New York Amsterdam News Issue #2 Jan 12-18, 2023

NYC NURSES STRIKE PUSH FOR STAFFING CHANGES

Waking Up on the Other Side of the Dream (See story on page 16) The Lasalle nomination debacle (See story on page 11)

New York’s Black leader public safety summit in Harlem leaves more questions than answers (See story on page 15)

(Photo courtesy of NYS Senate Media Services; photos contributed by Center for Community Alternatives, Inc.)

(Public domain photo)

(AP Photo Andres Kudacki) (Bill Moore photo)

(See story on page

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ment jobs, some were brutal enforcers of law, some gave quiet approval as tens of thousands of Blacks were detained, locked up without trial, deprived of their lands, their rights and finally their lives.

nalist Sibusiso Shabalala.

Framing Vlok as a symbol for white repentance falls short, wrote Shabalala. “It assumes we can rebuild a country anew with a few symbolic gestures from some perpetrators and truth commissions that absolve them of real responsibility—so long as they ‘tell their part of the story’ with contrition.”

AFRICAN VETERANS OF FRENCH FOREIGN WARS TO GET FULL PENSIONS

LONG DENIED BY FRANCE

(GIN)—A check may soon be on its way for some of the last surviving African soldiers who fought in French wars around the world but were forced to live in France six months of the year to qualify for the pensions they were owed.

As a result of the six-month rule, many retirees could not spend their last days in Africa with their wives and children. With the regulation now to be lifted, they will continue receiving their pension payment even if they move away from France permanently.

The decision on the long-awaited pensions was confirmed on Jan. 4.

“After long years of fighting, we finally won,” tweeted Aïssata Seck, president of the Association for the Defense of Senegalese Tirailleurs’ Rights (Senegalese Riflemen).

According to Seck, there are currently fewer than 80 living tirailleurs. All of them are very old, with the youngest of them aged 90. A dozen live in rooms in a home in the Paris suburb of Bondy, where Seck serves as an elected official.

The decision, applying a “principle of tolerance” for the veterans, will be formalized in a government letter to be published in coming days.

Meanwhile, a new film featuring Omar Sy, best known for the Netflix crime series “Lupin,” highlights the forgotten heroism of African riflemen from France’s former colonies who fought in the frontline trenches of World War I.

Inspired by the true stories of 200,000 men drafted from French colonies, the work has personal resonance for the actor who was born and raised in France by parents of Mauritanian and Senegalese origins.

Tackling the film’s anti-war theme, the magazine Le Parisien asked Sy whether he found the current con-

flict in Ukraine upsetting.

Sy replied that Ukraine had not been “a crazy revelation” and that other conflicts taking place further afield had already touched him in equal measure. “A war is a dark shadow over humanity, even when it’s on the other side of the world. We remember that man is capable of invading, of attacking civilians and children. It feels like we had to wait for Ukraine for us to wake up to this,” he said.

“When it’s far away, they say over there, ‘They’re savages, we’re no longer like that.’ It’s like at the beginning of COVID, when people said, ‘It’s only the Chinese.’”

At the Cannes film festival last year, director Mathieu Vadepied said the film aimed to rectify France’s failure to recognize the riflemen and tell their story.

In Senegal, the head of the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War said the decision was overdue.

“For a long time, veterans have asked to return with their pensions but were not successful. This decision will relieve them. These veterans live alone, they live in extremely difficult conditions,” said Capt. Ngor Sarr.

Sarr, 85, fought for the French military in Algeria and Mauritania and moved to France in 1993 so he could receive his pension. He said he then lost it when he returned to Senegal 20 years later.

“Many soldiers died. They didn’t get this opportunity despite the role they played in liberating France,” said Mamadou Lamine Thiam. His father also fought in Algeria and died in 2015, at age 85.

SOUTH AFRICAN APARTHEID-ERA MINISTER WHO SOUGHT AMNESTY DIES AT 85 (GIN)—There were many heartless, soulless, violent men and women who defended apartheid during the years of racist white rule in South Africa. Some held govern-

But one man was the “face of evil” according to many who lived during those times. His name was Adriaan Vlok.

As minister of law and order, Vlok was at the forefront of South Africa's “dirty war”—overseeing bomb attacks on churches and trade unions seen as hostile to whiterule. Thousands died—all under the watch of Adriaan Vlok.

“I believed that apartheid was right,” he told AFP, the French news service in 2015. “It was our job to make people fear us.”

But his side lost the war and as the years went by, he claimed to have changed his mindset. He confessed his misdeeds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission— one of the very few apartheid-era leaders to testify and apologize— and sought redemption by handing out food to the poor.

Vlok admitted that his police had carried out bombings, including that of the headquarters of the South African Council of Churches. He was given amnesty for making the confession. Seeking redemption, he also washed the feet of prominent anti-apartheid cleric Rev. Frank Chikane—an outspoken activist Vlok had tried to assassinate by lacing his underwear with insecticide in 1989. He also washed the feet of the mothers and widows of 10 activists murdered by police after being lured into an ambush.

“I feel very ashamed of many things I have done,” he said at his sentencing in 2007 for the attempted murder of the Rev. Chikane.

This week, the 85 year old Vlok died in a hospital in the capital, Pretoria, after a short illness.

Not all South Africans agreed with the amnesty or accepted Vlok’s acts of contrition. These acts scarcely redeemed oneself from the grand acts of violence that Vlok, and many others, committed during apartheid, said jour-

“Which is why reconciliation, an ideal championed by Nelson Mandela—has failed in South Africa,” he continued. “Not because Black South Africans are unwilling to forgive, but because apologies, like that of Vlok’s, expose the limitations of reconciliation: it has done little to change the material conditions of Black South Africans, and too few white South Africans understand how destructive apartheid was.”

TROUBLE BREWS IN SENEGAL OVER ALLEGED MISHANDLING OF COVID-19 FUNDS

(GIN)—Hundreds of Senegalese gathered at the Place de la Nation in Dakar to denounce irregularities reported by auditors researching a COVID-19 fund. It was the second protest over reported problems with the funds to be called in less than a month.

The review by the Court of Auditors was said to have found “shortcomings,” “overbilling,” or lack of evidence of expenditure in their investigation of the Response Fund against the effects of COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021. Close to a billion dollars was possibly mishandled by the fund, according to Yewwi Askan Wi (Wolof for ‘Free the People), an opposition group.

A large police force monitored the rally, belatedly authorized by the local governor. Organizers of the protest complained that some public officials were “shamelessly and unscrupulously” using the funds while about 28 million dollars was not spent on COVID-19 at all.

A dozen civil society organizations backed the protest where shouts of “thieves!” and “You will not digest our billions” were heard.

Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko congratulated the organizers and all the Senegalese who turned out in support of the rally against the embezzlement of public funds, at the initiative of civil society at the Place de l'Obélisque. People are not happy

(GIN photo)

AM Bichotte Hermelyn named majority whip

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Brooklyn Dem Party Boss and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn is adding yet another title to her ever-growing list of duties: She was appointed to serve as majority whip of the Democratic-controlled New York State Assembly last week.

“Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn has been a voice for her constituents in Brooklyn and has fought to make our state a better place to live and raise a family,” said Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. “I know she will bring that dedication to her new role, and I look forward to having her serve on my leadership team as majority whip.”

A whip essentially keeps the political party disciplined in the legislature, making sure everyone votes according to

agreed-upon stances as opposed to their own ideologies.

“I’m honored to be entrusted by the

speaker to assume this position,” said Bichotte Hermelyn. “Given that I’ve been a

City promised a report on NYPD’s ‘secret’ gang database by end of 2022, advocates still waiting

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The Office of the Inspector General (OIGNYPD), a Department of Investigation (DOI) agency, started to probe the Criminal Group Database—NYPD’s “secret” gang database—in 2018, but there’s still no official report on the furtive list today, despite Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber’s projection of a release by the end of 2022 during a City Council hearing last spring. She said a draft was already in progress at the time.

“DOI is diligently working on its examination of the NYPD’s criminal group database and is hopeful to issue its report early this year,” said a department spokesperson, who could not comment further.

Last Thursday, Jan. 5, public defense provider Legal Aid Society and the anti-database consortium Grassroots Advocates for Neighborhood Groups & Solutions (G.A.N.G.S.) Coalition jointly denounced the city’s failure to release the report by the end of last year. In his statement, Anthony Posada, supervising attorney for the Legal Aid Society’s Community Justice Unit, demanded the “broken promises must end now.” He later told the Amsterdam News the report would shed some much needed light on one of the NYPD’s most uncharted tools.

