INNER-CITY NEWS

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

FinancialWill Justice Key Focus 2016Public NAACP Convention Dinner Be aServed At at More Schools INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

New Haven, Bridgeport

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Volume 27 . No. 2259 Volume 21 No. 2194

Alabama Vote Buoys

“DMC”

Black Women

Color Struck?

“Wonderland” Wows Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

Snow in July?

CBC Members Met with FBI Director Christopher Wray

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About the FBI’s Controversial “Black Identity Extremists” Report. This Is What They Learned 1

NEW HAVEN ALDER

DARRYL BRACKEEN, JR.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

NEW HAVEN ALDER DARRYL BRACKEEN, JR. (WARD 26-D) CONDEMNS THE RECENT DECISION BY THE FCC REPEALING THE OPEN INTERNET ORDER. New Haven - What sets America apart from many democracies across the world is that Freedom of Speech is a right given by our constitution. If this is such a fundamental and sacred tenet of our democracy, does the Federal Communication Council realize it? Their latest move of repealing the Open Internet Order previously passed by the FCC in 2015, is a fundamental step in the wrong direction. Our Freedom of Speech is in grave danger with the recent dismantling of Net Neutrality regulation. The Open Internet Order put protections into place to require internet providers to offer a neutral gateway for internet access. The 2015 Order required providers to be prohibited from assigning different costs to different types of internet traffic. They were prohibited from purposely slowing down internet speeds or block lawful websites. Internet companies were correctly treated as the public services they are.

The FCC’s decision shattered these protections. With FCC chairman Ajit Pai’s repeal of the Open Internet Order, internet companies can transform the web from a utopia of free speech to a rich man’s paradise. Pai and his

DARRYL BRACKEEN, JR.

supporters argue that the Open Internet Order was a symptom of government over-regulation and that internet companies will now have a greater ability to facilitate innovation. The reality of the repeal is very different. As the New York Times reports, providers can now decide to control whether or

not people can access certain websites. Imagine having to pay extra just to use Facebook or read your emails.

This is now a possibility. Internet companies can also regulate the speed of a websites service. In such a scenario, bigger companies could pay extra so that their websites stream faster than those of smaller companies. We all know that if a video does not buffer or a website does not load within a short period of time, we will give up on it. If smaller companies have this disadvantage, they will not be able to compete and the internet will move from a place of free-wheeling innovation to an oligarchical marketplace dominated by the elite few.

However, the fight is not over. The FCC repeal has yet to be approved by the Senate and there are lawsuits being filed all over the country to contest the repeal. This is where we need your support. Please, call your Senators and urge them to vote no on the repeal and to convince their colleagues to do the same. Call your Attorney General and ask him to join forces with Attorney Generals such as New York’s Eric Schneiderman, who

Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven is pleased to welcome Louis Perno as its new Executive Director

He will be responsible for all operations in the New Haven area, the Valley, Meriden and Wallingford. Literacy Volunteers is a non-profit educational organization that recruits, trains and supports volunteer tutors. The tutors provide free literacy tutoring for adults who need to improve their reading, writing, and English-speaking skills.

The organization’s goal is to empower adults through literacy. This past year over 1,500 adults were serviced by the program.

Lou resides in New Haven, CT and has more than 40 years-experience in the nonprofit sector. Before joining Literacy Volunteers, he served as coExecutive Director of Farnam Neighborhood House. Prior to his leadership role at Farnam, Lou was Executive Director of Sterling House Community Center in Stratford for nearly 30 years.

Lou takes over as Executive Director replacing Donna Violante who is retiring from the position after 4 years at Literacy Volunteers. Prior to her career in the non-profit sector, Donna had over 30 years experience in Marketing, Customer Service, Sales Operations and Training with AT&T, in the Consumer, Wireless and Business divisions. Her last position there was

Director of Consumer Marketing for the East Region.

Lou has extensive experience working in and managing human service programs, as well as in strategic planning, program and organizational design, human resource, financial management, and development and special events, Lou is also an adjunct instructor at Gateway Community College for the past 17 years, teaching courses on human services and sociology. He is also an active volunteer, and serves on the board of FISH of Greater New Haven.

Additional information about Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven, becoming a tutor, or making a charitable donation is available at www.lvagnh.org or by calling 203776-5899.

20 Graduate From Entrepreneur Program

by MICAELA VALENTIN New Haven Independent

The city’s Small Business Resource Center graduated a small but intimate class of 13 participants Tuesday from an entrepreneurial development class at the New Haven Opportunity Center, at 316 Dixwell Ave. Fit for Business, the 11-week program, aims to prepare entrepreneurs to help turn ideas into viable businesses.

It teaches participants to understand, develop, and implement efficient business plans.

Cathy Graves, city government’s deputy economic development director, said it felt gratifying to see the group of 20 participants successfully complete the program. (Seven participants could not make the ceremony.)

“Tonight it felt good to hear thank you from the participants, because I didn’t know that they actually learned as much as they did. It feels good to know that I helped them to believe in themselves, and their ideas,” said Graves.

City Small Business Counselor Gerry

Garcia, who worked alongside Graves, praised the level of commitment from the participants.

Both Graves and Garcia brought together a host of guest speakers for the program, including Joseph Williams, business advisor for Connecticut Small Business Development Center, business banking specialist Carlos J. Chaparros from Wells Fargo, and city Deputy Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli.

Chaparro, a volunteer with the Small Business Academy, taught a class for Fit for Business, on the importance of the business plan, and understanding where entrepreneurs were in the business life cycle.

“Entrepreneurship is not easy, but it’s honorable and I commend you,” Chaparro told the participants.

Mayor Toni Harp handed out the certificates and asked the participants about the businesses they hope to launch. She also emphasized the importance of small businesses to the local economy.

April Snell, one participant, is building a business called Cake Confes-

Graduates of the program with advisors.

sions. “The help was outstanding.

People took their time to show you how to make it work,” she said of the program.

Elizabeth Wallace-Hunt worked on a plan to sell more copies of a book she wrote called Voices, which contains

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poetry related to bullying.. Her goal is to inspire self-confidence in young girls, and let them know that they are capable of anything. “Being a part of this program gave me the push I needed to finish this book”, said Hunt, who has so far sold 100 copies.

The next cohort will begin the program this coming spring.

“This time will be better because we got evaluations from the participants of what they wanted more on, and what they could have done without,” said Graves.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

CT College-Bound Students GET ON THE BUS! for the Second Year in a Row

By Tanisha Asbery and Dr. David Asbery

Mettle entertainment group and Fixing Fathers, Inc. held its 2nd Annual Get On the Bus! HBCU College Fair Bus Trip to the 19th Annual Malcolm Bernard HBCU College Fair at the Riverbank State Park in New York City. A record breaking 56 Connecticut college-bound students and their parents withstood the surprising bonechilling air on Saturday, November 11th to be among the over 3000 students from the tri-state area who were in attendance. There is an abundance of online information that focuses on the benefits of attending college. College-bound students are only a click away from obtaining specific information about their college or university of

choice. However, attending a college fair gives students face-to-face contact with admission officers and the chance to network with these university administrators. mettle entertainment group and Fixing Fathers, Inc. did just that for Connecticut students.

Over 50 Historically Black Colleges and Universities participated in the 19th Annual Malcolm Bernard HBCU College Fair. Students were provided the opportunity to talk directly with admissions counselors and learn more about Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Malcolm Bernard HBCU College Fair in partnership with the New York National Urban League hosted several workshops geared towards college preparation, careers in STE(A)M, and a panel on

the HBCU experience. However, the most coveted offering was the opportunity students were given to receive onsite admission and scholarships, and college application fee waivers.

The 2nd Annual GET ON THE BUS! HBCU College Fair Bus Trip was an astounding success for mettle entertainment group and Fixing Fathers, Inc.’s college-bound participants. Six Connecticut high school seniors received multiple onsite admission offers and scholarships ranging from $7,000 to full-ride scholarships from fine institutions (Kai C. – Tuskegee University, Lincoln University, Virginia Union University, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University; Darrell D. – Tuskegee University, University of Maryland; Sham-

mond M. – Coppin State University, Cheyney University; Nia S. – Tuskegee University; Jordan W. – Cheyney University; Kyneijee W. – Tuskegee University, Lincoln University, Virginia State University).

The 2nd Annual GET ON THE BUS! HBCU College Fair Bus Trip presented by mettle entertainment group and Fixing Fathers, Inc. was made possible by the generous donations and contributions of the following organizations and individuals: The Inner-City News; The New Haven Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter; Gateway Community College Black Student Association, Lynon’s Restaurant & Bar; Studio 1

Production; Mrs. Brenda L. Thomas; Mr. Robert H. Saulsbury; Mr. Linwood Branham; Mr. Darrell and Mrs. Shenae Draughn, Sr.; Mr. Qwaliff and Mrs. Tressa Jackson; Mrs. Myra Reddish Randall; Mrs. Thais Moore; Mrs. Azaria McClure; Mrs. Nicole Forbes-Shaw; Ms. Andrea Lobo; Mrs. Candice King Kelley; and Mr. Sean Cardwell Mettle entertainment group and Fixing Fathers, Inc.’s mission to expose Connecticut college-bound students to opportunities that will help further their education was definitely accomplished. If you want your collegebound student to have a “leg-up” in a time where college tuition costs continue to rise, make sure they GET ON THE BUS!

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Birks Gets Three Years THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

Carol Birks will spend the next three years as superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, according to an annual contract starting at $235,000 that the Board of Education approved Monday night by a 5-2 vote.

After a contentious yearlong search ending with a final show of discord among school board members on Monday night — Birks officially got the job.

She won the agreement on a 5-to-2 vote at a sparsely attended special meeting at L.W. Beecher School.

Starting on Mar. 19, 2018, Birks will leave her current job as chief of staff for Hartford Public Schools and head down to New Haven, where she’ll soon have to become a resident. She’ll take the lead in a district that has been watched over on an interim basis by former Superintendent Reggie Mayo for 14 months, after the last superintendent, Garth Harries, took a buy-out deal in October 2016.

The Agreement By contract, Birks has three years in the new job. With a 90-day notice, she can leave at any time, but the board can fire her only ”for cause,” according to a onepage summary the board received, without providing a golden parachute. If the board tries to terminate her employment “without cause,” Birks will get a 90-day notice, plus a payout of all remaining salary and benefits. The parties can also mutually agree to walk away at any time.

The three-year agreement technically appears to run contrary to the Board of Education’s existing policy. A provision that hasn’t been updated since 1999 states that superintendents should be appointed to one-year terms if it’s their first job in New Haven. The city charter revision, which likely supersedes the board’s policy, changed the rules so that all department heads city-wide get appointed to four-year terms to the extent it’s allowed by state law, which for school superintendents is three years.

Birks will start out earning $235,000 annually, making her New Haven’s highest-paid employee by far. She clocks in above Police Chief Anthony Campbell’s $162,000 salary and former Superintendent Harries’s starting salary of $193,000. But she’ll still earn less than her peers in Connecticut’s other big urban school districts. Both Hartford and Bridgeport pay $260,000.

She’s guaranteed a 2 percent raise in her second year, and the board can determine whether to pay her more in her third year.

Birks will also qualify for numerous benefits. There’s a $10,000 payment into a tax-sheltered annuity (the public-school

Birks: Highest-paid city official.

Final drama: Board prez Joyner signs contract.

equivalent of a 401(k) retirement plan), with a 2 percent increase in the second year. She’ll also get the same health insurance, vacation days and sick leave as other administrators; life insurance at two times her salary; a district-provided car, with money for gas, oil changes, insurance and repairs; a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet and a home printer; and, if approved by the board president, reimbursements for professional and civic organizations.

Birks agreed to move her residence to New Haven by July 1, 2018. The board will reimburse her for “reasonable and necessary” moving expenses.

The contract is largely based on the agreement the board signed with Harries. Birks’s agreement, however, leaves the format of an annual evaluation undecided, for the board and superintendent to work out later.

