INNER-CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY July 27, 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWSNEWS - December 04,2016 2019- August - December 10, 2019

Financial Justice a Key at for 2016 NAACP Convention Gabrielle Union Garners Support AfterFocus Being Fired Calling Out Racist Culture on AGT New Haven, Bridgeport

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Volume 27 . No. 2362 Volume 21 No. 2194

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Three Baltimore Men Exonerated

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Lamont Joins Democratic Lawmakers In Backing Truck-Only Tolls

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT – Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative leaders met for two hours Tuesday at the governor’s residence and did not reach a bipartisan consensus on the state’s transportation needs going forward.

However, Lamont and legislative Democrats, who hold majorities in both chambers, agreed that “truck-only” tolls would be the path they will pursue as part of a $20-billion transportation initiative, slimmed down from $21 billion.

The modification to Lamont’s CT 2030 proposal would assume $180 million in revenue from truck-only tolls in 12 locations, and it would use another $100 million in general obligation bonds. It would also use money in the Rainy Day Fund to pay down pension debt if that account grows beyond 15% of the general fund.

The plan assumes leveraging federal funds at low interest rates based on the truck-only toll revenue. The new plan, which has not been spelled out on paper yet, also stretches out the repayment of the debt on those federal loans from 27 years to 35 years.

“We have a credible plan to fix it that doesn’t raid the Rainy Day Fund and I think that’s what we should start with,” Lamont said.

Senate President Martin Looney, DNew Haven, said a truck-only tolling proposal was what Lamont campaigned on and added that “it’s the only plan that’s voter approved.”

“Let’s be clear, the door for tolls on cars is closed,” Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said.

Lamont had campaigned on tolling only trucks in order to pay for the state’s transportation needs. However, on a Saturday in February, he announced in an editorial that a truck-only tolling plan would not raise enough money to meet the state’s needs. As such, he endorsed the idea of tolling all vehicular traffic to raise the necessary funds.

But in the intervening months, members of the General Assembly have not been forthcoming in support of tolling, forcing caucus leaders to negotiate with Lamont, culminating in Tuesday’s meeting.

House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, DHartford, said they are only “going after 18-wheeled large, large trucks, and light trucks like every other state to invest in our middle class and our infrastructure.

That is an honest plan. It will work and we are not going to burden future generations by sweeping the Rainy Day Fund by $1.5 billion.”

The last part was a reference to Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano’s plan, FASTR CT. On Nov. 14, Fasano pitched a no-toll alternative that he believes will fund a 10-year, $18-billion plan. FASTR CT uses the money from paying down the equity on special transportation obligation bonds, $100 million in general obligation bonds, and the new-car sales tax as revenue streams to access low-interest loans from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau.

The plan anticipates 0.8% interest on loans from the federal government, even though, according to the Lamont administration, not all projects would qualify for that amount.

CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE

In a controversial move, the Senate Republicans also would use money from the Rainy Day Fund to pay off some of the state’s unfunded pension liability.

This would then allow a portion of the state employee fringe benefit costs currently in the Special Transportation Fund to move to the General Fund.

The Republican legislative leaders, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides and Fasano, said they can’t support any transportation plan that includes tolls, even if it’s not on passenger cars.

“They want tolls, they want to borrow more, they want more tax revenue from

Connecticut residents – on top of their new taxes on plastic bags and groceries.

They do not want to work with Republicans to do what is truly best for our state and its residents. They want tolls.

Period,” Fasano said.

Fasano also concluded, “Their plan also is not sustainable, it will result in a lawsuit, and it will lead to increased costs on all products shipped through our state.

But if that’s what they want, they have the majority. Put it up for a vote. Democrats, go for it.”

Klarides said Republicans don’t believe that the trucks-only plan works. “We

feel there are other ways to do it that are more responsible,” she added.

Democratic legislative leaders said when the plan is drafted, they will bring it to their respective caucuses.

“We will be meeting with our caucuses in the coming weeks and days,” House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said.

Democrats hold majorities in both the House and the Senate, but have been unable to muster enough support to debate tolls in either chamber. It was still unclear Tuesday whether that had changed.

Wooden Calls For Divestment of Civilian Firearm Holdings

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT – Divesting Connecticut’s pension funds from five civilian gun manufacturers is personal for Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden, but he said it’s also a financially prudent move.

Wooden, who lost his cousin, Michael, to a gunshot wound in June 2012, said Connecticut is home to some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the country, but more needs to be done.

“Yes, this issue is personal to me. However, as state treasurer, gun violence is a matter of significant financial concern,” Wooden said.

Because of that, Wooden is looking for permission from the Investment Advisory Council to divest $30 million in Connecticut pension funds from five companies involved in manufacturing guns

and ammunition for the civilian market.

The companies are Northrop Grumman, Olin Corp., Daicel Corp., Clarus Corp., and Vista Outdoor.

Other gun manufacturers like West Hartford-based Colt would not be affected by Wooden’s divestment because it’s a privately-held company.

“Simply put, the business of civilian guns has become an increasingly risky proposition,” Wooden said.

He said the recent court decision to allow some of the Sandy Hook victims to proceed with their claims against Remington Arms underscores that increasing legal risk.

The risk is more than financial.

Each year in Connecticut, gun violence costs an average of 180 lives and $1.2 billion from the state economy, according to Wooden.

Wooden said the $30 million in investments in those five companies will

be reallocated to investments with the same return targets “to increase longterm shareholder value for Connecticut’s pension funds.” He still needs permission from the Investment Advisory Council, which, due to the public notification process won’t be able to take up the policy changes until February.

Wooden oversees $36 billion in pension and trust assets for approximately 212,000 state employees, teachers and retirees.

In the meantime, Wooden said the second prong of his “responsible gun policy” is to ask banks about their policies and relationships with the civilian firearm industry.

“For banks that do not have policies in place, we are encouraging them to adopt a responsible gun policy,” Wooden said He said some large banks like Citibank have already implemented policies for retail clients which require background

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CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE PHOTO Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Quinnipiac University and Haven’s Harvest announce new partnership aimed at reducing hunger in Hamden

“Helping those in need in our local community is important to us,” Quinnipiac University and Haven’s Harvest formally announced a new partnership today that will help reduce hunger and support food recovery in Hamden.

Quinnipiac Dining, which oversees food services at Quinnipiac, is now donating its excess food directly to Hamden residents through Haven’s Harvest, a non-profit organization that currently provides food to those facing food insecurity throughout Greater New Haven. Starting in January, Quinnipiac students will work with Haven’s Harvest to deliver the food throughout Hamden each weekday during the academic year.

“Quinnipiac is incredibly committed to supporting the communities we are proud to call home,” said Bethany Zemba, vice president and chief of staff at Quinnipiac. “We are pleased to be able to partner with Haven’s Harvest and the town of Hamden to help reduce food insecurity, which impacts so many adults and children right here in Hamden, by putting any excess food to good use to help feed local families.”

In a 2019 study commissioned by United Way of Greater New Haven, researchers found that nearly one-in-eight adults and one-in-six children in Hamden experience food insecurity. Other numbers were just as alarming. Nearly 42 percent of Hamden’s schoolchildren were eligible for free or reduced lunch during the 2016-17 academic year.

“Helping those in need in our local community is important to us,” said Chuck Couture, resident district manager at Quinnipiac Dining. “Quinnipiac Dining is very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program to provide high-quality, nutritious meals that make a difference in people’s lives.”

Lori Martin, founder and executive director of Haven’s Harvest, said she believes the collaboration with Quinnipiac will make a difference.

“We recognize the incredible waste of excess food and, at the same time, the dire need for food in our community and around the country,” Martin said.

“To address this conundrum, we create the necessary relationships with community partners who make it possible to ensure excess, nutritious food gets to those who need it.”

Anna Ciacciarella, a junior at Quin-

nipiac, is the food security intern at the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Quinnipiac, and was among those who worked with Quinnipiac Dining and Haven’s Harvest to expand student involvement in the food-delivery process.

“This program allows Quinnipiac to make a true and measurable difference in the Hamden community by working to reduce food insecurity,” Ciacciarella said. “The program also promotes sustainability on our campuses as food is being sent elsewhere rather than being wasted.”

United Way of Greater New Haven provided a grant to help Haven’s Harvest expand its food rescue efforts into Hamden. The grant is part of the Hamden Food Security Task Force led

by United Way, which aims to provide nutritious and affordable food to those in Hamden who need it.

“Ending hunger sounds like a lofty goal, and that’s because it is,” said Jennifer Heath, president and CEO of United Way of Greater New Haven.

“We won’t solve this big problem overnight, but United Way is committed to fighting for children and families by connecting them to more affordable, healthy food and giving them a voice in crafting the solution.”

In addition, Haven’s Harvest is seeking support from Sustainable CT, a statewide initiative that inspires and supports communities in Connecticut to become more efficient, resilient and inclusive. Haven’s Harvest has launched a Sustainable CT matching grant campaign that will enable it to broaden and deepen its work in Hamden by hiring an intern, providing sites with food-sharing supplies and offering food donors information about food donation. The campaign goal is $29,675, with Sustainable CT matching each donation dollar for dollar.

Kathleen Schomaker, a member of the Hamden Legislative Council, is the town’s representative to Sustainable CT. “Food security for Hamden’s people is vitally important to municipal sustainability,” Schomaker said. “We are pleased that the new grant from Sustainable CT is poised to help fund the expansion of the Haven’s Harvest program into Hamden. And the leadership of Quinnipiac University launching this effort is invaluable.”

CT Transit Electrifies

by SAM GURWITT

New Haven I ndependent

By the end of 2020, ten CT Transit buses in the New Haven area will no longer cough out plumes of diesel exhaust as they make their daily trips.

At least that’s the plan, as the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) has decided to replace 12 CT Transit buses with battery electric buses.

Ten of the buses will live at the CT Transit facility in Hamden and serve the New Haven-area routes; two will go to Stamford. The DOT is also adding five electric buses to the Greater Bridgeport Transit Agency’s fleet.

Public transit experts discussed the pilot effort Monday afternoon during a panel discussion on electric bus transit at a forum in the Yale School of Forestry’s Kroon Hall. It was part of the Center for Latino Progress’s second annual MultiModal Transit Summit.

In total, the 12 new buses and the installation of charging stations will cost about $15 million. Some $4.9 million comes from part of the $55 million the state is supposed to get from Volkswagen through a settlement resulting from the company’s 2015 emission’s scandal.

According to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Volkswagen must contribute $2 billion all-told to zero emission vehicle infrastructure in the U.S. The remaining $10 million for CT Transit’s new buses will come from the federal government and from the Connecticut’s DOT. DOT Engineer Richard Hanley said the state has sent out a request for proposals (RFP) for the buses and charging equipment, and that the competition deadline is Dec. 4.

