Caribbean American Weekly - ISSUE 54

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The Grim, Racist (and Likely Illegal) Methods of One Brooklyn Landlord

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versation becomes complicated.

Ephraim is both developer and landlord. His thick beard and heavyset frame make him look much older than his 26 years. He is a Hasid, and he started buying buildings a few years ago, in the wake of the housing crash.

A real-estate agent introduced us.

"Anything for that guy," Ephraim told me when I asked if I could interview him.

We met in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens where I found him sitting in his parked

BY D.W. GIBSON

or the past three years, I've traveled around the city, talking with New Yorkers as they experience gentrification. There is little consensus on the topic — even the word itself is defined differently by each of us. I've spoken with tenants, activists, lawyers, investors, architects, construction workers, real-estate agents, drug dealers, business owners. Many people occupy several of these spaces at once, a fact that underscores just how quickly this con-

TOPICS:

HOT

continued on page 6

Why Are All the Teachers White? ... see page 3 Love & Money: The No-Stress Approach ... see page 5

2016 Presidential Candidates Weigh-In on President Obama’s Immigration Action

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BY WENDY FELIZ

mmigration policy has become a hot topic as the 2016 Presidential primary picks up steam. It is no surprise that the issue of Presidential authority over immigration has taken center stage in recent weeks as Hillary Clinton, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush have all begun discussing their views around how far the President should have gone with respect to executive

Preventing Police Abuses ...see page 10

Former Jamaica PM Says Weed Could Be Lucrative ... see page 2

FREE Legal

consultations on

student loan issues.

Call 718-222-3155.

Time for Change in T&T? ...see page 4

continued on page 11

Brian Figeroux, Esq.

College Debt Crippling Graduates’ Ability to Gain Wealth

Guyana New President Calls for Unity...see page 2

illions of Americans are plagued by student loans, an albatross hindering them from taking adult financial steps like buying a house or moving out of Mom and Dad’s basement. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday that outstanding student loan balances recently grew to $1.16 trillion in the U.S. But one group is dispropor-

Support for Green Businesses ... see page 22

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BY JILLIAN BERMAN HUFFINGTON POST

tionately affected by student debt.

More than 40 percent of AfricanAmerican families had student loan debt in 2013, compared with 28 percent of white families, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute, a Washington-based think tank studying issues of education, health policy and low-income families.

AfricanAmerican families also typically take on more student debt — $10,295 on average, compared with an average of continued on page 15

Success Starts on Thursday, June 25. Over 30 FREE Empowering Seminars ...see page 16

Caribbean Star: Carol Maraj ... see page 20

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Caribbean Consulates

Anguilla 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0277

Antigua & Barbuda 610 Fifth Avenue, Suite 311 New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-541-4117

The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-421-6420

Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325

Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-1240

Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853

Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-768-2480

Grenada 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400K New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301

Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119

Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767

Jamaica 767 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000

Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887

Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200

Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450

St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521

St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360

NEWSBRIEFS

Former Jamaican PM Thinks Weed Could Be Very Lucrative

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BY VANDELL PARK

t the recent 2015 annual town hall hosted by Western Union and Grace Kennedy LTD for the Caribbean Diaspora here in New York, focused on the theme: “Caribbean Diaspora-Borderless Possibilities,” former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Pattersonn, jokingly, yet realistically, mentioned how valuable an economic resource the recently legitimized marijuana cultivation in his country would be not only for Jamaica, but for the Caribbean: “As I’ve been saying recently, that plant, which has been so much maligned, has tremendous scientific and medicinal qualities that it is too valuable to go up in smoke... Do you know that it is of such value that sometime last year one ounce of CBD extracted from the sinsemilla plant was worth one ounce of gold on the world market? So, we have to look at some of the things with which we have an advantage. I would like to enjoin you to understand that.”

As the person who coined the phrase, “Borderless Possibilities,” in his capacity as the keynote speaker, Patterson, stated,

Former Jamaican Prime Minister, Hon. P.J. Patterson

'“When I took the oath as Prime Minister for the first time and subsequently for three others, I have said that I envisaged Jamaica as a land without boarders and I have never resigned from that view, but sought to promote it while I held political office and will still continue to do what I can from the pavilion to encourage the people of the Caribbean. We have built other countries, other nations; it’s time for us to help build the Caribbean. The people who are present in this room represent persons who have reached the pinnacle in several fields of endeavor in a vast range of professions to which they belong and several are emerging as people to be reck-

oned with in the field of business and commerce….you may be a Jew living in the United States, but while you are contributing to the building of the nation here, you are also making sure that Israel is supported and Israel is protected, and Israel is defended. Some of the phenomenal growth you are seeing occurring in India, comes from people who came here many years ago and went out up in the Silicon Valley and learned their skills and took those skills back home with them and they are now the driving force in the development which is taking place in India. The Chinese Diaspora, which had already been spread long before China, has been emerging today as an economic superpower, is linked with the trade, the development and the increase of prosperity in that country. So are the Irish, and I want to see the Caribbean Diaspora here become a potent force for the development of the Caribbean… we all are Caribbean people; we all have to work together because the growth and development of the Caribbean will ensure the growth and development of Jamaica and the other Caribbean countries.”l

Emmanuel Baptist Church: Connecting People to Christ

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BY NICOLE McGARRELL

or 134 years, Emmanuel Baptist Church has been an impactful mainstay in Clinton Hill, and the Brooklyn community at-large. Located at 279 Lafayette Avenue (corner of St. James Place), Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC), is known for its mission of "Connecting People to Christ." EBC has 3 services (Traditional and Contemporary) for its members and visitors to choose from, that allow attendees to go to a service they most connect with. Whether members prefer hymns in four-part harmony, or were weaned on hip-hop—or their tastes fall somewhere in between—all of these services equip attendees with Christ-centered, biblically based tools for optimum living.

It is very common to find parishioners in the pews following sermonic presentations in bound Bible, or Bibles digitally downloaded onto their smartphones.

A cross-section of the congregation at Emmanuel Baptist Church

Additionally, Emmanuel Baptist Church offers a variety of ministries for members to get involved, including Primetime Ministry (50+ years old), 20/30 Something (20-30+ years old), Frontliners (Men Ministry), The Chosen (Women's Ministry), and Youth Leaders of

Emmanuel (12-19 years old).

EBC also offers a multitude of educational, and inspirational programs, such as The Blueprint (its Discipleship Development Institute), and its regularly occurring Jazz Vespers. As Emmanuel Baptist Church believes in making all of its members feel welcomed and acknowledged, one program they have coming up is its Jazz Vespers on June 28th from 3:00pm-5:00pm. The Vespers will celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month and feature Haitian jazz vocalist Mari Toussaint.

Emmanuel Baptist Church's 3 services take place Saturday's at 5:30pm, and Sunday at 9:00am and 11:00am.

To learn more about EBC, their ministries, and their upcoming Emmanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers, visit http://ebcconnects.com/ or call 718-6221107. l

St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278

St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272

For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory

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CONVERSATIONS

Why Are All The Teachers White?

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BY DR. CHRISTINE BIRCHINI

am a white teacher. Growing up in the '80s and '90s in Brooklyn, N.Y., I do not remember having a single teacher who did not look like me. Every teacher I've ever had, represented “me” in some way or another.

By virtue of being born a white child who spoke English as her first (and only) language, I was fortunate. I had my pick of mentors, my race was represented in most—if not all—curricular texts, and I excelled in school, year after year. My academic fate was sealed in the most predictable of ways.

Not only were my teachers homogenously white, but in my 13 years of compulsory schooling, I do not remember being assigned a single text authored by a person of color.

Indeed, I was already at a social advantage long before my teachers even knew my name. My family and I were not tasked with learning what Lisa Delpit has famously coined the “culture of power”; as a typical neighborhood white kid, I was not ignorantly considered a cultural anomaly, nor was I a threat to the tried, “true,” and impenetrable pedagogies, practices, and policies of my teachers’ classrooms and those of the schools I attended.

My parents never, not once, not for a nanosecond, would have to worry about how my teachers and administrators chose to relate to me—or worse yet, treat me—because of my race, culture, or primary language. My parents did not have to worry about the potential for racist policies and practices to impact my outcomes.

As a white child, I would not have to endure a single micro-aggression by some adult who should have a) kept their mouth shut, and b) read a book by Lisa Delpit, bell hooks, Tim Wise, or other brilliant thinkers who have made it their life’s mission to understand how race—including whiteness and white privilege—and the dominant culture impact day-to-day life in this country and its schools.

I may have been from a working-class community, but I had it easy. The fact of the matter is that schools were set up by people who looked like me for people who looked like me. And as Motoko Rich illustrates in her recent article, “Where Are the Teachers of Color?,” despite an ever-increasing racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse student population, not much has changed in the racial makeup of the teaching force.

Different Experiences of School Indeed, the important quest to develop more teachers of color is not new.

Education leaders and researchers from a variety of camps have been asking the same questions about this for quite some time. However, it is a question that seems to skirt, if not outright ignore, the system of racialized privilege that is historically embedded in, and endemic to, the public school system writ large.

As a researcher, I study white teachers, their words, and their practices. As a university professor, I teach education cours-

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Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief Pearl Phillip

Senior Editor Colin A. Moore, Esq. Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq.

es where, most semesters, each and every one of my teacher-education students is white.

I have yet to meet a student in my college courses who did not claim to excel in school, or at the very least to do exceptionally well. My students, for the most part, fondly recall their experiences as K12 students.

Such fondness, to be sure, is part and parcel to why students go into teaching, and it is not far-fetched to assume that they look back fondly on their experiences because schools were set up by people who look like us for people who look like us.

Current politics, initiatives, and institutionalized madness aside, is it really any wonder that we’d want to return? Indeed, most of us who desire to return to school as teachers are returning to the very institutions that have been set up to benefit us all along.

Conversely, why would historically marginalized populations elect to eventually become teachers for the very system that (likely) underserved them in some way? Why would minority populations elect to serve a system that will (likely) continue to underserve minority students if the current discourse of “accountability” has its way?

