Volume 2/ Issue 10 - Black Westchester May 15, 2020

VOLUME 3 / ISSUE 10

COMPLIMENTARY

MAY 15, 2020

Unapologetically Delivering News To Communities Of Color in Westchester & Surrounding Areas

BLACK WESTCHESTER

REMEMBERING MALCOLM X

FEATURES

CE LATIMER DELIVERS MASKS DONATION TO MOUNT VERNON PAGE 7

LANDLORD WITHDRAWS 30-DAY NOTICE TO VACATE PAGE 8

DENNIS RICHMOND JR ADDS AUTHOR TO HIS RESUME PAGES 6

BLACK WESTCHESTER AFRICAN-AMERICAN PANDEMIC READING LIST PAGE 22

Ever wonder what would the figure whom history and Hollywood will remember as Malcolm X have thought of the world today if he had lived to see it? Malcolm X was one of the few African-Americans of his time who traveled through the Muslim world seeking to build a coalition between African-American Muslims in America and Muslims everywhere else. You could say he was ahead of his time. His larger mission was to create a fair and open political arena... (continues on page 14)

SPEAK TRUTH FIGHTING CRIME GOES FAR BEYOND SEAN BELL TO POWER POLICING AND DETAINING, IT MUST INCLUDE HE WAS ‘JUST 23’

BY AJ WOODSON AN ACTUAL SOCIAL JUSTICE PLAN

BY AJ WOODSON PAGE 20

BY DAMON K JONES

PAGE 23

PAGE 21

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2BLACK WESTCHESTER

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MAY 15, 2020

MAY 15, 2020

BLACKWESTCHESTER.COM

BLACK WESTCHESTER3

Working in Congress to help people, and our communities deal with the virus crisis.

Legislation for $2,000 a month for Everyone T

he $1,200 “stimulus” checks were NOT enough.

With the loss of income and an uncertain future, with families to feed and bills to pay, more must be done and it must be done now.

Eliot Engel is co-sponsoring the Emergency Money for People Act to give everyone $2,000 a month until the virus crisis ends. The legislation says: n Everyone over 16, making less than $130,000 a year would receive at least $2,000 per month.

n Married couples with children would receive $500 more per child per month, up to three children. n People with no earnings, were unemployed or are unemployed would get the $2,000 a month.

Eliot Engel: “So many New Yorkers don’t know what the future holds.

“We must put money into the hands of people in need. That is why I am working to make the Money for People Act law.”

The CARES Act and the New Funding Law T

he CARES Act that Eliot Engel worked to make law provided billons in Federal funds for our hospitals including millions for our Westchester community health care centers.

The Act made virus testing free and helped fund testing sites in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Yonkers. Student Federal loan payments were suspended until the end of September.

It gave $1,200 “stimulus” checks to most people.

Eliot Engel said this was “just a start in providing what is needed to people affected by the virus.”

T

he new law that was passed on April 21 to deal with the crisis includes $25 billion to expand virus testing.

There are billons more for our hospitals, health care services, and medical supplies for health care workers.

The law also has $310 billion for new small business Paycheck Protection Program loans. Eliot Engel will work to make sure that these new loans to save jobs go to actual small businesses.

E

liot Engel’s record for us also includes earning a 100% Civil Rights Rating from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, an “A” from the NAACP, and a 100% Pro Senior Rating from the Alliance for Retired Americans.

➧

➧Eliot Engel for Congress · Democratic Primary · June 23 engelforcongress

engelforcongress.com

@teamengel

Paid for by Engel for Congress

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4 BLACK WESTCHESTER

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MAY 15, 2020

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MAY 15, 2020

NEWS WITH THE BLACK POINT OF VIEW

BLACK WESTCHESTER 5

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK Founded in 2014 by DAMON K. JONES AJ WOODSON Published by URBANSOUL MEDIA GROUP 455 Tarrytown Rd., Suite 1318 White Plains, NY 10607 (914) 979-2093 www.BlackWestchester.com

Email:

BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Twitter: @BlkWestchesterM and @PBPRadio Instagram: @BlackWestchester Facebook: /BlackWestchesterMagazine

Publisher DAMON K. JONES

As Publisher of Black Westchester Magazine (BW), I would like to thank everyone for their support of our efforts to bring information to the people of Westchester County. As we embark on a new chapter for BW, we hope to continue to empower the reader on issues in their communities.

Independent media like BW has become more than a mere institution; instead, the independent media acts as a direct participant in the traditional three-branch system of governance.

What many fail to realize is that independent media serves a fundamental role in making democracies run efficiently, even though there are frequent clashes. Independent media system thus often “reflects the political philosophy in which Democracy indeed functions”.

This being said, BW will not be disregarded as a trivial player in the responsibilities of being a check and balance system in the political process of the Black Communities of Westchester.

BW’s purpose is not only to address the political process that affects the everyday lives of communities of colour in Westchester County. BW’s mission has also been to shine a light on the brilliant culture, morals, values and elegant lifestyle of Black people. It’s time to change the narrative on how Black people are perceived in media.

As Publisher of BW, our doors are open to the public. From the publication, the website, our radio show and now the newspaper; our doors are open to the people. We do not do this for any grander position or status; we do it for the people.

A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Welcome to our May 15, 2020 issue

@DamonKJones

This month we dedicated the issue to the 95th birthday on Malcolm X, May 19, 2020. His birthday is not a national holiday like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, but his impact in the Civil Rights Era was just as important, so we celebrate the life of Brother Malcolm.

Editor-In-Chief AJ WOODSON

We also put together an African-American Pandemic Reading List, a suggested reading list of Black Authors to check out while we are all shut in and practicing social distancing.

@BWEditorInChief

Mistress Of Information Brenda L. Crump

Send us your feedback and let us know what you think of this issue and let us know subjects/ topics you would like to see us cover in the future by sending an email to BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com.

Peace and Blessings

News Reporters/ Writers AJ Woodson Damon K. Jones Robert Baskerville Ph.D.

Photographers AJ Woodson Graphic Designers AJ Woodson Paula S. Woodson/ PS Visually Speakin’ For Advertising Rates AdvertiseWithBW@gmail.com Letters To The Editor BWEditorInChief@gmail.com

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6 BLACK WESTCHESTER COUNCILWOMAN

TASHA DIAZ HOSTS MOTHER’S DAY GIVEAWAY

MAY 15, 2020

BLACK WESTCHESTER NEWS

CE LATIMER ANNOUNCE $2.9M IN FEDERAL FUNDING AWARDED TO WESTCHESTER

BY AJ WOODSON

914 SPOTLIGHT DENNIS RICHMOND, JR. ADDS AUTHOR TO HIS EXTENSIVE RESUME

BY AJ WOODSON

Yonkers City Councilwoman Tasha Diaz known for her service in her community way before becoming an elected official - hosted a Mother’s Day Giveaway at 10 Palisades Avenue, Sunday afternoon, May 10th

Councilwoman Diaz teamed up with Nader Sayegh, New York State Assemblyman, 90th District and Yonkers Attorney and City Court Candidate Dan Romano for the Mother’s Day Care-package distribution to hand out roses, coffee and backed good from valued local businesses. Care-packages also included COVID-19 essentials like surgical masks, hand sanitizers, and reusable tote bags, to hundreds of mothers in South Yonkers. And have no fear, in accordance to New York State’s 10-point PAUSE executive order, social distancing was strictly enforced.

“Thank you to Hollywood Florist for the roses and La Pinata Bakery for the sweets,” Councilwoman Diaz shared with Black Westchester.

“I would also like to give a massive shoutout to Osborne Nikisha, Bryan Diaz Vega, and my two Brooklyn Detectives from the Sea Gate Police Dept.

Yossi Echeverria and Mike Montes for assisting with the distribution!

I hope every mother out there enjoyed the day and was celebrated; you all truly deserve it!“

The event was intended to be a token of appreciation to area mothers during in this challenging time. The City of Yonkers has emerged as a severe epicenter of COVID-19 cases in Westchester.

“Assemblyman Nader Sayegh, Dan Romano, as well as a host of community volunteers from different cities and joined me to organize a little social distancing event to give back to all Mothers to show them they are appreciated,” Diaz said in closing.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has notified Westchester County that pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), emergency Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) are available to aid in the County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant money the County could receive would be disbursed among the nonprofit organizations that assist residents, and small business micro-enterprises of the 27 Consortium municipalities in Westchester, with funds available as soon as July.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer said: “On behalf of all of our local municipalities, funding from the CDBG and ESG programs will bring real relief by saving money for taxpayers who are struggling. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a tremendous financial strain, especially for those with low and moderate incomes. These federal dollars will go a long way towards helping our consortium communities, nonprofit organizations small businesses and micro-enterprises get back on their feet again.”

