INNER -CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

Financial Justice a Key Focus at 2016 NAACP Convention

NNPA Torch Award Honoree, Rep. Barbara Lee Considers Campaign for House Leadership Position New Haven, Bridgeport

INNER-CITYNEWS

Volume 27 . No. 2288 Volume 21 No. 2194

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Porter Urges Action On Supreme Court Nomination 1

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

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FOIC Staff: Ed Board Violated Law THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

By not posting completed agendas on time and whispering to each other during meetings, a school board committee violated the state’s open meetings law, concludes a preliminary state open-government opinion.

Last week, a hearing officer for the Freedom of Information Commission concluded that the Board of Education’s Finance & Operations Committee ran afoul of state law at two meetings this winter.

The proposed final decision now heads to the full commission for a vote, where it’s expected to pass without objection.

Lisa Fein Siegel, a staff attorney who served as hearing officer, said that committee members should have taken a formal vote to amend the agenda for a January meeting and should not have whispered to each other at a February meeting.

The Independent filed the complaint earlier this year, amid questions about seeming conflicts of interest, particularly in the way the board’s Finance Committee chose to award millions of dollars in contracts in no-bid deals.

In the months since, the school employees who staff committee meetings have worked hard to get detailed agendas posted early, while the board members themselves have refused to end their illegal side conversations.

On Jan. 16, 2018, the Finance & Operations Committee members voted on four different contracts included in a last-minute addendum.

According to the Freedom of Information Act, the final agenda for any regular meeting even of a committee must be posted a full 24 hours ahead of time. New business can still be added, if two-thirds of the members present vote to do so.

The addendum for the January meeting was posted a few hours before the meeting started. And the committee members, Frank

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTOWe can’t hear you: Jamell Cotto and Frank Redente whisper during school finance meeting.

Three board members talk out in the hallway before the February meeting.

Redente and Jamell Cotto, didn’t take a formal vote to waive the law’s notice requirements.

The contracts for therapists from Integrated Wellness Group and Alive!, literary support services for New Haven Reads and a street outreach worker for New Haven

Family Alliance —were all “essentially state funded items that we wanted to move to get programs going,” Will Clark, the district’s chief operating officer, said at the time.

At the hearing before the Freedom of Information Commission in late May, Clark

further explained that the board’s committees work “informally.” They don’t take any official votes, instead just tabling items if there is any opposition. Clark argued that by simply taking up new business, the board had given a “clear indication” of their acceptance of the addendum.

Siegel disagreed. State law requires a formal vote that should have been recorded in the minutes, she wrote in her report.

At the next meeting, on Feb. 5, 2018, the Finance & Operations Committee got off to a rough start. The agenda had been posted an hour late, and Cotto said he wanted to table most of the items.

With mounting concerns about the coming year’s $19 million budget deficit, Cotto privately suggested that the committee table all items that weren’t grant-funded. He asked Redente and two staff members, including Clark, to step out into the hallway to discuss. For four minutes, out of public view, they talked about whether to go forward with the agenda. Darnell Goldson arrived late and joined in the conversation.

At the time, Cotto said he wasn’t trying to hide anything. “Everything was shared at the meeting,” he said. “We as a team, we have to go into a meeting knowing what we’re going to talk about. That’s just common sense.”

Goldson, the board’s newly elected president who’d pledged to make the board more transparent, then accused the Independent of “crying wolf,” “sensationalizing” and attempting to “raise a controversy that does not exist [as] a way to add ‘flavor’ to a story.” “I wish I could stretch a dollar like you stretched the truth here, I would be exceedingly rich,” he wrote in the comments section of an article about the issue.

Siegel concluded that, during the meeting in the hallway, board members limited themselves to questions about funding sources and didn’t discuss matters among themselves.

Siegel had a bigger problem with the board’s whispering during the meeting.

Citing a 2014 precedent, she wrote that committee members violated the law by “discussing agency business inaudibly during the meeting.”

In her conclusion, Siegel noted that there had been turnover on the committee and that changes have been made since the appeal was filed. She concluded that it is unnecessary to impose any financial penalties or overturn any decisions. But she advised the Freedom of Information Commission to order the Board of Education to “strictly comply” with the law.

In recent months, school employees have made an effort to post agendas, which sometimes run hundreds of pages long with detailed information, before the deadline. Sometimes the agendas even come out a day or two ahead of time. Clark said that the district is looking into upgrading its website to make it easier for users to find and for staff to post these items.

The board members, too, have been more deliberate about taking votes to amend the agenda whenever they want to add new business.

While still keeping things “informal” without recorded votes, the committee members have also tried to clarify what they’re deciding, through there’s still often confusion. Last month, for instance, it sounded like the committee agreed with staff’s recommendation to rebid a contract for on-call fencing repair, after rates had shot up by 275 percent, but Cotto later told the New Haven Register that he’d actually passed the item along to the full board for approval.

In an email, Goldson said that the violations earlier this year were rookie mistakes by those who’d just joined the board.

“New board members made some common Con’t on page

Consider A Common Challenge Toward Success

By Henry Chisholm, Common Ground Development Associate

Common Ground High School, the environmental, college prep high school, was given extra seats by the state of Connecticut for the Fall 2018 enrollment.

Which is great news for us and you if you are looking for a safe space where your teenagers can be challenged academically and grow interpersonally. Common Ground is a tuition-free high school with a farm in a park in a city.

Common Ground is a small school with deep roots. Our work within the walls of Common Ground High School travels throughout. Our students have marched for climate change in Washington, DC, presented a new recycling plan to the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, interned with New Haven Arts and Ideas and

been accepted to some of the best colleges.

Students’ voices are heard thanks to small class sizes and students are encouraged to get involved with environmental and social justice causes.

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Testimony from Common Ground students and graduates.

Ihsan Abdussabur, Class of 2018: “This school matters because it’s extremely accepting of the black community, the LGBTQ community. That’s a big part. This school creates leaders and our world and

our country needs that right now. This school is home for a lot of people, especially for me. This school helps create people to change the world for the better, this school means a lot.”

Bridgett Cunningham, Class of 2019: “This was definitely my top choice. When I shadowed here I just really liked how small it was, just the sense of community and the whole family like vibe. Everybody knew each other and everybody supported each other, you got the one on one help you needed.”

Em Perry, Class of 2018: “When I think of Common Ground, I think of the home that I’ve made here, from my guidance family, hiking and singing together, to sleeping over in the outdoor classroom with my best friends, to feeling safer here than in any place I’ve ever been.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

Lamont, Ganim Milk The Trust Issue

by PAUL BASS

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

Ned Lamont prepared his lines for his appearance on the Shubert Theater stage Thursday night.

Asked how much a gallon milk costs, he raised three fingers. “Three dollars,” he said then resumed tussling with Joe Ganim over who best understands and can fight for “vulnerable” and middle-class families.

Lamont and Ganim were on the famed New Haven stage to debate about which of them deserves votes in the Aug. 14 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

The same question about the price of a gallon of milk was asked Thursday night of the five Republican candidates for governor, who had their own debate at Mohegan Sun. One of the five, David Stemerman like Lamont, a Greenwich millionaire financing his own campaign botched his lines.

He thought milk sold for $1.25. (The other candidates correctly answered in the $3-$4 range.)

The price of milk or knowing the price of milk is implicitly relevant to a governor’s race in which four candidates (Lamont and three of the Republicans) are wealthy businessmen with no real government experience pouring millions of personal dollars into trying to buy the state’s highest elected office.

