THE INNER CITY NEWS

“Kendrick Lamar’s half time show wasn’t boring or trash — “Kendrick Lamar’s half time show wasn’t boring or trash —

it just went over your head” – Anonymous it just went over your head” – Anonymou s

The cost of health insurance in Connecticut could skyrocket if Congress does not act

Some Connecticut families could see an increase of $3,000 per year for health coverage if legislation is not passed soon.

Enhanced subsidies created through the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and extended through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have made health insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans enrolled in federal or state-based marketplaces like Access Health CT (AHCT).

Reducing the rate of the uninsured is a critical part of AHCT’s mission, and these subsidies have played an important role in cutting the state’s uninsured rate in half and bettering the health of thousands of people.

This financial help has led to record-breaking enrollment in Connecticut. AHCT enrolled a total of 151,151 residents in Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) for Plan Year 2025, exceeding last year’s record of 129,000 people. Because of the enhanced subsidies, 90% of Connecticut residents enrolled in a QHP get financial help, for a total of $91,460,464 each month.

Unfortunately, the enhanced subsidies are set to expire at the end of this year. This will impact everyone. Many Americans, including tens of thousands of Connecticut residents, will see their health coverage costs dramatically increase if Congress does not act to extend or make these enhanced subsidies permanent. Many could be left without healthcare coverage at all.

As healthier-than-average people exit the marketplaces if the enhanced subsidies are no longer available, insurers will raise premiums for the remaining enrollees. In addition, hospitals will continue to treat those who are uninsured and unable to pay, further increasing uncompensated hospital costs. Those costs are then passed along to consumers.

These enhanced subsidies substantially increase the amount of financial help AHCT customers can receive and expand that help to people who were previously ineligible. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the uninsured rate in the United States is at an all-time low because of this increased financial help. And if the subsidies do expire,

the Congressional Budget Office expects nearly four million Americans will lose their insurance by 2034, leading to a sicker country overall.

If the enhanced subsidies are not extended past Plan Year 2025, Connecticut residents could expect to pay $1,527 more on average per year for their health insurance. Some residents will see a nearly $3,000 increase per year. This will be catastrophic for many families in our state.

Connecticut is fortunate to have strong advocates at the legislative level who have championed increasing access to health coverage and making it more affordable. Our state leadership has also shown strong support for the enhanced subsidies that benefit so many.

We hope the Connecticut delegation in Washington D.C. will continue to advocate for the extension of these subsidies and encourage others from across the country to join them in support of all Americans. We must do all we can to protect families from being unable to afford health insurance or we will see a dramatic decrease in the overall quality of health in our state.

Access Health CT is committed to helping keep our customers healthy in any way we can.

James Michel

Chief Executive Officer, Access Health CT

A Puppeteer-Musician Brings Black History Month To Life

Grayce Howe

The soft patter of a drum set the scene into motion. In the background, birds tweeted. The wind blew softly. The whisper of a maraca entered the fray. At center stage, the “oldest storyteller of all time,” a puppet called Brother Rabbit, spoke excitedly to the crowd. Wisely, the rabbit told the story of the race between a rabbit and a turtle—which ends with a lesson in the meaning of quality friendship over quantity of friends.

On Saturday, puppeteer Iyaba Ibo Mandingo and friends rolled into the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library for a puppet show, part of the library’s ongoing celebration of Black History Month. The show took place on the second floor of 197 Dixwell Ave. location and included puppets, music and song, contributions from audience members, and snacks and refreshments for all who attended.

In addition to puppeteer, artist, and educator Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, musicians and educators Luke Rodney and George Schneider helped bring the performance to life. Throughout the event, Ibo Mandingo referred to them as Baba Luke and Baba George, titles meant to convey reverence and respect. The term is used among several West African cultures, often at the heart of Ibo Mandingo’s artmaking.

“Baba is a name you give an elderly man in your village,” Ibo Mandingo said. “It acts as a sign of respect but also of affection and care.”

Ibo Mandingo’s focus on learning was visible from the earliest moments of his show, as he and colleagues turned the library’s second floor into an interactive stage. Reaching for a puppet he had named Ajá—that is the Yoruba word for dog—he began to tell a story of a dog content with a bone, slowly making his way back home. All was well in this world, until Ajá saw another dog with a similar bone, and decided to bark at it. “I’m gonna give this dog one of my best growls!” Ibo Mandingo said, and he was at once himself and the puppet. Ajá growled fiercely, and the other dog growled back. Ajá barked, and suddenly his bone fell away, tumbling from his jaw into a pool of water below. It was only then that he realized he’d been barking at his reflection.

“I realize that sometimes, it’s ok to not want everything,” Ajá said through Ibo Mandingo. “Because when you want everything,” you lose sight of what you already have.

As the audience settled in, he tied in his own Afro-Caribbean roots, nodding to the sheer breadth of a diaspora and the importance of Caribbean folklore in his own artmaking. Ibo Mandingo hails originally from Antigua; Rodney and Schneider are from Trinidad and Tobago and St. John’s respectively. During his performances, Ibo Mandingo noted that in the Caribbean, things like music and food are more alike than they are different.

As Schneider tapped out a beat on his

djembe, all three wove a narrative thread from West Africa to the Caribbean, where the heartbeat of a drum took on dozens of shapes, timbres and personalities. As he spoke, he slowed the motion of his hands, making the djembe whisper and groan just slightly.

“That’s the ocean that we crossed many years ago,” he said of the sound. It was as if a gentle rain had started falling beneath his palms. Minutes later, Rodney would fold in the sound of Trinidad and Tobago with his steelpan.

that is common in Senegal). Taking volunteers from the audience, Ibo Mandingo lifted handcrafted masks from the nearby bookshelf, transforming young listeners into fearsome animals. Two young boys, for instance, became a crocodile and a scorpion.

“Once you put the mask on, you don’t have to worry about anyone seeing you,” he said with a little grin. As the volunteers waited for directions, he snapped into teacher mode, complementing a young attendee on his Afro as he told a story of mothers weaving seeds into their childrens’ hair with the fear that they would be kidnapped and experience hunger. He checked in on the kid’s classes, asking about school before the skit ever began.

“You are a Black boy on your way to becoming a Black man,” he said, explaining that he hoped to empower the boys as part of his work. “When we know who we are, we fly.”

The show explored classic fables such as the story of the Crocodile and the Scorpion, the Tortoise and the Hare, and the Lion and the Mouse, with puppet masks at the ready to accompany each one. Although they seemed simple, they came with lessons each time, and allowed the audience to stay engaged. With each new story, volunteer actors from the audience jumped in, becoming part of New Haven’s present Black history as they assisted the puppets in telling the story.

In one, for instance, a scorpion asks a crocodile for a ride across a river. The crocodile initially rejects the request, and reminds the scorpion that if he were to sting him, they’d both drown. When the scorpion promises it won’t, the crocodile agrees. They make it halfway across before the scorpion stings him, and they both go down.

“Maya Angelou famously said, ‘When somebody shows you who they are, believe them,’” Ibo Mandingo said afterwards. “So when you feel danger, recognize that you feel danger and trust your instincts.”

He then spoke directly to the parents, “Parents, watch your children because they are magical beings, and if you watch them really closely, you will see exactly why they came to this planet. If you focus on nurturing them and teaching them the importance of moral values, you will never have to worry about their success in the world.”

men on stage brought each story to life, with live and accurate depictions of animal noises, and instrumental hums that turned into environmental sound effects. The performance had the entire audience on its toes and bridged a gap between ages, races, and culture, celebrating Black history and the history of Black culture in and beyond the U.S..

“Your job is to keep your inner kid and never give it up because that’s where the joy is,” Ibo Mandingo said. He later added that “The biggest thing is showing the kids that you can take everything out from your imagination, really big humongous things and they get into that and then you see them become fearless when it comes to what they want to try and that to me is beyond important.”

Ibo Mandingo is not only a puppeteer but also a poet, visual artist, writer, musician, and seamstress. Growing up with grandparents who were both seamstresses, he learned how to sew very early in life. Now, he makes his very own puppets, bringing his very own characters to life. In education, Ibo Mandingo said he believes the role of puppets does wonders, by keeping young learners not only engaged but also excited and imaginative with their studies. On Saturday, the presence of puppets helped teach young people about the things that are beyond themselves, and within celebrating Black History Month, also celebrating the unity within humanity.

“We are not historians, we are the keepers of our people’s history,” he said, “Today is the 39th day of celebrating Black history this year,” pointing to the celebration being practiced year round, not just in the month of February.

“The language of the drums were really able to draw in the children today,” said Beaver Hills Alder Gary Hogan, “They were able to have this character from Iyaba who makes the whole show go so seamlessly, and they get to learn about their roots in something different than technology.”

“This is where we got in trouble,” offered Ibo Mandingo. “Cause the minute it was realized that we talked with these—” he tapped a hand drum “—and we were talking back and forth,” that’s when people started to take away drums to limit communication.

It was a primer for over an hour of audience participation, including a retelling of Aesop’s fables that made space for Black people and Black stories (it is not a coincidence that one of the puppets is named Aesop Diop, a Wolof surname

That lesson remained close as he pressed forward, reminding attendees that it’s better to have one good friend than many friends who are friends with you for the wrong reason. He recalled the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, in which the hare allows the tortoise to win a race so that he will look like a fool, and the whole school will cheer on the hare. He invited in the tale of the Lion and the Mouse, when the lion spares the mouse but never expects to need the mouse's favor in return. When its paw—and life—are saved by the mouse, he learns that big things come in small packages and to never judge a book by its cover.

With every narrative turn , the three

Hogan is also the exalted ruler of Elks Club East Rock Lodge, which has joined forces with Stetson Library to put on a series of community events . Since the beginning of the partnership, Stetson has been able to host a “History of Hip Hop” night, parties in honor of Kwanzaa, and look forward to hosting teen hang out nights along with additional events celebrating Black history during the month of February.

“Stetson is really a place where we can preserve our culture and our history,” Hogan said. “When Iyaba comes and performs he really helps us do that.”

Grayce Howe was the Arts Paper's 2024 New Haven Academy spring intern and is now in her senior year. The New Haven Academy internship is a program for NHA juniors that pairs them with a professional in a field that is interesting to them. Grayce plans to continue writing for the Arts Paper throughout her senior year, so keep an eye out for her byline in these pages! Lucy Gellman contributed reporting.

Grace Howe Photos.

The New Haven independent

Super Bowl Performance

6 Hidden Messages You Might have missed in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Performance

“Kendrick Lamar’s half time show wasn’t boring or trash — it just went over your head” – Anonymous

Kendrick Lamar didn’t just perform at the Super Bowl—he delivered a masterclass in cultural storytelling. His set wasn’t just about the music. It was a statement. A reflection of Black history, identity, and struggle—wrapped in rhythm and movement. Every lyric, every visual, and every move was intentional. Let’s break down six hidden messages you might’ve missed in his performance.

1. UNCLE SAM / UNCLE TOM

When Uncle Sam…uel L. Jackson appeared in a red, white, and blue suit, it wasn’t just for show. It was a remix of Uncle Sam, America’s symbol of patriotism—but flipped on its head. And when Jackson called Kendrick “too loud, too reckless, too ghetto,” it was a deeper callout. This moment echoed the way Black artists and activists are often told to shrink themselves to fit into society’s expectations. It was also a subtle nod to the Uncle Tom stereotype, a historical reference to Black individuals who are expected to conform to white societal norms.

2. THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED— BUT ON WHOSE TERMS?

“The revolution is about to be televised; you picked the right time but the wrong guy.” This line wasn’t just a lyric—it was a direct reference to Gil Scott-Heron’s poem The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Scott-Heron’s original message was that real change doesn’t come through media-friendly spectacles; it happens in the streets, in communities, and through grassroots movements. Kendrick took that message and flipped it, suggesting that while the revolution is being watched, the people broadcasting it may not be the ones leading it.

3. MASS INCARCERATION IN AMERICA

If you didn’t notice, Kendrick’s entire set was designed to resemble a prison. The uniformity of the dancers, their synchronized movements—it all symbolized how mass incarceration disproportionately affects Black communities. Kendrick has spoken about this issue before in songs like Institutionalized and DNA. By putting it front and center in his performance, he forced millions of viewers to confront an issue that is often ignored in mainstream conversations.

4. THE AMERICAN FLAG: BUILT ON BLACK LABOR

At one point, the dancers came together to form an American flag. But then, they bent over, backs in the air—a haunting visual representation of how Black labor built this country. The imagery was striking. Shortly after, the flag split into two groups, a stark reminder of the racial and social divisions that still exist in America today. It was a bold statement, one that challenged the traditional narratives of unity that Super Bowl performances often try to sell.

KEPT

Before launching into Not Like Us, Kendrick dropped a powerful line: “40 acres and a mule, this is bigger than the music.” This was a direct reference to the unfulfilled promise of reparations made to freed Black Americans after the Civil War. The phrase has become a symbol of economic injustice and the racial wealth gap that persists to this day. By invoking it on one of the biggest stages in the world, Kendrick made it clear that this conversation isn’t going away anytime soon.

6.

The Drake diss in Not Like Us was already making waves, but Kendrick took it a step further by bringing out Serena Williams. Dressed in blue, she performed the Crip Walk—an iconic move she was once criticized for after winning Olympic gold. This time, though, she owned the moment unapologetically. It was a statement about reclaiming Black culture on a global stage, turning a moment of past scrutiny into one of celebration.

More Than a Performance—A Cultural Statement

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

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

Kendrick Lamar knew exactly what he was doing. His Super Bowl set wasn’t just a performance—it was a lesson, a conversation, and a declaration. He challenged the mainstream audience to look deeper, to question the narratives they’ve been fed, and to acknowledge the struggles that continue to shape Black identity in America.

Every beat, every move, every lyric had a purpose. And if you weren’t paying attention, you might’ve missed it.

Happy Black History Month.

Team Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Team Staff Writers

Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers

David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery

Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur

Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee Contributors At-Large

Christine Stuart

www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

The Inner-City Newspaper is published weekly by Penfield Communications, Inc. from offices located at 50 Fitch Street, 2nd Floor, New Haven, CT 06515. 203-3870354 phone; 203-387-2684 fax. Subscriptions:$260 per year (does not include sales tax for the in State subscriptions). Send name, address, zip code with payment. Postmaster, send address changes to 50 Fitch Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Display ad deadline Friday prior to insertion date at 5:00pm Advertisers are responsible for checking ads for error in publication. Penfield Communications, Inc d.b.a., “The Inner-City Newspaper” , shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors or errors in publication, except to the extent of the cost of the space in which actual error appeared in the first insertion. The Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The entire contents of The Inner-City Newspaper are copyright 2012, Penfield Communications, Inc. and no portion may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. 10

National Association of Black

SERENA WILLIAMS: OWNING THE CRIP WALK MOMENT

WE WELCOME THE CURIOUS

Edward A. Bouchet was the valedictorian of the Hopkins class of 1870, the first African-American to graduate from Yale College, and the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. in physics. His intellectual drive and dedication to his studies remain hallmarks of a Hopkins student today.

