OpEd

No Magic Solutions for Gun Violence

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Washington Wizards could wave their magic wands and end gun violence across D.C., especially in Ward 8? The reality is that they aren’t crime fighters but merely basketball players whose duty is to win games and entertain fans, not to fight crime. Still, two players, Anthony Gill and Monte Morris, along with Natasha Cloud of the Mystics, injected their voices into the chorus of residents and community activists who keep saying “enough is enough” of the rising gun violence and gun-related murders in D.C.

It’s unclear what the expectations were of those that attended the town hall meeting this week hosted by the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition and the Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ). Collaborators included Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the D.C. offices of Gun Violence Prevention and Victims Services and Justice Grants.

The evening event was held at the RISE Center on the campus of St. Elizabeth’s near the Sports and Entertainment Arena, which serves as the Wizard’s practice court and the home court for the Mystics. More than 100 anxious residents and community leaders showed up hopeful and looking for solutions that have eluded politicians, police, clergy or even the violence interrupters who are making a difference in the fight against gun violence but for many, it’s not enough.

Heads nodded, and the audience applauded following the testimonials of Gill and Morris, who grew up in High Point, North Carolina, and Flint, Michigan, respectively. Both faced what young Black boys see every day in the streets in D.C. but thanks to their focus on their sport and families supporting them despite their fears for their survival, they made it out.

“This historic partnership between ASJ and the NBA/WNBA is only the first step in our work to curb gun violence and bring real public safety and justice to communities most harmed,” Jay Jordan, president of Alliance for Safety and Justice and national director of TimeDone told the audience and the press. The new initiative established in response to the murder of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake aims to “chart a path towards greater investment in community-based violence prevention and rehabilitation services proven to heal victims, and pioneered by ASJ,” according to a press release.

While many in the room are already deeply invested in finding solutions to ending gun violence, including Councilmembers Trayon White (Ward 8) and Kenyon McDuffie (Ward 5), many left asking, “What’s next?” Despite the innumerable town halls, marches and street vigils, hope still prevails.

It will take more than wizardry to end gun violence. Still, with more action from those in the community, including sports figures, offering their voices, ideas and investments to the community, the problem might mystically disappear. WI

Trouble Don’t Last Always – Still, It’s Not Easy

Just when we thought that we could finally exhale in relief, believing that the coronavirus pandemic was over, new variants have emerged that are forcing us to put our masks back on, to isolate ourselves when infected and in some cases, to be placed in hospitals for treatment.

At the same time, a new virus, the Monkeypox variant, has begun to spread across the U.S., causing further fear among Americans with only limited supplies of medicine available.

Meanwhile, prices for just about everything we need have gone through the roof. Lines at non-profits and churches can now be seen wrapping around corners as families wait for groceries to help them with the bottom line and to feed their loved ones.

But most alarming, as schools prepare to open their doors this fall, hopefully without being forced to revert to virtual learning, are the huge numbers of shootings that have recently plagues the District and surrounding areas.

It is indeed a very challenging time for all of us. And while some may feel like throwing their hands in the air and giving us, we know that is not the answer. In days past, communities would come together and provide assistance, sharing meals, watching one another’s children, helping seniors and keeping their communities safe. We must join forces in these difficult times and remember as one poet said, “No man (woman) is an island.”

Our parents and grandparents often reminded us that “trouble don’t last always.” And while that is true, it’s equally true that as we move out of the storm, it’s still very difficult. But we remain optimistic. WI

TO THE EDITOR

Building Bridges

Wow! Super impressed by the latest issue of the WI Bridge. I loved the visuals and artistry — great work, as always.

Tam Leeper Washington, D.C.

Cruel and Unusual?

I feel two ways about the D.C. Council contemplating a solitary confinement ban in D.C. jails. On the one hand, I think officers need ways to dish out punishment for those who have infractions. But, at the same time, what good is driving someone insane going to do by keeping them locked in a 4x4, 23 hours a day with no human contact? I say the remedy doesn’t outweigh the risk.

Morgan F. Blythe Oxon Hill, Md.

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.

Guest Columnist

Julianne Malveaux

Economic Violence and the Safer American Plan

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, signed into law on June 25, 2022, was a win for the Biden-Harris administration. The legislation was genuinely bipartisan, more so in the Senate, where 15 Republicans joined 50 Democrats to pass the legislation, than in the House, where only 14 Republicans joined Democrats in passing the legislation.

While I often think of the Senate as the more partisan of the two legislative bodies, it is notable that 30% of Republican senators were willing to join their colleagues to stop gun violence and to provide funds for mental health, and community violence intervention, school safety, and some control. In contrast, fewer than 7% of Republican Congressional representatives were willing to cross party lines.

