INNER CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY INNER-CITY

Q House Gala Celebrates 100 Years

by STAFF

One hundred years after the Q House first opened its doors, the reborn Dixwell community center capped a year of centenary celebrations with a fundraiser gala. That gala took place on Sept. 27 at the Q House at 197 Dixwell Ave. Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison told the Independent that roughly 300 people attended the ceremony, which raised around $60,000 for the ongoing operations of the Black New Haven cultural landmark and Dixwell community hub.

The Q House first opened in 1924 as a settlement house for African Americans moving north as part of the Great Migration. The community center closed in 2003 due to a lack of funding. It reopened in 2021, in its third and present building, after years of advocacy by Dixwell community leaders and city politicians.

“For a century, Dixwell Q House has been a beacon of hope, a center of community life, and a hub for growth and development,” Morrison, who is also the chair of the Q House Advisory Board, wrote in welcoming remarks for the gala. “From the early days of its inception to today, Q House has provided invaluable services, support, and a safe haven for countless individuals and families.”

“Throughout the years, the Q House has provided a safe place for youth activity, a gathering site for community social life and civic engagement, and a center for education and community development,” added Charles Warner, Jr., who, along with Morrison, is a co-chair of the Dixwell Q House Centennial Year. “As we celebrate our heritage, we also chart a new course towards the future with the new incarnation of the Q House.”

The Sept. 27 gala honored former Q House Associate Director Jacqueline Bracey, Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Senior Director of Grantmaking and Nonprofit Support Jackie Downing, architect and World War II veteran Edward E. Cherry, and fellow veteran and Q House devotee Milton “Uncle Chip” Collins.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO At the Q House's centennial gala.

The new haven independent

Sisters’ Journey Survivor of the Month- Kristalynn Shell

My name is Kristalynn Shell and this is my breast cancer story. First, I am a mother (mother-in-love), a daughter and a sister. I have four grandchildren and a grand dog. I have worked for the State of Connecticut for 22 years and I am a lifelong member of Zion Baptist Church in Waterbury. I am a nurse and would never have thought cancer could happen to me.

February 2020 is the start of my breast cancer story. I went for my annual mammogram and got a follow-up call for an additional ultrasound. This did not raise anyalarms as I have always had dense breasts. However, when these results came back, the doctor said, “Something is there.” I had no unusual symptoms and the lump was so small it could not be felt. I was referred to a breast specialist and on March 10, 2020 I was diagnosed with Stage 1 ER and PR positive breast cancer. My first reaction to having breast cancer was complete shock. I sat there with my mom trying to take it all in. My heart

was beating extremely fast as the specialist poured out more and more information about my diagnosis. My mind was racing. The world had just been shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, my daughter had just

had a baby and I was the support system for a childhood friend who had also been diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite my diagnosis, I wanted to know if I carried the gene. Were my daughter and her children at risk? I opted to complete genetic testing and was thankful to know that I, in fact, did not carry the gene.

Next in order was my treatment. May 2020, I had a lumpectomy of the right breast and started chemotherapy, which lasted four rounds. Four days after my first round, I began to lose my hair which was extremely hard for me. I was exhausted and in pain on a daily basis, but I pushed on through.

After the last day of radiation, I thought to myself “this is it,“ and I could finally

see what I thought was the light at the end of my cancer tunnel. My hair actually did start to grow back and I felt a positive shift in my energy. I was then prescribed a medication that I was told I would have to take for the next 10 years to block the hormones that caused my initial diagnosis.

At the time of writing this story, I am still in pain and exhausted daily from the side effects. But I stand strong in my faith. Breast cancer was my diagnosis, but it does not define who I am. I will remain a warrior and continue to fight this fight one day at a time. October means so much to me not only in honor of myself and all the other pink warriors, but also because it signifies my remission. This October I am celebrating four years since I beat breast cancer. My favorite scripture reads: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

A Gathering of Strength, Love, and Legacy

by EARL A. MCCOY, SR.

This citizen contribution was submitted by Making A Difference Foundation President and Founder Earl A. McCoy Sr. about a Sept. 21 outing hosted by his local fathers support group known as Fatherhood RealMen RealTalk.

Beneath the towering trees of Sleeping Giant State Park Pavilion, fathers, sons, and supporters gathered for the second annual “Fatherhood RealMen RealTalk” event.

Against a backdrop of shared wisdom and heartfelt conversations, men of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and ages came together to celebrate fatherhood, community, and the power of connection. The event, held under crisp autumn skies, saw participants bring their favorite homemade dishes and desserts, adding a sense of warmth and family to the occasion. But it was not just the food that nourished the attendees; it was the powerful exchange of ideas, experiences, and encouragement that filled the air. In a society that often expects fathers to carry the weight of their responsibilities in silence, this gathering provided a safe space to speak openly about the joys and struggles of fatherhood.

Nicola Giordano, a licensed clinical psychiatrist, addressed the group on the importance of mental health. His discussion highlighted the signs to look for when loved ones are in need of help, reminding fathers that mental well-being is as crucial as physical strength. “It’s okay to not have all the answers,” Giordano shared. “Being strong also means knowing when to ask for help.”

Chief Richard Doyle, of the Easton Police Department, echoed this sentiment,

adding that the role of a father goes hand in hand with accountability. “As fathers and men, the most important thing we can do is hold ourselves accountable,” he said. “We are role models not just for our children, but for each other. Our actions speak louder than words.” Earl McCoy, Jr., a manager of affinity group development and community engagement at Yale University, spoke with profound insight despite not being a father himself.

“Being a father isn’t just about raising a child,” McCoy said. “It’s about reshaping the world for them. It’s about breaking chains, rewriting stories, and planting seeds of resilience in the soil of struggle.”

Mica Cardozo, first selectman of the town of Woodbridge, said that “the Fatherhood Outing Earl has established provides a supportive and positive opportunity to

share our experiences and learn from one another. Hearing the stories and connecting with the other dads was incredibly valuable. I look forward to doing this again.”

McCoy and his wife, Reverend Dr. Yvonne McCoy, who helped organize the event, have been raising their nephew, embodying the broader definition of fatherhood that stretches beyond bloodlines. Dr. Yvonne McCoy led a heartfelt prayer as everyone formed a circle of support, hands clasped together in unity. She prayed for safe passage for those in attendance and those still on their way, symbolizing the collective strength of the community. The shared moments of prayer and reflection were a reminder that fatherhood is not a solo journey but a collective one, supported by community,

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

Babz Rawls Ivy Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

Advertising/Sales Team

Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne

John Thomas, III Editorial Team

Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs

Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers

David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery

Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair

faith, and love.

The event would not have been possible without the support of community sponsors, including the generous financial backing from Frontier technicians based at the Shelton garage. Their contribution ensured the day’s success and continued the momentum for future gatherings.

As the day drew to a close, the atmosphere was filled with gratitude and hope. The men left, not only with full hearts but with a renewed sense of purpose. The Fatherhood RealMen RealTalk gathering was more than just an event it was a testament to the power of shared stories, accountability, and love. It was a reminder that fatherhood is a legacy, one built on protection, commitment, and resilience.

As the Making A Difference Foundation looks to grow this effort and create a lasting impact on the community, the organization is seeking sponsors and financial backing to expand the reach of this powerful initiative. If you’re interested in contributing or becoming a sponsor, please contact the foundation at fatherhood.realmen.realtalk@gmail.com.

This is more than just a call for support; it’s a call to action to uplift fathers, strengthen families, and reshape the future for generations to come. Plans for next year’s gathering are already in the works, and the fathers, sons, and families involved look forward to continuing to build on the positive energy and transformative conversations that have made this event a cornerstone of their community.

In a world that often calls on fathers to be unbreakable, the Fatherhood RealMen RealTalk gathering reminds us that true strength lies in vulnerability, connection, and the enduring bond between father and child.

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur

Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha

William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

Contributors At-Large

Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass

www.newhavenindependent.org

Memberships

National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.

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; 203-3872684 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.

Kristalynn Shell

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO At the “Fatherhood RealMen RealTalk” event at Sleeping Giant.

The new haven independent

Hartford Office Of Violence Prevention Receives $200,000 Grant

by Jamil Ragland

HARTFORD, CT – The city’s new Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) is set to receive a $200,000 grant to further its work in coordinating violence prevention among multiple partners in Hartford, and to help support the decrease in violent crime in Hartford over the past few years. Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, OVP Director Chavon Campbell, and representatives of several partner organizations gathered Monday on the third floor of City Hall to announce the award. The grant is made available by a collaboration between the state Department of Public Health and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center’s Injury Prevention Center.

The collaboration, in its second year, awarded 10 new grants this fiscal year to go with the eight grants awarded last year. Other recipients of the grants include the Stamford Police Department, the Ledyard Light Health District, Project Moo and others. The grants build upon initial funding that came from the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

“Public safety is about building better, stronger, safer communities where everyone is valued and seen, where trauma is healed, where we work together. And our Office of Violence Prevention is an investment in that,” the mayor said. “It’s an office we created to try to bring together

all of the incredible partners we have in this community working on violence and corruption work. These people who are my heroes, who are out there, who are many of the first people that residents see when they’ve experienced immense trauma coming right out of the hospital or in their communities.”

According to Campbell, OVP will use the grant to hire communications staff which will increase community awareness of resources which already exist, attend meetings of partner organizations to learn about needs and establish better coordination between organizations. The grant will also be used to create a new re-

Questions about your bill?

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

By appointment, patients can speak one-on-one with a financial counselor during regular business hours. For your convenience, extended hours are available in-person at Yale New Haven Hospital once a month.

Date: Monday, September 16, 2024

Time: 5 - 7 pm

Location: Children’s Hospital, 1 Park St., 1st Floor, Admitting

Parking available (handicapped accessible)

An appointment is necessary. Please call 855-547-4584

In light of COVID-19, patients may call 855-547-4584 any time during regular weekday hours to speak with a counselor on the phone.

Spanish-speaking counselors available.

source guide and translate it into multiple languages, as well as create a digital map of where the greatest needs in Hartford are.

Campbell stressed the need for greater information sharing when it comes to preventing violence.

“The Mayor already talked about it, but one of the main things is to increase communities’ awareness of the resources and services that we already have,” Campbell said. “Another goal is to create a landscape for violence prevention organizations and resources, to uplift the organizations that are already doing incredible work, and to make sure that we can identify any gaps to figure out how to make sure that we’re strengthening our communities as much as possible.”

Jackie Santiago, CEO of Compass Youth Collaborative, celebrated the grant for laying the groundwork for better collaboration. Compass Youth Collaborative is also a recipient of one of the grants.

“Since violence is a multi-pronged issue, we need everybody at the table in the city of Hartford offering the services that they do in order to make sure that we can create safer communities,” Santiago said. “And so I am excited about the fact that Compass will be a part of this, but more excited that we’ll get to see what the resources are and collaborate more intentionally with all the partners that exist

throughout the city.”

“We know that by investing in community programs it can make a difference, that prevention efforts have great value,” Borrup said. “You know, as an example, these kinds of efforts avoid the direct costs from alignments like medical care. They avoid the indirect costs like lost wages, criminal investigations and incarceration. And they leverage a network of agencies in an efficient way to get funds where they are needed most. They advance good solutions that address multiple problems at once and they prevent suffering in lives lost.”

The grants will help city leadership continue to drive violence, especially gun violence, down. Mayor Arulampalam and interim Hartford Police Chief Kenny Howell recently shared that gun violence is down in the capital city so far this year. The number of shooting victims in Hartford has decreased since 2022, and 2024 is on track to have the lowest number of shooting victims since 2006, the earliest year for which data is available. Hartford launched its Office of Violence Prevention in April, while a similar office has existed at the state level since 1993. Research from the Stanley Center for Peace and Security shows that offices of violence prevention, and violence prevention programs more broadly, can be effective in reducing violence in urban areas through a wide range of options.

