HOLDER MAKES SENTENCE REDUCTION RETROACTIVE 4
Barry Farm’s Chevonni Brown is all smiles at her graduation Page 12
Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles
June 19 - June 25, 2014
Media mogul to acquire three TV stations Page 3 www.districtchronicles.com
Volume 13 Issue 44
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Editorial
Great divide could spur populist movement
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(TriceEdneyWire.com) -- Congress ended the month of May without renewing jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed that were cut off at the end of last year. House Speaker John Boehner rails against the Obama administration for failing to create jobs, but apparently blames unemployed workers for not having one. There is a stark divide between the actions in Washington and the opinions of most Americans. Americans overwhelmingly support broad sensible reforms that will help working families, including renewing unemployment benefits. A new study released by the Campaign for America’s Future, “The American Majority is a Populist Majority,” reports on recent polling data. Nearly three fourths of Americans (73 percent) favor increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Boehner won’t let that come to a vote in the House, and Senate Republicans have blocked it in the Senate. Three fourths of Americans (75 percent) favor a government job creation program to hire 1 million people. The Congressional Progressive Caucus budget that proposed a large jobs program got less than 100 votes in the House. Nearly three fourths of Americans (71 percent) favor increasing government investment to build and repair roads, bridges and other in-
frastructure needs. But Congress has failed even to replenish the Highway Trust Fund that is about to be exhausted. Thus far, this divide between public opinion and congressional action has had confusing political fallout. Congress is near record lows in public approval. But Republicans who have obstructed virtually every reform seem to be profiting. Pundits now favor them to keep control of the House and possibly take the majority in the Senate. A big reason for this, we’re told, is the fall off of Democratic voters from the core of the Obama majority -- people of color, young people and single women. They were hit the hardest in the economy and have struggled in the so-called recovery. Like most Americans, they don’t have time or energy to sort out Washington’s bickering and figure out who is to blame. So generally, the party of the president gets more of the blame. What is missing is an independent moral voice, a movement that isn’t about left or right, Democrats or Republicans, but is challenging legislators from the moral center. Without that, Democratic operatives tend to extol technique, the techniques they’ve mastered to target, contact and get out their voters. Republican operatives tend to emphasize money, the money they are able to raise from the billionaire and corporate lobbies that play an increasing role in our elec-
tions. Citizen movements with a moral voice transform politics. In many ways, this was the lesson of Obama’s victory in 2008. He sensibly caught the wave of mass public dismay at the Iraq debacle. The candidacy of his primary opponent, Hillary Clinton, was in many ways capsized by that wave. His Republican opponent, John McCain, couldn’t overcome the desire of Americans for change. Could a citizen’s movement upend expectations this fall? A populist movement is stirring in the country. We see it in the cities and states raising the minimum wage, not waiting for Washington. We see it in the protests of low-wage workers in the fast food industry, in the Moral Monday’s mobilizations in North Carolina now spreading to other states. We see it even in the rock star status accorded to the French economist Thomas Piketty and his book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” on inequality. If this continues to build, the pundits may be surprised. Voters may turn out in greater numbers than expected either to punish incumbents or to support challengers who carry a populist message. Washington political pros tend to focus on the results of polls, but polls are but a snapshot of passing attitudes. Movements don’t respond to polls; movements mold opinion. The next months may be more interesting than many now expect.
