Prince Georges Afro-American Newspaper August 27, 2016

February 6, 2016 - February 6, 2016, The Afro-American A1 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION

Volume 125 No. 4

AUGUST 27, 2016 - SEPTEMBER 2, 2016

Inside

Baltimore • Making the Case for Port Covington B1

Lynn Whitfield on Her New Role in OWN’s ‘Greenleaf’

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Is Legal Weed for Whites Only?

By Colin Byrd

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Washington

Back to School AP Photo/Steven Senne

President Barack Obama, right, and first lady Michelle Obama wave as they board Air Force One at the Cape Cod Coast Guard Station in Bourne, Mass. on Aug. 21. President Obama and the first family are returning to Washington D.C. following their vacation on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.

674k That’s how many people have liked the AFRO Facebook page. Join last week’s 2,000 new fans and become part of the family.

Black Community Mourns Passing of Journalist and Civil Rights Icon George E. Curry

By Zenitha Prince AFRO Senior Correspondent zprince@afro.com George E. Curry was an unabashed advocate of truth-ensuring it even in the most basic word choice, punctuation, spelling-and was courageous in its telling.

It is one of the many attributes that define the legacy of the acclaimed journalist and Black Press champion, who died of a heart attack Aug. 20 at

Prizes Awarded in AFRO’S Clean Block Campaign October 12, 1935

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Yolanda Adams Shares Key to Success

the Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md. He was 69.

“Many of us in the Black media have used and relied on George to provide his impactful journalistic voice on issues that have defined the plight of the Black community over the past 40 years. George was an intellectual hammer in the continuing war to protect and expand the civil rights of Black people around the world. I will miss my dear friend

AFRO Archived History

Many happy children assembled at the AFRO building, Saturday, October 5, to receive awards for work done during the Clean Block Campaign.

Because of the tie between the four hundred block of East Twenty-third Street and the Twenty-four hundred block of McCulloh Street, a double award was made.

By LaTrina Antoine AFRO Washington D.C. Editor

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All signers in each book received pins and certificates.

Sylvia Johnson received five dollars and a genuine cowhide zipper brief case, the latter the Rev. A.J. Mitchell award for the block showing the most improvement.

Elizabeth Conaway received five dollars because her block rated highest in absolute cleanliness.

The following children each received two dollars because of the high rating received by their blocks: Blanch Earket, Elaine Stevens, Lois Johnson, James Harge, Rhoda Bowman and Esther Haskins.

The following children each received one dollar for industry and co-operation as Continued on A3

The AFRO Clean Block Campaign began in 1935. This article details the winners of that first contest.

• Hundreds Bid Farewell to Chris Barry D1

Courtesy photo

AFRO Names Clean/Green Block Winners

By Maliik Obee Special to the AFRO Baltimore residents of all ages braved the hot weather to gather at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore for the New Africa Festival on Aug. 20 where the winners of the AFRO Clean/ Green Block contest were named.

The top communities and organizers are: Cherring Spence, top organizer and volunteer; Kisha L. Webster and Greenmount West Community; Neighborhoods United; Rosemont Neighborhood Improvement Association; Druid Heights Community; Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association.

The AFRO began what was then known as the Clean Block program in 1935. This year the paper rebooted the contest as part of the celebration of the organization’s 125th anniversary.

Marvin “Doc” Cheatham was a key organizer of the Clean/Green Block program.

Diane Hocker, AFRO director Continued on A3

Copyright © 2016 by the Afro-American Company

Progression is the key for everyone to keep up-to-date with their bodies, interests, achievements and businesses, according to renowned gospel singer and entrepreneur Yolanda Adams. She said her professional and spiritual endeavors have been centered on ways to improve the mind, body and soul.

As part of her notion of progression, Adams is scheduled to sing on Aug. 28 at the Ubiquitous Beauty Hair & Health Expo being held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest D.C. The expo strives to inspire, motivate and empower women through beauty and health education.

The expo will be in the city from Aug. 27-28.

Continued on A3

Courtesy photo

Renowned gospel singer and radio host Yolanda Adams will perform at the Ubiquitous Hair and Heath Expo in D.C.

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The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

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NATION & WORLD

Black Women Athletes Dominate at Rio

By Perry Green AFRO Sports Editor

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Gold medal winner Brianna Rollins is flanked by silver medal winner Nia Ali, left, and bronze medal winner Kristi Castlin, all from the United States, during the medal ceremony for the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 18.

The past few weeks have been a magical time for Black women athletes, as African American and Black women of other countries have dominated the 2016 Olympics in Rio. First, 19-year-old gymnast Simone Biles and 20-year-old swimmer Simone Manuel mesmerized and put the world on notice with the “Black Excellence” displayed in their early events. The African American pair claimed eight Olympic medals in all for the U.S., including six gold. Thirty-year-old shot putter Michelle Carter was also a contributor to the early success, winning gold for the U.S. in the women’s shot put event on Aug. 12. Carter’s win marked the first medal for any American woman in the event since 1960.

But when the track and field events began this week, African-American women completely took over the Olympics, showcasing their superiority in perhaps the most watchable set of events.

The world witnessed the height of their superiority on Aug. 17 when U.S. women swept the finals of the 100-meter hurdles. Briana Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Catlin took the gold, silver and bronze in the event, the first time the feat had ever been accomplished.

Allyson Felix showcased her own magic by claiming silver in the 400-meter event on Aug. 15. The medal made her the most decorated female track and field athlete in U.S. Olympic history with seven career Olympic wins, including four gold and three silver. Felix, 30, finished just 0.07 seconds behind Bahamian runner Shaunae Miller, another Black woman who attended the University of Georgia. Miller’s win was one of the most dramatic moments of the Olympics so far, as she actually dove off her feet across the finish line just to finish ahead of Felix.

On Aug. 18, African-American Muhammad Dalilah took gold in the 400-meter hurdles, while fellow African-American Ashley Spencer earned bronze in the same event.

In the field, 30-year-old long jumper Tianna Bartoletta delivered a personal best jump of 7.17 meters (23 feet, 6-1/4 inches) to capture gold in the women’s long jump on Aug. 17.

But it’s not just the Black women of the U.S. that have been racking up medals. Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson won gold in the 100-meter dash event with a time of 10.71 seconds. She earned gold in the 200-meter too, finishing in 21.78 seconds. Fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Frazier-Pryce took bronze in the 100 meter dash at 10.86, while AfricanAmerican Tori Bowie won silver at 10.83. Bowie also won bronze in the 200-meter race.

As of Aug. 19, African-American women have won 10 medals in track and field events in Rio. But just about every medal of any track and field event during these Olympics belongs to a Black woman, regardless of her nationality—and it doesn’t get any more “black and magical” than that.

Trump to Black Voters: ‘What the Hell Do You Have to Lose?’

By The Associated Press

(John Ehlke/West Bend Daily News via AP)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump concludes his speech at his campaign rally Aug. 16, in West Bend, Wis. Republican Donald Trump again made a direct appeal to Black voters Aug. 19, urging them to abandon the Democratic Party and give him a chance.

Speaking at a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, an overwhelmingly white suburb outside of Lansing, the GOP nominee argued that Democrats, including his rival Hillary Clinton, have taken advantage of African-American voters and taken their votes for granted.

“Tonight, I’m asking for the vote of every single AfricanAmerican citizen in this country who wants to see a better future,” Trump told the crowd.

“What do you have to lose by trying something new, like Trump?” he asked them. “You’re living in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?”

He also made a bold prediction: “At the end of four years, I guarantee you that I will get over 95 percent of the AfricanAmerican vote. I promise you.”

Most polls show Trump trailing Clinton significantly among black voters. President Barack Obama won roughly 93 percent of Black voters in his re-election campaign in 2012.

But Trump once again accused Clinton of “bigotry,” claiming she sees African-Americans “only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future,” And he painted a dismal role of life for African-Americans in the workforce, declaring that, in cities like Detroit, they “have become refugees in their own country.”

On Twitter, the Clinton campaign responded, “This is so ignorant it’s staggering.”

The Clinton campaign’s Marlon Marshall added in a statement: “Donald Trump asks what the African-American community has to lose by voting for him. The answer is everything from a man who questions the citizenship of the first African-American President, courts white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color.”

Marshall said, “Trump painting the entire community as living in poverty with no jobs continues to show he is completely out of touch with the African-American community.”

Successful Takedown of Fla. Man Found Eating Victim Deepens Divide Over Police Brutality

By Alexis Taylor Special to the AFRO

Officers used every strategy available to arrest an armed Florida man caught eating the face of a victim in a triple-stabbing that left an unsuspecting couple dead.

Repeated shocks from a stun gun, a K-9 police dog, and the pure strength of several officers were used to pry 19 year-old Austin Kelly Harrouff, who is White, (Martin County Sheriff’s Office) from the body of Joseph 19 year-old Austin Kelly Stevens III, 59.

Harrouff Noticeably missing from the list of tactics was the use of police firearms, which are too often the first line of defense against African American suspects accused of victimless crimes much less serious.

“I’ll save you the question,” Martin County, Fla. Sheriff William Snyder told reporters during a press conference, “The angles were extremely dangerous and had there been a gunshot it could have hit the victim.”

Snyder said the incident began when Harrouff stormed out of Duffy’s restaurant where he was dining with family. The teen left the establishment in a Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” hat and began walking in the direction of his father’s house a couple of miles away. Within the hour police were called. Harrouff had resurfaced one street away from the home and was seen attacking Stevens and his wife.

When Jeff Fisher, 47, realized his neighbors were under attack he rushed over to Harrouff, who told him “You don’t want any of this,” before knifing the Good Samaritan.

Snyder said Harrouff was “exhibiting abnormal levels of strength” and that “nothing was working” for officers who “were using all the force that they were able to muster physically.”

Americans around the country are sounding off on the takedown, which some say would have ended differently if the suspect had been caught red-handed in Black skin: • “Cops didn’t care if the bullet would hit the victim when they shot that autistic man’s care giver last month in Florida for no reason,” said Kimberly Jeffreys, of Newport News, Va., who took to Facebook about the incident. “But that’s just because they didn’t have the complexion for protection like this boy has.”

• “He’s still alive?” quipped Gina Wallace of Atlanta.

“People can’t be so naive as to deny the discrepancies.”

• Steven Brown, from Palm Beach, Fla. asked the department how it was possible for deputies to “let him keep chewing face” after they saw their measures weren’t working.

“If he was Black you would have shot him,” he tweeted.

Others took issue with the images associated with Harrouff, who Snyder called a “good kid,” after mentioning his bodybuilding pastime and membership in the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity.

• “I love how they only show wonderful, playful pics of this murderer,” said Shea Moore. “Where’s his mug shot, prison pic? His true face of evil!”

Harrouff remains sedated in a Florida hospital in critical condition. Despite the need for multiple levels of force to arrest Harrouff, suspected to be high on hallucinogenic drugs, South Florida NBC affiliate WPTV reports that he will be charged with “resisting an officer without violence.”

Charges related to the murder of Stevens and his wife, Michelle Karen Mishcon, 53, and the attempted murder of their neighbor Jeff Stevens, are expected after Harrouff is cleared medically.

The case comes four years after Rudy Eugene, a Black man, was found naked and eating the face of a homeless man in Miami. The victim survived, but Eugene was shot dead on the scene.

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The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - August 27, 2016

August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

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Hollywood

Three Black Women Who Changed Space History

By Maliik Obeee Special to the AFRO When it comes to the strides of African-Americans in space, history books have always told the tales of select pioneers. Icons like Guion Bluford and Mae C. Jemison, the first African-American men and women to fly into space, respectively, have been etched into history textbooks for decades. 20th Century Fox’s upcoming feature film “Hidden Figures” tells the story of three African-American women that changed astronomy forever.

Golden Globe Award winner Taraji P. Henson stars as Katherine Johnson, a scientist and mathematician responsible for calculating the trajectory of several of the earliest trips into outer space for NASA. But Johnson is most famous for her work in helping Astronaut John Glenn become the first man to completely orbit planet Earth.

Along with her team of fellow Black female math whizzes Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), the trio paved the way for not only women in a male-dominated field, but broke down color barriers that paved the way for men and women of color today.

Spencer is an Academy Award winner for her supporting

Adams

Courtesy photo

(Left to right) Janelle Monáe, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer star in the upcoming ‘Hidden Figures,’ about three women who were instrumental in the early flights to outer space.

Continued from A1

“Every generation changes but smart people move with the times,” she told the AFRO. “When you’re successful you don’t have to start over, all you have to do is progress.”

Adams will join other celebrities at the expo, including R&B Singer Vivian Green; Chanté Moore; Maurette Brown Clark; and comedian Marcus D. Wiley. Celebrities that are scheduled to attend the expo include actress Nicole Ari Parker, celebrity hairstylist Kim Kimble and best-selling novelist Zane.

