THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
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Adult Ed Takes To The Streets THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
through. Technically she finished through the eleventh grade, she reported. But when she enrolled in adult ed, those credits couldn’t be verified. She has now finished seven and a half credits toward the total of 23 needed to graduate. She’s not givingup. “I hated math, ” she recalled, “because I just didn’t get it, but this teacher [at adult ed] really breaks it down. If you put your hand up a hundred times, she’s there. There’s more help.” Escorted by cops, the paraders moved gingerly along the dangerously unsidewalked northern side of the Boulevard. As it turned north on Columbus, Hall said that one day she just decided she should enroll.She just woke up one day and decided that how she had been explaining her life to herself no longer made sense. “I just wanted to smoke all day long, working the fast food restaurant, that was OK. Go back to school? No, the white man wants me to do it, so I won’t.” Hall greeted some friends at West Street and a few more hailed her as we passed the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center on Thursday’s march. “One day I just wanted to better myself. I’m much more ready. It’s just so comfortable here, it makes you want to come,” she said. I sensed there were other things Hall might tell me, but in her own good time, as she led cheers and performed some dance steps along the route. Groups of kids were out at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy cheering on the marchers. As we crossed Howard Avenue and moved past the Boys and Girls Club building, another group of kids at St. Martin de Porres school waved flaglets that the parade organizers had previously distributed. Hall greeted friends and friends greeted her. It was clear this parade was a big deal indeed, but also a family affair. Hall said she’d been at the school since six in the morning helping to set up the tables. Now here she was marching and really one of the students embodying the spirit of the parade and the school. Her son Marquies Jones graduated from adult ed in June and is doing well, she reported. He wants to find a vocational career, maybe starting with specialized trucking license that he is exploring with his uncle’s help. And what about herself? His mom’s new career goal? I’d have to wait a few more blocks — Hall tore off to join another group of paraders — before I got an answer. Hall surprised me when I caught up to her in front of the march as the pa-
by ALLAN APPEL
New Haven Independent
Lachelle Hall was on the march Thursday with hundreds of other New Haveners trading “excuses” for a second shot at a better life. Hall (pictured), a woman with a stern visage but impish smile, was one of most enthusiastic paraders Thursday morning in New Haven Adult Education Center‘s second “No Excuses March for Education.” Hall enrolled in adult ed because at age 36 she was between fast food jobs, was hanging at home and smoking too much weed, and by her own judgment going nowhere fast. Her son had enrolled as well. He graduated this past June. Lachelle remains at the school: With all the one-on-one help she’s receiving in small classes of about 15 people, she’s learning and enjoying and is committed to graduating soon as well, and becoming a corrections officer. She and hundreds of other current students, graduates, and adult educators from around the state gathered in the big parking lot of Adult Ed’s 560 Ella Grasso Boulevard campus for the kickoff of an awareness-raising event that the school has been planning for nine months. The group included dozens of partner organizations that provide Adult Ed students child care, social work, and transportation, services many of them could have used help with when they originally dropped out of high school. The “no excuses” signature motto for the march is not to blame the victim, said Veronica Douglas-Givan, the school’s main outreach official. “It’s just to state that if we are here and did it, you can too.” About one in six New Haveners don’t have a high school diploma and 30 percent can’t read, estimated the school’s principal, Michelle Bonora. That’s why the whole school and adult ed folks from all over Connecticut were on the march, passing out flyers and T-shirts, and literally beating the drum — make that a lot of drums — for adult ed. A fire engine and a half dozen motorcycle cops took their places at the vanguard and the contingents of students, along with drum groups from local colleges, formed up near the Boulevard and prepared to cross. Organizers didn’t have to persuade Hall as she took her place with the tentacleballoon group just behind the vanguard of drummers. A New Haven native who was shuttled around as a kid through the foster care system, Hall went to a lot of local schools. She encountered a lot of disruptions and without a lot of follow-
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rade turned on Church Street South and moved past the Tower One elderly complex on the right and Yale research buildings on the left. “Corrections Officer,” she replied. “Some of the C.O.s treat people like shit, so I want to be one of the good ones.” Then Hall took one of the megaphones and set off to lead her colleagues in cheers. Ascross MLK Boulevard, Hall was taking a break on the corner, where she had turned in the megaphone for a cigarette. I learned the CO aspiration did not come from any personal experience. Hall has never been in jail, said said. But her brothers and sister. That’s where she got the reports about the different kinds of correction officers one could be. Hall also had another insight about herself and that career choice. “I’m boss material, people tell me. I look like that,” as well, she reported, with a smile. When we arrived at the Green, a stage set up along with hundreds of chairs. Music was playing. The diagonals leading from the Bennett Fountain at Church and Chapel to the stage were lined by tables from Southern Connecticut State University, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven Legal Assistance, along with recruiters from the army and air force. It was a festive atmosphere, full of opportunity. As Douglas-Givan put it, as Lachelle Hall joined some circles of dancers in front of the stage, “You’re going to school, then your babies are going to school. It’s a party with a purpose.” Before we parted, an opportunity, or certainly a little networking about Hall’s future career, was already happening. One of the participants in this statewide parade was Maria Pirro-Simmons, the superintendent of schools of the largest adult ed provider in the state: Department of Correction Unified School District #1. The district covers 5,000 incarcerated people, students learning in classrooms within the state’s prison system. PirroSimmons said she came to march to help fill in the gaps when students leave her classrooms and deal with the many challenges outside prison, including continuing their education. “We’re trying to strengthen some of our connections before they leave,” she said. Hall told her she wants to be a corrections officer/ Pirro-Simmons gave her her business card. “Call me directly if you have questions,” she said. Hall thanked her, pocketed the card, and then rejoined the celebration.
No Justice, No Growth THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
by ALLAN APPEL
New Haven Independent
We must suspend the “privilege” of complacency that nothing can be done; the privilege of empathy that makes us feel good but leads to no action; and the privilege of ignorance, especially of how deeply racism is at the heart of so much poverty. Without this reflective new thinking, no matter how brilliant our employment, wages, or entrepreneurship program, we will never achieve an economy of true, lasting inclusive growth. Speakers offered that advice to more than 200 area nonprofit professionals, municipal officials, business leaders, and philanthropists who gathered Tuesday at the Omni Hotel. The occasion was the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven’s (CFGNH) 92nd “community convening.” It featured lectures, panel discussions, and smaller sessions this year under the banner “Creating a Future of Opportunity.” The aim was to focus and energize folks to think how economic growth can be achieved not only without the dispersal of the poor, but with their inclusion in and becoming part of a new more equitable economic paradigm. If the theme sounds similar to last year’s CFGNH convening, that’s because inclusive economic growth in all its aspects is at the heart of the foundation’s five-year-plan, said CFGNH President and CEO Will Ginsberg. “It’s our vision for what needs to happen in this community, and the key word is opportunity. It could provide a whole different dynamic and a sense of cohesion,” Ginsberg added as he and the participants scurried among the meeting rooms and ballroom of the hotel, like graduate students, bearing charts and booklets, eager not to be late for class. In the break-out session titled “Creating Opportunity in Neighborhoods: DixwellNewhallville,” Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT) CEO Erik Clemons, one of several speakers, spoke movingly from personal experience about just what all the language of economic inclusion means to him. He described getting out of his car, on the way to a speaking engagement, when a woman panhandler approached him. He rushed on, but he had recognized her, turned, and ended up remembering that he had known the woman, whose name was Destiny, when they were young kids. They ended up going to a restaurant together and talking. “Destiny did have opportunity,” Clemons told his audience, “but something happened between opportunity and ac-
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ALLAN APPEL PHOTO Presenter Clemons With Lindy Lee Gold, before the session.
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Legal aid’s Kerry Ellington and Caitlin Maloney, between sessions.
cess.” That something was racism, Clemons said. “I hope we’ll have courage to talk about the undercurrent, which is race, because unless we do, this is a waste of time. Race is the invisible undercurrent in the conversation, and it’s meaningless unless it becomes visible. Clemons runs a job-training and cultural organization called ConnCAT. When ConnCAT was establishing its programs, Clemons learned that many black men
“weren’t allowed to do the job training because they had child support,” he said. “There are so many things that have to do with poverty. Those at ConnCAT are still struggling, suffering under poverty. We address jobs, but not poverty itself . It’s the civil rights issue of our time.” The day’s keynote speaker, Tawanna Black, founder and CEO of Minneapolis’s Center for Economic Inclusion, echoed Clemons’s themes “Even people of color don’t fully understand the depth of racial and economic
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inequality, even now 400 years since the first slaves were brought here,” she said. “How business thrives and at the same time that folks of color, at the lowest rungs of the ladder, find their way up ... nobody has figured it all out. All of us are struggling with this.” “When we have mis-perceptions, it leads us to mistaken prescriptions.” The full agenda and other materials from the sold-out convening are available on CFGNH’s website
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Clinton Ave. Teacher Wins National Honor by CHRISTOPHER PEA New Haven Independent
Lauren Sepulveda felt like a “pretty average” high school student with no direction — until a social studies teacher encouraged her to sign up for an Advanced Placement class and compete in National History Day. Sepulveda, now a social studies teacher herself at Fair Haven’s Clinton Avenue School, found out just how exceptional she is when she was surprised Tuesday with a $25,000 check for being one of the country’s best teachers. That check came from the Milken Family Foundation, which honored Sepulveda as one of this year’s top educators during at a morning assembly in her school’s gym. Since 1987, the Milken Educator Award has recognized promising educators who are still early in their careers. Jane Foley, the senior vice president of the California-based foundation, said it’s a way of recognizing the stellar educators who don’t get enough credit for “teaching the people who get all the other awards.” This year, Sepulveda received the very first award on Milken’s national tour that will tap nearly 40 teachers and principals in districts across the country. Sepulveda spoke on Tuesday of how she has always tried to emulate her role model and high school social studies teacher, Ms. Taylor, in being “relentless about holding high expectations for our students,” like herself, who might not even realize what they’re capable of. That drive caught the attention of Milken, and it resulted in the surprise recognition. Sepulveda, who teaches history and world cultures to seventh and eighth graders, is the only Connecticut recipient this year and the first New Haven recipient since 2007. Foley said the foundation picked her because she “brings history to life” and teaches students their “responsibilities as global citizens.” After graduating from Southern Connecticut State University in 2010, Sepulveda started her teaching career in New Haven. She’s spent most of the decade at Clinton Avenue School, right by where her parents lived before they headed out to the suburbs. “I can see myself as one of the kids,” she said. In her classes, Sepulveda often encourages students to take a critical
look at what’s being taught and what’s being left out. For one assignment, she asked students to figure out what was missing from the textbook’s section on the Revolutionary War. They wrote up a new chapter featuring forgotten voices and they sent it to the publisher. Sepulveda also makes the lessons real. She’s brought in guest speakers, including veterans from World War II and survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. And she’s asked students to draft a bill that the entire class would approve like a legislative body. Outside class, Sepulveda has organized community service, like hurricane relief fundraising and food drives, and she advises the student council. She has a spot on the school’s culture and climate committee and on the district’s equity and strategic planning committees. She mentors beginning teachers and she helps the state recruit new teachers. “The successes we continue to see in districts around the state are in large part due to the dedication and passion that educators like Lauren Sepulveda bring to the classroom,” Miguel Cardona, the state’s education commissioner, said in a statement. “As educators, we know that the way to get students engaged is by presenting them with content that helps them apply context and meaning to what they are learning,” he went on. “Lauren’s approach to social studies challenges students to go above and beyond textbook lessons with exciting activities that resonate and enrich their learning experience, leading them to form real-world connections with the subject matter at hand.” At Tuesday’s ceremony, state officials applauded Clinton Avenue’s recent turnaround. Over the last four years, with a new principal and a turnaround grant, reading proficiency scores have nearly doubled, marking the largest gains of any elementary school in the district. She called up six students who, like on a daytime game show, held up green squares with digits that represented the cash prize. They started out at $250, then multiplied it exponentially by adding additional zeros. When Desi Nesmith, the state’s chief turnaround officer, brought out the last square, for a total of $25,000, students screamed and stomped their feet against the hardwood basketball court in a drumroll of excitement. Foley pulled out an envelope and read out Sepulveda’s gold-embossed
CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO Lauren Sepulveda receives a congratulatory hug from her students.
