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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Elm City Kicks Off Census 2020 Campaign

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

New Haven is getting an early start on ensuring the city counts every resident in the upcoming decennial census — which won’t be an easy feat.

The quest began Tuesday afternoon and evening as about 50 people gathered in the Hall of Records to learn about the importance of getting people to participate in the 2020 census. They also learned about the many challenges to preventing an undercount and started brainstorming solutions to those barriers.

The census kick-off event was organized

by City Plan staffers who in the intervening years between population surveys partners with the census bureau to gather information. Director Mike Piscitelli said the department has discovered about 1,400 new address in the Elm City since the last census.

So what’s new? The census is going digital, with people able to complete the survey from a computer or smartphone for the first time in U.S. history.

Another first for the census: The survey might ask about citizenship, depending on what the U.S. Supreme Court decides about a Trump administration proposal to that effect.

Those two changes add new challenges to reaching people who are already hard to reach.

“According to the census bureau, more than half of the census tracks in New Haven have a predicted mail non-response rate of over 30 percent,” Mayor Toni Harp said during the three-hour kick-off event at the Hall of Records.

“Those groups who are most at risk of being undercounted include low-income households, immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, young children, and those who do not live in traditional housing situations.”

She said a failure to get an accurate count of all those groups “can deprive these very communities of fair representation and vital resources. For that reason, it’s imperative

that we start working together now to ensure every New Haven resident is counted.”

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said New Haven is the first city that she was aware of in the state that has begun to organize an early effort to ensure a complete count for the 2020 census.

“I commend you for that,” she said. “The census is critical to Connecticut because our state receives more than $8 billion that is tied to our census numbers in Connecticut.”

Census numbers are used to divvy up federal dollars in decisions about community block grants, food stamps, education funding, economic development. It’s also used by states to redraw political districts which impact U.S. Congressional representation as well as state legislative and local alder representation.

The lieutenant governor said Connecticut is one of nine states that has lost population in the last five years. It is the third least-reliant state on federal aid, ranking 48th. The only states that receive less federal aid are Virginia and North Dakota.

Bysiewicz said to make sure that the state holds on to what it does get, everybody must be counted.

“The mayor alluded to the New Haven situation where you have some places in the city where it’s harder to count,” she said. “In our state, 22 percent of our population live in hard to count areas, and those are places where the mail return rate is 73 percent.

“We’re going to have to put in some extra effort and that’s where all of you come in, we want everyone to participate.”

The Challenges DataHaven’s Mark Abraham and Josephine Ankrah laid out some specific challenges for New Haven’s complete count efforts and provided the stats to back those challenges up.

The neighborhoods in the city that didn’t send back a big chunk of their census forms 10 years ago are Fair Haven, Newhallville and Edgewood, they said.

“There are very diverse populations that live

Housing authority’s Gary Hogan talks Census 2020 at kick-off event.

DataHaven’s Mark Abraham and Josephine Ankrah. in those neighborhoods,” Ankrah said. “It’s important to target that.”

Abraham said it will be important for the complete count committee to target families with children, particularly those headed by single parents.

“There are 50,000 heads of households in New Haven, and only about a quarter

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are households that live with their children, which means they’re either married and don’t have children yet or they’re living alone,” he said. “But there are 12,500 households that do live with children. The majority are not married-couple families.

They’re headed by a single parent.”

Abraham said 2 percent of all the house-

holds, or about 1,000, are headed by a single father. About 6,200 households are headed by a single mom. The city also has about 1,000 families are headed by a grandparent with primary responsibility for grandchildren.

“It might sound like a small number, but in those households, there are 40,000 children at risk of being undercounted,” he said.

Ankrah said other low-income people who often are hard to count include immigrants and people with limited English proficiency.

In New Haven, one in three adults speak languages other than English at home, which works out to about 40,000 people.

Abraham said three-quarters of those people speak Spanish at home.

“If you think about those adults who don’t speak English at home, about 15,000 report that they don’t speak English very well. So they have some challenges understanding/ reading English, or they don’t speak it well and can have trouble interacting with the census,” he said.

People who rent or move often or live in crowded or multifamily homes are also hard to count, according to Ankrah.

“In New Haven, about three-quarters of all households are renter-occupied,” she said. “Also, interestingly about half of renters moved in the last two to three years, so there is a chance of them being missed while they’re moving. “ Abraham said one silver lining is that most people in New Haven use the Internet. The bad news is that most people don’t have reliable access at home and have to rely on a smartphone or public access at places like libraries. He noted there is a big digital divide in the city. In Westville, nearly 100 percent of households have not only Internet access but high-speed service at home, he said. But in Newhallville, the Hill, and Fair Haven, less than half of households have it.

The Solutions Working in small groups, those who stuck Con’t on page 3

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

Con’t form page 02

Kicks Off

around for the entire meeting a diehard group of about 20 were challenged by meeting facilitator Elizabeth Nearing to use what they’d learned and what they know about the city to start hammering out how to reach all of their neighbors.

They also thought of groups who might not be represented by any specific data point, such as those who don’t identify as male or female, the apathetic, and those who live in households with mixed immigration status and where children are more English proficient than their parents.

One suggestion: Pushing out census information through schools and educating children about the census so they can tell their parents to participate.

Another group looked at reaching people who are victims of domestic violence through shelters, counseling centers, and the school system. Many of the ideas centered around outreach efforts that put the information where undercounted groups are likely to be and providing it in ways that would be easy for them to understand.

Caprice Taylor Mendez, strategic program manager for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, noted that regardless of what the Supreme Court decides about the citizenship question, outreach efforts will have to address the fear that surrounds it.

The meeting drew praise from U.S. Census Bureau Regional Director Jeff Behler, who heads up the New York regional office.

“What you’re doing now is spot on,” he told the group. “This is exactly the right time to do this.”

He encouraged everyone to help the census bureau recruit local managers who will run the New Haven office and field workers who will hit the doors at every address whose occupants doesn’t fill out the census online or by mail.

Will Ginsberg, president and CEO of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, formerly served as chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is home to the census bureau, during a contentious 1990 undercount that had huge financial and political ramifications.

Ginsberg said the stakes are just as big today because census data will be used to make “public and private decisions literally every day” for the decade after the survey is taken.

He said New Haven’s participation in the census will go a long way in defining itself through the people who are counted within its borders.

“This isn’t just about money,” he said. “It’s not just about resources. It’s about who we are as a community. We are a community that believes every person counts. That every person contributes ... regardless of citizenship status, regardless of whether they’re documented or not.

“Every resident contributes to our community and is part of it and we need to treat them as part of it and we need to count them as part of it,” he added. “In the most fundamental way, this complete count effort really reflects our commitment as a community to the basic idea of inclusion and our rejection of the basic idea of exclusion.”

Schools Project $30M Shortfall

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK

School brass is relying on state reps to lift them one-third of the way out of a $31 million hole in next year’s budget — which will already require deep staff cuts.

Superintendent Carol Birks made that announcement Monday night in a surprise budget presentation that wasn’t noticed on the Board of Education’s meeting agenda.

This school year, the district is projecting it will already go $8.94 million over budget. Next year, even with no new programs, expenses are projected to rise an additional $21.75 million.

That will leave the district with a massive $30.69 million problem.

Birks said, in a presentation at the school board’s regular meeting at Celentano School, that she has an initial plan to come up with $20.40 million in savings, but she’s hoping that the state will come through with the other $10.28 million she’ll need to stay in the black.

Darnell Goldson, the board’s president, said the city should be asked to contribute additional dollars too. Birks said she wanted to focus on galvanizing the community to lobby for more funding from the legislature.

If they don’t come through with new revenue, the size of the cuts will be unprecedented. The shortfall, which represents about 14 percent of the projected spending, would deepen cuts that have already shuttered schools and darkened libraries, strained counselors and pared back instructional supports.

Next Monday, Feb. 18, administrators will share more details with the Finance & Operations Committee about their projected expenditures and suggested budget remediation. Then, a week later, on Feb. 25, the full board will vote on a budget request to send to the mayor.

After that, it will continue figuring out how to close the gaps until school lets out for summer.

Mayor Toni Harp stayed quiet throughout Birks’s budget presentation, and she left the meeting immediately after. Goldson said he’ll lobby hard for a spending increase, as long as the city was asked too.

“You’re going to get our support,” he told Birks. “It’s just a matter of whether they listen.” Goldson added that he doesn’t even want to think what $30 million in cuts would look like. According to the preliminary numbers Birks presented on Monday night, the school system is looking at $217 million in expenses next year.

The biggest chunk of that more than 60 percent would go to salaries for full-time employees, like principals, teachers and aides.

Those personnel costs are also driving most of next year’s shortfall.

Employees receive a contractually guaranteed raise of around 3 percent each year. The expiration of grants has moved more employees onto the general fund budget. And the city plans to start billing for costs it used to cover in-kind. Meanwhile, the funding hasn’t kept track, said Assistant Superintendent Keisha Redd-Hannans.

The state’s Education Cost Sharing formula, which attempts to make up the difference between the cost of running a school district and local governments’ ability to pay, has paid out a flat amount for eight years straight. And the alders rejected Mayor Harp’s request for a $5 million increase in school spending.

Birks said that she’ll try to make up most of the gap by moving as many employees as possible into grant-funded positions. She estimates that the district can free up $9.5 million from the general fund with that accounting maneuver.

Birks said she’ll also try “right-sizing” the faculty and staff with a “district-wide staffing model” that could reduce the total number of positions. She estimated that could save $5.4 million. For comparison, over the summer, the district said it saved $10.9 million by eliminating 130 positions. At that rate, the district would need to come up with about 65 more positions next year that could go unfilled.

“Just like last year, we were able to look at the talent throughout the district and reassign people,” Birks said. “So we’re very hopeful that, working with the teachers union, we can think about how to reduce those positions without losing the staff by reassigning them to existing vacancies or through attrition.”

Birks said she’ll also try to consolidate programs, end leases, renegotiate contracts and reroute buses. Together, she estimated those operational efficiencies could save another $5.5 million.

She added that she hopes she can avoid another round of school closures. “It is not my vision to close schools,” she said. “But we have to look at every program, every lease that we have to see if we can make some consolidations.”

Birks said that her goal is to present a “balanced budget” before the fiscal year begins. She said that she wants it to establish equity across schools, prioritize direct classroom instruction, and implement both a comprehensive reading program and social-emotional learning framework.

