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Volume 14 Issue 2
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Editorial
The positive narrative in Ferguson, Missouri
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eft to their own devices, residents and officials of Ferguson, Mo., probably could have sorted out the shooting of teenage Michael Brown on their own. I know from my years as a pastor in Ferguson that is a strong community — racially divided, yes, and angry at changes in American life that have left them behind. But the town has rootedness, civic pride, strong churches and a fervent desire to make an integrated community work. Of course, Ferguson wasn’t left alone. The town’s nearly allWhite police force was clearly over its head. The county police, when invited in, stormed the town in military gear with shock-and-awe tactics and made matters worse. Media descended on the small city, and the story grew because it reveals so much about who we are as a nation. The emerging narrative makes grim copy: young Black men across the country talk about how the police hound them. Citizens talk about local police forces that seem grounded in white rage. Now, thanks to ill-considered invest-
ments in military equipment, those police bring assault rifles, military gear and armored vehicles to do work that can only be done by nurturing trust and mutual respect. We see also the impact of income inequality, which has drained employment opportunities from former industrial communities, and left large groups of young men and women, of all races who have no hope for the future and, thus, with no stake in it. Conservatives cry class warfare whenever anyone questions income inequality. They suggest mobs rising up against the elegant 1 percent. What would “class warfare” actually look like? It would look like Ferguson: frustrated citizens wanting respect and a place at the table but being shown instead the business end of an assault rifle. It is a story seen time and again: have-nots fighting each other for scraps, while the moneyed set vacations in expensive places. Ferguson captures our attention because this is the nation we have become: divided by race, denying opportunity to the many so that the few can live large. Politicians spouting ideology and not knowing how to govern, police forces behaving like an occupation
army, and extremists exploiting a community’s suffering for their political gain. However, there is a more hopeful narrative: through strife, the Ferguson community has drawn together. Blacks and Whites march side by side, church members put aside their bickering to stand for justice. Town leaders look earnestly for a solution other than brute force. A state highway patrol captain walks with the protesters. Local leaders are starting to look forward. A majority Black town has White officials and a White police force because Blacks haven’t been voting. It’s time to get out the vote. An overbearing police presence undoes decades of effort to integrate. Change the racial profile of local police, and do a better job of training them. Don’t get lost in nostalgia for what Ferguson was a half-century ago; celebrate the majority’s yearning to integrate successfully. When the national spotlight goes away, Ferguson will be left to its own devices. Friends there tell me the community is strong enough to move forward and, thanks to this unfortunate wakeup call, more keenly aware of what moving forward will entail.
Finance Black businesses struggle in U.S. and Africa By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON – As the United States pivots to strengthen economic ties with Africa, there’s a good chance Black-owned businesses may be left behind because of some of the same factors that limit their growth in America. During the recent U.S.–Africa Summit, a historic meeting of nearly 50 African presidents, prime ministers and diplomats in Washington, D.C., Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Department of Commerce hosted a business forum to highlight the need to increase trade and build relationships between firms in the U.S. and African-owned companies. The African Development Bank reported that more than one-third of the population of Africa is considered middle class and by 2040 the African labor force will be bigger than the labor force in China. White House officials estimat-
ed that the African economy will grow at 5.4 percent this year, expanding at a higher rate than the rest of the world’s economy. To encourage U.S. exports and investments in Africa, President Barack Obama pledged $7 billion in new spending under his Doing Business in Africa campaign, a program launched in 2012, and partnered with private firms, the World Bank, and the government of Sweden for an additional $12 billion deal. In a press statement released during the business forum, the White House said that U.S. firms committed to “new deals in clean energy, aviation, banking, and construction worth more than $14 billion.” The statement continued: “Taken together, these new commitments amount to more than $33 billion, supporting economic growth across Africa and tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.” Black-owned businesses and Black leaders of major U.S. companies were virtually shut out of
