INNER -CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY July 2016 -- August THE INNER-CITY NEWS NEWS - February 2727, , 2019 March 02, 06, 2016 2019

Financial Justice a KeyBaker Focus at 2016 NAACP Convention The Trials of Constance Motley at New Haven Museum New Haven, Bridgeport

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Volume 27 . No. 2319 Volume 21 No. 2194

“DMC” Yale Slammed

Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

On Local Hiring Promise

Aleta Staton Color Struck? on Art & the Community

They Made Sure

Black HistoryFOLLOW Month Happened US

Snow in July?

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From the Festival Staff of Arts & Ideas www.artidea.org 1

Teen Trio Making Doo-Wop Waves THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

by NOAH KIM

New Haven Independent

To raucous applause, Aveion Downs took the stage and began belting out James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine.”

“Fellas, I’m ready to get up and do my thing/ I wanna get into it, man!” he sang, emulating Brown’s full voice, his drawnout enunciations.

At one point, Downs’s mentor Chaz Carmon draped a gold cape over his shoulders in a move reminiscent of a trademark Brown routine.

Downs’s and his doo-wop a capella trio Kompozure were kicking off a three-concert series Thursday night at Bregamos Community Theater, located in Erector Square. They’ve been around a year, and gaining traction with an old-school sound.

The group is comprised off three high school students, Downs, Javione Hinds and Shawn Sufra, all of whom are members of the anti-violence youth organization Ice the Beef. Hinds attends Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, the others Hillhouse; all are juniors.

The trio performed Thursday night to an enthusiastic audience on a stage decorated with a glowing streetlamp and a painted backdrop depicting a quiet stoop. (The concert’s theme was “Under the Streetlights.”)

The musicians exuded a warm and effortless stage presence, strolling up and down the aisles and singing directly to individual

NOAH KIM PHOTO

Kompozure at Bregamos Thursday night: Aveion Downs, Javione Hinds and Shawn Sufra.

audience members. During one of his solos, Downs lifted a woman out of her chair and began to dance with her as the audience cheered loudly.

As the concert progressed, the mood swerved from joyful to poignant with Kompozure using the stage to take a firm stand against violence in the community. In a moving moment, Hinds dedicated a song to their friend Tyrick Keyes, who was shot and killed by an unknown assailant near Bassett Street Park in 2017 at the age of 14.

Downs and Sufra have been friends for a long time: both of them run track at James Hillhouse High School. But the idea of starting a doo-wop trio came into being only recently when Downs approached Hinds at a party.

“I’d come to that party from another party, a pool party,” said Hinds. “And the first thing I said to him when he came up to me was, ‘Does my hair smell like pool water to you?’”

“And I said, “Yeah, it does,’” said Downs, smiling widely.

“He started singing for the females. I said OK, ‘This short guy has some swag.’”

A few months later, the three teens launched the idea for the group through Ice the Beef’s educational and arts program.

They’d practice in the bathroom at Ice the Beef headquarters “for the acoustics.”

Chaz Carmon, the president and youth director of Ice the Beef, hooked them up with some vocal coaches. They credit Edwin

Muhammed, Ice the Beef’s music teacher, for introducing them to many of the songs on their set list and helping them refine their sound.

Doo-wop would seem to be an improbable genre for city teens in 2019, but all three of the musicians said that they have always loved the “old school songs.”

“I grew up on doo-wop,” said Downs. “We used to play that stuff around the house.”

The members of Kompozure also cited James Brown and Michael Jackson, both of whom they covered during the concert, as big inspirations.

“Eventually, we want to try to create our own genre of music,” said Sufra. “We do doo-wop. We do soul. We do R&B. But eventually we want to combine all of those into a new thing.”

The musicians are mentored, supported, and informally managed by Carmon, who introduced the trio at the beginning of the concert Thursday night and lent them a little accompaniment on stage.

“The three of them love each other and support each other,” he said, proudly. “And also, they’ve got amazing harmony.”

Carmon said Hinds, Downs and Sufra have recently been focused on landing gigs in New York to increase their exposure. So far, the plan seems to be working: representatives from music labels ranging from Time Warner to Revolt to Def Jam have expressed interest in putting the group on a record.

Busy Builder Pressed To Hire Local Workers

by ALLAN APPEL

New Haven Independent

Hillhouse High School graduate and proud local young carpenter Davon McNeil, 27, is enthusiastic about his profession and his town. A carpenters union member, he commutes daily to a project in Bridgeport.

He’d love to hammer the boards and do the framing of the many rising new buildings in his native New Haven.

But the builders, when they acquire their properties in private transactions involving no city help, don’t have to hire local.

That issue was at the heart of a polite but impassioned conversation that unfolded at the regular meeting of the DowntownWooster Square Community Management Team meeting Tuesday night at City Hall.

The gathering attracted nearly 50 people half of them carpenters like McNeil and local safety-vest wearing tradesmen like Darren Smith and his crew of dry wall installers. They showed up to make their case for local hiring to team members and to Frank Caico, vice president for development of the Norwalk-based Spinnaker Real Estate Partners.

One of the most active builders in town, Spinnaker is in the midst of completing the first phase of its “super block” of 269

new dwellings called Audubon Square, on Orange near Audubon Street; . It is about to start building a new Hilton Garden Inn hotel at Orange and Elm; and a large new development on the old Comcast site at the corner of Olive and Chapel streets. It has also assumed a leading role in plans to build a mixed-use complex on the site of the former New Haven Coliseum.

Caico attended the meeting to unveil preliminary plans for the 132-room, five-story Hilton Garden Inn on the soon to-be-razed site of the old Webster Bank building at 80 Elm St. It was into Caico’s ears that McNeil’s older carpenter colleagues like Manny Gines and Tim Sullivan of the New England Carpenters and Joiners Union Local 326 made their impassioned arguments.

“Economic development starts with community development,” said Gines. “We don’t want a developer to bring contractors in from out of the area.”

Gines reported that he had recently visited the Audubon Square project and spoken in Spanish, he added to members of the crews working there. They were from out of town , he said. Some told him they were being paid in the $15 to $20 range, far below the going rate for carpenters, especially union carpenters.

“We want developers to pay a livable wage and with benefits,” Gines declared. “We are all residents” who would turn those wages into fuel for the local economy.

“I appreciate the point,” Caico responded.

“We’ll be hiring a general contractor [for the Hilton], and that contractor will solicit bids for every trade. We wouldn’t exclude any qualified contractors.”

“Our issue isn’t quality but fair wages,” Gines responded.

“We talked to you about this on Audubon, and we got the same dog and pony show.

The guys at Audubon, that contractor has labor violations, and yet you still hire him!

What do you bring to New Haven other than a sketchy past!!” pressed Tim Sullivan.

“I beg to differ,” Caico replied. “You have a vacant property [at 80 Elm] for many years, and we are making a huge investment. We plan to be a corporate citizen.

I appreciate what you’re saying, but it’s unfortunate you don’t appreciate what we bring to the table.”

A neighbor, Urn Pendragan, questioned the need for a hotel. Caico said Spinnaker’s marketing studies indicated a dearth of hotel rooms, a point echoed by other local hotel developers and by city economic development officials.

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District Manager Lt. Sean Maher, in foreground, with team chair Smith, surrounded by carpenters.

“We could build that, but the opportunity is closed,” argued Darren Smith, who runs a minority-owned local contractor called HouseSurgeons. “You’re the developer.

You can’t make it happen for us?”

Caico repeated that the general contractor

will hire the subcontractors. He said all qualified folks who apply will be considered.

“We like to pull trades from the regional and local market, but at times there’s some Con’t on page 12

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

#LegislatingWhileBlack

by JUSTIN FARMER

BOSCOV’S HONORS

(Opinion)Justin Farmer, who wrote the following article, is a Hamden City Council member and majority whip.

For the past few months, I’ve been working with one of my constituents, Kim Miller, to find a solution for her dogs, Kato and Kleo, which have been housed in North Haven’s pound (a facility Hamden frequently uses since we lack our own) for the past six years after her dogs were accused of attacking someone.

After months of discussions with various Hamden officials, including mayor’s office personnel, the police chief, and the town attorney, I arranged a meeting to visit North Haven to see Ms. Miller’s dogs and the facility.

Despite the extensive discussions on what a visit might look like and how it would work for everyone involved, my visit on Dec. 17, 2018, quickly spiraled into disaster.

In addition to the multiple conversations with our town’s former and acting police chiefs regarding any necessary waivers or releases, I also discussed the plans with colleagues at a leadership meeting, who included the mayor and the Council president. Ms. Miller informed North Haven that the visit would be taking place as well.

On the morning of the visit, around 9 a.m., Ms. Miller called Hamden Animal Control Officer Chris Smith and informed him that I would be joining her on her regular visit. Smith became very agitated with Ms. Miller and demanded that she make sure I “knew the rules.”

When I arrived at the pound with Ms. Miller and met Officer Smith, he began to tell me that I could not interact directly with the dogs, as it would be dangerous to approach them and could result in him losing his job. This was in spite of previous visits from other elected officials.

Although this is not what had been previously agreed upon, I respected his wishes and did not interact directly with the dogs. I did, however, say that we would be revisiting the issue and discussing it again with the mayor’s office and the town attorney.

The conversation lasted no more than four minutes into visiting the facility when a North Haven police officer approached us and asked us to have a quick conversation with him. The officer was friendly enough and explained that he would be there for the duration of the visit and that Officer Smith had a North Haven animal control officer called to prevent possible trespassing.

I was bewildered. Although this had not been part of the discussions that had taken place in preparation of the visit, the payor and police chief assured me that was proper procedure, even though it had not been the case for either elected official who had previously visited.

The North Haven officer left after half an hour of standing guard and watching us. Officer Smith was confused about why I wasn’t OK with this. I later found out that Officer Smith had called his captain after getting off the phone with Ms. Miller, and had specifically requested police presence for when Ms. Miller and I arrived.

I gave Hamden’s mayor and his administration three weeks to answers questions and provide documentation regarding the standard procedure for visits to the facility, to which I received no answers.

No one took the issue seriously until I mentioned that the press might be interested in investigating.

Even in closed-door leadership meetings, little was said on the matter. After more than the three weeks provided, I have now enlisted the help of our town attorney to develop and formalize rules.

As a legislator of color, I understand that most issues around race and policing are often strained for my colleagues, but I would never have believed that the police would be called while doing my job of representing the town. As a leader, I try to do everything in a pro-social way. I tried to work with the mayor’s office and the police department and two months have passed with no procedures to prevent this from happening again.

The officers at the facility do, however, wear body cameras now because of the “incident of the 17th.” I was mortified that law enforcement was called on me to intimidate me from doing my job but was more concerned that if a constituent had informed me of such an incident, I would not have thought it possible.

I decided to write this article to inform the public on a community hearing we’ll be having in March and to make a commitment to go on ride-alongs with as many officers as my schedule permits to build community trust. It is more important now than ever for the community to be part of our policing efforts rather than accomplices in the current system.

Justin Farmer Majority Whip 203-200-0517 Fifthdistrict@hamden.com

LEADERS IN HUMANITY IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Barack Obama

Dr. Patricia Bath

Rosa Parks

Booker T. Washington

George Washington Carver

Dr. Shirley Jackson

In part 4 of our 4-part series, we salute some of the pioneers in the humanities.

