INNER-CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

Financial Justice a Key Focus at 2016 NAACP Convention

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Volume 29 . No. 24544 Volume 21 No. 2194

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Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

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An Emerging Composer Comes FOLLOW USStage ON To The Festival Main 1

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A New Day Sought For Tenants THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

Brackeen’s State Rep Primary Petition Drive Comes Up Short;

Eyes General Election

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

(Updated) The mayor and top City Hall housing officials traveled to an apartment complex on the east side of town to promote a newly proposed law empowering tenant unions — and to encourage renters to band together to advocate for fair rent and safe living conditions.

That was the message at a press conference that Mayor Justin Elicker hosted Thursday morning in the back parking lot of the Quinnipiac Gardens apartment complex at 1 Quinnipiac Ct. Standing alongside Fair Rent Commission Executive Director Wildaliz Bermúdez, Livable City Initiative (LCI) Executive Director Arlevia Samuel and Deputy Director Mark Wilson, city Assistant Corporation Counsel Blake Sullivan, and several members and organizers with the Quinnipiac Gardens Tenant Union, Elicker touted an ordinance amendment that his administration recently submitted to the Board of Alders for review and potential adoption.

That proposed law change would formally recognize tenant unions and give them a voice in investigations by the Fair Rent Commission.

At Thursday’s press conference, the city officials and tenant advocates made clear that this proposal is about more than simply formalizing a new tenant union legal process when it comes to fair rent and retaliatory complaints. It’s also about encouraging more tenants to form unions across the city.

“Tenants, individually, they have power,” Elickler said. “But as a group, they have way more power. And by facilitating that group, communicating with each other and having some sort of legal definition and legal authority can dramatically improve not only the situations for those tenants, but for other multi-unit properties across the city.”

A lot of landlords in New Haven are “good landlords,” the mayor said. “But for those landlords that are not, you’re on notice that people can organize and really fight back when these properties are not well maintained.”

Bermúdez agreed. She said that this proposal has come in part out of “the emergence of a lot more tenants’ unions around the City of New Haven. This is happening at a rapid rate, and individuals are coming together collectively to be heard and also to find solutions when they have an increase in rental charges and also when they have unsafe and unhealthy conditions.”

She said that this proposal would not only give tenants’ unions a formal role in Fair Rent Commission investigations, but would also bring together landlords, tenants, and tenants’ union representatives in a city-mediated “forum” to discuss

THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS City officials join Quinnipiac Gardens tenants and tenant union organizers for Thursday press conference. According to LCI, Quinnipiac Gardens has no outstanding housing code violations.

rent and living condition concerns as part of the Fair Rent Commission process.

“This is a good first step, but there’s more work that the city needs to do to stand up against bad landlords,” said Jacqueline Swell-Freelove, a Quinnipiac Gardens Tenant Union member who has lived at the east side apartment complex for 18 years.

“If other properties get together with us, I think we can do a good job with forming unions all over New Haven, so people can get better quality management in their apartments.”

Luke Melonakos-Harrison, a member of the local Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) chapter and organizer with the Quinnipiac Gardens Tenant Union, said that he and his fellow local lefty organizers are currently involved with three different tenants’ unions across the city.

“Having this course of action through the Fair Rent Commission is an important way to enable tenants to feel like they have some avenue to protect their housing and not be displaced and run out of their homes,” he said about the city’s tenant union law proposal.

What role does DSA plan in the current wave of local tenant union organizing?

Melonakos-Harrison said that DSA sees itself as helping tenants “transfer knowledge” from an older generation that may have been members in tenant associations in the 1970s and 1980s, to a newer generation of tenants looking to advocate for themselves collectively today.

He said DSA helps connect tenants with the relevant city housing officials, trains them on how to file complaints with the Fair Rent Commission and LCI, and gen-

Fair Rent Director Bermúdez.

erally imparts knowledge about how tenants can work together to collectively advocate for better, safer, more affordable living conditions.

“A lot of that has faded over the decades,” he said. “A big part of what we do is reintroduce the idea that has a history in Connecticut.”

The location of Thursday’s press conference was a 71-unit apartment complex owned by Pike International. The tenant

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union first formed at this complex last summer over concerns about rodents, broken appliances, mold, water damage, and increasing rents.

On Thursday, LCI’s Arlevia Samuel said that this apartment complex has no outstanding housing code violations. An August 2021 inspection by city housing code officials found 17 violations, she said. All of those issues were fixed by management.

Darryl Brackeen and Pat Dillon.

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

Darryl Brackeen Jr. won’t be mounting a Democratic primary challenge for a state representative seat after all, but he’s still eyeing the seat. He is now turning his campaign sights to November, after failing to gather enough qualified petition signatures to force an August Democratic primary against State Rep. Pat Dillon.

On Thursday, city Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans confirmed for the Independent that Brackeen did not submit enough qualified petition signatures of registered Democrats by the Tuesday, 4 p.m., deadline to trigger a Democratic primary for the 92nd General Assembly District seat held by Pat Dillon, who is running for reelection.

Brackeen, who is currently an Upper Westville city alder, submitted 342 qualified signatures. He needed 367 to force a primary.

That means that Dillon — who has represented the 92nd district since 1984, and who won the state Democratic Party’s endorsement unopposed at a convention earlier this year — won’t face a Democratic primary challenger this August.

November may be a different story.

Brackeen told the Independent on Thursday that he now plans on petitioning his way onto the November general election ballot. That means he’ll be doing so as an unaffiliated candidate, even though he personally is still a registered Democrat.

“We’re going all the way,” he said. “We will be collecting signatures and head on Con’t on page 18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

170 Student Interns Kick Off Bioscience Summer

by JORDAN ASHBY

New Haven Independent

Samantha Tice is getting a chance this summer she’d been waiting for — to break into New Haven’s booming bioscience industry.

“I’ve always had a natural interest in science and I wanted to do something impactful,” Samantha Tice, a Masters student at the University of New Haven said. Now, an internship doing oncology research and testing drug interactions at Arvinas is providing her with the perfect opportunity to break into the bioscience industry.

Tice has begun an internship doing oncology research and testing drug interactions at Arvinas.

She obtained her internship through the Student Program to Ready Interns for Next-generation Talent (SPRINT) internship program. Formed from the Governor’s Workforce Council and working in collaboration with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, SPRINT aims to create a talent pipeline into the Connecticut bioscience industry through pairing 170 students with paid internships with approximately 25 employers in the

Arvinas summer interns at Thursday's event. bioscience field.

On Thursday afternoon, Tice joined over 50 fellow student interns and industry professionals gathered at Olive & Wooster Apartments to kick off the program with a welcome and network-

ing event.

“Our vision is really bold,” Garrett Sheehan, president and CEO of the New Haven Chamber of Commerce, told the crowd. “We want to see Connecticut have the most dynamic and one of the largest

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life science sectors in the country.

“We know there are a lot of people who don’t have the opportunities for great careers, and we want to change that. We see the life sciences as not just an engine of growth but also an engine of opportu-

nity.”

The CEO of Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Vlad Coric, talked about how bioscience companies offer a pathway not just to science careers, but in all aspects of business. He encouraged students to explore their interests.

For Emma Drake, a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill with a neuroscience internship at Arvinas, that broader possibility in SPRINT internships is one of its benefits.

She still has some time before she needs to decide on a career, she said, and so it is helpful to talk to other interns and hear what they are doing. The hands-on neuroscience research she is able to do through this internship is also “really cool,” she said, as it has helped her to apply what she has learned in her classes.

The internship program also helps employers. As Connecticut continues to grow the bioscience industry, developing a strong talent pool is essential. SPRINT includes partnerships with college career offices, such as at Southern Connecticut State University, where Peter Dimoulas helps prepare students for successful caCon’t on page 17

NHFD Tees Into Juneteenth THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

Saving lives and celebrating Juneteenth are on the agenda this month for the New Haven Fire Department (NHFD).

Juneteenth was recognized last year as a federal holiday. This year the NHFD has made it a mission to spread awareness of the holiday, which commemorates the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when the announcement proclaiming freedom for enslaved African Americans reached Texas two years later than Abraham Lincoln’s issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

The celebration takes the form of wearing newly printed T-shirts. The red shirts read “Juneteenth” on the right shoulder with the number 19. while the opposing shoulder depicts an American flag. The front and back of the shirt read “City of New Haven Fire Department.”

For the entire month of June the NHFD personnel will wear the Juneteenth T-shirts while on duty. A total of $9,000 was made from the shirt sales to firefighters, their families, and friends in and out of state. The remaining profit of $3,500 (after payments to the vendor) will be donated to a sickle cell fundraiser hosted by the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi. Juneteenth has been added as one of the many monthly celebrations by the NHFD, including Autism Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, Military Appreciation, and Sickle Cell Awareness months.

In addition to promoting awareness to the holiday, Capt. Troy Frost and firefighters Shy Floyd and Shemica Foreman said, the shirts have brought unity and ca-

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Contributing Writers Symbol of a new NHFD era: Firefighters Shy Floyd and Shemica Foreman.

maraderie in the department.

Frost, who spearheaded the T-shirt project, thanked Fire Chief John Alston Jr. for being receptive to the firefighters’ voices and for agreeing to make Juneteenth an annual celebration. He added that the NHFD is the first department in the country to do a department-wide celebration of Juneteenth.

“We went through a divide in past, but this is bringing us back together,” said Foreman, who has been firefighter for 20 years.