In other words, who willingly, and in their right mind, returns to a system that failed to adequately educate, represent, respect, and appropriately mentor their own student body?

An underserved schooling experience might be examined in a couple of ways.

We might think about it in terms of the desperate skill-and-drill measures that Jonathan Kozol illustrated long ago, fraught measures which have been shown to impact schools inequitably.

Moreover, the guarantee of seeing your race represented positively in your daily experience, or of seeing your race reflected back at you by people in power (as with our teachers and administrators) is a core tenet of Peggy McIntosh’s iconic White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.

Ignoring Diversity On the other hand, for your race to be underrepresented in your daily experience with others in the most meaningful of ways (e.g., while spending up to one third of your day in an educational institution surrounded by authority figures who do not look like you) is one powerful way for

Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman

you to be underserved by your schooling experience.

On the curricular front, I would argue that schools’ odd, even irrational adherence to all things canonized is also an example of underserving an increasingly diverse student body. Perhaps if schools permitted their teachers to teach something other than the “required classics” from the “canon,” we might begin to scratch the surface of what it would look like to foster a culturally in-sync learning environment. A curriculum which reflects the realities of a racially and culturally diverse student body is perhaps more likely to create an environment with the potential to appeal to a more diversified teaching force.

The failure to incorporate curricular materials that, as McIntosh puts it, “testify to the existence” of racial diversity is to underserve and ignore our increasingly diverse student bodies. Perhaps if, as institutions of education, we gave some attention to what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has famously coined “the danger of a single story,” we might begin to unravel the reasons why our teaching force has not kept up with the student populations we are tasked with educating for a better world.

The quest for more teachers of color involves a lot more than asking schools, programs of teacher education, and teachers to uncover personal biases. Becoming aware of your own personal biases requires, also, becoming aware of how and why school served you well. An examination of your relationship with your educational experiences, however long gone, might reveal unspoken insights into who schools invite back to become teachers, and who they continue to cast aside.l

Christina Berchini is an assistant professor in the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. An East Coast native, she flew the coop and earned her Ph.D. in curriculum, instruction, and teacher education with an emphasis in English education from Michigan State University. Her areas of interest and specialization are secondary English education/English teacher education, critical race studies, critical pedagogy, social justice, and issues in urban education.

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Contributors Wendy Feliz Jillian Berman Dr Christine Birchini Vandell Park Claude Leach Dr Daroy Lyne Allan Jenkins Ravi Bhaumi Jhodie-Ann Williams Janet Howard Paul McDaniel Anita Campbell Karena, AllRecipes.com Nicole McGarrell Mayo Clinic Staff

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As first appeared in Education Week Teacher, April 28, 2015. Reprinted with permission from the author.

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ISLAND FOCUS: T&T

Time For Change in Trinidad &Tobago?

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BY RAVI BHAUMI

ith Trinidad and Tobago national elections set to be held

by September 17, 2015, political parties, including the incumbent People’s Partnership, have begun to campaign to become the next government to rule the country. The two candidates for the two main political parties, Kamla Persuad Bissessar, of the People’s Party, and Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley, leader of the PNM, are shaping up for the political fight of their lives. Many Trinidadians and Tobagonians believe that experience and a prolific political track record by Dr. Rowley should be enough to give him an assailing lead to become the next Prime Minister of the country, ahead of a less experienced and alleged corrupt, Kamla Bissessar.

Dr. Rowley, a distinguished graduate from the University of the West Indies with a Doctorate in Geology, entered politics in 1981, and has since served his constituents with distinction. He has successfully defended the Diego Martin West parliamentary seat since 1991, and has the accolade of producing results for the people he serves. In addition to his political leadership, Rowley also served as the representative Governor of the InterAmerican Bank and as Governor of the Caribbean Development Bank, two reputable financial institutions in the Caribbean region and the world. With such strong political leadership and out-

eral.

The most recent of such atrocious actions is an outlandish bill, sponsored by Prime Minister Bissessar, requiring a two-term limit for Prime Ministers, an elections runoff system and a recall system for non-performing MPs. The bill is dubbed the most controversial in the country’s history, because of its sinister intent of ultimately forcing citizens of the country to be subjected to an undemocratic process. In fact, Independent Senator, Anthony Vieira, says while the proposals in the bill are simple: “the devil is in the details… for lines of divisions are deepened.” He further noted: “The runoff system will exclude minority interests and will lead to a fragmentation of our political party system…it is undemocratic because it is a winner take all system.” Again, Prime Minister Bissessar exposed her true character by pushing a law that will deprive citizens of Trinidad and Tobago their voter’s rights.

In addition to this sinister political agenda concocted by Bissessar, she also usurped her powers as Prime Minister to politicized the country’s awards process, when she unilaterally publically bestowed on former Prime Minister Patrick Manning, the country’s highest award, without even consulting with him prior to the announcement, and without even seeking the approval of the national

“I like Kamla...but she has an awful weakness, and I think you know about it...”

—Panday

standing corporate administrative success, the people of Trinidad and Tobago believe the country should be trusted into the capable hands of Dr. Kieth Christopher Rowley.

On the other hand, the politics currently practiced in Trinidad and Tobago by the incumbent People’s Partnership, led

by Kamla Persad Bissessar, is considered the most dastardly ever in the country’s history. Many citizens of the Twin Island Republic are aghast by the egregious acts of self-serving and blatant disregard for the rule of law and the country’s constitution, by a Prime Minister who they contend, demonstrates chronic insincerity and reckless disregard.

Bessissar’s actions besmirched the honorable office she holds, as well as the esteemed brand of political system that the country enjoyed over the years, one of transparency and calculated decisive actions on behalf of the interest of the nation in gen-

awards committee. Further, Bissessar is accused by the country’s Opposition Leader, Dr. Keith Rowley, of instructing the committal of crimes via emails, against a journalist and the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions, individuals who acted within their constitutional rights, but in disobedience to her demands. This criminal accusation now engages the attention of the Northern District of California Court in the United States, which has given permission to the Trinidad and Tobago Integrity Commission to subpoena search engine Google to investigate the so-called “Emailgate” scandal. According to Dr. Rowley in a motion of no-confidence brought against the Prime Minister and her ruling People’s Partnership Government, he has information from 31 emails exchanges between Prime Minister Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Minister of Local Government Surujrattan Rambachan and then National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Gary Griffith, indicating plans to harm a journalist who reported on the Section 34 problem, and to plant electronic spy devices in the office of the DPP and to offer a bribe position to the DPP as judge over the said section 34 issue.

Rowley says these emails will prove corruption at the highest level in the Kamla Persad-Bissesar Government, pushing for the enactment of a law called

continued on page 23

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CARIBBEAN POLITICS

Guyana’s New Government Calls for Inclusionary Democracy

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BY VANDELL PARK

he people of Guyana have entered a new political phase. For the first time in the country’s history, Guyana will be ruled by a multi-party government. After gaining autonomy from the British in 1953, there has been coalition leadership with the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) alternately dominating the political landscape of the country. The dominance of these two political forces has led to a bitter rivalry between the two main ethnic races in Guyana, primarily the East Indians for the PPP, and the AfroGuyanese for the PNC. That racist divide was acrimoniously re-injected into Guyana’s politics by former president Bharrat Jagdeo, during the campaign of the just concluded elections, as he egregiously charged that the new President, David Granger, and his party, will kill Indian people and introduce kick-down the door banditry should the party win the 2015 general elections, primarily with the intent to drive fear in the minds of the East Indian population of Guyana. Jagdeo’s malicious and destructive racist rants worked in that Guyanese of East Indian ethnicity largely boycotted the Unitarian message by the multi-party A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) led by Granger and voted race in the 2015 elections.

However, the victorious APNU/AFC alliance Government says it is determined to change the haap and Jaat culture of politics in Guyana by working towards inclusion and unification of the racial divide that now exists. President Granger, speaking this week after assuming office on his plans as the New Government states: “This is a moment that Guyana has been waiting for. It’s a moment that we should regard as the start of a process of building national unity, as a process of creating what I call inclusionary democracy and rejecting the winner-take-all mentality.…What happened in 2011 and 2015, is that the people changed. They stopped thinking race and start thinking more about issues and this would be a good moment for the PPP and former President Ramotar, to send a message to his supporters that we want Guyana to move forward and that we are prepared to join this movement for national unity rather than stay on the sidelines and criticize.”

In his victory speech following his swearing-in as the eighth Executive President of Guyana, Granger made clear his government’s intentions to provide all Guyanese a cohesive living environment where equal justice and economic stability will be the hallmarks of a progressive Guyana under his leadership: “Guyanese, the elections are over, the people have chosen their representatives, the constitution has been respected, and our democra-

IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW?

cy has been fortified. Let us now put past rivalry behind us and work in unity to banish poverty, ignorance, failure and hatred.

We’re assembled here today to witness the swearing-in, not of a party leader, but of a President of all the people, and I shall be a good President for all the people. We, the Guyanese people, have chosen to inaugurate a government of national unity and to promote multi-party inclusionary democracy. We are convinced that this is the best way to overcome our historic divisions. We have witnessed the damage done to our beautiful country over the past 23 years. We have been mocked by the destruction of local democracy, and the denial of local government elections. We, the Guyanese people, have seized the opportunity to vote for human safety, to vote for national unity, and to vote for inclusionary democracy.. As fellow Guyanese, let us work together to realize our aspiring national motto: One People, One Nation, One Destiny. And in so doing, let us be reminded of that famous national song: Let us cooperate for Guyana, let us cooperate for our land, let us resolve to fight together, see we do it right together, can we do it, yes we can.”