Since 1660, Hopkins School has provided students with an exceptional education and the skills required to succeed in the world.

To learn more, please visit us at hopkins.edu.

CELEBRATING

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

HONORING VISIONARIES IN HUMANITY

From Booker T. Washington’s advances in education, to George Washington Carver’s inventions, to the scientific contributions of Dr. Patricia Bath and Dr. Shirley Jackson, to the pivotal role Rosa Parks played in the civil rights movement, and to Maya Angelou’s literature and social activism, Boscov’s celebrates courageous African-American humanitarians everywhere for their accomplishments and the lasting contributions they have made in education, science, and beyond.

Maya Angelou

Dr. Shirley Jackson

Booker T. Washington

Rosa

Dr. Patricia Bath

George Washington Carver

Rosa Parks

SCSU Student Mentorship Makes "El Coquí" Soar

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Alex was hunched over a drafting table, his mind ablaze. On the pages in front of him, a Puerto Rican superhero was taking shape, ready to throw down for his community. Across the room, El Chupacabra slipped in through a window, a slick, gravel-voiced vision in yellow and orange. A column of light glowed neon green behind him.

In the front row, college senior Dahlia Greenberg followed along, her eyes flitting from the script to the stage, and back to the script again. Only when a voice bubbled up from the back of the theater—"Okay! We’re gonna take this a little bit under tempo!”—did she pause for a moment, and take in the fantastical universe around her.

This month, Greenberg is one of several Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) students working on El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom, running at Long Wharf Theatre through February 23. Written by Matt Barbot and directed by Kinan Valdez, the production unfolds at SCSU’s John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, as part of Long Wharf’s second season in itinerancy. Performances run Wednesdays through Sundays at the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, where a creative team has transformed the stage into a black box theater. Tickets and more information are available here.

“I love Long Wharf’s new mission to

develop communities,” said Valdez, an educator at the University of California, Santa Cruz who grew up in El Teatro Campesino and later produced its first

independent feature. “The fact that we’re here at Southern, that’s the natural community. And aligning with the mission of Long Wharf is critical for me.”

“I am always interested in providing pathways and entry points into the arts for anybody,” he continued. “And so I always love seeing students make discov-

eries about what is possible in the field that we work in. I think this is part of the wonderful thing about what Long Wharf is doing.”

Set in Brooklyn, New York in the early 2000s, El Coquí Espectacular tells the story of Alex (Jason Sanhez), an aspiring comic book artist and Nuyorican who is struggling as much with his own identity as he is to craft and popularize the stories he wants to tell. At home, he’s caught in an in-between, explosively creative in the midst of a family (Susanna Guzmán as his mother, Patricia) who doesn’t totally get it, and has been swayed by the gospel of capitalism (Xavier Cano as his brother, Joe) and profit, even if it’s at the expense their own community.

Enter El Coquí, a crime-fighting superhero named after the small, singing tree frog that has become a national symbol of Puerto Rico (for those who have heard it, its chirping, bird-like call is instantly recognizable). As Alex shape-shifts in and out of character—complete with a vejigante mask that he keeps under his bed—he meets unlikely allies, including a photographer named Yesica (Melissa Francesca Duprey), who has her own vision for what his superhero can and should be.

Maybe because it’s a superhero play, Alex must contend with a villain named El Chupacabra (Michael John Improta, in a wickedly fun performance), an entirely psychological presence named after the blood-sucking monster in Latin

Listen: Eastbound Theatre At The MAC

Lucy Gellman, Editor The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

The year is 1985, and tensions are simmering in the fictionalized township of Brakwater, South Africa. Inside a classroom at Zolile High School, Mr. M and Thami Mbikwana are at a crossroads, their words straddling decades of understanding. Mr. M is older, more traditional: he believes that education, discussion and peaceful persuasion can create a path to liberation. Thami, a fresh-faced teenager with dashed dreams of becoming a doctor, wants to see change at any cost—even if it means violence.

Inside, it's a narrative sparring match, the sentences barbed and combustable. Outside, the sharp realities of apartheid shake the country. At some point, something has to give.

That conflict is front and center in Athol Fugard's My Children! My Africa!, running at the Milford Arts Council (the MAC) through Feb. 15. Directed by Noelle Fair with an intimate and tight-knit cast, the work puts a sharp focus on race, racism, and social change in 1980s South Africa, telling a story from apartheid that remains painfully relevant today. Tickets and more information are available here.

"Disaster and tragedy happen, but also I think that it carries this uplifting message of, despite difficult times, there's hope," said director Noelle Fair on a recent episode of "Arts Respond," a collaboration between WNHH Community Radio and the Arts Paper. "... It's incredibly relevant. It's incredibly powerful. Audiences definitely come out of it feeling that they were struck with something."

"There's a really great line in the second act of the show, where my character Thami talks about how if change isn't being made for certain types of people, they will take matters into their own hands for that change to happen," added Matt Simmons, who has been acting with Eastbound for two years. "That is one of the recurring themes of this story ... overall, I am hoping that we can get as many people in

the theater to see this story [as possible] ... I'm hoping it will just speak to a lot of people in different aspects."

Written in 1989, My Children! My Africa! tells the story of Mr. M (crafted from the real-life story of Anela Myalatya and played by Herman Livingston), a longtime educator in apartheid-era South Africa who is trying to teach his students that learning and discourse are the way forward.

His protégé, Thami (Matt Simmons), disagrees: he is disturbed by the unequal and often inhumane treatment of Black South Africans like himself and his mentor, and starts to get political when he doesn't see change happening any other way. In the midst of all of it, the audience also meets Isabel (Sabrina Lingenfelter), a well-meaning white girl who wants to see change, but is also a beneficiary of segregation in ways she doesn't even understand.

Fair, a Maryland transplant who is a teacher by day, has long dreamed of directing the show. Twenty years ago, she saw a performance as a requirement for a design class. When the final curtain had closed, she sat frozen in her seat for five minutes before getting up and returning to life as she knew it. She didn't expect

that she would be working on it 20 years later—or that it would be just as relevant. "It made me very curious about the Apartheid, because I don't think we're taught much about it in U.S. schools, and I kind of always had this show in the back of my brain," she said. "I didn't think that Eastbound Theatre would pick it ... and they did! So I'm excited to direct it. When they picked this, I said, 'Okay, here we go.'"

The result has been an educational journey for the cast and creative team, which includes several teachers. When Eastbound took the show—long before the U.S. election and a polarization of the country that she sees everywhere—Fair collected and shared materials with the cast that also has used for her Black and Latino History Studies classes, including on Trevor Noah's book Born A Crime. She and the cast learned and rehearsed words in Zulu and Xhosa, which are woven into the show. They built a timeline of South African history and invited in fellow educators, including Lily Saint, an associate professor of English at Wesleyan University. They dove in to the script, making space for discussions about the cyclical nature of history.

Now, they're excited to bring it to the stage.

Isabel Dyson, and Matt Simmons in My Children! My Africa! KVON Photo Courtesy of the MAC.

Curtis Brown Photography, courtesy of Long Wharf Theatre.

Con’t on page 15

Special Ed Staff Shortages Spotlighted

by Laura Glesby

High burnout rates, low pay, and insufficient state funding have led to an untenable shortage of special education staff in New Haven public schools.

School employees and parents conveyed that message to Education Committee alders calling attention to lapsed services for some of the city’s highest-needs students.

They did so as the mayors from Connecticut’s five biggest cities have teamed up to press the governor and state legislature to increase state funding for local school districts more broadly, and for municipal special education services in particular. Gov. Ned Lamont has responded by proposing a $40 million hike to the state’s primary reimbursement model for special education costs. (See more on that below.)

At City Hall on Jan. 22, meanwhile, Education Committee alders hosted a workshop on the state of special education in New Haven Public Schools (NHPS), revealing the district’s challenges with burnout and staff retention among special education staff.

Student Services Executive Director Typhanie Jackson reported to alders that as of November 2024, more than 3,000 NHPS students received special education services to support a disability. Special education covers students with a wide range of needs, including neurodivergent kids, kids with learning disabilities such as dyslexia, kids with physical disabilities such as visual or hearing impairments, and kids with mental health diagnoses, among others.

Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students whose disabilities interfere with their education are entitled to an Individualized Educational Program (IEP)— which can lead kids to get pulled out of class for shorter periods of academic or therapeutic support, placed into a specialized classroom, or in some cases (for about 300 kids, according to Jackson) sent to a private institution deemed to be more capable of serving their needs.

According to New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) Vice President Jenny Graves, the district’s Applitrak system currently reports 14 special education teacher vacancies, six psychologist vacancies, two social worker vacancies, and multiple speech and language pathologist vacancies.

Graves noted that even if all of these vacancies were filled, a district committee determined in March 2023 that NHPS would need to hire another 30 special education teachers, 65 special education paraprofessionals, 16.5 full-time social workers, 6 school psychologists, 20 speech and language pathologists, and 11 school counselors in order to meet its own “best practice” guidelines. These additional positions would cost nearly $8 million, she said.

At the Education Committee meeting, Fair Haven Alder Sarah Miller pressed NHPS leadership on the impact of the staff shortages on students.

“I hear from a lot of parents who feel that their kids’ IEPs are not being met, and it seems to me given the staffing it would be impossible to actually meet the IEPs,” she said.

“I wouldn’t say ‘No, the IEPs are not being met,’” replied Jackson. “I definitely know there are some places where we have had some gaps… I wouldn’t say they’re not being met. I would say we would have optimal services if our caseloads were according to the staffing guidelines.”

NHFT President Leslie Blatteau offered a different assessment.

“IEPs are not being complied with. Those are legal documents,” she said in an interview. “We’re sounding the alarm here that there are not enough resources in place to ensure that students’ needs are met.”

According to NHFT Vice President

Graves, “In the last year or two, we’re facing more of a retention issue than a recruitment issue.” She reported at the aldermanic meeting that during the 2023 – 2024 school year, the district gained 33 special education teachers while losing 30 of those teachers. The district gained five social workers and lost eight, she added.

Michelle Labrador, a paraprofessional who works in a special education classroom at the high school level and who’s also a parent of a special ed student argued that special ed staff are leaving at such high rates because “they can’t afford to stay.”

“As a para, I feel like sometimes at the bottom of the totem pole,” Labrador said. She said she makes $900 every two weeks to work in a classroom of students with a wide array of complex needs, including multiple non-speaking kids and wheelchair users.

“You’re giving 150 percent because you chose to give the extra 50 . … Then again, as a special ed parent, I’m hoping the staff at my son’s

ition and transit costs, in the long term. The hurdle, she said, is that “we have to find the money” upfront in order to build such a program.

The state’s Excess Cost Grant system was designed to help districts pay for these additional special education expenses, intending to cover the portion private tuition costs that exceed 4.5 times the district’s average cost per student.

However, the state has only partially funded this grant system. According to the School + State Finance Project, schools districts were reimbursed for 64 to 75 percent of their calculated excess costs in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024.

Gov. Ned Lamont has proposed adding $40 million to the Excess Cost Grant in FY 2027 a 20 percent increase from the grant’s current $181,119,782 in funding.

The proposals fell short of what some education advocates had called for. According to CT News Junkie, Sen. Cathy Osten, a Sprague Democrat who co-chairs the Appropriations Committee, said that the $40 million is “not even close” to what’s needed, covering about a third of the funding gap.

Another fiscal challenge, Negrón told the alders, is the inflexibility of school funding systems to account for mid-year changes in the student body. If, for example, a high-needs student arrives at the district mid-year and needs to be placed in a private institution, Negrón said, “All of a sudden we would have to find about $183,000 just to support one child.” Lamont has also proposed a $14 million grant program for 2027 to help school districts build out internal special education programs, with the ultimate goal of reducing private tuition costs.

school is doing the same thing as well.”

Graves also attributed the retention problem to burnout associated with “very high caseloads” and “unrealistic expectations,” she said.

“As each year goes by, it has been increasingly difficult to do my job in a thorough and ethical manner,” said SuLin Carbonelli, the school social worker for High School in the Community, who said she has a caseload of 54 students with IEPs.

Education Committee Chair and Annex

Alder Sal Punzo noted that the school district spends about $25 million on private tuition for 300 “high needs” students whom the public school system cannot adequately serve plus another $4 million or so on transportation for those students. He asked school leadership whether the school system is considering building up an equivalent program for those students within the school system. NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón agreed that a public program for those students would “save money,” both in terms of tu-

Blatteau additionally pointed to the state’s Educational Cost Sharing formula which determines state funding for school districts in part based on the needs of each student population, which is slated to fully increase funds for higher-needs school districts by FY 2026 as a potential avenue for addressing special education funding shortages. She called on the formula to account for the number of special education students in a given district, on top of existing factors such as low-income and multi-lingual students. This funding, Blatteau argued, should come from loosening the state’s self-imposed budgetary restrictions, often called “fiscal guardrails.”

It should also come from higher taxes on the wealthiest residents of one of the country’s most unequal states, Blatteau added.

“We need more people. We need more classrooms,” Graves told the alders in January. “I know they create another self-contained classroom every year. It does not make a dent.”

“It is very disheartening,” she added, “to not meet the needs of your students.”

Laura Glesby file photo Typhanie Jackson: "There are some places where we have had some gaps."

The New Haven independent

Note By Note, Untold Stories Stretch From Dixwell To Kinshasa

Lucy Gellman

In a gymnasium just off Dixwell Avenue, two worlds were colliding. In one, twin violins whispered amongst themselves, unbothered as cello came in beneath them. One called out in the open space, a cry at the edge of its voice. The other responded, gliding through the same notes.

Halfway across the world, a grandmother ran desperately towards a doctor, her grandchild writhing in pain in her arms. Viola entered the fray, and for a moment, the notes sounded like her footfalls. On a whiteboard behind the musicians, a line wove between the words calm, poison, and faith.