While out in the community, the firefighters also hope to spark educational conversations amongst the community about Juneteenth.

“We want this to be infectious,” Floyd said. Frost, who has been with the NHFD for 18 years, and Foreman agreed that when they first joined department, “this wouldn’t have happened.”

“As Black women, to have a voice and a word in this meant the world,” Foreman said. “In the past it wasn’t like that.”

Battalion Chief Justin Bialecki said he is

excited to be in a department that recognizes all history and its diversity.

“While we’re visible in the community, we can bring the holiday to the forefront,” he said. “We’re behind the community in more than one way.”

While a crew of new recruits in training marched to a live fire simulation Tuesday, they wore red recruit shirts each tagged with their names. By the end of the month they will be promoted to firefighters for a department that emphasizes solidarity, Bialecki said.

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MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Firefighters sport Juneteenth T-shirts.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

An Emerging Composer Comes To The Festival Main Stage

by Makeda Murray, ARTS Paper www.newhavenarts.org An emerging composer wanted to tell the story of musicians in the Covid-19 pandemic. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra wanted to hear what he had to say. So he turned to his keyboard and started writing.

Now, New Haven has a chance to hear it.

That composer is 20-year-old Anton Kot, an Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) grad who will be premiering his composition “Let’s Try This” with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra this Saturday, as part of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. In the lead up to the concert, Kot said he is excited to be back in the city that taught him how to be a musician.

“Sound has the capacity to make memories that alter your perspective on life,” he said in a recent Zoom interview with the Arts Paper.

From an early age, Kot said, he was very fascinated by sounds around him.

During his childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, he tried to mimic the sounds of subway stations as trains rumbled by and pedestrians ran to catch the right one. At home, he would drum on the table with chopsticks, listening as the thin sticks hit the hard surface.

His parents started him on his first drum set when he was just three, and piano lessons when he was four. He composed a piano piece titled “Snowstorm” when he was around four or five years old, after watching the composer Philip Glass perform at the nearby venue Roulette.

When Kot was seven or eight, he moved to Milford with his family. It became his doorway to New Haven and to the Neighborhood Music School, where he studied with teaching artists Jesse Hameen II, Rina Kinber and Jeff Fuller. Perhaps because they are all professional musicians themselves, he said that they were very supportive in his journey, and he was able to discuss things “at heart” with them.

He also studied at ECA, as well as a pre-college program at the Manhattan School of Music, and summers at the Litchfield Jazz Camp. When Kot was 16, he was able to play at the International Gamelan Festival in Solo, Indonesia, with older peers from Wesleyan University. “It not only developed my perspective of the world, but arts as a whole,” he said of the experience.

It was also during those years that Kot began to compose seriously, joining the NHSO’s Young Composers Project in the 2018-2020 cohort. Years later, that connection with the organization would lead to the Arts & Ideas main stage.

NMS teacher Hameen praised his former student and said he is very excited to hear Kot’s composition on June 11. Kot was under Hameen’s tutelage for over a

Photo by Babz Rawls Ivy Anton Kot, Anabelle Ross, Alasdair Neale, Music Director, NHSO, Dr. Keith Churchwell, President of Yale NNH, Chair NHSO Board, and Dr. Leslie Douglas-Churchwell decade, and studied genres including Afro-Caribbean, jazz, and rock. As early as middle school, Hameen said, he was composing works. Hameen described Kot as a “serious and mature student, who loves a challenge.”

“I would give him something in the traditional form, and tell him to make it

Anton,” he recalled. “Put his own spin on it, and he was always able to.”

Hameen also noted how helpful Kot was as a student. He often helped set up equipment for different concerts going on at NMS, and appeared very community oriented, always willing to mentor fellow students as he grew his own musical

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footprint. Hameen said he hopes that in the future, Kot will become an instructor, passing the torch to future musicians just as his teachers passed it on to him.

“He always left people with a smile on their face, and had a great sense of humor,” Hameen said.

Kot began composing “Let’s Try This”

at the beginning of the pandemic, during his senior year at ECA. By then, he was finishing out a two-year term with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers Project, which pairs a professional composer with students at the school. Originally, he said, he wanted to demonstrate how artistry has been affected throughout the pandemic. In particular, he wanted to create a sound that reflected the trials musicians faced during the pandemic, as the world shut down around them.

It has gone through many iterations and revisions since that time, in part because Kot has continued to grow as a musician.

In fall of 2020, he began his studies at the Steinhardt School at New York University (NYU). At NYU, his teachers have included Lenny White, Alan Broadbent, Ari Hoeing, Dezron Douglas, Brad Shepick, and Bobby Sanabria.

He never forgot about New Haven, he said—it’s his musical home and launching pad. After New Haven Symphony’s Artistic Director Alasdair Neale heard Kot’s composition “Rise” at the NHSO’s virtual gala in 2021, he commissioned Kot to write a full-length piece for the 2022 festival.

In May of this year, he studied in Paris and played at two jazz clubs, Le Duc des Lombards and Sunset Sunside. While he was abroad in the City of Lights, he had the chance to learn from Laurent Coq, Sébastian Paindestre and Antoine Banville. At the same time, he worked on “Let’s Try This,” getting it ready for its June premiere. This week, he has been deep in rehearsals with the NHSO preparing the piece.

Now as a rising junior at NYU, Kot said he loves being able to branch out and collaborate with other students, and has gotten the opportunity to work with people he wouldn’t have worked with. At NYU, he believes the environment is more like an apprenticeship, than a student-teacher environment. He’ll be bringing all of that to his work with the NHSO Saturday.

What excites him most as a solo performer is not knowing where his improvisation will take a piece he is familiar with, he said. When performing with others, the dialogue between fellow musicians and feeding off of what each other does excites him most.

Katie Bonner Russo, the NHSO’s marketing director, said that the symphony is looking forward to Saturday’s show. She described Kot as a “triple-threat, an amazing talent.”

Learn more about the International Festival of Arts & Ideas here. This piece comes to the Arts Paper through the fifth annual Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI), a program of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Read more about the program here or by checking out the”YAJI” tag. Makeda Murray is a sophomore and is homeschooled.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

Urban Environmentalist Receives Audubon Lifetime Achievement Award

by JORDAN ASHBY

New Haven Independent

People were buzzing about bees — and about the person behind putting together an event calling attention to the role they play in nature.

That was the scene at a double-bill “All Things Pollinator” event Saturday at the Urbanscapes Native Plant Nursery , where the Farmington Canal Trail hits Hazel Street and Shelton Avenue in Newhallville.

The “All Things Pollinator” event was hosted by the Menunkatuck Audubon Society and Community Placemaking Engagement Network (CPEN) and aimed to raise awareness about the importance of native plants in a fun, family friendly space.

Dozens of people milled in and out, stopping by educational booths with experts sharing information on native plants, soils, birds, bubble bees, and gardening. Native perennials and shrubs were sold.

During “All Things Pollinator,” a second event was held to honor of the organizers: Doreen Abubakar The Audubon Society of Connecticut awarded New Haven’s Abubakar 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award honoring individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership

High school students Darnell and Quayson, who have worked for Urbanscapes for eight weeks.

JORDAN ASHBY PHOTO Doreen Abubakar receiving the Audubon Connecticut Lifetime Achievement Award with Mike Burger, Executive Director of Audubon New York & Connecticut

and commitment to the conservation of birds, wildlife, and their habitats.

Abubakar’s work focuses on creating green spaces in New Haven that meet the needs of people “on the ground” first and foremost.

One such project with the creation of the “Learning Corridor”, a once infamous drug-dealing zone that she and other greenspacers transformed into a community oasis.

Another is Urbanscapes itself that,

across the street form the Learning Corridor, serves as a community education space. In partnership with Audubon Connecticut, Abubakar’s nonprofit CPEN has built a greenhouse, woodworking, and planting space for native plants and hosts weekly community volunteer hours to engage and education youth in the community.

Growing up in West River as an “urban basketball player,” Abubakar said, she had her first real exposure to nature in high school on a school-sponsored camping trip. While bugs were a stark adjustment, she left the trip with a burn-

ing desire to bring that nature back to the city.

“A lot of people start these initiatives for saving the world. Me, I know about the initiatives for saving the world, but I’m about starting the foundation. The connection. Making sure that young people, minorities are exposed is key,” Abubakar said.

It is not possible to start an initiative and have it trickle down into the community, she noted. Instead, communities of color need to be at the foundation of the environmental movement in New Haven.

She works to establish this foundation by going into schools and telling kids about the opportunities they have either as volunteers or workers in urban greenspaces.

Darnell Moye, age 16, and Quayson Pearson, age 15, are two of those youth.

They work at Urbanscapes, planting and helping with events. “You get to get paid for having fun,” Darnell said. “And it’s fun meeting new people.”

Jillian Bell of Hamden and the Audubon Society talked about how Abukabur can see a place and envision it in an entirely different way.

“Everything she touches turns to gold,” said Dennis Riordan, president of the Menunkatuck Audubon Society.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

In Arts & Ideas Production, Reginald Dwayne Betts Blazes A Paper Trail

by BRIAN SLATTERY

New Haven Independent

Early in Felon: An American Washi Tale, poet and lawyer Reginald Dwayne Betts talks about how, as a prisoner serving time for a carjacking, he heard his fellow prisoners calling to each other in the dark, looking for something to read. “Yo, send me a book!” they called out, and in the dark, he heard the paper slide across the cell block floor. It took him a while to muster the courage to ask for himself — “Yo, send me a book!” The poetry anthology that slipped under his door set him on the path to his freedom.

