INNER-CITY NEWS

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19,2016 2020- August - August 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 02,25, 2016

Financial Justice a Key Focus at 2016 Convention Preparing To Prevent Evictions AsNAACP Benefits Expire New Haven, Bridgeport

INNER-CITYNEWS

Volume 27 . No. 2404 Volume 21 No. 2194

Police Protest Sparks Dialogue At Mayor’s House

“DMC” Color Struck?

Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

Snow in July?

Teens Put To Work

“Forever” FOLLOW US ON 1

Serving West Hills

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

250 Backpacks Given Out In Dixwell

by COURTNEY LUCIANA New Haven I ndependent

Melissa Rodriguez helped her daughter, Ava, pick out a new backpack for her first day of 5th grade.

The mother-daughter duo weren’t at a school supply store—but instead at a Dixwell back to school drive, where they joined other families struggling to navigate precarious finances and uncertainty around the coming school year amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The event took place Saturday at the Dixwell police substation at 26 Charles St. Roughly 200 people turned out for the event, which included free food, Covid-19 testing, masks, clothes, and school supplies.

It came less than a week before the state is slated to decide on whether or not New Haven Public Schools will start the school year entirely remote, as requested by the Board of Education, or whether it will have to start with a hybrid remoteand-in-person model of learning.

Rodriguez is a mother of six children.

She works as a crossing guard at WexlerGrant School, and she said her kids are ready to go back to school—and she’s ready to go back to work.

“The free bookbags are helping us especially because the unemployment went down from $700 to $100,” she said, referring to the recent end to a federal boost to unemployment benefits. “I just can’t afford school supplies right now. We’re struggling everyday.”

The Dixwell Community Management Team, National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Varick Memorial Church, Upon This Rock Ministries, Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade Committee, ConnCAT, and the New Haven and Yale police departments spent weeks collecting contributions to give out at the event. Organizers said they received donations from city residents, staff members of the city’s Finance Department, and spontaneous Cash App offerings to buy additional supplies.

Roughly 250 backpacks were given away at the event.

Each backpack included essential school supplies and 2 masks. Masks for CT provided a total of 500 children’s masks and 1’500 adult masks.

School supplies weren’t the only necessity being addressed at the donation drive.

Middle school student Jazmyn Richardson (pictured at the top of this article) said she is a student who needs to learn in a traditional classroom atmosphere.

“I’m one of those children that can’t really learn on a laptop because I need to be taught in person. I need somebody to actually help me,” Richardson said. “The supplies are all for free so you’re helping the kids and the parents out right here. For the pandemic that we’re going through right now, people are losing their jobs.

This is helping the parents out with the bookbags so that they don’t have to go to

COURTNEY LUCIANA PHOTO

Jazmyn Richardson looks for a new backpack Saturday.

Melissa Rodriguez and her daughter Ava pick between backpacks.

the store to buy it.”

Richardson’s cousin, Sifa Kiza, who is attending Hillhouse High School this year, has preferred working online.

“For me, I like it because I don’t really like associating with certain people that much. I’m an independent person and I’m really quiet. I don’t really like talking to a lot of people. If we go back, I’m willing to go back, but is it really safe to go back?” Kiza asks.

“I feel like it’s not that safe. The coronavirus isn’t even over yet so I feel like we should just do it online. If we go, my mom isn’t letting me go anyways.”

Homeschool Or Back To School?

Some parents, like Donna Caesar, have

decided against letting their loved ones attend school in person. Kasli and Kaylei Caesar (pictured), three and five years old, would have been attending school in Fair Haven this year.

“It’s not safe enough yet so they’re going to be homeschooled. My son and I will be helping to homeschool them,” Caesar said.

Johnita Jackson and her son, James Murry, will also be staying home for remote learning.

“I just recently found out that he has asthma and he just scared me the other day. He had a little problem where he couldn’t breathe,” said Jackson. “With school starting back up, little kids don’t

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really know how to cover up their mouth when they sneeze and cough. You can’t watch everybody and that makes me nervous so that’s why I signed up for remote learning. Just to be on the safe side.”

Still, Murry had picked out an Avengers themed backpack because funds are tight.

“Events like today help because I’m currently not working right now. I haven’t received unemployment so this definitely works out,” Jackson said. “I’m surviving by working for DoorDash and I have Care Coordinators who help me out with gift cards for groceries. They’ll usually contact me by phone once a week for events like these to try and help me out.”

Kanye Armour, who attends Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, has been like a second parent to his three younger siblings, including a 12-year old, a 1-year old, and a 5-month-old baby.

“A lot has happened throughout the entire pandemic. It’s been hard for my mom to maintain working at home because I do help out too, but it’s hard for her to watch all of the kids.” Armour said. “She’s also been going back to work which has been a challenge because we need someone to watch us when we’re at home.”

Evelyn Rodeheffer, who is going to be heading into 4th grade at Worthington Hooker School, was candid about not being excited for back to school.

She gave a flat out answer of “No” when asked. However, she did appear to have a big smile and a sparkle in her eye when it came down to getting a backpack of her liking.

Her mother, Valerie Horsley, a professor at Yale for the Department of Molecular

Cell and Developmental Biology and a Hamden councilwom, said she struggled everyday to manage her students throughout the semester in March because of her daughter’s frustration with online classes.

“It’s hard to get a kid that’s so young to sit in front of the computer and learn. I was trying to do my own work on the computer but it’s hard. I can’t even really think about it [the fall] because it’s so stressful, especially for parents that need to work,” said Horsley.

Delana Lawrence, who attended the event with her three children, said school is only effective for the parents that can’t afford to stay home and need babysitters for their kids. However, Lawrence has been working as a patient care associate at Yale New Haven Hospital but supports online learning.

“I think remote learning is in the best interest of everyone right now, definitely because they don’t have the perfect plan for how the kids are going to be sanitary and safe,” she said. “Kids being at home isn’t good for the parents that don’t have the time so actually sit and work with their kids, but I think it’s in their best interest. I feel as though that they should probably do Zoom with the kids so that they can actually see the teacher and the teacher can see them doing their assignments,” said Lawrence.

Approximately 50 backpacks remain at the substation for pick up, and donations will continue to be accepted. Contact Nina Silva at Neenahdawn@gmail. com or Steve Winter at (203)-903-434 for more information.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Teens Put To Work Serving West Hills

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

Two dozen “youth ambassadors” in neon green “Elm City Communities believes” T-shirts are becoming familiar faces in West Hills as they clean up streets and serve their neighbors.

Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of New Haven (HANH) President Karen DuBois-Walton joined forces with West Hills Alder Honda Smith at the start of this month to form the group under the Resident Services Youth Volunteer Program (RSYVP).

The youth of the RSYVP were celebrated on Friday by the program leaders at the McConaughy Terrace Community Room.

RSYVP was formed to address recent concerns about youth’s access to positive community engagement opportunities, particularly amidst both Covid-19 and the city’s uptick of violence.

Smith and DuBois-Walton worked together to keep the youth busy for the remaining summer months while many of the city’s typical summer camps open and work opportunities were canceled due to the pandemic.

DuBois-Walton reached out to Smith because of her connection with the residents of West Hills in Ward 30. They wanted to make sure the participating youth have a safe and exciting summer.

During the planning process, DuBoisWalton asked Smith: “If I provide you a group of young people and I pay them, do

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Christian Vazquez, Iyana Torres, D’Hati Burgess, Kenny Flowers, Joshua Vazquez, Jaylin Martinez.

you have some work for them to do?”

Smith already had a design for the program, including a long list of daily work tasks for the kids. Smith had organized similar programs in the past, albeit in smaller doses.

HANH Resident Services Coordinator Johanna Davis looked into census information to pinpoint where to find West Hills youth at the start of planning. Davis reached out to parents asking if their kids would be interested, then went door-todoor to meet the kids and get them signed

up.

The teens began working on Aug. 3.

Projects have included cutting the lawns of seniors and residents with disabilities, cleaning the streets, distributing the community newsletter, cleaning up yards and bike paths and debris from Hurricane Isaias, and distributing food boxes to neighbors.

For most of the group, this is their first job experience. The group is currently at 22 youth volunteers.

The youth are receiving a stipend of $100

for every four hours of work while working one to two days a week. HANH Director of Community Economic Development (CED) Latoya McCrea distributed checks out to the youth at the event.

Fourteen-to-18-year-olds living at McConaughy Terrace and the Valley Townhouses are accepted into the program.

This coming Thursday the group will serve meals to homeless neighbors around New Haven. In the coming week, they will also clean up and reclaim Hilltop Park, which Smith said has been for-

gotten about for 20 years.

DuBois-Walton offered Smith a possible task for the youth to liven up the empty garden boxes outside the McConaughy Terrace Community Room.

Each task comes with a lesson for the youth. Lessons so far have been about safety, respecting the neighborhood, learning city ordinances to inform their neighbors, and the impact of littering.

At the end of most workdays, the group has often stuck around long after completing their task asking for more work Smith said.

The program also offers a mentoring component for the youth to let them know that “they are worth more than they expect and others expect them to be,” Smith said.

Rev. Shelly Holiness and D’Hati Burgess are among the mentors enlisted so far, working with the kids once a week for two-hour classes.

“I believe that if you live in a city that is clean, that it speaks volumes about the residents,” said Holiness.

“Oftentimes our young people hear what they can’t do, and I would like to reinstall in them what they have the capability and power to do,” Burgess said.

In the group’s most recent mentoring lesson, Burgess had each youth share a short and long-term goal they have. In the coming week, the students will make specific plans with Burgess to work towards Con’t on page 17

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

DNC Diary, Day 2: Roll Call The second DNC 2020 diary entry submitted by Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen, Jr., who is a delegate at this year’s national party convention. The convention, which began Monday, is taking place almost entirely online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs

On Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention, we were off to the races as the CT Delegation kicked off our afternoon celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment with Lt. Gov Susan Bysiewicz & Norwalk Town committee Chairwoman Eloisa Melendez.

It was a celebration highlighting the future Vice President Kamala Harris, partnered with a conversation with rockstar women from across the region who broke down barriers for women in the political arena.

The panelists included New Haven’s Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Sen. Donna Soucy (president of the New Hampshire Senate), Sen. Becca Balint (Majority Leader of the Vermont State Senate), Dr. Nina Ahmad (Candidate for Auditor General of Pennsylvania).

They spoke of the history of the women’s suffrage movement and the racism faced in our nation by those seeking to shatter the political glass ceiling.

In the middle of this conversation, a surprise guest popped in on the Zoom conversation, former presidential candidate and Senator Amy Klobuchar. She reflected on her days as a student Yale University, and on the challenges that she faced as a woman in politics.

They group even addressed the age-old question, “Is New Haven Pizza the best?”

Sen. Klobuchar chose to take the high road and declare New Haven pizza is simply “delicious.”

We were off to virtual transition to our respective caucuses and to prepare for

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New Haven I ndependent

Advertising/Sales Team Keith Jackson 10 Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Editorial Team

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

Contributing Writers Connecticut’s roll call pledge of delegates at the DNC.

a night of pomp and circumstance. The Democratic National Convention’s meat and potatoes consist of adopting the rules, the party platform, and the roll call.

This process was inspiring despite having to meet virtually to develop and cultivate a platform and process.

I could not help but think that I was both a part of an age-old tradition and a means to change the direction of this country.

Roll Call Around The Country One of the more genuinely inspiring moments of any convention is the roll call.

All states and territories were represented by individuals who raised stories surrounding the campaign’s issues or issues that may affect their states.

