The Hillhouse Band has accepted the invitation to represent the state of Connecticut in the official 2025 Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. The trip features a tour of the memorials (MLK, Vietnam, WWII, etc.) and more, which would take place over the Memorial Day weekend. This trip will not only be for performing arts, but this trip will be educational for our students.
We are looking for sponsors and donors to help us reach our financial goal to cover the cost of transportation, lodging, food, the tour, and uniforms & equipment (including repairs), which totals about $45,000. We have hosted a few fundraisers since the start of the school year, but it is not enough to cover the cost of trip. We are calling out to the community for support.
Me Project Promotes Girl Power At Hillhouse
by Jordan Allyn
Sharon Bradford-Fleming’s own high school pregnancy inspired her to support teen parents in her retirement.
“There is a stigma still attached to teen pregnancy,” said Bradford-Fleming.
“A lot of kids can’t talk to their parents.” So Bradford-Fleming fills the void. She meets young adults on their own turf, or court in the case of the Me Project an event that took place at Hillhouse High School on Thursday.
In the school’s gymnasium, 14 vendors, including Bradford-Fleming, lined the perimeter. Pink balloons and tablecloths covered the basketball court. In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Me Project converted the gym into a space for girlhood empowerment.
Organized by Hillhouse Parent Liaison Brittiny Johnson, speakers at the event spoke honestly about the occasional blurry boundaries between student-life and parenting and how to navigate challenges in both spheres.
As a social worker and program coordinator, Bradford-Fleming works for New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS) Support for Pregnant & Parenting Teens Program. The organization offers teens access to childcare, parenting and reproductive educa-
tion, and healthcare resources. A major goal of the program is to increase school retention and completion rates in the city’s public school district. She informed students at Hillhouse on Thursday, “If they’ve had a miscarriage or are deciding whether they want to have the child or not, we also provide counseling services from the time they enter high school until they
currently attends Gateway Community College with the goal of becoming a school administrator.
Similarly, Hillhouse ‘06 alum and Me Project Keynote Speaker Twonisha Wright started her nursing journey alongside her parenting journey. She worked as a certified nurse and then as a registered nurse and then got a masters degree, all while caring for two young children. Now as a family nurse practitioner, Wright wanted to share her story to inspire Hillhouse students to persevere in the face of adversity. Brenda Zecua, a junior at Hillhouse, enjoyed Thursday’s conference, not only because she won a facemask kit during the raffle. She said, “I think it has changed me in a positive way because I’m going to be working more on myself.”
Though Johnson created this event to help young girls follow their aspirations, the Me Project also forwarded Johnson’s own ambitions. “I put on events all the time, but I put on events for different people and for different courses at Hillhouse,” said Johnson. This event, however, was the first one she got to imagine entirely on her own. Synthesizing the day, Johnson said, “It’s a mix of women dressed in pink teaching you how to love yourself.” graduate.”
Johnson founded the Me Project to help young girls rebound from hardship. She, herself, had a stroke three and a half years ago and needed to rebuild her self-confidence. “It wholeheartedly makes me feel great knowing that I am putting things in place for women, for girls, to feel the way I’ve learned to feel.”
Johnson liaises between students and their parents, but she also works with students who are parents. “They don’t know how to show up for themselves,” said Johnson. She gives them space in her office to talk, cry, or journal silently. “I always want them to be able to let it out.”
And Johnson, though an adult, is also a full-time student and mother. She
Fahrenheit 451 Ignites Citywide Big Read
by Allan Appel
Four hundred and fifty one degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which paper burns.
Just transpose the number and word, and it’s also the title of an influential sci-fi novel born in the era of McCarthyism.
On Tuesday, that book was the subject of a spirited, two-alarm discussion on A.I., censorship and addiction to the internet and social media, that unfolded in the community room at the Wilson Branch Library in the Hill.
The book, Ray Bradbury’s 1953 dystopian fiction Fahrenheit 451, is this year’s focal point of the Big Read. That’s the collaboration promoting literacy and critical thinking citywide sponsored, now in its tenth year, by the New Haven Free Public Library and the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
The kick-off event drew 40 people to the Wilson branch, where copies of the 60th anniversary edition were given away free to all comers. Click here and here to check out the slew of other Big Read-related events that run throughout April and May
In addition, approximately 1,000 copies of Bradbury’s novel have been purchased and distributed to libraries in New Haven, West Haven, and Hamden, and to all the
schools in New Haven, said Sha McAllister, Arts & Ideas’s associate director of community impact and education.
This is a serious enough moment in political and cultural life, McAllister said. Arts & Ideas this year failed to receive the $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts that usually supports the Big Read. The decision was taken to find
the money elsewhere to carry on the Big Read as the current big moment calls for it. Why this novel?
“Censorship, conformity, folks’ freedom of speech and freedom to think are being attacked,” said McAllister, who moderated Tuesday’s book discussion. Her main interlocutors were former Hamden Councilman Justin Farmer and Jennifer
Heikkila Díaz, a Connecticut-based educator and teacher trainer.
Farmer, a community organizer who is studying history and politics at Southern Connecticut State University, said his big take-away from his recent reread of Fahrenheit 451 was “the constant bombardment of advertising today, people being plugged in all the time.”
Montag, the lead character, is a “fireman” whose job it is to burns all found books. He “invites people over to watch the ‘wall projections,’” Farmer noted. Sound familiar?
“Yes, we are on that road,” chimed in Heikkila Díaz, “getting away from curiosity and divergent thinking.”
“One of the scariest parallels is that book banners today are parents and caregivers. They are supposed to be the ones to open up worlds to their kids. And they are infringing on me in education today.”
Heikkila Díaz added that in her rounds of the schools and conferences she encounters teachers “who are self-censoring because they have parents coming at them” to challenge books in the library or the classroom.
“We are fearless defenders of books on our shelves,” said City Librarian Maria Bernhey, who attended the kick-off.
“And we take the charge seriously that everyone has a right to read what they want. There are many bills tied to funding that are threatening this. It’s sad to see where we are, and that makes this book very timely.”
Click here to read Lucy Gellman’s Arts Paper article about Bernhey’s recent testimony in Hartford on behalf of SB 1271, a bill making its way through the Connecticut state legislature that would establish a statewide policy on the matter.
In the wide-ranging discussion that followed on Tuesday, social media and A.I. and the excessive time people, especially the young, spend on these pursuits, were the targets of the usual criticism.
Panelists, especially Heikkila Díaz, were at pains to point out a flip side: “To scroll, to become numb, to see a clip and not question what’s on either side of it, to see only what you want to see, how influencers curate your thinking … yes, those are immensely serious concerns] … But on the more positive side people can work together in organizing, to build coalitions. It’s not all negative.”
Yet to the several audience members who spoke up in the Q & A that followed, the moment appeared to be largely negative. One young father said he is deeply fearful
Allan Appel photo Panelists Justin Farmer and Jennifer Heikkila Díaz at Tuesday's Big Read.
NHFPL's Rory Martorone and A & I's Sha McAllister.
The New Haven independent
The New Haven independent
JORDAN ALLYN PHOTO Brittiny Johnson, with Twonisha Wright, at Hillhouse Thursday.
LCI 3.0 Takes Shape
by Paul Bass
Rosaly Rosario discovered that a rundown vacant house on Sylvan Avenue wasn’t so vacant after all.
The New York-based owner had let it deteriorate and boarded it up. Two homeless people needed a place to sleep, so they ended up there instead. For a while.
It wasn’t a safe situation. So Rosario, a Hill native who now serves the neighborhood as a Livable City Initiative (LCI) specialist, went to talk to the people. She explained the situation, offered to link them to help and a place to stay.
The couple left for elsewhere. The house was still a problem for the neighborhood. The problem landlord didn’t respond to efforts to make contact. Rosario had notices issued to him about code violations. Still no response.
Rosario brought the information, including photographs, to Sinclair Williams, a former legal aid lawyer who went from holding government accountable to trying to make it work from the inside as an LCI-assigned city staff attorney. Now Williams is preparing the paperwork to bring the absentee owner before a city hearing. The owner will either need to make repairs quickly to make the property safe. Or he’ll face fines that can run as high as $2,000 a
day.
Based on recent experience in New Haven, those fines could mount quickly. And the owner will either make the repairs. Or look for a buyer who might do better by the Hill.
That recent experience has occurred at LCI, the newly retooled city government anti-blight and housing-code-enforcement agency.
Eight months ago, Mayor Justin Elicker tapped a new leader for the agency. The administration gave it a newly refined mission: double down on inspecting code violations, fining and hauling slumlords before volunteer hearing officers, chase after those responsible for illegal dumping. (Meanwhile a different part of government would
take over affordable-housing construction projects LCI used to run.)
Elicker chose one of his most prominent critics to assume the job: Liam Brennan, a former federal prosecutor and legal aid lawyer who ran for mayor against Elicker partly on a fix-LCI platform.
Brennan accepted the challenge to put his critiques and suggestions in place. He hired new staffers like Williams, offered support (including a newly digital record-keeping and communication system) to existing workers like Rosario to tackle the task of monitoring 9,400 multifamily properties, many of them controlled by irresponsible, absentee owners.
Call it LCI 3.0: The third iteration of an ambitious city agency that began in the mid-1990s as a community policing-inspired “let’s get small” effort to turn abandoned homes and lots to abutting property owners or into community gardens; to a post-scandal retooling into a home-building and accountable inspection team; to the current 40-person team laser focused on inspections and tracking down elusive scofflaws.
And click on the video below to watch three key members of the team Brennan, Williams, and Rosario discuss their work Thursday on an edition of WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
Alder Seeks $12M For Wrongful Conviction
by Laura Glesby
After spending 23 years in prison, Newhallville Alder Troy Streater traveled to Hartford to make a case that his pardon is enough of a testament to his innocence to warrant a nearly $12 million award from the state.
Streater and his lawyer, Alexander Tiva Taubes, are seeking compensation from the state for Streater’s decades of incarceration due to a murder conviction for which he received a pardon in 2022. Streater has long claimed he did not commit the crime. (Streater is separately suing the city and the detectives who allegedly framed him.)
On Monday, State Claims Commissioner Robert Shea convened a hearing in Hartford where Streater and Taubes got to make their case. Assistant Attorneys General Matthew Beizer and Lisamaria Proscino pushed back by arguing that Streater’s pardon isn’t a sufficient enough validation of his innocence to justify redress from the state.
At a time when the state is grappling with how best to compensate a number of Black men from New Haven who spent decades behind bars for crimes they maintain they didn’t commit, Monday’s hearing raised the question about whether or not the particular circumstances of Streater’s pardon rise to the level of indicating a wrongful conviction eligible for state compensation.
“I spent 23 years behind bars for a crime I didn’t commit,” Streater said in an interview this week. “That time I can never
get back, but with the time I still have left, I fight for my community and for justice … This is about making sure nobody goes through what I went through again.”
Ultimately, Commissioner Shea decided to pause the hearing and reconvene at a later date, planning to more deeply research and consider the role of pardons in the state’s wrongful conviction compensation system.
Streater was convicted in 1990 of the murder of 19-year-old Terrance Gamble, which took place when Streater himself was 23. He underwent two criminal trials. The first
resulted in a hung jury, and the second in a murder conviction with a 35-year-prison sentence.
