INNER-CITY NEWS

THE

New Haven, Bridgeport

NEWS

Volume 21 No. 2183

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Black Women Won’t Celebrate Equal Pay Day until August 1

Have We Forgotten The Kidnapped School Girls in Nigeria?

House Sends Bill Requiring Insurance Small-Biz Chief Blasts Her Boss

City GOP Chief Won’t Vote

Coverage For 3D Mammograms To Senate 1

FOLLOW US ON

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016 2

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

3

4

Budget Negotiations ‘Are Hitting A Wall’ spending and revenue side of the budget.”

by Christine Stuart New Haven Independent

Malloy has been going around the Capitol telling lobbyists that he expects them to be there all summer trying to put together a budget.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called reporters down to his Capitol office Friday night after 10:30 p.m. to let them know he didn’t think he would be able to strike a deal with Democratic legislative leaders before noon Saturday.

“We’re not making sufficient progress to get to a budget on the timeframe that is in front of us,” Malloy said.

The two-term governor said he thinks that “discussions are hitting a wall” and after one day of negotiating with Democratic legislative leaders it doesn’t appear “there’s a basis to get to a budget using that document and there doesn’t seem to be substantial movement off of that document.”

Democratic legislative leaders just came up with a budget proposal on Thursday that addressed a $920 million budget deficit. That deficit grew an additional $40 million on Friday after revenue figures were released following April tax collections.

He said there’s no “impasse” but legislative leaders need to proceed now in a way they feel is appropriate. He wouldn’t speculate on whether that means they should run a budget on their own that he’s likely to veto or not.

CHRISTINE STUART PHOTO

Looney and Aresimowicz said they hope Malloy stays at the negotiating table until they can get a deal worked out, no matter how long that takes.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy

a budget passed if they were able to get something negotiated by Sunday evening.

Looney and House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, DBerlin, said they hope Malloy and his staff stay at the negotiating table until they can reach a deal.

Malloy said his team agreed to stay at the negotiating table until noon Saturday to reach a settlement “but it’s clear for me that that’s not going to happen.” He said Democratic legislative leaders are treating this like a revenue issue when it’s “a revenue issue and a spending issue.”

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Sen. Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said it sounds like the governor “was just having a bad day.”

Looney said he wouldn’t say that negotiations are at an impasse since they just finished their first full day of work. He said he they have made “substantial cuts” and are fully committed to the negotiating process.

He said running a budget that hasn’t been negotiated with the

However, Malloy said the two sides are “hundreds of millions of dollars” apart at this point.

CHRISTINE STUART PHOTO

Senate President Martin Looney chuckles after his comment about

Malloy’s “bad day.”

governor “is not our preferred option.” He recalled that they negotiated a budget late Sunday into Monday and then a vote came Tuesday and Wednesday last year.

The session ends at midnight on May 4.

because it only gets harder by May 4,” Looney said. “I think other issues ... might well have been sort of compromised and kind of swallowed for the good of the whole before May 4, but after that it becomes more difficult.”

“I’m hopeful that we get one

Looney said they could still get

“I’m trying to lead them to understand that this is not a short term problem this is a longer term problem,” Malloy said. “People believe we have to spend more money, but we don’t have more money to spend.”

He said if nothing can be cut in the budget then “nothing can be cobbled together.” He said it’s been “backed up to the final minutes of the fourth quarter” and “it is difficult to admit people can’t come to an agreement on both the

Aresimowicz said it’s “disingenuous” of the governor to hold meetings in one room and then say he’s not holding out hope for a deal in another room.

The tension between Malloy and lawmakers from his own party seems to have grown over the past few days.

By calling the press into his office late Friday night, Malloy said he’s just acknowledging the work that has to be done and that his relationship with legislative leaders from his own party is not strained.

Aresimowicz said there’s a “natural tension” between the legislative and executive branch of government, and that’s what is playing out now.

“Hopefully we’ll get past that, get to the table and come up with an agreement,” Aresimowicz said.

Publisher / CEO Babz Rawls Ivy Managing Editor Liaison, Corporate Affairs Doreen Strong Advertising Director Sales Team

WHY VOTE?

Trenda Lucky Delores Alleyne John Thomas III Hilda Calvachi

Editorial Team Staff Writers Ratasha Smith / Current Affairs Anthony Scott / Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd / Politics Contributing Writers David Asbery Tanisha Asbery Jessica Carl Jerry Craft/Cartoons Barbara Fair Mubarakah Ibrahim Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner Smita Shrestha Kam Williams Content Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org Dr. Fred McKinney Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council www.cmsdc.org Memberships National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.

I have a friend, an AfricanAmerican single mother of two whose eldest daughter is coming of age to vote in her first Presidential election. As I understand it her daughter has no plans to vote and feels it won’t make a difference. In frustration her mother asked me if I could speak to her daughter and convince her of the need to vote. I played out the conversation in my mind, as I imagined it might go, wondering what I might say that she hasn’t already heard. I don’t know if it’s a factor in her thinking but she happens to reside in a state that is not in play and indeed her vote won’t influence the Electoral College votes allocated to her state. The conversation in my mind never ended well because I’ve never met the daughter (the mother either in fact), have no ideas as to her goals and aspirations and have no knowledge of her circumstances that could provide a reason to vote specific to her concerns.

For African-Americans of my generation, the question of whether to vote was simply never an issue. We had it ingrained in us the sacrifices that were made on our behalf that allowed us to receive the right to vote. People died… and like Foghorn Leghorn I want to repeat myself… I say people died that I might be able to vote and it would be the ultimate disrespect to my ancestors to not take advantage because of whatever inconvenience it might entail.

They gave their lives and I can’t give an hour? I can’t think of a soul in mine or my family’s circle that I could have told I wasn’t planning to vote and not be ridiculed and chastised, not necessarily in that order. By the time I reached vot-

That generation has passed however. Kids that grew up playing video games instead of playing outside don’t automatically understand the significance of voting. They likely can’t be guilted into voting so what does that leave?

I’ll start with self-interest. Voting is communication, it’s the way you let you’re government and its leaders know what you’re thinking. If you don’t let them know, what you want won’t be considered. Imagine a new born baby, unable to communicate when they’re hungry, or wet or cold. In the same way your needs won’t be met except by happenstance if you choose as an adult to remain silent and merely accept the decisions of others.

While yes your vote for President won’t change the outcome of this election. It is evident that decisions affecting you are being made at multiple levels by your Senator’s, your Congressman and your state and local representatives. There is a well funded effort being made to shape the laws that affect you and if you don’t like the direction things are going?

The only way to overcome having someone else’s views imposed on you is to say no with your vote.

I understand you’re either 20 or 21 years old. You may have plans to continue your education and those plans may depend on your ability to get school loans. The availability to get those loans and the cost at which you pay them back is directly impacted by those people that your vote will help determine who gets into office.

As a woman, you may have plans to have children one day and

your ability to control the factors in that choice will depend on who you vote for. There are those who would affect the cost and availability of many types of birth control.

There are those seeking to restrict and even eliminate some of the primary providers of women’s health care services. If you need a mammogram or PAP smear or prenatal education and healthcare.

The place you could go today may be shut down tomorrow because you didn’t indicate your preference. Although you have the legal right to an abortion, a choice which hopefully you’ll never have to consider. Some states are looking to make it harder or impossible within your state to elect that option. You might expect equal pay as a man for the same job but there are people protecting the status quo and your vote might be the difference.

Should you have children one day, you may be concerned about the quality and cost of their education. How many will be in their classroom? How effective are their teachers? Will their education prepare them for the jobs available in the future and will they be able to go to college.

You happen to be an AfricanAmerican. There is serious effort by some politicians to restrict your vote in order to maintain their grasp on political power as the demographics of the country changes and the voters look less and less like them. If you stand by and let this happen. The gains obtained by our forefathers will be wiped out because you stood idly by and when the results of that choice begin to impact you, it will be long past time to complain.

Hopefully, because the alternative is definitely worse, you’ll reach the age of retirement and you will need the increased availability of health care services and likely want a return on the Social Security plan you will have invested in for many years. How

those programs are managed and changed will depend on what elected officials you either put in place, or watch while others do so.

If you choose not to vote… you are abdicating all the choices affecting you and your family to others whose intentions may not be near the same as yours had you decided to participate.

I must add that not only do you have a responsibility to vote. You have a duty to educate yourself on the issues and the candidates and to know and understand what’s at stake each time you make a choice.

When you’re aware of what’s at stake you may choose to speak out and add your voice to others in fighting for what you believe in, or your children’s future or making sure your rights aren’t eroded by others as they seek to put their desires ahead of yours.

I encourage you to look at voting not as a duty or responsibility.

But as an Honor to give recognition to those who suffered much to give you this opportunity. See voting as a way to shape your children’s future and their children’s after that. See it as a way not to get punked by someone who is taking away your rights and laughing at you while doing so.

See it as something you look forward to doing each and every time because there is no time in which it does not matter.

There are those who seem to equate removing regulations protecting the environment and ensuring financial protections with freedom somehow. And somehow, restricting your rights as a woman and the right to control your body while not freedom is their moral responsibility. Don’t let someone else define your freedom. Vote!

William Spivey is an author, and writer of social and political commentary.

He blogs at ess.com”www.enigmainblack.wordpress.com He lives in Orlando, Florida.

5

The Inner-City Newspaper is published weekly by Penfield Communications, Inc. from offices located at 50 Fitch Street, 2nd Floor, New Haven, CT 06515.

203-387-0354 phone; 203-387-2684 fax.

Subscriptions:$260 per year (does not include sales tax for the in State subscriptions). Send name, address, zip code with payment. Postmaster, send address changes to 50 Fitch Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Display ad deadline Friday prior to insertion date at 5:00pm Advertisers are responsible for checking ads for error in publication. Penfield Communications, Inc d.b.a., “The Inner-City Newspaper” , shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors or errors in publication, except to the extent of the cost of the space in which actual error appeared in the first insertion. The Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The entire contents of The Inner-City Newspaper are copyright 2012, Penfield Communications, Inc. and no portion may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

By William Spivey

ing age I was 6’6” and over 200lbs yet a line might have formed to knock some sense into me if I just decided not to vote. Voting wasn’t something you only thought about or talked about, it was something you did.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

John P. Thomas Jr.