Some highlights included an impromptu

commercial for Rhode Island’s official state appetizer, “Calamari.” Connecticut highlighted its support for our firefighters, featuring the firefighters union president Peter Carozza and Gov. Ned Lamont.

Iowa’s representatives sought to bring awareness of a storm that had devastated the region last week, leaving many without power to take part in this momentous occasion.

The final delegate vote was virtually a landslide, mostly because Covid-19 hurdles impacted most primaries throughout the nation and a spurred need to unite the party quickly.

Vice President Joe Biden captured 66 percent (2,627) of the vote. In comparison, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders

received 26 percent (1,073 of the convention vot Like every night this week, there will always be moments of controversy, and I wanted to take the liberty to clear one thing up.

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was not trying to “shade” Vice President Joe Biden; she simply placed the name of Sen. Bernie Sanders into nomination. The rules surrounding the nomination process is to take the opportunity to give your full support for the candidate you are nominating. Well, I guess her every move is read into way too intensely.

However, many touching moments highCon’t on page 17

Hamden High Grad Creates Scholarship For Her Classmates

by SAM GURWITT

New Haven I ndependent

The Hamden High School class of 2020 didn’t get a prom or a last few months of high school spent celebrating with friends. But thanks to the work of one graduate, ’20 grads will walk away with a scholarship to help them through their next life step.

Mareshah White, who just graduated with the class of 2020, said she was thinking about her classmates on Dother’s day when an idea occurred to her.

She had gotten so much from her peers, and she was watching them graduate without any of the traditional hallmarks of the end of senior year, she said. “I said, ‘Maybe there’s a way I could kind

Mareshah White

of give back to my class.’”

They couldn’t get a prom or a carefree senior spring. But maybe they could get some financial support as they embark on college careers.

So White decided that she wanted to create a scholarship fund for her fellow graduating seniors to put towards their future endeavors.

She went first to Principal Nadine Gannon and then to the guidance department, and started reaching out to organizations in the area that could sponsor the fund.

A few months later, the scholarship was up and running, and got its first donation: $15,000 from AT&T. White partnered with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to

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create the scholarship. The foundation holds the funds, and she and Hamden High Coordinator of Counseling and Career Pathways Dan Cocchiola are helping administer them.

White said that at the very least, she would like to give scholarships to 150 graduating seniors. But she said she hopes to get enough donations to be able to provide a scholarship to all 396 graduating seniors.

White said she is still collecting applications. So far, 72 students have applied.

The scholarship will be open to students pursuing four-year college, two-year colleges or trade schools, or the military, and can be used for whatever students need it for.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

DNC Diary: “Forever” First Lady Delivered Below is the first DNC 2020 diary entry submitted by Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen, Jr., who is a delegate at this year’s national party convention. The convention, which began Monday, is taking place almost entirely online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

by DARRYL BRACKEEN, JR. New Haven I ndependent

On Monday morning, I rose to my feet to prepare to get ready for what would be my first Democratic National Convention representing the Third Congressional District as a delegate.

By 8 a.m., I was on my way to the convention. Well, actually, my makeshift virtual studio in my home office.

The first event of the morning was a Connecticut delegation meeting at which we were able to raise issues and concerns surrounding the election.

I personally wanted to ensure that we address the major primary election debacle which left thousands of people (including myself) without absentee ballots entirely, or receiving them the day after the official primary.

We heard many promises from party officials that it would be addressed, even though the present occupant of the White House is literally trying to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service. If you want to take action to address mail-in voting in Connecticut in preparation for the November general election, please sign my petition on Change.org.

Most of the days’ themes, however, remained centered around why Vice President Joe Biden should be the next President of the United States of America.

The day included various delegation caucus meetings and even a campaign school training session.

During the day we were greeted by many familiar Democratic faces including Gov. Ned Lamont, DNC Chairman Tom Perez, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Black Lives Matter movement leaders, including George Floyd’s family members, who pleaded with the delegates and the nation that we must take Donald Trump out of the White House.

One of the “mic drop” moments of the night’s convention speeches came from Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who made his case for electing Joe Biden.

The socialist Senator and former twotime presidential candidate stated, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned…Trump golfs.”

I’m sure if we were in a full convention room in Milwaukee, that would have been a standing ovation moment.

Another highlight of my day was being at home with my wife Chaz and my two daughters, Chelsea and Gabriella, preparing to hear from our “forever” First Lady Michelle Obama. So that they too could experience their dad take part in history and be a part of one of the most crucial elections of our lifetimes.

Michelle Obama broke down this election like no other.

She explained what is at stake in this election. She even gave us a reality check, “it is what it is” and that Donald Trump was indeed the “wrong President.”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Alder Brackeen with a “Biden Berry” soda included in a DNC swag bag for delegates.

After a very long day stationed in one location in my house, I was definitely inspired.

This was just the first day of the convention. I am excited to discover what Tuesday has in store.

Darryl Brackeen, Jr. is a Third Con-

gressional District delegate to the DNC, a four-term alder representing New Haven’s Ward 26, a campaign surrogate for Joe Biden, a member of the CT For Joe Biden Leadership team, and the Chairman of Joe Biden’s League 46 CT Chapter.

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DONT LET THEM COUNT YOU OUT!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Champion Boxer Shot Dead In The Hill

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

(Updated) Dayshon Smith, a 28-year-old local boxer nicknamed “Superfreak” for his power and reach in the ring, was shot and killed amid gunfire in the Hill Saturday after a large party on Rosette Street turned deadly, leaving five others hospitalized.

Police Chief Otoniel Reyes, Mayor Justin Elicker, and Assistant Chief Karl Jacobson provided updates on the fatal shooting during a Sunday afternoon press conference at the corner of Wilson and Rosette Streets.

“Last night we lost another New Haven resident,” Elicker said, standing before a web of yellow crime scene tape blocking Rosette between Wilson and Hurlburt Streets.

As the rain poured down, Elicker said that Smith’s death marked the 14th homicide in the city so far this year.

“Anytime we lose one of our New Haven residents, it’s a tragedy,” he said. “It’s a difficult time for our community, but we will get through this together.”

Smith was a champion amateur boxer who lived on Congress Avenue and trained for years at the Hill’s Ring One boxing gym.

(See more below.)

Homicide Memorial Vigil Turned Violent Reyes (pictured at right) said that police responded to the area of Hurlburt and Rosette at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday because of neighbors’ calls about a large crowd on the street.

“There was a vigil of sorts here,” Reyes said. People were out commemorating the seven year anniversary of the death of another homicide victim, 18-year-old Devante Jackson, who was gunned down at Rosette and Hurlburt Streets on Aug. 15, 2013.

Reyes said that the crowd had dispersed by the first time the officers arrived.

The officers cleared the scene, he said, and then were redeployed to other areas of city—to Sargent Drive and to Ella T. Grasso Boulevard in response to calls about drag racing.

Then, at 11:51 p.m., Reyes said, city police received ShotSpotter alerts of gunfire at the intersection of Hurlburt and Rosette. The chief said police also received 911 calls from neighbors about the gunfire. Those neighbors also spoke of a large dice game being played in the area, and about a dispute that may have led to the subsequent violence.

“Arriving officers found a large dispersing crowd,” Reyes said. And they found “an expansive crime scene that extended well beyond the original location of 173 Rosette into parts of other surrounding streets.”

Police identified six victims related to the gunfire.

The only one to die was Smith. The other five victims were all hospitalized for their wounds. Reyes said the five hospitalized

Smith (left) and Clark (second from left), celebrating a boxing victory.

AARON KOTOWSKI PHOTO

Dayshon Smith, at the Hill’s Ring One boxing gym.

gunshot victims are all currently in stable condition, they are all New Haven residents, and they range in age from 27 to 38 years old. Two are women and three

are men.

One of the female gunshot victims suffered a “really critical wound,” Reyes said. He praised the “tremendous work

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by EMS personnel and hospital staff” for helping stabilize the victim, who ultimately survived.

Reyes said that, at this time, police do not believe that Saturday night’s shooting had anything to do with the shooting death of Ricky Newton that took place earlier this summer on that very same stretch of Rosette Street.

“We don’t feel this is some sort of retaliation,” he said. “We feel this is something that happened organically here during this incident.” He reiterated that the crime scene was “expansive,” and that police found multiple shell casings of multiple calibers, indicating that there was more than one gun involved.

“He Was Doing The Right Things” Brian Clark (pictured), who runs the Ring One boxing gym on Congress Avenue, turned out for the rain-soaked press conference to speak up on behalf of his former boxing student.

“He was a good kid,” Clark said. “Quiet.

A real quiet kid.”

Smith had a job working with disadvantaged youth, Clark said, and no criminal record. He said Smith had a daughter whom he adored and spent much time with.

“He worked. Had a real job. A real legit job,” Clark said. “He was a good father.

He was doing the right things.”

And, Clark said, Smith was a tremendous boxer.

He said Smith won the first 22 matches he fought in, a near unheard-of winning streak in the sport. Clark said Smith ultimately stopped going to Ring One several months ago because he wanted to try to become a professional boxer, which Clark disapproved of.

Not because Smith didn’t have the talent, but because, as Clark said, “You make more money at Walmart” than as a fulltime boxer.

This 2017 article in the Lowell Sun described Smith’s successful fight in the New England Golden Gloves Open Division Finals which earned him a ticket to a National Tournament in Lafayette, La. The reporter notes Smith’s nickname of “The Superfreak,” and states that Smith started boxing relatively late in his young life because he was needed at home to help his mom raise his younger brothers.

The article states that his mom passed away in 2010.

“I kind of wish I would’ve started boxing earlier, but everything happens for a reason,” Smith is quoted as saying in the article. “I got great people behind me, a great coach and I feel like physically there’s nothing stopping me.”

This WTNH profile from 2017 also describes Smith in the runup to his national tournament fight in Louisiana. Smith says in the piece that he earned the nickname “The Superfreak” from Clark and from local national champion boxer Chad Dawson.

Smith says in the profile that he was resistant to the nickname at first. But a few weeks later, when his coach urged him into the ring before a fight by saying, “It’s your turn, Superfreak,” something clicked.

“Yeah,” Smith said. “They ain’t never seen nothing like me.”

“People do not understand the challenges of inner city kids,” Clark said Sunday afternoon. “I don’t care what color you are. Any kid that makes it out of the inner city scores big.” Clark said that Smith was the third local boxer he’s lost to gun violence in his years running the gym.

“He was a real good kid,” Clark said. “I wouldn’t be standing in the rain for no reason. He was a good kid.”

“The Community Has Been Very Helpful” In addition to praising local police officers, West Haven police who helped respond to the call, American Medical Response (AMR) emergency responders and local firefighters who all were on scene Saturday night, Reyes also thanked members of the community who called in and have been calling in to help the police crack the case.

“We received a lot of calls from community members,” he said. “The community has been very helpful.”

Reyes said that the department has seized nearly 30 guns off the streets in the last few weeks. “Those are staggering numbers for a city of our size,” he said.

He said that number is indicative of the hard work the department puts in to keep New Haveners safe.

Harkening back to the sharp increase in gun violence from earlier this summer, Reyes also referenced a “perfect storm” of factors contributing to an uptick in local violence.

One such factor, he said, is people recently released from prison getting into violent disputes when back out in the community.

While Clark and three of the other victims had no criminal records, he said, two of the gunshot victims from Saturday night’s shooting were recently released from prison. One is on probation, and one on parole.

These people’s criminal histories may be related to the shooting that ultimately took place, Reyes said.