“There are inherent due process concerns that the database does not adhere to so that people are never given a chance

to challenge their inclusion in the database and they also are subjected to staying on there perpetually because there’s no mechanism to get off of it,” said Posada.

“It just adds to the layers of secrecy under which this system operates, and it’s more of the reason why we really need the Office of Inspector General to issue a report that gives New Yorkers clarity and transparency about how the system operates.

“How many people are on it? How many of those people on it are minors? How many people on there have never even

committed a crime?”

What is known is the list overwhelmingly tallies non-white New Yorkers, as pieced together by the Legal Aid Society’s Freedom of Information Law requests and exNYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea’s own admission—the former police leader said in 2018 around 99% of the people in the gang database are Black or brown.

Yet race is no qualifier for gang participation and the percentages indicate the frequent exclusion of white

NY governor pledges new psychiatric beds, bail reform talks

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has stressed her commitment to public safety in a speech to lawmakers. During her annual State of the State address Tuesday, she pledged to expand beds in psychiatric treatment facilities and to again tackle the politically sensitive issue of bail reform. The wide-ranging speech also unveiled her plan to create more affordable housing by spurring the creation of 800,000 new homes over the next decade. Hochul said she wants to make New York safer and more affordable.

Former Rep. Carolyn Maloney takes Hunter College position

NEW YORK (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney will spend the spring semester mentoring students at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. Hunter President Jennifer Raab announced Tuesday that Maloney will serve as the Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Leader in Residence at Roosevelt House, a public policy institute housed at Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s former New York City home. The 76-year-old Maloney served in Congress for three decades. She lost a Democratic primary to Jerry Nadler when last year’s redistricting process put them in the same New York district. Maloney said she’s thrilled to have the opportunity to continue working in public service at Hunter.

New Mega Millions jackpot of $1.35B is game’s 2nd highest

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Mega Millions prize has grown again, to an estimated $1.35 billion, after there was no winner of the lottery’s latest giant jackpot. The numbers drawn late Tuesday night were 7, 13, 14, 15, 18 and gold Mega Ball 9. Mega Millions has said the prize for the next drawing on Friday night will be the second-highest in the game’s history. There have been 25 drawings over three months since the last time a player matched all six numbers and claimed the jackpot. The estimated $1.35 billion jackpot prize would only be distributed to a winner who chooses an annuity paid over 29 years. Nearly all jackpot winners take a cash payout, which for Friday night’s drawing is an estimated $707.9 million.

See WHIP on page 27

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn at a legislative session (Contributed photo and graphi)

Rally against gang database from September 2022 (Tandy Lau photo)

A “Good Neighbor” summit?

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

At the very beginning of their relationship, Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. President Joe Biden were not amigos. Over the fence, no wall separating the two nations—a friendly neighbor policy was far from simpatico. But at the end of a two-day summit that ended on Tuesday, the leaders, along with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, were on much more cordial terms, although some critical issues remained to be resolved.

It took Obrador a long time to formally accept that Biden had won the election. He was one of the last world leaders to end a position that placed him among a list of deniers.

One ongoing and quite prevalent concern was on immigration problems between

the U.S. and Mexico, with Biden pushing for a diplomatic answer to what many have defined as the “greatest migration in human history.”

Biden thanked Lopez Obrador for “agreeing to take up to 3,000 people back,” in an apparent promise made last week to begin accepting 30,000 migrants each month. Most of these illegal migrants were coming from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba.

The president’s position was in stark contrast to human rights groups that believed the border policy denying these migrants’ asylum rights was inhumane. Biden responded, “There can no longer be any question, none, in today’s interconnected world. We cannot wall ourselves off from shared problems. We’re trying to make it easier for people to get here.”

Such a stand clearly ad -

dressed the policies of the former White House occupant. In many respects, the summit enhanced the United StatesMexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the agreement that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the summer of 2020, but some contentious problems still must be ironed out, particularly between Mexico and Canada on energy matters.

The three countries made positive steps on drug trafficking, climate change, trade and economic prosperity.

“When we work together, we can achieve great things,” Biden told Trudeau, emphasizing the economic potential that comes with collaboration between close neighbors. He added: “I’m lucky. I got Canada to the north and Mexico to the south.”

This, according to one expert, is much better than being between a rock and a hard place.

Jeffries’ ABCs of democracy after McCarthy FINALLY scores speakership

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The seemingly endless cycle of House Republicans torturing now Majority Speaker Kevin McCarthy capped on the 15th vote over the course of a week on Capitol Hill, a record in American history. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries took the podium to dole out congratulations, but very little went to his colleagues across the aisle.

Jeffries outlined the Dems’ agenda over the next two years with a stylized “fit for a rap battle” list that literally went from A to Z. Biggie Smalls would likely be proud.

“House Democrats will always put American values over autocracy. Benevolence over bigotry. The Constitution over the cult. Democracy over demagogues. Economic opportunity over extremism. Freedom over fascism,” said Jeffries.

He celebrated ethnic and religious diversity, and described the “American dream” as a promise for hard-working citizens to live comfort -

ably with grace and dignity. He said that Democrats believed in a country for everyone and a peaceful transfer of power.

“On this first day, I do not pretend to answer that question on behalf of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but we do extend our hand of partnership to you and want to make clear that we extend and intend to try to find common ground whenever and wherever possible on behalf of the American people,” said Jeffries. “Not as Democrats, not as Republicans, not as inde -

pendents, but as Americans.”

House Democrats nominated Jeffries nine times and cemented his position as Minority Speaker last year after he succeeded former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which he humble-bragged about in his speech.

“The fact that I’m able to stand up here today is another data point in that narrative,” Jeffries said about the significance of his role as the first Black Speaker. “I was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in

NewJersey News

MLK “We Won’t Go Back” march

The Martin Luther King “We Won’t Go Back” march will be held Sunday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. beginnig at the Martin Luther King Statue, 495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Newark. This event is sponsored by the People’s Organization for Progress (https://www.njpop.org/). For more information, call 973-801-0001.

“Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory” at Princeton University

Princeton University will celebrate the late, great novelist Toni Morrison with a series of on-campus exhibitions and events. The exhibition “Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory” will show how Morrison meticulously outlined and created drafts of her writings before constructing works of fiction, speeches and even letters.

The exhibition is divided into six sections, according to a Princeton press release: “‘Beginnings’ charts Morrison’s emergence as a writer, editor, and the author of ‘The Bluest Eye,’ published in 1970; ‘Writing Time’ draws from her day planners to emphasize the process of her craft, which she often honed in spare moments around her full-time career as an editor; ‘Thereness-ness’ explores the role of place in her work and presents rarities such as drawings of architectural spaces for novels like ‘Beloved’ and ‘Paradise’; ‘Wonderings and Wanderings’ stages Morrison’s creative process from start to finish and reveals how Morrison’s published work holds a capacious archive of Black life; ‘Genealogies of Black Feminism’ uses correspondence between herself and other Black women to excavate an alternate account of Black feminist thought in the 1960s and 1970s; and ‘Speculative Futures’ spotlights unfinished projects and unrealized possibilities that only live in the collection.”

The nearly 100 photographs and archival documents used to create “Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory” are curated from the Toni Morrison Papers, housed in the Princeton Department of Special Collections. The exhibition will be on display from Feb. 22–June 4 in the Firestone Library at 1 Washington Rd., Princeton; Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from noon–6 p.m. The school will also host “Sites of Memory: A Symposium on Toni Morrison and the Archive,” a three-day conference from March 23 through 25 at the university’s Lewis Center for the Arts Complex.

A Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Morrison taught humanities and African American studies courses at Princeton from 1989 to 2006. Administrators acknowledge that having Morrison at Princeton encouraged more students, artists and scholars of color to develop greater interest in the Ivy League liberal arts college. Morrison died on August 5, 2019.

For more information, email sitesofmemory@princeton.edu or call 609-258-1470.

“Cultural Equity in the History Community” session

The New Jersey Historical Commission (NJHC) and the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund are conducting a virtual information session on Friday, Jan. 13, at 10 a.m. via Zoom to discuss “Cultural Equity in the History Community” and related grant opportunities for the year 2023. The session will also cover an overview of the New Jersey Arts and Culture Renewal Fund, its eligibility criteria, and its equity-focused approach to grantmaking. This session will be geared to organizations whose primary focus is African American history; indigenous history; and Black, Indigenous and other People of Color (BIPOC) cultures, and sites of importance to those communities in New Jersey. To register for the virtual information session, visit bit.ly/equityinhistory2023.