Battery electric buses have a myriad of benefits, said Michael Broe of the planning, engineering, and architecture firm STV: They don’t pollute. They’re quieter. They cut down on maintenance waste because, for example, their oil doesn’t need to be changed. They can have increased maintenance intervals. It’s easier to get external funding for them. Finally, they reduce dependence on foreign oil.

While the buses themselves are expensive, the biggest challenges when it comes to electric vehicles have to do with charging.

“Buying the electric bus is the easy part.

The hard part is the charging stations,” said MTA New York City Transit Deputy VP and Chief Environmental Engineer Thomas Abdallah.

CT Transit’s facility on State Street in Hamden is one of the largest DOT facilities in the state, said United Illuminating’s Rick Rosa. The UI substation that feeds the facility currently has enough capacity to supply electricity for all 129

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of the buses stored there, he said, if the facility uses “managed charging.”

Still, adding that electrical load comes with its challenges. He said that there are very few sites in the Northeast that have received 10 electric buses at the same time. He said that UI has been “working closely with the DOT to understand what their electric needs are going to be.”

Hanley said that the DOT is exploring options for backup energy storage in case of a power outage. He mentioned a generator, excess battery storage, or even a fuel cell that already exists in Hamden.

Rosa said that in Hamden, it would also be possible to power the facility using transmission lines rather than distribution lines. Transmission lines are the power lines that carry large amounts of electricity from electricity sources to substations. Distribution lines then carry a lower voltage from the substations to buildings. Rosa said that train lines are often connected to the transmission lines, which are not generally affected by outages in the way that distribution lines can be.

Vehicle range also presents a challenge.

Hanley said he anticipates only getting a range of about 150 miles per charge in cold weather. Connecticut’s climate makes things more difficult because batteries do not work as well in the cold, and then there are the costs of heating and cooling in the summer.

Hanley said that the Federal Transportation Administration allows buses to have up to nine gallons of diesel for heating and still be considered zero-emission vehicles. As he put it, they don’t produce emissions for locomotion.

“It’s a range increase. It’s a huge range increase. We look at probably another 60 to 80 miles out of that nine gallons of diesel fuel,” he said.

Broe said that carbon dioxide heat pumps might also be an option, and that they can function down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit, which would cover most winter days in Connecticut.

Hanley said that the DOT is doing a preliminary design right now at the Hamden facility to figure out how the facility will operate. He said the DOT hopes to have the buses and charging stations up and running by the end of 2020.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Murphy Joins Gun Violence Prevention Advocates Outside U.S. Supreme Court

by Jack Kramer Ct. News Junkie

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy joined gun violence prevention advocates and gun violence survivors Monday on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Justices were hearing oral arguments in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York, the first major Second Amendment case to go before the Court in nearly a decade.

The case, brought by the New York state affiliate of the National Rifle Association (NRA), challenges the ability of licensed gun owners to transport their guns to shooting ranges or second homes outside the city.

“They’re going to try to get the courts to protect them, because the voters won’t protect them any longer,” Murphy said.

“Because we – for the first time in a long time – we the anti-gun violence movement, are finally stronger than the gun lobby is.”

Murphy went on: “That’s why we’re flipping seats all over the country. That’s why we have these guys running for the hills, retiring in droves. And we aren’t going to stop because here’s what I know as a student of history, that the great social change movements are not the ones that gave up when they hit an obstacle.

They are not the ones that went home when they hit a bump in the road.”

New York City’s regulation was amended in July to remove some of the restrictions at issue in the case, but the Supreme Court opted to proceed with arguments.

The justices have said they will consider the city’s contention that the change in the regulation has made the matter moot.

Gun control advocates have expressed concern that the court, with a 5-4 conservative majority, could use the legal battle over a now-loosened gun control regulation unique to one city to issue a ruling widening gun rights nationwide.

Advocates fear such a ruling could jeopardize a variety of firearms restrictions passed in recent years by state and local governments across the country, including expanded background checks and confiscation of weapons from individuals who a court has deemed dangerous.

“And so this radical agenda to try to take away our ability to protect our kids – and I dropped off my kids this morning at public elementary schools that do active shooter drills, readying for what kids believe today is the inevitability that they are going to get shot at – they want to take our right away to make change to pass laws that actually make our streets safer, that prevent the kind of episodic gun violence that plagues American cities,” Murphy said. “They want to take that right away and we’re not going to let them do that.”

Murphy was joined by others like U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and Robyn Thomas, executive director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The Supreme Court case centers on New York City’s handgun “premises” licenses that allowed holders to transport their firearms only to a handful of shooting ranges within the city, and to hunting areas elsewhere in the state during designated hunting seasons.

Three local handgun owners and the New York state affiliate of the NRA argued that the regulation violated the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

The plaintiffs filed suit in 2013 after they were told by authorities they could not participate in a shooting competition in New Jersey or bring their guns to a home elsewhere in the state. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the regula-

by THOMAS BREEN

The developer of a new six-story, 44unit market-rate apartment complex planned for a Howe Street parking lot has cleared his last regulatory hurdles for the project, and plans to start construction in March.

At the most recent meeting of the City Plan Commission on the ground floor of 200 Orange St., commissioners granted unanimous site plan approval for Broadway Living LLC’s planned new multifamily apartment complex at 104 Howe

St. Cambridge Realty Partners’ Nick Falker, who owns the Broadway Living holding company, told the commissioners at the meeting this past Wednesday night that he had initially envisioned building a taller residential building with at least 60 units. But his company ultimately pulled back from that denser project because that would have required a zone change.

“Is it all market rate?” City Plan Commissioner and Westville Alder Adam Marchand asked. “No thought of afford-

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U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday

tion advanced the city’s interest in protecting public safety and did not violate the Second Amendment.

New York City officials argued that controlling guns in public takes on particular urgency in the most densely populated urban center in the United States, where the potential for violence, accidents, or thefts is heightened.

The Supreme Court had avoided taking up a major firearms case since 2010 when it cleared up any uncertainty in the landmark 2008 case, District of Columbia v. Heller. In 2010, in McDonald v.

City of Chicago, it held that the Second Amendment protected the individual right to keep guns for the purpose of selfdefense in the home.

Defenders of the Second Amendment have said that the history and tradition of the Second Amendment makes clear that the right extends beyond the home. Gun violence prevention advocates disagree.

The court ruling is due by the end of

June.

Meanwhile, the seven-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown is fast approaching.

In an effort to continue to shine a light on the devastating epidemic of gun violence in the U.S., the Newtown Foundation (TNF), the charitable arm of the Newtown Action Alliance (NAA), and more than 90 partners in the gun violence prevention community will host the 7th annual National Vigil for All Victims of Gun Violence.

The annual national vigil service of mourning and loving remembrance for all who have fallen victim to the ongoing American epidemic of gun violence will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at St. Marks Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill in Washington. This service will anchor the Nationwide Vigils & Events to #EndGunViolence during the month of December.

44 New Apartments Approved On Howe New Haven I ndependent

John P. Thomas

able?”

“We did underwrite” that possibility for including affordable when “we were considering a larger project,” Falker said. But no more.

He said his company plans to begin construction in March, with a 12 to 15-month construction timeline.

The resulting 44-unit complex will contain a mix of studio apartments, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and fourbedrooms, he said. There will be 22 onsite parking spaces, for which the landlord previously won a special exception

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from the Board of Zoning Appeals. The city’s zoning code would have otherwise required this project to have at least 40 on-site parking spaces.

“The parking lot is currently very underutilized,” Falker said about the lot atop which this new apartment complex will be built. Falker’s company also owns the 84-unit apartment complex right next door at 100 Howe St. The surface parking lot is currently used by tenants of that building, he said, as well as by local businesses that reserve parking.

“The occupancy for the lot is fairly low.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Racially Discriminatory Legislation and Policies Must Be Stopped The Unintended Consequences of a Menthol Cigarette Ban to Black America From pro-slavery laws to Jim Crow, to Prohibition, to racial profiling, to Stop-and-Frisk, history is clear: racist laws and discriminatory bans have been devastating for Black America.

Today, Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) have joined together with other African-American law enforcement executives to call on you - our readers in Black communities across the nation - to see the warning signs of yet another proposed racially discriminatory law: the menthol cigarette ban.

It is a well-known fact that over 85 percent of African Americans who smoke prefer menthol cigarettes. There is no factual basis to assert that a menthol cigarette ban will stop African Americans from smoking. In fact, the unintended consequences of such a racially-discriminatory ban will set the stage for more negative and more likely counterproductive interactions between law enforcement and African Americans.

While proponents argue that a menthol cigarette ban could encourage menthol cigarette smokers to quit smoking coldturkey, another possible outcome could be extremely dangerous—the creation of an illicit market. If this happens, illegal sales of menthol cigarettes will likely be concentrated in communities of color, leading to a greater police presence, citations, fines, and arrests for selling a product that for the past 50 years has been legal.

Possible bans on menthol cigarettes are now being considered throughout the United States as add-ons to e-cigarette bans. It must be said that while FDA has deemed teen vaping an “epidemic,” there is no teen menthol cigarette epidemic.

The fact is teen cigarette use has steadily been on the decline over the past decade.

Recently in New York, the mothers of Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner courageously issued a public statement warning against the consequences of a proposed menthol cigarette ban. Sybrina Fulton and Gwendolyn Carr stated, “When you ban a product sold mostly in Black communities, you must consider the reality of what will happen to that very same over-represented community in the criminal justice system.”

Law enforcement leaders like Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Grand Council of Guardians, and National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers (NABLEO) have stated countless times that a ban on menthol cigarettes will have unintended negative consequences, especially for African Americans.

Over the past 30 years, we have reduced tobacco consumption overall across this country by about 40 percent. And we did not do that with the criminal justice community. We did that with education, we did it with treatment, we did it from a health and educational perspective. Let’s continue with that. Let’s not do something that’s going to end up with these unintended consequences of increasing interaction between police and community members.

Major Neill Franklin (Ret.), Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP): “I dedicated 34 years of my life to public safety, enforcing the laws that our legislators placed before me. That’s what cops do, and we trust that those laws are well thought out, studied and based upon sound data and evidence. As we begin to mirror the days of alcohol prohibition with tobacco bans, expect the violence and corruption that comes with the illicit market and add something else, the over criminalization of the black community.”

Jiles Ship, President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives – New Jersey (NOBLE): “Banning menthol cigarettes would be a 21st Century attempt at Prohibition, a past failure of government to restrict a previously legal product. As we learned with Prohibition, every time the government tries to ban something, it seems to cause other problems. And unfortunately, a menthol cigarette ban would be another example of government action that disproportionately disrupts the Black community.”

Charles Billips, National Chair Person of Grand Council of Guardians, “The first question I asked is how are they going to implement this ban on menthol cigarettes, knowing that a large number of Black and Brown people smoke menthol cigarettes? It would be best to educate the communities on the affect it has on our health instead of a ban enforced through Law Enforcement.”

