INNER-CITY NEWS

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Financial a KeyYes Focus 2016 NAACP Convention Murphy:Justice I’ll Vote OnatSome Trump Picks New Haven, Bridgeport

INNER-CITYNEWS 2213 Volume 21 No. 2194

Dorothy Height Honored

“DMC” Marcus Paca joined the crowd. Paca

said he has “great respect” for Casanova and Campbell and “is deeply troubled by the divisive politics and tactics that emanate from City Hall.”

Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

Fences

Denzel and Viola Co-Star in Adaptation Color Struck?

Snow in July?

of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play

Soup Kitchen Get FOLLOW A Handel On

US ON 1

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

Common Ground Receives EPA Support

by STAFF

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

The following was sent by Joel Tolman, Teaching Our Cities project director and director of impact and engagement at Common Ground High School.

“Fueled by a $75,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, New Haven’s Common Ground High School has launched Teaching Our Cities a new project that will help urban public high schools grow a new, diverse generation of community and environmental leaders. Today, Common Ground announced five other public high schools from across the Northeast United States who will join in a year-long effort to share best practices and improve their schools: At Boston Green Academy, every student is challenged to pass a series of “Green Milestones” on their way to high school graduation for instance, giving Green Talks to schools and adults on a community environmental issue about which they care deeply.

The campus of Connecticut River Academy is true to its name: located in Hartford on the banks for the Connecticut River, the

school immerses students in water quality testing, river cleanups, and environmental justice questions related to urban waters.

Visiting the Greene School in Rhode Island, you see more trees than people but nearly half of the school’s students live in cities, so the school is creating learning expeditions out into these cities.

Seniors, for instance, collect data on the abundance of amenities and burdens in industrial areas, and write reports about the environmental and social impacts of industry on urban communities.

Located in a in repurposed historic

19th century hotel in downtown Ithaca, New York, New Roots Charter School is part of the fabric of that small city. Inspired by the ecological restoration traditions of the native Haudenosaunee people, students and staff from New Roots are replanting native species at Cayuga Lake to the north of their campus.

At Two Rivers Magnet School in Hartford, students in Environmental Law explore environmental justice and advocacy including a case study of the former Colt industrial complex, nearby their campus.

Late last month, students, teachers,

and educators from these six schools all of which teach city students, and all of which take the environment, sustainability, and social justice as their organizing focus gathered at Common Ground for the first of six face-to-face workshops between now and next October.

Over the next year, Common Ground and the other Teaching Our Cities schools will create videos, write blog posts, and publish toolkits that will help other urban public high schools learn from their experiences. These tools and resources will be published at www.teachcity.org, a new web site that launched this week.

Just as they share common practices, these schools also face common challenges. How do these schools build beyond-the-school learning and leadership experiences into every student’s experience?

How does “teaching our cities” look different in 9th grade than it does senior year? How do they build the capacity of teachers who don’t live in these cities to engage the students who call them home?

Each partner school has identified their biggest challenge for the coming year, and will work with

the other Teaching Our Cities schools to find solutions.

To support this documentation and capacity work, each partner school will receive a mini-grant of just less than $5,000, thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency’s support of Common Ground and Teaching Our Cities.

“This organization is doing just the kind of work that is so important for the future of New England’s environment,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “Projects that introduce youth, educators and communities to the problems and the possibilities of environmental protection and climate adaptation are bound to help us build a stronger, healthier world.”

Teaching Our Cities is funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement number 00A00115 to Common Ground High School.

However, it may not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency and no official endorsement should be inferred.”

new opportunity at Dartmouth for her and her family.”

“In the last decade, the Festival has not only succeeded in bringing the world to New Haven. We put New Haven and this Festival on the world stage. While expanding the Festival’s global visibility, we have deepened our commitment to our city and state in a way that not only assures access to great art but has advanced communities and offered real opportunities for training, networking, jobs and performance,” said Aleskie. “I am so proud of the work we have accomplished and look forward to watching it flourish well into the future.”

A search committee will be appointed in January and will oversee the hiring of an international search firm to support its efforts. In the interim, the Festival will be co-directed by the Festival’s Managing Director Liz

Fisher, Director of Development Tom Griggs, and Director of Programming Chad Herzog.

On behalf of the entire Board, we are fortunate to have Liz, Tom, and Chad on our team to lead our very capable and accomplished staff. We’ve got an astonishing 2017 Festival in store and I can’t wait to share the lineup with the community in March!

Under Aleskie’s tenure, the festival has expanded its offerings in instrumental music, dance, theater, culinary arts and multimedia collaborations while also aiming to open the event more effectively to the New Haven community with its pop-up festivals in Dixwell, The Hill and Fair Haven and community forums, often led by the young people in New Haven.

To read the Independent’s coverage of past festivals,

Aleskie Departing Arts & Ideas

by STAFF

After 11 years running the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Director Mary Lou Aleskie will step down in the spring. An international search for a new executive director will begin in January 2017. Following is the text of an announcement released by the festival: Gordon Geballe, board chair of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, announced that Aleskie, who has served in that post since 2005, will depart the festival in the coming months to become the Howard L. Gilman ‘44 director of the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College.

“Mary Lou Aleskie’s remarkable tenure at Arts & Ideas has been distinguished by her tremendous leadership of the Festival staff and board, phenomenal collaboration with artists from around the world,

PAUL BASS PHOTO Aleskie with WNPR’s John Dankosky and Catie Talarski and A&I’s Alex Ripp at last year’s lineup announcement.

and perhaps most importantly fierce advocacy for New Haven as a world-class destination for arts lovers locally, nationally, and

internationally,” Geballe noted.

“While we are sad to see Mary Lou go, we are proud of her many successes here and celebrate this

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

Hoop Shooters Advance

On Dec. 3, Lodge 25, the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, New Haven, hosted the Elks National Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest at the Farnam House. The Elks Hoop Shoot is a free throw contest for youth ages 8 to 13. The local New Haven Elks winning contestants have an opportunity to advance through to the District Hoop Shoot Contest held on Jan. 8, 2017. at Derby High School. District winners may then proceed on to state, Rregional and national-level competitions (at the 2017 Hoop Shoot National Finals, Chicago, April 20-23).

Boys – Ages 10-11

1st Place = Jaysir Troutman, Sheriden Middle School 2nd Place = Nichalos Boughton, Ridge Hill School 3rd Place = Jamere White, Savin Rock School

Boys – Ages 12-13

1st Place = Caleb Harris, Davis St. School 2nd Place = Lajeair Osumah, Davis St. School 3rd Place = Malacki Lewis, Wintergreen Magnet School Share this story with others.

Music Haven Rings In Holidays

by LUCY GELLMAN NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

As a student clutching a dollsized viola ambled up three steps to the Fair Haven School Stage, a hush fell on the auditorium.

Students, smiling in their pressed white shirts and miniature stringed instruments, snapped to attention.

About 60 pairs of eyes followed Gregory Tompkins as he lifted his hands to his violin, bobbing just slightly, and nodded on cue.

Then, the familiar specter of Johann Pachelbel was in the space, craning his neck, applauding a right note here, an improved positioning of an instrument there.

Seasoned fans of his, like Noel Mitchell and Denasha Upchurch, took note, straightening up a little more. The holiday season could finally begin.

With a rousing Pachelbel Canon in D, Music Haven’s students (and a few community members playing backup) brought 2016 to a celebratory close Friday night at the Fair Haven School, where they played their final concert of the year to an audience of around 150 excited parents, teachers, and friends. Now in its 10th year, the organization offers tuitionfree music lessons to students in New Haven’s promise zone neighborhoods, exhorting youth empowerment through music education.

Leaving audience members exactly as verklempt as it was intended to, the performance was a testament to the organization’s growth as it takes on new instruments, continues its “Music 101” classes, and brings in more

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LUCY GELLMAN PHOTO

Students in Benn’s “Music 101” class.

students.

“The students are just so dedicated,” said board member Marc Mann after the concert.

“And you see it.”

His words sprang to life with the first squeaky note of the night and lasted throughout the evening, as several delicate string-andwood instruments were picked up, caressed, and cared for in pair after pair of young hands. With David Stone’s String Quartet No. I, Moderato, the quintet Bowdacious (Jordan Brown, violin; Cris Zunun, violin; Vashti Burkett, viola; Robert Davis, viola; Z’Kiiya Crawford, cello), a relatively recent addition to audience favorite Phat Orangez, transported listeners from New Haven’s bone-crackling cold to the lush English countryside, glass-eyed dairy cows and busy, wool-wrapped residents going about their business as a mild, slightly melancholy wind rolled through town.

But signs of steadfast commitment

had started long before that.

During the “Rest Position Song,” some of Music Haven’s youngest members had narrowed their eyes and straightened their backs in deep concentration, singing in tune as they lifted their violins to the hops of their heads, and rotated them carefully in the air. When Colin Benn’s massive “Music 101” students took center stage for a holiday medley of “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel,” “Good King Wenceslas” and “Jingle Bells,” students dug their heels into the stage, and then remembered to smile as they leaned in and gave themselves over to the music, feeling a sure, percussive beat from the drums beneath their feet.

A fleet of cellos delighted with a traditional French folk song.

Before and after they played, students and parents alike also tried to spread Music Haven’s mission with a new feature of the concert: a coat and winter clothes drive for refugees in need.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

Casanova’s Supporters Swing Back

by PAUL BASS

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

A day after black clergy and cops attacked Assistant Police Chief Luiz Casanova for his treatment of a black officer, Casanova’s supporters rallied in his defense and decried a “smear campaign” “rigged” to prevent him from becoming the chief.

The rally in front of the Cinque memorial outside City Hall drew some 75 immigration-rights activists, civil rights activists, current and retired Latino cops, and Fair Haveners who recalled working well with Casanova since his days as their neighborhood’s district manager.

It was the latest instance of how a minor episode involving Casanova has mushroomed into a political brawl that people fear could threaten relationships between Latinos and African-Americas both within the police department and in the community at large.

Speakers at the rally decried a press conference held Tuesday by black leaders who called on Mayor Toni Harp to cease the search process for a new chief and name Interim Chief Anthony Campbell the permanent chief. They made the call in light of Casanova’s berating a black officer as a “fucking mope” and initially denying him union representation at a conversation about it. (Harp refused the group’s call, saying the process will continue as planned.)

