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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

AFSCME, Teachers Donate $5K To Stop & Shop Strikers

by SAM GURWITT

New Haven Independent

Donated donuts, cups of coffee, and bags of chips sat on a table behind a crowd of striking Stop & Shop workers in Hamden Monday afternoon as two unions came through with another donation: a total of $5,000 to the fund that will help them get through the strike without pay.

The donations came from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 4 and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) of Connecticut, both of whom gave $2,500 dollars. Both unions pledged to give an additional $500 each week for the rest of the strike.

“AFT Connecticut is 30,000 members,” said AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel. “Know that when you’re standing as 30,000, it’s no longer 30,000.”

“It’s 30,000 plus 30,000, plus 30,000,” she continued, referring to the membership of AFT Connecticut and AFSCME Council 4, both of which number around 30,000.

AFSCME Council 4 represents state, municipal, board of education, and private sector employees in Connecticut. AFT Connecticut represents teachers, para educators, higher education workers, state employees, and healthcare workers.

Hochadel said that when nurses as Lawrence Memorial Hospital in New London went on strike a few years ago, other unions stepped up to support them with donations.

Now, she said, it’s AFT’s time to return the favor.

“Union means you’re never alone,” she said.

“You just want what you’ve earned, you want what’s fair, and you’re not asking for more. You’re just asking to keep what you’ve got,” said AFSCME Council 4 President Jody Barr.

Locals within AFT have also pledged their own donations. Newtown Federation of Teachers President Tom Koroski, who was also at the Hamden Stop & Shop Monday, said his union will donate $500 to the fund.

Mary Yordon of the Norwalk local said that her local will be considering a donation as well.

The donations will support the strike fund of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), which represents the two locals involved in the Stop & Shop strike: Local 371 and Local 919.

The strike fund supports union employees during the strike. Local 919 Business Rep. Jorge Cabrera said that UFCW has set up the mechanism to receive donations for the fund, but has not yet determined how they will be distributed. He said the fund comes entirely from donations.

“The support from the public has been nothing short of amazing,” said Cabrera.

That support, he said, has come not just from other unions, but also from customers. “Stop & Shop underestimated the amount of good will [its employees] build with their customers,” he said. “We expected customer support. Not like this.”

Earlier in the afternoon, as striking workers stood outside the doors at the entryway, bracing themselves against the damp wind that blew in from the parking lot, a customer stopped by to drop off a bag of clementines. Workers said that the donations had been pouring in.

Joe Renaldi, who serves as shop steward for Local 919 at the Hamden Stop & Shop, said that on Friday, Hamden town hall employees came and dropped off pizzas.

Customers have been by with cases of water, subs from Jersey Mike’s, chicken from Popeyes.

As the table of donated food showed, many supporters had also brought by coffee and donuts.

“The running joke right now is we’ve all never drunk this much coffee or had this many donuts in our life,” said Vincent Lucibello.

When Hamden Legislative Council Rep. Marjorie Bonadies walked out of the store, she had one word to describe what it was like inside: “eerie.”

She said the store was empty, though

SAM GURWITT PHOTO

AFSCME Council 4 President Jody Barr and AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel.

the refrigeration was on and many shelves were still stocked. She had gotten some meat, which many of the workers outside cautioned against because it was approaching its expiration date. The prepackaged fruit shelves, she said, were empty.

Bonadies had come to the store because she works right around the corner and it was her lunch break. She also said she had also heard from a co-worker who came last week and was confronted by workers, so she wanted to come herself to see what would happen. No one said a word to her, she said.

The Hamden Stop & Shop is still open, though only from 8-8 rather than for 24 hours as it normally is. On Monday, a manager was inside the store helping run the self-checkout machines. He politely asked the Independent to leave the store, saying he could not talk to the press and that photographs inside were not allowed.

Two men who called themselves “help” were there assisting the manager. They did not give their names or say who they were, but they said they were helping keep the shelves stocked and the store running.

Cabrera said he thought they might have been hired by an employment agency that Stop & Shop hired to help bring in a few hands while its workers are on strike. He said that people at UFCW had recently seen ads posted for those positions on Indeed. com.

The union employees are not allowed to enter the store while on strike. As they stood outside the entrances, the occasional customer wandered past and into the store, approximately one every 15 or 20 minutes.

“Nothing is fresh,” one employee called to a customer as she breezed past through the automatic door.

Clem Piscitelli.

Many said they didn’t realize that Stop &

Shop workers are on strike.

“I’m in total support of these guys,” said one as he wheeled his grocery-laden cart out the door. He said that he’s a caretaker for an elderly woman woman, and that he had to come get groceries for her, but that he would not come back to Stop & Shop until the strike is over.

Everyone has an excuse to cross the picket line, said Clem Piscitelli, an employee of 38 years. They say they have a family to feed, he said, “but so do we.”

Piscitelli said that he and the other Stop & Shop workers have always been there when the company needed them. He said he has left early from weddings, missed birthday parties, and driven to work in blizzards so he could cover a shift that the store needed filled.

“Now,” he said, when the workers need help from the company,

House Minority Leader Focuses On Increased Penalties For Fentanyl

by Jack Kramer Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT — It makes little sense to some legislators that they’ve spent the past few years passing numerous bills to combat the opioid epidemic but have done nothing to increase the penalties for those who traffic fentanyl — the drug that contributes more than any other to drug-overdose fatalities.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, which is more addictive and deadly than opioids or heroin.

Members of the Judiciary Committee vowed that they would take on the issue again this year after hearing a pitch Wednesday from Rep. Themis Klarides, RDerby. Similar bills have failed in previous years after passing the committee.

A bill introduced by Klarides, the House minority leader, would amend the defini-

tion of narcotic substance to include fentanyl, which currently is only listed as a synthetic drug, meaning it carries a lesser sentence.

“Opioid deaths have been doubling every year since 2013,” Klarides said during a public hearing on the bill this week.

“All I’m asking for is parity” with penalties for other drugs, Klarides told the committee.

Klarides said the bill is an important House Republican proposal to amend the definition of “narcotic substance” to add fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives.

There were 1,038 overdose deaths in Connecticut in 2017, according to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. In nearly twothirds of those deaths some trace of fentanyl was found in the person’s system. Last year, there were 1,017 overdose deaths and 760 of those deaths involved fentanyl,

which is up from 677 in 2017, 483 in 2016, and 189 in 2015.

“Connecticut is in the midst of an opioid epidemic,” Klarides said. “Increasing penalties for the dealing and manufacturing of fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives will not only reduce the use of opioids in Connecticut, but possibly save lives. ” A substance that is more powerful than heroin should absolutely be included under the definition of a “narcotic substance,” Klarides said.

Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, asked Klarides why the bill hasn’t made it through the General Assembly previously, considering how the state is knee-deep in the opioid and fentanyl crisis.

Klarides, the House minority leader, said she didn’t know the exact reason why, but thought perhaps budget issues might have Con ‘t on page 12

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO House Minority Leader Themis Klarides testifies in front of the Judiciary Committee

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Lamont: ‘State Should Get Out of Way’ On Shared Services

by Jack Kramer Ct. News Junkie

ESSEX, CT— Reiterating his new found mantra “to just have the state get out of the way,” Gov. Ned Lamont came to Essex on Friday to drill home that point.

Lamont was at Essex Elementary School along with politicians and school officials from the area who are seen as innovators when it comes to finding ways to share school services.

Essex, along with Deep River and Chester, make up the Region 4 school district.

Lamont met with local officials at the collaborative preschool program, which is shared between the towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex.

The preschool has been operating for more than 20 years and has resulted in a significant savings for taxpayers, Region 4 officials said. However, Region 4 officials have said that trying to undertake similar efforts in grades K-12 are impossible under the current rules.

Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, introduced legislation that he believes will help other school districts share services and cut costs across the state.

Lamont took notice and backed off his earlier call for penalties for school districts that fail to regionalize some of their backoffice services, and would instead use construction bonds to incentivize schools to share services and cut costs.

The Education Committee passed Lamont’s revised bill Friday afternoon by a vote of 22-13, but not without criticism.

The idea of forced regionalization and consolidation was removed from the bill, but

that wasn’t good enough for Republican lawmakers.

“It’s all still based on the premise that local school districts must be prodded somehow to act in their own best interests,” Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, said.

Lavielle represents a community that organized loudly against Lamont’s original legislation.

Rep. Kathleen McCarthy, R-Waterford, said the words “consolidation” and “forced regionalization” have been removed from the bill, but she said the structure of the shared services commission remains.

“There’s a lot of angst still in the communities throughout the state,” McCarthy said.

“There’s still enough in this bill for me that I cannot support.”

Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, said he applauds Lamont’s effort to change the bill, but he can understand that people have their doubts.

Needleman too applauded Lamont’s flexibility on the issue.

“At Governor Lamont’s budget address in February, he told us he would work with us on important issues, and I’m grateful we had the opportunity to do just that with him Friday,” Needleman said.

Needleman, who has only been a state senator a few months, said he deliberately decided to introduce very few bills because he wanted the ones he introduced to be priorities.

Needleman’s bill would allow multiple boards of education in a regional school district to act together and have that collaboration be recognized by the state as a Local Education Agency (LEA).

Needleman’s bill would also require the state Education Department to develop a report on best practices for sharing educational services.

In Region 4, Chester, Deep River, and Essex operate a single central office with one set of administrators, including one superintendent, who serves the towns’ three elementary schools and high school. A number of other staff members, such as the art, music, and foreign language teachers, are employed by the towns’ cooperative agreement board, permitting staff to work across each of the towns’ schools without having to replicate the positions in each school.

“It’s working well for us,” Essex Board of Education Chairman Lon Seidman said.

He said Region 4 is “just looking for some relief” from some of the state mandates, adding that he believes the region’s costsavings model would work well in other districts.

“Governor Lamont understands that for many towns the state’s current ‘one size fits all’ solution for regionalism is just not compatible with our local systems of government,” Seidman said. “By eliminating these restrictions and allowing towns to design their school districts we will begin to see some very creative and innovative solutions to the many challenges our schools face.”

There are 17 regional school districts in Connecticut. However, the state forces the towns and regional districts to maintain separate boards for each elementary schools plus a board for the regional schools.

When Lamont first talked about shared services in schools a conversation forced

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LON SEIDMAN / CTNEWSJUNKIE PHOTO

Gov. Ned Lamont holds Charlie Briggs at Essex Elementary School by the need to find money to save in the state budget his language was perceived by many, especially in the smaller communities, as pushing for forced consolidation.

He said his new proposal was developed in collaboration with stakeholders, and addresses concerns raised by members of many communities while continuing to encourage collaboration and shared services among schools. The governor said that he agrees with many constituents who do not want their school districts to be forced to consolidate operations, and is hopeful that

the modifications to his proposal address those concerns.

The new language in Lamont’s bill also calls for a bipartisan commission on shared school services, made up of education stakeholders. The commission would have no power to force the adoption of its recommendations, but will look around and outside Connecticut to offer information about how other districts share services.

Needleman’s bill, which has morphed into SB 1069, was approved earlier this week.

Colon: Jobs Still Priority THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

New Haven is a majority-minority city where being a person of color can make finding a job that pays a living wage elusive, and an affordable safe place to live non-existent.

But the city is making strides toward changing that, even if that takes time.

That was the New Haven Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus take on the State of the City, as delivered by Hill Alder Dolores Colon Monday at City Hall.

Colon, who serves as the caucus chair, said in the annual caucus address that though the nation as a whole is currently enjoying low unemployment rates in the 3 percent range, black and brown communities are still plagued with double-digit unemployment.

She noted that four years ago she stood in the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall to declare that New Haven was facing a jobs crisis. She said not much has changed.

“When employers are seeking applicants for vacant positions, there must be a common perception that the minorities are unskilled and lacking in higher degrees in education,” she said. “The number of residents in minority communities registered at New Haven Works clearly disproves that.”

