Prince George's County Afro-American Newspaper, March 5, 2011

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March 5, 2011 - March 5, 2011, The Afro-American A1

Copyright 2011 by the Afro-American Company

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Volume 119 No. 30 PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY EDITION

Hear the AFRO on The DailyDrum, Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Continued on A5

Continued on A5

MARCH 5, 2011 - MARCH 11, 2011

Assault on Unions is anAttack on Basic Civil Rights A7

First Ladys Vacation MealSparks Controversy A2

By George Barnette

AFRO Sta Writer

The Prince Georges County

Council held a town hall budgetmeeting at Prince Georges

Community College on Feb. 28.

The purpose of the meeting wasto inform the public on the budget

process, but it quickly turned into a

session to save busing for magnetprograms in Prince Georges

County.The school that showed up in

the greatest numbers was Suitland

High School and in particular, itsVisual Performing Arts (VPA)

program. Students and teachers

alike swarmed the meeting dressedin purple to ght for their program.

People all over the country

know of our program, saidJean Fadiga, a music teacher at

Suitland. They sang for PresidentObamas inauguration. They sang

for Christmas in Washington,

Ted Turners television program,this year under the auspices of

the president and for the previous

administration under President andMrs. Bush.

Our choir has won numerous

awards, international competitionsand theyre well known, she

continued. Our students havethe highest GPA at Suitland High

School. Theyre actually pulling the

school up.Councilwoman Karen Toles,

D-Dist. 7, attended the Black

History Month ceremony the schoolproduced earlier in the day and

came away very impressed with the

performance. However, she seemedto be just as pleased that the school

showed up to the meeting in full

force. I mentioned to [Council

Chair Ingrid Turner] this morningthat I was at a fantastic program and

I want to commend you all from

Suitland High School for beinghere, Toles said. Thats what its

all about.

This morning I spoke with yourprincipal and he warned me, They

will be there and he was correct,

she continued. Im proud of youall.

Many of the speakers asked the

council not take away the program.

Councilman Will Campos, D-Dist.2, says the council has a delicate

balance to manage the countysfunds after it rst goes through the

school board and county executive.

Then its their job to create nalnumbers that make sense for the

entire county.

I can see your passion, butwhen you say were trying to take

this away from you; were not,

Campos said. We get put in a toughsituation where were told this is

where the money is, this is what wewant done and this is what we want

cut. Then, ultimately, we have to

gure out how it is that we makedue. We have to balance that.

Despite that, the council

members all appreciated the turnoutas they said it greatly helps to show

which programs are important to the

countys residents. They ask that thecommunity continue to reach out to

By George Barnette

AFRO Sta Writer

On Nov. 19, 2009, James F. Johnson, no relation to Jack Johnson, was

ofcially sworn in as director of the Department of Housing and CommunityDevelopment (DHCD) after serving in that role as interim head for a year. On

that day, there was nothing but effusive praise for a man who was a close friend

of former Prince Georges County Executive Jack Johnson.James Johnson brings over 34 years of experience in program management

and administration and is an excellent candidate to serve as director, Jack

Johnson said in a statement. He possesses the required skills, talents anddemonstrated experience to be successful and I am condent that he will

continue to be an asset to the citizens and residents of Prince Georges County.

James Johnsons relationship with the former county executive stretchesfurther than his time as DHCD director. From 2003-2008, he served as special

assistant to the former county executive. Their previous relationship may havecontributed to the former county leaders sticking with James Johnson during the

rough stages of his tenure in late 2009.

The results of an audit by Prince Georges County Ofce of Audit andInvestigations released in October 2009 showed DHCD was failing in its

mission to provide adequate federal funding in Prince Georges County and

may have been improperly funding several community housing development

Suitland High Fights

for Arts Program

Courtesy Photo/Prince Georges County Government

James Johnson, shown here with Jack Johnson, gets sworn-in.

Jack and James Johnson:

Connection Goes BeyondGovernment

Continued on A8

By George BarnetteAFRO Sta Writer

A bill being discussed in the Maryland

Senate could place accountability for the stateof foreclosed properties on the owners the

banks.

The bill, sponsored by the Prince GeorgesCountys delegation, would give the County

Council authority to collect a $75 registration

fee each year from owners of abandonedforeclosed property in the county. The money

collected would go into a fund to help maintainabandoned properties.

Residents and realtors alike have been

complaining about how distressed properties

have brought down the property value ofhomes. Both parties say neighborhoods arebeing destroyed because of it.

The banks were not very cautious about

how they were taking care of the assets theywere backing with these loans, Michael

Cerrito, chair of the Legislative/Political

Affairs Committee of the Prince GeorgesCounty Association of Realtors, told the

AFRO. In many cases theyd shut off the

utilities which would cause more damage tothe property and it drove the price down. It

made it harder for the average buyer to buy thehouse because the condition of the house was

so bad.

Banks Face AbandonedProperty FeePrince Georges Delegation Proposed Bill

Dreamstime

Continued on A8

By Zenitha PrinceWashington Bureau Chief

D.C. Unmasked &

Undressed, the memoir of

Lillian McEwen, a formerjudge and ex-girlfriend

of Supreme Court Justice

Clarence Thomas, hits theshelves March 5. But, as

the author told the AFRO,this book is denitely not

for the G-rated crowd.

While the tale chronicles theoften painful journey of the

writer from the despair of a

dysfunctional, abusive hometo the travails and triumphs

of a Capitol Hill and judicial

career, it is a trail marked

with sex lots of it. AndThomas gures prominently literally and guratively

in this tale. McEwen gushes

over Thomas prowessand fantasy [package],

describing his body as

coffee-bean ... velvet-covered cement. He was a

national treasure, she said,

one she shared with otherwomen in mnages trois

and in a voyeuristic pleasure

palace. And she described herthen-lover as being easily

aroused, with a stronginterest in pornography.

In a one-on-one interview

with the AFRO, McEwenshared her thoughts about

Thomas, about love and lust,

Courtesy and AP Photos

Former District judge Lillian

McEwen shares details about

her sex life with formerboyfriend, now-Supreme Court

Justice Clarence Thomas, in her

new memoir, D.C. Unmasked &

Undressed.

Clarence Thomas Stars inSexually Charged Memoir

People all over the

country know of ourprogram.

WHUR to Hold Radiothon to HelpLocal, National, InternationalCommunity See afro.com


2/16

A2 The Afro-American, March 5, 2011 - March 11, 2011

AFRO National BriefsFirst Ladys Vacation Meal Sparks

ControversyRadio host Rush Limbaugh recently took

to the air waves to criticize rst lady Michelle

Obamas eating habits.

According to a report by Vail Daily, the rst

lady dined on a pickled pumpkin salad, arugula,braised ancho-chile short rib with hominy, wild

mushrooms and sauted kale while visiting

Vail, Colo. with daughters Sasha and Malia.

During his Feb. 21 radio broadcast,

Limbaugh called Obama a hypocrite for eating

short ribs amid her Lets Move campaign

targeting childhood obesity. Limbaugh

inaccurately calculated the short rib to be 1,500

calories; Vail Daily later reported the ribs to be

about 600 calories.

If were supposed to go out and eat

nothing, if were supposed to eat roots and

berries and tree bark, show us how, Limbaugh

said. The problem is

and dare I say this it

doesnt look like Michelle

Obama follows her own

nutritionary dietaryadvice.

He went on to critique

the rst ladys physique,

saying her body is not like

models on the cover of

Sports Illustratedmagazine

or baseball player Alex

Rodriguezs girlfriends.

Criticism of the

appearance of the

presidents wife has surface

in other quarters.

BigGovernment.com,

a news blog, recently

posted a cartoon depicting

an overweight Obama

gorging on hamburgers

and demanding PresidentObama shut up and pass

the bacon.

However, former

Republican presidential

candidate Mike Huckabee is

defending Obama.

According to a CNN

blog report, Huckabee told

reporters, I do not think

shes out there advocating that the government take over our

dinner plates. In fact shes not. Shes been criticized unfairly by

a lot of my fellow conservatives.