Finance Marshall, Jr. purchases three TV stations By Merdies Hayes Special to the NNPA from Our Weekly
P
luria Marshall Jr. has purchased three FOX-affiliated television full-power stations – KLJB-TV in Davenport, Iowa; KMSS-TV in Shreveport, La., and KPEJ-TV in Odessa, Tex. for $58.5 million through his Marshall Broadcasting Group (MBG) – pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. Marshall, publisher of the Wave Newspaper Group in Los Angeles, was practically reared within a media environment -- his father is Pluria Marshall Sr., a co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists, and in the 1970s formally challenged the dearth of federal broadcast licenses given to minorities when serving as chairman of the National Black Media Coalition. Though there are Black-owned cable networks, such as Oprah Winfrey’s OWN, there are currently no
Black-owned digital television stations, down from 18 in 2006. That would change if the FCC approves the deal. Under the plan, Marshall’s purchase, Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. will sell three of its stations to Marshall. The deal would require a waiver from the FCC, which voted in March to bar so-called “shared service agreements� where one station provides services (i.e. advertising) for another. However, when the FCC passed the ban on such arrangements, it added language designed to encourage waivers for joint sales agreements that have long encouraged diversity in media ownership. Nexstar said it would guarantee the loans necessary for Marshall to meet the $58.5 million price tag. In a statement, Nexstar CEO Perry A. Sook said, “We believe the proposed transaction presents an ideal framework for introducing and incubating a new, minority-
controlled entrant to broadcasting, and for bringing additional news, information and specialized programming to MBG’s markets at the earliest possible opportunity.� Marshall is convinced the deal will go through and that more people in the south, southwest and midwest will soon enjoy a more diverse television experience. “We are confident on our end that they (FCC) won’t say no,� said Marshall. “Nexstar is working with us because I’m an ‘operator.’ I’ll employ a ‘hands-on’ ethic that will offer a better chance of success than merely someone who is operating these stations from a distance.� Jim Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB), told Target Market News, “We have reviewed the application submitted by Marshall Broadcasting Group and Nexstar and are very pleased to see that the transaction appears to be the type of transaction NABOB was
hoping to see as a result of the new JSA rule. It appears to be the kind of transaction that should receive a waiver of the rule.� Marshall said viewers of the new MBG stations can expect a large degree of local programming. “Obviously, Iowa and Texas will be different than Louisiana and that speaks to our efforts to tailor each station to the demands of the local audience,� explained Marshall. “If there is something missing that we should be aware of, I’ll fill the void. I’m going to be in each town at least once a month; I obviously will have a lot of traveling to do, but that is how I plan on running those stations. I’m a hands-on manager. That’s the only way that I’ve learned to offer the best, most effective product.� Under terms of the proposed agreement, Marshall’s group will be entitled to a maximum of 70 percent of the revenue from advertising sold by Nexstar on the stations, and the agreement will not provide for
any bonus payments to Nexstar for reaching revenue goals. The transaction structure reportedly provides MBG with an incentive to seek the best programming and thus maximize station advertising revenue. MBG wants to feature an aggregate of 24.5 hours of additional local news and sports programming, â€œâ€Ś and more will be developed,â€? said Marshall. It also plans to develop minority-oriented public affairs programming (required for an FCC license) specifically tailored for the local audience. These shows will be syndicated to other television stations nationwide. What’s more, Nexstar will add another 13.5 hours of local news and public affairs programming in Shreveport, Odessa-Midland and in Quad Cities (Iowa). “We’re dedicated to full coverage of local news and events important to each community of viewers,â€? said Marshall. The road to Black TV ownership has been a rocky one recently.
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Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington
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uring a Father’s Day Forum on Returning Citizens held by the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Justice Department will support retroactive implementation of the U.S. Sentencing Commission guideline revisions to reduce sentencing levels for people with non-violent drug offenses. The forum was created following the historic sentencing guideline revisions by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, adopted on the recommendation of Attorney
General Holder, that could reduce future sentences for as many as 70 percent of people incarcerated on federal drug offenses. Under the proposal supported by Holder, about 20 percent of the current federal drug offender population would be eligible to pursue a reduced sentence. “I am thrilled that Attorney General Holder made this noteworthy announcement at a Father’s Day forum attended by both members of Congress and the public, including many returning citizens,” said Norton. “It is particularly fitting that the panel of returning citizens who spoke following Attorney General Holder about their successful experiences in returning to civil society also heard this announcement.” The forum hosted a capacity crowd in the Rayburn House Office Building with an overflow room on another floor. Following
Holder’s remarks, a panel featuring formerly incarcerated fathers, each introduced by their home district’s member of Congress, discussed what led them to prison and how they reconstructed their lives. Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) introduced Adrian Muldrow of Baltimore, Md., program manager of the We Can Achieve Youth Development Program, who spent more than 20 years in and out of Maryland’s prison system. Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced Anthony Lowery of Chicago, Ill., director of Advocacy for Safer Foundation, who spent many years in and out of prison for drug offenses. Congresswoman Norton introduced Charles Thornton of Washington, D.C., director of D.C.’s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs, who was incarcerated for 10 years for heroin possession.