She said thousands of New Haven residents have the skills and requisite education and technical background to work in the city.

She called on Yale University to make good on a promise to hire at least 500 of them at livable wages.

When large local employers honor such commitments, Colon said, it means more people who can work in the city instead of commuting. More parents work fewer jobs, which means more participate in parentteacher organizations and other civic pursuits, and more spend time at home keeping up their property and contributing to the local tax base.

Colon said the caucus will continue to

press large employers like Yale to honor such promises.

“It’s our responsibility as leaders to make sure that this much-needed change happens,” she said.

She pointed out that alders prioritized the work of establishing an Affordable Housing Task Force that produced recommendations for how to increase the city’s affordable housing stock. Colon said now that that work is done, the city has to work to implement those recommendations and has to let developers know that the city expects more than market rate housing.

“Our caucus demands that when developers come to an urban center with a number of different income levels, the needs of the community must be reflected in the development,” she said, drawing hearty applause. “This is our responsibility as elected officials: to make sure we have clean and safe places to live.

“As a city, we can’t afford to have another 66 Norton St.,” she added to more applause, referring to an apartment complex that the city deemed too dangerous to live in, requiring the evacuation of 80 tenants.

She pointed to a part of the Hill-to-Downtown project going up on Gold Street as an example of the kinds of developments of which the city needs more.

Colon praised the recent re-establishment of a stronger Civilian Review Board (CRB). She recognized Emma Jones, who spearheaded a 20-plus year effort to establish a CRB with the power to hold cops accountable for misconduct.

Colon said the CRB will strengthen the relationship between the community and police, providing another layer of transparency that could go a long way in ensuring that the community is “policed with dignity and respect.”

To Jones, she said, “your strength and courage is remarkable, you have empowered the community in so many ways and we

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

New Haven Independent

Wilbur Cross senior Thea Ranelli opened a seemingly ordinary Amazon package Tuesday to find not a box of soap or a new pair of pants — but a $40,000 scholarship to study computer science at a college of her choice.

Ranelli became one of 100 high school seniors around the country to be awarded the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, a new scholarship from the Seattle-based tech giant that grants high school students $10,000 per year over four years to study computer science at whichever college they attend.

“Oh my God,” Ranelli said as she opened her Amazon box at the school Tuesday.

“I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Did you hear that?” Principal Edith John-

son said. “It’s $10,000.”

“A year?” asked Ranelli.

“A year.”

Ranelli will also receive a guaranteed paid internship offer at Amazon after her freshman year of college as part of the scholarship.

“Recipients were chosen for their academic achievement,” Amazon’s Tuesday press release read, “demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals, and diversity. All of the recipients demonstrated financial need and more than half of the students are from an underrepresented group in the computer science field.”

Among her activities, Ranelli runs track and has participated in the Yale Young Global Scholars program.

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

Editorial Team Staff Writers

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Colon being escorted into the aldermanic chambers Monday night.

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Emma Jones, who received a shoutout from Colon. can never repay you for your tireless work.”

The predominately black and Hispanic sections of the city “want to be vibrant, clean and safe places like other parts of the city. It’s all of our responsibility to ensure

that this happens,” Colon said.

“We don’t want a handout. We want a hand up so we can contribute just as much as other parts of the city do.”

Amazon Delivers A $40K Scholarship To Cross

by STAFF

John P. Thomas

Wilbur Cross student Thea Ranelli with her new Amazon-funded scholarship.

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

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Glitch Keeps Waitlisted Students Waiting

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

This week, thousands kids applying for spots in New Haven Public Schools found out where they’d be guaranteed a desk next year or how close they were to nabbing one under a simplified system that should have been easier to understand.

At least, that’s what was supposed to happen.

The lottery worked on a simplified sorting mechanism that should have been clearer for parents. But a software glitch in the results, which were emailed out on Wednesday evening, left hundreds of incoming students without complete information about how close they currently are to getting into one of their top picks.

After receiving four school choices from each applicant, the district’s Office of Choice & Enrollment ran the algorithm, an intricate, multi-step process that tries to match each student with their top pick, but gives preference to students who live in the neighborhood or have siblings already in the school.

It sorted approximately 7,000 students, from pre-kindergarteners through high-school seniors, district officials said. That took place under a brand-new algorithm that removed past incentives to game the lottery, instead encouraging parents to accurately rank their choice of schools in the order they actually wanted their kids to attend.

But just as the system debuted, incoming high schoolers experienced a minor glitch in learning just how they’d fared under the district’s new way of assigning students.

Minor Glitch In the letters that went out on Wednesday, 476 rising ninth-graders who didn’t get in to any of their top four choices and would automatically be placed at the district’s two comprehensive high schools, James Hillhouse and Wilbur Cross, couldn’t tell how close they were to getting into a better match.

Due to “an error in the lottery software,” the emails had a blank spot where incoming freshmen should have seen their position on the wait-list for all the schools where they still had a chance of getting in, officials said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

The district is now working with the software vendor, Smart Choice Technologies, to fix the error, they said.

The wait-list position that was omitted in the initial email was sent out

to families in a separate email before Friday morning, even earlier than the 10 days they’d initially promised, Michael Pinto, the district’s chief operating officer, said on Thursday evening.

Officials stressed that this glitch applies only to high-schoolers who didn’t receive a spot at any of their four top choices. Those students who already have a desk at one of their preferred schools were not waitlisted at any higher choices, they said.

“The New Haven Public School District understands the important of each’s child’s placement and is committed to the academic excellence and achievement of all students at all schools within the district,” the district administration said in a press release. “And we are committed to ensuring that our lottery process is transparent and that our rising ninthgraders have the start they need and deserve in high school to succeed in school and in life.”

At least one other elementary-school parent also said that the letter didn’t list the school where their child had been accepted; on Thursday afternoon, district officials said they’d be looking into that too.

This year, the lottery, administered under new leadership, tried out a new way of having parents pick schools.

In years past, school officials assumed parents understood a complicated odds game that rewarded them for knowing where to rank schools where they had an advantage with sibling or neighborhood preference.

But, under the new system, which was suggested by three economics professors at top universities, parents were encouraged to be honest where they really wanted to see their child next year, not just where they had the best chance of getting in.

The revamped algorithm was meant to simplify the process for parents, but because many didn’t find out about the updates until this week, they feel they were playing a game whose rules had changed midway through the game.

This year, Marquelle Middleton took over direction of the school-choice lottery, after Sherri Davis-Googe returned to her former job with Hartford Public Schools.

With direction from the superintendent and approval from the board, he implemented a new algorithm that three assistant professors from Princeton and the University of Chicago for advice had recommended to revamp the school-choice lottery process that many considered broken.

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO

Marquelle Middleton, new choice and enrollment director.

Those academics, who are providing a data analyst to the district at no charge, suggested changing the algorithm that it uses to assign students to reward students for listing the schools that they’d like to attend. That’s similar to the system used by school districts in New York, Chicago and Boston.

“New Haven was one of the big pioneers of this a long time ago, and they hadn’t updated to the best practices,” said Christopher Neilson, an assistant professor at Princeton University.

In past years, the system would initially line everyone up at their topranked school. Those who didn’t claim a spot would be pushed into another sorting for their second choice, and so on. But this year, the lottery tried to get as many students into a choice they’d prefer as possible.

In other words, the ranking that par-

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ents wrote down didn’t matter in comparison to other students, as it used to; instead, it only mattered for their child, as the system tried to get them into the choice they’d said they’d like the most.

Additionally, the algorithm factored preferences for living in the neighborhood or having siblings in a school differently. In years past, those preferences only applied to top-ranked picks. That meant parents had to decide whether to gamble on a long-shot or settle for the school where they had an advantage.

Under the old system, “you might like a school a lot, but you’re better off not putting it,” Neilson said. “That makes it strategic in how you apply.” In past studies, the professors “documented that people have trouble figuring it out.” Neilson added, “The people we want to help the most are the ones who

are most likely to mess up.”

Neilson said he hoped the system would be easier to explain. “The first thing is you just rank schools in the order you like them,” he said. “You don’t have to try to be sneaky, thinking about what if you have a low chance and put it first.”

This year’s survey asked questions like whether parents would consider a private option if they didn’t receive their top choice or whether it mattered how far they’d have to walk to a bus stop. But those questions had no bearing on the actual placement this year, Neilson said. Those questions will just help guide the district’s future decision-making, he added.

Next year, for students starting in 2020-21, the three professors are planning to design online tools, like chat bots, that can walk families through the process, introducing them to more schools and showing them how to maximize their odds of a school they like. The contract states that the school district will approve each “smart marketing” and “application assistance” tool before it goes live on the website.

Already, some parents are wondering how this year’s data changed how parents played their neighborhood preference and whether the waitlists would be shorter. Neilson said they’d be analyzing that data before next year’s lottery.

Neilson, who said that the lottery process had been “confusing” when he tried to enroll his own kids in New Haven Public Schools, said that he felt the district was committed to coming up with fixes that would leave parents feeling better about the lottery.

“I know there’s always so much concern [about the lottery], but if there’s one message I could send, it’s that, whatever problems it has, they realize that and the people in the [Choice & Enrollment Office] are committed to it. Before, they didn’t want us to do research or to calculate anything, but in the last year, they asked us to figure out what they can do better. They probably won’t get credit for a while, until the system starts getting implemented, but they deserve credit for taking this seriously. The board and the superintendent might have their disagreements, but they knew that they could work on this together.”

Parents with further questions about the district’s lottery can contact the district’s Choice & Enrollment Office by phone at 475-220-1430 or by email at choiceenrollment@new-haven.k12. ct.us.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

Harp On Trump Bluff: “Come On Down!”

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp called President Trump’s bluff Monday.

Trump sought to put Democratic pro-immigration politicians in a corner by proposing to allow undocumented workers into the country en masse — and then sending them to “sanctuary cities.”

Like New Haven.

“If people want to come here and be our neighbors and work to rebuild communities like folks in the Fair Haven have done, folks in the Hill have done, come on down!

We want you!” Harp remarked during her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.

She added that “in America, we don’t have an adequate number of workers.”

That said, Harp dismissed Trump’s proposal which has been widely condemned as not translatable into genuine action as a stunt.

“His whole plan for immigration is ill-conceived. He just needs to stop it and come up with a plan that is good for our country and good for the people who’ve risked their lives in other countries for freedom,” Harp remarked. Also on “Mayor Monday,” Harp: • Said in response to a listener’s question that she supports making it mandatory to

vaccinate children for measles. That means parents could be fined for refusing. She said she doesn’t support making it compulsory (meaning parents would be physically forced to do it.)

She answered the question after the first measles case was reported last Friday in New Haven. She praised the religious community for responding by encouraging congregants to take precautions to avoid spreading measles. She spoke of having learned firsthand the importance of vaccines when she contracted polio as a child, before the introduction of the vaccine for that disease.

“I feel strongly about vaccinations,” she said. “I’m one of the kids back in the dark ages before there was a polio vaccine that contracted polio, spent at least a half year trying to rid my body of it, learn to walk again. As someone who’s lived with that disease, I would never want anyone to have to live through that or any family to live through that.”

• Spoke of planning to interview neighborhood-nominated candidates for the new police Civilian Review Board before choosing a final list of appointees. Community management teams are supposed to forward nominees’ names to her by the

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

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

end of the month. She said she’s looking for people who “are active in their communities” and “will go to the meetings.”

• Responded to a call by the New Haven Police Union Elm City Local to support unionized cops the way she has come out in favor of striking Stop & Shop workers.

“After cutting back on pension benefits in the last contract the administration is proposing three years of zero general wage increases (GWI) followed by two years at 2% plus (not close to the current rate of inflation) and a substantial reduction in health care benefits for the lowest paid police force in the poorest of the big cities, not to mention the better off municipalities in the State of Connecticut,” wrote local President Florencio Cotto.