It has explicit relevance in the two-man Democratic race. At Thursday night’s New Haven debate, which was hosted by the Connecticut Association of Realtors, Lamont and Ganim largely agreed on issues: a $15 hourly minimum wage, paid family leave, more investment in transportation and infrastructure, honoring labor agreements rather than reopening negotiations. They pummeled each other over the character issue, which may decide the primary: Whom voters can trust to run the state?

In tackling that question, Lamont and Ganim ended up speaking a lot to “Lois.”

They addressed Lois by name, even though she wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Lois spoke to them through panelist Mark Davis of WTNH, who read two questions Lois submitted for the debate through the web. The questions cut to the core challenge each candidate faces in winning the trust question.

Lois reminded Ganim, the mayor of Bridgeport, that he served seven years in federal prison. A jury found Ganim guilty of 16 counts of racketeering, extortion, racketeering conspiracy, bribery, mail fraud and other felony charges for pocketing a half-million dollars worth of kickbacks from city contractors in the form of cash, meals, clothes, wine, and home repairs.

“How can we trust you not to revert to your former behavior?” Lois asked, as channeled through Davis.

Ganim said that after serving his time for making “terrible mistakes,” he decided he still had much to offer Bridgeport, and voters gave him that second chance by electing him back to the mayor’s office. He spoke of hiring one of the prosecutors who sent him to jail as the head of an integrity unit at City Hall.

PAUL BASS PHOTOS Lamont (above), Ganim (below) take turns trashing each other in the Shubert’s post-debate spin room.

Doug Bethea’s Nation Drill team revs it up for Lamont before the debate.

“Every saint has a past,” Ganim said. “I pray and hope that every sinner has a future.”

In the campaign Ganim has managed to strike a chord with some voters, especially black voters, with his appeal to second chances for people who have been locked up.

Perhaps mindful of that success, Lamont praised the voters of Bridgeport for giv-

ing Ganim that second chance. Then he criticized Ganim (for the first of two times during the debate) for spending his days running for governor rather than returning their trust.

“They gave you a second chance,” Lamont told Ganim. “Fight for them” to revive Bridgeport. Lamont promised that if elected governor, he’d happily help Ganim do that.

4

“I appreciate Ned’s comments,” Ganim responded, “to a certain extent.”

Trust A Self-Financing Plutocrat?

Lois asked Lamont about his boast of being a government “outsider” who made a killing in private business. She noted that Donald Trump made the same boast when he ran for president, leading Lois to conclude that “running a business is not the best training for running a government.”

She asked Lamont how his business experience and lack of government experience made him qualified for the job.

Lamont spoke of the difference a commitment to public service makes. “Donald Trump does not have an ounce of public service” in him, Lamont said. He said he does, because he ran for a a Greenwich town board, chaired a state pension board, and substitute-taught in a Bridgeport public high school.

He said his experience creating jobs will enable him to govern well with both business and labor. He argued that governors with similar backgrounds have done that in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts specifically citing the latter state’s Republican incumbent, Charlie Baker.

Ganim wasn’t buying.

“Lois,” he said, “I have that same question and concern.”

He said that candidates who “step out of business a la Trump” (with whom he did business in the 1990s and whom he initially praised as a “good man” after the 2016 election before becoming a critic) turn out to bring “disaster” to government.

In the debate, Ganim reprised his criticism of Lamont as an out-of-touch plutocrat with eight bathrooms in his house.

After he correctly answered the gallonof-milk pricing question, posed by panelist Christine Stuart of CT News Junkie, Lamont responded to the bathroom criticism with humor, noting that he has the endorsement of the plumbers and pipefitters union. He argued that a person’s values, integrity and deeds matter more than his personal wealth.

He also sought to equate his economic status to Ganim’s. He said they “both had successful parents” and attended “good suburban schools” growing up.

Ganim responded by noting that Lamont’s personal wealth is estimated at $90-$300 million.

“We had eight children in my family,” Ganim remarked. “We never had eight bathrooms.”

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

Babz Rawls Ivy

Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

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

Editorial Team Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers David Asbery Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft/Cartoons Barbara Fair

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner Smita Shrestha William Spivey Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

_______________________

Contributors At-Large

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

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

Porter Urges Action On Supreme Court Nomination

by ALLISON PARK

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

Call your senators to urge them to remain in staunch opposition. Contact family members outside Connecticut to do the same. Email, call, email again and again.

And get off the couch, and get to the ballot box.

New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter urged those next steps on 100 protesters gathered on the steps of the Elm Street courthouse Tuesday evening to oppose President Trump’s nomination of Yale Law School graduate Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The event was co-sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, Planned Parenthood Votes! Connecticut, CAIR-Connecticut, New Haven Pride Center, among 14 other local human rights organizations. It was part of a series of coordinated protests held nationwide to focus on fears that Kavanugh will cement a conservative court majority hostile to abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, and the rights of Muslims and racial minorities.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont and attorney general candidate William Tong showed up, too. As did Democratic lieutenant governor candidates Eva Bermudez Zimmerman and Susan Bysiewicz.

“Our liberation is interconnected,” said Alicia Strong (pictured), executive director of CAIR-CT, a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim rights organization, Strong stands in strong opposition to the upholding of the Muslim ban.

“Why do we have to be separate?” she asked. She called on the crowd to “mobilize [to] address the division of people here in Connecticut.” “[LGBTQ+ people] are in every part of your life because we are a silent minority that represents a microcosm of the larger community,” said New Haven Pride Center Executive Director Patrick Dunn, emphasizing the ubiquity of non-gender conforming individuals. Dunn warned that the nomination of Justice Kavanaugh could “dismantle decades of work by the LGBTQ+ community.”

Trans rights activist IV Staklo (pictured) echoed Dunn’s sentiment and advocated for the necessity for solidarity, especially amongst the “U.S. working class people” with whom they identify. “We need to resist this appointment with all of our masses in our streets,” they said. “We cannot just rely on politicians to do the work for us.”

The event brought together New Haveners of all ages, races, and backgrounds donning bright pink Planned Parenthood shirts and wielding colorful posters defending various human rights organizations. Five counterprotesters stood nearby attempting to shout over the speeches.

“We trust women!” the crowd chanted.

“What about the babies!” chanted the counterprotesters. Three young teenagers positioned themselves behind the speakers, making their “I am the pro-life generation” posters visible between the pink Planned Parenthood placards.

State Rep. Porter (pictured) took to the podium to close out the evening and em-

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ALLISON PARK PHOTO phasized the need to “overflood” the U.S. senators with emails and calls opposing Kavanugh’s nomination. Connecticut’s two U.S. senators have already declared their intentions to vote against the nomination.

“We’ve got to do more than rally and protest,” Porter said. The Republicans in D.C. “are sitting high on their horse because we sat on the couch.”

“Let’s get ready. Let’s be ready.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

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LEAP's Read-In Rocks The Green THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

Eight-year-old Serenity Lewis knew that she would spend part of Friday reading. But she didn’t expect a surprise lesson in mineral collection from one book’s protagonist, Jada Jones, to spark a new interest in rocks.

Friday morning, Serenity was one of 500 summer campers at Leadership, Athletics, & Education in Partnership’s (LEAP) annual “Read In” on the New Haven Green, a communal celebration of reading and literacy now in its 18th year. In addition to several counselors and a small army of volunteer readers, the event brought out State Sens. Martin Looney and Gary Winfield, Reps. Toni Walker, Pat Dillon and Al Paolillo, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Mayor Toni Harp.