6

City GOP Chief Won’t Vote For Trump certain of,” Wharton said.

by PAUL BASS

Trump has signaled an intention to present a more professional, consistent, controlled campaign under the influence of new top adviser Paul Manafort. Wharton said that doesn’t change his mind.

“How do we know if this is for certain” given that Trump continually shifts his views? he asked.

New Haven Independent

The day after Donald Trump swept Connecticut’s Republican presidential primary, New Haven’s new GOP chief vowed not to vote for him in November if he emerges, as now seems increasingly likely, as the party’s candidate.

“Never Trump,” the GOP chair, Southern Connecticut State University political science professor Jonathan Wharton, declared during a primary postmortem interview Wednesday on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven.”

Trump won 58 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s statewide primary, part of a five-state sweep that positioned him ever closer to a first-ballot nomination at this summer ’s national party convention.

Wharton won’t be there

PAUL BASS PHOTO

Wharton at WNHH.

cheering him on.

Why? “He lacks polish. I find him in

many ways uncouth. I’m concerned in terms of how he represent himself and the party.

His stances, we’re not 100 percent

Wharton said he also will not vote for runner-up Republican candidate Ted Cruz, a Texas U.S. senator. “He says that he is a bridge-builder, when I find him to be more or less a bridge-burner,” Wharton said, Cruz, for example, led a federal government shutdown in an effort to defund Obamacare, has called for “carpetbombing” ISIS. Wharton is part of a group of Republicans seeking to broaden the party’s appeal, as described in this previous interview.

supporting the current potential candidates in his own party, Wharton said he will not vote for likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton either.

Rather, “I’m interested in some third-party candidates” such as Libertarian Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor. “I know some” of his fellow Republicans “feel the same way,” he said.

“Urban Talk Radio” host Shafiq Abdussabur unpacks the election on his latest episode too, talking to community activist Barbara Fair and WNHH Station Manager Lucy Gellman about Hillary Clinton’s New Haven win and the November 2016 election. To listen, click on or download the audio above, or subscribe to WNHH’s new “Elm City Lowdown” podcast on Soundcloud or iTunes.

Though he can’t envision

City Settles With Egan

by PAUL BASS

$73,000.

New Haven Independent

In return, Egan promised not to sue the city.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

A long-running impasse at the fire department has been broken with a legal settlement between the Harp administration and soon-tobe former assistant fire chief.

“I’m happy outstanding issues are resolved,” Egan said Thursday.

“I certainly wish all the success to the city leadership and the department and union leadership and all the firefighters in New Haven. I live here. My family lives here. I certainly will remain active in city life.”

Mayor Toni Harp signed the agreement this week with Pat Egan.

Egan had been on administrative leave since Sept. 22, 2014, when an investigation began into allegations of mismanagement.

However, then-Fire Chief Allyn Wright never ended up bringing formal charges to terminate Egan; Egan kept collecting his salary while his lawyer negotiated a settlement with city lawyers.

Wright was believed to be at odds with members of the administration over this issue when Wright retired Jan. 4.

MACMILLAN PHOTO

Egan: Case closed.

This week’s settlement calls for the city to pay $30,000 to Egan and $70,000 his attorney. It also includes a salary enhancement that allows Egan a former fire union president who is 46 and started working with the department 21 years ago to retire effective May 4 in good standing with a $92,750 annual pension rather than

Egan said he’s “looking at a couple of different options” for employment.

The city initially engaged outside counsel to handle the case.

After spending $110,000 it took the case in-house.

“The City would like to thank Assistant Chief Egan for over two decades of honorable and dedicated service to the New Haven Fire Department and to the

City of New Haven in which he and his family live,” a city press release quoted Corporation Counsel John Rose saying Thursday afternoon.

Egan was at the center of a number of controversies, including the handling of a fire at Westville’s old Delaney’s restaurant; and his dealings with a firefighter try/ brantley_appeal_denied/»who was later convicted of attempted bribery in connection with the case. The New Haven Firebirds and the NAACP publicly called for Egan’s termination. Lt. Gary Tinney of the Firebirds declined further comment on Thursday.

Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli Thursday praised the work Egan did as assistant chief.

“Chief Egan created and administered policies that reduced sick and workers comp time by

over 25 percent. Unfortunately those gains have been lost in his absence,” Marcarelli said. “The fact is that complaints made by others clearly had no merit and were just red herrings to distract from others’ unethical behavior and poor tactical decisions.”

New Haven firefighters wish him best of luck in his future endeavors. As president of this local, he accomplished great things for the citizens and the union,” said current union President Frank Ricci. Ricci said the union wants to make sure the city puts enough money into the fire pension fund to cover the costs of legal settlements like this one.

This New Haven Register editorial last November chastised the city for continuing to pay Egan for not working rather than either bring formal charges or dropping the case.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

7

8

Harp Fires 2 Top Aides

by PAUL BASS

Marcus Paca Monday morning.

New Haven Independent

Then, when they met with Blue, she asked that Paca be present.

Paca was allowed to be present but not to participate in the discussion, according to Reyes and Harp.

Mayor Toni Harp, returning to a City Hall wracked by internal disputes, fired her labor relations chief and policy chief.

“Marcus has a different take on what actually happened,” Reyes said. “His office let those emails out. As director of that office, he is responsible.”

Harp and Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes met with each of the two Labor Relations Director Marcus Paca and Office of Development and Policy Director Mendi Blue in the mayor’s office Monday to deliver the news.

“This was really difficult for me,” a somber Harp said in an interview in her office along with Reyes. She said she has known Marcus Paca “practically since before he was born” through a close relationship with his grandmother.

She called Blue a “brilliant woman” whom she respects. She recently attended the pair’s wedding.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Harp acted upon returning to City Hall from a trip to Washington for a meeting of a national African-American mayors organization. During her absence, two controversies involving her staff erupted into public view.

Harp and Reyes said Blue violated a rule that mayoral appointees are supposed to publicly advocate for the administration’s proposed city budget before the Board of Alders. Blue recently sent an 11-page letter to the alders pleading for them to fund two positions that Harp had not included in her proposed new city budget.

Blue asked the alders to take the money from another administration official, social services chief Martha Okafor, whom Blue blasted as doing a poor job, falsely taking credit for Blue’s own successes, and overstepping her department’s role.

Blue last week told the Independent that she was aware of the policy, but that special circumstances warranted her speaking out in this case. She added in a conversation on Monday that with the memo she “responded to a required request from the Board of Alders

“To my knowledge Marcus is the only labor director hired in the state without a law degree. This proved to be problematic. His lack of knowledge and comprehension of the process and the law will cost the city long after this mistake was corrected,” New Haven firefighters union President Frank Ricci said in reaction to Monday’s news.

Marcus Paca, Mendi Blue.

An unresolved question Monday was a similar dispute involving Jackie James, director of city government’s small business office, and her boss, Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson.

PAUL BASS PHOTOSHarp

(at right) with Reyes Monday in City Hall: “When I say something, I mean it and I will follow through.”

with truth.” She said she doesn’t believe she did anything wrong.

Harp said she saw no choice but to take action because of the policy about speaking with one voice on the budget once “vigorous” internal debates are completed and a final version goes before the alders for approval.

“We made that [policy] clear after last year,” Harp said. “We told everybody it was not going to be accepted.

“It’s important for people to know that when I say something, I mean it and I will follow through.”

Harp added that she originally approved the two new positions Blue had requested for her department. But then all departments had to have requests cut because the administration was determined to avoid increasing taxes, Harp said.

Taxes would have had to be raised 2 to 3 mills to accommodate all

new positions requested by department heads, she said.

Reyes and Harp said Paca was fired for a host of reasons including handling of labor matters with the fire department.

“There were things that were done,” Reyes said, “that disfavored the city ...” “... and cost the city money,” Harp added.

Also at issue was the release of hundreds of confidential internal emails from the corporation counsel’s office related to the firing of Commission on Equal Opportunities (CEO) chief Nichole Jefferson. Jefferson’s union president was given internal memos about efforts to fire Jefferson, a matter currently the subject of a state arbitration proceeding. The release of the emails which were subsequently reported in this New Haven Register article by reporter Mary O’Leary is believed to ham-

pered the adminstration’s position in that proceeding.

Reyes said that all the released memos were clearly marked at the top as confidential attorney-client communications that must not be shared. They are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Paca told the Independent Monday that he did nothing wrong.

“There is an established process under MERA [the Municipal Employee Relations Act] that was followed since Day 1,” he said.

“There are systemic issues with Toni Harp’s administration. It is disappointing that they would take this out on myself and Mendi,” Paca added.

He and Blue said they will say more later but are withholding more comment for now. “We dedicated our lives to the city, to this mayor,” Paca said. “We’re still kind of processing it.”

Harp and Reyes met first with

James, too, appealed to the alders recently to include in the new city budget a new position she had sought but which did not make it into the final Harp budget. When Nemerson met with her and demanded she take action to support the mayor’s budget, James left the room and filed a workplace harassment complaint against him. Harp and Reyes said Monday that they will wait until James’ labor complaint is resolved before taking action on the speaking-out policy issue. Unlike Blue and Paca, James is represented by a municipal union, AFSCME Local 3144.

Monday’s firings, and the mood in City Hall, were reminiscent of a climactic moment in the previous administration of Mayor John DeStefano. In 1998, DeStefano, faced with a controversy involving his Livable City Initiative, fired three top aides. He had had long personal and political relationships with them. He too at the time said it was one of the most difficult decisions he had made in office.

Even in the toughest of financial times there is legislation that, even though it costs money, draws bipartisan support.

figure out ways to save money,” House Republican Leader Themis Klarides said. However, she said, “This will save lives in a new and proven way in one of the most easily detectable cancers in women.”