He also supported the rst ladys Lets Move campaign.

If you really want to talk about obesity, lets talk about it as

a national security issue, Huckabee added. Its

an economic issue, but it is a national security

issue because at the trend were going, we better

hope we dont have a war with anybody because

were not going to have anybody who can pass

the physical to wear the uniform. Thats pretty

scary. So, rather than us condemn Michelle

Obama, I think we ought to be thanking her and

praising her for what shes done.

N.Y. Black Anti-Abortion Billboard

RemovedA contentious anti-abortion billboard in

Manhattan that linked Blacks to excessive

abortions was removed by an outdoor advertising

rm Feb. 25, CBS News reported.The ad, created by pro-life nonprot

organization Life Always, showed a Black girl

under the text, The most dangerous place for an

African-American is in the womb.

The message prompted an outcry from both

Black activists and city residents.

They dont have to single out African-

American children. They could have said the

most dangerous place for a child is in the womb,

Byron Wright, a Brooklyn resident told an NBC reporter after

spotting the ad from his ofce window.

The Rev. Al Sharpton applauded the advertising company

for removing the billboard and reportedly cancelled a planned

protest.

They got a lot of attention, but they may not have gotten a

lot of support, he told CBS.

But Life Always representatives said the bold billboard

was designed to spark discussion about disproportionally highBlack abortion rates.

They said that abortion clinics including Planned

Parenthood target minorities, and claim that

twice as many black babies die from abortion

procedures than from violent crimes, AIDS,

heart disease, cancer and motor vehicle

accidents combined.

I do understand that it is a provocative

message, but it is a message thats sourced in

fact; it is not hyperbole. It is a truth that needs

to be confronted. It is one that needs to be

talked about in our community, Pastor Stephen

Broden, a board member of the nonprot, told

MSNBC.

He said that more babies are aborted than

are born each year in New York City.

A Planned Parenthood spokesman took the

ads message as a direct attack on the clinic.

To refer to a womans legal right to an

abortion as a genocidal plot is not only

absurd but it is offensive to women and to

communities of color, Planned Parenthood

spokesman Christine Quinn said in a statement.

Every woman deserves the right to make

health care decisions for herself and I will

continue to ght to protect this basic right and

against this sort of fear mongering.

Prior to its removal, the billboard was

scheduled to remain up for three more weeks,

according to CBS.

Super Slim Models Fail to Sway Black Womens Self-

PerceptionA new study led by a University of Florida researcher

shows that African-American women are less likely to develop

negative body images based on media ideals.

According to the report, earlier studies showed a negative

correlation between extremely thin models and womens

perception of their own bodies. However, the recent study

led by Heather Hausenblas found race also plays a factor in

womens body dissatisfaction and the medias inuence.

Were bombarded with media images of whats considered

ideal. We wanted to measure the inuence of race on how

that makes women feel about their bodies, said Hausenblas,

who conducted the research with doctoral student NinoskaDeBraganza, in an interview posted on the schools website.

We know that African-American women report less body

dissatisfaction overall than Caucasian women, who are the

most affected of all ethnicities. But to my knowledge, no study

on media inuence had ever taken the ethnicity of the models

into account.

Hausenblas showed two sets of images to 31 White and

30 Black undergraduate students. Both sets of photographs

featured White female models, but one set showed extremely

thin women with bodies generally considered media ideals.

The other set included photos of women with more average

builds.

While African-American women reported no change in

body dissatisfaction after viewing both sets of slides, the White

participants said they experienced more body dissatisfaction

after observing the media ideal models.

Spectator Asks, Who Will Shoot Obama?Ga. GOP Reps Failure to Condemn Draws Fire

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) is receiving national attention after

a spectator at one of his recent town hall meetings in Athens,

Ga. asked, Who will shoot Obama?

According to The Athens-Banner Herald, the question came

after the congressman rst asked who had driven the farthest to

attend the Feb. 22 town hall meeting. After the attendee blurted

the comment, the crowd began to laugh.

Without apparently condemning the comment, Broun,

according to the Banner-Herald, nevertheless responded

by stating, The thing is, I know theres a lot of frustration

with this president. Were going to have an election next

year. Hopefully, well elect somebody thats going to be a

conservative, limited-government presidentwho will sign a

bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

After the incident drew national headlines and criticism

toward Broun for not immediately condemning the comment,

he released a statement Feb. 23 expressing his thoughts afterthe spectators question and his reason for not condemning it.

I was stunned by the question and chose not to dignify

it with a response; therefore, at that moment I moved on to

the next person with a question, Broun said in a statement,

according to The Politico newspaper. After the event, my

ofce took action with the appropriate authorities. I deeply

regret that this incident happened at all. Furthermore, I

condemn all statements made in sincerity or jest that

threaten or suggest the use of violence against the president

of the United States or any

other public ofcial. Such

rhetoric cannot and will not be

tolerated.

According to The

Washington Post, Secret

Service ofcials got in contact

with the person who made the

comment and found that it wasan elderly person who now

regrets making a bad joke.

Broun drew criticism last

month for one of his tweets

during President Obamas State

of the Union address. According

to Politico, Broun tweeted, Mr.

President, you dont believe in

the Constitution, you believe in

socialism.

The next day, he declined to

back down from his comments,

telling CBS News, I stick by

that tweet.

AP Photo/Virginia Postic, File

In this Jan. 27 photo, First Lady MichelleObama discusses nutrition at Fort Jackson

in Columbia, S.C. to promote healthy

eating. She was recently criticized by RushLimbaugh about a meal she ate during

vacation.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives at the White

House in Washington, Feb. 22.

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- _ _ _ _ _ _ _

By Lango Deen

Special to the AFRO

Its been 25 years of

inspiration, Ted Childs, a

retired diversity executive at

IBM Corporation, said Feb.

19 at the 25th annual Black

Engineer of the Year Awards

in the Washington, D.C.

The Black Engineer

of the Year Awards

(BEYA), produced by

Career Communications

Group, showcases African-

American talent in science,

technology, engineering and

math and provides students

with pathways to lucrative

technical careers.

Its an opportunity to

connect at a high level of

intelligence and capital

with business people who

are interested in science,

mathematics and engineering

and who never get an

opportunity to recognize or

connect with one another,

said David

Steward, founder

and chairman of

St. Louis-based

Worldwide Technology Inc.,

who attended the event. It

shows the intellectual capital

in the Black community and

the leadership in the Black

community and the value we

bring to this society and this

country and the world.

Over the past two decades,

BEYA has put Black minds

together with major employers

such as IBM Corp., Booz

Allen Hamilton, Raytheon

Co., Boeing, Northrop

Grumman, NASA, the

National Security Agency

and the U.S. Navy Recruiting

Command to promote job

opportunities in science,

technology, engineering and

math (STEM) elds.

The theme of the 2011

BEYA STEM Conference

was Listen, Learn, Lead.

Throughout the three-

day event, students and

professionals presented

panel discussions and

events focusing on career

development, diversity

and science, technology,

engineering and math

education.

More than 100 companies

and organizations supporting

the rise of young Blacks into

technical careers were on

display at the BEYA Job Fair,

one of several recruitment,

recognition and retention

events held at the conference.

The Black Engineer of the

Year Award, along with others

presented during the ceremony

on Saturday, recognizes true

pioneers who have achieved

exceptional career gains in

government and industry, who

have already merited lifetime

achievement recognition,

and who have energized

their companies and their

communities alike.

BEYAs top award, the

2011 Black Engineer of

the Year, was presented to

Lloyd Howell, executive

vice president of Booz Allen

Hamilton. Twenty other

category award winners,

including Boeing Senior Vice

President Wanda Denson-

Low, were also recognized

for innovation, career

advancement and diversity

programs. Boeing considers

diversity to be a strategic

advantage in attracting the

best talent available and

enabling innovation by

bringing together different

viewpoints, said Norma

Clayton, vice president

Learning, Training and

Development for Boeing.

