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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Rohn Lawrence Is Sent Off In Song At Toad's Place

shoulder with her cousin, Judy Slaughter.

Now a lab technician in Portsmouth, Virginia, Michelle recalled watching her little brother toddle over to her godfather’s bongos as a small child, and begin to play them with a wisdom and precision well beyond his infant years. When he was two, he would stand in front of the television set with a Mickey Mouse wind up guitar, mimicking the motions of musicians he seemed too young to know. Before his 10th birthday, he had started to master the guitar, and also played keys, banjo, and mandolin.

Before she moved to Virginia in 1991, Michelle was often the doorman for Lawrence’s shows at the Foundry Café, the Audubon Street music venue where Koffee? now stands. She went to as many of his shows as she could, including one last November in Hampton, Virginia. The last time they saw each other was early last month, when she came up to New Haven for a relative’s funeral. They always remained close, she said: before his death, the two talked multiple times per week, sometimes as often as every other day.

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

The first strains of “Amazing Grace” drifted heavenward from the Toad’s Place stage, and mourners fell to a hush in the audience. At the mic, Najee held decades of memory in place as he lifted his flute to his lips. Alex Bugnon joined in on piano, his fingers pressing down on the keys. Behind the musicians, photographs of Rohn Lawrence rotated in a slideshow: Lawrence playing Twister with his siblings, Lawrence shredding at a festival, Lawrence picking up his son Rahni and laughing that big bellied, gruff laugh that was his.

It felt strange that he was no longer there onstage, jamming with them.

Musicians, family, and friends all gathered to honor Lawrence’s life at Toad’s Place downtown Monday afternoon and evening, still reeling from his unexpected death on Dec. 30. From an out-the-door line and visitation to an hours-long elegiac jam session, friends showed up from every decade of his life, ready to pay their respects and send their stage brother off in song.

His family does not have a confirmed cause of death, but suspects that it was Covid-19. Howard K. Hill Funeral Services and Toad’s Place owner Brian Phelps worked together on the event, dubbed a “Last Call with Rohn Lawrence.”

It marked the first funeral at Toad’s, where Lawrence played a Monday night jazz jam upstairs at Lilly’s Pad for over a decade.

“I just want to say that for as proud as he was of me, I was twice as proud of him for everything that he’s done for me while he was here,” said his son Rahni Lawrence, who drew tear-muffled applause when he greeted mourners with a patented Rohn “hey hey hey.” “He truly was my best friend, and the best entertainer I ever met.

So it’s only fitting that we have this here.”

For hours over Monday afternoon and evening, the sendoff lifted up the life of a musical genius. By a little before 2 p.m., a line for visitation already stretched halfway down the block, as attendees bounced from foot to foot in masks and heavy winter coats trying to stay warm. Inside, an open casket sat surrounded by a guitar, saxophone, and faded portraits of a young Lawrence that accompanied sprays of white lilies, chrysanthemums and gladioli.

Fifteen people deep, Queens resident Clevin Brailsford looked back on decades of working with Lawrence before becoming a school administrator. In the 1980s, Brailsford was a young manager working for the internationally acclaimed jazz musician Najee, and traveled the world with Lawrence. He remembered watching the band take the Blue Note Tokyo and feeling mesmerized. Even after he left that life behind him to work for the city’s school system, he never forgot the feeling of sharing

“I’m just numb,” she said. “I don’t even know what to say.”

“We grew up in each others’ houses,” he said. “His parents were like parents to me.”

a room with the musician.

“I loved him,” he said. “His solos were just memorable.”

Just a few steps in front of him, baker Clementine Johnson waited with a coat pulled tight around her black apron, ready to say a final goodbye after years of hearing Lawrence play. Years ago, the two met at a Monday night jam at Lilly’s Pad, where she fell in love with his style.

She followed the shows out to the Chowder Pot in Branford, where she knew she could go for “a low-key, down-to-earth time.” As she built a business called Heavenly Icing, she often baked cakes and cupcakes to show her gratitude. Lawrence loved them, she said.

As the front doors heaved open, friends and family poured inside the venue, some already crying softly as they lined up around the stage for a viewing. They filed across it one by one, some stopping to graze his hand and cross themselves. In an area set aside for a sort of mid-afternoon

wake, no one seemed eager to leave quickly, as if their memories were more likely to stay intact inside Toad’s.

Lawrence’s older sister Michelle Lawrence, who grew up calling her brother “baby Rohnnie,” walked around, greeting people in a floral mask, often shoulder-toshoulder with her cousin, Judy Slaughter.

Now a lab technician in Portsmouth, Virginia, Michelle recalled watching her little brother toddle over to her godfather’s bongos as a small child, and begin to play them with a wisdom and precision well beyond his infant years. When he was two, he would stand in front of the television set with a Mickey Mouse wind up guitar, mimicking the motions of musicians he seemed too young to know. Before his 10th birthday, he had started to master the guitar, and also played keys, banjo, and mandolin.

Before she moved to Virginia in 1991, Michelle was often the doorman for Lawrence’s shows at the Foundry Café, the Audubon Street music venue where Koffee? now stands. She went to as many of

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his shows as she could, including one last November in Hampton, Virginia. The last time they saw each other was early last month, when she came up to New Haven for a relative’s funeral. They always remained close, she said: before his death, the two talked multiple times per week, sometimes as often as every other day.

“I’m just numb,” she said. “I don’t even know what to say.”

As the front doors heaved open, friends and family poured inside the venue, some already crying softly as they lined up around the stage for a viewing. They filed across it one by one, some stopping to graze his hand and cross themselves. In an area set aside for a sort of mid-afternoon wake, no one seemed eager to leave quickly, as if their memories were more likely to stay intact inside Toad’s.

Lawrence’s older sister Michelle Lawrence, who grew up calling her brother “baby Rohnnie,” walked around, greeting people in a floral mask, often shoulder-to-

By middle school, it was clear to Lawrence’s friends that he was already on his way to guitar stardom. Paturzo said that parents would call the school each year, and ask that Lawrence be barred from the school’s talent show. When he played, in concert-like performances that stupefied the student body and the staff alike, it wasn’t even a contest. Paturzo remembered watching him play “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes,” leaving everyone on the edge of their seats.

As the two grew into adulthood, Lawrence became a confidant and close friend, whose talent lived alongside a generosity of spirit. When the two were 15 or 16, Paturzo watched him play a mixer at Notre Dame High School. When he asked Lawrence why he was playing the drums, his friend gave him a matter-of-fact reply: “The band needs a drummer.” He was a musical shape-shifter in that way, slipping onto the stage wherever he was needed without the slightest objection. He was also a faithful friend, and found the time to care for Paturzo when he needed help and reached out.

“He could play anything,” Paturzo said.

“One of the things Rohnnie said to me, and not only to me, he said it to a lot of people, is there’s only two kinds of music.

Good music and bad music. These were the words that he’d say: ‘If you’re playing a polka and you’re playing it well, it doesn’t matter.’”

The last time they spoke was the Sunday before Lawrence passed. The memories he has are “where I’m getting my strength

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022 Con’t from page 02

Rahni Alexander Lawrence and his mom, Lawrence’s former wife Jacqueline (Jackie) Buster. “This is bittersweet for us, because you always want people to get their flowers while they’re alive,” Buster said.

“Rohn was the consummate guitar player. We know that. Not only because of how he played and how he touched everybody in this room. Some say Rohn never got his flowers, not the ones that he deserved.” from now,” he said.

Project Longevity’s Charlie Grady also met Lawrence through his parents in elementary school. When he was a kid, Lawrence’s father Harold had given Grady’s dad a job, his first on the East Coast after moving from North Carolina. By the time they were in their teens, the two were band mates. Their group, Good News, “played all over the place,” including the old, beloved Richter’s Bar when it still hosted live music on Chapel Street. Monday, Grady volleyed memories back and forth with Herman Badger, a fellow classmate from Carrigan Elementary School. “​​It didn’t matter where we played, because he was just that much of a natural, raw talent,” Grady said.

“Everybody recognized it from a young age.”

Many of the afternoon’s attendees were fellow musicians and Monday night jazz regulars, from longtime bandmates to lifelong students who had soaked up every drop of Lawrence’s on-the-job knowledge as they could. Jay Rowe and Trever Somerville, who played Monday nights with Lawrence for two decades, remembered how tightly they worked as a unit.

As the show matured from the old Rudy’s to Jackie’s Blues Cafe to Humphrey’s East and then Lilly’s Pad with a rotating cast of musicians, the three were “automatically family,” Somerville said.

“It didn’t matter how many times we played,” he said. “Each time we played, whether it was the same song, that magic came through in a different way.”

Rowe, who grew up in Milford and met Lawrence at the Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) in 1979, remembered how pronounced the musician’s style was by the time he was a teenager. Slipping in between past and present tense, he described Lawrence as “pretty much like he is now, just in a 19-year-old’s body.”

“Rohn had a lot of maturity for a 19-year-old kid,” Rowe said. “His basic style was kind of formed back then, you know. And he would refine it over the next 40 years. He was one of the best musicians I ever played with. It was an opportunity for me to learn and take advantage of his knowledge … We ended up

having a really good interchange. Rohn had so much feel.”

The last time the two played together was Dec. 23, a week before Lawrence’s death. Rowe said they spoke frequently, including the day before Lawrence passed. They chatted about an upcoming recording project. “We were looking to the future, for sure,” he said. “My final memory is hanging up the phone laughing.”

Amid Toads’ low-hanging posters and neon green lights, it seemed impossible to take two steps in any direction without a fresh flood of memories, musicians often crying in each other’s arms. Laura McClam-Williams, who attended ECA for voice at the same time Lawrence was a student, recalled the “unstoppable” guitarist who always made time for her to jump on the mic if she rolled up at a gig. Around her, Monday night regulars who attended hundreds of Lilly’s Pad performances, pointed to how quickly Lawrence could transport them from a downtown New Haven venue to another stratosphere entirely.

Musicians Dave Livolsi and Timmy Maia remembered their early days in F.U. Jazzboy, which played Humphrey’s East every Monday for years. Ed Natera, who owned Sidebar on Orange Street for years, spoke of how Lawrence would reliably pack the house— with a line down the block to boot—dazzle the audience, and still make time to ask after Natera’s young son before the night was over.

“It’s a great loss to New Haven,” Natera said. “He really is the fabric, the foundation, the backbone, of what essentially was ... what really tied people together. if you look around, there’s not a face in here I don’t recognize. Rohn was a big part in building social community.”

Phillip Bynum, who went on to found the Cool Breeze Music Series in which Lawrence regularly played, recalled playing both music and basketball with him as a kid in West Haven, where “our talent shows was little concerts” because Lawrence was so sharp on the guitar. With a masked smile, Bynum remembered how Lawrence only told a handful of friends his secret childhood aspiration: to be a Harlem Globetrotter. Instead, he left his mark on thousands of musicians.

I HAVE A DREAM

HONORING THE LEGACY

“Not only was he a friend, a musician, a legend, but he was our brother,” he said.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

It was a musical sendoff Monday, with video tributes and performances that stretched into the night, that perhaps best encapsulated Lawrence’s outsized footprint. As cousins lifted the casket and accompanied Rahni to a hearse waiting outside, musicians gathered by the back door of the venue, watching as their friend made his final exit from the stage. Pallbearers slowed at a loading ramp that someone had moved to cover the stairs.

“C’mon Rohn, we going,” someone shouted.

“He doesn’t want to go,” came another reply from somewhere in the crowd. A wave of low laughter, sometimes wavering and tearful at the edges, followed.

As they headed to the street, musicians scrambled to set up the stage in record time. Strains from Lawrence’s 1998 See Ya Around drifted through the air. Rowe jumped in as emcee, carrying every performance of the night. After tributes from longtime collaborators Marion Meadows and Morris Pleasure, Rahsaan Langley took the stage.

“C’mon now, c’mon,” he said after an anemic response from the audience. “You know how Rohn was.

Rohn used to always tell us, ‘Don’t cry for me.’ He Con’t on page 14

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Reflection on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

By Keith B. Churchwell, MD President, Yale New Haven Hospital In my office I have a drawing of Dr. King that I sketched over 30 years ago which has followed me through all of the positions and offices I have held in those years. It is a drawing based upon the jacket cover from Stephen Oates biography of MLK, Let the Trumpet Sound, from 1982. I have always loved this picture, he is looking outward with a fierce gaze

into the future; an understanding that the journey we are on for this great country is in coming to terms with our original sin, slavery. This is not only in our past, but is a part of our present and future.

