Baltimore Afro American Newspaper March 14 2015

March 14, 2015 - March 14, 2015, The Afro-American

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Volume 123 No. 32

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MARCH 14, 2015 - MARCH 20, 2015

Signs of Movement on Marijuana Issue in Annapolis

By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO

The Obama family join hands as they begin the march with the foot soldiers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson

Selma, Ala.: Obama Proves that He is ‘Black Enough’

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

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Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Barack Obama was dogged by one question: Is he Black enough? The question was repeated so often that after showing up late for an appearance at the 2008 annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Las Vegas, Obama said, “I want to apologize for being late, but you guys keep asking whether I am Black enough.”

After a 33-minute speech Saturday in Selma, Ala. commemorating the Selma to Montgomery March and passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, nobody was asking: Is Barack Obama Black enough?

President Obama rarely discussed the issue of race in his first six years in office except in

Maryland could soon see a stronger marijuana decriminalization law. It seems well on the path to outright legalization (though perhaps not this session), if the tone of last week’s Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing on a slate of marijuana bills is any indication.

Senate Bill 456 establishes medical necessity as an affirmative defense against a marijuana possession charge and requires the court to dismiss the charges under these circumstances. Senate Bill 517 extends decriminalization to all amounts of marijuana, and Senate Bill 531 creates a legal marketplace for marijuana in Maryland. The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee heard all three bills simultaneously on March 4.

Sen. Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chair of Judicial Proceedings and sponsor of the two of the bills, scheduled these items ahead of the 14 others to be heard that day, providing ample time for those who came to testify in marked contrast to the scheduling of the criminal justice bills heard earlier this session.

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Mayor’s State of the City Address

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State of the City is Strong ... Some Ask for Whom?

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By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO

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Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in her annual State of the City Address, on March 9 touted sharp decreases in Baltimore’s unemployment rate, more businesses moving into or staying in the area, decreases in the homicide rate, and development across the city as accomplishments. However, community advocates raised questions about who exactly is benefiting from the city’s growth, and whether there is sufficient focus on the city’s most vulnerable.

“The state of our city is strong,” said Rawlings-Blake towards the conclusion of her speech. “We are growing Baltimore and I plan to

The Mayor said Baltimore saw a 10 percent drop in homicides in 2014, a one-third drop in unemployment since she took office, a 50 percent decline in the high school drop-out rate over the past five years, and an improved credit rating from Standard – Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake & Poor’s.

Rawlings-Blake also rolled out a number of new proposals. These We’re building new recreation centers and included a plan to sell city-owned parking garages schools. We’re ensuring our children are healthy. We’re creating more jobs and economic to private owners to fund new recreation centers, activity. We’re growing small businesses and and a mentorship effort in the vein of President promoting entrepreneurship, we’re taking back Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative. our vacant properties one by one, and making our She also proposes expanding the Baltimore for communities stronger.”

Continued on A5 keep that momentum going. We are building on a strong fiscal foundation. We’re making Baltimore safer. We’re restoring public trust in government.

“We are growing Baltimore and I plan to keep that momentum going.”

Congressional Resolution Event to Mark Famed Singer Introduced to Honor 50th Billie Holiday’s 100th Birthday Anniversary of Civil Rights Marches Lisa Snowden-McCray Special to the AFRO

By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO Amid commemorations of the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a bipartisan resolution celebrating the Selma marches has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Led by U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), the resolution calls for the issuance of a postage stamp to commemorate the 1965 civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. Beatty was joined by over 102 of her colleagues as original co-sponsors of the resolution, including Reps. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), and Will Hurd (R-Texas).

“This resolution highlights a pivotal movement in America’s history, the Selma Voting Rights March, that brought together Americans to march from Selma to Montgomery 50 years ago. They marched with a truth – that all Americans share the same rights,” said Beatty. “Out of these efforts we passed the Voting Rights Act, a pivotal law that helped many obtain the right to vote.”

Beatty said discrimination at the voting booths prevented the vast majority of African Americans from registering to vote. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) led a series of demonstrations and on Feb. 17, protester Continued on A5

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An event highlighting the life and work of jazz legend and Baltimore native Billie Holiday, from 5:30-8 p.m. April 7, will commemorate what would have been her 100th birthday. The presentation and activities will be held at the Leonard E. Hicks Multipurpose Community Center, located at 2718 West North Ave. in Baltimore.

“Billie was really loved here,” said Marvin L. ‘Doc’ Cheatham Sr., who is organizing the event with the Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association. “We were a really strong jazz city.”

The group created a special video of Holiday’s performances and a presentation about her life. Posters and a wax figure of the singer from the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore will also be on display.

Holiday got her start on the Chitlin’ Bing.com Continued on A5

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

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Erica Morales died shortly after giving birth to three girls and a boy.

An Arizona father was left to raise his four newborns alone after his wife died shortly after delivering the babies.

Erica Morales, 36, of Phoenix gave birth to three girls and a boy, all two months premature, via cesarean section in the late night hours of Jan. 15, according to People magazine.

But the first-time mother began losing a significant amount of blood, and died shortly thereafter, in the early morning hours of Jan. 16.

“I went from having the best day of my life to the next morning experiencing the worst day of my life,” her husband, 29-year-old Carlos Morales, told People. “My four babies came into the world and then my wife died.”

The children, Carlos Jr., Tracey, Paisley, and Erica, were all reportedly healthy.

In the wake of his wife’s death, Morales has been taking baby-caring classes at a local hospital to prepare for fatherhood.

“I’m learning everything from how to give them a bath, CPR, feeding, and how to manage their sleep schedule,” Morales told the magazine. “I need to be prepared.

Everything I do now is for my children.”

Morales said he found a note in his wife’s iPad containing goals for her children to accomplish in life, including attending college, speaking both English and Spanish, and obtaining good jobs.

“I will try my hardest to make sure that happens,” Morales told People.

A family friend has created a GoFundMe account to raise money for Morales and his children.

12-Yr.-Old Black Conservative: Facebook Acct. Froze Due to Support of Obama Critic Giuliani

Facebook Photo

C.J. Pearson says his Facebook account was frozen after he posted a video criticizing Obama.

A 12-year-old Black conservative youth from Georgia said he was booted off Facebook after he posted a YouTube video defending former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s questioning of President Obama’s patriotism.

C.J. Pearson, founder and executive director of Young Georgians in Government, gained much notoriety after his video was posted late last month. The video has garnered more than 1.7 million views, his public Facebook account has more than 24,000 likes—a 164 percent increase from the last week of February—and he has appeared on Fox News.

“I just want to applaud Mayor Rudy Giuliani for his comments about President Barack Obama,” Pearson said in the three-minute video. “I definitely do hope that one day other people would get enough guts to speak out against your [Obama’s] downright hatred for this nation.”

Giuliani accused Obama of not loving America due to his allegedly constant criticism of the nation. Pearson echoed

those comments, questioning the president’s approach to dealing with ISIS and other terrorists, and accused the president of stealing from the American people.

Pearson said he believes these comments caused Facebook to freeze his account. However, a Facebook spokesman told the New York Daily News that the move was because of Pearson’s age, since their terms of service require users to be at least 13 years old.

“Due to the fact that approximately 7.5 million kids [under the age of 13] log in to Facebook, I would most definitely have to say the removal of my account was due to partisan politics, rather than actually upholding their actual Terms of Service agreement,” Pearson stated in an e-mail to the Daily News, citing figures from a 2011 Consumer Report. “To me, you either enforce a policy all of the time or not at all.

Freedom of speech is a constitutional right that shouldn’t be hindered by any entity, public or private.”

The seventh-grader told the Examiner that a friend is posting links to his Facebook page on his behalf until he turns 13 in July.

The young politician-in-training has been using his Facebook page to drum up support for legislation he authored that would lower the eligibility age to serve in the Georgia House and Senate. The General Assembly, this term, introduced a resolution commending Pearson for his work.

Carson: Being Gay a Choice, Prison Proves

Wikimedia Commons

Ben Carson’s comments during a CNN interview drew fire after he said he believed that being gay is a choice.

Ben Carson, the world-renowned surgeon and prospective GOP presidential candidate, recently said that being gay is a choice and cited incarceration to back up his theory.

In a Mar. 4 interview, CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked Carson whether being gay is a choice. Carson responded, “absolutely.”

“Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight—and when they come out, they’re gay,” Carson said.

“So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.”

Cuomo questioned Carson’s logic, pointing out that “most gay people never go to prison and you know there’s a whole theory of dominance [in jail].”

Carson then asked Cuomo whether he was denying the validity of his statements.

“I’m not denying that’s true,” Cuomo responded, “but I’m denying that’s a basis of understanding sexuality. A lot of people go into jail a drug addict and come out a criminal.

Does that mean all drug addicts are criminals?”

The argument stemmed from a debate over whether the rights of gay individuals to get married were being denied under the Equal Protection Act. Carson reiterated his positon that marriage equality and race-based discrimination were two totally separate issues. Carson has said he supports domestic partner relationships as long as it “does not require changing the definition of marriage.” He also said he believes that the issue of same-sex marriage should be decided at the state level, rather than by the federal government.

Many in the medical community disagreed with Carson’s statements on homosexuality being a choice.

“Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors,” the American Psychological Association stated on its website. “Many think that nature and nurture both play complex roles; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation.”

Carson’s earlier comments regarding homosexuality also drew fire. In a 2013 Fox News interview, he said that legalizing marriage would pave the way for legal bestiality and pedophilia. He later apologized, claiming his comments were taken out of context, according to Politico.

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 14, 2015

March 14 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American

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Michael Johnson, Longtime Baltimore City Community Activist Loses Home in Blaze

By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO For 35 years, Michael Eugene Johnson has served Baltimore City as an activist and advocate for the homeless and the community, as well as a candidate for public office.

But on March 2, an explosion in Johnson’s kitchen ignited a fire that destroyed his home in Eutaw Place and 59 years of memories, including a treasured art collection and a book manuscript.

Even as he works to get back on his feet, Johnson continues to think first of the

people of Baltimore.

“Whatever somebody would assist me with would be great, just so I can get back on my feet monetarily, and the other end would be, anything else, I would want them to donate to other people who are as less fortunate as I am,” said Johnson. “If you have a blanket, or some pillows, or chairs you were thinking of giving to me, I would prefer [you] to go out and give to some of the homeless people in the street.”

Johnson lost nearly everything in the fire, including his collection of

Marijuana Continued from A1

Sara Love, public policy director for the ACLU Maryland, was first to testify in support of the bills. She noted that in 70 percent of searches conducted by police with smelling marijuana as the probable cause, no drugs were found, suggesting that the claim is often a pretense for search and seizure. By extension, Love argued, laws criminalizing the use or possession of marijuana have become a pretext for otherwise unconstitutional searches that have racially disparate impacts, necessitating the reform of such laws.

Sen. James Brochin (D-Baltimore County) pushed Love on her claim, and asked, if in 30 percent of searches police did find drugs or worse, was it not worth preserving their ability to search. “We have a system in our society where police aren’t just allowed to go in [and search],” said Love. “Is it worth it if [police] search everybody’s houses if they find extra guns and drugs? No, because we have a system of justice. They have to have probable cause to believe that that person is breaking the law.”

When Brochin continued asking if the search results indicated marijuana was a gateway to further illegal activity, Zirkin interrupted stating that Brochin’s teenage daughter, seated behind her father, was shaking her head in disagreement.

The hearing room broke out in laughter, and a lightness of mood underscored the movement that has occurred on the issue of marijuana in Maryland. Though some senators expressed lingering skepticism about the growing body of research showing fewer deleterious effects of marijuana as compared to alcohol, no one forced that particular point.

At one point, Sen. Bob Cassilly (R-Harford County) seemed interested in finding a way to address some of the social consequences marijuana laws have wrought on the state (labor issues related to drug convictions ), even if he would prefer the laws otherwise remain on the books.

If opposition among the committee’s senators seemed tepid, support for the various measures from members of Judicial Proceedings was much more aggressive, with opposition testimony facing some strong headwinds.

When Joseph Cassilly of the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office testified in opposition to legalization, Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County), sponsor of the legalization bill, asked whether alcohol was more addictive than marijuana.

“Look at the scientific studies,” said Cassilly. “I’m not going to give you my personal opinion.”

“All the studies that have been forwarded to us have [found] that [alcohol] is far more addictive. It’s not even close,” Raskin replied.

After Chief David Morris, as a representative of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, asserted that for every study supporters produced to bolster their claims, opponents could produce a study showing the opposite, Zirkin pounced.

“Sen. [Christopher] Shank and I were looking last year high and low for any evidence that decriminalization – not legalization, but decriminalization – had any of the ill-effects that the chiefs stated at their press conference last year,” said Zirkin.

“We found none. I mean literally zero, in any state that when they moved from a criminal sanction to a civil sanction, that there was any of the ill-effects that you’ve said. We asked for the evidence last year and we got nothing. Over the interim, we’ve gotten nothing. And at this point in time, I’ve still got nothing.”

Zirkin then suggested Morris provide whatever data he had available, but the message seemed clear – this debate is guided by data, and the data strongly leans in the direction of passing, at the minimum, a stronger decriminalization bill.

There was no real indication legalization will become a reality this session, but the legislative landscape seems to be tilting in that direction, with strong support, at least in Judicial Proceedings, for further movement away from the criminalization that has been the historic approach towards marijuana in Maryland. ralejandro@afro.com

Michael Eugene Johnson African American art and posters.

“That (collection) will never be recovered. Two of the oldest posters I had were an original ‘Porgy and Bess’ poster, and an original ‘Carmen Jones’ poster,” said Johnson, who also lost his manuscript for a book which he still hopes to release on his

Courtesy Photo

Fire damage in the home Michael Eugene Johnson, who narrowly escaped the blaze caused by an explosion in his kitchen.

60th birthday this Aug. 31, titled “60 Years a Black Man.” Johnson was at home when the explosion occurred, and managed to grab a few articles of clothes before he escaped the house. He said he is grateful to be unharmed and that he can still spend time with his loved ones, noting

that even that devastating fire did not manage to take everything.

“As I was going through some stuff yesterday, one of the things that showed up was a picture of my grandsons.

The frame was melted up, but their picture was still in the [frame].”

For the moment, Johnson is grateful to have family and friends with whom he can stay as he works to restore some measure of normalcy.

“It’s pretty tough to even know which way to go,” said Johnson. “And it’s funny because I’ve helped people get housing, I’ve helped people get food, get jobs, do this, do that, do this, but when it hits you personally you get to a place where you say, ‘well wait a minute, what do I do now?’”