Many Boeing people have

received BEYA awards over

the years, and the awards are

a terric conrmation that we

are on the right track.

In Howells acceptance

speech, he said he felt honored

to be selected as the 25th

Black Engineer of the Year. I

wake up everyday excited to

make a difference, he said.

Howell, a Philadelphia native,

praised the BEYA culture

and shared a little-known

story: He was one of the

young athletes in Jim Ellis

all African-American swim

team, depicted in the 2007

lm Pride starring Terrence

Howard. Howell lauded the

inspiration of Ellis quiet

struggle against racism and

bureaucracy.

Howell serves as volunteer

assistant coach for DC Heat,

a youth basketball team.

On behalf of Booz Allen

Hamilton, he has supported

the United Negro College

Fund and Lincoln University.

His involvement with

UNCF is not unusual in

this community. BEYA

has a history of persuading

employers to recognize

the strength of engineering

departments at historically

Black colleges and

universities.

The HBCU Engineering

Deans Roundtable has

fostered cooperation

between hiring ofcers

and even a new industry-

academic partnership: AMIE

(Advancing Minorities

Interest in Engineering).

Scholarships, internships,

donation of laboratory

equipment and loans of

professionals for faculty

positions have all come out of

the connection.

BEYA is the brainchild

of Career Communications

Group CEO Tyrone Taborn,

who also publishes a number

of diversity titles including US

Black Engineer & Information

Technology magazine.

Tyrones vision is

inextricably linked to

democracy and Americas

economic system, and our

responsibility to it is realized

not just for Black America,

Hispanic America or Native

America but for America,

Ted Childs said.

BEYAs rst event was held

February 1987 at Morgan

State University in Baltimore.

The timing of the

event was not accidental,

said Eugene M. DeLoatch,

veteran dean of the School of

Engineering at Morgan State

and longtime chairman of

the Council of Engineering

Deans of Historically Black

Colleges and Universities.

It was planned to coincide

with observance of National

Engineers Week and to serve

historically as a tting tribute

to those close to Black History

Month.

Bill Granville was a high-

ranking oil executive when

he attended BEYA in 1987.

He led a positive report with

Mobil. Mobils CEO, seeing

that diversity and inclusion

made business sense, wrote

a letter to other Fortune

500 CEOs, telling them

he had discovered a talent

development program he

thought they should support.

The rest, as they say,

is history. Top defense

contractor, Lockheed Martin

Corp., has co-hosted BEYA

for more than a decade, and

corporate attendance reaches

to the executive levels of

management.

You see these major

corporations get excited

Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing

these major players and

their CEOs, David Steward

said. And they are there

to recognize the signicant

contributions these African-

American engineers and

leaders not only make to

business, but to society.

In the mid-1980s, when

BEYA was initiated, Black

representation among the

nations 1.6 million engineers

was only 2 percent 32,000

men and women. By the turn

of the millennium, many

baby boomers were heading

towards retirement and there

was a need for younger

professionals to take their

place in the workforce.

Demand for qualied

STEM professionals has

grown considerably in the

past 25 years, and it will only

continue to expand, said

Taborn. Our advancements

come from intrepid engineers

and technologists, from

business executives bold

enough to take chances.

And BEYA has become

an important hub for these

intrepid engineers and bold

executives to connect with

one another. Its exciting to

be around, Steward said. Its

contagious.

Additional reporting by

Garland L. Thompson

In Praise Of Black Engineers

Where Corporate America Meets and Encourages Black TalentExecutive Vice

President of

Booz AllenHamilton Lloyd

Howell, left,

received the2011 Black

Engineer of theYear Award at

the 25th annual

BEYA event inWashington, DC

on Feb. 19.Photo by Glenwood Jackson Studio

March 5, 2011 - March 11, 2011 The Afro-American A3

Its exciting to be around.


4/16


5/16


mental illness, suicide and about evil and the

will to survive it.

AFRO: So Im guessing that this book is

going to make retirement more exciting.LM: Most denitely [Laughs]

AFRO:At the end of your book you seemto suggest why you wrote it, but what were

your reasons? And why now?

LM: Its a book that I had always plannedto write and had always been pressured to

write. I never understood why it was that myfriends and family kept saying, Youve got to

write a book, Lillian. And really it wasnt until

I nished the book that I realized that my lifewas kinda unusual. I wasnt really thinking of

it that way while I was living it. The impetus

for my retirement was really the same as theimpetus for writing the book as a catalyst. And

that is, one of my best friends in life had died

and it made working at the position I had verydifcult. And then my mother was dying at

the same time. My brother died within a fewweeks of my mothers death and it just seemed

like it was time to assess my life and gure

out for myself what was important. It was alsotime to relieve a lot of stress that I had been

feeling for many years from the pressure of

reporters, the pressure of a public descriptionof what our relationship had been between

me and Clarence. And I just thought it was

time for me to tell my own story in my ownwords. The book is an assessment of my

own life.

AFRO: Throughout your book you talk

about some of the mechanisms you used tocope. Had you ever before this book, looked

at your life, assessed it and dealt with some of

the underlying issues?LM: The only reason that I was able to

survive and ourish and become as successful

as I was, was because I, throughout my entirelife, had been engaged in a constant search

of how to live my life, how to view myself in

relation to other people and how to becomethe kind of a person that I had some kind

of respect for. So it was really a long-termprocess of nding these means by which to

gure out how to live my life.

AFRO: If Clarence Thomas

had not been a Supreme CourtJustice would he have gured

so prominently in this book?

LM:Yes. The reason isbecause he was without a

doubt the most important

relationship that I had otherthan the relationship with my

daughters father. I was married

to the same man for about 13 years, and therelationship with Clarence lasted about six

years, so he was an important part of my life.

AFRO:Was it love or just lust?

LM: Its a little difcult for me to tell thedifference between the two in the way that

I lived my life. Mostly what happened was

that if I was in an intense sexual relationshipwith someone for a signicant length of time

and by that I mean more than three months

or so I began to love that person; I began tobe emotionally attached to that person. And

it wasnt anything that I could really help. InClarences situation, I had known him and

become really good friends with him for many

months before we had a romantic relationship.

AFRO: Have you had a call or do you

expect a call from Justice Thomas or hiswife, Virginia about this book?

LM:Well, seeing as how she called Anita

Hill ... [LAUGHS] after so many years forsomething that she probably shouldnt have

expected, theres no telling whats going tohappen with Ginni Thomas in reference to

a call to me about this book. But certainly I

expect no such communication or call fromClarence. Hes not going to be happy.

AFRO: You did something that was,perhaps, improbable to some people which

was to make Clarence Thomas into a sexual

creature and you were pretty descriptive.So, why take the chance in terms of giving

all those details and airing your time and life

together?LM: Well, what chance do you think it is?

The chance that I would be ridiculed or hatedor that I would be despised or judged to be a

slut? [LAUGHS.] Is that the chance that were

talking about here? [LAUGHS.]

March 5, 2011 - March 11, 2011 The Afro-American A5

organizations (CHDO).

The lack of controls in the CHDO

certication process and the process ofdisbursing CHDO funds may result in

improper certication and disbursement

of federal funds, potential liability, and thecompromise of the programmatic intent of the

CHDO grant, the audit said.Then HUD asked for $2 million back

from the county in early 2010 because the

DHCD missed a spending deadline for HOMEInvestment Partnership Program funds.

James Johnsons performance was

questioned by then Council Chair TomDernoga, D-Dist. 1, and County Executive

Rushern Baker, who was then on the campaign

trail. They both thought a change in leadershipwas necessary. Failing to secure those dollars

is like forgetting to dial 911 when your home

is burning down, Rushern L. Baker told theWashington Post. One in 24 homeowners

face foreclosure in our county; its anadministrative tragedy when we fail to capture

every dollar we can.

James Johnsons survival through thecontroversies may have become clearer when

Jack Johnson was indicted last month. In the

indictment, it was alleged that Jack Johnson

and James Johnson were cohorts in receivingmoney under the table.