Buoyed by the legislative victory, President Biden has now released a Safer Communities Plan, which is reflected in his 2023 budget. While many aspects of this plan are laudable, one of the most troubling aspects is the plan to commit $13 billion over five years to flood the streets with 100,000 more police officers.

The program uses the correct language by saying it will support "accountable" policing, but not a week goes by when we do not learn of the unaccountable policing that rankles anyone who believes in human rights. We don't have to go back down memory lane to call the names of Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland or George Floyd. Just this year, there have been more martyrs. Joyland Walker was executed in Akron, Ohio. Patrick Loyola was killed in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Amir Locke was asleep on a couch in his cousin's apartment in Minneapolis when a no-knock warrant allowed police offers to enter and shoot him in the head. And yet we need more police?

Violence is in the news, and it is escalating. During the weekend of July 23-24, 65 people were shot and five killed in Chicago. While many describe Chicago as the epicenter of gun violence, no city is immune to it. No city is immune to other forms of violence, as well. I think, especially of economic violence, how economic tools are used to forcefully take life, liberty and supply from people.

The market forces that create homelessness are forms of economic violence. The gentrification that pushes people out of their neighborhoods is a form of economic violence. Rising prices and the inflation that hits poor people harder are also forms of economic violence. We can get exercised about physical violence, but we are far too silent about economic violence.

Guest Columnist

The Power of the Truth

The truth has power. That is why an army of politicians, lawyers, political schemers, media personalities, and admirers of former President Donald Trump have tried so hard to keep Americans from learning the truth about his effort to overturn the 2022 election.

Fortunately, he failed to overturn the election. And he and the corrupt members of his inner circle have failed to keep the truth hidden.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on our country—and the criminal conspiracy that led up to it — is an important exercise in truth telling. The committee finished its first round of televised hearings in July and expects to pick up again in September.

We have learned a lot thanks to the work of committee members

Ben Jealous

and staff, principled members of Trump's own administration, and journalists whose work has shed light on things Trump and his cronies desperately tried to keep hidden.

Donald Trump wanted to stay in power after losing the 2020 election. He wanted it so badly that he tried to bully his loyal vice president into making a power-abusing end run around the Constitution. He wanted it so badly that he worked his supporters into a rage with endless lies about the election being stolen.

He called these enraged supporters to Washington, D.C., to interfere with a key step in the peaceful transfer of power. He sent them to the Capitol knowing that many were armed. And for hours, while members of the Capitol Police were being brutalized, and members of Congress and Vice President Pence's security detail were calling loved ones, not sure they would live through the attack, Trump did nothing.

Guest Columnist

David W. Marshall

Bennie Thompson and the Legacy of 'All Men are Created Equal'

As one of the Founding Fathers, there is an obvious question always asked about Thomas Jefferson: How can a person fight for freedom for oneself and simultaneously deny freedom for others? How could Jefferson write the powerful words "All men are created equal" as part of the Declaration of Independence, yet own slaves as property? It is a paradox in which his words are true despite the self-contradiction by its author. It represents an odd combination where a principle of inspiration and equality is combined with hateful actions.

Despite the two being intertwined, we should always embrace the truth of Jefferson’s words and their meaning while rejecting the hypocrisy of his actions. Abraham Lincoln made a valid point by stating, "The assertion that 'all men are created equal' was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed in the Declaration not for that, but for future use." Lincoln had the insight to know that future generations would have to appeal to America’s foundational documents and constitutional principles when arguing for equality and justice.

In our constant fight for the rights, opportunities and protections connected with American democracy, we are faced again with the same hypocritical combination of people claiming to support the U.S. Constitution with their words but destroying its application by their actions — or inactions.

While the hearings by the Jan. 6 House select committee are intended to investigate the attack on the Capitol and the campaign MALVEAUX Page 53

Well, to be more accurate, he did nothing to stop the rampage. He did plenty of harmful things.

He did watch the violence on television. He did pour gasoline on the fire by denouncing Pence while the attack was under way. He did take calls from fearful members of Congress only to dismiss their pleas for help. He did reject direct appeals from his own daughter to call off the attack. He did tell his chief of staff that he didn't think

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to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the work and the findings from the committee are widely ignored by supporters of Donald Trump and dismissed as being a partisan witch hunt. Now that the Department of Justice has an ongoing criminal probe into the plot to overturn the election, one wonders what information would have remained hidden from the

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Guest Columnist

Credit Where Due

I am undisputedly a political progressive. I am vehemently anti-racist. I am an activist for women's rights and equity. A primary goal in my life is the increased prospects for communities of color to improve their overall "quality of life" and gain access to all of the rights, benefits and opportunities available to any other citizen of the wealthiest nation in the world. There are no circumstances in which I can be identified to be aligned with politically conservative principles. I restate these facts because of the thoughts I offer today.