Clinton Avenue students celebrate their teachers.
name. For a moment, she stood in the bleachers in shock. Her class cheered her on, as she hugged other teachers. The television cameras all trained on her. She thanked everyone in the school and the city. She said it all felt “unbelievable” and “unreal.” Sepulveda said she plans to use the money to continue her education at Quinnipiac University. She’s obtaining a master’s in educational leadership, a six-year degree, that will allow her to become certified for a principal position. In an email, Taylor, her former socialstudies teacher, said she knew Sepulveda would pass on the inspiration to the next generation of students, who’d been just like her. “The most rewarding experience for any teacher is to know that they have
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had a role in inspiring their students to find their passion and become successful,” she wrote. “This is why we teach, and knowing how hard Lauren works, I know that she is passing that passion down to her students and making a difference in their lives.” In a speech during the convocation ceremony last school year, after she was named the district’s Teacher of the Year, Sepulveda reminded teachers how their work — that often means ending the day with “our heart on the classroom floor” — can have an effect that lasts a lifetime, just like she said Taylor had done for her. “Being an educator is such a powerful profession, but we must wield our powers delicately,” Sepulveda said. “Even having one teacher who doesn’t make the vital and necessary relation-
ships can turn a student off from learning all together. However, we also have the ability to take a child, who may arrive to us unsure of their talents and skeptical of school, and turn them into passionate learners for the rest of their lives. “We can no longer hold the dated ‘it was good enough for me’ philosophy. This means shifting the mindset from what our students cannot do, the limits they face and what may seem outof-reach to them, to instead focus on what our students are capable of, how we can support their talents and what opportunities we as educators can create,” she went on. “Remember we have one of the most important jobs there is,” she concluded, “and I believe in my heart that no one knows how to do it better than us.”
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
Communities and Families
Rising for Justice
Photos and story by Barbara Fair In the summer of 2018 Brennan Rogers Magnet School Family Resource Center and the Comer School Development Program came together to form a support group for families of incarcerated people residing in the Rockview-Brookside area of New Haven. Several mothers met with site coordinator Lensley Gay, coordinator at the Brennan-Rogers Resource Center and decided to form a support group for families experiencing the loss of family members to the criminal justice system. The co- founders of the group were trying to find ways to cope with losing their sons and daughters to the system yet had no idea where to begin. In March of 2019 a formerly incarcerated woman, author and Executive Director of Transitional Housing for women, Susan Burton, was invited to come to New Haven as a guest speaker to talk with the co-founders of the support group to help guide them in what needed to do for the group’s success. In 2000 following a period of incarceration Susan founded A New Way of Life, a Reentry Project and today has five transitional housing spaces for women leaving prison. In 2006 she partnered with UCLA School of Law and opened a free legal clinic to support the legal needs of the women she houses. Susan was named CNN hero in 2010 and is now a nationally renowned activist and author helping women across the country access
Reentry services. Susan sat with the women and helped them come up with a name and mission statement for the group. They decided on Communities and Families Rising 4 Justice (CFRJ). They meet Fridays at the Brennan-Rogers New Haven Public School at 2:30 in the Family Resource Center where they share resources for families and their children who need support with navigating the system and maintaining connections with their loved ones. Yale University Graduate Fellow and PHD candidate in Sociology, Patrice Collins is also a tea member. She helps coordinate resources and facilitate group meetings. Ms Collins work at Yale is focused on Urban ethnography, parental incarceration and social and racial inequality as it relates to social policy. Meetings help to empower women to communicate with stakeholders invested in the social and emotional wellbeing of children and families with loved ones in jail or prison. CFRJ is both a support and advocacy organization. Stress is a major issue for both parents and children of incarcerated individuals. Overwhelming stress contributes to diminished activity, poor diet and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. CFRJ strives to create awareness as well as plan actions to support people facing incarceration, currently incarcerated and those transitioning home from a period of incarceration. To learn more about the group and how one can become involved contact Site Coordinator, Lensley Gay at 475-2202221.
Working Families Candidates Launch Joint Council Campaign by SAM GURWITT
New Haven Independent
With the blessing of the state’s Working Families Party (WFP), a state representative, and local politicians and residents, two candidates officially launched a joint Legislative Council campaign Friday with a three-point platform: get Hamden’s finances under control, ensure greater police accountability, and improve racial equity in the town at large and in its schools. The candidates, Rhonda Caldwell and Laurie Sweet, are running for at-large seats on the council. They are both registered Democrats, but they are running as Working Families Party candidates to try to oust Republicans from the council. Hamden’s charter reserves two at-large council seats for minority parties. Traditionally, those seats have gone to Republicans, with Democrats garnering a large majority of votes. WFP candidates are also eligible for those seats if they garner the most votes of any non-Democrat candidates. Caldwell and Sweet decided to run for the town’s council after witnessing how Hamden handled the shooting of Stephanie Washington in April. They were both active in the protests that took place in the weeks following the incident. “I’m deeply disappointed by the inactivity of the Police Commission following a tradition of not investigating complaints,” said Sweet as she read a speech to the 30-odd friends and supporters gathered in her living room with plates of chicken-salad finger sandwiches and madeleine cookies. Kerry Ellington, a community organizer from New Haven who was one of the leaders of the protests that followed the shooting, showed up to voice her support for Caldwell and Sweet. “I think they are two residents of Hamden who are invested in undoing the racial injustices in Hamden,” Ellington said. “They’re devoted to those groups who often get left behind in policy.” The Hamden Legislative Council is composed of nine district seats, one for each district, and six at-large seats. Two of those at-large seats are reserved for minority parties. On the ballot, voters can choose up to four candidates from the at-large slate. Typically, Democrats win the most votes among at-large candidates, meaning they get four of the six at-large slots. In the 2017 municipal election, Lauren Garrett was the top at-large vote-getter, with 6,562 votes, followed by John DeRosa with 6,510, Mick McGarry with 6,402, and Berita Rowe-Lewis with 6,312, all Democrats. Betty Wetmore and Marjorie Bonadies, both Republicans, took the minority party seats with 3,515 and 3,386 votes respectively. Caldwell and Sweet would need to get more than the Republican at-large candidates to win seats on the council. They
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SAM GURWITT PHOTO
Rhonda Caldwell and Laurie Sweet.
would not need to garner as many votes as candidates running on the Democratic ticket. WFP both fields its own candidates and cross-endorses candidates from other parties. In 2016, it helped Josh Elliott win an upset victory in the Democratic Primary for Connecticut’s 88th Connecticut House of Representatives District. Elliott was there on Friday to endorse Sweet and Caldwell. WFP candidates fill minority party slots in other towns and cities in Connecticut. Hartford’s City Council, for example, is composed of five Democrats and three WFP members. WFP Connecticut Organizing Director Zack Campbell said that in Hartford, the WFP council members do provide a balance with the Democrats, adding “a populist, anti-corporate lens.” Some people have said that running on a third-party ticket could backfire and split the Democratic vote, providing an opening for Republicans to nab additional seats. Sweet, Caldwell, and the WFP leaders who are backing them said they’re not concerned that that will happen. Hamden has enough Democrats, said WFP Connecticut Political Director Sarah Ganong, that “the numbers make sense” for a minority-party run. “I don’t see the concern about adding more voices,” said District 5 Council Rep. Justin Farmer, who showed up to Sweet’s house, which is located in his district, to support the WFP ticket. He said that he thinks they are giving people the opportunity to vote for values. He sometimes hears from people who say they don’t want to vote for a Democrat, so they say they’ll have to vote for a Republican. The WFP candidates, he said, could offer an alternative. Stop The Spending Many parts of Caldwell and Sweet’s platform revolve around racial justice. Caldwell is a leader of Hamden AntiBias Anti-Racism (ABAR), which aims to end race-based inequities in Hamden’s
schools. Sweet works with Cuban and Caribbean asylum seekers, and took a trip to the U.S. Mexico border last fall to protest the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown. In one part of their platform, they tout a classic rallying cry of conservatism, as do many of Hamden’s Democrats: fiscal responsibility. “Rhonda and I plan to work to stop the spending that has been going on for 30 years,” said Sweet to the crowd of supporters. “It’s quite simple. You spend what you bring in. If that’s not enough, you get creative and you research ways to bring in more money.” “Our town’s fiscal crisis can no longer be ignored or swept under the rug for the next elected official who often just merely change seats in this town,” said Caldwell. “Often, the crisis has consumed our entire town, having every working family be forced to make the difficult choices in their household finances while continually being hit with increased demands for more property tax payments without any lucid plan of action as to when these requests will stop.” Caldwell is an asset manager for the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, working with the Low-Income State Housing Portfolio. She reviews and approves the budgets of 18 different housing authorities throughout the state, including Hamden’s. As someone who looks at budgets and audits quite frequently, she said she had a bit of a shock when she read Hamden’s most recent audit, which showed that Hamden has over $1 billion in net liabilities. “When the budget comes out, you know I’m going through it with a fine-toothed comb,” she said. On one wall, above a table of food, hung a map of Hamden with each of its Legislative Council districts filled in with a different color. On Saturday at !0 a.m., they would be out walking throughout those colored patches bringing their message to voters’ doors. Watch the launch party speeches below.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Neighbors, Hill Health Strike A Deal by THOMAS BREEN New Haven Independent
Hill neighbors struck a deal with a community health center executive to support a planned new addiction recovery center in exchange for the inclusion of a dedicated community meeting space. That happened Tuesday night at a Livable City Initiative (LCI) Board of Directors meeting on the second floor of City Hall. Commissioners voted unanimously in support of the city’s plans to sell two publicly-owned parcels at 649 and 659 Howard Ave. to Cornell Scott Hill Health Center for a combined sum of $125,000. That proposed land deal, which now goes to the Board of Alders for a potential committee public hearing and final vote, would provide the local community health center with property it needs to build a new $20 million, 52-bed inpatient addiction recovery center on land it already owns at 232-236 Cedar St. The vote took place only after half-adozen Hill residents, led by Sandra’s Next Generation co-owner Miguel Pittman, showed up at the meeting to voice their concerns. The called for a delay on a deal they said did not have the support of the host community. After half an hour of public testimony and subsequent deliberation, the neighbors and Hill Health CEO Michael Taylor, with the help of city staff and the board chair, reached an accord with which both sides seemed content. Pittman and his neighbors in attendance, including Dora Lee Brown, Hector Miranda, Calvin Counsel, and Hill North Management Team Chair Howard Boyd, agreed not to seek to delay the project as Hill Health seeks various city regulatory approvals. In return, Taylor promised, in writing, that the new Recovery & Wellness Center will include a community meeting space to be made available to both the Hill North and the Hill South Community Management Teams for their monthly meetings. “I trust Mr. Taylor will do what he has said,” Pittman said as the board added the community space condition to the proposed Land Disposition Agreement (LDA). “You can count on it,” Taylor replied. “Thank you, Mr. Taylor,” LCI Acquisition and Disposition Coordinator Evan Trachten said. “Thank you, Mr. Pittman. I think our board fully understands everything at play, and I think this is exactly how the process should work. I’m glad we have so many people here tonight, participating in the process.” At the heart of the neighbors’ protest, as described by Pittman at the beginning of the board’s deliberations, were two primary concerns: that the community
