PG County 3-2-2018 by AFRO News

November 11, 2017 - November 11, 2017, The Afro-American A1 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION

Volume 127 No. 30

MARCH 3, 2018 - MARCH 9, 2018

Inside

Prince George’s

D.C.’s Sankofa Ball Showcases the Next Generation

B1 Elijah Cummings:

In Defense of American Democracy A3

Baltimore

Lift Every Voice and Sing AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Following a front page story in the AFRO, several NBA teams, including the pictured Miami Heat, have played the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” before the start of games during Black History Month. Retired Howard University professor, Eugene Williams, who lives in Clinton, Md., has been pushing for the move.

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Daisy Morgan Made History During Vietnam War By Hamil Harris Special to the AFRO It was October of 1971 and the Vietnam War wasn’t going well. Nearly 187,000 soldiers had been killed and President Richard Nixon had announced that “American troops are now in a defensive position... the offensive activities of search and destroy are now being undertaken by the South Vietnamese.” Meanwhile, on the campus of Texas Southern University 20-year-old Daisy Morgan decided to take a break from her job working with students in the Upward Bound program to accompany a friend to a Houston post office that was also a military recruiting station. Morgan’s friend thought about joining the military to get away from a bad relationship but changed her mind. However,

Courtesy photo

Morgan with her mother, Annie M. Morgan, who was honored with flowers by her retiring command, Task Force 168, in Suitland, Md. Oct. 1992.

Continued on A4

Annapolis

Bill Expanding Medical Cannabis Licenses Advances By Sean Whooley Capital News Service A bill that would expand Maryland’s medical cannabis industry to include more minority ownership, after more than a month in legislative limbo, is moving again in the General

Assembly, with amendments. A House panel Feb. 27 approved amendments to a bill sponsored by Delegate Cheryl Glenn, (D-Baltimore) that would include more funding for the state’s medical cannabis commission, and update the

Continued on A4

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on that day Morgan, who initially moved to Houston to earn a high school diploma in the Job Corp, saw enlisting in the military as a ticket to a new life. “I noticed the uniform that the Navy recruiter was wearing and I saw a sign that said, ‘See the world,’ and I was sold,” Morgan, who decided that day to enlist in the Navy, told the AFRO. This marked the beginning of a military career that included 20 years of active duty and another 18 years as a Naval ROTC instructor. “I joined the Navy to see the world but I never thought that I would make history and my picture would be on the wall at the Pentagon,” said Morgan who spent the first eight years assigned to an anti-submarine squadron

Exclusive: Will Pugh’s Crime Plan Work?

Wood Joins Smith & Nephew By AFRO Staff Dr. James E. Wood, formerly the chief of orthopedic surgery at Maryland’s MedStar Harbor, has been appointed senior medical director for global strategy at Smith & Nephew. Wood, a native of Baltimore and an AFRO board member, is a graduate of Morgan State University and a University of Californiatrained orthopedic surgeon. Smith & Nephew is a multinational medical technology that was founded in Kingston Upon Hull in the United Kingdom. Wood will work at one of the company’s U.S. offices in Cordova, Tennessee. “I am pleased to assume this role at Smith & Nephew, and look forward to using my decades of clinical experience to continue improving patient-physician collaboration on a global scale,” Wood said in a statement.

Photo by Urban News Service

T-Ann Johnson’s company provides bail to those in need.

Ex-Offender Now Helps Bail People Out By Curtis Bunn Urban News Service

Delegate Cheryl Glenn’s bill to expand minority ownership of medical cannabis businesses is moving forward in the General Assembly.

T-Ann Johnson saved a client’s life. That’s when she knew the job was more than just a job. It was a calling. Saving lives was not in the job description. But, as Director of Empower and Serve by Nexus, it came naturally as one would drink water when thirsty, an

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Continued on A4

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Dr. James E. Wood

The Afro-American, February 24, 2018 - March 2, 2018

WHAT’S TRENDING ON AFRO.COM Bill Cosby’s Daughter Ensa, 44, Dies By The Associated Press

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Ensa Cosby, the daughter of comedian Bill Cosby (pictured), died in Massachusetts. Bill Cosby’s 44-year-old daughter Ensa Cosby died in Massachusetts from kidney disease, a spokesman for the comedian said Feb. 26. Spokesman Andrew Wyatt did not immediately offer other details about her death on Friday. “Please keep the Cosby family in your prayers and give them peace at this time,” he said. Bill Cosby lost another of his five children in 1997 when his 27-year-old son, Ennis, a graduate student at Columbia University, was shot to death while changing a flat tire near a freeway off ramp in Los Angeles. A 22-year-old man was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Bill Cosby, 80, owns a home in the western Massachusetts

town of Shelburne Falls. Ensa Cosby spoke out on her father’s behalf before his trial last year on charges he drugged and molested a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He has pleaded not guilty and remains free on bail ahead of his retrial scheduled for April 2. His first trial ended with a hung jury last year. Ensa Cosby and her sister, Erinn, recorded statements that aired on New York hip-hop radio station Power 105. Ensa Cosby said she strongly believed in her father’s innocence and believed that racism played a big role in aspects of the scandal. “How my father is being punished by a society that still believes Black men rape White women but passes off ‘boys will be boys’ when White men are accused, and how the politics of our country prove my disgust. My father has been publicly lynched in the media,” she said. “Boys will be boys” was an apparent reference to President Donald Trump excusing as “locker room talk,” lewd remarks he was recorded making in footage released during the 2016 presidential campaign by “Access Hollywood.” Cosby is due in court next March 5 for a pretrial hearing as his lawyers and prosecutors clash over how many other accusers can testify at his retrial. In the wake of Ensa Cosby’s death, Bill Cosby could ask to postpone the pretrial hearing or wave his right to be in court for it. Cosby’s lead attorney, Tom Mesereau, did not immediately respond to messages. A defamation lawsuit filed by seven women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct also is pending in Massachusetts. Ensa Cosby largely stayed out of the public spotlight during her life though she did appear in 1989 in a single episode of her father’s popular sitcom “The Cosby Show,’ which ran from 1984-1992.

Jalen Rose Tells College Players to Boycott March Madness Your History • Your Community • Your News

By Perry Green AFRO Sports Editor pgreen@afro.com

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Former basketball star Jalen Rose recently waded into the controversy over paying college athletes. Former basketball star Jalen Rose recently offered up some unique advice to college basketball players in the midst of the controversy surrounding the FBI’s probing of the NCAA as it attempts to bust several student athletes, coaches and universities for benefits violations. Rose, a former member of University of Michigan’s Fab Five who played 14 years in the NBA, now works as an ESPN studio analyst. According to a tweet from ESPN’s Adam Reisinger, Rose encouraged all college basketball players to boycott the NCAA’s biggest cash cow — the “March Madness” men’s basketball championship tournament. “Don’t play in the NCAA Tournament,” Rose stated, as quoted by Reisinger. “Send a message, young fellas… go for the money.” The message Rose is telling players to send is the same one he’s been supporting for years – that the NCAA is hypocritical for penalizing players for taking money while it makes billions of dollars from the players’ talents. Rose wrote a column for the Huffington Post back in 2011, saying the NCAA should pay student-athletes a $2,000 stipend every semester. By 2013, he had upped the stipend to $2,500. “My lights are about to get cut off,” Rose told the media, as he recalled his playing days at Michigan. He said when he had a bad day, his coaches would ask him, “What’s wrong?” “I don’t have any money in my pocket. That’s what’s wrong,” Rose continued, as quoted in a 2013 {USA Today} article. “You got a new car, that’s what’s wrong. I want a new car; I like nice things.” Now Rose is telling student athletes to ask for even more of the pie, especially considering how the FBI is now involved in the investigation of players getting their money under the table. According to {Yahoo! News}, several major programs are about to get busted for allegedly paying their players improper benefits, including Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Kansas. Although Rose didn’t personally tweet his comments about players boycotting the NCAA Tournament from his own Twitter account, he did tweet a “fun fact” about the NCAA on Feb. 24 that supports his criticism of association. “Did you know the NCAA has had a Non-Profit tax code designation since 1956? 501(c)(3). Mockery.”

Omarosa Calls Trump’s White House a ‘Plantation’ By AFRO Staff

One of reality TV’s most notorious stars is at it again.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Omarosa Manigault continues to spill the tea about her time at the White House. Omarosa Manigault, cast member of “Celebrity Big Brother,” has been dishing on her former boss, President Donald Trump and her time in the White House, which she called a “plantation.” After serving as director of African-American outreach for Trump’s presidential campaign, Manigault was hired as an assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison in Trump’s administration. On Dec.13, 2017, less than a year into her tenure, the White House announced Manigault’s termination (she claims her departure was by choice). “Ooh, freedom, I’ve been emancipated,” Manigault told cast mates in a clip of “Celebrity Big Brother” about her feelings on leaving the White House. “I feel like I just got freed off of a plantation.” Those sentiments, in part, arose from her feelings of isolation, Manigault said. “I was literally the only African-American woman in the senior staff,” she says. “Nobody knows what I went through. I haven’t even told people some of the horrors I experienced.” It seems that may soon change. In another clip of the show, the ultimate reality TV villainess said she may be ready to write a tell-all book about her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. “I’m thinking of writing a tell-all sometime,” she says. “He’s going to come after me with everything he has. Like, I’m going up against a kazillionaire. So I’ll probably end up in court for the next… but I have to tell my truth. I’m tired of being muted. All the stuff that I just put on a shelf somewhere out of loyalty — I’ve been defending somebody for so long, and I’m now I’m like, ‘Yo, you are a special kind of f—ed up, and that special breed, they’re about to learn all about it.”

