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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

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Drums, Dance Set MLK Day Rhythm

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

On MLK Day, A Place Where Music Does The Talking

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

By the second half of “Lovely Day,” hearts were pumping and twisting across the sanctuary. By “Siyahamba,” attendees were dancing in their seats. And when conductor Kenneth Joseph raised his hands for “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the sun shifted outside, and sheaves of gold light streamed into the church.

A cry for collective action and resistance descended on Elm Street Monday afternoon, as Music Haven and St. Luke’s Steel Band performed their 10th annual concert in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. For the third year in a row, the concert was held at First & Summerfield United Methodist Church downtown. Hundreds came out for the performance, titled “No Hate/No Fear: A Celebration Of Togetherhood.”

For the first time in a decade, both groups ditched quotations from King’s written and elocutionary history for an hour of uninterrupted music. Musicians were accompanied

by New Haven singer-songwriter Thabisa Rich (who performs simply as Thabisa), who has led workshops with the students in the past months. And in turn, the pieces spoke completely for themselves.

“We really wanted to focus on the music,” said Mandi Jackson, executive director of Music Haven. “We’re celebrating 10 years of collaboration of these organizations, but also the spirit of the day.”

The change feels right on time. In 2010, the concert started as an experiment between violist Colin Benn, who was then a musician in residence at Music Haven, and steel pan teacher and composer Deborah Fischer Teason. Joseph, who conducts the steel band, had just arrived in New Haven “and was sort of thrown into it.” In 10 years, both organizations have grown in number, pushing them to look for larger spaces.

After making a home at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Whalley Avenue—right next to Music Haven’s original home—the concert moved in 2016 to Christ Church on Broadway, and then in 2018 to First & Summerfield on Elm Street. There have been keynote addresses, readings from students, and awards ceremonies along the way.

As an arrangement of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” soared over the audience, that new spirit wove itself through the space, slipping under seats and cozying up to new attendees. Sun streamed through the windows, filling the church with light. While the same verve of Withers’ 1977 recording was there, this rendition bounced and rolled forward, steel pan undulating like laughter.

Across the packed church, attendees seemed to sit up a little straighter in their seats. A few scrunched their eyes, as if they were formulating the words in their heads.

Others nodded to the lyrics, smiles flickering as they shook off any residual cold.

Suddenly, it seemed, the musicians had a new nimbleness, students diving deep on the songs and coming out with new meaning. When the concert flowed from “Lovely Day” into The Impressions’ “People Get Ready”—recorded three years before King

was assassinated in Memphis—the song promised its listeners that there was a better universe on the horizon, Curtis Mayfield almost audible between the sing-song of the drums.

Pieces also packed a punch, a reminder not just of King’s vision, but also of the institutional racism that has worked so hard to stifle it at every turn. As musicians transitioned into Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” the mood shifted. A heaviness settled over the sanctuary, instruments lifting through it. Thabisa took on Cooke’s words as a mellifluous rallying cry.

I was born by the river/ in a little old tent, oh and Just like this river, I’ve been running ever since It’s been a long, a long time coming But I know, a change is gotta come, oh yes it will The strings became a dependable march.

Thabisa wailed, and it was enough to bring a grown person to their knees. She bellowed, strings slipping beneath her, and nearly every eye in the room followed her as she swayed. From the other side of a makeshift stage, steel rang out like a backup choir.

By the time she crooned “it’s been too hard living/But I’m afraid to die/Cause I don’t know what’s up there/Beyond the sky,” it was hard not to think of the bodies that could have been listening if a change had come sooner: not just King, who would have been 91 years old this year, but also Malik Jones, Jayson Negron, Anthony “Chulo” Vega, and most recently Mubarak Soulemane, a Gateway Community College student who was killed by a state trooper last Wednesday.

It wasn’t, the musicians seemed to say, that a change was gonna come because it would be nice. Instead, a change was going to come because it had to. That there was— and is—no other alternative in New Haven, in Connecticut, or in the country. As they performed in the church—a longtime sanctuary congregation—the state-sanctioned evil of militarism of which King warned raged on outside.

The work King did on the Poor People’s Campaign still needed to get done. Economic depravity and exploitation still wormed their way into city planning meetings and claims of eminent domain around the city. Cooke hadn’t needed to say any of those things because he sang it instead.

But with it also existed a resolve that was palpable: hundreds of people in the same space, listening to the same musicians who had worked for hours to get to a single point. Hundreds of ears that were reminded, in a single moment, that the arc of history bends more easily when there are several hands supporting it.

When he conducts, Joseph said, he remembers that the steel pan itself is a product of forced migration, enslavement, and diaspora. Centuries after enslaved Africans had their hand drums taken from them— and decades after the music has become a robust presence in the U.S.— he still turns to the instrument as a way to remember a history of resilience in the face of cruelty.

“He [King, Jr.] fought for freedom and equality,” Joseph said. “One thing about the steel pan instrument is that we also had to fight for a name for ourselves to make the instrument something. For me, it’s much bigger than myself and more about the instrument. It’s how we showcase this in a positive light.”

As she accompanied musicians, Thabisa deepened the set with two of her original pieces, “Theta Inyani” and “I Can’t Give Up Now.” The first, she explained, means to “speak the truth”—which she arrived at the church ready to do.

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The second, sung right from the gut, relies on a refrain that she has come too far to give up on what she believes in. Long before she had joined attendees in a finale of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” she was preaching it through her lyrics. As a mom, an artist, and an advocate against police brutality, she said, she it as part of her work.

“I’m so thrilled that I’m involved with these young people,” she said after the concert, which marked her second MLKrelated performance of the weekend. “To perform on this very memorable weekend … I need to leave people with a message.

They need to be reminded that we need to do better. We need to speak up. We need to have these conversations in our houses, in our communities. We need to stand up with our brothers and sisters.”

“It [change] just has to come,” she added, noting the need for white parents to talk to their children about the legacy of race and racism. “Because it is moving too slow.”

To watch more from Monday’s concert, go to the videos www.newhavenarts.org/ arts-paper/articles/on-mlk-day-no-hate-nofear-lets-the-music-do-the-talking

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Homeless Youth Counted

by THOMAS BREEN

Her face peeking out from a gray hoodie, a 22-year-old woman answered each question about her past homelessness and present temporary housing with a nod, a soft-spoken “No,” or a gentle request for more information.

Yes, she was homeless for two years after her mom fell sick and her family was evicted from their Munson Street apartment.

No, she’s never traded sex for a place to stay.

Does she drink alcohol? “I only drink if I don’t got weed.”

Her survey participation earned her a Walmart gift card — and should help city homelessness social service providers better understand how many young people in New Haven need their help.

That young woman (who asked to remain anonymous in this story) took that survey Monday afternoon at Youth Continuum‘s headquarters at 924 Grand Ave. The survey was part of the local homeless youth support nonprofit’s participation in this year’s Youth Outreach and Count.

The annual count seeks to identify how many homeless and housing insecure young people between the ages of 13 and 24 currently live in New Haven and across the state.

The week-long youth count started on Jan. 22 and ended Tuesday. It came directly on the heels of Jan. 21’s federally mandated once-a-year, one-night-only Point-In-Time (PIT) Count of all homeless people, adults and children, living on the streets or in city shelters.

In addition to taking place over a week instead of all on a single night, the youth count differs from the annual PIT by focusing on both truly homeless youth as well as youth who are couchsurfing or otherwise living on their own, in unstable housing, without a parent or guardian.

Staff and volunteers from Youth Continuum, the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH), and other local social services agencies spread out across the city over the course of the week to hotspots where housing insecure young people congregate. Those include public libraries, Dunkin Donuts, and the offices of relevant nonprofits like Youth Continuum.

“We started the homeless outreach and youth count [several years ago] as an initiative to gather data on vulnerable populations and conduct outreach and engage them,” said CCEH Development Advisor Madeline Ravich (pictured).

That data is ultimately used to secure state and federal grants for nonprofits like Youth Continuum that provide housing, employment, and healthcare assistance to the most vulnerable young people in the city.

This year’s PIT and Youth Count data won’t be published and publicly available until later this spring.

Youth Continuum staffer Douglas Mills, before he administered Monday afternoon’s survey.

Last year, the PIT Count found 503 people in New Haven experiencing homelessness. Of that total, 98 were children, 50 were adults in families, and 355 were single adults.

The 2019 Youth Outreach and Count report estimated that, across the state, 9,303 youth under the age of 25 reported experiencing homelessness or being unstably housed the night of Jan. 22, 2019.

The report does not include any estimates as to what portion of that number are in New Haven.

On Monday morning, Mayor Justin Elicker visited Youth Continuum’s headquarters to talk with CEO Paul Kosowsky and a half-dozen other staff about the manifold services they provide to local homeless youth, the challenges of finding safe and affordable housing for their target population, and the critical role that the state’s Coordinated Access Networks (CANs) and a new federal Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program grant play in the services they provide.

Kosowsky said the local nonprofit provides seven permanent supportive housing units and 32 rapid re-housing units throughout the city, as well as 20 beds for youth exiting child welfare. The organization is partnering with the Y2Y youth housing nonprofit to build out up to 20 new beds at its 924 Grand Ave. headquarters later this year.

Kosowsky and Director of Community Services Kathy Grega said that one of Youth Continuum’s primary objectives is to provide housing insecure youth with emergency housing and support so that they do not have to go to an adult shelter, which many are already averse to do.

“The earlier a person gets into the shelter system,” Grega said, “the harder it is to get out.”

Celebrate & Remember

DR. MARTIN LUTHER

KING, JR.

I HAVE A DREAM THAT MY FOUR LITTLE CHILDREN WILL ONE DAY LIVE IN A NATION WHERE THEY WILL NOT BE JUDGED BY THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN, BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CHARACTER. - DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

“Homeless For Two Years” After the mayor’s hour-long check-in with the staff, a young woman walked through Youth Continuum’s doors for her previously scheduled appointment Con’t on next page 06

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

West Haven Black Heritage Committee Gets Ready for Black History Month

Members of the West Haven Black Heritage Committee and other activists gather on the steps of City Hall with a new banner to commemorate Black History Month, which begins on February 1st.

The banner includes six images of

historical black figures in the United States. They are Madam CJ Walker, Olympian Jessie Owens, Congresswoman and first female and black presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm, former President Barack Obama, Harriet Tubman and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther

King, Jr. “The City’s Black Heritage Celebration will be held on Thursday, February 27th at 11:00 in the Harriet North Community Room, second floor, West Haven City Hall.” Said Committee Chairman Steven R. Mullins. “At that ceremony the West

Haven’s African-American Citizen of the Year will be honored, along with two highly accomplished black West Haven High School seniors. The names will be announced in the next two weeks.” he said.

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO Babz Rawls Ivy

Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

Advertising/Sales Team Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne / John Thomas, III

Editorial Team Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports

Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery

Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

Contributors At-Large

Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org

Memberships

National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.

Celebrating the legacy of Dr. King. ― Pictured are: Front row L to R: Banner Designer Kyle Kearson, Councilwoman Robbin Hamilton, D-5, Councilwoman Trenee McGee, D-7, Kathy Tucker, Denis Wright, Committee Chairman Commissioner Steven R. Mullins. Back Row L to R: Mark Lee, Stanley Chambers, Michelle Mays, Jeffrey Moreno, Mackie McMillan, Commissioner Christopher Suggs.Photograph Credit: Kathy Chambers

ya l e i n st i t u t e o f sa c r e d m u s i c joins the

inner city news in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans to the cultural and spiritual life of New Haven and the world.

Embracing a vision of Greater New Haven as a place of opportunity for all. cfgnh.org

#GNHOpportunity

DONT LET THEM COUNT YOU OUT! e v e n t l i st i n g s at ism.yale.edu

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Drums, Dance Set MLK Day Rhythm

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

Seny Tatchöl Camara was conjuring Sörsörnë. From his flattened palms, a rhythm rose that connected him to a heartbeat, and a heartbeat to Guinea.

Sörsörnë danced in, white and red raffia flowing. Feet pounding, the costumed figure moved toward the center of the floor. To the drum, a joyful quickening, Sörsörnë began to rise.

Monday, Sörsörnë arrived at the Marsh Lecture Hall via the Kouffin Kanecke Company, a New Haven based group that teaches West African dance and drumming in the city. The performance was part of the 24th annual celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice, an initiative of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and the New Haven Museum.