health center had started securing administrative approvals for this project without first coming to the community management team, and that that residents of that section of the Hill already struggle with frequent overdoses and public fighting related to the nearby APT Foundation methadone clinic. Pittman held up a stack of papers which he said contained over 200 signatures from neighbors who oppose the Recovery & Wellness Center project. “The community is concerned,” he said. Pittman pointed out that the only community outreach the health center did before first going to the Board of Zoning Appeals in June was to get a letter of support from Ward 3 Alder Ron Hurt. That wasn’t enough, Pittman said. He said Hurt provided that letter without first consulting the management team. Many neighbors only found out about the planned in-patient center, which will be a relocated and expanded version of the services that Hill Health currently provides on Grant Street, after the project had entered the regulatory process. The City Plan Commission then tabled the proposed Howard Avenue land sale, he said, and advised the community health center to do more and better community engagement. Which it did, Pittman acknowledged. He said Taylor participated in three different well-attended community meetings on the project. Even after those, he said, many residents still opposed the plans. What are the grounds for the neighbors’ opposition? asked LCI Board Chair Tim Yolen. “It seems like the Hill North and Hill South neighborhoods are a dumping ground when it comes to different programs,” Pittman said. The APT Foundation in particular, he said, presents a “major problem” with clients walking around the neighborhood “like zombies,” getting into sometimes lethal fights on Congress Avenue, and overdosing behind John C. Daniels School. “It’s just horrible,” he said. “We don’t need anything like that in our neighborhood.” “I just feel like this particular program here is being forced down our throats,” he continued. Taylor, sitting between Berchem Moses Attorney Rolan Young and Hill Health Director of Purchasing & Facility Development Shawn Galligan, assured Pittman that this proposed center will be nothing like APT. “The Cornell Scott Hill Health Center has existed in New Haven for 51 years,” he said. And the Grant Street addiction services center, which Hill Health plans to relocate to Cedar, has been around since 1990 “without incident,”
THOMAS BREEN PHOTO
LCI chief Serena Neal-Sanjurjo, who read aloud letter of agreement.
Hill residents Hector Miranda, Howard Boyd (center), and Dora Lee Brown at Tuesday’s meeting.
Miguel Pittman (right) and Calvin Counsel negotiate with Hill Health Center’s exec.
he stressed. “So while I greatly understand and appreciate the residents’ concern, the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center in all of its operations has always been a good neighbor in every community in which we have operations, without exception.” Taylor said that the new Recovery & Wellness Center is planned for right next
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door to the current Southern Connecticut Rehabilitation Center (SCRC), which has existed for over 35 years without any community complaints. “I think there is an unfair attribution of experiences,” he said, “because of another entity that has nothing to do with the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center at all.” Ward 6 Alder Dolores Colon, who repre-
sents portions of the Hill and City Point, lives just two blocks away from SCRC. She said that the operation that Hill Health currently runs on Cedar Street “is like night and day” when compared to the sidewalk loitering outside APT. Even though many neighbors remained opposed to the project, Pittman said, many also felt resigned to the idea that this addiction services center would be built regardless of whether the community protested or not. So, he said, he and Counsel and Boyd met for a lengthy discussion with Taylor on Monday to try to win some kind of community benefit from the proposed development. After some miscommunication earlier on Tuesday about who was supposed to get in touch with whom first about the terms agreed to on Monday, Taylor presented a typed letter that LCI Executive Director Serena Neal-Sanjurjo read into the record. “I understand that the Hill North and Hill South Community Management Teams seek space to conduct their monthly meetings,” Neal-Sanjurjo read from Taylor’s letter, “which we understand take place during evening hours. As a longstanding member of the Hill community, the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center (CS-HHC) is pleased to offer meeting space for the Hill North and Hill South Community Management Teams within the proposed Recovery & Wellness Center, once construction is completed. Until then, CS-HHC is pleased to continue to offer Haven Court meeting space on a monthly basis at our main facility at 400 Columbus Avenue. Please provide us with your annual meeting schedule as soon as possible so we can notify appropriate personnel. Any changes tot he schedule will require 72 hours’ notice prior to the meeting date.” That letter, Pittman said, adequately reflected what Taylor and the Hill North neighbors had agreed to the day before. And the compromise struck him as sufficient for him to withdraw his request for the board to table the item, so long as the final LDA included a condition that Hill Health stick to the community space commitment. After the meeting, Pittman and Counsel said that they were willing to compromise in exchange for a new community space because the John C. Daniels school cafeteria, where the Hill North management team currently meets, is often locked when members arrive, and coordinating with the school to keep the space open after hours has proven to be a headache. Plus, Counsel said, the team would like to forge a closer working relationship with Hill Health going forward. “They’ve got resources,” he said.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
Green Book Author and playwright visits Stetson Library
could traveled at their peril throughout the United States. During those times the US was treacherous to African American travelers. The book named after Victor Green, an African American postal worker was a guide for African Americans so they could safely travel and find motels, restrooms, restaurants, stores and gas stations who would serve them along their travel route. Many times the woods served as restrooms and only one gas station, Esso, would accommodate them. Many times travelers had to carry gas cans to make sure they had enough gas to carry them from one stop to the next. The Green book for motorists served as a protection from segregated places in the South and across the country. It was first published in 1936 in New York at which time the Rockefeller family financed a wider circulation and built wealth through the travel market. In 1940 the book costs twenty- five cents. By 1949 it cost seventy -five cents and its contents expanded to include US, Mexico, Bermuda and Canada. Its last publication was in 1963.
by Barbara Fair
Calvin Alexander Ramsey who shares dual residency in both Atlanta Georgia and New York City graced the Stetson Library with his presence to talk about his life as an artist, photographer, children’s book author and playwright. Born in Baltimore, Maryland and growing up in North Carolina Ramsey had a lot to say about “The Green Book” and its importance in the history of African people in America. His award winning children’s book, Ruth and the Green Book” was published in 2010. Prior to the book he wrote a 2 act play, The Green Book in 2006. Both the play and the book told a story of the perils African Americans faced in the early 1950’s during the era of Jim Crow when separate but equal was the law of the land in America. Ramsey said his work is guided by an African proverb that says, “when and old person dies it’s like a library has been burned down. During the 1950’s few African Americans could afford to purchase an automobile and those that
Green Book Author and playwright visits Stetson Library
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Harlem 100 – Mwenso & The Shakes with Special Guests Brianna Thomas and Michela Marino Lerman and Vuyo Sotashe
Featuring the music of Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters and more! Media Sponsor: WFCR | NEPR
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
LOCAL ORGANIZATION NAME JAMAICAN, TRINIDADIAN AS 2019 TRAILBLAZERS By Patrick Buddington, IMC Media Group
Monday, September 30, 2019 – A leading financial affairs executive has come out in support of those persons who are making a difference in the lives of others. Jamaican Gerald L. Hector, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer at historically Black Moorehouse College, in Atlanta, Georgia, noted that these persons have garnered the necessary skills to impact racial reconciliation and healing. Delivering the keynote address at the 9th annual Trailblazer and Scholarship Banquet, put on by the Jamaican American Connection (JAC) of Greater New Haven, Connecticut, on September 14, Hector offered that there have been a few such persons, among them; Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, William H. Gray III, Robert Smith and Bill Gates. “Too many people have never experienced what it is like to live in someone else’s world,” he said, while referencing the 1998, Gates Millennium Scholarship Program, affording tertiary education scholarships to 20, 000 minority students and more recently, the gesture of goodwill from African American Billionaire Robert Smith, to pay off the student loan balance for the graduating class at Moorehouse College. In a pointed challenge to the youth in the audience, Hector, a KC alum, urged them to use the technology and the information that is available, to move forward, ‘but more importantly, contextualize what it means to be a human being, living in this imperfect world and an era many thought had long passed’. The Trailblazer Award was presented
Photos courtesy of RichSimpson Photography, CT. TRAILBLAZERS. (l-r); Caron Chung, Executive Director/AFJ; Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne – NASA Scientist; Gerald Hector-Keynote Speaker; Dr. Sherene Mason-Pediatric Nephrologist and Karaine Holness-President of JAC,
EVENING TIME. Janice Hart, aka ‘Matty Lou’ performed a tribute to the late, Hon. Louise Bennett Coverley, ‘
SCHOLARS TIMES THREE. (l-r); Aaliyah Kerr – Uconn Storrs; Tashieka Sangster – University of New Haven and Chamera Clark
to Trinidadian Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne, NASA Rocket Scientist, Internationally-acclaimed speaker and Humanitarian and Jamaican, Sherene Mason, Board-certified Pediatric Nephrologist and Attending Physician at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. “These are two phenomenal Black women and most deserving of our accolades and recognition and the full membership of JAC and the audience, including family members, are happy to be able to share this experience with them,” said Karaine Holness, president of JAC, who noted that the event, staged at the Omni New Haven Hotel, exceeded expectations. “We worked hard on it and it showed and we are hoping for bigger and better things next year when we celebrate our tenth anniversary.” Academic scholarships were presented to three ladies – Aaliyah Kerr, first year student at UConn (Storrs campus), majoring in Political Science; Chamera Clark, frosh at Southern Connecticut State University (Marketing/Accounting) and Tashieka Sangster, first year at the University of New Haven, majoring in Criminal Justice. As part of the entertainment, Janice Hart did a tribute to Louise Bennett, complete with traditional costume, and props including a Bankra and Chamber Pot (chimmey). DJ Fire provided music for dancing. Formed in the summer of 2010, the charitable organization seeks to serve the unique and cultural needs of Jamaicans in the New Haven region through strategic partnerships with key stakeholder entities in education, community service and cultural engagement.
New Haven Scholarship Fund to Celebrate 60 years supporting New Haven Students through Scholarships!