Dr. King for me and for many others has always been an inspiration, and example of an individual with great skills who was asked to lead and be a voice in an extraordinary time in our world, who rose to the occasion in a manner that continues to inspire us to this day. He did not volunteer for this work, but was caught in the maelstrom of the times and found his voice through thinking, reading and true inspiration to articulate the issues and need of the movement for civil rights with world and deeds that continue to resonate. The ideas and goals that fed the beginnings of the movement that began in 1955 in

Montgomery, Alabama spoke to disparities and inequities for African-Americans and underrepresented minorities across the country; these issues remain as important and relevant now as they did almost 60 years ago – education, jobs, voting, representation.

On March 25, 1966 at a Chicago press conference prior to a speech he was to give at the Medical Committee for Human Rights, Dr. King said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

As the pandemic has demonstrated, disparities in care and the impact it has had on minority communities across the country continues to be a burning issue for healthcare and society. These words, like the work and life of Dr. King, continue to resonate across the decades and task

us to find understanding and solutions in achieving true E Pluribus Unum. What we have come to recognize to a greater degree and continue to work towards is the need to improve the ways in which we communicate with our patients who are at greatest risk so that we can deliver optimal care to everyone. It has also show us that our care must not just be episodic, but has to be longitudinal, joining our patients on their journey to better health. This has to be of paramount importance in the lessons learned from the pandemic, emphasized by the words of Dr. King. He also said, “The time is always right to do what is right”. As we remember Dr. King on his day, our job is to recognize that now is the time for us to do what is right for patients and families in their time of need.

Refugee To Be Ordained Episcopalian Priest

by Steven R. Mullins

The Reverend Deacon Melina Dezhbod will be ordained to the priesthood by The Right Reverend Ian Douglas, Episcopalian Bishop of Connecticut on the evening of Tuesday, February 1st at 6:30 pm at Church of the Holy Spirit, 28 Church Street, West Haven. Due to the state’s spike in Covid cases, the liturgy is by invitation only and limited to just fifty attendees. It will be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube, Dezhbod is currently serving the parish as a deacon and missional curate. Her focus has been overseeing the parish’s outreach programs and reaching out to the underprivileged and teaching confirmation classes to the parish youth and converting adults. She also preaches once a month.

Dezhbod works under the supervision of the Reverend Father Kevin Olds, Priest-InCharge. “I am thankful that the Episcopal

The Reverend Deacon Melina

Diocese of Connecticut asked me to work alongside Deacon Melina during her curacy.” Olds said. “Our shared ministry at Holy Spirit has been a delight and I am looking forward with great anticipation to all that God has in store for this new priest in this City of West Haven.”

Born in Tehran, Iran, Dezhbod, 24 escaped with her family from the Islamic state due to religious persecution. They were refugees when they came to Connecticut in 2000. Dezhobod’s father the Reverend Father Esmail Dezhbod is also and Episcopalian priest in the Diocese of Connecticut.

She was raised in Naugatuck, where she graduated from Naugatuck High School.

She later attended St. Joseph College in West Hartford, where she earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in social work. She later earned her Master’s in divinity from the Virginia Theological

Seminary.

“Accepting a call of any kind is never easy. It is scary and there are many unknowns.” Dezhbod said. “But among every call is our purpose; and working to live into it each and everyday.”

Dezhbob is the second refugee priest to be ordained at Holy Spirit in recent years.

In 2017, Father Charles Kamano, who was raised Muslim was received as a priest after fleeing west Africa due to his Catholic conversion.

Dezhbod said that she felt called to ministry as a sophomore in high school. She began going through the process of ordination in college. She was ordained a transitional deacon six months ago, as is customary prior to priestly ordination.

Reverend Deacon Dezhbod is also employed as a chaplain at Danbury Hospital in Danbury.

Eastern's Mama wins Benin's (West Africa) top literary award

Eastern Connecticut State University English Professor Raouf Mama’s newly published picture book, “La Jarre Trouee” has been named the winner of Le Grand Prix Litteraire du Benin for 2021, the top literary prize in Mama’s native country of Benin.

The prestigious honor comes with a cash award of 5 million West African CFA francs (approximately $9,000 U.S. dollars). The story made headlines in nearly a dozen newspapers in Benin, and Mama was interviewed on several radio and television stations there.

“La Jarre Trouee,” which Mama wrote in French, was one of 10 finalists representing three literary genres: fiction, poetry and folk tales. It is an inspirational historical tale recounting King Ghezo’s use of a jar covered with holes as a teach-

has garnered over the past several years.

In 2008, he won the National Multicultural Children’s Book award; the Kwabo Trophy in 2009; the Erasmus Mundus International Fellowship in 2011; Eastern’s Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award in 2012; the Benin National English Teachers’ Association Distinguished Merit Award in 2019; and a CSU Professorship in 2020.

In addition, Mama’s latest literary award signals his entry into the restricted circle of scholars and writers who have written award-winning books in French and English.

Mama teaches English and Storytelling at Eastern. He is the only person in the world today who tells folktales from Benin and other parts of the world in English, French, Fon and Yoruba.

ing tool to impress upon the people of the kingdom of Danxome the virtues of unity and concord and the perils of internecine conflict and discord.

“In a world haunted by the specter of factionalism and the ‘me first’ impulse, the words the king spoke at the climax of the story are as relevant today as they ever were,” said Mama. “’Behold, our fatherland is like a jar covered with holes,’ said Ghezo. ‘Unless we stand together and stop with our fingers the holes in the jar, it would not hold the water of life.’”

The jar covered with holes is a national icon in Benin and is widely regarded as a motivating force behind that country’s peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in 1990.

Le Grand Prix Litteraire du Benin is the latest in a series of distinctions Mama

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

All throughout the year, we celebrate Black Joy. Its beauty. Its brilliance. Its variety. Its tenacity. Its resilience.

Its ability to thrive despite everything.

The power of Black Joy truly knows no bounds... it’s A Joy Supreme.

Celebrate A Joy Supreme with us at aarp.org/nearyou

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Paraprofessional Arrested For Bringing Gun To School; THC Ingestion Hospitalizes Five 7th Graders

by THOMAS BREEN and PAUL BASS New Haven Independent

Protect Yourself & Others

GET VACCINATED TODAY! Flu Shots plus COVID-19 1st, 2nd, 3rd Dose and Booster Shots are available for all qualified age groups

Visit www.cornellscott.org or call 203-503-3000 for current locations and hours throughout New Haven County

yale institute of sacred music i n n e r city news in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans to the cultural and spiritual life of New Haven and the world.

e v e n t l i s t i n g s at ism.yale.edu

Advice you need for the mortgage you want.

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Loans are subject to credit and underwriting approval. Certain fees, restrictions and other terms and conditions may apply. Ask your loan officer for details or visit liberty-bank.com/mortgage for more information.

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NHPS Supt. Iline Tracey and Mayor Elicker at Friday's presser.

Brennan Rogers School.

A teacher there reported a conversation with a paraprofessional about socialmedia videos about kids bringing guns to school. The paraprofessional, who is 31 years old and from North Haven, allegedly made a comment to the effect of, “Well, I bring my gun to school.” She allegedly said the gun was in her car.

Police arrived and discovered the paraprofessional actually had the gun, which was loaded and legally registered to her,

on her person, in violation of policy banning firearms on the premises. She was charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds and with breach of peace, according to Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez.

“Everyone is safe,” Superintendent of School Iline Tracey stated. “Our students will recover” from the THC ingestion.

It was also announced that Sound School, Riverside, and Betsy Ross had all lost power Friday.

The Reign of Black Governors in Connecticut at New Haven Museum

joins the

Polly Curtin • Loan Officer 860-530-5494 pcurtin@liberty-bank.com NMLS #555684

Five seventh-graders went to the hospital Friday after ingesting THC-laced candy at school, while a half-hour later a paraprofessional at a separate school was arrested for bringing a loaded handgun on the premises.

Officials offered details on both incidents during a press conference outside police headquarters.

The first incident occurred at Bishop Woods School. A seventh-grader brought an “edible” treat to class and shared it with four classmates. The students then displayed lethargy; at least one vomited in the classroom. A student told a teacher about the edible being shared, and first responders were called at 11:29 a.m.

The students, who are 12 and 13 years old, were alert and conscious, according to Mayor Justin Elicker. They were being treated at Yale New Haven Hospital.

The package containing the edibles listed its THC content, Elicker said. Based on the label, and the students’ symptoms, it is not believed that the children ingested fentanyl.

The incident remains under investigation.

Police were called about the second incident at 12:04 pm. The call came from

EQUAL HOUSING LENDER NMLS #459028

4/2/21 3:02 PM

You may be familiar with William Lanson, the 19th-century engineer, entrepreneur, and civic leader elected as Black governor in New Haven in 1825 and whose monument was dedicated in 2020. But did you know there were at least 20 Black governors elected in Connecticut in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Early-American historian and professor Kerima Lewis will discuss the rich history of Black governors during a virtual presentation for the New Haven Museum (NHM),“An Upside-Down World: The Reign of Black Governors in Connecticut,” on Thursday, February 10, 2022, at 6 p.m. Register to attend the lecture here.

Dr. Lewis will provide an understanding of the influence of African culture on African American traditions and the impact of European-influenced politics on the enslaved community. She’ll also share historical insight into slavery in New England and how the tradition of electing Black governors was negotiated cultural space for enslaved people across the region.

In her presentation, Lewis will discuss the election of Black governors in New Haven, Norwich, and Hartford. She’ll also present an overview of Black coronation ceremonies, which included festive celebration and feasting along with drumming and dancing. “The elections of Black governors were not imitations of white elections but a cultural tradition that combined the African tradition

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Kerima Lewis

of celebrating kings and chiefs with a European-influenced electoral process already in place in New England,” says Lewis.

About Kerima Lewis Lewis teaches history at Massasoit Community College and Emerson College in Massachusetts. She has B.A. degree from Northwestern University, an M.S.W. degree from the Hunter College School of Social Work, a J.D. degree from New York University School

of Law and a Ph.D. in history from University of California, Berkeley. She wrote her dissertation on slave resistance in New England. Her article “Captives on the Move: Tracing the Transatlantic Movement of Africans from the West Indies to Colonial New England” was published in the Historical Journal of Massachusetts. She co-authored a plate on the Boston slave trade in the “Atlas of Boston History,” and she is working on a book on slave resistance in New England. She is a local historian who gives presentations on New England slavery and early American history.

About the New Haven Museum The New Haven Museum has been collecting, preserving and interpreting the history and heritage of Greater New Haven since its inception as the New Haven Colony Historical Society in 1862.

Located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue, the Museum brings more than 375 years of New Haven history to life through its collections, exhibitions, programs and outreach. As a designated Blue Star Museum, the New Haven Museum offers the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, free admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For more information visit www.newhavenmuseum.org and @NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

For 52nd Year, MLK Love Marchers Brave The Cold

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

The 52nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Love March trekked in 10-degree weather Saturday through the streets of Goatville and Upper State.

Dozens of New Haveners bundled up for the hour-long march, filling the streets with tunes like “We Shall Overcome,” chants for equity, and a communal dream for a just future.

Marchers ranged from 6‑year-old firsttimers to residents who have marched every single year since the event’s founding in honor of the birthday of the late civil rights leader.

Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church hosted the march and celebration. The event returned in person Saturday after having a virtual march last year due to the Covid pandemic.

Community members marched with signs reading “Save the children” and “Heal the village” in hand.

At the front of the march, 6‑year-olds Kamren and Karter led the community down Lawrence Street, Whitney Avenue, Edwards Street, State Street, and back to the church on Lawrence Street.

A school bus followed the marchers from behind to offer warmth or a ride to marchers who got too cold or struggled to keep up.

Community members like Janequa Hall marched to carry on Dr. King’s legacy to

“never give up.”

She nearly didn’t come Saturday due to the cold weather but reminded herself while layering up that “in history, they didn’t have a choice.”

“They never gave up. So why should I?” she said.