In addition to the Kouffin Kanecke Company, the two-day celebration featured local musicians, spoken word poets and storytelling artists, and dancers from the Keepers of the Culture Performing Arts Company.

“This is all about joy,” said Kouffin Kanecke founder Aly Tatchöl Camara, who came to New Haven from Guinea over 20 years ago. “This has a kind of power. It connects me with the ancestors.

Sometimes, I don’t even know what I’m doing, and they guide me.”

“My middle name, Tatchöl, means medicine man,” he added as almost an afterthought. “This is my medicine.”

Monday, those ancestors him as he took the stage with the company. As Tatchöl Camara eased into a rhythm, he soared between three squat drums, shoulders pumping. Around him, members joined in, each responding to the call without ever adding words to the mix. At the far end, New Havener Taurice Brown lifted her shekere (also called a djabara), hands moving in perfect time.

Closer in, Judith Rochon and Inara Ramin began to work out a heartbeat.

Tatchöl Camara’s son Seny, who has been playing since he was tall enough to stand and is now an adjunct professor at the University of New Haven (he also plays in the local group The Lost Tribe), unleashed a gallop as his palms struck the taut skin of his djembe.

In the audience, a few attendees clapped along. Some had started to dance, very quietly, in their chairs and in the aisles.

Others sat at the edges of their seats, waiting to see and hear what was coming next.

This was a kind of musical alchemy.

At one point, Tatchöl Camara ceded the stage to other members of the company, nodding along before standing and moving to the sound as it coasted over the room. At another, he headed for the

photos: Lucy Gellman

wings and Seny took over. Placing his djembe beside a microphone, the younger Tatchöl Camara explained that he was planning to summon Sörsörnë, a masked and fully costumed figure that grew taller as it danced.

The louder and more enthusiastic the group was, he explained, the more likely Sörsörnë was to come and dance alongside him. The quieter the group, the less sure he was that Sörsörnë would appear.

Attendees watched, spellbound, as he began to hammer out a solo rhythm. His eyes turned skyward and then adjusted to the audience. As the company joined in behind him, a percussive orchestra, he readjusted his djembe around his shoulders and stood, playing directly to one side of the room.

His hands transformed into a tongue, rolling quickly on the roof of a mouth they knew well. They became a song weighted with history, ready to tell a story for the hundredth time. As he walked toward the right hand side of the

auditorium, Sörsörnë approached, drawing a few surprised cries and gasps from the crowd. (Watch the interaction in the video above).

Tatchöl Camara continued to play, sinking deeper into his instrument as the drum sang out from beneath his hands.

Sörsörnë moved to the drum, rising higher and higher with each strophe.

“Now, it’s your turn!” Tatchöl Camara said as Sörsörnë danced off, and he waited for his father to come back on. “You can be anybody. You can have two left feet, you can have all big toes. It doesn’t matter. We’re gonna make you dance.

And you’re gonna have some fun.”

A few attendees ventured onto the floor, sinking back near a red scrim before Brown ushered them to the front. Ramin began to play, a rolling rhythm that made it hard not to move some part of one’s body. Aly Tatchöl Camara returned, lifting his arms to the sound. More bodies headed to the front of the room until

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there was a moving, beating mass, grins spreading from one side of the auditorium to the other.

After the performance, Aly Tatchöl Camara said that he sees the work as promoting both cultural understanding and compassion, in which musicians and dancers understand that they are part of a whole. Without the whole, no single movement or sound exists as well.

He said he sees that work as honoring the legacy of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., particularly in his vision of mutual respect for one’s fellow man, regardless of background.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he said.

“We are people. He was doing this for people. If I fall down right here and you are beside me, you are going to help me up. As human beings, we’ve got to respect each other.”

To find out more about the Kouffin Kanecke Company, visit their website www.guineadance.com/contact.html

Con’t from page

Homeless

to take a survey with Youth Continuum staffer Douglas Mills.

Sitting just a few feet apart in Mills’s closet-sized office towards the back of the Grand Avenue headquarters, Mills began the survey by asking the young woman how she was doing.

“Chilling,” she replied softly, her head leaning against the office’s wall.

Mills explained the reason for the youth count, and then jumped into the survey, scrolling through several pages of the online questionnaire and helping her understand each question when she wasn’t sure what he was asking about. Are you currently pregnant? “No.” How would you describe your gender identity? “Straight female.”

Do you have any chronic disabilities?

“I’ve got learning disabilities.”

She said she still smokes weed regularly, but rarely drinks.

Where is home? “Winchester.” Meaning one of the transitional housing apartments on Winchester Avenue provided

by Youth Continuum.

Have you ever slept outside somewhere, or in a vehicle, or in a park or an emergency room, in the past 60 days?

She paused to think. “That was way before two months ago,” she said.

Have you ever slept in a homeless shelter? Have you ever couchsurfed at a friend’s place? Have you ever slept in an emergency room or some other random spot when you needed shelter?

“Yeah, when I was homeless.”

She said she and her mom and dad used to live in an apartment on Munson Street.

“My mom couldn’t pay rent because she was sick.” The family was subsequently evicted.

The then-teenage girl went to live with her aunt, but soon left after too many fights and after her aunt proved to be physically abusive.

How many times have you slept in a shelter over the past three years? Mills asked. More than four times?

Yes, the young woman replied. “I think I was homeless for two years.”

Do you think you need drug or alcohol treatment? Would that be beneficial?

“For weed, yes,” she said.

What about some help on how to put together a personal budget? That would help too.

“All right, that’s it!” Mill said after the 20-minute interview. He thanked her for coming in, handed her the Walmart gift card, and urged her to come out to the downtown public library on Feb. 1 for a “DreamKit” workshop designed to help young people put together employment résumés.

He also reminded her of an appointment she has with a Youth Continuum case worker next week.

“I’ll be here,” he said with a smile.

“Make sure we see your face.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

The Opioid Crisis Hits The Stage

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

Lights up. Matthew and Spade are at the kitchen table, mixing drinks. The bottles stand at a haphazard stagger: maple syrup, coca-cola, a few plastic nips. There are packets of effervescent tablets waiting to unleash their giggly fizz. Sting’s Shape Of My Heart comes right from someone’s phone. Spade checks to make sure he’s got his protective eyewear, a pair of swim goggles.

Then Matthew’s mom bursts through the door. The terror and exhaustion in her eyes tell us everything we need to know.

So unfolds Matthew Rising, a new play, documentary, and public health project from writer and director Sharece Sellem, the South Central Network of Care and Clifford Beers Clinic. The work, which premiered Thursday to a packed house at Long Wharf Theatre, dives into the dark web and new forms of opioid addiction in the midst of an ongoing massive public health crisis.

It is supported by Clifford Beers, the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Greater New Haven LIST, Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DHMAS), TriCircle Inc., UI’s Lighting Up the Arts grant program, Vintage Soul Productions, Bregamos Community Theatre, and Long Wharf.

“One of the best ways to shine a light on something is to do it literally, and have it on stage so you can see it,” said Sellem at Thursday’s performance. “I think this can be beneficial for providers, to see what it looks like on the inside of the home, and it’s helpful for people in the community. They can come to their own families and educate themselves.”

The work for Matthew Rising began several months ago, when Sellem attended a conference on the opioid epidemic in Bristol. At the time, she was already working with Clifford Beers in community engagement, and trying to find a way to bridge community outreach, education, storytelling, and theater. While she was at the conference, she attended a panel on the “dark web,” which has become a hard-to-track and harder-toregulate player in the illicit sale of synthetic opioids.

Often, she learned, internet vendors put those opioids into chewable or hard candy form, selling them to youth and adults who can re-circulate them to their friends. Vendors don’t disclose what is in the candies—including doses of the highly addictive and highly deadly drug Fentanyl. Sellem, who had been doing work with those affected by the opioid crisis for years, felt like the ground had been taken from under her.

“That was scary to me,” she said Thurs-

day. “That to me was like, wow. We need to get ahead of this.”

In Matthew Rising, she has found the right educational tool to do it—including a cast that comes from the New Haven community. As lights come up, the audience meets Matthew (Co-Op High School junior Juwan Lee) and his mother (Valerie Brookshire), a single mom who has been stretched in every direction society can stretch her.

She has a part-time job that doesn’t pay nearly enough, a bus pass that is perennially running on empty, and a sick young son at home—which means that Matthew will need to stay back from school to babysit. She’s doing the best she can after the death of Matthew’s dad, whose loss to the opioid crisis strikes close to home.

There’s also his close friend Spade (CoOp junior Donte Warren), whose drink mixing skills are outmatched only by his good grades. There’s Mr. Path (Clifford Beers staffer and musician Manny Sorrells), who checks in on Matthew at home and meets with him when he makes it to school. There’s the kooky and sweet neighbor Miss Angela (Clifford Beers CEO Alice Forrester), who turns Matthew on to business courses at the local library, but also has her own struggle with prescribed opiates.

As they step onto a set designed and painted by David Sepulveda, they are the students, neighbors, moms, educators, and friends who populate New Haven. Matthew may be haunted by his father’s death, but he is also whipsmart and sweet, with a love for Spade that speaks to the sheer power of male friendship. Miss Angela is a little heavy on the Marianne Williamson good energy, but she also has moments where her boomer ramblings speak straight up truth to power. Matthew’s mom may be at her limit—or well beyond it—but she wants to do right by her son, with a compassion for him that is palpable.

Together, they bust though the stigma of drug abuse, showing how a system can manipulate, misinform, and misdirect those suffering from pain in the service of profit. In 2001, pain was designated as the fifth vital sign, with new standards for pain measurement that doctors across the U.S. could use. Within ten years, prescription of opioids had soared. New, cheaper synthetic forms were finding their way onto the market.

Purdue Pharma assured healthcare providers that the OxyContin it was manufacturing wasn’t addictive, while dedicating millions of dollars to marketing the product. Veterans were offered potent painkillers, but rarely got the mental health services to which they were ostensibly entitled by the federal government.

Fentanyl, which was used as an intrave-

Photos: Lucy Gellman

nous anesthetic from the middle of the twentieth century through the 1990s, became part of pain treatment and then made its way onto the streets.

If Matthew Rising is a play about a country that doesn’t take care of its people as well as it takes care of its corporations, it’s told from a deeply human and sometimes visceral perspective. Sellem has a keen eye for detail, with nods to addiction that stretch beyond illicit opi-

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ates to Big Pharma, Big Tobacco, and Big Tech. It allows her to be nimble, showing how major drug epidemics feed into each other all driven by latestage capitalism, economic exploitation, and institutional racism that is still very much alive and well.

When Spade asks of a Fentanyl-laced candy “so it’s not like crack,” it’s a flashback to the history of an epidemic that demonized people of color and of-

fered prison time instead of rehabilitation or drug maintenance. When a dark web provider offers to send the boys a free sample, the audience may remember Purdue’s early patient coupon starter program, through which patients could get a free, weeklong or multi-week trial of the highly addictive drug OxyContin.

In a smart move, Sellem has used a large projector to show Matthew’s text exchanges with Spade, reminding her audiences that computer and smartphone technology has opened a whole other side of addiction. She has used Spade’s wardrobe—a series of t-shirts advertising Coca-Cola and playing cards that reference his name—as a proxy for gambling with one’s health and one’s life (so too with a series of votive candles).

She never has to write the words into the script, because they’re right there out in front of the viewer.

And in what may be the show’s greatest strength, she reminds the audience that pain, which takes multiple forms, goes largely undiagnosed and equally untreated. The substances to which characters turn in the show are not products of their weakness or their recklessness, but evidence of a social infrastructure that has failed them. When Miss Angela proclaims that she takes prescribed meds because “when you’re in so much pain, you don’t even care anymore. You just want the pain to stop,” it feels like she’s speaking to every character in the show.

But Sellem also shows that the anecdote is joy, to which every character in the play is entitled and only some of them get. It is a powerful call to arms, a reminder to exercise care and compassion instead of blame. A collective urging, indeed, to hold institutions accountable rather than the people they have taken advantage of.

Going forward, Sellem said she hopes to bring performances to other schools, theaters, and workplaces in both the city and the state—ideally changing up the cast with people from those institutions.

In a talkback after the performance, a panel of service providers urged the audience to bring the knowledge back to their communities and their networks of care.