Fmr. Fox News Host Stacey Dash Running for Congress By Kamau High AFRO Managing Editor khigh@afro.com

(Courtesy photo)

Stacey Dash, a staunch Trump supporter, announced she is running for Congress in California. Stacey Dash, who rose to fame in the film “Clueless” and went on to be a talking head on Fox News announced Monday she was running for Congress. She is running as a Republican in the heavily Democratic California 44th Congressional district for a seat currently held by Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.). Dash hinted at the move Feb. 9 when she tweeted, “A number of people online and off have suggested I run for political office. I wanted to see what my online community thinks of this idea as I mull the possibilities. Thoughts?.” One of the comments referenced Dash, similar to the Melania Trump, wife of President Donald Trump, posing nude early in her career. Dash then wrote, “I conferred with my children when offered. They told me ‘go for it mom.’ If they didn’t have an issue with it, neither should anyone else. #NoShame” Dash left Fox News in 2015 after approximately three years because she cursed when talking about President Obama’s efforts in the war in terror. “I didn’t feel any passion from him,” she said on the show “Outnumbered.” “I feel like he could give a sh*t, excuse me, he could care less.”

March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

COMMENTARY

In Defense of American Democracy

Although it remains to be proven which Americans, if any, actively, knowingly and illegally conspired with the Russians to influence our 2016 elections, the broad scope of the Russian attacks upon our democratic system is becoming increasingly clear. We must become more united in creating an effective defense. On February 16, the American people received the announcement by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office of multiple indictments of Russian businesses and nationals. These foreign agents have been indicted for a criminal conspiracy to interfere with the presidential election in 2016. I urge every American to carefully consider the revelations contained in these indictments. We must all better understand the extent of our peril (justice.gov/sco). “For all of those who have been asking ‘Where is the evidence of a crime?’ This is it,” I observed at the time. “This is the criminal conspiracy. This is what President Trump and his allies have repeatedly called a ‘hoax’ and ‘fake news.’ This is what they tried to cover up. This is what we might never have known if President Trump had been successful in shutting down this investigation.” Most likely, the Grand Jury’s factual conclusions about Russian interference are not the beginning of the end to our ongoing constitutional drama. However, they may well be the end of the beginning. The indictments (which I must hasten to add are not yet convictions) reveal in startling and extensive detail how the Russians worked to help the Trump campaign. Of special concern to those of us who are Americans of Color, they also show how the Russians tried to suppress the votes of minorities across the United States in order to help Donald Trump win the presidency (Sections 34, 46 & 95). The Special Counsel’s probe is still ongoing, and we do not yet know what the ultimate outcome will be. What is abundantly clear, however, is our collective duty to support the Mueller team’s ability to complete its investigation with total independence and no external interference. Although it appears that the Russians developed an antipathy for Hillary Clinton and a preference for Donald Trump in 2016, the principal victims of their attacks include every American citizen who has the constitutional right to choose those who will lead us without interference by any foreign power. By both his inaction and his public statements, President Trump appears to be dominated by an overly personal obsession that our ongoing national security and criminal investigations are all about him. In sharp contrast, however, many of my colleagues and I remain convinced that the continuing threat to our democratic system is far more profound than the fate of any one candidate in any one election. Back in 2016, during an interview on CNN and before President Trump was inaugurated, I listened as one of the other guests talked about whether the motive for the Russians’ interference was to sway the election in Donald Trump’s favor. I made it clear at that time that this focus is a distraction. When 17 of our intelligence agencies (and, now, a federal grand jury) have concluded that the Russians interfered in our 2016 election, we need to get to the bottom of that and stop it from reoccurring in the future, whatever the Russian motives may have been in 2016. In this continuing struggle to strengthen our democratic process against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, we are now acutely aware that efforts to divide us, sabotage our faith in our democratic process and subvert our constitution both predated the 2016 presidential election and continue to this very moment. They pose a clear and present danger to our congressional elections later this year, as the Brennan Center reported earlier this month. Security and intelligence officials have warned the Senate that Russia would try to interfere in the 2018 elections again, just as it did in 2016. “We need to inform the American public that this is real,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats urged the Senate Intelligence Committee. President Trump and Americans on all sides of our nation’s diverse political spectrum must come to terms with this reality. We are fighting for the soul of our democracy – a cause that is far bigger than the political fate of any President or any of us privileged to serve in the Congress of the United States. We must take a hard look at constitutionally acceptable ways in which social media can be made less

Elijah Cummings

vulnerable to unlawful, partisan manipulation – and we must assure that state-run election systems are less vulnerable to external attacks. Proposed legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and the House to expand federal aid to the states for upgrading out-of-date voting equipment to make our elections less vulnerable to hacking – legislation that demands immediate action. Defending our electoral process is central to the solemn oath to defend our Constitution that Donald Trump, as President, and we in the Congress have undertaken. The sooner that the President and all of my congressional colleagues fulfill our duty, the sooner the United States government will become fully engaged in meeting the challenge to defend our democratic system. Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

Frederick Douglass: The Lion of Anacostia Black History Month included a special anniversary for Washingtonians and many others besides, marking the 200thanniversary of Frederick Douglass’s birth. Born into slavery in Maryland in 1818, the famous social reformer, writer, abolitionist, orator and statesman spent his final years in Washington, D.C. after a lifetime of tireless activism. His Anacostia home is today preserved as a National Historic Site, and a statue of him now stands in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol. There are many facets to Douglass’s long and industrious life before his death in the nation’s capital in February 1895, some of which are better known than others. One constant theme is that of education as a key to personal and social liberation. Self-taught to read, write and learn, Douglass quoted his slaver in his autobiography, who forbade his wife from teaching Douglass to read and hired him out to a local “slave breaker,” that learning to read would “unfit him as a slave.” This and other experiences in an inspirational life frequently touched by tragedy led Douglass to become one of the first advocates for school desegregation, after observing the huge disparity in the instruction and facilities available to African-American children in New York compared to their white peers. Fleeing an arrest warrant for having sought freedom in New York state, he took his message to England and Ireland before legally securing his liberty in 1846. In the nation’s capital, the progress in education that Douglass sought through numerous speeches, books and the newspapers he published—The North Star out of Rochester and the New National

Ramona Edelin

Era from Anacostia—was slow. Slavery did not end in the District until 1862, when it became a federal territory. D.C. Public Schools was founded in 1805, but the first—segregated—schools for AfricanAmericans didn’t open until after the Civil War, such as Stevens in 1868 and Dunbar in 1870. Howard University also was founded post-war, in 1867. D.C. Public Schools did not desegregate until the mid-1950s, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The postCivil War system of federal control of the District, and therefore the school system, did not end until Home Rule in 1973. A long decline in enrollment began prior to that, as a centralized system increasingly failed to meet the needs of students. As school standards declined, families who could afford alternatives such as relocation outside the District, or private or parochial schools, left the system. Those who lacked those choices—already the most politically and economically marginalized communities—were left behind to endure the status-quo. Enrollment did not begin to stabilize and then to expand until two key reforms: when public charter schools were allowed to open in 1995; and when DCPS was placed under mayoral control in 2007. These reforms brought about school choice for all, regardless of income and neighborhood. While there is still room for improvement, charters have wrought a revolution in public education and now teach 47 percent of all students enrolled in public school in the District. Free to pioneer new methods—they are taxpayer-funded and tuition-free, but operating independently of DCPS—they have raised on-time high school graduation rates and standardized test scores while enriching curricula.

Charters’ greatest impact has been on students from lowincome families who were ill-served by the old monopoly of the traditional system. Charter students in Wards Seven and Eight, which includes Douglass’s Anacostia, are twice as likely to meet statewide college and career benchmarks as their non-charter public school counterparts. The charter school reform was a significant motivator for the D.C. Council to move to a system of mayoral control of DCPS, leading to significant reforms. More progress could be made still if District charter schools, which do not receive a public schoolhouse upon opening, could better access appropriate facilities, and if the D.C. government funded public charter students on par with their neighbors and siblings in city-run schools, as the law requires. Some 10,000 students are on waitlists to get into charters that are currently unable to accommodate them. Douglass saw much change in his life—once pursued by District Marshalls after escaping slavery, he was later appointed Marshall of the District of Columbia, the first African-American confirmed for a presidential appointment by the U.S. Senate. Douglass famously said: “if there is no struggle, there is no progress.” The national hero who one local historian has christened “the Lion of Anacostia” certainly laid the first foundation stones for such equality in education as we enjoy today. Dr. Edelin is executive director of the D.C. Association of Chartered Public Schools.

Maryland Must Stay Committed To Clean Energy The oil and natural gas industry is responsible for 138,000 asthma attacks leading to over 100,000 missed school days each year for African American children nationwide. This was concluded in a groundbreaking new study by the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and the National Advancement for Colored People (NAACP). These new findings help illustrate the pervasive ways in which communities of color are disproportionately burdened with health problems from oil- and gas-related pollution. For decades, environmental justice advocates have decried polluting power plants and refineries near low-income communities of color. However, never before have cleaner alternatives for energy production been as technologically and economically feasible, and failing to invest in them been as inexcusable as today. Maryland has the opportunity to be a leader in this regard. We’ve already made great strides in deploying new solar and other clean energy technologies. However, in a state where African Americans continue to suffer from elevated risks of cancer and asthma linked to oil and gas pollution, we need to do more. Evidence shows that moving away from dirty fossil fuels to clean renewable energy leads directly to reduced hospital bills and premature deaths. The NAACP has found that approximately 68% of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant. As a result, an African American child is twice as likely to die from an asthma attack as a white American child.