BOSCOV’S HONORS

COURAGEOUS

ATHLETES

IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Arthur Ashe

Gabby Douglas

Jackie Robinson

Jesse Owens

Jackie Joyner Kersee Serena and Venus Williams

In part 2 of our 4-part series, we turn our attention to the world of sports

From Jackie Robinson breaking boundaries in 1947, to Jackie Joyner Kersee setting world records in 1988, to athletes like Gabby Douglas and the Williams sisters who continue to make history today, Boscov’s celebrates courageous African American athletes everywhere for their accomplishments and all the contributions that they have made both on and off the field.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Lamont Wants To Put Connecticut on ‘Debt Diet’

by Christine Stuart

WATERBURY, CT — Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont told the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning that Connecticut has been on a bonding binge for the last eight years and it needs to go on a “debt diet.”

Lamont, a former cable executive from Greenwich, said that he’s been looking at the balance sheets and fixed costs are climbing at a faster rate than economic growth.

“It’s absolutely unsupportable,” Lamont said.

But reducing bonding that pays for a lot of local construction by $500 million a year is not going to make him “Mr. Popular” with lawmakers or municipal leaders.

“We’ve been on a bond binge for a long time and now we’re going to go on a debt diet,” Lamont said.

His announcement Tuesday more than a week before his budget address will not impact any projects currently under construction.

The governor, who serves as chairman of the state Bond Commission, has also canceled the January and February scheduled meetings of the group, saying that the state should limit its bonding agenda to critical needs only and at levels that are within the state’s financial ability to pay.

“We are not going to be rubber stamping everybody’s bonding request,” Lamont said.

Lamont will also seek to re-prioritize new

bond authorizations for municipal projects to serve as catalysts for growth and a stronger investment in information technology to bring the state’s aging IT infrastructure into the 21st century.

He said he wants to bring 5G technology to Connecticut and plans to do that by encouraging the private sector to build it.

Lamont admitted there are some business leaders who may be disappointed they’re not cutting more money on the operating side of the budget, but “let me just say we’re putting in place the people and the technology to make real important longterm savings over time.”

He said it’s not going to happen overnight, but it’s going to happen and improve delivery of services.

“I’ve got to give you a strong sense of confidence that we may not fix everything in the first year or the first term, but you’ve got to know we’re on a glide path to fixing this,” Lamont said. “And this fiscal crisis is going to be receding over the horizon.”

Senate Republican lead Len Fasano, RNorth Haven, applauded Lamont for his stance on borrowing.

“For years, Gov. Malloy used the state’s credit card as a way to assure allegiances, borrowing to pay for political handouts,” Fasano said. “Those actions increased Connecticut’s bonded indebtedness by $6 billion, skyrocketing fixed costs and making it more difficult to fund core services.

I agree with Gov. Lamont that we need to refocus on the true purpose of bonding and prioritize the state’s needs over its wants.”

HARTFORD, CT — With a new attorney general, Connecticut’s Democratic Senators believe they have a better chance of passing legislation that seeks to limit what employers can say to employees in the workplace.

Connecticut’s former Attorney General George Jepsen tossed cold water on a similar “captive audience” bill in 2011 following an 11-hour debate in the House. Years later, Jepsen issued a formal opinion on April 26, 2018, that said similar legislation was pre-empted by federal law and warned lawmakers about passing it.

In the formal opinion, Jepsen said states can impose things like worker safety protections and the minimum wage, “But the exercise of traditional police powers is preempted when it traverses into those areas Congress has determined states should not be permitted to regulate. We conclude that HB 5347’s prohibition, if enacted, would do just that, and a court would likely determine that it is pre-empted.”

HB 5347 was last year’s bill number. This year Senate Democrats have proposed SB 64 and SB 440, which include the same prohibition for businesses looking to speak to employees about the their views on political or religious matters. Most often the meetings Senate Democrats find objection-

CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE FILE PHOTO Attorney

General William Tong

able involve scaring employees out of organizing a union.

Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said they have not asked Attorney General William Tong for a formal opinion, but will be discussing the issue with him.

“We think it is clearly constitutional and that there should be no bar to it,” Looney

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CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE PHOTO

Gov. Ned Lamont

Lamont is tasked with closing a $1.5 billion budget deficit the first year and $2.3 billion in the second year of his two-year budget proposal. However, those problems are compounded by struggles including funding the teachers pension system.

The announcement regarding his bond diet comes one day after the governor announced he wants to improve drivers experience with the Department of Motor Vehicles by extending the time between driver’s license renewals from six years to eight years, and the time between registrations from two years to three years.

Lamont also announced he wants to impose a sales tax on digital downloads of things such as Netflix movies. There’s currently a one percent tax on digital downloads that was approved as part of the budget in 2015.

“The entire digital piece of our economy is tax free and they’re competing with folks who do pay taxes,” Lamont said. “The revenue is going to ramp up slowly.”

He declined to say how much revenue he planned to see from the tax or exactly what rate he would impose.

Tong Breathes New Life Into Captive Audience Bill

by Christine Stuart

John P. Thomas

said. “This is really an issue of basic fairness.”

Former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal informally told lawmakers in 2007 that he would defend the legislation in court and saw a path to victory.

Looney is hoping Tong sees it that way, too.

“The Attorney General strongly believes that state law must protect workers from threats, intimidation, and abuse by their employers,” Elizabeth Benton, Tong’s spokeswoman, said. “As a legislator and over many years, the Attorney General has worked hard to protect workers when their rights to organize have been under attack, and he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with working people and their families across Connecticut. There are various proposals under discussion by the legislature and the Office of the Attorney General is monitoring and will provide guidance as appropriate.”

Looney said there are still reasonable ways for employers to contact employees outside of forcing them to attend a meeting.

“They can call them on the phone. They can visit them at home. They can give them fliers,” Looney said. “With the exception of forcing them into a room to have a meeting that they would rather not be in.”

Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, said they

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would never tolerate it if an employer called an employee in before a November election and asked them how they were going to vote.

“We would say that’s infringing on a person’s rights at work,” Kushner said. “But we do let them do that when a person is trying to exercise their rights under the federal law to establish a union.”

Kushner, who retired as New England regional director for the United Auto Workers last year, said she’s seen workers come out of those meetings in tears.

“We have to put an end to this. We can make our workplaces much fairer, much safer, much happier places for workers,” Kushner said. “They have the right organize let’s give them the right to do that without interference or fear of retaliation.”

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association has maintained that the legislation is unnecessary and an impermissible restriction on the free speech rights of employers.

“If enacted, the proposal would prevent discussions in mandatory workplace meetings between employers and employees of any issues related to community engagement, unionization, wages and benefits, working conditions, and even legislation or regulations that could impact the business,” the organization said last year following Jepsen’s formal opinion.

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

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Westport Historical Society & Museum FREE Feb 1, 2019 through Feb 28, 2019 25 Avery Place, Westport, CT 06880

Westport Historical Society is opening its award-winning and awardnominated groundbreaking exhibit Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport to the public free of charge in honor of Black History Month.

“The contributions of the African Americans who built Westport with their labor and perseverance, from its earliest settlement through the modern age, cannot be forgotten,” said Executive Director, Ramin Ganeshram. “It is our duty to hold up the truths of their remarkable stories to the light—particularly during Black History month.

This is why WHS is waiving all admission fees to its award-winning exhibit Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport to encourage the larger Fairfield County, state-wide and even tri-state community during the month of February so that as many people as possible feel empowered to visit the exhibit, without the hinderance of cost.”

Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport Exhibit on view through June 2019 Back in the 1700s, Westport’s Greens Farm Church was a hub of local life.

Residents filled the pews each Sunday while their enslaved people stood in the gallery above. From 1742-1822 the church log book registered births, deaths, marriages and baptisms of nearly three hundred African American Westporters. More than 240 were enslaved, primarily of African descent, la-

boring daily to build prosperous farms and local shipping businesses.

With the Revolutionary War, many of the men from this slave community joined the ranks of soldiers on both sides. Some hoped for freedom in return for service, others enlisted with the British and departed with them at the war’s end. As our new nation was forged, Connecticut struggled with its place in the slave trade, banning the import of enslaved people and enacting laws to effect gradual abolition from 1784 to 1848.

In Westport, as in other towns, newly free African Americans often struggled to find a place in the community. Among them was Henry Munro, the first black landholder in Westport. Munro grew to be prosperous and his family lived in the house he built on Cross Highway in 1806 for nearly 100 years. That house still stands today. Others found

work only a step above what they had endured during slavery–as laborers, domestic servants, and farmhands. The move forward was not always easy– the lack of equal protection under law brought tragedy to the community over and over again, from assault and false imprisonment, to murder and arson.

But these families persevered. Creating lives in Westport, they became educators, freedom fighters, artists, patriots and respected citizens. Although their stories may have largely been forgotten, African Americans have been integral to the founding and success of Westport from its very beginning.

WHS’s new exhibit, Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport, brings their history to public light.

“This exhibit is an opportunity to recti-

fy the myths about our town, about our state, and even about New England at large,” says Westport Historical Society’s Executive Director, Ramin Ganeshram. “We believe that visitors to this exhibit will come away both enlightened and eager to learn more”.

Exhibit design team, Broadway set designer Jordan Janota and builder Alicia D’Anna along with graphic artist Christopher Knight from the Crown Heights Collective have lent their creative expertise to create an interactive installation that sheds light on the earliest African American stories in Westport, with objects and artifacts from the 18th century all the way through the Civil Rights Era. Remembered is produced with community partner TEAM Westport, the town’s diversity action committee.

TEAM stands for “Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism” and a

special panel of experts from TEAM advised on appropriateness and sensitivity during the research, planning, and installation of the exhibit.

“The generally accepted narrative is that the history and legacy of African Americans in Westport span the range of little to none. This exhibit takes that narrative and turns it on its head. For the Town of Westport, it adds profound dimensions to where we’ve been, who we are and where we can go in the future,” says TEAM Westport Chairperson, Harold Bailey. “TEAM Westport is honored to have been a part of this well researched initiative. It is our sincere hope that, going forward, this history which has been so extensively absented from the general Westport narrative will be erased no more.”

A corollary exhibit, supported by a grant from Connecticut Humanities, and entitled Rights For All? explores the effect of the 1818 Connecticut Constitution on emancipation, enfranchisement and civil liberties for African Americans and other people of color.

Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport opened with a reception Friday, May 11th at Westport Historical Society with refreshments and music provided by the award-winning Bedford Middle School Chamber Orchestra.

This exhibit made possible in part by a grant from Connecticut Humanities.

Special Thanks To: Black Bear Wine & Spirits, Alicia D’Anna, TEAM Westport and Christopher K Wright, Crown Heights Collective.

Judge Gives Teen a Second Chance, and Now 12 Years Later — She’s Becoming a Lawyer!

Camden, NJ — When Carmen Allen Day was a teenager, she told New Jersey Superior Court Judge Charles Dortch that she regretted her mistake and she wanted to become a lawyer if he reduced her probation sentence. Now, after 12 years, Day is just one semester away from her law school graduation.

Day, who was then 17-years old, had plans for college and law school until she got involved in a juvenile offense. She was so embarrassed and she regretted doing such unwise decision at a young age. She pleaded with Judge Dortch, who gave her a chance and reduced her probation sentence from 18 months to 6 months.

Now 29 years old, Day is a married woman with 2 daughters and is just one semester away from graduating from Rutgers Law School, which is also Dortch’s alma mater.

Just recently, Day visited the courtroom with other law students. Dortch, who is now the presiding judge of the family division, was surprised to meet Day after 12 years and know that he somehow changed her life. Day said what Dortch did restore her faith in the criminal justice system.

“He didn’t see me as a docket number, or some poor girl from Camden,” Day said.

“He saw me as a girl who needed help, who needed a chance.”

Dortch took it as a proud moment. He said, “I could even say it made my career.”

Day’s journey to being a lawyer wasn’t at all easy. After her probation sentence ended when she graduated high school in 2007, she enrolled in college but dropped out twice. She finally graduated in 2015,

with a double major in political science and criminal justice.

Afterward, she really wanted to go to law school so she took the Law School Admission Test in 2017. But she didn’t fare well and wasn’t able to initially enter Rutgers. Thankfully, an opportunity of conditional acceptance came and she immediately grabbed it even though it would mean that she had to drive two hours a day to school.

All those times, Day goes back to the moment where Dortch gave her a second chance in her life. She said she had always looked forward to when she could reach back out to him.

“No matter your circumstances, no matter what you are going through, as long as you stay focused, you can make it,” Day said. “You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Chapel Haven Opens “UARTS” Store In Westville Village

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

The Westville arts scene grew a little bigger with the opening of Chapel Haven’s new UARTS program and store in the heart of the village Friday afternoon.

Artists in the Chapel Haven Schleifer Center joined Mayor Toni Harp and State Rep. Pat Dillon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new store at 12 Fountain St. The location also will be home to Chapel Haven’s Center for Employment and Service Opportunities, which until now has been based in North Haven.

Chapel Haven President Michael Storz said UARTS and the center i be a place for Chapel Haven-connected artists with different abilities to learn how to create art for sale. Though some of the art is created by individuals, most of it is created by the artists working together. What’s for sale will grow and change as the artists learn different skills.

“They’re constantly learning new art skills, new crafts, new products,” he said. “They have input into the kinds of creative things they want to see. They will bring in guests who will teach skills that may be beyond all of our abilities and we will be able to learn that skill.

UARTS is Chapel Haven’s artisan training

program which helps adults with developmental and social abilities learn skills that can lead to meaningful employment. Chapel Haven adults’ art will be available for sale the store.

The works of art include wall hangings, neckties, and scarves all handmade from participants in the UARTS program like Laurel, pictured above.

Storz credited Lizzy Donius, pictured, of the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance with wooing UARTS and the employment center to Westville, where Chapel Haven is already making big investments through a multimillion dollar overhaul of its campus three blocks away.

“This is a very exciting day so glad to have this storefront, this public-facing space for Chapel Haven in the heart of Westville,” Donius said. “It has already transformed this block and we’re not even an hour in.”

She said she sees Chapel Haven “as the heart and soul of Westville,” and the opening of the UARTS store only contributes to the neighborhood’s strong arts identity.

“All of these artists are part of the arts community here in this neighborhood and this is just beyond wonderful,” she said.

State Rep. Dillon and Mayor Harp said they both got a taste of the talent of Chapel Haven artists.

“I’m really excited for the positivity and

the creativity,” Dillon said.

Harp said she’s excited that people can get one-of-a-kind gifts like these handmade scarfs year-round.

Danielle Chiaraluce, executive director for Chapel Haven’s employment center, said that the point of the program is to provide meaningful opportunity for adults affiliated with Chapel Haven to identify internships and competitive wage employment.

Storz said thanks to a grant made possible by the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, Chapel Haven is trying to make inroads in raising the employment rate for adults with disabilities. He said for adults with developmental and social disabilities have very high unemployment and underemployment rates.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We know our adults have talents and we’re going to showcase our talents.”

Artist Danny, pictured above, showed how he uses this loom, in the maker space Friday.

Storz said he’s happy that this first venture is in Westville because the neighborhood is part of Chapel Haven’s fabric for success.

“It’s where our adults want to be,” he said.

“It’s where our adults love to be. It’s the place our adults call home.”

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Seniors Study Scam Avoidance 101

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Police Detective Rosalee Reid told of one scammer who tried to to entice her to give up her personal information so he could attempt to drain her bank account by promising her she’d “won” $750,000 and a white Mercedes Benz.

“So I decided to play along,” she told a group of nearly 20 seniors gathered at Mitchell Library in Westville to learn about financial scams and how to keep their money and identity safe. “I asked, ‘How do I get the car?’ The person said, ‘We can deliver it today.’”

She told the person on the other end of the call that it was snowing outside and she didn’t want that to get on her brand new car.

“He said, ‘We can cover it for you!’”

Long story short, to get the car the person said she had to cover the taxes and insurance, and that was going to cost about $60,000.

“I told him, ‘You said I also won $750,000, right? Why don’t you take the $60,000 out of that and send me the rest?’”

“Needless to say, he hung up on me,” Reid said with a laugh that drew chuckles from the crowd.

The how-top-avoid-scam presentation, which took place last week, was put together in partnership with HomeHaven and Westville top cop Lt. Rose Dell, who said she was seeing a trend in scams targeting seniors.

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Detective Reid demonstrates how to shield a handbag from thieves.

HomeHaven’s Susan Feinberg said the organization hosts such talks and other events to help seniors avoid isolation and provide opportunities for them to get out and to stay active.

In an hour and a half, seniors learned that the scams they’re running is no laughing matter. Reid said that according to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost $905 million in 2017 $63 million more than in 2016 to fraud.

Cases of debt collection fraud the scams where someone calls claiming to be from the IRS, or the U.S. Marshal Service, saying you owe a debt to the government and are facing jail unless you pay are up 23 percent.

She told the seniors to remember: The IRS is not going to call you, and it’s definitely not going to call you and demand you pay in gift cards. But she understands why some seniors get overwhelmed and pay up.

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The tactics of the scammers are high pressure. And sometimes they have little bits of real information like a senior’s address.

“They badger you, and you become nervous and just want them to stop,” she said.

“They try to put you through it.”

Reid said oftentimes seniors don’t report that they’ve been scammed to law enforcement because they’re embarrassed.

She urged them to look out for scammers who claim they won a contest they didn’t enter, offering to lower a credit card rate but not saying what company they’re from, or offering easy pay for easy work like buying high-end “gifts” for needy kids and being “reimbursed.”

When it comes to calls about the IRS or lower rate credit card offers, she suggests people call the IRS or a credit card company directly and volunteer no information to the caller. If they leave a message, don’t call them back. And she said definitely be wary of someone calling to say that a close relative like a grandson has been imprisoned or has been kidnapped and needs money to pay bail or a ransom. She said to hang up the phone and try to call the person or call a relative who would know the alleged missing person’s whereabouts.

“If your grandson has been arrested, believe me, he will be calling you,” she said.

“He still gets one phone call.”

More sinister in Reid’s mind are the scams in which someone knows a senior or befriends a senior as a way to gain access to personal finances.

Reid prosecuted a former New Haven firefighter who befriended a 95-year-old woman and stole $125,000 by the time she was able to arrest him. She said he befriended the woman after responding to a call at her house. He would go on to start doing odd jobs around her house. By the time he was arrested he had her power of attorney and had himself written into her will.

“He spent $125,000 of her money and would have gotten $750,000 and her house when she died,” Reid said.

Reid urged the seniors to be wary of people who offer to help them by doing odd jobs around their house or running errands for them that involve handling money. Be very suspicious if that person asks for money, starts to hint about problems paying their bills, or goes on errands involving your money or your having to give them the PIN number for your debit card. Those people may be using their proximity to gain access to their financial information.

And it’s OK to be wary, even if the people making the offer of help are cash-strapped family members. She told them to keep tabs on their money, looking at bank and credit card statements to make sure that money is where it is supposed to be. Reid also advised them to shred important documents and keep their information safe.

“You have to give them consent,” she said when it comes to things like powers of attorney and wills. “If you don’t give them consent, they’re breaking the law.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

Harp Taps Yesenia Rivera For School Board

Elicker En-Gages Campaign Manager

by PAUL BASS

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK

New Haven Independent

Justin Elicker has drawn a millennial from Bridgeport to guide his challenge to New Haven Mayor Toni Harp.

Elicker announced Thursday that he has hired the veteran, Gage Frank, to serve as his campaign manager. Elicker is mounting a Democratic primary campaign, leaving open his options for an independent general election run as well.

Frank has managed campaigns for Bridgeport State Sen. Marilyn Moore and State Reps. Jack Hennessy and Steve Stafstrom and co-founded an effort to revive Bridgeport’s Young Democrats group, which included helping to elect three primary challengers to incumbent City Council members. He was among a group of activists who pushed the Bridgeport’s Council in 2017 to adopt a “sanctuary city” resolution.

Elicker, who is 43, has made a generational change a theme of his campaign, arguing that Baby Boomers need to make room for new leaders in public office.

Frank just turned 27.

In a conversation Thursday, Frank seconded the youth/change theme.

“Young people are critical for the future,” he said. He called the 2018 mid-term elections “proof that young people are waking up and voting.”

And, he said, “It’s always good to have a

New Haven Independent

Gage Frank. new set of eyes on things” in public office.

In a release, Elicker said Frank “brings a tremendous amount of experience to the job and is well suited to lead our team.”