According to a police email press release Sunday afternoon, the five other gunshot victims from Saturday night include a 27-year-old woman who was shot multiple times in the side of her torso, a 28-year-old woman who was shot in the arm and leg, a 31-year-old man who was shot in the face, a 37-year-old man who was shot twice in the leg, and a 37-yearold man who was shot in the thigh.

Detectives are asking anyone with information to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304. Callers may remain anonymous.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Making The Bench Of A Bad Situation

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD New Haven I ndependent

Local artists Sarahi Zacatelco, Eamon Linehan, Israel Sanchez, and Joel Celi faced a blank canvas in the form of a freshly painted white bench right outside of Evolution SD Hairstudio on Grand Avenue.

The functional sculpture is part of a collective initiative to design socially distanced seating outside the many small businesses that sit on Fair Haven’s main commercial drag.

During a Saturday afternoon interview, Zacatelco, the project’s leader, said that the piece is also meant to “make people a little less miserable” during a time of mass death and hardship.

“I live across the street; I walk here everyday,” Zacatelco said. “It’s lonely. No art. No life.”

“We need more color, more Latin… more spicy!” she added, laughing.

“I’m Mexican, he’s Ecuadorian,” Zacatelco said, pointing to Sanchez. “This is about us, the culture. Fair Haven.”

Zacatelco came up with the idea after returning to her childhood city during the pandemic.

The fine artist had previously worked on community centered art in Spanish Harlem, where she collaborated with other artists to build outdoor eating areas for restaurants that were hit hard by Covid-19.

Zacatelco would paint murals across the walls which protected diners from street traffic.

The desire to serve her home community only grew when she got back to Fair Haven. She asked herself over and over again, “How can we help each other, how can we continue to create?”

Quarantine-induced restlessness was also partly responsible for the new art. At a time when many report feeling emotionally and physically stuck, Zacatelco declared, “Let’s do something! Let’s paint!”

Her long-time friends and colleagues were also thinking about how to bring joy and awareness into their community.

“I noticed disparaging differences in support for downtown businesses compared to here,” Linehan said. Fair Haven is a low-income area that is composed primarily of people of color: 63 percent of the neighborhood’s population is Hispanic.

The women-led, grassroots art project was an opportunity to celebrate the makeup of the community, connect artists and allies during a time of immense isolation, and educate Fair Haven folks about the virus itself.

Zacatelco said that over the past months she has seen long lines of people waiting outside of the hair studio. Other than a few dining chairs out front, there was nowhere for people to sit before their appointment.

Zacatelco’s attention was drawn instead to the garbage littering the streets.

She imagined new benches that would

EAMON LINEHAN

Sarahi Zacatelco painting a new bench on Grand Ave.

NORA GRACE-FLOOD Zacatelco with Eunice Pereda.

encourage people to patronize stores, and allow them to stay physically separate while putting their feet up. In addition to safe social engagement, the structures could promote environmental friendliness.

Linehan built the bench himself out of shipping skids and other recycled materials. He said the construction process took around 40 hours.

The outcome was a carefully crafted loveseat, divided in two by a wooden crate in which the artists planted a bright pink hibiscus plant.

The flower itself was a gift from the wife of the hair studio’s owner; Zacatelco shared that local business owners had been “super duper welcoming” of the project.

The bench was not the only brilliant dis-

play sharing the sidewalk outside of the hair studio.

Eunice Pereda was showcasing, and selling, a different kind of artwork inspired by the current moment.

While Zacatelco, Linehan, Sanchez, and Celi have known each other for years because of their intersecting childhoods, artwork, and activism, Pereda and Zacatelco first connected through Facebook this spring.

Pereda is the founder of MUSAS Oaxaqueñas, an artisan clothing store which sells clothes that are handmade by families in Mexico to people in the United States. When the pandemic hit, she was living in the Bronx, unsure how to continue her work.

“I wanted to keep helping artisans with a new concept,” Pereda said. Though

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Pereda had little experience with sewing, she happened to have a sewing machine stored in the back of a closet. She took it out and began making her own face masks, even creating a Youtube tutorial called “the easiest way to make a face mask” for those who wanted to fashion their own.

While in New York, she contacted Zacatelco and asked for help and insight.

“Come to Connecticut,” Zacatelco urged her. “We can help each other!”

The two asked around and earned permission from the barber shop to set up shop outside of the building, charging $10-15 for masks alongside a variety of other products.

“People asked me, what are you doing outside, you’ll get sick!” Pereda recounted. “I need to eat,” she told them.

Soon Pereda was able to work solely as a sales rep, reaching out to eight different families in Mexico who now send her the pieces they make at home.

“It’s to help everyone,” Zacatelco said, emphasizing how the operation has connected Hispanic communities across the globe. “Everyone’s trying to make some money right now.”

“It’s women’s empowerment,” Zacatelco stated. “There are so many women in this time who need to work themselves but stay at home. I say, you can create something working with your hands… you can make and sell cookies! You can help each other.”

She added that because of Pereda’s straightforward Youtube tutorial, more “poor people are starting to make and sell masks.” Zacatelco asserted that the fabric masks were more sustainable than common surgical ones. And, of course, ensuring that as many affordable masks are

available to those in low-income areas is promising for overall public health.

“It’s For Everyone!”

Throughout the afternoon, passerby and nearby employees stopped at 314 Grand Ave. to add their own design to the bench.

Those without masks were given one from Pereda’s stand.

The artists themselves did not have a strict vision for how the bench would be painted. “It’s mostly for the kids,” Zacatelco said. “Whatever they want!”

Sanchez laughed. “Then it will probably be something abstract.”

Linehan estimated that around 25 people stopped by, pressing hand prints and painting hearts alongside the established artists. Others inquired whether the bench would be able to withstand temperamental weather conditions and support a broad range of body types. “The answer is yes,” Linehan said.

Pereda’s table of rainbow-hued goods attracted just as much attention as the bench. Even those who did not purchase anything exclaimed, “Que lindo!” when they saw the colorful counter.

During six months of social stagnation, Zacatelco said that at the very least the new bench suggests that “something has changed,” and may provide hope to those who take notice.

Zacatelco also spoke to the beauty of collaboration.

Everyone in the community had something unique to offer, whether that was a splash of paint, free masks, or a storefront in front of which to place the bench.

Zacatelco also highlighted the diverse skills of her fellow organizers.

Zacatelco came up with the idea and oversaw its unfolding. Linehan built the bench and took photographs of the event.

Sanchez has expertise in graphic design and created the banner which hung behind the bench. And Celi, like the others, is a professional painter.

While all the artists are busy with their own personal projects—and Linehan noted that “there isn’t a lot of funding in the art department”— Zacatelco has many ideas for future community work.

In addition to building more benches across the street, she has taken inspiration from an artist in Bushwick who made “friendly fridges,” which are painted, public refrigerators that offer free food to anyone who needs it.

“I see people asking for food on these streets everyday,” Zacatelco said. “I see this project, and I ask, ‘Can I take it?’” she recalled. The artist replied: “Yes! It’s for everyone!”

While the public artwork really is for everyone, Zacatelco had one personal hope underlying the mission. “Businesses have treated me like a friend,” she said of the project’s process. “I want everyone here to know me.”

Hands on her hips, she stated softly, “I just want everyone’s respect.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

"Black Kid Joy" Appears At City Hall

By Lucy Gellman

New Haven I ndependent

The kid lifts their arms and rides on a spray of pink soda. Their overalls flap in the breeze, vibrant against a pink-andwhite striped t-shirt, glinting gold buckles. Their hair, a wooly black that is almost purple, swoops to one side with the soda’s sheer inertia. A sugary wave rises; their arms fly out to steady them. They explode into an enormous smile.

The installation—aptly titled Black Kid Joy—has arrived at City Hall courtesy of artist and activist Isaac Bloodworth, working in collaboration with the Town Green Special Services District and the city’s Division of Arts, Culture and Tourism. It was installed Tuesday morning on the Amistad Plaza, across several firstfloor windows where it is slated to remain for at least the next month.

It marks the latest chapter in Town Green’s “Windowed Worlds” initiative, rendered in pink and blue vinyl to honor Black trans kids. It is funded by the Elm City Innovation Collaborative and CT Next.

From left to right: Elm City Innovation Collaborative Director Michael Harris, Town Green Executive Director Win Davis, Cultural Affairs Director Adriane Jefferson and artist Isaac Bloodworth.

“I thought, what better way to dive into justice than celebration,” Bloodworth said Tuesday. “That’s something that I’ve been learning. I wanted to do a Black kid surfing on a soda stream. Right now, my

heart is heavy. I’m tired. But I’m also excited, because the world is catching up after 400 years.”

The work, which wraps around part of the building and surrounds Ed Hamilton’s Amistad Memorial, came out of a collaboration that started in June. In New Haven and across the country, organizers were gathering for Black Lives Matter protests, Juneteenth celebrations and calls to defund the police. Adriane Jefferson, director of cultural affairs for the city, wanted to bring attention to the moment through public art.

“We realized that it was an opportunity to include a young, up-and-coming local artist,” she said, adding that the project dovetails with other cultural equity work the city is doing. “And frankly, it was important to us to have a Black or Brown artist working on this project.”

Kim Futrell, community outreach coordinator for the division, sent out a call for proposals in late June. She assembled a jury that included Black Lives Matter New Haven Co-Founder Sun Queen, Citywide Youth Coalition Executive Director Addys Castillo, Amistad Committee member Althea Norcott and Town Green staffer Elizabeth Bickley. Bloodworth’s design, which ultimately won, was one of 14 submitted.

Tuesday, Bloodworth arrived in a “Black Girls Are Sunshine” t-shirt and overalls, honoring both Joy and Sun Queen’s ongoing campaign to celebrate Black women.

He took in the finished piece, stopping

every so often to greet friends who were walking past City Hall. A few got cautious elbow bumps; most received air hugs from at least six feet away.

Artist and writer Marshall Cruz, who was headed downtown, stopped in his tracks when he passed the space. As he studied each panel, he did double takes at each detail, pointing out little details that he noticed the second time around. As he looked on, a transparent jellyfish continued its float through the wide pink sea.

“I think it’s beautiful,” he said. “It’s a great way to brighten up the space. It embodies exactly what it says—Black kid joy. It’s a great addition to downtown, and it feels like it belongs here.”

As it frames the Amistad Memorial in storybook pinks and soft cartoon shapes, the piece forms a bridge from past to present, suggesting a new model for seeing Black liberation. Bloodworth first introduced Joy several years ago, as part of a moving panorama. The character has appeared repeatedly in his designs, from inprogress cartoons to a piece called “Sugar Rush” that he raffled off at the Yale Center for British Art last year.

In several previous versions of the story, Joy was oppressed by the same forces of police brutality, economic deprivation and white supremacy that Bloodworth sees Black boys and men facing each day. In this design, Bloodworth said, he wanted the character not just to survive, but to thrive. Joy, who is depicted beside a lollipop staff, needed to be happy.

Artist Isaac Bloodworth: "Right now, my heart is heavy. I’m tired. But I’m also excited, because the world is catching up after 400 years." Lucy Gellman Photos.

“I’m trying to give people time to learn,” he said. “Not to make mistakes—mistakes can determine whether I live or not.

But to learn.”

It also dovetails with the way Bloodworth, who was born and raised in New Haven, has been thinking about civic space. Last year, he designed and painted a mural for Citywide Youth Coalition’s Black and Brown Power Center on Chapel Street. Tuesday, he said that he would like to see a mural committee in the city, for large-scale public art projects that in-

clude murals honoring the Black Lives Matter movement.