From the advances in education by Booker T. Washington, to the inventions of George Washington Carver, Dr. Patricia Bath and Dr. Shirley Jackson, to the pivotal role Rosa Parks played in the civil rights movement, to Barack Obama becoming our country’s first black president, Boscov’s celebrates courageous African American humanitarians everywhere for their accomplishments and all the contributions that they have made in education, science, technology and beyond.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

Birks Sued Over Maternity Leave

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

A top school administrator who adopted an infant from the foster care system returned from a three-month maternity leave to find that her boss had stripped her of several job responsibilities.

Gemma Joseph Lumpkin, previously the Office of Youth, Family & Community Engagement’s chief, has filed a lawsuit claiming that Superintendent Carol Birks retaliated against her for taking maternity leave, in violation of federal law and her employment contract.

Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employees are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a year, and they are entitled to return to the same position or at least one that’s close enough with the same pay, benefits and terms and conditions of employment.

Families who take in children, either as a foster or adoptive parents, qualify for those protections. Usually, once a placement happens, federal law requires the leave “to bond with a child” to be taken “as a continuous block,” unless the employer agrees to let the person work on a reduced schedule.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court earlier this month, asks for a jury to reinstate Joseph Lumpkin to her old position “as it was structured prior to the plaintiff taking FMLA leave,” along with monetary damages.

Birks did not respond to an email seeking comment. Both Joseph Lumpkin and her attorney, Thomas Bucci, declined to comment.

Joseph Lumpkin was promoted as the school district’s chief of engagement in 2015.

In that role, Joseph Lumpkin has focused on connecting anyone who cares about kids, so that their work is “collective, cumulative, consistent and effective,” the lawsuit says. That’s happened both externally, by involving families, government officials and social-service providers, and internally, by encouraging collaboration

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO

Gemma Joseph Lumpkin: Superintendent gutted my job. across departments.

Lumpkin to continue working on a reduced Joseph Lumpkin has also connected venschedule, which she explained in the comdors with no-bid contracts that have proved plaint, “would allow her to work and be a controversial. They include a former alder team player yet care for the newborn.” whom she claimed the district needed to The district’s human resources team signed hire to meet federal mandates, and a psyoff on it, saying that Joseph Lumpkin could chologist who later pulled all her business take the time to “recover from your own out of the district in the face of public quesserious health condition.” But shortly after, tioning. they told Joseph Lumpkin that Birks had In late 2017, Joseph Lumpkin took in a questioned why she was out. newborn, Nora, as a foster parent for the Two weeks later, on Oct. 31, 2018, Joseph Department of Children and Families.

Lumpkin sat down with the human reAfter a year, as she prepared to formally sources team to go over the questions about adopt the baby girl, she found out that Nora her FMLA eligibility. had a younger brother who’d just been born Instead of continuing to work part-time, and taken into protective custody. Joseph she asked for an extended leave to bond Lumpkin told the Department of Children with her new son, whom a doctor had said and Families that she’d take him in too. was “medically fragile” after his birth According to the complaint, Joseph Lumpmother had used “illegal addictive subkin told Superintendent Birks and Deputy stances throughout the entire pregnancy,” Superintendent Ivelise Velazquez about the even through delivery. situation the next day, on Oct. 3, 2018.

The district’s human resources team She took a long weekend, then put in a signed off on that updated request, allowrequest for intermittent leave under FMLA ing Joseph Lumpkin to be out until Jan. 8, on Oct. 11, 2018. That would allow Joseph 2019.

Joseph Lumpkin argues in the lawsuit that, while she was away, Superintendent Birks began to tamper with her job.

She alleges that Birks told Board of Education members that she was “absent from work without proper leave and inaccurate paperwork,” and she heard from a coworker that the 16 dropout prevention workers that she used to oversee were now being managed by the assistant superintendents.

Three days after the FMLA leave ended, on Jan. 12, 2019, Deputy Superintendent Velazquez told Joseph Lumpkin that the dropout prevention team would no longer report to her.

A week after that, on Jan. 18, 2019, Velazquez again stopped by her office to say that more changes had been made, as the supervisor of youth development, Kermit Carolina, would also no longer report to her. According to the complaint, Velazquez told Joseph Lumpkin that this transfer was done “solely at the direction of the superintendent” without her consultation.

At some point, Birks also took the Saturday Academy, an enrichment program for about 400 students, out of Joseph Lumpkin’s duties.

In the lawsuit, Joseph Lumpkin argues that those changes constitute “unlawful retaliation and discrimination” and “interference with … [her] rights” under the FMLA. She also argues that it breaches her contract, which says that Joseph Lumpkin can be terminated only for “just cause.”

“The position of Chief of the Office of Youth, Family and Community Engagement to which plaintiff had returned had been fundamentally altered by the superintendent of schools,” the complaint argues. “Incrementally, the defendant has been eliminating the plaintiff’s duties and responsibilities, leaving her without meaningful employment.”

The district was served with papers last week. It has not yet notified the court who will be arguing its side.

Brennan Nominated For Board Of Ed; Won’t Run For Mayor

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp has one less potential opponent in this year’s campaign after finding him another way to spend his civic time.

That potential opponent was Liam Brennan, a former federal prosecutor who helped send ex-Gov. John Rowland to jail (a second time) for corruption.

Brennan had been making rounds in recent months seeking support for a challenge to Harp in this year’s Democratic mayoral primary.

On Wednesday, Harp informed the Board of Alders that she is nominating Brennan for a vacant seat on the board.

Brennan told the Independent Wednesday that he has decided not to pursue the mayoral run.

“I love this city,” he said, but after speaking with his family and others around town, he decided that “at this time of my life, this is just something I did not want to pursue.”

Brennan, who lives in Westville, has two children at Edgewood School; he expects to enroll a third child there next year. He has been outspoken and actively involved in education issues as a parent. “Attorney Brennan is a former federal prosecutor who currently affirms his commitment to the city and its residents through his work on behalf of the New Haven Legal Assistance Association and its clients. He’s been a part-time law professor and he’s a parent of school-aged children; I have every confidence about Attorney Brennan’s desire to work on behalf of a sound education system to the benefit of its students

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throughout New Haven,” Mayor Harp said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Brennan’s nomination now goes before the Board of Alders for a confirmation vote.

So does the nomination of Yesina Rivera, whom Harp also tapped this week.

Brennan and Rivera would fill the seats left vacant by former board members Jamell Cotto and Frank Redente, respectively. Harp had nominated Cotto for another term on the board, but the Board of Alders voted down his reappointment after a stormy public hearing.

Harp, who has said she intends to run for a fourth two-year term this year, still faces a challenge from Justin Elicker in a Democratic primary. Activist Wendy Hamilton said she also plans to run for mayor this year.

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

Babz Rawls Ivy

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

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

Editorial Team Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers David Asbery Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft/Cartoons Barbara Fair

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

_______________________

Contributors At-Large

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

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

Lamont Taps New Haven Nonprofit Developer Seila Mosquera-Bruno As Next Housing Chief

by STAFF

New Haven Independent

The governor has tapped the head of a New Haven-based affordable housing nonprofit to be the state’s next housing commissioner.

On Friday morning, Gov. Ned Lamont announced that he has chosen Seila Mosquera-Bruno to be the next commissioner of the state Department of Housing (DOH).

Mosquera-Bruno is currently the head of the NeighborWorks New Horizons, a 27-year-old affordable housing developer based out of 235 Grand Ave. She has been overseeing the construction of housing in New Haven for years.

“I am honored to join Governor Lamont’s administration to turn our shared vision of the importance of affordable housing, into a reality,” Mosquera-Bruno said in the release. “A safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home gives us a foundation to contribute to the growth of our state.”

GOVERNOR LAMONT SELECTS SEILA MOSQUERA-BRUNO TO SERVE AS COMMISSIONER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING (HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has chosen Seila Mosquera-Bruno of Milford to serve as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Housing (DOH). An advocate for affordable housing in the state and nationally, Mosquera-Bruno has dedicated her career toward building public-private partnerships that create strong communities and revitalize neighborhoods.

“While significant progress has been made

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz with newly appointing Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno on a 2018 campaign trip to Fair Haven.

in recent years, there is more we can do across the state and Selia is the right person for the job,” Governor Lamont said. “She has decades of experience, and understands how neighborhoods offering a good quality of life are essential to Connecticut families and their economic growth.”

Mosquera-Bruno is currently the president and chief executive officer of NeighborWorks New Horizons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing quality, affordable homes and supporting community

building initiatives in New Haven, Fairfield, Southern Hartford, and New London Counties. She has worked with this organization since 1994.

“I am honored to join Governor Lamont’s administration to turn our shared vision of the importance of affordable housing, into a reality,” Mosquera-Bruno said. “A safe, healthy, and affordable place to call home gives us a foundation to contribute to the growth of our state.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

Yale Slammed On Local Hiring Promise

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

For three years after graduating from Wilbur Cross, Carlos Hernandez has been trying to get a service job at Yale until he can afford to go back to school to study radiology. Though he has cooked in kitchens and cleaned in hospitals, Yale has rejected his applications.

For eight years, Jamie Schmidt has been trying to get a full-time job at Yale, just like the one that got her mom out of homelessness and into her own Winthrop Avenue home. After finishing a business degree and being told she’s still not qualified, Schmidt said she has tired of holding down multiple jobs while she hopes for a gig at Sterling Library to become permanent.

And for six months, Karen Harrison, a West Rock grandmother, has been trying to get back into a job in Yale’s Commons dining hall after her hours were cut. Her voice wavered and her hands shook as she told city alders that she didn’t know how she was going to survive.

“Today I am one of those that’s struggling,” Harrison said. “I’m one of the ones that’s going to have my lights turned out. I’m one of the ones that isn’t going to have food.

I’m one of the ones that might not have heat or a roof over my head. I just wanted to be one of those who get good-paying jobs that they promised us.”

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO Crowd Thursday night demanding Yale meet 1,000 local-jobs pledge.

Carlos Hernandez: Hopes one day he won’t have to worry about bills.

Those three workers joined dozens more on Thursday night in speaking out about how hard it has been to get a job at Yale University, the city’s biggest employer and landlord, despite the college’s commitment to hire hundreds of locals from New Haven’s poorest neighborhoods.

That happened a public hearing in the aldermanic chambers on Thursday night, as Yale University officials reported to the Black & Hispanic Caucus on how close they were to keeping its local job-hiring promise.

In 2015, as protesters took to the streets against a “jobs crisis,” Yale promised to hire 1,000 city residents for permanent, full-time jobs over the next three years.

The university vowed that half of those hires would come from seven impoverished areas around the city: Fair Haven, the Hill, West River, Dwight, Dixwell, Newhallville and West Rock.

The deadline for that three-year commitment is approaching in April.

With five weeks to go, Yale is currently short in how many jobs it has provided to the so-called “neighborhoods of need.” It said it’s close. Union leaders argued that Yale’s low numbers are inflated — that they include people like some of Thursday night’s speakers who don’t really have fulltime permanent jobs.

On Thursday night, Janet Lindner, the university’s vice-president for human resources and administration, said Yale has brought on 2,591 local hires over the last three years. Just under a quarter of

Yale promised 500 jobs would go to seven neighborhoods of need, highlighted in red.

Yale’s team watches from the front row.

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them 627 hires came from the neighborhoods of need, she said, as the crowd muttered that there was no way the numbers were right.

Alders immediately questioned how many of those jobs are actually “permanent,” as promised.

Lindner said she’d exclude 1,431 postdocs, including 208 from the neighborhoods of need, from her count, because those jobs might not be renewed. That brought the totals down to 1,160 jobs, including 419 from the neighborhoods of need.

With the April deadline in mind, Lindner said that 90 dining and custodial staff from neighborhoods of need who are currently working towards full-time union jobs too, which could put the university just over the finish line.

But Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, who is also a steward with Yale’s blue-collar UNITE HERE Local 35 union, said that she took issue with how construction work was counted. She said she thought subcontracted construction work should be excluded from the tally, because it was just a short-term gig for someone who already had the qualifications.

By that argument, Yale could count only 106 apprentices it hired, not 284 journeymen. That would lower the totals even further, down to 876 local hires, including 273 from the neighborhoods of need.

The signed agreement itself says that, “Any portion of these jobs may come from construction projects in coordination with the Building Trades and Yale University, provided the jobs are full time and on a permanent building trades apprentice track.”

Lindner read that to include journeymen too, but she tried to pull back from a debate about what jobs should be counted to the university’s larger commitment.

“We do not consider our work done,” Lindner said. “We are looking beyond April to really think of systemic changes.”

To reach more applicants in neighborhoods of need, Lindner said, the university plans to hold networking events and fund recruiting incentives, offer more positions in its in-house temp pool and its skilled trades apprentice program, form a committee to look for job opportunities in how it caters events, and build pipelines into local schools and colleges.

Laurie Kennington, the president of UNITE HERE’s Local 34 office workers and researchers union, said that the university needs to undertake a more “fundamental” shift in its hiring practices.

“The only question now is whether Yale will make fundamental changes to its hiring practices. Yale hired 1,000 people into our union alone over the last three years. so we are not asking the University to create jobs,” Kennington said. “We are asking that a fair share of the work stays local.”

Hundreds of city residents turned out for the four-and-a-half-hour marathon hearing to make their voices heard.

Leaning against the walls and sitting on the floor, they held signs that read, “HIRE US.” Dozens of people waited on line to

sign up for a turn to speak.

Eventually, the chambers grew so packed that there wasn’t even standing room left, and a sound system had to be flipped on for latecomers who listened in from the atrium.

Beaver Hills Alder Brian Wingate, who is also a Local 35 member, said he couldn’t remember ever seeing so many people in that room.

What brought out so many people on a winter night? The 45 speakers, who testified for three minutes each, said that goodpaying union jobs are a game-changer for the city.

To them, stable work comes as close as one can get to a cure-all: for gun violence, housing instability, overpriced healthcare and failing schools.

Marcy Moore, an activist with the youth group New Elm City Dream, said that a job could make “street shootings a thing of the past.”

Students from Gateway Community College and Southern Connecticut State University said a job could open up a path to home ownership to stay in their hometown.

And Sarah Miller, a member of the watchdog group NHPS Advocates, said that a job could allow a parent to join the PTO or advocate at the Board of Education.

That’s why the campaign for good jobs has been marching on since the days of the Civil Rights Movement, said the Dixwell pastor Kelcy Steele, echoing his Martin Luther King Day remarks holding Yale to its promise.

“My question to you, for our city and for Yale, is where will we be after the Apr. 1 deadline? Will we be on a path that’s moving our city forward by providing all of our residents with access to jobs, freedom and human dignity? Or will we again be looking at another opportunity lost and another closed door?” Steele asked. “Where will we be?”

Over the last three years, the city’s economy has improved dramatically.

In December 2018, the state’s Department of Labor pegged New Haven’s unemployment rate at 3.9 percent. That’s down from 7.7 percent in June 2015, when union leaders said the city was in the midst of a “jobs crisis.”

According to the department’s calculations, about 2,500 city residents are currently looking for work.

But in their testimony, many speakers said that the “jobs crisis” didn’t feel like it was over in certain neighborhoods. They called on the university to be a better neighbor to the rest of the city, using its vast resources to hire more local talent, if it only had the willingness to do so.

“Instead of combatting the inequality in our community, Yale has, historically, actively perpetuated it. Yale has bought up a bunch of Dixwell to construct the new colleges and Science Park, displacing or destroying black and brown communities in an attempt to create a buffer for itself, and it gives jobs and opportunities to residents Con’t on page 10

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

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

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PositivePreventionCt.org 7

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

“Responding To Trump Is A National Emergency”

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

There is a national emergency at the border.

But it’s not caused by illegal immigration.

It’s caused by a president circumventing Congress to spend billions of public dollars on an unnecessary wall.

So argued three dozen protesters gathered at the corner of Orange Street and Elm Street downtown on Monday to deliver that message outside of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office.

Organized in part and supported by the national advocacy organization MoveOn, the protest was one of hundreds that took place at noon in cities and towns throughout the country in opposition to President Donald

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Protesters rally against Trump’s national emergency order on Monday at noon.

Trump’s declaration Friday of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.

After failing to convince Congress to grant him $5.6 billion to build a wall at the country’s southern border, Trump declared the national emergency on Friday in an attempt to access up to $8 billion instead, much of which would be redirected from previously approved military construction projects.

The New Haven and New Haven-area protesters who gathered, rallied, and cheered “Stand up to Trump” and “Trump nyet, Trump nyet” amidst flurries of snow on Monday disagreed with the president as to the source of the national emergency.

“Building the wall is not a national emergency,” said New Havener Do Walker,

“but responding to Trump is a national emergency.”

Some of the protesters who showed up on Monday wanted their congressperson to hear citizens’ concerns about Trump’s fitness to continue as president considering the seemingly irrational, prejudice-inspired decision to build a wall at a time when undocumented Hispanic immigration is at a decade low.

“We would like Congress to start impeachment,” said Jen Vickery, one of the local organizers of the protest. She called Trump and the national emergency order he issued an “international disgrace.”

Walker agreed that Congress needs to step up its resistance to Trump, and conCon’t on page 18

This Time, Pro-Maduro Protesters Rally At City Hall

by MOLLY MONTGOMERY New Haven Independent

Two weeks after protesters declared outside City Hall that Juan Guaidó is the president of Venezuela, other local activists rallied at City Hall to declare him a puppet of U.S. imperialism.

About 20 people attended the protest Thursday evening, organized by Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). They chanted a message to the U.S. government: “Hands off Venezuela!” That message contrasted with the message of the previous rally, held

by Venezuelan immigrants, calling on the U.S. to support regime change.

“We’re here to say no U.S. intervention in Venezuela, no U..S intervention in Latin America,” said Norman Clement (pictured above), a New Haven resident and member of the PSL. “Guaidó is just a puppet. How can someone who has never had one vote cast for him by the people of Venezuela be the president?”

After Guaidó, head of Venezuela’s national assembly, proclaimed himself president of Venezuela on Ja. 23, the U.S. recognized him as president. The Trump administration has since imposed sanctions on a stateowned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, to pressure current socialist President Nicolás Maduro to cede power to Guaidó.

Venezuela has seen mass arrests and clashes in the streets amid runaway hyperinflation and and a food and health crisis.

The activists claim that the U.S. – not Maduro – is responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. “The U.S. is sabotaging the economy of Venezuela, and that’s why there’s a shortage of food,” said ULA organizer John Lugo.

Clement claimmed that Maduro has the people’s support, and that the media has spread false information about mass support forGuaidó .

He said that the people supporting Guaidó are “basically rich Venezuelans, but if you go into barrios and talk to working class

people, they’re behind Maduro 100 percent. You always have to look at the class nature of things.”

Clement compared U.S.’s actions in Venezuela to US-backed 20th century rightwing terrorism and coups in Nicaragua, Chile, and Guatemala. “It’s part of their playbook – create a crisis, intervene, steal the resources, fuck up the government, fuck up the people, kill women and children,” he said. “When a U.S. imperialist talks about democracy, I see blood dripping out of their mouth and dollar signs surrounding their heads.”

Toward the end of the event, a single counter-protester from Nicaragua ran in front of the crowd, calling for the assassination of Maduro, holding a sign in his teeth that read, in Spanish, “Down with the Dictatorship of Maduro.”

Maduro said Thursday that his foreign minister held secret talks with the U.S. and that he is hoping to meet with President Trump.

yale institute of sacred music joins the

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

event listings at ism.yale.edu

8

MOLLY MONTGOMERY PHOTO

1,000 Books Laid Path For Reentry THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

Jeffrey Abramowitz read over 1,000 books and taught over 50 classes while behind bars.

Now out of prison but still on probation, the trial lawyer-turned-criminal justice reformer still sees the best route to successful reentry coming through a combination of self-improvement, adult education, and more and better job opportunities for the recently incarcerated.

Abramowitz shared that vision for how best to reintegrate into society post-prison on the latest episode of WNHH’s “Criminal Justice Insider with Babz Rawls-Ivy and Jeff Grant.”

“The message that I want people to know is that there’s opportunity for everyone,” Abramowitz said. “You are the one that it starts with. You have to make that decision yourself that you want to change. That you want to better yourself. And that you want to find that special place that makes you happy, and then run with it as fast and as hard as you can.”

Abramowitz is currently the executive director for reentry services for JEVS Human Services in Philadelphia. He’s also the director of student services and workforce development for Community learning Center and the chair of a prison literacy committee for the Coalition for Adult Basic Education.

But before all that, he was an accomplished

Pennsylvania trial lawyer who landed a fiveyear federal prison term for defrauding family, friends, and clients of over $1 million.

“They say the two most important days in your life are the day that you’re born and the day you die,” he said. “I would argue that the second most important day is the day you figure out why you’re born.”

For Abramowitz, that happened on March 12, 2012, as he stood in a courtroom as a defendant before family, friends, colleagues, judges, lawyers, and clients and took responsibility for his crimes. He received a five-year sentence.

His first night at the federal detention center, his first two cellmates were both serving life terms. He stood naked in a holding cell for an hour as guards looked for a jumpsuit for him. Two guards just outside of his cell fought over which would get to take home his suit.

“I was like, ‘Whoa’,” Abramowitz remembered. “This isn’t what I expected.”

That night, as he lay in his cell wearing the same green jumpsuit that everyone else in prison had to wear, he made two promises to himself: that he would never let this happen again, and that he would make the most of this opportunity to educate himself and advocate for others in a similar situation but without his level of education and white privilege.

During his time behind bars, he read over 1,000 books. He taught over 50 classes on

subjects ranging from GED math to public speaking to film studies.

“I made things up just so that I could teach them,” he said.

He also learned how to drive a forklift, how to run a warehouse, and how to change oil in a car.

He realized that working with people to help them navigate prison and, subsequently, reentry brings him the most joy.

After getting out of prison in 2015, he had to live in a halfway house in North Philadelphia for a year.

“I was more incarcerated in that halfway house than I was when I was in prison,” he said. He recalled the daily challenges of finding a meal to eat, of getting a pass to leave the house of the day, of finding clean toilet paper.

He said he saw firsthand how people of color were and are discriminated against at every step of the criminal justice system, in sentencing and treatment behind bars, in trying to find housing and work when released.

Now, when he sits next to state attorneys general and prosecutors on criminal justice reform panels, he is always conscious of using his white privilege to tell people in power about that discrimination, he said.

“I need for them to know that the men and women that I served with that are black and brown are being discriminated against, and that the system is stacked against them.”

Now out of prison, he has a renewed appre-

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Jeffrey Abramowitz (center) with WNHH hosts Jeff Grant and Babz Rawls-Ivy. ciation for everything he previously took for granted on the outside. Underwear that fits.

A regular toothbrush. Not having to eat ramen noodles every day of the week.

He has also doubled down on his advocacy for those still behind bars and those trying to navigate parole and reentering society postrelease.

JEVS, the social service agency he heads, runs its own methadone clinics in Philadelphia. It owns a technical college specifically

geared for the formerly incarcerated. It contracts with the state prison system to run adult education classes behind bars.