Recent paintings of Quinton Greene at AAHMSNJ

The African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey, Inc. (AAHMSNJ) will present the “Recent Paintings of Quinton Greene” from Jan. 3–Feb. 28, 2023, at the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University, 2200 Fairmount Avenue in Atlantic City. A reception for the artist will be held Friday, Jan.13. from 5–7 p.m. Greene’s paintings will be on display leading up to and during Black History Month. For more information, call 609350-6662 or email rhunter@aahmsnj.org.

––Compiled by Karen Juanita Carrillo

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries addresses House Republicans and Democrats on Jan 7. (Contributed photo from Jeffries’ office)

Fashion designer Ron Dyce’s seamless transition from construction to high-end clothing

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Soul mates or sole mates? Brooklynite Ronald Dyson found himself with quite the tab thanks to his wife’s predilection for designer shoes. But his partner’s spending habits also reawakened his own passion for fashion. After all, Dyson always boasted a talent for arts and design—he initially left New York to study architecture in Virginia. Ultimately, he ended up running a successful construction business. Dyson still operates that company today, but his dream to design fashion could not be denied.

“I decided, let me get back in touch [with the] fashion part of my passion— what I always wanted to do,” he said. “So I did the research. I started researching some of the major luxury designers, or the type of fabrics or different manufacturers that they use. Took me about three years prior to me really locking down what is the direction I wanted to go.”

In 2019, the self-taught Dyson rolled the dice with Ron Dyce, his fashion brand. Growing up in the church, he always wanted to make shoes with

gilded soles to symbolize scripture about the heavenly streets paved with gold. Dyson found minor success, but the pandemic soon hit.

While others learned to bake or play an instrument, he grasped the complexities of intellectual property laws and secured a long-term patent for those gold-bottomed shoes. Dyson soon expanded into designing clothes, compelled by the tailored suits his late father always wore. He focused on women’s pieces and soon a few photoshoots put him on the map. A publicist took notice and Ron Dyce’s popularity exploded. Today, the brand’s Instagram @officialrondyce sits at more than 130,000 followers.

“From 2021 to date, I was published more than 100 times spanning over 60 fashion magazines in that short period of time, so it kind of caught on” said Dyson. “People love my designs and styles.”

Last year, he presented his women’s collection at New York Fashion Week thanks to the brand’s early success. This year, Dyson is running his own show on Feb. 12 in Brooklyn. He’s hoping to showcase his “ultimate collection,” which features all four seasons—

New Yorker

it down to generation after generation,” said Dyson.

Ronald Dyson’s clothing can be found at http://www.ron-dyce.com/

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News . Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.

Ronald Dyson poses with his favorite pieces. (Tandy Lau photo)

The plight of the small landlord

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

While protecting tenant rights is important, people often leave small homeowners out of the conversation—not mega landlords that rule over the city’s “worst” list, but multi-generational, multi-family, often Black and brown homeowners who make up sections of many New York City’s residential and renter neighborhoods.

These home and property owners were left at the mercy of the financial crisis in the early 2000s, and the COVID-19 pandemic only furthered housing insecurity

“We’ll never own property at the rate we owned. Never again,” said Community Activist Paul Toomer Muhammad. “This is the foolishness.” Muhammad has been a property owner in East New York in Brooklyn for almost 20 years. He had two properties. His neighborhood is 55.4% Black and 34.9% Hispanic.

Muhammad blames “aggressive” emergency pandemic policies like the city’s eviction moratorium and the state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)/Landlord Rental Assistance Program (LRAP) for setting back small landlords in one- to four-unit homes because they were not distinguished enough from large commercial buildings or buildings with more than six rent-controlled units, and therefore not protected.

During the height of the pandemic, a tenant eviction and foreclosure moratorium, in conjunction with housing courts being suspended, only delayed the inevitable in the city. The Tenant Safe Harbor Act ended in Jan. 2022 and the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act expired in Aug. 2021. He complained that these acts were a bandage that created a community of “adjunct unpaid shelters” out of struggling landlords. He considered joining the lawsuit five small landlords filed against State Attorney General Letitia James, claiming that the COVID Foreclosure Prevention Act hurt their interests.

“I’m in the same court system where you can stall a tenant in my house for a year and a half, but I still have to pay mortgage, water bill, tax, heat, electricity,” said Muhammad. “A foreclosure is an

eviction to the landlord and the tenant.”

New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who grew up in public housing herself, agreed that affordability and housing is a major issue. She explained that was the idea behind giving the money for ERAP/LRAP programs to landlords directly. “Our conference has been really laser-focused on trying to keep the affordability of housing. Not only trying to keep tenants in their homes but trying to be supportive of small landlords. That’s why when we did the budget, we also had a separate pot,” said Stewart-Cousins.

Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman, in an interview on BRIC TV, said that “government efficiency” in doling out assistance and collaboration could have been better for ERAP/LRAP.

Charles McNally, director of External Affairs at the New York University (NYU) School of Law Furman Center, said there wasn’t really a standard distinction for assistance programs based on the size of the landlord’s home.

“We do know with regard to small landlords that they are just less able to weather income volatility,” said McNally. “A larger, more institutional landlord has a bigger portfolio, so they can maybe make up for lost revenue in one property. They have more access to credit, more collater-

al to be able to borrow against, more administrative capacity to help tenants access ERAP and resources, so there’s no question that small landlords as a group were more vulnerable to some of the destructions the pandemic caused.”

According to a Property Shark Foreclosure Report, foreclosures were high pre-pandemic and dropped significantly in 2020. Now, because of “rising interest rates and fears of a recession,” foreclosures are slowly increasing toward pre-COVID levels. Queens and Staten Island ranked the highest for foreclosures. The Bronx and Manhattan were the lowest in foreclosures. Brooklyn ranked third highest of the five boroughs in pre-foreclosures, which is when the lender files a notice of default on a property. The report noted a “foreclosure cluster” in the ZIP code of 11203 in East Flatbush, an 85.8% Black/Caribbean neighborhood.

“Brooklyn’s small homeowners are facing a crisis, and we need to do more to keep them in their homes,” said Office of Brooklyn Borough President (BP) Antonio Reynoso in a statement. “Black homeowners in particular are more likely to face foreclosure, to be targeted by scammers, to be unable to access funds for home repair and to end up in the tax lien sale if they have debt. This takes away opportunities for gen-

In a NYU Furman Center 2021 report on the state of homeowners, the most recent data available showed the largest decline in homeownership among Black borrowers in 2020, while a “lowinterest rate environment” resulted in a boom in mortgage refinancing among white borrowers. Homeownership rates were lowest for Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (15.9%) households, said the NYU report.

“There are fair housing protections that inhibit discrimination, but there’s a significant body of research that shows that home values themselves are different based on the demographics of where homes are located,” said McNally.

Mobilization for Justice Senior Staff Attorney Belinda Luu was a foreclosure prevention attorney for seven years. Many of her clients were Black and brown homeowners in Brooklyn. Luu remembered a retired elderly couple she represented in Bedstuy, with a four-family home, who took out a mortgage and refinanced prepandemic. If the value of a home has increased, the owner can use a refinance to take out equity and use that equity to cover shortterm deficits. The proceedings dragged on, and both ended up dying without a will before the foreclosure could be resolved.

“I think landlords, for the most part, are rightfully villainized, but there are people like that couple who own their home, and because of bad mortgages and gentrification, do rely on rental income,” said Luu. “I think it gives a different face to who people may think of as landlords.”

For whatever reason, she said, the messaging as it pertains to the landlords gets lost.

Reynoso’s office said it’s imperative to make sure more small homeowners know about the resources the government provides, such as one-shot-deal mortgage assistance, free counseling and legal services, and low- or no-interest home repair loans.

“Our office is committed to connect homeowners with these programs, whether it’s through Constituent Services or ongoing awareness workshops,” said the office. “The Reynoso administration is also working on policy solutions to end the tax lien sale for good and create new options for small homeowners with municipal debt that don’t involve foreclosure.”

In her statewide address, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a strategy to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade to meet the historic housing shortage. The strategy proposes reversing antiquated state laws, repurposing underused offices and strip malls, financing home repairs in communities of color statewide, and offering new incentives toward multifamily buildings. It also taps a $250 million infrastructure fund and $20 million planning fund.

“New York faces a housing crisis that requires bold actions and an all-hands-on-deck approach,” said Hochul in a statement. “Every community in New York must do their part to encourage housing growth to move our State forward and keep our economy strong.

The New York Housing Compact is a comprehensive plan to spur the changes needed to create more housing, meet rising demand, and make our state a more equitable, stable and affordable place to live.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting

erational wealth building from too many people.”

