Malcolm “Y” Brown, 79, Hull, Ma. Calls himself Malcolm Y. He remembered how parts of the movement came together and bonded “just like today with people coming together for different causes, different groups had their own agenda. Dr. King was able to pull us together.” “I was protesting the Vietnam War, others were involved due […]
Author Archives: Valencia Mohammed
Special to the AFRO
Posted inMLK Memorial Special Coverage
Aleain WilliamsBrooklyn, NY
Aleain Williams, 80, Brooklyn, NY said she remembered meeting Dr. King make a speech at 116th Street in Harlem after the stabbing of a 26-year old civil rights activist. “Dr. King was so impressive. You could tell from the sincerity in his speech that he truly wanted to help us. He spoke like no other […]
Posted inMLK Memorial Special Coverage
Claudyne Jefferson, Nashville, TN
Claudyne Jefferson, 64, Nashville, TN said looking at the monument is like envisioning accomplishing a milestone. “This tribute to the works and life of Dr. King says that we are determined to obtain our full equal rights. It is breathtaking to see that Dr. King is memorialized on the National Mall with presidents. Many people […]
Posted inMLK Memorial Special Coverage
Jesse Jackson and Dick Gregory
Jesse Jackson, former DC Shadow Senator, spoke on the DC Statehood issue. “We need a full scale national movement to get the residents of DC their statehood. We brought in Alaska and Hawaii in the same manner. We must do it for DC. The Democrats pay lip service to DC Statehood while the Republicans just […]
Posted inNational News
Farrakhan: ‘We ain’t marching no more … elect leaders who will fight’
More than 17,000 people converged at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia Oct. 9 to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the Million Man March. The atmosphere was highly charged with security checkpoints at several stops throughout the 1 million-square-foot facility and escorts to keep order and protect Minister Louis Farrakhan. Thousands of members of the […]
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
Kiosk Educates About Health, Risks and Care Options
Almost 10 years ago, Elaine Ellis, a northwest resident in the District had an idea to develop and implement community-driven solutions to reduce inequities in healthcare. Ellis and like-minded people formed the Community Health Partnership (CHP), a nonprofit coalition of grassroots community stakeholders working in Ward 4. Its mission was to build healthy neighborhoods through […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
District Flip Flops on Support of Historic Lincoln Theatre
The fate of DC’s only government-owned theater awaits its doom as city officials starve it of the necessary funds to keep afloat. The historical Lincoln Theatre located on the U Street corridor has been an entertainment Mecca for African Americans since the early 1920s. The Lincoln was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
DC Government Bans Black Businesses from H St Grant
A grant designed to assist newly-introduced retail shops on H Street while offering no relief for longtime minority-owned businesses sparked a heated debate on Sept. 21 with city officials. Officials with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), and the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD), laid out […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Activist Charges DC Government Profits from Fraud
Some people are worried about being billed again, despite taking advantage of the recent launch of the DMV Ticket Amnesty Program in which District government collected almost $1 million in revenue after just one month. The program collects photo-enforced, moving violation and parking tickets in the District issued before Jan. 1, 2000. Under the amnesty, […]
Posted inNational News
CBC Panel Sends Urgent Plea to Fix Black Jobs Crisis
An air of urgency was conspicuous last week during the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)’s National Town Hall meeting on jobs. The Sept. 22 meeting, day two of the CBC’s Annual Legislative Conference, saw one of the D.C. Convention Center’s most impressive ballrooms filled to capacity by participants intent on seeing some of Black America’s most […]
Posted inNational News
Enhanced Immigration Enforcement Law Triggers Mixed Reactions
Alarmed by congressional efforts to beef up mandatory workforce verification, pro-illegal immigration activists demonstrated, Sept. 14, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Jaime Contreras, District chair of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ, voiced his opposition to new legislation. “Undocumented immigrant workers are overwhelmingly law-abiding taxpayers, not a criminal threat,” Contreras insisted, as ten […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Family of DC Victims of Terrorist Attack Petition for Recognition
A commemorative event to honor the District’s victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, evolved into a peace movement, as well as an effort to ensure that the slain are never forgotten. Betty Carter, grandmother of Leckie Elementary School student Bernard Brown, was seeking an official recognition of her grandson and one of his teachers. “We […]