the business forum, an omission that drew criticism from the Black community. Despite significant contributions to the U.S. economy, Blackowned businesses continue to face significant hurdles that limit their ability to take advantage of opportunities abroad. Ian Oliver, a senior international trade consultant at the Small Business Development Center in Washington, D.C., said, “One of the biggest challenges, this goes for all entrepreneurs, but it affects minority businesses to a greater extent, is the access to finances and resources,” said Oliver. “There’s a concerted effort, at the federal-level to fix that, but there’s a gap between what they hope to do and what communitybased organizations, that have the sole purpose of helping to grow small businesses can do.” The U.S. Small Business Administration designed the 8(a) Business Development Program to support small, disadvantaged businesses. Companies owned by
minorities, women, veterans and people living with disabilities often benefit from the program. Small businesses are encouraged to balance their federal and private sector contracts, but what Oliver has found is that the transition from federal contracting to the commercial marketplace can be challenging for 8(a) program minority companies. And even though President Obama has expressed the need for American companies to increase exports, many Black firms have products and services to offer that would be valuable in other markets, if they had access to capital to increase the scale of their operations. Black participation in the SBA loan program is down under the Obama administration. According to analysis of FY2013 data by the Wall Street Journal, less than 2 percent of the $23.09 billion in SBA loans went to Black-owned businesses, down from the 8 percent of loans that went to Black-owned busi-
nesses in FY2008 under President George W. Bush. Ron Busby, president of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), a group that supports the development of Black enterprises, said that the recent U.S.- Africa Business Forum was a good start to that dialogue, but was unsure if the summit addressed many of the issues and concerns of Blackowned businesses, including access to capital and business opportunities in the private sector. “When you get to the commercial side, it’s more fluid, it’s built off of relationships,” explained Busby. “It’s a different sales process and many times those sales opportunities never go out to the general public to bid. Many Black businesses never get into that private sector because they’re not invited and corporate America doesn’t deem it necessary to include us in those business opportunities. We have to do better in transitioning into the private sector, if we’re going to continue to grow.”
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Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington
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ith the start of the new school year on Monday, Aug. 25, District of Columbia students at public and private elementary, middle and high schools in the District of Columbia can ride on the Metrobus and the DC Circulator at no charge, Monday to Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., and 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., during the regular school year. Students are encouraged today
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Morehouse College and Howard University meet in the 2014 AT&T Nation’s Football Classic Saturday, Sept. 13 at RFK Stadium marking the end of a remarkable fouryear run in the football game for the two premier institutions. The inaugural Classic reignited the historic football rivalry between the schools in 2011, and launched a thrilling new sports tradition in the nation’s capital. “Building the AT&T Nation’s Football Classic has been a labor
to obtain their DC One Cards, register them online, and check their eligibility before they take advantage of this service. The DC Council established this free program last year, allowing D.C. students to travel free to and from school and educational activities. Also, students can use the service when school is dismissed early, or half day, during the school week. As in the past, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is requesting that students FLASH their DC One Cards when they enter the buses during the Kids Ride Free on Bus program hours.
After 8 pm on weekdays, weekends, and holidays, students will need to purchase a 10-trip bus pass, monthly rail and bus pass or pay the regular fare during the 20142015 school year. Students need to register and confirm their eligibility in the District’s School Transit Subsidy program on the DC One Card website www.dconecard.dc.gov, before purchasing transit passes from WMATA. For more information, on the School Transit Subsidy Program, go to DDOT’s website at www.ddot. dc.gov. Or call customer service at 202.673.1740.
of love, and we’ve been honored to have great partners like Howard and Morehouse help us develop and showcase the event as a four-day experience,” said Erik A. Moses, managing director of Events DC’s Sports and Entertainment Division. “The pageantry, camaraderie and competition we’ve seen each year has been everything we’ve expected and more. It has been a pleasure to kick off this Classic with two schools that feature a shared narrative and passionate rivalry on and off the field.” The events leading up to the game have been a hit each year.
The 2014 weekend, set for Thursday, Sept. 11 through Sunday, Sept. 14, includes the Presidential Symposium, AT&T Kickoff Rally, Pepsi Fan Festival, Chapel Service and assorted parties and receptions. “We’ve made a concerted effort to offer a variety of events throughout the weekend because from the onset, our goal was to compliment the game with activities that highlighted education, networking and entertainment,” added Moses. “We’re excited for the Classic’s future, and the competition to come. Stay tuned for updates in early 2015 on the next matchup.”