Who’s Going To Sign It? By next spring, a very different Board of Education will be calling the shots.

Two members who initially voted against Birks’s appointment Carlos Torre and Che Dawson will be replaced

by Mayor Toni Harp’s new picks. That

leaves Ed Joyner as potentially the lone voice of dissent.

But on Monday night, at the last board meeting before those numbers flip, the Board of Education carried on with its usual rancor.

After the board returned from a 40-minute-long executive session, Jamell Cotto, the appointee who replaced the board’s late president, Daisy Gonzalez, tried to foil a plot. Reading a pre-written motion, he implied that Joyner, as president, and Torre, as vice-president, might try to keep Birks out of the job by not signing the contract. So he motioned that Darnell Goldson, as secretary, be allowed to sign if the other two were “unavailable or unwilling.” Goldson seconded it.

Torre called Cotto’s move “ridiculous.”

No such scheme existed, he said, and antics like it were exactly why the superintendent search had engendered such mistrust.

“I can’t even call it childish because that would be insulting to children,” he said.

If anyone came prepared with a “plan,” Dawson added, it looked like Cotto.

“I’m not trying to create unnecessary tension, but we’re starting off in a way

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTOS

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that’s assuming tension,” he said, before the vote. “I’m wishing Dr. Birks much success, and I support her, now that it’s determined she’s our superintendent. But it seems like we’re assuming some negativity or malice. I don’t want to do that either.”

“The fact is we’re not making any assumptions,” Goldson answered. “We’re looking at history.” He said that the board’s internal division had already held up the contract’s signing. “We have to get it signed tonight,” he said.

Dawson flipped from his prior position on Birks and voted for the contract, along with the other four others who’ve consistently backed her. Joyner and Torre both voted against it.

Outnumbered, Joyner signed his name.

“I want her to be successful. She’s now captain of the ship, and we can’t have the ship sinking,” he said. “And I don’t know if we can have another year of what we went through. It’s too damaging to the system.”

“It’s finally over,” Mayor Toni Harp agreed. “It was a long, difficult, often contentious process. But we now have a superintendent, and we can move our district forward.”

Removing “Handcuffs” What can Elm City schools expect from their new superintendent? Birks described some of the changes she foresees at a public forum last month.

For starters, she said, she wants a school improvement plan with clear goals and data-based metrics. Then she’ll line the budget up with priorities and share results at quarterly forums.

Birks said she plans to add job responsibilities for three “handcuffed” directors of instruction, expand the YouthStat program for at-risk kids, partner with outside organizations on socio-emotional learning, and build a more cohesive relationship with charter schools.

Early on, Birks will also have to repair deep divisions over her selection — a smoothing-over she hasn’t yet attempted, turning down meetings with parent Con’t on next page

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

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New Campaign: Shop Local THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Con’t from page 4 and student leaders who called her plans controversial and the search process a sham.

“Total Transparency” vs. Hiding Out As the search neared its finish, Birks faced tough scrutiny.

Within five days after she came out on top in a straw-poll vote of board members, 1,800 signatures from parents and students demanded another choice.

Birks’s defenders, like board member Darnell and Jason Bartlett, the mayor’s liaison to the school board, called the attacks untruthful and unfair. In particular, they said claims about sorority membership and charter-school connections that opponents made went too far.

At her one public appearance, at the Nov. 14 community forum with superintendent finalists, Birks said in her closing statements, “When you have me as your superintendent, you will have total transparency.” So far, though, after the community outcry, she’s remained elusive, declining meetings with community groups and withholding records about her current job performance.

In recent weeks, Birks declined invitations to meet with a parent group and the student council. Bartlett told the Independent that she was too busy with her current job. However, last Thursday, Birks showed up for a lunch with Mayor Harp and Bartlett at the Omni Hotel during the African American Mayors Association conference, and she made an appearance that night at a holiday party for New Haven’s principals.

For the last month, since a Nov. 19 rally at City Hall, Birks has also not responded to calls or emails from the Independent, including several messages left on Monday night. Instead, Bartlett has fielded interview requests.

Records about her Birks’s past employment have also been kept secret.

Hartford Public Schools rejected an Independent Freedom of Information Act request for Birks’s annual performance evaluations leading up to her recent promotion. After a 10-day waiting period — an extra week that the law gives beyond the normal deadline, so the district could contact Birks about any potential invasion of privacy — a labor relations specialist in Hartford said the evaluations were off-limits.

A provision in state law, amended in 2013, exempts the evaluations of all Connecticut educators below the rank of superintendent, with the intent of discouraging parents from “shopping” for teachers with better performance reviews. There is an exception, though, if an educator consents in writing to the release, which Birks apparently did not do.

Hartford Public Schools did say, though, that it had found no records of misconduct by Birks — a separate category of personnel records that must be disclosed — dating back to June 2013, when she started in the district.

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

You can’t go to 163 Orange St. to talk to Mayor Toni Harp about her reelection campaign—she won. But you could meet her there to talk about her holiday shopping list.

Harp’s headquarters for her most recent mayoral campaign race has been transformed into the new home for a Holiday Village pop-up shop that will be open every Thursday and Friday from noon to 6 p.m. until Dec. 22.

On Thursday, with the sounds of the Caribbean Vibes Steel Band creating a festive atmosphere, Harp and the small business contingent of her economic development team opened the pop-up shop urging people to shop small and local.

They also introduced Shana Schneider of Fitstyle by Shana, a company that provides one-hour walking tours

of downtown New Haven for people who are tight on time but want to get some exercise while seeing the city.

Harp said that during this time of year the holiday season isn’t memorable just because of what you buy but also because of the interactions that you have with people you encounter as you shop.

“The message we’re sending today is just this: come to New Haven,” she said. “Explore and enjoy New Haven and by all means shop in New Haven.

It will make a memorable difference in your holiday preparations.”

The shop features local vendors like Tinaliah and Designs by Melba which feature handmade wares such as hats and jewelry.

Cathy Graves, city deputy economic development director, said that the vendors at the Holiday Village likely would not have had the foot traffic that they’ll now see because they

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Harp models a Tinaliah Hat original.

don’t have storefronts.

“I think it is important that we support our small vendors,” she said. “That’s what we do in the small business de-

partment: we start them and we grow them and we also have to showcase them so come on down and enjoy the shopping today.”

APT Pays $883,859 For Double-Billing

Thursdays 4-6p

The APT Foundation, already under fire for its relationship with the Hill neighborhood surrounding its methadone drug-treatment center, has also been in hot water with the federal government.

The not-for-profit agency and its CEO, Lynn Madden, have entered into an agreement to reimburse the state and federal governments $883,859 for alleged double-billing to the fundstrapped Medicaid program, which pays for health care for the poor.

The U.S. attorney charged the agency with outsourcing urine tests for Medicaid patients to a Massachusetts lab

and then as a result having the government pay both APT and the lab for the same tests.

The state Department of Social Services had warned APT about the practice in a 2015 audit, but the double-billing continued anyway throughout 2016, according to a release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office.

“Providers who bill government health insurance programs must follow the relevant rules and regulations, and the failure to do so will have serious consequences,” said Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham.

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Alabama Vote Buoys Black Women THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

Inspired by a stunning election victory in Alabama propelled by the black vote, African-American female politicians gathering in New Haven said they’re ready to lead in making America that “more perfect union” in these divisive times.

That message was delivered not in big speeches, but in side conversations at the opening reception a first-ever women’s retreat being held by the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) at the Omni Hotel. New Haven Mayor Toni Harp is the group’s current president.

Talking amongst each other, elected leaders Wednesday night said they bring a perspective that’s been missing from our nation’s politics. And they said they hope that, in this moment of reckoning with President Trump’s backwards-looking agenda, more women of color get the support they need to run for office.

The welcome on Wednesday night kicked off AAMA’s two-day conference at the Omni. On Thursday, black female mayors from Flint, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; University Park, Illinois; and, of course, New Haven will converge for a roundtable conversation on barriers black women face to leadership in government and business. Then, on Friday, they’ll join in AAMA’s leadership summit, headlined by Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor and Barack Obama’s supposed pick as a 2020 presidential contender.

As champagne flowed and platters of

crab cakes circled the room, the guests at the Omni grooved to salsa beats.

They took selfies and recorded video clips, as mayoral staffers from Georgia to Connecticut exchanged numbers.

The mood felt buoyant, coming just a day after Democrats claimed a stunning upset in the Alabama U.S. Senate election. Driven by high turnout from black voters and crossover from collegeeducated whites, Doug Jones, a former prosecutor who locked up Klu Klux Klan members for a decades-old black church bombing, defeated Roy Moore, a twice-disbarred state chief justice accused of preying on teenage girls.

New Haven Mayor Harp said the election signaled that women are demanding a higher standard from their politicians.

“I believe that what you’re going to see as more women take on leadership is really holding this country to the values it’s espoused for hundreds of years that still seem to skew in the wrong direction. I think you’re going to see women insist that the values we know are strong guide our policy and resources,” she said. “We’ve gone down a bit of the wrong road, and it’s time we turn around and be the country we know ourselves to be.”

Black women have gained a foothold in politics, but they’re still underrepresented in elected office. Currently, in Washington, D.C., there’s one mixedrace senator, 20 Congresswomen (including one Republican) and two delegates. In state capitals, only two hold statewide office, one of whom is Connecticut Treasurer Denise Nappier. No state has ever elected a black female

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO

Mayor Vivian Covington, State Rep. Porter, Mayor Harp at the Omni.

Conventioneers at the Omni.

governor, though one’s making a bid in Georgia. In city halls, four black women run major American cities San

Antonio, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and San Francisco and hundreds of others work in medium cities and small

towns.

Vivian Covington, the mayor of University Park, Ill., a small town an hour south of Chicago, said that elevating black women to leadership roles creates generational change.

Covington grew up in the era of the “brown-bag test,” when only those with skin lighter than a paper bag gained certain privileges. Now, as an IT specialist for the federal government and elected official, she said, she hopes other black girls see there’s nothing to hold them back.

“I felt an obligation to represent our black women, to let them know that Con’t on page 7

50 March Against Sex Worker Violence

On Sunday, community members and advocates gathered in Fair Haven to speak out against violence towards people in sex work, in solidarity with the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The event was organized by the Sex Workers and Allies Network, or SWAN, a group that does daily outreach and harm reduction in the neighborhood, handing out winter clothes, clean needles, condoms, and naloxone (a medication which reverses opioid overdoses) to people working on the street. The group reported that this month one of the naloxone kits they distributed was used to stop a potentially fatal overdose.

A SWAN member read the names of

A local activist group called Sex Workers and Allies Network sent in the following release.

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those who have lost their lives to violence doing sex work in the past year in New Haven and around the world.

“Sex workers in our community in New Haven are beaten and experience sexual assault, and their claims are ignored by the city and even by health care providers. The stigma and criminalization of sex workers has to end.” said Beatrice Codianni, the founder and director of SWAN. People who do sex work face violence every day: physical violence, but also the violence of stigma and the violence of being policed. The vigil was intended to recognize and combat that violence, and to remember those who have suffered from it.

Around 50 people gathered in a parking lot at Grand and Ferry and marched to the corner of Ferry and Chambers, where they laid signs and candles in a makeshift memorial. The area in Fair Haven was chosen because it is where two women, Lisa Ann Calvo and Evelyn Frisco, went missing over a decade ago when they were doing sex work in the neighborhood. Evelyn Frisco’s mother was in attendance at the vigil.

Advocates and allies called for a citywide decriminalization of sex work, which they said would increase the physical safety of people working on the street. They also called for housing and improved drug treatment for sex workers.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Con’t from page 7

can be accomplished. Don’t just sit back and accept rejection,” she said.

“We know that we have that strength.

We’re not limited anymore. The chains are not, physically or mentally, on us.

The doors are open, and we need to understand how important that is.”