According to Adams, progression in life could be related to the game of golf because the player is constantly trying to make each shot better than the last.

“Golf for me is a game of correction, you’re always correcting your last shot,” she said. “It’s the same thing with life. Life can deal you

[and] no matter what you deal with in life, you always come out triumphant when you know who you are,” she said.

The year of 2017 will include several business endeavors for Adams, including the release of a new fragrance in her bath and body line – Simply Yolanda, a new sports apparel line and a new coffee line – Wake Up with Yolanda. All products will be available on yolandaadamslive.com.

Also her bath and body line is currently available on her site.

“When you get into your 40s and 50s you find that your skin changes, your hair changes, everything changes because of hormones and you have to have balance,” Adams, who is 54, said, calling her bath and body line more of a soufflé that heals and moisturizes the skin.

Along with the release of the new products, Adams also said that her radio show,

“When you get into your 40s and 50s you find that your skin changes, your hair changes, everything changes because of hormones and you have to have balance.”

– Yolanda Adams

some things that you weren’t expecting, so you have to keep on the course, you have to keep going forward.”

Adams said she has played golf since she was nine.

Adams said the purpose of life is to “push” through the difficulties to something better. “We should really look at them like this is pushing me to my greatness,” she said.

As part of helping others, Adams said she has several messages she likes to give people that center around knowing yourself. “Life is wonderful, life is beautiful

The Yolanda Adams Morning Show, which is currently on sabbatical, will begin airing on Oct. 1 from Houston. She also wrote the song “Super Sea Star Savior” for “The SpongeBob Musical” that is slated to open on Broadway in 2017. The musical will also feature songs by Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Jonathan Coulton, Dirty Projectors, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants and T.I.

role in the pivotal 2011 drama “The Help.” Monáe is an award-winning singer and musician, who added acting to her repertoire after several roles on the big and small screen like 2014’s “Rio 2.” Kevin Costner portrays Al Harrison, the leader of the group responsible for Glenn’s orbit.

In an trailer released by 20th Century Fox, a brief

background of Johnson’s childhood and road to NASA is depicted. Although the story of Johnson and her counterparts is documented online, “Hidden Figures” is based on the upcoming book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly.

The novel is set to release September 6, while the movie will debut in theatres on January 13, 2017.

Clean Block Continued from A1

well as excellence in rating: Doris Ridout, Doris Gardner, Judson Kerr, Lula Eaton, Bernard Harris, Paul Bruce, Mildred Gray, Edward Britain, Ethelyn Edwards, Genesta Gilbert, Ellis Larkins, Bernice Clayton, Emily Peck, Sara Sheppard, Ella Stith, Clarice Bond, Franklin Gladden, Doris Marshall, Jerome Harrison, Mary Payne, Bruce McCray, Ruth Jones, Mary Crosson, Rebecca Wilson, Bernard Wright, Harriet Nelson and Alice Emmanuel.

For having the cleanest block on Madison Avenue, George Carter received a cowhide zipper brief case, the gift of Marse Callaway.

The Bragg award “Men of Maryland” was given to Mrs. Aurelia Bush, a teacher in the public schools.

The L. Pauline Ford award, a cowhide zipper school bag, was given to Ethel Stewart of Gold Street for devising ways to get her block clean.

The Mascelia Smith awards, two note books each, were given to Merrial Sorrell and Elizabeth Blacken.

The following children received either pens or pencils:

Lilly Crosson, Carlean Giles, Melvin McCoy, Ruth Tartar, Marjorie Kinney, Virginia Wise, Geraldine Cruse, Mary Woodland, Gloria Minor, Doris Mercer, Arnetta Murphy, Doris Buckner, Charlotte Marshall, Patricia Murphy, Mary Hendershot, Gwendolyn Conaway, Betty Williams, Mattie Crosson, Frances Murphy, Clarence Gittings, Ferdinando Price, Vera Bennett, Leona Brown, Dorothy Smith, Florence Smith, Iris Tutt, Mary Holt, Mabel Gilmore, Frederick Thomas, Doris Jackson, Lucille Washington, Elizabeth White, Mattie Crosson, Catherine Spriggs, Edward Beckler and Mrs. J.B. Makel.

Speeches were made to the group by Mrs. Buckner, Mr. Giles and Joseph J. Philbin of the Security Life Insurance Company.

Mr. Philbin told the children to follow Joe Louis in leading a clean life, then they too would be strong and healthy.

After singing the campaign songs and reciting their aims the juniors had their pictures taken. Each promised to keep his block clean during the coming year.

Clean Block Winners Continued from A1

of community and public relations, said, “The AFRO is once again glad to bring back the Clean/Green Block initiative as part of our 125th anniversary celebration.

We look forward to more events that engage our community.”

Scores of food trucks and vendors lined the Sundial Pavilion at Druid Hill Park from noon into the evening Aug. 20. From Caribbean, to soul food,

to desserts, a variety of foods were available for sample and purchase.

Vendors from all corners of the city traveled to sell various items, from apparel endorsing the “Black Lives Matter” movement, to trinkets to artwork. For children, there were plenty of activities available, from moon bounces to face painting.

Live performers took the stage, from

soul group The Ebonys, to Ms.Bee to a live modeling exhibition from fashion extraordinaire Travis Winkey. The Ebonys were popular through the 1970’s during the height of Black soul quartets.

“I think this is a good look for the community,” said event attendee Ryan Jones. “Having these type of events makes you feel good, makes you take pride in where you come from.”

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Photo by Chanet Wallace

The community came out in support of the AFRO Clean/Green Block winner’s announcement at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore.

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The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

August 27, 2016 - August 27, 2016, The Afro-American

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George Curry Continued from A1

deeply. He cannot be readily replaced,” said Jake Oliver, publisher of the AFRO-American Newspapers, a 125 year-old institution that for years carried Curry’s column and where he served as an interim editor from 2007-2008 during the first Obama presidential campaign.

“George Curry embodied the best traditions of Black journalism. He was committed to speaking truth to power and training future journalists to continue doing that,” said Benjamin Jealous, former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA or the Black Press of America), former president and CEO of the NAACP, and a former editor of the Jackson Advocate newspaper in Jackson, Miss.

“George Curry was a visionary who set the standard for excellence in Black media,” Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement to the AFRO. “We could always count on George to give our community a forum for thoughtful conversation, bold ideas, and incisive reporting. At a time when Black media is at a crossroads, his entrepreneurship and vision will be sorely missed.”

NABJ President Sarah Glove added in a statement, “He has been a beacon for so many and a pivotal voice among Black publishers.

His strength and pursuit for the truth will carry on in the lives he touched.”

For Curry that commitment to truth required an excellence in reporting and writing, which he required both of himself and of the journalists who fell under his tutelage.

“He was a journalist’s journalist,” said April Ryan, White House correspondent and Washington Bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks. “He’s been around and he knew everything and everyone. He stayed in touch with the news and the newsmakers to ensure his readers were well informed.

“He was one of the most well-rounded, well-informed journalists that I had met in nearly 30-something years, especially in articulating matters important to people of color,” said James Farmer, former vice president of General Motors, who had a longtime professional relationship with Curry through the company’s support of the NNPA. Curry’s undaunted truth-telling, many agree, was best defined in his work as editorin-chief of Emerge magazine, a 1990s-era publication with a no-holds-barred approach to reporting on issues confronting the African Diaspora. Curry, for example, never apologized for the publication’s controversial covers depicting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in an Aunt Jemima-style head scarf and as a Black-faced, minstrellooking “lawn jockey” for the Far Right.

“Emerge magazine was the forerunner to every serious Black blog and news site today,” Jealous told the AFRO. “It launched a new era of Black news and commentary much as The Crisis magazine did at the turn of the 20th century and the Freedom’s Journal did back in 1827.”

Curry’s work at Emerge and elsewhere

Courtesy photo

not only provoked thought but also action in policy, politics and activism.

“George’s work on Emerge during the 1990s continues to shape our nation’s policies today,” said Spencer Overton, president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington, D.C.., think tank, in a statement.

Overton cited Emerge’s 1996 cover story on the sentencing of Kemba Smith, a then-22year-old from Richmond, Va., who was given a 24 ½ year sentence for a minor role in a drug ring. Curry often spoke about how proud he was to publish “Kemba’s Nightmare,” and the story, and several follow-ups, led to Smith’s pardon by President Bill Clinton in 2000.

The foundation set by the reporting also led to Congress reducing some of the disparity between crack and cocaine sentencing and continuing reforms.

“Perhaps most important was the impact George had in shaping a whole generation of today’s African-American journalists, elected officials, policy makers, and scholars,” added Overton. “In the 1990s, when many of us were in school or just starting our careers, Emerge validated those of us interested in politics.

It educated us and helped teach us how to think, and it also affirmed and encouraged our interests in policy. Commitment to the African-American community and Black institutions, quality writing, critical thought, truth, and integrity were all values instilled in us at a formative period in our lives by George through Emerge.”

Others in the political sphere attested to Curry’s influence.

“George E. Curry was a pioneering journalist, a tireless crusader for justice, and a true agent of change,” former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary

Clinton said in a statement. “With quality reporting, creativity, and skillful persuasion he influenced countless people, including me, to think beyond their narrow experience and expand their understanding. George may be gone, but he will not be forgotten.”

Curry’s journalistic chutzpah went handin-hand with his advocacy on matters relating to civil rights, particularly in the Black community.

“My friendship with George spanned 40 years. He was a race man and gumshoe journalist in the tradition of Vernon Jarrett and Mal Goode,” said NABJ founder DeWayne Wickham, also dean of Morgan’s School of Global Journalism and Communication, in a statement.

“George E. Curry was a giant in journalism and he stood on the front lines of the Civil Rights era and used his voice to tell our stories when others would not,” said Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), who also called Curry the “dean of Black journalists.”

Born to Martha Brownlee and the late Homer Curry on Feb. 23, 1947, Curry was raised by William Polk, his stepfather, and mother. Curry grew up in the McKenzie Court public housing community and attended Druid High School in Tuscaloosa, Ala., two institutions he often mentioned in his writings.

While there he played football and was an active class member. He graduated in 1965.

In 1966, Curry moved to New York and joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, where he stayed for a year. He then attended and graduated from Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tenn. While there he attended summer institutes at Harvard University and Yale University, was editor of the school paper, quarterback and co-captain of

the football team and a member of the school’s Board of Trustees.

His first job in journalism after college was at Sports Illustrated. He then became a reporter for the St. Louis Post Dispatch for 11 years. While there he covered the 1984 presidential campaign of Jessie Jackson, the vice presidential campaign of Geraldine Ferraro and the presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush. In addition, he covered the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.

In 1983, Curry joined The Chicago Tribune where he served as New York bureau chief and Washington correspondent. In 1993 Curry became the editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine. While there the magazine won numerous awards and published stories asking “Is Jesus Black?,” detailing the “Rape of a Spelman Coed” and examining other provocative and timely issues.

In 2000, after the magazine folded, Curry left Emerge to become the editor-inchief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service and Blackpressusa. com. He wrote a weekly column that was syndicated to more than 200 Black newspapers, including the AFRO. Curry joined the AFRO’s board in 2013, a position he held until his death.

Curry also co-founded the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists, and was the first African-American president of the American Society of Magazine Editors.

In 2003, Curry was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists and was on their list of Most Influential Black Journalists of the 20th Century.

In recent years, Curry started the George E. Curry Newswire and was in the midst of reviving an online version of Emerge at the time of his death.

Curry leaves behind his beloved life partner Elizabeth “Ann” Ragland, son Edward Curry, adopted son Derek Ragland (wife April), grandchildren Autumn Ragland and Austin Ragland, sisters Charlotte (Fred), Sylvia Polk and Susan Gandy (Iverson Jr.). He was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents Sylvia Harris and Willie Cherry.

“He was most happy when he was around family and he blossomed when he was around his family. He loved family,” Elizabeth Ragland told the AFRO. His sister, Charlotte, added, “The intersection of journalism and social action was important to him. One of my last text messages from him was about having a platform and using it for good. He was very devoted to his sisters and his family. He was always encouraging us and pushing us.”

Curry will be laid to rest Saturday, Aug. 27 in his hometown, with the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, delivering the eulogy at Weeping Mary Baptist Church, 2701-20th St., Tuscaloosa, Ala. AFRO Managing Editor Kamau High contributed to this article.

Family of Marcus Garvey Launch Pardon Effort

By Lenore T. Adkins Special to the AFRO The youngest son of Pan Africanist Marcus Garvey honored what would have been his father’s 129th birthday by calling on President Barack Obama to grant a posthumous pardon to the civil rights leader, who was wrongly convicted of mail fraud almost 100 years ago. Dr. Julius Garvey, activists and supporters also used the occasion to launch a grassroots campaign to push for the pardon.