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Gerald “Slink” Johnson (center) playing role of Black Jesus on Cartoon Network’s late night block Adult Swim.
By Whitney Sweetwine Contributing Writer
I
n its review of the new TV commedy show called “Black Jesus”, the Richmond Free Press asks: Is it a new way to spread the Gospel message or is it blasphemy? Pastor Omar Buchanan, pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 5101 14th St., NW, believes the show is “sacrilegous” and should be cancelled. This is just another antic of the enemy and others will only get more blatant, he told the District Chronicles. “Blasphemy is defined as the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk. The fact that they have taken the most Holy name I know and attempted to make a mockery out of it is no surprise, though. It has been done before but to no avail. JESUS still remains victorious.” Pastor Buchanan has yet to see the show, but Pastor Andree Harris at of Sacred Heart Church, 721 48th St., NE, has seen some clips of Black Jesus. “I was appalled,” Pastor Harris said. “As a leader and a lover of people, I truly believe in meeting people right where they are. But, after watching several clips, I’ve yet to find the true meaning of why this show is even on the air.
Jesus is not portrayed as the holy and righteous Messiah that He is. instead ITS AN INSULT!!. Dissatisfied as I am, this show’s really no different from all of the other masses of mess that flood the airways for the purpose of entertainment and money.” The weekly show focuses on a modern-day savior working in rough-and-tough Compton,Calif. It debuted Aug. 7 as a new late night offering on the Cartoon Network. To the producers, “Black Jesus” is a satire and one interpretation of the message of Jesus played out in present-day morality tales. But to the American Family Association and its One Million Moms division, the show “makes a mockery of the Lord” by portraying him as a Black man living in a poor neighborhood. It contains “foul language that is shocking and disgusting,” according to Tim Wildmon, president of AFA, which promotes fundamentalist Christian values. “In addition, violence, gunfire, drinking and other inappropriate behavior completely misrepresent Jesus.” Pastor Melvin Dickens of Odenton, MD, is concerned about the motives of the show’s producers. “Is it just to make people laugh?” he asks. “Are the intentions of the producers to advance the Kingdom of Jesus?” Pastor Dickens does not believe
the show “Black Jesus” is trying to do that. The AFA and DMV pastors are calling for the show’s cancellation. But the cable network has not been fazed. The show was written and produced by Aaron McGruder, best known for the comic strip and animated series“ The Boondocks.” The show stars Gerald “Slink” Johnson, who spreads “love and kindness” with a “loyal group of downtrodden followers,” according to Cartoon Network’s parent, Turner Broadcasting. Monica Cole, the leader of the AFA’s One Million Moms, said her group does not typically go after shows intended for adult audiences, but she said that as a “Christian ministry, we felt like we could not excuse this behavior for any television company.” Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture at Syracuse University, said Jesus has been a tricky subject going all the way back to Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. “If you go to the actual basic teaching of love and turning the other cheek and feeding the poor, they are very, very good messages,” Dr. Thompson said. “And to me, if you can getto the base of that kind of story, it can be told in a lot of different contexts, including this one from the Cartoon Network.”
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By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON – Twenty years after signing the “International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,” the United States continues to struggle with racial disparities in every major sector of American society. A coalition of American civil and human rights groups, submitted a report titled, “Falling Further Behind: Combating Racial Discrimination in America,” to the Committee on Ending Racial Discrimination (CERD) that governs the international convention. The report detailed myriad disparities that still exist in the criminal justice system, education, voting, housing and immigration. CERD is an independent panel of experts “that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its state parties,” according to the website for the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Countries that ratify the CERD treaty must review federal, state
and local laws and revise or repeal policies that perpetuate racial discrimination. The shooting death of another unarmed Black teenager by a police officer, this time in Ferguson, Mo., has garnered international interest, including the attention of CERD that met recently in Geneva, Switzerland. “The death of Michael Brown, has not only shocked the conscience of the nation, it has shocked the conscience of the world,” said Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 organizations devoted to the promotion and protection of civil and human rights. Henderson, former Washington bureau director of the NAACP, said that the Justice Department should review and prosecute, where appropriate, the cases in which law enforcement used excessive force and deadly force against unarmed individuals and suggested cutting federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies that continue to violate civil and human rights of the people that they have sworn to protect.
