,’ or, ‘This was the point of my essay.’ He’s influenced me with the endings of most of my pieces, I kind of leave with a bang, with silence, with like, ‘I want you to remember these last few lines,’ because when three minutes go by all you’re left with is the last few words and so I want the last few words to be memorable.” Ebert will have a book of his poetry published as part of being named youth poet laureate. He also works alongside Dew More Baltimore’s two youth poet ambassadors, Sebastian Ochoa Arguijo and Mohamed Tall, to bring engagement and advocacy through the literary arts to more of Baltimore’s communities and young people. ralejandro@afro.com
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The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
INTERNATIONAL No Backing Down on Reparations Demands By Bert Wilkinson Special to the NNPA from the New York Amsterdam News Caribbean governments restated their intention to pursue Britain and other European nations that participated in the brutal transatlantic slave trade for reparations. Likewise, they
trade bloc head of government leading preparations for the case against Europe, recently told reporters that governments and the umbrella reparations commission preparing the case prefer the issue not be handled not on a basis of “a diplomacy of protest.” “There is going to be
youtube.com
Professor Hilary Beckles is the regional academic leading preparatory work on the issue. want those nations to know that they should negotiate with the region in good faith. Freundel Stuart, the prime minister of Barbados and the
no retreat on the issue of reparations,” he said. “It is an issue to which the entire region is irrevocably committed, and we cannot
“…we cannot turn our backs on our history and the legacy which has been bequeathed to us as a result of slavery and native genocide.” turn our backs on our history and the legacy which has been bequeathed to us as a result of slavery and native genocide.” The region has been leading the way among Blacks around the world in the fight to receive remunerations from Britain, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France and others for making millions of Blacks work on sugar and other plantations without paying them a cent in compensation, as well as for the millions who died during the horrible transatlantic journey from Africa’s West Coast to the Caribbean. Professor Hilary Beckles, the regional academic leading preparatory work on the issue, made it clear to the British Parliament in a well received address last year that slavery and its lingering effects are most likely to be blamed for some of the social and health problems Caribbean citizens are forced to live with today, including a greater proportion of people living with chronic
– Freundel Stuart
diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. These he linked to prolonged high levels of stress and an extremely poor diet dating back to plantations. “We are pursuing the issue of reparations on the basis of a diplomacy of engagement. And that is very important because all of us have today civilized diplomatic relations with former slave trading nations, and we’re not about to undermine, depreciate or destroy those relations. We contemplate therefore, as a first measure, having a discussion with designated countries, former slave trading countries, to see what areas of agreement exist and whether there can be an amicable and civilized resolution to our differences,” he said. Stuart said leaders had discussed the issue at length at their mid-year meeting in the Bahamas late last month. The region has already been assured by the British law firm it has hired to make the case in Europe that it is based on good legal, moral and historical foundation and should be won on a trot. That same firm was a shoo-in among leaders because it had made Britain pay millions in reparations for genocide committed against Kenyan Mau Mau freedom fighters in the colonial era. Stuart said the preparatory work is continuing apace. “There is a legacy with which we are dealing, and what we are trying to sensitize former slave trading nations to is the existence of that legacy and the connection between that legacy and their actions in the 17th and 18th and part of the 19th century as well. Having done that, we look at our areas of continuing deficit—social deficit, economic deficit and sometimes political deficit … and try to see what developmental initiatives we can initiate as a result of our discussions to redress some of these hideous imbalances. So that is the course we are intending to pursue.”
Courtesy photo
President John Mahama’s recent loan from the International Monetary Fund is troubling to some.
Debt Balloons Off the Charts in Ghana, Angering Critics Special to the NNPA from the Global Information Network (GIN) – The steady nation of Ghana could be heading for a painful train wreck as government borrowing raises the foreign debt to sky-high levels. Last month, President John Mahama signed on to a nearly $1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. To service the loan, the government will be forced to impose austerity measures that are very likely to hurt Ghanaian citizens. These measures include increases in fuel prices, a freeze on hiring public-sector workers and an end to energy subsidies. The plan will be presented to the IMF’s board for approval in April, with the first pay out of approximately $100 million to be made shortly after. According to Akwasi Sarpong, an analyst for BBC Africa, the bailout was considered necessary for the restoration of investor confidence in a struggling economy beset by crippling electricity blackouts. Then, on the heels of the IMF bailout, more borrowing was announced. State-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation is close to signing a $700 million loan agreement with a group of private commercial lenders led by commodity
“…the debt per capita has increased by 40 percent.” – Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu
trader Trafigura as part of plans to recapitalize for expansion, the GNPC chief executive said. It’s the largest loan taken out by the GNPC since the start of oil production in 2010, which many had cheered as a harbinger of prosperity for all. Unfortunately for Ghana, the world is awash with oil, at some of the lowest prices per barrel in years. In fact, the world is running out of storage for the oil that has already been pumped. The mountainous borrowing was defended by Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, who dismissed the figure of $1 billion as insignificant. “Nine hundred and forty million dollars over a three-year period is not a lot of money, it is just about $300 million a year,” he told regional ministers at a conference in Cape Coast. “Now our infrastructure requirements are in the region of about $5 billion a year, so infrastructure alone is overwhelmingly bigger than the resources we are receiving from the IMF.” But critics of the mounting loans are worried. At a press conference in early January, Minority Leader Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu attacked the ballooning of the public debt from $2.6 billion in 2008 to $19.7 billion today. “Last year at this time, the burden for every Ghanaian was $582. One year on, the debt per capita has increased by 40 percent. No thanks to ‘yentie obi ara’ (‘we are not listening to anyone’) government.” “What is the most important issue in Ghana today?” asked Stephen Nyarko in Ghanaweb. “It is four letters long. Yes, it is DEBT, and it is the unsustainable type.” Nyarko continued, “Not long ago, Ghana had a positive economic future, according to the World Bank and IMF. The narrative of ‘Ghana Rising’ was all over the international financial press. Ghana’s once mighty Ghana new cedi has now achieved infamy as the worse performing currency in the world. The slumping currency is fueling inflation. The impact on citizens economic well-being has become so that wellmeaning citizens who invested in the Ghana new cedi in 2007, have seen their wealth and savings totally wiped out. “If we are to get over our current unsustainable debt burden, we need to restart the debate about the breakneck speed at which Ghana has been borrowing money and using its natural resources—oil, gold, cocoa—as collateral. The old models of just borrowing yourself out of poverty and inefficiencies do not fit.”
March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015 The Afro-American
COMMENTARY
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Ms. Lynch Must Be Confirmed As Attorney General
Loretta Lynch, the president’s nominee to replace Eric Holder as the U.S. Attorney General, is poised to become the first African American woman to lead the Justice Department. Ms. Lynch is a Harvard-educated lawyer with a reputation as a tough prosecutor. Her impeccable record includes the successful prosecutions of high profile public corruption and civil rights cases, as well as cases in which public officials were physically assaulted. Since the events of 9/11, her office has been responsible for the conviction of individuals involved in plotting terrorist attacks against this country. Time and time again, Ms. Lynch has demonstrated a commitment to keeping Americans safe. She has performed her job effectively, and without grandstanding. It is time for the Senate to do the same. The U.S. Constitution grants the Senate the power to provide “advice and consent” regarding Presidential appointments. This role of the Senate in confirming presidential appointees is an important one. Historically, Senators will question a nominee on their record, and press them on important matters to determine if the nominee is qualified to advise the president. The Senate has already determined, on two separate occasions, that Ms. Lynch is a prosecutor with impeccable character and expertise. She has been confirmed by the Senate twice as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York under President Clinton in 2000, and again under President Obama in 2010. During her most recent Senate confirmation hearing Ms. Lynch performed admirably. She endured hours of grueling questions concerning her legal record, her views
Eddie Bernice Johnson
on immigration, limits to the president’s executive authority, and a host of other legal issues she may encounter as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Ms. Lynch has the necessary qualifications to be our nation’s next Attorney General. From her stellar record as a federal prosecutor, to her prestigious academic pedigree, her experiences have prepared her to enforce
From her stellar record as a federal prosecutor to her prestigious academic pedigree... and uphold both the letter and the spirit of the United States Constitution at the highest level. Shamefully, Senate Republicans are holding her confirmation hostage as they continue the battle over the president’s immigration policies. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that there would not be a confirmation vote for Ms. Lynch until the Senate finishes its debate over an anti-trafficking bill, which has been slowed by a fight over an abortion provision. Yet again, Senate Republicans are using Ms. Lynch’s confirmation as political leverage for an unrelated matter. This is no way to govern. America has waited far too long for a new attorney general
to be confirmed while justice hangs in the balance. The time has come for the Senate to act. There has been no substantive criticism of Ms. Lynch’s qualifications. She has worked to earn the support of a majority of the Senate. In fact, the Senate Judiciary Committee has already voted to approve the nomination. Yet the Republican Leadership has refused to bring her nomination to the floor. It is time for the Senate to provide the “advice and consent” that they are constitutionally empowered to give. U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson represents Texas’ 30th Congressional District.