Besides clearing Garvey’s name, the pardon would legitimize him, the ideology behind his Pan-African movement and the movement itself, the younger Garvey said during a news conference at the National Press Club on Aug. 17.

“It’s sort of like coming out of the closet — you don’t have to whisper,” said Garvey, a surgeon in New York. “There’s still something subversive about the idea of Garvey and that has to be lifted.”

The Garvey family and supporters are hoping Obama grants the pardon before he leaves the White House in five months. If it doesn’t happen during Obama’s presidency, the family’s legal team will continue the fight under future presidents, said lead attorney Anthony Pierce, a partner at Akin

Gump Strauss Howard & Feld.

The Garvey family’s legal team filed a petition for pardon to the Department of Justice in June, a move that ignited the legal process.

The legal team sent the same petition to the White House three days later as a courtesy, Pierce said.

But the family waited until Marcus Garvey’s birthday to announce their legal action and community movement.

The push to pardon Garvey now heads to the court of public opinion, as there are no more legal steps to take, said Justin Hansford, another member of the Garvey family’s legal team.

“What we’re looking for from supporters is to begin a letter writing campaign … and to express your support … so that we can let the president know that people throughout the diaspora are desperately in support for this measure to be taken,” said Hansford, a fellow at the Harvard University Democracy Project.

Garvey came to the U.S. from Jamaica in 1916. It was here that he expanded his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which advocated for the social, political and economic independence of the African diaspora. The UNIA represented the largest movement of the African

AP Photo

Dr. Julius W. Garvey, son of Marcus Garvey (pictured) wants President Barack Obama to clear his father’s name from a mail fraud conviction that caused Marcus Garvey to be deported from the United States to his native Jamaica. diaspora in history. At its peak, it counted nearly 6 million members in 40 countries.

J. Edgar Hoover, director of what was then the Bureau of Investigation, the precursor to the FBI, was obsessed with “getting rid of a Negro agitator,” and ran an investigation into Garvey, the petition said. The U.S. government charged Garvey with mail fraud over his passenger and cargo shipping line. He was convicted

in 1923 and sentenced to five years in prison. President Calvin Coolidge commuted that sentence on Nov. 18, 1927, and Garvey was deported the next day. He died in 1940 in London and was buried in Kingston, Jamaica. He would spend the rest of his life trying to clear his name, the petition said.

In 1987, a Congressional inquiry and a review of the historical record concluded Garvey was wrongfully convicted. The

Garvey family’s lawyers argue that the conviction effectively ended the movement Marcus Garvey birthed, hurt his family and community and led to his own demise. They say a posthumous, presidential pardon is the only way to rectify the situation.

With the first Black president in office and the Black Lives Matter movement in full swing, now is the time to exonerate Jamaica’s first national hero, the younger Garvey said.

“It’s the right time to join with us between 1916 and 2016 because the system has not changed in order to give the Black boy and Black girl dignity in their place in American society,” he said.

Meanwhile, the current pardon petition isn’t the first attempt to clear Garvey’s name. A Florida attorney submitted weekly requests for Garvey’s clemency to the White House in 2011, according to the petition. But the White House rejected the petition and urged the filer to send it to the DOJ. Those efforts had nothing to do with the Garvey family.

Presidential pardons are rare and have only been granted twice, according to a 2011 paper by Stephen Greenspan. Those pardons occurred under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

A5

COMMENTARY

Is Legal Weed for Whites Only?

In 1950, a Black man named Parren Mitchell applied for admission to graduate school at the University of Maryland in Colin Byrd College Park. The university president said it was “inadvisable” for Blacks to attend College Park. Mitchell sued and won, becoming the first African American graduate student at College Park.

In 1963, Darryl Hill became the university’s first Black football player, and he went on to become the first Chairman of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Indeed, some southerners back then felt Blacks had no business in their football stadiums. In 1970, twenty years after Mitchell applied to Maryland, Mitchell became the state’s first Black member of Congress, his most enduring legacy was his fight to enact bills to give special preferences to Black business owners on the ground that Blacks had been subjected to discrimination for generations.

Over a half a century after they made history at Maryland, their fight continues.

In 2014, Delegate Cheryl Glenn, who is now the chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus, sponsored a bill creating a licensing commission for growers and processors of medical marijuana, and, last week, the Commission announced the fifteen companies that were awarded with licenses to grow -- none of these licenses went to Black business leaders. Interestingly, one of the Black business leaders whose application was rejected is none other than Darryl Hill.

Part of the problem is the Commission did not provide extra weight to applications submitted by minority-owned businesses, because Delegate Christopher West raised concerns with the Office of the Attorney General, led by Brian Frosh, about preferences for minorityowned business, and the office agreed such preferences would be unconstitutional without a history of racial disparities in marijuana licensing to justify the move.

In doing so, the office essentially implied that it was opposed to affirmative action and that affirmative action was unconstitutional, but this year the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action, rejecting a challenge from Abigail Fisher, a White woman who claimed the University of Texas at Austin had denied her admission based on her race. Abigail’s case attracted national headlines last December after Justice Antonin Scalia said, “I don’t think it stands to reason that it’s a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many Blacks as possible,” and the case prompted many college-educated Blacks to share their academic achievements on social media with the hashtag #StayMadAbby.

In the court’s majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, “A university is in large part defined by those intangible ‘qualities which are incapable of objective measurement but which make for greatness.’” He said the university’s diversity goals satisfy the constitutional requirement that government racial classifications advance a compelling interest. These same principles should apply to economic development in the State of Maryland.

Some say affirmative action is racist, but, in truth, what is more racist than claiming that only Whites can legally and competently produce a certain good in Maryland?

As for the Attorney General’s suggestion that preferences for minority-owned businesses would be unconstitutional without a history of racial disparities in marijuana licensing to justify the move, the fact of the matter is that sufficiently similar disparities do in, fact, exist. For example, in June of 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union found that Blacks were nearly

four times as likely as Whites to be arrested on charges of marijuana possession in 2010, even though the two groups used the drug at similar rates.

So, after decades of Blacks being disproportionately locked up for marijuana-related crimes, the Commission’s refusal to provide extra weight to applications submitted by minorityowned business is a failure to do what is necessary to combat the nation’s legacy of racism in regulating this industry, and I hope Brian Frosh will reconsider his office’s position on this issue.

Finally, Delegate West suggested the minority-owned companies submitted inferior applications. Now I am not a dry snitch, but I can say, without a doubt, that the notion that Blacks would be inferior distributors of marijuana in 2016 is about as ridiculous as the notion that they couldn’t play football in 1963.

Colin Byrd is the founder of the Carter G. Woodson Society of Maryland.

Justice – and Clean Air – For All On Aug. 28, the world will pause to recognize Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s monumental “I Have a Dream” speech. Nearly 53 years ago, Dr. King stood on the majestic steps of the Lincoln Memorial and imagined the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution as a blank check. Signed by the country’s founders, it promised equal rights for all. But for African Americans—long denied voting and civil rights—the promise went unfulfilled.

The check, Dr. King said, was bad.

Since then, America has taken many steps to make good on the promise of equal rights for African Americans. But as we continue that work, we must not forget that equal protection also includes something even more basic than voting or civil rights: the very air we breathe.

Power plant pollution dirties our air and contributes to thousands of asthma attacks, hospital visits, and premature deaths every year—all of which affect African American communities at disproportionate rates. This pollution also fuels climate change, causing sea levels to rise and contributing to more frequent—and more violent—extreme weather like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy.

Here in Baltimore, thanks to climate change, flooding has become routine and heatwaves more deadly. In 2011, there were 34 heat-related deaths in Maryland: nearly 20 in Baltimore County alone. Without climate action, these impacts will only get worse.

For many Black Americans, breathing heavily polluted

Lester A. McCorn

air is inescapable. In fact, 68 percent African Americans live within 30 miles of a polluting coal-fired power plant. It’s almost like smokestacks line the horizon of black communities like streetlights do in others.

The health effects are stark. African American children are 4 times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than White children and 7 times more likely to die from it. African Americans are at heightened risk of heat-related death, which will only become worse as record-breaking temperatures and smoggy skies become the new normal due to climate change.

It’s clear. There should be clean air for all. And today, there isn’t. That’s unacceptable.

The solution is just as clear. We need the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Clean Power Plan.

Finalized more than one year ago, on Aug. 3 2015, the lifesaving standards in the Clean Power Plan set the first everfederal limits on carbon pollution from power plants, which are the single largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. The Clean Power Plan also encourages clean energy investment.

Simply put, it’s the best tool readily available for the U.S. to combat climate change. And beyond being good for the environment, it’s good for our health and our pocketbooks. By 2030, the Clean Power Plan will generate $54 billion in annual climate and health benefits, including preventing 3,600 deaths and 90,000 asthma attacks in children every year.

Importantly, EPA designed the Clean Power Plan to ensure that communities of color aren’t “redlined” out of the benefits.

The Clean Energy and Investment Program (CEIP), part of the Clean Power Plan, can help states reduce carbon pollution

even faster by incentivizing job-creating investments in clean energy and energy efficiency in low-income communities. It’s an important component of a vital policy.

Sadly, legacy utilities and their political allies have fought these lifesaving standards at every turn. They’ve sued, with taxpayer dollars, to stop them. And they’ve run a smear campaign, to claim the rules will cost families.

They’re wrong. The Clean Power Plan, based on a strong scientific and legal foundation, will actually lower electricity bills. In fact, when states implement strong energy efficiency measures as part of their compliance, households can save $17 per month on their electric bills by 2030. That’s more than $200 per year.

In truth, polluters are trotting out erroneous lawsuits and tired arguments for one reason: to protect their profits over the health of our communities and families. We cannot allow them to succeed. For these polluters, it’s about quarterly revenue and annual bonuses. For us, it’s about the air we breathe. The air our kids breathe.

Dr. King said, “We’ve come…to cash a check.” I write today to do the same. As our forbearers demanded justice for all, we must demand clean air for all. We must demand our elected officials join the fight by supporting policies like the Clean Power Plan. The cost of pollution and climate change is too high. “Insufficient funds” just won’t do.

The Rev. Dr. Lester A. McCorn is the senior pastor at the Pennsylvania Avenue AME Zion Church in Baltimore, Md.

Clear Your Mind with Meditation When most people think of meditation they think of the stereotype of a crosslegged person repeating “om” over and over. However, meditation is a relaxation, visualization, and breathing exercise all combined.

I nearly fell asleep the first time I meditated. When we go to sleep, our breathing slows down and the body becomes fully relaxed. The same is true of meditation. The first steps are breathing and relaxing your muscles so it’s normal for your body to go into rest mode your first few sessions.

Guided meditations, either live or recorded, are another route to take. There are tons of free podcasts and YouTube videos. Some help you sleep, relieve stress, anxiety, and even physical pain. Other guided mediations take a more creative route, such as floating in space. I once experienced a guided meditation that made me feel as if I was flying.

Numerous studies have found meditation to have a positive effect on perception, brain activity and attention, among others.

Amina Georgie

Before meditating, remember imagination can take you far.

All you need to do is breathe, concentrate, and imagine. Here is my routine for self-meditation: Start off by finding a quiet place where you feel comfortable; that could be your bedroom, porch, or even outside, as long as you feel safe. Lie down, sit up straight with both feet on the ground, or sit cross legged sitting straight up.

Close your eyes or gaze downward and take in a deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds then exhale. Repeat several times. This is to lessen the tension in your body. After several deep breaths return to your normal rate of breathing.

Imagine a place you feel peaceful in, such as a field of tall grass elegantly dancing in the wind or relaxing in a hammock.

Nothing should be forced, let your imagination and mind guide you. Take in the environment; notice what’s around you.

When you are ready to end the meditation start by wiggling your fingers and toes, then slowly open your eyes. During meditation you may reach a dream like consciousness, so just like waking you regain your senses by stretching, listen for familiar sounds, like the hum of your heater or A/C.

Meditation changes your brain wiring positively, according to several studies. It reduces stress and relaxes your muscles, similar to when we fall sleep. When I have a lot on my mind sitting in silence takes my mind off conflicts or gives me time to reflect on the situation. Not to say run away from your problems but sitting in silence for couple of minutes does help every now and again.

A large part of meditation involves the Chakra System.

The chakra system is basically energy, which the human eye cannot see. The body has seven chakras (the crown, the third eye, the throat, the heart, the solar plexus, the sacral and the base). When one or more chakras are imbalanced your body is affected. Holding onto anger can throw off your chakras.

A good place to start if you want to find out more is with guided meditations. It will be challenging to concentrate at first but with time you’ll become advanced.

Amina Georgie was a summer intern in the Baltimore office of the AFRO American.