“Times are changing,” he said. “And now we have to embrace it. As people that are formerly incarcerated, we have to stand up for ourselves. We have to say, ‘We have skills. We have ability. We have value in society. And we need opportunity.’ So we’re asking for that door to be opened wider so that we can get the careers that we want.”

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9

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

Lamont Brings Former DHP Staffer Back To Head Department

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont was getting closer Friday in rounding out his administration with his third nomination of day. He nominated Renée D. Coleman-Mitchell to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Public Health.

Coleman-Mitchell worked for the Department of Public Health for 17 years before leaving the state to work as executive director of Cougar Health Services at Washington State University.

“It is truly a blessing to return to my home state and join the Lamont administration and the Department of Public Health team in the collaborative efforts to make a difference in addressing Connecticut’s public health needs – together with our state agencies, community providers, and public-private partnerships,”Coleman-Mitchell said.

She received a bachelor’s degree from

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Connecticut College, and a master’s degree in public health from the Yale University School of Medicine.

She will replace Dr. Raul Pino, who was the second commissioner to serve in former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration.

Coleman-Mitchell will begin serving as the commissioner-designate on April 1 and her nomination will be sent to the legislature for approval.

Lamont has four more commissioners to appoint to the Department of Social Services, Education, Agriculture, and Motor Vehicles.

Earlier in the day Friday Lamont nominated Andrew Mais of Wilton to Insurance Commissioner and Seila Mosquera-Bruno of Milford to Housing Commissioner.

Lamont also seems to be making a statement about his desire to see a more diverse executive branch. So far Lamont’s administrative picks have come from racially diverse backgrounds.

Lamont Nominates Deloitte Executive, Former Talk Show Host To Insurance Commissioner

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT —For almost seven years he hosted a weekly political talk show on Cablevision and now he’s Gov. Ned Lamont’s nominee for Insurance Commissioner.

Andrew Mais, a Wilton resident who has spent the last eight years at the financial consulting firm of Deloitte “providing industry-leading thought leadership and insight on regulatory affairs,” was nominated Friday by Lamont.

Before Deloitte, Mais worked for four years for the New York State Insurance Department where he was the director of public affairs and research.

“Andrew will bring to this position proven leadership ability and a broad understanding of industry and regulatory issues that will help achieve the crucial balance we need to ensure that consumers are protected and have access to affordable and reliable insurance coverage, while at the same time supporting the continued growth of this sector of our economy,” Lamont said in a press release.

Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, who co-chairs the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, said the position of Insurance Commissioner is “critically important for

ANDREW MAIS

Connecticut’s economy and also as we work to make sure Connecticut can be a national leader on the issue of health care reform.”

Former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade stepped down in December. Paul Lombardo, the chief actuary for the department, has been acting commissioner.

Wade, a former Cigna executive, was criticized for her ties to the insurance industry.

Consumer advocates have been vocal about their desire to change state law to require

the Insurance Department to consider affordability in its rate review process for health insurance. The Insurance Department has opposed the proposal. It also opposed legislation that allowed pregnant women to sign up for health insurance if they didn’t have any upon learning of their pregnancy.

There is also a pending lawsuit regarding the Insurance Department’s refusal to share information about the regulatory process behind two failed mergers of insurance giants Aetna and Cigna. Even though the merger between Aetna and Humana and Anthem and Cigna never went through, the Insurance Department is appealing the Freedom of Information Commission’s ruling to disclose the information.

The Insurance Department regulates 105 insurance companies in Connecticut.

Mais will begin serving as the commissioner-designate on March 4. His nomination will be sent to the General Assembly for its approval.

Earlier in the day Friday, Lamont nominated Seila Mosquera-Bruno of Milford to Housing Commissioner.

Lamont has five more vacancies to fill, including the commissioners of Public Health, Department of Social Services, Education, Agriculture, and Motor Vehicles.

Con’t from page 06

Yale Slammed

of the suburbs and the whiter, more affluent neighborhoods,” said Lorna Chitty, an undergrad at Yale and Ward 22’s co-chair.

“Each year, Yale gives a voluntary payment, last year reaching a high of $11 million; Yale is very proud of this payment.

But to illustrate the scale of this payment, it’s important to know that Yale makes about [$6.03 million] every day alone from the university’s endowment returns,” Chitty went on. “What Yale actually owes the city is the hundreds of millions in taxes they owe. As it’s structured now, New Haven is paying for Yale to be here, not the other way around.”

10

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

They Made Sure Black History Month Happened

by SAM GURWITT

New Haven Independent

Hamden Middle School was about to enter February without any acknowledgement of Black History Month (BHM). A student and a teacher decided to change that.

As February approached, Math Specialist Tegan Willis was waiting to hear about what the school would be doing to celebrate BHM. She heard nothing. Finally, with a few hours left in January, she decided to text the principal, Michelle Coogan.

The next day, Feb. 1, she went on the school’s morning newscast and announced her challenge: Every day for the month of February, a staff member would read a quote or a fact about black history.

A few days later, Coogan put Willis in touch with seventh-grader Dene Whitaker, 12, who had made her own proposal for BHM. Around the same time Willis was wondering if the school had anything planned, Dene went out to dinner at Friendly’s with her parents as she does every Friday. As often happens at Friday dinner discussions, they were talking about African American history. During that discussion, she got the idea of doing something at her school.

Dene went home and researched prominent African Americans whom she wanted to showcase for her classmates. She reached out to Coogan, and Coogan put her in touch

SAM GURWITT PHOTO

Dene Whitaker and Tegan Willis.

with Willis.

The pair put together two bulletin-board displays. The first went up on Feb. 4. Students and teachers write facts about black figures who inspire them on sheets of paper, which are then stapled to the board.

The first day, there were five. As of late last week, there are 68.

At the top of each sheet of paper is a short

message from Dene. “Growing up, I have always thought about why we were taught about slavery before any other part of black history,” it reads. “Everyone, even adults, can learn more about black history.”

The board now features a variety of figures, some better known, some less so. Willis wrote an entry on Lonnie Johnson, the T:9” inventor o the super soaker. The board also

features other inventors, such as Alexander Miles, who invented automatically opening and closing elevator doors, and Garrett Morgan, inventor of the smoke hood.

The other bulletin board, which Dene and Willis just finished with the help of other teachers and some of Dene’s friends, contains images and short bios of prominent African Americans. For the center of each half of the board, Dene made paper busts of black women, using black construction paper curled into rounds for hair.

Dene told the Independent that she didn’t want the displays just to have “your typical Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.” She wanted everyone to be able to find someone that had inspired them personally. For instance, some of her friends are interested in sports, so they wrote entries about black athletes.

“Our History Did Not Start In Chains” Dene developed a passion for black history through the conversations she has about it with her parents.

“We always talk about black history,” she said of dinner conversations at home.

“They always teach me about my ethnicity and the amazing stuff that should not go unnoticed.” They “don’t focus on Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King because there are so many people who are forgotten.”

Dene explained that as she grew older, Con’t from page 16

Con’t from page 05

Seila Mosquera-Bruno As Next Housing Chief

Mosquera-Bruno’s participation in the community service is extensive. She is currently a board member and treasurer for Connecticut Legal Rights, an advisory council member with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, a national community advisory board member with Santander Bank, a member of the Home Connecticut Steering Committee, and a member of the Reaching Home Steering Committee. Previously, she has served on the boards of the Connecticut Housing Coalition, the National NeighborWorks Association, and the National Real Estate Development Advisory Council of NeighborWorks America.

Since 2018 he has been actively assisting Puerto Rico Neighborhood Housing Services, Corp. in the recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria.

Mosquera-Bruno has a master’s degree in urban studies from Southern Connecticut State University, a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and completed the Achieving Excellence in Community Development fellowship program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

She will begin serving as the Commissioner-designate on March 1. Her nomination will be sent to the General Assembly for its advice and consent.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

The Trials of Constance Baker Motley at New Haven Museum

New Haven, Conn. (February 25, 2019)— As a young African American woman in the 1930s, Constance Motley’s aspirations of becoming a lawyer were discouraged by family and friends. She stood by her convictions, however, and was successful far beyond her youthful dreams. Her career milestones ranged from working with Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to being appointed to the Federal bench by President Lyndon Johnson, and she became the first African American woman voted New York state senator. On the cusp of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, and for the first time in the Elm City, special screenings of the film “The Trials of Constance Baker Motley” will be held at the New Haven Museum on Sunday, March 3, 2019, at 2 p.m., and Wednesday, March 6, at 5:30 pm. The events will be presented in partnership with the Greater New Haven African American Historical Society. Admission is free, space is limited. To reserve seats: RSVP@newhavenmuseum.org or 203.562.4183 ext.119.

Produced by her son, Joel Motley III, and directed by Rick Rodgers, the film spans Motley’s distinguished legal career and her life as a civil-rights pioneer, and will be preceded by remarks from Motley’s niece, Constance Royster, a New Haven leader in her own right. The screening will be followed by a Q&A, and a dialogue during which community members can share stories and memories of Motley and the impact she had on them.

Royster notes it has been both a great surprise and a disappointment to her that Motley’s life as a civil-rights “shero” is not widely recognized, or even well known in her hometown and state. “This event will offer the public an opportunity to understand how important her work was, and to celebrate her life and achievements.”

Born in New Haven in 1921, Motley was one of 12 siblings born to West Indian immigrants. From a young age she was taught to treat others with respect, be on her best behavior always, and tend to her studies.

While attending Hillhouse High School, Motley served as both president for New Haven’s NAACP youth council and secretary of the New Haven Adult Community Council. Shortly after high school she delivered a speech that captured the attention of New Haven philanthropist Clarence Blakeslee, who funded her college and law school education. It was not until 1941, on her way to attend Fisk University in Nashville, that she was first confronted with segregation: in Cincinnati she was forced to change train cars and rode the rest of the trip on a car marked “colored.” She later transferred to New York University where she earned a B.A. in economics.

Upon graduating from Columbia Law

School, she married Joel Wilson Motley Jr. and worked as a law clerk to Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. As one of the NAACP’s principal trial attorneys, she played a role in all the major school de-segregation cases. She helped write briefs filed in Brown v. Board of Education, and personally tried cases resulting in the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi and Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes to the University of Georgia. In the 1950s and 1960s, she argued 10 civil-rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning nine. The 10th was eventually overturned in her favor. She also represented such luminaries as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Reverend Ralph Abernathy.

In 1964, Motley became the first African American woman elected to the New York State Senate. The following year, she was elected the first woman president of the borough of Manhattan. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson named her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, making her the first African American woman to serve as a federal judge. Her nomination was approved only after a fierce battle against

a group of Southern senators who sought to block her nomination. She became chief judge of the court in 1982 and senior judge in 1986.

Motley authored dozens of articles on legal and civil rights issues, including several personal tributes to Thurgood Marshall. Her autobiography, “Equal Justice Under Law,” was published in 1998. She received numerous honorary doctorates and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. She was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001, and received the NAACP’s highest honor, the Springarn Medal, in 2003.

About Constance Royster Royster is the principal of Laurel Associates, LLC. She is a recognized fundraising, education, non-profit, and organizational leader. She has served as the director of major giving for WSHU (National Public Radio), at Yale University as associate director of development at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and as director of development at the Yale Divinity School. She has managed external and public relations programs and organized numerous

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civic engagements with notables in the public and private sectors. Previously, she was founding partner and managing partner at Cooper, Liebowitz, Royster & Wright, a minority-and women-owned New York law firm. Under her leadership, the firm developed a client base of Fortune 100 and 500 corporations and government agencies.