Streater served 23 of those years behind bars. He continued to claim his innocence of the crime after pursuing four unsuccessful legal challenges.
Streater maintains his claim that city police Detectives Joseph Greene and Anthony DiLullo framed him for the crime by coercing the four witnesses who led to his conviction, all of whom eventually recanted their testimony. Streater’s brother, as well as Rev. Boise Kimber, testified that Streater
was in church at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors did not present physical evidence tying Streater to the crime.
Streater was released from prison in 2017. He continued to insist on his innocence when he appeared before the state Board of Pardons and Paroles on April 6, 2022 an unusual move that is considered to be risky before a board that tends to value accountability.
Yet the board granted him an absolute pardon. Streater received a certificate indicating that the board “does hereby forever acquit, release and discharge” him from the conviction.
A year and a half later, in 2023, he was elected as the alder of Ward 21, representing parts of Dixwell, Newhallville, and Prospect Hill. There is “more than substantial” evidence that Streater was framed for the crime, Taubes said. Streater’s case was added to the National Registry of Exonerations in 2023.
Assistant Attorney General Beizer noted on Monday that Streater, before he was pardoned, pursued multiple unsuccessful habeas corpus challenges to his incarceration.
“There has been no court, no prosecuting authority, no tribunal, no one ever has cast any doubt on the fact that he’s guilty,” Beizer told the commissioner. “He was convicted by a jury, and that’s not to be minimized. Mr. Taubes is asking you to
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Paul Bass photo Reinvention team: LCI's Rosario, Brennan and Williams at WNHH FM.
Laura Glesby File Photo Alder Troy Streater at his day job, making his signature hazelnut coffee at the 180 Center's warming center.
The New Haven independent
Wexler Parents Worry About Surprise Merger
by Maya McFadden
Keyana Calhoun fought back tears at the thought of her five elementary schoolaged children being transferred from Wexler-Grant School in Dixwell to Lincoln-Bassett School in Newhallville.
She felt blindsided by the public school district’s decision to merge the two community schools. And as a Newhallville resident herself, she’s been working hard to keep her kids far away from what she considers to be her home neighborhood’s negative influences.
Calhoun communicated that complicated and emotional response to New Haven Public Schools’ (NHPS) planned merger of Wexler-Grant and Lincoln-Bassett during a public meeting hosted by the district last Thursday night.
Calhoun was one of more than 50 parents and grandparents of Wexler-Grant students who attended the meeting, where district leaders informed members of the Wexler-Grant community of NHPS’ 10-year plan to address districtwide enrollment decline and building disrepair.
The first step in that plan, as the Independent reported earlier this month, is to merge Lincoln-Bassett and Wexler-Grant next school year. NHPS then plans to repurpose the current Wexler-Grant building as a new middle school focused on project-based learning for New Haven students who are currently educated outside of the city to get the support services they need.
NHPS Student Services Executive Director Typhanie Jackson and Supervisor of Magnet Grant Programs Michele Bonanno provided the Wexler group on Thursday with a brief presentation about how the merger decision came to be, and then answered several parents’ questions.
Parents relayed three main concerns during the meeting to district staff:
First, they described feeling blindsided by the district’s merger decision and the lack of communication during the decision-making process.
Second, they described feeling fearful that their kids will struggle to acclimate to Lincoln-Bassett’s neighborhood of Newhallville, and that they might not be safe at school.
Third, they worried over the lack of a guarantee that all current Wexler staff will also transfer to Bassett to continue to support the students they’ve built years-long relationships with.
At Thursday’s meeting, Bonanno explained that the merger decision came as a result of NHPS’ investment in a 10-year facilities inspection plan targeting enrollment, programming, age of systems, and structures at all of the district’s school buildings. The goal of this plan, she said, is to reduce the overall footprint of the buildings NHPS currently operates.
The district’s declining enrollment sparked the idea that schools with declining enrollment may be able to be consolidated, with “minimal challenges” for the respective school communities.
Bonanno said Bassett and Wexler are not the only schools being looked at for this type of merger. Rather, they were the two
schools in closest proximity where the enrollment declines have been most dramatic.
As of August 2024, Wexler-Grant had 217 students ranging in grade levels from kindergarten to 8th grade, and Lincoln-Bassett had 256 students ranging in grade levels from pre-kindergarten to 6th grade. Bonanno showed parents enrollment trends for the two schools. She noted that in the past, each of the schools enrolled around 400 students each. Now, the two enrollments combined make 460 students.
In response to questions from parents about why the merged school couldn’t be brought to the Wexler campus at 55 Foote St. instead of Bassett’s campus at 130 Bassett St., Jackson explained that the Bassett building was identified as the school with enough space to continue all programming from both school communities. That includes Pre K programs, self-contained special education classrooms, and maker spaces. Bassett’s building is currently built for a capacity of 500 students.
The two schools are also in the same attendance zone, she noted. The goal is to not send families too far across town as a result of the consolidation process.
Each grade level at Wexler currently has
to stay together during the merger, as they have attended school together since kindergarten.
Throughout the spring and summer, NHPS plans to collect feedback and design ideas to shape the future of the new school. Jackson said there will be equal representation from both Wexler and Bassett on the planning committees.
Since Bassett currently serves students only through sixth grade, the merged school will serve as a full middle school with seventh and eighth grade classes. Current Bassett sixth-grade students will therefore be able to stay in place next year.
However, due to the magnet choice lottery process already being closed, with results set to be released on Monday, several Wexler parents raised concerns about not wanting to send their middle schoolers to Bassett and also not getting a chance to enter the lottery.
When asked about how families can opt into the district’s school transfer process, Bonanno said transfers have been paused through the end of the school year and will reopen July 1 as a result of the recent lottery process.
Wexler in-school suspension coordinator Doug Bethea told district staff Thursday that many parents’ concerns about neighborhood violence have to do with historic neighborhood rivalries. “A lot of people from this area can’t go to Newhallville,” he said.
Several parents agreed. They said they are worried about reckless driving and shootings that have happened near Bassett.
“The Kia boys don’t care, and bullets don’t have names,” Keyana Calhoun said.
Bonanno responded that the district already keeps the 200-plus students at Bassett safe every day. With the combined resources of Wexler and Bassett at the new merged school, the priority of safety will remain.
only one class, making it so that teachers do not have grade-level partners. That also means there are no alternative classroom options for students who may want to transfer from their current homeroom.
One father asked whether the merger would lead to class sizes increasing. He said he doesn’t think the kids would do well if classrooms have 30 to 40 students.
“Yes, I’m worried about that too. My son wouldn’t focus with that many kids,” another parent said.
Jackson clarified that the average class size at the merged school will be about 23 students, if all current Wexler and Bassett students moved to the Bassett building next year. She explained that that is smaller than the average class size across the district. Bonanno added that the merger would make it so the combined school has two classes for each grade, and three fifth-grade classes.
If Wexler was closed completely, there would be no guaranteed alternative that the district would be able to offer families to try to keep the student body together, Bonanno told Thursday’s group.
Many parents said that it is important to them that the Wexler students be able
not cause staff to lose jobs, but cuts will be made based on declining enrollment trends, which the district already does annually as a cost-saving strategy. Each year, she said, the district has reduced Wexler staffing due to low enrollment.
“Most of the staff at Wexler will be invited and most positions will transfer over besides a few classroom-level reductions, which would have happened anyway because we have been annually right-sizing schools,” she said.
"They Gave Us No Choices"
Calhoun’s five children span the grade levels at Wexler. One is in preschool, one in kindergarten, one in second grade, one in third grade, and one in eighth grade. After Thursday’s meeting, she expressed her frustration when she learned about the merger through the Independent’s article instead of from the district directly. She would’ve preferred to have been told about the merger idea when the decision was still being considered. “They knew and was talking about it before now. Why weren’t us parents included?” she asked. “Parents should have say so. They’re our children. But they gave us no choices,” she said.
While Calhoun lives just around the corner from Bassett, she said she intentionally put her kids at Wexler because the Dixwell area is quieter
She said adding more kids to Bassett will make it harder for staff to keep them all safe. From gun violence to stolen cars, Calhoun said, she is terrified of her kids attending Bassett next year.
She concluded that she hopes the district will provide information frequently and put strategies in place to increase safety for students.
In response to another parent who asked when the district made the decision and why NHPS waited until Thursday to meet with parents, Bonanno said the decision was made around the first week of March.
Parents said, had they been notified that the merger was even under consideration, they would have considered entering the district’s magnet school lottery.
“I had no opportunity to decide where I want my child to go. I’m scared shitless,” said another parent.
In a final question from Calhoun towards the end of the hour-long meeting, she asked whether Wexler staff would be going to Bassett with the students.
“My son is epileptic and the staff here know him and his needs very very well. I don’t want this new situation to bring back his seizures. I need to know if someone he trusts will be there to help him,” Calhoun said while wiping away tears.
Jackson responded that while a lot of Wexler staff will likely transfer to Bassett, she cannot promise which ones will or won’t.
Bonanno concluded that the merger will
Bethea, a former outreach worker who has worked at Wexler for the past three years, said while he understands the decision based on declining enrollment, he wishes the merger process was done with more communication to staff and families. He is optimistic, however, that “if done the right way, it could work,” but the right way would include better communication from the district.
Bethea added that he hopes the district will work with the community to offer extra support at the merged school. He hopes he will be offered a position to move to the merged school because of his decades of outreach work and youth programming, but said he still is sad about having to leave behind his former middle school that his mother also attended.
“This was unfair and harsh, but all change ain’t bad. Putting our programs and resources together could be great because it’s more for the kids. Put Wexler’s small band with Bassett’s and we have a big one,” he said. “It’s not the purge, it’s the merge.” He concluded with two suggestions for the district:
First, host a Wexler-Bassett family night to help students and their families get to know each other.
Second, engage parents and staff closely during the remainder of the merger planning process.
The New Haven independent
Maya McFadden photo Wexler in-school suspension coordinator Doug Bethea: "A lot of people from this area can't go to Newhallville."
Bonanno charts Wexler's dropping enrollment.
With A Spotlight On Hidden Voices, “Call Forth A Woman” Returns To The Shubert
Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org
Josefina Banks sat at the center of a makeshift stage, collecting herself. In one universe, it was just another night in North Branford, the chill of winter still low and cool in the spring air. In another, she was Mary, Mother of Jesus, recounting the story of her son's life and death. A small audience of other actors sat nearby, holding between them the stories of Jochebed and Rahab, Ruth and Naomi, Athaliah and the Wailing Women.
"How did I reconcile the biggest miracle coming through me?" Banks asked, looking right up at the other women in the room. Suddenly, she was every mother there. "I guided him. Protected him. loved him as every mother loves his children."
That story—and so many others like it—is front and center in Call Forth A Woman, an original dramatic work from playwright, director, performer and Democratic State Rep. Treneé McGee coming to the Shubert Theatre on Saturday, April 26. For McGee, whose faith has long guided her work in and out of politics, it is a chance to amplify and celebrate women in the Bible, many of whom are merely mentioned and then cast aside.
The performance marks an encore: Call Forth A Woman premiered at the Shubert in May of last year. Since that time, McGee has continued building out the script, with new characters and twice-weekly rehearsals that have become a master class in active listening and community care. It is also a full-circle moment: the Shubert is where McGee, who graduated from Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School in 2012, got her start.