Senator Chuck Schumer said: “As New York’s first hotspot, it is imperative that Westchester County has all the tools they need to fight this pandemic on the frontlines and finally get on the road to recovery. This funding is a vital first step to rebuilding, sending millions to bolster local economic growth, community revitalization, and affordable housing. These programs will deliver real results to Westchester residents – by creating good-paying jobs, delivering essential services that will help communities, and investing in affordable housing for our most vulnerable populations, which is why I fought so hard to secure these funds during the CARES Act negotiations.”

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said: “Small businesses are the heart of New York’s local economies, and they urgently need assistance to survive the economic crisis caused by this pandemic. This funding is great news for Westchester County and will be used to offset costs for nonprofits and small businesses facing decreased revenues. I will continue working in the Senate and alongside our local leaders to ensure our small treasured businesses have the resources needed to face this unprecedented financial hardship.”

Congresswoman Nita Lowey said: “The spread of the coronavirus across the Lower Hudson Valley has placed an unprecedented, unbearable strain on too many New Yorkers, including seniors, the disabled, low income families with children, and veterans, who were already struggling to find or maintain housing security and access economic opportunities prior to this pandemic. This federal funding which I helped secure in the CARES Act will provide Westchester County with flexible rapid investments responsive to community needs during and after this public health crisis. I’m grateful for County Executive George Latimer’s leadership in this fight against COVID-19, and I’m proud the federal government can be an important partner in helping Westchester meet the needs of every resident during and after this crisis.”

Representative Eliot Engel said: “Westchester is at the center of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak. These federal grants will help support our local communities through this public health crisis, but these federal dollars are just a drop in the bucket for Westchester. Given the pause in local economic activity, Westchester County needs additional resources to continue serving the community. I’m fighting every day to get additional aid for local governments like Westchester in the next stimulus package.”

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney said: “Communities across the Hudson Valley have faced unprecedented challenges because of this public health crisis, and it will take strong partnerships between the federal, state and county governments to recover. These grants, made possible through the CARES Act, are an important step in the coronavirus recovery process, and will help connect families, veterans, and small business owners with the resources they need now.”

Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Planning Norma Drummond said: “There will be a critical need in early July to assist families with paying several months of back rent. At the same time, offering assistance to small businesses that are the mainstay of our municipalities is also critical. We are thankful that these funds will be available to fill these gaps for so many of our Westchester families and businesses.”

Chair of the Westchester Urban County Consortium Steve Altieri said: “The additional CDBG funding is great news for the Consortium communities. It will permit the consortium to assist food banks facing shortages of funding and small businesses which have been so badly impacted by the Coronavirus Crisis.”

Available CDBG funds are as follows: $380,000 available to assist nonprofits. $400,000 available for emergency food distribution programs. $1.2 million available for micro-enterprise assistance.

Available ESG funds are as follows: $350,000 for non-profits to assist low income households with rental or utility arrears $600,000 to assist low income households with short term rental assistance Funding will be available to assist households and businesses within the 27 Consortium municipalities

Yonkers native, Dennis Richmond, Jr., M.S.Ed., the founder and Director of the New York - New Jersey HBCU Initiative, now adds the title of Author to his already extensive resume, with the release of his new book, ‘He Spoke At My School - An Educational Journey.’

In his upcoming book that comes out this summer and will be available on Amazon.com, he shares the story of how he went from a young boy from Yonkers, New York with a passion for history, to a powerhouse advocate for higher education. Dennis chronicles the highs and lows of his life, from suffering bullying at the hands of his peers throughout middle school to accumulating thousands of dollars in scholarships, grants, and sponsorships to live out his dreams.

“This book could have not been written until I was at this moment of my life,” Mr. Richmond - who is stil putting the finishes touches on his new book - shares with Black Westchester. “I have done so much and seen so much that I had to share some of those experiences with the world. I struggle with calling myself an author. It doesn’t feel real.”

He paints the picture of how discovering his love for public speaking led to the development of his initiative championing for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. ‘He Spoke at My School,’ not only defines what it means to utilize education as a means for liberation but demonstrates the empowering act of lifting others while still climbing the ladder to success.

Richmond leads the New York, New Jersey Historically Black Colleges and Universities initiative. His organization educates minority middle and high school students about the importance of attending college and debunks the myths about HBCUs, he hopes that reaching these students early in their school careers will give them a better chance to succeed once they get to college.

Black Westchester salutes Dennis Richmond, Jr., look for him on PBP Radio prior to his official relase date.

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MAY 15, 2020

BLACK WESTCHESTER NEWS

BLACK WESTCHESTER

7

AFRICAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE FESTIVAL AND SEVERAL OTHER CULTURAL HERITAGE CELEBRATIONS CANCELLED OR ON HOLD

BY AJ WOODSON

Every year Westchester looks forward to the Hudson Valley’s favorite international festival series that celebrate the arts, culture, and history, and community spirit— right at Kensico Dam. The festival series invites us to explore our history and the county’s rich cultural diversity with displays of poetry, visual arts, song, ethnic food, and a wide variety of music.

Unfortunately, as Westchester residents deal with navigating our new normal we all face, the 36th annual African-American Heritage Festival andseveral other events in Westchester County Parks’ annual Cultural Heritage Celebrations series have been cancelled or put on hold, due to the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These are some of my favorite events to attend, but right now, we all must put safety first,” County Executive George Latimer shared with Black Westchester. “The Cultural Heritage series is something many of us look forward to, both to celebrate our own personal heritage or to enjoy learning about the food, music, dance, and heritage of other cultures that contribute to the great mosaic of Westchester’s population – things that cannot be done while keeping a safe distance.”

Each year, thousands of Westchester residents gather at these colorful and lively festivals at Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla and Ridge Road Park in Hartsdale.

These celebrations, of all heritages, attract far too many residents to abide by safety guidelines that are handed down from the National Center for Disease Control and NYS Festivals cancelled so far are: • Polish Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, May 17 • Asian Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Saturday, June 6 • Albanian Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, June 7 • Portuguese Heritage Festival – Ridge Road Park, Sunday, June 7 • Irish Heritage Festival – Ridge Road Park, Saturday, June 27 • African-American Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, June 28 • Hispanic Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, July 12 Festivals on hold are: • Italian Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, July 19

• • • •

Heritage of India Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, Aug. 2 Ecuadorian Festival – Croton Point Park, Sunday, Aug. 9 Jewish Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, Aug. 16 Muslim Heritage Festival – Kensico Dam Plaza, Sunday, Aug. 23

“With thousands of people coming to a festival at a park, we simply don’t have a way to assure proper social distancing, especially with the nature of these events that involve food and craft sales, gathering to enjoy performances and other actions that cause closer contact,” CE Latimer said.

In the summer of 2016, Black Westchester’s Damon K. Jones (Publisher) and AJ Woodson (Editor-In-Chief) and Westchester County Press’ Sandra Blackwell were among the African-Americans In Media were honored at the 32nd African-American Heritage Day.

The African-American Heritage Day Celebration is a time when the community comes together in an atmosphere of fun and fellowship to enjoy the history and culture of the Motherland. It’s one of the largest and exciting events held in Westchester County.

The Parks Department will evaluate the scheduling of all community events throughout the summer and into the fall.

Stay tuned to Black Westchester for any additional cancellations, postponements, or rescheduling. You can also find that information posted at www. westchestergov.com/parks.

CE LATIMER DELIVERS MASKS DONATION TO MOUNT VERNON

(Mount Vernon, NY) – Following last week’s donation to churches in Greenburgh, County Executive George Latimer delivered masks today in Mount Vernon to Grace Baptist Church, Greater Centennial A.M.E. Zion Church, Macedonia Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon Heights Congregational Church and Westchester Muslim Center.

“We are continuing this mask distribution process across Westchester County – particularly targeting communities with high numbers of positive cases,” County Executive George Latimer tells Black Westchester. “We are making sure we are reaching those most in need to help us stop the spread and continue the positive path we are on.”

Today, Latimer was joined by Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, County Legislator Lyndon Williams, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, Mount Vernon City Council President Lisa Copeland and other Mount Vernon and County partners.

The County plans to hand out masks to religious communities in need with scheduled donations upcoming in Yonkers, New Rochelle, Peekskill and Port Chester and elsewhere.

“In this season that this nation finds itself in, it is imperative that our community has the proper essentials to protect themselves and others from contracting a Covid-19” Rev. Steven W. Pogue, Pastor of Greater Centennial shared with Black Westchester. “We are thankful to our County Executive for providing Mount Vernon with masks.”

These masks come from a donation of 50,000 protective masks for Westchester County from the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association (GNYADA). The masks are part of a larger donation by the GNYADA to 12 different counties in New York State.

“Thank you to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, and all of our partners in the County for supplying our faith-based community with over 5,000 face masks,” Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard shared with Black Westchester. “In addition the City of Mount Vernon gave a total of 2,500 masks to our faith partners, bringing the total to 7,500.”

Latimer has also made numerous deliveries of masks to municipal governments all throughout Westchester.