“Here are questions for Mayor Harp. Do the men and women of the police department deserve your help? If so, members of the police department have been without a contract since June 30th, 2016. Can we as the men and women of this great department be treated fairly with a contract that invests in its employees? I’m asking Mayor Harp to support the men and women of the police department as she supports the strikers.”

“I do support the men and women of the

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO

Mayor Harp on the picket line supporting Stop & Shop strikers. police department. I think they’re the best police force in Connecticut if not the United States,” Harp responded.

“Our only problem is the ability to pay.”

She noted that 56 percent of New Haven property is nontaxable, and the city must rely on property taxes to pay the bills. She called on the state to permit the city to pur-

sue other revenue sources (such as a sales tax or a surcharge on entertainment tickets or restaurant meals).

The police contract is in arbitration. Harp testified last week in an arbitration hearing.

“I want this arbitration and this contract to be settled as soon as possible. And so I am hopeful that it will be done,” she said.

Exempt Properties Top Taxable By $1.6B

by THOMAS BREEN New Haven Independent

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New Haven’s taxable grand list is worth around $6.6 billion. It’s tax-exempt grand list is worth around $8.2 billion. And the gap between the two is growing.

Acting City Assessor Alex Pullen Monday bnight revealed that yawning disparity between property the city can tax and property that it can’t tax, during the Board of Alders Finance Committee’s second public hearing and first department-level workshop on Mayor Toni Harp’s proposed $556.6 million operating budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2010 (FY20).

The workshop brought out around two dozen people, mostly city department heads and staffers, to Hill Regional Career High School’s auditorium on Legion Avenue.

At the end of a three-hour hearing otherwise dedicated to city department expenditures, the alders asked Pullen to explain the latest shift in the city’s most important source of revenue: property taxes.

In particular, they asked him to explain how the city’s net taxable grand list — that is, the cumulative total of taxable real estate, personal property, and automobiles in the city shrank by nearly $15 million, or .23 percent, between 2017 and 2018.

Pullen said that roughly $8.2 billion, or 55 percent, of the city’s property is now tax exempt. Six years ago, he said, the balance of tax exempt to tax-exempt property was closer to 50-50.

“That’s a stunning figure,” said Westville Alder and Finance Committee Vice-Chair Adam Marchand.

Pullen said that the city often experiences slight decreases in net grand list value during

6

Finance Committee alders on Monday night. the off years between five-year revaluations, However, he said, a dramatic decrease in when his department reassesses all 27,000the city’s tax-exempt property coincided plus properties in town to come up with new with a dramatic increase in purchases by base property values for tax purposes.

Yale New Haven Hospital, which brought This year’s $68 million decrease in gross $58 million of personal property off the tax taxable real estate, Pullen and acting City rolls.

Budget Director Michael Gormany said, was “It’s kind of a gift and a curse in the same due to court appeal settlements from the last token,” Pullen said. revaluation and due to property acquisitions As a whole, Pullen said, the grand list is by tax-exempt entities like Yale University down only about a quarter of a percent, and Yale New Haven Hospital. which he said is “not too bad” in a non-re“Seven of the top ten real estate decreases valuation year. specifically are a result of Yale University Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola asked how and Yale Hospital properties moving fully or the city’s increase in tax-exempt property afpartially off the taxable grand list and onto fects how the state reimburses the city for the exempt grand list as they are being used lost property taxes through its Payment in for academic/hospital purposes,” Gormany Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. told the Independent by email.

“The state is tricky,” Pullen said. “It should Pullen noted that the net grand list did benin a perfect world equate to the city receivefit from several recent high-dollar construcing more money. Theoretically our percenttion projects like the Alexion building at 100 age of the pie should get bigger.”

College St. finally phasing out of the lowest But with the state working through its own rungs of the city’s tax assessment deferral budget troubles and with PILOT’s funding plan. Gormany said that 100 College alone percentage already down to below 40 perwill see a $53 million increase to its base cent, that proportionate increase may not be taxable assessed value this year. coming any time soon.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Hamden Mayor Requests Furlough Days

by SAM GURWITT

With around $700,000 left to gain in concessions from town employees before the fiscal year closes out on June 30, Hamden Mayor Curt Leng is looking beyond the unions for savings.

In a memo issued this week, Leng asked his department heads and other non-union staff to take three furlough days in order to save the town $25,000 and help it close out the current budget without a deficit. In the memo, Leng asked his department heads to be considerate of the givebacks that their unionized staff have agreed to.

“While I cannot compel you to give back 3 furlough days,” Leng wrote, “my expectation would be that you give serious consideration to demonstrating your under-

SAM GURWITT PHOTO

Hamden Mayor Curt Leng.

standing of the financial challenges we face and your leadership toward addressing it in solidarity with union staff members being

asked to give back.”

According to the memo, Leng will also take three unpaid days off himself before the closeout of the budget.

“It is not lost on me that many of you have not received a raise in one or more years,” the letter continued. “Nevertheless, I trust that you understand the importance of demonstrating all staff working together to help ensure that layoffs are not necessary.”

The bottom of the memo includes a line for the employee to sign, “as an act of solidarity with my staff and the Administration.”

Town Planner Dan Kops told the Independent that he believes the last time he and other department heads got a raise was two years ago. He said that he plans to comply with the mayor’s request for the furlough days.

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7

His request follows a series of negotiations with unions to give back similar savings. The 2018-2019 budget included a line item for an anticipated $1.5 million in savings from union concessions. The fire union was the first to come to the table.

In June 2018, the Legislative Council accepted a concessions package that saved the town around $600,000 in the current fiscal year through reductions in holiday pay, wage increase deferments, and other givebacks.

Next was the supervisor’s union, which negotiated a package in February that will save the town around $43,000 before June 30. Those savings came from furlough days, wage increase deferments, and the elimination of certain positions.

According to Leng, the total savings this

year from those who packages plus other non-union savings have totaled around $800,000.

The police union is close to voting on a concessions package that Police Union President Kevin Samperi said could save the town between half a million and $1 million in the next two years, half of it in the current fiscal year. Leng said that he is also in negotiations with two other unions, but could not make public which ones.

Last year, he originally proposed $1.2 million in union concessions, though the council approved $1.5 million. He said that between the concessions already achieved and those that he anticipates, the town should be able to come close to the $1.2 million in savings that he originally asked for.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

Harp Urges Supporters To Stay Course

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Toni Harp kicked off her campaign for a fourth term as mayor by urging nearly 300 supporters to stick with an administration that has brought progress in economic development, education and reduced crime.

Harp drove home those signature achievements of her mayoral administration to date on Saturday during a re-election campaign kick-off event held at The Stack, a restaurant that is part of DISTRICT, an incubator tech space in Fair Haven that is among her biggest economic development successes as mayor.

Harp faces challenger Justin Elicker for the Democratic nomination for mayor this year in a rematch of the 2013 election that Harp won.

At Saturday’s event the mayor told supporters, many of whom have been with her since she was a member of what was then the Board of Aldermen, that she’s “convinced there’s been more progress, there’s been more excitement, and there’s been more investment in New Haven these past few years than there has been ” in the more than 30 she’s been in public office.

All of that has come at a time when the city is enjoying a building boom in various sections of the city including Downtown, the Hill, and Dixwell Avenue. Harp pointed to the 1,500 new residential units available in the city and the more than 2,500 on the way.

She also pointed to the 90 percent occupancy rate for retail and restaurant space in the city.

In addition to the site of her re-election event itself, Harp pointed to progress with the Hill-to-Downtown development plan and the city’s re-imagining of Long Wharf as signature achievements of her administration’s development efforts.

And supporters like Tom Goldenberg, pictured above with the mayor and his 1 and a half-year-old daughter, Ainsley, supported that message.

“I like the emphasis on economic development in the city,” Goldenberg said crediting the Harp administration for what he’s seen over the last few years. “I grew up here and I moved back from New York City because I love the city.”

Norma Rodriguez, president of La Voz Hispana and chairwoman of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus, told the crowd of supporters that Harp has made diversity a key feature of her administration and that the children of the city can see someone who looks like them serving in almost every department, and know that they too can one day be in those positions.

The youth of the city was also a central focus of the mayor’s remarks Saturday as she pointed out that her administration has helped drive an emphasis on providing wraparound services for students and incorporationg restorative practices to reduce suspensions and expulsions.

Harp (pictured above with Grace Reyes, wife of Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes, and Maria Rodriguez, co-chair for Ward 3 and the first Latina alder for the Board of Alders) said that since she’s been mayor, school enrollment is higher, attendance is better, graduation rates continue to go up and more students are enrolling and staying in college. Fewer students also are making contact with the corrections and judicial systems.

“These efforts on behalf of the city’s precious and irreplaceable young people must be sustained if they are to continue,” Harp said.

Harp also is getting some youth power for her campaign. In addition to having teen, acapella trio Kompozure perform at Saturday’s event, and having Youth Legislature Lt. Gov. Juan Patterson and Sen. Manny Comacho speak, supporters also got to meet the mayor’s new campaign manager Ed Corey, pictured above with Jason Bartlett.

Corey, 24, most recently worked in the New Haven field office for Gov. Ned Lamont. He’s been working on campaigns since he was 16 but has taken a liking to New Haven. He’s originally from Torrington and commutes to the Elm City for the campaign. He said he’s hoping to add his “organizing energy” to the enthusiasm that’s already here in a way that “brings everybody together.”

Saturday’s kickoff event brought out people with diverse histories in the city. Jay Brotman, a partner in Svigals + Partners architecture, was among those out in support of the mayor. So was Yves Joseph, founding principal of RJ Development + Advisors, who is planning to build a 100-plus room hotel at the corner of Orchard Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Brotman said his firm has built five schools in New Haven, the latest of which is Engineering and Science University Magnet School, and he’s been a long time supporter of Harp.

“She’s done a good job,” he said.

The support from other women has been central to Harp’s career in public service and they were out in full support. Jan Parker, a Harp stalwart, got a shoutout from the mayor.

Parker, pictured above with legislative liaison Esther Armmand and Stetson Library Branch Manager Diane Brown, called Harp a “phenomenal community leader” who “happens to be my friend.”

Harp got further back up from Sheila Carmon ... .. local real estate agent Valencia Goodridge (pictured above at right) ... ... and Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison (pictured above with Matthew Harp), who noted that under the leadership of Harp and the current Board of Alders, Dixwell Avenue is undergoing a renaissance. She said that during Harp’s tenure money to rebuild the Dixwell Q House was secured from the state.

And the design of that project went from about 20,000 square feet to more than double so that it would include a place for seniors, space for youth, along with a health center and a new state-of-the-art Stetson Library.

And there are plans in the work to redevelop the Dixwell Plaza.

“That whole section of Dixwell will be completely different in two years,” Morrison said.“We are bringing Dixwell Avenue back to the good old days.”

Alder presence was heavy Saturday. In addition to Morrison, alders Brian Wingate (pictured with former schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo), Frank Douglass, Jill Marks, Sal DeCola, Jodi Ortiz, Evelyn Rodriguez, and President Tyisha Walker-Myers were at the event.

Veterans Frank Alvarado and Willie Holmes came to show their support ... ... along with pet lovers like Christian Tabares and his four-legged pal Jax.

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Mayor Toni Harp at campaign kick-off. Harp with supporter Tom Goldenberg and daughter Ainsley.

8

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Isaiah & Makayla Matter

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

A youth empowerment project has two new faces and two new locations in Dixwell.

On Monday afternoon, banners featuring portraits of Isaiah Bussey and Makayla Dawkins went up on the vacant former CTown Supermarket building on Dixwell Avenue and on the Dixwell firehouse.

The installation of the banners is the latest in the march of the IMatter Project’s plan to put up 100 banners featuring young people from New Haven all over the city. The first banners were installed Downtown on the buildings that house the Dollar Tree Store (Chapel Street), MBA High School (Water Street) and LoRicco Towers (Crown Street). Dixwell is home to the project’s first neighborhood banners, the first of which went up on the Goffe Street Armory.