Harp said she is particularly excited about the prospect of more black female mayors, a goal of some of the scheduled sessions planned for the New Haven retreat. That’s because mayor’s offices are the place “where the rubber meets the road,” she said, where policy matters so much to constituents’ daily lives. In those debates, black women often advocate for communities that have been “overlooked” historically, she said.

“You’re seeing more women take on those tough issues that have evaded us in the past, as cities and certainly as a country,” Harp said.

State Rep. Robyn Porter, who also attended opening night, said advocacy on those fundamental issues isn’t new for black women. What’s different is that their voices are finally being heard.

As an example, she pointed to a speech she gave on the for of the Connecticut House of Representatives in April 2016, when her testimony about surviving domestic violence convinced Republicans to back a law forcing abusers to turn in their guns if a partner gets a temporary restraining order.

“They couldn’t believe it: ‘You experienced that?’” she recalled. “When you can bring your perspective to it, the way you deliver that has the power to actually change others’ viewpoints.”

The bill passed by a 104-to-42 vote.

“We see what happened in Alabama.

We did that for a conservative Democrat,” she went on. “We need to do that for our own folks. Then you don’t have to worry about: ‘Is he going to be progressive on the issues? Is he going to represent your concerns?’ You’ve got somebody that’s lived it, that’s a given.

People don’t have to question what I’m up there standing for.”

Still, Porter added, other communities need to fight for what matters to black women, not just see them as votes on their own issues.

“Personally, I would say a big challenge is that we go to bat for everybody. We embrace all issues. It’s part of our history. But who goes to bat for us?” she asked. “When I step out on racial issues like police brutality, I don’t get the support I think I should have. My plea, my ask to progressives, is that we bring all these issues under one umbrella, where we’re not selecting and choosing what we want to be progressive on.”

She added, “I don’t want to be nobody’s pawn.”

Barrier-Breakers Get Personal At Women’s Retreat

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO Panelists at the first-ever AAMA women’s retreat.

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK One not-for-profit director was told she was a mouthy know-it-all for expressing her opinions. One business executive was asked to train a new hire for the promotion she was promised.

One government staffer said she holds in so much frustration that she sometimes feels ready to explode.

As more black women assert themselves in business and politics, they’re feeling that kind of strain in the workplace. As trailblazers in their fields, they regularly face pushback to their ascension. But alone without a colleague to turn to, isolation can take its toll.

At a first-ever women’s retreat hosted by the African American Mayors Association (AAMA), black female leaders Thursday spoke candidly about the daily challenges — the microagressions, as a psychiatrist dubbed them and the systemic barriers that don’t get talked about enough.

Seated at a roundtable at the Omni Hotel, elected officials and corporate managers talked about the need for more black women to participate in decision-making, maybe as the next mayors, along with the strain of often being the only representative of their race and gender who’s currently in the room. It’s the trouble with being at an inflection point, they said, in reversing decades of discrimination.

“It’s okay to be strong, to be imperfect and still get the work done,” said Natalie Cofield, the founder of Walker’s Legacy, a lecture series and online platform aimed at female entrepreneurs of color, who moderated

Thursday’s conversation. The two-day summit is being held in New Haven because Toni Harp—the city’s first-ever female mayor is the current AAMA president. The Shirley Chisholm Rule Thursday morning started with discussion about how to get more black women into positions of power. One way: the “Shirley Chisholm Rule.”

Here’s how it works: In any job interviews, the top three finalists should include a woman of color. Named for the New Yorker who, in 1968, became the first black woman elected to Congress, it’s similar to the “Rooney Rule” that the National Football League has used since 2002 to require interviews with minority candidates for head coaching positions.

A’shanti Gholar, the political director at Emerge America, an organization that hosts 70-hour trainings for Democratic women to run for office, proposed the idea after seeing it implemented at her own organization. It forced Emerge America to take the extra step to find black female candidates, not just excuse a lack of diversity by saying they didn’t get any applicants, she explained.

“We instituted the idea to ensure diversity in hiring. That has to include all kinds: women, different races, different ethnicities, socioeconomics,” she explained. “Organizations can’t just talk about diversity; they have to be about it.”

That’s particularly essential in politics, where so often elected officials are voting on issues that concern black women without ever hearing from those constituents. “I want a person in the room who looks like me,” someone who isn’t just a token, one attendee said.

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When that happens, politicians also get a more nuanced view of minority voices, added Cofield, as they recognize that black women can advocate not only for equity in criminal justice, transportation and education as a historically disenfranchised group, but also for reproductive rights as mothers or economic policies favorable to small businesses as entrepreneurs.

“It’s so important to have women of color everywhere,” she said. “If we’re over-concentrated in any one place, then we can’t look at this comprehensively.”

But being the only woman of color in a world still dominated by white males can also be a overwhelming, the attendees acknowledged, as they candidly talked about challenges they encounter on a daily basis. Several said the stress led them to quit jobs or seek hospitalization.

(To encourage frank discussion, organizers asked the media not to name speakers without approval.)

One executive director at a not-forprofit said she she was the first black woman hired by a board unused to working with people of color. “Let me make room for myself here,” she told herself.

But she and board members quickly clashed. They told her, “You act like you know everything.”

Isn’t that the expertise you hired me to bring? she thought. They told her, “You look professional today.” It’s the annual meeting, she thought. How else am I supposed to look?

Despite the put-downs, she worked grueling hours, putting in 12-hour days for the organization. Her husband begged her to turn her computer off

and sleep. She got her blood pressure checked monthly.

Eventually, she realized, “This is not going to work. I’m not proving nothing. I can’t stay.”

The woman added that she was lucky to have a husband with a paycheck, as so many single moms can’t give up. And that’s tough to feel so alone, added Cofield, coming home just to yourself.

A clergywoman said she too had to fight her way up to a position, over the opposition of male bishops. Along the way, she was also carrying the burdens of her own community, having buried dozens of young people killed by gun violence. Eventually, she needed to be hospitalized. “I didn’t realize, at that point, I was going to have a breakdown,” she said. “I was so stressed.”

One person summed up the feeling in the room. “So often, we don’t feel comfortable sharing that. We hold it all in, and we hold everyone else’s baggage, too,” she said. “We never get to say what we’re feeling. We need an outlet.”

Others emphasized mental health check-ins, saying black woman leaders should be open about their visits to therapists to break down the pervasive stigma against seeking help.

Mayor Toni Harp said she was “thrilled” to be hosting such an important conversation. “It’s really always good to hear we’re having similar experiences,” she said. “It’s good to come together, as women, to sustain one another.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Family Celebrates Matriach’s 100th

by ALLAN APPEL

Cora Mae Sayles-Ashley made it to her 100th birthday with some secrets to how she got there: traveling, cooking, churchgoing faith, love of gospel music, and a glass of grapefruit juice and rum — preferably of the darker variety.

Surrounded by five generations of those adoring nieces and nephews — SaylesAshley did not have children of her own — and wearing a sparkling dress of her favorite color blue along with a feather head dress that made her look flapper-esque, Sayles-Ashley celebrated her special day Tuesday afternoon with lots of love of family and a proclamation read by Mayor Toni Harp.

The gathering took place in her apartment at Monterey Homes in Dixwell.

Sayles-Ashley has spent 63 of her 100 years in New Haven, where she has helped raised a handful of nieces and nephews, along with great nieces and nephews.

Harp noted Sayles-Ashley’s longevity as a professional caregiver: She worked decades as a nurse’s aide while raising many of her nieces and nephews. The mayor pronounced Sayles-Ashley “a special citizen of exceptional resilience.”

About 40 relatives and friends gathered to mark the occasion in the brightly decorated community room at Monterey’s Webster Street seniors facility, where the honoree has been living for 17 years.

Like many members of the far-flung family, great-great niece Fallon Tindal came up

from Sumter, S.C., for the celebration. She called her great-great aunt “a blessing.”

Turning 100 is a notable achievement.

Remaining not only sharp, without sight or hearing or mobility problems or any of the common deficits of aging — as SaylesAshley has — is remarkable. Add to that a personality who, in Tindal’s words, “tells it like it is and means what she says,” and you get a family matriarch.

“When she comes to visit me at my house [and enters the kitchen], she says, ‘Get out of the way,’” TIndal recalled.

This past Friday night, the family thew another party at which the birthday “girl,” having had one of her rum and grapefruit juice elixirs, was videotaped dancing about the room. Several people at Tuesday’s party took out their phones and showed the evidence.

Sayles-Ashley is the tenth of 13 children.

If she has a regret, she said it is that she’s the last of her large crew of siblings. She followed her older sister Clara to New Haven, where the sister got married. SaylesAshley got her first job working for one of the small family doctors on Dixwell Avenue. After that, it was stints doing factory work in town and up in North Haven, and then as a nurse’s aide for about 30 years.

When pressed why she came to New Haven, she revealed a secret: It was to get away from a man who was bothering her.

She thought getting out of town would be a way to cool things off.

“I was only going to visit,” she said, 63 year later. And counting.

Great-nephew Tim Jones said he remem-

ALLAN APPEL PHOTO

Sayles-Ashley with great niece Deserie (Ish) Brown and two fifth-generation descendants.

bers most strongly the way that Sayles-Ashley and her sister took care of their mother, Emma Sayles, who had also come to New Haven, when she was old. He now takes care of his own dad, William, with that spirit in mind.

Jones’s own mother died young, at age 33. He was only 6 years old at the time. His great aunts became the substitute mothers in

his life, with a combination of love and discipline, he said. He called his great grandmother the progenitor of the family, “a deeply spiritual woman.”

Turning one hundred is wonderful, of course, but not as unusual as it used to be. According to the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut‘s Jane Wisialowski, the most recent census, from

2010, show 929 people aged 100 or more in Fairfield, Hartford, Litchefield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Tolland, and Windham counties combined.

The number included 219 centenarians in New Haven alone. The agency gives an annual centenarian luncheon in the spring.

Cora Mae Sayles-Ashley got an early start — she attended her first last May.

Dinner Will Be Served At More Public Schools

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK

Hungry public school students will get an extra daily meal, under a federally funded program that the Board of Education voted to expand next year.

At its regular meeting at L.W. Beecher School on Monday night, the school board signaled its support for adding supper service, meaning schools would offer three full meals a day. The board unanimously approved Mayor Toni Harp’s motion to expand the supper program to seven schools within the coming year year and conduct a feasibility study by next March for rolling it out districtwide.

That could be a boon to the thousands of kids in the Elm City who aren’t getting proper nutrition at home, experts said. A recent study found that more than one in five New Haveners 22 percent is “food insecure.” That means at some point in the past month they missed a meal because they were unable to afford food. That figure compares to 12 percent statewide and 13 percent nationally.

The problems seem to be even worse for public school students, said Alycia Santilli,

a Nathan Hale parent and the director of the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE), which put out the study. The organization estimated that over half of the Elm City’s children — 56 percent — grow up in households that receive food stamps. And they found the lack of regular meals correlated with higher rates of diabetes and asthma in eighth-graders who reported food insecurity.

“We can do a lot more for not a lot of money,” Santilli argued during public comment. “We can feed a lot more children, and I think we have an obligation to do that.”

Currently, only three schools offer supper: Clemente, Davis and Co-Op. Another 23 schools offer a snack after school instead — a less “complicated” alternative, explained Will Clark, the district’s chief operating officer.

Harp said that the school board needed to take leadership in making schools serve supper, even though it’s tougher to implement. “Often times, it’s easier to do the lesser thing. If I had to pass out snacks in a box, that might be easier than doing a supper,” she said. “But we have poor kids in our town that don’t get adequate food, and

we have a way to give it to them.”

She added that any funding challenges the supper expansion might cause would be worth it. “Are we going to have fiscal issues this year? Yes, we are. But I’d rather have fiscal issues than knowing we have hunger and that we could have reimbursed for and didn’t do it.”

Administered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the feds reimburse for supper at a rate of up to $3.23 per meal for impoverished children. The supper must be offered in a group setting without charge to the parents.

