Free Paint Drop-off and Giveaway

Paint Recycling Event

Saturday, June 10, 2023

9 a.m.– 1 p.m.

Ida B. Wells Middle School

405 Sheridan St NW

Washington, DC

Registration Required: https://paint-wells-middle.eventbrite.com

Households may bring most types of paint, stain, and varnish in any amount. Paint must be in sealed, original container with original manufacturer label. We cannot accept aerosols, solvents, and other hazardous waste. To use PaintCare drop-off sites and events for oilbased paint, businesses must qualify as an exempt generator under federal and any analogous state hazardous waste generator rules. Please visit www.paintcare.org/VSQG for more information on exempt generator rules. If your business does not qualify as an exempt generator, it will not be able to use PaintCare drop-off sites and events for oil-based paint, but it can still use them for latex products.

5 Dr Nedovota Mollel looks at a new plant discovered in Arusha. (Courtesy Photo)

COMPILED BY OSWALD T. BROWN, WI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

World’s Newest Plant with Strange Behavior Discovered in Tanzania

Botanists have discovered what could be the world’s newest type of vegetation in the form of a lone, spear-shaped and nocturnal plant growing in Northern Tanzania, Citizen Tanzania reports.

The New Times, Rwanda’s largest daily newspaper, reported on Sunday, May 21 that the new plant is currently being studied at the National Herbarium which operates inside the Tanzania Plant Health and Pesticides Authority (TPHPA) premises in Arusha.

Dr Neduvoto Mollel, TPHPA head of national herbarium, said the new plant seems to come alive at night when the leaves bloom under moonlight, but as soon as the sun comes out, the plant goes with its leaves looking slightly weathered.

“It is a very strange plant because its leaves expand and flourish during the night and contract at sunrise,” Dr Mollel explained.

The plant was discovered by American Botanist Barry Yinger and his Tanzanian associate Robert Sikawa. The National Herbarium in which the new plant is being kept and observed, located at Ngaramtoni in the outskirts of Arusha city, holds a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study and identification.

“We have all reasons to believe that this new plant is endemic to Tanzania. It’s never seen anywhere else in the world because those who discovered it are experts, botanists who have traveled around the globe sampling and studying vegetation,” Dr Mollel pointed out.

Until now, the strange plant has neither local nor scientific names. However, scientists in Tanzania have already sent the plant profile, descriptions and properties to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) with the proposed name from the country. The ICBN is the world’s authority behind the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants.

Tanzania is tentatively naming the plant “Embere” which means “Spear” in Maasai language. This is because it was discovered in Arusha, which happens to be a Maasai land and again where people traditionally use spears.

As it happens, the new shrub is also shaped like a spear. WI

Jamaica and UK Sign Document for $2.9B Violence Prevention Project

The Governments of Jamaica and the United Kingdom have signed a framework document signaling their intention to collaborate on a $2.9-billion (£15 million) violence-prevention project.

5 Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith (left) and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, the Rt. Hon. James Cleverly, signing document. (Courtesy Photo, Jamaica Information Services (JIS)) or recurring payments. Can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. Card valid for up to 6 months; unused funds will forfeit after the valid thru date. Card terms and conditions apply. Reply by 10/15/2021.

The document was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith and Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the UK the Rt. Hon. James Cleverly during a press conference following a strategic dialogue at the Ministry’s downtown Kingston offices on Friday, May 19.

Expressing gratitude and appreciation to the government and people of the U.K. Minister Johnson Smith said the initiative, to be funded by the U.K. over six years, will be far-reaching domestically and internationally.

“This partnership will enhance our whole-of-government approach to violence reduction and prevention, while engaging multiple stakeholders in our collective efforts to combat high levels of criminality,” the Minister said.

Meanwhile, Cleverly said the violence-prevention partnership is yet another demonstration of the UK’s support of Jamaica’s goals and aspirations and Vision 2030.

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“Our focus will be on a public-health approach looking upstream, addressing the drivers of violent behavior and focused very much on prevention. I have been inspired by Jamaica’s plan to create a secure, cohesive and just society, and the U.K. Government will provide £15 million over the next six years to help Jamaica reduce violence and the impact that it has on society on a whole and on this wonderful country’s economy more generally,” he said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said the U.K.-Jamaica partnership encompasses a wide range of areas and involves significant funding. WI

Mental Health Care and RAP, Inc.: Meeting the Need Then and Now

By Angela Owens Clark WI Contributing Writer

Mental Health Awareness

Month 2023 brings heightened attention to behind-the-scenes mental and emotional ailments that have historically plagued the African American community. While many have suffered in silence believing there was nowhere to turn or concealing emotional pain; for more than 50 years Regional Addiction Prevention, better known as RAP, Inc., has been working to support and attend to the residential treatment needs and mental health of citizens grappling with substance use disorders.

From the beginning, RAP’s co-founder, Ron Clark, understood there was no separation between mental, physical and emotional health, so RAP practiced

Rest In Peace Ivy Joan Young

IVY JOAN YOUNG, Washington, D.C. Voice for Justice, Journalist, Poet, Lesbian and Gay Rights Activist, departed life on April 24, 2023, at the age of seventy-five. She was born to Dorothy Elizabeth (Lewis) Young and Joseph Henry Young on December 23, 1947, in the District of Columbia. Both parents and her younger brother Ronald Alexander Young, Esq. preceded her in death.