Our needs may change over time but one thing that doesn’t have to change is the comfort of being at home. The Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders, or CHCPE, helps people 65+ get the care they need right at home. Services can include housekeeping, personal care, home-delivered meals, and more.

Chavon Campbell, Director of the Hartford Office of Violence Prevention, speaks to reporters and members of the public at City Hall on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, during a news conference about a $200,000 grant to help the ongoing reduction in violence in the city. Credit: Jamil Ragland / CTNewsJunkie

October 15, 2024

Growing up in the early 1990s, Thuso Mbedu never dreamt of being an entertainment figure. At a very young age, she wanted to be a dermatologist, but after taking a dramatic arts class in the 10th grade, she became interested in acting.

Police Pressed On Beaver Hills Car Break-Ins

Nokwanda is a Zulu name, and Mbedu is Xhosa.

by GARY HOGAN

‘Black Reel Awards’ (Outstanding Actress

Mbedu went to Pelham Primary School and Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School and graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa in 2013, where she studied Physical Theatre and Performing Arts Management. Earlier in 2012, she took a summer course at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City. Career

The following Citizen Contribution was written by Ward 28 Democratic Ward Committee Co-Chair Gary Hogan, about a recent neighborhood meetup with top city police to discuss crime in Beaver Hills.

Beaver Hills (Ward 28) leadership had received numerous complaints about criminal activity occurring in the ward.

Her acting career began in 2014 when she played a minor role of ‘Nosisa’ in the popular South African Soap Opera ‘Isibaya’ from Mzansi Magic. In 2015, she played a guest role as ‘Kheti’ in the Second Season of the SABC 2 youth drama series ‘Snake Park.’

During a recent September community management team meeting, more concerns were raised, leading to a meeting request to New Haven Police Department (NHPD) leadership to discuss in person with neighbors.

She got her first starring role in the teen drama television series ‘IS’THUNZI’ from Mzansi Magic where she played ‘Winnie.’ Her international debut was in ‘The Underground Railroad’ an American fantasy historical drama series based on the novel ‘The Underground Railroad’ written by Colson Whitehead.

On Wednesday, Police Chief Karl Jacobson, Assistant Chief David Zannelli and District Manager Sgt. Jonathan Lambe met with Beaver Hills residents at the home of Gary Hogan.

The meeting was opened by Hogan, who provided the background for the meeting and discussed the following criminal concerns:

1. Auto theft and vandalism (break ins)

2. Excessive speeding, running stop signs

3. Young men riding in cars hanging out the windows and throwing items at residents

In 2022, she starred in her first film ‘The Woman King’ an epic historical drama about Agosie, where an entire female warrior unit protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 17 – 19th century. She played ‘Nawi’, a zealous recruit in the military unit.

4. Litigation for parents of offenders committing property damage

5/ Confusion about fireworks versus gunshots

6. Trespassing (people wandering in driveways/yards) at night

7. Porch thieves (stolen packages)

In 2017, Mbedu was nominated for the ‘DSTV Viewers Choice Awards’ and the ‘International Emmy Awards for the ‘Best Performance by an Actress’ for her role ‘Winnie Bhengu’ in the 2016 -2017 television drama series ‘IS’THUNZI.’

Residents then individually spoke about their experiences on the block. Matt Watson, who recently moved to New Haven from North Carolina, talked about his car being broken into by two young men. He called 911 and it went to voice mail twice.

He engaged the two offenders with a positive result.

In 2018, she won the ‘South African Film and Television Awards’ for ‘ Best Actress – TV Drama’ for her role ‘Winnie Bhengu’ in the 2016 -2017 television drama series ‘IS’THUNZI.’ She was also nominated for the ‘International Emmy Awards for ‘Best Performance by an Actress’ for her role ‘Winnie Bhengu’ in the television drama series ‘IS’THUNZI.’

James and Rececca Cramer described their experience with confronting thieves stealing the catalytic convertor from their car, with minimal police response.

Nan Bartow and Peter Blasini shared the peaceful nature of our neighborhood, so

In 2021, she was nominated for the ‘Television Critics Association Award’ (Individual Achievement in Drama), the

wood Critics Association TV Awards’ (Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthropology Series or Television Movie), the ‘Gotham Awards’ (Outstanding Performance in New Series), the ‘Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards’ (TV Breakout Star), and the ‘Critics Choice Television Awards’ (Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Movie), all for her role ‘Cora Randall’ in the 2021 TV series ‘The Underground Railroad.’

diverse with families outside socializing, neighbors walking their pets and the laughter of kids after school throughout the early evening.

All talked about the Kia Boys riding through the neighborhood with stolen cars, waving items out of the cars, speeding recklessly, tires screeching as they make donuts at the intersection and possibly discharging gun shots at night. All were concerned about individuals checking cars at night.

She won the ‘TV Breakout Star’ award from the Hollywood Critics Association TV and won the ‘Outstanding Performance in New Series’ award from the Gotham Awards.

In 2022, Mbedu was nominated for the ‘Independent Spirit Awards (Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series), for her role ‘Cora Randall’ in the 2021 television series ‘The Underground Railroad.’ She won the ‘Critics Choice Television Awards’ for ‘Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Movie’ for her role ‘Cora Randall’ in ‘The Underground Railroad.’

ded out some crime data reports to review with the residents. He stated that, in Beaver Hills so far this year, break-ins are up 103 percent (from 28 to 57), car thefts down are down 20 percent (from 93 to 72), and gunshots are down 35 percent (from 19 to 10). Chief Jacobson continued about the arrests made in Beaver Hills and across the City , how the young offenders are back on the street’s days later. The chief offered these proposals, which are under development:

1. Stiffer penalties for offenders after 4th arrest for stolen vehicle

2. Juvenile detention (increase the number of beds)

3. Kia Boys Task force with other municipalities/towns

In her keynote speech at TheWrap’s Power Women Summit, Thuso Mbedu tearfully spoke of how she overcame the loss of her dear parents, grandmother, and aunt. But her role in Amanda Lane’s ‘IS’THUNZI’ gradually renewed her hope in life.

4. Stop sticks being deployed

5. New technology to track stolen auto, while in its infancy has lead to arrests 80 percent of the time.

Some residents pushed back but overall agreed to give him a chance. With the meeting in progress, Assistant Chief Zanelli heard the common sound of speeding cars and horns blowing to avoid accidents. He arranged for the motor patrol to come to Beaver Hills and before the meeting was over, a speeding ticket had been issued. While a short-term fix, Chief Jacobson agreed to provide increased patrols, motor vehicle patrols for traffic concerns and better police presence.

NHPD Beaver Hills leadership will return in two months to review the progress. All were pleased with the opportunity to discuss the concerns and work together to solving the Beaver Hills policing issues.

“…my world was that blur, until Amanda Lane happened in 2016. The role that Amanda Lane gave me was the difference between life and death for me. Receiving that audition brief, I told myself that I would audition like it was my last audition. I gave it the last of everything that I had, that at the time I got the callback, I had nothing left. I secretly made the decision not to do the callback because I had nothing left to give. But fortunately, I received the callback. So I didn’t do the callback because the role was mine. I had given up. I was in a very dark place at the time, and the character, the role, the opportunity, was a much needed light. And I told myself that I will act as if it was the last character that I will play. And through a great script and an amazing director, I earned two International Emmy Awards for that role…”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Gary Hogan (center) with top cops and Beaver Hills neighbors after Wednesday's meetup.

The new haven independent

Lit Fest Brings Baldwin’s Legacy To Life

by ABIBA BIAO

Inspired by James Baldwin’s commitment to telling the truth, Jacqueline Brown raised her hand to ask a question of the two literature scholars in front of her.

“In your personal experience, how has his work taught you to find joy? How has his work incited you towards action?”

Jacqueline popped those questions Saturday afternoon during a panel discussion called “The Artist’s Struggle for Integrity,” held in a second-floor meeting room at ConnCAT’s headquarters at 4 Science Park.

The panel was part of the fifth annual Kulturally LIT Fest, a locally run literature festival founded by IfeMichelle Gardin. This year’s fest focused on James Baldwin’s life and work in honor of the centenary of the great American author’s birth. The daylong event featured panelists and scholars from institutions like Howard University, Brown University, Virginia Tech, Yale and University of Connecticut.

University of Connecticut Associate Professor Shawn Salvant and Yale University Professor Roderick Ferguson led the panel about Baldwin and the artist’s integrity, dissecting Baldwin’s work and its many themes from artistry to civic engagement in front of a crowd of over 20 attendees.

In response to Brown’s questions, Salvant turned directly to the words of Baldwin himself, quoting a passage from The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings. That quotation read: “And not only do we all know how difficult it is, given what we are, to tell the difference between right and wrong, but the whole nature of life is so terrible that somebody’s right is always somebody else’s wrong. And these are the terrible choices one has always got to make.”

“You read things because you want to understand your current world today,” Salvant said. “And so, when I teach Baldwin, the title of my course is ‘James Baldwin Now’ because what I do when I teach Baldwin is to help use Baldwin as a lens to better understand some of the challenges and conflicts and issues going on today.

I’m always going to link these things to present and current issues.”

With a stack of papers and articles on the desk before him, John McCann sat attentively in the back of the room for the artist’s integrity panel. After hearing Ferguson’s response about how Baldwin had motivated his intellectual and civic work, McCann shot his hand up, eager to add his input.

“I think the comment was made about [how] the artist’s integrity and courage depends on what human beings believe to be real,” he said. That reminded him of the current political moment; he said that one of the key dangers presented by former President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement is that they have “confuse[d] in people’s minds what is real.”

McCann has worked as a reference librarian at Albertus Magnus College for more than 30 years. He spoke out on Saturday against political moves to suppress information, and described poets as “the truth tellers in our society.” He contrasted Bald-

win’s theme of truth-telling to book bans in schools across Florida.

“You have libraries and librarians under attack in many areas of our country, and… some of the political forces in our country do not want people exposed to what the truth is,” he said in an interview after the panel.

McCann is also part of the 100 Years of Baldwin Book Club, which meets on the third Thursday of every month at Possible Futures bookstore. He was inspired to join Kulturally LIT on Saturday because of his participation in the book club.

“I didn’t know too much about Baldwin, and it has really opened my eyes because we have been reading his fiction, his poetry, his essays, and I’ve really grown to appreciate his importance as a major American writer,” he said. After hearing Saturday’s panel, he hopes to increase the number of Baldwin’s works in the collection developments at Albertus. He also hopes to bolster the school’s collection of African American literature.

A long-time resident of New Haven, Jacqueline Brown served as moderator for the panelists on Saturday.

Like McCann, Jacqueline was also a newcomer to the LIT fest and spoke about how the discussion made her see her work in a new light. Brown is an actor, writer, and producer. She is currently directing a short film series called HAVENtheseries.

“The two gentlemen talked about [how] the artist’s job is to show others how to survive, and the artist’s job is to inspire people to action,” she said. She said that, as a writer, she previously thought of her art as a way “expressing feelings.” Now, she said, to “hear that one of Baldwin’s driving forces was to ignite action makes me want to go back to my writing and say, ‘How am I inspiring people with what I’m writing?’”

Outside of 4 Science Park, Halima Flynn and Gracy Brown continued to discuss the panel. After being unable to attend Kulturally LIT in previous years, the duo knew they had to make it out this year and expe-

rience it for the first time, attributing their attendance to the effort of IfeMichelle Gardin, the festival’s founder. “A film I did is accepting an award today and I’m not there, because I was like, ‘I got plans. I told Ife I was gonna be here,’” Flynn said.

