INNER-CITY NEWS

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Volume 21 No. 2191

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INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

9TH Annual National Sisters of Today and Tomorrow Leadership Conference for Girls

Every Black Man Needs “Free State of Jones”

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INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

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SISTERS RISE: WHY WE MATTER 9TH Annual National Sisters of Today and Tomorrow Leadership Conference for Girls

New Haven, Connecticut – What does a Preacher’s wife, a Gold Medalist, a Police Commissioner, an Executive Director of a Housing organization and the Director of a Small Business Academy all have in common?

Sisters of Today and Tomorrow Leadership Conference for Girls…

Thursday – Saturday, July 1416, 2016, Sisters of Today and Tomorrow (SOT), a nonprofit organization developed to transform the lives of girls and the women who raise them, will host its 9th Annual National Leadership Conference for girls, in New Haven, Connecticut. Registration fee is $125pp (includes: morning and afternoon snack, lunch and confer-

ence materials).

The Conference will kick off Thursday evening, July 14th, with SOT’s Summer Swanky Affair / Fundraiser at K2 New Haven, 27 Temple St., sponsored by Jacqueline James, Director of the Small Business Academy, City of New Haven and Carla Morrison, Executive Director of Sisters of Today and Tomorrow.

“The evening will include: good food (Asian style), music, empowerment speeches and a silent auction. Highlights: A soul rendering singing performance by CT Gem Ebony, and keynote address from Gold Medalist, turned Coach Alexandria Givan. “The music will be provided by Herman Ham , who never disappoints, and spe-

cial guest through-out the evening, all New Haven Public Schools alumni, that have gone on to do exceptional work in their field,” says Carla Morrison, Organizer of the Conference.

Friday, July 15th will include a full day of workshops, including self-esteem building conducted by Mayor Aide Maya Welfare; “Lunch with a Leader”, presented

by Dr. Karen DuBois-Walton of New Haven Housing Authority, “Express Yourself through Writing”, facilitated by Radio Legend/ Journalist Michelle Turner & Editor Babz Rawls Ivy, “Vision Board Creation” facilitated by West Haven Police Commissioner Deborah Busch Wright, “Dress for Success” workshop

with Celebrity Stylist Tanisha Bundy, “Health & Wellness” presentation from Yale New Haven Hospital and the powerful Sisters Circle facilitated by Social Worker(s) Ericka Fields and Tanisha Bundy.

Saturday, July 16th is “SOT’s Mommy, Mentor & Me Day”, where educator Tisha Welfare will conduct a “Planting the Leadership Seed” workshop and (retired) psychologist Bettye Morrison will facilitate a SHAPE workshop for both the mothers and mentors; While Dr. Christina Cousin (first lady of Bethel AME) will facilitate a “college prep” workshop for high school age girls and Actress Tyquanda Johnson will facilitate a “creativ-

ity” workshop for the younger girls.

“We will come back together through a combined fitness workshop lead by fitness guru / Zumba expert Chaila Gilliams of Body Workers, LLC.,” says Carla Morrison, Founder/ Executive Director, SOT. The conference will culminate with a brunch and a surprise guest speaker. “Later that same evening SOT guest from Georgia and other places will join us with our family and friends on the green to enjoy the musical festivities.”

For more information, contact Carla Morrison, (404) 319-2130 or w e b s i t e : www.sistersoftodayandtomorrow.org

Counselors Given Scholarships To LEAP To Success INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

by DANIELA BRIGHENTI Against an alternating backdrop of pictures showing grinning children, six graduating high school seniors were left smiling themselves after winning scholarships to help fund their upcoming college studies.

The children in the pictures projected to an audience of nearly 100 are part of LEAP, the community-based youth academics and recreation program led by students at the high school and college levels.

The ceremony held at Gateway Community College on Thursday

celebrated both the award recipients as well as all 24 high school LEAP counselors graduating in the class of 2016.

The first two awards given out, at a total of $1,000 each, were funded by the family of Jay Bovilsky for the 16th consecutive year. Essence Santos-Eden, from James Hillhouse High School, and Karahn Green, from Hill Regional Career High School, were the recipients of this year’s scholarships.

Executive Director of LEAP Henry Fernandez, who presented the two awards, praised Bovilsky for his longtime commitment to LEAP and commended the two

students for their “long history of academic achievement.” In the fall, Santos-Eden will attend Southern Connecticut State University; Green will attend John C. Smith University.

“Whatever you go on to do, think about how you can give back and contribute to the community,” Fernandez advised the soon-to-be college students.

Following Fernandez, Greg Pepe took the stage to present four additional scholarships. Pepe is a lawyer at the local firm Neubert, Pepe & Monteith, P.C. This is the third year the has presented four $2,500 scholarships to outstanding LEAP students. His wife, Ann

Baker Pepe, currently serves as LEAP’s board chair.

This year’s recipients were Denaysia Silva, Autumn Thomas, Ken’Nia Threatt, and Lauren White. All four plan on attending college next fall.

“LEAP has been a big, big factor in my life,” Thomas said.

“Growing up in a single parent home, having no money. It isn’t easy. You don’t get things like this very often.”

The batch of student applicants for the scholarship was particularly competitive this year, Pepe noted. He highlighted that the students chosen all presented

exemplary academic achievements, and that he “looks forward to tracking [their] progress.”

In addition to presenting the four awards, Greg Pepe spoke to his audience about New Haven’s special sense of community. He received his law degree from the nearby University of Bridgeport, and holds multiple community positions in the Elm City.

“At a law firm, you see the effect of community on the people,” Pepe said. “Our hope is that as you become leaders, you will use your education to be a part of that community.”

Publisher / CEO

6 Question Encounter: Lizz Wright

Babz Rawls Ivy Managing Editor Liaison, Corporate Affairs

with friends and this is what came up.

Babz: 2) Who are you digging right now? Who do you have on listening rotation?

Babz: 4) What kinds of songs are on your wish list? Songs that folks would be surprised you would like?

Babz: 1) Ms Wright, “Lean In” was so grown woman fabulous, what was the inspiration for it? It felt very grown and sexy. Was that the point?

Lizz: When I am on the road I listen to everything new in several genres, but when I am at home all I want to hear is birdsong and the creek.

Lizz: Perhaps I’m a bit indulgent l, because I sing every single thing I want to. There’s nothing left on the wish list. What a funny realization! Gee..

Babz: 3) Do you see yourself delving into more pop kinds of music?

Babz: 5) Do you watch any of the reality song competition/talent shows? If yes, which ones?

Lizz: Thank you. I was playing with a drum machine along with Jesse Harris after we had finished a writing session early. I was reflecting on the work of some of my favorite DJs in Brooklyn and Atlanta. I imagined writing a song to close a long night of dancing

Lizz: I have moments of romanticizing about pop music, but as an artist I’m always going to fall for the focus and nuances of jazz and the emotion and vulnerability of gospel. They’re like that sweet old pair of tattered jeans you refuse to toss because of the

Lizz: I don’t watch tv, but use rentals and the Internet to catch up.

Still, no reality talent shows for me! I find them incredibly stressful. As a singer you can trace the sound of the voice back into the body to feel what the physical experience behind the sound is. I

Doreen Strong Advertising Director Sales Team Trenda Lucky Delores Alleyne John Thomas III Hilda Calvachi

Editorial Team Staff Writers Ratasha Smith / Current Affairs Anthony Scott / Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd / Politics Contributing Writers David Asbery Tanisha Asbery Jessica Carl Jerry Craft/Cartoons Barbara Fair Mubarakah Ibrahim Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner Smita Shrestha Kam Williams

fit.

by Babz Rawls Ivy, Editor-inchief, Inner-City News.

feel too much muscle use and so much nerves. I’m way too sensitive to enjoy these kinds of shows.

Babz: 6) We know you are an amazing singer, what else is Lizz Wright into artistically?

Lizz: Thank you! I love to cook, to write essays, produce shows and to design. My purse always carries a microphone, a design or food maggy and a journal.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

John P. Thomas Jr.

Lizz Wright will be performing at the Ridgefield Playhouse, Saturday June 25, 2016 8:00 pm.

For tickets www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org The new cd is Freedom & Surrender www.lizzwright.net

Content Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org Dr. Fred McKinney Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council www.cmsdc.org Memberships National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.

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The Inner-City Newspaper is published weekly by Penfield Communications, Inc. from offices located at 50 Fitch Street, 2nd Floor, New Haven, CT 06515.

203-387-0354 phone; 203-387-2684 fax.

Subscriptions:$260 per year (does not include sales tax for the in State subscriptions). Send name, address, zip code with payment. Postmaster, send address changes to 50 Fitch Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Display ad deadline Friday prior to insertion date at 5:00pm Advertisers are responsible for checking ads for error in publication. Penfield Communications, Inc d.b.a., “The Inner-City Newspaper” , shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors or errors in publication, except to the extent of the cost of the space in which actual error appeared in the first insertion. The Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The entire contents of The Inner-City Newspaper are copyright 2012, Penfield Communications, Inc. and no portion may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

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When Your Son Becomes a Father conversation and they watched as the news sunk in. I was not worried that he was ready for the responsibility because that was perhaps his greatest strength. He was to become a father.

by William Spivey You were there at his birth. You raised him as a child. And now he has become a man and father. As Father’s Day approaches. The true gift is being able to live vicariously through one’s children. I have two daughters’ and a daughter-in-law as well. They all three are outstanding mothers, putting all that they are into their seven total children, all girls. Perhaps on Mother’s Day I will discuss them, but today I speak on my son... the father.

One day in late November, a call came that they were headed to the hospital. It was way too early, the baby was premature. My own experience with premature children was mixed. I was a premature baby though one would never suspect it to see me now.

Another child of mine that would have been a girl didn’t live.

Attempts were made to delay the birth as long as possible to give the baby a chance but to no avail.

Both of these were on my mind as I went to the hospital, determined to be there either way.

I watch him now in the same way I observed his soccer games in his youth. While his mother was screaming, «That’s my baby!» I was normally quiet, yet watching his every move. He was an outstanding soccer player, generally the leading scorer on his teams. He had size, strength and speed. Most importantly he had character.

Family gathered and in the waiting room. My son was mostly back with his wife as doctors were making decisions as to how to proceed. Their child was further along than the one I lost and there weren’t the deep concerns about life and death but they were concerned about development of the lungs and wanted to delay the birth also. Ultimately, not long before Thanksgiving, a small healthy baby girl was born. She spent her first days mostly in an incubator. The baby stayed in the hospital for a couple days after mother was released. They resisted the urge to kidnap their child and were finally able to bring her home. My son was now a father.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

He generally played over his age group which called for him to demonstrate a little more maturity than he otherwise would have.

That didn’t stop him from being just a kid sometimes. In one rainy game there was a huge puddle in one area of the field and during a pause in action, he jumped and stomped with both feet in the middle of the puddle spraying water everywhere. I will encourage his children to do the same.

He was always responsible.

Headstrong at times, he could not be punished into compliance, it took negotiation. At various times during his childhood he had to be given privileges back so that something could be taken away.

Even in those times he was respectful and soft spoken. I remember thinking, one day you’ll have children and you’ll see! He now has children.

Somehow, seemingly instantly.

He gained a maturity I know I didn’t exhibit at that age. He was tall, athletic and handsome (he’s still all three) yet he proved capable of self-control in an environment with options. He handled himself well in

relationships and learned from mistakes much more quickly than his father.

I first met his future wife as I was taking my youngest daughter to college in New Orleans, passing through Tallahassee where my son was in college. We met at a restaurant and he brought his girlfriend along so that we could meet. He and his sister were as close as any two people in life and they spent that lunch almost exclusively in conversation with each other to the exclusion of the other two present. The siblings love each other dearly still, but

now his wife is in the lead place.

Along with his children.

I remember the day he came to dinner and asked if he could see me privately. We went into another room and he explained that he was ready to take a wife and wanted my blessing. He talked of how they loved each other even when they had nothing, and he was certain their love would only grow stronger. He was logical, concise and confident. I gladly blessed the union with no regrets then or now.

Then came the time, they announced a child was on the way.

It was slipped into the middle of

I watched him as a father in the same way I watched him play soccer. I didn’t tell him what to do but if asked would offer my opinion. Fatherhood was a more severe test of character than soccer ever was. It, like other things doesn’t create character, it reveals it. Having a child is a test of patience and priorities. It’s a combination of love, fears, frustrations and incredible rewards. He and his wife have handled them all well. I’m sure not without growing pains but love and faith in God is seeing them through. Several months later, in the midst of another unrelated conversation. An announcement

about a new impending birth was made. This one went with less drama and soon two girls dominated their household.

My son and his wife have found their own way regarding how they raise their children. They have a partnership with roles. They each sacrifice in different ways. If he were to come to me and ask as he used to after his soccer games, «What do you think?» I would respond as follows: 1.

Embrace every moment: For all the things you’re striving for. The business you’re starting and plans for your family. Don’t let the small moments with your children pass you by. They go so quickly. Fatherhood is more than the responsibility you carry so well. It is also joy. Each hug, each time those girls run to greet you.

Remember it all because those times are as important as the milestones.

2.