"Women were hidden in scripture because they were hidden in society," she said at a recent rehearsal at Abba's House International Fellowship in North Branford. "I am a woman who believes in the power of women. I knew that I had to share this story with the world. I want women to know that they have a voice. It might sound different, but these stories are universal."
The play has been several years in the making. While the concept may be as old as the Bible itself, McGee began thinking about it around 2019, largely as a byproduct of her Christian faith. As the daughter of two pastors (her parents, Paris & Denya McGee, are the founders of Abba's House), McGee has spent her life surrounded by scripture. So it was painful, a few years ago, when "I heard someone use the Bible as a weapon in a harmful way against women," she said. It pushed her to make her idea into a reality. In August 2023, she began to write the script on a retreat at St Joseph's Convent, which she credits with giving her the space to think. She started with what felt like the origin story of origin stories: not Eve, but Shiphrah and Puah, the midwives who delivered Moses. Or in her words, "they delivered the deliverer."
The stories flowed out of her. The whole premise of the Exodus revolves around heroic women: there was Moses' mother Yocheved, who floated her son down the Nile in order to save his life and later disguised herself as his wet nurse to remain close to him. There was Moses' sister Miriam (in the show, played by Sarah Richardson and Unedra Muley), who watched
from the reeds as Pharaoh's daughter pulled him from the water. There was Pharaoh's daughter, Bithiah, the eldest of his children, who pulled the baby Moses from the Nile and raised him as her own.
"You have this super fierce connection between Moses' young sister to his midwives to his adoptive mother, who then takes Moses and brings him back to his birth mother to breastfeed him," she said on an episode of WNHH Community Radio’s “Arts Respond.” "So the story is just so extremely powerful .... What I loved so much, even in this whole story, is that these women radically transformed society and culture just by being women."
When she finished her stay at St. Joseph’s, the research and writing didn’t stop. To the contrary, McGee was amazed and delighted by what she found: there was Huldah (Jocelyn Bromell), a seventh-century prophet who taught the Mishna at a time when seeking education was itself a struggle. There was Rahab (Tami Nichole), who protected Israelites in her home when soldiers came to her door, and asked her to turn them over.
There was Jehosheba (McGee), who hid the infant Jehoash (Jeremiah Brabham) from his power-hungry grandmother, Athaliah (Nikilia Reid), after she had the rest of his family murdered in cold blood. There was Deborah (Reeshemah Norfleet), whose skills as a judge are rarely spoken about when the name is invoked. The stories went on and on and on.
"Women have been silenced for far too long," she said. "This is to show the world that we do exist, and that we are great."
On a recent Tuesday night, that was clear as cast members warmed up in the sanctuary at Abba's House, where they rehearse twice a week. As actors arrived, McGee buzzed between a director's table and people in the room, checking in on each to see what they needed. Gospel music played in the background, swelling over the carpet and drifting towards the ceiling. Just after 6 p.m., she pulled them into a circle and began to put the day's stress aside.
"Ok, everybody, circle up," she said. "Big breath in. Hold—" a beat, in which some-
one could have heard a pin drop "—And release. Take some time to focus on yourselves. What are you releasing?"
Actors gave out one-word answers, clocking their feelings—mostly gratitude, delivered in smooth pronouncements of "happy" and "joyful" and "here"—before digging into scenes. Then they fanned out across the room, and got to work.
Nichole, who is returning to the stage after 15 years away, turned the clock back millennia, opening her script on a podium as she transformed into Rahab. In that world, she was in her home in Jericho, ready to deny entry to two ill-intentioned spies (read: members of law enforcement) when their ominous knock came at her door. Back in the present day, in a month that had already seen ICE raids in New Haven and across the country, the story didn't feel so far away at all.
"Good," McGee said as she watched, one hand to her chin like Rodin's Thinker. "Take your time."
Tami Nichole, who is returning to the stage as Rahab for the first time in 15 years. "I would definitely have to say what I've
Back inside Abba's House, Banks was taking the stage as the Virgin Mary, using a single, earth-colored woolen wrap to mark the transition from pregnancy to motherhood, motherhood to mourning. One moment, the fabric was beneath her shirt, as if it was a growing fetus in utero. The next, she cradled it in her arms, the gesture tender and universal, wordless. Then it was around her shoulders, as she steeled herself and prepared to tell the story of his death. Soon, it would be a veil over her soft curls. “My son was crucified for your transgressions and mine,” she read. Her voice broke: in the show, she must recount her son's murder over and over again, rehearsal after rehearsal. The outcome never changes. When she cries "My son, my son, I grieve!," she is not just Mary, but every mother who has lost a child to state-sanctioned violence, from Kadiatou Diallo to Lezley McSpadden-Head to Ms. Emma Jones right here in New Haven. Back on stage, Banks let herself feel the full force of the words. She let out a shuddering breath, remembering her deep and infinite love for her child. McGee, listening intently, nodded. She delivered comments only after Banks had spoken her final words.
"The word begotten, hit the t's in it," McGee suggested. "All of us are on these journeys with these characters. We have to find the really vulnerable places."
learned, and what I have gotten, far outweighs what I am putting in," she said. Nichole slowed down, letting the audience feel each word. On a makeshift stage, she straddled generations of women, bringing Rahab's story into the present. She built a whole world sentence by sentence, letting the audience see the stakes—the people hidden in her home, the fear of arrest—for themselves. When she announced that "I am still standing, and I live to tell the mercies of God," the words remained full and sweet in the air.
"Just the fact that she took a huge risk— not a small risk, she took a huge risk by hiding the Israelites—she not only put herself in danger but her family as well," Nichole later said in an interview on WNHH Community Radio's "Arts Respond." "It was that important to her to go with her heart and decide to follow God. And I think I've learned about risk-taking, because I wasn't much of a risk-taker ... it was kind of embodying Rahab's character, and I would definitely have to say what I've learned, and what I have gotten, far outweighs what I am putting in."
"If I were to say, 'Describe your child,' you'd have joy," she continued. She remembered a mom who had told her that her young son, who she loved with a fierceness and intensity that was unparalleled, really "challenged my gangsta." The phrase, said with the candidness and grace of a parent who can hold their child's full complexity, delighted her. "People are gonna walk away from this with so many interpretations." That’s just one hope of the show, McGee later added. Another, which is never totally finished, is to give cast members (and herself) a master class in being present, listening more actively, and communicating more effectively on and off the stage. At one point during the evening, cast members spread out, practicing their lines in pairs as they walked toward each other and linked arms. Then they regrouped, and got back to their individual monologues.
McGee's mother Denya, who plays Naomi, ran over her lines as she waited for her moment in the spotlight. A social worker by day, she later stressed the importance of that focus on listening, both on and beyond the stage.
"We work hard at trying to make sure that we're active listening, and really sitting in the moment," Denya McGee said. "And really sitting in the moment. Not thinking of how you're gonna respond, not thining of how you're gonna come back, but really listening, really sitting in that moment, taking in what that they're feeling. Taking in their perspective, and just sitting there."
"It's great to see this in theater," she added. "It's great to go into our practices and see this concept of active listening taking place in creative space. I love it."
Josefina Banks at a recent rehearsal for Call Forth A Woman. The play, a collection of monologues and vignettes amplifying women from the Bible, returns to the Shubert Theatre on April 26. Lucy Gellman Photos.
Kiara Michele Simmons, who plays Mahlah, the Mother of Sisera, and a Wailing Woman.
Bill To Address Gambling Addiction Sent To House
by Mia Palazzo
HARTFORD, CT – The Public Health Committee voted to send House Bill 7215 to the floor of the House on Wednesday to address problem gambling, particularly as it relates to internet gaming disorder, which has surged since the state legalized online sports betting and casino gaming in 2021. The committee passed the legislation on a 20-10 vote with two absent or not voting. The bill directs the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to establish a program focused on treating and rehabilitating individuals and families impacted by internet gaming disorder.
This disorder, currently listed as a “condition for further study” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), has prompted concerns from state officials and experts about its increasing prevalence.
Nearly $45 billion has been wagered across various platforms including online sports betting and casino games since Connecticut expanded gambling opportunities to include sports betting and online games in 2021, according to the Department of Consumer Protection.
The state has earned more than $383 million in revenue from sports betting, with an additional $160 million generated by online casinos. However, these successes have come with a downside: a sharp rise in gambling addiction, particularly among young adults.
According to Connecticut’s 2022 Epidemiological Profile: Problem Gambling,
Adult Ed Renamed; New Lease Tabled
by Maya McFadden
The city’s school board voted to rename New Haven’s adult education center after the late local minister and civil rights leader Edwin R. Edmonds as it considers whether or not to extend the program’s lease on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard for another five years.
The Board of Education took those votes Monday night during its latest biweekly meeting, which was held in person at John C. Daniels School and online via Zoom.
They voted unanimously to approve the renaming of New Haven Adult Education Center after Rev. Edmonds. That renaming won’t become effective until the program relocates to its new home at a city-owned, to-be-renovated former state welfare building at 188 Bassett St. in Newhallville.
35.2% of individuals aged 18-25 engaged in some form of gambling, with an increasing number displaying problematic gambling behaviors since the introduction of legalized online gambling.
A 2024 study by DMHAS found that half of all of the sports betting revenue comes from less than 2% of bettors considered to be problem gamblers.
HB 7215 focuses on providing treatment and rehabilitation services for individuals suffering from internet gaming disorder.
The bill aims to prevent further harm by offering support to affected families and individuals through prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programs.
However, DMHAS Commissioner Nancy Navarretta explained in her written testimony to the Public Health Committee that the issue is not as straightforward as it may seem.
She said the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has yet to officially recognize internet gaming disorder, making it challenging to establish clear clinical standards or effective treatment methods. Despite these hurdles, she said DMHAS recognizes the importance of addressing the emerging problem.
“DMHAS is very interested in continuing to monitor the progression of this analysis,” Navarretta said, “but think it is premature at this time to fully develop a program without clear clinical standards or official recognition in the broader behavioral health field.”
The Public Health Committee has until April 2 to vote the bill out of committee.
According to New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) spokesperson Justin Harmon, the district expects to move Adult Ed to Newhallville by June 2026. After the relocation, the program will be called the Dr. Edwin R. Edmonds Adult Education Center.
Meanwhile, the Adult Ed Center remains in leased space at 580 Ella T. Grasso Blvd. in the Hill.
Later on during Monday’s meeting, the school board voted to table a newly drafted agreement for a five-year lease extension at that rented location.
That agreement, which the Board of Education’s Finance and Operations Committee recommended to the full board, proposes a 3 percent annual increase to Adult Ed’s rent. That’s the same annual escalation as the district’s current lease, which extends through June 30, 2025.
If approved, the new lease would start July 1, 2025, and end on June 30, 2030. In a memo provided to the school board, NHPS attorney Elia Alexiades and Adult Ed Principal Michelle Bonora noted that the new lease would include “a termination provision after the second year, (July 1, 2027) at our sole discretion, upon 90 days advance written notice. This duration provides stability during construction while allowing us to continue to meet educational goals.”
The district is currently paying around $60,000 in monthly rent for the Boulevard building. According to Monday’s memo, that number would increase to a monthly rent of almost $62,000 starting July 1, 2025, until June 30, 2026. Starting July 1, 2026, monthly rent would increase to $63,733 until June 30, 2027.
