INNER-CITY NEWS

NEWS- July THEINNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS June27, 01,2016 2022- August - June 07, 02, 2022 2016

HBCU’s LawJustice Enforcement Academy is aNAACP first inConvention the nation Financial a Key Focus at 2016 New Haven, Bridgeport

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Volume 29 . No. 24542 Volume 21 No. 2194

Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

“DMC” City's Cultural Affairs Director

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

Wins National Recognition

Color Struck?

Snow in July?

Hillhouse Track Stars SignFOLLOW Onto TheirUS Future ON 1

Green Party Nominates

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

After Massacre, Guns On Campaign Radar

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

“This brick represents my son,” Pamela Jaynez said Friday as she and other moms whose lives were changed by gun violence guided their U.S. Congresswoman down a path of remembrance — and campaign issue-framing.

Jaynez was pointing to a brick on the Magnitude Walkway, which leads visitors to the heart of the year-old New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence on Valley Street in the shadow of West Rock. The bricks are grouped by years, starting with 1976. Each brick lists the name and age of a New Havener killed by a bullet, year after year.

Jaynez and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro had entered the 1998 section of the walkway.

Jaynez was pointing to a brick reading “Walter Jaynes Sr. Age 19.” (Note: Her son’s last name was spelled slightly differently from hers.)

DeLauro, Jaynez and fellow memorial garden organizers were walking the path Friday in response to the shooting massacre this week of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. DeLauro was joined in the garden by other Democratic elected officials looking to emphasize gun control in their campaigns.

Every massacre brings the trauma of losing loved ones — and the quest to stop gun violence — back home to the moms who led the creation of the Botanical Garden of Healing.

“I feel for the moms going through that with their fourth-grade children in Texas,” Jaynez told DeLauro during the walk.

“It’s hard. Every time you hear a shooting you relive it: the phone call, going to the hospital.”

Jaynez “had just left to go to work” the day in 1998 when she received the call to rush to the hospital. That’s where she learned that someone had shot her son.

She later learned that the shooter mistook her son for someone else involved in a beef.

“That’s my son,” fellow botanical garden organizer Marlene Miller-Pratt told DeLauro as the group stepped into 1999.

The brick read “Gary Kyshon Miller Age 20.”

“We hope,” said Celeste Robinson Fulcher, whose daughter Erika Renee “Hoppy” Robinson died in 2013 from a random bullet sprayed into a Hamilton Street nightclub, “people get a feeling they need to take action” after taking walks like these.

Friday’s stroll down the path took place before a press conference held at the memorial garden, billed as a call to that action.

The press conference mirrored a dynamic in races across the country: Democrats have looked upon the two recent massacres (in Buffalo and Texas) as opportunities to highlight an issue they feel has the

PAUL BASS PHOTO Rosa DeLauro (second from right) Friday at Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence with parent-survivors (from left) Michael Song, Marlene Pratt-Miller, Pamela Jaynez, Celeste Robinson Fulcher

Bysiewicz (flanked by Song, Fulcher and Pratt): "Not on NRA's Christmas list.”

backing of most voters: gun control. (The same with abortion.) They are looking to steer the conversation away from issues Republicans are emphasizing on which polling shows public support: inflation/ rising gas prices and the economy in general.

Gov. Ned Lamont’s reelection campaign organized Friday’s memorial garden event. Lamont himself did not attend. Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who is running for reelection alongside Lamont, did show up, along with DeLauro, Mayor Justin Elicker, the memorial garden organizer moms, New Haven Alders Honda Smith and Richard Furlow, state NAACP leader Scot X. Esdaile, and the Rev. Kelcey Steele.

Speaker after speaker cast the Uvalde massacre and New Haven’s ongoing person-by-person gun massacre as prime exhibits for why people should elect Democrats who support gun control.

They noted that Connecticut has among the strictest gun-control laws in the nation, thanks in part to the legislature’s response to the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. The Uvalde massacre should now propel Congress to pass new measures to strengthen background checks and “red flag” permit-process notification laws, they argued, and ban assault rifles like the one used by the 18-year-old Texas shooter.

DeLauro also vowed to keep working to pass a federal version of Connecticut’s

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“Ethan’s Law” to ensure better private storage of guns. She said that while standing alongside Michael Song, the father of the law’s eponymous Guilford teen who died in an incident involving an improperly stored gun.

“We have to take this issue back,” Marlene Pratt declared during the press conference. “We hurt.”

“This is a problem we can solve. It is clear from the data” that measures like assault-weapon bans and universal background checks save lives, Mayor Elicker said.

He and Bysiewicz focused on the race for governor, a rematch between Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski.

Elicker spoke about the governor’s efforts to close a loophole in Connecticut’s law banning ghost guns: It bans only newly produced guns, not ones previously manufactured. He noted that the homemade, 3D-printed weapons are on the rise: New Haven police have confiscated 15 of the weapons so far this year, compared to one at this point in 2021.

Bysiewicz referenced a video that surfaced this week of Stefanowski previously suggesting to a gun-rights group that parts of Connecticut’s Sandy Hook-inspired legislation went too far and should be repealed. She noted that Stefanowski has an A rating from the NRA. “I’m not on the NRA’s Christmas card list. I wear that as a badge of honor,” Bysiewicz declared.

“The question for voters in November is: Who do you trust to do the life-saving work” of gun control? Bysiewicz stated.

She said Stefanowski is “on the wrong side of this issue. He’s on the very extreme side of this issue. His allies in the

United States Senate are on the wrong side of this issue.”

“I support Connecticut’s gun laws.

They’re the strictest in the country. I will uphold them,” Stefanowski told the Independent in a conversation after the event. He dismissed the video of his past remarks as “a Democratic hit piece from four years ago. They cut and pasted it.”

Asked about the proposal to close the ghost-gun loophole, he replied, “I’m happy to talk about that. It should be a holistic approach. We should talk about all the elements that put our kids at risk,” including school security, mental health, and gun laws.

Stefanowski called it “unfortunate and disgusting to use this [massacre] as a political attack on me.” He said Lamont should “take his politician hat off and stop attacking and put his governor hat on … You had 19 kids killed. The governor should be holding a press conference on what he’s doing to keep kids safe.”

Meanwhile, work is underway to add new bricks to the homicide memorial garden’s Magnitude Walkway, to remember the New Haveners who have lost their lives to gun violence in 2022.

Marlene Pratt noted that the moms’ walk with DeLauro took them past a sculpture that, up close, shows how the homicide shatters and fragments a family’s lives.

She also noted that when one stands at the Tree of Life planted at the walkway’s end, a different view of the sculpture emerges: “You see the restoration of that family. You see a time when that family can be back together again.”

A time, as she described it, when no more bricks will need to be added.

New Chief Expands Fair Rent’s Mission THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

by LAURA GLESBY |

New Haven Independent

Wildaliz Bermúdez has a vision for New Haven’s Fair Rent Commission: Not just to consider disputes over individual rent hikes, but to piece together a big-picture sense of housing costs and living conditions in the Elm City.

As the commission’s new executive director, Bermúdez has an opportunity to shepherd that vision into practice. Bermúdez shared the vision over Zoom at the latest meeting of New Haven’s Affordable Housing Commission, as she outlined her department’s role in local housing regulation at a time when New Haven rents rose an estimated 19 percent in one year.

The Fair Rent Commission, as Bermúdez explained, is tasked primarily with reviewing complaints of exorbitant rent increases. Case by case, the commission typically works to mediate — and as a last resort, adjudicate in a public hearing — rent disputes rent between landlords and tenants.

Most of the time, those disputes arise when a landlord attempts to increase rent.

The commission also hears complaints of poor living conditions that may merit a rent freeze or decrease until repairs are made, and complaints of retaliatory evictions.

As executive director, Bermúdez is one of two paid city staffers assigned to the

commission, which is otherwise comprised of nine volunteer commissioners.

The other staff member affiliated with the commission is a field representative who assesses the quality and value of each apartment in question before the commission. That field representative examines factors like the size and configuration of the apartment, the market rents for comparable apartments in the neighborhood, any housing code violations, and the last time the apartment has been renovated.

The executive director and field representative themselves don’t make judgment calls about what a “reasonable” rent would be for a particular apartment.

Rather, they collect information that the nine commissioners will use when making a decision.

In her new role succeeding Otis Johnson, Bermúdez said, she plans to start collecting data about the types of complaints that the commission receives, in hopes of building a big-picture sense of the city’s housing landscape from the commission’s day-to-day, case-by-case work.

That information could include rent averages by zip code and census tract, the rate at which rents have been rising, and where most complaints have been coming from, Bermúdez said.

Bermúdez also seeks to inform New Haveners about Fair Rent’s role, both online, through social media posts and informa-

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Fair Rent Executive Director Wildaliz Bermúdez.

tional videos, and face to face, at community meetings, religious institutions, and libraries.

Finally, she said, she aims to increase the commission’s collaboration with other departments and entities, like the Affordable Housing Commission.

What About Those Other Fees?

One possible opportunity for collaboration arose in the discussion at the meeting last Wednesday evening, when Affordable Housing Commissioner and housing advocate Claudette Kidd asked about

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Fair Rent’s purview over apartment fees outside of rent — specifically, application fees.

“Currently, landlords are charging whatever they want for application fees,” Kidd said. She spoke of an instance she’d heard about in which a landlord charged an application fee for an apartment that was not vacant. “Are there any caps on application fees?”

Bermúdez told Kidd she’d have to research whether application fees would fall under Fair Rent’s jurisdiction.

Elias Estabrook said he would put “security deposits as the same category as application fees. Costs before [a tenant is] even in the home that can be prohibitive,” and that should somehow be regulated.

Affordable Housing Commissioner Anika Singh Lemar argued that while an application fee may not be covered by Fair Rent, since it isn’t established by a lease, a security deposit should be considered a form of rent.

The Fair Rent Commission has weighed in on other housing charges under a lease.

It recently ruled that a pet fee had been set too high for a Maltby Place apartment, for instance.

There are limits on what a landlord can charge as a security deposit, Bermúdez said: Landlords are not allowed to charge more than three months’ worth of rent upfront. But, Bermúdez added, tenants may not be informed about that restriction.

Singh Lemar suggested that the city require multi-unit apartment buildings to post sheets of paper with information on tenants’ rights — “kind of like an OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] posting” on workers’ safety rights — with information about security deposit limits, housing inspections, and housing-related hotlines.

Fair Rent complaints can be filed in person at City Hall, or online

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Cops: We Caught Norman Boone’s Killer

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

Five years after a 27-year old New Havener who tried to turn his life around was shot and killed on Dickerman Street in the middle of the afternoon, police obtained an arrest warrant for his alleged killer — thanks to help from a “courageous community member” who came forward to talk to detectives.

Mayor Justin Elicker, Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle, and Assistant Police Chief Karl Jacobson made that announcement Tuesday afternoon during a press conference on the third floor of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave. They were joined by over a dozenfamily members, friends, and neighbors of the murdered man, Norman Boone — as well as by nearly 10 fellow city and state law enforcement officials.

Rush-Kittle said that, on May 26 of this year, Det. Bleck Joseph “submitted and had granted an arrest warrant” for a 31-year-old New Havener who is already incarcerated on unrelated gun charges.

She said that this suspect will be served with that arrest warrant in state court on Wednesday for the charges of murder, first-degree assault, criminal possession

of a firearm, and carrying a pistol without a permit. Those charges, Rush-Kittle said, stem from this suspect’s alleged murder of Norman Boone in the early afternoon of May 27, 2017 outside 77 Dickerman St. Jacobson added that the suspect is well known to city, state, and federal law enforcement. The alleged murderer is a member of the “Grape Street Crips,” Jacobson said, and has been arrested three time for various firearm offenses since Boone’s murder.

Boone was 27 at the time he was shot and killed.

Just like his alleged killer, he was a familiar person to city police. Street outreach workers lauded him back in 2008 for turning his life around, before he apparently fell back into trouble.

“This does give us some peace that justice can be served,” said Agape Christian Center Pastor Willa Moody, speaking on behalf of Boone’s family.

Boone’s aunt, Rosa LaSane, agreed. She thanked the police officers — namely Joseph. Sgt. Bert Ettienne, and retired Det. Michael Wuchek — who have worked on Booke’s case for the past five years. And she thanked the community member who decided to come forward and speak with

the police after all this time to help the NHPD reak the case.

“Thank you to the person who stepped up,” LaSane said.

Jacobson said that that “courageous community member” coming forward recently to talk with the police about Boone’s shooting death was crucial in helping detectives find out who the alleged murderer is.

“This is important. We need the families and the community to stand with us,” Jacobson said. “We’re happy to bring a small sense of peace and comfort to Mr. Boone’s loved ones.”

He also celebrated how Joseph is one of 10 newly promoted detectives in the NHPD. Nice job, he said to Joseph. That promotion “is working out.”

During his time at the mic, the mayor turned to Boone’s family members and friends, and thanked them for coming to thepress conference — and thanked them for their patience as city police worked to find Boone’s alleged killer.

“Justice takes time,” he said.

Tuesday’s presser marks the latest announcement this year that city police have found an alleged killer from a homicide that took place years ago.

Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle hugging members of Boone's family.

Ribbon Cut On Phase 2 Of Mill River Crossing

by LAURA GLESBY

New Haven Independent

Brenda Harris fought for safer, higherquality homes throughout her 50 years living in the once-dilapidated housing complex known as Farnam Courts. On Tuesday, she helped unveil the results of her advocacy: about 200 gleaming new townhouse-style apartments and community spaces in the second phase of a complex reborn as “Mill River Crossing.”

Harris has lived at the complex under both titles, on the block between Hamilton Street, Franklin Street, and Grand Avenue, since she was a baby. She recalled decades of fending off cockroaches and rodents and witnessing neighbors develop asthma from apartment mold. Tenants also reported unrelenting crime in the decades before the new Mill River Crossing renovations occurred.

“It was not a place for people to raise their children,” recalled U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who grew up in the Wooster Square neighborhood and whose parents advocated for change at Farnam Courts.

But Farnam also had an organized tenants’ council, which Harris would come to lead herself. The council pressed city and housing authority leaders to act on their living conditions, and convened regularly from 2013 to 2019 for hours at a time to pore over architectural designs

The ribbon to the community space is cut. and provide input into the new plans.

“We fought day and night,” Harris said.

“I’m just so happy. I can’t believe our dream finally came true.”

Harris now lives in the “Phase 1” development of Mill River Crossing — a fivestory, 94-unit apartment building facing Grand Avenue that opened its doors in 2018.

She arrived at Tuesday’s celebration led in the 93-degree heat by Elm City

Communities/New Haven Housing Authority Director Karen DuBois-Walton, and attended by families of a number of individuals remembered for their contributions to the life of Farnam Courts/Mill River Crossing. The group convened to officially recognize the second and final phase of Mill River Crossing’s development, completed just weeks ago (except for a soon-to-be-built playground in the courtyard.)

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The new Mill River Crossing is a public-private partnership developed by the Glendower Group, the nonprofit arm of the city’s housing authority. A majority of the units there are affordable for families at 25, 50, and 60 percent Area Median Income (AMI). (A family of four at 50 percent AMI earns $56,300 per year.)

Mill River Crossing also includes a number of market-rate units — marking a shift in philosophy of affordable housing development since the original Farnam Courts was built.

Farnam Courts had been one of the oldest public housing projects in New Haven. It was built in 1941 as veterans returned from World War II and Black Americans moved northwards during the Great Migration. At the time, the prevailing practice in American public housing development had been to “cram people [seeking affordable housing] together in one place,” said DeLauro.

The new Mill River Crossing, by contrast, is a mixed-income development.

“Phase 2” of Mill River Crossing comprises 170 affordable units and 31 market rate units. The new market rate units were in high demand and have all been filled up, according to Ed LaChance, Glendower’s vice president.

In total, the second phase of apartments comprises 64 two-bedrooms, 38 three-

bedrooms, and nine four-bedrooms. More than $130 million in private capital and federal funding paid for this phase of the project, including demolition, road construction, and electrical work outside of the apartments themselves.

An entryway to another apartment.

The redevelopment process entailed demolishing the existing Farnam Courts building, which had been set back from the street behind Ted DeLauro Park, and rebuilding the five-story high rise right up against the sidewalk, moving DeLauro Park back to become a courtyard.

Behind the park, a glass-walled community center now stands, with offices and a kitchen space that will soon house social services, Elm City Communities offices, and computers for residents, according to DuBois-Walton. And the rest of the block is filled with rows of new multi-story, townhouse-style apartments, each with massive closets and spacious kitchens.

One of Harris’s and the tenant council’s requests was to name the streets running through the development in memory of people who were instrumental to the Farnam Courts/Mill River Crossing community. Those people included former Mayor John DeStefano Jr., Rosa DeLauro, architect Regina Winters, and the late Con’t on page 29

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -- June June31, 07,2022 2022 May01 25,,2022 2022 -- May

Bolaji COVID Patient

“To everyone who saved my life and my baby’s life too... thank you – from both of us.”

“I was 34 weeks pregnant when I found out I had COVID. While I was on the ventilator and sedated, I delivered Joseph by C-section, and I couldn’t see him for a month. But the doctors and nurses at Yale New Haven Health, they took care of us.”

At Yale New Haven Health, we’re grateful to all the healthcare workers out there who care for others.

So that others can live.

5 16

May 25 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - May June 31, 07, 2022 2022

After Teen’s Murder, A Village Presses On

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

The metaphorical “Village” worked hard to raise Anthony Strother back up.

So it stung extra hard when a shooter cut him back down for good.

Strother, 18, was shot dead Monday evening while visiting the McConaughy Terrace public-housing development on South Genesee Street from his home in the Hill neighborhood.

A rally and prayer vigil in his memory by the homicide site drew not just neighbors but community leaders who worked with Strother and his family to turn around his life — and believed he had turned a corner. Now they called on the community to help police find the killer, before someone else is slain in their youth.

Street outreach worker William “Juneboy” Outlaw knew Strother. Outlaw counseled Strother while he served prison time for a crime committed early in the Covid-19 pandemic. Then, upon Strother’s release, Outlaw helped him find work at the North Haven Amazon warehouse. Outlaw talked Strother down when Strother came to him distraught the day he watched a judge sentence the man who (in 2018) murdered his brother. (“You’re going to honor your brother by doing the right thing,” Outlaw told him.) Outlaw was in the process of guiding Strother through obtaining his commercial driving license when Strother himself was shot dead this week.

“He was on the right path,” Outlaw said Wednesday evening. “He was a very good kid.”

Kermit Carolina, a school system youth engagement specialist, knew Strother.

He helped Strother re-enroll in Riverside Academy when he left prison. Then he helped him pursue his GED when the Amazon job required him to work during the day.

Top city cop Karl Jacobson knew Strother. Like Carolina, he would visit

Strother’s house, touch base with his father, seek to guide him to a second chance.

West Hills Alder Honda Smith knew Strother; two weeks before the killing, Strother approached her with some friends by the soda cooler at Omar Deli at Harper and Valley streets asking her help in getting some of them jobs. She said she was ready to call them back this week with leads.

“We surrounded him with hope,” Jacobson, the NHPD’s assistant chief, said at the rally Wednesday. “We gave him a second chance. He was doing better. He doesn’t have a second chance anymore because of what happened the other night.”

“A team of people were really working

Gov. Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski won their party’s endorsements two weeks ago at the convention, but they’re not the only candidates running for governor.

Last weekend, the Green Party of Connecticut endorsed Michelle Louise Bicking for governor and Cassandra Martineau as lieutenant governor.

The Green Party doesn’t have automatic ballot access which means it will have to collect 7,500 signatures to get Bicking and Martineau on the ballot in November. However, the 45 year old Bickings, doesn’t believe it will be a hard path.

“We’re rocking it,” she said Wednesday in a phone interview.

Bicking, the mother of a six year old, was

on her way to a soccer game when she took a few minutes to talk about her campaign and what she hopes to accomplish over the next few months.

Bicking, a licensed clinical social worker, former foster parent, and birth doula with two masters degrees, said universal health care is at the top of her list.

“There would be a safety net for everyone,” Bicking said. “And insurance would be bundled not sold separately for your eyes and ears.” She said health care should include the whole body, including access to dental care.

She said she sees her hospice clients, even the ones considered wealthy, struggle to afford the health care everyone deserves.

PAUL BASS PHOTOS Pastor Valerie Washington prays with family of slain 18-year-old Anthony Strother at Wednesday vigil.

with him,” said Eric Strother, Anthony’s dad. “I was working with him. I just miss him. I really miss him.”