“Ife is community, you know what I mean?” Gracy added. “I’ve known Ife for at least 30 years … and I too have not been to an event.”

She continued, “I knew that once I got here, I would feel better about whatever the heck was going on in my life. And from the moment I got out of the car, that’s what I was met with: just kindness and community.”

Both women said they showed up to Saturday’s fest in part to educate themselves on Black history and to explore the breadth of Black literature, something that they said was not taught in schools when they were kids.

Flynn, who is also a part of the Baldwin book club at Possible Futures, pulled out her phone to show her copy of If Beale Street Could Talk, which the club will be talking about later this month. At only 24 pages into the 140 page book, Flynn said that she enjoyed the text, but also mentioned the difficulties reading Baldwin and the frustration of seeing social issues he discussed years ago still being unresolved today.

“There’s something visceral about the way he writes that touches us,” she said. “Baldwin is just really, really honest.” As an artist and actor, Gracy said that she hopes to apply the lessons to her work That resolve led her to Possible Futures’ tent at the festival, where Kay Anderson and neighborhood volunteer and materials scientist Ainissa Ramirez guided her with suggestions. In the end, Gracy secured two copies of Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time: one for her and one for this reporter.

Before heading to her car, she couldn’t help but leave with a challenge.

“Next time we see each other we need to compare notes,” she said, holding up her new book.

ABIBA BIAO PHOTO Gracy Brown, with Kay Anderson: Saturday's Lit fest was filled with "kindness and community."

The new haven independent

Two Storytellers Weave Past Into Present

Ruby Szekeres, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Denise Page channeled her mother. In one world, it was 1927, and Page’s mom was just seven years old, lying across from her own mother in an old New Haven apartment. Her mother blinked, a question still forming on her tongue, and Page could feel it in her mouth. In another world, it was 2024, and an audience of listeners clung to every word, eager and anxious to see where the story would go next. Page took a breath, and dived in.

Those worlds collided last week, as master storytellers Jennifer Munro and Denise Keyes Page took the stage—or rather, the gallery—in an evening of rich story sharing at the Guilford Art Center. A collaboration with GreenStage Guilford, the event put narrators in conversation with works at the GAC, as they responded to pieces in the Art League's 76th annual exhibition.

“We are just so happy to be here tonight,” said Page, who started storytelling in 2019. She cleared her throat. “Tonight, the first story I tell is a story I heard in two parts growing up from my mother.” The crowd seemed to lean closer with every word. “You will hear it as my mother.” Around her, the small gallery was crowded with art lovers and lovers of the community. Without pretext or preamble, Page began, the room listening to every word.

The story began in a cramped apartment in New Haven. It was 1927, and Page’s mother—just seven—was lying across from her mother, newly widowed after a bout of tuberculosis took her father. The girl lay on a small cot and waited. She yearned to ask her mother a question, but couldn’t say it aloud. She wanted to know if her mother, who was dying of cancer, was still alive.

Time passed until it was midnight. Her eyes wide, Page’s mother listened carefully for the only constant thing in her life—Miria—and it finally came. Miria was the train that chugged by every night at midnight, with a loud engine and blaring horn. She turned to her mother to ask if she could hear Miria. Sleepily, her mother turned over. Yes, she had heard it and yes, the girl had gotten her question answered.

Page’s mother thanked the universe for allowing her to still have a mother. Finally able to get to sleep, she dreamt of her life before everything had fallen apart.

“Of life,” Page said, back in the gallery and also in her mother’s world. “Of love. Of books. Of art and health.”

It was not long before Page’s grandmother became too sick to care for her girls, and the two were assigned to a foster family. At times she visited her mother, but eventually that stopped, and

she was a ward of the state. By the time she was 16 and ready to go to college, she realized that she would need to make money to do it.

While her late father had squirreled away enough to start college, there wasn’t enough to complete classes, and she worked as a maid for a couple.

She truly felt what it was like being a Black person, Page-as-her-mother recalled. The wife looked down at her with scorn and the husband made her feel unsafe.

She decided to find a new job, searching until she stumbled on a “help wanted” sign in the window of a dry cleaner. The street seemed totally new and familiar at the same time. Inside, the owner was looking for someone to press the clothes.

That would be a breeze for Page’s mother: she had learned to sew and even fashion together her own clothes as a child. After filling out an application, she showed off the long, beautiful skirt she had sewed, spinning around to make the colors whirl together.Then she told him how much experience she had.

“I once knew a man with the same last name as you,” he said, wondering aloud if she could be related.

Page-as-her-mother nodded. The man who he spoke of was her father—who had sold the house in which the dry cleaner now stood.

When she got the job, it was like walking through her early childhood. In the kitchen, she pressed anything and everything that came her way. Though she wasn’t allowed to be seen, she was able to get money for college. Sometimes she would hear a train and she knew that Miria was there.

Page stopped talking, bringing the audi-

ence back to the real world. Amidst the thunderous applause that followed, she thanked the audience.

“It was really important for me to tell this story for my mother,” she said. “She can’t remember much of her mother and even less of her father. This is her story.”

rian legend “The Fisher King.” The story, which has its roots in the adventures of the knight Perceval, dates back to the 12th Century. Since, there have been many adaptations, the most popular of which may be a 1991 film with Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams.

“My job is to tell the story as if it is first discovered,” Munro said. In her version, a group of teens—including Parziful/ Perceval, who seeks the Holy Grail—pile their belongings into a van, set on fixing the unfixable. En route, one of the teens uses a walkman to play the story of “The Fisher King.”

The group travels to a home where an old couple lives. The man has one leg; his wife has all of her limbs, but doesn’t look much better. Their house stands in ruins. Their toilet overflows with waste. The group clears a rock blocking the path, then sets out to build a ramp for the old man. They get to work, and the world around them begins to morph and change, throwing new challenges constantly their way.

At first, work seems to be going well; the teens clear away some of the rubble. But by midday, things come to a stop. The rock becomes a boulder. The bathroom floor has rotted through. When one of the teens asks if the couple has any children, the wife becomes tearful and the husband goes stone-faced. They decide to leave for the day and get anything else that they might need to continue.

The next day, one of the teens imagines that the old man is the Fisher King and the woman is the Lady of the Lake and they are on a quest for the Holy Grail. Soon the couple tells them that indeed they did have a son, but had left after an argument with the parents. The thought—an unhappy one—is unlikely motivation: it pushes the teens to get back to work. Before long, they have built a sense of family out of their work.

As they continue to work, the old man checks in with the group, ultimately presenting one of the teens with a golden watch. He explains that it has been passed down from father to son in the family.

“I hope someday I will be able to give this to our son,” Munro said as the old man. Back in the story, he carefully put the watch back into the cereal box where he had hidden it. Days later, when a truck drove in with a toilet, they felt as if they had found their own Holy Grail.

“My job is to tell the story as if it is first discovered,” Munro said.

It was time for the second story, told by Munro. Unlike Page, Munro reached back into narrative history, taking it back to author Chrétien de Troyes and the Arthu-

“My advice to other storytellers, starting out and otherwise … tell stories as yourself,” Munro said in an interview after the event. She’s taken that advice to heart: Munro has been a storyteller since 1983. “Don’t try to copy anyone else. Everyone is doing their own thing and that is what makes stories so amazing.”

This article comes from the 2024 Cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. Ruby Szekeres is a sophomore at the Sound School.

Denise Page. Ruby Szekeres Photos.

Friends Lacey Browne and Jenifer McShane, a board member of Guilford Art Center.

Neighborhood-Boosting Nonprofit Turns 30

by MAYA MCFADDEN

Community leaders and city officials gathered at the Canal Dock Boathouse to celebrate the Greater Dwight Development Corporation’s (GDDC) three decades of supporting affordable housing, shopping, and early childhood education in and around Dwight now that that neighborhood nonprofit has turned 30.

Dozens of New Haveners turned out Thursday evening to mark that milestone at the GDDC’s 30-year anniversary celebration.

The event doubled as an opportunity to honor the late Yale law professor Jay Pottenger, Jr., who served as the nonprofit’s legal advisor supporting neighborhood and community organizing.

Thursday’s gathering was hosted in a second-floor hall at the Canal Dock Boathouse on Long Wharf. Posters decorated the hall documenting the GDCC’s work over the years.

Attendees mingled for the event’s first hour, enjoying lamb lollipops, deviled eggs, and mocktails. Around 6:45 p.m., the speaking program kicked off with remarks from local and state leaders, including Mayor Justin Elicker, State Sen. President Pro Tem Martin Looney, State Rep. Pat Dillon, and Dwight Community Management Team Chair Florita Gillespie.

The evening provided frequent reminders of the legacy of Pottenger, who saw the importance in supporting GDDC Executive Director Linda Townsend Maier’s vision for the nonprofit.

That has included renovating deteriorated Dwight properties and expanding homeownership and affordable housing opportunities, developing the Dwight shopping plaza including the Stop & Shop grocery store – at 150 Whalley Ave, establishing job-training programs, and founding the Montessori School on Edgewood in 2006.

Townsend Maier said Thursday’s event was not only to provide reminders of the GDDC’s success but to also reinvigorate the community’s investment in the nonprofit’s next steps.

“We’re looking to the future,” she said.

GDDC is currently working to form its next 10-year neighborhood plan, Townsend Maier said. “We are and remain a community-based neighborhood group. We’re trying to demonstrate that, yes, this is still possible.”

When asked what she is most proud of doing through the nonprofit’s three decades so far, Townsend Maier said

the Montessori School On Edgewood was one of many successes that proved the organization’s benefit to the community and showed tangible growth.

Pottenger, Townsend Maier told the Independent, was instrumental in helping the GDDC lay the legal groundwork for dozens of projects.

Thursday’s event launched the Jay Pottenger Vibrant Communities Fund to honor his legacy. The fund, housed at Dwight Hall, will support GDDC’s community leader-led projects focused on continuing the local work that aligns with Pottenger’s passions.

Cynthia Farrar, who supported GDDC through her work at Yale’s Office of New Haven Affairs, shared a video of interviews she co-produced that captured the stories of those impacted by GDDC’s local work. She described Pottenger as “extraordinarily supportive and committed” to GDDC’s vision, alongside Townsend

Maier.

Elicker presented GDDC with a city proclamation for its innovative solutions to local issues like housing, education, and quality of life. He declared that New Haven is stronger because of the GDDC’s decades-long efforts that were supported by former Mayors John DeStefano Jr and Toni Harp, Pottenger, and others.

Looney recalled his first state senate term in 1994. He said Townsend Maier was one of the first local leaders he heard from with pleas to support her efforts to revitalize Dwight.

Gillespie’s brief remarks Thursday urged GDDC to keep up the work and offered the reminder that “we love and appreciate you.”

GDDC’s past and present: Linda Lorimer, Linda Townsend Maier, Cynthia Farrar, and Alan Plattus.

GDDC's past and present: Linda Lorimer, Linda Townsend Maier, Cynthia Farrar, and Alan Plattus.

The late Yale Law School professor and GDDC supporter Jay Pottenger, Jr. (right).

The new haven independent

Digital Navigators Land At The Library

by JABEZ CHOI

Downtown library patrons are now able to receive free technology assistance from connecting to the internet to making doctor’s appointments online to communicating with long-distance family members and friends from a team of dedicated “digital navigators.”

Those digital navigators have come to seven libraries in Connecticut, including the New Haven Free Public Library’s (NHFPL) Ives Main Library branch, as part of a pilot program. That news came at a Monday morning press conference held at Ives celebrating the launch of the Digital Equity Project as part of an effort to narrow the “digital divide” in Connecticut.

The pilot program is funded by an Institute Museum and Library Services grant of $249,948 provided to the Connecticut State Library from July 2024 until May 2025.