President Granger has begun identifying areas that are of priority for development under his administration. He also emphasized the importance for the observance of the rule of law by public servants including those from the past administration

demitting office: “Good education, abolition of poverty, and good employment. I really want to see every single Guyanese child no matter how poor his or her background, in school. I really want to see that, and if at the end of my tenure I can go through the street and go through the villages and see nobody liming, nobody skulking from school, no children selling papers during school hours, I’ll be very, very happy.…I want to see a reduction in the high cost of living, particularly among women who have to run households, which means reduction in the cost of food and we hope to change the tax threshold so that persons who are earning what we would call a very low income would not have to pay income tax at all. We want to reduce the value-added tax that will have a significant impact on food, reduce the toll on the Berbice River Bridge; there are specific things that we want to do but they are geared towards giving poor people a more comfortable frame of life. If you take something that doesn’t belong to you [it] is theft, and theft is a crime. I am not witchhunting, but it is unlawful to remove state property without permission, and if people remove cars or computers or anything else, I will send the police to get it back and to ask them questions and if they committed crimes they will be persecuted in accordance with the law.”l

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“I Put White Tenants In/ continued from page 1

car with the engine running. I hopped into the passenger seat and went for an afternoon ride-along through the neighborhoods where he does most of his business: Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights.

It is important to remember that Ephraim is one voice on a wide spectrum. And it is important to know that Ephraim is a pseudonym for reasons that will become obvious.

Ephraim turns the car on. I stammer through a request to hear what it’s like to be a landlord in so many evolving Brooklyn neighborhoods. Ephraim nods and stares out the window, as if he lacks the will or energy to answer such a broad question.

Do you know anything about property? There’s a deed and there’s a note.

Like with a car, if you have a lease, the title is in your name but you don’t actually own the car. The deed to the house is the same thing. If you have a mortgage, the actual thing, the house is the bank’s.

So they have a note, and they can transfer it to other banks, they can sell it to big companies, they can make packages of notes. You still own the deed — that’s yours. And if the bank wants to take it from you, they have to go through the process of foreclosure. If the house has a small mortgage, that’s fine — you can sell the deed — but if the house is underwater, you can’t really do anything with it.

So we came up with the idea: The bank takes a long time before they take the property away. It can take them up to five, six years. So we go to the owner, buy from him the deed, and then we rent it out. When the market went up a little bit, about 10 percent of the mortgages were almost at market value, so we’d pay them off and keep the building. If it’s a big mortgage, I don’t have any choice; I just sit until the bank takes it away. I’m just sitting, collecting rent. And that’s it.

It’s not 100 percent — I mean, it’s legal, but sometimes in the mortgage there’s a clause that says if you sell the deed, you have to notify the bank and if you don’t notify them the bank can take the property. But even if you didn’t notify them, the bank has to go through the whole process of getting the property and that takes some time.

And the banks don’t care. They actually like when people take care of the building. Because it will actually cost them $100,000 a year — people breaking in, pipes busted. As long as everything is good, everything running, they just leave it alone until they’re taking it.

People that have small mortgages, they’re going to want a lot more for their deed, to give over ownership. A person that sells a deed with a big mortgage usually wants to get $5,000. They don’t care.

They didn’t pay the mortgage for, like, two years — the property’s shit. So we would give them $5,000, $10,000, and they give us the deed.

We started out with this, buying over one hundred deeds, all over the place,

They don’t know — here he

lowers his voice — that even

if they get the money and they left, they could always come

back. They don’t know that part.

And it’s so scary sometimes

because they could come up in the middle of construction and say, “It’s my property, I didn’t

understand what I was signing, and I want to come back.”

and we collected the rent. I used to love it. But the bad part was, come Monday, I used to go to the buildings in my car, and knock on every single door. This was like five years ago. And they didn’t give me payment. One out of 10, one out of 20, maybe. And they were yelling at me, “You fucking Jew! Leave me alone!”

I got used to it. And I understand it.

Not all Jewish people are nice people.

Every tree has a bad apple. Some of them are really nasty and can trick their tenants. But some of the tenants put up such a fight that you have to trick them. I used to do that — but I don’t do that anymore.

I did that once four years ago. I told someone, “I’m going to give you twenty grand to move — just move out first, and then I’ll give you the money.” And then I screwed them. I gave him something but not the money I told him. And he couldn’t come back to me because he wasn’t

HOT TOPIC

even legally supposed to live there.

Some Jewish people, they’re going to come in and they’re going to try to rip off the black tenants — and the tenants know it, there’s word of mouth. So it’s like, “Oh, a Jewish guy again?” There’s a lot of Jewish guys moving around. Like a lot, a lot, a lot of investors who are either Hasidic Jews or a little bit less, but they’re Jewish. They’re holding BedStuy like this — he squeezes at the air in front of him, strangling it. So sometimes it’s like, “Hello, this was our neighborhood. What are you doing here?”

We started in East New York, but we sold everything we had. We didn’t want to be there. Most of them are either Section 8, other government programs, and even the person that pays with cash is too much headaches. So we sold everything over there and we came out all the way to Park Slope. Then we started backing up, backing up, slowly, all the way to Bushwick. This is one of the houses we’re finishing now.

We pull up in front of a three-story brick building. Having shed the deedbuying business, Ephraim’s now involved with acquisitions and development. And he prefers to hold and rent buildings as opposed to renovating and flipping them. Ephraim stops the car in the middle of a residential block to roll down his window and light a cigarette.

The street is lined with brownstones, most of which are in various stages of destruction and recreation, rented dumpsters stuffed with shards of demolition continued on the next page

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and pallets of new Sheetrock passing by.

Smoke shoots out of Ephraim’s nostrils.

There is a young Hasidic man standing across the street. He and Ephraim make eye contact: Ephraim waves casually, if not reluctantly. The young man comes over to the car, his hands slouched on the window. A long silence follows then finally:

Ephraim: Everything okay? You haven’t gotten me anything.

Young Man: I’m still stretching — it’s early.

Ephraim: Bring me something. You have my number, right?

Young Man: Yeah. [Pause.] You don’t have anything for me?

Ephraim: No. What do you need?

Young Man: Multi-families.

Ephraim: Ay — you do multi-families?

I thought you were selling multi-families.

Young Man: No, I’m buying also.

Ephraim: No. No, I don’t have anything.

For now.

Young Man: You don’t have anything, huh?

Ephraim: No.

More silence while Ephraim makes a point of his disinterest, playing with his phone. Then:

Ephraim: If I have something, I have your number.

Young Man: Okay.

7

Like a lot, a lot, a lot of investors who are either Hasidic Jews or a little bit less, but they’re Jewish.

They’re holding Bed-Stuy like this — he squeezes at the air in front of him, strangling it.

$2,800, and they’re all white. So this is what we do.

My saying is — again, I’m not racist — every black person has a price. The average price for a black person here in Bed-Stuy is $30,000 dollars. Up over there in East New York, it’s $10,000 dollars. Everyone wants them to leave, not because we don’t like them, it’s just they’re messing up — they bring everything down. Not all of them.

Most of them don’t believe you at first.

"Oh, you Jewish people you’re a bunch of thieves, you’re never going to give me my money." But once you start actually having a base of people who know you, who you actually gave the money, it’s better. Sometimes it’s really tricky because you’ll have one person willing to leave for $2,000 and another wants $20,000. And the second this guy finds out that guy is getting 20 he says, “Hell no, I’m not leaving. I want 20, too.”

They don’t know — here he lowers his voice — that even if they get the money and they left, they could always come back. They don’t know that part. And it’s so scary sometimes because they could come up in the middle of construction and say, “It’s my property, I didn’t understand what I was signing, and I want to come back.”

Some blacks have an attorney and everything. So I try to make them happy, even if they’re going to go for $7,000 or $8,000, I’d rather give them an extra grand so they’re happy and they’re not going to think about it too much. Again, I don’t want to be a racist, but when I have a building—I can’t even say it because it’s not going to sound right.

He lowers his voice again: If there’s a black tenant in the house— in every building we have, I put in white tenants. They want to know if black people are going to be living there. So sometimes we have ten apartments and everything is white, and then all of the sudden one tenant comes in with one black roommate, and they don’t like it. They see black people and get all riled up, they call me: “We’re not paying that much money to have black people live in the building.” If it’s white tenants only, it’s clean. I know it’s a little bit racist but it’s not. They’re the ones that are paying and I have to give them what they want. Or I’m not going to get the tenants and the money is not going to be what it is.

The scary part about doing this is, if the black guys start to realize how much the property will sell for. This is a new thing now, the past year. A million, two million dollars—it’s crazy, crazy numbers. None of them realize yet—some of them do— the amount of money you can get. The scary part is they’re going to realize they can get the same exact house in East New York for $400,000, $500,000 and they can get paid $1.5 million for their home in Bed-Stuy, they’re going to start dumping houses on the market and the market’s going to be flooded and it’s going to cool down. It’s already cooling down.

It’s so hard to get empty buildings.

When you have an empty building it’s like gold. So we never flip buildings.

One building we sold because in the Jewish religion there’s a weird thing where you don’t cut down a fruit tree.

Some people really don’t give a shit about fruit trees. But most of the Hasidic

DW Gibson, author of “The Edge Becomes the Center: The Oral History of Gentrification in the Twenty-First Century.”

Jewish people will not cut down a fruit tree. There’s one house in Borough Park where they cut down a fruit tree and there was nine fires over there in the last two years. Sometimes weird stuff happens.

So we had a building, and the only way it’s working for us is if the fruit tree comes down. We spent $50,000 doing the plans and then found out there’s a fruit tree. We didn’t know about it. So we had to sell the building. It’s the only way I’m going to sell a building. A building is not really a selling thing. Buildings are for keeping.l DW Gibson is the author of Not Working: People Talk About Losing a Job and Finding Their Way in Today’s Changing Economy and The Edge Becomes the Center: The Oral History of Gentrification in the Twenty-First Century, from which this excerpt was adapted. Copyright © 2015 by DW Gibson. Published in 2015 by The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers Inc. www.overlookpress.com. All rights reserved. Article originally appeared in New Yorker magazine. Reprinted with permission from the author.

Ephraim tosses what’s left of his cigarette and moves his hand toward the button to roll up the window. The glass emerges from the door with an electric hum and the young man takes his hand away.

They’re like the new kids coming in.

He laughs. He breaks for a few more phone calls — many are carried out in Hebrew, though the profession-specific words seem to be stuck in English: brownstone, skim coating, Prospect Park.

