More on Lynching in Maryland/ Community Meetings/ Big Stories
More on Lynching in Maryland/ Community Meetings/ Big Stories
Life matters
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This past week, I reported on a story about lynching in Maryland. The event was held in Fort Washington, Maryland - South County, Prince George’s County. I keep thinking about one of Mary Craft’s statements. We talked for about 30-minutes. ( My interview with her, reminds me of my conversations with my older family members, who lived in segregated Calvert County, Maryland).
“In [Black] culture, when a person dies we have a wake, and a funeral, recognizing the humanity of that person. For people who were lynched, that did not happen. So our service… is about commemorating his life.”
To me, Craft helps us reflect upon what funeral traditions help us to do and recount. They remind us that we are human. They help us to remember the person’s life, the way they loved and laughed. Carving out a space to celebrate life would have been important in a society that considered Black people less than human.
This service revealed something else about Black people in Maryland. This is not true for all Black individuals. At this point, there is very little known about the actual life of the Juricks’ family. We don’t know what their day-to-day lives were like. This point was highlighted during the commemoration service. It speaks to the manufactured invisibility of Black life during the time of slavery, reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Black people within the historical records are ghost-like. They appear in some records. But, in others, they don’t.
The Prince George’s County Memorial Lynching Project will likely commemorate more victims of lynchings. (You can read more about them here). Michael Green was lynched in 1878 in Upper Marlboro. Green was buried alongside two other Black men who were lynched. John Henry Scott was hanged from a walnut tree in Prince George’s County. Stephen Williams was hanged from a bridge and buried near Joseph Vermillion, who was also lynched.
“The crowd led Williams to an iron bridge in between the town and the railroad station. With the other end of the noose tied to the bridge, the mob threw Williams over, breaking his neck instantly. A few minutes later, Warden Spicer approached the bridge, and dispersed the crowd, leaving Williams body hanging. It was removed the next morning and placed under a sycamore tree where fellow lynching victim Joseph Vermillion’s body was buried five years earlier.”
Leara Davis Is Out!
Months ago, a source emailed me a tip about a young lady in jail who was experiencing harsh conditions. Her name is Leara Davis. She was held in pre-trial jail.
You can read that story here.
After months of trying to be released before trial, Leara is finally out. She is reunited with her son. She hadn’t seen him since she birthed him in December. Her grandmother, Linda, has been caring for him.
"She finally made it home,” Linda said in a text message.
Community Meetings
Looking For A New CEO of Prince George’s County Public School System
County Administration is holding a public meeting to listen to residents on ideas for a new PGCPS CEO. It will take place at Charles H. Flowers High School on April 26 from 6 to 8 p.m. Residents interested in testifying at the forum must register online here by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, April 25. Written testimony is also being accepted and can be submitted via email to CountyExecutive@co.pg.md.us by 5:00 PM on Friday, April 28.
District 6 Community Clean Up
Prince George’s County Council Vice Chair Wala Blegay, Esq. invites the community to participate in the District 6 community Clean Up!
DATE:
Saturday, April 22, 2023
9:00am-12:00pm
LOCATION:
Lake Arbor Pavilion
1399 Golf Course Drive
Mitchellville, MD 20721
Volunteers are needed to clean the following areas:
Rt. 214 at Campus Way North
Rt. 202 at Lake Arbor Way
Campus Way North
Golf Course Drive
Terrapin Hills
Participants are encouraged to sign up by visiting the Eventbrite link or by scanning the QR code located on the event flyer.
Register HERE. For more information, contact the Council District 6 team at (301) 952-3426 or via email at councildistrict6@co.pg.md.us.
District 7 Earth Day Community Clean Up
Join Prince George's County Council Member Krystal Oriadha and Impact One Church to commemorate Earth Day by cleaning up District 7!
DATE:
April 22, 2023
10:00 a.m. -11:30 a.m.
LOCATION:
Oakcrest Community Center
1300 Capitol Heights Boulevard
Capitol Heights, Maryland 20743
For more information, please contact the Council District 7 office at (301) 952-3690 or email councildistrict7@co.pg.md.us.
Apply to Become a Member of the Fair Election Fund Commission
Interested in making a difference concerning public financing and fair elections in Prince Georges’s County?
The Prince George’s County Council seeking qualified candidates, who reflect political and geographical diversity, to fill five vacant seats on the seven (7) member Fair Election Fund Commission. Each nominee will be confirmed by the county council. Commissioners will serve the remaining two (2) years of the term ending April 30, 2025.
Residents are encouraged to refer to the following Fair Election Fund Commission flyer to access additional information regarding qualifications, responsibilities, and next steps to apply. Click HERE.
Interested residents who wish to be considered should email a resume to Council Administrator Jennifer Jenkins, at JAJenkins@co.pg.md.us by 5:00 p.m. Monday, April 17, 2023. Nominees will also be notified via email.
A Gift of Giving: Supply Drive for the Homeless
Prince George's County Council Member At-Large Calvin S. Hawkins invites the community to participate in a virtual supply drive for the homeless.
A Gift of Giving: Supply Drive for the Homeless seeks to receive enough donations to make 200 bags. Team Hawkins is currently accepting donations through Tuesday, May 2, 2023 via the Supply Drive for the Homeless Amazon Wishlist. Visit http://bit.ly/Helpthehomelesspgco to make your donation today.