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8 BLACK WESTCHESTER

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MAY 15, 2020

LANDLORD WITHDRAWS 30-DAY NOTICE NEW ROCHELLE GETS NEW WALK-IN FOR BRONXVILLE BOUTIQUE TO VACATE CORONAVIRUS TESTING CENTER

GOV. CUOMO EXTENDS EVICTION MORATORIUM ANOTHER 60 DAYS, UNTIL AT LEAST AUGUST 20TH BRONXVILLE, NY — Black Westchester reported in early May, Black-Owned Bronxille Boutique, Weezie D Ladies Boutique received a non-court ordered 30-day notice, Wednesday, April 29th, directing her to vacate by May 31st, despite a state eviction moratorium by Governor Cuomo. The owner of the boutique reached out to BW and we did an exclusive interview, Monday, May 4th to allow her to share her story.

Well, it is our pleasure to report after the story ran, she received overwhelming support from the community and several local elected officials. On Thursday morning the landlord withdrew the notice to vacate by May 31st.

“The LandLord has withdrawn the notice to terminate and vacate by May 31, 2020,” McTurner’s attorney Lauren Raysor tells Black Westchester, “We are currently working with the landlord to reach a mutually agreed-upon resolution. We want to thank the community, elected officials, the public, the press – especially Ty Milburn (News 12) and Black Westchester – and of course the Westchester County Executive George Latimer for his support. We hope that Weezie D will continue as a viable business in the community.”

A few readers have commented what’s the big deal, what Louisa McTurner received was just a notice was not an eviction, but John Nonna, the Westchester County Attorney informed Black Westchester there really isn’t a difference. The County attorney explained that this notice and any other notices like this sent out during this period violates the spirit and intent of the Governor’s Executive Order.

“The notice is clearly a first step in the process of eviction. The notice demanding that the tenant quit the premises by May 31. As you may know, the Governor has issued an Executive Order, 202.8 staying all evictions. This order was first issued on March 20, and has now been extended to August 20. The notice demands that the tenant quit the premises violates the spirit and intent of the Governor’s Executive Order, which has the force of law. There is no practical difference between serving an eviction notice and a notice to quit the premises. They are functionally equivalent because they require a tenant to leave her home or business.”

The good news is the landlord withdrew the notice. We share the County Attorney’s reading of the moratorium to alert any other renters who may not know what their rights are. The moratorium was extended Thursday, May 7th by Gov. Cuomo another 60 days, until Augist 20th.

The moratorium covers both residential and commercial tenants and will be in place until at least August 20. If you had a pending eviction case those proceedings have been temporarily adjourned. If you recently received a notice of eviction, that by itself is not enough for your landlord to evict you; a landlord must get an order from the court to legally evict a tenant, even if their lease has expired or they are behind on rent.

Now that evictions are halted, the moratorium defers those proceedings and temporarily protects tenants.

BW Entertainment Feature Writer Samantha Hunter included Weezie D in her column ‘These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things” in Black Westchester’s January 2018 issue of the newspaper.

The place to “find a wide variety of fun, flirty designer-inspired dresses, fashionforward tops, must-have handbags, and up-to-the-minute accessories at this trendy yet classic boutique for fashionable women of all ages and budgets,” – Westchester Magazine

Weezie D. offers everything from women’s clothing to jewelry, handbags, scarves, and hair accessories, and is Westchester’s premier one-stop-shop for trendy women of many ages. Weezie D. opened in 2005 in Bronxville, New York, and just celebrated its 15-year anniversary this past October.

The quaint boutique shop has been named Best of Westchester in the Ladies Clothing Store category for three years –2014, 2015, and 2017. The shop participates in community service including its Holiday Toy Drive benefiting Providence House in New Rochelle. Throughout the year it also hosts several “Sip & Shop” events for local non-profit organizations and donates proceeds of sales to each organization.

The shop’s mantra is “Get out of the Box and Into Weezie D.” While the McTurner’s business is still shuttered as it observes social distancing measures, you can still support Weezie D Ladies Boutique online by shopping on their website, www.

WeezieD.com.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Thanks to a partnership with New York State, Montefiore New Rochelle and the City of New Rochelle, a new walk-through coronavirus testing facility will open in New Rochelle on Monday. Located on Lockwood Avenue across from Montefiore New Rochelle and easily accessible from population centers in the downtown, West End, and Lincoln and North Avenue corridors, the site will be open Monday from 12 PM to 5 PM and then weekdays by appointment from 9 AM to 5 PM.

While coronavirus tests are becoming more readily available at a variety of sites across the County, including Glen Island, not everyone who needs testing can drive to an appointment, noted New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson. Bramson thanked the leadership of Governor Cuomo and New Rochelle’s State legislative delegation, especially Majority Leader Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for addressing the community’s need for a local site in a key, walkable location.

”With diagnostic testing so vital to overcoming the challenge of COVID-19, it’s especially important that testing be accessible to the most vulnerable, hardest-hit portions of our community. I am deeply grateful to our State leaders for ensuring that testing is available to New Rochelle on an equitable basis, and to the exceptional health care team at Montefiore for their heroic service.”

“It was great to work with Mayor Bramson, Montefiore and my state legislative colleagues to make sure that New Rochelle has a testing site accessible to the entire community,” Senate Majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins shared with Black Westchester. “Special thanks to Governor Cuomo for responding quickly to the community’s need for walk-in testing during this difficult time. This site will begin full-day testing by appointment next week and will go a long way to help people get the answers and care they need.”

The testing center operations will be handled by Montefiore New Rochelle.

“Montefiore New Rochelle is proud to partner with New York State and the City of New Rochelle to test as many of our citizens for Covid19 to help control the spread of the virus while allowing the scientific community time to develop therapeutics to treat the virus and eventually a vaccine to mitigate the effects of the virus. That is truly when we can return to some sense of “normal” as a community,” said Anthony J. Alfano, Vice President/Executive Director.

The new testing site comes with the support of Westchester County. “New Rochelle was the early epicenter of the Coronavirus pandemic, and I am thrilled to partner with Mayor Bramson, Montefiore New Rochelle and our state leaders to bring accessible, vital testing to the community,” said Westchester County Executive George Latimer. “Not everyone can easily access the drive-through testing site, and this facility will provide necessary care for New Rochelle’s most vulnerable communities, while stopping the spread of this devastating disease.”

Access to the walk-in testing center is by appointment only. Residents can call their physician or the New York State Hotline at 1-888-364-3065.

New Rochelle residents with walk-in appointments who need help with transportation to and from the site can now access the Circuit, New Rochelle’s free ondemand electric shuttle. The Circuit operational area has been expanded outside the downtown to include all of New Rochelle for coronavirus testing. The service is available from 9 AM to 5 PM weekdays and will give priority to riders to and from the testing center. Circuit can be accessed by downloading the Ride Circuit app to a smartphone.

The app shows driver ETA in real-time.

MOUNT VERNON PUBLIC LIBRARY WILL NOT IMPOSE ADDITIONAL TAX LIABILITY

COVID-19 has placed a hardship on people throughout the world, leaving many without income, mounting bills and for some people, a struggle to keep food on the table.

These are difficult times but with continued commitment we shall get through this together.

The Mount Vernon Public Library understands the strain taxpayers are under and the Board of Trustees have agreed to lessen the burden on our taxpayers. The Board has voted not to impose an additional tax liability (0% increase) for fiscal year 2020 - 2021.

Please bear with us, as this is all new to everyone. Your patience is valued over the coming months. In keeping with the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) recommendation in regards to social distancing, the library will continue to offer its patrons remote services until we are cleared for in-person services.

“We thank you for your patience and continued support as we look forward to coming together as a community,” MVPL Board President Oscar Davis tells Black Westchester. “As a reminder, it is important that households complete 2020 Census forms so that Mount Vernon can be properly counted for eligibility for federal funds sorely needed. Completing the forms online is quick and simple. Please go to: https:// my2020census.gov/.”

In other MVPL news, the election for Library Trustees is and Mount Vernon City School Board Trustee is Tuesday, June 9th. Absentee ballots will be automatically mailed to every registered voter in Mount Vernon by the school district. There will be no polling places for school or library elections.

There are three school board seats and two library trustee seats up for grab, June 9th.

Candidates for Library Trustee are Cathlin B. Gleason (incumbent), Jamie Pessin (incumbent), Andrea E. Fobbs, Hope Kimberly Marable and Lauren Raysor.

The candidates for School Board Trustees are Brenda L. Crump, Cynthia Turnquest-Jones, Isreal Williams (incumbent), Lorna Kiwan, Jeffrey Redd, Shawnah Staunton, Marc Stuckey, Arlene Torres (incumbent).

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MAY 15, 2020

INTELLECTUAL CONVERSATIONS WITH DR. BOB

BLACK WESTCHESTER 9

TROLLING THE TRUTH: FAUX JOURNALIST AT THE FEDERALIST DISTORTS CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY OF EVELYN FARKAS TO HPSCI

BY ROBERT BASKERVILLE PH.D.