Freddie Allen/NNPA
U.S. continues to struggle with race disparities
Henderson, head of Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, wants to see more federal guidance prohibiting racial profiling by police.
“The world is watching the United States’ response to these tragedies and we must take swift action to release new federal guidance that will prohibit the use of racial ethnic and religious profiling by law enforcement,” said Henderson. “The Department of Justice should review and prosecute where appropriate the cases, in which law enforcement used excessive force and deadly force against unarmed individuals and when appropriate cut federal funding to state and local law enforcement agencies that
continue to violate these principals.” Henderson added: “By taking the necessary steps to address these issues we can and must halt this terrible trend.” Henderson said that the United States ratified the international treaty in 1994 and joined the world community in its obligation under the treaty to take steps to reduce racial discrimination and disparities within our borders. Despite the progress that has been made since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. seems at times to be losing ground, especially when it comes to the criminal justice system. “Discrimination and racial disparities persist at every stage of the U.S. criminal justice system, from policing to trial to sentencing,” stated the report. “The United States is the world’s leading jailer with 2.2 million people behind bars. Perhaps no single factor has contributed more to racial disparities in the criminal justice system than the ‘War on Drugs.’” The report said that “stand your ground” laws on the books in 22 states have exacerbated the discriminatory treatment toward
suspects of color. “For example, a recent study by the Urban Institute found substantial evidence of racial disparities in justifiable homicide outcomes of cross-race homicides nationwide. A key finding was that Whites who kill Blacks in “stand your ground” states are far more likely to be found justified in their killings,” stated the report. According to the report, “In one study of Florida students, 39 percent of all Black students were suspended at least once, compared with only 22 percent of White students. This remains true regardless of age or grade. For example, in 2011, in one prekindergarten and kindergarten school in Louisiana, Black students comprised every single out-of-school suspension and half of all in-school suspensions, despite constituting only 26.5 percent of all students.” The Education Department found that “Black children represent 18 percent of preschool enrollment, but 48 percent of preschool children receiving more than one out-of-school suspension.” Henderson said, “There is clearly something wrong in our system with results like that.”
Study: White cops kill at least two Blacks each week By George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Occasionally, police officers behave in such a dastardly manner that it captures international attention. There was the 1991 famous video of four White LAPD officers taking turns clubbing and kicking Rodney King nearly beyond recognition after a high-speed automobile chase. In 1999, on the opposite coast, an unarmed, 23-year-old Amadou Diallo was killed after four policemen fired 41 times into his Bronx, N.Y. apartment, striking him 19 times. In New Orleans, Robert Davis, a retired elementary school teacher, was returning to his hometown after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to inspect the damaged family home. He went to the French Quarter to purchase some cigarettes. Four White officers, who suspected him of public drunkenness, accused Davis of resisting arrest and began beating him. An Associated Press producer filmed a video that
showed no indication of resistance. Timothy Thomas, 19, was shot to death in Cincinnati in 2001 by patrolman Stephen Roach. The officer said he thought Thomas was armed – he wasn’t. The shooting touched off the largest urban unrest in the U.S. since the L.A. uprising a decade earlier. And the list doesn’t stop there: Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Frank Jude, Jonathan Ferrell, Kathryn Johnson, Kendrec McDade, Timothy Standsbury, Jr., Kenneth Chamberlain and so many more. Three more names were added to the list in the past month: Eric Garner of Staten Island, N.Y.; Ezell Ford of Los Angeles, and now Michael Brown, the 18-year-old unarmed victim in Ferguson, Mo. Police kill African Americans more frequently than you may realize. According to stats compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice, an unarmed African American died at the hands of an armed White police
6 | Aug. 28 - Sep. 3, 2014 | District Chronicles