“Please, think about your own biases and your own stigma-producing language, and how you react to a loved one … around substance use disorder,” said Carol Jones, a senior case manager at New London’s Alliance For Living. “We have to be able to put our ideas aside, our biases aside, our own thoughts. Learn.

Be educated. These are folks with a disease. We have to support people and meet people where they are.”

To find out more about Matthew Rising, visit Vintage Soul Productions or email smsellem@vintagesoulproductions.com.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Celebrate Chinese New Year in the Elm City New Haven Museum to Host Activities for Lunarfest 2020

New Haven, Conn. (January 21, 2020)— On Saturday, February 8, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., New Haven Museum will partner with the Yale-China Association for Lunarfest 2020. The event offers activities and programs for all ages featuring art, music, literature, theatre and dance. All activities are free and open to the public.

Lunarfest begins at 10:00 a.m. with a colorful lion and dragon dance parade from the corner of Church/Elm to the corner of Whitney/Trumbull, and a lion dance “meet and greet” on Whitney Ave. near Trumbull St. at 11:00 a.m.

The fun moves indoors at 1 p.m. Activities will be offered at several locations: William L Harkness Hall (WLH) (100 Wall St.; Affinity Federal Credit Union (55 Whitney Ave.); Ely Center of Contemporary Art (51 Trumbull St.); Office of International Students &

Scholars (421 Temple St.); Yale-China (442 Temple St.); New Haven Free Public Library (133 Elm St.), Rosenfeld Hall (109 Grove, enter on Temple), and New Haven Museum (114 Whitney Ave.) Activities include children’s arts and crafts; music; dance; Tai Chi and Qigong; shadow puppetry; theatre; exhibits, and more.

For more information, or to register, please visit www.yalechina.org/lunarfest, email lunarfest@yalechina.org, or call 203-432-3427.

The Yale-China Association inspires people to learn and serve together.

Founded in 1901 by graduates of Yale University, Yale-China fosters long-term relationships that improve education, health, and cultural understanding in China and the United States. Yale-China envisions a U.S.-China relationship of mutual understanding and profound re-

spect nurtured by collaboration among individuals and institutions.

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 or Facebook.com/NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.

Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority Hires CEO

by Christine Stuart

HARTFORD, CT – The Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Authority board unanimously selected Andrea Barton Reeves to head the newly created quasi-public agency that will oversee the program.

Barton Reeves has deep ties to the Greater Hartford community. For the past seven years she has been the CEO of HARC, a large not-for-profit provider of services for people with intellectual and related disabilities. Before that, she served as the director of program operations at Lawyers for Children America Inc., and worked in the insurance industry at Chubb.

Josh Geballe, commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services and chair of the FMLIA board, said Barton Reeves gained claims and technology

experience while working at Chubb. He said it’s that experience that will serve her well in her new role. However, he said it’s also her “excitement for the challenge at hand” that made her an excellent choice.

The challenge is daunting.

Barton Reeves will have to build a $400 million business from scratch in two years, “while minimizing administrative costs and providing outstanding service to 1.7 million working people in this state and their employers,” Geballe said.

Connecticut’s paid FMLA program will begin collecting money from workers starting on Jan. 1, 2021, and is targeted to begin distributing benefits starting in January 2022.

Under the law Connecticut passed last year, businesses will be required to manage payroll withholdings starting in

January 2021. The authority will set the actual level of employee premium contributions, but the law caps it at 0.5% of a worker’s earnings.

Benefits will begin for those who qualify starting in January 2022.

CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE

Andrea Barton Reeves was named CEO of the FMLIA on Thursday

Residents will be able to access up to 12 weeks of paid leave to take time off from work when they need to care for their own health, a newborn child, or a sick family member.

Gov. Ned Lamont said for the first time there are more women than men working in this country, which makes “paid leave more important than ever for the workplace of the 21st century.”

Lamont said Connecticut is a state that “doesn’t make you choose between a sick child and the job you love.”

ShopRite Workers Shop ... At Food Pantry

by SAM GURWITT

New Haven I ndependent

Tekenya works as a supervisor at ShopRite. She can’t always afford to shop there on the wages she earns, so she sometimes ends up at a food pantry to pick up groceries — that were donated by ShopRite.

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, for instance, Tekenya packed stuffing, cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin, and other Thanksgiving foods into bags at the ShopRite on Dixwell Avenue in Hamden.

Once the bags were full, she set them out

for customers to buy for $10. Once they had been sold, ShopRite employees drove them two and a half miles down Dixwell Avenue to the Keefe Community Center to be donated.

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Tekenya showed up at the Keefe Center. There, she picked up a bag with the very stuffing, cranberry sauce, and canned pumpkin she had packed at work a few days earlier.

Had she taken the donated food directly from the store, it would have been considered stealing. At the Keefe Center, how-

ever, she was just one of the 623 people who picked up a free Thanksgiving meal this year.

Tekenya makes $350 a week as a part-time front-end supervisor at the ShopRite in Hamden. As a single mother of three, she finds she can’t always stretch that $350 a week, plus food stamps, to pay all the bills.

So she comes to the Keefe Center from time to time to augment what she can buy at ShopRite, PriceRite, or Walmart, where she does her grocery shopping. Sometimes she comes home from the Keefe center

8

with the very products she sells to customers at work.

“It’s good that we can help,” she said of the donations. She said that she would like to start working full-time. Then, perhaps, she would not have to get food at the Keefe Center.

Tekenya is one of at least three workers at the ShopRite in Hamden who sometimes go to the pantry at the Keefe Center to help put food on the table. Invariably, they end up taking food from time to time that was donated by their employer.

ShopRite is one of the Keefe Center’s most important and generous donors, said Keefe Employee Luz Gonzalez. Every Tuesday, ShopRite donates a large batch of fresh produce. Sue Hudd, a professor at Quinnipiac, picks it up and brings it to the Keefe Center with her students.

The ShopRite produce allows Keefe clients to get nutritious food they could not get otherwise. For example, many clients can’t normally afford to buy asparagus, said Gonzalez. Thanks to ShopRite, they’re Con’t on page 23

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

“Game Changer” Honored For Feeding The Hungry

of its 100th year of service, which has begun, and will culminate on Dec. 22, In her work as a pre-school teacher the day on which the organization was in Hamden, Allison Batson discovered founded back in 1920.

UWGNH President and CEO Jennifer many of the families of her kids were Heath said her organization’s “secret food insecure.

That, along with her faith, led her to sauce” is in the very name: “taking on found “Dinner for a Dollar,” a commu- things in a united way that no single ornal supper that now feeds about 60 peo- ganization can solve alone.”

Those large societal issues are early ple, including the homeless, isolated seniors looking for social contact, and just childhood health and education and famplain neighbors, every Friday night 52 ily financial stability. Heath termed those weeks a year at the Grace and St. Peter’s the building blocks of a good life.

Batson’s work on Dinner for a Dollar Church on Dixwell Avenue in northern is only the tip of the iceberg of a life of Hamden.

Batson has never missed a Dinner for a tireless service.

Dollar night in eight years. In her spare “She’s ‘infamous’,” Heath said in circles time (!) she volunteers at warming cen- of people who are attempting to meet unters in Hamden and helps on the home- met needs in Hamden.

Batson said she plans to work in 2020 less front through service on the board of with United Way to spread the Dinner Columbus House.

No wonder Batson was given United for a Dollar concept to locations in the Way of Greater New Haven’s first southern part of Hamden, perhaps at the “Game Changer” award at an upbeat Keefe Center and at a church location, ceremony attended by about 100 people yet to be determined.

Friday at the group’s headquarters at 370 The “dollar” is a donation if particpants are able to pay, and the concept is that James St. In the months to come the recognizing people are guests. Dinners are hot and of another 99 Game Changers will be at home-cooked by the church’s parishioserved4:24 on regular dinnerware. the heart of United Way’s celebration ners 1and Lyman_InnerCity_5.472x5.1.qxp_Layout 1/2/20 PM Page 1

by ALLAN APPEL

New Haven I ndependent

Batson, holding sign, with sponsor Avangrid Foundation Director Nicole Grant to her right and United Way’s Jennifer Heath and Ted Norris on left.

There’s conversation and the feeling of people being guests, Batson explained.

People come for a variety of reasons.

One set of grandparents came into custody of their grandchildren, she explained, and were hard-pressed to make a month-

ly budget and so came every Friday night for the hearty and inexpensive meal.

Now that they’re back on their feet, they come as participants and supporters.

Batson said she hopes that in the not-toodistant future a hot meal will be available

to everyone who needs one in Hamden every night of the week.

Friday night’s menu up at Grace and St. Peter’s: vegetarian chili with rice and cornbread.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Library Superstar Steps Onto Hamden Arts Scene

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

A longtime civil servant and champion of public access has become Hamden’s newest arts commissioner. Her first step: making sure that performances reflect the vibrancy of their audiences, and of the town in which they take place.

That commissioner is Diane Brown, a longtime branch manager and nationally-recognized librarian at the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library. After spending most of her life in New Haven’s Newhallville neighborhood, Brown moved to Hamden nine years ago. She stepped onto the Hamden Arts Commission this year, after meeting former Hamden Arts Director Julie Smith on a jury for the Arts Council’s annual arts awards.

“What should the arts be doing? It should be involved in everything,” she said in a recent interview at Stetson.

“Because that’s how some people communicate. That’s how some people relate. That’s a way of bringing people together that otherwise would not come together. It’s music, it’s visual arts, it’s everything. It sparks conversation.”

Brown grew up in Newhallville, the youngest of six children to one of the neighborhood’s first Black homeowners.

Coming of age in the 1960s and 1970s, she saw New Haven change around her as the Black Panther trials rocked the city, Black businesses were pushed out of nearby Dixwell, and national calls for civil rights filtered down to the local political level. In addition to a job at the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, her mother Lillian lived a life of public service, including a term as city treasurer and co-chair of what was then the city’s Ward 21 committee.

Because she attended an otherwise white, Catholic school during the day, Brown received a lot of her education at home and took refuge at Stetson, which was then located at Dixwell Avenue and Thompson Street. She has often recalled the conviction with which her mother taught her to be proud of her Blackness, from how she wore her hair at school to the way she looked out for her neighbors.

“I grew up in a very conscious family,” she said. “My mother taught us to learn by doing, and getting involved. I learned that I have a certain obligation of taking care of my village, my community. That was a part of my obligation as a Black woman, to do what I could do to help uplift and take care of my community.”

Even then, she also saw how the arts could get people talking. During her teenage years, Brown recalled, she would listen to her sisters talk about Motown music as one of the only reliable ways to “sit some white teenagers with

Black teenagers in a room and have them have this totally long conversation.”

She took her interest in public access to city hall, where she worked for Mayor John DeStefano for several years. It was there that Brown met the late James C. Welbourne, New Haven’s first Black city librarian. He became her mentor, encouraging her to pursue graduate work in library science at Southern Connecticut State University. By 2006, she had become the manager of Stetson’s Dixwell Avenue branch.

In her 14 year tenure at Stetson, she has radically expanded free programming, fought one mayoral administration to keep the branch open, and grown the collection to reflect the vibrant Black community in which it is situated. In the absence of a community center—and with plans for the new Q House way behind schedule—she has created one.

“It’s not about sitting behind a desk and pushing books,” she said, crediting Welbourne with an approach that now extends beyond the library. “It’s about meeting people where they’re at. You’ve got to meet people where they’re at. And if it’s something you don’t have, then you find it.”

Now, she is planning to bring that same approach to Hamden’s burgeoning arts scene. In her first meeting as an arts commissioner earlier this month, Brown jumped right in, adding local names that included teen doo-wop group Kompozure and New Haven music hero Chris “Big Dog” Davis to a list of potential summer performers.

She said that her longer-term vision for the town’s arts scene includes a diverse lineup for Hamden’s summer concerts (many of which she has attended as a resident), expanded weekend and weekday programming, and an arts festival or fair during the summer months. She said she believes the town is ready to sustain it, even if it starts small.

“I would like to maintain the diversity and the culture in the acts,” she said.

It is not her first foray into community service through the arts. Brown has served on both the leadership team and the board of directors for the Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade, and also sits on the board of directors for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and Long Wharf Theatre.

“I think the arts can serve as a way of getting people that otherwise would not communicate to communicate,” she said. “How many times have you come to a concert, and you’ve partied right alongside someone who does not look like you? Whether it’s race, age, religion—it doesn’t matter. I’ve been to concerts before, and had little babies dance with me.”