IThen aFederalist, report that was recently published in the conservative online magazine Sean Davis, one of its co-founders and a contributing writer,

continued the publication’s practice of deliberately distorting the factual record about the Trump-Russia scandal, a hall mark of its coverage since the story first broke several years ago.

“Obama Defense Official Evelyn Farkas Admitted She Lied on MSNBC About Having Evidence of Collusion,” the headline boldly declaimed, echoing other outlets in the right-wing media that have ramped up their efforts to discredit the years-long investigation, in recent days, by culling supposedly damaging information from newly-released transcripts of interviews conducted by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in June of 2017.

Following a threadbare discussion of the circumstances that lead to Farkas’s testimony on the Hill, the bulk of the piece is comprised of a lengthy quotation of an exchange between Farkas and Trey Gowdy, the former Republican Congressman from South Carolina who’s now a frequent commentator on Fox News and other conservative broadcast shows. Gowdy’s line of questioning focuses on comments that Farkas—one of several candidates now vying to replace longtime Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey when she retires from her seat at the end of this term—made during an appearance on the popular MSNBC show Morning Joe, in early March of 2017, while discussing the TrumpRussia scandal.

Gowdy concludes his line of questioning by getting Farkas to seemingly admit she “lied” when claiming, on air, that she was aware of evidence of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence operatives. Or at least that’s what Davis would have us believe.

“You didn’t know anything?” Gowdy, a former prosecutor, presses, referring to her statements.

“That’s correct,” Farkas responds.

Davis, fellow co-founder Ben Domenech, and the bevy of other young staff writers with The Federalist try pass themselves off as “nonpartisan” journalists who remove their party hats before entering the newsroom. In all actuality, nothing could be further from the truth. Theses writers, by and large, are alums of organizations that form the backbone of the right-wing’s growing, tentacular cultural apparatus, including such notables as the conservative newspaper The Washington Examiner, the hawkish opinion journal American Spectator, and think tanks like the Claremont Institute.

In the case of Davis and Domenech, however, their bona fides in conservative political circle reflect a much longer history of service to the Republican cause. While the former once held high-level positions with GOP Senator Tom Coburn and Governor Rick Perry, the latter served as speechwriter to senior Texas Senator John Cornyn.

Continuing the party’s efforts to portray embattled President Trump as an innocent victim of the “deep state,” Davis’s reportage glosses over the broader context surrounding Farkas’s appearance, and cherry picks from her testimony, in manner more akin to a hack at a Russian troll farm than an impartial journalist.

To begin with, at the time Farkas appeared before the HSPCI, it was actually under the control of the Republican Party, and chaired by California Congressman Devin Nunes, a Trump toady who ended up recusing himself after it was discovered he had been secreting information to the White House in a bid to help the President evade Congressional oversight.

Under Nunes chairmanship, very little of the committee’s energies were expended investigating evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia. Rather, as a was stated in a January 2017 press release from the committee announcing the hearings, one of the mandates was to investigate “possible leaks of classified information related to the Intelligence Community’s assessments of these matters.”

Review of the exchange makes it patently clear this was what Gowdy and fellow GOP Congressman Francis Rooney, of Florida, were seeking out when questioning Farkas, who had left the Obama administration in October of 2015. In acknowledging she “didn’t know anything,” what the former defense official was saying to her GOP inquisitors was that her assessment that Trump and others had likely engaged in wrongdoing, which she made months earlier on Morning Joe, was not based on any classified information that had been illegally leaked to her.

Davis’s analysis omits this vital context, thereby committing the very lie that he levels at Farkas. A scholar of Eurasian affairs who earned a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and veteran government analyst with 20 years of experience in the intelligence field, she rightly found the reporting on the Trump-Russia scandal contained in reputable papers and other media outlets to be credible and disquieting. Muller’s report includes the following statement: “[T]he Office learned that some of the individuals we interviewed or whose conduct we investigated—including some associated with the Trump Campaign—deleted relevant communications or communicated during the relevant period using applications that feature encryption or that do not provide for long-term retention of data or communication.” Once in office, the President would go on and try to pressure high-ranking executive branch officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House Counsel Don McGahn, to scuttle the Special Counsel’s investigation.

When the target of an investigation attempts to undermine it—which is precisely what President Trump did—it’s usually because they’re trying to hid their wrongdoing. What other reasons could one have for stopping an investigation that’ll only end up proving your innocence?

With the shabby, second-rate journalism put out by Davis and his confederates, we can only hope no one but the know-nothing, true believers who dominate the ranks of the Republican Party will look to The Federalist for facts or analysis in the stormy days that lie ahead.

About Robert Baskerville Ph,D. Born during the long hot summers of the 1960s, Dr. Baskerville life’s ambition is to help the up-and-coming activists, organizers and political leaders from the post-civil rights generation to recast the spirit of scholarship and activism that powered the 20th century Black Freedom struggle here in the United States into forms of struggle better suited to the complex social terrain of the Information Age. The recipient of a Ph.D. in sociology from The Graduate Center of CUNY, for the past two decades he has served as a professor of sociology at several public and private colleges in the New York City area, instructing students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in the philosophies, theories and research techniques that underpin the social sciences. His scholarship focuses on two principal areas of research: the intersection between race, education and social inequality, and the socio-historical dynamics by which integrationism became the dominat political philosophy of the 20th Century Black Freedom Movement. Raised in the city of Mount Vernon, where he’s affectionately known as “Brooklyn Bob,” after a brief stint spent dealing drugs on the streets of the city’s Southside, Baskerville began his career as an activist and organizers while he was a student at Bronx Community College (BCC). After helping to lead the CUNY student strike of 1991 at BCC, he went to serve in a number of activist formation, the most notable of which was the Black Radical Congress. More recently, Baskerville has been part of a loose coalition of activists and organizers who have undertaken several projects for civic empowerment in the city, including the 1,000 Man March, several Women’s

Below is the portion of the exchange Davis left out.

Mr. Gowdy: And do you know who has done any of the leaking?

Ms. Farkas: No, I do not.

Mr. Gowdy: So when we hear the word, knew, we should really insert feel?

Ms. Farkas: Or infer.

Mr. Gowdy: Well, to infer means you have to have a factual basis from which to infer it. So what is the factual basis from which you have inferred that the Trump folks were dealing with the Russians?

Ms. Farkas: The media reports and the way that the Trump officials—I’m sorry—the way that the Russians behaved.

By that point in the scandal, Trump had fired FBI director James Comey, part of coverup that continues to this day, and Special Counsel Mueller was beginning an investigation that would eventually prove Farkas’s fears were well-founded.

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BLACK WESTCHESTER SPOTLIGHT

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REMEMBERING MALCOLM X

MAY 15, 2020

COVER STORIES BW COVER STORY

REMEMBERING & CELEBRATING MALCOLM X

BY AJ WOODSON

Born Malcolm Little, better known to the world as Malcolm X, el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz would have been 95-years-old on May 19th.

At a speaking engagement in the Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom on February 21, 1965, three gunmen rushed Malcolm onstage.

They shot him 15 times at close range. The 39-year-old was pronounced dead on arrival at New York’s Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

Near the end of his life, the Hajji let go of the past and strove for a better future, or at least one better than the world has endured.

It was during the Hajj, seeing Muslims of different races and from all over the world joining together, that he understood the profound need for a universal faith and universal mission. Of course, his mission was cut short when a year later he was shot and killed as he gave a speech on AfricanAmerican unity in New York.

Ever wonder what would the figure whom history and Hollywood will remember as Malcolm X have thought of the world today if he had lived to see it? Malcolm X was one of the few African-Americans of his time who traveled through the Muslim world seeking to build a coalition between African-American Muslims in America and Muslims everywhere else. You could say he was ahead of his time. His larger mission was to create a fair and open political arena. Without human rights, he believed, civil rights could not be achieved.

“If I was a young adult in the 1960s, I would have been right at Mosque #7 listening to Minister Malcolm X,” Mount Vernon’s Brother Arthur Muhammad shares with BW. “He was a true example of discipline, inner strength, commitment to his people and to the cause of fighting for freedom, justice, and equality.”

Every year during Black History Month and in January in observation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday we hear a plethora on popular speeches especially the one they love to force feed you every year about him having a dream (which is not what his speech was originally titled) but rarely does mainstream media or even our own Black media and radio play the speeches of Malcolm X.

Many sported fashionable symbolic jewelry making statements of pride and identity: leather necklaces with medallions of red, black and green, some shaped in the outline of Africa, others framing photographs of Malcolm X in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. They grew up talking aboit the spirit of Malcolm X, claiming to identify with him because the read the book and saw the movie by Spike Lee, starring Mount Vernon’s Denzel Washington.

While the observation of his birthday is not a national holiday, it should be looked at as important for us as a people to reflect of what Malcolm meant to us and celebrate his accomplishments and his life.