officer at the rate of nearly two per week from 2005 to 2012. Over that eight-year period, 400 police killings were reported per year. White officers killed a Black person, on average, 96 times per year. Of those, 18 percent of the African Americans killed were under the age of 21, compared to 8.7 percent of Whites. As bad as those figures are, they grossly understate the problem. The FBI statistics are based on the voluntary reporting of local law enforcement jurisdictions. Currently, approximately 750 of 17,000 law enforcement agencies regularly report their figures to the FBI. That means if the ratio holds true for all 17,000 agencies, the annual 96 Black deaths at the hands of White cops could be as high 2,170 a year or almost 42 (41.73) per week – nearly six per day (5.94). To be conservative, let’s presume that the death rate for the non-reporting law enforcement agencies is only half of those now
reporting. That would still be approximately three Blacks killed by a White police officer every day. According to Officer Down Memorial Page, which catalogs the deaths of all law enforcement officials, 416 cops were deliberately killed in the line of duty from 2005 to 2012, an average of 52 a year from 2005 to 2012. Using the most conservative data, Blacks are almost twice as likely to be killed by police as cops are likely to be murdered in the line of duty. In most of the high-profile cases of police killing unarmed Blacks, there was no justification for the use of deadly force. “When we ask police officers directly, ‘Who looks criminal?’ they choose more Black faces than White faces. The more stereotypically Black a face appears, the more likely officers are to report that the face looks criminal,” according a study in Stanford’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. In addition, the U.S. Commis-
sion on Civil Rights found that, “most White officers (95 percent) do not believe police are more likely to use physical force against Blacks and other minorities than against whites in similar situations. But Blacks are treated differently from Whites – even when they are part of the law enforcement hierarchy. As Attorney General Eric Holder recounted before the NAACP last year, “I was stopped by a police officer while simply running to catch a movie, at night in Georgetown, in Washington, D.C. I was at the time of that last incident a federal prosecutor.” If that can happen to Eric Holder in Washington, you know what can happen to Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) Follow him on Twitter at @currygeorge and on Facebook.
Politics
Minister: prison record a serious barrier to getting employment
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Zarif shows off new suits Goodwill Industries can provide his clients to help them make good impressions when job hunting.
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he Rev. Eddie Via almost cried when his voting card came in the mail. After living with a felony record for more than 20 years that banned him from the polls, the Henrico County, Va., minister is looking forward to casting his ballot in the upcoming election in November. He’s among the 2,500 people whose rights Gov. Terry McAuliffe has restored so far — a record for the first six months of a state chief executive’s term. Now married and rebuilding his life, Rev. Via also is studying for a Liberty University degree in Christian counseling and has started his own ministry, Mountain of Faith, in his home. But despite the restoration of rights, Rev. Via laments that he would face a high hurdle if he had to show his criminal history to an employer. The problem: the governor’s action did not clear his arrest re-
cord, which includes numerous arrests that were later dismissed in court or not prosecuted. That’s a problem that hits home for tens of thousands who have had brushes with the law, according to the Rev. Hasan K. Zarif of Richmond, coordinator for Goodwill Industries of Central Virginia who helps formerly incarcerated citizens re-enter society and regain their rights. “If you go to court on a traffic violation, and it’s dismissed, the violation is removed from your record and you don’t get charged a fee,” said Rev. Zarif. “When
capital murder of a police officer, but ended up pleading guilty to being drunk in public. “If he had to show his record to an employer, what chance would he have?” asked the minister, also founder and leader of God’s Intervention Ministry. So while Rev. Zarif is full of praise for Gov. McAuliffe for the swift pace of restoring rights, he said something needs to be done to remove daunting barriers residents face in gaining a job. And that should include automatic removal of arrests that do not result in a conviction, he said. F o r merly incarcerated himself, Rev. Zarif – Rev. Hasan Zarif, Richmond VA has helped untold thousands of men you’re arrested, that arrest stays and women get ready for work, on your record unless you can including, with Goodwill’s help, hire a lawyer and pay a fee to a providing suits and other clothing court to get it expunged. That’s for interviews. not right.” The people he serves, he said, Also special projects coordi- end up competing with people nator for Chaplain Services and with clean records. Prison Ministry Inc. and founder “If we want to help people leader of God’s Intervention Min- re-integrate into society,” he said, istry, Rev. Zarif cites the situation “we have to ensure they have a of a man who was arrested for fair chance.”