Anyone interested in making a donation to Johnson can do so at Northwestern Senior High School (6900 Park Heights Ave.), Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Donations can also be mailed to 6671 Buckstone Court, Columbia, Md. 21044 (Attention: Michael Eugene Johnson). ralejandro@afro.com

Selma

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reaction to a major racial catastrophe such as the shooting to make America a better place, everyone – Black and White – deaths of Trayvon Martin in Florida and Michael Brown in has an obligation to address America’s unfinished business.

Ferguson, Mo. or the arrest of Harvard University Professor “First and foremost, we have to recognize that one day’s Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for breaking into his own home. commemoration, no matter how special, is not enough. If On Saturday, however, President Obama seemed Selma taught us anything, it’s that our work is never done. comfortable discussing race in public, showing he has a deep The American experiment in self-government gives work and appreciation for the accomplishments of the Civil Rights purpose to each generation. Selma teaches us, as well, that Movement and quoting or referencing the Bible, Black action requires that we shed our cynicism. For when it comes spirituals, James Baldwin, Sojourner Truth, Fannie Lou Hamer, to the pursuit of justice, we can afford neither complacency nor Langston Hughes, the Tuskegee Airmen, Jackie Robinson and despair.” even his favorite hip-hop artist Jay-Z. He said, “If we want to honor the courage of those who While connecting with African Americans, President Obama marched that day, then all of us are called to possess their moral also underscored the significance of civil rights warriors imagination. All of us will need to feel as they did the fierce making America hold true to its creed. urgency of now. All of us need to recognize as they did that “As John [Lewis] noted, there are places and moments in change depends on our actions, on our attitudes, the things we America where this nation’s destiny has been decided. Many teach our children. And if we make such an effort, no matter are sites of war – Concord and Lexington, Appomattox, how hard it may sometimes seem, laws can be passed, and Gettysburg. Others are sites that symbolize the daring of consciences can be stirred, and consensus can be built.”

America’s character – Independence Hall and Seneca Falls, Obama addressed two hot-button issues – the criminal Kitty Hawk and Cape Canaveral,” the president said. justice system and voter disenfranchisement efforts – directly.

“Selma is such a place. In one afternoon 50 years ago, “With such an effort, we can make sure our criminal justice so much of our turbulent history — the stain of slavery and system serves all and not just some. Together, we can raise anguish of civil war; the yoke of segregation and tyranny of the level of mutual trust that policing is built on – the idea that Jim Crow; the death of four little girls in Birmingham; and police officers are members of the community they risk their the dream of a Baptist preacher – all that history met on this lives to protect, and citizens in Ferguson and New York and bridge.”

Cleveland, they just want the same thing young people here He made his comments with the Edmund Pettus Bridge, marched for 50 years ago – the protection of the law. Together, where civil rights marchers were attacked by Alabama State we can address unfair sentencing and overcrowded prisons, Troopers on “Bloody Sunday,” serving as a backdrop. and the stunted circumstances that rob too many boys of the “It was not a clash of armies, chance to become men, and rob but a clash of wills; a contest to the nation of too many men who determine the true meaning of could be good dads, and good America,” Obama said. “And workers, and good neighbors. because of men and women like With effort, we can roll back John Lewis, Joseph Lowery, poverty and the roadblocks to Hosea Williams, Amelia Boynton, opportunity. Americans don’t Diane Nash, Ralph Abernathy, accept a free ride for anybody, C.T. Vivian, Andrew Young, Fred nor do we believe in equality Shuttlesworth, Dr. Martin Luther of outcomes. But we do expect King, Jr., and so many others, the equal opportunity.” idea of a just America and a fair Regarding Republican-led America, an inclusive America, efforts to suppress the Black and a generous America – that and Latino vote, Obama said: President Obama hugs idea ultimately triumphed.”

“Right now, in 2015, 50 years Rep. John Lewis after his President Obama also after Selma, there are laws across introduction. acknowledged the contributions this country designed to make of thousands whose name will it harder for people to vote. As Official White House Photo by Pete Souza never be known to the public yet we speak, more of such laws are played a critical role in securing being proposed. Meanwhile, the the right to vote.

Voting Rights Act, the culmination of so much blood, so much “As is true across the landscape of American history, we sweat and tears, the product of so much sacrifice in the face of cannot examine this moment in isolation. The march on Selma wanton violence, the Voting Rights Act stands weakened, its was part of a broader campaign that spanned generations; the future subject to political rancor.” leaders that day part of a long line of heroes. We gather here to But the problem does not stop there, Obama said. celebrate them. We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary “Of course, our democracy is not the task of Congress Americans willing to endure billy clubs and the chastening rod; alone, or the courts alone, or even the president alone. If every tear gas and the trampling hoof; men and women who despite new voter-suppression law was struck down today, we would the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay true to their still have, here in America, one of the lowest voting rates North Star and keep marching towards justice. among free peoples. Fifty years ago, registering to vote here “They did as Scripture instructed: ‘Rejoice in hope, be in Selma and much of the South meant guessing the number of patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.’ And in the days to jellybeans in a jar, the number of bubbles on a bar of soap. It come, they went back again and again. When the trumpet call meant risking your dignity, and sometimes, your life. sounded for more to join, the people came –- black and white, “What’s our excuse today for not voting? How do we so young and old, Christian and Jew, waving the American flag casually discard the right for which so many fought? How and singing the same anthems full of faith and hope.” do we so fully give away our power, our voice, in shaping President Obama admitted what many, if not most African America’s future? Why are we pointing to somebody else Americans have long accepted as fact – it was through their when we could take the time just to go to the polling places? efforts that other groups obtained their rights. In fact, often We give away our power. “ ahead of Blacks.

Hip-hop artist Jay-Z’s remix of the song, “My President” “Because of what they [protesters] did, the doors of has the popular line: “Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could opportunity swung open not just for black folks, but for walk / Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run / every American,” Obama said. “Women marched through Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly.” those doors. Latinos marched through those doors. Asian In his speech, Obama had his own line that showed he was Americans, gay Americans, Americans with disabilities – they in tune with Jay-Z’s lyrics: “We honor those who walked so we all came through those doors. Their endeavors gave the entire could run. We must run so our children soar.”

South the chance to rise again, not by reasserting the past, but He added, “And we will not grow weary. For we believe in the by transcending the past.” power of an awesome God, and we believe in this country’s sacred The president said in order to be true to those who sacrificed promise.”

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

EDUCATION

Blacks Now Finishing High School at Record Levels

By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – After 30 years of little to no progress, Black youth are completing high school at the highest rates in history.

This is the finding in a new issue brief titled, “Young Black America Part One: High School Completion Rates are at their Highest Ever,” published by the Center for Economic Policy Research, a Washingtonbased think-tank. The report examines Census Bureau data for 20 to 24 year-olds, and compares high school completion rates around the country over the past 30 to 40 years.

“All in all, young blacks have experienced significant gains in high school completion rates during the past 13 years,” the report reads. “Given the importance of educational attainment in determining future wages, higher completion rates should, in theory, translate to higher wages.”

In 1975, Black Americans finished high school at a 75 percent rate, compared to 88 percent for Whites and the overall 86 percent rate.

In 2000, Blacks completed high school at a 14 percent lower rate than their White counterparts. However, by

2013, the Black completion rate rose to 86 percent, its highest-ever level, shrinking the Black-White gap to less than 7 percent.

“I’m a young Black woman and I wanted to answer the question of what’s going on with young Blacks in America,” says

Cherrie Bucknor, a Center for Economic Policy Research assistant and author of the paper. “Sometimes there are too many negative portrayals and negative stereotypes on young Blacks, and I like the fact this was something positive to focus on.”

The gender break down also shows a noteworthy trajectory. In addition to slightly outpacing the rate for Black boys (a trend that holds for all girls, across race), the completion rate for Black

girls is 89 percent, only five points lower than the rate for White girls.

While the gains of Black girls were more gradual, Black boys have experienced a rocky road to improvement in helping close the Black-White high school completion gap.

“The completion rate

for black males followed the same trajectory, but 3 to 8 percentage points lower.

Although black males experienced noticeable gains in completion rates during this century (an increase of 18.1 percent since 2000), their gains were not enough to offset the gains of other groups, leaving noticeable gaps in completion rates between black males and other groups,” the report stated.

“In 2013, the completion

rate for black males (83.5 percent) was 5.9 percentage points lower than black females and 8.8 percentage points lower than white males.”

Regional analysis also shows a different trend.

At 10 percent higher than the national rate for Black students, the West has held the most promise for Black students since 1975. But the other regions have caught up in recent years. As of 2013, Black students in both the Northeast and the West have the highest completion rates (88.2 and 88.1 percent, respectively). Further, all of the regions now have comparable rates for Black students, all within three percentage points of one another.

Although the report does not examine or speculate on causes for this breaks in these trends, Bucknor has a few theories.

“One factor that might be in play is increasing the graduation requirements for students in general, which makes the decision to drop out or stay in school a little bit different than before then,” Bucknor explains, adding that test scores for entering freshmen also been improving. “And since 2000, some of the plausible factors that I’ve read about include declining teenage birth rates…[which] makes them more likely to be in school.”

The teenage birth rate is also at a historic low, particularly for Black teens.

According to 2012 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the maternity rate for Black girls age 15 to 17 has dropped 45 percent since 2000; for 18 and 19-year olds it has dropped 30 percent.

This report is the first part in a series that explores measures of success (or lack thereof) among Black people under 40.

“I feel like there’s a lot of attention on Blacks in general, but I wanted to focus on young Blacks like me,” Bucknor says. “So I’m hoping to look at several issues related to education, jobs, and inequality as a way to answer that question.”

President Obama, First Lady Launch “Let Girls Learn” Initiative

By Jonathan Hunter Special to the AFRO

The Obama administration on March 3 announced plans to help girls across the world receive a secondary education with the Let Girls Learn initiative, a program intended to help nearly 60 million girls from developing countries go to school.

Let Girls Learn began last summer as a United States Agency for International Development effort which drew support from celebrities such as Shonda Rhimes, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Garner, according to Newsweek. The Obama administration said it would build off those existing programs and create more partnerships with other government organizations.

“62 million girls around the world—half of whom are adolescent—are not in school,” the White House said in a statement. “These girls have diminished economic opportunities and are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, early and forced marriage, and other forms of violence.”

In seeking a quality education, girls in countries across the world share a number of issues with their male counterparts.

Challenges include their parents not being able to afford school uniforms, living in war zones or living in a village without adequate resources However, girls face extra hurdles, because in many countries men are expected to be the breadwinners, forcing girls to take a back seat in getting an education. According to the Brookings Institute, in the Central Africa Republic and Afghanistan there are 70 girls in school for every 100 boys. In Chad and Somalia there are 46 girls in school for every 100 boys.

“A good education can lift you from the most humble circumstances into a life you never could have imagined,” first lady Michelle Obama said at a press conference announcing the initiative. “I see myself in these girls. I see our daughters in these girls. I want to use my time and platform as first lady and beyond to make a real impact.”

According to the administration, the new initiative will join with the Peace Corps and work in communities to identify barriers facing adolescent girls from attending schools. With 7,000 volunteers in 60 developing countries, the Peace Corps has already engaged in grassroots efforts side by side with local families.

The Peace Corps will train approximately 650 more volunteers and promote education in 11 countries: Albania, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Georgia, Ghana, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Togo, and Uganda, according to USA Today.

President Obama said he is proud of what the U.S. does to support girls around the world, but that it could do more.

“I’m proud to say that the U.S. already does a great deal to support girls’ education around the world,” Obama said at the press conference. “But what we do, we tend to do quietly. It doesn’t get a lot of publicity.”

March March14, 14, 2015 2015 -- March March 14, 20, 2015, 2015, The The Afro-American Afro-American

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Alma Roberts’ ‘Chapter Two: Artistic Evolution’

Jannette J. Witmyer Special to the AFRO

The title of Alma Roberts’ exhibition, “Chapter Two: Artistic Evolution,” implies that her foray into painting is her life’s second chapter. If that’s the case, given all that she’s accomplished, then chapter one is a real doozy.

As a matter of fact, the highly respected healthcare executive and author readily admits that it never occurred to her that she would be making visual art. Roberts, a wellknown literary artist and founder of New Breezes Cultural Arts Forum says, “I had no inclination that I had anything in me [as a painter].”

One thing that she did have was the memory of a story that she grew up hearing about her father’s decision to set aside his talent as a painter in order to provide a good home for his family. Then, in November 2010, when she found herself awakened from her sleep, every morning for two weeks, by a voice repeating over and over, “Pick-up a paint brush and paint with your left-hand. Pick up a paint brush and paint with your left-hand,” she wasn’t sure what to think. After all, her father had been left-handed and a painter.

For months, she shared her “dream” with friends and relatives. Then, in February 2011, a friend gave her a very small canvas, along with some oil paints and brushes, and, without any formal training, she began to paint, with her left hand. Roberts continued to paint during 2011 and says that it got her through a tough time, emotionally.

“In 2011, my sister who was living with me died, and this [painting] was comforting to me,” she explains.

After leaving her position as president and CEO of Baltimore Healthy Start and following a few years’ hiatus from painting, in June 2014, Roberts says she was nearly overwhelmed by an urge to paint. This time, she didn’t hesitate. She couldn’t. In addition, most of the work in the show came from that urge.

“These paintings, literally, forced themselves out of me,” Roberts exclaims, excitedly.

“Images would wake me up in the middle of the night” She says that she began painting with her left, right and, sometimes, both hands. Then, she would buy more supplies and

Alma Roberts

State of the City Continued from A1

Healthy Babies initiative to include school age children and teenagers to improve the health of our city’s youth.

“The fundamental issue of economic development is that people define it in such broad terms,” said Dayvon Love, director of research and public policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle. “People say, ‘such and such a thing has $15 million worth of economic impact,’ but there’s no discussion on who that actually directly impacts.”

Love said the reduction in state aid to Baltimore City public schools, the result of increased value in the city’s property tax base, is a good example of this failure to address who actually benefits from the city’s development efforts. Much of that increase stems from the value of newer developments, many that do not yet generate tax revenue because of agreements with the city. This creates wealth for developers while depriving the city of funds that could help close the gap in our city’s school budget, thus benefiting a more representative cross-section of

Baltimoreans.

“There needs to be a more substantive engagement on what economic development looks like in a way that isn’t focused on bringing industry to Baltimore by itself, but is interested in developing a population of people in Baltimore that have access to the economic dynamics that are happening in our city,” said Love.