To qualify for funds, schools have to follow a number of regulations. For one, the evening meal has to be tied to some kind of constructive after-school activity. And the meal can only be served at schools where at least half the children in the surrounding attendance zone are poor enough to qualify for discounted meals, A separate federally funded program also makes dinner available during the summer.

This year, the school served 200,000 meals, although that total’s dropped from a high of 270,000 two years ago, pointed out Mark Firla, a volunteer for the New Haven Food Policy Council who argued the schools could do more to boost their numbers.

8

LUCY GELLMAN PHOTO James Cramer and Billy Bromage spread the word about free summer meals in 2016.

During the summer, the school’s work is paired alongside an outreach campaign that includes door-knocking to inform neighbors about free meals and buses to some of the 87 sites, funded by a grant from the National League of Cities, said Billy Bromage, another Council volun-

teer. The Connecticut Food Bank also set up a mobile pantry at high-traffic locations.

“The lines do not end. The families are waiting an hour, sometimes two hours, in 80 or 90 degree weather to receive food,” said Fred Goodman, a program manager at

“Sweetie Bake Your Day” Debuts THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

by ALLAN APPEL

When an artist and a baker get together when they get along famously, and the artist loves food and the baker loves art well, an illustrated cookbook can’t be far behind.

That is the scenario behind the publication of Sweetie Bake Your Day, a collaboration of ECA-graduate and rising iPad artist Raheem “Ra” Nelson and pastry chef Amanda Glover.

On Thursday night Nelson signed books and passed out shortbread cookies to admirers and friends at the spiffy storefront of Fletcher Cameron Design at 91 Orange St. There the array of gleaming modernist kitchen models also featured large-size limited-edition prints on aluminum of oatmeal cream pies and muffins from the cookbook — all suitable to hang in your kitchen as you bake the real thing.

Why marry Nelson’s simple, appealing images to Glover’s recipes? Nelson said that Glover, who was unable to attend the event, has made a name for herself bringing simple, quality baked cooks to folks in Litchfield County through her Amanda Bakes Airstream truck.

Nelson’s images a product of the evolution of training at Educational Center for

the Arts, The School of Visual Arts in New York City, and falling in love with the mobility, ease, and color palette of the iPad — are a perfect match.

Nelson grew up in West Hills and went to Wilbur Cross. He has a day gig as a paraprofessional working with city high school kids with disabilities. He said that Glover’s recipes are specifically designed

to be simple to cook. In the same manner, his illustrations combine the coloring and style of pop art with the coming-at-you vectoring of cartoons.

The result is what Nelson terms “an animated look, kid-friendly, that bridges the gap of generations.”

And the volume has been successful, with sales and signings around the state, Nelson

added.

The book is Nelson’s first cookbook, but he has four other books under his belt, including From the Elm to the Empire, a collection of images based on his travels between his native New Haven and the Big Apple, where he honed his skills at The School of Visual Art. All the images in that and his previous work emerge from the iPad, on which Nelson prefers to use Procreate, a digital illustration app. Nelson previously worked in oil, acrylic, and drawing by hand and has all the basic training of an artist. He says where he has landed, with the iPad as his exclusive instrument, is just right.

“I like the mobility,” he said, and he meant it. As he talked to a reporter, he was already working on new images simply by lifting the device up and clicking on, it happened, an image of a glass of rose wine that was coming into being.

Nelson, a dapper guy complete with bow tie, also called attention to how clean iPad art is. No brushes, no turpentine, no squeezing paint from tubes. And all that with no loss of color capacity.

“I like having an entire color palette. I don’t have to worry about going to the art store,” he said.

He also pointed to “a really cool thing,” he said the time lapse capacity of the program, which shows the history of every stroke involved in making a composition.

Having switched to working on the iPad in 2010, there’s been no looking back. He has a new commission for a children’s book, he conducts private lessons and gives workshops in iPad art, and he has an informal working relationship as an Apple representative, helping to develop the company’s art products.

The collaboration with Glover has also been, well, sweet. Following the book’s initial publication in the spring, Nelson took his first trip to Europe, iPad in hand.

He made images of the glasses of wine he enjoyed in Paris, along with the pommes frites, the pizzas, the sandwiches, and the other fare in Avignon, London, and Lisbon.

Those images are now on his iPad receiving finishing touches.

The first cookbook had Nelson illustrating foods that Glover had created. This time around, in the sequel to Sweetie Bake Your Day, Nelson is presenting images of the food he enjoyed on his European trip, and Glover is going to create the recipes to accompany them.

That’s collaboration.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

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By Lauren E. Williams Special to the AFRO What do Strom Thurmond, Ben Carson, President Donald Trump, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have in common? Aside from being some of the nation’s most controversial conservative political figures, they’ve also shared a close conservative confidante, Armstrong Williams, who is stepping into the spotlight once again with his possible purchase of D.C.’s Washington City Paper.

In a Dec. 7 e-mail, Williams spokesman Shermichael Singleton confirmed Williams has made a bid for the paper.

“Mr. Williams has always been committed to journalism, both print and media,” Singleton wrote. “His interest in WCP is out of respect and admiration for the history of the paper and Con’t from page 6

Pick Declines Chamber Post In Race Flap

by PAUL BASS The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce is resuming its search for a new president after concerns over its top pick’s published views on white supremacy led him to turn down the job.

The regional chamber’s search committee had offered the job to Fred McKinney, a longtime regional community leader, business development promoter and economics professor.

McKinney would have succeeded Anthony Rescigno, who’s stepping down this month as Chamber president after 17 years at the helm. Before taking the Chamber job, Rescigno, a Republican, had served as first selectman of the town of North Haven.

The Chamber of Commerce advocates for business interests in New Haven and 15 suburbs, from Madison to Wallingford to Orange to Milford. McKinney would have been the group’s first black president.

In an interview Monday, McKinney said that he had orally accepted an offer to take the job. he said the two sides agreed to salary and benefit

10

the role it has played in D.C. As the media landscape changes because of technology, Mr. Williams understands the importance of preserving such institutions as the Washington City Paper, hence his interest in it.”

However, it is not Williams’ acquisition of a paper that is causing a “Beltway buzz,”. Instead, it is the type of paper he is eying, and its readership.

Known for progressive prose and alternative stories, the publication is viewed by many as an unlikely match for Williams, who gained notoriety for his right-of-center views, his defense of Clarence Thomas during the 1991 Supreme Court confirmations, and as a campaign strategist for 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson.

But Williams said that the unlikelihood of the match is one of the reasons the conservative operative wants to buy the paper.

“My goal is to make the City Paper so good people will be saying, ‘Are you sure Armstrong Williams is the owner of this paper?’” he told The Washington Post. “That would be a success.”

Unsurprisingly, City Paper employees don’t seem as optimistic about the news of their potential new boss.

Mother Jones, who initially broke the

story this November, reported that employees learned of Williams’ interest earlier that month. According to the Post, a number of these same staffers “have discussed the possibility of quitting.”

Williams’ acquisition of the City Paper, like many of his previous actions, is wrought with controversy and uncertainty. This is not Williams’ first entrepreneurial encounter with the media world, however.

Singleton described him as “the largest minority owner of broadcast television stations in the United States,” and noted that Williams attempted unsuccessfully to purchase Essence Magazine and D.C.’s well-known Capitol Hill publication, The Hill.

For more than three decades, The Washington City Paper has been a source of local political news in the DMV. Despite its longevity, readership and revenue have declined in recent years; in 2008, the paper declared bankruptcy.

The City Paper’s current owners, Nashville-based SouthComm, announced plans to sell the D.C. publication in October. A timeline for the acceptance or rejection of Williams’ bid has not been made public.

NPR: Simeon Booker, Dean Of Washington’s

Black Press Corps, Dies At 99

Simeon Booker, the Washington bureau chief of Jet and Ebony magazines for five decades, died Dec. 10 at an assisted-living community in Solomons, Md., according to The Washington Post. He was 99 and had recently been hospitalized for pneumonia, his wife, Carol Booker, told the paper.

Booker was the first full-time black reporter for The Post. The paper says “few reporters risked more to chronicle the civil rights movement than Mr. Booker.”

Booker is credited with helping to deliver the story of Emmitt Till’s murder to a national audience. In 1955, the boy from Chicago was tortured, and shot and killed while visiting relatives in Mississippi. He was accused of having whistled at a white woman.

Jet magazine published the photos of Till in the open casket. In 2013, NPR’s Michel Martin asked Booker how difficult a decision it was for the magazine to go forward with those photographs.

“That was a very difficult decision for them because I don’t think they were in it, and they didn’t realize the seriousness of it. But going down there and seeing all the turmoil, I knew what was coming up,” Booker said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Giving kids an outlet for performance and expression, plus a chance to grow.

For a child, growing means more than gaining inches. It means gaining confidence, understanding and a sense of selfworth. It means maturing mentally and emotionally as well as physically. The kids of New Haven’s Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corps are doing just that, fostered by the support of Yale New Haven Hospital.

Over 1,000 kids have gone through the program during its 30 years in existence and won 16 national and 20 tri-state championships. Its mission is to teach young people the principles of discipline, dedication and determination, which Douglas Bethea, its founder, believes are the three keys to life.

At Yale New Haven Hospital, we couldn’t agree more with Mr. Bethea. And we’re proud to support his and many other programs throughout New Haven dedicated to supporting inner-city youth and changing their lives for the better. It’s another example of our commitment to caring beyond the bedside. ynhh.org/community

Members of the drill squad with Douglas Bethea, founder of New Haven’s Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corps.

11

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Cops Harvest Record 138 Guns In “Swords To Plowshares” Buyback

New Haven Ind

NHPD Some of the 138 guns collected Saturday.

The idea of turning deadly weapons into tools to grow a better world caught on big in New Haven Saturday.

The occasion was the police depart-

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12

ment’s annual gun buy-back program, when people can turn in unwanted weapons, not questions asked, in return for gift cards.

This year the department added a twist: Working with a national group called RAW Tools and with Injury Free Coalition for Kids of New Haven and Yale-New Haven Hospital, the department arranged to have a renowned local sculptor, Gar Waterman, oversee the destruction of the guns.

Then prison inmates will refashion the metal into gardening tools for use by students in local agriculture education programs.

The word got out and 138 guns came in Saturday, shattering last year’s record of 103, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman.

Seventy people brought in the total of 103 weapons, which included “four Derringer style single/ double-shot handguns, seventy-four handguns and sixty long-guns (rifles & shotguns), including two assault type weapons.”

Times holding out promise that New Haven’s “swords into plowshares” effort may resonate far and wide.

THEINNER-CITY INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS December 13, 20, 2017 -- December THE December26, 19,2017 2017

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December December 20, 13, 2017 2017 -- December December 26, 19, 2017 2017

New Voice, New Album

“Wonderland” Wows

by MICAELA VALENTIN

PAUL BASS PHOTO

Thabisa and Steve Mednick Thursday in the WNHH studio.

When Thabisa performs her music in Xhosa, the language from her native South Africa, people in Westville understand what she’s singing.

Even if they don’t understand the words.

“People who love music do not care what language you sing in,” she said. “Music is language.”

Thabisa, who recorded two albums and toured in South Africa, moved with her family this past year to New Haven’s Westville neighborhood. She’s starting to build a local following for her music and powerful, soulful voice; this Saturday, Dec. 16, she’s performing a show at Kehler Liddell Gallery in Westville Village beginning at 7 p.m.

Some of the songs will be in Xhosa, some in English. She wrote may of them; others may be by some of her favortie artists whose music she covers, like Miriam Makeba. Steve Mednick sings in the language of protest and introspection. An attorney and former Westville alder, he has launched a successful side career as a recording artist and performer. He has a new politically-themed album coming out this week called Following the Thunder.

Thabisa and Mednick crossed paths spoke about their musical missions, sang some of their songs, weighed in on the implications of recent political events Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven program.”