“This grant comes at a critical time, both in Connecticut and in our country. We continue to recover from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which laid bare…those who have ready access to technology and digital tools, and those who do not,” Connecticut State Librarian Deborah Schander said.

“Students are unable to learn, parents are unable to work, seniors are unable to attend medical appointments, and everyone struggles to pay taxes, to communicate with family, friends and government services.”

Navigators will provide one-on-one assistance for a wide range of needs with computers, tablets, smartphones, and other household digital devices. Some of these are more general, like connecting to the Internet. Others are more specific, like filing taxes or even, as Hamden Public Library Director Melissa CanhamClyne recalled on Monday, creating a dating profile.

Three digital navigators will be stationed at seven regional library locations: the New Haven Free Public Library, the Bridgeport Public Library, the Derby Neck Public Library, the Hamden Public Library, the Howard Whittemore Memorial Library, the West Haven Public Library, and the Woodbridge Town Library.

Between the three navigators, three languages are covered English, Spanish, and Arabic. State Library Digital Inclusion Consultant Christine Gauvreau shared that they look forward to expanding the program to include other target languages such as Portuguese and Haitian Creole.

People can schedule an appointment with digital navigators by phone or by popping into a participating library. A session typically lasts 60 minutes, but

they can sometimes take longer, according to Daniel Velez, one of the three navigators.

Velez said that there isn’t exactly one thing that people commonly have issues with, noting that “people have such a wide range of needs.” He described his day-to-day on the job, starting off with checking his appointments for the day, reminding those people via text or email of their session, and eventually meeting with them at the library.

Velez said that sometimes people don’t have reliable transportation or they find the library inconvenient, in which case he will meet them at a place more amenable. Alongside Velez, who serves the Woodbridge and West Haven library locations, Hugh-John Dunkley and Mohammed Al Haj Ali are the other two navigators, with Dunkley assigned to the New Haven location.

Part of the importance of the program, according to Canham-Clyne, is to establish digital navigation as a legitimate staff position at libraries.

“[Digital navigation] is a profession that is very natural to librarians, because librarians do it every day,” CanhamClyne said. “But we can’t do it the same way that navigators do. The difference between a navigator and a librarian is the amount of time that the navigator spends with the person coming in.”

During the early days of the pandemic, Canham-Clyne snuck people who needed to use the computer into the library. These people had no access to a computer, or had difficulty connecting online.

“Some of them needed to file their taxes. Some of them just wanted to shop online. Some of them felt that they needed to connect with their doctors,” CanhamClyne said.

She quickly stopped when she understood the risk this posed to her staff, but the sentiment stuck with her how could libraries better connect those in the surrounding community online? The answer came in the form of digital navigators who provided free one-on-one technology assistance and information. The Hamden Library started its own digital navigator project in January 2022 which, according to Canham-Clyne, helped over 600 people over the span of its program.

After a discussion with Gauvreau, Canham-Clyne conceived of an idea to make digital navigators a broader program. This was the inception of what would become the current program.

“Digital literacy is never done,” Canham-Clyne said. “Technology develops and evolves almost as fast as the speed of light. Now artificial intelligence is a huge thing. We have clients coming trying to understand that. We’re trying to understand all those things constantly.”

State Librarian Deborah Schander and State Library Digital Inclusion Consultant Christine Gauvreau: Who has access to technology and digital tools and who doesn't?

Hamden Public Library Director Melissa Canham-Clyne: "Digital literacy is never done."

New Haven's digital navigator team: Hugh-John Dunkley, Mohammed Al Haj Ali, Coordinator Robert Gagne, and Daniel Velez.

Digital Navigator Daniel Velez: Meeting clients wherever he can.

The new haven independent

Lit Fest Fêtes A Century

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Just off Winchester Avenue, ConnCAT was coming to life. In a conference room upstairs, 8-year-old Egypt Robinson grabbed a magic marker and filled in the blue and yellow tips of a star, guided by the words of a literary luminary. Down the hall, Dexter Singleton wove through seven decades of Black literature, tying James Baldwin to Lorraine Hansberry, Aleshea Harris, Lynn Nottage and Jackie Sibblies Drury.

In the parking lot outside, poet Yex Diaz prepared to walk onto a stage, and transform the sprawling parking lot into hallowed ground. Beneath a nearby tent, author Barbara McClane looked up, and waited for the first words to drop.

Authors, artmakers, academics, activists, and avid readers came together Saturday, for the fifth annual Kulturally LIT Fest (formerly Elm City LIT Fest), celebrating writer, activist and intellectual James Baldwin on what would have been his hundredth birthday. Held at the Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology (ConnCAT) for the first time in its history, the festival lifted up Baldwin's long legacy, from his cutting and prescient critique of America to how to teach his work today. The fest is part of The Year of Baldwin, a months-long centennial celebration that also includes Baldwin reading groups and book clubs, film screenings, poetry readings, theater performances and over a dozen community collaborators. Read more about that here and here.

"I feel like we have evolved—it's more enriching every year," said Kulturally LIT Founder IfeMichelle Gardin, who has grown the festival from a fledgling idea and neighborhood book club to an annual cultural event. "To have it at ConnCAT— this is the dream. I'm so glad it's here."

Around her, the building and parking lot came alive with panels, workshops, performances and vendors, bringing Baldwin out onto Winchester Avenue and into a space that has become a haven for young Black artists. As panelists gathered to revisit Baldwin's female characters in one room, artists Jasmine Nikole and Empress Arce set up shop in another, laying several of Baldwin's words out on bright, neoncolored index cards.

"Colour is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality," read one flashcard on the table, taking it back to Baldwin's The Fire Next Time. "Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?," read another.

As they welcomed pint-sized attendees and parents alike into the space, both artists said they were excited to be there.

When Gardin first reached out to Nikole and Arce about the festival, they designed a series of crafts that allowed people to engage with Baldwin's words, from bookmark making to small wooden signs that they could color and decorate.

Egypt, who is currently on a six-pointed star (and, she said, Elephant & Piggie) kick, gravitated towards a set of magic markers and got to work.

"James Baldwin has a special place in my heart," Arce said, adding that their favorite works are If Beale Street Could Talk and Baldwin’s essay, The Fire Next Time. "His books really speak to me— they make me feel like I'm not alone."

Baldwin's spirit was guiding them Saturday, they added. "When I do something for the next generation, it makes me feel like he's with me."

In an alcove just across the hall, it seemed that his spirit was also alive and well. Surrounded by kids, author and educator Amelia Allen Sherwood set up a Montessori learning corner with flashcards, puzzles, books, and copies of her new book series, Mae We Be Free. Designed for early readers, the series centers and celebrates young Black characters, weaving in language that may be more familiar to Black kids than many of the books currently on the market.

Sherwood, who runs Sankofa Learning Center, began working on the series when she was home with her own young readers during 2020 lockdowns, and saw a need for characters who looked and spoke like they did. At the time, she was doing anti-bias, anti-racism work with Elm City

Montessori School and reading with her sons, then 5 and 6, at home

"It was that critical moment when they were learning how to read," she remembered—and she discovered that characters and terminology were both overwhelmingly white.

"There are so many early readers out there, but they lack diversity and language," she continued. "This was birthed out of Covid and crisis learning."

or AAVE, she said.

Markeshia Ricks and Lauren Anderson repping Possible Futures outside. The parking lot transformed into a vendor fair and stage for poetry and performance. She also studied other early readers, from the popular Bob Books to The Learning Cove, which supported her as she wrote and published. She paired up with the Austin, Tex.-based illustrator Charlotte Dennis, who took the text—phrases like I love my kin and This is my pop and Go sis, Go!—and brought the words vibrantly to life. She worked with Books and Things, a Virginia-based publishing house, to midwife the book into the world. Its release date is this week—making Lit Fest a perfect place to launch the book. "It just fills me with so much joy," said attendee Hillary Bridges, who for years led Students for Educational Justice and now lives in Washington, D.C.. "These are going to babies in my life immediately."

As her daughter played with sight word flashcards, mom Jamilah Prince-Stewart said she's thrilled to have the books out in the world. As a kid, she remembered, she was obsessed with The Little Mermaid— but wanted an Ariel that looked like her. To get there, her family members filled in The Little Mermaid coloring sheets by hand, working painstakingly with brown markers. Now, her three-year-old daughter Leona-Naomi has a series of books where no parent will ever need to do that.

"It really does mean everything," said Prince-Stewart, watching Leona-Naomi as she put words together with nico okoro and her son, Nile, at a low, kid-sized table. "She sees herself now. To see her saying, 'Look, mommy, she has brown skin like me'—you can just see the confidence in her."

Writer and minister Ryan Lindsay with ConnCAT CEO and President (and now, student at the Yale Divinity School, which Lindsay also attended) Erik Clemons.

As he walked through the halls, ConnCAT CEO and President Erik Clemons called the festival a kind of full-circle moment.

The books themselves came together surprisingly quickly, perhaps proof that they had been gestating for some time. When she started writing, Sherwood blended her own background in Montessori education—and her lived experience as a mom and a Black woman—with language that felt more accessible to Black kids. For instance, she wove in the words sis, lit, and jam—words that are common in African American Vernacular English

In 2019, "I still remember Ife conceiving the idea of Lit Fest," he said. At the time, Gardin had come into his office and presented Lit Fest as "a festival for Black People and Black books," immediately aligned with ConnCAT's mission of Black excellence.

Neither of them could have predicted that a global pandemic would bring gathering to a halt for years, upending life and community as New Haven understood it. To celebrate both the festival's growth and Baldwin's life, then, felt like a triumph twice over. Going forward, both he and Gardin hope to watch it grow into a blocks-long affair after ConnCAT Place

Author Amelia Allen Sherwood.

Writer and minister Ryan Lindsay with ConnCAT CEO and President (and now, student at the Yale Divinity School, which Lindsay also attended) Erik Clemons.

Century Of Baldwin

on Dixwell is open.

Clemons added that Baldwin has had a profound impact on his own life and work as a Black man: it was reading The Fire Next Time that put words to the realities of American racism and white supremacy that he was already feeling. He was around 12 years old the first time he read the essay, to which he still returns.

"James Baldwin, for me, provided the language for what was happening to my people, but also what could be possible for us," Clemons said. "That last page [of The Fire Next Time] gives a warning to this country."

The section he is referring to is a call to action—to bring an end to what Baldwin recognized as the sickness of American racism. Now more than ever, perhaps, is time to heed it:

Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise. If we-and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others--do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfilment of that prophecy, recreated from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us : God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!

"We're All Unwell Until We Dismantle Those Systems"

Dexter Singleton, executive artistic director at Collective Consciousness Theatre and director of New Play Development at TheatreSquared, with poet and playwright Marcus Gardley. Gardley's biopic on James Baldwin will be out in the next two years.

Throughout the day, some of the most thought-provoking moments came from workshop facilitators and invited panelists, who ranged from theatermakers to literary critics to professors teaching Baldwin's work in their college classrooms.

In ConnCAT's large community room, Collective Consciousness Theatre (CCT)

Executive Artistic Director Dexter Singleton and playwright Marcus Gardley discussed Baldwin's 1964 play Blues For Mister Charlie as a piece of theater history and powerful form of activism, so much so that it shook audiences with its segregated seating and recognition of racism as an American sickness when it opened 60 years ago.

And yet, both said, it is produced far less often than Baldwin's contemporaneous work The Amen Corner—to the detriment of audiences past and present.

The play, inspired by the murders of

Emmett Till and another Black man in the American South, follows Richard Henry, a Black man who is murdered after allegedly flirting with a white shopkeeper's wife. In the work, Baldwin presents the audience with a cast of characters that feels chillingly familiar, from Henry himself to the left-leaning white character Parnell James, who is an ally until he's not.