A6

The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

Nigeria: Air Raid ‘Fatally Wounds’ Boko Haram Leader do the hard work of pushing back against extremism.” He called also for empathy even for former Boko Haram fighters.

“Breaking the cycle of violence requires treating those who escape or defect from Boko Haram, and particularly those who were abducted against their will, with sensitivity as they return to their old communities,” Kerry said. Many rescued captives, especially pregnant girls, are being shunned.

Kerry noted that Boko Haram fighters on Aug. 20 attacked a village near Chibok, killing 10 people and taking 13 girls and women hostage.

Chibok, in northeastern Nigeria, is where nearly 300 schoolgirls were abducted from a school in April 2014. Dozens of the kidnapped girls escaped, but 218 remain missing.

A video showing dozens of the girls on Aug. 21 said Shekau is willing to negotiate a prisoner swap for detained Boko Haram

By Michelle Faul

The Associated Press

Nigeria’s military said Aug. 23 it believes an airstrike has “fatally wounded” Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau and killed about 300 militants, but there was no way to confirm yet another claim of the death of Nigeria’s Islamic extremist leader.

A statement does not say how the military got the information but identifies other commanders as “confirmed dead” in an air raid on Aug. 19.

Nigerian security forces have at least three times in the past declared that they have killed or fatally wounded Shekau, only to have him resurface in video and audio recordings. The military has said that Boko Haram was using look-alike (AP Photo) fighters to impersonate the supposedly Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau is believed to be fatally wounded in an airstrike dead leader. while he was praying in a forest stronghold in northeast Nigeria, the military said on The Nigerian Air Force carried Aug. 23. out “the most unprecedented and spectacular air raid” while Shekau was praying on Aug. 19, Islam’s holy day, at Taye village in the extremists’ Sambisa commanders.

Forest holdout in northeast Nigeria, according to the statement signed by army Buhari is under increasing pressure to rescue or negotiate the girls’ release, spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman. but his spokesman has said officials are wary since previous negotiations failed “Boko Haram terrorist commanders confirmed dead include Abubakar Mubi, because they were duped into talks with the wrong people.

Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman, amongst others. While their leader, soShekau started the uprising in 2009 that has killed 20,000 people, driven called ‘Abubakar Shekau,’ is believed to be fatally wounded on his shoulders. more than 2.2 million from their homes, spread across Nigeria’s borders and, Several other terrorists were also wounded,” he said. in Kerry’s words, “flung some seven million Nigerians into hunger, thirst, and A separate Air Force statement said the raid killed 300 militants and was a desperate need.” result of human intelligence and reconnaissance indicating key Boko Haram Boko Haram appears to be fractured by a leadership struggle after the Islamic commanders were gathering for a meeting.

State group recently announced it had a new leader. Shekau has insisted he is The statements came the same day U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in still in charge. He had pledged the group’s allegiance to the Islamic State group Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, with President Muhammadu Buhari to discuss Islamic last year, giving ISIS its first franchise in sub-Saharan Africa. extremism and regional security. Kerry, speaking on Aug. 23 in northern Sokoto Boko Haram, which means “Western education is forbidden,” resurfaced as city, made no reference to the army’s report. a deadly force under Shekau, who took over after a military raid on the group’s Kerry praised the Sultan of Sokoto, spiritual leader of Nigeria’s Muslims, compound in Maiduguri killed some 700 people and leader Mohammed Yusuf for his work preaching tolerance and bringing together interfaith groups “to was killed in police custody.

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August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

B1

BALTIMORE-AREA

Making the Case for Port Covington

By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO

The President’s RoundTable of Baltimore, an organization of Black CEOs, has gone on record in support of the $5.5 billion dollar Port Covington Waterfront Project proposed by UnderArmour Founder Kevin Plank and championed by Sagamore Development. However, the group does want changes made to the agreement that would benefit minority contractors and workers before it is finalized.

President’s Roundtable Chair Sheila Brooks said RoundTable members have been directly engaged with Sagamore executives to ensure communities of color benefit from the proposed unprecedented multibillion dollar, mixed-use development. “We have been in discussions with Sagamore Development for some time now on a collaborative strategy to support minority equity participation that would be beneficial for

AFRO Clean/Green Block Winners

Photo by Chanet Wallace

Winners of the AFRO Clean/Green Block program (from left)Leona Banks, LaTarsha Ellet, Kisha L. Webster, Marvin “Doc” Cheatham (organizer) Cherring Spence, and Diane Hocker, director of community and public relations, the AFRO. The neighborhoods and organizations represented include: Greenmount West Community, Neighborhoods United, Rosemont Neighborhood Improvement Association, Druid Heights Community and the Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association. See story on page A1.

Baltimore’s Alleged ‘Number One Trigger-Puller’ Arrested

By Michelle Richardson Special to the AFRO

Courtesy photo

Sheila Brooks, chair of the President’s Rountable, says the PRT is working with the Port Covington Waterfront Project to ensure that minorities benefit from the multi-billion dollar development.

Continued on B2

Another alleged violent offender has been taken off the streets of Baltimore. Montana Malik Barronette, 21 of the 1100 block of Harlem Ave, dubbed Baltimore’s “number one trigger-puller” is under arrest, according to Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis. Barronette was arrested over the weekend. He is charged with first-degree murder, handgun violations,

and “other related charges” including first and second degree assault, and reckless endangerment.

“He’s an absolute poster child for what a repeat offender is in Baltimore City,” said Davis during a press conference on Aug. 22.

According to police, Barronette is a member of the Black Guerilla Family (BGF) gang subgroup “Trained To Go” or TTG and has been linked to a dozen murders including the 2013 murder

Noted Baltimore Educator Jessie Gladden Dead at 85 person—my father, who has been dead for 20 years…She didn’t belong here; she belonged with him,” Sen. Gladden said. Commenting on the thunder and lightning that rent the sky Jessie Gladden, a venerated Baltimore on the day of her mother’s death, she added, educator who once hosted a learning program “He just waited for her to get there, and when on Maryland Public Television she did, all of heaven was and was the mother of a state celebrating for them…They’re senator, died Aug. 18 at Sinai making up for lost time.”

Hospital in Baltimore. She The pair met in 1956 at was 85. their first teaching assignment, Sen. Lisa Gladden, a Charles Hamilton Houston Democrat who represents Elementary School in Baltimore in the Maryland Baltimore, where she taught General Assembly, confirmed history and he taught math. her mother’s death but said Eight months after that first thehistorymakers.com they had not yet identified a meeting, Sen. Gladden said, Jessie Gladden, mother cause of death. the pair were married and of Sen. Lisa Gladden, “She wasn’t ‘sick,’ sick. taught at Charles Hamilton stayed so for 37 years until Mr. She wasn’t taking medication Gladden’s death from cancer Houston Elementary for anything,” Gladden said. in 1994.

School in Baltimore.

“But the last couple of weeks Beyond her identity as she just went down.”

Elzee Gladden’s partner, Jessie The 51-year-old lawmaker said she Gladden was, more than anything else, a believed her mother’s death reflected her teacher who believed in public education, her desire to reunite with the love of her life, daughter said. her deceased husband Elzee Gladden, a “She believed no matter what your distinguished Baltimore City educator known circumstances if you had an environment with for turning around troubled schools, former a good teacher you could learn anything,” Sen. principal of Baltimore’s Dunbar High School Gladden said. “She taught so many children and the first doctoral degree recipient at that you have to believe in who you are and Morgan State University. what you have and to use what you have to be “My mother wanted to be with one Continued on B2

By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent zprince@afro.com

of Alfonso Williams. On May 3, 2013 authorities say Barronette walked up to Williams on the 1300 block of Lafayette Avenue and shot him multiple times. An argument appeared to be the motive for the killing said police.

“His motives are all over the map. This particular case began with an argument but if you’re a killer, you’ll kill at the drop of a hat. We believe Montana Barronette has done that for far too long in Baltimore”, said Davis.

Continued on B2

Baltimore Police Department

Montana Malik Barronette is an alleged member of the Black Guerilla Family and faces charges including murder and assault. He is 21 year-old.

Race and Politics

Another Baltimore Bully I remember when I first saw the video of Baltimore City Police officer Vincent Cosom beating the Sean Yoes hell out of Senior AFRO Colin Truss at Contributor a bus stop on the corner of Greenmount and North, while two of his buddies (who also happened to be police officers) held Truss’ arms and roughed up his girlfriend who attempted to defend him (the beating actually took place in June of 2014, but didn’t become public until September of 2014).

I watched Cosom approach Truss coming out of a liquor store, as the two men began to beef verbally. Truss’ girlfriend began to pull her man away from danger and hustle him across the street to the bus stop, as Cosom’s cop buddies approached. But, instead of allowing the incident to de-

Where I come from in West Baltimore, we would conclude, ‘Truss got banked.’ escalate, Cosom followed the couple across the street to the bus stop, apparently still yapping at Truss from behind like a small, insecure dog.

Then, as his buddies moved into position and Truss’ back was literally up against the plexiglass bus stop shelter, Cosom unleashed a barrage of wild blows, as he bounced up and down awkwardly, like a

Continued on B2

2 Officers Cleared in Gray Case to Receive Back Pay

By The Associated Press Two Baltimore police officers are getting back pay after being cleared of criminal charges in the death of a young Black man whose neck was broken in a police van.

$127,000 in back pay for Lt. Brian Rice, the highestranking officer in the group, and about $87,700 for Officer Caesar Goodson, who drove the van where Gray’s neck was broken and faced the most serious charge, of

None of the six officers have been reinstated to the force, pending an internal investigation.

Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter will receive $96,855 and $70,523 respectively. They were suspended without pay after being charged with felony manslaughter in the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray.

The Board of Estimates was scheduled to approve the payments on Aug. 24.

White and Porter were among six officers charged in Gray’s death. Prosecutors dropped all the cases after three of them were acquitted.

The Board of Estimates previously approved nearly

second-degree murder.

The four officers had been suspended without pay since May 1, 2015, when State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby

8

Past Seven Days

announced felony charges against them. Two others, Edward Nero and Garrett Miller, were suspended with pay because they faced only misdemeanors.

Gray’s family received a $6.4 million settlement after his death in police custody touched off protests and rioting and became a rallying cry for the national Black Lives Matter movement.

None of the six officers have been reinstated to the force, pending an internal investigation. At the request of Commissioner Kevin Davis, two outside departments, from Montgomery and Howard counties, are participating in this review.

194 2016 Total

Data as of Aug. 24

B2

The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

Port Covington Continued from B1

Baltimore,” Brooks, who is also President and CEO of SRB Communications, told the AFRO. Opponents of the Port Covington Project have expressed concerns that people-of-color and low wealth residents will be left behind with respect to employment and housing opportunities. But in a statement, Brooks countered that the RoundTable’s involvement is a voice that served as an advocate for those very communities. “The President’s RoundTable is committed to economic development initiatives that stimulate Baltimore’s economy and create jobs in our communities,” Brooks said. “This is the core belief underlying our approach to working in collaboration with Sagamore, Under Armor and Plank Industries,” she said.

Jim Davenport, President of American Technology Corporation and a member of the President’s Roundtable, supports the Port Covington Project but appeared before the City Council Taxation, Finance and Economic Development Committee earlier this month to oppose Project Labor Agreements that may be packaged with a vote on the $535

“The President’s RoundTable is committed to economic development initiatives that stimulate Baltimore’s economy and create jobs in our communities.”

–Sheila Brooks million-dollar Port Covington TIF (tax incentive financing) request the Council will consider this Fall.

Davenport said, Project Labor Agreements or PLA’s would restrict minority hiring. “I see this as once again allowing trade unions [to] import labor from outside the city and state to meet demands that could go to local Black and woman owned businesses,” Davenport said. “I am very disturbed when I visit construction sites in this city and see the lack of people that

look like me,” Davenport, who is African American, said.

The President’s RoundTable members join a number of civic and community groups supporting the Port Covington Development project including The SB Six Coalition representing the South Baltimore communities of Brooklyn, Cherry Hill, Curtis Bay, Lakeland, Mount Winans and Westport, all communities that border the proposed project and Hungry Harvest, a nationally-recognized socialentrepreneurship venture.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has been a consistent supporter of Port Covington and has stated that she would like to sign TIF legislation before she leaves office at the end of the year.

The President’s RoundTable, founded in 1983, is an organization of African-American private sector and non-profit CEO’s and presidents who oversee organizations with combined assets exceeding 1.1 billion and who also support and employ a combined 1750 employees. Full disclosure: Jake Oliver, CEO and Publisher of the AFRO, is a member. The organization’s mission is to advocate for the growth of minority business.

Jessie Gladden Continued from B1

the best you can be.”

After five years at Charles Hamilton Houston, Gladden took a hiatus to raise her children, Sen. Gladden and her older brother Marc. She returned to the classroom in 1969, teaching at Pimlico Middle School until 1971.

