Black Farmers/Israel-Hamas Conflict/ Community News
Black Farmers/Israel-Hamas Conflict/ Community News
Our Space is a Prince George’s County-based organization that supports Black farmers. The organization has compiled a list of Prince George’s County Black farmers. The farmers stretch from North to South County. You can view that list here: t.ly/e4TJ
In Prince George’s County, Black Farmers are a valuable resource in the fight against food insecurity and Black determinism. Here is a link to a newsletter, where I covered food insecurity.
Excerpt:
"Food insecurity, as defined by the USDA, is “a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.” Individuals who are referred to as food insecure in the report were identified, using the USDA’s standard six-question screener, as having experienced one or more food-related hardships at any point during the past year. The screener is used to identify three levels of food security: food secure, food insecure, and severely food insecure."
Prince George's County:
48% percent food insecure
52% percent food secure
Israel - Hamas War
Israel - Hamas conflict is decades old. This explainer seeks to only explain this iteration of the conflict. This explainer somewhat ignores the history of the conflict, which is rooted in Jewish people returning to Israel, where Palestinians lived. It assumes that you know something about the history. Palestinians were forced to live in one section of the country. Currently, Palestinians are quarantined in one section of the land, which is called the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places on earth. Thousands of Palestinians, including children, live in poverty.
The Hamas Attacks and Israeli Response: An Explainer
Excerpt: On October 7th, Hamas militants broke through the barrier that surrounds Gaza and invaded more than 20 Israeli towns and army bases in a gruesome attack that has been widely understood as a “paradigm shift” in Israel/Palestine. Israel has responded to Hamas’s assault with massive, ongoing air strikes. On October 9th, Israel cut off Gazans’ access to food, electricity, gas, and water, and on October 13th ordered the residents in the northern half of the Strip—more than one million people—to evacuate to the south immediately. Human rights organizations and experts have now referred to the situation in Gaza as a genocide, with large numbers at risk of dying from dehydration or starvation, as well as continuing airstrikes. A ground invasion of Gaza appears imminent.
Trip to Israel ties Biden and US to any Gaza offensive
Excerpt: WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - He came to bolster Israel's fight against Hamas and to offer aid to Palestinians suffering under an Israeli siege, but by flying into Tel Aviv when he did, U.S. President Joe Biden inextricably linked himself to any fight to come.
Biden's eight-hour visit took place a day after a hospital bombing in Gaza City that killed hundreds of Palestinians quickly became a lightning rod in the Arab world.
Israel-Palestine war: The wheels are coming off the cart of US Middle East policy
Excerpt: Joe Biden is not having a good war. Three days after the Hamas attack, the US president gave a speech that had even Donald Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, settler-lover David Friedman, eating out of his hand.
Biden falsely endorsed the claim that Hamas had beheaded babies, in remarks that the White House had to row back later; he promised US support for giving Israel everything it needed to “respond to this attack”; and he falsely asserted that civilians in Gaza were being used as human shields.
County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Are In a Tug-of-War Over The Washington Football Team’s Stadium
Bowser’s RFK Stadium Campaign Got Off to an Uneven Start Before Skeptical Kingman Park Neighbors
Excerpt: The scene at a Kingman Park church Wednesday night produced the kind of absurd political theater fit for a television sitcom. Mayor Muriel Bowser, perhaps D.C.’s biggest booster of a new stadium at RFK, had to sit quietly on stage at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church while one argument after another against a stadium flashed on screen beside her.
Can Investment Entice The Commanders To Stay At FedEx Field?
Excerpt: Washington Commanders fans are psyched for the opening game of the football season Sunday at FedEx Field in Landover.
They may not agree on whether the team will be competitive this year. But there is undeniably a new vibe in the fan base, thanks to the recent departure of one of the most detested owners in professional sports, Daniel Snyder.
Community Meetings
9th annual Green Summit
Saturday, October 21, 2023
10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at David C. Driskell Community Park
3911 Hamilton St, Hyattsville, MD
Come out for a day full of family-friendly activities, sustainable tips, green exhibitors, food trucks, music, and fun that highlight how we can all make a difference to protect and preserve our environment. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is preferred, but not required, at doesummit2023.eventbrite.com.
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The Prince George’s County Health Department: Human Rights Commission Meeting
This regularly scheduled Human Rights Commission meeting will be held over Zoom. The Zoom link can be found on the agenda. Please contact the Clerk with any accommodation requests no fewer than three days in advance of the meeting (OHRStaff (at) co.pg.md.us)
Date: October 23, 2023
Times: 5:30 p.m.