Baldwin dedicated the work to civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who told him about the second murder in the early 1960s, and was assassinated in his driveway in 1963. After opening in April, it ran for under four months, closing in August. Baldwin wasn't deterred by the play's relatively short run: The Amen Corner opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater months later.

"He was trying to do something that was pretty new for the times, in terms of what he wanted from the audience," said

Singleton, who is also the director of new play development at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "It was a social experiment in a lot of ways, and one that had never been done before on Broadway."

Jacque Brown, herself a writer and producer, looks on as Singleton and Gardley speak.

Joining via Zoom, Gardley tried to contextualize the play, of which CCT and Kulturally LIT staged a reading at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library earlier this year. At the time he wrote Blues for Mister Charlie, Baldwin was going through something of a personal reckoning himself: he had returned from almost a decade in Paris in 1957, and begun doing more work explicitly related to civil rights.

That fall, he made his first trip to the deep South, which resulted in the essay "A Letter From The South" for the Partisan

Review and later, his 1961 collection of essays, Nobody Knows My Name. Edgars, Gardley explained, was essential to that work, as he was to the writer's understanding of the racism plaguing the region and the country.

"Him and Baldwin really shared that fearlessness," he said. The two, often in ideological lockstep, were not always in agreement with fellow civil rights leaders, and it caused tension within the movement. Evers' death, for which his killer walked free for 30 years, numbed Baldwin for a year, and then pushed him to speak more fiercely and frequently about civil rights, from his pages to public appearances at protests.

"I always wonder if there's a play in the car rides that the two of them took," Singleton said. "I don't think that's ever been explored in a play—these car rides where he [Evers] took him through the South, showed him these locations where work was happening ... to be a fly in the car, to hear those conversations between the two of them about Black America, where it could be, where it's going, where we are culturally in the country, is pretty amazing."

And yet, it was The Amen Corner that became a much produced and beloved hit (including here in New Haven in 1996).

For Gardley, that's partly owing to the cast size and length of Blues For Mister Charlie—the work is three acts—but owing mostly to the content.

The show opened in the midst of protests around civil rights, including at the 1964 World's Fair (and one year after Baldwin was invited, then disinvited, to speak at

the March on Washington). President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law six weeks into the run. Sit-ins continued long after, as de facto segregation, redlining, and the economic disenfranchisement of Black Americans continued across the country.

In other words, the show—then directed by Burgess Meredith with stars like Al Freeman, Jr. and Diana Sands— met the moment. But the play closed just a few months later.

Why, the two asked aloud? It's a play that brings together several themes—religion and faith, nonviolence versus physical self-defense, white allyship and its limits—that weren’t always fashionable to the mainstream civil rights movement. In addition to The Amen Corner, the 1960s also saw Baldwin grow close with members of the Black Panther Party, an affiliation that shaped his advocacy for Palestine and sharp-tongued criticisms of the police for the rest of his life. The play asks an audience to sit with all of that.

"There's always a profound question that he wants you to answer as an audience member, as a reader," Gardley said. "This is a man who was arguably the most profound literary mind of his day, and yet he was not allowed in certain spaces" because he was seen as too polemical.

Maybe for that reason, he continued, audiences—and theatermakers—can and should still learn from his work today. Gardley nodded to the Black playwrights for whom Baldwin (and Lorraine Hansberry, who died at just 34 in 1965) were literary trailblazers, a long list that includes Jackie Sibblies Drury, Lynn Nottage, Aleshea Harris, Dominique Morisseau, Whitney White, Nathan Louis Jackson, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Radha Blank and Ta-Nehisi Coates among many others.

He added that he often thinks about the role belief—against all odds—played in Baldwin's work. Even after reading and re-reading and analyzing Baldwin's writing, which can feel very heavy, he still thinks of the writer as an optimist. "He didn't feel like people should give up on things because they felt impossible," he said, answering a question that had popped up in the back of the room. "He really felt like the only way to any sort of positive movement in the future is brutal honesty."

A few chairs shifted; the 1960s collided with the present. "That people had to declare how they felt. They had to speak how systems were functioning—patriarchy, white supremacy, misogyny—you had to speak them out and dismantle them. Unless these systems were dismantled, we would all be suffering."

Nile and nico okoro, with Amelia Allen Sherwood and Leona-Naomi.

Markeshia Ricks and Lauren Anderson repping Possible Futures outside. The parking lot transformed into a vendor fair and stage for poetry and performance.

WNBA Awards Portland an Expansion Franchise That Will Begin Play in 2026

The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon’s biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026.

The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal. They paid $125 million for the franchise.

“This is huge for Portland. We are so honored and humbled to be the vessel that delivers this WNBA franchise to Portland,” Lisa Bhathal said. “And that’s really how we consider ourselves. Portland is this incredibly diverse, enthusiastic community. We saw the passion first-hand when we started looking into the Portland Thorns and this is Basketball City. So we’re very excited about the future.”

The Bhathals started having conversations with the WNBA late last year after a separate bid to bring a team to Portland fell through.

“I think from our perspective, knowing that the league was interested in coming to Portland, gave us confidence that pursuing the opportunity would be well received by the league,” Alex Bhathal said.

“The idea of expanding our footprint in Portland and being able to create a platform focused on women’s sports in the Portland market and really being able to put the foothold and to put a stake in the ground in Portland and make the mark as

the epicenter of a global women’s sport market is something that was really compelling and interesting to us and very deserving by the community of Portland.”

It’s the third expansion franchise the league will add over the next two years, with Golden State and Toronto getting the other two. The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026.

“It’s nice to have the Pacific Northwest kind of locked in now,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said.

Engelbert has said she hopes to have more teams by 2028 but doesn’t think that the league will be adding any more that will start playing before 2027.

Portland had a WNBA team, the Fire, from 2000 until 2002 when it folded. That franchise averaged more than 8,000 fans when games were played at the Rose Garden. The new franchise will play at the Moda Center — home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers. The Bhathals will build a dedicated practice facility for the team as well.

The Bhathal family brings more than 50 years of experience in professional sports, including serving as co-owners of the Sacramento Kings and the controlling owners of the Portland Thorns of the NWSL.

Portland has been a strong supporter of women’s sports from the stellar college teams at Oregon and Oregon State to the

Thorns. The Bhathals bought the soccer team for $63 million earlier this year. The franchise is averaging more than 18,000 fans this season.

The city also had the first bar dedicated to women’s sports — The Sports Bra. “I’m excited to welcome the WNBA back to the Rose Garden! From the Thorns to our collegiate teams to the Rose City Rollers and The Sports Bra, Oregonians are big fans of women’s sports,” Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Julie Fahey said in a statement today. “When we hosted the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament earlier this year, fans turned out for the games with sellout crowds. I look forward to seeing what a sustained presence of women’s basketball in Portland will bring for the community.”

“When you look at our numbers, not just the Thorns’ off-the-charts attendance, which is incredible, what you’ve seen, in Eugene, what you’ve seen in Oregon State, we knew that this was going to be one of the great moments in sports for Oregon,” U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said. “We saw, February of 2023, what was possible. So I can tell you that right now there are women playmaking in Portland. They’re rebounding in Roseburg, they’re hooping in Hermiston. Every nook and cranny of our state is into this.”

Meet the only three Black people on Forbes’ list of 400 Richest Americans

by Abu Mubarik

Forbes has released its annual Forbes 400 list, which ranks America’s richest people. The magazine featured wealthy individuals with a net worth of at least $3.3 billion, an increase of $400 million from the year before.

In all, the 400 richest people in America this year are worth a record $5.4 trillion, up nearly $1 trillion from last year.

America has around 10 Black billionaires, but only these three were able to make the cutoff grade of $3.3 billion to be included in the list.

David Steward $11.4 B (84)

By virtue of his rank on Forbes’ 400 richest people in America, David Steward is the richest black man in America. As per Forbes, he has a net worth of $11.4 billion.

The self-made billionaire started his entrepreneurial journey from a humble background and worked his way up the ladder to become successful.

He started his career in St. Louis, where he worked as a substitute teacher while applying for full-time jobs. He briefly became an associate executive for the Boy Scouts of America before joining Wagner Electric Corp. in 1974 as a production manager.

When Wagner Electric Corp. went out of business a year later, he joined Missouri

Pacific Railroad Company in 1975 and exited the firm in 1979. While with the company, he worked as a sales representative. He subsequently moved to Federal Express, where he worked for five years. Steward was so diligent and hardworking, earning him the best salesman at Federal Express. The award, he said in an interview, “was a defining moment. I asked myself, Is this what I want out of life?”

He approached his father for a $2000 loan, which he used to launch Transportation Business Specialists, which audited and reviewed freight- bills and overcharges for the rail industry. He later established a sister company that was in charge of auditing undercharges for railroad companies called Transport Administrative Service.

In 1990, he launched what would later turn out to be his most important business. He founded IT provider World Wide Technology (WWT) with a shoestring budget and with seven employees. Today, the company is one of the largest blackowned IT providers in the U.S., with more than 20 locations across the world. The company provides services for both the American government and private organizations.

Steward is also the founder of Kingdom Capital, a values-driven private investment firm with a focus on early-stage companies with technology-based health and medical solutions. What is more,

the billionaire is also the author of two books—DDoing Business by The Good Book, published in 2004, and Leadership by the Good Book, published in 2020.

Robert F. Smith – $10.8 B (88) Robert F. Smith is the second black entrepreneur to make it on the list of Forbes’ 400 richest in America with a net worth of $10.8 billion.

Smith founded the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners in 2000, which focuses exclusively on investing in software companies. The Denver native and philanthropist made headlines when he paid off the student debts of Morehouse’s graduating class in 2019. Steward occupied the 121st position on the list with a net worth of $7.6 billion.

He made headlines when he paid off the student debts of Morehouse’s graduating class in 2019.

Michael Jordan – $3.5 B (385) Seen by many as the NBA’s greatest player of all time, Jordan’s salary during his career totaled $90 million, but he has earned $2.4 billion (pre-tax) from corporate partners including Nike, Hanes and Gatorade, Forbes said.

In 2023, he sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets, valuing the NBA franchise at $3 billion. Today, he is the third richest Black person in America with a net worth of $3.5 billion.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, left, is greeted by San Francisco Mayor London Breed after an WNBA expansion franchise for the San Francisco Bay Area was announced at Chase Center in San Francisco, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. The team will begin play in the 2025 season. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Robert F. Smith

Michael Jordan

David Steward

Meet Henry Greene, Yale’s first black graduate who later became a surgeon in the American Civil War

by Prosper Kuzo, Face2FaceAfrica.com

Richard Henry Greene made history as Yale University’s first Black graduate and later served as a physician during the American Civil War.

Born in 1833 in New Haven, Connecticut, Greene was the son of Richard Green, a bookmaker living four blocks off the Yale campus, and his academic achievements and contributions to medicine during the Civil War marked him as a pioneer in 19th-century America.

Greene entered Yale in 1853, however, he studied Greek, Latin, and mathematics under Lucius Wooster Fitch, a Yale graduate and pastor’s son prior to his admission to the University, to prepare him for what lay ahead.

Greene lived in New Haven’s Black neighborhood, known as “Negro Lane,” and commuting in the early morning darkness, he fortunately saw his tardiness to the mandatory 6 a.m. prayer service excused by the faculty who happened to be strict on all campus rules.

At the time, students were penalized for lateness or absence, but he mostly found himself excused due to his personal situation, as he was not a resident on campus.

While at Yale, Greene ventured into grabbing opportunities geared towards his growth and became a member of the Brothers in Unity literary society and the Sigma Delta fraternity, which helped him

broaden his understanding of different races and cultures.