Felon: An American Washi Tale — which ran at the Iseman Theater on Chapel Street, Saturday and Sunday, as part of the International Festival of Arts and Ideas — is the result of a collaboration between Betts and playwright and director Elise Thoron.

Since serving his sentence more than 20 years ago, Betts has written a memoir and three books of poetry about prison and its lingering effects on those whose lives it touches. He’s also a lawyer who has helped others navigate their paroles, and has founded a nonprofit, Freedom Reads, to help incarcerated people have better access to books. The experience of prison, Betts writes in an accompanying note, “is marked by paper. Paper gets you in and sometimes gets you free. Chasing paper on the front is the catalyst to cuffs for

many; making paper — that is, parole — is the hope of freedom for others. Inside, letters from family are lifelines, earning the slang moniker ‘kite,’ and there is an edge of exhilaration when a kite is slipped into a cell by a guard during mail call or under a cell door by another prisoner. For years after my release, I carried around a slip of paper in my wallet. A receipt for twentyfive dollars and seventy-one cent, the last of the money I’d earned working for 45 cent an hour in a Virginia prison. Transforming the paper into art complexifies the experience, makes it more than loss, more than the account for crimes and prison time that seem to stalk.”

Elise Thoron’s recent experience working with a Japanese papermaker brought the theme into her work with Betts. As Betts’s solo show was developed for the stage — based on the poems in Betts’s collection Felon — the theme was pushed a little farther. For Betts’s story, it’s not just paper, but often the words that are printed on them that matter, and as this moving show amply illustrates, it’s Betts’s words in particular that are the vessel for his liberation, not only from incarceration, but the way that prison time shapes the lives of the formerly incarcerated long after they’re freed.

The play is aided by the set design, which features a table and chair at its center, a bookcase full of books, and what — for

most of the show — look like three disorganized piles of papers. Betts roams the set, delivering his story in clear language that turns on a dime from humorous and self-deprecating to pointed and thoughtful to lyrical and almost painfully expressive.

He is a winning narrator of his own story, laying bare his shortcomings and marveling, with wry detachment, at the decisions of his youth. He also delivers his accomplishments (such as getting into Yale Law School) with a light touch. This rhetorical move isn’t just about being humble; it’s because Betts has a larger point to make.

For while the title of the piece might suggest that the piece will mostly deal with life in prison, Felon is actually much more focused on the precariousness of life after prison. Betts may be an example of an extraordinarily successful life by any measure, but his difficulties finding employment, of getting back on his feet, of going back to school, are familiar parts of the biographies of anyone who has served time. By connecting himself to that broader experience, Betts opens the door to some real insight: the way that carrying the label felon after people have served their sentences affects not just the surfacelevel situation of education and employment, but people’s relationships to everyone in their lives, both those they knew before they went to prison and everyone they meet afterward. That, in turn, affects

THE RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE

people’s own perceptions of themselves.

When do you tell a stranger, a friend, a lover — your children — that you served time in prison? How much do you let yourself be defined by the word the judicial system has attached permanently to

your history? What is the path to becoming truly free of it? Betts navigates these questions with breathtaking honesty and nuance, especially when he broadens the story to include the legal work he did in Con’t on page 18

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS AND YALE SCHWARZMAN CENTER ANNOUNCE OCTAVIA E. BUTLER’S PARABLE OF THE SOWER BY TOSHI REAGON AND BERNICE JOHNSON REAGON Opera co-directed by Eric Ting & Signe Harriday to be a capstone of One City, One Read Citywide Programming June 21-22, 2022

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and Yale Schwarzman Center (YSC), will co-present the operatic adaptation of Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” this summer as one of its highlighted programs and the capstone of the citywide One City, One Read program devoted to exploring the themes of Butler’s classic science fiction novel. The production will be June 21 and 22 at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre.

“Parable of the Sower” is a mesmerizing work of rare power and beauty that illuminates deep insights on gender, race, and the future of civilization. A prescient science fiction masterwork, Parable of the Sower is the story of Lauren Olamina, a 15-year-old Black girl in a not-toodistant future of climate catastrophe and economic devastation. Butler’s novel received a 1995 Nebula Award and was a New York Times Bestseller in 2020.

Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon’s fully staged congregational opera brings together more than 30 original anthems drawn from 200 years of Black music to recreate Butler’s sci-fi, Afrofuturist masterpiece live on stage.

“One of the most appealing things about Parable of the Sower is its story weaving power, into compelling narrative. The

music will leave you breathless, with dinner topics for days,” remarks, the Festival’s Director of Programming and Community Impact, Malakhi Eason.

Accessibility is a priority for this production, ensuring that income is not a barrier to acquiring tickets, which will be priced from $20 to $100, which will include an invitation to a special event in conjunction with the performance. The Festival Box Office will work with individuals for whom cost is a barrier. Tickets go on sale April 29.

The Festival’s Executive Director Shelley Quiala notes, “the power of Parable

is its focus on empathy, self-determination, and creativity as the tools we need to change the world. We all have access to these things—they are inside us, as the heroine demonstrates with her forethought and intense dedication to community-building throughout the novel. In this way, the book and the opera serve as a powerful invitation to the communities in which it is shared to look within and embrace change and each other.”

Spurred by Butler’s work, artistic, religious, educational, literary, and human service organizations across the Elm City are fully immersed in exploring and ex-

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pressing the themes from the Parable.

These collaborative partnerships will present more than 20 different community-building events over the course of the Spring and Summer. Some of the additional partners include the New Haven Free Public Library, Artspace New Haven, Best Video Film & Cultural Center, Yale Schwarzman Center, Elm City LIT Fest, Albertus Magnus College, Bethesda Lutheran Church, New Haven Public Schools, Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Gateway Community College, Inner City News, and more.

YSC Associate Artistic Director Jenni-

fer Harrison Newman commented, “Reagon’s work does not begin or end at the performance date. The extensive experience and knowledge that Toshi brings not only as an artist and performer but as a producer, organizer, and activist provides opportunities for institutions within communities to work together in ways they may have never done before, challenging the ‘how things are normally done’ mindset.”

As an artist-in-residence, Reagon will continue to engage with New Haven organizations beyond the opera throughout the summer as the community continues to tackle some of the themes raised in the book and opera.

This production represents the first major partnership between the Festival and YSC, Yale’s newest center for student life and the arts.

More information can be found on the Arts & Ideas website at artidea.org/parable, with tickets going on sale April 29.

Festival 2022, CONNECT, will take place May 4 - June 26, 2022, in and around New Haven, Conn., featuring more than 200 events, 85 percent of which are free, and many also livestreamed. Connect with the Festival and Connect it all in 2022.

Head Start-Housing Pilot Expands THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

by YASH ROY

New Haven Independent

Meghan Gonzalez, her husband, and three kids had been homeless for 5 years before earlier this year they got “the miracle call”: they would finally have a roof over their heads.

Gonzalez’s family is one of 20 in Connecticut that have benefited from a firstin-the-nation “Head Start on Housing” program tying the federal Head Start preschool program with the state’s Department of Housing to offer rent vouchers to vulnerable families with young kids.

On Monday Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, state Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno and Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye attended a press conference at LULAC to commemorate the success of the pilot program as well as announce an expansion, by 35 vouchers, beginning July 1.

“Connecticut is a national leader by combining housing and Head Start,” said Lamont. “It’s no coincidence that the president and vice-president both came to Connecticut to look at early childhood centers and programs. It’s the most important investment we can make as a state and I’m going to make sure we maintain that commitment everyday to these kids.”

Gonzalez’s story began with LULAC Head Start, a 0 – 5 childcare and educational center located at 295 Cedar St. in the Hill.

After one of Gonzalez’s family members, who had previously worked at LULAC, told her about the center and the help it could provide, Gonzalez sent her three kids to LULAC. She was also set up with LULAC Family Services Coordinator Janic Maysonet.

Working with Maysonet, Gonzalez entered into the pilot of Head Start on Humanity in January and was finally able to get into an apartment with her kids.

“I dropped to the floor and started crying,” said Gonzalez. “I never thought that would happen. I‘ve gone through so many programs and never heard back so to get help from headstart which isn’t even a housing program is just amazing. It’s amazing to tell my kids that this is home and be able to tell them that we’re not going to another place tomorrow. I hope I can share my story so that even more families can get the help they need.”

Head Start on Humanity is a joint venture among the state’s offices of Early Childhood, Housing, Head Start State Collaboration, the CT Head Start Association, and the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare.

Head Start originated in New Haven in the 1960s under President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” anti-poverty initiative, to provide early educational services to families with incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty line. It became a celebrated nationwide program that continues to this day.

“The one missing piece of Head Start was housing,” Ruth White, executive director of the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare. “Head Start staff are required to go out and recruit families that are experiencing housing instability or homelessness but couldn’t attach vouchers which must have been infuriating for them. 1.5 million children in the American public schools system are experiencing homelessness right now so hopefully this program can become a model for state’s across the nation.”

Betsy Cronin, program director of a statewide nonprofit housing group called the Connection, originally thought of tying housing and rent vouchers to Head Start programs in the state and took the idea to the state commissioner of housing and found support.

“I’ve experienced near homelessness before and received government subsidized housing, so when they came to speak to me, thinking it would be one of

YASH ROY PHOTO Gov. Lamont with LULAC families at Monday's announcement.

the hardest meetings of their life, I said yes immediately,” said Mosquera-Bruno.