I ask him what the first thing is that he considers when deciding whether or not to buy any given building.

We’re small, so we look into places that haven’t caught on — we just did a place on Nostrand Avenue. People are not even there yet. We put in $600,000 and everyone was laughing at us. “It’s crazy, you’re over there. A building for yuppies, white people? It’s not going to work.” The building was full of tenants — $1,300, $1,400 tenants. We paid every tenant the average of twelve, thirteen thousand dollars to leave. I actually went to meet them — lawyers are not going to help you.

And we got them out of the building and now we have tenants paying $2,700, VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.CAWNYC.COM FOR MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION, FREE LEGAL CONSULTATIONS AND A CHANCE TO WIN A TV!

8

MONEY MATTERS

Love and Money: The No-Stress Approach

M

BY CLAUDE LEACH

oney is a main source of stress in many relationships, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Combining finances with your significant other can be—and should be—just as much fun as sharing a bottle of wine. It is true that money may not buy love, but fighting about it will bankrupt your relationship. It is important for people who profess to love one another and even have children together, to learn to do so without having money issues that will doom the relationship. People have to learn how to communicate effectively as well as how to develop the art of compromise and not find themselves in constant struggles. Many couples think that if they made more money, their financial issues would go away. That is far from the truth; in fact, the problems and issues become larger and more expensive.

In dealing with love and money it is important for couples to be prepared to have an open discussion about everything financial—credit history, debt load, income, retirement plans and their views and values about money. This of course should be done once they have passed the dating stage of their relationship and may be thinking of marriage or some other permanent relationship.

Couples often find out that they may

have significantly different views about finances that can cause a halt to the love.

Oftentimes couples are less than forthright on the financial questions and somehow expect the issues on which they may disagree, to work themselves out. That is usually never the case. People can change, but change is difficult to achieve.

There are persons who are not prepared to compromise on certain issues. In looking at love and money, it is important for couples to look for "those" red flags and address them. Be sure that you can get both you and your partner to the table to discuss and compromise if necessary on those money issues. The communication must be something that both parties are prepared to entertain. If your partner is shutting you down whenever you want to talk money, you have three choices. Stay and put up with the differences and the eventual conflicts, walk, or run for help.

In the event that you decide to stay and run for help, you might be able to find counseling in a number of places. Check out your religious organization. Look for a program that includes a comprehensive session on money management, including covering the emotional issues about managing your money. Check with your benefits office at work. Many employee benefit packages include referrals to counseling services. You may wish to check out professional organizations for counsel-

ing. Some agencies offer help to couples dealing with money issues.

Perhaps one of the most important guidelines that a couple can follow in addressing love and money is the NoStress Approach, whereby they can set up a number of money rules which should address how they will deal with financial issues in their household. This is an area that couples pay scant attention to, but one which should have rules of engagement that must include rules for how to be civil and have respectful disagreements and never fight about money.

The rules should not be changed unless there is an agreement by both parties. In deciding on the financial rules, recognition must be given to whether or not there is room for financial secrets. There should be a plan to meet regularly to discuss the family finances. There should be an agreement to operate under a budget and an agreement to adhere to it.

Having a set of financial rules which one could use as a guide may seem too formal and businesslike, but if there is going to be financial peace in a love and money relationship that should last, then there must be rules that would govern the financial behavior. Will the rules be broken? Sure they will. But having them as a baseline of how to conduct yourself will help you quickly get back on tract when the rules are broken.

It is most important for parties to strive

for a love and money relationship that has little, or better still, manageable stress.

The “Mighty Sparrow,” a Caribbean Calypsonian in his “No Money No Love” song, gives us a number of consequences that are the result of not having money in a relationship. He tells the story about the female partner who complained about staying in a relationship where there was not enough money to spur the love and keep it going. The lyrics of the song are worth some attention. Of course couples should ensure that their relationship never gets to that level. Love and money can co-exist. Just follow the No-Stress Approach.

“No Money, No Love” don’t have to be the route to follow. Here an excerpt from the song: Ivy pack up she clothes to leave Because John was down and out All alone he was left to grieve She had a next man in South She said openly I really love you Johnny But you ain’t have no money So what will my future be Even though you love me?

We can’t love without money We can’t make love on hungry belly Johnny you’ll be the only one I’m dreaming of You’re my turtle dove But no money no love l

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FAMILY MATTERS

Coping With an Alcoholic Parent

L

REVIEWED BY D’ARCY LYNES, PFD

ots of people live with a parent or caregiver who is an alcoholic or who drinks too much. Alcoholism has been around for centuries, yet no one has discovered an easy way to prevent it.

Alcohol can affect people's health and also how they act. People who are drunk might be more aggressive or have mood swings. They may act in a way that is embarrassing to them or other people.

Alcoholism is a disease. Like any disease, it needs to be treated. Without professional help, a person with alcoholism will probably continue to drink and may even become worse over time.

Diseases like alcoholism are no one's fault. Some people are more susceptible to wanting to drink too much. Scientists think it has to do with genetics, as well as things like family history, and life events.

Sometimes what starts as a bad habit can become a very big problem. For example, people may drink to cope with problems like boredom, stress, or money troubles.

Maybe there's an illness in the family, or parents are having marriage problems.

No matter what anyone says, people don't drink because of someone else's behavior. So if you live with someone who has a drinking problem, don't blame yourself.

How Does Alcoholism Affect Families?

If you live with a parent who drinks, you

may feel embarrassed, angry, sad, hurt, or any number of emotions. You may feel helpless: When parents promise to stop drinking, for example, it can end in frustration when they don't keep their promises.

Problem drinking can change how families function. A parent may have trouble keeping a job and problems paying the bills. Older kids may have to take care of younger siblings.Some parents with alcohol problems might mistreat or abuse their children emotionally or physically. Others may neglect their kids by not providing sufficient care and guidance. Parents with alcohol problems might also use other drugs.

Despite what happens, most children of alcoholics love their parents and worry about something bad happening to them.

Kids who live with problem drinkers often try all kinds of ways to prevent them from drinking. But, just as family members don't cause the addiction, they can't stop it either.

The person with the drinking problem has to take charge. Someone who has a bad habit or an addiction to alcohol needs to get help from a treatment center.

Alcoholism affects family members just as much as it affects the person drinking.

Because of this, there are lots of support groups to help children of alcoholics cope with the problem.

What If a Parent Doesn't See a Problem?

Drinking too much can be a problem that nobody likes to talk about. In fact, lots of parents may become enraged at the slightest suggestion that they are drinking too much.

Sometimes, parents deny that they have a problem. A person in denial refuses to believe the truth about a situation. So problem drinkers may try to blame someone else because it is easier than taking responsibility for their own drinking.

Some parents make their families feel bad by saying stuff like, "You're driving me crazy!" or "I can't take this anymore."

That can be harmful, especially to kids: Most young children don't know that the problem has nothing to do with their actions and that it's all in the drinker's mind.

9

Some parents do acknowledge their drinking, but deny that it's a problem.

They may say stuff like, "I can stop anytime I want to," "Everyone drinks to unwind sometimes," or "My drinking is not a problem."

Lots of people fall into the trap of thinking that a parent's drinking is only temporary. They tell themselves that, when a particular problem is over, like having a rough time at work, the drinking will stop.

But even if a parent who drinks too much has other problems, drinking is a separate problem. And that problem won't go away unless the drinker gets help.l

© 1995- 2015. The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth®. Reprinted with permission.

For full acrtile, visit:www.kidshealth.org

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10 NEWS

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

President Obama Already Has a Way to Prevent Policing Abuses

T

BY DIEGO INIGUEZ-LOPEZ & ALLAN JENKINS, TRUTHOUT.ORG

he bloody images of police beating Floyd Dent, a 57-year-old African-American man pulled over for allegedly running a stop sign, and violently arresting Martese Johnson, an African-American student at the University of Virginia, went viral at a time when police across the nation are under increased scrutiny for civil rights abuses. These incidents come after a Department of Justice report that documents a pattern and practice of police discrimination against Africans Americans in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as a presidential task force report with recommendations for bridging the divide between police and communities of color.

The reports document the reality of policing rooted in implicit bias and a legal structure that perpetuates it. They also lay out steps that policy makers from the federal government level down to local police departments can take to prohibit racially biased policing, hold police accountable to communities and protect public safety while upholding the values of fairness and human rights. The reports

were released on the heels of nationwide protests demanding justice for police killings of unarmed African-American youth and a full 50 years after the march from Selma was sparked by a state trooper killing a civil rights activist.

Considering the deep divide between police and communities, the tools at the disposal of his administration and the growing calls for justice, President

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Obama can and should go big to ensure that police departments respect the civil rights of all Americans.

President Obama can immediately do this by strengthening compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Department of Justice (DOJ) action. Title VI prohibits recipients of federal funds, including local police departments, from discriminating based on race, color or national origin.

Unfortunately, the federal government has not been doing enough to ensure that recipients are upholding civil rights. It doesn't — and shouldn't —have to be this way.

One simple but vitally important step that the DOJ can take is to require that police departments clearly demonstrate equitable police practices when they apply for federal grants, undergo evaluations, submit reports and get audited by the Department of Justice for compliance purposes. Any assurances that police departments make, and any documentation that they provide to DOJ to prove compliance, must be reflected on the ground, where police officers interact with the community. The department should require specific, demonstrable evidence of proactive efforts to prevent and address racially biased policing.

Stronger requirements for police departments are not only necessary for civil rights compliance, but can also help to implement many of the recommendations made in the interim report by the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. These recommendations include police collecting and reporting data on stops, frisks, searches, summons and arrests disaggregated by race and ethnicity. They also include police trainings on implicit bias; on use of force that emphasizes de-escalation and alternatives to arrests or summons; on improving social interaction with community members; and on the treatment of LGBTQ, immigrant and Muslim communities. The task force also recommends accountability measures such as external and independent criminal investigations in cases of police use of force,

community oversight, and mechanisms to address inappropriate use of equipment and tactics during mass demonstrations. It also proposes commonsense practices in police interactions like requiring an officer to seek consent for a search and to explain to that person that they have a right to refuse consent in the absence of a warrant or probable cause.

