Tasty Morning Bytes – Waitress Threatened Haynesworth, Muslim Americans and Black Civil War Re-Enactors
Good morning, DCentric readers! Here, enjoy some links:
How to Go Green? Look to D.C.’s Ledroit Park “Located a little over a mile north of downtown D.C. and bordering Howard University, LeDroit Park was once a planned, architecturally unified, and carefully landscaped suburb carved out of rural land. Founded in the second half of the nineteenth century, it has been home to a number of prominent African Americans, including such luminaries as Ralph Bunche (United Nations leader), Edward Brooke (U.S. Senator, Massachusetts), Mary Church Terrell (a co-founder of the NAACP), and Walter Washington (D.C.’s first mayor). The neighborhood features several prominent murals and an African-American Heritage Trail.” (The Atlantic)
D.C. schools plans to cut 660 jobs “D.C. school officials told 660 teachers and school staffers that their jobs have been scrapped for the upcoming school year, blaming fluctuations in enrollment and school finances. “Given reductions in many local school budgets for 2011-12, approximately 660 employees across the school system received excess notices this week, effective at the end of the school year,” said Fred Lewis, a spokesman for Acting Chancellor Kaya Henderson.” (Washington Examiner )
Haynesworth manager said waitress threatened player over size of tip “In the court filing, prosecutors said they had interviewed “numerous” witnesses present during the alleged incident — including some identified by Haynesworth’s defense team — and none mentioned a verbal altercation. Prosecutors also reminded Bolden of Haynesworth’s sworn statement to investigators, in which he said that other than ordering food, “I did not talk to the waitress.” Haynesworth also allegedly told investigators the waitress was upset with him because he rejected her advances.” (The Washington Post)
American Muslim, or Muslim American? “I am a Muslim who happens to be an American. My mother is Iranian and my father is Egyptian, but I don’t identify as either when asked about my nationality. I first identify as an American, because I was born here and my family and friends are here…What it means to me to be an American is ever-changing, which is why I see it as a way of describing myself in terms of my culture. America is a mix, and I am one, too, which is why I fit perfectly here.” (MultiAmerican)
Black Civil War Re-Enactors Reclaim History “That same year, abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass, through a newspaper editorial, urged black men to support the war. Knowing a loss to the Confederacy could result in re-enslavement, more than 200,000 heeded the cry. Historians have said that even Lincoln recognized that black soldiers were a key factor in the Union victory. It’s that spirit that black re-enactors attempt to portray at historical events, schools, churches and conferences.” (The Root)