According to LULAC Head Start Executive Director Mikyle Byrd-Vaughn, Gonzalez is one of five families at LULAC who have received housing vouchers in the last six months. The center has eight families lined up for the current set of 35 vouchers which are being shared across

the state.

Steve DiLella, the head of Head Start on Housing, said the department plans on revising the state’s Section 8 rental subsidy policies so that one in three of the vouchers is applied to this program. He predicted that change will allow for an additional 75 – 100 vouchers this year as well as annually.

Murphy Announces Bipartisan Gun-Law Deal

by YASH ROY

New Haven Independent

Meghan Gonzalez, her husband, and three kids had been homeless for 5 years before earlier this year they got “the miracle call”: they would finally have a roof over their heads.

Gonzalez’s family is one of 20 in Connecticut that have benefited from a firstin-the-nation “Head Start on Housing” program tying the federal Head Start preschool program with the state’s Department of Housing to offer rent vouchers to vulnerable families with young kids.

On Monday Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, state Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno and Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye attended a press conference at LULAC to commemorate the success of the pilot program as well as announce an expansion, by 35 vouchers, beginning July 1.

“Connecticut is a national leader by combining housing and Head Start,” said Lamont. “It’s no coincidence that the president and vice-president both came to Connecticut to look at early childhood centers and programs. It’s the most important investment we can make as a state and I’m going to make sure we maintain that commitment everyday to these kids.”

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Chris Murphy.

Gonzalez’s story began with LULAC Head Start, a 0 – 5 childcare and educational center located at 295 Cedar St. in the Hill.

After one of Gonzalez’s family members, who had previously worked at LULAC, told her about the center and the help it could provide, Gonzalez sent her three kids to LULAC. She was also set up

with LULAC Family Services Coordinator Janic Maysonet.

Working with Maysonet, Gonzalez entered into the pilot of Head Start on Humanity in January and was finally able to get into an apartment with her kids.

“I dropped to the floor and started crying,” said Gonzalez. “I never thought that would happen. I‘ve gone through so many

10

programs and never heard back so to get help from headstart which isn’t even a housing program is just amazing. It’s amazing to tell my kids that this is home and be able to tell them that we’re not going to another place tomorrow. I hope I can share my story so that even more families can get the help they need.”

Head Start on Humanity is a joint venture among the state’s offices of Early Childhood, Housing, Head Start State Collaboration, the CT Head Start Association, and the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare.

Head Start originated in New Haven in the 1960s under President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” anti-poverty initiative, to provide early educational services to families with incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty line. It became a celebrated nationwide program that continues to this day.

“The one missing piece of Head Start was housing,” Ruth White, executive director of the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare. “Head Start staff are required to go out and recruit families that are experiencing housing instability or homelessness but couldn’t attach vouchers which must have been infuriating for them. 1.5 million children in the American public schools system are experienc-

ing homelessness right now so hopefully this program can become a model for state’s across the nation.”

Betsy Cronin, program director of a statewide nonprofit housing group called the Connection, originally thought of tying housing and rent vouchers to Head Start programs in the state and took the idea to the state commissioner of housing and found support.

“I’ve experienced near homelessness before and received government subsidized housing, so when they came to speak to me, thinking it would be one of the hardest meetings of their life, I said yes immediately,” said Mosquera-Bruno.

According to LULAC Head Start Executive Director Mikyle Byrd-Vaughn, Gonzalez is one of five families at LULAC who have received housing vouchers in the last six months. The center has eight families lined up for the current set of 35 vouchers which are being shared across the state.

Steve DiLella, the head of Head Start on Housing, said the department plans on revising the state’s Section 8 rental subsidy policies so that one in three of the vouchers is applied to this program. He predicted that change will allow for an additional 75 – 100 vouchers this year as well as annually.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

Houstonians Gather in Support of Brittney Griner at a Prayer Vigil and Rally

By Grace Boateng, Houston Forward Times

After more than 100 days, WNBA star Brittney Griner remains in detainment in Russia. According to Russian state media, she is to remain in pretrial detention through June 18th.

On Monday, a rally was held for Griner in Houston as she is a native to the city. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee made a statement prior to the event saying: “Brittney Griner was taken into custody in Russia in mid-February 2022 and shortly thereafter the tyranny of Putin raged and invaded a democratic Ukraine.

Unfortunately, I knew that Brittney Griner’s destiny was going to be wrapped up in the leadership of the United States of America and the American people who had expressed their outrage and care for her.

Brittney Griner is a hometown girl raised in Houston, a graduate of Nimitz High School, excelled in basketball, and went on to Baylor University where she continued to excel onward to the WNBA and an Olympic championship. She has received many accolades for her basketball prowess, but what has come to define her most definitely is her kindness and proclivity for charity and helping others.

On Monday, June 6, 2022, the voices of Houston will be raised with clarity to say— Brittney Griner is a hostage in Russia and the whole community of Houston demands that she be released immediately. Our nation is founded on the values of equality and Democracy. On Monday, Houstonians will stand up with pride in their love of Democracy, equality, and justice; and their voices will be heard in Washington, DC, and all the way to where Brittney is held. We hope this rally and prayer vigil will continue to propel the Administration and the President of the United States to continue to work to secure the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whalen. Houstonians’ voices should never be silenced until Brittney Griner is brought home and we hope many voices will join us on June 6, 2022, at 6:00 pm at the Houston Rockets Toyota Center at the corner of Polk and La Branch, in Houston, TX. Please join us to stretch our hands to our athletic friends across the nation; to the WNBA, and NBA; to our schools; and to our many friends around the nation.”

Trevor Reed, an American veteran who was recently released in a prisoner exchange program after spending three years in Russian detainment, was among Griner’s supporters. He expressed his concern for Griner’s safety and is calling on the White House and legislators to work even faster towards Griner’s release.

Reed described the experience saying, “Every day that you’re in prison there, it’s like you’re waking up to a nightmare.”

He likened the food and holding areas as “medieval.”

Brittney Griner

Reed expressed that Griner would likely face even more challenges due to her being black and a member of the LGBTQ community as systematic oppression remains a global phenomenon that is alive and well in Russia.

He went on to say “There is no justice in Russia. Brittney and Paul (not another American detainee) will not receive justice in Russia. They’re not going to receive a fair trial; they will not receive a fair investigation. They will be there as hostages until the United States gets them out.”

Reed encouraged Griner’s advocates to demand action from their senators and federal representatives. “Write them, call them, annoy them, don’t leave them alone,” he said. “Tell them you want

Brittney home, and you want the rest of the Americans who are being wrongfully detained home, and you want it done now.”

It was confirmed one month ago that the US Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA) was now handling Griner’s case. While in detention in Russia, Griner has receive minimal written correspondence from her family.

Griner’s agent said, “While sporadic written communication from her wife, family, friends, and global sport community has been a source of comfort for BG during her wrongful detainment, going without real time, regular contact with loved ones is inhumane. It has been over 105 days since BG has heard her wife or family’s voice. It remains clear that

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Brittney Griner is being used as a political pawn and it is imperative that President Biden do whatever is necessary to return Brittney home quickly and safely.”

On the 100th day of Griner’s detainment, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association made a statement saying, “To everyone listening go to WEAreBG.org and sign the petition, call the White House and call everyone you know. If you know anyone in the Biden administration, CALL THEM.” Houstonians gathered outside of the Toyota Center to rally and pray in support of Griner’s release.

“This is someone who literally…who literally…has given everything to this city, to this state and to this country, somebody who went to the Olympics in

2016 and 2020 and won the gold, somebody who seven times has been (an AllStar),” Mayor Sylvester Turner told the crowd. “The WNBA is here. The NBA is here. People from all parts of our city are here. I just want to join the chorus to say, ‘Bring Brittney home. And bring her home now.’”

In addition to his plea for Brittney’s freedom, Mayor Turner also made a proclamation saying, “I proudly proclaim this day (June 6, 2022) as Brittney Griner day in the city of Houston. Bring Brittney home.”

The post Houstonians Gather in Support of Brittney Griner at a Prayer Vigil and Rally appeared first on Houston Forward Times.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

HAMDEN

Juneteenth

FREEDOM DAY CELEBRATION SUN. JUNE 19TH - TOWN CENTER PARK 2761 DIXWELL AVE., HAMDEN

3-6PM DEPT. OF RECREATION (203) 287-2579

Live music, food, and more.

Bring a blanket and chairs to enjoy!

Call Miss Sallie in Recreation for more information or to sign up to present during the program sponsored by: Mayor's Office, Hamden Recreation, The Charles F. Lowry Foundation and Hamden Economic Development

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

Jan Ernst Matzeliger’s Invention Revolutionized Shoe Manufacturing

By Tamara Shiloh, Post News Group

The craft of shoemaking was at one time difficult and manual work. But with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, cobblers and cordwainers cut, sewed, and tacked shoes with machines.

The inner and outer soles were attached with machines and other devices were used to sew uppers to lowers. The final part of the process though, remained manual: the lasting.

A cordwainer is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. Lasting is the part of the process that sets the final shape of a shoe and holds it in place so the outsole can be permanently attached.

Designing a machine to perform the lasting was thought to have been impossible.

But Jan Ernst Matzeliger (1852–1889), was determined to automate this task.

And with persistence, he was successful.

He revolutionized the industry of shoemaking with his lasting machine. It cut the cost of manufacturing shoes in half, thereby making shoes more affordable.

Little is known about Matzeliger’s early life. He was born on the northern coast of South America in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (now the Republic of Suriname).