RESISTANCE framed her political activism and her life in service of justice, fairness, decency, egalitarianism, feminism, honor, principle, authenticity—all of which were among her core, uncompromised values. From the time she graduated Eastern High School in her native Washington, D.C. until her health declined, Ivy Young stood in the world as a voice and advocate for a better human existence for us all.

Ivy contributed her time and talent to community building for social justice on an international scale. She worked at VISTA in Chicago, IL, the Center for Black Education and Drum and Spear Book Store, in Washington, D.C., the Venceremos Brigade in Cuba, Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation in NYC, the 1974 Sixth Pan African Congress hosted in Tanzania East Africa, and the Southern Africa Support Project that stood against the oppressive apartheid system in that region.

Speaking Truth to Power through word and song were her pathways. Ivy created poetry and leaves a beautifully rich and extensive body of work. She was part of the Sophie’s Parlor women’s radio collective on WPFW-FM Pacifica radio, reported news for WHUR-FM Howard University radio, served as General Manager at WWOZ-FM jazz radio in New Orleans, LA, Public Affairs Director for WBAI-FM in NYC, and wrote for the Southern Africa News Collective.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force launched the first initiative on behalf of lesbian and gay families in 1989 to secure recognition of lesbian and gay rights. They chose Ivy as its Family Project Director and in that role Ivy wrote and published the first ever Domestic Partners Manual. She was an organizer for and championed the necessity of treating the whole person—mind, body, and soul—in guiding individuals to embrace the journey of recovery.

Charles Stephenson, who has been a RAP, Inc. Board Member since the early days of the organization, believes the lessons of wholeness still are necessary. RAP stood in the gap for people feeling lost, disregarded, depressed, hopeless, searching for a way to cope with un-or-underemployment, or just finding a way to survive. In their wholeness approach, RAP realized early the importance of helping individuals to discover who they are by creating an Afro-centric approach to treatment and to living. That meant, for example, assisting individuals in understanding their self-worth; teaching them to see themselves and their possibilities in the accomplishments of other African Americans and Africans; and building and celebrating life-affirming coping mechanisms without abusing substances.

“The effects of the issues and pain people are experiencing today are the same as they were when RAP was founded in 1970,” Stephenson explained. “RAP’s methods of getting people through the suffering have stood the test of time and RAP has endured because it served the people. Ron Clark recognized that people had to become whole in order to move forward.” n

Lesbians and Gays for Jesse Jackson in 1988 and consulted the People of Color stage at the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987.

Twin loves of music and justice led Ivy Young to serve as a U.S. delegate to the 1985 Third International Festival of New Song in Ecuador. She staffed both the Smithsonian Institution's Program in African American Culture, and the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage’s Folklife Festival. Additionally, she served as staff of the Roadwork women’s cultural production company that organized SisterFire concerts 1982-85, the National Conference for Women in Radio, administrator for Sweet Honey in the Rock 2001-2011, editor for the Sweet Honey in the Rock documentary, Gotta Make This Journey, and member of "In Process…”, Sweet Honey's song workshop.

Ivy Young’s surviving family members are her youngest sibling Michelle Marie Young, nieces Jade Michelle Keith and Camille Adrienne Keith, and great-niece Joy Anajli Jade Manning, who are among so many friends and colleagues that love and respect her and who celebrate her life, memory, and unwavering dedication to justice.

Washington Informer and United Black Fund (UBF) visionary Dr. Calvin Rolark acknowledged RAP and Clark’s groundbreaking work and included the organization among the first to receive financial help from UBF. Many years later, RAP, Inc. named the organization’s central facility, located in Northeast, D.C.’s Eckington neighborhood, in honor of Rolark for his caring support of District citizens who were doing the hard work of restoring themselves after battling substance addiction.

While Clark passed away in May 2019, RAP carries on his mission. The organization provides a broad range of services including: residential treatment, addiction and recovery, and mental health care for clients– all under the administrative leadership of Gaudenzia, a highly respected, non-profit treatment provider with other facilities in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

As conversations about mental health advance, Stephenson noted RAP’s methods remain beneficial for all people.

“RAP’s holistic approach to treatment—feeding and supporting the mental and emotional, physical, social and spiritual well-being of individuals—is medicine that we all need.”

AARP DC Staff Reports

AARP believes in celebrating the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community across all generations. That's why we are proud to offer tools, programs and services to help LGBTQ+ District residents get the most out of their fabulous life.

AARP has over 1 million self-identified members of the LGBTQ+ community, about 3 percent of our membership. Like anyone else, people in the LGBTQ+ community want to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. AARP is committed to creating a new vision of aging for LGBTQ+ individuals, their families and allies-one focused on equity and inclusion and complete with diverse experiences, powerful stories, and innovative ways for everyone to pursue their passions-joyfully, openly and proudly!

The Center for Black Equity and AARP DC have joined forces to host “An Homage to the Iconic Clubhouse!” a festive three-hour party to celebrate DC Black Pride on Saturday, May 27. The free event will be a celebration of the rich history and culture of the Clubhouse, a vibrant after-hours dance hall that from 1975 to 1990 served as a safe space for the Black LGBTQ+ community to dance and celebrate life.

After opening in 1975, the Clubhouse quickly became known across the country and many parts of the world, as belonging in the highest echelon of dance clubs. From its unassuming outside veneer, tucked away in the Petworth neighborhood of the District, it was an important mark for 15 years in the Black LGBTQ+ community here and across the nation. We are excited to bring everyone together for an unforgettable night of music,