Brooke Harper and Nicole Sitaraman

At the same time, another recent study found that thousands of lives have been saved and more than fifty billion dollars in healthcare costs were avoided from 2007-2015 thanks to increased reliance on solar and wind energy instead of more polluting alternatives. Clean energy technology, like rooftop solar, has proven it can provide an economic boost to the communities that need it the most. Rooftop solar can reduce the burden of often high, unpredictable energy costs, while also providing good-quality jobs through work training programs. Additionally, affordable solar leasing opportunities in Maryland and D.C. offer families the immediate benefits of solar without significant upfront costs or the need to worry about potential maintenance over the life of the system. It’s encouraging that state clean energy advocates, along with public health, labor, business, and faith leaders, are already calling on policymakers to continue their commitment to a clean energy future. Thanks in part to their efforts, there are thousands of Marylanders working in solar already. Roughly half of the men and women working in the solar industry are installers, who earn a median wage of $26 an hour. These jobs can’t be automated or outsourced, and don’t require a bachelor’s degree, making them good options for many of Maryland’s more marginalized communities. But forces are working against access to solar energy. President Trump recently imposed a 30% tariff on solar panels, making the need for Maryland to step up all the more urgent. Recently, the NAACP, GRID Alternatives, and the solar industry, including Sunrun, launched the Solar Equity Initiative. This program

is a year-long commitment to provide solar job skills training to 100 individuals, installation of solar panels on 20 households and 10 community centers, and strengthen equity in solar access policies in at least 5 states across the country. This national initiative will bring critical jobs and energy choice to communities in need. Maryland’s investments in solar energy will pay many dividends. We can enable thousands of Maryland’s people to live healthier, more prosperous, more dignified lives. Looking to the future, by increasing the state’s utilization of clean energy and reducing dependency on oil, coal and gas, we can reduce the climate change burdens that disproportionately inflict low-income families and communities of color. We should band together as businesses, advocates, and policymakers to empower families with clean, affordable, reliable energy that will lead to brighter days for everyone. Maryland can lead the nation by acting to require more clean energy in the state and communities that need it the most. Let’s continue to build our clean energy momentum. Our future depends on it. Brooke Harper is a Policy Director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Chair of the Environmental Justice Committee for the Maryland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Nicole Sitaraman is a Senior Manager of Public Policy at Sunrun and former Assistant People’s Counsel in the Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia (DC OPC)

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The Afro-American, March 3, 2018 - March 9, 3, 2018

Morgan Continued from A1 where she had administrative duties. “In those days women were prohibited from combat duty so by law we had desk jobs,” said Morgan who volunteered for extra duty by flying with crews on the Navy’s cargo planes. Morgan got sick while in the Navy with Hoskins Lymphoma and she could have gotten out. Nonetheless, she decided to remain and to re-enlist after eight years in uniform. “I had two choices,” She said. “They said I could push boots [work at the boot camp] or go to an aircraft carrier because women were just being accepted.” Morgan decided to re-enlist, becoming the first African American female ever to serve aboard an aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, the Navy’s last carrier that had a wooden deck. In July of 1980 Morgan arrived at the pier of the Pensacola, Fl. Naval Air Station and gazed at her new floating home. She was one of about 50 women to go aboard a carrier that trained thousands of naval officers how to land on ship, which was critical to the Navy’s war effort in Vietnam and the Pacific. “I saw a large grey vessel moored with a lot of male sailors engaged in busy work,” Morgan said. “I was met with resistance coming aboard for the first time… being grilled on the ships terms and procedures while bystanders made negative comments and

gestures,” Morgan said. Despite being in an “all a man’s world” Morgan was uniquely trained for the moment. “I grew up with 12 brothers and five sisters and we all had the same parents who were God fearing and didn’t play, Morgan said. “My mother, Annie Morgan, was a wonderful role model as a mother and a teacher and my dad,

required for serving in the armed forces. During her three years on the Lexington. Morgan was promoted to Petty Officer First Class where she assisted women making the transition from civilian life to working on an aircraft carrier. “I took a lot of hard knocks,” Morgan said. “Some male sailors were mean spirited

Walter Morgan, was hard working father and provider,” Morgan said. “My father served as a cook in WW II and he was stationed at the Army Air Corp base in Waco, Texas where my mother was from.” She said growing up in the north rural Florida town of Mariana Florida, about two hours east of Pensacola, was not easy. “We picked peas, milked the cows, picked cotton, hoed peanuts and picked blackberries so my mother could bake cobblers,” Morgan said, which prepared her for the toughness

and abusive. It varied in verbal, emotional, and physical abuse and I experienced some inappropriate touching.” Morgan doesn’t say much about the #Me Too movement and how women are pushing back today. But she said in the 1980’s things were much harder and women had few options to protest or talk to anybody. “I felt a lack of trust for being on the ship with married husbands. None of this abuse set me back, but it made me stronger and more determined to persevere with a forgiving

spirit,” Morgan said. “I worked hard to earn respect from all of the men and being assigned to Master-At-Arms forces for my first six months helped.” “Sea duty and ship living isn’t for everyone but I know God made it all possible,” Morgan said. “I had to adjust to sleeping in small racks… There was no real privacy, constant noise of bells, whistles to awaken us, meal times...” Morgan said. Morgan got married to an Army Man while stationed in Germany. They had two children and moved to Temple Hills, Maryland. After her active duty career, Morgan became an ROTC instructor at Northwestern High School in Hyattsville and she remained from 1993 until 2011. Much of that time she taught young people how to wear the uniform, drill, military history and other ceremonial duties. There were also many field trips back to the ships and the Pentagon where a plaque is on the wall with her name. Morgan retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. Today she has many letters and awards to show for her tenure, and many of the letters are from high school students who called her “a mother,” they could always count on. She now volunteers at the USO supporting traveling soldiers at Thurgood Marshall BWI and Ronald Reagan National Airport.

as well. House bill 2, cross-filed with Senate bill 1, encourages medical cannabis industry participation by minority, women and smallbusiness owners. It establishes a 20-license cap for cannabis growers up from 15. The legislation also institutes a “compassionate use” special fund to provide free or discounted medical cannabis to specified individuals. The amendments voted on by the subcommittee included a requirement of an additional $1.8 million appropriation, given to the commission by the governor, for fiscal years 2019 and 2020. The commission’s funding reached $2.54 million last year, $3.84 for fiscal year 2018 and is slated for $4.26 in fiscal year 2019, according to the Maryland Department of Budget and Management. Present at Tuesday’s meeting, Glenn nodded along as Delegate Joseline PeñaMelnyk (D-Anne Arundel & Prince George’s

County) explained the commission’s need for additional funding. Other amendments included changing the cap of cannabis processor licenses from 20 to 25, extending initial dispensary licenses from four to six years and renewal from every two years to every four. Cutting the commission from 16 members to 13 was also approved, among many other amendments. On Jan. 10, the first day of the session, members of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus proclaimed the bill would be on the governor’s desk by the end of the month. However, the subcommittee meeting on Tuesday stands as the first time the bill entered the public eye since a hearing before the full committee in mid-January. At the hearing before the House Health and Government Operations Committee on Jan. 15. Committee Chair Delegate Shane Pendergrass (D-Howard County) warned the number of testimonies would likely push the

hearing for the lone bill beyond two hours long, which it did. Delegate Glenn is the sponsor of the House bill and the daughter of Natalie M. LaPrade, after whom the commission for medical cannabis supporting this bill is named. In 2017, Glenn’s bill failed in the final moments of the legislative session. She’s made it a personal objective to make sure it gets passed in 2018. “This was a priority for the Legislative Black Caucus last session,” Glenn said in her testimony on Jan. 15. “It certainly is a priority for us this session.” At the same hearing, Attorney General Brian Frosh submitted written testimony stating that “HB 2 not only passes constitutional muster, but also expands opportunities for small, minority and women business owners to participate in the State’s medical cannabis industry.”

“I joined the Navy to see the world but I never thought that I would make history and my picture would be on the wall at the Pentagon.” – Daisy Morgan

Cannabis Continued from A1 number of members, among other changes. The subcommittee on Tuesday voted 6-2 to advance the legislation with amendments. It is expected to go to a vote in the House Health & Government Operations Committee March 2. Subcommittee chair Samuel Rosenberg, D-Baltimore, made clear discussion about the legislation would continue. “This is not the last time in this 90-day session that we will be dealing with this issue and this legislation,” Rosenberg said. The Maryland Department of Transportation’s Office of Minority Business Resources Information last year conducted an analysis of business disparities in the state. The analysis concluded minority and female entrepreneurs “earn substantially and significantly less than their nonminority male counterparts in the State of Maryland market area.” The analysis said its findings are relevant to the medical cannabis market