By age 10, he was apprenticed in the machine shops. He had an interest in machinery and mechanics, and at the same time, desired to see the world.

At 19, Matzeliger went to sea on an East Indian merchant ship. When reaching America, he decided to stay in Philadelphia. There he worked odd jobs, one be-

Jan Ernst Matzeliger ing a shoemaker’s apprentice.

Being a Black man limited his professional options; he struggled to make a decent living. By 1876, he would relocate to Boston. After a brief stay, he settled in Lynn, Mass., where shoemaking was an established industry.

Matzeliger was soon hired at Harney Brothers’ shoe factory, where he operated a McKay sole-sewing machine and ran a heel-burnisher and a buttonhole machine.

He wanted to learn more about the craft, so he studied the hand lasters as they worked.

A hand laster pulls and secures lining uppers over lasts (a mechanical form shaped like a human foot) to form leather shoes of designated size, then trims away

the excess material with a knife.

At night, Matzeliger began to duplicate the movements of the lasters. He secretly made drawings as he experimented with various materials. Six months later, his employer offered $50 for the unfinished machine. Matzeliger rejected it.

Four years later, after reconstructing the machine using iron, Matzeliger was offered $1,500. Again, he rejected it and continued to improve his machine. After 10 years, people began to laugh at Matzeliger and his efforts, but he refused to be discouraged. Eventually, when the time became right, he sought investors and was able to finance a patent.

In 1883, Matzeliger received a patent for his lasting machine. The first public operation of the machine took place in 1885, when the machine broke a record by lasting 75 pairs of shoes. He later received several other patents for shoemanufacturing machinery.

Unfortunately, in pursuing his work, Matzeliger sacrificed his health working long hours and not eating for long periods of time. He died of tuberculosis three weeks before his 37th birthday, never reaping the profit of his invention.

Encourage your tweens to read more in Barbara Mitchell’s “Shoes for Everyone: A Story about Jan Matzeliger.”

The post Jan Ernst Matzeliger’s Invention Revolutionized Shoe Manufacturing first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

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Seven Decades After First Black Reporter Covered the White House,

the Black Press Receives Coveted Credentials

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Seventy-two years after President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Harry S. McAlpin Jr. of the National Negro Publishers Association to cover an Oval Office news conference, and 82-years after the founding of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the Black Press can freely cover the White House.

The NNPA has received a hard pass, allowing near-unfettered access to the White House.

Called the ultimate White House credential, the hard pass allows on-demand access to the famed Pennsylvania Avenue complex.

“The National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Senior National Correspondent, Stacy Brown, has once again enabled our national trade association representing the Black Press of America, to make another historic yet contemporary step forward with the official acquisition of the White House hard-pass,” said NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. “The hard pass gives the NNPA daily access to the White House,” Chavis remarked.

As a correspondent for the NNPA member newspaper, the Atlanta Daily World, McAlpin covered his first White House press conference in 1944.

However, the White House Correspondents Association vehemently objected to the African American journalist and routinely blocked him from covering the White House.

President Roosevelt intervened after a group of Black leaders expressed their frustration.

Still, the Association pushed back.

“The president could break the color line for his press conferences, but he could not rewrite the WHCA’s membership policies,” George Condon, the author of a forthcoming work on the history of the Association, told NPR. “They blackballed [McAlpin] from ever joining the Correspondents’ Association or attending the group’s annual dinner.”

In 2014 the Association finally paid tribute to McAlpin, who died in 1985, with the first Harry S. McAlpin Jr. Scholarship awarded to a college student.

Earlier this year, the Association honored Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington.

However, while honoring the trailblazers, the Association failed to acknowledge Chavis and the NNPA, which purchased a table for ten at the dinner only to be issued two tickets and seated in the very back of the crowded ballroom.

Perhaps, with the coveted White House hard-pass acquisition, the Association and the rest of the press corps that covers the administration will show more deference to the NNPA and the Black Press of America, which celebrates its 195th anniversary in 2022.

“At this pivotal era in American history, having daily access for the NNPA to the news and issues at the White House that impact the quality of life of Black America and other communities of color are so important and timely,” Chavis concluded.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

Should Americans be worried about the White House “Blaxit”?

By Tinashe Chingarande, Special to the Inner-City News courtesy of The AFRO.com

News reports from White outlets questioned President Joe Biden’s commitment to diversity and said that the increase in Black staffers bidding adieu to the White House stems from a lack of support from superiors and a famine of promotion opportunities.

However, those familiar with White House procedures contend that while rumblings in the nation’s highest office aren’t atypical, the quick turnover isn’t unusual at this point in one’s presidency.

“This is part of the natural rhythm of the White House,” said April Ryan, White House correspondent for TheGrio and political commentator on CNN, in a phone interview with The AFRO. Ryan has been reporting on White House for over two decades.

“A lot of these people —[reporters]— are new, and they didn’t do the due diligence to see that this is not necessarily what they think it is,” she said.

A May 31 report from Politico said that at least 21 Black staffers left the BidenHarris administration late last year or are planning to leave soon. The departures have been so pronounced that one former and one current White House official said Black aides have termed them “Blaxit,”

photo: Daily Mail. according to the report.

The report also mentions that 14 percent of White House staffers identify as Black, according to a White House official and that many departures were on “good terms”, with some staffers leaving for graduate school, other cabinet depart-

ments, or to focus on their families.

Compared to the last three presidencies, Biden’s administration has had the lowest turnover in the executive office and cabinet during the second term, according to June data from The Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based organiza-

tion that conducts research in the social sciences.

Turnover in Biden’s executive office is 7.5 percent, according to the data. This is considerably lower compared to recent former presidents— Donald Trump had a turnover rate of 35 percent, Barack

Obama had 15 percent, and George W. Bush had 27 percent.

Similar trends are reflected in cabinet departures during the second term. No one has left Biden’s cabinet so far while five people left Trump’s and one left Bush’s.

Obama is the only other president with zero cabinet departures during the second term, according to Brookings’ data.

Ryan argues that the sensationalization of “Blaxit” is because White mainstream media is hypersensitive towards “matters of race.”

“This story to me right now just is what it is unless someone finds some massive tension for people to leave,” she said. “No one is questioning tension in some spaces, it’s just that it’s not everyone [who’s disgruntled].”

In a June 2 story Ryan penned for theGrio, a source said that movement in White House ranks would be “noticeable” as the Biden-Harris administration is said to be the most diverse in history.

A former Black staffer for the Obama administration also said, under anonymity, that “…because you have more Black people you will have more Black staff leaving.”

The staffer, however, mentioned that working for the White House came with challenges such as a lack of follow-up criCon’t on page 17

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

GUILTY: International jurists release final, detailed verdict on U.S. and state governments’ pattern of genocide against Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples

By Special to the Inner-City, courtesy of the AFRO.com A distinguished panel of nine international jurists has released its detailed final verdict finding the United States guilty of genocide against Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples.

The jury found the United States guilty on five counts, based on testimony and documents presented at last October’s historic human-rights tribunal held in New York.

The 46-page document builds on the historic legal and political precedents represented by previous findings such as the Civil Rights Congress’s 1951 “We Charge Genocide” petition, presented to the United Nations by Paul Robeson and William Patterson. Malcolm X’s 1964 call for bringing the U.S. before the World Court for human rights violations was also served as a catalyst for the hearing, along with last year’s report by the International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence Against People of African Descent, which found that the recent spate of police shootings of civilians constitute “crimes against humanity.”

The international panel of jurists is an independent body made up of legal scholars, human rights advocates and activists, and community leaders.

The full verdict of the 2021 International Tribunal fleshes out the preliminary verdict issued by the jurists last October.

“After having heard the testimony of numerous victims of police racism, hy-

per-mass incarceration, environmental racism, public health inequities, and of political prisoners/prisoners of war, together with the expert testimonies and graphic presentations, as well as the copious documentation submitted and admitted in the record, the Panel of Jurists find the U.S. and its subdivisions GUILTY of all five counts,” read the verdict. “We find that acts of genocide have been committed.”

The jurists relied on the definition codified in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, ratified by 152 nations.

Besides forbidding mass murders, the Convention also outlaws “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in

whole or in part.”

The Tribunal was organized by The Spirit of Mandela, an unprecedented U.S. alliance of attorneys, academics, human and immigrant rights supporters, and organizers from the Black Liberation, Puerto Rican decolonization, and Indigenous sovereignty/earth protection movements.

Opening their final verdict, the Jurists evaluated the testimonies evidence of genocide in particular against Indigenous and Black, Brown and Indigenous peoples in the U.S. The Jurists noted the widespread acceptance by scholars that “a total, relentless and pervasive genocide in the Americas” had occurred against Indigenous peoples since 1492. They also noted, both historically and today, “the consistency of broken treaties between the U.S. government and Native peoples.”

As to the Black population, the jurists

quoted the citations by Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Nkechi Taifa of “racially biased executions and extrajudicial killings…whether by lynch mobs or officers of the law,” as well as “discriminatory treatment…embedded in police departments, prosecutor’s offices, and courtrooms.”

Taifa summarized, “The cumulative impact of destructive treatment against Blacks in the criminal justice system, combined with challenging conditions of life negatively impacting generations, constitutes institutionalized genocide— the human rights crisis facing 21st Century Black America.”