Such is the case with a bill that would require health insurance carriers to cover 3D mammography.

Rep. Robert Megna, D-New Haven, referred to the bill as a “positive step for the health of women.”

The bill, H.B. 5233, passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives, by a vote of 1393 in favor, late Thursday evening.

During a public hearing on the bill, Michael Crain, chairman of Radiology Department at Middlesex Hospital, said that studies show Tomosynthesis or 3D mammography “finds 40 percent more invasive cancers.”

by Jack Kramer CT. Junkie News

It now moves to the Senate for a possible vote ahead of next Wednesday’s General Assembly end of the session deadline.

The bill carries a fiscal note because it would require the service to be covered by the state employee health insurance policy.

CHRISTINE STUART FILE PHOTO

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides

The Office of Fiscal Analysis found it will cost between

$139,000 and $572,000 in 2017 and between $275,000 and $1.14

million in 2018.

“In this day and age we have to

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

House Sends Bill Requiring Insurance Coverage For 3D Mammograms To Senate

It also decreases the number of women who have to return for a mammogram because the results of the first were not conclusive or gave a false positive.

Revenues Fall Short Leaving 2016 and 2017 Budgets In The Red

by Christine Stuart CT. Junkie News

April tax revenues did not come in as anticipated Friday, which means this year’s deficit will grow to about $256 million and the 2017 budget is $960 million in the red.

Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes said most of the revenue shortfall the state is experiencing is related to declining income tax collections.

“The problems got a little harder,” Barnes admitted Friday in a visit to the Capitol press room.

The budget proposals from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Republican legislative leaders, and Democratic legislative leaders were all based on a $920 million to $922 million budget deficit, which means all three of the

CHRISTINE STUART PHOTO

Ben Barnes

proposals are out of balance by about $40 million.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, warned the budget deficit could be as high as $1 billion because the revenue figures released Friday assume the Attorney General’s office will negotiate an additional $40 million in legal settlements.

“Once again the Democrats are leading Connecticut down a very dangerous path. This consensus revenue figure is counting on money the state simply doesn’t have. At best, this is a one-time revenue grab. At worst, this is an empty pot and a complete distraction from the real size of the problem we face,” Fasano said.

“This maneuver is not only risky for our state’s financial health. It also puts the Attorney General’s Office at a huge disadvantage to solving any claims moving forward.”

he’s hopeful their attempts to constrain spending will yield additional results. Since there’s only two months left in the fiscal year, there are few if any places to cut and find savings.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said the numbers were not unexpected, but “If anyone needed any additional evidence that significant structural changes are in order to address the ongoing, ‘drip, drip, drip’ of

The state has about $406 million in its Rainy Day Fund.

deteriorating budget numbers, I don’t know what it is.”

The bad news about the revenues comes as legislative leaders and members of Malloy’s administration try to put together a budget for 2017 behind closeddoors.

Sen. Beth Bye, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said Thursday that they are prepared for revenues to fall short and will be working to close whatever the final number ends up being.

As far as this year’s $256 million budget deficit, Barnes said

Barnes said once the books are closed on the year, any deficit will be deducted from the Rainy Day Fund.

Barnes declined to say where they will find an additional $40 million since negotiations are still ongoing.

9

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016 10

neighborhood preference.

by ALIYYA SWABY New Haven Independent

Davis-Googe said kindergarten families who put the neighborhood school as their first choice can stay on the waitlist even if they are placed at a different choice. If a family does not put the neighborhood school as first choice and is placed at another school, the student is removed from all waitlists.

This policy was put in place this school year, she said.

Cara McDonough has been trying to get her son into John C. Daniels School to join his sister for three years, but each year he was put on the magnet school’s wait list.

McDonough addressed Board of Education members this week to question whether the controversial “school choice” process is working for individual families and for the district as a whole, two weeks after placement started April 12.

District officials said they have improved the system over the past couple of years and that standalone stories could not accurately represent the full process.

Currently, a choice and enrollment committee is working to revisit the idea of redistricting New Haven schools and to determine whether the process could be further improved, Superintendent Garth Harries said at Monday night’s board meeting.

Students who live in the neighborhood of their school of choice and have a sibling already enrolled have the highest preference in the lottery system. Those with just neighborhood preference have the second highest change of getting in. And students with just sibling preference have a better chance than those without any preference.

Sibling preference “links the siblings, applying to the same schools, together. The system then works to place them together, based on seat availability at the selected schools,” stated Sherri Davis-Googe, district director of choice and enrollment, in an email to the Independent.

Last year, Davis-Googe allowed families with siblings at different schools to request a transfer to put them together if there were seats available at the requested school.

“If no seats are available, there’s not much we can do,” she said.

(left): Kids at multiple schools do not participate.

her Monday night.

Most families who have a problem with the lottery process go to her office and talk to her, DavisGooge said.

Cara McDonough did register her problem with Davis-Googe in past years, she said. She does not know where her son will go to kindergarten in the fall.

But how do parents who are not “politically inclined” know to contact the district to get their kids put in the same school? Goldson pressed.

Davis-Googe said the policy had not yet been formally communicated to the public.

Goldson said he met a constituent who has four kids in four different schools. The term “lottery” versus “choice” is misleading, he said. “It makes them think there’s a choice when there really isn’t.”

Daisy Gonzalez, the board member who unofficially represents parents, agreed with Goldson. Parents with students at different schools cannot be active participants in any of the schools, she said. “When they have report card night, they have to run from one school to the next. It’s not fair to our parents. It’s not fair to our students.”

Board member Carlos Torre suggested adding a preference for students who have applied to a school in past years, who continue to list it as first choice. A joint ed

board committee could “come up with some really creative ways of looking into it,” he said.

“It’s concerning to find out that we have a sibling preference program that isn’t a preference program,” Mayor Toni Harp said.

Davis-Googe and Harries said the lottery system’s preferences have helped to keep many siblings together and close to home, if their parents want that. “I truly have done a lot of work to unite our siblings,” Davis-Googe said.

The number of available seats fluctuate during the placement period “due to attrition and retention,” so the total number of open seats at New Haven schools has not yet been finalized, she said.

To date, 75 percent of seats at John C. Daniels, a regional magnet school, were filled with New Haven students, the rest with suburban students. Of those seats,

besides the 25 percent suburban students, 42 percent of students had both neighborhood and sibling preference, 25 percent had neighborhood preference, and 8 percent had just sibling preference.

McDonough had neighborhood preference at Nathan Hale School, which is a neighborhood school, not a magnet school. She listed Daniels as her first choice and Nathan Hale as her second choice.

Her son is 16th on the waitlist for Nathan Hale. “He’s definitely not getting in,” she said.

She said she was shocked not to get into her neighborhood school.

Her son is seventh on the waitlist for Daniels with sibling preference.

Of students placed in Nathan Hale this year, all were New Haven residents. About 28 percent had neighborhood and sibling preference, and 72 percent had

With two kids in different schools and a 20-month-old at home, McDonough and her husband have to navigate how to get their kids to and from their buildings on time. McDonough works from her home in Morris Cove.

Her daughter takes the bus at 7:39 a.m. to Daniels in the Hill. Either McDonough or her husband drive their son to Neighborhood Music School on Audubon Street, which he has attended for the past two years.

The afternoons are more complicated. Her son gets out at 3:30 p.m. and her daughter at 2:50 p.m., with afterschool programs two evenings a week. On the days with no afterschool program, McDonough picks up her daughter and then drives to Neighborhood Music School, to wait for her son to get out of school, before driving home.

“A lot of moms and dad have to do that,” or something even more complex, she said.

The system is too complicated for most parents to know how to navigate, she said. “It leaves parents no choice but to strategize.”

11

“How do we let folks know that they have those options?” board member Darnell Goldson asked

ALIYYA SWABY PHOTO Gonzalez

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

“School Choice” Questioned

12

Senate Tables Debate On Increasing Minimum Wage $10.10 per hour on Jan. 1, 2017, to increase to $10.70 an hour on Jan. 1, 2018, $11.30 an hour on Jan. 1, 2019, and finally to $12 an hour on Jan. 1, 2020.

by Christine Stuart In an unexpected move, the state Senate raised and then tabled debate on a bill that calls for an increase in the state’s minimum wage from its current $9.60 an hour to $12 an hour by Jan. 1, 2020.

Two years ago Connecticut was the first state in the nation to pass a law setting the minimum wage at $10.10 an hour. Passage of the legislation came after a visit from President Barack Obama.

The bill, which originally would have fined large companies for not paying their employees $15 an hour, was amended to increase the minimum wage to $12 an hour by Jan. 1, 2020.

However, before debate on the Senate bill ended Thursday, House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, DHamden, said he was unaware the Senate would be raising the measure this year.

“It came as a surprise to me that this was something that was going to be brought up in the Senate,” Sharkey said around 9 p.m.

Thursday. That was about four hours after the debate on the bill began in the Senate.

“I only learned of it essentially when the bill was called,” Sharkey said. “It’s coming as a surprise to

CHRISTINE STUART PHOTO Sen. Marilyn Moore listens to Republican lawmakers speak against the bill

me.” He said he doesn’t necessarily oppose it, but it’s a major policy initiative “that deserves some conversation at least between House and Senate.”

Sen. Marilyn Moore, DTrumbull, who raised the bill and took a minimum wage job last summer for the experience, said she could have never lived off $9.60 an hour if she had to support a family.

Moore said she thought the

annual raises the bill called for were “fair” for both workers and their employers.

She also said the majority of job growth the state of Connecticut has experienced the past few years “have been low wage workers” who require a higher income to cover the bare necessities of dayto-day life.

The bill called for the minimum wage, which is already slated to increase under current law to

The law increased Connecticut’s $8.70-an-hour minimum wage in 2014 to $9.15 on January 1, 2015; $9.60 on January 1, 2016; and finally to $10.10 on January 1, 2017.