The Department of Justice can require police departments receiving federal funds to implement one or a combination of these recommendations to show compliance with Title VI. The nationwide protests in response to police killings in Ferguson, in New York and in other parts of the country continue to reveal deep patterns of tension and civil rights grievances, and the DOJ is well within its authority to respond by requiring concrete, demonstrable compliance prior to, and as a condition upon, receipt of federal funds, as well as during the period of funded activity.

Through these and other measures, the department can move us closer to equal justice by incentivizing policies that improve police and community relations and enhance public safety.

Fifty years ago, activists in Selma looked to the federal government when they were faced with violence at the hands of state and local law enforcement.

Similarly, federal action is now critically needed on the issues of police killings of youth of color and equal justice for all.

The Obama administration has an opportunity and obligation not only to shape its legacy, but also to use its federal authority to prevent civil rights abuses by police departments.l Copyright, Truthout.org. Reprinted with permission. Visit: http://www.truthout.org/opinion/item/30012-presidentobama-already-has-a-way-to-preventpolicing-abuses

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11

IMMIGRATION

Presidential Candidates Weigh-In On Immigration/ continued from page 1

action on immigration and what they would do if they were President.

Hillary Clinton said to a group in a public event in Las Vegas last week that she would defend the President’s immigration actions and hinted at ways in which she might take them further.

“I will fight to stop partisan attacks on the executive actions that would put DREAMers—including many with us today—at risk of deportation. And…if Congress refuses to act, as President I will do everything possible under the law to go even further. There are more people—like many parents of DREAMers and others with deep ties and contributions to our communities—who deserve a chance to stay. I’ll fight for them too.

“The law currently allows for sympathetic cases to be reviewed, but right now most of these cases have no way to get a real hearing. Therefore we should put in place a simple, straightforward, and accessible way for parents of DREAMers and others with a history of service and contribution to their communities to make their case and be eligible for the same deferred action as their children.”

Marco Rubio would preserve some, but not all of the President’s actions, by removing protections for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents (DAPA) but keep those in place for recipients of Deferred Action for

Marco Rubio Childhood Arrivals (DACA), according to the Miami Herald: “The Florida senator, who is already a formal presidential candidate, has said he would do away with DAPA right away if it doesn’t die in court first but leave DACA in place at first while pushing Congress to pass immigration legislation.

“At some point, it’s going to have to end — that can’t become the permanent policy of the United States — but on the short term I’ve said I won’t remove it,” Rubio told CNN en Español last month. “I would eliminate DAPA, the new measure, and I would use the position of President to advance a responsible immigrationreform process.”

Jeb Bush is harder to pin down. This week, he said that current legal challenges to DACA and DAPA will end the

Hillary Clinton initiatives. When asked directly by a Fox News anchor if he will bring an end to the program he responded “Absolutely, I would. Of course.” Later when asked how he would undo it, he said by passing meaningful immigration reform. Without further clarification, however, it is hard to be completely sure what he means.

How aggressively would he work to undo the President’s actions and does he mean both DACA and DAPA? Or would he leave them intact, if they survive the legal challenges until he could get reform passed?

Perhaps as Bush refines his positions he should call a family meeting.

Ironically, in the same interview Bush says “I totally understand why people were upset, when Barack Obama, with the stroke of a pen, through executive action, takes unconstitutional actions.”

Jeb Bush Ironic, as both his father and brother used their executive authority to shield immigrants from deportation. Indeed, before President Obama, George Bush Sr. had taken the most aggressive steps, shielding more than a million individuals from possible deportation through the 1990 Family Fairness program. Also, George W. acted four times through executive action to protect immigrants.

As the campaign season continues, what candidates say about the future of President’s Obama’s executive actions on immigration is important. In the face of an intractable Congress, the President’s executive actions have been the one area of policy progress in years.

How our next President promises to handle it has implications for the millions who may potentially qualify.l

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12 NEWS

IMMIGRATION

Immigrant Fraud Unit Is Set Up

I

BY VANDELL PARK

n an effort to combat the problem of immigration fraud that is constantly on the increase here in Brooklyn, and across New York, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s (DA) Office has established an immigrant Fraud Unit tasked primarily with the responsibility to ensure prosecution for those involved in the crime of defrauding and scheming to defraud undocumented immigrants by deliberately setting out to take advantage of their status. Chief of the Brooklyn DA’S Immigrant Fraud Unit, Kin Ng, says his department will be undertaking a series of public information endeavors to make the public aware of the various schemes already used to trap undocumented immigrants, as well as to let immigrants know that help is available for them should they fall victims to fraudsters, and that those involved in the practice of defrauding immigrants can and will be prosecuted. Mr. Ng, in an interview with Caribbean American Weekly says: “It is Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson’s motto, that once you are a victim of a crime whether you are documented or undocumented, he will be there to help you. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office Immigrant Fraud Unit is set up to prosecute anyone who practices the fraudulent exploitation of immi-

grants, using schemes or other means.

Whether it’s an organization, a church, or an individual or individuals, we will prosecute. The most typical schemes are where a person or group may pose as an attorney or someone who has special skills in terms of immigration and what they will do is give that person legal advice, and promise to have special connections to expedite somebody getting a green card or social security card and in return they will charge you some amount of money, let’s say $10,000, and if you give me $5000 upfront, I’ll guarantee that you get a Green Card in six months.

So obviously, this sounds great to the immigrant because oftentimes they work very hard and one of the primary concerns for them is to get status and become a citizen, but after they give the money, often times when they follow up with these people, they never hear back from them again and because they are

afraid of the authorities such as the police, because sometimes they worry about deportation, they are not going to report the crimes, so often times these crimes are under reported, we don’t know too much about them, so that’s why we are trying to get the word out there to let them know that we are here to help and it matters not what your status is. Once you make the report we will investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators.”

According to Mr. Ng, victims of immigration fraud who are undocumented, have no need to fear deportation for reporting a crime to the police. The Brooklyn DA’s office is simply trying to reduce the number of fraudulent crimes committed against vulnerable residents of Brooklyn, in particular undocumented immigrants. He stressed that his office is obligated to serve everyone living in Brooklyn and it is with that mandate in mind why the Brooklyn DA’s Office has undertaken to alleviate crimes such as immigration fraud: “My unit, we do a lot of outreach, our office goes to a lot of priestly council meetings, our office goes to different groups, and for example my unit is part of the big task force called the Protect Immigrant New York task force that incorporate a lot of non-profits groups and involves other DA’S offices and some of the federal agencies. Also we have both a New York Immigration

Hotline at 1-800-566-7636 and a Helpline at 718-250-3333 where you can call in and report the crime. Also, on any given day you can come down to the DA’s Office where we have an action center and you can speak to one of our specialists who will take your complaint and write it up and forward it to the relevant department for action.”

In order to further fulfill its obligation to the Borough of Brooklyn, the DA’s Immigrant Fraud Unit will embark on its public awareness campaign this June by hosting its first public forum to speak on the issue of immigration fraud among other topics that will be beneficial to the immigrant community. Mr. Ng explains: “After our first immigration forum, we will make adjustments. We plan to go to different parts of Brooklyn to continue our outreach program to the residents of this Borough. Brooklyn is home to one of the largest immigrant populations in the United States and our immigrant communities represent the beauty and rich diversity of our great city.

Unfortunately, there are individuals who target and prey upon these communities and defraud and exploit innocent people. My unit is committed to investigate and prosecute individuals and businesses that target and exploit immigrants.”l

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14 NEWS

IMMIGRATION

Immigrant Entrepreneurs Move the U.S. Economy Forward

N

BY PAUL McDANIEL

ational Small Business Week, which has occurred each year since 1963, recognizes the contributions of entrepreneurs and small business owners in the United States.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, which SBA defines as an independent business having fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses created about two out of every three (63 percent) net new jobs in the U.S. from 1993 to 2013, and 60 percent of net new jobs since 2009. Behind these broad numbers is the critical role immigrant entrepreneurs play in America’s small business environment.

Frequently cited statistics show that immigrants are more than twice as likely to start a business than the native-born population. Immigrants, over the last 15 years, have also increased the rate by which they start businesses by more than 50 percent, while the native-born have seen their business formation rate decline by 10 percent. Moreover, income from immigrant-owned businesses increased by more than 60 percent over the last decade, and in 2010, generated more than $775 billion in revenue, $125 billion in payroll, and $100 billion in income, and employed

one out of every ten workers.

Immigrants are creating economic opportunities in the neighborhoods where they’re needed most. While immigrants comprise 13 percent of the country’s total population, 16 percent of the labor force, and 18 percent of business owners overall, immigrants make up 28 percent of “main street” business owners nationally in 2013. According to a January 2015 report, “main street” businesses are those that fall into three sectors: retail, accommodation and food services, and neighborhood services. These are the types of small businesses that contribute to neighborhood vitality.

Additionally, main street businesses are often establishments with a thin profit margin, as they tend to cater to a smaller customer base and market area. But they’re important for generating neighborhood-level economic growth and revital-

ization. Regarding particular types of businesses, immigrants make up 61 percent of gas station owners, 58 percent of dry cleaners owners, 45 percent of nail salon owners, and 38 percent of restaurant owners. Locally, in some metropolitan areas, immigrants make up over half of all main street business owners: 64 percent in the Los Angeles metro area, 61 percent in metro San Jose, 56 percent in the Washington, D.C., metro area, and 54 percent in the Miami metro area.

Clearly, small business immigrant entrepreneurship has the potential to boost local economic growth and community development. Yet, small business owners, particularly immigrants and refugees, face particular challenges and barriers—lack of credit history, access to capital, language and cultural barriers, and understanding of the local business environment and rules, regulations, and permit-

ting for starting a business in a particular place. By seeking opportunities to help budding immigrant entrepreneurs overcome these challenges, their business startups will likely see a greater chance of success, with positive benefits for their overall community.

From the local to the national level, there are a variety of public, private, and nonprofit organizations exploring ways to cultivate immigrant entrepreneurship.