Campbell suspended Casanova for one day for “conduct unbecoming an officer” in the incident.

Casanova is Hispanic, Campbell, African-American.

Both are seeking to become the permanent chief of the department.

At Wednesday’s rally, State Rep. Juan Candelaria questioned “the motives” behind Casanova’s suspension.

“Yes, he used a poor choice of words,” Candelaria remarked.

“But should he be crucified?”

He said the black clergy’s and cops’ call for Campbell to be made chief “revealed” a larger motive in the incident: to assassinate Casanova’s character in order to put him out of the running for chief. He called Campbell and Casanova “two great candidates. Let’s let the process be a transparent process.”

He added that he believes Campbell should have recused himself from investigating Casanova’s conduct since both are rivals for the chief’s job.

“Let us not allow ourselves to be pitted against each other,” remarked retired principal and Board of Education member Alicia Caraballo, who said

Former Harp administration officials Mendi Blue and Marcus Paca joined the crowd. Paca said he has “great respect” for Casanova and Campbell and “is deeply troubled by the divisive politics and tactics that emanate from City Hall.”

Former Harp administration officials Mendi Blue and Marcus Paca joined the crowd.

Paca said he has “great respect” for Casanova and Campbell and “is deeply troubled by the divisive politics and tactics that emanate from City Hall.”

PAUL BASS PHOTO SNABLEO’s Wilson, Silver Shields President Roach, Kimber, Pastor Donald Morris at Tuesday’s press conference.

she fears that a “smear campaign” against Casanova could divide blacks and Latinos. She told Casanova — who did not attend the rally— “You are loved and supported.”

Attorney and activist Michael Jefferson echoed the racial unity theme. Without naming the Rev.

Boise Kimber, who organized and headlined the Tuesday antiCasanova event, Jefferson responded to Kimber’s remarks. “You are entitled to support whoever you want for chief. You are not entitled to ruin a man’s reputation,” Jefferson said. “There are dark forces aligned

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against both communities [black and brown]. They couldn’t have planned this thing better to divide us. We don’t have time for these petty disputes.”

“I don’t care what color the next chief is, as long as he or she is a good chief of police,” Jefferson continued.

“I’m tired of racial politics.”Antipolice-brutality activist Barbara Fair compared Casanova’s suspension over an injudicious remark to the failure of the department to discipline most cops who allegedly commit violence against citizens.

She brandished a list distributed by the Board of Police Commissioners of the eight most recent citizen complaints investigated by the department, including one in which her daughter alleges that an officer dragged her form her car and mistreated her. The department exonerated all but one of the accused officers in those cases, including the one involving her daughter.

After the rally, immigrant-rights activist John Lugo led some of the demonstrators up to the mayor’s office to demand a meeting with Harp. Harp wasn’t in the office.

Her aide, Andrea Scott, gave them an appointment for next Thursday at 2 p.m. Meaning discussion of this matter will continue.

Casanova Controversy Heats Up Black cops and clergy Tuesday criticized an assistant chief for dubbing an officer a “fucking mope” and called on the mayor immediately to name a rival the permanent police chief — a call the mayor then rejected.

That was the latest fallout from a recent incident in which Assistant Chief Luiz Casanova allegedly

twice called a beat officer a “fucking mope” for the manner in which he wore his department-issued knit cap outside a Hill neighborhood substation, then initially denied his request for union representation at a follow-up meeting about it.

Interim Police Chief Anthony Campbell Monday suspended Casanova for one day over the incident, on charges of “conduct unbecoming an officer.” Casanova’s lawyer, Norm Pattis, blasted the suspension and said they’re considering legal action over it.

On Tuesday, Casanova made his first public remarks since the suspension, on WNHH radio’s “Kica’s Corner” program, hosted by Kica Matos, who has organized a support rally for him planned to take place outside City Hall Wednesday at 12:30 p.m.

Matos began the program by calling Campbell’s decision to suspend Casanova a “bizarre overreaction” and a “horrible scandal.” Casanova refrained from directly addressing the incident, speaking instead about his philosophy of community policing and his 20-year career on the New Haven force. He said “real community policing” involves “building trust ... and relationships” and “really listening to the community,” treating the community with “respect and dignity.”

“We need to listen to each other. We need to respect each other,” Casanova said. He said that if he becomes the next chief he would focus on “getting back to real community policing” and “refining it”: It’s not enough to have events with “cops giving ice cream to kids on the beat. That’s great. ... Let’s keep our young people out of prison by providing diversionary alternatives.”

And he would include “all city departments in community policing.”

Two hours before that radio appearance, a group of black clergy and leaders of two AfricanAmerican police organizations the Silver Shields and the Guardians held a press conference on City Hall’s second floor to criticize Casanova’s behavior toward the beat cop. The officer Casanova chewed out is black. Casanova is Hispanic.

Some African-American officers have described “mope” as a racially charged epithet. But at the press conference, the Rev. Boise Kimber, who organized it, said critics weren’t repeating that claim. Instead, he and others criticized Casanova for

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

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Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs

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

_______________________

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Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org

By Samuel T. Ross-Lee While a soldier in the United States Army, I was reminded more than once, that we served to defend democracy, not to practice it. A particularly influential Chaplain, unbeknownst to him, almost influenced me to return to the Army as a Chaplain after Divinity School. The thing that stopped me from taking or even giving serious consideration to this path was my learning that Army Chaplains were prohibited, like everyone else in the military, from criticizing the government, the president, or other elected officials.

In this way, military chaplains are more military than they are proclaimers of their faith, I thought then and still do now. I could not abide a position in my chosen profession that effectively muted me on important issues concerning our national politics and politicians.

Well, everyone knows that there are politics in public school

systems all across America. What is not clear, however, is who gets to participate. The Chicago Tribune reported that a popular principal for the city’s school system was fired when he publically disagreed with the oft-combative mayor there, Rham Emanuel. Where do they do that? Apparently everywhere.

In too many municipalities and counties in America, public employees work under the threat of losing their jobs if they dare exercise their First Amendment rights. In the end, this means that some of our fellow-citizens who are closest to the challenges facings our schools and school systems are silenced out of some anachronistic loyalty that the teachers are expected to embrace for their elected bosses and under the threat of unemployment.

If teacher loyalty is stronger for a potentially job snatching mayor than it is for the student, vulnerable students will always get the short end of the stick and the worst possible outcome from the system.

Over the last few months, New Haven’s Board of Education has been in talks about bringing more African-American teachers to the city. The plan, as I understand it, is to go “down South” to certain Historically Black Colleges and

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Universities (HBCUs), those that have Teacher Certification Programs, to recruit graduates.

This is not the first time New Haven has used this approach to secure African-American teachers for a growing African-American student population. In fact, among the Black factory workers that already resided in this city, New Haven’s middle class was created by the school system with an influx of Black teachers from the South.

The stated reason for bringing African-American teachers from the teacher producing HBCUs is to provide African-American students with teachers with whom they can “identify”, thus increasing the students’ chances of progressing and succeeding in school. It is believed by some, in fact, by many, that students do better in school if the teachers and students are of a shared culturally and racial background. The strategy seems like a good one to pursue.

My concern in all of this is not what will happen to the students in the strategy, but what will happen to the teachers.

I was informed some years ago, by an insightful educator here, that the first time New Haven employed this strategy there were restrictions

placed on the Northbound teachers from the South, that significantly limited their political involvement to the point that they were virtually prohibited from speaking out on issues that concerned them here in New Haven. Under the threats of demotion (lack of promotion) and social rejection both within and without the school system, teachers were effectively stripped of their First Amendment rights.

The dust-up between Mayor John DeStefeno, Jr and Principal Kermit Carolina, then the principal of Hillhouse High School, seemed to be a remnant of that system of “stay in your place” politics, when Carolina accused the Mayor of a subtle and surreptitious attack on him for not supporting the Mayor in one of his many re-election bids. A note from the Mayor to the Principal simply stating “you were not there” sparked in Carolina what seemed to be a threat for his perceived lack of support of the political system that had made him a principal with a six-figure salary. While allegations of test altering and such were leveled against Carolina, the note from the Mayor and Carolina’s response to it caught my attention the most.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

Murphy: I’ll Vote Yes On Some Trump Picks

by THOMAS BREEN

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy lifted two fingers to count out the tests he’ll be using when Congress is asked to vote on each of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.

“Number one, you can’t be a radical,” he said. “Number two, you should have some level of experience in the field in which you’re going to be leading.”

Then Murphy gave a New Haven audience a head’s up: “I know that I’m going to vote for some of his nominees who I disagree with, because I think the president has the right to put people around him who are going to carry out government according to his wishes. But there is a line, and already many of these nominees have crossed that line.”

The strict definition of that line, and which nominees may have crossed it and which are merely toeing it, were a few of the subjects at the center of an hour-and-45-minute town hall dedicated to U.S. foreign policy that Murphy hosted Monday night at the John C. Daniels School of International Communication l on Congress Avenue.

Around 200 people from New Haven, West Haven, and a wide swath of southeastern Connecticut filled the school’s auditorium to ask, praise, and grill the state’s junior

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Murphy at Monday night’s town hall at Daniels School.

senator about issues ranging from the next administration’s relationship to Russia to the international consequences of domestic division to the ever-escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria.

Murphy, a Wethersfield native, was first elected to Congress in 2006 as a vocal critic of the Iraq War and who has subsequently made a name for himself as a rising star of the progressive left wing of the Democratic Party. Monday night he took question after question after question from the audience.

With each answer, he reinforced his

conviction that sound U.S. foreign policy rests first and foremost on the credibility of American democracy, both in the functioning of its political institutions as well as in the discourse that defines its political culture.

When asked to comment on the two men President-Elect Donald Trump may nominate to lead the State Department, Murphy began to tease out just whom he may disqualify as a radical, what kind of behavior may threaten American credibility abroad, and what kinds of promises may help win his grudging vote.

“I don’t believe that John Bolton, who expressed enthusiastic support for bombing Iran during the negotiations over their nuclear program, could ever get confirmed by the U.S. Senate,” Murphy said, referring to the hawkish former UN ambassador who is under consideration to become the next deputy secretary of state.