Ex-Offender Continued from A1 intricate part of the established work culture. The former co-founder of On The Wings of Angels Ministry, which helped women offenders reenter society, Johnson functions as much as a social worker as an administrator, and, often as a blessed angel. “We give people hope where there is none,” she said when asked to explain her job. That simple sentence defines the nature—and reward—of what she does. Johnson is one of more than 200 employees in 20 cities that work under the umbrella of Harrisonburg, Virginiabased Libre by Nexus, the controversial but wildly successful bonding company that has revolutionized the trade by using ankle bracelet GPS tracking devices to keep up with clients. The company – which has bonded out more than 20,000 people, many of them undocumented immigrants – charges $120 a week, which critics have deemed too much. While their use of innovative technology has received wide attention, Libre by Nexus’s employees insist their more important contribution to the bail bond business is their human touch. Through hiring practices focused on developing a diverse and caring workforce and programs aimed at helping clients once they are back on the streets, Libre by Nexus claims it is not just interested in getting clients out but helping them move on and up. Johnson cited the case of a client named “Michael” that she met over the phone and grew to be close enough that she calls him friend. He had a $1,000 bond for an offense Johnson could not identify. In minutes, she contacted a bails bondsman to get him released. “Now, that’s not how we ordinarily work. But there was something in my

heart about Michael,” she said. “I just decided we’d do all the paperwork on the back end.” Johnson said she appreciates that empathy is part of her job description. Sometime later, Michael’s father died; his emotional state led him to commit another crime, Johnson said. “He called me and said, ‘T-Ann, I’m in trouble.’ “ Johnson said she went with the client to turn himself in. And when he appeared in court, she testified as a character witness. She explained to the judge that Michael would be in the Nexus program, which helps offenders regroup and reenter society through counseling and services, which would be better for him than prison. “The judge agreed,” she said, “that working with me, with us [was a solid option]. Instead of getting up to 20 years in prison, he served 90 days. And now he’s made extraordinary leaps in his life.” Stories similar to Johnson’s are plentiful at Libre by Nexus. “We build relationships with clients,” Johnson said. Co-founder Michael Donovan has intentionally created this culture. First, his national staff is very diverse, an allAmerican mix of Whites, like him as well as African-Americans, like Johnson, Mexicans, Africans, Hondurans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and others. Many staffers are immigrants or the children of immigrants, so they, too, have an up-close-and-personal perspective on the challenges that come with being detained. His staff also include exoffenders, the idea being they will have the deep empathy required to extend themselves to help clients, having been incarcerated. “If they have been to jail, they are more likely to get an interview than not,” said Donovan, who founded the

company after spending seven months in jail for writing bad checks. He could not afford bail and was freed only when, in a deal, he pleaded guilty to several felony counts after seven months. “We are all governed by systems,” Donovan said at the retreat. “But we are in a system built by people who think far differently from us. It’s a system based on racism, segregation and genocide ... . We’re here to change the system.” Libre by Nexus has vaulted to the top of the criminal bonding business in part because of its innovative GPS tracking system for clients. Detractors have complained about the cost of the ankle bracelets ($120) and their size. But Donovan and co-founder Richard Moore announced the company was using new, lighter ankle bracelet and wrist GPS devices that resemble a FitBit. All that aside, what makes the company work are the people who work there. “I never heard of the U.S. as a place of incarceration, but I was detained as soon as I set foot here at the airport in Newark (N.J.),” said Fernando Manu, from the Congo in Africa, a former United Nations worker. “After three months, Libre bailed me out, ending my torture.” Soon after, Manu was hired by Libre by Nexus as a new client case worker. “The best thing that could happen to me,” he said, “because I care about the people who call us. People need people who treat them like humans and who understand what it’s like to be in jail. I’m able to give them the hope they need to keep going. I spend as much time on the phone with them as possible, to offer them comfort. “I go home after work with peace in my mind because I know what if feels like to be helped when you had no hope.”

Send your news tips to tips@afro.com.

March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY-AREA PGC Police Chief: Rumors about Slain Officer Untrue

Community Stands Behind Woman Called Racial Slur

By Lenore T. Adkins Special to the AFRO

By Aya Elamroussi Special to the AFRO

The Prince George’s County Police chief is pushing back against rumors that a fallen police officer was in a love triangle at the time of his murder last week, WBAL News Radio 1090 reported. Corporal Mujahid Ramzziddin was shot and killed while he was off duty while protecting a female neighbor from her estranged husband in Brandywine. Chief Hank Stawinski said cellular phone evidence, coupled with interviews with the neighbor and Ramzziddin’s widow prove that officer was not involved in a love triangle, WBAL reported. Ramzziddin, 51, was a 14year veteran of the force and served as a detective in the special operations division’s

As the AFRO reported last week, Rachel Sherman went viral on Facebook after posting her interaction with an employee at a BP gas station in Largo, Md. Sherman, who is AfricanAmerican, was called a racial slur by a White employee earlier this month. Sherman’s younger brother, Robert Jordan, went to a BP service station in Largo, Md. to have his vehicle re-inspected on

Courtesy photo

Police are reportedly pushing back the Corporal Mujahid Ramzziddin died because he was part of a lover’s triangle. Continued on B2

D.C.’s Sankofa Ball Showcases the Next Generation Courtesy photo

National Collegiate Preparatory High School seniors celebrated their academic achievements at the 2018 Sankofa Ball. By Charise Wallace Special to the AFRO It was a coming out party for the seniors at National Collegiate Preparatory Public Charter High School, as they were presented to their friends and families and treated like kings and queens at the 6th Annual Sankofa Ball Feb. 24. Held at University of Maryland Conference Center in Hyattsville, Md., these bright students entered the ballroom donned in elegant formal attire. The young women were clad in royal blue strapless gowns paired with gloves, while the men entered the ballroom in black tuxedos. National Prep is the only school in Washington, D.C. that host “cotillion-style” galas for their students as a reward for their academic and leadership achievements. One out of many significant goals achieved was completing the Rites of Passage Empowering Students Program (R.O.P.E.S), a 12-week life skills class. “We felt it was important for them to understand what it means to be Black in America today,” Chief Academic Officer of R.O.P.E.S, Dr. Dianne Brown said. Many of these seniors are from Ward 8 in Southeast, D.C., an area known to suffer from inequality. For many guests, the cotillion proved that these seniors are not going to allow society to strip them of their success and future. Top 11 academic achiever, Arrange Blake, a student who

UMD Highlights AfricanAmerican’s Contributions By Brianna Rhodes Special to the AFRO During Black History Month the University of Maryland, College Park launched an online tour that highlights the rich AfricanAmerican history on its campus. The online tour, created by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion features a number of sites that explores the history of African-Americans contributions to the campus. The history spans from the founding of the university in 1856, when Maryland was a slave-holding state, to the first AfricanAmerican Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall’s involvement in leading the desegregation of the campus, to today’s landmarks. Some landmarks on the tour include the Benjamin Banneker room in Stamp Student Union, the David C. Driskell Center and Frederick Douglass Square. The tour was put together by Dr. Kim Nickerson, assistant dean, equity administrator and diversity

officer in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. Four years ago, Nickerson began working on the project for a group of students who approached him to present a Black history presentation.

researched information from the university archives and national archives as well. Last year, Nickerson gave the presentation at the Nyumburu Cultural Center at the University of Maryland for Black History Month. It became so popular he continued to give the presentation for different groups on campus. Nickerson was approached by Dr. Roger L. Worthington, UMD’s chief diversity officer, to expand the presentation into an actual project. Nickerson said Worthington told him that the presentation – Dr. Kim Nickerson was very powerful and it needed to be more “I recognized that we generally available to people. had a long traditional history That’s where the idea of on this campus of Africancreating the tour was born. Americans graduating “Our historical legacy and having an impact for is an important part of their very presence on this the campus climate for campus,” Nickerson told the diversity,” said Worthington, AFRO. “Since I knew some according to the University of of this history, I put together a Maryland’s press release. “We presentation for the students.” approached Dr. Nickerson to Nickerson compiled the help us with this project and information from personal planned the launch for Black knowledge, colleagues on History Month as a way of campus and other sources. He Continued on B2

“I recognized that we had a long traditional history on this campus of African-Americans graduating and having an impact for their very presence on this campus.”

aspires to be a graphic and fashion designer, spoke with the AFRO about battling with unhealthy friendships leading up to the event. “I had to stop hanging with fake friends because they were holding me back from achieving the goals that I wanted to achieve…so I had to cut a lot of people off.” The decorated room was filled with proud families, as well as academic teachers and staff, who listened to these gifted seniors as they recited their career goals, along with quoting historical Black leaders that they each admire. The biggest showstopper was their “Official Dance” known as the “DC Hand Dance,” which is a unique tradition that pays’ homage to their descendants who created such distinct movements. In conjunction with the seniors’ important night was an award honoring the 100 Black Men of America, which received the first James Howard Vance III Community Service Award, an award that was renamed in honor of the late journalist. Vance’s partner, Christina Eaglin presented the award. Eaglin said, “If he were here he would say “What?!…Are you kidding me?!” I wanted to say thank you because I know he would be honored…He loves National Prep…He would be proud.” In addition to the 100-Black Men being recognized, the Greater Washington Urban League presented the Jim Vance Scholarship Award of $14,000 as a gift to National Prep at the Sankofa Ball.

Courtesy photo

Rachel Sherman, after being a called a racial slur at the BP in Largo, Md., made a Facebook video that went viral about her experience and since has catapulted local action and activism to make a difference in the community. Continued on B2

DC Celebrates Frederick Douglass By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com While Frederick Douglass, the iconic 19th century civil rights leader, can claim such locales as the Eastern Shore, Baltimore, Bedford, Mass., and Rochester, N.Y., it is the District of Columbia where he made his greatest contributions as a free man and District residents are proud of that. “Frederick Douglass was a free accomplished African American,” Darryl Ross

told the AFRO. “He set an example for the rest of us in his time and the present day.” On Feb. 14, the District, like the rest of the country, celebrated Frederick Douglass’s 200th birthday. He was born on a plantation in the Eastern Shore of Maryland as a slave in 1818 and he escaped from slavery in Baltimore on Sept. 3, 1838 under disguise and eventually made his way to New York City to freedom. Douglass settled in New Bedford, Mass., and established himself as an abolitionist, writer and orator. His advocacy led his him to write Continued on B3

Courtesy Photo from the U.S. National Park Service

A photo taken of Frederick Douglass’s house, Cedar Hill, in Anacostia, featuring an unknown male figure who is likely one of his sons or grandsons. The original photo has a handwritten note that says, “Photgraphed by Charles Douglass- Feb. 27, 1887.