The old adage of "Giving credit where credit is due" dictates today's musings. I find myself doing something I could have never imagined before last year. With respect to the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack, I commend the actions of Congresswoman Liz Cheney, Congressman Adam Kinzinger and others whose actions can only be labeled as patriotic.

For those too young or who haven't yet made the connection, Liz Cheney is the oldest daughter and political clone of arch-conservatives Dick and Lynne Cheney, the former the vice president under George W. Bush. Her campaign webpage states: "Liz has been a proven constitutional conservative and an advocate for a strong America." Wikipedia describes her as "a leading ideological conservative…and a representative of the Republican establishment." Her congressional voting record is 9% in support of Trump initiatives. She is a true Republican conservative.

Conspicuously, her conduct as vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack contradicts her past political positions. Her seat on the committee stands in opposition to the stance of congressional Republicans. She has aggressively rebuffed the alibis of the would-be insurrectionists and has vigorously supported the conventional expectations of the rule of law. Her interrogation of witnesses before the committee has been detailed and incisive. She has become a pariah and antagonist to her own party.

Her opposition to party orthodoxy has led to her removal as Cchair of the House Republican Conference and leadership among congressional Republicans. Her participation on the committee has drawn the ire of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and the disgraced, twice-impeached ex-president who have orchestrated a primary challenge for her seat in Congress. Yet, despite the ongoing hostility and what appears to be an unceremonious end to her political career, Cheney refuses to rollover to those intent on the destruction of the democratic traditions of the nation.

E. Faye Williams

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Guest Columnist

Encouraging Teachers

"Teaching children may be the highest way to seek God. It is, however, also the most daunting way, in the sense of the greatest responsibility." — Gabriela Mistral, Chilean Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature

For many children and families the last weeks of summer are winding down now, but for many devoted teachers preparing for the new school year began as soon as the last one ended. As I wrote in a letter to teachers and educators in "The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation," after parents, teachers are probably the greatest influencers and molders of children's futures. Teaching has to be more than just a job; it has to be a calling. I share Nobel Laureate in Literature and teacher Gabriela Mistral's belief that "a love for children opens up more paths for teachers than pedagogic theory does." You can have the best equipped school, smallest class size, and a great curriculum, but if teachers and principals do not love children, children will know it — and be hurt. Teachers must be committed to finding and nourishing the gifts in each child and to building a child's sense of confidence and competence. Teachers' negative attitudes and messages can compound a child's learning difficulties, but a teacher's regular compliments and support can motivate, and even save a child's life.

I recommend that teachers and adults ponder more of the great

Marian Wright Edelman

poet-teacher Gabriela Mistral's wisdom and sense of mission about educating children: • "Teach always, in the courtyard and on the street, as if they were the classroom. Teach with your demeanor, expression, and words." • "Live the beautiful theories. Live with kindness, energy, and professional integrity." • "Brighten your lessons with beautiful words, with a pertinent story, and relate each piece of knowledge to real life." • "If we don't achieve equality and culture in the school, where else can such things be required?" • "A teacher who does not read has to be a bad teacher. She's reduced her job to a mechanical function, by not renewing herself spiritually." • "Everything can be expressed so long as it's presented properly. Even the harshest reprimand can be made without humiliating or poisoning a soul." • "It's an intolerable breach of instruction to teach facts without

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Guest Columnist

Marc H. Morial

#WeAreBG: Hope Surges for the Release Of WNBA Star Brittney Griner

"Please continue to pray for my family and all the other families of the wrongfully detained, as our pain remains active until our loved ones are brought home. Let's continue to use our voices to speak the names of all the wrongfully detained Americans and support the administration as they do what it takes to bring them home today." — Cherelle Griner, wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner

Of all the things Brittney Griner is, and all the things she represents to her family, her teammates, her friends and her fans — athlete, advocate, philanthropist — she is, above all at this moment, an American who is wrongfully detained in Russia.

In the news this week, the Biden administration is prepared to negotiate a prisoner exchange for her release brings her one step closer to coming home, where she belongs.

The news coincided with a striking Time magazine cover and in-depth profile that paints a picture of a newly-hopeful Brittney, buoyed by a personal letter from President Biden and a phone call from the President and Vice President Kamala Harris to her wife, Cherelle, assuring the couple that they have not forgotten Brittney's plight and are working diligently to secure her release. "I was able to read the letter, and it brought me so much joy, as well as BG," Cherelle said. "I believe every word that she said to him he understood. And he sees her as a person, and he has not forgotten her, which was her biggest cry in her letter."

In a letter to the President earlier this month, Brittney shared her fear that she would remain in Russia forever.

In a Russian courtroom, Brittney flashed a smile as she held up a photo of every player in the WNBA All-Star Game wearing Phoenix Mercury jerseys with Brittney's number 42 emblazoned on the back. The league named Brittney an honorary All-Star starter; she responded to the news

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