Photos by Lucy Gellman

“Somebody may want to share their grapes, or a bag of chips, or a bottle of wine,” she continued. “Those are people otherwise you would not communicate with at all.”

Her appointment comes at a time when the commission, largely under new leadership, is tilting slowly towards that vision. Last year, select members of the group pushed for more diversity in the town’s Saturday Family Series and summer concert lineup, scoring the Mandingo Ambassadors and Las Cafeteras on an unprecedented double bill.

When they received pushback (some

11

Hamdenites took umbrage with Las Cafeteras’ message of land sovereignty, water reclamation, and not locking children in cages; one also made fun of a performer’s traditional African dress), those members doubled down on bringing new names to the town. As they build this year’s lineup, they’re working towards that goal again.

Tuesday, Arts and Marketing Manager Alisha Martindale said she is excited to have Brown coming on board.

“We are incredibly excited to have Diane Brown on the Hamden Arts Commission,” she wrote in an email. “Her

experience and passion for organizing outstanding community programs and bringing together different groups of people fits our mission of fostering new and inclusive opportunities for all people and we are looking forward to the collaborations she will bring as a Hamden resident with a strong New Haven connection.”

The Hamden Arts Commission meets at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month at the Hamden Government Center. The next meeting is scheduled for February 5, 2020.

“Justice For Mubi!”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

gree,” he continued. “This is uncalled for.”

The state American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) commended the state Division of Criminal Justice for taking over the investigation from the state police in a Tweet earlier this week. “The DCJ has announced that it will take over the investigation into Mubarak Soulemane’s death. State police shouldn’t investigate themselves, so this is a positive change.”

One of Soulemane’s uncles, Tahir Mohammad (pictured at left with Soulemane’s mother), then led the mourners down Church Street, across George Street, and down Union Avenue to the steps of the police headquarters.

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

With cries of “Justice for Mubi!” and “Hands Up! Don’t Shoot,” hundreds of protesters marched from City Hall to police headquarters on Union Avenue Tuesday in a collective expression of grief on behalf of the African American 19-year-old who was shot to death by a white state trooper last week after a highspeed highway chase.

That teenage victim was named Mubarak Soulemane, a Blatchley Avenue resident of Ghanaian descent who was a second-year student at Gateway Community College and a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, and who suffered from schizophrenia.

A state trooper shot and killed Soulemane on Jan. 15 after a high-speed chase from Norwalk, where Soulemane allegedly carjacked an Uber driver, to West Haven’s Campbell Avenue. State police have said that Soulemane had a knife on him at the time of the chase and shooting.

Inspectors with the state Division of Criminal Justice are currently investigating the fatal shooting. The DCJ announced Tuesday that Middlesex State’s Attorney Michael A. Gailor will be leading the investigation.

Through tears of mourning and outrage, wearing shirts and waving signs depicting “Mubi’s” face and name, over 200 family members, friends, local students, and social justice activists joined Mayor Justin Elicker and a phalanx of TV news cameras for the City Hall rally and march.

“He did not deserve to die in the way that he did,” said Kira Ortoleva, who organized Tuesday’s demonstration.

She said she became close friends with Soulemane while studying at Notre Dame and then at Gateway. She said Soulemane opened up his family’s home and gave her a place to stay and sleep after her parents kicked her out of their house.

“He was the only person there for me when I had nowhere else to go,” she said.

“He was not the boy they are painting in the media. He was more than that. He was a brother. And he was an amazing person.”

Soulemane’s mother, cousins, uncles, and brothers all turned out for the rally, though few took turns at the microphone to voice their grief.

“Our goal here is to shed light,” said one cousin, Ayesha Adams (pictured), who said she traveled from White Plains to participate in the demonstration. “Our goal is for all of you to understand that

“Justice for Mubi!” the crowd shouted along the way. “Justice for Mubi!”

THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS

Protesters outside police HQ.

Mubi was a human being. He was a son. He was a brother. And above all, he didn’t deserve to die in the manner in which he did.”

Alhaj Murtala Muhammad (pictured

at left), a member of the Bronx-based Yankasa Association of America, said that Soulemane’s death has rocked the Ghanaian community throughout the region.

12

“This is an unprecedented situation in the annals of our history,” he said. “We as a community of law-abiding citizens, we want justice to be done.”

“It was a massacre of the highest de-

After arriving at 1 Union Ave., Mayor Justin Elicker took the mic and expressed his and Police Chief Otoniel Reyes’s solidarity with the protesters, while noting that that the New Haven police had no involvement in this officer-involved shooting.

“I saw the video and I’m outraged,” said Elicker. “I’m not a law enforcement officer, but I can be pretty confident that actions taken by the officer are not what should have been done. It’s critical for us to stand and make sure that all of our law enforcement are held accountable and to a high standard.”

Echoing sentiments driven home

by Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers at Monday night’s MLK Day service at Varick Memorial church, Elicker said, “I stand side by side with you to make sure that these things do not continue to disproportionately impact young black and brown men in this city.

We must do better.” He said he called the state public safety commissioner today to express his concerns about the shooting and to request a face-to-face meeting as soon as possible.

Before the crowd dispersed for the night, marching back up to downtown with the cries of “Hands up! Don’t shoot,” Ortoleva led the group in one more call-and-response prayer for her late friend.

“Mubi we love you,” she said and the crowd echoed back. “Mubi we see you.

Mubi we will bring you justice. You are our family. And we will not stop. Until justice is served. We are all Mubi’s family standing here today. It is our job to serve justice to those who do not have a voice.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Sharpton Shines Spotlight On Soulemane

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

Al Sharpton leaned into the microphone to make sure his local audience of hundreds, and his national audience of millions, got the point: A 19-year-old black New Havener was shot and killed inside a car by a white state trooper earlier this month. This injustice must not go unnoticed, and the increasing trend of police officers serving as judge, jury, and executioner for black men accused of crimes “can’t be normalized.”

The 65-year-old civil rights activist, MSNBC talk show host, and Baptist minister lent his voice Sunday afternoon towards amplifying that message during an hour-and-a-half memorial service for Mubarak Soulemane.

The service, held at First Calvary Baptist Church on Dixwell Avenue in Newhallville, brought out roughly 300 attendees, including Soulemane’s friends and family, members of the GhanaianAmerican community from throughout the Northeast, local politicians, police accountability activists, church parishioners, and Gwen Carr, whose son Eric Garner was choked to death by New York City police in 2014.

Sharpton’s New Haven sermon and memorial service appearance came towards the end of a month that has seen three fatal officer-involved shootings in Connecticut, including Soulemane’s on Jan. 15, when State Trooper Brian North shot and killed the teenage Fair Haven resident after a high-speed car chase from Norwalk to West Haven.

State police allege that Soulemane had a knife and had carjacked an Uber driver in Norwalk prior to the chase. Middlesex State’s Attorney Michael A. Gailor and other inspectors with the state Division of Criminal Justice are currently investigating the fatal shooting.

“Mubi isn’t the only one accused of a crime,” Sharpton said from the pulpit on Sunday, using the nickname of the late Gateway Community College student and Notre Dame High School in Fairfield basketball and lacrosse star whom family say suffered from schizophrenia.

“There are people in different sections of Connecticut accused of the same thing.

But they’re not shot down like they’re worthless.”

“We always give a lot of thought before we give a national profile” to an incident where a person has been killed by the police, he added during a pre-service interview with the press. “We would hope by bringing a national profile that they [state police and investigators] would understand that people around the country are watching them as they deliberate.”

Over the past decade, Sharpton has used his celebrity stature, media savvy, and bully puplit to draw national attention

to the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Garner, and a host of other young black men who have been killed, often by white police officers.

Before and during Sunday’s service, Sharpton placed Soulemane’s name in that ever-increasing list of what he described as victims of police brutality. He hinted time and again that Soulemane was singled out for uniquely brutal treatment by the police not because of his actions, but because of his race.

“In other communities, people are not killed around carjacking,” he said. “You arrest people. That’s why you have a court. That’s why you have a jury. That’s why you have a judge.” There was no need in this incident, he said, for North to shoot at Soulemane seven times while he was in the driver’s seat of his car, blocked in by police vehicles.

He said he wanted to draw national attention to this case because “lives matter, and you should not be able to do wrong in the dark. The job of activists is to put a spotlight on dark situations.” He promised to bring up Soulemane’s case on national television Sunday night during his MSNBC’s talk show, PoliticsNation.

“You cannot normalize police saying: There’s a carjacking, and therefore we’re going to just shoot and shoot and shoot,” he warned during the pre-service interview. “Because then, as you normalize that, that means that we’re now operating in an environment where police are given the power to be judge, jury, and executioner at the scene of the crime.”

Carr, who joined Sharpton last year in testifying before Congress on behalf of police reform, said she too felt compelled to travel from New York to New Haven Sunday to draw attention to the similarities between Soulemane’s death and that of her son.

“He was someone’s son, like Eric was my son,” she said from the pulpit.

“Whatever he was doing, it should not have been a death sentence.”

“We must not get comfortable with America killing our children.”

During a pre-service interview, she amplified Sharpton’s primary message that, if police believed that Soulemane had committed a crime, they should have done everything in their power to bring him to court. “They didn’t mean for this young man to live,” she said. “They shot and asked questions later. It shouldn’t be like that.”

One of Soulemane’s uncles, Imam Hassan (pictured), closed his eulogy for his nephew by posing a rhetorical question to the state trooper who shot and killed his nephew. “How did you feel when you went back home to see your family?

Did you feel good to see your own son, knowing that you have taken the life of an innocent child.”

No one has control over where they are

THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS Rev. Al Sharpton and Gwen Carr at Sunday’s memorial service. Below:

Boise Kimber stands alongside the many family members who gathered to remember Mubarak Soulemane.

Sharpton before and (below) during the service: These deaths “can’t be normalized.”

Attendees watch in rapt attention as Sharpton preached.

born, whom they are born to, or the color of their skin, Hassan said.

“The only one who has control over that is God. Why do you hate me for something I do not have control over.”

“A Soul You Would Meet Once In A Lifetime”

14

Sunday’s memorial service was not just about national civil rights activists working to elevate Soulemane’s story to the national stage.

The vast majority of the service was dedicated to family and friends grieving the loss of a young man on the cusp of

adulthood.

“We want this to be a celebration today,” Rev Boise Kimber of First Calvary said at the top of the service. A celebration of “what [Soulemane] did, what he stood for, what he believed in.”

Row upon row of cushioned fold-out chairs were filled with men, women, and children, many wearing brightly colored headscarves and black, flowing dashikis.

Several of Soulemane’s cousins wore white T-shirts bearing green script that “Our Mubarak was loved by many because he had such a kind and thoughtful soul,” said his mother, Omo Mohammed.

He didn’t deserve the tragic fate he suffered, she said. “But God willing, justice will be served.”

“He was always inquisitive,” said Soulemane’s uncle, Tahir Mohamme.

“He had a thirst for knowledge.”

“He was a funny, outgoing young man whose smile lit up a room.”

Mubarak “is remembered for his infectious smile and his willingness to help others,” said his cousin Ayesha Adams, reading from Soulemane’s obituary.

“Mubi was a soul you would meet once in a lifetime,” added Kira Ortoleva, who had organized and led a 250-person march from City Hall to city police headquarters on Tuesday on behalf of her late friend. He was always there for people who needed help, and gave them a place to stay when they had nowhere else to go.

“I want the federal government and the state government to know that our eyes will be on them every second of every day.”

Many in attendance daubed tears from their eyes and both sobbed and smiled as they watched a five-minute video of a pre-teen Soulemane dancing with his brother atop a green-and-white striped bed.

Mayor Justin Elicker, who had walked side by side with the protesters earlier this week and had brought up Soulemane’s death during his speech at last Monday’s MLK, Jr. service at Varick Memorial church, reiterated his condolences to Soulemane’s family, and his condemnation of the state trooper’s actions.

“This afternoon we remember someone who should absolutely be here today,” said Elicker .