The police don’t know yet who killed Strother or why. Speaker after speaker Wednesday appealed to the dozens assembled on South Genesee Street to urge anyone with information to come forward.

Alder Smith spoke about the time she learned her nephew had stolen items from Home Depot. “I called the police on him, because he had no business going stealing,” she said. “If I can do it it, you can do it. Stop having shut mouths … before a baby becomes riddled with bullets.”

Pastor Valerie Washington, who grew

up in the neighborhood and has led antiviolence street prayer services at McConaughy Terrace, told the crowd that one of her sons did hard time for “trafficking drugs and guns to Maine. I gave him up because I wanted him to live.”

Another theme, in the speeches and then in emotional, clustered, spontaneous prayers in the street with the family, linked pleas to help police with pleas to avoid retribution.

“Street justice,” Mayor Justin Elicker argued, doesn’t equal true justice. It doesn’t signal courage. “Courage is standing at the witness stand, looking at the killer, and saying, ‘He did it.’ We can honor [Strother’s] life by finding his killer so we

can prevent another life from being lost.”

The concern about retribution coursed through the prayers that Pastor Washington directed to Anthony’s 15-year-old brother Jordan as she huddled with him, Anthony’s sister, his father Eric, and his grandmother Vergie Strothers, who had been raising Anthony along with Eric after Eric’s mother died. Jordan looked up to his older brother, who taught him how to play basketball.

“God, it’s OK. It’s OK for him to cry,” Washington prayed aloud, her eyes closed, her arm around Jordan’s shoulder as family members and city officials and others pressed close.

“Crying shows, Father God, that he has a heart. Is made flesh.

“We pray that when he is by himself, when he is in the bathroom, wherever he is by himself, he will begin to talk to you.

“Show him who you are. Show him your glory. Father, I pray that the person who has taken his brother, you will allow that person to become incarcerated. Before this month is out. Show him, God. Touch him, father! Give him peace. Don’t let him grow angry. Don’t let him be angry in life. Father; do not allow him to even seek retaliation. He’s a good kid. God, this is a good kid!”

Murmurs of assent seconded the comment.

“He’s a good kid, God! And he will continue on the right path. We thank you Father God for allowing him not to succumb to whatever is happening around him. Thank you for giving him new hope and new dreams.

“In Jesus’s name we pray.”

“Can I have a hug young man?” Washington asked Jordan.

Jordan answered with his arms.

“It’s OK,” the pastor told him, patting his back. “It’s OK.” The Village had lost Anthony. It wasn’t giving up on Jordan.

Green Party Nominates Gubernatorial Candidate

Michelle Louise Bicking of Newington is running for governor Credit: Contributed photo

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Before the Patient and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, Connecticut was considering its own universal health care system until it saw the price tag.

“While one of the wealthiest states, Connecticut is also among the most segregated, with one of the widest income gaps in the country,” Bicking said. “The major parties are running two millionaires for governor, but we’re running to address the everyday issues faced by regular people.”

A first-generation woman of color of Bajan/Vicentian descent, Bicking said she still believes in the American Dream, but the playing field is not level and never has been. She said she’s a Catholic, but pro-choice.

“I believe women should be able to make a decision about their own bodies and it’s no business of the state,” she said.

Bicking also said she would focus on better access to mass transit as a way to lift people out of poverty and get the economy to work for more people.

The theme of her campaign is “making room at the table” for everyone, regardless of income, age, race, ethnicity, gender identification, sexual orientation, and health status.

Bicking, who hasn’t been included in any of the recent polls, said she would fight to be included in any debates that are held.

Con’t on page 29

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

1‑Time Child Tax Credit Celebrated; Pols Promise To Press For Permanence

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

Rebekah Moore will get one $250 check — then her state and federal representatives will fight to have the government send more checks in the future to working parents like her.

That was the upshot of a press conference held Monday inside the Dixwell Q House gymnasium.

Elected officials held the conference to celebrate the passage of a one-time child-tax rebate in Connecticut, and to declare their commitment to trying to make child tax credits permanent not just in Connecticut, but in Washington, D.C. The state budget taking effect July 1 includes a refundable tax credit of $250 per child for up to three children for lower and middle-income families. To qualify, parents can visit this webpage starting June 1, when they’ll find a dedicated link there to apply. The state plans to mail the checks in August. The families of estimated 600,000 children are eligible.

The one-time credit follows the passage last year of a one-time federal child tax credit of up to $3,600 per child, as part of the pandemic-relief American Rescue Plan. New Haven U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro led the passage of that measure over an 18-year period. Once passed, it led to the single fastest and largest child-poverty cut (41 percent) in history,

according to one study. But the tax cut expired at the end of 2021, and, DeLauro noted, child poverty is rising again.

The state credit, passed as part of a broader budget update, also expires after one go-round unless legislators vote again to extend it or make it permanent.

In D.C., DeLauro said, she is continuing to work on making the credit permanent. She said she sends information to fellow Democrat Joe Manchin, a U.S. senator who opposed DeLauro’s proposal, and stays in touch with Republicans like U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, who have authored differed versions and may be open to compromise. DeLauro said she is opening to discussing a maximum income eligibility lower than the $400,000 in her measure’s first version.

State Rep. Sean Scanlon, who authored the Connecticut version (“I got this idea from Rosa”), and State Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney said they’ll continue as well to work to keep the tax credit in future budgets.

In making their cases, the three Democrats highlighted pitches expected to be heard nationwide on the campaign trail this year, as their party seeks to counter a so-far successful Republican strategy (based on opinion polls) blaming Democrats for inflation-magnified financial struggles facing families. In Connecticut, Democrats from the governor on

At presser, from left: U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Rebekah Moore, State Rep. Sean Scanlon, State Sen. Martin Looney.

down are running as better “tax-cutters” than Republicans, with a twist.

“People are living paycheck to paycheck. They’re struggling. They need a break. They need a government that

is looking out for working families,” DeLauro declared. She and Looney contrasted their proposals for lower-income and working-class tax credits to federal tax cuts going to “the top one-tenth of

one percent” of income earners and large corporations.

“There are many well-off families in Connecticut who are doing quite well,” Looney added. He grouped the child tax credit with his Capitol team’s successful efforts to raise the minimum wage and earned-income tax credit as part of a strategy to help families at the middle and lower ends of the income spectrum.

“If we can’t find $300 million to help 600,000 children in a $46 billion [twoyear] budget,” said Scanlon, who’s currently running for state comptroller, “shame on us.”

“I’m not giving up,” DeLauro promised. “I’m in the fight for parents like Rebekah.”

She was referring to Rebekah Moore, a program director at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and mom of an 18-month son named Curtis Bernard.

Moore joined the elected officials at Monday’s press conference to praise the value of the child tax credits.

Asked how she’ll spend her $250, Moore answered without missing a beat: “day care.”

She said she is holding off on having a second child until Curtis Bernard is old enough to attend public pre-school.

“Day care,” Moore said, “is literally a second mortgage.”

Brisa Mendoza STEMs The Graduation Tide

by COURTNEY LUCIANA New Haven Independent

As downtown streets closed Monday to make way for a thousand parading Yale graduates, Brisa Mendoza was posted at the center of the brick Broadway center island reading Daughters of Sparta and taking it all in before starting her shift at The Yale Bookstore.

Mendoza last week returned home to New Haven for the summer from Providence College in Rhode Island. She admired the passing Yalies.

“It’s really cool seeing all of the students graduate,” Mendoza said during a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. “Even though I don’t go to Yale, it’s inspiring, because I’m going to be a junior. So I guess that’s coming up soon.”

Mendoza takes pride in how far she’s made it working towards her degree in biochemistry. She said that there’s a lot of speculation among students about how hard it is to complete the program.

“Going into school, you hear that being a STEM major, that’s basically the end.

But I’m in shock that I’ve made it halfway through,” Mendoza said. “Everyone says it’s so hard, but I’m proud of myself for making it this far.”

The 19-year-old has been brainstorming about future careers. She isn’t set on a dream job as of yet but has a lot of ideas in mind.

“Being a vegan has made me consider food chemistry,” Mendoza said. “Skincare is biochemistry. Drug production is too. Environmentalism. There’s so many things I like; that’s why I’m not entirely sure yet.”

Starting in the fall, Mendoza will be working a lab alongside her professor, who is also her school advisor. He’s studying examining the effect of prescription drugs on gut bacteria.

“It takes so many years to make a certain kind of drug for a certain purpose,” Mendoza said. “The bacteria in our gut changes that compound in any kind of way. The idea is: What’s the point of all those years if it’s going to be changing anyway?

“We’re going to be working on that in the fall. I’m excited.”

When Mendoza was younger she wanted to be a lawyer.

“I’ll never forget when my family and I took a trip to D.C. for my birthday, which is on July 4th,” Mendoza said.

“And I took a picture in front of the Supreme Court. I guess if I still wanted to go to law school, I could, but I’m also not

Brisa Mendoza.

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a huge fan of reading a ton for classes.”

Mendoza is staying with her parents in Westville while working at the Yale Bookstore on Broadway. She worked at the bookstore last summer and was accepted back to pick up shifts for the summer.

“I feel like they think that I’m a good worker. I never complain about hours or anything,” Mendoza said. “I just need money.”

She wants to have her own place or be somewhere new next summer.

“I’m sure if I worked more, then I could survive on my own,” Mendoza said. “And have roommates to live with. I’m so happy that I get to live with my parents. But it’s like suffocating sometimes.”

Mendoza’s schedule isn’t set, so she comes in different days each week. She works in the merchandise department.

“I’m pretty available so I don’t care,” Mendoza said. “And sometimes it’s really slow. I’m sure if I was a server then I would be way more stressed.”

She said that with the Yale graduations, people have recently been buying out much of the merchandise.

In June, Mendoza and her family will be visiting Peru, where her parents are from.

“We’re going to go to see our family, go to Machu Picchu, and the beaches,” Men-

doza said. “I’m really excited. Then after that I’m going to visit my friend from college in Maryland.”

Mendoza attended Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden for high school, and still has many friends she hangs out with here.

“There’s actually a lot of women” in STEM, Mendoza said. “Our STEM program isn’t that big. I think our class is made up of 13 students, and there were only four boys. So it was mostly girls.

I think my school is just more girls.”

She had a message to other women who are considering pursuing a STEM degree.

“I think honestly it’s so important to just have an open mind and believe in yourself. Once you tell yourself that you can’t do something, that’s when you shut yourself down,” Mendoza said. “I’ve had those moment,s but then there’s other times when I’m like, ‘No, I can do this, and I just need to do XYZ to make it happen.’ And just take care of yourself.’”

Mendoza wrapped up the segment and headed into her 10 a.m. shift at the Yale Bookstore. She planned on hitting the Planet Fitness with her friend after work this afternoon, once the Yale graduation rush came to an end and the blue sea parted.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Jacobson Tapped As Next Police Chief

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

After a nationwide search, Mayor Justin Elicker has reached within the police department for a new chief, selecting Karl Jacobson to be the city’s next top cop.

The mayor made that announcement Monday morning during a press conference on the second floor of City Hall.

Standing alongside Jacobson, Acting Police Chief Regina Rush-Kittle, West Hills/West Rock Alder Honda Smith, and several city police commissioners, Elicker said that he has nominated Jacobson to be the next permanent police chief of the New Haven Police Department.

Now the Board of Alders must review and vote on the mayor’s nomination before Jacobson can officially step into the role. Elicker said he plans on formally submitting Jacobson’s nomination to the board on June 6.

After a “robust” search process, Elicker said at the press conference, “by far the individual that was the most qualified was right here at home, right here in front of our face.”

“He earned this job.”

Jacobson has served as an assistant police chief since 2019, when then-Police Chief Otoniel Reyes picked him to lead New Haven’s Investigative Services Division. Before rising to that rank, Jacobson held leadership roles in the NHPD at Project Longevity, the Criminal Intelligence Unit, the Shooting Task Force, and the Narcotics Unit. He has long been a familiar face at police press conferences and community meet-ups alike, showing up to support neighbors at events ranging from an “occupation” of a problem bar’s parking lot in Fair Haven to a vigil for a murdered teenager in West Hills.

Jacobson came to New Haven’s police department 15 years ago after spending nine years with the East Providence, R.I., police force, and rose through the ranks.

He lives in New Haven’s Upper Westville/ Beverly Hills neighborhood.

Most recently Jacobson spearheaded the revival of a pandemic-paused intelligence-focused effort to cut gun violence by focusing on the small numbers of young people most directly involved in criminal activity. This year New Haven has seen a drop in shootings; Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Hamden have all seen more homicides. He has developed deep relationships both in the community and in other local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies.

According to a press release put out by the mayor’s office on Monday, in his current role as assistant chief, Jacobson oversees the department’s patrol operations, the detectives division, SWAT, emergency services, and school resource officers, among other responsibilities.

“The thing that I am most impressed is example after example of his genuineness, his commitment to the community,” Elicker said. “He shows up after hours.

Jacobson, with daughter Kelli, at Monday's presser.

He knows people’s names in the community, whether they are victims of violence, [or] the perpetrators. He knew Anthony Strother, who was shot and killed last week. I think that that genuineness is vital to the success of community policing.”

“He is community policing at its finest,” echoed Rush-Kittle, who is currently the city’s acting police chief and previously oversaw the department from her City Hall coordinator role as the city’s chief administrative officer. (She plans to return to that coordinator job after the city’s next police chief is confirmed.)

Through Project Longevity, the multiagency violence-intervention effort, Jacobson said Monday, “I learned to knock on people’s doors and tell them I want them to be safe and stay out of jail.”

As chief, Jacobson said, he would aim to convince more New Haveners to be cops and to build police “legitimacy through procedural justice.”

“Then you solve homicides better.

People adhere to the law,” he said of the legitimacy-policing approach, which emphasizes how police actions help determine public reactions to the force and its own behavior.

Jacobson also pledged to promote diversity within the department. Asked about whom he would support as assistant chiefs, he responded, “I’m going to look for a diverse group to help me through this journey.” He stressed the importance of having “diversity in the ranks,” and to surround himself with people unafraid to let him know if they think a goal or a plan he is pursuing is not a good idea.

West Hills Alder Honda Smith attended Monday’s press conference and expressed support for Jacobson’s nomination. “He is a man of his word. Two, three o’clock in the morning, he answers the phone. He

calls me to let me know what’s going on in the community.”

“I know he can be a great chief of police,” she said. “He believes in the people. … I believe in him.”

Asked her position on the nomination, Board of Alders President Tyisha WalkerMyers stated: “The nomination will follow the normal process and be reviewed by the Aldermanic Affairs committee, then move on to the full BOA. I look forward to the opportunity to hear more from the nominee on the direction of the police department including the plan to diversify the upper ranks.”

Monday’s announcement comes less than two weeks after former Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez retired following her own thwarted nomination for the top spot. The Board of Alders rejected Dominguez’s appointment last December, and, in late April, a state judge ordered her to vacate the role of acting chief after finding that the Elicker Administration was violating the city charter by keeping her in that interim position for more than six months.

When Dominguez stepped down, the mayor picked Rush-Kittle, the city’s chief administrative officer, to serve as acting police chief while his administration completed a months-long, consultantsupported national search for a new permanent police chief.

Elicker’s pick of Rush-Kittle broke with recent precedent of having an assistant chief helm the department as the mayor seeks out a new full-time chief. The mayor said at the time that he was bypassing Jacobson — who has spent the past year serving as the city’s only assistant police chief — because he knew that Jacobson was applying for the full-time role, and he

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didn’t want to unduly influence the search process by having an applicant in that interim spot.

At Monday’s press conference, Elicker said that 15 different candidates wound up applying for the city police chief job.

He said that search process is now over, given his selection of Jacobson to be the next chief, pending confirmation by the alders.

Father, Daughter Hit The Books During the pandemic, while serving as assistant chief, Jacobson returned to school as well, earning his master’s degree in criminal justice at University of New Haven. One of his classmates was … his daughter Kelli. Kelli joined her father at Monday’s press conference.

Following is the text of a write-up about their joint studies, written by Renee Chmiel and published last December in UNH’s Charger Blog: Karl Jacobson ’22 M.S. has been working in law enforcement for the past 25 years. An assistant chief for the New Haven Police Department, he says his time as a candidate in the University’s graduate program in criminal justice has enabled him to look at the field with a new lens and to further incorporate diversity into his work.

Jacobson, who completes his master’s degree this month, says the exchange of ideas in his classes and the interactions he has had with his classmates have been invaluable.

“I believe the information from the other students was helpful, and I feel the information I gave them about policing was helpful,” he said. “I was even in online courses with some of my officers and interim New Haven Police chief Renee Dominguez ’20 M.S. This brought fruitful discussions of our coursework to our work outside the classroom.”

Jacobson says his relationships with his professors were especially beneficial. He cites Lorenzo Boyd, Ph.D., Stewart Professor in Criminal Justice and Community Policing, and John DeCarlo, Ph.D., a professor and former police chief – both recognized experts in policing – as having been particularly impactful. He says his “Policing Fragile Communities” course, taught by Dr. Boyd, helped him get through a particularly challenging time for law enforcement officers.

“I was in this class during the protests related to the murder of George Floyd,” he explains. “This was a tough time in policing, but this was the perfect course for a newer assistant chief attempting to navigate the challenges facing the community and police officers during this time in our country.

“I remember one week we had protests in front of the police station that drew thousands of people,” he continued. “I was able to suggest tactics to peacefully get through the protests, and that week, I was writing a paper for Dr. Boyd on the Black

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Angels Gather To Give Kids Safe Place To Play

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

A party brought Newhallville together at a playground slated to be revamped to honor a Yale clinical scientist who loved to give back and made significant strides to improve substance abuse treatment.

The Kathy Carroll Playground will be located at 600 Winchester Ave., a soonto-be reopened and revived haven for transitional housing, training, and support program for homeless New Haveners inside the former Ivy Street School.

Afternoon showers held out for the kickoff celebration at 660 Winchester Thursday for the playground’s reconstruction and expansion.

The playground will be constructed and expanded over the next year by the Where Angels Play Foundation, a New Jersey-based group that specializes in building memorial playgrounds.

The organization was founded by retired New Jersey Fire Capt. Bill Lavin.

Inspired into action by tragedies like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Sandy Hook School shooting, Lavin gathers retired and active firefighters and other law enforcement members known as the “Angels Army” to build memorial parks throughout the country and beyond.

Thursday’s celebration honored the legacy of Carroll, who was a clinical scientist in the Yale Department of Psychiatry and died in December 2020 at 62 years old.

Before her passing, Carroll was the Albert E. Kent Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and the director of the Psychosocial Research in the Division on Addictions.

In addition to her scientific work with improving treatment for substance abuse, Carroll was a committed volunteer with Christian Community Action (CCA) — which operates the transitional facility at 660 Winchester — for more than 25 years.

CCA Executive Director Rev. Bonita Grubbs thanked the playground’s organizing team, Charla Nich, Jennifer Bardsley, and Kate Chivian, for investing in New Haven’s community.

Alongside Lindy Lee Gold, an advocate of the former Stepping Stone Program that was housed out of 660 Winchester, Grubbs announced that the transitional haven will reopen this summer as a program called New H.O.P.E. The acronym stands for housing, opportunities, purpose, and expectations.

Gold helped to secure the funding for the renovations and furnishing of the building’s apartments that will be provided to the homeless.

“This will be again a landmark. A place of peace. A place of celebration. A place of hope,” she said.

Pastor Roger Wilkins of Maranatha Life Changing Ministries blessed the

spot of the playground to-be. Wilkins said he agreed not only to pray Thursday for his community but also to grieve the loss of his cousin, who was murdered in last week’s Buffalo supermarket shooting.

“Sometimes it doesn’t touch us until it touches us. But it’s important for us to remember that we’re all necessary in that,” he said. “Let this situation turn our community closer together.”

Several of Carroll’s family members joined the celebration, including her daughter Kate Chivian and stepdaughters Natalie and Carla White.

The playground will be designed by the Carroll family to capture Kathy’s personality, Lavin said.

Pre-school graduates of Harris and Tucker School, who crossed the stage earlier in the day, joined the celebration.

William Simmons, the uncle of Skylar, 4, and Javon, 15, attended the kickoff to celebrate Skylar’s graduation outdoors. Simmons takes care of his niece and nephew five days a week and often enjoys showing them new places around town.

“I live off Exit 8 but like for them to see all neighborhoods,” Simmons said.