The new lease would also require the landlord
to ensure the HVAC system is fully functional, that roof and exterior leaks are repaired, and that damaged ceiling titles are replaced, at the Ella T. Grasso building. The owner of that property is SP ELLA LLC, a holding company controlled by local landlord Sim Levenhartz. Click here and here for past stories about maintenance and conditions problems Adult Ed has had at that building on the Boulevard.
Reached for comment Wednesday, Mayor Justin Elicker, who moved to table the approval of the proposed lease agreement Monday, said “it [is] a draft agreement and we are still in conversations with the landlord.”
School board secretary Edward Joyner shared Monday that he’s been working with the community and district for the past three years to navigate the renaming process. As chair of the district’s facilities naming committee, he said he received many community requests for the district to honor Rev. Edmonds, who was pastor of Dixwell United Church of Christ.
He spoke on Monday about the impact Edmonds had on New Haven’s community, from the schools to civil rights. He shared a photo of him and Edmonds decades ago starting a book collection for students at Wexler.
Joyner said that “great leaders are transformative. They make a way out of no way.” He described Edmonds as having a strong and caring heart, and as someone who was focused on investing in the community. He added that he among several other New Haven educator, was a direct beneficiary of Edmonds’ commitment to young learners and to New Haven as a whole. The name change was unanimously approved 6 – 0 during Monday’s meeting. (Adult Ed won’t be the only school in New Haven named after Rev. Edmonds; a new charter school started by Rev. Boise Kimber is slated to be named Edmonds-Cofield Academy, after Rev. Edmonds and Curtis Cofield.)
Board member Abie Benitez, who is a former Adult Ed educator, added Monday that Edmonds encouraged her to advocate for all children. She said he touched the lives of New Haveners beyond his own church community.
During Monday’s meeting, the school board also voted to approve the renaming of the Floyd Little Athletic Center’s court to the Robert Laemel Salvatore Verderame Court. They both were former New Haven coaches. Laemel was also the former Director of Athletics for NHPS, and Verderame was also a school administrator.
Gun Found, No Arrest Yet In 8 Year-Old’s
by Thomas Breen
City police found a gun with an extended magazine in the backyard of the house where an 8 year-old child was shot and killed.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson provided that update Wednesday afternoon about the ongoing investigation into the tragic death of Stacey Glasgow on March 16.
City police responded to a three-family house on Dewitt Street in the Hill at around 10:54 p.m. that Sunday night in response to the report of a person shot. They found Glasgow, 8, “lying on the kitchen floor with an apparent gunshot wound,” according to an initial police press release. Glasgow was transported by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Officers later determined that the juvenile victim was a resident of the house“and was with other family members at the time.” That March 17 press release also stated that a “firearm was also located,” through it did not say where. On Wednesday, Jacobson confirmed that the gun was found in the building’s back yard.
Jacobson also said that police have not yet made any arrests in the fatal shooting of the
Shooting Death
child, who was a second-grade student at Roberto Clemente Academy.
He said police are still waiting to hear back from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner about the cause of death; they’re also still trying to figure out who the gun belonged to. Jacobson did say that police believe the gun found in the backyard was the one involved in Stacey’s death. Jacobson said that one shot was fired during that fatal shooting. He also said
that the gun was not a “ghost gun.”
Last week, Jamel Glasgow created a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for Stacey’s family members as they grieve. “At this time we are asking for any donations towards Stacey Zane Glasgow Family Support,” he wrote. “Everything will be very appreciated and continue to keep us all in your prayers.”
Contributed photo Rev. Edmonds and Ed Joyner started a book bank for Wexler students, back in the day.
Stacey Zane Glasgow (left), as pictured on a GoFundMe fundraiser.
Rep. Kathy Kennedy smiles at a comment during a Public Health Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Credit: Mia Palazzo / CTNewsJunkie
“Year Of X” Marks Mothers’ Resilience
by Karen Ponzio
“Through individual agendas that battle oppression and in the uniting of efforts, Black women have found a way, even when seemingly impossible, to give life,” writes author Anna Malaika Tubbs in the opening paragraph of The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.
Tubbs’ book is the third to be discussed this year in Kulturally LIT’s monthly series, “The Year of X Book Club.” It had a major impact on the readers who came to Possible Futures to discuss it Thursday night with its insight into the lives of three women Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin who birthed, shaped, and influenced three of the most influential figures of the 20th century.
The information and stories presented in this book offer not only essential additions to the history of those three men, their mothers, and their families, but also a starting point for conversations about the history of America, specifically the roles of Black women in America. These stories need to be told in order to not just understand where we have been, but to contemplate where we are now and even where we are going.
The theme of this year’s club as well as other events held by Kulturally LIT is “The Year of X: Radical and Revolutionary Reading.” In the midst of last year’s celebration of James Baldwin, Kulturally LIT Founder and Executive Director IfeMichelle Gardin decided that this year they would focus on Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, both of whom would have turned 100 this year. The books chosen for each month focus on either one or the other in some capacity, and included biographies, poetry, and even a graphic novel.
“Both of their legacies are in rights for humanity, for everybody being equal,” Gardin said.
Thursday night a dozen people sat in a circle in the front of the Edgewood Avenue bookstore and gathering space to exchange their critiques, favorite quotes, and more from 2021’s The Three Mothers.
Gardin and Lauren Anderson, owner of Possible Futures, led the group with kindness and grace, beginning with introductions where they also asked each attendee to share what brought them joy in addition to what brought them to the book club. One attendee said the club was the “highlight” of her month, while Gardin herself said the fact that the mission of Kulturally Lit is “being fulfilled” is what brought her joy. Book clubs can often be a certain kind of beast, but in the kind and capable hands of Gardin and Anderson this one was as warm and welcoming as Sugar, the book space’s canine mascot.
It was acknowledged that the book in-
cluded some stories of violence that were difficult to read and digest. Participants also acknowledged that the stories were ones that otherwise may not have been told. There was a discussion of how many of us including this reporter had no idea until reading this book that Martin Luther King, Jr.’s brother A.D. mysteriously drowned in his pool only 15 months after the assassination of MLK, or that his mother Alberta had been shot and killed in her church in 1974. Many of us relayed to each other our shock and dismay at not knowing these facts previously, which led to a discussion of what is and isn’t taught on schools as well as how often there is this thought that after a well-known figure dies, their story just ends. Everyone agreed that the author worked exhaustively in this book to cover as much ground as she could regarding the families of these figures, from their mothers’ childhood days (and even information about their grandparents and birthplaces) to their lives after their sons were gone, leading up to their deaths.
Another discussion point of the evening was the contextualizing of the stories and the inclusion of the obstacles each woman was presented with. One attendee mentioned that they appreciated the author ending the book with “honoring the resilience” of the women. It was mentioned how the reader could see the mothers’ “pouring into” their children that made them who they became, giving “context and depth” to their legacy, and how everything is cause and effect. For example, how Berdis Baldwin’s building up and support of her son James when he was ridiculed by his stepfather could be what gave him the “well of love” he drew from when sharing with and caring for others throughout his life.
Everyone also agreed that the author, who wrote of her own pregnancy, made the book “a real intimate experience” by doing so. The evening itself also felt as intimate and necessary as the book itself, a discussion that generated more connection and learning while also providing the much-needed joy that comes from sharing such experiences. Gardin noted that this has been her mission and passion all along.
“It is so important for me to keep Kulturally LIT going,” she said earlier, emphasizing the importance of people getting to know more about themselves and others.
“The ignorance of not knowing makes someone the other,” she added.
The Year of X Book Club meets at Possible Futures at 6:30 p.m. every third Thursday of the month, and the book to be discussed can be found via Kulturally LIT and/or Possible Futures. Kulturally LIT has a wealth of programming in addition to the book club going on throughout 2025. Please see their website for more details and/or to sign up for updates.
The New Haven independent
Karen Ponzio Photos.
The Year of X Book Club selections at Possible Futures.
Anderson and Gardin spreading joy.
More book club selections.
Hey, Down Here!
by Jisu Sheen
Aristocratic portraits lined the walls of the Yale Center for British Art on Day 2 of its grand reopening weekend Sunday, accompanied by the low din of museum-goers walking around, pointing out famous pieces. But the kiddos knew where the real action was at. They were on the fourth floor, sitting on the carpet being mesmerized by local literacy org New Haven Reads’ artthemed storytime.
“I love green,” said Fernanda Franco, New Haven Reads community engagement director and storyteller extraordinaire, taking a quick detour from The Day the Crayons Quit by Oliver Jeffers and Drew Daywalt. She sang her next sentence: “It’s my favorite color!”
Franco then asked the young audience to raise their hands if their favorite color was purple, pink, yellow, and so on. She walked around the space in dramatic turns and half-lunges, the stage presence of a true performer. And she is one.
Local music fans from the pre-pandemic days might recognize Franco from her showstopping band FaTE, or Fernanda and The Ephemeral. Rocking the stage at Cafe Nine or the State House, the band of self-described “deeply creative neo-soulmates” played the jazzy, R&B, neo-soul soundtrack to countless New Haven nights. It has been a few years since the band last released new music, but Franco hasn’t stopped singing.
In her bright yellow cardigan and impromptu melodies, Franco had fourth-floor story-listeners in the palm of her hand. Every time a kid shouted out in excitement, she responded with a graceful remark before turning to her own exclamations from the book. When she was done with her book, she leaned down to look at some of the drawings her eager audience had been working on.
Among those young artists was 4 year-old Abigail, whose specialty is drawing lines of all kinds. It was her mother Stefanie Bivona’s second time at the museum in two days. Bivona and her friends had been having a post-Claire’s Corner-Copia stroll on Saturday when they noticed the museum’s opening weekend festivities and wandered in. Bivona was so impressed by the variety of kids’ activities that she brought Abigail
the next day. “I’m having the best time,” Bivona said.
This was exactly what Hanna Wirta Kinney, head of education at the Yale Center for British Art, had in mind.
Her goal for this opening weekend was to “bring families in” and find ways to signal that “early learners” are welcome. While the building has been closed, she said, the center has been active off-site, holding art and imagination programs at youth mentoring org LEAP and the New Haven library branches. Now, Wirta Kinney’s job is to bring that energy back to the museum itself.
Her ideas have been both practical and intellectual. For example, one of the tables in the refreshments area on Sunday was a low, kid-sized table, with kid-sized plastic chairs. And because Wirta Kinney knows the walls of portraits of stiff British people might feel boring or outdated ”our collection has its challenges” she and her teammates are working on ways to highlight material that is more engaging to today’s tastes. An upcoming exhibition on Hew Locke, a Guyanese British sculptor, will focus on overturning symbols of Britain. (If kids appreciate anything, it’s a good overturn.)
In the meantime, siblings 7 year-old Caleb, 4 year-old Myra, and 2 year-old Estelle found fun in their own creations. Using drawing pages and clipboards supplied by the museum, the three youngsters scribbled and sketched their afternoon away.
The family had watched Franco’s storytime earlier and loved it. According to the trio’s mother, Louise Umutoni, it was “fantastic,” very engaging, and the perfect type of book. “The proof is in the pudding,” she said, “and the pudding is finding the right book.”
“What was your favorite part?” I asked Estelle, about the storytime or perhaps the museum in general.
“Purple,” she said, pointing to Myra’s purple hairtie.
