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Firefighter Funeral: THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

by THOMAS BREEN New Haven I ndependent

A traumatic week for the New Haven Fire Department ended with a funeral capped by a Dixwell pastor’s message: “It’s OK not to be OK.” That memorial service took place Friday midday at Bethel AME Church on Goffe Street.

Hundreds of New Haveners, many in uniform, packed the pews and stood on the sidewalk outside of the church to honor the life of William McMillian, a 27-year-old New Haven native, Hamden resident, and city firefighter who died on May 6.

Friday’s service focused primarily on celebrating McMillian’s life and mourning his off-duty death. On his unflagging love for his daughter and his mother and a large extended family. On his interest in fitness and dedication to his job.

Many of those present—including Bethel Rev. and Board of Fire Commissioners Chair Steven Cousin, Fire Chief John Alston, Mayor Justin Elicker, and dozens of rank and file city firefighters—invoked a second tragedy this week to describe just how much emotional weight the fire department is holding right now: The overnight fire early Wednesday morning on Valley Street that killed one firefighter, Ricardo Torres Jr., sent another, Lt. Samod Rankins, to the hospital with serious injuries, and injured two other responding firefighters as they all worked to rescue two occupants trapped inside the residential building.

“Greetings on behalf of the 315 members of the New Haven Fire Department. And my condolences,” Chief Alston (pictured) said through tears to McMillian’s family.

“It’s been a very tough week.”

Mayor Elicker said the same: “This has been a devastating week for the fire department and for the City of New Haven.”

Perhaps no one captured the complex, collective heartbreak of the moment better than Rev. Cousin.

He read five verses from the Book of Exodus, Chapter 18, that told the story of Moses’s father-in-law Jethro admonishing the prophet for trying to take on too many burdens at once: Trying to lead an enslaved people through the desert to freedom, trying to serve as a judge and interpreter

THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS Scenes from McMillian’s funeral service at Bethel AME Church.

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“It’s OK Not To Be OK” between God’s will and his people’s needs, all by himself.

“This work is too heavy for you,” Cousin quoted Moses’s father in law as saying. “You cannot hold it alone.”

It was hard advice. Moses took it.

He reached out for help. He brought others around him to share the burden.

Thus the focus of Cousin’s memorial service sermon. “It’s OK not to be OK.” Looking out at the mourners, all in face masks, many in uniforms and the red berets of the Firebirds society, many more stifling back tears, Cousin referred back to a phrase Alston had said during his time at the mic.

“As they are fighting fires on the outside, there’s a fire that they’re fighting on the inside that no one else can see.”

“This department has been through hell and back,” Cousin said. And yet, when he asks firefighters how they’re doing, many still say, “I’m fine.”

“I come here today to say it’s OK not to be OK. It’s OK to tell people how you’re really feeling. It’s OK to tell people, ‘I’m mad. I’m frustrated.

I’m angry.’

“It’s OK to share your feelings. It’s OK not to be OK, because we’re only human.”

Many times, he said, people in positions of leadership want to act like they can put the weight of the whole world on their backs and show that they can take it. And they’re afraid that, if they speak up about their hurting, then others will view them as weak.

“Sometimes we feel that we are the only ones who are suffering and that no one else can understand what you’re going through,” he said to both tears and applause. “When you isolate yourself, that’s when the dangers occur.”

And, Cousin said, for everyone supporting someone who is grieving, the most important thing to do is show up. Don’t worry about having the perfect words. Just be present.

“It’s OK not to be OK because we’re only human,” he repeated. “It’s OK not to be OK because you’re not alone. It’s OK not to be OK because God will always provide. God bless you.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Firefighter Heals As Vigil Sends Prayers His Way

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven I ndependent

Fire Lt. Samod “Nuke” Rankins has gotten off his hospital ventilator — and if all the prayers that were uttered Saturday are heard, his progress can only continue.

Rankins was critically injured and hospitalized while responding to an overnight fire Wednesday on Valley Street; he was taken to Bridgeport Hospital’s burn unit and placed in a coma. Another firefighter, Ricardo Torres Jr., died in the fire.

The communal prayers for Rankins came during a vigil held on his behalf outside of the Pitts Chapel Unified Free Will Baptist Church on Brewster Street. Church member Lorise Brown organized the vigil with Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School support staff member Sean Hardy, who has known Rankins and his family for years.

Brown knows Rankins’ mother from Pitts Chapel. “I’m here because I am a mother,” she said. “I pray that God will open up doors and open up windows and go into Bridgeport Hospital into the burn unit and bless the young man.”

Rankins’ great uncles Bishop Elijah Davis and retired Connecticut Police Captain Joe Davis delivered the update that Rankins is making good progress in the hospital and is now off the ventilator.

“He has come a long way, thank God, but still has a long way to go,” said Bishop Elijah.

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up

Cathy Foster-Mendez: I want him to be remembered as selfless.

to support Rankins in his recovery and the Torres family.

Family and friends prayed for the firefighters’ families and their fire brothers and sisters who are also working through the losses.

With the hands of friends and family on her shoulders, Torres’ mother Cathy Foster-Mendez thanked the community for its support for her son. She described him as a selfless person who was always offering

others encouraging words. She recalled him telling his friends and family to “be your best” and “rise up.”

Since Torres’ death this week, FosterMendez, said she and Torres’ wife have gotten visits from members of the NHFD sharing their condolences and personal stories about working with him in the firehouse.

“He was a good man. He loved and cared about everyone,” she said.

Members of the Flaming Knights motorcycle club passed through the event to show their support for the lost ones’ families; for Rankins, whom they called “New Haven’s finest”; and for the fire department.

Rankins’ parents did not attend the vigil, as they were at their son’s side in the hospital.

Firefighter Jacari Santiago, 26, recalled talking to Rankins about “taking care of

our community.”

Many described Rankins as a natural born leader and community hero.

Retired fire captain and Firebirds Vice President Gary Tinney spoke of his mentor/ mentee relationship with Rankins.

The night of the Valley street fire, Tinney said, he was woken up to a FaceTime call at 2 a.m from Rankins while on a stretcher. “‘Call my mother!’ he kept yelling at me.”

When Tinney arrived at the scene, he said, he received another call from Rankins, who cried out his mother’s phone number to him while asking him to call her.

“I love him like a son,” he added.

Rankins asked that Tinney pass along the message Saturday that he is grateful for the community’s support and prayers during his recovery.

The two first met when Rankins was first expressing his interest in the fire department. Rankins would often assist the firefighters during a public safety program Tinney ran at Hillhouse. Every since then, when Rankins was recruited in 2018, the two developed a strong bond.

Tinney encouraged members of the department to not grieve alone. “This job takes a toll. It’s stressful. to see others in distress,” he said. “Don’t mourn by blaming yourself,;talk it out if you’re feel something.”

“Folks think that we’re more concerned about the fire outside, but it’s about the fire within,” Tinney said.

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Covid Survivor Returns Home THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

by SOPHIE SONNENFELD New Haven I ndependent

After six long months battling Covid-19, Aondre Chapman has finally returned home.

Aondre and his wife Tonya met up with the Independent Saturday to talk about the arduous path he’s taken en route to recovery.

“It’s been a journey,” Tonya said from Aondre’s bedside.

That journey began on Nov. 12.

Aondre has worked as a bus driver for 22 years, and was employed by Greater Bridgeport Transit.

“He loves his job and he took his job seriously,” Tonya said. “He was one of those who would show up an hour and a half early.”

As he was finishing up his last run of the day last November, Aondre said he felt unusually exhausted. “It took everything in me to get that bus from Derby back to Bridgeport.”

After work, Aondre happened to already have a doctor’s appointment and decided to speak with his doctor about the fatigue. When he entered the building, he said, his temperature was 97.3 degrees. By the time he walked down the hall to the office, it jumped to 102 degrees.

His doctor instructed him to go home and quarantine for 14 days.

Tonya said she monitored his temperature, which she said hovered around 102 degrees, and peaked at 103 on Nov. 19. That’s when Tonya brought her husband into the emergency room.

By Nov. 24, Aondre said he was told the damage in his lungs could be irreversible, so he agreed to be intubated.

The doctors held a Zoom meeting with the family in early December to discuss a plan.

“We told them our wishes were to do anything medically possible to save Aondre if it came to that,” Tonya said.

The doctors intubated Chapman and put him in an induced coma for 13 days. He was then moved to Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) where he was placed on a ventilator for three weeks.

Before conducting a procedure, Tonya said a doctor from YNHH called her to alert her when he noticed an erroneous Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order on Aondre’s chart.

Because she was alerted, Tonya said she and Aondre’s mother were able to correct it.

“My heart goes out to every family member that ever had to deal with this.

With any sickness when it comes to

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Contributing Writers SOPHIE SONNENFELD PHOTO. Aondre Chapman (right) and his wife Tonya at home in Hamden.

your loved one you have to advocate.

You have to, because if not, they will take matters into their own hands.”

In addition to lung damage, Aondre said he also suffered kidney failure from his Covid-19 infection. He said he was on dialysis and got a tracheostomy as the infection raged in his right lung.

Throughout this time, Tonya stayed connected to him through Zoom calls and Facetimes where she played music, hymns, and prayers. “When people that are sick have love and know that their loved ones are there, they do better. Aondre is proof that when you stick together, when you pray, and when you advocate for your loved one, it does make a difference.”

Then in February, Aondre was transferred to Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. Tonya dropped off balloons and candy on Valentine’s Day and was finally able to visit him for the first time in person soon after.

“My emotions were so high. It was just such an awesome moment to see my husband in person finally.”

As soon as she was allowed to, Tonya visited him for two hours every day of the week, she said. “I thought about what our wedding vows said, in sickness and in health. You never know what life is going to bring you, but love does not and should not stop because an individual gets sick or because something goes wrong.”

Tonya helped Aondre wipe away

tears as he reflected on the community support and love he received. “People that I didn’t even know came to see me through [Tonya] and it was overwhelming.”

Aondre said he was especially moved by an “emotional and enriching” visit with Pastor Hampton of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church when he was at YNHH. “They had a beautiful time sharing and encouraging one another,” Tonya said.

Aondre and Tonya said they got many phone calls and prayers from neighbors, from family in North Carolina and Georgia, and from members of the Pitts Chapel community, where Aondre is part of the Deacon Board.

They were also grateful for the support they received from Greater Bridgeport Transit drivers. Tonya said, “They’ve been there and they’re still there.”

On March 19, Aondre was moved to the Milford Health and Rehabilitation Center, where he was allowed visits from Tonya and his parents for 30 minutes a day, he said.

Tonya and both of Aondre’s parents who live with them in Hamden also tested positive for Covid-19 in November, Tonya said.

She said she had more mild symptoms and Aondre’s parents were hospitalized for a week. Aondre said he thinks his recovery was slower than most because he was a smoker.

One of Aondre’s coworkers passed

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away from Covid-19 and a few more overcame bad cases, he said. He estimated that he comes into contact with over 5,000 people in a day when he drives.

Aondre said the drivers were protected by plexiglass on the buses, but couldn’t enforce mask wearing for passengers. “All we could do was ask them, we couldn’t force them to wear masks.”

Since March, Aondre has regained mobility in his left hand. He can now feed himself and change the channel with the TV remote. Recovery in his right arm has been a slower process.

From walking to talking, Tonya said, “Aondre had to learn how to do everything over again.”

Now Aondre is no longer on oxygen or dialysis. Since he was cleared, Aondre plans to start physical therapy at home.

Aondre said his transition home went well thanks to two AMR drivers named Sergio Campell and Jerido Duffy on Saturday evening. “I still didn’t believe it until I pulled up in the driveway.”

The drivers helped him off the stretcher, put him in a chair, and maneuvered him downstairs. “They were so genuine, compassionate, and considerate,” Tonya noted.

