The Washington Informer - August 8, 2019

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America’s New Norm, Greatest Threat: Surging Gun Violence, Mass Shootings

White Supremacist Ideology Impetus for Weekend Massacres

Trump Condemns ‘Racist Hate’ – Omits Role in Spread of Rhetoric

DC Activist Leads Search for Solutions to Shootings Roach Brown:‘Time to Take a Stand and Save Our Babies’

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir

Donald Trump traveled to El Paso and Dayton on Wednesday, Aug. 7 in order to offer his condolences to the families of those killed or injured in two separate mass shootings which occurred last weekend in the two ethnically-diverse cities, leaving scores of injured residents and 31 dead (collectively) as this story went to press.

However, with Trump laying the cause of these and other heinous mass shootings on mental health issues from which gunmen allegedly suffer, rather than leading the way to close loopholes that allow easy access to weapons capable of swift, mass destruction, a groundswell of Americans have expressed their dismay and discontent with the president.

Even President Barack Obama, who has been mostly quiet after Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election, urged Americans

Most of the nation’s attention continues to rest on the cities of El Paso and Dayton where families, friends and local officials struggle to make sense of last weekend’s two mass shootings that left a collective and rising death toll of 31 with dozens injured and still hospitalized.

But closer to home, community activists like D.C.’s Roach Brown, known for his zeal and commitment on behalf of returning citizens, has taken on another mission: finding solutions to the District’s rising gun violence.

On August 6 during Brown’s monthly “Crossroads Radio Show” (WPFW, 89.3 FM), which airs live every first Tuesday from Ben’s Chili Bowl in Northwest, he facilitated two panel discussions in a room filled with interested local residents for a lively two-hour conversation about the impact that escalating shootings have had throughout the District.

But his most ardent concern, he says, remains the rise of injuries and deaths among children.

“We have reached a point where our children are being shot and

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By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir

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On August 14, 1966 Halle Berry, the first woman of color to win an Oscar for best actress, is born in Cleveland.

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wi hot topics Marshall High Youth to Unveil Mural Honoring Slain Classmates

In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday.

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Pathways 2 Power, a student-led advocacy group based in Thurgood Marshall High School in Southeast, will unveil a mural on Friday, Aug. 9 to memorialize classmates and other youth who died due to gun violence in the District during the 2017-18 school year. The event will take place at The Fridge, 516 8th Street SE, Rear Alley, 5 – 7 p.m.

The Limestone of Lost Legacies Mural Project, led

by Pathways 2 Power co-founder Lauryn Renford, is an effort to make sure the community remembers these lost lives, envisions the potential these children had and acknowledges disgruntlement about the number of lives cut too short because of gun violence, driving people to become proactive. Nearly $13,000 with over 175 donors has been raised so far to fund the project. The Fridge, an art gallery establishment in Ward 6 Barracks Row, provided the wall for the project with the mural painted by local artist Martin Swift.

Teens to be memorialized include: Paris Brown, Zaire Kelly, Steve Slaughter, Jamahri Sydnor and Taiyania Thompson. Unveiling and dedication program participants will include: Pathways 2 Power students; families of the slain teens; elected officials including Attorney General Karl Racine, At-Large Councilmember David Grosso, Ward 8 School Board Rep. Markus Batchelor, Ward 6 School Board Rep. Jessica Sutter and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners.

Norton Speaks at 54th Anniversary Celebration of Voting Rights Act Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DDC) spoke at the 54th anniversary celebration of the Voting Rights Act [VRA] Tuesday, August 6, outside the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Southwest. She spoke about her many years of service and contributions to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the 1963 March on Washington during the Civil Rights Movement and as a member of Congress during which she has remained committed to ensuring that legislation for which she lobbied have been enacted and enforced.

“The work of the historic Voting Rights Act, which ensured that African Americans had equal access to the ballot box, is not finished,” Norton said. “As organizers in the Civil Rights Movement, we fought hard, and others gave their lives to ensure that right. The Shelby ruling gutted the VRA and dozens of states have since placed new restrictions on voting. When Congress returns, I will reintroduce my resolution calling on Congress to update the VRA, especially to ensure that states with a history of discrimination pre-clear new voting provisions with the Justice Department before they take effect.”

COMPILED BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR,WI EDITOR AND WILLIAM J. FORD,WI STAFF WRITER

GOODProjects to host Back to School Block Party for Southwest Youth

5 Bowie State University Class of 2019 t-shirts.

(File photo by William J. Ford)

GOODProjects will host “GOODDay 2019!”, a Back to School Block Party for the children living in the Southwest community on Saturday, August 10. The event will mark the culmination of GOODCamp for 200 dreamers this year. Activities will include: rides, face painting and live music as well as the distribution of much-needed school supplies to youth in the community.

Planners anticipate 200 youth, six to 13 and 150 parents to come out at the King Greenleaf Recreation Center, 201 N Street SW, from 12 to 6 p.m.

GOODProjects was formed in the summer of 2016 to combat gun violence in the District by getting children at risk of being victims, off the streets and into summer camp. GOODCamps combines academics, experiential learning and sports to expose youth to future possibilities they otherwise would not know exist for themselves.

HBCU Mediation Stalled Once Again A resolution to end a 13-tear-old lawsuit for equitable funding at Maryland’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities failed again. A court-issued mediation deadline July 29 failed to reach an agreement, Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for Layers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and attorney for plaintiffs, confirmed in an email Sunday, Aug. 4. The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education seeks to establish whether the state has adequately funding the HBCUs – Bowie State, Coppin State, Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore. The coalition and other advocates have estimated it could cost up to $1 billion to fully and equally fund the four schools. Last year, Gov. Larry Hogan offered a settlement of $100 million over a 10-year period, which equates to $2.5 million per year for each school. It’s unclear when another ruling would be made by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

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Process Stalled in Barry Farm Historic Site Decision Citizens Show Up but Lacking Quorum, Board Unable to Act

By James Wright WI Staff Writer A vote to designate portions of a Ward 8 housing development as an historic site has been delayed a third time – further exacerbating the frustration of supporters.

On Aug. 1, the DC Historic Preservation Review Board [HPRB] postponed a vote on whether to declare structures that have not been demolished and remain standing an historic landmark – a request made by the DC Housing Authority.

The postponement troubled Detrice Belt, president of the Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association, who made little effort to hide her views.

“Our ancestors deserve this,” Belt said. “We wanted the vote to move forward and hope this delay is not a signal that the HPRB is responding to the needs and wants of developers over the need to preserve our community’s history.”

The HPRB heard impassioned testimony for three hours as current and former residents and activists from organizations including Empower DC, pled their case. However, lacking a quorum, HPRB members present could not call for a vote.

Barry Farm has a rich history in the District. It’s founding came when the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands bought 375 acres from the heirs of Washington merchant James Barry in 1868.

The area provided Blacks with an opportunity to own land in the District in the aftermath of the Civil War. Barry Farm became a middle-class enclave for prominent Black residents including family members of noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Then, in November 1942, the federal government chose Barry Farm Dwellings as the site of the first Black public housing project in the District.

In 1950, residents there attempted but failed to desegregate then newly-built John Philip Sousa Junior High School upon which they filed a lawsuit. The suit, Bolling vs. Sharpe, served as a companion case to the famous Brown vs. Board of Education in

1954, in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared public schools segregated by race as unconstitutional and thereby desegregated the District’s school system.

In the 1960s, Barry Farm Dwellings entered decline due in part to neglect by District and federal governments. But a band of residents, including Etta Horn of the National Welfare Rights Organization, worked diligently to improve the housing development demanding proper policing and maintenance.

In 2013, the D.C. government announced efforts through its New Communities initiatives to spruce up Barry Farm Dwellings with an upgrade in its housing stock – a decision that required residents, albeit with the promise that they’d be able to return upon the completion of the work.

Empower DC and Belt’s organization have made it clear: they want Barry Farm Dwelling to be a livable, vibrant community but don’t support forced replacement as a means of accomplishing that goal. In addition, the group initiated efforts of its own several months ago when it became clear that the District government had little active interest in preserving the community’s history.

The nomination for historic preservation has the support of organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Committee of 100 on the Federal City and the Historic Anacostia Preservation Society.

The Washington Informer sought explanation as to why the DC Housing Authority requested the postponement but did not receive a response. Meanwhile, a date for the September hearing has not been unannounced.

Salim Adofo, who serves on the 8C Advisory Neighborhood Commission which includes Barry Farm Dwellings, says his constituents have mixed feelings regarding the property.

“There are some of my constituents who definitely want to it to have an historical designation,” he said. “Others say the whole complex has got to go noting that the housing is not in good condition and they look forward to improvements and changes.”

WI

5 Momentum continues in efforts to have Barry Farm Dwellings designated an historic site. (Courtesy photo/

Joseph Young)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 5

AROUND THE REGION

black facts

AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019 SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB

AUG. 8

1866 – Explorer Matthew Henson, widely credited with being the first to reach the North Pole, is born in Nanjemoy, Maryland.

1907 – Famed jazz musician Benny Carter is born in Harlem.

1975 – Jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley dies in Gary, Indiana, at 46.

AUG. 9

1936 – Track and field athlete Jesse Owens wins his fourth gold medal of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Games also known for Adolf Hitler’s claims of “Aryan racial superiority.”

1961 – James B. Parsons is nominated by President John F. Kennedy as the first Black federal judge.

1963 – Pop icon and actress Whitney Houston is born in East Orange, New Jersey.

AUG. 10

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1890 – Lillian Evanti, an internationally renowned African-American opera singer, is born in Washington, D.C.

AUG. 13

1911 – James B. Parsons, the nation’s first Black federal judge, is born in Kansas City, Missouri.

1933 – Joycelyn Elders, the first Black U.S. surgeon general, is born in Schaal, Arkansas.

1858 – Anna J. Cooper, distinguished author and scholar who was a prominent figure in D.C.’s African-American community, is born in Raleigh, North Carolina.

1989 – President George H.W. Bush nominates Colin Powell as the first African-American chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

AUG. 14

1876 – Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black institution, is established in Prairie View, Texas.

1959 – Basketball great Earvin “Magic” Johnson is born in Lansing, Michigan.

1966 – Halle Berry, the first woman of color to win an Oscar for best actress, is born in Cleveland.

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AUG. 11

1868 – Thaddeus Stevens, one of the leaders of the Radical Republicans who opposed slavery, dies in Washington, D.C. 1873 – J. Rosamond Johnson, African-American composer and brother of James Weldon Johnson, is born. He is best known for composing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written by his brother and regarded as the “Negro National Anthem.”

1921 – Famed writer Alex Haley, who authored “Roots: The Saga of an Amercan Family” and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” is born in Ithaca, New York.

1960 – African nation Chad gains independence from France.

1965 – The Watts riots (top right) begin in Los Angeles after the traffic stop and arrest of an African-American man. The riots lasted seven days and resulted in 34 deaths and $40 million in property damage.

AUG. 12

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The latest mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, have stoked emotions from notable names such as Rihanna, Cardi B and John Legend, who are calling on President Trump to act on gun control. What are your thoughts?

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No, the president didn’t pull the trigger physically. However, words are powerful and the leader sets the tone and people will take words and twist them to fit their own agenda. The problem I see is the subtle things that he says triggers something in his base that causes hate, rudeness and mean-spirited people.

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I’m confused. Did the AK-47 kill those people or was it another human being? Y’all are so quick to blame the gun before the person who committed the crime. More people die on the roads than by firearms in the U.S., yet there’s no cry for stricter automobile laws and you blame the person. There’s been gun control legislation passed in this country for hundreds of years, yet here we are. Why? Because gun control doesn’t work.

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 7

AROUND THE REGION The World According to Dominic

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Since the founding of America, our nation’s leaders – those perched along the upper tier of the power pyramid – have held fast to an ideology where racial differences define who we are and determine the levels and limits of both the opportunities and obstacles that we will inevitably encounter.

The color of one’s skin has been the essential factor that allows for a society replete with double standards, double-pronged sentencing structures and diametrically-opposed doorways and windows which we’re “allowed” to take in the human search for personal achievement and financial and educational success.

This has always been the American way, even if from time to time, society has attempted to conceal its true colors and innermost beliefs by donning ankle-length cloaks, shouldering shawls or escaping behind hoods of white where only the eyes can be seen.

As a little boy, I remember a jingle I’d say while playing with the neighborhood kids after school, uttered in jocular, sing-song fashion, which served as one of my earliest lessons in “Racism 101” – America’s prerequisite course

for all Black children as they enter adulthood.

It went this way: “If you’re white, you’re right, if you’re brown, you’re down, but if you’re Black, get back.” It was just something to say, I then assumed. But as I began spreading my wings and stepped out into the world, I learned that despite flowing phrases like “liberty and justice for all,” being an African American meant the diminishment of the “American Dream” from a highly-desired final destination and more reminiscent of a never-ending nightmare.

In the wake of multiple mass shootings now almost commonplace in the U.S., I fear that proposals more radical in nature, more likely to stem the troubling tide and perhaps yielding a more substantive deterrent for those considering acting out their hatred of “the other” may be a long way from becoming legislation passed by Congress.

Still, America must be willing to revoke rules and override mores that have become supreme for some while oppressive for others.

Until then, if Bob, Mitch or Mikey pull the trigger, their actions will undoubtedly be attributed to mental illness, unfortunate distortions in the brain or to their flawed but understandable “fear of a Black (or brown) planet.”

But should the triggerman answer to names like named Roscoe, Roberto or Raheem, his future is certain – a quick execution and an epitaph confirming him as a

black- or brown-skinned subhuman who has infested the land – the beast that should be eliminated.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we already know how to end the wave of mass shootings in America – a tsunami given license by today’s ruling political party to grow in size, becoming potentially more dangerous with every passing day.

But living in denial often becomes more comfortable and familiar than stepping into the unknown in order to do what is right.

Let’s stop pretending. We know how to end domestic terrorism and eradicate the madness that continues to threaten those deemed ineligible to join America’s “good old boys club” – that brotherhood of white-skinned males desperately clinging to their thrones where, undeniably, “membership has its privileges.”

What if America finally debunked such notions as “white is right,” erasing the idea from our collective memories and ensuring that it would have no place within the hearts or minds of Americans of the future? Would we still be America?

Maybe, we’d finally be able to say with real conviction and in all sincerity, “we hold these truths, that all men (and women) are created equal.”

That would really be the making for a new America – a better America where “justice for all” would honestly mean something and not just be a clever turn of words more befitting bumper stickers or refrigerator magnets. WI

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Grants Available to Local Businesses, District Government Announces

By James Wright WI Staff Writer When entrepreneurs think of sources of capital, loans from banks, community organizations and vendors come to mind, along with funds from family and friends and crowdfunding campaigns.

However, on Aug. 2 at a meeting of the DC First Fridays program sponsored by the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, 50 people learned of another, lesser-known source of funding: grants.

Katherine Mereand-Sinha, the program manager of Innovation & Equitable Development Office of the District of Columbia Department of Small & Local Business Development (DSLBD), talked about grant programs that her employer offers for businesses and said one particular program focuses on business owners east of the Anacostia River.

“The Dream Grant is a grant program specifically for businesses located in Wards 7 and 8,” Mereand-Sinha said. “The Dream Grants program is designed for new and existing micro-businesses for about $10,000. During the past two years, we have had 17 businesses from Ward 7 and 17 businesses from Ward 8 receive monies from this program.”

Mereand-Sinha said that approximately $200,000 have been given out to Dream Grant recipients.

According to District of Columbia’s Citywide Grants Manual and Sourcebook, a grant is the award of financial assistance to a recipient to support or stimulate the accomplishment of a public purpose as defined by the federal or District law that authorizes the grant.

Grants aren’t the product of the procurement process and not considered to be a loan, an equity stake or a gift, Mereand-Sinha said. They don’t need to be paid back unless the grantee (the person or organization) who receives it fails to perform as promised, she added.

Section 1-238 of the DC Code covers grant administration and transparency, noting that grants over $50,000 are typically competitive and that qualification for them includes not owing the District government any money and the Office of the City Adminis-

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5 Kate Mereand-Sinha of the D.C. Department of Small & Local Business Deveopment chats with Ward 7 busness owner Evie Washington. (James Wright/ The Washington Informer)

trator supervising the uniform guidelines on grants.

While grants are well-established in the nonprofit sector, they are rarely utilized in the business sector, Mereand-Sinha said.

“Grants for small businesses are very, very rare,” she said.

“Many jurisdictions don’t have them. Most of the grants offered

by D.C. government are for nonprofits.”

She noted the District appears to be the only jurisdiction that she knows that offers grants to entrepreneurs.

“For many years, throughout the country, the nonprofit sector went after grants while the business community didn’t,” she said. “There has been an upsurge in social entrepreneurship in the District for the past decade and I speculate that has encouraged D.C. officials to offer grants to those businesses.”

Mereand-Sinha said her agency has grant-making authority for two programs: the Dream Grants and a program Grown in D.C. that focuses on supporting local businesses throughout the city.

Her agency also administrates two programs, Main Streets that offers funds for businesses that are located on selected city corridors and the Clean Teams outfit that keeps trash and litter from high profile thoroughfares and neighborhoods.

Mereand-Sinha said there are

programs for the establishment of minority and women-owned business assessment programs, a new living wage certification program, a small business capital access fund and, at the mayor’s discretion, a trash compactor grant program.

She made it clear to the audience that to participate in the District’s grants programs, they need to have “clean hands.”

“You need to make sure that your taxes are up to date and your business records are in order,” Mereand-Sinha said. “It will be difficult to get a grant if those things are not in order.”

To look for grant opportunities, she said sources such as the District Grants Clearinghouse, The Funding Alert that lists grants by the D.C. government and participating in pitch competitions are good to go to and utilize.

Evie Washington, who owns All N 1 Medical Supplies and Treasures, a store on Minnesota Avenue NE, said she found Mereand-Sinha’s presentation useful and informative.

“This was a good presentation,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know about grants for businesses and I am glad that Kate came to us to explain the program. That’s the way D.C. government should operate and that is to inform the people of the opportunities that they can take advantage of.”

WI

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AROUND THE REGION

Child Abuse Trauma Shows in Courtrooms, Future Life

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Children involved in domestic and sexually abused cases should receive special judicial treatment to make it easier for them to express their feelings in court, advocates said Tuesday in Annapolis.

Eileen King, executive director of Child Justice in Silver Spring, told a story about a case in Virginia where a father abused his son and hired a topnotch attorney.

Although the mother won custody, the abuse later affected her son. As a teenager, he began to use and sell drugs. He’s currently age 20 and sits in jail.

“The results of what children experience are deeply affecting them,” King said. “Now the state is spending resources on keeping this young man incarcerated.”

King testified before a committee organized to offer recommendations and improve Maryland’s court proceedings that involve allegations of domestic violence and child abuse.

The group, chaired by State Secretary John C. Wobensmith, became established through a bill passed in this year’s General Assembly to assess how state courts process allegations of child abuse and domestic violence and analyze scientific research of children in traumatic situations.

One problem discussed in the nearly two-hour session highlighted how parents who report a spouse who abuse their child are either questioned for not reporting the abuse sooner, or not

believed.

Sonia Hinds, founder of Barstow Acres, a nonprofit organization in Frederick County, Maryland, that helps at-risk youth and teenagers, offered some tips on how courts can make it easier for children to testify in court.

Some of the suggestions include: • Child can testify by close circuit television to avoid facing perpetrator; • Judge comes down to a child’s level not wearing black robe; • Animal-assisted therapy dog; and • Allow a child to hold a favorite doll, or stuffed animal.

Hinds, also a registered nurse-psychotherapist, emphasized her point by reading a story about a girl name Mandy called “The Girl Who Lost Her Voice.” A doctor, who placed a mirror in front of Mandy as part of therapy to show she’s special, helped Mandy talk to about her abuse and the courage to say it in court.

“Hopefully, the court can help children be at ease [and] not to be traumatized and by providing the simple things that can make a difference,” she said.

Del. Jazz Lewis (D-District 24) of Landover, who serves on the committee, asked what’s the current process for children testifying in court.

“It depends on the judge,” Hinds said. “I don’t think the court would be opposed to a child bringing a doll into the court. The main problem is the aggressiveness of the opposing attorney.”

Nenutzka C. Villamar, chief attorney in the parental defense division for the state’s Public Defender Office, said children

can testify by television. In addition, children aren’t always required to testify and a “mandated reporter” such as a counselor, psychologist, or other certified professional can speak on behalf of the child.

Villamar also reminded those in attendance the law must work both ways.

“Most people know what can be done to make the environment safe for the children. However, that needs to be balanced against the parent’s rights to be able to test the allegations against the parent so that a court of law can make a decision that affects the parent’s constitutional right to raise his or her child,” she said.

“The consideration must not be limited only to the child’s interest. The interest of the parent also has to be protected.”

The work group plans to meet again Aug. 20. WI

5Fathers, like the one pictured above, remain crucial to the lives of children.

(WI photo)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 11

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Prince George’s Tackles Criminal Justice Reform for Community Youths

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy announced a plan that seeks to eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline, but with some help.

Braveboy, who was elected to office last year, said she will depend on resources from the pub-

lic school system, sheriff’s office and nonprofit organizations to support a youth justice reform plan.

“I feel really strong about this because we cannot institutionalize our young people,” she said Wednesday, July 31 at the county administration building in Upper Marlboro. “Once they get in a system, mentally they think of themselves as part

Instead of some youths being processed and tried in juvenile court for certain

offenses, the person’s records will be

reviewed to determine if mental health, social or other services are warranted.

12 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

5 Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy speaks during a July 31 press conference in Upper Marlboro to announce a justice reform initiative that aims to decrease the number of juveniles in the criminal justice system. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

of the system. What we want young people to know is the community cares about them.”

Although community interventions and diversion programs aren’t new, Braveboy described the initiative led by the state’s attorney’s office to help at-risk youth as a “family approach.”

Instead of some youths being processed and tried in juvenile court for certain offenses, the person’s records will be reviewed to determine if mental health, social or other services are warranted.

For instance, Key Bridge Foundation in Largo will provide mediation sessions to handle certain conflicts.

The county will host its first Juvenile Justice Summit at Bowie State University in November for youth and adults to identify

causes of behavior. In addition, possibly provide recommendations on state legislation toward criminal justice reform.

Community Public Awareness Council (C-PAC) of Kettering will mentor youth.

The group helped Imani Williams, 16, to change from a troubled, verbally abusive teenager to an honor-roll student at Friendly High School. When this upcoming school year starts Sept. 3, the senior will serve on the school’s peer mentoring group to assist incoming freshmen.

“I’ll tell them do the right and don’t do the things I did,” she said while standing beside her mother and grandmother.

“Ninth-grade year is not the year to play around. Stay out of trouble. Keep your grades up.

Study and do your homework.

Stay away from the bad crowd.”

Juveniles assessed and charged with serious offenses such as gun possession and assault would still be processed.

Prince George’s schools CEO Monica Goldson said the focus will not only push for a decrease in the suspension rate, but also call on school resource and police officers to become mentors.

According to the Maryland Department of Education, the county recorded the state’s seventh-highest percentage of public school students suspended or expelled during the 2017-18 school year, at 6.3 percent. The year prior, the county had the same percentage and ranked fifth in the state.

“Relationships help to breed trust and accountability,” Goldson said. “It allows us to have our students come to them for assistance and support. The only way we can do that is to make sure we train and retrain our police officers, our investigative counselors and security assistants to make sure they become those kinds of mentors our children need.”

Claudette Harris of Cheverly, whose 15-year-old son participated in the C-PAC program for a year, said police officers must be retrained to deal with students in a different way.

“Some police officers are good with the kids when they are in the school, but some just have that police mentality to walk up to them and lock them up,” she said. “It will make things a lot better.” WI

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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

Maryland Needs to Distribute Education Funding Equally: Report

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill ANNAPOLIS — A financial report shows Maryland received a high mark in terms of funding levels for education, but rated poorly to distribute money to some of its school systems.

Danielle Farrie, research director for the Education Law Center in Newark, New Jersey, used the latest economic data from 2016 to show Maryland’s poorer school districts received $800 fewer than wealthier districts.