Maintain your own identity: In addition to the roles you have taken on as father and husband. There must be room to be you. Maintain some separate interests, friendships, and family relationships. A heightened sense of self will allow you to be better at the roles that if allowed would define you.

3.

Make time for your marriage: Work, children and other responsibilities will consume 100% of your time if allowed. At least one of your babysitters, see’s those times not as a burden but as an opportunity so feel free to call.

I have no further advice. You’re doing just fine on your own.

Parent’s want better for children than they had for themselves. They want their children to not only do well but be well. You have become a wonderful man and Father. I’m very proud. Happy Father’s Day! Dad William Spivey is a writer, and blogs at EnigmaInBlack.wordpress.com He happily lives in Orlando, Florida. He is the the proud Father of three grown children and a grandfather of 7.

theory open to accepting prisoners at the modern facility his town has built and collaborating on regional solutions long-term, he said.

by PAUL BASS & QI XU New Haven Independent

Anticipating that they won’t get extra time to solve a new prisoner lock-up challenge, New Haven police are looking to the suburbs for help as one of several alternatives to returning to the “prisoner management business.”

“I’m absolutely in favor of having the conversation. I believe that prisoner management is another area of many where we should be looking to gain efficiency, reduce costs, through regionalization,” Wydra said.

Police Chief Dean Esserman spoke about that Tuesday night while updating the Board of Police Commissioners about the department’s response to the decision by the state Judicial Department to cease operating the prisoner detention facility at 1 Union Ave. as of July 1 because of budget cuts.

The city has been scrambling to come up with a plan for housing prisoners after arrests. Both New Haven and Hartford, which faces the same challenge, have asked the state to delay the move for up to six months so they have more time to plan.

It appears likely that the state will not say yes, Esserman told commissioners at their monthly meeting Tuesday night at police headquarters.

So in the short term, if that answer indeed comes back as no, the department will have to staff the lock-up on its own with cops.

Looking long term, the city does not want to return to the “prisoner management” that the city turned

The Hamden detention facility has a total 20 cells for adult male and female and for juvenile arrestees. Some days only a few cells are occupied, according to Wydra; other days as many as 15 are.

PAUL BASS PHOTO

Hamden’s Wydra: Regionalization makes sense.

over to the state Judicial Department in 1993. The department wants to find alternatives.

Esserman met with Hamden and West Haven police chiefs Wednesday to discuss whether in the short term New Haven can book arrestees but transport them to excess space in those towns’ lock-ups. They also discussed whether the region longer term could use a regional facility.

“These budget cuts by the state

are affecting local jurisdictions like New Haven and the metropolitan region significantly” and are prompting regional solution-seeking, Esserman.

Operating the 1 Union Ave. lock-up on its own could cost New Haven$2 million a year.

Before the meeting Wednesday, Hamden Police Chief Thomas Wydra told the Independent that he’s intrigued with the idea.

He’d have to run it by his mayor and other officials, but he’s in

Meanwhile, the New Haven assistant chief who had been overseeing the planning for the lock-up change, Anthony Campbell, is being transferred to a new assignment, as assistant chief in charge of patrol. (He’s replacing Al Vazquez, who retired this month as assistant chief in charge of patrol.)

Another possible solution is to restrict the source of prisoners.

Currently the lock-up hosts people from southern Connecticut, Yale University, Amtrak and Metro North. The department is considering whether to leave out those agencies.

With an average of 15-20 arrests every day, assigning police officers to lock-up duties would exert great staffing pressure on the

department, he said.

“We are not going to stop making arrests.” Esserman told commisoners.

The state marshals have run the lock-up since 1993.

A plan to house prisoners at the state jail on Whalley Avenue ended up not proving feasible.

Among other reasons, the facility accepts only male prisoners, which means female arrestees would need to be transported to the prison in Niantic, Campbell said last week.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

City Looks To Burbs For Lock-Up Help

Campbell said that if the New Haven department does end up operating the lock-up, it would spend close to $40,000 a week, or close to $2 million a year, to run the lock up by employing 38-45 officers on overtime weekly duty to man the facility in six-person shifts. He said the understaffed department has to rely on overtime because it has no officers to spare from regular duty.

Esserman opened Tuesday night’s meeting with an update on reaction to the mass shooting Sunday in Orlando, Florida. Local police have been in touch with the FBI, which reported that no serious threats have surfaced in Connecticut. Esserman added that his department has deployed more force to ensure safety during the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

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Donuts For Dad Restitution

by STAFF Proud fathers, uncles, father figures, along with members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the New Haven Police Department packed two kindergarten classrooms at Edgewood Magnet School in celebration of Father’s Day and a very special event entitled, “Donuts for Dads Day.”

by Isaiah Cave, Hamden High class of 2016

“Dads Make a Difference” was the message shared at the Friday event, as the students built special projects with their fathers.

Each father went home with unique gifts: a handmade tie and a self portrait created by their children.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Inspired by President Obama’s Fatherhood initiative, members of the fraternity and police department celebrated with the fathers and came to the school today to stand in the gap as community leaders and male role models for fathers who could not attend the celebration due to work or other circumstances.

Kindergarten teacher Michelle Paulishen said this year’s event was the best ever. “Fathers involvement is essential in our schools. I was so pleased to see so many dads participate today.

Seeing the smiles on my students’ faces, while their dads spent quality time in our classroom made the day a complete success.

And it made me feel good as a teacher knowing we have

DANIELA BRIGHENTI PHOTO Awardee

Karahn Green wins with LEAP’s Fernandez.

outstanding parent and community involvement.”

new principal of Hillhouse High School.

“President Obama made a pledge and our fraternity has joined him by making a pledge that we’ll do everything we can to be there for our children and for young people whose fathers are not around. The turnout here today at Edgewood was so encouraging,” said Glen Worthy, president of the Omegas and the

The Omegas also have a reading program for boys ages 612 held twice a month in the West River Community.

Edgewood Magnet’s “Muffins for Moms Day” was just as successful. School leaders plan to add other innovative programs to encourage and increase parent involvement.

For over 400 years the Black community has suffered from a syndrome that has passed from generation to generation. Back in the 1700’s, Willie Lynch was a slaveholder who said the best technique for “controlling your Black slaves” involved “fear, distrust, and envy.” His point was that favoring lighter skinned slaves who looked more similar to White owners would encourage divisions. As a result, Blacks would learn to dislike their “bad” hair or dark skin and even to look down on each other. Two centuries later, this lesson was still being taught when Malcolm Little straightened and dyed his hair red to fit White standards of beauty.

Even more recently, Chris Rock produced the movie “Good Hair” to open his daughter Lola’s eyes to the value of her own hair.

Long ago, Lynch promised that fostering divisions would keep the black community in check by tearing apart their unity and families. Sadly, the ideas of Willie Lynch still have an impact today.

African Americans are no longer in physical shackles, but some of us remain imprisoned mentally.

Too often, the African American father is not recognized as an important presence in his children’s lives. In today’s society Black children are stereotyped as fatherless children. By contrast, a CDC report on fathers’ involvement with their children showed that, compared with White or Hispanic fathers, Black fathers who live with their children are more likely to eat meals with, bathe, dress, diaper, or toilet their children. In addition, they take their children to or from activities every day, and help older children with homework.

(Jo Jones & William Mosher, 2013) Making amends for the harms inflicted by enslavement is no simple task. Money by itself is just a temporary fix, not a permanent solution. Real restitution is supporting families and making job opportunities.

This means creating better living conditions in housing projects. It means finding other methods of discipline than jail so that young men are not pulled out of their families and their community. It means providing role models and safe activities for children to participate in after school or during the summer. It means promoting work experiences and entrepreneurship. This kind of restitution will not only benefit the Black community but it is a model that can work for others as well.

DMV Will Start Sending Out Late Fee Notices for Overdue Emissions

by Christine Stuart The Department of Motor Vehicles will start sending out late fee notices this week to customers with overdue emissions tests.

The late fee notices stopped last August when the DMV underwent a computer upgrade, which caused numerous problems for the agency. The agency has since

ended its contract with the vendor responsible for creating and installing the new computer system.

The first wave of late fee notices will cover about 200,000 vehicles.

However, it’s still unclear, according to DMV officials, how many notices should be sent.

“We are in the process of doing a more extensive review of company and organization files to determine that number,” William

Seymour, DMV chief of staff, said. “It will be set in a later phase of this project. We wanted to start this initial mailing right away with the identified vehicles.”

The DMV said customers will get a bill for each late vehicle, regardless of whether they still own it. The bills is based on ownership at the time the emissions test was due.

Customers will get a bill if they

did not have an emissions test on the vehicle. The vehicle had the test more than 30 days past the due date or the vehicle failed an emissions test and the owner did not have the vehicle retested within 60 days.

converted all the information from the old computer system over to the new computer system. The level of confidence in the data, according to the DMV, is greater now than it was several months ago.

The late payment fee is $20 per vehicle.

Customers are able to pay online, at a branch or through the mail starting on Thursday, June 23.

DMV officials said they delayed sending the notices until they

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

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Newhallville Feels The “Byrne” to the neighborhood.”

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Project Manager Edwards described plans to get youth involved with creating a “learning block” adjacent to the Farmington Canal. He spokoe also of installing security cameras to make the canal safer. The Hamden part of the trail has cameras that police have access to and use to help keep the trail safe. But that camera coverage drops off in New Haven, he said.

Newhallville neighbors are figuring out how to fight crime without fighting each other, and they have a new top cop to help.

That was the upshot of a hearing Tuesday night of the Board of Alders Public Safety and Human Services committee at City Hall.

Police Chief Dean Esserman said with input of Newhallville leaders and neighbors, he will appoint Sgt. Shafiq Abdussabur as the new district manager for Newhallvile and East Rock.

Abdussabur is taking the reins from recently retired Lt. Herb Sharp, who built strong relationships with neighbors during his three years as district manager. Abdussabur, a city native, has a he year.php»long history of involvement in community youth anti-violence programs.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

City Youth Director Jason Bartlett told alders at the hearing that Abdussabur plays a key role in helping to implement x.a $1 million U.S. Department of Justice “Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation” grant New Haven won to enlist neighbors in the quest of making Newhallville safer over the long term.

The hearing was held to update alders on how that money is being spent, after an initial period of factional fighting about it in the neighborhood. The grant aims to enlist cops and neighbors in longer-range planning to tackle the roots of crime, not just chase after incidents.

Bartlett said that the planning

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Edwards, Bartlett at Tuesday night’s Byrne grant hearing.

phase of the grant including the hiring of a project manager, Arthur Edwards, is nearly complete, and the implementation phase is expected to get underway next month. The new district manager will work with Edwards to further develop community policing efforts in the neighborhood and tackling neighborhood crime hot spots.

He told alders that Sharp had been an integral part of the planning for the police side of the grant because the neighborhood trusted him; he said it had been impressed upon Esserman that his replacement be made soon and be someone the community would trust.

Until recently, mistrust characterized much of the discussion around the city’s decision to pursue a grant that specifically focused on reducing

crime in Newhallville. The three alders who represent Newhallville Delphine Clyburn, Brenda Foskey-Cyrus and Alfreda Edwards were staunch critics of the city’s pursuit of the grant without input from the community.

investment in youth community organizations.

Bartlett said that the establishment of a governance committee for the grant that includes not only the alders but members of the Newhallville Management Team and other neighbors has brought many critics around.

On Tuesday, alders got their first look at the city’s revised plan for the grant.

Alder Foskey-Cyrus commended Bartlett and Edwards for the work they’ve done in the last seven months to bring members of the community to the table and to use the money to address the problems that community members have said they care about including

and

Edwards said members of the governance committee agreement don’t always agree, but more people are coming to the table since the establishment of the committee.

Bartlett said Newhallville will have its own YouthStat that will help identify at-risk students. The city has used its citywide YouthStat process bringing teachers, social workers, cops, probation and parole workers into one room to review individual students’ cases and come up with plans to help them avoid violence.

“We will continue to have YouthStat for the whole city,” Bartlett said. “But we want to take this best practice and drill it down

The project will provide funding to several organizations in Newhallville that will provide mentoring programs and other activities to keep youth engaged.

Those organizations include: the Christian Community Commission Promise Land initiative ($5,000); the Greater New Haven Clergy Association ($5,000); NAFI Youth and Police Initiative ($10,000); Newhallville Neighborhood Corp. ($2,500); and The Perfect Blend Mentoring Program ($6,000).

The governance committee for the grant will also have $23,000 to give out in competitive mini grants to community projects aimed at addressing hot-spot crime areas and building community consensus.

Beaver Hills Alder Brian Wingate said the success of the grant for him will boil down to programming. He said there are a lot of historical pressures on the neighborhood that have resulted in it being left behind.

“Programs are most essential,” he said. “What we’re talking about is changing the culture.”

Central Intelligence ding Ringer, Get Hard and Ride Along 1 and 2, to name a few.

Unfortunately, Kevin and co-star Dwayne Johnson fail to generate any chemistry, despite sharing the screen in scene after scene of silly slapstick.

Film Review by Kam Williams Back in high school, Calvin (Kevin Hart) was voted „Most Likely to Succeed“ while his chubby pal Bob (Dwayne Johnson) was being bullied by classmates because of his weight..

But that was a couple of decades ago, and a lot has changed since then.