As The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once prophetically said, “The time is always right to do what is right.” And the right thing to do for our families and communities and for all who stand for freedom, justice and equality is to speak out against all forms of racial discrimination and disproportionate law enforcement, as well as the systems, laws, bans and policies that perpetuate them.

Speak out against racism. Stand up against discrimination. Let your voices be heard.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Davis Street, South African Students Collaborate On Civil Rights History

by STAFF The following article and photos came in from Davis Waltrina Kirkland-Mullins’ third grade students from the Davis Academy for Arts and Design Innovation let their academic light shine at the Harvard University Center for African Studies Association forum recently held in Cambridge, Mass.

At the Nov. 23 event, Kirkland-Mullins’ Shining Stars showcased their Google Slide presentations created last year highlighting research they had conducted on South African culture and the history of apartheid.

Program participants - and enthusiastic parents who accompanied KirklandMullins to the university venue — were in awe of the children’s knowledge of the subject matter.

The presentation was the result of their teacher’s involvement in the Gilder Lehrman Center’s Transatlantic Histories Program through Yale University.

Through the transcontinental program, Kirkland-Mullins and her students this past academic year collaborated with South African Regents Park Primary School instructor Mary Khuduge.

Together, the educators developed lesson plans to demonstrate similarities between the fight for civil rights experienced in the U.S. and South Africa during the Jim Crow and Apartheid eras.

Khuduge, whose sixth-grade students studied the 1950s through 1970s-era fight for civil rights in the U.S., joined Kirkland-Mullins and her students at the forum via Skype.

“The children were on point and once again have taken me over the moon,” Khuduge exclaimed, elated with the young presenters’ proficiency in South African history, education religion, and culture.

In addition to sharing their Team Research projects, the students performed

Students pictured from left to right: Harvard presenters Hajar Abdelfadel, Jordan Monk, Anoa Dawson, Erin Fitzgerald, Londyn Keene-Turner, Natalen Hardy, Angelena O’Connor, and Tarren Huston receive standing ovation as instructor Waltrina Kirkland-Mullins proudly looks on. a women’s protest dance entitled “Siyaya,” sang the South African National anthem in Xhosa, and concluded their session with Hugh Maskela’s song of cultural pride and respect, “Ibala Lami” — along with a sampling of Bobotie, a traditional South African dish.

“The collaborative work of KirklandMullins and Khuduge, coupled with their students’ diligent effort and enthusiasm regarding the overall learning experience, convey that such subjects can be effectively taught in the younger grades,” noted Transatlantic Histories Program Director Thomas Thurston.

The students’ presentation served as a poignant example of the fine work that

has grown from the Gilder-Lehrman initiative and international partnership.

The Davis third-grade students were initially introduced to the South Africa unit study in January 2019. The class studied the Civil Rights Era within the United States and its impact on American society. During this period,South African counterpart Khuduge and her students were studying the fight for civil rights in South Africa during the Apartheid era. The classes exchanged information, comparing and contrasting similarities and differences in the countries’ respective, shared histories From mid-March through month-end May, the Davis students dug deeper into

our course of study. Their challenge: to complete a performance task project in the form of the Team Google Slide presentation. Using an inquiry-based learning approach, the children devised topics and questions they wanted to explore regarding South African culture. They read differentiated reading resources that included books, publications, and online resources—several of which were provided by Khuduge. The class engaged in online video sessions with the South African students. Student team members engaged in discussion on an ongoing basis. The Davis students took notes, gathered information, pictorial images, recorded notes, and more, col-

laboratively developing their presentations. Upon completion of their projects, each respective team presented their Google Slide creations before classroom peers and invited guests.

Kirkland-Mullins and Khuduge will replicate the collaborative study with their current third and sixth-grade students beginning in January through June 2020.

Meanwhile, the Davis students from last year’s program, now in fourth grade, wanted to continue their collaboration with Mary Khuduge and her students. So they and Kirkland-Mullins continue the work through a South Africa PM afterschool program.

Mayor “Kendra” Urges Kids To Open Up

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

Mayor Harp visited a first-grade class at Strong Elementary School Wednesday, playing the role of “Miss Kendra for the students.”

The mayor recitedMiss Kendra’s list with the students, and read them letters from Miss Kendra that respond to some of the worries they have shared in their letters to Miss Kendra about family, gunshots, fire drills, and their celebrations about awards and their love of school activities.

Mayor Harp also gave each student in the class one of Miss Kendra’s red beads for their worries while reciting the man-

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS Mayor Harp Wednesday as “Miss Kendra.”

tra, “I am strong, you are strong, we are strong.”

The fictional Miss Kendra is the core feature of the elementary version of a set of programs that address the need for every child to have a caring adult who empathizes with them as they share the difficult truths in their lives. The Miss Kendra Programs, which began in New Haven almost eight years ago, focus on the well-being of each child, reminding each child that they are seen, heard and cared for. The programs seek to help all students, especially those with Adverse Childhood Experiences address trauma to help them succeed later in life.

“The best way to do this is through a

6

public health approach, addressing classrooms as a whole to ensure that every student is seen and heard,” says Cat Davis, the Miss Kendra program director.

“By sharing their worries and burdens, children improve their capacity to attend to academic work, remain calm when facing demands and develop a more secure sense of self.”

“Coming together with the students and allowing them to share their worries and concerns brings us closer as a community and helps the students to feel comfortable speaking up and sharing,” Harp said.

The Miss Kendra Programs are featured in the national documentary Resilience:

The Biology of Stress and The Science of Hope and are receiving tremendous national recognition because of their unique public health approach that has shown to make a significant difference in every child’s life.

The New Haven-based program now is in school systems in seven states with many more in development. The participating school principals and faculty from New Haven and across the U.S. have documented tremendous results, including greatly reduced office referrals, suspensions, physical fights and expulsions, improved academic performance and increased job satisfaction from teachers and administrators.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

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7

Climate SOS THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

by GEREMY SCHULICK New Haven I ndependent

(Opinion) New Haven’s contingent of the U.S. Climate Strike is this Friday, Dec. 6, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. at City Hall.

Will you join me and the rest of the climate justice movement to show your support for action on the climate emergency?

The Emissions Gap Report released last week by the UN Environment Programme warns that the window to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the target recognized by scientists as critical to avoid devastating impacts, is rapidly closing.

Because we have delayed action for decades, the measures necessary are drastic – global greenhouse gas emissions must decrease by 7.6 percent each year from now on (a five-fold increase from countries’ current commitments), in stark opposition to the insidious rise we’ve seen as each year passes. While we can endlessly debate capitalism vs socialism, when it comes to climate an objective glance at the crisis baldly reveals that there is no way to achieve such “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” as stated by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, via the free market and elective individual lifestyle changes.

We should use collective spending power on policies that make up the Green New Deal, a framework of ideas proposed at the federal level by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). It’s exactly the kind of bold investment in underserved communities and jobs necessary to mitigate the climate crisis while giving more economic and political power to workers and those most impacted by this catastrophe. The yellow jackets movement in France provides a striking example of the consequences when climate policy fails to consider issues of inequality.

Decision-makers in New Haven — such as the City, Yale University, state representatives, Gov. Ned Lamont, and federal representatives — must do all they can to prioritize Green New Deal-style investments.

Skeptics say it will be too expensive, but what is the cost of inaction? 2017 was the most expensive year on record for US natural disasters, costing our country $306 billion according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is nearly half of our yearly military budget. Could you imagine what progress we could make if we spent anywhere near that amount on climate solutions? And how could we pos-

One of 2019’s New Haven climate change marches. sibly put a price tag on the 2,975 lives as Greta Thunberg pointed out, deflectlost in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Ma- ing blame onto other countries is a funria, the 85 lives lost in California from damentally flawed, doomed logic – some the Camp Fire, and the countless lives at people in Sweden cite the US’ inaction as an excuse not to act. Conversely, leadstake in the future?

Skeptics also claim that there is little ership begets positive influence.

While national action appears to be a point to driving U.S. emissions down when countries like China and India are lost cause for at least another year, many polluting so much. This is a fallacious U.S. cities and states have been rising perspective. While China is currently to the challenge. New Haven is on the the highest emitter of greenhouse gases, cusp of becoming a regional leader, as the U.S. comes in second, and is by far the Board of Alders unanimously passed the highest cumulative historical emitter. a Climate Emergency Resolution in SepClaims that the U.S.’s emissions have tember. Mayor-Elect Justin Elicker has been declining in recent years are spuri- also expressed support of this move, alous, as they fail to properly account for though much work lies ahead that must the methane emissions that result from be prioritized amid what is sure to be a fracked gas. Furthermore, I believe a long list of to-dos on the mayor’s desk more appropriate metric is per capita come January. The requested 0.1 peremissions -– China’s population is four cent (~$500K) allocation of New Hatimes that of the U.S. and its per capita ven’s yearly budget towards a Climate emissions are less than half the US’ be- Emergency Task Force, which will encause its individuals have a lower stan- act measures to eliminate New Haven’s dard of living. India’s are ten times less. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, has It should also be noted that much of Chi- yet to be ratified. While the symbolic na’s emissions stem from manufacturing declaration of emergency is significant, products that are sold to the U.S. Finally, New Haven’s carbon footprint is un-

SOPHIE SONNENFELD PHOTO

8

likely to shrink significantly unless the city puts its money where its mouth is.

As a coastal city, New Haven has a lot to lose if warming is allowed to accelerate— low-lying landmarks such as Long Wharf, Union Station, and Tweed Airport are threatened by sea level rise and severe storms. Activists have also rightly pointed out that $500K is a negligible sum compared to Yale’s $30.3 billion endowment, and the very least it could do is match this allocation to the Task Force.

The climate crisis can understandably bring about feelings of despair and futility. While we have indeed locked in dangerous levels of warming, scientists still have clearly communicated that it is not too late to stave off the worst ramifications. I’ve done work for the nonprofit Project Drawdown, which also inspires hope by highlighting a host of underutilized solutions with tremendous cobenefits that have high potential not only to limit emissions, but to sequester the carbon already in the atmosphere back into the plants and soil where it belongs.

Some of the most impactful solutions include the management of refrigerant chemicals onboard air conditioners and refrigerators, reducing food waste, empowering women and girls, and regenerative agriculture.

I was one of the people arrested at the Yale-Harvard game protest on Nov. 23, and it was one of the most thrilling feelings of my time as an activist when an estimated 500 people from the audience rushed onto the field to join us in solidarity. It was humbling, though, to look out at the stands and realize that almost 45,000 onlookers remained in their seats.

It was a testament to the persistence of the bystander effect in the face of climate catastrophe: research has shown that people will remain in rooms filling with smoke unless others are signaling the need to exit. If society truly faced the science of the climate crisis for what it is, the entire audience would have stormed that field.