While the space rumbled with Bomba beats from Proyecto Cimarrón Skylar, Javon and a dozen other children blew bubbles, drew pictures with chalk, played with frisbees and hula hoops, and explored an antique fire engine throughout the event.

Included in the process of coming up with a way to memorialize Carroll were two of her mentees, Brian Kiluk and Ayana Jordan.

Kiluk followed in Carroll’s footsteps with her support and is now an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale and the director of its Psychotherapy Development Center.

“She raised me in my science and my career,” he said. “Her passion to make the community brighter motivated me.”

He described Carroll as a model for great and inclusive leadership.

Jordan, who is an associate professor and addiction psychiatrist at NYU Langone Health, credited her confidence in herself and her work to Carroll’s mentorship.

“As a Black woman, she supervised the fullness of who I am,” Jordan said.

She recalled Carroll often telling her, “You can do this” and “Ayana keep going” during her years rising through the ranks at the Yale School of Medicine.

Jordan has been an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, associate residency program director, and director of the Social Justice and Health Equity Curriculum and the Yale Global Mental Health Residency Program.

Community members enjoyed free subs from Jersey Mike’s and cupcakes

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTOS Participants in Thursday's launch party.

Javon, William Simmons, and Skylar.

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from Stop and Shop.

The group sang two versions of “Happy Birthday” to celebrate Carroll’s 64th birthday, which was Thursday.

Newhallville Alder Devin AvshalomSmith presented the Carroll family with a mayoral proclamation. He thanked the team for investing in Newhallville’s community playground. The only other neighborhood playground is on the property of Lincoln-Bassett Community School, Avshalom-Smith noted.

“I want this to be an intentional neighborhood that has all the amenities every other neighborhood already has,” he said.

The organizing team and partners have raised $280,000 so far for the project; $140,000 is being donated by the Where Angels Play foundation, which is doing the reconstruction pro-bono. The community has a goal of raising the other $140,000 and has raised 60 percent of it so far.

New Haven native and mother of four Rachel Collins, 37, brought three of her kids and her nephew to the Thursday celebration after they got off the school bus.

Collins has lived on Winchester Avenue for 14 years. She often walks to the Bassett Street playground. Playgrounds are often the only place Collins said she feels safe bringing her kids to keep from violence. When not at the park, they are at home, she said.

“I’m glad this is happening so the kids have more to do,” she said.

Collins suggested that a splash pad be added to the park so she can walk her kids down the street instead of to the Bassett playground to play in the summer.

She said she would also love to have tennis courts in the neighborhood.

The Where Angels Play foundation has created 58 playgrounds, 26 of which are memorial playgrounds throughout New England honoring the victims of Sandy Hook.

Lavin vowed to cut the ribbon for the new playground one year from now on Carroll’s 65th birthday.

Jersey Mike’s team member Chad Faulkner, Tony Sarcone, and Andrea Faulkner are raising money on behalf of the project to provide resources to Where Angels Play.

New Haven Fire Capt. Christopher Brigham promised to gather local troops to aid Lavin in volunteering to build the playground.

“Kids are the life of the community and we want to support the growth,” he said.

Brigham brought out the NHFD’s parade engine Thursday for youth to sit in, ring its bell, and learn about. He answered questions from kids about what year the engine was from, why it is white, and where a water hose would be stored to connect to a hydrant.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Hillhouse Track Stars Sign Onto Their Future

by LISA REISMAN

New Haven Independent

Family was the theme at a college signing day program for four track stars at Hillhouse High School — and that extended to the enduring bonds formed between coaches and teammates.

The signing event took place Monday evening at Hillhouse’s Floyd Little Athletic Center. Four track and field standouts formally signed letters of intent to attend specific colleges or universities on track and field scholarships this coming fall.

“We’ll always be your family. We’ll always be your support. If you need help, we’re just a call away,” emcee and assistant track and field coach Darrell Brown told the four athletes, Jennifer Torres Garcia, Ralph Hawkins, Jquan Athis, and Matthew Gibbs.

The event, which was held at Floyd Little Athletic Center, featured remarks

by Hillhouse track and field coaches, recognition of alumni athletes, and speeches by the scholarship athletes amid a spirited group of family, friends, and teammates.

Brown said it was the second signing program that year. “I don’t think anyone else around in this city is doing what we’re able to do with these amazing studentathletes,” he said.

“We’re more than a team,” coach Michele Moore said. “We’re a track family at Hillhouse, and when your family moves away, they don’t cease to be a family. We’re still here for you.”

Coach Gary Moore, Sr. exhorted the younger athletes in the audience to follow the examples set by the scholarship athletes.

“This is really about you looking at these people and being inspired by them to want to sit up here and have the same opportunities,” he said.

Then the athletes took the stage.

Jennifer Torres Garcia, a standout middle distance runner, said she suffered from depression and anxiety through her first two years of high school.

“Those years were tough but I’m grateful that I had many people who believed in me and found ways to push me and help me see that I was capable of much more,” she said.

She thanked her coaches “for always believing in my potential to perform better than what I expect in myself,” recounting one who met her at the track at 6 a.m. on Saturdays to help her get in a workout before work.

She recognized her father for showing up to each of her races “even if it meant going to work a little late.” Her mother, she said, “had to take care of my little sisters, which made it difficult for her to get to my meets, but I always knew when I got home she’d have a big plate of food waiting for me.”

To a chorus of cheers, she announced that she will be studying criminal justice and crime analysis at the University of New Haven on a track scholarship.

LISA REISMAN PHOTO Ralph "Flash" Hawkins with fellow athletes at Monday evening's event.

Coach Michele Moore

To introduce the next honoree, Ralph Hawkins, Coach Brown recalled a 4×200 meter race during the indoor season.

“It seemed like we were out of the race, and that young boy named Flash got the baton in his hand and Xavier is still talking about it to this day,” he said.

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That’s why, Brown said, he’s also known as “the human highlight reel.”

Ralph said he first met Brown in middle school. As punishment for getting into a fight in class, “Coach Brown made me do pushups, and I got stuck at six, and the whole class was laughing and the girl I was dating at the time said you is too weak for me and that kind of hit home,” he said. “So here I am.”

He thanked his mother. “Every time life got hard, she was there,” he said. “I lost my dad, and my brother, my sisters, and everyone else, they were there too.”

When he pulled his hamstring during his sophomore year, “it was pretty tough watching people who weren’t as fast as me winning meets,” he said. “Now I’m #1 in the state.”

Everyone roared.

He recognized Brown “for always finding a way to push through it,” he said.

“If I was hurt, like at the SCC’s, like my back, hamstrings, everything was hurting, he told me to run through it, and I PRed in an event I don’t even do.”

“I’m going to Alabama A&M for criminal justice,” he added. “That’s about it.”

“Okay, Ralphie,” someone called out.

“Do your thing, Ralphie,” Brown said.

When the applause died down, Brown introduced the next honoree, Jquan Athis.

“This person had a situation happen to him, and he found a way to reframe it and use it as inspiration,” Brown said. “He’s come a long way and now he’s one of the top throwers in the state, and that’s why he’s sitting up here today.”

Jquan, who competes in the shotput, discus, and javelin throws, described himself as an energetic and hard-headed kid who was prone to getting into trouble.

Then he grew somber. “On March 8, 2021, I lost my mom,” he said, pausing to collect himself. Brown and Wallie Carmichael, his throwing coach, stood up on either side of him.

“That’s alright, J,” a member of the girls’ team called out. “That’s OK.” “After my mom passed, I didn’t know what I was going to do for a while, and then I decided I needed to change, I needed to start being a better me,” he said, stopping again. Carmichael rested his hand on Jquan’s shoulder.

“I never thought I would be going to school on a scholarship for track and field because I’ve been playing football my whole life, but just having my family, my grandmother, my dad, my uncle, and a bunch of my friends behind me, pushing me, has been a real help,” he said.

“And I just don’t want to disappoint my mom, so I get up everyday to make her proud, strive to be the best at what I can be and I just want to leave a message for her that I love her, and I’m gonna do what I’m supposed to do.”

“C’mon now,” someone shouted, as Jquan announced he will major in criminal justice and minor in business at the University of New Haven.

Matthew Gibbs, who competes in the hurdles, thanked his coaches, his teammates, and his family for their support.

Then he cleared his throat.

“A year and a half ago today, my dad came in my room,” he said. “Basketball season was over and he said it was time for track. I haven’t run track since my eighth-grade year and he was telling me to go back at it. I kept telling him no.”

Eventually he joined the team. It turned out to be the right decision, it seems.

“Without my dad, I wouldn’t be here speaking today,” he said. “My dad is strictly business when it comes to sports and grades. Without him, I wouldn’t be the defending state champion and school record holder in the 300- and 400-hurdles.

Without him, I wouldn’t be a SCC scholar-athlete.”

He said he was recruited by some of the top track programs in the country. “That encouraged me to choose a strictly black college,” he said of his decision to attend Morgan State University on a tuition-free scholarship. “As an African American athlete, I feel like it was the right choice and the first step to bringing more exposure to all HBCUs in the country.”

With that, Brown instructed the athletes to pick up their pens and sign their names to their national letters of intent.

After congratulating them, he addressed the younger members of the teams.

“Anytime you feel down, lean on each other, lean on your coaches, so that when you become a senior, you can be sitting up here as well,” he said.

Following the ceremony, Brown took in the jubilation of the crowd.

“These are the best days,” he said.

“These are the things that give me joy. It’s tough sometimes. You don’t always get the results that you want. But when we can help them get to the finish line, that’s a beautiful thing.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Young Community Builder’s Legacy Blossoms

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

A Dixwell garden will now blossom pink in memory of 21-year-old Chardé Monet Spates, who dedicated her life to giving back to her community.

Spates’s life was celebrated by friends and family Saturday at a pink-infused garden memorial and dedication ceremony. Pink was Spates’ favorite color; the garden that now remains home to an angel monument was put together by Spates two years ago.

The New Havener and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) student was killed in a car crash on Feb. 26.

Spates put together the community garden at the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CTVIP) site at 630 Ashmun St. in the hopes of helping to deter neighborhood violence and provide residents with fresh vegetables every year.

The group of loved ones gathered Saturday for a lunch then a reveal of the garden now dedicated to Spates.

A vanilla strawberry hydrangea tree was planted at the center of the garden with hopes that it will soon blossom pink and white flowers.

A plaque reading, “Planted in memory of Chardé Spates — thoughts of you forever bloom … rooted in love, always in

Friends and family gather on Ashmun Street. our hearts,” was placed by Spates’ mother Charmel Moore at the ceremony.

In the near future an engraved bench will also be brought to the garden, donated by Howard K. Hill Funeral Services.

Executive Director of CTVIP Leonard Jahad recalled Spates starting at the program as a volunteer/intern in 2020 with passion, respect, and dedication.

Spates’ first task was providing Covid education and personal protective equip-

ment (PPE) to the community, particularly youth.

In a week she had established a connection with city Health Director Martitza Bond and got access to PPE and educational materials for her community. With mentorship from Bond, Spates wrote several grants to receive ample PPE for the program to distribute to neighbors.

Then came her second task, creating the program’s community garden. Spates

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once again established community partners to provide her with garden beds, soil, and seedlings.

“I had no idea where she was getting it all, but I knew it was coming from her dedication to the community, so I asked no questions,” Jahad said.

Jahad put Spates on the payroll soon after. She returned each year to plant vegetables in the garden.

Moore was held up

by the support of her close friends and family Saturday while still grieving the loss of her only child.

She described her daughter as beautiful, gentle, forgiving, and a calm spirit who loved everyone.

On Friday a posthumous degree for Spates was awarded to Moore for a bachelor’s in science with a major in public health.

The Saturday celebration was bittersweet, said Moore, who shed tears while thinking about “all the hard work [Chardé] did, and now she’s not here to accept her awards.”

Moore, who is a New Haven math teacher, said she didn’t get to walk the stage for her undergraduate graduation.

She had been looking forward to seeing her daughter do it for them both.

Spates had a love for science and dreamed of becoming a nurse.

Moore connected her daughter with the volunteer opportunity at CTVIP at the start of the pandemic, knowing of her passion to help her community.

“You never know as a parent if your child listens to you, but she exceeded my dreams for her. She was so beautiful,” Moore said.

She thanked the crowd of family and Con’t on page 23, 27

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Bonuses On Way For Teachers Who Hung In

by MAYA MCFADDEN

ees will receive $1,000 incentive bonuses.

Part-time employees will receive $500.

Employees will receive the incentive in their last paycheck of the school year, Tracey said.

“We’ve recognized that our staff members have been working hard right through the pandemic,” Tracey said. “They support the system and allowed the system to continue to float and not sink.”

The district executive team worked with the Connecticut Department of Education to win approval to reallocate a portion of its American Rescue Plan (federal pandemic-relief) funds to accommodate the incentive plan.

The projected total cost of the plan is $7.2M for 3,200 full-time employees and 800 part-time employees.

Recipients include all employees except the superintendent and some assistant superintendents, Tracey said.

Board Vice President Matt Wilcox clarified that the plan funding will not come

New Haven Independent

Full-time and part-time New Haven Public School (NHPS) employees who have been bearing the brunt of staff shortages, upticks in violence, and learning gaps will be thanked for their commitments to the district with $1,000 and $500 retention bonuses.

The Board of Education approved that plan Monday night at its regular biweekly Zoom meeting.

The Retention and Recruitment Incentive Plan was presented by Superintendent Iline Tracey to the board and approved unanimously, as one of several efforts the district is making to retain its education staff and recruit new faces next year.

In addition to offering retention bonuses, the district will also offer recruitment incentives to all full-time and part-time employees who work for the district as of Jan. 1, 2023.

All current and future full-time employ-

Blatteau: A start …

from the district’s general operating budget.

Enough To Counteract Suburban Raises?

New Haven Federation of Teachers President Leslie Blatteau credited U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona for encouraging school districts statewide to use federal dollars to support teachers financially during the pandemic.

“NHFT members certainly welcome this bonus. The last two years have been some of the most challenging of our careers and the recognition of the stress we’ve experienced means a great deal to us,” Blatteau said Tuesday.

She added that the district should address the teacher shortage crisis with “substantial raises for our educators in the coming years” and by giving teachers a seat at the decision-making table.

“Many neighboring districts are making competitive offers to teachers that we can’t refuse,” Blatteau added.

Brackeen Challenges State Rep. Dillon

by PAUL BASS

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At least one Democratic primary contest is brewing in New Haven this year, in the 92nd General Assembly District.

Darryl Brackeen Jr., currently an Upper Westville city alder, announced Friday that he is launching a campaign to challenge incumbent Pat Dillon for the district seat in an Aug. 9 party primary.

The party endorsed Dillon unopposed for reelection at a recent convention. So Brackeen would need to petition his way onto the primary ballot.

Brackeen said he is confident his campaign can collect the 367 signatures of registered Democrats in the ward needed to qualify for the primary. He also said he plans to qualify to participate in the public-financing Citizens’ Election Program based on contributions raised by an exploratory committee he originally set up to consider a run for secretary of the state; he said that quest collected more than the 150 individual contributions of up to $290 within the district needed to qualify for the program.

Dillon has represented the district — which currently includes the West River, Westville, Edgewood, Dwight, and Beverly Hills/Amity neighborhoods — since 1984.

Brackeen cited that fact as a reason to mount his challenge.

“I think that she’s done a great job for the time she has served, and she has served honorably,” Brackeen said of Dillon. “Almost two generations have gone by. Sinking houses are still an issue.

Flooding is continuing to get worse.

“52 percent of the 92nd District is basically living paycheck to paycheck. For me, I feel like we are in need of a stronger

12

Darryl Brackeen Jr. and Pat Dillon.

voice in Hartford to raise up the issues of the economic disparities we’re facing and bring back home the resources that are necessary to level the playing field for a lot of our residents.”

Dillon, a deputy majority leader in the state House of Representatives, responded that her experience has helped her deliver for the district.

For instance, she said, her knowledge of how the state collects data from emergency rooms helped her take a leading role in crafting a successful proposal this term to create a new office of gun violence prevention. She was able to snag $1 million from the federal infrastructure bill to address Forest Road flooding, she said, and deliver $2 million to renovate a building on the Boulevard for early childhood education and $150,000 to help Fellowship Place. Her knowledge of state government enabled her to help many constituents find needed aid during the pandemic, she said. She and State Sen. Gary Winfield met last week with the state’s economic development chief to push for release of money to address sinking homes in the district.

“In the last two years, my experience has really served me well,” Dillon said.

She said she’s running again because “I love the work, and I love the people.”

As Brackeen prepares to begin petitioning, Dillon has scheduled a campaign fundraiser at Manjares at Whalley and West Rock avenues Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m.

The invitation lists Winfield, State Reps.

Juan Candelaria and Toni Walker, and Alders Tyisha Walker-Myers, Richard Furlow, Frank Douglass, Evette Hamilton, Ron Hurt, and Adam Marchand as among the hosts.

Citing the fact that over 60 percent of the 92nd is composed of people of color, Brackeen, who is Black, said he believes the district is “overdue for representation and a stronger voice for the community that actually comes from the community.”

Dillon is white. The 2020 census listed the district’s 24,362 residents as 43.9 percent Black, 31.2 percent white, 21.7 percent Hispanic, 3.7 percent Asian, 0.8 percent Native American, and 0.1 percent Pacific Islander; and 53.1 percent female and 46.9 percent male.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June May 25 01, 2022 - May June 31, 07, 2022 2022

EPA Administrator, Michael S. Regan, Focused on Clean Air and Water for Communities of Color Regan said in each location he visits, he’s sure to invite the national media to accurately report what’s going on in communities across the nation.

“The bipartisan infrastructure provides resources for our communities. There are matching grants and forgivable loans, which means more of our communities have an opportunity to compete for these grants,” he stated.

“We are also making $50 million available for technical assistance to help our communities to become more competitive. I’ve written a letter to every governor in the country outlining the criteria by which we believe those resources should be spent.”

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael S. Regan remains on a journey to justice.

He said President Joe Biden’s historic bipartisan infrastructure bill provides an opportunity to finally rid America of poisonous lead pipes and free communities of color of the toxins that have polluted their neighborhoods for centuries.

“I’m the first Black man ever to lead this agency, the first to graduate from a historically Black college (North Carolina A&T) leading this agency,” said Regan, who made a special appearance on the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s live daily morning news program, “Let It Be Known.”

The program can be viewed on youtube. com/blackpressusatv, facebook.com/ BlackPressUSA, and on Twitter @BlackPressUSA. During a recent discussion with NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Regan declared that the BidenHarris administration is “passionate about the environment and public health.”

The bipartisan infrastructure law invests $3.5 billion in cleaning up superfund sites and addressing the nation’s legacy of pollution, he stated.

Regan said the law delivers more than $50 billion to EPA to improve America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure.

Further, it provides $15 billion to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) for Lead Service Line Replacement, $4 billion to the Drinking Water SRF for Emerging Contaminants, and $5 billion to Water Infrastructure Improve-

EPA Administrator,

Michael S. Regan ments for the Nation Grants to address emerging contaminants.

“There are still 6 to 10 million lead services lines in cities and towns across the country, many in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods,” stated Regan, who also will appear later this year on PBS-TV’s “The Chavis Chronicles,” hosted by Dr. Chavis.

Because of the investments in the infrastructure law, millions of American families will no longer have to fear the harmful health effects caused by lead and other pollutants in their water, Regan asserted.

He recounted a visit to Lowndes County, Alabama, where he found disturbing facts about water in communities of color.

Regan said he witnessed homes with

malfunctioning septic systems that discharged untreated sewage into backyards.

“Where little children play,” he added.

“There also was straight piping into lagoons and to have to see children walk around delicately so that they don’t sink or get bogged down into their own front yards. This is not the America that we all know it should be.”

He continued: This is unacceptable. Safe drinking water, safe sewer systems, you know, this is a basic right. These individuals deserve what every American deserves: clean water and a safe environment.”

On a visit to Wilkins Elementary School in Jackson, Mississippi, Regan recounted

another difficult-to-stomach experience for young children of color.

City officials declared a citywide mandate to boil water as Regan arrived because of the discovery of toxic chemicals.

Regan said he had scheduled time to speak with second and third graders and found port-a-potties stationed outside the school.

“It looked like a worksite, and many of the kids had already been sent home because they couldn’t prepare food because of the water,” Regan remarked.

“This is on the heels of a pandemic. But the kids who remained behind were so excited because they got to see someone who looked like them in my position and someone who cared.”