Today, we find Calvin wondering whether he might have peaked during his glory days at Central High when he and his childhood sweetheart Maggie (Danielle Nicolet) were voted Homecoming King and Queen. Yes, the two did marry, but the relationship’s been so rocky she’s currently insisting they enter therapy. Things are even worse for Calvin at his accounting firm, where he’s just been passed over for a promotion to partner.

By comparison, Bob’s fortunes have improved immeasurably over the intervening years. He’s not only shed all that unwanted baby

The bulk of the picture’s pathetic attempts at humor revolve around contrasting buff Bob’s bravery with weak-kneed Calvin’s cowardice. But sadly, the laughs are few and far between during this decidedly-underwhelming action-adventure.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Suave CIA Agent Enlists Assistance of Nerdy Accountant in Odd Couple Comedy

Too bad whoever directed the promising trailer probably didn’t direct the movie. fat but he’s re-sculpted himself into a veritable Adonis by pumping iron a half-dozen hours a day.

Furthermore, he’s flourishing in an enviable career as a crack CIA Agent well-versed in the tools of international espionage.

The pair’s paths cross for the first time in years at their 20th high

school reunion where Calvin is impressed by both Bob’s new physique and his daring line of work.

So, it’s no surprise that the suave spy is able to enlist the jaded pencil pusher’s technical assistance on his latest assignment. He also could use a little help apprehending the assassin who murdered his

partner (Aaron Paul).

That’s the point of departure of Central Intelligence, an unlikelybuddies comedy directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (We’re the Millers). Kevin Hart has proven himself quite the master of the genre, given the success of such box-office hits as The Wed-

Fair (1 star) Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, nudity, crude humor and brief profanity Running time: 107 minutes Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures

Pfizer Officials Call for Blacks to Participate in Sickle Cell Disease Clinical Trials clusive crises each year. These painful crises result in more than 75,000 hospitalizations per year in the U.S., with an average hospital stay of approximately six days.

By Joan H. Allen, NNPA News Wire Contributor June 19, 2016 marks World Sickle Cell Day. In a desire to help create a greater awareness of sickle cell disease (SCD) and increase their efforts to find a cure, Pfizer invited members of the Black Press to meet and discuss with key members of their rare disease medical and management staff the state of (SCD) and their search for a cure.

It is estimated that sickle cell disease (SCD) affects approximately 100,000 Americans and 1 out of 365 Blacks in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 1 in 13 Blacks are born with sickle cell trait (SCT).

Joan H. Allen is the host of INSIDE NEW YORK and an editor at the Daily Challenge. Check out INSIDE NEW YORK via livestream at MNN.org. Follow Joan on Twitter @ArtsInNewYork and Facebook for program updates, giveaways and promotional offers.

in the U.S. It is a rare and debilitating chronic disease with lifelong clinical impact and reduced life expectancy; life expectancy is 48 years for females and 42 years

for males with sickle cell disease.

There are more than 100,000 people in the U.S. living with sickle cell disease, and many of them experience multiple vaso-oc-

Sonja Banks, the CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. (SCDAA) shared how alarmed she was to learn in 2010 that “in a hundred years of discovering the sickle cell disease, only one FDA drug had been

Pfizer’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall recalled the joy she initially felt interning at Howard University Hospital after graduating from medical school, but when she attempted to ease the pain of a toddler living with sickle cell, that joy was replaced with an overwhelming sense of futility.

“I heard an unbelievable piercing sound from a toddler in a sickle cell crisis,” said Lewis-Hall.

“I tried to hydrate her and provide some pain relief…It was at that moment that I realized how Con’t on page 29

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Sickle cell disease is one of the most prevalent genetic disorders

Niesha Foster, the senior director and corporate affairs lead for Pfizer’s inflammation, immunology and rare disease unit, introduced the participants who shared why they’ve been so devoted to creating greater awareness about (SCD), and the opportunities available to assist those that struggle with this debilitating disease.

approved and it wasn’t even for sickle cell. It was just as heart wrenching then, as it is now, to know that our people are still going to hospitals as their medical home. Why don’t we have a cure?”

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Achillion Pharmaceuticals Expands financial officer likes to remind him that every biotech job the company creates it adds about $600,000 to Connecticut’s economy. Achillion tapped local architects from Svigals+Partners to design the space.

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

A New Haven-based pharmaceutical company is bullish on curing rare diseases and bullish on New Haven.

The company, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, cut the ribbon Wednesday on the recent expansion of its headquarters at 300 George St. Achillion, which focuses on developing drugs for patients with rare diseases such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and C3 Glomerulopathy (C3G), has been in the building since it started operations in 1998. In fact, it was the first tenant after a developer renovated it folowing the departure of the phone company.

Over the years the company has grown from about a dozen employees to more than 80. President and CEO Milind Deshpande said expanding the headquarters to

“We look forward to the many great things being accomplished in the very near future,” Deshpande said.

Achillion President and CEO Milind Deshpande cuts the ribbon.

more than 40,000 square feet of office and lab space in the building allows the company to continue growing. Last year the company entered a partnership with Johnson & Johnson to develop the next generation of treatments for the hepatitis C virus.

“As many of you know, our real strength is our discover efforts,” Deshpande told the crowd gath-

ered to celebrate Wednesday’s ribbon cutting. “All the compounds that we are programming ... have been discovered at Achillion. We have an excellent team of scientists and developers and all the staff that manages the business.”

The increased footprint at 300 George St., Deshpande said, will allow the company to expand by about 20 percent. He said his chief

Catherine Smith, state commissioner of economic development, said Achillion’s expansion a “Good Housekeeping seal of approval” on the state’s strategy of growing its biosciences cluster.

“To see a company that’s living that strategy and showing that it’s possible and really identifying and building upon the strengths that Connecticut is offering is really gratifying,” she said. “The biosciences industry is no stranger to the state. It’s been here a long time. But what is exciting is the

new energy and life being built into it.”

Smith said the state is adding more workers regularly to advance science fields such as bioscience, genetics and genomics and in fact already has 24,000 working in those fields.

MIke Piscitelli, New Haven’s deputy economic development administrator, called the expansion a significant milestone for Achillion and the city’s efforts to attract advanced science companies.

“It’s very significant for Achillion as another knowledgebased, high science company in the city advancing in their sector, so that speaks to the strength of Achillion,” he said. “It speaks to the in that the the bioscience ecosystem continues to grow and cluster in and around this part of downtown, near the hospital, the med school and the train station.”

Democrats In Congress Claim Momentum In Gun Control Debate However, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said he’s encouraged by the fact that for the first time Republicans are “actually saying we ought to do something.”

by Christine Stuart New Haven Independent

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

It’s still unclear after U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy’s nearly 15-hour filibuster what version of the two amendments Republicans in the U.S. Senate will raise, but that didn’t matter too much Thursday morning.

He said the filibuster led by Murphy will force Republicans to answer questions about where they stand on the issue.

Murphy stood his ground, not leaving the U.S. Senate floor for 14 hours and 50 minutes in an effort to get the Republicancontrolled U.S. Senate to raise amendments to close the terror gap and expand background checks for firearm purchases.

Murphy and his colleagues in the Senate who helped him wage the filibuster held an hour-long news conference Thursday morning with family members of victims from the South Carolina and San Bernadino, Calif. shootings to discuss their reasons for the filibuster.

“I’m glad we’re on a path forward to get votes on these two

“Whether they have the courage to buck the NRA and actually do something, instead of hiding behind these wolf in sheep’s clothing proposals we’ll see,” Schumer said. “But at least they’re feeling the heat and the heat is on them.”

SCREENGRAB FROM SENATE STREAM U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy

amendments,” Murphy said.

He said at the beginning of the week they didn’t know whether they would have any debate or any vote on these issues.

“Now we believe we’re on a path to get folks on the record and

that’s a start,” Murphy said Thursday.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told the Washington Post early Thursday morning that votes can be

expected on amendments to the bill but that there is no formal agreement on what those amendments will be.

Efforts to come up with a compromise on the amendments seemed to fall short Wednesday.

An indication that the tide seems to be shifting, as least as far as the terror gap amendment is concerned, is presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s tweet Wednesday in which said he would be meeting with the NRA to express his view that those on a terrorist watch list should not be allowed to purchase weapons.

After her father killed her mom, Veronica Austin drifted, dropped out of school, got in trouble.

think just because it’s a maledominated field, or any other thing, that you can’t do it.

Whatever you have your mind on, keep your mind on it. No one is going to do it for you.”

She found her way back to a classroom and then behind a big wheel where she’s steering her own destiny.

Her words of inspiration resonated with the students present, who will soon themselves graduate from Adult Ed.

Today she drives an 18-wheeler full-time for a living while owning her own mobile salon.

And four lucky students received an additional surprise from Austin: a complete makeover in her mobile beauty salon, “Divas on the Go Salon.”

by DANIELA BRIGHENTI New Haven Independent

Austin told that inspiring story Tuesday to over 200 graduates of the school that helped her get back on track: the New Haven Adult and Continuing Education Center.

“You might relate to wanting to be angry, to wanting revenge,” Austin told the graduates at their a year-end awards ceremony. (The official commencement ceremony is Thursday evening.) “But I’m here to tell you, you can do much better. You can overcome.”

Austin grew up around Portsea Street and Sherman Avenue in New Haven. She was 8 years old when her father murdered her mother, who had long suffered from the

DANIELA BRIGHENTI PHOTO Austin by

Austin started the salon two years ago. She said her priority is making its services affordable to her community, which often cannot always afford “the good life.”

her mobile salon outside the Adult Ed graduation.

husband’s domestic abuse.

Following the drastic incident, Austin recalled, she lost her way.

“I did a lot of fighting, a lot of weed because it was free,” Austin told the students. “I got booted out of Wilbur Cross High School, and then also from Cross Annex.”

But she wanted to prove herself

to her family, who, according to Austin, thought she wouldn’t come to anything because of her dark past. That is when she joined Adult Ed in search of her high school diploma.

Austin graduated in 2004, and went on to get a fashion and design and merchandising degree at

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Adult Ed Grad Returns With Diva Inspiration

Gibbs College in Farmington.

Though she went through a few stints in modeling, Austin decided she wanted a “real job.” She joined the New England Tractor Trailer School, which led her to where she is today.

“Yes, I drive those big, big trucks,” Austin said. “So don’t

The four winners included the winners of this year’s “King and Queen” competition for the center’s senior dance, Kevin Martinez and Denise Vallejo.

“I know I’m the one speaking to you here today, but I’m so proud of you all,” Austin said.

Freedom Hailed For Juneteenth day in June heralding their freedom: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slavers are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Members of the Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus gathered at the Amistad Memorial to remember those for whom the good news of freedom came two and a half years late.

With singing, prayer and a little speechifying, the alders Friday commemorated Juneteenth, which officially falls on Sunday.

Colon poignantly and emotionally tied the two and a half year delay of freedom for those enslaved in Texas the recent mass shooting and killing of people at a popular LGBTQI night club in Orlando, Florida.

On June 19 151 years ago, men and women still enslaved in Texas learned that not only was the Civil War over, but they were free. In fact, they had free been since Jan. 1, 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker sings “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing”

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker read a proclamation that called the celebration of Juneteenth “an opportunity to encourage self-development and respect for all cultures and all cultural enrichment in this community.”

“We were slaves. That’s our past history,” Walker said. “We’re not all the way free yet, in some ways, in my opinion. But we’re doing much better than we were, but we’ve got to do better.”

Walker’s daughter, Tenaiya Baker, a student at Quinnipiac University, said she too believes that the country has come far but still has more strides to take toward true freedom for all people.

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Caucus co-chair and Hill Alder Dolores Colon read the general order that was read on that fateful

“They didn’t respect difference,” she said of former slaveholders, “just like that crazy person in Florida didn’t respect

difference, didn’t see their humanity.”

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Garden-Variety Politics Kills Veggies And he denied that the NHLT visited him more than once.

by DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY New Haven Independent

“They didn’t keep sending no staff members,” he said. “They lying. If they came, they sure didn’t see me.”

Harry Reddish committed an act of guerrilla gardening planting okra and kale seeds in a once-verdant Newhallville lot that has lain fallow amid a dispute over land and water rights.

The NHLT gave up its lease in May. The garden, which had fallen into disuse after the water stopped running the previous summer, was covered in weeds.

The garden lot is on 4,700 square feet at the corner of Bassett and Newhall Streets.

“We were not confident that this garden was accomplishing our mission,” Elicker said.

Until the past year, the lot was one of a host of thriving community gardens in the neighborhood.

According to Elicker, the NHLT planned to hand the land over to NHS, which hoped to recruit residents to help turn the plot back into a community garden, until the city stepped in to scuttle the arrangement.

What changed?

The answer begins with the actions of a neighbor named Levon Quattlebaum.

Quattlebaum, who’s 83 years old, had tended the garden for more than two decades.

Reddish and Clyburn on site this week.

rectangles surrounding the porch.

Last August, the New Haven Land Trust a local conservation group that leased the lot from the city to convert it into a community garden cut off the water supply to the plot after discovering that Quattlebaum had used a hose to channel water from the garden to his own front lawn.