In a normal week, counselor Susan Carson said that campers read for “about 45 minutes” each day as part of a longer three-hour curriculum. She said that it “opens up a whole new world for them to see” and learn facts that they wouldn’t otherwise, like a recent lesson in Black history from Deborah Hopkinson’s Mayor Toni Harp and State Sen. Gary Winfield. To a rapt audience, Winfield recalled growing up in “10J,” a lowincome household in the South Bronx where books from the New York Public Library became a key to escaping poverty. He told the students that a lot of people from his neighborhood don’t make it outbut he did, in part, because of reading. "We didn’t have access to a lot,” he said. “But what we had was books. Those books changed my life completely.” “ But Carson added that the read-in is special: campers get read to, basking in old-fashioned story time. Then they take those skills to become better readers themselves, and even mentor each other.

“Why is reading important?” said Harp as students gathered in a wide circle, a sea of blue shirts among their counselors’ orange. “It’s important because when you’re feeling sad, you can read something that makes you feel happy!

When you want to learn something you can read something that teaches you how to do something you don’t know how to do.”

Heading past the New Haven Free Public Library’s Bookmobile and an instrument petting zoo from the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO), Serenity and a group of campers made a beeline for a grassy spot by the green’s flagpole.

As they took their seats, volunteer Christine Atkins joined them and whipped out their first book of the day: Jada Jones: Rockstar, by Kelly Starling Lyons.

“For the first time ever, I overslept,” she began, opening chapter one wide as campers crowded in to follow the narrative. “Usually I beat everyone down-

Eight year old Serenity Lewis dives into a book from Tedd Arnold's "Fly Guy" series after learning a few new science tips from Jada Jones. Lucy Gellman Photos.

Mayor Toni Harp and State Sen. Gary Winfield. To a rapt audience, Winfield recalled growing up in “10J,” a low-income household in the South Bronx where books from the New York Public Library became a key to escaping poverty. He told the students that a lot of people from his neighborhood don’t make it out—but he did, in part, because of reading. "We didn’t have access to a lot,” he said. “But what we had was books. Those books changed my life completely.”

stairs on school mornings.”

In her professional life, Atkins is a professor of foreign languages at Albertus Magnus College, where there is a strong public service bent to the school’s mission. But Friday, she was a shapeshifting narrator, changing the pitch and speed of her voice as she read.

In the book, young Jada Jones (not to be confused with Barbara Park’s beloved but tongue-twisted protagonist Junie B. Jones) must come to terms with the absence of her best friend, who has moved away and left Jada feeling lonely.

So Jada starts a rock collection, hunting around for the best specimens.

Around Atkins, Serenity and her friend Chaima Arouna leaned in, scanning the sentences.

“Sometimes in books you can find mystery and adventure,” said Serenity. She added that there were “like, new dimensions” that opened with each page and chapter, like a new interest in rock collecting and science that she’d gleaned from hearing about Jada’s excursions out in the field.

Nearby, other young readers were getting new ideas too including some that took place somewhere between this universe and another, at a place called “Ella Mentry School.” Reading from Dan Gutman’s My Weirdest School: My Cooper Is Super!, Albertus Magnus student Eli Sola asked campers if they could predict what was going to happen next, testing out reading comprehension and passage completion skills far outside the classroom.

A former senior counselor and site coordinator at LEAP, Sola said return-

ing to the read-in felt natural, as if she was easing back into something old and comfortable.

“I think it’s really cool,” she said. “It’s a good time for people to get involved. It would have been very easy for them [the campers] to sit around and not pay attention, but they really did [pay attention].”

Seated at her left, 7-year-old LEAPer De’monnii Coles called it exciting, noting that he now counted My Weirdest School among his favorite books. “You learn so many new things,” he said.

Back in Serenity’s group, Atkins had finished half of Jada Jones: Rockstar and asked campers if they wanted to hear some poetry. Several murmurs of “yes!” and “uuhhhmmm hmmm” rose from the group. She picked up a volume of Shel Silverstein’s Where The Sidewalk Ends, published almost 50 years ago.

“Can I read this poem?” she asked, flipping to a page as she spoke. “I had to memorize this poem when I was young!”

“Can we take turns?” Serenity piped up from beside her. ...We’ll see, after this one,” Atkins said.

She positioned her finger on a page so not to forget her place. Then she began to recite a poem she has known for decades, titled “Invitation.”

If you are a dreamer, come in.

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer . . . If you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire, For we have some flax golden tales to spin.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

NNPA Torch Award Honoree, Rep. Barbara Lee Considers Campaign for House Leadership Position

By Freddie Allen, Editor-in-Chief, NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said that she’s seriously considering running for Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, the fourthhighest ranking position in Democratic leadership in the United States House of Representatives.

“Given where our party is and the direction that it needs to go in…my history and experience demonstrate that I really can help unify the Democratic Party,” Lee said.

As an example, Lee noted her work leading up to the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Lee said that she didn’t endorse former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. And it wasn’t because of ideological differences; Lee said that she wanted to help craft the party’s agenda.

“I helped negotiate a very progressive, very inclusive Democratic Party platform and both sides—the Clinton delegates and the Sanders delegates—thanked me for that,” Lee said, adding that, bringing people together from diverse backgrounds to accomplish common goals is a role that she has played her entire life.

When it comes to her political career in the U.S. Congress, Lee was instrumental in authoring or co-authoring “every major piece of HIV/AIDS legislation including the legislative frameworks for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,” during President George W. Bush’s administration.

According to her official biography, in 2007, Congresswoman Lee worked with a diverse coalition of members to create the “Out of Poverty Caucus” and she has long advocated for legislative action to end poverty.

As the chair of the Democratic Whip Task Force on Poverty, Income, Inequality and Opportunity, Congresswoman Lee guides

more than 100 members of Congress in crafting and advancing legislation to lift millions of American families out of poverty and into the middle class.

“As a Black woman who has been on public assistance and who has also owned and run a business creating jobs for about 350 people…I think that I can bring a unique perspective to Democratic leadership that can help strengthen the Democratic caucus,” Lee said. “I’m considering running, because I would like to have that perspective at the leadership table to represent a broader and deeper perspective within the

country, as chair of the Democratic caucus.”

Lee said that the Democratic Party must focus on “all of the issues that people care about” including challenges facing lowincome and working-class families, racial and economic justice, and criminal justice reform.

Congresswoman Lee currently serves on the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending, according to her congressional website.

“She serves on three subcommittees

(State and Foreign Operations; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs) of the Appropriations Committee and she currently serves as Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus,” Lee’s biography said.

As a priority, Lee said that she’s focused on wresting control of the House from the Republican Party during the 2018 midterm elections. The New York Times reported that, “Democrats, who have been sidelined as the House minority party since 2010, need to flip 24 Republican seats while keeping the 194 seats they currently hold.”

To regain control of the House, Democrats will rely heavily on increasing voter turnout, especially Black voter turnout, during the midterm elections.

Historically, voter turnout in the U.S. is lower during midterm elections compared to presidential elections. Black voter turnout decreased significantly during the 2016 presidential election.

According to an NPR article on voting trends in the U.S., “Many analysts say a natural drop-off was expected in the postBarack Obama era. But the 2016 voter turnout for African-Americans was not just lower than the Obama years, it was even slightly lower than the 2004 election between George W. Bush and John Kerry.”

