Tasty Morning Bytes – Elizabeth Catlett, Mayoral Street Cred and Peaceaholics Get Judged
Good morning, DCentric readers! Let’s kick off Tax Day with some links!
At Last, Kudos for Elizabeth Catlett Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Catlett was the granddaughter of slaves. Said Kinshasha Holman Conwill of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture: “For over six decades she has created unforgettable art that serves as eloquent testimony to the struggles of African Americans, especially women. Whether in works finely wrought in wood and bronze or in her elegiac works on paper, she has given us images of singular power and beauty.” (The Root)
‘Arrest’ raises Vincent Gray’s street cred Gray may not have had an easy first 100 days in office, but someone in D.C. is having the Best Week Ever! After getting arrested and drawing attention to the ways our city has been slighted, “Mr. Gray reclaimed the momentum that had propelled him to office by a decisive margin and arguably had his best week as D.C.mayor.” (Washington Times)
For richest, federal taxes have gone down; for some in U.S., they’re nonexistent This seems appropriate, today: “More than half of the nation’s tax revenue came from the top 10 percent of earners in 2007. More than 44 percent came from the top 5 percent. Still, the wealthy have access to much more lucrative tax breaks than people with lower incomes. Obama wants the wealthy to pay so “the amount of taxes you pay isn’t determined by what kind of accountant you can afford.” (The Washington Post)
Peaceoholics Ordered to Pay BB&T $31,000 BB&T won a ruling against the local anti-violence group, but they are “also looking for payment from Peaceoholics co-founders Ron Moten and Jauhar Abraham, who signed on as guarantors of the credit card when Peaceoholics applied for it in April 2009, accepting responsibility for debts if the organization wouldn’t pay them off.” (Washington City Paper)
Emancipation is hard to celebrate when kids are still slave to city’s violence “Ra-Heem had worked hard in school, won a $50,000 scholarship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and needed only two high school credits to be eligible for college. And still, he ended up being killed, shot once in the leg, chased down by his assailant and shot 10 more times…What could Ra-Heem possibly have done to make someone want to kill him? Probably nothing — except be a young black man in the city.” (The Washington Post)