The Afro-American, March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018

Racial Slur Continued from B1

Feb. 15. The inspector told Jordan it would cost him $100 in cash-only. He called Sherman to bring him the money. But Sherman knew the cost of the inspection was only $30, and she went to the BP station to join her brother and inquire further about the cost. “He [the inspector] got kind of aggressive. He kept pointing me to read something on a paper, threw the papers back at me and walked away,” Sherman told the AFRO. After her interaction with the inspector, Sherman told her brother that they had no business there and began to leave the station. Sherman said the inspector’s response to her for complaining about the inspection fee was, “And

we usually charge n*ggers more.” To which she responded to the inspector, “Excuse me?” The inspector, then said, “If you don’t have any business here, leave,” according to Sherman. “I was [kind of] distraught about what happened,” Sherman said. And after talking about the incident with friends and family, Sherman was encouraged to upload a video sharing what happened. “I woke up the next morning to see the entire community just behind me,” Sherman said. Since the incident, the employee has been terminated and the owner of the BP gas station has issued a formal apology.

“If someone does something wrong to you or hurts you, you don’t get angry and react in bad manners. You use your voice.” – Rachel Sherman BP is also in the process of hiring someone from the community to replace the fired employee. Sherman said when the inspector made those remarks, she felt helpless. “Then I turn around and see I have this big corporation that acknowledged my issue…and they acted on it,” Sherman added. “I felt like they were very sincere in their actions.”

Sherman, 31, is a registered nurse and a native of Prince George County. She said that having three younger siblings influenced her response to the racial incident. “The reason I didn’t react with anger was that I didn’t want to set that example for them. If someone does something wrong to you or hurts you, you don’t get angry and react in bad

manners. You use your voice.” And that she did, while encouraging others to come forward about the gas station’s mistreatment of the community. Since Sherman’s video went viral, there have been “roughly” 326 complaints regarding the BP gas station in Largo, according to Douglas Roeser, Director of Community Outreach Services for District 25 Delegate Darryl Barnes in Maryland. Some of these complaints entailed customers’ dissatisfaction with high gas prices and the racial slur incident. Roeser told the AFRO the BP gas station owner has not had any formal complaints in the past and

has been very cooperative with the community since the incident. Roeser, who is White, added that since the current president has taken office, racism has escalated to another level. To bridge the gap between the community and the gas station, BP has preliminary plans to do a series of giveaways, discounts on gas and putting up signs in the gas station thanking and apologizing to the community, according to Roeser. Sherman said the BP’s response was adequate. But “it’s [going to] take some time to prove that they really care about the community, and they’re not just doing this to save their business,” Sherman added.

UMD

Continued from B1 acknowledging the struggles of our past and charting a path forward in building a more welcoming future.” Nickerson sees the project as an effort to inform as many people, even those not on campus, to know the significant contributions African-Americans have made since the school was founded. “There’s been a great African-American presence on this campus and this was an attempt to begin telling that story so that students, faculty, staff and the community can understand that this university belongs to everyone, including African-Americans,” Nickerson said. “AfricanAmericans contributed to help make this university what it is today. Some of the history is painful. Some of the history is odious, but some of the history really is an example of triumph over adversity.” The Office of Diversity and Inclusion and University The online tour commemorates African-American history on the University of Maryland’s campus. of Maryland doctoral student Nana Brantuo are currently developing guided tours that folks. I want them to have a pride like, ‘Yes, of all racial backgrounds can attend and drive will be offered later in the spring. Brantuo we have come far and we still have a way to them and do well here. I definitely want people hopes that the tour will give people a feeling go.’ I kind of want this to also be a march to to feel pride and just really amp them to doing of inspiration and a sense of belonging on the keep moving forward as an individual, but more work within the community, on building campus. also pushing the institution, which is a public on to this history of African-American “I want to people to step out of this having university, to move forward as well. Especially presence at the University of Maryland,” pride,” Brantuo said. “In particular Black with regards to ensuring the space that students Brantou told the AFRO. Although the online tour launched during Black History Month, Nickerson hopes it will be equally important during anytime of the year. “This is one of the enduring legacies

Photo by uofmd.maps.arcgis.com

that I can leave for this campus,” Nickerson said. “This tour and the information that I’ve compiled together can be archived for generations long after I’m gone. So whether it’s in Black History Month, or whether it’s in the spring or the fall at the height of people visiting the university, there’s already a commitment to integrate some of these sites into the regular tour. This will have an the enduring impact on this campus and I hope that enduring impact stretches beyond just the month of February.”

Police Chief Continued from B1

harbor unit police said. On Feb. 21, Ramzziddin stepped in help a neighbor who was being threatened by her husband outside of her home on Chadsey Lane, police said. The suspect, Glenn Tyndell, 37, of the 11000 block of Drumsheugh Court in Largo, shot Corporal Ramzziddin with a shotgun during the altercation. The officer died at the scene. The neighbor wasn’t harmed. Police said Tyndell fled the scene in a black SUV, before Charles County Sheriff’s officers found the SUV a short time later on Berry Road near Bensville Road. They chased him into Prince George’s County, where local officers joined the pursuit. Tyndell abandoned the SUV on Indian Head Highway near Old Fort Road, where there was an exchange of gunfire that killed Tyndell. At the time of his death, Tyndell had three open warrants out for second-degree assault and worked for Metro as a mechanic. The love triangle rumor came from the suspect’s father, who alleged his son shot and killed Ramzziddin over a lover’s dispute, according to Fox 5 DC. No other officers were injured. The department placed patrol officers Luke Allen, an eightyear veteran of the force and Channing Reed, a six-year veteran, on administrative leave Feb. 22, pending the outcome of the fatal shooting’s investigation, police said. Ramzziddin, a former Marine, was a husband and a father of four children. Remembered as a hero, he received a Silver Medal of Valor in 2006 for engaging an armed suspect. Prior to joining the department’s Harbor Unit, Ramzziddin spent his career in District III, District IV, the WAVE Unit and the department’s gang unit. In the wake of Ramzziddin’s death, Gov. Larry Hogan ordered state flags flown at half-staff. Ramzziddin’s funeral was held Feb. 23 at a mosque in Lanham, Md., and his body was laid to rest at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Maryland, The Washington Post reported. Ramzziddin marks the 30th Prince George’s County officer to die in the line of duty, according to the Post.

March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

College Basketball

Bowie State Dominates in CIAA Finale By Daniel Kucin Jr. Special to the AFRO

You could audibly hear Bowie State University players on the bench chanting “everyone scores” late in the second half during a season finale match against Elizabeth City State University on Feb. 24. Not only did the Bulldogs fulfill that promise, but they ran away with a 14-point victory (85-71) against the Vikings earning the Bulldogs a No. 2 seed in the CIAA Tournament quarterfinal match on March 1 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-2 run to start of the contest forcing Elizabeth City State to take a timeout in the opening minutes of the first half. Despite allowing the Vikings to tie the game up only once, the Bulldogs never let up and cruised to victory by capitalizing off of turnovers that turned into 22 points and imposed their will in the paint with 50 points scored.

he accounted for three steals on the defensive end. Wilson’s leadership on the floor was evident as he put his teammates in position to score while knowing what it takes to repeat as CIAA Conference Champions. “We wanted the seniors to go out right, and that was probably the best that we played all year,” Wilson said. “Those guys make it easy because they listen to everything I say and they want to learn. Those (underclassmen) guys are just as hungry as us and the fact that it’s a younger team, they have a chip on their shoulders because they don’t have a ring and they want what we got so it’s a good unit, and I’m excited about the upcoming tournament.” Sophomore forward Yohance Fleming scored 12 points and pulled down four rebounds while senior guard Omari George accounted for 11 points and three rebounds in a domineering effort. Despite former Gwynn Park High School phenom Justin Faison scoring 24 points for the Vikings, it wasn’t enough to keep Bowie from earning its 13th win of the season with

“We wanted the seniors to go out right, and that was probably the best that we played all year.” -Ahmaad Wilson The Bulldogs went into halftime with a sizable lead (51-29) behind a solid performance from sophomore guard David Belle who led Bowie State with 11 points in only eight minutes of play off the bench. “The first half is our best half of basketball on both sides of the ball all year,” Bowie State University Head Coach Darrell Brooks said. “We really shot and shared the ball well, and I’m really pleased with that.” Belle continued to be aggressive in the second half and finished the game as Bowie State’s leading scorer (16 points) helping the Bulldogs achieve a 29-point lead inside the 15-minute mark and was a part of a reserve unit that accounted for 49 points in total. Senior guard Ahmaad Wilson was one of four Bulldogs to score in double-figures, and

the hopes of winning back-to-back CIAA Championships. The Bulldogs will either face Livingstone University or potentially do battle against Elizabeth City State again in a rematch in the quarterfinals. Brooks admitted that every team is different, but it’s always exciting to play for a championship. “Every year and team is different,” Brooks said. “This team has much less experience than last year’s team, and I think that is the biggest difference. For us, it was all about our seniors. “We didn’t look at the standings, and we just wanted to win to send our seniors out the right way. I’m really proud of those guys, and now we will start looking forward to the tournament.”

Photos by Daniel Kucin Jr.

Bowie State University senior guard Ahmaad Wilson scored in double-figures and had three steals in an 85-71 victory over Elizabeth City State University on Feb. 24.