Divine Intervention Archbishop wasn’t sure sex abuse was a crime
By Lilly Fowler St. Louis Post-Dispatch
There has been a public outcry to comments the Most Rev. Carlson made in legal depositions.
not know that it was a criminal offense for an adult to molest a child. Nothing could be further from the truth. “When the archbishop said ‘I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,’ he was simply referring to the fact that he did not know the year that clergy became mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse. “The media reports of this deposition have not only called into question the exemplary record Archbishop Carlson has amassed during his more than 40 years of ministry, but has also reopened the wounds of survivors of the heinous act of sexual abuse, and has caused further pain to the Catholic faithful, both here in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and beyond,” said Jones. Anderson, for his part, speculated in an interview that Carlson was attempting to get around Minnesota law, which in 1988 made clergy mandatory reporters, meaning they had a legal obligation to report any suspicion of child sexual abuse to authorities. Supporters have come to Carlson’s defense, arguing that the deposition simply reflects what his lawyer coached him to say. Others, however, say shifting blame to attorneys is a poor excuse. “It’s a good strategy if you want to avoid admitting the truth,” said Jerome O’Neill, a lawyer in Burlington, Vt., and an expert on sexual abuse lawsuits.
“You may look foolish and stupid, but you aren’t admitting to something that could be troublesome to your employer, or in this instance the diocese that you used to be in,” said O’Neill. Bill Hannegan, a well-known supporter of the Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, a St. Louis priest who recently was indicted in connection with sexual abuse of a child, argued that the questions lobbed at Carlson were too vague. “If Archbishop Carlson had been clearly asked whether he knew, back in 1984, that it was a crime for a priest, or any adult, to sexually abuse a child, I believe he would have answered yes, as he did when asked about a specific case elsewhere in the deposition,” said Hannegan. “The actual questions he was asked did not contain the words ‘child’ or ‘abuse,’ and so might have been misconstrued as questions about Minnesota Age of Consent laws.” But Mullaney of Voice of the Faithful said the Roman Catholic Church will not move past the sexual abuse scandal as long as leaders refuse to take responsibility. Victims, he said, are “looking for more than money. They are looking for justice.” “And these bishops don’t understand that.” Lilly Fowler writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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ST. LOUIS (RNS) -- It was supposed to be a happy day for Archbishop Robert J. Carlson. Earlier this month, he marked the fifth anniversary of his installation as St. Louis’ archbishop, the shepherd of the region’s Roman Catholics. But any celebrating on the part of Carlson was done in the midst of nationwide headlines about his connection to the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church for more than a decade. Last week, attorney Jeff Anderson released a deposition in which Carlson said he was uncertain whether during his time as auxiliary archbishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis he knew that a priest engaging in sex with a child constituted a crime. Over and over, for a total of 193 times throughout the deposition, Carlson said he did not remember in response to questions posed by Anderson. The deposition, taken last month, is part of a sexual abuse lawsuit in Minnesota involving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona, Minn. Carlson’s statements have angered many, prompting hundreds of comments on social media and news websites. Some local Catholics and abuse victims planned a vigil last Wednesday afternoon in protest of Carlson’s comments. “You’re talking about something that’s a clear-cut moral issue,” said Mark Mullaney, president of Voice of the Faithful, a group of lay Roman Catholics seeking to reform the church, especially with regard to issues concerning sex. Judging whether a sex act on a child is criminal requires no legal background, Mullaney said, but “a moral system that you would expect from leaders of the church.” In a statement, Gabe Jones, spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, said the plaintiff’s lawyer had strategically taken “Archbishop Carlson’s response to a question out of context and suggested that the archbishop did
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Cover
Trillion dollar education debt haunts students
By Umarah Mughnee and Erika Whitehead Contributing writers
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Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles
ineteen-year-od Warren Dennis has set his mind on getting a degree in computer sciences from Howard University. But it will come with a hefty student loan burden. “I see student loans like a cancer,” says Dennis, a sophomore who has already accumulated $75,000 in federal student loans. “They’re never going to go anywhere. “ Dennis estimates that by the time he graduates, his student loan load will have ballooned to $125,000. And he is not sure how he will re-pay it or how long it will take him to repay it, given a gloomy employment outlook for college graduates. According to recent employment reports for college graduates, a minute 17% of college graduates have a job lined up after they graduate. These students are considered to be the “lucky ones.” The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau pegs the number of college students drowning in debt at 37 million. They owe a staggering $1.2 Trillion, surpassing both credit card and auto loan debt in size. Hardly noticed in all the U.S. House majority leader Eric Cantor’s defeat in the Virginia Republican primary last week, U.S. Senate Repulicans killed a bill that would have helped students carrying heavy federal loan debts to refinance at lower rates. The bill was
co-sponsored by Massachusetts senators Elizabeth Warren and John Tierney. All Democrats in the Sanate voted for it, all Republicans voted against it. The Warren-Tierney bill would have expanded the “Pay as you Earn” program so that millions of college graduates will not be forced to pay more than 10% of their monthly income on student loans. Loans borrowed for undergraduate education would be refinanced to 3.86%. Loans borrowed for graduate education would be refinanced to 5.41% and loans borrowed by parents for their child’s education would be refinanced to 6.41%. Earlier, President Obama had taken executive action to expand his “Pay As You Earn” student loan program to up to five million more Americans. That means millions of college graduates won’t be forced to pay more than 10 per cent of their monthly income on student loan bill. The President also called on Congress to pass the Elizabeth Warren- John Tierney bill, allowing all graduates to refinance their student loans at cheaper rates. Dennis and fellow student borrowers had also pinned their hopes on this legislation, the Elizabeth Warren-John Tierney bill. The plan was to offset the cost of implementing it by levying a tax on millionaires and billionaires. President Obama had endorsed it a week earlier. “I’m worried about what will happen when it’s time for me to
Harrison: “We spend five to 10 years paying off student loans.”
graduate from college,” said Howard University junior Jaeda Ables. This Nursing major worries about a student loan debt she is accumulating on her account. Her biggest concern is how she will begin to pay back these funds upon graduation. Howard University senior and sports management major, Andre Williams, was hopeful that the bill would gain support and begin of-
fering relief to college students. “I think the bill was a good idea,” Williams said. “For the four years that students go through in college, you don’t really make much progress money wise. It’s like you’re stuck in years of debt.” Aaron Harrison, a senior biology major, is not drowning in student loan debt. He has scholarships to cover her undergraduate degree. But he plans to go medical
school. It’s the cost of his medivcal education that he worries will bury him in federal government loans. “You want us to go to college to further our education, but then you get us in a huge amount of debt,” Harrison said. “When we get out of college and have our job, we spend the first five to ten years paying off those student loans. We don’t pay off the debts until we are around 32. It’s kind of ridiculous.”
Koch Brothers donate $25 million to United Negro College Fund By Frederick H. Lowe (TriceEdneyWire.com) – The ultra conservative Koch Brothers donated $25 million to the United Negro College Fund, whose members include 37 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The donation from Koch Industries Inc. and the Charles Koch Foundation will provide nearly 3,000 merit-based awards to African-American undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctorate students. Of the $25 million, $18.5 million of the grant is directed to the UNCF/ Koch Scholars Program
and its administration. Funds will be provided for exemplary students with demonstrated financial need and an interest in the study of entrepreneurship, economics, and innovative ways to contribute to well being of individuals and communities. The funds will also be used to provide an annual summit, mentorship opportunities and school programs. About $6.5 million is provided for general support to HBCUs and the UNCF, with $4 million set aside for the 37 UNCF –member schools, HBCUs, and their students to provide financial relief related to the Parent PLUS loan crisis.