It made sense then, the importance of the low kids’ table or Franco’s efforts to lean down to child height when commenting on the drawings. Sometimes what we see best is what is closest to our eye.
undo the verdict of a jury.”
He argued that if anyone with a pardon were deemed eligible for state compensation, “You’d have a line down the street saying, ‘I got a pardon… Give me 10 million of the state’s money.’”
Meanwhile, Taubes argued that the state statute’s standard for compensation indicates that Streater’s conviction had to be “dismissed on grounds of innocence or grounds consistent with innocence.”
He argued that Streater’s insistence on his innocence was part of the basis for his pardon, since it played a substantial role in his application for the pardon.
Taubes noted that a pardon is a critical means for people who have finished serving prison sentences for wrongful convictions to clear their names once they are no longer incarcerated.
He also spoke to the basis for Streater’s claims of police misconduct.
“We do know that these same officers were accused of the same misconduct in other cases including with documentation that was withheld from Mr. Streater,” said Taubes.
Both Greene and DiLullo have faced allegations of witness coercion or otherwise tampering evidence in multiple other convictions.
They were the two detectives responsible for arresting and investigating Daryl Valentine, who spent 32 years behind bars for a 1991 double murder he has always said he did not commit. Two witnesses have attested that the detectives bribed and coerced them to implicate Valentine.
DiLullo helped convict Adam Carmon, who was exonerated in part due to suppressed evidence in 2022 after spending 28 years in prison.
And Greene was implicated in the wrongful arrest of Eric Ham, who received a $1.4 million award from a 1996 jury as compensation. As the Ham case unfolded, an undated memo authored by then-prosecutor David Gold to his colleague Michael Dearington called Greene’s detective work into question.
“The Ham situation obviously raises other issues surrounding the nature of the investigative techniques employed by detectives,” wrote Gold, who is now a judge. This background evidence, among others, “makes the recantations of the witnesses all the more credible,” Taubes argued to the commissioner.
The New Haven independent
Jisu Sheen Photos Fernanda Franco engaging a new generation.
Jonathan Bower, Myra, Caleb, Louise Umutoni, and Estelle gather together for a quick moment before exploring what to draw next.
Stefanie Bivona and 4-year-old Abigail enjoying the family-friendly atmosphere.
Smithsonian African American Museum Director Placed on Leave
New Yorker. The executive order follows Trump’s earlier efforts to dismantle racial equity initiatives, including his 2020 directive banning diversity training in federal agencies. Historians say those efforts have evolved into a larger campaign targeting how race, power, and history are discussed nationwide. Dr. Jerry W. Washington, an education expert who has written extensively about the cultural and political battles over historical memory, described the Trump-led effort as part of “the fight over American memory.” In an article for The
Medium, Washington wrote, “It highlights a fundamental divergence not just in policy preference, but in how we interpret history, power, and truth itself.”
He pointed to the national backlash against critical race theory as evidence of a strategy designed to eliminate discussion of systemic racism and white privilege. “CRT became a catch-all term—a manufactured villain used to silence any acknowledgment of systemic racism, white privilege, or the real struggles of marginalized communities,” Washington wrote. “It was never about theory. It was about control.”
Since Trump’s 2020 directive, more than 30 states have introduced or passed laws banning certain classroom discussions of race and history. Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have been dismantled across school districts, colleges, and public agencies. The Smithsonian, which is considered the nation’s most visible repository of historical scholarship, is now being pulled into that campaign. Bunch told staff that the Smithsonian would continue to work with its Board of Regents, which includes the Chief Justice, the Vice President, and members of Congress. He noted the board’s role in guiding the institution and its understanding of “the importance of scholarship, expertise, and service to the American public.” Washington warned that what’s at stake is much deeper than a shift in policy. “This is about more than exhibits,” he wrote. “It’s about erasing the truths that make America whole.”
Civil Rights Panel Confronts Trump and Defends Diversity and Inclusion
By Lauren Burke
At a time when few Democrats are having events in public in defense of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, a forum took place on Capitol Hill focused on legacy civil rights policy and its importance. The April 1 forum featured representatives of five civil rights organizations including the Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights, the NAACP, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is our diversity is our strength," Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated at a Department of Defense event on Feb. 7. Since then, the Administration has moved to remove Black historical figures, such as Jackie Robinson who served in WWII, from positions of prominence on social media platforms.
Participants in the April 1 forum on Capitol Hill spoke pointedly on President Trump’s opposition to diversity as well as what their organization is doing in opposition. Many in the Democratic Party have been quiet on the issue of whether or not to defend “DEI.” “Some of the proponents of elimination of the Department of Education campaign on the slogan of states' rights. We remember that campaign was used in the 1960s for those who wanted to maintain segregation,” Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) stated in his opening remarks. Attacks on diversity policy have become the cornerstone of Trump’s opening 100 days in office. Less than 48 hours into his second term in office on January 21, 2025, Pres-
ident Trump signed an Executive Order titled, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” in an official effort to stop diversity.
“This is about distraction and it is about division. That is the point. They are trying to distract and divide us in order to attack the fundamental protections against discrimination for Black communities, Latino communities, Asian American communities, and women,” said Amelia Smirnio-
topoulos from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “This is a decades-long organized campaign that began as soon as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. It was designed to take away the protections that were hard fought and won by the civil rights movement and to return us to a time when racial segregation and other forms of segregation were the norm in this country. I think having that generational perspective is key in figuring out how to combat the attacks we are seeing today. At the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, we are made for this fight. We have been in existence for 85 years now. We helped litigate Brown versus Board of Education, and we are committed to defending the proper interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause in this country,” Smirniotopoulos added.
As the panel presented their arguments, U.S. Senator Cory Booker spoke at length against Trump’s policies on the Senate floor on his way to breaking a filibuster record held by segregationist U.S. Strom Thurmond to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Thurmond’s record stood for 68 years. What Booker focused on, cuts to Social Security, also came up at the civil rights forum. “What is really happening at this moment in time is an attack on our social safety nets, recognizing that there are cuts happening to Medicare, to Medicaid, to Social Security, to veteran benefits. For the NAACP after 116 years of advocacy — that is our bread and butter. That is our population,” said Wisdom Cole of the national NAACP.
World Premiere Written and Performed by Terrence Riggins
by Cheyenne Barboza May 11 – June 1, 2025
Photo Caption: Civil Rights title on a book and gavel.
South Africa: How Kiara Scott broke barriers to become the youngest female head winemaker at 26
by Abu Mubarik, Face2FaceAfrica.com
Mitchells Plain, a densely populated area located within the city of Cape Town, South Africa, is often associated with social challenges. Yet, for Kiara Scott, it is the place where her dream of becoming a winemaker first took root, according to Forbes Africa. Growing up in a conservative household where alcohol was discouraged, Scott found herself fascinated by the chemistry of wine and its effects on people. Surrounded by a culture of partying and liquor consumption, her curiosity about winemaking grew, despite her family’s reservations about alcohol. Surprisingly, when she shared her career aspirations, her mother and grandmother were supportive, encouraging her to pursue her passion.
Scott’s journey led her to the Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute in Stellenbosch, where she studied Viticulture and Oenology. After years of hands-on experience in vineyards, the 32-year-old recently achieved a significant milestone by winning the Diner’s Club Winemaker of the Year Award.
This made her only the second woman in 44 years to receive the prestigious title. Scott’s career has been marked by other groundbreaking achievements: she was South Africa’s youngest female winemak-
as the head winemaker at Hazendal Wine Estate in Stellenbosch.
The South African wine industry, known
for its diverse climate and soil types, continues to thrive. With over 87,000 hectares of vineyards spread across 800 kilometers, the industry employs more than 270,000 people, including farm laborers, packag-
ing workers, and those in retail and wine tourism.
While traditionally male-dominated, the industry is undergoing a transformation. According to Wine Intelligence, a
London-based research firm, women are increasingly taking on leadership roles, shaping the future of winemaking with innovative and sustainable practices.
Scott, one of the few young colored women in the global wine industry, acknowledges the progress. “There are definitely more women today in the wine industry than when I started. At that time, there were probably only two female winemakers that I was aware of,” she said to Forbes Africa.
Reflecting on her journey, Scott admits to facing challenges, including gender stereotypes and racial biases. However, she maintains an optimistic outlook, emphasizing that her experiences have been largely positive.
Her winemaking philosophy centers on minimal intervention and a deep respect for the terroir. “I have a simple and minimal intervention approach to winemaking. I believe that great wines are made in the vineyard,” she explained.
Scott is committed to understanding her vineyards and soils better each year, aiming to simplify the work in the cellar. Despite the challenges, she remains passionate about her craft. “There have been challenges, but nothing is not fixable, and for me, there is nothing else I would rather be doing than this,” she said.
Americans Want Congress and the White House to Act on Child Care,
By First Five Years Fund
First Five Years Fund (FFYF), a nonprofit, recently shared insights about what the public thinks about early childhood education. FFYF says in the 2024 election, voters made it clear that childcare challenges were causing a serious strain on family finances, workplace productivity, and the economy. They want candidates to have a plan to address these challenges, and now, with the Trump White House and the Republican-led 119th Congress underway, they want action. A new national poll conducted by the Republican polling firm UpONE Insights on behalf of First Five Years Fund and First Five Action shows childcare expenses continue to be a major financial burden on working families. The poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 registered voters nationwide as well as an oversample of Republican primary voters, also found an overwhelming majority of Republicans want the White House and Congress to act. The following are key takeaways from the poll. Voters say childcare costs are straining family budgets.
• Nine in ten Republicans (91%) think it’s a problem or crisis that Americans can’t afford childcare, along with 91% of Independents, and 97% of Democrats.
• 36% of parents across the country say they are not able to save money or get ahead financially due to childcare costs And the cost of childcare is causing twothirds of younger Republicans to delay having children.
• Nearly two-thirds (61%) of Republican voters under age 34 say either they or someone they know have put off or delayed having children due to childcare costs. Voters want President Trump and the GOPled Congress to act.
• 79% of Republicans say they want President Trump and Republicans in Congress to do more to help working parents afford quality childcare.
• Voters also say improving access to affordable childcare will both help lower costs for working families (85%) and improve the overall economy (71%).
• A majority (55%) of Republican voters say increasing funding for and access to quality childcare is as important for families as securing the border and stopping the increase in crime.
The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) is the most popular childcare-related tax credit.
• The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) is the only federal tax credit that specifically allows working
parents to keep more of what they earn to pay for child care. It is the most popular childcare-related tax credit, with 86% saying they support increasing the CDCTC, including 83% of Republicans, 83% of Independents, and 91% of Democrats.
• 63% of voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate who voted to eliminate an existing tax credit for childcare expenses for working families, including 50% of GOP primary voters and 59% of independent women.
Republicans also support increasing federal investments in childcare.
• A wide majority of Republican voters (72%) say increasing federal funding for childcare is an important priority and a good use of tax dollars, as do 70% of Independents and 90% of Democrats.
• Nearly two-thirds of Republican voters (62%) say that, even with concerns over the growing national debt and deficit, President Trump and Republicans in Congress should prioritize increased federal funding to support quality childcare programs.
• Decreasing federal funding for programs is incredibly unpopular; 90% of voters agree that federal funding shouldn’t be decreased, including 84% of Republican voters.
There is especially strong support for the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG).