“We have a big support system and I’m so grateful that we do. We stayed on our faith and our belief in prayer to bring us through.”

David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

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Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Coalition Aims For “Immigrant Freedom”

by THOMAS BREEN New Haven I ndependent

Two years after first traveling from Guatemala to New Haven with little more than hope for better healthcare for her epileptic son, Lizeth Villalobos now has a work permit, a job, an apartment, and an ongoing asylum case.

She also has the support of a team of attorneys and case managers looking out for many local people in similar situations.

Villalobos and her 16-year-old son live on Columbus Avenue in the Hill.

They’re two of hundreds of undocumented immigrants across New Haven and Connecticut who have benefited from a nascent coalition of legal aid attorneys from New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA), case managers from Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS), and law students from Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic (WIRAC).

That partnership is called the Connecticut Coalition for Immigrant Freedom (CCIF). It provides pro bono legal representation for clients facing deportation, applying for asylum, or detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And it helps those same clients with a host of case management services, including support finding housing, paying rent, getting a job, and accessing food pantries and ESL programs and transportation and healthcare.

“This is true universal representation, merit blind,” NHLAA Director Alexis Smith told the Independent about the collaborative effort. “Regardless of what the circumstances are, we take the case. This program has been a lifeline for commu-

nities not able to afford an attorney. The need is so large.”

Smith said that, since first forming in the summer of 2019, CCIF has helped roughly 200 families in the state with legal representation, and roughly 400 families with case management.

Roughly two years later, IRIS Case Manager Camille Kritzman said during that same interview, the group is looking to grow.

By hiring more staff attorneys (in addition to the four legal aid lawyers currently assigned to immigration cases.) By hiring more case managers. By reaching more local undocumented immigrants in need of legal and social support.

That means stepped up fundraising, applying for grants from organizations like the Vera Institute for Justice, seeking out municipal and state financial support, and getting the word out to the public.

“We’re giving people a fighting chance if they’re detained here, if they’re working on an asylum case,” Kritzman said.

And, she stressed, the services provided—and needed—extend so much further than just lawyers representing clients in immigration court. They also include everything from finding a place to live to getting a job to enrolling children in school to knowing where the nearest food pantry is.

“Our goal,” Kritzman said, “is to help clients thrive.”“I Feel Like I Can Ask For Help When I Need It” During a recent interview at IRIS’s headquarters on Nicoll Street in the Goatville section of East Rock, Villalobos sat with Kritzman and this reporter to talk about the vital role that this legal aidcase management partnership has played

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Camille Kritzman and Lizeth Villalobos.

in helping her build a sustainable life for herself and her son here in New Haven.

“There are a lot of different people from different counties who need support and don’t know where to turn,” the 34-yearold Guatemalan migrant said in Spanish, her words translated into English

by Kritzman. “This organization treats people equally in their cases. It doesn’t treat people differently based on race or where they’re from” or why they came to the United States in the first place.

Villalobos said that first ended up in New Haven in mid-2019. She and her then-14 year old son fled Guatemala for two primary reasons.

First, to seek out better healthcare for her son, whom Villalobos said suffers from a form of epilepsy. “My son was sick,” she said, and she was unhappy with the quality of healthcare he received in their home country. She hoped to find a better doctor for her son in the United States.

The second reason they traveled north

from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. border was just as immediate as her son’s health. “We had been threatened before,” Villalobos said. “There is a lot of extortion and violence in Guatemala.”

After initially detaining her at the U.S.Mexico border, Villalobos said, ICE released her and her son to travel to New Hvaen, where a friend of Villalobos had promised to serve as a sponsor while she applied for asylum.

Villalobos said that plan soon fell through after the friend told them they couldn’t actually live at her place. Villalobos and her son found themselves alone, cut off from the one person they knew in the city, living in a church and then couch surfing.

“I didn’t have a job. I didn’t know anybody. At the time, I was really afraid.”

What changed her life here in New Haven was when a friend she had met here recommended she reach out to IRIS to see if they could help her apply for asylum.

She did. The IRIS-legal aid partnership assigned her an attorney, who ultimately helped her get a legal work permit and has shepherded her through her ongoing asylum case for well over a year.

“Since this organization has taken my case, I’ve never missed a meeting, never missed a court date” at Hartford’s immigration court, she said. “I couldn’t believe when they attorney agreed to take my case. I felt listened to. That’s all people want. They just want to be listened to.”

In addition to the legal support, Villalobos said, the legal aid-IRIS partnership helped her and her son find jobs cleaning school buildings for the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS). They helped her Con’t on page 08

Beekeeping Project Wins “Unsung Heroes” Award Sarah J. Taylor, a Madison native who is clinical social worker at the Yale Child Study Center’s Intensive In-home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Service project.

Taylor was searching for a social enterprise that employed young people, particularly those who are in foster care or about to age out of foster care, and stumbled on bee-keeping through her interest in making beeswax candles. After meeting several beekeepers, she says, “I was just hooked by the way they talked about bees and cared for their bees. I haven’t come across a beekeeper who doesn’t describe beekeeping as a form of therapy or spiritual practice.”

The Huneebee Project trains five or six teenagers in each annual four-month cohort who install beehives placed in gardens throughout the city. Youth go on to become Project employees, posi-

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

A beekeeping project that trains New Haven teens how to install and maintain hives and then develop honey-based products has landed an annual local “Unsung Heroes” award from the Morris and Irmgard Wessel Fund.

The local philanthropy made that announcement in an email press release Tuesday morning.

The fund’s David Wessel wrote that the Huneebee Project, founded by clinical social worker Sarah Taylor in 2018, has won the Unsung Heroes Award for 2021.

The Morris and Irmgard Wessel Fund said that its Unsung Heroes Award for 2021 will go to the Huneebee Project, which offers skills training and jobs to New Haven teenagers through the craft of beekeeping.

The Project was founded in 2018 by

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tions that include maintaining the hives, developing and marketing honey-based products, and managing community generated hive sponsorships. The Project sells honey harvested from its bees and beeswax candles from the wax cappings of the honey frames.

The Unsung Heroes Award was created in 1993 and is funded by friends and admirers of the late Morris Wessel, a pediatrician, and Irmgard Wessel, a clinical social worker and community activist, to continue their decades-long efforts to make New Haven a better place for all its residents.

“Sarah Taylor’s project is a particularly appropriate choice for this award given our parents’ professions and interest in the well-being of New Haven’s youth,’ the Wessel family said. “Moreover, one of us kept bees himself as a teenager. We Con’t on page 09

Hybrid Class Reboot: Headphones For All THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

Hillhouse sophomore Jazmin Townsend leaned forward in her desk to whisper an observation from the text into her microphone.

Half the class was sitting in the room with her. Half was online. They all contemplated how to keep the virtual conversation going after they heard her say: “I think one interesting fact is that after it was cooked, the dumpling became alive.”

The students were in Chevaunne Breland’s elective writing class.

Breland has chosen one approach to hybrid teaching now that in-class learning has returned partway in New Haven: staying largely virtual. Her class is much closer to a remote class than a prepandemic, in-person class. A recent visit to the class showed how that approach works out.

“I try to consistently engage the online students simultaneously. I ask them to share ideas with each other, to try to create that community of learners that has been missing during the pandemic,” Breland said.

James Hillhouse High School students returned to a hybrid of in-person and remote learning on April 5. Some students elected to stay remote.

Breland’s elective class was watching Bao, a Pixar short film by director Domee Shi. As Townsend noted, it is about a dumpling that comes to life. The cook treats the dumpling like a baby, smoothing out its face when it gets picked up by a dog.

The class started with students rating their feelings about parent-student relationships on an interactive Powerpoint: Should teenagers always respect their parents, only respect their parents when their parents respect them, or never respect their parents?

Most of the class chose the “always respect” option. Four of 15 chose the conditional option. No one chose the “never” option.

Breland asked the class to watch Bao with those relationships in mind. Then she asked them to record themselves saying an interesting fact about the video to a virtual bulletin board.

The class stayed quiet, contemplating their screens.

“We’re saying, not typing?” 16-year-old Dyrail Reddick confirmed.

Jazmin Townsend was the only in-person student to break the silence to record her fact. The remote students seemed to be less shy, because Breland soon announced that most students had recorded their videos.

Then Breland started unpacking the video with her in-person students. Reddick noted that the film is about a parent-child relationship. Alexis Williams pointed out that the conflict started when the dump-

EMILY HAYS PHOTOS Sophomores tune into their virtual class from their Hillhouse classroom.

A’Lice Bradley, 16, considers her virtual assignment.

ling wanted to do different activities than the mother, and the mother kept trying to bring him back to her side.

Sasha Cohen Cox explained that the end of the video showed that the dumpling was a metaphor for the woman’s actual son.

“How did the mother feel?”

Breland asked.

“She didn’t like that he was growing up too fast,” A’Lice Bradley responded.

The next two class discussions were virtual. Students used another online

tool to briefly argue whether teenagers or parents show more respect to the other.

Each student had to choose one side or the other.

Breland scrolled through and read out the responses. Some students thought teenagers were more respectful in general. They had to be, because their parents had all the power in the relationship.

Some thought parents were more respectful because they grew up in a more respectful time period. One student thought teenagers are disrespectful mostly as they try to establish their own identities.

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Then students got to Breland’s central question. What is Domee Shi saying about people in general through the film?

Breland posted her own sticky note on the virtual bulletin board to get students started. These sticky notes would become the thesis statements for students’ reaction papers, due in five days.

“People in general are afraid of change,” Breland typed.

This is the moment the meaning of the film clicked for Reddick. He liked Bao less than other videos the class has watched; he felt the communication in the film was too subtle and too confusing. Other films had clearer communication styles, he said.

“Ms. Breland is hard core. It’s not the easiest class,” Reddick said.

He is grateful to be studying in-person, so he can get most of the assignments done in class, he said. He has no chance to fall back asleep as he might in his own bed.

He added that he wishes Breland would give a lighter workload and be more flexible according to student needs. In addition to the way remote school has stressed students’ mental health, Reddick is fighting an unfair series of life circumstances. He has been bullied for his sexuality since kindergarten; he would get in trouble for trying to take revenge on the people who called him homophobic slurs.

Then in 2016, Reddick’s father was murdered. Around the same time, two of his grandparents passed away and one of his mother’s close friends was murdered.

At the time, Reddick was attending Elm City College Prep Middle School, a school under the Achievement First charter network. He stopped turning in his work, and the school held him back

a grade in response. Three years later, he still feels hurt that no one listened to what he was going through. He is still looking for a way to graduate at the same time as peers his age.

“As I grew up, high school is one of the things that changed me. Colleges are going to want to see why I was suspended on this certain day. I made a big change,” Reddick said.

Repping Hillhouse Breland is a Hillhouse alum. After graduating from the high school, she attended Georgetown University for her bachelor’s degree and then Yale for her master’s in urban education.

Now a star New Haven Public Schools teacher, Breland has been nominated twice for district-wide teacher of the year awards. She has also won a T.A.P.S. Award as an outstanding teacher, administrator, parent or support staff member (hence the acronym). She is dedicated to student writing and helped organize the inaugural issue of Elm City Sage this April.

“Our community creates independent thinkers and learners before they get to college, so they can navigate college with a [unique] level of confidence,” Breland said.

The district has already solved the main problem she saw with Hillhouse in its response to Covid-19 remote learning: Breland was never sure whether students had computers at home; now every student in New Haven Public School has their own laptop or tablet.

She remembers transferring from the private, Foote School to Hillhouse to join the basketball team. (Her coaches were Kermit Carolina and Catrina HawleyStewart.)

She remembers Hillhouse pep rallies fondly, as well as the interactive lessons in her AP Psychology class.

“You fall in love with being here,” Breland said.

Breland has set up her curriculum carefully to prepare students for how important writing will be in their future lives.

She worked with an administrator to establish the writing elective. She starts students off with very structured essays.