In the indictment, James Johnson wasnt

named specically; but it indicated theDirector of DHCD, referred to as Public

Ofcial A in the indictment, had severalwiretapped conversations with the former

county executive. On Oct. 24, 2010, the

indictment claims Public Ofcial A, met atJack Johnsons residence to discuss HOME

funds available for various projects, including

one for a particular developer in which theDHCD had secured $1.5 million in HOME

funding.

Why dont me and you go to hishouse together ... so he cant wiggle out of

[anything], Jack Johnson said. Well go one

night next week. Then well do 1.5 and youand I should get ve hundred together.

If I can get myself about three hundred,Ill be in good shape.

James Johnson hasnt been charged with

anything and federal authorities haventcommented on his involvement.

Jack and James JohnsonContinued from A1

Clarence ThomasAFRO: Its quite possible ...

LM:You have to rememberthat I am not the only person

who was active with Clarenceduring this period of time.

What happened was when

Anita Hill testied againstClarences conrmation in the

Senate, that door got opened

as far as his sexual life andpersonal relationships with

women. Even though he and

the Republicans tried to shutit, there were women who

were lined up to testify about what it was he

had said to them or what kind of workingrelationship they had had with him and that

sort of thing. So the door was already openedpretty wide before it became time for me to

write the story of my life.

AFRO:You seem to suggest throughout

your book and in your statements a little while

ago that the Clarence Thomas we (the public)

sees is a faade. So who is the real Clarence

Thomas as you knew him?LM: Clarence, like most of us, is wearing a

mask that is rmly afxed because of his age.The real Clarence, at this point, I dont really

know what he is, because there is a point in

time when the person themselves you donteven know whats important to you, you dont

know what your values are, you dont know

what your heart really tells you, you dontknow what your real personality structure

is after youve been hiding yourself and

transforming yourself over so many years. Butthe Clarence that I knew and appreciated and

that I hoped would remain the true Clarence

certainly is not sitting on the bench. Hes aperson with a wonderful sense of humor who

listens to people, is compassionate, cares abouthis family and is loyal. The person whos on

the bench is the person, however, who started a

transformation when I knew him.

Read Full Interview on AFRO.com.

Continued from A1

Lillian McEwen


6/16


March 3-13

Washington D.C.

Independent Music Festival

2011

Various locations. Theannual Washington D.C.Independent Music Festivalwill run with the annual lmfestival and spotlight theourishing local music scene.For more information: dciff.org.

March 4

Caf Groove For Teens

Publick Playhouse, 5445Landover Road, Cheverly, Md.7 p.m. In this monthly teenprogram, experience the mixof dance, poetry and visual artfrom local youths. For moreinformation: 301-446-3232.

Paige In Full

Atlas Performing Arts

Center, 1333 H St., N.E. D.C.6-7 p.m. Witness this mash-up of poetry, dance and livemusic that tells the story ofa young womans coming ofage story. $15-$20. For moreinformation: 202-399-7993.

When Will It End? Slavery

Now, Slavery Then

Kelly Miller MiddleSchool, 301 49th St., N.E.

D.C. 7:30-9:30 p.m. In thisthought provoking dancemusical, learn how todaysyouths are challenged bydecades of troubles and ndout how you can break thechains. $20-$25. For moreinformation: 202-388-1274.

March 5

Omega Psi Phi Annual

Talent Hunt

Robinson High School,5035 Sideburn Road, Fairfax,Va. 12 p.m. The Psi AlphaAlpha chapter of Omega PsiPhi will host their annual talenthunt, hosted by the RobinsonMinority Student Association.Guests are urged to bring atleast one canned food item.For more information: 703-489-6467.

Quest: Five Stages on the

Road to Romance

The Bridge, The MajesticMovie Theater, 900 EllsworthDrive, Silver Spring, Md.9-11:15 a.m. In this messageseries, learn where you areon the road to romanceand discover strategies thatwill help you navigate towhere you want to be. Formore information: www.thebridgedc.org.

Chocolate Lovers Festival

2011

Old Town Fairfax, MainSt. and University Drive,Fairfax, Va. 8 a.m.-10 p.m.Tantalize your sweet toothat this event that celebratesall things chocolate. Formore information: www.chocolatefestival.net.

March 6

Love 2 Dance Summit

Joes MovementEmporium, 3309 Bunker HillRoad, Mt. Rainier, Md. 9 a.m.Celebrate your love of dancewith the community at thisfun-lled day of workshops,performances and more. Formore information: 301-699-1819.

March 7

NOBCO HIV Awareness

Session

Washington Marriott

Wardman Park Hotel,2660 Woodley Road, N.W.D.C. 10 a.m. The NationalOrganization of Black County

Ofcials (NOBCO) will hostan HIV awareness sessionfor more than 100 futureleaders during the AnnualLegislative Conference ofthe National Association ofCounties (NACO). For moreinformation: 202-350-6696.

March 8

Mardi Gras on U Street 2011

Club Liv, 11th and Ustreets, N.W. D.C. Bringsome Bourbon Street avorto D.C. in this Mardi Grascelebration. $10-$15. For moreinformation: mardigrasdc2011.eventbrite.com.

March 11Shaquille ONeal Presents

the All Star Comedy Jam

Lincoln Theatre, 1215

U St., N.W. D.C. 8 p.m.Comedians Corey Holcomb,Aries Spears, MichaelBlackson and Henry Welchcome to D.C. for this nightof laughs. $33-$73. For moreinformation: 202-397-7328.

March 12

Wellness Works!

Greater Mt. Calvary HolyChurch, 610 Rhode IslandAve., N.E. D.C. 10 a.m.-2 p.m.Learn how to lead a happier,

healthier life through stressreduction, exercise and healthyeating at this workshop seriesfor the entire family. For moreinformation: 202-889-7296.

AKA Women and Girls

Conference

Catholic University ofAmerica, Pryzbyla Center,620 Michigan Ave., N.E. D.C.9 a.m.-4 p.m. The Xi OmegaChapter of the Alpha Kappa

Alpha Sorority will hostits fth annual Women andGirls Conference featuringworkshops, panel discussionsand more. For moreinformation and to register:

www.akaxo.org.

March 12-13

Travel and Adventure Show

Returns to D.C.

Washington ConventionCenter, 801 Mount VernonPlace, N.W. D.C. Various

times. Exhibitors from a widevariety of exotic and excitingdestinations across the worldwill display thousands oftravel opportunities, idealfor every budget. $9-$15.For more information: www.adventureexpo.com.

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: :

Community Calendar


7/16


I had to make my

own living and my own

opportunity! But I made it!

Dont sit down and wait for

the opportunities to come.

Get up and make them!

Madam C.J. Walker,

trailblazing African-Americanbusinesswoman.

There is a silver lining in

the dark cloud of the great

recession. A new CensusBureau report reveals that

from 2002 to 2007 the number

of Black-owned businesses in the United States increasedby 60.5 percent to 1.9 million more than triple the national

rate. According to Census Bureau Deputy Director Thomas

Mesenbourg, Black-owned businesses continued to be one ofthe fastest growing segments of our economy, showing rapid

growth in both the number of businesses and total sales duringthis time period.

The reasons for this are many, beginning with the long

history of African-American entrepreneurship in response topoverty, high unemployment and discrimination. Consider the

case of Madam C.J. Walker, the daughter of slaves who, in the

early 1900s, turned her dream of nancial independence into a

hair care and cosmetics business that revolutionized the beauty

products industry, created good paying jobs, and made her awealthy woman and philanthropist.

Like Madam C.J. Walker, many African Americans may

have turned to entrepreneurship in the years covered by theCensus Bureau study because of high unemployment in our

communities. The fact is Black unemployment never got back

down to where it was before the recession in 2001. So in effect,what we are seeing is a bit of entrepreneurship by necessity.

Theres also an economic independent streak, particularlyamong emerging generations in the Black community. Building

a business gives great satisfaction and cushions them from the

shock of losing jobs because of economic down cycles.New York State leads the country with more than 204,000

Black-owned businesses, followed by Georgia and Floridarespectively. From 2002 to 2007, nearly four in 10 of these

businesses operated in the health care and social assistance;

and repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services sectors.The retail trade and health care and social assistance sectors

accounted for 27.4 percent of Black-owned business revenue.

The survey also found that in addition to an increase in the

number of Black-owned businesses, annual sales increased by

55 percent to $137.5 billion.I recently called on federal, state and local governments

to develop a hyper-focus on Black- and minority-owned

businesses. Every city, county, and state needs to have a planthat focuses on small and minority business. There is a spirit

of entrepreneurship out there that needs to be nurtured and

energized.While the Census Bureau report is generally good news,

we know that Black businessesstill make up only 7 percent of

all companies and they tend to

be smaller and have lower grossreceipts than other businesses.

Black-owned businesses are also

often hampered in their revenue growth by a lack of capital,connections and contracts.

What I hope this report says loudly and clearly to the

investment community is that you are missing an emergingmarket in the United States. If minority businesses are growing

at a faster clip than overall businesses, imagine what the growthrate would be if those barriers were eliminated or lowered.

We need the investor community to look at this report and

recognize that they are missing an incredible opportunity.

Marc H. Morial is the president and CEO of the National

Urban League.

(TriceEdneyWire.com)

It looks like Cairo hascome to Madison, said

conservative Republican

Rep. Paul Ryan, as 50,000citizens took over the states

Capitol building. He got thespirit right, but the location

wrong. In Madison, folks

wearing Packers jerseys standtogether with folks wearing

Bears colors. Madison is

this generations Selma, theepicenter for the modern

battle for basic human rights.

In 1965, the drive for basicvoting rights was stalled in the U.S. Senate. President Johnson

pushed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to stop demonstrating.Instead, Dr. King went to Selma. Selma was not a big city, but it

held a mirror to the nation. There, on Bloody Sunday, peacefuldemonstrators were met with dogs, clubs and hoses, and touchedthe conscience of a nation. Two days later, Johnson, invoking

the famous words, We shall overcome, introduced the Voting

Rights Act. Five months later it was signed into law.Today, the assault on basic rights is accelerating. The

economic collapse caused by the gambols of Wall Street

destabilizes public budgets at every level, as tax receiptsplummet and expenses caused by unemployment rise. Yet

Wall Street gets bailed out, and working and poor people are

squeezed to pay to clean up their mess.In states across the country, conservatives have used this

occasion to assail public workers and their unions. Theydemand not only rollback of pay and benets, but push laws to

cripple if not ban public employee unions, destroying the

right of workers to organize and bargain

collectively.

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, aself-described Tea Party governor, leads

the most egregious of these efforts. Upon

election, he signed into law millions intax breaks for business. Then, pointing to

the budget crisis, he demanded not onlyharsh concessions from public workers

dramatic hikes in what they pay for

pensions and health care but cripplinglimits on their right to negotiate, limits on

any pay increases and an annual vote to

see if the union survives. As if to aunthis power grab, he exempted the unions

police and reghters that endorsed

him in the election.The right to organize, to bargain

collectively and to strike are basic humanrights enshrined in international law. To

this day, the U.S. champions independent free trade unionsacross the world even as Walker and his ilk seek to crushthem at home. With the U.S. suffering more extreme inequality

than Egypt, and the Supreme Courts decision in Citizens

Unitedgiving corporations and billionaires a free pass to distortour elections, unions are virtually the only counter that workers

have. Thats why the right has targeted unions; that is why

every citizen has a stake in their survival.In Wisconsin, the public employees accepted the harsh

concessions demanded by the governor, but rejected the attack

on their basic rights. Teachers, nurses and other public workersstood up. Democratic state legislators left the state, blocking

the effort to ram the legislation through. Students, ministers andprogressives rallied to their side. The demonstrations are now

entering their second week. Across the country, just as in the

Opinion

Rev. Jesse Jackson

Sr.

Assault on Unions is an Attack onBasic Civil Rights

Marc H. Morial

To Be Equal

The Growth of Black-Owned Businesses: Entrepreneurship by Necessity

If Tunisia kicked down the

door of the Arab imagination

by showing it was possible to

topple a dictator, Egypt drewa blueprint of non-violence

for the house of revolution

that detailed how to demolish

a stubbornly entrenched

dictator and now in Libya a

mad man is trying to burn

down the entire house rather

than face eviction.

For 42 years, Col.

Moammar Gadhas antics

have blinded too many to a

brutality they nally see on full display as he desperately tries

to quash the most serious uprising against his rule. If too many

chose to not see, Libyans have known all too well.

Half the struggle for Libyans has surely been getting the

world to move beyond Gadha the Clown, a role he seems to

have uninhibitedly embraced. Who hasnt been distracted by the

eclectic wardrobe, the Kalashnikov-armed female bodyguards,and the tents he would pitch at home and abroad for talks with

ofcials.

A source of embarrassment for Libyans, Gadha has never

been a joke: disappearances, a police state, zero freedom of

expression and poverty for at least a third of the population of

country tremendously wealthy thanks to oil.

For years, Gadha squandered that wealth on causes and

radical violence abroad that he chose because they epitomized

the enemy of my enemy is my friend school of diplomacy. In

2003, just as the U.S. became mired in Iraq and its non-existent

weapons of destruction, Gadha realized no one was scared

of him anymore and voluntarily gave up his weapons of mass

destruction programs.

When the world has paid attention to his crimes it has

invariably been to those against non-Libyans such as the mid-

air bombings of a French airliner over Niger and of a Pan

Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. Once he compensated

families who lost relatives in those attacks, Gadha became

persona grata and money and business deals came and wentalong with high-level dignitaries.

Gadha was a guest of the leaders of Italy and France and

former British Prime Minister Tony Blair with businessmen

in tow of course visited Libya soon after Gadhas

rehabilitation.

Oil, business and arms deals have always trumped the rights

of the Libyan people who long suffered his crimes yet rarely

if ever saw compensation let alone the same attention and

condemnation as that of the crimes that kept Libya a pariah

state for so long until Gadha learned to bribe the worlds

conscience into forgetting.

I visited Libya in September 1996 for the 27th anniversary

of the revolution a military coup that a 27-year-old Gadha

led to topple the monarchy and since which he has ruled. Some

were optimistic that Gadhas revolution could herald a new

Libya but it didnt take long for his brutality to stamp out any

such hopes.

During the 1970s, police and security forces arrestedhundreds of Libyans who opposed Gadha or those the

authorities feared could oppose his rule: violent suppression

of student demonstrations, imprisonment and disappearances

of every political and social group you can imagine from

academics to journalists, Trotskyists to members of the Muslim

Brotherhood, all labeled enemies of the revolution. In case

anyone questioned Gadhas bloodlust, there were even a

number of televised public hangings and mutilations of political

opponents, rights groups say.

In the 1980s authorities introduced a policy of extrajudicial

executions of political opponents abroad, termed stray dogs.

What is believed to be the bloodiest act of internal repression

under Gadhas rule occurred just a few months before I arrived

in Tripoli with a group of journalist from Cairo. Very few, if any

of us, knew though. More than 1,000 prisoners were shot dead

by security forces on June 28 and 29, 1996 in Abu Salim prison,

Tripoli. It wasnt until 2004 that Gadha publicly admitted to

the Abu Salim killings. Relatives of the murdered men have

refused compensation in place of judicial process.One of Gadhas crimes that I was aware of during my visit

was the disappearance of former Libyan foreign minister turned

dissident Mansour Kikhia. Egyptian agents abducted Kikhia

during a visit to Cairo in December 1993 while attending a

meeting of an Arab human rights organization he had helped

found. Kikhia had asked for Egyptian security protection while

in Cairo but agents of now toppled Egyptian dictator Hosni

Mubaraks regime handed Kikhia over to agents of Gadhas

regime, who spirited the dissident to Libya, where he is believed

to have executed and buried in the Libyan desert.

I interviewed his wife Baha Omary Kikhia in 1994 as she

visited the region trying to nd out what had happened to her

husband. I think of her now as I hear many Libyans I know

whose relatives have been disappeared in Libya wonder if

theyre still alive, hoping for the best as they hear of Gadhas

all-out attempt to quash the uprising.

And so I watch in awe at the breathtaking courage of

Libyans, rising up again it is an insult to think this is the rsttime, for they long have resisted Gadhas tyranny and bloody

crackdowns on dissent.

The Tunisian revolution left every Arab dictator in fear,

Egypts toppling of Mubarak left them terried even one of

the U.S. best allies in the region could fall. And here they watch

a psychopathic dictator unleash his full horror on pro-freedom

demonstrators and still fail to terrify them into submission. The

Italian foreign minister has said reports that 1,000 people have

been killed in seven days of uprising are credible.

The price of toppling Gadha will be steep. But Libyans will

topple him and in doing so they will bring down with him the

castles of fear our dictators thought they had fortied.

You can read more from Mona Eltahawy at www.

monaeltahawy.com.

Running on Crazy

Mona Eltahawy

civil rights movement, people of conscience are holding vigilsand protests in support. This is a Martin Luther King moment.The effort by the governor and his right-wing allies to divide

private sector workers from public sector workers is an old

trick. In the South, race was used to divide. The tricks perfectedin the South right-to-work laws, barriers to unions are

now coming north.

Madison, like Selma, is not a major city. It isnt Chicago orNew York or Los Angeles. And it isnt Cairo. It is the epicenter

of the battle for Americas democracy, and it is as American asLexington, Concord, Gettysburg, Montgomery and Selma.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is a civil rights leader, former

presidential candidate and president of the Rainbow/PUSH

Coalition.

Black-owned businesses are also often hampered in theirrevenue growth by a lack of capital, connections and contracts.


8/16



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F . . :

By Tia Lewis

Special to the AFRO

There is, perhaps, no name more

synonymous with Washington, D.C., than

Bens Chili Bowl. Known for its half smokesand spicy chili, the 53-year-old restaurant has

been a pillar on the U Street corridor since

its opening and is now being preserved andcelebrated in an exhibit at George Washington

Universitys Estelle and Melvin GelmanLibrary.

Located on the seventh oor of the

Africana Research Center, the displayshows information such as payroll

records from the eatery and photos ofits famous patrons, including President

Barack Obama, Bill Cosby and former

District Mayor Adrian Fenty. Thearchives give visitors a glimpse into

the life of the late proprietor and famed

restaurateur, Ben Ali and the growing legacyof the Ali family.

Dr. Bernard Demczuk, assistant vice

president of the District of Columbia Relationat George Washington University and friend

of the Ali family, categorizes the restaurants

success and its founders roots as theAmerican Dream.

If you think about it, this is the greatAmerican story. You got segregation in

Washington in the 50s and now look at it

today. You got probably the most diverse

restaurant in the city. Its a reection of

Americas progress, Demczuk said.

In 1958, Ben and Virginia Ali used $5,000to begin renovating a building at 1213 U St.

which is now the historic landmark, accordingto the restaurants website. Even duringchallenging periods such the 1960s riots, the

citys drug epidemic in the mid 1970s, and

the late-1980s U Street Metro renovation, thefamily-owned eatery has kept its doors open.

This is a business thats 50 years old. Thisis a business thats stayed in one place for

this time, said Dr. Meredith Evans Raiford,

director of George Washington

Universitys Special Collections

Research Center, speaking aboutthe uniqueness of Bens. Unlike

corporation that may have a room

full of les this is a family whereyou will nd things in their home,

in their ofce spaces so as you

are cleaning up you will ndsomething related to the business.

Dr. Raiford credits the longevity

of the restaurant to perseveranceand community interaction, while

Dr. Demczuk uses the old adage,what goes around, comes around

to qualify Bens endurance.

This concept of if you giveback to the community, if you are

part of the community, if you do good, it good

will come back, Demczuk said. It rings true,as in 53 years, Bens has never been robbed.

Even with such an extensive record of

success and giving back to the community,Bens treasure is still its food. They brought

the American ideal food, the hotdog, and whattheyve done is introduced new culture by

adding chili to it. Its the Trinidadian culturemeets America, added Dr. Raiford. Its agood example of differences coming together

to make something great.

Ben Alis children have continued to addon to the legacy. The eatery has since added

Bens Next Door, which touts a different menu

but maintains the Chili Bowl atmosphere, anda visitors center above it. Bens Chili Bowl

also has a location at Washington NationalStadium and an online store.

We are looking into retailing, franchising

and expanding all the gifts Washingtonianshave given us, says Nazim Ali. [We will

continue to look for] the opportunity to do

more with what [we] have been given.Ali said he is thankful and glad to share the

legacy of his father and the restaurant through

the exhibit. It feels incredible. I am happythat the history of Bens and the family will

continue to be available for students, scholars

and historians for years to come.The exhibit at George Washington

University will be open until mid-summer.For information, go to www.gelman.gwu.edu.

To purchase food or gifts from Bens, visit the

website at www.benschilibowl.com.

Photos by William Atkins / The George

Washington University.

Bens Chili Bowl Commemorated in Exhibit

Community members peruse the

Bens Chili Bowl exhibit at George

Washington Universitys GelmanLibrary.

Members of the Ali Family view the display

case holding pieces from the Bens Chili Bowlcollection at GWs Gelman Library. From front

to back: Sage Ali, Virgina Ali, Vida Ali and

Sonya Ali.

Virginia Ali, Ben Alis widow views

the display case holding pieces fromthe Bens Chili Bowl collection atGWs Gelman library.

them to help get through the budget process.

We need your ideas, we need your thoughts

and we need your prayers, said Councilman MelFranklin, D-Dist. 9. We look forward to serving

you. This is a customer service business and you

are our customer. We look forward to this processand hearing much, much more from you.

Suitland HighContinued from A1

Continued from A1

Despite the previous headway it has made on

the foreclosure issue, Prince Georges continues

to struggle with the menace. The county still leadsthe state with over 700 foreclosure properties

for a rate of 1 in every 456 housing units. Incomparison, Montgomery County has only 157foreclosed properties, 1 in 2,325; Baltimore City

has 140, 1 in 2,102; and Baltimore County 117;1 in 2,804.Dorchester County rates second in the

state with 1 in 1,036 housing units.

Were still dealing with a pressing economiccrisis that were slowly coming out of, said

Councilman Mel Franklin, D-Dist. 9. Were still

dealing with the effects of the foreclosure crisisthat has particularly impacted Prince Georges

County and the budget.

Despite majority support for the proposedlegislation, not all members of the council agree

that this is the way to go on the issue. Thats atouchy subject, said Councilwoman Karen Toles,

D-Dist. 7. I do know that its a big issue and we

have to attack it in some way, but I dont know

the best way to do that as of yet.This would be the second time county ofcials

confronted the issue of abandoned properties. Alaw passed in 2009 requires foreclosed properties

be registered with the county. Under CB-11-

2009, debtors must register a property within vecalendar days of ling an order or complaint to

foreclose a residential property in the county.

The debtor would be charged $50 for each daythat the notice is not led.

However, under the new law, misdemeanorcharges could be lled on anyone who remains

negligent. County council members would prefer

that civil penalties be given instead of jail time.

AbandonedProperty


9/16

March 5, 2011 - March 11, 2011, The Afro-American B1

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) honoured Black History Month by hosting the Second Annual Avoice HeritageCelebration on Feb. 9, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Nortwest Washington, D.C. Reps. Chaka Fattah from Pennsylvania andDonna Edwards of Maryland co-emceed the evening along with mistress of ceremonies Andrea Roane, WUSA-TV morning

anchor. The dinner and awards program honored the following for their work in preserving African-American legislativehistory and for their commitment to cultivating minority civic engagement, public discourse on African-American history, or thepreservation of important historic artifacts through philanthropic or programmatic support: Distinguished Individual Award to

Debra Newman Ham, Ph.D., a specialist in African-American history and culture and currently a professor of history atMorgan State University; CBC Member Preservation Award to former Rep. Ronald Dellums, one of the 13 foundingmembers of the Congressional Black Caucus and former mayor of Oakland, Calif., and Distinguished CorporationAward to the Coca-Cola Co., in recognition for its long history of recognizing the role of African-American

history through its outre ach and communication strategy. The intimate evening also ser ved as a fundraiserfor Avoice: African American Voices In Congress. The Avoice Virtual Library is a premier source of

information about historical and contemporary African-American policy issues importantto researchers, academics, educators and students. African American members ofCongress have helped shape this nation through legislation that has enhanced theAmerican experience for all, said Rep. Donald M. Payne, D-N.J., CBCF chairman.

Capturing and preserving the history of the litany of contributions areessential to understanding our history, the history of

the nation and to preserve the legacy of change

by African-American membersof Congress for futuregenerations.

Rep. James Clyburn (2nd, right) with somecongressional interns: Amilca O' Conner, PrinceSefa-Boakye and Camille Migirt.

Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Dr. Elsie Scott,president/CEO, CBCF Inc.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.)and Rep. Donna Edwards(D-Md.).

Rep. Donald Payne(D-N.J.), CBCF chair,speaks to the guests.

Louis Scott, Dr. Elsie Scott and Rev. WalterFauntroy, former CBC member/D.C. delegate.

Former CBCmember RonaldDellums, stand-ing, greets afellow Caucusfounder Rep.John Conyers(D-Mich.)

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), RonaldDellums, Preservation Award recipient, Rep.Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Rep. Donna M.Christensen (D-V.I.).

Rep. Donald Payne(D-N.J.), Rep. ChakaFattah(D-Pa.) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver

III (D-Mo.), chairman,Congressional Black Caucus.

Rev. Walter Fauntroy andRep. John Lewis (D- Ga.).

WUSA9 News Now morninganchor, Andrea Roane, holds upthe Avoice award.

Rep. Edwards presents the DistinguishedIndividual Award to Dr. Debra NewmanHam, professor of history, Morgan StateUniversity; Andrea Roane looks on.

Rep. John Lewis presents theDistinguished Corporation Awardto Norman Ross, director, FederalGovernment Aairs, The Coca ColaCo.; as Andrea Roane looks on.

Former CBC member RonaldDellums received the CBCFMember Preservation Awardfrom Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)

Members of the CBC with the honorees, Norman Ross, Ronald Dellumsand Dr. Debra Newman Ham along with Dr. Elsie Scott (far right).

Honoree Ronald Dellumswith Andrea Roane.

PhotosbyRobRoberts

More than 150 business and community leaders onFeb. 15 attended PNC Banks Black History Month

event, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Khalil Gibran

Muhammad, the incoming director of The Schomburg Centerfor Research in Black Culture at the The New York Public

Library. The talk, entitled Looking Backward, MovingForward: Why Black History Matters More Than Ever in theAge of Obama, was moderated by the Washington Posts

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson. Dr.

Muhammad, 38, is currently history professor at IndianaUniversity and is the author of an acclaimed interpretive

book in African-American studies, The Condemnation of

Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban

America, published by Harvard University Press. A great-

grandson of Elijah Muhammad, Dr. Muhammad was selectedfrom a pool of more than 200 candidates to succeed HowardDodson Jr. as the next director of The

Schomburg Center, the worlds leadingrepository of the global Black

experience. In addition to

enjoying the talk, guests weretreated to a lovely cocktail

reception comprised of

gumbo, Hoppin John, mac-and-cheese and collard greenrolls all catered by LeJon Williams of Catering by Chef.

Attendees also were entered into a rae to win a copy of

Dr. Muhammads book, or Eugene Robinsons new book,Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America.The event

was held at PNC Place, the banks beautiful new regionalheadquarters in downtown Washington, D.C.

Eugene Robinsonlistens as Dr. Khalil

Gibran Muhammaddescribes his plansfor the 80-year-old

Schomburg Center.

David Bowers,vice president

and Washington,D.C., impactmarket leader

for EnterpriseCommunityPartners, poses

a question to thespeakers.

Greater Washington Board of Trade VP for Government Relations, DanielFlores; PNC Bank Regional President Michael N. Harreld; GEICO VP of

Public Aairs Rynthia Rost; Washington PostAssociate Editor EugeneRobinson; and PNC Bank Retail Market Executive Richard Bynum.

Corey A. Grin, president and CEO, 2GIP; Adrena Ill, DoubleBack Productions,LLC; Sylvia Cyrus, executive director, Association for the Study of African

American Life and History (ASALH); and Robert Stanton, senior advisor to thesecretary, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Terri Copeland, community development market manager,PNC Bank; Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad; and Debra Stepp,

ASALH member.

Rynthia Rost, VP of Public Aairs, GEICO; Barbara Lang, president/CEO, DC

Chamber of Commerce; Andrew Russell, executive VP, PNC Bank; Gerald Lang;and Angie Fox, president/CEO, Crystal City Business Improvement District.

PNC VP of CorporateCommunications Sonia

McCormick holds theshbowl while EugeneRobinson selects the

winner.

Maria Nagorski, executive director, Fair Chance; Tina Campanella, executivedirector, Quality Trust for Individuals with Disabilities; Dr. Carolyn B. Rudd,

president & CEO, CRP, Inc.; and Liz Cammack, director of development, QualityTrust for Individuals with Disabilities.

Photos Courtesy PNC Bank


10/16

B2 The Afro-American, March 5, 2011 - March 11, 2011

By Charlene CrowellNNPA Columnist

For more than 60 years,Thomsen Reuters and the

University of Michigan havetracked consumer trends andopinions. In their most recentsurvey, released recently,consumer condence rose

to its highest level in threeyears. For the rst time inmore than six years accordingto the survey, consumersreported hearing more positive

than negative economicdevelopments.

Also, a new reportfrom the Federal DepositInsurance Corporation (FDIC)examined bank prots. Inthe last quarter of 2010,lending institutions coveredby this federal regulatoryagency netted $21.7 billion.Moreover, 62 percent of theseinstitutions reported growthin their quarterly net incomefrom a year ago. Comparedto their $1.8 billion net lossin the fourth quarter of 2009,it is clear that banks are in arecovery mode.

Unfortunately, the samecannot be said for manyconsumers and homeownerswith mortgages. Forexample, while consumercondence is climbing, itisnt rising equally across allhouseholds. The Reuters/University of Michigan studyfound that condence in theeconomy rose by nearly 10percent among consumerhouseholds with earnings of$75,000 or more. But, amonglower income households,condence fell by 1.4percent. This difference inperspective was attributed by

the survey to more favorablejob and income prospectsamong upper incomehouseholds.

Another example: a newreport from the MortgageBankers Associationshows that the number ofhomeowners currently insome stage of the foreclosureprocess increased during thethird quarter of 2010. As aresult, more than ve millionhomeowners with mortgagesthat are 60 days or moredelinquent remain at risk offoreclosure.

The nancial troubles fallmore heavily on communitiesof color too. For example,a 2010 CRL research report,found for every 100 African-American homeowners,11 have either lost theirhomes or at imminent riskof foreclosure. For Latinofamilies, the gures areeven worse 17 of every100 Latino homeowners areaffected by foreclosures.These widespreadforeclosures have drainedan estimated $350 billionfrom communities ofcolor. Additionally, alternative

nancial services such as autotitle and payday loan storesare heavily concentrated inthese same communities ofcolor. And, in these highly-visible neighborhoods, thepeople who frequent thembecome poorer from the highfees assessed.

In 2011 and beyond ifthese troublesome trendscontinue, they will worsenthe racial wealth gaps thatare already too broad. TheInstitute on Assets andSocial Policy (IASP), part ofBrandeis Universitys HellerSchool for Social Policyand Management, reportedlast year that the wealth gapbetween Whites and Blackswas now $95,000, comparedto $20,000 in 1984.

It seems that while someeconomic recovery hasbeen accomplished, there ismore much more to beaccomplished.

Charlene Crowell is

the Center for ResponsibleLendings communicationsmanager for state policyand outreach. She can bereached at [email protected].

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Business

By Stephen D. RileyAFRO Staf Writer

Allyson Yuille doesnt look quite like Martha Stewart.Her skin is a tad darker, her lips a bit fuller and her style ofdress somewhat different, but her ambitions remain the same.The Los Angeles native made the near 2,700-mile trek fromthe West Coast to the East, arriving in Washington, D.C. in2006 before transforming herself into one of todays mostinteresting entrepreneurs. In February, Yuille launched SweetPotato Paper, a stationary company that provides customizedlines of invitations for people of color just in time tocoordinate with Black History Month.

Although the company is still fresh, Yuilles craving forSweet Potato Paper actually began in 2009, when she wasbusy planning her own wedding. After scavenging throughseveral invitations trying to nd a Harlem Renaissance theme,all that the 31-year-old could nd were conventional invites.From family reunions to anything that had to do with peopleof color what I found was really stereotypical, Yuille said. Itwas either outdated or had some sort of st or Kente cloth.

From there, Yuille took matters into her own hands.She gave up her search and simply styled her own invites,prompting a clamoring from friends and family who alsowanted more personalized invitations. With a backgroundas an advertising and marketing director, Yuille applied herefforts and intuitiveness to her new craft. I taught myself howto do a lot of different things by reading different books andusing it surprisingly to learn a lot of the design software thatsout there.

The illustrations for Sweet Potato Paper serve severalmulti-cultural celebrations. From Da de los Muertos toChristmas, the stationary companys range of diverseinvitations is unmatched. Since its launching, things havegone really well for Sweet Potato Paper without anymajor advertisement. Although business has blossomed sofar, Yuilles plans for success arent nished. She has a goalin mind and its modeled after one of the most successful

business women over the past few years.My whole goal is I really want to be, and I hope this

makes sense, like an urban Martha Stewart, Yuille said. Iwant to be the person who can talk about hostessing parties butfocused on the different types of parties for people of color. Iwant to do that for every culture: just really highlight the waythat they celebrate and how invitations and different thingscan be used to successfully promote that particular cultures

event.Sweet Potato Paper has a chance to be a trendsetter. With a

name and service thats unique among its peers, staying powerseems certain for the newborn business. Perhaps its arrivalfalls just in time for a wakeup call to stationary companieseverywhere. Were not the minority anymore, Yuille added.The number of Latinos and African Americans together makeup a majority of America but yet theres not a lot of things outthere for us.

For more information Sweet Potato Paper visitwww.sweetpotatopaper.com

Local Stationary Company Caters to People of Color

Sweet Potato Paper oers stationary for every occasion.Courtesy PhotosIn February Maryland resident Allyson Yuille launched

Sweet Potato Paper, a stationary company that provides

customized lines of invitations for people of color.

When Will the Financial Tide Turn Towards Average Consumers?Survey Finds Hopes High Among Wealthy, But Still Low Among Working Households


11/16

March 5, 2011 - March 11, 2011, The Afro-American B3

By Kristin Gray

AFRO Managing Editor

The Maryland Institute

College of Arts campus is

bustling with individuality

and a hodgepodge of

students fully immersed

in myriad forms of artistic

expression. Within minutes,

its apparent that cliques and

social pecking orders have

little room at the Bolton Hill

neighborhood school, where

students with rainbow-colored

locks or a face pocked with

piercings fail to raise an

eyebrow.

On an uncharacteristically

mild February afternoon,celebrity makeup artist Reggie

Wells and famed alter ego

photographer Derek Blanks

returned to their alma mater,

which at 185 years old is one

of the nations oldest and

most prestigious art schools.

Walking through the maze-

like hallways of the Eddie

and Sylvia Brown Center,

Wells absorbed the mash-

up of student artwork that

lines nearly every surface of

the window-laden building.

Today, multi-hued patchwork,

pastoral images from El

Salvador and an ornate bust of

the late rapper Tupac are onlya fraction of the artwork on

display.

Its a legacy of

craftsmanship and creativity

that Wells, a 1971 graduate, is

ercely proud of.

The biggest honor I can

ever give is to come back

to this school and give a

speechI was so blessed to

get a four-year scholarship,

said Wells as he reected on

his time at MICA. Because

we were artists, you could

be a fool, you could be

outspoken, you could do

anything and theyd say, Oh,

thats a student thats reallyinto art. We spread love;

thank God it was the 60s, a

time when you could spread

love. So they were smoking

and spreading love at the

same time.

He lets loose a hearty

laugh that echoes down the

empty hallway before adding,

I felt really comfortable here

and not overwhelmed.

The schools Black

Student Union is gearing up

for its annual benet fashion

show in April and the two

notable alumni are back to

direct a promotional photo

shoot. The Emmy Award-winning makeup artist has

returned to MICA for the

second time in three months,

which he admits is not easy

to do, but its for my school.Perhaps best known as

the tour de force behind

media mogul Oprahs glam

squad, Wells is the author of

makeup how-to guide Face

Painting and his work has

appeared on the covers of

Essence magazine 108 times.

Most recently, he debuted the

cosmetics line Hissyt, which

aims to take the mystery

out of awless makeup

application.

Not bad for a little

colored boy from Pulaski

Street.

Ive got 36 years in the

business right now. After 36years you really have a story,

said Wells, who is working on

an autobiography detailing his

By Gregory Dale

AFRO Staf Writer

Go-go music may have been what originally spurred

guitarist Valentino Jacksons career, but his distinct versatility

didnt allow him to stay moored to the genre for long.

After picking up a guitar at just 4 years old, the Maryland

native got his start playing with local bands across the

Washington, D.C. region before he even hit 13. While in

junior high school, Jackson joined the Experience Unlimited

Band (E.U.) and the group performed at various clubs across

the area. Though the band drew a sizeable following in their

hometown, they experienced tremendous success after their

performance of Da Butt in the Spike Lee jointSchool

Daze. Jackson later went on to pursue pop music and worked

with a bevy of notable artists. He was inducted into the Rock

and Roll and Go-Go Halls of Fame.

Now, Jackson, 55, is a member of the pop/rock group

NYC. The group recently released their rst single Dance

My Tears Away, which was distributed by the Sony Red

label. The AFRO spoke to Jackson about his career and his

plans with the group.

AFRO:You got started with E.U. while you were still in

high school. What was that experience like, being with this

band at such a young age?

VJ: It was a humbling experience for me. It was very

humbling to meet people from other cultures when I traveled

the world meeting people from the music and movie

[industries]. It was also grueling at the same time because its

a lot that people dont see outside of what they see on stage

and on television.

AFRO: Its safe to say that Da Butt is E.U.s signature

song. Explain the creation of that track.

VJ: Well, Spike Lee came to the 930 Club [where we were

performing] and said, I want you guys in my movie. We

were like, Whos this little short guy? [Laughs]. We had no

idea that it was really him. But our lawyers were there and

they did the research and sure enough, it was. Then, Marcus

Miller, who wrote for Luther Vandross, wrote the song and

collaborated with us. Marcus was a great guy. We really

enjoyed working with him.

AFRO:Explain your crossover into pop music. Was it

something that you always wanted to pursue?

VJ: Im very broad-minded with music. Im not just

looking for one particular style or sound. At an early age,

I started playing rock and roll, so I knew the technique in

how to capture those sounds. Then, I ran into another band

member who played with the group Starpoint, and he also

joined our band. We would collaborate from time to time

and [we became close]. After we nished the tour, we got

on a plane and ew to South Beach, Fla. We had nev

Prince George's County Afro-American Newspaper, March 5, 2011

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