“Rand Paul is committed to opposing his nomination, and I think other Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would consider rejecting Bolton as well. I hope that President-Elect Trump reads this situation the same way that I do, and that he nominates someone else.”

The Tillerson Red Line Turning next to the prospective secretary of state, Murphy reflected on the dubious rationale of appointing the CEO of Exxon Mobil to be the

country’s next chief diplomat.

“Rex Tillerson may not be a radical,” he said, “but the idea of putting someone in charge of the State Department who has had the chance several times throughout his career to choose country over company and who did not, is deeply troubling to me.”

Murphy said senators from both sides of the aisle will press Tillerson to vow to protect against what he sees as one of the biggest harbingers of geopolitical conflict today: Vladimir Putin’s aggressive push to carve out an expanding, unfettered sphere of Russian influence in Eastern Europe and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.

“My friends Lindsay Graham and John McCain have previewed that the only way that they’re going to support Tillerson is if he makes some commitments on the question of preserving Russian sanctions,” he said, responding to Connecticut Ukrainian activist Myron Melnyk’s question about whether the Exxon Mobil chief’s commercial interests in drilling for Black Sea oil reserves could lead to a premature thaw in U.S.-Russian relations.

“So maybe Tillerson’s going to have to make those commitments to get the job. Either way, there’s definitely going to be a bipartisan effort in Congress to explore how to preserve these sanctions if the next administration does not firmly

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commit to them.”

The Hippocratic Oath While many of the 30-plus questions that the senator answered over the course of the evening touched on what to expect from President-Elect Trump’s approach to foreign policy, just as many turned to the current human rights catastrophe in Syria, where last week’s evacuation and bombardment of Aleppo by the Syrian government (as backed by Russia) has re-focused the world’s eyes on a five-year civil war that has seen over 450,000 killed and nearly 10 million displaced.

Murphy called for a greater commitment from the U.S. in providing humanitarian relief to Syria’s besieged and displaced. But he doubled down on a message that first swept him into political office a decade ago: that deeper American military involvement in the Middle East has been, and will continue to be, a grave mistake.

“I understand that restraint is unnatural, that it feels awful in the face of evil,” he said. “But the Hippocratic Oath has to apply to U.S. foreign policy: First, do no harm. We have no idea how to politically manage the Middle East.

We are miserable at it. And we have been inept at using military force to deliver political salvation to the people there. To compound the mistake of Iraq by making a similar mistake in Syria would be an abdication of the responsibility of those of us who claim to learn from history.” iRefugees The history that Murphy did wish to repeat instead looks a bit closer to home, not at military action but at an American culture that aspires to welcome the most vulnerable in their escape from state violence.

After an Amity high school student asked the senator how she and her teenage classmates could best support those fleeing Syria, the senator reached in his pocket for his iPhone.

“Do you know who Steve Jobs’s father was?” he asked the crowd, holding his phone aloft and referencing the founder of Apple.

“He was a Syrian refugee. We wouldn’t be carrying these things around if it wasn’t for the history of Syrian refugees in this country.

“So please, tell the story of the refugees that are here, of the refugees that have come here in the past, and make people understand that these people are not terrorists. They’re just regular people.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

Con’t from page 4

Casanova’s Supporters

speaking disrespectfully to the officer, in a manner Casanova himself and other supervisors tell their cops to avoid. They characterized “fucking mope” ( without using the first word in phrase) as demeaning language. “[I]n law enforcement circles the connotation is of an uneducated, unsavory individual who does more to detract from than to contribute to the good of society,” Kimber stated. “Used with this meaning, the word is derogatory, belittling and thoroughly dehumanizing to anyone whom it is used to describe. It is for this reason that recent recruit classes at the new Haven Police Academy, which falls under Assistant Chief Casanova’s authority, have been admonished to refrain from using the term under any circumstances.”

Still, there was an undeniable racial aspect to the event: The speakers called for Harp to suspend the current search process for a new police chief and make interim Police Chief Anthony Campbell’s position permanent. Campbell is African-American.

Meanwhile, Latino leaders have been organizing meetings recently to call for more appointments of Hispanics to city government leadership posts. They planned a Tuesday afternoon press conference, in part to respond to remarks Kimber made recently on WNHH radio about immigration.

Speakers at the press conference depicted Casanova’s remarks as unbecoming a department leader — and Campbell’s “swift action” in disciplining him evidence of his fitness to lead.

“He has earned the respect of those he served and those who serve with him,” Charles Wilson, president of the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers (NABLEO), said of Campbell.

Several speakers also criticized attorney Pattis for calling Mayor Harp a “mope” in a blog post about the Casanova incident.

Then the clergy and cops swept into the mayor’s conference room to meet with Harp about their demand.

Meanwhile, Pattis happened to be on a sidewalk across from City Hall.

Told of the criticism over his calling Harp a “mope,” Pattis responded: “They must have gotten dumber when they got together to plan those remarks. What I really should say is, ‘Thanks for reading, guys.’”

He said the clergy’s call for Campbell’s immediate appointment “explains it all. They’ve isolated Casanova.

Now give us what we want,” i.e.

Campbell’s permanent appointment.

New Plan Boosts Minority Contractors

by ALLAN APPEL

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

On the first day of school an African-American boy looks about his spanking new classroom, at the shining, newly painted walls, at the neatly sheet-rocked ceiling, and says, “My daddy built this.”

Then the Latino girl next to him replies, “Yes, and my daddy did all the electrical work.”

That vision of opening day at the city’s next new public school — of the kids of black and Latino contractors taking pride in the work their parents’ small companies did in its construction — emerged at an optimistic gathering of about 100 city officials and hopeful contractors at the New Haven Opportunity Center at 316 Dixwell Ave. Tuesday night.

The event’s location a satellite “one-stop-shopping” City Hall launched this year by the Harp Administration house city’s New Haven Small Business Academy.

The event was the launch of a minority business outreach initiative.

The event’s aim: to significantly increase the number of local, minority small contractors who will be ready to bid on the $30 million new home for the Strong School, to be built on Southern Connecticut State University’s campus, when bidding begins next summer or early fall.

The city’s 15-year-old Small Contractor Development (SCD) program has made strides in getting minority and women-contractor firms schooled in required OSHA training for bidding on such jobs, as well as the challenges of providing bonds for construction, finance, and how to participate in the bidding process.Tuesday night’s initiative is taking outreach “to a new level,” said Shafiq Abdussabur, the co-founder of a construction and construction management company called Eco Urban Pioneers. Abdussabur (who’s also a cop) teamed his firm up with Giordano Construction Company to win the bid to do the pre-construction and design as well as the construction management of the Strong School project.

So they’ll be hiring. Tuesday night they pledged to reach out to minority subcontractors contractors with a dozen workshops in the run-up to the bidding for small contractors

Carpenter Perkins signs up at Tuesday’s launch.

Abdussabur addresses the group, with Vince Giordano, SCD’s Lil Snyder, Giordano manager Chris Malerbe, and Gilbane Construction’s Robert Lynn behind.

like Jerome Perkins’ carpentry and sheet-rocking company.

The aim is to initiate and maintain communication with people like Jerome Perkins, who has a carpentry and sheet-rocking company and help him get registered with the SCD; to help him gain access to financing; to prepare for the bidding, and to navigate the permit-bondinginsurance process, which is often the most difficult part for small operators.

By law a school construction project in New Haven must spend a minimum of 10 percent of its budget for the work of SCDs, which are usually minority contractors.

Giordano Construction has overseen work on about nine New Haven Schools. On the most recently completed project, the Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Childhood

7

School, the SCDs exceeded 18.9 percent, said Vince Giordano.

“Our hope is to exceed that,” added Giordano Construction Manager Chris Malerba.

A key to achieving that will be keeping interested contractors like Perkins constantly in the loop step by step. “We’ll be communicating all the way to bid time,” said Giordano.

Other presenters Tuesday night included the Greater New Haven Business and Professional Association, a minority-business advocacy group, which committed to offering a rolling OSHA training class. With certification from that class, no worker can set foot on a construction site.

Among the warmest applause offered by the audience was to the remarks of Amar Shah of RCN Capital. He said his South Windsor-

based company has developed a product to help small contractors deal with their cash flow.

“You submit to us an invoice, and we pay you within 48 hours so you can pay your vendors, and we [then] get paid by the city. We provide immediate financing, so a contractor can pay his vendors,” he explained.

That was music to the ears of Jerome Perkins, whose 14-year-old small construction has never done work with the city because of all the bureaucratic hassle.

“They broke two red tapes,” he said, reviewing the meeting after it concluded. He pointed to the help that a group like Shah’s could offer so he can make payroll to workers like his friend Deon Harris.

“He’s got lots of kids to feed. I can’t wait 90 days to pay him,” Perkins said of Harris as he gave his info to Giordano’s Strong School project manager, Meghan Carbone.

The other facet of the night’s offering that particularly appealed is what Abdussabur and other speakers referred to as the “contractors’ showcase.” That means they would help minority small contractors team up to bid jointly to obtain larger pieces of the work.

Perkins said he used to be registered with the SCD but had let that registration lapse. Carbone said she and Giordano were going to use the phone and email blasts to keep people up to speed with the scopes of work to be bid on.

She said she will help with the documentation required to become a registered SCD member. The SCD takes care of the bond for projects up to $100,000, she reminded him.

Perkins said he already handles projects for $100,000 in required bonding. How about providing that for $250,000? he countered.

Maybe $500,000?

Carbone said she’d take the idea under advisement.

Perkin said he plans to come to the “capacity-building” workshops to be organized by Eco Pioneers/ Giordano Construction on the first Tuesday of every month. The first two, dealing with business assessment and preparing for the pre-bid, respectively, are scheduled for Jan. 3 and Feb. 7.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

Orchestra And Soup Kitchen Get A Handel On Hunger

by LUCY GELLMAN NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

Behold, I tell you a mystery, sang out bass Bryan Murray Thursday night to a packed Woolsey Hall, the wide O of his mouth quivering as William Boughton parted the air before his face with two sure, outstretched hands. We shall all be chang’d in a moment.