When the GOP Had Integrity One of the many questions provoked by the “open letter” 47 Republican Senators published last week to try to wreck the multinational effort led by the Obama administration to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is this: Do they understand their obligation to the rule of law? As scholar Daniel W. Lee A. Daniels Drezner of Tufts University and other commentators quickly pointed out in an article in the Washington Post, the administration is the lead negotiator of a coalition involving the four other members of the United Nations Security Council—Britain, China, France, and Russia—as well as Germany. So, Drezner wrote, “If a deal is reached, it’s a deal that has the support of all the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.” That means Congress could not alter any resulting agreement in any way without violating international law by committing “a material breach of U.S. obligations.” Of course, the real purpose of the letter was to further pander to the deranged anti-Obama passions of the GOP base, and to be the political coming-out of the letter cabal’s ringleader, frosh Senator Tom Cotton, of Arkansas. Indeed, no sooner had it appeared than Cotton supporters let it be known
he’s eyeing a run for the Presidency in 2020. Pardon me, but haven’t we seen this “reality show” in the Senate before—with Kentucky’s Rand Paul, and then Texas’ Ted Cruz in the starring role? What does it say about the GOP that it’s now continually producing these new-kid-on-theblock types for Congress’ once-hallowed upper chamber who ostentatiously smash protocol and tradition in order to alert the far-right of their goal of running for President? Against that tawdry backdrop, the March 10th memorial service in Washington, D.C. for former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, who died in January, was like a flash of lightning illuminating a nighttime landscape. Brooke’s two terms in the Senate, from 1967 to 1979 marked a time when it wasn’t rare for Republicans inside and outside of Congress to show that political conservatism and political integrity weren’t mutually exclusive elements and that there was room in the party for centrist-conservatives like Brooke. Indeed, Brooke’s life and his climb up the political ladder in a state with a miniscule Black population to become the first Black American popularly elected to the U.S. Senate and the first to sit there in nearly a century said something remarkable about him, as well as the state and the nation he represented. As Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s nonvoting delegate to Congress, pointedly noted in her remarks at the Washington National Cathedral, Brooke, a native Washingtonian, grew up in a time when the District—then, as now— did not have the voting rights other American citizens enjoyed. Even if Washington, D.C. had a voting delegate at that time, Black Washingtonians would have been denied their
voting rights by the racist code Congress then followed for the jurisdiction. Brooke’s achievements before and during his Senate career are a testament not only to his value, but also to the immense loss White America imposed on the nation by the regime of official and de facto racism it followed until the 1960s. From the beginning, he made it quite clear he was proud to be a Republican and was not in politics to represent exclusively “Black interests,” but the interests of all the people of his state and the United States. But those beliefs also never prevented him from criticizing his party when he felt it necessary. For example, in 1964, two years before his Senate victory, Brooke refused to endorse Republican Senator Barry Goldwater’s presidential candidacy (Goldwater had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964), commenting later, “You can’t say the Negro left the Republican Party; the Negro feels he was evicted from the Republican Party.” Four decades later, in a 2007 interview for the just-released book, “Memorable Quotations from Edward W. Brooke,” he declared, “Unfortunately the Republican Party has not fared well—it has disintegrated to an extent. Not demised, but certainly has not lived up to its responsibilities to the electorate.” What would Edward W. Brooke say of the Republican Party now? NNPA Columnist Lee A. Daniels’ new collection of columns, Race Forward, is available at amazon.com.
Understand the Past, Empower the Future This past February, students across the country celebrated Black History Month. They read books by Black authors, wrote research papers on civil rights activists, memorized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, or watched videos about the Underground Railroad. And if they are being taught honestly, as they learn about the struggle of the past, they’ll begin to recognize it in their own present – when a cashier squints suspiciously when they walk into a store, when they turn on the news and see another person who looks like them lose his life to senseless violence. These lessons are anything but history but it doesn’t have to be that way. While teaching, my students experienced the sting of these stereotypes on what should have been a day filled with nothing but excitement. We were out on a field trip, excited to be Sabrina Dawson visiting a nearby college and think about our own academic future. But as we walked around, the excitement quickly turned into something else. While they were like any other tour group that came to visit, they happened to be Black, and were shushed around every corner, warned by the tour guide not to touch or take anything. My kids looked around at each other uncomfortably. They had done absolutely nothing to indicate they were going to be rowdy or obnoxious – except look the way society has taught us disruptive people generally look. As students of color combat these prejudices, it is more urgent than ever that our generation overcome. This school year marked the first in which the majority of public school students are minorities. As educated young adults, we have a responsibility to work to ensure that each and every one of them is moving through a system that affirms their identities, shows them they’re valued, and allows them access to the opportunities they have been denied for far too long. I joined Teach For America because I wanted to make an impact and help people – and I
have. But my impact can’t compare to the ones my kids have had on me. They’ve taught me so much about tenacity, overcoming odds, and what it really means to be relentless. Our kids are our future, and we should rest assured that our future will be in good hands – but only if we commit to giving each and every one of our students the same opportunities to be the brightest versions of themselves that they can be. We have a long way to go as a country before we truly achieve justice for all. I continue to see this today, working for the District’s Child and Family Services Agency’s Office of Youth Empowerment, providing young adults in foster care with vocational training, internships, employment opportunities, and experiences that will prepare him/her for the workforce. Being a former Teach For America Corps member has forever shaped the lense with which I approach my work. Even if I am not in a classroom, I know it is my job and more importantly, my responsibility to look out for the best interests of the youth I serve. To fix the systemic oppression that has created the gross inequality of the present will take the hard, dedicated work of countless leaders and change-makers – many who have experienced it first-hand, others who bear witness to it from further away. We must work toward these longterm changes as well as the immediate, urgent opportunities to change the way our students view themselves and their future. As teachers and leaders, we can play a central role in this. Our history is our future and education is the great equalizer, and teaching the past helps inform our children of the important role they play today. Every day, we can remind our kids that their thoughts, ideas, identities and opinions are important. We can share our own stories so that when our kids look to the front of the room, they see a little bit of themselves reflected back. We can remind them that they matter, that they always have and that they always will. Sabrina Dawson is a 2006 alum of FSU and Teach For America-Baltimore. She is a supervisory career pathways specialist in the Office of Youth Empowerment at the Child and Family Services Agency in Washington, DC.
The opinions on this page are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the AFRO. Send letters to The Afro-American, 2519 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 or fax to 1-877-570-9297 or e-mail to editor@afro.com
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The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
Police Bill of Rights Continued from A1
of procedural obstacles to bringing forward complaints against police, among other things. Advocates arrived with buses of community members to appear, and in some cases testify, at that senate hearing. Their efforts were frustrated by chair of Judicial Proceedings Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), who scheduled the bill to be heard last that day. The hearing on Senate Bill 566 began around 7:20 p.m.; the buses had left Annapolis around 4 p.m. That left a large opposition contingent of law enforcement personnel in the hearing room, with a smaller presence of supporters to balance them out. The same was not true of the second round of hearings on the House version of the same bill, House Bill 968, sponsored by Del. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore City) and heard
were scheduled to leave at 7 p.m., but did not actually leave until closer to 10:30 p.m., ensuring a strong community presence for the duration of the day’s hearing, especially the portion dedicated to testimony on House Bill 966. Those who testified in support of 966, armed with a greater knowledge of the arguments the opposition would use against the bill, sharpened their arguments and were able to effectively undermine a number of claims made by the opposition during the February Senate hearing. An oft-heard refrain from law enforcement is that proposed reforms to the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill Of Rights would create a second-class of citizens by depriving police officers of important due process protections. The Rev. Dr. S. Todd Yeary, political action chair for the Maryland state conference NAACP, turned the second class citizen argument around on the opposition during the House hearing. “That’s exactly what LEOBR is,” said Yeary. “It is a statutory provision that allows for a distinction in the treatment and protection of safeguards because they are law enforcement officers. It is incumbent upon this body who gave them that David Rocah cover, to make sure that cover [is] used properly and, where it is necessary, make the appropriate revisions to protect the rights of the citizens that these law enforcement officers are given the authority, and are sworn, to protect.” David Rocah, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Maryland, also addressed the secondclass citizen argument while simultaneously pointing out that the protections provided by the LEOBR are on par with protections afforded other public employees by state law. “I have heard opposition to this bill saying that police officers would be treated less favorably, if these changes were made, than would other employees or would citizens, and frankly nothing could be further from the truth,” said Rocah. “Even with the changes in this bill, police officers would be treated more favorably, and would have more due process rights than any other state employee, for
“I have heard opposition to this bill saying that police officers would be treated less favorably, if these changes were made, than would other employees or would citizens, and frankly nothing could be further from the truth.” – by the House Judiciary Committee on March 12. Prior to the day’s hearings, advocates gathered at the Thurgood Marshall memorial near the senate and house office buildings in Annapolis for a rally. It drew a diverse crowd from around the state, with particularly strong showings from the African American and Latino communities. The Rev. Dr. Heber Brown of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church and other advocates took demonstrators aside prior to the hearing in order to explain the legislative process and better prepare them for what would unfold that day. David Lanier, a pastor in Baltimore who also owns a transportation company, donated buses so demonstrators could stay in Annapolis later, according to Adam Jackson, CEO of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. The buses
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March 21, 2015 - March 21, 2015, The Afro-American
example.” Rocah then pointed the House Judiciary Committee members towards the specific Maryland law governing the rights of most public employees and noted that the proposed reforms would bring law enforcement officers rights more in line with what other public employees receive. A tact that has often emerged among legislators opposed to reforming the officers’ bill of rights has been to ask whether these reforms are really necessary statewide, or whether they address a problem that has largely been confined to Baltimore City. Former Del. Aisha Braveboy, who testified in support of House Bill 966, pointed out that delegates often hear testimony on bills not directly relevant to
A3
their home district, but that this does not mean those bills are not important. Dr. Kirkland Hall, former president of the Somerset County NAACP, also addressed the ‘just Baltimore City’ argument, saying, “This problem is not a big city problem. It’s not just a Baltimore City problem. Well I’m here from rural Somerset County to tell you that it is a problem we all face across America.” The adjustments made by supporters of House Bill 966 stood in contrast to the familiar arguments made by opponents to the bill, but the tone at both the Senate and House hearings strongly indicate that opponents are running in the lead on this issue, requiring less rhetorical maneuvering on their part. ralejandro@afro.com
Law Enforcement Agenda Continued from A1
House Judiciary Committee on March 12, RawlingsBlake said that many in the Baltimore community feel police officers are held to a different standard than citizens when they commit crimes, and that this bill would fight that perception, improving public trust in the police. “House bill 363 is intended to provide a state’s attorney with the option to pursue new felony charges when a law enforcement officer has committed a misdemeanor or a felony . . . while acting in the course of the officer’s official duties,” said the mayor. Rawlings-Blake also noted that there is precedent in Maryland law for a statute of this nature, since a second-degree assault (a misdemeanor) committed against a law enforcement officer acting in her official capacity gives rise to a felony assault charge for citizens. Questioning from two former law enforcement officers on the committee, Del. John Cluster (R-Baltimore County) and Del. William Folden (R-Frederick County), showed concern that the bill would create a separate standard for police officers, and questioned whether the process established by Maryland’s Law Enforcement