Douglass

Continued from B1 about his experience as a slave, in a book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” that was published in 1845. In addition to that, he was popular on the speaker circuit in the U.S. and Europe for years. He also published an antislavery newspaper called “The North Star.” During the Civil War, Douglass encouraged President Abraham Lincoln to enlist Black men to fight on behalf of the North and advocated that they receive military commissions and pay that they were due. In 1877, Douglass re-located to the District where he served, among other things, as the recorder of deeds, U.S. Marshal and on a national/ international level as the U.S. Minister to Haiti and U.S. envoy to Santa Domingo. Douglass lived in the Anacostia neighborhood of the District and built his home, known as Cedar Hill, on a hill overlooking the Anacostia River. It is presently owned and operated by the National Park Service as a tourist site. Douglass died on Feb. 20, 1895 of a heart attack at the age of 77. On Feb. 13, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) broke ground on the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge Project, which is the largest public infrastructure project in the history of the District, and on Feb. 14, she unveiled a portrait of Douglass that was done by artist Henry Wadsworth Moore on the fifth floor of the John A. Wilson Building. “Just a few years ago, a

statute of Douglass became the first statute to represent Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Capitol,” the mayor said, making reference to the likeness of Douglass in the U.S. Capitol’s Statutory Hall representing the District. “Now, it is my great honor to ensure Douglass will have a

Norton (D), who made the statute of Douglass in the U.S. Capitol a reality on June 19, 2013, was one of the speakers at the swearing-in of the Douglass Bicentennial Commission at Emancipation Hall in the Capitol on Feb. 14. The commission is designed to celebrate the life

“He set an example for the rest of us in his time and the present day.” -Darryl Ross

Photo by J. Wright

Ken Morris is a descendant of Frederick Douglass. permanent home here in the [Wilson] Building.” On Feb. 17, Bowser participated in the Frederick Douglass 5K and Oxon Run Trail ribbon cutting ceremony in Southeast Washington that connects from South Capitol Street, S.E. to 13th Street, SE. D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes

of Douglass through various activities such as historical programs and art, essay and oratorical contests for young people. The commission was the work of legislation coauthored by Norton and U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) that passed both the U.S. House of Representatives

and the U.S. Senate without opposition and signed by President Trump last year. Norton said that Douglass was a “true Washingtonian.” In her persistent advocacy of the District’s quest to

become the 51st state of the Union, she said “who knew that Frederick Douglass could not live in the District of Columbia without becoming a champion for D.C. residents to have the same rights as

Americans who lived in the states.” District residents pay federal taxes and can be drafted into wars like other Americans but have no voting representation on Capitol Hill.

March 3, 2018 – March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

Will Walters, publisher of Monarch Magazine, and Diane Wallace Booker, executive director of the U.S. Dream Academy, partnered together to host a private screening of the record-breaking “Black Panther” movie for U.S. Dream Academy teens and their mentors. The screening was held Feb. 18 during the film’s opening weekend at the AMC Mazza Gallerie Theater in Northwest, Washington, D.C. The master of ceremonies was WPGC radio personality and Fox 5 correspondent, Guy Lambert.

Dream Academy students with Guy Lambert, WPGC Radio, the emcee

Dream academy student commenting on the movie

Christian and Rita Lewis Will Walters, Publisher, Monarch Magazine and host, Black Panther free screening for students, Faye Hyslop and Joseph Walters

Sophia Copeland, Demetrius Copeland, Jamie and Anthony Guthrie

Honorees Larry McKenney and State Sen. Jackie Winters(OR-R)

Friends of the honorees

Edgar Brookins, General Manager, Washington Afro American Newspaper and Guy Lambert

Dream Academy students with Will Walters, Diane Wallace Booker, Guy Lambert and some of their mentors

2018 Honorees with host, Raynard Jackson,(far left): Minnie Finley, retired educator and family member of A.G. Gaston family, Birmingham, AL; Larry McKenney, CEO Innovative Health Care Solutions, Gaithersburg, MD; Herman Cain, former presidential candidate and serial entrepreneur, Atlanta, GA; Sen. Minority Leader, Oregon State Senate, Jackie Winters and John Sibley Butler, Director of Texas Venture Labs, Austin, TX.

Brenda Madison

Photos by Rob Roberts

The Black Republican Trailblazer Awards was held Feb. 10 at the Intercontinental Hotel/ Wharf in Northwest Washington, D.C. The awards were established to recognize Black Republicans who have made significant contributions to America, the Black community and the Republican Party. The awards program was created by Republican political strategist Raynard Jackson, founder and president of Black Americans for a Better Future.

2017 honoree, Richard Finley and 2018 honoree, his wife, Minnie Finley

Diane Wallace Booker, Executive Director, U.S. Dream Academy

U.S. Treasurer, Jovita Carranza

Honoree Herman Cain and Maggie Harris, president of ESC, Inc.

Guests

Photos by Lateef Mangum

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March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

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Race and Politics

The Short, Yet Remarkable, Odyssey of Baltimore Ceasefire On Feb. 26, the Baltimore Ceasefire 365 movement was honored during the inaugural Black History Sean Yoes Month Baltimore AFRO Community Editor syoes@afro.com Leaders Awards ceremony, presented by the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism. And on that day I was proud to be an honorary member of Baltimore Ceasefire 365. So, here is the backstory on how I got to be a part of the Ceasefire crew for a day. My friend, Ericka Bridgeford, the group’s co-founder, texted me on Facebook to announce Ceasefire would be among the group’s honored at the Black History Month event at the Banneker-Douglass Museum, in Annapolis. “Wow…. Dope!” I replied. “When can I write about this?” Her reply was, “We have one more seat for a guest...and we’re inviting you to attend the awards ceremony. Can you come?” It was my honor. It has been a short, yet remarkable odyssey for the Baltimore Ceasefire movement, an organic answer to the violence, murder and mayhem that has seemingly possessed Baltimore for too many years. After Bridgeford ranted to her son last spring about the Continued on D2

AFRO Exclusive

Will Pugh’s Crime Plan Work? By Sean Yoes Baltimore AFRO Editor syoes@afro.com The first thing Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said on the record when she sat down for a one-on-one interview with the AFRO this week was, “You know that crime is trending downward.” The statement seemed antithetical last week when Baltimore was named, “The Nation’s Most Dangerous City,” by USA Today. But, that was Pugh’s response to the dubious distinction, during a press conference with her now newly sworn in Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa, at her side. “I came up with this initiative, the VRI, the Violence Reduction Initiative, back in October, which put commanders in every district at the table with my agency heads, agency heads that impact crime,” Pugh explained. “We kicked it off in November and at the same Courtesy photo time Darryl De Sousa offered Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh stands next to Baltimore Police Commissioner Darryl up another initiative to focus De Sousa, during his official swearing in ceremony Feb. 28. strategically on particular areas of the city. In November, willingness to focus on changing the way that we do things in we experienced a reduction in violence, in December we the police department.” experienced a reduction in violence, in January we experienced Dr. Tyrone Powers, director of the Homeland Security and a reduction in violence, now in February we’ll close out the Criminal Justice Institute of Anne Arundel Community College, month with another reduction in violence,” Pugh added. an internationally recognized expert on law enforcement, said According to statistics provided by the Mayor’s Office and Pugh’s selection of De Sousa was “a good choice.” the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), total violent crime “He is knowledgeable and he knows the history of this city is down 29 percent, compared to Jan. 1 to Feb. 17 of 2017, and of policing in this city,” Powers said. The former FBI agent shootings are down 51 percent and homicides have declined 33 and Maryland State Police officer says taking over the helm of percent over the same time period in 2017. As of Feb. 28, there a department deeply stained by scandal will take time. have been 41 homicides recorded in the city. “It will take strong, wise leadership to turn BPD around. He Implementing the VRI strategies being touted by Pugh, will need to remove and replace,” Powers said. “Sometimes this which seem to have produced positive results for the last four is difficult for long-term individuals in the department. But, the months, is ultimately the responsibility of De Sousa, the 30 key is to seek competence at every level and especially at the year veteran of BPD, who has risen through the ranks and was level of first line supervisors. They must be held responsible for sworn in officially as commissioner Feb. 28. the actions of those that work for them....He (De Sousa) is the “I can tell you the strategic thoughtfulness and interaction right man, but, the right man must now make the right moves.” Commissioner De Sousa has with the command staff and the Earlier in Feb., De Sousa announced a total reorganization officers led me to chose him,” Pugh said. I got to see...his Continued on D2

Baltimore Area Church News

Opinion

Today is the first day of a new month. It represents a fresh start and a chance to begin new things. Take this opportunity to begin again. Start something new, pick up a new hobby, try out a new restaurant. Be intentional about taking care of yourself. The days will start to get longer, and prayerfully the weather will begin to get warmer. Go outside and enjoy the beautiful world God has given us. Make March a month to remember. Here are this week’s announcements. If you have church news that you want included, please send it to news@itsjoiful. com.