Farrie also said the assessment that Maryland schools are underfunded by at least $3 billion annually could be more.

“Although the funding levels are high, they are not equitably distributed. That means the poorest districts are getting less funding,” she said Thursday, Aug. 1, adding the money assessed in the report focuses on state and local funding combined and not including federal dollars.

Farrie presented a report, “School Funding Fairness – How Maryland Compares,” to the 13-member Blueprint for Maryland’s Future work group, which seeks ways to establish funding formulas between state and local school systems.

According to a financial chart from the state’s Department of Legislative Services Office of Policy Analysis, state aid per pupil increased from $2,874 in fiscal year 2002 to $6,535 fiscal year 2019. In terms of local appropriations during the same time frame, the figure increased from $3,851 to $6,506.

The group, led by former University of System Maryland chancellor William “Brit” Kirwan, proposes to come up with recommendations by the fall.

Then the 25-member commission plans to review and vote on those ideas and any other proposals before the General Assembly convenes in January.

The legislature already approved an additional $255 million in the budget toward the Kirwan recommendations.

The measure also allocates $725 million through 2022 with an additional $130 million if lawmakers can pass legislation next year on how to pay for additional programming.

During Farrie’s presentation,

Prince George’s County school board Chairman Alvin Thornton, who led the effort more than 20 years ago to create a funding formula to bridge education equities, asked if the report includes school capacity.

No, Farrie said. “We just looked at the revenue coming in.”

In terms of ranking against other states, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Delaware all received an “A” for funding levels. Maryland and New Hampshire garnered a “B” on the report. However, Maryland scored a “D” along with Virginia for distribution of money.

The report determined school refinance reforms must be: student-centered based on enrollment and needs; funding levels combined with “sound research” to achieve a state’s academic standards; and the share of local and state dollars.

Former state Sen. Richard Madaleno Jr. of Montgomery County said the current data for Maryland shows Somerset County with only 10 schools received $17,736 in state aid and neighboring Talbot County received $13,300.

“The students in the poorest jurisdiction are receiving more than the highest jurisdictions. It makes some of your regression analysts a little more difficult,” said Madaleno, who now works as the county’s budget director.

“It’s hard to take Maryland into your context … when there are so many things going on. The numbers don’t reflect Maryland’s reality.”

Farrie admitted Maryland’s assessment remains more complicated because the state doesn’t have as many school systems compared to other states.

For instance, the Pennsylvania Department of Education notes the state has 500 school districts that range in student population from 200 to 140,000.

There are 585 school districts in New Jersey, according to the state’s Department of Education.

Both states manage schools from an area or regional structure and not a countywide system.

“The way our report is constructed is to reflect a national picture, but it is also to discern overall patterns,” Farrie said. “It’s kind of all over the map.”

WI

5 Danielle Farrie (right), conducts a presentation in Annapolis explaining how Maryland ranked with other states on education funding on Aug. 1. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 13

BUSINESS Family Business Remains, Expands in Prince George’s

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Stephen Neal acquired a commercial business 13 years ago in Prince George’s County to repair, inspect and sell trucks and buses throughout the D.C. metropolitan region.

Most importantly for Neal: the business has remained and ex-

panded in the county.

K. Neal Truck and Bus Center opened a new $12 million, 40,000-square-foot building at its headquarters in Hyattsville that plans to spur economic development on its property with the future construction of a Royal Farms convenience store and then a manufacturing business.

“We’re really trying to bring economic development in the

county,” said Korey Neal, 28, president of the family-owned business and son of Stephen. “A ton of people have fostered and put work into this. It’s bigger than you can ever dream.”

The business has more than 100 employees with two locations in Prince George’s, an office in Montgomery County and another in Lorton, Virginia.

Prince George’s officials labeled the business as one of two minority-owned commercial truck and bus dealerships in the nation.

State Sen. Joanne C. Benson (D-District 24) of Landover recalled when Stephen Neal worked at Giant Food. However, she had a message for Korey Neal.

“I want you to behave yourself accordingly,” she said. “You don’t want no problems out of Joanne C. Benson.”

The building, which sits north of Route 50 on Tuxedo Road, features a heated floor in the garage area that helps ensure workers installing equipment, sandblasting and other work are warm in the winter.

AU G U ST 1 6 -25

5 Korey Neal (left, holding scissors), celebrates with his father, Stephen Neal, elected officials and other supporters during a grand-opening ceremony for K. Neal Trucks and Bus Center’s new 40,000-square-foot building in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Aug. 1. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)

K. Neal also provides 24-hour roadside service and an inventory of more than 100 trucks and buses. One of the company’s clients: Prince George’s County public schools.

The property sits on an unincorporated tract near the Cheverly border that rests on a flood plain, so company officials went before the town council to quell concerns about whether the building would create any environmental problems.

“It’s not only a gateway to Prince George’s County, but to our community,” Cheverly Mayor Laila Riazi said. “It’s about being excellent partners…and understand what it means to be a good neighbor. This business meets all the needs. It will be a continuing relationship.”

The company has built a relationship with nonprofit and private businesses such as Kaiser Permanente to offer a free, on-site

mobile health clinic and workforce services to help returning citizens.

Stephen Neal said people are the reason for the company’s success, hence it will establish “Green Light Financing” as a way to assist small businesses.

“We’ll figure this out,” he said “[The] things we want in our community, we’ve got to do it ourselves.”

In the meantime, the company seeks to hire diesel technicians to join a “homegrown” establishment that generated more than $100 million and ranked 37th last year among Black Enterprise minority businesses in the nation.

“We do everything that you can think to a truck except manufacture,” said Stephen Neal, a 1974 graduate of DuVal High School in Lanham. “Hundreds of events [and people] make this happen.

It’s good to have the business here in Prince George’s County.” WI

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BUSINESS

Comcast Expands Internet Access to Low-Income Households, Disabled

The announcement by Comcast on Tuesday, Aug. 6, that the company would significantly expand eligibility for Internet Essentials fulfilled an eight-year mission to connect millions of low-income households and those with disabilities to the internet, according to Karima Zedan, director of the Internet Essentials program for Comcast Corporation.

“We’ve been running this program for eight years now and, over those eight years, we’ve had 11 significant expansions to increase the number of people who would be able to apply for Internet Essentials,” Zedan said.

“And we have had to be really thoughtful in the way that we have worked with our community part-

ners to implement this program, because it takes time to understand the needs of our customers … when we know that relevance is the most important issue as to why people are not describing the internet at home,” she said.

Zedan said that by relevance, she means that either people don’t have the skills to navigate and understand how to use the internet successfully, there’s either some fear around it, or they have not been able to afford it.

“But generally it is this barrier around ‘why do I need it?’ ‘How does it help me?’ And that requires education,” she said.

“And that requires investing in our nonprofit partners so we’ve been doing that over the past eight years, and we’ve been doing it with different populations, families with school kids, those who receive housing assistance, and a partnership with HUD,” Zedan said. “Last year,

we did low-income veterans. And I think, now [that] we have enough experience working with our community and government partners, that we are ready to take this program to the next level.”

The plan to serve all low-income households in Comcast’s footprint is only the latest step. The company has established a vast network of nonprofit partners who provide Comcast with real-time feedback about what is working and not working, and how to make improvements to the program.

“It’s really significant,” Zedan said. “Our customers so far has been more than 80% people of color. And our service area and Comcast is concentrated mainly in urban areas and if you look at the demographics, where there are a lot of low-income households who are not connected to the internet at home, you do see correlations with

5 Local students are surprised with free laptops from Comcast’s Internet Essentials program. (Photo courtesy/Comcast Internet Essentials)

those folks being primarily people of color.

“There’s a lack of education as well, in terms of college, I mean, all of those really complicated those demographic variables that really help to explain the state of poverty, so that’s why we’re interested in really trying to reach the full potential of this program and connect as many low-income households as possible, so they can enjoy all the same things

that we all do,” she said.

Internet Essentials is a highspeed, low-cost internet service for eligible low-income households. It includes Wi-Fi and an option to purchase an internet-ready computer with free digital literacy training online and in person.

Comcast officials called the expansion the most significant change

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 15

NATIONAL ‘An Amazing Voice for Freedom,” Mary Ann Shadd Proved a Hero of the Suffrage Movement

This is part of an ongoing Washington Informer series about the Women’s Suffrage Movement and an initiative that includes Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes that will use the lens of history, the fabric of art and culture, and the venue of the public square to shine a light into dark places, equipping all with a compass to chart the way forward. The initiative lives in the institutional home of the Washington Informer Charities.

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

16 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

Well-educated, vivacious, with determination shining from her sharp eyes, she threw herself singlehanded into the great Canadian pilgrimage when thousands of

5 Mary Ann Shadd Cary and the historical house in D.C. (National Park Service)

hunted Black men hurried northward and crept beneath the protection of the lion’s paw.

–A description of Mary Ann Shadd Cary by W.E.B. Dubois – via National Park Service In 1823, Mary Ann Shadd was born free in Wilmington, Delaware, and her activist parents, Abraham and Harriet, raised their 13 children to fight for the aboli-

tion of slavery, according to a biography of Shadd on the National Park Service (NPS) website.

Fugitive slaves often found refuge in Shadd’s childhood home.

She grew up around notable Underground Railroad conductors including William Still, according to NPS. “Since Delaware prohibited Black education, the Shadds moved to Pennsylvania where Mary Ann attended a Quaker boarding school until 1839. For the next twelve years, she taught Black children in Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania,” NPS officials wrote in her biography.

As a free Black woman, Shadd experienced sexism and racism in the North, according to the biography.

Segregation and male-only careers limited her social mobility.

Skin color stratified the Black community as well.

Light-skinned Blacks, like the Shadds, occupied an elite status with access to more education and economic opportunities.

Despite her privilege, Shadd fought against both internal and external racial discrimination.

In her early 20s, she wrote a letter to Frederick Douglass condemning the lack of activism among free Blacks. Douglass published her letter in his newspaper, The North Star.

Shadd Cary had entered the public sphere, according to the biography.

“The Black Liberation Movement in America has a rich history of African women who were scholars, organizers, activists, and mothers since the 19th century,” educator and activist Dr. Conrad Worrill wrote on Twitter, naming Shadd as a prime example.

“Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an amazing voice for abolition,” tweeted songwriter Rayna Elizabeth.

In 1850, Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act which deprived

fugitive slaves of legal rights and imposed harsh penalties on those who aided fugitive slaves, NPS researchers wrote.

Along with scores of other free and enslaved Blacks throughout the nation, Shadd and her brother Isaac emigrated to Canada.

She settled in Windsor, Ontario, where she published a widely circulated pamphlet, “A Plea for Emigration; or, Notes on Canada West.” The document promoted the many opportunities available to Blacks in Canada.

In 1853, Shadd Cary founded Canada’s first-antislavery newspaper, The Provincial Freeman which encouraged Blacks to flee America for their freedom. With that publication, Shadd Cary became the first Black women in North America to edit and publish a newspaper.

In 1870, Shadd Cary graduated from Howard University with a law degree and became one of the first Black women lawyers in America. She also became the first Black woman in North America to edit and publish a newspaper.

Shadd Cary died of stomach cancer in 1893 and was buried in Columbian Harmony Cemetery in D.C. Located in the U Street Corridor, Shadd Cary’s brick row house is a lasting reminder of her extraordinary civil rights activism and her defiance of societal constraints, according to the NPS. In 2018, the University of Windsor in Canada paid tribute to Shadd Cary by displaying a sculpture of the abolitionist outside of its School of Social Work building.

Donna Mayne, a former art director of several mural projects at the university, did the sculpture.

“It’s a real privilege,” Mayne told the Windsor Star newspaper.

“Her history here locally helped form Canadian ideals,” Mayne said.

The National Park Service provided historical data for this story.

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NATIONAL

Brookings Scholar Refutes Trump’s Portrayal of Black Unemployment Statistics

Cites Evidence that African Americans Faring Far Worse than Whites

By James Wright WI Staff Writer Since announcing his presidential aspirations and candidacy in 2016, Donald Trump has often alluded to his support for the securement of the hopes and dreams of and a better quality of life for America’s Black citizens.

To illustrate his efforts, he routinely cites Black employment statistics, pointing to a previously-shared tweet to rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z (Jan. 28, 2018) as evidence.

“Somebody please inform Jay-Z that because of my policies, Black unemployment has just been reported to be at the LOWEST RATE EVER RECORDED,” the Trump tweet said.

However, Andre Perry, a David M. Rubinstein Fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in Northwest, describes Trump’s claims as misleading, steering needed conversation about employment in the wrong direction.

In his recently-released study, “Black Workers are Being Left Behind by Full Employment,” Perry asserts that while American unemployment has reached impressive lows, Blacks continue to face much higher levels of joblessness, especially in predominantly Black cities.

“The unemployment rate is 15.8 percent in Newark, is an alarming 17.4 percent in Detroit and in Flint, more than a quarter of the population is unemployed,” Perry said. “If these numbers referred to the white unemployment rate, our leaders would be doing everything possible to improve it. But these rates represent Black unemployment and no one is sounding the alarm.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reports the July unemployment rate overall at 3.7 percent – for African Americans the reported rate nearly doubled at six percent. And Trump has touted the good news, claiming the credit shortly after taking office in January 2017 when, as he reminds the nation, Black unemployment

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5 Andre Perry is a scholar at the Brookings Institution. (Courtesy Photo-Brookings Institution)

then stood at 7.7 percent.

Perry, however, advises caution in celebrating prematurely.

“The stability of the national unemployment rate shouldn’t lull us into a false sense of economic security,” he said. “The same metric forecasts a much different outlook for Black people.”

He notes that the national employment rate does not account for differences among racial groups, geographic areas or other specific characteristics which collectively paint a much different picture of the economy than the president reports. Further, he adds that despite the U.S. economy growing closer to full employment – that is, when job opportunities exceed the number of available workers – Blacks now face unemployment levels akin to those reported during the Great Recession (Dec. 2007 – June 2009, according to economists).

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Study Gives Nuanced Look at Black, Latino Economic Experiences

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia The Groundwork Collaborative, UnidosUS Action Fund and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies have released Project Mosaic, a new, groundbreaking study examining the personal economic experiences of Black and Latino adults in the United States, the organizations said in a news release.

Trumpeted as a comprehensive analysis revealing new insight into the perspectives of Black and Latino adults, the study dives into the economic challenges they face and examines their opinions on the role government plays in the economy and the role racism plays in their economic successes or setbacks, according to the release issued Friday, Aug. 2.

“Not understanding the Black and Latino economic experience prevents policymakers and advocates from crafting policy and communicating an economic narrative that is credible and resonant, and that addresses the real challenges each community faces,” said Angela Hanks,

deputy executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative.

“Project Mosaic provides crucial insight into the lived experiences of groups whose economic needs are too often overlooked,” Hanks said in the release.

While Black adults say individual drive is important for economic success, they also see an economy that’s rigged in favor of the wealthy and privileged, the study found.

Black adults strongly believe that racism plays a role in the economy and that the government should do more to address it, yet are less likely to cite racism in their own lives as their most significant economic concern.

Most believe there has been little improvement in the overall U.S. economy over the past two years, though they are slightly more optimistic about their own personal situations.

Black adults want the federal government to take a more active role in improving the economy, though there remains a great deal of skepticism that politicians will actually change things for the greater good, according to the study.

Latino adults were found to have mixed views on the roles race and racism play in the economy and in their own lives.

Most Latino adults say they have not felt much benefit from the economy in the past two years.

Women are much less likely than men to have positive things to say about the national economy or their own financial situation.

Latino adults face serious “kitchen table” economic challenges.

Younger Latino adults are most likely to want the federal government to take a more active role in improving the economy and are more likely to see the system as rigged, the study found.

Despite finding variances in how Black and Latino adults experience and perceive the economy across gender, age, education, income, and political affiliation, the study also points to some unifying themes and ideas shared by both groups, namely: • Majorities of Black and Latino respondents agreed that the economy is at its strongest when takehome pay outpaces the cost of living.

• Black and Latino adults agree that everyday people, and not

Homeownership is important.

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wealthy elites, drive the economy.

• Both communities are deeply skeptical that the government will act to improve their economic conditions.

“The findings from Project Mosaic are loud and clear: policymakers need to address the unique economic concerns of African American communities,” said Jessica Fulton, economic policy director at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

“We can no longer go by the assumption that a lowered unem-

ployment rate for Black Americans equates to the community doing well, especially given that African American respondents report that they are struggling to find jobs that keep up with the cost of living, ” Fulton said.

“We live in a shared economy, and it is time for policymakers to energize African Americans around the issues that matter most to them and their families,” she said.

To view the complete study, go to groundworkcollaborative.org.

WI

COMCAST from Page 15

partnership between Comcast and tens of thousands of school districts, libraries, elected officials, and nonprofit community partners.

Since 2011, Comcast has invested more than $650 million to support digital literacy training and awareness, reaching more than 9.5 million low-income Americans.

The company has either sold or donated more than 100,000 discounted and heavily subsidized computers to families and veterans that need one.

“We’re delighted about this expansion but we always feel like there is so much more work to do,” Zedan said. “We have a team of people who work full-time on Internet Essentials and we’re constantly asking ourselves, what can we do to make the program easier, better, faster; how can we provide more education with nonprofit partners so that people can get the skills they need?

“That’s our full-time job to really make this program the best that it can be and serve their needs. So we are certainly happy, but definitely by no means are we complacent,” Zedan said.

For more information or to apply for the program, go to www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-8468376. Spanish-only speakers can also call 1-855-765-6995. WI

in the program’s history.

The company estimates that more than three million additional low-income households, including households with people with disabilities, are now eligible to apply for the program.

Since August 2011, Internet Essentials has connected more than eight million low-income individuals from two million households to the internet at home, most for the first time.

The announcement followed 11 prior eligibility expansions, including last year’s extension of the program to low-income veterans.

The most significant barriers to broadband adoption in low-income communities remain a basket of digital literacy deficits, lack of digital awareness, and fear of the internet, Comcast officials said.

Internet Essentials has an integrated, wrap-around design that addresses each of those barriers, Zedan said, adding that the program includes multiple options to access free digital literacy training in print, online, and in person; purchase an internet-ready computer for less than $150; and for all to have lowcost, high-speed internet service for $9.99 per month.

The program is structured as a

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5 Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings (Photo courtesy/Edward Kimmel/via Wiki Commons)

Cummings Invites Trump to Baltimore Amid Ongoing Feud

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer At a time when America is embroiled in blood-stained racial strife and many lay the blame at the feet of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) has invited President Donald Trump to come to Baltimore and walk with him in a community he said would welcome the president with open arms.

As chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Cummings has spent months looking into the conduct and policies of Trump. After the congressman questioned the poor conditions of immigrant camps at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump fired back and said Cummings should do more to clean up his “rat- and rodent-infested” 7th Congressional District, which encompasses much of Baltimore.

“I’d love for him to sit down and talk to the doctors at Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland and see the beautiful neighborhoods of our city, and I’d be happy to have him,” Cummings said during the grand opening of the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation’s Nature Play Space in Baltimore.

Cummings cited the new venue as an example of how Baltimore is improving.

“It went from a vacant lot used

for dumping to an outdoor area for kids to play and the community to gather,” he said.

Earler last week, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson came to Baltimore to hold a press conference at a vacant lot about the city, but things went off-course after a staff member for Morning Star Baptist Church, which owns the lot, asked him to get off the church grounds.

While Carson got the boot and some say Trump will get an even more frigid welcome, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele said as he stood in front of New Shiloh Baptist Church last week that the president should come.

“Mr. President, come on down to the streets —we are ready for you,” Steele said during a July 29 event at the church held by Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. “Put your tweet down, brother, and come to Baltimore.”

Ironically, when Trump was elected in 2016, Cummings was one of the first members of the Congressional Black Caucus to visit him at the White House.

At the time, Cummings and officials at Johns Hopkins University thought that they would be working on legislation to lower prescription drugs.

Despite the president’s comments, Republicans and Democrats alike hope the Trump-Cummings feud marks a turning point in political discourse. WI

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 19

INTERNATIONAL

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Rwandan Health Minister Urges ‘Contract Tracing’ to Prevent Ebola Spread

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at:

 20 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

Dr. Diane Gashumba, (left) Rwanda’s Minister of Health, said people should effectively report any Ebola case as well as wash their hands at border crossings as a means of preventing the spread of the Ebola virus.

During a news conference on Thursday, Aug. 1, the health minister stressed the need to avoid contact with affected individuals and the importance of hygiene to keep people free from the epidemic, The Sunday Times reported.

For people entering Rwanda from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has recorded 2,600 Ebola cases of Ebola, Rwanda has set up hand-washing facilities at DRC-Rwanda border.

The move is in line with strengthening measures to prevent this hemorrhagic fever virus that can spread through direct contact with bodily fluids such as urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk and semen of a person who is sick with or has died from Ebola.

“We encourage people to provide information about people who have gone there [to affected places], and people who have developed symptoms of the [disease],” Gashumba said.

Her observations follow four confirmed Ebola cases in DRC’s Goma City, which borders Rwanda.

It is estimated that one Ebola-affected man in Goma got in contact with 138 people, which the minister said are many.

She added that contact tracing helps identify the affected people and with management of the disease. Contact tracing is the identification and follow-up of persons who may have come into contact with a person infected with the Ebola virus.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), all close contacts should be monitored for 21 days following their last known exposure to the case and be isolated if they become ill.

Gashumba said that the four Ebola cases recorded in Goma include a pastor, a miner, his wife and son.

The pastor contracted the Ebola virus when he left South Kivu to evangelize in Butembo — one of the DRC’s Ebola-affected area — where he was praying for the sick and laying hands on them. He arrived in Goma on July 14, the same day he was diagnosed with Ebola, and died later.

The miner, who was from Mongbwalu, Ituri Province, had traveled via Beni and Butembo — two areas in DRC’s North Kivu Province — which are affected by the virus. He returned to Goma on July 13, while the disease onset was confirmed on July 22. He was treated but later died on July 30.

The miner’s son contracted the virus on July 29, while his wife was confirmed Ebola positive on July 31. They have been receiving treatment.

In one year since DRC declared an outbreak of the virus in North Kivu province, there have been more than 2,600 confirmed cases, including more than 1,800 deaths in parts of Ituri and North Kivu provinces, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest figures.

Two weeks ago, the epidemic was declared a public health emergency of international concern.

“The main message to our people is to avoid unnecessary travels to that place, and to keep the hygiene culture,” Gashumba observed.

WI

caribbean now Trinidad PM: Slavery ‘Left Many a Black Person Scarred’ Aug. 1 is celebrated in many Caribbean territories as Emancipation Day, marking the freedom of enslaved Africans who were victims of the transatlantic slave trade.

Trinidad and Tobago was the first country in the world to declare a national holiday to mark the abolition of slavery, and in his Emanci5 Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister pation Day message to the nation, Prime Minister Keith Rowley said Dr. Keith Rowley and his wife, Sharon, take those from West Africa have suffered the most and that slavery “has left a picture with members of the Shell Invaders many a Black person scarred and denuded of basic values.”

Steel Orchestra during an Emancipation Day “In the eyes of some, the perception remains that Blacks have been Celebration. (Courtesy photo/Office of the placed at the bottom of every ‘good’ list, and the ‘top’ of every bad one,” Prime Minister) he said. “Despite their strengths, resourcefulness and intelligence, they are forced still to cry out to the world that ‘Black is beautiful, too.’”

The prime minister added that recent studies in social psychology now suggest that the scars and oppression of slavery are lodged — generations after — in their collective unconscious; i.e., in the minds of Africans in the Caribbean and the Americas.

“In short, theirs, as we say, is a double whammy: Institutionalized racism on one hand; and the mental chains of pain and suffering — held within their own psyches,” he said.

WI

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August Greetings from DC Department of Aging and Community Living Laura Newland Director Laura Newland, Department of Aging and Community Living The DC Commission on Aging recently held their annual retreat where they planned for the upcoming year. The Commission on Aging is a 15-member citizens advisory group appointed by the Mayor “to advise the Mayor, the DC Council, the DC Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL), and the public concerning the views and needs of the aged in the District of Columbia” (DC Law § 7-504.01).