Regan continued: “I’ve traveled and met with mayors because a lot of this action starts at the ground level.”

Regan said he developed a passion for public service as a young person.

His father graduated from North Carolina A&T and served in Vietnam, working as an agricultural extension agent and with the national guard.

For 40 years, Regan’s mother worked as a nurse.

“I grew up with the desire to contribute to society because of what I saw in my home,” he exclaimed.

Regan studied environmental science and earth science.

Notably, he said Biden’s proposed 2023 budget request for EPA provides $11.9 billion to advance key priorities, including tackling the climate crisis, delivering environmental justice, protecting air qual-

Trauma of Sandy Hook Recalled Following Texas School Shooting

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy begged his colleagues Tuesday to take action to prevent another school shooting like the one in Texas that claimed 21 lives, including 19 students and two teachers, while wounding others.

The shooting is the second deadliest since 26 were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. in 2012. Tuesday’s death toll is also higher than that of the 2018 mass murder in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed.

In a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday Murphy asked his colleagues: “What are we doing? What are we doing?”

Murphy who has tried since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to expand gun background checks has been unsuccessful in his efforts. In 2016 he filibustered for 15 hours to get a debate on the measure, but was unsuccessful at securing enough support.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McCo-

nnell, who has an A+ rating from the NRA, tweeted that he was “horrified and heartbroken,” but didn’t indicate he was willing to take any legislative action.

The Senate is currently divided 50-50.

All Democrats and at least 10 Republicans would need to vote for a measure to strengthen background checks or take action on ghost guns or a handful of other measures Democratic lawmakers have been proposing for years.

“In Sandy Hook Elementary School after those kids came back into those classrooms, they had to adopt a practice in which there would be a safe word that the kids would say if they started to get thoughts in their brain about what they saw that day. If they started to get nightmares during the day, reliving stepping over their classmates bodies as they tried to flee the school,” Murphy said.

“In one classroom, that word was monkey, and over and over and over through the day kids would stand up and yell

monkey, and a teacher or paraprofessional would have to go over to that kid, take them out of the classroom, talk to them about what they had seen, work them through their issues. Sandy Hook will never ever be the same. This community in Texas will never ever be the same.”

He ended by begging his colleagues to: “Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.”

Po Murray, the chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, said they have been warning politicians for a decade that “if a mass shooting can happen in Sandy Hook then it can happen anywhere.”

But she said that won’t happen unless politicians take notice and do something.

“Any elected officials who only send

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy comments on Texas school shooting

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Con’t on page 27

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - May June 31, 07, 2022 2022 May 25

Report shows America’s major cities are pricing out Black residents

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire

At the onset of the pandemic, there wasn’t a single state, region, or county in America where a full-time worker earning the minimum wage could afford a twobedroom rental home, and nearly half of Black and Latinx renters (and more than a third of all renters) were paying unaffordable rent, a new report has revealed.

The National Equity Alliance released “The Shrinking Geography of Opportunity in Metro America” this week, and found that the coronavirus pandemic continues to both illuminate and deepen the challenges of structural racism and housing inequity in the United States.

“While rent relief programs are sunsetting and rents are skyrocketing, millions of renters negatively impacted by the pandemic’s economic fallout face crushing rent debt, eviction, and homelessness,” the report’s authors wrote.

“And the renters who have been hit the hardest are disproportionately people of color and people living on low incomes.

This extreme precarity stems from a housing crisis that has plagued communities for decades.”

Thai Le, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute; Edward Muña, project manager at the institute; Sarah Treuhaft, vice president of Research at PolicyLink; and Rasheedah Phillips, director of housing at PolicyLink joined to author the study.

They revealed that working-class households face a shrinking geography of opportunity in metro America.

Across the 100 most populous metropolitan areas, the number of zip codes

where the median market rents are affordable to low-income households declined 50 percent between 2013 and 2019 (from 17 percent of zip codes to 8 percent), according to the report.

The authors noted that the trend of declining affordability was widespread.

The number of neighborhoods with affordable median market rents shrunk in 81 metropolitan regions, remained approximately the same in 16 of them, and increased in only three regions.

Further, Black and Latinx households have the fewest choices when it comes to affordable neighborhoods.

In 2019, only 7 percent of zip codes in the top 100 metros had median market rents affordable to Black households at the median income for all Black households in the metro.

For Latinx households at the median income, just 16 percent of zip codes had affordable median market rents.

Black households experienced the steepest declines in affordable neighborhoods in the years preceding the pandemic.

Between 2013 and 2019 — even as the economy was recovering and median incomes increased for households of all races and ethnicities — the number of zip codes with median market rents affordable to median-income Black households decreased by 14 percent.

The majority of neighborhoods affordable for Black, Latinx, and low-income households are those with fewer opportunities.

Among the zip codes with affordable rental housing for the median-income Black household, 82 percent were either

“low” or “very low” — the bottom two quintiles on the Child Opportunity Index — while only 38 percent of zip codes affordable for the median-income White household were “low” or “very low” opportunity.

“Although this analysis is based on prepandemic data, all signs indicate that the trend of shrinking housing opportunity continues, and, if anything, conditions have worsened,” the authors determined.

They noted that in 2021, rents increased by at least 10 percent in 149 metropolitan regions, whereas only three metros experienced that level of rent growth in 2019.

Lower-income renters, low-wage work-

ers, and small businesses serving communities of color were hardest hit by the pandemic’s economic fallout.

The report highlighted that nearly 6 million renter households are currently behind on rent — about double the prepandemic baseline.

“Achieving racial equity and a just economy requires changing this paradigm and ensuring that households living on low incomes can live in affordable homes in neighborhoods that support their health and economic success,” the authors determined.

They concluded: “The crisis of housing affordability remains an urgent challenge

for communities across the country, and it is being driven by both national and local forces.

“As our analysis shows, there is a growing gap in access to affordable housing and high-quality neighborhoods for working-class renters and renters of color.

“Protecting renters at risk of eviction and ensuring all households have access to safe and affordable housing is key to an equitable recovery and a strong economy built on shared prosperity.”

The post Report Shows America’s Major Cities are Pricing Out Black Residents appeared first on L.A. Focus News.

Justice-Focused Marketing Agency celebrates 3rd Anniversary Of Shifting The Narrative partner organizations to currently working with more than 30 organizations. It has expanded from two to 15 employees.

It has also established an alumni network for employees and partners and a ten-year plan that aims to expand its work to Washington D.C, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

A crowd of 50 guests celebrated Monday night with a photo booth, catered dinner from Sandra’s Next Generation, jazz by Stephen “Gritz” King, complementary head shots, a bar, and a guest book.

Guest provided responses to prompts like “What is your anti-racist superpower?” and “What words of encouragement do you have for “TNP?” for the guest book.

State Sen. Gary Winfield joined the celebration as a supporter of TNP since its start in 2015.

“What they provide is the story, the texture, the understanding of the impact,” he said of TNP. Funeral home director and Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Howard K. Hill thanked Quaye and her team for being intentional in their work.

He recalled trusting TNP when he “broke through a glass ceiling” as the first black

by MAYA MCFADDEN The Narrative Project (TNP) celebrated its three-year milestone of being “storytellers for good” who intentionally follow a model based on a grandmother’s living room.

Dozens of guests convened in “The Commons” area of TNP’s third-floor office at 142 Temple St. Monday evening to celebrate the organization’s third anniversary as social justice and equity-focused public relations and marketing agency.

Founder and President Mercy Quaye discussed the organization’s shift from starting as a conversation platform in 2015 for the community and organizations to discuss intersections of identity like race, feminism, youth, and Black narratives.

Quaye recalled discovering her “calling” to shift to an anti-racist and social justice public relations agency because it’s “not just about talking — it’s about doing,” as she learned from the conversations.

Over the past three years TNP has focused its work on integrating anti-racist, mindful, and introspective goals into local partners’ missions.

TNP has grown from starting with four

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Ribbon cut for TNP's three-year anniversary.

15 11

chair of the chamber.

Staffer Joe Rodriguez presented TNP with a citation from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal for a certification of special recognization.

Erik Clemons, CEO of ConnCORP, said TNP gave power to his organization’s voice and thanked TNP for work that “facilitate[s] the dreams of the people who have no voice.”

American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut (ACLU) Campaign Manager Gus Marks-Hamilton and senior policy organizer Anderson Curtis also joined the event as TNP partners. They thanked TNP for centering the voices of those most harmed by unjust systems to dismantle them and using people’s experiences as assets.

Curtis said TNP prioritizes “people power” and giving partners like ACLU the “right to disclose your story when you’re ready to.”

“I get to live my values. I get to share my experience and my humanity with people, and to me that’s like being in the NBA. That’s getting paid to be who I am,” Curtis said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

HBCU’s Law Enforcement Academy is a first in the nation

By Nicole D. Batey, Special to The Inner-City News, courtesy of the AFRO.com

The Lincoln University Law Enforcement Training Academy (LULETA) is the first of its kind in the nation at an HBCU, where recruits are trained to be community-oriented police officers.

Since January 2021, the academy has been averaging about nine students per semester, most of whom are predominantly African-American. This consistency is unusual, considering other law enforcement agencies in Missouri, which are predominately white, are struggling with minority recruitment. Chief Gary Hill attributes this to the academy’s location on an HBCU campus, as well as having a diverse group of instructors training recruits.

Hill, who is African American and oversees the academy, has been in law enforcement for 26 years and chief of the university’s police department for five years.

“People tend to go where they are going to be comfortable or made to feel welcome, where they see others who look like them,” says Hill. “Our whole goal was to increase a minority footprint within law enforcement around the Missouri area. We had no idea that it was going to be as big as it turned out to be. We have graduated more minorities out of our academy than any of the other 19 academies throughout the state.”

Located in Jefferson City, MO, Lincoln University (LU) was founded in 1866 by African-American veterans of the American Civil War. In addition to the police academy, the university offers 50 undergraduate degree programs, as well as, Master’s degree programs in education, business and social sciences.

Although LU’s academy does not work in conjunction with the university’s police department, their program is comparable to that of other police academies. The minimum hours required by the state of Missouri for certification in qualifying for a police officer is 600+ hours.

LU’s program consists of 650 hours, including: a 40-hour CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) course, with much of it centered around de-escalation training; 16 hours of shoot, don’t shoot scenarios, where recruits are taught under what circumstances to draw their service weapons; 26 hours of response training to domestic violence, including eight hours of how to handle aggressive behavior; and about another six hours of recognizing and responding to mental health issues; totaling more than 80 hours of de-escalation and subduing aggressive behavior tactics, which is more than what the state

requires.

Most unique to LU’s program, is the open and safe space in which recruits have to talk with instructors about race matters, both within law enforcement agencies and communities. These conversations are necessary for fostering better relationships between police officers and minorities, especially in a country, where relations have been strained due to police brutality and unfair treatment of minorities.

“The conversations we have in our first class allow students to ask those uncomfortable questions about where we are as a society, before we start doing any police work,” says Hill.

“The biggest difference now between recruits who are coming through our program versus when I was a recruit for law enforcement is the high number of minorities we now have. In my recruiting

class, there were 26 of us and only two of us were Black.”

Also, the program boasts a 98% placement rate of recruits with law enforcement agencies. There has been positive feedback from students who graduate and go on to other law enforcement agencies.

At least several have gone back to their hometowns in St. Louis. Saint Louis has a high crime rate. Former recruits of the program, now police officers, often comment on how what they learned through their CIT training and de-escalation training has properly prepared them for what they face on the streets.

“I’ve grown so much just in those six months. I have gained so much knowledge, confidence in myself, and more to the point where I can say this career is for me. I’m willing to take on every obstacle that comes my way,” says Ti’aja Fairlee (LULETA 2021 graduate from East St.

Louis, MO) The last two weeks of the Academy are all practical exercises. Role players create disturbances and various scenarios requiring police response throughout the campus, including the university’s farm which consists of ten cabins and set up like a city. Recruits receive a radio and are dispatched from their classes to their vehicles to investigate “disturbances” and the simulated calls that come in. They are then graded on their responses and handling of these situations. “We want to make sure that our recruits can practically apply what they’ve learned in their books and training,” says Hill.

One positive outcome from the academy has been the statewide recognition they are receiving from other law enforcement agencies in Missouri, regarding their recruitment and retention of minorities. According to Hill, “These agencies have been struggling to recruit minorities, and it’s often because of the lack of representation of minorities within the departments and higher ranks. They are reaching out to us about what we’re doing, and that allows us to have conversation with them and ask questions like, ‘What does your department currently look like?

What are you doing to actively recruit minorities? If minorities from your agency transferred, did you ask them why?’ That for us alone is a big win at the academy.”

Time will tell what kind of long-term impact the academy will have on the face of law enforcement in Missouri. The hope of the academy is to be known for producing community-oriented police officers, who with confidence, are able to best serve every community.

“Our HBCUs need all the recognition we can get for all the work that we do and the great people that are here,” says Hill.

President Biden Prepares to Issue Executive Order on Police Reform likely would mimic California’s police reform law which requires that new police officers in the Golden State be at least 21-year-old.

The law also allows for the discipline of officers who fail to intervene when another law enforcement member uses excessive force.

Further, the statute place firm limits on when officers are allowed to use deadly force, noting that such actions only are permitted when necessary to defend human life.

Previously, officers could use deadly force if they deemed it “reasonable.”

Following the murder conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, three other cops were found guilty in federal court of violating Floyd’s civil rights.

Prosecutors said the trio stood by

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

On the first anniversary of the police murder of George Floyd, President Joe Biden invited the slain Black man’s family to the White House.

At the time, Biden expressed optimism that the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would become law.

That didn’t happen.

On the second anniversary of Floyd’s death, Biden plans to issue an executive order on police reform, which administration officials said would establish new rules for the use of force by federal law enforcement officers.

“It’s an effort to be responsive,” administration officials stated. The order

16

while Chauvin pressed his knee into the unarmed 46-year-old’s neck for more than nine minutes.

Thomas Lane recently agreed to a plea deal to avoid state prosecution and serve two years in prison.

The other two officers involved, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, face a state trial this summer.

“I am pleased Thomas Lane has accepted responsibility for his role in Floyd’s death,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated.

“His acknowledgment that he did something wrong is an important step toward healing the wounds of the Floyd family, our community, and the nation.

While accountability is not justice, this is a significant moment in this case and a necessary resolution on our continued journey to justice.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June May 25 01, 2022 - May June 31, 07, 2022 2022

Commentary:

HBCU Graduates: We just see the world differently

by Dr. Karsonya Wise Whitehead, courtesy of The Afro.com It was twenty-five years ago this year that I stood outside of the Elmina Castle in Ghana with a small group of friends and made a joint commitment to fight to help to co-create the type of world that we believe that we needed to live in. We were all HBCU-graduates to be, and we had spent the last four years being spoon-fed stories about Black resilience and Black love, about Black joy and Black pain. We learned our history from professors who understood that Black History is American History and that the story of this country is a roadmap of our tears, blood, sweat, and deep-rooted laughter. I remember that someone started singing Lift Every Voice and Sing and while we stood there in the Castle, after having walked through the rooms that stank of blood, tears, and sorrow; we knew for sure that we had come over a way that with tears had been watered and that we had come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered. At that moment, I understood

why my father always said that we could go to any college we wanted, but he was only paying for HBCUs. I graduated from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, my sister from Howard, and my brother from North Carolina Central. There is something to be said about learning on the same ground where our enslaved ancestors once walked and lived and, at least in my case, at Lincoln, learned.

We sat down outside the Castle and spent hours talking about how we were committed to fighting for a world where the very ideas of peace and social justice and equality and wholeness would be commonplace and widespread. We argued about the work of Baldwin and Sanchez, Lorde and Hughes, Berlin and Marx. I now see how we never asked if we knew the theories or the writers; we just assumed that everyone knew.

We laughed that night and talked about how we did not want to hide our work in an ivory tower, and we wanted to stay engaged. We said we would-be radicals, no matter the cost or where it took us.

We wanted to be Black public intellectual radicals, even if we did not know at the time what that meant. Back then, it meant that while our peers were starting their careers, we were climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and walking through the last place that captured Africans saw before they were kidnapped from their land. It

meant writing and publishing our work in newspapers and chapbooks, compiling our books at the local Kinkos, and selling them out of our trunks. It meant wearing our hair natural, listening to The Last Poets, and trying not to sell out and get a job where we had to sell pieces of our soul to stay alive.

It was about the show and not the substance, the flash and not the back-breaking work, immediate gratification, and not the slow walk to justice. It was about overthrowing the system from the outside and not trying to reform it from within.

Today, 25 years later, it means something else. Mychal Denzel Smith wrote that the role of the public intellectual is to proffer new ideas, encourage deep thinking, challenge norms, and model forms of debate that enrich our discourse. That work delves deep into questions around white supremacy, white nationalism, and White racism for Black public intellectuals. It means that I allow my activism to expand into every facet of who I am because, as Audre Lorde once wrote, the personal is always political.

In a 2015 essay for The New Republic, Michael Eric Dyson described a Black digital intelligentsia as a community of Black writers and activists engaging in critical thinking work online. He said that they worked to “contend with the issues of the day, online, on television,

wherever they can.” I wrestle with this today as I work to reconcile the radical, I was back then with the radical academic I am right now. I am working within the system, still struggling, still fighting but bending my life a little bit every day to fit my job. I still wonder what the role of a Black public intellectual is. Is it to speak to White people about race, or is it about profoundly engaging with the questions that have plagued Black people since we first arrived in this country? Questions like: Who are we? Who do we want to become? Why are we here? And what does freedom look like when it is defined by us and applied to us?

As a Black public intellectual, I know that I stand on the shoulders of those who have come before me—Ida B. Wells, Alice Dunbar Nelson, Audre Lorde, and Lucille Clifton, Black women who loved Black people and challenged whiteness in their writing and their lives. I stand taller, knowing that I stand on truth as much as I can. I stand side by side with justice as often as I can. I stand up to questions about equality when I can. And I stand ready to lift as I climb, knowing that the view on the top is better if the space is shared with all who desire to see. I stand here because—Harriet ran, Ella organized, Ida wrote, Bessie flew, Dorothy knitted, Mary taught, Fannie got tired, Sweet Honey sang, Assata resisted, Barbara spoke up,

Rosa and Claudette didn’t get up, Angela couldn’t be stopped, Coretta picked up the dream, Shirley brought her chair, Constance argued and changed the law, Harris and Abrams and Brown Jackson are now moving this country forward— and because I am a descendant of enslaved and freed Black women who chose to survive who decided to go forward rather than backward.

On the last day of my history class, my favorite professor, Dr. Jane Bond Moore (the daughter of Horace Mann Bond, the first African American president of Lincoln University, and the sister of Julian Bond), told us that when America catches a cold, Black people catch pneumonia and that it was our duty and responsibility as HBCU graduates to use everything that we have and that we have learned to ensure that catching pneumonia is not the end of our story. We were the ones they had been waiting for, and we were responsible for moving our story forward and preparing the way for the next generation of graduates. She laughed and said, you’re standing on our shoulders; get ready because someday someone will stand on yours. Now that I have been a professor for the last 13 years, teaching and pushing and encouraging the next generation and having two sons in col-

THE RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE

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Jeff Lorber on keyboard Paul Jackson Jr. on guitar

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THE 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022 THE INNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS NEWS -- June May 25, 2022 - May 31, 2022

Busta Rhymes at 50: “I’m Only Here to Inspire!”

by Barry Anderson, BlackDoctor.org

Hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes, best known for his infectious lyrics and energy when on the mic, started out as a thin, lanky rapper with the crew Leaders of New School. As the years went by, his stature in hip-hop grew along with the awards, accolades and album sales–but so did his size. Over the past couple of years, fans have been commenting on how Busta has “filled out” more in his belly and face. But all of that just changed.

The “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See” artist, now 50, took to Instagram over a year ago to share his progress, and while he didn’t reveal exactly how many pounds he’s dropped, the New York MC has clearly taken several inches off of his waist, trading his belly for a staunch six-pack.

“DON’T EVER GIVE UP ON YOURSELF,” he told fans. “LIFE BEGINS RIGHT NOW!!! MY DEDICATION IS DIFFERENT!!

I WOULD NEVER PUT OUT AN ALBUM AND NOT BE IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE,” he added in reference to upcoming album, “Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God.” “I RESPECT MYSELF TOO MUCH AND I RESPECT Y’ALL TOO MUCH!!! I’M ONLY HERE TO INSPIRE!!”

