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Careful WSMBF – Indianapolis Recorder

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Careful WSMBF – Indianapolis Recorder


Careful, Newfields, the silence is a bit too loud. An African proverb says, “The eye that is outside sees most of the game.” The silent game Newfields plays leaves little to the imagination and more to dance with dated ideologies better suited in history with Newfield’s reticent past. However, the antithesis leads the Indianapolis art institution to repeat the same mistakes continually.

Before Newfields self-disclosed, its racist intent (in a board-approved job description), the distance between its history, (the interconnectedness of its) current problems, and its lack of social responsibility stood the quasi-contradictory institution resting on traditions while utilizing traditions to encourage change, a clever master of playing change, but never evolving. But now that its “racial problems” will not hush and go away and Newfields is under a brighter, more intense spotlight, the community wants to see all its laundry and hear its leaders while it is being cleaned. A charge Newfields led with its commitment to a metamorphosis that would include diversity, inclusivity, and transparency.

Under the gaze of inclusivity and transparency, Newfields elected its first Black Board of Trustees, Chair Darrianne Christian. Her role would be the Director of Governance. Christian, in turn, appointed and welcomed Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette as Newfield’s first Black CEO and director of day-to-day operations.

Leveraging the possibilities of what started as an opportunity to exhibit institutional change, educate, build community, and begin anew with Black women at the helm now leaves the community questioning what prevented these hand-selected women from doing their jobs efficiently and effectively. What changed?

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Both Darrianne Christian and Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette have traveled the road to success while Black, so they both know how to commune with all people, including racists. They both have been tapped to fix problems and have had great success in the past, so what or who changed? And did that change have anything to do with Dr. Burnette quickly stimulating a more diverse audience? If so, did these newfound partnerships with a more diverse crowd affect the museum’s “traditional, core, white art audience?”

Back to the white supremacist culture that led to its initial problems now challenges the public to realize white supremacist ideals are not only upheld by white people. One can have a white supremacist mindset and a Black face (WSMBF). “The characteristics of white supremacy can manifest in organizational culture and are used as norms and standards without being proactively named or chosen by the full group. These characteristics are damaging to both people of color and white people in that they elevate the values, preferences, and experiences of one racial group above all others.” These ideologies also impose an acceptance of the moment but resistance to the movement, and Dr. Burnette was hired for the movement (so thought the public).

Dr. Burnette presented and acted upon a clear understanding of and addressing the root causes of the white supremacist culture within Newfields and in its business dealings. To do the job the public was informed she would do, Dr. Burnette promoted equity by partnering with community organizations and artists to dismantle societal power imbalances that Newfields often negated and neglected. She fostered inclusivity, challenged discriminatory practices, and promoted policies that supported diverse and equitable opportunities for all, so what changed?

Why would an institution hire a CEO who did not fundamentally agree with the “new” direction? Unless the direction changed, or did it? Newfields always wanted to keep its traditional, white core audience, right?

Newfields told the public that was not the intent, so once Dr. Burnette began to do what was asked of her publicly, why was she no longer at the helm of day-to-day operations? The public is wise enough to know that Dr. Burnette was not hired as a face. She did not leave Texas to be a face in Indiana. The board welcomed her ability to turn around the troubled institution. So, when did the board change? Or, who or what changed the mind of the person who welcomed Dr. Burnette?

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When did the pressure begin? When did “slow down” or “don’t you think we’re going too fast too soon” come up in casual conversation? Who asked her to resign? When? Why wouldn’t she? These are the questions on the community’s mind, and we will continue to seek answers. In the African culture, a proverb states, “When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.” Who divided the mission and at what cost?

The Recorder will keep asking questions and sharing the findings…





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Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis Housing Agency reveals 12-month action plan

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Indianapolis Housing Agency reveals 12-month action plan


INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Housing Agency (IHA) released its new 12-month action plan to revitalize its properties on Monday.

The agency is currently under the watch of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Yvonda Bean, the new CEO, was brought in three months ago to help get the agency running in good standing. After 12 weeks, she’s releasing a new plan.

IHA is calling the 12-month action plan “A New Day & Better IHA.”

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The plan focuses on 5 areas that desperately need improvement:

  • Operations
  • Finances
  • People
  • Priorities
  • Safety and security

Bean wants to restore IHA’s reputation, mend broken relationships and hold itself accountable.
“We don’t want to lose sight of why we’re here, and why we are here is to serve the families,” Bean said.

The plan also includes operations upgrades for IHA, highlighting recently purchased computers and software.

After two years, the IHA phone lines are working again. The agency received 10,000 calls in the first week.

“Operable phone systems that allow people access to us outside of having to physically come to the office was extremely important, and it has been a tremendous relief to our residents,” Bean said.