For several months last year, Quattlebaum said, he used an underground tap built for the community garden to tend those green patches, channeling the water onto his lawn through a hose that snaked across his property.

Land Trust Director Justin Elicker said he became aware of the issue last summer, when a water bill for the Bassett Street site came in significantly higher than expected.

In May, the NHLT canceled its lease, transferring control of the site to the New Haven government’s neighborhood anti-blight agency, the Livable City Initiative (LCI).

“Because of the higher water bill, we looked into the problem, and found this evidence that the water was being taken off our site and used on some neighborhood property,” Elicker said.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Another not-for-profit group active in the neighborhood, Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS), had sought to take over the lot to launch a new neighborhood garden project. It failed to win permission from the city.

NHS Executive Director James Paley, whose agency has refurbished dozens of houses in Newhallville, said the neighborhood’s many community gardens have put vacant land to productive use, allowing residents to participate in a collaborative activity that yields fresh produce at a low cost.

“It’s giving residents something they can be proud of,” Paley said.

“And it’s a lot less likely for [the lots] to be a dumping ground for people to throw trash if people are actively involved in gardening.”

Newhallville Alder Delphine

In an interview with the Independent, Quattlebaum admitted to using water from the garden to tend his own lawn.

“I pay enough goddamn property taxes for me to use the water from there,” he said.

DAVID YAFFE-BELLANY PHOTO

Reddish at work.

Clyburn has embarked on a fresh attempt to work with neighbors like Reddish to restore the garden. But the water remains shut off, even as residents begin planting new patches of vegetables.

The story of the garden’s uncertain future who controls the land, who plants the vegetables,

who uses the water offers a glimpse into the internal machinations of Newhallville politics.

Quattlebaum, a South Carolina native who used to drive lawnmowers for a landscaping company, lives on Bassett Street, two houses down from the site of the garden. He has a small, wellcultivated front lawn three grassy

Elicker said NHLT staff members visited the Bassett Street plot “multiple times” to inform Quattlebaum that he was stealing water from the garden. But the hose stayed in place.

“We ended up shutting off the water at the site,” Elicker said. “We had to make sure that we were being responsible with our resources.”

Quattlebaum said he does not regret taking water from the garden.

In an email last Thursday, LCI Director Frank D’Amore instructed the NHS to “refrain from gardening activity” on the Bassett Street lot, citing “other plans” for the site.

Elicker said he was surprised the city prevented the NHS from taking over the lot but added that he would have cancelled the lease regardless.

Clyburn, a former community organizer in the neighborhood, said she personally intervened to keep the NHS from assuming control of the property.

“It’s something in the community, so it’s for the community. I believe the community should have first choice of using it,” she said. “Just because [the NHS] have been doing things in the neighborhood, should they have it?”

Clyburn added that she plans to transform the plot into a community garden tended by multiple residents, just as the NHS proposed.

Different groups of Newhallville neighbors affiliated with the NHS, with the local management team, and with a third organization (a “resiliency team”), have clashed on numerous matters involving the neighborhood’s destiny, and view each other with distrust.

“It’s not as if we were sending troops of gardeners in there to work

“When anything gets close, she’ll pretend she has a broken wing. She’ll drag one wing across the wind as though she’s injured.

That’s supposed to elicit a chase resopnse from the predator. They go after her. Away from the egg.

When she’s a safe enough distrance, she flies away” back to the nest.

by PAUL BASS New Haven Independent

The football team would have to play elsewhere. Construction workers would have to keep their distance. Because a rare mama killdeer had settled on the renovated Bowen Field and wasn’t leaving until her chicks hatched.

The killdeer was spotted on the 50-yard line at the beginning of this month. Along with four eggs.

It was spring training season for Hillhouse’s football team.

Construction workers were putting finishing touches on a $11.6 million renovation of the field.

Officials informed them they could not come close to the Southern Connecticut State fledgling avian family because University and at Lighthouse their nests are protected by the Point Park.

Migratory Bird Treaty Act. And Barvir wasn’t surprised to The parks department see the bird settled exactly at the summoned Ranger Dan Barvir to 50-yard line: “The reason she the scene. He’d seen the colorful picked the 50-yard line: It has the killdeers’ nest before. They like best 360-degree view. So nothing open fields in coastal community. could sneak up. She put it on the Another killdeer had set up a nest little x mark that marks the exact by the soccer fields off Ella Grasso middle of the field. It’s hilarious.”

Boulevard. In previous years Barvir told people that the they’ve occupied field space at

incubation period would last up to 24 days, at which point the family would fly away.

“These babies are born very mature. They immediately get up and run around,” Barvir told the Independent. “They’re not born like other bird babies that are naked and can’t see.” They’re up and moving around within a half hour of hatching.

Fortunately, contractors had

completed work on Bowen Field itself. They were in the bleachers.

Crew members from O&G Construction did get close to the killdeer at first, and were taken aback at the bird’s reaction. They asked Barvir if the bird posed a threat to them.

Not at all, Barvir responded.

The killdeer was doing a typical “dance” to lure potential predators away from the nest.

With the area around the 50yard line cordoned off, the football team, which practices on the field in the spring, held a scheduled scrimmage within 40 yards.

This week, the killdeer family had flown. No sign of the nest remained.

Up in the bleachers, Camputaro & Sons Excavating cement mason Julio Rivera was sorry to see the field barren again.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Mama Bird Claims 50-Yard Line

“I miss it,” he said in between rubbing cement on the bleacher stairs. “I never seen one of those before. I think it was a pretty one.”

“We build these things for community support,” said the school system’s chief administrative office, Will Clark.

“Community comes in many forms and feathers.”

James On Leave; Exit Deal Being Finalized

by PAUL BASS New Haven Independent

The employees of New Haven government’s small business development office learned they have a new temporary boss, while their old boss negotiates an exit deal.

Those were the latest developments in the ongoing City Hall saga of Jackie James, the Harp administration’s smallbusiness chief.

PAUL BASS PHOTO

James, second from left, and Nemerson, at right, at the June 6 labor hearing.

helping local people become entrepreneurs.

James has been embroiled in conflict with her supervisor,

Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson, since she spoke out at a Board of Alders budget meeting

against the Harp administration’s proposed city budget for failing to fund a new administrative position she had requested. The alders subsequently moved

15

Small Business Academy and organized the annual food truck festival on Long Wharf. Her office is responsible for carrying out one of Mayor Toni Harp’s key goals of creating jobs by promoting new small businesses, in part by

money around the budget to fund the position (which was eventually unfunded again).

James filed a harassment complaint against Nemerson after he met with her and ordered her to tell alders to undo the decision. charged her in a letter with numerous acts of insubordination; that became the subject of a tense three-and-a-half hour June 6 meeting in the city’s labor relations office to begin a possible termination process.

Since then, James and the city have been negotiating a possible settlement. They are reportedly near a deal, with James possibly receiving up to a year in pay and medical coverage in return for an

16

Union To Hold No-Confidence Vote “There is a feeling within the community and it is reflected among the Board of Alders that people want increased accountability and transparency from the chief and from the department,” East Rock Alder Jessica Holmes, who during last week’s debate insisted on a detailed discussion on the amendments before voting for them, said Thursday.

by PAUL BASS New Haven Independent

Amid complaints about abusive behavior and favoritism, the police union has decided to hold a “no confidence” vote about Chief Dean Esserman’s stewardship of the department.

Union members voted 39-12 at a mass meeting Wednesday night to organize the no-confidence referendum, according to local President Craig Miller.

Miller said Thursday the union has not yet set a time or place for the vote.

“Many chiefs across the country go through no-confidence votes at some time in their tenure,” Chief Esserman told the Independent Thursday. “You can either learn from it or fight it. I’m going to work to learn from it.”

The request to hold the vote stemmed from a union member who has been passed over for promotion and been the subject of discipline.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Then the idea of holding a noconfidence vote gained support among the rank and file, for a broader variety of reasons.

Miller said the reasons cited at the meeting for holding a noconfidence vote included alleged favoritism by Esserman in promotions and discipline, as well as an accumulation over years of incidents in which Esserman had lost his temper and insulted, humiliated, or otherwise verbally abused or made rude comments to both high-ranking and rank-andfile cops as well as members of the public.

The best-known incident

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Esserman, center, besides Commissioner Dawson and Mayor Harp at May 11 announcement of falling crime rates.

involved Esserman’s reaming out and threatening an elderly volunteer Yale Bowl usher in 2014 for not allowing him in a football game without a ticket. Mayor Toni Harp gave him a written reprimand for that incident and warned him not to repeat the behavior. Since then countless unreported incidents have occurred, Miller said. One recent incident involved the chief allegedly ordering a former chief, William Farrell, out of a photo op at a ceremony honoring a fallen cop.

“It is an embarrassment how he does talk to the public in public” and berate officers and others in front of others, Miller said. “Some of his ranking guys he just disrespects.”

Miller attributed a wave of php/ archives/entry/miller_retirement/ »retirements, including of some senior cops, to the workplace environment under Esserman: “They had enough of him.”

Miller said another controversy

behind the consensus to hold a vote is the ongoing disrepair of police cruisers some of which are literally falling apart while Esserman bought expensive new vehicles for himself and other top brass.

He accused Esserman of using internal affairs as a “lynch mob” against out-of-favor cops and approving “petty” discipline of rookie cops without or instead of offering needed retraining.

New Haven police chiefs, including Frank Limon and Nicholas Pastore, have faced noconfidence votes before. The vote against Limon in 2011 was 24621. He left town soon after.

Pastore, on the other hand, held on, even in the face of a violent weekend-long “blue flu” sickout by white officers angered at changes in the department, and eventually built support through the department and in the community.

This pending vote, however, comes amid broader pressures on

Esserman.

The idea of holding the vote found support among different factions of the police department that at other times find themselves in opposition to each other.

And alders spent a good hour during final deliberations over a new city budget last month expressing frustration over perceived longstanding disrespect and lack of accountability on the chief’s part. They passed a series of budget amendments requiring the chief to provide more timely spending information (especially about overtime costs, which have led to a current $870,000 department deficit); and updates on t.org/index.php/archives/entry/ lock-up/»plans for responding to the pending abandonment by the state of the 1 Union Ave. prisoner lock-up; and requiring the chief to show up in person at alder hearings to answer questions about his management of the department.

On the other hand, crime has steadily dropped over the nearly five years that Esserman has served as New Haven’s police chief. The department has developed effective partnerships with state and federal law enforcement agencies to tackle gang and gun violence. The department has won national accolades for its approach to community policing.

Board of Police Commissioners Chair Anthony Dawson expressed hope Thursday that the problems facing the complaints about Esserman can be worked out.

“I’m working with the mayor and the other commissioners.

We’re going to be taking a more serious look at it. We need to be looking at it more in depth,” Dawson said.

“There’s a concern based on people’s style of doing business.

You identify things and you try to mentor and coach it and do the best you can to put it back on track. I am doing my best as chair to keep this moving in the right direction, to take all that I’m hearing from individuals to talk to the various people, whether it be the mayor’s staff or the chief, to try to resolve it.”

Thursday night were the most vocal opponents of the change, arguing the academy system left them without adequate resources or support as their College and Career Readiness Academy was being phased out for the next year.

by ALIYYA SWABY New Haven Independent

Hillhouse High School seniors leapt from their chairs and started to dance when former Principal Kermit Carolina took the podium at their graduation Thursday evening.

It’s been a long four years. But they see better days ahead for themselves and their school.

The seniors had seen three separate principals and continued in-house controversy since Carolina ran Hillhouse, with a fourth principal on the way.

ALIYYA SWABY PHOTO

Graduates dance their way to Carolina.

They banded together to stop

by Principal Zakiyyah Baker’s office and ask for Carolina as the graduation speaker. It wasn’t an organized effort, said senior Orlando Algarin, but the consensus spread throughout the class.

“I’m baaack!” Carolina called out amid raucous applause.

The former principal of the school, Carolina was summoned back as Hillhouse graduation speaker just three days after Glen Worthy was announced as the new principal in an overhaul of a top-heavy leadership structure following a painful citywide debate over how to fix problems at the school.

Family members snap photos of their graduates.

Almost 300 seniors formed long lines along the side of the Floyd Little Field House and across the stage to grab diplomas and shake hands at the end of a school year that united them in conflict and protest.

On stage Thursday, Carolina said he was “proud” of seniors because they “endured tough times. When things were getting tough at Hillhouse, I watched you fight.”

“I started with him since freshman year,” Algarin said.

The switch to a three-principal structure was “hectic.” This past year, most of his teachers didn’t know how to use any of the college navigation programs required to fill out his application. Instead, he went to every teacher and cobbled together “bits and pieces” of knowledge from each ultimately leading him to enlist in the National Guard.

Following the form of a typical graduation speech, Carolina left the seniors with four concrete pieces of advice: Have a vision for who you want to be in the world, find a circle of people moving in the same direction, set goals for yourself and create a cabinet of advisers you trust.

With two of the three principals this year sitting on stage behind him, he led the crowd in a chant: “One principal, one school! One principal, one school!”

Student speakers, too, vaguely referred to the challenges that plagued their senior year, which included a lack of support applying to colleges, broken and unavailable technology and isolation from the rest of the student body.

“I was extra proud of you for pushing that,” he said.