Here’s one I suggest everyone check out titled “The Ballot or The Bullet,” a speech

by Malcolm X mostly about black nationalism delivered at King Solomon Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan - April 12, 1964. (You can google it or wacth the speech on BlackWestchester.com).

Twenty-two million black victims of Americanism are waking up and they are gaining a new political consciousness, becoming politically mature. And as they become – develop this political maturity, they’re able to see the recent trends in these political elections. They see that the whites are so evenly divided that every time they vote, the race is so close they have to go back and count the votes all over again. Which means that any block, any minority that has a block of votes that stick together is in a strategic position. Either way you go, that’s who gets it. You’re in a position to determine who’ll go to the White House and who’ll stay in the doghouse. [laughter]

You’re the one who has that power. You can keep Johnson in Washington D.C., or you can send him back to his Texas cotton patch. [applause] You’re the one who sent Kennedy to Washington. You’re the one who put the present Democratic administration in Washington, D.C. The whites were evenly divided. It was the fact that you threw 80 percent of your votes behind the Democrats that put the Democrats in the White House.

When you see this, you can see that the Negro vote is the key factor. And despite the fact that you are in a position to be the determining factor, what do you get out of it? The Democrats have been in Washington, D.C. only because of the Negro vote. They’ve been down there four years. And they’re – all other legislation they wanted to bring up they’ve brought it up, and gotten it out of the way, and now they bring up you. And now they bring up you! You put them first and they put you last. Because you’re a chump! [applause] A political chump.

“Two quotes dear to my heart, are Education is the passport to our future.

Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today, and Of all our studies, history is best qualified and most attractive to reward our research,” Brother Joseph Bridgers Muhammad of White Plains shared with Black Westchester. If you do not know your history you are most likely doomed to repeat it.

Brother Malcolm talked about ‘the ballot or the bullet. It’s liberty or it’s death. It’s freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody.’

The political philosophy of black nationalism only means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community. The time when white people can come in our community and get us to vote for them so that they can be our political leaders and tell us what to do and what not to do is long gone. [applause]

By the same token, the time when that same white man, knowing that your eyes are too far open, can send another Negro in the community, and get you and me to support him, so that he can use him to lead us astray, those days are long gone too. [applause]

Unfortunately those days are not gone. We are still dealing with these issues 56 years after Brother Malcolm uttered those words. Even though we have more Black Politicians then we did in 1964, we do not have much more (if any) control over our communities. He wanted us to have more control over our politics and politicians in our communities like others do. I truly believe that is one of the reasons he was killed for trying to unwaken a sleeping people

We must, we must understand the politics of our community and we must know what politics is supposed to produce. We must know what part politics play in our lives. And until we become politically mature, we will always be misled, led astray, or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who doesn’t have the good of our community at heart. So the political philosophy of black nationalism only means that we will have to carry on a program, a political program, of reeducation – to open our people’s eyes, make us become more politically conscious, politically mature. And then, we will – whenever we are ready to cast our ballot, that ballot will be cast for a man of the community, who has the good of the community at heart. [applause]

We cannot walk around talking about honoring the memory of Malcolm while we are still victims of the same politricks we faced in the 60’s.

When we open our eyes today and look around America, we see America not through the eyes of someone who has enjoyed the fruits of Americanism. We see America through the eyes of someone who has been the victim of Americanism. We don’t see any American dream. We’ve experienced only the American nightmare. We haven’t benefited from America’s democracy. We’ve only suffered from America’s hypocrisy. And the generation that’s coming up now can see it.

And are not afraid to say it.

“Malcolm X should be remembered for his dedication, hard work, and love he had for his people,” Imam Musa Y Abdul-Ali MPA, Resident Imam of Yusuf Shah Islamic Center shared with Black Westchester. “And his willingness to work to make situations better for Black/ African American people,”

We are still walking around cliaming to be proud Democrats, voting row A all the way and still have no control of our politics, politicians, ecomonics, how our communities are policed and everything Brother Malcolm was fighing for on 1964. Again I have to wonder what he would think of think of the world we live in today, I doubt he could have imagined we would still be facing the same things he was fighting for us 56 years later, or that we would have dropped the ball and not continued the fight.

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MAY 15, 2020

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BW COVER STORY

AMERICA’S NEGLECT TO CELEBRATE MALCOLM

BY AJ WOODSON

When people think of the civil rights movement, they think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose work for the rights of African-Americans led to him being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and secured his place in history as the voice of peaceful mass protest in the 1960s. Nevertheless, the immense praise and recognition for MLK often overshadowed the work of other great civil rights activists who spoke truth to power and challenged the system even more openly and in a harsher way. The civil rights movement achieved some of its greatest results, such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, due to the competing and perhaps radical strategies and agendas of individuals such as Malik el-Shabazz, commonly known as Malcolm X.

As one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the movement, he occupies a certain place in history but has never received widespread recognition across American society. While Dr. King has a day for people to remember him, Malcolm X doesn’t. At a time when people are protesting the removal of Confederate memorials for soldiers who represent white supremacy and racism, Malcolm X’s center, located in New York, struggles to remain open because it lacks funding. Although he was typically dismissed as being too black, too strong, his story must be remembered and that is why we dedicate this issue to Brother Malcolm and celebrate his life.

So why doesn’t America celebrate Malcolm X. Ultimately, could it be America has neglected to celebrate Brother Malcolm because in the last year of his life he preached openly about what this country’s so-called forefathers preached about and are praised for: revolution. Malcolm X spoke openly about the need for revolution in this country and what it takes. And he talked about violence.

This country has a strange relationship with violence. The U.S. is nearly always involved in some kind of violent intervention or outright land grab, and neither the adjective “violent” nor is its noun form “violence” are ever used as a describtion. But when other folks start to defend themselves or take to the street in peaceful protest, too often the one-percent’s documenters out of nowhere begin to talk about the threat of violence.

Considering the recent climate, it’s likely that he may not be getting his due across America, because of his religion — especially considering the enmity directed at Muslims these days by this government. I think it has something to do with his uncompromising stand. Mel Reeves discusses this in his May 22, 2014 article, ‘Why Is There No Malcolm X day?,’ in the Minnesota Spokeman-Recorder.

Reeves wrote: Unlike King, who can smoothly be folded into an American narrative, if you cut and paste from his seemingly more innocuous statements and speeches, Malcolm X cannot be so easily pasteurized. While King practiced active nonviolence and preached about the beloved community and adhered to — promoted the idea — of Christian love for one’s enemies, Malcolm X preached a religious doctrine of justifiable self defense. He said his God would have no problem with him defending himself.

“I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Anytime I have to accept a reliogion that won’t let me fight a battle for my people. I say to hell with that religion.

That’s why I am a Muslim, because it’s a religion that teaches you an ‘eye for an eye’ and a ‘tooth for a tooth.’ It teaches you to respect everybody and treat everybody right.

But it also teaches you if someone steps on your toe, chop off their foot. And I carry my religious axe with me all the time.”

The birthday of the one who was eulogized at his funeral as our “shining Black prince” is still our prince. And we should pick up his teachings and learn from him.

While everything has changed not much has changed.

I think Reeves might be on to something. The truth is there may never be a Malcolm X holiday because of the current disinterest and disrespect accorded the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. And if King, whose doctrine of nonviolent resistance appealed greatly to middle America, is not respected by white businesses and government, then what hope is there for Malcolm, whose call for black rights by any means necessary sent shivers into the hearts of white people.

Malcolm represents what America fears an intelligent Black Man who is not afraid to speak truth to power. Malcolm was an articulate and forceful man, a wonderful speaker, who loved black people and their blackness and wanted equality. Malcolm encouraged Black People to take control of their politics and their politians and stop allowing white people to come around for your vote and never give you anything for it.

The African-American Heritage Day Celebration, a time when the community comes together in an atmosphere of fun and fellowship to enjoy the history and culture of the Motherland, in has been cancelled in Westchester County. But despite this country not honoring Malcolm’s memory by making his birthday a holiday, even this coronavirus cannot stop the annual pilgramage to his gravesite. On Tuesday, May 19th, thyere will be the first virtual observation of the 95th anniversary of the birth of our beloved Black Shining Prince, Malcolm X! Because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, this will be very different May 19th. The Malcolm X Commemoration Committee (MXCC), The December 12th Movement, the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), the Sons of Africa, and the Malcolm X /Dr. Betty Shabazz Educational Center are uniting to make it a memorable one!

Normally, our day would begin at 9 am in Harlem with our Caravan for the annual Pilgrimage to the Gravesite of Malcolm X. But even though it is cancelled to the public this year it wil be captured online.