He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1857, becoming Yale’s first Black graduate as a 24-year-old.

According to a Yale Alumni Magazine, Greene then later ventured into educating and impacting young students and taught in Milford, Connecticut, and at Bennington Seminary in Vermont. In 1861, he changed the spelling of his last name from Green to Greene.

Greene’s ambition did not stop there. He further pursued his education in medicine at Dartmouth College, earning his M.D. in 1864.

Then shortly before completing his medical studies, Greene joined the U.S. Navy in November 1863, during the American Civil War.

Greene served as an assistant surgeon aboard the USS ‘State of Georgia’, where he participated in the Union blockade off the coast of North Carolina under Admiral

An Evening with Olympic Gold Medalist Alexis Holmes

John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts Southern Connecticut State University

Olympic track and field gold medalist Alexis Holmes, a native of Hamden, Conn., returns home with her medal from the Paris 2024 Olympics and sits down for a public conversation at Southern.

Moderated by Gabrielle Lucivero, Sports Reporter at NBC Connecticut

n $5 Children Under 14 SouthernCT.edu/Alexis-Holmes

then under Union occupation as such: “all the young men have gone out of the place with the Confederates and a kind of gloom hangs over the city,” he wrote, adding that Southern women, staunch supporters of secession, would avoid acknowledging Union officers.

He expressed doubts about the nation’s future unity, stating, “Words can hardly express the bitterness of the Southerners toward the North.”

In September 1864, Greene was granted military leave to marry Charlotte Caldwell. He left military service in 1865, shortly after the war ended. After the war, Greene resumed his medical practice in New York but also considered returning to teaching or entering the Christian ministry.

David Dixon Porter. After the ship was decommissioned, Greene married Charlotte Caldwell of Bennington, Vermont, and was reassigned to the USS Seneca.

While aboard the ‘Seneca’, Greene played a key role in the Union’s capture of Fort Fisher and other Confederate fortifications along North Carolina’s Cape Fear River. He also dealt with outbreaks of yellow fever and smallpox during his service.

In a letter to his wife, Greene described the somber atmosphere in Norfolk, Virginia,

His exploits were soon halted as he died in 1877 at the age of 44 in Hoosick, New York, from heart disease, a condition some have linked to the intense social discrimination and racism he faced during his life. Richard Henry Green is buried in Bennington, around the border from Hoosick. An 1897 book, Landmarks of Rensselaer County, tells the story of the doctor as a man who was “fond of the study of natural history and spent much time collecting plants and objects of interest in that department. He was a gentle, relentless and knowledgeable man, and many believe his efforts and beliefs were that of a practical Christian.”

Richard Henry Greene- original photo credits: Emerging Civil War, Yale Alumni

Black Men Get Breast Cancer Too: 3 Signs You Should Know

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

by Karen Heslop, BlackDoctor.com

While breast cancer is rare in men, it’s far from impossible. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), 1 in 100 breast cancer diagnoses in the US will be a man. Based on what doctors have seen so far in 2024, the ACS estimates that there will be almost 2,800 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed in men this year and about 530 deaths. One way to decrease the likelihood of the second number is to educate men on what to look for.

How it Affects Black Men

Statistics show that while white men are 100 times less likely to have breast cancer than white women, Black men are only 70 times less likely to have it than Black women. Additionally, Black men have a higher risk of developing all forms of breast cancer than other ethnicities. Given that most men don’t expect to have the condition, it’s common for them to be diagnosed at a late stage. However, Black men have higher death rates even when they have been diagnosed and started treatment.

3 Signs of Breast Cancer in Men

1. A Painless Lump

Different conditions can cause a lump in the breast but they’re typically painful. If you notice a lump in your breast that has no pain, then it’s more likely to be related to cancer.

2. Changes in Your Skin

When cells begin to replicate abnormally, it can affect more than your breast tissue. The skin above your breast can also start to change. You may notice that it’s thicker, darker, and scaly. Your skin might also show signs of dimpling or puckering.

3. Changes in Your Nipple

The abnormal cells can also affect your nipple. If you see it sinking in, turning inward, or changing color, it’s time to see your doctor. Some people also see discharge or bleeding from the nipple.

Common Risk Factors

Everyone is born with some amount of breast tissue. While this doesn’t increase in men, it doesn’t go away either. As with breast cancer in women, men develop the condition when there is abnormal tissue growth. It’s still not clear why the risk for breast cancer is higher in Black men than in other ethnicities but there are a few factors that may contribute.

These include having a family history of breast or ovarian cancers, a mutation in the BRCA2 gene, radiation exposure, or chronic illnesses that change hormonal balance such as gynecomastia, liver disease, and Klinefelter syndrome. Being obese and drinking heavily may also contribute to your risk.

How Breast Cancer is Treated

During your diagnosis, it will be integral for your doctor to determine which type of breast cancer you have and the stage. Depending on the results, you have several options for treatment. If there are no signs that the tumors have spread, you may be eligible for surgery to remove the

affected breast tissue. In cases where the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, the doctor can also remove those. After surgery, you may need to undergo radiation therapy to kill any of the abnormal cells that might remain.

For those who have a more invasive form of breast cancer, which has spread to other parts of the body, your doctor might recommend hormone therapy and chemotherapy. Hormone therapy can help slow the growth of cancer cells if you’re dealing with the type of breast cancer that responds to specific hormones. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, isn’t as targeted and will kill abnormal as well as healthy cells. You may still need surgery after these treatments to remove localized growths. Finally, targeted therapy uses drugs to block specific chemicals in cancer cells. It can be less destructive than chemotherapy but only your doctor can determine if it’s right for you.

Breast cancer might not be common in men but Black men are still at a distinctive risk of developing it. Worse yet, they have a higher risk of dying even if they’ve started treatment. Your best chance of survival is recognizing the symptoms and catching the disease as early as possible.

Breaking Barriers: Ovarian Cancer Study Expanded to Africa

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Cen

-

ter researchers Dr. Sophia George and Dr. Matthew Schlumbrecht are leading an ambitious study focused on ovarian cancer treatment for women of African descent. Their work, based at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, aims to address a critical gap in cancer research: the underrepresentation of Black women in clinical trials, specifically for the drug niraparib.

George, a molecular geneticist, and Schlumbrecht, a gynecologic oncologist, have expanded their research beyond the U.S. and the Caribbean to Africa. In July, they launched the study in Nigeria, giving them access to data from a population often overlooked in cancer research. According to the University of Miami, their goal is to understand how women of African ancestry metabolize drugs like niraparib, a PARP inhibitor that has transformed treatment for certain ovarian cancer patients. While niraparib has proven effective, Black women made up only 1.6% of participants in the drug’s pivotal PRIMA study. George and Schlumbrecht’s new

study is specifically designed to address this gap by enrolling women of African descent.

“We know from other drugs that how women of African ancestry metabolize drugs can differ from those of European ancestry,” Dr. Schlumbrecht explained in a news release. “The data we gain will allow us to confirm appropriate dosing, counsel patients on side effects, lobby for government coverage, and ultimately expand access to this life-saving treatment.”

The study’s significance has already drawn national attention. The White House highlighted it as part of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative, which seeks to cut the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years.

“This recognition underscores the importance of our work,” said George. “We are increasing our ability to successfully identify and treat women of all backgrounds with ovarian cancer.”

George and Schlumbrecht said they plan to enroll patients from the U.S., the Caribbean, and Nigeria over the next three years, tracking their progress through ancillary studies on tumor DNA biomarkers and patient quality of life. The researchers will also explore homologous recombination deficiency profiles to assess whether

the drug works as expected at the molecular level.

A key part of the study involves understanding the variability among Black women. “Not all Black women are the same,” Schlumbrecht noted. “By including participants from the U.S., Nigeria, and the Bahamas, we are gaining insights that will inform clinical practice globally.”

Their work in Nigeria is rooted in a long-standing collaboration with Nigerian medical professionals. Schlumbrecht has made five trips to the country, mentoring local researchers, teaching surgical techniques, and co-leading tumor boards with Nigerian oncologists. These partnerships have been instrumental in establishing the study at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria.

“The clinical trial is truly a team effort,” said Schlumbrecht. “This is an example of how we can eliminate ovarian cancer disparities when we work together across borders.”

As the study progresses, the researchers said they hope to provide critical data on drug safety and effectiveness and advance global efforts to reduce health inequities and improve outcomes for women of African descent.

Where personal breakthroughs are powered by medical ones.

At Yale New Haven Health’s Heart and Vascular Center, we’re delivering pioneering research from Yale School of Medicine to improve people’s lives every single day. Like Dr. Eric Velazquez, who spearheaded clinical research which redefined the international guidelines for treating heart failure. Together, we’re powering breakthroughs with the greatest of care.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Domestic Violence in the Black Community

By the Numbers by BlackHealthMattes.com

Black Women and Domestic Violence

Black women have the most significant risk of experiencing domestic violence.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, approximately 45% of Black women have experienced stalking and physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes. To make things even worse, according to a study published in The Lancet, Black women are also six times more likely to be killed than white women.

The National Domestic Hotline defines domestic violence as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Contrary to popular belief, domestic violence includes physical, emotional, economic, sexual, or psychological actions or threats.

Teens and Domestic Violence

Unfortunately, adolescents are not exempt from domestic violence either. Domestic violence among Black teens remains a serious issue, with alarming statistics shedding light on the severity of the problem. According to the Childhood Dometic Violence Association, Black teens experience domestic violence at twice the rate of their white peers.

Additionally, a report from UN Women revealed that almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 has experienced physical and or sexual violence from an intimate partner. This represents 24% of

teen girls globally. This further emphasizes the need to address domestic violence in our community, where the rates are even more pronounced.

Black Men and Domestic Violence

Black males also experience intimate partner violence at high rates. As reported by The Center for Sexual Assault Survivors, 40.01% of Black men have experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking from their intimate partner. Domestic Violence.

Break-Ups to Make-Ups

Although many Black women leave or at-

tempt to leave a violent relationship, many find it harder to separate themselves from a battering relationship truly. Factors such as economics and social issues can work against a person trying to escape a dangerous situation.

Economic barriers often include financial dependence on the abuser, lack of access to resources, and a fear of economic instability. Many Black women may not have the financial means to support themselves and their children independently, making it difficult to leave an abusive partner. Additionally, systemic issues such

as wage gaps and employment discrimination can further intensify these challenges for women in our community.

Social barriers can encompass cultural expectations and societal pressures that may discourage someone from leaving a relationship. Black women can face stigma and judgment for breaking up their families or not adhering to the traditional ideals surrounding relationships. Then, there are psychological barriers, such as fear of retaliation, emotional attachment to the abuser, and hope for change. Many of the women in our community may fear that leaving will result in increased violence or harm to themselves or their children. Emotional manipulation and psychological abuse can create a sense of dependency and confusion, making it even more difficult for victims to recognize the severity of their situation.

Inner and Outer Wounds

Domestic violence accounts for hundreds of thousands of emergency department visits annually, and along with outer wounds, domestic violence can be just as damaging internally. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), exposure to intimate partner violence significantly increases the risk of developing mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Signs of Abuse

Recognizing the signs of domestic violence can be the difference between life and death. According to the Mayo Clinic, some signs include:

• Extreme jealousy or possessiveness: Your partner constantly checks your cell phone or shows extreme jealousy.

• Mood swings: Your partner has unpredictable mood swings or makes false accusations.

• Isolation: Your partner isolates you from family or friends.

• Physical injuries: Unexplained bruises, cuts, or injuries.

• Control: Your partner controls your finances or personal choices.