In the hall’s lobby, Karen Comstock and David O’Sullivan were planning the lineup for Friday’s first and second meals of the day at New Haven’s Community Soup Kitchen, which would start with Comstock rising around 5 a.m. for prep and end after over 100 bellies had been filled. Every so often, music wafted into the space, and the two smiled.

Boughton is the conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO). Comstock and O’Sullivan, aided by a small army of volunteers, run the Community Soup Kitchen (CSK) on Broadway Avenue.

Thursday night, the two groups found themselves in concert with each other, part of a holiday tradition in which a portion of the proceeds from the NHSO’s annual winter concert and “symphony supper” goes directly to the soup kitchen. Braving the cold, a couple hundred turned out for the concert.

As of Friday morning, NHSO Marketing Director Katie Bonner Russo estimated that the NHSO

LUCY GELLMAN PHOTO

Comstock, selling cookies for the soup kitchen at Woolsey Hall.

McNeil

had helped raised “a little over $1,000 through the Symphony Supper” and another $750 on

cider and cookie sales at the concert, bringing a rough total close to $2,000. That excluded

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direct donations made to the CSK, the numbers for which are still pending.

“Some people go to church on Sunday, but I’m trying to live my faith,” said O’Sullivan, who has overseen the CSK for 30 years and brought on Comstock after suffering a stroke last summer.

“There’s a practice side to that.

Some people are just do-gooders; I’m trying to do more than that.”

His view is, in many ways, strikingly similar to the Messiah’s original intent. Written by George Frideric Handel in 1741 and first performed in 1742 (and then workshopped for picky London audiences until 1749), the full Messiah has a certain bent toward clarity, disseminating to audiences the life of Jesus Christ in hours of song that are more potent for their staying power than their musical ostentation. Between 1741 and 1749, Handel shrunk the orchestra and focused on having a small, powerful choir and soloists, a form that the NHSO and Christ Church choir stuck to Thursday night. In working with the soup kitchen, New Haven’s concert also adhered to another long tradition: during Handel’s lifetime, the Messiah performance functioned as an annual benefit for London’s Founding Hospital.

Just days before at the soup kitchen, Comstock and O’Sullivan went through the near-symphonic production of preparing for

the lunch rush. Industrial pots of meat sauce were put on to simmer, budgets balanced, cookies for Thursday night baked, and the dining hall cleaned and ready to await the day’s lunch crowd. A sort of choir filled the drafty room, warming it with a cacophony of grateful voices, quickly uttered pleases and thank yous and now I have something to eat, amid the clink of cutlery on lunch trays. Around them, an orchestra of volunteers snapped into acton, heaping peas, yellow squash, beef-dressed macaroni, and donated dinner rolls onto tray after tray with synchronized precision.

In that choir and orchestra, faithful members sound like Mary McNeil, a longtime volunteer who sees serving at the soup kitchen — which she has almost every day for six years — as a way to give back to the community in which she was raised.

“I love people and I love my faith,” she said, handing out peach yogurt and napkins at the end of a long table. “So many of these people — you don’t know where they slept last night, or where they’re going to get their next meal. To give them a hot meal, and say ‘have a nice day,’ it’s small, but you don’t know what you’re doing for these folks.”

Johnny Nelson has been coming to the Community Soup Kitchen for lunch each day for 20 years.

After growing up in the Hill neighborhood of New Haven, Nelson fell on hard times. He found himself hungry, and not always with a job, and got “mixed up with some bad stuff.” When a friend suggested the CSK for a dependable warm meal, he was wary of the stigma that would follow him inside. And then he saw a friend of his mother’s serving food, and felt welcome there.

“People need to eat, and there’s always somewhere to [go] because of this place,” said Nelson Tuesday, his eyes darting around the room to eating, chatting attendees who had come for the lunch rush. “This is my lunch every day. I’m really blessed.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

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Rally Affirms Sanctuary City Status THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

by MARKESHIA RICKS NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

The city’s Latino community and leaders joined the mayor to reaffirm their commitment to maintain the Elm City’s sanctuary status and call on New Haveners of all stripes to stand together and not give in to divisive rhetoric.

Nearly 100 people packed out the upper atrium of City Hall Tuesday mainly in a show of support for the city’s undocumented immigrant community, and to push back against comments made by a prominent pastor and activist about immigration policy and his perception that harboring undocumented immigrants hurts the African-American community.

The pastor, Rev. Boise Kimber, explained his views, which deviate from New Haven’s popular views on immigration policy, during a recent appearance on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program.

His position deviates from the sanctuary city position embraced by immigration-reform activists as well as members of the Board of Alders and Mayor Toni Harp.

Harp declared at Tuesday’s press conference that as long

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Rev.

Otero, right, gave impassioned remarks.

as she is mayor, New Haven will remain a sanctuary city, embracing immigrants regardless of their documentation status. She called the immigrant community one of the city’s “enduring and endearing features.” “We will protect one another,” she said.

“It seems very clear to me that immigration is the purview of the federal government so it falls that immigration enforcement is

the responsibility of the federal government,” she said. “Beyond that, state and local officials can decide how much they want to cooperate with the federal government. In New Haven we choose not to. There are some 300 jurisdiction in the United States that enjoy sanctuary status. Please know that as long as I am mayor, New Haven will stand with these great cities like

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San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Baltimore and Boston.”

State Rep. Juan Candelaria called maintaining New Haven’s sanctuary city status in the face of threats of deportation and federal defunding a “moral obligation.”

“As one community, we’ve come together to express to immigrant families that there is a community behind them that supports them,” he said.

Kica Matos, director of immigrant rights and racial justice at the Center for Community Change, said that in five weeks, when President-Elect Donald Trump, is slated to take office the world for undocumented immigrants, “DREAMers,” and sanctuary cities will change. She said they will be under attack by a Trump administration that has promised to deport between 2.5 million and 3 million undocumented immigrants; repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects some 750,000 undocumented children brought to the country at very young ages; vowed to defund sanctuary cities; and put repeat border-crossers in jail for at least a year.

“Finally he wants to build—and if I weren’t at a press conference, I would use a curse word,” Matos said. “He wants to build that beeping wall.”

Matos asked the crowd if they remembered what happened in New Haven in 2007. Many in the crowd raised their hands. That was the year that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came to the city, raided eight homes and took away 32 undocumented immigrants.

“By the time they were done our community was terrified,” Matos recalled. “But you know what we did? We stood up and we fought back. And that’s what we’re going to do. We fought and we won. They said they were going to come back and they never did. And the reason they did not do that is because this community came together

African-Americans Latinos, white folks, Asians.

“We all came together and said, ‘This is our New Haven, this is our community of immigrants, and we’re going to do everything we can to protect them,’” she added. “We have to be ready to fight again.”

Fair Haven Pentecostal Pastor Hector Luis Otero said that the pastors of churches that serve the Hispanic community have been meeting to develop a protocol for how they will respond in the even that ICE restarts its raids. He also called out Rev. Kimber by name for his previous remarks.

“It is preferred that the city of New Haven is a multi-ethnic community, enriched by the ethnic diversity,” Otero said in Spanish, which was translated into English by an interpreter.

“The city of New Haven has been a refuge for many. The city of New Haven has been a sanctuary city and has allowed our immigrant brethren to have an environment that respects their dignity regardless or their origin, political affiliation, or the color of their skin. We’re once community comprised of Hispanics, African-Americans, Anglicans and Asians. We’re one community.”

He further added that the Hispanic community was “saddened and offended of the expressions that we received weeks ago of Rev. Boise Kimber.”

“We’ve had the opportunity to share with the African-American community, and I don’t believe that is the feeling of our AfricanAmerican brethren,” Otero said. “The information which was provided, I don’t believe it corresponds to the reality of the Hispanic community. We’re the ones who least have jobs. We’re the ones who sometime have difficulty obtaining housing.

We’re the ones that suffer not having medical coverage but that doesn’t dim our hope to continue the struggle.”

Reached after the rally, Kimber declined comment.

Lincoln-Bassett Aces The Math Test THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

by ALLAN APPEL

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

Asstistant Principal Jenny Clarino, Operations Manager Stephanie Skiba, math coach Rolanda Booker, literacy coach Regina Carini.

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and the before- and after-school programs, which enable them to leave the kids early and pick them up late if their working lives require it.

Renee Carmichael, who has a first grader in the school, said, “I can contact the teachers any

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Lincoln-Bassett became part of the state’s Commissioner’s Network, schools in need of major turnaround, which are infused with additional funds and flexibility to accomplish their aims.

There are 17 schools in the network. The network had a line item in last year’s budget for $9.8 million, of which LincolnBassett has received $450,000.

That money pays for the beforeand after-school programming, a reader interventionist, an attendance and technology staffer, a “refocus coach” to deal with kids in danger of suspension, and 170 Chrome books and other technologies, said Stephanie Skiba, the school’s operations manager.

Of course, it is all about leadership as well.

Brown-Clayton created a motto for the students “Lincoln-Bassett where eagles soar and failure is not an option” and another for the staff: “Truth over artificial harmony.”“That includes dealing with institutional racism in a school that is 95 percent African-American and the staff is not [reflective of that],” said Brown-Clayton. Among the most moving testimonials were those of the parents who hailed the involvement of the teachers

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than the state average with 69.4 percent meeting their acutal targets. Interim Schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo also called out for praise the Quinnipiac Real World Math STEM School, which achieved 86.2 percent of its growth targets, with 61.5 percent actually meeting targets in English and Language Arts (ELA).

He also cited the Strong School, Conte West Hills, and the West Rock school. All the results can be viewed on the state’s website.

In an hour-long discussion Thursday among staff, ed officials, and parents, the main reasons emerging for Lincoln-Bassett’s success were: improvements in school attendance, dramatic reduction in suspensions, the active presence of reading and math “interventionists,” the provision of Chrome books, computer carts, projection screen in the cafeteria and other technologies not previously present; a highly committed staff provided with innovative staff development time; and perhaps above all wrap-around services provided by the Boys and Girls Club and ConnCAT extending the school day by four hours.

Some of these new inputs have become possible since

in

Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner (CSDE) Dianna Wentzell was on hand Thursday to lead a round of applause and a victory lap for Principal Janet Brown-Clayton, her staff, and the parents at the Lincoln-Bassett School in Newhallville.