Hillhouse High’s Floyd Little Athletic Center turned into a “Winter Wonderland” Sunday, hosting a cityorganized holiday-season celebration complete with bounce houses for the kids, a dj to keep the crowd upbeat and in good spirits, and entertainment that ranged from singing, rapping, and dancing.

Mikey Jay, music producer and CEO of Aigne Music Group, was full of energy and smiles as he hosted the event. Jay, who came from the Bronx, said it felt great to be back in New Haven. “I feel blessed and very humbled to be a part of this experience,” said Jay. He was also wowed by the amount of people who came out for the event, and looks forward to being the host in the years to follow. Over 1,500 people attended.

Mayor Toni Harp played the role of Mrs. Claus, in a costume that she bought herself.

Before individually handing gifts to the kids, and taking pictures alongside Santa Claus (fire chief John Alston), she announced that this was New Haven’s fourth year putting this event together, and personally thanked public works department official Honda Smith for making it all happen.

“The kids depend on it,” Harp said of the 1,500 gifts distributed Sunday.

“For some families this will be their only gift. We want people to know that we care about them”, said Harp.

Santa was seen dancing along to the music in between kids, as he helped Harp to distribute gifts, and take pictures with the kids.

“It brings tears to my eyes to see where I came from and know that someone did it for me, and now I get a chance to do it for others,” said organizer Smith, who remembered a similar event in her youth. “If just one kid paid it forward when they got older, it would mean the world to me.”

Smith decided to put a spin on this year’s festivities with a campaign called “Where’s Honda?” Volunteers would search for a little girl whose one request for Christmas was a bike. Then they’d present her with a purple bike, along with a certificate

14

Sochi Estrada, Leticia Estrada, Itzel Estrada.

where she’d vow to perform a similar deed when she gets older.

As a kid Smith was given the opportunity to unwrap a purple bike for Christmas, thanks to a pastor at a community church in the Hill. His one request from her was to pay it forward when she got older.

Tony Desai, a public works supervisor, was one of the volunteers who played a big role in setting up over 2,000 gifts and organizing them by

category.

Desai, who arrived at Floyd Little Athletic Center at 7 a.m. to help set up, said that he was excited to help put this event together for the kids.

He was still going strong by late afternoon.

Sochi Estrada, 7 years old, was just one of many who got to receive a Christmas gift. She said she she was happy that she got an art set with markers, colored pencils, and paper.

Con’t from page 2

NEW HAVEN ALDER DARRYL BRACKEEN, JR.

filed a legal challenge to the FCC’s ruling and is investigating the numerous cases of the fake comments left by bots in support of the repeal on the FCC’s website. Some of these bots stole the identity of deceased citizens to leave positive comments. We need our representatives to fight for us against such deception and to advocate for our interests.

As Connecticut Lawmakers, we cannot stand idly by as the process unfolds.

Recently Senate Majority Leader, Bob Duff, announced that he will introduce legislation in the coming 2018 session to protect Connecticut state businesses and citizens from the net neutrality repeal. As a local elected leader, I stand with him. We must seek to ensure companies uphold to their pledges to not tamper with internet speeds or force

consumers to pay extra for websites.

We will continue to fight to preserve your right to a free and equal internet and explore the options available to protect our local community from the FCC’s intrusion. As a state, we must begin to look into innovative ways to address these issues. For instance, we should look into cities like Chattanooga, who built their own community internet service and, as a result, experienced a technological boom with start-ups migrating to their community. Major cities must lead the way to ensure internet providers preserve the work of Net Neutrality in our state.

(For more information, please contact Alder Brackeen at 203 479-2855 or email Ward26@newhavenc.net.)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Dental Services are now available at our Dixwell Health Center

Questions about your bill?

Yale New Haven Hospital is pleased to offer patients and their families financial counseling regarding their hospital bills or the availability of financial assistance, including free care funds.

By appointment, patients can speak one-on-one with a financial counselor during regular business hours. For your convenience, extended hours are available once a month.

Date: Monday, December 18 Time: 5 - 7 pm Location: Children’s Hospital, 1 Park St., 1st Floor, Admitting Parking available (handicapped accessible) An appointment is necessary. Please call 203-688-2046.

Spanish-speaking counselors available.

Call 203-503-3420 to make your appointment today!

10652 (06/16)

226 Dixwell Avenue, New Haven • cornellscott.org 15

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

5 Tips For Getting Through Seasonal Depression

by Ruthie Hawkins, BDO

Each year, people fall victim to seasonal depression. Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, begins in late fall and usually subsides with the coming of spring. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, about 4 to 6 percent of people may have winter depression. Another 10 to 20 percent may have mild SAD. Who is at risk?

Believe it or not, women are four times more likely to experience SAD than men, with symptoms beginning around age 20.

When does one see a doctor for SAD? There are a variety of clues that may point to a diagnosis: A change in appetite Weight gain A heavy feeling in the arms or legs Fatigue A tendency to oversleep Difficulty concentrating

Irritability Increased sensitivity to social rejection How do experts suggest keeping symptoms at bay?

Here’s what Tara Nayak, ND, a naturopathic physician practicing in Philadelphia, tells BlackDoctor.org about simple ways to soothe seasonal depression.

1. Check your vitamin D status and get your levels replete if they

are low. You’d be surprised at how many people are deficient in this essential vitamin that really acts more as a hormone. Low vitamin D levels have been scientifically linked to seasonal depression. These same studies showed that taking high doses of vitamin D improved symptoms. This is especially relevant because some studies suggest that people of African descent are more likely to have low vitamin D. In the winter, we are more likely to have low vitamin D because we are

out in the sunlight less. Sunlight is the first step in our body’s process of making its own vitamin D. You can also try to eat foods that have vitamin D, such as mushrooms, however it is much harder for our body to process and use this form. When choosing a vitamin D supplement, you should choose the active form of the vitamin known as D3.

2. Nature cure! Spending more time outside in the sunlight improves Vitamin D status but also gets your body moving! Exercise is one of the safest, easiest relievers of anxiety and depression. It is the best way to help your body break down stress hormones such as adrenaline (epinephrine/norepinephrine). Although it may be hard to get a routine started, once people start exercising they notice the difference almost immediately.

3. Lemon Balm. Melissa officinalis is a safe and mild herb that has a longstanding history in American herbalist traditions for treating the winter blues. There are scientific studies showing that the use of this herb improves patient’s score on the Beck Depression Index scale (often used to measure symptoms of depression). It has a bright, citrusy scent and a mild

lemony flavor. This herb grows well in a window sill and is nice to keep fresh and use as aromatherapy and in teas. There are also tinctures (alcohol extractions) and capsules (dried powder) available on the market. There are some contraindications for this herb, such as pregnancy/lactation and hypothyroidism, so if you plan to take a more potent supplement (capsule, tincture) experts suggest working with a healthcare professional such as a naturopathic doctor.

4. Laughter. This is truly the best medicine although the statement is cliché. There are many studies on social interactions vs isolation in depression and the research shows that positive relationships are healing. Find a friend that you can laugh with!

5. There are many amino acids and vitamins that may benefit someone with seasonal depression. For example, 5HTP is a precursor to serotonin.

Some patients see benefits such as decrease in symptoms of depression when providing this precursor or the vitamin/mineral cofactors necessary for neurotransmitter (dopamin/serotonin/gaba) production. Examples are vitamin B6 and magnesium.

OP-ED: Republican Tax Bill Robs the Poor to Feed the Rich

By Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children’s Defense Fund The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recently passed on a nearly straight party line Republican vote in the U.S. Senate is, like the Housepassed bill, a moral abomination. Their enactment would be the death of America’s dream for tens of millions of children. The House and Senate bills favor the wealthiest Americans and most powerful corporations over poor and moderate-income children and families—billionaires over poor babies and powerful corporations over poor children. They are evil.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. warned that “America is going to hell if we can’t use her vast resources to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life.” With both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives now having passed extremely unjust tax bills, I must ask—how can 278 political leaders, 51 Senators and 227 House members, act against the best interests of so many in their

states and across our nation to line the overstuffed pockets of powerful special interests with government money?

What religious texts do these Members of Congress and those who lobby them read?

How did they miss the clear warnings of the prophets and gospels and tenets of every great faith to care for the poor, the sick, the lame and the orphan? Where did they learn that acting as Robin Hood in reverse by denying the poor and powerless child the basic survival needs of food and shelter to give to the wealthy and powerful is acceptable?

There are 565 billionaires in the United States—the 400 richest of whom have a combined net worth of $2.7 trillion. More than 13.2 million children—1 in 5—live in poverty in America. Their families of four make less than $24,563 a year. More than six million children live in deep poverty, at less than half the poverty level.

A majority of both houses of Congress and the Trump Administration seek policies to reward millionaires and billionaires and non-needy corporations and add nearly $1.5 trillion—around $150 billion a year for the next ten years—to our national deficit to do so. And to pay for it, they will deny poor and moderate-income children and families healthcare, food, housing, child care and other survival assistance or help parents get needed jobs at livable wages to support their families.

Consider some of the facts about these tax

cut bills: Both the Senate and House bills lavishly benefit the wealthiest households and individuals. The Senate bill doubles the estate tax threshold, enabling individuals to inherit tax free up to $11 million and couples up to $22 million. The House bill would eliminate the estate tax entirely.

More than 60 percent of the Senate bill’s individual tax cuts in 2027 go to the richest one percent of households making $1 million or more; 48 percent of current taxpaying households would face tax increases according to the Tax Policy Center. The Senate bill ends individual tax benefits after ten years while making permanent tax cuts for corporations. The House bill continues both individual and corporate tax cuts.

The Senate’s $1,000 Child Tax Credit increase to benefit families with children and make up for elimination of the personal exemption for dependents provides little or no assistance to poor and middle-income working families. Yet, both the Senate and House bills enable higher income families to qualify for the credit for the first time.

Neither Senate nor House bills make the credit fully refundable to help working families with the lowest incomes. Both bills would end eligibility of children in lowincome working immigrant families for the credit without Social Security Numbers.

Tax paying immigrant families are required currently to have only an Individual Tax-

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payer Identification Number to qualify for the Child Tax Credit.

The Senate’s permanent corporate tax cuts are partially paid for by repealing the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and tax penalty. This will leave 13 million fewer people insured in ten years, raise health insurance premiums for many more and destabilize the health insurance marketplace.

The $1.5 trillion ten-year deficit the House and Senate bills create will cause deep cuts in Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), child care, education, Pell Grants, housing and other critical child services.

No funds will be left over for the next decade to end child poverty for the more than 13.2 million children struggling to grow up healthy and educated.

Imagine spending $1.5 trillion or even onetenth of that each year on children’s needs?

Two years ago CDF commissioned the Urban Institute to assess steps to end child poverty right now. We identified modest improvements to nine programs we knew helped reduce child poverty: increasing the value of SNAP’s food benefits, providing housing subsidies for poor and near-poor families with children, making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable, increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for the lowest income families, creating a subsidized jobs program, increasing the minimum wage, expanding the federal child care subsidy

program, making the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit fully refundable, and helping more families get child support payments. Implementing all these improvements together would lift 60 percent of all poor children and 72 percent of poor children of color from poverty for a year, at a $77.2 billion federal and state government cost – less than half of one year of the $1.5 trillion deficit increase. A $1.5 trillion investment could lift these children from poverty to adulthood.

We must tell Congress to reject this morally indefensible tax boondoggle and instead invest in protecting children and maintaining any semblance of fairness.

Not one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires as long as more than 13.2 million children are poor, and millions of children are hungry, uneducated, homeless and without health coverage.

Stand up and fight. A nation that does not stand up for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.

Marian Wright Edelman is the president of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information, go to www. childrensdefense.org. Follow the Children’s Defense Fund on Twitter @ChildDefender.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Ossie Davis Would Have Turned 100 This Year. His Children Remember his Life.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Entertainer and activist Ossie Davis would be 100 years old if he was alive today. Yet, it’s impossible to celebrate his life without also honoring the storied career of his wife and life partner, Ruby Dee. Given the heightened racial tensions in America, it’s also hard to ignore that Davis and Dee always stood out as dedicated activists for freedom, justice and equality.