As they stop asking her how to start, she lets them experiment more with the structure. She has students read and correct one another’s work to show them the real audiences they will face one day.

She chose Bao as part of her quest to both find materials that resonate with her students and expose them to people they have yet to meet. She has found that short, visual texts work best for her students as they weather the pandemic.

“With social media, you either get it or not. With these videos, they have to apply rewatching skills that they will need as lifelong learners,” Breland said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Hybrid Teaching Sparks Math Moves Freedom Con’t on page

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

After a year of sitting at their computers, King/Robinson fourth graders were ready to move. Their teacher, Michelle Romanelli, realized she could harness that energy to help them learn math.

This led to one of Romanelli’s takeaways from hybrid school — cutting up worksheets makes them way more fun.

“It’s funny the little mind games we play.

All I did was print out the worksheet on color paper and cut it up. When they handed in the worksheets, they were all finished,” Romanelli said. “That never happens.”

King/Robinson Interdistrict Magnet School fourth graders have had the option of in-person learning since January.

Romanelli’s class has trickled back slowly, as more and more families get vaccinated against Covid-19 and decide that school is safe again. Now, the majority of Romanelli’s students attend school in person, with only seven of 24 learning remotely.

Like other teachers in New Haven, she’s learning moves of her own — hybrid teaching moves.

Romanelli does her best to encourage family confidence. She sends pictures of her class to the parents throughout the week, showing students social distancing and having fun. She understands how much calmer that makes a parent feel; she feels that same relief when she gets photo updates from her daughter’s preschool, The Learning Experience.

When the Independent visited King/ Robinson, Romanelli had started her math class with a video that both in-person and remote students could enjoy. One little boy bopped his head to the hip hop song about how to calculate area and perimeter.

Students often tell Romanelli that they get

EMILY HAYS PHOTOS Teacher Michelle Romanelli, Cherifa Ourodjeri, 9, Kayden Bush, 9, Chawnaye Battle, 9.

these songs stuck in their head. That’s the point, Romanelli says.

At the end of the video, Romanelli asked the students how to calculate area. One student raised his hand and recited that the formula is length multiplied by width.

Then Romanelli released online worksheets for her “friends at home” and explained the instructions for “my friends here.” She gives the remote students buddies, so they can help each other. They also know to rewatch the explainer videos

before asking her questions.

Romanelli had taped colorful squares to the walls three feet apart. Each of these “task cards” held a math problem.

Students had to solve for either the length, width or area of the rectangles printed on the cards. Each student wrote the answers down on their own sheet. Romanelli uses this task card method one to two times a week.

While other students darted around, 9 year-old Kayden Bush moved systematically with her clipboard from one card to the next nearest one. She is a budding artist, who is uploading her artwork to TikTok until she is old enough to sell her artwork online. Her mother owns an online makeup and beauty business, Glossology

By Butter, so Bush is already thinking about how to handle the challenges of online retail.

Bush waited until a few weeks ago to switch from remote to in-person school.

Romanelli can see how much happier she is and how much easier it is to submit all her work.

Bush described the excitement of returning to school to see friends.

“It’s a big school, but now I know almost everyone,” Bush said. “It’s a lot less stress. Typing hurts my fingers.”

Nearby, Cherifa Ourodjeri quietly calculated that the area for a four-by-seven rectangle was 28. Ourodjeri plays the clarinet and wants to become a musician; the school allows her to take extra time during the week for a private music lesson to encourage that dream.

As students completed their task cards, groups of four tended to clump together to

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look at the cards and ask each other questions. Romanelli reminded the students when they were too close for her liking.

She told one student that she could see their nose above their mask. It was a good day—with only one mask reminder, the students had earned extra free time outside.

Romanelli noticed that some students are almost different people in the classroom from their remote selves.

At home, Chawnaye Battle was quiet and had trouble staying awake during her remote classes. In her school building, she is dramatic and confident. She wants to be everything when she grows up, especially a Hollywood star. She applies her socialemotional learning lessons to her relationship with teachers, checking in on how they are doing too. During her interview, she was bursting with stories and did a twirl as she described her career dreams.

“I’m really happy to be back. It was good to have [spring] break though for a couple of days. I was tired!” Battle said.

Romanelli is tired too. It’s a challenge to teach both the 17 students in front of her and the seven remote students. Each assignment takes half an hour longer to plan for the hybrid format. She has to add text boxes to her worksheets and make sure her remote students have something to do if their internet gives out.

“I can’t wait for it to be over,” Romanelli said.

At the same time, hybrid school has given teachers a chance to get closer, she said.

They eat lunch together and teach one another fun teaching tricks, like Romanelli’s worksheets-turned-task-cards.

travel to doctor’s appointment after doctor’s appointment when she recently needed surgery for a broken foot. They helped her cover utility bills when she couldn’t afford to keep the lights on.

Her son, meanwhile, now has access to a doctor she trusts and medication that she said keeps him healthy and stable.

“I feel more confident. I feel like I can ask for help when I need it. The only thing I’m missing,” Villalobos said, “is to become an American.”

“I Survived” While most of the work that CCIF does focuses on case management and asylum applications, Kritzman and Smith said, they’ve also taken on the work of helping free undocumented immigrants from ICE detention.

They’re doing that with the help of local community organizer and immigrant rights activist Vanesa Suarez.

Janal Gordon, a 27-year-old Jamaican immigrant who lives in Newhallville, said that he connected with Suarez and the CCIF group roughly two years ago when he was being held in ICE detention in Massachusetts.

He had traveled from Jamaica to Florida and then up to Connecticut when he was 22 years old to flee persecution of LGBTQ people in his home country, he said in a recent interview. While living in Bridgeport with his brother and aunt, he was picked up by ICE while at state court for an unrelated matter.

“It was a very devastating situation. I think I’m still traumatized,” he told the Independent over the phone.

While in ICE detention, a fellow cellmate recommended he reach out the Connecticut Bail Fund, which in turn was able to raise $5,000 to help him make bail.

That organization then helped connect him with New Haven Legal Assistance Association, which assigned him an attorney to help apply for asylum and get a legal work permit. Suarez, who previously worked for the bail fund and is now involved with the CCIF effort, has gone to nearly every immigration court hearing he’s had to show support, Gordon said.

The CCIF group has also helped connect him with a therapist to work through the trauma of getting picked up and detained

by ICE. “I’m able to cope with it and understand that it is just a phase and just an experience, and I survived it,” Gordon said.

He now has a job working with Access Health CT as his asylum case continues to make its way through court.

“This is the first time where I’m not just fighting a deportation defense campaign,” Suarez told the Independent about her work with CCIF. Here, with helping people get out of detention, apply for asylum, find work and housing and mental healthcare, “I’m literally able to help connect people to what they need to live.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Con’t on page

“Unsung Heroes”

greatly admire her creativity and dedication to making life better for young New Haveners.”

The Wessel Fund is a donor-advised fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. Each award comes with a cash grant to the local nonprofit.

The most recent previous winners of the Unsung Heroes Award were the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen and Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS).

Other past recipients of the Wessel Fund’s prize include: Collective Consciousness Theatre (Dexter Singleton), Junta at Big Turtle Village (Rafael Ramos), Solar Youth (Joanne Sciulli), Karen DelVecchio, Donna Savia, St. Martin dePorres Academy (Mary Surowiekci), Bikes for Babes (Dan Perrotto), Grandparents on the Move, the Connecticut Health Policy Project, the Mob Squad (Al Shakir), The Natural Guard, the Inner City Bicycle Program (David Clough), The Cesar Jerez Catholic Worker House, and Leg Up (Anne Gallant). Also, Dan Kinsman, music instructor at Fair Haven School; Raymond Wallace, founder of the Guns Down, Books Up organization, and Music Haven, which brings music to local youth.

Donations may be made online to support the work of the Wessel Fund or by check to The Morris and Irmgard Wessel Fund, c/o The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon Street, New Haven, CT 06510. All gifts are tax deductible. For more information about the Fund, please contact David Wessel at karpwessel@aol.com

New Student Ed Board Rep Elected

by MAYA MCFADDEN

After a rough year of remote learning, Dwight teen Ma’shai Roman says New Haven schools need to do better with providing students with mental health help and resources.

Now she’s in a position to get that message directly to the people in charge.

Roman, 16, a student at the Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS), was chosen Friday afternoon as the newest student representative on the Board of Education. She is on a mission to bring a mental health hotline and seminars to New Haven schools.

While dealing with the academic year’s hybrid learning, Roman said, she began to struggle with school for the first time. Roman had always enjoyed school. For the first time ever, she would attend classes feeling unmotivated and uninterested.

“This year has been rough for many students, including myself” she said. “I knew I wasn’t the only one so I decided I’d speak for all of us.”

Roman struggled to keep up with classwork and fell behind several times. She also was dealing with adjusting to a new school. She transferred to ESUMS this year after attending Common Ground her freshman year. “I was falling apart,” she said.

For the next two years, Roman promised, she will provide a “honest student point of view” to the board about prioritizing student mental health. She will replace Lihame Arouna who was elected in 2019.

Roman exceeded the 100 signatures needed to apply for the position in only a week. She got 144 signatures in total.

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO BOE student rep Ma’shai Roman at her election at City Hall. Addys Castillo, Roman, River Harris, Stevona Harvey, Terri Gatling.

Of those, 139 were validated. No one else ran, so Roman won the position without a vote needed. [Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that she has been sworn in. That will happen at a Board of Ed meeting.]

Along the way, Roman used social media to inform her peers of her running and why they should support her mission focused on mental health awareness. She was flooded with support online and even got suggestions from friends to voice to the board, she said.

Ideas from friends ranged from less homework to incorporating mental health exercises in classrooms.

Roman, a New Haven native, attended

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Wintergreen School in Hamden and Bailey Middle School for eighth grade.

She has been playing the clarinet since the fourth grade, works at the Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park, is a member of the Evolutions After School Program at Peabody, and runs track for Hillhouse High School.

Student representatives to the Board of Education participate in deliberations but do not have voting power. The board will still ask Roman’s opinions and what would have been her vote in order to take that into consideration for each matter, said Assistant Superintendent Paul Whyte. She will also be tasked with giving reports to the board about students’ is-

sues and work with a mentor on the board during her two-year term.

At her swearing-in at City Hall Friday, Mayor Justin Elicker reminded Roman to take on her role with a commitment to the underserved by “making sure the education system serves every single person in this city.”

“I think you know this, but it is incredibly important work,” Elicker said.

Roman’s grandmother, Terri Gatling, mom Stevona Harvey, younger brother River Harris, and Aunt Addys Castillo celebrated her at the ceremony Friday.

Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Kimberly Edwards reminded Roman to “have a big mouth, speak loud, speak clear.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

CurlMix Founders Raise Over $3.5M in Equity Crowdfunding

By Racquel Coral, Contributing Writer

Natural hair care line CurlMix has recently announced that they will be going public. Tim and Kim Lewis, the husbandand-wife duo behind the brand, made the announcement last month. They are opening investment opportunities to their followers and supporters beginning April 6th. With a goal of $5M in investments, CurlMix raised its first $1M in less than four hours. Since then, CurlMix has raised over $3.5M. CurlMix launched in 2015 as a DIY box for curly hair. Kim said, “We began that way because I was spending a lot of time on YouTube. I collected ingredients from the tutorials and would go home to make the products myself. I thought about how much time and money I would save if someone just sent me a box with everything I needed. My husband was the one who convinced me to do it because I wasn’t sure that the market would love it.”

Over two years, Tim and Kim received lots of positive feedback on their flaxseed gels. Saying, “Our customers loved our flaxseed gel, but you couldn’t get it in stores. You’d have to make it yourself.”

Due to the nature of how its prepared, manufacturers did not offer flaxseed gels.

So, the pair, with a recommendation from their advisor, decided to do it themselves.