Win Davis, executive director of Town Green, said he hopes that the work is the first of several similar projects around downtown and in the Amistad Memorial Plaza specifically. He added that Town Green is currently working to install proper lighting around the piece, so that it is visible at all hours of the day and night.

“We were very happy to put this project together,” he said. “This would be a phenomenal thing to continue doing.”

up the existing homeless support programs the state has in place but the extent of the need is unclear.

“I think we are all concerned,” DiLella said. “But we just don’t know what the future holds at this point.”

The $600 additional Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefit expired on July 24, which is recent enough that DiLella said the DOH hasn’t seen any increased housing need as a result yet.

“It does take some time for the whole process to work,” DiLella said. “If someone doesn’t pay the rent, there has to be a notice to quit, and then they have to work their way through the judicial system.

That could take a few months and obviously there’s always hopes that the folks in Washington will be able to come up with some second round of relief.”

Organizations are working collaboratively with the DOH to address the crisis before it arrives. The United Way of Greater New Haven and the state are implementing Community Development Block Grants for small cities to connect homeless people to resources as well as connecting those who have housing inse-

curity with eviction prevention resources.

“With the support of DOH and the City of New Haven, we have raised resources to house over 170 households out of shelter and the streets to ensure their safety and the homeless system’s ability to respond to increased need for emergency shelter,” said Kelly Fitzgerald of the United Way of New Haven.

Zall said that in New London she is taking a similar approach. While housing and shelter are important, because of the need for social distancing she has pivoted toward rehousing people and keeping them out of the shelters.

“We’re helping people keep their housing, which we call diversion,” Zall said.

“If people do lose their housing we try to have resources available to help them to find new housing as quickly as possible.”

This rehousing program was in place prior to COVID-19, but increased need is behind building it up, Zall said. Those experiencing homelessness can call 211 and speak to someone from the homeless response system.

Preparing To Prevent Evictions As Benefits Expire

by Emily DiSalvo Ct. News Junkie

Homeless shelters and support services in Connecticut are bracing for a wave of evictions and increasing poverty as pandemic unemployment benefits and rent forgiveness expire.

Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism! “It’s sort of terrifying how bad this could be,” said Cathy Zall from the New London Homeless Hospitality Center. “I think it is very, very frightening but the two truths about it is that we can have some capacity in our shelters but because of COVID-19 we have a lot less space in shelters than we used to.”

Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order extended rent forgiveness until August 25, and the federal government has not solved the ongoing economic crisis accompanying the public health crisis. Homeless shelters, previously a refuge for those without a safe place to sleep, are now a concern for spread of the coronavirus. As the potential for massive evictions grows nearer, advocates for the homeless like Zall are growing concerned.

MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES VIA SHUTTERSTOCK

Empty shelter beds

In the past, the New London shelter would allow people to sleep on the floor on mats particularly crowded times, but today, those modifications are no longer

possible.

Steve DiLella, director of individual and family support programs with the Department of Housing said that he is building

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Con’t on page 13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Police Protest Sparks Dialogue At Mayor’s House

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

A “Defund the Police” rally held outside Mayor Justin Elicker’s house turned into a wide-ranging conversation about City Hall’s policy priorities amidst the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.

That conversation took place Friday late afternoon in East Rock outside of Mayor Justin Elicker’s house on Orange Street.

Roughly two dozen young organizers from Citywide Youth Coalition stood on the sidewalk outside the mayor’s home and made an in-person pitch for him to shift public money from law enforcement and towards social services like affordable housing and public education. They also called on him to support pulling city cops from public schools and replacing them with guidance counselors “If you really value Black and brown lives, if you value me as a student, then you need to start defunding the police,” Amistad High School student Julie Hajducky implored the mayor.

The political house visit and hour-long conversation represented the latest direct action from youth activists who have taken the lead in recent months in challenging city leaders and the broader public to radically reimagine the role of law enforcement in New Haven.

Since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day and the subsequent nationwide uprising against police brutality, this same local group has led a 5,000 person march from the Green to police headquarters in early June, a Black Liberation march and “teach-in” in East Rock Park on Juneteenth, and another nearly-100-person march from the Green to police headquarters at the end of July.

At each event, they’ve pushed the same set of specific demands around diverting public funding from law enforcement to social services that get at the root causes of crime, poverty, and social instability.

“We need to focus on prevention,” said fellow Amistad High student Jaeana Bethea, “not on criminalizing people of color.”

Unlike at Citywide Youth Coalition’s previous recent actions—and unlike a latenight, much more contentious protest on the mayor’s lawn at the end of May—Friday’s rally at the mayor’s house resulted in a civil if impassioned conversation between the youth activists and the city’s top elected official.

For over an hour Elicker listened closely, described the processes by which local government functions, and detailed what actions his administration is taking—and which of the youth group’s demands he deems a bridge too far.

He said he does not support categorically defunding the police or removing School Resource Officers (SROs) from the public schools. That’s in part because “many, many people in every single neighborhood around the city” tell him

Citywide Youth Coalition organizers Jaeana Bethea and Julie Hajducky.

Friday’s rally outside the mayor’s house.

they want more police, not fewer, he said.

The mayor insisted, however, that his administration is not standing idly by as people around the city and the country call for a fundamental change to how policing works—particularly in regards to whether or not an armed officer is the best person to respond to every type of call for service that is currently directed to the police.

Elicker said that his administration is currently exploring whether or not to create a crisis response team modeled after Eugene, Oregon’s CAHOOTS program.

Under such an operation, social workers and mental health experts rather than armed police officers would respond to certain calls, especially those that involve homelessness, substance abuse, an overdoses.

In the CAHOOTS program (which

stands for Crisis Intervention Helping Out On The Streets), “cops don’t go” to these types of nonviolent calls, Elicker said. “Because cops oftentimes escalate the situation, even unintentionally.”

The very facts that they wear uniforms and have lethal weapons can prove detrimental to making sure someone gets the help that they need in a given situation, he said.

“The goal is that in the long run these types of response groups will be able to replace” some of the work that police currently do, he said, so that armed officers can focus instead on responding to shootings and other more volatile crisis situations.

Would the funding for such a crisis response team come out of the current police budget? asked New Haven native and recent Middlebury College graduate

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Wengel Kifle (pictured). “If police are doing less work, we should take their money away,” she said.

Elicker said the city would like to commission a study on how to create such a program and how to run it. That study would also determine how best to fund it, he said.

As for SROs, the mayor said that a Board of Education working group is currently investigating whether or not to remove cops from schools entirely. He said he’s sympathetic to the argument that SROs are able to forge closer bonds with students and are better equipped than a police officer with no connection to a school to break up a fight without making any arrests.

While he is open to having SROs not wear police uniforms, Elicker said, “I don’t think it’s the right decision to totally eliminate the SRO program.”

Citywide Youth Coalition leader Jeremy Cajigas (pictured) asked Elicker about the group’s second “defund the police” demand: That $20 million be taken out of the budget for police pensions and be allocated instead towards the development of affordable public housing.

“We’re in the middle of a pandemic,” Cajigas said, “and very soon, we’re going to face a mass eviction crisis.”

Will you shift money from police pensions to housing? they asked the mayor.

And what else are you doing to ensure New Haveners can live in safe, affordable, convenient, and dignified housing?

First, Elicker responded, “we cannot just take away money from police pensions.”

That’s a legal obligation that the city has to make good on. And if the city tried to take money away from the police and fire

pension fund, it would be sued, and the city would lose.

As for the need for more affordable housing, Elicker said, “I agree this is a major, major issue.”

He said his administration is finalizing an inclusionary zoning ordinance that would require developers of new housing set aside a certain percentage of apartments at affordable rates.

And he said the city is pushing to update the city’s zoning code to legalize accessory dwelling units, which would immediately increase the housing supply in the city by allowing homeowners to rent out parts of their properties they cannot legally rent out. Citywide Youth Coalition’s Ta’LannaMonique Miller told the mayor that the city doesn’t just need more affordable housing—it needs more affordable housing for families. More one bedroom apartments “don’t help working families in New Haven,” she said. The city needs three bedroom and four bedroom apartments that don’t cost an arm and a leg for families to rent. “And they can’t be owned by slumlords,” she said.

What about evictions? Miller continued.

Is there anything the city can do to protect renters from being forced out of their homes once the state eviction moratorium expires next week?

“We’re very, very scared about mass evictions” taking place towards the end of the month, Elicker said, particularly as the federal boost to unemployment has expired and so many people remain out of work during the ongoing pandemic.

The mayor said that the city’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) is working with New Haven legal aid to come up with a plan Con’t on page 13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

OP-ED: No Bridge too Far — Remembering Congressman John Lewis and the Fight Still Ahead

by Ray Curry, Secretary-Treasurer, UAW “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred.

It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy.” — Congressman John Lewis This month marks the 55th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), one of the most powerful pieces of civil rights legislation in our history.

The passage of the VRA into law was the result of decades of struggle and sacrifice and was truly a shining moment in our history.

Unfortunately, the struggle to ensure that all Americans have the right and opportunity to vote not only continues today, we have actually suffered significant losses on this front over the past decade.

Some of the most critical protections of the VRA, designed to remove legal barriers at state and local levels that prevented African Americans from voting, were essentially gutted by a devastating 2013 Supreme Court decision. With one stroke of the pen, the Court set us back decades and created an environment where we’ve seen numerous court challenges to voting rights and other legal measures designed to further weaken the protections of the VRA. All resulting in suppression of African American and minorities participating in the process.

Add to this this the fact that many states are imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from the polls in recent elections, hitting all Americans, but placing special burdens on racial minorities, poor people and young and old voters.

Adding to these now restored obstacles are new impediments — polling places consolidated in urban areas to make lines longer (and scarier given the poorly contained reach of the deadly coronavirus) and attempts to throw shade on mail-in ballots. Despite the fact that the evidence shows us that absentee voting is safe and secure.

Time for Good Trouble It comes to this: Americans are being cut out of the process by other Americans. A great victory, fought for on bloody streets and across bloody bridges, a score settled and signed into law all those years ago has been compromised in the courts. Time to despair? Nope. It sounds to me like it’s time again for some good trouble.

Good trouble was what American hero and Congressman John Lewis called the struggle for this all-important right of every American. Lewis, a Democrat from Georgia, served in the House of Rep-

Photo provided by UAW:

The legendary planners of the 1963 March on Washington meet in New York City in 1963, including (left to right): John Lewis, Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James L. Farmer Jr. and Roy Wilkins.

resentatives from 1987 until his death last month, spent decades working as an organizer and activist, was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and original freedom rider. He helped organize the March on Washington in lockstep with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and A. Phillip Randolph. He walked into a beating from Alabama state troopers who cracked his head bloody and gassed him along with hundreds of marchers in the cause of voting rights on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in 1965.

He witnessed and rejoiced in the passage of the VRA alongside his fellow freedom marchers and years later, would have to see the Supreme Court decimate the act.

Lewis knew that the court’s decision would reopen the door to voter suppression, but he refused to give in to defeat.

Here is what he had to say about our struggle: “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Now, It’s Up to Us

So, I say we cannot afford to let go of making good trouble. When U.S. Senator Doug Jones of Alabama said at Lewis’ memorial service, “It is the young among us in Alabama and across this nation who can heal what we have failed to heal in our lifetimes, no matter how hard John tried,” Senator Jones made note that Lewis had been heartened by today’s young activists.