By Cory McCray Special to the AFRO

Compiled by Joi Thomas Special to the AFRO

United Baptist Church 1615 Eager Street Baltimore, Maryland 21205 Men’s Day March 4 Dr. Carl Solomon, Pastor United Baptist Missionary Convention of Maryland Statewide Institute March 5 – March 9 Morning Sessions- Concord Baptist Church 5204 Liberty Heights Ave. Baltimore, Maryland 21207 Evening Sessions- Western

High School 4600 Falls Road Baltimore, Maryland 21209 To register: ubmcofmd.org Rev. Cleveland T.A. Mason, 2nd President Greater Faith Baptist Church 3000 Huntington Ave Baltimore, Maryland 21211 Pastor’s 24th Pastoral Anniversary Celebration March 4, 11 and 18 Dr. Leah E. White, Pastor Gillis Memorial Christian Community Church 4016 Park Heights Ave Baltimore, Maryland 21215 Officers Day Sunday March 4, 3:30 p.m. Rev. Darryl Gould, Pastor Mt. Gilboa A.M.E. Church 2312 Westchester Ave. Catonsville, Maryland 21228 Bicentennial Celebration Banquet March 10, 1p.m.- 4 p.m. The Gala Center 1700 Hill Drive Baltimore, Maryland 21244 Rev. Anita Gould, Pastor *ticket required New Psalmist Baptist Church 6020 Marian Drive Baltimore, Maryland 21215 Spring Institute March 13 – March 15, 10

Continued on D2

Baltimore Struggles in Wake of Metro Shutdown By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO

The shutdown of Baltimore’s entire Baltimore Metro system began at midnight, February 8. Many riders, like Sophia Love, who were caught off guard by the interruption of service scrambled to get to work that morning. “At first there was no shuttle bus,” said Love who initially was forced to catch two buses to get from the Upton station in West Baltimore, to the University of Maryland Medical Center downtown. For the last two weeks, public transportation in Baltimore has been an ordeal for many because of the shutdown. “I’ve been late going to work, because when the shuttle bus does come, sometimes no one gets off and it’s overcrowded,” Love said of the substitute shuttles that arrive to pick up passengers

Photo by Deborah Bailey

Continued on D2

Time to Stand Up for Education Funding

student in East Baltimore, for example, to have the same opportunities as her peers in a more affluent community someplace else. Since 2011, funding for vital public school If this philosophy is to become reality, we infrastructure projects in the 45th District have to advocate for an approach that affords has ranked last or second-to-last each year Student A and Student B comparable learning compared to the rest of Baltimore City. facilities regardless of geographic location. While other electoral districts in the city Unfortunately the 21st Century Schools have received up to three times the financial Initiative, which is the strategic plan for support for newly built or renovated schools, school construction in Baltimore City, places our district has lagged dramatically behind. a disproportionate amount of capital funding These statistics are especially distressing given outside of the 45th District. the existing disadvantages that our students I saw the results of disinvestment firsthand already face. during a recent tour of Collington ElementaryThe facts are simple. The 45th District is Middle School. Though the teachers and among the most economically and socially administrators at Collington work hard each disadvantaged in the state. Our neighborhoods day to improve the lives of their students they confront high levels of crime, poverty, and are left with no choice but to do so in sub-par unemployment. For example, 44.4% of the facilities. There is no doubt that students who family households in Oldtown/Middle East Courtesy photo attend school there would benefit from greater live below the poverty line. Because of investment in their school’s infrastructure. Baltimore City Del. Cory this, students enrolled in our schools stand Meanwhile, Furley Elementary was shut McCray (D-45) to benefit tremendously from equitable down altogether after years of neglect and investments in their educational facilities. rising maintenance costs that would have As a recent Baltimore Sun article explains, the disparities likely been manageable had they been addressed right away. that exist when it comes to funding for infrastructure also have This is one of the many reasons that I sponsored House Bill racial implications. According to the Sun, “predominantly white 76 (2017), a piece of legislation that will develop and implement neighborhoods were slated for almost twice as much [capital] Continued on D2 spending over the past five years as mostly minority parts of the city.” This is an issue that elected leaders from our legislative district cannot afford to sidestep or ignore, especially when it comes to education funding. One of the great philosophies that underlie the concept of public education is that it acts as an equalizer that allows a

…the disparities that exist when it comes to funding for infrastructure also have racial implications.

41 2018 Total

Last Seven Days

Data as of Feb. 28

The Afro-American, March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018

Metro

Continued from D1 from closed metro stations at 20 minute intervals. Each shuttle holds 40 people, and passengers are not allowed to stand in the aisles as they would on regular buses during peak periods. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to wait for as many as two or three shuttles to come by before I get on,â&#x20AC;? Love said. After abruptly shutting down the Metro subway link, the MTA publicly announced the system shut down the next day and hurried to put shuttle buses in place to transport the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily ridership of more than 300,000 people. The makeshift shuttle bus substitutes, requested by Mayor Catherine E. Pugh, were not staged until February 11, when Gov. Larry Hogan announced $2.2 million in emergency funding for local transport. Shuttle service will continue through March 11, the scheduled date for completion of repairs to the aging rail transit system run by the State of Maryland. MTA shuttle buses are free and scheduled to run every 20 minutes from all Metro stations. Six stations, Owings Mills, Milford Mill, Mondawmin, State Center, Charles Center and Johns Hopkins are on an express bus line while , while passengers needing to stop at other stations, such as Lexington Market, must use the MTAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s replacement local shuttle service. Riders complained that local stops are often overcrowded, even during non-peak hours. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You got people fighting to get on the shuttle buses. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been late to my destination a whole lot of times,â&#x20AC;? said John Hairston of Park Heights.

Photo by Deborah Bailey

Passengers wait to get on shuttle buses being utilized to transport Baltimore residents during a shutdown of the Metro subway system that has inconvenienced tens of thousands. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Three shuttles came past here and none of them stopped. When the third one did stop, only one rider could get on because it was full,â&#x20AC;? said Hairston, who was waiting to travel downtown from West Baltimore. Ernest Simmons, who waited at the Lexington Market Station after work on a shuttle bus to take him Uptown, said the

conditions surrounding the closure, the process used and the replacement shuttles are all intolerable. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is horrible, even with the bus links. The governor doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use public transportation so he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like,â&#x20AC;? said Simmons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would have been fine if they would have made the announcement before the subway was closed, but it was not made until after the subway was shut down,â&#x20AC;? Simmons said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simply unacceptable.â&#x20AC;? A Maryland Department of Transportation Inspection of the rail transit system conducted in 2015, projected that the rails would be safe for operation through summer 2018, MDOT said. However in a Feb. 15 press release, MDOT said a routine inspections in early February determined the elevated track from Owings Mills to West Cold Spring would need to be closed for several weeks to replace track in advance of the planned summer replacement project. MDOT officials then decided to close the entire system. However the inspection report indicated that officials were aware of the unsafe rails as early a 2016. MDOT continued to run trains at lower speeds to avoid the $1.5 million needed to fix the rail transit system. Gubernatorial candidate Jim Shea has requested Peter Rahn, Maryland Transportation Secretary resign in the wake of the transit debacle.

Race and Politics Continued from D1

skyrocketing murder rate, she reached out to her inner circle, specifically Ogun Gordy and her best friend Letrice Gant (aka Ellen Gee), and the first Ceasefire weekend was birthed in Aug., 2017. When AFRO First Edition was on WEAAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s airwaves, we dedicated an hour a week on the show for several weeks, leading up to the first Ceasefire in an effort to help build momentum and spread the word. In less than a year, the movement has garnered accolades from around the world and the nation. And this week, the vital work of Ceasefire 365 was officially honored by the state. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baltimore Ceasefire 365 is a grassroots peace movement created to raise awareness about the high murder rate in Baltimore City, comfort families of the deceased, and reduce violent deaths in the city. The group makes a simple ask: For Baltimore City to be free of murder for 72 consecutive hours. This simple ask has transformed into ceasefire weekends in Baltimore with much success,â&#x20AC;? is how Ceasefireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bio read in

the program accompanying the awards ceremony. The awards ceremony this week recognized the incredible, life sustaining work that so many organizations do everyday across our state, typically with little fanfare and too often, few resources (hopefully that will change one day). Organizations like Generosity Global, which helps the homeless population in Baltimore, and Inge Benevolent Ministries, which operates the only shelter in the country exclusively for Muslim women refugees and their children, among the other groups honored, are the bedrock of volunteerism and service in our state. For the Ceasefire crew, getting out on the streets of the city and engaging many of the young men and women, who are most vulnerable to violence and murder is hard, grimy, challenging, joyous and ultimately, life affirming work. It is a never-ending battle against all of the demons that the world outside of Baltimore (and far too many of us within the

city) often attempt to define us as; murderous, violent, ignorant, lawless, ruthless, addicted, to name a few. True, we are all of those things. Yet, we are not bound by them, because we are so much more; resilient, loving, fiercely loyal, wise, brilliant, creative, powerful. The good overwhelms the bad, if it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t true, the city wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be standing. We are â&#x20AC;&#x153;more than conquerorsâ&#x20AC;? to quote Romans 8:31-39. When Ceasefire was presented with the award, Gant eloquently spoke for the group. After thanking Van Brooks, with the Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office on Service and Volunteerism, among others and name checking the Ceasefire crew, Gant ended her short speech with what has become the Baltimore Ceasefire mantra. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let anybody tell you what Baltimore canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do.â&#x20AC;?

(Los Angeles) have sustained a reduction in violence five straight years...so they became the model for policing, they were probably the most technologically savvy department in the country,â&#x20AC;? Pugh said. A name that seems to have figured prominently in the implementation of the L.A. policing model is Sean Malinowski, a former deputy chief for the Office of Operations of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). At one time, Malinowski was project manager for LAPDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Predictive Policing program, and principal investigator for the Bureau of Justice Assistance, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Smart Policing Initiative.â&#x20AC;? Malinowski is currently consulting with the BPD. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a strategic analysis that is important to the crime fight,

to be able to target areas where violenceâ&#x20AC;Śis at its greatest,â&#x20AC;? said Pugh of the L.A. policing model being implemented in Baltimore. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have, I think a new team of folks in there that are going to bring about the change the city needs to see,â&#x20AC;? Pugh added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re strategic, methodical and focused. I think you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the same numbers that you saw last year and you certainly wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see us on that USA Today list.â&#x20AC;?

Sean Yoes is the AFROâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Baltimore editor and host and executive producer of the AFRO First Edition video podcast, which airs Monday and Friday on the AFROâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Facebook page.

Pugh

Continued from D1 of the BPD command staff. He has also created a new corruption unit to investigate other officers implicated during the trial of the Gun Trace Task Force and De Sousa says he plans random integrity tests, random polygraphs, as well as the creation of a unit to prevent overtime abuse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are using the appropriate channels to change this police department in a way that will regain the respect of the community,â&#x20AC;? Pugh said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We disbanded the Gun Trace Task Force, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone. We are working closely with the FBI to make sure we root out bad policing in our department.â&#x20AC;? Pugh has also invested in a policing strategy for Baltimore she says has had great success in Los Angeles, a city once infamous for homicides, violence and police corruption. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They

Next week Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh talks about grass roots organizations that have successfully reduced violence.