That’s because Lincoln Bassett, a “Commissioner’s Network” school that for two years has been struggling mightily to turn itself around with state help, placed number two in Connecticut among high-needs students for growth in math. “Lincoln-Bassett is one of our superstars,” the commissioner declared. The commissioner chose to recognize the K-6 school as her department released the results of student growth analysis of the Smarter Balanced standardized test scores, the first year Connecticut has been able to release results of how kids in what are called “matched cohorts” for how much learning has taken place among the same youngsters as they moved from third to fourth grade, for example.

Smarter Balance exams replace the old CMTs (Connecticut Mastery Tests) in that the results, rather than reflecting one-time performance, show how much growth each kid has attained,based on goals set for each student, according to the CSDE press release. Showing “growth” as opposed to onetime “achievement” is the mantra of measurement now with the CSDE. Lincoln-Bassett’s success by those more accurate measures, according to the commissioner, should be modeled statewide.

Across the state, Connecticut students on average achieved 63.8 percent of their growth targets in English language arts and 65 percent of their growth targets in math.

In New Haven students at Lincoln-Bassett on average achieved 94.6 percent of their growth targets a third higher

time. I texted [her son’s teacher] at night about the homework, and he gave me pointers.”

Another parent said she was on the verge of taking her kids out of the school before the turnaround Brown-Clayton and her staff effected, but no longer.

Wathia Kelly, who has a sixth grader in the school [she’s also the school’s clerk], recalled that “two years in a row [her daughter] had substitutes for most of the year.”

No longer. And the reading interventionist has helped her child in critical ways. “If I could keep my daughter here to graduate high school, I would. I don’t want to go anywhere else.

I can’t wait to see where” [next the school goes in its turnaround saga], she added. “We need to amplify your stories,” Wentzell said to make the case to sustain Commissioner’s Network funding.

“You saw the turnaround,” she said to the parents. “You’re witnesses.

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Fences

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016 The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History presents

Dr. King’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice Community Poetry Open Mic Sunday, January 15, 2017 from 12:30 pm to 1:15 pm Monday, January 16, 2017 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm

Final Speech

by Arianna Ayala

The Community Poetry Open Mic, a featured event of the Peabody’s MLK Day celebration, gives community members of all ages an opportunity to share their original poetry or song and to speak their minds on issues of justice and injustice.

Original poetry or song must be received at the Museum during business hours, or by mail, no later than Wednesday, January 4, 2017, and be accompanied by a completed registration form.

All participants will receive a T- shirt.

For more information on guidelines and how to submit your poem or song visit peabody.yale.edu.

If you have questions, please contact the Events Office at (203) 432-6646 or peabody.events@yale.edu.

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! Thanks to our presenting sponsor COMCAST We also wish to thank Yale African American Affinity Group, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Stop & Shop, Subway and the Yale University Office of New Haven and State Affairs.

Yale Peabody Museum • 170 Whitney Avenue • New Haven, Connecticut

Denzel and Viola Co-Star in Adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Play Film Review by Kam Williams

Back in 1987, Fences won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. The August Wilson classic, set in the Pittsburgh in the Fifties, chronicled the day-to-day struggle of a bluecollar, African-American family.

The production was brought back to Broadway in 2010, and it landed the Tony for Best Revival in addition to ones for Denzel Washington and Viola Davis in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories.

Directed by Denzel, the big screen version reunites him with Viola and most of the rest of the principal cast, including Mykelti Williamson, Stephen Henderson and Russell Hornsby. The faithful adaptation of the Wilson masterpiece doesn’t attempt to amplify the original beyond a few tweaks made in service of the cinematic medium.

The story revolves around the unenviable trials and tribulations of Troy (Washington), a 53 yearold garbage man who aspires to someday being promoted to truck

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driver. Trouble is, he’s “colored,” and that relatively-lofty position has, to date, been strictly reserved for whites. So, Troy and his BFF/ co-worker Bono (Stephen Henderson) have to settle for grumbling about the racism that has kept them at the bottom of the totem pole.

Now Troy didn’t always have such modest dreams. In his youth, he’d exhibited promise as a baseball player. However, his hope of turning pro disappeared in a flash the day he was sent up the river for committing a murder. He did still try out for the major leagues when he was paroled at 40, but that belated attempt proved to be little more than an exercise in futility.

As a result, Troy tends to soak his woes in alcohol, drinking hard liquor straight from the bottle. This doesn’t sit well with his long-suffering wife, Rose (Davis), who is understandably worried her man might drink himself to death. The picture’s other pivotal characters include the couple’s teenage son (Jovan Adepo), Troy’s trifling adult son (Hornsby) from his first marriage, and Troy’s mentally-

challenged brother, Gabe (Williamson), a wounded World War II vet left with a metal plate in his head.

The plot thickens when Troy informs Rose that he not only has a mistress but has knocked her up, to boot. Will this be the proverbial last straw that finally breaks the back of their shaky relationship?

After all, putting up with an underachieving alcoholic is one thing, a flagrant philander, quite another.

Refreshing familiar roles which are obviously second nature to them, Denzel and Viola deliver emotionally-provocative performances likely to garner Academy Award nominations in Oscar season. A poignant period piece painting a plausible picture of black life in the inner city prior to the advent of the Civil Rights Movement.

Excellent (4 stars) Rated PG-13 for profanity, ethnic slurs, mature themes and sexual references Running time: 138 minutes Distributor: Paramount Pictures

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The 5 Heartbeats: A Classic 25 Years Later THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

The effort proved to be effective.

by Jenny A. Casiano, BlackDoctor.org.

It’s hard to believe 2016 makes 25 years since the classic movie, The Five Heartbeats hit movie theaters. The movie is now a staple in the Black household and everyone will tell you their favorite part. There’s a number of favorite slogans that came out of the film as well, such as: “my office hours are from…” and “Nights like this I wish raindrops would fall” Director and co-writer, Robert Townsend shares his journey to creating one of the best, mostloved films of all time.

“It was a big jump and I went in really prepared. I did storyboards.

I did shot lists and I created my own language. I created what I call the Townsend Bible,” Townsend shared when speaking on his responsibility as director. “Having done my very first movie with no money, you gotta understand that you can never bump heads and make any mistakes once you get on the set.”

The first movie he’s talking about is of course, Hollywood Shuffle, where Townsend wrote,

directed and starred in the film.

Hollywood Shuffle was a budget capping off at $100,000 while The Five Heartbeats was almost $9 million.

“So I created this very unique Townsend Bible and everybody knew what everyday was gonna be, from the first minute you stepped

on set until you left and went home. And then I had rehearsal.

So everything I did, I was trying to not waste money but try to make a movie that people would want to see again and again.”

Townsend took an unpopular way to shoot the film, by shooting the entire movie in reverse order.

“The first scene we shot of the movie was the church scene. And so Eddie is playing all this pain in his face and singing the song with Baby Doll and we haven’t done anything yet,” said Townsend, who credited Wright for delivering exactly what was needed to convey Eddie’s surprise appearance at the church service Duck attends after being invited by Choir Boy. “All of that is Michael Wright as an actor delivering a brilliant performance because all the pain he’s playing we really haven’t played yet.”

Although the movie was shot in a different order, Townsend and “Five Heartbeats” co-writer Keenen Ivory Wayans made sure to never lose sight of family, a noticeable theme found throughout their joint collaboration.

“It was very important because when you see a lot of images of people of color, especially as it relates to men, it was a lot of angry stuff,” said Townsend. “There was never tender moments. We as a people are complicated.

We are complicated. But even when people do us wrong, there

is forgiveness. I think because of the Christian element of faith that surrounds African American people, there is a sense of forgiveness.”

“I think as Keenen and I were creating the story and developing the story, we wanted a sense of family,” he added. “We didn’t want to do the cliché thing where the guy dies. And then you go like ‘Oooh. Yeah, drugs.’ It was like, ‘We’re gonna have a hopeful moment.’ We’re gonna take you on a journey, but the family will stay together. They’re gonna go through stuff, yes, like any family does. Everybody has their seasons.”

“I think as writers, ‘The Five Heartbeats’ now is a staple in black households,” Townsend stated.

“It’s the Thanksgiving movie to watch together. It’s the Christmas movie to watch together. It’s that comfort food when you want to feel good. That sense of family is something that Keenen and I both really believe in because we both have strong families and we know that images are powerful.”

DuVernay Documentary Indicts Criminal Justice System as Vestige of Slavery

Film Review by Kam Williams

A year ago, many felt that Ava DuVernay was snubbed when she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for directing Selma. Furthermore, none of the picture’s cast or crew members were nominated, despite the fact that it had been very well received by audiences and critics alike. But Selma apparently wasn’t being singled out, as African-Americans were entirely overlooked by the Academy for the second year in a row.

Since then, the Academy has taken steps to make the Oscars more inclusive, starting with inviting more minorities to join its ranks. That bodes well for Ava in terms of her latest offering, 13th, a searing indictment of the criminal justice system as a shameful vestige of chattel slavery.

The documentary’s title was

inspired by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which ended the institution of slavery “except as a punishment for a crime.” The movie’s basic thesis is that, after the Civil War, racists seized on that loophole to keep the black masses in chains.

The film features interviews with an array of luminaries, including Angela Davis, Senator Cory Booker, Dr. Henry Louis Gates and attorney Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.”

Inter alia, 13th blames D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) for resurrecting the Ku Klux Klan by demonizing black males. It goes on to point out that over 300 Klansmen were elected delegates to the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

Though an arch-conservative, Newt Gingrich adopts a

sympathetic posture regarding the plight of African-Americans, observing that “Virtually no one who is white understands the challenge of being black in America.” And former Green Czar Van Jones, who served in the Obama administration, asks a very thought-provoking

14

question, namely, “Why is the black community so weak in defending itself?”

Part of the answer is revealed in the profit-maximizing agenda of the Corrections Corporation of America, a company which has successfully lobbied to expand and privatize the prison industry.

The upshot is that today there are millions of blacks behind bars, a sad reflection of the reality that a defendant is way better off in the courts being rich and guilty than poor and innocent.