From 1973 until 1974, Gladden expanded her classroom when she taught for the show “Newslab,” which aired on Maryland Public Television. For 20 years—from 1977 to 1997— Gladden worked as a supervisor for Baltimore City Schools’ social studies curriculum. A year after her retirement from BCPS in 1992, she took a position as a teacher supervisor at Johns Hopkins University until her retirement in 2001.

Gladden was also noted for her research on Vivien Thomas, the Black surgical scientist who, with only a high school education, went on to become a surgical pioneer and instructor to many of the nation’s most noted surgeons

at Johns Hopkins University. Thomas was the subject of Gladden’s master’s thesis at Morgan State University, where she earned her advanced degree in 1973.

Born Jessie Benjamin on Dec. 11, 1930, in New York City, Gladden was the daughter of a domestic worker-turned-entrepreneur and a laborer. As a teenager, Gladden moved back to her mother’s native North Carolina, where her mother operated a restaurant and a store. Following her mother’s death, Gladden moved to Baltimore, where an older sister resided.

– Sen. Gladden Gladden is survived by her children and two siblings.

Funeral services were held on Aug. 25 at the First Baptist Church of Baltimore, 4200 Liberty Heights Ave. in Gwynn Oak, Md. Sen. Gladden said her mother will be interred in the same spot where her husband was buried in the historically Black Lilly of the Valley Moses Cemetery on the 5400 block of Sands Road in Anne Arundel County.

“She taught so many children that you have to believe in who you are and what you have…”

In Memoriam

Jesola E. Jones - Retired City Educator On August 1, 2016, family and friends paid their respects and said goodbye to retired city educator, Jesola E. Jones, 75 years young at a Mass of Christian Burial at her church, the New All Saints Catholic Church in Baltimore. After a lengthy illness, she died peacefully surrounded by her family on July 27, 2016 at Stella Maris in Timonium.

During the family hour, JC Shay, a cousin of her husband, Ralph read her obituary. Her sisters, Drs Frankie E. Martin and Zola E. Boone gave reflections of her life as a young child growing up in Grambling, Louisiana and recited a poem in her honor. This was followed by Celebration services by the Links, Incorporated and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority of which she was a member.

The Mass of Christian Burial was offered by Father Raymond Harris, Jr., from Holy Family Parish, Randallstown, MD. Jesola’s grandsons Elijah and Noah Jones (Ralph) read the First Reading, Isaiah 25:6-9, and the Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 13 were read by grandson’s Connor and Christian Jones (Ernest).

Eucharistic gifts were offered by nieces, Tyrene Gibson, Aya Taylor and Monica Allen. The Communion Meditation Hymn, “Amazing Grace” was played on the piano by grandson Connor Jones (Ernest). After communion, very personal family remarks were given

by Jesola’s three sons, Warren, Ernest and Ralph Jones.

Growing up in Grambling, Louisiana, the value of education was instilled in her at a young age by her parents who were both educators and graduates from Southern University and the University of Michigan. Her father was a renowned principal in Wisner, Louisiana and her beautiful mother (a former Miss Southern University) was associate professor at Grambling State (College) University.

Jesola was a devout Catholic and began her bond with Catholicism at St Benedict de Moor Catholic Church in Grambling where she would make her First Holy Communion, Confirmation and the sacrament of marriage to the love of her life, Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Jr. in a memorable ceremony in 1961.

Jesola was born on April 21, 1941 in Wisner, Louisiana to Jesse and Zola Amond Ernest. The middle daughter of loving parents, she and her sisters, Zola the eldest and Frankie the youngest moved with her parents to the town of Grambling, Louisiana, home of Grambling State (College) University in 1947. She received her early childhood education from Grambling elementary, middle and high school graduating in 1958. She matriculated at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City and earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Drama in 1962. Jesola pursued further studies at Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana earning a Master’s degree in Counseling in 1965. She was eager to start work after moving to Baltimore in 1962 and entered the Baltimore City Public School system as a teacher at Calverton Jr. High School and went on to serve as counselor, assistant principal at a number of city schools and later was named principal at one of the largest middle schools, Pimlico Middle where she remained until retirement in 1994. Throughout her career in education, she impacted people with her serious but compassionate style, her pursuit for excellence

in children’s education success and her genuine and pronounced leadership ability. She left an indelible impression on those she worked with and served.

Although Jesola had a passion for education, she was a devoted wife and mother. Her husband, Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, Jr’s life ended abruptly in 1989 from a heart attack. Prior to his death they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at a fabulous party at the University of Baltimore Law School where Ralph was an administrator of a thriving graduate program. During Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke’s tenure, he tapped Dr. Jones to join his administration and was subsequently appointed as Director of Recreation and Parks. Jesola was delighted with his appointment and enjoyed interacting frequently with Recreation and Parks staff.

Jesola was an exceptional mother to three fine sons, Ralph Eldridge, Ernest Emerson, and Warren Waldo who all share a part of Ralph’s name because Jesola felt that they together added up to the totality of her husband Ralph. Her overarching commitment was to her family and her desire to love, nurture, guide, and enjoy all the pleasures that a family brings. Her strength and grace allowed her to endure both the pains and joys of life.

Although Jesola retired from her profession in the Baltimore City Public School System, she however did not retire from life. She enjoyed regular luncheons with her two sisters, Zola and Frankie who had also located to Baltimore and raised their families. She enjoyed socializing with friends, working with members of the retired teachers association and worked arduously to support the Dr. Ralph W.E. Jones scholarship that she established at Morgan State University. Two of her favorite activities were attending the Christmas Choir Concert and Homecoming at Morgan. She also kept up with the “goings on” at Grambling State University where her husband’s father served as president for 32+ years.

While Jesola was in college she was initiated into the Psi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority affiliated with Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa because there was no chapter at the time at the State University of Iowa. After moving to Baltimore she was an active member of the Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Sorority. She loved to attend local chapter meetings and attended many national conventions. A 1985 Charter member of the Harbor City (Maryland) Chapter of the Links Incorporated, she served as first vice president and second chapter president. She also was a member of the Coronas and Monumental City Friends. Jesola was very much involved in the New All Saints Church, participating in bible study, serving on the food pantry committee and attending 4:00pm mass on Saturday where she enjoyed her pastor, Father Donald Sterling.

Jesola also enjoyed playing Sudoku and traveling throughout the world. She was a staunch fan of both the Orioles and the Ravens.

Jesola is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Ralph Eldridge and Nicole, Ernest Emerson and Ann Marie, Warren Waldo and Tamera; grandson, Noah and Elijah (Ralph) and Christian and Connor (Ernest) sisters, Zola Ernest Boone and Frankie Ernest Martin and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, and lifelong friends.

“I’ll miss her,” the younger Gladden said but added, she couldn’t help but smile because her

mother “is finally where she wants to be—with my father.”

Trigger-Puller Continued from B1

Barronette was known to frequent the areas of Sandtown-Winchester, Pedestal Gardens and Pennsylvania Avenue, and “terrorized those communities,” according to Davis.

“Barronette has been Baltimore’s No. 1 trigger-puller for some time now,” Davis said.

“He’s no longer on the streets of Baltimore.”

Barronette was tracked by the Baltimore police “War Room” division that was formed in the summer of 2015. Chief Sean Miller, the war room’s commander and the head of the departments Operational Investigations Division, said the suspect has been linked to several homicides, nonfatal shootings, and robberies.

“We had to amass an entire investigative effort to look into every aspect of his life, the lives of his associates, their habits, where they frequent, and we had to pull it all together to make a case against Montana Barronette,” said the Commissioner.

Davis also stated that he hopes Barronette’s arrest will lead to more information on other violent crimes that he has committed.

“We are still following up on numerous cases…Remember his name. You’ll hear it again very soon.”

According to Maryland’s case search, there is no lawyer listed for Barronette and no known phone number for his residence.

Race and Politics Continued from B1

chubby, unskilled boxer trying to time his shots at his stunned opponent’s dome, seemingly growing more emboldened with each unanswered punch.

Where I come from in West Baltimore, we would conclude, ‘Truss got banked.’

A few weeks after the Cosom video became public, a now infamous front page newspaper report showcased the lumpy faces, swollen lips and blackened eyes of some of the mostly Black people who had been brutalized by Baltimore police over the years, costing Baltimore more than $6 million in lawsuits. However, since the uprising in April 2015, Commissioner Kevin Davis says citizen complaints about excessive force are down sharply, about 40 percent.

And a new use of force policy for the department was implemented this summer.

Too bad the new policy was not in place before Aaron Winston encountered officer Alexandros Haziminas.

On February 21, Winston was partying at Power Plant Live! downtown when a skirmish broke out and one of Winston’s friends was being escorted out of the nightclub by police. As Winston, who is 5’6” and 150 pounds pleaded to an officer (Andre Smith) he happened to know personally for his friend to be released, his attempted intercession was answered violently by the 6’2” and 350 pound Haziminas, who yanked Winston’s shoulder out of its socket and broke his arm in two places (Winston currently has seven pins in his arms as a result of Haziminas’ assault and according to him, is left with hospital bills nearing $100,000).

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to recover from the situation,” Winston said during the First Edition show on August 22. “I just want justice...and hopefully it will be served.”

Winston says, despite his arm dangling from the socket and being broken in two places, Haziminas still handcuffed him.

Not only that, the behemoth rode along with Winston in the ambulance to the hospital and the officer incessantly taunted him all the way to Winston’s room, so much so according to him, that a nurse asked Haziminas to leave Winston’s room.

“I did ask him (Haziminas) for an apology after the incident happened...just like man to man. I knew what you did was wrong, at the moment he knew what he did was wrong and he basically (told) me to go hump myself,” Winston said.

“They charged my client for assaulting not only officer Haziminas, the big 350 pound ogre, but they had also charged him with assaulting his friend (Smith), who he had known for a number of years,” said defense attorney J. Wyndal Gordon.

Winston faced two counts of Second Degree Assault, two counts of Resisting/Interfering with Arrest among other charges and was looking at 26 years according to Gordon, if he had received the maximum sentence for all the counts against him. Winston was acquitted of all charges on Aug. 16. “(Haziminas is) 350 pounds of pure aggression, fueled by adrenaline. This...beast of a man should not be policing in Baltimore City in any respect.

He does not deserve a gun or a badge,” Gordon said.

“They just have this us versus them attitude, this militaristic attitude...like inhuman dispassionate robots out there. It’s just not going to work in a civil society.”

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

August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

“Maybe I didn’t love you quite as often as I could have; maybe I didn’t treat you quite as good as I should have. If I made you feel second best girl I’m sorry I was blind. But, you were always on my mind, you were always on my mind.

Maybe I didn’t hold you all those lonely, lonely times. I guess I never told you that I am so happy that you’re mine. If I made you feel second best girl I’m sorry I was blind. But, you were always on my mind you were always on my mind. Tell me; tell me that your sweet love hasn’t died. Give me; give me one more chance to keep you satisfied. I’ll keep you satisfied. Little things I should have said and done I just never took the time.

But, you were always on my mind; you were always on my mind� -Willie Nelson

Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Judge Yvonne Holt-Stone, Dr. Anne Emery, Marilyn Harris-Davis, Virgie Williams, Dr. Delores Baden, Anne Davis, Ellen Howard, Billie Garner Brown, Peggy Brown, Judge Miriam Hutchins, Aileen Taylor and Frankie Wilson. It was a delightful afternoon as Pat reflected on her relationship with those in attendance. The smile on my face was priceless when she said, “Val, we have a room for you.� Yes, I’m leavin’ on that midnight train to Georgia. Pat and Howard, “I wish you bluebirds in the spring to give your heart a song to sing, I wish you health and more than wealth I wish you love.�-Gloria Lynn

Sunday afternoon I was thinking of my friends who are celebrating their wedding anniversary in Aug. while listening to WPFW 89.3. “Suddenly� I zeroed in on the words of Willie Nelson’s “You’re always on my mind� and was inspired by the lyrics and melody and thought, “What a perfect love song.� In the fast-paced world we live in sometimes we forget to tell our loved ones how much they mean to us but there’s one thing certain, “You’re always on my mind.�

Charles “Charlie� Owens is passing the mantle when he retires from Baltimore City Chamber of Commerce as the President and CEO, a position he has held for eight years.

During his presidency, he advanced Baltimore City’s economic and business ventures to be inclusive of people and businesses.

His quarterly happy hour networking party engaged and bridged the old established business with newly established businesses while giving everyone an opportunity to mingle, learn and highlight their company.