Commissioners represent all eight wards of the city and serve as your voice in the community, advising DC government on aging issues and concerns.

In addition to meeting monthly, your commissioners are out in the community, working with residents, listening to concerns, and bringing information back to help us as we work to make DC a city where you want to be—at every age. They also work with

mini-commissions in each ward.

Mini-commissions are made up of residents and advocates who serve as the eyes and ears in your community and advise the Commission on Aging on senior concerns in your neighborhood.

Since starting in my role, I’ve looked to the Commission on Aging for guidance on how DACL can truly represent the needs of the community. They’ve counseled me on a range of issues—from health and wellness, elder abuse and fraud protection, and to what the agency’s relationship should be to the community. I’m so grateful for their guidance and support. They helped me navigate my transition as a new director, and today, they continue to advise me on the role of DACL as a department and how we can work together to best serve the community.

They also advise the Mayor and Council and help to ensure that when the big decisions are made for the city, the concerns and the needs of our older Washingtonians are included.

I encourage all of you to get to

Your 2019-2020 Commission on Aging members are:

know the Commissioners representing your Ward. DACL is committed to listening to the community—whether we’re engaging with you in your neighborhood, chatting with you on the phone, or working with our Commissioners—we are constantly looking for more opportunities and better ways to meet you wherever you’re at.

To apply to become a member, visit the Mayor’s Office of Talents and Appointments website http:// motaboards.theresumator.com/apply/Ut1kD1/Commission-On-Aging.

Find out more about how to get in contact with your Commissioner by calling my office at 202-7245626.

Be well, and remember—Aging is Living!

Department of Aging and Community Living Opportunities

Guleford Bobo, Commission on Aging Chair, Ward 8 Carolyn Matthews, Commission on Aging Vice Chair, Ward 1 Nancy Miranda, Ward 1 Jo-Anne Hersh, Ward 2 John Giacomini, Ward 3 Marguerite Pridgen, Ward 3 Lystra Hinds, Ward 4 Maria Wilson, Ward 4

Barbara Lee, Ward 5 Grace Lewis, Ward 5 Hattie Pierce, Ward 5 Charles Hicks, Ward 6 Alice Love, Ward 6 Mary Taylor, Ward 7 Barbara Hair, Ward 8

Volunteer Opportunities As a District government agency dedicated to promoting service as an innovative, sustainable solution to meet community needs, we are proud to connect seniors and people with disabilities with meaningful volunteer opportunities in every ward of the city.

DACL Ambassador Program An initiative to train community residents about the programs and services offered by the DC Office on Aging and its Senior Service Network. The ambassadors serve as points of contacts for distributing information about the programs and services available to seniors, people living with disabilities and caregivers in their wards and communities.

Connect With Us

500 K Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 Phone: (202) 724-5626 / Email: dcoa@dc.gov Office Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 21

HEALTH Deborah Clark: ‘Living My Best Life at Sixty’ My name is Deborah Clark, I am a single mom of five handsome sons ages ranging from 22 to 40. Also, I am the proud grandmother of one grandson, age 10. I work a full-time job, I am a health advocate for sickle cell disease, I am a writer — have been for 46 years. My fourth son, 27 years old, suffers from sickle cell disease. He has endured 190 hospital admissions, he has undergone 94 blood transfusions and has had major surgery twice.

Currently, I am writing my son’s story which will be in your book-

stores soon. We have a total of 18 publications, all related to sickle cell. Google Deborah Clark/sickle cell, there you will see some of our stories.

Recently, I participated in Ms. DC Senior Pageant 2019, I was contestant #5. I was so committed to seeing this event from beginning till end. I pushed myself like no other, I traveled beyond my comfort zone. For my talent for the pageant, I chose to do a praise dance, though I am a writer, not a dancer. But when I was up on that stage, I prayed, then

5 Deborah Clark (Courtesy photo/Patricia Ragland)

I gave the dance every ounce of my being.

I know I did a great job the day of the pageant, because six days before the pageant, I developed Bell’s palsy. This illness makes it appears like I had a stroke, but I didn’t — thank GOD. I did ex-

perience some paralysis on the left side of my face, which caused my mouth to twist on the affected side. I asked the doctor, could I finish the pageant? He said sure.

I was determined I was not quitting and the rest is history.

I am a winner, I teach my sons not to quit and become winners.

I did not win Ms. DC Senior Pageant 2019, nor did I win a seat in her court, but I am happy I had the courage to participate.

I met some wonderful ladies, we made lifetime memories and we created a sisterhood filled with love and respect. I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

I am 60 years old, and the first time I graced an evening gown was the day of the event.

To my seniors: put God first — allow Him to head your life.

Believe in yourself — remember, we teach people how to treat us.

Enjoy life to the fullest — we have more years behind us than we do in front of us. Embrace your self-worth. Make sure you let go of negative-minded peo-

ple — delete them from your life. Negative energy holds you back. Forgive those who wrong you. You don’t have to hang on to them — let this be your choice.

Anyone who constantly, continues to disrespect you, should have no room any place in your life ever. Set boundaries in your life — for anyone who crosses them, make it known there are consequences they will face, We only live once, so let’s make the best of it. After all, your life matters, too.

I hope my story uplifts, enhances, encourages and inspires someone. Just know the best is yet to come, if you only pray ... and believe. I am DETERMINED - ENERGETIC - BRILLIANT - OPULENCE - RESILIENT - AWESOME - HUMBLE — I believe in God and all He can D Do. Trust in His Word and He will bless you, too — on PURPOSE!

Blessings, Deborah Clark

I hope my story uplifts, enhances, encourages and inspires someone.

Just know the best is yet to come, if you only pray ... and believe.

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5 James E. Reddick and Bill Davis flank Angela Alsobrooks (Courtesy photo/Eric Sykes)

Suitland Church Weathers Storm for Area Kids

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer As area students prepare to return to school, volunteers at the Suitland Road Church of Christ were busy last weekend passing out backpacks and other supplies, and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks took notice.

The Suitland Road congregation is one of many across the county giving out supplies as the school year approaches, but what is unique about this group is that it’s currently displaced because the roof of their building sustained heavy damage during a recent storm.

“I am amazed,” Alsobrooks said after she stopped by the parking lot of the sanctuary and greeted members on her way to another event. “Despite the devastation to their building, they held this event to support children.”

In addition to backpacks, three-ring binders, tablets, paper and other supplies, the Suitland members grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and gave out snow cones.

Elder Bill Davis and other leaders they the work of the congregation doesn’t stop just because they are out of their building.

“If you call yourself a Chris-

tian, you have to do things that God has established,” said Davis, who worked at the event along with his wife Sarah.

“The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than receive.

We are a community-based church, and how can you call yourself a Christian and [not] help somebody else?”

Evelyn Reddick, wife of the other church elder, said the church continues to distribute food to people in the community at their own building, despite having to temporarily hold services at the Forestville Community Center until their roof is replaced and repairs made.

Alsobrooks spokesperson Gina Ford said that the county executive drops by several community events every weekend. On Saturday, she also vis-

ited the Suitland Road Baptist Church, which held a health festival.

Elsewhere in the region, the Beltway Church of Christ in Camp Springs also hosted a back-to-school event Saturday.

And on Aug. 24, the First Baptist Church of Glenarden will host its 26th annual health fair, with dozens of vendors, speakers, medical screenings and cooking demonstrations expected.

The event, which takes place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., will be held at the church’s Worship Center at 600 Watkins Park Drive in Upper Marlboro. The focus is on seniors’ and men’s health, with medical and dental stations on site for screenings and information. There will also be a center devoted to youth and adolescent health.

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HEALTH Farafina Kan Returns to UDC for Annual Birthright Concert

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins

For years, Black families dressed in their best African attire and visited the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Theatre of the Arts to vibe to the intricate drum sounds and dance moves of the Farafina Kan Intergenerational West African Dance Company during its annual Birthright concert.

The drummers and dancers of Farafina Kan will return to UDC

on the night of Aug. 17, bringing with them the experience of having visited and performed near the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana this year during the Back2Africa Festival, one of several “Year of the Return” activities for Africans living in the Diaspora.

“The work we’re doing makes Africa feel closer,” said Diallo Sumbry, organizer of the Back2Africa Festival, in conjunction with the Ghana Tourism Authority, and founder and president of the Adinkra Group, an African cultural, entertainment and re-

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source company through which Farafina Kan operates.

In 2014, Farafina Kan’s inaugural Birthright concert commemorated its 10-year anniversary as a conduit of West African cultural education. It has since garnered recognition as a marquee late-summer event. This year, the DuPont Brass Ensemble, originally comprised of Howard University alumni, will grace the stage along with Farafina Kan. Doors at the UDC Theatre of the Arts will open in the early afternoon for an African marketplace and subsequent VIP reception.

“Birthright has become [an event] where every group in D.C., regardless of spiritual system, could come through and appreciate Black culture,” added Sumbry, who, for the first time since its inception, directed Birthright’s marketing from Accra, Ghana, where he has served as African-American Tourism Ambassador since March. “[This is] an intergenerational family event where people take the night on the town and get fly.”

“The Year of the Return” marks 400 years since the arrival of enslaved Africans to Jamestown, Virginia, an event that’s often designated as the start of Africans’ centuries-long fight against oppression in the United States.

The Ghanian government has used this occasion to encourage tourism and investment among African Americans and other members of the African Diaspora, a goal on which they aligned with the Adinkra Group.

Toward the end of February and leading into Ghana Independence Day on March 6, the Adinkra Group brought more than 100 Black people from the D.C. metropolitan area, including members of Farafina Kan

5 Farafina Kan and Birthright have been of particular significance to Monica Utsey, a home-schooling mother whose son Zion is pictured to the right. (Courtesy of Konan Bokosse)

and CrossRhodes with Raheem DeVaughn and Wes Felton on the Back2Africa Tour. Both groups visited Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast, showcasing their musical talent before large audiences. Last year, Backyard Band headlined the Back2Africa Tour.

Months later, they performed at the 2018 Birthright concert, where Sumbry revealed scenes from an upcoming documentary chronicling the go-go band’s appearance.

The Back2Africa Festival and Birthright concert count among the Adinkra Group and Farafina Kan’s ongoing efforts to connect descendants of enslaved Africans to the West African culture lost during the Maafa. Throughout Farafina Kan’s 15-year existence, the Adinkra Cultural Arts Studio in Mount Rainier, Maryland, has served as its home base, where children and adults, many of whom have performed with Farafina Kan, participate in West African drumming and dancing workshops and classes.

Farafina Kan’s presence in the community has been of particular significance to Monica Utsey, a homeschool mother whose two sons have practiced for a decade under the auspices of Baba Mahiri Fajima Keita-Edwards. In February, Utsey accompanied her children to Accra on what was her first trip to the African continent. On Aug. 17, she will sit among the audience members at the UDC Theatre of the Arts as both young men actualize their passion for the drumbeat once again.

“This is who they are,” Utsey said. “This is part of their culture that was stolen from them when our ancestors were forcibly brought to these shores. They’ve been blessed to reclaim that through the study of West African drum and dance. The young people of Farafina Kan have a responsibility to teach others who make fun of Africa and don’t understand that we’re African people and it’s something that should make us proud.” WI

Residences at St. Elizabeth East Accepting Applications Residences at St. Elizabeth East will begin accepting applications to be placed on the waiting list on 8/1/2019.

Please visit our website www.steapts.com at your earliest convenience and click on ‘apply to waitlist’.

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To support community development, Bank of America:

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 25

EDUCATION DCPS

BRIEFS Complied by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer

SBOE TEACHER PANEL

As part of its ongoing teacher retention work, the DC State Board of Education recently convened a District teacher panel to learn more about best practices and insights in the classroom. State Board members have spent the summer working on strategic initiatives and connecting with parents, families, and students at local education events around the District.

While there will be no SBOE working session or public meeting in August, the board will hold a member retreat on Aug. 27 for training and assistance and to review of the current strategic plan. This meeting will be closed to the public.

TEACHER CONTRIBUTIONS

SBOE members recognized exemplary teachers from the District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter schools at their July 17 meeting for their significant

teaching contributions over the past year.

Panelists and board members engaged in discussions and heard testimonies and dialogue on education in D.C. The SBOE teacher panel included: Gary Hamilton (3rd-grade teacher at Wheatley Education Campus) 2019 Rubenstein Winner for Excellence in Teaching.

Justin Lopez-Cardoze (Life Science teacher at Capital City Public Charter School) 2020 DC Teacher of the Year finalist.

Daniel Spruill (Music educator at Center City Public Charter Schools-Brightwood Campus) 2020 DC Teacher of the Year finalist.

SUMMER LAW DAY

Summer prep students at Thurgood Marshall Academy attended “Summer Law Day” in July at Wiley Rein LLP, in downtown DC, where they learned about contracts and performed their first mock trial.

Dressed in professional wear, students worked with summer associates, law partners, and staff on contracts, legal skills (research, argumentation, critical thinking, advocacy, and negotiation) and using their voice.

Derek Petit, a Wiley Rein associate, has been involved with Summer Law Day from the early days, and even helped facilitate the TMA partnership with his Howard Law School alma mater.

Petit also stressed “making a connection with the students” to fellow Wiley Rein employees.

5 Derek Petit, a Wiley Rein associate who has long been involved with “Summer Law Day,” helped facilitate the TMA partnership with Howard University’s Law School. (Courtesy of TMA)

ACHIEVEMENT RESULTS

Increased enrollment for both public charter and traditional public schools shows that investments in D.C.’s public education are working as more families continue to choose a public school.

There continues to be a high level of demand for public charter school seats in grades PK (ages 3 and 4) and kindergarten, with waitlists across public charter schools totaling 11,861, an increase of 544 students since school year 2018-19.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

CHANCELLOR DIALOGUES

After months of connecting with stakeholders across all eight wards through a series of “Ferebee Friday” events, DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee is looking forward to engaging more deeply on topics that matter most to the school system’s families, students, staff and community members.

In the coming months, Ferebee will be hosting a series of small group “DCPS Dialogue” gatherings at schools, libraries and community centers across the District.

Through these topic-specific

conversations, Ferebee will gather feedback for going into the 201920 academic year.

Ferebee has expressed his excitement to listen to DCPS stakeholders to better understand their experiences and learn from them, how school officials can improve programs and policies.

The format of these events will be small group discussions with attendance capped at 20 to keep the conversation intimate.

Sign up at bit.ly/dcpsdialogue2019. For questions, contact ofpe.info@dc.gov or 202-7196613.

WI

For the past 12 years, students at D.C. public charter schools have continued to improve on statewide assessments — DC CAS and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness in College and Careers (PARCC) test.

Public charter school students earning college and career reading scores (Level 4 or 5) increased by 2.7 percentage points on the English language arts assessments and by 1.8 percentage points on the math assessment.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Psychological Assessments and Interventions

5 There continues to be a high level of demand for public charter school seats.

(Courtesy of dcprep.org)

Two Rivers Public Charter School is seeking companies to provide comprehensive psychological assessments and therapeutic interventions for students. Providers must be able to complete evaluations and provide written assessments within 30-40 calendar days. For a copy of the RFP, please email procurement@tworiverspcs.org.

5 DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee has expressed his excitement to listen to DCPS stakeholders to better understand their experiences. (DCPS photo)

26 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

EDUCATION

Wall Provides Supplies, Inspiration at D.C. Back-to-School Giveaway

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Lyric Johnson’s eyes widened as she walked in a room and saw Washington Wizards superstar John Wall.

The 12-year-old who will start seventh grade this month at Jefferson Middle School Academy in southwest D.C. smiled as the All-Star point guard handed her black Adidas backpack filled with pencils, paper, a pencil sharpener and other school supplies and a pair of John Wall socks.

“I’m was happy” to meet Wall, she said Saturday after playing a game of air hockey with her parents and brother inside Dave & Busters in Capitol Heights, Maryland.

Lyric and hundreds of other students in kindergarten through 12th grade attended

Wall’s sixth annual back-toschool charity event to distribute 500 backpacks to local children.

Wall also offered advice and words of encouragement to the students.

“You can take the money away and I would still play the game because I love it that much,” he said of his chosen profession.

“To show these kids that whatever you want to be — a doctor, a teacher, a fireman … just make sure you lock in and listen to your parents.”

Meanwhile, Wall himself is taking online classes to finish the two years left to receive his bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Kentucky. He left the school after his freshman year and was drafted number one by the Wizards in 2010.

Wall said he’s keeping a promise to his parents that he would receive a college degree, even

if he’s not especially keen on the required schoolwork to get there.

“No, I don’t want to talk about back to school,” he said to reporters. “I just finished my last exam for math this semester.”

Wall will have time to study as he continues to rehabilitate a left Achilles injury which could possibly keep him out the entire 2019-20 season. The Wizards announced in February that he would miss a year of basketball activities.

A four-year, $171 million supermax contract extension Wall signed in 2017 also begins next season.

Wall said didn’t know the exact status of his recovery process, but expressed optimism that he is “making progress.”

“I feel like I’m in solitary,” he said jokingly before thanking the Wizards organization.

“It’s great to have an organization that cares for me, understands me and respect me and not trying to force me to come back super early,” he said. “I played through injuries. I want to give everything I have for the organization and the city. I’m just taking my time.”

In the meantime, youth such as Chase McKinney, 6, sported John Wall Foundation T-shirts and clutched their new backpacks.

As his dad, Billy McKinney, looked through Chase’s bag, he saw the John Wall socks.

“I’m going to keep these for myself,” he said with a smile.

WI

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking Wants to Hear From You at the Proposed 2020 Health Insurance Rates Public Hearing WHEN: Thursday, August 22, 2019 at 5:30 p.m.

WHERE: One Judiciary Square, Old Council Chambers 441 4th St. NW, Washington, DC 20001 WHY:

Commissioner Stephen C. Taylor will conduct a public hearing on the results of the Department’s actuarial review of the 2020 proposed health insurance rates for individual and small group health benefits plans sold in the District of Columbia.

WHO:

Want to be a public witness?

Contact the Department via email at HealthRate.Comments@dc.gov or at 202.442.8571 by 5 p.m. on Friday, August 16 to be added to the witness list.

For witness and written statement requirements, visit disb.dc.gov.

Requests for special accommodation including sign language and other language translation must be received by the Department at 202.442.8571 by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 16, 2019.

INVITATION FOR BIDS Solicitation GAGA-2019-R-0102 Occupational Therapy / Physical Therapy DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE OF CONTRACTS AND ACQUISITIONS The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), Office of the Chief Business Officer (OCBO), on behalf of the Division of Specialized Instruction (DSI) is soliciting proposals from offerors to provide experienced licensed Contractor(s) with the capacity to provide Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy services to students attending various locations within the District of Columbia Public Schools.

5 Washington Wizards star John Wall hands a backpack to Amari Watkins during the 6thannual John Wall Foundation back-to-school backpack giveaway at a Dave & Busters restaurant in Capitol Heights, Maryland on August 3.

(Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

Solicitations will be available for pick-up on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 at 1200 First Street, N.E. 9th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20002, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. This solicitation may also be downloaded from the OCA website delineating all the details of the solicitation at: http:// dcps.dc.gov/DCPS/About+DCPS/Doing+Business+with+DCPS/Procurement.

Proposals will be accepted at DCPS/OCBO on Tuesday, August 20, 2019, no later than 3:00 p.m. at the address indicated above.

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 27

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Offers ends 9/15/19. Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. New residential customers only. Limited to Standard Triple Play. Early termination fee applies if all Xfinity services (other than Xfinity Mobile) are canceled during the agreement term. Equipment, installation, taxes and fees, including regulatory recovery fees, Broadcast TV Fee (up to $10.00/mo.), Regional Sports Fee (up to $8.25/mo.) and other applicable charges extra, and subject to change during and after promo and term agreement. After promo and agreement term, or if any service is canceled or downgraded, regular charges apply. Comcast's service charge for upgrading from Performance Pro to Extreme Pro Internet is $25.00 more/mo. (subject to change). Service limited to a single outlet. May not be combined with other offers. TV: Limited Basic service subscription required to receive other levels of service. Internet: Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed. Voice: If there is a power outage or network issue, calling, including calls to 911, may be unavailable. Mobile: Xfinity Mobile offer ends 9/30/19. Requires purchase of new, qualifying phone, activation of new Xfinity Mobile and transfer of phone number. $250 in form of prepaid card mailed to Xfinity account holder. Cards issued by MetaBank,® Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa® U.S.A. Inc. Cards will not have cash access and can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. © 2019 Comcast.

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28 AUGUST 8 - 14, 134219_NPA227022-0001 Best 2019 Deal of the Year_V3_WashingtonInform_9.5x12.375.indd

1

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

7/30/19 5:08 PM

AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

Heightened Senses: LIVING WELL WITH PHYSICAL, SENSORY & COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENTS SPONSORED BY

WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

NEWSPAPER READING IS A HABIT DON’T BREAK THE HABIT!

Living Well with Physical, Sensory & Cognitive Impairments

By Dr. Shantella Y. Sherman Informer Special Editions Editor

READ THE WASHINGTON INFORMER YOUR WAY: In Print – feel the ink between your fingers of our Award Winning Print Edition

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On the Web – www.washingtoninformer.com updated throughout the day, every day

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202-561-4100 For advertising contact Ron Burke at rburke@washingtoninformer.com

...Informing you everyday in every way

In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday.

Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016

by The Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send change of addresses to The Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20032. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of photographs. Subscription rates are $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to: THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E Washington, D.C. 20032 Phone: 202 561-4100 Fax: 202 574-3785 news@washingtoninformer.com www.washingtoninformer.com

PUBLISHER Denise Barnes STAFF D. Kevin McNeir, Editor Ron Burke, Advertising/ Marketing Director Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor Lafayette Barnes, IV, Assistant Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Sports Photo Editor Dorothy Rowley, Online Editor ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout Mable Neville, Bookkeeper Dr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist Tatiana Moten, Social Media Specialist Angie Johnson, Circulation REPORTERS Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Will Ford (Prince George’s County Writer), Hamil Harris, Tatyana Hopkins, Jade JamesGist, Kaja Rae Lucas, D. Kevin McNeir, Lauren Poteat, Lee Ross, Dorothy Rowley, Ronda Smith, Sophia Sparks, Sarafina Wright (General Assignment Writer)

PHOTOGRAPHERS John E. DeFreitas, Shevry Lassiter, Roy Lewis, Demetrious Kinney, Mark Mahonny, Lateef Mangum, Travis Riddick

Zarifa Roberson, i.d.e.a.l. Magazine

According to a 2018 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1 in 4 U.S. adults – 61 million Americans – have an impediment that impacts major life activities. Types of impairment include mobility (walking or climbing stairs), sensory (hearing or sight impaired), and cognitive (concentration, remembering, or making decisions), and increasingly these conditions are impacting African Americans under the age of 50. While some are born with illnesses or develop them in early childhood, others find that chronic health concerns such as hypertension, diabetes, and living in toxic spaces, impair their sight, hearing, mobility, or cognitive abilities. Brilliantly, most find ways of enjoying life to the fullest.

Among them, a former colleague, Zarifa Roberson, comes to mind. As the former founder and publisher of i.d.e.a.l. Magazine, a publication giving voice to urban young people with disabilities, Roberson embodied the passion of both an advocate and educator. During its 11 years of operation, i.d.e.a.l. came to epitomize Roberson’s amazing spirit for living and loving with arthrogryposis multiplex congentia, a condition characterized by multiple joint contractures (stiffness) and involves muscle weakness found throughout the body prior to birth.

The name, derived from Greek, means curved or hooked joints. Roberson, who shuttered the magazine in 2015, now travels the country as a motivational speaker, encouraging others with disabilities to enjoy every aspect of their lives – including active sex lives.

“My purpose through my business is to change the way society has stigmatized people with disabilities especially among people of color, and to create an image of people of color with disabilities as contributing members of society such as entrepreneur, lawyers, doctors, vocational rehabilitation counselors, and teachers,” Roberson said.

“Most importantly, I want our image to be diverse, successful and as valuable members to society.”

In addition to addressing some of the health concerns of those with mobility, sensory and cognitive impairments, this Informer health supplement celebrates the tenacity, resilience and graft of this growing community.