“Mubi had his challenges. We all do. But what we need to start talking about is how we can prevent the loss of members of our community, particularly young men of color. We need to talk about how we can ensure that real economic and educational support reaches our black and brown communities in this city and in Connecticut. How we can ensure their lives aren’t taken early because of an overzealous police officer.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

Saturday Family Series to host All-Ages Interactive African Drumming and Dancing Program with Hanan Hameen

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Slave Play Prompts Parent Outrage

by SAM GURWITT

New Haven I ndependent

Africa is Me! Interactive African Drumming and Dancing Saturday, February 8th 1:00-2:00pm Thornton Wilder Hall (Miller Library) 2901 Dixwell Ave. Hamden 06518 Tickets: $2 Children / $3 Adult 203-2872546 / 203-287-7003 In celebration of Black History Month, on Saturday, February 8th, the Arts Commission is proud to present an interactive African drum and dance workshop called, “Africa Is Me!” with the Keepers of Culture Performing Arts Company, as lead by local dance and percussion artist, Hanan Hameen. “Africa Is Me!” is a structured, fun-filled, family-oriented program that uses the Artsucational™ curriculum methods for all ages and backgrounds based on the history of melanated people, the connection between African traditions and current social issues, and trends involving the global Black community (diaspora).

Each session consists of comprehensive, levelled, connected activities that include African dance, songs, drum circle, Arts and

Crafts laced with academics (healthy living, inclusive instruction, geography, history, engineering, science, technology, English (and other languages), Artsucation™ and Mathematics (H.I.G.H .E. S.T.E.A.M).

Ms. Hameen is the founder of the Artsucational™ curriculum - utilizing the arts to improve academics, increasing knowledge of self through history to promote social justice through the arts, and create productive adults in society. Her workshop will feature interactive opportunities to learn basic drumming rhythms and dance moves All shows take place at the handicapped accessible Thornton Wilder Hall in the Miller Cultural Complex, 2901 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden, 06518. All shows start at 1 pm. Tickets are $2 for children, $3 for adults, available at the door only and cash only. Doors open at 12:30pm.

For details, call the Department of Arts & Culture at (203) 287-2546 / 203-287-7003.

Or visit us at www.hamden.com - Contact email: Amartindale@hamden.com

A play aimed at introducing elementary school students to the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade has instead sparked concern about how race is taught today in Hamden schools.

The play was originally slated to be performed in a West Woods fifth-grade classroom. That plan has now been scuttled.

The play includes characters like “King Babu” and Colonial slave-traders who justify their participation in the murderous slave trade.

The day after the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s birthday, a fifth-grade class at the West Woods School was going to act out this passage and other scenes as part of a lesson.

Once parent Carmen Parker learned about it, she complained to the school and the district, as well as state elected and education officials. The play has been canceled. The debate, in a school system where most teachers are white and most students aren’t, is just beginning.

Carmen Parker’s daughter, a biracial 10-year-old, was going to play one of two unnamed characters: Enslaved African 2. An African-American boy in the class was going to play Enslaved African 1. In a later scene, Parker’s daughter and the boy playing the other slave were going to lie down together, as if in a slave ship, after a student playing a slave trader cracked a whip to scare them. The only scene in the play depicting the horrors of a trade that stole and murdered tens of millions of Africans feels like an afterthought in a read-aloud meant to teach why people traded in human lives in a fun and engaging way.

When Parker heard about it, it didn’t sound like fun.

16

SAM GURWITT PHOTO

Parent Carmen Parker: “They sent my baby home a slave.”

Parker moved to Hamden this summer from Georgia. She began her position as an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale this fall, where she researches racism in medicine.

“Within five months of moving to Hamden, I had a severe racial incident with my daughter at our school,” she said.

Last Tuesday, Parker’s daughter’s teacher told students they would be acting out the play, called “A Triangle of Trade: The Colonial Slave Trade,” in class. The district’s computer system was down because of a computer virus, and the teacher was using the play as an alternative to what had been planned, according to Parker.

The play, published in a compilation of read-aloud plays about colonial America

by Scholastic in 2003, “seeks to provide some economic insights about why European rulers and their colonists agreed to such a morally reprehensible venture

and why the African rulers might have joined in despite the harm to their people.”

It does so with Alexander Graham Bell working as a telephone operator to facilitate conversations between the various parties of the slave trade. Most scenes explain each party’s justification for his involvement. The play takes a light tone that attempts to make learning about slavery a fun class activity. Injustice is mentioned mostly in passing. Only one slave has a name. He appears at the end in a scene where a slave owner informs him that the “triangle trade” has been abolished in the colonies.

The play ends with the slave owner telling the slave, Jacob, that he is still not free. “Jacob pauses to sigh and slowly exits,” the stage direction reads.

According to Parker, the teacher had told students that they would be discussing a sensitive subject in class, and that if any of them felt uncomfortable, they should say “ouch” as a safe word. Parker said the teacher told her that students had then volunteered for their roles.

Wednesday morning, Parker’s daughter told Parker about the play. Parker’s daughter was thrilled, Parker said. “‘They’re putting on a play in class, isn’t that cool?’” Parker recalled her daughter saying. “She’s a child. She doesn’t even know to be offended.”

Parker said that when her daughter was in school in Georgia, no teacher would have assigned that play to students. No teacher would think it is OK to have students act out a play in which Gestapo members round up Jews, she said.

“We don’t even play cowboys and Indians anymore,” she said. “How are we playing slaves and masters?”

Superintendent Jody Goeler said that the play was not a part of the curriculum, and that it had not been approved by the district.

“I cannot defend this instructional resource,” he told the Independent. “The district won’t defend it and support it.”

He said that teachers sometimes make mistakes. “This was a bad one,” he said, adding that the district is dealing with the incident “as a personnel matter.”

Equity Quest This is not the first time parents have brought concerns to the Hamden School District about cultural sensitivity in the curriculum.

In April, students and parents spoke at the Board of Education and discussed what they said were deeply-rooted issues with the way the district and its teachers handle race. Last January, community members gathered for a panel discussion about teacher and curricular diversity in Hamden.

The board has made improving racial and socio-economic equity districtwide one of its main long-term goals. It cre-

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Rep. Maxine Waters: Dr. King’s Fight Continues On WASHINGTON – January 20, 2020 — Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA43), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued a statement on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which she celebrated at a variety of commemorative events across the 43rd District: “Today we honor one of ther King, Jr. With his powerful, dignified, and transformative leadership of the Civil Rights Movement, his soul-stirring sermons and speeches, and his prophetic ‘dream’ of a day when men and women would ‘not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,’ Dr. King made the ultimate sacrifice in order to force America to live up to its promise of equality and justice for all.

“Dr. King and countless other civil rights heroes were harassed, beaten, jailed, and lived under e world’s most impassioned freedom fighters and ‘drum majors for justice’: Reverend Dr. Martin Luththe constant threat of death, and in

doing so, secured the historic passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. More than 50 years later, we all have a responsibility to continue the fight for justice and equality. With nearly 568,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night, we must fight for the House and Senate passage of my bill, H.R. 1856, the Ending Homelessness Act, which would provide $13.2 billion to end homelessness in America and get our veterans, seniors, and children off the street. We must continue to fight against efforts at the Supreme Court where one of the largest media companies in the world, Comcast, is seeking to undermine the ability for entrepreneurs who have been victims of racial discrimination to bring forth lawsuits and have their rights enforced by the courts as guaranteed by the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Section 1981 of the Act – a move that is strongly opposed in a House resolution I led that is supported by the Congressional Black

Caucus and the civil rights community.

We must continue to demand justice for black and brown youth who are being killed with impunity at the hands of the police, and fight for comprehensive criminal justice reform. We must continue to fight against Republican efforts to destroy Obamacare and protections for preexisting conditions like diabetes and heart disease, which disproportionately impact African Americans and people of color. We must continue to address the wealth gap, confront the debilitating student loan debt that is denying our young people the ability to experience the economic opportunity they were promised upon earning a college degree, and demand that our children and residents of cities like Flint, Michigan and Newark, New Jersey have clean drinking water and clean air to breath. Furthermore, we must continue to lead the fight against the dangerous and failed leadership of a now impeached president and an irresponsible administration that have no

respect for the Constitution and pose a threat to our progress and that for which Dr. King stood.

“On Dr. King Day and every day, let us reflect upon the famous letter from a Birmingham jail in which he wrote, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice ev-

erywhere,’ and honor his rich legacy by recommitting ourselves to his fight and the ongoing struggle for peace, equality, and justice for all.”

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (DCA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee.

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17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

OP-ED: Hidden Tax Increases on Airlines Tickets Won’t Fly

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., President and CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association

Why is it that poor people are always asked to pay more in America? Last year, I warned about the possibility that Congress might try to impose a new tax on air travelers. Well, it’s 2020 — and here we go again.

Even in the midst of a historic impeachment trial and potential military conflict abroad, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have managed to find time to dust off its plan to soak air travelers, including working people who struggle everyday just to make ends meet.

Make no mistake about it: this is a tax hike, even though backers of this plan won’t call it a tax hike, for obvious reasons. And it’s one that hits relatively low-wage workers harder than it hits those who make a lot more money. And it hits those who routinely fly for business especially hard too.

This week, Democratic leaders are expected to unveil their broad infrastructure agenda for the coming year – a plan that is sorely needed given our aging highways, railways and other transportation needs.

But here is what is galling: sources tell me that buried in the broad array of transportation initiatives is a proposal to raise the so-called Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), a hidden fee on airline travelers that Congress enacted long ago to help pay for renovation projects at airports around the country.

Most Americans have probably never heard of the PFC, now capped at about $4.50 per person for each leg of a flight.

But working families across the country, including our readers, may soon feel the impact if some members of Congress have their way.

Here is how the fee works. Passengers are charged the fee at the ticket counter, allowing the airport that collects it to keep it for local repairs and renova-

tions. Current proposals in Congress include one to nearly double the fee to $8.50 per person for each leg of a flight.

Another possibility is eliminating the cap entirely, thereby allowing airports to charge whatever they like.

If the fee is raised to $8.50, a family of four on a trip with a connecting flight

would pay nearly $150 in this tax alone – a tax that is layered on top of the price of the ticket itself, a major reason people don’t notice it. Such a substantial increase could be the deciding factor between that family taking a much-deserved vacation or staying home.

While most people agree that it is in the public’s best interest to have safe and efficient airports that can accommodate increased passenger travel, proponents of increasing the passenger fee have been a little misleading about the condition of the nation’s airports.

In reality, airports are undergoing something of a revitalization, particularly when compared to rail or highway travel. Passengers are traveling at record rates, airport revenues are at alltime highs, and infrastructure upgrades are booming across the nation.

Just take a look at the balance sheets of our nation’s airports. U.S. airports have over $16 billion of unrestricted cash and investments on hand, with $7 billion sitting in the aviation trust fund.

And, in the last decade, more than $165 billion in federal aid has been directed to airports for improvement projects at America’s largest 30 airports alone.

Some of these projects have been completed, others are currently underway, and some have received approval to move forward in the coming months.

For example, Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport are both undergoing multi-billion-dollar upgrades. Smaller facilities like the Long Island MacArthur Airport and the Shawnee Regional Airport are also upgrading their terminals and runways.

The bottom line, then, is that there is no substantive basis for a fee hike. And it makes even less sense politically.

With Election Day just months away, most lawmakers will likely make the safe calculation and reject any proposed hike presented on the floor for a vote, lest they stir a voter backlash.

Yet it should be worrisome that House Democratic leaders appear willing to put a fee hike on the table for consideration.

It could be nothing more than a trial balloon released in an attempt to test whether rank-and-file lawmakers have the stomach for taking up such a measure in an election year. But even if it is just that, there’s still reason for concern, given that even unpopular ideas have a way of gaining sudden momentum in the topsy-turvy politics of Congress.

Air travel remains one of the most popular and necessary forms of transportation because it is relatively safe and convenient. But it should not become more expensive because a hidden tax that few people expected is added.

Congress should not put air travel out of the reach of American families who are still trying to get out of poverty.

Thus, increasing taxes on airline tickets won’t fly for Black Americans and won’t fly for all others who believe in economic fairness and equality of opportunity.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) representing the Black Press of America. He can be reached at dr.bchavis@ nnpa.org.

Program Teaches Prisoners How to Code So They Can Get Tech Jobs Once Released BlackNews.com

San Francisco, CA — The Last Mile, a prison rehabilitation program based in San Quentin, California, offers prisoners free training on how to code. This equips them with the training they need to get a job more easily once they are out of prison.

“At The Last Mile, we are using technology to try and solve mass incarceration,” Jason Jones, a software engineer who teaches computer coding to prisoners through remote communication, told The Denver Channel.

Those who finished the program, once released from prison, will be connected with tech companies such as Slack, Facebook, and even Google.