On Thursday, October 3rd, 2019 the New Haven Scholarship Fund (NHSF) will be Celebrating their 60th Anniversary at the New Haven Lawn Club. Founded in 1959 by Jean Paton Lovell (1894-1996), the NHSF has been vital in supporting New Haven students in their pursuit of higher education for 60 years! A mathematics teacher at Hillhouse high school, Ms. Lovell taught students with great academic potential, who lacked the finances to further their educations. She quickly raised $400 from friends, personally matched the $400, and awarded eight scholarships of $100 each. In the years since its founding, the NHSF has awarded over $9.5 million in awards to more than 8,500 New Haven Public High School graduates to enroll in colleges, universities, and other programs of post-secondary education. This spring the NHSF awarded 215 scholarships to
New Haven seniors and to 65 continuing students for a total of $360,700. The NHSF supports motivated New Haven high school graduating seniors with the greatest financial need to break the cycle of limited opportunities. The Fund is managed by an all-volunteer board of directors, several of them recipients of NHSF scholarships themselves. One hundred percent of donations from corporations, individuals, and endowment revenue are utilized for scholarships. Please join us at the 60th anniversary celebration! Tickets are limited! For tickets and more information please visit www.nhsf.eventbrite.com. In addition to dinner and a silent auction, we are pleased to honor Mr. James Barber and Mr. Peter Stolzman, longtime members of the Board of Directors and two fiercely committed advocates of the NHSF.
“A good education is important because it contributes to world peace. Properly educated persons apply their knowledge, insight, understanding, and fine ideals to meet more adequately their family needs and beyond that, to develop the justice
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which alone can earn for us ‘Peace on earth, good will to men.’ “ -Jean Lovell To donate to the NHSF (all donations go directly to students): http://www.newhavenscholarshipfund.org
or simply mail your donation to: New Haven Scholarship Fund PO Box 8936 New Haven CT 06532-8936
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
“Culturally Affirming” Teaching Explored by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent
Teachers feel unprepared to buck the way schools have taught about race and culture, gender and sexuality. But they can start with small changes as they push the district to do more, activists said. They can fill bookshelves with more texts by authors of color. They can supplement the history textbook with chapters from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. They can explain biological factors behind sexuality and gender in science class. They can help students understand their own community in a statistics class. And they spend more time facilitating conversations that center students’ own experience. A panel of experts made those suggestions at a forum in the basement of the New Haven YMCA Youth Center on Howe Street. The event, put on Wednesday by the NHPS Advocates, a group of parents and teachers who’ve been organizing for transparency, accountability and progressive pedagogy, was meant to figure out what a “culturally affirming curriculum” might look like in New Haven, especially after the state passed a law requiring high schools to offer electives in African-American, Latino and Puerto Rican studies, thanks in part to organizing by Students for Educational Justice.
Participants said they’d like to see more teachers of color, more anti-bias training, more viewpoints on history, more civic engagement, more project-based learning and less standardized testing. Rebecca Cramer, a parent at L.W. Beecher School, said schools need to ditch the “Hallmark curriculum of thinking about holidays” that borders on tokenism for a more comprehensive approach to teaching about other cultures. Hanan Hameem, the founder of the Artsucation Academy Network, said schools need to teach kids to think, not just answer questions. She said that can happen by centering the arts, which allows for expression of “everybody’s genius and everybody’s narrative.” And Alan Veloz, a New Haven Academy senior, said classes need to be “more active,” so that students “feel like they’re actually part of the education system.” But as small groups dreamed big about what “joy and justice” might look like in the classroom, writing their answers on big sheets around the room, some teachers urged caution. One said that the job is hard enough already without teachers being expected to “create all sorts of things out of the limited resources that we have.” She said that expectation is “not just problematic,” but borderline “rude and disrespectful.” “How can we make it so you don’t have to be extraordinary to give our kids what
they should have?” she asked. Judy Puglisi, a former principal at Metropolitan Business Academy, said that teachers can use the structures that are already in place to demand change. They can use the goal-setting portion of their evaluation to ask for more resources, bring it to the union, and speak at the school board meetings. Pedro Mendia-Landa, New Haven’s director of English language learner programs, said the school district is working on making stipends available for extra training and curriculum writing. And Daniel HoSang, an associate professor of ethnic studies at Yale University, said that the changes didn’t have to be sweeping to make a difference. “Where do you start? [Schooling] was structured in a history of domination to make it seem like it’s unremarkable. But the insubordination is happening all the time,” HoSang said. “Right away, there’s so many bottom-up possibilities. I’m struck that so many times when I ask students how they become interested, it was one teacher, one book, one gesture that turned them towards it. I think we have that capacity.” While there wasn’t much disagreement in the room, the most common criticism of these ideas is that kids aren’t ready to have these conversations yet. Even if they’re older, critics add, schools are an inappropriate place to have them. They
CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO
endawnis Spears, with other speakers at forum.
say kids are essentially being indoctrinated into one way of thinking. endawnis Spears, the programing and outreach director at The Akomawt Educational Initiative, which helps educators teach about Native American history and contemporary issues, pushed back on that viewpoint. She said that kids are still learning something, even when it’s not talked about directly. They are noticing differences, especially ones the broader culture highlights, but they might not know what to make of them. “We then put the burden on the kids to figure it out,” Spears said. “We’re not
being the adults in the room.” Jesus Morales Sanchez, who trained peer educators with Planned Parenthood, backed Spears up, saying that the conversation can’t be avoided, because schools themselves are not a “neutral place.” “They are affected by politics, 24/7, from the resources that a teacher gets to the content of the curriculum,” Morales Sanchez said. “Advocacy and education go hand in hand. It really is making sure that we’re holding those in power accountable for what we’re allowed to do in our schools and our communities at the same time.”
1SCSU_GOH_InnerCity_5.472x5.1.qxp_Layout 1 9/23/19 9:16 AM Page 1
Position Yourself for Success!
School of Graduate and Professional Studies Open House Thursday, October 10, 2019 | 3 – 7 p.m. | Adanti Student Center Ballroom When you pursue a graduate degree at Southern Connecticut State University, you’re already positioning yourself for success. Join us for an opportunity to learn how Southern’s graduate programs can uniquely align with your career goals. Visit our campus and explore the possibilities of graduate education at Southern.
Meet with graduate faculty in more than 40 areas of study in education, business, health and human services, and the arts and sciences. • Speak with faculty and admissions representatives • Engage with current graduate students • Explore financial aid opportunities • Take an optional tour of our campus
To register, visit SouthernCT.edu/gradopenhouse 11
THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Criminal Justice Commission Seeks Public Input by Lisa Backus
HARTFORD, CT — The commission in charge of appointing the state’s next top law enforcement officer will hold a public forum later this month to figure out what qualities they want to see in the next Chief State’s Attorney. Longtime Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane, known for his direct and affable style, is retiring on Nov. 1. Kane is the longest serving Chief State’s Attorney since the position was established. The state Criminal Justice Commission chaired by Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Andrew J. McDonald will hold a public hearing on Oct. 11 to get feedback into the appointment process for Kane’s successor. “The Commission wants to hear from parties and organizations that have specific interests with regard to the criminal justice system, and from the general public as well, as to what they think we should be looking for in our next Chief State’s Attorney,” McDonald said in a statement. “We want to know what has worked well in the past, and what hasn’t.
More importantly we want to listen to how stakeholders would like to see the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney develop in the years to come under the next Chief State’s Attorney.” The commission, made up of a judge and several attorneys, is responsible for the appointment of all state prosecutors. The group has in the past allowed citizens to comment on appointments during their meetings. But this is the first time there will be a specific public forum. The public and stakeholders will also be allowed to provide written testimony as part of the forum which will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The commission is likely to hear from advocates for criminal justice reform and police. In the past year Kane helped broker a deal with legislators to make the investigations into police deadly use of force incidents more transparent by requiring the release of dash and body camera footage within 96 hours of an incident that could
involve officer discipline. The drive to change law came after public protests following the shooting of a woman by a Hamden and a Yale University officer in New Haven and the fatal shooting of a man by a Wethersfield officer during a one-week span in April. Kane also was instrumental in the passage of a law that will require prosecutors to provide information on arrest demographics annually to legislators and the public. The Chief State’s Attorney oversees legislative initiatives and the administrative of the state’s Division of Criminal Justice which employs the state’s prosecutors, including the 13 state’s attorney’s overseeing 13 judicial districts, and investigators for specialized units within the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney. “This is the single-most important appointment the Criminal Justice Commission makes and we certainly want to proceed with transparency and input from the public and those who work in or with the criminal justice system in various capacities,” McDonald said.
CTNEWSJUNKIE FILE PHOTO Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane
Quest Continues To Revive “Gateway Corridors” by PAUL BASS
New Haven Independent
“C’mon already. Let’s fix this.” New Haven has basically said that about the need for a long-overdue change in zoning rules — so that neighborhood commercial districts can come alive again and regain their former bustle. Aïcha Woods, New Haven government’s City Plan director, invoked that consensus to explain why the city is currently working with the community to upgrade 1960s-era zoning regulations to create new “Commercial Gateway Districts” (CGDs): for Grand Avenue from Olive Street to Hamilton; for Whalley Avenue from Howe Street to Pendleton; and for Dixwell Avenue from Tower Parkway to Munson. The idea is to make it easier for local small investors and others looking to build new housing and stores and other businesses on those strips without having to spend thousands of dollars and months or years navigating bureaucratic hoops to get zoning relief. The rules were written when New Haven was designed for cars to get in and out of town fast; and when planners thought it made sense to restrict blocks to just stores or houses or entertainment venues. The proposed new changes would allow for denser (meaning more stuff on them), multi-use projects geared toward pedestrians, with less parking required. “We
PAUL BASS PHOTO
Aïcha Woods, Arlevia Samuel, Jonathan Hopkins at WNHH FM.
