Community

Diverse, Spry Centenarians Hailed at Annual Luncheon

WASHINGTON INFORMER — In the not-too-distant past, if someone reached the age of 100, society considered that person to be ancient and functionally useless. Today, those who reach 100 are not considered to be outliers but a standard of living that should be aspired to. That message came through clearly at the 33rd annual Salute to Centenarians at the Kellogg Conference & Hotel Center on the Northeast campus of Gallaudet University on April 29.

Published

6 years ago

May 4, 2019

James Wright

By James Wright

In the not-too-distant past, if someone reached the age of 100, society considered that person to be ancient and functionally useless.

Today, those who reach 100 are not considered to be outliers but a standard of living that should be aspired to. That message came through clearly at the 33rd annual Salute to Centenarians at the Kellogg Conference & Hotel Center on the Northeast campus of Gallaudet University on April 29.

“Today, we recognize the extraordinary D.C. seniors who got us to where we are today and continue to help move us forward,” Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said to the 61 honored guests and their family and friends. “My administration is committed to making the investments that keep D.C. an age-friendly city where we grow together, age together and, like we did today, celebrate together.”

The Social Security Administration says there are 300 centenarians living in the District. In 2014, a report for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 72,197 Americans were 100 or older, and that number has likely increased because studies over the past three decades have shown that people are living longer and the death rate has fallen in recent years.

Thelma Ferbish, 70, stirs coffee for her mother Viola Harrison, 102, who was one of the centenarians honored at the D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living luncheon at the Kellogg Conference & Hotel in northeast D.C. on April 29. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

The centenarians who attended the luncheon did not fit the stereotype of wrinkled, half-dead people afflicted with ailments, failing eyesight and hearing. During the luncheon, they sang along as the band played music, bobbing their heads and swinging hips. Inez Robertson, 102, even got on the floor and danced to “When the Saints Go Marching In” by the band Bruther’s Plus One.

Vanilla P. Beane, an internationally recognized milliner, received special attention because of her well-known nickname as “The Hat Lady.” Beane opened up her hat shop on 3rd Street NW in 1978 and it still operates under her watchful eye.

Beane’s hats are displayed in the Black Fashion Museum in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in the District acquired five of her hats for permanent display. She designed many hats for Dr. Dorothy Height, the iconic former president and chair of the National Council of Negro Women.

Marilee Asher, born in 1912, was recognized as the oldest of the 61 present, while Viola R. Harrison, 102, received a lot of attention because of her family of long-livers and her career success. Harrison’s grandmother died at the age of 109 in 1955 and her grandfather died in 1947 aged 114.

Harrison also had three cousins who have lived past 100, one of whom lived to be 108. In addition, she worked for the same New York bank location for 60 years and presently owns two apartment buildings, one home in Kingston, N.Y., and one in the District.

Harrison has a simple philosophy for living long and well.

“Treat people right, live right and you will live a long time,” said her daughter, Thelma Ferbish, quoting her mother. Ferbish manages her mother’s properties but Harrison remains the owner and keeps abreast of developments.

A documentary about her mother, Ferbish said, is in the works.

The centenarians consisted of published authors (Cora Satcher Parker), a former Senior Olympics swimmer (John Tatum) and a graduate of West Point Military Academy (Peter Russell).

Laura Newland, the director of the District Department of Aging and Community Living, personally congratulated each centenarian while the master of ceremonies, Carroll “Mr. C” Hynson Jr. of WHUR-FM (96.3), read shortened versions of their biographies.

Newland, who distributed medals and certificates to the participants, said she enjoyed the luncheon and understood its importance.

“This event helps us as a community to grow closer,” she said. “No matter how long one has lived or lived in the District, we have to recognize everything they have done for us.”

This article originally appeared in the Washington Informer.

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Activism

In 1974, Then-Gov. Jimmy Carter Visited the Home of Oakland Black Black Political Activist Virtual Murrell While Running for President

civil rights icon Georgia State Representative Julian Bond said that Carter, along with governors Reuben Askew of Florida, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, and Terry Sanford of North Carolina, were all a part of what was being dubbed the “New South” and so supported civil rights and voting rights for African Americans.