6 | Jun. 19 - Jun. 25, 2014 | District Chronicles
The UNCF published a 20-page report titled “The Parent Plus Loan Crisis: An Urgent Crisis Facing Students at the Nation’s HBCUs,” which stated that restrictive U.S. Department of Education guidelines have made it difficult, if not impossible, for needy students to attend HBCUs. “America faces an ever-increasing need for college-educated African Americans and other Americans of color,” the report said. “But instead of making college more accessible to low-income minority students, the U.S. Department of Education has erected barriers with
unnecessarily restrictive eligibility criteria.” Because of the restrictions, HBCUs lost $156 million in PLUS loan funds, a 35 percent reduction, during the 2012-2013 academic year. “Increasing well-being by helping people improve their lives has long been our focus. Our partnership with UNCF will provide promising students with new educational opportunities that will help them reach their full potential,” said Charles Koch, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries. The Koch Brothers, who are billionaires, are riding to the rescue of
the UNCF, whose member colleges have been suffering under misdirected guidelines put together by the U.S. Department of Education under President Barack Obama. At the same time, the Koch Brothers have spent millions of dollars supporting groups like Americans for Prosperity that have worked to suppress African-American voter turnout. Michael Lomax, chairman and CEO of the United Negro College Fund hopes that the new commitment from Koch Industries and the Charles Koch Foundation will spur others to donate to the UNCF.
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he defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was quickly interpreted by national media as a signal that immigration reform was dead on arrival. But for immigration reform advocates, the strategy has not changed and hope for reform is not dead: It may just be in the hands of President Obama. Advocates have long been pressuring Obama to take executive action on immigration reform. But Obama was still holding out the possibility that the House might vote on it this summer; his recent delay of the review of deportations was an attempt to give the House time to act. Now Cantor’s defeat to Tea Party-backed David Brat could send House Republicans running from the issue, and make an executive action by the president the last chance for reform. Which, ironically, Virginia voters might not be opposed to. A poll by Public Policy Polling last week found that among Republican registered voters in Cantor’s district, 70 percent support immigration reform that would secure the borders, block employers from hiring those here illegally, and allow undocumented residents without criminal backgrounds to gain legal status. Support for immigration reform in the short term isn’t necessarily a dangerous position for the GOP either. After all, another Republican who is much less ambiguous in his support of immigration reform, Lindsey Graham, won a decisive victory in South Carolina. More importantly, the longterm health of the party is at stake: Should the GOP use this as a reason not to take action, voters will remember who killed immigration reform. Many political analysts are contending that Cantor’s defeat was more of a referendum on Cantor himself, calling him a candidate who had lost touch with his district. It’s also possible that his district lost touch with the rest of Virginia. A map by The New York Times of Virginia’s 7th Congressional
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Senator Cantor’s defeat could scare GOP from taking up immigration reform and means it may be up to the President alone to push the matter forward.
District shows that Cantor won the more diverse counties near Washington and lost the largely White suburbs around Richmond. Brat won in the less diverse counties of Hanover and New Kent. Overall, the state of Virginia is in the midst of massive demographic shifts. According to a 2012 report by the Center for American Progress, Virginia has reached a demographic tipping point in which people of color are becoming the majority. Since 2000, 76 percent of Virginia’s population growth has come from immigrant and minority communities. One in 10 residents of the state is an immigrant, with the majority from Asia (40 percent) or Latin America (36 percent). Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino population alone increased by 92 percent. And immigrant and minority residents in Virginia overwhelmingly favor Democrats. These demographic shifts may already have played a role in political battles over immigrants in Virginia, from the 2007 Prince William County measure that instructed police to obtain the legal status of all arrestees to more recent attempts to pass an anti-immigration law in the style of Arizona or Alabama. Whether these demographic changes played a role in the political outcome of the recent primary is unknown. But it wouldn’t be the first time
demographics informed politics. Twenty years ago in California – as that state was experiencing its own massive demographic changes – voters passed Proposition 187, the ballot measure that sought to prohibit undocumented immigrants from using social services. Prop 187 helped get its supporter, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, elected. But it led to an even bigger backlash against the GOP: It is largely credited with the mobilization of Latino voters who have changed the face of California politics. They didn’t forget which party backed the measure. With the exception of Arnold Schwarzenegger, an immigrant himself, no Republican has since been elected governor in California. Perhaps that is a lesson Virginians can take from California’s Prop 187. The backlash to changing demographics may help get your candidate elected, but watch out for the backlash to the backlash. Even if Cantor’s defeat is purely a referendum on him as a candidate, last week’s upset has an enormous impact on the future of immigration reform. If Republican leaders are afraid to act, immigration advocates move on to the second step in their plan: If Congress doesn’t act, Obama must. And if Republicans misread the Virginia primary as a referendum on immigration reform, it will be their loss.