“He confidently looked around and said, ‘All is well,’” said Jones. “‘It is time for the torch to be passed. It is time for me to let go.’”

That torch, brothers and sisters, is for us.

And I would say we have taken hold of it. Today you are seeing it in our protests against police brutality and racism.

People standing up for their inherent civil rights. For the right to live, to move about, to vote. You see the numbers and the strength and the outrage.

Today you are seeing it in the House of Representatives, which most recently passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a bill intended to restore the vote to Americans — mostly Black, Latino, and Native Americans — who were disenfranchised by the 2013 deci-

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sion.

The Voting Rights Advancement Act restores the full protections of the original, bipartisan Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also creates a new coverage formula that applies to all states and addresses measures that have historically been used to discriminate against voters.

A time for action, not despair

Predictably, full passage has been stalled in the Senate, but “our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year,” right? We are fighting the long fight and making good trouble. And we need to see the numbers and the strength and the outrage at the polls.

In a few months, we will be voting in one of the most important elections of our time. You need to make your voice count.

Make it count in spite of those who would stop you. Voting is necessary to make the real change we need in this country. We must unite and come together to elect leaders who are committed to reform and to working people. The only way to do that is to vote.

More than 30 states have approved ballot initiatives to allow absentee voting without an excuse. Check out your situation

in your state and however you choose to vote, please make your voice heard this November.

Those who read my column know that I am a union man. I can say unequivocally as far as the UAW is concerned, we are not new to John Lewis’ fight. For decades, the UAW has fought alongside freedom marching men and women to ensure that individual rights are honored.

At a time when far too many eligible voters are wrongly turned away from the polls – or simply don’t have access to them – we must rededicate ourselves to increasing participation among eligible voters.

John Lewis said at the 1963 March on Washington in front of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and UAW President Walter Reuther, “I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping this nation. Get in and stay in the streets of every city, every village and hamlet of this nation until true freedom comes, until the revolution of 1776 is complete.”

In that idea, Congressman Lewis is still right here standing before more bridges that need crossing. Only by voting, can we get to the other side.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020 Con’t from page 09

Police Protest Sparks Dialogue At Mayor’s House

for providing some kind of legal help for tenants facing eviction.

He also said that the city is looking into providing direct cash support for renters to complement the renter support program set up by the state. “We think the state should put a lot more money” in that program as well, he said.

Elicker called on the youth activists to direct their efforts to get social services funded towards places with much more money than the relatively cash-strapped city government.

Even if he did agree to every one of Citywide Youth Coalition’s demands and moved tens of millions of dollars from the police budget to education and housing, Elicker said, “In my opinion, that’s a drop in the budget compared to what really needs to happen.

“We need to fund social services. That needs to come from Yale University. That needs to come from the suburbs. You can protest in front of my house. You can protest in front of City Hall. But the real problem is at the Capitol, is at these places that have incredible amounts of money, and our city is working to grab up the scraps.”

Soon after 6 p.m., Cajigas told the mayor that the youth activists had hit the time limit for their scheduled rally, and that they were going to start heading out to enjoy the rest of their Friday night.

“We appreciate you coming out to give us some clear answers,” even if the mayor didn’t categorically agree to any of the group’s demands. Cajigas said that the youth activists would continue trying to push the mayor to see these issues from their perspective—and ultimately to take more substantive action around defunding the police.

Con’t from page 09

Benefits Expire

“We have some resources,” Zall said.

“Will that be enough? I don’t know. To pay back rent, they can go stay with their mom in the room over the garage, roommate with someone. Each situation is different.”

Zall said over 80% of the calls are resolved by diversion, and hopes this will continue even with a potential eviction crisis.

The state received $10 million from the CARES Act to prevent homelessness and build up homeless prevention programs.

“I doubt it will be enough,” Zall said.

“But it’s a substantial amount of money.

I am just hopeful we can help people rehouse as quickly as we possibly can.”

DiLella said the state is committed to ensuring that people remain permanently housed, despite the unprecedented crisis.

“We have long been believers that permanent housing greatly reduces negative impacts on individuals,” DiLella said. “We know when people have their own apartment they are less likely to have mental health or substance abuse issues. We are committed to doing this.”

13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Meet the 1st Black Student to Receive a Doctorate in Computer Science at the University of Florida Gainesville, FL — Jasmine Bowers has recently made history as the first-ever African American student to receive a doctorate degree in Computer Science from the University of Florida.

Bowers double majored in Math and Computer Science at Fort Valley State University and earned her masters at North Carolina A&T before receiving his doctorate. She now joined the ranks of other historic Black women in STEM such as Mary Jackson, NASA’s first Black female engineer, and Dr. Patrica Bath, the

first Black woman to receive a medical patent.

Bowers is grateful for the support of her teachers, mentors, advisors, and friends throughout her study for many years. She is most especially thankful for her mother who guided her and pushed her to achieve more.

“The seed of motivation was planted at a young age when my mother taught me how to use Excel to record my ‘wish list.’

I grew up in a household where I was encouraged to embrace technology,” Bow-

BlackNews.com

ers told BOTWC. “I also had the freedom to utilize technologies that included computers and other equipment that my mother, an [self-taught] engineer, had.”

In addition, Bowers hopes to inspire other students to be interested in STEM to occupy the reportedly lacking representation of Black people in the workplace.

“I will be moving to a new state and starting my career as an engineer where I get to put into practice all of my studies. I will continue to give back and encourage young girls to explore STEM,” she said.

Jasmine Bowers

ASK-Y LLC Begins Production on Cutting Edge TV Series “Smokin’ Good”

Detroit, MI, August 14, 2020 – ASK-Y LLC, a TV/Film production company based in Detroit, has begun production on their highly anticipated show, “Smokin’ Good,” a scripted drama series that is based in the world of cannabis.

The series chronicles the journey of August Good, who turns his life around from an illegal past, to a legal present; in hopes of achieving a prosperous and wealthy future for himself and his family. August believes that cannabis is the golden ticket to the prosperity he seeks, but the path is full of many hurdles to overcome. Enemies from the street, jealous family members, bitter ex-girlfriends, backstabbing partners and unscrupulous political forces, just to name a few.

“What’s so enamoring about this show is that it’s semi-autobiographical,” says Andre Watson, co-executive producer.

“It details my successes, my failures, and everything in between as a cannabis entrepreneur. The average person has no idea what this industry is really about. They primarily feed into the stigmas attached to cannabis, and that in turn affects their perception. This show will give them a taste of what the industry is, and from a very unique perspective. You rarely see a black man’s point of view with cannabis, outside of being arrested and locked up from it.”

Shiek Mahmud-Bey, actor/director/producer, who credits include The Inner Circle, The Martyr Maker, Chasing After You, and many others, portrays the main role of August Good. “What intrigued me about this project was the subject of cannabis, and the main character’s determination to make it in this business,” says MahmudBey. “It’s also a classic, from-the-streetsto-the-boardroom tale. Those type of sto-

ries never get old, and the writing for this one is incredible.”

Ken Williams (pen name Octavis Gray), writer of “Smokin’ Good,” believed it was a hit when he first pitched the concept to Andre and Shiek. “I’ve known Andre for a long time, and the stories he shared about his experiences in cannabis were so amazing and detailed. I was so intrigued that I told him we should turn his stories into a TV show. Then I told him I knew Shiek, and he could play the title role. So, the three of us crafted this masterpiece to portray to the masses.” Shooting begins in October. Smokin’ Good will be filmed in Detroit and surrounding areas.

Shiek Mahmud-Bey, actor/director/producer, who credits include The Inner Circle, The Martyr Maker, Chasing After You, and many others, portrays the main role of August Good.

signed to keep them poor and “in line.”

When slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment in 1865, Southern plantation owners in states like Louisiana found themselves without enough manpower to keep their fields operational. But they soon found a loophole. The 13th Amendment stated: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime … shall exist within the United States.”

Pig Laws were passed to unfairly target and entrap poor former slaves and force them into a penal system that provided free labor for plantation-owning whites.

They were dubbed “Pig Laws” because many of them made it a crime to steal farm animals. And newly freed slaves without the means of acquiring food legitimately often were reduced to theft.

This was forced criminality by design and the Pig Laws and other Black Codes provided a steady supply of free Black labor to replace the emancipated slaves.

Poverty has ravaged Blacks since emancipation, and poverty’s frequent companion, addiction, has followed in its wake as

the oppressed attempt to self-medicate in order to ease their pain and suffering.

Laws are tools for social design. They are passed to make people behave in a particular way. In the hands of an oppressor, laws are tools to extract subservient behavior from the oppressed. And when used for that purpose, these laws are no more just than midnight lynchings or other barbaric assaults to enforce subservient behavior. Like lynchings and beatings, these laws are the oppressive weapons of the unjust.

Most of the laws used to police black and brown bodies today are pig laws that have evolved to adjust to the modern realities of our time. This is why excessive force is constantly applied to people of color and local, state and federal institutions contort logic to defend it.

Too many laws as they are applied to people of color are unjust and we must fight our way to the polls to root out the people who design them and utilize them.

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

LAWS ARE WEAPONS OF THE UNJUST

by Oscar H. Blayton

We read in disbelief that a Black man who has already spent almost 23 years in a Louisiana prison for stealing a pair of garden clippers has now been denied any measure of mercy and must spend the rest of his life behind bars for his minor crime.

Fair Wayne Bryant, 62, was convicted of stealing the clippers in 1997 when he was 38. And five white men who sit on the Louisiana Supreme Court decided that it served justice to destroy a life for such a minor crime.

The only dissent came from the court’s sole Black, and only female, Chief Justice Bernette Johnson. Chief Justice Johnson wrote a blistering dissent that shines a spotlight on how law is used as a weapon by oppressors against the oppressed.

Bryant had been convicted of three previous crimes and all four of his convic-

tions resulted from his attempts to steal something. Chief Justice Johnson argued from the bench: “Such petty theft is frequently driven by the ravages of poverty or addiction, and often both. It is cruel and unusual to impose a sentence of life in prison at hard labor for the criminal behavior which is most often caused by poverty or addiction.”

Bryant’s infractions over the years were the acts of a desperate man, a man forced into poverty by a system designed to keep him in a state of poverty so that others could live more affluently. But the Louisiana courts used the pattern of his behavior as evidence of the need to keep him separated from society. And while the white men in black robes would never admit it, the courts in the state of Louisiana were not seeking to punish Fair Wayne Bryant as much as they were sending a message to the oppressed Black people of that state.

Reading between the lines, we can see the dehumanizing process used by the courts to inflict pain upon Black people in order to ensure their compliant and sub-

servient behavior. The language used by a lower court in Bryant’s case tortures logic while denying Bryant’s appeal of his cruel and unusual punishment. The Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion that stated in part that the “litany of convictions and the brevity of the periods during which the defendant was not in custody for a new offense is ample support for the [life] sentence imposed in this case.” In short, this statement argues that Bryant should stay in jail for life because he has spent time in jail before.

The three-word opinion of the five white justices – “Writ application denied” – was as chilling and final as a death sentence.

They gave no explanation for their decision because they did not believe they had to. But Chief Justice Johnson was not having it and wrote a dissent that pointed to the historical underpinnings of such an unjust and oppressive use of the law.