Both Dawkins, 17, and Bussey, 18, were on hand Monday to watch their likenesses go up.

Dawkins, who serves as a student representative on the Board of Education, said when she saw the banners up downtown she immediately wanted to get involved with the IMatter Project. Little did she know, but the day after those banners went up she would be invited to participate.

“It’s amazing,” she said.

Friends, family and neighborhood cheerleaders including Nina Silva, who happens to be Bussey’s mom, Stetson Librarian Diane Brown, Dixwell Neighborhood Spe-

cialist Diondrea Moore and Sharon McCann.

Brown said that the Stetson Library is central to helping those who live in the historically African-American neighborhood remember its significance and she said “it’s important to have positive images of youth” to help foster a strong sense of identity and pride.

Fire Chief John Alston Jr. said that having Makayla’s picture up on the firehouse is a great reminder to the youth of the neighborhood that they are always welcomed.

Rob Goldman, the creator of the IMatter Project, said that it has been exciting to see the project embraced in the city and now in the neighborhood of Dixwell to give young people a voice.

Hill To Downton Phase 3 Moves Forward

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

The final leg of Randy Salvatore’s threepart plan to build hundreds of new apartments along with storefronts on vacant Hill property got its final needed zoning approvals Tuesday night.

The approvals came at a meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals at 200 Orange St. The board voted unanimously to approve relief in two areas of the zoning code regarding a glass facade and a proposed canopy for Salvatore’s development of a 223-unit apartment complex with 202 parking spaces, 3,825 square feet of retail space, two outdoor terraces which will include a swimming pool and two rooftop terraces at 9 Tower Lane.

The project is set for land next door to the Tower One/Tower East senior living complex.

Salvatore has already been building similar projects a block away in the first two phases of his contribution to the broader “Hill to Downtown” plan to knit back together the two neighborhoods.

Salvatore was seeking relief that allows 24.4 percent of clear glass facade for a building wall facing Church Street South where 60 percent is required. And he also sought relief for a canopy that would extend two to three feet into a 15-foot setback.

Attorney Danielle Bercury, representing Salvatore and his RMS Companies, told

members of the BZA Tuesday that the relief was needed as a function of meeting some of the requirements imposed by the city as part of the deal it struck with Salvatore to finally revive a long defunct land disposition agreement.

Bercury said that canopymeets design guidelines imposed by the city and that meeting the glass requirement given the just over 385 square feet of facade along the Church Street South side of the future building along with meeting architectural and parking requirements made meeting the standard unattainable.

Wilfredo Rodriguez, a senior designer for Lessard Design Inc. told members that, in fact, the project would have much more glass than is required but the plan is to use it in places that made more sense such as the proposed retail space.

Bercury noted that the first phase of the project — a four-story, 110-apartment, mixed-use development at Gold Street — is nearly complete. The second phase, which will create 104 residential units and include amenities such as a gym, studies, lounges, a roof garden, and 52 parking spaces, is underway.

The Hill to Downtown plan also calls for 30 more apartments on Prince Street and a six-story residential building that will be home to another 90 apartments and another 45 parking spaces on Congress Avenue.

She said the last phase still must go before the City Plan Commission for site plan review.

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9

CREATE Festival Celebrates Kinship THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

by ADAM MATLOCK

sation echoed by the extreme dynamics of Oguri’s dance, which began from a seated position on the floor of the house. Smith’s trumpet and Xiao-Fen’s pipa and voice were amplified, allowing each player to communicate with single notes and quiet gestures as Oguri, now in a black top, made a path through the room. At one point, the dancer added his voice to the sound.

“We don’t usually use the voice in Butoh,” he said afterward, “but in this moment it was the right choice.”

Afterward, Xiao-Fen spoke fondly of her collaboration with Smith, which dates back to 1996, when he first composed “Lake Biwa: A Full Moon Purewater Gold” for her.

“I had never improvised before meeting Wadada,” she said. “I remember feeling like time stopped when he first called on me to take a solo.”

But the experience was formative for her, and her confident, spacious improvisations last night demonstrated a joy in the uncertainty such as when she wrestled with the tuning pegs of her instrument, enjoying the creaking sound of the friction as much as the detuned effect of the slackened strings.

The evening concluded with a lengthy set from the Golden Quintet, one of Smith’s longest-running active ensembles. Since its inception as a quartet in 2000, this group has had a rotating cast of excellent pianists, bassists, and percussionists, all of whom are composers of their own work. With the addition of Ashley Walters’s cello, the group becomes more of a chamber orchestra than a jazz combo.

As the quintet began the first notes of “JFK in Dallas: Parkland: 11.22.1963,” a single piano note and cymbal stroke rang

New Haven Independent

When trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith presented the first CREATE Festival at Firehouse 12 on Crown Street in 2017, the endeavor served to introduce, or reintroduce, people to Smith’s body of work as a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer.

From the atmosphere in the room on Sunday, this year’s CREATE Festival the third was as much about the celebration of a musical family, old and new.

The evening began with a short performance from Smith’s granddaughter, Jaya Tevaris-Smith, who was all smiles as she took her seat in front of the piano. Leading off with an energetic version of “When The Saints Go Marchin’ In,” Tevaris-Smith took a bow and then played “Blues Melody,” an original composition.

The atmosphere in the room was relaxed and welcoming enough that a young artistin-training could play fearlessly, and that carried over during the breaks between sets, during which the crew at Firehouse 12 set microphones and music stands, and performers chatted with audience members prior to the set’s beginning.

The next piece was Smith’s “Sweet Bay Magnolia with Berry Clusters,” performed

by Ashley Walters on cello with acclaimed dancer Oguri performing Butoh, a form of Japanese dance. The piece began with strong, stable tones on the cello as Oguri made a slow circle through the aisles of the room. The discipline of Butoh allowed for some extremely dynamic contrasts against the cello. At one point, Oguri, dressed in off-white, seemed to be pulling something off of (or out of) his head, while Walters traveled into a higher range, letting loose

ADAM MATLOCK PHOTOS Smith.

an array of skittering notes. Rooted in the actual stage area, Walters craned her neck at times to maintain eye contact with the dancer as he traveled the room, but the conversation between instrument and body was fluid.

Butoh is a style and philosophy of movement that is difficult to encapsulate. Contortion was an especially marked feature of Oguri’s performance, and there was a childlike naïveté in how the artist occupied the space. But the choice of stillness made as profound an impact as the choice of movement — whether frozen in a sculptural position, or standing at rest.

This dynamic was fully exploited in the next piece, “Min,” written for (and performed by) Min Xiao-Fen, alongside Oguri and Smith on trumpet. Playing the pipa, a Chinese lute with a long sustain, Xiao-Fen led the piece as a slow, spacious conver-

out in unison, and the following melody seemed fragmented between the voices of the piano, bass and, cello. The economy of the writing in this opening section gave each note extra weight, and the music left ample space for the long decay of the piano.

“JFK” established itself with an elegiac tone — moments of uncertainty and paranoia, but overwhelmingly marked by lush extended tonality. Smith took his time before joining the music, and the whole while kept his eye on the group, cuing other players in and out. There was a cyclic nature to the music, even during lengthy solo and duo passages that paired piano and cello with percussion. Of special note was Pheeroan AkLaff’s melodic cymbal work before the reprise of the theme.

Speaking about the piece, Smith mentioned that he thought of JFK’s assassination as the first in a series of political/ cultural assassinations in the 1960s that began “the destruction of intellectual power as a force for radical change,” speaking as much to Kennedy’s status as a cultural figure as to his presidency. The next piece, dedicated to musician and activist Miriam Makeba, demonstrated a similar thoughtfulness about a significant cultural figure, and a willingness to have a musical conversation about her legacy.

The piece opened with stately cymbal work from AkLaff, before being joined by bassist John Lindberg, who brought spare, probing notes amid the glacial decay of the cymbals. The melody began with an aching cry from Smith, in unison with Walters’s cello and clear notes from pianist Erika Dohi, the quintet’s newest member.

Navigating a thorny introduction, Lind-

S AT U R D AY

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10

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

African Culture Comes Alive in ‘The Burial of Kojo’ by Blitz the Ambassador “It’s a magical story that deals with a little girl who has to find her father after he goes missing on a mining expedition,” Blitz said.

“The Burial of Kojo” counts as the tale of two brothers told through the gifted eyes of Esi, a young girl who transports the audience to the beautiful lands of Ghana and other worlds that exist between life and death.

Born from a newspaper article and a Kickstarter campaign, Blitz captures the beauty of a family, even when the circumstances aren’t beautiful, according to the movie’s production company.

“The Burial of Kojo,” is an essential human story of courage and survival, a 2019 Pan African Film Festival Official Selection and the winner of the Urban World Film Festival Best Narrative Feature Award.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

“The Burial of Kojo” — among the offerings from Ava DuVernay’s Array Now Film Distribution Company and currently airing on Netflix, has been called quite the marvel that flexes visual storytelling muscles that you didn’t know existed.

Critics have also lauded the new flick for taking “unexpected risks with camera work and off-center choices when it comes to pushing a narrative forward.”

Deadline Hollywood’s Dino-Ray Ramos said the film may “have a flair for the opulent, but through all of its sumptuousness, it’s grounded with a very personal story.”

The New York Times noted that when musicians turn to film directing, it doesn’t always work out. However, for hip-hop artist, filmmaker and Ghanaian visual artist Blitz the Ambassador, it more than works out with “The Burial of Kojo.”

Blitz wrote, directed and scored the film in what many already label as a dazzling and modern fable.

“I say that the film is my grandmother’s story because her stories were real and they always had some moral and was always still rooted in the real world,” Blitz told NNPA Newswire just prior to a special screening at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 5.

The initial scene of the movie immediately grabs the audience’s attention.

A car burns on a beach and Esi, begins to share the story of her father and uncle via what she says is a dream that’s really not a dream at all. “My birth was supposed to bring prosperity and good fortune to my family.”

“The Burial of Kojo” depicts Esi as a child who has the trust of an old blind man. She begins dreaming of a man in a

crow costume – the movie moves through various forms of imagery with the characters colored in purple and red lighting. “It has a lot of magical entities and elements that are used to tell a sometimes-traumatizing story,” said Blitz.

“I was most concerned with how to contribute through specific African lens,” he said.

Born and raised in Accra, Ghana, Blitz, whose real name is Samuel Bazawule, comes from a music background of Afrobeat, Jazz, Highlife and Motown.

He moved to the United States and attended Kent State University in Ohio before relocating to New York where his hip hop career began to flourish, according to Deadline Hollywood.

He started a band called Embassy Ensemble and his own label, Embassy MVMT which pushed the genre forward.

While he was making music, he always knew that a filmmaker was dying to come out.

“It’s always been something that I’ve wanted to do,” he said.

“I come from visual arts — I draw. Those things are a gateway to understanding visual structure and colors. I always knew that at some point I would want to expand into motion pictures, but it just didn’t seem plausible.”

Ava Duvernay and Netflix acquire Chanaian film The Burial of Kojo.

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4/15/19 5:56 PM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

This Couple Just Celebrated 82 Years of Marriage — He’s 103 and She’s 100!

BlackNews.com

Charlotte, NC — A Black couple, D.W. and Willie Williams, who are 103 and 100 years old respectively, have recently celebrated their wedding anniversary and their birthdays, which were only a week apart.

After 82 years of being happily married, the pair is still going strong!

Their daughter, Alice Erin, and granddaughter, BJ Williams-Greene, hosted a party at a First Mayfield Memorial Baptist Church, where they have been members for 19 years. They celebrated the Williams’ long lives and marriage and sang hymns with their friends and family.

The couple, who met in Newberry, South

Carolina in 1935 and married in 1937, have one child and one grandchild.