Other changes include saying open past 5 p.m., developing evacuation plans, a new website, better spending management, a study into compensation, a fee account and more.

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Bean wants to train employees, rebrand IHA with new logos and better utilize the housing choice voucher program.

“At least we have a plan, because without a plan, you’re planning to fail,” said Paula Lasley.

Paula Lasley spoke on behalf of several Lugar Tower residents.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re young or you’re old. If you’re in any of these properties, don’t expect us to live in any conditions that you wouldn’t want to live in,” said Lasley.

Maintenance requests have been a concern for years.

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“The elevators have been a serious problem because we have people that are on the 15th floor that are in wheelchairs. The firefighters have had to carry people down the stairs, and that is absolutely unreasonable and that’s not fair to them. But we need to get that handled immediately,” said Lasley.

“Truly taking a look at our inventory to determine exactly what the needs are and then devising a strategy to address many of those needs. The elevators have been an issue again when you’re talking about old or aged inventory, aged buildings, you’re going to have those kinds of things happen,” said Bean.

“But, we have been extremely responsive as a matter of fact, we have new elevators being installed at a couple of our properties and so that will occur over the next several months, and we’re really excited about being able to do that through our capital fund program which is specific to public housing,” she added.

The CEO said seven multi-family properties are also for sale. Investors have until June 30 to express interest.

IHA said current residents will not be impacted, but it will allow for better management.

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“We’re going to get where we need to be, it’s just going to take a little bit of time to do it,” she said.

The timeline of the 12-month plan is broken up into quarters.

Bean told WRTV how budget cuts could affect funding and future projects.

“One of the challenges we anticipate will certainly have to do with funding. We are definitely in uncertain times and in recent stories you’ve seen where the proposed budget is likely going to cut many of the programs that we administer so that of course is going to impact our ability to be able to serve families or serve the number of families that we serve currently and so we’re we’re talking through and trying to ensure that we don’t have families that are left behind through some of the some of these cuts that we’re anticipating,” said Bean.





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Indianapolis Colts schedule 2025: Predictions, picks ahead of NFL schedule release

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Indianapolis Colts schedule 2025: Predictions, picks ahead of NFL schedule release


The Indianapolis Colts will learn their 2025 schedule with Wednesday night’s release from the NFL. The complete 18-week, 272-game regular season schedule along with all preseason dates will be set.

The Colts, who finished 8-9 last season, added defensive backs Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum, and quarterback Daniel Jones in free agency. They picked tight end Tyler Warren in the first round of the NFL Draft. Indianapolis lost offensive linemen Will Fries and Ryan Kelly, and edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency.

Here’s what you should know about the NFL schedule release.

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AFC South opponents, home and away: Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans

Home games: Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons.

Road games: Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers.

Colts strength of schedule

The Colts’ 2025 opponents had a .464 winning percentage the previous season, 24th in the 32-team league. Four of those games come against struggling AFC South foes Jacksonville and Tennessee.

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Even with unsteady play under center last season, the Colts tied for the league lead with five wins in games decided by three or fewer points. Better quarterback play could yield more wins and perhaps a playoff berth.

Colts prime-time games

Without a premier quarterback, the Colts haven’t been a popular pick for night games. The vast majority of their games last season were 1 p.m. Sunday starts, though a November game against the Minnesota Vikings was flexed to a Monday night.

Only the Jaguars (6) have played fewer prime-time games at home over the last 10 years than the Colts (9). The Colts have played the 20th most total prime-time games in the last 10 years.

NFL prime-time results from 2015-24

Rk Team G W L T
1 GNB 55 32 23 0
2 DAL 53 32 21 0
3 KAN 49 34 15 0
4 PHI 48 29 19 0
5 PIT 44 27 17 0
6 NWE 43 25 18 0
7 SEA 42 23 18 1
8 DEN 39 16 23 0
9 NYG 39 9 30 0
10 SFO 39 20 19 0
11 LAR 38 21 17 0
12 MIN 37 17 20 0
13 BAL 36 26 10 0
14 CHI 35 13 22 0
15 LAC 35 13 22 0
16 NOR 34 15 19 0
17 BUF 32 20 12 0
18 LVR 31 14 17 0
19 CIN 28 12 16 0
20 IND 28 10 18 0
21 TAM 28 10 18 0
22 NYJ 27 8 19 0
23 WAS 27 11 16 0
24 MIA 26 9 17 0
25 ARI 25 11 13 1
26 DET 25 15 10 0
27 HOU 25 12 13 0
28 TEN 24 12 12 0
29 ATL 23 13 10 0
30 CLE 21 11 10 0
31 CAR 18 7 11 0
32 JAX 12 5 7 0