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By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON – For the past 40 years, Jawanza Kunjufu has dedicated his life to uplifting African Americans through education and empowerment. His work as an educational consultant and author of 33 books has centered on the plight and triumphs of African-American boys and men – until now. His latest book, “Educating Black Girls,” marks a dramatic shift. “Numerous people have asked me to write a book on Black females, but I didn’t feel that was my place – it wasn’t my expertise,” said Kunjufu. At an event for educators in Oakland, Calif., a woman challenged Kunjufu and everyone present to pay attention to Black girls. He decided to look into it. “I did a literature review and I did not like what I saw,” he said. “These figures are unacceptable. If these things were happening to White girls, it would be a major national crisis.” One of “these things” included the fact Black girls are being suspended from school at rates second only to Black boys – except in Wisconsin, where Black girls are suspended more than anyone else, according to a U.S. Department of Education civil rights study. The high school drop out rate among Black girls is 40 percent. “For too long, the plight of Black females has been treated as a stepchild to the plight of Black males and the agenda of White feminists,” the book’s introduction reads, adding that Black girls could benefit from an initiative such as President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper. “Young women of color have special challenges and needs, independent of their brothers that would greatly benefit from such national attention and coordination of federal resources.” The book offers 10 chapters on trends in education, STEM inclusivity, segregation in athletic programs, history curricula and Black women, and more. Kunjufu asserts that many teachers, especially White female teachers, have warped views of the Black girls in their care. He points to re-
Kunjufu’s book focuses on the unique issues affecting Black girls in the U.S.
cent examples such as Salecia Johnson, Jmyha Rickman, and Ja’eisha Scott, who were all handcuffed and charged with crimes after throwing tantrums at school. The eldest was eight at the time of her incident. “Many teachers are afraid of our children. It’s very difficult to be an effective teacher when fear is involved,” explained Kunjufu. “They believe Black girls have too much attitude, are too sassy, too bossy. They’re uncomfortable with Black females being that assertive.” In the third chapter of the book, “Black Females Speak,” it is clear that Black girls are picking up on these signals. Quotes from girls around the country include: “In this school you can get suspended over your attitude;” “Why don’t teachers like me?” “Some teachers act like they are afraid of us;” and “Most teachers don’t care about me and won’t be back next year.” The book also details the areas of education in which Black girls are routinely overlooked—STEM and sports. The dearth of women, particularly women of color, in the sci-
ence, technology, engineering, and math fields is no secret. But the lack of representation and segregation in student sports gets less attention. In the athletics chapter, Kunjufu finds that 60 percent of Black high school girls do not participate in any sport. He also asserts that White feminists—who hail Title IX legislation that allowed women equal access to college offerings, especially sports—are oddly silent about the lack of Black girls outside of basketball and track. “At the collegiate level, Black girls do so well. People think this means there shouldn’t be a problem at the K through 12 level,” said Kunjufu. “But the K through 12 experience does not give Black girls the leverage to do well in college or life.” The book is just over 126 pages and is currently available via African American Images. It will be available on Amazon next year. The book’s parental counterpart, “Raising Black Girls,” is slated for later this year. For more information, go to http://africanamericanimages. com/AAI/New%20Releases.htm
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Norton has been seeking funding for the Carter G. Woodson Home historic site for over a decade.