Read, Learn, Enjoy.

Dr. S

www.washingtoninformer.com / AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

HS-2

Logged In

Dating Websites, Apps Open Doors to Socializing for Those with Disabilities and Impairments

By Stacy M. Brown and Lee Ross Informer Staff Writers The internet contains a trove of sites where meetings and hookups can be accomplished with a touch of the keyboard – swipe right or swipe left, you decide.

But, what about individuals looking for love or companionship who are disabled or impaired in some way?

The prevalence of dating sites for those with impairments might surprise some. The success rate of matchmakers on those sites likely will stun.

“Many disabled people are surprised to find love – but there are so many success stories out there, that there is no reason to be so hesitant,” wrote Laurel House and other dating experts for the blog, “The 10 Best Dating Sites.

“The reality is that there are advantages to dating someone who is disabled. Among them, there is no stronger bond in a relationship than that in which you can wholeheartedly trust your partner to be with you through thick and thin, through sickness and health,” House wrote with experts Ken Solin, James Preece, Erika Ettin, Nida Sea, Vanae Tran, and Carmelia Ray. “A relationship with someone who is disabled already has that wonderful commitment to help and trust each other from the getgo,” the dating experts wrote.

“Before I found Disabled Mate, I had resigned myself to the idea that I’d be spending the rest of my life alone,” John Simmons, a member of Disabled Mate, who found love on the platform said.

“Something told me to give the website [Disabled Mate] a try and I’m glad I did. Since joining, I’ve made several new friends and I feel good about the connections and friendships I’ve forged, in-

cluding one with a special lady.”

Dating – or even “hooking up” has become much easier for those with impairments and disabilities through advanced technology, including new apps like Glimmer, which launched earlier this year.

Designed to create a more transparent environment for people with disabilities, Glimmer, was founded by Geoffrey Anderson, who was inspired by his brother, who has cognitive disabilities.

Anderson told Buzzfeed that he didn't like that people felt the need to omit their disabilities on sites like Tinder, saying “The problem clearly isn't the omission itself, it's that having a disability is often stigmatized.”

Removing that stigma was very much the goal for Shari Stallman, 40, who wears a back brace to assist with adult idiopathic scoliosis – a condition that was only recently diagnosed. Stallman said that with her self-confidence near exhaustion, dating seemed unrealistic.

“I love to dance, and it has been part of my dating ritual for decades to go to parties, but I was too embarrassed to go out anymore since I started wearing the brace. Who would want to dance with me with my spine twisted?” Stallman told the Informer.

“Even though I never considered myself ‘disabled’ it felt like a strike against my chances of meeting a good person if I admitted.”

Stallman said that instead, once she opened up to cyberdating on sites that catered to those with impairments or disabilities, it was pretty easy getting back to the dance floor.

“Things are so transparent that I can relax and simply enjoy the company of the other person.

There are no judgments and no hiding, so it really is less superficial than traditional dating for me,” Stallman said.

Dating – or even “hooking up” has become much easier for those with impairments and disabilities through advanced technology...

H-3 HS-3

For those seeking to find love or companionship online, vantagemobility.com recently compiled a list in which their experts called The Best Dating Sites for Those Who are Disabled.

They include Whispers4U, which has been around since 2002; Dating4Disabled, a free site that allows users to meet, date and share resources with other people with disabilities; Special Bridge, a private and family-owned and operated social community for those with disabilities; Disabled Passions, a social networking community that provides a variety of content related to disabilities and dating, including humorous videos, games and collected resources.

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New Apps and Websites that cater to those with disabilities or impairments have made socializing and dating much easier, transparent. (Courtesy photo)

Nutrition Made Easy!™ A health podcast for food lovers. Hosted by Giant® nutritionists.

Stream or Download: www.giantfood.com/nutrition

AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com

• Encourage kids to eat right.

Healthy breakfasts and lunches help students be more alert.

Help kids pack lunches or make healthy choices at the cafeteria, and limit junk food. AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia (DC) members can take healthy cooking classes at no cost at our Member Wellness Center.

To see our monthly schedule, visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc. com.

• Keep reading all summer.

Let kids choose what they like to read. Comic books, catalogs, and magazines all count. Children and adults in the District can earn prizes for reading through the D.C. Public Library Summer Challenge. Learn more at www. dclibrary.org/summerchallenge.

• Research and talk about after-school activities. You can narrow the choices down to one or two that your child will enjoy.

Make sure your child has time for homework and personal time.

Keep Your Student Healthy

Submitted by AmeriHealth Caritas District of ColumbiaSM Most of us dread the back-toschool routine, even though we welcome its familiar pace after we’re in it. Take time to prepare now and get back into the swing of

HELP CHILDREN WITH SCHOOLschool with ease. And remember, • Slowly move bedtimes back. RELATED CONCERNS healthy students are better learners. We all tend to veer off regular bed- AND STRESS. START NOW TO BE READY.

Eating right and getting enough sleep and exercise can help students do their best.

#BestMe

Rewards Program

time schedules during the summer.

A couple of weeks before school starts, begin pushing bedtimes back by 15 minutes each night. If meal times or other routines have changed, reset those too.

Helping your kids with school is one of your most important jobs as a parent.

• Teach them study skills.

Make sure your child has a quiet place with plenty of light to

study. Many parents set a time each day for homework. Pay bills, read, or do other “homework” at the same time your child does schoolwork. This shows kids how the skills they are learning in school are applied to real life.

• Help kids get organized.

Teach them how to plan a schedule, make to-do lists, and set goals and deadlines for projects.

You can help your child learn how to break large tasks into smaller ones.

• Support a healthy schoollife balance. Make sure homework and study time are not too stressful or overwhelming.

Personal time, time with friends, and extracurricular activities are important for children too.

• Be ready to help with any challenges. Talk with your kids if they are having anxiety or concerns about school, classmates, or teachers. If your child has an issue, you might want to meet with an administrator or school counselor to learn more and help find a solution.

Stay connected to your kids by talking with them every day about their experiences in and out of school. Expect them to do their best so they can be proud of themselves. Ask open-ended questions and listen. Car trips are a good time to fit in these important talks.

I got a gift card for getting my annual physical. You can too.

You can get a $25 gift card if you: • Are an AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia member • Are 12 – 21 years old • Get an annual physical exam

Visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com/giftcard to learn more.

Note: A member cannot get more than $50 in incentives each year.

ACDC-19433327-2

www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com

All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only.

Any individual depicted is a model.

AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, at no cost, are available to you. Call 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 or 1-800-570-1190).

Spanish: ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 o 1-800-570-1190).

Amharic: ማሳሰቢያ፡ አማርኛ መናገር የሚችሉ ከሆነ፣ ከከፍያ ነጻ የሆነ የቋንቋ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ይቀርብልዎታል፡፡ በስልክ ቁጥር 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ወይም 1-800-570-1190) ይደውሉ.

1-800-408-7511 ‫ اﺗﺼﻞ ﺑﺮﻗﻢ‬.‫ﺎن‬‫ ﻓﺈن ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﳌﺴﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﺗﺘﻮاﻓﺮ ﻟﻚ ﺑﺎ‬،‫ إذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺘﺤﺪث اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬:‫ ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ‬: Arabic .(1-800-570-1190 ‫ أو‬TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ‫)رﻗﻢ ﻫﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺼﻢ واﻟﺒﻜﻢ‬

www.washingtoninformer.com / AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

HS-4

#BESTME CORNER

#BestMe is a campaign created by AmeriHealth Caritas DC all about being the best you possible.

Back-to-school checklist

Five Tips for a Stress-Free Morning

Your morning can set the tone for the rest of your day. Weekday mornings can be challenging with the added stress of getting your child ready for school and making sure they arrive on time. Start your day off right with these ideas: • Think of something you’re grateful for as soon as you open your eyes. It can be different each day or the same.

• Schedule a yearly well visit for your child. Make sure your child has eye and dental exams. These are provided at no cost to AmeriHealth Caritas DC members under age 21.

• Make sure your child is up to date on vaccines

• Smile and laugh. We hold a lot of stress in our faces. A laugh or smile can help release some of that tension.

• Help kids make healthy food choices

• Breathe. Take a few slow, deep breaths as you move about in the morning. This calms and grounds you.

• Help kids stay active and ready to learn

• Listen. Research says music can help with stress, so use it to start your day! The sounds of nature have also been shown to relieve stress.

• Learn how to get kids to school safely

• Meditate. Meditating, being mindful, or saying a prayer during the first few minutes of your day can instantly help your Sources: “Back to School” and “Head Back to School Safer and Healthier this Year!,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accessed June 12, 2018, www.cdc.gov/features/back-to-school/index.html.

“Back to School,” U.S. Department of Education, accessed June 9, 2018, youth.gov/feature-article/ back-school.

“Five Tips to Help Manage Stress,” American Psychological Association, accessed June 12, 2018, www.apa.org/helpcenter/manage-stress.aspx All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model.

Find us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/amerihealthdc / Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmeriHealthCaritasDC

#BestMe

Rewards Program

I got a gift card for getting my prenatal checkup. You can too.

You can get a $25 gift card if you: • Are pregnant and within your first trimester • Are an AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia member • See a midwife or OB/GYN for your first prenatal office visit

Visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com/giftcard to learn more.

Note: A member cannot get more than $50 in incentives each year.

ACDC-19433327-1

www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, at no cost, are available to you. Call 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 or 1-800-570-1190).

Spanish: ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 o 1-800-570-1190).

Amharic: ማሳሰቢያ፡ አማርኛ መናገር የሚችሉ ከሆነ፣ ከከፍያ ነጻ የሆነ የቋንቋ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ይቀርብልዎታል፡፡ በስልክ ቁጥር 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ወይም 1-800-570-1190) ይደውሉ.

1-800-408-7511 ‫ اﺗﺼﻞ ﺑﺮﻗﻢ‬.‫ﺎن‬‫ ﻓﺈن ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﳌﺴﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﺗﺘﻮاﻓﺮ ﻟﻚ ﺑﺎ‬،‫ إذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺘﺤﺪث اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬:‫ ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ‬: Arabic .(1-800-570-1190 ‫ أو‬TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ‫)رﻗﻢ ﻫﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺼﻢ واﻟﺒﻜﻢ‬

H-5 HS-5

AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com

All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only.

Any individual depicted is a model.

By Lee Ross Special to the Informer

Recommended Books About Living Well with Disabilities and Impairments In Sickness and in Health: Love, Disability, and a Quest to Understand the Perils and Pleasures of Interabled Romance Ben Mattlin In Sickness and in Health is more than an "inspiring" story of how a man born with spinal muscular atrophy-a congenital and incurable neuromuscular condition-survived childhood, graduated from Harvard, married an able-bodied woman, built a family with two daughters and a cat and a turtle, established a successful career in journalism, and lived happily ever after. As Mattlin considers the many times his relationship has been met with surprise or speculation by outsiders-those who consider his wife a "saint" or him just plain "lucky" for finding love-he issues a challenge to readers- why should the idea of an "interabled" couple be regarded as either tragic or noble?

On the Beat of Truth: A Hearing Daughter's Stories of Her Black Deaf Parents Maxine Childress Brown As an African American woman born in 1943, Maxine Childress Brown possessed a unique vantage point to witness the transformative events in her parents' lives. Both came from the South -- her father, Herbert Childress, from Nashville, TN, and her mother, Thomasina Brown, from Concord, NC. The oldest of three daughters, Maxine was fascinated by her parents' stories. She marveled at how they raised a well-respected, middle-class family in the midst of segregation with the added challenge of being deaf.

Kissability: People with Disabilities Talk About Sex, Love, and Relationships Katherine Duke In Kissability, Katherine Duke and forty other individuals from around the world open up about their bodies, minds, and hearts. Their words interweave to create a book about differences and common bonds, about inner selves and outward appearances, about change and acceptance—and about the many ways that people need and connect with one another.

Disability and the Black Community Sheila D Miller Disability and the Black Community addresses physical, mental, and learning disabilities experienced across age, gender, and ethics groups by the Black race in the United States. This unique book works to increase understanding and awareness of those working with the disabled by mobilizing advocates, providing alternatives for successful intervention and planning, and encouraging research in disability and rehabilitation. Disability and the Black Community raises the level of understanding and awareness of the complex and diverse concerns facing the disabled and their families in the community and the workplace.

The book is at once motivational, influential, and empowering, examining social and political issues that compound the ordeals confronting the Black disabled.

Johns Hopkins Cancer Clinic

Cancer keeps us up at night, too.

Sibley Memorial Hospital and Unity Health Care – collaborating to improve access to high quality cancer care.

Call 202-660-5776 to schedule an appointment at the Parkside location.

The Promise of Medicine

www.washingtoninformer.com / AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

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Hypertension: The Silent Killer Submitted by The Greater Washington Region American Heart Association Did you know that 1 in 4 of adults in the Greater Washington Region have high blood pressure?

This is a major issue. When left untreated, high blood pressure can be a contributing factor to heart attack, stroke, and other health concerns.

High blood pressure or hypertension is when the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels is consistently too high. The normal range for an adult is less than 120/80. It is known as a “silent killer” as most of the time there are no obvious symptoms.

African Americans have a higher prevalence of high blood pressure than other racial and ethnic groups.

It also can be more severe, and some medications are less effective in treating high blood pressure in African Americans. Thiazide-type diuretics (water pills) and/or calcium channel blockers are more effective in lowering blood pressure when given alone or as initial medicines in a multidrug regimen to African Americans.*

Certain physical traits and lifestyle choices can put you at a greater risk for high blood pressure. How can you prevent and manage high blood pressure? Start by making healthy lifestyle choices such as: • Moving More: The American Heart Association recommends adults get at least 2.5 hours of physical activity each week.

• Eating Healthy: Making healthy food choices can help lower blood pressure. Eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, low fat dairy products, and low sodium food options.

• Stopping Smoking: Using tobacco can cause your blood pressure to temporarily increase and can damage your arteries.

• Limiting your alcohol intake: Limit your alcohol consumption to only one drink per day.

• Starting to stress less: Find healthy ways like exercise or meditation to lower your stress level.

• Losing weight: Maintain a normal body weight and BMI. “It’s critical for everyone to know their blood pressure numbers. At the American Heart Association,

we are working with community members and organizations to raise awareness of the dangers of high blood pressure to help the Greater Washington community live their longest, healthiest lives,” said Greater Washington Region American Heart Association’s Executive Director Soula Antoniou.

If you do have high blood pressure, work with your healthcare provider to determine the best treatment options. Depending on your risk and blood pressure levels, you may be prescribed medications along with healthy lifestyle changes. With proper treatment and management, you can control your blood pressure to live a long and healthy life.

The only way to know if your

blood pressure is high is to check it regularly. The American Heart Association has a free online tool called the Check.Change.Control. program. This program tracks your blood pressure readings and connects you with a volunteer health mentor.

The American Heart Association is also working with healthcare partners such as Unity Health, DC Primary Care Association, and the Primary Care Coalition to help people get their blood pressure under control through education and programming including Target: BP. Target: BP supports physicians and care teams by offering access to the latest research, tools and resources to help their patients work on blood

pressure. Last year, these partners reached 200,000 patients in the Greater Washington Region with Target: BP initiative.

Visit http://www.targetbp.org to learn more or www.heart.org/dc to get involved with the Greater Washington Region American Heart Association. *Note: Specific source to the information regarding African Americans and Hypertension is from American Heart Association: https:// www.heart.org/-/media/data-import/downloadables/pe-abh-whatabout-african-americans-andhigh-blood-pressure-ucm_300463. pdf?la=en&hash=95E93A0B6B484F665782A17CA1FFD148EDEEAFB7.

There are enough adults diagnosed with high blood pressure in the Greater Washington Region to fill the Washington Redkins' FedExField 11 times!

Did you know that blood pressure over 120/80 is considered too high?

Find out more about how to control your blood pressure at www.loweryourhbp.org.

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AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com

Secret Foods to Lower Blood Pressure

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD Albertsons Companies Wellness Corporate Dietitian and the author of 25 books, including “Tell Me What to Eat if I Suffer from Heart Disease”

us know that limiting sodium and salt to less than 2400 milligrams a day is recommended, but here are a few of the more secret food-related tips.

About 73 million U.S. adults are walking around with high blood pressure or hypertension. It’s called “the silent killer” because there are absolutely no signs that you have it. When you have high blood pressure your heart has to pump harder and the arteries are under increased pressure, which can lead to injury of the artery walls, atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Shockingly less than one-third of people with high blood pressure have it under control and uncontrolled blood pressure significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The good news is new research reported a 10 mm Hg reduction of systolic blood pressure reduced the risk of major cardiovascular disease events, stroke, and heart failure by 20-28%. Experts agree that maintaining a healthy weight, staying active and not smoking are three of your best bets for managing blood pressure. But what you eat (or don’t eat) can also improve blood pressure. Most of

The Tale of Two Minerals: Potassium and Sodium Americans tend to get too little potassium and too much sodium in their diet. While a high intake of sodium raises hypertension risk, people who meet the daily requirement for the electrolyte potassium, reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors. Get more potassium every day by including a daily dose of dark green leafy veggies. Other potassium heavy hitters in the vegetable category include artichokes, Brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and potatoes with skin. In the fruit category look to bananas, oranges/orange juice, papayas, cherries, kiwi, tomatoes, avocado, and cantaloupe/watermelon for potassium.

The Three Amigo Minerals: Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium We’ve just been reminded about the power of potassium, but potassium is also one of three minerals that

are vital for improving blood pressure. And as luck or mother-nature would have it, at least two and sometimes all three are found together in foods. The big star in this list is dark green leafy veggies (which boasts all three minerals), other foods on this list include low fat dairy, nuts (almonds, peanuts, soy nuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds, etc.), beans and peas (especially edamame/soybeans), seafood (especially shellfish and clams), and whole grains (especially oats and quinoa).

Let the DASH Diet Inspire You The DASH eating plan, which features many of the foods we already noted in the first two tips, has lowered blood pressure similar to what is commonly achieved with medications. Along with a lower sodium intake, this tested eating plan encourages daily 8-10 servings of vegetables and whole fruit, 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy, whole grains over processed grains, nuts, seeds and beans (2-3 tablespoons), and no more than 6 ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish.

Include Extra Virgin Olive Oil in your Daily Diet New research continues to suggest that there may be blood pressure-lowering benefits to including extra-virgin olive oil in your daily diet. Along with the more favorable monounsaturated fats, extra virgin olive oil adds 30-plus plant compounds, many of which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action in the body.

Dark Chocolate & Cocoa Helps Crush High Blood Pressure Dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa are loaded with antioxidants and improve blood pressure, blood lipids, and arterial flexibility and vascular health. The dose suggested to be helpful (and associated with lowering the risk of heart attack) is .33-ounce dark chocolate or 1.5 tablespoons of cocoa powder at least 3-4 times a week.

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7/30/19 3:24 PM

Get Ready for School at Whitman-Walker’s East of the River Fall Fest

By WhitmanWalker Health

In 2016, Whitman-Walker staff members (and fellow Washingtonians), Adisa Bakare and Dwayne Lawson-Brown, created East of the RivMark your er Fall Fest to celebrate and support the historic calendars! WhitAnacostia community. Since then, the event has m a n -Wa l k e r grown to donate more than 300 backpacks and Health is hosting supply more than 350 meals to fall fest attendees! its 4th Annual Past performers have included the Walker Redds East of the RivProject, Ushindi Performance Troupe of Split This er Fall Fest – a school supplies giveaway and Rock Youth Programs, DisgoFeva and of course community party with live Go-Go by Sirius Sirius Company!

Company! On Friday, August 23rd, from 3:00 Did you know Whitman-Walker has operated to 6:00 p.m., stop by Whitman-Walker’s Max its health center at Max Robinson Center for more Robinson Center at 2301 Martin Luther King, than 25 years? Our Max Robinson Center offers…

Jr. Ave, SE – right near the Big Chair!

Each year, this free festival brings together multiple organizations, partners, • Primary medical and dental care Enjoy live music, poetry, and mouth-waterand community members for an afternoon of music, fun, and giving back!

• Behavioral health and substance use treatment ing food from Caribbean Citations while pick• Legal Services and Insurance Navigation ing up free backpacks and other school supplies • Research study enrollment for the 2019-2020 school year.

• HIV/STI testing and counseling • PrEP – the daily that prevents HIV before exposure to HIV WHAT TO EXPECT AT EAST OF THE RIVER FALL FEST? • PEP – the 28-day pill regimen that prevents This annual community event includes a resource fair featuring…

HIV after a potential exposure to HIV • Whitman-Walker’s Public Benefits and Insurance Navigation team to help you • AND a full-service pharmacy located next navigate Open Enrollment and getting insured through DC Health Link door at 2303 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave SE! • HIV testing through Whitman-Walker’s mobile testing van We hope you'll join us at East of the River Fall Fest 2019! Learn more about the event, • Information on currently enrolling research studies at Whitman-Walker and how to get involved at whitman-walker.org/fallfest. Please note: The rain date for • Sign-ups for mammography appointments through Breast Care for East of the River Fall Fest is Friday, August 30th.

Washington’s mobile mammo unit • Soufside Creative merchandise from Congress Heights Arts & Culture Center

ABOUT WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH

GIVEAWAYS INCLUDE...

• • • • •

For over 40 years, Whitman-Walker Health has been proudly serving communities who often feel critically left out of the healthcare system. Whitman-Walker provides stigma-free, culturally humble and vital healthcare to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gender expansive and queer communities, as well as to those living with or affected by HIV; and to individuals who cannot afford to pay or otherwise feel uncomfortable in other healthcare settings. Learn more about Whitman-Walker at whtiman-walker.org.

Backpacks, school supplies and books for all ages Oral hygiene kits for adults and youth Tampons, pads and gently used, or new, bras Free rideshare bike passes from Capital Bikeshare Walk & 5K to End HIV t-shirts

FRIDAY, AUG. 23, 2019 LOCATION

MAX ROBINSON CENTER

2301 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, SE

TIME

3 PM - 6 PM

FREE EVENT

GO-GO Music Live Performances Free Food & Drinks

HIV Testing School Supplies and more!

www.whitman-walker.org/fallfest

www.washingtoninformer.com / AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

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Our pharmacists go above and beyond.

But you don’t have to go much beyond the Big Chair.

OPEN NOW! Whitman-Walker has a new pharmacy right in your neighborhood!

Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 6:30 pm

2303 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE H-11 HS-11

AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com

Losing Sight, Gaining Perspective

By Dr. Sophia Sparks Special to the Informer

Did I lose my side or did my blind spot enlarge? When I first began my journey as a person with low vision four years ago, I thought I had lost my sight.

I only knew how to operate in a world using my vision. How can one function in a world with limited vision? Yes, I have other senses, but I can never gather the full picture by just hearing, touching, smelling, or tasting. I guess my ability to use my imagination, in the same manner children do, was my saving grace. I still, however, needed my vision to fully interact with my surroundings.

Climbing stairs, reading printed materials, operating my cell phone, watching television, and even matching my clothing, became obstacles. Either I missed steps because I didn't see them or could not read data – a necessary component to my work as a scientist -- because the print was too small. Certain color families would blend together making feel as though I was colorblind.

As a result, I received many bruises from walking into objects

or falling from missing steps. It was difficult to maneuver in the world or even the safety of my own home.

Frustration set in.

This was compounded by the societal stigma that made my failing abilities a “disability.” I also became frustrated with the amount of time it took me to complete simple tasks like sweeping a floor. To combat fears and frustrations, I enrolled in a center that teaches those with low to no vision how to operate in a visual world. It was a godsend.

I saw people with varying visual impairments – some who acted as if they had not lost their sight, others who were on a quest to restore their sight, and still others, embracing technological devices that temporarily restored their vision or helped them successfully navigate with the sight that remained.

In watching them, I realized that I was thinking about my condition in the wrong manner. My sense of sight cannot be lost nor can any of my other senses. However, it can be reduced. I still have the organ that provides sight, but it is not functioning at the same level it did prior to the situation

resulting in the reduction of my vision. Therefore, I don't need to look for ways to get it back. I may sound repetitive but that was what I continually told myself. I can't get back something I did not lose.