Despite the challenges associated with mobilizing voters in a post-Barack Obama era, political analysis shows that energizing Black voters remains critical to the Democratic success at the polls.

NPR reported that Black voters, particularly Black women, were key to Democratic victories in both the Virginia gubernatorial race and the Alabama senate race in 2017.

“Black women are the most loyal and the most consistent Democratic voters and we have never been at the leadership table in the history of Congress,” Lee said.

For many Black voters, that dynamic must change in order for the Democratic

Party to remain viable and credible in the Black community.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), said that Congresswoman Lee’s campaign to provide national leadership within the Democratic Party is directly related to the NNPA’s national campaign to increase Black civic engagement by encouraging millions of African Americans to register to vote and to cast ballots during the midterm elections.

In March, the NNPA honored Lee with the coveted 2018 Torch Award for her decades-long career in public service.

“This is the year of Black women providing, outstanding leadership from the halls of Congress to running for governorships, seats in state legislatures across the country and other key political decision-making positions,” Dr. Chavis said. “The Democratic party will be well-served with the outstanding leadership of Congresswoman Barbara Lee.” Dr. Chavis added that Rep. Barbara Lee is not only a long-time champion of political, social and economic empowerment in the African American community across the nation, but “she has also been a stellar global leader in the Caribbean, Africa and throughout the African Diaspora, where people of color continue to strive for freedom justice and equality.”

Dr. Chavis continued: “If Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm were alive today, she would be so proud that Congresswoman Barbara Lee is upholding her legacy and the legacy of Rep. Barbara Jordan of Texas.”

Freddie Allen is the Editor-in-Chief of the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA. com. Follow Freddie on Twitter @freddieallenjr.

This article was originally published at BlackPressUSA.com.

We Must Support the Black Press and Roland Martin’s New Daily Digital Show

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Columnist Kudos to Roland Martin, the pioneering journalist who has taken his departure from TV One and turned it into a digital platform.

He’ll be back with a daily program, but he’ll be online instead of traditional media. He has financing from AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and he is also hoping for funding from us, the folks who say they miss the program and say they want unfiltered news.

From his website, www.rolandmartin.com, you can join his #BringTheFunk support group and help Roland bring the funk!

Roland has had it with the traditional media, and he is right to point out the lack of commentators and hosts on conventional

media—the networks and the “key” cable outlets. Many of those folks have to toe the line, and can’t be, but so “controversial.”

But sometimes one person’s controversy is another person’s truth. The corporate media squirms when journalists call out our 45th president on his many lies, because some of them are still currying favor with him. And unless light shines on the filth that is occurring in Washington, it will continue. Fortyfive said he would “drain the swamp,” but he has become one of the world’s great alligators, profiting from his presidency both through ties to China (even as he imposes tariffs), through his many name-branded hotels, and through all kinds of other shady deals.

Dorothy Leavell, the publisher of the Crusader newspapers in Chicago and Gary, Ind., is the chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). At the organization’s June conference, she convened a panel that focused on fake news and the Black Press. I was privileged to participate with the National Associa-

tion of Black Journalist (NABJ) President Sarah Glover, pugnacious attorney A. Scott Bolden, and marketing expert Deborah Gray-Young. I think that fake news is not only about the Trump shenanigans and lies, but also about news that is unreported or distorted. For example, how come every time a White person shoots up a classroom, movie theatre, or public space, the focus is on their “mental illness,” while whenever a Black person commits a crime, of any sort, the focus is on criminality. Why has Rev. Barber’s Poor People’s Campaign been so underreported, and why was the June 12 shackling of faith leaders outside Supreme Court wholly ignored by the mainstream (and even the sidestream) media? Why has there been so little focus on the economic status of African American people, except when “45” crows about all the improvements he has (not) made on the economy.

Just the other day, I was commiserating with someone about the ways the mainstream media ignores the African American community. The brother I was talking

8

to said, “this is why I miss Roland.” So, Roland is coming back roaring, lifting up the oft-quoted 1827 line from Freedom’s Journal, the nation’s first Black newspaper, “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” Roland Martin and the NNPA have made the case that if we want our story told, we have to support it.

It is a shame that the Black Press is so poorly embraced. NNPA newspapers need ads, and they also need subscriptions, but while many of us talk a good game, we don’t sustain Black-owned media enough to help it thrive. So, they go seeking ads to survive, perhaps compromising integrity while doing so. The Black Press, those who plead our cause, must not feel that they have to buck-dance to the whim of advertisers. Advertising, all too often, is contingent on the support of a specific position, or avoidance of controversy. Thus, in launching his #BringTheFunk group, Roland is challenging African Americans who say that they want real news to support it. That means contributing a little or a lot to grow

the digital platform Roland is building.

Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. In other words, everyone wants real news, and nobody wants to pay for it. One of the ways to support real news is to take out a subscription to an NNPA newspaper, or three. Another way is to help Roland bring his particular brand of reporting and analysis to us through his digital platform. Check his powerful statement out at www.rolandsmartin.com. And check out the ways you support fake news by failing to challenge the mainstream media. Do you write letters to the editor? Reach out to producers? Ask hard questions about representation? Silence is consent.

Julianne Malveaux is an author, economist and founder of Economic Education.

Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available to order at Amazon.com and at www.juliannemalveaux.com. Follow Dr. Malveaux on Twitter @drjlastword.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

ArtUp Becomes First Rutgers University-Newark Affiliate Offering New Certificate for Artists & Creatives

Memphis, TN — ArtUp, an award-winning Memphis-based arts innovator in conjunction with Rutgers University-Newark Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED), announces the new Memphis Business Hub for Creatives Program to further empower creatives to achieve business success. The Memphis Business Hub for Creatives Program leverages a leading program of the Rutgers-Newark CUEED for artists and creatives with business education tools and entrepreneurial mentorship. This combination is producing options for longer-term business sustainability for artists, creatives and their communities.

“ArtUp reimagines the creative economy.

The Memphis Business Hub for Creatives Program will help transform the way artists work, from the gigging and part-time, starving artist to a thriving creative business owner and creative entrepreneur,” says Linda Steele, CEO of ArtUp. Lyneir Richardson, Rutgers-Newark CUEED Executive Director expressed, “Our intention in collaborating with ArtUp is to elevate creative people who operate in media, art and entertainment industries in Memphis. We aim to help creatives, (especially people of color) to become stronger entrepreneurs and property owners.”

ArtUp kicks off the Memphis Business Hub for Creatives Program at their new location in the South Main Artspace, 138 St. Paul St., Suite 119. There will be two events: The public is invited to the ArtUp Open House on Saturday, July 14, 2018, from 2pm – 4pm. Paul Thomas, ArtUp Artist in Residence, will reveal his provocative installation titled, “Imagined and Real: THREADS OF LIFE.” The public will be able to learn more about the Memphis Business Hub program and how creatives

(left to right) Angels and Tomboys, sister kidpreneurs who founded an all-natural fragrance company of ; Tonya Dyson, unmistakable vocal Memphis music talent of NeoSoulsville; and Justin Merrick, Grammy-nominated artist can participate. Refreshments will be provided by ArtUp Fellow Chef Eli Townsend as well as an opportunity for a special tour of the Artspace Loft units. Additionally, several ArtUp ambassadors and creative entrepreneurs will be available for networking, including: * Angels and Tomboys, all-natural fragrance company of sister kidpreneurs funded by Daymond John and Mark Cuban from ABC’s Shark Tank. * Tonya Dyson, unmistakable vocal Memphis music talent of NeoSoulsville, blending the heritage of gospel, jazz and R&B into a unique sound. * Justin Merrick, Grammy-nominated artist who leads JMuse, non-profit focused on healing communities through arts and music.