have a disconnect between our comprehensive plan and our zoning,” Woods said during an appearance on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. “There [is] a shared set of goals—to bring back vibrancy to neighborhoods that have left been behind with the growth of downtown ... in a way that benefits the neighborhoods,” and without displacing people. Woods appeared with Livable City Initiative (LCI) Neighborhood & Com-
mercial Development Manager Arlevia Samuel and homegrown architect and new urbanist Jonathan Hopkins to discuss the progress of that rezoning quest. “These are corridors that could become viable,” Samuel said. “Why should every neighborhood in New Haven get love and improvement except Dixwell? “We need to make it easier for developers to come in and create what used to be there when it was commercially viable.” She also argued that new market-rate
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housing in fact helps promote affordable housing, by increasingly supply and therefore driving down other rents. “My parents talk about how there was a cheese shop at the corner of Whalley and Winthrop when they first moved to Beaver Hills. There was an Italian grocery and a Jewish grocery. Dixwell used to have lots of doctor’s offices. Grand Avenue was a very, very dense three-, four-story mixed-use walkable area. A lot of those development patterns developed before zoning was adopted in the city in 1926 and revised in 1963. It’s worth talking about how we can recreate some of that vibrancy today,” Hopkins said. While the goals are widely shared, not everyone has agreed that the proposed changes will accomplish them. At a public hearing last week before the City Plan Commission, a representative of the St. Luke’s Corporation testified about how the group would have had a much easier time building senior housing and storefronts if these changes had been in effect. A Whalley small businessman, Allen McCollum, testified that the new rules would make it easier for him to invest in his properties, because he can more easily recoup loans if he can build bigger. Some of the plan’s specific highlights: • requiring a minimum total residential density of 35 units per acre for sites within a quarter-mile of a bus stop;
• allowing developers to build at a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 4.5 for projects that follow various sustainability incentives that increase stormwater retention and renewable energy use; • mandating that all new apartments buildings with over nine residential units each set aside at least 10 percent of those units at affordable rates as keyed to 60 percent of a New Haven-specific area median income (AMI); • replacing parking minimums with parking maximums; • and allowing restaurants, in-door entertainment, and a variety of other commercial uses to be allowed as of right. Opponents at the hearing accused officials of moving along the plans without hearing enough public input. They also argued that changes would promote gentrification and displacement; they urged that new regulations require a minimum of 25 percent “affordable” units in any market-rate apartment project with at least nine units. “That was not a proper representation of the community,” Samuel responded. She said she and her office have spent five years meeting with neighbors. They presented the plan before management teams and at special neighborhood meetings. They commissioned extensive neighborhood surveys that showed popular support for these ideas. The process followed up on and mirrored Con’t on page 14
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Lamont Touts New Tobacco 21 Law by Christine Stuart
MERIDEN, CT — Gov. Ned Lamont celebrated a new law Tuesday that bans the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21 at Orville Platt High School. Lamont told a group of about 40 high school students that they passed the law “because we love you.” Lamont, who is 65, said they passed the law and were at the school Tuesday because — just like the teens he was speaking to — he’s seen a lot of his peers and friends make mistakes. He said at the age of 17 he thought he was invincible, but obviously that’s not true. “The law is something that we can do,” Lamont said. “It sends a message.” He said they know the harm cigarettes can cause, but they don’t know the longterm effects of vaping. Late last week the state Department of Public Health announced that 18 Connecticut residents had been hospitalized and diagnosed with vaping-related lung injuries. All of the patients have since
CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE
Gov. Ned Lamont
been discharged from the hospital. The 18 cases involve nine residents from Fairfield, five from New Haven, one from Hartford, one from New London, one from Tolland, and one from Windham counties. Four of them were
under 18 years of age, 11 were 18 to 34, and three were 35 or older. The governors in surrounding states have responded to the increase in vapingrelated lung injuries in different ways. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker issued a four-month moratorium on the sale of all vaping products. Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned the sale of flavored vaping products, which are known to appeal to children. Unlike Cuomo, Lamont doesn’t have the same authority to sign an executive order and ban the sale of flavored vaping products. Lamont said it’s something the legislature could take up during a special session or during the regular session next year. Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, suggested lawmakers begin exploring a ban on vaping. She said they could make an exception for medical marijuana users who vape a highly regulated product. The Medical Marijuana Board of Physicians expressed concern last week about
what would happen to some patients on the program if vaping became illegal. A significant number of patients in Connecticut use vaporizer devices to take precise, fast-acting doses of medical marijuana for symptoms like chemotherapy-induced nausea, doctors said. They worry that steps to ban vaporizers could take away their much-needed relief. Lamont said he would have to think about a ban on all vaping products. “I make things illegal and there’s a great black market,” Lamont said. He said they’ve made it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 and they’re going to get rid of the flavored products. “I gotta figure out what’s the safest thing to do going forward,” Lamont said. Over the last several years, 18 states have adopted laws raising the age to purchase tobacco products to 21. The Lamont administration estimates that the state is set to lose about $6.3 million in annual tax revenue based on the implementation of the law. However, he said that young people’s health needs to take priority.
Ground Broken For ‘r Kids Expansion by ALLAN APPEL
New Haven Independent
Not every groundbreaking features dirt with toy dump trucks and colorful blue and green kid-size shovels alongside the ceremonial golden adult ones. On Friday afternoon a groundbreaking did feature those addition. The scene took place at 45 Dixwell Ave. as the ‘r Kids Family Center broke ground on an expansion that will double its size and capacity to serve. Seventy-five people including Mayor Toni Harp and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal gathered to cheer on the launch of a last leg of a $4.2 million project. Founded more than 20 years ago by Randi Rubin Rodriguez and Sergio Rodriguez, ‘r Kids, a state-licensed childplacement service, steps in to help kids and families at times of deep crisis, and has a 78 percent reunification rate. At its heart of the current project is a doubling of the physical size of the building without changing the envelope — mainly through a second-floor addition that will cantilever over an existing driveway and yard on the north side of the building. The project will double the capacity of the agency’s after-school program and add an infant/toddler and family trauma center. That willenable ‘r Kids to work with vulnerable children and their families, promoting permanency, safety and stability for through services to their bio-
logical, foster or adoptive families. Of the $4.2 million goal, $2.4 is already in hand, said Maria Winter, a consultant on the project. That represents $1 million bonded for the project through the state Department of Children and Families (DCF), another $702,000 provided through a grant from the state’s Office of Policy and Management (OPM), and private and foundation donations including a $250,000 gift from the Amour Propre Fund, whose president, Lindy Lee Gold, is also the honorary chair of the capital campaign. That leaves $1.8 million to go as the project construction gets underway. The addition of an infant and child family trauma center will enable social workers and staff to intervene at the earliest, pre-verbal stages when kids can’t express what they are going through, said Winter. The after-school program will also be able to expand/ Winter estimated that the staff, currently at eight, will also double. Click here for more details about the expansion, as Rubin Rodriguez shared the plans a year ago with the Dixwell Community Management Team, among other community groups. With more than 4,000 kids in foster care on any given day statewide—that figure was provided by one of the event’s speakers, Ken Mysogland, DCF’s bureau chief for external affairs—there is plenty of need out there.
ALLAN APPEL PHOTO
‘r Kids CEO and founder Rubin Rodriguez (center).
As some kids climbed the ceremonial dirt pile to explore and play with the trucks, speakers praised the social service organization for the way its services and staff stabilize, heal, and reunite hundreds of traumatized kids and their families going through foster care, adoptive care, and, in the case of biological parents, learning the basics of parenting and other challenges. Mayor Harp said ‘r Kids interventions are crucial to “stop the cycle of disruption and start the healing.” Lindy Gold said she was drawn to the mission of ‘r Kids after learning the profound and often deleterious effects on kids when they are shuttled from one foster situation to another. She said kids who move from place to
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place frequently don’t have appropriate luggage. They are often given just a garbage bag in which quickly to throw their things. What does that say how we value these kids? she asked rhetorically. And kids who move frequently from one foster care setting to another correlate directly with much higher incidents of attempted suicide, she added. Seeing first hand how the caring staff at ‘r Kids, founded nearly 20 years ago by Randi Rubin Rodriguez and Sergio Rodriguez, is rescuing kids and families at times of deep crisis—- and has an impressive 78 percent reunification rate— Gold said she dived right in with support and enthusiasm. If all goes well, the ribbon cutting will take place in a year.
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Quest Continues To Revive
“Gateway Corridors”
the thrust of a new citywide master plan called Vision 2025, which was the product of 50 public meetings. Samuel argued that rather than promote gentrification, these changes would make it easier for mom-and-pop investors to afford to fill in empty lots; and nonprofit housing developers to make the financing work to include affordable apartments. (Wealthier developers of market-rate housing can already afford lawyers to win zoning variances.) “The more units you have available, the lower the rents are going to be,” said Samuel, who has worked on housing development for two decades at agencies including the Stamford and New Haven housing authorities as well as the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. The rezoning proposals include incentives for builders to exceed the 10 percent affordable housing minimum and to make projects environmentally sustainable (through “ecoroofs, stormwater mitigation, renewable energy generation, building preservation, LEED, or a payment to the Advancing Green Infrastructure Program”). The incentives come in the form of allowing developers to build more on a property, enabling them to reap more revenue. “I’ve heard a lot of frustration from certain advocacy groups around the city,” Hopkins said. “I feel for city officials who have put a lot of effort into” getting feedback. “And yet there still seems to be a pushback. ... There’s an underlying issue that maybe isn’t being addressed and has not been addressed for decades — the legacy of modern planning in New Haven.” He also said he would rather city officials put more focus on helping local people develop 10,000 residential properties than on developing the 250 commercial properties covered by this rezoning plan. “This is a pilot. These corridors need the attention,” Samuel responded. She said that housing will be included in the plan; and that if the pilot succeeds, similar changes can spread to other neighborhoods. She also said that neighbors have been clear about the desire for revived commercial corridors. The proposals will be the subject of at least one more City Plan Commission hearing. The Board of Alders must consider and approve them too. Woods stressed that they’re still a work in progress; the city has already incorporated ideas from public feedback. She encouraged people to visit this website to learn more about the project and offer their ideas.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
NAACP: Our Skin Is Not Your Costume by EUGENE DRISCOLL New Haven Independent
SHELTON — The NAACP Wednesday urged educators and parents to explain to children that wearing blackface reinforces vicious racist stereotypes, and called for blackface incidents to be treated as hate crimes. The move comes after a series of schoolrelated blackface incidents in Connecticut, including one in Shelton, where a white female middle school student allegedly posted an image of herself on social media in blackface giving the finger with the caption “new nigga in town.” “It was Simsbury with blackface. It was Somers with blackface. It was Enfield with the ‘n word pass.’ Now it’s Shelton with blackface, and a student from Guilford with blackface. We’ve had enough,” said Akia S. Callum, president of the Connecticut State Conference NAACP Youth & College Division. Callum made her remarks at a press conference/rally outside Shelton Intermediate School just before a school board meeting Wednesday. The Shelton Herald reported the girls responsible for the image apologized via a written statement during an assembly at the school last week. The assembly included a Power Point presentation on the ugly history of blackface in the U.S. But the NAACP called for additional steps Shelton Public Schools should take, beyond a “slap on the wrist.”