The incendiary expose’ closes with Jones asserting that the Black Lives Matter movement “is not a stoppable phenomenon” because it’s fundamentally about reshaping the country’s understanding of human dignity.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how things shake out, given the ascension of Donald Trump, who has taken the position that “All lives matter” while declaring himself the law-and-order president-elect.

Excellent (4 stars) Unrated Running time: 100 minutes Distributor: Netflix

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

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J.B. Smoove: Seriously Funny!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

by Carter Higgins BlackDoctor.org

J. B. Smoove is a complete hilarious fool and audiences everywhere love it! Now with a recurring role on the hit, award-winning show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, being star on the CBS sitcom The Millers from 2013–2015 and portraying a fictionalized version of himself on the BET improv-comedy reality television parody Real Husbands of Hollywood, and starring in the latest Christmas comedy, “This Christmas,” life has been good for J.B. But it was something that he’s worked hard for.

He shortened his given name, Jerry Brooks, to “J.B.” and added “Smoove” when he began performing stand-up comedy. Smoove spent more than two decades building his comedic career, and had to endure early failures before experiencing stardom. From selling fire extinguishers (yes fire extinguishers) door-to-door, to being a writer on Saturday Night Live for three years then hitting the road in tiny clubs all across the country, he’s paid his dues.

“I’ve been planting a whole lot of seeds my whole life—a lot of those seeds a very long time ago—and I’ve been letting them grow,” explains J.B. “I’m very happy with the phone ringing consistently over a number of years, whereas some guys want it all at one time. I’d rather have longevity than one big bang.

When you get it all at one time, a lot of guys can’t handle that, and it blows up in their face.

I like it slow and steady, and I keep getting it done. So the phone keeps ringing and I keep meeting cool people. That’s how my life is.”

J. B. Smoove is a complete hilarious fool and audiences everywhere love it! Now with a recurring role on the hit, award-winning show, Curb Your

Enthusiasm, being star on the CBS sitcom The Millers from 2013–2015 and portraying a fictionalized version of himself on the BET improv-comedy reality television parody Real Husbands of Hollywood, and starring in the latest Christmas comedy, “This Christmas,” life has been good for J.B. But it was something that he’s worked hard for.

He shortened his given name, Jerry Brooks, to “J.B.” and added “Smoove” when he began performing stand-up comedy. Smoove spent more than two decades building his comedic career, and had to endure early failures before experiencing stardom. From selling fire extinguishers (yes fire extinguishers) door-to-door, to being a writer on Saturday Night Live for three years then hitting the road in tiny clubs all

across the country, he’s paid his dues.

You May Also Like (photo credit: Denzel

17

Washington facebook fan page) The Incredible True Story Behind The “Denzel Washington 4 Brothers” Photo “I’ve been planting a whole lot of seeds my whole life—a lot of those seeds a very long time ago—and I’ve been letting them grow,” explains J.B. “I’m very happy with the phone ringing consistently over a number of years, whereas some guys want it all at one time. I’d rather have longevity than one big bang.

When you get it all at one time, a lot of guys can’t handle that, and it blows up in their face.

I like it slow and steady, and I keep getting it done. So the phone keeps ringing and I keep meeting cool people. That’s how my life is.”

“Look, anybody can tell a joke, so a lot of a comedian’s success is about energy and engagement.

A real comic sells himself first and his joke second. So how do you do that? Get your swagger.

Know what you’re doing. Be prepared. Be fresh. Be “on.”

Learn what audiences love about you, and then keep giving it to them. If they like the way you move your eyebrow when you smirk, give them the smirk. You know how in wrestling, there

are those guys that climb up on the ropes and do their big body slam? That’s their signature move. It makes the audience crazy. It builds excitement. It builds anticipation. You have to have something about you that an audience loves so much they can’t wait to see you do it again…”

“We’ve all got audiences in our lives, man—family, spouses, coworkers, whatever—so every man should have his signature move.”

“I think the world works in funny ways. When you speak directly at things and don’t say you’re going to try to do something or that you hope to do something, the universe will work with you. Think about it this way — a boomerang goes out and comes back to you if you throw it. If you throw it out at the universe it will come back down to you on earth. I threw a boomerang into the universe and it came around and gave me an opportunity…”

So how does he keep fit? J.B. works out with his wife.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

Women’s Rights Activist Dorothy Height Honored With 2017 Black Heritage Forever Stamp

By Jason Hughes, BlackDoctor.org

Get ready for more Black excellence, folks!

Women’s rights icon Dorothy Height will be featured on the 40th stamp in the US Postal Service’s Black Heritage series in 2017.

A peer of Shirley Chisholm, Height fought against the racial and gender inequalities suffocating minorities and women in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

“2017 will be an exciting year for the Postal Service’s stamp program,” said Mary-Anne Penner, US Postal

Photo: Manny Ceneta/Getty Images

Service Director, Stamp Services.

“This amazing collection of stamps features beautiful art, distinguished Americans and historic events.”

According to the organization, Height rarely received the recognition she deserved for her years of tireless service as an activist. She served as the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years.

Height also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994, followed by the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., serving as its national president from 1947 to 1956.

Height’s stamp features artwork by Thomas Blackshear II. It’s a board portrait of Height with gouache and acrylics, according to the postal service. She’s wearing a beautiful pearl necklace and earrings and a purple and gold church hat.

Height passed away in 2010 at age 98. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, along with other dignitaries, attended her funeral.

Height joins a long list of AfricanAmerican leaders featured on the Forever stamp, including Harriet Tubman, Alvin Ailey, James Baldwin, Sojourner Truth and Malcolm X.

degree from a 2 or 4-year College when applying for the scholarship.

Jackie Robinson was an American baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. In 1973, the Jackie Robinson Foundation was created as a national, not–for–profit, organization to perpetuate his memory through the advancement of higher education among

underserved populations.

The foundation’s strategic combination of financial assistance and support services results consistently in a nearly 100% college graduation rate.

The deadline for this scholarship is usually in FEBRUARY of each year, and the award amount is usually $7,500.

For more details, visit www.

JackieRobinson.org

Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship Native American). Applicants must also plan to attend an accredited and approved four-year institution within the United States, must show leadership potential, must demonstrate a dedication to community service, and must present evidence of financial need.

Applicants must also have a minimum SAT score of 1,000 combined on the math and critical reading sections or a composite ACT score of 22, and not possess a

The Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship is for minority high school students in the United States.

In addition to a financial grant, the foundation also provides its scholars with mentoring and leadership development opportunities, and internships.

To be eligible, all applicants must be graduating seniors and must belong to a minority group (African American, Hispanic American, Asian American, or

Will White Workers Accept Trump’s Billionaire Cabinet Picks?

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Columnist When Donald Trump was running for President, he specifically targeted the “White working class,” telling them that he’d prevent their jobs from leaving the country, that he’d bring back manufacturing jobs, and that he’d revive the oil and steel industries.

He hasn’t taken office yet, but he has already celebrated the fact that Carrier, a furnace manufacturer in Indianapolis, Indiana, has agreed to keep jobs in the United States, even though they had earlier announced that they would have moved jobs to Mexico.

The Carrier deal that Trump has been crowing about is so deceptive, that some business writers describe

it as a scam and a union leader accused Trump of lying his hind parts off. Trump says he saved over a thousand jobs, but the real number may be closer to 730.

Carrier will still relocate more than 500 jobs to Mexico, and they had already planned to keep about 300 jobs in the United States. So Trump may have “saved” 400 jobs, not 800 or a thousand, and Indiana Governor Mike Pence had to give up $7 million in tax benefits to keep the jobs here. Trump and Pence have also signaled that they are willing to play “let’s make a deal” on a case by case basis to keep jobs in the United States, instead of using public policy to encourage the development of U.S. jobs and to limit the mobility of capital.

And, Carrier is still closing another Indiana plant, but there has been no intervention for that closure.

Now, Mr. Trump has indicated that Andrew F. Puzder is his choice for Secretary of Labor. Puzder, the CEO of CKE Restaurant Holdings,

a company that franchises Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast food outlets, has opposed minimum wage increases, worker protections, paid sick leave, and the Affordable Care Act. He has said that he welcomes automation in the restaurant industry, because machines are “always polite… never take a vacation, never show up late, there’s never a slip and fall or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.” While the Department of Labor has been the advocate for workers, Mr. Puzder seems to be an advocate for worker exploitation.

Okay, y’all working-class White folks, those of you who voted for Mr. Trump, are you ready to swallow a bitter pill? Because Mr. Trump has shown you, yet again, what he thinks of you. The historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote about President Abraham Lincoln’s “Team of Rivals.” What Mr. Trump seems to have assembled is a team of war-mongering generals and bombastic billionaires. The Puzder

18

appointment, then, is consistent with Mr. Trump’s philosophy, but it is inconsistent with the notion that the Labor Department should be an advocate for workers, and should regulate labor markets and enforce labor legislation.

The minimum wage was stuck at $5.15 an hour for ten years before it was increased in 2007. Then, Congress approved a three-step increase, raising the wage to $5.85 an hour in July 2007, then $6.55 an hour in 2008, finally increasing to $7.25 an hour in 2009. It has been stuck there ever since. President Obama has recommended an increase of the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, less than the $15 an hour that many activists are advocating through the Fight for Fifteen. Puzder does not think the minimum wage should be more than $9 an hour. He also opposes Obama Administration efforts to give overtime pay to more workers.

It would be crass to say that Puzder purchased his position,

but it is important to note that he contributed more than $300,000 to the Trump campaign. His nomination is consistent with that of Oklahoma attorney general Scott Pruitt, a climate change denier, to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Just as Pruitt has no intention of protecting the environment, prioritizing energy production over environmental protection, Puzder has no intention of advocating for or protecting workers.

Lots of people who voted for Mr. Trump swear they aren’t racists and say they simply voted for “change.”

If Mr. Trump and Mr. Puzder have their way, they’ll get chump change for hourly pay. Is that the change they want to believe in?

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available via www.amazon.com for booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux.com.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201 Con’t from page 5

Get A City Job

Antidotal though it was to the overall scheme of things, it seemed quite consist with what the educator revealed to me, but also with what I had witnessed among middle-class African-Americans in this city, particularly those connected, directly or indirectly, to the school system, and consist with my experience as a clergyman here.