“We raised them well,” joked Nora Davis Day, one of the couple’s three children.

Nora joined her sister, Hasna Muhammad, and her brother, Guy, for an interview with the NNPA Newswire to honor their mother and father for his birthday.

“I’ve always thought of being their children as ‘ordinary and extraordinary,’” said Day. “On Saturday, we did our chores, scrubbed the bathroom and we did our homework. They were serious about parenting, not unlike many homes.”

While Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were famous actors, their children said that they never felt they had anything to brag about around the neighborhood.

“Many of our friends were in the same position,” Muhammad said. “We played with Sidney Poitier’s children, Harry Belafonte’s children and the children of other activists and actors. We were all in the same position, so it’s wasn’t about, ‘Hey, my dad was on TV last night,’ because everybody’s dad was on TV last night.”

A host of stars lived in and around the family’s Mount Vernon, N.Y. enclave,

The children of Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. (From left-right) Nora Davis Day, Guy Davis and Dr. Hasna Muhammad. (Family of Ossie Davis)

including Poitier, writer E.B. White, producer Dick Clark, actor Art Carney and boxer Floyd Patterson.

“As an adult and a parent myself, I came to discover just how wonderful and amazing our parents were and how thoughtful they were,” said Guy Davis, an accomplished blues musician.

Guy Davis pointed toward his parents’ activism and their deep friendships with folks like Paul Robeson and Malcolm X. Ossie Davis ultimately would give the eulogy at Malcolm X’s funeral.

Davis said his parents taught lessons even while administering discipline.

“They were like Joe Louis’ boxing gloves, the left and the right,” said Guy Davis. “One was the punisher and the other was the educator. They worked well together.”

Guy Davis continued: “When I got into trouble, dad would make me stand

there with my palms facing up and he’d look me in the eye and tell me what I did wrong and take his belt off and ‘Wham!’ [hit my hands with the belt].

He could hurt you without ever harming you.”

Meanwhile, Ruby Dee, “could light you up and your knees would be buckling, before you were hit.”

Mostly, the lessons taught by Davis and Dee were about life—particularly life as an African American. One lesson involved boycotting Christmas after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four little Black girls; others involved planning direct actions following the assassinations of Medgar Evers and John F. Kennedy.

Davis and Dee were prominently involved in the Civil Rights Movement and together they planned marches, sitins and other acts of civil disobedience

For more information on ACES schools, programs and services, please visit our website.

(203) 498-6800 | www.aces.org 17

and protests.

The children remembered making papier-mâché cut outs and refraining from commercial activity to protests racial inequality and injustice. Later, the family would protest Coca-Cola, because of a connection the company had with the racist John Birch Society and its stand on Apartheid.

“We’ve been Black a long time and what you see happening today…none of this is new,” Nora Davis said.

Davis was a central figure among Black performers and he and Dee celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1998 with the publication of a dual autobiography, “In This Life Together.”

Both had key roles in the television series “Roots: The Next Generation” in 1978, “Martin Luther King: The Dream and the Drum” in 1986, and “The Stand” in 1994. Davis appeared in three Spike

Lee films, including “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” Dee also appeared in the latter two; among her best-known films was “A Raisin in the Sun,” in 1961.

The couple shared billing in 11 stage productions and five movies during their long careers and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.

“Of the two of them, mother was just a pure force of nature when it came to acting,” Guy Davis said. “Father was more of a writer. He acted, but he enjoyed writing.”

Davis died on February 4, 2005 at 87.

Dee died on June 11, 2014 at 91.

Both, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, always saw the bigger picture and, if they were still alive, they would still be active in the fight for freedom, justice and equality, their children said.

“I learned from my parents that, sometimes, sacrifice is necessary,” said Guy Davis. “Once they were on a train to go to work at a theater on Broadway, when they were doing the play ‘Purlie Victorious.’ Here they were, making a successful living but, because there were no Black conductors on the train, they decided to protest and they didn’t go on stage that night.”

Davis continued: “They stepped up and had to sacrifice in order to make change and today, you don’t even think twice about seeing a Black conductor or bus driver.”

Day said that her parents taught her to appreciate different cultures, languages and people.

“They taught us to love our people and to speak up for our people,” said Day. “When needed, answer the call.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Assistant Facilities Manager

FIREFIGHTER / EMT / PARAMEDIC Firefi ghter - Paramedic 63,759.27 EMT-D 60,809.27 Annual Salary The West Haven Fire Department will be conducting an Entry Exam on Saturday December 16, 2017 at West Haven High School 9:00am. This exam will be for entry level Firefighter-Paramedic/EMT. This is a Fire Police Selection Inc. (FPSI) exam.

The fee for this exam is $65.00 and shall be submitted on line with the application and certification documents.

Application documents and fee must be submitted through www.FirefighterApp.com.

Application deadline is December 1, 2017.

Qualifi cations to sit for the exam: 18 years of age (by date of the exam) United States Citizen or legally authorized to work in the U.S The West Haven Fire Department is a progressive Class II Department providing fire suppression, fire rescue, hazardous materials intervention/protection, emergency medical care and mutual aid, responding to more than 6500 calls per year. The WHFD/ Center District has four twelve-person platoons, which rotate four 24/72 hour shifts. The department offers a competitive salary/benefit package. Health and dental benefits, annual health and fitness program and a retirement plan.

Applications can be submitted on www.Firefi ghterApp.com after November 4, 2017

The West Haven Fire Department is an equal opportunity employer.

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport

Common Ground seeks an Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian to be responsible for the care, upkeep and maintenance of Common Ground’s facilities. The Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian will supervise part time custodial staff.

This is a full time, year round 40-hour per week position with benefits. Work hours will generally run from noon until 8 pm with some weekend hours required. For a more detailed job description and how to apply, please visit http:// commongroundct.org/2017/10/common-ground-seeks-an-assistant-facilitiesmanager/Common Ground seeks an Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian to be responsible for the care, upkeep and maintenance of Common Ground’s facilities. The Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian will supervise part time custodial staff. This is a full time, year round 40-hour per week position with benefits. Work hours will generally run from noon until 8 pm with some weekend hours required. For a more detailed job description and how to apply, please visit http://commongroundct.org/2017/10/common-ground-seeks-an-assistantfacilities-manager/

Construction Truck and Equipment Head Mechanic

Large CT based Fence and Guard Rail contractor looking for experienced, self-motivated, responsible Head Mechanic. Responsibilities will include maintaining and repairing all company equipment and vehicles, updating asset lists and assuring all rolling stock is in compliance with state and federal regulations. Must have extensive diesel engine, electrical wiring and hydraulic systems experience.

Top wages paid, company truck and benefits.

AA/EOE

Please send resume to Mpicard@atlasoutdoor.com

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Proposal (RFP) for Security Guard Services- Harborview Towers Solicitation Number: 095-SEC-17-S

1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is currently requesting proposals from qualified security firms to provide security guard services at Harborview Towers a public housing complex in the city of Bridgeport. Solicitation package will be available on December 18, 2017. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A pre-proposal conference will be held at150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604 onJanuary 10, 2018, @ 10:00 a.m.Although attendance is not mandatory, submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than January 20, 2018 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org.Proposals shall be mailed or hand delivered by February 1, 2018 @ 3:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. Late proposals will not be accepted.

Insulation company offering good pay and benefits.

TOWN CLERK

Invitation for Bid (IFB) Three Tab Roof Replacements at Various Sites Solicitation Number: 093-PD-17-S The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is requesting sealed bids for Roof Replacements at Various Sites. A complete set of the plans and technical specifications will be available on October 23, 2017. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604 on November 8, 2017 @ 10:00 a.m., submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than November 20, 2017 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. All bids must be received by mailed or hand delivered by December 7, 2017 @ 2:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Sr. Contract Specialist, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. No bids will be accepted after the designated time.

KMK Insulation Inc. Mechanical Insulator position.

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

Town of Bloomfield Maintainer II

Salary $26.64 hourly For Details go to www.bloomfieldct.org Pre-employment drug testing AA/EOE Deadline to apply 12/28/17

TOWN CLERK-Responsible for public records and management of the Town Clerk’s Office. The position requires a H.S. Diploma or GED and five (5) years of responsible office work experience in municipal Town Clerk Office performing duties as indicated in the job description to include one (1) year of supervisory experience. Must possess State of CT. certification as a Notary required within six (6) months of appointment. Must possess and maintain State of CT. certification as a Municipal Clerk within three (3) years of appointment. $59,138- $75,665 plus an excellent fringe benefit package.

Apply: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. The closing date will be the date the 50th application/resume is received, or December 27, 2017 whichever occurs first. EOE

18

Union Company seeks: Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Invitation for Bids Phone: Contact: Dana Briere 860-243-2300 Email: Snow Removal ServicesValley dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com and Waverly Townhouse Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply The Housing Authority ofAction/ the City ofEqual New Haven d/b/a Elm City ComAffirmative Opportunity munities is currently seekingEmployer Bids for Snow Removal Services-Valley and Waverly Townhouses. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 3:00PM

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES s

GARRITY ASPHALT RECLAIMING , INC Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks: Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record.

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860243-2300 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming Inc Employer

seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory Garrity Reclaiming Inc trainingAsphalt on equipment we operate. seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic Location: Bloomfield CT preferably in Reclaiming and Contact:experienced James Burke Phone: 860Road Milling Equipment.

We offer factory 243-2300 training on equipment we operate. email: jim.burke@garrityasphalt.com Location: Bloomfield CT Women & Minority Applicants are Contact:encouraged James Burke Phone: 860to apply 243-2300 Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity email: jim.burke@garrityasphalt.com Employer We offer excellent hourly rate & Women & Minoritybenefits Applicants are excellent encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Union Company seeks: Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating Union Company seeks: Tractor Trailer heavy equipment; be willing to travel Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer Equipment. Must have a CDL License, excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits clean driving record, capable of operating Contact: Dana Briere Phone: heavy equipment; be willing to travel 860-243-2300 Email: throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Women & Minority Applicants are Contact: Dana Briere Phone: encouraged to apply 860-243-2300 Email: Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Employer Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Maintainer II -Water Division Performs tasks required in the maintenance, installation, repair and construction of roadways, services, hydrants, and structures relating to facilities, lines and equipment of the water system. Requires at least three (3) years employment as a Maintainer in the Water Division or in construction involving the installation and maintenance of pipe lines and related equipment OR two (2) years training in plumbing plus one (1) year of employment as a Maintainer in the Water System OR an equivalent combination of experience and training. The Town offers a competitive pay rate of $23.12 - $28.06 per hour plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Applications or resumes will be accepted until December 26, 2017 (or the date of receipt of the 50th application) at the following address: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492, (203) 294-2080. Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE The Wallingford Police Department is seeking qualified applicants for Police Officer. $1,206.80 weekly plus an excellent fringe benefit package. The physical performance, written and oral board exams will be administered by the South Central Criminal Justice Administration. Candidates must register at: www.PoliceApp.com/WallingfordCT. Registration/Application deadline is Wednesday, January 17, 2018. The registration requires a fee of $85.00. EOE

Assistant Facilities Manager Common Ground seeks an Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian to be responsible for the care, upkeep and maintenance of Common Ground’s facilities. The Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian will supervise part time custodial staff.