Domestic violence can manifest in various forms, and it is essential to recognize the early warning signs. If your partner makes you feel scared, anxious, intimidated or tries to keep in constant contact with you and becomes angry if you are unresponsive, these are red flags. Emotional abuse, such as name-calling and insults, is also a common tactic used by abusers to exert control.

In a world where the voices of victims often go unheard, we must shine a light on the issue of domestic violence within our community. These statistics aren’t just numbers; they represent real lives, real pain, real struggles, and the very real possibility of lives lost to domestic violence. We must advocate for better support systems, more accessible resources, and a societal shift that no longer tolerates abuse in any form. Awareness is a significant first step, and as we continue this discussion, we hope it empowers everyone to support survivors and work towards a future where they can live without fear.

Why More Families Are Choosing Online Learning: The Rise of Virtual Pre-K

By Niyoka McCoy, Ed.D.

If you catch a glimpse of 4- and 5-yearolds in attendance of a virtual pre-k classroom, you may witness a chorus of enthusiastic voices singing “The Wheels on the Bus,” with hands energetically following the motions of their teacher. These young learners represent a rapidly growing trend of parents opting out of the traditional classroom setting in favor of online learning environments, where engaging teachers, family involvement, and interactive resources create a captivating learning experience.

While both online and traditional prek programs share similarities—such as state-certified teachers leading classes and opportunities for peer interaction—virtual learning offers unique advantages. Teachers are specially trained for online instruction and excel in “edutainment,” a high-energy, engaging teaching approach

that captures the young students’ attention through the screen. Moreover, students benefit from frequent one-to-one instruction, including dedicated sessions focused on key literacy skills such as letter recognition and learning to form specific sounds through mouth movements.

Virtual programs also strike a balance between desk time and hands-on activities away from the screen. For example, a science lesson involves a project where students and their families build birdhouses to create an ecosystem that protects birds. This activity, used as part of a K12-powered pre-k program often draws in older siblings, and families share that their children love watching the birds visit their creations, making it a true family favorite. We frequently hear that these hands-on activities bring entire families together, transforming learning into a shared experience at home.

During classroom sessions, teachers take frequent brain breaks—a strategy that incorporates interactive tools to help keep 4- and 5-year-olds focused and engaged. Take “Doggyland” for instance— this lively animated series gets kids moving through song and dance, with music that covers various educational topics like sharing, diversity, letter and number rec-

ognition, and self-confidence.

While pre-k is not mandatory in any state, studies show that children who attend a structured learning environment before kindergarten gain a significant academic advantage. Researchers point out that pre-k attendance builds founda-

tional knowledge in subjects such as math and reading, as well as fine motor skills, which enhance long-term academic performance, including higher assessment scores and stronger math abilities, providing benefits that extend into adulthood. Virtual pre-k programs offer a lifeline to

families who want their children to experience the benefits of a structured pre-k program but face barriers to traditional programs. These obstacles can include lengthy waitlists, lottery systems, high tuition and fees, or long commutes. Moreover, families must navigate challenges like potty training requirements, lack of facilities designed for small children, and crippling separation anxiety that can make the daily drop-off traumatic and upsetting for the child and parent.

No child should miss out on the benefits of pre-k due to lack of access. Virtual prek presents a modern solution to families, ensuring equitable access to a high-quality curriculum for all, regardless of location or income. The flexibility and accessibility of virtual pre-k allow all children the opportunity to thrive in a structured learning environment. I expect more families will continue to embrace virtual school options that prioritize their child’s development and growth.

Niyoka McCoy is the Chief Learning Officer at Stride. She leads the development and implementation of the company's learning strategy, curriculum, and instruction, with an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and over 16 years of experience in the education sector.

Photo Caption: Parent Learning with Child

Public Notice

NOTICE

The Manchester Housing Authority will accept pre-applications for the Federal Public Housing and State Congregate Program.

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

The MHA will accept lottery applications from elderly (62+) or disabled applicants on 9:00 am September 30th, 2024 through 2:00 pm October 4th, 2024. Interested parties may apply at: https://www.pha-web.com/portals/onlineApplication/1703 or https://manchesterha.org/ waitlist.aspx

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids Executive Firm Search

If needed, printed applications are available at 24 Bluefield Drive Manchester, CT 06040 and may be returned by mail, fax, or drop box to the same address.

Important Information

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

NOTICIA

The Housing Authority of the Town of Manchester will use a Random-Draw Lottery System to select pre-applications for placement on the waiting list. The date and time of your application will not impact the selection or placement on the waiting list. Those chosen in the lottery will be notified by mail no later than November 1, 2024. All disqualified or remaining pre-applications not selected for the lottery will be discarded with no further notice. Therefore, if you do not receive a letter by November 15, 2024, your pre-application was not drawn.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Budget Analyst Trainee (Leadership Associate (Confidential))

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking the services of an Executive Search Firm to identify qualified candidates for senior level positions. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems. com/gateway beginning on

Monday, September 23, 2024, at 3:00PM.

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO.

Invitation for BIDS

Agency Wide Plumbing Services & Preventative Maintenance

If you require reasonable accommodation regarding the application process, please notify the office and you will be advised on how to proceed with the request.

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

Listing: Dispatch Manager

Extremely fast paced petroleum company needs a full time (which includes on call and weekend coverage) detail oriented experiencedDispatch Manager. A strong logistics background and a minimum of Three years managerial experience required. Send resume to: HR Manager, P.O. Box 388, Guilford, CT. 06437. Email: HRDEPT@eastriverenergy.com

NEW HAVEN

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

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 240726&R2=5989VR&R3=001

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

WANTED TRUCK DRIVER

360 Management Group, Co. Is currently seeking bids for Agency Wide Plumbing Services & Preventative Maintenance. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from 360 Management Group’s vendor Collaboration Portal. https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, September 23, 2024, at 3:00 PM.

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO.

Invitation for Bids SNOW REMOVAL SERVICES

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Truck Driver with clean CDL license

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking bids for Snow Removal Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at 3:00PM.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company (WT), the construction manager, is currently accepting bids for ConnCAT Place on Dixwell – Phase 1A for the following bid packages: 04A – Masonry, 05B – Misc. Metals, 06A – Millwork, 07A – Roofing, 07B – Exterior Façade, 08A – Storefront, 08B – Doors, Frames, Hardware, 08C – Operable Partitions, Coiling Door, 09A – Carpentry, 09B – Flooring, 09C – Tile, 09D – Painting, 09E – Acoustical Ceilings, 10A – Bathroom Partitions, Accessories, 10B – Signage, 11A – Kitchen Equipment, 12A – Window Treatments, 21A – Fire Suppression, 22A – Plumbing, 23A – Mechanical, HVAC, TAB, Controls, 26A – Electrical, Fire Alarm, Security, 27A – Communications, AV, 32A – Landscaping, 32B – Site Improvements for the new ~70,000 SF two-story ConnCAT headquarters which will contain teaching spaces, kitchen, offices, and daycare/early childhood facility. Interested firms may obtain a bid package and instructions to bid by emailing 020822@whiting-turner.com.

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

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

Prevailing Wage | Tax-Exempt | CHRO and City of New Haven Subcontracting Requirements will apply | Section 3 HUD

Please send resume to attielordan@gmail.com PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

ELECTRIC UTILITY

SUBSTATION AND MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

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

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

Bids wills be accepted at The Lab at ConnCORP located at 496 Newhall Street, Hamden, CT 06517, no later than 10AM on 10/11/24. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. WT and the Owner reserve the right to amend this invitation to bid, reject bids, waive minor irregularities in the bid, and award the contract to the proposer that is deemed to be the best interest of the Owner, ConnCORP. WT is an EEO/AA; Disadvantaged, Small, Minority and Women Business Enterprises are encouraged to bid.

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

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

The Town of Wallingford, CT is offering an excellent career opportunity for a strong leader to supervise and manage the substation electrical operations and maintenance department of the Town’s Electric Division. Applicants should possess 5 years of progressively responsible supervisory or management experience in substation operations, plus a bachelor's degree in engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-foryear basis. Must possess or be able to obtain and maintain ESOP-100 Switching and Tagging qualifications within six months. Must possess and maintain a valid State of Connecticut Driver’s License. Annual Salary: $116,798 to $145,998, plus on-call pay when assigned. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of October 17, 2024, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/ government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

NOTICE

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate.

Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Finance Director

Salary

Range

-

$101,455 to $156,599 (expected starting pay maximum is mid-range)

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Contact: Tom Dunay Phone: 860- 243-2300

Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

Fully Benefited – 35 hours weekly Pre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our website –www.bloomfieldct.org

Portland

Police Officer

NOTICIA

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES

DISPONIBLES

Union Company seeks:

Go to www.portlandct.org for details

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com

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

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Construction

NEW HAVEN

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

242-258 Fairmont Ave

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Drug Free Workforce

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

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

WANTED TRUCK DRIVER

Truck Driver with clean CDL license

Please send resume to attielordan@gmail.com

The Housing Authority of the City of Danbury (HACD) is seeking sealed bids for the following Project: State Moderate Rental Apartments -Electrical Panel and Service Replacement. Bid Opening date is October 16, 2024 at 11:00 am at the Housing Authority of the City of Danbury, 2 Mill Ridge Road, Danbury, CT 06811. All bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. A pre-bid walk through will be held on October 2, 2024 at 10:00 am at 17-19 Mill Ridge Road, Danbury, CT. Contract documents including plans & specifications can be viewed on-line and purchased from Contract documents including plans & specifications can be viewed online and purchased from the DigiPrint’s website. Visit https://www.digiprintplanroom.com/jobs/public and select Danbury State Moderate Rental Apartments -Electrical Panel and Service Replacement beginning on September 16 , 2024. A 5% Bid Security and 100% Performance/Payment Bonds are required. Bidders will note requirements of minimum wage rates, nondiscrimination/equal opportunity rules (Executive Order 11246) and related provisions in the General Conditions. No bid shall be withdrawn for ninety (90) days. Complete bidding requirements are noted in the Contract Documents. This project is federally assisted. Therefore, bidders must comply with the following requirements: Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968; Equal Opportunity provisions of Executive Order 11246; Non-Discrimination provision of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Labor Standards provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act and related acts and Contract Work Hours Standards Act; prevailing wage determinations as issued by the Department of Labor; and all applicable provisions under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. HACD is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Section 3 businesses are encouraged to participate.

Devin Marra, Acting Executive Director

Listing: Maintenance

Immediate opening for a full-time maintenance person for ground and building maintenance. Position requires flexible work schedule. Some heavy lifting required. Must have a valid driver’s license to run errands in company vehicle. Computer knowledge a plus. Send resume to HR Department, hrdept@eastriverenergy.com, 401 Soundview Road, Guilford, CT 06437.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

****An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disabled and Veterans****

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE

Senior Sales Representative Wanted

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units)

Listing: Commercial Driver

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Advertising and the cultivation of existing and new advertising clients is key to the growth and continued success of The Inner-City News. The paper is delivered weekly to businesses, schools, shopping outlets and wherever newspapers can be found. This is a remote sales position.

Work closely with the Publisher and editor to create a successful sales strategy.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Must be a self-starter and highly motivated.

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

Potential local travel.

Full Time Class B driver for a fast-paced petroleum company for days and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email HRDept@eastriverenergy. com

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer including Disabled and Veterans*********

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

ELECTRICAL TECHNICIAN

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Senior Sales Representative Qualifications and Skills: Communicates well and has strong written and verbal communication skills.

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

Knows effective ways to market products and services and learns about new offerings quickly. Works well independently and has advanced time management and organization skills. Potential to manage sales representatives and has good leadership skills.