Rhymes also thanked several individuals who helped him achieve his fitness goals, including celebrity trainer Victor Munoz and bodybuilders Dexter “The Blade” Jackson, Victor Martinez and Kai

COMMENTARY:

Greene.

Producer Swizz Beatz congratulated Rhymes on his transformation, commenting on the photo, “I’m so proud of you King!!!!! It’s your time King !! The Deans Love you!!!”

“I’m not even surprised. What you’ve been able to achieve for decades is purely because of your strong self being, discipline, and perseverance,” commented legendary bodybuilder Flex Wheeler. “It has truly been an honor to listen and pose to your music. Getting to know you as a friend has truly been a blessing. You have inspired millions around the world and you continue to do so to this very day God bless you big Homie/King.”

Rhymes told one fan who congratulated him, “Let’s keep it going and keep it growing!”

Busta joins a growing list of other hip hop artists who have started to take their health a little bit more seriously including hip-hop award-winning producer, Timbaland.

The legendary hip-hop producer took to Instagram to unveil he’s lost 130 pounds.

“This past eight months I’ve lost over 130 pounds,” captioned Timbo. “With a positive mindset I knew I had to take the initiative to make myself happy and healthy.

When you realize that the only thing that is getting in the way of your goal is self doubt you’ll want to push yourself harder.

You got to do this for you. This is for you.

This isn’t about anybody. Live for you.

Honor you. Never lose sight of that.

William Leonard Roberts II—better known as Rick Ross— is another one.

Even though he was always a bigger guy,

ly requires change in diet supplemented by sleep and exercise. Here are a few tips to get you started:

his health started to spiral out of control.

His wakeup call came back in 2011 when he had two seizures within a few hours of each other and had to be hospitalized after losing consciousness. At the time, he weighed 350 pounds and barely slept at night, not to mention he had an awful diet.

With his life on the line, Rick Ross knew he had to drop the weight to save his life.

To get the type of ab transformation that

Busta had (from beer belly to six pack), it’s not just about exercising, it has a lot to do with the food that he did or didn’t eat.

You’ve probably heard of the term: “Abs are made in the kitchen.” Developing sixpack abs (or reducing your abdominal/ waist circumference) has more to do with nutrition and total body weight loss.

To reduce excess fat covering your sixpack (yes, you too have a six-pack) most-

Nutrition Carb Cycling – healthy carbs, like whole wheat and quinoa, can help you feel full and be a great source of energy. However, if your body doesn’t use carbs as energy, the storage of carbs in the body can contribute to covering your abs behind a curtain of fat. Use carbs to your advantage through carb cycling.

On days you plan to workout, increase your carb consumption. Your body will use the carbs as energy during exercise.

On days you don’t workout – reduce your consumption of carbs. For example, on days that I workout, my lunch may include a sandwich consisting of two slices of whole wheat bread, turkey, spinach, peppers and other healthy toppings. On days I don’t workout, I make a sandwich by cutting one slice of bread in half and adding turkey and the toppings previously mentioned.

Replace soda with water – soda is a major contributor to concealing your sixpack abs and widening the circumference of your abdominal/waist area. Fill up on water. Drink at least 64 ounces of water per day. Consume 16 ounces just before dinner. This will trick your body into feeling full to avoid overeating.

Load up on vegetables and fruit – this will assist in filling you up without consuming excess calories.

Eat slowly – to assist with satiety and reduce your risk of overeating, slow down the pace at which you consume meals.

Pay Attention — Roe v. Wade and the Far Right’s Extreme Plans

By Ben Jealous Things are about to get worse for millions of vulnerable people in our country.

It looks like the far right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court is getting ready to reverse Roe v. Wade, the nearly 50-year-old ruling that recognized a pregnant person’s right to have an abortion.

Abortion is legal today, but pretty soon that will no longer be the case in most of the country.

A leaked draft of a Supreme Court ruling expected to be released in June indicates that the Court will rule that there is no constitutional protection for abortion.

Bans will go into effect in many states immediately, and others will follow soon.

That will leave millions of women and

LGBTQ people — and their spouses and partners — less free and less in control of their own health, lives, and families.

Like many laws and policy decisions handed down from on high, the harm will fall hardest on those with the fewest resources and political power — people of color and low-income people. It is hard to take.

How did this happen?

In the long term, it happened because opponents on the right to choose spent decades building a movement to make it happen. They invested time and money to elect like-minded politicians. They pushed Republican presidents to fill federal courts with judges who were willing, if not eager, to restrict or ban legal access to abortion. They made it a top priority when deciding whether and how to vote.

In the short term, it happened because Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. To energize the Republican Party’s ideological base, Trump promised them judges who would overturn Roe v.

Wade. They took the deal Trump offered.

They turned out to vote. And with help from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Trump gave them kind of judges they wanted.

And now that they have the power to impose their will, Americans’ freedom will shrink and American families will suffer.

In fact, many are already suffering. Antichoice activists have harassed and sometimes killed abortion providers. Judges have been letting state legislators pile on more and more restrictions on abortion care. As a result, in some states, the right to abortion care may exist in theory, but in reality, it is virtually nonexistent, because clinics and providers have disappeared.

There are hard times and hard decisions ahead.

There are also lessons to be learned and acted on.

One important lesson is that the Supreme Court has a big impact on our lives, even though most of us don’t think about

18 14

it in the day to day. We should all pay more attention.

We should pay attention when the far right tells us what they plan to do with their political power. They have been loud and clear about their intent to overturn Roe v. Wade.

But many Americans refused to believe that the threat to Roe v. Wade was real.

They just could not imagine a 21st century America in which women and doctors are treated like criminals for seeking or providing abortion care.

We no longer need to imagine that kind of scenario. We’re about to live it.

And that’s why we also have to pay attention to the consequences of our voting behavior.

For the most part, the judges who are letting states eliminate access to abortion are the same judges letting states limit voters’ access to the ballot box. They’re the same judges who restrict the government’s ability to regulate harmful corporate behavior. Many of them are the

same judges who tried to deny millions of Americans access to health care provided by the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court justices and other federal judges who are put in place by the president and U.S. Senate have jobs for life. That means we are stuck with Trump’s judges for many years to come.

And that means we all need to think long and hard about who we vote for — and about ever passing up the opportunity to vote.

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. A New York Times best-selling author, his next book “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free” will be published by Harper Collins in December 2022.

The post COMMENTARY: Pay Attention — Roe v. Wade and the Far Right’s Extreme Plans first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Exciting Website Carries Forward the Legacy of Art Perlo An exciting website is being launched this week carrying forward the legacy of lifelong activist and Marxist economist Art Perlo, making available his decades of contributions to the struggle for “People, Peace and Planet before Profits.” The project is designed to guide, inform and inspire grass roots organizers for social change.

Titled “Art Perlo Presente,” the website is filled with writings, videos and analysis along with an array of recipes to test out, photos to enjoy, current articles and classes, and an invitation for visitors to participate by sharing reflections and strategies toward a just society.

Art Perlo’s articles on a wide range of subjects published in People’s World are featured at the site, including many that reflect his own organizing experiences.

As a founding member of Local 34 Unite Here at Yale, he produced a video on the union’s 30th anniversary which is featured along with a number of other video productions. He was an early proponent for restructuring Yale’s hiring practices to open job opportunities for Black and Latino New Haven residents.

Especially relevant are his consistent writings, videos and organizing for economic, social and racial equality.

0Included in the website is a powerpoint from the 2006 Coalition to End Child Poverty in Connecticut.

Art’s presentation was shown across the state as part of a campaign for a wealth tax dedicated to ending child poverty, a forerunner of today’s child tax credit and the movement to tax the rich.

In recognition of his research connecting the lack of youth jobs to youth violence in 2011 which laid the foundation for the Jobs for Youth – Jobs for All campaign, the YCL dedicated their Black History Month march this year to Art Perlo. The video and testimonies are included in the website.

Art gave various lectures locally and nationally. The website includes a video of his popular analysis “An Activist’s View of Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century” presented at the New Haven Free Public Library in 2014 which exposes capitalism and projects the need and possibility for socialism.

Art was instrumental in educating and encouraging new generations of activists in his union, community and in the Communist Party.

During the 2020 presidential election he led a strong voter registration and “Dump Trump“ get out the vote effort in New Haven’s Ward 24. Alder Evette Hamilton called him a “gentle giant” for his kindness, commitment, humor and broad knowledge that touched the lives of so many in the city, state and around the country.

A number of his reports to the Connecticut and na-

tional Communist Party are included on the website, most recently addressing the economics of the Coronavirus crisis. His 2012 report on the US Economic Situation and the 2012 Elections anticipates the rise of the extreme right wing and white supremacy and the need for broad unity and solidarity to protect and expand democratic rights.

The website is colorfully designed, reflecting the iconic artwork of Jahmal Henderson’s depiction of Art which is used as the logo and also available as a button. It includes Art’s life story and tributes.

Art moved to New Haven in 1974 to join life partner Joelle Fishman’s history making People before Profits campaigns for Congress and Mayor on the Communist Party ticket. They shared 46 years of marriage and joy in the struggle during which Art gave full support to Joelle’s leadership role in the community and the Communist Party in Connecticut and nationally.

Art was deeply respected for his willingness to take on any task no matter how small in the community or the union, and for his courage and unwavering commitment to equality, peace, environmental justice and an end to exploitation to make the world a better place The website was initiated by the People’s World Amistad Awards Committee in response to Art’s passing just a week after the December 2021 event, and is sponsored by the Connecticut People’s World Committee.

Visitors to the site are encouraged to share their strategies and experiences in the “Add A Post” section.

Visit the site at: https://artperlo.net/ CT People’s World Committee ct-pww@pobox.com Joelle Fishman 203-430-2334

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

City's Cultural Affairs Director Wins National Recognition Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

New Haven’s champion of cultural equity, advocacy, and anti-racism in the arts is getting national recognition for her work—and using that momentum to keep the city moving forward. Now, she’s hopeful that other American cities can learn from New Haven.

That champion is Adriane Jefferson, director of cultural affairs for the City of New Haven and the New Haven liaison for the Government Alliance of Race and Equity. Thursday morning, she received the American Express Emerging Leader Award from Americans for the Arts, the D.C.-based nonprofit focused on national arts advocacy. The award came during the group’s national conference, held in-person this year in Washington, D.C. “I feel honored for sure, and kind of surprised,” she said in a phone call Wednesday afternoon, as she stepped off an Amtrak into D.C. traffic. “We don’t do this work for recognition. We do this work because we love it. I just think that, at the end of the day, the work that we’ve done over the last couple of years is a national model. We still have so much work to get done.”

Jefferson began her tenure in New Haven in February 2020, just a month into Mayor Justin Elicker’s first term. Prior to her time in the city, she served as a program officer for the Connecticut Office of the Arts, where she spearheaded its READI (Relevance, Equity, Access, Diversity and Inclusion) framework and now-robust Arts Workforce Initiative. In New Haven, she hit the ground running, sketching out her vision for cultural equity at what would turn out to be the last in-person meeting of the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission to date (the meetings have continued online).

When Covid-19 hit New Haven, Jefferson pivoted in a number of days. By late March, she had helped the city launch #TogetherNewHaven, a virtual campaign that urged New Haveners to support each other in a time of isolation. She poured city resources into the New Haven Creative Sector Relief Fund, working with the Arts Council of Greater New Haven to get artists financial support as work disappeared overnight. As new data emerged around how to contain the virus, she partnered with artists and local influencers on the city’s “Mask Up” campaign. It later became a template for two 2021 citywide

campaigns, both aimed at vaccination.

At the same time, she reminded New Haveners that arts were—and continue to be—a catalyst for social change. Following the state-sanctioned murder of George Floyd, the department rolled out an Arts For Anti-Racism pledge and toolkit that city leaders, arts organizations, and institutions could sign on to. It collaborated with Town Green Special Services District and artist Isaac Bloodworth to get an image of Black Kid Joy on City Hall, where it still wraps brightly around Ed Hamilton’s Amistad Memorial two years later. In the fall, the department worked

20

with Black Lives Matter New Haven to install two new, large-scale murals in Newhallville and Downtown.

She championed federal funding for arts organizations, from theaters to restaurants. She built new programs intended to throw artists a pandemic life preserver.

She showed up at community paint days and press conferences and unveilings. It seemed that she was constantly in motion.

In February of last year, she launched Unapologetically Radical, a one-day virtual conference “created to address, amplify and activate anti-racism in arts and culture.” She oversaw cultural programming that grew out of federal relief, including a $1 million slice of last year’s $6.3 million “Summer Reset.” With the city’s Economic Development Administration, she attended Civic Space sessions last year, making sure the arts were at the table as New Haveners talked about the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Meanwhile, Jefferson continued to build towards a cultural equity plan, working with the New York-based firm Hester Street, New Haven’s Civic Impact Lab, and a co-creation team of artists to make it a reality. On a sun-soaked day in January of this year, she unveiled it at the Dixwell Community Q House, making New Haven the first city in the state with a plan.

On Monday of this week, she kicked off the first leg of a “Cultural Equity Tour,” speaking virtually with local arts leaders.

That tour continues with a town hall style meeting next month.

“At the end of the day, I’m really proud of using the arts at the intersection of important social issues,” she said. She added

that she is especially proud of the completed Cultural Equity Plan, Anti-Racism Pledge, and Mask Up campaign.

She has not done any of it in a silo. In nearly every interview she has given to the Arts Paper, Jefferson has been quick to praise Community Outreach Coordinator Kim Futrell, the only other full-time employee in the Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism. She has shouted out the interns, fellows and partners that help the department run, as well as the Economic Development Administration under which the department is housed.

In a phone call and follow up email Wednesday evening, Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli praised Jefferson’s work for the city, and called the award an honor for Jefferson, for City Hall, and for New Haven.

“Adriane’s work on cultural and racial equity is both inspiring and transcendent, moving us all toward a more just and inclusive society,” he said. “Congratulations Adriane and thank you to the Americans for the Arts for recognizing true leadership at this important moment in time.”

As she receives the award this week, Jefferson said she is using it as fuel to move forward on several projects she’s excited for. With $100,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts that came to the Arts Council of Greater New Haven earlier this year, the department is piloting New Haven’s inaugural Creative Workforce Initiative, a partnership through which adults are placed at paying internship sites as a path to professional development. She is also waiting to see how much the department has received in the next tranche of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, which will come through a $10 million allocated toward “Wealth Creation and Economy.” The New Haven Board of Alders has yet to vote on that tranche, a total of $53 million.

Nolen J. Bivens, president of Americans for the Arts, also congratulated Jefferson on the award. In addition to the American Express Emerging Leader Award, Jefferson shared yesterday’s celebrations with Julie Garreau, winner of the Selina Roberts Ottum Award for Arts Leadership, and Crystal Young, winner of the Alene Valkanas State Arts Advocacy Award.

“Americans for the Arts has been a strong proponent for the advancement of new arts leadership, and Adriane Jefferson exemplifies that next generation,” Bivens wrote. “She is a thought leader and her expertise and passion for the arts, diversity, access, inclusion, and social change makes her a true asset in community arts leadership.

“Adriane has dedicated her career to fostering a more equitable, vibrant, and sustainable arts landscape. I congratulate her for this recognition—she is a leader who highlights the transformative impact that the arts can have.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - May June 31, 07, 2022 2022 May 25

What Is Monkeypox, and How Worried Should Americans Be?

The outbreak isn’t totally surprising, she adds. In recent years, cases of the once-eradicated smallpox virus have also popped up. “It is not surprising that we see other poxviruses occurring through the world as a result,” Rimoin says.

The good news is that outbreaks of monkeypox are rare and usually short-lived, Newman says.

by Jessica Daniels, BlackDoctor.org

A worrisome international outbreak of monkeypox, a less harmful cousin of the smallpox virus, has now reached the United States and Canada.

What is monkeypox?

Monkeypox is a rare disease, which generally occurs in remote parts of Central and West Africa. The virus was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in monkeys.

The first known human case occurred in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and it has since been reported in humans in other central and western African countries, according to the CDC. As of Saturday, 92 confirmed cases of the illness, and 28 more suspected cases, have been reported across 12 countries, according to the World Health Organization.

Cases of monkeypox had previously been seen only among people with links to central and West Africa, according to the Associated Press. But in the past week, the United States was among seven countries reporting infections, mostly in young men who hadn’t previously traveled to Africa.

France, Germany, Belgium and Australia confirmed their first cases on Friday, the AP reported.

Between 1 and 5 confirmed cases are currently under investigation in the United States, WHO said.

The latest wave of monkeypox was first seen in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain and other parts of Europe in early May. On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was monitoring six people in the United States for possible infection. They sat near one infected traveler on a flight from Nigeria to the United Kingdom in early May. CDC officials are also investigating a confirmed case of monkeypox in a Massachusetts man who recently traveled to Canada, according to CNN. And the New York City Health Department is probing a possible infection in a patient at Bellevue Hospital there.

Monkeypox symptoms The illness begins with fever, swollen lymph nodes and other flu-like symptoms (chills, headache, muscle aches and fatigue), followed by a telltale rash on the face that spreads to other areas, including genitals, hands and feet.

The rash typically affects the • face, which is the most common site • palms of the hands • soles of the feet • mouth • genitalia • eyes, including the conjunctivae and cornea The rash consists of lesions that evolve in the following order:

• • • • •

macules, or flat discolored lesions papules, or slightly raised lesions vesicles, or bumps with clear fluid pustules, or bumps with yellowish fluid scabs A rash caused by monkeypox can cause severe itching and go through several stages before the legions scab and fall off.

A monkeypox infection typically lasts two to four weeks and usually clears up on its own.

“It can last for several weeks, and people can feel fairly ill,” says Anne Rimoin, chair of infectious diseases and public health at the University of California, Los Angeles.

How do you get monkeypox virus?

Monkeypox is primarily spread from animals to humans — and less often from person to person because close contact with bodily fluids is needed, adds Hannah Newman, director of epidemiology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Risk factors for past outbreaks included contact with live or dead animals and consumption of wild game or bush meat from wild animals, Newman adds.

Once the virus jumps from an animal to a human, human-to-human transmission can occur through direct contact with respiratory droplets, bodily fluids or skin lesions.

Animal-to-human transmission, on the other hand, may occur through a bite or scratch.

The virus can enter the body through broken skin, the respiratory tract or through the eyes, nose and mouth.

“Anyone experiencing an unusual rash or lesion and who has risk factors [or had

sexual encounters with someone who has] should seek care immediately,” she says.

Many of the newer cases worldwide have occurred among gay and bisexual men.

On Monday Enrique Ruiz Escudero, senior health official in the Spanish capital of Madrid, said the city has recorded 30 confirmed cases of monkeypox so far.

He said authorities are investigating potential links between a recent Gay Pride event in the Canary Islands, which drew some 80,000 people, and cases at a Madrid sauna.

According to Newman, “it appears that there may be a sexual transmission component to the current outbreak, which we haven’t seen in previous outbreaks.” Gay or bisexual men may be at special risk during the current outbreak, she notes.

Monkeypox treatment Although there are no proven safe treatments for monkeypox, doctors are certain that the virus can be controlled.

“I feel like this is a virus we understand, we have vaccines against it, we have treatments against it, and it’s spread very differently than SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19),” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, told ABC News on Sunday.

“It’s not as contagious as COVID. So I am confident we’re going to be able to keep our arms around it,” Jha says. “But we’ll track it very closely and use the tools we have to make sure we can continue to prevent further spread and take care of the people who get infected.”

Smallpox vaccines, antivirals, and vaccinia immune globulin (VIG) can be used

21 17

to treat monkeypox and have been proven to be effective at preventing the spread of the virus. The U.K. and Spain are now offering the vaccine to those who have been exposed to infections to help reduce symptoms and limit the spread.

In fact, the U.S. government has already placed a $119 million order for the vaccine with an option for more. British health authorities are offering smallpox shots to some health care workers and others who may have been exposed to monkeypox.

Is monkeypox deadly?

In Africa, anywhere from 1% to 15% of people with monkeypox will die from the virus. “Severe disease and [death] is higher among children, young adults, and immunocompromised individuals,” Newman adds.

While it does not occur naturally in the United States, this is not the first time monkeypox has been seen in the nation.

A 2003 outbreak was linked to infected prairie dogs imported as pets.

Still, many questions about the new outbreak remain.

“We need to monitor it and understand how it is behaving and how it has been introduced into the new population,” Rimoin shares.