This is a full time, year round 40-hour per week position with benefits. Work hours will generally run from noon until 8 pm with some weekend hours required. For a more detailed job description and how to apply, please visit http:// commongroundct.org/2017/10/common-ground-seeks-an-assistant-facilitiesmanager/Common Ground seeks an Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian to be responsible for the care, upkeep and maintenance of Common Ground’s facilities. The Assistant Facilities Manager/Custodian will supervise part time custodial staff. This is a full time, year round 40-hour per week position with benefits. Work hours will generally run from noon until 8 pm with some weekend hours required. For a more detailed job description and how to apply, please

Public Notice The Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA) hereby announces its 49 CFR Part 26 Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) plans related to FAA-assisted contracts for professional services and construction projects for federal fiscal years 2017-2019 for Bradley International and federal fiscal years 2018-2020 for the five General Aviation Airports. The proposed plan, which includes the 3-year goal and rationale, is available for inspection between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday at Bradley International Airport, Administration Office, Terminal A, 3rd Floor, Windsor Locks, CT 06096 or on CAA’s website http://www.ctairports.org, the Bradley International Airport website http://www. bradleyairport.com for 30 days from the date of this publication.

Comments on the DBE goal will be accepted for 45 days from the date of availability of this notice and can be sent to the following: Laurie A. Sirois Manager of Grants, Procurement and Insurance Programs Connecticut Airport Authority Bradley International Airport Administration Office Terminal A, 3rd Floor Windsor Locks, CT 06096 lsirois@ctairports.org

or

Mr. Thomas Knox DBE & ACDBE Compliance Specialist FAA Western-Pacific Regional Office Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007 thomas.knox@faa.gov

TRANSFER STATION LABORER Off load trailers, reload for trans/disp. Lift 50 lbs., operate industrial powered trucks and forklift. Asbestos Worker Handler Training a +. Resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 173 Pickering St., Portland, CT 06480; Fax 860-342-1022; or Email to lkelly@redtransfer.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Field Engineer

BA/BS in Civil Engineering or Construction Management.

2-5 yrs. experience. OSHA Certified.

Proficient in reading contract plans and specifications.

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

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

Fax 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com

RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Class A CDL Driver

with 3 years min. exp. HAZMAT Endorsed. (Tractor/Triaxle/Roll-off) Some overnights may be required. FAX resumes to RED Technologies, at 860.342-1042; Email: HR@redtechllc.com Mail or in person: 173 Pickering Street, Portland, CT 06480. RED Technologies, LLC is An EOE.

Common Ground High School seeks a PART TIME

Special Education Teaching Assistant (TA). The TA is responsible for supporting the Special Education teachers in general education and special education classes. Support will include individual and small group instruction, facilitation of on-task behavior, and implementation of students’ IEPs, including accommodations, goals, etc. Click here for more details and how to apply http://commongroundct. org/2017/10/cghs-seeks-a-part-time-special-educationteaching-assistant/.

Wait list Coventry Housing Authority is accepting applications for its Section 8 Elderly/Disabled housing until November 30, 2017. To qualify, you must be either 62 years of age or disabled. Annual income limit is $19,250 (one person) & $22,000 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application at the Coventry Housing Authority, 1630 Main St., Coventry, CT, or have one mailed. Completed applications must be returned no later than 3 p.m. on November 30, 2017. For more information call 860-742-5518.

KMK Insulation Inc. 1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473

Mechanical Insulator position.

Insulation company offering good pay and benefits.

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is requesting proposals for the painting of interior vacant units.

Proposal documents can be viewed and printed at www.

norwalkha.org<http://www.norwalkha.org> under the Business section RFP’s/RFQ’s Norwalk Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Curtis O. Law, Executive Director.

School Security Greeter- Seeking qualified individuals to perform a variety of duties associated with monitoring access to the building or assigned station, implementing security protocols as provided by district and building level administrative staff. Requires graduation from high school, plus a minimum of one year experience working with the public. Individual considered for the positions will be required to be fingerprinted and undergo background checks.

Hourly Rate: $10.23 - $10.56 plus benefit package. Apply to: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will be December 20, 2017 or the date the 50th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Portland Knowledge of Haz. Waste Regs., Manifests, AP & Billing. Send resumes to RED Technologies, LLC Fax 860-218-2433; Email to HR@redtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Construction Truck and Equipment Head Mechanic Large CT based Fence and Guard Rail contractor looking for experienced, self-motivated, responsible Head Mechanic. Responsibilities will include maintaining and repairing all company equipment and vehicles, updating asset lists and assuring all rolling stock is in compliance with state and federal regulations. Must have extensive diesel engine, electrical wiring and hydraulic systems experience.

Top wages paid, company truck and benefits.

AA/EOE

Wait list Coventry Housing Authority is accepting applications for its State Elderly/Disabled housing until November 30, 2017. To qualify, you must be either 62 years of age or disabled. Annual income limit is $47,600 (one person) & $54,400 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application at the Coventry Housing Authority, 1630 Main St., Coventry, CT, or have one mailed. Completed applications must be returned no later than 3 p.m. on November 30, 2017. For more information call 860-742-5518.

Please send resume to Mpicard@atlasoutdoor.com

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids

Snow Removal Services- Valley and Waverly Townhouses The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Snow Removal Services-Valley and Waverly Townhouses. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, November 1, 2017 at 3:00PM

Listing: Receptionist/Office Assistant

Petroleum Company has an immediate full time opening. Previous experience in a very busy office handling multiple telephone lines and dealing with customers required. Excellent customer service skills a must. Previous petroleum experience a plus. Applicant to also perform administrative/clerical tasks as assigned. Please send resume to: H.R. Manager, Confidential, P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

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

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Why Ending AIDS in Africa Matters to Black Americans

By Dr. Djibril Diallo, Regional Director for Western and Central Africa, UNAIDS

World AIDS Day (December 1) is fast approaching and a recently launched initiative aimed at ending HIV/AIDS, as a public health crisis in Africa, could be a catalyst to trigger discussions about HIV in the African American and African diaspora communities in the United States.

In recent months, several African heads of state have made public their commitment to support the goal of ending AIDS by 2030. In September, six African heads of state joined UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé at the “HIV Fast Track” side event organized during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly that was held in New York City and presided over by President Yoweri of Uganda. Earlier in July, during the African Union (AU) Summit, AU Chair, President Alpha Conde of Guinea convened the “AIDS Watch Africa

Heads of State and Government Meeting” where the leaders endorsed the

“Catch-Up Plan for West and Central Africa” and declared their commitment to providing the needed policy and resource changes to help achieve the target goals.

The Catch-Up Plan is an 18-month initiative that has been developed to accelerate the AIDS response and prevent a resurgence of the HIV epidemic in the 25-country region. Its focus is on testing, knowing one’s HIV status, treatment, and prevention of motherto-child transmission; the initiative was crafted to complement existing health plans that the countries have been using to address HIV and AIDS. Today, thanks to advancements in medicine and increased access to antiretroviral medications for many people in Africa and around the world, being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. In so many cases, with treatment the disease can be managed like a chronic illness and kept under long-term control with medication.

However, at a time when the global

The South can lead the nation to a 'new politics'

by Jesse Jackson Liberating the South is the key to liberating the nation. The key to liberating the South is the black vote. Recent black turnout in elections in Virginia and Alabama demonstrate this point.

There are 4 million unregistered black voters in the 11 former Confederate states. Florida has more than 555,000 unregistered blacks (and some 200,000 Puerto Ricans moving to the mainland around Orlando after the recent devastating hurricane). Georgia has 618,000 unregistered blacks and North Carolina 463,000. Massive voter registration efforts must be the priority in those three states, with other Southern states to follow. If African-Americans and Latinos register and vote in large numbers in the South, there will be a new politics in America.

In the most recent Alabama Senate race, voters were offered a stark choice: The Republican nominee, Roy Moore, had praised slavery and vilified immigrants, and had been twice removed from judicial posts for elevating his religious beliefs over the laws and the Constitution. His opponent was Democrat Doug Jones, a lawyer famed for prosecuting the

Klansmen who murdered the four little girls in the infamous 1963 Birmingham church bombing. Jones prevailed, but Moore might well have won if he were not been credibly charged with preying on teenage girls when he was in his 30s.

Although it was close, the race represents a turning point. African-Americans — particularly women — turned out in record large numbers. Jones won the Iron Bowl vote, winning in the hometowns of Auburn and the University of Alabama.

He fared best among the young. That vote represents the potential future of politics in Alabama, in the South and in the country.

The race-bait politics that have defined the Republican Party since Nixon’s “Southern strategy” in 1968 may well be reaching its end date. Trump renewed the strategy with his posturing on immigrants, his blustery nativism against Muslims and his divisive stance on the haters in Charlottesville, Va. But in the governor’s race in Virginia and the Senate race in Alabama, Republicans trying to recycle Trumpism were defeated — in large part because African-Americans turned out in record numbers.

Trump’s vilifications clearly mobilize the vote of people of color, of the young and increasingly of women. Their vote cannot be inherited; it must be earned.

If Democrats want to succeed, they have to put political energy and resources into opening up our elections, making it easier for working people to register and vote, and putting new energy on the ground to

persuade and organize people of color to vote.

They will also have to stand up for an agenda that will speak to the pressing needs of the African-American community. At the core of that agenda are policies needed by working and poor people of every race — affordable health care, decent paying jobs, quality schools, affordable college or technical training, clean water and air, retirement security and more. Equal opportunity and equal justice — particularly an end to mass incarceration for nonviolent crimes — are claims not for special treatment but for basic citizenship.

Democratic Party Chair Tom Perez says that African-American women are the “base of the Democratic Party.” Yet neither African-American women nor men have been the center of the party’s efforts or the focus of its resources. What Alabama showed is that there is a new energy outside of the party structures — in organizations such as Black Votes Matter, Woke Vote and more — that can make a difference. Democrats need to walk the talk, to wake up and catch up.

African-Americans are clear about who their foe is; what is yet to be proven is who is for them, who stands on their side. What Alabama and Virginia suggest is that candidates who make that clear may well be able to transform the South — and in doing so, transform the country.

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response to HIV is accelerating, millions of people in Western and Central Africa are being left behind. There is a considerable gap when it comes to people knowing their HIV status, and for those who test positive to receive the necessary treatment.

The same can be said for the populations most vulnerable to the disease in the United States, as well.

Many of the issues that continue to fuel the HIV/AIDS crisis on the continent are also the root cause for the high infection rates found in African American and Hispanic populations in the U.S.; some of the same barriers including poverty, fear, stigma and discrimination also keep people from seeking to know their HIV status, having access to treatment and properly following up on treatment.

On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, the HIV/AIDS mirror reflects the same faces: the young, the poor, women, high-risk populations, as well as children. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) in Atlanta, Ga., reported that “African Americans continue to experience the greatest burden of HIV compared to other races and ethnicities.”

In 2015, data released earlier this year, the CDC noted that African Americans who represent around 12 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 40 percent of all people living with HIV/ AIDS and nearly 45 percent “of all persons with newly diagnosed infection.” Latinos, who represent around 17 percent of the U.S. population, account for nearly 21 percent of people living with HIV and an estimated 24 percent of all persons with newly diagnosed infection.

The Catch-Up Plan for West and Central Africa initiative can serve as the entry point for talking about HIV/ AIDs and related health issues in Africa globally and in particular, as it concerns African American and African Diaspora communities in the US. Dr. Djibril Diallo is the UNAIDS Director of the Regional Support Team for West and Central Africa.

Tarana Burke Created the #MeToo Slogan

But Time Magazine Excluded Her From It’s “Person of the Year” Cover!

Nationwide — Time magazine is under fire for their latest “Person of the Year” issue which addresses the #MeToo social movement on it’s cover, but excludes Tarana Burke, the Black woman who actually started the movement. Critics says Time wanted to give more attention and credit to the white celebrity women who helped publicize the movement.

The cover features actress Ashley Judd, singer Taylor Swift, corporate lobbyist Adama Iwu, worker Isabel Pascual and former Uber engineer Susan Fowler. Three of these women are white, and two are Black, but again, the woman who started the slogan is missing.

Burke, who is 44-years old, was interviewed by Ebony magazine earlier this year, and said she launched the Me Too slogan back in 2006 as a grassroots movement to aid sexual assault survivors in underprivileged communities.

During the interview, she said, “It wasn’t built to be a viral campaign or a hashtag that is here today and forgotten tomorrow. It was a catchphrase to be used from survivor to survivor to let folks know that they were not alone and that a movement for radical healing was happening and possible.”

