VOL. 54, NO. 30 • MAY 9 - 15, 2019
We Salute Mothers and Teachers Throughout the DMV
Urban League Report: Blacks Relegated to ‘America’s Caboose’
VA Nonprofit Reduces Gaps Plaguing Youth in Wards 1 and 8
Education and Nutrition Among the Needs for Elementary School Children
President/CEO Marc Morial Points to the Vote as Key to Realizing Equality
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Three schools in Southeast – Lucy Ellen Moten Elementary, John Hayden Johnson Middle, and Charles Hart Middle – and one in Northwest – Cardozo Elementary Education Campus – have caught the charitable eye of a Richmond-based nonprofit that provides clothing, school supplies and hygiene and grooming items
CHILDREN Page 21
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
#DONTMUTEDC MOVEMENT TAKES OVER U STREET -
Over a thousand DMV residents and supporters gathered at #Moechella to peacefully celebrate and preserve DC culture and say #DontMuteDC. Go-go bands ABM and Backyard Band performed along with the #LongLiveGogo movement in front of the Reeves Center on Tuesday, May 7. (Brigette White/The Washington Informer)
Bowser Admin Chides Council’s Budget Cuts By James Wright WI Staff Writer The senior leadership of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration are not happy about cuts that the city council are contemplating as the 2019-2020 budget season winds down. On May 6, D.C. City Administrator Rashad Young, Jenny Reed, the D.C. director of the Office of Budget and Performance, Tomas Talamante, Bowser’s deputy chief of staff, and Brian Kenner, the deputy
WI Health Supplement Center Section
mayor for planning and economic development, talked to the reporters about their gripes about changes that the council has made to Bowser’s proposal she submitted nearly two months ago. The council will vote on the first reading of the budget on May 14 and the second and final reading will take place on May 28. “We respect the council’s role in the budget process,” Young
BUDGET Page 31
5 National Urban League President/CEO Marc H. Morial issues the annual “State of Black America” report at the National Press Club in Northwest on Monday, May 6. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
Since the abolition of slavery, African Americans have painstakingly found the means to break long-rusted chains, secure essential rights long-denied under a system dedicated to maintaining white privilege and overcome daunting hurdles in the centuries-old battle for true equality as promised to all citizens under the U.S. Constitution. But as the countdown continues until the 2020 General Election when the next president of the U.S. will be determined, many Blacks remain thwarted from exercising the right to vote – unwillingly passengers in America’s “caboose” – its seats reserved for those of black or brown skin who disproportionately represent a marginalized, second-class citizenry. At least that’s the conclusion offered by leaders of the National Urban League [NUL] at the National Press Club on May 6 in Northwest as they pointed to highlights found within the organization’s highly-anticipated yearly review of the condition of Black Americans in the 2019
Celebrating 54 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area
NUL Page 38