“I was seven months pregnant at the time and spent a month in the kitchen testing out different batches. Every time I would go outside, I was asked about

my hair and how I got it like that. I then learned that many of my customers were using the flaxseed gel for their wash-andgo’s. Once I learned of that, I settled on a product that we could scale, and our customers would love.”

In 2018, Tim and Kim pivoted their business to focus on their flaxseed gels and moisturizers, which were their bestselling products. That same year, they reached their first million dollars. “We were super excited and couldn’t believe that we turned our business around in like a year. In the year prior, we made $100,000 in revenue, so that was a huge deal for us”, Kim said.

Since then, the Chicago-based beauty brand has included shampoos and conditioners creating their four-step system.

Their goal is to help women of all hair types and textures achieve the coveted wash-and-go style.

In 2019, Tim and Kim appeared on the television show Shark Tank. There, the couple turned down a $400,000 deal that required them to give up 20% of their business. Kim said, “The night before, Tim and I agreed that we wouldn’t give up more than 15%. I wanted to be honest and truthful. I wanted to be proud of the decision that I made on TV. I did not want to say that we would do a deal and then not do it, because people do that. I wanted to be true to who I was. So that’s how we ended up turning it down.”

She then added, “And Robert (Herjavec) wouldn’t budge on the equity piece.

What is more important than cash is eq-

uity. I treated each percent like a million dollars. So, when people would tell me that it was only 5%. I had to tell them that

it was more than that. It was more like $5 million.”

As for CurlMix’s legacy, Kim says,

“I want to break barriers. There are not many Black women who have gone public. There may have been one or two, which is crazy because several companies go public every year. In the last decade, only 20 of them have been either women-led or women-founded. When you think about Black women doing that, there are few and far between. So, I would like to be one of those people.”

“Also, I want to build more wealth for our community, which is why we’re doing the equity crowdfunding. We want to bring our community along. Though it is harder to do equity crowdfunding, it has been an amazing experience. I want other people to come up with me. I do not want to make money by myself. I love the J. Cole line, “What good is first-class if my homie can’t fit?” That is exactly how I feel. If my team and my community are not buying houses and making money, it is not fun. That is why it is lonely at the top because people don’t bring people along with them.”

For more information on CurlMix and how you can invest in them, visit wefunder.com/curlmix. And follow them on Instagram at instagram.com/kimandtimlewis.

Contributing Writer Racquel Coral is a national lifestyle writer and journalist based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Find her on social media @withloveracquel.

The post CurlMix Founders Raise Over $3.5M in Equity Crowdfunding. appeared first on Chicago Defender.

Celebrating Diversity Daily J O I N T H E T E A M T H AT T R A N S F O R M S L I V E S

www.aces.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

NNPA EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Val Demings Will Run for Senate

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Congresswoman Val Demings (D-FL) will run for the U.S. Senate seat out of Florida currently held by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, an advisor to the campaign has confirmed exclusively to the Black Press.

Stories had floated in mainstream media outlets this week that Congresswoman Demings was considering a run against Rubio, but it was just speculation until now.

“She is planning a Senate bid with a more formal announcement coming in June,” Mark Bergman, Congresswoman Demings’ advisor said on Tuesday, May 18.

Electing a Black woman to the U.S. Senate this cycle is a top organizational priority, Quentin James and Stefanie Brown James, the cofounders of The Collective PAC, proclaimed on Tuesday, May 18.

“We are proud to stand with [Congresswoman] Val Demings (D-Fla.),” the couple, who represent the PAC, stated.

“There has never been a more crucial time for us to elect leaders who are committed to criminal justice reform, safeguarding voting rights, and ensuring government officials are held accountable for unethical behavior,” the couple stated.

The Collective PAC is an organization formed to boost Black participation in elected office.

CNN noted that such a bid would provide Democrats with a high-profile candidate in a key Senate race against a nationally known – and well-funded – opponent, Republican Rep. Marco Rubio.

The network cited a source close to the Congresswoman who said she had spent the last few months mulling over a statewide race and recently decided on a bid for the Senate over governor.

“Congresswoman Demings will make for a great candidate and we are positive it will be a successful outcome,” a source close to the Congresswoman told the Black Press.

“She is confident, and why shouldn’t she be?”

Congresswoman Demings has dedicated her life to public service, including a nearly three-decade-long career in the Orlando Police Department.

In 2007, she became the city’s first female police chief.

On then-presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s shortlist for vice president, Congresswoman Demings became the first woman and one of the first African Americans to prosecute a presidential impeachment before the U.S. Senate, where she serves on the House Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Intelligence Committees.

In a live interview with the National Newspaper Publishers Association last summer, Congresswoman Demings stated her case for vice president and other potential offices.

“You all know my history. I grew up the daughter of a maid and a janitor in Jacksonville, Florida,” the Congresswoman offered.

“The youngest of seven children, I watched my father go to work every day, working odd jobs to keep a roof over our heads. I was the first in my family to graduate college. I worked as a social worker, law enforcement officer, and now a member of Congress.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Chauvin, Other Officers in George Floyd Death

years in prison after his conviction on state charges, Thao, Kueng, and Lane are scheduled to stand trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting seconddegree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump and members of his team who won a $27 million civil judgment in favor of George Floyd’s family and whose relentless work in the case helped lead to a rare conviction of a police officer in the death of a Black person, applauded new federal indictments in the case on Friday, May 7.

“Today’s federal indictment for criminal, civil rights violations associated with the murder of George Floyd reinforces the strength and wisdom of the United States Constitution,” Crump said in a combined statement with attorneys Antonio Romanucci and L. Chris Stewart.

A federal grand jury handed down indictments against four former Minneapolis police officers at the scene of Floyd’s 2020 death.

The indictment charges the officers with violating Floyd’s constitutional rights.

It alleges that Derek Chauvin, the former cop convicted in April on state murder charges, deprived Floyd of the right to be

Each has pleaded not guilty.

photo: Chauvin, Thao, Kueng, and the fourth officer, Thomas Lane, all face a charge for failing to give Floyd medical aid.

free from unreasonable seizure by a police officer.

Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng also were hit with federal indictments after failing to stop Chauvin from fatally wounding Floyd.

Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, continuing even after EMT workers who arrived at the scene could not detect a pulse.

16-Year Old Headed to College Chooses HBCU Over Yale and Harvard

Curtis Lawrence, a 16-year old boy from Washington, DC that has already graduated high school, has been accepted to 14 colleges including Yale and Harvard.

However, he wants to 16-Year Old Headed to College, Chooses HBCU Over Yale and Harvard BlackNews.com attend an HBCU and has already decided to attend FAMU (Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University).

Two years ago, Lawrence was just 14-years old when he started college through a special program at the George Washington University.

Now, although he has received more than $1.6 million in scholarships to attend some of the most prestigious universities in the country like Harvard, Yale, and George Washington University, he has decided

that he wants to have the HBCU experience at FAMU. Even more he has already decided to double major in biology and computer science.

“First I started thinking about what schools had good biology programs,” Lawrence told FOX 5 DC. “Then I started looking specifically at HBCUs because I wanted the HBCU experience and to be surrounded by the people who are just like me and who are not only Black but academically talented.”

His mother Malene said they have been supporting Lawrence in his plans and college preparations since he was in 7th grade.

“We’ve taught them from an early age that education is key to opening up the opportunities and having access to things that they want to life,” his father Curtis said.

Chauvin, Thao, Kueng, and the fourth officer, Thomas Lane, all face a charge for failing to give Floyd medical aid.

“The defendants saw George Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm to Floyd,” the grand jury charged.

Additional charges were lodged against Chauvin related to his use of “unreason-

able force” on a 14-year-old in September 2017.

The indictment noted that Chauvin “held the teenager by the throat and struck the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight.” Chauvin further “held his knee on the neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting, also resulting in bodily injury.”

While Chauvin faces as much as 40

“The Constitution claims to be committed to life, liberty, and justice, and we are seeing this realized in the justice George Floyd continues to receive,” Crump stated.

“This comes after hundreds of years of American history in which Black Americans, unfortunately, did not receive equal justice. The constitutional violations that George suffered are clear and were also detailed by our civil litigation team last July.”

Crump continued: “Further, the additional indictment of Derek Chauvin shows a pattern and practice of behavior. We are encouraged by these charges and eager to see continued justice in this historic case that will impact Black citizens and all Americans for generations to come.”

Black Police Officer Reprimanded For Having Braided Hair While on Duty BlackNews.com Nationwide — Dakari Davis, an African American police officer with the DART Police Department in Dallas, Texas, says he is upset and confused after being told that his braided hairstyle is “unprofessional” by a lieutenant, which ultimately led to him being reprimanded.

Davis, who began serving in law enforcement in 2019, says that he could not believe it when one of his superiors judged his ability to do his job based on his appearance.

He said a particular lieutenant “felt that it was unprofessional for male police officers to wear cornrows and contacted the Chief of Police and eventually filed a formal complaint against my hairstyle,” according to WFAA. Davis was, in fact, ordered not to wear the hairstyle while in full uniform in July 2019, documents revealed. But when he wore the hairstyle again during a DART police officer awards ceremony, an internal affairs investigation was conducted in November 2019.

“I actually decided to cut my hair out of fear of retaliation, I said, ‘you know what, I have a son, I need to provide for them, I’m just going to cut my hair,’” Davis said.

After the investigation, his “braided or cornrow hairstyle” was referred to as “unprofessional and unapproved.” A complaint against him listed five allegations including insubordination for disobeying a direct order from a supervisor and violation of the police department’s dress code policy.

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Davis was then placed on administrative leave and he received a recommendation for termination and a letter of reprimand.

Davis, who always dreamed to protect and serve, said he became depressed at that time.

He eventually reached out to Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, who thankfully supported him. The letter of reprimand was rescinded in September 2020 and a notice was sent to the Chief of Police from DART’s Chief Operating Officer, Carol Wise. He was also put back to his full assignment as a motorcycle officer without restrictions.

Most recently, DART has been reviewing its appearance policy, stating that it is done as “times change, people have dif-

ferent desires.”

“We understand that you want to be able to work your job, also you want to be able to present a bit of yourself and to present yourself in a particular way,” said Gordon Shattles, DART Director of External Relations.

While Davis is relieved that there have been more discussions regarding the issue, he said it is also important to acknowledge the underlying bias about hairstyles in the workplace.

“If you know me and I wear this uniform and stand right beside you and you view me in that manner, what does that say about you and how you view someone who doesn’t wear this uniform?” Davis asked.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

More Than 85 Percent of Black Homicide Victims Killed With Guns

Study Finds Missouri has the Highest Black Homicide Victimization Rate in the Nation for the Fifth Year in a Row

Guns are by far the most common weapon used to kill Black homicide victims in America, according to a new study by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The study found that 86 percent of Black homicide victims nationwide were killed with guns. Of these, two thirds were killed with a handgun.

In addition to national data, the annual study, Black Homicide Victimization in the United States: An Analysis of 2018 Homicide Data, also ranks the states according to their Black homicide victimization rates. It is based on unpublished data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR). The study details homicide rates for 2018, the most recent year for which comprehensive national data is available. This is the 15th year the Violence Policy Center has released the study. To see past editions of the study, click here.

“In 2018, Black men, women, boys, and girls were only 14 percent of our nation’s population, yet accounted for 50 percent of all homicide victims.

These deaths devastate families, traumatize communities, and almost always involve a gun. The goal of our research is to help support community advocates and organizations working on the ground to stop this lethal violence while, at the same time, continuing to educate and engage the public and policymakers on the need to address this ongoing national crisis,” states VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann.

For the entire UNITED STATES, the study finds that in 2018: • There were 7,426 Black homicide victims in the United States that year.

Blacks represented 14 percent of the U.S. population, yet accounted for 50 percent of all homicide victims.

