A Prince George’s County, Md. father and his two young daughters were killed in a fire that swept through their Glenarden, Md. home in the early morning hours of Feb. 21. Authorities said the fire was reported by neighbors at about 4 a.m. after witnesses saw the family’s one-story home on Leslie Avenue engulfed in […]
Author Archives: Jacqueline James
Special to the AFRO
Posted inAfro Briefs
Violence Strikes as Officials Lobby for Gun Control
Prince George’s County officials joined Gov. Martin O’Malley in Annapolis Feb. 6 to lobby for tougher gun laws, even as police identified the latest person to fall prey to gun violence in the county. As lawmakers gathered at the state capital to push for stronger gun control, opponents converged on Lawyer’s Mall to protest O’Malley’s […]
Posted inInauguration 2013
Film, “The House I Live In”, Draws Large Inauguration, Celebrity Crowd
A showing of a film at Shiloh Baptist Church about America’s failed drug war proved to be a huge inaugural weekend attraction on Jan. 19, with hundreds of people lining up more than 90 minutes before doors opened at the Northwest Washington house of worship. By 11 a.m., a long line snaked around Shiloh, located […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Conviction Overturned in ‘Grandma’ Beating
It was a particularly heinous crime—an elderly woman who earned her living working as a street vendor assaulted and robbed near where she went about her work. The attack on Vasiliki Fotopoulos, who was then 83, was particularly troublesome for Metro riders who entered and exited at the Foggy Bottom station. There, she was known […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
“Pullman Porter Blues” Depicts Life of Sleeping Car Workers
They were known for their immaculate appearance and steadfast detail to doing a job well. They were comprised mostly of African-American men, initially former slaves, who were hired starting in the 1860s by industrialist George Pullman to staff the train sleeping cars he had invented. Though the hours were long and the pay was a […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Rosedale Community Center and Library Testament to Commitment of New ANC
When Sondra Phillips-Gilbert grew concerned about the dilapidated state of the Rosedale Recreation Center in 2006, she set her sights on having it renovated. Phillips-Gilbert created the Rosedale Grassroots Organization and invited other community groups and citizens into her home to formulate strategy. Six years later, on May 25, she was among a group of […]