Kim Trueheart, chair of Liberty Elementary School’s Recreation and Tech Center’s steering committee, said she was struck by what was not addressed in the speech. “There was nothing about affordable housing. There was a statement in there that said we’re going to build housing for new people – I thought that was outrageous,” said Trueheart. “There was nothing about homeless people, and we just got through, barely, several weeks of dramatically cold weather, and had to go to extreme measures and open up the War Memorial building, and yet there was no conversation at all about that.” ralejandro@afro.com

Resolution Continued from A1

Jimmy Lee Jackson was fatally shot by an Alabama state trooper.

In response, the march from Selma to Montgomery was scheduled and more than 600 marchers assembled, led by John Lewis. Just short of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the protesters found their way blocked by Alabama state troopers, local lawmen, and citizens, wielding clubs, whips, and tear gas.

Ursula Britten-Hughes, then a student at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, said her brother, Charles, was among the SCLC marchers and sustained a head injury from a blow of a baton that day. The stamp commemoration, she said, would go a long way in honoring many nameless, faceless Americans who marched to secure voting rights.

“These marches were the mobilized efforts of everyday Americans, who exercised their Constitutional rights to assemble and protest. I think this stamp should show the multitude of people, like Charles, who took those blows to the head while standing on the back row and singing with all his heart,” Britten-Hughes said.

More than 50 non-violent protesters were hospitalized in the attack.

Undeterred by Bloody Sunday, marchers again set off on March 21 to continue the 54-mile protest from Selma to the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery. “The Edmund Pettus Bridge was the portal through which America shed its dark past and marched to a brighter future.

This bipartisan bill honors the significance of the historic Selma to Montgomery marches, and the Foot Soldiers who forced our nation to live up to its ideals of equality and justice for all Americans,” Sewell said.

paint some more. In almost no time, she began to amass quite a few paintings.

“I was, literally, trying to push things out of my brain and onto the canvas. So, I would finish it. Then, I’d take a picture of it… Then, I was putting them in the closet. Closets filled with paintings…”

At the urging of friends and relatives, and the insistence of Kevin Brown that she show her work at his increasingly popular arts café, Roberts’ paintings are now out of the closet and will adorn the walls of Nancy by SNAC (131 West North Avenue) until the end of this month.

For her inaugural exhibition, the prolific artist selected 18 paintings from approximately 50 that she has completed. While each painting is near and dear to her heart, she says of her work in the exhibition, “Everything’s not heavy. It’s kind of all over the place.”

There’s the painting, entitled “Ferguson,” that she says expresses the range of emotions she felt, at the time.

“I was painting that in the heat of what was happening. I was sad for Mike Brown’s family, but I was angry. And, I wanted to get both of those feelings down on the paper, “she explains with the sadness of the mother of a Black son.

Then, there’s the painting, entitled “Dreaming of Chocolate Swirls,” which she says came from a silly and fun moment.

“I’d been dieting, and one day, I really wanted to just forget it and break the whole thing. So, I decided that I would paint the biggest chocolate bar that I could think of,” she says laughing.

Roberts says that while she paints, she thinks of her dad and their connection. “All my life, my heart’s been a little sad thinking about what he felt like, because these things [paintings] have a life of their own. If he had images in his head that were pushing [to get out]. but he didn’t have the time to do it…”

Then, she stops and looks at the painting entitled “Sempiternus.”

“It means, ‘for all time,’ “she says. “That’s really the interplay between worlds, the spiritual world and the real. If anything embodies what I was feeling about the bond between me and my father, it’s this piece.”

Billie Holiday Continued from A1

Circuit, a collection of theaters where Black artists could perform for Black audiences.

She often performed at the Royal Theater on Pennsylvania Avenue. “She’s just an icon here.

It’s just a love and admiration society, and I’m one of them,” Cheatham said. He said that although Holiday is no longer here (she died in New York in 1959, at the age of 44), the event will not be a sad one.

“We want to make it like a celebration,” he said, “celebrating her life.”

According to Dr. Joanne Martin, founder and president of the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, this city is in a kind of threeway tug-of-war with Philadelphia and New York for bragging rights over the singer, as she spent a considerable amount of time in all three places. However, she was born in Baltimore on April 7, 1915.

Martin said the figure of Holiday being displayed at the event has been at the museum since 1988. She said that it is important to have the Holiday statue and highlight her work, because Holiday’s talent and contributions to Black history are sometimes overshadowed by the darker parts of her past.

According to her New York Times obituary, the singer was born to a 13-year-old mother and 15-year-old father. Martin said Holiday was the victim of sexual assault when she was

very young. As an adult, she was known almost as much for her repeated brushes with the law for narcotics possession as she was for her beautiful singing voice.

“She had a very tragic life in many ways . . . it is reflected in Holiday’s music,” Martin said.

“I don’t feel that she’s ever really gotten the attention that she’s due. In terms of jazz and blues, she is very much respected. But young people don’t know her. People who do know about her want to talk about her drug use.”

She said that Holiday’s songs are still very much relevant today.

At the museum, she said they often use character actors to help educate visitors, and they have one who helps bring Holiday to life by singing her most iconic song, ‘Strange Fruit.’

“Teachers really need to use ‘Strange Fruit’ as a resource,” she said. “Even though she wasn’t the author of the song, she brings power and meaning to that song that never would have had the same impact as words on the page.”

The event is free, but attendees must RSVP. Cheatham said that the video and posters used in the event would be available for other groups who wish to learn about Holiday’s legacy.

Learn more by going to www.mahna.com or calling 410-669-8683.

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

BUSINESS

The Perfume Chick Galleria Takes Care of Healing the Skin

By Charise Wallace Special to the AFRO When you think of Suitland, Md., you think of grabbing a bite to eat, going to the nearest metro, or running errands from store-to-store. Would you think of going to a store selling natural products?

The Perfume Chick Galleria is just that. Its products are for all-skin types, and are designed to make any male or female feel good and confident while leaving a wonderful, lingering scent.

Their slogan: “Smell Good, Feel Good and Look Good,” Antonia Lindsey explains.

The Perfume Chick has been open since 2011, but before their grand-opening, it was operated from a garage. The CEO of the Antonia Lindsey company, LaShawn Lindsey, died last month. Co-founder, Von “Soapman” Lindsey, husband of LaShawn Lindsey, and their daughter, Antonia “The Perfume Chick Jr.,” currently run the shop.

It all started with troubling eczema Antonia had growing up. It was uncontrollable until

her mom discovered a new remedy that soon transformed into a thriving business. “We do shea butters, whip wash, perfume, car fresheners, of course natural soaps, cologne, and mineral-eye shadows,” Antonia explained.

The Perfume Chick’s client’s can’t get enough of their shea butter and their most-popular products are “herbal remedy,” which cures eczema, and “mangomadness,” which works well for all other skin types, Antonia said. Celebrities such as The Real co-host, Tamar Braxton, and America’s Next Top Model runway coach, Miss J Alexander support the store’s line of products. “Our customer’s rave about our shea butters,” Antonia explains.

LaShawn Lindsey was a passionate woman with a vision bigger than she imagined. Once her and her husband, Von opened the shop their bond was unbreakable. The Perfume Chick’s customers are loyal.”What they loved about her was just her outgoing, free-spirited attitude,” Antonia explained. “She made everybody feel loved and welcome. Also, her best product was her fragrances . . . she could match a perfume to your personality and [you would] love it.

That’s just who she was . . . that’s why people loved her so much. That’s what she really liked about the place because she creates all the scents for Perfume Chick.”

If you are not convinced yet, just swing by and you’ll see what the hype is all about.

Perfume Chick is here, and in-loving memory of CEO LaShawn Lindsey, will forever stay.

Perfume Chick’s line of products are available online and in-store. To purchase items online go to perfumechick.com. Online orders are available on Monday’s and Tuesday’s and their in-store hours of operation are Wednesday-Saturday from 11:00 a.m-7:30 p.m. For any other inquiries email The Perfume Chick at perfume@perfumechick.com.

Visions Christian School of Etiquette and Dance

By AFRO Staff Deborah Stewart-Akles has been involved with dance all her life. She started at age 7, at the Marie Allen Watts School of Dance. By age 15, she began training to teach, often teaching her peers and younger students during her free time. Fifteen years ago this June, she took her experience and training in an expanded direction, opening Visions, a Christian school of

Visions dancers embrace the “each one teach one” philosophy. etiquette and dance. The school is located at 8001-B Harford Road, Parkville, Md. Through mentorship, teaching, witnessing and dance, Stewart-Akles teaches leadership and etiquette to build self-expression, self-esteem, and self-empowerment in her students, that currently range in age from three to the teens, and one 73 year old. Through her program, many students go onto higher education dance programs.

“I think the teenage group is the most fulfilling to me. There is no greater feeling than to be able to make a difference in the lives of children by being a role model for them through living God in front of them,” says Stewart-Akles.

Visions is described by Stewart-Akles as one big family with generations of community as its members.

“Visions is very family oriented. Over the years I have become everyone’s Aunt Debbie, so the same way that they are held to a certain standard by me, I am held at a certain standard by them; practice what you preach,” says Stewart-Akles.

Visions embraces the “Each one Teach one” philosophy, encouraging young people 14 – 16 who are excelling, to become junior instructors and mentors to other students.

Leadership skills and etiquette are embedded in the school’s philosophy. “I can identify with self-esteem, self-worth and self-value, and all the insecurities that all young girls experience growing up. So while dance is important for their self-expression, I believe the etiquette courses are valuable to their sense of self-worth,” Stewart-Akles said.

Prayer and devotion are also vital factors of the school’s philosophy so every class starts with prayer and ends with benediction.

Visions performs two recitals per year allowing students to feel their goals are being accomplished. In total, Visions has performed 32 dance recitals. Some performances have moved audience members to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Ministering through dance, the school has extended the word of God to others throughout Maryland by performing at civic and political events. Additionally students have collaborated and fellowshipped with other dance organizations and churches.

Stewart-Akles was recognized in 2013 and 2014 for outstanding dance instruction in Parkville. Additionally, Stewart-Akles was nominated for the Trailblazer Award, to be presented to the winner March 22 at the Forum by Maggie Anderson Deborah Stewart-Akles

March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American

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COMMUNITY CONNECTION ‘Reparations’ to Premiere at Morgan State University

Hartsville, S.C. Improves Test Scores

Directed by Shirley Basfield Dunlap, “Reparations,” script and music by Joseph Edwards, will premiere at Morgan State University and run from April 10 through April 19 in the Murphy Fine Arts Center’s Turpin-Lamb Theater.

A successful lawyer takes a case defending an insurance provider whose ancestor company insured enslaved Africans. He encounters an Ancient Ancestor Spirit with a mission to redirect his lost soul. What happens when divine intervention meets denial and arrogance? Dunlap and her artistic team craft the show masterfully through the edgy delivery, spectacle, music and dance.

According to Joseph Edwards, “The goal of creating such a project is to use the arts to create a local, regional and national dialogue around reparations and reconciliation.

Furthermore, developing the play at an HBCU [Historically Black College or University], of which many were founded as a form of reparations, would be an ideal environment.

Morgan State University’s Theater Arts Department and the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University are partnering on this Community Engagement Project.”

Edwards was influenced by Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations, edited by Dr. Raymond A. Winbush.

Gen’l Admission: $25 MSU Students, Faculty, Staff: $15 Seniors & Non-MSU Students & Group rate for Gen’l Admission (10+): $20 Student Matinee- Student Group rate: $10 Friday, April 10, 2015 @ 7:30 PM -Opening Night $40.00 (includes Reception) Saturday, April 11 & 18, 2015 @ 2:00 & 7:30 PM Sunday, April 12 & 19, 2015 @ 3:00 PM Thursday, April 16, 2015 @ 10:30 PM (Student Matinee) Friday, April 17, 2015 @ 7:30 PM Tickets: The Murphy Fine Arts Center box office: (443)885-4440, or visit www.murphyfineartscenter.org

“180 Days: Hartsville,” directed and produced by Jacquie Jones, will air 8 p.m., March 17 on PBS. It tells the story of one community’s successful efforts in turning their school system around from being rated “below average” to being ranked third in the state out of 81 districts four years later. For more information visit www.teachfoundation.org/3.

Casino Dealer Training and Bartending Open Houses

Annual Founder’s Day Award Luncheon Join the LAMBDA KAPPA MU Sorority, IOTA Chapter for their annual Founder’s Day Awards Luncheon, noon, March 28 at the Forum Caterers, 4210 Primrose Avenue, Baltimore. Subscriptions are $50. Contact Dorothy Stone at 410-254-3087 for tickets.

Howard County’s Celebration of the ARTS Gala

Community College of Baltimore County Continuing Education will host open houses for Casino Dealer Training and Bartending programs, 10 a.m., March 16, 18, 19, and 21 in Room 502 at CCBC Owings Mills, 30100 Grand Central Avenue. No pre-registration for the open house is necessary.

For additional information on both programs, contact Evelyn Weaver at eweaver@ccbcmd.edu or 443-840-5840.

Howard Community College, Columbia, Md., Howard Bank will present its signature event, Celebration of the Arts, 6 p.m., March 28 at the Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center. The evening’s activities include a silent auction of artwork from local artists, culinary delights from area restaurants and live musical performances. Tickets are $100 and $50. For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.hocarts.org or call 410-333-ARTS(2787).

Baltimore Boxing Renaissance

‘Are You Ready to Own It?’

Martin’s West Title Fights is hosting the Baltimore Boxing Renaissance II, March 20. The fights will feature Tori Nelson, Patrick Harris, Joshua Davis, Kwame Ritter and many more.

Tickets start at $30. VIP tables with dinner are available. Call 443-377-2505 or visit www.bmoreboxing.com to pre order tickets.

Gala for Animal Lovers

The Baltimore Humane Society’s Black Tie & Tails Gala is 6 p.m., March 28 at the Grand Lodge, 304 International Circle, Hunt Valley, Md. The formal affair includes well behaved animals who can attend free. Tickets are $125 per person until March 13. The price goes up to $149. Tickets can be purchase by calling 410-833-8848 ext. 212.

Celebrating Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs

The Small Business Expo will host its ‘Networking Celebration’ at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites, 6 to 10 p.m., March 26 at 14402 Laurel Place, Laurel, Md. The cost is $20. Rsvp with Anthony_Due@aol.com or call 443-9322059.

The Brand Building Beauty Expo & The Hair Affair are coming to the Silver Spring Civic Center, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, Md. Angela Christine, celebrity hair stylist, platform artist and educator will be the guest speaker on March 29 and Tabatha Coffey, hair stylist and television personality will speak on March 30, both at 4:30 p.m. Christine will also host a Hands on Weaving Class on March 30. Early Bird Tickets are $75 for a one day pass(no hands on). For other ticket cost, registration, information and questions visit www.rasheeahburrell.com, www. shellysbeauty.com or www.eventbrite.com or call 410-8148956.