• The Black homicide victimization rate in the United States was 18.18 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall na-

tional homicide victimization rate was 4.92 per 100,000. For whites, the national homicide victimization rate was 2.83 per 100,000.

• Of the 7,426 Black homicide victims, 6,314 were male, 1,111 were female, and the sex of one victim was unknown. The homicide victimization rate for Black male victims was 28.48 per 100,000.

In comparison, the overall rate for male homicide victims was 7.17 per 100,000 and the rate for white male homicide victims was 3.76 per 100,000. The homicide victimization rate for Black female victims was 4.63 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall rate for female homicide victims was 1.93 per 100,000 and the rate for white female homicide victims was 1.48 per 100,000.

• For homicides in which the weapon used could be identified, 86 percent of Black victims (6,116 out of 7,072) were shot and killed with guns. Of these, 66 percent (4,024 victims) were killed with handguns.

• For homicides in which the victim to offender relationship could be identified, 76 percent of Black victims (2,267 out of 2,995) were killed by someone they knew. The number of victims killed by strangers was 728.

• For homicides in which the circumstances could be identified, 70 percent (3,018 out of 4,335) were not related to the commission of any other felony.

Of these, 51 percent (1,531 homicides) involved arguments between the victim and the offender.

The 10 states with the highest Black homicide victimization rates in 2018 were:(See graph) In addition, individuals living in communities where violence is prevalent are at higher risk for a broad range of negative health and behavior outcomes. An increased understanding of how trauma resulting from community violence inCon’t on page 18

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

IN MEMORIAM:

Comic Legend Paul Mooney Dies at 79

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Senior National Correspondent

Paul Mooney, the comedian who wrote episodes of “Sanford and Son,” “Good Times,” and “The Richard Pryor Show,” has died at the age of 79.

His publicist, Cassandra Williams, confirmed Mooney’s death and said he died at home in Oakland, California.

“Thank you all from the bottom of all of our hearts …you’re all are the best!…

Mooney World… The Godfather of Comedy – ONE MOON MANY STARS!…

To all in love with this great man… many thanks,” the family posted on Mooney’s Twitter account Wednesday morning.

A genius at standup comedy, Mooney was the opening act for Eddie Murphy’s 1987 feature, “Raw,” a follow-up to Murphy’s wildly popular “Delirious.”

He wrote lines for Pryor and appeared several times on the “Dave Chappelle Show.”

In 1978, Mooney portrayed Sam Cooke in “The Buddy Holly Story.”

Known as the “godfather of comedy,” Mooney was born Paul Gladney in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Mostly flying under the radar as a writer for the smash-hit television series “Sanford and Son,” starring legendary comedian Redd Foxx, and “Good Times,” starring John Amos and comedian Jimmy “JJ” Walker, Money wrote some of Pryor’s most memorable routines.

Those including “Live on the Sunset Strip” and “Is It Something I Said.”

He later teamed with the Wayans family to write episodes of the groundbreaking variety show, “In Living Color.”

“Paul Mooney. A comedy giant. I recall listening to his RACE album in college and how formative it was,” filmmaker Ava Duvernay wrote on Twitter.

“Yeah, the jokes. But more so, the freedom. He spoke freely and fearlessly about

feelings and experiences others found difficult to express. May he be truly free now. Rest, sir,” Duvernay concluded.

A genius at standup comedy, Mooney was the opening act for Eddie Murphy’s 1987 feature, “Raw,” a follow-up to Murphy’s wildly popular “Delirious.” (Photo: Paul Mooney at a promotional event for Charlie Murphy to promote his book The Making of a Stand Up Guy in December

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Nation’s First Bill to Extend Victim Services to Survivors of Police Brutality

By Ken Epstein | Post News Group

The California Senate’s Committee on Public Safety this week unanimously passed SB 299. Authored by Senator Connie Leyva (SD-20), which would extend services to victims of police violence and expand eligibility for survivors of homicide victims.

“It is unacceptable that in order to receive assistance through the Victim Compensation program, police reports and the opinion of police would carry such heavy weight in the application for compensation when the injuries were sustained as a result of police actions,” Senator Leyva said.

“SB 299 will improve access to vital resources for victims of police violence as they recover from the physical and emotional injuries caused due to the actions of police or—in the cases of individuals killed by police—be able to bury their loved ones with dignity and respect,” he said.

“Just as the state’s Victims Compensation program can use evidence beyond police reports for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking, so too do victims of police violence deserve similar recognition of their circumstances so that they can get fair access to the help they need.”

Police reports and opinion can also prevent families of homicide victims from obtaining compensation, without any recourse or due process. Families in shock at a violent loss then struggle to bury their

loved ones. SB 299 would, for the first time, expand eligibility to make sure survivors of homicide victims are not denied based on the contents of inaccurate, unfair or biased police reports.

“We cannot continue to let the police decide who is a ‘deserving’ victim,” says Youth ALIVE! Director of Programs, Kyndra Simmons. “This has prevented many survivors and victims, including victims of police violence, from accessing the resources and support meant to help them heal.”

“Qualifying for victim compensation

was life-changing for me after my son Jordan was killed,” says Tonya Lancaster, trauma survivor and Youth ALIVE! client. “I want to see that support for everybody who needs it.”

Under existing law, victims of limited types of crimes are eligible to receive compensation from the California Victim Compensation Board’s Restitution Fund.

That compensation can cover a range of needs spanning medical expenses, burial expenses, wage and income loss and much more.

SB 299 would extend this eligibility to

include incidents in which an individual sustains serious bodily injury or death as a result of a law enforcement officer’s use of force, regardless of whether the law enforcement officer is arrested for, charged with, or convicted of committing a crime.

This would ensure that survivors of police violence and loved ones of those killed by police are no longer dependent on either a police report documenting the victimization, which is often elusive, or the opinion of involved police when assessing a victim’s responsibility.

“We cannot tolerate treating victims

of police violence with any less care and compassion than we extend to other crime victims,” said Controller Betty Yee, California’s chief fiscal officer. “We must work toward a just, fair, and peaceful society, and this expansion of victim compensation is one small step in that work.” “”Advocacy for victims must include all victims and survivors, regardless of who caused the harm. That’s why my office started a first-in-the-state program in 2020 to ensure that our Victim Services Division compensates victims of police violence like any other victim,” said San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.

“Unlike victims of other crimes, victims of police brutality are commonly denied access to victims compensation funds to cover burial costs, medical expenses, lost income, therapy and more,” said Prosecutors Alliance Executive Director Cristine Soto DeBerry. “No one should have to start a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of burying a loved one lost to violence.”

SB299 is co-sponsored by California Controller Betty Yee, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, Californians for Safety and Justice, the Prosecutors Alliance of California, and Youth ALIVE! It will be heard next by the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The post Nation’s First Bill to Extend Victim Services to Survivors of Police Brutality first appeared on Post News Group.

Black Moms and Babies Die More, Funding to Save Lives

By Dianne Anderson

Black Infant Health providers are ecstatic with the long-awaited latest addition to their family – a $25,000 little bundle of joy now starts the first phase of a culturally competent awareness campaign to help Black moms and their babies stay alive.

It’s the first of many Long Beach dollars to trickle down to address horrific numbers of Black infants and their mothers who are dying at two to four times the rate of white infants and mothers.

Time has not made a dent in the desperate statistics that exist nationally, statewide and locally.

Gwendolyn Manning said the grant that she initiated came through as a $500,000 extension spanning two years is set to kickstart a mass media campaign. The recent $25,000 supports the first phase development of a BIH website and an app to push access and awareness for Black moms throughout the state.

The funding fuels a lifesaving effort to reach the community. Everyone is waiting, but until the dollars come in full, increasing awareness is at a standstill.

“It’s not just about promoting the pro-

gram, this money is designed as a public awareness campaign about issues of Black maternal and child health birth disparities. That message can’t go out across the state of California until all the funding has been released,” said Manning, BIH Program Coordinator of Long Beach Health and Human Services Department Last September, the California Department of Public Health awarded the city’s Health and Human Services Department a $1,000,000 grant, which includes two fiscal years at $500,000 of program coordination, development and implementation of the BIH program statewide public awareness campaign.

The money was designated and allocated last year, but gridlock at the policy level held up the process, she said. It’s now pushing eight months to get fully funded, and she’s getting nervous as they wait that more Black lives are at stake.

Long Beach is the lead fiscal agent and working with BIH partners spanning several counties statewide, including a collaboration grantee Alameda County Public Health Department. The campaign covers 17 BIH program areas, including Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Ber-

nardino and San Diego.

Manning said the campaign is being run by a trusted local Black vendor with a proven track record who has worked with her BIH program for years.

But getting through the city’s selection protocol has been grinding slow, which was designed to ensure fairness in the city selection process, but the Black vendor she uses was not on a pre-approved list.

She requested an “Exception to Policy” to help expedite the campaign.

Manning is excited about the first installment, but the clock is ticking on the rest of the funding to get their campaign rolling before the fiscal year runs out. Her grant extension for $500,000 accommodates BIH campaigns statewide, not just for Long Beach.

Although Fresno has a different policy in place, she said they’ve already moved on their funding for their consultant vendor in starting their area campaign.

Concerns around Black infant health also figures predominantly in the city’s initial Racial Equity and Reconciliation report calling for a new Black Health Center.

Participants wanted to see funding for a centralized location that incorporates

15

community care workers, public health interventionists, doulas, and patient navigators from the Black community.

“Many Black community members were concerned about the number of Black staff employed at the Health Department.

The absence of Black staff makes it difficult for Black community members to trust the quality of services received at the Health Department,” the report said.

Manning, who has been connected to BIH for decades, said it’s a great program for advocacy and empowerment education, but the program model doesn’t scratch the surface of what’s needed in the community.

She said everyone should be concerned that the city has 13% Black residents, but no centralized or galvanized space specifically for the Black community to access health help, only smaller fragmented locations. Other groups, such as the Cambodians, LatinX and LGBTQ, all have their own resource centers.

“We don’t have a program model for people to get actual service. We connect people, we send them to referrals but we need something in Long Beach that provides service to Black mom and black

babies. That is lacking,” she said.

Going forward, she said the only solution for successful outreach and connection to health in the community is to develop a fiscal agent for the Black community.

“Many times we’re working with other fiscal agents who are not Black, and that don’t understand the dynamics of why it’s important to have a consciousness around being Black-serving, around being culturally responsive,” she said.

In a 2018 report by Los Angeles County, y Department of Public Health and statewide partners considered a five-year plan to reduce the county’s Black-White gap in infant mortality.

“The IMR for Black babies is 10.4, meaning that a Black newborn in Los Angeles County is more than three times as likely to die as a White newborn, more than two and a half times as likely to die as a Latino newborn, and more than five times as likely to experience death in the first year of life as an infant identified as Asian/Pacific Islander,” the report says.

The post Black Moms and Babies Die More, Funding to Save Lives appeared first on Precinct Reporter Group News.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Black Business Leaders Are Energizing Corporate America On Voting Rights

sures that restrict or prevent any eligible voter from having an equal and fair opportunity to cast a ballot.

Voting is the lifeblood of democracy and we call upon all Americans to join us in taking a nonpartisan stand for this most basic and fundamental right of all Americans.

The CEOs and other top executives of 300 companies, along with law firms, nonprofit leaders, academics and celebrities, signed their names to the letter.

“These are not political issues,” Kenneth Frazier told the New York Times “These are the issues that we were taught in civics.”

The statement does not address specific states’ election legislation. Since the election, state legislators in 47 have introduced a shocking 361 voter suppression bills. The total represents an increase of 108, or 43 percent, just in the last month. As appalling as the proposals to restrict voting are, even more alarming are the proposals to that seek to disregard the results of elections entirely. A bill pending in Arizona would allow the state legislature to overturn the results of a presidential election, even after the count is formally certified by the governor and secretary of state — and even after Congress counts the state’s electors.