Local leaders in St. Louis launched an immigrant entrepreneurship advisory board comprised of local immigrant entrepreneurs, an effort led by the St. Louis Mosaic Project as part of a holistic approach to help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality. The announcement came as part of a new resource and information-sharing agreement between the city of St. Louis and the SBA to boost area immigrant businesses. Indeed, many local organizations are already pursuing strategies to bolster immigrant entrepreneurs in their communities. And the recently released set of strategies from the White House Task Force on New Americans includes steps federal agencies like the SBA can take to build on ongoing local level work, leveraging resources and expertise to strengthen opportunities for small business entrepreneurship.l

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15

WEALTH & DEBT

College Debt Crippling Graduates’ Ability/

“Student loan

continued from page 1

$8,020 for white families.

The student debt disparity is just one factor adding to a yawning gap in wealth between black and white Americans.

One big reason black families are more likely to borrow for college is because they’re less likely to have access to traditional sources of wealth such as inheritances, or wealth-creating tools such as homeownership, according to the Urban Institute. Once black students graduate, the extra debt may prevent them from activities that build wealth—for example, buying a house or saving for retirement.

“Student loan debt can have ripple effects. It can delay when people buy their first home and when they begin to start saving seriously for their retirement,” said Signe-Mary McKernan, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. “This disadvantage means that AfricanAmericans are getting a late start in wealth accumulation.”

The Urban Institute analysis relies on data from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors' survey of consumer finances.

One critique of the survey is that it underestimates total outstanding student loan debt.

One important caveat: The Urban Institute analysis relies on data from the Federal Reserve's survey of consumer finances. One critique of the survey is that it underestimates total outstanding student-loan debt. A recent New York

debt can have

ripple effects. It

can delay when

people buy their first home and

when they begin to start saving

seriously for their retirement...”

Fed study found that lenders report higher levels of debt.

All students who weigh whether to borrow for college face a catch-22. Research shows it’s much harder to get a decentpaying job without a college degree, yet saddling oneself with loans can be daunting. Among African-American students, the choice can be particularly acute.

For one thing, African-American students are less likely to graduate from college, according to the Urban Institute, meaning they won't have a degree to help them land the kinds of jobs that will pay off loan debt. That, says the Institute, is in part because African-American students are more likely to attend for-profit colleges. Those schools often have lower graduation rates than nonprofit counterparts, and they’ve come under fire in recent years for not delivering on promises to get jobs for graduates.

And black students who do get a degree often face discrimination in finding a job.

Recent black college graduates face an unemployment rate double that of their white counterparts, according to a 2014 analysis from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that this may be due partly to a subconscious bias against black job applicants.

The first few years of a career are extremely important in determining how much money a person will make over their lifetime, and whether there will be enough to do things like buy a house or save for retirement. This combination of factors makes it especially difficult for black college graduates to gain wealth.

“That wealth translates into opportunity,” McKernan said.l

A Special Invitation

to all faith-based leaders to empower their congregation and membership

from the IJLEF, Inc., a 501(c)(3) approved not-for-profit organization offering

FREE IMMIGRATION SEMINARS/ PRESENTATIONS & CONSULTATION CARDS ($100 VALUE) ON THE DAY OF THE PRESENTATION

Call 718-243-9431 to schedule a presentation

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16 NEWS

EMPOWER YOURSELF

OVER 30 FREE EMPOWERING SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS Time

Room 1 - Small Business Boot Camp

Room 2 - Construction

Room 3 - Next Level

10am-10:45am

I’m Going to College Business to Start a Business, Not Get a Job; and Business Plan Basics

How to Start & Manage a Construction Company & Being a Union Contractor

An Introduction to Non-Profits

11am-11:45am

Show Me the Money: Financing Your Business (Traditional & Non-Traditional

LEED Documentation for General Contractors & Construction Managers

An Introduction to Workers’ Compensation Issues

12noon-12:45pm

An Introduction to Marketing, Social Media and Effective Networking

An Introduction to Federal Training for Sub-Contractors

How to Do Business with Battery Park

2pm-2:45pm

Identifying Contracting Opportunities for MWBEs & Veteran-Owned Businesses at CUNY, NYS and the U.S. Federal Government

An Introduction to PLA: The Good, Bad & Ugly; and An Introduction to the From Worker (Union) to Business Owner

Managing Your Online Reputation

3pm-3:45pm 4pm-4:45pm

Time

Small Business Solutions: Legal, Tax & Accounting Issues and An Intro to QuickBooks Doing Business in the Dominican Republic

Room 4 - Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees

How to Start a Restaurant Business and An Introduction to the Restaurant & Urban Nightlife Association Doing Business in Jamaica

Room 5 - Int’l Trade & Global Biz

How to Start & Manage a Successful Day Care Business Doing Business in Barbados

Room 6 - Franchising

10am-10:45am

Master Your Finances, Master Your Business

Panel: Doing Business with the New York City, New York State and the Federal Government

An Introduction to Franchising

11am-11:45am

Advertising in the Digital Age & Key Essentials of Local Online Marketing

Doing Business with BNY Mellon

Minorities and Franchising

12noon-12:45pm

An Introduction to the Fresh Start Initiative for Distressed Businesses

An Introduction to International Trade & Global Business

Financing Your Franchise and Taking Your Franchise International

2pm-2:45pm

Find Your Financial G-Spot

International Trade & Global Business: The Value of E1, E2 & EB5 Visa Programs

Doing Business in Guyana

3pm-3:45pm

How to Start & Manage a Successful Beauty Salon & Cosmetics Line

An Introduction to Export.gov

Doing Business in St Lucia

4pm-4:45pm

Doing Business in Haiti and Doing Business with Immigrants

Doing Business in Trinidad & Tobago

Doing Business in the St Vincent & the Grenadines

REGISTER at www.chambercoalition.org

Seminar schedule subject to change.

Questions? Call 718-722-9217.

Bring your business partner, employees, family and friends. Attend as many seminars as possible, then discuss the information together!

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18 NEWS

SMALL BUSINESS MATTERS

How to Take Your Solopreneurship to the Next Level

I

You may find that you want to grow more aggressively now that you’ve built a team to help you move faster.

BY ANITA CAMPBELL

f you’re like nearly 18 million people in the U.S., you’re operating your business as a solopreneur. That means you’ve been doing everything, from making sales to refilling the printer paper. But what happens when your business grows beyond what you can do on your own?

It’s time to call in reinforcements. But it’s not just a matter of hiring a few freelancers. You need a strategy that will help you scale your operations to match up with your boom in business.

Change Your Business Structure When you’re small potatoes, operating as a sole proprietor is usually sufficient.

But as you grow, you need to protect your personal assets. If someone sues your company, they’re essentially suing you, and your personal assets may be taken to cover costs. But operating as a corporation or LLC, you are separated from your business, and you’re not personally liable for it.

There are also tax advantages to choosing a formal business structure, so do some research and figure out which is best for your company.

Figure Out Your Staffing Needs You can’t continue to do everything successfully, so it’s time to start hiring. You have a few options here, depending on how much help you need: •Freelancer •Intern •Agency or consultant •Part-timer •Full-timer

If you have a one-off project, like web design, a freelancer may work. If you want to hand your marketing over to someone else, consider hiring a marketing consultant or agency. And if you have regular tasks you need help with, determine whether you need to hire part or full time.

Be Willing to Invest Time While yes, adding people to your team will lighten your load in some ways, if you’re truly ready to grow your business to be competitive with bigger players, you’ll probably have to spend more time working on that growth. Let your family know that at least for the time being, you’ll be less available at home.

Look to the Future As your business grows, you may change your goals. As a solopreneur, you may not set your sights as high as you can once you’re moving up to the next level. Reassess your business plan, and decide whether it’s still in line with where you want to take the company.

Let Go Up until now, you were the one to make all the decisions. Now that you’re working with other people, it may be a challenge for you to not want to control everything. But realizing your growth involves you working with people who are skilled in areas you aren’t, so trust them to do the job and contribute to your company’s success.

Moving from solopreneurship to a larger small business isn’t an overnight miracle. It will take planning, time and money, so make sure now is the right time for you to step up your efforts.l Anita Campbell is a guest blogger for www.sba.gov. She runs online communities and information websites reaching over 6 million small business owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs annually, including Small Business Trends, a daily publication about small business issues, and BizSugar.com, a small business social media site.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.CAWNYC.COM FOR MORE NEWS AND INFORMATION, FREE LEGAL CONSULTATIONS AND A CHANCE TO WIN A TV!

NEWS CV1

NEWS

nHEALTH

nENTERTAINMENT

nRELATIONSHIPS

nRECIPES

nSPORTS

Domestic Bliss: 5 Fabulous Wedding Registry Upgrades

nHOROSCOPE

Kitchen Corner

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos SUBMITTED BY KARENA ALLRECIPIES.COM

"Once you've had one, you'll want another. The recipe is a little different from most burrito recipes, but I've had many, many requests for it. Serve these with sour cream, chopped green onions, and salsa." — Karena

G

etting ready to say "I do?" Of all the tasks you'll do to prepare for your big day, creating your wedding registry will be one of the most fun.

It's your chance to choose everything for your home, from towels and linens to plates, flatware and kitchen gadgets. Be sure to add choices in a variety of price ranges so guests can decide how much they want to spend, while still getting you and your new spouse something you really want. Dream big — in addition to the basics, take this opportunity to ask for premium gifts. Here are a few items any couple would be thrilled to receive and enjoy.

Mixing up magic A high-performance blender is a musthave for any newly married couple or family. Ask for one that can help with every meal of the day. Use to make breakfast smoothies in the morning, salad dressing for lunch, soup for dinner, and even dips and drinks for last-minute entertaining.

Multi-taskers Pots and pans are a registry staple, but you should also add specialty cookware and bakeware, such as a roasting pan, rectangular baker or covered baking dish.

Choosing oven-to-table pieces makes it easy to go straight from cooking to presentation, all in one dish that works for both tasks. Many of these dishes also include lids for easily storing leftovers.