Block of brownstones in Brooklyn. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Go With The Flo

FLO

ANTHONY

Congratulations to Shemar Moore who is expecting his first child at age 52 with his longtime girlfriend Lady Jesiree Dizon. The “SWAT” star reportedly made the announcement during a taping of The Jennifer Hudson Show that is set to air Jan. 26. The former “Young and The Restless” actor also revealed that he and Dizon are expecting a girl named Frankie after his middle name, which is Franklin. Moore told JHud the upcoming birth will be a “full circle moment” because his mother Marilyn Wilson-Moore died on Feb. 8, 2020, and baby Frankie’s due date is Feb. 8, 2023. Moore also admitted to Hudson that at his age, he was worried that his ship had sailed as far as having children was concerned. Frankie will be the first child together for Moore and the Wilhelmina model/makeup artist, who is also mother to a daughter and son…….

TV One has wrapped production for “A Mother’s Intuition,” directed by Cas Sigers and executive producer Dr. Holly Carter of Releve’ Entertainment. Denise Boutte will star as Toni. Joining Boutte is Matt Cedeno, who portrays Julian and R&B songstress/ actress Tamar Braxton as Dr. Chandra. The film is scheduled to be released in May of 2023. “A Mother’s Intuition” revolves around a sculptor in search of her newborn baby who is being helped by a handsome investigator. Other cast members include Brely Evans as Cicely, Rachelle Carson-Begley as Dr. Snyder and Hazel Renee as Simone.......

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, NYS Attorney General Tish James, and Geraldo Rivera led the applause when legal eagle Arthur Aidala received the President’s Award from the Brooklyn Bar Association before 700 guests at Brooklyn eatery El Caribe. All three noted that as the “quintessential New Yorker,” Aidala, who hosts a weekly radio show called the Power Hour on AM970 and is the Dean of the Friars Club, is always there to help his fellow citizens no matter what side of the aisle or what walk of life they come from. The organization raised over $100,000 for local charities........

Recently featured on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” Tricia Messeroux’s popular web series “Foods & Dudes” is a one-of-a-kind cooking show featuring Black men teaching other men how to cook for their loved ones. Born out of dinner rotations Tricia and her husband Shawn Curwen had with other couples - and Tricia’s desire to have men do more of the cooking. Launched in 2016, Tricia’s T-Mezz Creative Group has allowed Tricia to fulfill all the dreams she had of creative autonomy while working in the accounting departments of large advertising firms.......

Bronx hosts street co-naming at Twin Park

Honoring the 17 West African people who perished in the horrendous 2022 fire allegedly caused by a space heater and exacerbated by failed self-closing doors, this week, the community held a ceremo-

ny to rename the Twin Park North West Street as 17 Abdoulie Touray Way. Touray was not involved in the fire, but he was one of the first Gambians to come to the building. Present were members of the

Osvaldo Feliz and Touray families; community activists; and elected officials, including Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Public Advocate Jumaanne Williams and Bronx D.A. Darcell Clark.

(Bill Moore photos)

Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr.: “Never be afraid to do what’s right”

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH Special to the AmNews

This Monday, Jan. 16, the United States commemorates the legacy of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Although he never deviated from his philosophy of nonviolence as a passive tactic to achieve his goal of a color-blind society for his children, his views broadened as he continued to grow. He fearlessly stood on the frontlines for many years and knew his efforts would bring about significant changes for future generations, and disavowed those who stood idly by on the sidelines.

“We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom,” he wrote in his famous April 16, 1963, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” “Abused and scared though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here.”

He went on to question who gives the authority to govern another set of people primarily based on their ethnic background. Although knowing this, he still thought assimilating with his oppressors was what freedom meant.

Regardless, he advocated making progress with the hope that things would eventually get better. His consciousness expanded and he included elements from what the United States proposed itself to be.

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s penalties are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way,” King noted during his April 3, 1968, “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech in Memphis, Tenn.

At this stage of his life, he was delving a bit deeper into the U.S. Constitution while seeking solutions to assimilate with the oppressors, although Americanized Africans were still considered as only 3/5ths of a human being on paper.

“Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn’t committed themselves to that over there,” King acknowledged. “But somewhere I read about the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for a right.”

Surely people listened, because everywhere King appeared, riots erupted, places were fire-bombed, people were lynched by mobs or imprisoned. He helped put the spine in some people’s backs who had been instilled with fear since they were youths. Now they courageously stood and took command. By taking his courageous stand, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. showed the world who the real enemy is.

Nightlife

Brooklyn Academy of Music to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

While the year is new and we try in earnest to turn a new page in our lives, it’s imperative that we keep some things intact as we carry forth and create traditions, so we observe year 37 of the annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event has, since its inception, evolved into the largest such gathering in New York City.

The weekend of free events kicks off with the Visual Art presentation “Freedom!” at the BAM signage screen (corner of Flatbush Ave. & Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn) from Jan. 12–20, 2023. “Freedom!” is a group exhibition inspired by the work of playwright and activist Lorraine Hansberry and the Freedom newspaper. On view for a limited time, the digital billboardbased project is a provocative exploration of the meaning of freedom as an idea and aspiration toward self-actualization. Seven visual artists—Allison Janae Hamilton, Chinaedu Nwadiba, Dawoud Bey, Leslie Hewitt, Robert Pruitt, and Stacey Robinson + Kamau Grantham—engage with compelling questions about notions of freedom. Timed to coincide with the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the project also pays homage to the legacy of the civil rights activist and encourages viewers to reflect on the questions What is freedom to you? How can we think about freedom from a broader perspective?

The return of BAMcafé Live (The Adam Space, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn) occurs this weekend, Friday, Jan. 13 and Saturday, Jan. 14 at 9 p.m. Artists are Kingston, Jamaicaborn Russell Hall, an Emmy-, Grammy- and Golden Globenominated bassist and activist whose music culls from a myriad of musical stylings, including opera, jazz, reggae and roots music. With an unfailing groove, blistering chops and an abundance of character, Hall has quickly become one of New York

City’s preeminent bassists. When he’s not creating solo work, he performs with his band, Bessie and the Rainbowkids, composed of artists from all around the world whose mission is to bring peace to all ears and love to all hearts.

Day 2 showcases HARRIET TUBMAN—the powerjazz trio made up of guitarist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer J.T. Lewis. The trio relays a message of freedom in their soulbaring and politically tweaked fusion of rock, jazz, blues and avant-garde. HARRIET TUBMAN’s genre-defying sound is pure and liberated musical expression—a deep and soulful meditation on the essence of freedom.

On Monday, Jan. 16, at 10:30 a.m. in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (Peter Jay Sharp Building, 30 Lafayette Ave.), presented by BAM and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, artists, activists, civic leaders and community members celebrate Dr. King’s life and mission. This edition will feature Sherrilyn Ifill, nationally recognized civil rights lawyer, law professor, former NAACP Legal Defense and Education-

al Fund president and director-counsel, and one of TIME magazine’s 2021 100 Most Influential People, as the keynote speaker.

“The fact that this event continues to draw the biggest crowd in New York City on Martin Luther King Day year after year shows his enduring significance in society. We gather to celebrate his life and discuss the serious work still at hand,” said BAM Vice President of Creative Social Impact Coco Killingsworth. “BAM has long been committed to creating spaces for activists, leaders and artists to express themselves freely and giving audiences what they need. The annual MLK Tribute puts those needs into focus by bringing the community face-to-face with the civic leaders who are working on the issues that matter the most to them.”

A detailed look at Monday includes “BAMkids Celebrates MLK Day: Courage Takes Creativity” at Fishman Space, Hillman Studio (BAM Fisher. 321 Ashland Pl., Brooklyn) from 10:30 a.m.– 3:30 p.m.

This family-friendly program, co-curated with the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle, immerses young

people in art forms that have been important expressions of social justice movements. Art has helped raise awareness, build community and challenge power structures. Throughout the day, families can drum, dance, craft, color and even put themselves in moments of civil rights history spanning Dr. King’s lifetime.

A film called “My Name Is Pauli Murray” plays at BAM Rose Cinemas (30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn) at 1 p.m. Directed by Oscar nominees Betsy West and Julie Cohen (“RBG”), this documentary spotlights the overlooked history of the trailblazing LGBTQ and civil rights activist, gender-nonconforming scholar and ordained minister who championed the rights of people of color, women and the queer community.

All events are free. Tribute tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-seated basis starting at 8 a.m. in the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House lobby. Call BAM Ticket Services at 718-636-4100 or visit bam.org/mlk for more information.

Also of note comes the January 13 release of Grammy-Award-nominated tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland album, “The Universe’s Wildest Dream.” The ambitious Afrofuturistic album is a celebration of life on Planet Earth and an urgent plea for humans to focus on climate change “I figure if there’s any message that can recruit more Earthlings to acknowledge, comprehend and take action towards global warming and sustainability, it is the realization that we may be the only planet that harbors life, that we are probably the universe’s wildest dream,” says Marcus about the album. Strickland will be playing at the Blue Note (131 W. 3rd St.) on January 17 and 18.