“This is dedicated to the one I love.� Happy anniversary to Dante and Candes Daniels, Pat and Melvin Pierce, Rita and Elvard Cooper, Eugene and Sara Smalley and Mildred and Billy Harper. You represent a combined 140 plus years of marriage. “They’re leavin’ on that Midnight train to Georgia, said they’re goin’ back to find a simpler place in time, oh yes they are.� Pat Jessamy’ s southern charm and warm spirit garnered her many friends during her years in Baltimore and some gathered at the lovely Ashburton home of Bea Scott for “Girls Day Out� to bid Pat farewell as she and her husband Howard head south to Atlanta. “Southern girl don’t you know ya good to me and I dig you so I wouldn’t be right here if you hadn’t been right there.�

-Frankie Beverly and Maze The get-together confirmed the depth of warm relationships created by Baltimore’s former States Attorney. The ladies only event was hosted by Erica Cryor, Bea Scott and Mary Welcome. Among the guests in attendance were States

“Never can say goodbye.� Michael Jackson

“If it’s magic then why can’t it be everlasting, like the sun that always shines, like the poets endless rhyme like the galaxies in time. If it’s pleasing then why can’t it be never leaving like the day that never fails like on seashores there are shells like the time that always tells.� -Stevie Wonder The death of my cousin James Peaco, a Harvard graduate, retired Army Colonel, former Judge Advocate, retired attorney for the Department of Commerce, Alpha man, brother, father, grandfather and husband to Freddie, his college sweetheart, and wife of 49 years, has left a void in our family. None of us will miss Jimmy more than Freddie. At the age of five she lost her eyesight yet she saw the beauty of the world through the eyes of her husband. The sweet whispers in her ear describing the sunrise, or the color of the dress, her son’s eyes and her granddaughters beautiful smile. Freddie, a strong, independent woman, retired from the Library of Congress and raised a family with Jimmy and now treasures her adorable grandchildren. She will continue to cherish the memories of the love of her life knowing that a love like theirs only comes around “once in a lifetime.� T:11�

B3

Continue to keep Stella and Everett Fullwood in your prayers as Stella continues on the road to recovery and mourns the death of their son Tony Thornton.

Happy birthday Billy Harper, Eugene Smalley, Ernestine Jolivet, Jay Lewis, Tina Jolivet, Debbie Parker, Sara Smalley, Mildred Battle, Dr. James Wood, Rochelle Smith and Opera Diva Kathleen Battle.

Pat Thomas has a wish that her grandmother Gertrude Doleman receives 100 cards in celebration of her 100th birthday September 5, 2016. Celebrate Gertrude by sending cards c/o Sacred Heart Home, 5805 Queens Chapel Road room # 210 Hyattsville, MD 20782.

Frederick Douglass High School Class of 1966 will hold a 50-Year reunion on October 1. Proceeds will benefit the Historic Frederick Douglass High School’s scholarship fund. For more information, call 410-788-8262 or 443-6045116. Committee members are Carol Turner, Danny McCoy, Wanetah Wilkins, and Jimmie Hayes.

It’s Virgo time on Sept. 17 with my birthday, your party, at Colin’s 7 p.m. until.

I’ll be seeing you.

Aleuta Continua (the struggle continues)

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B4

The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

Baltimore Supporters

Members of The Links with Jake Oliver, AFRO CEO and publisher

Ben Phillips, AFRO president (far left), Jake Oliver and Diane Hocker, AFRO director, community and public relations (far right) with Kappa Silhouettes

The AFRO Newspapers board members, staff, and supporters from the Baltimore and D.C. metropolitan areas began their celebration of 125 years of excellence with a kickoff reception on Aug. 13 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore.

As the guests dined on scrumptious cuisine, and enjoyed soft jazz by Guy Bragg, members of various organizations and community leaders were given a Kevin Davis, Baltimore City Police commissioner accepts a gift from Jake Oliver commemorative ceramic tile artwork titled, “ARFO 125—A Benjamin and a Quarter” Celebrating the AFRO American Newspaper from the Robert Blount Collection.

Board member Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper and Jake Oliver, CEO and publisher, honored the many supporters and sponsors who formed partnerships and made the journey with the Members of the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter, AFRO throughout its Delta Sigma Theta Sorority - Monica Watkins, existence and into president, accepts an original hand painted the future. ceramic tile See photos of D.C. supporters on D4.

Members of Baltimore Metropolitan Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority - Joe Ann Oatis, president

BWI Thurgood Marshall - sponsors of the Kickoff Reception - Gregory Lawrence, Ben Phillips, Annette Fisher, Jake Oliver and Dannie Huntley

Joyce Ward and William “Kip” Ward, Lt. Gen (Ret.)

Lenora Howze, director of advertising served as mistress of ceremonies

National Coalition 100 Black Women (Baltimore Metropolitan Chapter) Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, Larry Young, WOLB 1010 Live Talk, Jake Oliver, Ben Phillips IV, Diane Hocker

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority

Angela Coates, Robert Blount, Vetta Ridgeway, Barbara Ridgeway

Kevin Davis Baltimore City Police Commissioner and Thelma T. Daley, 16th National President, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

Murphy descendants , Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper and Jake Oliver

Phyllis Reese

Baltimore Alpha Wives

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

AFRO Staff and Supporters Baltimore Chapter, CHUMS Photos by Dr. A. Lois De Laine

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

August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

C1

ARTS & CULTURE

Lynn Whitfield on Her New Role in OWN’s ‘Greenleaf’

By Nadine Matthews Special to the AFRO Although Lynn Whitfield’s earliest aspiration was to become a ballerina, she knew at a young age that she wanted to be an actress. Whitfield went on to appear in some of what have become part of the African-American canon of stage and screen. “For Colored Girls…,” “The Josephine Baker Story,” for which she won an Emmy, and “Eve’s Bayou” to name a few.

Whitfield was a class of actress not easily categorized in Hollywood in the 1980’s and 1990’s. She admits to feeling at the time that Hollywood did not really know what to do with her. She told the AFRO, “Yeah, I think at that time they didn’t quite know what to do with me and, you know, I figure that the role dictates the patina that you put on yourself as an actor and I just wasn’t so easy to just throw on a patina of what’s considered Black. Black people come in so many shapes, sizes, packages, cultural experiences, etc.”

Lynn Whitfield (right) is one of the stars of Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Greenleaf.’

She is quite pleased with how the media landscape has changed of late at least in terms happen. I just keep doing my work and kind of being very of television. “Now, thanks to people like Shonda Rhimes and proud and happy for the progress we’re making and kind of rethe like there are the roles that are now being written for Black filtering everything so that all my feelings are available to me. women that are authoritative, layered, textured, and being, you All my instrument is available to me without resentment and know, placed smack dab in the middle of a very diverse world without regret that I can just keep being excited.” in handling it.”

Whitfield was at first hesitant about taking on the role of the Ever protective of her work, she never let any of the matriarch Lady Mae in Oprah’s second scripted drama for her frustrations of her profession intrude on her craft. “That OWN Network. “Greenleaf” is a soapy family drama about an interferes with my artistry if I walk around feeling victimized extremely well off Memphis family whose business is running by it or resentful of it or looking at the world of entertainment a mega-church which began airing in June. and storytelling as a political platform of what did or didn’t

(Courtesy photo)

It was literally one line that finally convinced her to do it. She recalls asking “Greenleaf” writer Craig Wright a series of probing questions. “I asked, ‘Why do you want me to do this and what are your intentions for the character? What is your arc for the character?’ Which at that time, Craig didn’t tell me.”

The more she talked to him, the more intrigued he became. Still, she was not quite sold. “So he read a scene from an episode down the line. ‘Strength like yours is best served in silence.’ I said aah okay I got it. So he said ‘Can I call Oprah and Lions Gate and tell them you’re gonna do this?’”

Since then, Whitfield has grown to know her character more intimately. Speaking of Lady Mae she says, “She’s the queen of her kingdom. She started off very slow and little by little she is becoming more developed.

A fuller character. Each episode you get a little bit more of who she is and the tenacity with which she is determined to hold onto the family and its legacy and to keep order in the church and protect her husband and her

children.”

For Whitfield, Lady Mae is just the latest in a line of characters about which she feels eminently proud of being able to bring to the screen. “I’ve just been blessed that I have been a part of classics. They are classics. Every year they play “Thin Line [Between Love and Hate]” every year they play “Eve’s Bayou.” They are in people’s libraries. I’m humbled by it and just so happy about that.”

“Greenleaf” is on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on OWN.

Black History

Film Festival Spotlights Global SPORTS Race Issues Father Says Russell Was “Robbed” By

By Lenore T. Adkins Special to the Afro

(African Diaspora International Film Festival)

The documentary ‘The Man Who Mends Women,’ shows the struggles Dr. Denis Mukwege faced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he treated rape victims.

While Black people all over the world carry different cultural markers depending on who colonized them, they have their African roots and related struggles with the legacy of racism in common, according to a Black film festival founder.

The African Diaspora International Film Festival, held in Washington D.C. from Aug. 19-21, told stories from Brazil, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. The

festival is scheduled to head to Paris next month.

Diraha Ndaw-Spech and her husband, Reinaldo Spech, founded the film festival in 1993 as a means to educate, destroy stereotypes and end attitudes that support racial injustice. They said they see film as an accessible and powerful means of communication that can inspire change.

She jokes that they represent the entire African diaspora. N’Daw-Spech was born in France to a French mother and a father from Mali. Her husband’s parents are Jamaican and he was born in Cuba.

“There’s a lot of miscommunication and misinformation and no information about the reality of the experience of people of African descent all over the world,” said N’Daw-Spech, who lives in New York City. “There are lots of preconceptions that the media feeds us through ignorance and stereotypes. It’s important to allow or give an opportunity for people who want to to learn more.”

The films tackled a wide range of issues that affect the diaspora, including colorism in Mexico and instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that led to armed rebels raping women and children for 20 years.

“The Congo problem is not Congolese in and of itself, it’s an international problem,” said Joseph Mbangu, secretary of the Panzi Foundation, which supports sexual violence survivors.

“Since the beginning of time when King Leopold came, they cut out countries, delineated our countries without ever ourselves being at the table. And we are not at the table today.”

Other movies delved into history.

For example, “Toussaint L’Ouverture” showed how the Haitian military leader led the first slave revolt, which led to the country’s independence. Meanwhile, “The Price of Memory” tailed a group of Rastafari who pushed Queen Elizabeth II for slavery reparations when she visited Jamaica.

The couple chooses entries for the festival in several ways. They pick from films that are sent to them, at film festivals and in movie theaters overseas. They hold the traveling film festival in cities where they have a partner or a host acting as their local liaison. Other stops have included Jersey City, New Jersey, Curacao, Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, where the festival is based. The couple added Washington, D.C. 10 years ago and the films were shown at The George Washington University this year.

Dr. Patricia Newton of Baltimore has attended festival for the last three years in Washington, D.C. and says it’s always been provocative.

“They are really giving us great quality work from an artistic and film standpoint but also from a consciousness standpoint in terms of allowing us to think outside of the box to help empower our people,” she said.

Olympic Boxing Judges

By Mark F. Gray Special to the AFRO

Though United States swimmer Ryan Lochte’s fake robbery story became the defining moment of the Rio Games it was the theft of U.S. boxer Gary Antuanne Russell’s Olympic medal that may have been the most criminal act south of the equator.

In a tournament where allegations of payoffs to judges by the Russian mob led to influencing decisions (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) that may have given Russian Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, right, reacts as boxers advantages in close he won a men’s light welterweight 64-kg quarterfinals bouts, another American was boxing match against United State’s Gary Russell at the “robbed” of his chance for 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Aug. Olympic glory.

16.

Russell, the Capital Heights native, lost to the eventual gold medalist Fazliddin Gaibnazarov of Uzbekistan in the round of 32 2-1 in a controversial split decision.

This was a fight that would have guaranteed him no worse than a bronze medal. Instead he is now left to deal with the despair of nothing to show for the sacrifices he made to be an Olympian.

“I feel like I dishonored my family,” Russell said, while choking back tears, to NBC in the post fight interview from Brazil.

His father Gary Russell, Sr., the patriarch of most successful family in Maryland boxing history, witnessed firsthand in Rio de Janeiro how there seemed to be a trend in the scoring of bouts involving athletes from nation’s which were formerly part of the Soviet Union.

“The only thing I can surmise is that [the fight] was bought, Russell, Sr. told the AFRO. “They say Russian mafia and other countries gave large amounts of money [to judges] so decisions would go their way and that’s what I feel happened to my son.”

Russell was not the only boxer victimized by questionable scoring during the tournament.

The scoring became an international incident when the reigning Irish world champion bantamweight Michael Conlan lost his quarterfinal bout to Vladimir Mikitin of Russia.

Conlan, immediately went on Irish TV and blasted AIBA, the sport’s international governing body, for cheating.

After mounting criticism and an investigation into the first 239 fights of the tournament AIBA dismissed “several” referees and judges from the tournament. Though AIBA didn’t release the names of the officials who were suspended the organization did admit that “that less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected,” in its public statement.