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Student Life
Rachel Jeantel: “I’m still standing.”
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WASHINGTON – As Rachel Jeantel’s high school graduation neared, she reminded herself of the promise she was keeping. Her slain friend, Trayvon Martin, would have wanted her to finish school, and she had promised his parents and other supporters that she would do it. And she did. The world met Jeantel during the investigation of Martin’s murder. It was disclosed that she was the last person to speak to him before he was killed by George Zimmerman. Over the course of two days, she testified as a key witness in the trial, withstanding questioning that lasted for six hours. She faced a storm of opinions, analyses, and judgments made about her – some accurate, some not. At the time, she was just a teenager thrown into the spotlight in the midst of a personal and national tragedy. It has become a chapter of her life she doesn’t like to talk about, referring to it in solemn tones as “the situation.” Just last year, Jeantel wanted nothing more than to be left alone. She was grieving and feeling guilty, choosing not to attend Martin’s funeral. “I was running from Sybrina [Fulton],” she said referring to Martin’s mother. “I wasn’t ready to face her. I didn’t want to talk about it.” She was traveling constantly for questioning as part of FBI, law enforcement, and legal investigations, thus missing a lot of school. “Nobody knew where I was. I’d lie about where I’d been every time somebody brought up Trayvon, and they would always bring it up in school [that he had been on the phone]. I’d deny saying it was me,” said Jeantel. “All the traveling and talking to the FBI was too much on me, and I was doing it by myself. I still wanted my normal life.” That normalcy never quite returned. She still gets recognized at Wal-Mart, and sometimes people want to take pictures. Sometimes they’re too nervous to approach her, and send their children to ask
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By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent
Jeantel (right) poses with her attorney/mentor at her graduation.
instead. She shrugs off the attention: “For now, I just deal with it.” Another adjustment has been the tidal wave of Black men and women who emerged to mentor, uplift, and prepare the now 20year-old Jeantel as she transitions to college and womanhood. It began with her attorney, Roderick Vereen, who ushered Jeantel through the media spotlight after Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter. He remains a fatherly figure in her life. His assistant, Rose Reeder, manages Jeantel’s scheduling. Vereen’s friend, Karen Andre, also a lawyer, stepped up as a mentor. Miami-Dade School Board member Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall arranged for her to transfer to the Academy for Community Education, a small, attentive alternative high school where principal, Deborah Carter took Jeantel under her wing. “I was not used to that. It was a lot of people. I could never sneak around, I couldn’t go no place!” she said, laughing and sighing with appreciative resignation. Once, one of her tutors visited her home and she invited him in to
say hello to her parents, who speak limited English. He greeted them in fluent Creole, much to Jeantel’s chagrin. For the self-proclaimed “spoiled-brat daddy’s girl” who was used to having her way, this new team of no-nonsense adults – who could report directly to her parents without her translation – were not initially welcome. Jeantel has even reunited with Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, who she calls her “number one supporters.” Fulton attended her graduation, and was one of the people cheering her across the stage. With her tutors, Jeantal is focused on vocabulary, grammar, and mathematic skills. With her mentors, she’s focused on her wellbeing and gaining the necessary life skills to become independent. This summer she hopes to get a job. When her academic skills are up to par, she’ll enroll in college. In the far future, she sees a college degree and a creative career, ideally in fashion design. “I’m grateful for Trayvon and everyday when I work hard or have the smack-down on me, I just say if he was here, he would say ‘keep going.’”
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In the Neighborhood
Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington
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Washington Post columnist George Will’s story on sexual assault on campuses sparked an uproar from women groups.