Let's give a helping hand to Prince George's County's homeless citizens. For more information, please contact (301) 952-2195.
Prince George's County Council Members to Co-Host the 2023 MML Summer Conference Breakfast
Prince George's County Council Members Eric Olson (Council District 3), Ingrid Watson (Council District 4), and Jolene Ivey (Council District 5) will co-host the 2023 MML Summer Conference Breakfast on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, beginning at 8:00 AM.
The Dough Roller
(Near Convention Center)
4103 Coastal Highway (41st Street & Coastal Highway)
Ocean City, MD 21942
Prince George's County Council members will join hundreds of Maryland city and town officials at the 2023 Maryland Municipal League Summer Conference to learn about and discuss municipal issues and network with fellow city and town officials. The Maryland Municipal League (MML) is composed solely of municipal officials and devoted to the promotion of all branches of municipal administration. MML works to strengthen and support municipal government through advocacy, the development of effective leadership, and offers legislative representation in Washington, urban research programs, and a national municipal government information exchange.
For more information, please contact your respective Council member's office.
County News
Prince George’s County passes new rental assistance program
Excerpt: On Tuesday afternoon, the county council passed a bill to create a rental assistance fund program. It’s a big step towards helping people struggling to pay the rent in Prince George’s County.
The meeting was filled with residents in support of this bill including CASA, a Maryland advocacy group.
Heather Murphy, a single mother and longtime resident of Prince George’s County stood in front of the County Council pleading with leaders to pass the bill. She says she’s exhausted all her resources.
“I’m personally facing eviction now. I’ve been out of work on short-term disability since the end of December. My rent was just increased by 7%. I’ve been trying social services and HUD housing. I’m told there’s no assistance in PG county and maybe I should even look at going somewhere else and it’s, it’s out of control,” said Murphy.
Prince George’s Co. leaders celebrate funding victories in legislative session; process to pick school leader will remain unchanged
Excerpt: Prince George’s County leaders proclaimed another year of legislative victories on economic development, housing, health and infrastructure improvements.
The state of Maryland’s second largest jurisdiction hopes to utilize $100 million in state aid if the U.S. General Services Administration choose one of two sites in Prince George’s for a new and expanded headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Federal, state and local elected officials are in a border battle with their neighbors across the Potomac River in Springfield, Virginia, who are also pitching for the FBI to relocate there.
Surprise delivery: Amazon hands out $40K scholarships to Prince George’s Co. high school seniors
Excerpt: Seven Prince George’s County high school seniors gathered inside a room at Eleanor Roosevelt High School for what they were told would be a STEM-related conference.
But they walked outside and saw cameras, microphones and their parents all gathered together. Even then, they didn’t truly know what was happening. Neither did their parents.
The seven students, hailing from four different high schools around the Maryland county, stood through a few quick speeches before Victor Reinoso, the global director of education philanthropy at Amazon, had delivery drivers walk back to a truck in the parking lot, grab a box and hand it to the students.
Community Group to Help Prince George’s Churches Create 700 Affordable Homes
Excerpt: Through its Faith-Based Development Initiative (FBDI), Enterprise Community Partners is teaming up with Prince George’s County elected officials and faith leaders to develop underutilized land for new affordable housing communities.
The $525,000 program, supported by Bank of America, Prince George’s County and the Greater Washington Community Foundation, will help seven churches develop affordable housing on their vacant properties.
Guests gathered at Refreshing Springs Church of God in Christ, in Riverdale, Maryland, where Williams and other leaders said this initiative is a great opportunity for the community.
A RADICAL CHANGE
Excerpt: I will challenge anyone who is Black, African, and poor to be as radical as we can about the view of the framework of white supremacy,” Willie Flowers tells me over the phone in late March, “and how the so-called war on drugs devastated – continues to devastate – our community,” Flowers is president of the NAACP, Maryland State Conference. He has held the job since 2019. He’s talking about the aggressive campaign that began in the early 1970s to stomp out illegal drug use — a campaign that stretched out over 50 years. It put a lot of people behind bars (especially people of color) but didn’t stop the use or sale of drugs in any meaningful way.
At the time of our conversation, lawmakers in Annapolis were busy laying out a legal framework that will go into effect July 1. That’s when recreational cannabis consumption for people over the age of 21 will be legal. From that point on, adults may possess and consume 1.5 ounces of cannabis flower, 12 grams of concentrated cannabis, or a total amount of cannabis products that do not exceed 750 mg THC.
For Black Folk, ‘Green Jobs’ Are the Key to a Prosperous Future
Excerpt: Black Americans’ relationship with nature is rich and complex. It’s the foundation of Black folks’ history, stretching back over 400 years.
And Jerri Taylor, director of diversity in career pathways at Project Learning Tree, knows this well. She is the first Black American in a leadership role at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, one of the largest organizations focused on environmental education, forest literacy, and green career pathways.
Being involved in environmental work might be in her DNA. It turns out Taylor’s own great-grandfather is known as a “hidden figure” in agriculture.
During the 1930s, Berea “Burrie” Corbett was considered one of the largest Black landowners in the South. Corbett owned a 1,300-acre tobacco farm — made possible by $40 worth of gold coins he received from his parents.