Local Government Structure/ Israel-Palestine/ Community Meetings
Local Government Structure/ Israel-Palestine/ Community Meetings
It's important to know how local power is structured
Again, thank you for your support
While attending a community meeting at The Surratt’s House Museum, some panelists and I engaged in a conversation about local political education, and power. By political education, I mean a basic knowledge of local government. By power, I mean how elected officials wield power in Prince George’s County.
As you know, this newsletter, and by extension The Intersection Magazine, exists with the ultimate goal of informing and connecting you to your communities. This is why our newsletter presents you with community meetings with hopes that you will be better informed about what your local government is doing.
However, it is also important for us to know what local government looks like. Knowing what local government looks like helps us to understand where the power is, and who is wielding it. Below are two charts. The first is a chart that shows the shape of Maryland’s government. The second is a chart of Prince George’s County government.
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Legislation
Bill: CB-097-2023
Status: Third Reading
Public Hearing Date: 11/14/23 at 1 p.m.
Sponsored: Edward P. Burroughs, Krystal Oriadha, Calvin S. Hawkins, Wala Blegay, Ingrid S. Watson, Jolene Ivey, Thomas E. Dernoga, Wanika Fisher, Eric C. Olson, Mel Franklin
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING RETURNING CITIZENS FAIR CHANCE TO HOUSING for the purpose of alleviating housing discrimination suffered by returning citizens and those with criminal convictions is their quest for adequate and suitable housing by prohibiting landlords from making inquiries into a prospective tenant’s criminal history.
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Bill: CB-098-2023
Status: Held in Committee
Sponsors: Edward P. Burroughs, Krystal Oriadha, Wala Blegay, Calvin S. Hawkins, Ingrid S. Watson, Sydney J. Harrison
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING LABOR - MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES for the purpose of modifying the amount of the tip credit an employer can use to calculate the minimum wage for a tipped employee working in the County; require an employer to submit quarterly wage reports; and generally, amend the law governing the minimum wage for a tipped employee working in the County.
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Bill: CB-101-2023
Status: Third Reading
Sponsors: Wanika Fisher
Title: AN ACT CONCERNING HOUSING CODE OF PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY for the purpose of amending the Housing Code to add email or e-mail, by written consent to the methods of service of a notice of violation, civil citation, and administrative citation of the Housing Code; providing that a rental license application and renewal license application shall contain written authorization for a licensee to have the option to provide written consent to service of notice of violation, civil citation, and administrative citation by email or e-mail; providing for a certain definition; providing for the Department to provide certain guidelines; and generally regarding a notice of violation, civil citation, and administrative citation of the Housing Code by email or e-mail, by written consent.
Community Meetings
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.
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Electronics and Household Hazardous Waste Disposal
Date: October 28, 2023
Times: 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
DoE announces two more Electronics Recycling and Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Disposal Days!
Saturday, October 28, from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. at Friendly High School
1000 Allentown Rd, Ft. Washington, MD 20744
Saturday, November 4, from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. at High Point High School
3601 Powder Mill Rd, Beltsville, MD 20705
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National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
Date(s): October 28, 2023
Times(s): 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Door time: October 28, 2023
Location: Location details and map
Pilgrimage Christian Church
5105 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746
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Session 2: Community Archaeology Project
Ticket Price: FREE
Event Category: History
Event Programs & Series: Archaeology Surratt House Museum
Surratt House Museum and Research Center
(301) 868-1121 surratthouse@pgparks.com
Contact: archaeology@pgparks.com
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Life After Release
The Justice Policy Institute and Life After Release come together to host a panel discussion on Maryland's parole system. This community conversation will highlight the voices of those who have experienced and are impacted by Maryland's parole system, as well as feature a discussion of the first comprehensive report on Maryland parole since 1935.
Time: Saturday, October 28, 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. EDT
Location: This event’s address is private.
Sign up for more details. (sign up here)
Israel - Hamas Conflict
Note: What should be noted here is the reality that Hamas is not representative of Palestinians. Additionally, Palestine is not Hamas. What is also true is that not all Palestinians are Muslims. Some are Christian. On the other side of this, not all Jews agree with Israel’s response to Hamas's attacks on Israel. Jews in Israel are protesting against their government. American Jews and Palestinians have also protested against this current administration at the White House. They’re called on the Biden Administration to pressure Israel to a ceasefire. In 2022, Amnesty International labeled Israel an apartheid state, which means the Israeli government has constructed a system that ultimately benefits them, and works against the humanity of the Palestinians.
The argument that Israel practices apartheid, explained
Excerpt: Apartheid, a term originating from the South African government’s systematic oppression of Black residents, is a crime against humanity under international law. At its core, it refers to policies intended to elevate one racial group over another, with the goal of maintaining the dominant group’s hegemony. In 1998, the International Criminal Court (to which Israel is not a party) defined it as “inhumane acts ... committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group ... and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.”
Human rights groups have argued that the Israeli government’s policies on land access, restrictions on movement, and limitations on the right to vote meet the ICC’s standard and that it has institutionalized racism against Palestinians in order to ensure Israeli Jews remain the dominant group across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT), which includes the West Bank and Gaza. Israel and its allies, including the US and the European Commission, have rejected this assessment.
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What Palestinians Really Think of Hamas
Excerpt: The argument that the entire population of Gaza can be held responsible for Hamas’s actions is quickly discredited when one looks at the facts. Arab Barometer, a research network where we serve as co-principal investigators, conducted a survey in Gaza and the West Bank days before the Israel-Hamas war broke out. The findings, published here for the first time, reveal that rather than supporting Hamas, the vast majority of Gazans have been frustrated with the armed group’s ineffective governance as they endure extreme economic hardship.
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Biden Cast Doubt On Gaza’s Death Statistics — But Officials Cite Them Internally
Excerpt: HuffPost reviewed nearly 20 State Department “situation reports,” with the earliest dating from Oct. 8, the day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a devastating attack inside Israel that killed 1,400 people and sparked the current fighting. Most were prepared by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and then circulated to a broad group of department officials working on issues related to Israel-Palestine. Situation reports such as these represent U.S. assessments from the ground that are intended to inform policy discussions and decision-making in Washington.
Community News
Gov. Wes Moore endorses Angela Alsobrooks in Democratic primary for U.S. Senate
Excerpt: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) stepped into the U.S. Senate race Monday to endorse Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
Moore returned the favor after Alsobrooks endorsed him last year for governor when he opened a field office in Prince George’s, the majority Black jurisdiction with the largest number of registered Democrats in the state.
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Prince George’s County breaks ground on new health care facility in Greenbelt
Excerpt: Ingrid Lewis, the manager of the immunization program within the Prince George’s County, Maryland, health department, is looking forward to the more prominent location of a facility that will replace the Cheverly Health Center.
The facility will be located at 9001 Edmonston Road off Kenilworth Avenue in Greenbelt, and on Monday, Prince George’s County leaders broke ground on the new state-of-the-art, 80,000-square-foot health care center.
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Median beautification project aims to clean up Prince George's County (Video)
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Prince George's considers restricting where marijuana dispensaries can open (Video)
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Median beautification project aims to clean up Prince George's County (Video)
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Maryland Supreme Court corrects century-old injustice, posthumously admits Black man to bar
Excerpt: More than a century after Edward Garrison Draper was rejected for the Maryland Bar due to his race, he has been posthumously admitted.
The Supreme Court of Maryland attempted to right the past wrong by hold a special session Thursday to admit Draper, who was Black, to practice law in the state, news outlets reported.
Draper presented himself as a candidate to practice law in 1857 and a judge found him "qualified in all respects" — except for his skin color, and so he was denied.