That importance of shared story—and its ability to connect people in a time of increasing global divisiveness—came to Dixwell Community Q House last Wednesday, as playwright Toto Kisaku joined Music Haven for the latest installment of “Voices: Untold Stories” and a performance from the Haven String Quartet (HSQ) and Harmony In Action student orchestra. The series fuses immigrant and refugee voices with audience participation and short improvisations.

Musicians included HSQ members Yaira Matyakubova and Patrick Doane on violin, violist Linda Numagami, and cellist Rebecca Patterson, in for the HSQ’s Philip Boulanger. For the first time in Music Haven’s history, the concert also featured elders from the Dixwell Senior Center, who have been studying with Matyakubova for the past several months.

“What makes story?” Kisaku mused before tracing his own journey from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the U.S., where he landed with his son as an asylum seeker in 2015 (he was granted asylum three years later). “It’s the movement. It’s the breath. It’s the environment. It’s the way we are making space to exist. Without story, we do not exist.”

“Did You Hear It?”

From the moment attendees filled the gymnasium Wednesday, narrative became a bridge, building a deep, shared humanity through words and music well before Kisaku took the microphone. On a floor-turned-stage, musicians turned toward the work of composer George Walker, who died in 2018 at the age of 96. In 1996, Walker made history as the first Black person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

A Fulbright scholar, concert pianist and graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Eastman School of Music, Walker became a fierce advocate for himself and fellow Black artists, offended by the expectation that his race could and would ever dictate the kind of music that he played. In over seven decades, he made that mark clearly on music, with works that ranged from compositions for voice and piano to full symphonic arrangements. His work “Lilacs,” for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, interweaves music and voice with Walt Whitman’s 1895 “When

Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” Listen to it here.

As the quartet began his “Lyric For Strings,” first written as “Lament” in 1946, that sort of sweeping, expectation-bucking approach felt very much alive. In the work—which Walker wrote when he was just in his 20s—strings encircle each other, something throbbing and mournful just beneath the surface. Over a carpet of viola and cello, a violin breaks away, its voice laced with grief and ambition all at once. It’s then that there’s a shared breath, a gathering of sorts—something that feels like resolution—before everyone continues forward, ready to tell a short story of a life interrupted by grief.

While there is an overwhelming, elegiac weight that hangs over the whole piece—something that critics would later observe that Walker did especially well— it is more striking for its sense of calm. Strings exist beside but also within and in-between each other, as though they are capable of holding each other up. And no wonder: the piece is a meditation on the artist’s own sorrow, and the love that is inextricably tied to it. When he initially wrote the composition, Walker dedicated the work to his late grandmother, Malvina King.

“Did you hear it? Did you hear the story?” said Matyakubova, who also serves as Music Haven’s artistic director. In the front row, student Yovhani Cruz sat at the edge of his seat, ready for a performance of Maria Theresia von Paradis’ “Sicilienne” that came later in the program. “You see, without a single word, we understood each other. That’s what this is about.”

From Kinshasa To New Haven

Nowhere, perhaps, was that clearer than in Kisaku’s story, which begins in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democrat-

ic Republic of Congo, at the end of the 1970s. As attendees took paper and pencils to write down notes on the story, Kisaku turned the clock back to 1978, as he arrived in the world on December 30 just a little after 12 p.m. Born into a family of economic contrasts that reflected the country—his mother was very poor, and his father was very wealthy—Kisaku was raised mainly by his grandmother, Charlotte Tito. While Tito’s neighborhood struggled with poverty, Kisaku remembers it as a childhood surrounded by love, with a kindness and resolve from Tito that ultimately saved his life.

“It was like being in the middle of nowhere, but if you are kids, you cannot understand that, because of the happiness,” he said. “Because happiness doesn’t have limitations, you know what I mean? … I grew up with a lot of joy, a lot of happiness.”

For a while, Kisaku and his grandmother—and the other kids in the neighborhood—had a rhythm, including Saturday morning trips to a nearby church that sustained Tito spiritually. Then when Kisaku was five years old, the neighbor next door tried to poison him as a way to punish his grandmother. He still remembers the feeling of pain exploding in his body, and his fear that he was going to die. In Tito’s mind at church some 20 miles away, “something just said, ‘Yeah, I have to go back,’” he recalled. “She didn’t know why she was running.”

When she found her grandson at home, already sick, Kisaku’s grandmother lifted him onto her back and began running— first for a taxi, then for a church, then for a hospital. From the hospital, a doctor referred Kisaku to a second place, where a homeopathic healer was waiting for him. He ultimately stayed in her home for

path—although he could not have known it then—to artistic expression, to sharptongued political theater, to a brush with death at the hands of corrupt government leaders, and ultimately to seeking asylum in the United States.

From that conversation, Kisaku enrolled in Kinshasa’s Institut National des Arts, where he studied theater before founding his own company, K-Mu Théâtre, in 2003. In and outside of the classroom, he could feel a sharp divide between the arts education he was getting and the experience he had lived as a poor kid in the same city. It became his goal to reconcile the two in his mind, and in his work.

“I just realized, I have to love human beings,” he said. “I have to help human beings.”

two years, recovering until he was well enough to start school.

In the gymnasium, an intimate audience had fallen to a hush, hanging onto each word. Every so often, reminders of the setting edged back in: a scoreboard and basketball hoop that framed the quartet’s chairs, a chef hurrying in and out of the community kitchen, a few latecomers who slid into the bleachers and picked up the story.

Back in Kinshasa, Kisaku jumped to his teenage years, as he watched his mother struggling to stay economically afloat. At 16, he started selling loose cigarettes before and after school, setting up a booth in the mornings and evenings before class. While he was a good student, Kisaku’s side hustle complicated his college plans: he started smoking cigarettes, then marijuana, and struggled to keep up in school. He dropped out just short of getting his high school diploma.

This time, it was his mother who saved him. One day when he was 20, Kisaku remembered, he came home to chairs set up around the table, with a bottle of water set out for each of them. By then, he'd been selling cigarettes for three years. The two talked for six hours, during which she told him his whole life story. She pulled no punches: she spoke about her courtship with his father, about his birth and early childhood, about his adolescence and her dreams for him. It rocked his understanding of the world as he knew it.

“Before that, I thought my story was my family’s story,” he said. “My country’s story. My continent’s story. I realized my story was the one my mother told me … it was like a piece of a puzzle. After that story, I told my mother, I will continue with college. I will go to live with myself.”

It was a decision that set him on the

He began thinking about the thousands of children living on the streets of Kinshasa, many experiencing abuse and exploitation in addition to homelessness, hunger, and extreme poverty. Not that long ago, he knew, “maybe I would find myself in the street as well.” In his research, Kisaku discovered that there were 25,000 children in the streets of Kinshasa. Through a community survey, he learned that many of them had been falsely accused of witchcraft.

“The government was a part of that,” he said. “They were using … how can I say that? It was like, the more kids in the street, the more there is no future for the country. There is not people who can think. They cannot work. They cannot invest in education. The government was a part of that.”

The level of corruption, which extended to several houses of worship across the capital city, incensed him. In 2009, he finished and premiered his play “Basal’ya Bazoba” as a way to speak truth to power. He knew that it could—and did—put him on the government’s radar. What he did not expect was that it would almost cost him his life.

In 2015, Kisaku was kidnapped and tortured by the government, an experience he has since recalled in vivid and gut-churning detail in his play Requiem for an Electric Chair. He knew, at some point, that the soldiers supervising him planned to kill him. But when one recognized him—”after shooting several people who were with Kisaku”—he pulled a gun away from Kisaku, and fired into the air instead.

“I cannot kill you because I know you,” Kisaku remembers him saying. It saved his life a third time. He came to the U.S. as an asylum seeker shortly thereafter. A decade later, he and his 15-year-old son are still adjusting to life in Connecticut, where they have made a home. In his work, Kisaku said, he still thinks constantly about how to hold power to account—wherever it may show up. Even in times of political turmoil, he added, he is grateful to be in the U.S.

“America taught me about individuality,” he said. “It is a really good way of being individual and taking care of yourself and fighting. It’s not something I learned

Con’t on page 17

Eddie Tyson, Ella Smith and Gwen Grady with Matyakubova and Kisaku.

The New Haven independent

Mandy Challengers Turn Eyes To State

by Dereen Shirnekhi

After winning a tenant-discrimination case that changed how Mandy Management approaches renters with criminal histories, Mark Griffin is ready to take his fair-housing fight to the state legislature as he also awaits a full pardon for his decades-old misdemeanor conviction.

Griffin celebrated those wins and described those continued advocacy plans at a Wednesday press conference hosted by New Haven Legal Assistant Association (NHLAA) and Mandy Management at NHLAA’s Orange Street office.

The presser served as a followup to Monday’s announcement by NHLAA attorneys Amy Eppler-Epstein and Natalie Smith that the local megalandlord had settled a June 2024 Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) case that legal aid had brought on behalf of Griffin and his partner Cheryl Rabe.

As part of that settlement, Mandy agreed to adopt a formal policy detailing which criminal convictions it will and won’t consider for rental applications. The megalandlord also agreed to pay Griffin and Rabe $20,000.

Griffin and Rabe are no longer to looking to live in a Mandy apartment. Instead, they’re back at Seabury Housing Co-Op which is where they had lived for ten years before they applied to live in a Mandy apartment as Seabury underwent some construction. They applied for a Mandy apartment, got a notice that their application had been denied, and received an attached background check that flagged “limited credit experience” as well as Griffin’s misdemeanor conviction of third-degree assault, dating back to 1989.

The couple reached out to NHLAA, which filed the CHRO complaint and argued that discrimination on the basis of just any criminal charges has a disproportionate impact on renters of color, therefore violating the Fair Housing Act.

After seven months of mediations led by CHRO Commissioner Diane Carter Mandy, NHLAA, and Griffin and Rabe reached a settlement: Mandy and P2P Realty, an agent of Mandy, would pay the couple $20,000, and Mandy would have a public, formal policy making clear how prospective tenants’ criminal backgrounds might affect their rental applications. That policy which can be read in full here – states that Mandy, which is one of the city’s

largest landlords, will consider criminal convictions that have occurred in the last five years and “indicate that the applicant might be disruptive or dangerous, or that are otherwise related to financial dishonesty or fraud.” The landlord will also consider felony convictions older than five years that involved “serious property damage or serious bodily harm,” sexual violence or assault, use of a deadly weapon, or “financial dishonesty or financial fraud.”

Wednesday’s press conference celebrated that policy, which Eppler-Epstein described as a “reasonable, fair agreement.”

Griffin said he is “proud” to be part of process that led to the policy, which gives those with criminal backgrounds the opportunity to show who they are beyond their criminal history.

“Housing should be a right, not a privilege,” Griffin said, “and everyone deserves a place to live.”

Rabe, who was home sick and was phoned in to the press conference Wednesday, said that “it’s been a whirlwind.” She thanked Mandy for “being fair right now” and wanting to set a precedent for other landlord companies.

Ari Hoffman, one of Mandy’s lawyers, was in attendance along with fellow attorney Sara Bigman. Hoffman made it clear that Mandy denies any wrongdoing in Griffin’s case, though he said he wouldn’t go into specifics.

Hoffman said that the policy “reaffirms the company’s unwavering commitment to fair housing,” and that the settlement was a valuable opportunity to work with NHLAA “and make housing available to as many people as possible.”

Mandy’s policy includes an appeals process for applicants with criminal backgrounds who believe they have been wrongfully denied housing. Those applicants have five days to include any documents to make their case, and Mandy has ten days to review those materials. If Mandy overturns their decision and the original unit is taken, Mandy will offer three comparable units to the tenant, NHLAA attorney Natalie Smith explained. The CHRO will also be monitoring Mandy for two years to make sure all is going according to plan.

Now, Griffin, Rabe, and NHLAA’s fight continues to the state level: They’re joining forces with the

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Boscov’s celebrates Black History Month and salutes the men and women whose many accomplishments and contributions have transformed our society. Their impacts on athletics, entertainment, education, journalism, government, and industry continue to influence our lives. We look forward to the youth of today continuing to mold our world and its bright future.

Dr. Marilyn Hughes Gaston

Michael Jordan Harriet Tubman

Simone Biles

Aretha Franklin Nelson Mandela Martin Luther King Jr.

Dereen Shirnekhi photo

Terri Ricks (in red), with Mark Griffin (right), thanks Mandy's Ari Hoffman and Sara Bigman and pushes for them to encourage other management companies to enact similar policies.

The New Haven independent

"It's What Makes Us Who We Are:" Thousands Run, Walk, & Stroll For Refugees

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

On one side of Mitchell Drive, Aslin Argueta and Angie Cana watched the road with bated breath. Already, they’d been up for hours, shaking off the morning cold to register runners and find a place to watch the action from the sidelines. Somewhere in the crowd, Argueta’s parents and uncle were nearing the finish line. When the two saw them coming down street, both burst into cheers and applause.

Sunday afternoon, thousands of runners, walkers, stoller-pushers and at least one four-legged friend beat the snow for the 18th annual Run for Refugees, a 5K from the not-for-profit Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) that weaves through the streets of East Rock before finishing at Wilbur Cross High School. The event raised close to $150,000 for the organization—and sent a strong message of community in the face of unrelenting anti-immigrant rhetoric from President Donald Trump.

“When hate comes our way, the question becomes: How do we as a community respond?” said East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith, whose own mom migrated from Korea to the U.S. decades ago. “I’ll tell you how New Haven has responded. New Haven has said no to hate, and has said yes to love.”

It could not come at a more critical time for IRIS, which is in the midst of a $3 million emergency fundraising appeal following a flurry of anti-immigrant executive orders and freeze on refugee admissions from Washington last month. Last month, a sudden “stop work” order from the U.S. State Department froze new resettlement efforts in New Haven and across the country, cutting off $4 million in federal funding.

That includes a freeze on Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders, who fought alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In the wake of that news, IRIS has laid off 20 percent of its staff.

“The sudden drop in federal funding is hitting us really hard,” said Executive Director Maggie Mitchell Salem, who began her tenure in January 2024. “We anticipated funding would be reduced, but not within the first two weeks [of the administration]. So we're scrambling. We had plans before all of this happened, we're trying to accelerate some of those, but we need to be able to land financially, and that's really tough right now.”

The organization currently employs 70 full-time staff members, including through its satellite office in Hartford. Salem would not share IRIS’ current budget; the organization’s most recent 990 tax filings report a budget of $16,860,154 for the 2023 fiscal year.