Photo by Roberto Alejandro
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, seated next to Del. Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City), testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on a bill that would create a new felony for police who commit crimes while on duty. Officers Bill Of Rights already provided a sufficient mechanism for handling criminal conduct by officers. Cluster asked whether if public trust in officers of the state was the driving concern behind House Bill 363, should not the new felony also apply to legislators? “If the delegate is so inclined to feel that elected officials should be included, I would not oppose,” said RawlingsBlake. Folden asked the mayor to provide the current number of Baltimore City police officers that would be impacted by this law if it
were already on the books. Mayor Rawlings-Blake said she did not have the number in front of her but that her staff could provide the delegate with the requested information. While the mayor stood her ground, none of the questioning from the committee members suggested there was strong support for the proposed bill. One delegate asked if it wouldn’t be preferable for an official task force to study police-community relations issues and how to best address these issues. ralejandro@afro.com
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March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015, The Afro-American
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Welfare Reform Garnered for Black Women a Hard Time and a Bad Name By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
This is the third in a series of articles about laws that have significantly impacted Black women in America. On Aug. 22, 1996, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), keeping his campaign pledge to “change welfare as we know it” and signing the dotted line on Republicans’ “Contract with America.” And while there are many who, almost 20 years later, tout the measure as being a resounding success, many social scientists, feminists and human rights activists see the reform as having had a particularly deleterious impact on African-American women. The PRWORA was a reversal in paternalistic, protectionist social welfare policy embodied in the “mother’s pensions” that were instituted by states in the early 19th century to assist women – usually widows – who did not have a male breadwinner in the home. “The rationale was that they were providing a social service to the state by virtue of the fact that they were raising children,” said Sonya Michel, history professor at the University of Maryland. The accommodation was not, however, equitably provided to African-American women. And, when the New Deal moved welfare from the states and instituted the federal Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) in 1935, officials found ways to disqualify Black women for such things as having a man in the house—even if he was not the children’s father. “Part of it was the assumption that African-American women were unlike White women—during slavery and after African-American women were always expected to work,” Michel said. “African-American women have always had a disproportionately high rate of participation in the workforce compared to White women.” During the Civil Rights Movement, courts struck down many of these disqualifications—in 1968’s King v. Smith, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court held that AFDC funds could not be withheld because of the presence of a “substitute father” who visited a family on weekends. The legal victories made more women—African-American and divorced or never-married mothers—qualify for aid and that, Michel said, is when the tide began to change. “This did not sit well with White lawmakers, particularly those from the South,” she said. Increasingly, conservatives began to demonize the AFDC and its recipients, saying the policy, among other things, encouraged teen and out-of-wedlock pregnancies and had led to the destruction of families. “There was some pretty ugly rhetoric in the early years,” said Donna Pavetti, vice president for Family Income Support with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Suddenly, full-time mothering was no longer seen as a viable occupation—at least among the poor. And those mothers—particularly Black mothers—who accepted public assistance began to be viewed as undeserving parasites depending on society’s largesse to finance their sexually profligate and irresponsible lifestyles. Those tropes, particularly that of the “welfare queen,” an oft-cited character in Ronald Reagan’s 1976 presidential campaign, came to define the urgency behind welfare reform and became a caricature of poor Black women that has endured to this day. But the characterization of welfare as a “Black problem” was based on false premises, experts said. “What’s remarkable about the general association of Black people with welfare and handouts in the popular culture — that stereotype — is that it’s almost a perfect inversion of American history,” said University of Minnesota sociologist Joe Soss, who has studied welfare reform for more than a decade, in a 2014 interview with BIllMoyers.com. “For much of the 20th century, and certainly in the earlier history of this country, we had all sorts of race-specific programs that channeled benefits to Whites and excluded everyone else,” he continued. “So until very recently, in many ways we have this long history of a White-centered welfare state. But after that time, when victories were achieved that actually allowed for some equality of access to those programs, that very equality became the basis for saying, ‘Oh, this is all about African Americans and it’s just a handout to this racially targeted group.’” Feminist critics such as Barbara Ehrenreich argued that PRWORA was motivated by both “racism” and “misogyny.” “The stereotype of the welfare recipient—lazy overweight, and endlessly fecund—had been a coded way of talking about African Americans,” she argued in an April 2002 article in The Progressive. And, the law not only stigmatized single-mother households as being “inherently defective,” but also advanced the longheld negative stereotypes about Black women’s sexuality. “In the reformers’ view, welfare recipients were moral outlaws, and they were this way because welfare supported them in their slovenly, sexually indulgent ways,” she wrote. “Even welfare itself was sexualized in the reformers’ overheated imaginations: It had ‘cuckolded’ Black men, usurping their rightful place as breadwinners, leaving them emasculated and demoralized.” Welfare reform proponents further argued AFDC had
Continued on B5
AFRO Archives
She claimed 38 children in welfare fraud, 1-17-81 edition
AFRO Archives
Welfare queen gets 8 years. 1-283 edition ‘Welfare Queen’ claims victory, 9-5-87 edition
A Tale of Two Queens
AFRO Archives
‘Welfare queen’ convicted in L.A., 12-16-78 edition ‘Welfare queen’ hit with new charges, 9-1-79 edition
B2
The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
The American Heart Association and the Baltimore Orioles teamed up for the 31st annual American Heart Ball, Feb. 28, at the Hilton Baltimore. The elegant black tie event celebration of life attracted more than 500 of Baltimore’s most prominent physicians, corporate, health
Darryl A. Stokes, Anita M. Jackson, Everette Jackson
Joianna Wallace, Miss Teen Baltimore County International; Alexis Johnson, Ms. Pre-Teen Harford County International, Laniah Loftin, Ms. Jr. Pre-Teen Maryland
care, philanthropy and community leaders to salute AHA’s impact on the Greater Baltimore community. In conjunction with Suntrust, serving as the 2015 event chair, the Orioles are devoted to raising awareness to the American Heart Association(AHA)’s lifesaving mission to fight the leading cause of death—heart disease and stroke— America’s No.1 and No.4. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. Jeanne Charleston was the winner of the Watkins Saunders Award. This award was named for Dr. Levi Watkins, first African American chief resident in cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Dr. Elijah Saunders, African American clinical Annette Fisher, senior director, professor of cardiology and Marketing and Communications, Mid Atlantic and Cara Paige, hypertension at the Haute Paige Public Relations University of Maryland.
Medical Volunteers Dr. Sharon Smith and Dr. Hina Patel
Psi Phi Omega Chapter, AKA volunteers are Tiffany M. Middleton, Bardett Nicholson, Latsha Davis
Dr. Levi Watkins, cardiologist and honoree stops to greet hostess Auroa Parker, Miss Pre-Teen
Demetrius Fortson, Donna Fortson, Tony and Carolyn Green
BMAC Delta volunteers are Cynthia Horton, Valerie Allen, Michelle Wynder, Lynn Middleton
Leilu and Ali Tabrijchi, Amir Majafi, Peter Cjo, Shadi Majafi
Pir Priyanka Suri, Deepak Suri and Maria Tildon Kristen Holcomb, Cristi King, Susan Helmrath Chimaoki and Ijeoma Chijroke
Taryn Angelos, Louis Angelos, chair, 2015 Heart Ball, Yvette Mingo, executive director, American Heart Association, Maryland region
Sherry Benton, Maryland Int'l Pageants director and Auroa Parker
Sharon and Raini Butler
Photos by Dr. A. Lois De Laine
Baltimore native and national bestselling author, Wes Moore and Philanthropik hosted the first Champions of #THE WORK Celebration, Feb. 28, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore. The red carpet award ceremony celebrated unsung heroes from across the country who labor to diligently serve their communities. Robert Clark, Kristina Berdan, Christopher Minaya, Codi Chavis, Angelique Smith were all
Mark Grier (Prudential), Awardee Robert Clark and Wes Moore
State Sen. Catherine Pugh and Calvin Butler, CEO, BGE
Wes Moore, keynote speaker
awardees. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings–Blake, former Mayor Kurt Schmoke and author Kevin Shird were on hand for the celebration. Inspired by Moore’s book, “The Work,” the Champions of #THEWORK platform challenges individuals to use their passions as vehicles to address issues and inspire change. Philanthropik is a series of charitable functions founded by Zachary McDaniels, activist, strategist and entrepreneur. Prudential Financial sponsored the event.
Photos by Anderson Ward
Wes and Dawn Moore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Awardee Kristina Berdan and Wes Moore
Awardee Christopher Minaya, Erica Pittman (Ciroc) and Wes Moore
Howard Jessamy, Hon. Kurt L. Schmoke, Dr. Patricia Schmoke and Roberto Alejandro, AFRO reporter
Wes Moore and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Wes Moore and son James
Craig Martin, Angela and Zachary McDaniels
Dr. Barbara Blount-Armstrong, John J. Oliver Jr., Diane and Frank Hocker
Michael and Erica Cryor and Wes Moore Jody Davis and Kevin Scott
March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015, The Afro-American
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ARTS & CULTURE
Reel-ality TV Talk
Gossip in the Air By Marquesa LaDawn NNPA Columnist This week in Atlanta it was all about friendships, complicated love and lots of gossip…RHOA’s Kandi just wants a happy marriage, not an unreasonable goal for a newlywed. The challenge for the Buress marriage, however, is they are not “handling” their issues. Why is it that smart businesswomen are not so smart in love? Todd admitted during the counseling session that he’s not excited about the Marquesa LaDawn marriage, which is now showing up in the bedroom. He loves Kandi – or so he says – but between Mama Joyce’s insults and lack of accountability along with the pre-nuptial agreement wedding ultimatum, he’s not happy. He actually said being out of Atlanta and working feels better. Ouch! You could see the embarrassment and shock on Kandi’s face as she heard this. But Kandi, at least he’s talking and wants to work things out. On another front, Kandi, you need to talk to your friends, let them know you are focused on your married life right now and need space. This secretive nature is biting you in the butt! Phaedra, Porsha and Nene are feeling like you do not have Phaedra’s back as you normally do. On top of that, you are not being honest. I get not repeating Apollo’s accusations regarding infidelity as his wife. But, to say you didn’t know anything about that or hadn’t heard anything at the same time your husband confirms that you heard it, looks bad. But, I will compliment you on not talking to Mama Joyce about anything personal. This may be the biggest lesson for her yet! Speaking of the ladies talking, Cynthia reached out to Phaedra to clear things up. I knew this was not a good idea; it’s too soon. You can’t out the rumor in one dinner and apologize for outing it in another. Anyway, Phaedra showed up looking for an apology, which was unrealistic. I agree with Cynthia that the rumor was not started by her so she should not own it. But, I do think her not taking responsibility for sharing it, and expecting Phaedra to understand was crazy. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I love the new Cynthia. Yes, she’s being messy, but outspoken. She has a right to her opinion and she’s sharing it. Why is it that folks have selfinduced amnesia? Phaedra has always been outspoken and shared her opinion without “fact checking.” Do I think some of Cynthia’s behavior comes from her anger toward the demise
“CASEY CARES FOUNDATION 15TH ANNIVERSARY GALA”
Hello everyone! I hope you all have made it thru the snow, ice and cold, very cold weather and looking forward to some warm sunshine. I, myself, am enjoying the warm sunshine in the Southern Caribbean Islands of Panama, Grand Cayman, Costa Rica, Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten on a cruise ship. In the meantime, you can enjoy a wonderful evening at the Casey Cares Foundation Anniversary Gala, 6-11 p.m., March 21, at the American Visionary Art Museum for the first time, featuring a cocktail hour with live entertainment of jazz, a seated dinner, open bar, dancing and raffles. And while you are having fun, you are supporting a good cause which George Haley, popular is a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit that promoter and show host provides personalized, uplifting for R&B groups passed programs with a special touch to away suddenly on Feb. critically ill children and family 27 while enjoying a members throughout six states. dance at a recent event. So put on your dancing shoes Condolences to the and your best duds and support family. this special event. For tickets and information, call 443568-0064. Or go to: www.CaseyCares.org.