It was approved on a mostly party line vote with one Democrat in the Senate and four in the House in voting against the measure.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who was lukewarm about increasing the minimum wage in 2012, embraced it as part of his re-election campaign in 2014.

Republican Senators were ready to talk about the bill for hours before it was pulled.

Sen. Rob Kane, R-Watertown,

said “government does more harm than good” when it interjects itself into business matters.

“The free market system is the best system” to handle minimum wage issues,’’ Kane said.

His view was backed by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy, which released a statement against the plans for a minimum wage hike.

“This effort is well-intentioned, but dead wrong,” Suzanne Bates, policy director for the Yankee Institute, said in an emailed statement. “It won’t help people earning less than $12 per hour.

Instead, prices will rise and jobs will become more scarce, especially for the people who currently earn an hourly wage close to the current minimum.”

Sen. L. Scott Frantz, RGreenwich, said the state needs to let the free market prevail when it comes to setting wages. He said lawmakers didn’t have enough information to make such a decision that could lead to job losses.

Federal Report Finds Wide Disparities Among Medicare Recipients

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

by Lisa Chedekel Blacks and Hispanics are less likely than whites to get flu vaccines, have a preventive health care visit, or receive follow-up care after being hospitalized for a mental health disorder, according to a first-ofits kind federal report that looks at health disparities among people on Medicare Advantage plans.

“While these data do not tell us why differences exist, they show where we have problems and can help spur efforts to understand what can be done to reduce or eliminate these differences, ” said Dr. Cara James, director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health, which released the report.

The report looks at 27 clinical care measures and eight patient experiences to gauge differences

in treatment among whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians or Pacific Islanders.

and peeling paint in the bathroom ceiling.

by PAUL BASS New Haven Independent

The grouting was shot in the bathtub, which is too dangerous for an elderly woman to bathe in, David and Ruth Jackson said. So she doesn’t.

Prominent nephrologist Jianchao Xu is dumping his rundown New Haven rental properties, and almost doubling the money he shelled out to buy them.

Xu, who lives in Bethany and has spoken out publicly against organ-harvesting in China, came to the attention of city housing inspectors for the dangerous conditions at some of the New Haven properties he bought in recent years. Of the dozens he has purchased, many were rented out to low-income tenants under the federal Section 8 subsidy program.

PAUL BASS PHOTOSRuth Jackson: “I’m surprised anybody would buy them.”

that purchased the properties and manages them through Ocean is listed as in land records Shmuel Aizenberg of Brooklyn, New York.

After .php/archives/entry/ blake_street/”this Independent article revealed the problems at his properties last November, Xu promised in an interview to do better.

Trivers said the company intends to fix up the trashed properties.

Instead, in recent weeks, he has sold much of his portfolio to a partnership run out of a growing New Haven poverty-landlord outfit called Ocean Management.

Ocean has been negotiating with Xu to buy around 25 of his properties, Danielle Trivers, a manager at the company, said in a conversation at its 50 Fitch St. offices.

They haven’t yet closed on some of the properties, she added.

City land records list at least 19 sales of properties owned by various partnerships formed by Xu partnerships with names like 56 Avon St. LLP, Nash Street New Haven LLP, 38-42 Bishop LLP — to entities run by Ocean Management, entities with names like Adama Real Estate Holdings LLC, Shadmit LLC, Panorama Real Estate, Super Zen LLC, and GZL Estates.

“He just wanted the money,” Shanitha Davis, who rents a twobedroom apartment for $1,060 a month in another Xu-to-Ocean building on the same Blake Street block. “He would always say, ‘I’ll send somebody.’ Nobody every came.”

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTOCity inspectors at a Blake Street Xu property in November.

“This is what we do. We want to clean it up,” she said. Crews “cleared up five or six Dumpsters full of garbage” already on some of the premises, she said. They’re preparing to put new siding up at 16 of the buildings. They’re also starting to tackle eight violations listed at the properties ranging from mice and roach infestation to holes in walls and problems with fire alarms and electrical outlets.

She said Ocean is responsible for “probably 200 properties.”

Tenants on Blake Street, where Ocean just took over three battered Xu-owned multi-families, welcomed the doctor’s departure as their landlord.

prices straight out.)

Xu promised to improve conditions at the properties, many of them already crumbling from past owners’ neglect, while he shoveled in Section 8 rents on an estimated 60-70 percent of his units.

He sold them for $3.7 million, based on calculations of conveyance taxes listed on warranty deeds in the land records. (The deeds don’t list the actual sales

Instead, neighbors kept complaining to their alder, Richard Furlow, and city inspectors, who found rotted porches, overflowing garbage, broken windows, a pad-

Xu did not return calls for comment for this story.

The main partner in the Ocean Management enterprise, Mendy Katz, is currently out of the country for the Passover holiday, according to manager Trivers. He did not return a request left for a call for comment. The main partner of the investment companies

“No matter what we had to get done, I had to get my sons to do it,” Jackson said. Complaints about roaches, leaking bathroom ceilings, broken tiles produced no results with the landlord, Jackson said.

“Look at this I fixed this two times it leaks from upstairs,” her son David said, pointing to stains

“I hope whoever the new owners are,” Davis said, “they try to do some repairs.”

His office issued a stop work order against Ocean last September for work done without a permit at 336 Legion Ave. It issued a violation order against the company after finding an illegal dwelling unit, with unsafe conditions, occupied there.

“We’re chasing him on every permit when he pulls one,” Turcio said. “He’s very much on my radar right now.”

The office issued a cease and desist order against Ocean after finding an illegal auto repair business operating in the rear of 112 Sherland Ave. That was last September.

This week the office was back at 112 Sherland. So was the fire department.

JOE CISCONE PHOTO A fire broke out on the first floor there at 11:44 p.m. Monday, and spread to the attic, according to Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli. The first floor was unoccupied. Three children and an adult living upstairs were displaced.

Fire investigators haven’t yet determined the cause of the fire, Marcarelli said. “We’re focusing on the electrical system.”

Turcio’s department has sealed off the property and declared it unsafe for human habitation.

13

Xu’s companies bought those properties, in some cases out of foreclosure or probate, late last month for a total of $1.957 million.

locked window, and rodent infestation.

“I’m surprised anybody would buy” the houses, said Ruth Jackson, 90, who lives at 56-8 Blake, which Xu bought in 2012 for $134,000 and sold for $225,454.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Slumlord Doc Bails, Profits

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016 14

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

15

18

Traffic Calming Ahead

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Westville neighbors saw traffic tamed on Whalley Avenue in charts.

And they heard about how it will soon happen for real.

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn and transit chief Doug Hausladen presented the plans Monday night as they tag-teamed a meeting at Mauro-Sheridan School, where they solicited feedback from about 15 neighbors in attendance.

People speeding down Whalley Avenue, the main thoroughfare through the heart of Westville Village, have long been a concern of neighbors and business owners. A proposed plan long in the works to fix that, which has finally been approved by the state Department of Transportation (DOT), allows the city to install new crosswalks and medians, narrow roads and add visual improvements to the gateways of the village. Those gateways will be prominently established at West Park Avenue and Harrison Street.

The bulk of the $560,000 project about $420,000 comes from the state. The rest will come from city funds designated for “complete streets” projects.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Zinn and Hausladen sought feedback from neighbors because the project could go out for bid as early as next month.

The plan does not include two sought-after traffic-calming measures: There will be no improvements to merging traffic where Fountain Street and Whalley Avenue merge. And no bike lanes are planned for this stretch of road at least not yet.

Hausladen said that DOT decided that it needed to wait until a second phase of the project to tackle the merge.

Zinn said that the city is still working to convince DOT that protected bike infrastructure could work on Whalley Avenue. They’ve been unsuccessful so far. The city is looking eventually to add bike lanes that run on Whalley Avenue from West Rock Avenue to West Park Avenue.

Those lanes could tie into plans for a $1.2 million “Downtown West” commuting corridor for bikes that aims to connect the west

part of the city with downtown.

City officials were able to save about seven feet of shoulder on either side of Whalley Avenue that they hope to one day use for bike lanes, Zinn said.

“The fight is not over,” he said.

Kim Stoner, who lives on Roydon Road, said she’s happy with what has been presented so far.

She lives in Beaver Hills, not Westville, but she walks through the area often. She applauded the idea of slowing down traffic and adding more crosswalks. A member of the Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hills (WEB) management team, she said she hopes eventually to see similar improvements further east up the avenue.

Lyric Hall owner John Cavaliere is especially looking forward to the new crosswalk that will stretch across Whalley Avenue from Edgewood Park to his front door.

The crosswalk will stop all traffic in either direction to allow pedestrians to cross safely. He said he also looks forward to the “Treechi” of a tree-lined Whalley Avenue. The city has been cleared to put in about six trees in a median that will be built at the east end of Whalley Avenue near West Park Avenue, and another three in a median at the Harrison Street gateway.

A neighbor who requested anonymity said he’d much rather have the merging problems at Whalley Avenue and Fountain Street fixed before any of the other improvements are made. “That’s where the real safety problem is,” he said.

New Haven State Rep. Pat Dillon, who began fighting for the traffic-calming money six years ago, reassured neighbors that the state’s current financial woes will not impact funding for the project.

The state is facing a more than $900 million shortfall in the next years budget. While that could mean draconian cuts in other areas, Dillon said this money can’t be touched; it is state bond money, already approved.

“It’s late,” Dillon said of how long it has taken to finally get to this phase. “But they can’t take it away like some other things.”

We Forgotten defeating groups like Boko Haram requires long term determination.

“The truth is Boko Haram only represents a minority of people among Muslims and Africans,” she said. “Many of the foot soldiers in their organization are young boys and girls who have been forced to participate. Those who want to leave must be supported and not ostracized.

Nigeria also has to be willing to use more of its assets. They have had recent success fighting Boko Haram with the help of countries like Cameroon and that’s encouraging. Ultimately, the U.S. needs Congress to vote to give more financial assistance and America needs other countries to commit themselves to this fight.”