Frank grew up in Bridgeport. He attended Fairfield Prep and then the University of Scranton, after which he returned home and dived into politics.

“My single mom sacrificed a lot for us to get the education we did get,” Frank said.

He said he’s “really excited to work for Justin.”

Mayor Toni Harp has picked Yesenia Rivera, the director of a school-based childcare program, to fill an empty spot on the Board of Education.

If the Board of Alders approves her nomination, Rivera, the program director at the Edgewood PTO Child Care Program and the housing assessment director at The Connection, Inc., will be the newest appointee on the seven-member school board.

The board currently has two vacancies.

She’ll be taking over for Frank Redente, who resigned midway through his term after saying he felt fed up with the board’s behind-the-scenes politics. The term expires just under two years from now in December 2020.

Rivera said that, if approved, she wants to make sure that no student is overlooked.

“My focus would be on raising the standards in the school system and just ensuring that we are not leaving kids behind, that we are making sure the instruction goes to everyone,” Rivera said.

“There are no bad kids. We need to make sure that they’re all getting the attention and instruction that’s needed to succeed.”

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the kids and making sure we provide the resources that we can. I know that there have been budget issues, andT:9” that’s something we

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Yesenia Rivera, newest school board nominee. have to work within,” she added. “I’m excited to try to do something to make a difference in any little way I can.”

Rivera’s three daughters all went through Edgewood School; the youngest is just finishing up her college degree. Ever since they started, going on nearly two decades, Rivera has run the school-based childcare program.

Edgewood parents who have to head to

work or classes of their can can drop their kids off early or pick them up late. The program, which serves nearly 65 kids, opens an hour before school at 7:30 a.m., and it lasts for three hours after school until 6:00 p.m.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, Mayor Harp said that she named Rivera to the school board because of her advocacy within the city, especially for its youngest members.

“Ms. Rivera will bring to the Board of Education the perspective of a parent whose children went through New Haven Public Schools, 20 years’ experience as a childcare program director and as an advocate for local families on housing issues, and a demonstrated commitment to help New Haven meet the needs of young people and their families,” she said.

Harp added that, as director of the Edgewood PTA Child Care Program, which has a roughly $100,000 budget, Rivera has overseen “budgeting, staffing, state licensing, grant administration and reporting.”

That experience has “equipped her to be an effective and productive member of the New Haven Board of Education,” Harp added.

Mayor Harp has yet to name a replacement for Jamell Cotto, whose reappointment alders rejected in an 18-8 vote last month.

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Georgia Gilmore:

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

The Cook Who Fed & Funded Civil Rights (From Her Kitchen)

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

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In December 1955, after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white man, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other black ministers and community leaders organized a citywide bus boycott in protest.

That part is well known.

Less well-known is the story of Georgia Gilmore, the Montgomery cook, midwife, and activist whose secret kitchen fed the civil rights movement.

When King and others held meetings of the Montgomery Improvement Association at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Gilmore was there, selling fried chicken sandwiches and other foods to the African-American men and women gathered there who’d pledged not to use the city’s buses until they were desegregated.

Gilmore poured those profits back into the movement, as John T. Edge recounts in his book The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South.

“In the process, her home kitchen became a locus for change,” writes Edge, the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, which is based out of the University of Mississippi and documents the intersection of food and culture in the South.

Gilmore organized black women to sell pound cakes and sweet potato pies, fried fish and stewed greens, pork chops and rice at beauty salons, cab stands, and churches. “She offered these women, many of whose grandmothers were born into slavery, a way to contribute to the cause that would not raise suspicions of white employers who might fire them from their jobs, or white landowners who might evict them from the houses they rented,” Edge says.

The money they raised helped pay for the alternative transportation system that arose in Montgomery during the 381-day bus boycott: hundreds of cars, trucks and wagons that ferried black workers to and

from their jobs across town each day.

Gilmore’s cooking helped pay for the insurance, gas, wagons and vehicle repairs that kept that system going.

She called the group of women who worked with her in this project “The Club from Nowhere” because, as Betty Gilmore, Georgia’s sister, told Edge years later, “It was like, ‘Where did this money come from? It came from nowhere.”

Gilmore would attend MIA meetings at the church and announce how much she’d raised that week, eventually inspiring another group of women in town to start a similar endeavor, Edge says.

In February 1956, a Montgomery County grand jury indicted King and dozens of other boycott leaders for unlawful conspiracy. Gilmore was among those who testified at King’s trial. As the late Rev. Al Dixon told NPR in 2005,… ”Everybody could tell you Georgia Gilmore didn’t take no junk. You pushed her too far, she would say a few bad words.

You pushed her any further, she would hit

And

Together we celebrate Black History Month! “ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world! ”-Nelson Mandela

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you.”

Gilmore brought that fighting spirit to the courtroom. She fearlessly denounced the white bus driver who had kicked her off a city bus from the witness stand. “When I paid my fare and they got the money, they don’t know Negro money from white money,” she told the judge.

The testimony made Gilmore a hero to local blacks, Edge says. But “in the white world she became a pariah.” Gilmore lost her job as a cook at the National Lunch Company – though Edge says it’s not clear whether she was fired or resigned “knowing her testimony would lead to her dismissal.”

King lived a few blocks from Gilmore and was a fan of her cooking and her activism. “Whenever VIPs would come to town, he would always have Miss Gilmore cook up a batch of chicken,” Nelson Malden, King’s one-time barber in Montgomery, recalled in a 2005 interview with NPR. “When she was fired from her restaurant [job], Rev. King said, ‘Well, why don’t you go into business for yourself?’ ” So she did. With King’s support, Gilmore turned her house into an informal restaurant. “[Robert F.] Kennedy came, [Lyndon] Johnson been here – Dr. King brought him,” Gilmore’s son, Mark Gilmore, who died in 2008, told NPR in 2005.

Gilmore died on the 25th anniversary of the civil rights march from Selma. She’d spent the morning preparing chicken and macaroni and cheese to feed people marching in observation of the anniversary. Her family served that food to those who came to mourn her.

Original article published by NPR (Photo credit: NPR.org) (Photo credit: Washington University – St. Louis)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

Are you a parent of a 2 to 5 year old?

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Parenting Mindfully for Health (PMH) Study The Yale Stress Center is looking for parents with children ages 2 to 5 years old to participate in a stress reduction and health research study. You will receive nutrition and exercise counseling.

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Pass on your stories, your knowledge and your love.

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Yale

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

By Jorian Reeves Xavier University, Louisiana’s College of Pharmacy

Discovering the Excellence Within: Realizing My Greatness in South Africa

I had my first taste of global cultural learning in 2015 when I traveled to Qatar at the age of 14 for a week-long Arabic debate competition. Two years earlier, in seventh grade, I had started taking Arabic classes at Lindbolm Math and Science Academy, a selective high school serving gifted and marginalized students in Chicago. Until I became a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow and studied in South Africa last summer, the Qatar trip had been my most extensive abroad experience. But what transpired during the summer of 2018 in South Africa, made me realize that was only the beginning of my personal development.

When I started at Lindbolm Academy as a seventh grader, I experienced a challenging environment, something more dynamic than anything I had experienced before. I relished in the opportunity to engage with a new culture through my Arabic language and dance courses because it provided an outlet for some of my feelings of displacement.

I felt lost and uncomfortable in my new environment. I was forced to push the boundaries to which I had grown accustomed, and at times, I struggled with the changes.

I often wondered: How did I get here?

How did I become so privileged to be in a space with people so brilliant? I was surrounded by individuals who were intelligent and inquisitive, and I never thought of myself on that level. This began my quest to understand my worth.

My quest continued when I applied to be a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow as a college student at Xavier University. I was in complete disbelief when I was accepted for

a study abroad to South Africa. I knew the program was prestigious and competitive, and I had a lot of self-doubt about my own abilities and sense of belonging.

Throughout my time in South Africa, however, I came face-to-face with the power of my excellence--and the power of what I could achieve. I never imagined myself hiking, never even gave it any thought.

The 12-year-old girl who felt out of place in a new school wouldn’t have ever pictured herself living in South Africa for four weeks.

The Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship program was also transformative for me because I had so many new experiences and was able to process them in liberating ways.

It was an emotional experience for me to see the vast range of socioeconomic lifestyles in Cape Town and compare them to my own transitions in Chicago from lowincome neighborhoods to high-income neighborhoods. I was able to recognize my own privilege, gain a global consciousness about poverty, and ponder what steps I can take to help alleviate socioeconomic divide.

During these moments of deep reflection, I had a revelation: “Honey, you have to come to grips with your power.”

I expected good things, not great things, to happen to me. Becoming a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow validated the excellence within me. All of my doubts were crushed beneath the soles of my feet, as I walked each step in South Africa.

I’ve learned that as soon as I stop fearing my greatness, my impact on society will be beyond anything I -- or my 12-year-old self -- could ever fathom.

Of the more than 330,000 U.S. students studying abroad, only 6.1 percent are African American and 10.1 percent are Latino. This is one in a series of articles by students of color who are breaking down barriers by studying abroad thanks to the Frederick Douglass Global Fellows program, which awards 10 full scholarships a year to students at Minority Serving Institutions. These students will periodically share their stories, hopefully inspiring others to apply. Join our social media campaign, #CIEEmpowered #MSInspirational #FrederickDouglassGlobalFellows that is celebrating these extraordinary students, like Jorian Reeves, a first year at Xavier University, Louisiana’s College of Pharmacy, and their experiences studying abroad. Please view and share Jorian’s video story at http://bit.ly/JorianReeves.

KINOBE: IN CONCERT WITH NEW SOLO CD UGANDAN SINGER/SONGWRITER & MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST LAUNCHES NORTH AMERICAN TOUR — AND RELEASE OF HIS SOLO CD, “THE VOICE WITHIN”

FEBRUARY 2019 – For the first time in nearly a decade, Kinobe (pronounced chi-no-bay), the talented Ugandan multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter, will embark on a multicity North American tour. The man whose work has been called, “some of the most exquisite music coming out of Africa today,” by Zina Sarowiwa of the BBC, will be performing music from “The Voice Within” Feb. 10, 2019, at East Rock Concert series at mActivity in New Haven.