Throughout and before the event, both speakers and runners stressed the importance of standing up for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, particularly in the face of a number of federal attacks on newcomers to this country. Prior to

Trump’s inauguration, IRIS had focused its work not only on refugees, but also on migrants largely from Latin America, who received no federal support and relied heavily on private funding. It is unclear where the last month leaves that work.

Smith, who has become a fierce champion of LGBTQ+ and immigrant rights during her first term on the New Haven Board of Alders, praised the city for not giving in to the hate, vitriol and fear-mongering that has unfolded on a national level. Two weeks ago, she was proud to see neighbors collecting and throwing away anti-immigrant flyers that showed up unexpectedly in the city’s East Rock neighborhood. Since, she’s watched New Haveners advocate for and defend their neighbors, instead of letting divisiveness get the best of them.

“When we see orders and words that try to make us distrust our neighbors, New Haven has instead come together, forging collaborations and friendships I know will last a lifetime,” she said. “And now, today, this morning, thousands of us, all of us are here to run fueled by courage, by principle and by care … New Haven, we have made the choice to say no to hate.”

Attorney General William Tong, himself the proud child of immigrants, recalled spending his Friday in federal court in Boston, as part of a lawsuit against the Trump Administration defending birthright citizenship. Tong is currently among 18 attorneys general arguing that Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

For him, the lawsuit is as personal as it is professional: he is a U.S. citizen through birthright citizenship. “So many of us share this story. It’s our story,” he said. “And that is what we’re fighting for today, and every day. All of us, let us

commit to each other as we run.”

“We will never quit, we will never surrender, and we will never, ever back down!” he added before coming down from a stand for speakers and joining the thousands of runners in the street.

During and after the race, several runners and supporters echoed that resolve. After braving the snowy drive from Stamford, first-time attendees Argueta and Cana stood just feet from the finish line, keeping an eye out for family members who had signed up to run. The two, who are cousins, have families that hail from the same town in Guatemala.

When Trump took office in January, the two felt anger and then fear, and then more anger. Since, the past month has felt both personal and “really infuriating,” Argueta said.

their immigrant families. A senior at High School in the Community (HSC), Valencia grew up in awe of his own parents, who migrated from Mexico “to give me a better life,” he said.

His mother, who grew up in Puebla, came to Connecticut when she was just 17. His dad, from Oaxaca, made the journey not much later. There’s not a day when he doesn’t think of the sacrifices they’ve both made to give their children a life in New Haven.

“I get to study here and I get to take full opportunity of the chances that I get,” he said. “Over there, it’s not the same opportunities to have a kid, a family, a home. They came here for the American dream, and I get to enjoy that. Just because we were born here, we still remember where our roots are from. It’s what makes us who we are.”

“There’s a lot of times, in this moment, where I’m really angry,” Argueta said. “It’s really heartbreaking. But again, that reminder that there is always community.”

“Because we come from immigrant families, we knew that it was something that we wanted to support,” Cana added.

A freshman at Quinnipiac University, she is part of her school’s IRIS chapter, and wanted to come after hearing about the event. “For me, it [this moment] is really infuriating, and really scary as well. I have family members who I know are struggling, are scared because of everything that is going on.”

As they cooled off from their first Run for Refugees on the curb, partners Miguel Valencia and Stephanie Vasquez said they also chose to run as an homage to

“I’m glad this state fully supports us, especially the immigrants in this country,” added Vasquez, a first-year at CT State Gateway who is getting her prerequisites in nursing. At home, her and hails from Giatemela and her mom is from Ecuador. Nearby, Yale University senior Carlos Torres called the event “an amazing display of community support,” from the elected officials who hype up the runners to the sheer number and diversity of people who run. As a global affairs major, he’s already thinking about how to effect change on a grassroots level, with plans to move back to his home community in Nevada.

“I think right now with the current political situation, it’s a great reminder that like, we all have each other and we have nothing to be afraid of,” he said.

At a small ceremony for winners inside the school’s gym, Olichka—whose off-stage name is Olga Borsh—said that she too is taking solace in and working to build community during this time. Two and a half decades ago, Borsh immigrated to the U.S. from Odessa, making a home in Connecticut. She’ll never forget the support she received as an immigrant in a new home—or how hard she had to work to build her life here. Now, she tries to do the same for newcomers in whom she can see echoes of her younger self.

“This is who I am,” she said. “This is who my friends are. We are adults, and I think there are other ways they [the current administration] could send a message without hurting families and tearing them apart.”

Saturday, she performed a series of Ukrainian folk songs before a lectern draped with the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag. Every so often, runners stopped by to admire her dress, a pattern of traditional Ukrainian embroidery on thick white cotton.

efore leaving the mic, she cued up the music to "Oy U Luzi Chervona Kalyna," a Ukrainian folk song preaching national resistance. It felt right for the moment, she said.

“At the end of the day, we’re super optimistic and we’re unbreakable,” she said. “We know we definitely will win. We will stay for our rights, and be as a country again, as a whole.”

Carlos Torres.

Maggie Mitchell Salem. Bottom: Smith and Tong, who both ran after speaking.

Friends Eve Famutimi and Timeica Bethel.

DeLauro To Co-Chair Dems’ “Rapid Response Task Force”

by Jonathan D. Salant

(Washington) Rep. Rosa DeLauro has been in the forefront of Democratic efforts to push back against President Donald Trump, and on Monday she got a new title to reinforce her role.

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee the panel that writes the spending bills each year to fund the federal government will be one of three co-chairs of the new “Rapid Response Task Force and Litigation Working Group.”

The group will be chaired by House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, Democrat of Colorado. Besides DeLauro, the other co-chairs will be Reps. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.

The new task force is the latest Democratic effort to formally build an opposition infrastructure to President Donald Trump and his ally, Elon Musk, who are cutting agencies and programs previously approved by Congress.

DeLauro and other Democrats also have talked about using the March 14 deadline for avoiding a government shutdown by

Paul Bass file photo

withholding their votes for a spending bill without guarantees that the money already approved by Congress be spent.

Leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress do not have enough GOP votes to pass a spending bill without Democratic support, giving the minority party a seat at the table.

“We are engaged in a multifaceted struggle to protect and defend everyday Americans from the harm being inflicted by this administration,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, said Monday in announcing

the task force leadership.

That includes working with outside groups that are filing lawsuits to block Trump’s actions. Federal judges have done just that, and one of them, U.S. District Judge John McConnell said the administration has violated ’the “plain text” of the restraining order by continuing to block spending.

The state of Connecticut is a party to one of the lawsuits.

“We are a nation of laws,” DeLauro said late Monday. “I implore my Republican colleagues to stand up for the rule of law, for the separation of powers, for Congress’s proper constitutional role, and for the survival of our shared experiment in self-government. The Trump administration must end the lawlessness, end the destruction, and end the attacks on our constitutional order.”

That was the latest criticism from the pulpit she has by virtue of her committee leadership post.

Over the weekend, she criticized Trump’s new policy capping indirect costs for National Institutes of Health research grants despite a federal law preventing such actions. She said the cuts would cause “irreparable damage to on-

going research to develop cures and treatments” for numerous diseases.

On Friday, she questioned why taxpayers should spend $49,900 for “emergency painting” of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s government-provided residence. “How does that use of funds comply with the administration’s stated goal of government efficiency?” DeLauro and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the top Democrat on the Appropriations military construction subcommittee, wrote to Hegseth.

She earlier joined other members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees in a letter to Acting U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Dorothy Fink, saying that “the department’s actions over the last two weeks have done nothing to improve the health of Americans” while disrupting early childhood education, domestic violence programs, opioid treatment programs and research and clinical trials to find cures for diseases.

The New Haven Democrat also criticized Senate Republicans for confirming Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget, blaming him for the Trump administration’s “chaos, confusion, and flagrantly unconstitutional actions.”

DeLauro takes on another leadership role.

The New Haven independent

Armory’s Next Use: Vo-Tech School?

by Thomas Breen

Mayor Justin Elicker dropped a hint in paragraph 46 of his annual State of the City address about the potential future state of the Goffe Street Armory: as the home for a new vocational school.

He gestured towards that educational reuse of the long-vacant and dilapidated Dixwell building in the closing section of the address he gave to the Board of Alders Monday night, which the Independent reprinted in full here.

“And our team continues to make steady progress on the vision of a vocational school in New Haven and we have our sights on the Goffe Street Armory as a potential home for such a school,” Elicker said. “I know this is important to so many of you in this room, as it is to me. We’re excited at the potential such a school can have for so many of our young people.”

This isn’t the first time Elicker has spoken up about trying to create a new vocational school in town, as the alders OK’d spending several million dollars in federal Covid-relief funds to explore just that. Nor is it the first time the city has put forward grand hopes for a major reuse of the stately, empty, 155,000 square-foot, redbrick building, which was first constructed in 1930.

But that Elicker’s state of the city address does gesture towards the coalescing of a more concrete plan of putting that particular use at this particular location.

“We’ve been exploring for quite some time the concept of a tech school or a career pathway school,” Elicker told the Independent in a followup interview. He said his administration has been looking into career pathways that could ensure students’ success in local jobs that pay living wages in sectors that are expanding.

Those sectors that could be the subject of a new vocational school, he said, including health sciences; architecture and construction; transportation, distribution and logistics; manufacturing; and informational technology.

He said the city has held “two large convenings” with public school representatives, state legislators, local university leaders, and others about how and where to build out such a vocational school.

“We’ve focused on the Armory being a potential site for this,” and have been working with the Armory Steering Committee to flesh out the idea.

The structure of how such a school would operate, he said, would be similar to Educational Center for the Arts (ECA).

“Basically, it wouldn’t be a school that

students go to only. They go to their home school in the morning, and then they go to tech school in the afternoon to get additional training.”

He said such a tech school could also offer evening training sessions for adults, in addition to afternoon sessions for high schoolers.

Elicker said that the city’s current vision for the Armory is for it to potentially host three distinct and mutually supportive uses: a vocational school, a “community type of use, like an arts space,” and housing, with ideally a portion of those residences being affordable.

“The Armory is gigantic, and we think

it’s potentially appropriate for all of these things,” he said. “Because it’s such a huge space to operate, we’d also need a revenue stream. There’s where the housing could be helpful.”

He said the Armory strikes the city as a uniquely appropriate location for such a tech school in part because it is “centralized” and “very close to Hillhouse, [and] easy for students to get to for midday programming.”

So. What’s next?

“The building’s a mess,” Elicker said. The city has applied for $8 million through the state’s Community Investment Fund “to bring the building up to a state of good repair.” That means fixing the roof and remediating asbestos and other pollutants.

He said the city expects to hear about whether or not that application is successful later this month. This is the second time the city has applied for that level of CIF funds for this project.

He also noted that the city did receive a $250,000 CIF grant that’s helped with planning for what the Armory could be. The city is now “doing some initial design work,” and New Haven Public Schools is “working on an operational program and budget to design out what the [vocational]

Con’t on page 16

Fresh Starts Screened, Preached At Youth Prison

by Lisa Reisman

“Less than three years ago, I was called a number just like you,” Marcus Harvin began. “From this moment on, never call yourself a number. Never accept that.” The scene was the library of Cheshire’s Manson Youth Institution (MYI), a Connecticut Department of Correction state prison for men under the age of 21. Harvin was at the facility earlier this month for a screening of “Fresh Start: A Marcus Harvin Story,” a short-form documentary that chronicles Harvin’s journey from incarceration to Yale Prison Education Initiative graduate to founder of the nonprofit Newhallville Fresh Starts, an enterprise to bring change through nutritional sustenance.

His appearance was part of the Next Level Empowerment Program, which aims to “facilitate successful re-entry through access to resources before, during, and after transition into the community.”

At MYI, Next Level’s focus is to “deter these young men from poor decision-making and ultimately a life of crime by teaching them through lived experience,” said Ray Boyd, the nonprofit’s founder, as well as program manager at the Yale Law and Racial Justice Center; Boyd was released in November 2021 after serving 30 years in prison from the age of 17. “The idea is to show these men through Marcus what success looks like,”

he said. Harvin, it seemed, was up to the challenge. “There is no inmate number on your birth certificate,” he told the 20 young men, clad in tan jumpsuits and seated across round tables in the cavernous space, before the screening. “Where you are right now is not who you are. What you did is not what you can be.”

He told them that when he walked out of prison a free man, on May 16, 2022, he “didn’t go home because my time was up. I went home because I made the most of my time.”

He read everything he could get his hands on Shakespeare, Machiavelli, and Michelle Alexander, to name a few and enrolled in the joint UNH and

Yale Prison Education Initiative, where he studied, among other classes, medicine and the humanities. Meanwhile, he was leading a Bible study group, one open to all religions. “We used the Bible as foundation for conversation,” said Harvin, a licensed minister.

Another conversation was happening with his friend and now business partner, Babatunde Akinjobi, a plan to provide nutritional sustenance to anyone who was hungry. “That’s the first step to everything else,” Harvin said. “If someone’s stomach is growling, they can’t hear anything.” From that plan came Newhallville Fresh Starts which in 2024 served 30,000 meals to people in homeless shelters, warming centers, and women’s shelters, Harvin reported, using excess food from the dining halls of area universities.

“No one will just hand you an opportunity, or a second chance, or a fresh start,” said Harvin, after describing a men’s support group he formed at Upon This Rock Ministries, called HIMpact. “You have to create your own. And right now is the time to start.”

The reason: “You have the most time to do what you want to do and be who you want to be right now, to free yourself from expectation,” he said. “A lot of people don’t believe you’re going to be someone. I like surprising people. This is your chance to surprise them.”

“How do we do that?” one of the

screening’s imprisoned attendees asked.

“Make good use of the time you have here,” he said. “Don’t read hood books. Don’t listen to war stories. Don’t tell them. War stories are what got you here. Change the music you listen to. Don’t listen to anything that’s glorifying the life that got you here. There’s nothing glorious about prison.”

Read the books now, he said. Learn how to study, to develop good habits. Turn the TV off.

“Which books?” someone else asked. Harvin named the Steve Jobs biography for its lessons on discipline, as well as Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon,” Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” and “The Death of Ivan Ilych.” That’s where he learned the Latin inscription respice finem, or live with the end in mind, to remind himself that life will not last forever, and to make the most of it.

Boyd, who leads discussion groups every Friday at MYI, lauded the staff, including Warden Michael Pearce, Deputy Wardens Tammy Perreault and Lynnia Johnson, and counselor supervisor Jilena Cichon for affording access to Harvin, as well as “their involvement in the rehabilitative efforts of the young men here.”

When the presentation ended, a queue of the young men thanked Harvin with a handshake or a hug.

“When can you come back?” one asked.