NFL home prime-time results from 2015-24

Rk Team G W L T
1 GNB 28 20 8 0
2 PHI 27 17 10 0
3 SFO 27 14 13 0
4 DAL 26 17 9 0
5 KAN 26 19 7 0
6 SEA 25 16 9 0
7 PIT 23 16 7 0
8 LVR 21 13 8 0
9 LAR 20 14 6 0
10 ARI 19 7 11 1
11 NWE 19 12 7 0
12 LAC 19 8 11 0
13 DEN 18 9 9 0
14 MIN 17 11 6 0
15 NOR 17 8 9 0
16 NYG 16 5 11 0
17 CHI 15 7 8 0
18 NYJ 15 4 11 0
19 BAL 15 13 2 0
20 HOU 14 8 6 0
21 TAM 14 3 11 0
22 BUF 12 8 4 0
23 CIN 12 8 4 0
24 DET 12 7 5 0
25 WAS 12 6 6 0
26 CAR 11 5 6 0
27 CLE 11 8 3 0
28 ATL 9 6 3 0
29 IND 9 2 7 0
30 MIA 9 3 6 0
31 TEN 9 6 3 0
32 JAX 6 3 3 0

The early over-under, as set by Betmgm.com, has Indianapolis winning 7.5 games, two games behind the Houston Texans, even with the Jacksonville Jaguars and two ahead of the Tennessee Titans.

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The Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are 11.5 wins. The Cleveland Browns trail the league at 4.5 wins.

What do Colts want to see on 2025 schedule?

There’s no way to take a game at Jacksonville — where they haven’t won since 2014 — off the schedule. And they have to play Week 1, which hasn’t treated them well, either. They haven’t won a season opener since 2013, though they tied the Houston Texans in 2022.

They’re going to host a game in Germany and make three trips to the West Coast (both Los Angeles teams and Seattle). At least they will pile up frequent flyer miles.

Looking to buy Colts tickets for 2025? We’ve got you covered. Season tickets, group tickets and single-game tickets are available at Colts.com.

Buy Indianapolis Colts tickets for 2025

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When is Colts schedule release?

8 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 14, 2025



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Former Orange Bowl opponents now Colts teammates

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Former Orange Bowl opponents now Colts teammates


INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts are in the middle of rookie minicamp at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.

Former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren was drafted by the Colts in the first round of last month’s NFL Draft, while former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was drafted by the Colts in the sixth round of the draft.

The two played each other this past January in the Orange Bowl down in Miami Gardens, Fla. Leonard’s Fighting Irish beat Warren’s Nittany Lions 27-24 in that College Football Playoff matchup.

News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff asked Warren on Friday if Leonard and him have discussed that game at all.

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“Hadn’t been long talks, but it came up here and there,” Warren said.

Notre Dame may have beaten Penn State this past January, but Warren had a huge impact for the Nittany Lions in the game. He finished with 6 receptions for 75 yards in the contest, while also rushing for 21 yards on two carries.

“I didn’t talk to J.T. (Tuimoloau) about the natty, but I went straight up to Tyler Warren,” Leonard said. “That’s for sure. I went straight up to him. But then again, he probably had like 150 yards on us too at the same time.”

The duo may have been on opposite sidelines in that game this past January, but now they are looking forward to being teammates in Indy.

“He (Leonard) was a great player,” Warren said. “So playing him in college and now being teammates is really cool. And just to kind of share teams with guys that had great success all through college. Now being on the same team is really cool.”

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Leonard shares the same sentiment as he now is throwing passes to a player in Warren who made life miserable for defenses all across the college football world last season.

“Tyler, he’s a football player,” Leonard said. “He went out there yesterday and just very easily adapt(ed). He’s just a quarterback-friendly guy – catches, soft hands and things like that. But, ‘Tyler Warren’ Tyler Warren is like – you strap up them pads, that’s another version of the dude. Some guys are just football players and he’s definitely one of them. You can kind of tell. When he gets his hand in the dirt and straps it up, I’m excited to see it. Because I obviously saw it in person when we played him in the playoffs and it was fun to watch… kind of.”

Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren (84) runs after a catch during a rookie mini-camp practice at the NFL football team’s training facility in Indianapolis, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The two players are ready for the challenge of playing in the NFL. Leonard credits playing at Notre Dame for helping prepare him for this next opportunity.

“You learn how to be a professional from the day you walk into the locker room,” Leonard said. “And you don’t learn it through the X’s and O’s and the playbook. You learn it from the environments around you. So if I went into Notre Dame’s facility at 10 p.m. at night, there’s guys in there constantly working because they’re all trying to make it to the NFL and win a national championship. That is our goal as a program. And everybody’s in there for the same purpose, rhyme and reason. So, I think Notre Dame teaches you the intangibles that just set you up perfectly for the next level.”

Colts rookie minicamp continues Sunday.

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