The second event is a robust Creative Entrepreneurs’ Panel on Monday July 16, 2018, from 10 a.m.-Noon. This panel will

feature Memphis Business Hub ambassadors, business leaders from Memphis, Newark Hub alumni, and innovators who believe in the importance of the creative economy. Steele says, “We envision a working, progressive program combining necessary business skills with the vision and talent of artists and creatives, redefined to include chefs and seamstresses and graphic designers. There are no limits on creativity.”

The Memphis Business Hub for Creatives Program is modeled on the success of the Newark Business Hub, established

by Rutgers Business School CUEED in 2016. Creatives in the Memphis program will have access to business mentors and coaches, business classes, professional services, and business planning education.

The Memphis program will recruit participants from across the city with a special focus on residents of the South Main

Artspace Lofts.

Says Richardson, “In Newark, creatives are participating in noteworthy business ventures. They are at the forefront of inclusive equitable economic growth initiatives and are working to own property. We expect the participants in the Memphis Hub program to do the same.”

This new ArtUp program adds to the Memphis business canvass and further positions Memphis as a Regional leader for creative entrepreneurial success.

Media, journalists, and bloggers are invited to join us and schedule individual interviews by emailing Cheryl@MagnificentPR.com.

About ArtUp ArtUp is an arts-based start-up and creative enterprise. ArtUp adds creative value to people, places, and communities. The mission is to invest in creative entrepreneurs to empower disinvested communities. The

Dr. Kimberly Jeffries Leonard to Lead The Links, Incorporated

Washington, DC — Dr. Kimberly Jeffries Leonard has been elected the 17th president of The Links, Incorporated.

The announcement was made at the organization’s 41st National Assembly held in Indianapolis, IN. One of the nation’s oldest and largest women’s volunteer service organizations, The Links, Incorporated is dedicated to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. It is comprised of 15,000 professional women of color in 288 chapters across the United States, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and the United Kingdom. Each year, members of the organization – business and civic leaders, educators, doctors, lawyers, elected officials, and activists – contribute more than one million documented hours of community service.

Following in the footsteps of her mother, Dr. Marye J. Jeffries of the Fayetteville, NC Chapter, Dr. Jeffries Leonard joined The Links in 1996 and is a member of the Arlington, VA Chapter. She is

a graduate of the organization’s prestigious Scott Hawkins Leadership Institute and has served The Links in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as its national vice president.

Dr. Jeffries Leonard possesses a wealth of professional experience in the pub-

lic health arena, including expertise in minority health and behavioral health programs, policies and legislation. She served as Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She was also Chief Operating Officer of the District of Columbia’s Department of Health. Dr. Jeffries Leonard currently serves as President and CEO of Envision Consulting, LLC in Washington, DC and as chairperson of the District of Columbia’s Commission on African American Affairs.

A graduate of Fayetteville State University, Dr. Jeffries Leonard earned a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Psychology from Howard University and a Master of Science Degree from North Carolina Central University. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Washington, DC Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and The Black Women’s Agenda, Inc.

10

In addition to Dr. Jeffries Leonard, delegates to The Links National Assembly chose a slate of new officers to lead the 71-year-old organization, including Ethel Isaacs Williams, National Vice President, of the West Palm Beach, FL Chapter; Crystal Kendrick, National Recording Secretary, of the Queen City, OH Chapter; Ethelyn Bowers, National Treasurer, of the Essex County, NJ Chapter; and Raynetta Waters, National Nominating Chair, of the Asheville, NC Chapter.

“As gatekeepers of justice and our communities, we are in a season like no other,” Jeffries Leonard said in her acceptance remarks. “I am honored to serve as the 17th president of The Links, Incorporated, and I look forward to inspiring our members as we step forward boldly and strategically on the issues we address, the battles we fight, and the way we use our voice.”

For more information about The Links, Incorporated, visit www.linksinc.org or call (202) 842-8686.

vision is to artup communities for the advancement of economic, social, and racial equity.

ArtUp and its signature initiative, the Fellowship, was incubated at the United Arts Fund, ArtsMemphis. ArtUp was founded in 2017 and is fiscally sponsored by Community LIFT. While at ArtsMemphis, The Fellowship received the 2016 Inaugural Robert E. Gard Award from Americans for the Arts and a 2016 and 2017 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. ArtUp is a 2017-18 member of NEW INC, the New Museum’s cultural incubator in New York, NY. ArtUp founded and operates the Orange Mound Gallery (OMG) in the first African-American neighborhood for home ownership. ArtUp hosts the podcast Artivism on the Kudzukian Network. For more information, visit www.WeArtUp.org or info@weartup.org Con’t on page 05

FOIC Staff:

mistakes which have since been corrected,” he wrote. “This board has been considerably more transparent than any other past [Board of Education], and probably more than 90 percent of the other boards and commissions in the city.”

He noted that the board recently updated its bylaws. The new rules limit the use of private email, require disclosure of conflicts of interest, and create a three-member ethics panel.

But issues still persist for the Board of Education, particularly in their secretive deliberations.

The Independent is currently pursuing three additional appeals to the Freedom of Information Commission for holding an unnoticed special meeting, voting about board business over email, and calling a suspect executive session.

Goldson also wouldn’t commit to fixing some of the issues highlighted at the hearing this spring.

Asked if the committee members would start recording votes on each contract, Goldson said he’d have to discuss the legality with the commission. He argued that, under state law, decisions can be made only by the full board. Yet that’s a separate issue from whether board members should be held accountable for their advisory votes in committee.

Asked if he would do anything about the hushed conversations that happen almost every meeting to the point where board members now routinely tilt their microphones down to not pick up the whispers — Goldson wouldn’t commit to any changes.

He argued that board members often weren’t talking about official business.

In his experience, he explained, he often whispered requests to other board members, like asking them to keep time on public commenters or pass him a copy of the agenda. Or, he added, he may have been discussing something “of a personal nature” at the public meeting.

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INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 -- August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 July 24, 2018

***HELP WANTED***

Dispatcher

NOTICE

TOTAL FENCE LLC currently has a full time opening for a fence installer foreman.

SOON ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR HARBOUR TOWNHOME APARTMENTS

Galasso Materials is seeking a motivated, organized, detail-oriented candidate to join its truck dispatch office. Responsibilities include order entry and truck ticketing in a fast paced materials Candidates must have at least 5 years of fencing experience, strong commumanufacturing VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PREAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLEand contracting company. You will have daily innication skills, the ability to provide clear and detailed instructions to their teraction with employees and customers as numerous truckloads crew and management, a reliable form of daily transportation, a valid driver’s of material cross our scales daily. We are willing to train the right license, have the ability to obtain a DOT medical card and to a physical HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House andagree the New Haven Housing Authority, individual that has a great attitude. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. andisdrug testing as required. accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develReply to Hiring Manager, PO Box 1776, East Granby, CT 06026. opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apEOE/M/F/D/V. A valid CDL and current OSHA card are encouraged.

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 Please apply in person to: been received at the officesFENCE of HOME TOTAL LLCINC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours.Our Completed pre525 ELLA GRASSO BOULEVARD tree service company is looking for a laborer applications mustNEW be returned to CT HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third HAVEN, 06519 to assist the Shop manager. Basic mechanic knowlFloor, New CT 06510.