Over and out. Holla next week. Til then, enjoy the nightlife.

Written by David Goodson

(New York Public Library / Unsplash photo)

Union Matters

NYC nurses strike, push for staffing changes

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Talks fell apart late Sunday night, Jan. 8, just as the deadline hit for when the NY State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said its union members wanted a newly negotiated contract or that nurses would go on strike.

Mount Sinai Hospital saw nurses leave their night shifts at 6 a.m. on Jan. 9 and head out to the sidewalk with picket signs—some 3,625 Mount Sinai nurses are part of the strike. At Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, 3,500 nurses are part of the walkout.

Mount Sinai and Montefiore were the last remaining medical centers NYSNA was in contract talks with. After bargaining late into the night, no tentative agreements were reached with either location. As the strike deadline loomed on Sunday, Gov. Hochul put out a call for binding arbitration. Hochul also called on the Department of Health to enforce nurse staffing requirements which, according to the “Safe Staffing for Quality Care Act” passed in 2021, mandate that medical facilities set appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios for the best patient care.

“Despite Montefiore’s offer of a 19.1% compounded wage increase––the same offer agreed to at the wealthiest of our peer institutions––and a commitment to create over 170 new nursing positions, and despite a call from Gov. Hochul for arbitration, NYSNA’s leadership has decided to walk away from the bedsides of their patients,” the Montefiore Medical Center said in a statement sent at 3:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 9. “Therefore, at 6 a.m., NYSNA nurses will be on strike and off the job. We remain committed to seamless and compassionate care, recognizing that the union leadership’s decision will spark fear and uncertainty across

our community. This is a sad day for New York City.”

NYSNA leaders assured that anyone using hospital services while nurses are on strike would not be viewed as a strikebreaker: “We appreciate solidarity from our patients—but going into the hospital to get the care you need is NOT crossing our strike line,” the organization wrote. “In fact, we invite you to come join us on the strike line after you’ve gotten the care you need. We are out here so we can provide better patient care to you!”

The union had initially been in contract talks with New YorkPresbyterian, Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Maimonides, BronxCare, Richmond University Medical Center, and Flushing Hospital Medical Center. NYSNA reached a tentative agreement with Mount Sinai Morningside and West on the afternoon of Jan. 8. New contracts were ratified by

nurses at the Brooklyn Hospital Center-Maimonides and NewYork-Presbyterian on Jan. 7 and by nurses at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center and BronxCare on Jan. 9.

During a press conference outside of Mount Sinai Hospital on Jan. 9, one nurse said she wanted everyone to know that the strike was not solely a push for wage increases; it was also to promote safer nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. The nurse said that the hospital currently has 550 vacancies and complained that for the past five years, while working in Mount Sinai’s intensive care unit, she has routinely been assigned to care for three to four patients at a time when she should be working directly with, at most, two patients. Because Mount Sinai does not employ enough nurses, she said two to three nurses routinely work 24-hour shifts at a time.

Queens Borough President Don-

(AP Photo / Andres Kudacki photo)

ovan Richards, Jr. attended the press conference and rallied strikers with chants that promoted support for NYSNA’s efforts. “Shame on you, Mount Sinai! Shame, shame, shame on you!” he said to the crowd. “To have these nurses out here, who shed blood and tears to get us through this pandemic. To have these nurses out here––shame on you! “There’s been a lot of conversations about going back to normal in our city,” he added. “Well, normal never worked in this city. It’s why this pandemic was exacerbated in communities––especially of color––across this city. We are not looking to go back to normal. We are looking for a new normal in this city, and that new normal means fair wages, that new normal means better staffing. We don’t need a hand clap; we need more staff so that these nurses can operate and work in dignity.”

By the second day of the strike, NYSNA President Nancy Hagans appeared at a press conference

outside of Montefiore to confront claims that nurses are mostly clamoring for higher salaries. Hagans called those claims “disgusting.” “I want you to know that they are here for the money, not us.” she told the crowd. “We are here because we are representing our community, we are representing our patients. When you go into that Monte ER and one nurse has 20 patients and the patients are on the bed[s] waiting to go to a room––that’s what we’re here for.”

Vanessa Weldon, a registered nurse and executive chair of Montefiore Home Health, came forward to claim that Montefiore’s NurseFamily Partnership program, which pairs first-time moms with home visits from nurses, is one thing striking nurses are working with the community to maintain. The program has lost its funding, jeopardizing area residents.

“Montefiore could save this program by providing the $800,000 difference,” Weldon said. Tamara Garel, a nurse who works in that program, talked about why area residents feel home-visiting services are needed in the Bronx: “We all know that the maternal mortality rate amongst women of color has been very high. Women of color are three to four times more likely to die during childbirth-related complications and it is very, very important for Montefiore to save this program. During the pandemic, we caught so many things like preeclampsia, like babies that needed to have surgery––there are so many things that we capture in the home that’s not captured in a 15-minute doctor’s appointment. We’re just calling on the community to save this program.”

As the AmNews went to press, NYSNA said it remains at the bargaining table with Montefiore and talks have resumed with Mount Sinai Hospital, but no deal had been reached.

Retirees want NYC to say no to Medicare Advantage

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

This time next week, New York City might be switching out the Medicare coverage it has tradi-

tionally given retired city workers and their dependents, and instead signing them up for coverage with a privately managed “Medicare Advantage” or Medicare Part C health insurance plan.

Doing so would fulfill a June 2018 agreement put in place under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, meant to help the city cut expenses. The United Federation of Teachers and District Council

10% of the city’s total budget. But it will also mean changing a health coverage promise that has been made to city workers since

The Lasalle nomination debacle

By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Governor Kathy Hochul has received a wave of backlash from unions and senators against moving forward with a Cuomo-era nomination for the state’s chief judge, Justice Hector Lasalle.

New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has not definitively landed on either side of the fence. She said that her job is to shepherd the confirmation process, but she has heard and does share the concerns of fellow senators. Her colleagues have expressed a desire to move away from having strict prosecutors in the roles of judges. Ideally, Stewart-Cousins said, she would like to “change the trajectory of the courts” and have someone aligned on the bench who is with her values and those of her cohorts.

“The reality is that even before this particular nominee, because of what we’ve gone through as a nation with the Dobbs decision and here in New York around guns, even redistricting maps being thrown out, everyone is acutely aware how important it is who is sitting in these judicial seats,” said Stewart-Cousins.

The Senate has 30 days to hold hearings to vote on whether to confirm a nomination, and they usually just vote someone through. However, at least 14 senators and various advocacy groups have made public statements that they are appalled by Lasalle’s “conservative” track record. This Monday, the group rallied at the state capitol against LaSalle, maintaining that his judicial record includes decisions that are anti-labor in the 2015 Cablevision Systems Corp. v. Communications Workers of America (CWA) case , anti-due process, and antiabortion in the 2017 Evergreen Assn. Inc. v. Schneiderman case.

“CWA is firmly opposed to the nomination of Justice LaSalle for Chief Judge because he is not the right judge for the working people of this state,” said Keith Smith, political director of CWA Local 1118 in a statement. “The Cablevision v. CWA decision that Justice LaSalle joined was a major threat to union organizing, so it’s no surprise that organized labor has come out in full force to oppose Justice LaSalle. Justice LaSalle sided with employers before, and he’s not the right choice for organized labor now.”

Lasalle, a Latino from Brentwood, Long Island, was appointed under former Governor Andrew Cuomo in Jan. 2014. He is an associate justice for the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. He would replace Janet Difiore.

“LaSalle is a native of Brentwood, New York—the community in which we are based and which we serve,” said Serena Martin-Liguori, executive director of New Hour for Women and Children, an organi-

zation based on Long Island. “Let me be clear: LaSalle will harm our community and countless others throughout New York.” She said that she is deeply disappointed in Hochul’s nomination and in Lasalle as a fellow Long Islander. “We are calling on the New York State Senate to reject this nomination. This decision will shape New York’s future,” she said in a statement.

Martin-Liguori said that Lasalle has prevented investigations into and defended Crisis Pregnancy Centers, which primarily target Black and brown women with fake reproductive care.

“The decision to confirm the top jurist in the state will have far-reaching consequences. Evidently, the values of New York are not reflected in Justice LaSalle’s decisions,” said Senator Robert Jackson, who attended the rally. “We must make sure that the Court of Appeals does not bend toward roadblocks to justice and fairness for all.”