Kenneth Chenault, Kenneth Frazier, Ursula Burns and William M. Lewis Jr.– all trailblazers in their industries – are longtime advocates for corporate social responsibility and civic engagement.

In a prelude to Wednesday’s statement, they organized a full-page advertisement in the New York Times on March 31, headlined “Memo to Corporate America: The Fierce Urgency is Now,” that was signed by 72 Black executives.

“We think now that corporate America, Black Americans for sure, but anyone who has values in their corporation that talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, any company that has a values statement about valuing their employees has to stand with our statement,” Ursula Burns told CBS News. “Because their employees — Black, White, Hispanic, women — literally are going to be affected by this type of suppression.”

Kenneth Chenault told CNN, “What we’re calling on corporations to do is not just say they believe strongly in the right to vote. It’s to publicly and directly oppose any discriminatory legislation and all measures designed to limit any individual’s ability to vote.”

In a historic act of solidarity, hundreds of corporations did just that. Whether states will heed their call isn’t clear. But it will be remembered as a moment when standing on the sidelines was – at long last — no longer an option.

The post Black Business Leaders Are Energizing Corporate America On Voting Rights appeared first on The Orlando Advocate.

By Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League In the long arc of the nation’s history of racially-motivated voter suppression, 2021 will stand as a clear and distinct moment that changed everything that came after.

Whether it will symbolize the demise of such suppression – or its shameful entrenchment – remains to be seen.

Certainly, racially-motivated voter suppression is nothing new. The right of Black men to vote wasn’t even constitutionally-protected for the first 94 years of the nation’s existence, and the terrorist regime of Jim Crow blocked most Black citizens in the South from voting for the next 95 years.

But the surge of restrictive voting laws that began after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act with its 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder became a tsunami in the backlash to the historic Black voter turnout in 2020.

The long-overdue moment for corporate America to take a stand is upon us.

And it has been brought about by its most influential Black members.

Led by Kenneth Chenault, the former CEO of American Express; Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co.; former Xerox Holdings Corp. CEO Ursula Burns, and William M. Lewis Jr., chairman of investment banking at Lazard, hundreds of corporate executives signed an open letter opposing voting limits that ran as a two-page advertisement in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other publications Wednesday.

The powerful – and deeply patriotic – statement reads, very simply: A government of the people, by the people.

A beautifully American ideal, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history.

As Americans, we know that in our democracy, we should not expect to agree on everything. However, regardless of our political affiliations, we believe the very foundation of our electoral process rests upon the ability of each of us to cast our ballots for the candidates of our choice.

For American democracy to work for any of us, we must ensure the right to vote for all of us.

We all should feel a responsibility to defend the right to vote and to oppose any discriminatory legislation or mea-

16

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

Civil Rights Groups Sue Georgia Over New Sweeping Voter Suppression Law ATLANTA — Civil rights groups have filed a new federal lawsuit against Georgia’s sweeping law that makes it much harder for all Georgians to vote, particularly voters of color, new citizens, and religious communities.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and law firms WilmerHale and Davis Wright Tremaine brought the case on behalf of the Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Georgia Muslim Voter Project, Women Watch Afrika, Latino Community Fund Georgia, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. The law being challenged is S.B. 202, which was passed by the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate and signed

by Gov. Brian Kemp in under seven hours last Thursday. These elected officials’ actions follow the 2020 presidential election and the 2021 runoff elections for two seats to the U.S. Senate that saw record turnout of voters, particularly Black voters, in Georgia.

The elections were celebrated not just for their turnout, but also for their integri-

ty, with Georgia officials praising them as safe and secure. But rather than act to expand participation in the political process, Georgia leaders responded by doing what they have done many times in the state’s history: they placed burdensome, unjustified, and unnecessary restrictions on voters, particularly voters of color and other historically disenfranchised communities.

The lawsuit challenges multiple provisions in S.B. 202, including the: ban on mobile voting new narrow identification requirements for requesting and casting an absentee ballot delayed and compressed time period for requesting absentee ballots restrictions on secure drop boxes out-of-precinct provisional ballot disqualification drastic reduction in early voting in runoff elections

perhaps most cruelly, ban on “line warming,” where volunteers provide water and snacks to Georgians, disproportionately those of color, who wait in needlessly long lines to cast their vote These provisions, the lawsuit charges, violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and infringe on Georgians’ rights

under the First, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

“This law is driven by blatant racism, represents politics at its very worst, and is clearly illegal,” said Sophia Lakin, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “We urge the court to act swiftly to strike it down.”

“Legislators and Governor Kemp ignored the very obvious lessons from the election in 2020 and runoffs in 2021: expand safe and secure access to the ballot, codify innovations to voting, and provide additional resources to cash-strapped counties,” said Nancy Abudu, deputy legal director for the SPLC. “Instead, to appease conspiracy theorists and amplify deadly lies about past elections, Georgia’s leaders have chosen to pass into law S.B. 202, which makes it more difficult for every Georgian — but particularly Georgians who are members of historically disenfranchised communities — to vote in a safe, secure, and convenient manner and have that vote counted. In so doing, the defendants have violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution, and we turn to the federal courts and U.S. Congress to

17

address the incredible harm S.B. 202 will have on our clients.”

“S.B. 202 is perhaps the most bold and shameful voter suppression legislation enacted in the modern era. Its purpose and target are clear: to create barriers to voting for Black voters who turned out in record numbers for the November 2020 presidential election and the January 2021 special election. The provisions of the new law and the manner in which it was enacted reflect a thorough disregard for the sanctity of protecting the right to vote and a headlong and determined zeal to diminish Black political power in Georgia,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF’s president and director-counsel. “This is a powerful moment for democracy in this country. S.B. 202’s attempt to disenfranchise Black voters in Georgia harkens back to the most shameful days of voter suppression in the decades before the civil rights movement. That this law was passed in Georgia, less than a year after the death of one of the state’s greatest heroes, Representative John Lewis, is shameful. In his name, we will fight to strike down this illegal attempt to undo his legacy. Anything less represents a grave threat to the future

of our democracy and inherently undermines the notion of equality for all.”

“Democracy depends upon people expressing their voices freely through their votes,” said WilmerHale partner Debo P. Adegbile. “The Georgia omnibus voting obstruction law is a prime example of modern voter suppression and erodes democracy. A great deal has changed in Georgia but the commitment to brazenly disenfranchise voters clearly has not.”

“S.B. 202 attacks the most sacred foundations of our democracy. But in this country, the law secures every American citizen the equal right to make their voice heard at the ballot box, no matter who they are. And we intend to vindicate that right in court,” said Adam Sieff, attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine.

The lawsuit, Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church v. Kemp, was filed in federal court in Atlanta.

Complaint: https://www.aclu.org/legaldocument/sixth-district-african-methodist-episcopal-church-v-kemp Statement: https://www.aclu.org/pressreleases/civil-rights-groups-sue-georgiaover-new-sweeping-voter-suppressionlaw

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

White House Throws Full Support

Behind DC Statehood

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

The Biden Administration strongly supports H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, and the President on Tuesday urged swift passage of the measure in Congress.

“For far too long, the more than 700,000 people of Washington, D.C. have been deprived of full representation in the U.S. Congress,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement of administration policy.

“This taxation without representation and denial of self-governance is an affront to the democratic values on which our Nation was founded. H.R. 51 rights this wrong by making Washington, D.C. a state and providing its residents with long-overdue full representation in Congress, while maintaining a Federal District that will continue to serve as our Nation’s seat of government,” the statement continued.

Most observers expect H.R. 51 to pass the U.S. House on Thursday, but the measure is sure to get a lot of pushback in the evenly divided U.S. Senate.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a longtime and tireless advocate for statehood, said the time has come for full representation for District residents.

“The residents of our nation’s capital deserve voting representation in Congress and full local self-government,” the Democrat remarked.

“With Thursday’s House vote and expected passage, along with Democratic control

of the Senate and White House, we have never been closer to statehood,” Norton concluded.

Because some Senate Democrats like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin have ruled out legislation to either eliminate the filibuster or relax the filibuster rules, it’s unlikely the required 60 votes for passage could be found in the Senate.

“D.C. statehood is a key part of the radical leftist agenda to reshape America,” GOP Congressman James Comer of Kentucky stated, signaling that there would be no Republican support for passage in the upper chamber.

The Senate is evenly split at 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as the tie-breaking vote.

The filibuster requires that laws are passed with at least 60 votes. Only bills – usually financial measures – can pass on a simple majority using the process known as rec-

onciliation.

Still, establishing “the State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth as the 51st state will make our Union stronger and more just,” the White House said.

“Washington, D.C. has a robust economy, a rich culture, and a diverse population of Americans from all walks of life who are entitled to full and equal participation in our democracy.”

The Administration said it looks forward to working with Congress as H.R. 51 proceeds through the legislative process to ensure that it comports with Congress’s constitutional responsibilities and its constitutional authority to admit new states to the Union by legislation.

“The Administration calls for the Congress to provide for a swift and orderly transition to statehood for the people of Washington, D.C.,” White House officials continued.

Con’t from page 13

More Than 85 Percent of Black

Homicide Victims Killed With Guns

fluences development, health, and behavior can lead to improvements in the way many social services are delivered as well as policy changes at the local and federal levels (see the July 2017 VPC study The Relationship Between Community Violence and Trauma: How Violence Affects Learning, Health, and Behavior, https://vpc.org/ studies/trauma17.pdf). At the same time, the firearms industry, looking to expand beyond its shrinking base of white male gun owners, has launched an organized marketing campaign focusing on Blacks and Latinos. If successful, such efforts can only increase gun death and injury in these communities (see the January 2021 Violence Policy Center study How the Firearms Industry and NRA Market Guns to Communities of Color, https://vpc.

org/how-the-firearms-industry-andnra-market-guns-to-communities-ofcolor/).

The FBI data includes incidents reported as justifiable homicides of Black victims killed by law enforcement. Nationwide, there were 110 such incidents reported in 2018. The data does not specifically identify killings by police that are not ruled justifiable. In December 2015, the FBI announced that it would dramatically expand its data collection on violent police encounters by 2017. In October 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice outlined a plan to improve the collection of law enforcement use of force data. The FBI has begun to release online very limited information on law enforcement use of force incidents.

In addition, the agency notes that in

2020 only 5,030 out of 18,514 federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout the nation participated and provided use of force data.

The officers employed by these agencies represent 42 percent of federal, state, local, and tribal sworn officers in the nation.

The rate of Black homicide victimization is calculated by dividing the number of Black homicide victims by the Black population and multiplying the result by 100,000. This is the standard and accepted method of comparing fatal levels of gun violence.

The full study is available at http:// vpc.org/studies/blackhomicide21.pdf.

The Violence Policy Center is a national educational organization working to stop gun death and injury. Follow the VPC on Twitter and Facebook.

18

Idriss Déby: Chad’s President Killed on Battlefield

By BurtonWire

International news outlets are reporting that Idriss Déby, longtime president of the country of Chad has died. Jason Bourke of The Guardian reports: “A statement from the military said the 68-year-old ruler, in power for 30 years, had been killed “on the battlefield” after being injured fighting rebels but gave no further details.

Déby last week won a sixth term in presidential elections. The poll prompted an invasion by a Libya-based rebel group called the Force for Change and Concord in Chad, which military officials had said was repulsed at the weekend.

Officials had said the veteran politician would not give a victory speech after the polls because he had travelled to the frontlines to take charge of military operations.

“He died as he lived, as a free man, with a weapon in his hand,” Abderrahman Koulamallah, a former rebel and presidential adviser, told French radio network RFI.” Amid Déby’s death, it is being reported parliament has been dissolved and replaced by a military council led by Déby’s son General Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno.

Déby ruled for 30 years and was elected to six terms as president. He died at age 68.

This story is developing.

Read more at The Guardian.

Follow The Burton Wire on Twitter or Instagram @TheBurtonWire.