Jones himself was a product of the program. He belongs to the almost 100 graduates, who had a zero recidivism rate, compared to the 83 percent recidi-

vism rate in the whole country.

“You are talking about disrupting the status quo of people not normally getting access and opportunity,” said Jones.

“Not only are we driving down the recidivism rate where people get out and don’t come back no more, but we also have the ability to go back in the community and stop people from going into prison in the first place.”

The Last Mile, founded by Chris Redlitz and his wife Beverly Parenti, was launched 10 years ago. Since then, hundreds of incarcerated people have been taking on the program, benefitting from their potential life transformation.

“What The Last Mile has shown is that a change is possible,” Parenti said.

More than that, The Last Mile intends to relieve the financial burden spent on the prison. The estimated cost to house

a prisoner in California is about $75,000 a year, but it only costs about $5,000 for a prisoner to go through the program.

Truly, it has resulted in millions of savings on tax.

At first, the budget for the program came from Redlitz and Parenti only.

Now, they have gained support from corporate partnerships and state funding. The program which started in one prison in California has now expanded to five states and their reach continues to grow.

“Generally, many people inside want to do better, want to second, want to be successful,” said Redlitz. “So, create that opportunity, because 90 percent of people are going to get out, the question is, ‘who do you want them to be?’”

For more details, visit www.thelastmile. org

18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Amina, a Film About African Immigrants on AfroPop FILM REVIEW:

By Nsenga K. Burton Ph.D. NEW YORK — What does it mean to be black, female, and foreign in a world that doesn’t value these attributes? Television audiences will have the chance to ponder this question as season 12 of the award-winning documentary series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange continues. Monday’s episode brings viewers the story of Amina, a young woman striving to balance her dreams of a modeling career with the struggles of life as an African immigrant in Turkey.

Helmed by Turkish director Kivilcim Akay, Amina tells the story of a young African immigrant living in Istanbul and confronting the harsh realities of life.

The film airs on WORLD Channel at 8 p.m. ET (10 p.m. PT) on Monday, January 27, on AfroPoP, the public television series dedicated to bringing real stories of life, art and culture in the modern African Diaspora to public television audiences.

Amina’s dreams of a better life for herself and her young daughter take her from Senegal to Turkey, where she faces the cold facts of life as an African immigrant. Working as a model in a textiles shop, the young, single woman aspires to a modeling career in high fashion, while

struggling to provide for a child back home in Senegal.

“Amina so movingly captures the oftencrippling effects of intersectionality on one young woman, providing a sobering look at the trials facing immigrants in a modern world still plagued by prejudice and fear,” said Black Public Media Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz.

All episodes of season 12 of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange will be available for streaming on worldchannel. org beginning on the day of their broadcast premiere.

AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange is co-executive produced by Leslie Fields-Cruz and Angela Tucker. The program is produced and directed by Duana C. Butler with the generous support of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts.

This article was written by Nsenga K Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-inchief of The Burton Wire. An expert in intersectionality and media industries, Dr. Burton is also a professor of film and television at Emory University and co-editor of the book, Black Women’s Mental Health: Balancing Strength and Vulnerability. Follow her on Twitter @ Ntellectual or @TheBurtonWire.

BROADWAY IS COMING TO FOXWOODS

FEBRUARY 5–9 FOX THEATER For more information and to purchase tickets, visit foxwoods.com.

800.369.9963 • FOXWOODS.COM 19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Glendower Group is currently accepting applications.

NOTICE BROOKSIDE ESTATES I & II, ROCKVIEW I

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 6 Solomon Crossing New Haven, CT 06515

HOME INC, on Tuesday, behalf of Columbus House 21st, and the2020 New Haven Housing Authority, Beginning January until Tuesday, is acceptingFebruary pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this devel4th, 2020 (From 9am - 5pm) opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apPRE-APPLICATIONS for Spacious 2, 3 & 4 Bedroom ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Apartments WILL BE AVAILABLE AT: 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have MichaelsComingSoonCommunities.com been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preAll Pre-Applications must be postmarked no later then February 4th, 2020 applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, Rents CT 06510. are Based on 30% of income MAXIMUM INCOME LIMITS APPLY* 1 Person 2 Persons 3 Persons 4 Persons

NOTICIA

$52,850 $60,400 $67,950 $75,500

5 6 7 8

Persons Persons Persons Persons

$81,550 $87,600 $93,650 $99,700

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Everyone in the household 18 years of age and older will be screened for HOME INC, en nombre de lacheck.

Columbus House y de la New Haven HousingReference Authority, Credit/Criminal background Income, Asset, Student Status & Landlord willestá be verified. *Restrictions SeeyPre-Application for more aceptando pre-solicitudes paraApply.estudios apartamentos Cover de un Page dormitorio eninformation este desarrollo Pre-application Household will be accepted. ubicado en la calleOnly 109one Frank Street, Newper Haven.

Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos applications will be rejected máximos. Las pre-solicitudesIncomplete estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Please note: SELECTION WILL BE MADE VIA A LOTTERY SYSTEM julio,If2016 hasta cuando se han recibido&suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) you do not have access to download print the pre-application, you may call 203.691.6599 and request one to be mailed to you. en las oficinas de HOMETTY INC.711Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición ALL INC PRE-APPLICATIONS WILLesas BE DATE & TIME STAMPED llamando a HOME al 203-562-4663 durante horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse & REVIEWED IN a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange THEY Street, ARE tercerRECEIVED. piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

THE ORDER IN WHICH

Meter Reader Reads electric and water/sewer meters on assigned routes and records finding utilizing auto-

mated or manual systems and equipment, Requires graduation from a high/trade school with one year of full-time post high school employment experience. Must have a valid State of CT driver’s license. $24.44 to $30.95 per hour plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Human Resources Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will be February 5, 2020 or the date the 75th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

NEW HAVEN

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

EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 (EMT)

The Town of Wallingford is accepting applications for EMT. Must possess a H.S. diploma or G.E.D., plus one Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s (1) CT. yearUnified of recent experience as an EMT. Must be 18 years old and be a Connecticut or National Registry CertiThis is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates fiedCertificate EMT withProgram.

CPR Certifi cation and a valid State of Connecticut motor vehicle operator’s license. Starting in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30wage $ 672.00 (weekly), plus an excellent fringe benefi t package.

Apply: Department of Human Resources, 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Town of 996-4517 Wallingford, 45 General South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492.

Phone (203) 294-2080.

The64 closing date (203) Host, Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church Brewster will be January 24, 2020. EOE St. New Haven, CT

Construction Foreman M/F-

3+ years Solid CTDOT Exp. 40hr Hzwhpr . Coordinate, Perform, Supervise, Onsite Functions, Support Crew, Maintain Records. Statewide Work. Females and Minorities encouraged to apply. Email resume: michelle@occllc.com Great Sealed bidsWork. are invited the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Pay for Great AA / by EOE

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

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.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith HVAC Services: Emergency, On Call and Preventative Maintenance Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is Biddingseeking documents areHVAC available from for theemergency, Seymour Housing Authority Ofcurrently Bids for Services on call and preventative maintenance.

A complete copy of theCT requirement may888-4579. be obtained from Elm City’s fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, 06483 (203) Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 3:00PM.

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 Housing Authority.

Located in revitalized neighborhoods, our newly renovated townhomes feature 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms, all with convenient access to transportation, great schools and amenities.

Community features include 24-hour emergency maintenance, resident activities and access to playgrounds. Families who qualify for Section 8 assistance will pay no more than 30% of their adjusted annual income for rent.

REQUIREMENTS:

Earnings must be between 50-60% of the Area Medium Income (AMI). Please see the table below for specific income and household requirements. Selections will be made via a lottery system. # of people in househol d

Minimum

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

$54,50 0

$58,55 0

$62,60 0

$66,60 0

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

$35,35 Old $40,40 $50,45 Saybrook,$45,45 CT 0 0 0 0 (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project $42,42 $48,48 $54,54 $60,54

$65,40 0 0 0 0 0 New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

360 isOrange Stset-aside and contract compliance requirements.

This contract subject to state Maximum

$70,26 0

Applications may be picked up at: • • Downloaded at Due http://www.cthcvp.org/ Bid Extended, Date: August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 • Downloaded at http://www.elmcitycommunities.org Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Applications can be submitted: orIn Emailperson Questions & Bidsat to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com 360 Orange St, New Haven, CT 06511 • Fax HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses • Mailed to PO AA/EEO BoxEMPLOYER 1912, New Haven, CT 06509 Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483

Applications will be ready for pickup on 1/27/2020 Applications must be submitted by 2/21/2020 20

$75,12 0

$79,92 0

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

DELIVERY PERSON

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay

NOTICE

NEEDED

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develWomen Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apopment & located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Action/ Opportunity Employer ply.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual 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 request by calling HOME Reclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preGarrity Asphalt Inc seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Haven, CTbe06510. andFloor, cleanNew driving record, willing to travel throughout the North-

Part Time Delivery Needed

One/Two Day a Week,

east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

Must Have your Own Vehicle

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/deEqual Opportunity Employer HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está

If Interested call

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 HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas operating heavydeequipment; be willing to travel throughout the por correo a petición llamando&a NY. HOME 203-562-4663 horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse Northeast We INC offeralexcellent hourlydurante rate &esas excellent benefits a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Union Company seeks:

(203) 387-0354

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

KMK1907 Insulation Inc. Hartford Turnpike

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

North Haven, CT 06473

POLICE OFFICER

Competitive examinations will be held for the position of Police Officer in the Clinton, Guilford, Hamden, Orange, Seymour and West Haven Departments.

Candidates may register for the testing process at www.policeapp.com/southcentral.

Application deadline is Friday, February 14, 2020.

The physical performance, written and oral board exams will be administered by the South Central Criminal Justice Administration.

THE DEPARTMENTS PARTICIPATING IN THIS RECRUITMENT DRIVE ARE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS.

Coventry Housing Authority

is accepting applications for its Section 8 Elderly/Disabled housing. Annual income limit is $21,200 (one person) & $24,200 (two people), Also accepting applications for its State Elderly/Disabled housing. Annual income limit is $52,850 (one person) & $60,400 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application at the Coventry Housing Authority, 1630 Main St., Coventry, CT, or have one mailed. Completed applications must be postmarked or hand delivered no later than January 31, 2020. For more information call 860-742-5518.

Constuction Laborer

Looking for a Laborer with experience in Crane/Pile Driving operations. We HAVEN Invitation to Bid: HELP WANTED: LargeNEW CT guardrail company Mechanical Insulator position. will consider those with no prior experience. Required skills/qualifications inInsulation company offering good pay

242-258 Ave 2nd Notice looking for Laborer/Driver with Fairmont valid CT CDL Class clude: OTC 105 OSHA10 hour Certification, Valid Drivers License, Must be and benefits. Please mail resume to above address.

A license2BR and able to get a medical card.

Must be able to lift over 50 pounds, Minimum age of 18, Must Provide personal transporTownhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA able to pass a drug test and physical. CompensaMAIL ONLY tationCT to and from the jobsite.

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Old Saybrook, tion based on experience. Email resume to dmasThis company is an Affirmative Action/ Please contact: highways, near bus stop & shopping center (4 Buildings, 17 Units) tracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F Equal Opportunity Employer.

Eric Bombaci Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Bombaci Construction 8605754519 CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastBombaciconst@aol.com

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Architectural and Engineering Services

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

Solicitation Number: 136-PD-20-S

St. New Haven, CT

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is seeking proposals from qualified architects and engineering firms to assist in various architectural and engineering projects on an as needed basis. The Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour PCC will select multiple firms who shall be placed on an A/E roster. Solicitation until 3:00 on Tuesday, August13,2,2020 2016toatobtain its office at 28 Smith Street, package will pm be available on January a copy of the solicitation Seymour, CTyour 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the you must send request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference Smithfieldnumber Gardens Assisted Facility, 26ASmith Street Seymour. solicitation and title onLiving the subject line. pre-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604 on January 22, 2020, @ 10:00 a.m.

Although attendancewill is not submitting a bid forOffice the project withA pre-bid conference be mandatory, held at the Housing Authority 28 Smith outStreet attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror.

Additional Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than January 30, 2020 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted documents are available from the Seymour Housing OfonBidding PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org.

Proposals shallAuthority be mailed, or fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. hand delivered by February 6, 2020 @ 3:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. Late proposals

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

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 Housing Authority.

will not be accepted.