This outbreak appears to be linked to the West African strain of monkeypox, which Rimoin says is less transmissible and tends to cause milder symptoms than the central African strain.

“Once these details become available, we will know a lot more,” she notes.

The 2003 U.S. outbreak, for example, was quickly contained through extensive testing, deployment of smallpox vaccine and treatments, and guidance for patients, health care providers, veterinarians and other animal handlers.

“All 47 people recovered, and none of the 47 cases spread the illness to another person,” she adds.

“I’m stunned by this. Every day I wake up and there are more countries infected,” says virologist Oyewale Tomori, who sits on several World Health Organization advisory boards.

“This is not the kind of spread we’ve seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West,” he told the AP. Despite all of these recent infections in areas where the virus is uncommon, and newfound concern that the disease may spread through sexual contact, health experts are warning against overreacting.

Unlike newly emerging diseases like COVID-19, monkeypox is well understood and effective treatments are available.

“Nobody should be panicking,” says Anne Rimoin, chair of infectious diseases and public health at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Monkeypox is a known virus that is being introduced into a new population.”

How do you prevent monkeypox virus?

Prevention depends on decreasing human contact with infected animals and limiting person-to-person spread. According to Cleveland Clinic, you can prevent monkeypox virus by: • Avoiding contact with infected animals (especially sick or dead animals).

• Avoiding contact with bedding and other materials contaminated with the virus.

• Washing your hands with soap and water after coming into contact with an infected animal.

• Thoroughly cooking all foods that contain animal meat or parts.

• Avoiding contact with people who may be infected with the virus.

• Using personal protective equipment (PPE) when caring for people infected with the virus.

If you experience new rashes or are concerned about monkeypox, contact your healthcare provider. To diagnose monkeypox, your healthcare provider will take a tissue sample that is looked at using a microscope. You may also need to give a blood sample to check for the monkeypox virus or antibodies your immune system makes to it.

Stop Killing Us THE 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022 THE INNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS NEWS -- June May 25, 2022 - May 31, 2022

Civil Rights Leaders meet with Justice Department over Buffalo mass killings mediately following the May 14, Buffalo killings.

“Our anger is with the social media companies and gun merchants who have aided and abetted extremists for profit, and the politicians who have recklessly encouraged them for votes,” said National Urban League President, Marc Morial in response to the Mary 20 meeting with Merrick Garland.

On a phone call with Biden May 15, a day after the shootings, members of the Justice Department spoke with Civil Rights leaders who urged the Administration to take a strong stand against the Buffalo mass shooter. President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden went to Buffalo on Tuesday May 16, to comfort the families and speak out against domestic terrorism.

Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of the National Coalition on Black civic Participation/Black Women’s Roundtable who was on last Sunday’s call, encouraged Biden to go to Buffalo, but urged the Administration to do more.

“The rise of hate crimes and white nationalism is threatening the very heart of our multi-racial multi-ethnic democracy,” Campbell said she expressed to Justice Department officials.

The NAACP, The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), The National Action Network (NAN), The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) the National Urban League (NUL), The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Asian American Advancing Justice and Muslim Advocates attended the May 20 meeting with Garland.

By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. Editor Attorney General Merrick Garland met with representatives from leaders from nine major multi-civil rights organizations this past Friday, to address urgent concerns about the May 14 racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo New York that killed ten black persons shopping in a local shopping store and injured an additional three other victims.

The Civil Rights leaders want the Biden Administration to use more muscle against hate groups and take a strong stand in enforcing laws to clamp down on the individual and group activity that has found a haven in social media sites where “replacement theory” and other racist ideologies spawn recruits. They want to see accountability extended to those in media and in corporate settings who benefit financially from the spread of domestic terrorism based on race.

“How many more events like the massacre in Buffalo do we need to see before we take action to finally address white supremacy and domestic terrorism in this nation?,” asked NAACP President Derrick Johnson.

Black led-organizations joined traditional civil rights organizations in linking the rise in domestic terrorism with structural dissemination of racist rhetoric.

They are also calling out corporate and political support that are fueling the advance of and acceptability of increasing levels of extremist rhetoric and activity.

“White supremacy has a coherent ideology and deliberate tactics. Unless politicians take immediate actions to end white supremacy, more lives will be stolen,” said Black Lives Matter in a tweet im-

Cities Deal with Racially Motivated Shootings

By Emily Dietzmann, Texas Metro News

With the recent shooting and murder of 10 African Americans in Buffalo, NY last week and several shootings of Blacks and Asians in Dallas, some are saying that racially motivated murders must be identified and prosecuted quickly.

The 18-year-old shooter in Buffalo who has been apprehended, travelled from hours away and live

streamed the event as he walked through the parking lot and into the Top’s Friendly Market supermarket, opening fire, said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, at a press conference following the event. The suspect was fully armed in tactical gear.

“This was pure evil,” said Erie County Sheriff John Garcia. “It was a straight-up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our

community, outside of the city of good neighbors as the mayor said coming into our community and trying to inflict that evil upon us.”

In Dallas, there are several shootings under investigation and Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia announced the investigation of potential hate crimes in the city where Asian businesses have been attacked, including a beauty supply store and a salon.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

Con’t from page 11

Young Community Builder’s friends who joined her Saturday. “So many people have become extended family to me, because they helped me to raise her,” she said.

Spates’ close friends Alexia and Janaya also described the Saturday celebration as bittersweet. “It feels like she should be here,” Janaya said.

The trio’s parents met in a kick-boxing class and coincidentally were all enrolled at Saint Ambrose Elementary School in Bridgeport.

Moore has called Alexia and Janaya her second daughters since they were 5 years old.

The friends stayed in contact throughout elementary, middle, and high school despite not always being at the same location during the day.

Alexia and Janaya recalled always laughing with Spates and “never having a dull moment.”

They were all headed in similar career directions: Janaya and Spates majored in public health, while Alexia majors in hygiene.

Alexia recalled her favorite memory with Spates as the first day they met in kindergarten. Alexia, the shy one of the trio, said she remembers Spates being the first one to come up to her and asking her to play.

Janaya recalled sleepovers with Spates that mostly involved staying up past their bedtimes and laughing all night.

Janaya said she was the goofy friend of the group, and Spates was the popular and outgoing friend.

“We all balanced each other out,” Alexia said.

Janaya also recalled going roller skating every weekend with Spates in elementary school.

Janaya spent her first year enrolled at the University of Connecticut, then transferred to Southern. It had been years since she reconnected with Spates until she took her first public health course at Southern, which was remote, and saw Spates’s face in a small Zoom box.

“We always found our way back to each other, and it was like we were never apart,” Alexia said.

Friends and family got their hands dirty Saturday adding pink flowers and collard greens to the garden built by Spates.

At the time of her death Spates was a barista at Starbucks and formerly an employee of Marrakech, Inc. While also a full-time student, she worked as a peer mentor and residential advisor at Southern. She also volunteered often with New Haven Promise.

Maritza Bond and Moore reunited Saturday after last connecting while their children were enrolled at Davis Street Magnet School together.

In addition to providing local data about Covid to share with the community and PPE, Bond helped Spates spread scientifCon’t on page 27

Op-ed:

Gun Safety and Public Safety: We Should Not Tolerate Continued Inaction

by Ben Jealous The mass killings at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, 10 days after the white supremacist killings in Buffalo, New York, are further evidence of how deeply our society is broken, and how urgently we need to figure out how to begin fixing it.

The slaughter of so many young children and two of their teachers is shocking at a human level. It is absolutely gutting to me as a parent of school-aged children. Millions of us send our kids off to school every day, trying to set aside the knowledge gnawing at our insides that our school and our kids could be next.

It should be unimaginable, and in most countries it is.

But it is not unimaginable in our country.

It is so not unimaginable that we subject our young children to the trauma of live shooter drills. We make teachers responsible for preparing students to deal with

This is a virtual invitation to increased gun violence.

These recent shootings come at a time when violence is increasingly being nor-

malized and justified by irresponsible leaders.

This column was written one day after the murders in Uvalde, on the two-year anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd, a reminder that Black Americans are all too familiar with the threat that “routine” interactions with police can turn deadly.

In response to widespread protests against Floyd’s killing, extremists mobilized armed mobs with false fearmongering claims that “antifa” and Black Lives Matter activists were planning to ransack suburbs and small towns. Far rightwing activists also insist that the Second Amendment allows private ownership of even the most powerful military weapons, so that they can be turned against a “tyrannical” government.

We are also just days away from congressional hearings on the violent Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. We will hear about extremists in the so-called Stop the Steal movement who threatened civil war if Trump did not stay in power.

In spite of Republican efforts to sabotage the investigation, we will learn more about the crimes that led to that day’s deadly violence. And the violent rhetoric goes on: Trump himself recently used his own

social media platform to amplify a selfidentified MAGA activist’s prediction of – or call for – civil war. That is utterly irresponsible.

Scholars have identified the kind of polarization taking place in our country, and the kind of diminished commitment to democracy we have seen among Trump Republicans, as predictors of a country’s vulnerability to civil war.

For families who lost loved ones in Buffalo and Uvalde, and for the many communities that have been scarred by mass murder, it may feel like that war has already arrived. That suffering would be multiplied beyond measure if the extremists calling for civil war in our country get their wish.

We should not tolerate the slightest encouragement for that kind of catastrophe from political leaders, including the former commander in chief. And we should not tolerate continued inaction on the violence that stalks our streets and schools.

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

A New York Times best-selling author, his next book “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free” will be published by Harper Collins in December 2022.

assured of their own superiority while fearful of being exposed for their inadequacies.

The display of these dirty undies is made more obvious by visual culture theory.

Visual culture theory is an intellectual framework that helps us to understand that in a visual culture such as ours, artifacts and pictures are made to be seen in a certain way.

There is not room in this commentary to delve into art history, aesthetics, the psychology of perception, the philosophy of reference and vision science, or visual-cultural studies in history, sociology and anthropology. Instead, I offer the shorthand term, phenomenological symbolization, as an all-encompassing process.

When my ancestor, trekking across the African savannah, spotted a lion in the distance, he gave it a wide berth because he did not get close enough to see that the lion was in the last stages of dying from old age. The lion, as a phenomenon, symbolized “danger,” and recognizing that symbol was necessary for my ancestor’s survival. But as in this example, symbols are sometimes misread.

In our lives, there are many symbols that represent various phenomenon, from the simple to the complex. A cross, a Star of David or a crescent may symbolize an entire series of beliefs and understandings that are so firmly held that societies have gone to war based upon those beliefs and understandings. The same can be said of flags when national communities place great meaning in pieces of cloth arranged

in various patterns of color and design.

But it is not uncommon for these religious icons or national flags to be misread in terms of what they represent. And therein lies the danger that can be avoided by understanding visual culture theory.

Visual cultures create visual vocabularies. And just as an articulated word can bring a visualized phenomenon to mind, so too can a picture or an artifact articulate an abstract thought, such as danger or hatred. And as certain words can be a part of a racist verbal vocabulary, so too can a picture or artifact be a part of a racist visual vocabulary.

While early Americans used certain racist words, phrases and images to justify slavery, French, British and other European expansionists were using images to rationalize European nationalism and colonialism.

Visual culture is not unique to America; it is a worldwide phenomenon.

After centuries of this cultural legacy, we are left with today’s visual vocabulary of race and difference. We live in a toxic environment where a certain skin color is made into a negative symbol. Aunt Jemima may have been liberated from the boxes of pancake mix and bottles of syrup, but the old racist images are too numerous and too widespread to deny that they existed on supermarket shelves for decades. This country is cluttered with Americana artifacts that demean Africans Americans and other people of color and speak to the racist nature of this nation.

Racial bigots articulate their hatred with

words and deeds, but as visual culture theory shows, they also speak with their art and artifacts. The absurd denials of racial animus on the part of certain politicians are made that much more ridiculous by their clinging to the old icons of their believed racial superiority. Junius B. Stearns’ portrait of Washington on his plantation with his enslaved fieldhands in the background speaks to white supremacy and racial superiority as much as Verdier’s horrific scene of punishment.

But Stearns’ portrait of Washington is more culturally damning than Verdier’s work because while Verdier condemns slavery in his painting, Stearns applauds it in his. Stearns created five paintings portraying Washington as a statesman, soldier, farmer, with Martha during their wedding ceremony and, finally, on his deathbed, with his faithful enslaved valet, William Lee, in the background.

The racist culture in America, both past and present, is too deeply chiseled into the bedrock of this nation to be erased, hidden or otherwise obscured. We must point it out when we see it in words and deeds.

And we must also point it out when we see it in our visual culture. We cannot let white supremacists continue to portray us as anything other than who we are. And we cannot let them portray themselves as anything other than what they are.

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.

what too many of our policymakers have decided is not worth trying to prevent.

A decade ago, after the slaughter of elementary school students and educators at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut, most Republican senators used filibuster rules to block passage of a bill to require background checks for all gun purchases. That is about the least we could do to try to limit gun violence. It is supported by huge majorities of Americans, including most gun owners. We see similarly misplaced priorities at the state level.

According to news reports, the killings in Uvalde were the fifth major mass shooting in the state during Gov. Greg Abbott’s tenure. After previous mass killings, Texas Republicans have weakened gun regulations. In 2015, Abbott urged Texans to buy more guns, tweeting that he was “embarrassed” that the state was falling behind California in gun purchases. Just last year, Abbott signed legislation to loosen gun restrictions, making it possible for Texans to carry handguns without any license or training.

SPEAKING OF THEORIES…

by Oscar H. Blayton

Marcel Verdier’s 1840s painting, “Punishment of the Four Stakes/Pegs in the Colonies,” depicts an enslaved Black man, staked naked and spread-eagle face down on the ground as he is whipped by another enslaved man, while a white planter, joined by his wife and infant child casually look on. This painting speaks to the power of the white man and the helplessness of the Black man. This painting initially was created for an exhibition in Paris, France, in the mid-1800s. But the exhibition jury rejected it because it was thought that its harsh theme would offend the colonial ambassadors in Paris at the time. It now hangs in a museum in Texas.

While the rabid right wing of this country is foaming at the mouth over what they are misidentifying as critical race theory, claiming that it will make little white children ashamed of their heritage, they are blissfully ignorant of the fact that their dirty drawers are showing from the backsides of their britches.

Tatters of their hateful bigotry flap in the breeze for everyone to see as they strut down history’s highway, pretending to be

23

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THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - June , 2022 - June02, 07,2016 2022 INNER-CITY 27, 01 2016 - August

Town of Greenwich, Connecticut

Police Officer NOTICE

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

NOTICIA VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Do You Want A Job That Makes A Difference?

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Become A Town of Greenwich cer. aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de unPolice dormitorio Offi en este desarrollo

Candidates fulfillStreet, several including: ubicado en la callemust 109 Frank New basic Haven. requirements 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• hanBe recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) a U.S. Citizen en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Be at leastdurante 20 esas years of age deberán remitirse llamando a HOME• INC al 203-562-4663 horas.Pre-solicitudes a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven 06510 .

• Possess 45 college credits, or 2 years of, CT active

military service or equivalent

Current Salary: $69,701 plus benefits.

To view detailed information and apply online visit: www.governmentjobs. com/careers/greenwichct *Application Deadline: 11/01/21 06/13/224:00 4:00 PM pm

NEW HAVEN

Invitation to Bid: nd The Town of Greenwich is242-258 dedicated to Fairmont Diversity & Equal AveOpportunity Employment icut 2 Notice

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

SECRETARY

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Old Saybrook, CT The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport highways, near bus stop & shopping center (4 Buildings,Senior 17 Units) Policy Clerk: Performs a widefor variety of responsible(RFP) clerical duties in a municipal Request Proposal Pet under 40lbThe allowed.

Interested contact @ 860-985-8258 an government office. position requiresparties 4 years of offiMaria ce work experience of a re-

&And Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Green Physical Needs Assessment sponsible nature and a H.S. diploma. $23.72 to $28.28 hourly plus an excellent fringe egic benefi t package.

Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 y.

Solicitation Number: 190-MD-21-S CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s med, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastSouth Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Applications may be obtained at the office

Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates uties, inthe response to the Church’s MinistryResources needs. The cost ismay $125.be Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30Department of Human downloaded Department rete, Asphaltof Shingles, Vinyl Siding, ation The Authority ofJoe the CityM.S., oforB.S. Bridgeport d/b/a Parkfrom Citythe Communities 3:30Housing Contact: Chairman, Deacon J. Davis,

of Human Resources Web Bishop Page.

TheDavis, closing date will beChapel that date theconduct 50th application (203) 996-4517 Host, General Elijah D.D.qualifi Pastor of U.F.W.B. Church 64 a Brewster 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, (PCC) is currently seeking proposals from edPitts consultants to Green form/resume isCTreceived, or June 1, 2022, whichever occurs first. EOE. St. New Haven, Physical Needs Assessment (GPNA), an Energy Audit and UPCS/REAC inspecctrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. tions of PCC’s development portfolio, in accordance with applicable regulations is1te set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

m/

Construction

sued by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD’s

ual regulations require that the GPNA incorporate the recommended Energy ConservaSeeking to employ individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamoyer ded, Due Date: August 5, 2016 experienced tion theoutside Energywork Audit.

All of the information must be provided inaa tions ster Measures trades for afrom heavy statewide.

Reliable personal transportation and ns ated Start: format August as 15,prescribed 2016

by HUD (i.e., using the HUD GPNA Tool). Solicitation pack-

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Sealed bidslicense are invited byTotheapply Housing of the Town of resume Seymour valid drivers required. pleaseAuthority call (860) 621-1720 or send to: age will be link available onDepartment, October 04,P.O. to368, obtain electronic of the RFP ments available via3:00 ftp below: Personnel CT06410. until pm on Tuesday, August2021, 2,Box 2016 atCheshire, itsanoffice at 28copy Smith Street, you must send your Affi request bids@parkcitycommunities.org., please reference rmative to Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V m/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Seymour, CTnumber 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at will the the solicitation and title on the subject line.

A Pre-proposal conference Drug Free Workforce TION beSmithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. held via conference call on October 19, 2021 @ 10:00 a.m. Although attendance

W!

Fence Installers:

awn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com is not mandatory, submitting a proposal without attending the pre-proposal confern of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking ence may not be in the will best be interest of the the Housing Offeror. Additional questions should A pre-bid conference held at Authority Office 28 Smith Company, 32 Progress Ave,Installation Seymour, CT 06483 for Fence Crews. Crews must at least 5 years of experiencenoinstallbe emailed only to Caroline Sanchez at have bids@parkcitycommunities.org later Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. 10-12 months Welders AA/EEO EMPLOYER ing link, 26, wood, PVC ornamental iron fencing.

Work available thanchain October 2021 @and 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted Health per year, highest labor rates paid. All necessary equipment provided. holiday, on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org.

Proposals shallMedical, be emailed, or ay. vacation & documents otherbybenefi ts Must be the able to to pass physical andChief drug Bidding areincluded. available from Seymour Housing Authority Ofhand delivered November 8, 2021 @ 3:00 p.m., Ms.required Caroline Sanchez, test.

An OSHAOffi 10 cer, Certifi cation is required.

ABridgeport, valid CT driver's licenseLate is required and Procurement 150 Highland Ave, CT 06604. proposals fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. ord, CT must get DOT Medical Card. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: PLOYER will not be accepted. 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 informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the

CITY OF MILFORD

Seeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include, Deputy Assessor, Mechanic Sewer Line, Public Health Nurse and more. For information and detailed application instructions, visit www.ci.milford.ct.us Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Request for Proposals Youth Development Program Services – Eastview Terrace Elm City Communities is currently seeking proposals for youth development program services at Eastview Terrace. 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 23, 2022 at 3:00PM.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

DELIVERY PERSON

NEEDED Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

(203) 435‑1387

Request for Proposals Youth Development Program Services – West Rock Elm City Communities is currently seeking proposals for youth development program services at West Rock. 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 23, 2022 at 3:00PM.

CLERK TYPIST

POLICE OFFICER

City of Bristol $70,915 - $86,200/yr.

