Washington Informer

Todd Wilson Goes for 14th Straight Win Against Winston Mathis on Jimmy Lange Boxing Card

Fairfax, VA (May 1, 2012) – In a battle of world champions, undefeated Tori "Sho Nuff" Nelson (6-0-1) of Ashburn, VA will defend her Women's International Boxing Association (WIBA) Middleweight Title against Maria Lindberg (6-1-2) of Malmo, Sweden as the 10-round Co-Main Event on the Jimmy Lange Boxing card set for Saturday, June 23 at the Patriot Center. Presented by Valcourt Building Services, the card will also feature undefeated Fairfax, VA junior welterweight Todd "White Lightning" Wilson (13-0, 4 KOs) going for his 14th straight victory with an eight-round contest against Winston Mathis (7-5-1, 2 KOs) of Atlanta, GA.

Nelson captured the WIBA Championship with an impressive win over Vashon Living last February in Fairfax. Her biggest win to date came on July 29, 2011 in Trinidad and Tobago with a victory over Lorissa Rivas for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Middleweight Belt. A single mother of two teenagers who juggles jobs as a bus driver and cafeteria worker at Loudoun County's Broad Run High School and waitressing at IHOP, Nelson has made a strong connection with her fans, both inside and outside of the ring.

Lindberg, the WIBA's Light Middleweight Champion, defeated Diana Kiss in a non-title fight in her last bout held February 11, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. Prior to that she lost a decision to Christina Hammer for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Federation Middleweight Championships on May 27, 2011.

Wilson, a former collegiate boxing champion and Virginia Military Institute graduate, has fought six times in front of hometown fans at the Patriot Center with victories against former world champion Eric "Mighty Mouse" Aiken and tough veteran Dean "Pitt Bull" White. Wilson defeated Eric Burke by fourth-round TKO in his most recent fight held February 25, 2012 in Charlotte, NC. Mathis is looking to bounce back after dropping his last fight to undefeated Chris Algieri on March 31, 2012 in Huntington, NY.

Fan favorite Jimmy Lange (38-4-2) of Great Falls, VA is headlining his 15th show at the Fairfax venue, and will face Tony "Mo Better" Jeter (13-3-1, 9 KOs) of Stevensville, MD in a 10-round bout. Officials also announced that popular LA Boxing instructor Lawrence Jones (4-6-2, 1 KO) of Reston, VA and Gundrick King (16-8, 11 KOs) of Tuscaloosa, AL will fight in a six-round junior middleweight contest. Jones served as a last-minute replacement in his last fight, a loss to Harry Joe Yorgey at the Patriot Center three months ago. King last fought on March 17, 2012, losing to Charlie Ota. In a four-round heavyweight showdown, unbeaten Duane Mobley (2-0, 1 KO) of Upper Marlboro, MD will be matched against Michael DeSantos, an LA Boxing trainer from Ashburn, VA who is making his professional debut. Mobley scored a first-round knockdown over Francois Russell last month in Indiana and won his first fight last February at the Patriot Center.

Doors will open at 6:00 pm, with the first fight scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm. All bouts are subject to change. Jackie "First Lady of Boxing" Kallen is the promoter with matchmaking handled by JD Brown.

Tickets, priced at $35, $50, $75, $125, $200, $300 and $500 (plus applicable service charges), can be purchased through all Ticketmaster outlets including the Patriot Center box office, online at www.ticketmaster.com/ and via Phonecharge at 1-800-745-3000.

Information:

www.Facebook.com/JimmyLangeBoxing

Follow the Fighters:

Jimmy Lange - Twitter.com/boxerjimmylange

Tony Jeter Facebook

Tori Nelson Facebook

Maria Lindberg Facebook

Todd Wilson Facebook, Twitter.com/TWhiteLightning

Renowned jazz pianist shares tracks from 2012 album Blue Moon, first recording in over three years

NORTH BETHESDA, MD – At 81, renowned jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal continues to build his stellar reputation as an intrepid and inventive virtuoso with the 2012 release of Blue Moon with original recordings and exciting interpretations of songs from classic film and Broadway. Jahmal will share this latest project for the first time in the D.C. area on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 8 p.m. in the Music Center at Strathmore. Says The Guardian (U.K.) of Blue Moon: "...this session looks set to be one of his classics." For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