Callum said the school district should: • Ensure the student who exposed the hate crime is shielded from “any acts of intimidation, harassment and retaliation.” • That the NAACP be kept apprised of the investigation into the incident and be briefed on its outcome. • That the NAACP be given copies of the letters of apology and the PowerPoint presentation unveiled during an assembly on the issue. • That the NAACP host or partner with the district for a mandatory “diversity/ equity/inclusion” discussion with students and staff. That discussion would include a review of Connecticut’s hate crime laws. • That the NAACP be updated on efforts to recruit a diverse group of minority teachers • That the NAACP be advised and participate in the state’s mandate to teach African-American history in schools. Larnee Satchell, president of the Eastern Connecticut State University NAACP, Jordan Harris, president of NAACP chapter at The University of New Haven, addressed the crowd at the rally to explain that blackface is rooted in racism in the 1830s, when white (and sometimes black) ‘comedic’ performers in minstrel shows would paint their faces black with shoe polish and portray black people as lazy buffoons inclined to steal. “The act of anyone putting on a black face will never be justified,” Satchell said. “These racist performances create nega-
tive stereotypes of black people that have been passed on for generations.” Satchell said that the history of blackface must be taught in schools. To underscore Satchell’s point, Ansonia High School senior Maliqa Mosley-Williams told the crowd that in February a teacher at her school started talking about Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, who endured a blackface scandal. “The topic quickly changed from whether or not the governor should be punished for his crude actions to ‘is blackface really wrong?’” Mosley-Williams said. “This ignorant statement came from the mouth of my teacher — the teacher who has the responsibility of educating me.” Mosley-Williams said the teacher explained that blackface was a freedom of expression and that people are offended too easily. “I’m usually an outspoken person, but in this case, I didn’t know what to do,” Mosely-Williams said. “I couldn’t argue with her, not because she was someone of authority, but because I didn’t know how to.” Mosely-Williams said most of her fellow students remained silent, even though they knew that wearing blackface was wrong. “No one, including me, could explain why. We had been taking history classes for years, yet no one knew why this demeaning act was so offensive,” MosleyWilliams said. Several speakers, including Greg John-
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PHOTO BY EUGENE DRISCOLLAkia S. Callum, president of the Connecticut State Conference NAACP Youth & College Division at a press conference and rally outside Shelton Intermediate School.
son, president of the Valley NAACP, pointed out that minority school children are more likely to face discipline in schools than their white counterparts. The lack of punishment in the Shelton incident reinforces the racial disparity, Johnson said. “ The school district has not dealt with this in the correct manner,” Johnson said. “There’s zero tolerance for weapons, there’s zero tolerance for drugs. There’s zero tolerance for a plethora of things. I’ve seen (minority) kids arrested for minor
things, but little white kids are not arrested for things like this even though there are hate crime laws on the books.” State Sen. George Logan, R-Ansonia, said the recent rash of racist incidents in Connecticut can’t be ignored. “I stand with you all here today. I stand with you today to send a clear message that we will not stand for these types of actions and activities, and we expect that they get appropriately addressed,” Logan said.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Serena Williams Announces Retirement! by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org
Serena Williams, the powerhouse tennis player, world record holder, mom and wife who is undoubtedly one of the greatest athletes of all time, has announced her retirement from the game of tennis—but don’t worry, it’s not any time soon. Speaking on a panel with CEO of Verizon Media Guru Gowrappan and CNBC correspondent Julia Boorstin in honor of Advertising Week New York, the now 38-year-old 23-time Grand Slam winner revealed that she expects to retire from the sport in 20 years. Yes, you read that right, 20 years! So she’ll be 58 still playing the game of tennis. To put this into perspective, the oldest Grand Slam champion was Ken Roswell at 35 years old. During the panel Williams mentioned that she intends to “transfer out, you know, in 20 years. Not anytime soon,” which was met by a round of applause. Williams has spoken candidly about how difficult it’s been to get back into the swing of things (pun intended) since welcoming her daughter, Alexis
Olympia Ohanian Jr., on September 1, 2017. In August, she sustained a back injury that forced her to withdraw from the Rogers Cup. During that time, she penned a powerful essay about her 2018 U.S. Open finals loss. The tennis icon started her career at just 14 years old when she won her first match at a Grand Slam in 1998. If she sticks to her 20 more years promise, she will have had a 42-year run. At 11 years old, when Serena Williams was asked “If you were a tennis player who would you want to be like?” Serena responded: “Well, I’d like other people to be like me.” Bold for it coming from an 11 year old, huh? Well, in order to be champion, you’ve got to be bold. That’s the legacy of Serena Williams starting to take shape. In many people’s opinion, it’s their mental strength that helped propel them into stardom. Their father, Richard Williams, constantly spoke them up to in front of others as well as at home. He always spoke to them as champions, even before their first tournament. But by age 11, Serena’s sister Venus was already a champion, and Serena herself had won 50 of
52 junior championships. It was the mental wear and tear that prompted Richard to pull his daughters out of competition early on when the family moved to… … Florida. “These girls aren’t ready, mentally or physically. It’s too hard on the family,” Richard said. “Bringing the girls out later in their life will be better for our family, for the girls and for tennis.” “Venus wants to win Wimbledon and Serena wants to win the U.S. Open,” Richard said. “And they will.” So what’s next for the tennis great? Well, the sky’s the limit, but Williams seems to getting more into investing. Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures investment firm, launched less than two years ago, has invested in more than 30 companies, including Neighborhood Goods, MasterClass, Coinbase, Daily Harvest, Lola and the infant strollermaker Colugo. “Colugo is all about design,” she offered during a session at Advertising Week NYC on Tuesday, with CNBC correspondent Julia Boorstin and Verizon CEO Guru Gowrappan.
IT’S NOT PATRIOTISM, IT’S NATIONALISM – “WHITE NATIONALISM” by Oscar H. Blayton For people of color, the past three and one-half years of slogging through Donald
Trump’s America have brought many new realizations about some age-old problems. Racism and bigotry have existed since the first Africans set foot in English speaking North America 400 years ago. During our long, agonizing trek through the pages of U.S. history, we have suffered enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow laws, red lining, school segregation and employment discrimination, just to name a few of the ways in which our humanity has been violated.
Through the centuries, very few African Americans did not suffer from the poisonous vapors arising from the culture of white supremacy. So, the assaults by Donald Trump are nothing new to those of us Americans with a darker hue. His ignorant vitriol only chalks up another day under the star-spangled banner. But while we see Trump as another edition of a 400-year-old daily rerun, his America has taught many of us something we had
not learned before - something so deeply embedded in the marrow of white America’s bones that it took the socio-political CT scan of a Trump presidency to reveal it. We have known all along that the Confederate flag-waving bigots were acting out their hatred for people of color, despite their protestations that they were only honoring their cultural heritage. We were never fooled into thinking that the racial covenants imposed by state and federal gov-
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ernments had nothing to do with property values and everything to do with building white economic wealth from a foundation of Black economic deprivation. When Black soldiers went off to sacrifice their bodies and lives to fight foreign wars for Uncle Sam, knowing full well they would return to a homeland that cursed them, there was seldom any recognition
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
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AfricAn AmericAn StudieS At YAle Celebrating Fifty Years • 1969–2019
FREE SEMINAR Refreshments will be served
African American Studies marks its 50th Anniversary at Yale by inviting alumni and former colleagues to reflect on past developments in our field while looking ahead to future changes we would like to see.
Looking Back at 50 Years of change in the sociaL sciences Thursday, October 3 • 5:30–7:00 pm Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall (entrance at 301 York Street, New Haven)
NITY U M M O S C I OeN T A S R o R E V Table, A Voice in th om C OeaN t at the AS
MUNITY UT COM O B A TION, & N LEAR IAL AC C O S , PERTS! IZING ROM EX F G ORGAN N I D IL ENT BU MOVEM
Lucia Cantero Anthropology, University of San Fransisco
ECC/HANH Community Room Twin Brooks 3 Bosley Street New Haven
Cathy Cohen Political Science, Chicago Naomi Murakawa Political Science, Princeton moderator
Brandon Terry Social Studies, Harvard
Saturday, October 12, 2019 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Presenting Community Organizations:
aLL events are free and open to the puBLic Twitter: @yaleafamstudies
Facebook: yaleafricanamericanstudies
afamstudies.yale.edu
Sponsored by Departments of African American Studies Endeavors Colloquium; Afro-American Cultural Center; Gilder Lehrman Center, Departments of Anthropology, English, French, History, History of Art, Psychology, Sociology; Institute for Social and Policy Studies; President’s Office, Programs in Public Humanities and American Studies, Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration, Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies; The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center, Whitney Humanities Center, Yale Art Gallery, Yale School of Art, Yale School of Drama
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Questions? socialaction@nhacdst.org
THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Lynn Swann Resigns As USC’s Athletic Director Dense Breasts
Q&A Guide
By Lauren A. Jones
Pro Football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann resigned as the University of Southern California’s athletic director after three years atop the program, USC President Carol Folt announced in a letter on Monday. “Lynn has been a leader on and off the field at USC for nearly five decades, and he will forever be a valued member of the Trojan family,” Folt wrote. In April 2016, Swann succeeded USC great Pat Haden at the helm of USC athletics, one of the nation’s most prestigious athletic programs. It was a tumultuous tenure for the former AllAmerican USC wide receiver amid the infamous public admissions scandal and a struggling football team that sought to regain national prominence. Dave Roberts, a special advisor to Folt who previously served as vice president of athletics compliance, will step in as the interim athletic director while USC embarks on a national search to fill the position. “Our Athletics Department puts our student-athletes first by pursuing excellence with integrity,” Folt stated. “We will build on the traditions and strengths of our exceptional athletics program.” USC Trustee Suzanne Nora Johnson will chair the search committee. She will be joined by board of trustees chair Rick Cruso, trustees Jeff Smulyan and William McMorrow, alumni representative Bill Allen, vice president for student affairs Winston Crisp, faculty athletics representative Alan Green, academic senate president Rebecca Lonergan and provost Charles Zukoski. The search committee will also include two student representatives. “The position will be filled with an experienced and accomplished individual,” wrote Holt.
Do you know if you have dense breasts?
In the past 26 years, the USC athletic director has been a former Trojan including Mike Garrett, Haden and Swann. All of which have had their fair share of controversy. Roberts, who is also the Vice-Chair of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, should steer the program clear of any further controversy. From the time that 67-year-old Swann was announced as the new athletic director of his alma mater, there was apprehension that his lack of experience would ultimately lead to his downfall. Swann will always have the stain of the admissions scandal and the college basketball corruption scandal on his resume. Among USC fans, there was discontentment with Swann after he backed head football coach Clay Helton following a losing season last year (5-7). Swann is a college football Hall of Famer who competed in two Rose Bowls and won a championship with USC in 1972.
He went on to become an NFL superstar winning four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, Swann’s decorated past on the football field did not translate to success atop USC athletics. It may finally be time for the esteemed program to move on from their incestuous past that includes several former USC athletes. The future of the USC Athletic Department is uncertain. One positive takeaway is that the athletic department’s cornerstone,USC football, is off to a 2-0 start with one of the greatest blowout wins in recent history against rival Stanford on Saturday. USC President Carol Folt (L) and former USC athletic director Lynn Swann (R) and stand on the sidelines of USC’s game against Stanford. (Photo by Ling Luo/USC Annenberg Media) This article originally appeared in The Los Angeles Sentinel.
www.nationalbreastcancer.org Throughout her journey with breast cancer, Joan Lunden, triple-negative breast cancer survivor & longtime Good Morning America anchor, learned by chance that she had dense breast tissue. No one had ever specifically told her this information or why it’s important to know. According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly 50% of all women age 40 and older have dense breasts. Like Joan, many women don’t know whether they have dense breasts or what that means. Knowing whether you have dense breasts is important because women with dense breasts have a higher risk of developing breast cancer, and often need supplemental screenings to a mammogram. Our Dense Breasts Q&A Guide answers these commonly asked questions: • What are dense breasts? • How do women know if they have dense breasts? • How common are dense breasts? • What contributes to having dense breast tissue? • Do dense breasts feel different when performing a Does having dense breasts increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer? • Is additional screening needed if a patient has dense breasts? When it comes to your health, you are your own biggest advocate. This free guide aims to educate you about dense breasts and how to be your own best advocate for your health.