By asking for a set that comes with multiple pieces, you'll be ready to create brunch casseroles, lasagna for dinner and a warm bread pudding for dessert.

Backyard barbecues An outdoor grill can help set the scene for family gatherings, tailgate parties or just relaxing with friends. Decide if you prefer gas, which offers easy operation and clean-up, or charcoal, which many barbecue connoisseurs say provides a more intense, grilled flavor. Also, think about extra features you may want, such as a built-in thermometer, side burners, shelves or tool hooks. Don't forget skewers, cooking utensils such as spatulas, tongs and grill forks, as well as other accessories like a grill mitt, grill basket or pizza pan.

Be sure to consider space as well. If you live in an apartment, you may opt for a smaller grill or one that hooks directly on your balcony.

Serve in style Be ready for dinner parties with formal dinnerware and crystal stemware. Select timeless patterns that will look fresh and inviting on your table for years to come. Add a pop of color and personality with low-cost, on-trend accent pieces, such as chargers or a coffee or teapot. Register for a few different types of glasses including water goblets, wine glasses and stemless or highball glasses, depending on your drink of choice. Experts recommend requesting eight to 12 place settings, but you may want more if you plan to host large events.

Ingredients 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 6 cups canned kidney beans, drained 2 cups water 3 tablespoons chili powder 4 teaspoons prepared mustard 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste 3 tablespoons soy sauce 4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes 12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.Heat oil in a medium skillet and saute onion and garlic until soft. Mash beans into the onion mixture.

Gradually stir in water; heat until warm, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the soy sauce, chili powder, mustard, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

3.Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the tortillas; top with cheese. Fold tortillas burrito-style around the fillings and place on a baking sheet.

4.Bake in the preheated oven until warmed through, about 12 minutes.l • • •

PREP 15 mins COOK 25 hrs READY IN 40 mins

Visit www.cawnyc.com for the latest Caribbean news, sports, information and more!

Love in old age!

Unconventional tools Once you've got the basics covered, consider some out-ofthe-box kitchen items. Keep recipes handy by registering for a cutting board that has place for a tablet. For easy entertaining, a slate cheese board enables you to write the name of each cheese or appetizer right on the board. Or, pick one with a hidden drawer for knives and storage.

Friends and family often like to give a signature gift that will make you think of them each time you use it. If you need extra advice on what to choose for your registry, don't hesitate to ask a consultant at your local department store or download checklists from popular wedding websites and blogs. Creating a wedding registry is often the first step toward building your home as a married couple, so get the right items to make it a happy one.l(BPT)

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20 NEWS

CARIBBEAN STAR

Carol Maraj Is Helping Women Build Their Wings

O

BY JHODIE-ANN WILLIAMS

nce, there was a pregnant woman whose boyfriend held a gun to her belly. This story and others like it, about victims of domestic violence, have inspired Carol Maraj, President and Founder of The Carol Maraj Foundation, to become an advocate for victims.

This year, the foundation will have its first annual fundraising gala, the H.O.P.E. Rising Awards, to help raise funds to help prevent domestic violence.

The event will also honor mothers who are making great strides in the community.

Maraj is a survivor of domestic violence, she knows all too well the sacrifices that it takes to persevere not only as a woman but as a mother. Her ability to connect with the women she meets, comes from a sincere place of understanding.

“I was just a mother trying to my best, unfortunately my husband went on drugs and alcohol and I had to be strong for my two children,” Maraj said. “I knew I had to keep hope alive for my children.”

One of Maraj’s children is hip-hop mega superstar, Nicki Minaj.

“I would tell my children all the time

GREEN CARD SLAVERY? Don’t put up with ABUSE anymore! We can get a Green Card for you and your children PLUS a divorce.

Call 718-222-3155 now for a FREE consultation!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Based on Isaiah 61: we

want you to put your ashes down and receive beauty.

Your ashes represent your

bitterness, your pain, your low self-esteem, and I

want [them] to leave that aside and pick up their beauty...

that ‘no’ is not an option,” Maraj said. “I just kept going, I knew God had better plans for me.”

In 2011, Maraj planted the first seed in transforming her struggles into a pathway for other women to find their strength. She visited a shelter in Harlem, and the stories that were shared with her pushed her into action.

“When I left there I wanted to do something for them. I wanted to show them the love and support, because there were so many tears, bitterness, and broken heartedness,” Maraj said.

Uplifting women is the main focus for Maraj. The foundation not only focuses on the internal healing from the mental and emotional scars that come from domestic violence, but it also helps with the external scars. There are three distinct programs offered by The Carol Maraj Foundation: Dolls Up, M.O.V.E. (Moving Onward Vocationally Empowered), and Sister’s Keeper; which are designed to educate the women in the different areas of how to be a survivor and overcomer. Dolls Up focuses on beauty makeovers, M.O.V.E. helps with job and career readiness, and Sister’s Keeper focuses on fellowship.

“The objective is, if we can get the women to go out there and become financially independent, then they will not want to go back to their abusers,” Maraj said. “For some of them there is a codependency there and they want to go back, but once they get a job and they’re financially ready, they don’t want to go back.”

Feeling beautiful and prepared make the women more confident in their deci-

sion to move on from an unhealthy relationship. These programs are not just for women in shelters. The organization does a lot of outreach and prides itself on being accessible to the community as a whole.

“We will make a visit to community centers or wherever we have to go and do the makeover,” Maraj said.

Makeovers are usually done for free in the shelters, but when done in other locations it’s only $25 per woman. The small fee goes directly into helping the nonprofit foundation run its programming.

Maraj is also a proponent of reaching the younger generation as a preventative measure. She personally goes out to schools, churches, and youth groups to teach the early detection of abuse.

According to statistics, from the organization, Women Helping Women’s website, one out of three teenage girls are or have been involved in an abusive relationship.

“It’s very important, because you would be surprised to see how young these teens are who are getting involved in abusive relationships because they didn’t know the signs and didn’t know it was abuse,” Maraj said. “It’s so important to get them very early so that we can help make a change in this new generation.”

In addition to its first, upcoming H.O.P.E Rising Awards, the foundation also hosts an annual brunch, Beauty for Ashes Brunch, to help raise money for domestic violence awareness and prevention. The name is taken from Isaiah 61, its biblical reference resonates with Maraj’s focus.

“It means, today I want [them] to put your ashes down and receive beauty.

Your ashes represent your bitterness, your pain, your low self-esteem, and I want [them] to leave that aside and pick up their beauty, which is the drive to become successful and enhance their life,” Maraj said.

Butterflies, planes, and hot air balloons are all symbols, sprinkled throughout the website, of journeying to a new beginning. Growing through a hard circumstance is something that Maraj emphasizes to the women she meets.

“I go around and give my stories to others and tell them, if I’m standing before you that means that there is hope for you,” Maraj said.

Tickets for the upcoming H.O.P.E Rising Awards can be found on Eventbrite.

Inquiries about getting access to the programs or how to volunteer can be sent to CarolMarajFoundation@gmail.com.

For more information on The Carol Maraj Foundation, please visit CarolMarajFoundation.com. l

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NEWS 21

HEALTH

Erectile Dysfunction: A Sign of Heart Disease?

T

he same process that creates heart disease may also cause erectile dysfunction, only earlier. Erectile dysfunction — difficulty maintaining an erection sufficient for sex — can be an early warning sign of heart problems.

Understanding the connections between the two may help you get treatment before heart problems become serious.

Likewise, if you have heart disease, getting the right treatment may help with erectile dysfunction.

Clogged arteries: Where erectile dysfunction and heart disease meet Atherosclerosis (ath-ur-o-skluh-ROEsis) — sometimes called hardening of the arteries — is the buildup of plaques in the arteries of your body. The smaller arteries in the body, such as in the penis, are the first to get plugged up. The plaque reduces blood flow in the penis, making an erection difficult. Erectile dysfunction is an alert to look for atherosclerosis in larger arteries supplying your heart and other organs and to take steps to treat it.

Atherosclerosis also increases your risk of other problems, including aneurysm, stroke and peripheral artery disease.

Certain men are at increased risk Besides sharing a common disease

older than 70, erectile dysfunction is much less likely to be a sign of heart disease.

•Being overweight. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of both heart disease and erectile dysfunction due to atherosclerosis and other reasons.

•Being depressed. There's some evidence that depression is associated with an increased chance of having heart problems — and erectile dysfunction.

process, erectile dysfunction and heart disease also share many risk factors.

These risk factors increase the likelihood that your erectile dysfunction could be a sign of underlying atherosclerosis and heart disease: •Having diabetes. Men who have diabetes are at especially high risk of erectile dysfunction, heart disease and other problems caused by restricted blood flow.

•Having high cholesterol. A high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol can lead to atherosclerosis.

•Being a smoker. Smoking cigarettes raises your risk of developing atheroscle-

rosis. It also directly affects your ability to get an erection.

•Having high blood pressure. Over time, high blood pressure damages the lining of your arteries and accelerates the process of atherosclerosis.

•Having a family member with heart disease. It's more likely your erectile dysfunction could be linked to heart disease if you have a first-degree relative such as a sibling or parent who had heart disease at a young age.

•Your age. The younger you are, the more likely that erectile dysfunction signals a risk of heart disease. Men younger than 50 are at especially high risk. In men

Treatment for erectile dysfunction caused by heart disease If your doctor thinks you may be at risk of heart disease, making lifestyle changes such as exercising, changing your diet or losing weight may be enough to help keep your heart healthy — and improve your ability to have an erection.

If you have more—serious signs and symptoms of heart disease, you may need further tests or treatment. If you have both erectile dysfunction and heart disease, talk to your doctor about treatment options for erectile dysfunction. If you take certain heart medications, especially nitrates, it is not safe to use many of the medications used to treat erectile dysfunction. l Written by Mayo Clinic Staff

Hosea: 4:6 - My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge

The minority communities are suffering.