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Con’t from page 19

“The bottom line – if I weren’t optimistic I would have given up long ago. We’re making progress but it’s going to be a long process.

The question is whether world leaders, along with Nigeria, are willing to take on this fight for the long haul. That’s what it’s going to take,” she added.

On Wednesday, April 20, Wilson led a candlelight vigil in front of the U.S. State Department in an effort to keep the world focused on the plight of the still missing girls. Last week, CNN released a “proof of life” video, obtained from a source “close to the negotiations,” in which several of the missing girls appeared to be in good health but anxious to return home.

Wilson believes they’re likely being treated better than the majority of Boko Haram’s abductees because they can be used by the terrorists as bargaining chips.

“We’re fighting to keep this in the news and keep it in the hearts and minds of people so it won’t fade away because we’ve got to bring those girls back,” Wilson said.

19

The Washington Informer is a member publication of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Learn more about becoming a member at www.nnpa.org.

20

The Truth Behind the “Black Exodus” at the RNC are gone replaced by Lovelace who now finds himself trying to explain and mitigate the so-called mass exodus of African-American staffers from the RNC.

By Stacy M. Brown (NNPA News Wire Contributing Writer) The Republican National Committee (RNC) is refuting claims that a number of key AfricanAmerican employees were either fired or forced to resign and officials are pointing to the hiring of Telly Lovelace, the GOP’s newest liaison to the Black media, as proof that the party remains devoted to diversity.

Lovelace said the RNC has more African-Americans now than it did during the disastrous election year of 2012 when presidential nominee Mitt Romney received just four percent of the Black vote.

Lovelace also noted the continued success of the Republican Leadership Initiative (RLI), that Priebus designed, that trains minorities how to engage with their communities as leaders and allows them to learn the ins and outs of field organizing using the latest digital and data-driven tools. He said that RLI now has a total of 160 fellows.

Lovelace said that the top Black staffers who left did so after being presented with opportunities that could have helped to boost their careers.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

“The staff [people] that left were not fired,” he said, countering public comments by Raynard Jackson, a veteran Republican consultant, who recently wrote an op-ed that said that, “these staffers deserved to be fired and it should have happened a long time ago.

They were in way over their heads and their level of arrogance was just astonishing.”

Lovelace said that Kristal Quarker-Hartsfield, the former national director of African American Initiatives was with the RNC through the 2014 election cycle and that she left to take a position with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Orlando Watson, the communications director for Black media, resigned at the beginning of March. BuzzFeed News reported that Tara Wall, the senior strategist for media and engagement for the RNC, departed sometime in November and NBCBLK reported that Raffi Williams, the former RNC Deputy Press Secretary, left last year to pursue a job in the media.

“I was not fired, I left and there’s no problems,” Watson said, declining to further elaborate.

Lovelace said that the staffers left because of opportunities they simply couldn’t or didn’t want to pass up, but Jackson remained incredulous about the timing of their exits.

“This time of the year is like the Super Bowl of politics,” said Jackson. “You want to be on a

presidential campaign or in the RNC during an election year, because this gives you a close-up view of all these things that are going on. You’ll not only have all the access at the Republican National Convention, but you’ll be privy, to some extent, to the inner workings of the presidential nomination process as well as the inner workings of the RNC.”

Party, also wrote that the former RNC officials were ill-equipped to discuss real solutions to the challenges facing the Black community and that “many in the GOP felt the need to hire Blacks, not because they really wanted to diversify the party, but in some of the party’s thinking, they can’t be called racist because they hired a few Blacks.”

Jackson continued: “If you are a true political junkie, this is what you live and breathe for. This is a political junkie’s dream.”

Lovelace said that “Raynard Jackson is 100 percent incorrect” and the only way to describe what he said, is that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about at all.

Jackson compared the RNC staff departures to a player in the NBA asking to be traded away from the Golden State Warriors to the Los Angeles Lakers, right before the start of the playoffs.

“If you’re on staff now you’re probably going to be a part of history that probably hasn’t happened in a lifetime, in a generation,” said Jackson, referring to the potential of a contested nomination process set to take place this summer at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Jackson, who is the founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BABF), a 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican

“Instead of making such false and unfortunate accusations, he should be working with us,” said Lovelace. “He hasn’t contacted anyone at the RNC since I’ve been here and, from what I understand, he hasn’t contacted anyone here since at least the beginning of the year.”

When reached by telephone, Jackson said that he stood by his column, adding that the idea that he’s not in touch with RNC officials is preposterous.

Jackson said he definitely considers himself part of the Republican team and that he’s loyal to the party. In 2013, Jackson created the RNC Trailblazer Awards to honor Black

Republicans who have made a “substantial, positive contribution to the Black community, the Republican party and America.”

That same year, he led the planning for the RNC’s celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Jackson said that he also coordinated an on-the-record media session between thenChairman of the House Budget Committee Paul Ryan and a handful of Black journalists. In 2014, the long-time Republican consultant even escorted RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to deliver a speech at the National Association of Black Journalists’ conference in Boston.

“I have some 25 years [in the party]. I stood with Paul Ryan and even Trent Lott through his troubles. That’s what friendships are, they are battle tested,” he said.

Watson was hired in 2013 amid much fanfare and proclaimed that it was imperative that the Republican party articulate its message in a “language that’s relatable to the people we’re speaking with and… to recruit candidates that look like the people we want to engage with.”

Today, Watson and his vision

With a significant drop in those who now identify as Democrats, a growing number of Black voters – 10 percent – who turned out to support Republicans in the midterms and a historic slate of new Black Republican leadership in Congress, Lovelace said that now is the time for Black America to vote its interests.

“They are on the ground continuing to build relationships in the communities and they are continuing to strengthen the relationships that were already built,” Lovelace said.

Benjamin Chavis, the president and the CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade group that represents over 200 Black-owned media companies, said that the NNPA recognized that the RNC had retained the “good services” of Mr. Lovelace.

The African American community across the nation will be turning out the vote in records numbers this year, yet no political party should take the African American vote for granted,” Chavis said. “The NNPA will be closely monitoring both the RNC and the [Democratic National Committee] to discern whether or not their stated commitments will actually be implemented.”

By D. Kevin McNeir, The Washington Informer, NNPA Member

initially failed to take Boko Haram seriously.

It’s been two years, April 14th to be exact, since the world witnessed the abduction of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls from their dormitory rooms at the hands of Boko Haram – a West African terrorist group that has lodged atrocities against its own people including the burning of children alive and sending teenaged girls on suicide bomb missions.

“World leaders allowed Boko Haram to spread like a cancer.

What’s needed is greater intelligence on the ground and the assistance of the U.S. with technology that can pinpoint where the terrorists are hiding.

What’s happening in Nigeria should be deemed as an act of genocide,” he said.

But one member of Congress, a former principal and mother now in her third term in office, said she refuses to rest until the remaining 219 girls still missing have been safely returned to their families.

On Thursday, April 14, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) sponsored a press conference and panel discussion in the Cannon House Office Building in Southeast that included experts and advocates who offered their perspectives and solutions for addressing the ongoing crisis in the region. Several girls who escaped their abductors and now live in the U.S. also shared comments and expressed their thanks.

Wilson has visited Nigeria several times along with other members of Congress where they’ve met with some of the victims and their parents. She remains a staunch supporter of the Bring Back Our Girls movement.

“I was shocked and deeply

Hogendoorn believes the U.S. could do more but that Nigerian officials must take the lead.

saddened when I first learned that Boko Haram had abducted the Chibok girls to punish them for seeking to learn and better their lives,” she said. “My concern began with the girls but has since expanded because of the neardaily atrocities that Boko Haram commits, which has escalated since the girls were kidnapped.

They’re trafficking girls and women as sex slaves and slaughtering boys.”

“They have no conscience and they must be stopped. Even though Boko Haram has been ranked as the world’s deadliest terrorist group, it’s actually a group of cowards, which is why they send girls out, some as young as seven, to do their dirty work.”

Panelist participants included: John Yearwood, moderator and

executive board chairman, International Press Institute; Malcolm Nance, executive director, The Terror Asymmetrics Project on Strategy, Tactics and Radical Ideology; Jana Mason, senior advisor for government relations, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Tunde Odunlade, a Nigerian artist and activist; Daveed GartensteinRoss, senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Emmanuel Ogebe, international director, Education Must Continue Initiative; and Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, Africa deputy program director, International Crisis Group.

Ambassador Linda ThomasGreenfield, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, also gave an update on actions initiated by

the U.S. government.

Wilson said building support among her colleagues has sometimes been a challenge.

“Several congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers have introduced legislation and support my efforts like Wear Something Red Wednesday, the daily Twitter campaign and events like the forum and press conference that I recently hosted. But we’ve got to hold Nigeria’s government more accountable, keep the pressure on those lawmakers and let them know that if they don’t increase their efforts to find the girls and defeat Boko Haram, that they can be voted out of office.”

Ogebe said U.S. officials and leaders from other countries

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Have We Forgotten the Kidnapped School Girls in Nigeria?

“Ultimately it’s a Nigerian problem — they’re a country that remains in crisis,” he said. “Their military, police and elected officials are all going through major reform and that process cannot be forced.”

Odunlade said he won’t give up, even though Boko Haram continues to grow more powerful and dangerous.

“These terrorists have to be fought on all fronts,” he said. “I just hope that Nigeria’s neighboring countries will provide more assistance. And the country’s youth must be supported. They’re talented and many are hungry for more education. They could be the real answer to the problem of terrorism.”

Thomas-Greenfield said she remains optimistic but noted that Con’t on page 21

Child Watch: Recognizing All of America’s S/Heroes

By Marian Wright Edelman (NNPA News Wire Columnist)

determined. She was fearless. She was shrewd and she trusted God completely to deliver her, and other fleeing slaves, from pursuing captors who had placed a bounty on her life. “’Twa’nt me. ’Twas the Lord. I always told Him, I trust You. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect You to lead me.