“15TH ANNUAL MARYLAND WOMEN’S EXPO & CONFERENCE”
Photo by Anderson Ward
Paula Brooks, standing next to Artwork by Januwa Moja at the reception at the James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University recently.
We all are invited to the largest Women’s Expo in Maryland hosted by the Wig Capitol Foundation, which is also a nonprofit organization. Another event where you can have a lot of fun while supporting a great cause. This event is noon to 5 p.m., March 22 at the CCBC Gymnasium, 800 S. Rolling Road,
of her friendship with Nene? Yes. But, I also think she was tired of the criticism of not having an opinion and changing her limited views on a dime. I will say this, Cynthia is not going anywhere – she’s solidified her housewives spot by constantly surprising us! The episode ended with the ladies agreeing to a session with Dr. Jeff. In RHBH land, Yolanda realizes even her dear home of Amsterdam cannot calm the housewives. Only problem, Lisa R, who claimed she would never engage Kim again (even post-apology) decides to go shopping with Kim and Brandi. Really Next scene, the boat became “the love boat.” The ladies start off in an awkward way, just sitting and looking, not sure what to say. Then, Kyle and Yolanda head over to the bar and are joined by Lisa V. and begin talking about the awkwardness. Left at the table are Kim, Brandi, Eileen & Yolanda, being step ford like, for a bit a least. Then, Brandi opens her mouth and the awkward flag is lifted! Irked, Eileen defends herself against comments by Brandi, very well I should say. Eileen speaks the truth, Kim and Brandi speak well – they speak something. Eileen says Brandi is mean and I was shocked to see that Brandi accepted it. Then the other housewives return … Brandi’s familiar behavior returns and Kim jumps in with her “defensive” comments. Eileen says to Kim, “Kim sue me for giving a damn” was priceless. The shocker was Brandi revealing a past transgression of Eileen’s – an affair. Kim is loving it! Then, the fight is on! Yolanda leaves and goes to the other table and decides to eat. Yolanda, I love you, but, if you do not like drama – get off of reality TV Then Lisa V. joins her while the other ladies are still going at it! Kyle reminds Brandi, get out of sisters’ business, but her words fall on deaf ears and everyone leaves the table except Brandi, Kyle and Kim. The new very vocal Kyle, tells Brandi, I do not want to be your friend and she leaves. Brandi wants to jump in the water and Kim starts crying a river! This is a moment! Peacemaker Yolanda, invites Brandi and Kim to eat and they begin to eat! Then, it turns into the ‘love boat,” a bunch of insincere compliments, with a few real ones thrown in. It ends with a love fest! I love the drama and at times, I love the peace. Marquesa LaDawn is a professional businesswoman who escapes the pressures of living in New York City by retreating into the real world of reality TV. Visit her at www.Realitytvgirl.com.
Catonsville. It is both a showcase of women-oriented business, and a power conference featuring nationally known speakers teaching you the latest, cutting-edge strategies in collaboration and technology; Six Figure Woman Workshop; Radio Workshop, over 100 exhibitors and much more. For tickets and information, call 410-248-2175. FYI: On Saturday, March 28 from 1-4 p.m. Dr. Joann Martin, founder of the Blacks in Wax Museum and Lou Fields, President of Baltimore African American Tourism Council and their staff will host their first donor and public reception on the Museum in the Alberta Carson Room. A free event to take your family and friends to learn more about the “Adopt-A-Chair” Program and the other wonderful activities occurring at our National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. For more information, call 443-983-7974. Okay, let’s eat and be merry! The Champagne Ballroom is hosting a Fish Fry, 8 p.m. to midnight, March 27. The event includes complimentary hot and cold buffet, DJ music and much more. The Champagne Ballroom is located 2701 W. Patapsco Avenue, Baltimore. For more information, call 410-644-3434. Now, don’t forget, my organization, Rosa Pryor Music Scholarship Fund, is having our Gospel Prayer Breakfast, 8 a.m. to noon, Steve Davis, trombonist, April 18 at the Forest Park will lead his band featuring Senior Center, 4801 Liberty Allyn Johnson, Paul Carr, Heights Avenue. Tickets are Steve Novosel and John available now, by calling me Lamkin III in a jazz show at at 410-833-9474 or emailing An die Musik Live!, 409 N. me at: rosapryor@aol.com Charles Street, Baltimore, or paying by Pay Pal on 8 p.m., March 20. For more www.rosapryormusic.com. information, call 410-385Or you can mail your check 2638. to 214 Conewood Road, Reisterstown, Maryland 21136 and I will mail your tickets to you. Donation is $20, which includes live down-home country gospel music and entertainment performed by Heavenly Blessed Gospel Group, Nina Den nard, Gospel Soloist, Just Paul Carr, saxophonist, Being Blessed Gospel Singers; is performing at An Gospel Comedian, Pamela “Ms. die Musik Live!, 409 N. Maybelle” Leake; Michele Charles Street, March Middleton a Charisma Mime 20, hosted by Mike Ministry; Carlton & Darlene Binsky’s Jazz Artists Douglass are the host and hostess Management. For ticket and an inspiring sermonette by information, call 410Minister Lamont Brown Jr., from 385-2638.
Zion Baptist Church. On top of all of that you will be served a buffet breakfast by Angela’s Caterer that will blow your mind, while you are shouting to the music. This is our fundraiser for the children. Well my friends, I got to run, the hot tub and the swimming pool are calling my name. UNTIL THE NEXT TIME, I’M MUSICALLY YOURS.
ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN AN ADMIT 2 PASS TO SEE
TUESDAY, MARCH 24 - 7:30 P.M. PLEASE VISIT HTTP://WWW.WBTICKETS.COM/INRMX93129 TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PASSES! This film is rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content and language, some graphic nudity, and drug material. Please note: Passes are limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis while supplies last. No phone calls, please. Limit one pass per person. Each pass admits two. Seating is not guaranteed. Arrive early. Theater is not responsible for overbooking. This screening will be monitored for unauthorized recording. By attending, you agree not to bring any audio or video recording device into the theater (audio recording devices for credentialed press excepted) and consent to a physical search of your belongings and person. Any attempted use of recording devices will result in immediate removal from the theater, forfeiture, and may subject you to criminal and civil liability. Please allow additional time for heightened security. You can assist us by leaving all nonessential bags at home or in your vehicle.