Senator Kristen Gonzalez said the U.S. Supreme Court has become “dangerous and radical” and that the state must take the lead in protecting rights. “If Governor Hochul truly wants to uplift the Latino/a community, the best thing she can do is withdraw the LaSalle nomination and nominate a judge who will stand with the working class,” said Gonzalez.

Senators Michael Gianaris, Gustavo Rivera, Shelley Mayer, Jessica Ramos, Julia Salazar, Samra Brouk, Jabari Brisport, Michelle Hinchey, Rachel May, Cordell Cleare, John Liu and Lea Webb have also come out in opposition to the Lasalle nomination.

Others, like Senator Zellnor Myrie, said that they look forward to focusing on reviewing Lasalle’s qualifications, judicial philosophy and answers to questions in the upcoming hearings. Myrie tweeted that as a Afro Latino, he appreciates the historic nature of Lasalle’s nomination, but he takes his role and the process seriously, suggesting that he wouldn’t jump to conclusions. In an ethnic roundtable, New York City Mayor Eric Adams similar-

ly said that it’s certainly a point of pride for the Latino community but appointing a judge is a process.

“Those who don’t feel he’s the right one, those who feel that he is; this is the moment to look at it. Let him come in front of the Senate,” said Adams. “Ask your questions, let him give the answers. I looked through his résumé. He seems extremely qualified to me, so now let him go through the process.”

According to Amsterdam News sources, Lasalle “sat on 5,582 appeals” in his eight years of working in the Appellate Division, which is a part of the court system that reviews questions of law and fact. In the case of People v. Buyund, where Donovan Buyund pled guilty to burglary in the first degree as a sexually motivated felony in Nov. 2021, Lasalle authored a majority opinion that the Court of Appeals (COA) reversed.

Lasalle has dissenting opinions in four cases: People v. Nettles, 181 AD 3d 861, in which he would have affirmed a conviction thrown out by the majority for unreliability of the information supporting a noknock warrant; People v. Derival, 181 AD 3d 918, in which he would have sustained the criminally negligent homicide conviction of a driver whose passenger died in a car crash; People v. Sanchez, 148 AD 3d 831, in which the majority reversed a conviction because the jury should have been instructed on justification; and People v. Delvillarton, 120 AD3d 1429, in which the majority

vacated a conviction.

Stewart-Cousins said she has spoken with Hochul about the nominee and the difficulties he’s facing. She pointed out that nominations come from a judicial commission, and that there has been a subcommittee of judicial diversity for years.

“I went through the process of evaluating the credentials and the record of seven individuals who came [to] me as recommended by the Judicial Screening Commission. I had a chance to meet every one of them,” said Hochul at a press Q&A in December, explaining why she chose Lasalle. “I took the time.”

Hochul said that LaSalle had been involved in more than 5,000 cases and that people are cherry-picking one or two decisions “as being anti-woman or anti-labor.” Hochul was looking for a nominee who would look at every single case without an obvious political disposition. An appellate litigator wrote that LaSalle “did not write” the opinions in the controversial cases used against him.

“I think that’s historic, and all these objections will be overcome when the senators at it look with an open mind and actually study the nature of those cases, so I’m standing with him,” said Hochul. “I’m proud of this selection, and I encourage everyone to give him the fair hearing that he’s entitled to.”

Hochul asked for support from legislators in deciding that a Latino lead the highest court in New York, which has ultimately split Latino groups in their endorsement of him. Her office posted an extensive list of diverse supporters for Lasalle’s nomination, including Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, Attorney General Letitia James, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, Rep. Yvette Clark, Senator Kevin Thomas, Senator Luis Sepulveda, Senator Monica Martinez and Rev. Al Sharpton.

“The people of New York deserve a judiciary that represents them and the diverse people and needs of our state. If confirmed, Hon. Hector D. LaSalle would be the first Latino to serve as chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals,” said Heastie in a statement.

Heastie reasoned that since Lasalle promised he would appoint Judge Edwina G. Richardson-Mendelson to serve as chief administrative judge, it would be all around a great feat of diversity. Richardson-Mendelson would potentially be the first African American woman to serve in the role.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

(05-31-22) NYS Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins speaks on a bill during the last week of Session. NYS Senate Chamber, Capitol, Albany, NY; rally against Lasalle nomination for chief judge in NYS Senate Chamber in Albany.

(Photo courtesy of NYS Senate Media Services; photos contributed by Center for Community Alternatives, Inc.)

New GOP House fires first shot

In what may be considered the first shot across the bow, newly installed GOP chair of the House Oversight Committee Rep. James Comer (R-KY), on Tuesday requested copies of documents found at the Biden office, apparently left there after Biden left the vice presidency in 2017 and began his presidential run in 2019. This request, which Bided admitted he was surprised by, begins the GOP’s aim to put their mark on the House. Undoubtedly, this revelation will be used by the GOP and Trump to counter Biden’s charges that Trump mishandled government top-security documents, although exactly what is in the classified records has not been disclosed.

Unlike Trump, Biden thus far has not resisted and has been willing to cooperate; moreover, there is the matter of how many documents were found compared to what Trump had taken to Mar-aLago—approximately 300 documents, including several top-secret ones. Later, after the Justice Department and the FBI visited Trump’s Florida estate, 33 boxes were confiscated.

Another difference between the two incidents is that Biden is currently the president and thus immune while in office. Trump, on the other hand, is no longer in office, and could face charges of obstruction because he sought to block the retrieval of the documents.

A distinct difference between the two situations, other than we know Trump’s veracity has been questioned again and found wanting, is that he was supposed to have turned over his presidential records to the National Archives, but was informed that some items were missing. No one was aware of any missing documents from Biden’s vice presidential term and once those documents were found at the Biden Penn Center, White House counsel immediately informed the National Archives.

Meanwhile, unlike the discovery of the Biden documents, Trump’s documents are under criminal investigation with indications that possibly three crimes were involved in the mishandling of sensitive government records.

This is certain to be a contentious drama played out by Trump and Biden, with Trump already claiming a double standard on the issue—and a double standard is something he ought to be intimately familiar with.

Stay tuned.

Damaso

City and Municipal Labor Committee shouldn’t cut retirees’ health care

A few weeks go, Evelyn Jones Rich wrote an excellent editorial on the struggle between the City and its retirees, in which the City, with the complicity of the Municipal Labor Committee, is attempting to cut retirees’ health care by throwing us into an inferior so-called “Advantage” plan. Their only advantage is to the insurance companies. Aetna, the proposed supplier of the City’s new plan, made $11.9 billion in profits last year and its CEO made a salary of $27.9 million. That money comes from our taxes, from fraudulent billing and from denial of services to those who are enrolled.

The struggle to stop the City from betraying its retirees, and its current and future workers, is ongoing, and on January 9, 2023, the City Coun-

cil Committee on Civil Service and Labor Committee, chaired by District 10’s Carmen De La Rosa, held hearings on whether to amend City Code Section 12-126. The amendment would remove the City’s obligation to provide cost-free health insurance for its workers, past, present and future, even though security in retirement is one of the major reasons we worked and work for the City, receiving salaries that are far smaller than what other employers pay. The amendment would not keep choice for retirees. It would leave the way open for the City to create a tiered health system—better for some, not good for those at the bottom. It would allow the City to push in-service workers into HMOs, denying them, too, of

necessary services. It would be another nail in the coffin of solidarity.

The final Council vote on the matter is scheduled for January 19. Between now and the date of the vote, readers of the Amsterdam News and their friends and families must contact their council members and tell them that there can be no amendment to Section 12-126, that we have paid for our health insurance with our salaries and our service, and that they must not rob us of the taxes we have paid to provide for ourselves in our retirement. You must assure your council members that there will be consequences if they vote against our interests.

Roberta Pikser

Professors protest nomination of LaSalle

By ALEXIS HOAG-FORDJOUR, KATE MOGULESCU AND JOCELYN SIMONSON

Brooklyn Law School faculty members and co-directors of the school’s Center for Criminal Justice wrote the following letter in protest.

As New Yorkers, we are opposed to Governor Hochul’s nomination of Judge Hector LaSalle to our state’s highest court. His judicial track record on the rights of tenants, workers and people seeking reproductive healthcare is troubling. But as law professors, who teach and write about criminal law and procedure, we are especially concerned with what Judge LaSalle’s judicial record says about his clear disregard for constitutional rights, legal ethics and transparency in the criminal legal system.