Born and raised in New Haven, Royster is a fellow of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale University. She received her juris doctor from Rutgers University Law School - Newark and a B.A., cum laude, from Yale University. She has held leadership positions at numerous national, local, and international organizations, including The Fund for Women and Girls of the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Dwight Hall at Yale - Center for Public Service and Social Justice, Federal Bar Council, and the Yale Alumni Fund, among others.

About the Greater New Haven African American Historical Society The Greater New Haven African American Historical Society was incorporated in 2004 with the goal of creating a better understanding of the local history and culture of people of African heritage through preservation and celebration.

The organization hosts workshops, film series, book signings, exhibits and a number of nationally recognized speakers at annual “Lifetime Achievement Awards” programs. Presenters have included Ben Vereen, Adam C. Powell III, Lonnie Bunch, Judge Constance Baker Motley, Sonia Sanchez, The Last Poets, Hugh Price, Steve Perry, and Marilyn Nelson, among others. The society fields research inquiries and accepts donated materials of historical value and is currently located in the Ethnic Heritage Center on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University. For more information visit: http://www2.southernct. edu/ehc/afam/ or call 203-387-6895.

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

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

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Pressed To Hire Local Workers

specialty trades, and the general contractor will collected bids from all that are qualified,” he said.

Another tradesmen called out from the line of yellow vests in the back of the crowded room: “You keep on washing your hands by pushing it to the general contractor.”

“Community Values” The meeting might have gotten out of hand had the management team chair, Caroline Smith, not kept tight yet polite control. Smith allowed speaker and counter-speaker to take turns, maintaining time limits. Rather than spiraling into an accusation-followed-by-defense, the conversation turned into a genuine discussion of the role the city has, if any, in private transactions when no city land or money is involved.

Because of New Haven’s hot real-estate market, builders like Spinnaker have come in without the lure of public subsidy and have not purchased city land which means their projects don’t fall under hte purview of city hiring requirements.

Caico pointed out that even his appearance at a management team meeting was not required now that Spinnaker has received all needed approvals for the hotel. He said he showed up in the spirit of being a good corporate citizen.

“There are many community values,” countered Urban Design League’s Anstress Farwell, “that haven’t been honored [in this process]. There’s an historic building here [being razed]. The project [design] has no relation to our historic Green just a few steps away. I say to the city: This has not been an appropriate process. It doesn’t look like Elm Street. It’s more fitting for Long Wharf or the Berlin Turnpike.”

“We followed all the rules. It’s not like we didn’t want a public hearing,” Caico countered. “The zoning was in place. The BD zone allows all this. I take exception that people are insinuating we didn’t go by the book.”

As the laborers filed out of the room into the corridor above the City Hall atrium, Darren Smith said he was disappointed by what he had heard.

“Look,” he said to a reporter, as his crew gathered around him. “They should use local talent. We are ready to work.”

“We are going to continue to be a presence,” he added.

As he stood with Davon McNeil, an old carpenter and a new one, Sullivan said, “the conversation has got to be about contractors who don’t hire local people, not so much union versus non-union. I also love the argument about historic buildings. But we want folks like this young man [McNeil] not on the street, but earning a living wage so that he can raise a family. If there’s a level playing field, Davon will succeed.”

“We want to be part of everything in New Haven,” McNeill said. “It’d be delightful, and a much better commute,” he added.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

Aleta Staton on Art & the Community From the Festival Staff of Arts & Ideas www.artidea.org

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February 20, 2019 The International Festival of Arts & Ideas is excited to introduce our new year-round Community Engagement Manager. As a part of our dynamic team, the candidate needed to be a hard-working individual who values the diverse arts and culture within our global and local community.

The Louise Endel Community Engagement Manager is expected to oversee the design, management, and evaluation of audience engagement programs. They must work to extend the values of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas to wider populations and broaden community relationships. The Community Engagement Manager will be instrumental to audience diversification, equity, and inclusion.

Aleta Staton has been an educator for 35 years and has worked in arts administration, business management, and staff supervision. She has previously served Arts & Ideas through project management, artist services and community program development. Her extensive experience with the New Haven community and her artistic and leadership background reflect our organization’s purpose and will promote further community engagement.

Since you’ve been a big part of the festival in past, I’d like to start by asking you what significant memories you have of past festivals that have personally impacted you up to now.

There are many. There are the 12 communities that I got close to to create their visual expressions, from Hamden to West Haven and 10 neighborhoods in New Haven, and some of their expressions of art are still hanging or posted. That meant a lot to them, I know, so it meant a lot to me.

There was a wonderful experience with a group of cyclists. The company was from Austria, but the members, these kids, from all over the EU. They all spoke French, but they had different accents … It just gave me a sense of the global nature of human beings and how we manage to communicate anyway. There were only probably two people in the company that spoke English.

I was their artist services person. I had so much fun with those kids; we could barely speak to each other linguistically but we spoke to each other in many different ways.

I used to give tours to visitors from different countries so that they would get to

know New Haven, and I love New Haven; I’ve lived in many different neighborhoods here. It was a source of pride for me to take them around and talk about how different communities in New Haven developed and how they’re co-existing today.

Sometimes off-season arts administrators would come to work for the festival, because their seasons were done so they would come and work for the summer to put on programming. That gave us the opportunity to get to know people in other organizations, which was really intense and wonderful. The experience from years past has been really enormous, and with all of the moving around and redesigning that we’ve done internally, and re-staffing, we have become an organization of people that just gets the job done. We help each other, whatever it is. If we need to be ushers today, we’re ushers today. If we need to move the furniture, we move the furniture. That has impacted my outlook on this organization; it has really given me the healthiest outlook in coming back into the organization full-time. We know what the needs are, we plan extensively, and when the unexpected is delivered, we deliver. We make sure that it happens.

How do you feel performing and creating affects the way you view and engage with the art others have created?

It has made me more receptive to art forms that I’m not familiar with. That probably started at Educational Center for the Arts, in an environment that was multidisciplinary and was not just theater, which is my background. So there was theater, music, multimedia, visual art, dance, writing… Having to get to know those other art forms intimately is something that helped to shape even my approach to creating my own art, and absolutely my approach to being able to see through other lenses.

Were there any disciplines you were unfamiliar with or closed off to before your experience at ECA? Not really; I was always happy to learn more, especially about visual arts, and the whole art of seeing, and choosing what to see, what to reproduce and what to lift

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Letting Go Of “Strong Black Women” THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

by Shawna Davis, BlackDoctor.org

When it comes to identifying the most important person in your life, who is it that you often refer to? If it’s not yourself, then there’s some work that needs to be done.

Although it’s understandable and even common to place the relationship with either your spouse, a parent, your child or a sibling as the most crucial part of your being, your connection with self is what matters most since it greatly shapes everything else around you. For the new year, if you still find yourself struggling to take care of your needs, no worries – we got you. We spoke with licensed counselor Dr. Shana Lewis who shared her advice and tips on how to develop a loving relationship with yourself.

We all have endured pain and trauma – whether individually or collectively. However, If you focus on women in the Black community, in particular, we have endured racism, colorization, and sexism amongst other generational and societal issues, all while managing a host of everyday responsibilities.

Going as far back as slavery, Black women were supposed to be strong, be quiet and just do what we were told no matter the circumstances, which to this day, still affects us. “As a people, we come from space in our history where we didn’t have the opportunity, to be honest,” says Dr. Lewis. “We didn’t have voices and we had to do what we were told…so we didn’t have anyone, except each other as a community to de-

Dr. Shana Lewis pend on and even that sometimes may not have worked out as well.”

While we’ve made strides to where women today are now in the position to use our voices, pursue our dreams, be independent and still have the ability to take care of ourselves and those around us, we have to remember that it’s also okay to not be okay.

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“The strong black woman syndrome has to go away because it only perpetuates us not taking care of ourselves and pretending that everything is okay,” says Dr. Lewis.

“So if we don’t address how [our issues] impacts us, we’re just putting a bandaid over the problem.” If you’re interested in counseling, but aren’t sure how to start the process, Dr. Lewis suggests asking for a referral from someone you know that’s been through therapy, trying your church counseling services if you’re concerned about incorporating spirituality into your counseling sessions or trying teletherapy counseling if you’re not comfortable with seeking counseling on person.

However, you decide to take up counseling, be sure to call first and ask for a free consultation as a way to determine if the particular counselor is a good fit for you.

Do Your Work Often, what we see on social media is not as authentic as it may seem, so it’s important to remember the difference between social media and reality. “Social media has given us access to a whole bunch of stuff, but it’s also given us this skewed view of the world, says Dr. Lewis. “What you see is not actually what it may be.”

So, be mindful of not getting caught in the temptation of comparing yourself to someone else as well as being okay with celebrating others. “It doesn’t take anything off me for the next person to be as amazing or more amazing than I thought because I’m okay with who I am.” Put in the work to love who you are and be confident in your

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own skin and you won’t have to question your worthiness.

Journaling Every day we experience many thoughts that we often forget what we felt or why we reacted to something or someone the way we did, so adopting a habit of writing down your ideas, goals, and emotions can hold you accountable and can help you establish a healthy sense of self. “Journaling is one of the greatest ways for us to have insight and connect back to ourselves,” says Dr. Lewis. “Writing commits us to [our ideas] and we’re able to grow from it.”

Adopt Affirmations Start a daily habit of saying positive things about yourself. Particularly, target the areas of where your deficit is and begin speaking what you want into existence.

“We’re surrounded by negativity, whether it’s on the radio or the news, so you have to have some positive affirmations that you put into your world,” says Dr. Lewis.

“They work kind of like magic, just like the negative things people say about you, you begin to believe, you’ll eventually believe these things over time if you continue to remind yourself daily.” If you’re not sure how to start affirmations, start with “I AM” and say what you want to manifest afterward.

Check Your Circle Simply put, be mindful of who you surround yourself with the most. If the closest people around you are constantly negative or want to talk about the past so much, it’s

probably best to keep them in your past and move forward. “That front row [has] to be right,” says Dr. Lewis. “The people in your front row have point blank access to you and those bullets shoot to kill so if those people are amazingly negative, dysfunctional and don’t do you any good, they are killing you every day.” Keep a circle of friends around you where you’re able to uplift one another, hold each other accountable, talk about goals and grow together.

While it’s easy to put your wants and needs off to the side, especially if you live a busy lifestyle, it’s important to remember to take care of yourself first. After all, you spend the most time with yourself, anyway, so why not begin to enjoy the home in which you’ll always live in?

“You don’t have to have the life you have, you can create the life you want,” says Dr. Lewis. “Be empowered to know you have everything inside of you to be who you want to be, do what you want to do and to move and shift in the space you want to go to.”

If you want to connect with Dr. Shana Lewis, be sure to visit her website at www. shanadlewis.com and follow her on Instagram @drshanad.lewis Shawna Davis is a wellness journalist and the founder and creator of the wellness lifestyle blog, Froing and Flowing. Beyond the blog, she is a certified yoga instructor, wife, dog mama and is a natural hair enthusiast that’s passionate about health, wellness, and natural beauty. You can follow her on Instagram @itsshawnadavis.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

Black & Ugly & Here

by Lucy Gellma, Editor, Arts Paper

125

www.newhavenarts.org

We are standing in a waterpark with Porsha Olayiwola and her lover. The sun is high overhead, warming their skin. It’s one of those exposed shoulder days, those thigh touching thigh days. One of those bathing suits are on and joy is permitted kind of days. And then, on the fourth waterslide, the attendant asks Olayiwola to get on a scale.