For Team Russell, however, it remains a bitter pill to swallow. Russell, Sr. has now seen the Olympic Gods frown upon his sons in matters outside the ring twice. In 2008 Gary, Jr. wasn’t able to compete in Beijing when he collapsed trying to make his weight. Antuanne will forever remember his devastating loss after a brilliant – some say - superior effort.

Antuanne now hopes to follow in the footsteps of former USA Olympians – Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. – who lost controversial Olympic decisions but ultimately became world champions. He expects to officially turn pro within the next six months.

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Blueberries and red beans, just a few of the many foods rich in antioxidants, are powerful remedies in the fight against cancer. Research shows that fruits, vegetables, and other low-fat vegetarian foods may help prevent cancer and even improve survival rates. A healthy plantbased diet can lower your cholesterol, increase your energy, and help with weight loss and diabetes. Fill this prescription at your local market and don’t forget—you have unlimited refills!

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AS ONE JOURNEY ENDS, ANOTHER BEGINS. CONGRATULATIONS!

Eight Howard University students were selected to take the journey and DISCOVER THE UNEXPECTED—a first-ever fellowship program sponsored by the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu in partnership with the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Congratulations to our brilliant fellows!

Thank you for taking us on this wonderful journey. May you continue to discover new roads that help you shatter perceptions and inspire us all.

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DISCOVER MORE OF THEIR STORY AT NNPA.ORG/DTU

August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

D1

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY-AREA D.C.’s Top Cop Leaves for NFL

Hundreds Celebrate Chris Barry’s Life

Prince George’s County

Head Start Child Abuse Detailed

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

Courtesy Photo

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier is leaving the department to work for the NFL.

By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com In a surprise move, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced Aug. 16 that she will become the National Football League’s new senior vice president for security in September. When she steps down in two weeks, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) will appoint an interim successor and launch a nationwide search for the permanent replacement.

The departure of Lanier to a new job has District residents thinking about her tenure and who her replacement should be. D.C. Council member Kenyon McDuffie (-Ward 5) said he is looking forward to that process. “Given the national focus on community-police relations, it will be important that our next police chief Continued on D2

Photo by Rob Roberts

Calvin Barry, a cousin of the late Christopher Barry, spoke at his funeral on Aug. 22 along with other notable D.C. residents, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and former Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner Anthony Lorenzo Green among others. presumptive at-large D.C. Council member Robert White (D), former D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown, and former council members Vincent Orange, Frank Smith, and Sandy Allen.

Barry was 36 at the time of his death. He was the owner of Marion C. Barry was recently praised as a young man who a small business, Efficiency Contractors, which hired many was working to turn his life around and who loved his people Ward 8 residents, some and the communities they of whom were returning lived in. citizens, to work on projects Hundreds of people such as painting schools and ranging from D.C. Mayor doing construction work on Muriel Bowser (D), – D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser buildings. However, Barry presumptive Ward 7 D.C. had his troubles with the law Council member Vincent that sometimes dealt with Gray (D), and other drug use and possession. dignitaries and residents came to the funeral service of Barry, Bowser said she understood that Barry’s life wasn’t easy. the son of the late Ward 8 council member and four-term “This is a city of accomplished people but Washington, D.C. District mayor Marion S. Barry, on Aug. 22 at the Temple of can be a tough place, too,” she said. “I watched Chris Barry Praise church in Ward 8. Barry, who died of an apparent drug grow up. He was the ‘first son’ of the city. He had his struggles overdose on Aug. 14, was honored by Bowser in a somber, yet in life but he was a humble, vulnerable, flesh, and blood human straightforward address. being. However, I choose to remember his brightest days.”

“I am here to offer condolences of a grateful city,” the Attorney-lobbyist David Wilmot and former D.C. mayor said. “Christopher was a son of our city and I am a Corporation Counsel Fred Cooke talked about the professional daughter of our city. We have just lost a son of our city.” and personal relationship that they had with Barry. One of his Among the notables attending the funeral were D.C. closest friends, Carl Thomas, told funny and moving stories of Council members Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) and Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), plus Continued on D2

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

“He was the ‘First Son’ of the city.”

Residents of Prince George’s County are upset over the possible loss of millions of dollars in funding for one of the nation’s most successful pre-school programs following a report detailing abuse of children at several schools.

On Aug. 17, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker III, Prince George’s County School Superintendent Kevin Maxwell, and members of the Prince George’s County Board of Education were notified by officials of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the $6.4 million Head Start grant had been terminated. The notification indicated this was due to uncorrected problems with the program regarding the questionable behavior of staff toward children.

Baker is angry that the county is set to lose money on a program he considers vital to the lives of young Prince Georgians. “I have asked Dr. Maxwell to address this matter immediately and I have confidence that he and the Board of Education will ensure that the families of 932 children in the program do not lose this valuable and important educational service,” Baker said. “The acts that are documented in the HHS report from the Head Continued on D2

Three Members of Md. County Fun Spots Nipsey’s Style Reflects Homegrown Culture Human Trafficking Ring Indicted

By Kristi Love Special to the AFRO

By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh and Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks this week announced the crackdown of a Maryland-based human trafficking enterprise, resulting in indictments against three of its members.

Rashid Marwan Mosby, 42, Terra Marie Perry, 35, and Joshua Isaiah Jones, 26, were charged on several counts of conspiracy human trafficking, trafficking of minors and adults and receiving earnings from a prostitute, among other charges.

“The trafficking of women for prostitution is a widespread and worldwide practice that places vulnerable individuals at risk of exploitation and violence, and it is a problem even in our own back yards,” Frosh said in a statement. “This enterprise brutalized women, –Brian Frosh crossed county and state lines, and spanned years. But, through close collaboration between our office and the office of Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, today, we can announce that this enterprise has been shut down.”

A 2015 arrest by Prince George’s County Police officers initiated the multi-agency investigation that resulted in the arrests and charges against the defendants.

“Thanks to the dedicated efforts of police, prosecutors and defense attorneys across Maryland, together, we will continue to focus on inter-jurisdictional and cross border crimes to ultimately end human trafficking in our state,” said Col. William Pallozzi, superintendent of the Maryland State Police, which also Continued on D2

“…it is a problem even in our own back yards.”

Photo by Lonnie Moses

County residents enjoy a night of Go-Go music at Nipsey’s in Upper Marlboro, Md.

After traveling the nation and experiencing different musical cultures, a local restaurant owner decided to incorporate several homegrown styles of Prince George’s County, Md. into his establishment.

Nipsey’s Restaurant and Grill, based in Upper Marlboro, Md., was named after the bar from popular 1990’s TV sitcom Martin. Nipsey’s was formally known as The Zone. Go-Go music and R&B/Neo Soul, which is popular in the county’s music scene, is featured at the restaurant with bands such as Junkyard Band playing on Fridays and Let it Flow the Band playing every first Saturday of the month.

“I owe [residents] a place they can go to in their Continued on D2

Man Pleads Guilty in Death of Infant

By Linda Poulson Special to the AFRO

Kareem Bruce Bryant was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Aug. 19 for the homicide of his girlfriend’s 6-month-old baby.

Bryant, 24, of the 1400 block of 18th Street in Southeast Washington, D.C., was charged with first degree child abuse resulting in death and second degree murder of Mariah Tilghman. Tilghman died on Jan. 9. According to the Prince George’s County Police Department, he was under the influence of K2 or

synthetic marijuana. Bryant told police in January that he was responsible for the baby’s injuries.

“While we are pleased that Mr. Bryant took responsibility for his actions, there is absolutely no excuse to harm a defenseless child,” said Prince Georges County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks in a statement. “We have seen far too many instances of children in our community who have died at the hands of individuals who were responsible for their care and it will not be tolerated. We will prosecute these individuals to the fullest

Prince George’s Police Department

Kareem Bruce Bryant was charged with the homicide of a 6-month-old baby girl.

extent of the law.”

The incident happened on Jan. 6 when Bryant was watching the baby while her mother was taking a shower.

According to police, the baby stopped breathing and Bryant then applied CPR and called 911.

Patrol units arrived at the home in Landover, Md. The baby was taken to Prince George’s Hospital Center and later flown to the Children’s National Medical Center in the District. Results from a CAT scan showed the baby had symptoms of what is called Continued on D3

D2

The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

Chris Barry Continued from D1

Barry’s interaction with friends and residents of Ward 8.

Yet, it was Anthony Lorenzo Green, the former chairman of the 8B advisory neighborhood commission in Ward 8, who moved the mourners to an emotional response. “It is hard to understand the people who criticized Chris Barry over the years,” Green said, fighting back tears. “It is hard to understand our people.”

Green talked about meeting Barry in 2009. He said Barry would ride his bike throughout the city and they would talk about the economic injustice that is systematically imposed on neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. “Christopher was a man that was truly about the people of this city,” he said.

“You measure a man by what he does for others and not for themselves.”

Barry’s maternal grandmother, Polly Lee Harris, and stepmother Cora Masters Barry, were present at the funeral but didn’t speak. Cousins and close friends spoke passionately about Barry, though.

The Rev. Willie Wilson, senior pastor at Union Temple Baptist Church, eulogized Barry. Wilson said Barry was a seed

Photo by Rob Roberts

The Rev. Willie F. Wilson from Union Temple Baptist Church in D.C. gave the eulogy at Christopher Barry’s funeral. that needed to grow. “Every seed has unlimited potential but the seed has to go through transformation,” Wilson said, “just

as a caterpillar is a worm that matures into a butterfly.”

Wilson said that in order for a man to grow, he needs teachers and guides and pointed out that Barry had those in his life. “Just as the Apostle Paul planted during his lifetime, Marion planted, Effi planted, and Cora planted for Christopher,” he said. “All of these people planted in Chris’s life.”

Nonetheless, Wilson said, Barry was living in a destructive environment. “It was the environment that killed Chris,” the pastor said. “People will mess you up. There were so many expectations of what he should, would, could, and might do.”

Barry lived in the public arena, Wilson said, and that wasn’t always the best thing for him. “Marion [S. Barry] was so busy helping everybody else,” Wilson said. “Marion wasn’t there for Christopher. He created the summer youth job program but forgot the youth named Christopher at his home.”

Nevertheless, Wilson said Barry never forgot who he was and where he came from.

“Chris was a conscious man,” he said. “Christopher was a Black man and proud of it.”

Head Start Continued from D1

Start are unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our school system.”

Head Start, founded in 1965, is a comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to lowincome children and their families. It is a federallyfunded program that started out as a summer school bridge for preschoolers to the first grade in elementary school.

Presently, students can enroll in Head Start at the age of three. The program includes components that address problems such as family dysfunction, health needs, and chronic poverty.

The report cites an incident at H. Winship Wheatley

Early Childhood Center in Capitol Heights, Md. where a three-year old was forced to mop up his own urine after having an accident. The teacher then texted the boy’s mother photos with the word “LOL” on them, according to the report. Another incident involved two children at James Ryder Randall Elementary School Head Start Center in Clinton, Md., who were ordered, by their teacher to hold boxes full of books on top of their heads as punishment.

In another incident, a five-year-old girl left school unnoticed and walked home alone. Baker said the report “demonstrates that there are teachers and other

school professionals in our school system who did not understand the sacred nature of their responsibility.”

“Head Start was designed to provide a nurturing

about the Head Start matter.

Bob Ross, the president of the Prince George’s County NAACP, told the AFRO that his branch is taking action.

“We want to protect the children and the program and

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

– James Dula learning environment for early learners and our school system must ensure that the students we are entrusted to protect are safe,” Baker said.

Baker is not the only Prince Georgian outraged

we think that heads should roll over this,” Ross said.

“This didn’t happen overnight and I think this is a leadership problem. If someone allegedly did those things to children, that’s child abuse. There

should be an investigation and it should not be done internally by the school system but by someone on the outside.”

Ross said his branch’s education committee is looking into the matter and will make a report to the general body probably at its September meeting and decide on a course of action then.

Prince George’s County Board of Education member Edward Burroughs, in a brief interview with the AFRO and other media, said he is upset he was not informed of the Head Start situation sooner.

“The Board of Education will meet on Thursday [Aug. 25] and I will demand

some answers as to what is going on,” Burroughs said.

Burroughs noted that the county has 30 days to appeal the decision of the HHS and if unsuccessful, will consider options including providing funding from its coffers.

In a statement released on Aug. 18 by Maxwell, he pledged to hold the offenders in this situation “accountable to the fullest extent.”

Baker said he pledges to straighten out the matter.

“I also want to assure the families in our Head Start Program that school will start on Aug. 29 as scheduled and that your child will be nurtured and provided with an excellent head start to their education,” he said.