IN THEATERS MARCH 27 GETHARDMOVIE.COM #GETHARD
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The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
Insurgent
Shailene Woodley Radiates Chemistry Aplenty as Heroine of Satisfying Sequel The ancient artifact is rumored to contain an important message from Chicago’s Insurgent is the second in the actionfounding fathers. However, the box can only oriented series of screen adaptations based on be accessed by a Divergent who succeeds at Veronica Roth’s blockbuster Divergent trilogy. surviving an ordeal testing for all five of the This installment represents a rarity for a commonwealth’s designated virtues. Sure, cinematic sequel in that it’s actually better than it’s obvious that Tris is bright, fearless and the first episode. altruistic. But she could perish in the process In case you’re unfamiliar with the of attempting to prove herself a pacifist and franchise’s basic premise, the post-apocalyptic truthful, too. sci-fi is set amidst the crumbling ruins of Fans of the source material will a walled-in Chicago where what’s left of undoubtedly be surprised by this complicated humanity has been strictly divided into box challenge which wasn’t in the book. five factions based on personality types, Nevertheless, the seamlessly-interwoven plot namely, Abnegation (the selfless); Amity (the device works in terms of ratcheting up the peaceful); Candor (the honest); Dauntless (the tension. brave); and Erudite (the intelligent). The film features an A-list supporting cast Our intrepid heroine, Tris (Shailene that includes Oscar-winners Kate Winslet and Woodley) was deemed a threat to society Octavia Spencer and nominee Naomi Watts, after testing positive for several of the along with effective performances on the part aforementioned qualities since that makes of Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz and her a Divergent, one of the handful of Miles Teller. Still, make no mistake. Insurgent nonconformists whose minds the government is a Shailene Woodley vehicle from beginning Theo James and Shailene Woodley in this Divergent trilogy. cannot control. Consequently, the headstrong to end. rebel ended up orphaned and roaming the And the rising young star exhibits an streets with fellow faction-less rogues by the end of the original. impressive acting range in a physically as well as emotionally-demanding role promising to do Insurgent picks up right where Divergent left off, though upping the ante in terms of for her what The Hunger Games did for Jennifer Lawrence. intensity and visually-captivating special f/x. At the point of departure, we find Tris on the run with her boyfriend Four (Theo James), her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and the duplicitous Very Good (3 stars) Peter Hayes (Miles Teller). The fugitives are being sought by Jeanine (Kate Winslet), the Rated PG-13 for sensuality, pervasive violence, intense action, mature themes and brief monomaniacal Erudite leader who has seized control of the city by commandeering the profanity Dauntless warrior class. Running time: 119 minutes The Machiavellian despot has declared martial law until all threats to her power have been Distributor: Lions Gate Films neutralized. Meanwhile, Tris and company proceed to elude apprehension as they search for a sacred talisman supposedly hidden somewhere by her late mom (Ashley Judd). To see a trailer for Insurgent, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suZcGoRLXkU Film Review by Kam Williams
Shailene Woodley
Shailene! Shailene! The “Insurgent” Interview Kam Williams Shailene Woodley skyrocketed to fame on the strength of her powerful performance opposite George Clooney in The Descendants. Among the many accolades she landed for her work in that Academy Award-nominated film were the Independent Spirit and National Board of Review Awards for Best Supporting Actress, in addition to Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award nominations in the same category. Last fall, Shailene starred in the coming-of-age drama White Bird in a Blizzard, directed by Gregg Araki. And she further solidified her stature as a talented and versatile actress in the critically-acclaimed The Fault in Our Stars, the big screen adaption of John Green’s best-selling novel. Prior to that, she starred opposite Miles Teller in The Spectacular Now. The co-stars shared the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Acting at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013. Shailene’s star status was firmly established by response to the big screen version of Divergent, the sci-fi thriller based on the popular Young Adult novel of the same name by Veronica Roth. She is currently in production playing the female lead opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Oliver Stone’s Snowden, the real-life story of the Edward Snowden, the 28 year-old hackerturned-whistleblower who leaked classified information from the NSA about surveillance programs run by the U.S. Shailene began her career at the age of 5 soon after being spotted by an agent who recognized her potential. She cut her teeth in commercials before landing her first TV role in the 1999 made-for-TV movie, “Replacing Dad.” Shailene has some rather ethnically-diverse roots, being of British extraction on her father’s side, and a mix of AfricanAmerican, Creole, French, Spanish, Swiss and German on her mother’s. When not on a set, she spends as much time as possible outdoors, thinking of ways she can help keep the environment beautiful and healthy for future generations. Here, she talks about reprising the role of Tris in Insurgent, the eagerly-anticipated sequel to Divergent co-starring Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer, Naomi Watts and Zoe Kravitz. Kam Williams: Hi Shailene, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you. Shailene Woodley: Omigosh, Kam, thank you for talking to me. KW: Well, I’ve been so impressed with your acting abilities over the course of your brief career, from The Descendants to The Spectacular Now to 2014 when you really exhibited your versatility in Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars and White Bird in a Blizzard. SW: Thank you! KW Just so you know, I’m going to mix in questions from fans with some of my own. SW: Great! KW Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How do you prepare for such a physically-demanding role? SW:There was definitely some training involved, but there wasn’t anything too gnarly, as far as preparation goes. The most physical thing we had to do in this film was a lot of running.
KW Irene also asks: What do you most want to communicate to the audience about Tris in this installment? SW: I think in this movie Tris is really able to utilize and showcase the strengths that she gained from being “Dauntless” in the last movie. KW: Larry Greenberg says: From the trailer, Insurgent looks like the kind of sci-fi action I want to fully immerse myself in. I don’t just want to see it in 3D; I want to see it in 3D IMAX while floating in an isolation chamber. SW: Wow! KW: Larry does have a question: Were there any special directions Robert Schwentke gave you that enabled you to be so convincing as Tris? SW: Special directions. The thing with Robert is that he was very keen on getting a sense of what my opinion was of who Tris is, and how she exists in the world. It was really exciting to work with someone who was so willing to collaborate. KW: Sangeetha Subramanian says: Shailene, Divergent was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time! Can’t wait to see Insurgent. What was it like on set in between serious takes? SW: It was great on set. Luckily, nobody took themselves too seriously, so even if there was a serious scene, there were never any stakes that felt very high. KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How is your approach to acting altered by whether you’re performing for TV versus the big screen? SW:I don’t know that it’s any different except that with TV you have a limited amount of time to get certain shots. So, there seems to be a sense of rushing, while with movies you have more time to get the shots that you need. KW: Harriet also asks: How much of the real Shailene is in Tris, and to what extent did you allow yourself to just get lost in the role? SW: There is a lot of me in Tris, definitely. I really admire her bravery and her courage. But as far as getting lost in the role, it was more about calling upon my own bravery and courage, and reacting based on how Tris would react in any given situation KW: Her last question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you’d like to star in? SW: I don’t want to star in a remake. I don’t think they should be remaking a lot of classics, because so many of them are great on their own. KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: You’ve already had a phenomenal career at a young age. Were you nervous about working with George Clooney in The Descendants? SW: No, I wasn’t nervous. I was really excited, because I really admired him and admired his work, and was very, very keen on learning from him. KW: You’re presently shooting Snowden with Oscar-
winner Oliver Stone. How’s that experience thus far? SW:It’s amazing! KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory? SW: Hmm… [Pauses to think] Probably, of my brother being born when I was about 3. KW: What is your favorite dish to cook? SW: Ooh, any kind of meat. I’m a big stew person, like a meat stew. KW: : The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer? SW: I don’t have one favorite. KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see? SW: I see a lot of opportunity for growth. KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for? SW: The eradication of big corporations. KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read? SW: The last book I read was called “Dear Lover” by David Deida. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ ASIN/1591792606/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20 KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet? SW: At home, I never have makeup on.
March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015, The Afro-American
B5
Continued from B1 affordable, recalls author Michael D. Mint in the book, Oversight: Representing the Interests of Blacks and Latinos in Congress.” “Providing jobs and job security will change [the current] system to one that promotes and encourages selfsufficiency; however, we are unable or unwilling to invest the necessary resources in our families,” Payne argued. But that investment in livable jobs never really transpired, Pavetti said. “There has never been a huge commitment of resources to providing sound job opportunities,” she said. In fact, on average, states spend only 8 percent of TANF funds on work programs— some states spend as little as 1 percent. PRWORA proponents point to vastly reduced welfare caseloads and increased employment figures after the law’s passage as a sign of its success. But those trends could be mostly attributed to a simultaneous boom in the economy—and not necessarily to welfare reform, social scientists say. In fact, those claims of welfare reform’s success fail to account for employment numbers that have steadily fallen since 2000, nor do they consider the conditions of those who were booted off the welfare rolls. In fact, several social scientists and activists predicted {PRWORA} would plunge millions into poverty. Peter B. Edelman, who resigned as an assistant secretary at the Department of Health and
A Chicago Queen AFRO Archives
‘Welfare Queen’ denies fraud rap, 1-7-74 edition
entrenched generational poverty and created a culture of dependency that discouraged welfare recipients from finding self-affirming employment. “We’re in danger of creating a permanent culture of poverty as inescapable as any chain or bond,” said Reagan in a radio address to the nation on welfare reform, Feb. 15, 1986. Clinton echoed those sentiments at PRWORA’s introduction, saying “the current welfare system undermines the basis values of work, responsibility and family, trapping generation after generation in dependency and hurting the very people it was designed to help.” He added, “We have an opportunity to make welfare what it was meant to be: a second chance, not a way of life.” Those reforms included: replacing AFDC with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, which gave more power to states to design their welfare programs through federal block grants, which depended on states reducing their welfare caseloads; limiting lifetime welfare benefits; creating stricter requirements for food stamp eligibility; instituting work requirements; reducing immigrant welfare assistance; enhancing enforcement of child support and others designed with an eye to encouraging two-parent families and discouraging out-of-wedlock births and increasing the workforce. Many civil rights groups and Black lawmakers opposed the bill, due to its demonization of those – particularly Black women – on welfare and because of its punitive nature. In the years since the “reform,” studies have found an overreliance on punitive measures to restrict welfare caseloads—measures that were often racially discriminatory. “States with higher percentages of blacks and Hispanics on their welfare rolls have been significantly more likely to impose strict lifetime limits on aid, family caps limiting benefits for women who have children while receiving aid, and the toughest sanctions for non-compliance with program rules. Interestingly such racialized patterns do not emerge for state choices regarding supportive TANF benefits, but they are robust for directive and punitive policies,” according to “The Color of Devolution: The Politics of Local Punishment in the New World of Welfare.” PRWORA’s detractors also felt it did not address the underlying problem of poverty. For example, during a hearing of Clinton’s bill before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources, then-Rep. Donald Payne, a Congressional Black Caucus member from New Jersey, argued that many welfare recipients accepted aid out of necessity and not choice. He said many would come off the welfare rolls if jobs that offered livable wages were available and child care and housing were
Human Services in protest of PRWORA’s passage, cited studies by HHS and the Urban Institute which predicted the bill would “move 2.6 million people, including 1.1 million children, into poverty,” and further, reduce the income of 11 million families, many of them with incomes just above the poverty line. “What we know about conditions for those families is that they became more distressed,” Pavetti said. “TANF provides a safety net for far fewer families,” even in times of greatest need, such as the recent recession, she added. A CBPP assessment of the program released last August found several disturbing trends: For every 100 American families in poverty, only 25 receive TANF funds, compared to 68 out of 100 indigent families who received assistance under AFDC. TANF also plays a much smaller role in addressing poverty. While TANF monthly caseloads have fallen by almost two-thirds in the past 18 years — from 4.7 million families in 1996 to 1.7 million families in 2013 – poverty and deep poverty has worsened. The number of families with children in poverty hit a low of 5.2 AFRO Archives
The AFRO outlined impending legislation with great detail. 7/3/71 edition
Welfare by any other name.
AFRO Archives
million in 2000, but has since increased to more than 7 million. Similarly, the number of families with children in deep poverty (with incomes below half of the poverty line) hit a low of about 2 million in 2000, but is now above 3 million. Much of that, experts argue, was the lack of access to sound, well-paying jobs with health and other benefits that could allow people to pull themselves out of poverty. The ethos promoted by PRWORA is, “Any job, no matter how dangerous, abusive, or poorly paid, can be construed as better than no job at all,” Ehrenreich, the feminist critic, argued. And, because TANF grants to states are cut if they fail to meet work requirements, many welfare recipients are pushed “to take whatever jobs are available, and usually the first job that comes along.” Many studies over the years have shown that women of color are the least paid workers in the labor force and endure other challenges at the lowest economic rung.