When he was just a small boy, Kinobe listened for hours from a distance to the infectious drumming rhythms that echoed in the night air from the Royal Palace located just a few meters from his house in Uganda. It was his first attraction to traditional music. Twentyfive years, 10 CDs, and over 100 international performances later, the gifted self-taught artist is launching his North American tour on the heels of the official release of his “The Voice Within” CD.

Official CD Release “This is the second CD I recorded as a solo artist,” Kinobe stated, “but the first where all the music is original instead of combining traditional songs and melodies. Also for the first time, I bring a lot of modern techniques like looping and amplification into the mix.”

Fans of Kinobe’s trademark acoustic African rhythms will not be disappointed. On “The Voice Within,” he creates soulful and soothing music that emanates from his custom-made Kora, Kalimba, Balafon and Endongo, along with rich layers of vocals performed in English and his native Ugandan tongue.

“What sets this CD apart,” he says, “is that the songs are about social and global issues. I sing about the environment, diversity, love, war and economic development—but in a beautiful way.”

He derived the CD’s title from the lives of those who have a voice but are often not heard—such as children

who’ve been traumatized by war or poverty—many of whom he’s mentored and trained in orphanages and refugee camps in Uganda for the past five years. His message to these children is universal, “Don’t think about what you’ve been through,” he says.

“If you play music and dance and make that your life, it will bring you happiness and joy. And it will take you around the world. You will perform for many people, and you will have an audience who will appreciate you for who you are and the skill that you have.” He credits their triumphant stories of survival as the inspiration to write many of the lyrics on his CD, and as the crux of the “Dance of Hope” live stage production where he performs with them as part of his North American tour.

“The Voice Within” CD is available now on iTunes, CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, and through Spotify. For more information and bookings or to set up an interview contact: info@ kinobemusic.com.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Linda Brown, named plaintiff in landmark civil rights case

Linda Brown, the named plaintiff in the 1954 landmark civil rights case “Brown v.

Board of Education of Topeka” in which the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the nation’s public schools to desegregate, has died.

Ms. Brown died Sunday, March 25, in Topeka, Kansas, where she was born on February 20, 1942. She was 76 and had lived in Topeka most of her life. Tyson Williams, a spokesman for Peaceful Rest Funeral Chapel, confirmed her death.

She became part of American history on May 17, 1954, when a unanimous Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, the court’s 1896 decision that declared separate but equal facilities were constitutional.

In its 1954 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were inherently unequal and ordered the desegregation of the public schools with “all deliberate speed.”

The fight to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson began years earlier.

In 1950, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. asked a group of black parents if they would attempt to enroll their children in all-white schools knowing they would be denied admission because of school segregation.

Brown, who was in third-grade, lived in an ethnically diverse neighborhood but like the area’s other black children, Brown had to walk four miles to a school that was segregated for black children although Sumner Elementary, an all-white school, was only four blocks away.

Her mother and father were Leola and Oliver Brown. They were parents of three girls. Brown said her father, a pastor, questioned why his daughter had to walk so far to attend school.

“My father pondered, ‘Why? Why should my child walk four miles when there is a school only four blocks away,” she recalled.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. wanted to file a lawsuit on behalf of 13 families nationwide, challenging De Jure school segregation, which is based on laws or actions of the state. It is unlike De facto segregation which happens by fact rather than by legal requirement.

Thurgood Marshall, who in 1967 would become the first African-American Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, was one of two lead attorneys and strategists. The other was Charles Hamilton Houston, former dean of Howard University Law School.

In 1952, the NAACP filed a lawsuit consolidating five cases.

Linda Brown’s name was alphabetically at the top of the list of plaintiffs, making her the named plaintiff in the consolidated case.

When the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision, Linda Brown was in junior high school and at a grade level that had been integrated before the 1954 decision.

In the late 1970s, Brown worked with the ACLU. She argued the district’s schools were still segregated. The Court of Appeals ordered three new schools con-

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Although she was a civil rights activist, speaker and education consultant, Brown complained that the media treated her as a lofty historical figure, not a human being.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the family moved in 1959 to Springfield, Missouri.

Two years later, her father died. Remaining members of the family returned to Topeka.

She attended Washburn University and Kansas State University Linda Brown was married three times.

She was divorced and later widowed. She married William Thompson in the mid-

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Sherrilyn Ifill, president and DirectorCounsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said “Linda Brown is one of that special band of heroic young people who, along with her family, courageously fought to end the ultimate symbol of white supremacy-racial segregation in the public schools.”

Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer tweeted: “Linda Brown’s life reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely people can have an incredible impact and that by serving our community we can truly change the world.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

IN MEMORIAM:

Baseball Trailblazer, Civil Rights Icon Frank Robinson Dead at 83

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent Frank Robinson, a trailblazing figure who was Major League Baseball’s first African American manager and one of its greatest players during a career that spanned 21 seasons, died Thursday after a prolonged illness, according to pro baseball’s premiere website, MLB.com.

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The Hall of Famer hit 586 home runs and appeared in 14 All-Star games over the course of his illustrious career, starring with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles.

Robinson is the only player to win MVP honors in both the National and American league – in 1961 with the Reds and five years later with the Orioles. When he earned those honors in 1966 with the Orioles, Robinson won the Triple Crown when he hit 49 home runs, drove in 122 runs and had a .316 batting average.

Despite the so-called Steroid-era of the late 1990s and 2000s where statistics were greatly inflated, Robinson’s 1966 campaign remains widely viewed as one of the greatest in the history of the sport.

Even as a star in a sport that was still struggling with integration years after Jackie Robinson (no relation) broke the color line, Robinson often spoke out for civil rights even publicly aligning himself with leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In 1975, Robinson made history before nearly 57,000 fans at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium when he began managing the Indians making him baseball’s first ever Black manager.

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President George W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to baseball legend Frank Robinson in the East Room Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005.

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“He changed the game, no doubt about it,” Orioles great Jim Palmer said in a statement about Robinson’s death.

“Very sad day here in Baltimore with the passing of Frank Robinson, the greatest Oriole of all time in my estimation and a true baseball legend who dedicated his life to the game,” said Jason La Canfora, who hosts a podcast in Charm City.

“He overcame the segregation of the 1950s to spend seven decades in the game as a player, coach, and executive,” La Canfora said.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

A Slave’s African Medical Science Saves the Lives of Bostonians During the 1721 Smallpox Epidemic

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

“I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted.” — Frederick Douglass “I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed.” — Ralph Ellison As another Black History Month approaches, the observance of Black Excellence, Black Girl Magic, Black Power and other invigorating movements of the African American begins to take center stage.

From Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to Malcolm X and also many of the world’s greatest Black athletes and entertainers, the country celebrates their achievements.

While some may never tire of hearing about the greatness of Civil Rights leaders, famous black athletes and renowned entertainers, Black History Month also represents a time to focus on the unsung.

“I’d like to read about people who made impacts but are not entertainers, musicians, and those we hear about every Black History Month,” said Kisha A. Brown, the founder and CEO of Justis Connection, a service that connects the top legal talent of color to local communities.

“The Black Press is an aspect of the fabric of the Black existence in America that is not getting enough attention or support from the community. We rally to support athletes and artists who are ‘wronged’ by the system, but we fail to honor is the voice of the Black Press that has been capturing our stories for centuries,” Brown said.

“Long before Black Twitter and online blogs, and so the Black Press is not only

an essential voice but it is also a historical and cultural archaeological goldmine that we must preserve,” she said.

In an email, Laurie Endicott Thomas, the author of “No More Measles: The Truth About Vaccines and Your Health,” said the most important person in the history of American medicine was an enslaved African whose real name we do not know.

“His slave name was Onesimus, which means useful in Latin. The Biblical Onesmius ran away from slavery but was persuaded to return to his master,” Thomas said.

“The African-American Onesimus was the person who introduced the practice of immunization against smallpox to North America. This immunization process was called variolation because it involved real smallpox. Variolation led

to sharp decreases in the death rate from smallpox and an important decrease in overall death rates,” she said.

Thomas’ thoughts jelled with a Harvard University study and a Boston WGHB report from 2016 which noted that after 150 years, Jack Daniels finally came clean that its famed whisky recipe came courtesy of a Tennessee slave.

“This is – of course – by no means the only example of a slave’s contribution to American industry and culture being, at worst, stolen and, at best, minimized or completely forgotten. There was Baltimore slave Benjamin Bradley’s steam engine.

“And a Mississippi slave known only as Ned’s cotton scraper. And then, there was Boston’s own Onesimus.

“While Massachusetts was among the first states to abolish slavery, it was also

Congressman Ron Dellums, co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus

Former Congressman Ron Dellums

Congressman Ron Dellums, who along with 13 others, established the Congressional Black Caucus more than 45 years ago, has died. Dellums, a native of Oakland, California, served in Congress 27 years.

Dellums died July 30th at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 82 and he died of cancer.

An anti-war activist, Dellums was elected mayor of Oakland in 2006. He was the first black congressman elected from Northern California. He served the 9th Congressional District, where he was elected for 13 terms and was in office from 1971 to 1998.

Cedric L. Richmond, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, called Dellums a pioneer in his own right who passed critical Apartheid legislation and was the first black chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

16

one of the first to embrace it. In 1720’s Boston, buying a human being was apparently an appropriate way thank to your local man of God.” “He was presented to Cotton Mather by his congregation as a gift, which is, of course, extremely troubling,” Brown University history professor Ted Widmer told WGHB. Cotton Mather was a true puritan. A towering if controversial figure, especially following the Salem witch hysteria to which his preaching and writings greatly contributed.

“Mather was interested in his slave whom he called Onesimus which was the name of a slave belonging to St. Paul in the Bible,” explained Widmer.

Described by Mather as a “pretty intelligent fellow,” Onesimus had a small scar on his arm, which he explained to

Mather was why he had no fear of the era’s single deadliest disease: smallpox.

“Mather was fascinated by what Onesimus knew of inoculation practices back in Africa where he was from,” said Widmer.

Viewed mainly with suspicion by the few Europeans’ of the era who were even aware of inoculation, it’s benefits were known at the time in places in places like China, Turkey and Onesimus’ native West Africa.

“Our way of thinking of the world is often not accurate,” said Widmer. “For centuries Europe was behind other parts of the world in its medical practices.”

Bostonians like Mather were no strangers to smallpox.

Outbreaks in 1690 and 1702 had devastated the colonial city. And Widmer says Mather took a keen interest in Onesimus’ understanding of how the inoculation was done.