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Con’t from page 14
IT’S NOT PATRIOTISM,
IT’S NATIONALISM by Oscar H. Blayton
For people of color, the past three and one-half years of slogging through Donald Trump’s America have brought many new realizations about some age-old problems. Racism and bigotry have existed since the first Africans set foot in English speaking North America 400 years ago. During our long, agonizing trek through the pages of U.S. history, we have suffered enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow laws, red lining, school segregation and employment discrimination, just to name a few of the ways in which our humanity has been violated. Through the centuries, very few African Americans did not suffer from the poisonous vapors arising from the culture of white supremacy. So, the assaults by Donald Trump are nothing new to those of us Americans with a darker hue. His ignorant vitriol only chalks up another day under the star-spangled banner. But while we see Trump as another edition of a 400-year-old daily rerun, his America has taught many of us something we had not learned before - something so deeply embedded in the marrow of white America’s bones that it took the socio-political CT scan of a Trump presidency to reveal it. We have known all along that the Confederate flag-waving bigots were acting out their hatred for people of color, despite their protestations that they were only honoring their cultural heritage. We were never fooled into thinking that the racial covenants imposed by state and federal governments had nothing to do with property values and everything to do with building white economic wealth from a foundation of Black economic deprivation. When Black soldiers went off to sacrifice their bodies and lives to fight foreign wars for Uncle Sam, knowing full well they would return to a homeland that cursed them, there was seldom any recognition of their selflessness. In fact, they were despised even more for their heroism. Yet, time and time again, through the butchery of Black bodies, the countless murders of unarmed Black men and women by police and the rape of Black freedoms by the American judicial system, so many white Americans have justified their crimes as acts of patriotism. Holding the treasonous flag of the Confederacy in one hand, and the American flag in the other, white supremacists have the unmitigated gall to self-aggrandize themselves as patriots. If patriotism is the love of one’s homeland and its citizens, white supremacists cannot lay claim to that quality. It is impossible to love your country while hating a multitude of its citizens. A country is not merely geographical boundaries and topographical registers. A country is a community of people – all the people. And this is a truth that white supremacists have never embraced. They would rather sing of “purple mountain majesties” and “amber waves of grain” than honor the First Nations who were stewards of this lands for millennia
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
The Human and Economic Toll of Gun Violence is Staggering By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
Approximately 7,500 African Americans are killed each year because of gun violence. Further, it’s 20 times more likely that a young black male will die by a firearm homicide than a white peer, according to a new report. In a study commissioned by Democratic members of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, researchers found that gun violence in America has especially taken its toll on young people. The report found that rural states, where gun violence has reached its highest levels in decades are the hardest hit. Researchers said Americans between the age of 15 and 24 are 50 times more likely to die because of gun violence than they are in other economically advanced countries. The September 18 state-by-state examination of the economic costs of gun violence, reveals numbers that the committee called “staggering.” For instance, in 2017, for the first time, the rate of firearm deaths exceeded the death rate by motor vehicle accidents. Nearly 40,000 people were killed in the United States by a gun in 2017, including
approximately 2,500 school-age children – or more than 100 people per day and more than five children murdered each day. According to a 2019 Pew Research study, “Though they tend to get less attention than gun-related murders, suicides have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In 2017, six-in-ten gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (23,854), while 37% were murders (14,542), according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] CDC. The remainder were unintentional (486), involved law enforcement (553) or had undetermined circumstances (338).” Directly measurable costs include lost income and spending, employer costs, police, and criminal justice responses and health care treatment. “[More than] 200 days ago, the Democratic House took decisive action to end the gun violence epidemic in America by passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112, bipartisan, commonsense legislation to expand background checks, which is supported by more than 90 percent of the American people,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “With the backing of the American people, we continue to call on Senator McConnell to ‘Give Us A Vote.’”
“For [more than] 200 days, Senator McConnell has refused to give the bipartisan bills a vote on the Senate Floor, “again and again putting his political survival before the survival of our children,” Schumer said. “Every day that Senator McConnell blocks our House-passed, life-saving bills, an average of 100 people – including 47 children and teenagers – die from senseless gun violence. Some 20,000 have died since the House took action on February 27,” he said. Schumer’s office has repeatedly voiced concern about gun violence in urban communities. According to Everytown, an organization dedicated to addressing gun violence, “firearms are the leading cause of death for Black children and teens in America.” Black children are ten times more likely to be hospitalized from gun/firearm violence and are 14 times more likely to die. Officials said this fact is hurting Black children and teens at home and schools, especially in cities that lack the resources to stop gun violence and the trauma associated with it. According to Everytown, students of color in cities are exposed to higher rates of violence. The report also states, “although Black
students represent approximately 15 percent of the total K-12 school population in America, they constitute 24 percent of the K-12 student victims of gunfire who were killed or injured on school grounds.” Researchers for the Joint Economic Committee said gun violence has direct and indirect costs, including the reduction of quality of life due to pain and suffering. Gun homicides are also associated with fewer jobs, lost businesses, and lower home values in local economies and communities across the nation. The latest estimate is that gun violence imposes $229 billion in total annual costs on the United States – 1.4 percent of GDP, the report noted. Researchers said it’s difficult to measure the economic costs of gun violence because in the past Congress has blocked federal funding for research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The more than 20-year ban has had a chilling effect on private and other research,” researchers wrote in the report. “It is likely that the numbers underestimate the total costs of gun violence,” they said. The report breaks down the direct costs in four categories – lost income, employer costs, health care, and police and criminal justice.
And it shines a spotlight on two of the fastest-growing areas of gun violence – suicides and firearm deaths of young people (under the age of 25). Among the key findings: • Rural states (Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and West Virginia) have the highest costs of gun violence measured as a share of their economies. • States with high rates of gun ownership (Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, West Virginia, and Wyoming) have the highest rates of gun suicide. • The three largest states (California, Texas, and Florida) suffer the highest absolute costs. • The five states with the highest rate of gun death in descending order are Alaska, Montana, Alabama, Louisiana, and Missouri. • High youth death rates extend across the nation, with Alaska, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, and Delaware showing the highest rates. “The human cost is beyond our ability to comprehend, it is tragic, it is sickening, and it is a crisis,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the vice-chair of the committee, said in a news conference Wednesday. “The gun violence needs to stop, and we need to make it happen,” Maloney said.
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation
for Bids
Scattered Sites East and West- Furnace & Hot Water Conversion/ Replacement
The Housing Authority of the City of New Havend/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Scattered Sites East and West- Furnace & Hot Water Conversion/ Replacement. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems. com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 3:00PM
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids Interior and External Door Installations and Repairs The Housing Authority of the City of New Havend/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Interior and External Door Installations and Repairs. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, September 4, 2019at 3:00PM.
HELP WANTED: Large CT guardrail company looking for Laborer/
Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical. Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F
The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Proposal (RFP) Repositioning Consultant Solicitation Number: 133-EO-19-S
The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is currently seeking proposals from qualified repositioning firms. Solicitation package will be available on September 23, 2019. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A pre-proposal conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06605 on October 9, 2019, @ 2:00 p.m. Although attendance is not mandatory, submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than October 16, 2019 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall be mailed, or hand delivered by October 24, 2019 @ 3:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. Late proposals will not be accepted.
Finance Town Treasurer/Accountant: Responsible for administrative and professional accounting work involving receipt, disbursement and investment of town funds and computer systems management. Requires a bachelor’s degree in accounting from a recognized college or university, plus two (2) years of experience in accounting work including experience in supervision of staff and use of data processing technology, or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. $ 74,604 - $ 95,452 Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. The closing date will be that date the 50th application form/ resume is received, or October 23, 2019, whichever occurs first. EOE
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
HELP WANTED: Large CT guardrail company
looking for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical. Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F
Equipment Operator Help Wanted: Immediate opening for Equipment Operator for Heavy and Highway Construction. 10 hour OSHA certificate required. CDL license a plus but not required. Please call PJF Construction Corp.@ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F.
Laborer Help Wanted: Immediate opening for Construction Laborer for Heavy and Highway Construction. 10 hour OSHA certificate required. Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F.
CDL Driver Help Wanted: Immediate opening for CDL Driver for Heavy and Highway Construction. 10 hour OSHA certificate and clean CDL license required. Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F.
Project Manager/Project Supervisor Help Wanted: Immediate opening for a Project Manager/Project Supervisor for Heavy and Highway Construction. Previous experience on CTDOT projects required. Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998. We are an equal opportunity employer M/F
Listing: Accounting
Accounting Department has an immediate opening in Ac-
counts Payable. This full time position in a fast-paced office environment could be an excellent entry to an Accounting career. Requires good computer and organizational skills, attention to detail, and multi-tasking. Benefits include health, dental & LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.
********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********
Town of Bloomfield Vehicle Mechanic Technician Full Time - Benefited $30.49 hourly Pre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org
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Civil Engineer
Diversified Technology Consultants (DTC) is a multi-disciple engineering and environmental consulting firm. DTC is a leader in servicing governmental clients for four decades. DTC prides itself as having worked on a wide variety of project types. From schools and senior centers to town halls and universities, our diverse portfolio provides extensive experience to our communities. As DTC enters its forth decade, we are seeking an energetic, organized and proactive professional in our Civil Engineering Department. The successful candidate(s) will work closely with our technical staff in support of DTC’s strategic goals and objectives. This is an entry level position located in our Hamden, Connecticut office.
Responsibilities:
• Assist in the preparation of plans, specifications, supporting documents, and permit applications for private and municipal projects. • Assist in preparation of calculations such as storm drainage, water supply & wastewater collection, cost estimates, and earthwork quantities. • Perform design and drafting using AutoCAD Civil 3D. MicroStation experience is beneficial but not required.
Qualifications:
• Graduate from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. • Engineer in training certificate preferred. For Further information or to apply send resumes to ellen.nelson@teamdtc.com DTC is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. DTC is a Drug Free Work Place.
Individuals with Disabilities, Minorities and Protected Veterans are encouraged to apply.
POLICE OFFICER
City of Bristol $63,934 - $77,714
Required testing,
Registration info & apply at www.bristolct.gov DEADLINE: 11-22-19 EOE
Team Member: Cook, Prep Worker, Dishwasher, Waitress/Waiter Lynon’s Restaurant & Bar in Hamden, CT
Compensation
$11 to $14 Hourly Employment Type Part-Time
Apply in person with Resume Wednesday-Friday between 5:00 and 7:00 at 2151 State Street Hamden CT 06517 Call (203) 675-4097 for appointment.
Construction Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410. Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Drug Free Workforce
CITY OF MILFORD
Seeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include,Benefits & Pension Coordinator, Clerk A,Truck Driver/Laborer, Electrician and more For information and detailed application instructions, visit WWW.ci.milford.ct.us Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
QSR STEEL CORPORATION
APPLY NOW! Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers.
Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - (P/T)
Assist individuals receiving services in identifying and making choices about their social, vocation and personal goals. Duties include case management, job development/placement/retention services and job support as needed. Requires use of personal vehicle. B.A. in a related field; plus 2 yrs’ related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience. Pay rate $16.61/hr. Apply to: GWSNE, 432 Washington Ave., North Haven, CT 06473/ Fax (203) 495-6108/hr@goodwillsne.org EOE/AA - M/F/D/V
SURVEYING
DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED
Boundaries LLC is a full-service Land Surveying Firm located in Griswold, CT. We are recruiting for these positions and accepting resumes for: Survey Field Technicians, Survey Computer Technicians, Licensed Land Surveyors, Civil Engineers, From 9/12/2019 through 12/31/2019. Interested parties can contact us at 860-376-2009 or submit your resume to jfaulise@boundariesllc.net
Part Time Delivery Needed
is requesting proposals for Legal Services. Request for Proposal documents can be viewed and printed at www.norwalkha.org under the Business section RFP’s/RFQ’s Norwalk Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director.
Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Tom Dunay Phone: 860- 243-2300 Email: Tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer
Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks: Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer
Union Company seeks:
Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact Dana at 860-243-2300. Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer
If Interested call
The Housing Authority of the City of New Havend/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Pay Per Use Laundry Services. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 at 3:00PM.
Listing: Accounting
Accounting Department has two immediate openings for full time Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable professionals in a fast-paced office environment. Must be highly organized, possess good computer skills, be detail oriented, and able to manage multiple projects. Benefits include health, dental & LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES
Request for Proposals Pay Per Use Laundry Services
(203) 387-0354
The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT
Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Information Technology Consulting Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtainedfrom Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 at 9:00AM
One/Two Day a Week,
Must Have your Own Vehicle
An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer
Request for Proposals Information Technology Consulting Services
QSR STEEL CORPORATION
APPLY NOW! Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.
Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT
********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Large CT. Fence Company is looking for an individual for our stock yard. Warehouse shipping and receiving and Forklift experience a must. Must have a minimum of 3 years’ material handling experience. Must be able to read and write English, and read a tape measure. Duties will include: Loading and unloading trucks, pulling orders for installation and retail counter sales, keeping the yard clean and organized at all times and inventory control. Individual will also make deliveries of fence panels and products, must be able to lift at least 70lbs. Required to pass a Physical and Drug test, have a valid CT. Driver’s License and be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. CDL B & A drivers a plus. Send resume to pking@atlasourdoor.com AA/EOE/MF
KMK Insulation Inc. 1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473
Mechanical Insulator position. Insulation company offering good pay and benefits. Please mail resume to above address.
MAIL ONLY
This company is an Affirmative Action/
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The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Invitation for Bid (IFB) 408 Poplar Street Roof Replacement Solicitation Number: 134-PD-19-S
The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is requesting sealed bids for 408 Popular Street Roof Replacement. A complete set of the plans and technical specifications will be available on September 23, 2019. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06605 on October 9, 2019 @ 10:00 a.m., submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than October 16, 2019 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. All bids must be received by mailed or hand delivered by October 24, 2019 @ 10:00 AM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. No bids will be accepted after the designated time.
Town of Bloomfield,
Foster Care Family Support Worker, $18.00 hrly, (PT, non-benefited). Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE. For details and how to apply go to www.bloomfieldct.org
THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
Black Maternal Health Crisis Prompts Politicians, Providers To Act By Ambriah Underwood
WASHINGTON — One previous cesarean section, a five-page written plan outlining post-delivery care for her oldest child and around 12 weeks of natural childbirth classes still didn’t prove to be enough preparation for the arrival of Allyson Brown’s second child. Almost two months after turning 34, Brown was overdue delivering her baby. Rather than risk more than a day’s worth of induced labor, she opted to have another C-section. Brown, who is black, met the doctor who performed her impromptu cesarean that morning. In what marked the beginning of an unexpected and unsettling experience, Brown said the orderlies transferring her from her midwives patient program to the OB-GYN department ahead of delivery had an ill-timed conversation. “They were talking like they were at happy hour and like I was a sack of potatoes, just like something else they had to check off for the day,” Brown said. But Brown’s experience was anything but casual: she had complications after delivery that required three emergency surgeries. Her case was considered a “maternal near-miss,” which the World Health Organization defines as a woman who almost dies due to issues during pregnancy, delivery or within 42 days after pregnancy. Brown’s experience underscores a persistent discrepancy among black mothers, whose mortality rate is far higher than that for the general population. Several factors, including racism, are behind that disparity, according to health experts. Some members of Congress last week launched an initiative to combat this long-standing yet recently-publicized issue. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, and 57 other lawmakers formed the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which is aimed at encouraging culturally relevant, evidence-based policies to support black mothers. Hoyer said he wanted “to make clear that the House ought to approach issues of healthcare access with a recognition of the unacceptable and tragic disparities for women of color and their children.” Founded by Reps. Alma Adams, DNorth Carolina, and Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, the Black Maternal Health Caucus seeks to promote better black maternal health outcomes. “The status quo is intolerable, we must come together to reverse current trends and achieve optimal birth outcomes for all families,” Underwood said in a statement. As Brown’s sudden change in birth plan illustrates, a number of factors related to the birth process remain out of a patient’s
(Photo by: dph.illinois.gov) This article originally appeared in The Afro.
control. Thinking about the type of care a mother-to-be wants can help ensure appropriate measures are taken, said Noelene K. Jeffers, a certified nurse midwife and Ph.D. candidate at Johns Hopkins University. “It’s really important to consider carefully the provider that you’re choosing to make sure that you choose either an OBGYN or a midwife who you can have a comfortable, respectful, collaborative relationship with and who will help you to make informed decisions,” Jeffers said. Despite an overall improvement in life expectancy in the United States, there are still noticeable disparities among racial minority groups, said Stephen B. Thomas, director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity. On average, 36 women in the District of Columbia and 24 women in Maryland die for every 100,000 live births, while the overall national average recorded 20.7 maternal deaths, according to the United Health Foundation’s 2018 report on children and women’s health. The black maternal mortality rate average is more than double the national average at 47.2. Maryland ranks lower, with an average of 40.5 black maternal deaths, while in the District the mortality rate among black mothers was a staggering 70.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, the analysis said. In a country with the most expensive health care, more women die of complications from childbirth than in any other developed nation, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “We’re like the richest third-world coun-
try in the world and unfortunately, the burdens of race and history would be easy to ignore if they were not so well documented,” Thomas said of the death rate among black mothers. Thomas, who is also a professor at the University of Maryland, said an understanding of the gap in life expectancy for black mothers can be broken down into three components: a broken healthcare system, patient preferences (that is, not wanting a midwife) and “what’s left is what we call a health disparity.” Such a disparity is “a particular type of health difference that is closely linked with social, economic, and/or environmental disadvantage,” according to Healthy People, a federal website managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. “It’s when you look between the lines, when you disentangle those lines by race, ethnicity — everyone is not benefiting,” Thomas said. Acclaimed tennis player Serena Williams last year shared with Vogue the intense medical journey she went on following the birth of her child. Williams said she alerted a nurse that she needed medical attention and the attendant initially thought the medication was confusing her, but Williams persisted. Eventually, tests revealed small blood clots in her lungs. While Williams had the ability to selfadvocate through a complicated process, Thomas added, “think of those black women who didn’t have that kind of agency to speak to power, who are now not here.” Brown, who works at an education nonprofit, relied heavily on her husband for
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support after doctors were alarmed by her significant blood loss after delivery, which led to the three subsequent emergency surgeries. During one of the surgeries, hospital staff failed to alert Brown’s husband, who was with their newborn, that she had been put under anesthesia again. “Nobody called him and told him I was in surgery,” Brown said. “He said someone came and told him, ‘Your wife’s almost out of surgery’ and he was like, ‘When did she go back into surgery?’” Even with the steady support of a partner, Brown said she witnessed faulty hospital procedures and policies. She filed a complaint with the hospital’s administration. “When you’re at the peak of crisis that’s not the time to be dealing with their internal issues on things,” Brown noted. “So, there was a whole added element on top of the actual medical emergency.” The hospital responded to Brown’s complaint and she said she was pleased with the response, encouraging the administration to do a formal review of her case to see what could be done differently. According to her doctor, Brown said, they did. Typically, poor health and healthcare are associated with a person’s socioeconomic standing. In the cases of Williams and Brown, regardless of being two black women in their thirties with active support systems and careers, they encountered life-threatening birth complications. Understanding that factors such as class, education and marital status have not lowered the disconcerting rates of black maternal mortality has encouraged
health experts to acknowledge the influence of racism as a cause. “Specifically thinking about race-based maternal-infant health disparities, the prevailing theory is that racism is the major underlying factor that contributes to these disparities,” Jeffers said. For instance, a woman’s perception of the daily racism she experiences in her interpersonal relationships, which can include encounters with coworkers or strangers, is associated with premature birth, Jeffers added. Also, Jeffers said women living in areas known to have higher amounts of explicit or implicit racism are at-risk for having babies with low birth weights. “So there is quite a bit of evidence that indicates that racism and stress that comes with … racism, sort of dealing with that on a chronic everyday basis, is impacting maternal-infant healthcare,” Jeffers said. Jeffers cited an example of structural racism continuing to affect black people: redlining, an unjust method used to prevent minorities from acquiring homeownership loans, stifle their ability to relocate out of impoverished areas and ultimately uphold local racial segregation. “When you have large amounts of segregation and, for example, black individuals are segregated into specific areas, then that can subsequently affect the access to quality healthcare institutions,” Jeffers said. Thomas likens this nonstop, multifaceted wear and tear from the daily pressures of racial prejudice to incessantly revving an engine to the point of damage. “If you were to sit in your car, turn your car on and press the accelerator to the floor and just let the engine rev up, that’s what’s described as what’s happening to black people in America,” Thomas said. “The foot never comes off the pedal.” That is to say, when you are living in a society where the presence of racial prejudice is never-ending, few ways exist to avoid the stress of racism and thus, overcome health issues leading to disparities. The National Partnership for Women & Families suggests policymakers address the issues of structural racism and racial discrimination in healthcare as well as expand protections for pregnant workers and health coverage for low-income insurance services like Medicaid to combat the maternal health crisis. Furthermore, the organization calls for policies funding reliable communitybased providers such as Planned Parenthood that provide basic yet critical reproductive health services. “(Racial discrimination) can actually get under your skin and kill you. And that’s what we believe is happening with African Americans,” Thomas said.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - October 02, 2019 - October 08, 2019
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -
October 02, 2019 - October 08 , 2019
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We do not discriminate, exclude people, or treat them differently on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in our health programs and activities. ATENCIÓN: Si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-888-211-9817 (TTY: 711). ATENÇÃO: Se fala português, encontram-se disponíveis serviços linguísticos, grátis. Ligue para 1-888-211-9817 (TTY: 711). This policy has exclusions, limitations, and terms under which the policy may be continued in force or discontinued. For costs and complete details of coverage, please contact your agent or the health plan. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a Medicare Advantage Organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield depends on contract renewal. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Health Plans, Inc. Independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. Y0114_20_107527_I_C_0003 10/01/2019 500681MUSENMUB_0003 24