Or Haven, email resume to: gina@totalfencellc.com

Shop Assistant

***No phone calls please*** Total Fence LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer

NOTICIA

edge a must Responsible for filling in where needed around our garage and yard. Doing minor repairs and maintenance on equipment and vehicles, loading mulch and/or firewood

VALENTINA***HELP MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES WANTED***

Candidate is subject to a drug check.

TOTAL FENCE LLC currently has a full time opening one Housing Authority, HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la Newfor Haven está Email resume to mclellantree@comcast.net fence installer helper. 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 Or Fax: 860-261-7755

Candidates must have at least 1 year of fencing experience, a reliWe areMartes a medium sized 30+ year company that offers máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando 25 able form of daily transportation, a valid driver’s license, have the julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) medical and dental benefits as well as 401K plan ability to obtain a DOT medical card and agree to a physical and en testing las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo aAffirmative petición Action/Equal Opportunity Employer drug as required.

llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse . a las A oficinas de HOME INC enOSHA 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510KMK valid CDL and current card are encouraged.

Insulation Inc. Please apply in person to: TOTAL FENCE LLC 525 ELLA GRASSO BOULEVARD NEW HAVEN, CT 06519 Or email resume to: gina@totalfencellc.com ***No phone calls please*** Total Fence LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer

1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473

Mechanical Insulator position.

Affordable Rental Housing – Studio & 1 Bedroom Units 1645 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield CT 06825 The application period will begin later this summer 2018. We will be following up this mailing with at least 2 more over the coming months updating you on the status of everything.

Owner: Harbour Townhomes, LLC Managing Agent: ARG Consulting Applicants will need to meet certain income requirements based on family size for 60% and 80% of Area Median Income. Applications will be received during the to-be-determined application period and placement on the wait list will be made through the random selection method, once the period has ended. The maximum number of applications to be placed on the wait list is twenty (20).

1.5 person family 60% AMI Max limit $42,210 1.5 person family 80% AMI Max limit $56,280 Applications will be provided to any & all interested persons when the application period begins. All units are studio or 1 bedroom units with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Individuals interested should email harbourtownhomes@gmail.com with their name, email, phone number, current address, and what style of unit (studio or 1 bedroom) they are interested in. We will follow up with you as the application period nears.

For Additional Information Contact Anthony: Email: harbourtownhomes@gmail.com

DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED

Insulation company offering good pay and benefits.

Please mail resume to above address.. MAIL ONLY This company is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer.

NEW HAVEN

Invitation to Bid:

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2nd Notice Large CT. Fence Company is looking for an individual for our stock Warehouse shipping and receiving and Forklift experience a must. Must have 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 levelyard. , 1BA Must Have Own Vehicle If Interested call SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE a minimum of 3 years’ material handling experience. Must be able to read and write

Common Highnew School is seeking a Full Time English, read a tape measure. Duties will include: Loading and unloadingOld trucks, All newGround apartments, appliances, new carpet, close to I-91and & I-95 Saybrook, CT

(203) 435-1387

Teaching Assistant (TA). The TA is responsible for supporting pulling orders for installation and retail counter sales, keeping the yard clean and highways, near bus stop & shopping center deliveries Buildings, 17 Units) teachers in the classroom during the school day, providing targeted organized at all times and inventory control. Individual will also make (4 of fence panels and products, must be able to lift at least 70lbs. Required to pass Pet under 40lb allowed.

Interested contactand Maria @ 860-985-8258 supports in academic labs both during and parties after school, assistTaxand Exempt Wage Rate Project a Physical and Drug test, have a valid CT. Driver’s License be able & to Not obtainPrevailing a ing with summer academic programs. For a full job description Drivers Medical Card. CDL B & A drivers a plus. Send resume to pking@atlasourand how to apply, please visit http://commongroundct.org/2018/05/ door.com AA/EOE/MF CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast- is currently accepting applications common-ground-is-seeking-a-special-education-teaching-assistantCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in-place AsphalttoShingles, Vinylin Siding, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20,Ground 2016 1:30-High School is hiring a Full Common Time Concrete, Grade 10 Inparticipate the exam for Public Safety Dispatcher. Hourly rate of 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. terdisciplinary Lab Instructor,Flooring, a Full Time Teaching Assistant and Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Casework, payAppliances, is $24.54.Residential Candidate must possess High School diploma or GED, (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster Large CT fence & guardrail contractor looking for a shop weld- a Part Time certified Social Studies/History Teacher. Please visMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. successfully pass background investigation and fingerprinting, pass a St. New Haven, CT er. Duties include but are not limited to welding & fabricating gates, plating posts, truck it http://commongroundct.org/get-involved/join-our-staff/ for job and trailer repairs. Must be able to weld steel and aluminum. Some road work may be descriptions and how to apply. exam including a drug screening test as well as have the ability This contract is subject to state set-asidephysical and contract compliance requirements.

The Town of East Haven

Welder:

required. All necessary equipment provided. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to obtain a DOT medical card. Required to pass a physical and drug test. Medical, vacation & other benefits included. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor. com AA/EOE-MF

to distinguish and identify different colors and pass a hearing test. Must

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

possess good computer skills, have the ability to learn new computer upBid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 QSR STEEL CORPORATION dates and systems as they are implemented and obtain and maintain State Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour APPLY NOW! of Connecticut Telecommunication Certification. Must become trained Project documents available via ftp link below: until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, in Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD).

Additional Preferred QualifiSteel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Seymour, CT Sidewalk cations: Ability to speak and understand Spanish, demonstrated knowlwith06483 3 years for min. Concrete exp. HAZMAT Endorsed.Repairs and Replacement Top pay for at topthe performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Smithfield Gardens(Tractor/Triaxle/Roll-off) Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. edge of local geography, Emergency Medical Technician, previous disEmail Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CTDawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

Class A CDL Driver

Some overnights may be required. FAX resumes to RED Technologies, at 860.342-1042; Email: HR@redtechllc.com Mail or in person: 173 Pickering Street,conference Portland, CT 06480.

REDheld Technologies, is An EOE.Authority A pre-bid will be at theLLC Housing

patch/police/fire experience, HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businessesprevious NCIC/Collect/911 experience and Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave,in Seymour, CT 06483 certified ProQA. Please apply at www.PoliceApp.com/EastHavenCT. AA/EEO EMPLOYER The fee to apply is $40 and the deadline is July 20, 2018.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

TRANSFER STATION LABORER

Firefighter/Paramedic – Town of Manchester $56,698.11 Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfParamedic Lic. / CPAT cert. req’d

Off load trailers, reload for trans/disp. Lift 50 lbs., operate industrial powered trucks and forklift.

Asbestos Worker Handler Training a +. Resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 173 Pickering St., Portland, CT 06480; Fax 860-342-1022; or Email to lkelly@redtransfer.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

For info view our website: www.townofmanchester.org

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

12

The Town of East Haven is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Minorities, Females, Veterans and Handicapped are encouraged to apply.

INNER-CITY NEWS July 2016 -- August THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 1827, , 2018 July 24, 2018 02, 2016

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport

Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Southern CT (SCDAA.SC) NOTICE Director of Operations

The role of the SCDAA.SC Director of Operations is to APPLICATIONS handle day-to-dayAVAILABLE operations with VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PREa focus on efficiency. The Director of Operations will be responsible for organizing and coordinating administrative duties, providing general administrative support to the Board HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, of Directors and ensuring the smooth running of the office. She/he will maintain adminis accepting pre-applications studioand anddevelopment one-bedroom apartments devel-to istrative and financial procedures,for identify new resources at (asthis needed) opment Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apsupport thelocated missionat of108 SCDAA.SC.