Tenikka Hamton and Alea Hampton led the crowd of 50 through the streets singing versus of “We Shall Overcome” and chanting: We are marching …

On Dr. King’s birthday …

Freedom’s highway …

I made up mind …

That I won’t turn around.

Tenikka, 45, described the Love March as an annual family tradition that dates back to when her mother was pregnant with her.

“Those before us marched, bled, and died for us,” she said.

She marched beside her son Saturday to pass on the family tradition to another generation.

While the celebration was called off inperson last year, Tenikka’s mother, Charlene Hampton, still joined some family members for a walk around the block in honor of Dr. King.

Alea Hampton has marched in the celebration for the past 30 years, since she was in a stroller, she said. Her sons Kamren, Karter, and Marcus joined her for a lesson on the importance of fighting for

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTOS

Pastor Kennedy D. Hampton Sr. on Saturday march, beside father's poster.

Charlene and Tenikka Hampton

their rights.

“It’s the scariest thing I could ever imagine to have three Black boys in this world,” she said. “That’s why I’m out

7

here and keep fighting.”

After a brief outdoor service featuring remarks from four elected officials, the church distributed test kits and masks to

the community.

“This is how we’re going to achieve justice in our country — to make sure that we involve our children,” Hamden State Sen. Jorge Cabrera said. “We stand on the shoulder of giants like Dr. King.”

The officials and Pastor Kennedy D. Hampton Sr. reminded the community to vote and to hold their elected officials accountable.

“The things that so many people fought for, died for, faced water hoses for, had dogs sicced on them, were jailed for, were murdered for, [are] on the line,” Cabrera said.

State Sen. Gary Winfield [pictured] encouraged the community to ask elected officials, “Where are you when we’re out in the cold marching?”

When asked what the community can do to make change, Winfield suggested to “operate in the model of the man that we marched for.”

“It might sometimes feel to people like we’re angry, but we’re doing it because we love ourselves, our children, and the future generations,” Winfield added.

For a concluding benediction, Pastor Hampton prayed; “This day we come asking you to give us the courage, give us the strength to continue to fight. Allow us not to get sleepy. Allow us not to become complacent. Allow us to know that this fight is not simply about us, but it’s about the generation beyond us.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

New Haven's Cultural Equity Plan Arrives

by Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhaven.org

New Haven has launched its first-ever municipal Cultural Equity Plan—with calls for the city to confront its own historical systems of oppression, boost events in consistently overlooked neighborhoods, diversify arts workplaces across New Haven, and much more.

Now the work begins.

That message came from city officials, working artists and arts leaders, and members of a 14-person co-creation team Thursday morning, as the city’s Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism rolled out New Haven’s long-awaited Cultural Equity Plan in front of the Dixwell Community Q House. After almost two years of Zoom meetings, virtual community gatherings and focus groups, it is the first plan of its kind to officially become policy in the state.

It was approved by New Haven’s Cultural Affairs Commission last year.

“I feel a great deal of accountability moving forward,” Cultural Affairs Director Jefferson said as the sun burst over the Q House. “We must insert action. We must insert the recommendations that are in this plan. This document is an evolving document. It means that we are going to continue to be in conversation with the community about what’s missing from the plan, about how we can evolve the plan, about how we can expand the plan.”

The plan itself comprises 12 “Cultural Equity Action Items” (read them all here) split into the categories “Reckoning with History,” “Neighborhood Culture,” “Funding and Resources,” and “Continued Practices & Accountability.” Over two years, it came together as the work of a 14-person cocreation team, with input from New Havenbased consulting firm Civic Impact Lab and New York-based film Hester Street. The latter may be best known for building New York City’s cultural plan with input from the community.

It received support from the City of New Haven, the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, the Tremaine Foundation, Connecticut Office of the Arts, and several private donors. In the interest of full transparency, the Arts Paper is an editorially independent affiliate of the Arts Council.

In addition to eight months of bi-weekly virtual meetings, members of the co-creation team (all are listed below) hosted two public “imagining” sessions, which brought in over 70 New Haveners, focus groups dedicated to New Haven’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and hip-hop communities, and 49 responses to a public survey released last May. In a testament to the need for cultural equity in the city, 56 percent of the survey’s respondents are white.

The 12 action items range from gathering community members and city officials to talk about historical systems of oppression to supporting events in historically overlooked, kaleidoscopically diverse neighbor-

Tagan Engel.

Salwa Abdussabur: “It’s time for institutions to start looking at themselves.”

Puma Simone, who is a musician, poet, spoken word artist and educator in the city.

hoods to diversifying workplaces, contractors, and institutional board leadership in the dozens of arts nonprofits that populate the city.

They highlight new and sustained support for independent artists and cultural organizers in Black and Brown neighborhoods, a widely expanded definition of arts and culture, and a continued need for increased funding to the New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL) that was also part of Mayor Justin Elicker’s first-term transition report in January 2020.

Among some of the most ambitious action items are a long-term “redistribution plan for wealth and power gained through centuries of exploitation,” increased funding for artists in construction and infrastructure projects, and the creation of a citywide “Cultural Equity Accountability Team.”

The third would expand the Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism to three full-time staff members. It currently consists only of Jefferson and Community Outreach Coordinator Kim Futrell.

Within its proposal for wealth redistribution, the plan looks at how universities, large nonprofits, and private philanthropists have created an imbalance of wealth

City Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli.

and power within the city’s dense, often economically and racially segregated 18.7 square miles. It names Yale University, whose endowment grew to $42.3 billion during the pandemic, as an institution that has shortchanged city residents who are struggling to make ends meet—and proposes working with the City of New Haven “to get Yale to pay its fair share.”

The same action item also calls for new partnerships “with local, grassroots community groups” that reimagine community wealth redistribution, in a model that is closer to mutual aid than current and previous city-led grantmaking programs. In line with that vision, the plan also supports direct funding to artists and creatives in need of financial relief, without the miles of red tape that grant applications or funding restrictions can create.

“It’s time for institutions to start looking at themselves,” said artist and Black Haven founder Salwa Abdussabur. “Looking deep within their policies … to be agents of community, and change, and love, and what’s real.”

The plan also proposes dedicating a new position in city government exclusively to cultural equity in the next two years, and

8

paying a team of city residents to facilitate the plan’s implementation in the meantime. That same action item—the twelfth, for anyone keeping track—calls for antiracism trainings for city staff, which have already begun with New Haven’s involvement in the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE). In an interview after the press conference, Jefferson said that she’d welcome the position—the city just needs to figure out how to sustainably fund it first.

The Cultural Equity Plan’s 59 glossy, pink-and-white color coded pages also ask its reader to get involved in the cultural equity planning process themselves.

Prompts include resource and power mapping, sketching, and journaling in response to questions such as “How have I supported cultural inequity?” “What values do you bring with you in this work?” and “Journal about what forms of power you hold.”

The co-creation team included Abdussabur, public artist and NuSpiral Collective Co-Founder Isaac Bloodworth, Long Wharf Theatre’s Hope Chávez, NHFPL Deputy Director Luis Chavez-Brumell, ACLU policy organizer Anderson Curtis, Westville Village Renaissance Alliance

Director Lizzy Donius, New Haven Pride Center Executive Director Patrick Dunn, food justice advocate Tagan Engel, musician and educator Paul Bryant Hudson, Yale-China Director of Arts Programs Annie Lin, Ignite The Light Founder and Elm City Lit Fest’s Shamain McAllister, Bregamos Community Theater Founder Rafael Ramos, immigration advocate Fatima Rojas, poet, musician, educator and multihyphenate artist Puma Simone, and Nest Communications Manager Ratasha Smith, who was formerly at the Community Foundation for Greater Haven and Civic Impact Lab. “When we talk about arts and culture, it’s not just on a stage, and what’s in a gallery,” Engel said. “We’re talking about food and cooking. We’re talking about what happens in religious spaces. We’re talking about … dining rooms and kitchens, on street corners, on playgrounds, and this group really brings life experience to all of those things.”

Thursday, Jefferson said that it builds on the work that the department is already doing. When she began her tenure at the city in February 2020, she could already see a framework for cultural equity in Mayor Justin Elicker’s first-term transition report, and had just started discussions around building the plan. Then Covid-19 hit New Haven. In the early stages of the pandemic, the department worked with the Arts Council of Greater New Haven to pilot the Creative Sector Relief Fund. It partnered with the New Haven Health Department for masking and vaccine campaigns and rolled out new grantmaking and public art programs specifically for Black and Brown artists in the community.

It launched the inaugural “Arts for AntiRacism Toolkit,” asking organizations across the city to take an anti-racism pledge with multiple action items, led New Haven’s efforts in joining the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), and spearheaded Entrepreneurship Decoded with Collab New Haven. During that time, Jefferson never gave up on the creation of a plan, she said. It just became a sort of reverse engineering, where some tenets of the plan became best city practice before they were officially policy.

“The Theater of Hunger” It was New Haven’s working artists who gave the most powerful argument for why the Cultural Equity Plan is long overdue on Thursday. Taking the mic as a truck and a 238 bus rumbled past in unison, Puma Simone made a declaration: “I’ve been a starving artist/Not so much by happenstance/ But for remaining in New Haven/When I had the chance to leave.”

The crowd was quiet. A few low, knowing mmmms rippled through the group, where the audience had grown to two dozen. “Perhaps I got cold feet/Or I was tempted by love in a picturesque dream,” they continued.

Con’t on page 12

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Teachers Taps His Comics Superpower

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

A masked superhero has walked the halls of Hillhouse High School for almost a year, mostly in secret.

Students recently discovered his home base: Classroom C102.

That hero is Reginald Augustine, who has swooped into action in and outside the classroom, tapping a lifelong personal interest in comics, history, and animation to connect with his students.

In addition to being an art teacher, Augustine is a comic book creator. He runs a publishing company called Elm City Comics, which published the final issue of his first comic series in August 2020.

Augustine’s series is based in New Haven.

It often highlights city landmarks with heroic fights on the Downtown Green and East Rock or with characters getting blasted through the Knights of Columbus. His characters stop for lunch at Louis’ Lunch and Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana.

“New Haven gets a bad rap too much.

Good things happen here, and there are even heroes here too,” Augustine said.

Augustine, a New Haven native, has been teaching for New Haven Public Schools for the past 28 years. He taught art at the elementary grade level up until arriving to Hillhouse in 2019.

In addition to working on his next comic

book series, Augustine is currently working with a group of Hillhouse students to start a comic book after-school club.

Augustine and the students are currently looking to secure funding for the proposed after-school program. The students drafted the proposal to include lessons on digital art and character design.

Augustine began reading and drawing comics in elementary school. Drawing the cartoon characters as they moved on TV taught Augustine how to work quickly.

In the fourth grade Augustine got his hands on comic books for the first time.

He recalled sitting in the back of his classes with his best friend, who would sneak Marvel comic books in for them to read.

With a dollar from his mother, Augustine began building his collection. At 15 cents a book, Augustine picked up Archie, Spiderman, Casper, and the Incredible Hulk editions.

By the time he began college, Augustine’s collection had grown to thousands of comic books.

Augustine began with creating comic artwork and drawing some characters for another comic series known as Poverty Thrill Adventures. He created a gang of heroes for the third issue. He later got permission to revive those characters for his own book series known as Aphro Physt Vs. Protector Force.

Augustine in his Hillhouse art classroom. ELM CITY COMICS

The three-part series transports Aphro Physt from their dimension to New Haven and introduced New Haven’s local heroes, the Protector Force.

Augustine even brought comics to his wedding by creating a 10-page mini issue portraying him and his wife as superheroes named The Bouncer and Big Mama, fighting crime on their way to church to get married. The Bouncer and Big Mama make a cameo in Augustine’s second issue

of Aphro Physt Vs. Protector Force.

Augustine teaches his students about the history of comics, from how they started to the industry’s lack of portrayals of superheroes of color.

Heroes like Captain America have “always fit into popular trope of time” by fighting Nazis, Communism, and corrupt governments, Augustine noted.

Augustine uses lessons about comics to also help students feel seen. Marvel’s

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X‑men comics show realistic lessons like “teens finding way in world that fears and hates them,” he said.

Spiderman, Augustine’s favorite, dealt with realistic issues like caring for a sick aunt, struggling to pay rent and keeping a job, Augustine often reminds students.