“They would take a small amount of a similar disease, sometimes cowpox, and they would open a cut and put a little drop of the disease into the bloodstream,” explained Widmer.

“And they knew that that was a way of developing resistance to it.”

The Harvard University report further cemented what Onesimus accomplished after a smallpox outbreak once again gripped Boston in 1721.

Although inoculation was already common in certain parts of the world by the early 18th century, it was only just beginning to be discussed in England and colonial America, according to researchers.

Mather is largely credited with introducing inoculation to the colonies and doing a great deal to promote the use of this method as standard for smallpox Con’t on page 18

Addison “Barry” Rand, one of the first black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company

Addison “Barry” Rand became one of the first black CEOs to head a Fortune 500 company when he assumed leadership at AVIS, the car rental firm, in 1999. Prior to working at AVIS, Rand spent most of his career at Xerox from the time he graduated from American University. He was a part of the company’s sales team until he was promoted to executive vice president of international operations, overseeing 70,000 corporate employees.When Rand was passed over for CEO of Xerox, he left the company to become CEO of Avis.

He later worked as CEO at AARP from 2009 until he retired in 2014.

He died of Alzheimer’s disease in an assisted living center on November 7th in Norwalk, ConnectiAddison “Barry” Rand cut. He was 74.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

The first person to use a computer to design a U.S. Naval ship

Raye Jean Jordan Montague, who revolutionized naval ship design by using a computer, died October 10th at Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. She suffered from congestive heart failure.

Montague is credited with the first computer design of a U.S. Navy Frigate, a type of warship, in 1971.

Although computers are ubiquitous today, in the early 1970s, they weren’t. Montague designed the ship in 18 hours and 56 minutes. Her design revolutionized Navy ship design, paving the way for promotions for a woman hired as a clerk typist.

She became the first woman program manager of ships in the U.S. Navy.

Montague grew up in the segregated Little Rock, Arkansas, a hotbed of racism. The state also had history of violence towards blacks, often organizing mass lynchings of black sharecroppers who demanded higher prices for their crops.

President Dwight Eisenhower ordered troops deployed to Little Rock in 1957 to protect from angry and violent white mobs black students who were desegregating Central High School.

After high school, she enrolled at Arkansas AM&N, now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she said she wanted to study engineering, which elicited ridicule and laughter from her fellow students.

At the time no Arkansas colleges were awarding degrees in engineering to African-American women. She changed her major, earning a degree in business in 1956.

Montague began her Naval career in 1956 as a clerk typist at the David Taylor Model Basin, now Naval Surface Warfare Center, in Carderock, Maryland.

She continued to rise through ranks by teaching herself computer programming and learning more about Navy ships. Her boss gave her a job he was sure she couldn’t do.

“The admirals came to me and said, ‘young lady, we understand you’ve got a system to design ships. The president has given us

Raye Jean Jordan Montague

two months. We can give you a month, Can you do it’ “, she said.

She successfully revised the first automat-

ed system for selecting and printing ship specifications, producing a draft for FFG7 frigate, the Oliver Hazard Perry-class or Perry class ship. It was the first time a ship had been designed by computer. She completed the design in a little over 18 hours.

She also help design the Seawolf-class submarine.

Her career spanned the development of computer technologies, from UNIVAC I, the world’s first commercially available computer.

In 1978, she was the first woman professional engineer to receive the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Achievement Award and the National Computer Graphics Association Award for the Advancement of Computer Graphics.

Montague, who retired in 1990, was married three times and had one son. She was active in the Links and the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She is a member of the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame.

Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General

Kofi Annan, the first black African to serve as United Nations Secretary General, died August 18 at hospital in Bern, Switzerland, following a brief undisclosed illness, the Kofi Annan Foundation reported.

Mr. Annan, who was 80, was surrounded by his wife, Nane, and their children, Ama, Kojo and Nina, at the time of his death. He lived in Geneva, Switzerland.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, hailed Annan as “a guiding force for good” and a “proud son of Africa who became a global champion for peace and humanity.”

Annan served as UN Secretary General for two five-year terms beginning in January 1997, after rising through the organization’s ranks.

He was born in Kamasi, Ghana, on April 8, 1938. He joined the UN system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva.

He was promoted to senior-level posts in budget, finance and peacekeeping.

Mr. Annan held UN posts in Ethiopia,

Kofi Annan Egypt, the former Yugoslavia and at UN headquarters in New York.

In 1997, he was appointed UN Secretary

General. His first major initiative was a plan for UN reform, which was presented by the member states in July 1997.

In that post, his office advocated for human rights, the rule of law, development and Africa. He also galvanized global action to fight HIV/AIDS and terrorism.

For his work, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

In his 2006 farewell statement to the UN General Assembly, Annan said his job was difficult and challenging yet thrilling and rewarding at times.

Annan later worked as UN Special Envoy for Syria in the wake of the conflict that began in March 2011. He also chaired an Advisory Commission in Myanmar in 2016 to improve the welfare of all people in Rakhine state, home of the Rohingya community.

In Ghana, he established an international peacekeeping training center in 2004. The center is named in his honor.

17

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Leopoldine Emma Doualla-Bell: The World’s First Black Flight Attendant In any form of history, someone had to be the first. We celebrate that fact as they usually make room and pave the way for others to follow or even build upon their acheivement. This instance is no different when Leopoldine Emma Doualla-Bell Smith became the world’s first black flight attendant. Smith was born in Cameroon and was a princess of the royal Douala family of Cameroon. She was offered a rare after-school employment opportunity in her hometown of Douala, then the capital of the colony, to serve as a ground hostess for Union Aeromaritime de Transport (UAT), the airline that served France’s African routes.

After her graduation from high school in 1956 at the age of seventeen, Smith was sent to Paris for additional ground hostess training by Air France and then moved to UAT for flight training. In 1957 Smith began flying as a stewardess with UAT which would later merge to become part of Union de Transports Aeriens (UTA). Smith, at the time, didn’t know that she was making history as the first black person to serve as a flight attendant for any airline. She took to the air the year prior to Ruth Carol Taylor who is credited with being the first black flight attendant in the United States. Taylor’s initial flight took place on February 11, 1958, on a Mohawk Airlines flight from Ithaca, New York, to New York City.

In 1960 Smith was invited to join Air Afrique, the airline created to serve eleven newly independent French-speaking nations that were former colonies of France.

Smith was the only qualified African in a French aviation; her employment identification card was No. 001. She was eventually promoted to an Air Afrique first cabin chief. During her time as a flight attendant,

Smith flew throughout Africa and as far away as Australia. Because of the color of her skin, some white passengers treated her like an outcast, but dark-skinned passengers often welcomed her presence. Smith experienced frequent sexual harassment; on one occasion, she slapped a white man who had touched her breast.

In 1969 after twelve years as a flight attendant, Smith left Air Afrique to become manager of Reunited Transport Leaders Travel Agency in Libreville, Gabon. Six years later, she relocated to Washington D.C. to study English at Georgetown University where she also meant her American husband, Leroy Smith. Smith returned to Gabon in 1976 where she was hired by… …Air Zaire as station and officer manager at the Libreville airport. Smith also supported the Skal club (also known as Skal international), the international association of professionals, leaders, and friends who were seeking to promote travel and tourism in Africa.

Smith and her husband moved to Lima, Peru, in 1983 for a Peace Corps assignment. While there, she remained in the travel industry and worked as a travel consultant. Smith and her husband retired in 2003 and moved to Denver where they established the Business and Intercultural Services for Educational Travel and Associated Learning (BISETAL) which encourages on-site education about Africa and other non-western cultures. Smith also volunteers at Denver International Airport through their ambassador program, welcoming visitors to the Mile-High City and assisting them to find their way through the airport. In 2015 Smith was honored at the fortieth anniversary of Black Flight Attendants of America organization at Los Angeles International Airport’s Flight Path Museum.

(Photo credit: Westword) (Photo credit: Historic Images/Westworld)

The U.S. Postal Service honored iconic entertainer Gregory Hines with a Black Heritage Series stamp in a ceremony on January 28th. As the 42nd entry in the series, the stamp featuring a 1988 photo of a smiling Hines is now available at Post Offices and usps.com.

At the ceremony Tony Award winner Savion Glover talked about the role Hines played in elevating tap into an art form and the value of his work. Joining him in the celebration were Maurice Hines, actor, dancer, choreographer, and Hines’ brother; Daria Hines, actress, costume designer, and Hines’ daughter; dancers Chloe and Maud Arnold; Tony Waag, the American Tap Dance Foundation’s artistic director, and tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith.

“I don’t exist without this man,” said Glover, “These young people that you see, they aren’t born without this. We are not here today without this.”

The Chief Postal Inspector, Gary Barksdale, who led the ceremony, said “Gregory Hines was an extraordinary artist in every sense of the word. This Forever stamp pays

tribute to his life and career as an actor, singer and most importantly, as a performer whose unique style of tap dancing injected new artistry and excitement into a tradition-

al American form.”

Gregory Hines’ Broadway credits include Eubie!, Sophisticated Ladies, & Comin’ Uptown, all of which garnered him Tony

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

Black Heritage Stamp News Now

18

Award nominations. He became a Tony Award winner for his starring role in “Jelly’s Last Jam” in 1992. In 2003 he passed away at 57 years old from cancer.

Con’t from page 16

A Slave’s African Medical prevention during the 1721 epidemic, Harvard authors wrote.

Then, they noted: Mather is believed to have first learned about inoculation from his West African slave Onesimus, writing, “he told me that he had undergone the operation which had given something of the smallpox and would forever preserve him from it, adding that was often used in West Africa.’’

After confirming this account with other West African slaves and reading of similar methods being performed in Turkey, Mather became an avid proponent of inoculation.

When the 1721 smallpox epidemic struck Boston, Mather took the opportunity to campaign for the systematic application of inoculation.

What followed was a fierce public debate, but also one of the first widespread and well-documented uses of inoculation to combat such an epidemic in the West.

“A few people who got inoculated did die. But roughly one in 40 did, and roughly one in seven members of the general population dies, so you had a much worse chance of surviving small pox if you did nothing,” according to WGHB’s research.

Mather and Boylston both wrote about their findings, which were circulated at home and impressed the scientific elite in London, adding invaluable data at a crucial time that helped lay the groundwork for Edward Jenner’s famed first smallpox vaccine 75 years later.