Performs a wide variety of routine clerical duties requiring excellent computer and interpersonal skills. This position requires 1 year of office work experience of a responsible nature and a H.S., GED, or business diploma. Wages: $21.83 to $26.43 hourly Required testing, plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Forms will be registration info, and apply mailed upon request form the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded online: www.bristolct.gov from the Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone: (203) 294-2080 Fax: 294-2084. The closing date will be that date the 50th application form/resume is DEADLINE: 06-29-22 Invitation(203) to Bid: or June 1, 2022 whichever occurs first. EOE received EOE

2nd Notice

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGELaboratory Technician SENIOR ADMINITRATIVE

ASSISTANT

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings,Responsible 17 Units) for the sampling and laboratory analysis of domestic and industrial water and wastewater. Requires an A.S. degree in biology, chemistry or related field and 2 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project years experience in laboratory analysis. Experience and training may be substituted on

Full-time position

a year for year basis. Must have a valid State of CT driver’s license. $28.82 to $34.64

hourly plus an excellent Site-work, fringe benefi t package. Apply: Human Resources Department, Newto Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, CastGo www.portlandct.

Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492, Forms will be in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, org for details mailed upon request from the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, from the Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone# (203) 294-2080, Fax #: Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

(203) 294-2084 The closing date will be that date the 50th application form/resume is State of Connecticut or June 21, 2022,requirements. whichever occurs first. EOE This contract is subject to state set-aside received, and contract compliance Office of Policy and Management

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management Anticipated is recruiting Start: August 15, 2016 for a Research Analyst.

Project documents available via ftp link below:

Further information regarding the http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions for this Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: position are available at:Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

DEPUTY TAX ASSESSOR‑$33,181 19.5 hours/week DEPUTY TAX COLLECTOR‑$59,556 35 hours/week HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses

https://www.jobapscloud.com/ Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= Applications are available online at https://www.townofeasthavenct.org/civil-service220512&R2=6855AR&R3=001 AA/EEO EMPLOYER commission/pages/job-notices-and-tests. Please send application, cover letter and The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

24

resume to: Town of East Haven, Michelle Benivegna, Human Resource Department, 250 Main Street, East Haven, CT 06512 or MBenivegna@townofeasthavenct.org. The Town of East Haven is committed to building a work force of diverse individuals. Minorities, females, handicapped and veterans are encouraged to apply. The Town of East Haven is an equal opportunity employer.

INNER-CITY 27,01 2016 - August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - June , 2022 - June 07, 2022 INNER-CITY 27,252016 - August THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - May , 2022 - May02, 31,2016 2022

NOTICE NOTICE

Invitation to Bid: VALENTINAMACRI MACRIRENTAL RENTALHOUSING HOUSINGPREPRE-APPLICATIONS APPLICATIONSAVAILABLE AVAILABLE VALENTINA

LASCANA HOMES

HOME INC, INC, on on behalf behalf of of Columbus ColumbusHouse Houseand andthe theNew NewHaven HavenHousing HousingAuthority, Authority, HOME 329 Smith Farm Road CT 06477atatthis is accepting accepting pre-applications forstudio studio andOrange, one-bedroom apartments thisdeveldevelis pre-applications for and one-bedroom apartments opment located located at at 108 108 Frank FrankStreet, Street,New NewHaven.

Haven.Maximum Maximumincome incomelimitations limitationsapapopment ply. Pre-applications Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y ply. will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y New Construction of 6 Res. Buildings & 1 CB, 46 Units, 25, 2016 2016 and and ending ending when when sufficient sufficient pre-applications pre-applications (approximately (approximately100) 100)have have 25, Approximately 62,573 sf. This is our project. been received received at at the the offices offices of of HOME HOME INC. INC.Applications Applicationswill willbe bemailied mailiedupon uponrerebeen No Wage Rates, Taxable on materials. questNote: by calling calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours.

Completed prequest by HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours.

Completed prePlease review and also, price bid alternates spec. section 01230. applications must must be be returned returned to toHOME HOMEINC’s INC’soffices officesatat171 171Orange OrangeStreet, Street,Third Third applications Floor, New New Haven, Haven, CT CT 06510.

06510.

Floor,

Project documents include but not limited to:

Site-work, landscaping, paving, gypsum underlayment, concrete, rough & finish carpentry labor & material, wood trusses, waterproofing, insulation, asphalt shingles, vinyl siding labor & material, gutters & downspouts, doors, frames & hardware, windows, drywall, flooring, painting, signage, toilet & bath accessories, residential appliances, casework & countertops, floor mats and frames, horizontal louver blinds, fire suppression, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, VALENTINA DE DISPONIBLES VALENTINAMACRI MACRIVIVIENDAS VIVIENDAS DEALQUILER ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES final cleaning and sanitaryPRE-SOLICITUDES facilities.

NOTICIA NOTICIA

Bid Due Date: June 9, 2022 @ 5pm

HOME HOME INC, INC,en ennombre nombrede delalaColumbus ColumbusHouse Houseyyde delalaNew NewHaven HavenHousing HousingAuthority, Authority,está está To:para dlang@haynesct.com aceptando estudios aceptando pre-solicitudes pre-solicitudes para estudiosyyapartamentos apartamentosde deun undormitorio dormitorioeneneste estedesarrollo desarrollo ubicado ubicado en en lala calle calle 109 109 Frank Frank Street, Street, New New Haven.

Haven. Se Se aplican aplicanlimitaciones limitacionesdedeingresos ingresos máximos.

Las máximos. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=lascanahomesoforange Las pre-solicitudes pre-solicitudes estarán estarán disponibles disponibles09 09a.m.-5 a.m.-5p.m. p.m.comenzando comenzandoMartes Martes2525 julio, cuando se suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) julio, 2016 2016 hasta cuando sehan hantorecibido recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Thishasta contract is subject state set-aside and contract compliance requirements en en las las oficinas oficinas de de HOME HOME INC. INC. Las Las pre-solicitudes pre-solicitudesserán seránenviadas enviadaspor porcorreo correoaapetición petición All questions must be INC in written form and directed to the appropriate estimator: Facllamando aaHOME durante esas deberán remitirse llamando HOME submitted INCalal203-562-4663 203-562-4663 durante esashoras.Pre-solicitudes horas.Pre-solicitudes deberánEric remitirse chini - efacchini@haynesct.com for Site, Concrete, Masonry and MEPs trades. Dan Holt - dholt@ . aa las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 las oficinas de HOME INC en for 171allOrange tercer piso, New haynesct.com trades inStreet, Divisions 6 through 14. Haven , CT 06510 .

Project documents available via ftp link below:

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

NEW HAVEN NEW HAVEN ELM CITY COMMUNITIES 242-258 Fairmont Ave

242-258 Fairmont Ave Invitation for Bids 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 11 level Scattered Home Exterior andBA, Interior Renovations –1BA Group B 2BRSite Townhouse, 1.5 3BR, level,,1BA

AllCommunities new apartments, new appliances, new close I-91 & I-95 and Elm City is currently seeking bids forcarpet, Scattered Siteto Home All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91Exterior & I-95 near bus stop & shopping center may be obtained Interior Renovationshighways, – Group B. A complete copy of the requirement highways, near bus stop & shopping center from Elm Communities’ Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.

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

Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate is a 10 month program to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates CT. UnifiedProgram.

Deacon’sThis Association is pleased to designed offer a Deacon’s in responseProgram. to the Church’s needs.

The designed cost is $125.

Classes start Saturday,formation August 20, 1:30Certificate This is aMinistry 10 month program to assist in the intellectual of 2016 Candidates 3:30 Contact:to Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis,The M.S., B.S.is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30in response the Church’s Ministry needs. cost (203) 996-4517Chairman, Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, 3:30 Contact: Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S.,D.D. B.S.Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster (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 St. New Haven, CT

Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 3:00PM.

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT.

State Connecticut is currently seeking bidsof from qualified electrical companies for ElecOffice of Policyatand Management trical Service Lateral Replacement Leroy Downs Apartments, 26 Monroe Street, Norwalk, CT 06854 Copies of bidding documents inThe State of Connecticut, Office of Policy andpurchased Managementstarting is recruiting for an cluding plans & specifications can be 05/07/2022 Sealed bids are invited byProgram the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour OPM Public Information Manager (State Program Manager) and a from Technical Reproductions Inc., 326 Main of Avenue, Norwalk, CT Sealed bidspmareon

by August the Housing Authority theatTown of Seymour Staff3:00 Attorney 1 invited (Confidential). until Tuesday, 2, 2016 at its office 28 Smith Street, 06851 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday.

Bid prountil 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Further information the duties, eligibility requirements and application Seymour, CT 06483regarding for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the instructions are available at: posal are due at06483 2:00for PM on 06/08/2022 Seymour, CT Concrete Replacement Smithfield Gardens Assisted LivingSidewalk Facility, Repairs 26 Smithand Street Seymour. at the https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview.

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

The Norwalkasp?R1=220414&R2=4799MP&R3=001 Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer A pre-bid conferenceAdam will D. be Bovilsky, held atand the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Executive Director 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. https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/bulpreview. asp?R1=220413&R2=1637CR&R3=001 Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NORWALK, CT IS REQUESTING PROPOSALS FROM CONSULTANTS ORofARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING FIRMS FOR ANHousing UPDATED PHYSICAL The State Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative actionAuthority employer NEEDS Bidding documents are available from the Seymour OfandOF strongly encourages theHOUSING applications of women, and ASSESSMENT 12 FEDERAL FINANCED PROPERTIES. TO minorities, OBTAIN A COMPLETE COPY Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CTwith 06483 (203) 888-4579. persons disabilities.

OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENTS, CONTACT GUILLERMO BENDANA, PROCUREMENT fice, 28 AT Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 HOUSING (203) 888-4579.

SPECIALIST GBENDA@NORWALKHA.OGR NORWALK IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EM‑ PLOYER. ADAM BOVILSKY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project reflect anyto The Housing Authority reservestothe rightavailable to acceptfunding, or rejectand anytoorwaive all bids, informalities in the bidding, actions are infunding, the bestand interest of the reduce the scope of the projectif tosuch reflect available to waive any

SEYMOUR SEYMOUR HOUSING HOUSING AUTHORITY AUTHORITY

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES CITY OF MILFORD

DRIVER CDL CLASS A Full Time – All Shifts Top

Seeking qualified condidates to Pay-Full Benefits fill numerous vacancies to inEOE Please apply in person: clude, Deputy Assessor, Mechanic 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Experienced Commercial Property/Facilities Manager Stratford, CT 06615 Sewer Line, Public Health Nurse Fusco Management Company is seeking a qualified Property/Facilities and more. For information and Elm City Communities is currently seekingManager bids for pest control services. A with a minimum ofcomplete 3 to 5 years of experience managing comdetailed application instructions, QSR STEEL CORPORATION copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor organizational Collabomercial properties.

Excellent and communication skills are visit www.ci.milford.ct.us ration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway required. Responsibilitiesbeginning include: on Click on SERVICES, JOBS and Budgeting and forecasting of expenses - timely approval of invoices, prepJOB TITLE. April 20, Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Wednesday, 2022 at 3:00PM.

Invitation for Bids Pest Control Services

aration of client bill packages

APPLY NOW!

Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Oversight of maintenance staff and subcontractors - prioritizing and scheduling project work, reviewing work order requests, oversight and Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT coordination of subcontractors to minimizeAFFIRMATIVE disruption to the property ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

DELIVERY PERSON *Field Mechanic Wanted*

NEEDED

Looking for a Field Mechanic proficient in field diagnosis, repair and operation of rail-and other vendors inspections - conOversight of janitorial, landscaping, road fleet equipment, ford and international tinual bucket trucks equipped with railgear.

Back-to ensure optimum performance follow up with subcontractors hoe, skid steer, excavation equipment, as well as operation and repair of line equipment Family & Youth Engagement (I.e. puller tensioners, hydraulic reel stands etc.) small engine repair, hydraulic Assists in developing specifi cationstool for biddingSpecialist work and purchasing with– Full Time repair, construction equipment andcall materialinhandling equipment, (Forklifts, lull, bobMust Have your Own Vehicle If Interested guidelines. $29.78 hourly cat, gator etc.) Working knowledge of 15-35 ton cranes, digger derek and automotive Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week, Pre-employment drug testing. repair. Must have valid, unrestricted CDL class B or A license, and the availability to Maintaining positive tenant and client relations - responding to tenant reFor more details, visit our website – work nights and some weekends if needed.

Abilityfollow to weldupand is helpful. quests, to fabricate ensure completion www.bloomfieldct.org E-mail resume to humanresources@duccielectrical.com. An affirmative action equal Deadline: Applications will be accepted opportunity employer. EOE/M/F/D/V. Excel, Word and Outlook computer skills would be helpful

Town of Bloomfield

(203) 435-1387

DRIVER CDL CLASS A

until position is filled.

Yard Worker:

Company will make best efforts to have the managed properties within counties in reasonable proximity to candidates home. Medical and dental Large CT Fence Company is looking for individuts, 401k.

Equal warehouse Employment rmative Action EmFull Time All Shifts Top for benefi als for our stock– yard.

We are looking individuals with previous ship-Opportunity/Affi Senior Administrative Assistant ployer. submit to openjobs.group@fusco.com.

Phone calls ping, receiving and forklift experience. Must have aPlease minimum of 3resumes years of material to the Town Manager – Full Time will not be accepted. handling experience. Duties include: Loading & unloading trucks, Fulfilling orders for

Town of Bloomfield

Pay-Full Benefits

EOE Please apply in sales, person: installation & retail counter Maintaining a clean & organized environment, Managing inventory control & delivering 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. fence panels & products. Qualifications: High School diploma or CT equivalent, Must be abletotoBid: read/write English, demonstrate good Invitation Stratford, 06615 to Bid: have the ability to lift 70 pounds. time management skills, able to readInvitation a nd tape measure, 2 ndNotice NoticeDOT Medical Card, and pass company Must have a valid CT Driver’s License,2Obtain

physical and drug test. Class A CDL & Class B CDL license a plus. We are an AA/EOE SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE SENIOR ADMINITRATIVE SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com

ASSISTANT

Old Saybrook, CT Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) (4 Buildings, 17 Units) QSRTax STEEL Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Tax Exempt & Not CORPORATION Full-time position Prevailing Wage Rate Project Newto Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastGo www.portlandct.

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastConcrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, org forin-place details in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Casework, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Steel Fabricators, Erectors Electrical, & Welders Mechanical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. Casework, State of Connecticut Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Top pay for top performers.

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

Office of Policy Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. and Management

$72,254 to $111,522

(expected starting pay maximum is mid-range) Pre-employment drug testing.

For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org Deadline: June 30, 2022

APPLY NOW!

Bid Extended, Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford,Due CT Date: August 5, 2016 LEGAL NOTICE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Request for Proposals (RFP) for Services

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Project documents The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Man- available via ftp link below: agement, is seeking proposals to provide certain serProject documents available via ftp link below: viceshttp://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage related to a Housing and Segregation Study. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage The intent of the request is to identify individuals

Portland

or firms with the necessary expertise to provide Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com analysis of the impact of federal and state housing programs within Connecticut on economic racial encourages the of allLang Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses FaxHCC or Email Questions &participation Bids to:and Dawn @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com segregation within a stated timeframe.

Director of Public Works full-time

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

The RFP is available online at: https://portal.

Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/BidBoard and https:// THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NORWALK, CT IS REQUESTING PROPOSALS FROM portal.ct.gov/OPM/Root/RFP/Request-ForAA/EEO EMPLOYER Proposals or from Pauline Zaldonis, Office of PolCONSULTANTS OR ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING FIRMS FOR AN UPDATED PHYSICAL NEEDS icy and Management, Data and Policy Analytics ASSESSMENT OF 12 FEDERAL FINANCED HOUSING PROPERTIES. TO OBTAIN A COMPLETE COPY Division, 450 Capitol Ave., MS#52DPA, Hartford, Connecticut 06106-1379. E-mail: dapa@ct.gov.

OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENTS, CONTACT GUILLERMO BENDANA, PROCUREMENT Telephone (860) 418-6304. Deadline for response SPECIALIST AT GBENDA@NORWALKHA.OGR NORWALK HOUSING IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMsubmission is 3:00 P.M., April 29, 2022. for details Go to www.portlandct.org

PLOYER. ADAM BOVILSKY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

21 25

THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - June , 2022 - June02, 07,2016 2022 INNER-CITY 27,01 2016 - August

Construction

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valWe offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits id drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621Contact: Tom Dunay VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Phone: 860‑ 243‑2300 HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom this develAffiatrmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to applyapartments Drug Free Workforce opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations apAffirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reGarrity Asphalt Incduring seeks: CT Fence quest by calling HOMEReclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 those hours.Large Completed pre- Company looking for an individual for our Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing PVC Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northtrain the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. This is an in-shop production poContact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860‑ 243‑2300 sition. Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and Email: rick.touMust have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain signant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDESmore.

DISPONIBLES a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply drug test. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com.

Affirmative Action/deEqual Opportunity HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y Employer de la New Haven Housing Authority, está AA/EOE-MF 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 Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipjulio,Must 2016have hastaacuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes ment.

CDL License, clean driving record, capable of (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas porSeeking correo atopetición operating heavyde equipment; be willing to travel throughout the employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberánand remitirse Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits operator teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT personal 06510 . transportation and a valid drivers license reReliable

NOTICE

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

NOTICIA

Union Company seeks:

Contact Dana at 860‑243‑2300

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

NEW HAVEN

Construction

quired. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

Drug Free Workforce

Economic Development Specialist The Town of Wallingford is seeking a qualified individual to develop and implement the marketing, business recruitment and retention programs for the Town of Wallingford.

Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree from a college or university in economics, business, public administration, planning or related field, plus three (3) years’ experience in municipal economic development office or agency, or equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year - for year basis. Wages: $75,253 to 96,284 annually. The closing date for applications is June 13, 2022. Apply to: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Application materials can be emailed to wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov. Application forms will be mailed upon request from the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone #: (203) 294-2080; Fax #: (203) 294-2084. EOE

Mechanic III:

MECHANIC

Highly skilled mechanic needed in the repair and maintenance of all types of motor vehicles including heavy construction equipment. The position requires 6 years’ experience in the repair and maintenance of mechanical equipment with a minimum of 2 years repairing heavy construction equipment. Technical or trade school training may substitute for up to 3 years’ experience. Must have own tools. $31.85 to $38.28 per hour, plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Forms will be mailed upon request from the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page.

Phone #: 203-294-2080 Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will be June 20, 2022 or the date the 50th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Proposal (RFP) Painting Services Agency Wide Solicitation Number: 212-AM-22-S

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC)

Invitationistocurrently Bid: seeking proposal from qualified contractors for Painting Services Agency nd Wide. Solicitation package will be available on May 31, 2022, to obtain a copy of the State of Connecticut 2 Notice

solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please referSAYEBROOKE enceVILLAGE solicitation number and title on the subject line. A Pre-proposal conference will be

Office of Policy and Management

held on Old Saybrook, CTJune 14, 2022 @ 10:00 a.m. Although attendance is not mandatory, submitting a proposal (4ofBuildings, 17 Units)without attending the pre-proposal conference may not be in the best interest The State of Connecticut, Office of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommuniPolicy and Management is recruiting Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage ties.org noRate later Project than June 21, 2022 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be

for a Research Analyst. posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall be mailed, or Further informationWood regarding the Housing, hand delivered

by July 06, 2022 @ Cast3:00 p.m., to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Chief ProcureNew Construction, Framed, Selective Demolition, Site-work, duties, eligibility requirements and ment Officer, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. or bids@parkcitycommuniin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, application instructions for this ties.org. Late proposals will not be accepted. positionPainting, are available at: 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Flooring, Division

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. https://www.jobapscloud.com/ CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= This contract is subject to state set-asideHeavy and contractEquipment compliance requirements.

Operator & Skilled Laborer 220512&R2=6855AR&R3=001

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.

Our growing construction company currently has a few open positions available.

The State of Connecticut is an equal Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 opportunity/affirmative action employer All work is 1st shift and we work only in the State of Connecticut. and strongly encourages the Anticipated applications Start: August 15, 2016 of women, minorities, and persons Project documents available via ftp link below: with disabilities.

Ideal candidate will have experience operating all types of heavy equipment on large

Heavy Equipment Operator

http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage municipal construction jobsites. A minimum of 3 years’ experience required.

Skilled Construction Laborer

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 In needdawnlang@haynesconstruction.com of a skilled construction laborer who has experience prepping, forming, DRIVER CDLtheCLASS HCC encourages participation of A all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses pouring and finishing concrete sidewalks. Additional labor skills a plus.

Company, 32 Progress Seymour, CT 06483 Full Time –Haynes All Construction Shifts Top Both Ave, positions require current OSHA 10 Certificate (Hazwoper Certificate a plus).

Positions require taking and passing a drug test / background check.

Pay-Full BenefitsAA/EEO EMPLOYER Apply by emailing your resume to TradeMarkLLC@att.net or fax to 860-314-1428.