“My grandparents’ marriage is an inspiration. They communicate and make decisions together, they strive and achieve together and everyone loves them because they are genuine. They just inspire everyone to be the best they can be,” WilliamsGreene told Good Morning America.

“They have had such a long, successful marriage because they put God first and are each other’s best friends.”

The couple, who won the state’s contest for the longest married couple in 2014, said they enjoyed watching country westerns and playing crossword puzzles together.

They also believe that communication is

very important.

“We don’t argue or have any fights. If we have a misunderstanding, we just talk it over,” they said. “The secret to a long marriage is just be nice to each other.”

Moreover, they shared that they’ve lived through the Great Depression, the civil rights era, and numerous wars together.

But they were able to overcome it because “there were a lot of people willing to assist, who didn’t let the color of our skin stand in the way,” they said.

When asked what they would do if they would be given another 100 years, D.W. replied, “I don’t know.”

“Sit around the house,” Willie added, making her husband laugh.

Congress Traveling the Country to Hear Evidence of Voting Rights Violations ported include closed polling places, new limitations on voter registration and removal of names from voter lists. The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v.

Holder invalidated key provisions of the Voting Rights Act while acknowledging the persistence of voter discrimination.

Following the Court’s decision, which, as a practical matter, eliminated preclearance requirements under the Voting Rights Act, hundreds of voting rights violations have been reported.

Congress has the power and responsibility to ensure that every American can exercise their franchise. Accordingly, the Committee on House Administration is hosting these sessions to further develop the contemporaneous record of ongoing voter discrimination, address the Supreme Court’s concerns about the data supporting Section

By the National Negro Council of Women, Special to the NNPA Newswire

Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Chair of the Elections Subcommittee of the Committee on House Administration, will hold listening sessions to hear from citizens about their recent voter registration and voting experiences. It is anticipated that any evidence of voter suppression or voter intimidation heard during the listening sessions will be used to support the revitalization of the Voting Rights Act. This evidence is required to establish that voter interference is an ongoing problem and not merely the practice of a bygone era. Efforts to strengthen the Voting Rights Act are expected to be strongly contested by opponents.

Some of the violations that have been re-

4 of the Voting Rights Act, and work toward the full implementation of Section 5.

Listening sessions are scheduled for the following cities: April 16, 10:00 am — Yates, North Dakota, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, Building #1, North Standing Rock Avenue, Fort Yates, ND 58538 April 18, 10:00 am — Weldon, North Carolina, The Centre at Halifax Community College. 200 College Drive, Weldon, North Carolina 27890 April 25, Cleveland, OH May 6, Ft. Lauderdale, FL The listening sessions are open to the public and citizens are strongly urged to attend.

Congress has the power and responsibility to ensure that every American can exercise their franchise. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

REPORT: Structural Racism Eliminated Black Farmers

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

A new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) provides insight on how decades of structural racism within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has led to the virtual elimination of black farmers.

A century ago, roughly 14 percent of farmers were black. By 2012, that number had shrunk to 1.58 percent, according to the report, “Progressive Governance Can Turn the Tide for Black Farmers,” by Abril Castro and Zoe Willingham.

The study examined the ways in which discriminatory policies by the U.S. government, and especially the USDA, throughout the 20th century and up to the Trump era have led to the elimination of black farmers.

The authors said they found that black farmers have had less access to credit and less access to extension programs than their white counterparts, prevent-

ing black farmers from modernizing and scaling up their farms as white farmers have done.

The loss of black farmland has had a profound impact on rural black communities, which today suffer from severe economic challenges, among them a poverty rate twice that of rural white communities.

“This report illustrates the importance of understanding American history and the impact of systematic racism in our agricultural system,” Danyelle Solomon, vice president of Race and Ethnicity Policy at CAP, said in a news release.

The report gives several policy recommendations for protecting the livelihoods of black farmers: Protecting inherited family farms Expanding research and technical assistance for farmers of color Regular oversight and audits of the USDA by the Government Accountability Office Expanding access to land for black

farmers “As the report notes, black farmers were systematically removed from the farming industry through government policy and practices,” Solomon said.

Between 1920 and 2007, black farmers lost 80 percent of their land, according to the report.

“Moving forward, policymakers must ensure that agricultural policy includes targeted and intentional policies that correct these harms by expanding access to land and technical resources for black farmers,” Solomon said.

The loss of black farmland The loss of black farmland has had a profound impact on rural black communities, which today suffer from severe economic challenges, among them a poverty rate twice that of rural white communities. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)has had a profound impact on rural black communities, which today suffer from severe economic challenges, among them a poverty rate twice that of rural white communities. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

The Geechee Experience Entertains and Educates in Endeavor to Preserve Geechee Culture

By Damion Smalls Akua Page and Chris Cato have taken the Lowcountry by storm with their creation, The Geechee Experience. A cultural movement that fuses education with entertainment, The Geechee Experience “is a cultural platform that was created by Geechee millennials on a mission to preserve their culture and language,” the group maintains.

The Geechee Experience works to dispel longstanding notions that Geechee is not a language or is a “broken” language.

Those misinformed opinions have led to Geechee’s endangered importance in Black culture and an outright pursuit of erasure by the descendants of the same colonizing European Americans that enslaved Africans for centuries and now consist of the majority of the U.S. population.

“We were thinking of ways to preserve the culture and language,” Page recalls.

After months of brainstorming, Page and Cato combined their efforts by launching The Geechee Experience in late 2018.

Using the knowledge of Black excellence that was purposely left out of U.S. school history books and an determination to steer the undertold African-American narrative towards empowerment, Page and Cato are already well on their way to becoming catalysts of the next generation of the Lowcountry’s Black youth with their innovative venture.

“Geechee is a variation of the Gullah language. Gullah is an English based creole language that developed by enslaved Africans living in coastal regions of South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida,” the group explains.

In modern times, whites have attempted to culturally appropriate Geechee through various means, like adding the historical

Geechee plant sweetgrass to the names of businesses that do nothing for or have nothing to do with the Black community, opening restaurants clearly influenced by Geechee cuisine without attributing credit or respect, redefining what Geechee actually means, or selling products that incorporate the culture while remaining ignorant of the history behind it. The Geechee Experience is trying to help more Black people embrace the culture and combat the dehumanization efforts that have derailed Geechee’s mainstream acceptance in the past.

The boomtown-like presence of Geechee Experience’s social media pages has led to its inspiring popularity in a relatively short period of time. With over 20,000 Facebook+Instagram followers and over a half-million video views reached within six months of its initial launch, it’s safe to say that an audience has been waiting in the wings for a movement such The Geechee Experience. The brand can also be found on YouTube (@Geechee X) and Twitter (@ GeecheeExperie1). Exclusive brand merchandise may be purchased on geecheeexperience.com.

“Some of our people are ashamed of their culture, but the United States is Geechee,” declares Cato. In their videos and social posts, the movement discusses topics such as the difference between Gullah and Geechee, the Geechee language, Black health, literature, community building, and Black farming. They often use humor and anecdotal revelations to relate to a growing audience that has accepted their down-toearth personalities and candor. The use of Geechee words and phrases are a common aspect of their engaging posts. Locals are seeing how their vocabularies and vernacular are closely related to Geechee culture

Akua Page and Chris Cato, co-founders of The Geechee Experience without previously realizing it. And the people who do realize the connections are getting on board with this spirited salute to Geechee.

“Gullah is mainly spoken on the islands by elders and is on the verge of extinction. Geechee is more commonly spoken

by Geechee/Gullah people across generations,” the duo defines. By spreading awareness and information for the powerful history of Geechee, the millennial pair aspire to champion their cause to instill pride and optimism within the people.

Page and Cato are sharing their culture

with the world with the hope that they can prevent the Geechee language from dying.

In their attempts to do so, The Geechee Experience is requesting the assistance of the local Black community. As young Blacks that respect for the contributions of Charleston’s Black leaders of the past, The Geechee Experience is looking for ways to evolve, learn everyday from history, and bridge the gap between millennials and Baby Boomers. “We are open to suggestions from the elders,” the group notes.

You can catch the Geechee Experience live in person in North Charleston Satur-

day, April 27 at the second annual Charleston Sol-Food Veg Fest. Taking place at the Jenkins Institute (3923 Azalea Drive) from 11am to 5pm, the event aims to connect with Black businesses, create a platform for vegans, promote healthy habits, and bring more Black people towards a plant-based lifestyle. The Geechee Experience will take part of the Sol-Food Veg Fest as a featured vendor. Visit csfvegfest.com to purchase tickets.

This article originally appeared in the Charleston Chronicle.

Mariah Carey: Caution World Tour April 5, 2019 Toyota Oakdale concert review

by Francette Carson, ICN Corespondent The Pop Diva Mariah Carey new album titled “Caution” was released on November 16, 2018. Mariah is on a world tour, and she made a stop at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford. Caution is Mariah’s 15th album.

She has sold over 200 million records, 18 number 1 singles and five Grammy’s. She has earned her title of Superstar Diva.

Mariah is well known for her erratic behaviors and diva qualities. The concert was scheduled to begin at 8pm, DJ entertained the audience until 9. The crowd sat patiently occasionally chanting “Mariah” to no avail. Some dedicated fans talked about their love, and admiration for the Diva and others complained and began exiting the

theatre. She stepped on the stage at 9:30.

The crowd welcomed her with open arms, standing to their feet jamming to her music for the remainder of the concert.

Although an hour and a half late, she delivered singing twenty of her songs. The “songbird supreme” sang her classics; Fantasy, Butterfly, Hero and You will always be my baby just to name a few. The remix of fantasy paid homage to Old Dirty Bastard as she encouraged her fans to recite his verse. During her performance of “Always Be My Baby, she presented her special guests, her twin babies which was a nice surprise that warmed the hearts of the audience. Her slow ballads sang with her signature use of the whisper register took the audience on a journey through the late ’90s. Mariah is stepping back on the scene with up tempo hip hop dance tracks set to a rhythmic beat and her angelic voice. She performed her new releases titled “Caution,” “A No No,” “With you, “Stay Long Love You” Low, and “GTFO” a song emphasizing the end of a relationship when your man has to be forced to leave. Is she referring to ex-husband or her ex-fiancé?

Mariah gave the audience a glimpse into her glamorous life through her five costume changes adorned in glitter, sequins, and platform shoes. There was one exception to the glitzy attire, she wore a close fitted floor-length t-strap black dress with moving neon light strips cascading down.

Her plunging necklines and hip-hugging attire screamed sex appeal. She took a brief intermission on stage; singing her songs as her makeup artist touched up her makeup.

She referred to this break as the “Land of Glam”. Mariah’s onstage persona magnified on the highest level.

An evening with Mariah’s sweet voice, glamorous attire, the fluorescent neonlit stage with a four-fold electronic video monitor with changing images in the background and glitter-adorned male dancers on roller skates made for great entertainment. Although late, she performed for an hour and a half and presented a fascinating performance. She ended the night on a positive note dressed in a pink sequined princess ballroom gown singing her inspirational song “Hero.”

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Mariah Carey

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

From Snoop Dogg to President Obama: Tributes to Community Activist Nipsey Hussle

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Nipsey Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Joseph Asghedom, was shot to death in Los Angeles on March 31 outside of his store Marathon Clothing. He was 33.

Though he arrived on the music scene in the early 2000s, Nipsey Hussle was known not only as a musician but as an entrepreneur and community activist. He rose from being a high school dropout at 14 to becoming a prolific creator of impressive rap and hip-hop mixtapes he would sell for $100 each. His debut studio album, Victory Lap, was released by Epic Records in February 2018 and was a commercial success.

A letter from former President Barack Obama in part read, “While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets and despair, Nipsey saw potential. He saw hope.

He saw a community that even through its flaws, taught him to always keep going.”

