By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com On Sept. 19, 2023 April Hurley was spending time with a friend, Jonte Gilmore, in the room she was renting in a Baltimore boarding house when the maintenance man knocked on her door. He had discovered a leak. What happened next changed her life forever. After the maintenance […]
Author Archives: D. Kevin McNeir
Special to the NNPA from The Miami Times
Posted inWashington D.C. News
As RFK Stadium redevelopment plan continues, hundreds voice concerns during public comment meeting
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com Several hundred residents, business owners, and city officials participated in a public scoping meeting for the redevelopment of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at St. Coletta of Greater Washington in Southeast D.C. It served as the first public meeting since the project […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Norton calls for end to ‘disingenuous partisanship’ after House passes two anti-D.C. Home Rule bills
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com Washington, D.C., officials are decrying federal legislation that, they say, pose as threats to Home Rule – the law which has allowed the District to self-govern since 1975. On Nov. 17, the House Rules Committee considered 13 D.C.-related bills. Ahead of the vote, the District’s delegate to Congress, […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
‘Busy Bee’ Britton celebrates 35 years of holiday shopping tradition in D.C.
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com Juanita “Busy Bee” Britton, founder of Washington, D.C.-based BZB International, will mark her 35th anniversary as host of a holiday tradition, dubbed “the largest African American Department store on the East Coast,” beginning Black Friday, Nov. 28. Busy Bee, a nickname she earned during her childhood and to […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Youth bands set to compete during Go-Go Awareness Week in D.C.
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com Go-Go Awareness Week kicked off Nov. 17 with a press conference held at the Go-Go Museum & Café in Southeast Washington, D.C. And while legends, including Rare Essence, E.U., Trouble Funk and “the godfather of go-go,” Chuck Brown, were essential in the evolution of the regional music style into […]
Posted inDMV News
Local Black actors transcend racial barriers in stellar performances as Ebenezer Scrooge in holiday classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com For those who are diehard fans of the stage and anxiously await the holiday season every December, enjoying a production of the Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol”: counts as a family tradition. Over the past decade, two Black actors, Gregory Burgess and Craig Wallace, portraying Ebenezer Scrooge […]
Posted inBooks
Mother of 5 turned author transforms negative labels into lessons of self-love for children
Alicia McKenzie, a mother of five from McLean, Va., has written a children’s book, “These ABCs Belong to Me!,” to help kids reclaim negative labels and turn them into positive traits. Drawing from her own multicultural upbringing and parenting experiences, McKenzie aims to show how words can shape children’s confidence and self-identity.
Posted inHealth
‘Dr. Ohhh’ explores the benefits of juicing with thriving online business
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com Oluwatosin Oluokun, a first-generation Nigerian, wife, and mother of two young children, remembers the day when she first learned she had high blood pressure and accelerated cholesterol levels and would need to go on medication. Her response, however, changed her life and set her on a path toward […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Jimmie C. Gardner, exonerated after 27 years in prison, forms foundation for social justice
After spending 27 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, former Chicago Cubs Minor League player Jimmie C. Gardner has turned his pain into purpose. Through his new nonprofit, Gardner House LLC, he’s working to support others wrongfully convicted and to challenge systemic injustices in the U.S. legal system.
Posted inWashington D.C. News
From Cam Newton to James Brown, honorees at 10th Annual MMCA Gala assert commitment to diversity, inclusivity in media
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com Emmy Award-winning comedian, author and activist Loni Love delivered a perfect blend of humor and serious insights as the host for the 10th Annual Multicultural Media Correspondents Dinner (MMCD™) Gala Extravaganza, on Oct. 27, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. “Media diversity starts at the top, and it’s […]
Posted inNational News
Nonprofits struggle to fill in the gaps as more federal workers, SNAP recipients seek food assistance
While the 47th president of the United States promised that food prices would go down under his watch, the opposite has occurred. Now, with a prolonged federal government shutdown, more families are facing food insecurity after either losing their jobs or being furloughed.
Posted in!Front Page Baltimore News
Annual Masked Ball returns to Charm City
By D. Kevin McNeirSpecial to the AFROkmcneir@afro.com With the assistance of individuals like Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) remains committed to transforming the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across Baltimore City On Saturday, Nov. 1, beginning with a 7 p.m. reception, UNCF will return its fundraising event, the […]