The jurists’ verdict summarized the testimony evidence of 30 witnesses over two days, as well as detailed documentation, finding that “the wrongs have been historic and deliberate,” and found that the various acts of genocide currently manifest

as “medical and digital apartheid, chemical warfare, environmental violence and racism, divestment, and a pandemic of accessible guns and drugs – with the majority of gun violence perpetrated by police and security forces.”

They also cited “new forms of colonialism” such as “the prison industrial complex, the military industrial complex, the commercialization of our health and privatization/ commodification of all social services.”

The Verdict proceeded to summarize the testimony and documentation as to each of the five counts of genocide.

The jurists’ verdict closed by calling for authorities to go beyond simple apologies.

“The continued disparity of police killings and hyper-mass incarcerations; the continued incarceration of such prisoners as Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Imam Jamil Al Amin; the ongoing extreme health inequities causing the avoidable deaths of countless members of the affected groups, all indicate a need for urgent and immediate remediation.”

Con’t from page

Dwayne Betts Blazes

helping his friends he served time with get through their own paroles. He’s an easy man to root for, but Betts doesn’t make it that simple. He’s much more interested in showing the spiky complexity of what it is for him to move through the world, knowing that both harsh judgment and perhaps too-fawning praise are just double edges of the same sword, and somewhere in the arc of his biography is a man still wrestling with who he is, how he wants to seen and how he would like to see himself.

Near the end of the piece, Betts pulls ropes that have been hanging innocuously around on the stage, and the piles of paper are hoisted into the air, a flock of paper kites like the ones Betts describes. In the context of Felon, the kites are a source of bitter strength, a reminder of just how far Betts has come, how far he still feels he needs to go, and the tricky, fickle nature of what freedom really needs. His days in prison are long behind him. But the memories shape him still. What does it mean to be free of those?

The International Festival of Arts and Ideas runs through June 26.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022 Con’t from page 03

170 Student

reers in STEM fields.

SPRINT has also had the unexpected benefit of creating community among the bioscience industry in the state, said Jennifer Good, CEO of Trevi Therapeutics.

United by the goal of talent development, other company leaders have become familiar faces.

The interns, too, spoke of building community. “When I have other friends who are heavily involved in it and I can talk about my work … it keeps me invested and excited as well,” said Ethan Essenfield, a senior at Emory. Ultimately, “the science is great, but it’s the people that make it unique.”

New Haven Public Schools

Early Childhood “Blaxit”?

Programs Con’t from page 15

tiques and evaluations— something they didn’t receive until they began working in corporate America.

In the Politico report, former White House public engagement head Cedric Richmond said that staffers also left for higher compensation. Richmond is now a senior adviser at the Democratic National Committee.

“The White House is not corporate America,” Ryan said in her phone interview with The AFRO. “You can’t go in there thinking you’ll make a million dollars.” “[Working in the White House] is a resume-builder,” she said.

In a memo sent to the Biden-Harris executive office that theGrio exclusively obtained, Anne Filipic, assistant to the president and director of management and administration, said the Biden-Harris administration will “further invest both in the experience of current staff and ensure that the White House team continues to be representative of America.”

The memo also mentioned that the White House will launch its first-ever paid internship in September to build a pipeline of diverse public servants across the federal government.

When reflecting on how the exodus of Black staffers was covered by White mainstream media Ryan argues that there was no “clear understanding.”

“This is a typical transition [and] you have to come at it from all sides,” she said.

Ryan added that when rumblings about the story began to surface about a month ago, theGrio intentionally chose not to cover the issue.

However, when the White House memo was issued, the newspaper had no option but to greenlight the story. “[You can’t] rely on what another report said,” said Ryan.

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 17

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 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022 Con’t from page 02

Eyes General Election

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 18

to the general election.”

In order to qualify for the November general election as an unaffiliated candidate, Brackeen must collect petition signatures from registered voters in the district equal to 1 percent of the total votes cast in the last election in that district. He has until September to gather enough qualified petition signatures. In 2020, Dillon won reelection unopposed with 8,307 votes of support. That means that Brackeen will have to collect 83 qualified petition signatures.

“I run one way or the other,” Dillon responded when asked for comment Thursday. “It’s really up to me to go out and make my case to the voters.” She said she’s been doing just that, attending community management team meetings and other neighborhood-specific get togethers and talking with constituents.

“They trusted me with their votes two years ago, and I’m accountable to them,” she said. And while she was prepared for “a full-blown primary” in August, Dillon said, she’ll now pivot towards preparing for a contested general election in November.

Brackeen first announced his bid for the 92nd General Assembly District seat in late May, after ending an exploratory bid for secretary of the state. The state House district currently includes the West River, Westville, Edgewood, Dwight, Hill North, and Beverly Hills/ Amity neighborhoods.

If Brackeen had succeeded in his Democratic primary petition drive, the primary would have been held on Aug. 9.

Asked on Thursday about his coming up short on primary petition signatures, Brackeen acknowledged that only 342 of the signatures his campaign gathered ultimately qualified for the primary petition.

He said he submitted between 380 and 390 petition signatures in total to the registrar’s office.

“We realized that many of the registered voters that submitted signatures were booted out of the system. They’re now unaffiliated,” he said. “Many were long-term Democratic voters. We believe that there’s an issue that’s beyond our control, I believe it’s beyond local control, that’s moving inactive voters into an unaffiliated status.” He also said he has already qualified for the publicfinancing Citizens’ Election Program based on contributions raised by an exploratory committee he originally set up to consider a run for secretary of the state.

Evans told the Independent that her office may count only qualified signatures of registered Democrats in the district for a spot on a primary ballot.

The total number of qualified signatures submitted by Brackeen, she confirmed, was 342.

THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS -July June , 2022 - June02, 21,2016 2022 INNER-CITY 27,152016 - 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

Construction

quired. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to:

POLICE OFFICER Competitive examinations will be held for the position of Police Officer in selected departments in South Central Connecticut.

Candidates may register for the testing process at www.policeapp.com/southcentral.

Application deadline is

Monday, June 20, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.

The written and oral board exams will be administered by the South Central Criminal Justice Administration.

All candidates must possess a valid CHIP card as of July 1, 2022.

THE DEPARTMENTS PARTICIPATING IN THIS RECRUITMENT DRIVE ARE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS.

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATOR

Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

The Town of East Haven seeks a qualified candidate to serve in the position of Information Technology Administrator. This is a highly responsible position that oversees the development, implementation and use of technology throughout the town. Qualified Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V candidates should possess a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or a related field Drug Free Workforce an accredited college or university and five (5) years of progressively responsible Invitationfrom to Bid: information technology experience including at least 4 years in a supervisory capacity, nd 242-258 Fairmont Ave State of Connecticut 2 Notice or an equivalent combination of training and qualifying experience substituting on a Office of Policy year-for-year basis. Must have valid class 3 Connecticut Driver's License. The salary 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA and Management for this position is $75,235/year, 35 hours per week (flex hours) and the Town offers All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Old Saybrook, CT benefit package. Applications are available online at https://www.townofean excellent highways, near bus stop & shopping center Please return (4ofBuildings,asthavenct.org/civil-service-commission/pages/job-notices-and-tests.

17 Units) The State of Connecticut, Office application along with a cover letter and resume to: Town of East Haven, Michelle Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Policy and Management is recruiting Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Benivegna, Human Resource Department, 250 Main Street, East Haven, CT 06512 or for a Research Analyst.

MBenivegna@townofeasthavenct.org. Deadline June 23, 2022. The Town of East HaFurther informationWood regarding the Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastCT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Framed, ven is committed to building a work force of diverse individuals. Minorities, females, duties, eligibility requirements and Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates handicapped and Siding, veterans are encouraged to apply. The Town of East Haven is an equal in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30application instructions for this 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. opportunity employer. position are available at:

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

NEW HAVEN

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

(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

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, 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

19

Women & Minority applicants are encouraged to apply.

An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer

INNER-CITY 27, 15 2016 - August THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - June , 2022 - June02, 21,2016 2022

Maintenance Mechanic

NOTICE

Maintenance Repair Technician I- Skilled mechanic needed in the repair and maintenance of all plant equipment to include pumping station equipment and motor vehicles for the Town of Wallingford Sewer Division. Requires graduation from H.S./trade VALENTINA HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS school with 1 yearMACRI of postRENTAL H.S. specialized maintenance training and AVAILABLE 2 years experience in the repair and maintenance of mechanical equipment. Must obtain a CDL Class INC, onoperator behalf oflicense Columbus House and the Haven Housing B HOME motor vehicle within 6 months of New employment. $27.13Authority, to $32.33 accepting pre-applications forbenefi studiot and one-bedroom apartments at this develperishour plus an excellent fringe package.

Apply to: Department of Human opment located 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income apResources, Town ofatWallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CTlimitations 06492. Forms ply. will from be available from 9AM TO 5PMResources beginningorMonday Ju;y will bePre-applications mailed upon request the Department of Human maybe downloaded from and the Department of Human Resources Web Page.

Phone #: (203) 294-2080 25, 2016 ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have Fax #: (203) 294-2084. will beINC. JuneApplications 28, 2022 or will the date the 50thupon applicabeen received at theClosing offices date of HOME be mailied retion is received, whichever occurs first. EOE. during those hours. Completed prequest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

THE GLENDOWER GROUP, INC. Request for Proposals NOTICIA

Construction Manager at Risk for St. Luke’s Redevelopment

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES The Glendower Group, Inc. is currently seeking proposals for a Construction Manager for St.House Luke’s A complete HOME INC, en nombreatdeRisk la Columbus y de laRedevelopment.