Hours after his death, Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore said, “I saw the name Nipsey Hussle, and I looked at that again, and I looked at it again, and it was like I could not believe it… this is a voice that was trying to help. His choice to invest in that community rather than ignore it, to build a training center, to build a coworking space in Crenshaw, to lift up the Eritrean-American community, he set an example for young people to follow. I hope his memory inspires more good work in Crenshaw and communities like it.”

Hussle’s memorial service took place on April 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Over 21,000 free tickets to the service sold out in less than an hour. Hussle’s longtime partner was the actress Lauren London, who he began dating in 2013.

Delivering eulogies were Snoop Dogg, Louis Farrakhan, London and Stevie Wonder, who delivered a message on gun violence.

“It is heartbreaking to again lose a mem-

ber of our family. It is a heartbreak because it’s so unnecessary. It is so painful to know that we don’t have enough people taking a position that says: Listen, we must have stronger gun laws,” Wonder said.

“One of the first times me and Nips were hanging out, he came up to me and said, hey cuz, you need to do an amusement park, call it Doggyland. The sixth time he said it to me, I said Nip, why don’t you just do it for me, dog? Because I don’t understand the dynamics of what you’re saying.

I’m old school. I’m A-B-C-D. You’ve done and gone into the Matrix. But Nip ended up buying a whole square. He ended up doing things for the community. He built his own Doggyland,” said Snoop Dogg.

Los Angeles City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson announced on April 9 that the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and West Slauson Avenue in South Los Angeles, where Hussle was killed, will officially be renamed “Nipsey Hussle Square.”

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent

journalist and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke Hussle’s memorial service took place on

April 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Over 21,000 free tickets to the service sold out in less than an hour. Hussle’s longtime partner was the actress Lauren London, who he began dating in 2013.

Newark, NJ High School Opens Doors on Friday Nights to Keep Students Safe and Off the Streets Newark, NJ — West Side High School in Newark, New Jersey, has been receiving praises for its unique program that keeps students away from violence and gang activities in the streets. Their Lights On program, which started four years ago, allows students to spend their Friday nights at school to keep them out of trouble.

Principal Akbar Cook thought of the idea in hopes to eliminate or at least lessen the number of young people who get involved in violence and other trouble out in the streets.

“I haven’t lost any more kids to gun violence since the start of the school year,” Principal Cook told ABC 7.

Students who stay at the school on Friday nights after classes are over, get to enjoy several activities prepared by volunteers.

They can play video games and board games, practice dances and cheers, listen to music, or even produce some new beats in

the recording studio. The program is open for everyone.

Free hot meals are also provided to the students during their stay. Even on summer breaks, the school hosts the program three nights a week. The community and school alumni donate to make the program possible.

Moreover, Principal Cook opened a laundry room facility inside the school last year so homeless and underprivileged students can wash their clothes. Cook said the daily attendance increased to 10 percent ever since it was launched.

Students definitely found the program not only beneficial for them but also enjoyable.

“It’s fun, safe too. It’s better than being out on the streets,” one student said.

“On the street it’s dangerous, people get killed, you could be killed walking home, gunshots everywhere,” another student

April is National Minority Health Month – Let’s Get Moving

Dr. Janet Seabrook Did you know that April is National Minority Health Month? Yes, it’s a thing!

Back in April 1915, Dr. Booker T. Washington began advocating for “National Negro Health Week.” He reached out to local health departments, schools, churches, organizations, government entities and businesses in search of support for this ini-

tiative to create a National Health Movement. His efforts grew into what we now celebrate for an entire month.

Each year, the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) develops a theme for Minority Health Month. This year, it is “Active & Healthy,” which will allow OMH and minority health advocates throughout the nation to highlight the health benefits of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity into our daily lives. This topic is near and dear to me, as I am always encouraging my patients and social followers to incorporate some form of exercise and healthy eating into their lifestyles.

Now that we all know what the focus is for April, here are a few suggestions on how to celebrate Minority Health Month: • Identify a health accountability partner.

Accomplishing any goal is always easier when there is someone holding you accountable. Identify a friend, family member or significant other who will hold you accountable in your healthy lifestyle goals this month. Whether it’s a morning jog or sticking to a healthy menu, enlist the help of someone you trust to ensure that you stay on track.

• Make an appointment with your physician. If you haven’t seen your general practice physician this year, this month would be a great time to make an appointment.

There doesn’t have to be anything going on for you to see your doctor. Get a physical and maybe a few general screenings for starters. It never hurts to stay ahead of the game when it comes to your health.

• Try a few healthy recipes. Since the theme for National Minority Health Month

15

is “Active & Healthy,” why not add a few healthy dishes to the menu? In fact, I have a nice variety of healthy recipes on my website www.DrJanetSeabrook.com.

• Get a gym membership. The time has passed for New Year’s resolutions, so April is another good starting point to commit to a regular exercise routine. There is something about a gym membership that can bring about greater commitment, especially since there is a price tag attached. Gyms also offer classes, equipment and exercise programs that provide more consistency in your workout. Keep in mind that physical activity promotes health and reduces the risk of chronic diseases and other conditions that are more common or severe among racial and ethnic minority groups.

I’ve only listed a few, but there are plenty

more activities that you can participate in to celebrate National Minority Health Month. A quick Google search should yield a comprehensive list of events taking place in your area, or better yet, create an event and invite your family and friends who want to celebrate healthy living too!

Happy National Minority Health Month!

Follow Dr. Janet Seabrook on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for more information about health and wellness. Visit www.drjanetseabrook.com and sign up to receive regular updates and health information.

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Crusader. photo: Dr. Janet Seabrook

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April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Rep. Adams and Rep. Underwood Launch Black Maternal Health Caucus

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

The United States is one of only 13 countries in the world where the rate of illness and death during pregnancy is rising. From 2000 to 2013, the U.S. experienced a substantial increase of 26.6 percent in maternal mortality.

According to the Center for Disease Control, Black mothers in the U.S. die at a staggering three to four times the rate of white mothers. Black women are also twice as likely to suffer from severe maternal morbidity than white mothers.

In April of 2018, during National Minority Health Month Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced legislation recognizing the inaugural Black Maternal Health Week. In effort to raise awareness about the growing problems around Black maternal health.

Rep. Adams spoke of, raising “awareness about the systemic racism and inequality that has resulted in Black women losing their lives in record numbers during childbirth.”

“This epidemic has reached crisis levels,” she added.

On April 9, freshman Congresswoman Lauren Underwood joined Rep. Adams and co-launched the first first-ever Black Maternal Health Caucus.

“Launching the caucus sends a message that we are very concerned about the dis-

parity as it relates to maternal health and African-American women. That AfricanAmerican women and giving birth and being successful at giving birth and having healthy children is an important issue for this Congress and for our country,” said Rep. Adams.

“Though it spends the most money, the US has the worst maternal death rate in the developed world. Rate is nearly four times worse for black women than white women, even adjusted for education and income.

I’m launching the Black Maternal Health Caucus to elevate this important issue,” she tweeted.

Rep. Adams has also founded the first congressional caucus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

On April 9, freshman Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (right) joined Rep. Alma Adams and co-launched the first firstever Black Maternal Health Caucus.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke mortgage you want.

Advice you need for the

Con’t from page 02

House Minority

taken precedence.

Kissel said he would be supporting it this year: “It’s a crisis. It’s not a Republican issue, not a Democratic issue. It’s a public health issue.”

Judiciary Committee members on both sides of the aisle vowed to support the initiative again this year.

Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, said one reason he strongly supports the legislation is that fentanyl “is finding its way into so many other drugs.”

Rep. Arthur O’Neill, R-Southbury, said that another reason to increase penalties for selling fentanyl is that perhaps it would help serve as a deterrent to the drug pushers.

“Fentanyl is far less expensive to produce,” O’Neill said. “It’s a great profit center.”

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Inside, police found 25 brick-like packages inside vacuum-sealed bags each containing a kilogram of what later tested positive as fentanyl. Police estimated the drug’s worth to be at least $1.5 million.

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My Truth — Celebrating Women THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

COMMENTARY:

By Cheryl Smith, Publisher, Texas Metro News

Have you ever met someone you thought was brilliant? This person’s brilliance is so alluring and fascinating that you can’t help but think that some of the brilliance is rubbing off on you the more you are in that person’s presence.

Over the years, I have met so many who I have said that I know their IQ is considerably higher than mine. And that’s okay.

There are probably those who say it doesn’t take much to have a higher IQ than I, and that’s okay too.

There’s something to be said about those who have scored high on standardized tests, but also score high on life’s tests.

There are the ones who have book sense, common sense and street sense, as opposed to those who have no damned sense! Which brings me to my truth: Cheryl Wattley is the superstar, the person who scores high in all areas. Smart, intuitive, well-prepared, and fearless in her conviction and purpose. For those attorneys who have been in the courtroom with her, they know they have a more than formidable opponent.

She is bad! I have sat in the courtroom and said a silent prayer that she was on my side because I really felt as though she would have annihilated me!

Cheryl also has a kind heart. There’s nothing phony or pretentious about her. She stands on her own truth and any decision she makes. She’s strong and bad enough to back it up.

Her unwavering support of the causes she champions is commendable. And she isn’t loud and boisterous about her brilliance, so if you think about stepping to her and you don’t think twice and back it up and reverse

it. Well then, I feel for your jugular!

You know you are on a solid foundation when she backs you. And I think she’s rich too!

Currently, Cheryl is the Professor of Law and Director of Experiential Education at the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law. Previously she taught at the University Of Oklahoma College Of Law. I hope UNT realizes what they have in Cheryl.

I have met several of her students and they love and respect her. They seem to realize that they have not only a great teacher, but a great legal mind right at their fingertips.

We have some great men and women sitting on judicial benches currently, but those with real insight know that Cheryl Wattley should have been sitting on a federal bench decades ago. Just reflecting on the shenanigans that deprived her and to think about some of the people getting lifetime appointments under the country’s current leadership makes me want to puke.

Cheryl is really proud of her students and

seeks every opportunity to share resources to help them become better lawyers. She’s the type of professor who brings pride to the profession and passion, preparation and wisdom into the classrooms. Her students are the beneficiaries of a no-nonsense approach to understanding a system that

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has definitely had its challenges and has definitely been used to benefit the rich and privileged while causing irreparable damage to the downtrodden and unfortunate.

Having Cheryl in your corner, in your classroom, on your side, or in the courtroom, kinda balances the scales of justice because she knows justice is not blind and that just as there are people doing an exceptional job in the legal field, some are not.

She knows there are also those who don’t know what they are doing which makes them just as bad, if not worse, than the ones who do illegal or unethical acts under the guise of justice.

Cheryl is actually a part of “Team Cheryl,” a group of ladies, all named Cheryl, living in Dallas and making things happen. The name “Cheryl” never made the top 10 list of names for girls, but I know some very special women named, Cheryl.

She’s also the author of “A Step Toward Brown v. Board of Education: Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher and Her Fight to End Seg-

regation,” winner of the 2015 Oklahoma Book Award, Nonfiction category.

A cum laude graduate of Smith College, with high honors in Sociology, Cheryl received her Juris Doctorate degree from Boston University College of Law, where she was a Martin Luther King, Jr. fellow and recipient of the Community Service Award. She also served as a summer intern for the General Counsel’s Office of the NAACP. I could go on and on about her numerous honors. This mother and grandmother has a rich legacy. She has done so much for so many and her life’s worth celebrating.

A cum laude graduate of Smith College, with high honors in Sociology, Cheryl Wattley received her Juris Doctorate degree from Boston University College of Law, where she was a Martin Luther King, Jr. fellow and recipient of the Community Service Award. She also served as a summer intern for the General Counsel’s Office of the NAACP.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Co-Founder of The O’Jays, Bill Isles, Dies at 78 Derrick Lane, BlacDoctor.com

William “Bill” Isles, an original member of the chart-topping R&B group The O’Jays, has died at his Southern California home.

He was 78.