• The Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which sends money to the states so they can best decide how to increase access to affordable, quality child care, is very popular (67%) across a wide
selection of voters, including 69% of Republicans.
Taking action would increase childcare options for families.
• Most voters (75%) believe these proposals will increase quality childcare options for families, who currently don’t have the choices they need. This includes 71% Republicans, 75% Independents, and 80% Democrats.
• Nearly three out of four Republicans (71%) say increasing funding for childcare programs will increase options for rural families who are having trouble finding childcare in their communities, along with 75% of Independents, and 85% of Democrats.
• This support reaches across geographic demographics, including 84% of Rural Americans, 86% in the Farm Belt, and 72% in the Deep South.
Early childhood development is a practical, non-partisan issue. Access to reliable, affordable, quality early learning and childcare programs can dramatically improve a child’s opportunities for a better future while offering parents improved job stability and overall economic security. FFYF works to protect, prioritize, and build support for early learning and childcare programs at the federal level. FFYF works with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to identify federal solutions that work for children, families, and taxpayers, as well as states and communities. FFYF also works with policy makers to identify and advance new and innovative ways to increase access to high-quality childcare and early learning programs for children from low-income families. And supporters collaborate with advocacy groups to help align best practices with the best possible policies.
er when appointed by Brookdale Estate in 2019, and she now serves
Trump's new tariffs on imported cars could have a clear winner: Tesla
By Scott Neuman
President Trump's newly announced 25% import tariffs on foreign cars will increase vehicle prices by thousands of dollars for cars coming from Germany, Japan, and South Korea, as well as for the U.S.-assembled autos that use foreign-made parts, according to most auto industry experts.
However, one company likely to fare better than others is Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer led by close Trump administration adviser Elon Musk, industry analysts say.
Trump's latest move, set to take effect on April 2, is part of a broader global trade war launched as one of the opening acts of his second term. When announcing the new tariffs on Wednesday, he said: "What we're going to be doing is a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. If they're made in the United States, it is absolutely no tariff."
By that standard, it would stand to reason that Tesla, which makes all the cars it sells in the U.S. in Texas and California, might be immune to effects of the tariffs. But Musk posted Wednesday on X that it wasn't so.
"Important to note that Tesla is NOT unscathed here. The tariff impact on Tesla is still significant," he wrote.
Even so, according to auto industry analyst Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities, "Tesla is the one least impacted" among U.S. carmakers.
That's welcome news for Tesla, whose vehicle sales have taken a hit in recent months amid consumer anger over Musk's central role in helping the president slash and dismantle government agencies. That's led to massive protests at Tesla dealerships, and even vandalism aimed directly at the company's vehicles, chargers and storefronts — which U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has referred to as "domestic terrorism."
Tesla's first quarter sales in the U.S. are expected to be down 14.5% from the final three months of 2024, according to a report released this week by Cox Automotive, although it also shows that Tesla has been losing market share against EV competitors since 2020.
Sales of Teslas have dropped even more sharply across Europe, falling in February
a whopping 76% in Germany, more than 50% in France, Italy and Portugal and nearly as much in Norway and Denmark, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. This dip occurred even as overall EV sales across the region increased by nearly a third.
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Tesla's share price has also experienced a precipitous drop, losing about 45% between its December peak and the market close on Thursday.
Teslas have 'substantially more U.S. content'
As Musk has suggested, Tesla won't be entirely spared from the tariffs. But the company's Model Y sport utility vehicle and Model 3 sedan — bestsellers in the American market — have faced increasingly stiff competition from vehicles that could be harder hit by the import tariffs, such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, assembled in Mexico, and Hyundai's Ioniq 5, made in South Korea as well as the U.S. Still, foreign-made auto parts would also
be subject to the new tariffs, and Teslas contain 30% to 40% foreign-sourced components, according to Ives.
"Finding a truly U.S. manufactured car
with all U.S. parts is a fictional story," he says.
Patrick Anderson, principal and CEO of Anderson Economic Group, or AEG,
agrees that there's basically no such thing as a truly U.S.-produced vehicle. "All the cars we consider American cars are assembled from parts, subassemblies, engines, transmissions and other components that have been built in Canada and Mexico as well as in other countries," he says. But Tesla's cars have "substantially more U.S. content than others," Anderson acknowledges.
Retaliatory tariffs would drive prices up further
Prior to the announcement of import tariffs on automobiles this week, AEG estimated in February that 20% tariffs imposed by the Trump White House on Chinese steel and aluminum could increase the cost of some electric vehicles by as much as $12,000, Anderson says.
But another hit for U.S. automakers could be lurking right around the corner if the tariffs go ahead as planned, Ives says.
"Retaliatory is the biggest concern," he says, referring to probable counter-tariffs from Europe and Asia.
On the news of the latest U.S. tariffs, European stocks on Thursday took a beating, erasing billions of euros in gains for the year and hitting shares of the continent's automakers especially hard.
Germany's economic affairs Minister Robert Habeck remarked ominously on Thursday, "It needs to be clear that we will not take this lying down." And in a statement issued this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the U.S. tariff move "bad for businesses, worse for consumers."
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"Of course, we're expecting that Canada and Mexico and probably Europe [will] impose some kind of retaliatory tariffs because that's been the rule in international trade for a long time," Anderson says. Such retaliatory tariffs would likely make Teslas more expensive in some of the company's most important markets abroad. In China, for instance, the company said it sold a record 657,000 cars in 2024, or 8.8% of its total sales. In Canada, Tesla sold an estimated 46,000 vehicles in 2024, up from in 2023.
If other countries do go ahead and levy retaliatory tariffs, Tesla "clearly is going to be negatively impacted," as time goes on, Ives says.
Signal Gate Followed Project 2025 Protocol
By April Ryan
“I hope by getting busted and the only reason they were busted is because they were stupid enough to include a journalist in the text chat that they won't do this again,” says a “concerned” former National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice on Signal-gate. The vice president and high-ranking Trump administration cabinet members, including the Secretary of Defense, CIA chief, and the head of DNI, used the phone app Signal to discuss an attack on the Houthis that occurred on March 20th.
Rice spoke exclusively with Black Press USA, explaining why she thinks they did what they did. Rice believes the use of the phone app by the Trump officials is a matter of thwarting laws to provide information about the attack, which they were traditionally supposed to communicate in a secure location. “In Project 2025, which recommended that US National Security and other officials use commercial applications so that they don't have to make them presidential records.” Rice added, “These deliberations, by law, as any
in any presidential administration, have to be preserved provided to the national archives and retained to not retain these conversations as a violation of the Federal Records Act.” Traditionally, in past administrations, there was an attempt to “preserve presidential records.”
It is unknown how often the National Security Council held discussions involving national security officials, cabinet members, or any other executive branch officials using the Signal messaging service or any other application not approved for transmitting classified information. However, Rice emphasizes that the United States has created a chasm with its foreign allies, “not just how they fail to conduct proper deliberations, but how they recklessly and negligently treat classified information.” Rice offers a drastic shift in our foreign posture. “It's that they're radically realigning the United States away from our historical traditional allies in Europe, in Asia, and Canada, turning us into adversaries with our traditional allies and getting in bed with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, of China and Russia,” says the intelligence expert.
The Comeback Trail: Jonathan Majors Lands Leading Role in Action Film
By Lauren Burke
Actor Jonathan Majors, whose career was slowed by a misdemeanor conviction in late 2024, is on the comeback trail. Last week, the film “Magazine Dreams” appeared in 800 theaters. Despite controversy in his personal life, positive reviews by movie critics and online movie buffs have hailed his performance. The independent film directed by Elijah Bynum was released on March 21. The film focuses on a fictional bodybuilder named Killian Maddox who is struggling with mental illness. During an unpredictable two-hour ride, Majors command the screen in an intense role that deals with broad themes of the meaning of human existence to failure and personal adversity.
Though “Magazine Dreams” originally debuted on January 20, 2023, at Sundance, it faded to black for two years after Majors was arrested on March 25, 2023, after an argument with his then-girlfriend. The two were seen in a surveillance video during the dispute
which featured the girlfriend chasing the actor through the Chelsea section of Manhattan.
After the actor called the police after spending the night alone in an uptown hotel shortly after breaking up with his ex via text, Majors called police the next morning to his Manhattan residence — which his ex had locked him out of.
When police arrived, they found her dazed and confused on the floor of Majors’ bathroom. Police arrested Majors.
Majors was charged with assault and would later be found guilty of a misdemeanor. The moment temporarily delayed his career. But a comeback is underway professionally and personally. As Majors enjoyed a press event that included a Q&A panel with “Selma” (2014) star David Oyelowo it was revealed he and actress Meghan Good were married by Major’s mother, who is a pastor. His mother and Good were seen by Majors’ side during his brief trial in New York in late 2023. During an interview with Sherri Shepherd on March 21, Majors revealed that he was a survivor of sexual mo-
lestation when he was eight. When Shepherd asked Majors what got him to a place where he could share that painful private information publicly. The actor answered: “Growth.” It was announced on March 26 that Majors has been cast in the action film “True Threat” which will be directed by Gerard McMurray. He will portray Vernon Threat, a Special Forces officer who seeks revenge and justice after the murder of his son. Majors has also been cast in the revenge thriller “Merciless,” to be directed by Martin Villeneuve. Both McMurray and Bynum are Black directors in Hollywood that still feature few of them. Majors, 35, graduated from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University in 2016. He has starred in “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” in 2019, the Marvel film “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” in 2023 and in “Creed III” in 2023. Majors has enjoyed critical acclaim for his intense and memorable performances.
DEI Rollback Costs Target Billions and Loyalty
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Correspondent
Target continues to face mounting financial and reputational fallout after reversing course on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The retail giant has lost more than $12.4 billion in revenue, seen its stock plunge by $27.27 per share, and is grappling with multiple lawsuits linked to its shifting DEI policies. Separate but powerful actions from Black-led organizations and faith leaders have intensified pressure on the company. Rev. Jamal Bryant launched a national Target Fast, calling for continued community mobilization. Meanwhile, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and the NAACP initiated public education and selective buying campaigns. While distinct in approach, the collective efforts have amplified scrutiny and economic consequences for Target. “Black consumers helped build Target into a retail giant, and now they are making their voices heard,” said Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the NNPA. “If corporations believe they can roll back diversity commitments
without consequence, they are mistaken.”
Early data from analytics firms Placer.ai and Numerator confirms a decline in consumer support. Numerator found that Black and Hispanic households are reducing their visits to Target at the highest rates. Placer.ai reported that on the national blackout day last month, Target saw an 11 percent decline in store traffic compared to average Friday visits. Since the company’s January 24 DEI reversal, Placer.ai data shows Target’s overall foot traffic has fallen every week. In contrast, Costco has gained ground. The warehouse chain rejected a shareholder proposal to weaken its diversity programs and stayed firm in its DEI stance. Analysts say Costco’s consistency and longstanding commitment to high wages and strong employee benefits may attract consumers frustrated with Target’s retreat. Costco’s shares have outperformed those of Walmart and Target over the same period. Walmart has also seen a dip in foot traffic, though not as sharp as Target. While grassroots boycotts are not always financially damaging in the long term, Target’s situation may prove different. “Boycotts put a ‘negative spotlight’ on the company that can
have reputational consequences,” Brayden King, professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, told Forbes. He noted that consumer trust, closely tied to corporate reputation, plays a critical role in shopping habits. In addition to its woes, Target issued a string of recalls in 2025 involving products sold on shelves due to undeclared allergens and injury hazards. Affected items included Gerber Soothe N Chew Teething Sticks, Dorel Safety 1st Comfort Ride and Magic Squad child car seats, Nuby stroller fans, Baby Joy highchairs, Chomps beef and turkey sticks, and Pearl Milling Company pancake mix. Rev. Bryant said Target Fast has now mobilized more than 150,000 participants and persuaded over 100 Black vendors to withdraw their products from Target. He urged continued focus and unity in holding the company accountable. “It is critical that Black people can’t afford to get A.D.D; we can’t taper off and lose synergy. It’s important that people stay the course and keep amplifying our voices because it is being heard from Wall Street to Main Street,” Bryant said. He added, “No, I’m now committed and grateful.”