Lenten Journey of Faith

Dougas Memorial Community Church family continues its observance of the season of LENT: A Journey of Faith: Walking with Jesus on Mar. 31 with Dr. Cynthia L. Hale, senior pastor, Ray of Hope Christian Church as the guest preacher. Douglas Memorial is located at 1325 Madison Avenue, Baltimore. The Rev. Dr. S. Todd Yeary is the senior pastor. All are welcome. Contact 410-523-1700 for more information.

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Also excludes: athletic apparel, shoes & accessories; Dallas Cowboys merchandise, gift cards, jewelry trunk shows, New Era, Nike on Field, previous purchases, selected licensed depts., services, special orders, special purchases. Exclusions may differ at macys.com. Cannot be combined with any savings pass/coupon, extra discount or credit offer, except opening a new Macy’s account. Dollar savings are allocated as discounts off each eligible item, as shown on receipt. When you return an item, you forfeit the savings allocated to that item. This coupon has no cash value and may not be redeemed for cash, used to purchase gift cards or applied as payment or credit to your account. Purchase must be $25 or more, exclusive of tax and delivery fees.

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

Beyond Survival: Life After Rape Silence and other hurdles to healing

By Jazelle Hunt Washington Correspondent LAST IN A SERIES WASHINGTON (NNPA) – “On May 15, 1995, two men ran up behind me as I approached my apartment building, and one of them pointed a gun at my head. In the hour that followed, I was blindfolded, gagged, tied facedown to my bed, and raped by both.”

Eight years after that horror, Lori Robinson published those words as an introduction to her guidebook for Black survivors and their loved ones, titled I Will Survive: The African

The circumstances around Lori’s assault were atypical – there was more than one assailant, they were strangers, and there was a weapon involved.

In more common circumstances – when the people know each other or are related; when alcohol is involved or there has been previous sexual/romantic involvement; when the perpetrator is a prominent figure; or when the survivor was became pregnant – the decision to report a rape can be even more agonizing.

“I respect whatever anyone’s choice is about whether or not to disclose, because everyone’s doing the best that they can, at the time, with the information they have. And not everyone is in an environment where they get good information and support,” Robinson stated.

“There’s still too much silence, but it’s not the fault of the survivors. It’s because we as a community, as individuals, as a society, haven’t done what we need to do to make disclosure a safe and preferable choice for anyone who experiences sexual assault.”

“…A gradual process”

Photo courtesy of Lori Robinson

Lori Robinson and her husband,Ollie Johnson

American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse.

Since then, Lori, who moved from Washington, D.C. to Detroit, has enjoyed a fulfilling, happy life. But on that night 20 years ago, she didn’t know how, or if, she would recover.

“I remember asking if, after such assault, women went on to have normal lives, get married, have children, be happy,” she writes in I Will Survive. “It sounds silly to me now, but on May 15, 1995, I found it inconceivable that someone could be normal, much less happy after experiencing what I had.”

The men who raped Lori had stolen her car, electronics, and her landline cord.

After carefully freeing herself from her bed, she mustered the courage to knock on a neighbor’s door so she could call the police.

After the police she called her sister, who picked her up and took her back to her home. The following day, she called the DC Rape Crisis Center hotline. Later, her mother and sister accompanied her to her first counseling session. That evening, Lori told her boyfriend and the next day he accompanied her to counseling, the first of several occasions.

Her memory is a blur after that first week.

“For like a good year after I was raped – I don’t have many specific memories from that year. It’s very fuzzy,” she says. “[Healing] was a gradual process – it wasn’t like I finished therapy and it was over.”

A journalist, Lori slowly channeled her pain into her work.

About a year-and-a-half after the assault, she agreed to write an article on a freshman Spelman College student who maintained that four Morehouse College students – three of whom were on the basketball team – had gang raped her. Spelman was Lori’s alma mater; her own rape occurred the same week as her 5-year class reunion.

The article, “Rape of a Spelman Coed” was published in Emerge magazine almost exactly two years after Lori’s assault.

It became an award-winning story, and the springboard for I Will Survive.

“After that article, [the magazine] got a really powerful response,” she recalled. “So the idea [for the book] came from having written an article about sexual assault; realizing that this was a huge problem in the African American community; that we didn’t have culturally specific resources available to us; and that we just didn’t know how to deal with sexual assault.”

From surviving to thriving

To her knowledge, Robinson’s assailants were never caught and are thought to be responsible for at least three other rapes.

Still, in 1996 she marked the one-year anniversary of her survival with a celebration.

“I’d experienced the most horrific thing I could possibly imagine, and I am still standing. I am still going to work; I still have my right mind, for the most part. It absolutely was a celebration of my survival,” she remembers.

Today, she has become a noted activist and speaker on the issue of sexual assault, speaking at more than 100 events in more than 20 states and in three countries. She has lived and taught in Ecuador, Brazil, and other parts of Latin America, and is still enjoying a career as an award-winning bilingual journalist and educator.

She also married Ollie Johnson, the boyfriend who had been there with her through it all.

“We weren’t married then, but I definitely thought of us as a couple. You come together, you support, you love, you struggle, you handle it, you get through it. That was my mentalemotional framework,” he said.

“I’ve had various crises and challenges with my own family, but nothing like what happened to Lori. So I didn’t have any direct experience with supporting or helping or loving survivors. But I just kind of knew that was the right thing to do.”

When Robinson first began writing I Will Survive, Ollie thought it was a great idea and logical next step from the Emerge article – until it became clear that the research, interviewing, and writing caused Robinson to relive her trauma.

“I recommended that she consider dropping it or suspending it on several occasions, because it was so painful…. She would always say that she had to do it. And she worked through it,” he said. “I was very impressed with her strength and resilience through the whole process and still am just amazed that she could handle everything the way she’s handled it.”

Robinson encourages survivors to seek healing, whatever that may mean for them.

“Not every survivor necessarily needs therapy, but based on my personal experience, I highly recommend that survivors reach out to someone. It’s so important to be able to tell your story, let it out, [to] be able to talk to someone who can empathize with you, support you, and encourage you,” she said.

“Take care of yourself. Think of mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual self-care. What feels nourishing to you? What feels safe to you? What makes your body feel good?

Do that.”

Every survivor’s experience is profoundly personal. At the same time, millions of survivors are all fighting through the same devastation of this rampant trauma, often in shame and silence.

Robinson wants them all to remember one thing “What happened to you is not your fault. No matter what the circumstances were – no matter what you wore, or what you drank, or what time it was, or where you were – the only person who was responsible, the person who deserves all of the blame, is the person who forced unwanted sexual activity on you,” she said. “You are no less perfect, or sacred, or beautiful because of what happened to you.”

The project was made possible by a grant from the National Health Journalism Fellowship, a program of the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015 The Afro-American

COMMENTARY

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Selma’s Lesson: The Struggle Continues

President Obama marked the 50th anniversary of Selma by celebrating the ordinary heroes who sacrificed so much to make America better. Noting that nearly 100 members of Congress were in the audience, he urged them to return to Washington to strengthen the Voting Rights Act, weakened by the illconsidered decision of five conservative Supreme Court Jesse L. Jackson Justices in Shelby County v.

Sr. Holder. Today, 50 years after Selma, states are moving once more to make voting harder rather than easier.

Reviving the Voting Rights Act is essential, but it is not sufficient. The marchers in Selma were marching not just for the right to vote, but also for jobs and justice. And today, Selma itself reveals how far we have to go.

Much attention was rightly paid to the 103-year-old Amelia Boynton Robinson. In 1965, she was a leader in planning the Selma demonstrations, and her home was the site for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and legislators to gather as they wrote the first draft of the Voting Rights Act. This weekend, 50 years later, she joined President Obama on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, sitting tall in her wheelchair.

Yet, her home – which ought to be a national memorial – now sits boarded up, joining other vacant and foreclosed homes in her neighborhood.

Selma is now 80 percent Black. Dallas County, where it sits, suffers the highest unemployment in the state at 10.2 percent. The official figure doesn’t count the many who have simply given up trying to find a job. Downtown Selma has as many boarded up stores as operating ones.

USA Today quoted David Garrow, the author of Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, who warned against “reducing history to a photo op.” The focus, he argued, “should be on investment and economic development in places like Selma.

The focus should be on what we can do for Selma, not what

Selma can do for us.”

And of course, it is not just Selma. African American unemployment remains at more than twice the level of White unemployment. Only 60 percent of all African American men have a job of any kind, with only one in five African Americans 16-19 employed. We lock up more people – mostly people of color – than any other nation in the world. The Justice Department’s investigation of Ferguson, Mo. showed a destructive racial bias still stains our criminal justice system. Our schools in poor communities – ghettos, barrios and rural areas – still suffer a savage inequality in resources and capacity.

Yes, great progress has been made, and it is important to recognize and remember the courage and costs of those who sacrificed to make America better.

But the commemoration must be a call to action. We should be protesting in Selma, not celebrating. The Civil Rights struggle was in some respect a movement that had three parts. The first was ending legal segregation. The second guaranteeing the right to vote. The third, the one Dr. King knew would be the most difficult, was to guarantee economic justice, equal opportunity and a fair start for all. As Selma shows today, and as the Fergusons across the country demonstrate, that part has yet to be achieved.

President Obama was right. It’s great to see 100 legislators at the demonstration, but we need them to legislate, not demonstrate. We need them to return to Washington and raise the minimum wage. We need a jobs program for young people

in urban America. We need to fulfill the easy rhetoric about education as an answer, by investing the most in those who need it the most – the sons and daughters of the poor and low wage families.

President Obama called out to the young to lead once more: “It is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.” We’ve seen the stirrings in the BlackLivesMatter demonstrations across the country. What Selma reminds us is that to make America better will take much more action to demand what could be, and much less acceptance of what is.

Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is founder and president of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition. You can keep up with his work at www.rainbowpush.org

Who Pays for Police Officers’ Misbehavior?

Ever since President Bill Clinton apologized for the Tuskegee syphilis “experiment” in 1997, we have heard calls for apologies from the government and individuals for a myriad of transgressions against Black people. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that apologies are highly overrated and mean very little when it comes to initiating substantive change and reciprocity toward the offended class or individual.

We witnessed the latest apology by the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, to the family of Tamir Rice after the police findings were made public.

The report stated Rice’s death was caused by, “by the failure … to exercise due care to avoid injury.” In other words, the 12-year old boy caused his own death. The mayor apologized not for the killing but for the words used to describe the cause James Clingman of the killing. Rice was shot for holding a toy gun 1.7 seconds after the cops pulled up to his location in a park. No warning, no command to drop the gun, and no attempt to speak to Rice; they shot first – immediately, and now we are asking the questions.

We will hear the usual excuses and legal rationales, but the bottom line is that the taxpayers of Cleveland will pay dearly for this tragedy. That’s right, the taxpayers, not the police officers, which brings me to my point. Yes, you’re right; here comes the economic side of things.

From 1995 to 2001, in Cincinnati, police killed 15 Black men, some of whom were wielding guns and some who were innocent victims of overzealous quick-on-the-trigger officers. In addition to the killings, many Black people were harassed, profiled, illegally stopped and searched, and unjustifiably injured, physically and psychologically, by police officers.

Those incidents, undergirded by economic sanctions imposed against our city and a class action lawsuit, led to several capitulating concessions, which included cash payouts that amounted to more than $16 million, as I recall. Who paid it? The taxpayers, those of us who protested, helped pay the bill for the injuries and injustices that we fought against.

Looking back on those days makes me see how ridiculous it is for us to follow the same pattern to redress injustices such as the killing of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and others. Most

taxpayers give little or no thought to where the millions of dollars come from when monetary penalties are imposed and paid out to victims of police violence or mistreatment of citizens.

Maybe if more of us knew the money was coming from our pockets, money that, in many cases, could have been used for street repair, business development, or capital improvements, we would get together and put an end to this madness.

In return for insults, injuries, and injustice we demand apologies and, in some instances, remuneration. We get are empty words replete with condescension, and payouts from our own tax dollars, which have no real effect on the perpetrators of the insults, injuries, and injustices we suffer. The real culprits have nothing to lose; they commit their acts with impunity. They can even say Tamir Rice and John Crawford caused their own deaths by holding a gun in an “open carry” state, a state where other folks carry guns openly and never get shot for doing so.

We watched Rice and Crawford lose their lives in a matter of seconds after the police came on the scene. We saw Eric Garner killed in a matter of minutes for “failing to comply,” while we see others questioning police officers and “refusing” to comply, only to be allowed to either walk away or otherwise have their say as the police back off.

Despite the graphic evidence of disparate treatment, Blacks get weak apologies and insulting rationales as mitigation for our injuries and injustice. If there were a price to pay for police officers who commit these kinds of acts, since most will never be indicted, maybe they would exercise more restraint before they fire their guns. If they were required to have personal malpractice insurance, for instance, not paid by the municipality but by themselves, or if court awards had to be paid from police department budgets, maybe there would be fewer killings.

Injustice can and does lead to violence in return, and it could ultimately be one reason for young people turning to terrorism. While some naively think jobs will stop terrorism, a report, “The Age of the Wolf,” cited an 18-year old boy who stated, “I did not join the Taliban because I was poor; I joined because I was angry.”

There is a lot of anger out there about our broken criminal justice system. I believe economic responses will accelerate the process of repairing it.

Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. He can be reached through his website, blackonomics.com.

Maryland’s Next Senator Should Be A Person of Color...There, I said it!

At 78 years of age Senator Barbara Mikulski’s announcement came as a surprise to many. Thirty years is a long time to serve in any capacity. But to never have had a person of color to serve in this role in our state’s history is an even greater misfortune. I’ll say it; the next person to serve in this role should be a person of color. This state has produced many notable individuals of great intelligence and character. Yet, to this date none of color has been deemed worthy enough to hold such a distinguished seat of political influence.

From 1789 to 1913, U.S. senators from Maryland were chosen by the General Assembly.

The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1913 changed that. No longer would they be chosen by the General Assembly, rather, the power of the vote would determine who held those seats. Obviously, African Americans living in our great state were not included in this process, considering that it was not until 1965 that they were given the right to vote.

The impact of strong African-American leadership from the Eastern Shore to Prince George’s County and Baltimore City is proven. But so is the voting power of their jurisdictions.