At Brooklyn Law School, we co-direct the Center for Criminal Justice, which focuses, among other things, on

exposing law students to the realities of the complex criminal adjudication system. Many of our students go on to work in this system upon graduation. Judge LaSalle’s record on ethics and his lack of transparency disqualifies him from leading our courts. It is the very approach we caution our students against. Our concern, to be clear, is not that LaSalle is a former prosecutor. Instead, the problem is that Judge LaSalle has shown his allegiance to the notion of unchecked prosecutorial power. Judge LaSalle’s conduct has enabled public officials to escape accountability. He is willing to tolerate and shield rampant daily bureaucratic violence against the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

We are specifically troubled by Judge LaSalle’s lack of sound leadership when it comes to accountability for prosecutors. LaSalle is the presiding justice of the New York Supreme Court’s Second Judicial Department. As such, he was a named defendant in a recent federal lawsuit regarding the need for transparency over prosecutor misconduct. In 2021, law professors, along with advocates from the Civil Rights

Corps, undertook an effort to hold New York City prosecutors accountable for proven, documented misconduct. One of our colleagues, Professor Cynthia Godsoe, was part of this joined effort, called Accountability NY. The group filed dozens of bar complaints against prosecutors. Many of the complaints were based on decisions from appellate judges—LaSalle’s colleagues and peers—who found that prosecutors had unlawfully withheld exculpatory evidence, elicited false testimony, and made misleading and/or unfair statements to juries during trials. This effort was important and laudable given New York’s long history of unaddressed prosecutorial misconduct. In an effort to encourage transparency, the professors posted these complaints online.

The blowback was swift. In a letter to the Grievance Committee, the legal profession’s disciplinary body, New York City claimed that the professors had abused and politicized the complaints process.

In response, the professors sued and won a significant victory in federal court, securing their right to publish

both the complaints and the threatening letter from the City. Instead of supporting the professors’ efforts to bring transparency and accountability to the grave injustices prosecutors were committing in our courts, Judge LaSalle asked the federal court to keep the City’s threatening letter sealed.

In their lawsuit, the professors alleged that, “[p]rosecutorial misconduct can have devastating consequences; it can cause the imprisonment of innocent people.” The complaint cited a 2020 study showing that prosecutorial misconduct occurred in 30% of more than 2,000 exonerations. Yet, in Judge LaSalle’s reply to the court, he responded to this specific statement by “deny[ing] knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations.” It is striking that LaSalle, who has over 13 years of judicial experience and over 10 years of prosecutorial experience, used boilerplate language to deny awareness that prosecutorial misconduct can lead to a faulty legal process and the incarceration of innocent people.

Elinor R.

Damar Hamlin reminds us to keep faith in God

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the New York Amsterdam News. We continue to publish a variety of viewpoints so that we may know the opinions of others that may differ from our own.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

If you are like me and a fan of “Monday Night Football,” then you watched in horrified disbelief as 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the turf in cardiac arrest after being struck in the chest by another player’s helmet.

The game against the Cincinnati Bengals halted abruptly as medical personnel frantically tried to restart Hamlin’s heart as he lay on the field, surrounded by weeping players taking a knee. The horror show played out live on TV before millions of sports fans. Immediately after his transport to hospital, Hamlin remained sedated and hospitalized in intensive care while those who loved him prayed.

Days later, the media reported that the young football player is awake and holding hands with relatives. It is a joyful miracle and a somber reminder to all of us of the fragility of life and the need to always place our trust in God.

All too often, our day-to-day lives are frantic with minutia as we scurry from task to task without ever considering how quickly it could all change or be lost. We obsess over slights from neighbors, disagreements with friends and squandered opportunities at work without ever really considering the big picture and what really counts.

Sometimes God intervenes. Sports fans got an other-worldly message when God tapped us on the shoulder to remind every one of us that faith still matters. We witnessed football players on the field bowing their heads in prayer as their teammate departed in an ambulance for a battle to stay alive. And now

Hamlin is conscious, and fighting his way back to health.

Faith matters, and what we do for our fellow man is important, however it is that we lend them a hand. Being there for our families and those we love is not something to be taken lightly. And in a nation that so often seems on the brink of disaster, we must always be there to catch others when they fall.

In a world plagued by wars, famines, public shamings, disagreements, conflicts and chaos, it is more important than ever to put God first and live our lives in a loving manner.

A person with faith is truly blessed. They greet each day with the comfort and knowledge that their life is in God’s hands.

Faith makes it possible to draw upon a unique kind of strength that is far greater than anything we can muster by ourselves alone. Faith in God provides clarity of purpose. It strengthens character. It strengthens our will. It builds confidence and fosters calm. Faith makes it possible to brave even the most brutal of storms and come out safely on the other side.

It would do us all good to remember just how quickly everything we have can be taken from us in the blink of an eye.

A man returning from work in the evening is involved in a terrible car crash and never makes it home. His family receives a shocking phone call that forever ends the dream of the future they thought that their family had together.

Married couples divorce and families that have been together for decades are torn apart. Intertwined lives are split and people forced to go their separate ways.

Life can be unkind.

On January 2, when Damar Hamlin laced up his cleats, he was probably looking forward to playing a great game that night. He was probably focused on the plays that he would make, the tackles he would deliver, and thinking about how to be the best player he could be, focused on the pursuit of victory.

Then, just minutes into the game, he was barely clinging to life.

Thankfully, we don’t have to go through what this young man is experiencing. Most of us will never be forced to suddenly stare death in the face and then struggle to maintain our grip on life.

But we can all learn from him. The Damar Hamlin story, courtesy of the NFL, is a wakeup call and a reminder that life is precious, and we need to live the best lives we can while we are here on Earth.

We should turn away from the things that don’t matter and refocus our mindset on God and living spiritual lives. We must rededicate ourselves to becoming the best versions of ourselves that we can become.

I have faith in God, and I believe that others should also seek to make Him a priority. Having faith in God is the best hope and assurance. It provides that everything will be okay, because He is there for us even in the most difficult times.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www. armstrongwilliams.co | www.howardstirkholdings.com

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a time to reflect and act

CHRISTINA GREER PH.D.

As we prepare to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. this year, I hope we use the MLK Day holiday as a time to reflect and act. So much of the legacy of Dr. King has been distilled into his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. Even the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom has been truncated and the quintessential goal of jobs and freedom has largely been omitted when discussing the event, all of the individuals who made it happen and the important subsequent policy that resulted in the gathering of so many African Americans in Washington, D.C., that August 23, 1963.

A few years ago, I taught at an institution that recognized MLK Day as a “day on, not a day off.” By that, they meant it was a day for the university community to engage in various service projects, mentoring, donations and the like. During that time, we helped plant community gardens, painted community centers that needed sprucing up, visited the elderly and engaged in oral history projects in which we interviewed our loved ones who were alive during the time of the Civil Rights Movement.

When I think of Dr. King, I think of his prolific writing style. I have been teaching Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” from April 16, 1963, in which Dr. King addresses injustice, non-violent protest and the necessity for unity among religious leaders. In so many ways, Dr. King was treated like a political prisoner for much of his

adult life. He was harassed, beaten, arrested unlawfully, and treated with derision and blatant disrespect for merely trying to bring awareness to the injustices Black people, poor people and workers experienced in the United States.

The sacrifices Dr. King made on behalf of millions of Americans resulted in his assassination. I think about his children who grew up without a father. I also think of Coretta Scott King, who dedicated so much of her life, talent and intellect to the Civil Rights Movement while raising four children without her husband.

So, what do you plan to do this MLK holiday? Will you reach out to an elderly person and record their stories and memories of Dr. King and the Civil Rights era? Will you volunteer your time to assist a school, church or community group that could use your energy and efforts? Will you donate to one of the many centers and organizations that are continuing the legacy of Dr. King? Or will you make time for quiet reflection to see how you can become a drum major for justice.

However you spend your day, take time for a moment of gratitude and reflection for the short life of a great man.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream; and co-host of the podcast FAQNYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.

Caribbean Update

Suriname mass murder trial finally ending

BY BERT WILKINSON Special to AmNews

At the end of January, an important political and judicial issue could come to an end in Suriname as the trial in the mass murder of 15 people who were killed for opposing military rule in the country in 1982 is scheduled to come to an end.

Unless the defense can find some legal loophole or justification to delay the final set of hearings on January 31, former military strongman and two-time elected civilian President Desi Bouterse, 77, could have his 20year jail sentence reaffirmed by a panel of judges.

Bouterse and four other defendants, mostly former

soldiers, are on trial for the December 1982 murders of 15 people, including four journalists, who were executed at a colonial-era Dutch fort for allegedly collaborating with western nations to overturn a military coup that soldiers had staged in February 1980.

The panel held hearings in the past week and determined that the trial should conclude at the end of this month.