A wave of stomachs clench across the room. Audience members feel themselves kicked in the gut, winded by the words. On stage, Olayiwola keeps going because it is the only way to survive.

So unfolded Porsha Olayiwola’s Black & Ugly As Ever at Lyric Hall, where the Boston poet laureate performed her stunning, visceral and intimate choreopoem to back-toback audiences Tuesday night. The event doubled as the kickoff to the New Haven Pride Center’s revived Center Cabaret series, part of a growing attempt to anchor queer voices—and especially queer voices of color—as the center expands its programming this year.

When the work opens on a Porsha-less stage, there are only hints at the heavy, wildly beating heart at the center of this show. Boris Gardiner pipes in over a minimalist set, where a headless outfit and shoes sits erect beside a sign that reads “Women/Are/Deformed/Men/Aristotle.” Just feet away, a boudoir table is ready with its oval mirror and empty chair.

Everything, it seems, is waiting for a warm body: the mirror and nearby tube of brown lip gloss, the sign with no hand to pick it up and carry it, the shoes that may never be filled.

Then Olayiwola enters from the side, turning away from the audience as her long shadow falls across the back wall. Slowly, methodically, a mother’s warning curls in the edges of her voice. Olayiwola’s own cadence, low and strong, mixes in with a touch of Billie Holiday. It is silk and coal, the catch in one’s throat that comes for not a sniffle, but a wail.

“Stay out the sun, ba-by,” she sings, and we move to the edge of our chairs and hold our breath. We do not sit back until the end of the show. We can’t—Black & Ugly As Ever is stunningly intimate, and we don’t want to miss a second.

Tuesday night, Olayiwola presented her entire self to the audience, noting that “this is a live show, so we’re totally friends here.” In the theater, a few attendees laughed and shifted in their seats, no idea how true those words would become by the end of the evening. Back on stage, Olayiwola was recalling her mother’s own advice, a mix of pastel dresses and near-constant reminders to wear earrings.

In the show, she jumps back through her childhood and teenage years, pulling the audience in with almost umbilical force. We are with her in grade school, as she delivers her “third ass handling” of the year to a classmate with the lines “we opened our flesh red on the pavement/opened our teeth on the grass.” We watch as she travels to visit her father’s family in Lagos, Nigeria, her joy punctured as “the broad wall of my body” becomes what every family member has something to say about.

We are brought to our knees as she apologizes to her lover for her shape and size, and angered as we become, from seats in the audience, the man who watches her eat on public transit or flight attendant who stares too long.

In Olayiwola’s truth, there is also laughter and candor, the kind that comes right from the gut. She chants “U-G-L-Y you ain’t got no alibi/you ugly!” and we cringe and yell and wonder if it’s okay to go along with it and then go along with it because everybody else is going along with it. She reads Octavia Butler and gets ready for the apocalypse on a treadmill, and we start thinking maybe we should too.

But the piece also conjures a palpable, throbbing kind of grief. Black & Ugly contains a war that the world is making Olayiwola fight largely on her own, for being “fat and dark and woman and woman loving.” The language, clean and clear as a bell, never lets us forget that. In one of the performance’s most powerful moments, she reads an ode to Viola Davis as Annalise Keating, her character in How To Get Away With Murder, removes her wig and makeup before confronting her husband. Her voice swells.

“To be yourself/To be dark woman, and coils plated, is to set fire/To the house/Is to sour/The porridge,” she read Tuesday. “To be yourself/Is to jeopardize your views. Is to be cast as Annalise Keating and show up/ As Viola Davis.”

“I walk around/Looking like the Viola from that scene,” she continued. “There is a woman/I love/ And each night she lays with me she removes her wig/Rubs the color from her lips/And I tell her/ She is beautiful.”

In this way Black & Ugly As Ever is not a poem about self-love or external validation, so much as a poem about being worthy of both of those. It is a poem about unlearning, then praising, that which the

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

COMMENTARY: TD means ‘Tone Deaf’ – intentionally and willfully – in the NFL

By Howard Robertson, Special to The New Tri-State Defender

Dominique Morisseau’s powerful Detroit ’67 unfolds during an explosive moment in U.S. history— the riots that tore the city of Detroit apart.

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I watched the 2019 Stupor Bowl. I have been watching Super Bowls since I was fourteen years old back in 1967. That was the very first one, by the way.

I don’t blame the Patriots or the Rams for their offensively anemic performances.

Although I’m not a fan, I certainly don’t blame New England for doing their job and becoming Champions, yet again. I don’t even blame Gladys, Big Boi or young Travis for performing and doing their jobs.

People, businesses and organizations are often tone deaf. My mother was a church organist and Lord knows, I’ve been around too many choir members that could not hear the right notes no matter how many times she played it. That’s ignorantly tone deaf. Conversely, there are notes that musicians dare not play together because they clash and create dissonance. But sometimes the dissonance is what the musician wants.

That’s being intentionally tone deaf. That’s what the NFL has become.

So, it’s Super Bowl Sunday in the ATL, one of the blackest cities in America, during Black History Month. Well of course, they’re going to recognize Dr. King and civil rights icons like Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andy Young and others. These were the soldiers who protested, marched, sat-in, broke laws, were bitten by dogs, beaten with nightsticks and buffeted by fire hoses. But thousands of other deserving souls weren’t honored that day because they were the nameless, faceless folk who were hung, burned alive, shot, castrated or died broke and broken.

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Black & Ugly & Here

world has taught as undesirable: dark skin, layers of flesh and belly, love between any two people. Any loose ends in this show do not come from the material, but from the world in which that material exists, which feels like it still has a great deal of work to do before it can get on Olayiwola’s level.

It is work, she added in a talkback Tuesday night, that is never completely done for her either. In the audience, attendee Sharon Brooks explained that she had been pulled in by the title of the show, the words standing out to her “like a math equation” where black equalled that which was not desirable.

“We won’t own black,” Brooks said. “And we don’t love black. So I hope you spread this everywhere. I hope you are able to take your message to kids and to the schools, because they need it most.”

“Every day is a struggle,” Olayiwola responded, noting that she sometimes gets homogeneous audiences who react differently to the material, and never knows what to expect from a performance. She said there’s trauma there too—she will sometimes finish a performance, and then experience some of the bias and judgement she paints in the show.

“There is no resolution. Legit. It’s a constant being, a constant existence. It feels very real.”

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Howard Robertson is the co-host, along with Larry Robinson, of “R&R on Sports,” which is available on the Sirius XMnetwork, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune-in Radio and other podcast providers.

How is it that the NFL was intentionally tone deaf to the dissonance of rightfully honoring revolutionaries of the past while wrongfully castigating a current revolutionary named Kaepernick and others of like mind who didn’t break any laws or create any disruption?

And what representation of Atlanta was made during the Adam Levine, Maroon 5 Halftime Show. Sure they trotted Big Boi and Travis Scott out for quick cameos to give the appearance of keeping it real. But there was no doubt whose show it was… topless, tats, intentionally tone deaf and all.

But wait a minute. Maybe the NFL is crazy and tone deaf like a fox. We’re talking about a lot of money here. In 2017, the NFL grossed somewhere north of $13 billion (13,000 million dollars) with a workforce that’s about 70 percent African American. Last year, of the Top 50 television shows watched by the biggest audiences, 40-something of them were NFL or NCAA football games.

Life’s really good right now for NFL Czar Roger Goodell and all the rich, old white dudes (and dudettes), average age of 70.1 that own pro football teams. Life’s going to stay good too…in the near term at least.

For a symphony of reasons, the NFL’s future looks bleak. Studies show that fewer and fewer families are allowing their sons to play tackle football due to the potential for concussion and brain injury. That means fewer next generation players and fans are being created. While fewer middle and upper income kids are playing football, more lower income kids of color are playing football because it may be their ticket out of the projects, to college and beyond.

Football is predicted to become a “Gladiator” sport…like boxing.

But that won’t happen for 10, 12 or maybe 15 years. Meantime, they protect the brand.

NFL powers just have to hold on, keep raking in that money and stick some of it in their ears while singing, “la, la la la la I can’t hear you.” They’ll remain intentionally tone deaf and they’ll keep playing to their base audience (not really us).

They’ve done the math and they know, they’ll die before the National Football

League does.

Howard Robertson is the co-host, along with Larry Robinson, of “R&R on Sports,” which is available on the Sirius XMnetwork, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Tune-in Radio and other podcast providers.

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Black History Month Happened

her parents began to have serious conversations with her about history, introducing her to difficult topics when they decided she was ready. Racism, she said, was a big one.

Dene said that in the school curriculum, black history always starts with slavery, then touches on Martin Luther King. Yet there is so much more to learn.

“Our history did not start in chains,” she said, quoting Malcolm X. “We had kings and queens in Africa.”

Dene said she wants to learn about black history pre-slavery. She’s also interested in the bBlues. From the bulletin board, she read about how after the blues became popular, white people realized that they could make a profit off of it, and began to appropriate the music.

The bulletin boards have been well-received among staff and students. Kids who Dene has never met come up to her in the halls and introduce themselves. Her social studies class was originally going to focus on China in February until her teacher saw what she was doing and decided to spend the month on West Africa.

This year is just the beginning, Willis told the Independent. Next year, she said she hopes to have a much bigger display.

She has also been talking to teachers about something similar for Hispanic Heritage Month in September and October.

For now, the bulletin boards will continue to grow, and the morning newscast will continue to drop new quotes and facts for students and staff. Dene said she hopes that momentum will continue, bringing a focus on black history into the rest of the year. “It shouldn’t stop. It shouldn’t be forgotten,” she said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

“Guitar George” Baker returned to the stage

by Francette Carson, ICN Correspondent

“Guitar George” Baker is back after a short hiatus taken to battle liver cancer. Baker is a legendary blues, jazz, funk guitarist and vocalist. He performed a soulful display of his rhythm, blues, and jazz on Valentine’s Day at Cafe Nine.

On this cold winter evening, Guitar George warmed our souls with his amazing guitar skills and smooth melodic voice. He set the tone for the lover’s day evening with his rendition of Bill Withers “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The crowd roared when he sang the lyrics “Something Must Be Wrong” from his CD titled, “Mojo Lady.” He laid the crowd down with his rendition of B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone.” Baker has an intimate relationship with his guitar. He closed his eyes lowered his head; demanding the perfect tune while gently extracting from the instrument what he needs to fulfill the desired melody. The music traveled from his fingertips, throughout his body into the atmosphere gracefully captivating the audience. Baker delivered a soulful, soothing mixture of contemporary, electric and soulful jazz and blues.

Guitar George Baker was born in New Roads, Louisiana. He began his musical career at the age of 17. He played with many great musicians including Roosevelt “Boo” Gautier, Earl Davis, Upsetters, Jimmy Reed, Gene Allison, Johnny Adams, The Flamingos, The Shirelles, The Drifters, and Melba Moore.

During the 1960’s he was hot on the New York music scene playing in the house band at the Apollo Theatre and was the musical director for the late great Marvin Gaye.

He has appeared on the BET Jazz Television Network. He eventually settled in New Haven and became the headliner of the “George Baker Experience” performing with talented local musicians and well-

known area bassist Willie Moore.

Guitar George spent 63 years as a professional musician and blessed New Haven with his musical talents for the past 33 years. On December 2, 2018, he posted on Facebook “I will be stepping away from the microphone at least for a time to bat-

tle with that formidable foe, Cancer.” He continues his battle but has returned to the music scene. “Guitar George” Baker is a legend and one of New Haven’s finest. To support Baker make donations via PayPal by sending funds to guitargeorgebaker@ gmail.com.