Carolina was the sole principal of Hillhouse for three years, before district leaders divided the school into separate miniacademies and put a separate principal in charge of each one.

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTOS

Union prez Miller (left); Esserman (at right).

Senior class President Isheeka Bruce rallied students to move

And Principal Baker, designated the coordinating principal earlier this school year, contrasted the graduates’ heady optimism with their darker feelings almost a year ago.

“In August, many of you were upset with the world ... You felt cheated,” she said. “You were not happy campers on that third floor.”

Some students in the audience shook their heads, in agreement with that characterization.

Baker went on to congratulate them for moving past those problems, for the fact that about 85 percent were accepted to at least one two- or four-year college. They started and ended “at the top,” she said.

Baker will no longer be principal of Hillhouse. She isn’t sure where she’s going to be in the fall. “Wherever I go, the kids will be there,” she said.

She’s happy to see that Worthy, the new principal, is from New Haven, like she is.

“We were worried about someone coming in who doesn’t have a vision for our goals,” she said.

Like Carolina, Worthy attended Wilbur Cross High School. He was principal of Hill Central School before being hired to head adult education in 2014.

Veteran teacher Jack Paulishen expressed optimism about the future of the school with Worthy.

“We’re going to make it work.

I’m happy with the choice,” he said. “Even though he went to Wilbur Cross. We’ll forgive him,” he joked.

17

The students who graduated

They were “forced together,” said English teacher and senior class adviser Rhonda Yeager.

The conflict “created an atmosphere where they helped each other, stuck up for each other. They’re closer than they would be.”

past the “rumors” and negative reputation of Hillhouse, which are “not true. It was a great school to me. You shape your high school experience, not the school.”

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Rocky Year Ends With Optimism

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After Serving Nine Years in Prison for a Quadruple Murder He Didn’t Commit

Davontae Sanford Is Finally Free convicted, professional hitman, Vincent Smothers began insisting that he was responsible for the murders in addition to eight others.

By Tatyana Hopkins (NNPA/DTU Fellow) The lawyers of wrongfully convicted Davontae Sanford said it was clear from the beginning that he was innocent and his confession was false.

Megan Crane, Sanford’s lawyer, said that “police practices that are widely inappropriate for vulnerable juvenile suspects and a criminal justice system that systemically failed him at every step of his process.” are largely responsible for her client’s nineyear imprisonment.

Sanford was wrongfully imprisoned since age 14 for a quadruple homicide that occurred in 2007 on Detroit’s Runyon Street.

According to Sanford’s legal team, Sanford, who is blind in one eye was approached by homicide investigators as they canvassed the neighborhood about midnight, just a few hours after the shooting in September 2007. They said law enforcement officials convinced Sanford to go to the station to tell them about information he may have had about the crime. The officers received permission from his grandmother to take him to police headquarters for questioning.

Just 14-years-old, Sanford was

picked up by police in his pajamas, was questioned for nearly 24 hours over the course of two days without a parent or lawyer present, according to his lawyers. On the second consecutive day of questioning, Sanford confessed on video to being involved in the homicide. He subsequently entered a guilty plea in the middle of trial, once he realized his defense attorney was not going to do anything to defend him, said David Moran, Sanford’s Lawyer and director of Michigan Innocence Clinic.

Crane said that after” bullying and coercion” during the police interrogation, Sanford “just made something up” in order to go home.

According to Crane, police falsified evidence linking Sanford to the crime, and suggested that admitting involvement in the crime meant that he could go home. Sanford’s confession was “a toxic combination of the interrogation tactics that police use across the country combined with vulnerabilities that are inherent to all kids and teenagers,” said Crane, adding that many adults are also vulnerable to the tactics that are “developed for seasoned adult criminals.”

Crane continued: “It was clear from the beginning that his confession made little to know sense. It got far more wrong than it did got right.”

Just 16 days after Sanford was

David Moran, the director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School, said that every detail provided to police about the case

by Sanford was wrong. According to Moran, Sanford misidentified the number accomplices when matched against eyewitness testimony, misidentified the types of guns used and the location of his alleged weapon and identified a Coney Island restaurant closed for renovations as the place he planned the crime.

“Smothers on the other hand, told them all sorts of things they didn’t know that turned out to be true,” said Moran.

Smothers was able to provide police with new details about the crime that they later confirmed through further investigation such as the location of a gun used in the crime, suggesting that Smothers’ confession was more likely to be true.

In April 2015, the Michigan Innocence Clinic and Northwestern’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, headed by Moran and Crane respectively, filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment highlighting

the detailed, corroborated confession by professional hitman Vincent Smothers to the Runyon Street murders and the obvious unreliability of Davontae Sanford’s confessions, given their complete lack of corroboration and many inaccuracies. As a result, the Michigan State Police reinvestigated the murders. On May 20, 2016, the Michigan State Police provided the report to the Wayne County Prosecutor ’s office.

On June 7, Wayne County Judge Brian Sullivan ordered the immediate release of the now 23year-old after he served nearly 9 years of a 37-to-90-year sentence.

“This is as clear a case of miscarriage of justice as we can ever hope to see,” said Moran. “It was clear that this was a wrongful conviction based on false confession.”

Tatyana Hopkins is a 2016 NNPA “Discover The Unexpected” journalism fellow.

The “Discover The Unexpected” journalism fellowship program is sponsored by Chevrolet. Check out more stories by the fellows by following the hashtag #DiscoverTheUnexpected on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about the program at nnpa.org/dtu.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

“We Are Charleston,” A Comprehensive Account of Last Summer’s Tragic Events at South Carolina’s Mother Emanuel Church is Now Available Book from Thomas Nelson’s W Publishing Group contains interviews and commentary from family and friends of the “The Emanuel Nine”.

“We Are Charleston” also details the deep history of the storied Mother Emanuel Church and the AME Denomination, show both the power and the price of forgiveness their members have faced through centuries of racism.

Charleston, SC — We Are Charleston – an essential, multilayered exploration of the tragic events experienced by South Carolina’s famed Mother Emanuel

Church last summer – has been released through the W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

lost their lives on June 17, 2015, when a young white man opened fire on a prayer meeting at the church.

The book, written by South Carolina-based writers Herb Frazier (award-winning journalist and childhood member of Mother Emanuel), Dr. Bernard Edward Powers (AME Church member and professor of history at the College of Charleston) and Majory Wentworth (South Carolina’s Poet Laureate), is based on extensive interviews with family and friends of “The Emanuel Nine” – the church members who

Additionally, We Are Charleston details the triumphant 230 year history of the AME Church – the largest body of African-American Methodists with 7.5 million members worldwide – and its role in America’s social justice story from slavery to the civil rights movement. The book discusses the importance of Mother Emanuel Church itself, both to the Charleston community and to the nation.

The oldest AME church in the

Deep South, Mother Emanuel’s perseverance in the face of adversity and discrimination serves as an example of faith and forgiveness to the entire world. It was no coincidence that this particular church was chosen for this grievous act.

“Nothing this tragic happens in a vacuum. Whether it be terrorism abroad or racism within, we have become the products of many years of anger in our culture,” said Matt Baugher, Senior Vice President of Thomas Nelson and PubCon’t on page 21

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Con’t from page 18

lisher of W Publishing Group.

“Through its powerful portrayal of history and its stirring narrative from the present day, We are Charleston brilliantly shows all of us the importance of awareness, action, and yes, even forgiveness.

I can think of no better people to write this book than these three individuals, each with their own ties to the city, the church, and the issue at hand. We’re honored to publish this important work.”

“The tragedy at Mother Emanuel AME Church affected us deeply,” the authors said in a group statement. “This book is our attempt to honor those whose lives were lost, the survivors and their families by telling their stories in the context of Charleston, the nation’s racial history and the social justice efforts that have been the hallmark of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.”

The book is available on ThomasNelson.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other major online book retailers.

About Thomas Nelson

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins, is a world-leading provider of inspirational content and has been providing readers with quality life-changing product for more than 200 years. The publishing group provides multiple formats of awardwinning Bibles, books, gift books, cookbooks, curriculum and digital content, with distribution of its products in more than 100 countries. Thomas Nelson is headquartered in Nashville, TN.

Our Young Black Men Are Going Extinct

By Author Evie Rhodes Newark, NJ — My only son, James Rhodes, Jr., 24 years old was, gunned down, “execution style” with a single gunshot to the head on May 20, 2016, on the streets of Camden, New Jersey.

EXPIRED. Just like that. Gone.

He died in Cooper University Hospital of a gunshot wound to the head approximately 20 minutes after being shot. His death has been declared a Homicide. His was the first of four homicides in a weekend killing spree in Camden.

And now as my own life imitates my art, I get to experience the same tragedy I wrote about.

My fictional character suffered through the death of her youngest son. The title of my first nationally published novel, entitled “EXPIRED” revealed the shock, pain and heartbreak of a Mother whose son has been murdered.

What are the odds that my life would duplicate my writing? But, sadly it is true.

It’s so ironic, really, that I’ve lost my only son to the very same type of horrific situations I’ve been fighting against, and illustrating in my writing. Trying to save our children from these very same circumstances from which he died. Trying to enlighten others through my writings.

I wanted to impart hope, faith, strength, as well as a sense of empowerment to our youth, and I was doing that through fictionalized accounts of urban life, modeled after every day realities and some of the challenges they were facing trying to grow up in circumstances that have been rigged against them from the start in many ways. A simple fact.

Once in a Teen Summit I lectured in I had one of our youth tell me, “I did not think I had a choice until I read your book Out “A” Order.” How is it in this day and age do our youth feel they don’t have a choice?

That they must just endure their dire circumstances because there is no hope? Being born black and male, economically disadvantaged, many of them experiencing the stress from the time of being in their mother’s womb, watching the poverty, lack of progress and opportunities drain the life blood out of their mothers, fathers, uncles, and aunts, etc., until so much of that turmoil has built up inside, and is now being displayed in many unnamable ways, and that pent up rage is boiling in the streets as they struggle against the nameless, faceless disadvantages constantly heaped upon them.

And now it’s all out of order.

The results are unbelievable, paralyzing, spewing out in terror and hatred with nowhere to go except in the direction of the very same oppression in which they were born. They are helplessly watching the constant struggle without reward. The result in many cases is inward, and our blood is running in the streets.

We point the finger at the horror of the end results but many times forget to question the very circumstances which created the situation with all of it’s defining factors. No matter how it happens our sons are dying. They are not reaching the age of 25 years old.

Our sons lives matter. And, we have to step up and let the world know. We have to let them know.

We have to let the voice of those whom are now voiceless be heard.

So I ask, just exactly how many of our sons’ deaths are acceptable?

Is it one, one hundred, one thousand or one million? I personally feel even one is too many. How many lives have to be lost before the words “IT’S ENOUGH,” explodes in a chain reaction motivating us as Black mothers, Black fathers, Black grandparents, Black brothers and Black sisters, Black cousins, Black nieces and nephews, and all of those people who “really” care to collectively agree that we are losing our sons, that our children are in fact “EXPIRING” before our very eyes at an alarming rate?

What is it going to take to stop

the bloodshed? To stop the violence? We have to begin addressing it, collectively, seriously. Let’s have the conversation right here and now because time is running out. Every second we waste another life is being lost, that might have been saved. There is power in numbers.

Our Black sons are becoming casualties of war, some kind of invisible war, right here on United States soil. Their blood is running in the streets in our very own neighborhoods, each and every, day. The young man charged with the murder of my son, also 24 years old, is incarcerated presently under a $1 million dollar cash bail.

(Read more at www.nj.com/ camden/index.ssf/2016/05/ camden_arraignment_murder.html) One bullet, two lives destroyed, all in an instant.

Myself, the grieving mother in the ashes of the tragedy, whom can barely sleep at night, as images of my son haunt me, his voice, his smile, his telling me, “Mommy I love you.” Words that I will never hear from his lips again. The quaking, heart-wrenching despair as I think of him lying with a gunshot wound to the head, alone in the dark, and beyond my reach.

The unbelievable state of shock that my body has been in since receiving the news. I feel like a passerby and a sleepwalker in my own life. Numbing, mind altering grief and disbelief grip me as I hope I wake up tomorrow morning and it’s not true. Yet, every single morning since May 21, of 2016 I have awaken to the same awful truth. My son is dead.

And so I ask you to join me in this “Quest” to save yours or someone else’s son who is still alive from such a fate, and tragedy. Join the Conversation.

You may email me privately if you wish. I’m listening. Please share, tweet, pin, hashtag, follow and email so we all get the same message, “We Need to Save Our Children.”

Let’s start the conversation.

Now. Collectively we can do this.

I implore you please do not let one more young man EXPIRE

without us at least having the conversation. There are things that need to be done. It takes a moment to start a National Collective by hitting the buttons, SHARE, TWEET, COMMENT, HASHTAG, FOLLOW, PIN, OR EMAIL. Ask everyone to do the same, and so on and so forth. We use Social Media everyday, lets put it to good use. I want to hear from you.

Your son is my son. My son is yours. Your daughter is my daughter and my daughter is yours. My child is yours and your child is mine. It takes a village to raise a child. Take the initiative now. My hand is out. Put your hand in my hand and lets save our children together. Our sons’ lives are not expendable. These young men need and deserve a present, a future, decent lives, to be able to earn a livelihood and raise their babies amid sunshine, and green grass while being economically stable.