Isles died of cancer last month at his home in Oceanside, just north of San Diego, his son, Duane Isles, told The San Diego Union-Tribune. The funeral for Bill Isles was held Saturday.

Bill Isles and his childhood friends in Canton, Ohio, formed The Mascots in 1958 before changing the name to The Triumphs and releasing a single in 1961. The band changed its name to The O’Jays after getting pivotal advice from a Cleveland DJ named Eddie O’Jay. Known for his deep baritone voice, Isles was featured on songs including “Lonely Drifter” and “Lipstick Traces” before he quit the group in 1965. Duane Isles says his father was The O’Jays’ tour manager between 1971 and 1974, when the group

released its biggest hits, “Love Train” and “Back Stabbers.”

Bill Isles and his childhood friends in Canton, Ohio, formed the Mascots in 1958 before changing the name to The Triumphs and releasing a single in 1961. The band changed its name to The O’Jays after getting pivotal advice from a Cleveland DJ named Eddie O’Jay. The O’Jays were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Isles spent the latter part of the 1970s in Los Angeles before moving his family in 1981 to Oceanside. After leaving the music industry, Isles founded Nutri Power, a vitamin manufacturing and food supplement company, which he led until the mid-1990s, and did consulting work before retiring around 2000.

Shawn Mitchell, Isles’ pastor at New Venture Christian Fellowship, said he’ll always remember Isles’ voice and buoyancy on stage when he sang with the church choir.

“Isles was one of the most memorable, lov-

ing and consistently upbeat and talented individuals I have had the privilege of… …knowing,” said Mitchell, who presided over Isles’ funeral. “He was a lover of music and a lover of God, and he combined both of those on stage in extraordinary fashion.”

Isles is not alone in our fight against cancer. About 202,260 new cancer cases and 73,030 cancer deaths are expected to occur among blacks in 2019. African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the US for most cancers.

Since 1990, however, the overall cancer death rate has dropped faster in blacks than whites among both men and women, largely driven by more rapid declines in blacks for cancers of the lung, colorectum, and prostate.

Isles is survived by his wife, Laural, seven children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Chicago’s New Mayor is a Black Woman This 7-Year Old South African Golfer is Breaking World Records

For the First Time Ever!

Lori

Lightfoot

BlackNews.com Chicago, IL — Lori Lightfoot, a lawyer and the former president of the Chicago police board, has won Chicago’s vote to become the first African-American woman mayor of the city. She went head-to-head with Toni Preckwinkle, who is also an African-American woman, in the historic election.

Among her long list of credentials, Lightfoot, who is now 56-years old, has held appointed positions connected to police accountability and supervision in Chicago under outgoing Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Mayor Richard Daley.

At the height of the Laquan McDonald scandal, she led the newly established task force that oversaw the Chicago police department where serious problems in the handling of racism have been reported.

During her headship, a civilian body replaced the previous agency to more thoroughly keep an eye over the officers and their supervisors.

Moreover, she deviated from other mayoral candidates’ suggestion to fire current Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. She

claimed that would only do more harm than good, especially in the coming hot weather season when violence traditionally spikes. The month of January has actually seen the fewest recorded number of murders in the last 9 years with only 20 people killed, according to Anthony Guglielmi, chief communications officer for the Chicago Police Department.

Lightfoot, who identified herself as “an out and proud black lesbian,” also became the first openly gay mayor in Chicago’s history. She and her spouse, Amy Eshleman, have a 10-year-old daughter.

Being Chicago’s mayor is the first time for Lightfoot to hold an elected office. But she already has an extensive experience being a senior equity partner at a private law firm, an interim first deputy of the city’s procurement department, a chief of staff and general counsel for the emergency management office, and a chief administrator of the office of professional standards.

“I feel very humbled and honored. I’m gonna do everything I can to earn it,” Lightfoot told the Chicago Sun-Times regarding her victory.

BlackNews.com

South Africa — Simthandile “SimTiger” Tshabalala, a 7-year old golf prodigy from Johannesburg, South Africa, has recently ranked in the top 15 of world kids’ golf rankings. He started playing competitively only for the past eight months and he already won over 20 trophies locally and internationally, including a second place win at the 2019 Australian Open Golf Championship last week.

Last December, Simthandile represented Mzansi at the World Golf Championship that took place in Malaysia. His excellent performance earned him the moniker “SimTiger” as he was being acclaimed by the US golf officials as the next Tiger Woods.

Bonginkosi Tshabalala, his father who is also his caddy and coach, said he and his wife Bengoka introduced Simthandile when he was just 2 years old to different sports such as tennis, swimming, soccer, and golf, but it was golf that really caught his attention.

“When he was four, he was hooked on golf and he never looked back,” he told Daily Sun. Last weekend, SimTiger represented South Africa at the 2019 Australian Open Golf Tournament. He initially had a hard time obtaining a visa but the problem was resolved after his father took to social media asking for anyone, including Sport and Recreation Minister Tokozile Xasa, to help.

“I’ve worked hard in the past three months preparing for this tournament. It’s going to be difficult but I’ll rise to the challenge,” Simthandile said before the competition.

He was able to finish great at second place at the prestigious golf tournament. He will also compete in tournaments such as the European Tour Golf Championship in Scotland next month, and the Pepsi Kids Golf Championship in July.

Follow him on Instagram @simthandilet1

18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

Leaders discuss HBCUs and the African diaspora

By Ryanne Persinger

Marshall F. Stevenson would like to see students who attend historically Black colleges and universities make a trip to Africa at least once during their matriculation.

“I’ve always been a proponent of that for Africa,” said Stevenson, dean of the School of Education, Social Sciences and the Arts at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, an HBCU. “I think once students study abroad, their world and their whole thinking about life is transformed.”

Stevenson spoke during a panel discussion at the Pan African Development Conference at Delaware State University last week.

The panel also included Robert “Kool” Bell, frontman of Kool and the Gang and co-founder of Kool-Baker Global Inc.; African Peer Review Mechanism CEO Eddy Maloka; Black Star News publisher Milton Alimadi; The Commodores founder and lead guitarist Thomas McClary; and Maneesh Pandeya, a DSU .

They talked about how they have seen Africa and African Americans presented in the media, how those representations have changed and need to continue to

change, and what young people can do to help.

DSU organized the conference as part of its new partnership with the African Peer Review Mechanism. The historically Black university and the African Union agency are working together to bridge the gap between Africa and its “Sixth Region” — people of African heritage who live outside the continent.

Many at the conference viewed historically Black colleges and universities as a good place to start working together.

There are an estimated 102 HBCUs in 19 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with approximately 298,000 students in 2017, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. In the academic year 2016-17, about 49,500 degrees were awarded by HBCUs, according to the Pew Research Center.

Many leaders in the African-American community have graduated from HBCUs, as has the leader of at least one African nation. Kwame Nkrumah, the president of Ghana, graduated from Lincoln University, the first historically Black university to award degrees.

Alimadi, an adjunct professor of African history at John Jay College who

is originally from Uganda, said many newspapers and television news networks used to use words like “slaves,” “tribal” and “tribesmen.” Alimadi often found himself writing to those outlets to complain about the way they represented Africa.

“We should refrain from the word ‘slaves,’ we should used ‘enslaved Africans,’ I think it’s an important distinction,” said Alimadi, because it is used to justify the colonization and exploitation of Africa. “Now very rarely do you find the word ‘tribesman’ or ‘tribal’ in connection to a story related to Africa.

You find it now when they’re discussing Afghanistan and other countries but not Africa anymore.”

McClary talked about meeting singer and songwriter Lionel Richie at Tuskegee University in Alabama, and forming The Commodores. He also talked about the way African music has influenced him and others.

“When I think about the music of Africa and how it has influenced every aspect of the music business, from blues to rock to country to all of, even hip hop,” McClary said, “it’s time that we give back B:9.25” to where our mother country instilled T:9.25” that innate ability to translate music S:9.25”

around the world from the hearts and souls of people.”

To that end, McClary said he plans to help create a bugle call song with other musicians in order to help bring African Americans back to Africa, which he hopes will initiate “energy and bring souls together.”

“It will call all of us back to where we belong,” McClary said. “As we utilize this medium, obviously we want to have the ability for the youth and all platforms to

come together.”

Thomas McClary of The Commoders, left, and Marshall F. Stevenson, a dean at the University of Eastern Shore Maryland, during a Pan African Development Conference at Delaware State University on Thursday. (Photo by: Photo by: Delaware State University | Carlos Holmes) This article originally appeared The Philadelphia Tribune.

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THEINNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS April 2019 - April 2019 NEWS -July 27, 17, 2016 - August 02,23, 2016

The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY

EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - (P/T)

Assist individuals receiving services in identifying and making is currently accepting applications for its efficiency and one bed- choices about their social, vocation and personal goals. Duties inroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace in Guilford, clude case management, job development/placement/retention serCT. Applicants must be age 62 and over or on 100% social security vices and job support as needed. Requires use of personal vehicle. or federal disabilityMACRI and overRENTAL the age of 18. Applications maybe ob- B.A. in a related field; plus 2 yrs’ related experience or equivalent VALENTINA HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE tained by calling the application line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107. Ap- combination of education and experience. Pay rate $16.61/hr. plications will be accepted until May 30, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Credit, Apply to: GWSNE, 432 Washington Ave., North Haven, CT 06473/ HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, police, and landlord checks are procured by the authority. Smoke Fax (203) 495-6108/hr@goodwillsne.org EOE/AA - M/F/D/V is housing. accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develfree

NOTICE

opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be availableHOUSING from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y EQUAL OPPORTUNITY 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third TheFloor, TownNew of Wallingford is 06510. currently accepting applications for current Haven, CT

Certified Police Officer

DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

Connecticut P.O.S.T.C Certified Police Officers. Applicants must be active P.O.S.T.C Certified Police Officers in good standing with their current department, or have retired in good standing, still having a current certification status with P.O.S.T.C. This Process will consist of Written, Oral, Polygraph, Psychological, Medical Exam, and Background InvesVALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES tigation.

The Town of Wallingford offers a competitive pay rate $68,598.40- $ 76,273.60 Application will be April 2019Haven Apply:Housing Authority, está HOME annually.

INC, en nombre de la deadline Columbus House y de 24, la New Human Resources Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main St., aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Wallingford, (203)Frank 294-2080; (203) 294-2084.

EOE. limitaciones de ingresos ubicado enCT.laphone: calle 109 Street,fax: New Haven.

Se aplican

NOTICIA

Must Have your Own Vehicle

If Interested call

(203) 387-0354

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

julio,Housing 2016 hasta Authority cuando se han of recibido pre-solicitudes The the suficientes City of Norwalk, CT(aproximadamente 100) Listing: Accounting

en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Accounting Department has two immediate openings for full is requesting proposals for Financial Advisory Services. llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse time Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable professionals Request for Proposal documents can be viewed and printed at a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . in a fast-paced office environment. Must be highly organized, www.norwalkha.org under the Business section RFP’s/RFQ’s possess good computer skills, be detail oriented, and able to Norwalk Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director. manage multiple projects. Benefits include health, dental & LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Deputy Finance Director, Town of Groton, $85,753 - $98,616. Bachelor’s in Finance/ Accounting and six years’ experience, including 4 years supervisory, or a Master’s in Business Administration, Public Administration or related, and four years, including 3 years supervisory. Applications at Groton Town Hall, Human Resources, 45 Fort Hill Road, Groton, CT 06340 or www.groton-ct.gov and must be returned by 4/24/19. EOE m/f

Administrative Assistant, Grade Level 13. - $49,759 35 hours per week.

The Town of East Haven is currently accepting applications from qualified candidates to participate in the Civil Service Examination for this position. Candidates must be a graduate of High School or equivalent with a business course background and/or 5 years of secretarial experience of a responsible nature requiring accuracy and attention to detail. Must be computer literate. Candidates bilingual in Spanish are encouraged to apply. The town offers an excellent benefit package. Applications to participate in the examination are available at The Civil Service Office, 250 Main Street, East Haven CT or online at http://www.townofeasthavenct.org/civiltest.shtml. The deadline for submission is May 3, 2019.