B6
The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
SPORTS
Is Suh Worth the Money in Miami? AFRO Sports Desk Faceoff By Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley AFRO Sports Writers When NFL free agency begins Tuesday, March 10, 2015, lots of players will get lots of money. Some will even earn it throughout those massive contracts. Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, the AP Offensive Player of the Year and league’s leading rusher, will be available. Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh signed the richest NFL contract ever for a defensive player when he inked his $114 million contract with the Miami Dolphins earlier this week. The former Detroit Lions star tackle took his talents to South Beach where he’ll anchor a Dolphins team void on big names. After terrorizing opposing quarterbacks for the last five years in Detroit, Suh earned a reputation as one of the best, if not the best defensive player in the league. Commanding a double team on each defensive snap, Suh can rush the passer, stop the run, drop back in zone coverage and control the line of scrimmage from his position. While he may be the best defensive player in the
AP Photo, File
In this Nov. 9, 2014, file photo, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (90) is shown before an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins at Ford Field in Detroit. league, is he worth over $100 million to prove it? Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley of the AFRO Sports Desk debate the question. Riley: You’re not going to find a much better player than Suh to anchor a defensive unit. At only 28 years old,
Suh still has several more years left of prime time play, and he’ll be the face of the franchise for a team that hasn’t had one in a while. Richie Incognito and Ricky Williams were the last Dolphin players to receive major media coverage and both times were because of
“Suh’s history is littered with some ‘dirty player’ labels…” –Riley
career-killing decisions. Suh’s history is littered with some “dirty player” labels but for the most part, he’s known for his work on the field and that’s why the Dolphins are paying him a king’s ransom. The defensive line position controls so much about the game of football, and Miami just picked up the most disruptive defensive lineman in the league. The price was high but the Dolphins are banking that their win count will rise as well. Green: The great thing about the NFL is that contracts aren’t guaranteed, because if they were, the Lions would be kicking themselves after the first season of this new mega contract. Suh is a fantastic player but a team simply can’t pay that much money to a player who doesn’t have the ball in his hands all the time. Hundredmillion-plus contracts are for quarterbacks–that’s it. Shelling out that much cash to a defensive lineman doesn’t leave much left to account for the other premier positions like quarterback, wide receiver, pass rusher and cornerback. Miami finished third in the AFC East last year so it isn’t like they’re just one player away. Landing Suh crushed the headlines, but I doubt it’ll be enough to overtake the two teams that finished ahead of them last season, New England and Buffalo. And if paying a guy over $100 million doesn’t automatically make you a favorite in your own division then maybe it was bad money spent. Riley: Considering Buffalo just landed LeSean McCoy and Tom Brady still pilots the New England franchise that’s enough reason for the team to splurge on Suh. Even the New York Jets have made some strides this offseason in commitment to getting better. Having that defensive chess piece across the ball is going to elevate Miami’s defense in so many ways. And yes, it is a good thing that NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed, making Suh’s signing an even more genius one. Miami could easily get all they want out of Suh over the next few years then restructure his deal if they have to or cut him altogether. Suh, however, is dominant enough that he
It Was Only a Dream This past weekend I found myself among a host of friends. We were at Arlington for the interment of a departed friend, Commander Stanley Carter. Stanley was a classmate of my wife, and one of the early African-American entrants at the Naval Academy. There was enough Naval brass at this event to storm the beaches at Normandy. After the event, there was the usual social gathering which gave the out-of-towners the opportunity to visit with old classmates. My wife’s high school classmates have remained friends over the years, and I have been fortunate enough to share this friendship. One of the ladies asked me if I had retired because she hasn’t seen my work in the paper recently. This opened the discussion on the life and times of Sam Lacy (my current project). I had no idea so many friends found this work worthwhile and amusing. I have said this many times in the past, “I am techno stupid.” If I turn on my computer and Sam Lacy something is awry, I call on my 12-year-old computer tech, Maddie. So, with this in mind, I attempted to explain that my column can be found online. Then came the question, “How do I find it?” All I could do was stand there and grin. This question was right in my wheelhouse because Jake (AFRO publisher) took a minute to explain it to me. After explaining that the work can be found at AFRO.com, I was done. However, after discovering this interest and with that kind of support I will carry on with the story of Sam Lacy. On many occasion, he would wander off into a tale of his early life or childhood. He once told me of the time he lost his bike. Finding his bike missing, he set out on a search to find it. After checking the usual place, he searched the backyard, the woodshed and the garage where Aunt Rachel kept her car. He was not willing to accept the fact that the bike might have been stolen so he went to his buddy’s house to check. He and his buddy Nijji were joined at the hip, and spent most of their free time together, and this included riding their bikes. They once set out to ride to Baltimore, but fatigue and better judgment pointed out that this was not a good idea. His searching efforts were futile at Nijji’s house, so he collected Nijji and they ventured out together. It was suggested that Sam’s older brother (Erskine) may have borrowed the bike so they went to Duke’s (Duke Ellington) house to find Erskine. Duke was Erskine’s buddy, and they were often together, but not that day. After checking more of the obvious places, they were tired and decided to return to their respective homes. Upon finding his bike under the porch where he always kept it, Sam realized that there was something wrong with this picture. It was then that he woke up. It was all a dream. This whole story has a familiar ring to it. It has happened to me, and I am sure some of you can relate. could sustain a high level of play for years to come. It’s the ultimate win-win situation for the Dolphins and they’ll come away as a better team than they’ve been in previous seasons. Green: If Miami was just looking for a player to spend a large amount of money on before releasing him then
maybe they should’ve gone after some of the high-profile offensive free agents or even swung for a trade. I just don’t understand what Miami is doing. That type of free agent acquisition should put a team over the top, but we can’t even say definitively that the Dolphins will even make the postseason next year. Suh is a great player but he nearly missed his team’s lone playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys this January after a stomping incident the week prior. Availability is a big trait and there’s nothing more antagonizing than a great player missing time due to bone-headed mistakes on the field. Suh’s still combustible and untrustworthy. If I’m a franchise and I’m signing over those type of checks I want some more reassurance from the player I’m paying. There’s still so many question marks surrounding this deal that they make me think the Lions knew what they were doing by dividing most of their big money to their core offensive guys in Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.
March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015, The Afro-American
FAITH
B7
New Shiloh’s Been Praying Early in the Morning for 25 Years By Pam Widgeon Special to the AFRO It has been said that New Shiloh Baptist Church has always been a praying church, and to attest to that fact, the church is celebrating its 25th year of ongoing 6 a.m. prayer on March 31. “Early morning prayer has had broad impact over its 25 year history. It has given the church a daily means of worship whereby Sunday no longer has to be the sole or only day for worship,” said the Rev. Dr. Harold A. Carter Jr., New Shiloh’s pastor. “It has afforded any number of attendees to grow spiritually ever appreciating the reality of prayer in their lives and the lives of others who attend. Praise reports/testimonies have been a constant result of its effectiveness,” Rev. Carter said, adding that “Great relationships have also developed as prayer partners and or prayer groups, or cells have emerged.” When The Rev. Dr. Harold A. Carter Sr. became the church’s third pastor in 1965, he brought with him an appreciation for prayer and over the years incorporated that appreciation into the evolving vision for the church, according to the current pastor, his son. Such services and opportunities for prayer were maintained or initiated like: the traditional Wednesday evening prayer meeting service, a monthly Prayer Breakfast, a weekly Friday Noon prayer service, the idea and implementation of the Sacred Prayer Urn and the senior Rev. Carter’s seminal book, “The Prayer Tradition of Black People.” When the new church building was constructed, the late Rev. Carter ministered in Seoul, Korea for the Baptist World Alliance and shared at Yoido Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God) with Pastor David Youni Cho. That church, during its height in the 1980’s had what was known as Prayer Mountain, as well as Prayer Cells that met each morning, all over Seoul. There were more than 800,000 members involved at one point. Without a doubt, given the senior Rev. Carter’s belief and interest in prayer and even his being known by some of his colleagues as “Dr. Quick Prayer” that the daily Prayer Mountain movement helped to influence New Shiloh’s daily Early Morning Prayer Service. Deacon Howard Lyles, a retired warden of the Maryland Penitentiary and an active member of New Shiloh has been leader of the Prayer Ministry since its inception. He drives 24 miles one way from his home every day to attend the Early Morning Prayer. “There is a void in my life if I don’t make it to early morning prayer,” Deacon Lyles said. The Prayer Ministry team members are known as prayer warriors and work closely with Deacon Lyles at 6 a.m. prayer. New Shiloh members and people from all walks of life can be seen any morning in the Harold A. Carter Chapel, 365 days of the year on their knees or sitting in the pews praying, seeking communication with God. There have been as many as 300 or more on special occasions and never fewer than 25 can be seen every day. Today, many churches locally and nationally have incorporated the same prayer discipline into their ministries. The format may vary according to their individuality, but the concept/ vision can be attributed to their being inspired by New Shiloh Baptist Church. The longevity of New Shiloh’s 25 years of early morning prayer coincides with the congregation’s march from its former location at Fremont Avenue and Lanvale Street to its present site on the corner of Monroe Street and Clifton Avenue. Rev. Carter said, “It would be hard to find another such ministry or movement, locally that can attest to 25 years of daily prayer without exception of at least “2 or 3 gathered together, touching and agreeing in Jesus’ name,” regardless of holiday or weather.
Courtesy PND Photography
The Rev. Dr. Harold A. Carter Jr. greets prayer ministry leader, Deacon Howard Lyles after closing prayer.
Baltimore Pastor’s Book Links the Physical to the Spiritual Lisa Snowden-McCray Special to the AFRO Baltimore – Baltimore pastor, motivational speaker and fitness coach Drew Kyndall Ross believes that good physical fitness can help believers better serve God. “Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and God lives there,” he said. “Why then would we want God to live somewhere that is unhealthy?” He has written a book titled “Overcome: A 90 Day Jump Start to Developing a Healthy Lifestyle”, that he says will help Christians get right on the outside, as well as on the inside. The book, due out in April, is part Drew Kyndall Ross devotional, part healthy living guide. “If God is using us but we are unhealthy and can’t do it to the best of our ability, then God is not getting the best out of us,” he said. Ross began his own journey toward better physical fitness in 2013. He was 350 pounds and, unbeknownst to his congregation at Resurrection Church, he was sick often.