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Aleta Staton on Art & the Community up and what to leave out. The whole concept of white, negative space, and other concepts starting to translate into other disciplines—that’s when I actually started seeing differently and to honor so many different perspectives.

And that strengthens the way you come back to your own vocation.

And it also enhances the possibility of interdisciplinary collaboration, which can be very exciting.

If current events impact the art we create, do you feel that art impacts current events?

Yes. I do. I feel like if we did not have art to reflect current events, then instead of a conversation back and forth—art is very much a communicator—I think that a negative spiral would be extremely possible. Art holds a mirror up to the social existence, up to any and everything that can happen out there. I think it is effective because people do things and say things, and, whether they realize it or not, they get away with things that sometimes art catches and reflects back. Art causes people to think and it checks people. There’s nothing in the world like getting checked! It’s not fun to have to backpedal to explain yourself after you have let off something that you just didn’t think about before you said it or did it, didn’t think it was not okay to do, or it was the status quo, so “why not?” I believe that about art because it’s in your face. If it’s live it can be unpredictable; if it is a constant presence, it’s always a reminder.

And if it is responding to something right, it’s a reminder to do it again.

Considering these things that are going on that instigate responses from artists, are there events happening now that you would like to see the New Haven community have a conversation about?

One of the things I love about the New Haven community is that we do respond!

There’s always a storytelling event, there’s always a conversation around. One of the things I would like to keep my eye on would

2019 Oscars: Black Filmmakers Win Big

By Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., NNPA Newswire Entertainment and Culture Editor

The 2019 Academy Awards have come to an end and #BlackGirlMagic and #BlackBoyJoy were in full effect as some of our favorites walked away with gold statuettes, some after a 30-year uphill climb.

Black Panther was a big winner, taking home Oscars for Best Costume Design (Ruth E. Carter) and Best Production Design (Hannah Beachler). Both women making history.

Carter, who thanked her 97-year-old mother during her speech, is the first black woman to win the coveted category. Beachler is the first African-American and only black woman to be nominated and to win for set design.

Carter thanked Spike Lee for helping to launch her career in the entertainment business while Beachler thanked Black Panther co-writer and director Ryan Coogler stating, “I stand here because of this man who offered me a different perspective of life,” says the Moonlight and Lemonade produc-

in the competitive categories. Lee literally jumped into the arms of prolific actor and fellow Morehouse man Samuel Jackson in celebration of the win.

While Jackson held the statuette, Lee went on to discuss slavery, Black History Month, his grandmother, a Spelman College graduate, and his alma maters: Morehouse College and New York University.

The filmmaker said, “Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing,” when accepting his award.

The academy finally did the right thing by acknowledging the contributions of African-Americans in front of and behind the camera.

Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. is entertainment and culture editor for NNPA/BlackPressUSA. A film and media scholar, Dr. Burton is founder and editor-in-chief of the awardwinning news blog The Burton Wire, which covers news of the African diaspora. Follow her on Twitter @Ntellectual or @TheBurtonWire.

tion designer.

Ludwig Göransson won the Best Original Score category for Black Panther. He also thanked Coogler, his collaborator while the two were students at the University of Southern California’s film school.

Regina King started the night off with a win for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk. Her role was small but mighty and the decorated actress cried as she thanked her mother.

Mahershala Ali became a two-time Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winner with his win for Green Book. Ali thanked his grandmother for her sage advice and always believing in him. Peter Ramsey won for co-directing the Best Animated Feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, making history as the first African-American to win the award.

Prolific filmmaker Spike Lee won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman after having been overlooked

18

be our exploration of ourselves as violent.

Ask the questions, are we inherently violent? Why is violence the go-to response for something that can be discussed? Why aren’t we getting better at being nonviolent? What can we do to start to turn that around? There are people in groups who are working on that. This young group, Ice the Beef, I love them; they work on it individually with their instructors and their students Also, they ask the wider community, if you see something that is turning in a negative way, what is your typical response—to pull out your phone and record it, rather than stand up and say “this can’t happen; I don’t wanna be part of a community that does this”. And there are coaches that work one-on-one with students and never get any fanfare, but they’re working on this every day. And so I think that as a community, it folds into the question about gun control and everything. Why is violence still so prevalent between humans?

I still think there’s more we can do to get better.

Con’t from page

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National Emergenc

sider starting the process of impeachment.

He listed the Trump campaign’s potential collusion with the Russian government to sway the 2016 presidential election, as well as a series of suspicious money transfers related to Trump’s former plans to build a tower in Moscow.

“This could be democracy’s finest hour,” he said, “or it could be democracy’s demise.”

Some, like the SEIU State Council Executive Director Rick Melita, came out to voice concerns about the Trump administration, but not necessarily to call for impeachment. He said his union is very much concerned about immigrant rights and about lawlessness in Washington D.C, and that his union stands behind DeLauro’s liberal record and opposition to Trump.

When asked if he wants to see Trump impeached, he said, “I want to see him gone, by whatever methodology possible.”

Some said they do not want to see impeachment, yet, though they do want to see DeLauro and the rest of Congress reverse Trump’s emergency order, and then override his veto if Trump tries to follow through on building the wall.

“We don’t want funds derailed from significant projects for the military,” said Branford resident Susan Craig.

“We strongly support the idea that this is not a national emergency,” her husband Peter said about the alleged illegal immigration crisis that Trump has cited for why he wants to build the wall.

Jennifer Huebner, who taught world and U.S. history in the New Haven Public Schools for 26 years, said that the President’s Day protest is a fitting tribute to this country’s history of democracy, which she believes Trump and his national emergency order are threatening.

“That’s our national emergency,” she said about protecting democracy and opposing Trump.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

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

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

THE TOM FICKLIN SHOW Mondays 10 a.m.

MAYOR MONDAY!

MERCY QUAYE

Mondays 11 a.m.

Mondays 1 p.m.

“THE SHOW”

“DJ REL”

MICHELLE TURNER Tuesdays 9 a.m.

“WERK IT OUT”

ELVERT EDEN Tuesdays at 2 p.m.

MORNINGS WITH MUBARAKAH

“JAZZ HAVEN”

Wednesdays 9 a.m.

Wednesdays 2 p.m.

STANLEY WELCH

“TALK-SIP”

LOVEBABZ LOVETALK

Thursdays 1 p.m.

Mondays-Fridays 9 a.m.

ALISA BOWENSMERCADO

FRIDAY PUNDITS Fridays 11 a.m.

19

THE INNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWSNEWS - February 2019 - August - March 06,2016 2019 July 27, 27, 2016 02,

Dispatcher

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION NOTICE

Galasso Materials is seeking a motivated, organized, detail-oriented candiLarge CT Fence Company looking for an individual for our PVC date to join its truck dispatch office. Responsibilities include order entry Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the and truck ticketing in a fast paced materials manufacturing and contracting right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools company. You will have daily interaction with employees and customers and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC as numerous truckloads of material cross our scales daily. We are willing Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. to train the right individual that has a great attitude. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Authority, Reply to Hiring Manager, PO Box 1776, East Granby, CT 06026.

HOME on behalf of Columbus and the New Haven Housing This is an INC, in-shop production position.House Duties include building EOE/M/F/D/V. is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this devel-

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

fence panels, posts, gates and more. Must have a valid CT driver’s opment 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations aplicense & belocated able toatobtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able ply. Pre-applications will test. be available from resume 9AM TOto5PM beginning Monday Ju;y to pass a physical and drug Please email pking@ atlasoutdoor.com.

AA/EOE-MF 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have

DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED

been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preCT fence guardrail con-Orange Street, Third applications must be returnedLarge to HOME INC’s&offices at 171 tractor looking for a shop welder/helper. Duties include but are Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Welder/Helper:

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

not limited to cutting & notching pipe to build gates, and fabbing, plating posts, truck & trailer repairs. Ability to mig weld steel and aluminum is a plus. Some road work may be required. All necessary equipment provided. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to get a DOT medical card. Required to pass a physical and VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES drug test. Medical, vacation & other benefits included. Starting pay @ $17.00 per hour. Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está com AA/EOE-MF

NOTICIA

Must Have your Own Vehicle

APPLY TODAY

If Interested call

(203) 387-0354

aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos Bridge Repair Crew Openings máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Operators, Foreman M/F. Drivers CDL,Laborers, julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Welders, Concrete Work en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Accounting Department has two immediate openings for full llamando a860-664-8042, HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse Fax 860-664-9175 time Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable professionals a lasmichelle@occllc.com oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

EOE 10 Hour OSHA in a fast-paced office environment. Must be highly organized, Females and Minorities encouraged to apply possess good computer skills, be detail oriented, and able to manage multiple projects. Benefits include health, dental & LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource Administrative Assistant Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Listing: Accounting

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 242-258 Fairmont Ave EOE/AA Females and Minorities are encouraged to apply

NEW HAVEN

EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - (P/T)

Assist individuals receiving services in identifying and making choices about their social, vocation and personal goals. Duties include case management, job development/placement/retention services and job support as needed. Requires use of personal vehicle. B.A. in a related field; plus 2 yrs’ related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience. Pay rate $16.61/hr.

Apply to: GWSNE, 432 Washington Ave., North Haven, CT 06473/Fax (203) 495-6108/ hr@goodwillsne.org EOE/AA - M/F/D/V

SHOP InvitationCARPENTRY to Bid: Large CT Fence Company looking for a full-time carpenter for our Wood Fence Production nd Notice 2 The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 levelis, currently 1BA accepting applications for its efficiency and one hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. This is an inbedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace shop production position. Duties include mortising & drill wood posts for fence panels, All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Old Saybrook, CT in Guilford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over or on building fence panels gates & more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to highways, nearConnecticut bus stop & shopping center State of (4 Buildings, 17 Units) 100% social security or federal disability and over the age obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email Pet under 40lbOffice allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com.

AA/EOE-MF of Policy Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project of 18. Applications maybe obtained by calling the applicaand Management tion line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107. Applications will be acCT. 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 landlord checks are procured by the authority.

Smoke free in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs.

The cost is $125.

Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30The State of Connecticut, Office of 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Request for Qualifications housing.

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

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Elm City Communities

Architectural and Engineering Services

an Information Technology Analyst 1 (confidential) position.

St. New Haven, CT

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

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seek-

ing Qualifications for Architectural and Engineering Services A complete copy of the Further information regarding the duties, Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://neeligibility requirements and application ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Portland Anticipated Start: whavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway August 15, 2016 beginning on Wednesday , FebruSealed bids are invited by the HousingisAuthority of the Town of Seymour instructions for this position available Project documents available via ftp link below: ary 20, 2019at 3:00 PM Assistant for data entry, filing, reception, phones, and corporate staff supuntil 3:00 pm on Tuesday,at: August 2, 2016 at its office at Administrative 28 Smith Street, port. Working knowledge of Haz. Wastehttp://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Regs., Manifests, AP & billing. OSHA certification a +.

Forward Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement atresumes the to RED Technologies, LLC Fax 860-218-2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE. https://www.jobapscloud.com/ Elm City Communities Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses 190207&R2=7611CN&R3=001 Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483Request for Proposals A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28Firefi Smithghter Town of Greenwich Environmental Services AA/EEO EMPLOYER Street Seymour, CTofatConnecticut 10:00 am, on is Wednesday, The State an equal July 20, 2016.

Do You Want A Job That Makes A Difference?

opportunity/affirmative action employer Become A Town of Greenwich Firefighter.

Bidding are available the fromapplications the Seymour Housing Of-information and apply online visit www.governand documents strongly encourages To Authority view detailed women, and persons fice, 28 of Smith Street,minorities, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. mentjobs.com/careers/greenwichct with disabilities.