CITY OF MILFORD

Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Seekingin-place qualified Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, condidates to fill Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing andtoFire Protection.

Seeking employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and numerous trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportaThis contract isvacancies subject to state to set-asideteamster and contract compliance requirements.

Construction

tion and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or include,Public Works sendAugust resume5,to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Bid Extended, Due Date: 2016 Office & Administator Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Drug Free Workforce OperationsProject Manager, documents available via ftp link below: Information Technology http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Manager, and more. For Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com information detailed HCC encouragesand the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Invitation for Bids Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 application instructions, HVAC Services: Emergency, On Call and Preventative Maintenance AA/EEO EMPLOYER visit WWW.ci.milford.

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities ct.us is currently seeking Bids for HVAC Services for emergency, on call and preventative maintenance. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Click on SERVICES, Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestoneJOBS and JOB TITLE. systems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 3:00PM.

21

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

POLICE OFFICER NOTICE

Competitive examinations will be held for the position of Police Officer in the Clinton, Guilford, Hamden, Orange, Seymour and West Haven Departments.

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Candidates may register for the testing process at www.policeapp.com/southcentral.

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority,

is acceptingdeadline pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom Application is Friday, February 14, 2020. apartments at this devel-

opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apTheply. physical performance, written and oral from board9AM exams be administered by the South Pre-applications will be available TOwill 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Central Criminal 25, 2016 andJustice endingAdministration. when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reTHE DEPARTMENTS IN THIS RECRUITMENT DRIVE ARE quest by calling HOMEPARTICIPATING INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preOPPORTUNITY applications must beEQUAL returned to HOME INC’sEMPLOYERS. offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

NOTICIA

Help Wanted: Immediate opening for Equipment Operator for Heavy and Highway Construction.

10 hour OSHA certificate required. CDL license a plus but not required.

Please call PJF Construction Corp.@ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F.

Top pay for top performers.

Help Wanted: Immediate opening for Construction Laborer for Heavy and Highway Construction.

10 hour OSHA certificate required.

Public Notice

or national origin

NEW HAVEN COMMUNITIES

An Affirmative Action/ ELM CITY Equal Opportunity Employer

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 1 level , 1BA Invitation for3BR, Bids

Fire System, Fire Pump Vestibule Upgrades at George AllAlarm new apartments, new &appliances, new carpet, closeCrawford to I-91 Manor & I-95

highways, near bus stop & shopping center

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is curPet under Interested contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 rently seeking Bids40lb for allowed.

Fire Alarm System,parties Fire Pump & Vestibule Upgrades at George Crawford Manor. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s beginning Certificateon Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’sWednesday, Ministry needs.

The cost22, is $125.

Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30January 2020 at 3:00PM. 3:30 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 St. New Haven, CT

Equipment Operator

Laborer

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Authority, está HealthHaven Benefits,Housing 401K, Vacation Pay. We have concrete mixer and aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un Rose@qsrsteel.com dormitorio en este desarrollo Email Resume: Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER triaxle dump driver openings. ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos Minimum 2 years experience. máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Must have a valid CDL julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Clean driving record. en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán Housing enviadas por correo a petición The Manchester Authority will open the 0/1-bedExcellent pay and benefits. list for the Federaldeberán Low Income Public llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 duranteroom waiting esas horas.Pre-solicitudes remitirse Apply M–F from 9-4 at Housing (LIPH) program for elderly or disabled apa las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .are plicants on 8:00 AM January 6, 2020. Applications 24 Industrial Drive available in the office and on the MHA website at http:// Waterford, CT manchesterha.org and may be returned to 24 Bluefield Drive Manchester, CT 06040 in person or by mail.

860-444-9600 The Manchester Housing Authority does not discrimiApplications available at nate based upon race, color, disability, familial status, sex

https://www.kobyluckinc.com/careers

looking for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical. Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F

APPLY NOW!

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders

Attention Drivers

HELP WANTED: Large CT guardrail company

Electric Utility System Operator/Dispatcher

Operates electric distribution substation and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for an electric utility serving 25,000 customers. Coordinates electric system switching and places equipment in and out of service during Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour routine and emergency operations. Requires HS diploma/GED with 2 years exuntil 3:00 pmoperation on Tuesday, August 2,SCADA 2016 atequipment its office at 28 Smith Street, perience in the of Distribution and/or switchboards Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk and Replacement at the used in the distribution of electricity.

ExperienceRepairs and training may be substituted onSmithfield a year for year basis.

Must maintain valid system operation Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Streetcertification Seymour. from Connecticut Valley Exchange (CONVEX) or other approved agency or be able to A obtain the conference same withinwill 90 days of hire. posses and maintain a valid State pre-bid be held at theMust Housing Authority Office 28 Smith of CT driver’s license. $ 34.63 - $ 41.15 per hour plus an excellent fringe benStreet Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. efit package. Apply to: Human Resources Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date Bidding documents are EOE. available from the Seymour Housing Authority Ofwill be February 18, 2020.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

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

Exp. F/T Lay Out person for structural Steel and Misc. Shop.

The Housing reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to SendAuthority resume: hherbert@gwfabrication.com 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 Housing Authority.

Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F.

Civil Engineer

Diversified Technology Consultants (DTC) is a multi-disciple engineering and environmental consulting firm. DTC is a leader in servicing governmental clients for four decades. DTC prides itself as having worked on a wide variety of project types. From schools and senior centers to town halls and universities, our diverse portfolio provides extensive experience to our communities.

As DTC enters its forth decade, we are seeking an energetic, organized and proactive professional in our Civil Engineering Department. The successful candidate(s) will work closely with our technical staff in support of DTC’s strategic goals and objectives.

This is an entry level position located in our Hamden, Connecticut office.

Responsibilities:

• Assist in the preparation of plans, specifications, supporting documents, and permit applications for private and municipal projects.

• Assist in preparation of calculations such as storm drainage, water supply & wastewater collection, cost estimates, and earthwork quantities.

• Perform design and drafting using AutoCAD Civil 3D. MicroStation experience is beneficial but not required.

Qualifications:

• Graduate from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.

• Engineer in training certificate preferred.

CDL Driver Help Wanted: Immediate opening for CDL Driver for Heavy and Highway Construction.

10 hour OSHA certificate and clean CDL license required.

Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Project Manager/Project Supervisor

For Further information or to apply send resumes to ellen. nelson@teamdtc.com DTC is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

DTC is a Drug Free Work Place.

Individuals with Disabilities, Minorities and Protected Veterans are encouraged to apply.

Town of Bloomfield

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Clerk Typist II – FT

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

For more details on how to apply visit www.bloomfieldct.org

Help Wanted: Immediate opening for a Project Manager/ProjOld Saybrook, CT ect Supervisor for Heavy and Highway Construction. Previous (4 Buildings, 17 Units) experience on CTDOT projects required.

Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998.

We are an equal opportunity employer M/F

$28.45 hourly

Pre-Employment drug testing required. EOE/AA

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

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Qualifications (RFQ) HUD ChoiceDue Neighborhood (CNI) Planning Coordinator Bid Extended, Date: August 5, Initiative 2016 Solicitation Number: 135-PD-20-S Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is seeking proposals http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage from qualified Planning Coordinator for HUD Choice Neighborhood Initiative (CNI). Solicitation package will Fax be oravailable on &January 13,Lang 2020 to obtaindawnlang@haynesconstruction.com a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@ Email Questions Bids to: Dawn @ 203-881-8372 HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A pre-bid conferHaynes Company, Ave, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour,CT CT 06483 ence will be held atConstruction 150 Highland Bridgeport, 06604 on January 22, 2020, @ 11:00 a.m. Although AA/EEO EMPLOYER attendance is not mandatory, submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than January 30, 2020 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www. parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall be mailed, or hand delivered by February 6, 2020 @ 3:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. Late proposals will not be accepted.

22

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020 Con’t from page 08

ShopRite Workers Shop

able to get it for free at the Keefe Center.

“Now everyone wants to come on a Tuesday because of ShopRite,” she said.

ShopRite does more than many food-related businesses to help alleviate food insecurity in Hamden. Not only does it donate more food than most — it is also the 13th largest employer in town.

But while ShopRite’s generous donations allow hundreds of Hamden residents to put food on their tables, its own workers sometimes struggle to feed themselves. Unable to take day-old bread, spotted bananas, or other unsellable items directly from the store, they must instead go to food pantries to pick them up.

Tekenya is one of at least three Keefe Center clients who work at ShopRite. And ShopRite is only one of a few grocery stores in Hamden with workers who come to the pantry. The Keefe Center does not keep data on where its clients work, but staff said they sometimes see their clients working at PriceRite or Save-A-Lot. The PriceRite in Hamden does not donate food, while Save-A-Lot does donate some goods to the Connecticut Food Bank.

Grocery stores generally do not let their employees take any food home, even items that can’t be sold and must be donated or thrown out. Chuck Dow, a baker at the ShopRite in Hamden, said that at the at the end of each day, food pantries and soup kitchens come to pick up stale bread.

Produce, too, goes to pantries, while damaged goods go to a reclamation company.

Employees, he said, are not allowed to take any of it.

“It’s their policy not to give away food to employees,” he said. He said he has heard of employees who were caught stealing food from the store.

“ShopRite is committed to the communities where ShopRite stores operate and to store associates and customers,” Wakefern (which operates ShopRite) spokesperson Karen O’Shea wrote in an email to the Independent. “Our family-owned stores work closely with Foodshare and the Connecticut Food Bank and myriad local food pantries to get good food to people who need it the most. ShopRite Partners In Caring, ShopRite’s year-round, hunger-fighting initiative, has donated $50 million to more than 2,200 local hunger-fighting charities and regional food banks across all our trading areas since 1999.”

At Save-A-Lot, too, staff are not allowed to take anything, even that which goes to the food bank.

“It’s corporate policy,” explained a store manager named Tony, who declined to give his last name. He said he doesn’t know why the policy exists, but he took a guess: if one can of soda breaks and you give it to staff, more cans will mysteriously start to break.

“I guess if you go giving people things, they take advantage of it,” he said.

Stop & Shop also does not let its employees take anything home. “Stop & Shop’s policy prohibits associates from taking merchandise beyond the point of sale or consuming merchandise that has not been paid for,” Maura O’Brien, a spokesperson for the company, wrote to the Independent. She said that all stores in New Haven

NEW HAVEN’S GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY RADIO STATION! www.newhavenindependent.org

JOE UGLY IN THE MORNING Weekdays 6-9 a.m.

THE TOM FICKLIN SHOW Mondays 10 a.m.

MAYOR MONDAY!

MERCY QUAYE

Mondays 11 a.m.

Mondays 1 p.m.

“THE SHOW”

“DJ REL”

MICHELLE TURNER Tuesdays 9 a.m.

“WERK IT OUT”

ELVERT EDEN Tuesdays at 2 p.m.

MORNINGS WITH MUBARAKAH

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Wednesdays 9 a.m.

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Thursdays 1 p.m.

Mondays-Fridays 9 a.m.

ALISA BOWENSMERCADO

FRIDAY PUNDITS Fridays 11 a.m.

23

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

COMMENTARY:

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

Will A Woman Be President In 2020?

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Contributor In a most unusual endorsement, the New York Times has endorsed both Senators Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Amy Klobuchar (MN) for the Democratic nomination for President. Apparently, the Editorial Board of the Times disagrees with Senator Bernie Sanders (VT), who allegedly told Warren that a woman could not win the Presidency. I’d love to see the right woman in the White House, but I’ve been among the many who have wondered openly if, in a polarized and sexist United States, a woman can win both the nomination and the Presidency.

Though polls are not a definitive measure of who will win an election, Warren and Klobuchar tend to poll more weakly than the men in the race – Vice President Biden, Sanders, and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Have we come such a long way since 2016 that a woman is electable? Can so-called progressive men who want to get 45 out of the White House overcome their gender bias to vote for a woman?

Clearly, the Times not only thinks a woman can win, but in endorsing two women for the Democratic nomination, they are saying that women are the best of the Democrats in the race. And, in the past two years, we’ve seen signs that

women are gaining politically. The women’s sweep of the 2018 elections certainly bodes well for women. At the same time, is gender a sufficient qualification for the Presidency? Three years after the first flawed but overwhelmingly successful Women’s March in 2017, the realignment of the March “movement” has illustrated cracks in the foundations of feminism.