Although he had been heavy since childhood, he knew he had to make his health a priority. “One thing I found out was that if I didn’t give attention to my health, then nothing else I was doing was going to matter.” Ross says it wasn’t easy losing weight. He was not successful until he came to a realization about himself. “My lack of discipline in my eating was also a spiritual issue,” he said. “It showed me I had no discipline in my personal life. The two are connected. I cannot be spiritually healthy and lack discipline every day when I sit down to have a meal. I have to control my spirit and my flesh.” He has learned that he has to go to the gym first, before he does anything else – even if that means going at 5am to make a 9am flight. He also learned to cut fast food out of his diet. He makes healthy meals on Sundays and puts them into healthy portions so that he can grab them quickly throughout the week. He said that members of his congregation approved of his weight loss and encouraged him along the way. As he lost more weight, members even began asking for tips. Soon, other pastors and their first ladies were asking for tips, too. Ross said that the book helps readers learn health tips and set goals. He said the information comes from his own experiences, plus input from experts. “Most of the book is a combination between what I’ve learned and in addition to that working with a fitness coach and trainer as I developed my strategies.” He said that he made 90 days the goal because it’s a long enough time period to establish healthy habits – and even learn from mistakes. “Most of the time, we can’t commit if it’s only 20 days. When you can survive 90 days, you can take that and put it into practice. After the first three months of doing my routine, I never looked back to some of the other stuff that I was doing.” Learn more about Ross, including how to get his book at www. drewkyndallross.com.
B8
The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
Unified Voices of Johns Hopkins to Present ‘Dischord in the Choir’ addicted to crack cocaine after running with the wrong crowd. Through ministry and song, this production illustrates how addiction can be overcome. DisChord in The Choir features a powerful cadre of some of Baltimore’s most talented musicians, singers, actors, actresses, and other performers. Founded in 1993, Unified Voices is a gospel choir that consists of a diverse group of individuals with different personalities, lifestyles, and backgrounds working together to bridge the gap between the medical institution and the historic East Baltimore community. Under the direction of Dr. Branch, who is executive director and co-founder, the Choir has remained goodwill ambassadors by singing songs of hope, health and healing through harmony at Hopkins. Dr. Branch has also directed multiple stage play productions including A Raisin in The Sun, Dreamgirls, Spelling Bee, Steel Magnolias, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Little Shop of Horrors. Dr. Branch also serves as the Director of (Courtesy Photos)
Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, director and Ursula V. Battle, playwright. Unified Voices of Johns Hopkins University will present Ursula V. Battle’s DisChord in The Choir, the gospel stage play musical production being directed by Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, March 27-29, in Turner Auditorium, located in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Ross Research Building, 720 Rutland Ave. in Baltimore. Baltimore gospel singing group Serenity and WEAA 88.9 FM Gospel Grace on-air personality Ernestine Jones will be performing in the production. The production is inclusive of soul-stirring singing, sidesplitting comedy, gripping drama, and powerful ministry. The play’s riveting storyline centers around the dramatic chain of events that follow the sudden death of The United in Victory Tabernacle on the Hill Freewill Baptist Catholic and Episcopal Church of God’s longtime musician, Dr. William Nelson Madison III. Following the death of Dr. Madison, The choir can’t quite sing right, the ushers can’t quite march right, and the church’s Pastor - Rev. Right Just, no longer has the legendary musician on the organ to accompany his sermons. The production also touches on addiction – particularly the struggle of a youngster named “Junior Jacobs” who becomes
“Serenity” will be singing in the production. Health and Human Services of Baltimore County. Playwright Ursula V. Battle is a journalist and CEO of Battle Stage Plays. The return of DisChord in The Choir is an updated version of the highly successful original show that debuted in 2008. In addition to DisChord in The Choir, Battle’s stage play productions include The Teachers’ Lounge and The Crown of Glory & The Agony of Deceit, and FOR BETTER OR FOR WOR$E.
Ernestine Jones of WEAA 88.9 FM’s Gospel Greats will be performing Performance times are 7 p.m., March 27; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., March 28 and 5 p.m., March 29. Tickets are $15 in advance and $25 at the door. For additional information or tickets call Unified Voices at (410) 955-8888, or send an email to uvofjhmi@aol.com or visit www.unifiedvoices.com. You can also call Battle Stage Plays at (443) 531-4787 or visit www.battlestageplays.com.
The Reader’s Corner
Fate’s Destiny
Kyle S. Taylor • Release Date: Dec. 1, 2014
Kyle S. Taylor is a 2001 graduate of Loyola Blakefield High School in Towson, Md., and graduated from Morgan State University in 2005 with a B.A. in English/Journalism. He has a professional background in communications and journalism, and has had articles published in several newspapers including The Baltimore Sun, The Afro American Newspaper, The Baltimore Times, and The Baltimore Business Journal. His debut novel “Fate’s Destiny” is currently available as an e-book on Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo Books. The paperback is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-AMillion. Find out more about Kyle and his book on his blog www.kylestaylor.blogspot.com.
What was the impetus for writing this book? The main plot of this book came to me many years ago. It revolves around God being in dismay at the state of the world and debating destroying it. Instead mankind is given one last chance, with its fate put in the hands of three individuals who are tested, and have no clue that they are essentially on trial for the sins of the world. I felt that it was an original and unique story, and one that could also be both entertaining and enlightening. What’s the overall theme? Choice. Many of the characters in the book are confronted with an issue—either an internal one, or an external decision they must make. Their choices play a huge role in determining their personal fate as well as mankind’s fate.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR ‘Life Happens…But You Can Finish’ Official launches for “Life Happens” are 7 to 9 p.m., March 27 at Community of Hope AME Church, Iverson Mall Shopping Center, Temple Hills, Md. and 3 p.m., March 29 at The Palisades at Arundal Preserve, 7694 Dorchester Boulevard in Hanover, Md. Edited by the Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper and Pam Love, “Life Happens” tells the trials, triumphs and truths of 12 amazing finishers who shared their stories to encourage others. They will talk about what they call the “science of finishing” at each of these events. Tickets are available on eventbrite.com. More information is available on Rev. Draper’s Facebook page. Read FIVE books and win FREE Orioles Tickets From now until April 1, The Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Baltimore Orioles are launching the Tom Clancy Reading Club. Children thru fifth grade can register any Pratt Library location in Baltimore. For more information on the Tom Clancy Reading Club visit www.prattlibary.org.
What surprised you about the development of the book? I was surprised at how many changes I applied to different scenes and characters from my initial concept. The initial concept of the main characters is vastly different than the final version that appears in the book, though the main plot itself didn’t change much. What one thing do you want the reader to remember forever? After reading this, I would wish for the reader to remember that life is all about choices, and that every day we wake up, we make a choice of determining the person we want to be. The choice you make today may positively or negatively affect the person you will be tomorrow. What did you learn during the writing process? I learned the difficulty in describing a scene in detail as it’s shaped in your mind. You only have words to use to describe whatever emotion and tension is present, and that is easier said than done at times. Any advice for aspiring writers? If I could give advice to any aspiring writer, it would be to hone your craft. Write on a regular basis and constantly work at becoming better. Read as often as possible. And edit, edit, EDIT! What’s next on the horizon for you? Next on the horizon for me is a follow up to this novel, as well as a few short stories. Hopefully these can be published at different points throughout 2015. Meet Kyle Taylor at a book signing, 2 to 4 p.m., April 11 at St. Ignatius Loyola Academy, 300 E. Gittings Street, in Baltimore. Mother Goose on the Loose On March 27 the Village Learning Place will host the Mother Goose on the Loose story time at 10:30am. The Village Learning Place is located at 2521 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. For a full list of upcoming events, visit www.villagelearningplace.com. REDWOOD: Base on a True Story Join the author of REDWOOD, A. Rod Womack, 6:30 p.m., March 25 for a book signing. Books will be available for purchase and signing. The author’s event will take place at the Enoch Pratt Library, 4330 Edmondson Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland. Contact Vern Goff at emeraldcitycomm@aol.com or (202) 262-1786 for more information. Annual Founder’s Day Awards The Lambda Kappa MU Sorority, Iota Chapter is hosting their Annual Founder’s Day Awards Luncheon on March 28 at 12 noon at the Forum Caterers, 4210 Primrose Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland. Subscriptions are $50.00. For tickets, contact Dorothy Stone at (410) 254-3087. Road to Success Scholarship Program Announced by University The University of Phoenix is offering 40 full- tuition scholarships to individual making a difference within the African American Community. The application period is open until March. To learn more visit www.phoenix.edu/dream.