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

25,position 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications 100) have The reports directly to the Board Chair to assure the (approximately efficiency, effectiveness and impact the organization to the sickle cell community. beenofreceived at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re-

quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Minimal Qualifications: • Baccalaureate Degree marketing, finance, management and or associated social sciFloor, New Haven, CTin06510.

ence or public health degree or related experience • Moderate development experience with a demonstrated track record of success.

• Experience with grant writing and grant management.

• Demonstrated strength in developing partnerships and collaborative relationships associatedVALENTINA partnershipMACRI development.

Ability work withPRE-SOLICITUDES a diverse group of business associates VIVIENDAS DEtoALQUILER DISPONIBLES and volunteers.

• Some experience managing capital campaigns and a diverse portfolio of funding sources HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está inclusive of grants and contracts. aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un and dormitorio en estethat desarrollo • Must be versed in all contemporary social media platforms other venues benefit enour la calle 109 Frank Street, Newpublic Haven. aplican limitaciones de ingresos andubicado advance organization to the general andSestakeholders máximos.

Lasofpre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 • Some degree human resource management 2016writing hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes • julio, Excellent and oral communication skills pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) • Some Sickle Cell Disease andenviadas its current relative en las degree oficinasofdeunderstanding HOME INC.ofLas pre-solicitudes serán porchallenges correo a petición to prevalence, epidemiology and fundingdurante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

NOTICIA

Invitation for Bid (IFB) CF Greene & Trumbull Gardens Parapets Solicitation Number: 112-PD-18-S The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is requesting sealed bids for CF Greene and Trumbull Gardens Parapets. A complete set of the plans and technical specifications will be available on July 16, 2018. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@ parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06605 on July 31, 2018 @ 10:00 a.m., submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities. org no later than August 9, 2018 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org.All bids must be received by mailed or hand delivered by August 16 , 2018 @ 2:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. No bids will be accepted after the designated time.

EXP, welder for structural steel, misc. metals shop Send resume: hherbert@gwfabrication.com

Major functional responsibilities and duties:

• Significant strength relative to office administration.

• Grant management and grant writing proficiency.

• Donor stewardship and capital campaign fund development and management.

• Overall budget oversight with strong familiarity with spread sheet analysis (e.g., Excel).

• Provide strong oversight relative to community engagement and collaboration.

• Provide support to appropriate board committees as directed by Board Chair.

• Perform a variety of advanced financial analyses to determine present and forecasted financial health of the Association.

• Present potential scenarios and outcomes to the management team that supports the All newmission. apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 organization’s highways, bus stop & shopping center on the organiza• Assure all timely and relevant near SCDAA.SC information is maintained tion’s website and 40lb all social media platforms.

Pet under allowed.

Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 • Oversee the preparation and submission of all compliance reports.

• Collaborate with management on development and execution of funding strategies.

• CT. Examine financial and legal documents verify accuracy and adherence to financial Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offerto a Deacon’s Certificate Program.

This is a 10financial month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates regulations and acceptable principles. in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30• Develop and oversee our annual fundraising program.

3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. • Research donor relation atDavis, local,D.D. state andoffederal art U.F.W.B. institutions (203) 996-4517 Host, Generalprograms Bishop Elijah Pastor Pitts Chapel Church 64 Brewster • Ensure timely and accurate reporting to funders.

St. New Haven, CT • Collaborate with staff on the management and planning of fundraising events and donor receptions.

NEW HAVEN

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

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

For all interested candidates, please submit cover letter and resume to: admteam. scdaasc@gmail.com Only electronic submissions will beof accepted.

Sealed bids areNote: invited by the Housing Authority the Town of Seymour

until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Group, Seymour, CT 06483The for Glendower Concrete Sidewalk RepairsInc and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Request for Proposals Market Research A pre-bid conference will be held and at theBrand HousingPositioning Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CTIncatan10:00 am,ofon Wednesday, 2016.

The Glendower Group, affiliate Housing AuthorityJuly City20, of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking proposals for Market Research and Brand Positioning.

A complete copy of are the available requirementfrom may the be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor OfColBidding documents Seymour Housing Authority laboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 3:00PM 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

FENCE ERECTING CONTRACTORS

Field Engineer

BA/BS in Civil Engineering or Construction Management.

2-5 yrs. experience. OSHA Certified.

Proficient in reading contract plans and specifications.

Resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002; Fax 860.218.2433; Email resumes to info@redtechllc.com. RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Project Manager Environmental Remediation Division 3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002;

Fax 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com

RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc

seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Dan Peterson Phone: 860- 243-2300 email: dpeterson@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc

Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for seeks: Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators Fence Installer foreman and helpers. Foreman must have at with current licensing and clean driving record, be least 5 years’ experience. Helpers-no experience required, willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. will train the right person. Work available 10-12 months per We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Invitationand to Bid: year. Valid Ct. Driver’s license required must be able Contact: Rick Tousignant to get a DOT Medical Card. All necessary equipment pro2nd Notice Phone: 860- 243-2300 vided. Medical, vacation & other benefits included. Must be Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com able to pass a physical and drug test. Foreman rates from Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Saybrook, CT $16 to $22 to $28.10/hour plus benefits,Old helper rates from Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer $18.10/hour plus benefits. OSHA 10 training required.

(4 Buildings, 17 Units) Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Union Company seeks:

VanNew Driver to transport w/disabilities Construction, Woodindividuals’ Framed, Housing, SelectivereceivDemolition,Tractor Site-work,Trailer Cast- Driver for Heavy & Highway Coning services according to assigned schedule/destination. HS struction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, diploma/GED plus 3-12 months exp/training. Current CT PSL/ clean driving record, capable of operating heavy Flooring, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Medical Card a Painting, must. Split shift 20-25 hrs/week. Pay rate $11.85/ equipment; be willing to travel throughout the hr. Apply to: GWSNE, Recruitment Mgr., 432 Washington Ave, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

North Haven, CT 06473/fax (203) 495-6108/ hr@goodwillsne.

This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. Northeast & NY. org EOE/AA – M/F/D/V We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact Dana at 860-243-2300.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Listing: Accounting-AR Specialist

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Project documents available via ftp link below: Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer Immediate opening for an experienced professional in http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage an extremely fast-paced petroleum environment. Re

quires AR knowledge, high volume billing experience FENCE ERECTING SUBCONTRACTORS or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com and Fax familiarity with Excel, Adds Energy experience HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses a plus. Candidate must possess level of ac-CT 06483 Haynes Construction Company,a32high Progress Ave, Seymour, Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking curacy and attention to detail. AA/EEO Petroleum industry and for experienced, responsible commercial and resiEMPLOYER propane experience a plus. Send resume to: Human dential fence erectors and installers on a subcontracResource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437. tor basis. Earn from $750 to $2,000 per day. Email

**An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**

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resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

COLORLINES.COM

How Frederick Douglass Challenged the Hypocrisy of Independence Day

This Wednesday, marks Independence Day, even as protesters mark America’s denial of liberty to people of color. As The Associated Press noted yesterday (July 1), formerly enslaved abolitionist Frederick Douglass addressed the failure of American commitments to freedom more than a century ago in several Fourth of July-focused speeches.