This article originally appeared in The Burton Wire.

The Big Lie as Journalism: Murdock Paper Publishes “Book” Lie on Vice President Harris

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor On April 23, The New York Post published and then edited a story that claimed that a children’s book by Vice President Kamala Harris was given out to migrant children at the Mexican border as part of a “welcome kit” upon entering the U.S. Former New York Post writer Laura Italiano claims she was forced to write the story.

“The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point,” wrote Italiano on social on April 27.

Increasingly, Murdock media properties, such as Fox News, have relied more on contributors and fictional information rather than straight reporting focused on accurate knowable truth as demography in the U.S. changes.

The non-factual information after the election of President Joe Biden has resulted in lawsuits for defamation — such as two lawsuits by Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems. The companies are suing Murdoch’s Fox Corporation for billions in defamation and named Fox anchors Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro as defendants.

Dominion Voting Systems sued Rudy Giuliani for $1.3 billion based on over 50 statements by Giuliani made at hearings, on social media, his podcast and on Fox News — where Giuliani claimed Do-

minion Voting Systems “flipped” votes to facilitate President Biden’s win. President Biden won by over 7 million votes with several Republican controlled states certifying his election as legitimate.

The headline in the article was headlined by the words “Kam on in.” The “news” story claimed that migrant children were being given “welcome” packets with a copy of the Vice President’s 2019 children’s book, “Superheroes Are Everywhere.”

Daniel Dale, a fact checker at CNN, pointed out that The New York Post “temporarily deleted, and then edited and republished,” the debunked piece.

An editor’s note at the bottom of the current version of the story now reads: “Editor’s note: The original version of this article said migrant kids were getting Harris’ book in a welcome kit, but has been updated to note that only one known copy of the book was given to a child.”

A CNN poll released on April 30 indicates that the “big lie” strategy is working on some Americans. The question “Did Biden Legitimately Win Enough Votes for The Presidency,” resulted in Republicans answering “no” 70 to 23 percent.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

INNER-CITY 27,19 2016 - August 02, THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - May , 2021 - May 25,2016 2021

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management NOTICE The State ofMACRI Connecticut, Office of Policy PREand Management is recruiting for VALENTINA RENTAL HOUSING APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE a Principal Budget Specialist and a Manager of Intergovernmental Affairs position.

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and is accepting pre-applications for instructions studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develapplication are available at: opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations aphttps://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= ply. Pre-applications will 210420&R2=2855VR&R3=001 be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient and pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon rehttps://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed pre210420&R2=6335MP&R3=001 applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer Floor,The New Haven, CT 06510. and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

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VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES ELM CITYDECOMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids Moving and Storage Services

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio,City 2016Communities hasta cuando seishan recibidoseeking suficientes pre-solicitudes 100) Elm currently bids for moving (aproximadamente and storage services. las oficinas deofHOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes seránfrom enviadas correo a petición Aen complete copy the requirement may be obtained Elmpor City Communities’ llamandoCollaboration a HOME INC alPortal 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse Vendor https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/ a las oficinas de HOME INC en gateway 171 Orange Street, tercer beginning on piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Monday, May 10, 2021 at 3:00PM.

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NEW HAVEN

FILE CLERK /CUSTOMER SERVICE

POSTING DATES: FROM: Thursday, April 29, 2021- Until Filled RATE: $17.00 - $20.00 PER HOUR HOURS: FULL-TIME 35 hours

JOB TITLE: Invitation to Bid: Passport Transitional Services (PTS) Outreach Specialist

APPLY NOW! 2 Notice

FROM: Wednesday, April 28, 2012 - Until filled HOURLY RANGE: $12.00 – $18.00 per hour SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE HOURS: Full-time 35 hours per week nd

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Old Saybrook, CT Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

JOB TITLE: (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project SMART Women Case Manger (Bi-Lingual)

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Portland

FROM: Thursday, April 29, 2021 – Until filled

PART-TIME: New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast- 30-32 HOURS HOURLY RATE: $15.00 to $17.00 PER HOUR in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Casework, FORResidential MORE INFORMATION visit CAANH Careers Youth Services Administrator Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.https://www.caanh.net/careers full-time position.

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

Community Action Agency of New Haven, Inc.

Attn: Human Resources 419 Whalley Avenue New Haven, CT 06511 Fax: (800) 721-3040 Go to www.portlandct.

E-mail: caanhjobs@caanh.net Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 org for details.

Please Forward Resume and Letter of Interest to Human Resources by 4:00 PM on Closing Date.

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF NEW HAVEN, INC. IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Control Act of 1986 requires the hiring of only American Citizens and aliens, who are authorized to work in the United States.

Project documents availableImmigration via ftp Reform link and below: Town of Bloomfi eld http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage The Community Action Agency of New Haven offers pathways to prosperity to those in poverty in the Greater New Haven area through:

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

. Collaboration

. Advocacy

THE GLENDOWER GROUP

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 Invitation AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Full-time, benefited $27.94 hourly Pre-employment drug testing. For details and how to apply go to www. bloomfieldct.org AA/EOE

19

. Knowledge Generation

for Bids

Architectural Design for 34 Level Street

The Glendower Group is currently seeking Proposals for Architectural Design for 34 Level Street. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, March 8, 2021 at 3:00PM.

THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - May , 2021 - May02, 25,2016 2021 INNER-CITY 27,19 2016 - August

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Listing: Commercial Driver

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in

Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory Immediate opening for a Class A part time driver for a petroleum training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT and asphalt company for deliveries for nights and weekends.

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k). Send VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay resume to: Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven HousingHR Authority,

is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develEmail: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** opment& located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Women Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apply.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Action/ Opportunity Employer 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed pre Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Street, fast Third paced petroleum company needs a full Extremely Reclaimer Operators Floor, New Haven,and CTMilling 06510.Operators with current licensing and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the North- time (which includes on call and weekend coverage) detail oriented experienced Dispatcher. A strong logistics backeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits ground and a minimum of one year previous petroleum exContact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 perience required. Send resume to: VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.touHR Manager, P.O. Box 388, Guilford, CT. 06437 signant@garrityasphalt.com

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** aceptando pre-solicitudes estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Affirmative Action/ para Equal Opportunity Employer

ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas correo Materials a petición LLC, a quarry and paving contractor, has posiTractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por Galasso llamando HOME INCLicense, al 203-562-4663 duranterecord, esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán ment.

Must ahave a CDL clean driving capable of tions openremitirse for the upcoming construction season. We are seeking a las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, , CT 06510 operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven candidates for 1). Quality Control (experienced preferred), 2) Of-

NOTICE

Listing: Dispatcher

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Request for Proposals

Leadership and Team Building Consulting Services Elm City Communities is currently seeking proposals for leadership and team building consulting services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, May 17, 2021 at 3:00PM.

NOTICIA

HELP WANTED:

Union Company seeks:

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

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer 242-258 Fairmont Ave

NEW HAVEN

Invitation to Bid: LASCANA HOMES 329 Smith Farm Road Orange, CT 06477

fice Clerks, 3) Truck/Scalehouse Dispatcher (experience and computer knowledge preferred) and 4) Equipment Operators and Laborers and a Grading Foreman. NO PHONE CALLS. Please mail resume and cover letter to “Hiring Manager”, Galasso Materials LLC, PO Box 1776, East Granby, 06026.

ALL APPLICANTS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR EMPLOYMENT WITHOUT ATTENTION TO RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, nd GENDER IDENTITY, NATIONAL ORIGIN, VETERAN OR DISABILITY STATUS.

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

We all have

DREAMS.

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

Let Job Corps

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY help you

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2,achieve 2016 at its office atyours.

28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Now enrolling!

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Tuition-free career training High school diploma programs A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith College credit opportunities Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Housing, meals and medical care provided

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfFor more information, visit jobcorps.gov or call (800) 733-JOBS [5627] fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

New Haven County - Jesselica Rodriguez – Rodriguez.Jesselica@JobCorps.org !"#$%&'(")*+,$*-+#".&/$*0(1,)2*3*4&//2*0(,,&"*5*Conner.Kelly@JobCorps.org Waterbury and Surrounding Areas – Abdul Shabazz – Shabazz.Abdul@JobCorps.org

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to CAREERS HERE reduce theBEGIN scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

Job Corps is a U.S. Department of Labor Equal Opportunity Employer Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. TDD/TTY telephone number is (877) 889-5627.

New Construction of 7 Buildings, 46 Units, Approximately 62,573 sf.

This is our project. No Wage Rates, Taxable on materials Bid Due Date: June 3, 2021 @ 3pm Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=lascanahomesoforange All questions and bids must be submitted in written form and directed to the appropriate estimator: Eric Facchini - efacchini@haynesct.com for Site, Concrete, Masonry and MEPs trades.

John Simmons - jsimmons@haynesct.com for all trades in Divisions 6 through 14.

This contract is subject to state and contract compliance requirements

Invitation to HCC Bid: encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 2 Notice AA/EEO EMPLOYER

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Town of Bloomfield Old Saybrook, CT Full

Assessor

MINORITY CONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITY

(4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Renovations to Project 268 Putnam St., Bridgeport, CT SOLICITATION OF SBE/MBE Time-Benefited

CONTRACTORS: Enterprise Builders, Inc., an Affirmative Action/Equal OpportuSalary Rangenity Employer, seeks certified SBE/MBE New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast- Subcontractors and/or suppliers and local $83,663-$129,768 business enterprises to bid applicable sections of work/equipment/supplies for the in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Pre-employment drug testing. following construction project: Renovations to 268 Putnam St., Bridgeport, CT. Bid Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, ForFlooring, more details, visit our website Date and Time: Monday, June 21, 2021 by 2:00 PM. Electronic Plans and specifications Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. www.bloomfieldct.org can be obtained at no charge by contacting the Estimating Department at Enterprise This contract is subject to state set-aside Builders and contract compliance requirements. at (860) 466-5188 or by email to bbaril@enterbuilders.com. Project is

Town of Bloomfield

Tax Exempt and Prevailing Wage applies. This project is subject to state set-aside

and contract requirements. EBI encourages the participation of certified Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5,compliance 2016 Zoning Enforcement Officer SBE/MBE contractors.

EBI is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Full-time, benefited Project documents available via ftp link below: $38.03 hourly http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage MINORITY CONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITY

Pre-employment drug testing.

For details and how to apply go to www.

North Branford Police Station, Northford, CT SOLICITATION OF SBE/MBE CONFax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com bloomfieldct.org AA/EOE HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,TRACTORS: S/W/MBE & Section 3 CertifiedBuilders, BusinessesInc., an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity EmEnterprise Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Seymour, CT 06483 ployer,Ave, seeks certified SBE/MBE Subcontractors and/or suppliers and local business QSR STEEL CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER enterprises to bid applicable sections of work/equipment/supplies for the following construction project: North Branford Police Station, Northford, CT. Bid Date and Time: Thursday, June 10, 2021 by 2:00 PM. Electronic Plans and specifications can be obtained at no charge by contacting the Estimating Department at Enterprise Builders Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders at (860) 466-5188 or by email to bbaril@enterbuilders.com. Project is Tax Exempt Top pay for top performers. Health and Prevailing Wage applies. This project is subject to state set-aside and contract Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. compliance requirements. EBI encourages the participation of certified SBE/MBE/ WBE/DBE/Veteran Owned contractors. EBI is an Affirmative Action/Equal OpporEmail Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER tunity Employer.

APPLY NOW!

20

INNER-CITY 27,19 2016 - August 02, THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - May , 2021 - May 25,2016 2021

LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE INVITATION TO BID FOREST COURT VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Enterprise Builders Inc. (“EBI”), acting as General Contractor for Westmount, will receive qualifi ed on sub-contractor proposalsHouse for theand work with the project known HOME INC, behalf of Columbus theassociated New Haven Housing Authority, as is Forest Courtpre-applications (the “Project”). for Bids shalland be received via hand delivery,ate-mail, or fax accepting studio one-bedroom apartments this develat opment the contact information below,Street, on or before 3:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday, June located at 108 Frank New Haven.