If you are a parent, as I have recently become, then you owe it to your children to help disrupt our doomed status quo. Or even if you plan on remaining on Earth for the next 20 years, you ought to be very concerned. Will you acknowledge Greta Thunberg’s call to put out the fire that is burning up our one and only house? Will you join me at City Hall, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Friday as we demand that decision-makers on all levels invest in a Green New Deal?

Wooden Con’t from page 02

Calls For

checks, age limits, bans on high-capacity magazines and bump stocks.

The treasurer’s office selected Citibank as one of the senior bankers for Connecticut’s next general obligation bond sale in part because of its policies on guns.

Wooden said he wants to incentivize Connecticut’s financial partners “to do the right thing,” and he bristled at the suggestion that he was punishing lawabiding companies.

Wooden said he’s just responding to market forces.

“We’re not barring any firm from doing business with this office. What we are saying is that if you are a responsible actor and you’re willing to step up and reduce the risk of your business and do something that most Americans support that we will consider that a positive and do more business with you.”

Wooden’s “responsible gun policy” also makes good on his campaign promise to purge the state’s investment portfolios of gunmakers.

Gov. Ned Lamont applauded the move.

“The treasurer’s decision to divest from gun manufacturers and enact a firstof-its-kind, comprehensive, responsible gun policy should be applauded,” Lamont said. “Connecticut continues to be a leader in responsible gun safety policies and as a state we must go beyond legislation in order to reflect the importance of protecting our communities from gun violence.”

Wooden made the announcement in his office surrounded by gun violence prevention advocates from Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT) and Connecticut Against Gun Violence.

Janet Rice of Hartford who lost her son, Shane, to gun violence in 2012, thanked Wooden for “standing up and doing something.”

“Every story of gun violence is unique and heartbreaking,” Rice said. “We need to tackle gun violence from every angle.”

CONECT has used their buying power to purchase stock in gun companies, which gets them a seat at the table and an opportunity to influence company policies. They are looking to get companies to tighten their gun distribution systems to prevent theft and illegal sales.

They are also looking for companies to invest in research and development of new gun safety technologies.

Members of Mothers United Against Violence, Newtown Action Alliance, Connecticut Education Association, and AFT-CT also attended the press conference.

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11/11/19 5:38 PM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Standing Rock Supporters Tip Hat To Harp

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

Mayor Toni Harp moved city accounts to a new bank — and earned plaudits from social-justice activists.

The administration announced it is moving its three main operating accounts to People’s United, which prevailed in a competitive bidding process.

The accounts were moved from Wells Fargo, which the state deemed a “nonqualified depositary for municipal accounts.” Wells Fargo has come under nationwide criticism — and protest in New Haven — for bankrolling the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, which will cut through the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. It has also taken heat for funding private prisons and immigrant

detention centers, defrauding customers with bogus accounts, and discriminating against minorities with pricier mortgages.

New Haven Stands With Standing Rock, which pushed the city to shift the accounts, praised Harp’s move.

“It is true that state law required this, but that state law also had no deadline and no enforcement power, so the city took the initiative,” organizer Melinda Tuhus stated. “Wells Fargo has a terrible human rights and civil rights record, which is why we fought to get the city to move its money. Peoples is a regional bank with a commitment, as the mayor said, to our community.”

City Controller Daryl Jones said the bank move will benefit New Haven gov-

ernment’s bottom line.

“Te City is expected to both save on banking services fees and expand its digital banking solutions,” Jones stated in a city hall release. “What’s more, with People’s United Bank, we’re hopeful about future opportunities for residents to transact business directly with the city at a local People’s branch, sparing them a separate stop at City Hall.”

Tuhus added that her group remains “concerned” that the city plans to maintain a merchant card program with Chase Bank, which she called “the worst offender of all when it comes to investing in community- and climate-killing fossil fuel projects.” The group plans to “take this matter up” with incoming Mayor Justin Elicker.

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO

2017 protest outside City Hall.

Long Wharf Stages A “Pride” To Be Proud Of

by BRIAN SLATTERY

New Haven I ndependent

There is a point, at one of the dramatic peaks in the story of Pride and Prejudice, when Lizzie Bennet (Aneisa J. Hicks) is staring down the man who is either her nemesis or partner for life, Mr. Darcy (Biko Eisen-Martin). The sparring they’ve been doing has gotten about as intense as it can. The verbal gloves are coming off, and the illusions are all being stripped away. It’s then that Hicks’s take on the iconic character comes into full bloom. She’s one of the most famous characters in literature. But on the Long Wharf stage, she’s also a thoroughly contemporary black woman — and even more broadly, a person of our time. She’s fiercely intelligent, craving total honesty, and also a little frightened of what might happen if she actually gets it.

Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice — now playing at Long Wharf through Dec. 22 — has been billed as a radical reworking of the original novel. People expecting a thorough departure from Austen, then, may be surprised at how faithful it actually is.

It still tells the story of the Bennets, a once well-to-do family now down on their luck. The way out of their financial predicament, especially as Mrs. Bennet (Maria Elena Ramirez) sees it, is for each of the four daughters (it’s five in the novel) — Lizzie, Jane (Octavia ChavezRichmond), Mary (Luis Moreno), and Lydia (Dawn Elizabeth Clements) — to marry. This requires them to play the social game, to court suitors without seeming desperate, to win husbands without it seeming simply like manipulation. Complicating this still further is the fact that Lizzie Bennet and her father Mr. Bennet (Rami Margron) think the whole game is

Hicks, Ramirez, Eisen-Martin. annoying nonsense. Lizzie despises the Austen’s masterful character developgame, despises those who play it baldly, ment. Pride and Prejudice is firmly in the and yet still must find a husband. The in- English literature canon in part because trigue rises when she crosses paths with Lizzie is one of the most fully realized Mr. Darcy, a very well-to-do single man characters around, and she is as vivid who seems to like the game even less on the stage as she is on the page. The than she does. As friends and possible same goes for the complex Mr. Darcy, suitors align and the drama increases, the honest, straightforward Jane, and the Lizzie and Mr. Darcy clash. But is it also sarcastic Mr. Bennet, along with a host that sparks are flying? And will each of of secondary characters. them ever be able to let down their deThe other part of Hamill’s trick, though, fenses and see each other for who they is to pare other things down to the bone.

She cuts much of the melodrama in fatruly are?

Anyone who has read the book or vor of the humor, for instance, which has watched other adaptations knows the the effect of speeding up the story and answer already. The fun lies in how the making the play feel much more like a story unfolds. Part of Hamill’s trick in comedy, which is not at all a bad thing. condensing the novel into a two-act play Much of the other elements cut, howis to retain a great deal of Austen’s origi- ever, are the details of Austen’s original nal language, which also lets her keep 19th-century upper-middle-class British

T. CHARLES ERICKSON PHOTOS

10

setting. This has the effect of pulling the story out of its period and opening the door to a more modern interpretation that doesn’t have to call a lot of attention to itself to feel pretty current.

Under the direction of Jess McLeod, Long Wharf’s production continues steadily in that direction. The stage makes nods to 19th-century England in the shape of the furniture and some of the set patterns, but the color palette is blazingly modern. Similarly, the all non-white cast, refreshingly, makes no attempt to put on British accents. They make the characters their own. Minute for minute, these deft modernizations make Pride and Prejudice a lot of fun to watch. The jokes come fast and furious, with the actors uniformly keeping them moving at a brisk clip. There are some clever gender reversals as actors play double and triple roles. Luis Moreno gets to play a somewhat grotesque Mary while embodying goofy Mr. Bingley as well. Brian Lee Huyhn perhaps has the most fun getting to play both duplicitous suitor Mr. Wickham and disastrously icky suitor Mr. Collins. Dawn Elizabeth Clements gets to completely switch personalities from insouciant teenager Lydia Bennet to imperious grand dame Lady Catherine de Burgh. Rami Margron shape shifts as Mr. Bennet (who gets a lot of the laughs) and Lizzie’s friend Charlotte — besides Jane, the two people Lizzie is closest to in the world.

Maria Elena Ramirez, digs into the role of Mrs. Bennet — who too often comes across as flighty to the point of childish — and finds the woman who feels like she’s running out of time to do the best she can for her family.

Meanwhile, Hicks, Eisen-Martin, and Chavez-Richmond make the bold move

of playing Lizzie, Mr. Darcy, and Jane as ... simply real people. Earlier in the play, this serves the comedy. The jokes are sharper and fly a little faster. Later in the play — when the machinations and the subterfuge begin to erode away, and the barriers fall and the characters begin to speak more honestly with each other — it makes the characters more vulnerable.

Lizzie and Mr. XDarcy both have a long way to travel emotionally. In the book, it takes months. The play has to do it in two hours. Hicks’s and Eisen-Martin’s natural performances make their characters’ transformations not only believable, but affecting.

Setting Austen to more modern rhythms also raises some uncomfortable questions. It’s all too easy to us to take the Bennets’ problem as a 19th-century upper-middle-class one. Surely in the 21st century, Lizzie, Jane and Mary wouldn’t be looking for husbands to support them. They could just get jobs. Surely Lizzie wouldn’t have to put up with so much nonsense, and play so many social games that she despises.

But is that really true? We like to say we marry just for love now, but it’s naive to say that money — the need for security, the resentment and anger stirred by inequality — doesn’t play a role. Like the O’Jays told us about money in the 1970s, people still do good things and bad things with it, and for it. And sexism is alive and well, perhaps more pernicious in some ways than it was then because we want to believe that we’ve progressed. But how far have we really come? That Pride and Prejudice can still resonate tells us as much about that as it does about the enduring power of Austen’s navigation of the human heart.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Con’t on page

11

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

To Be Young Gifted And Black: How To Advocate For Your Child

by Tyra Seldon, Ph.D. BlackDoctor.org

Statistically, children of color have a lower placement rate in honors, gifted and talented, and AP courses when compared to their peers. Interestingly, this number changes very little even when Black children share a similar socioeconomic status as their White counterparts or they attend prestigious schools. This may lead some to believe that our children just don’t have what it takes to be in high achieving programs.

Nothing could be further from the truth, especially when we factor in the variables that determine how students are placed, and most importantly, the power brokers who make decisions about who can take honors courses—courses that will often place students on pathways to collegiate scholarships and college preparedness.

Step into most classrooms in America and you will find various classrooms with varied instructional purposes. For many of us, these pathways were once thought of as academic tracks. Some pathways are intended to prepare students for vocational careers; others are positioned to prepare students for professional careers/college; and others are for the purposes of providing students with more rigorous instruction.

The latter are often called honors, preAP, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses.

With the prospects of earning college credit, earning a higher (weighted) GPA or being awarded prestigious college scholarships, being placed in any of these academic pathways is often coveted and highly competitive.

Why Do Your Child’s Courses Matter?