No one knows this fact more so than those seeking elected office. We know this because the Black Church becomes the proverbial meeting place for the Black community and those interested in gaining their vote. During each election cycle many of these candidates parade through the sanctuaries and temples of our faith based institutions. The running joke is that many of us in the African-American community don’t see our politicians until election season on Sunday mornings during worship service. Seldom if ever is the same parade directed through our local synagogues or mosque. It is for that reason I feel empowered to address the vacancy in the public square.

For the past several decades the faith community has considered itself a necessary voice in the political public square. The needs and concerns of people of faith can be found in every sacred document of this nation since its foundation. One needs to look no further than the statement so eloquently cited in our Pledge of Allegiance “One nation under God” to sense the expectation of faith on our country’s civic engagement. In that simple statement we believe that we have pledged to govern ourselves in a moral and just manner acceptable to a Higher Power than ourselves.

The departure of Sen. Mikulski is not new territory for us. We’ve been here before in recent years. In 2006 former congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume lost his senate race by 18,588 votes in his bid for the senate seat left vacant by the retirement of long term Senator Paul Sarbanes. Six years later State Sen. Anthony Muse would lose in the same exact primary senate race by ten times that number of votes.

Kevin Slayton

For these reasons I believe the discussion about an African American replacement cannot begin soon enough. And I believe that now, more than ever, the time has come for a Maryland U.S. Senator who reflects the diversity of its citizenry. There are several qualified individuals who possess the skill, political savvy, intellect, and conviction to represent the interest of our state. The African American faith community stands poised and ready to engage this discussion.

After all, the most recent gubernatorial election is a clear demonstration of what can be the result of a silent church. Why should the Black Church care who’s in this Senate seat? Need we say it again, Black lives matter. Not just when they are in prison. Not just when they are murdered and certainly not just when they are marginalized. But most importantly when they are on the ballot.

Maryland has long been a democratic-leaning state. In fact, according to a 2011 Gallup poll, based on party identification Maryland was the “most Democrat state (excluding DC, of course)” of the 50 in the union. People of color have been a loyal base of the Maryland Democratic Party and it’s time the party recognize and honor that loyalty. This doesn’t mean a candidate should be selected based solely on race. The party should support the most qualified individual of diverse background to serve, and there are plenty.

A fair and open vetting process of potential candidates would provide for an informed elevation of such individuals whether they’ve previously held political office or not. That would give community leaders, special interest groups and voters plenty of time to hold forums and debates to make sound decisions and endorsements. More importantly, it would ensure the critical time necessary to raise capital and organize against any additional opposition candidates.

Again, we have already seen the outcome when a qualified candidate is supported and endorsed by the party body political majority solely. Why wait for the party and big donors to tell us who they believe is best suited to represent our interest? The election of our state’s next senator is too important to the legacy of people of color in this state. A senator who reflects the contributions and conscience of a people committed to the progress of this government is long overdue. While this is a political interest, it is not about politics. This is about a long overdue and necessary dose of equality reform in our state electoral politics.

Any lesser consideration should be deemed an insult and a shame. If we can agree that Black lives matter, then let us agree that so do Black voices and Black votes.

Rev. Kevin Slayton is pastor of New Waverly United Methodist Church.

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

TECHNOLOGY

Empowering Parents To Manage Their Kids’ Wireless Use (NAPSI)—Today’s tech-savvy generation quickly adapts and enjoys using mobile devices such as cell phones, smart phones and tablets to communicate, learn and play, anytime and anywhere.

To help parents manage their kids’ usage and encourage responsible behavior, CTIA—The Wireless Association, which represents the wireless industry, developed GrowingWireless.com, a website developed by parents in the wireless industry for parents who need easy-to-understand information and resources.

Updated regularly, the website offers examples of situations and how parents may want to respond; for example, what parents can do if their child is being bullied, how to protect their privacy and how to manage their kids’ monthly usage so they don’t go over the allotted monthly limits in the Dollars and Sense section. Visitors to the website will also see information on how to identify and prevent sexting and how to protect kids’ personal information in the Privacy and Security section.

GrowingWireless.com also offers a parent’s “tool kit” with a list of parental control tools that are offered by wireless carriers and manufacturers. Parental control tools help parents manage and monitor their kids’ wireless usage. The website also provides information about federal and state laws that help protect kids when they use mobile products

and services.

Setting family rules is one of the most important and effective steps that parents can take to help kids be responsible wireless users.

GrowingWireless.com offers a sample template to help families make their own decisions about what is acceptable wireless behavior for their kids, and the consequences if those rules are broken. Once agreed upon, these rules should be posted in a central location, such as the refrigerator, and periodically revisited as kids age and technology evolves. What is appropriate for a 12-year-old may be different than the rules for a 13-year-old.

By empowering parents with accessible information, they will be able to proactively educate themselves and their kids to solve problems before they arise.

By teaching kids about wireless common sense and responsible use today, they will be better prepared to harness wireless increasingly for education and will be better equipped for jobs in other sectors such as utilities, health care, government services and public safety.

Learn more about managing your kids’ wireless usage by visiting www.GrowingWireless.com.

Building Strength With A Hashtag: Breast Cancer Community Unites To Raise Awareness To help create awareness of metastatic breast cancer, Jewel Crawford Ajibade is encouraging women to participate in a nationwide photo-sharing campaign.

(NAPSI)—Jewel Crawford Ajibade, Linda Carey and Priscilla Dzurich Ribera are just three of the estimated 173,000 women in the United States who are living with metastatic breast cancer. Managing an incurable disease is challenging for them, but each takes a unique approach to living with the condition.

“There is no right way to battle metastatic breast cancer— just your way,” says Ajibade, who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer (the most advanced stage) in 2006 and lost her mother to the disease.

Since her diagnosis, Ajibade has become an advocate for women living with metastatic breast cancer through Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) and a passionate believer in the power of sharing one’s story—a method that has helped her cope with her own reality.

“I have connected with stories from several women

throughout my journey, and I want to share that sense of community with others,” says Ajibade. “You never know how many lives you’ll impact by speaking up.”

To help create awareness of metastatic breast cancer, Ajibade is encouraging women to participate in the nationwide #MBCStrength photo-sharing campaign. Women with metastatic breast cancer can post their photos on Twitter using the hashtag #MBCStrength to illustrate the word that unites each of them in their journey: strength. Photos posted on Twitter with #MBCStrength will be considered for a display in Times Square on October 13, 2014, Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day. “People often wonder what it’s like to live with metastatic breast cancer. By participating in this campaign, we have the opportunity to showcase not just our challenges but also the love and support that guide us through our journeys,” says Ajibade.

Ajibade’s personal account is also featured at www.

MyMBCStory.com, an educational website tailored for women

WE MAKE DURABLE CONNECTIONS BGE is systematically replacing more than 1,300 miles of existing cast iron and bare steel natural gas pipes with modern, durable equipment.

Through more than 40 Operation Pipeline projects underway or completed since 2010, BGE keeps the energy flowing safely and reliably for 655,000

with metastatic breast cancer developed by AstraZeneca with input from breast cancer advocacy organizations LBBC and Metastatic Breast Cancer Network. Her story is featured alongside that of Carey, who draws strength from expression through art and involvement in The Tutu Project, and Dzurich Ribera, whose personal source of inspiration is her family.

“It’s important to not hold in your feelings. You have to find some avenue to express them,” says Carey, who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in 2006.

Carey and her husband, Bob, created The Tutu Project—a collection of photos in which he wears a pink tutu—as a form of self-therapy. The project has resonated with many people around the globe and, 11 years later, the couple continues to raise funds for women with breast cancer and receive expressions of gratitude for the laughter their photos bring.

Following her metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, Dzurich Ribera feared that others would define her by her condition.

While having her blood drawn one day, she shared this concern with another woman in treatment at the facility.

“I was desperately looking for a role model—someone who was doing well in spite of living with metastatic breast cancer,” says Dzurich Ribera. “I shared that feeling with her and she replied, ‘You have to be your own positive story.’ I know she was right and, through the ups and downs, that has always stuck with me.”

Ajibade, Carey and Dzurich Ribera are connected in their determination to help redefine what it means to live with metastatic breast cancer. Having helped many women through her advocacy work, Ajibade advises, “Each person living with metastatic breast cancer will find her own methods of coping, but one of the first steps we can take in this journey is to open up and share our stories.”

Salutes The Baltimore (MD) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated and recognizes its work with Coppin and Morgan State Universities.

natural gas customers throughout central Maryland. To learn more about how smart energy gets more reliable every day, visit BGE.COM/RELIABILITY.

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March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American

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Black Women and Work as a Civil Right

By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent This is the second in a series of articles about laws that have significantly impacted Black women in America.

I

n the history of laws that have significantly impacted the lives of African Americans, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is among the premier league. “[It] was pivotal. It was probably the most game-changing legislation for Blacks in the United States,” said Barbara Arnwine, executive director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. And Title VII of that law, which barred workplace discrimination on a number of protected categories was particularly beneficial for African-American women, historians and activists agree.

“Title VII has been absolutely radical for Black women,” Arnwine added. “By barring discrimination on the basis of race and gender it cleared the way for AfricanAmerican women to fully participate in the workplace. Before that we didn’t see women employed across all sectors.”

Black women and labor have been closely intertwined since the first 19 African slaves were dumped on the shores of Jamestown, Va., in 1619. Blacks were seen as a source of cheaper, more plentiful labor than indentured servants (usually poor Europeans), and formed the economic backbone of the American South, which specialized in the production of crops such as tobacco and later, cotton.

Even after Emancipation, freed Black women were expected to work—unlike their White counterparts who society put on a pedestal.

According to a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, from 1870 to 1900, the labor force participation rate of Black women was about 40 percent compared to less than 15 percent among White women.

The Freedmen’s Bureau, a federal agency that was supposed to assist former slaves in the South, often acted as an agent in trying to force Black women to work, either by having husbands contract their entire families to

work in the cotton industries or by declaring that unemployed women would be treated as vagrants just like men.

Overall, however, it was almost impossible for former slaves to make any advancements in the post-Civil War economy in the South thanks to restrictive Black codes and systems of involuntary or forced labor, such as peonage, debt bondage and apprenticeship and regressive contractual arrangements such as sharecropping.

The lack of opportunities led millions of slaves to migrate, lured by promises of a better life in the industrial centers of the North. But conditions were deplorable, and Black women had to compete for menial, usually domestic, jobs.

The advent of World War II presented the greatest challenge to White male domination of primary sector jobs and the greatest opportunity for job advancement for Black women up to that point in U.S. history.

“Although scholars have given some attention to the labor-force fortunes of blacks in the war economy, few have considered the impact of the wartime expansion on black women, who constituted 600,000 of the 1,000,000 blacks who entered paid employment during the war years,” wrote Karen Tucker Anderson in the article “Last Hired, First Fired: Black Women Workers During World War II,” which was published in the Journal of American History.

Despite advancements in the workplace, Black women continue to suffer from job inequality.

As more men were mobilized to fight the war abroad, women were recruited to work in wartime industries—building airplanes, making ammunition, working in shipyards, among other duties. For Black women, who had been relegated to the lowestpaying domestic and farm work, war opened job categories and fostered upward mobility, wrote Anderson, citing scholars such as William Chafe, who “contends that the opportunities generated by the war-time economy and the long-term changes they fostered constituted World War II opened up job a ‘second emancipation’ for black women.” opportunities for Black women.

But historian Ruth Milkman in Gender at Work: The In this image, under the direction Dynamics of Job Segregation by Sex During World War II of National Youth Administration contends that while wartime mobilization swept aside the foreman Cecil M. Coles, Juanita traditional sexual division of labor, after the war, women E. Gray learns to operate a lathe “were forced back into traditionally female occupations, or machine at the Washington, D.C., out of the labor market altogether.”

NYA War Production and Training The relegation of women to “pink-collar” jobs and Center. This former domestic discrimination against women in the workplace persisted, and worker is one of hundreds of was particularly injurious to Black women, who were often Negro women trained at this on the lowest economic rung and served as primary or cocenter. primary breadwinners for their households.

Welders Alivia Scott, Hattie Carpenter, and Flossie Burtos await an opportunity to weld their first piece of steel on the ship SS George Washington Carver at Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, Calif. Ca. 1943.

Roger Smith/National Archives

A Black woman is seen operating a hand drill at VulteeNashville, where she is working on a “Vengeance” dive bomber in Tennessee, in February 1943.

E.F. Joseph/ National Archives

Photo by Alfred Palmer/Library of Congress

“They needed to have jobs where they were not just relegated to the kitchen,” Arnwine said.

But such discrimination was not robustly addressed until the Civil Rights Act and Section VII was passed.

“With laws on the books it provided an avenue for women to bring claims in court or before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for redress and that opened up more jobs and workplaces for women,” said Lenora Lapidus, director of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The first Supreme Court case addressing gender discrimination on the basis of Title VII was Phillips v. Martin Marietta in which the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund represented the plaintiff, Ida Phillips.

According to the record, Phillips, a White woman from Florida, applied for the position Continued on B6

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The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

Carolyn Burton Page

Shirley R. White, president, Anne Arundel County Chapter of Continental Societies

Jeniah Shuron, mistress of ceremonies

Fresh Start Youth Group Dancers, Fresh Start Church

Cedar Morris Hill Youth Singers- Jeniah Shuron, Megan Tyson, Kamaya Simmons, Joi Shuron, Alayah Waters, Noelle Crockett, Eamnuel Marshall, Israel Crockett, Zoe Hughes, Kole Hughes, and Alexander Gilliard

Israel Crockett as Thurgood Marshall Tehya Lawrence gave the invocation.

Geraldine Lippman, Cedar Morris Hill youth coordinator

Danise Jones Dorsey first vice president, Continental Societies, Anne Arundel County Photos by J.D. Howard

The Anne Arundel County Continental Societies and the Cedar Morris Hill Community Association Youth Group presented Guess Who Came to Dinner: An African American Experience, A Night at the Museum, Feb. 20. Sponsored by the Anne Arundel County Continental Societies the youth of the Cedar Morris Hill community entertained parents and guests at their center with a “living museum.” Dressed as Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and other great African-

Grace Bennis, beautician in charge of donated artifacts for museum

John Cheatham, Gerald Stansbury, president, state NAACP; Tessa Hll-Aston, president, Baltimore NAACP and Joyce Harrell

Fresh Start Youth Group Dancers, Fresh Start Church

The audience enjoys the event

Davida HolstonWilliams, Michael Brown Sr., front.

Tanya Harris, Tony Randall, Verizon; Karen Outlaw and Rona Bowden

Author Daneace Jeffrey

Zoe with her mother, Latease Lashley

Lois Beverly and Pearlette Anderson

American slaves, the youth were exceptional at “paying homage to the brave and courteous African Americans who dared to dream!”In addition to reading poetry and sing Negro spirituals, dance selections were performed by the Fresh Start Church Children’s Dance Troupe. The Cedar Morris Hill Youth Group, young people ages 4 to 15, meets every Monday night from 4-6 p.m. under the supervision of advisors who are volunteers from the community.

