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Michael Vick has been sensational on the football field this season as quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. Two weeks ago, he put on a phenomenal show against the Washington Redskins, setting a single game record by throwing for 333 yards, including four touchdowns, and rushing for 80 yards and two more touchdowns. The visiting Eagles routed the Redskins 59-28.
George E. Curry All our lives we’ve heard stories about The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Now we can add to that two grinches – Rush Limbaugh and Mike Huckabee – who stole the Obama family’s Thanksgiving. Or, at least tried. While the rest of us were preparing last week to express gratitude for our blessings, those two spent the days leading up to Thanksgiving urging President Barack Obama to expose his wife, two daughters, and mother-in-law to airport security groping.
Maudine Cooper is a fighter. For more than 20 years, she has sat at the helm of the Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL) fighting to sustain the lives of the District’s most vulnerable residents. Her passion has led her to fight for the right for people of little means to learn a trade, improve their literacy skills, improve their health and to own a home.
Born in Benoit, Miss., Cooper’s family moved to St. Paul, Minn., seeking greater opportunities. She later went on to receive her undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University in the District. She worked for the National Urban League in 1973 as an assistant director for federal programs and in 1980 she became vice president for the Washington operations legislative office.
Born in Benoit, Miss., Cooper’s family moved to St. Paul, Minn., seeking greater opportunities. She later went on to receive her undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University in the District. She worked for the National Urban League in 1973 as an assistant director for federal programs and in 1980 she became vice president for the Washington operations legislative office.
Like many Washingtonians, I avoid crowded malls during the holiday season and opt for quaint venues around town to do my Christmas shopping. That’s why I thoroughly enjoyed the story published in The Washington Informer, “A Unique Experience for Holiday Shoppers” on Dec. 2.
The BZB Holiday Gift and Art Show at the Shiloh Baptist Church Family Life Center in Northwest definitely provides shoppers with a unique experience – there are no stampedes – no crazed bargain hunters prepared to run you over when the doors open. During BZB’s bazaar, shoppers can browse and talk with artists and vendors at their leisure. Most importantly, there’s a cornucopia of interesting and one-of-a-kind items to suit every member of the family – all housed under one roof and spread over two floors at the center.
I hope Britton continues to produce the gift and art show because it really gives me and I’m sure other shoppers in this region an event to look forward to each year.
Dana Johnson
Washington, D.C.
The BZB Holiday Gift and Art Show at the Shiloh Baptist Church Family Life Center in Northwest definitely provides shoppers with a unique experience – there are no stampedes – no crazed bargain hunters prepared to run you over when the doors open. During BZB’s bazaar, shoppers can browse and talk with artists and vendors at their leisure. Most importantly, there’s a cornucopia of interesting and one-of-a-kind items to suit every member of the family – all housed under one roof and spread over two floors at the center.
I hope Britton continues to produce the gift and art show because it really gives me and I’m sure other shoppers in this region an event to look forward to each year.
Dana Johnson
Washington, D.C.
Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett, D.C. Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray and Mayor William E. Euille of Alexandria, Va., are four men with a lot in common. First and foremost, they are all African American and secondly, collectively, they represent jurisdictions that are connected to each other in the most powerful region in the world. Baker, who was sworn in on Mon., Dec. 6, is new to his role as the leader of the most affluent and well-educated African American county in the country. He joins Isaiah “Ike” Leggett, who was sworn in on the same day for a second term in one of the nation’s most affluent counties that is quickly growing more economically and ethnically diverse. In January 2011, Mayor-elect Gray will become the sixth African American elected mayor of the District of Columbia since Home Rule was established in 1973. Formerly known as Chocolate City due to its majority African American population, he will become the political leader of a whiter, younger and wealthier constituency struggling to coexist among long-time Washingtonians in communities across the city. And in Alexandria, Mayor Euille, who is serving in his second term, is also working with diverse constituencies in one of Virginia’s most historic districts.
Identity theft in America is hardly new. However, the alarming rise in identity theft in the D.C. metropolitan area over the last five years is worth noting. With technological advances developing at a rate far exceeding the necessary tools to guard personal safety, many District residents are helpless and, hapless in defending their identities from thieves. Thieves have been able to attach “skim” devices to processing machines used by businesses to transfer the data from the magnetic strip on the back of credit and debit cards, in order to obtain consumer card numbers and expiration dates.
As I have loved you, love one another. This new commandment: Love one another. By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35
While researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center recently disproved the myth that suicides spike during the holiday season, many Americans still feel a sense of loneliness and despair during the holiday season. Particularly among African Americans, the feelings of grief or despair go unrecognized and unanswered. Mental Health America, an organization championing the diagnosis and treatment of common mental health issues, suggests that many factors contribute to the blahs. Top among them are “stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations,
over-commercialization, financial constraints, and the inability to be with one’s family and friends.”
While researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center recently disproved the myth that suicides spike during the holiday season, many Americans still feel a sense of loneliness and despair during the holiday season. Particularly among African Americans, the feelings of grief or despair go unrecognized and unanswered. Mental Health America, an organization championing the diagnosis and treatment of common mental health issues, suggests that many factors contribute to the blahs. Top among them are “stress, fatigue, unrealistic expectations,
over-commercialization, financial constraints, and the inability to be with one’s family and friends.”