Andrius Banevicious photo Marcus Harvin (right), with Ray Boyd, at Manson Youth Institution.

Thomas Breen file photo Future home for workforce training ... and housing and community space?

The New Haven independent

The New Haven independent

Choral Classic Reborn At Woolsey

by Adam Matlock

Music’s ability to offer hope or resilience, to soothe or to bolster, is often a feature of the conversation around public performance of classical music. In Woolsey Hall on Sunday afternoon, washed entirely in natural light, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra amplified that message.

On one hand, there was hope for the future of a great astounding, truly American choral work: “The Ordering of Moses” by R. Nathaniel Dett, an oratorio written and premiered in the 1930s but which has only really begun to enter the canon of regular performance in the last decade.

On the other hand, there was what felt like a balm in a time that is, for many, uncertain and terrifying in equal measure. This was in part accomplished by the 90-minute uninterrupted run of the performance, where the first third of the program featured performances by organist Nathaniel Gumbs, a particularly moving arrangement of the spiritual “Go Down Moses” performed by the Heritage Chorale of New Haven, and two opportunities for participatory singing.

Maestro Perry So introduced the concert as the Connecticut premiere of “The Ordering of Moses,” and programmed compositions and arrangements largely by Dett’s contemporaries, fellow Black American composers, including Florence Price, in an effort to give a context to the

vibrant artistic circumstances in which these composers were working. The organ performances were especially invigorating. Gumbs made a spectacular display of the finale of Price’s Sonata No. 1, drawing clarity out of a dizzying series of modulations and technical flourishes firmly grounded in the expected language of the organ. Moments of extreme density were shaped by breaths and pauses in the music, where the massed sound of the organ had the chance to reverberate in the hall a bit before the music continued.

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Similarly, an introduction to “We Shall Overcome,” arranged by Gumbs, brought the familiar hymn of the Civil Rights movement into almost cinematic territory, with sparkling ostinati in the treble range while the melody appeared, fragmented, on the lower voices of the instrument.

The harmonic treatment here was particularly effective, bringing a level of complexity to this common melody that then transitioned seamlessly to an a cappella choral arrangement. The audience was invited to join the singers, including

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the Heritage Chorale, the New Haven Chorale, and the Fairfield County Chorale, in this and the performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

More voices joined in than not, though some faltered at times due to the unexpected emotional rawness of singing, in public, these workhorses of the Civil Rights movement in America. Perhaps in this time they take on a new resonance. Perhaps there is an intimacy to public music making, in a time where this form of expression is often left to professionals, religious communities, and social media, that serves as a tonic to frayed nerves. Whatever the reason, kudos to the NHSO for carving out some space for this activity on the program, where it felt like a natural progression in the sequence, rather than a gimmick or distraction.

The orchestra then got to work on “The Ordering of Moses”, an oratorio with an expository narrative (rather than a staged narrative like opera), woven throughout 15 scenes led variously by the orchestra, the vocal soloists, and the choir. While the narrative elements certainly explained some of the compositional choices from one movement to the next, the deft, elastic orchestration and expansive harmonies employed by Dett gave this work a real coherence throughout its performance.

Sometimes there was a distinct spiritual writing, including places which worked with the melody of “Go Down

Moses.” But Dett’s language involved romanticism, baroque elaboration and modern harmony in turn, and was thoroughly a pleasure to hear evolve throughout the work.

Given the demands of the piece, including some wonderful solo cello alongside baritone Kenneth Overton in the work’s opening, the NHSO delivered a confident performance, as though this piece was the well-seasoned bit of American orchestral repertoire it clearly deserves to be. Often the solo voices (including soprano Amani Cole Felder, mezzo-soprano Krysty Swann, and tenor Albert Lee) were paired with a single melodic instrument in an intricate duet, while the rest of the orchestra was left to bubble up and evolve around these voices. And there were many lush moments where the choir and organ were employed as part of the orchestral texture; the former singing wordless melodies alongside an animated solo trumpet, while the latter would powerfully reinforce some of the rich harmonies which were a feature of this piece. At the climax of the piece, a powerful chord, bolstered by high notes from Cole Felder and Lee, delivered an astonishing density of sound. But rather than ending on that triumphant note, Dett weaved the orchestra through one final feint before sticking an impactful final landing a few phrases later. The audience leapt to their feet in applause, and seemed to soar out into the remaining daylight.

Matt Fried Photo

The New Haven independent

Makes "El Coquí" Soar

American and diasporic folklore. Meanwhile, another villain comes in the form of highly-processed, sugar-drenched soda that is marketed to Puerto Ricans in the play, despite its very real threat on their health (soda and sugar feel like the perfect metaphor for white supremacy: they brings together colonialism, consumption and profit in one place)

The result is at turns funny, candid, thoughtful, and deliciously Boricua, from the titular superhero and a mix of lilting Spanish and English to a Puerto Rican flag that hangs on the back of Alex’ bedroom door, adorned with careful, handdrawn designs in black marker. Indeed, Barbot has come up with a work woven with humor, sharp wit, high-stakes fantasy and a battle with identity that feels both highly specific and deeply universal.

As the play comes to life in the Lyman Center, theater students have jumped onboard to assist with every aspect of production, from checking sight lines and taping the floor to getting feedback from Barbot and Valdez, who were on site for rehearsals (click here for an interview with the playwright). At a final tech rehearsal last week, many of them fanned out across the half-lit house, coats and jackets slung over chairs where an audience would soon be for previews. A voice overhead gave a five-minute warning, and actors slid into their places.

Onstage, the cast was preparing for a fight scene between Alex and El Chupacabra, whose physical presence in the show is very real despite the fact that he lives in Alex’s imagination. Fight director Gabriel Rosario, who grew up in Puerto Rico and now lives in New York, stood as if he was preparing to conduct a piece of music. With a voice that had a cold, reptilian edge, Improta hopped onto a bed, its mattress sagging beneath his feet.

“Alright, let’s hold please,” said production stage manager Izzy Patt, their voice crisp and precise. “So, we’ve got some fight changes—”

From her place in the front row, Greenberg seemed to make a mental note. She leaned back just slightly, watching Rosario get ready to do his thing. On cue, Alex rose and took on some new source of strength, prepared to give El Chupacabra all the fight he had in him.

“The only reason you’ll be going to the parade this year is you’ll be wearing a mask,” El Chupacabra taunted and hissed, his voice slippery and low, not quite human. “A thin layer of Papier-mâché between you and your shame!” The cackling felt imminent.

There was a beat, then Patt’s voice came back in, firm and chipper. “Okay, we need to talk through this transition for actors!”

Somewhere in the back of the house, senior Aaron Kleinman made a note of the shift, and settled in for another go at the scene. For weeks, he’s served as a script supervisor and comic book consultant on the show.

During their lunch break, several SCSU students weighed in on what has made

the experience so meaningful. Kleinman, an interdisciplinary studies major who wants to write for animation after he graduates, said he’s glad to be putting his own knowledge of comics to use. Before college, he worked at the Hartford-based hobby shop Comics & Collectibles for five years. It’s helped him jump into the show, lending both advice and personal items like some of his own comic book posters.

“I see it as an opportunity to hone myself a little in a more professional setting, compared to what I’m used to,” he said. “It feels very familiar—the difference is, there are just more people, and they have more professional phrasing about what they say.”

While he wants to write for animation, “I feel that knowing how every facet of the arts works only makes you stronger,” he added. That’s one of the things he’s valued most about the chance to help on El Coquí Espectacular.

Greenberg, a junior studying theater and arts administration, added that it’s given students a space to learn beyond their classes and productions in the theater department (all of them also had high praise for Mike Skinner, the chair of and an associate professor in the department). She recalled sitting on opposite ends of the theater, checking sight lines—that’s theater jargon for whether the audience can see the actors—and standing in for actors as the crew dry teched the show.

“It’s been very collaborative,” she said.

“It’s been great, where we kind of know that our primary function is to observe and offer help when necessary, but we’ve still been invited into that collaborative space and asked our opinions. It just makes us feel like we’re able to contribute to it, which I really appreciate.”

“The biggest thing that I’ve been very grateful to learn is just how things work within the union, specifically,” she added.

“Getting to learn about that has been a very good experience for me.”

For senior Jennifer Barragan, an assistant production intern who hopes to one day attend the David Geffen School of Drama (DGSD) at Yale, it has been a life-changing experience. A transfer student from the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa in Sinaloa, Mexico, she began her studies at Southern two years ago.

Even then, she knew that she wanted to pursue theater. So when the chance to help out on a professional show came through, it was a no-brainer. Since late December, she’s helped tape the floor, put up screens, set up the rehearsal rooms and helped with bringing in props. She was amazed, she said, that she got to work as closely as she did with Valdez, whose own roots as an educator shone through every time they spoke.

“They have been really kind and willing to share their knowledge, so open and friendly, so open to us asking questions,” she said. “It’s amazing that they’re willing to share these experiences with the students and with everyone else in the

Dance Dance Resolution, At Hillhouse

by Maya McFadden

“Get out your heads and get into your bodies!” Hillhouse High School dance teacher Millette Nunez instructed her students, as each of them danced to the upbeat rhythm of Afro-Caribbean guitar and drums.

That was the scene last Thursday in Hillhouse’s dance and acro class that Nunez teaches. In the first-floor classroom, Nunez taught her 18 students the beginning of a student-made choreography for their new unit in African dance. Before jumping into the rhythmic footwork of the choreography, senior Janae led her classmates through their daily stretches. Thursday kicked off a new graded task Nunez had for each of her students: they had to be student-teachers for a day and lead their peers through a warmup.

“The point is to make sure you know how to warm up the body independently of class,” Nunez told her students.

As Janae spent several minutes guiding the class through stretches like shoulder and neck rolls, and knee and ankle circles Nunez reminded her to “trust yourself, you’re doing great,” and settle her nerves.

Throughout Thursday’s class, the group discussed insecurities, healthy posture, and self-esteem. They looked at a few PowerPoint slides to learn the history of Sub-Saharan African dancing. Nunez described it as “empowering,” as needing “total body articulation.”

Last week was also the class’s first week having newly installed wall mirrors.

At the start of each class, Nunez collects students’ phones in a bin. She told one student on Thursday, “Put the iPad away, please. You can put it in the bucket with your phones, I don’t mind holding it for you, my love.”

She explained that her collecting students’ phones is “not a punishment, I just want you to be present.”

The class didn’t just dance on Thursday; they also did their daily journaling of affirmations and what they’re grateful for. At the end of each class, they also journal about what new things they’ve learned about their bodies and how they felt about the lesson.

Ninth grader Camdyn Johnson said she enjoys the dance class because practicing different movements improves her skills as a Hillhouse cheerleader. So far this year she’s learned ballet steps, which she enjoyed because she’s never done ballet.

“Dance gives me something else to focus on, like movements and that’s it,” she said. “It gives me a moment in the day to focus on my body.”

While learning Thursday’s dance, Nunez instructed the students through

steps like a pas de bourrée and reminded them to “get out your heads and get into your bodies.”

The group used the classroom’s new mirrors to keep their footwork in unison while they danced to “Afro Tropical” by IVANN.

By the end of class, the students had journaled about the new words they learned, like “scapula” and “obliques.”

They were also able to answer questions from Nunez, like “What do we call that thing in the body where two or more bones meet?” The class correctly answered, “A joint.”

Senior Diamond Furlow said she’s been doing dance since she was 6 years old, and she said she looks forward to the Hillhouse dance class each week because it has introduced her to new dance types, like bachata. She said she also enjoys learning more about the health of her body because “it’s stuff we should know, because we all have bodies.”

She said the twice-per-week dance class also provides her with a “break to learn in a different way.”

During Thursday’s class, Furlow danced her way to the back of the classroom to urge her younger classmates to find their rhythm and confidence at the front of the group.

She concluded that being in the class with first-time dancers has allowed her to “see things in a different way” and work at a slower pace when needed.

Nunez said the installation of the classroom’s new mirrors helped her students significantly. She was able to “see them come alive” and have more confidence in their dancing.

This year is the third year Hillhouse has offered the dance and acro course taught by Nunez.

Nunez is a graduate of Co-op High School and a Beaver Hills resident. She previously taught Spanish at Hillhouse between 2001 and 2008. She then taught partner acrobatics to adults internationally for ten years.

She described herself as a “movement enthusiast” who aims to “try to get kids to feel good about themselves and their bodies.”

Upon her return to New Haven, Nunez specifically requested to go back to Hillhouse. She planned to teach Spanish again until school admin approached her and encouraged her to introduce the dance and acro class.

She frequently reminds her students throughout her classes to get out their minds and into their bodies because she believes in the importance of finding healthy coping outlets at all ages.

“Like sports, the arts save kids,” Nunez said.

school might look like.”

Reached for comment on Friday, Armory Steering Committee co-leader and longtime Armory advocate Elihu Rubin confirmed that the city had indeed raised this possibility of a vocational/workforce training use at the Armory in a recent meeting with a “core group of advocates” and public school representatives.

“I am really excited about the possibilities of having a creative learning center,” a use that fosters opportunities, skills, and job training, at the Armory, he said. One of the most promising parts of the mayor’s mentioning of the Armory in the state of the city and his latest explanation to the Independent about the potential votech plans for this site, Rubin continued, is that they indicate that “the City of New Haven will continue to be a long-term steward and potentially owner of this building, and that there’s a public-sector anchor tenant that would provide services.” Many community members have voiced interest in exactly that.

“The fact that the city is stepping in to stake a claim on the Armory, to say we see this as a potentially important place for city priorities and that those priorities are around education, not just for young people but adults to find opportunities … is something that’s come up again and again” in community planning for this space. “I’m very buoyed by this statement” by the mayor.

He said that the mayor’s recognition that the Armory could be the home for a vo-tech school, housing, and community arts space is also an acknowledgment that “there’s more than enough space in the Armory for more than one thing.” Rubin stressed two priorities he’d like the city to consider as it moves forward with planning for the Armory’s reuse.

“We have strongly reminded the city that the drill hall should be preserved as an open space,” Rubin said. “No major building, like walls and rooms, should be carved out of the drill hall. The drill hall should retain its potential to serve as a big gathering space for any number of different programs, a flexible space that could be programmed differently over the course of a year.”

And, he said, it’s important that “the process remain transparent,” and that “public input will matter” as to how exactly the Armory will be put back to productive use.

Fellow Armory Committee co-leader Nadine Horton agreed. She described the vo-tech school as a good idea for the Armory, and stressed that, ideally, it would provide “practical skills not just for young folks, but for adults as well,” particularly those returning from incarceration.