Sen. Larry Young, morning radio host, WOLB 1010 AM

Kayla and Megan Tyson, pianists

Alescia Santos reads the poem “Still I Rise”

J. Howard Henderson, left, CEO Greater Baltimore Urban League; Brook Seay,

Sharnice

Barnet,

Shawtair

Thompson

and Tabb

J. Bishop,

Verizon vice

president

Anne Arundel County Continental Societies

Brandon Childs, Mel Bates and Wesley Webb

George Collins and Shyheem Yearwood

State Del. Barbara A. Robinson

Sen. Ben Cardin, Sen. Catherine Pugh and Gerald Stansbury, president, state NAACP Natiya Bennett, Syree Taft and Pamela Watkins

Back row: Joy Bramble, Robin Gill Bright, Wanda Draper, Dr. A. Skip Sanders,Glenard S. Middleton Sr.,Wanneta Thompson, accepting for Rev. Jonathan L. Weaver, Front row: J. Howard Henderson, Solomon Graham, Rev. Dr. Cleveland Mason, Janice Wilson, Anthony A. Lewis, Dr. David Wilson

Verizon hosted its free statewide Black History Month Open House, Feb. 28, at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore. The program included entertainment, speakers, and a special recognition of community leaders, innovators, and essay contest winners from elementary, middle and high schools across Maryland.

Sarah Campbell

Jack Humphreys

Jaiden Nguyen Cassandra Ferrante

Xavier, Gabrielle, Nathaniel and their father, Rafael McLeod

Abrar Sheikh

Tabb J. Bishop, J. Howard Henderson and Anthony A. Lewis Photos by Anderson Ward

March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American

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ARTS & CULTURE

Front “Page” News!

Clarence Page: The ‘Culture Worrier’ Interview

By Kam Williams Special to the AFRO Clarence Page is a nationally-syndicated columnist and member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board. Besides those duties, the Pulitzer Prize-winner makes frequent TV appearances, including on The McLaughlin Group as a regular member of the show’s panel of political pundits.

Clarence makes his home in the Washington, DC area with his wife, Lisa, and their son, Grady. Here, he talks about his life, career and his best-selling collection of essay, Culture Worrier.

Kam Williams: Hi Clarence, how’re you doing?

Clarence Page: I’m good. How are you today, Kam? KW: Great! First, I wanted to ask, how much of a connection do you still have to Chicago? You write for the ‘Tribune,’ but live in D.C. CP: That’s right. I work out of our Washington bureau.

My column is syndicated nationally, anyway. I have more of a Washington perspective than the other Tribune columnists, but I still love the place and try to get back as often as I can. And I occasionally do a locally-oriented blog item which is only printed in the Tribune.

KW: I think of you as the black Mike Royko. How would describe your style?

CP: I think every Chicago columnist considers himself to be a Mike Royko. [Chuckles] His office was next-door to mine at the Tribune Tower for a number of years. I always admired his strong voice… a very ordinary Chicagoan sitting at the bar after work going back-and-forth with his buddies about politics and this or that from a working-class point-of-view. I really appreciated his ability to do that so flawlessly, and in such a strong voice. So, I always tried to cultivate a voice assessing what was good for the average members of the public, and sometimes I succeeded.

[Chuckles]

CP: I’ve been doing the show since about 1988. McLaughlin’s been a remarkable talent scout over the years when you think about how people like Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell and Jay Carney used to be regulars on the show.

KW: Marie Polo asks: What was the most interesting and the most challenging aspects of being an army journalist back in 1969?

CP: Oh, that’s an interesting question! I will say that the difference was that when you’re an Army journalist, as opposed to a civilian correspondent covering the military, you’re very often either a public relations agent or expected to perform that role, with a few exceptions, such as reporters for Stars and Stripes. I would say that one of the most unexpected benefits of that job was being taught to never try to cover anything up, but rather to get any bad information out right away, so that there would be nothing more to come out later. This was a wonderful lesson to be taught because often the effort to cover up a story becomes a bigger story than the original one.

KW: You suffered from ADD, but it obviously didn’t prevent

“It occurred to me that after doing this for 30 years…that if there was ever an appropriate time for me to publish a collection of columns, this would be it.”

KW: You always do a great job. Tell me a little about why you decided to publish a collection of essays?

CP: It occurred to me that after doing this for 30 years, from the Reagan Era to the Age of Obama, that if there was ever an appropriate time for me to publish a collection of columns, this would be it. So, I went back and reread my pieces, and I began to notice the strong trend toward social commentary interwoven with politics played in most of them, and the phrase “Culture Worrier” just jumped out at me.

KW: How do you enjoy appearing on the McLaughlin Group with John, Eleanor Clift, Mort Zuckerman and Pat Buchanan?

you from having a very successful career as a journalist. How did you overcome this difficulty or turn it into a strength?

CP: I didn’t know I had ADD, because it hadn’t been invented back then. For what it’s worth, like a lot of others with ADD, I’ve been able to succeed simply by trying harder.

KW: When I watched ‘Life Itself,’ the documentary about Roger Ebert, I learned that winning a Pulitzer Prize was a very big deal to him. What did winning a Pulitzer mean to you?

CP: One thing about winning a Pulitzer, it means you know what the first three words of your obituary will be: Pulitzer Prize-winner. [Chuckles] After winning the Pulitzer, I couldn’t help but notice how people suddenly looked at me with a newfound respect, and would say, “He’s an expert.” On the negative side, I developed a terrible case of writer’s block for awhile, because I felt like readers would expect every one of my columns to be prize worthy. I spoke to a number of other Pulitzer winners who had the same problem, a creative block that had them hesitating. How do you get past the writer’s block? Nothing concentrates the mind like a firm deadline, and

Book Review

Black Male Frames: African-Americans in a Century of Hollywood Cinema, 1903-2003

By Kam Williams Special to the AFRO “‘Black Male Frames’ charts the development and shifting popularity of two stereotypes of black male masculinity in popular American film: the shaman and the scoundrel… [The book] identifies the origins of these roles in an America where black men were forced either to defer or to defy their white masters.

These figures recur in the stories America tells about its black men, from the fictional Jim Crow… to W.E.B. Du Bois. [The author] argues that these two extremes persist today in modern Hollywood, where actors… must cope with and work around such limited options… These men are rewarded for their portrayal of the stereotypes most needed to put America’s ongoing racial anxieties at ease.”

– Excerpted from the Bookjacket In the antebellum era, when minstrel shows took the U.S. by storm as the country’s first popular form of entertainment, African-American males were portrayed by white men in blackface as being either servile or surly. Those polar opposite stereotypes, which served a critical function during slavery, remained the only type of roles available to actual black actors from the dawn of the film industry all the way

into the 21st Century.

That is the contention of Roland Leander Williams, Jr. who teaches English at Temple University. In his groundbreaking book, Black Male Frames: AfricanAmericans in a Century of Hollywood Cinema, 1903-2003, Professor Williams sets out to show how black male movie characters have basically been either submissive or subversive to suit the fluctuating needs of the dominant culture.

He sets about proving his thesis by closely examining the careers of five AfricanAmerican acting icons, starting with Sam Lucas (1839-1916), the first black film star. He was not only the first black to play Uncle Tom onscreen, but he was also the first to portray the deferential character onstage.

Unfolding chronologically, the opus’ entry about Lucas is followed by a chapter devoted to Paul Robeson (1898-1976) entitled “Renaissance Man.” There, we learn that, in sharp contrast to Lucas, Robeson became typecast in a way which strengthened the “impression of blacks as primitives”

gaining popularity in the late Twenties.

That image was reversed a generation later, as personified by Sidney Poitier in his Oscar-winning performance in Lilies of the Field.

Then, in response to the Black Power Movement came the return of the relatively-assertive rebel as played by Denzel Washington, who won his first Academy Award for Glory in 1990.

Meanwhile, waiting in the wings was Morgan Freeman, who languished in the shadows “until the age of multiculturalism arrived, when he took a role (in Driving Miss Daisy) that once again raised the ghost of Uncle Tom.” As far as the future, the author concludes that only time will tell whether Hollywood will finally stop marginalizing black males as either servants or malcontents and welcome them into the movie mainstream by casting them in a full range of roles without regard to skin color. If not, Professor Williams expresses a sincere concern that history might simply continue to repeat itself.

a little voice in the back of my mind reminding me that, “If you don’t write, you don’t eat.”

Listen, we all want to be respected and appreciated, but when you get a big honor like that, people start to look for your work in a new way with higher expectations. Today, the best thing about having won is when I get a nasty comment from some internet troll I can remind myself of the Pulitzer and say, “Well, somebody appreciates me.”

KW: Dave Roth says: As far as I can tell, despite many people’s well intentioned efforts over the last 50 years, America still appears to be a racially-divided and culturally-segregated country, as evidenced by, among many other examples, Ferguson, Missouri, any examination of failing public schools and/or prison populations, and the current gerrymandering case being heard by the Supreme Court. What, in your view, is substantially culturally different in the U.S. today versus say March 3, 1991, Rodney King Day? And what do you believe is the single greatest piece of evidence that progress is being made toward a society that provides equality of opportunity and treatment under the law, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender?

CP: Good question. First of all, I would say that our cultural divides are less racial and more tribal. We’re trying to reduce racial barriers to opportunity while at the same time not creating artificial quotas in regards to race. Today’s tribal politics is more attitudes and values-based than back in the olden days when it was something we strictly associated with ethnicity.

KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden says: Thank you for your fine work in illuminating important issues. What do you see as the most critical domestic concern that needs to be addressed by our national government?

CP: I would say environmental protection is our most important long-range issue. In the shorter term, as well as the longer term, I’ve always said our biggest challenge is in education, which has become even more challenging because of income inequality and wage stagnation. We haven’t confronted the fact that people who get their income from capital investments have benefited while ordinary workers who rely on salary have not. So, the income gap is getting worse. But Washington is in gridlock, politically, and I’m pessimistic about our making any major improvements over the next couple years.

KW: Sangeetha Subramanian asks: When you think about your legacy how would you like to be remembered?

CP: What a wonderful question! When I posed that question to retiring Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, he looked up as if he were surprised, but he quickly responded, “That he did the best he could with what he had.” It was remarkably humble, but to the point. That’s how I’d like to be remembered, too.

Read more on afro.com.

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IN STORES MARCH 17

B4

The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

FAITH

The moment of consecration as Rev. A.C.D. Vaughn prays.

Bishop Walter Thomas preaches the consecration sermon.

Rev. Leah White and her husband, Deacon Russell White listen as Bishop Thomas preaches the word.

Sisters in Ministry International

Courtesy photos

Thursday, April 30, 2015, Power Plant Live!

Featuring keynote speaker Robin Quivers of “The Howard Stern Show�

5:30PM - VIP Reception in Mosaic / Open bar, hors d’oeuvres, mingling, meet & greet with Robin Quivers

Robin Quivers

6:00PM - Main Event / Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in Leinenkugel’s Beer Garden, Dinner & Program in the Atrium

Complimentary valet parking. Funds raised at Be A Hero will support the mission and work of Baltimore Child Abuse Center.

Tickets are

SOLD Â OUT, but you can still make a difference.

To donate in honor of Be A Hero or to add your name to the waitlist, visit bcaci.org or call 443-984-3013 today!

Thank you Be A Hero Sponsors!

Guardian

Champion

Protector

Advocate

Bishop Walter Scott Thomas, pastor of New Psalmist Baptist Church, had the saints on their feet as he preached what congregants called a life-changing, powerful message to mark the consecration of the the Rev. Dr. Leah E. White as executive overseer of Sisters in Ministry International, a group she founded 17 years ago.

Following the sermon, with Bishop Dwayne C. Debnam, pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church of Catonsville, serving as chief consecrator, the Rev. A.C.D. Vaughn prayed the consecration prayer, declaring, “God called you, Dr. White, not to be successful, but to proclaim His word.�

Faith leaders participating in the ceremony included Bishop Bertha Greene, Sacred Zion Full Gospel Baptist Church; Dr. Peggy E. Wall, St. John’s AME Church; Dr. Patricia Pender, dean, North Carolina College of Theology, Baltimore Campus and the Rev. Errol E. Gilliard, Greater Harvest Baptist Church and president of the Baltimore Ministers Conference of Baltimore and Vicinity, who gave remarks at the end of the

celebration.

But this was just the beginning of Sisters in Ministry’s annual conference, Feb. 27 and 28, held at Dr. White’s church, Greater Faith Baptist Church on Huntingdon Avenue in Baltimore.

Entitled “Equipping, Exploring and Expanding the Call,� the Feb. 28 events included worship experiences and workshops.

The Rev. Dr. Ruby C. Gilliam, pastor, Divine Wisdom, in her “Equipping�

“Expanding.�

The new executive overseer preached on Saturday before lunch, offering the same words of encouragement and nurture that have marked her tenure of leadership with the Sisters in Ministry since its inception.

Her members say, in addition to her guidance with the Sisters, she has raised the bar for developing leaders by providing a nurturing forum for husbands of women in ministry Rev. White, marking 20

“How high are you willing to go in your walk with God?� – Rev. Dr. Ruby C. Gilliam

workshop asked the group, “How high are you willing to go in your walk with God?�

The Rev. Robin Turner, pastor, New Hope Christian Baptist Church, conducted the “Exploring� workshop and the Rev. Dr. Dorothea Johnson James, executive pastor, Calvary Baptist Church expounded on

years in ministry, along with her husband, Deacon Russell White, is the first woman called to pastor an organized Baptist church in Baltimore.

She became the fifth pastor of Remnant Baptist Church in 1994, which relocated to 3000 Huntingdon Avenue and became Greater Faith Baptist Church in 1998.

Media

2300 North Charles Street, 4th Floor | Baltimore, MD 21218 | 410.396.6147 BaltimoreChildAbuseCenter.org | Facebook.com/4BCAC

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March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American

Remembering Selma 1965-2015 “How I got over, how I got over, my soul looks back and wonders how I got over” One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts; and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. Psalm 145 4:7 “I have been in Sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands.” Zora Neale Hurston “I am woman hear me roar” was the woman’s anthem before Helen Reddy sang the song.