And He always did…On my underground railroad, I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger,” she was quoted as saying. No train, bus or airline company can match this former

slave woman’s safety record. And few of us could match her faithful partnership with God, determination to be free and willingness to help others to be free without thought about selfsacrifice.

Frederick Douglass wrote to Harriet Tubman on August 28, 1868 eloquently summing up her life and that of so many Black women throughout American history: “The difference between us is very marked. Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public,

and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought in the day – you the night.

I have had the applause of the crowd and the satisfaction that comes of being approved by the multitude, while the most that you have done has been witnessed by a few trembling, scared, and footsore bondmen and women, whom you have led out of the house of bondage, and whose heartfelt ‘God bless you’ has been your Con’t on page 21

21

Every day I wear a pair of medallions around my neck with portraits of two of my role models: Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. As a child I read books about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. She and indomitable and eloquent slave woman Sojourner Truth represent

countless thousands of anonymous slave women whose bodies and minds were abused and whose voices were muted by slavery, Jim Crow, segregation and confining gender roles throughout our nation’s history. Although Harriet Tubman could not read books, she could read the stars to find her way north to freedom. And she freed not only herself from slavery, but returned to slave country again and again through forests and streams and across mountains to lead other slaves to freedom at great personal danger. She was tough. She was

22

The Fight Against Voter Suppression “No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”

Now the entire nation will pay public homage to Harriet Tubman’s devotion to freedom, and also honor Sojourner Truth and other great women and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who never stopped demanding and working to assure that America lives up to its declared creed of freedom, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and equality for all.

– The Supreme Court of the United States, Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Preclearance-which laid at the very heart of the VRA-required states with a history of discriminatory, race-based voter suppression to have any amendments in their voting laws “precleared” by the Justice Department. The Supreme Court, in all its wisdom, decided the preclearance provision was the stuff of a bygone era of racial in-

Child Watch: Recognizing All of America’s S/Heroes only reward. The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witness of your devotion to freedom.”

by Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban League via George Curry Media

In 2013, the Supreme Court stripped the Voting Rights Act of its power to stop states from creating and enforcing laws that would prevent eligible voters from exercising their constitutional right to vote. Under the dark shadow of the newly crippled law, our nation celebrated the 50th year anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 2015. In 2016, our nation will observe its first presidential election since the court effectively paved the way for states to usher in new, legal obstacles to the polls that would largely affect low-income people, the elderly, people with disabilities, students and communities of color.

Con’t from page 19

justice in American history. The court could not have been more flawed in its thinking. Since then, states have been hard at work introducing and passing countless laws that do what the VRA was created to stop: the calculated denial of the vote to targeted classes of Americans.

In our first election since Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected this nation’s president, 17 new statesfrom Texas to Rhode Island-will have new voting restrictions in place. While it is true that the days of poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses exist in the pages of our history books. The old strategy of voter suppression is not sitting somewhere collecting dust on a shelf. Voter suppression is alive and well and dressed in a new suit of modern tactics, with states passing laws strict voter ID laws, cutting back on early voting, denying ex-felons the right to vote and even closing polling places in communities of color.

In all, 22 states have new

restrictive voting requirements in effect since the 2010 midterm election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. That sobering number represents nearly half our nation’s states. It also represents hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of eligible voters being denied their protected right to a vote. We should not accept this current state of affairs as the last word on voting rights in our democracy.

We certainly cannot rely on a change of heart from states bent on denying this fundamental right to its residents. We cannot allow political parties to hijack elections for short-term political gain while they undermine a basic pillar of our democracy in the long-term.

We need action, and we need action from our elected officials.

When the Supreme Court stripped the preclearance provision from the VRA, it challenged Congress to create new legislation-an updated set of protections that would help guarantee our right to vote and repair much of the damage caused by the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling. The National Urban League will continue to work in coalition with the civil rights community and press members of Congress to restore the VRA. If we don’t stand for everyone’s right to vote-we stand to lose it and lose what makes living in this country special, and in many cases, unique.

Millions of Americans should never have to fear barriers at the ballot box. Let’s #RestoretheVRA. Marc H. Morial, former mayor of New Orleans, is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

Kudos to the Treasury Department which has announced that Harriet Tubman’s face will grace the front of the redesigned $20 bill, making her the first woman in more than a century and first African American ever to be represented on the face of an American paper note. And it’s wonderful that she will not be alone. Sojourner Truth and women suffragette activists and leaders will be featured on the back of the $10 bill. Great contralto and opera singer Marian Anderson, for whom I was named and about whom great conductor Arturo Toscanini said “yours is a voice such as one hears once in a hundred years,” will be featured on the back of the $5 bill. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for Marian Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial before 75,000 in 1939 after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her sing at Constitution Hall because she was not White. Mrs. Roosevelt and Dr. King will grace the back of the $5 bill rounding out the inspiring group of determined moral warriors who expanded the civil and human rights of women, people of color and all of us.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said he had an ‘a ha’ moment after recognizing the groundswell of public response to his announcement that the Treasury Department was considering changing the design of the $10 bill.

To so many people these new treasury bills will be much more than pieces of paper. For too long and for too many money has been the most powerful symbol of what we value as a nation. Harriet

Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and Martin Luther King, Jr. – their faces on American currency will send powerful messages about what – and who – we Americans are, value and strive to become. The new bills also will powerfully remind all Americans and teach our children and grandchildren that Black history and women’s history are American history. They will take us a giant step forward towards healing our nation’s profoundly crippling birth defects of slavery, Native American genocide, and exclusion of all women and non-propertied men of all races from our electoral process and ensuring full participation in our nation’s life.

It is so important to make sure all of our children can see their ancestors pictured on something as basic as the money used every day by countless millions and this will deepen the meaning of how we define success in America.

And to Black children who remain the poorest group in America, I hope Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth become anchor reminders of their great heritage of strength, courage, faith and belief in the equality of women and people of every color.

None of us must ever give up fighting for freedom and equality and human dignity however tough the road. I hope all of our children and all of us will be inspired anew by our diverse and rich heritages and cultures as Americans and renew our determination to build a level playing field in our nation for every child and help our nation shine a brighter beacon of hope in a world hungering for moral example.

Marian Wright Edelman is the president of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Startin life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Nina Saldana Successfully Channels Simone in Controversial Biopic Film Review by Kam Williams Most of the pre-release buzz surrounding this controversial biopic has swirled around the debate about Zoe Saldana’s darkening her skin, donning an afro wig and wearing a prosthetic nose to portray Nina Simone (1933-2003). Apparently, in these politically-correct times, some consider the casting of Saldana as the dark-skinned title character to be a case of cultural appropriation, since she is of Dominican and Puerto Rican extraction and thus, by implication, not black enough to play an African-American.

For, while she certainly manages to hold her own, Nina’s fans will undoubtedly be more disappointed by the absence of the haunting strains of The High Priestess of Soul’s distinctive voice than by her impersonator’s performing in blackface. Again and again, it’s frustrating to have to settle for second-rate renditions of such Simone classics as “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” “Feeling Good,” “Black Is the Colour,” “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” “I Put a Spell on You,” and “Why? (The King of Love Is Dead).”

Thankfully, Zoe does a better job in the acting half of the role, convincingly capturing Nina’s mercurial personality, from the imperious air, to the violent mood swings, to the substance abuse, to the bouts of depression Con’t on page

23

The beleaguered actress was so beat up in the press that she’s even publicly acknowledged the micro-aggression, admitting “I didn’t think I was right for the part.” However, I suspect anyone who actually sees the film would find Zoe’s Africanized features

to be less of a distraction than her singing.

Howard University Alum is Part of Pulitzer Prize Winning Team for National Reporting Howard University alum and adjunct professor, Keith Alexander, is part of a Washington Post team of reporters that was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for their work documenting fatal police shootings of civilians across the nation. The Pulitzer board singled out the the Washington Post “for its revelatory initiative in creating and using a national database to illustrate how often and why the police shoot to kill and who the victims are most likely to be.”

The newspaper sought to determine if there was a pattern in the fatal shootings of civilians by police officers after learning that no federal or private agency tracked such information. The data was compiled using real time news reports as well as other public sources. Among the Post’s findings: there were 990 fatal police shootings in 2015 and about 25 percent of those shot had a history of mental illness.

The Post reporters produced

Alexander is an adjunct professor of journalism in the Howard University School of Communications. He is also a graduate of the School of Communications.

About Howard University

more than a dozen stories using the data, some of them dispelling myths and defying conventional wisdom about police-citizen interaction. For example, most of those killed by police were white men, but African Americans were at much greater risk of

being shot after routine traffic stops than other Americans. On Monday, Alexander tweeted, “Honored to be a winner of the 2016 #PulitzerPrize for #TheWashingtonPost year-long investigation on fatal police shootings in 2015.”

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University has produced three Rhodes Scholars, nine Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, over 60 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.

For more information on Howard University, call 202238-2330, or visit the University’s Web site at www.howard.edu

Con’t from page 22

and self-doubt. The movie marks the writing and directorial debut of Cynthia Mort who reportedly distanced herself from her own production, at one point suing over the final cut because she had lost creative control over the editing.

The story unfolds in North Carolina in 1946 with an adolescent Nina exhibiting promise as a classical pianist. From there, the film fast forwards to New York in 1965 where we learn that the once-promising prodigy has been reduced to playing jazz in nightclubs after having dropped out of Juilliard.

The narrative quickly shifts to L.A. in 1995, where we find her already on the downside of an illustrious career. She’s just been committed to a mental hospital after being diagnosed as an alcoholic, paranoid, manic-depressive.

As luck would have it, Nina was assigned an empathetic nurse (David Oyelowo) who would take a special interest in her welfare. Not only did Clifton Henderson help her escape the facility but he quit his job to accompany her to France where he would serve as her personal assistant.

It is that relationship which would endure until the end of Nina’s life that is the focus of this warts-and-all biopic. Clifton spends as much time simply cleaning up the verbally-abusive, chain-smoking, substance-abusing fading star’s act, as he does trying to find her gigs, given her well-earned reputation as a difficult diva.