Shifting focus, I thought about attributes I possessed that could help me see with limited vision.

Nothing came to mind until I saw a father who was totally blind running after a small child who appeared to have no visual limitations. If it was not for his identification cane, I would have never known that he was blind.

So, I sat in the park analyzing and realized that my ability to truly interact with my surroundings had been compromised without the impairment. I allowed my sight to dictate what I saw and inadvertently ignored the information processed by my other senses. This father used the sound of the child's laughter, the pressure from the child's footsteps, and the smells in the air to guide his pursuit after the child. He, the father, saw where to run despite having no field of vision and no

sight as most perceived it. The father used a culmination of all his other senses to see.

As a newlywed, this scene brought me a level of peace, as I considered how amazing it would be to chase behind my own children or play “catch me” with my husband.

I needed to adapt and register the information processed by

To combat fears and frustrations, I enrolled in a center that teaches those with low to no vision how to operate in a visual world.

It was a godsend.

my other senses in my conscious mind. I needed to imagine. Take the information from my sense of taste, touch, smell, and hearing to create the picture in my mind.

After completing imagination exercises, I now build furniture in my spare time, and enjoy lots of international travel – including sightseeing with my husband, Cliff. Those with sight deem these types of mobility and fun impossibilities, but I recognize them as the start to unlocking the true ability of sight.

Dr. Sophia Sparks is scientist specializing in toxicology. Her work explores water soluble toxins.

She lives in Dallas TX. and is a regular contributor to the Washington Informer. HS

Sophia Sparks, like many with low vision, adapted to her condition using several devices, including bioptic glasses and continues to travel and build furniture alongside her husband, Cliff. / Photos courtesy of Sophia and Clifford Sparks

www.washingtoninformer.com / AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

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Finding the Right Care Launches a Cookie Entrepreneur

By Winoka Wendy Wilkes The HSC Health Care System Program Coordinator

The HSC Pediatric Center is a specialty hospital in Washington, DC, that services children from infancy through age 21 with special needs, disabilities, and complex medical conditions. Kyle and his mother were able to experience the care and services at HSC and agreed to share their story as we highlight National Health Center Week.

Kyle has autism. He struggled to communicate his basic wants and needs, eventually leading to more challenging behavior; his mother didn’t know what to do. Navigating health care services for a child with autism and other developmental disabilities can be a daunting task. It requires time, resources, and

can become overwhelming for both parent and child.

Finding the right place for your unique child can make a difference in his or her quality of life Kyle’s mother contacted his primary care physician to ask for guidance with how to help her child. She was referred to The HSC Pediatric Center ‘s Psychology Department for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a scientific, evidence based practice which focuses on how behaviors change, or are affected by the environment, as well as how learning takes place. Skills related to communication, socialization, and daily living are targeted in ABA therapy.

After coordinating with their insurance company, Kyle was evaluated by a Board-Certified Behavior

Analyst and deemed a candidate for ABA clinic services.

He was enrolled in the Early Learner program, which offers early childhood services for children with autism and developmental delays, with a focus on growth, overcoming challenges, and increasing opportunities for success.

Goals include managing challenging behaviors while teaching new skills such as communication, play, and self-help skills. Kyle received individualized instruction within a group setting, four days a week for several years.

He made incredible strides with his communication skills and learned important coping skills.

Kyle’s mother was so impressed with his progress, that she became curious as to what else the HSC Pediatric Center could offer her now teen-

aged child. She discovered the Cultivating Independence for Transitioning Youth (CITY) Clinic; a specialized afterschool program for teens with autism and developmental disabilities developed in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism.

Programming is designed to promote independence and development of the skills necessary for young people to be active members of their community. Social-communication, adaptive living & pre-vocational skills, as well as community integration are key features of the program.

Youth in the afterschool program also participate in community outings for leisure and employment readiness purposes.

Kyle’s favorite part of CITY Clinic was Downtown Cookies – a group-run cook-

ie business. Each month, he and his group-mates plan and execute a cookie sale at The HSC Pediatric Center. Some HSC staff have nicknamed him the “Cookie Man.” Kyle and his mother were able to find the right services because of their early introduction to The HSC Pediatric Center. The HSC Pediatric Center has served DC families of children with disabilities, special needs, and complex medical issues for 136 years and is growing.

Visit hschealthcare.org to learn more about what HSC has to offer.

The HSC Health Care System salutes National Health Center Week Caring. Serving.

Empowering for 136 years.

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By Kaja Rae Lucas Special to the Informer Stunning the fashion world, Aaron Philip recently appeared on the cover of Paper Magazine, marking a graceful start to a promising career. Philip is a Black, disabled, genderfluid 18-year-old girl from New York, and she is propagating a new wave of inclusion. So, though she may be the first Black, trans, disabled person on runways, she will not be the last.

Philip and her family are originally from Antigua but moved to New York City to secure better medical care for her. Seven years ago, her family was forced into a homeless shelter due to overwhelming medical bills. At fourteen, she co-wrote a book with Tonya Bolden, This Kid Can Fly: It’s About Ability (NOT Disability). But, after seeing Kylie Jenner’s 2015 Interview cover, Philip wondered, as she stated in an interview with Them, “where were all the other people with disabilities in the shoot?”

Initially, Philip sent headshots to agencies, but didn’t find success until she turned to social media where she had already secured a large following. The tweet she put out read: “honestly when I get scouted/discovered by a modeling agency it’s over for y’all.” And from that viral suc-

Beauty, By Any Other Name

cess, she started getting picked up for photo shoots. Philip was signed to Elite NYC, a high-profile modeling agency, in the fall of 2018.

In June, she made her modeling debut at the Willie Norris Workshop. When she said “it’s over for y’all” Philip knew how to follow through. Philip finished high school and went to prom rocking Marc Jacobs. Philip was also interviewed by one of her idols, Naomi Campbell, in Paper. Since this start, Philip has made skillful, effective steps, while remaining true to her own ideal.

On Twitter, she has stated that she’s not an activist, rather, that she just “gives a f**k.” And she certainly believes marginalized people should be allowed to live without needing to justify themselves. Philip is clear-sighted when it comes to her work; she rejects the idea that she’s an “activist,” and in an interview with Dazed she stated: “I think when it comes to being a marginalized person in society, people have such high expectations,” she said, “they want people who are marginalized to do the labor of constantly advocating for themselves. I’m not an activist. I’m a model.”

It’s this giving a f**k that gives her a strong po-

sition in the world-- she stated in her Paper feature.

“I want to be seen as equal. I want to have the equal opportunities that any other woman would have in life itself.” She knows this is beyond modeling, although modeling is her work.

It is the creation of a lane where there wasn’t one before.

Philip knew the lack; “I was hyper-aware of my disability.

I realized there’s no one I see on TV or online or in fashion on the stage that I love, looking like me.” The creation of representation is so important-- “everyone deserves to be acknowledged, respected, and valued” she stated. It is modeling, but it’s also trailblazing.

It’s this clarity of purpose that

makes Philip a stunning force in her field, as well as her authenticity. “I feel like I’m doing nothing but trying my hardest to authentically live my life,” she told Paper. Philip knows her image for the future of fashion, stating she

wants “genuine inclusion and diversity,” in an interview with Dazed. In her first cover, she stated “I hope that my first show goes to show that runways and fashion collections with people like me in it can be possible.” HS

Aaron Philip’s foray into the fashion world breaks several barriers to acknowledging the beauty within disabled and trans communities. (Courtesy photos)

Area Resources for Special Needs, Hearing and Sight Impaired Individuals and Families Lee Ross Informer Staff Writer Each of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia has an agency to help its blind and visually limited residents obtain the skills and tools needed to find and maintain jobs. They provide job placement assistance, orientation and mobility training, support for courses leading to potential employment, magnification and screen reading software and training, other aids to assist with basic life activities, and general information to aid in seeking and holding jobs.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) under the District of Columbia’s Department on Disability Services provides job counseling, development, placement and retention services.

Information can be found by calling (202) 730-1700 or by visiting RSA’s web site at: http://dds.dc.gov/page/dds-services Aira, the assistive technology service, has offered its blind and low vision subscribers, who are job seekers, a free service to assist with employment searches through the Aira Employment Program. For more information, visit the web site: http://go.aira.io/employment.

Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind (CLB) is a private non-profit organization that provides a comprehensive, integrated range of services including low vision care and rehabilitation, job development training, and employment for people of all ages who are visually impaired or blind. Information can be found by calling (202)

454-6400 or by visiting CLB’s web site at: http://www.clb.org American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Hearing-Testing/External Provides information on newborn hearing screening.

Address: 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852 E-mail: actioncenter@asha.org (800) 638-8255 — (Voice, TTY)

programs is also available.

Address: MS E-88, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333 E-mail: ehdi@cdc.gov 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-2324636)

Special Population Students DCPS Find resources and information for local education agency (LEA) staff, educators, and community organizations who serve students from special populations in the District of Columbia though the Office of the State Superintendent of EduCenters for Disease Control & cation (OSSE). Content includes Prevention (CDC); NCBDDD; Early guidance documents, policies, Hearing Detection & Intervention archived training materials, instrucProgram (EHDI) tional resources, and stakeholder https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hear- engagement opportunities. https:// ingloss/index.html (Federal Website) osse.dc.gov/page/special-populations Provides information about chilHS dren and hearing loss and answers some commonly asked questions.

Information about state EHDI

www.washingtoninformer.com / AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT

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Some Senses We Take for Granted, Hearing and Vision

By Brittany E. Tillman, Health Neurotics LLC, CHES, Health Neurotics, LLC

We often see our older population looking for their spectacles to read the newspaper, an article or even a Facebook post. We hear, “huh?” or “what’s that?” a thousand times. Have we truly thought about damage prevention to our eyesight and hearing?

I think we chalk it up to growing older and as a normal part of life. What if I told you that is so far from the truth? Would you believe me? Vision problems result from inflammation and degeneration of the eye. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. The leading cause of blindness in ages 20-74 according to Michigan State University is cataract, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and macular degeneration; which affects adults ages 40 and over. Ear infections, meningitis, earwax build up, fluid, punctured eardrums, medicines and long-term exposure to loud noise can cause hearing loss.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the greatest amount of hearing loss is in the 60 to 69 age group. In addition, men are twice as likely as women to have hearing loss among adults aged 20-69.

The late and great Dr. Sebi teaches us that our eyesight is deeply connected to our colon and our pancreas. Unimagined right? The more clogged your colon and pancreas is, for a lack of a better term, the worse your vision is. A self-check of your diet is ever important. Our bodies are a magnificent alarm system that we often tune out. Listen attentively and fill the body up with alkaline foods to help reduce inflammation.

Alkaline Foods for Eyesight include cantaloupes, peaches, Burro bananas, blackberries, squash, tomatillos, kale seeded oranges, strawberries watercress, amaranth (grains), and bladderwrack (seaweed). Alkaline Foods for Hearing include avocado, seeded oranges, seeded melons, kale, arugula, quinoa, and tomatoes.

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Foods to Avoid include wheat gluten (causes mucus production), dairy products (causes mucus production), meat (causes mucus production), seafood (disrupts gut health), and sugar (causes mucus production).

Visit your optometrist or ophthalmologist annually or biannually. Always keep a food journal when transitioning into a new diet. Use your food journal as a level of accountability.

Consult with your physician if you have sudden hearing loss or gradual hearing impairments.

Water helps move digested food particles along the colon to prepare the body for a bowel movement. Continue to drink plenty of spring water, at least a gallon per day. Eat more alkaline foods, because an alkaline diet wards off disease while an acidic diet contributes to the onset of disease, according to Dr. Sebi's Nutritional Guide. I would be remised if I did not mention the magic of marijuana for cataract, glaucoma and pain management for hearing or vision impairments. Speak with your physician to get a medical marijuana recommendation or visit a medical marijuana dispensary in the legally participating states and/or territories.

Remember health is your only wealth.

Health Neurotics, LLC is an emerging health promotion firm in Washington, DC offering health promotion seminars, consultations, products and services. Health Neurotics specialize in nutrition education for adolescents and adults using health literacy standards and cultural competence to target demographics. One of our most celebrated efforts was a guest appearance on Sirius XM Shade 45 nationally syndicated radio show, First Aid with Kelly Kinkaid focusing on Diabetes Awareness Month. Visit us at www.healthneurotics.com, shop for our all alkaline vegan product line at www.healthneurotics.com/shop or find our products at The Glut Food Coop or Takoma Park Silver Spring Coop. Contact Health Neurotics at healthneurotics@ gmail.com.

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Health Neurotics, LLC is an emerging health promotion firm in Washington, DC offering health promotion seminars, consultations, products and services. Health Neurotics specialize in nutrition education for adolescents and adults using health literacy standards and cultural competence to target demographics. One of our most celebrated efforts was a guest appearance on Sirius XM Shade 45 nationally syndicated radio show, First Aid with Kelly Kinkaid focusing on Diabetes Awareness Month. Visit us at www.healthneurotics.com, shop for our all alkaline vegan product line at www.healthneurotics.com/shop or find our products at The Glut Food Coop or Takoma Park Silver Spring Coop. Contact Health Neurotics at healthneurotics@gmail.com.

AUGUST 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com

10% off

with most insurance* your next grocery purchase with any immunization**

*No co-payment unless required by your plan. **Restrictions apply.

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EDITORIAL

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Silence and Denial May Lead to the Planet’s Death by Global Warming

No one needs to tell you that it’s been an oppressively hot summer. But what you may be unaware of is the fact that July 2019 has officially replaced July 2016 as the hottest month on record. What’s more, meteorologists, including those from the E.U.’s Copernicus Climate Change Programme which analyzes temperature data from around the planet, believe that global temperatures will continue to rise – and break records – if we fail to address the challenges of global warming and change current ways of life that put the entire planet in jeopardy.

In fact, as the head of the Copernicus program recently noted, “with continued greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting impact on global temperatures, records will continue to be broken in the future.”

So what, you ask? Consider that 2015 through 2018 now stand as the four warmest years on record, April, May and July this year all ranked among the warmest on record for those months and this June was the hottest ever. Simply put, we are rapidly approaching what’s called the “crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees” which will precipitate the risk of extreme weather events and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people. Some 200 countries and the E.U. (European Union) have pledged to keep the global temperature below a level as determined in the 2015 Paris Agreement and promised to meet their respective government’s obligations.

But America, under Donald Trump, has pulled out of the Paris Agreement. Further, our president and some of his fellow Republicans and White House staff want us to believe that lodging concerns about global warming is tantamount to “crying wolf.” They even challenge scientific data and reports – information carefully compiled by experts in the field – alleging “fake news.”

If you think it’s been hotter than you can remember along the East Coast, at least you can find solace in that we have not suffered alone. All of Europe has baked in the excessive heat this summer, breaking records in at least a dozen countries. Anchorage also marked its hottest month ever while wildfires raged in the Arctic, setting off massive melting of Greenland’s ice sheet.

Some of America’s leaders may want to bury their heads in the sand, or assert that they have other, more important issues on their plates. But climate change is real – it’s not science fiction.

It’s happening now and will grow even worse in the future without urgent and immediate climate action.

We only have one world. If we don’t demand that our leaders wake up, we face the inevitability of handing down to our children and their children a world in which humanity, animals and plants face perilous, life-threatening conditions. Are we that ignorant and selfish?

If we’re not careful, future generations will only be able to read about places like Osaka, Japan, Rio de Janeiro or Miami because they’ll no longer exist or be inhabitable – unless humans develop the ability to breathe underwater. WI

2020 is the Year to Be Counted Black Americans must make their voices heard and determine for themselves policy decisions that have an impact on their daily lives. They must participate in the national decennial count of every person living in America that will take place on April 1, 2020.

Every household will receive one questionnaire with about 10 questions that can quickly be answered online, by phone or by mail. The census count determines how nearly $700 billion in local and federal dollars will be allocated and spent by Congress to meet local, state and other needs. The least counted is where the least will be spent.

Beginning in January, Americans will be counted on to go to the polls to determine the next leader who will sit in the White House, as well as statehouses across the country. Some voters are turned off by the way U.S. presidents are chosen, via the Electoral College. The controversy has led to a movement to end the Electoral College voting process in exchange for the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.

Several Democratic presidential hopefuls and members of Congress have introduced a constitutional amendment to end the Electoral College, which started in the 1700s as a body of electors determining the country’s leadership. Of the 538 electors, 270 electoral votes decide who will be the president of the United States in the general election. Two presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, won by electoral votes and not by popular vote.

This uphill battle is gaining momentum, at least among the Democrats. So far, 15 states and the District of Columbia, with a combined 184 electoral votes, agreed to give their electoral votes to the presidential candidate that wins the most national votes. According to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, the organization leading this effort, it will take a combined 270 electoral votes between participating states to enact the agreement giving power back to voters.

Either way, Black people cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and watch as others decide their fate. They must “stay woke,” vote and be counted! WI

TO THE EDITOR Don’t Discount WI Intern Shines Joining the Force This Summer Not that I think it will solve all issues like police brutality, but I do think more everyday residents should consider a career in law enforcement. I mean, if we want to police our own communities, this is the way to go. It can also be an economic boost to our community.

At the end of the day, job equals money.

Ginny Cathcart Washington, D.C.

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I really enjoyed the “Informer Intern Shares Summer Experiences” story. She did a great job painting the picture of what her work included. I love how at the end of it she saw the value in organizing the papers. Honey, you can now put an archivist, historian, researcher on your resume. That is very valuable work for our young people to do. I would take that over fast food, retail any day.

Good job, Washington Informer! Any teen able to work with you all is blessed!

Fran Dacem Washington, D.C.

Readers' Mailbox

The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Julianne Malveaux

What Goes Up Must Come Down — But When?

President Barack Obama and his team masterfully designed an economic recovery from the George W. Bush-induced Great Recession of 2008. The man who now leads our country inherited the Obama recovery and claims credit for our robust economy whenever he opens his mouth.

There are signs that the 10-year expansion is slowing and that our 45th president may be squandering the gift President Obama gave him.

There is much to object to about 45’s presidency — his hateful racial rhetoric, his attacks on women and people of color, his appointment of extremely young and inexperienced members of the federal judiciary, his rollback of environmental protections, his attacks on public education and more. But his economic stewardship, an arena he claims to have mastered, is as repulsive as his non-economic stewardship. Indeed, many of his minions have, albeit gently, criticized the ways he has managed the economy.

His trade wars, especially with China, may stand at the top of the list. He says that China will

Guest Columnist

pay after his recent announcement that he would impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion worth of imports from China.

The Chinese won’t pay. U.S. consumers will. And U.S. producers and manufacturers will also pay when China retaliates against us, as they have promised to do. To be sure, China has been a “bad actor” in trade relationships with the United States. But 45’s intemperate and ill-advised tantrum will not only affect many in the United States (including farmers, manufacturers and consumers) but may also play a role in slowing down the world economy.

For the first time in a decade, the Federal Reserve has reduced the interest rate by a quarter-point. Cutting the interest rate during the early recovery from the Great Recession was an effective way to lower the cost of money and, theoretically, put more money into the economy for expansion. In reality, cheaper money didn’t trickle down to homeowners or consumers, but it did generate GDP growth. Now, growth is slowing, partly because of Trump’s trade wars and partly because his tax cuts have not trickled down and people don’t have as much money to spend as they’d like. Interest rate cuts

are a clear sign that our nation’s bankers are not confident that economic expansion will continue to be robust.

Many of 45’s allies tout low unemployment rates as evidence of economic strength. And the July 3.7 percent unemployment rate, unchanged from June, is indeed a 10-year low. The Black unemployment rate, too, is at an all-time low. And last month, 164,000 more jobs were created, labor force participation rose and the number of discouraged workers declined. Why aren’t some of us celebrating? First-

MALVEAUX Page 53

By Bill Fletcher Jr.

Trump Threatens Anti-Fascists with Being Classified as ‘Terrorists’?

It should not surprise us that a person who would claim that there were “good people” among the fascist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, would now move to classify an anti-fascist network as alleged “terrorists.”

But that is precisely what “Agent Orange,” aka Donald Trump, has been intimating. Unfortunately, this is not comedic — it is deadly serious.

The network “Antifa” is a loose-knit grouping of anti-fascist activists with a range of ideological views, strategies and tactics. What binds them together, however, is zero tolerance towards fascists, neo-fascists and other right-wing populists who threaten violence and other forms of intimidation.

Within the Republican Party, and assisted by Fox News, a chorus has arisen over the last year or so suggesting that the Antifa network is itself engaged in terrorism. Thus, when Antifa or

Guest Columnists

any of its allies defend protesters against intimidation, they, and not the fascists, are condemned by the likes of Trump, Ted Cruz and various commentators on Fox News.

What makes this outrageous is that Trump’s own Justice Department has noted that the main domestic terrorist threat comes from white supremacists and neo-fascists, not from Muslim extremists or anyone on the Left.

This finding is not new. During the Obama administration the threat from right-wing extremism was documented by the De-

partment of Homeland Security, only to have said findings suppressed when Republican members of Congress suggested that this revelation was only serving the political objectives of Democrats. The facts, however, were never in dispute, as documented by non-governmental organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center.

This is an old trick being perpetrated by Trump and his allies.

It is akin to jailing and murdering Black activists who engaged in armed self-defense when attacked by extrajudicial mobs or

by the police and blaming the former for violence. It is akin to the jailing and lynching of union organizers when they have defended their right to free speech and the right of workers to free association, then turning the tables and claiming that the trade unionists were disturbing the peace.

There is so much nonsense thrown at us each day by the Trump administration, whether in the form of overt lies or racist provocations, e.g., smearing

FLETCHER Page 53

By James A. Washington

For the Last Time, God is Not Schizophrenic

Let me state up front. This is not new. I heard something recently that has stayed with me and has rapidly become embedded in my spirit, so I thought it was worthy to again pass along to you. “God is not schizophrenic.”

It sounds simple enough, but, at closer inspection, you might want to seriously consider it im-

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plications.

When I looked for a biblical reference point, there were actually too many to quote. I mean, the Bible is full of confirmation regarding God’s consistency. His unwavering faithfulness to us.

God does indeed keep His promises and in His unpredictability, He is predictable.

God loves us, no matter how hard we try to deny this. We can never remove ourselves from this truth. It/He never changes.

Warts and flaws and faults, God

loves us. That means you and all your hidden secrets, too. Deal with it.

The problem with God’s consistency is our inconsistency.

When put into that perspective alongside God’s steadfastness, our fickleness screams out almost as some kind of bizarre trick.

What I’m saying is our behavior can become unsteady and sinfully shaky. But our faith should not. In the context of our faith, the consistency of God’s promise and His covenant with us should

flourish. It should provide us with that proverbial “rock” that we need to lean on.

After all, we’re not dealing with trick questions, slight of hand or spiritual illusions when it comes to God’s promise of eternal life and everlasting salvation. With faith comes the understanding that “God is not schizophrenic.”

Someone once told me that there should be some things and people in life that you can always count on. Folk who will be there for you no matter what! The rea-

son we can relate to this is we know so many things and people in our lives that we cannot count on, or certainly shouldn’t.

So called friends will let you down. Family will fail you. Circumstances will change. Results are inconclusive and fame is fleeting. Being a Christian does not exempt us from everyday and every people challenges. They can be severe and debilitating.

Tests and testimonies are real.

WASHINGTON Page 53

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Roger Caldwell

There is Not a Racist Bone in My Body

In 2019, most Blacks and people of color would like to believe that, “There is not a racist bone in my body” was an accurate statement in America. With the first African American president, Black businesses in every major city, and Black political officials in federal, state and local municipalities, diversity is a reality. With all these achievements in one of the

greatest countries in the world, there is a major divide.

This major divide is based on the color of an individuals’ skin, which makes no sense, until you study economics, politics, and business. Power is based on what you own and control, and if you close your eyes, power may also be based on what you take by force.

Last month, President Trump attacked four freshmen congresswomen by claiming they are un-American and should go back to their country, and everyone is

asking the question, “why?”

This started as a tweetstorm on that weekend, and it has turned into a nasty battle of words, where the majority of the media is calling President Trump a “racist.”