Continuum of Care, New Haven, Connecticut –
LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID
LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID: CONTINUUM OF CARE, NEW HAVEN is requesting licensed and insured general contractor bids for their property located at 501 Quinnipiac Avenue, New Haven.
Demolition and Replacement of exterior 2nd floor deck. Architect demo and construction drawing requests should be sent to moconnor@continuumct.org . Further information and detail of scope will be reviewed by the owner and architect on the scheduled site visit. GC price should include dumpster and permit feeds. The project is tax-exempt and funded by the City of New Haven. Minority/women’s business enterprises are encouraged to apply. Project will have Section 3 Compliance and Davis-Bacon/Prevailing Wage rate. The selected company and any subcontractors must comply with EEOC workforce requirements. A bidding site meeting will be held at 501 Quinnipiac Avenue, New Haven on 4/3/2025 at 11am. Additional questions post site visit must be in writing, due by 5 pm on April 8th. All questions will be answered in writing by 5 pm on April 12. All bids are due by 4/16/2025 at 10 am. All bids, W9, work scope/project timeline, COI should be submitted in writing to Monica O’Connor via emailmoconnor@continuumct.org or delivered to 285 State Street, Unit 13 North Haven.
Invitation to Bid: PARCEL B PHASE 1
Old Firehouse Road
Naugatuck, CT 06770
(One Mixed-Use 4-Story Building, 60 Units)
Project Description: New Construction of a Transit Oriented Development. Project is Taxable. No Wage Rate project. Project documents include but not limited to: concrete, gypcrete, masonry, rough carpentry, finish carpentry, insulation, roofing, siding, doors & hardware, windows, storefront, smoke curtains, gypsum board, flooring, tile, painting, signage, specialties, appliances, casework, window blinds, electric traction elevators, trash chute, fire suppression, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, site-work, sanitary facilities, tele data, fire alarm and (final cleaning as an MWBE trade).
This contract is subject to state set aside and contract compliance requirements. If you are interested in bidding and have not received this invitation to bid from us please email: Taylor Els Tels@haynesct.com your business name, contact information and trade, we will add you to Procore and send you the ITB.
Bid Due Date: April 9, 2025 @ 3pm Email Questions & Bids to: Taylor Els tels@haynesct.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
INVITATION TO BID:
SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY
Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 2:00 pm on Thursday, April 24, 2025 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for the COMBINED HEAT & POWER COGENERATION EQUIPMENT REPLACEMENT at the Reverend Albert Callahan House, 32 Smith Street Seymour. The work includes the replacement of combined heat and power cogeneration equippment.
A mandatory pre-bid conference will be held at the Reverend Albert Callahan House at 2:00 pm, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
Bid Documents may be obtained by visiting www.seymourhousing.org Under the Contact Us tab select Bid Opportunities and find the RFP for Combined Heat & Power Co-Generation Equipment Replacement.
The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.
The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Fiscal/Administrative Officer in the Intergovernmental Policy and Planning Division.
Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 250213&R2=1308AR&R3=002
The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.
The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Labor Relations Associate Trainee (Leadership Associate (Confidential)) in the Office of Labor Relations.
Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 250211&R2=5989VR&R3=001
The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.
/ ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN
Performs skilled work in the repair, maintenance and calibration of all electrical and electronic equipment pertaining to the wastewater treatment plant in the Town of Wallingford. Applicants should possess a H.S., technical or trade school diploma, plus 2 years of experience in the repair and maintenance of electrical and electronic equipment; or an equivalent combination of experience and training substituting on a yearfor-year basis. Must possess a valid Connecticut Driver's License. Hourly rate: $32.24 to $36.79. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of April 22, 2025, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES
Invitation for Bids
Comprehensive Pest Control Services for Rodents and Insects
Elm City Communities is currently seeking bids for Services of a firm to provide Pest Control Services for Rodents and Insects. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Monday, March 31, 2025, at 3:00PM.
360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO.
Request for Proposals Redesign of Chatham HVAC System
360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking a qualified engineering firm to provide a full redesign of the existing Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) HVAC system servicing approximately 32 units within our facility. The objective is to enhance efficiency, meet current building codes, and optimize overall system performance. be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Monday, March 24, 2025, at 3:00PM.
South Central Regional Council of Governments
Draft Public Participation Guidelines
The public is invited to offer comments from March 3, 2025, until April 18, 2025, on the Draft Public Participation Guidelines for the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG). The Plan documents the actions taken by SCRCOG to facilitate public participation in transportation planning, in accordance with Title 23 CFR 450.316.
Copies of the Draft Public Participation Plan are available at www. scrcog.org. Hard copies are available upon request to James Rode at jrode@scrcog.org.
Public comments may be emailed to jrode@scrcog.org or mailed, postage prepaid, to James Rode, Principal Transportation Planner, South Central Regional Council of Governments, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor West, North Haven, CT 06473 with receipt in both cases by no later than April 18, 2025. Public comments may also be offered at a Hybrid Public Meeting on April 9, 2025, at 12 pm. Instructions for participating in the Public Meeting will be posted at www.scrcog.org no later than 10 days before the event.
Continuum of Care, New Haven, Connecticut – LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID
LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID: CONTINUUM OF CARE, NEW HAVEN is requesting licensed and insured general contractor bids for their property located at 84 Norton Street, New Haven. Scope to include new rubber membrane EPDM roofing of upper roof and front porch roofing and sidewall shingled roof, install of rear concrete patio area with pavilion, metal repairs to fire escape rear stairs, targeted chimney repairs, and lead encapsulation with exterior painting of property. Environmental testing reports will be provided. Further information and details of scope will be reviewed by the owner on the scheduled site visit. GC price should include dumpster and permit feeds. The project is tax-exempt. Minority/women’s business enterprises are encouraged to apply. A bidding site meeting will be held at 84 Norton Street, New Haven on 4/11/2025 at 1pm. All bids are due by 4/21/2025 at 3pm. All bids, questions, W9, work scope/project timeline, COI should be submitted in writing to Monica O’Connor via email moconnor@continuumct.org or delivered to 285 State Street, Unit 13 North Haven.
The Glendower Group
Request for Proposals
Site Civil Engineer- Church Street South Development
The Glendower Group is currently seeking proposals from qualified firms for Site Civil Engineer. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Monday, March 24, 2025, at 3:00PM.
Continuum of Care, New Haven, Connecticut – LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID
LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID: CONTINUUM OF CARE, NEW
HAVEN is requesting licensed and insured general contractor bids for their property located at 133 Maple Street, New Haven. Scope to include Main furnace replacement, installation of central ac system, chimney replacement, garage roof replacement. Environmental testing reports will be provided. Further information and details of scope will be reviewed by the owner on the scheduled site visit. GC price should include dumpster and permit feeds. The project is tax-exempt. Minority/women’s business enterprises are encouraged to apply. A bidding site meeting will be held at 133 Maple Street, New Haven on 4/10/2025 at 12pm. All bids are due by 4/21/2025 at 10 am. All bids, questions, W9, work scope/project timeline, COI should be submitted in writing to Monica O’Connor via email moconnor@continuumct.org or delivered to 285 State Street, Unit 13 North Haven.
Continuum of Care, New Haven, Connecticut – LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID
LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID: CONTINUUM OF CARE, NEW
HAVEN is requesting licensed and insured general contractor bids for their property located at 312 Winthrop Avenue, New Haven. Scope to include new roof and gutter installation, new exterior back door replacement, replacement of 3 hot water tanks, replacement of 3rd fl gas furnace, installation of commercial vinyl planking for first floor unit, installation of central air conditioning system for entire house. Environmental testing reports will be provided. Further information and details of scope will be reviewed by the owner on the scheduled site visit. GC price should include dumpster and permit feeds. The project is tax-exempt. Minority/women’s business enterprises are encouraged to apply. A bidding site meeting will be held at 312 Winthrop Avenue, New Haven on 4/10/2025 at 11am. All bids are due by 4/21/2025 at 10 am. All bids, questions, W9, work scope/project timeline, COI should be submitted in writing to Monica O’Connor via email moconnor@continuumct.org or delivered to 285 State Street, Unit 13 North Haven.
Job Title: Transportation Manager
Location: East Granby, CT 06026
Company: Galasso Materials LLC
Employment Type: Full-Time
Job Overview:
We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive Transportation Operations Coordinator to join our team. This role is essential in supporting our construction and paving operations through effective truck coordination, compliance oversight, and performance tracking. The ideal candidate will have experience in transportation logistics, DOT compliance, and a strong understanding of construction workflows.
Key Responsibilities:
• Ensure compliance with Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT DOT) regulations for all trucking operations.
• Assign and dispatch trucks to paving and construction job sites based on project schedules and logistical needs.
• Coordinate trucking assignments and logistics directly with Scale house personnel to ensure accurate load tracking and efficient truck flow
• Utilize software tools to track trucking efficiencies, monitor fleet performance, and support continuous improvement initiatives.
• Conduct on-road testing to evaluate driver performance and vehicle condition in alignment with company and regulatory standards.
• Visit active job sites to observe and document construction progress, coordinate with site managers, and adjust trucking needs in real-time.
Qualifications:
• Prior experience in transportation, logistics, or construction coordination preferred.
• Working knowledge of DOT compliance requirements, particularly CT DOT regulations.
• Proficient in logistics or fleet management software.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel to job sites regularly.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite programs
• Familiarity with local union contracts and regulations
Benefits:
• Competitive salary
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and holidays
• Opportunities for advancement and professional development
To Apply: Please send your resume and a brief cover letter to KLamontagne@galassomaterials.com
Galasso Materials LLC is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and encourages applications from all qualified individuals. We are an affirmative action equal-opportunity employer.
241 Quinnipiac Avenue, New Haven
Spacious 2 bedroom townhouse with hardwood floors. Private entrance. Appliances. 1.5 baths with basement and washer/dryer hookups. On-site laundry facility. Off street parking. Close proximity to restaurants, shopping centers and bus line. No pets. Security deposit varies. $1,850-$1,950 including heat, hot water and cooking gas. Section 8 welcomed. Call Christine 860-231-8080, Ext. 161.
Global Protests on April 5: Cities Unite Against Trump and Musk
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Correspondent
Tens of thousands of people in the United States and around the world are preparing to take to the streets on Saturday, April 5, in what organizers are calling the largest single day of protest since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term. With more than 600 events planned across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and multiple international cities, the message is unified and urgent: Hands off our rights, our resources, and our democracy. In London, demonstrators will gather in Trafalgar Square from 3 to 5 p.m. BST, joining the movement alongside Americans, Canadians, Brits, and others from around the world.