HeartSmarts Time to put a stop. Participate in

FREE LAY AMBASSADORS PROGRAM

HeartSmarts is a program to empower others to live heart-healthy lifestyles. The program seeks to educate pastors and community leaders to become educators in the community about cardiovascular health. What makes HeartSmarts different is that it uses a faith-based curriculum, so each of the ten sessions of the HeartSmarts program has a biblical scripture that goes along with it.

Classes start on Friday, July 10 from 10am-12noon Who should attend?

Faith-based, community leaders and health advocates Register at www.chambercoalition.org

Location: NACC Conference Room 26 Court Street, Suite 701, Brooklyn, NY 11242

Tel: 718-722-9217

Email: info@mynacc.org

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22 NEWS

MOVING FORWARD

The Green Party of New York Supports Green Businesses and Economic Development in NY

T

BY VANDELL PARK

he Green Party of New York, led by former 2014 gubernatorial candidate, Howie Hawkins, is seeking to model a green economic climate both here in New York and the United States, similar to that encouraged by the European Green Party across Europe.

According to Hawkins, the City of Paris is moving towards divestment from the fossils fuels industries that contribute to climate change and his party is working to develop and encourage a similar economic structure here in the United States.

Hawkins explains: “What they call for in Europe are businesses that are sustainable over the long term. They want to change the industrial technology so that it’s using renewable energy and ensure that the by-products of production are reusable so that there is no pollution and we encourage that. What we want to do is to encourage similar types of businesses in the form of workers’ co-ops where workers get the full benefits of their labor and they acquire the entrepreneurial and management skills required. In a co-op there is a board of directors and the more efficient they work, the more money they make and there are some good examples of that here in the United States…. One is recovered Windows, operating out of

Join the Green Party on Thursday, June 25 at the Brooklyn Marriott

Chicago. The manufacturer closed down the business and the workers stepped up, bought over the company and is operating it as a workers co-op making insulated windows. Another good example is in Cleveland where they set up a workers co-op that manufactures solar panels and installs them to homes and an affiliated co-op which does urban agriculture in the inner city which has created employment and we think we can encourage those by establishing public banks with entrepreneurial arms, to help workers set up these businesses and create their own jobs; unlike a number of manufacturing in this country which is being shipped overseas to cheap labor markets, these businesses would become the anchor to their communities.”

According to Hawkins, his party will seize every opportunity to promote economic development that will encourage businesses and manufacturing operations that will make a huge impact towards practices that will eliminate major contributions to climate change. He noted that come June 25, 2015, his party will be at the New American Chamber of Commerce International & Multicultural

Business Expo scheduled to be held at the New York Marriott, Downtown Brooklyn, to promote its Green economic drive: “We want to talk about the establishment of co-ops and the public policies to support them. For me, and I would say the Greens, public banking is what we need to help communities develop economically and not financial institutions that are out there primarily to make money for their shareholders only[we also need]… to help the public with its economic missions, and also to encourage the creation of businesses that would produce sustainable jobs that are safe for the environment….We would also like to see regulations and tax subsidy policies that would encourage businesses to move into the clean manufacturing and renewable energy field, for example, having a tax on carbon with a dividend or refund per capita that would make it more expensive to use fossil fuels and make it less expensive to use renewable energy. In New York we would like to see a … bank with the state depositing its money there, thus bypassing the middle man in Wall Street which takes a lot of fees and then have entrepreneurial

arms that look at specific businesses that are needed to develop a green and efficient state. We need businesses such as solar manufacturing and installations, we need retro fitting buildings for energy efficiency and this bank can help these businesses set up through business planning and help finance them and train the workers until they can operate it on their own and that would be a proactive way of getting businesses in the communities, thus creating employment. Unlike what we do now, we give tax breaks away and then cross our fingers and hope it generates jobs; it’s called trickle-down economics, which really doesn’t trickle down.”

Hawkins is calling on those interested in becoming entrepreneurs and are seeking to contribute to a green safer and sustainable environment, to make it their priority to attend the NACC International & Multicultural Expo hosted by NACC, since his Green Party will be making a special economic push for more green businesses here in New York. Businesses interested in being a part of the Expo, can contact NACC so they can showcase their products and take advantage of networking with other businesses from across the tri-state area at 718-7229217.l

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EDUCATION

NYC City Comptroller Holds DOE Feet to the Fire for Lack of Physical Education

T

BY VANDELL PARK

he New York City Comptroller’s Office is yet again holding a key city department accountable, this time as it exposes the Department of Education’s failure to provide adequate physical education programs for students across the five boroughs of New York City. Comptroller Scott Stringer recently released a report called “Dropping the Ball: Disparities in Physical Education in New York City Schools” detailing the lack of physical education programs which is a key component of the New York State education curriculum. In his report, Comptroller Stringer says: “Simply put, the Department of Education [DOE] is leaving too many of our students on the bench when it comes to physical education and is violating state law in the process. Our key findings reveal that more than 32 percent of city schools examined do not have a full-time certified physical education teacher, despite New York State regulations requiring the DOE to provide students in grades 7-12 with a licensed PE instructor. Twenty-eight percent of schools lack a dedicated physical fitness space, even though the state requires adequate indoor and outdoor facilities for physical education programs at all levels, and eighty percent of schools that lack a dedicated physical fitness space are colocated. At a time when more than one in four New York City schoolchildren aged five to fourteen is obese or severely obese, the DOE must view PE as a necessity, not a luxury. Quality PE has been shown to improve academic performance, boost public health and save taxpayer money.”

Comptroller Stringer says his office is prepared to work with the Department of Education to ensure improvement in the area of concern and to allow for adequate provision of physical education programs to be offered to students across the city. The Department of Education, when contacted for a response to the Comptroller’s report, through its Deputy Press Secretary Jason Fink said: “Physical education is an important part of our students’ learning experience and delivers our schoolchildren not only

physical fitness, but a well-rounded education. With training and support for schools, the DOE is bringing innovation and new physical education training for teachers so they can provide expansive opportunities for students. We will review the Comptroller’s recommendations and will support our school communities to continue to improve physical education for all our students. The DOE provides a number of supports and programs to help schools provide students with high-quality, engaging physical education. The report overstates the number of schools without space for physical education.

Some schools that are co-located have access to shared space for physical education and these shared spaces are not always reflected in the Principal Annual Space Survey (PASS) survey. Many schools also provide physical education in spaces categorized in other ways, such as dance rooms or multi-purpose rooms.

Some schools access physical education space at external, non-DOE locations.

The DOE has submitted its District Physical Education Plan to the State Department of Education (SED) and it is currently under review.”

According to Mr. Fink, the Department of Education is working on improving its physical education programs across the five boroughs of the city, an action by the DOE that has not been reflected in the Comptroller’s report. He believes that with time, the DOE will deliver adequate physical education to the students of New York City, and so far, statistics are on hand to show the work that is already

underway by his department. He explains: “The DOE continues to improve its systems for tracking information about students’ programs. Starting in 2014-15, all DOE schools (K-12) are required to report information about their instructional programs, including physical education, in the DOE’s student programming system (STARS). This is the first year that instructional data have been collected in this manner for elementary schools. State regulations do allow common branch teachers to teach physical education in elementary schools and this has been a long-standing practice in many schools. We provide training and support to certified PE teachers as well as such classroom teachers. DOE provides instructional support to hundreds of PE teachers annually through professional development. So far, this school year nearly 2,000 teachers have attended over 83 Physical Education sessions covering topics such as the recommended curriculum and assessment, "No Gym, No Problem" for non-traditional activity spaces; adaptive PE; and the national Let's Move Physical Activity Leadership training. More than 12,000 elementary school teachers have been trained in the Move-to-Improve (MTI) classroombased fitness program since 2009. The CHAMPS Middle School Sports and Fitness Program currently supports more than 400 middle schools and reaches more than 40,000 students each year.

PSAL has over 39,000 students on over 3,000 teams.” l

NEWS 23

Time for Change in Trinidad & Tobago?/ continued from page 4

Kamla Persad-Bissesar Government, pushing for the enactment of a law called the Administration of Justice Act, that would have allowed key supporters of the Government, Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson who are currently indicted for gross crimes, to walk free. It is to such extent that this woman, now Prime Minister of this nation, would go to secure her position in power.

In addition to Prime Minister Bissessar’s insatiable desire for power, regardless of how it is attained, is her palpable inebriation, a disgraceful social habit that she so often embarrasses Trinidadians with, both on the national and allegedly the international stage. Examples of this distasteful social condition of the Prime Minister, is said to have occurred while on stage in Australia and while delivering her concession speech to the loss suffered in the country’s 2013 local government elections, and prior to that. In fact, Former Prime Minister and UNC leader Basdeo Panday, a close ally of Kamla, spoke out about her alleged drinking weakness: “I like Kamla...but she has an awful weakness and I think you know about it, and I know about it and everybody knows about it, and it can make her enormously vulnerable."

In a bid to derail the opposition and cast its leader, Dr. Keith Rowley, in a bad light, the incumbent government has stooped to new lows in the political history of the country. First it was the government’s effort to use the socialization of the opposition leader gyrating with one of the country’s East Indian voters during the national carnival celebrations, dubbing him as being too lawless to lead the country, and when that did not work, the government took to parliament to defame Dr. Rowley and his mother, claiming that he is the product of a rape and that the genetic traits inherited from that experience would make him ineligible to lead the country.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader and his team continue to conduct what can be considered a clean electoral campaign, by highlighting issues that affect the people and put forward suggestions on what it will do once voted into government, to solve the glaring problems that currently plague the country. At a recent meeting Dr. Rowley says he will tackle crime which is the number one problem in the country. He says he will revamp the Police Services so that it can adequately deal with both violent and white-collar crimes.

He added that his government will stamp out corruption since it will not bargain with anyone for leadership positions, and it will work assiduously to put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure transparency and justice. He also indicated that his government will make significant changes to the local government Ministry, since there will be no appointment of a local government Minister.

With general elections just months away, Trinidadians are called upon to choose a leader who will not embarrass the country as a drunkard, and also spare the country from the incessant ineptness, and alleged criminal leadership of the current Prime Minister, Kamla Persuad-Bissessar.l

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