New Haven Housing Authority, está copy of the requirement may be obtained de from Glendower’s Vendor aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la callePortal 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos Collaboration https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems. máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 com/gateway julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición beginning on Monday, Juneesas 20,horas.Pre-solicitudes 2022 at 3:00PM. llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Ducci Electrical Contractors

, Inc. seeks experienced PROJECT MANAGER to handle multiple large projects in the field of Electrical Construction. Full-time position. 10+ years experience in the following types of projects is preferred: Health care, Data centers, Educational, Industrial, Commercial, DOT, & Railroad. E-1 license REQUIRED. Excellent compensation and benefits package.

Send resume to Ducci Electrical Contractors, Inc. 74 Scott Swamp Rd. Farmington, CT 06032 or via email at humanresources@duccielectrical.com.

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

An affirmative action equal opportunity employer. EOE/M/F/D/V.

highways, near bus stop &ADMINISTRATOR shopping center TREASURER/PAYROLL All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95

The City of Milford is seeking a qualifi candidate the position of Pet under 40lb allowed.

Interested partiesed contact Maria @for 860-985-8258 Treasurer/Payroll Administrator to handle receipts and disbursements and investment of cash in accordance with state statutes and city investCT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. is a 10 program designed to assist in theand intellectual formation of Candidates ment policy as This well asmonth oversee the preparation maintenance of muin response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30nicipal payrolls. details about cations and how to apply, email 3:30 Contact: Chairman,For Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S.,qualifi B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster HRrecruit@milfordct.gov or go to www.ci.milford.ct.us/hr/pages/jobs.

St. New Haven, CT

Construction

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a Sealed bidslicense are invited byTotheapply Housing of the Town of resume Seymour valid drivers required. pleaseAuthority call (860) 621-1720 or send to: Personnel Department, P.O.2, Box 368,atCheshire, until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2016 its officeCT06410. at 28 Smith Street, Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Drug Free Workforce Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Fence Installers:

Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith for Fence Installation Crews. Crews must have at least 5 years of experience installStreet Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on 2016. 10-12 months ing chain link, wood, PVC and ornamentalWednesday, iron fencing.July Work20, available per year, highest labor rates paid. All necessary equipment provided. Medical, holiday, vacation other benefits Must be the ableSeymour to pass required and Ofdrug Bidding& documents areincluded. available from Housingphysical Authority test. An OSHA 10 Certification is required. A valid CT driver's license is required and fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. must get DOT Medical Card. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: 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

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

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

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.

POLICE OFFICER

NOTICE OF INVITATION FOR BID HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY

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

Boiler Preventative Maintenance and Repair Services IFB No. B22002

Required testing, registration info, and apply online: www.bristolct.gov DEADLINE: 06-29-22 EOE

SCOPE:

The Housing Authority of the City of Danbury hereby issues this Invitation for Bid to provide Boiler Services Invitation to Bid:

2nd Notice

BID SUBMITTAL RETURN: SAYEBROOKEHousing VILLAGE Authority of the City of Danbury, 2 Mill Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT 06811 SENIOR ADMINITRATIVE Old Saybrook, CT Envelope Must be Marked: IFB No.B22002, Boiler Services (4 Buildings, 17 Units) SUBMITTAL DEADLINE Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project July 13, 2022 at 10:30am (EST) Full-time position

ASSISTANT

Newto Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastGo www.portlandct.

CONTACT PERSON FOR IFB DOCUMENT: in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles,Lisa VinylGilchrist, Siding, Purchasing Agent Telephone: 203-744-2500 x1421 org for details

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, E-Mail: lgilchrist@hacdct.org Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

State of Connecticut [Minority- and/or women-owned businesses are encouraged to respond] This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Office of Policy and Management

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

The State of Connecticut, Office of Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Policy and Management is recruiting for a Climate and Project documents available via ftp link below: Infrastructure Coordinator http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage (Policy Development Coordinator).

DEPUTY TAX ASSESSOR-$33,181 19.5 hours/week DEPUTY TAX COLLECTOR-$59,556 35 hours/week

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements andLang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn application instructions for thisof all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses HCC encourages the participation position are available at:

Applications are available online at https://www.townofeasthavenct.org/civil-servicehttps://www.jobapscloud.com/ AA/EEO EMPLOYER commission/pages/job-notices-and-tests. Please send application, cover letter and CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= resume to: Town of East Haven, Michelle Benivegna, Human Resource Department, 220601&R2=1581MP&R3=001 Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

20

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 27,15 2016 - August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - June , 2022 - June 21, 2022

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY NOTICE

STATE MODERATE RENTAL PROGRAM MR 19, 19A, 066, and 008 PUBLIC NOTICE

OPENINGMACRI OF THE 2 AND 3 BEDROOM WAITING LISTS VALENTINA RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Effective theofSeymour Housing will Haven open the 2 and 3Authority, bedroom HOMEJuly INC,1,on2022 behalf Columbus HouseAuthority and the New Housing State Moderate pre-applications Rental Waiting List for a period of 90 Days and it will beatclosed again is accepting for studio and one-bedroom apartments this develon opment September 30, 2022 inFrank accordance TenantMaximum Selectionincome and Continued located at 108 Street,with Newits Haven. limitationsOccuappancy Apparentlywill eligible applicants for9AM theseTO lists5PM willbeginning be placed on the waiting ply.Policy.

Pre-applications be available from Monday Ju;y list 25, as a2016 resultand of aending randomwhen lottery of the pool of apparently(approximately eligible applicant from the sufficient pre-applications 100) have open period. The lottery drawing will be held on Friday, November 4, 2022 at 2:00 been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reP.M. in the Main Lobby of The Seymour Housing Authority, located at 28 Smith Street quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preSeymour, CT 06483. There are existing apparently eligible families on our 2 and 3 applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third bedroom list at the present time, and the pool of applicants from the July, August and Floor, New Haven, 06510. period would be placed at the bottom of the current September 2022 open CT application waiting list.

NOTICIA

Family must first meet the eligibility requirements to qualify for this program. Maximum Income and Base rents averaging $500 or 30% of income, whichever is higher, VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES applies for this program.

Applicants DE must demonstrate an ability to pay the base rent to pay utilities for the unit including oil heating, electricity, and water. Applicants for INC,list en nombre de la Columbus House ytodeoccupy la Newall Haven Housing Authority, está the HOME 2 bedroom must demonstrate an ability 2 bedrooms based on their aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo household composition. Applicant for the 3 bedroom list must demonstrate and ability ubicado all en la calle 109 Frank Newhousehold Haven. Secomposition. aplican limitaciones to occupy 3 bedrooms basedStreet, on their Please de beingresos advised Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 such p.m. as comenzando 25 thatmáximos. these programs are not subsidized voucher programs, Section 8.Martes This projulio, 2016Low hastatocuando se hanIncome recibidoState suficientes 100) gram is for Moderate Publicpre-solicitudes Housing. For(aproximadamente more information on Qualifications, visit our at www. Seymourhousing.org or contact us at en las oficinasplease de HOME INC.website Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición 203-888-4579. llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Applicants can be picked up from the Seymour Housing Authority at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 or requested at 203-888-4579. You may also obtain an application online at www. Seymourhousing.org.

HAVEN ELM CITYNEW COMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids 242-258 Fairmont Ave Scattered Site Home Exterior and Interior Renovations – Group C 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA AllCommunities new apartments, new appliances, carpet, close I-91Exterior & I-95 and Elm City is currently seeking bidsnew for Scattered Site to Home bus stop & shopping center may be obtained Interior Renovations highways, – Group C.near A complete copy of the requirement from Elm Communities’ Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.

PetCity under 40lb allowed.Vendor Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, June 6, 2022 at 3:00PM.

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 The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport

Request for Proposal (RFP) Painting Services Agency Wide Solicitation Number: 212-AM-22-S

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY bids are invited theofHousing Authority of City the Town of Seymour TheSealed Housing Authority of thebyCity Bridgeport d/b/a Park Communities (PCC) is currently from qualified contractors Painting Agency until 3:00seeking pm onproposal Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its for office at 28Services Smith Street, Wide.

Solicitation package be available on May 31, 2022, obtain a copyatofthe the Seymour, CT 06483 forwill Concrete Sidewalk Repairs andtoReplacement solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please referSmithfield Gardens Living Facility, Smith Streetconference Seymour.will be ence solicitation number Assisted and title on the subject line.26 A Pre-proposal held on June 14, 2022 @ 10:00 a.m. Although attendance is not mandatory, submitting a proposal without attending thebe pre-proposal may not be Office in the best interest A pre-bid conference will held at theconference Housing Authority 28 Smith of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommuniStreet Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. ties.org no later than June 21, 2022 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall be mailed, or Bidding documents are2022 available Seymour Ofhand delivered

by July 06, @ 3:00from p.m., the to Ms. CarolineHousing Sanchez,Authority Chief Procurement Officer, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT(203) 06604. or bids@parkcitycommunifice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 888-4579. ties.org. Late proposals will not be accepted.

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

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids Pest Control Services

Elm City Communities is currently seeking bids for pest control services.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 3:00PM.

Listing: Part Time Summer Help Petroleum company has an immediate need until September 2022 for temporary part time help. Attention to detail and following directions required. Send resume to: HR Manager, P.O. Box 388, Guilford, CT. 06437 or email at: hrdept@eastriverenergy.com ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

DRIVER CDL CLASS A Full Time – All Shifts Top Pay-Full Benefits EOE Please apply in person: 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

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

Town of Bloomfield

Assistant Director of Public Works /Community Investment Plan Administrator

$83,531 - $128,935

(expected starting pay maximum is mid-range) Pre-employment drug testing.