Current Starting Salary: $60,910. The Town of Greenwich is

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.

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Environmental Services A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday , February 20, 2019at 3:00 PM

INNER-CITY July 27 27,, 2019 2016 - -August THE INNER-CITY NEWS NEWS - February March 06,2016 2019 02,

Heavy Equipment Operator & Skilled Laborer

NOTICE

Our growing construction company currently has 2 open positions available.

All work is 1st shift and we work only in the State of Connecticut.

HeavyHOUSING Equipment PREOperator VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Ideal candidate will have experience operating all types of heavy equipment on large municipal construction jobsites. AHouse minimum 3 years’ experience required.

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus andofthe New Haven Housing Authority, Skilled Construction Laborer is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develIn needlocated of a skilled construction laborer has Maximum experienceincome prepping, forming,apopment at 108 Frank Street, Newwho Haven. limitations pouring and finishing sidewalks.

Additional skills Monday a plus. Ju;y ply. Pre-applications will beconcrete available from 9AM TO 5PM labor beginning Both positions OSHA 10pre-applications Certificate (Hazwoper Certificate a plus).

25, 2016 andrequire ending current when sufficient (approximately 100) have Positions require taking and of passing test / background check.

Apply been received at the offices HOMEa drug INC. Applications will be mailied uponbyreemailing yourHOME resumeINC to TradeMarkLLC@att.net or faxhours. to 860-314-1428. quest by calling at 203-562-4663 during those Completed preWomen & Minority applicants are encouraged to apply. Street, Third applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer

Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

NOTICIA BRISTOL HOUSING AUTHORITY Request for Proposal for Construction Manager – at Risk 3:00House p.m.,yFriday, March 2019 Authority, está HOME INC, Responses en nombre de la Due Columbus de la New Haven 1,Housing

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Bristol pre-solicitudes Housing Authority (“BHA”)y is seeking a qualified firm to serve as desarrollo Construc The aceptando para estudios apartamentos de un dormitorio en este

tion Manager proposed rehabilitation of Se D.J.aplican Komanetsky Estatesde(the “Projubicado en atla Risk callefor 109itsFrank Street, New Haven. limitaciones ingresos ect”).

BHALas is requesting a “Statement of Qualifications to Request for máximos. pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5and p.m.Response comenzando Martes 25 Proposal” from interested parties for the Project. The Project is anticipated to be funded julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) primarily with financing from the State of Connecticut Department of Housing (“DOH”), en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (“CHFA”) and BHA. Prior successful experillamando a HOME INC aland 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán ence working with DOHCHFA-funded affordable housing developments of remitirse this scale a las oficinas HOME en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . is mandatory to de qualify forINC consideration for the Project.

A full copy of the Request for Proposal and access to drawings are available by contacting Carl Johnson, Dir. of Capital Funds at (860) 585-2028 or e-mail cjohnson@bristolhousing. org.

The Bristol Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

NEW ofHAVEN The Housing Authority the City of Bridgeport 242-258 Fairmont Ave

Invitation Bid (IFB) 2BR Townhouse, 1.5for BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

Renovation for UFAS Compliance of 58 Units at Fireside

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Solicitation highways, nearNumber: bus stop &119-PD-19-S shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed.

Interested parties contact @ 860-985-8258 The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park CityMaria Communities (PCC) is request-

ing sealed bids for Renovation for UFAS Compliance of 58 Units at Fireside. A complete set of the plans and technical specifications will be available on March 4, 2019. To obtain a copy of the CT. Unified you Deacon’s pleasedto to offer a Deacon’s solicitation mustAssociation send yourisrequest bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference soCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates licitation number title on the subject line.cost A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be1:30held in response to theand Church’s Ministry needs. The is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 3:30 730 Contact: PalisadeChairman, Ave, Bridgeport, 06608M.S., on B.S. March 13, 2019, 2018 @ 10:00 a.m., submitting Deacon JoeCT J. Davis, (203) Host,without General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor U.F.W.B.ofChurch 64 Brewster a bid for996-4517 the project attending conference is not of inPitts the Chapel best interest the Offeror.

Additional St. Newquestions Haven, CTshould be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than March 28, 2019 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. All bids must be received by mailed or hand delivered by April 4, 2019 @ 2:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. No bids will be accepted after the designated time.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

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

Seymour. is seeking to fill the position of Development

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

A pre-bidrefer conference willwebsite be held at for the Housing Office 28 Smith Please to our details:Authority http://www.cfgnh.

Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. org/About/ContactUs/EmploymentOpportunities.aspx. EOE. Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Electronic Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203)No 888-4579. submissions only. phone calls 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

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**********

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

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 Youth AA/EEO EMPLOYER

860-444-9600

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

21

Town of Bloomfield

& Family Program Assistant Part Time $11.87 hourly For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.gov Pre-employment drug testing AA/EOE Deadline to apply 3/7/19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

‘Black Men in White Coats’ Are Inspiring Black Boys to Become Doctors Too!

Dallas, TX — Dr. Dale Okorodudu, an African-American doctor and the founder of Black Men in White Coats, aims to make an impact on the world by helping develop future leaders in medicine. He recently organized a youth summit with a goal to inspire Black boys to pursue the career of becoming a doctor as well.

“Some alarming data came out that the number of Black men applying to the field of medicine was decreasing. There were actually less in 2011 than there was in 1978,” Dr. Okorodudu shared via the organization’s YouTube channel. “Our mission is to inspire the next generation of physician leaders and to diversify the field of medicine with a special emphasis on Black males.”

In hopes to do that, Dr. Okorodudu organized the first ever Black Men in White Coats Youth Summit at UT Southwestern

last Sunday. It was attended by hundreds of students from third-grade level to middle and high school. They got to connect with educators, clinicians, and community leaders as well as discovered resources that would help them as they take on the path of becoming doctors.

African-American youth who attended the summit got to better understand the science behind the career. They experienced CPR training, demonstrations on how to make a splint, anatomy exploration, among others.

Parents, who were required to attend with elementary students, also benefited from the tips on how to help their children on that career path.

0“I think it’s good to see the representation, to see someone that looks like them who has gone through the career pathway, so that way, they know that it’s very feasible. That

it’s very possible for them,” Brittany Drake, one of the parents who attended the summit with her sons, told Fox 4 News.

Most importantly, the summit encouraged Black youth that they can be anything they put their mind into. It directly showed them what they can achieve in the future, like becoming a doctor.

“Medicine is a long road but it’s a road that many people who perhaps look like them have gone through and been successful. Medicine is a rewarding and exciting and interesting field. I hardly saw any Black males when I was coming up as a resident,” Dr. Emeka Etufugh shared. “I think it’s something to see somebody that looks like you, to inspire you, to help you know that it’s possible to come through this process and be a physician.”

Discrimination Against Black Hair Styles is Now Illegal in NYC

New York, NY — Discrimination against someone based on their hair has been officially banned in NYC after city officials unveiled new guidelines on Monday that make it illegal. While it applies to anyone in the city, it especially protects Black people who are often the target of racial discrimination for their natural hair styles.

The guidelines, which is considered to be the first such measure in the US, made it clear that the existing New York City Human Rights Law gives the citizens the right to style their hair in accordance with their cultural, ethnic, or racial identity. It specifically noted Black people’s right to wear “locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state.”

The new guidelines will ban employers, schools, and housing providers in the city to fire or exclude people based on their

hairstyle. It also applies in the city’s public spaces including restaurants, clubs, libraries, and parks. It does not, however, cover the companies who specifically require all their employees, no matter what race, to wear hair nets or have their hair tied up for sanitation and safety purposes, such as chefs and surgeons.

Chirlane McCray, New York’s first lady, agreed with the guidelines and thought it is significant because “bias against the curly textured hair of people of African descent is as old as this country and a form of racebased discrimination,” she said in a statement.

Human Rights Commissioner and Chair Carmelyn Malalis mirrored her thoughts.

She told BuzzFeed News, “In New York City, we want to make the bold statement that these prohibitions on hairstyles that are closely associated with black people are a

form of race discrimination. They really fail to consider the toll these bans take on black identity.”

Malalis said recent reports about students and employees who were having a hard time because of their natural hair helped make the new guidelines come to fruition. She particularly highlighted the case of a Black high school athlete from New Jersey who was reportedly forced to cut off his locks minutes before the match or he would be disqualified.

“I think I had the same visceral reaction that a lot of people did,” the commissioner said. “[I was] horrified that somebody would be forced to change something so possibly central to their identity in order to participate in a sports activity.”

Moreover, the commission is currently investigating seven different cases wherein people are allegedly discriminated against because of their hair.

Burberry Apologizes for Designing a Hoodie With a Noose Around the Neck

Nationwide — Fashion brand Burberry has apologized for designing a hoodie with a noose around the neck which was showcased during its London Fashion Week show. The design, which received harsh criticism online even from one of the brand’s own models, has already been pulled out from the collection, the fashion house said.

“We are deeply sorry for the distress caused by one of the products that featured in our A/W 2019 runway collection,” Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti said in a statement provided to CNN. “Though [the] design was inspired by the marine theme that ran throughout the collection, it was insensitive and we made a mistake,” he continued.

Liz Kennedy, the model who wore the hoodie on the show, was the first to express criticism about the noose. She said she tried to object on having the noose placed on her neck, but her concerns were just dismissed.

“Suicide is not fashion,” Kennedy wrote on her Instagram post. “It is beyond me how you could let a look resembling a noose hanging from a neck out on the runway.”

Kennedy also noted the “horrifying his-

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tory of lynching” associated with the noose.

However, she claimed that some of the staff were even joking about the design before the show while the noose was hanging from the ceiling.

“I had a brief conversation with someone

but all that it entailed was ‘it’s fashion. Nobody cares about what’s going on in your personal life so just keep it to yourself,’” she said.

The UK’s Mental Health Foundation also condemned the design and cited the need for fashion houses to be more careful and diverse in their creative process.

“It is disappointing to see this representation in our day and age considering how much ground we have covered in mental health in recent years,” said Antonis Kousoulis, associate director of research at the charity. “Highly influential global brands like Burberry certainly have a role to play in giving a voice to diverse views, respecting people with lived experience, and being role models.”

Meanwhile, Riccardo Tisci, Burberry’s chief creative officer and the designer of the A/W 2019 “Tempest” collection, apologized over the controversial design as well, saying he now realized it was “insensitive.”

“It was never my intention to upset anyone. It does not reflect my values nor Burberry’s and we have removed it from the collection. I will make sure that this does not happen again,” he added.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

N e w P u b l i c

H av e n S ch o o l s

Attention Parents/Guardians: If your child is turning 5 years old on or before January 1, 2020, then your child should be registered for Kindergarten!

Register with the Office of Choice & Enrollment Please bring the following required documents with you: 1. Birth Certificate 2. Proof of Residency (current utility bill, lease/mortgage statement with parent/guardian’s name & address) 3. Parent/Guardian Identification

Office of Choice and Enrollment

Location: 54 Meadow St., 1st Floor, New Haven, CT 06519 Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm Phone: 475-220-1430 and 475-220-1431 Website: choice.NHPS.net 23

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 27, 2019 - March 06, 2019

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Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Xfinity xFi is available to Xfinity Internet service customers with a compatible Xfinity Gateway. Ability to pause limited to home WiFi network. Does not apply to Xfinity WiFi hotspots. Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed. Reliability claim based on FCC “Measuring Broadband America” Report 2016. Call for restrictions and complete details. © 2019 Comcast.

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