Ignore all the blackface haters, singing aside, Zoe Saldana delivers a decent enough Nina Simone impersonation here to make you wonder what all the brouhaha was ever about.

Very Good (3 stars) Unrated Running time: 90 minutes Distributor: RLJ Entertainment

BECOME A FOSTER OR ADOPTIVE PARENT… ATTEND AN INFORMATIONAL SESSION

Please call 1-888-KID-HERO For more Information Department of Children and Families

26

Black Caucus Members React to Tubman Replacing Jackson on the front of the $20 bill excited about that.”

Thompson signed a letter dated July 30, 2015 to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asking that a woman be featured on the $20 instead of the first proposed $10 bill. The letter got the ball rolling in what would become the decision to chose Harriet Tubman for the $20 bill.

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA News Contributor On April 20, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that Harriet Tubman will be on the $20. Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke to the NNPA News Wire about the historic tribute to Tubman.

One of the most important heroes in American history, Harriet Tubman was an abolitionist and spy for the Union Army and a leader of the Underground Railroad. The “railroad” was a network of abolitionists, activists and other associates created in the early 1800s and utilized until shortly before the Civil War to lead an estimated 100,000 Blacks out of slavery. Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland and escaped to Philadelphia in 1849. Starting with her relatives, she traveled by night to guide people to northern free states and into Canada. She would later become involved in the women’s suffrage movement.

Tubman died in 1913 in upstate New York.

“It is so fitting and appropriate that this woman, this fighter, this

Black Caucus member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) joined Republican Rep. John Katko (RN.Y.) in 2015 to introduce the Harriet Tubman Tribute Act to require the Secretary of the Treasury “to place Harriet Tubman’s likeness on a Federal Reserve Note by 2017. It would appear with last week’s announcement that someone at Treasury was listening. warrior for freedom be on the $20 bill,” legendary civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) told the NNPA News Wire as he walked off the House floor after voting on April 20.

“I’m going to start carrying more twenties now,” a happy Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) told the NNPA News Wire when asked about the Tubman recognition.

“It’s appropriate. I think it shows how times are changing and evolving. We’re reaching back in history to grab some people who made the world a better place.

She’s certainly deserving,” Richmond added.

“I’m straight out of Racine,

Wisconsin the place where the runaway slaves went so I think she is a dynamic heroine for all Americans,” said Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.). “Long overdue, long overdue. I am so proud,” added Rep. Barbara Lee (DCalif.).

“The good news is that Harriet Tubman never owned slaves. I think that distinguishes her from a number of the other much heralded American heroes,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) with a smile and a touch of sarcasm regarding the decision.

Treasury Secretary Lew also announced changes to other denominations. The reverse side

of the new $10 bill will feature the historic suffrage movement and honor Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul. Lew also announced plans for the reverse of the new $5 bill to honor Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. “The fact that this will be the first person of color is tremendous and that it will be a female is even more noteworthy,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told the NNPA News Wire on April 20, “I was one of the folks who went on the letter that started the whole process,” Thompson added. “I’m

In his open letter regarding the currency changes, Treasury Secretary Lew stated that “the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will work closely with the Federal Reserve to accelerate work on the new $20 and $5 notes, with the goal that all three new notes go into circulation as quickly as possible, consistent with security requirements.”

Lauren Victoria Burke is a political analyst and contributing writer for NNPA News Wire.

Burke also speaks on politics and African American leadership. She can be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Black Women Won’t Celebrate Equal Pay Day until August 1

By Julianne Malveaux (NNPA News Wire Columnist) The Sewall-Belmont House is located at the National Women’s Party in Washington D.C. It is one of the oldest houses near the United States Capitol, and was the house where Alice Paul wrote the

19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote. On April 12, Equal Pay Day, President Obama designated the house the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument. The National Park System will manage the site, and a philanthropist has donated a million dollars to support the site and to provide some restorations to the house.

According to the American Association of University Women, a group that promotes equity and education for women and girls, “Equal Pay Day is the symbolic day when women’s earnings

“catch up” to men’s earnings from the previous year.”

But African American women earn a scant 63 cents to the average dollar a White man earns. A Black woman would have to work until around August 1 to earn as much as a man did in the previous year! As alarming as that fact is, it is equally alarming that few mention Equal Pay Day in a racial context. Ain’t I a woman?

It would have meant a lot to some African American women had President Obama mentioned other inequality in passing. It would not have distracted from the

important points he made when he designated the new monument.

After all, the press release from the White House talked about “America’s diverse history”. The disparate treatment of African American women is certainly part of that history.

To be sure, President Obama has done a good job in addressing the issue of equal pay and fair treatment of women in the workplace. His first piece of legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, gave women a longer time to sue for workplace discrimination. He has also created a National Equal

Pay Task Force and, through executive order, prohibited federal contractors from discriminating against workers who discuss their pay. In the non-federal workplace, employees can be disciplined, or even fired, if they discuss their pay.

Indeed, the reason there are such gaping pay gaps is because there is so little transparency about pay.

From legislation he has supported, and discretionary acts he has taken, President Obama would likely do more to close the gender pay gap were there a more cooperative Congress. Clearly, pay eqCon’t on page 27

uity is not a priority for this Congress.

President Obama has been an aggressively pro-family President.

From his support of an increased minimum wage, to his advocacy for paid sick leave (including an executive order for federal contractors), to his support for better overtime regulations, the President has strongly supported workplace fairness. It takes nothing from his strong commitment to women, though, to acknowledge that African American women earn less, and that Equal Pay Day comes much later for them (and for Latina women, who would have to work until November 1 to earn the same amount a man earned last year) than it does for other women.

Surrounded by three intelligent and beautiful African American women – Michelle, Sasha and Malia – it would be impossible for our President to be unaware of the challenges that African American women face. While I am aware that this President prefers not to deal with race matters, in this last year of his Presidency, he ought to consider doing so. There are few consequences for this action.

President Obama does not mind using Black women as a throwaway line in a speech. At his University of Chicago Law School conversation, he defended his nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. He rather vapidly said that some people expected him to pick a “Black lesbian from Skokie,” a comment I found offensive and condescending. If Black women can be fodder for a silly off-the-cuff remark, surely we ought to get enough serious policy consideration for our pay equity issues to be addressed.

August 1 is Equal Pay Day for African American women. We work harder, longer, and for less remuneration than other women do. What are we going to do about it?

By Daunte Henderson, BlackDoctor.org Contributor

Air Tonight” is a favorite. Michael Jackson because a lot of his songs are soothing. If I’m mad I’ll listen to ‘They Don’t Care About Us’.”

The struggles of being a Black professional are multi-layered.

We’re often underrepresented in a lot of the places we’re employed.

Finding allies that look like us is often crucial to corporate survival and day-to-day sanity. Even when we find that group of co-workers who are “down” we still have to deal with the effects of racism.

Diversity and Inclusion initiatives are popping up in many organizations worldwide, but the power of racism still leaves our people stressed out, on and off the clock.

3. Read the Bible. It’s encouraging.

It could be the White co-worker coming up to you saying, “I’m not racist but ummm…” or that one guy who uses the term “ghetto” to describe everything that’s negative or having to deal with minorities.

Despite recent efforts to address this issue, there are still reports of unequal staffing and promotional opportunities out there.

Inappropriate behavior shows up in all forms when it comes to workplace racism. Many Black professionals stay mum and in silence in fear of undue retribution and some might “go off” due to the impact of racism on one’s morale. We live in a society where Black people resort to “resume whitening” in order to even get the job.

Psychotherapist and life coach, Asha Tarry, works with a lot patients looking to transition careers because of workplace racism. Tarry spoke with BlackDoctor.org about her personal and professional experiences as a therapist and Black woman in society, an issue that she says leaves many feeling ‘insecure about what you know’.

She says despite feeling supremely confident prior to getting a job, over time she felt the need to “explain her intelligence” in the workspace because her White counterparts didn’t give her

“Some of my favorite scriptures to mediate on are 1 Corinthians 2:9 and Psalms 23. Scripture puts me in the right frame of mind. It takes the pressure off what I’m doing on this side to let God do what he does.”

4. Find someone to talk to. the immediate just due she deserved because of her race. As the owner of Behavioral Health Consulting Services she encounters a lot of patients with the exact same issue. Tarry says this is a common occurrence in professional spaces where Black people are constantly put in positions to over-explain , overcompensate or put up with rude behavior such as co-workers touching your hair to feel the texture. Check out Tarry’s “Angry Black Woman Syndrome” series with Jacque Reid. Their conversations point out some key issues and solutions to workplace racism.

So how do you re-train your brain to look the other way when you know for a fact that you had the best idea in the staff meeting?

When you’re overlooked and you know it had everything to do with race?

some strategies to deal with workplace racism: 1. Pray “You’re with your co-workers more than your family. I have to get along with these people. I pray every morning before work to get my mind prepared for the day. And when situations arise at work I take a step back and say ‘Lord get me through this.’”

2. Listen to music! Music soothes the stress of a hectic environment.

“It depends on my mood, but normally I listen to things that will encourage me. On a normal day I’m listening to a lot of gospel music because it puts me in a humble place. Phil Collins “In the

“I usually talk to my niece but I also have a prayer group to speak with when I need some encouragement. Sometime you can feel yourself going into ‘attack’ mode , so you need someone to speak with.

5. Exercise and eat a healthy diet. This gives the stamina needed to deal with a stressful environment.

“As a certified personal trainer, I know the value of exercise and diet. I work out six times a week.

Outside of the physical benefits I’m able to think and process things a lot better when I work out.

I watch what I eat. I usually eat from 6am to 6pm. I don’t snack and I only eat red meat once a mont

Are you supposed to look the other way when something racially egregious happens?

These questions asked everyday

by Black people worldwide are contributing to the mental cache of stress built by racism in the workplace.