These flaws perhaps go back to the scuffle over who should get the vote first between our nation’s first feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and civil rights activists like Frederick Douglass. In resenting the fact that Black men got the vote before white women, those early feminists used extremely disparaging language against Black men, using terms like “savage” to suggest these men did not deserve to vote.

Can anybody say “intersectionality”?

Or to make it more clear, use the words of Sojourner Truth and say, “Ain’t I A Woman.” The women’s march movement fell apart because women were not on the same page. Accusations against Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, two of the co-chairs of the March caused much discussion and rancor, so much so that the second Women’s March attracted a fraction of the people who showed up to the first one. And the third March was operated on s different model. It did not equal the excitement or momentum of the first March, although there were many more local marches and other activities associated with the marches.

Women can’t “come together” unless they acknowledge our differences, as well as our similarities. Thanks to Tarana Burke and folks like Professor Kim-

berly Crenshaw, some Black women are openly addressing issues of race and class in feminism. But I’ve heard few white women, either politicians or intellectuals, deal with issues of racism in the women’s movement. Is there really “a women’s movement”? There are women’s issues, and women’s marches, and an exhilarating display of anti-Trump sentiment three years ago (don’t forget that 53 percent of white women voted for that man), but when do women come together?

In other words, gender is not a qualification for higher office. And if the women endorsed by the New York Times do not fully explore the concept of intersectionality and speak on it, they will likely sideline some votes, even though many others would vote for Bubba the Fool to get rid of 45. Both Warren and Klobuchar are exciting candidates. Warren’s progressive ideas endear her to the left, and Klobuchar’s more moderate approach to social and economic challenges appeals to others. The Times did a good job of contrasting the two women.

But can either win the Presidency? When then one-term Senator Barack Obama ran for President, l liked him very much but didn’t think a Black man could succeed in this racist nation. Thankfully, I was wrong. Can a woman win in 2020? I’m hoping the best candidate will win, and the best candidate may well be a woman.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, media contributor and educator. Her latest project MALVEAUX! On UDCTV is available on youtube.com. For booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux.com.

Con‘t from page

Slave Play Prompts Parent Outrage

ated an equity committee to oversee the district’s equity-related initiatives and to hear the concerns of parents and students. It has ramped up efforts to recruit more teachers from racial minorities in order to make district staff better reflect the student body. It has started a partnership with Southern Connecticut State University to groom high schoolers to pursue teaching careers.

Progress has been slow. For example, when district Director of Human Resources Gary Highsmith emailed 500 people the state said were minority teachers looking for jobs, only 10 percent responded. Almost all of them had either moved out of state, or already held a job.

According to 2019 data from the State Department of Education, the district had a 90-percent white teaching staff in the 2017-2018 school year. The student body, meanwhile, is 60 percent students of color.

The district has implemented a number of professional development programs to help its staff teach a majority-minority student body. Some teachers have also taken matters into their own hands to fundraise for teaching materials that better reflect the district’s diversity, like Kara Breen at the Ridge Hill School.

“No Child Should Have To Experience This” Parker said she moved to Hamden because of its diversity. Agents, locals, everyone: “They used diversity as a selling point,” she said.

“What I didn’t know was that the diversity didn’t translate into a safe environ-

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Tuesday, April 7, 2020 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Stamford Marriott Visit ppsne.org/Luncheon

24

ment in its education system… I could be mistreated this much for half the price somewhere else,” she said, referring to the town’s high taxes.

After hearing about the play Wednesday morning, she called the school. The teacher called her back. Parker said that she didn’t think the play was an appropriate way of teaching children about slavery, and that she was concerned about how black people were portrayed in the play.

The teacher, she said, responded that she was disappointed Parker’s daughter had portrayed the play in such a negative light. The teacher told Parker that she would send home a letter to parents that day informing them that their children might be dealing with a sensitive topic, said Parker.

When her daughter came home at the end of the day, she told Parker that the play had been canceled because a parent complained.

The next day, Parker and her husband met with West Woods Principal Dan Levy. She said he acknowledged that the play was not ideal, and that there are better ways of educating students about slavery.

Shortly after the meeting, she said, she received an email from District Director of Social Studies Jennifer Vienneau and Assistant Superindendent Chris Melillo. On Friday, Parker met with Vienneau and Melillo. They were “the first to firmly acknowledge the grievous nature of the play and to acknowledge that no child should have to experience this.”

It was a genuine apology, she said, that she had not received either from Levy or from the teacher. She said she told Melillo that in addition to the professional development initiatives in the district, the district needs to get help in crafting its curricula from members of the cultural and racial groups that students study.

Levy did not respond to requests for comment in time for the publication of this article.

Going Public Over the weekend, Parker said, she decided to go public with the story.

“Who am I as a woman, as a minority, as a professional if I don’t use every position I have to advocate for my kids,” she said. She added that she has devoted her career to studying and fighting racism in medicine, and that she hadn’t expected to have to do it at her daughter’s school, but that she feels it’s important to do.

She said she has also sought legal counsel, and has spoken to town officials, state legislators, state education officials in order to get the story out.

Parker will speak to the Board of Education’s Equity Committee Tuesday evening.

It’s time, she said, for Hamden to reckon with the culture that allowed a teacher to think it was ok to assign the play. “That day was guaranteed when they sent my baby home a slave,” she said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

H O N O R I N G AC TO R & AC T I V I ST

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER

GEORGE TAKEI

Saturday, March 14th

F E B R U A R Y 1 8 T H AT 1 2 : 0 0 P M O M N I N E W H AV E N H O T E L

Tickets on sale Friday at 10:00am only at

T I C K E TS STA R T AT $ 1 5 0

A R T I D E A .O R G / V L A TICKETMASTER.COM | MOHEGANSUN.COM Lyman_InnerCity_5.472x5.1.qxp_Layout 1 1/10/20 12:11 PM Page 4

Boney James Saturday, May 9 8 pm It’s been 25 years since saxophonist and composer Boney James released his debut recording, Trust. James released his 16th album, Honestly, in 2017. If you sense a direct line between those two titles, you’ve already come a long way toward understanding what motivates this four-time Grammy nominee and multi-platinum-selling musician.

Reserved seating $40 General Public $35 Faculty/Staff, Active Alumni (limit 2) $30 SCSU students with valid ID (limit 2) - plus handling charge -

lymancenter.org 203-392-6154

SouthernCT.edu

25

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

IN MEMORIAM: Lakers Legend Kobe Bryant Killed in Helicopter Crash

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna Maria Onore, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, January 26, 2020.

Bryant was 41, and his daughter, affectionately known as GiGi, who was only 13.

“As the reports came in on the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and the other passengers on board his helicopter we all were shocked and saddened by the news of a life gone far too soon,” stated Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., the chairman and executive publisher of NNPA member newspaper, the Los Angeles Sentinel.

“Whether you were a Laker fan or not, the news seemed surreal.”

Bakewell continued: “This tragic death of a young man dying in the prime of his life is a reminder to us all of just how precious life really is and how we must all embrace life, love and family and never forget what is really important.

“Kobe was a warrior on the basketball court, and he seemed to ease his way into retirement life with the same passion and enthusiasm that we all admired when he was playing in the NBA. “My thoughts and prayers go out to his parents, his wife, his children and all those who admired Kobe Bryant not only as a basketball star but as a Man, a Son, a Husband and Father.”

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, said the Black Press joins with the rest of America in mourning Bryant’s death.

“The National Newspaper Publish-

ers Association expresses our profound sympathy and sincerest condolences to the family of Kobe Bryant,” Chavis stated.

Denise Rolark Barnes, the publisher of the Washington Informer also offered her condolences to the Bryant family.

“Our hearts cry out for Kobe Bryant and his family,” Rolark Barnes stated. “Our memories of his phenomenal life and career will never die.”

TMZ reported that the 5-time NBA Champion was en route to his Mamba Academy for a basketball practice when the crash occurred. The academy is north of Los Angeles in the city of Thousand Oaks.

In a statement, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Bryant was a giant who inspired, amazed and thrilled people everywhere. “He will live forever in the heart of Los Angeles and will be remembered through the ages as one of our greatest heroes,” Garcetti stated.

“This is a moment that leaves us struggling to find words that express the magnitude of shock and sorrow we are all feeling right now, and I am keeping Kobe’s entire family in my prayers at this time of unimaginable grief.”

The helicopter, an S-76 owned by Bryant, crashed and caught fire at about 10 a.m. Pacific time, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Rescue crews were on location within moments, but officials said it was too late to save anyone aboard.

“He’s way too young,” Laker legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson stated. “I was supposed to pass away before him. He’s gone way too soon. It’s a devastating loss for all of us.”

Another Lakers legend, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who played against Bryant’s father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, said he was stunned.

“Most people will remember Kobe as the magnificent athlete who inspired a whole generation of basketball players,” Jabbar tweeted. “But I will always remember him as a man who was much more than an athlete.”

Shaquille O’Neal, who won three NBA titles with Bryant and the Lakers from 2000 to 2002, tweeted that his late and former teammate was much more than an athlete. “He was a family man. That was what we had most in common,” O’Neal wrote. “I would hug his children like they were my own and he would

26

embrace my kids like they were his. His baby girl Gigi was born on the same day as my youngest daughter, Me’Arah.”

Current Lakers star LeBron James was seen leaving the team’s airplane in tears.

He didn’t address reporters.

A spokesperson for the Lakers said the team plans to address the heartbreaking matter “soon.”

Ken Miller, the publisher of the Inglewood, California-based NNPA member newspaper, Inglewood Today, said he was also in shock and devastated by the news.

Miller covered Bryant for years for the Los Angeles Sentinel and said the superstar had previously given him his personal cell phone number.

“We are going to do a special edition of our newspaper that will be totally dedicated to Kobe Bryant,” stated Miller, who coincidentally wore a Westchester High School basketball sweatshirt during last week’s NNPA Mid-Winter Training Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The conference concluded just one day before the Bryant tragedy.

Years earlier, Nike outfitted Westchester High School’s basketball players with Kobe Bryant’s Zoom Kobe IV sneakers that matched the Westchester’s black and red colors.

“When Jerry West drafted Kobe at the age of 17, no one knew exactly what the franchise was getting,” Miller stated.

“He evolved to [become], I would say, the greatest Laker of them all, and I had the opportunity to cover and meet him personally and at one time just out of the blue as a reporter. I was so starstruck by him by his air, by his intelligence, and he had a reclusiveness to him as well, that I just walked up to him and asked him

for his personal cell phone. He gave it to me, and it was at a time when Shaquille O’Neill was gone, and the Lakers had just won three championships. He ultimately wanted to connect with the African American community.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1978, Bryant was initially drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick of the 1996 NBA draft, but forced a post-draft trade to the Lakers, stating it was the only team he’d join.

Bryant spent his entire career with the Lakers, winning five NBA championships and the 2008 MVP Award. He topped Michael Jordan for third place on the NBA all-time scoring list in December 2014 and retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final game.

His uniform numbers 8 and 24 were both retired by the franchise, making him the only NBA star to have two numbers retired with the same team. In 2018, Bryant earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball.

The late superstar supported at least seven charities and foundations, including After-School All-Stars, Aid Still Required, Cathy’s Kids Foundation, and the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, where he and his wife are dedicated to improving the lives of youth and families in need, both domestically and globally.

The foundation provides financial resources and develops unique programs that serve to strengthen communities through educational and cultural enrichment opportunities.

Even as a lifelong New York Knicks fan, a team that saw Bryant crush their hopes on many a night, the death of the man known as “The Black Mamba” is as stunning as any this reporter has seen.

In 1979, in a similarly shocking tragedy, during a season in which they were trying to defend their World Series title, the New York Yankees lost their beloved captain, Thurman Munson, in a plane crash.

While Munson was only one of the cogs in a Yankee team that had captured backto-back titles in 1977 and 1978, Bryant was the unquestioned leader of the Lakers, one of the most storied franchises in sports, who turned out such superstars as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy, and Shaquille O’Neal.

“He was the greatest of all Lakers,” Magic Johnson stated Bryant is survived by his wife, Vanessa Laine Bryant, and children Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.

Kobe Bryant on sidelines with TEAM USA, the United States Olympic basketball team, in Manchester, England, July 2012. (Photo: Christopher Johnson / Wikimedia Commons)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 29, 2020 - February 04, 2020

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