Women like Barbara Jordan, Lorraine Hansberry, Fannie Lou Hamer, Dorothy Boulware, Ntozake Shange, Shirley Chisholm, Marian Anderson Jedidiah Isler, Frankie Murphy, Ruth Sheffey, Dorothy Heights, Septima Clark, Vera Booker, Marian Wright Edelman, Patricia Harris, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Jessye Norman, Charlotte Ray, Damita Jo, Susan B Anthony, Priscilla Kelley, Madame CJ Walker and thousands of women were roaring and leaving “footprints in the sands of time.”

Always be smarter than the people who hire you. Lena Horne Vhonda Williams-Lewis is McCormick’s rising star. Jason McCormick appointed her to the board of the Hunt Valley Business Forum representing McCormick and Company. Vhonda’s responsibilities at McCormick comprise of planning and executing high-level meetings and events for officials including the Governor, Baltimore County Executive, and McCormick’s board of directors.

“A woman who is willing to be herself and pursue her own potential runs not so much the risk of loneliness as the challenge of exposure to more interesting men and people in general.”

Lorraine Hansberry Vhonda earned a dual bachelor’s in mathematics and math education from Delaware State University, and a MBA from the University of Phoenix. She taught mathematics in the Baltimore City Nonpublic School System before joining McCormick. She is an alumnus of McCormick’s Leadership Program, Member Emeritus of McCormick’s Multiple Management Board and a Certified Event Planner.

“When you stop having dreams and ideals, well, you might as well stop altogether.” Marian Anderson A recipient of the prestigious Charles P. McCormick Gold Award for demonstrating outstanding service and exemplary leadership Vhonda continues to excel.

“I want to be remembered as someone who used herself and anything she could touch to work for justice and freedom.... I want to be remembered as one who tried.” Dorothy Heights Her social memberships include Network 2000, National Association of Professional Women, Maryland Business Roundtable for Education/Achievement Counts program, Baltimore City College Alumni Association and the board of Boys Hope Girls Hope of Baltimore. A Baltimore County resident she is married to James and is the mother of Sydney

B5

and Jimmy and worships faithfully at New Psalmist.

“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get, you’ve got to make yourself.” Alice Walker The Key Highway Ritz Carlton Sip Kitchen and Wine Bar’s unique way of ordering wine from a vending machine has created a conversation piece among the guests seated in the lounge area. The area overflowed with fashionable people sampling the countless wine selections including longtime friends Mitch and Lisa Gordon, Debbie Allen and Bernadette Christmas, residents who live next to the restaurant. I was delighted as Lisa explained the concept of selecting wine without the assistance of a bartender. Molly Dooker’s Boxer a Shiraz was my selection, Lisa and Mitch sampled the white wines.

“I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning, I say, ‘What is my exciting thing for today?’ Then, I do the day. Don’t ask me about tomorrow.”

Barbara Jordan This is how we do it on! WTF (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) celebration time for longtime friends Judge Yvonne Holt-Stone and Lydia McCargo -Redd, Wednesday Yvonne’s staff gathered her friends and coworkers for a pre- birthday party celebration. Thursday we joined Yvonne at Jack Binion’s Steakhouse for dinner. Friday Lydia’s husband Sam Redd surprised her with a dinner party in the private dining room at Season’s 52 in Columbia attended by family and friends.

When Faye Wattleton turned 50, she stated, “I had not expected to be as settled down and as peaceful about myself as I believe I am now. Things sort of fall in to place. Those qualities and strengths that carried us through our 20s, 30s and 40s are even better, they’re even stronger.”

Happy birthday to my youngest son Michael Gregory Lee, Debbie Taylor, Jai Matthews, John Gilliam, Terrence Shields, Gerald Brown, Marsha Jews, Myron Bundy , Margaret Lee, Kendrick DJ5 Starr Tilghman, Ursula Battle, Anthony Jones, Paula Johnson-Branch, Michelle Emery, Dot Douglas, Aldonna Wylie, Gloria “Tuttie” Bogans and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake.

“The moment I wake up before I put on my makeup I say a little pray for you” Dionne Warwick We are praying for a speedy recovery for Yvonne Coates, John Massey and Elvard Cooper as they recuperate.

“I found god in myself and I loved her. I loved her fiercely.” Ntozake Shange Sending condolences to Shirley Belton on the death of her brother Timothy Belton, Adrienne Davis on the death of her husband Eggy Davis and Tyres Jones on the death of his father William Jones.

“For a long time the only time I felt beautiful -- in the sense of being complete as a woman, as a human being -- was when I was singing.” Leontyne Price I’ll be seeing you! Valerie and the Friday Night Bunch.

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The Afro-American, March 14, 7, 2015 2015- -March March7,20, 2015 2015

Gordon Parks/Library of Congress

Work as a Civil Right Continued from B1

of assembly trainee at the Martin Marietta Corp. after reading a classified ad. Shortly thereafter, she was informed the company was not accepting female applicants with preschool-age children. When she learned men with preschool-age children were being considered, however, Phillips decided to file a complaint.

In January 1971, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor.

“By adding the prohibition against job discrimination based on sex to the 1964 Civil Rights Act Congress intended to prevent employers from refusing ‘to hire an individual based on stereotyped characterizations of the sexes’ Even

Black women in America were long relegated to menial, often domestic labor as portrayed by actresses Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer in The Help.

characterizations of the proper domestic roles of the sexes were not to serve as predicates for restricting employment opportunity,” wrote U.S. Justice Thurgood Marshall in his concurring opinion.

“It began the process of making employers understand that they could not rely on stereotypes about women and the role of women to keep them from entering the job market,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF’s current president and director-counsel.

“People think about us as only fighting race discrimination, but we recognized the importance of seeking equality as a whole,” Ifill added. “The idea of women being able to operate equally in the workplace is as important as any other civil right women can have. Women play a vital role in every aspect of our society and barring women from participating fully in the workplace not only discriminated against women, but also impoverished the workplace from the contributions women could make.”

According to Arnwine, Title VII “spawned a whole generation of laws in the states” addressing issues of workplace discrimination and federal laws such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which extends the time in which workers who learn of a pay disparity can bring a lawsuit against their employers.

Despite the progress ignited by Title VII, workplace discrimination remains.

“Many people believe that sexism in the workplace is a thing of the past, but evidence suggests that is alive and well,” Michael Schmitt, a former expert in workplace discrimination at Purdue University said in a psychological study. “Women get paid less than men, are less likely to be hired or promoted, do more unpaid domestic labor and are highly underrepresented in positions of power.

“A number of psychological investigations suggest that both women and men underestimate the degree of sexism against women. People want to think they live in a fair world in which men and women can do anything they want, regardless of gender,” he added.

Such challenges are especially acute for African-American women, who often walk the double gauntlet of race and sex discrimination in the workplace.

“There have been attempts by women of color to bring cases of intersectional bias but the courts have had a hard time dealing with that,” Lapidus said. “They’ve wanted to deal with cases on the basis of either race discrimination or gender discrimination but not both.”

And stereotypes persist, barring women from jobs such as law enforcement, firefighting and construction.

“There is still a lot of gender stereotypes out there about what kind of work women can do, or the idea that women only work for ‘pin money’ but they are not the primary wage earners, when in reality, in 41 percent of families with children, woman are the primary or co-primary wage earners,” Lapidus said.

There are also persistent issues related to the accommodation of female workers, Arnwine said.

Photos Courtesy DreamWorks Studios “We are still way behind most Western nations

Women of all races are paid at or below minimum wages more than men.

World War II opened up job opportunities for Black women. In this image, Black women welders are seen at the Landers, Frary, and Clark plant in New Britain, Conn., in June 1943.

in providing for women employees, to give them the time off they need to care for loved ones and offering benefits such as child care. Childcare is so expensive that it drives poorer women out of the workplace.”

Lack of accommodation is especially acute for pregnant workers, Lapidus said. The ACLU currently has pending cases, including Young v. UPS, which the Supreme Court is scheduled to review, which challenges the employer’s unwillingness to offer light-duty accommodations to pregnant employees though it offers such accommodations to workers who were injured on the job and who are disabled.

The ACLU has also filed an amicus brief in Home Care Association of America v. Weil.

The case challenges a federal judge’s decision to overturn Department of Labor rule changes in 2013 that would grant basis minimum wage protections to home health care workers, a field dominated by women of color.

The exclusion of domestic workers from the nation’s labor laws was both a legacy of gender stereotypes and of slavery and Jim Crow, Lapidus said.

“Stereotypes that do not value work that’s done in the home is really a legacy of slavery when enslaved African-American women were forced to work in the home and be caretakers. These jobs are just not treated as valuable,” she said.

Sex discrimination continues both at the lower echelons and the higher echelons of the labor market.

A 1995 report by Congress’ Glass Ceiling Commission found that despite an increasing presence in the workplace, women and minorities were barred by impenetrable barriers from entering the executive suite. At that time, the commission noted that only 3 to 5 percent of senior management positions in Fortune 500 companies were filled by women. It also found that women in senior positions often held positons in areas such as human resources or research which are not part of the usual pipeline to executive positions. Furthermore, the findings found disparities in compensation, which is a problem across the labor marketplace and the reason why advocates have been trying to pass the “Pay Fairness Act” in Congress.

“The pay gap continues to be a problem overall but it is particularly harsh for women of color,” the ACLU’s Lapidus said. “White women who work full time earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by a White man, but Black women earn 64 cents for every dollar earned by a White man and Hispanic women earn 56 cents.”

U.S. Department of Labor

March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American

AFRO Sports Desk Faceoff

B7

SPORTS

Will the Kentucky Wildcats Finish Undefeated?

By Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley AFRO Sports Writers The Kentucky Wildcats recently completed a 31-0 regular season, as a roster stocked with blue-chip players and the presence of head coach John Calipari at the helm resulted in Kentucky’s best regular season since 1954.

But for Calipari and the Wildcats, the mission is far from complete, as the SEC and NCAA tournaments await in the upcoming weeks. They’ll enter both fields highly favored, but the question remains: will the Kentucky Wildcats finish the season undefeated and claim another NCAA championship?

Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley of the AFRO Sports Desk debate the question.

Riley: Team play is always the deciding factor in postseason runs, but the Kentucky Wildcats possess that, and then some. They’re stocked with NBA-caliber size and talent, and are backed by one of the best coaches in the nation.

With the momentum from an undefeated season, the players

understand how important it is to finish this job. In addition, several Kentucky players have a good chance to elevate their NBA draft stock with a solid college postseason. With so much at stake and with the experience from last year’s title game appearance, it’s Kentucky’s year and they’ll finish the job.

Green: Undefeated seasons add even more weight once the postseason rolls around. Plus, every team in the country is scouting Kentucky, the top-ranked school, more thoroughly than any other opponent. The Wildcats are talented, but that edge can vanish if an opponent has the right game plan in the postseason. I think the pressure will get to the Wildcats, and they will crumble before the championship game. The SEC Tournament will feature several teams familiar with Kentucky, some of whom will play the Wildcats for the third time this season. Familiarity is always an edge that can be used by either school.

Riley: They’ve faced pressure all season and have succeeded 31 times in a row. If there’s anybody to trust with

pressure on their shoulders, it’s the Kentucky Wildcats. The experience they possess from last season’s run to the title game is something that no other school has. The SEC Tournament will have some familiar faces, but the SEC for the most part is on a down year. The only team nationally ranked other than the Wildcats are the Arkansas Razorbacks, and Kentucky beat them by 17 points a week ago.

Green: The Wildcats’ last two SEC games were pretty much blueprints on how to hang with them. They found themselves in a tug-of-war with Georgia on the road for much of the night before pulling out a late win. They sparred with Florida for much of the first half and into the second before a late run gave Kentucky a big lead. Both opponents played aggressive defense, did a good job protecting the ball, and did not stake the Wildcats to big leads until fatigue finally set in.

With a week for schools to prepare and review past games, Kentucky may lose before the NCAA tournament even begins.

I just can’t see them finishing undefeated. All eyes are on the Wildcats to complete an improbable run. The odds are actually against them, and I believe the odds will win out.

Maryland Ends Reg. Season with 7-Game Win Streak, 26-5 Record

Minnie Minoso “The Cuban Comet” When the integration of Major League Baseball is mentioned, most thoughts go to Jackie Robinson. If you want to stretch the thought, Larry Doby may enter the conversation.

Larry was the second African American to enter the MLB and the first in the American League, coming from the Great Lakes team 11 weeks after Jackie made history. Larry went to Cleveland, and since he spent many evenings with my family, I was an Indians fan as well as a Dodgers fan.

Rooting for the Indians was an exercise in futility.

The Senators were known as the team from Washington that was first in peace, first in war but last in the American League, yet they would always find ways to keep Cleveland from the pennant.

It was said of Indians owner Bill Veeck that he would sign a gorilla if it could chase down a fly ball.

Veeck was on a hunt to find a quality player of color before Jackie’s signing. He was advised against it by Sam Lacy, who reminded Veeck that the owner had previously had a giant, a midget and several other oddities play for him, and a player of color may be viewed as another act in Bill

Veeck’s “circus.”

After the color barrier was broken and the Indians’ signing of Doby was in the history books, Veeck continued his quest for a player to help the Indians win a pennant. It was then that he signed Orestes “Minnie” Minoso, the Cuban Comet, in 1949. With this new acquisition, the Indians won the World Series as Minoso patrolled left field and made a substantial contribution.

During this period of my life I was fortunate enough to attend spring training with Sam. Books and homework made the trip, but I still had as much freedom as any kid could want wandering around among the great MLB players.

Usually, these trips were to Florida, where the Dodgers trained, but this time it would be different.

This time we were going to Tucson with the Indians.

Since Jim Crow was still a major force in America, we were housed away from the white players on the team.

Instead, we lived with a family in a home approved

by MLB. My roommates were Sam, Doby and Minosa.

On the train ride to Tucson, I learned to appreciate the charm of Minnie. On this

trip, I thought it was cool to hang out in the club car with Micky Vernon and some of the other players drinking Shirley Temples. It was quite a bit past my bed time when Sam showed up, and he was more than a little steamed at my newfound independence.

Minnie came to my rescue, and saved me from a life sentence by reminding Sam that I was just a kid.

When we took our meals I marveled at the way Minnie mixed everything on his plate together. His only comment was, “It’s all going the same place.”

While in Tucson, I made friends with Billy Norsworthy. In the evenings I would join him and his gang for some mischief.

Amongst his friends was a girl named June, and I was stone-cold in love with June.

For this reason, when it was suggested that we slip over the border to Nogales, Mexico, I was all in. We got busted, and Minnie saved my butt again. He didn’t use these words when he talked to me, but it was similar to, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape.”

Minnie remained an active MLB player as late as 1976, when at the age of 53 he made a handful of plate appearances for the Chicago White Sox.