This tweetstorm appeared to be racist and personal, as very little was discussed by the president about the ladies’ policies.

It is obvious that the first thing the president thinks comes out of his mouth, and it does not matter if it makes any sense. The president is not fit or mentally stable

Guest Columnist

to manage America as commander in chief, but over 40% think he is doing a good job.

As these social media and campaign rally attacks by the president against the four congresswomen escalate to a higher level of insanity, everyone in America is picking a side. The four congresswomen at the beginning of the week called a press conference to denounce the president and asked for a draft to be drawn up to condemn President Trump’s racist language and tweets. The resolu-

tion was passed in the House last week to condemn the president.

The amazing issue about this battle is that over 40% of Americans believe that the president is correct. At a recent Trump campaign rally, a packed house — with the majority being White Republicans —chanted, “Send her back,” regarding Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), one of the four congresswomen.

With the media claiming that

CALDWELL Page 54

By Dr. E. Faye Williams

Ronald Reagan’s Secret Past

While presidential candidate Joe Biden is struggling with being confronted with his past, let’s not forget that there were politicians with far worse records of racism than Joe. Most of us have been able to witness Joe’s evolution to become a better person. One might say he learned from his experiences and became someone who is much loved by many of the very people hurt by his earlier position on several issues such as criminal justice. I can forgive people who do better when they

know better.

I think that describes Mr. Biden. I have no doubt that he has learned from the error of his ways and he has become a much better person. When you know better, you are charged with doing better, and I think that fits Mr. Biden. Surely President Barack Obama knew about Mr. Biden’s past, and still selected him to become his vice president. He turned out to be a good choice and that’s why so many Black people are now supporting him.

Now let’s take a look at another politician from not too long ago — President Ronald Reagan.

Askia-At-Large

He was our 40th president, and is often admired and quoted by many on both sides of the aisle. I was never impressed by him, but many were. I met Mr. Reagan in 1984 when I visited him at the White House with Grambling football coach Eddie Robinson.

While I didn’t formally meet him then, I ran into him in Detroit at the Republican National Convention and had an opportunity to size him up. I didn’t find him impressive either time. Yet, I knew people who treated him like he was a close second to God! I never thought of him as a particularly smart person, but to this day, many (white) people speak

of him in glowing terms.

We can’t measure him against Joe Biden. They’re very different people. Let’s measure him beside Donald Trump. Trump recently disrespected African leaders with very offensive terms. Mr. Reagan disparaged African delegates to the United Nations. A few days ago, The Atlantic published an article where Reagan held one of his racist conversations with a questionable character named Richard Nixon, who tried to convince us when he got caught that he was not a crook!

Once Reagan vented his frustrations about African leaders to Nixon: “To see those monkeys

from those African countries — damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!”

As Trump was campaigning for president, he ran off statistics disparaging the way some Black people live. In an effort to get Black people’s support, he asked, “What have they got to lose?” Recently he referred to cities with large Black populations in derogatory terms. He referred to Baltimore as rat-infested and said he couldn’t understand how any humans could live there — his way of dehumanizing Black people. A few years earlier, Rea-

WILLIAMS Page 54

By Askia Muhammad

The ‘Electable’ Democrat Can’t Beat Trump

Whomever the Democrats nominate for president in 2020 from the list of their most “electable” candidates is bound to lose.

It’s a fool’s errand to think that the Democratic path to victory follows some dude who promises to win back disaffected whites who may have voted for Barack Obama.

No. In fact, the reason Obama won, and the reason Democrats win nationally, is because of tsunami-like participation by

Black voters. A majority of whites have voted for the Republican presidential nominee since Ronald Reagan — Bush #41, Bob Dole, Bush #43, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and now Donald Trump. It was massive Black voter support which pushed Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to victory. That’s the way the white vote rolls.

In order to win the presidency, the Democrats will have to excite the potential Black vote like never before, because the Republicans are working night and day, by legal means or otherwise, spending millions of dollars at this very

moment, in order to suppress the Black vote. That’s part of their winning formula, along with fanatic loyalty, in the 80 percent range among their GOP (white) base.

There must be a resounding Black presence at the polls if the Democrats hope to have a chance to win the White House next year. That’s because if the election is anywhere near close, the GOP has already made provisions to cheat and steal the election.

Without someone like Michelle Obama or Oprah on their ticket, the Democrats are going

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to the 2020 hatchet fight armed with a pocket knife. That’s because Trump brings a new, rowdy, unpredictable, armed-and-dangerous element into the game.

He inspires white tribal fanaticism among his “deplorable,” race-hating followers in the military and “Bikers for Trump,” and he predicts they will literally wage a war if he’s not reelected.

The Democratic front-runners — Joe Biden, Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Corey Booker (N.J.) — and all the rest have bought into the electability myth, which is “white

supremacy” in disguise.

“First of all, we have to understand that when they talk about electability or talk about how a candidate appeals to Middle America, that is a euphemism for white people, and we know that the Democratic Party’s base and their success depends on Black and minority voters. And so asking candidates to appeal to white voters, it’s not only a little bit contradictory, but it ignores the value of the party and the people who support the party on local levels, on state levels. And on the

ASKIA Page 54 AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 31

LIFESTYLE Summer Spirit Captures Essence of Chocolate City Go-Go Influence Undeniable, from Sirius Company to Headliner Anthony Hamilton

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir A glorious summer afternoon, a diverse lineup of talented bands and vocalists and the rolling hills of the recently-upgraded Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia made for a perfect combination attracting thousands from around the region – from hip-hoping millennials to Old School go-go heads – for a celebration of Black music that has become a D.C. tradition.

Summer Spirit Festival 2019 offered something for everyone, and then some – disheveling ear-

lier, perfectly-coiffed locks and tresses, reducing smooth-operating brothers to puddles of sweat and taking older fans back down memory lane for a joyful journey.

And while musical genres of the various entertainers ensured a variety of tastes and styles, one element that permeated throughout the lineup of performers had to be the influence of D.C.’s homegrown style of music, gogo, whose influences could be seen even among entertainers more often associated with the world of R&B. Headliner Anthony Hamilton, capable of singing himself into or

5 Concertgoers at the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival, presented by CD Enterprises on Saturday, August 3, at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., on their feet dancing to homegrown sounds from Backyard Band, Be’la Dona featuring Sugar Bear of EU, Sirius Company, and R&B and soul from Jhene Aiko, Raphael Saadiq and many more.

(Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

out of any situation, even played the cow bells during his encore, much to the fans’ delight – also paying homage to the legacy of the go-go swerve as he called upon the talents of the legendary “Sauce,” known for his contributions as a member of D.C.’s Backyard Band and who brought the rhythm with syncopated splendor on the congas.

Raphael Saadiq, whose new CD (“Jimmy Lee”) will drop on Aug. 23 and will be his first re-

YOUR SPACE TO PL AY

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lease in eight years, reminded us of his unique signature placed within our minds from his years in the past while a member of the highly-touted group, Tony! Toni!

Toné! He invoked memories of yesteryear with songs that have long captured our hearts, at the same time displaying an effortless soulfulness that has continued to make him a favorite of New Jack/ R&B aficionados.

Summer Spirit Festival, presented by the talented, entrepreneurial duo of Carol Kirkendall and Darryll Brooks, business partners who head highly-respected CD Enterprises, Inc., also continues to provide opportunities for lesser-known, emerging talent, particularly those from the Greater Washington Area – bands, singers and rappers who continue honing their skills, making sure they’re poised and ready for whenever that big break comes their way.

Of course, the Festival would not be the same without onstage representation from the go-go community. As always, our desire for the sound, soul and swing of go-go was met once again as Sirius Company (Ms. Kim & Scooby) returned for their second consecutive year after leaving the audience screaming for more following their show-stopping performance in 2018.

They were followed by all-women group Be’La Donna whose skills are legendary and who have long proven their ability to withstand the pressures of being a minority-led ensemble in contrast to the more familiar makeup of bands who remain male-dominated. Near the end of their set, they brought out D.C. legend Sugar Bear, lead singer for E.U., performing a revised form of the song that broke records

and once dominated the charts for E.U., “Da Butt” in the late 1980s and remains, decades later, a fan favorite locally, nationally and abroad.

I had never witnessed the much-talked-about PJ Morton in concert but he quickly gained a new fan. From displaying a voice that can soar in ways similar to the late, great Marvin Gaye, to his prowess on the keyboards, Morton has “it.” What’s more, he comes armed with originally written songs whose themes cause the listener to really tune in to the lyrics – songs whose themes included love, heartache, disappointment, loneliness and the search for one’s soul and connection with the Spirit.

I could go on with a lot more but suffice to say, he was spectacular. And as a diehard lover of Old School music, his performance was greatly appreciated as he effortless tackled intricate poly-rhythms, showed off with the services of his band to deliver beautifully-arranged harmonies and then, sang as if there was no tomorrow.

THE DOMINATING POWER OF GO-GO

A recent transplant from New York City now residing in Laurel, Bernice Wooden, returned to the Festival for the second year in a row, she said, so she could once again encounter D.C.’s unique form of music, go-go.

“I’m a longtime fan of R&B music but I have grown to really love go-go,” Wooden said who also celebrated her 35th birthday on the day of the Festival. “I was drawn to this year’s lineup because it included PJ Morton and he is one of my favorite singers.

SPIRIT Page 54

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LIFESTYLE Brian Banks Biopic: True Story of an Innocent Man’s Resilience Actor Aldis Hodge Gives Impressive Performance in Lead Role

By Dwight Brown NNPA Newswire Film Critic In this #MeToo age, a biofilm about a wrongfully-convicted high school football player – accused, tried and imprisoned for rape – comes at a most appropriate moment.

The real Brian Banks, the subject of the movie which opens Aug. 9, lived through a tragic yet inspiring ordeal – something that’s lost in this one-dimensional retelling of his experiences. Thus, this powerful tale of resilience results in little more than an ordinary made-for-TV-like movie.

In 2002, Banks (Aldis Hodge, Straight Outta Compton, Hidden Figures), a junior at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach and a talented football player, has verbally committed to attending USC based on his gridiron prowess. The future looks bright for him and his single mom Leomia (Sherri Shepherd).

One day, he runs into coed Kinnesha Rice (Xosha Roquemore) and they decide to hook up in a secluded school building commonly known as a location for making out.

While there, Brian has a change of heart, leaving Kinnesha behind who’s discovered by security and fabricates a story about being raped. Her lie leads to Banks’ arrest, a too-hasty plea deal, trial, imprisonment, a tough parole and a haunting sex offender label.

Banks can’t live, work or be near places that children gather – including schools, parks and malls – has lost any academic or professional football opportunities and unless his conviction is overturned, his future appears bleak.

That’s the setup: sympathetic protagonist, wrongly accused, innocent and determined yet filled with self-doubt. He’s the David facing Goliath – a state judicial system that rarely overturns cases against convicts. Audiences like to watch a “good fight” against injustice. Bring it on.

Screenwriter Doug Atchison (Akeelah and the Bee) fit all the characters and pieces of Banks jumbled life into an easy-to-decipher script. Maybe too easy.

Son, mom, accuser, mentors.

The California Innocence Project

also joins the mix – a non-profit that helps wrongfully-convicted prisoners, led in the film by Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear).

Other supporting characters (new girlfriend, skeptical prosecutor, accuser’s stubborn mom) augment the cast. But the focus remains Banks – his sorrow, integrity, courageousness and perseverance.

Given a story that sells itself, one might assume that filmmaker Tom Shadyac (The Nutty Professor) would have an easy time directing a movie powered by its own natural thrust. Yet, his plodding direction slows things down. The footage (Ricardo Diaz, cinematographer) comes off bland and lacks both style and eye-catching composition.

Shadyac fails to get the cast’s emotions to rise to a level of desperation that piques attention.

Everything seems average. Smart, intuitive directors (e.g. Sidney Lumet “Q & A,”) find ways to lift urban dramas off the page and turn them into compelling films that are more than the sum of their parts. Not the case here.

Big question: “Why is Aldis Hodge in a so-so movie like this?” His deft interpretation of the character, the raw emotion he displays and the solid screen persona he creates crown his performance. He saves the film. At this point in his career, Hodges should be starring in far bigger projects than this. He should be one of the Avengers, vying for parts Denzel Washington has aged out of and up for roles that lead to Oscars. He’s that good.

If this well-meant film has a saving grace, besides its message of resilience, its Hodges’ powerful performance. He’s an Oscar-caliber actor in need of an Oscar-caliber film.

Banks’ story serves as a cautionary tale in an era where a false accusation can ruin a career. It shows that harm that can be done when well-intentioned advocates believe an accuser before hearing all the facts. Also, Banks’ predicament clearly indicates why parents should be in the room when their offspring negotiate plea deals with public defenders. For a multitude of reasons, Banks’ experience should be seen and shared. WI

5 Actor Aldis Hodge (left) and Brian Banks (right) on the set of Tom Shadyac’s “Brian Banks.” (Courtesy photo/Forbes)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 33

LIFESTYLE

Safeway Foundation Holds Pep Rally in Support of District Public Schools

By James Wright WI Staff Writer

As the dawn of the 2019-2020 school year approaches, the Safeway Foundation wants to make sure that young people in the District have the resources they need in order to succeed.

In order to facilitate that, the foundation held its third annual Safeway Foundation School Spirit Campaign pep rally on Aug. 6 in the store located in Petworth.

Rally participants included former Washington Redskins receiver Santana Moss and two Redskins cheerleaders, Jackie Parker and Christal Mirabal, as well as leaders and personalities of local media outlets such as Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes.

Tom Lofland, president of Safeway’s Eastern Division, emceed the event. He thanked the crowd of 40 for joining him and explained the purpose of the rally.

“Today, we’re celebrating school spirit and the spirit of giving here at Safeway,” Lofland said. “With the

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help of our partners the Washington Redskins, Fox 5, El Zol Radio, WPGC, The Drive, The Washington Informer and El Tiempo Latino, our School Spirit campaign is raising awareness and raising funds to support our local schools.”

There are 11 Safeways in the District, with two operating East of the Anacostia River in Ward 7. Each of the District Safeways, through the foundation, has adopted a neighborhood public school to provide resources and support.

Lofland said, “we believe that every student should have access to an education that prepares them to succeed in school and in life.”

“That’s why we created the Safeway Foundation School Spirit Campaign,” he said. “Throughout the month of August, our stores in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Delaware are fundraising on behalf of 112 schools.

We are spreading the word through TV, radio, newspaper, digital media and events like this, and we’d like to ask all of you to help too. Ask your friends and neighbors to stop

by their local Safeway to donate to their local school.”

In the case of the Petworth store, Theodore Roosevelt Senior High School will be the recipient of funds that are raised there. That excited Anne Carter, a 1966 graduate of Roosevelt and a former educator in D.C. Public Schools.

“I am supporting this event because it is about young people getting the resources to go to school,” Carter said. “There is so much attention focused on the young people who don’t want to do right.

There are young kids who are doing the right things and they need support.

“This is an excellent idea.”

Roosevelt’s principal, Justin Ralston, embraced the foundation’s support, saying “I want to thank the Petworth Safeway store for raising funds on behalf of our school.”

“Theodore Roosevelt High School values all students’ unique talents and encourages and challenges students to become intellectually curious, world language proficient, internationally aware

5 Matthew Boyd, Safeway Vice President of Merchandising and Marketing with Anne Carter who is thrilled that the Safeway Foundation will support her alma mater, Theodore Roosevelt High School. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

and globally responsive,” Ralston said. “At Theodore Roosevelt High School, Safeway is more than our local supermarket-you are our friends and neighbors. And today, our schools need friends more than ever.”

Roosevelt has a noted history in the District, with its opening in 1932 as an institution for white students only but became one of the first schools to integrate in 1953.

Its alumni include former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt, former D.C.

Council member and president of Southeastern University Charlene Drew Jarvis, the late Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington Wizards and Capitals, legendary entertainer Kate Smith and prominent public radio host Diane Rehm.

Barnes, who noted that The Washington Informer ”has been a part of Washington, D.C., life since 1964” said “as a newspaper and multimedia company, educat-

SAFEWAY Page 35

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LIFESTYLE

Haitian Ambassador Marks New Post with Diaspora Exhibit

By Eve M. Ferguson WI Contributing Writer

When newly appointed Haitian Ambassador to the U.S. Hervé Denis quietly took office in early March, he had a grand plan to exhibit the works of Haitian artists living outside of the island in what is known as the “diaspora,” most living here in the United States.

“Diaspora Expressions Expo,” a post-modern Haitian art exposition co-curated by artist and American University adjunct professor Charles Jean-Pierre, is intended to unveil the hidden talents of artists in the diaspora community through the works of 32 carefully selected artists.

“The diaspora is one of Haiti’s greatest resources and incredibly talented,” Denis said. “The admiration for their heritage is evident through the number of organizations, associations and social media initiatives created to share Haiti’s beauty and historical significance. In essence, they are seeking to reconnect with their roots and contribute to the Haiti conversation. This initiative offers them a platform to do just that.”

The evening began with a private viewing of the collection and a guided tour conducted by Denis and the participating artists. Some of the special guests included ambassadors and alternates from the embassies of Cameroon, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Togo, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Barbados and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, among others.

A plethora of high-profiles guests

SAFEWAY from Page 34 ing our neighbors and supporting our community are the forefront of what we do every day.”

Moss acknowledged Ralston and Roosevelt students and talked about how football and getting an education became hallmarks in his life.

“Playing football taught me to compete, how to be a part of a team, how to win with pride and how to sometimes lose with humility,” he said. “I loved playing football and I love learning just as much. In school, I learned valuable things about myself and the world around me. And I learned how to work hard and play hard.

“So I want you to know that I really believe in the value of education,” he said. “I’m so glad to join all of you in demonstrating our commitment to education. With

attended the Friday evening soiree, including the former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, William Jones, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Kenneth Merten from the Department of State and Alfred Metellus, counselor for the Office of Argentina and Haiti from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Commander Michael Bennett.

Later, the embassy welcomed members of the Haitian diaspora and the general public to launch the initiative. Guests included longtime supporters of the embassy, art collectors, educators and university students, millennials, press, and members from the private and nonprofit sector and NGOs. The Diaspora Expressions Expo is a new initiative which seeks to offer a variety of exhibitors while aiming to attract a new generation of cultural promoters and art collectors by introducing work that can be purchased on a modest budget.

Much of the Haitian art currently on the market by well-known artists such as Fritzner Alphonse, H.R. Bresil and other masters of Haitian art, are priced well beyond the means of the average person as the knowledge and popularity of Haitian art have increased on the art market.

The initiative places a strong emphasis on providing stimulating conversations about art acquisition, educational opportunities for both novice and experienced collectors, and personal talks with artists and other members of the community.

The walls of the elegant building on Embassy Row served as the galleries for the art works, which snaked

everyone’s help, Safeway Foundation’s School Spirit Campaign can achieve victory.”

As the program proceeded, Betty Horn visited the various booths with her three grandsons. Horn expressed excitement about the foundation’s support of Roosevelt.

“I support what Safeway is doing,” she said. “It is good to see the Redskins here too.”

Sonserria Coats brought her two sons, Adam and Ziare, to the program and sighed when she realized that most of the program had taken place. Still, Coats said, “it was good” that Safeway supports young people such as her sons.

Ziare, who attends Roosevelt, stated he was ready for the school year to start and didn’t have any public safety fears about his institution.

“I feel safe at Roosevelt,” he said.

“I’m not worried about that.”

WI

up the staircase and liberally filled the foyer and public rooms. An invited audience of more than 400 people filled each level of the building, taking in the colorful works ranging from realistic portraiture to abstract.

Noshing on cheese, dried fruits and wine, along with Haitian delicacies such as griot (or grilled pork) and sweet potato pudding, patrons took the opportunity to speak with the artists present, including co-curator Jean-Pierre, who also had a piece of art in the expansive exhibit.

One such diaspora artist is Michael Brudent of Spring Valley, Long Island. Born in Port-au-Prince on July 18, 1947, he embarked at a very young age on his calling into decorative art and attended L’Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1968, Brudent was “discovered” by renowned Haitian painter Roland Dorcely who taught the younger artist the basis of design

and acrylics.

The youthful Brudent’s artistic curiosity led him into the halls of the Rex Theatre, a well-known institution in Haiti, where playwrights and technical staff hired him as a stage decorator. At the same time, he was requested to illustrate educational manuals for primary and secondary schools.

His work was among the more abstract paintings, but reflects a Haitian aesthetic in form and color combinations.

“On the walls of the embassy are more than images, what you are witnessing tonight is Haiti through the eyes of the diaspora,” Denis said. “On these walls are their understanding and perception of their homeland. It is their imagination on a canvas. It is, in essence, their way of reintroducing all of us to the Haiti they know. The diaspora has always

held a special place in my heart and in my work. I believe they are one of Haiti’s greatest resources and assets.

“Their understanding of both republics and the global community positions them to make an impact in our homeland and outside its borders,” he added. “What I find most fascinating about them is their passion and drive to contribute and give back. I created this initiative to offer a platform through which they can channel that desire and passion, and turn it into action.”

Denis closed his remarks by acknowledging each of the participating artists, both present and absent, and invited those in the room to join him on stage.

The exhibit will be open to the public from Aug. 5 to Dec. 30. To schedule a tour or view the list of participating artists, go to www.haiti. org. WI

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

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3600 F St SE [Off Minn. Ave SE] Washington, DC In support by

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World Music Night [August 3] supported by Smithsonian Folklife Festival and SambaJig Productions

“This program received federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center.”

No tickets required. First come, first serve. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets. Rain or Shine.

All bags and coolers are subject to inspection. No Alcohol /Glass Containers /open flames .

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 35

LIFESTYLE

‘The Last Word’ Album from the Legendary O’Jays Offers Multiple Meanings Eddie Levert Talks Next Phase for Popular R&B Group

By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer

5 From left: Walter Williams Sr., Eric Nolan Grant and Eddie Levert Sr. (Courtesy of 21 Century Artists)

Say it isn’t so! Is this really the last album and the last tour for the top-selling O’Jays?

According to Eddie Levert Sr., co-founder of the legendary O’Jays, that’s the truth. In a recent interview, he talked about how “The Last Word,” the final studio album from the platinum-selling group, serves as a platform to speak out on several issues. The lyrics tackle the current administration, the political climate, police-community relations, the state of our neighborhoods and the future of young folks.

“A lot of these things lead to division,” Levert said during the interview. “Division is gonna lead to war, death and fighting.

That’s where we are heading.”

From the album’s track list, you get a sense of messages the legendary R&B group attempts

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to deliver. “Do You Really Know How I Feel,” “Above The Law,” “I Got You” and “Stand Up” give thought-provoking direction to listeners for deeply exploring what’s going on in our lives.

The track “Pressure” looks at the types of pressure individuals deal with daily.

“Pressure comes in different forms and from different places,” Levert said. “There is always that pressure to be a better person.

There’s pressure you put on yourself to better understand other people’s side. That’s what we are really talking about.”

Still, it was a surprise to hear Levert say that their current tour is the last one for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

D.C., has always been a great market for the O’Jays and fans always count on the group to make a stop a year in the District. For them to stop touring is hard to imagine.

“I’m 77 years old,” Levert said, loud and clear with a chuckle.

“How many times can I keep bending my back? How many times can I fall my knees? How many times can I run across a stage?”

Levert is grateful for more than 50 years of great recording and performance success with O’Jays. With fellow O’Jays members Walter Williams Sr. and Eric Nolan Grant, audiences still look forward to singing along on the group’s classic hits. But the guys have individual projects they want to pursue.

Levert confessed his love of many genres of music like opera

and has incorporated many operatic styles in the way he sings. He wants to try some solo gigs.

“I’ve been loyal to the O’Jays.

That’s been my mainstay around which I have based my whole career,” Levert said. “Now I have this desire I need to fulfill. I just have to see.”

When the group comes to the Warner Theatre on Aug. 16, audiences will hear the new music, but the classics will still be on the bill. In fact, on “The Last Word” album, the O’Jays perform a new version of their hit “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today).” Think of it as an “unplugged” rendition of that love song. Listeners will hear that the O’Jays have voices that are just as strong and pure as on their very first recordings in the early 1960s.