In her dissent, Chief Justice Johnson pointed to the “Pig Laws” that had been enforced in Louisiana in years past. These laws were designed to trap impoverished African Americans in a legal web de-

14

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Safe & Free Disposal of Household Hazardous Waste Located at the Regional Water Authority, 90 Sargent Drive, New Haven

Working with Communities to Protect Our Water Sources Saturdays only, 9 a.m. to noon through October 31, 2020 Closed September 5, 2020

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Pre-registration required. Visit rwater.com/hazwaste to register and for more information, or call 203-401-2712.

Spider monkeys only have thumbs on their feet?

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St. Aedan Pre School 351 McKinley Avenue New Haven CT 06515 office phone 203-387-0041

Online tickets required: www.beardsleyzoo.org 15

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Meet the First African American in NFL History to Become President of a Team ByBlackNews.com

Nationwide — The Washington Football Team, formally known as the Washington Redskins, has appointed Jason Wright as team president. He is the first African American in NFL history to become a team’s president.

In this role, Wright will be responsible for leading the organization’s business divisions, including operations, finance, sales, and marketing. He will join Coach Ron Rivera, who maintains all on-field responsibilities and football decisions, in reporting directly to team owner, Dan Snyder.

“If I could custom design a leader for this important time in our history, it would be Jason. His experience as a former player, coupled with his business acumen, gives him a perspective that is unrivaled in the league,” said Washington Football Team

owner, Dan Snyder. “We will not rest until we are a championship-caliber team, on and off the field. Jason has a proven track record in helping businesses transform culturally, operationally, and financially.

He is a proactive and assertive advocate for the inclusion of all people and will set new standards for our organization, and for the league. There could not be a better duo than Jason Wright and Coach Ron Rivera as we usher in a new era for Washington Football.”

Wright spent seven years as a running back in the NFL with stops in San Francisco, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Arizona, where he was the Cardinals’ team captain and labor-union representative during the league’s 2011 lockout. Upon his retirement from the gridiron, he received his M.B.A., graduating with high honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and building on his under-

graduate studies in psychology at Northwestern University, where he was also an Academic All-American and captain of the football team.

He went on to global strategy and management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, where he quickly ascended to being named partner in the Operations Practice, based in Washington, D.C. In addition to steering some of the world’s most influential Chief Human Resources Officers, Chief Financial Officers, and Chief Security Officers to transformed environments, modernized operations, and increased business value, he spearheaded the Black Economic Institute at McKinsey, where he additionally co-piloted their anti-racism and inclusion strategy. Jason is a trustee for the Union Theological Seminary, where he helps the institution better equip students with community organizing and social entrepreneurship skills.

Dan Snyder

Beyoncé’s Message to America: “Vote Like Your Life Depends on It”

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Popular singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, 38, had a message for the audience at this year’s BET Awards.

During the ceremony, Beyoncé was presented with a Humanitarian Award by former first lady Michelle Obama, who congratulated Beyoncé on her commitment to the Black community.

“You can see it in everything she does, from her music that gives voice to Black joy and Black pain, to her activism that demands justice for Black lives,” Obama said. Obama also honored Tyler Perry, Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton, and others.

“You’re proving to our ancestors that

their struggles were not in vain,” Beyoncé said as she accepted the award, adding, “I’m encouraging you to continue to take action, continue to change and dismantle

a racist and unequal system. We have to vote like our life depends on it, because it does.” The singer from Houston dedicated her award to protesters around the country.

Several celebrities have become increasingly involved in philanthropy focused on struggling communities. They include Beyoncé, Pusha T, Trey Songz, Common and John Legend. Trey Songz and Pusha T have both participated in large efforts in their hometowns of Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia to feed needy families as part of the “Feed Your City Challenge.”

Thousands have benefited from their events, including the literal tons of food that have been given away to help families in those communities. Pusha T had previously been involved in philanthropy

with a focus on giving back to his community in Norfolk. The rapper has said the work of The Ricky Davis Legacy Foundation in Houston inspired him to replicate a similar effort in Hampton Roads, Virginia. On June 3rd, a large food giveaway drive-thru event took place in Norfolk and Trey Songz hosted a large drive-thru food giveaway event in Petersburg on June 20.

Beyoncé was honored at the 20th annual BET Awards in part because of her BeyGOOD initiative. BeyGOOD is a philanthropic initiative that teams up with local charities in places of need to help the homeless, sick children and the unemployed. BeyGOOD joined with Bread of Life, Greater Houston Community Foundation, and Texas Southern University to

assist people displaced after Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.

Beyoncé, whose net worth is over $400 million, recently released the song “Black Parade,” celebrating Black pride. “…I hope we continue to share joy and celebrate each other, even in the midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strength and power. “Black Parade” celebrates you, your voice and your joy and will benefit Black-owned small businesses,” the description reads under the YouTube Video of “Black Parade.”

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC.

Don’t Believe the Hype: What We Know About Russia’s COVID Vaccine Dr. Maya Johnston-Stone, BlackDoctor.org

So, if you’ve been watching the news, there you’ve probably heard that Russia has released the first widespread vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. While everyone and their mama (literally) wants this pandemic to be over and believe that a safe vaccine is probably the best and the fastest way to do it, nobody wants to be the first to take.

And even so, if you’re not a fan of history, it seems as though they are trying to beat the U.S. to a vaccine like they were trying to compete to get the first man on the moon. But this time, it’s not just affecting a few people, it’s affecting millions.

President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine, which showed “stable immu-

nity” against the new coronavirus and had “passed all the necessary checks”.

However, the vaccine, named “Sputnik V”, pays homage to the world’s first satellite launched by the Soviet Union (see what I mean). The vaccine has not yet completed its phase-three trial, which involves wide-scale testing with thousands of participants, but he’s claiming that it as the “cure.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 200 vaccine candidates are being developed and trialled across the globe, with at least 24 in the human clinical trial phase.

The results from the Russian vaccine have not been made public yet (see, sounds kind of shady already, doesn’t it?).

But here’s what we know so far: The “Sputnik V” is a vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute

in coordination with the Russian defence ministry. It is based on a proven vaccine against adenovirus – the common cold.

The vaccine is administered in two doses and consists of two serotypes of human adenovirus, each carrying an S-antigen of the new coronavirus, which enter human cells and produce an immune response.

It is a so-called viral vector vaccine, meaning it employs another virus to carry the DNA encoding of the needed immune response into cells.

The first batch of the vaccine will be made available for medical personnel in the next two weeks, he said on Wednesday.

The vaccine could be available for mass use in October, according to the country’s health ministry.

“What have [the Russians] done?” Paul Offit, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia and a co-inventor of the rotavirus

16

vaccine, said in an interview with Yahoo News. “They’ve done a small phase I trial in 38 people.”

Wait, did he say 38 people? Yes, he said on 38 people. I have more than 38 cousins in my family.

The Russian vaccine used an adenovirus to induce neutralizing antibodies in the 38 people who were given it, Offit said.

While “nobody died,” he said that relying on such a small sample of patients “doesn’t enable you to say anything about efficacy, doesn’t enable you to say anything about safety.”

Offit, who is a member of the National Institutes of Health COVID vaccine working group, said he worries about the precedent being set by the Russians in proclaiming victory on an untested vaccine. He said he was struck by the political undertones in Putin’s vaccine claims.

“It’s amazing that this was a political

announcement,” Offit said. “What worries me is that our administration would interpret this as anything other than what it is, which is that Russia, if anything, is behind where we are in the United States on this vaccine. … This is just Vladimir Putin being political. I don’t think he’s honest when he says that they’ve shown that the vaccine’s effective. They can’t possibly know that yet.”

So what do you think? Are you going to wait and see or are you going to be one of the first to take a U.S. approved vaccine?

And if you are one of the first, does that mean you trust the healthcare system or is this an exception?

There are so many questions we need to answer and will answer as the months go on. We just need to be safe, stay diligent with our health, our bodies and our hygiene and believe that we will get through this together.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020 Con’t from page 03

Put To Work

achieving their goals.

Iyana Torres, 14, heard about the program from her friends. Torres says she plans to use her stipend money to go out with friends and help her mom out.

“My mom woke me up one day and told me to get some money,” said New Haven Academy student Joshua Vazquez, 13.

“I would just be in the house bored if I wasn’t here.” When Burgess asked his goals, Joshua told him he hopes to own his own construction business.

Christian Vazquez, 14, said he hopes to attend Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) and get more of his high school work done this school year.

Hillhouse student Jaylin Martinez, 14, hopes to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for football one day.

Cross junior Kenny Flowers, 17 said he hopes to focus more on his grades, “make it out the hood” and to age 21.

Torres plans to attend Yale University to be a doctor or nurse.

Burgess said he is interested in planning monthly trips for the youth when it is safe to do so.

DuBois-Walton and her team hope to bring the program to other family developments around the city in the future.

Con’t from page 04

Day 2: Roll Call

lighted the character of Vice President Joe Biden and his genuine connection to the working class.

He came from a working-class background and was profiled as the poorest U.S. Senator to serve for many years.

Jacquelyn Brittany delivered one of those touching moments in her nomination of the Vice President as the Democratic nominee of the party. After her heartfelt conversation with the Vice President in an elevator, while he was on his way to a meeting, I’m sure she never expected to nominate the Democratic nominee.

But of course, hearing from Dr. Jill Biden, you can’t be surprised that Joe Biden would have wanted it that way. Dr. Jill was a showstopper, and her speech was the absolute highlight of the night.

Even with the likes of President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State John Kerry, and a host of others. Dr. Jill’s speech was the conversation we didn’t realize we needed to have.

She talked about healing and bringing everyone together to transition from a devastating time for many.

We need a healer in chief and who better than an individual who has overcome many life-changing moments in his life, but he persisted.

Now onward to what will be a historic moment in the nomination of Sen. Kamala Harris as the Vice Presidential nominee of the Democratic party.

17

On Civil Disobedience THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

COMMENTARY:

By Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, prominent theologian and local activist, His huge fist repeatedly struck her face.

This wasn’t the first time her boyfriend beat her up…but this was definitely the worst. Hours later, she awoke with blood caked between her face and the floor. Seeing that her boyfriend was asleep, she quietly ran out the door. Due to multiple warrants, she was too scared to call the police. So, she ran to the only place she knew to go. Seeing the steeple in the distance, she ran harder. For many years, her church was known as a place that would help victims of domestic violence. It was her only hope.

Once she got on the lawn, she raced to the side door. There was always someone there. Running up, she missed the sign.

Over and over again, she banged on the

door. Nobody came. Backing up, she realized that there was a sign, “Churches are not considered essential based on the recent COVID-19 order…so we have been forced to suspend all social services until the order is lifted.”

He was sitting at home watching television. The phone rang. On the other end of the line, was a voice he did not know.

After identifying himself as a local police officer, the voice proceeded to tell him that his son was shot and killed earlier that night. Devastated, the man called his pastor. After hearing the anguish in his voice, the pastor raced over to his parishioner’s house.

Not long after he got off of the exit, he was pulled over. Unable to understand what he had done wrong, he rolled down the window. The officer asked where he was going. After his explanation, the pastor thought he was just going to be able to go. Instead, the officer went back to his car. After a few minutes, the officer came back with a citation. Immediately, the pastor demanded to know the reason for this ticket.

Girl Scouts Announces First Black CEO in the Organization’s 108-Year History

The officer didn’t hesitate, “Ministers are not considered essential workers under the recent COVID-19 order.” She needed food. The church was closed. He needed emergency counseling. The church was closed. He needed help with his bills. The church was closed. She needed somewhere to sleep. The church was closed.

He needed to take a shower. The church was closed. She just needed help. The church was closed. He just needed help.

The church was closed.