Augustine has attended professional development lectures about educators using comics in the classroom. He recalled learning about teachers making historical figures into comic book characters to interest students. Teachers have also used heroes like Ant Man in math and science lessons to calculate the size of the character.

In Augustine’s classroom, conversations about Avengers: Infinity War have turned into debates about ethics, sustainability, and climate change.

Augustine made a 12-page comic about a superhero stepping up to fix his city after Hurricane Maria, with all proceeds were donated to relief efforts. He often reminds his students that comics and art can be a way to reach people with a message.

“Comic books have gone past the point of being something that you read and just throw over your shoulders,” Augustine said. “I want them to see that one person can make difference.”

Many of his Augustine’s characters are Con’t on page 14

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

2 Years Later, Registrar Retracts Bogus “Voter Fraud” Claim

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD

Hamden’s Registrar of Voters has retracted a two-year-old letter claiming local organizer and now Police Commission nominee Rhonda Caldwell committed voter “fraud” in the 2020 Democratic caucuses.

Democratic Registrar of Voters Rose Mentone issued a public memo this week “to clarify and retract a statement I made in an open letter … in which I recounted certain facts regarding the registration status of Rhonda Caldwell.”

In that new statement, Mentone said that Caldwell had participated in the town’s District 8 Democratic Party caucuses in January 2020, during which Democrats registered in the town’s nine districts nominate and vote for individuals to represent them on the Democratic Town Committee. At the time, Caldwell’s state registration reportedly listed her as living in District 4.

However, months earlier, In November 2019, Caldwell and her family had moved from their apartment in Spring Glen in District 4 to an apartment in District 8.

Caldwell said she requested a new mailing address through the USPS, a pathway which also offered her the option to simultaneously update her voter registration.

After receiving an email confirmation from the USPS that her requests had gone through, Caldwell said she “never thought anything else about” her change in address. Then, on the day of the caucuses, Assistant Registrar Dwight Ware informed Caldwell that she wasn’t on his

PAUL BASS FILE PHOTO Rhonda Caldwell at rally calling for the firing of Hamden Police Officer

Devin Eaton.

prepared list of active Democrats.

In her original public letter at the time, Mentone wrote: “When he [Ware] told her she wasn’t on the list, she told him that I had given her paperwork from my office saying that she now lived in the 8th.

THIS WAS FALSE.” “No, that never happened,” Caldwell said. She said she showed Ware her lighting bill and he allowed her to move through to the caucus.

There was background to this seemingly minor dispute: Two factions of the Democratic Party were vying for power.

Caldwell was part of a social justice, di-

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versity-oriented group organizing to take control of the party away from a more conservative old guard. (The progressive faction subsequently won control of the party’s town committee in 2020 and of municipal offices in 2021.)

The issue arose again this month because Caldwell was nominated to serve on the Police Commission — and a Republican Legislative Council member cited the false 2020 claim on social media to seek to have her barred from the position.

Caldwell and her fellow slatemates lost the caucus vote in 2020. They petitioned to force a primary. A slatemate subsequently showed up at the registrar’s office to file petitions challenging those who were endorsed during the caucus.

Mentone challenged the petition, pointing out that Caldwell was listed in the state system as living in District 4. Mentone then informed Caldwell of the same point.

Caldwell went online and successfully confirmed her new address.

Two weeks later, Mentone wrote that because Caldwell voted and received a nomination on the evening of the caucus, she was “thus committing fraud.”

Two years later, Republican Legislative Council member Marjorie Bonadies publicly cited Mentone’s letter on a social media site to suggest Caldwell should not be considered for appointment to the Police Commission, a position for which Caldwell was nominated by Mayor Lauren Garrett.

That prompted Mentone to send out the new letter this week. The new letter stated that “voter fraud is a crime of intent, and it is not the role of any registrar of voters to draw conclusions about a voter’s state of mind … Any legitimate suspicion of fraudulent intent should be referred to the State Election Enforcement commission for investigation, which did not occur in this case.

“Therefore the use of the phrase ‘thus committing fraud’ was inappropriate,

10

and I apologize for any harm that may have been caused by that poor choice of words,” Mentone concluded.

Caldwell pointed to a series of social media arguments and competing petitions — including a “change.org” page made by Democrat Ann Altman calling for the Legislative Council to “censure Marjorie Bonadies for character assassination” and another by a conservative crew asking for signatures to “Ban Rhonda Caldwell from Appointments” — as the consequence of the letter.

“It’s clearly snowballed into this really ridiculous mess,” Caldwell said.

The claim of “voter fraud” was “never even close to being true,” Caldwell said, because caucuses do not constitute formal elections.

“The registrar is not there to be the police of our caucus,” she asserted.

Bonadies said that she was “doing my due diligence in vetting these nominees” by sharing Mentone’s original letter on social media. The retraction does not change her belief that Caldwell has failed to exhibit “respect for laws and civility.”

“They want me to be censured,” Bonadies said of those accusing her of defamation.

“What I want is that I don’t want Rhonda to serve on our Police Commission.”

She reiterated her opinion that Caldwell, who has previously called to reallocate resources from the Police Department to other town social services, has a “vendetta” against the police.

Bonadies published another Facebook post on Jan. 6 asserting that Mentone had changed the description of “voter fraud” to “voter infraction,” though Mentone did not describe the 2020 incident as an “infraction” in her letter.

Caldwell, meanwhile, described Bonadies’ continued reference to the alleged “voter fraud” while serving as a town official as part of a “really strong smear campaign and intimidation.”

She said that because she was banned by the Facebook page “Hamden Crime Watchers,” she was unable to refute allegations that appeared to be getting out of hand on the social media thread.

“Facebook has to be held responsible for this kind of talk,” Caldwell said. “It makes my community less safe.”

“I now have to pay money out of my pocket to stop this,” Caldwell added, asserting that she is working with an attorney to confront “all sorts of people whipping up all this stuff.”

“This is how social media is getting completely out of control,” she said. “It now has to be a legal matter; she [Bonadies] is accusing me of a felony — and she’s a sitting Town Council member.

That’s pretty serious.”

“They’re trying to intimidate me so I will withdraw my name from consideration” for appointment to the Police Commission, Caldwell said.

“Not happening,” she stated.

Con’t from page 02

By Ryan Michaels | The Birmingham Times Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Birmingham have been intertwined ever since the Civil Rights leader helped dismantle segregation in a city once known as “Bombingham” for the frequent explosions at homes and Black churches during the 1950’s and 60’s. Many point to King’s efforts in Birmingham in the spring of 1963, when he helped direct thousands of demonstrators to fill up Birmingham jails, as legacy-defining. His work during that pivotal year helped loosen the grip of segregation not just in the South but nationwide. However, King, whose birthday will be celebrated on January 17, began his work in the Magic City before 1963 and he did return afterwards. Here’s a timeline of King’s most memorable visits to the city.

Jan. 23, 1955: King gives speech titled “A Realistic Approach to Race Relations” at a Birmingham NAACP rally at Tabernacle Baptist Church. In the speech, King rebukes pastors for ignoring the cause of civil rights.

March 7, 1956: King meets in Birmingham with journalist William Worthy and veteran organizer Bayard Rustin to develop strategy for the Montgomery Improvement Association. The MIA, which guided the Montgomery bus boycott, was led by King and civil rights titans Edgar “E.D.” Nixon and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The boycott, which began the Monday after Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white passenger on Dec. 1, lasted from Dec. 5, 1955 to Dec. 20, 1956, a little over a month after a U.S. Supreme Court decision deemed Alabama’s bus segregation unconstitutional.

March 6, 1960: King speaks at Men’s Day at New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Birmingham’s South Titusville neighborhood. The church, which was led by pastor Nelson H. Smith, a leader in the Fred Shuttlesworth-led Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), was a common meeting place for many Civil Rights leaders. King had just left his role as pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery to dedicate more time to his Civil Rights work.

Feb. 12, 1962: King speaks on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday at an ACMHR event at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham. In his speech, King urges members to keep the fight going for Civil Rights. “I wish I could tell you our road ahead is easy, that we are in the Promised Land, that we won’t have to suffer and sacrifice anymore, but not so.

We have got to be prepared,” King says, according to archived police documents.

“The time is coming when the police won’t protect us, the mayor and commissioner won’t think with clear minds, then we can expect the worse.”

King also recognizes the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the president of the ACMHR, who was in jail at that time.

Sept. 24, 1962: King speaks at the be-

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Youth Funding Becomes Focus In $53M American Rescue Plan Allocation Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org Summer and year-round youth employment. Career training and mentorship for grads who are just leaving high school.

Drop-in community centers with afterschool programming and arts and crafts.

And a raft of cultural activities for young people to attend—during a global pandemic that has upended their opportunity to be kids.

Those were a few of the programs that Gwendolyn Busch Williams, director of the city’s Youth and Recreation Department (YARD), outlined Wednesday afternoon at a press conference on how the city plans to spend its next $53 million in American Rescue Plan funding. Speaking over the hum of the auto-repair training shop at James Hillhouse High School, she described a multi-pronged strategy focused on building resilience in a time of intense and ongoing need for young people.

“It is extremely important to us that we continue to acknowledge that our young people are being infected by Covid-19 in mass numbers,” Busch Williams said. “It is extremely important that as adults, we are here to advocate for them and to protect our young people. Making sure that they make it through this process, this pandemic …

It still takes a village to raise our children, and you are part of that village.”

The funding comes from the overall $115.8

million coming to New Haven through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that President Joe Biden signed last March. Of the $53 million, $10 million is proposed for “Youth Engagement & Early Childhood,” a category that includes YARD staffing and programming, early childcare workforce development, and youth centers.

Another $10 million is planned for homeownership initiatives; $10 million for wealth creation and equitable economic development; $10 million for vocational and technical training; $6 million towards public health and infrastructure; $4 million towards a new New Haven Land Bank and $5 million toward carbon reduction and the climate emergency. Click here to read about the full $53 million proposal, which is expected to come before the city’s Board of Alders for a public hearing next month.

This is the third tranche of ARPA funding that the city will be bringing to the Board of Alders. Click here and here to learn more about the first $26.3 million, approved by the Board of Alders last year. Click here, here, and here for previous Arts Paper coverage of the city’s 2021 Civic Space sessions, which asked city residents what they wanted to see with the money flowing into the city.

“Step by step, we’re making progress— but today we made a huge, huge leap forward,” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “Today we’re presenting a, in many ways once in

Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli.

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Gwendolyn Busch Williams, director of the city’s Youth and Recreation Department (YARD). Lucy Gellman Photos.

those who have been under-resourced for decades.”

Building On Existing Programs Busch Williams said that the department intends to build on the $1.5 million “Summer Reset” funding that the city rolled out

last May. With that initial funding, New Haven’s Youth@Work program was able to offer employment to over 700 students who applied. The program provides 30 hours of summer work per week at the minimum wage. The same time it was starting up last summer, youth programming took center stage at a Civic Space session at the New Haven Free Public Library downtown.

It also piloted its “Summer of Fun,” which included free day camps and weekly outdoor festivals for young people and their families. It sponsored a Covid-safe, outdoor free summer concert for 8,000 teens at the Westville Music Bowl. With the YARD Youth Connect Program, the department “provided services to our most vulnerable population of at-risk and high-risk young people,” Busch Williams said.

“We are making a commitment to continue the services that we have begun for the New Haven youth,” she continued. “It is extremely important that we maintain continuity of this program that has been developed.”

If passed by the Board of Alders, part of the $10 million will go directly to expanding and maintaining the city’s Youth@ Work program. Busch Williams explained that as the state’s minimum wage rises, it’s a struggle for the program to employ as many young people as it would like to—which is where the federal funding Con’t on page 17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

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The crowd held onto every word. Simone dipped into their personal geography, weaving a love song to a New Haven in which they grew up, a New Haven that was both stripped of and mined for resources by its tax-exempt and overwhelmingly whiteled institutions. They looked to Margaret Holloway, a brilliant artist and director that many knew only as “The Shakespeare Lady,” who passed away in 2020 of Covid-19. They had sharp-tongued words for the media, the rapacious eyes of which follow every fire, every police chase, every crime scene wrapped in yellow tape.