She noted that the Whalley Avenue jail is right next door to the Armory. “If they could literally go from that door into a space where they could learn a skill” would be quite the positive transformation for their lives, and for the neighborhood.

Nunez teaches about history of African dance.

Thursday's dance and acro students with Nunez.

Students take a break from dancing and journal instead.

The New Haven independent

NXTHVN Takes NXT

a lot from my country. In my country … people are struggling to do something, to create something. But over here, people are fighting. In a good way, that’s what I learned.”

“Something To Carry With Me”

It also brings on nine high school student apprentices, each of whom works one-on-one with a fellow on a year-long project. Last year, the summer exhibition Roots To Benevolence grew out of that collaboration. Later this month, apprentices will host a virtual Black History Month open mic night, a first for the organization. Kemp, who worked previously at The Future Project, has been working closely with students as they pivot from virtual apprenticeships back to in-person gathering this year. He pointed to the importance of play and experimentation in their work.

Before concluding, HSQ members graced the gym with short improvisations drawn from Kisaku’s story, on which the audience had been scribbling notes throughout the program. Building on a handful of terms, the quartet flowed back into music, letting the instruments do the talking. At one point, the word rich prompted Matyakubova to announce “Give me money!” in a growl so fierce and unexpected that even musicians lost their composure momentarily.

“That gets lost a lot in schools, sometimes even in other after-school programs,” he said. “To really play in their imagination, and then being at a place like NXTHVN, which was created out of imagination.”

But it was Matyakubova’s three new students, all regulars at the Dixwell Senior Center, who ultimately stole the spotlight at the end of the show (watch their performance with Harmony In Action here). In interviews after the concert, all three noted the importance of story in their own lives—and the lessons they will carry from their lessons going forward.

He added that being in person has allowed him to check in honestly with students, all of whom have now lived with pandemic-era education for almost two full years. He’s acutely aware of the level of anxiety that students are facing, he said. The program is meant to be the antidote.

“I’ve been wanting to play for such a long time,” said Gwen Grady, an elderly services specialist with the City of New Haven who picked up the cello last summer. “There was something about the cello that I just liked.”

”It’s to the point, not to get too deep here, where it’s not just ‘I suffer from anxiety,’ but ‘I am anxiety,’” Kemp said. “That’s what I hear from a lot of young people. They almost take depression and anxiety on as their identity. So a lot of what we do is directing them towards their own power.”

Growing up, Grady watched her twin brothers, Edward and Bruce Butler, excel in music. As they grew up Edward went on to Julliard, and Bruce became a trumpet player. Grady, meanwhile, stayed right where she was.

TRAIN LIVE

Non-residential Job Corps students have the flexibility to live at home while receiving the same career training and education as those who live on campus.

In March, 2021-2022 curatorial fellows Marissa Del Toro and Jamillah Hinson will open Let Them Roam Freely at the Henry Street gallery. Then in early June, studio fellows Layo Bright, John Guzman, Alyssa Klauer, Africanus Okokon, Patrick Quarm, Daniel Ramos and Warith Taha will all be part of a show in New York City, at a gallery that NXTHVN has not yet shared the name of. The organization is still accepting applications for its 2022-2023 fellowship; people can apply here.

Tuition-free career training and education

For years, she knew she loved music— but the only practice she had was in the church choir. She loved the cello so much that she ordered one a year ago, and tried to teach herself using videos on YouTube. Then a year or two ago, she was filling in for a colleague at the Atwater Senior Center when Matyakubova called. Grady asked if she’d consider teaching.

“It’s such a blessing for her to teach us,” she said as Matyakubova worked to tidy up the gymnasium before Thursday’s snowstorm.

“This is doing something different,” added Eddie Tyson, who has been studying the violin.

McCraven, an early-career art historian, curator and Fulbright alum who grew up in the area, said that she’s especially eager to show young people that “this is really a viable path,” and NXTHVN is for them, too. After years attending the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and later working for Kaphar and the Amistad Center for Art & Culture in Hartford, it feels like a full-circle moment.

Earn your high school diploma or the equivalent

Train in high-growth industries

Gain hands-on work experience

Take community college classes

Participate in clubs and sports

Get involved with community projects

Develop friendships and connections

Receive nutritious meals and basic medical care NON-RES STUDENTS RESIDENTIAL STUDENTS

CONSIDERING ENROLLING AS A NON-RES STUDENT?

Non-res might be for you if you are:

– 16–24 years old

– enrolling at a Job Corps center in your hometown

– responsible for taking care of children or other family members

– motivated to train for a career during the day, Monday through Friday

Beside him, Ella Smith (or as she is known around these parts, simply Ms. Ella) agreed. As a girl growing up in North Carolina, Smith studied the piano for close to 10 years. But when her family relocated to New Haven, the instrument didn’t make the trip up North, and “I couldn’t get back to the music,” she said. Now, decades later, she’s learned that it’s not too late to follow a dream. She, like Tyson, has been studying the violin for several months.

“Growing up in the area, I didn’t see something like NXTHVN,” she said. “And if I had, I think I would have come to the arts even earlier.”

NXTHVN’s fellowship program is currently accepting applications for its 20222023 cohort. People can apply through Feb 21. There is no formal education requirement. www.nxthvn.submittable. com/submit

“I love music of all kinds,” she said. “It gives me a sense that I am owning something. I have something I can carry with me.”

From the Classroom to the Living Room: Three Ways Families Can Help Children Build Early Literacy Skills

By Nicol Russell, Ed.D.

As a young child, I’d help my dad comb through coupons in the Sunday newspaper each week. With his guidance, I’d find familiar pictures and letters and pieces together to recognize words, connecting the text with meaningful ideas and objects from my life before I could even read. I didn’t know it then, but this weekly activity not only created fond memories with my father, but it helped build a foundation of important pre-reading skills that would support my journey to literacy. Today, just one in three fourth graders are reading on grade level, signaling an urgent need to ensure all children can build reading and writing skills even before they enter kindergarten.

State lawmakers have responded to the nation’s call for action. Most states have adopted policies to transform classroom instruction to teach young children to become competent, confident emerging readers through evidence-based pedagogy aligned with the science of reading. Now, it’s time to turn those policies into strong practice — from the classroom to the living room. As an early childhood curriculum leader who started her career in the classroom, I’ve seen first-hand the importance of ensuring educators — including those who teach children in the critical year before kindergarten — have access to high-quality curriculum, assessments to measure learning progress over time, and meaningful training on how to best use those tools with their unique students.

I’ve also seen, in my work and as the parent of a young reader, the importance of building a strong home-school connection. In a recent survey, 91% of early childhood educators underscored the importance of parent/caregiver engagement for developing early literacy skills in young students. This echoes a wide body

of research that shows the positive links between involved families and student achievement. So, how can families help young children build a strong foundation for reading and writing? Here are some suggestions that are both fun and free. It seems like an obvious suggestion, but the power of reading — as families and independently — cannot be overstated. Research shows the number of different types of literacy materials in the home, the amount of home reading, and the opportunity to discuss reading are all related to reading proficiency. Families can start their literacy journey together by taking a trip to the public library together. At the

library, children can engage in storytime events and explore the stacks for books and magazines that catch their attention. Adults, too, should pick titles they are interested in reading independently, as modeling good reading habits is also beneficial. Back at home, families are encouraged to set aside time each day to read together. Families can make storytime more engaging for children by pausing throughout the story to ask questions about the plot or about how certain themes in the story make their child feel; using different voices for the different characters; or even acting out the story with toys.

Incorporate literacy skills into everyday activities.

Families don’t have to spend a lot of money on activities or programs to help their children on their journey to literacy. There are many ways to incorporate reading and writing skills into everyday life that are both free and fun.

Try, for example, simply making a list. Lists are an easy way to get your child to write. Consider:

• Making a grocery list. Ask your child about their favorite meal or treat and work together to write down all of the ingredients you’ll need to make it. For younger children, you can read your grocery list

aloud, playfully emphasizing the letter sounds and showing them the ingredients at the market to keep them engaged.

• Writing the steps of an everyday chore. Invite your child to write and illustrate the steps in an everyday chore, like doing laundry. Then use that list for your child’s future reference.

• Taking an order. Role play you are dining in a restaurant, and encourage your child to write down your order. At the end of the day, ask specific questions.

It can be difficult for young children to remember what they did during the day so asking, “What did you do today?” may not generate a lot of conversation. So, ask different, more specific questions to help them recall some events, such as:

• “What story did you hear or book you read today? What was it about?” Retelling stories encourages comprehension, sequencing, and use of narrative language, which are essential for literacy.

• “What was the best song you sang or heard today?” Songs and rhymes strengthen phonological awareness and help children recognize sound patterns in words.

• “What new word did you hear today? Help me learn what it means.” Discussing or introducing new vocabulary enhances a child’s language skills and comprehension.

The nation is grappling with a literacy crisis that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. We have an opportunity to reverse course — but a new law, curriculum, or literacy coach alone won’t bring about the real change our children need. Policymakers, educators, advocates, and families alike must unite to support our young readers. And even simple actions, like combing through the Sunday newspaper for coupons, can have a lasting impact. Dr. Nicol Russell is the Chief Academic Officer at Teaching Strategies.

At 102, Eloise Brown is one of the Eagles’ oldest fans born way before the team existed

by Dollita Okine, Face2FaceAfrica.com

Eloise Brown, a 102-year-old Philadelphia native, has been a devoted fan of the Philadelphia Eagles since the 1960s, a passion that began while watching games on TV with her children.

Remarkably, Brown has been alive longer than the Eagles, having been born in 1922—11 years before the team was founded. The native of North Philadelphia worked several jobs: first as a housekeeper, then as a social worker, and then in the arts with civil rights activist and politician Delores Tucker.

Over the decades, she has witnessed 17 division titles, one Super Bowl victory, and countless highs and lows. Her big family includes 27 grandchildren, over 50 great-grandchildren, and over 20 great-great-grandchildren.

Her granddaughter, Sabrina Hall, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Brown has never missed a game. She remarked, “Never. It’s a part of who she is.”

In 2022, Brown celebrated her 100th birthday by attending the Eagles-Commanders game in Landover, Maryland.

Although the game started slowly, she revealed, “I closed my eyes and said a little something. I told the big man upstairs. And that was it.” The Eagles went on to win 24-8 during that game.

Brown also recently celebrated her 102nd birthday with a special trip to her fifth Eagles game, watching her favorite team defeat the Cowboys. She was dressed in a green Eagles jersey, matching earrings, and a hat, and she was warmly welcomed by the team.

Team president Don Smolenski gifted her a custom jersey with her name, “Brown,” and age, “102,” on the back. By the end of the day, it had been signed by several players, including Jordan Mailata, Brett Toth, and Landon Dickerson.

Her day was filled with memorable moments. In the tunnel, players like Brandon Graham and C.J. Gardner-Johnson stopped to greet her, with Graham giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. After the game, Brown was invited onto the field, where she met head coach Nick Sirianni and posed for photos with the game ball. “It almost broke my arm,” she joked. “That thing is heavy.”

Hall noted how much the experience meant to her grandmother, saying the Eagles staff and players treated her “like she was their grandmother,” with everyone calling her “Ms. Brown” or “Mom-mom Brown.”

The centenarian disclosed that the team sometimes frustrates her and often grips her football-shaped stress ball during tense moments.

“Plenty of times, they frustrate me. But I keep that stress ball,” she said. Her granddaughter Sakina Johnson added, “When they lose, she loses, too.”

Brown took last season’s playoff collapse hard, even crying over the outcome. More recently, she expressed concern for quarterback Jalen Hurts after he suffered a concussion, saying, “I just want to hug him. I just want him to heal.”

Reflecting on the team’s first Super Bowl win, she said, “I was happy. I was jumping up and down. And I hope I live to see it again. I’ll be jumping up and down. By myself. Right in here.”

Brown will be watching as the Eagles face their next challenge, ready to cheer them on as she has for over six decades.

Eloise Brown

Hidden Black History: The First Open-Heart Surgeon Was Black

by Karen Heslop, BlackDoctor.org

Up to the late 1800s, many doctors believed that an injury to the heart was too complex to treat. As a result, many patients who presented with heart problems that needed to be corrected with surgery were turned away. Fortunately, Daniel Hale Williams opened the door to the possibility of operating on the heart successfully.

Who was Daniel Hale Williams?

In a biographical article, Who Was Dr. Daniel Hale Williams?, written by Jackson State University, it’s shown that Daniel Hale Williams was born in Pennsylvania on January 18, 1856. While he spent some time as a shoemaker’s apprentice and in the family’s barbering business, Williams eventually decided to further his education. In 1883, Williams obtained his medical degree from the Chicago Medical

College.

Though he was considered to be a skillful surgeon, he was working at a time when African Americans weren’t allowed

to be employed in hospitals. Disliking this practice, Williams decided to found the Provident Hospital and Training School for Nurses. It was the first hospital in the

U.S., to institute a nursing and intern program that employed Black people. That hospital is now called Provident Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. He carried on fighting for the rights of African American doctors and Black people in general for many years.

How He Changed Cardiac Surgery

It was at Provident Hospital that Williams performed the first open-heart surgery on a human being in the summer of 1893. According to his history article in Britannica, Williams performed this surgery without the aid of modern technology like blood transfusions, anesthetics, antibiotics, or X-ray guidance. He was still able to open the patient’s thoracic cavity to examine the heart and suture a wound to the pericardium – the sac that surrounds the heart. Upon repairing the wound, he closed the patient’s chest successfully. Though little is known

about the patient after the surgery, it’s been said that he was discharged within 51 days of the surgery and lived for another 20 years after the procedure. After Williams’ groundbreaking surgery, doctors became more open to performing cardiac surgery and their approaches to heart injuries were revolutionized. This is a part of our new series – “Hidden Black History” where we highlight uncommon facts throughout Black history. Join us every day in Black History Month for interesting facts about Black people and places that you likely haven’t heard before!

https://www.jsums.edu/gtec/dr-danielhale-williams/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/ Daniel-Hale-Williams

https://www.rbht.nhs.uk/blog/history-cardiac-surgery#:~:text=The%20 early%20years,and%20cardiac%20surgery%20was%20born.