District of Columbia Nortron: Carter G. Woodson Home historic site to be completed by August 2015
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ongresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) is expecting the historic Carter G. Woodson Home and two adjoining homes to be completed by August 2015 with federal funds she requested, and that a National Park Service (NPS) partnership with a non-profit organization (NPO) will complete the two adjoining homes. This is the first-ever National Park Service (NPS) historic site to be completed through a private-public partnership. She expects a local NPO familiar with the Shaw neighborhood, where the house is located and skilled at raising funds, will serve as a vehicle for bringing taxexempt funds forward. Because Woodson’s work was fundamental to the creation of Black history as a serious academic discipline, work that was responsible for the annual designation of Black History Month, Norton believes that the approximately $9.5 million necessary to complete the entire project is achievable. Once the project is completed, the main home, where Woodson lived, and the adjacent homes, which will be used to facilitate tourism, will together be
considered the “Carter G. Woodson National Historic Site.” Norton requested that President Obama include $3.2 million for the first phase of the project in his fiscal year 2014 budget. After the President put the funds in his budget, Norton wrote to House and Senate appropriators to request that they would fully fund the President’s request. As a result of the full funding, the home will be completed by 2015 and open on a limited basis to visitors, although it will not be furnished or fully accessible. Norton believes that the emergence of the core home will help in raising funds for rehabilitation of the two adjacent structures to facilitate fully accessible visitor use areas, including restrooms, an elevator, and interpretive program areas, as well as planning and development of the site’s interpretive programming, exhibit fabrication and installation, artifacts, and development of other community connections to an adjoining park. “The Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site Study Act of 2000, H.R. 3201, to restore the Carter G. Woodson historic site, was one of my first construction bills enacted into law upon being elected to Congress,” Norton said. “Now, with public funding from the President and Congress and private funding from corporations and philanthropists, we have in the Woodson home a perfect can-
didate for a public-private partnership. Finally, we see the light at the end of a very long tunnel. For D.C. and the nation, we will have a new tourist site, which will bring more visitors and more revenue to our city.” The project has been delayed by the resistance of owners to sell adjacent properties and by slow appropriations from Congress. However, Norton said that she was encouraged that the NPS is now seeking creative ways to leverage funds for the restoration through potential non-appropriated funds. She said that credit was due to Reginald Chapple, division chief of office of partnerships and philanthropic stewardship at the NPS, and Gopaul Noojibail, NPS superintendent, who briefed her recently. Norton has been pressing for sufficient funding for the project since the passage of her bill in 2003, which designated the Woodson home as an official NPS historic site. When, after nearly a decade, NPS was unable to provide an accurate total cost or timeline estimate for the completion of the project, Norton wrote to President Obama in 2012 to seek funding. Norton has sponsored two bills to help make this home a historic site – the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site Study Act of 2000 and the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site Act of 2002. Both of these bills became law.
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In the Neighborhood Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington District of Columbia Howard’s sickle cell disease center gets $11 million in grants
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educating and training minority students and fellows by providing research and laboratory experience. CHaRM will also work in collaboration with the HBCU Research Scientist Program at the Center for Sickle Cell Disease. The Center for Sickle Cell Disease received close to $2 million to continue research that indicated people with sickle cell disease might have certain resistance against the HIV virus. It also received nearly $2 million to develop new therapeutics for Ebola virus infection that will target Ebola virus VP30 protein.
howard.edu
he Center for Sickle Cell Disease, a division of Howard University Hospital, has garnered nearly $11 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study HIV resistance in people with sickle cell disease, and to support the development of the new Center for Hemoglobin Research in
Minorities, known as CHaRM. “These grants put Howard University in the forefront of advanced research,” said Sergei Nekhai, virologist and professor in the Howard University College of Medicine. “Howard has strong expertise which allows us to expand HIV and sickle cell research.” The NIH awarded the university about $7 million to develop CHaRM. It is being planned as a center of excellence for the study of hemoglobinopathies, iron metabolism and oxygen sensing. CHaRM will be dedicated to
Funds will go towards Howard School of Medicine’s Sickle Cell Disease center.
Volunteers help kick off school year on DCPS Beautification Day
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12 | Aug. 28 - Sep. 3, 2014 | District Chronicles
Clockwise from top-left: DCPS Beautification Day kicked off last weekend ahead of the first day of school. NCAA Volunteers worked inside Cleveland Elementary on 8th Street NW to organize books, clean and plant flowers outside. Booz Allen volunteers label supplies, fix computers and prep wall boards at Brookland Education Campus on Michigan Avenue NW.