Jamal is a legend of jazz, known for his outstanding technical command and identifiable sound as a piano stylist, as well as his sophisticated ensemble interplay, achieved by treating his quartet, musically, like an orchestra. His stylistic approach to conducting musicians has been met with wide acclaim; notes The Village Voice, "No musician has had a more profound effect on the orchestral approach to small groups in the last 35 years than Ahmad Jamal." The pianist-composer has been honored with the American Jazz Masters fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, was inducted into the prestigious Order of the Arts and Letters, was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University and was voted into DownBeat's Reader's Poll Hall of Fame. However, Jamal's impact and credibility is best illustrated by fellow musicians such as Miles Davis, who cites Jamal as a primary influence: "All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal."

Blue Moon was released in February 2012 and is comprised of nine tracks. Each of the pieces showcase Jamal's creative reinvention of swing, provide a pretext for breathtaking melodies and showcase his unique relationship with his new working group. The recording "does a brilliant job of drawing together the various strands and styles he does so well" and is "from top to bottom...one very strong album" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer).

After citing increased youth involvement in the National Action Network (NAN ), Rev. Al Sharpton and the organization have launched a Youth Move page on its website.

Many of the youth are being drawn in as part of an effort by Tamika D. Mallory, NAN's executive director, who is just 31 herself, along with Dominique Sharpton, 25,who heads up membership for the organization. Sharpton was a youth activist and established the National Youth Movement in 1971. He was active in leadership his teenage years and went on to run for the U. S. Senate, mayor of New York, and president of the Unites States. He is now grooming young people to fulfill positions of leadership in civil rights and social justice.

NAN's Youth Move is being led by 14-year-old National Youth Director Mary Pat Hector in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Northeast Region where NAN 's headquarters are based, is being directed by 12-year-old Victoria Pannell. Both young ladies mobilized young people during NAN's national convention in Washington, D.C., and were prominent at key events featuring leaders in education and anti-violence. U. S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan acknowledged their efforts at a special plenary session where he spoke at on April 13.

As Youth Move director, Mary Pat Hector has been increasing membership in chapters across the country and the youth presence is a key goal area of growth the organization will continue to focus on. On a local level, Mary Pat leads teen-safety workshops for schools and trains teens and college students in many areas of youth advocacy techniques. She travels an average of 4,000 miles a month speaking at high schools, colleges, conferences, woman's events, and crisis shelters across the U.S. She recently spearheaded the national "Shake off the Violence" tour urging youth to put down guns.

Victoria Pannell recently led an anti-violence march in Harlem, New York, as part of an effort to take back the streets from the drug dealers and gang members and has been active in the fight to save United States Post offices. She and some of the young people met with the head of the U.S. Post Office during NAN's national convention last month, and were victorious when the Senate passed an amended version of the 21st Century Postal Service Act Post that saves the majority of the Post Offices for three years.

Victoria is currently doing speaking engagements on homelessness, being fatherless, violence in communities, and mental health services for children.

Districts's First Integrated Community Services, LEED Certified School

The District's first early childhood public charter school, Eagle Academy Public Charter School, has announced the launch of its new integrated community service school, The Eagle Center. The announcement was made Monday during a ground breaking ceremony held at the new facility in Ward 8 at 3400 Wheeler Road, Southeast.

Participants in the ceremony included Mayor Vincent Gray, Council Chairman Kwame Brown, Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry, ANC Commissioner Melvin Sims, and Eagle Academy's Founder and Executive Director Cassandra Pinkney.

"The Eagle Center will be the first public school in DC to which many other urban school districts would come to see how to turn around an underserved community," said Pinkney."The establishment of this unique, first-of-its-kind model program of a full service community school will provide a framework for structuring similar programs across the country."

Eagle Academy Public Charter School, established in 2003, is a high-performing community school providing an innovative academic program to young children, from PreK-3 through Grade 3, free of charge.

In 2011, the city awarded Eagle Academy a 67,000 square feet school in Ward 8 – the former McGogney Elementary School - to develop The Eagle Center.

Based on Eagle Academy Public Charter School's eight years of experience serving children and families from Ward 8 (72% of students), and conversations with Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners, and consultations with District officials, the charter school decided two years ago to move its high-performing school to Ward 8.

The project will cost $20 million dollars with primary financing for the project from BB&T Bank.