TRUMP PLANS TO OWN THE GAZA STRIP

By April Ryan

The reaction is swift to the new redevelopment plan by President Donald Trump to level the Gaza Strip as the United States is expected to take it over and occupy the land. Jamal Bryant, Sr. Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia told Black Press USA, “This is a dark moment for humanity! The light in the holy land has blown out with the decisions of the Trump administration.” Bryant emphatically stated, “We are effectively co-signing a genocide, and people around the world should be morally outraged.” During the joint Press Conference with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, Trump expressed that he wants to turn this valuable property, the Gaza Strip, into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, condemned the proposal calling it a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region”. Hamas vows that “our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass,” Chair of the Board of the NAACP Leon Russell says of the East Room announcement that” Palestinian genocide is not an acceptable goal for the United States Government or its citizens.” Just 15 days as President in this second term, the Trump announcement upends decades of US policy towards the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Russell emphasized, “The United States must be intent on making the half-hearted cease fire and exchange of hostages/prisoners a permanent and lasting peace providing peaceful homelands for Israel and the Palestinian diaspora.”

However, the president's focus is on

this project. “The U.S. will own” and “will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” according to Trump. Meanwhile, the president has not ruled out the use of the US military to conduct this leveling and ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip. This US redevelopment project is already being called a “crime against humanity” according to Russell who went on to say, “No one in a uniform of the United States Armed services should ever enter Gaza.” Trump believes the US occupation will “supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area”. The 47th president of the United States was emphatic that his “administration would take responsibility for clearing destroyed buildings and dismantling “dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons” in the Gaza Strip.

SCHUMER CALLS FOR URGENT DEMOCRATIC RESISTANCE TO TRUMP’S POLICIES

By Stacy M. Brown

Just three weeks into his second term, President Donald Trump’s grand promises of a “golden age for America” are already crumbling, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer charged in a blistering letter to colleagues. Schumer accused the administration of prioritizing wealth and power for the elite while systematically dismantling government services and endangering national security.

Schumer warned that Trump has handed control of his administration to “cronies, sycophants, and radicals” committed to implementing Project 2025—a far-right blueprint designed to gut federal agencies and consolidate power among the wealthy.

The Senate minority leader outlined a sweeping Republican assault on the civil service, including the firing of independent watchdogs, illegal attempts to purge public servants, and efforts to strip away consumer protections and law enforcement oversight. He also accused Trump’s allies of hijacking government databases and recklessly compromising Americans’ private information, including Social Security numbers and tax records, which he warned could leave millions vulnerable and expose sensitive data to foreign adversaries.

Schumer described the Republican agenda as a direct attack on working families, accusing Trump and his allies of seeking to enrich the wealthy at the expense of

the middle class. He pointed to the GOP’s top legislative priority: tax cuts for the wealthy, warning that their plan would “explode the deficit” while slashing funding for healthcare, education, housing, and manufacturing jobs.

Despite the Republican majority, Schumer declared that Senate Democrats would not stand by idly. He announced that Senate Democrats had launched a Whistleblower Portal for public servants to report corruption and abuses of power. He vowed that Democrats would hold Trump accountable through congressional investigations, demand letters, and legal action to preserve public records and block illegal policies. He also emphasized that Democratic attorneys general and advoca-

cy groups have already secured court victories against Trump’s policies, including injunctions blocking funding freezes and efforts to purge civil servants. He pledged continued legal support to counter “lawless actions.”

With a government funding deadline looming on March 14, Schumer criticized Republicans for prioritizing judicial confirmations and tax cuts over bipartisan budget negotiations. He warned of a potential “Trump Shutdown” and vowed that Senate Democrats would use their votes to “steady the ship” and prevent devastating funding cuts. Schumer also praised Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey for leading efforts to expose the real-world

consequences of Trump’s policies, citing grassroots protests and public outcry as key factors in forcing the administration to reverse an Office of Management and Budget freeze. He called for continued pressure to block further rollbacks, arguing that the stakes could not be higher. Schumer warned that the early weeks of Trump’s second term have confirmed fears that his administration would serve only the wealthiest Americans. “Trump’s promise of a ‘golden age’ is merely glitter,” Schumer wrote, urging Democrats to remain vigilant in protecting American families from what he called the administration’s “coordinated assault on democracy.”

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams

NNPA NEWSWIRE — During the joint Press Conference with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night, Trump expressed that he wants to turn this valuable property, the Gaza Strip, into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

Assistant to the Tax Collector

The Town of Wallingford is seeking an individual with strong supervisory skills to assist in the collection of revenue from local property taxes including revenue generated from town utilities. The position requires an A.S. degree in Business Administration or related field and 2 years of accounting, bookkeeping, or collections experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. Must possess a CT driver’s license and obtain designation as a CT municipal tax collector within 3 years of appointment. Salary: $69,124 to $87,566 annually. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, individual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. The closing date will be February 11, 2025 or the date the 40th application is received, whichever occurs first. To apply online, 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

The Glendower Group, Inc

Request for Qualifications Interior Design

The Glendower Group, Inc., is currently seeking proposals from qualified firms for Interior Design Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 3:00PM.

Electric Utility System Operator/Dispatcher

Operates electric distribution substation and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for an electric utility serving 25,000 customers. Coordinates electric system switching and places equipment in and out of service during routine and emergency operations. Requires HS diploma/GED with 2 years experience in the operation of Distribution SCADA equipment and/or switchboards used in the distribution of electricity. Experience and training may be substituted on a year for year basis. Must maintain valid system operation certification from Connecticut Valley Exchange (CONVEX) or other approved agency or be able to obtain the same within 90 days of hire. Must posses and maintain a valid State of CT driver’s license. $ 43.05 - $ 50.36 per hour plus an excellent fringe benefit package. To apply online by the closing date of February 14, 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

360 Management GROUP

Request for BID Marshal Services

360 Management Group is currently seeking proposals from qualified firm for Marshall Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, February 19, 2025, at 3:00PM.

REQUEST FOR BIDS

Repairs and Improvements at the Union Station Parking Garage New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven Parking Authority Project #23-009

Bids due February 27, 2025 at 3:00 PM EST

Bid Documents including Special Notice to Bidders for Community Subcontracting Opportunities, Project Manual, Drawings and Bid Forms will be available beginning Thursday, January 30, 2025 at no cost to you by downloading from the BuildingConnected FTP system website. Please contact Maryann Bigda of Turner Construction Company, which is the New Haven Parking Authority’s professional construction program manager, at (203) 712-6070 for BuildingConnected FTP system access information.

The New Haven Parking Authority will receive sealed bids for Repairs and Improvements at Union Station Parking Garage, NHPA Project #23-009, until 3:00 PM EST on Thursday, February 27, 2025. All Bids shall be submitted through the BuildingConnected FTP system. Bids may be submitted at any time leading up to the specified due date and time and will remain sealed within the BuildingConnected FTP system until the specified due date and time. The New Haven Parking Authority will be conducting a virtual public bid opening using the Zoom Link provided in the Bid Documents. At this Zoom bid opening, all bids will be publicly opened and the name of the Bidder and its total Bid Price will be read aloud. Bids received after the time set for the opening will be rejected.

The work for this project includes, but is not limited to: concrete repairs (including post-tension tendon repair), brick and masonry repairs, waterproofing (including expansion joint replacement, cracks, control joints, construction joints, and cove joints), roofing replacement, finishes and related work (including painting and coatings), mechanical, electrical and plumbing repairs and improvements (including HVAC repairs), hazardous building materials abatement, miscellaneous coordination, together with all incidental work thereto and in accordance with the Bid Documents. This project is funded through the State Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and, as such, is subject to certain requirements of the State Capital Funding Agreement.

Bidders will be responsible for the requirements of ALL documents made available and will not be relieved of responsibilities for requirements indicated in any bid documents not downloaded or viewed.

Bidders must submit with their Bid on forms provided a list of their Intended Subcontractors, together with CHRO contract compliance requirements, including:

a. the utilization of DAS-certified Small Business Enterprises (“SBE”) for a requirement of at least 30% of the Bidder’s entire contract value;

b. the utilization of DAS-certified Minority owned Business Enterprises (“MBE”), Women owned Business Enterprises (“WBE”) and/or Disabled owned Business Enterprises (“DisBE”) for a requirement of at least 25% of the Bidder’s entire contract value. Please note that the MBE, WBE, and/or DisBE are part of the SBE; and

c. Independent of the SBE/MBE/WBE/DisBE requirements herein, a minimum of 10% of the Bidder’s entire contract value must include businesses having a place of business within the City of New Haven limits.

A satisfactory bid bond executed by the bidder and acceptable surety in an amount not less than ten percent (10%) of the total bid shall be submitted with each bid.

Lowest Responsible and Qualified Bidder: As used in this section, “lowest responsible and qualified bidder” means the bidder whose bid is the lowest of those bidders possessing the skill, ability and integrity necessary to faithfully perform the work. As a prerequisite, all Bidders with a contract value in excess of $1,000,000 must be pre-qualified by DAS. Additionally, all subcontractors with a subcontract value in excess of $1,000,000 must be pre-qualified by DAS.

The New Haven Parking Authority is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Minority/Women/Disabled Business Enterprises are encouraged to apply.

THE GLENDOWER GROUP

Request for Proposals

Firm to Assess, Market and Lease Commercial and Office Space

The Glendower Group, Inc is currently seeking proposals from qualified firms to Assess, Market and Lease Commercial and Office Space. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 3:00PM.

Listing: Commercial Driver

Immediate opening for a Class A full time driver for petroleum/ asphalt/like products deliveries for nights and weekends. Previous experience required. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email: hrdept@eastriverenergy.com

***An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Disabled & Veterans***

PLUMBING WORKERS NEEDED.

Have you ever wanted to become a plumber or work in the plumbing field? LBR Mechanical Corp is seeking plumbing mechanics, journeymen and helpers for a construction project located in Bridgeport, CT. Experience in plumbing/heating, construction and roughing a plus. Will train the right candidates. Driver’s license and proof of citizenship required. Please call 914-276-1493 for an application to start your new career.

SENIOR ENGINEER – WATER AND SEWER

The Town of Wallingford has an excellent career opportunity for a strong technical leader to be responsible for improving current facilities and providing for future growth of the water and wastewater systems. Applicants should possess 7 years of experience in engineering utility operations, of which 4 years must be water or wastewater related, plus a bachelor’s degree in civil or sanitary engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. Salary: $113,556 to $141,944 annually. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, generous paid sick and vacation time, individual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of February 28, 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) 2942084. EOE

CHIEF MAINTAINER

The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking a skilled supervisor to direct a work crew engaged in the operation, maintenance, repair and construction of facilities pertaining to the Town’s potable water transmission and distribution system. Applicants should possess a H.S., trade/technical school diploma plus 5 years’ experience as a Maintainer for a water utility or in the field of construction, with work experience in the installation of underground pipelines (water main, sanitary sewer, storm drain or gas main) and related equipment; with two (2) of those years involved in the supervision of others. Up to two (2) years of post-high school education in an applicable field may substitute for the general experience requirement. Must possess at the date of appointment and maintain in good standing a valid State of Connecticut Class B Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). Wages: $30.43 to $36.64 hourly plus on-call pay when assigned. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, generous paid sick and vacation time, medical/dental insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and a deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of February 18, 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

PLUMBING WORKERS NEEDED.

Have you ever wanted to become a plumber or work in the plumbing field? LBR Mechanical Corp is seeking plumbing mechanics, journeymen and helpers for a construction project located in Bridgeport, CT. Experience in plumbing/heating, construction and roughing a plus. Will train the right candidates. Driver’s license and proof of citizenship required. Please call 914-276-1493 for an application to start your new career.

HILLMANTOK UNIVERSITY: THE DIGITAL HBCU REVOLUTIONIZING ONLINE EDUCATION

and her team are actively exploring partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities to expand opportunities and solidify HillmanTok’s place in the educational landscape.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

A snow day in Georgia and a viral TikTok video unexpectedly set the foundation for what is now HillmanTok University, a virtual learning institution that has captured the attention of millions. It all started when Dr. Leah Barlow, a professor at North Carolina A&T, posted a welcome video for her African American Studies class. What she intended for just 36 students reached nearly 4 million viewers, sparking a movement that sixthgrade teacher Cierra Hinton helped shape into something much bigger.

“I was scrolling, and I saw ‘Ms. Shannon’s Screenwriting 101 class,’ then Dr. Christie’s video, and I thought, ‘Is this an HBCU? Or did we just happen to have all Black professors?’” Hinton said during an interview on Let It Be Known. “If I’m going to be in these fabulous courses with all these highly qualified professors, what school am I in? What are our colors? What’s our mascot? Because I want to represent my school.”

That curiosity led Hinton, who was joined on Let It Be Known News by Coach WestB, an official staff member and community leader at HillmanTok. But Hinton coined the name HillmanTok University, inspired by Hillman College, the fictional HBCU from The Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World. What began as a TikTok trend has since evolved into a structured educational platform that now includes a website with an extensive

course catalog for Spring 2025.

HillmanTok offers over 400 courses spanning a wide range of topics. Traditional classes like Spanish 101 and law sit alongside culturally relevant subjects such as Black beauty culture, ethical issues in the criminal justice system, and even Spades 101—where students break down the hierarchy of suits on a “molecular level.”

“We have courses that you would tra-

ditionally find in a university, but also courses that are unique to us,” Hinton explained. “We have parenting courses for those raising kids with autism, health care courses, and even ones on how to lock hair or cook. The goal is to make education accessible and relevant.”

Unlike traditional universities, HillmanTok does not charge tuition. Some instructors may ask for optional contributions to cover resources, especially

when their classes unexpectedly attract hundreds or even thousands of students.

“No one expected their class to blow up the way it did,” Hinton said. “Some thought they’d have 10 or 15 students, and suddenly, they have 500. That’s when they might need tools like Google Classroom to manage everything, and sometimes that requires a little extra help.”

HillmanTok has rapidly expanded, but not without obstacles. As the movement

gained traction, multiple unauthorized accounts claiming to be HillmanTok surfaced across social media, leading to confusion among followers.

“If it doesn’t say The HillmanTok University, then it’s not us,” Coach West stated. “People have been scammed into paying for things we don’t charge for, like IDs. Our services are free.”

Additionally, the original HillmanTok TikTok account was hacked when Hinton attempted to secure verification, forcing the team to rebuild from scratch. Today, the official account has over 100,000 followers, but concerns remain about the platform’s future.

With TikTok’s uncertain fate in the U.S.—where the app is currently available only to existing users under an extension granted by former President Donald Trump—HillmanTok is preparing for potential disruptions.

“We have contingencies upon contingencies,” Hinton said. “HillmanTok is so important to us that we are worried about all kinds of things.”