For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org

Deadline: Applications will be accepted until July 8, 2022

Yard Worker:

Large CT Fence Company is looking for individuals for our stock yard. We are looking for individuals with previous warehouse shipping, receiving and forklift experience. Must have a minimum of 3 years of material handling experience. Duties include: Loading & unloading trucks, Fulfilling orders for installation & retail counter sales, Maintaining a clean & organized environment, Managing inventory control & delivering fence panels & products. Qualifications: High School diploma or equivalent, Must be able to read/write English, demonstrate good to Bid: have the ability to lift 70 pounds. time management skills, able to readInvitation a tape measure, nd 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 company. Send resumes/inquiries to: pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Town of Bloomfield Senior Social Worker

Salary $41.84 hourly

Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE. For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.org

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) QSR STEEL Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Assessment Clerk II: The Town of East Haven is seeking a qualified candidate to fill the position of Assessment Clerk II. This is a highly re-

involving the processing, recording and reporting of properties and New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing,sponsible Selectiveposition Demolition, Site-work, Castexemptions for the Town's assessment and balances grand list to the same. Considin-place Concrete, Asphalterable Shingles, Vinyl Siding, degree of responsibility and thoroughness required of the position. Qualified Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential candidates should possess Casework, a high school diploma or equivalent and 2 years of experiSteelFlooring, Fabricators, Erectors & Welders ence in office work of a responsible nature requiring arithmetic computations. Must be Electrical, Top pay for topMechanical, performers.

Health Plumbing and Fire Protection. computer literate and have a valid class 3 Connecticut Driver's License. The salary for Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

This contract is subject to state this position is $52,278/year, 35 hours per week.

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

Applications available online at https://www.townofeasthavenct.org/civil-serviceBid Extended, Due Date: August 5,are 2016 commission/pages/job-notices-and-tests.

Please send application to: Town of East HaAnticipated Start: August 15, 2016 ven, Michelle Benivegna, Human Resource Department, 250 Main Street, East Haven, Project documents available via ftporlinkMBenivegna@townofeasthavenct.org. below: CT 06512 The deadline to apply is June 17, http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage 2022. The Town of East Haven is committed to building a work force of diverse indi-

Portland

viduals. Minorities, females, handicapped and veterans are encouraged to apply. The Town of East Haven is an equal opportunity employer.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 OF THE CITY OF NORWALK, CT IS REQUESTING PROPOSTHE HOUSING AUTHORITY ALS FROM CONSULTANTS OR ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING FIRMS FOR AN UPDATED AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Director of Public Works full-time

Go to www.portlandct.org for details

21

PHYSICAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT OF 12 FEDERAL FINANCED HOUSING PROPERTIES. TO OBTAIN A COMPLETE COPY OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENTS, CONTACT GUILLERMO BENDANA, PROCUREMENT SPECIALIST AT GBENDA@NORWALKHA.OGR NORWALK HOUSING IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER. ADAM BOVILSKY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

COMMENTARY:

Our Nation Has a Problem with Guns and it Needs to Be Fixed

By Jeffrey L. Boney, Houston Forward Times

people must be the driving force behind this movement.

Some critics have said that the House and the Senate are on different pages when it comes to gun control.

Darkness and despair have us trapped and we have lost our way. Good, which was once the standard, has turned into bad.

We are making bad decisions and they have resulted in bad outcomes.

Our once proud America is being looked at with critical eyes. Those living in other countries are wondering what is going on in the United States of America.

Cities across this great land of ours are besieged by crime and punishment. Every day has become a day of death for many of our brothers and sisters, both Black and White.

We leave our homes with good intentions, yet sadly we may not return to them.

I am learning quickly that while we plan our days, those plans may not be good enough to keep us alive.

We are in a tangled web of chaos and confusion. We are enemies to ourselves.

I agree with the critics.

For example, the House would close what is called the “Charleston loophole.”

It would increase the amount of time from 3 business days to 10 business days “that a federal firearms licensee must wait to receive a completed background check prior to transferring a firearm to a licensed person.”

This statement comes from the legislation.

The blame for our current situation begins with us.

Do we want to get better?

I think we do. The conversations going on suggest we want to get better. We want a new normal and to not experience new shootings and killings.

The shootings, whether they were in Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, near Ames, or Philadelphia, all have the same result.

People are dead and families are broken into pieces. This current path is leading us down a dead-end street.

We need stricter gun laws immediately.

The time to act is now.

It is the “doing of the talking” which is an expression that I coined many years ago.

The laws that we have on the books need to be amended and changed.

How can a newly minted 18-year-old young man go into a store and buy assault weapons with literally no questions asked?

That is what happened in Uvalde, Texas, when Salvador Ramos purchased guns

and ammunition.

Guns now play a major role in how we live our lives. For example, we are more conscious than ever before about being in crowds.

In some communities, going to get gas, or going to the grocery store, have become challenging. We go, but we are afraid.

In the not-too-distant past, we gave no thought to attending church or going to graduations. Going to our favorite store

was a no-brainer. Now there are shootings and killings taking place at them.

We have convened, and re-convened, to discuss gun violence, yet not much has changed.

Arguably, there are more deaths taking place by guns now. Sadly, we are living this frightening and fragile reality.

While discussions are good, changing laws is better. That, in my opinion, must be the steps we take in order to curb gun violence. Laws must change and we the

The legislation is HR 1446, and it is backed by Democratic representative James Clyburn of South Carolina. This bill stems from the tragedy that killed nine people at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. The Senate will now take up the matter in their legislative session. We will see what happens.

President Biden, on last week in an address to the nation said, “If we can’t ban assault weapons then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21.”

He added, “Over the past two decades, more school-aged children have died from guns than on-duty police officers and active-duty military combined.”

According to the Washington Post, there have been over 200 mass shootings in America this year.

That number should scare all of us.

The post Our Nation Has a Problem with Guns and it Needs to Be Fixed appeared first on Houston Forward Times.

Altro app helps users build credit through non-traditional, recurring payments like Netflix subscriptions

by Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member,

While attending University of Southern California (USC), Michael Broughton ran into a problem.

He didn’t have enough money to pay for his tuition, and despite his efforts to obtain student loans, he was denied from a number of lenders.

“It kind of just taught me that there’s a lack of what I call ‘zero to one’ credit access and financial opportunity,” said Broughton. “That gap really got me thinking that it has to be more than just me, and it was. Americans are facing this gap issue, and I wanted to solve it.”

His solution came in the form of Altro, an application that allows users to build credit and financial power through recurring payments and subscriptions, including rent and Netflix plans.

In French, “altro” means “other,” and the word is representative of the plat-

form’s target community who have been ignored or intentionally shut out of the U.S. banking system.

Although he knew nothing about entrepreneurship or the strategies for raising venture capital funding, Broughton ultimately dropped out of USC to dedicate himself to developing the app, which was created last year.

Initially, Broughton worked two jobs to bootstrap the business, but he eventually sought funding from pitch competitions.

He participated in hundreds of competitions before he perfected his storytelling and nailed down the perfect pitch.

Notably, Jay-Z’s venture capital firm, Marcy Venture Partners, discovered Altro at a pitch competition and invested a quarter million dollars in pre-seed funding. The firm continues to invest in Altro today.

When people use Altro, they are able to transform their non-traditional, recurring payments into trade lines, or records of consumer credit behavior. Once their

photo: Michael Broughton is the founder and CEO of Altro that was critically important to Broughaccount is set up, users are not required ton. to return to Altro, but the app will display “We, as a company, really focus on a their credit score and how it has improved couple of pillars, and one of those pillars over time. is making sure that we’re as accessible as Altro is completely free to use, a factor

22

possible,” said Broughton. “I think putting a price tag on your ability to get access to credit is just a predatory practice, personally.”

Currently, Altro is exclusive to the Apple App Store, and it is available for use in states including California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin and Utah.

This year, Broughton is working to expand the app to all 50 states and bring it to the Google Play Store for Android users.

“People who have generated true wealth don’t manage their money, their credit or any of that stuff. They have people who know better than them and manage [their wealth] on their behalf and in their best interest. I don’t think you see that across anywhere other than the 1 percent,” said Broughton. “We really want to build those tools so people can have that level of concierge and expertise around their own personal finances although they are not part of the 1 percent.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 15, 2022 - June 21, 2022

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Internet: Actual speeds vary and not guaranteed. For factors affecting speed, visit www.xfinity.com/networkmanagement. Flex: Not available to current Xfinity TV customers. Requires post-paid subscription to Xfinity Internet, excluding Internet Essentials. Limited to three devices. One device included, additional devices $5/mo. per device (subj. to change). All devices must be returned when service ends. Subscriptions required to access Peacock, Disney+, and Hulu. Peacock Premium has a $4.99/month value. Activation required to access Peacock. Viewing will count against any Xfinity data plan. Mobile: Xfinity Mobile requires residential post-pay Xfinity Internet. Line limitations may apply. Equip., intl. and roaming charges, taxes, and fees, including reg. recovery fees, and other charges extra, and subj. to change. $25/line/mo. charge applies if Xfinity TV, Internet, or Voice post-pay services not maintained. Pricing subject to change. In times of congestion, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic. After 20 GB monthly data use, speeds reduced to a maximum of 1.5 Mbps download/750 Kbps upload.

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