“What’s happening now is powerful and I salute it and the women who

have disclosed but the power of using ‘me too’ has always been in the fact that it can be a conversation starter or the whole conversation – but it was us talking to us,” she continued.

Most people, including actress Alyssa Milano, who was featured on the cover of Time, acknowledge that Burke started the slogan.

Milano recently tweeted, “I was just made aware of an earlier #MeToo movement, and the origin story is equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring”.

Is 50 Cent the New Tyler Perry? -THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

His New "Power" Deal with Starz Has Him Producing 3 TV Shows!

Starz has announced its commitment to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson by extending his existing exclusive premium overall deal into September 2019. Jackson, an executive producer for the hit series “Power,” will continue to develop new projects for the network with G-Unit Film & Television, Inc., the production company launched by Jackson.

“I am extremely pleased to expand my partnership with Starz and Lionsgate,” Jackson said. “This investment in my television and film ventures through G-Unit Film & Television will launch a wide range of new original scripted and unscripted programming I’m looking forward to everyone seeing.”

Starz CEO & President Chris Albrecht added, “This deal recognizes how Curtis’ abilities have gone beyond music and business to include acting and show creation. We’re pleased to continue our relationship and bring new projects to his current and future fans.”

New projects already in development Jackson’s projects currently in development with Starz include “Black Mafia Family” and “Tomor-

doctor who genetically engineers him to have heighted abilities. Set free, but on the run, the veteran must reconcile with the world that has turned against him, and use his newfound abilities for good.

Nominated for four 2018 NAACP Image Awards® including “Outstanding Drama Series” and a 2017 People’s Choice Award® for “Favorite Premium Drama Series,” the critically-acclaimed fourth season of “Power” averaged 9.3 million multi-platform viewers per episode and is the most-watched franchise for Starz, averaging 7.4 million multiplatform viewers for all four seasons.

“Power” ranks #3 among premium scripted series for viewers and was a top three Sunday night program on Nielsen Social Rankings nine out of 10 weeks.

worldwide and been awarded numerous prestigious accolades.

Jackson has leveraged his star power to cross over with unparalleled success as an entrepreneur, actor and producer.

From Get Rich or Die Tryin’ being one of the fastest selling albums in history, to creating one of the most influential deals in hip-hop with the sale of Vitaminwater, Jackson continues to break

records. He currently has the #1 show on Starz, “Power,” in which he not only co-stars but also serves as executive producer.

He also continues to extend his brand in other areas, including: footwear and apparel, fragrance, video games, publishing, headphones, vodka, health drinks, Casper mattresses and supplements.

More than just a Rapper row, Today.” “Black Family Mafia” is inspired by the story of Demetrius ‘Big Meech’ Flenory and the intersection of the drug industry and the music industry.

In “Tomorrow, Today,” after being falsely imprisoned, a veteran from the south side of Chicago becomes the personal experiment of a prison

50 Cent, born Curtis James Jackson III, is an award-winning rapper, entrepreneur, actor and producer from Queens, New York. Recognized as one of the most talented and prolific music artists of his time, the Grammy Award winner rose to fame with his record-shattering debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and has since sold more than 30 million albums

Oprah Signs New $70 Million Deal With Discovery Networks --

Discovery Communications has completed an agreement with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo, Inc. to increase its ownership stake in its successful OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network joint venture.

Under the terms of the transaction, Discovery paid $70 million to acquire an additional 24.5% stake in OWN from Harpo, Inc., after taking into account net debt at the network, increasing Discovery’s ownership stake to more than 70%. This transaction represents Winfrey’s first payment from Harpo, Inc.’s ownership stake in OWN in the 10 years since forming the joint venture with Discovery. Winfrey’s Harpo, Inc. will retain a significant minority interest in OWN and Winfrey will continue in her role as CEO, with her exclusivity commitment to the network extended through 2025.

Ten years in the making “Ten years ago, Oprah and I began to imagine what a network, inspired by her vision and values, could mean to viewers across the U.S.,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery. “In an increasingly crowded landscape, OWN has emerged as the leading destination for African-American women and one of the strongest superfan brands across all screens and services. This transaction allows Discovery and Oprah to unlock more value from our partnership; extends once more her commitment to the network; and

lets us continue our strong work together to nourish OWN viewers with the content they love.”

“Creating OWN and seeing it flourish, supported by Discovery and a rapidly growing group of the finest storytellers in film and television, is one of my proudest achievements,” said Winfrey. “I’m thrilled with the network’s success and excited about this next chapter in our partnership. Together, we’ll continue to inspire our viewers with real-life stories that are emotional and entertaining, connecting them to each other and to their greatest potential.”

The #1 cable network Launched in 2011, OWN has become the #1 network for African-American women with the top four original scripted series on ad-supported cable. The network is led by hit series including QUEEN SUGAR and GREENLEAF, the top two original series on all of television Wednesday nights for African-American viewers. OWN and Winfrey have created unparalleled social media engagement, delivering the most social shows on ad-supported cable with three shows in the Top 10. The network has recently expanded its relationships with premier storytellers and producers including Ava DuVernay, Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, Academy Award-winning “Moonlight” writer/producer Tarell Alvin McCraney and prolific filmmaker Will Packer.

I’m excited for OWN to be part of Discovery in a deeper, more meaningful way and for the opportunity this unlocks for our future,” said Erik Logan, President, OWN. “Our network has achieved what most people thought was impossible and as we look toward the future, now more than ever, we are poised for continued success.”

Following the completion of the Scripps acquisition and combining the company’s current female-focused networks, including TLC, ID and OWN, Discovery will be home to five of the top pay-TV networks for women and represent 20% share of women watching primetime pay-TV in the U.S. or more details about OWN, visit www.Oprah. com/own

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BIRTH CONTROL. IT’S WHAT WE DO. With 2,945,059 visits for birth control consults and services last year, Planned Parenthood knows birth control.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

CBC Members Met with FBI Director Christopher Wray About the FBI’s Controversial “Black Identity Extremists” Report. This Is What They Learned

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Contributor FBI Director Christopher A. Wray failed to explain why the agency he leads changed the name of a domestic terrorism designation from “Black Separatist Extremists” to “Black Identity Extremist,” during a recent meeting with a group of Congressional Black Caucus members about a leaked FBI document.

Wray also refused to acknowledge that Black activists, including Black Lives Matter organizers, are being monitored by the FBI, according to CBC members present at the meeting.

The leaked FBI document, titled “Black Identity Extremists Likely Motivated to Target Law Enforcement Officers,” sparked a wave of controversy and sharp criticism of the FBI. At least one CBC member called the leaked document “COINTELPRO 2.0,” while another said that the report “calls for open season on Black activists.” The document was shared widely with local law enforcement agencies across the country.

According to Newsweek, following the “fatal attacks on police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2016, the bureau expressed concerns about ‘the threat of copycat attacks against law enforcement’ at the Republican and Democratic national conventions.”

Newsweek reported that other documents showed that “the FBI has monitored Black Lives Matter protesters.”

Those documents were released, because of a lawsuit to expose the surveillance filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the civil rights group Color of Change.

On Wednesday, November 29, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and 2nd Vice Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.), provided an overview of their meeting with Wray in a teleconference with National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis; NNPA National Chairman Dorothy Leavell; and a group of Black publishers, editors and reporters.

CBC members, who are also members of the House Committee on Homeland Security, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Committee on the Judiciary were present at the meeting.

“Listening to [Wray], especially con-

sidering meetings and discussions we’ve had with Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions, he appeared to be a breath of fresh air,” Bass said.

According to Bass, Wray said the “Black Identity Extremists” report was completed prior to his taking the post, but he acknowledged that he “owns the document” now.

Wray also said that no one would be investigated or targeted, unless they met three points of criteria: there had to be credible evidence of federal crimes; a credible threat of force or violence; and both of those points had to exist in furtherance of a social or political goal.

Bass said the FBI uses that criteria to categorize people as domestic terrorists and, according to the leaked document, “Black Identity Extremists” fall into the category of domestic terrorism.

Wray also admitted that the policy wasn’t new, the name simply changed, Bass said.

“They used to call it ‘Black Separatist Extremists’ and they changed it to ‘Black Identity Extremists,’” said Bass. “[Wray] didn’t have a lot of rationale for why that change took place, except for the fact that the people that fall under the category ‘Black Identity Extremist’ don’t seem to be separatists in today’s world.”

CBC members raised major concerns about the report, one of which was how

FBI even crafted the methodology to come up with the category of “Black Identity Extremists.” “[Wray] essentially said that they used ‘open source’ documents, which means news reports,” said Bass.

“Lord knows what that means.”

Bass said that, based on what she heard from Wray, the methodology seemed “flimsy.”

“When we raised our concerns that a new generation of Black activists were being targeted [including the Black Lives Matter movement] for surveillance and harassment, [Wray] said repeatedly that there was no investigation of the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Bass.

Bass and the other CBC members let Wray know that they were “completely aware” that some activists in their communities were experiencing surveillance and harassment, even though they didn’t meet the requirements that Wray described that would lead to an investigation.

The CBC members asked the FBI to retract the document and issue a new message to local law enforcement agencies.

“One of the problems with this document is that it has been widely distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country,” said Bass.

“Many of us referenced either our

22

own personal experiences or experiences we were aware of during the ‘COINTELPRO’ years when, if you send a document like this out to local law enforcement, in many of our opinions, you can declare open season on Black activists, because then local law enforcement agencies can use the document as justification for doing whatever they want to do.”

COINTELPRO, or the “Counter Intelligence Program” of the FBI, was designed in part to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of the Black nationalists,” during the 1950s and 1970s.

Writing for the Huffington Post, G. Flint Taylor, a founding partner of the People’s Law Office in Chicago, said that hundreds of documents were uncovered during a court case in 1976 that revealed that the FBI also plotted to destroy a children’s breakfast program run by the Black Panther Party and “disrupt distribution of the BPP newspaper.”

The documents exposed in the 1976 court case also revealed, “massive wiretap overhears, including conversations between BPP members and their attorneys,” Taylor wrote.

“The FBI denies they are surveilling (sic) our groups like the Black Lives Matter movement, but we told them

that we don’t believe it and our information tells us that” those groups are under surveillance, said Richmond.

Richmond said that the CBC members plan to present information to the FBI detailing surveillance and harassment of Black organizers.

The FBI director expressed interests in meeting with CBC members regularly because, “We are the eyes and ears on the ground,” and the CBC offers diversity that the agency lacks, said Richmond.

Bass asked the Black Press to put the call out to their readers to let lawmakers know if they have experienced harassment or surveillance, a request that Richmond echoed.

Chavis, the president and CEO of the NNPA, committed to working with Richmond and other CBC members to uncover stories of unwarranted government surveillance and harassment in the Black community.

“People may be more considerate in doing things, if they know that the Black Press will be on their case,” said Leavell, the chairman of the NNPA. “In addition, it certainly shows our strength, if we can have a great impact.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

Robert Saulsbury aul h s sb

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Basketball Invitational

tat i o n

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Career High School Vs. Weaver High School 1:45 pm - 3:00 pm Creed High School Vs. Amistad High School 3:30 pm - 4:45 pm Career (girls) High School Vs. Mercy (girls) High School 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm Awards Ceremony Honoring Wanda Gibbs

•

Judge Ed Dolan

•

Coach Jim Calhoun

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Hillhouse High School Vs. Windsor High School 7:15 pm - 8:45 pm Wibur Cross High Vs. Roosevelt High, New York

Wilbur Cross High School 181 Mitchell Drive, New Haven, CT 06511 Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017 - 12:00 pm - 8:45 pm Donation: $5.00 Students • $10.00 Adults Proceeds to Benefit The Robert H. Saulsbury Scholarship Fund Refreshments available for sale

Contact: 203-376-1385

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 20, 2017 - December 26, 2017

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12/6/17 1:20 PM