“They’re threatening to invade Canada, Greenland, and Panama—and daring the world to stop them. Well, this is the world saying NO,” organizers said. “This is a crisis, and the time to act is now.”
Back in the United States, the centerpiece protest is scheduled for Washington, D.C., where thousands are expected to convene at the Washington Monument at noon for a massive rally on the National Mall. Organizers say the protests are a response to Trump and congressional Republicans’ efforts to gut essential programs like healthcare, Social Secu-
rity, public education, and civil rights protections—moves that have sparked nationwide outrage. “This mass mobilization day is our message to the world that we do not consent to the destruction of our government and our economy for the benefit of Trump and his billionaire allies,” organizers in D.C. said. “Along-
side Americans across the country, we are marching, rallying, and protesting to demand a stop to the chaos and build an opposition movement against the looting of our country.”
Demonstrations are planned from coast to coast in cities including Buffalo, New York; Columbus, Georgia; Hollywood,
Florida; Guilford, Connecticut; York, Pennsylvania; Ames, Iowa; Conroe, Texas; and throughout California, where organizers are uniting for large-scale actions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. From early morning rallies to afternoon marches, the protests will take many forms—town halls, digital campaigns,
and street demonstrations—all grounded in a commitment to nonviolent resistance. Organizers say the April 5 movement builds on growing frustration with the Trump administration’s agenda. The Crowd Counting Consortium reported over 2,085 protests nationwide in February 2025, a sharp rise from the 937 recorded in February 2017. During a recent week-long congressional recess, more than 500 events were held across the country, often in districts where elected officials avoided meeting constituents. At the core of the message is a defense of everyday Americans and the systems they depend on. “We stand with people of color and all those being stripped of their basic human and civil rights,” Buffalo organizers stated. “We stand with our educational institutions, and the countless faculty, researchers, and students that are being subjected to arbitrary political litmus tests, uncertainty, and censorship in their work.” From London to Los Angeles, from the National Mall to Niagara Square, April 5 is shaping up to be a defining day of resistance against what demonstrators call an authoritarian power grab that threatens the very fabric of democracy. “We’re not waiting for someone to save us,” D.C. organizers said. “We’re taking action ourselves.”
As Services Shrink, the Black Church Steps Up
by Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware
Blending spiritual comfort with community service, the Black church has long stepped in to help people when government either couldn't or wouldn't — from providing food and other forms of direct aid to the needy to helping distribute vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Credit: Getty Images
Overview:
Since its founding during the era of slavery, the Black church has made community service and social justice core parts of its mission. A survey of faith leaders found the Black church is far more likely to take on those roles at home than white churches, who are more likely to serve communities overseas.
In recent months, eggs have become shorthand for spiralling-out-of-control grocery prices. That’s why Rev. Charlie E. Dates, senior pastor of Chicago’s Progressive and Salem Baptist churches, helped the joint congregations give away 40,000 of them — for free.
The same weekend, the leadership of New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore handed out fresh vegetables and fruit to anyone who needed it. A few days later, the church hosted a job fair specifically for government workers the Trump administration had just fired.
Walker Mill Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Maryland holds a free food pan-
try every Monday. New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia shares food from their King’s Table ministry. The “Hope and Hygiene” program at Greater Allen Cathedral in Jamaica, New York dispenses food and basic supplies to area homeless shelters.
History of Service
Long a place for spiritual comfort, com-
munity and leadership, the Black church has also provided a range of services to those in need. From college fairs to health fairs, congregations large and small have stepped up to help anyone, meeting needs that often could have — or should have — been met by taxpayer-funded government agencies.
Now, with President Donald Trump taking a wrecking ball to the federal government, putting thousands of people out
of work nationwide, the need for help is arguably as urgent as ever. And a new survey shows Black churches are far more likely to offer tangible help, direct aid or services to their communities — and are nearly 6 times more likely to see social justice as their mission — than white churches.
More than 71% of predominantly Black congregations name serving their local communities as a top priority, compared to 58% of predominantly white churches. Service to those in need is a bedrock value of Christianity, spelled out in Matthew 25:35. In it, Jesus instructs his followers to provide care for the hungry and thirsty, the sick, the naked, the incarcerated and the stranger.
While most churches, synagogues and mosques also help others, the Black Church since its founding has been a particularly consistent source of tangible comfort in addition to encouragement and spiritual sustenance — due in no small part to the nation’s long history of racial oppression and segregation. When the government of the people decides it is not for all the people, the Black church has filled in the gaps.
Throughout its history, the church has provided emergency cash assistance, second-hand clothing or free food to anyone who needs it. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, Black churches distributed tons of food to neighbors at drive-by
the church’s commitment to that mission.
sites nationwide. Churches also helped issue vaccines and became places of respite.
Givelify, a donation platform for churches and nonprofits, in partnership with the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, conducted a 2024 survey of faith leaders and faith-based donors. They found a clear distinction between Black and white churches when it comes to offering services the government usually provides.
Charity Begins at Home
“More than 71% of predominantly Black congregations name serving their local communities as a top priority compared to 58% of predominantly white churches,” according to the survey. “Most predominantly Black churches invest in social-good efforts close to home, while largely white congregations tend to pursue good works abroad.”
The Givelify survey oversampled the Black faith community to conduct such analysis, which is quite unusual.
Walle Mafolasire, Givelify’s Nigerian-born founder and CEO, told The Chronicle of Philanthropy that most Black pastors know intuitively that their churches sometimes augment or supplant government-funded social services. Still, he said, having data is helpful.
As President Trump drastically downsizes government, the Black church is expanding its familiar role of serving those in need, including the newly-unemployed — and a new study measures
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Could Gen. Lloyd Austin III Have Survived Leaking War Plans?
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Correspondent
The question being asked all over social media, in homes, offices, and even behind closed doors in Washington: If former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had leaked war plans over Signal, would Republicans already be demanding his resignation?
“Imagine the uproar if Lloyd Austin had been discussing war plans over Signal and inadvertently added a journalist,” said political strategist Chris D. Jackson. “We’d be hearing calls for impeachment by now. The double standards are astounding.” Jackson, who is white, didn’t mince words. Austin, a Black four-star general and career military leader, was fired by Donald Trump and labeled a “DEI hire.” Now, Trump’s national security team is under scrutiny for something far worse — and the silence from many corners is deafening.
According to The Atlantic, editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to an 18-member Signal group chat that included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and others. The group, created by Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz, was discussing a pending U.S. military strike against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The White House confirmed the Signal messages reported by The Atlantic appear authentic. The leak may have
violated multiple Pentagon security protocols. Defense Department rules prohibit using messaging apps like Signal to transmit, process, or access non-public DoD information. Vice President Vance, in the chat, questioned the political risk of launching the strike. He worried about “a moderate to severe spike in oil prices” and whether the operation’s timing was a “mistake.” He went further: “I just hate bailing Europe out again.” Hegseth responded, “I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC. I think we should go.”
Goldberg said he received Waltz’s Signal invite and immediately notified officials. Hegseth’s response wasn’t to explain how such a breach occurred but to attack Goldberg, calling him “a deceitful, discredited so-called journalist.” That attack drew even more criticism. “This is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the incident “an egregious failure of operational security and common sense.” “American lives are on the line,” Reed said. “The carelessness shown by Trump’s Cabinet is stunning and dangerous. I will be seeking answers from the Administration immediately.”
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said if a lower-level official had
done what’s being reported, “they would likely lose their clearance and be subject to criminal investigation. The American people deserve answers.” Republicans have also voiced concern. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters, “We’re very concerned about it, and we’ll be looking into it on a bipartisan basis.” Senate Majority Whip John Thune added, “We’ve got to run it to the ground, figure out what went on there.”
The National Security Council is investigating how Goldberg’s number ended up in the Signal group. Under the Biden administration, officials were allowed to download Signal on government-issued phones but instructed never to use it for classified conversations. Signal is end-to-end encrypted and considered safer than regular texting, but it isn’t secure for national security discussions. Pentagon regulations prohibit it from classified or sensitive content. Google’s threat intelligence team has also warned that Russia’s intelligence services have ramped up attempts to target Signal users in government and military circles. Gun violence survivor and elected official Brandon Wolf said the response would look very different if the officials involved weren’t white and connected to Trump. “If it were Lloyd Austin, Jake Sullivan, and Kamala Harris in a sloppy Signal chat, [Trump] would be first in line demanding their resignations.”
Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant’s Black Church Target Boycott Mobilizes 150,000
By Stacy M. Brown BlackPressUSA.com Correspondent
Rev. Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, an Atlanta-based pastor of the New Birth Baptist Church, has reported a robust national turnout for his consumer boycott against Minneapolis-based retail giant Target. The fast-selective-buying campaign, which began during the Lent Season from March 5 to April 17, targets what Bryant describes as the company’s neglect of the Black community. According to Bryant, the boycott has mobilized over 150,000 participants and persuaded over 100 Black vendors to withdraw their products from Target. The movement has led to a $12 drop per share in Target’s stock and a $2 billion decrease in its overall value. “We just hit 150 thousand people who have signed up to be part of it, with over 100 black vendors that pulled out of Target, so the momentum is going steadily,” Bryant explained.
The NAACP and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, have simultaneously announced the planning and implementation of a national public education and selective buying campaign in response to Target and other corporations that have dismantled their respective Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, programs and staffing. “Now is the time for the Black Press of America once again to speak and publish truth to power emphatically,” NNPA Chairman Emeritus Danny Bakewell Sr. explained. NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. added, “We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or nonresponsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America.” “The Black Press of America continues to remain on the frontline keeping our families and communities informed and engaged on all the issues
that impact our quality of life,” Henry noted. Despite the traction, Bryant revealed that there had been no communication or planned meetings with Target. He humorously speculated that the White House may have encouraged Target officials to avoid meeting with civil rights groups. “No, we’re waiting. As we understand it, the administration is trying to get them not to meet and is hoping that this is just going to taper off,” Bryant remarked. “But unless President [Trump] is in trouble and buys a whole bunch of toilet paper, I don’t know what they expect the White House to do for them.” Bryant also discussed the Black Church leadership’s historical and present role in America’s civil rights and social justice movements. “The Black Church has always been the heartbeat and the epicenter of the civil rights movement,” he said, acknowledging the changing perceptions among younger generations regarding the church’s involvement in social justice. Bryant called for continued focus and support from the community to maintain the boycott’s impact. “It is critical that Black people can’t afford to get A.D.D; we can’t taper off and lose synergy. It’s important that people stay the course and keep amplifying our voices because it is being heard from Wall Street to Main Street,” he urged. NNPA President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. said he’s known and witnessed the national and international rise of the Black Church leadership and commitment to Bryant. “In the tradition of Richard Allen, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we are pleased to state for the sake of historical accuracy that Jamal Bryant is today the personification of the prophetic tradition of the Black Church,” Chavis remarked. “We in the Black Press of America stand in rigid solidarity with Rev. Dr. Bryant as we target campaign Target’s egregious disrespect of Black America.”
Armed Forces Farewell Ceremony honoring Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, VA, January 17, 2025 (Wikimedia Commons Photo by: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