Unlike other courses where a student, in consultation with a school counselor, self-selects his/her courses based upon

his/her diploma track, honors, pre-AP, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses often have rigid criteria for admission. These classes are often smaller in size, more autonomous in nature, driven by complex and sophisticated reading material and taught by the best teachers in the school—some of whom hold advanced degrees in their content areas.

In other words, these courses are intended to provide its students with an educational setting on par with their intellectual ability. This sounds optimal for ALL students, so why are some students excluded from these courses?

The Student Selection Process Often, students are recommended for

gifted programs, in particular, based upon their IQ test results, standardized test scores and/or the recommendations of their teachers and/or counselors. Although the process is often considered a form of meritocracy, the recommendation of a teacher can be relatively subjective. And we know that even gifted students may not fare well on aptitude or IQ tests. For these reasons, it is important to understand your school’s process for selection to any of the aforementioned programs.

Keep in mind that this often starts as early as elementary school. Unfortunately, once some students are on a particular track, it is almost impossible to get them off of that track. Selection for these courses should be transparent, equitable, and based upon merit, not race. If you

feel as if your child has been misplaced, say something and ask to meet with the honors coordinator (if applicable), the department chair and/or the principal.

What Can You Do? More than anything, you can advocate for your child. Admittedly, the K-12 landscape may be hard to navigate. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the discourse and the written work of those who support young, gifted, and Black children.

Two scholars, in particular, who have done extensive work in the areas of young, gifted, and Black children in K-12 and collegiate settings are Dr. Fred A. Bonnor II and Dr. Donna Ford. Their collective body of scholarship is helpful

in understanding the implications and long term trajectories for students who are given access to gifted and talented spaces.

For parents, the more that you understand and the more informed you are, the less complicated advocating for your child becomes. Make sure you gather as much information as you can about deadlines, criteria, and the resources that are required to position your child to have a fair chance at admission into higher-level courses. And don’t be afraid to ask to see the written, official policy for your district.

Try to be as proactive as possible. One of the most powerful words in our lexicon is: “Why?” Ask and don’t be afraid to keep asking—your child’s academic future is at stake.

The most important thing to remember is that as a parent you have rights.

A recent article that highlighted the accomplishments of esteemed scholar Dr. Donna Ford asks us all, “And how do any poor and gifted children of color scale the tremendous barriers standing between them and their potential?”

As Dr. Ford reminds us, it starts with us standing in the gap and advocating for our children.

Tyra Seldon, Ph.D. is a former English professor turned writer, editor and small business owner. Passionate about the English language and the craft of storytelling, she launched Seldon Writing Group, LLC in 2011. Dr. Seldon has worked with education tech companies, celebrities, aspiring writers, entrepreneurs, media outlets, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies to develop their written content. When she’s not writing, she’s traveling the world, one continent at a time. She can be reached at dr.tyra@seldonwritinggroup.com

Gabrielle Union Garners Support After Being Fired for Calling Out Racist Culture on AGT

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.org

Gabrielle Union, who was newly hired for the 14th season of the NBC hit variety show, America’s Got Talent, will not be not returning for the upcoming 15th season.

Her contract was not renewed after a season in which there were several issues that she was involved in, according to allegations reported by Variety last week.

Union’s contract was not renewed following her push for accountability when discrimination incidents took place on set, while higher-ups ignored or even turned a blind eye when it was demanded that actions were taken.

“Your hairstyle is ‘too black.’”

That was just one of the things that Union

reportedly was told often by producers before she was dropped from the show. If you’re a Black woman, I know what you’re thinking: I’ve heard this before.

In another one of the incidents, sources alleged to Variety that comedian Jay Leno had joked about a painting featuring dogs, saying that they were something you’d find “on a menu at a Korean restaurant.” Union allegedly urged producers to report the quip on the basis that it was insensitive and had offended staffers of Asian backgrounds.

Hollywood insiders firmly agree that “America’s Got Talent” operates within a toxic culture. But, to no one’s surprise, the network claims that the “judging and host line-up has been regularly refreshed over the years.”

NBC and “America’s Got Talent” producer Fremantle said in a joint statement,

12

“‘America’s Got Talent’ has a long history of inclusivity and diversity in both our talent and the acts championed by the show.

The judging and host line-up has been regularly refreshed over the years and that is one of the reasons for AGT’s enduring popularity. NBC and the producers take any issues on set seriously.”

Union has yet to publicly comment on the Variety report, but on Wednesday, she posted a message of gratitude on Twitter.

“So many tears, so much gratitude.

THANK YOU!” she wrote. “Just when you feel lost, adrift, alone… you got me up off the ground. Humbled and thankful, forever.”

Union also received an outpouring of support from fellow celebs, including from actress Ellen Pompeo and radio personality Howard Stern, who co-host Abby Hunts-

man pointed out is influential enough for people to listen to what he says.

But Union is no stranger to speaking up.

The 47-year-old actress was a vocal leader at the start of the… … viral #MeToo movement. She has long advocated for survivors of sexual violence and for equality for women and the LGBTQ communities. The actress, who also stars in the TV police drama “L.A.’s Finest,” continues to fight for what she feels is right including single mothers, infertility and more.

This isn’t the first time the NBC show has faced criticism for its handling of issues related to race. Former AGT host Nick Cannon left the series in 2017 after he said the network threatened to fire him over telling a joke that used the n-word in a stand-up comedy special.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 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 13

In Fabric

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

FILM REVIEW:

By Dwight Brown, NNPA Newswire Film Critic

She thought she was simply buying a sexy red dress, off the rack. But when that frock came home with her, so did the supernatural.

Writer/director Peter Strickland had a wicked vision in mind when he created this campy horror film, which has a style that is reminiscent of the 1977 cult classic Suspiria, by famed 1970s/80s Italian horror director Dario Argento. Argento gained notoriety for his arty mixture of thriller, mystery, psychological and erotic elements versus unbridled gore.

Director Luca Guadagnino (Oscar-nominee Call Me by Your Name) attempted to mimic Argento’s style with his misguided 2018 remake of Suspiria. His failure proves that stepping into this horror subgenre successfully is not that easy.

Credit Strickland for succeeding where others have not. His direction exhibits a quirky, artistic style. Scenes melt into each other effortlessly. There’s a dazzling visual flare that keeps your eyeballs glued to the screen for 118 minutes. You’re hooked until he’s through weaving a very sordid tale about a dress with a mind of its own and a curse that is deadly.

Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Secrets & Lies) ) is very conscientious. She’s a chatty and polite bank teller. As a re-

cently divorced single mom, she lives with her young adult son Vince (Jaygann Ayeh, The Souvenir). Her offspring, judging by the moans and groans that emanate from his bedroom at night when he’s hosting his ladyfriend (Gwendoline Christie), should have been living on his own years ago.

Sheila, tired of being alone, puts her profile on a dating page and is about to meet a new man for dinner. Wanting to make the right impression, she heads to a bizarre London department store and is tempted to buy something wild, for a woman of a certain age. A creepy-looking store clerk (Fatma Mohamed), who slithers down the aisles like Morticia Adams (of The Adams Family), champions a low-cut red dress. Sheila: “Isn’t it a little risqué? I don’t normally wear this kind of thing.” Clerk: “Be bold. Your date will compliment you. Touch it. Feel it. Here.”

Sheila’s restaurant rendezvous doesn’t go well. He’s a bore. Self-absorbed. No feel for small talk. No sense of humor.

Pity. But at least she has the dress she adores. Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. The frock gives her a rash. It moves around on its own, causes a series of accidents, mishaps and oddities that leave puddles of blood in its wake.

There is something so matter-of-fact about Sheila that when unnatural things vex her you feel extra sorry about her

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Photo: Marianne Jean Baptiste as Sheila misfortune. Her life turns to tatters. So do the lives of anyone who dons the scarlet garment.

Strickland sets the scare meter at moderate. The horror is consistent but not explosive. Ghastly in the right places.

A little mangling here. Oral sex there. A washing machine run amuck. Untimely deaths. The director brushes on the macabre like an artist choosing the right colors, shapes and textures for a Salvador Dali painting. Tasteful. Sick. Weird.

More like an art film gone askew. Not at all like a tacky B-movie.

The costume designer (Jo Thompson) threads together a catchy wardrobe for the cast, who look prepared to go to work or a freak show, depending. Sets (Adrian Greenwood) and production design (Paki Smith), from Shelia’s cramped two-story flat to a department store with a secret dumbwaiter that leads to a coven, pull you into a working-class life that clashes with an underworld.

The score (Cavern of Anti-Matter) has both whimsical and sinister tones. Ditto the sound design (Rob Entwistle). Editing (Matyas Fekete) the footage down to a fairly lengthy movie that doesn’t feel long is not an easy feat. The rainbow of colors (Bobbie Cousins art director) is well captured by cinematography (Ari Wegner) with lighting that is particularly sensual during a very intimate peeping tom scene. The camerawork evokes an odd feeling as you become the watcher observing a voyeur.

Baptiste leaves her everywoman imprint all over the footage. Sheila’s inflection, nonchalant delivery and stoic facial expressions rarely waver, even in the presence of two overbearing bosses, played snidely by Steve Oram and Julian Barratt. Mohamed’s accent, as the temptress clerk, is so thick you could trip over it, and the clandestine life the character leads gets spookier every minute. Jaygann Ayeh’s chemistry with Baptiste is so natural it’s as if Sheila was his real helicopter mom and he was her actual ungrateful millennial son.

Even with the dry humor and intelligent writing, make no mistakes about it, In Fabric is designed to scare the s— out of you. It does. Small eerie moments pile up, fraying your nerves, building and building. Like someone first sticking needles in your back, then switching to shivs.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Tina Turner at 80: “It’s Not What Happens, It’s How You Deal With It”

Plump for protein power: Eat more fish, chicken, nuts and pulses. Research shows that proteins such as these will keep you feeling fuller for longer than carbs.

Eat more good fats: The essential Omega-3 fats in oily fish such as mackerel and salmon protect your heart and boost the condition of your skin and hair. Aim for two servings a week.

Fiber is your friend. Replace white, high GI carbs (bread, rice, pasta) with low GI whole or brown versions where possible.

Reduce your alcohol intake but you can allow yourself a small glass of red wine with dinner.

Tina’s commitment to exercise also helps keep her body in shape. With a home in Switzerland, she has become a devotee of saunas and steam rooms and “walking 10 miles up and down stairs at home.”

“The main reason I’ve stayed looking good is that I’ve spent 40 years doing the most intensive stage workouts ever,” she admits.

by T. R. Causay, BlackDoctor.org

Her voice is famous. And so are her legs. At 80, Tina Turner seems to just get better and better with age – a phenomenon the singer believes comes down to a combination of great style, great health and a great attitude.

Tina has been a legendary performer since the early 60s, but her second taste of the big time began in 1985, with the multi-million selling album, Private Dancer. Tina was already 47 by then, an age when many rock stars are looking to slow down. However, the sexy star has always thought age was irrelevant.