The church is the largest provider of social services in our country. Dallas County and various other counties have discouraged/inhibited such work. Repeatedly, churches and their ministers are not included in the definitions of what is essential to our society. The language is all about businesses. While there is room given for churches to meet “virtually,” churches can’t do the vast majority of their work over a computer screen. More lives will be lost if the church stops being the church. I can’t accept this.

We must love our neighbors. We must stand up for the marginalized and oppressed. We must. To do anything else would not be the church. When someone asks for the help of churches, I encourage you to help them…no matter what any authority says. Civil disobedience might be the hallmark of our faith at this point.

Thank you Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood studied at Brite Divinity School.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BlackPressUSA.com or the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

Black Diplomatic Couple Launches Podcast & Provides

Passport Scholarships to African-American Students

Judith Batty, a lifelong Girl Scout and board member, has made history as the first Black CEO of the Girl Scouts of the United States since the organization was established 108 years ago.

“When I was young, the Girl Scouts instilled in me the courage, confidence, and character that have guided me through my life and career. It is an incredible honor to bring those lessons back full circle to help the Girl Scouts navigate this transition,” Batty said in a statement released to the press.

For so long, Batty was a Brownie in the Girl Scouts and eventually served two terms on the National Board. She also served as senior legal counsel and an executive for a Fortune 100 corporation, where she became the first woman and

first Black general counsel to one of the company’s overseas affiliates.

Batty was handpicked by the GSUSA to take over the position after the previous CEO, Sylvia Acevedo, announced her resignation. She will be the one responsible for leading the staff and council leadership in laying plans to for the organization’s further improvement.

“As families across the country contend with so much uncertainty and upheaval, I am committed to ensuring that the Girl Scouts continues to offer a shelter in the storm – a place where all our girls feel welcome, can find community, solidarity, leadership opportunities and fun, despite the challenging moment we are all collectively living through,” she said.

Nationwide — This year the United States marks 152 years since the ratification of the 14th Amendment, and for African Americans, this Reconstruction Act was a watershed moment, which laid the framework, although hugely imperfect, for a legal basis for citizenship grounded in equal protection and, in theory, the right to own and travel on a passport.

The HayesXChange Podcast promotes the stories of African Americans that are taking full advantage of their American citizenship with an approved passport in hand while studying, working, and living abroad beyond the boundaries of tourism.

The HayesXchange Founders, Calvin Hayes and Kindall Hayes, have launched this podcast to implore listeners to exercise their constitutional right to own a passport and for African American students to prioritize studying and interning abroad.

For Black American, full-time high school or university students enrolled in a four-year institution in the state of Florida, they can apply for a scholarship to cover the fees for their passport application at HayesXchange.com/passportinitiative.

To listen to the podcast on Apple Music,

18

Calvin and Kindall Hayes, founder HayesExchange podcast

Spotify, and SoundCloud, visit HayesXchange.com For press inquiries, contact Jeanette

Hordge-Smith at (813) 523-9301 or jeanette@dashmarketingllc.com

THE INNER-CITY , 2020 - August 25, 2020 INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS- August July 27,19 2016 - August 02, 2016

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Performs tasks required in the maintenance, installation, repair and construction of roadways, services, hydrants, and structures relating to facilities, lines and equipment of the water system. Requires at least three (3) years employment as a Maintainer in the Water Division or in construction involving the installation and mainVALENTINA MACRI RENTALequipment HOUSINGOR PREAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLE tenance of pipe lines and related two (2) years training in plumbing plus one (1) year of employment as a Maintainer in the Water System OR an equivHOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House andThe the Town New Haven Authority, alent combination of experience and training. offersHousing a competitive pay accepting forplus studio one-bedroom apartments at thisApplicadevelrateis of $24.43 -pre-applications $29.66 per hour an and excellent fringe benefit package. opment locatedwill at 108 Frank Street, Haven.

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ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

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

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

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

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

Assistant Director Public Works – Operations, Water Pollution Control Division. The skills and knowledge required would usually be acquired with a Master’s Degree with a minimum of eight years’ experience related to the management of Public Works operations, including a minimum of four years supervisory/administrative experience or a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or Business, with a minimum of ten years’ experience related to the management of in Public Works operations, including four years of supervisory/ administrative experience. Requires knowledge of budgeting, contract and financial management and demonstrated project management skills. FT, $85,753-$98,616. Applications at www.groton-ct.gov and must be returned by September 11, 2020.

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

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

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage 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 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

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

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

P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

Listing: Customer Retail Assistant

Petroleum Company has an immediate full time opening. Excellent customer service skills a must. Requirements include: answering billing questions, assisting in sales calls received, scheduling service calls as well as assisting in collections and account set ups. Previous petroleum experience and/or experience in a very busy office environment a plus. Applicant to also perform administrative/ clerical tasks as assigned. Please send resume to: H.R. Manager, Confidential,

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Full time Class A driver for petroleum deliveries for nights Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

NOTICE

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develEmail: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com opment& located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Women Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apply.Affi Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y rmative Action/ Opportunity Employer State of Connecticut 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re- Office of Policy quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed pre- and Management Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the NorthThe State of Connecticut, Office of east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICIA

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN TAX COLLECTOR

Listing: Commercial Driver

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Policy and Management is recruiting for

a Connecticut Careers Trainee (target Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 class Planning Analyst) position.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.tou-

The Town of East Haven seeks a qualified candidate to serve in the position of Tax Collector. This is a highly responsible administrative position involving the direction of a municipal tax collection operation. The Tax Collector directs and supervises the department operations; administers and evaluates the preparation of tax bills, receipt of current taxes, the pursuit of delinquent taxes and the collection of revenue. The Tax Collector works under the direction of the Finance Director and supervises the staff of the Tax Department. Qualified candidates should possess a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Finance or Public Administration and four (4) years of progressively responsible administrative experience, or an equivalent combination of training and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis and must possess or be able to obtain CCMC Certification by State of Connecticut within a reasonable period of time. The salary range for this position is $78,388-87,099/year, 35 hours per week and the Town offers an excellent benefit package. Please send resume with references to: Michelle Benivegna, Assistant Director of Administration & Management, 250 Main Street, East Haven, CT 06512. Deadline September 1, 2020. 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.

Electric Utility System Operator/Dispatcher

signant@garrityasphalt.com Further information regarding the duties, HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está requirements and application Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply eligibility aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer instructions for this position is available ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos at:

Union Company seeks:

máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 https://www.jobapscloud.com/ julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= Tractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por correo a petición llamando HOME INCLicense, al 203-562-4663 duranterecord, esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse 200805&R2=2292AR&R3=001 ment.

Must ahave a CDL clean driving capable of a las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven , CT 06510 .

The State of Connecticut is an equal Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com with disabilities.

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

NEW HAVEN

Operates electric distribution substation and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for an electric utility serving 25,000 customers. Coordinates electric system switching and places equipment in and out of service during routine and emergency operations. Requires HS diploma/GED with 2 years experience in the operation of Distribution SCADA equipment and/or switchboards used in the distribution of electricity.

Experience and training may be substituted on a year for year basis. Must maintain valid system operation certification from Connecticut Valley Exchange (CONVEX) or other approved agency or be able to obtain the same within 90 days of hire. Must posses and maintain a valid State of CT driver’s license. $ 34.63 - $ 41.15 per hour plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will Invitationbeto September Bid: 8, 2020. EOE.

242-258 Fairmont Ave Town of Bloomfield HELP WANTED: 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE 2nd Notice

Finance Director Full Time - Benefited

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

apartments, new appliances, close to I-91 & I-95 Large All CTnew guardrail company lookingnew for carpet, Laborer/ Old Saybrook, CT Request for Proposals near bus stop & shopping Driver with validhighways, CT CDL Class A license and ablecenter to (4 Buildings, 17 Units) get a medical card.

Must be able to pass a drug test Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 $96,755 - $149,345 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Development of Single-Family Homeownership Housing Wage Rate Project and physical. Compensation based on experience.

Pre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com website – www.bloomfieldct.org CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s The Housing AuthoritySite-work, of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, CastAA/EOE Certificate M-F Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates currently seeking Proposals for Development of Single-Family Homeownership in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, 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. Housing.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster Centrally Located Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobbleMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

St. New Haven, CT stonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Town of Portland has amended its Citizen Participation Construction Company

LEGAL NOTICE of TOWN OF PORTLAND, CT

Plan for the purpose of informing the public about its intent to apply for CDBG, Covid-19 funding.

For a copy of SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY the amended Sealed bids are Plan invitedgo by to the www.portlandct.org.

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 CITY ConcreteCOMMUNITIES Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the ELM Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Request for Proposals

Housing Choice Voucher (Section Based Assistance Program to A pre-bid conference will be held8)atProjectthe Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Support the Development of Affordable Housing

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

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seekdocuments areChoice available from(Section the Seymour Housing ingBidding Proposals for Housing Voucher 8) ProjectBased Authority Assistance OfProgram Support Development Affordable Housing.

A complete copy of the fice,to28 Smiththe Street, Seymour,ofCT 06483 (203) 888-4579. requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

reduce the scope of the on project to reflect and to waive any beginning Monday, Julyavailable 13, 2020funding, at 3:00PM. informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

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

in Connecticut has positions available Monday, August 10, 2020 at 3:00PM. for experienced project managers, Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 laborers and truck drivers.

Construction Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp This company is an Affirmative Action /

Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com Project documents available via ftp link below: Equal Opportunity Employer M/F. Females and Minorities are encouraged to apply. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Please fax resume to ATTN: Mike to

860-669-7004.

required.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Request for Proposals Electronic File Management Services

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 Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 QSR STEELHaynes CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER

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

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The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Electronic File Management Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/ gateway beginning on

Monday, August 17, 2020 at 3:00PM.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Electric

NOTICE General Line Foreman – The Town of Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly skilled su-

pervisor with strong administrative and leadership skills to oversee the utility’s overhead and underVALENTINA MACRI repair RENTAL HOUSING PRE-functions.

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE ground line installation, and maintenance The utility serves 25,000 customers in a 50+ square mile distribution area with a peak demand of 130 MW. The position requires an A.S. HOME on behalf of Columbus House and the Newplus Haven Housing Authority, degree in INC, electrical, civil, or mechanical engineering eight (8) years of progressive experience is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at thisdistribution develin the construction, maintenance, and operation of utility-grade electric facilities, or an opment located at 108 of Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations on ap-a year-for-year basis. equivalent combination education and qualifying experience substituting ply.(1)Pre-applications willasbea available from TO 5PM beginning Ju;y a valid Motor VeOne year experience supervisor is 9AM preferred.

Must possessMonday and maintain 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have hicle Operator License. Salary: $92,405 - $118,227 plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reto: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed pre06492.

Phone #: (203) 294-2080; Fax #: INC’s (203)offices 294-2084. closing dateThird will be the date the 50th applications must be returned to HOME at 171The Orange Street, application or resume is received or September 2, 2020 whichever occurs first.

EOE Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

CITY OF MILFORD

NOTICIA

Seeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include, Engineer Technician, Secretary and more.

For information and detailed application instructions, DISPONIBLES visit www.ci.milford.ct.us Click on VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE. HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 CITYLasOF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 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 Q-House Launch and Management llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse RFP Street, # 2020-07-1340 a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

RFP due date: Tuesday September 29, 2020 at 11:00 AM EST. RFP can be downloaded at https://newhavenct.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=login Michael V. Fumiatti Purchasing Agent

NEW HAVEN

ATTENTION GENERAL CONTRACTORS ***INVITATION TO BID*** ELEVATOR MODERNIZATIONS at KENNEDY, RIBICOFF, GRAHAM, & JANE JOHNSON BUILDINGS

CENTRAL CONNECTICUT AREA THE HOUSING AUTHORITY of the CITY OF NEW BRITAIN (Housing Authority) will receive sealed bids, in TRIPLICATE, for the above referenced construction project.