The Town of East Haven is committed to building a workforce of diverse individuals.

Minorities, Females, Handicapped and Veterans are encouraged to apply.

The Town of East Haven

is currently accepting applications for the position of Firefighter D/Paramedic. Salary-$56,075/year. Candidates must possess a valid Driver’s License from the State of Connecticut; a High School Diploma or GED; Paramedic License from the State of Connecticut or be enrolled in a Paramedic Program that can be completed within 2 years; must be 18 years of age; and have a valid CPAT Card submitted

by July 1, 2019 to be eligible for employment in the first round of hiring or must submit a valid CPAT card anytime with in the 2 year life of the Eligibility List; pass a physical examination, drug screening and background check in addition to Civil Service Testing.

Candidate must not use tobacco products. The application for testing is available online at www.FirefighterApp.com/EastHavenFD. The deadline for submission is May 31, 2019.

The Town of East Haven is committed to building a workforce of diverse individuals. Minorities, Females, Handicapped and Veterans are encouraged to apply. The Town of East Haven is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Cheshire Housing Authority

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** Invitationistocurrently Bid: accepting application for Foote Commons non-subsidized family one, two and in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory nd three bedroom apartments. All applicants must meet the Income Limits set annually by the 2 242-258 Fairmont Ave Notice training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To qualify you must have a We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 levelis, currently 1BA accepting applications for its efficiency and one maximum gross annual income of $50,350-one person $57,550-two people, $64,750-three Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860243-2300 bedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 people, Old Saybrook, CT$71,900-four people, $77,700- five people, $83,450-six people, $89,200-seven peoEmail: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com or on ple, $94,950-eight people or be able to pay a rent of $794-$1,090 for a one bedroom, $930highways, near bus stop & shopping centerin Guilford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply 100% social security or federal disability and over the age $1,278 for a two bedroom, and $1,075-$1,500 for a tree bedroom.

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wageparties Rate Project Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer Interested may pick up an application at 50 Rumberg Road or may have one mailed. of 18. Applications maybe obtained by calling the application line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107. Applications will be ac- Completed applications must be returned to the Cheshire Housing Authority 50 Rumberg Road, Cheshire, CT 06410.

The waitCastlist will open for 90 days (July, 19) or until the wait CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s NewatConstruction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, cepted 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 list has 60 applications or the required number by the State of Connecticut. If there are checks Smoke free in-place Concrete, Asphaltopen Shingles, VinyltheSiding, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday,landlord August 20, 2016 1:30- are procured by the authority. units and wait list does not have the required number of applications, The Hous3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon J. Davis, Operators M.S., B.S. Reclaimer Operators andJoeMilling with current housing.

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential ing Authority may fill those Casework, units on a first come first serve basis. Section 8 vouchers are (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster licensing and clean driving record, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING welcomed.

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

St. New Haven, CT Be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. For more information call (203)272-7511 ext1 or 2 This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer Project documents available via ftp link below:

NEW HAVEN

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

KMK Insulation Inc.

until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the 1907 Hartford Turnpike SmithfieldUnion Gardens Company Assisted Livingseeks: Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

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

North Haven, CT 06473

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 Equipment.

Must have awill CDL driving record, A pre-bid conference beLicense, held atclean the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel AA/EEO EMPLOYER Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Insulation company offering good pay throughout the Northeast & NY. and benefits. Please mail resume to We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Mechanical Insulator position.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfContact Dana at 860-243-2300 above address. fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com

MAIL ONLY

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply company is an Affirmative Action/ The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or This all bids, to Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

20

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is requesting proposals for Financial Advisory Services.

Request for Proposal documents can be viewed and printed at www.norwalkha.org under the Business section RFP’s/RFQ’s Norwalk Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director.

HELP WANTED: Large CT guardrail company looking

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers.

Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical.

Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F

ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc Project Engineer (Connecticut):

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

Help Wanted: Galasso Materials LLC, a quarry and paving contractor, has positions open for the upcoming construction season. We are seeking candidates for 1) Quality Control (experience preferred), 2) Office clerks, 3) Truck/Scalehouse Dispatcher (experience and computer knowledge preferred) and 4) Equipment Operators and Construction Laborers. NO PHONE CALLS. Please mail resume and cover letter to Hiring Manager, Galasso Materials LLC, PO Box 1776, East Granby CT 06026. EOE/M/F/D/V.

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

Large CT Fence Company looking for an individual for our PVC Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. This is an in-shop production position.

Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com. AA/EOE-MF

FENCE ERECTING CONTRACTORS

Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for Fence Installer foremen and helpers. Foreman must have at least 5 years’ experience. Helpers-no experience required, will train the right person. Work available 10-12 months per year. Valid Ct. Driver’s license required and must be able to get a DOT Medical Card. All necessary equipment provided. Medical, vacation & other benefits included. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. OSHA 10 training will be required. Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE – M/F

Town of Bloomfield

Youth Services Coordinator $74, 092 (full time – benefited) For more details on how to apply: www.bloomfieldct.org 21

APPLY TODAY Town of Bloomfield

Youth & Family Program Assistant Part Time – Non benefited (5-15 hrs. wkly) $11.87 hourly Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE For details and how to apply go to www.bloomfieldct.org

Large CT. Fence Company is looking for an individual for our stock yard. Warehouse shipping and receiving and Forklift experience a must. Must have a minimum of 3 years’ material handling experience.

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

CARPENTRY SHOP

Large CT Fence Company looking for a full-time carpenter for our Wood Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. This is an in-shop production position. Duties include mortising & drilling wood posts for fence panels, building fence panels, gates & more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com. AA/EOE-MF

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

The 2019 Masters: Tiger’s Incredible Improbable Comeback to Win

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

After 11 years, multiple surgeries and a myriad of personal drama, Tiger Woods won his fifth Masters Championship and his 15th career major on a sun-soaked Sunday at Augusta National.

It was the first time Woods had won at Augusta after he was trailing after 54 holes.

The victory also came following years of doubting whether he would ever be able to play at a high level.

“It’s overwhelming because of what has transpired,” Woods told reporters after he shot a -2 under 72 for -13 under overall to seal the victory. “It’s unreal for me to be experiencing this. I’m kind of at a loss for words really,” he said.

The victory, one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, had social media abuzz.

“The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) congratulates and salutes

COMMENTARY:

Tiger Woods as he wins the Masters Golf Tournament for the fifth time,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., tweeted.

Chavis also noted the tough road Woods had to take to re-emerge as Golf’s biggest star.

“Resilience is in our DNA,” Chavis said, referring to African American and other minorities and certainly acknowledging the challenges overcome by Woods.

Golden State Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry called Woods’ victory, “the greatest comeback story in sports. “Congrats Tiger Woods, let me hold one of those 5 jackets one time,” Curry wrote on Twitter.

Tennis great Serena Williams said the win moved her to tears. “I’m literally in tears watching Tiger Woods. This is greatness like no other,” Williams Tweeted. “Knowing all you have been through physically to come back and do what you just did today?

Wow. Congrats a million times. I am so inspired. Than you buddy,” Williams said.

Former President Barack Obama also offered his congratulations via Twitter.

“Tiger! To come back and win the Masters after all the highs and lows is a testament to excellence, grit, and determination,” Obama said.

Fellow golfers like Phil Mickleson, Luke Donaldson, Gary Player and Bubba Watson also tweeted out their respects and congratulations to the 43-year-old Woods.

And, the “Golden Bear,” Jack Nicklaus also expressed his appreciation and awe of Woods. “A big ‘well done’ from me to Tiger Woods,” wrote Nicklaus, whose alltime record of 18 Major Championships is certainly within the reach of Woods, who now has 15.

“I am so happy for him and for the game of golf,” Nicklaus wrote on Twitter. “This is just fantastic.”

2019 Masters champ Tiger Woods completed arguably the greatest sporting comeback of all time as he put on the green jacket for the 5th time in his career. #CNN #News (Photo: Screencapture YouTube)

Meet National Black Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta

By Harry C. Alford & Kay DeBow, NNPA Newswire Contributors

The NBCC is dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining African American communities through entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States and the Black Diaspora. NBCC provides resources to support the development of startups and established minority & women owned businesses.

The NBCC was incorporated in Washington, DC in March 1993. The NBCC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of African American communities. 120 affiliated chapters are locally based throughout the nation as well as international affiliated chapters based in Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, France, Botswana, Cameroon and Jamaica and businesses as well as individuals who may have chosen to be direct members with the national office.

The NBCC is a 501(c)3 corporation that is on the leading edge of educating and training Black communities on the need to participate vigorously in this great capitalistic society known as America.

The National Black Chamber of Commerce’s (NBCC) 27th Annual Conference is being held in Atlanta, Georgia July 24-27, 2019. Our theme is Economic Empowerment Through Entrepreneurial Pursuits.

Our Atlanta affiliate, Georgia Greater Black Chamber of Commerce, will connect us with a portion of the Black

businesses throughout Georgia. Among states, Georgia had the largest total number with 256,848 black-owned businesses and accounted for 9.9 percent of the nation’s black-owned businesses, according to Black Demographics. Black businesses comprise 26% of Georgia businesses which is the second largest percentage in the nation. In 2018 Georgia ranked number one in the U.S. for small business climate and number two for most startups by women.

Black Demographics also states Black owned businesses in the United States increased 34.5% between 2007 and 2012 totaling 2.6 million Black firms. About 4 in 10 black-owned businesses (1.1 Million) in 2012 operated in the health care, social assistance; and other services such as repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sectors.

Black businesses account for over $138 billion in revenue each year according to the US Bureau of Census.

Governor Brian P. Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp attest, “With low taxes, a business-friendly government, beautiful natural resources, Atlanta’s HartsfieldJackson International Airport, and the Port of Savannah, we feed the world with Georgia Grown products, lead the nation in aerospace, cyber innovation, and FinTech, and we proudly embrace our “Hollywood of the South” designation.

We are expecting entrepreneurs, business professionals, corporate and government representatives to attend this amazing conference. Our Diaspora panels attract attendees from France, Ghana, Colombia, Nigeria and Kenya.

The panel topics are varied and include

22

some of the most urgent topics of today including Telemedicine, Cyber Security and Privacy. Capital Access, Energy, Telecom, Tech, Inclusion & Diversity, Diaspora Trade, Ports & Trade are also of paramount interest to today’s entrepreneur. We also will spend a day exploring the business of film, music and fashion with Master Class instruction.

If your community does not have a Black Chamber of Commerce, then someone in your community needs to step forward. If you are interested in starting your own chamber, join us and learn from business leaders the do’s and don’ts and best practices of chamber building.

Our four-day conference offers an opening reception, 2 days of entrepreneurial resources through paneled discussions, and high-level networking

with successful entrepreneurs and business leaders complemented by intimate breakout sessions. On the last day of the conference we venture into the community for breakfast and recap.

Participants will engage in informative dialogues with national and international leaders. Last year’s speakers included Senator Tim Scott, NNPA’s Dr. Benjamin Chavis & Chairman Dorothy Leavell and Pastor Jamal Bryant to name a few. This year’s conference hotel is the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway (http://bit.ly/2UnsdSk) from July 24th – 27th, 2019. (Rooms are $159 for a king and $169 for a double. Reservations may also be made by calling 800-2289290.) We are holding a small group of rooms at this discounted price.

We are certain this year’s NBCC conference will be of interest to you. Please contact kdebow@nationalbcc.org if you would like to support our conference; sponsorships start at $500 and up.

We look forward to networking with you, register for this event at http://bit. ly/2PS7aoP. Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the Chamber. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Emails: halford@nationalbcc. org kdebow@nationalbcc.org Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the Chamber.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - April 17, 2019 - April 23, 2019

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