Washington Informer

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.

Breast Cancer Awareness Advocate was a Personal Health Ambassador to Thousands of District Women

Mayor Vincent C. Gray released the following statement on the death of breast cancer advocate Zora Kramer Brown, who died on Sunday:

"I was saddened to learn of the passing of Zora Brown, a pioneer in advocating for breast-cancer awareness, research, treatment and support within underserved communities in the District and nationwide. I personally understand her journey with this disease that also touched my family, and I applaud Zora for her more than 25 years of tireless advocacy in the face of her own battle with the disease.

"Zora Brown, a breast-cancer survivor with a family history of deaths from breast and ovarian cancer, used her own experience to try and prevent the same suffering in other black women. Her outreach through churches in the District helped to educate residents about the need for regular medical care and to let them know that a cancer diagnosis was not an automatic death sentence.

"In the District, she founded the Breast Cancer Resource Committee, the Cancer Awareness Program Services and the Rise Sister Rise Saturday morning gatherings. Through these initiatives and others, Zora relentlessly pursued her mission to achieve a 50 percent drop in African-American breast cancer deaths by the end of the 20th century. Her approach was to inform minority women that breast cancer does not choose its victims by race, and that regular mammograms are the best path to both prevention and early detection. Her efforts received recognition from U.S. presidents and members of Congress.

"As we highlight the achievements of women during Women's History Month, Zora Kramer Brown stands out as a giant among women who persevered against the odds while helping others to persevere. My thoughts and prayers are with her loved ones and the many whose lives she touched."

The District is among several of the nation's urban cities that have seen a decline in violent crime over the past several years. It's a topic of discussion among government officials who have turned to urban researchers to find out who deserves the credit.

Rightfully so, however, there is little if any credit being given to the community-based and nonprofit organizations that are embedded within the communities they serve and where the problems exist. Sure, the police have done their part, sometimes overzealously, and culprits of drugs and guns also took their toll. But for those who answered the call for mentoring and mediation and counseling, the community-based organizations were effective in providing hands-on intervention.

So no, groups like the Alliance of Concerned Men, Concerned Black Men, Peaceoholics and other grassroots community-based programs, locally, aren't being given their due. Rather than get angry about it or sulk because of it, there's a new objective these groups should be focusing on: education. Keeping children out of trouble is proving to be as difficult as getting them to go to school. But youth advocates, returning citizens and others should take that next step and lead the effort to end the city's high truancy rate. They still might not get credit for making sure more students graduate from high school, but they will benefit from their efforts just like the rest of us.