The AP traces Douglass’ critique back to an 1852 speech that he delivered to a predominantly White audience in Rochester, New York. “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro,” which he technically delivered on July 5, captured how ongoing enslavement of African Americans sullied the holiday: What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to

him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.

He delivered “The Slaveholders’ Rebellion” a decade later, on July 4, 1862, during the Civil War. Douglass denounced the ways supporters of enslavement twisted the Declaration of Independence to support their beliefs. He noted the deadly impact on not just the primary targets—the enslaved—but other marginalized people as well: Instead of treating it, as it was intended to be treated, as a full and comprehensive declaration of the equal and sacred rights of mankind, our contemptible Negro-hating and slaveholding critics have endeavored to turn it into absurdity by treating it as a declaration of the equality of man in his physical proportions and mental endowments. This gross and scandalous perversion of the true intents of meaning of the declaration did not long stand alone. It was soon followed by the heartless dogma, that the rights declared in that instrument did not apply to any but White men. The slave power at last succeeded, in getting this doctrine proclaimed from the bench

of the Supreme Court of the United States.

It was there decided that “all men” only means some men, and those White men.

And all this in face of the fact, that White people only form one fifth of the whole human family—and that some who pass for White are nearly as Black as your humble speaker. While all this was going on, lawyers, priests and politicians were at work upon national prejudice against the colored man. They raised the cry and put it into the mouth of the ignorant, and vulgar and narrow minded, that “this is the White man’s country,” and other cries which readily catch the ear of the crowd.

This popular method of dealing with an oppressed people has, while crushing the Blacks, corrupted and demoralized the Whites….

Slavery, that was before the Missouri Compromise couchant, on its knees, asking meekly to be let alone within its own limits to die, became in a few years after rampant, throttling free speech, fighting friendly Indians, annexing Texas, warring with Mexico, kindling with malicious hand the fires of war and bloodshed on the virgin soil of Kansas, and finally threatening to pull down the pillars of the Republic, if you Northern men should dare vote in accordance with your constitutional and political convictions.

NNPA ESSA Educator Spotlight: Millennial Jarren Small Brings Innovation to Education with “LegendsDoLive”

By Lynette Monroe, Program Assistant, NNPA ESSA Public Awareness Campaign Jarren Small, a 28 year-old, Missouri City native and community activist, stopped asking, “Why not?” and became the answer that he was looking for when he launched the non-profit organization LegendsDoLive.

In 2014, without any major partners, Small founded LegendsDoLive, an organization committed to funding and coordinating community-based programs for disadvantaged youth.

As a charismatic adolescent, Small was active in various extracurricular activities. He attended Hightower High School, played basketball and earned awards through the Media and Broadcasting Academy. In 2008, Jarren became an Eagle Scout. He credits his accomplishments to the positive impact of his parents’ consistent engagement and strategic exposure to diverse environments.

Shrugging his shoulders, Small downplayed his impressive list of academic and extracurricular accolades.

“Yeah, I guess I was kind of a cool kid in certain aspects,” Small said.

Ironically, Small’s many accomplishments were nearly overshadowed by his difficulty with standardized testing.

“Everyone thought I had it all together, but I failed to pass the math portion of the state standardized test,” called the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), Small said. “I passed the Math TAKS by one point—my fourth time. I felt like [God] was giving me one final chance to get it to-

Jarren Small Lynette Monroe is the program assistant for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act Public Awareness Campaign and a master’s student at Howard University. Her research areas are public policy and national development. Follow Lynette on Twitter @_monroedoctrine.

gether.”

After high school, Small attended Prairie View A & M University in Prairie View, Texas, an hour’s drive to the northwest of Missouri City.

“I did very well at [Prairie View A & M University],” Small said. “It was one of the

best decisions I’ve made in my life.”

And once again, Small was quite the standout student. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with a minor in marketing. As an undergraduate, he led a movement to bring the first panther statue to campus in reverence of the uni-

14

versity’s founding fathers. Small served as the student government association president from 2011 to 2012.

Small’s collegiate career was a stark contrast to the challenges he had faced just a few years earlier as a graduating senior.

When asked if his difficulty with testing was a defining moment, Small responded: “I feel like my entire life has led to this point, like everything I’ve been through and all the experiences I’ve had have been preparation for what I am doing right now.”

Fortunately, for other future leaders like Jarren Small, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), national education law signed

by President Barack Obama, seeks to alleviate the burden of ineffective testing.

ESSA gives states more flexibility to decide what type of assessments they issue.

ESSA also allows states to develop “innovative” assessments or to use other nationally recognized tests like the SAT or ACT. Small said that children are the nucleus of communities and that the success of our schools is the key to community sustainability.

Smiling, Small explained that, “Kids are not the future; they are the right now.”

The development of positive resources to support children offers a tangible solution to many concerns facing inner-city communities, Small said.

Small emphasized that his methods and approach to education are resources that all students can benefit from.

Likewise, ESSA requires states to prioritize stakeholder engagement in an attempt to better meet the educational needs of local populations in lieu of the national one-

size-fits all academic standards promoted by its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush.

Currently, LegendsDoLive works primarily with high school students. This year, their widely anticipated annual “Senior Fest” included an all-star basketball game between Hightower High School and Ridge Point High School, followed by an empowerment forum and concert.

“This concert is happening during school.

Something like this has never been done before,” Small explained, as he expounded on the innovation required to engage today’s youth.”

More than 600 students participated in the event. Small said getting students to participate in positive, educational events is not as difficult, as some people might think.

“It’s easy,” Small explained. “You just have to listen to them and then give them what they ask for.”

Small said that he’s applying this same attitude to his newest education focus: literacy. In May, LegendsDoLive launched a hip-hop curriculum called “Reading With a Rapper” to promote reading and writing proficiency. This program is a response to Small’s educational approach of listening to children first and then responding to their needs.

Let’s hope that Small’s enthusiasm about innovative approaches to education radiates throughout the nation as it has in the Houston-metropolitan area.

For more information about the Every Student Succeeds Act, visit nnpa.org/essa.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

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

JOE UGLY IN THE MORNING Weekdays 6-9 a.m.

THE TOM FICKLIN SHOW Mondays 10 a.m.

MAYOR MONDAY!

MERCY QUAYE

Mondays 11 a.m.

Mondays 1 p.m.

“THE SHOW”

“DJ REL”

MICHELLE TURNER Tuesdays 9 a.m.

“WERK IT OUT”

ELVERT EDEN Tuesdays at 2 p.m.

MORNINGS WITH MUBARAKAH

“JAZZ HAVEN”

Wednesdays 9 a.m.

Wednesdays 2 p.m.

“TALK-SIP”

LOVEBABZ LOVETALK

Thursdays 1 p.m.

Mondays-Fridays 9 a.m.

ALISA BOWENSMERCADO

N O T WO C AREER P ATHS A RE T HE S AME

STANLEY WELCH

We Offer: • Employer Incentives to Hire • On-the-Job Training • Job Search Assistance • Re-Training • Transportation Assistance • Hiring Events

4 Locations: New Haven: (203) 624-1493 Meriden: (203) 238-3688 Middletown: (860) 347-7691 Hamden: (203) 859-3200 Open Mon-Fri, 8:30am – 4:30pm Hamden opens at 8am

Visit www.workforcealliance.biz/services/wheredoistart Be Part of the South Central CT Economy

*There is never a fee for the jobseeker or the employer. Services are funded through state and federal grants.

FRIDAY PUNDITS Fridays 11 a.m.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - July 18, 2018 - July 24, 2018

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6/20/18 3:18 PM