Simone’s refrain—”I want to embody/ the theater of hunger”—was a reference to Holloway’s thesis at the Yale School of Drama. In 1980, Holloway wrote: “These artists know that there is no separation between the quest toward a theater of hunger and a quest toward a way of life. We continue in this quest.”

Forty-two years later, Simone pointed to a city in which the same systems that failed Holloway are still failing artists—particularly those who are not white, not heterosexual, not cisgender, not able-bodied, not English speakers—today. They deftly tied Yale’s grip on the city to the erasure of public art in Newhallville and Dixwell, the unsustainable cost of housing, the use of American Rescue Plan dollars to fund law enforcement and the installation of 500 surveillance cameras last month.

The words kept coming, drawing snaps and responses. Simone looked to the time it took the city to rebuild the Dixwell Community Q House, offering New Haven an apology that left their voice ragged at the edges. They wove the decline of the Black Panther Party and ever-rising rents to the city’s barring of the Freddy Fixer Parade on the New Haven Green. They begged attendees to listen—which they did.

“So if my words form a black cloud in the sky/I guess that’s what I came to be,” they read. “Like a flock of crows who set

12

up shop/Drop paint on the streets/Then wait for the rain to leave/My heart is still waiting for space to weep.”

Abdussabur, who grew up in Beaver Hills and co-founded Black Haven after the pandemic upended their time in Los Angeles, pointed to the Cultural Equity Plan as a document that can begin to undo decades of oppressive, harmful policy making.

That policy, they said, has boxed out Black people, Latinx people, disabled folks, queer people, and others for years. They called the arts a great unifier, adding that they can see the roots of a Black Renaissance that has begun to spread through the city.

“I want New Haven to be a place where I can thrive, and not survive, as an artist,” they said. “Where I can be who was meant to be. This art is my purpose. Art is the most authentic form of our human expression. It’s the thing that brings us together.

It’s the thing that ignites our hearts, and it’s the thing that ignites change.”

Where It Goes From Here Both Jefferson and Mayor Justin Elicker reiterated multiple times Thursday that the Cultural Equity Plan is intended to be a living document, with action items specifically designed to keep city residents, officials, and arts leaders alike on their toes.

Even in its early stages, it has gotten some statewide and national attention, from both regional partners across Connecticut and the D.C.-based powerhouse Americans for the Arts.

“The conversation has been: ‘How do we make this a plan that does not sit on a shelf in City Hall or in somebody’s drawer,” Jefferson said in an interview with the Arts Paper after the press conference. “So this plan is intentionally developed to be a plan that’s actionable.”

To ensure its implementation, Jefferson and members of the co-creation team plan to facilitate a series of community conver-

sations around the plan that she likened to “a cultural equity tour.” The conversations, which will focus on a different neighborhood each month, are slated to begin after the city’s second annual Unapologetically Radical conference, scheduled for February 19 of this year.

Jefferson said she does not yet know whether the sessions will be virtual or inperson, because the Covid-19 pandemic remains a moving target. She said that she welcomes constructive feedback from the community. This year, the department will also be rolling out a creative workforce initiative, which funds artists and creatives in apprenticeship positions. That $75,000 pilot is funded by a $500,000 grant that the National Endowment of the Arts awarded the Arts Council last year .

For the second time in two days, Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli announced that the Cultural Equity Plan will receive a slice of the $53 million in American Rescue Plan funding that the city proposed this week. The plan currently falls under a $10 million item for “Wealth Creation & Economic Growth.” Piscitelli would not say how much of that chunk is allocated for the plan.

“For many of us who have worked in this space for many many years, at times a plan like this can also be uncomfortable,” he said. “It’s the opportunity to truly reckon with our history, to go deeper in our neighborhoods, recognize that recovery … is also a time to bounce back better.”

City Cultural Affairs Director Adriane Jefferson, who worked with a 14-person cocreation team and multiple partners on the plan. Lucy Gellman Photos.

New Haven Pride Center Executive Director Patrick Dunn. “This plan belongs to all of us as the city of New Haven, because this document actually represents every single one of us in every way that we create, we culture, we artistic, and do, and live, and play in New Haven,” he said.

Hamden Ties Tax Breaks To Local Hiring THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Hamden Ties Tax Breaks To Local Hiring

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD | Jan 13, 2022 9:31 am (9) Comments | Post a Comment | E-mail the Author Posted to: Business/ Economic Development, Hamden, Labor

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD

Developers looking to build in Hamden with financial breaks from local government will now have to show proof of a plan to help the town back in return — by hiring and contracting locally and equitably.

Hamden’s Legislative Council put that new rule in place by voting Monday night to extend and amend an ordinance requiring all developers for whom the town grants abatements to diversify their workforce and product.

The vote involved two economic incentive programs. One program allows a freeze and phase in of taxes for those making significant improvements to their property. Another waives building permit fees. Both were set to expire at the end of 2021.

The council extended those policies an additional three years and, following the suggestion of Acting Town Planner and Economic Development Director Erik Johnson, added additional guidelines for applicants.

“The mayor’s office and Legislative Council are aligned in their belief that development opportunities in Hamden should be as inclusive as possible and

that the town should always advocate for businesses and residents to participate in projects where the town is offering some benefit to the developer, business or project sponsor,” Johnson stated to the Independent.

Moving forward, developers receiving tax forgiveness through those two programs — not general assistance in other forms such as land sales or ground leases — will now need to demonstrate “best efforts” to achieve the following standards: •10 percent resident workforce hours for on-site construction labor.

•17 percent minority male workforce hours for construction labor.

•6.9 percent female workforce hours for on-site construction labor.

•10 percent Hamden business enterprises for construction services.

•6.25 percent minority or woman-owned business enterprises for construction services.

•20 percent affordable housing units for housing construction.

Those numbers mirror workforce requirements held by other cities in Connecticut, including New Haven and Hartford, which adopted many of the above percentages in response to a disparity

!

PAUL BASS PHOTO Erik Johnson: Show us you're doing your best.

study detailing the dominance of white men in the field of construction and development across the state.

Hamden Legislative Council President

Dominique Baez has previously advocated for and succeeded in getting developers, including those leading the apartment complex project on Mather Street, to commit to giving preferences to Hamden residents for employment and local firms for contracting.

Johnson said this written amendment officially “establishes a best effort standard that will be used to make sure that the town’s businesses and residents are always included in development discussions and so that the town treats all opportunities the same way. It is a way for the town to be both inclusive and transparent in its decision making process.”

He added that he is not “sure how many developers will take advantage” of the continued tax forgiveness opportunities.

“But we hope that making developers and investors aware of the program’s existence will make Hamden an attractive place to invest and work on projects.”

All members of the Legislative Council voted in favor of the new guidelines with one exception. Councilwoman Marjorie Bonadies abstained, citing concern that “this might have a chilling effect on economic development.”

“Hamden’s difficult to do business in.

We’ve heard that over and over. I just

worry this is gonna be another hoop to jump through and may discourage developers from coming to Hamden,” Bonadies argued.

Her fellow Council members disagreed.

“I think it’s a good thing we are trying to put some money into our frontline communities, to take more pride in our community, and stimulate our economy,” District 5 Rep. Justin Farmer said. “If developers don’t want to do business with all of Hamden, then I’m not interested…

Part of having good business is having businesses buy into the community.”

District 8 Rep. Ted Stevens — who previously served on the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission — said that he the outlined numbers are not “particularly high.”

“The population’s 50 percent women, so this is not even representative of our population,” he said. “I don’t think that poses barriers to any developer.”

Johnson reiterated that meeting every numerical expectation written in the ordinance will not act as rigid requirements for developers. “The town’s established a best efforts model,” he said. “There’s some reporting and documentation we’re gonna ask for.” That could include inforCon’t onpage 13

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Maya Angelou First Black Woman on U.S. Coin

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Famous author and noted civil rights leader Maya Angelou became the first African American woman featured on the 25-cent coin.

The U.S. Mint began shipping the quarters on January 10.

Reportedly, the Angelou coin is the first in a series designed to celebrate the accomplishments of American women.

“Each time we redesign our currency, we have the chance to say something about our country — what we value, and how we’ve progressed as a society,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in a statement. “I’m very proud that these coins celebrate the contributions of some of America’s most remarkable women, including Maya Angelou.”

Angelou, whose works include such classics as “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “And Still I Rise,” and “The Heart of a Woman,” died in 2014.

She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Barack Obama.

The commemorative new coin features Angelou with her arms uplifted like a bird in flight and a rising sun behind her.

“They are images inspired by her poetry and sym-

bolic of the way she lived,” officials at the U.S. Mint said in the statement.

To the right are the words “e pluribus Unum,” Latin for “out of many, one,” a phrase also on the national seal.

The flip side features a portrait of George Washington.

“Excited to announce that Maya Angelou becomes

the first Black woman to appear on a U.S. quarter,” California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee wrote on Twitter.

“The phenomenal women who shaped American history have gone unrecognized for too long – especially women of color,” Rep. Lee wrote.

“Proud to have led this bill to honor their legacies.”

Legal Scholar and Civil Rights Champion Professor Lani Guinier Dies IN MEMORIAM:

headed the voting rights project at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1980s.

She published such scholarly articles and books as The Tyranny of the Majority, Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law School and Institutional Change, and Lift Every Voice: Turning a Civil Rights Setback into a New Vision of Social Justice.

According to her biography, she addressed race, gender, and democratic decision-making issues. In addition, she sought new ways of approaching questions like affirmative action while calling for candid public discourse on these topics.

Professor Guinier earned recognition, awards, and ten honorary degrees from and by ten honorary degrees from Smith College, Spelman College, Swarthmore College, and the University of the District of Columbia.

Her excellence in teaching was honored by the 1994 Harvey Levin Teaching Award from the graduating class at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the 2002 Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence from Harvard Law School.

“A loss that means more to me than words can say,” Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, tweeted.

“Civil rights attorney, professor, my mentor, member of our @NAACP_LDF family. A mother of the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act. A scholar of uncompromising brilliance. Rest In Peace and Power, dear Lani,” Ifill wrote.

According to the Yale Law School statement, Professor Guinier is survived by her husband, son, daughter-in-law, stepdaughter, grandchild, sisters, and nephews.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Lani Guinier, a Legal scholar Lani Guinier, once nominated by President Bill Clinton to assistant attorney general and the first woman of color appointed to a tenured professorship at the famed Harvard Law School, has died.

Her cousin Sherrie Russell-Brown confirmed that the 71-year-old succumbed to complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Guinier displayed a keen interest in voting rights, and her strong views garnered such opposition that President Clinton withdrew her nomination.

But the civil rights advocate never stopped championing her views that included the thought that one person, one vote, was insufficient in a system where those in the majority derailed the interests of African Americans and other minorities.

“When I walk through the train to the snack bar, many people seem to recognize me — and these are men, women, whites, Blacks, Republicans, Democrats,” Professor Guinier told The New York Times in 1993.

“People come up and say, ‘I disagree with everything you have said, but I think you should have had a hearing, and I admire the way you handled the situation.’”

A tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Professor Guinier spoke openly about injustice, including helping to keep in the public’s eye the case of the Wilmington 10 up until the activist group’s 2012 pardon by North Carolina Gov. Beverly Purdue.

“She really helped the Wilmington 10. I am so sad to hear about her death,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the leader of the Wilmington 10 and president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Professor Guinier worked in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and then

14

Con’t from page 02

Rohn Lawrence Is Sent Off

used to always tell us that. And no matter times I hear that play in my head, I always end up crying.”

He launched into Christopher Cross’ “Sailing,” one of the songs he loved to play with Lawrence. Looking to the musician’s beaming face on a screen behind him, he saluted Lawrence, crooning smoothly. Then his voice wavered. During a drum solo from Smokey Ivory, he covered his face with a scarf and began to weep. In the front row, Rahni stood in support as he finished the song.

Andrew Sherman, who performed in and produced Lawrence’s 1994 album See Ya Around, met the musician when they both played for Najee. For three weeks, the band rehearsed together at Malcolm’s, which no longer survives. A year later, Sherman and Lawrence became roommates in Boston, starting a weekly funk night at the long-running venue Wally’s Jazz Cafe. He and a fellow producer became writers with Lawrence, publishing under the moniker Bread and Butter.

“I cannot believe he is not here right now, because he should be playing this,” he said before playing the melody for “Out In The Park Til’ Dark.” “I miss you, Rohn, already. I miss you already.”