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

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Builds relationships with customers and coworkers and has strong interpersonal skills. An associate or bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or a related major is a plus but not required. At least [number] years of sales representative experience is preferred. Interested candidates should apply to John Thomas, JThomas@penfieldcomm.com

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

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

Performs skilled work in the repair, maintenance and calibration of all electrical and electronic equipment pertaining to the wastewater treatment plant in the Town of Wallingford. Applicants should possess a H.S. or trade school diploma and 2 years of related college education or specialized maintenance training and 4 years of experience in the repair and maintenance of electrical and electronic equipment; or a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or related field plus 1 year of experience. Must possess a valid Connecticut Driver's License. Hourly rate: $32.24 to $36.79. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of October 1, 2024, please visit: www.wallingfordct. gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

SMALL AND MINORITY SUBCONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITY–

NOTICE

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Town of Bloomfield

Salary Range:

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Columbus House, New Haven, CT SOLICITATION OF SBE/MBE SUBCONTRACTORS: Enterprise Builders, Inc. (EBI) seeks certified SBE/MBE Subcontractors and suppliers and local business enterprises to bid applicable sections of work for the following construction project: COLUMBUS HOUSE 592. Project consists of the demolition of an existing one-story building and the construction of a new three-story 29,155 sf building with 79 housing units. Subcontractor Bid Due Date and Time: 3:00 pm on Friday, October 25, 2024 via email to bids@enterbuilders.com. A Mandatory Pre-Bid Meeting for Building Demolition Contractors will be held on-site at 592 Ella T Grasso Blvd in New Haven, CT on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 10:00 am. Please confirm your attendance by emailing bids@enterbuilders.com by 5:00PM on Tuesday 10/08/2024. Starting on Friday 10/4/24, Electronic bid documents can be obtained at no charge by contacting the EBI Estimating Department at (860)466-5188 or via email at bids@enterbuilders.com. Project is Tax Exempt and Residential Prevailing Wage Rates are required. Section 3 Businesses are encouraged to apply. EBI is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Minority/Women’s Business Enterprises are encouraged to apply. This contract is subject to State Set-Aside and contract compliance requirements.

NOTICIA

$87,727 to $136,071 Deputy Finance Director/Controller Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE. For Details go to  www.bloomfieldct.org

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APARTMENTS AVAILABLE AT SPENCER VILLAGE I AND II IN MANCHESTER, CT www.demarcomc.com

Spencer Village LLC, though its Managing Agent, DeMarco Management Corporation are pleased to announce that applications are currently being accepted for the waiting list at Spencer Village I & II located at 151 Spencer Street in Manchester, CT.

Applications will be available beginning September 16, 2024 through September 30, 2024.

Eligibility for Admission: An applicant’s gross family income must be used to determine eligibility for admission. Per CGS Statute 8-115a, the admission limits for Spencer Village I & II shall be at or below 30% and not the exceed 50% of the AMI adjusted for family size. Only “elderly persons” are eligible. An “elderly person” means a person who is sixty-two years of age or older, or a person who has been certified by the Social Security Board as being totally disabled. [CGS sec. 8-113a]

Rent Determination: Residents must pay the greater amount of either the base rent or a percentage of their adjusted gross income. Current base rent is $500.00.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Listing: Technician Apprentice

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

Opening for a full time HVAC Technician Apprentice in our commercial department. Candidate must possess a technical school certificate in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, oil, propane and natural gas. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email HRDept@eastriverenergy.com

**An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer including Disabled and Veterans**

PLUMBING MECHANICS NEEDED:

LBR Mechanical Corp is seeking plumbing mechanics. Must be experienced in all aspects of plumbing/heating, construction and roughing. 3+ years experience a must. Journeyman license a plus. Drivers license required.

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

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

Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

Construction

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

All persons interested in Spencer Village I and II may request an application either in person (or through a designated individual or agency) at the local site office located at 151 Spencer Street in Manchester, CT during posted office hours.

Applications can also be requested via email at compliance@demarcomc.com or by calling 860-951-3045

Applications can also be requested utilizing the AT&T relay service by dialing 711 Applications will be accepted by mail or in person at the:

Spencer Village I & II 151 Spencer Street Manchester, CT 06040

EFAX # 860-760-6221

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Applications received before September 16th or after September 30th will not be accepted. Applicants are selected from the wait list in the order in which they were placed on the waiting list in order of random lottery Equal Housing Opportunities

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Action/Equal Opportunity

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

MAINTENANCE PERSON F/T – The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol (BHA) is seeking seeking one (1) energetic individual who has experience maintaining residential properties. Skills include, but are not limited to, grounds maintenance, general upkeep of a residential building, painting, changing locks, and other general handyman maintenance repairs. Also landscaping and snow removal.

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

Pay: $19.02-$27.18 per hour. Benefits: Health, dental, vision and life insurance, Employee assistance program, Paid time off, Retirement plan, Tuition reimbursement

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

164 Jerome Ave., Bristol, CT Monday through Friday; Overtime; Weekends as needed Education: High school or equivalent (Required) Experience: Maintenance 1 year (Required) License/Certification: Driver's License (Required)

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

Send resume and references by Sept. 18, 2024 to mrowe@bristolhousing.org.

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. SBE, MBE, W/DBE, and Section 3 businesses are encouraged to respond.

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

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

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Galasso Materials LLC, a quarry and paving contractor, has positions open for the upcoming construction season. We are seeking candidates for a variety of positions, including: Scalehouse Dispatcher/ Equipment Operators and Laborers. NO PHONE CALLS. Please email resume and cover letter to “Hiring Manager”, Galasso Materials LLC, PO Box 1776, East Granby CT 06026.

Galasso Materials is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

America’s longest-serving wrongly incarcerated prisoner says he is now a father, and reveals why he has ‘no regrets’ over rejecting plea deal decades ago

by Prosper Kuzo, Face2FaceAfrica.com

Ricky Jackson, America’s longest-serving wrongly incarcerated prisoner, has revealed he is now the father of a young daughter and is encouraging everyone facing adversity to “keep on going.”

According to a Daily Mail report, 66-year-old Jackson spent 39 years in prison for a murder he did not commit before he was exonerated back in 2014, and since his release, has been fully focused on rebuilding his life.

“I spent 39 years in anger and loneliness,” Jackson exclusively told Daily Mail ahead of National Wrongful Conviction Day.

Jackson recalled being offered a deal during his 1975 trial to plead guilty to the murder for a reduced sentence, although he had not committed the crime. He did well to decline the offer across the years, and is now a free man inspiring many others who find themselves in a similar situation. “But I have an opportunity to be better, otherwise it’s just prison all over again. I just couldn’t do it”.

“I was under so much pressure to plead guilty. (Police) beat me, woke me up at night, told me I’d burn like a pig… They said I’d get out sooner, but how could I plead guilty to what I didn’t do?”

Jackson’s refusal to take the plea even led to a death sentence and decades on death row in his time in prison, including extended periods in solitary confinement. He was only 18 years old when the incident unfolded as he was sentenced in 1975 for the murder of Cleveland businessman Harold Franks. Jackson and two other Black men, brothers Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman, were convicted based solely on the testimony of 12-year-old Eddie Vernon, who at the time, claimed to have witnessed the crime.

It was later revealed years on that police had coached Vernon on what to say just to get Jackson convicted of murder.

In 2013, Vernon then recanted his testimony, and surprisingly revealed he had been on a school bus blocks away from the scene.

His admission then led to Jackson’s exoneration and release in 2014. Jackson was awarded $2 million in compensation from the state upon his release, yet many believed he deserved more than that sum

for all the harm that was afforded him in prison for close to four decades.

For now, Jackson is focused on his young daughter, and aims to guide her to the top as he believes a fresh start always works best in these situations. “I was picking up my young daughter from school and this is my new life now.

“I would never have believed it if you’d told me back in prison.” People expected Jackson to hold a grudge against Vernon, whose false testimony led to his years

of youth being stripped of him. Instead, Jackson forgave him and emotionally embraced Vernon after his release in 2014.

“I hated Eddie Vernon for years, but there was a lot I didn’t know,” Jackson said. “The police kidnapped this kid, just like me.”

Jackson has been trying to stay abreast with the new technologies after his release, yet insisted that navigating his cell phone is one of the biggest challenges he

is currently facing.

“People would call me, and I’d keep accidentally hanging up by hitting the wrong number,” he said.

Despite the hardship he endured for many years, Jackson revealed that he is thankful for the second chance to live and make a difference, knowing what that means for any ex-convict.

He now often visits schools and prisons to share his story, hoping to inspire others who share a similar journey. “I try to tell them that despite everything you’re going through, keep going,” Jackson said. “I grew up with the same adversity as these kids, and I tell them, ‘You have to believe in your destiny.’”

Jackson’s story was chronicled in the 2022 documentary ‘Lovely Jackson’, which touched on how he “clung to the truth of innocence” for nearly 40 years.

Jason Flom, executive producer of the film who also happens to be criminal justice advocate, called Jackson’s story “an inspiration, and one that many can never imagine”, come to talk of surviving.

“He had an experience that none of us could even begin to imagine, and somehow he survived to the other side with gratitude,” Flom said.

Flom re-released ‘Lovely Jackson’ in New York this week to mark National Wrongful Conviction Day, and emphasized the ongoing issue of wrongful imprisonment in the U.S. as one that needs attention, considering how far the nation has come. “It’s shocking that it even still exists in this country,” he said.

Jackson continues to make a difference by the day. However, his focus lies on raising his young daughter to be fearless, knowing she can attain any feat she desires should she stay true to herself.

Longshoremen’s Strike Ends After Tentative Agreement Reached

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

In what appears a swift resolution to the first work stoppage in nearly half a century, the Local International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) has reportedly reached a deal to end its three-day strike, which had disrupted port operations across the East and Gulf Coasts. While specific details of the agreement remain under wraps, numerous media outlets are reporting that multiple union sources confirmed that both sides have agreed to extend the recently expired contract until January 15, allowing workers to return to their posts while the final terms are negotiated and ratified.

The ILA’s first strike since 1977 brought major shipping routes to a standstill, halting the flow of essential

goods, such as containerized imports and exports, critical to the holiday season supply chain. The 50,000 union members from ports stretching from Maine to Texas had walked off the job early Tuesday morning, citing the expiration of their six-year contract on October 1. Ships were left stranded at sea, unable to dock and unload cargo, affecting industries ranging from produce to automotive.

Labor experts have quickly clarified that the strike’s timing—just weeks ahead of the November election—was purely coincidental, dictated by the long-standing contract expiration date, not political pressures. However, the strike coincided with an already tense political landscape, adding a layer of urgency to its resolution.

While the tentative deal is a positive step forward, it still requires ratification

by the union’s rank-and-file members, a process that could alter the course of events. If the workers reject the deal, the strike may resume, a scenario not unheard of in recent labor disputes. Just last month, a similar situation unfolded when machinists at Boeing rejected a tentative deal despite union leaders’ endorsement. Business leaders and political figures alike had expressed growing concerns over the potential economic fallout had the strike continued. The work stoppage threatened the availability of key imports, from European luxury cars to food products, when inflationary pressures already weighed on the economy.

The situation remains fluid. All eyes are now on the union vote that will determine the future of this labor dispute. Should the deal be ratified, it would mark a major victory in averting a prolonged economic disruption.

Ricky Jackson- original photo credits: Daily Mail

• Cremation (Choose to be cremated at Evergreen.)

• Columbarium in the Most Beautiful Cremation Garden

• Reserve your Niche in a secure location pre-need.

• Reserve a Niche for family and friends or purchase at-need to safely place your Loved One in the Columbarium.

• Burial Lots (infant, single, two-grave, or four-grave)

• Monuments & Markers (black, gray, or pink granite)

• Flower placement (single or multiple placement)

• All orders can be placed at the Evergreen office or the website.