“A 50-year-old woman is equivalent to 40 when I was growing up,” she insists.

“If you take care of yourself, 60 is nothing for women these days. In today’s world, you can be the kind of woman you want to be.”

Tina Turner seems to just get better and better with age – a phenomenon the singer believes is down to a combination of great style, health and attitude.

Tina’s positive attitude doesn’t mean she hasn’t seen change in the past 25 years. She’s just able to put things into perspective.

“Of course, I’ve aged a bit in the face,” she says, “but not enough to worry about it. I’ve got common sense enough to know that something has to give.”

A few tiny wrinkles may be there, but Tina’s body weight has remained remarkably stable.

“I’m an American size 10, which I think

in the UK is 14 – that has remained constant,” explains Turner. “The older you get, the more your realize it’s not what happens, it’s how you deal with it.

Tina says she manages her weight by not eating after 6pm, drinking lots of water and, of course, dancing. If she needs to really get into shape for a tour, she has been known to resort to a bit of dieting. Back in 2000, for the Twenty Four Seven tour, Tina tried the cabbage soup diet, but didn’t enjoy it. For this

tour she’s opted for a more moderate regime.

“I don’t abuse myself with sweets, sugars, cakes and fat. I eat healthily. The pleasure of life is dinner.”

Luckily for Tina, her natural preference is for good healthy food. Rather than the fatty fried-food of her childhood in the southern United States, Tina enjoys lighter options. She prefers to eat a combination of Thai and Italian food most of the time – although she limits high-carb

pasta to “twice a week only.”

“I eat a breakfast of banana, kiwi and melon, and brown German bread.”

Some of Tina’s other eating tips include: Cut sugar where you can. This means avoiding biscuits, cakes and sweets, and not adding sugar to drinks or cereal. You don’t have to cut out treats completely but stick to only a few after dinner.

“Simply The Best” Attitude It is Tina’s mental attitude that perhaps plays the biggest part in her healthy lifestyle.

“Women should be proud of who they are at any stage in their lives. If you look good and can still do it, then do it.

My attitude is not one of a 69-year-old woman.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Three Baltimore Men Exonerated After Nearly Four Decades in Prison

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Alfred Chestnut, Ransom Watkins and Andrew Stewart were released and exonerated after spending 36 years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit.

The men were teenagers when they received a life sentence in 1984 after being convicted of murdering 14-year-old DeWitt Duckett in Baltimore.

“Everyone involved in this case — school officials, police, prosecutors, jurors, the media, and the community — rushed to judgment and allowed their tunnel vision to obscure obvious problems with the evidence,” said Shawn Armbrust, executive director of the MidAtlantic Innocence Project, which represents Watkins.

“This case should be a lesson to everyone that the search for quick answers can lead to tragic results,” Armbrust stated.

DeWitt reportedly was shot in the neck following a dispute over a jacket as he walked to class at Harlem Park Junior High School in Baltimore.

Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney, reopened the case earlier this year because of lingering questions and recent revelations of corruption in the city’s police department that allegedly stretched back for decades.

Chestnut also sent a query to the city’s Conviction Integrity Unit, which the Washington Post said included exculpatory evidence that he uncovered in 2018.

An assistant prosecutor who worked on the case in 1984 reportedly said that prosecutors had no reports at the time that would have cast doubt on the guilt of the three men.

Following their conviction, court records were sealed, and it wasn’t until a year ago, that Chestnut had successfully obtained the related documents through a freedom of information request.

According to the District Attorney’s office, the police records revealed that several witnesses told authorities that the person responsible was an 18-yearold who immediately fled the scene and dumped his weapon.

Instead, the Baltimore police focused

their investigation on Chestnut, Watkins, and Stewart. The alleged shooter was fatally shot in 2002.

“On behalf of the criminal justice sys-

tem, and I’m sure this means very little to you, gentlemen, I’m going to apologize,” Circuit Court Judge Charles Peters told the men at a hearing on Monday,

November 25.

Peters said the men are entirely exonerated.

Serena Williams Builds Schools in Jamaica, Africa

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

While many deep-pocketed philanthropists and celebrities will write checks to support worthy causes, Tennis megastar Serena Williams routinely goes the extra mile.

In a recently released video, Williams donned a pair of jeans, workboats, a hardhat and went to work on Salt Marsh Elementary School in Trelawny Parish, Jamaica.

Williams, who has won a total of 39 Tennis Grand Slams – including Doubles titles, has also built grade schools in Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.

Williams built the Marsh Elementary through a partnership with the nonprofit Helping Hands Jamaica, while the schools in Africa were in conjunction with Build Africa.

Serena Williams at The American Issue for The FADER (Photo: sperry/Wikimedia Commons)

It’s part of the mission of Williams’ Serena Williams Fund and her other charitable efforts, which include the Serena Williams Venture, where the tennis champion seeks to boost the bottom line of individual companies.

“In 2014, I launched Serena Ventures with the mission of giving opportunities to founders across an array of industries.

Serena Ventures invests in companies that embrace diverse leadership, individual empowerment, creativity, and opportunity,” Williams said in a statement posted on her organization’s website.

“Serena Ventures focuses on earlystage companies and allowing them to be heard. As we grow, we hope to mentor young founders and take burgeoning entrepreneurs to the next level,” she stated.

“Serena Ventures extends relationships, encourages collaboration among portfolio companies, and expands partnership

opportunities across my vast network.

Similar to many of the companies we have invested in, we are just getting started and are hoping to make a difference.”

Also, according to Charity Buzz, the Serena Williams Fund was established to promote equity; through education, gender, race, disability, or anything else that stands in the way of someone achieving their goals and living their best possible life.

“The mission of this charity is to help the individuals or communities affected by to violence, and [to ensure] equal access to education,” Williams stated.

Knowing the value of creating strong partnerships with organizations with expertise in their fields, Williams counts as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador. She has partnered with organizations such as Beyond the Boroughs Scholarship Fund,

The Equal Justice Initiative, The Caliber Foundation, and Build Africa Schools.

Jessica Curney of Borgen Magazine reported that before each of her matches, Williams reads and writes affirmations out loud from her diary about wanting to help people, kids, and work in Africa.

“Through the Serena Williams Fund, Williams dedicates her off-season time improving access to education by building schools in underprivileged areas of the world,” Gurney reported.

“She has done extraordinary tasks using her own resources and through partnerships with the Serena Williams Fund and other foundations dedicated to providing and improving education for those in difficult conditions or developing countries. Her active role has notably left a mark on those who have had their lives changed significantly through this act of kindness.”

Kelly Rowland wants to create her own biopic about disco legend Donna Summer RollingOut.com

The former Destiny’s Child singer is a huge fan of the late disco legend and has long wanted to portray her on the big screen.

She previously put herself forward to play Summer — who died from lung cancer in May 2012 at the age of 63 — in director Spike Lee’s proposed movie Spinning Gold about Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart and the acts he discovered, which included Summer,

The Village People, KISS, Gladys Knight & the Pips and The Isley Brothers.

The project was originally announced back in 2013 but has stalled for years before recently being revived with Bogart’s son, screenwriter Timothy Bogart, taking on directorial duties instead of Oscar winner Lee, and actor Jeremy Jordan portraying his father onscreen.

Now that film has moved on and Kelly has decided the time is right for her to create her own movie about her hero Summer, with her retaining complete

creative control over the big-screen biopic.

The “When Love Takes Over” hitmaker was she was asked if it is still her dream to play Summer during an appearance on the talk show “Watch What Happens Live” by a caller who suggested she should make the movie herself.

She answered: “I think it is time too.

Thank you for reminding me for the 100th time! I really, really do appreciate it because the truth is, it is time.”

Summer was a five-time Grammy Award

16

winner and sold over 100 million records worldwide during her incredible career.

Known as the “Queen of Disco,” Summer created the club classics “Love to Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love” with her long-time collaborator, songwriterand-producer Giorgio Moroder, the former single being her breakthrough hit and causing controversy due to Summer’s sexual moans on the record.

After dominating the disco scene in the 1970s — releasing seven albums during the decade — Summer broke away

from the genre in the 1980s releasing the rock LP “The Wanderer” in 1980 before going on to work with Quincy Jones on 1982’s Summer, which contained the hits “Love Is in Control” and “State of Independence.”

She continued to churn out hits in the following decades, right up to 2010 with the dance single “To Paris With Love.”

The post Kelly Rowland wants to create her own biopic about disco legend Donna Summer appeared first on Rolling Out.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Suffragist Coralie Franklin Cook:

By Stacy M. Brown, Special to The Washington Informer This is part of an ongoing Washington Informer series about the Women’s Suffrage Movement and an initiative that includes Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes that will use the lens of history, the fabric of art and culture and the venue of the public square to shine a light into dark places, equipping all with a compass to chart the way forward. The initiative lives in the institutional home of the Washington Informer Charities.

Get to know Coralie Franklin Cook, who taught elocution and English at Howard University.

Born into slavery in Lexington, Virginia, in 1829, Cook became the first descendant of a Thomas Jefferson Monticello slave known to have graduated from college. In 1880, she graduated from Storer College in West Virginia before becoming a teacher.

In 1898, she married Howard University professor George William Cook and served for more than 12 years as a member of the District of Columbia Board of Education. She founded the National Association of Colored Women but was mostly known as a committed suffragist.

Historians said she admired Susan B.

First Descendant of Monticello Slave to Graduate College

Anthony, but eventually was turned off by the women’s suffrage movement because it ignored the plight of black women.

“No woman and no class of women can be degraded, and all womankind not suffer thereby … and so Miss Anthony,” Cook said, addressing Anthony directly in a speech at the Unitarian Church in Rochester, New York, in 1902. “In behalf of the hundreds of colored women who wait and hope with you for the day when the ballot shall be in the hands of every intelligent woman; and also in behalf of the thousands who sit in darkness and whose condition we shall expect those ballots to better, whether they be in the hands of white women or Black, I offer you my warmest gratitude and congratulations.”

The 19th Amendment granting the women the right to vote in 1918 was certainly a victory. However, as noted in a publication published by the League of Women Voters, for women who were not white, wealthy, or educated, it remained an incomplete one.

“Black men had been granted the right to vote in 1870 with the 15th Amendment, yet actual attempts to exercise that right had been repeatedly met with mob violence and lynching,” according to the

article written by Kathryn S. Gardiner.

“Black women now faced those same obstacles to their rights, and women like Cook who had carried the suffrage banner found themselves standing alone in facing them. Seemingly, as far as white women were concerned, the battle was over.”

In 1915, Cook continued her crusade for women’s and equal rights. She published “Votes for Mothers” in the NAACP mag-

azine The Crisis: “I wonder if anybody in all this great world ever thought to consider man’s rights as an individual, by his status as a father? yet you ask me to say something about ‘Votes for Mothers,’ as if mothers were a separate and peculiar people. After all, I think you are not so far wrong.