"BB&T is proud to have provided financing for this innovative school as part of the bank's mission of making the communities in which we work better places to be. We value quality education and the impact it can have on communities," stated Dan Waetjan, BB&T Metro D.C. region president.

AMERICAN IDOL LIVE! returns this summer for another hit tour to showcase this season's talented top 10 finalists.

Launching the careers of many, the AMERICAN IDOL LIVE! Tour is the first chance to see your favorites in concert! The tour launches in Detroit, MI, at the Joe Louis Arena on Friday, July 6 and wraps up on Sept. 11 in Milwaukee, WS. The tour will also stop in D.C. at Verizon Center on Wednesday, August 8. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m., Friday, May 11 via www.AmericanIdol.com , www.ticketmaster.com and www.aeglive.com .

"Every year we are amazed at the extraordinary wealth of untapped talent that is discovered on American Idol and we couldn't be happier with this season's top 10 contestants," said Iain Pire, president, 19 Entertainment. "We are truly excited to bring our contestants on tour across America directly to our fans' hometowns."

As presenting sponsors of AMERICAN IDOL LIVE! Tour 2012, CHIPS AHOY! and RITZ are thrilled to bring the excitement of the tour to their fans in a number of unique ways, from cookie and cracker coupons to a one-of-a-kind consumer promotion. The U.S. Air Force Reserve is an associate sponsor.

AMERICAN IDOL LIVE! gives fans the unique opportunity to be up close and personal with Idol finalists Colton Dixon, DeAndre Brackensick, Elise Testone, Erika Van Pelt, Heejun Han, Hollie Cavanagh, Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet, Phillip Phillips and Skylar Laine.

Tickets for the Verizon Center show are $65, $45 and $29.50 (plus applicable service charges) and there is an eight ticket limit. A ticket lottery will take place at 8 a.m., May 11 at the Verizon Center box office, and fans must be in line by that time to participate.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced during a gathering this week at the Southeast Children's Fund Child Development Center, that he has joined educational and human-services leaders in presenting his Early Success Framework

The initiative – which focuses on ways District government and partner agencies engage issues surrounding early-childhood education and healthy child development -- will not only more closely coordinate local government agencies, but ensure that all District children develop and learn in nurturing and healthy environments.

"During my State of the District Address earlier this year, I said that I want the District to 'Seize the Future' by creating a new economy, by ensuring that our residents are prepared to fill the jobs in that new economy and by improving the quality of life for all in our city," Gray said. "Early-childhood education and development is integral to each of those priorities. That's why we're announcing this Early Success Framework, which will help us coordinate efforts across the many functions of our government and our partners that touch on early-childhood education and development and will also help us measure our progress."

Among some of the Framework 's challenges are efforts to meet outcomes in quality standards for the District's early-childhood programs, provide access to high-quality programs for low-income children, and to lower the threshold for eligibility to participate in programs in support of infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities.

The Framework -- which is part of Gray's cradle-to-career" plan -- is the result of efforts coordinated by the offices of Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and Deputy Mayor for Education.

Howard University ended its 2012 spring men's football practice with an intra-squad game on Saturday, April 14 in Greene Stadium in Northwest. A women's Powder Puff Flag football game took place prior to the men's game and featured the Howard women's team against other local players. /Courtesy photo by Abdullah Yusuf

The 39th Annual Capital Classic pitted the U.S. All-Stars against the Capital All-Stars at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., on Saturday, April 21. The U.S. All-Stars defeated the Capital All-Stars105-93. Prior to the 39th Annual Capital Classic, a girls' basketball double-header featured the best public and private high school seniors.

These are the winninng essay submissions by students at Richard Wright Public Charter School. The students also participated in The Washington Informer's April 19, "A Conversation with John Lewis," which was held at THEARC in Southeast D.C. For the contest, students were asked to write about someone who inspisres them.

Inspired by a Movement...

At age 17, John Lewis was so inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he wrote a letter to Rev. King asking to meet him. Dr. King responded and sent Lewis a round-trip Greyhound bus ticket to meet with him in Atlanta, Ga. The Washington Informer asked Richard Wright Public Charter School students to write a letter to someone who inspires them and tell them why they would want to meet them and join their cause. Below are excerpts of three compelling letters selected by The Washington Informer staff.