In performance after performance, musicians paid homage not only to their friend, but to a New Haven of which he was a building block—a New Haven that risks erasure as musicians grow older, and the spots in which they trained and taught disappear from public memory. When Sherman asked who in the crowd remembered Malcolm’s, only a few cheers went up from the audience. Coffee shops and grocery stores line Whitney Avenue and Audubon Street where jazz music once bounced from venue to venue. 259 Orange St. has lived multiple lives, none of them musical, since the closure of Sidebar.

But when an era of musicians from the Foundry Café days gathered to play onstage, when Najee’s original band reassembled for the night, when Maia got mourners on their feet, all of that melted away.

Joe Melotti dedicated Donny Hathaway’s “A Song for You” to Lawrence, replacing the first refrain with “I’m singing this song for Rohnnie, can’t you see?”

It felt fitting.

“We know he’s here with us,” Najee said.

Con’t from page 9

Comics Superpower

based on people in his life. His brother and cousin, who were martial artists, inspired his character the Samurai. His sister, infamous for carrying objects in her bra, inspired his character Hoelotta Mama.

His series also includes characters inspired by his love for Egypt and Egyptian history.

The first hero Augustine made in the 1980s came to him while he was working at McDonald’s on Whalley Avenue. He asked kids: “What would be your super power in New Haven?” At the time several youth referenced a recent surge in local shootings. “You gotta be bullet proof out here,” one person told him. That inspired his first hero who was made of steel.

In the Aphro Physt Vs. Protector Force series, the Protector Force had its headquarters in Fair Haven.

In an upcoming issue, Augustine plans to place his characters in the times of the Covid pandemic. The story will include real-life perspectives of anti-maskers amidst the pandemic and the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

His goal is to get youth engaged in reading more and about real life lessons that they can relate to.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

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Purveyors Allowed Downtown

by ALLAN APPEL

It’s fine to cluster liquor outlets on Crown Street. On Orange Street? Fuggedaboutit.

That at least was the import of two developments at this week’s zoning board meeting, where a Crown Street developer won permission to try to fill an empty storefront with a high-end package store while Atticus Market withdrew a request to start selling beer in East Rock.

That glaring distinction in zoning practice emerged Tuesday night at a special meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals convened over the Zoom teleconferencing app.

Local attorney James Segaloff, representing the Crown Court Apartments, was on hand to request, per the meeting agenda, “a variance to allow a package permit to be located approximately 1,000 feet away from another establishment with a package permit where 1,500 feet is required.”

The 132-unit seven-story building at the corner of Crown and High streets has 10,000 feet of commercial (and amenity) space it has been unsuccessful in trying to rent for the past half year.

A prospect who would like to rent 2,000 feet for what Segaloff termed “an upscale liquor store” has come along. The landlord is naturally eager to say yes. However, at least two other liquor stores are closer than 1,500 feet away.

A City Plan report last month declared “no recommendation” either for or against the request.

“You’ll find you have a lot of choices downtown, a number of stores within 1,500 feet, and this board has found it appropriate in the past to grant such a variance,” Segaloff argued Monday night.

“This is not a little community in West Hills or elsewhere where there’s a value to keep liquor stores apart,” he adde.

That caught the attention of Commissioner Alexandra Daum, who referenced the appearance at BZA last month of representatives of the Atticus market at 771 Orange St. in East Rock also requesting a distance variance. That proposal was sent back to City Plan. Though they were supposed to appear at the Tuesday night meeting, the request was withdrawn and not heard.

“What’s the difference?” Daum asked.

City Plan staffer Nate Hougrand provided the answer: The Atticus request “was in a residential zone, and the use itself required a special exception as well as a variance for the distance. Here the use is allowed as of right and they are seeking relief just for the distance.”

Hougrand also reminded the commissioners that in the case of Atticus, the required hardship basis for the special treatment was financial; the BZA is not permitted to consider financial hardships. The Crown applicant’s hardship claim was based on location.

Segaloff added that public safety and health would not be imperiled by an approval of the Crown request. However, “not to allow the liquor store in this facility, it is an injustice to let an independent commercial business not to get started,” he argued.

During the public hearing portion of the gathering, Segaloff got an unexpected boost for his position from zoning attorney Ben Trachten. Trachten was speaking as a member of the public although he was

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on the meeting agenda representing applications on other matters.

“I would like to speak in favor,” Trachten said. “The distance requirement is a protectionist anomaly.” He recommended that as the requirement is operating more in the breach than the observance, it should be revoked.

“In most areas of downtown it’s impossible to satisfy this. And the recent growth of downtown should make us reconsider the rule, especially considering the residential density increasing downtown.”

In short order BZA Chairwoman Mildred Melendez moved to approve, and the vote of the commissioners was unanimous.

Con’t from page 13

Hamden Ties Tax Breaks To Local Hiring

mation about how a developer is advertising employment opportunities or other strategies they are engaging in to bring more residents, people of color, and women into their project.

“After that, we’re basing it on the integrity of the applicant to try to do the best thing for the town,” Johnson said.

“Do these policies adversely impact economic development?” he asked, following up on Bonadies’ skepticism. “That depends on where you sit.”

“Almost everything in New Haven is done as an assisted project — it became the rules of doing business in town.” In Hartford, he added, “if you’re gonna get significant public benefit,” it is a requirement to bring in “individuals of color who had not previously been able to participate in the development.” Johnson has held positions dealing with economic development in both Hartford and New Haven.

The Hamden ordinance simply “says that if you’re gonna take our benefit … this what we’re expecting you to do as a good corporate and community partner. And we’re not mandating it. We’re asking you to make your best efforts the sake of the entire community,” Johnson said.

“If people wanna move here to do business and they want to have public assistance, it’s not something that people are unfamiliar with.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022 Con’t from page 9

Youth Funding

comes in. In November, YARD launched a six-month extension of the program for 150 New Haven youth, funded entirely by American Rescue Plan dollars.

Those students, who began last November and will work through this May, are now working 10 hours per week at job sites including Yale New Haven Hospital, the New Haven Board of Education’s Graphics Department, Elm City Cheer, Inspired Communities, Inc., LEAP, Inc. and over a dozen other organizations. Youth@Work applications for this summer, for which there are 1,500 slots, are now open.

“We want to make sure that we put these dollars into the young person’s pockets that can then be circulated all through the community,” she said.

Under the $10 million “Youth Engagement & Early Childhood” umbrella, YARD also plans to open new drop-in youth centers as after-school programming remains thin. Busch Williams described them as spaces where youth can seek recreational activities, education help, mental health resources, and arts programming. “It can be just an open field of services for young people that we provide based on their needs,” she said.

YARD also plans to pilot its first-ever “counselor in training” program, designed to help teenagers and soon-to-be high school graduates learn basic skills like bookkeeping, answering the phone, calling out on a sick day, resolving on-the-job conflict, and sitting for a job interview.

It also plans to run a “driver’s safety” program that subsidizes the cost of an eighthour driver’s education course in Connecticut. Operating a motor vehicle safely and correctly is sometimes cost prohibitive for students, Busch Williams said. The department will be piloting the program to 300 students in the next two months, she said.

Arts & Culture Make The Cut As she builds out youth programming, Busch Williams said she is working closely with City Cultural Affairs Director Adriane Jefferson and Outreach Coordinator Kim Futrell to collaborate on projects that are culturally relevant and exciting to New Haven’s young people. She praised Jefferson for her focus on young people who have been left out of similar opportunities, particularly kids and teens living in resourcestrapped neighborhoods.

During the press conference, City Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli added that a portion of the $10 million allocated to “Wealth Creation & Economy” will directly support the implementation of New Haven’s Cultural Equity Plan, which is set to launch Thursday morning. He would not specify how much that funding will be, or how it will be implemented. When pressed for details, both he and Mayor Justin Elicker said that the document is a work in progress.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

A Listing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Nearly Two Dozen Visits to Birmingham

By Ryan Michaels | The Birmingham Times Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Birmingham have been intertwined ever since the Civil Rights leader helped dismantle segregation in a city once known as “Bombingham” for the frequent explosions at homes and Black churches during the 1950’s and 60’s. Many point to King’s efforts in Birmingham in the spring of 1963, when he helped direct thousands of demonstrators to fill up Birmingham jails, as legacy-defining. His work during that pivotal year helped loosen the grip of segregation not just in the South but nationwide. However, King, whose birthday will be celebrated on January 17, began his work in the Magic City before 1963 and he did return afterwards. Here’s a timeline of King’s most memorable visits to the city.

Jan. 23, 1955: King gives speech titled “A Realistic Approach to Race Relations” at a Birmingham NAACP rally at Tabernacle Baptist Church. In the speech, King rebukes pastors for ignoring the cause of civil rights.

March 7, 1956: King meets in Birmingham with journalist William Worthy and veteran organizer Bayard Rustin to develop strategy for the Montgomery Improvement Association. The MIA, which guided the Montgomery bus boycott, was led by King and civil rights titans Edgar “E.D.” Nixon and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The boycott, which began the Monday after Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white passenger on Dec. 1, lasted from Dec. 5, 1955 to Dec. 20, 1956, a

little over a month after a U.S. Supreme Court decision deemed Alabama’s bus segregation unconstitutional.

March 6, 1960: King speaks at Men’s Day at New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Birmingham’s South Titusville neighborhood. The church, which was led by pastor Nelson H. Smith, a leader in the Fred Shuttlesworth-led Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), was a common meeting place for many Civil Rights leaders. King had just left his role as pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery to dedicate more time to his Civil Rights work.

Feb. 12, 1962: King speaks on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday at an ACMHR event at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham. In his speech,

King urges members to keep the fight going for Civil Rights. “I wish I could tell you our road ahead is easy, that we are in the Promised Land, that we won’t have to suffer and sacrifice anymore, but not so.

We have got to be prepared,” King says, according to archived police documents.

“The time is coming when the police won’t protect us, the mayor and commissioner won’t think with clear minds, then we can expect the worse.”

King also recognizes the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the president of the ACMHR, who was in jail at that time.

Sept. 24, 1962: King speaks at the beginning of the SCLC annual convention which is held in Birmingham. A few days into the convention, just after King had been reelected as president of the SCLC,

a 22-year-old member of the American Nazi Party punches King twice. King urged those present to pray for the man and not hurt him.

April 2, 1963: King arrives at the A.G. Gaston Motel for the start of the Birmingham Campaign. Wyatt Walker, another civil rights leader and strategist, lays out plans for demonstrations to be held in the coming weeks.

April 3, 1963: King speaks alongside Walker and James Lawson, another Civil Rights Movement, to around 65 people before they are to sit in at five different lunch counters in the city. At Britt’s Department Store’s segregated lunch counter, 21 demonstrators are arrested.

April 4, 1963: King leads a small group in a march to Birmingham City Hall fol-

lowed that evening by a mass meeting at St James Baptist Church.

April 11, 1963: King and other leaders receive a court-ordered injunction against “boycotting, trespassing, parading, picketing, sit-ins, kneel-ins, wade-ins, and inciting or encouraging such acts.”

April 12, 1963: In defiance of the injunction, King leads a march on Good Friday, alongside Abernathy and Shuttlesworth.

King and 52 others arrested. While in solitary confinement at Birmingham City Jail, King pens his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” He also writes that the “greatest stumbling block” for Black people may be the “white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than justice.”

April 20, 1963: King bailed out of Birmingham City Jail, through money raised by singer and actor Harry Belafonte, who is a close friend and supporter of King.

April 30, 1963: After Birmingham city officials deny permits for a march on May 2, King allows James Bevel, another SCLC leader, to go before a mass meeting to inform people that demonstration would happen without the permits. Prior to his time with the SCLC, Bevel was part of the Nashville Student Movement, which organized student sit-ins in Nashville, Tennessee. King and other leaders decide to use similar tactics for the latest demonstration, courting high schoolers and younger children for the march.

Around 600 children are arrested at the march. At a mass meeting that night, King said, “If they think today is the end of this, they will be badly mistaken.”

May 7, 1963: After days of marches,

10 little-known facts about Martin Luther King Jr.

By Terry Shropshire | Rolling Out

Martin Luther King Jr. would be 93 years old today, had he not been assassinated on April 4, 1968. The nation has celebrated MLK’s birthday (Jan. 15, 1929) as a national holiday ever since former President Ronald Reagan signed it into law in 1983. The nation began observing the holiday in 1986.