Mothers are different, or ought to be different, from other folk. The woman who smilingly goes out, willing to meet the Death Angel, that a child may be born, comes back from that journey, not only the mother of her own adored babe, but a near-mother to all other children. As she serves that little one, there grows within her a passion to serve humanity; not race, not class, not sex, but God’s creatures as he has sent them to earth.

“It is not strange that enlightened womanhood has so far broken its chains as to be able to know that to perform such service, woman should help both to make and to administer the laws under which she lives, should feel responsible for the conduct of educational systems, charitable and correctional institutions, public sanitation and municipal ordinances in general.

“Who should be more competent to control the presence of bar rooms and ‘red-light districts’ than mothers whose

sons they are meant to lure to degradation and death?

“Who knows better than the girl’s mother at what age the girl may legally barter her own body? Surely not the men who have put upon our statute books, 16, 14, 12, aye be it to their eternal shame, even 10 and 8 years, as ‘the age of consent!’

“If men could choose their own mothers, would they choose free women or bondwomen? Disfranchisement because of sex is curiously like disfranchisement because of color. It cripples the individual, it handicaps progress, it sets a limitation upon mental and spiritual development.

“I grow in breadth, in vision, in the power to do, just in proportion as I use the capacities with which Nature, the All-Mother, has endowed me.

“I transmit to the child who is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh and thought of my thought; somewhat of my own power or weakness. Is not the voice which is crying out for ‘Votes for Mothers’ the Spirit of the Age crying out for the Rights of Children?”

Information from The Crisis Magazine, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and the League of Women Voters of Delaware County (Indiana), was used in this story.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Male Birth Control Passes Clinical Trials: Here’s What You Should Know!

Jasmine Danielle is the Associate Editor of BlackDoctor.org.

Is this the moment that us ladies have been waiting for? It surely has been a long time coming, but at last, a male contraceptive has successfully completed clinical trials and could be available to the public as early as 2020.

This new contraception will be injectable and is said to be 97% effective. This is big news, but what does it mean for us?

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It’s a shot that is made up of a compound called Styrene Maleic Anhydride.

How Does it Work?

The compound will be injected into the vas deferens, which is the duct that carries sperm from the testicles to the urethra. This will effectively block sperm from leaving the testicles. This could be the first non-surgical alternative to vasectomy.

“Non-surgical procedures are always preferred over surgical procedures because they will be safer and less invasive,” said Dr. Anup Kumar, head of urology and renal transplant department, Safdarjung Hospital. “More men are likely to opt for it.”

What’s the Catch?

18

The drug was developed in India, where the clinical trials also took place, and because of this the manufacture, sale, and distribution of new medical innovation in India requires approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

This is expected to take about six to seven months.

In addition to the approval timeline, this injection is designed to last approximately 13 years, after which the polymer solution loses its potency. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a bonus or a bust.

“It’s the first in the world from India so we have to be extra careful about approval. We are looking at all aspects, especially the good manufacturing practice (GMP) certification that won’t raise any

questions about its quality,” said V.G. Somani, the drug controller general of India.

India is currently at the forefront of male contraception research, but the U.S. is not far behind as researchers have been working on a similar contraceptive, called Vasalgel, but it’s still under development.

In all, the future looks bright for male contraception. Share this with the man in your life!

Jasmine Danielle is the Associate Editor of BlackDoctor.org. She received her BFA in Dance Education & Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has since done work as a certified fitness & wellness educator, blogger, dancer, and designer.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

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

Water Treatment NOTICE

Water Treatment Pumping Operator I - The Town of Wallingford’s Water Division is seeking qualified candidates to maintain and operate the water treatment plants, pump stations, and well MACRI facilities.RENTAL Must process a High School Diploma or G.E.D with one VALENTINA HOUSING PREAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLE (1) year of experience involving the operation or maintenance of equipment of the type predominant in the of water treatment industry. to obtain within one (1) HOME INC, on behalf Columbus House and theAbility New Haven Housing Authority, year, State of Connecticut DPH for Class I Water Treatment Plant Operator’s is accepting pre-applications studio and one-bedroom apartments at Certificate, this develClass I Water Distribution System Operator Certification and income successful completion opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum limitations apof an water treatment plant operator’s certificate $25.96 - $31.55 ply.approved Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PMprogram. beginning Monday Ju;y hourly plus an fringe sufficient benefit package.

Apply: Department of Human Re25, 2016 andexcellent ending when pre-applications (approximately 100) have sources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492.

The been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reclosing will beHOME the dateINC theat50th application/resume is received, Decemberpre16, questdate by calling 203-562-4663 during those hours. or Completed 2019 whichever occurs first.

EOE applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Construction

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operaNOTICIA tor and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation a validDEdrivers license required. ToDISPONIBLES apply please VALENTINA MACRI and VIVIENDAS ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está 368, Cheshire, CT06410. aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Action/Equal Opportunity M/F/V ubicado en laAffirmative calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. SeEmployer aplican limitaciones de ingresos Drug disponibles Free Workforce máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en Invitation 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . for Bid

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The Glendower Group, Inc an affiliate of Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking bids for Snow Removal Services at Third Party Sites. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gate242-258 Fairmont way beginning on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 atAve 3:00PM

NEW HAVEN

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 ELM CITY COMMUNITIES highways, near bus stop & shopping center Request for Proposals Development of Single Family Homeownership Housing

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s

Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates The HousingtoAuthority the City ofThe New d/b/a Elm Communities is1:30curin response the Church’sof Ministry needs. costHaven is $125. Classes start City Saturday, August 20, 2016 3:30 Contact: Deacon J. Davis, M.S., B.S. rently seekingChairman, Proposals forJoe Development of Single Family Homeownership Hous(203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster ing.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor St. New Haven, CT Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 3:00PM.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Invitation for Bid Lead Abatement & Interim Control Measures 4 Developments Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairsin and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

The Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking bids for Lead Abatement & Interim Control Measures in 4 Developments. A A pre-bid conference will be held Housing 28CollaboSmith complete copy of the requirement may at bethe obtained fromAuthority Elm City’sOffice Vendor ration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. beginning on Monday, November 25 at 3:00PM

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

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 TheonHousing reserves the right to accept or reject anyM-F or all bids, to based experience.Authority Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE HELP WANTED:

reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

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.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Project Manager/Project Supervisor

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Help Wanted: Immediate opening for a Project Manager/ProjOld Saybrook, CT ect Supervisor for Heavy and Highway Construction. Previous (4 Buildings, 17 Units) experience on CTDOT projects required.

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.

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

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Autoridad de Vivienda de Branford, Parkside Village II Aceptar solo solicitudes para apartamentos de eficiencia New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast- II/ no Utilities A partir de $592 mensuParkside Village in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, ales, Max. Ingresos Please call PJF Construction Corp. @ 860-888-9998.

We are an equal opportunity employer M/F

Listing: Accounting Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Límite: Accounting Department hasElectrical, an immediate opening in Protection.

AcMechanical, Plumbing and Fire 1 persona $52,850, Contacto: counts full time position in aand fast-paced ThisPayable. contract isThis subject to state set-aside contract office compliance requirements.

Merit Properties, Inc., 1224 Mill St., Bldg. A environment could be an excellent entry to an Accounting Berlín Oriental CT 06023, correo electrónico: info@ career. Requires good computer and organizational skills, Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 merit-properties.net, 860-828-0531 ext. 204 attention to detail, and multi-tasking. Benefits include Anticipated August 15, resume 2016 health, dental & LTD insurance plusStart: 401(k).

Send Project documents available ftp link below: to: Human Resource Dept.

P O Box 388, via Guilford CT http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage 06437.

Branford Housing Authority, Parkside Village II

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

Accepting Applications for Efficiency Apartments Only

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com Elderly 62+/Disabled 18+ Community HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Parkside Village II/no Utilities Starting at $592 a month, Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

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

20

Max. Income Limit: 1 person $52,850, Contact: Merit Properties, Inc., 1224 Mill St., Bldg. A #102, East Berlin CT 06023, e-mail: info@merit-properties.net, 860-828-0531 ext.204

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

DELIVERY PERSON

NOTICE

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT VALENTINA MACRIhourly RENTAL PREAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLE We offer excellent rateHOUSING & excellent benefi ts Contact: Tom Dunay Phone: 860- 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: Tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com isWomen accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations apAffirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reGarrity Asphalt Incduring seeks: Must quest by calling HOME Reclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 those hours. Completed pre-Have your Own Vehicle applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. 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: MACRI rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply AffiINC, rmative Action/ Opportunity HOME en nombre deEqual la Columbus House yEmployer de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos 1907 máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 Hartford Turnpike Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction North Haven, CT 06473 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Equipment.

Must a CDL clean driving en las oficinas de have HOME INC. License, Las pre-solicitudes seránrecord, enviadas por correo a petición capable operating equipment; be willing to travel llamandoofa HOME INCheavy al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse throughout theenNortheast & Street, NY. tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . a las oficinas de HOME INC 171 Orange Insulation company offering good pay We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits and benefits. Please mail resume to Contact Dana at 860-243-2300.

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com above address.

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply MAIL ONLY Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

NEEDED

Property Management Company is seeking a Resident Services Coordinator in New Haven, CT. Part time- 16 hrs/wk. Must have experience working w/ senior and disabled community. Social Services background preferred.

Please call (860) 951-9411 x238 for inquiries.

Part Time Delivery Needed

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

One/Two Day a Week,

If Interested call

(203) 435 -1387

NOTICIA

KMK Insulation Inc.

Union Company seeks:

Invitation for Bids

Window, Screen and Glass Replacement and Repair Services The Housing Authority of the City of New Havend/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Window, Screen and Glass Replacement and Repairs Services. A complete copy of the requirementsmay be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems. com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at 3:00PM.

NEW HAVEN POLICE NOW HIRING

Mechanical Insulator position.

This company is an Affirmative Action/

NEW HAVEN

Apply online at Policeapp.com

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 242-258 Fairmont Ave HACD Corp.

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 Housing level , 1BA Supportive Program

Or Visit our Social Media Pages SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close P19008 to I-91 & I-95 For More Information Old Saybrook, CT RFP No. highways, near bus stop & shopping center (4 Buildings, 17 Units) HACD Corp. is seeking proposals for a NHPDrecruitment Nhpdrecruitment New Haven Police Department Recruitment Team Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project structured independent living environment for low/very low-income individuals who SCOPE: CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castmay or may not be experiencing Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, homelessness. in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

CONTACT PERSON: St. New Haven, CT

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

Ms. Devin Marra, Director of Procurement Telephone: 203-744-2500 x141 Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

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

E-Mail: dmarra@hacdct.org

CONSTRUCTION HELP WANTED

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Contact Ms. Devin Marra, via e-mail.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY LaRosa Building Group is looking for people interested in construction Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

HOW TO OBTAIN THE RFP DOCUMENTS:

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour

for a project in New Haven.