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January 3, 2025

Oakland Post

Virtual Murrell chats with Jimmy Carter two years before Carter was elected president in 1976. Courtesy photo.

By Virtual T. Murrell
Special to The Post

On his way to seeking the presidency, then-Gov. Jimmy Carter visited the Bay Area in his capacity as campaign chairman of the Democratic National Committee in March of 1974.

A friend of mine, Bill Lynch, a Democrat from San Francisco, had been asked to host Carter, who was then relatively unknown. Seeking my advice on the matter, I immediately called my friend, civil rights icon Georgia State Representative Julian Bond, for his opinion.

Bond said that Carter, along with governors Reuben Askew of Florida, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, and Terry Sanford of North Carolina, were all a part of what was being dubbed the “New South” and so supported civil rights and voting rights for African Americans.

Based on Julian’s comments, I agreed to host the governor. We picked him up at the San Francisco Airport. With his toothy smile, I could tell almost right away that he was like no other politician I had ever met. On his arrival, there was a message telling him to go to the VIP room, where he met then-Secretary of State Jerry Brown.

After leaving the airport, we went to a reception in his honor at the home of Paul “Red” Fay, who had served as the acting secretary of the Navy under President John Kennedy. (Carter, it turned out, had been himself a 1946 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served as a submariner in the 1950s.)

The following afternoon, the Niagara Movement Democratic Club hosted a reception for Carter, which was a major success. Carter indicated that he would be considering running for president and hoped for our support if he did so.

As the event was winding down, I witnessed the most amazing moment: Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, was in the kitchen with my former wife, Irene, wearing an apron and busting suds! You would have to have been there to see it: The first and last time a white woman cleaned up my kitchen.

A few months later, President Richard Nixon resigned amid the Watergate scandal. He was succeeded by his vice president, Gerald Ford.

On the heels of that scandal, Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976 represented integrity and honesty at a point in America’s history when he was just what the nation needed to lead as president of the United States.

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Oakland Post: Week of January 1 – 7, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 1 – 7, 2025

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To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Racially Motivated Violence Against Black Teen Prompts $10 Million Claim Against LAUSD 

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends. 

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Oakland Post

(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

A distraught mother and her legal team announced a $10 million lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Dec. 16, alleging that her son was the target of bullying because of his race.

“CS DOE is a 14-year-old African American student at Verdugo High School. He is a Ninth Grader,” reads a statement the plaintiff’s attorneys shared with California Black Media (CBM).

“Almost from the first day of class (in August 2024), CS DOE was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically attacked him and threatened to stab him.”

The family’s identity has not yet been released to the public due to safety concerns, according to their attorneys Bradley C. Gage and Caree Harper. The student’s mother is identified only as A.O. in the complaint.

The first video, filmed in August, showed several non-Black students punching and kicking a Black student in a bathroom on campus while yelling racial slurs. The mother claims that the students who attacked her son were not punished, and the administration asked her to move her son to another school for his safety.

“They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards those students,” said the student’s mother. “He’s not going anywhere. He’s going to finish. I wanted him to at least stay until the December winter break, and then I was going to transfer schools for him.”

Before she could enroll her son in a different school the attacks escalated.

CS DOE, a 14-year-old freshman, left the school but was followed by a car, according to Gage. Several individuals exited the vehicle, one with a “large butcher knife.” A fight ensued and two people were stabbed. The Black student was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon but was later released into his mother’s custody.

The high school freshmen is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Feb. 1, but Harper says she will reach out to the District Attorney and make the case against charging the young man.

“His mama had to go find him because he was hiding and fleeing for his very life,” said Harper.

According to the boy’s mother, the young student is still traumatized and has not been able to return to the area because it remains unsafe. Racial slurs have also been spray painted on their home.

“I’m sad. I’m devastated, you know,” said the mother. “I still feel like they’re after him. I still feel like they can kill him, possibly.”

The LAUSD and principal of Verdugo High School did not respond to CBM’s requests for comment.

If you are – or someone you know is – has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, please visit CAvsHate.org for more information and to find out what you can do about it.