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

EOE Please apply in person: 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

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

26

Women & Minority applicants are encouraged to apply.

An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022 Con’t from page 14

thoughts and prayers after this latest shooting are willing to sacrifice our children to protect the gun industry profits and they should be voted out in 2022 and beyond,” Murray said.

Gov. Ned Lamont directed flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the Texas victims.

“Nearly 10 years after Sandy Hook, Connecticut knows this feeling all too well. Our collective hearts and prayers go out to the families in Uvalde trying to process the unimaginable,” Lamont said.

“We clearly have a gun problem in America,” Lamont said. “There are more damn guns on the street than ever before, especially illegal guns. We must test our capacity as a nation in this moment to strengthen public safety and health. I want to be clear — gun violence is a public health crisis. It is incumbent upon lawmakers everywhere, whether it’s Connecticut, Texas, or our nation’s capital, to rise to the moment in addressing this problem.”

In a speech Tuesday night on the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, said they have all the legislation they need. He said the measures are drafted and have been fully vetted.

“We know these actions won’t save everyone,” Blumenthal said. “But there can be no doubt that each of them will save some lives. Expanding background checks, and closing glaring loopholes in our background check system, getting untraceable ghost guns and military assault weapons off our streets, protecting domestic violence survivors from gun violence, keeping guns out of the hands of domestic terrorists and violent extremists, and keeping guns out of the hands of people who are dangerous to themselves or others, red flag statute, preventing kids from accidentally and unintentionally shooting themselves with unsecured firearms, Ethan’s Law.” Con’t from page 06

Green Party Nominates

“I’m a hard one to ignore. My background is rich in service and beyond the LinkedIn profile, I’m committed to the public good,” she said.

The last time a Green Party candidate was taken seriously was Cliff Thornton back in 2006. Thornton ran against former Gov. M. Jodi Rell and former New Haven Mayor John DeStefano. Thornton was going to be let into the televised debates and then at the last-minute that year was left out.

Thornton protested outside the New London Garde Arts Center that year after being left out. Bicking said she would hold her own debate in the parking lot outside, if the same decision was made this year.

She said democracy is about having all voices at the table.

Now Hiring Part-Time Assistant Teachers Location(s): Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Childhood School & other City-Wide NHPS-Head Start sites Qualifications: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS ● High school completion or a GED DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS ● Child Development Associate Credential (CDA); OR ● One-year experience in an early learning setting Salary, Benefits, Conditions of Employment: ● Pay rate is $14.00 per hour. This position is not eligible for benefits.

Conditions of Employment: If hired, you will be required to provide proof that you are either: ● A United States citizen; or ● An immigrant whose status permits you to lawfully work in this country Prior to appointment, the successful candidate must: ● Pass a criminal background check & Sex Registry check ● Submit documentation of an initial health examination indicating freedom from communicable diseases; and must show proof of a TB test & COVID Vaccination

Duties and Responsibilities: Working under the direction of the Lead Teacher: ● Assist with set-up, clean-up, and presentation of classroom and outdoor activities. ● Organize materials needed for classroom activities. ● Store and maintain educational materials and equipment. ● Assist in serving and cleaning up after snacks and lunches. ● Assist with child guidance during mealtimes. ● Assist with maintaining enrollment and nutrition records. ● Monitor children during free time, field trips, and transition periods. ● Model appropriate behavior for children. ● Use developmentally appropriate communication skills. ● Contribute to maintaining a healthy and safe classroom environment; Assist with Active Supervision of children. ● Maintain confidentiality in accordance with Head Start Policies and Procedures. ● Attend mandated Head Start trainings.

Scan QR code to apply online or visit www.applitrack.com/nhps/OnlineApp 27

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 25, 2022 - May 31, 2022

Alexa Irene Canady: First Black Woman Neurosurgeon in U.S.

By Tamara Shiloh

It was during a health careers summer program at the University of Michigan that Alexa Irene Canady (b. 1950) decided to pursue medicine. Her undergraduate degree was in zoology, but she was convinced that continuing her studies at the university’s medical school was what she wanted.

It was the “summer after my junior year,” Canady was quoted as saying. “I worked in Dr. Bloom’s lab in genetics and attended a genetic counseling clinic.

I fell in love with medicine.”

And she never regretted her decision.

Her initial interest was internal medicine. After being introduced to neurosurgery, she changed her path. But not everyone supported her decision.

Some of Canady’s advisors attempted to discourage her from following through

on her plans. She experienced difficulties in obtaining an internship. But those roadblocks didn’t impede her dream.

After graduating cum laude from medical school (1975), she joined Yale-New Haven Hospital in Bridgeport, Conn., as a surgical intern.

When her internship ended, she moved on to the University of Minnesota. There she served as a resident of the university’s department of neurosurgery, making her the first Black female neurosurgery resident in the United States. When her residency ended, she became the first Black female neurosurgeon.

“The greatest challenge I faced in becoming a neurosurgeon was believing it was possible,” Canady is famously quoted.

But the road to success was not without challenges.

Canady admits that she came close to dropping out of college because “I had a

Commissioner Mullins Youth Leadership Award

Alexa Irene Canady

crisis of confidence.” But knowing there was a chance to win a minority scholarship in medicine, “it was an instant connection.” Despite her qualifications and high GPA, she could not escape prejudices and micro-aggressive comments.

On her first day at Yale-New Haven, Canady recalls tending to a patient when a hospital administrator passed by and commented: “Oh, you must be our new equal-opportunity package.”

The tables turned when a few years later at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, her fellow physicians voted her one of the top residents.

During her 22-year career as a neurosurgeon, Canady worked with young patients facing life-threatening illnesses, gunshot wounds, head trauma, hydrocephaly, and other brain injuries or diseases. Most were age 10 or younger.

Canady shares that her biggest career obstacle was convincing the neurosurgery chairman that she was “not a risk to drop

out or be fired, a disaster in a program where there are only one or two residents per year. I was the first African American woman [in the department]. Along with that, my other greatest obstacle was convincing myself that someone would give me a chance to work as a neurosurgeon.”

She admits that she was worried that “because I [am] a Black woman, any practice opportunities would be limited.

By being patient-centered, the practice’s growth was exponential.”

Read more about Canady’s journey to overcoming racial prejudice, patriarchy, and sexism in “Dr Alexa Irene Canady: The Incredible Story of the First Black Woman to Become a Neurosurgeon” by Isabel Carson.

The post Alexa Irene Canady: First Black Woman Neurosurgeon in U.S. first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

June Is Black Music Month: Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges, The Black Mozart

By Tamara Shiloh

West Haven Planning and Zoning Commissioner Steven R. Mullins visited West Haven High School last week to present the “Commissioner Mullins Youth Leadership Award” to two outstanding freshmen. Sarah Davey and Justin Wychowski are this years recipients. The award is given every year to two freshmen that demonstrate outstanding involvement in school and civic activities.

Sarah Davey is a Class of 2025 Officer. She is involved in Students Against Destruction Decisions (SADD), she plays volleyball, softball and hockey. She also plays the clarinet in the Blue Devil Marching Band.

Justin Wychowski is a Class of 2025 Officer. He is involved in the Vex Robotics Team and the Blue Devils

Marching Band. Outside of school, he holds a black belt in American mixed martial arts.

Each student was presented with a framed certificate, a booklet containing the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, and a $50.00 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble.

“Both of these students are the embodiment and example of the youth of the City of West Haven and all citizens should be proud of them.” said Mullins, a 1993 graduate alumni of the school.

Davey and Wychowski were recommended by WHHS Principal Dana Paredes and her staff.

Mullins has been presenting award since 2016.

Black classical music artists have been performing publicly for more than 500 years. England’s King Henry VII and King Henry VIII were entertained by trumpeter John Blanke, a Black court musician. According to researcher Earl Ofari Hutchinson, “the list of Africans, African Americans, and Afro European composers, conductors, instrumental performers, and singers is and has always been, rich, varied, and deep.”

But “sadly,” Hutchinson adds, “the recognition of this history has almost always come in relation to the work of a major European or white American composer.”

Although the music played by Blanke and other Blacks of his time were fanfares, ballads, and song accompaniments, they still opened doors for those who would later perform concerto and symphonic forms. One would be Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges (1745–1799).

Saint-Georges, a classical music conductor, composer, musician, and military officer was born in Guadeloupe, an island in the West Indies. His mother, la belle Nanon, was a slave of African descent and his father, George de Bologne SaintGeorges, a wealthy colony planter from France who owned the plantation that was their home.

The family relocated to France when Joseph was about 10. There he was able to deepen his studies in classical music under tutors Jean-Marie Leclair (violin) and Francois-Joseph Gossecin (composition).

Joseph eventually worked with French

28 15

Joseph Bologne de Saint-Georges

fencing master Nicolas Texier de La Boessiere, who trained him to use the sword. A natural athlete, fencing was a skill that would later make Joseph internationally famous. He was also skilled as a swimmer, runner, ice skater, pistol shooter, dancer, and horseman. With one arm tied behind his back, he swam the Seine River during winter.

Paris’ Pre-Revolutionary period, he stood amongst the most important musicians being a composer, violinist, and conductor. He became music director of the private theater of the Marquise de

Montesson. The conductor of the Le Concert des Amateurs orchestra chose SaintGeorges as first violin. He made his public debut as a soloist during the 1772–73 concert season, performing his own violin concertos.

It has been argued that Saint-Georges’ work demonstrated the influence of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was thereby dubbed “The Black Mozart.” However, history shows that Mozart did not come to Paris until 1778 to study at the Paris School of Composition while SaintGeorges was a member.

Saint-Georges produced 14 violin concertos and nine symphonies between 1773 and 1785. He wrote two solo violin compositions, two symphonies, three sonatas for violin and harpsichord, and 18 string quartets divided into three collections of six quartets in each. In 1777, he began to compose several operas for the Comedie-Italienne.

“It is no exaggeration or overstatement to say that classical music does owe a debt to the Black experience in classical music,” says Hutchinson, “And the goal is to show music lovers and readers how that debt continues to be paid in concert halls everywhere.”

Learn more about Saint-Georges and other Black composers of classical music, read “It’s Our Music Too: The Black Experience in Classical Music” by Earl Ofari Hutchinson.

The post Joseph Bologne de SaintGeorges, The Black Mozart first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022 Con’t from page 04

Ribbon Cut On Phase 2

maintenance worker Al Bell and housing authority leader Sheila Allen-Bell.

Harris made sure that one tenant in particular was remembered with a street name: Annie Sellers, a fierce advocate for change who ran the tenant council before passing the baton to Harris, and who died in 2009 at the age of 103.

Sellers’ family, including her daughter Viola Nelsen, arrived at the celebration to remember Sellers’ work. “I think it’s so nice,” Nelsen said of the renovation. “She would have been so proud.“ Glendower and the housing authority’s property management arm, 360 Management, are still seeking a business to fill retail space in the front.

The new units hold up to the “highest environmental standards and the highest housing quality standards,” said DuBoisWalton.

When it comes to new housing developments, “I always think, ‘Would I want to live here?’ ” said Mayor Justin Elicker. “I would love to see my kids playing in this field, meeting their neighbors.”

Living in roomy, storage-filled, newly renovated apartments is more than just a matter of functionality, housing authority leaders explained. It’s a matter of respect for the people living in Mill River Crossing.

“Beauty creates dignity for people who deserve it,” said Erik Clemons, the chair of the housing authority’s Board of Commissioners.

Con’t from page 02

Legacy

ic information about Covid in her classes at Southern.

“Chardé was a huge part of helping us tap into our local talents like youth to provide peer-to-peer education when things first started,” Bond said.

The Saturday celebration decorated CTVIP with photos of Spates and pink everything from balloons, flowers, desserts, and shirts printed with her picture.

CTVIP Program Coordinator Erika Blake mentored Spates while she worked at the program. She recalled working with Spates with creating community health kits and applying for grants from Yale and the Community Action Agency of New Haven.

Spates and Blake also connected over attending Southern and a desire to pledge for the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Blake described Spates as soft, caring, a bright personality, with an infectious smile.

“We always talked about how we were both focused first on work, school, then play,” she said.

Watch the garden dedication ceremony below.

New Haven Public Schools

Early Childhood Programs FREE and Sliding Scale 6-hour Programs for 3 and 4 Year Olds of low-income New Haven families Available in the following New Haven Public Schools:

• Benjamin Jepson Multi-Age School • Dr. Mayo Early Childhood School • Fair Haven School • John Martinez Sea & Sky STEM School • Lincoln-Bassett Community School • Truman School • Additional community locations also participate in the program.

Contact: Esther Pearson-Pinckney, Head Start Social Service Coordinator at 475-220-1462/1463 or email: esther.pearson-pinckney@nhboe.net

NEW HAVEN

HeadStartNewHaven.com 475-220-1462 / 475-220-1463 29

We are Accepting Applications!

How to Apply

Parents of 3 and 4 year olds are encouraged to apply.

Application begins with a phone call

Contact the Head Start Program or School Readiness Program at 475-220-1462/1463.

What you will submit with your Application 1) Proof of Age Child’s Birth Certificate OR Legal Custody/Guardianship Papers 2) Proof of Address Current utility bill (Gas, Electric, Phone, Cable) in your name 3) Proof of Income • 2 months of Current & Consecutive pay stubs OR W-2 or 1040 Tax Return • Budget Statement from the CT Department of Social Services or Social Security Office or Child Enforcement Bureau • Notarized Statement indicating Parent is unemployed • Additional forms may be requested 4) Proof of a Physical (within one year-to-date) • CT Department of Education Early Childhood Health Assessment Record • Anemia and lead level test results • TB assessment • Immunizations records • Seasonal flu vaccination • Health insurance card 5) Proof of a Dental Exam (within 6-months-to-date) Dental Exam record

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June May 25 01, 2022 - May June 31, 07, 2022 2022

Congressional Black Caucus Members Push Biden Administration on Advertising with Black Media

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Four years after D.C. Democratic Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton publicly condemned federal agencies after a Government Accountability Office report revealed they spend very little of their advertising dollars with Blackowned media, another member of the Congressional Black Caucus has openly aired the concerns.

“The federal government spends billions of dollars a year in paid advertising. However, the federal government’s process for allocating advertising dollars fails to recognize and value the unique relationship that Black-owned media have with their audiences,” Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden.

Co-signed by Norton, Barbara Lee (DCalif.), Val Demings (D-Fla.), and 34 other members of Congress, the letter pointed out that the standard process for spending federal advertising dollars consists of giving a prime contract to a large White-owned advertising agency with the stipulation that the agency includes a multicultural agency as a subcontractor.

“However, the prime contractor controls how much money goes to the subcontractor and how that subcontractor spends that money,” Johnson wrote.

“This routinely results in a smaller frac-

tion of federal dollars going to the subcontractors. And, when the subcontractor does get to spend money, it is usually directed to spend that money with Blacktargeted media and not with Black-owned media.”

He asserted that “successful Black businesses hire and promote Black Americans at a much higher rate than other busi-

nesses. They are, consequently, the key to building successful Black communities.”

In 2018, Norton commissioned a GAO report that revealed that the federal government spent more than $5 billion on advertising over five years. Still, Blackowned businesses received only $51 million, or 1.02 percent of those funds.

“I will work with minority publishers

to press [my colleagues] in Congress to demand greater spending on minorityowned outlets to reach minority audiences that most traditional outlets do not,” Norton stated during a 2018 news conference with members of the National Newspaper Publishers Association on Capitol Hill.

“The GAO report showed, as we expected, that the federal government has a

long way to go to ensure equal opportunities for minority-owned news outlets,” Norton continued.

“As the nation’s largest advertiser, the federal government has an obligation to provide advertising opportunities to news outlets and media companies owned or published by people of color.”

In April, dozens of federal agencies launched plans for more equity to open federal programs to more people and reduce racial disparities caused by government decisions.

“Advancing equity is not a one-year project. It’s a generational commitment,” Biden stated. “These plans are an important step forward, reflecting the Biden Harris administration’s work to make the promise of America real for every American, and I mean every American.”

In the Johnson-led letter, members of Congress have issued a request for Biden Administration to investigate and report back complex data on “the process by which they grant advertising contracts, and how they oversee those contracts after they are granted.”

“The federal government spends billions of dollars a year in paid advertising. However, the federal government’s process for allocating advertising dollars fails to recognize and value the unique relationship that Black-owned media have with their audiences,” Johnson wrote.

President Biden Announces Clemency and Pardons for 78 People, Details New Steps for Criminal Justice Reform

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent President Joe Biden announced he’s using his clemency powers for the first time, issuing commutations for 75 drug offenders.

Biden also issued three pardons, including to the first Black Secret Service agent to work on a presidential detail, who had long professed his innocence.

“Helping those who served their time return to their families and become contributing members of their communities is one of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism and decrease crime,” Biden stated.

The president added that those receiving clemency had “demonstrated their commitment to rehabilitation and are striving every day to give back and contribute to their communities.”

The clemency recipients include Abraham Bolden, an 86-year-old former U.S. Secret Service agent and the first African American to serve on a presidential detail.

In 1964, authorities charged Bolden with offenses related to attempting to sell a copy of a Secret Service file.

His first trial resulted in a hung jury.

Following his conviction at a second trial, even though crucial witnesses against him admitted to lying at the prosecutor’s request, the court denied Bolden a new

trial.

He has maintained his innocence, arguing that he was targeted for prosecution in retaliation for exposing unprofessional and racist behavior within the U.S. Secret Service.

Bolden has received numerous honors and awards for his ongoing work to speak out against the racism he faced in the Secret Service in the 1960s and his courage in challenging injustice.

Betty Jo Bogans also counted among those cleared by Biden.

A jury convicted the 51-year-old in 1998 for possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine in the Southern District of Texas.

Authorities said she attempted to transport drugs for her boyfriend and his accomplice, neither of whom were detained or arrested.

At the time of her conviction, the White House said Bogans was a single mother with no prior record who accepted responsibility for her limited role in the offense.

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“Because of the harsh penalties in place at the time she was convicted, Ms. Bogan received a seven-year sentence,” the White House said in a statement.

In the nearly two decades since her release from custody, Bogans has held consistent employment, even while undergoing treatment for cancer, and has focused on raising her son.

Administration officials signaled that the president would no longer wait on Congress for needed criminal justice reform.

Biden announced a $145 million plan

to provide job skills training to federal inmates to help them gain work when they are released.

He added the implementation of new steps to support those re-entering society after incarceration.

Those steps include a new collaboration between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Labor to provide job training; new grants for workforce development programs; greater opportunities to serve in the federal government; expanded access to capital for people with convictions trying to start a small business; improved reentry services for veterans; and more support for health care, housing, and educational opportunities.

“As I laid out in my comprehensive strategy to reduce gun crime, helping those who served their time return to their families and become contributing members of their communities is one of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism and decrease crime,” Biden remarked.

“While (this) announcement marks important progress, my Administration will continue to review clemency petitions and deliver reforms that advance equity and justice, provide second chances, and enhance the wellbeing and safety of all Americans.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 01, 2022 - June 07, 2022

JOIN THE INNER-CITY NEWS AS WE CELEBRATE

JUNETEENTH! Known to some as the country's “second Independence Day,” Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of enslaved people in the United States at the end of the Civil War.

For more than 150 years, African American communities across the country have observed this holiday. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

We invite you to join us in this national celebration of American history and Black Culture.

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Circulation Breakdown

Circulation Breakdown Inner-City News Market GET THE FACTS

CIRCULATION BREAKDOWN

Connecticut has 16.5% non-white population. The figure

Published: weekly / circulation: 25,000 / Readership:

for the inner city newspaper coverage area is an overwhelm-

100,000

ing 44%.

Where: over 750+ racks throughout the New Haven and Bridgeport area.

Within the inner city distribution area, the cities with the largest non-white populations are:

New haven 60% Bridgeport 40%

Bridgeport 53.1% New haven 49.3%

New Haven, Westhaven, Hamden, North Haven, Bridgeport,

This represents a vital consumer base and an important seg-

Orange, Ansonia, Milford, Waterbury

ment of the population that cannot be ignored! Media market research (MRI) reported that 30.3% of the black popu-

Here are some quick facts about our readers.

lation have household incomes of over $40,000 a year!

Age: 35–78 College educated: 53%

10% of this population have incomes of 70,000 or more!

Male / Female: 46%–

54% Home owners: 34%

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Inner-City Penfield Communications inc.

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Connecticut’s first choice for urban news since 1990.

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