Cemeteries and Funeral Parlors are facing limits that are being put on their service capacity because of the Pandemic. Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, where Malcolm is buried, can only allow ten persons at a time for a service. For these reasons, for the first time since 1966, we are going to have to cancel the ‘Public’ pilgrimage gravesite ceremony. There will be a ‘Private’ ceremony performed by the OAAU and the Sons of Africa for the benefit of the immediate family and honoring and upholding the tradition, and that can be seen virtually as it will be shared on Facebook Live! At 11 am, go to the Malcolm X Pilgrimage 2020-ONLINE Facebook Event Page and join in the moment!… Holiday or not Black Westchester celebrates Brother Malcolm!

20 INSPIRING QUOTES FROM MALCOLM X

1. Without education, you’re not going anywhere in this world.

2. You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.

3. Anytime you see someone more successful than you are, they are doing something you aren’t.

4. If we don’t stand for something, we may fall for anything.

5. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.

6. My alma mater was books, a good library. … I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.

7. Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition.

But when they get angry, they bring about a change.

8. You don’t have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.

9. Early in life I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.

10. Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.

11. The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent.

12. Don’t be in a hurry to condemn because he doesn’t do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today 13, There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.

14. A race of people is like an individual man; until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its own history, expresses its own culture, affirms its own selfhood, it can never fulfill itself.

15. I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they’ll create their own program, and when the people create a program, you get action.

16. If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary.

17. I am not a racist. I am against every form of racism and segregation, every form of discrimination. I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.

18. Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.

19. Stumbling is not falling.

20. When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won’t do to get it, or what he doesn’t believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn’t believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or preserve his freedom.

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About Black Westchester: BlackWestchester.com is a magazine (website) and print newspaper for people of color for Westchester and the Tri-State area of New York at every economic level. Black Westchester is committed to being a platform to profile life, culture, economics, politics, sports and entertainment and those who are representing vision in these marketplaces and who can both encourage and provide role models to other men and women. Black Westchester, through its online magazine, print newspaper, weekly talk radio show, and editorial content, will be a vessel of community information throughout Westchester and the Tri-State area of New York. Our mission is to promote the concept of “community” through media.

The Black Westchester Newspaper is a monthly newspaper, 10,000 distributed monthly throughout Westchester and Surrounding areas with a heavy concentration in Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Yonkers, Elmsford, White Plains, Greenburgh, Peekskill, Tarrytown, NE Bronx, Harlem, Stamford, CT with a slightly smaller presence elsewhere in the county and surrounding areas.

Black Westchester is the best vehicle to reach communities of color throughout the county, but not limited to just communities of color, we have a large non-African-American readership as well.

Black Westchester and the People Before Politics Radio Show started in July and August of 2014 respectively and the print edition started on our three year anniversary in August 2017. In such a small amount of time, Black Westchester has heavily influenced the county, public policy, and the elected officials while informing the public in a way that was missing, filling a necessary void.

EMPLOYMENT STATUS Employed, Working Full-Time- 46.24% Employed, Working Part-Time - 5.45% Self Employed - 15.05% Unemployed - 5.38% Retired - 18.28% Disabled, Unable To Work - 8.60% RELATIONSHIP STATUS Married- 33.68% Widowed - 3.16% Divorce - 14.74% Separated - 1.05% Domestic Partner or Civil Union - 2.11% Single but Cohabiting - 8.42% Single, Never Married - 36.84% HIGHEST LEVEL OF EDUCATION Graduated from High School- 9.72% GED - 2.78% Some College - 23.61% Graduated College - 37.50% Some Graduate School - 8.33% Completed Graduate School - 18.06% POLITICAL AFFILIATION Republican- 5.26% Democrat - 50.53% Independent - 25.26% Something Else - 18.95%

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Black Westchester is the voice of the voiceless and has covered many stories that other news outlets often overlooked and in turn followed our lead and reported later.

Black Enterprise Magazine reported, “Black buying power currently stands at over $1.1 Trillion dollars annually and is on the road to hit about $1.5 Trillion by 2021. These figures have also been documented by the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, MediaPost.com, Fortune Magazine, and many other respected media outlets. This collective buying power means that nearly $2 Trillion dollars will be flowing through Black American annually very soon, making us a centerpiece for various researchers, marketers, advertisers and other campaigns designed to influence black spending patterns.

With that said, for businesses who do business and want to do businesses with communities of color in the Westchester County and surrounding areas, advertising with Black Westchester, not only makes dollars but also makes perfect sense. We are the voice of the Black Community.

Sponsorship and advertising are also available of our weekly talk radio show People Before Politics Radio, where we have been bringing you Real Talk For The Community since 2014.

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20 BLACK WESTCHESTER

REAL TALK FROM AJ WOODSON

“A popular government, without popular information, or the mean of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhaps both,” declared James Madison, the author and champion of the Bill of Rights. “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

This is still the essential truth of an American experiment that can only be advanced toward the equal and inclusive justice that did not exist in Madison’s time by a broadly informed and broadly engaged citizenry. When journalists are harassed, intimidated, threatened and detained, retaliated against because of speaking truth to power, the basic premise of democracy—that the great mass of people, armed with information and perspective, and empowered to act upon it, will set right that which is made wrong by oligarchs—is attacked.

TheNation.com discusses this in deptH in their August 18, 2014 article, “Defend Journalism That Speaks Truth to Power: From Ferguson to Washington.” John Nichols article made the case that the First Amendment is under assault. Americans must preserve “the freedom that allows us to verify the existence of all other freedoms.”

Speaking truth to power. Just four little words that comprise a powerful expression, one you’ve probably heard a lot this during the Trump Administration. The phrase that pays was originally coined by the Quakers in the 1950’s, “speaking truth to power” is certainly not a new way of taking a stand and mobilizing society around change.

“It is a powerful nonviolent challenge to injustice and unbridled totalitarian forces, often perpetuated by government, sometimes not,” says Judith Sherwin, Attorney at Law, Adjunct Professor, Loyola School of Law. “Sir Thomas More did it at the cost of his life when he spoke truth to power against King Henry VIII; Martin Luther King Jr. did it at the cost of his freedom when he ended up in the Birmingham jail and eventually at the cost of his life.”

Fast forward to the eve before 2016, set against a backdrop of #SayHerName, #BlackLivesMatter, #LoveWins, #MuslimAmericanFaces and #codeofslience. In this year of uncloaked injustice and agitation, we’ve heard plenty of people being heralded as speaking truth to… and/or for …. power. – excerpt for a Dec 2015 article in the Huffington Post titled Speaking Truth To Power.

Speaking Truth To Power can be dangerous whether it’s against the federal government or a retaliatory small town or city government like Mount Vernon, New York. The risk of speaking up doesn’t make one popular, while many stories are written on the greatness of say a Dr. King or Malcolm X, many unsung heroes especially journalists that break the stories others dare to touch go unmentioned and die broke. But someone still has to dare speak up against the injustices and fight for those who can not fight for themselves.

“The trick about speaking truth to power is to do it from your inner conviction of moral truth and not for a desire for approbation —- and not to be deterred by condemnation either – and to let your sense of the rightness of things overcome the fear of not speaking, Judith Sherwin, Attorney at Law, Adjunct Professor, Loyola School of Law, Chicago was quoted to in the aforementioned Huffington Post piece. “While not all of us have the great causes of More and Dr. King we all have the obligation to speak truth to power in our lives to forces great and small – to defend the powerless, to stand for justice and to recognize the situations in which we are

In a time of increasing threats to journalists worldwide, Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said in her article, ‘Is The Story Worth The Risk?,’ that news organizations need to carefully weigh the risks of reporting against journalists’ passion for telling untold stories.

Carroll said: “I think the real question for all of us, as news consumers and as news employers, is: ‘Is the story worth the risk?’ And that’s a question we often ask ourselves both in the field and back at the home office. And the answer is sometimes, ‘no.’”

In closing, Carroll called on news consumers to care: “This is work that people are doing at great risk to educate you, so give a damn. Read the paper, read on your tablet, engage in the news, be a citizen of the world. Make some effort to understand what it is that these people are taking great risks to bring you.”

Black Westchester Magazine, an online News Magazine for African-Americans

MAY 15, 2020

BY AJ WOODSON

was created to carry the tradition of ‘Black Press As Agents of Black Thought,’ documenting and examining every major movements from the Harlem Renaissance to Civil Rights, and explore everyday life of the black community, becoming the voice of the voiceless.

Our credibility has been brought into question by previous administrations in Mount Vernon, a police blog, Blue Lives Matter, critics, as well as a few local blogs.

There have been several acts intimidation against members of Black Westchester and its affiliate including myself to silence us. For writing about and fighting against the illegal closures businesses, for exposing the invidious comments from two White Westchester Cops about Black Lives Matter, which lead to the suspension of one officer and possible future suspension of the other, for example.

While there has always been a major attack on independent media especially Black owned media and black radio, we must continue the fight. We must continue to uplift, education, inform and encourage the black community and communities of colors. In doing so, there will always be opposition from those who benefits from the community being misinformed or just out right uninformed. It was easier to justify when that opposition is the white man, but what happens when your oppressor looks just like you? When those who you are speaking up for will defend the oppressor and attack you. Too many in the inner cities of America do not want to be unplugged from The Matrix.

Malcolm X explains this very issue; “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

“Black newspapers were the ‘dominant means of communication of black culture.’ These papers functioned as the conduit through which black news moved at a time when white America virtually ignored everything of real concern to blacks. Because black problems and interests were remarkably similar nationwide, but access to information from distant communities was extremely difficult to obtain, important black newspapers such as the Pittsburgh Courier, the Chicago Defender, New York City’s Amsterdam News, and the Baltimore/ Washington-based Afro-American carried extensive national news, and the Defender and the Courier grew into truly national newspapers.”

Black Westchester moves in the spirit of those who came before us…

Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003) The Atlanta Daily World had the first black White House correspondent and was the first black daily in the nation in the 20th century.

The Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) was the most widely circulated black newspaper on the Atlantic coast. It was the first black newspaper to have correspondents reporting on World War II, foreign correspondents, and female sports correspondents.

Chicago Defender (1910-1975) A leading African-American newspaper, with more than two-thirds of its readership outside Chicago.

Cleveland Call and Post (1934-1991) was founded by Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas mask and traffic light. Contributors included noted journalists Charles H. Loeb and John Fuster. The newspaper is well-known for its support of the Scottsboro trial defendants with letters, clothing, stamps, and donations to the defense fund.

Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005) is the oldest and largest black newspaper in the western United States and the largest African-American owned newspaper in the U.S. New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) This leading Black newspaper of the 20th century reached its peak in the 1940s. TheAmsterdam News was a strong advocate for the desegregation of the U.S. military during World War II, and also covered the historically important Harlem Renaissance.

The Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921-2003) was the only black newspaper to provide on-the-scene, day-to-day coverage of the Scottsboro trial, and was one of the best researched and well written black newspapers of its time.

The Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001) the oldest continuously published black newspaper, is dedicated to the needs and concerns of the fourth largest black community in the U.S. During the 1930s the paper supported the growth of the United Way, rallied against the riots in Chester, PA, and continuously fought against segregation.

Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002) was one of the most nationally circulated Black newspapers, the Courier reached its peak in the 1930s. A conservative voice in the African-American community, the Courier challenged the misrepresentation of African-Americans in the national media and advocated social reforms to advance the cause of civil rights.

With each story, news brief or editorial, we carefully weigh the risks of reporting against journalists’ passion for telling untold stories, like Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll spoke of and ask the question, Is The Story Worth The Risk? Occasionally there may come a time when the answer will be no, but 95% of the time the answer will always be YES, because the risk is worth the reward. We understand the attacks are coming from those who are being exposed, as well as some of people we are exposing the issues for, but despite the attacks we may have, will have and for that matter, are facing right now, WE WILL NOT STOP SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER!

We are Black Westchester Magazine, giving you the News With A Black Point of View, for going on six years strong and counting! With Trump’s attack on media as a whole and his acceptance and approval of white supremacy and nationalism to take us back to when we had no rights, the importance of what we do, couldnt be more important. We will continue to SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER put the PEOPLE BEFORE POLITICS, REAL TALK!!!!

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21

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN BELL, HE WAS JUST 23, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN 37 THIS YEAR

BY AJ WOODSON

Just 23: Thoughts From a Mother, another book of the Black Westchester African-American Pandemic Reading List will take you on a journey through the days that followed the fifty shots that were blasted by New York City Police officers, resulting in the murder of Sean Bell. His mother, Valerie Bell finds herself having to regroup and reconnect with her emotions. Her poignant recollection, as revealed to her goddaughter Kisha, gives an account of a mother’s heart that is ripped opened and filled with distress over the loss of her child.

“I wrote the book ‘Just 23’ cause that’s the age he was killed,” she said.

“It’s a book that’s telling you about my feelings.”

The book is described as a poetic memoir that contains Bell’s reflections on the final days of her son, who was killed outside a bar by plainclothes officers on Nov. 25, 2006.

Police fired 50 times during the summary execution. Bell was unarmed.

Two of Bell’s friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were severely wounded in the melee.

Twenty-three-year-old Sean Elijah Bell, who suffered the deadly consequences of being black in 2006, was born on May 18, 1983, to William and Valerie Bell. He would have been 37-years-old. As a child, Bell was interested in acting and played baseball. According to Bell’s fiancée, Nicole Poultre, in an interview with television host Larry King, he had his mind set on becoming an electrician.

The Sean Bell shooting incident took place in the New York City, New York borough of Queens on November 25, 2006—the night of Bell’s bachelor party and the day before his wedding. Bell and two close friends were shot a total of fifty times by five uniformed and plainclothes undercover New York Police Department officers. Bell died, and two of his friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, were severely wounded. Police officers were on duty near Club Kalua, the name of the building where the shooting took place, which was reportedly housing a prostitution ring. After Guzman and another man got into an argument outside the club that resulted in a gun threat, Officer Gescard Isnora, concerned about possible violence, both informed Guzman and his friends that he was a police officer and also summoned other officers. Isnora assumed one of the men was reaching for his gun and fired into the car. The other officers followed suit and fired multiple shots.

On March 16, 2007, a grand jury indicted three of the five officers involved in the incident. Officer Isnora, who fired the first shot, and Officer Michael Oliver, who fired 31 of the 50 shots, were charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter, second-degree careless endangerment, and first- and second-degree assault. Detective Marc Cooper was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment. All three detectives pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on March 19, 2007. Isnora and Oliver were released on bond, and Cooper was released on his own recognizance. Oliver and Isnora initially faced up to twenty-five years in prison under their indictments.

Sean Bell’s death sparked brutal public criticism of the police and reminded many of the fatal Amadou Diallo shooting by other police officers in 1999. The tragedy soon became highly publicized and politicized by Reverend Al Sharpton and

and other New York City activists. Sharpton, who had led other protests against police brutality toward blacks, held a series of press conferences surrounded by the relatives of Bell, Benefield, and Guzman at Mary Immaculate Hospital where the wounded men were being treated. One law enforcement official said that, as the reality of the indicted officers’ decisions sank in, that the incident would have a strong impact on how detectives make decisions to use deadly force, especially those doing undercover work. The shooting also helped set the background for the later Black Lives Matter movement.

In April 2008, Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who heard the case alone after the detectives surrendered their right to a jury, acquitted all three men of the charges filed against them.

“He was “Just 23”. Born on May 18, 1983... Happy Birthday Sean Bell. Nicole Paultre Bell continues to #SayHisName. Hugs to you Mother Valerie Bell & Papa Bell.

Dear Black Man, I Love You.,” Cynthia Turnquest-Jones - whose The B.U.M.P. (Brown Urban Mother’s Partnership) hosted a Conversation With Valerie Bell book signing at Cupcake Cutie Boutique, Saturday, May 6, 2017 - wrote on facebook.

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MAY 15, 2020

BLACK WESTCHESTER’S AFRICAN-AMERICAN PANDEMIC READING LIST PART ONE

BY AJ WOODSON

On Friday, April 17th the New York Times posted an article titled, ‘What Are Your Favorite Pandemic Reads?’ In the article they stated; One activity that’s been largely untouched by the pandemic? Reading.

What is on your reading list? Share your favorite titles in the comments section of this article, along with anything a potential reader should know about them.

Time.com wrote; No matter what’s going on in the world, a good book can provide insight, comfort or a welcome escape. As the COVID-19 outbreak continues and many of us are seeking entertainment while staying home, reading offers some respite. Now may be the time to finally dig into that epic novel you’ve had on your shelf forever, revisit an old favorite or try something out of your reading comfort zone, Friday, March 20th, in their article, ’30 Books and Series to Read While Social Distancing.’

Several other sites gave reading list on books on nature, biographies, and several other subjects, from memoir and apocalyptic satire to award-winning literary fiction. So we put together the Black Westchester African-American Pandemic Reading List.

As the late British scholar and writer C.S. Lewis once stated, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” Indeed, throughout history, humanity has been blessed to explore beautiful expressions of excellent writers such as Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Virginia Woolf, Robert Frost, Pablo Neruda, George Santayana, Frantz Fanon, T.S. Eliot, Anton Chekhov, Walt Whitman and Jhumpa Lahiri.

Oftentimes, rich literary treasures are not associated with writers of African descent, but objective evidence has shown and continues to denote that some of the world’s finest books have evolved from the minds of Black Authors. Whether fiction or non-fiction, these writings have been important not only as poignant reflections of reality, but also as interesting opportunities for cross-cultural understanding.

The following books represent books we feel you should read anytime but especially while you are shut in. (Please share list with family, friends and co-workers).