District of Columbia Post columns about rape, violence against women, anti-sexism spur group to call for George Will firing
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ore than 87,000 people have joined anti-sexism group UltraViolet in less than 24 hours to urge The Washington Post to address brutal sexism in its opinion pages and fire columnist George Will. The controversy started with Will’s column earlier this month, in which Will mocks survivors of rape and implies that women on campus want to say they
Interfaith organization to hold free workshop, seminar at Howard University College Educate Our Sons (CEOS) will host a workshop and seminar June 21, to increase awareness and strengthen support of programs and initiatives designed to help parents and teachers help young minority males achieve college
have been raped in order to access the “special privileges” conferred to survivors. The scandal ballooned last week when the Post published a second article calling on women to end violence against women by getting married and “stop taking lovers.” “It’s been four years since I was raped, in my junior year of college. I’m finally at a place when the pain and trauma doesn’t dominate my life anymore. But when I read [T]he Washington Post this week George Will’s words brought back that same fear and doubt I experienced when I was attacked,” said Elizabeth B., an UltraViolet member who signed the petition. “The Washington Post needs to take a stand against rape and violence, and the first step is
firing George Will.” UltraViolet plans to follow up on the petition with online ads which will be rolled out later this week. “The past week has seen [T] he Washington Post devolve to violent and shameful rhetoric that normalizes rape and violence against women. In the face of a national epidemic of sexual violence, The Washington Post should take a stand against rape -- starting by firing George Will,” said Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet. “From mocking survivors to misleading the public on demands for college sexual assault reform and blaming women for violence against them-the Post has left the realm of honest debate and entered the realm of hate-speech and dog whistles.”
educations. CEOS is an interfaith organization that strives to assemble transformational leaders and educate, form, and nurture them to help raise college awareness for boys and young men. The event is targeted to parents, teachers, mentors, administrators, counselors, and boys ages 13-18 and will be held at the Howard University School of Divinity
in the Thurman Chapel, located at 1400 Shepherd St. NE. The event is free and open to the public, and will last from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Leaders and mentors facilitating the conference include entrepreneur Daryl Allen, and CEO of RICHMAR, Richard Gordon, Jr. The keynote address given by Dr. Alvin Thornton, the former Howard University Interim Provost.
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In the Neighborhood Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington Montgomery County Montgomery College wins new workforce training grants
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ready in the industry. In addition, BIOTrain will work with Maryland One Stop Career Centers to create career paths for the unemployed and underemployed. The Program trains entry-level technical workers with a hands-on, lab based approach. The college’s MOVE initiative is a one-of-a-kind partnership of more than 30 education, government, community and transportation entities, including the College’s main partner, Hagerstown Community College. Montgomery College’s Transportation Safety Institute in Workforce Development & Continuing Education led the MOVE grant proposal. A total of $256,000 will be awarded in grant funds for the partnership that will run June 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016.
montgomerycollege.edu
he Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation has awarded Montgomery College two grants for worker training programs in various industries across the state. One grant is for BIOTrain, a Montgomery County Biotechnology Training Partnership, and the other is for MOVE, the Maryland Mid-Western Transportation and Logistics Sector Partnership. Both initiatives are being implemented as part of the Employment and Advancement Right Now grant pro-
gram designed to increase the quality and quantity of employment. “Montgomery College is deeply committed to empowering students to change their lives and to enrich the life of our community by working to create educational programs resulting in job creation and economic development for our region,” said DeRionne P. Pollard, Montgomery College president. “The College stands ready to train the next generation of skilled workers in the biotechnology and transportation industries. And we especially want to thank the DLLR for supporting higher education to help build Maryland’s workforce.” The biotechnology award of $120,280 is designed to close skills gaps to enable entry into the industry and advancement for those al-
One of the grants will go to the college’s BIOTrain program, which trains entrylevel workers in the biotechnology field.
Barry Farm student Chevonni Brown beats the odds, graduates with honors
Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles
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12 | Jun. 19 - Jun. 25, 2014 | District Chronicles
Chevonni Brown has a lot to be proud of this year. The 18 year old D.C. student graduated from KIPP AIM Academy this past Spring and she did it with the highest GPA over the past four years. Growing up in Barry Farm with her mother, Brown has not had it easy but she works hard. She walked to school everyday and it paid off. On June 6, 2014, Brown got her High School diploma and $1000 Board of Trustees Award during graduation ceremonies at Howard University. Brown will be going to Gettysburg College in the Fall to pursue her studies in animal genetic sciences (Photo credit: Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles).