Washington Informer

First lady Michelle Obama graces the cover of the April edition of Vogue magazine, in which a joint interview with President Barack Obama is featured.

The cover shows Mrs. Obama flowing in an electric blue-and-black Reed Krakoff dress, next to the headline, "Michelle Obama: How the First Lady and the President Are Inspiring America." Inside, she appears in a stunning Michael Kors black two-piece gown cinched with a wide leather belt.

The interview was conducted in February at the White House and focuses mostly on the Obama family, which includes daughters Malia,14,and Sasha, 11.

"What is truly unusual about the Obamas is that, in their own quietly determined way, they have insisted on living their lives on their terms: not as the first family but as a family, first," the article's author, Jonathan Van Meter said.

The April issue of Vogue will be on newsstands March 26.

(Source: USA Today)

Diversity Reflected in Black History Editions

I would like to congratulate the Washington Informer for a series of well-thought out and informative Black History sections throughout the month of February.

I was particularly impressed with writer Barrington Salmon's Brown Babies article and Editor Shantella Sherman's work, Diaspora Rising. It is so impressive that the focus of the Informer went beyond the stereotypical, usual suspects and instead included noteworthy British, Haitian, Guyanese, and Jamaican black people. I am a native of Panama and greatly enjoyed the diversity of the editions. Congratulations on a job well done.

H. Hall Ross

Falls Church, Va.

An Assault on D.C. Public Schools

I whole-heartedly agree with the parents featured in Dorothy Rowley's article "Coalition Rallies against School Closings," in the March 7, 2013 edition. Not only are the parents correct in their views about Chancellor Kaya Henderson's attempt to make DCPS a charter school system, but she is continuing the all-out assault to break up the Teachers' Union that was started by her mentor and former chancellor, Michelle Rhee.

Parents have the right to be partners in choosing how their children are educated. The public school system has afforded them not only this but also some say-so about what their children are taught. Charter schools don't allow this. You have to buy into their philosophy and their methods in order to attend their schools, and if you disagree you take your child out of the school.

A lot of the blame for the fertile atmosphere for charter schools east of Rock Creek Park can be blamed on the public school system itself. For years fiscal mismanagement, combined with corrupt and unaccountable leaders have fostered an air of distrust by most who have tried to navigate their children through the system. But the job of the chancellor is to restore trust with the community and show that the system can meet the needs of all the students of the District of Columbia, not just a few.

Chancellor Henderson should be making sure schools are provided with what they need to ensure the success of all the students in the system, such as a system-wide curriculum and books and supplies, instead of secretly carrying out the plans of her mentor and teacher.

Marvin J. Bishop

Washington, D.C.

African American women in the nation's capital stand a far less chance of getting breast cancer than white women. However, African-American women die from breast cancer at a greater rate than white women. Why? There may be many reasons, including education or a lack of access to health care. But Zora Brown believed in her heart that the mortality rate could change if all women (and men) knew the importance of self-examinations and mammograms. Brown, 63, died earlier this month due to complications from ovarian cancer, but she dedicated her life fighting to end health disparities and other causes that lead to unnecessary deaths due to breast cancer.

At 32, Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the same disease that afflicted her great-grandmother, her grandmother, her mother and three sisters. She underwent a mastectomy of her right breast, and later she lost her left breast when cancer was found there, too. Her personal fight against breast cancer was the motivation for a crusade to increase public awareness. She took her message to local churches and community groups as well as to national television on shows that included The Oprah Winfrey Show and CNN.

Brown was the first African-American woman to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board, appointed by President Bush in 1991. She established the Breast Cancer Resource Committee (BCRC), which seeks to reduce the mortality rates from breast cancer among African- American women. She also founded "Rise Sister Rise", a breast cancer support group model for African-American women, as well as Men in Action Against Breast Cancer, a support arm for BCRC. She, along with her nieces, also founded Sisters Accessing Skills for Survival and Intervention.

It is with great sadness that Brown, who lived in the District for many years, has died. But her crusade lives on in each and every woman who begins her day with a breast self-exam and who, while reading about her life, is reminded to schedule a mammogram. That's what Brown lived and died for.

They're our home team. We're with them when they win and we refuse to abandon them when they lose. We want them to be the best team in the National Football League, and we put lots of money behind them by purchasing season tickets, hosting elaborate tailgate parties and collecting every piece of sports paraphernalia bearing their name that we can afford. But as regularly as the football seasons come and go, so does the reoccurring debate over the name of Washington's beloved football team.