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CITY OF BALTIMORE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC NOTICE The Baltimore City Department of Transportation is applying for Federal Transit Administration and Maryland Transit Administration financial assistance to support the continuation of the Ridesharing/Commuter Assistance Program for Baltimore City. The Rideshare Program Coordinator in Baltimore City will work with local and regional agencies to provide ride matching, vanpool assistance, and regional transportation to employees commuting to Baltimore City. The primary local target market includes Baltimore City and five surrounding counties: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard. Written comments concerning this application will be considered in the preparation of a final application. Comments should be submitted by Friday, March 27, 2015 to the Baltimore City Rideshare Program to the attention of Tierra Brown at 417 E. Fayette Street, 5th Floor, Room 559, and Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Upon receiving a sufficient number of requests, a public hearing will be conducted on Friday, April 24th, 2015. William M. Johnson TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:00:03 EDT 2015 Director, Department of Transportation CITY OF BALTIMORE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NOTICE OF LETTING Sealed Bids or Proposals, in duplicate addressed to the Board of Estimates of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and marked for BALTIMORE CITY NO.TR15012; RESURFACING HIGHWAYS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS, NORTHWEST, SECTOR II will be received at the Office of the Comptroller, Room 204 City Hall, Baltimore, Maryland until 11:00 A.M. April 8, 2015. Positively no bids will be received after 11:00 A.M. Bids will be publicly opened by the Board of Estimates in Room 215, City Hall at Noon. The Contract Documents may be examined, without charge, at the Department of Public Works Service Center located on the first floor of the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, 200 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 as of March 13, 2015 and copies may be purchased for a nonrefundable cost of $75.00. Conditions and requirements of the Bid are found in the bid package. All contractors bidding on this Contract must first be prequalified by the City of Baltimore Contractors Qualification Committee. Interested parties should call (410) 396-6883 or contact the Committee at Room 634, Charles L. Benton Bldg. , 417 E. Fayette St., Baltimore, Maryland 21202 . If a bid is submitted by a joint venture (”JV”), then in that event, the document that established the JV shall be submitted with the bid for verification purposes. The Prequalification Category required for bidding on this project is A02602 (Bituminous Concrete Paving) and D02620 (Curbs, Gutters & Sidewalk). Cost Qualification Range for this work shall be $1,000,000.00 to $3,000,000.00. A ”Pre-Bidding Information” session will be conducted at 10:00 A.M. on March 27, 2015 at 417 East Fayette Street, Room 722, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Principal Items of work for this project are -Removal of HMA 0-3” 43,730 SY and Hot Mix Asphalt Superpave Surface Various Types 6,790 TON. The MBE goal is 20%; WBE goal is 7% APPROVED: Bernice H. Taylor, Clerk TYPESET: Wed Mar 18 13:22:25 EDT 2015 Board of Estimates YOUR CITY, YOUR BUDGET April 14, 2015; 6 to 8PM War Memorial Building (101 N Gay St) Join the Bureau of the Budget and Management Research for the City´s first-ever 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 2016. This event will be followed by the Taxpayer Night Hearing, where citizens are encouraged to share their views on the budget with the Baltimore City Board of Estimates. Questions? Contact Kirsten.Silveira@baltimorecity.gov. TYPESET: Wed Mar 18 13:19:42 EDT 2015 City of Baltimore Department of Finance Bureau of Purchases
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Sealed proposals addressed to the Board of Estimates of Baltimore will be received until, but not later than 11:00a.m. local time on the following date(s) for the stated requirements: TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:40:25 EDT 2015 LEGAL NOTICES April 1, 2015 *CONVENTIONAL CAB AIR COMPRESSOR TRUCK B50003988 IN THE CIRCUIT April 15, 20015 COURT FOR BALTIMORE CITY *LABORATORY SERVICES-LEAD TESTING Case No.: B50003873 24D15000363 *ROLL-OFF CONTAINERS REHAB & REIN THE MATTER OF PAIR B50003957 Nadjah Monet Rivers FOR CHANGE OF THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION DOCUMENT NAME TO CAN BE VIEWED AND DOWN LOADED BY Nyja Monet Rivers VISITING THE CITY’S WEB SITE: BY AND THROUGH www.baltimorecitibuy.org HIS/HER TYPESET: Wed Mar 18 13:19:21 EDT 2015 MOTHER/FATHER/ GUARDIAN Craig L and Dana M Research to test the usefulness of Isradipine in slowing the effects of Rivers Parkinson Disease NOTICE The above Petitioner has The Parkinson Study Group is conducting a study about Parkinson Disease filed a Petition for Change of (PD). The study will take place at many locations around the United States Name in which he/she seeks to change the name of a mi- and Canada, including at the University of Maryland. We will be using a drug nor child from Nadjah Monet called isradipine in this study.Isradipine is a medication approved for the Rivers to Nyja Monet Rivers. treatment of high blood pressure by the Food and Drug Administration The petitioner is seeking this name change for the child for (FDA). Isradipine is not approved for PD at this time. There is some proof that Isradipine may slow the advance of PD by protecting important nerve the following reasons: (Name was recorded in- cells in the brains of animals. This study will look at the effect of isradipine in correctly at birth.) people. Any person may file an objection the the Petition on or be- For this study we are looking for patients who have been diagnosed with PD fore the 2nd day of April, but who haven’t yet had medicine for their PD symptoms. This study is being 2015. The objection must be conducted under a research grant award from the National Institute of supported by an affidavit and Neurological Disorders and Stroke.To learn more about the STEADY-PD served upon the Petitioner in accordance with Maryland III isradipine study, please visit http://www.STEADYPD3.com. You can Rule 1-321. Failure to file an also contact a member of your local study team at the University of objection or affidavit within Maryland: Samantha Gibson (410-328-4349 ).
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The Afro-American, March 21, 2015 - March 27, 2015
Is ‘white’ the only color of success? A tribute to Alice Augusta Ball: a scientist whose work with leprosy was overshadowed by a white successor. By Marsha Rose Joyner Special to the AFRO.
T
he world is regularly misled by the way history is written which is often a fraud. The colonizer will redefine the “local culture” and romanticize it for a feel good purpose. History is supposed to provide knowledge of the larger context within which our lives take place. By understanding the reality of the people who came before us, we can see why we look at the world the way we do, and what our contribution is toward further progress. Since the winner writes history, that is usually White males and in English. Therefore we have come to understand that so much of our history is invisible. Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina’s Catholic Church said the United States needed to reexamine its soul and confront racism. “The country’s long history of institutional racism still lingered, despite the advances of the past century, because racism is in the DNA of America,” Father Pfleger said. To cover the failures, we need only forget the past. Once people are firmly entrenched in the luminal existence of living for the moment, the past becomes almost as seemingly inconsequential for them as the future. In 1977, University of Hawaii professor Dr. Kathryn Takara was beginning her research on Black women in Hawaii when she came across the name of Alice Augusta Ball. “Bit by bit, I began to uncover information about her,” Takara recalled. When Takara began her research about Ball, she realized how little information there was about the Black scholar. “I had to dig really hard for it,” she said. Upon Ball’s untimely death, University of Hawaii president, Dr. Arthur Lyman Dean, continued Ball’s research. He became the namesake of the “Dean Method” and was credited with the discovery of chaulmoogra oil. “She (Ball) really did all the research,” Takara said. “The Ball Method became his method.” Dean Hall on the University of Hawaii campus was named after him, and Ball was forgotten. Beverly Mendheim, an aficionado of Hawaii’s history, was also wondering why she never heard of Alice Augusta Ball. “But after browsing through the Internet, I discovered a story that needs to be told, for Hawaii” Mendheim continued. James Presley Ball Sr. a respected 19th century photographer. Ball Sr. resided briefly in Montana, and then moved his family to Seattle where Alice was born on July 24, 1892. She was the third of four children to James Presley Ball Jr., an attorney and his wife Laura. The family lived in Seattle until 1902, when they moved to Hawaii. They lived in downtown Honolulu, first on Fort Street, then on Nu’uanu Avenue, walking distance to the Iolani Palace and “Washington Place,” the residence of Queen Lili’uokalani.
Dr. Kathryn Takara
Alice Augusta Ball
University of Hawaii president, Dr. Arthur Lyman Dean continued Ball’s research after her death. Alice and her sister Adelaide, attended school at Central Grammar (now Central Intermediate), the former site of Hale Keoua, the residence of Princess Ruth Ke’elikolani. When her grandfather, James P Ball Sr. died, Alice and her family moved back to the mainland where she attended high school in Seattle. Alice Ball graduated with undergraduate degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry in 1912 and science in 1914, both from the University of Washington She was offered two scholarships in the master’s program—the University of California, Berkeley, and the College of Hawaii (now UH). She chose the latter, perhaps because she was familiar with the Islands. Ball returned to Oahu where she attended the College of Hawaii [Now University of Hawai’i] as its first graduate student. It is safe to say Alice was a brilliant self-assured young woman. Travelling 2,600 miles alone across the ocean to go to the University of Hawaii at a time when women hardly ventured to town alone. Having attended elementary school in Hawaii, she probably had made many friends on
Oahu. She was not only the first Black student to receive a master’s from the institute, but she was also the first Black woman to graduate with that distinction. “At the College, Alice met Dr. Hollman, acting director of the leprosy clinic in Kalihi, the initial check off point before relocation to Kalaupapa, Moloka’i.” Beverly Mendheim
The Ball family home in Hawaii.
wrote. “Alice’s thesis focused mainly on the awa root, (also called kava). Ball was attempting to extract its active ingredients when Dr. Hollman suggested she also investigate chaulmoogra oil (from the tree native to India). She isolated the ethyl ester of chaulmoogra oil which, when injected, proved extremely effective on leprosy symptoms,” Mendheim continued. “Her chemistry professors were so impressed that upon graduation in June, 1915, she was assigned to teach chemistry at the College. By all accounts, she was the first woman to teach any science at the University of Hawaii.” In 1916 WWI broke out and everyone in Hawaii had to learn how to use a gas mask. While giving a demonstration to her class, Alice inhaled chlorine gas, used for chemical warfare. She returned to Seattle for medical treatment and returned to Hawaii in the fall to resume teaching. However, the side effects were so severe that she had to return to Seattle in October where, on Dec. 31, 1916 at the tender age of 24, Alice died. Her obituary appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin Jan. 1, 1917 where she was remembered by students and faculty as “helpful, cheery, patient, yet optimistic.” Thanks in part to the exceptional work of Dr. Takara, On Feb. 29, 2000; the University of Hawaii honored the accomplished young woman with a plaque by the chaulmoogra tree that still stands on campus. Lt. Governor, now Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii named Feb. 29th “Alice Ball Day.” The chemist is now celebrated every four years. In 2007, Alice Ball was awarded posthumously with the University of Hawaii’s Regents’ Medal of Distinction. “It’s quite the prestigious award,” Takara said. Despite Ball’s recent recognition, many believe that more should be done. Students and faculty alike have talked about renaming Dean Hall to Ball Hall. Dr. Takara remains positive that Ball will soon get her due respect. W.E.B. Du Bois, an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author and editor identified “white supremacy” as a global phenomenon, affecting the social conditions across the world by means of colonialism. His cause included people of color everywhere, particularly Africans and Asians in their struggles against colonialism and imperialism. “In the first three decades of the 20th Century, American corporate philanthropy combined with prestigious academic fraud to create the pseudoscience eugenics that institutionalized race politics as national policy. The goal: create a superior, white, Nordic race and obliterate the viability of everyone else.’ – “War Against the Weak” by Edwin Black Black Americans have been making contributions to America from the start, but like countless other Americans whose achievements have altered and enriched our lives, these Black Americans remain unknown. It’s important, to point out their contributions because too often people don’t realize that Black Americans have been making contributions to our country from its inception.