Any criticism of the Mayor or the former (and present) Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Reginald Mayo, was regarded as deeply suspicious and in some ways downright treasonous.

While it was true that Dr. Mayo was (and might be again in his interim role) responsible for the employment of a number of African-American educators and administrators, it seemed then, and still does now, quite odd that any person is considered above reproach, criticism, or critique.

The very basis of our government is the freedom to criticize it. When disallowed to do so, we have forfeited our rights as free citizens in a land of “freedom and justice for all.”

Teachers are government employees, to be sure, but that fact should never be used as a weapon, subtle as it may be, to disenfranchise them, slowly but surely, or to make of them political eunuchs who voices are muted except in the service of the political officials who hired them.

Military servicewomen and men selflessly agree to relinquish certain rights while they serve. It could not be otherwise with the defense of the nation at stake. But, the defense of some politician’s elected position is not reason enough to disempower teachers or other government workers simply for the sake of a job.

I pray that such a thing does not happen to the new teachers arriving here from the South to help our students secure a better education.

Reverend Samuel T. Ross-Lee is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Missionary Church, New Haven , CT. He can be reached at RevRossLee@yahoo. com

YALE PEABODY MUSEUM

MLK

FOOD DRIVE MR FRED

The Yale Peabody Museum is hosting a food drive in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Join us in collecting non-perishable food items for the New Haven Community Soup Kitchen and Christian Community Action.

Suggested donations include: Beans Beef or Chicken Bouillon Canned Vegetables Cereal (hot or cold) Chicken Base Coffee or Tea Cranberry Sauce Granola Bars

Garlic Powder Gravy Ground Black Pepper Jelly Juice Mashed Potato Flakes Pasta Peanut Butter

Rice Salt or Season Salt Small Boxes of Raisins Soup Spaghetti Sauce Stuffing Tuna Yams

Donations will be collected from November 21st through January 17th All donations should be in cans, boxes, plastic containers or other sealed packages.

We cannot accept any items past their expiration date.

Please bring donations to: Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven For more information email peabody.events@yale.edu or call (203) 432-6646.

Thanks to our presenting sponsor COMCAST We also thank Yale African American Affinity Group, Subway, Stop & Stop, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Yale University Office of New Haven and State Affairs

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

PUBLIC NOTICE Project: Farnam Court 175 Franklin St New Haven, CT

INVITATION TO BID: VET/WBE/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses

Haz Waste/Asbestos Waste Hauler, Abatement Supplier, Contractor Residential Wage Rates apply, including Cert. Payroll This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

This contract is subject to state contract compliance requirements, including nondiscrimination statutes and set-aside requirements. State law requires a minimum of twenty-five (25%) percent of the state-funded portion of the contract be set aside for award to subcontractors holding current certification from the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services. The contractor must demonstrate good faith effort to meet the 25% set-aside goals.

Bid Due Date: 12-27-16 @ 2 pm Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=farnam Fax or Email Bids to: Talevi Enterprises @ 860-828-7460, stalevi@comcast.net Talevi Enterprises encourages the participation of all VET/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Talevi Enterprises, Inc PO Box 461 Berlin, CT 06037 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol

The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY is currently accepting applications for COUPLES ONLY for its one bedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace in Guilford CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over or on 100% social security or federal disability and over the age of 18. Applications may be obtained by calling the application line at 203-453-6262, ext.107. An information packet will also be provided with the application. Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2017. Credit, police and landlord checks are procured by the authority. Smoke free housing.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING

The Glendower Group, Inc

Request for Proposals Master Planner for the Redevelopment of Westville Manor and Surrounding Area The Glendower Group, Inc an affiliate of Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Master Planner for the Redevelopment of Westville Manor and Surrounding Area. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Thursday, November 17, 2016 @ 9:00 AM.

Property Appraiser Assists the Town Assessor in all phases of the property appraisal function; Applicants must have an A.S. degree in economics, business, finance, real estate or related field plus 3 years of real estate or appraisal experience or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. Must have a valid driver’s license. Salary: $30.54 - $38.35 hourly plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492, (203) 294-2080. Fax: (203) 294-2084. The closing date will be that date the 50th application form/resume is received, or December 28, 2016 whichever occurs first. EOE

Request for Proposals Interior Painting Services

The Housing Authority City of Bristol (BHA) is seeking proposals for Vacant / Occupied Apartment Painting Services from qualified vendors for work throughout the Agency.

Bidder Information packets can be obtained by contacting Carl Johnson, Director of Capital Funds at 860-585-2028 or cjohnson@bristolhousing.org beginning Wednesday, December 28, 2016 through Friday, January 13, 2017. A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held Friday, January 13, 2017, 2:00pm at 164 Jerome Avenue, Bristol Connecticut.

All proposals should be clearly marked “RFP- Interior Painting”, submitted to Mitzy Rowe, CEO, The Housing Authority City of Bristol, 164 Jerome Avenue, Bristol, CT 06010, no later than 4:00 p.m., Friday January 20, 2017 at the office of the Bristol Housing Authority in a sealed envelope with one original and 3 copies, each clearly identified as Proposal for Interior Painting Services.

An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Contractor

Town of Bloomfield

Youth & Family Program Assistant $11.30 hourly For details and how to apply, go to www.bloomfieldct.org. Preemployment drug testing and fingerprints required.

AA/EOE

ELECTRICIANS

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

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT - Portland Proficient in Microsoft Office. Knowledge of Haz. Waste Regs., & Manifests a +. RED Technologies, LLC, 173 Pickering Street, Portland, CT 06480; Fax 860.342.1042; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Class A Driver

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

RED Technologies, LLC is An EOE.

Dispatcher - Portland Candidate must have 2-5 years relevant experience in hazardous waste transportation. Must have completed 40 HAZWOPER Certification, Asbestos Awareness Certification a plus.

Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 173 Pickering Street, Portland, CT 06480; Fax 860.342.1042; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Project Manager Environmental Remediation Division 3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002; Fax 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com RED Technologies, LLC is an

EOE.

Elm City Communities Request for Proposals

Lenders or Investors for Selected RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration) Projects Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Lenders or Investors for Selected RAD Projects. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, October 31, 2016 @ 9:00 AM.

20

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

Union Company seeks:

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. Contact Greg at 860-243-2300.

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Dana Briere Phone: 860-243-2300 Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Grants Administration

Program Planning Administrator-Seeking a highly qualified professional to administer, manages, and oversees the Town’s Grants and Economic Development Programs. Serves as a representative on various intergovernmental and interagency organizations. The minimum qualifications: Bachelor’s degree from a recognized college or university in government or public administration plus three years (3) of progressively responsible public administration and at least two years (2) of grant writing experience or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. $77,695-$99,410 plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Closing date will be December 15, 2016. EOE.

Public Safety Dispatcher: The Town of East Haven seeks to fill 2 permanent part-time positions. The hourly rate of pay is $24/hour. The work schedule is Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 am-4:00 pm or Sunday and Monday, 4:00 pm -12:00 am. Candidates must possess a High School diploma or GED, State of Connecticut Telecommunication Certification, Priority Dispatch EMD Certification, Priority Dispatch EPD and EFD Certification is preferred, Nexgen LEAS Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) experience is preferred, prior COLLECT/NCIC certification is preferred, and Next Generation 911 System is preferred. Candidate must successfully pass a background investigation, fingerprinting, and a Medical exam including a drug screening as well as have the ability to distinguish and identify different colors and pass a hearing test and NCIC Training. Only qualified applicants should apply at www.PoliceApp.com/EastHavenCT. The fee to apply is $40 and the deadline is December 16, 2016.

The Town of East Haven is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Minorities, Females, Veterans and Handicapped are encouraged to apply.

Housing Authority of the City of New Haven Invitation for Bids

Carting, Rubbish & Recycling Removal Services Agency Wide The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Carting, Rubbish & Recycling Removal Services Agency Wide. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 @ 3:00 PM.

Mechanical Insulator

Insulation Company offering good pay and benefits.

Please forward resume to P.O. Box 475, North Haven, CT 06473 This company is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer ELECTRICIANS

N O T WO C AREER P ATHS A RE T HE S AME We Offer: • Employer Incentives to Hire • On-the-Job Training • Job Search Assistance • Re-Training • Transportation Assistance • Hiring Events

4 Locations: New Haven: (203) 624-1493 Meriden: (203) 238-3688 Middletown: (860) 347-7691 Hamden: (203) 859-3200 Open Mon-Fri, 8:30am – 4:30pm Hamden opens at 8am

Visit www.workforcealliance.biz/services/wheredoistart Be Part of the South Central CT Economy

*There is never a fee for the jobseeker or the employer. Services are funded through state and federal grants.

Town of Bloomfield Town Assessor - Reposted $77,881 - $120,209

For details and how to apply, go to www.bloomfieldct.org. Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE

Semac Electric is seeking Electricians (CT Licensed Journeymen & Foremen, E1 and E2) to join our team for medium & large commercial construction projects thru out the State of CT: Hartford, Fairfield & New Haven Counties.

We have excellent wages and benefits. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applications available at our main office at 45 Peter Court, New Britain, CT or send resume to P.O. Box 638, New Britain, CT 06050 or via fax to 860-229-0406 or email: careers@ semacelectric.com

Special Projects Manager Immediate opening in a fast-paced petroleum environment For a degreed manager with a BA Degree required, MBA Preferred with 5+ years of oil industry experience.

Proficient in oil, logistics software and solutions, IT Knowledge needed with assistance managing network and System projects. Strong Excel and analytical skills a must. Candidate must possess a high level of accuracy and

attention to detail. Petroleum and energy industry knowledge experience a plus. Send resume to: Human Resource Dept., P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437. **An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**

Welder: Large CT fence & guardrail contractor looking for a shop welder. Duties include welding & fabricating chain link gates, steel gates and aluminum; some welding on road and equipment repair work. Must be able to weld steel and aluminum. All necessary equipment provided. Must have a valid driver’s license and be able to get a DOT medical card. Required to pass a physical and drug test. Medical, vacation & other benefits included.