As the nation pauses to pay homage to one of America’s greatest sons, take a look at some little-known facts about the late civil rights icon.

1. According to history.com and Insider, President Jimmy Carter was the first to propose a national holiday in MLK’s honor, but the measure did not pass in Congress.

2. South Carolina became the last state to observe MLK as a national holiday in 2000.

3. MLK Jr.’s father, MLK Sr., originally named his son “Michael.” But MLK Sr. made a transformational trip to Germany in 1934 where he became very inspired by

Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther. When he returned to Atlanta, MLK Sr. legally changed his name and that of his son to Martin Luther King Sr. and Jr.

when he was 5 years old.

4. King entered Morehouse College at the age of 15. King was such an academic genius that he was able to skip grades

18

nine and 12 before enrolling at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather.

5. King did not originally want to go into the ministry, despite the fact that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather were Baptist preachers. However, MLK changed his mind when legendary Morehouse president Benjamin E. Mays, who was also a theologian, persuaded him to get into alignment with his lineage. King, therefore, entered the ministry prior to graduation with his sociology degree.

6. King went to jail almost 30 times. The King Center lists MLK’s trips to jail at 29 times.

7. King narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a decade before his death.

King was signing copies of his new book, Stride Toward Freedom, on September 20, 1958, in Blumstein’s department store in Harlem, New York. A crazed critic, Izola Ware Curry, stabbed MLK in his chest, barely missing his aorta. The surgeon famously told King that just “one sneeze” could have punctured the aorta and killed him.

8. King’s mother was also killed by gunfire. MLK’s mother, Alberta Williams King, was playing the organ at Ebenezer Baptist Church on June 30, 1974. Suddenly, Marcus Wayne Chenault Jr., who was armed with two pistols, began firing.

One of the shots struck and killed King’s mother. He said he received divine instructions to kill Martin Luther King Sr., but he settled on the mother because she was closer. Chenault also killed a church deacon.

9. Academy Award-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson was an usher at MLK funeral. Jackson, like MLK, is a graduate of Morehouse College. Afterwards, Jackson traveled to Memphis with Bill Cosby to continue the sanitation strike that King had started before he was slain on April 4, 1968.

10. According to history.com, MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech was at least partially inspired by gospel legend Mahalia Jackson.

The post 10 little-known facts about Martin Luther King Jr. appeared first on Rolling Out.

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,19 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January , 2022 - January 25, 2022 - August 02, 2016

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Maximum income limitations apCommunities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesysply. Pre-applications willtems.com/gateway be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y beginning on 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re20, 2021 3:00PM. quest by callingMonday, HOME INCDecember at 203-562-4663 duringatthose hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

WaterNOTICIA Treatment

Water Treatment Pumping Operator II. The Town of Wallingford Water Division VALENTINA VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES is seeking qualifiMACRI ed candidates to maintain and operate facilities related to the Town’s water supply. Must possess High school diploma or G.E.D. In addition candidates must possess following experience andy de certifi cation requirements: (A) Water HOMEone INC,ofenthe nombre de la Columbus House la New Haven Housing Authority, está Treatment Class IV Operator (WTP IV) certification two (2) of actual aceptandoPlant pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un with dormitorio en years este desarrollo experience Class109 IV Frank waterStreet, treatment Waterlimitaciones Treatment de Plant Class ubicado eninlaa calle Newplant, Haven.orSe(B) aplican ingresos IVmáximos.

Operating-in-Training (WTP IV OIT) certification with three (3) yearsMartes of actual Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando 25 experience a Class IVse water treatment plant, with the ability(aproximadamente to obtain the WTP IV julio, 2016inhasta cuando han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes 100) certifi cation within twelve (12) from the date hire, or por (C) correo Water aTreatment en las oficinas de HOME INC. months Las pre-solicitudes seránofenviadas petición Plant ClassaIII Operator III) certifi cation a minimum of four (4)remitirse years of llamando HOME INC al(WTP 203-562-4663 durante esaswith horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán qualifying experience. $27.98 - $33.96 hourly plustercer an excellent fringe benefi package. a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, piso, New Haven , CTt 06510 .

Application forms may be obtained at the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Forms will be mailed upon request from the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone: (203)-294-2080. Fax (203)-294-2084 The closing date will be the date the 50th application or resume is received or January 19 2022, whichever occurs first. EOE

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave State of Connecticut 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Office ofappliances, Policynew and Management

Apply:Pace, 1425 Honeyspot

Rd. Ext., Stratford, CT EOE

Town of Bloomfield Administrative Clerk

Salary $32.78 hourly Deadline to apply 12/22/21 Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE. For Details go to www. bloomfieldct.org

DRIVER CDL CLASS A Full Time – All Shifts Top

Pay-Full Benefits

EOE Please apply in person: 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Enterprise Builders Inc. (“EBI”), acting as Construction Manager for Park-

side Village I LLC, will receive qualified sub-contractor proposals for the work associated with the project known as Parkside Village I (the “Project”). Bids shall be received via hand delivery, e-mail, or fax at the contact information below, on or before 4:00 p.m. local time on Thursday, January 20th, 2022. The bids will be privately opened.

This project consists of new construction of a 4 story 67 unit 76,000 SF apartment building in Branford, CT. This project will be phased. Project is anticipated to start in May of 2022.

Drawings can be viewed free of charge via iSqFt. Please reach out to the contacts below to request an invitation to bid. Documents may also be viewed at EBI’s office 46 Shepard Drive, Newington Connecticut 06111 (between the hours of 8am– 5pm), Monday through Friday where a disc with all documents may be obtained free of charge.

This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. Be advised that for all bids over $50,000, the bidder is subject to meeting the State's requirements concerning CT CHRO, regarding Connecticut's Supplier Diversity Small Business & Minority Business hiring compliance goals; 25% of the total cost of the contract must be awarded to certified DAS Small Businesses, and 6-1/2% of the total to DAS Minority businesses. Note: Small businesses are not exempt from meeting the Minority goals; they must still endeavor to hire 6-1/2% minority. By submitting a bid, you are accepting the responsibility to meet the State's requirements as part of your contract. Subcontractors will be required to prepare state set-aside plans.

The project is tax exempt. Residential prevailing wages apply.

This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Sub-contractors may contact Bryan Addy via email at baddy@enterbuilders.com or

Invitationphone to Bid:(860) 466-5120, Justin Caporiccio via email at jcaporiccio@enterbuilders.com or phone (860) 466–5104 regarding the project.

2nd Notice

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders The Owner and EBI reserve the rights to accept any, all, or any part of bids; to reject Top pay for top performers. Health any, all, or any part of bids; to waive any non-material deficiencies in bid responses, to Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Old Saybrook, waiveCT minor inconsistencies; and to award the bid that in its judgment will be in the best (4 Buildings, 17 Units) interests of the Owner.

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s recruiting for two (2) Connecticut Career Trainees and a Lead Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates Planning Analyst. in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at:

St. New Haven, CT

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

NEEDED Part Time Delivery Day a Week, Deadline toNeeded applyOne/Two is 12/17/21

https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview.asp Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour ?R1=211213&R2=2292AR&R3=001 until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the and Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview.asp ?R1=211213&R2=2292AR&R3=002

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Of-

fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the

EBI is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer. Section 3, Veteranowned, S/M/W/DBE’s & DAS Certified are encouraged to participate.

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastDELIVERY PERSON in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, TOWN OF EAST HAVEN Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

PURCHASING AGENT This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview.asp ?R1=211213&R2=0007AR&R3=001;

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons from with disabilities.

Bidding documents are available the Seymour Housing Authority

Full Time, Benefits, Top Pay

LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID PARKSIDE VILLAGE I

The Town of East Haven seeks a qualified candidate to serve in the position of

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 This is a highly responsible position involving purchasing and Purchasing Agent. purchasing functions of the municipality. Qualified candidates should Anticipated Start: directing August 15,the 2016 possess a bachelor’s Project documents available via ftp link below: degree in business administration or related field preferably including or supplemented with special course work in purchasing/municipal bid http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage processes and materials management plus five (5) years’ of progressively responSeeking qualified condidates to sible purchasing work or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com fillFaxnumerous vacancies to inexperience.

Must have valid class 3 Connecticut Driver’s License. The salary for HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses this position is $62,541/year, 35 hours per week and the Town offers an excellent clude, DeputyHaynes Assessor, Mechanic Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 benefit package. Please send cover letter and resume with references to: Town of Sewer Line, Public Health Nurse AA/EEO EMPLOYER East Haven, Michelle Benivegna, Human Resource Department, 250 Main Street, and more. For information and East Haven, CT 06512 or MBenivegna@townofeasthavenct.org. Resumes will detailed application instructions, be accepted until the position is filled. The Town of East Haven is committed to visit www.ci.milford.ct.us building a work force of diverse individuals. Minorities, females, handicapped and Click on SERVICES, JOBS and veterans are encouraged to apply. The Town of East Haven is an equal opportunity JOB TITLE. employer.

(203) 435-1387

CITY OF MILFORD

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January , 2022 - January 25, 2022 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,19 2016 - August 02, 2016

Construction

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valWe offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits id drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621Contact: Tom Dunay VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Phone: 860- 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom this develAffiatrmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to applyapartments opment locatedAction/ at 108 Frank New Haven.

Maximum income limitations ap- Drug Free Workforce Affirmative EqualStreet, Opportunity Employer ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reGarrity Asphalt Incduring seeks: CT Fence quest by calling HOMEReclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 those hours.Large Completed pre- Company looking for an individual for our Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing PVCStreet, Fence Third Production Shop. Experience preferred but will applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northtrain the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. This is an in-shop production poContact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 sition. Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and Email: rick.touMust have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain signant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDESmore.

DISPONIBLES a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply drug test. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com.

Affirmative Action/deEqual Opportunity HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y Employer de la New Haven Housing Authority, está AA/EOE-MF aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipjulio,Must 2016have hastaacuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes ment.

CDL License, clean driving record, capable of (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas porSeeking correo atopetición operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, llamando HOME INC alexcellent 203-562-4663 horas.Pre-solicitudes deberánand remitirse Northeast &aNY. We offer hourlydurante rate &esas excellent benefits operator teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT personal 06510 . transportation and a valid drivers license reReliable

NOTICE

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

NOTICIA

Union Company seeks:

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

NEW HAVEN

Construction

quired. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

Drug Free Workforce

St. New Haven, CT

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Full Time Class B driver for a fast paced petroleum company for days and weekends.

Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

Invitation to Bid: State of Connecticut 2nd Notice ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** Office of Policy and Management

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Old Saybrook, CT The State of Connecticut, Office(4ofBuildings, 17 Units) HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY Policy and Management is recruiting Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project for a Staff Attorney 1 (confidential) position.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

Listing: Commercial Driver

Inspection Services RFP No. P22001

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastFurther information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and Concrete, applicationAsphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, in-place instructions are available at:

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework,SCOPE:

https://www.jobapscloud.com/ The Housing Authority of the City of Danbury hereby issues this Request Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1 for Proposal to secure a contract to perform HQS Inspections. =211124&R2=1637CR&R3=001 This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encouragesBid the Extended, applications Due Date: August 5, 2016 Housing Authority of the City of Danbury, 2 Mill Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT 06811 of women, minorities, and persons Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 with disabilities.

Envelope Must be Marked: RFP No.P22001, Inspection Services

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL RETURN:

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage SUBMITTAL DEADLINE POLICE OFFICER February 9, 2022 at 9:00am (EST) Fax orCity Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com of Bristol HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any

CONTACT Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 PERSON FOR IFB DOCUMENT: $69,017Haynes - $83,893/yr.

Ms. Devin Marra, Director of Financial Operations, Required testing, AA/EEO EMPLOYER Telephone: 203-744-2500 x1410 registration info, and apply E-Mail: dmarra@hacdct.org online: www.bristolct.gov DEADLINE: 02-25-22 [Minority- and/or women-owned businesses are encouraged to respond] EOE

20

INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS- January July 27,19 2016 - August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITY , 2022 - January 25, 2022

DRIVER CDL CLASS A

WATER DISTRIBUTION NOTICE

Full Time – All Shifts Top Pay-Full Benefits EOE Please apply in person: 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

The Town of Wallingford is seeking qualified applicants for Assistant Superintendent – Water Distribution.