Lanier

Continued from D1 come with a breadth of experience and leadership to continue to move the department forward,” he told the AFRO. There is widespread speculation in the community on who should succeed Lanier. On NewsChannel 8’s NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt on Aug. 17, Ward 8 community activist Philip Pannell endorsed the department’s Assistant Chief Diane Groomes. “She knows the community well,” Pannell said.

Ward 5 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Kathy Henderson has her choice, too. “I think Assistant Chief Lamar Greene should get the job,” she said. Greene heads the department’s homeland security and special operations divisions. “He has the capability to lead the troops well and he gets along with the citizens.”

Greene is not the only possible candidate getting support.

Cinque Culver, the president of the River Terrace Community Association in Ward 7, said he favored Commander David Taylor. “I think Commander David Taylor should be the next chief,” he said. “I don’t know anyone else who could do a better job. He has done a great job at the Sixth District. The Sixth District covers Northeast and Southeast quadrants of the

city and is located primarily in Ward 7.

Lanier, a lifelong Washington, D.C. area resident, joined the police force in 1990 and steadily progressed through the ranks until D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty tapped her as the first female police chief in the District’s history in 2007.

Lanier has been a popular figure in the District with a

“Cathy Lanier was a good police chief overall.”

– Cinque Culver NBC4/Washington Post/Marist poll in September 2014 showing a 74 percent approval rating and even with the spike in crime experienced in 2015, The Daily Caller’s Nov. 18, 2015 edition reported a 61 percent positive rating.

“Cathy Lanier was a good police chief overall,” Culver told the AFRO. “She was very responsive to community leaders and

Trafficking

Nipsey’s

Continued from D1

participated in the investigation.

The indictments allege that from 2013 to 2015, the three men conspired to operate a criminal human trafficking enterprise under the guise of an escort and modeling agency called “Pink Pleasure Entertainment.”

Using the website Backpage.com–which features numerous adult services including body massages, fetish fulfillment and strippers—the men recruited victims from Maryland and other states, including juveniles from New Jersey and North Carolina.

we appreciate her presence at forums and community events.

She was a good and compassionate lady.”

Culver admired the way Lanier used data in her crime fighting techniques, often bringing charts, slides, and digital tools in her presentations to the community.

While Lanier has been praised for technological upgrades, improving the police department’s overall public image among District residents and visitors, and taking on tough situations such as 2010 South Capitol Street shootings that left five people dead and nine injured, many of whom were teenagers and September 2013 Navy Yard shootings. Her critics point out her skirting the law and police-union agreements in the implementation of the “All Hands on Deck” procedures that require officers to be on duty for long hours for a few days without any administrative recourse, and her harsh punishments for police personnel whom were deemed not to be in her favor.

D.C. Council member Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) told the AFRO that he wants the next chief “to focus on community policing.We want the next chief to push our officers to do their very best,” he said.

Continued from D1 Once lured into Maryland, the girls were coerced into prostitution and kept captive by means of intimidation, deception and physical violence.

The defendants posted more than 100 advertisements on Backpage.com, featuring explicit images and language that solicited customers for paid sexual services performed by the victims.

The men rented hotel rooms throughout Maryland where the victims were housed to perform the arranged sexual encounters.

“Human trafficking is a crime that often preys on young girls who have become estranged from family and friends,” Alsobrooks said. “In addition to vigorously prosecuting those who engage in this terrible act, we must also provide resources to victims to help them deal with any trauma they have suffered and help them reunite with loved ones so they are never victimized like this again.”

If convicted, the men face potential penalties of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $5,000 for the human trafficking charges, maximum penalties of 25 years in prison and $15,000 in fines for the charges of trafficking a minor and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for receiving the earnings of a prostitute.

According to the U.S. State Department’s 2016 “Trafficking in Persons Report,” about 20 million persons worldwide are victims of modern-day slavery at any given time. The report reported significant increases in prosecutions and convictions related to trafficking—there were 18,930 prosecutions reported in 2016 as compared to 10,051 in 2015, and 6,609 convictions reported in 2016 compared to 4,443 the year before. However, the report noted, the legal actions are but a drop in the bucket compared to the scope of the problem and governments tend to impose

community,” Lonnie Moses, owner and manager, told the AFRO. The restaurant further emphasizes the county’s culture by holding a poetry night every second Wednesday of the month. The night brings in one of the largest crowds to the establishment, located at 5753 Crain Hwy. According to county resident Eleese Bohannon-Scott, the energy and positive vibes keep her coming back because the atmosphere of the restaurant makes her feel comfortable. Customers are able to listen to

“I owe [residents] a place they can go to in their community.”

– Lonnie Moses, owner and manager spoken word artists while enjoying the spacious venue, food, and drinks.

On any given day customers may find Moses serving as waiter, bartender, or in the kitchen. “Customer service is a priority,” he said.

Nipsey’s is open Monday through Saturday for partygoers, families, and anyone looking to relax. The restaurant also offers lunch or dinner meetings for companies and an outside space for day parties.

As a retired Metropolitan Police Department officer, Moses said that safety in his restaurant is paramount. As a result, he hired professional trained staff to ensure the safety of all customers. “Without a doubt, my restaurant safety is a 10 on a scale from 1-10,” he said.

August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016, The Afro-American

Howard University

Nick Cannon Joins the Bison

D3

Infant

Continued from D1 shaken baby syndrome.

Tilghman remained in critical condition and died on Jan. 9. An autopsy revealed blunt force injuries to the baby’s head and chest. The death was ruled a homicide.

Bryant admitted he caused the baby’s injuries.

The Mayo Clinic defines

Shaken Baby Syndrome as abusive head trauma, shaken impact syndrome, inflicted head injury or whiplash shake syndrome —a serious brain injury resulting from forcefully shaking an infant or toddler.

The last reported death of an infant in Prince Georges County took place on Dec. 4,

2015. Police arrested Beatrice Manning, a day-care provider working inside her home in Oxon Hill, Md. for the death of nine-month-old Savannah Kai Wright. Manning, 43, was arrested on April 9 of the same charges as Bryant. She was also charged with two counts of felony assault.

Courtesy photo

Nick Cannon enrolled at Howard University for the 2016-2017 school year.

By Lenore T. Adkins Special to the AFRO Nick Cannon, rapper, producer, business executive and ex-husband of Mariah Carey is enrolled at Howard University in Washington D.C. as a freshman, proving it’s never too late to obtain a college degree.

Cannon announced his foray into higher learning on Instagram Aug. 22 – the first day of classes – as he posed next to a sign at the university. He rocked a Louis Vuitton backpack, beige Tims, a brown leather jacket, jeans, and a black hat.

“Nelson Mandela once said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,’” Cannon said in a statement that was emailed to the AFRO on Aug. 23.

“I am always seeking new challenges and continual growth and decided to obtain my first college degree from an institution that had a proven legacy of producing great minds.”

In an Instagram post, Cannon proclaimed his new school status. “YOU KNOW!!!!! #HU2020 My First Day as a Freshman!!!

Howard University Class of 2020,” the post

said.

In a subsequent video Cannon, 35, uploaded to his Instagram for the #SoGoneChallenge indicated he’s interested in eschewing some of the trappings of success.

“Yo, it’s the money that makes (expletive) get ugly,” Cannon raps. “… Now you can catch me up at Howard, getting my college degree.

Chi south to D.C., young and I’m so fly.”

Meanwhile, Cannon is far from the first celebrity to attend the school. Sean “Diddy” Combs, Donny Hathaway, and Phylicia Rashad all went before him, according to blackamericaweb. com. The school also attracted Black literary giants Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison.

– Nick Cannon “Howard University is honored to have Nick Cannon as a member of the Class of 2020,” Wayne A.I. Frederick, Howard’s president said in a statement sent to the AFRO. “Howard students embrace our motto of Truth and Service as they pursue their life’s education through the University’s rigorous and dynamic academic and community service programs.

We welcome Mr. Cannon.”

“I am always seeking new challenges and continual growth…”

WASHINGTON AREA

COMMUNITY CONNECTION Washington D.C.

9:30 Club Hosts Hot in Herre Dance Party

The 9:30 club, 815 V St NW, is scheduled to hold a dance party on Aug. 26 in honor of music from the 2000s and will be open to all ages. Tickets cost $16.

Guests can groove to old hits by artists like Missy Elliott, Ludacris, Destiny’s Child, Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, Sean Paul, Outcast, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, M.I.A, Shakira and more. The party begins at 9:30 p.m. with doors opening at 9 p.m. To buy tickets or get more information about the event, visit 930.com.

beauty for Black women, information on healthy hair options, live performances, panels, contests, give aways and more. Tickets cost $15 when purchased in advance at ubiquitousexpo.com, and $20 at the door.

Groomers with Heart event on Aug. 28 at Towne Centre Laurel, 14708 Baltimore Ave,

Largo, Md.

from 2 p.m.-5 p.m. The event will include free haircuts, special performances and guest speaker Stan Richards, who is a community advocate.

The event is for children 18 years of age and younger who have disabilities. For more information, visit nstylehairgrooming.com or pgcr.org.

Prince George’ Community Resources and N’STYLE Hair Grooming’s Hair Groomers with Heart Prince George’ Community Resources and N’Style Hair Grooming are scheduled to hold a Hair

Skanska Facchina A Joint Venture Invites you to a

DBE Outreach Event For the South Capitol Street Corridor Project We are looking for DBE subcontractors.

Date: September 7, 2016

28 at 1 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mt. Vernon Pl NW. Yolanda Adams is scheduled to sing at the expo on Aug. 28. The event will consist of workshops, seminars on health and

2016 Total

64

Past Seven Days

4

Data as of Aug. 24

Ubiquitous Beauty, Hair and Health Expo The Ubiquitous Beauty, Hair and Health Expo is scheduled to be held on Aug. 27 at 11 a.m. and Aug.

Homicide Count

Time: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Location: Capitol Skyline Hotel 10 I St SW Washington, DC 20024 RSVP: Kosal.Sarou@skanska.com Light refreshments will be provided

D4

The Afro-American, August 27, 2016 - September 2, 2016

Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John R. Hawkin III, Jake Oliver, AFRO CEO and publisher and Michelle R. Hawkins

Michelle Bailey, BET

Debra Thomas, president, Potomac Valley Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta

Prince George’s County Deltas: Miriam Brewer, 1st vice president; Greta Wiggins-Lewis, president; Kathleen Driver, journalist; Alicia Young-Hardy, member and Norma Hatot-King, member

D.C. Supporters

George and Bernadette Lambert, GWUL

The AFRO Newspapers board members, staff, and supporters from the D.C. and Baltimore metropolitan areas began the celebration of 125 years of excellence with a kickoff reception on Aug. 13 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore. As guests dined on scrumptious cuisine, and enjoyed soft jazz by Guy Bragg, members of various organizations and community leaders were given commemorative ceramic tile artwork titled, “AFRO 125—A Benjamin and a Quarter” Celebrating the AFRO American Newspaper from the Robert Blount Collection. Board member Rev. Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper and Jake Oliver, CEO and publisher, honored the many supporters and sponsors who formed partnerships and made the journey with the AFRO throughout its existence and into the future.

Renee Allen, radio host for Renee Allen and Friends and her son, Chase Allen

Kevin Davis, Baltimore Police Commissioner; George Lacy, president, Prince Hall Freemason and Eastern Star Foundation; and Jake Oliver

See photos of Baltimore supporters on B4.

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority members Jo Ann Otis, president, Baltimore Metro Alumnae Chapter; Debra Thomas, president, Potomac Valley Alumna Chapter; LaTonyia Wade, president, Montgomery County Alumnae Chapter; Thelma T. Daley, 16th national president, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; Monica Watkins, president, Baltimore Alumnae Chapter and M. Greta Wiggins-Lewis, president, Prince George’s County Alumnae Chapter

Ben Phillips, AFRO D.C. General Manager Edgar Brookins and Jake Oliver with Black Women for Positive Change members Carolyn Eaves and Karen Carrington-Washington

Ibrahim Mumin

Ben Phillips, AFRO president, AKAs Janet LaValle and Stacey Mangham, Montgomery County chapter president; and Jake Oliver

Ben Phillips; Annette Fisher; BWI Thurgood Marshall - sponsors of the Kickoff Reception - Gregory Lawrence; Alice Howard, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Prince William’s County chapter; Jake Oliver and Dannie Huntley

D.C. Continentals with Jake Oliver and Ben Phillips

AFRO Baltimore Advertising Manager Robert Blount and Vetta Ridgeway, AFRO D.C. advertising consultant with attendees

Joyce Ward and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William “Kip” Ward

NCNW, Montgomery County chapter members with Jake Oliver and Ben Phillips

AFRO Staff and Supporters

Toni Robinson, Venus Jackson, Samantha McCoy, Edgar Brookins, Michelle Bailey, Ben Phillips, Cara Paige and Tiffany Way Photos by A. Lois De Laine

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