21

Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is seeking bids for Janitorial Services. Bidding documents can be viewed and printed at www. norwalkha.org under the business tab, RFPs/ RFQs. Norwalk Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Curtis O. Law, Executive Director

PUBLIC NOTICE

New Haven Section 3, DAS certified MBE & WBE subcontractors wanted

Project: Meriden Commons 1 161 State Street Meriden, CT

Encore Fire Protection is looking for Section 3, DAS certified MBE & WBE subcontractors to install a fire sprinkler/suppression system. All interested bidders, companies and employees are to be licensed in the State of Connecticut, Bonded and Insured. Work duties will include all tasks required for proper fire sprinkler system installation per approved plans. Construction experience is a must.

All F2 licensed mechanics are responsible to arrive to the job site on time, have a minimum of OSHA 10 training and possess approved personal protection equipment. You will also participate in daily, weekly and monthly progress reports. If interested, please contact encorefire110@gmail.com.

Construction oriented company seeking full-time Accounting/Administrative Assistant to answer phones, schedule sales appts, filing, typing & other general office duties. Will also have accounting responsibilities-data entry, sales order billing, and processing A/P transactions, supporting our over-the-counter sales person, the controller & CFO. Min 5 yrs. Related experience, excellent written & verbal skills, ability to multitask, knowledge of basic accounting principles, excellent computer skills (5+ yrs. Experience) with Excel & Word, accounting software knowledge a plus. $31,200 annual salary-negotiable based on experience & qualifications.

AA/EOE Email resume to mmunzner@atlasoutdoor.com

Special Projects Manager Immediate opening in a fast-paced petroleum environment For a degreed manager with a BA Degree required, MBA Preferred with 5+ years of oil industry experience.

ProďŹ cient in oil, logistics software and solutions, IT Knowledge needed with assistance managing network and System projects. Strong Excel and analytical skills a must. Candidate must possess a high level of accuracy and

attention to detail. Petroleum and energy industry knowledge experience a plus. Send resume to: Human Resource Dept., P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

SUBCONTRACTOR PRE BID MEETING Tuesday, December 20, 2016 5 to 7:00 pm Location: Meriden Housing Authority 22 Church Street, Meriden

INVITATION TO BID: New Construction 1 Building, 75 Units, Approx 100,000sf

This is our Project, Taxable & Residential Wage Rates apply.

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

This contract is subject to state contract compliance requirements, including non-discrimination statutes and set-aside requirements. State law requires a minimum of twenty-five (25%) percent of the state-funded portion of the contract be set aside for award to subcontractors holding current certification from the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services.

The contractor must demonstrate good faith effort to meet the 25% set-aside goals.

Bid Due Date:

Site-work and Concrete Subcontractor bids due: 12-23-16 @ 5 pm All other trades due: 1-11-17 @ 5 pm Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=meridencommons1 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

**An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**

22

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

NNPA Awarded $1.5 Million ESSA Media Grant

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is pleased to announce it has received a $1.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. The funding will support a three-year, multi-media public awareness campaign focused on the unique opportunities and challenges of the recently enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Under ESSA, states will adhere to more flexible federal regulations that provide for improved elementary and secondary education in the Nation’s public schools. The law also ensures that every child, regardless of race, income, background, or where they live has the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education.

ESSA, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA) and replaces No Child Left Behind, received bipartisan support and was signed into law

by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015. The regulations are administered by the U.S. Department of Education and will

go into effect on January 30, 2017.

With this grant, NNPA will engage its 211-member Black-owned newspapers in more than 70 markets across the country in a campaign designed to heighten public awareness of ESSA, and to focus on efforts and policies aimed at closing the achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students.

By raising awareness of ESSA policies, NNPA seeks to empower parents to advocate for these policies for their students and communities.

In addition, for opinion leaders, this is a tremendous opportunity to support policies and issues that will make a difference in closing the achievement gap.

The NNPA, headquartered in Washington, DC, is a trade association of the largest and most influential Black-owned media organizations in the United States.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA President, said the organization, and its members, is uniquely positioned to inform and advocate

for the effective implementation of ESSA, which he categorized as the most significant civil rights and education law today. “NNPA will be in the forefront of informing our readers of efforts to drive support for high standards, assessments, accountability, and equity in education and to ensure that we close the achievement gap. Despite the name change, no child should be left behind due to an inequitable education system,” Chavis said.

NNPA Chairman Denise Rolark Barnes said she is “proud that NNPA will be counted on to get the word out about ESSA to our 20 million newspaper readers and those who Follow and Like us on social media.”

“We look forward to inciting interest and action around ESSA and making it a household name throughout the community,” Rolark Barnes said.

“With this bill, we reaffirm that fundamentally American ideal— that every child, regardless of race, income, background, the zip code where they live, deserves the chance

to make of their lives what they will,” President Barack Obama said when he signed the bill into law last December.

Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Congressman Bobby Scott (DVA), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, issued the following statement when the final regulations were released in November: “Passing ESSA was a critical step in our work to make sure all children have access to a high-quality public education, no matter where they live, how they learn, or how much money their parents make. ” NNPA will lead efforts to inform and engage communities across the country beginning now through November 2019 by creating editorial content, coordinating special events, using social media to broadcast community announcements and coordinate ad buys in member publications and digital platforms.

No, Americans Are Not Exceptional, We’re Just Average

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Columnist In the United States of America, we love to bask in the glory of our “exceptionalism.” We are great; we are wonderful; we dominate the world. Scholars who study “us” say that our exceptionalism is rooted in the fact that we have offered leadership in international affairs. We have committed more resources than other countries to the United Nations, to NATO, and to other organizations committed to international peace. But we do this with a sense of paternal largesse, as if we are the greatest, the most wonderful, the benefactor.

But we have allowed our electoral system to be thrown into chaos, because Vladimir Putin has a grudge against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and he used his minions to actualize his grudge.

He’s had a bromance with Donald

Trump, who asked that Russia hack Hillary’s emails, and obeying Trump’s bidding, the Russians did. This whole electoral drama is a nightmare. Hillary Clinton got nearly three million more votes than Trump, but he has an Electoral College victory. Maybe.

Is this American exceptionalism? A hacked democracy vulnerable to the intrusion of foreign powers?

If the Russians are hacking now, imagine what they will do in the future. A recent study from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) shows that 15 year olds in the United States lag behind others in an international context. We talk as if we are number one or number two in achievement, but the fact is that we are number 14 or 15 by many measures. We aren’t exceptional – we’re just average, ranking below a dozen countries, hitting the median mark.

When science literacy is measured, 24 countries rank higher than the United States. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average score on science literacy is 493, and the U.S. was close to the average at 496. Singapore,

Japan, Finland, Canada, Vietnam, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Portugal were among those with higher scores. Really? These folks will be among those hacking us in a decade if we don’t make better investments in education!

We’re kind of average with reading literacy, as well. The OECD average is 493, and the US average is 497. Singapore, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands outscore us. We’re in the band with France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. What are Singapore, Canada and Ireland doing that we aren’t?

In a global economy, how do we compete with them?

Our math comparisons with other countries are especially alarming. The OECD average for math literacy is 490, but the US score is 470. At least 30 countries, including Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, Estonia, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Iceland, Norway, Austria, Italy, Scotland, and the Russian Federation have higher scores than the U.S. Why? The federal Department of

Education should deal with the matter of standards. Common Core, while not popular among some educational leaders, is a way of ensuring that those who graduate from our nation’s high schools have a common foundation of knowledge.

Implementing Common Core may be challenging, especially when some high schools, especially inner city high schools, lack the resources to offer the broadest curriculum. While many schools offer advanced courses, including advanced placement (AP) and international baccalaureate (IB), some do not. Every student needs to have an opportunity to access advanced learning.

More importantly, those who do educational policy must look at the ways our students are lagging in the international environment.

Are we content to be 14th, 22nd, 34th in international measures, while, at the same time, preaching exceptionalism.

We aren’t especially exceptional when it comes to learning, we are merely average, and often below average when we review international measures.

There are those who will quibble

with the ways that the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures learning outcomes.

I think, though, that when students from 73 educational systems tackle the same tests, objections can be pushed aside. Even with a flawed measure, even with adjustments, we must conclude that the United States is not exceptional, just average.

If we want to be exceptional, we need to do more than sell wolf tickets and crow over our competitors. Here’s the bottom line – the Russians were smart enough to hack us and mess with our elections. Are we as smart as they are, or are we average? Mr. Trump says he will create jobs. He needs to make resources available to the Department of Education.

If he wants to “Make America Great Again,” he needs to make America smart again by investing in education.

Julianne Malveaux is an author, economist and Founder of Economic Education. Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available to order at www. juliannemalveaux.com. Follow her on Twitter @drjlastword.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

Yale Peabody Museum presents

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Art Contest Attention all high school students.

Submit your artwork now!

I Have A Dream by Molly Duffy

As part of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. event at the Museum, we will be holding an art contest for Connecticut high school students. The theme of the contest is to honor Dr. King and his legacy visually through works of art.

The top 20 submissions will be displayed at the Peabody Museum during the 2017 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. two-day celebration.

Prizes

Final Speech by Arianna Ayala

1st place: $150, a 2017 MLK T-shirt, a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. book, and a Museum family membership 2nd place: $75, a 2017 MLK T-shirt and a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. book 3rd place: $25, a 2017 MLK T-shirt and a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. book Entries must be received no later than Wednesday, January 4, 2017 and be accompanied by a completed registration form.

Submitting Entries Mail or deliver entries to: Events Department Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History 170 Whitney Avenue P.O. Box 208118 New Haven, CT, 06520-8118 Color Doesn’t Change Us by Christian Perez

For more information on guidelines and how to submit your art work visit peabody.yale.edu/mlk-art-contest.

If you have questions, please contact the Events Office at (203) 432-6646 or peabody.events@yale.edu.

Thanks to our presenting sponsor

The Unfinished Dream by Jimmy Zhao

COMCAST We also thank Yale African American Affinity Group, Subway, Stop & Stop, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Yale University Office of New Haven and State Affairs.

We Will Remember by Kelly Valentin

25

THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 2016

Free educational programs for New Haven residents •Free science, technology and engineering programs •Full college scholarships for hundreds of New Haven students •Tuition assistance for lower-income New Haven families nhy300.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS December 21, 2016 - December 27, 201

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