Left to Right: Malik Shabazz., Amy Jenkins, and Roussan Etienne. Jr. presenting arguments before the Board of Elections
Washington, DC — DC’s Mayor Bowser, Council Member Anita Bonds, and DC’s Attorney General Racine, have not shown support for the proposed Recovery Act for Living Descendants of American Slaves, which does not depend on government funding, and seeks compensation from former entities that used slave labor or participated in slavery.
At the Board of Election Hearing last week, African American leaders, John Cheeks and Jerry Owens of the United States Citizens Recovery Initiative Alliance (USCRIA.Com) Attorney Malik Z. Shabazz, Amy Jenkins, and others, in a capacity filled room, spoke in support of the proposed law, also supported by Congressman John Conyers though he did not attend; in attempts to have the Board’s approval for the proposed law to be placed on the ballot.
Malik Shabazz Esq of Black Lawyers for Justice stated, “We hope that all barriers are soon crossed so to clear a path for his [ for Mr. Cheeks] referendum to be placed on the ballot for 2018.”
Amy Jenkins, “The DC Recovery Act attempts to make whole living descendants of African American slaves, and for this we will fight for recovery under the DC Recovery Act.” She pointed out that the Constitution was created by white men who favored land owners and themselves and did not allow Africans to vote.
Jerry Owens: “The DC Recovery Act is indeed the rising tide that will lift all ships,”
After hearing supporters, the Board Chairman determined a decision was not to be made at this Hearing because of concerns by board members and the Attorney General, the Act may be unlawful. The Board gave Mr. Cheeks and his counsel time to submit a brief defending the legality of the proposed law to be placed on the ballot.
DC Mayor and DC Council Members are also out of step with Mr. Cheeks efforts in the courts to improve contracting opportunities for African Americans, by ending a 20-year virtual monopoly of District road construction contacts by alleged racketeering Fort Myer’s construction companies controlled by the Rodrigues-Shrensky families.
Cheeks’ attempts, in Court, to open bidding on road construction contracts to fair and open competition which would need procurement reform, that would allow African Americans opportunities to obtain District construction contracts has not had the support of the Mayor, and Council Member Anita Bonds, despite the fact Mr. Cheeks publicly stated a sizeable amount of Court settlement proceeds would be used to assist African Americans and others in the District of Columbia.
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Both of these African American elected officials appear to have ties and loyalty to Fort Myer even though Fort Myer was to pay $900,000 for discrimination “which resulted in lower wages for African Americans and harassment of minorities” according to the Department of Labor.
Mayor Bowser recently demonstrated her loyalty to Fort Myer, when she allegedly had two government employees fired who refused to give contracts to Fort Myer, according to Court documents filed by the employees. City Council Member, Mary Cheh initiated and is continuing investigative hearings behind closed doors concerning the Mayor’s involvement
Further exacerbating African American unemployment in the city, the Mayor has not enforced legislation requiring Fort Myer‘s companies to hire required amounts of Washington, DC employees, which would likely be African Americans. Only a small fraction of Fort Myer’s labor is from DC, most are from Maryland and Virginia.
Both Mayor Bowser and Anita Bonds are on public record of receiving sizeable campaign donations from Fort Myer. Anita Bonds is also a former executive of Fort Myer.
It appears African American elected officials are at odds with African American leaders and may have differing objectives, in pursuing social progress for African Americans.
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