There is a back story here and it’s not pretty but it can be changed, step by step. With a Mother’s Love I share my grief and loss with you in the hopes of preventing this very same tragedy for someone else, some other mother and family. No mother should ever have to experience this pain. I wasn’t supposed to bury my son. My son was supposed to bury me.

There will be more articles forthcoming regarding the constant deaths of our sons. I am available to put in the work, collaborate, whenever, wherever.

Let’s have a national chat. A “pledge” if you will that each and every person who cares will try to do something in their everyday life to the best of their ability to assist in changing these odds.

Evie Rhodes is the author of the nationally published book entitled, “Expired”. Visit her blog and sign up for updates at www.evierhodes.com or www.expired-the-movie.com/ blog/ Hashtags: #MYSONSBLOOD #BLOODSTAINEDSTREETS #CYCLEOFBLACKMALEDEATH

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Health Tests Every Black Man Needs hemoglobin A1C blood test, a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test, or an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). If you take a single test, this can be sufficient in diagnosing diabetes. However, a second test is also conducted to confirm your glucose levels are abnormal.

by Elizabeth Overstreet, BlackDoctor.org Contributor Men aren’t often proactive in taking care of their health needs and the women in their lives may be the ones who push them to get the medical care they require. But, if you’re a Black man and want to stay healthy, it’s imperative that you take charge of your health and make sure you get a physical annually and these specific screenings as recommended. In doing so, it can make a huge difference in your longevity and good health.

You should always be aware of any abnormalities relating to your testicles. Testicular cancer usually affects men between the ages of 15 and 40. Having this test performed by your physician and also knowing how to perform it on yourself is critical to you noticing any changes in symptoms. While the risk of testicular cancer is small after 40, the risk of prostate cancer increases after the age of 50.

Here are five health tests every Black man needs:

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Prostate Cancer Screening According to the Journal of Urology, African American men have the highest rate of prostate cancer and are less likely to survive this disease compared to other racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. African American men are twice as likely to die versus their white counterparts. But, prostate cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence. You can have access to an early diagnosis through PSA screening which can help you lower your risk of prostate cancer and decline your chances of losing your life to this disease. Since the risk is higher for AfricanAmerican men, prostate cancer screening is something which should be done sooner versus later.

According to Dr. Fleming of Virginia Oncology Associates informed providers must know that when working with African American men, age 40 to 45 is appropriate to begin early detection Heart Disease

Colon Exam

According to the NAACP healthcare fact sheet, heart disease is the leading cause of death for African Americans. While we are only 13% of the population, we are twice as likely to die from heart disease. African American men are at a higher risk (30% more) of dying from heart disease versus non-Hispanic white males. Since men on average die 10 years younger than women, it’s important to take heart tests so you can know your risk factors.

One way to do so is by taking your blood pressure. Normal blood pressure is 115 over 70. If your blood pressure is more than 130 over 80, this is a red flag that something is wrong. You can take this test at home. Home readings are often considered more reliable.

The second test you should take is of cholesterol levels.This test

will factor in your blood fats and blood sugar and determine your good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol as well as triglycerides.

You can also perform a tape measure test. This test can be a higher indicator of your risk than what may come up when you weight yourself on a scale. If you are 40 inches or more around your waist, this is a risk factor for heart disease. Starting your heart tests at age 18 is important because this is the leading cause of death for young men other than auto accidents and being shot.

Diabetes and Hypertension The statistics are staggering around diabetes and hypertension.

Nearly 15 percent of African Americans 20 years or older have diabetes, and we are 1.5 times

more likely to contract diabetes versus Whites. Thirty-nine percent of African American men suffer from hypertension according to the CDC, and since 36% of African American men are obese this increases your risk for both diseases.

Make sure you have your body mass index (BMI) measured based on your height and weight to determine obesity. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, if your BMI is between 18.5 and 25, this is considered normal. If you are a smoker, don’t exercise and have a BMI over 30 this places you at higher risk for diabetes and hypertension.

If your blood pressure is greater than 135 over 80, this could also be a sign of diabetes. Tests for diabetes may include a

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of death of cancer in U.S. for both men and women according to the American Cancer Society. Make sure when you hit 50 years of age you are screened for colorectal (colon) cancer. Your doctor may have you tested earlier if it runs in your family. This painless procedure only takes 15 to 20 minutes. But, this test can be a critical one in detecting colon cancer early when it is treatable.

This screening allows your doctor to find and remove precancerous growths before they become malignant.

Being smart and proactive about your health care can save your life.

Taking proper precautions and receiving the right health screenings will place you on the path to living a healthier and longer life. Don’t delay doing what’s needed to keep you at your best!

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Mahershala Ali The “Free State of Jones” continues. And if you’re a person like Newt, it becomes your responsibility to empower those in close proximity to you.

Interview with Kam Williams A Holler from Mahershala!

Born in Oakland and raised in neighboring Hayward, California, Mahershala Ali received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications at St. Mary’s College. He made his professional debut performing with the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, California. Soon thereafter, he earned his Master’s degree in Acting from New York University’s prestigious graduate program.

Mahershala is fast becoming one of the freshest and most in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill set and wideranging background in film, television, and theater. Last fall, he wrapped Brad Pitt and Adele Romanski’s independently-produced feature film, Moonlight, as well as reprised his role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, the final installment in the Hunger Games franchise, alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, and Julianne Moore. As District 13’s Head of Security, ‘Boggs’ guides and protects Katniss through the final stages of the district’s rebellion against the Capitol.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

On television, Mahershala was recently cast in Netflix’s Luke Cage in the role of Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. He can also be seen on the award-winning Netflix original series House of Cards, where he’s reprising his fan-favorite role as lobbyist and former press secretary Remy Danton.

Mahershala’s previous feature film credits include The Place Beyond the Pines opposite Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, Crossing Over starring Harrison Ford, John Sayles’ Go For Sisters, and David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

On television, he appeared opposite Julia Ormond in Lifetime’s The Wronged Man for which he subsequently received an NAACP Nomination for Best Actor. He also had a large recurring role on Syfy’s Alphas, as well as the role of Richard Tyler, a Korean War pilot, on the criticallyacclaimed drama The 4400.

On the stage, Mahershala appeared in productions of Blues for an Alabama Sky, The School for Scandal, A Lie of the Mind, A Doll’s House, Monkey in the Middle, The Merchant of Venice, The New Place and Se-

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you’d like to star in?

MA: The Great White Hope. I would love to redo that film in a way where it would be more focused on Jack Johnson.

KW: Larry Greenberg asks: Do you have a favorite movie monster?

cret Injury, Secret Revenge. His additional stage credits include appearing in Washington, D.C. at the Arena Stage in the title role of The Great White Hope, and in The Long Walk and Jack and Jill.

Here, Mahershala talks about playing in Free State of Jones, a Civil War saga co-starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Keri Russell.

Kam Williams: Hi Mahershala, thanks for the interview.

Mahershala Ali: Thank you, Kam. KW: What interested you in Free State of Jones?

MA: The story, first off. I had never heard of Newton Knight. So, the narrative as a whole was really attractive to me because it was a refreshing departure from the homogeneous depictions of the Civil War where the North wanted to abolish slavery while the South wanted to keep it intact. Here, you had an example of a Southerner who spoke out against slavery during the war and who later became an activist for civil rights and this new idea of equality for all people regardless of one’s skin call, race or creed.

KW: What interested you in playing Moses?

MA: I had never seen a character in this time period who had such agency and mobility for someone living in the South. He had run away with a group of former slaves and was really living life on his own terms in the swamps. And he was determined to be pro-active in his people’s emancipation. Also, seeing his evolution over the course of the narrative really inspired me. He’s a disenfranchised, runaway slave with

no education who learns to read and write and really becomes a leader and an active participant in the democratic process who mobilizes others.

His were big shoes to fill, but they were ones that I was very excited to step into.

KW: How was it working with such an accomplished cast that included Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Keri Russell and Brendan Gleeson?

MA: It was very inspiring and also humbling. It was a difficult shoot, being in the swamps in both the heat and the cold for four months, but everybody arrived ready to go, all-in and totally committed. It all started with Matthew and Gary [director Gary Ross] who had a wonderful energy and approach to the work every day that trickled down to the rest of the cast and crew. Everyone was aware of and inspired by the importance of the story we were telling, and that was another added layer that contributed to the focus that everyone had.

KW: And how was it being directed by a four-time Oscar-nominee in Gary Ross?

MA: Pretty phenomenal, starting with the audition process. he was very curious about my ideas in terms of fleshing out the character, and he also wanted to know my perspective as an African-American and whether I felt it reflected the African-American experience. And it was mind-blowing and empowering how Gary wanted to portray African-Americans participating in their own liberation. So, I would work with him again at the drop of a hat.

KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

MA: That the struggle for freedom

MA: Terrence Stamp as General Zod in the1978 version of Superman starring Christopher Reeve.

KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?

MA: I’m not much of cook, but I cook a mean bowl of oatmeal.

KW: Ling-Ju Yen asks: What is your earliest childhood memory?

MA: I remember choking on the core of an apple while being bathed in a large sink by my dad. He slapped me on the back until I coughed it up.

KW: Who loved you unconditionally during your formative years?

MA: My parents and my grandparents. My mom was extraordinarily present, but I’m so appreciate of all of them.

KW: Was there a meaningful spiritual component to your childhood?

MA: I grew up in church. My mom’s a minister, and my grandmother was an ordained minister. I was always very mindful of the presence of a greater being I call God. KW: How were you affected by the passing of Muhammad Ali? MA: I was very affected by it. He was my first hero. I was mesmerized by his photos and his presence, even though he was retiring around the time I was becoming conscious of him. He was 100% my first hero and idol.

KW: Sherry Gillam would like to know what is the most important life lesson you’ve learned so far?

MA: Hold tight to the mentality of being a student, meaning hold on to curiosity and approach life as a student.

KW: What was your very first job?

MA: Working at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I was apple to save up and

by my first car over the course of that summer.

KW: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?

MA: Commit myself to this journey of becoming an actor. It takes a lot of love and support and wonderful allies. But I don’t necessarily recommend it.

KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

MA: No one ever asks me what inspires me. What inspires me today is a desire to get closer to an understanding of what my artistic capacities are with the hope of organically sharing my gifts with an audience in the most heightened way I possibly can.

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

MA: Granola. I never grew out of the cereal thing. As an adult, I could eat granola three times a day, if it didn’t have so much sugar in it.

KW: Judyth Piazza asks: What key quality do you believe all successful people share?

MA: They tend to believe in themselves and to be really impassioned.

The people that I admire have a wonderful balance of self-belief and humility.

KW: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

MA: To really be conscious of how long the journey is, be patient, push yourself, persevere and always be working on your craft while waiting for your break. That’s what I’m still working on, having done this for 20 years now.

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

MA: I guess as someone who was always looking to grow and improve in all the aspects of my life, from acting to being a good family man to embracing the spiritual tenets that I choose to practice. I always hope to be a better person tomorrow than today.

KW: Finally, what’s in your wallet?

MA: [Chuckles]I don’t have a wallet. I carry my driver’s license and a couple of credit cards in my phone.

That and a money clip.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Mahershala, and best of luck with the film.

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA News Wire Contributor

James On Leave agreement not to sue the city.

Meanwhile, on Monday Nemerson placed James on administrative leave, according to city Corporation Counsel John Rose. She has not since been in her office at 200 Orange St. Nemerson informed her staff by email that city Small Business Development Officer Clayton Williams, Jr. will temporarily oversee the office.

TV One CEO Al Liggins said that any new FCC rules about set top boxes must protect all the of the existing rights and the license agreements involving paid TV providers. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA) Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.)

media under this proposed rule.”

Clarke and Butterfield were joined by TV One CEO Al Liggins and BET Networks Executive Debra Lee at the press event announcing the new caucus. Both Clarke and Butterfield serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“While we must be open to the rising cultural expectations to make programs available ondemand or through streaming services, we also have to balance these interests with the assurance that we are not pitting the few diverse programmers out there against each other or allowing some to pick winners and losers,” Butterfield said.

The phrase, “few diverse programmers” is an understatement.

African Americans own less than 1 percent of all TV properties and less than 2 percent of radio as reported by Pew Research.

“We think that the marketplace is robust enough as it is and [the proposed FCC rule] is unnecessary,” said Liggins. “We believe competition should be there, but we believe it should happen in an app form which protects all the rights and the license agreements that we’ve made with the existing paid TV providers.”

Butterfield expressed concerns that the FCC’s plan to “unlock the box” might risk the progress in diverse programming that television audiences have seen in recent years.

Despite that progress, minorityowned media companies represent a minuscule portion of all broadcast media and many Black media company owners are pushing for the FCC change, saying that the status quo has done little to affect the ownership disparity.

On a conference call an hour after Reps. Clarke and Butterfield announced the new caucus, Peggy Dodson, the CEO of the Urban Broadcasting Company offered an alternative view and supported the FCC “unlocking the box.”