Zondra Wilson, owner of Blu Skin Care, LLC, was a news reporter prior to becoming a business owner. Oftentimes she was the only Black person in a predominantly White office and saw a lot of up close and personal racism. Zondra provides us with

27

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, DC. Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available at www.amazon.com and www.juliannemalveaux.com.

Working While Black: Surviving Workplace Racism & Micro-aggressions

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Con’t from page 26

28

The

Inner-City Inner-City News Connecticut’s First Choice For Urban News Since1990

PLACING AN AD EASY

Classifieds Classifieds 203 387-0354

BUSINESS HOURS - MONDAY FRIDAY 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM - 50 FITCH NEW HAVEN CT, 06515 - Career/Education/Training • Bid• L egal and Public Notices • Health Care • Real Estate • Professional

City of Norwich City Manager’s Office Executive Assistant Salary: $60,000 - $65,000 Visit www.norwichct.org/hr to apply and for more information.regarding qualifications and application deadline. AA/EEO.

Pre-application for waiting list at Orchard Hill Estates II State Elderly complex will be accepted until June 30, 2016. To qualify, you must be at least 62 or disabled with a maximum gross income of $46,000 (one person) or $52,600 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application on line at coventryct.org, or at 1630 Main St., Coventry, CT 06238 or have one mailed by calling 860-742-5518.

The Housing Authority of the City of Waterbury is accepting proposals for Chief Financial Officer Consulting Services. The pre-proposal conference will be on Monday, May 02 at 2:00 pm at the 2 Lakewood Road office in Waterbury. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, May 10 at 3:00 pm. To obtain the required documents pertaining to RFP S-CFO04012016 please contact Gina Worth, Purchasing Coordinator, at (203) 596-2096 or email at gina.biello@waterburyha.org .

Drivers: Company Drivers. $5000 transition bonus. Paid out in the first 4 months - Call us for details! New Home Time policy: 5 days out - 2 days off; 10 days out - 4 days off; 15 days out6 days off. We offer: average $1200$1400 weekly. $1500 quarterly bonus. $5000 referral bonus. Dedicated lanes.

Longevity bonus. Dedicated driver advocate team. Health, dental, vision benefits available. Paid layovers & orientation. Requirements: must have CDLA with tanker & hazmat endorsements.

Have or be willing to obtain TWIC card. 1yr. tractor-trailer exp. Call Jessica: 866-983-0855 or apply online at www.Work4QC.com

Pre-applications for waiting list at Orchard Hill Estates I HUD complex will be accepted until June 30, 2016. To qualify you must be at least 62 or disabled with a maximum gross income of $18,800 (one person) or $21,450 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application on line at coventryct.org, or at 1630 Main St., Coventry, CT 06238 or have one mailed by calling 860-742-5518.

NOTICE OF LEGAL SERVICE NORWALK HOUSING AUTHORITY

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

The Norwalk Housing Authority is seeking Legal Services. Proposals are to be submitted no later than 4:00 p. m. on May 4, 2016 at Norwalk Housing Authority, 24 _ Monroe Street, Norwalk CT. Copies of the RFP Legal Services are available on our website, www.norwalkha.org under the Business tab, RFP/RFQ. Please use the following contact information for any additional inquiries; TTD/TYY 800-545-1833 x437, or the Office of Thomas F. Hickey, Director of Finance at 203-838-8471 x133. Norwalk Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Curtis O. Law, Executive Director

Help Wanted. Immediate opening for construction laborer. Please call PJF Construction Corp. @(860)232-9251.

We are an equal opportunity employer. M/F Elm City Communities Invitation for Bids 76 Day Street Townhouse Renovation Elm City Communities also known as The Housing Authority City of New Haven is currently seeking Bids for 76 Day Street Townhouse Renovation. Bids will be received until Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 3:00 PM. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, April 25, 2016 @ 3:00 PM.

Welder-Exp. Welder for structural steel Misc shop. Send resume:gwf@snet.net

Connecticut’s First Choice For Urban News Since1990

PLACING AN AD EASY

Classifieds Classifieds 203 387-0354

BUSINESS HOURS - MONDAY FRIDAY 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM - 50 FITCH NEW HAVEN CT, 06515 - Career/Education/Training • Bid• L egal and Public Notices • Health Care • Real Estate • Professional

Listing:D Maintenance Assistant Immediate opening for a part time maintenance assistant for grounds and building maintenance.

Position requires flexible work schedule. Some heavy lifting required. Computer knowledge a plus. Send resume to HR Manager, 401 Soundview Road, Guilford, CT 06437. **An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**

Housing Authority of the City of New Haven Invitation for Bids Winslow- Celentano Hydronic Upgrades The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (HANH) is currently seeking Bids for Winslow- Celentano Hydronic Upgrades. Bids will be received until March 4, 2016 at 3:00 PM. A Pre-Bid Conference will be held at 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 on Wednesday February 17, 2016 @ 11:00 AM. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from HANH’s front desk at 360 Orange Street beginning on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 @ 3:00 PM. Request for electronic copies of the request should be emailed to bids@newhavenhousing.org.

Millennium Construction Services, LLC INVITATION TO BID Sayebrook Village South, Old Saybrook, CT Millennium Construction Services, LLC www.millennium-realty.com Phone: 860-529-1111 Fax: 860-529-5555 Email: bwhitaker@millennium-realty.com General Contractors are invited to bid on the new construction project known as Sayebrook Village South in Old Saybrook CT. The development consists of 17 individual new construction apartments of elderly affordable housing in four (4) buildings located on a 1.0 acre parcel on Sheffield Street in Old Saybrook CT.

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

The

Inner-City Inner-City News

Construction shall commence late Summer 2016 and continue until complete (weather pemitting). Owner is a Tax Exempt 501C3 non-profit organization.

Funding for the project is supplied by Essex Savings Bank and the Department of Housing. Performance and Payment Bonds are required for the full contract price. This project is NOT prevailing wage. Bids are due May 20, 2016 at 4pm. Bid form is included in the project specifications.

A complete set of plans and specifications are immediately available for review at http://www.wilesarch.com/#!contact/c1et The Owner reserve the rights; to accept any, all, or any part of any bids; to reject any, all or any part of any bids; to waive any nonmaterial deficiencies in bid responses; and to award the bid that in its judgment will be in the best interests of the Owner.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER, SECTION 3 BUSINESSES AND WBE AND SBE/MINORITY BUSINESSES ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE. CONTRACTS AWARDED UNDER THIS SOLICITATION ARE SUBJECT TO STATE SET-ASIDE AND CONTRACT COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS.

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is seeking quotes for HVAC MAINTENANCE SERVICES. Bidding documents can be viewed and printed at www.norwalkha.org under the Business tab, RFP/RFQ. Norwalk Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Curtis O. Law, Executive Director

Listing: Senior Accountant.

Immediate opening in a fast-paced petroleum environment for a degreed accountant w/ 2+ year’s public accounting experience. Duties include data transmission, tax prep, assistance w/monthly closing, account analysis/reconciliation, assistance managing network and system projects. Strong Excel and analytical skills a must. Great growth potential! Benefit package. Candidate must possess a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. Petroleum industry and propane experience a plus. Send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

29

**An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**

30

The

Inner-City Inner-City News Connecticut’s First Choice For Urban News Since1990

PLACING AN AD EASY

Classifieds Classifieds 203 387-0354

BUSINESS HOURS - MONDAY FRIDAY 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM - 50 FITCH NEW HAVEN CT, 06515 - Career/Education/Training • Bid• L egal and Public Notices • Health Care • Real Estate • Professional

CT Junior Republic Human Service Positions CLINICAL COORDINATOR (Danbury, Meriden, Waterbury) (3) FT Positions Available – Conducts client assessment and supervises intake process, develops service plans, provides clinical supervision, provides crisis intervention, prepares reports and cofacilitates service team meetings. Master’s degree and 3 yrs exp in screening, assessment and treatment planning. LCSW, LMFT, or LPC license required.

EDUCATIONAL ADVOCATE (Danbury) FT - Reviews the educational history of clients, advocates for clients and coordinates services with school districts and provides academic testing and tutoring. Master’s with 2 yrs exp or Bachelor’s with 3 yrs exp.

THERAPIST (New Britain) FT – Provides evaluations and individualized treatment plans, both clinic-based and community/ home-based treatment services utilizing the A-CRA and ACC models of care to youth and families.

Master’s Degree and will be CT licensed or license eligible, bilingual (English/Spanish).

CJR offers a competitive salary and benefits package – EOE For full position descriptions go to: www.ctjuniorrepublic.org Send cover letter and resume to hr@cjryouth.org

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN MOVING TO WORK 2017 ANNUAL PLAN

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

Section VB of the Authority’s Moving to Work Agreement (the “Agreement”) requires that before the Agency can file its Approved Annual Moving to Work Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (the “HUD”) that it must conduct a public hearing, consider comments from the hearing on the proposed amendments, obtain approval from the Board of Commissioners, and submit the amendments to HUD. Pursuant to said Section VI B, the Authority will conduct a public hearing on May 31, 2016 at 4:00 PM, in the 3rd floor Board of Commissioners Conference Room at 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 to receive comments and recommendations. A copy of the Plan will be available for review starting May 2, 2016 on the Authority’s website at www.elmcitycommunities.com or can be picked up at the front desk in the main lobby area at 360 Orange Street. You are invited to provide written comments addressed to HANH MTW 2015 Plan, Attn: Maza Rey, P.O. Box 1912, New Haven, CT 06509-1912. Any individuals requiring a reasonable accommodation to participate in the hearing may call Teena Bordeaux, Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator for HANH at 498-8800 extension 1507 or at the TDD Number 497-8434.

JOIN US OPEN HOUSE “NEW APARTMENTS” 258 Fairmont Avenue, New Haven, Ct. 06513 May 7, 2016 from 10:00am to 1:00pm Spacious two and three bedroom units, new appliances, carpet, parking, close to I91 and I95, bus stops and shopping centers.

For more information contact Maria @ 860.985.8258

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016

31

INNER-CITY NEWS May 02, 2016 - May 08, 2016 32