Stand Up

Continued from D1

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a scoring system for evaluating public school infrastructure projects. This will make the process more transparent for residents throughout the city who may inquire as to why one school was prioritized over another. It will also provide greater opportunity for community engagement throughout the capital expenditure process. When confronted with systemic inequities such as the ones we have seen with school funding, it is imperative that our legislators advocate for the needs of the families they serve. Asked about his response to this inequitable funding in a Nov. 27 interview with the AFRO, our districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senator, Nathaniel McFadden, cast fault on a consultancy firm commissioned by the school system. Blame shifting like this obscures the true responsibility of a state legislator: to provide oversight in matters exactly like these. As citizens, we entrust our leaders with a seat at the table under the expectation that they will represent the interests of the communities they serve. While school system leaders provide critical technical expertise, it is the job of an elected official to both ask tough questions and explain the needs of the communities that he is charged with representing. If he declines

Cory McCray is currently a Delegate representing the 45th District in Northeast Baltimore. He is running to unseat Sen. Nathaniel McFadden, who also represents the 45th. Both McCray and McFadden are Democrats.

Church News

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to do so, we must ask ourselves if that legislatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interests are truly aligned with the needs of his constituency. Elected leaders sitting idly by as our schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; infrastructural necessities are overlooked doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just hurt the caliber of our public schools, it erodes the fabric of our neighborhoods and strips away confidence in our institutions. Consequently, the decisions we make in the voting booth have direct implications for the progress we see everywhere around us, especially within the schoolhouse gates. As the primary election nears, voters must ask themselves if the person they have hired to be their voice in Annapolis has shown that he is actually willing to speak up on their behalf when it counts. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m running for State Senate in the 45th District because if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m elected I will always stand up for the families that live and work in our district.

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Continued from D1

a.m. and 7 p.m. Bishop Walter S. Thomas, Pastor Greater Paradise Christian Center 2900 E. Oliver Street Baltimore, Maryland 21213 Leadership Day March 11, 10:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Overseer Shawn Bell, Pastor

Shiloh Baptist Church of Baltimore County 2499 Sycamore Ave Baltimore, Maryland 21219 Family and Friends Day March 11 Bishop Heber Brown, Pastor Memorial Baptist Church 1311 N. Caroline Street Baltimore, Maryland 21213

Father Son Banquet March 17 Rev. Calvin E. Keene, Pastor Destiny Christian Church 5401 Eastern Ave Baltimore, Maryland 21244 Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next Vision Board Party March 16, 7 p.m. Bishop James Nelson, Jr., Pastor

Advertise your churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Good Friday and Easter services. Call Lenora Howze @ 410-554-8271 or email: lhowze@afro.com

March 3, 2018 - March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

Condolences To Musicians Families

Hello everyone, I just don’t know what to say; such sad news about so many of our musicians and friends of musicians and the community. I promise you I am St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church not starting presents “Seven Last Words according an obituary to Jazz,” featuring the Greg Hatza section of the Organization on March 4, 3 p.m. at St. Rambling Gregory’s, 1542 N. Gilmor Street in Baltimore. Fish dinners on sale. For more Rose information, call 410-298-5602. column. It is unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it. As you see from my pictures, in the recent weeks we have lost many of our musical artists and family members. May God give those left to mourn peace. Please keep them in your prayers. I would like to include the sick and shut-ins who are known very well in our community who also need your prayers; those who are in the hospital or who had surgery and are recuperating at home. They include, musician and Kenneth Burton, husband my masonic brother, PGP of Joyce Burton, passed Richard V. Johnson, who away last week.

The John Lamkin Favorites Jazz Quintet, featuring John Lamkin, II on trumpet and flugelhorn, Michael Hairston on sax, Justin Taylor on piano, Michael Graham on bass and Jesse Moody on drums. The group will perform on March 2 and 3, 9 p.m.-11 p.m., at Twins Jazz, 1344 U. Street, NW. in Washington, D.C.

Michele Anderson, sister of Baltimore’s own retired song stylist, “Lady Rebecca,” passed away last week.

Romaine Rucks, wife of Baltimore’s own keyboardist Bobby Rucks, passed away last week.

Jazz Expressways Foundation, will host their Jazz Breakfast Show featuring Nevitta Ruddy and Company on March 10, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Forest Park Senior Center, 4801 Liberty Heights Ave. Tickets include Buffet breakfast, vendors, dancing, BYOB and free set-ups.

was admitted to Mercy Hospital last week and Judson Hughes, long time member of Arch Social Club had heart surgery, but is at home recuperating. Well, my dear friends, make sure you check out the John Lamkin show at the Twins Jazz Club in DC, nothing more to report at this time or have room in my column for this week. I promise next time hopefully, more positive things to talk about. In the meantime, be good to each other and remember if you need me, call me Willa Bland, founder of at 410-833-9474 or email Flair Studio of Dance and me at rosapryor@aol.com. Modeling and the mother Until the next time, I’m of Andrea Bland-Travis, musically yours. passed away last week.

Johns Hopkins is a proud sponsor of “Race and Inequality in America,” a conference exploring race, segregation, and inequality 50 years after the release of the historic Kerner Commission report, with events in Baltimore and at UC Berkeley. For information, visit http://21cc.jhu.edu/kerner50/ February 28 to March 1 Reginald F. Lewis Museum

Johns Hopkins. Investing in our community.

March 3, 2018 – March 9, 2018, The Afro-American

Thurgood Marshall display

Hon. Emanuel J. Stanley, 33 (Most Worshipful Grand Master) and Honorees Nykidra Robinson (CEO Black Girls Vote), Del. Adrienne A. Jones, R. Wesley Webb (Pres. 100 Black Men), J. Howard Henderson (CEO GBUL) and Maj. Gen Linda L. Singh (MD. Nat. Guard)

Hon. Kweisi Mfume (Chair. MSU Regents)

Sen. Nathaniel McFadden Mrs. Cecelia Marshall (Thurgood’s widow) and Maj. Gen. Linda L. Singh (MD. Nat. Guard)

TheMostWorshipfulPrinceHallGrandLodgeFAMofMaryland sponsoredthecelebrationnamedafterthefirstBlackSupreme CourtJusticeandBaltimorenative,Feb.25,attheMurphyFine ArtsCenteratMorganStateUniversity.Hundredsofmasons, shrinersandmembersoftheOrderofEasternStarandtheir guestsfilledtheauditoriumforthisevent.Speakersincluded theHon.KweisiMfume,Sen.NathanielMcFadden,RoslynM. Brock(FormerNAACPBoardChair.),UniversityofLawProf.Larry GibsonandKaiJackson(Fox45),wastheM.C.Elevenservice awardsweregivenoutincludingonetoAFROcolumnistRosa Pryor.TheCarterLegacyChoirandhonoreeDavonFleming(“The Voice”TVcompetition)performed.ThurgoodMarshall’swidow Cecelia Marshall was in attendance.

Photos by Anderson Ward

Honorees

The 5th annual Black History Month celebrationwasheldFeb.22attheMaryland Live Casino. TheMarylandWashingtonMinority ContractorsAssociation(MWMCA),cosponsoredtheevent.PeteSmith,Anne ArundelCountyCouncilmanwelcomed guests.Remarksweregivenby ZedSmith,COO,TheCordish Co.,WayneR.Frazier,Pres., MWMCA,andTravisLamb, GeneralManager,Maryland LiveCasino.Thekeynote speakerwasLt.Gov.Boyd Pete Smith (AA K.Rutherford.TheSignature Co. Council) Bandprovidedthemusic.

Wayne R. Frazier, Sr. (CEO /Pres. MD. Washington Minority Co. Assoc.)

John Fitts, Lawrence Hopkins and Damon Hughes

Honoree Jeanne Hitchcock and Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford

Photos by Anderson Ward

Sheron Russell, Le Gretta Ross-Rawlins, Paula Stephens and Rev. Jerome Stephens

Theawardseventcelebrated Baltimore County’s African American heritage, Feb. 5, at theOwingsMillscampusofthe CommunityCollegeofBaltimore County, (CCBC).The opening Kevin Kamenentz (Balto. Co. Executive) remarkswerepresentedby and Honoree Dr. Tim Tooten, Sr. (WBAL TV) StacieBurgess,directorof OliverJr.PublisherEmeritusoftheAFRO communicationsforBaltimore AmericanNewspapers,Dr.TimTootenSr. County government. (WBALTV)andVerlettaWhite,interim KevinKamenetz,Baltimore superintendent,BaltimoreCounty CountyExecutiveExecutiveand PublicSchools.Awardswerepresented Stacie Burgess (Balto. Co. Gov. Comm. Dir.) and John J. Oliver Jr. candidate for Governor, was byDel.AdrienneJones.Theawardswere (AFRO Publisher Emeritus) theM.C.HonoreeswereJohnJ. namedafterhistorianLouisS.Diggs.

King’s Landing Women- Denise Fitzgerald, Lorraine Dailey, Sybil D. Thomas and Dorothy Bostic

Elizabeth Diggs and Historian Louis S. Diggs

Barry Wiliams (Dir. Balto. Co. Parks and Recs.) and Sandra Kurtinitis (Pres. CCBC)

Honoree Verletta White (Interim BCPS Supt.)

Marietta English (Pres. BTU) and Dr. Charlene Cooper Boston

Luther Atkinson former member Satchel Paige Allstars (Negro League Baseball)

Photos by Anderson Ward