“THE NEW CROW: MASS INCARCERATION IN THE AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS” BY MICHELLE ALEXANDER (2010) “Two years after Obama’s election, Alexander put the entire criminal justice system on trial, exposing racial discrimination from lawmaking to policing to the denial of voting rights to ex-prisoners. This bestseller struck the spark that would eventually light the fire of Black Lives Matter.”

—Ibram X. Kendi, The New York Times

This is a important and informative book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States, but Alexander noted that the discrimination faced by African-American males is prevalent among other minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Alexander’s central premise, from which the book derives its title, is that “mass incarceration is, metaphorically, the New Jim Crow”.

“THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X” BY ALEX HALEY (1987) Published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between human rights activist Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X’s 1965 assassination. The Autobiography is a spiritual conversion narrative that outlines Malcolm X’s philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. After the leader was killed, Haley wrote the book’s epilogue. He described their collaborative process and the events at the end of Malcolm X’s life.

While Malcolm X and scholars contemporary to the book’s publication regarded Haley as the book’s ghostwriter, modern scholars tend to regard him as an essential collaborator. They say he intentionally muted his authorial voice to create the effect of Malcolm X speaking directly to readers “BECOMING” BY MICHELLE OBAMA (2018) The book’s 24 chapters (plus a preface and epilogue) are divided into three sections: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More. Becoming Me traces Obama’s early life growing up on the South Side of Chicago with her parents – Fraser and Marian Robinson in an upstairs apartment. There, Obama shared a bedroom with her brother Craig. The book continues through her education at Princeton University and Harvard Law School, to her early career as a lawyer at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met Barack Obama. Becoming Us departs from the beginning of their romantic relationship and follows their marriage, the beginning of his political career in the Illinois State Senate. The book shares Obama’s balance between her position as the first African American First Lady of the United States of America, her motherly duties, and marital commitments. The section ends with election night in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States Becoming More takes the readers through Barack Obama’s presidency, Michelle Obama’s focus on her Let’s Move campaign, and her role of “head mom in chief” to her two daughters – Malia and Sasha Obama, along with the other aspects of the Obama’s life as first family.

“SWEAT THE TECHNIQUE: REVELATIONS ON CREATIVITY FROM THE LYRICAL GENIUS” BY RAKIM (2019) This one is for all my Hip-Hop heads out there. On the heels of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize, as the world begins to recognize the creative side of Hip-Hop, comes a writing guide from a musician and “The greatest Emcee of all time,” Rakim. The musician and Hip Hop legend–hailed as “the greatest Emcee of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk–reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that

incorporates the soulful genius, confidence, and creativity of a master artist. When he exploded on the music scene, musical genius Rakim was hailed for his brilliant artistic style, adding layers, complexity, depth, musicality, and soul to rap. More than anyone, Rakim has changed the way Emcees rhyme. Calm on the mic, his words combine in a frenzy of sound, using complicated patterns based on multisyllabic rhymes and internal rhythms.

Rakim can tell a story about a down-on-his-luck man looking for a job and turn it into an epic tale and an unforgettable rhyme. He is not just a great songwriter–he’s a great modern writer. Part memoir, part writing guide, Sweat the Technique offers insight into how Rakim thinks about words, music, writing, and rhyming as it teaches writers of all levels how to hone their craft. It is also a rare glimpse into Rakim’s private life, full of entertaining personal stories from his youth on Long Island growing up in a home and community filled with musicians to the clubs of New York and the studios of Los Angeles during his rise to the top of popular music.

“BLUEPRINT FOR BLACK POWER: A MORAL, POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY” BY AMOS WILSON (1998) Afrikan life into the coming millennia is imperiled by White and Asian power. True power must nest in the ownership of the real estate wherever Afrikan people dwell. Economic destiny determines biological destiny. ‘Blueprint for Black Power’ details a master plan for the power revolution necessary for Black survival in the 21st century. White treatment of Afrikan Americans, despite a myriad of theories explaining White behavior, ultimately rests on the fact that they can. They possess the power to do so. Such a power differential must be neutralized if Blacks are to prosper in the 21st century … Aptly titled, ‘Blueprint for Black Power’ stops not at critique but prescribes radical, practical theories, frameworks and approaches for true power. It gives a biting look into Black potentiality.

“POWERNOMICS: THE NATIONAL PLAN TO EMPOWER BLACK AMERICA”

BY DR. CLAUD ANDERSON (2000) Gab In this book, Dr. Anderson obliterates the myths and illusions of black progress and brings together data and information from many different sources to construct a framework for solutions to the dilemma of Black America. In PowerNomics: The National Plan, Dr. Anderson proposes new principles, strategies and concepts that show blacks a new way to see, think, and behave in race matters. The new mind set prepares blacks to take strategic steps to create a new reality for their race. It offers guidance to others who support blacks self-sufficiency.

“ONCE A COP: THE STREETS, THE LAW, TWO WORLDS, ONE MAN”

BY COREY PEGUES (2016) Once A Cop is the author’s journey from former Crack Dealer to the Highest Ranks of the NYPD. New Jack City meets Serpico in this provocative memoir of a crack dealerturned-decorated NYPD officer—a timely reflection on the complex relationship between the police and the communities they are meant to protect.

“A HOPE FOR JUSTICE,” BY A’YANNA ARMSTRONG (2019) A Hope For Justice is an innovative approach to how everyone can make an impact on criminal justice reform. It is a non-fiction book that speaks to young adults and adults who are interested in ways to improve the criminal justice system and how to reform prisons to reduce the recidivism rate.

“BLACK GIRLS ROCK!: OWNING OUR MAGIC, ROCKING OUR TRUTH”

BY BEVERLY BOND (2018) An inspiring and beautifully designed book that pays tribute to the achievements and contributions of black women around the world, fueled by the insights of women of diverse backgrounds, including Michelle Obama, Angela Davis, Shonda Rhimes, Misty Copeland Yara Shahidi, and Mary J. Blige, this book is a celebration of black women’s voices and experiences that will become a collector’s items for generations to come.

“LET LOVE HAVE THE LAST WORD” BY COMMON (2019) Rapper, Actor, Writer, Philanthropist, and Activist Common believes that the phrase “let love have the last word” is not just a declaration; it is a statement of purpose, a daily promise. Love is the most powerful force on the planet and ultimately, the way you love determines who you are and how you experience life.

Here are ten books to get you started, check BlackWestchester.com to see the entire African-American Pandemic Reading List. Another Rerading List coming soon!

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MAY 15, 2020

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK

BLACK WESTCHESTER 23

FIGHTING CRIME GOES FAR BEYOND POLICING AND DETAINING; IT MUST INCLUDE AN ACTUAL SOCIAL JUSTICE PLAN

BY DAMON K. JONES

T his picture was taken in 2009 with Maryam Willams, family friends, and other mothers of children that lives were taken by gun violence in Mount

Vernon. I have stood by the sides of mothers who mourned and warned our community that this madness must end. ELEVEN YEARS AND NINE RALLIES later, we are still talking about the same issues. From Mayor Ernie Davis to Mayor Clinton Young, back to Mayor Ernie Davis, to Mayor Richard Thomas, and now Mayor Shawyn Patterson Howard, we are still discussing the same issue; mothers and fathers are losing their children to senseless violence in a city that’s only four by four square miles.

I have watched politicians for a decade give lip service to a problem with no sustainable solutions because failed or no policies at all to address the core issues of economic development, education, employment, and community building. From 2009 to 2020, we should be well aware that this is a problem we cannot arrest away!

Dierdre Golash in her report The Case Against Punishment: Retribution, Crime Prevention, and the Law, says that there is a wide, (though not universal) agreement t among criminologists that social factors such as income inequality, poverty, unemployment, and local social disorganization contribute to crime. One thread that all these potential causes listed by Golash have in common is the economic factor.

We have failed to have an honest discussion about the county and state 30year policy to keep Mount Vernon a poor city ( Please read the 1992 African American Advisory Board Report to then-County Executive Andrew O’rourke).

For four decades, the county and state have purposely moved people living on Welfare, Receiving Section 8 Vouchers, and homeless shelters to Mount Vernon while policymakers turned the city of homes to a city of high rises, lowincome housing, and high taxes. County and state governments also failed to compensate financial assistance or fund support programs for the large migration of needy families that were purposely sent to the city, in turn, put a burden on local city services, the school system, and a declining tax base.

The residents of Mount Vernon are in dier need of Reparations for County and State policies that have produced a disparate impact on the quality of life of residents in Mount Vernon.

We cannot dismiss the apparent correlation between poverty and crime; any policy serious about reducing crime and violence without making poverty reduction policies priority will be failing policy.

We must focus on improved economic policies, job creation, job training, and a real commitment to solving the problem. When you eradicate poverty, you, therefore, eradicate the crime that goes with it. Fighting crime goes far beyond policing and detaining; it is an actual social justice plan that includes every pillar of community building and cooperation.

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SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER SINCE 2014

The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you’ll get action. - Malcolm X COMPLIMENTARY

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MAY 15, 2020