VOL. 54, NO. 38 • JULY 4 - 10, 2019
Fireworks, Family Fun Take Center Stage in July 4th Celebrations
D.C. Auditor’s Report on Affordable Housing Raises Deep Concerns
Kamala Harris the Biggest Debate Winner, Pundits Say By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Prior to the two days of the opening rounds of the Democratic presidential debates, Jeffrey Engel said the initial head-to-head of the candidates would in no way prove helpful in determining who should become the next U.S. president. “They are, however, going to help demonstrate who should not,” said Engel, the founding director of Southern Methodist University’s Center for Presidential History. “Between now and December, candidates will knock each other off, one by one, until the real fight begins when it’s down to the final four,” Engel said. The whittling appears to have already begun, at least according to pundits who tuned in to the two nights of debates that were held in Miami on June 26 and June 27. After two hours of questions, impromptu barbs and prepared talking points, a tentative picture has emerged of the initial winners and losers, Real Clear Politics reported, before exclaiming, “Kamala Harris has arrived.” Harris answered questions of whether she was up to the challenge as she pummeled front-runner Joe Biden about civil rights. She pushed the former vice president to explain his record on federal busing, which he opposed as a young senator from Delaware, and his association with segregationists,
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NNPA Conference Page 16
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
A CAPITAL FOURTH RETURNS
D.C. Council members are responding to a new report released from the Office of the D.C. Auditor, which raises concerns about the integrity of the competitive application process for the city’s Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF). The report found that the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development
The nation’s capital prepares for July 4th celebrations as well as protests with Donald Trump’s decision to intrude upon annual expressions of American patriotism. (Roy Lewis/ The Washington Informer)
HOUSING Page 9
LGBTQ Equality: America’s Newest, Turbulent Civil Rights Frontier Thousands Flood NYC Streets, Mark Fifty Years Since Historic Stonewall Riots By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Crowds took over New York’s Fifth Avenue for a festive parade, also gathering outside of the City’s historic Stonewall Inn on Sunday, June 30 to honor the 50th anniversary of a police-involved raid which resulted in scores of injured officers and patrons of the bar – and which marked a point of no return for gay and lesbian Americans, kicking off the modern-day LGBTQ movement. And while the tenor remained upbeat with the rainbow col-
ors of the Pride flag punctuating the scene, fear and apprehension continue to mount within the LGBTQ community as the Trump administration appears determined to undermine important, hard-fought advances. Examples to which many point as proof include: new restrictions on their presence and ability to serve in the military, proposed changes to recently-secured health care protections under the law and the retreat from federal directives which under President Obama granted
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5 The gay pride parade commemorating the 50th anniversary of the uprising at Stonewall Inn in New York City was held Sunday, June 30. The series of LGBTQ riots sparked by police raids are considered to be the catalyst that led to the gay liberation movement. (Hunter Abrams/Stonewall Community Foundation)
Celebrating 54 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area