“Even though most of the city was on the wrong side and didn’t want inoculation to happen they were smart enough to realize afterward that they had been wrong,” Widmer said. “And so, there was a higher level of respect for science going forward.”

The scourge of slavery would continue in Massachusetts for another 60 years, but as for the man whose knowledge sparked the breakthrough…

“Onesimus was recognized as the savior of a lot of Bostonians and was admired and then was emancipated,” Widmer said. “Onesimus was a hero. He gave of his knowledge freely and was himself freed.”

Thomas, who has worked as an editor in medical and academic publishing for more than 25 years, added that it’s important for African Americans to understand that immunizations were originally an African practice that Africans brought with them to America.

“Since then, African Americans played an important role in making vaccines safer and more effective,” she said, noting that an African American woman scientist named Loney Gordon played a key role in the development of the vaccine against whooping cough – or pertussis.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

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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 Executive Director Position Common Ground High School, Urban Farm suficientes & Environmental Education julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Center is looking next Executive Director: A dynamic, proven orga- por correo a petición en las oficinasfordeitsHOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas nizational leader who shares our roots-deep commitment to environmental Accounting Department has two immediate openings for full a HOME al 203-562-4663 esasequitable horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse andllamando food justice, active,INC authentic learning, anddurante inclusive, commu- time Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable professionals HOME INC and en 171 piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . nity.a las Foroficinas a detaileddejob description howOrange to apply,Street, pleasetercer visit http://comin a fast-paced office environment. Must be highly organized, mongroundct.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Common-Ground-Executivepossess good computer skills, be detail oriented, and able to Director-job-posting manage multiple projects. Benefits include health, dental & LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Listing: Accounting

BRISTOL HOUSING AUTHORITY Request for Proposal for Construction Manager – at Risk Responses Due 3:00 p.m., Friday, March 1, 2019

The Bristol Housing Authority (“BHA”) is seeking a qualified firm to serve as Construction Manager at Risk for its proposed rehabilitation of D.J. Komanetsky Estates (the “Project”).

InvitationBHA to Bid: is requesting a “Statement of Qualifications and Response to Request for Proposal” nd Notice 2 from interested parties for the Project. The Project is anticipated to be funded primarThe GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY with financing from the State of Connecticut Department of Housing (“DOH”), the 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 levelis, currently 1BA accepting applications for its efficiency and one ily Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (“CHFA”) and BHA. Prior successful experience bedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace working with DOH- and CHFA-funded affordable housing developments of this scale is All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Old Saybrook, CT or on State of highways, nearConnecticut bus stop & shopping centerin Guilford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over (4 Buildings,mandatory 17 Units) to qualify for consideration for the Project.

NEW HAVEN

is seeking to fill the position of Director of Gift Planning.

Please refer to our website for details: http://www.cfgnh.org/ About/ContactUs/EmploymentOpportunities.aspx.

242-258 Fairmont EOE. Ave Electronic submissions only. No phone calls

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

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

100% social security or federal disability and over the age of Policy Pet under 40lbOffice allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Exempt Not Prevailing of 18. Applications maybe obtained by Tax calling the & applicaA fullWage copy Rate of theProject Request for Proposal and access to drawings are available by contacting and Management Carl Johnson, Dir. of Capital Funds at (860) 585-2028 or e-mail cjohnson@bristolhousing. tion line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107. Applications will be acorg.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s NewatConstruction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castcepted until May 30, 2019 3:00 p.m. Credit, police, and Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates The State of Connecticut, ofClasses Policy checks Smoke free in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles,The Vinyl Siding, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The Office cost is $125. start Saturday,landlord August 20, 2016 1:30- are procured by the authority.

Bristol Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer 3:30 Contact: Deacon Joe J.is Davis, M.S., B.S. and Chairman, Management recruiting for an housing.

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster Executive Financial Officer position and EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

a Labor Relations Associate position.

St. New Haven, CT

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

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application inBid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Data Entry, Print, Copy & Scan Documents. Working knowledge of Haz. structions for both positions are available at: ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Portland Anticipated Start: Waste August 15, 2016& Manifests. DOT & OSHA certification a +. Forward reRegs., Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ Project documents available via ftp link below: Assistant for data entry, filing, reception, phones, and corporate staff supsumes to RED Technologies, LLC Fax 860-218-2433; or Email to HR@ until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at Administrative 28 Smith Street, sup/bulpreview.asp?R1=190201& port. Working knowledge of Haz. Wastehttp://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Regs., Manifests, AP & billing. OSHA certificaredtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE. tion a +.

Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC Fax 860-218-2433; or Email to R2=1899MP&R3=001 Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the HR@redtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE. Smithfield Gardens Assisted andLiving Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Scale House Operator, Electric

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ Firefi ghter Town of Greenwich Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Distribution Superintendent – The Town of Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly technisup/bulpreview.asp?R1=190131& AA/EEO EMPLOYER cal manager with strong administrative skills to manage the construction, maintenance and operation Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

R2=0190MP&R3=001

Do You Want A Job That Makes A Difference?

Become A Town of Greenwich Firefighter.

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/ Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Of-information and apply online visit www.governTo Authority view detailed affirmative action employer and strongly fice, 28encourages Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. mentjobs.com/careers/greenwichct the applications of women, Current Starting Salary: $60,910. The Town of Greenwich is minorities, and persons with disabilities.

dedicated to Diversity & Equal Opportunity Employment; Town of

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to 101 Field Point Rd, Greenwich, CT, (203)861Greenwich, HR Dept., reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any 20 informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

of the utility’s electric transmission and distribution systems. The utility serves 24,700 customers in a 50+ square mile distribution area with a peak demand of 130 MW. The position requires a B.S. degree in electrical engineering plus 8 years of responsible experience in electric utility distribution, construction maintenance and operations which must include 4 years of supervisory experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting on a year-for year basis. Salary: $91,742 - $117,382 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 26, 2019 or the date the 50th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

INNER-CITY July 2016 -- August THE INNER-CITY NEWS NEWS - February 1327, , 2019 February 2019 02,19, 2016

Elm City Communities NOTICE

Request for Proposals Youth Development Program Services- West Rock

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the Haven A Housing Authority, Proposals for Youth Development Program Services at New WestRock. complete copy of theisrequirement may be obtainedforfrom Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// accepting pre-applications studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develnewhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway Wednesday, February opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven.beginning Maximumon income limitations ap6, 2019 at 3:00 PM ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y

25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have

HELP WANTED: Large guardrail company for Laborer/Driver withupon validreCT been received at the CT offices of HOME INC.looking Applications will be mailied CDL Class licenseHOME and able get203-562-4663 a medical card.

Mustthose be able to pass a drug testpreand quest byAcalling INCto at during hours.

Completed physical.

Compensation based on experience.

Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third door.com AA/EOE M-F

Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Warehouse/Yard Manager: NOTICIA

Large CT Fence Company is looking for an individual to manage our warehouse/yard.

Prior warehouse shipping/receiving and forklift experience a must. Duties will include VALENTINA MACRI DEand ALQUILER DISPONIBLES loading and unloading of VIVIENDAS trucks, pulling staging PRE-SOLICITUDES orders for installation and retail counter sales and maintaining general yard organization. Basic computer skills required, ability to fill out daily accurately, assist with yinventory supervise other está yard HOME INC,paperwork en nombre de la Columbus House de la Newcontrol Havenand Housing Authority, staff.

Must be able to pass para a physical drug test, have a valid CT driver’s and aceptando pre-solicitudes estudiosand y apartamentos de un dormitorio en estelicense desarrollo be ubicado able to obtain Drivers Card.New Competitive wages andlimitaciones benefits provided.

Send en la acalle 109 Medical Frank Street, Haven. Se aplican de ingresos resume to: gforshee@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE/MF máximos.

Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25

julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100)

en las CT. oficinas de HOME INC. Lasispre-solicitudes enviadas por stock correoyard. a petición Large Fence Company looking for an serán individual for our Ware-

house shipping and receiving and Forkliftdurante experience a must. Must havedeberán a minimum of 3 llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 esas horas.Pre-solicitudes remitirse years’ be able to read write English, a tape a lasmaterial oficinashandling de HOMEexperience.

INC en 171Must Orange Street, tercerand piso, New Havenand , CTread 06510 . measure. Duties will include: Loading and unloading trucks, pulling orders for installation and retail counter sales, keeping the yard clean and organized at all times and inventory control. Individual will also make deliveries of fence panels and products, must be able to lift at least 70lbs. Required to pass a Physical and Drug test, have a valid CT. Driver’s License and be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. CDL B & A drivers a plus. Send resume to pking@atlasourdoor.com AA/EOE/MF

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 Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

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

Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Executive Management

Housing Authority Office 28 Smith A pre-bid conference will be held at the

The Housing Authority the City of Wednesday, New Haven July d/b/a Elm City CommuniStreet Seymour, CT at of 10:00 am, on 20, 2016. ties is currently seeking Proposals for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Executive Management. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Bidding are availablePortal from https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonethe Seymour Housing Authority OfElm City’sdocuments Vendor Collaboration fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour,on Monday, February CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. systems.com/gateway beginning 4, 2019 at 3:00PM.

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

ELECTRICIAN

Elm City Communities Request for Proposals Master Lease Agreement Services The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Master Lease Agreement Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 3:00PM.

– Telecommunications company looking for low voltage cable installer with a C or T license, specializing in fusion/splicing, testing and termination. Also must be familiar with all aspects of indoor & outdoor cable installation, aerial bucket work, pole work, messenger, lashing, manhole & underground installation. Good salary with full benefits. Fax resume to 860-282-0424 or mail to Fibre Optic Plus, LLC 585 Nutmeg Road North, South Windsor, CT 06074 Attn: Don Ballsieper Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

Project Manager Environmental Remediation Division

ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc Project Engineer (Connecticut):

3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC,

Project Engineer job opening available for a growing / established Heavy Highway Construction Contractor based out of Avon, CT. Tasks include takeoffs, CAD drafting, computations, surveying, office engineering, submittals, other miscellaneous engineering tasks. Competitive compensation package based on experience.

Many opportunities for growth for the right individual. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Email resume to jobs@rothacontracting.com

RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002;

Administrative Assistant Must have DOT Construction Exp. Involves traveling to Job Site for record keeping.