Meeting Details: Join Zoom Meeting https://mypgc.zoom.us/ j/89815056304 Meeting ID: 898 1505 6304 Passcode: 565489
Agenda Monday, October 23, 2023 (open).pdf
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October 23, 2023 Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Meeting
Monthly Board Meeting will be held at the Rollingcrest Community located at 5659 Sargent Road Hyattsville, Maryland 20722. The meeting will also be available to the public via Go-To-Meeting conference. If you would like to join, please email mkcrawford@co.pg.md.us for meeting information. If you are unable to join via Go-To-Meeting, you can dial into the teleconference: Dial In Phone#: 1-866-899-4679 Participant PIN#: 819-222-557.
If you have questions, or if you have a disability and require an accommodation please contact the Housing Authority of Prince George's County at (301) 883-5531 or TTY (301) 883-5428.
Date: October 23, 2023
Times: 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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POSTPONED Public Hearing - OHR/Morina v Medstar Southern Maryland Hospital
THIS HAS BEEN POSTPONED AND WILL NOT BE HELD ON OCTOBER 24th. PLEASE REACH OUT TO THE CLERK WITH ANY QUESTIONS.
This public hearing will be held virtually over Zoom. Register in advance here: https://mypgc.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMude-vrTgpHdDzo-dh-XrJl4LFVkFA6H5j. Once you have registered, you will receive the log-in link automatically from Zoom. Please register using your own name and alert the Clerk to the Commission that you would like to attend; she will look for your name and be sure to admit you into the Zoom public hearing. Please also send any accommodation requests to the Clerk no fewer than five business days in advance of the public hearing.
Clerk email: jmcochran (at) co.pg.md.us, phone: 240-328-4145
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October 25, 2023, Commission On Common Ownership Communities Meeting
Date: October 25, 2023
Times: 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
CCOC October monthly meeting flyer.pdf
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Safe Sanctuaries Interfaith Symposium
The Department of Family Service is hosting a Safe Sanctuaries, Interfaith Symposium at the Comfort Inn Conference Center located at 4500 Crain Highway, in Bowie, MD, on Tuesday November 7, 2023. The purpose of the Interfaith Symposium is to share tips and resources with Clergy and Faith Leaders on how to recognize the red flags of domestic violence. Topics will include: The Faith-Based Community's Role and How to Support, Prevent and Intervene; and Faith Institutions - Safety, Security and Awareness. To register and for more information, click here.
Date: November 7, 2023
Times: 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Big News
Rent Control Debate Fuels Uncertainty In Prince George’s County’s Multifamily Market
Excerpt: Rent control is top of mind for Prince George’s County's real estate industry, as the county's one-year program is more than halfway done and time is running out to determine a permanent policy.
Prince George's considers restricting where marijuana dispensaries can open
Excerpt: A proposal to limit where new marijuana dispensaries can be located passed a key Prince George’s County Council committee. The measure, which has majority support in the Council, would require new shops to be located in heavy and light industrial areas. An amendment that would have allowed dispensaries in commercial zones like shopping centers failed.
Excerpt: The City of District Heights has acquired three parcels on the 6100 block of Marlboro Pike for public use. The cost for the three parcels was $500,000. The 1.4-acre site is planned to be the Incorporated City of District Height’s first expansion onto Marlboro Pike focusing on community policing and public service delivery. The City’s expansion onto Marlboro Pike coincides with the official launch of the City’s economic development initiative.
Community composting programs gain foothold in Bay region
Excerpt: Like a fine wine, the Organics Composting Facility in Upper Marlboro, MD, possesses a complex bouquet. On a weekday afternoon in mid-September, after a streak of unseasonably hot days, a discerning nose would have detected notes of sandalwood, vanilla, wet leaves, raisins and stewed plums mingling in the air.
“It’s fresh to me,” said Denice Curry, inhaling deeply. “In general, it smells good.”
Excerpt: During the last 40 years Southern Maryland has come into its own, making a dramatic transformation from one of the poorest and least competitive regions of the state, into one of the most dynamic and prosperous — doubling in population and diversity with a strong economy and steadily expanding opportunity.
Major projects have played a role in the transformation of the region. But as important as these developments have been, none has had a greater impact than bringing rapid transit to Southern Maryland will have on the region’s future quality of life.