Hinton and her team are actively exploring partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities to expand opportunities and solidify HillmanTok’s place in the educational landscape. “For everybody who ever wanted to be part of an HBCU but couldn’t, we’re fulfilling that dream,” Hinton said.

DR. JAMAL BRYANT’S 40-DAY TARGET ‘FAST’ GAINS MOMENTUM

To

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

Dr. Jamal Bryant, the influential pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, is leading a 40-day fast—or boycott—of Target in response to the retailer’s decision to phase out its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Bryant is calling for 100,000 people to sign a petition and halt their spending at Target as a direct challenge to what he describes as the company’s retreat from its commitments to Black businesses and consumers.

Target, headquartered in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was murdered in 2020, initially pledged $2 billion in investments to Black-owned businesses. However, Bryant condemned the company’s announcement on January 24 that it would end its DEI initiatives and simultaneously abandon that financial commitment.

“After the murder of George Floyd, they made a $2 billion commitment to invest in Black businesses,” Bryant said during an appearance on the Black Press’ Let It

Be Known News. “That commitment was due in December 2025. When they pulled out of the DEI agreement in January, they also canceled that $2 billion commitment.”

Bryant said that Target’s role in the Black consumer market makes it the logical first target of this economic protest.

“Black people spend $12 million a day at Target,” he said. “Because of how many dollars are spent there and the absence of commitment to our community, we are focusing on Target first.”

Set to coincide with Lent, the fast is designed to leverage Black economic power to hold corporations accountable. Within just one week, 50,000 people had already signed onto the campaign at targetfast. org, which the pastor said highlighted the movement's momentum.

Bryant’s demands go beyond reinstating DEI. “White women are the number one beneficiaries of DEI,” he said. “What I am asking for is a quarter of a billion dollars to be invested in Black banks so that our Black businesses can scale. Target has 10 distribution centers near HBCUs, and I’m asking them to partner with the business departments of these institutions.”

Separate, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, has announced a national public education and selective buying campaign in response to the corporate retreat from DEI commitments. “We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or non-

responsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America,” said NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. reinforced the need for financial realignment. “Black Americans spend $2 trillion annually. We must eval-

uate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us. These contradictions will not go unchallenged.”

To offer alternatives, Bryant has partnered with Ron Busby, president and CEO of the U.S. Black Chambers, providing consumers with a directory of 300,000 Black-owned businesses. “You can’t tell people what not to do without showing them what to do,” Bryant said. “If you’re not going to Target or Walmart but need essentials like toilet paper, soap, or detergent, we’ll show you where to get them and reinvest in Black businesses.” The impact of the boycott is already being felt, he insisted.

“Since Black people have been boycotting Target, the stock has dropped by $11,” Bryant said. “Stockholders are now suing Target because of the adverse impact this boycott has had on their stock.”

“This is just phase one,” Bryant continued. “After the 40 days, we’ll figure out who’s next. But we have to go after Target first. Amazon and others come right after. “America has shown us time and time again: if it doesn’t make dollars, it doesn’t make sense.”

Hinton

Corporate America Abandons DE&I, But Black-Owned Brands Are the Future

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Black entrepreneurs continue to build, innovate, and thrive. According to NBC Select, over three million Black-owned

By Stacy M. Brown

While corporations retreat, Black entrepreneurs continue to build, innovate, and thrive. According to NBC Select, over three million Black-owned brands are in the U.S., spanning every industry imaginable. As corporate America abandons its DE&I commitments, the power shifts to conscious consumers who invest in businesses that uplift and sustain marginalized communities.

Here are just a few standout Blackowned brands leading the charge:

Clothing & Accessories

• Telfar – The brand that revolutionized luxury fashion with its motto: “Not for you—for everyone.”

•Hanifa – A trailblazing womenswear brand founded by Anifa Mvuemba, known for its stunning digital fashion shows.

•Pyer Moss – Founded by Kerby Jean-Raymond, this label merges activism and high fashion.

• Grayscale – A streetwear brand bringing bold aesthetics and social commentary to the forefront.

•Sassy Jones – A standout accessories brand built on bold, unapologetic self-expression.

Beauty & Skincare

•Fenty Beauty – Rihanna’s globally inclusive beauty empire that set a new standard for shade diversity.

•Mented Cosmetics – Beauty products created specifically for deeper skin tones.

• The Lip Bar – A Black-woman-owned brand disrupting the beauty industry with

•Pattern Beauty – Founded by Tracee Ellis Ross, specializing in products for textured hair.

•Alikay Naturals – Natural haircare products with a devoted following.

Home & Lifestyle

•Estelle Colored Glass – Hand-blown glassware that brings Black excellence to fine dining.

•Jungalow – A home décor brand from designer Justina Blakeney, blending culture and bohemian flair.

•Linoto – Luxury linen bedding made

– A modern design studio curating unique home goods from independent artists.

Food & Beverage

•Partake Foods – A Black-owned snack company offering allergen-friendly cookies and treats.

•McBride Sisters Wine Collection – The largest Black-owned wine company in the U.S., run by two sisters redefining the industry.

•Uncle Nearest Whiskey – Honoring Nathan “Nearest” Green, the Black distiller

•Capital City Mambo Sauce – The D.C. favorite taking over the condiment industry.

Meanwhile, corporate America’s performative commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is unraveling at an alarming rate. In the years following the murder of George Floyd, corporations made bold promises to support marginalized communities, pledging billions in investments to level the playing field. But as the political landscape shifts and accountability wanes, those commitments are being discarded. A staggering number

of major corporations have scaled back or eliminated DE&I programs: Amazon, Target, Amtrak, Goldman Sachs, Disney, Deloitte, PBS, Google, Pepsi, General Motors (GM), GE, Intel, PayPal, Chipotle, Comcast, Accenture, The Smithsonian Institution, the FBI, Meta, Walmart, Boeing, Molson Coors, Ford Motor Co., Harley-Davidson, and John Deere have all abandoned or severely reduced their diversity efforts. The very companies that once paraded their commitment to racial equity in multimillion-dollar ad campaigns are now quietly erasing those initiatives from their bottom lines.

Not everyone is staying silent. Dr. Jamal Bryant, the influential pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, is leading a 40-day economic fast—or boycott—of Target in direct response to the retailer’s decision to phase out its DE&I initiatives. Target, headquartered in Minneapolis—the city where George Floyd was murdered in 2020—originally pledged $2 billion in investments toward Black-owned businesses. That commitment was due in December 2025, but on January 24, Target announced it would end its DE&I efforts, effectively abandoning that financial commitment. Bryant, appearing on the Black Press’ Let It Be Known news program, condemned the move. “After the murder of George Floyd, they made a $2 billion commitment to invest in Black businesses,” he said. “When they pulled out of the DE&I agreement in January, they also canceled that $2 billion commitment.”

Target is just the beginning. Bryant calls

ANOTHER PUSH FOR REPARATIONS FOR SLAVERY AND BLACK A WALL STREET

By April Ryan

The growing movement for reparations for the descendants of Africans enslaved in America is receiving another jolt of energy. Democratic Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Presley is revitalizing the work of the late Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee with the reintroduction of H. R. 40. The newly reintroduced bill would create a 15-member commission to study concrete solutions to the Black Wall Street Tulsa Massacre. Also, the new H.R. 40 bill would develop recommendations for reparations for slavery. Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is introducing a similar bill in the United States Senate. However, Pressley says the House bill already has 70 co-sponsors, and she will ask Republicans and Democrats to co-sponsor H.R. 40. However, there are no official Republican sponsors yet. The bill would also probe racist disparities that inhibited Black wealth. Marc Morial, the head of the National Urban League, says,” We must stay the course!” The

head of the economic civil rights organization says the current wealth gap disparity between Blacks and whites is “10-1 at least. Maybe higher.”

Pressley wants what she calls the “reparative work,” similar to what was offered to Native Americans and Japanese Americans. In 1988, Republican President Ronald Reagan apologized to the surviving Japanese Americans for their incarceration during World War ll. 80,000 Japanese Americans received $20,000 each from the federal government as part of the apology. Reparations for Native Americans also occurred after World War ll. 1.3 Billion dollars was paid by the Indian Claims Commission as it provided $1000 per person. Democratic Chicago congressman Joshua Jackson pointed to Evanston, Illinois. That town currently offers reparations as the first municipal program in the United States to address racial discrimination and segregation. Black residents and their descendants who lived in Evanston between 1919 and 1969 are eligible for up to 25 thousand dollars to help with real

estate-related issues. From the press conference on Capitol Hill, Pressley encouraged President Donald Trump and the man she calls his “co-president,” Elon Musk to support H.R. 40. Congressional leaders attending and supporting the reintroduction of H.R. 40 were Congressman Johnathan Jackson, Congresswoman Summer Lee, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, and the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, New York Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. Presley is the third Black congressional leader who carried on the legacy of a movement toward reparations. It began in 1969 with the late Michigan Congressman John Conyers and was reintroduced by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in recent years. Congresswoman Lee received 140 co-signers on the bill that Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Booker now champion. Texas Congresswoman Erica Lee Carter, the daughter of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, said, “This is not the past” but about the present and future.

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Experts Say Trump’s South African Land Stance Exposes a Deep Hypocrisy

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

President Donald Trump’s latest maneuver, an executive order to cut U.S. aid to South Africa while extending refugee status to white South Africans, is yet another calculated exercise in race-baiting and historical revisionism. Trump claims that Afrikaners, the white descendants of Dutch and French settlers who own the vast majority of South Africa’s farmland, are victims of persecution under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s land reform efforts. Yet, the reality of land ownership in South Africa tells a different story, and Trump’s feigned concern for land rights is made even more absurd when compared to the systematic land dispossession endured by Black Americans in the United States. South Africa’s land reform efforts aim to redress the racial inequities created by apartheid, a regime that systematically transferred land from the Black majority to the white minority. Despite the official end of apartheid three decades ago, white South Africans still control between 70 to 80 percent of the country’s arable land. Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) government has introduced expropriation policies to correct this historic injustice, ensuring that land reform is in the public interest and within the constitutional framework. Yet, Trump has chosen to distort the issue, parroting the narrative pushed by AfriForum, an Afrikaner lobby group that claims white South Africans face racial discrimination.

Even AfriForum, however, does not accept Trump’s offer of refugee status.

“Emigration only offers an opportunity for Afrikaners who are willing to risk potentially sacrificing their descendants’ cultural identity as Afrikaners. The price for that is simply too high,” said AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel. The hypocrisy of Trump’s sudden interest in land rights is stark when viewed against the backdrop of America’s history of racialized land theft. While Trump amplifies the supposed plight of white South Africans, his own country has a long and well-documented history of dispossessing Black Americans of their land through legal and extralegal means. According to Inequality.org, at the beginning of the 20th cen-

tury, Black Americans owned at least 14 million acres of land. By the 21st century, 90 percent of that land had been taken through fraudulent legal schemes, intimidation, and outright theft. Today, African Americans own only 1.1 million acres of farmland and part-own another 1.07 million acres, a staggering loss of generational wealth that has never been addressed. Land theft from Black people in the United States was carried out through methods such as heirs’ property laws, tax sales, and the Torrens Act, which allowed white developers to seize Black-owned land under the guise of legal loopholes. Heirs’ property laws divided land among multiple descendants, making it difficult for families to retain ownership. Tax sales preyed on Black families with fixed incomes, forcing them to auction off land they had no intention of selling. The Torrens Act allowed land to be sold without notifying all co-owners, stripping Black families of

their property without legal recourse.

The impact of this systematic theft is immeasurable. In Mississippi alone, between 1950 and 1964, nearly 800,000 acres of Black-owned land were stolen, amounting to a present-day valuation of up to $6.6 billion. The wealth lost through land dispossession remains one of the most enduring factors in the racial wealth gap, where the typical white family still has eight times the wealth of the typical Black family. Trump’s selective outrage over land redistribution in South Africa stands in direct contrast to his administration’s complete disregard for the historical theft of Black land in the U.S. His policies consistently benefited white landowners while neglecting the Black farmers and families who had been systematically robbed of their property for generations. His administration dismantled the civil rights division of the USDA, an agency long accused of discriminating

against Black farmers and ignored efforts to provide restitution to those who had suffered under racist policies. The irony deepens when one considers Trump’s well-documented hostility toward refugees. His administration slashed refugee admissions to record lows, imposed draconian immigration bans, and separated children from their families at the border.

But now, white South Africans—who remain the most economically privileged demographic in their country—are suddenly deemed worthy of asylum. Black and brown refugees fleeing war, famine, and persecution were demonized as threats under Trump’s watch, yet white Afrikaners are welcomed with open arms. Ziyad Motala, writing in the Middle East Monitor, noted that Trump’s claim of white South African persecution “would be an amusing episode of alternate history if it were not so transparently false.”

White South Africans continue to domi-

nate the country’s economy, with the top earners and corporate executives overwhelmingly white. Motala further pointed out that Trump’s narrative is being bolstered by figures like Elon Musk, whose family directly benefited from apartheid’s racially engineered economic system. Musk’s political pivot toward white grievance politics aligns seamlessly with Trump’s latest efforts to manufacture a racial crisis where none exists. Moreover, South Africa’s judiciary, bound by constitutional supremacy, has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to legality and justice, something that Trump’s presidency consistently undermined. Unlike Trump, South Africa’s Constitutional Court has held former leaders accountable who openly flouted the rule of law and sought unchecked power. When former South African President Jacob Zuma ignored court orders, he was held in contempt and sentenced to prison. By contrast, Trump’s abuse of presidential pardons saw convicted war criminals and insurrectionists absolved simply for their loyalty. Trump’s real motivation in targeting South Africa likely has little to do with land reform and everything to do with South Africa’s stance on international justice. The country’s decision to bring Israel before the International Court of Justice over its actions in Gaza has drawn Washington’s ire, and Trump, ever eager to shield Israel from scrutiny, has now concocted yet another race-based distraction. The hypocrisy is glaring. Trump, who has spent his political career demonizing Black and brown asylum seekers, now fashions himself a humanitarian for white South Africans. The same man who dismissed systemic racism in America and worked to dismantle civil rights protections now suddenly professes concern for racial discrimination—so long as the supposed victims are white. “For all the talk of ‘America First,’ Trump’s policies have never been about national interest but rather about the consolidation of power through fearmongering and race-baiting,” Motala observed. “South Africa, in its commitment to legal accountability, human rights, and constitutional integrity, exposes precisely what Trump and his enablers despise: a legal order where power is constrained, the rule of law prevails, and privilege is not an eternal birthright.”