Project documents available via ftp link below: 98 Elm Street, Danbury, CT 06811 PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE: until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its officeDecember at 28 Smith Street, 11, 2019 at 2:00 PM (EST) http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the HACD Corp.

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

New Haven and Section 3 residents are encouraged to apply.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com 2 Mill Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT 06811 For applications: HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL RETURN: Envelope Must be Marked: RFP P19008 HaynesNo. Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Visit the job site at 300 Wilmot Rd, New Haven CT., Supportive Housing Program AA/EEO EMPLOYER

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

PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL December 20, 2019 at 2:00PM (EST) DEADLINE Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Of-

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

[Minority- and/or women-owned businesses are encouraged to respond]

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

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or join us on Thursday, November 14th, at 6:00 PM

or

Email: HR@larosabg.com

An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

Justice for Rodney Reed!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Family, supporters press Texas governor for new trial for man on death row

By Barrington M. Salmon, Contributing Writer, The Final Call

A crowd some of Rodney Reed’s family members estimated was about 1,000 people, recently gathered at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, Texas demanding that Gov. Greg Abbott act to halt the execution of Mr. Reed in a controversial murder case.

In the past several months, there has been a groundswell of support for Mr. Reed, 51, who has been on death row for 20 years. In 1996, he was charged with and convicted of the rape and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites by an all-White jury.

Rodney Reed and his family have always maintained his innocence and his brother and family spokesman Roderick Reed said the family wants a stay of execution and a new trial.

Rodney Reed is scheduled for execution Nov. 20 when an appeals court stepped in November 15th to suspend his death sentence indefinitely. The decision also ordered the court where he was originally tried to consider new evidence in the case.

“All we want is a fair trial. That’s all we’re asking for,” Mr. Reed told The Final Call.

“We want to be able to present witnesses and new evidence and clear his name … I believed he would have gotten off when he was on trial because we knew the truth. He and the rest of us as a family have always stood in that truth.”

Roderick Reed said he knew his brother and Ms. Stites had been in a relationship and had met Ms. Stites but because of the racial climate and the potential for backlash and retaliation, the couple had kept their relationship secret. Ms. Stites, at the time, was engaged to a police officer, Jimmy Fennell, who many believed was her killer.

The uncovering of new evidence, recent affidavits from witnesses that point to Mr. Fennell’s involvement in Ms. Stites’ death and enduring questions about details of the victim’s death necessitates a new trial, Mr. Reed’s supporters say.

Roderick Reed and his wife Wana recounted the isolation the family endured.

The family approached local churches and civil rights organizations for help but was rebuffed, he said.

“The family had been turned down repeatedly by local clergy. The Nation of Islam was the only one present,” said Student Min. Robert L. Muhammad, who has been supporting the Reed family for about 17 years. “The family has been disappointed and dismayed but recently, we have seen a great outpouring of support recently that is very encouraging.”

Mrs. Reed concurred.

“We were shunned by their people, shunned

by Black press,” she recalled. “When the family first went out to Black churches, one pastor said, ‘I wouldn’t touch this with a

10-foot pole.’ ” Both spoke of the Reed brothers—Robert, Ronald, Richard, Roderick, Ryan—being denied jobs because of their last names, and some older family members staying away from the family home for fear of being shot, ostracized or punished for their family ties.

Bastrop, Texas is 33 miles from Austin, the state capital and 85 miles from San Antonio. In 2017, the town had 8,802 residents.

Min. Muhammad and the Reeds described a small Southern town steeped in racism, with the typical American racial hierarchy of Whites on top, Latinos in the middle and Blacks languishing at the bottom.

“Bastrop is racist but it’s lot different and deeper now,” Mrs. Reed said. “You don’t realize how deep it is because it’s almost second nature. It’s so deeply engrained in people. But it’s not like how it used to be.

We have Confederate monuments on the courthouse lawn. Things may be getting better but there is always a sense of looming White supremacy and the racial hierarchy.”

Min. Muhammad, who heads Muhammad Mosque No. 64 in Austin, agreed.

“Bastrop has a history of racism that existed there from the early 1900s to the ’70s and ’80s,” said Minister Muhammad, who was born and raised in nearby Austin, which is a considerably more liberal city.

Mr. Reed said he knew his brother was dating Ms. Stites although that wasn’t common knowledge. His brother, his sister-inlaw said, got caught up in the narrative of a Black guy was in relationship with White woman in a Southern town.

Staff at The Innocence Project, which is handling Mr. Reed’s case, and the Reed

family have raised a number of troubling questions and highlighted a series of discrepancies which they say all add up to Mr. Reed being an innocent man railroaded by the criminal justice system. It includes discrepancies about the time of Ms. Stites’ death as well as, the fact that the murder weapon, a belt, has never been tested for DNA evidence; and the state’s three forensic experts’ admission on the record to errors in their testimony, which led to Rodney Reed’s conviction and death sentence.

They have submitted affidavits that the original time of death is inaccurate, charging the timeline for Mr. Reed killing Stites implausible.

Further, renown forensic pathologists including Dr. Michael Baden, Dr. Werner Spitz, Dr. LeRoy Riddick, M.D., and Dr. Cyril Wecht, have all concluded that Rodney Reed’s guilt is medically and scientifically impossible; Mr. Reed and Ms. Stites were having a consensual sexual relationship although at the time of the trial, no one came forward to corroborate their relationship. Today, new witnesses including Stites’s cousin and a co-worker, Alicia Slater, have corroborated Rodney Reed’s claim that they knew that Reed and Stites were romantically involved for months after the murder, and Jimmy Fennell was the prime suspect in the case. Mr. Fennell’s best friend at the time of the crime, Bastrop Sheriff’s Officer Curtis Davis, has now revealed that Mr. Fennell gave an inconsistent account of where he was on the night of the murder.

Two witnesses have come forward in recent weeks and submitted signed affidavits that add to the mounting evidence against Mr. Fennell. These affidavits include testimony from an insurance salesperson who stated that Mr. Fennell threatened to kill

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Ms. Stites while applying for life insurance. The second witness was a deputy in the Lee County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the murder, who alleges Mr. Fennell made an alarming and incriminating statement at Ms. Stites’s funeral regarding her body. Then there is an alleged a confession by Mr. Fennell that came to light Oct. 29. Mr. Fennell served 10 years and was released from prison in 2018 after being convicted of assaulting a woman who was in his custody as a police officer. Arthur Snow, a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood and prison mate of Mr. Fennell, disclosed a conversation in which Mr. Fennell allegedly confessed to murdering Stacey Stites stating, “I had to kill my nigg**-loving fiancée.”

The prosecution’s only forensic evidence linking Rodney Reed to the crime was semen taken from Ms. Stites’s body, which was attributed to the consensual relationship between them. The prosecution used this to connect him to the murder and refute a consensual romantic relationship, but some testimony has been recanted and discredits the state’s case, The Innocence Project said.

“We identify as death penalty abolitionists,” Mrs. Reed said. “Gov. (Greg) Abbott has been silent. He’s aware of Rodney’s case but has not made any statement, said nothing about it. He may be waiting for the (state) Supreme Court to act.”

Mrs. Reed said there are many holes in this case and substantial doubt.

“We want the state to give Rodney’s life back, show that he’s innocent,” she said.

“The family wants them to stop the execution ASAP. Abbott can issue a stay and he has the power to direct this towards a new

case.”

Rodney’s case has caught the attention of celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian—who Mrs. Reed said has called, kept in touch and who is working behind the scenes along with rapper Meek Mill. Prison abolitionists, anti-death penalty advocates, ministers, priests and pastors have joined to lift their voices calling for Gov. Abbott to issue a stay of execution and order a new trial. Journalist and social justice activist Shaun King started a petition that had garnered more than 2 million signatures.

Then on Oct. 10-11, Dr. Phil McGraw explored the case on his television show to consider Mr. Reed’s claims of innocence.

“I don’t think it’s a question of whether he’s guilty or not guilty,” said Dr. Phil, who had an in-person interview with Mr. Reed, according to the Death Penalty Information Centre. “I think the question is, has he had a fair trial with a full airing of all of the evidence. And I think the answer to that question, in my opinion, is not just ‘no’ but ‘hell no.’”

The Innocence Project and Rodney Reed are seeking DNA testing of evidence that they say will exonerate him.

Mrs. Reed described the conditions under which her brother-in-law has lived for the past two decades.

“He’s incredibly strong. God has allowed me to see and witness true strength,” she said. “I went to visit him. He was upbeat.

He is in a 6-foot square cell 23 hours a day, 7 days a week. He’s a big man in small space. He has pretty severe sensory deprivation. He’s not allowed to hug his mother, family or friends since all this time. But despite all that he’s pretty positive.”

She said Mr. Reed has no access to a computer, cell phone, or technology. He has supporters who reach out to him and that happens through his partner Judy Ann, who shares every day comments from his supporters and updates.

“He has family visits two hours a week.

There’s a lot to get out because he’s trying to get everything out,” she said. “It can be a little tense sometimes. Rodney remains very strong and is being cautiously optimistic.”

Roderick Reed said his brother’s incarceration has been “a game-changer, life changing.”

“Dealing with this for this amount of time is a life changer. It has changed our lives.

We’ll never be the same,” he said. “But every day knowing the truth and that Rodney’s innocent and this experience has brought me to a whole other place in my mind.”

Now, Roderick Reed said, he’s focused, looking forward to the day when his brother comes home.

“I’m very optimistic. He will be exonerated. We will have time to heal,” he concluded.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

ARTS FUNDING

Bethel A.M.E. Church Music Department Presents

NEIGHBORHOOD CULTURAL VITALITY GRANT

December 7 - 2pm December 8 - 4pm

call 203-946-7172 for info

Bethel A.M.E. Church 255 Goffe Street New Haven, CT grant DEADLINES Letter of Intent: November 20 | Application: December 18

blacknativityct.brownpapertickets.com or https://blacknativityct.bpt.me or Call 203-747-8985

INFORMATION SESSIONS Oct. 21 - Wilson Library @ 5:00pm Oct. 24 - Fair Haven Library @ 5:30pm Oct. 29 - Mitchell Library@ 5:00pm

grant writing @ stetson library Nov. 6, 13, 20 6:00pm-8:00pm Nov. 23 10:00am-4:00pm

Featuring Elder Howard Taylor & The Vernon Jones Singers

CITY OF NEW HAVEN, TONI. N. HARP, MAYOR

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

December 04, 2019 - December 10, 2019

Health insurance plans that are just right for your right now.

Whether you’re the first generation or the third, we connect you to quality health insurance plans that help you protect your health — and your finances. Find the plan that fits your needs at AccessHealthCT.com.

Financial help is still available.

Open Enrollment ends December 15.

36965_CORE_Inner City 925x105_English.indd 1

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10/18/19 4:46 PM