AFRO.COM

By Perry Green AFRO Sports Editor Senior forward Dez Wells posted a double-double of 18 points with 12 rebounds to lead No. 10 Maryland to a 64-61 win over Big Ten opponent Nebraska in the Terps’ regular season finale on March 8 in Lincoln, Neb. The win gave Maryland a 26-5 overall record, the team’s best season in program history, and sent the Terrapins into the Big Ten tournament on a seven-game winning streak.

Maryland had to work for the win, however. After taking a small lead into halftime, the Terps fell behind by as many as eight points early in the second half. But freshman guard Melo Trimble caught a hot shooting streak and led Maryland back.

Nebraska continued to challenge, and the game wasn’t won until Wells nailed a clutch one-dribble jump shot to give the Terps a three-point lead with just seconds left in the game.

Nebraska junior guard Shavon Shields missed an attempt to tie the game as Maryland held onto the victory.

Wells was 6-of-7 from the free throw line in scoring his 18 points; Trimble was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and led the way with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Shields scored a game-high 26 points for Nebraska in the loss.

Maryland takes the No. 2 seed into the Big Ten tournament, and will face the winner of a first-round matchup between No. 7 Indiana and No. 10 Northwestern in a quarterfinal game on March 13.

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LEGAL NOTICES

CITY OF BALTIMORE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND PARKS 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 RP 13826RWegworth Park Improvements will be received at the Office of the Comptroller, Room 204, City Hall, Baltimore, Maryland until 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, April 15, 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, Room 6 located on the first floor of the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, 200 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 as of Friday, March 13, 2015 and copies may be purchased for a non-refundable cost of $100.00.

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 3000 Druid Park Drive, 1st Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21215. 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 G90132Park Rehabilitation Cost Qualification Range for this work shall be $1,000,000.01 to $2,000,000.00.

A ”Pre-Bidding Information” session will be conducted at 2600 Madison Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21217 on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. Principal Items of work for this project are: Park Rehabilitation The MBE goal is 11% The WBE goal is 3% RP 13826R APPROVED: Bernice H. Taylor Clerk, Board of Estimates APPROVED: Rudolph S. Chow, P.E. Director of Public Works TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 11:59:41 EDT 2015 CITY OF BALTIMORE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND PARKS 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 RP 13806Sloman Drive and Parking Loop Improvements will be received at the Office of the Comptroller, Room 204, City Hall, Baltimore, Maryland until 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, April 15, 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 in Room 6 located on the first floor of the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, 200 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 as of Friday, March 13, 2015 and copies may be purchased for a non-refundable cost of $100.00.

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 3000 Druid Park Drive, 1st Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21215. 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 A02602Bituminous Concrete Paving Cost Qualification Range for this work shall be $500,000.01 to $1,000,000.00.

A ”Pre-Bidding Information” session will be conducted at 2600 Madison Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217 on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. Principal Items of work for this project are: Paving The MBE goal is 12% The WBE goal is 2%

to file an objection.

Frank M. Conaway Clerk 3/13/15

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HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FINANCIAL AUDIT SERVICES RFP Number: B-1786-15 The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (”HABC”) will accept proposals from interested and qualified firms of Certified Public Accountants to audit its financial statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 and at the option of HABC four (4) subsequent (2016,2017,2018,2019) fiscal years.

These audits are to be performed in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards set forth in the U.S. General Accounting Office, ”Government Auditing Standards” (1994 Revision), and OMB A-133 Compliance Supplement, the Single Audit Act Amendments (SAA) of 1996, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Statement of Position (SOP) number 98-3 issued March 17, 1998, Moving to Work Compliance Supplement and the PIH Compliance Supplement as applicable, and all current accounting and auditing standards and publications. Subject to the HUD announcements, the audits for FY 2016 or later years may have to be performed in accordance to 2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance issued by OMB. PROPOSALS WILL BE DUE no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 15, 2015.

A non-mandatory pre-proposal conference will be held on Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. in the Charles L. Benton Building, 417 E. Fayette Street, Room 416, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202.

HABC has established a minimum goal of twenty percent (20%) of the total dollar amount of the proposed contract for Minority Business Enterprise (”MBE”) utilization, applicable to all minority and non-minority businesses proposing to provide the requested services as the prime contractor. No goal has been established for participation of Women-owned businesses (”WBEs”), however, HABC strongly encourages and affirmatively promotes the use of WBEs in all HABC contracts.

Bidders shall also comply with all applicable requirements of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. Section 1701u.

The RFP and all supporting documents may be obtained on or after Monday, March 16, 2015, from the following location: Housing Authority of Baltimore City Division of Fiscal Operations, Procurement Department 417 E. Fayette Street, Room 414 Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Attention: John Airey, Chief of Contracting Services Tel: (410) 396-3261 Fax: (410) 962-1586

TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:00:43 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR BALTIMORE CITY Case No.: 24-D-15000562 IN THE MATTER OF Joe Edward Smith FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO Joseph Edward Smith ORDER FOR NOTICE BY PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to officially change the name of the petitioner from Joe Edward Smith to Joseph Edward Smith It is this 3rd day of March, 2015 by the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, ORDERED, that publication be given one time in a newspaper of general circulation in Baltimore City on or before the 3rd day of April, 2015, which shall warn all inte-rested persons to file an affidavit in opposition to the relief requested on or before the 20th day of April, 2015.

Frank M. Conaway Clerk 3/13/15

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TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:01:02 EDTLEGAL 2015 NOTICES

RP 13806

TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:40:25 EDT 2015 APPROVED: LEGAL NOTICES Bernice H. Taylor Clerk, Board of Estimates IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR APPROVED: BALTIMORE CITY Rudolph S. Chow, P.E. Case No.: Director of Public Works TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:00:03 EDT 2015 24D15000363 IN THE MATTER OF Nadjah Monet Rivers CITY OF BALTIMORE FOR CHANGE OF DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NAME TO NOTICE OF LETTING Nyja Monet Rivers Sealed Bids or Proposals, in duplicate addressed to the Board of Estimates

BY AND THROUGH of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and marked for BALTIMORE HIS/HER CITY NO.TR15012; RESURFACING HIGHWAYS AT VARIOUS LOCAMOTHER/FATHER/ TIONS, NORTHWEST, SECTOR II will be received at the Office of the GUARDIAN Comptroller, Room 204 City Hall, Baltimore, Maryland until 11:00 A.M. April Craig L and Dana M 8, 2015. Positively no bids will be received after 11:00 A.M. Bids will be Rivers publicly opened by the Board of Estimates in Room 215, City Hall at Noon.

NOTICE The Contract Documents may be examined, without charge, at the DepartThe above Petitioner has ment of Public Works Service Center located on the first floor of the Abel filed a Petition for Change of Wolman Municipal Building, 200 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland Name in which he/she seeks to change the name of a mi21202 as of March 13, 2015 and copies may be purchased for a nonnor child from Nadjah Monet refundable cost of $75.00. Conditions and requirements of the Bid are Rivers to Nyja Monet Rivers. found in the bid package. All contractors bidding on this Contract must The petitioner is seeking this first be prequalified by the City of Baltimore Contractors Qualification name change for the child for the following reasons: Committee. Interested parties should call (410) 396-6883 or contact the (Name was recorded inCommittee at Room 634, Charles L. Benton Bldg. , 417 E. Fayette St., correctly at birth.)

Baltimore, Maryland 21202 . If a bid is submitted by a joint venture Any person may file an objection the the Petition on or be(”JV”), then in that event, the document that established the JV shall fore the 2nd day of April, be submitted with the bid for verification purposes. The 2015. The objection must be Prequalification Category required for bidding on this project is A02602 supported by an affidavit and (Bituminous Concrete Paving) and D02620 (Curbs, Gutters & Sidewalk). served upon the Petitioner in accordance with Maryland Cost Qualification Range for this work shall be $1,000,000.00 to Rule 1-321. Failure to file an $3,000,000.00. A ”Pre-Bidding Information” session will be conducted at objection or affidavit within 10:00 A.M. on March 27, 2015 at 417 East Fayette Street, Room 722, the time allowed may result in Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Principal Items of work for this project are a judgment by default or the granting of the relief sought.

-Removal of HMA 0-3” 43,730 SY and Hot Mix Asphalt Superpave A copy of this notice shall be Surface Various Types 6,790 TON. The MBE goal is 20%; WBE goal is published on time in a news7% paper of general circulation in APPROVED: Bernice H. Taylor, Clerk the county/city at least fifteen (15) days before the deadline Board of Estimates

LANDS FOR SALE RECREATIONAL CABIN 6.5 AC, POND SITE $84,900 Park like open and wooded Parcel with 2 state views/1,000+ sq. ft. shell ready for You to finish and enjoy.

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March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015, The Afro-American TYPESET: Wed Mar 11 12:00:25 2015 LEGALEDT NOTICES 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 Director, Department of Transportation

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B9

Film Review

Like Sunday, Like Rain

By Kam Williams Special to the AFRO

Eleanor (Leighton Meester) gets so fed up with her struggling musician boyfriend’s (Billie Joe Armstrong) philandering ways, that she tosses his most prized possession, his guitar, out of a second-floor window to the street below where it’s smashed into smithereens. He retaliates by getting her fired from her job as a waitress by making a scene right in the place where she works.

She then impulsively dumps him, packs all her belongings into a single suitcase, and moves out of their apartment. Trouble is that with nowhere to go, she suddenly has to figure out how to survive in Manhattan with only $160 to her name.

Eleanor is lucky to land a gig as a nanny through a temp agency which places her in a posh penthouse where she’ll be paid room and board to care for a precocious 12 year-old with preoccupied parents who are never around. In the absence of quality time, Reggie (Julian Shatkin) has developed into a melancholy misanthrope, whose only saving grace is that he loves to play the cello.

Can a cash-strapped, 23 year-old au pair from a bluecollar background relate to a spoil-rotten rich musical

prodigy? That’s the dilemma serving as the driving force behind Like Sunday, Like Rain, an unlikely-buddies drama reminiscent of Harold and Maude (1971).

Written and directed

by Frank Whaley (New York City Serenade), the character-driven coming-of-age flick is obviously very dependent on the generation of chemistry between the leads.

Fortunately, co-stars Leighton Meester and Julian Shatkin both prove capable and convincing in this regard.

Given his folks’ conspicuous absence, initiallyreluctant Reggie is essentially afforded free rein to roam around New York on an unlimited budget, and obliging Eleanor wins his trust by letting him skip day camp and scheduled play dates. He hangs with her instead, and the two gradually bond while visiting museums, dining in fancy restaurants, and even renting a hotel room.

A tenderhearted lesson in how friendship can be forged in spite of a great gulf in age, class and I.Q. Very Good (3 stars) Rated R for profanity Running time: 104 minutes Distributor: Monterey Media To see a trailer for Like Sunday, Like Rain, visit: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=B28IHhaQXCE

B10

The Afro-American, March 14, 2015 - March 20, 2015

HBCU NEWS

HBCU Students Help Register Ferguson Voters Several college students from a number of HBCUs in Atlanta arrived in

Ferguson, Mo. on March 8 to register voters in time for the April 7 deadline.

Teamed with the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, students knocked on doors in and around Ferguson throughout the weekend to canvass voters and disseminate information. Many of the students gave up days of their spring break to participate.

Atlanta University Center students viewed the makeshift memorial on the site where Michael Brown was shot by a Ferguson police officer.

Photos courtesy of the NAACP

Haleigh Hopkins, a Spelman College Freshman from Peoria, Ill, is interviewed by St. Louis media prior to beginning voter registration and canvassing in the Ferguson area.

Thomas Smith of Morehouse College is interviewed by St. Louis media prior to beginning voter registration and canvassing in the Ferguson area.

Atlanta University Center students, from left, Chrishaun Langston, Shoney Frink, Corey Ashmore and Ryan Betts go over map and paperwork before going into Ferguson, Mo., neighborhoods to register voters.

Bethune-Cookman University, EPA Partnership to Create Programs in Environmental Fields

By Maria Adebola AFRO Staff Writer

Bethune-Cookman University has launched a partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency under which it will work with the federal organization to address the stagnant participation of minority students in environmental fields.

With the EPA’s assistance, the Florida-based historically Black university will incorporate programs in areas including environmental science education and workforce development, faculty research, seminars or mini courses, outreach programs, technical assistance, and infrastructure.

As part of the agreement, the EPA will help improve the university’s environmental policy and science curriculum. The EPA will also offer internship opportunities to students interested in pursuing careers in environmental science and research, in an effort to attract more minorities interested in environmental fields, the agency said in a statement.

Bethune-Cookman President Dr. Edison O. Jackson, said he hopes the four-year partnership with the EPA will prepare more minority students for careers in the environmental field.

“This is a great accomplishment for B-CU,” Jackson said in a statement. “We will now be able to efficiently compete for relative research grants and take advantage of other great environmental opportunities. Most importantly, we will open up many avenues for our students, faculty and surrounding communities, as well.”

Your

nose knows

when gas is leaking.

Hampton University Welcomes Fashion Business Writer Teri Agins The Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism & Communications will host fashion business writer, Teri Agins, during the live taping of The Caldwell Café on March 18, 2015 at 6 p.m. in the Scripps Howard TV studio.

Agins is one of the most knowledgeable journalists regarding the business of fashion. She earned her stripes as a respected journalist in the fashion world during her years at the Wall Street Journal. A talented writer, she wrote for the New York Times, Time Magazine, Vogue, The Oprah Magazine and Essence.

Agins will discuss her new book, her career as a fashion business writer and give HU students advice on Teri Agins reaching their potential in the field of communications when she appears as a guest on The Caldwell Café.

Agins recently released her second book, “Hijacking the Runway: How Celebrities Are Stealing the Spotlight from Fashion Designers.” She discusses how celebrities used to simply be “walking billboards” displaying the latest from big name fashion designers, but now are creating their own brands, modeling them and reaping the benefits of sales.

The Caldwell Café is named after Earl Caldwell, a nationally renowned journalist, who is a writer-in-residence with the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications.

His series was designed as a vehicle for Caldwell to expose students to media and journalism professionals.

Leaking natural gas inside buildings or outside can create a safety hazard. If you suspect a natural gas leak, or detect a smell like rotten eggs, leave the building or the area immediately and, from a safe place, call BGE. Natural gas can even enter buildings that don’t use natural gas, passing through walls and openings from the outside.

Your call for emergency service will be answered 24 hours a day. To learn more go to BGE.COM

To Report a Gas Leak:

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TTY/TDD users:

800.735.2258 (Maryland Relay Service)

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Publication:

Afro American

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