1. The work generally consists of the modernization of elevators at four (4) buildings.

2. All bids shall be clearly marked “Elevator Modernizations at Kennedy, Ribicoff, Graham, & Jane Johnson Buildings” delivered to the Authority Offices by mail or courier, and time and date stamped upon receipt. Bids will be received until September 10, 2020 at 10:00 AM at the office of the Housing Authority, 16 Armistice Street, New Britain, CT 06053, at which time they will be publicly opened and read aloud.

3. There will be a pre-bid walk thru on August 25, 2020 at 10:00 AM starting from the Graham Apartments Community Room, located at 107 Martin Luther King Drive New Britain, Ct. 06051. Interested bidders should attend this meeting to understand and clarify the scope of work and intent of bid documents. Any bidder, who is not in attendance at this meeting, will be held responsible for the understanding and extent of the scope of work and the contract. CDC guidelines will be followed.

4. Bid forms and contract documents are on file as of August 18, 2020, at the Housing Authority Office. Copies of these documents may be obtained by depositing a $50.00 check (COMPANY CHECK or MONEY ORDER ONLY, NO CASH) made payable to The Housing Authority of the City of New Britain for each set of documents so obtained.

Such deposit will be non-refundable.

5. Each bidder is required to submit with their bid, a bid guarantee of not less than five percent (5%) of the amount of the bid in the form of a certified check or bank draft, U.S. Government Bonds at par value, an irrevocable letter of credit or a bid bond secured by a surety company.

6. The successful bidder will be required to furnish a performance and payment bond for one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price; or a one hundred percent (100%) cash escrow; or a twenty-five percent (25%) irrevocable letter of credit. The surety must be a guarantee or surety company acceptable to the Housing Authority and licensed to provide sureties in the State of Connecticut. Individual sureties will not be considered.

7. The Housing Authority reserves the right to reject any or all bids or to waive any informality in the bidding. No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of ninety (90) days subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the Housing Authority.

Invitation to Bid:

8. It isndthe responsibility of the Bidder to monitor the www.nbhact.org website for any notices Notice that may be issued pertinent to the information being viewed.

2 Addenda and

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

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 for Proposals highways, near busRequest stop & shopping center Request for Proposals for Outside General Legal Services for Elm Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact MariaCounsel @ 860-985-8258

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE The Housing Authority of the City of New Britain is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and conducts Old Saybrook, CT its business in accordance with all Federal, State and Local laws, regulations, and guidelines. Small, Minority, Women Business Enterprises and Disabled are (4 Buildings, 17 Units) in this process. encouraged to participate

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project HOUSING AUTHORITY of the CITY OF NEW BRITAIN City Communities/Housing Authority of The City of New Haven, Including John T. Hamilton, Executive Director The Glendower Group, Inc. and Its Various Affiliates and 360 CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates Management Group Company in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, 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

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

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seekElectrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Ducci Electrical Contractors, Inc. seeks a Diversity Compliance Manager to oversee and imSt. New Haven, CT ing Proposals for Request for Proposals for Outside General Counsel Legal Services for Elm City Mechanical, plement the company’s Diversity Policy and requirements.

Program. Duties will include guidance for all diversity contract to state set-aside and contract compliance Communities/Housing Authority of The City of New Haven, Including The GlendowerThis Group, Inc.is subject programs, reviewing bid documents, managing supplier outreach efforts, reviewing contracts and and Its Various Affiliates and 360 Management Group Company. monitoring DBE, MWBE, SBE goals.

Send resume to Ducci Electrical Contractors, 74 Scott Swamp Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal Rd. Farmington, CT 06032 ATTN: Jackie Ducci OR via e-mail to jaducci@duccielectrical.com; EOE/ https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 M/F/D/V Sealed bids are invited by the Monday, Housing July Authority of the Town of Seymour 27, 2020 at 3:00PM Project documents available via ftp link below:

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

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 ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

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

Agency-Wide Elevator

Town of Bloomfield

http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Lead Building Maintainer - Facilities

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 Full Time - Benefited AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Bidding documents areof available the Seymour Housing OfThe Housing Authority the Cityfrom of New Haven d/b/a ElmAuthority City Communities is currently fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. seeking Bids for Agency-Wide Elevator Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenThe Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject housing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning onany or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any Monday, August 10, 2020 at 3:00PM. informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

21

$31.26 hourly

Pre-employment drug testing.

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

Construction Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp required.

Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

At Last, Two New Meds To Fight Sickle Cell Disease

by Deborah Easton, BDO Contributing Writer

For the first time in 20 years, the FDA has approved two transformative new treatments for the approximately 100,000 people with sickle cell disease (SCD).

One new med will prevent the excruciating pain of SCD while the other is formulated to prevent organ damage.

“After decades of waiting, there is now a treatment option that could change the course of this disease,” Beverley FrancisGibson, president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, said in a news release. “Hope has never been higher for people living with sickle cell disease with a pipeline of new treatments on the horizon.

The opportunity before us in the coming months and years is profound and historic because, in most cases, medications treat disease complications or symptoms but not the condition itself. Finally, these two new medications the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved for Sickle Cell Disease are vastly different in that respect.”

Adakveo (crizanlizumab)

Manufactured by Novartis, Adakveo can prevent vaso-occlusive episodes of unbearable pain that occur when malformed blood cells get caught in blood vessels.

Vaso-occlusive crisis is extremely painful and is a frequent reason for emergency department visits and hospitalization for patients with sickle cell disease.

Adakveo is administered by infusion once per month and you must be at least 16 years to be approved to use. The side effects are moderate including nausea, back or joint pain and fever. Infusion dosage depends on patient’s weight.

Oxbryta (voxelotor) Developed by Global Blood Therapeutics, Oxbryta is an oral, once a day tablet that was developed for patients 12 years and over to help prevent severe anemia from SCD that can lead to permanent damage to the brain and other organs.

By increasing hemoglobin’s affinity to oxygen, it halts polymerization (the root cause of SCD) which is the clumping and sticking together into rigid long rods that deform blood cells. Researchers say Oxbryta can reduce patients’ risk of stroke as well as the need for blood transfusions.

Most common side effects are headache,

diarrhea, nausea, rash, fever and tiredness.

NEXT, THE NOT SO GREAT NEWS.

Adakveo and Oxbryta could both be revolutionary treatments for Sickle Cell Disease but each costs approximately about $100,000 per year and must be taken for life!

The cost for Oxbryta oral tablet 500 mg is around $10,885 for a supply of 90 tablets. Oxbryta is available as a brand name drug only, a generic version is not yet available. Adakveo costs between $7,000 and $9,500 a month. The management of sickle-cell disease is already expensive because of health complications and repeated hospitalizations. It now costs an average of about $10,000 a year to treat children, and roughly $30,000 a year to treat adults for complications like pain crises, organ damage and strokes. Unfortunately, for many, the devastatingly expensive annual cost of these drugs only proves the claims about the average person not having fair access to cutting edge medicines.

CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR TO DISCUSS OBTAINING THESE NEW SICKLE CELL DISEASE INNOVATIONS. After discussing these innovative new medications with your doctor or special-

ist, you may find the hope you’ve been looking for in managing your Sickle Cell.

Don’t let the huge price tags frighten you! Check with your insurance provider and remember that patient assistance programs (PAPs) are usually sponsored by pharmaceutical companies and provide

Innovative Startup CPRWrap Founded by Black Female Inventor Looking to Save Lives

Chattanooga, TN — Innovative medical startup CPRWrap is thrilled to announce its national launch with Founder and CEO Felicia Jackson at the helm.

CPRWrap is an all-in-one, disposable CPR template that protects and guides any non-medical responder during respiratory and cardiac emergencies.

CPRWrap has an attached one-way valve mouth barrier, visual hand placements, and simple CPR instructions embossed directly on the template.

CRPWrap is available in three different sizes for infants (ages 12 months and under), children (ages 1 – 8), and adults (ages 8 and up). The product is $14.99 per kit but currently on sale for $9.99.

CPRWrap Kits are currently available for purchase online at www.cprwrap. com.

Jackson invented CPRWrap after a terrifying near-death event when her two-year-old son experienced a choking incident and required CPR. At the time, Jackson was working in a hospital and certified in CPR but the traumatic nature of the situation made her freeze. Luckily Jackson’s husband jumped into action and was able to save their son’s life, but this made her realize if she could forget her training during an emergency, what about the countless people in the world that’s not trained in CPR. Thus, CPRWrap was born.

“I started CPRWrap because I did not want another person to feel helpless when someone’s life hung in the balance,” said Jackson. “My vision for

BlackNews.com CPRWrap extends so far that I can no longer see where it ends. A few years ago my life consisted of taking care of my family – now the world is my family and I have much work to do. Everyone deserves a chance to live.”

Even people experienced in CPR can forget their training in stressful situations. CPRWrap makes it possible for anyone to effectively perform CPR at a moment’s notice and be protected while doing so. With over 20 years of medical experience in acute inpatient rehab, outpatient care, and home health care, Jackson is now applying her knowledge to make performing CPR less intimidating and accessible to everyone.

CPRWrap has already partnered with CHI Memorial Hospital Cardiac Rehab, HCA Parkridge Hospital, Chattanooga Police Department, Hamilton County Dept. of Education, Chattanooga State College, Maryland Diaper Bank, School Health, and many more.

Since the soft launch of CPRWrap in 2016, Jackson has presented two TEDx talks, auditioned for Shark Tank, won CHA Startup of the Year in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and won Urban League’s Emerging Business of the Year award.

CPRWrap has been featured in Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Business Insider, JEMS Medical Magazine, Hypepotamus, Black Enterprise Magazine, and many

22

more. In 2019, CPRWrap was part of Austin-based startup accelerator program Techstars, where only 1% of the companies that apply are accepted.

“I had been told ‘no’ so many times, I could not fathom a prestigious accelerator like Techstars wanting me or my company,” said Jackson. “Techstars saw the fighter within me and what I could accomplish if given a chance. All you need is passion, purpose, and a drive to execute your ideas to get things done.”

won the Nashville Entrepreneur Center pitch competition, Pitch for Good: Black Founders Edition, Up and Running Stage.

Jackson is also raising capital for her company, CPRWrap to help grow her team and solidify many more partnerships in the U.S. and abroad. “ I want to empower every man, woman, and child to do the most basic, unselfish thing a person can do…Save A Life.” For more information, visit CPRWrap.com

More About CPRWrap and Felicia Jackson: Chattanooga based startup CPRWrap, founded by Felicia Jackson, recently

For general press inquiries on CPRWrap, please contact: Carlicia Woodruff at carlicia@cprwrap.com admin@cprwrap.com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

Stay at least

SIX FEET from others.

Social Distancing is simple and can help you and others stay safe.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 19, 2020 - August 25, 2020

You're doing creative things to stay safe.

And we're doing world-class things to keep you safe.

At Yale New Haven Health, we’ve instituted a comprehensive 10-step safety program in all of our facilities to ensure that everything is clean, safe, and ready to treat you at a moment’s notice.

There's never been a better time to take advantage of our world-class medical expertise in the presence of new, world-class safety measures. ynhh.org

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