While appeals to owners to change the team's name have been repeatedly denied, so have the numerous court battles that have been equally unsuccessful. But representatives of Native American's rights groups and others who support the cause to eliminate racially insensitive and demeaning mascots from major league teams will not give up. Blackhorse et al v. Pro-Football, Inc., is the most recent case brought by young Native Americans who seek to abolish Washington's football team's mascot forever. Forget the past. If Wisconsin can do away with racially insensitive team names, then why can't we?

Despite the love for our team, it's becoming more difficult to express it when those who are impacted by its vile and offensive name stand up. Despite the team's unquestionable good will throughout the region, it's irrelevant when the name itself points to our nation's horrific and racist past against its own people. And, a Super Bowl victory will silence protestors concerns but only for a moment before they mobilize and mount their next attempt to right a wrong.

While our team works hard to bring back the national championship title, team owners should also work hard to make an historic human rights decision – giving our team a name that we all can feel proud of.

A gathering of Catholic cardinals selected a new pope on Wednesday from among their midst -- choosing cardinal from Argentina, the cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who comes from Argentina, and is the first leader of the church ever chosen from South America.

The new pope, 76, who will be called Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, is also the first non-European leader of the church in more than 1,000 years.

"Habemus papam!," members of the crowd shouted in Latin, waving umbrellas and flags. "We have a pope!" Others cried "Viva il Papa!"

"It was like waiting for the birth of a baby, only better, " said a Roman man. A child sitting atop his father's shoulders waved a crucifix.

The new pope was announced on the white balcony on the front of St. Peter's Basilica as thousands of the faithful cheered joyously below.

The new pope inherits a church wrestling with an array of challenges that intensified during his predecessor, Benedict XVI — from a priest shortage and growing competition from evangelical churches in the Southern Hemisphere where most of the world's Catholics live, to a sexual abuse crisis that has undermined the church's moral authority in the West, to difficulties governing the Vatican itself.

(Source: The New York Times)

Queen Elizabeth II recently made history when she signed a new charter taking a stand against discrimination.

With the stroke of the pen on March 11, the 86-year-old queen made a symbolic pledge for equal rights for billions of people in 54 countries in the British Commonwealth around the world.

The Commonwealth Charter states opposition to "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds."

This is believed to be the first time (in her 61-year reign) she's shown her support of gay rights. That's a big step," ABC News royal contributor Victoria Arbiter said.

The charter is still only a symbolic step for many of the 54 countries because homosexuality is still illegal in 41 of the nations in the British Commonwealth.

Embodying centuries of stuffy royal tradition, Britain's head of state has recently learned to relax a little, showing she's moving with the times. But never in her 61 years as monarch has she done anything like this before.

"The queen has to remain politically neutral," Arbiter said. "While we won't hear her personal views on this, the fact that she is endorsing it publically in front of television cameras, it really does speak volumes."

Reading between the lines, the British papers are also hailing this as a watershed moment for the new rules of succession.

The timing couldn't be any better with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, giving birth this summer. By signing this pledge, the queen is giving a silent nod to the changes. If Middleton has a baby girl, her daughter will one day be the queen.

(Source: ABC News)

More than 100 students who attend Friendship Collegiate Academy, have earned full college scholarships from the D.C. Achievers Scholarship Program, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This year, 152 students -- including a group from the Anacostia partnership campus-- were recognized as D.C. Achievers Scholars, in comparison to 124 last year. All totaled, $7.6 million in student aid was awarded.

"Congratulations to our students at both schools for earning these honors," said Donald Hense, chairman of Friendship Public Charter School. "On behalf of the board of trustees and our staff, we hope they will continue to work hard as they advance their education."

The Achievers Scholarship Program was founded in 2007 by the Gates foundation. To date, it has provided college readiness, mentoring and support, as well as scholarship financial aid, to hundreds of low-income youth in the District of Columbia.

Friendship Collegiate Academy PCS is a college preparatory high school serving students in grades nine through 12. Collegiate has a 91 percent graduation rate and 100 percent of its graduating class is accepted to college. Some 75 percent of its students are eligible for federal lunch subsidies. At the Anacostia campus 95 percent of students qualify for federal lunch subsidies.

H.D. Woodson girls win the inaugural DCSSA title with a 60-42 victory over Georgetown Day a Verizon Center on Monday, Mar.11/Photo by John E. De Freitas.