“We’re about creating a producing urban content, but that content has to be searchable, it has to be found and it has to be monetized,” Dodson said. “The genie is out of the box. The hourglass has been turned over. I think what is being missed between Comcast and Time Warner fighting with Google and thinking that Google is going to take over, is the minority-owned producers and content creators. We’re being swept under the rug. We need diversity. We do not own anything.”

Dodson continued: “Opening the

box is inevitable. It is the answer.

It’s happening. We can’t stop it.

People are choosing what platforms they want to see programing on and how they want to see it and when they want to see it. Everyone can make money.”

Dodson said that she’s not trying to put TV One or anyone else out of business.

“That is not my goal. My goal is to have the opportunity to monetize and have people see the content on a platform that is searchable and that can be monetized,” Dodson added.

Clifford Franklin, CEO of GFNTV, said that he was shocked to hear the comments from BET and TV One. “It’s shocking to me to see the comments from BET and TV One because they know this has been a very anti-competitive situation that we’re in. At the end of the day we have to disrupt this industry,” Franklin told reporters.

“We’ve been inundated with baboonery and thugs and antisocial behavior and some of that has come from our urban channels,” Franklin added. “We need a lot more diversity of thought from our content creators. They have pretty much been shut out of the game.”

Williams, who has been with the city since October 2006, was still working in his sixth-floor City Hall office on Thursday. He said he has no current plans to relocate to the 200 Orange Office. “The Small Business Academy is in transition. I’ve been asked to work with [Deputy Economic Development Administrator] Steve Fontana to oversee the transition,” Williams said. He said he won’t know more about that work until next week, when Nemerson returns to New Haven. Nemerson is in Cleveland this week with Mayor Harp and Economic Development Corporation chief Virginia Kozlowski meeting with the CEO of Key Bank, which is taking over First Niagara Bank.

“I am out on vacation. I haven’t signed an agreement yet,” Jackie James said Thursday. “And they know they weren’t supposed to be talking with my staff.”

Reached by phone, Nemerson said he can’t discuss details of a personnel matter.

“Communications were sent out of respect for the existing staff one of whom will run out of funding on June 30,” he said.

“My email specifically conditions all changes as ‘for now’ and ‘for the time being.’”

He referred personnel questions to Corporation Counsel Rose.

“We’re working on finalizing all the documents regarding” James, Rose said, declining further comment on the matter.

He did not that administrative leave is not a form of “labor punishment.”

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In an unpredictable, disruptive media environment featuring new ways for consumers to receive video content over Wi-Fi, apps and live streaming, established media companies are bracing for a future driven by big tech and consumer choice with new profit models.

It happened in the newspaper industry. It happened in the music industry. It happened in the book publishing industry. And now it’s happening slowly, but surely in broadcasting as a host of new entrepreneurs are set to arrive on an increasingly competitive scene.

In February, Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), moved to free consumers, who are now collectively paying $20 billion every year, from buying or renting a set-top box for cable TV. The FCC wants to “unlock the box” and allow others to provide video content such as Google and Apple.

The move would be a shakeup of the status quo. The technology around video-on-demand is clearly changing as seen in companies such as YouTube, Hulu, TiVo, Kweli.tv, Netflix and Ustream. On April 15, President Obama signed an executive order backing Wheeler’s efforts to open the cable set top box.

“The cost of cable set-top boxes has risen 185 percent while the cost of computers, televisions and mobile phones has dropped by 90 percent,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said on the issue.

Last week on Capitol Hill, Congressional Black Caucus Chair G.K. Butterfield and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) announced a new Congressional Caucus on Multicultural Media that will “focus on the state of diversity and inclusion in the media and in the telecommunications industry.”

Clarke said that the potential harm that the proposed FCC rule could do to multicultural media companies is very real.

She suggested delaying action on the proposed rule, “until the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) complete their prospective studies on the impact on multicultural

Con’t from page 15

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

CBC Members Worry Proposed FCC Rule Could Hurt Black Media Companies

BECOME A FOSTER OR ADOPTIVE PARENT… ATTEND AN INFORMATIONAL SESSION

Please call 1-888-KID-HERO For more Information Department of Children and Families

Con’t on from 11

Disease Clinical Trials helpless I was without the tools.”

consent.

Thirty years later, Lewis Hall said that physicians still lack the necessary tools to treat the disease.

Marie Ojiambo, who is not only a SCD patient and Pfizer intern, but is also an advocate that works with SCDAA said that it’s easier for her to go to a SCD patient and get them to participate in a clinical trial than it is for a doctor.

Although some of the drugs that scientists have discovered have just not been good enough or safe enough, according to Lewis-Hall and Banks, the reason why a cure hasn’t been developed is because African Americans haven’t participated enough in clinical trials.

All of the participants, including Dr. Kevin Williams, the vice president of global medical affairs in Pfizer ’s rare disease unit, recognized that African Americans are reluctant and often afraid to participate in clinical trials, because of the lingering distrust of the medical field due to the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and often poor treatment received at medical facilities.

Thomas Watkins, the publisher of the Daily Challenge, said “Blacks will participate in clinical trials as long as they’re not the only ones.”

Banks said that the African American community needs to get over the stigma associated with clinical trials.

“The syphilis study wouldn’t happen again,” said Banks. “We are too much of an educated community now … and who’s going to make these drugs come to fruition? If we don’t participate we’ll never find treatment or a cure.”

“A lot of people have no idea about what it means to participate in a clinical trial,” says Dr. Lewis Hall … Some of it is re-educating about the things that have happened in our collective African American past.

“We need to be educated specifically what it really means to be in a clinical trial,” said LewisHall. “Our absolute best advocates are people who have been in clinical trials.”

Today’s clinical trials are also highly regulated by third party experts and require informed

There are 37,500 clinical trials currently available, said Dr. Lewis-Hall.

Pfizer is currently in Phase 3 of their clinical trial and needs to enroll 350 participants within the next 2 years. Since they’ve already obtained some positive results from their Phase 2 trials, they hope to have a drug available in 3-5 years.

Dr. Lewis-Hall explained that it usually takes 15 years to bring a new drug to trial. “So by the time that you get to Phase 3, it would be an unusual event for a company to walk away…and if this drug doesn’t make it because of a lack of participation, it would be a crying shame.”

For more information about clinical trials log on to www.clinicaltrials.gov or www.gethealthystayhealthy.com and click on the link, “Find a Trial.”

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Stands Against Senseless Violence in Orlando & Reaffirms Its Promise to Care For Communities the legacy begun by our Founders, to promote the building of better communities through positive action.”

Nationwide — Jonathan A. Mason, Sr., International President of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., has issued the following statement: “Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated stands in solidarity with the community of Orlando, Florida, and our country, as we mourn the tragic act of violence during which at least 100 people were shot, and 49 of those victims were brutally murdered on Sunday, June 12, 2016. Once again, our country is face to face with the realities of how to effectively address the issues of differences between races, religions and those whom society deems different, as well as what to do about the issue of gun ownership. This horrendous attack upon the LGBT community is more than a reminder that we must change our approaches to these issues—it is a clarion call to action!”

“There are no words which can adequately describe the pain inflicted upon the victims of this latest act of destruction and their families; there is nothing which can provide logical answers as to why someone believes it is their right to destroy others in response to what they personally believe.”

“We live in a country founded upon the principles that each of its citizens is “endowed with cer-

“As a fraternity founded on the principles of Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service, we are called upon to stand up and speak out on the issues which affect all of us. We must strengthen our commitment to working for better, safer and stronger communities. I ask you to join us in supporting the city of Orlando, Florida as it works to become stronger and better in spite of this tragedy.

Prayer is always in order. We all must follow those prayers with actions to make a difference in our communities and our world.” tain unalienable rights . . .life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

Yet, there are those who believe it appropriate to deny certain members of our society these Godgiven rights.”

“Now is not the time for complacency; the future of our country is affected by the intolerance of a few who believe it to be their “right” to destroy anyone and everyone who don’t share their ideas and beliefs. As members of this Fraternity, we will not be interpreted as supporting such ideology, especially by being silent. We continue to answer the call to build on

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated is one of nine predominantly African American Greek-Lettered organizations, founded on January 9, 1914 at Howard University. Its Founders believed in the principles of Brotherhood, Scholarship and Service, which are exhibited in the Fraternity motto “Culture for Service and Service for Humanity”. Phi Beta Sigma has a membership of over 150,00 men in over 750 chapters throughout the continental United States, Africa, Asia and Europe. For more details, visit www.phibetasigma1914.org

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Why We Must Never Forget Our Roots

By Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund “So Dad has joined the other [ancestors] up there. I feel that they do watch and guide, and I also feel that they join me in the hope that this story of our people can help alleviate the legacies of the fact that preponderantly the histories have been written by the winners.”

– Alex Haley, from the conclusion of “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” On the 40th anniversary of the publication of Alex Haley’s landmark book “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” a new television adaptation is bringing renewed attention to the story that opened so many eyes to the harsh truth about American slavery and its aftermath — an aftermath that continues under new guises despite much progress.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

The publication of “Roots” in 1976 came at a seminal moment in American history. Cities across America were hosting celebrations of the nation’s bicentennial and the founding creed set forth in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

In 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded our nation and world on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that America had never fully lived up to that promise: “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.

Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’”

With “Roots” Alex Haley provided an epic lesson in American history through the story of his American family — slavery from the enslaved people’s point of view. His book spent months on the bestseller list and the original television adaptation of Roots that aired in January 1977 shattered viewing records as it gave tens of millions of people a visual, visceral expe-

rience of the true horrors of slavery. For the first time descendants of slaves, descendants of slave owners, and people of all backgrounds were sharing a common experience and understanding of America’s original sin whose after effects still radiate across our land. Acknowledging that truth together was a transformative experience.

In the past year we have seen a welcome surge, prodded by new books on slavery, campus debates, and student protests, of new commitments by some universities and other institutions to confront the truth about their own histories, especially the ugly legacies of slavery and Native American genocide.

Black Lives Matter protests denouncing indefensible deaths of Black youths and citizens at the hands of out of control law enforcement officials in Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York City, Texas, and elsewhere and the shocking racist vigilante citizen killings of Trayvon Martin in Florida and the massacre of praying Black church people in South Carolina heightened the need for greater racial awareness and national action.

I hope the renewed interest in Roots will spark much greater and sustained interest in an honest retelling of our history and promote new dialogue about the ways today’s structural, cultural, racial and economic inequalities reflect racial seeds from our violent past of slavery and Jim Crow which still poison the soil and political discourse of our nation. Only confronting the truth about our nation’s profound birth defects and struggling deliberately to overcome them with open eyes, hearts, minds and deeds can make us all free.

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) has a special connection to Alex Haley.

In 1994 CDF bought Alex Haley’s 157acre farm in Tennessee for servant leadership development, intergenerational, interfaith, and interracial dialogue and spiritual renewal. The Harlem Children’s Zone was conceptualized in Haley Farm’s lodge by Geoff Canada and a cadre of Black Community Crusade for Children® leaders. Faith leaders gather each year for spiritual retreats, great preaching and renewal, and young leaders come to learn from elders about nonviolent strategies for seeking racial and economic justice. Gurgling creeks run through it, mountains lurk in the background, and trees rustle in the wind.

And thanks to the generosity of Barnes and Noble chair Len Riggio and his wife Louise, Haley Farm has been blessed as the only place with two Maya Lin designed buildings in existence: the Langston Hughes Library, with its Maya Angelou and John Hope Franklin reading room, and the Riggio-Lynch Chapel.

I have been struck by how many of the thousands of people of all ages, faiths and disciplines who have come through Haley Farm’s gates appreciate its beauty

and say it feels like home and the communities we once experienced. It is a smoke free, drug free, alcohol free, violence free and hate free environment grounded in love and mutual respect.

The largest annual gathering at Haley Farm brings together about 2,000 college-aged young people who train intensively to return to their local communities to teach about 12,000 children in CDF Freedom Schools® programs designed to staunch summer learning loss, close the educational achievement gap, and empower children to make a difference in their schools, communities, nation and world. This year they will hear from leading educators, historians, children’s and young adult book authors, and faith leaders. We will discuss how to truthfully teach history to help children of all races understand our nation’s roots including Native American genocide, slavery, and exclusion of all women and non-propertied men from the electoral process in our beginning years. We also will discuss how they can make a difference in closing the gaps in their communities between America’s dream and reality. Together they and all of us must help write the next chapter in our ongoing struggle to make America a more perfect union.

At the dedication of Haley Farm, several hundred people of every race, faith and discipline committed to help build a movement to Leave No Child Behind® and 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. That struggle must continue until the prophet Zechariah’s vision of “the city full of boys and girls playing in its streets” — safely and joyfully ¬— is realized all over our violence-saturated land. I thank Alex Haley for reminding African Americans and all Americans of our roots, our strengths, our struggles, our courage, our faith, and our Godgiven human capacity to overcome adversity. If we all work without ceasing we will overcome one day and build an America where every child is welcome and safe. Now is the time to move forward and not backwards in the quest for racial and economic justice. Now is the time for all citizens to stand up, raise our voices, and vote to ensure that Dr. King’s dream — America’s dream — becomes reality.

Marian Wright Edelman is 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 Startand 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.

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Garden-Variety on that site. It was intended as a site for people in the neighborhood,” Paley said. “It’s strange how things work in this city.”