“We’ve always wanted to do a concert in a big theater in an ‘unplugged’ style with just a guitar or a piano and sing the big songs like ‘Backstabbers,’” Levert said.

“That lets everybody see what we put into these songs and that it is really us singing.”

This final O’Jays album and tour will definitely take fans on a journey. The new music is advocating that, together, we can make a difference.

“I’m not just after the Trump administration, I’m after all of society,” Levert said. “I’m after all of the people that can be doing and should be doing something.

Do it because you want to help mankind.”

The O’Jays will perform Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. at the Warner Theatre. WI

Levert is grateful for more than 50 years of great

Donate at your local Safeway store today.

recording and performance success with O’Jays.

With fellow O’Jays members Walter Williams Sr. and Eric Nolan Grant, audiences still look forward to singing along on the group’s classic hits. But the guys have individual projects

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LIFESTYLE

Mark Meadows Aims to ‘Be the Change’ at Strathmore

By Eve M. Ferguson WI Contributing Writer

Many people in the DMV area may associate the name Mark G. Meadows with the man behind the music at Northern Virginia’s Signature Theatre but this popular, locally based composer, pianist and vocalist is so much more.

On Friday, Aug. 16, Meadows and his band, The Movement will play their rescheduled release concert for his second recording, EP “Be the Change,” which takes its name from the famed quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

In the spirit of embodying the change Meadows wishes to see, the title track pulls from multiple genres including R&B with a touch of South African mpaganga music and township jive.

“Be the Change” references Meadows’ experiences over the past three years that included a new career direction, marriage, loss, his theatrical debut in the Signature’s “Jelly’s Last Jam,” playing the legendary pianist and composer, Jelly Roll Morton, and a little of everything else in between.

“As my old teacher and mentor, Dr. Alex Norris, used to always tell me, CDs are a snapshot of where you are,” he said.

“It’s my job as an artist to put out music in whatever place or status I’m currently in. Artists often hold back on releasing music from our own insecurities.

“I try, to the best of my ability, [to] accurately depict my season through my releases, no matter what season that might be,” Meadows said. “I’ve got a message that someone can benefit from, and I won’t let a full plate take away from the influence I might have.”

The EP is composed of five tracks that reflect his new ways of exploring and evolving his sound, based in jazz but also liberally dipping into other genres, including a two-track nod to the iconic Stevie Wonder.

“Stevie Wonder’s music has always and will forever be one of my greatest influences,” Meadows said. “He hits all the points. Melody, harmony, rhythm, lyric — his music speaks in all of the ways.

“I put two covers on this

EP after having arranged for a few Stevie Wonder tribute concerts, a few of them performed at Signature Theatre Cabaret concerts. I loved the arrangements so much that I thought, ‘Why not?’ Who doesn’t wanna hear more Stevie Wonder?”

Besides his continued work at the Signature Theatre, where he also played Fats Waller in the recent production of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” Meadows’ plate is chock full of new opportunities to share his original music, and covers of songs that are near to his heart.

“I also have many more exciting shows down the road with my band, and with other artists I love collaborating with,” Meadows said. “I’m doing a few cabarets at Signature in the next few months, and will be [musical director for] ‘Choir Boys’ in Denver at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts this spring.”

Meadows’ band, The Movement, which will be backing him in his upcoming concert and participated in the recording of “Be The Change,” is a welcome support for the multifaceted artist. Featuring Deacon Izzy on vocals and rap, John Lee on guitar, CV Dashiell on drums and Eliot Seppa on bass, the quintet is set to deliver one of their most dynamic and all-encompassing sounds yet.

“Be it performing with my band, other bands, recording, MDing, or acting, I’m always trying to put out a positive influence and take on any new and exciting opportunities that come my way,” Meadows said.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited to do a show ever.

Since we were powered out last time, the rescheduled date is going to have so much energy we might just blow the power out again.”

Tickets are on sale for Mark G. Meadows & The Movement at AMP by Strathmore on Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. For information, go to https://www.ampbystrathmore.com/live-shows/mark-gmeadows.

“Be the Change” is available for streaming and download on iTunes, Spotify and other forums.. For more information about Meadows and his music, go to https://www.markgmeadows.com.

WI

5 Mark Meadows (Courtesy photo)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 37

LIFESTYLE

Remembering Toni Morrison – A First-Person Reflection Lyrical Works on Black Experience Painted Pictures with Words

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Toni Morrison, author of seminal literary works featuring aspects of the Black experience including “Beloved,” “The Bluest Eye” and “Song of Solomon,” died Monday, Aug. 5, at the age of 88 among friends and family in her New York City home after a brief illness.

Morrison, 88, the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize, did not publish her first novel until 1970, just shy of her 40th birthday.

Even then her entrée into the world of published writers did not yield immediate success.

She would need more time before the world would begin to catch on to and appreciate her unique voice – a voice that could come in ominously hushed tones – other times roaring like a lion – even scatting her message in syncopated rhythms reminiscent of Sarah, Ella or a West African drummer ensconced along a

familiar river bank.

With each new work, she painstakingly established a reputation for being a writer unafraid of taking on the more painful realities and aspects of Black life in America.

Critics have long marveled over her innate talent that allowed her to pen breathtaking, lyrical prose, set to stories based on historical moments and events with amazingly complex characters whose lives and their worlds often seemed haunting familiar to the modern reader.

Her pen and her voice had the ability to render the world helpless as we, the readers, meandered through the pages of a people’s history that has often been delivered with half-truths and redactions of reality.

As a doctoral student at Princeton Theological Seminary during the early 90s, I had the opportunity to study under Toni Morrison in a course that brought students from various fields of specialty together for

a weekly, no-holds-barred intellectual encounter.

There, she taught us the singular importance of working with a story that mattered – that had substance and merit – one that could change lives, give voice to the voiceless and elicit a feeling of “somebodiness” for those who had once languished in a lonely world where they’d been forced to sit along the margins.

As Providence would have it, Morrison had been riding the wave of a bevy of accolades for her novel “Beloved,” including the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, set with the backdrop of the post-Civil War maelstrom, when she stepped into my classroom. That book in which she so eloquently employed her ability to recast and embellish upon a painful scene of Black life in a way that we could comprehend and digest – albeit in very small pieces – would profoundly impact me as a Black man and, later, as a journalist for the Black Press.

She would tackle themes from slavery and colorism to misogyny and the sphere of the supernatural with words that painted pictures and characters who almost came to life – at least in our mind’s eye.

The celebrated author, editor and educator would hold many noteoff

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5 Toni Morrison, author and Nobel Laureate, during a book signing at 6th& I Street Synagogue in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy photo/Joseph Young)

worthy, academic appointments including professor emeritus at Princeton University where she was writing and teaching when our paths crossed for that one life-changing semester.

She often said that it was during the process of writing that she experienced true freedom.

“I know how to write forever,” she told one fortunate New York Times reporter. “I don’t think I could have happily stayed here in the world if I did not have a way of thinking about it, which is what writing is for me.

It’s control. Nobody tells me what to do. It’s mine, it’s free, and it’s a way of thinking. It’s pure knowledge.”

After graduating from Howard University in 1953 with a degree in English, she continued her studies at Cornell University, earning a master’s in 1955. Her marriage to Harold Morrison in 1958 ended in divorce six years later but not before the birth of two sons: Harold Ford in 1961 and Slade Kevin in 1964.

Before becoming a writer, she worked as a book editor at Random House based in Syracuse for 20 years, editing the works of others until she

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“I didn’t become interested in writing until I was about 30 years old,” she said later. “I didn’t really regard it as writing then, although I was putting words on paper. I thought of it as a very long, sustained reading process – except that I was the one producing the words.”

Regal with her crown of dreadlocks, mostly gray, she would advance the careers of other Black writers: Toni Cade Bambara, Angela Davis and Gayl Jones. Many of her 12 works of fiction and her non-fiction essays have become essential elements within the English literary canon.

And while death has taken her from us physically, her words will live on now – and for generations to come.

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 39

LIFESTYLE

Exhibit Highlights Fight to Preserve African History in Montgomery County

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins The crusade to prevent the desecration of Moses African Cemetery on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland, has sparked widespread conversation about Montgomery County’s rich Black history, particularly that involving the formerly enslaved Africans who developed the River Road, Tobytown and Scotland communities.

In recent months, dialogue around honoring Montgomery County’s Black past continued at the American University(AU) Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Northwest where visitors on the second floor perused a collection of photos, videos and artifacts on display at an exhibit touted as “Plans to Prosper You: Reflections of Black Resistance

and Resilience in Montgomery County’s Potomac River Valley.”

“Plans to Prosper You,” wrapping up Sunday, represents the collaborative efforts of the “Craft of Anthology” graduate-level anthropology course at AU and communities represented in the exhibit, including the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition (BACC). This relationship started last August when 10 doctoral students conducted original research about the River Road community, including Macedonia Baptist Church, the last bastion of Black history on that corridor.

“A lot of our research came from regular Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition meetings and speaking at length with [Macedonia Baptist Church social justice coordinator] Marsha Coleman-Adebayo,” said Delande Justinvil, an anthropology doctoral student and curator of

“Plans to Prosper You.” “We tried our best to get an inside perspective on the struggles of the community,” he continued. “BACC has been fighting since 2015. It’s why development [on the burial ground] hasn’t happened. This is the same level of tenacity that needs to be applied to all forms of Black history preservation.”

For nearly two years, BACC, comprised primarily of Macedonia Baptist Church congregants, have attended and provided comment, at monthly Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) meetings in Kensington, Maryland to gain clarity around the affordable housing provider’s plans for Moses African Cemetery. Toward the end of 2017, during BACC’s initial protest against a private developer gearing up to construct a parking garage on the property, HOC purchased the burial

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5 Geneva Mason (left) and Joyce Siegel (Alan Siegel/Montgomery History)

site without explanation.

Not long after his election last year, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich pledged to mitigate the ongoing dispute between BACC and HOC. By February, HOC officials announced they would include the Maryland-National Capital Parks & Planning Commission in discussions about Moses African Cemetery, much to the chagrin of BACC members.

More recently, Elrich, in response to a question about a slowdown in negotiations earlier this summer, said Macedonia Baptist Church members didn’t provide input on a proposed garage entrance on the property can be configured to allow for memorialization. He also said that he couldn’t sacrifice the affordable housing stock to meet BACC’s needs.

In late June, the Rev. Segun Adebayo of Macedonia penned an open letter to Elrich that appeared in The Informer, attempting to set the record straight and question whether Elrich had genuine interest in memorializing River Road’s Black ancestors. A month later, an article by Coleman-Adebayo that appeared on the Black Agenda Report framed their fight as that against centuries of injustice starting with the rape and murder of enslaved Africans along River Road.

Moses African Cemetery, located less than a mile from Macedonia Baptist Church behind Westwood Towers, has been estimated to house the remains of nearly 500 people, many of whom have been speculated to live sometime between the 1860s and 1950s, when gentrification pushed Black people out of River Road in droves.

Since the July 14 exhibit launch, a bevy of religious organizations, clergy people, activists and academicians have weighed in on issues related to Black historical preservation as part of a speaker’s series at the American University Museum. An interfaith dialogue on Saturday afternoon featured BACC member Sara Ehrlich, Caitlin Magidson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Hamza Khan, all of whom engaged the Rev. Graylan Hagler and audience members in conversation about the fight against oppression in religious communities.

“Disrespect to the body is a crime against God — that’s an Islamic belief,” Khan said Saturday. “An argument has been made that we don’t know if people are [buried at Moses African Cemetery], but we’re quite aware that people had to bury [loved ones] without a permit. It makes no sense that an argument persists that we can’t honor the dead. The right of the dead should not be questioned.” WI

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LIFESTYLE

wi book review “Butterflies on the First Day of School”

by Annie Silvestro, illustrated by Dream Chen c.2019, Sterling $16.95 ($22.95 Canada) 32 pages

By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer Your new backpack can’t hold another thing.

There are tissues in there, in case you sneeze. Pencils, maybe some crayons for drawing. You have room for a notebook, too, and everything you’ll need to carry for your big day. And in “Butterflies on the First Day of School” by Annie Silvestro, illustrated by Dream Chen, you might be toting something else, too.

It was the day before her first day of school and Rosie was excited.

She had a new backpack and “she loved it with all her heart.” She danced around the room, pretended like she was in class, practiced making her letters on a piece of paper, and said her teacher’s name, so she’d be really good at it.

But the night before her first day of school, Rosie was really nervous.

On the morning of her first day of school, Rosie didn’t feel so good.

She told her mother that maybe she should stay home but Rosie’s dad said she’d be fine. Rosie’s mom said it, too, adding that Rosie just had butterflies in her stomach.

Rosie had never heard of such a thing but when another girl sat next to her on the way to school, Rosie was sure she saw a butterfly escape from her own mouth.

Two more fell out when she began talking to the girl.

She felt more butterflies in her stomach a little later, when it became her turn to talk in class. That was OK, though: as soon as she told everybody who she was and what she liked to do, the class laughed and three butterflies “flitted into the air.”

That made her feel not-so-nervous anymore and for the rest of the day, she painted and played, and she felt much better by recess. She felt well enough to play tag with her new friends, until she saw another little girl beneath the playground tree.

The girl was holding both hands over her belly, and Rosie knew what that meant: someone else had butterflies in her stomach, too, and Rosie knew exactly how to get them out…

When it comes to going to school for the first time, no matter how much you prepare, you really can’t. Somebody’s always going to be a little scared, but “Butterflies on the First Day of School” will help soothe those belly flutters.

Author Annie Silvestro tickles at a child’s imagination with the idea of real butterflies in a little girl’s tummy, and she does it in such an appealing, matter-of-fact way that even adults will be charmed. Colorful artwork by Dream Chen shows gauzy butterflies being let loose every time something good happens to little Rosie, and that imagery helps make this a gentle, happy story of literally letting go of fears and, ultimately, of finding friends to boost one’s confidence.

For 5- to 7-year-olds who are going to school for the first time, or for kids who are starting at a new school, this book is just perfect.

“Butterflies on the First Day of School” carries a lot of goodness.

WI

horoscopes

AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

ARIES This is a relaxed week compared to some you’ve been through recently. With a fabulous focus on your sector of leisure and romance, you’re in a peak time for enjoying life and generally having fun. Once this phase is over, you might be eager to get on with your work, but the coming few weeks are the time to let down your hair and indulge in your favorite activities. Lucky Numbers: 14, 18, 42 TAURUS Positive events may be a turning point for the family, with plenty of activity in your domestic sector encouraging get-togethers and reunions. These likely won’t be quiet affairs, but rather they could be boisterous and a joy to attend. If you enjoy hosting, this is your chance to get your place shipshape and impress your friends and relatives with your wonderful cooking skills and ability to make others feel at home. Lucky Numbers: 23, 49, 55 GEMINI If you want to sell or promote, this is the time to go ahead. With some wonderful aspects around the midweek mark, you’ll find it easy to persuade people to support your ideas or perhaps buy something from you. With this level of verbal skill at your fingertips, you can make quite an impression this week and over the coming weeks. If you work in the media or advertising, you could do extremely well at this time. Lucky Numbers: 14, 17, 24 CANCER “Money makes the world go ‘round,” and it certainly makes your world go ‘round this week with a dynamic focus on your financial zone. The only issue being that you might prefer to spend it rather than hold onto it. Unless you make a concerted effort to set a budget and spending limit, there’s a chance you could overdo it. Lucky Numbers: 2, 5, 6 LEO This is very much your time, with a dynamic focus on your sign making you the center of attention. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, you’ll stand out from the crowd. With sweet Venus, the sun, and feisty Mars in your sign, joined by Mercury on Sunday, your natural leadership qualities may be very much in the fore. At the same time, you can be extremely charming when you need to be. Lucky Numbers: 30, 25, 32 VIRGO Potent emphasis on your psychological and spiritual zone. This can be an opportunity to resolve any ongoing issues, especially those that are preventing further progress.

It would be best not to initiate new plans or projects at this time, because you’re going through a period when it’s best to tie up loose ends and clean the slate for a fresh start later this month. Lucky Numbers: 22, 39, 44 LIBRA You’re certainly going to shine this month with an active focus on your social sector making you the center of attention. This week and coming weeks can be excellent for forging new friendships, finding love, and getting involved in groups and clubs that represent your interests. Lucky Numbers: 23, 33, 50 SCORPIO This rather pleasant week has much to commend it because positive energies could see you eager to reach out for new opportunities and embrace exciting challenges.

If you’re prepared to show off and let others know all about your wonderful talents, this is a time when you can go far. It certainly isn’t a time to be modest. Lucky Numbers: 12, 31, 53 SAGITTARIUS This can be a fabulous week in which you welcome all kinds of opportunities and challenges. With two sterling aspects on Wednesday and Thursday as the sun and luscious Venus link with upbeat Jupiter, you may receive an offer that you simply can’t refuse. If you take it up, you’re certain to enjoy it. Lucky Numbers: 3, 9, 21 CAPRICORN This month could see a more intense phase for the first three weeks, which might be a call to release blocked emotions. Typically, these can be associated with situations that have been a sticking point for months, if not years. The more you contemplate them, the more you prefer to turn your back and pretend they aren’t there. Lucky Numbers: 8, 35, 48 AQUARIUS Your relationship sector is buzzing, and you could be busy with all kinds of interactions ranging from the most romantic to the most businesslike. Your social life will also have plenty of sizzle, and you could find yourself on the receiving end of a lot of invitations. Be choosy. You really can have too much of a good thing. Lucky Numbers: 4, 5, 12 PISCES Ready to get toned and feel fabulous? With a sterling lineup in your wellness sector, there is much you can do to enhance your overall level of fitness. And if you’re really determined, you could be a guiding light for friends who are also eager to get in shape. Lucky Numbers: 9, 10, 30

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 41

CAPTURE th e mo me nt

5 Be’la Dona featuring Sugar Bear of EU performs during the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer) 5 PJ Morton on the keyboard during his performance at the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

42 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

6 DJ Rico, donning a Be’la Dona t-shirt, who can be heard on Majic 102.3 goes into the audience and takes selfies with attendees during the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

5 Alison Seymour with her husband Marc Clarke who host an afternoon show on WHUR-96.3 introduce a performance at the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer) 3 R&B singer Anthony Hamilton added a little Go-Go with Sauce of Backyard Band as he closed out the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

5 Kyle Dion performs during the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer) 3 Jhene Aiko delights the audience with her soulful sultry voice during her performance at the 2019 Summer Spirit Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. on Saturday, August 3. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 43

SPORTS Ballaz Victorious at Turkey Thicket

5 Black Top Ballaz forward Travis Mills is defended by Bunker Hill Bulldogs defender during the Ballaz’ 45-39 win at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C. on Saturday, Aug. 3. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 A Bunker Hill Bulldogs player attempts to drive past a Black Top Ballaz defender during the Ballaz’ 45-39 win at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C. on Saturday, Aug. 3. (John E. De Freitas/ The Washington Informer)

5 Black Top Ballaz guard Kalief Small elevates above a Bunker Hill Bulldogs defender during the Ballaz’ 45-39 win at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C. on Saturday, Aug. 3. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

6 Bunker Hill Bulldogs guard Allen Siaw gets past Black Top Ballaz guard Kalief Small during the Ballaz’ 45-39 win at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C on Saturday, Aug. 3. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

5 Bunker Hill Bulldogs guard Allen Siaw is defended by Black Top Ballaz forward Travis Mills during the Ballaz’ 45-39 win at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center in D.C. on Saturday, Aug. 3. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

44 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

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SPORTS

Union Downs United

5 D.C. United forward Paul Arriola attempts to fend off Philadelphia Union defender Kai Wagner during the Union’s 5-1 win at Audi Field in D.C. on Sunday, Aug. 4. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 5 Philadelphia Union defender Raymon Gaddis argues a call by referee Referee Marcos de Oliveira during the Union’s 5-1 win over the D.C. United at Audi Field in D.C. on Sunday, Aug. 4. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

5 D.C. United defender Joseph Mora steals the ball from Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya during the Union’s 5-1 win at Audi Field in D.C. on Sunday, Aug. 4. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 4 D.C. United defender Joseph Mora faces off against Philadelphia Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya during the Union’s 5-1 win at Audi Field in D.C. on Sunday, Aug. 4. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 45

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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT

Stand Up for Humanity to Shine Light on Goodness!

Today in America, we are experiencing racism that feels like days of the Civil War. Unfortunately, the escalation of racism has catapulted under this president. Unfortunately, he is synchronizing with those who long for a “whites-only” America.

Psalm 139:13-18 says, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” This Scripture reminds us how we are covered while in the womb of our mothers.

Join Rev. Sylvia Sumter, senior pastor of Unity of Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Aug. 10 from 6 p.m.-9 p.m. as she hosts “Stand Up for Humanity” at the historic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, calling for people of all faiths and backgrounds to come together in the spirit of mutual respect for one another to shift the consciousness of America and gather in the name of humanity.

Everyone is asked to bring a light.

Spiritual leaders from around world will create an opportunity

Mt. Zion Baptist Church Reverend John W. Davis Pastor 5101 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.)

Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.

“A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold”

for people to bring their light — literally and figuratively — to the nation’s capital.

“The purpose and mission of ‘Stand Up for Humanity’ is to create a global effort to raise the collective consciousness by honoring and taking a stand for all people,” Sumter said. “We are here to help each other connect and act from our universal and common good, and to raise the consciousness and vibration on the planet, and throughout our nation, to one of inclusion, peace, and harmony.”

The event will feature great music, prayers, a sacred lighting ceremony, and an opportunity to create a unifying and healing field of consciousness.

“Stand Up for Humanity” will assemble a range of diverse spiritual leaders and luminary speakers, including Marianne Williamson, author, activist and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful; Rev. Donna Johnson, CEO of Unity WorldWide Ministries; Rev. Paulette Pipe, Radio Host; Rev. Kevin Ross, senior minister at Unity of Sacramento; Ambassador Mussie Hailu of United Religions Initiative; Paul Luftenegger, award-winning singer-songwriter; BK Mruthyunjaya, executive director of Brahma Kumaris; and many more.

Given the divisiveness and expressions of hatred, intolerance, bigotry, fighting and war taking

The event will feature great music, prayers, a sacred lighting ceremony, and an opportunity to create a unifying and healing field of consciousness. place in our beloved country and world, the time has come for all persons of good conscience to stand up for humanity. One small positive action taken by an individual can make a difference and contribute to the uplifting of humanity. What is the gift you will offer?

Unity of Washington, D.C. is a center for spiritual growth and dynamic transformation, where people discover the joy of living, loving, and serving through the understanding and application of the Spiritual Principles of Truth.

You are invited to participate in this annual event! My closing Scripture is Deuteronomy 22:4 ESV: “You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.” WI

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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church

John F. Johnson Reverend Dr. 1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005 Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m.

Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com

www.mtzbcdc.org

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AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 47

RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724

Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 AM 7 10:00 AM Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 PM Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”

Blessed Word of Life Church

Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor 700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849 Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00 AM 5th Sundays: 9:30 AM 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 PM www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ

Church of Living Waters

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor

Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor

Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor

Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor

2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org

800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703

4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00 AM Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study 10:30 AM 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00 AM Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30 PM Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00 AM “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45 AM Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00 PM Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00 PM Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment

1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661

Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org

St. Stephen Baptist Church

Third Street Church of God

Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors

Rev. Dr. Alice Greene Interim Pastor

Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor

Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor

4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax

3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax)

1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office 202-638-1803 fax

Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30 PM

Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am Worship Services Bible Study: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30 PM (dinner @ 5:30 PM) Sunday School: 9:00 AM – Hour of Power

5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555 Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45 AM Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45 AM Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday , 12:30 PM Mid-Day Bible Study Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 PM Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30 AM

www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org

Campbell AME Church Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 AM Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 PM Thursday: 7:00 PM “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020

Turning Hearts Church Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher 421 Alabama Ave. SE Washington, DC 20032 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445 Service and Times Sunday School: 10:15 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11;15 AM Children’s Church: 11:15 AM Tuesday Bible Study: 6:30 PM Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: gr8luv4u2@gmail.com

48 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantdc.org

“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net

Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 AM “Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org

Crusader Baptist Church

E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org “God is Love”

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor 610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax

Sunday Worship Service: 8:00 AM and 10:45 AM Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45 AM; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45 AM; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6:00 AM & 6:30 PM Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org emailus@gmchc.org

Isle of Patmos Baptist Church

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Sunday Church School: 9:20 AM Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 AM Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 PM Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!”

Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net

St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us...

Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45 PM Thur. Bible Study: 7:15 PM

Twelfth Street Christian Church Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion every Sunday: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 10:00 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 PM Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com

Mount Carmel Baptist Church

901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00 PM Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00 PM Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10 AM themcbc.org

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RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church

All Nations Baptist Church

King Emmanuel Baptist Church

Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor

Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor

Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor

7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471

2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591

2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730

Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 AM Service 11:00 AM Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.”

Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com

Zion Baptist Church Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:15 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Monday: Noon Bible School Wednesday: Noon & 7 PM Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission Zion Baptist Church Shall; Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, and Exalt Our Savior. (Acts 2:41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org

St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 PM Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon

Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards

Israel Baptist Church

Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor

2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office • (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . . 100% Forgiven!

623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 Fax (202) 483-4009

4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30 PM Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00 PM www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org

“Where Jesus is the King”

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith

Lincoln Park United Methodist Church Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor

Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor

1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288

1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lincolnpark@lpumcdc.org www.lpumcdc.org

5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:45 AM Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 PM Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 PM Bible Study: Tuesday at 10:30 AM

Mount Moriah Baptist Church

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Holy Communion: First Sunday 10:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30 PM Motto: "Faith On The Hill"

Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 PM Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 PM Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 PM Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged.

The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42

New Commandment Baptist Church

Eastern Community Baptist Church

Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor

Damion M. Briggs Pastor

1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964

8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240

13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 AM and 10:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 AM & 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:30 AM Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 PM Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 PM Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 PM

Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM

Rehoboth Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor

Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor

2001 Brooks Drive District Heights, MD 20744 (240) 838-7074

621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:15 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting / Bible Study: Tuesday at 7 PM Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church with an Emphasis on “Evangelism and Discipleship”

Service and Times Sunday Service: 10:00 AM Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 AM 1st Sunday Baptism: 10:00 AM 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10:00 AM Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting: 7:45 PM

Email: pastorstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org

Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”

“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org

Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor

“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”

Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958

Shiloh Baptist Church

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 AM Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 PM Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 PM Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 PM Noonday Prayer Every Thursday

Matthews Memorial Baptist Church

Christ Embassy DC

Dr. Joseph D. Turner Senior Pastor

Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator

2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304

6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065

Service and Times Early Worship Service: 8:00 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM New Member’s Class: 9:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00 AM Church School: 9:45 AM Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00 PM Saturday Bible Study: 11:00 AM Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00 AM

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Friday Evening Service: 7:00 PM ; Last Friday “…Giving Your Life a Meaning” www.Christembassydc.org Christ.embassy.dc@hotmail.com

“Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”

Peace Baptist Church

Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell

Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor

712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Early Morning Prayer & Bible Study Class: 8:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM

Wednesday Service: 12:00 PM

3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 PM Prayer Service Bible Study

“The Loving Church of the living lord “

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor

Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor

Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor

9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288

602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595

2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30AM & 10:30 AM Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 PM. Wednesday 12 Noon

www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org

Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 AM Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 AM and 10:55 AM Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 AM Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 PM

All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.

Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org

Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist

Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service : 11:00 AM The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Prayer & Praise Services: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: 7:30 PM Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries: 10:30 AM A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net

Email Address: admin@pbc712.org

Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest

Holy Trinity United Baptist Church

Florida Avenue Baptist Church

Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor

Rev. Reginald M. Green Interim Pastor

Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org

St. Matthews Baptist Church

Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 AM Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 PM

Emmanuel Baptist Church

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 AM Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 AM Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30AM Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 PM Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 PM Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “

Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.

AUGUST 9 - 14, 2019 49

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

1998 FEP 98

Administration Number 2019 ADM 756

November 14, 1996 Date of Death

Estate of Etim U. Aka

Rodney Eugene Gill

Estate of Jacqueline Nichols aka Jacqueline P. Nichols aka Jacqueline Patricia Nichols-Blanger Deceased

NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Charmaine Connie for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth.

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed

Lorine H. Williams Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Eric Williams, whose address is 1309 S Street, SE, Washington, DC 20020 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Lorine H. Williams, deceased, by the Circuit Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland, on April 25, 2019.

Service of process may be made upon Eric Williams, 1309 S Street, SE, Washington, DC 20020 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real estate.

720 Emerson Street, NE (Sq. 3782, Lot 0050).

Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Date of first publication: 7/25/2019 Eric Williams Personal Representative Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Afiong E. Aka for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth.

In the absence of a will or proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution, enter an order determining that the decedent died intestate appoint an unsupervised personal representative

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration Number 2019 ADM 741

Estate of

this Court by Kimberly Fahrenholz for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal

representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the

form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with

Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication

of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth.

In the absence of a will or proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution, enter an order determining that

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

LEGAL NOTICES

2019 ADM 000783

Admit to probate the Will dated September 28, 2015 exhibited with the petition upon proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution by affidavit of the witnesses or otherwise

Date of first publication: 7/25/2019 Nakia V. Gray 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 301 Largo, Maryland 20774 Petitioner/Attorney:

Date of first publication: 7/25/2019 Nakia V. Gray, Esquire

9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100

Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer

Petitioner/Attorney:

TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister

2019 ADM 000762 Estate of

Cherry Baylor

in this Court by Gertie Dean for standard probate,

including the appointment of one or more personal

representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the

form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with

Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication

of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth.

Admit to probate the will dated 9/11/2015 exhibited

with the petition upon proof satisfactory to the Court of

Date of first publication: 8/1/2019 Leonard GP Muhammad 7306 Georgia Ave., NW Washington, DC 20012 Petitioner/Attorney:

Date of first publication: 8/1/2019 Ethel Mitchell

8403 Colesville Rd, #1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910

Largo, MD 20774 TRUE TEST COPY

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

due execution by affidavit of the witnesses or otherwise.

the decedent died intestate appoint an unsupervised personal representative

Probate Division

TRUE TEST COPY

Petitioner/Attorney:

Anne Meister Register of Wills

TRUE TEST COPY

Washington Informer

Anne Meister

Register of Wills

Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2019 ADM 665

Administration No. 2019 ADM 604

Administration No. 2019 ADM 730

Administration No. 2019 ADM 508

Administration No. 2019 ADM 000718

Melvin T. Brooks Decedent

Tiffany Holmes Decedent

Robert W. Jackson Decedent

Ethel C. Anderson Decedent

Elizabeth Terry Decedent

Peggy A. Miller, Esq. 5130-7th Street, NE Washington, DC 20011-2625 Attorney

Joan M. Wilbon Esq. 1120 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney

Nakia V. Gray, Esq. Gray Legal, PC 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Elizabeth Jackson, whose address is 9725 Ransom Hills Terrace, North Chesterfield, VA 23237, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Tiffany Holmes who died on January 10, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/8/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/8/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Pearlina Jackson, whose address is 5124 3rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Robert W. Jackson who died on April 15, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/8/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/8/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 8/1/2019

Date of first publication: 8/8/2019

Date of first publication: 8/8/2019

Maria Inez Anderson Personal Representative

Byron Reynolds Personal Representative

Elizabeth Jackson Personal Representative

Pearlina Jackson Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Byron Reynolds, whose address is 3615 N. Colorado Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46218, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Melvin T. Brooks who died on July 15, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/1/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/1/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

50 AUGUST 8 - 14, 2019

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Maria Inez Anderson, whose address is 1364 Levis Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ethel C. Anderson who died on April 24, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/8/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/8/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 8/8/2019

Washington Informer

Tanya A. Harvey, Esq. Loeb & Loeb 901 New York Ave., NW #300E Washington, DC 20001 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS John D. Schaperkotter, whose address is c/o Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, 211 N. Broadway #3600, St. Louis, MO 63102, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Elizabeth Terry who died on April 9, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/8/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/8/2020, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 8/8/2019 John D. Schaperkotter Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2019 ADM 000659 Dorothy S. West Decedent Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Donald A. West, whose address is 1235 Faraday Place, NE, Washington, DC 20017, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Dorothy S. West who died on June 20, 2015 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/8/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/8/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 8/8/2019 Donald A. West Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

Washington Informer

2002 ADM 001710 Estate of: Bernice Mills aka Bernice C. Mills Deceased NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Marion B. Mills for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth.

Admit to probate the Will dated May 20, 1998 exhibited with the petition upon proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution by affidavit of the witnesses or otherwise Date of first publication: 8/8/2019 Steve Larson-Jackson, Esq. 1629 K. Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 Petitioner/Attorney:

Washington Informer

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Reader Advisory: The National Trade Association we belong to has purchased the following classifieds. Determining the value of their service or product is advised by this publication.

In order to avoid misunderstandings, some advertisers do not offer employment but rather supply the readers with manuals, directories and other materials designed to help their clients establish mail order selling and other businesses at home. Under NO circumstance should you send any money in advance or give the client your checking, license ID, or credit card numbers.

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Anne Meister Register of Wills

TRUE TEST COPY

CL ASSIFIEDS

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2019 ADM 000794 Darwyn Christopher Jenkins Decedent James Larry Frazier, Esq. 918 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Angela Jenkins Wright, whose address is 5326 Woodberry Lane, Tuscaloosa, AL 35405, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Darwyn Christopher Jenkins who died on March 24, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision.

All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 2/8/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 2/8/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 8/8/2019

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DEBATE from Page 1 killed in our streets before our very eyes,” he said. “We can no longer sit by idly as the death toll rises. If you can ignore what’s happening in the Black community to our babies, then there’s something terribly wrong with you. We can stop this – we must stop this.”

“And it doesn’t matter what color these babies are. Nor do I care if they’re the children of Black folks or children whose parents are members of the Ku Klux Klan. Children deserve being protected and having the chance to grow up and go after their dreams. It’s our job to keep them safe,” Brown exclaimed.

Before turning the conversation over to his first panel, Brown pointed to poverty which disproportionately lays claim over Blacks in America as a significant reason for the frustration and disillusionment that have led to numerous examples of misdirected violence erupting in recent months in his hometown of D.C. as well as other mostly-Black urban cities including Baltimore and Philadelphia.

“Since the 40s when the U.S. government began to develop the projects where they ushered Black families in and forced us to live on top of one another, we’ve had to live like crabs in the bucket,” he said.

“Each time the fire has been turned on, we’ve crawled over one another desperately trying to get out.”

Panelists for the first session, whose reflections mirrored the pas-

sionate pleas of the talk show host, included: co-host, Kymone Freeman, We ACT Radio; Tyrone Parker, director, The Alliance of Concerned Men; Minister Abdul Khadir Muhammad, Nation of Islam; and the Rev. Tony Lee, founder and senior pastor, Community of Hope AME Church.

“We have far too many guns on our streets and many of those weapons have been illegally acquired,” Parker said. “And while there are organizations like ours that are out in the community doing everything we can, we still haven’t received the full support of District government, particularly in terms of the kinds of resources that the City could but has yet to provide.”

“In addition, we are in short supply of men who are willing to join us.

The numbers are simply inadequate given the challenges before us. Thirty percent of District youth are currently living in poverty. That’s something that city officials must address.”

“When an 11-year-old child was recently shot and killed in D.C. by another youth, the police found that the fight and shooting that subsequently occurred happened because the children were fighting for the right to control a street corner where they could make a few dollars selling legal goods to people in the community. They were trying to make a few dollars so they could make ends meet,” Parker said, adding that his organized has compiled a conflict resolution manual that many believe

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5 Activist Roach Brown hosted a radio discussion themed at securing solutions to youth gun violence. (WI photo)

could positively change the mindset of youth if placed in the hands of the District’s public school leaders and utilized in classrooms.

Muhammad, a man who admits having once lived a life dominated by negative forces, agreed with Parker’s notion that changing the way youth think and often react when they feel threatened, remains the first step in reducing violence.

“Before our communities can be changed for the better, individuals have to regain control over their own minds,” he said. “Too many within the Black community have chosen to embrace a Satanic-led existence and have turned away from the Creator. It’s easy to understand why our children are in so much turmoil – in their homes they can easily pick up drugs, alcohol and guns all of which are just laying around on their par-

ents’ kitchen tables.”

“Further, it’s imperative that we begin to agree to disagree in love.

Even this panel illustrates the diversity within the Black community. But bickering among ourselves won’t get us anywhere. Even if those who are already out on the streets trying to bring peace in the hood don’t always see eye-to-eye, we can still work together,” Muhammad added.

Lee noted that viable solutions already exist but without financial support and a concerted effort to more effectively direct those resources, gun violence will inevitably continue to plague the city and its residents.

“Many activists are already on the scene, even before the police arrive, attempting to provide solace and some form of understanding when gunfire erupts – we often get there while the smoke from guns is still in

the air,” he said.

“We don’t need to create strategies or look for answers – we already have them. But in the District, the vast majority of financial resources is going to building buildings rather than building people. Our City’s leaders don’t want to disrupt their program.

Gentrification benefits those leaders who have found that it’s easy to paint our residents as barbarians so they can dismantle communities and move people so they can make way for business opportunities.”

“We must hold our leaders accountable and force them to transform people before transforming physical properties – a current policy that rarely benefits Blacks and more often bodes well for people who don’t have our welfare in mind and who don’t like anything like us,” Lee said. WI

SHOOTINGS from Page 1

his televised and now highly-criticized press conference, many residents in both El Paso and Dayton participated in protests, angry over Trump’s continued use of vitriolic words that many believe have opened the floodgates for white supremacists and their own bigoted ideology. Both shooters in last weekend’s massacres reportedly resonated with supremacist notions.

And while Trump did suggest on Wednesday, August 7 that current policies related to background checks should be ramped up in short order, he failed to agree to push for more stringent gun control, saying “it doesn’t appear to be something that’s within the political will.”

During a tearful testimony, the father of one El Paso shooting victim, a young, Black woman who remains hospitalized and in critical condition after being shot three times, said Trump’s visit would lead to nothing of consequence.

“I’m a military veteran, a pastor and a proud American,” the Rev. Michael Grady said during a radio interview on Sirius XM channel 126 on Tuesday.

“My daughter Michelle was just out shopping at Walmart when the gunman began to shoot into the group of shoppers. I have never in my life done anything but supported and maintained respect for the president of the United States – whether our Commander-in-Chief was a Democrat or a Republican. That has now changed.”

“I’ve worked on behalf of El Paso’s mostly Hispanic community and fostered positive encounters and mutual outreach efforts between Blacks and Mexican-Americans. And we’ve been living our lives together peacefully.

“Donald Trump must admit responsibility for the kind of hateful atmosphere that he’s created and allowed to fester. The results are obvious.” WI

in a statement to reject language that “feeds a climate of fear” – comments to which Trump has since, not surprisingly, responded via his favorite outlet, Twitter.

Obama denounced language from “leaders who demonize those who don’t look like us, or suggest that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life, or refer to other people as sub-human, or imply that America belongs to just one certain type of people.”

Such language, the former president said, “has no place in our politics and our public life,” adding, “it’s time for the overwhelming majority of Americans of goodwill, of every race and faith and political party, to say as much – clearly and unequivocally.”

Meanwhile, as the president made efforts to clarify his view as shared on Monday, Aug. 5 during

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MALVEAUX from Page 30

PERRY from Page 17 percent. Even after the downfall officially ended, years of concentrated economic policy and politically-astute actions would be required to reverse the negative impact– an objective accomplished under President Obama during his tenure. Still, Perry, like other Black scholars, says Black America has never recovered from the period’s economic crisis.

“For many Black Americans, the unemployment rate is significantly higher now than during the recession,” he said. “The national unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years but it primarily reflects white employment dynamics. As for Black communities, they’re already in a recession.”

Perry centered his research on Black majority cities such as Baltimore, Memphis and smaller municipalities including Wilkinsburg, Pa., and Ferguson.

He says that Black majority cities considered to be thriving, such

by its obedience to the Lord. The more we accept His steadfastness, the clearer our paths become.

When all is said and done, once you know where home is, you’re never lost. Because when we acknowledge the Almighty and who we are in relation to Him, we too, will never be lost or forsaken. May God bless and keep you always. WI

as Atlanta and New Orleans, still have Black unemployment rates which are higher than whites.

“Black residents of Atlanta and New Orleans, have rates of 11.5 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively – more than five times greater than white unemployment rates of 2.5 percent and 2.3 percent,” he said. “In Macon-Bibb County, Ga., the Black unemployment rate is 11.5 percent – quadruple the white rate of 2.7 percent.”

In the District, D.C. Department of Employment Services statistics reveal that 5.7 percent of all African Americans are jobless compared to a white unemployment rate of 1.5 percent – a disparity that Perry says extends throughout the country.

“We see this unemployment gap replicated in cities of all sizes across the U.S.,” he said. “African Americans need job programs and job opportunities to close the Black-White gap; politicians and policy makers need to be serious about that. Black unemployment can no longer be considered an

afterthought of full employment.

“We shouldn’t have to wait for white Americans to be in a recession before making the economy work for everyone,” Perry added.

WI

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Yet God is steadfast. He does require however — or should I say, demands — the discipline of faith.

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hands with right-wing populist movements, including but not limited to neo-fascists, in order to crush dissent. What better a way to do that than to blame the anti-fascists for chaos and intimidation, thereby sowing confusion and making it that much easier to crush his opponents.

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the city of Baltimore, that it is easy to become numb. We need to resist that impulse because it blinds us to the objectives of our adversaries. In this case, just as Trump uses the allegation of “racist” against the so-called “Squad” (the four congresswomen of color who

Trump loves to hate) after he, himself, is charged with racism, Trump, et al., use the allegation of terrorism against anti-fascists as a means of blurring the issue.

Let’s be clear. The objective of this administration is increased authoritarianism. It is utilizing racist provocations in order to succeed. It is an administration that is prepared to join

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FLETCHER from Page 30

on people spending money and too many have little to spend.

The food stamp cuts give some even less. Increased prices of good imported from China gives them less to spend. And the administration team that touts economic strength, on the one hand, is undermining both growth and poverty alleviation, on the other.

What goes up must come down. Can the 45 economic team manipulate the economy to continue expansion through the 2020 election, or will attacks on the poor result in less spending, less expansion and an economic catastrophe?

WI

Photo

ly, because wage growth is slow.

In a tight labor market, with low unemployment rates, wages should be increasing by more than the 3 percent annual rate they are growing at now. Further, although there is slight improvement in labor force participation and fewer workers holding parttime work for economic reasons, tepid wage growth suggests that while jobs are available, they aren’t necessarily good-paying jobs.

What does it take to increase wages?

Slow wage growth and a slowing economy are likely to lead

to a new recession. Economist Heather Boushey says that increasing inequality makes a recession more possible than it otherwise might be. And this administration does not mind increasing inequality. Most recently, they have proposed cuts to food stamp programs that will leave at least three million people — low-income workers and their children, people with disabilities and some older Americans, vulnerable to hunger. The Senate just passed a budget that will increase military spending by more than $750 billion and will cut spending on food.

Economic expansion depends

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CALDWELL from Page 31 President Trump initiated and supported the yelling, the president is being forced by the vice president and some of his consultants to distance himself from the chant.

“After smearing Rep. Ilhan Omar as anti-Semitic — and letting the crowd at his Greenville, North Carolina, rally roar

WILLIAMS from Page 31 gan claimed minorities were better off under him — just the way Trump says it.

Trump claims to not have a racist bone in his body, but it’s obvious there’s racism in his heart while

ASKIA from Page 31 national level” — Black people, Michael Harriot, a senior writer for “The Root” told me in an interview.

“So for Democratic candidates, for progressive candidates to be successful, there’s no way, there’s no historical reason, there’s no statistical history that shows that white voters will determine the success of a Democratic candidate,” Harriot continued. “What it depends on is the enthusiasm and the turnout of Black and minority voters. So it would seem that the logical conclusion would be you have to send up candidates and you have to put candidates up for election who appeal to the Democratic Party’s base voters, the Black voters.

SPIRIT from Page 32

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As for go-go, it’s the kind of music that gets into your mind, your heart and your soul. It reminds us of the uniqueness of Black culture and the importance that the community has long played and continues to play for Blacks in every city or town on the planet.”

Donald Gross, 50, a resident in Northeast, has been getting his swerve on at the Summer Spirit Festival for the last 10 years and said he couldn’t miss the annual affair.

“I love it – all of it,” he said.

“The thing about go-go is it’s unique to the Black D.C. heritage and culture. We made gogo; it started right here. I guess you could say that go-go is so much a part of me that it lives inside of me – it took residence in my soul many years ago. I live for go-go and the way it makes me feel and allows me to celebrate life each and every day.”

Greenbelt resident Garrett

“send her back” for more than 10 seconds — President Trump has falsely claimed he continued his speech immediately after the crowd started yelling,” says Tana Ganervo, a reporter at Raw Story.

Racism in 2019 is out in the open, with the election of President Trump leading the way. It is easy to argue what constitutes the act, and whether someone is

a racist sometimes. But President Trump does not care what Blacks and people of color think.

He is only concerned with his base, and he feeds them red meat on a daily basis. There is something fundamentally wrong when the president does not care about values and inappropriate statements, because his goal is to only make America white again.

WI

accusing Rep. Elijah Cummings of being racist. Reagan was quoted as resorting to the old standby of turning the problem back to Black people because, surely, he wasn’t racist! He challenged NAACP’s Dr. Ben Hooks to imagine looking into his (Reagan’s) heart, and he

would find not a trace of prejudice or bigotry there! No, it’s always the fault of the accuser!

One of Reagan’s defenders denied that he was racist — just backward in some ways on racial issues! That sounds like racism to me. WI

But instead we use this argument of electability to say that that is more important. And that is by definition, white supremacy, that the ideas in between the needs of white people are more important to fit the needs of Black people.”

Ya think?

“And it’s that combination right now,” said Dr. Angie Maxwell, who teaches Southern Studies at the University of Arkansas.

“If you express racial resentment as a white person in America or you express what we call modern sexism as a white person in America, man or a woman, or if you express this kind of Christian nationalist spirit among whites in America, that accounts for 95 percent of Trump’s vote.”

Furthermore, Democrats will not be able to depend on white

women to save them, Maxwell said.

“You know, this anti-feminist spirit is really held by a high percentage of white women in the South,” she said. “Not all, but a high percentage. At least 75 percent of white women did not vote for [2018 Democratic Black female gubernatorial candidate] Stacey Abrams in Georgia.

“So that means that we need to build different coalitions, right?

We need to make sure that we are reaching out to nonvoters, that we are working against voter suppression — all of those things,” Maxwell said.

Democrats need a strategy to inspire a massive turnout among Black voters, or be prepared to witness a seismic, perhaps permanent shift in the outcome. WI

Jackson, an acclaimed vocalist in his own right, said the Festival brings something special every year in a way no other concerts or promoters have ever been able to equal.

“These guys bring talent that is deserving of being showcased but who are still trying to make a name for themselves,” he said. “For those artists, while the world may not know about them yet, it’s a chance for them to shine, to do their thing and send a message that they’re ready whenever greater opportunities come knocking at their door. The Festival makes that happen for artists year after year and they deserve kudos for that.”

Meanwhile, CD Enterprises, Inc.’s production manager, Gerald Scott, part of the company since 1974, says go-go has its own appeal and power that’s difficult to explain and even harder to match.

“I’ve been with Darryll and Carol for a long time and been

part of some amazing shows – I mean mind-blowing artists from Salt N Pepa to Bootsy Collins, George Clinton and the Parliament/Funkadelic crew. But gogo remains the backbone and the foundation in my view,” Scott said.

“It’s the cultural lifeline of DC and I ought to know since I’m 70. Two of the most important people in our city’s history remain Marion Barry and Chuck Brown. Imagine that. A political leader and a cultural leader – both icons who were the face and the representative spirit of the District – at least until the second round of gentrification took hold.”

“But I’m excited today because we’re now seeing a new revival of go-go music that’s making its way to the national stage. Go-go is the one thing, the only thing we have left to hold onto if we want to maintain the Chocolate City spirit and legacy.”

WI

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