Reliable transportation a must. NO PHONE CALLS EMAIL RESUME TO michelle@occllc.com EOE/AA Females and Minorities are encouraged to apply

Fax 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc

seeks: 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 Contact: Dan Peterson Phone: 860- 243-2300 email: dpeterson@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc

Listing: Transportation Assistant - Immediate Opening

Invitation to Bid:a full time High Volume petroleum oil company is seeking 2nd Notice Transportation Assistant. Work time begins at 6:00AM. Previous petroleum oil, retail or commercial dispatching experience a plus. MUST possess excellent attention to detail, ability Saybrook, to manage multiple projects, excelOld proficiency andCTgood computer skills required. Send resume(4to: Human Resource Buildings, 17 Units) Dept., PO Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

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

seeks: Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Union Company seeks: Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway ConMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.struction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract complianceclean requirements. driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Northeast & NY. Attention Drivers Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits We have concrete mixer and triaxle dump driver openings Project documents available via ftp link below: Contact Dana at 860-243-2300.

Minimum 2 years experience. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com .

Must have valid CDL with clean driving record.

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Excellent pay and benefits.

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com Apply M-F from at S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses HCC encourages the participation of all9-4 Veteran, 24 Industrial DriveCompany, Waterford, CT Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 Haynes Construction 32 Progress AA/EEO EMPLOYER

860-444-9600

Applications available at: www.kobyluckinc.com An Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

21

Class A CDL driver F/T Experienced.

Project Manager F/T w/5 years min. exp. w/construction of misc metal & structural steel. E-mail Hherbert@gwfabrication.com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

Just in Time for Black History Month, New Platform Brings Afrocentric Events to You

After understanding that larger, well known ticket sites do not have a problem listing and taking money from rightwinged, anti-Black organizations, Wilson, 40, the founder of frocentric started building his own platform.

Even with a background in both programming and digital marketing, it took over a year to take frocentric from concept to launch.

He said, “I built frocentric from the ground up with the aim of serving the black experience by creating a common hub where people can find similar events in one place. The true value of any event or meetup is what you received from attending. However, the energy surrounding the website where you

buy your tickets is just as important as the message.”

With the slogan ‘Find Events that Matter‘, the concept of frocentric is more than just an event marketplace, but a platform geared towards promoting events that channel the black experience through activism, business, music, culture and arts.

Artist and promoters can now sell tickets or showcase free events to a more captive audience, especially during black history month and beyond. The aim is to take back and re-focus our creative energy so that a larger ripple effect can be created. frocentric gives organizers the power to create that ripple effect.

Wilson continued, “The response we have

received so far has been fantastic as it’s easy to understand what we are trying to do. However, we still need more support from organizers who want publicize their event to an audience who will be responsive to what they have to offer.”

For change to occur quickly, we must all be united towards a common vision and we must also seek out platforms which allow our voices to be heard undividedly. This is true whether the message is business, music, art social or networking.

For more details about frocentric events, visit www.frocentric.com or contact Wilson at wilson@frocentric.com or (678) 500-9114.

Michael B. Jordan: How ‘Black Panther’ Role Sent Him To Therapy

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

Blockbuster film, Black Panther, was easily one of the best and highest grossing films in 2018. It’s characters resonated with people all over, it catapulted its stars into a new dimension and even had people wanting to go to the fictional place called Wakanda.

But who knew that making such an important film would have a negative effect on one of its stars, Michael B. Jordan.

The 32-year-old played vengeful Kilmonger, but in playing that role it took a blow to his mental health.

“I was by myself, isolating myself,” Jordan told Oprah Winfrey during a Tuesday taping of her SuperSoul Conversations TV special. Winfrey had asked what he had to do to “get all that nastiness” that embodied in Killmonger.

“I spent a lot of time alone,” Jordan said.

“I figured Erik [Killmonger], his childhood growing up was pretty lonely. He didn’t have a lot of people he could talk to about this place called Wakanda that didn’t exist.”

He dove headfirst into the psychology of his character, something that’s common enough among actors, but it seemed to have rubbed off.

“Of course it’s an extreme, exaggerated version of the African diaspora from the African-American perspective, so to be able to take that kind of pain and rage and all those emotions that Erik kind of represents from being black and brown here in America… That was something I didn’t take lightly,” Jordan said.

“I didn’t have a process,” Jordan said of his getting into character. “I just did whatever I felt I needed to do or what-

by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for SBIFF)

ever I felt was right in the moment every step of the way.”

But at the end of each scene, “I didn’t have an escape plan, either,” the Creed actor added. “When it was all over, I think just being in that kind of mind state… It caught up with me.”

Seeing a therapist to work through his feelings at the time “helped me out a lot,” Jordan said. Ultimately it was all about getting back to being himself. “Readjusting to people caring about me, getting that love that I shut out… I shut out love, I didn’t want love. I wanted to be in this lonely place as long as I could.”

And concerning the stigma around people, Black people in general, seeking professional help? Jordan is an advocate for anyone to talk. “As a man you get a lot of slack for it,” he told Winfrey. “I don’t really subscribe to that. Everyone

Three HBCUs Have Raised More Than $40 Million in the Last Three Months. Black Millionaires Accounted for Five Percent of the Gifts

by JL Carter Sr., HBCUDigest.com Simmons College of Kentucky Board of Trustees Chairman Barney Barnett recently announced plans to donate $4 million to the institution in support of capital improvements and building Simmons’ endowment.

The announcement comes less than a year after Barnett stunned 23 graduating seniors from the college, giving each of them $1,000 gifts during their commencement ceremony.

Barnett is a noted philanthropist in Kentucky, just like many of the other donors who contribute to historically black colleges and universities nationwide with ties forged through board participation or corporate partnership.

But he is also part of a growing club of white philanthropists investing in HBCUs with transformative gifts, a club with a number of members that is outpacing the publicized total of black millionaire donors to the sector.

In the last three months, Simmons, Bennett College, Spelman College, and Morehouse College have tallied just over $43

million in donations for reasons covering the two most magnetic reasons to give to an HBCU; to support HBCU excellence or to avoid HBCU extinction.

Spelman accounts for the lion’s share of the total, having received a $30 million gift from board member Ronda Stryker in December, and Morehouse adding $1.5 million to the total last month with a gift from noted black philanthropist Robert F. Smith.

Bennett raised an improbable $8.2 million in less than two months, with $1 million of what officials hope will be a school-saving total given by entrepreneur Kwanza Jones.

It is common in higher education for donors to wish to be anonymous with their giving, or for schools not to draw much attention to their kindness. But secret support, at least in recent months, doesn’t seem to be on the list of demands for white supporters within the HBCU sector.

This is not a black wealth shaming session; telling people of any race how to spend their money is a surefire way to all but guarantee that they won’t spend it on you or your cause. We know who the

wealthy black elite are, and they know that we know. We love their flirtations with our culture.

But big gifts to HBCUs seemingly coming from an increasing number of white donors is a telling sign of just how broken the philanthropic narrative may be in the HBCU sector.

It isn’t that we are not giving to our HBCUs; last May, Howard University alumni Irvin and Pamela Reid donated $1 million to their alma mater.

But if the last three months are any reasonable sample size of HBCU giving, the variety of storylines attracting gifts from a variety of power donors underscores the impression that our black elite earners do not give back frequently enough or publicly enough to suggest that the richest among us genuinely care about our schools.

The idea that wealthy black donors are not targeting HBCUs for giving seems to run countercultural to new narratives on HBCU philanthropy, which according to federal data increased by more than $60 million between 2014 and 2016.

The narratives may be confusing, but

22

the numbers on who is making gifts of generational consequence to HBCUs do not lie. In many ways, they make sense.

Some HBCUs were started by wealthy white philanthropists, and funded by the same over years in the name of equalizing society in the harsh aftermath of slavery.

If this mentality has shifted over generations from equalizing citizenship to helping America keep pace in science and technology, or fixing its broken secondary education system, or eradicating poverty through the mission of HBCUs, our sector fully embraces it. We welcome the jumpstart for families and institutions to do more with more instead of less for a change; just as many other colleges and universities were able to do with far more sorrowful revenue streams.

But there’s no need to ask questions to which we already know the answers.

Why aren’t black millionaires giving to our schools in greater number? What are white donors hearing and believing about the HBCU narrative that black millionaires and billionaires aren’t hearing or believing?

The answer is as searing and as painful as you would imagine it would be.

needs to unpack and talk.”

In the black community, there has been this negative stigma surrounding mental health. Instead of seeking professional help for conditions such as depression and anxiety, many in the community resort to… …self-medication (drugs, opioids, alcohol, etc.) or isolation in an attempt to solve their problems on their own. This issue of masking pain is especially prevalent amongst black men.

As we move forward, we want our men to be healthy. That means it’s important for us to take a step back and honor the mental and emotional health of men, and invest in spaces that help unpack the influence of toxic masculinity that permeates through our society today.

It doesn’t make a man weak to acknowledge the fears he has about providing for his family, or the anxieties he has about existing in a world in which Black bodies are devalued. It means we can work through these fears and worries by talking with other men, whether they are friends, fathers, siblings, therapists, or soon to be new friends in group therapy or other supportive spaces. These are spaces where we can heal.

Friday, May 31st Tickets on sale this Friday at 10:00am only at Ticketmaster

1.800.745.3000 TICKETMASTER.COM | MOHEGANSUN.COM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19, 2019

9TH ANNUAL

Tuesday, February 26 at 12:00PM Omni New Haven Hotel

ROSANNE CASH Activist, Author, Grammy Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter

“I believe with all my heart that a single child’s life is greater, more precious, and more deserving of the protection of this nation and of the adults in this room than the right to own a personal arsenal of military-style weapons. The killing of children in schools should not be collateral damage for the 2nd amendment.” -Rosanne Cash For more information visit ARTIDEA.ORG/VLA Tickets available now!

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 13, 2019 - February 19 , 2019

#nB

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#stoPH

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getH o t v i #stoPH

ConnecticuT Facts: 12% of the CT population is Black, yet 41% of new HIV cases are too.

African American women are highest among all women getting infected with HIV “If current HIV diagnoses rates persist, about 1 in 2 black men who have sex with men in the United States will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime” -CDC Things You Can Do: Get a FREE HIV TEST! Use Condoms!

Take PrEP pill daily to PREVENT INFECTION!

New HIV cases are mostly people in their 20’s

For More Information

PositivePreventionCt.org 24