Enjoying the Informer
The Washington Informer really should be commended for its innovative coverage. There are many newspapers in the city to choose from, but none takes the time to engage the community the way the Informer does. In addition to covering stories about D.C. and Prince George’s County, the stories are always from the perspective of the people. The last thing I want to read is the same information I just saw on television or heard on the radio. The new look is crisp and clean and the design elements are powerful. As the demographics of the city shift and grow to include people from all walks of life, it is good to know that the Informer continues to put native Washingtonians and our concerns to forefront of their coverage. Keep up the great work.
Harold O. Wambu
Northeast, D.C.
Kudos to the Washington Informer
I just purchased my tickets to Europe based on the great Jaunts… with Shantella Sherman spread in your paper. For years I have wanted to travel abroad but felt intimidated by the idea of going somewhere unfamiliar. Ms. Sherman made Europe sound so exciting and welcoming that I decided to book a trip for next spring. The articles were also humorous and witty; something I would not have found in other publications.
Even more exciting is that two of my sorority sisters will be joining me. They, too, have become fans of the Jaunts series and found that the information Ms. Sherman provided answered a lot of the questions they had. Great job! Cannot wait to see where Jaunts takes us next.
Melissa Fisher-Fox
Wheaton, Md.
Great Council Coverage
Thanks for providing great coverage of the D.C. Council. It is always good to have a newspaper that can keep the public informed about the things its leaders are doing. Each week I am pleased that James Wright and Ben Koconis are going the Council hearings and neighborhood meetings to ensure that those of us who cannot be at these meetings know what is happening.
Yasmine Tutt
Northwest, D.C.
The Washington Informer really should be commended for its innovative coverage. There are many newspapers in the city to choose from, but none takes the time to engage the community the way the Informer does. In addition to covering stories about D.C. and Prince George’s County, the stories are always from the perspective of the people. The last thing I want to read is the same information I just saw on television or heard on the radio. The new look is crisp and clean and the design elements are powerful. As the demographics of the city shift and grow to include people from all walks of life, it is good to know that the Informer continues to put native Washingtonians and our concerns to forefront of their coverage. Keep up the great work.
Harold O. Wambu
Northeast, D.C.
Kudos to the Washington Informer
I just purchased my tickets to Europe based on the great Jaunts… with Shantella Sherman spread in your paper. For years I have wanted to travel abroad but felt intimidated by the idea of going somewhere unfamiliar. Ms. Sherman made Europe sound so exciting and welcoming that I decided to book a trip for next spring. The articles were also humorous and witty; something I would not have found in other publications.
Even more exciting is that two of my sorority sisters will be joining me. They, too, have become fans of the Jaunts series and found that the information Ms. Sherman provided answered a lot of the questions they had. Great job! Cannot wait to see where Jaunts takes us next.
Melissa Fisher-Fox
Wheaton, Md.
Great Council Coverage
Thanks for providing great coverage of the D.C. Council. It is always good to have a newspaper that can keep the public informed about the things its leaders are doing. Each week I am pleased that James Wright and Ben Koconis are going the Council hearings and neighborhood meetings to ensure that those of us who cannot be at these meetings know what is happening.
Yasmine Tutt
Northwest, D.C.
Seeing is Believing
The NAACP, National Urban League and National Action Network have entered into an agreement with Comcast and NBC Universal that will ensure more diversity on the network in the areas of programming and employment.
A memorandum of understanding that has been filed with the Federal Communications Commission includes a set of initiatives that will improve diversity in the areas of corporate governance, recruitment and retention, procurement, programming and philanthropy and community investments.
Efforts to encourage major corporate entities to do what many of their leaders agree, “makes good business sense” and has not been as successful or wide ranging as this initiative. African Americans still languish at the bottom of the totem poll in top corporate positions and companies still disregard the African American consumer and treat them as suspects rather than prospects.
The NAACP, National Urban League and National Action Network have entered into an agreement with Comcast and NBC Universal that will ensure more diversity on the network in the areas of programming and employment.
A memorandum of understanding that has been filed with the Federal Communications Commission includes a set of initiatives that will improve diversity in the areas of corporate governance, recruitment and retention, procurement, programming and philanthropy and community investments.
Efforts to encourage major corporate entities to do what many of their leaders agree, “makes good business sense” and has not been as successful or wide ranging as this initiative. African Americans still languish at the bottom of the totem poll in top corporate positions and companies still disregard the African American consumer and treat them as suspects rather than prospects.
It’s difficult at times to reconcile the lives American live with the official historical record of their lives. Particularly when it comes to issues of race in America, one would be hard pressed, even in 2010, to find a definitive history of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights Movement. American terrorist cells like the Klu Klux Klan have been written into and out of history as both defenders of American ideals and White womanhood, and simultaneously, as the murderers and torturers of millions of their fellow Americans of differing races.
While many would prefer that history remain in the past, there are clear lines of connectedness that inform the political and social space in which we currently live.
Reconciling the two remains the looming issue.
While many would prefer that history remain in the past, there are clear lines of connectedness that inform the political and social space in which we currently live.
Reconciling the two remains the looming issue.