The position responsiblePREfor providing technicalAVAILABLE and managerial VALENTINA MACRI RENTALis HOUSING APPLICATIONS direction in the operation and maintenance of the Town’s Water Department distribution system. qualifications are a House bachelor's inHaven civil orHousing sanitaryAuthority, engineerHOME INC,The on behalf of Columbus and degree the New ing, plus five years of progressively responsible experience in water operations with at is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develleast three years in water distribution, or an equivalent combination of education and opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apqualifying experience. Applicants must have or being able to obtain within six months, ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y a State of Connecticut Department of Health Services Class II Distribution System 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have Operator Certification. Must possess and maintain a valid CT driver’s license. Salary: been received at theannually offices of HOME INC. Applications willts be mailiedApplication upon re$79,014 to $101,097 plus an excellent fringe benefi package. questmay by calling HOME at 203-562-4663 during those hours.

Completed preforms be obtained at INC the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Forms will be mailed upon request Floor, Haven, CT 06510. Resources or may be downloaded from the Town of from theNew Department of Human Wallingford Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone: (203) 294-2080, Fax: (203) 294-2084. Applications and resumes can be emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct. gov by the closing date of February 10, 2022. EOE

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

NOTICIA

MECHANIC TRACTOR TRAILER

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP COMPANY

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición 360 Management is currently seeking proposals for tax credit compliance. llamando a HOMEGroup INC alCo. 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse A acomplete copy of the INC requirement may be obtained fromNew 360 Haven Management’s las oficinas de HOME en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, , CT 06510Ven.

Full Time, Benefits, Top Pay

Request for Proposals Tax Credit Compliance

dor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, January 10, 2022 at 3:00PM.

NEW HAVEN Listing: Risk and Safety Manager 242-258 Fairmont Ave

Petroleum company has a need a full time1Risk Safety Man2BR Townhouse, 1.5forBA, 3BR, leveland, 1BA ager. AllSchedule includes weekends and night coverage.

Job& requires new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 I-95 instate travel throughout Candidate must be detail oriented, highways, the nearweek. bus stop & shopping center have aPetstrong logistics knowledgeable in OSHA, DOT, under 40lb allowed.background, Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 EPA, WC regulations. Previous petroleum, transportation or management experience a plus. Send resume to: HR Manager, P.O. Box 388, CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program.

This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates Guilford, CT. 06437. in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

**An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

******

St. New Haven, CT

THE GLENDOWER GROUP SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Request for Qualifi cations Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Project Architect for the Repositioning of Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Elm City Communities Scattered Sites Properties

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith The Glendower Group is currently seeking Proposals for a project architect for the reStreet Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, scattered on Wednesday, July 20,A2016. positioning of Elm City Communities sites properties. complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Authority OfBidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing

fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Monday, September 27, 2021 at 3:00PM. The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any

Apply:Pace, 1425 Honeyspot

Rd. Ext., Stratford, CT EOE

Account Clerk-Payroll: The Town of East Haven is currently accepting applications to participate in the examination for Account Clerk-Payroll. The current vacancy is in the Finance Department of the Board of Education but this list may be used to fill other Account Clerk positions within the Town of East Haven. The starting salary is $54,325/year, 40 hours per week. Applications are available by calling 203-468-3375 or online at https:// www.townofeasthavenct.org/civil-service-commission/pages/job-notices-and-tests and must be returned Invitation to Bid: by mail to the Civil Service Offi ce, 250 Main Street, East Haven CT 06512 by February 11, 2022. The 2nd Notice Town of East Haven is committed to VILLAGE building a workforce of diverse individuals. Minorities, Females, SAYEBROOKE Handicapped and Veterans are encouraged to apply.

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

POLICE OFFICER New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastCity ofin-place Bristol Ducci Electrical Contractors, we believe it is our duty to encourage the Concrete, Asphalt At Shingles, Vinyl Siding, growth and use of small, minority, women-owned, disadvantaged and

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential disabled andCasework, non-disabled veteran-owned businesses. $69,017 - $83,893/yr.

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

We are committed to the principles and practices of Equal Employment Required testing, Opportunities, Civil Rights, Diversity and Inclusion and the This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. registration info, and apply implementation of policies, codes, and regulations that will foster

online: www.bristolct.gov growth, promote advancement, and provide opportunities Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 for all subcontractors and vendors.

DEADLINE: 02-25-22 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 EOE Project documents available via ftp link below: For additional information, or to be added to our bid list, http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

DRIVER CDL CLASS A please send your qualifications to the following contact: Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBEStacey & Section 3 Certified Businesses Vincent, Contracts & Diversity Manager Full TimeHaynes – AllConstruction ShiftsCompany, Top 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 svincent@duccielectrical.com

AA/EEO EMPLOYER Pay-Full Benefits If you are interested in becoming part of our workforce, please contact:

EOE Please apply in person: 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

21

Catherine Best, Corporate Compliance Officer cbest@duccielectrical.com www.duccielectrical.com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Faithfull Utterances

Your Network can Impact Your Net worth

By Dr. Froswa Booker-Drew

As we enter a new year, it is important to reflect. For many, the new year is an opportunity to make changes and do things differently. I would encourage you in 2022 to think about your network and think strategically about your relationships. Much of our existence depends upon those we are around and although we cannot control every person we encounter, we can be more intentional about who has access to our time, our talent, and our treasure. Everyone cannot be on your team. While working on my PhD, I became fascinated with the term, ‘social capital,’ which is about networks, associations, and relationships.

At the core of social capital is trust. Just as money or our education are forms of

capital that can be used to make things happen, our relationships also can either elevate or expel us from opportunities. Relationships flourish when there is trust and the willingness to collaborate.

When there is jealousy, envy, gossip, slander or even hatred, there is division and discord— there is no trust. And yet, many people will continue to run with folks who they don’t like secretly. Called ‘Frenemies,’ it is a combination of the words ““friend” and “enemy” and refers to “a person with whom one is friendly, despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry.”

These are toxic relationships that take away time and energy for relationships that could be productive and beneficial.

Frenemies do not have a clear view of themselves and tend to distort reality often because of their clouded vision that

is compounded by low self-esteem, unresolved emotions, and toxic behaviors like passive aggressiveness. Frenemies are hazardous to your health and wealth.

In Numbers 13, Joshua and Caleb were spies with ten other men to determine if they could take the land of Canaan as requested by Moses. “30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak

come from the Nephilim).

We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Caleb and Joshua were the only ones who believed that it was possible.

Keep in mind that these men were from the 12 Tribes of Israel—they all lived, worked, and worshipped together—and yet, they had a vastly different report.

They not only spread misinformation within the group to create doubt, but they also saw themselves as inadequate. More importantly, they trusted in their ability and not in God’s. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones permitted to enter the Promised Land. Are you missing the promises of God because of who is in your camp?

Are there individuals that you needed to leave behind in 2021 so that you could enter 2022 trusting what God promised

you with the right people? Everyone cannot go with you because they cannot see what you see. I am often reminded of the comparison between eagles and chickens.

One soars in the air and the other scratches on the ground. In 2022, examine your crew. It may be time to walk away from those who cannot see the possibilities but only identify the problems.

Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew is the Founder and CEO of Soulstice Consultancy, Specializing as a Partnership Broker and Leadership Expert for companies and organizations to thrive with measurable and meaningful impact.

She also is the VP of Community Affairs and Strategic Alliances for the State Fair of Texas.

Congress Passes Measure to Raise Debt Ceiling, Avoiding Government Default

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Congress has approved legislation to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion, a move that preempts any threat of a federal default until at least 2023.

The federal government has never defaulted on debt payments.

One Republican and all Democrats in the House voted to approve the hike, which passed in the chamber by a 221-209 vote.

In the Senate, the measure passed strictly along party lines with a final vote tally of 50-49.

President Joe Biden expects to immediately sign the bill, which gained traction only after using a so-called special pathway that allowed for a simple majority vote.

Lawmakers had to use the special pathway before the middle of January, or it could have faced a filibuster and other hurdles that would have allowed Republicans to block the measure.

“The debt limit amount has been modified 98 times since 1945, including for increases and suspensions. It was necessary to modify it once again to maintain a healthy economy, as well as our country’s reputation as a trustworthy borrower,” Texas Democratic Congressman Al Green

stated.

“At stake were the livelihoods of working families, who would have had to suffer drastically higher borrowing costs for financial obligations such as mortgages, student loans, credit card bills, and car loans,” Congressman Green remarked.

“Now more than ever is the time to strengthen the American economy, not make decisions that will cripple it. Moreover, emerging technologies and geopolitical forces demand our nation’s stability and preparedness so we can overcome any challenges that may head our way.”

Using the special pathway to pass the debt ceiling bill also raised questions about creating exceptions to the filibuster

to push through significant voting rights legislation and President Biden’s Build Back Better bill.

Grassroots leaders of the West Virginia Poor People’s Campaign marched in a picket line outside Joe Manchin’s office in Washington, D.C., demanding that their senator meet with them about his refusal to support Build Back Better and voting rights protections.

Sen. Manchin (D-WV) has refused any changes to the filibuster and effectively has blocked critical legislation that the President and most of Manchin’s constituents wish to see passage.

On Tuesday, December 14, the Poor People’s Campaign demanded answers

Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump Named to TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People

TIME named nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump to the 2021 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, making him the only personal injury trial lawyer to make the list.

Crump has established himself as one of the nation’s foremost lawyers and advocates for social and racial justice.

In addition to working on some of the most high-profile cases in the U.S., representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, Crump has fought for justice for the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by poisoned water; Black women with ovarian cancer targeted by Johnson & Johnson to use talc products; and people who experienced discriminatory practices – “banking while Black” – by some of the nation’s largest banks.

He is the founder and principal owner

of Ben Crump Law.

“Ben Crump transcends and transforms the traditional role of a lawyer,” said U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters.

“He is not only having an impact on the culture both inside and outside the courtroom, but his advocacy is influencing corporate boardrooms and the highest levels of government.”

Crump has been nationally recognized as the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, Ebony Magazine Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, and has been referred to as “Black America’s Attorney General.”

His book, published in October 2019, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People, documents how America is killing Black people, whether with a bullet or a lengthy prison sentence, and justifying it legally.

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“It’s an honor to be recognized this way and to use any influence I have to bring about greater racial justice for all Americans,” Crump said.

“I am deeply grateful to every single person who has raised a voice to elevate our cries for equality, and I will continue to use any influence I have to make our laws, our justice system, and corporate America more just and free of systemic racism.”

He released a video with the family members of people killed by police, urging supporters to call their senators.

“Ben is shining a light on racial injustice everywhere it exists,” said Rev. Al Sharpton, who has called him Black America’s attorney general.

“He is changing hearts and minds, practices and precedents, laws and lives.”

The list, now in its eighteenth year, recognizes the impact, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals.

from the senator.

“Everybody knows ours is one of the poorest states in the country. So, it’s a shame that the senior senator, a Democrat, cannot support his state and the people in his state,” said Stewart Acuff from Jefferson County, West Virginia.

The state leaders marched in a picket line outside the Hart Building, the location of Sen. Manchin’s office. After several people spoke, police officers warned that their voices were too loud, so they continued with the silent picketing.

“We’re here today because we know that Sen. Manchin not only lied to West Virginians. He lied to the nation,” Bishop William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, explained.

“He not only lied to West Virginians. He lied to the nation,” Bishop Barber said.

“And I’m using that word intentionally because it’s provable. And his inaction and his lies about scarcity – he’s saying he’s taking these positions because we don’t have enough – that’s a lie.”

The Bishop called Manchin’s action a “form of political violence against the 140 million poor and low-wealth people in this country and especially to people who have suffered during COVID, regardless of their color or their geography.”

“He has engaged in a form of political policy violence. As a result, people will stay sick, people will die, people will not be able to recover,” Bishop Barber continued.

“He also never asks these questions about scarcity when it comes to the military or corporate America. He’s never seen a corporate tax break he didn’t want to pass or a military budget he wouldn’t fund.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 19, 2022 - January 25, 2022

Mikaela Shiffrin U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist

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