The majority of the BassettNewhall plot is overgrown with weeds. But a strip of fresh dirt in the middle third of the garden stands out amid the general disrepair.

Harry Reddish, who has lived on Newhall Street for more than two decades, began gardening there last week, planting kale, okra and summer squash, among other vegetables.

But the future of his vegetable patch, which has no connection to any formal city initiative for the land, remains uncertain.

Reddish said he was encouraged to start planting by a representative from the NHS, who knocked on his door last Friday to invite him into the garden, even though the city has sole jurisdiction over the plot.

The LCI had instructed Paley to stay away from the garden the day before Reddish began planting his vegetables. But by Friday, Paley said, not everyone on the NHS staff had heard the news.

“We obviously are not authorized to tell people what they can or can’t do on a city-owned lot,” he added.

In an interview outside the garden, Clyburn told the Independent that she hopes the confusion over the ownership of the land will not interfere with Reddish’s plans.

LCI chief Serrena NealSanjurjo said Friday that the water should be turned on come Monday. LCI needed to get the account with the water company switched from the land trust’s name first this week, she said.

“I Always Wanted a Part in the Garden” That will come as a relief to Reddish, who has struggled to get the garden going with no water supply.

“If this water don’t turn on, then I have to figure out a way to get a hose from my house to the garden,” Reddish said. “Because I’m gonna

need water.”

And then he paused, shifting to a conspiratorial whisper as he gestured in the direction of Quattlebaum’s porch.

“And no way I’ll be using a hose to my house to water my flowers,” he said.

Still, Reddish was thrilled to begin gardening in the Bassett Street site, which he has coveted ever since he moved in.

“God gave me the opportunity that I would be able to plant in that garden,” he said. “Over the 20 something years I was living there, I always wanted a part in the garden.”

Reddish said he intends to distribute vegetables to all his neighbors, “no one getting more than the other.” And he also plans to open the remaining space in the garden to the whole community— a gesture of inclusivity that he said was missing from his predecessor’s stewardship.

Reddish said he always got the sense that Quattlebaum wanted to keep the plot for himself. And over two decades, he never volunteered to help with the gardening.

“The way this guy acted, it was like he owned everything and ran everything,” Reddish said. “[He] didn’t give anyone else the chance to plant anything there.”

Reddish added that he once asked to buy collard greens from the garden. But Quattlebaum, who typically shared vegetables with only a small circle of family members and friends from church, did not follow through on the request.

“The way he was running this thing, everybody just let him have it by himself,” Reddish said.

Quattlebaum told the Independent that he tried to get more neighbors involved in the garden but that no one expressed much interest. He declined, however, to discuss how his vegetables were distributed.

“I got nothing to do with that damn garden,” he said. “Just forget it.”

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

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WILLIMANTIC MINORITY CONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITY Construction Resources, Inc. is currently soliciting proposals from CT DAS Certified M/W/Dis/SBE contractors and material suppliers as it relates to the following project: Renovations to The Murray Building, 699 Main Street, Willimantic, CT. Interested parties are asked to contact Construction Resources Farmington office at (860) 6780663 or email Mark Rubins at mark@corebuilds.com or Vivian Garcia-Arnold at NK “mailto:vivian@corebuilds.com”vivian@corebuilds.com. Project Goal is 30/10.

The Ashford Housing Authority is now accepting applications for the Senior/Disabled housing through July 31, 2016. To qualify you must be 62 or disabled and meet required Income limits. The monthly rent is based on 30% of income with a minimum base rent of $495. Applications are available by phone at (860) 429-8556, online at www.ashfordhousing.org or may be picked up at: Ashford Housing authority

Construction Resources, Inc. is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

49 Tremko Lane Ashford, CT 06278

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Pre-applications for waiting list at Orchard Hill Estates I HUD complex will be accepted until June 30, 2016. To qualify you must be at least 62 or disabled with a maximum gross income of $18,800 (one person) or $21,450 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application on line at coventryct.org, or at 1630 Main St.,

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Coventry, CT 06238 or have one mailed

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

by calling 860-742-5518.

Contact: James Burke

Phone: 860- 243-2300

email: jim.burke@garrityasphalt.com

DEEP RIVER HOUSING AUTHORITY OPENING WAITING LIST FOR SENIOR/DISABLED The Deep River Housing Authority will open its waiting list for Senior/ Disabled Housing on June 1st. This list will remain open until July 31, 2016.

To request an application please call 860-526-5119 applications will be accepted by mail (must be postmarked by 7/31/16) Housing is available to anyone over 62 or handicapped/disabled that meet the income guidelines. Monthly rate is based on income with a minimum base rent requirement of $495.

Deep River Housing Authority

60 Main Street Deep River, CT 06417

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.

Contact Greg at 860-243-2300 INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Dana Briere

Phone: 860-243-2300

Town of Bloomfield Finance Director $87,871-$135,632 For details and how to apply, go to www.bloomfieldct.org.

Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE

Assistant Town Engineer- Seeking an experienced professional to support the Town Engineer in the performance of a variety of engineering duties.

A B.S. in civil, electrical, mechanical or transportation engineering or closely related field, plus 7 years of civil engineering exp. Salary: $77,695$99,410 annually plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Applications/resumes will be accepted until July 6, 2016 at the following address: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492, (203) 294-2080.

Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE Experienced Concrete Construction Laborers to form and pour concrete footings/walls/floors. Must be able to lift/carry up to 100 lbs. Must be able to pass a pre-employment physical and drug test. Please call 860-653-6664

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

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

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Rick Tousignant

Phone: 860- 243-2300

Email: ailto:rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com”rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employe

Information Technology Administrative Application Technologist. The Town of Wallingford Public Schools is seeking a highly skilled individual to provide technical assistance in managing its organizational data system needs. The position requires 4 years information technology experience in a K-12 school environment which includes 2 years experience with Microsoft Office, PowerSchool, Crystal Reports, or similar reporting software.

Must have own transportation to travel between schools in the district.

Wages: $26.83 hourly (currently in wage negotiations) plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will be June 22, 2016 or the date the 50th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

Welder-Exp. Welder for structural steel Misc shop. Send resume:gwf@snet.net

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Elm City Communities Request for Proposals

RAD Consultant Services Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for RAD Consultant Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, June 20, 2016 at 9:00AM

Town of Bloomfield Entry Level Police Officer $66,657 For details and how to apply, go to www.bloomfieldct.org.

Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE

Civil Engineer – Town of Manchester The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Architectural and Engineering Services Solicitation Number: 070-PD-16-S The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is seeking proposals from qualified architects and engineering firms to assist in various architectural and engineering projects on an as needed basis. The PCC will select multiple firms who shall be placed on an A/E roster. Solicitation package will be available on June 20, 2016 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-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604 on July 6, 2016, @ 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 July 14, 2016 @ 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 July 21, 2016 @ 3:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Contract Specialist, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. Late proposals will not be accepted.

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Proposal (RFP) Labor & Employment Attorney Legal Services Solicitation Number:A 071-HR-16-S

$65,486.53 – 40 hrs./wk.

CLOSING DATE: Friday, July 1, 2016 Call HR Recruitment Line at (860) 647-3170 for info or view website: http://hrd1.townofmanchester.org.

Twin Brook Properties.

Un nuevo y lujoso complejo de apartamentos, situado en las faldas de la roca del oeste, Augustine St. Nuestros departamentos son amplias y luminosas de un y dos dormitorios .Comienzan desde de $ 1.300 incluyendo los servicios públicos y están equipadas con refrigerador de tamaño completo, aire acondicionado central, trituradores de basura, walk in closet y conexiones de lavadora/ secadora. Llame a la Oficina de Gestión de la Propiedad al 203-389-2100 o 203-410-9427 para programar una cita. Visítenos en www.twinbrookproperties.com.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

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Twin Brook Properties.

Director of Planning and Economic Development – Town of Manchester

$82,531.00 – $140,505.00 CLOSING DATE: Friday, July 15, 2016 Call HR Recruitment Line at (860) 647-3170 for info or view website: http://hrd1.townofmanchester.org.

Environmental Cross-Connection Technician – Town of Manchester $54,278.21 Must obtain cert. as Backflow Preventer Tester and

A luxurious new apartment complex, located in the foot hills of West Rock, Augustine St. These spacious and bright, one and two bedroom apartments start at $1,300 including utilities and include full size refrigerators, central air conditioning, garbage disposals, walk in closets and full size washer/dryer hook ups. Call the Property Management Office at 203-389-2100 or 203-410-9427 to schedule a viewing. Visit us at www.twinbrookproperties.com.

Housing Authority of the City of New Haven

a Cross Connection Survey Inspector within 1 year

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is seeking seeks proposals from attorneys/law firms for the provision of a full cadre of legal services. Respondent(s) must have graduated from an accredited law school and be a member of the Connecticut Bar. Solicitation package will be available on June 20, 2016 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-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604 on July 5, 2016, @ 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 July 14, 2016 @ 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 July 21, 2016 @ 3:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Contract Specialist, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. Late proposals will not be accepted.

of employment. Some water utility exp.req.

CLOSING DATE: Friday, July 1, 2016 Call HR Recruitment Line at (860) 647-3170 for info or view website: http://hrd1.townofmanchester.org.

Junior Construction Inspector – Town of Manchester Performs Call Before You Dig mark outs of Townowned water, sanitary sewer, traffic and electric facilities. $52,404.75 – 40 hrs./wk.

Police Officer C: The Town of East Haven is currently seeking qualified applicants to participate in the Civil Service Examination for the position of Police Officers C. Qualified candidates shall meet the following minimum requirements: must possess a valid Driver’s License; High School Diploma or GED; must be 21 years of age and a

Call HR Recruitment Line at (860) 647-3170 for info or view website: http://hrd1.townofmanchester.org.

Water Treatment Plant Operator – Town of Manchester

$49,016.24 Applicants with water/sewer treatment, maintenance or

mechanical experience preferred. CLOSING DATE: July 1, 2016 Call HR Recruitment Line at (860) 647-3170 for info or view website: LINK “http://hrd1.townofmanchester.org”http://hrd1.townofmanchester.org.

JOB OPENINGS AT COMMON GROUND! Please visit http://commongroundct.org/get-involved/join-our-staff.

Uniform Physical Conditions Standards Contractor (UPCS)

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (HANH) is currently seeking Bids for Uniform Physical Conditions Standards Contractor (UPCS). A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday. May 18, 2016 at 3:00PM

Glazier Apprentice Opportunity Well established Architectural Glazing Contractor doing business in CT and NY. We are looking for someone interested in building a career with our company in the glass and glazing industry.

Ideal for someone in the construction industry looking to build a career in a licensed trade. Please call Sonya @ 1-203-748-8620 An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer

SEMAC ELECTRIC AAA ELECTRICIANS Semac Electric is seeking Electricians (CT Licensed Journeymen & Foremen, E1 and E2) to join our team for medium & large commercial construction projects thru out the State of CT: Hartford, Fairfield & New Haven Counties. We have excellent wages and benefits. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applications available at our main office at 45 Peter Court, New Britain, CT or send resume to P.O. Box 638, New Britain, CT 06050 or via fax to 860-229-0406 or email: mailto:careers@semacelectric.com”careers@semacelectric.com

33

U. S. Citizen; possess a valid C.H.I.P. card; pass a physical examination; polygraph test; psychological examination; background investigation in addition to Civil Service testing. Ideal candidates shall not smoke or use tobacco products of any kind and shall not have any visible tattoos. Candidates who are hired must commit to a three year term in exchange for sponsorship through the Police Academy. Candidates bilingual in Spanish are encouraged to apply. Salary is $50,382 per year and the town offers an excellent benefit package. Deadline: July 18, 2016. Applications to participate in the examination are available online at www.policeapp.com/ EastHavenCT. The Town of East Haven is committed to building a workforce of diverse individuals. Minorities, Females, Handicapped and Veterans are encouraged to apply.

CLOSING DATE: Friday, July 1, 2016

Invitation for Bids

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Legal Notice Request for Qualifications/ Proposals For Design Build Construct Services For Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) Early Head Start Program Playground 300 Washington St. Middletown, Ct. Issue date: 06/24/2016

ACES PROJECT NUMBER: Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) is requesting Design-Build Proposals from Qualified Experienced Contractors to construct a new playground for Infant/Toddlers and a play area for ages 2- 6 at our Early Head Start facility located at 300 Washington Street, Middletown, Ct. The scope of services is to provide all design- build- construct services for a complete and functional age appropriate playground including all related administrative services for all aspects of this project.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the site on June 29, 2016 at 2:30PM.

Copies of RFQ/P will be available June 24, 2016 The RFQ/P can be obtained at

http:1/www .aces.o rg/administration/ reguest-for-pro posa Is. or by calling in a request to Tim Gunn at 203-498-6839 ACES Proposals are to be submitted to: Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) 350 State Street North Haven, Connecticut 06473-3018 Attention: Timothy Gunn, Director of Facilities

All Proposals shall be delivered by 2:30pm July 13, 2016.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

Area Cooperative Educational Services is an equal opportunity employer who does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, marital status, disability or sexual orientation.

INNER-CITY NEWS June 27, 2016 - July 10, 2016

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