Maximum income limitations ap2, ply.

2021.

The bids will be privately opened.

Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y

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

The project includes the selective interior renovation of an existing 36-unit apartment been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon recomplex, with related sitework. The work includes selective demolition and abatement, quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed prefinal cleaning, sitework, temporary fencing, landscaping, masonry restoration, miscelapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third laneous metals, finish carpentry, stairs, asphalt shingle roofing, doors/frames/hardware, Floor, New Haven, aluminum CT 06510. storefront, flooring, painting, signage, postal specialresidential windows, ties, window treatments, residential casework, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical.

DELIVERY PERSON

NEEDED

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

(203) 387-0354

NOTICIA

Drawings can be viewed free of charge via iSqFt. Please reach out to the contacts below to request an invitation to bid. Documents may also be viewed at EBI’s office 46 VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Shepard Drive, Newington Connecticut 06111 (between the hours of 8am– 5pm), Monday through Friday where a disc with all documents may be obtained free of charge.

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudiosPrevailing y apartamentos de do un not dormitorio The project is taxable on renovation. wages apply. en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. pre-solicitudes disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 This contractLas is subject to stateestarán set-aside and contract compliance requirements. julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC.Brian Las pre-solicitudes serán por correo a peticiónor Sub-contractors may contact Baril via email at enviadas bbaril@enterbuilders.com phone (860)a HOME 466-5128, Justin Caporiccio via email at jcaporiccio@enterbuilders.com llamando INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse or aphone (860) de 466–5104, or Eric Lamore e-mail at elamore@enterbuilders.com las oficinas HOME INC en 171 Orangevia Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . or phone (860) 466-5102 regarding the project.

The Owner and EBI reserve the rights to accept any, all, or any part of bids; to reject any, all, or any part of bids; to waive any non-material deficiencies in bid responses, to waive minor inconsistencies; and to award the bid that in its judgment will be in the best interests of the Owner.

NEW HAVEN

EBI is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer. Section 3, Veteran242-258 Fairmont Ave owned, S/M/W/DBE’s & DAS Certified are encouraged to participate.

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

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

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

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

Town of Bloomfield

Assistant Director of Information Systems & Technology

Full Time - Benefited $75,909 to $117,166

Pre-employment drug testing. For details and how to apply go to www. bloomfieldct.org AA/EOE

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice The State of Connecticut, Office of

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Policy and Management is recruiting for a Policy Development Coordinator position. Old Saybrook, CT

Further information regarding the (4 duties, Buildings, 17 Units) eligibility requirements and application Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project instructions for this position is available at:

Newhttps://www.jobapscloud.com/ Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastCT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, 210506&R2=1581MP&R3=001 Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, The State of Connecticut is an equal Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages theto applications This contract is subject state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Project documents Town of Bloomfi eldavailable via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Request for Qualifications

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

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) seeks

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses the services of one or more consultants for transportation planning studies Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 during the 2022 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2021- June 30, 2022). Disadvantaged AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Full-time, benefited $27.94 hourly Pre-employment drug testing. For details and how to apply go to www. bloomfieldct.org AA/EOE

21

Business Enterprise firms are strongly encouraged to respond as prime contractor or to play a significant role within a consultant team. Responses are due by June 4, 2021, (12 noon local time). The full RFQ document can be viewed at the Council’s website: www.scrcog.org or can be made available upon request. Contact Stephen Dudley at 203-466-8624 with any questions.

THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - May , 2021 - May 25,2016 2021 INNER-CITY 27, 19 2016 - August 02,

Graphics Designer/Visual Communicator

NOTICE FHI Studio is seeking a Graphic Designer/Visual Communicator to support project

managers and marketing staff in producing graphics, marketing materials, and visually engaging documents and digital content.

The successful candidate should have mastery VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE of Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop). This early career position brings potential for growth; both with respect to creative graphics development HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, and leadership. The position will also include writing and review of marketing material is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develfor clarity, consistency, and brand messaging. The candidate should have a bachelor’s opment located at 108 Frank Street,orNew Haven. Maximum limitations apdegree in graphic design, marketing, communication.

The income candidate should demply.

Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y onstrate the capability of developing a strong visual identity for materials that are not 25, 2016 and ending sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have already branded, as well when as support creative, visual storytelling.

Proficiency in Adobe been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reAfter Effects and Premiere for video creation/editing and familiarity with HTML/CSS by calling HOME INCare at preferred.

203-562-4663 during those hours.

Completed preforquest editing/updating websites Salary commensurate with level of experiapplications musttobe returned to HOME INC’s offices at Studio, 171 Orange Street, Third ence.

Send resume graphicdesigner@fhistudio.com, FHI 416 Asylum Street, Floor, New Haven, FHI CT 06510.

Hartford, CT 06103.

Studio is an EEO/AA /VEV/Disabled employer.

NOTICIA

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

DELIVERY PERSON

NEEDED

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is requesting proposals forPRE-SOLICITUDES Legal Services.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER DISPONIBLES Request for Proposal documents can be viewed and HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está printed www.norwalkha.org underde the Business aceptando at pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos un dormitorio en estesection desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven.isSean aplican limitaciones de ingresos RFP’s/RFQ’s Norwalk Housing Equal Opportunity máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Employer.Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director. julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100)

Part Time Delivery Needed

en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

(203) 387-0354

Tribus Construction is seeking MBE contractors for the Mapleview Towers Apartments renovation project in Stamford CT. Tribus is seeking contractors in the following trades: laborers, painters, steel, masonry, and HVAC. Please send all inquiries to dmitchell@tribusconstruction.com.

NEW HAVEN 242-258 Fairmont Ave Tribus Construction is seeking MBE contractors the Market Square Apartments ren2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA,for3BR, 1 level , 1BA

ovation project in Newington CT. Tribus is seeking contractors in the following trades: All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 laborers, painters, steel, masonry, and HVAC. Please send all inquiries to dmitchell@ highways, near bus stop & shopping center tribusconstruction.com.

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

Listing: Commercial Driver

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates inFull response to the Church’s Ministryfor needs.

The cost is $125.

Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30Time Class B driver a fast paced petroleum company for nights and 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. weekends.

Previous experience required. wage, 401(k) and64benefi ts.

(203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Competitive Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church Brewster

Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

St. New Haven, CT

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

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY Listing: Commercial Driver

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00Class pm Bondriver Tuesday, 2, petroleum 2016 at itscompany office atfor 28days Smith Full Time for aAugust fast paced andStreet, weekends.

Previous wage, 401(k) and benefits.atSend Seymour, CT experience 06483 for required.

Concrete Competitive Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement the resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Erecting Seymour, Subcontractors: CT at 10:00 am, onLarge Wednesday, July&20, 2016. Contractor is Fence CT Fence Guardrail

looking for Experienced Fence Subcontractors with at least 5 years of experience in commercial fence. Work available 10-12 months per year, highest labor rates paid.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfOHSA 10 safety training required and valid CT driver’s license. Must have a reliable fice, proper 28 Smith Street,coverage Seymour, 06483 truck, insurance andCT your own (203) tools. 888-4579.

We are an AA/EOE company.

Send resumes/inquiriesto: rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com.

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

Workforce Alliance

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

One/Two Day a Week,

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

Town of Bloomfield Custodian

Business Services Coordinator Workforce Alliance is a non-profit organization that delivers employment solutions, prepares people for jobs and careers and connects people with jobs in South Central CT. The Business Services Coordinator is responsible for marketing and administering Workforce Alliance services to employers in the region and creating employment opportunities for job seekers. Leads a staff of 5, develops plans, supervises and conducts employer visits, assesses business needs and makes presentations. Special effort to do business with Black and Brown owned employers, small businesses and non-profits is a focus of this position.

Bachelor’s degree is required plus at least 5 years of related experience, preferably in business or career development. Knowledge of the local labor market and workforce needs of business. Excellent communication skills. Ability to effectively collaborate with diverse internal and external groups. Ability to travel around the state.

Compensation: Competitive salary plus excellent benefits package.

Please send resume to: Earl Foster, HR Consultant at efoster@workforcealliance.biz Workforce Alliance is an equal opportunity employer.

LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID PARKSIDE VILLAGE I

Enterprise Builders Inc. (“EBI”), acting as Construction Manager for Parkside Village I LLC, will receive qualified sub-contractor proposals for the work associated with the project known as Parkside Village I (the “Project”). Bids shall be received via hand delivery, email, or fax at the contact information below, on or before 3:00 p.m. local time on Monday, June 7th, 2021. The bids will be privately opened.

This project consists of new construction of a 4 story 67 unit 76,000 SF apartment building in Branford, CT. This project will be phased. There are 49 bid packages available, includPre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE. Building Demolition and Abatement (Phase 1 and Phase 2), Temporary Fencing, SiteInvitation ing: to Bid: For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.gov work, Paving, Permanent Fencing, Final Cleaning, Landscaping, Site Concrete, Unit Pavnd 2 Notice ers, Concrete, Gypsum Cement Underlayment, Masonry, Steel, Rough Carpentry, Finish Carpentry/Casework, Wood Stairs, Siding, Air Sealing and Thermal Insulation, Roofing, Gutters and Downspouts, Waterproofing, EIFS, Spray Fireproofing, Firestopping, Doors/ Frames/Hardware, Glazing/Auto Entry Operators, New Passive House Windows, Drywall, Old Saybrook, CT Resilient Flooring, Carpet, Painting, Signage, Toilet Accessories, Postal SpecialSeeking qualified condidates fill Tile, (4 to Buildings, 17 Units) ties, Fire Protection Specialties, Residential Appliances, Trash Chutes and Compactors, numerous vacancies to include, Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing WageTreatments, Rate Project Window Residential Casework and Countertops, Elevator, Fire Suppression, Deputy Assessor, Mechanic Plumbing, Plumbing Insulation, HVAC, HVAC Insulation, HVAC Testing/Adjusting/BalSewer Line, Public Health Nurse Electrical, and Fire Alarm. CastBid package instructions and forms will be issued via New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing,ancing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, addendum. and more. For information and

$23.40/hourly (benefited)

CITY OF MILFORD

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding,

detailed application instructions, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Drawings can be viewed free of charge via iSqFt. Please reach out to the contacts below visit www.ci.milford.ct.us to request an invitation to bid. Documents may also be viewed at EBI’s office 46 Shepard Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Click on SERVICES, JOBS and Drive, Newington Connecticut 06111 (between the hours of 8am– 5pm), Monday through This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Friday where a disc with all documents may be obtained free of charge.

JOB TITLE. project is tax exempt. Residential prevailing wages apply.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5,The 2016

Town of Bloomfi eldStart: August Anticipated 15, 2016 This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Project documents available via ftp link below:

http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Zoning Enforcement Officer Sub-contractors may contact Brian Baril via email at bbaril@enterbuilders.com or phone (860) 466-5128, Justin Caporiccio via email at jcaporiccio@enterbuilders.com or phone

Full-time, benefited (860) 466–5104, or Mike Amarena via e-mail at mamarena@enterbuilders.com or phone Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com (860) 466-5102 regarding the project.

HCC encourageshourly the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses $38.03 Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483

The Owner and EBI reserve the rights to accept any, all, or any part of bids; to reject any, AA/EEO EMPLOYER all, or any part of bids; to waive any non-material deficiencies in bid responses, to waive minor inconsistencies; and to award the bid that in its judgment will be in the best interests of the Owner.

Pre-employment drug testing.

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

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EBI is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer. Section 3, Veteran-owned, S/M/W/DBE’s & DAS Certified are encouraged to participate.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 19, 2021 - May 25, 2021

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