David McFarland

The Trevor Project

Dear McFarland:

I am writing this letter to you because I am very passionate about ending the cycle of bullying. I selected your organization to write to because you focus on supporting gay, lesbian, transgender, or questioning youth and ending the cycle of suicide among these youth by providing "life-saving" and "life-affirming' resources. I think it is wonderful that your organization exists and that it has a 24/7 lifeline intervention that the youth can call if they feel like they need someone to talk to.

I understand that the Trevor Project's vision is to create a future where all youth can have the same dreams and possibilities as everyone else, no matter what sexual orientation, or gender identity that they choose to be. That is a future I want to experience. I want to be affiliated with your organization because in the past, I have been bullied. I have been pushed around, and tortured, and it got to that point where I felt like nothing. Your organization would have been great to know about back then.

Another reason I'd like to be a part of your group is because one of my closet friends that I knew since 5th grade recently committed suicide. You see she was being bullied because she came out as a lesbian.

When I first heard about the Trevor Project, I thought to myself, if only I had known about this earlier then I could've helped my friend, I could've done something.

One way I think this can be stopped is to get parents more involved. It's not right to bully, and

I am writing this letter because this bullying thing has been happening a lot and it's time for this to stop. I am very pleased to learn about the work that your organization does. I would love to become a volunteer, or an advocate at any time. Please contact me to advise me of ways that I can get involved and make a difference. Thank you for all you hard work and effort.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Arianna Marsh

9th Grade Student

Honorable Julian Bond

The American University

Dear Mr. Bond:

I am writing this letter to let you know that I support the marriage between same sex couples. I believe this is a civil rights issue. Since you have always been a supporter for civil rights I hope you believe this way, too.

Discrimination against same sex couples is wrong. Same sex relationships are just as beautiful as opposite sex relationships. As a homosexual male myself, and not only that, but I'm being raised by a same sex couple I want to honor myself and my family.

My mother and her fiancé' are doing a fantastic job raising me and my siblings. What can opposite sex couples teach kids that same sex couples can't?

This topic is really sensitive for me because I've recently come out. I've been teased and discriminated against on more than one occasion. I think that treating someone differently just because they like something different from you is borderline mean. It bothers me that it's a huge million man march when a "homie" from the hood gets killed. It's all over the news and everywhere. But when a transgender is slain with a slit throat at a bus stop, people say absolutely nothing. Maybe you get a "this is a sad world we're coming to" and then someone flips the channel on the television, or the page in the newspaper is turned.

Legalizing gay marriage would be a giant move to help people accept homosexuals as equals. People need to wake up and realize that there are people in the world who are born differently.

What would legalizing gay marriage mean for me? This movement means the world to me. I know of your history with civil rights. I believe that you can offer me sound advice on how I can make same-sex marriage a reality in my lifetime. I hope that you will contact me with information.

De'Quan Barclift

9th Grade

Anthony Lake

UNICEF House

Dear Mr. Lake:

I am passionate about ending world hunger and helping needy children. I really appreciate the work that has been done by your organization. I feel that UNICEF is one of the greatest organizations supporting children today and I would love to be a part of it.

UNICEF is over 50 years old but it is still needed today because every year, 15 million children throughout the world die from hunger. Current data suggests that even in America, 1 in 4 children are at risk of starvation.

UNICEF is an organization that not many teenagers around me know about. But now that I know more about it, I feel as though I should inform others. World hunger is something that really affects young people in over 150 countries around the world. From my research I learned what UNICEF really stands for.

I learned that UNICEF is a global humanitarian relief organization providing children with so much to keep them alive like; healthcare, immunizations, clean water, nutrition, food security, education, emergency relief and so much more. That really inspired me to want to help children whose parents can't afford to feed them, or take them to regular doctor visits. I've always wanted to help people that didn't have much in life and to find out that this organization helps children in over 150 countries really makes me want to be a part of something so significant.

If you think about it this organization is saving lives of young people every day. Even though there are still 21,000 children that still die each day from preventable causes, with organizations like UNICEF, this situation will get better.

I would love to participate in the fight to feed and protect young people all over the world because it is something that needs to be done. During the past four years, our economy has more families in poverty and more children suffering. Every day I think about what I can do to help others. Please write to me and let me know what I can do to get involved.

Sincerely,

Akiya Kent

9th Grade Student