Late last year, the defense pulled off what had appeared to be a brilliant legal ploy to either delay the hearings or to have them restart altogether when it objected to the presence of one of the judges on the panel because he was relat-

ed to one of the 15 victims.

Colonel Dennis Kemperveen is the military representative on the panel and the late Andre Kamperveen is a relative of his. The defense had filed strong objections to Dennis Kemperveen’s presence both because the two are relatives, and because they had claimed that the colonel had shown specific interest in Andre Kamperveen during hearings, alleging bias.

But investigations eventually determined that the two are very distant cousins and that the colonel had asked questions of other defendants during hearings late last year, not specifically about Andre Kamperveen, so the court dismissed

the objections and cause for any form of delay, going ahead with hearings and determining that the decades-old trial should finally conclude with the final hearings at month’s end.

In late 2019, Bouterse was sentenced to 20 years in prison for ordering the executions. He has persistently denied doing so, accepting collective responsibility only because he was the de facto head of state at the time. Witnesses have, however, placed him at the fort during the time firing squads were killing the 15, who included clergy, academics and labor leaders.

It is unclear whether lead counsel Irvin Kanhai can pull off any other legal trick

or maneuver from his decades of experience as the country’s leading lawyer. If not, the court is likely to reaffirm the 20-year sentence on Bouterse because the prosecution has said that its band of witnesses had remained firm in their evidence that Bouterse had not only ordered the killings but also was present during the executions.

The killings had shocked Suriname’s Caribbean neighbors, as it did for the former Dutch colony, just seven years after it became an independent nation. The military was adamant that the 15 were collaborating with the Dutch, the French via neighboring French Guiana and the U.S. to reverse the coup.

U.S. Immigration Weekly Recap

FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION KORNER

Much like the wall-to-wall coverage of the drama in the U.S. House of Representatives, the recent headlines on the immigration front in the U.S. have been intense. Here are some of the top headlines making U.S. immigration news this past week.

President Biden finally makes some moves

After letting the immigration influx into the U.S. across the southern border become untenable, President Joe Biden on January 5 announced his administration will now only accept up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The administration also announced its intention to publish a new proposed rule that would impose several sweeping new asylum bans, including a version of President Trump’s asylum “Transit Ban.”

As described by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro

Mayorkas, the proposed transit ban rule would bar asylum for any person who had not previously applied for asylum in a third country before reaching the United States, as well as those who sought asylum without going through a new process at a port of entry.

On Sunday, Jan. 8, Biden also unveiled plans to finally visit the U.S. southern border, his first ever as president.

Advocates slam Biden

Immigrant advocates immediately denounced the plan, arguing that it risks leaving more migrants in harm’s way in Mexico and is likely to exclude people with no connections to the U.S.

“Opening up new limited pathways for a small percentage of people does not obscure the fact that the Biden administration is illegally and immorally gutting access to humanitarian protections for the majority of people who have already fled their country seeking freedom and safety,” said International Refugee Assistance Project Policy Director Sunil Varghese in a statement.

Jeremy Robbins, execu-

tive director of the American Immigration Council, called out the administration for “a harsh, Trump-style crackdown on asylum seekers, many of whom are fleeing from regimes globally recognized as oppressive.”

“Expanding the use of Title 42 expulsions to Mexico will cause enormous harm for the thousands of asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution in their home countries and will now be blocked from seeking safety,” he said. “Title 42 is a failed policy [that] has caused immeasurable harm to our system of humanitarian protections, and the Biden administration should be getting rid of it, not expanding its use.”

McCarthy gavels in on immigration hard line

After a bruising weeklong battle within his own party, the 15th time turned out to be the charm for Cali’s Kevin McCarthy. He took the gavel as speaker of the House of Representativeswith a bang on Jan. 7, promising his rightwingers to attack all the immigrants entering the US. Well, not in so many words, but he

did promise the first order of business, like I predicted last week, would be the immigration crisis at the Mexican border. Kevvy says immigration reform will also be the GOP’s “top priority” and the Republican-controlled House will hold some of its first hearings of the year at the southern border. One can only assume what those reforms will look like. Good luck, Kev!

DeSantis activates Florida National Guard amid influx of migrants to Florida Florida’s governor, Ron “Death” Santis, is now facing a migrant crisis himself. No need to hire a plane to go looking for any. Many, including Cubans, have been showing up in South Florida daily, including 300 who entered Dry Tortugas National Park, located about 70 miles west of Key West, on Jan. 2.

On Jan. 6, Ron, who managed to turn Miami red thanks to the votes of Cubans and Venezuelans, signed an executive order activating the state’s National Guard because the Florida Keys manages the major influx

of people fleeing Cuba and other Caribbean nations.

The order also directs state law enforcement agencies and other state agencies to provide resources in support of local governments responding to the sharp increase in migrant landings in South Florida. Federal, state and local law enforcement have encountered more than 8,000 migrants in waters off the coast of Florida since August 2022, the governor’s office said. It will be interesting to see how those who voted for DeSantis will respond to his hardline approach to the landings of these migrants, especially those from Cuba.

Immigration fee hike coming Immigrants seeking adjustment of status and other immigration services from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are likely to have to shell out more in fees this year.

USCIS has announced proposed fee raises, including a more than 30% increase for several family-based petitions; a 101% increase for removal of condition applications; and separate fees for the optional

“My responsibility commanded me to have the people picked up and to defuse the case. I know it was never the intention to pick up people and kill them,” Bouterse told the court. Bouterse had served two five-year terms as the leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP) and had also run the country in the late ’90s for a single truncated term.

Initially, more than 20 defendants were on trial. Some had been civilians who had served in the military administration up to the late ’80s before the resumption of free elections. At least half a dozen have died, leaving Bouterse and four others to face trial.

work and travel permit forms, which have long been free to file as part of the green card application.

Under the new fee structure, the costs for applying to turn a temporary visa into permanent residency—also known as a green card—would increase. Individuals who seek to adjust their status alone would pay an application fee of $1,540, up from $1,225, and those wanting to apply to travel and work while they wait would pay $2,820. The 60-day public comment period starts after publication of the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register.

Fees will not change until the final rule goes into effect, after the public has had the opportunity to comment and USCIS finalizes the fee schedule in response to such comments. USCIS hosted a public engagement session on the proposed fee rule on January 11, 2023.

The writer is publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com – The Black Immigrant Daily News.

New York’s Black leader public safety summit in Harlem leaves more questions than answers

By TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Additional reporting by NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) gathered New York’s top Black leaders for a public safety summit behind closed doors in the organization’s Harlem offices last Thursday, Jan. 5. City politicians such as Mayor Eric Adams and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams were joined by state officials Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, Attorney General Letitia James and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to discuss concerns of gun violence and policing.

The district attorney trio of Darcel Clark, Eric Gonzalez and Alvin Bragg was also present, albeit the latter joined remotely. NAACP’s Hazel Dukes was there, although most local Harlem leaders—elected or chosen—were not. With Speaker of the New York Assembly Carl Heastie and New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams also attending, Sharpton joked extensively about having multiple speakers present as the House of Representatives was struggling to elect just one. Standing shoulderto-shoulder, the leaders highlighted that the top brass, in the nation’s biggest city, is overwhelmingly Black.

“This is what our ancestors prayed for— is standing on this stage right now,” said Adams. “We’re going to live up to those prayers, those sacrifices, all the things they went through.”

“Never before in the history of this state have we seen so many of our top officials come from the Black community,” said

Sharpton. “It was our idea that we would have those officials sit and discuss public safety and begin a series of conversations.”

The summit was also a demonstration of a united Black leadership for community public safety, an issue the attendees are often fractured over. Williams—who was not present at the press conference— has often questioned Adams’s handling of New Yorkers with serious mental illness and deployment of plainclothes anti-gun units during the mayor’s first year. Heastie and Stewart-Cousins rejected Adams’s call for a special state legislative session over bail reform last summer, reported Politico. Sharpton put it as “different hymns in the same hymn book.” He also emphasized that criminal justice reform has to be included in public safety conversations.

Little was shared beyond the optimism expressed by Sharpton, Adams and company. They opted to keep the discussions from the summit private and refused to respond to media questions. Adams vaguely described the conversations as unrestricted by “one issue” and focused on systemic poverty and racism.

“We will discuss them in private,” said James. “We will come forth with a plan. We will map out where the issues are. And we will join together as one.”

After the summit, Brooklyn D.A. Gonzalez told the Amsterdam News the summit was a big step forward for Black and brown New Yorkers.

“To have all this leadership in one place with the commitment to move this forward is going to be good for this city,” he said.

“[It’s going to be] good for people who are concerned for their safety and are also worried about issues of unfairness in our criminal legal system.”

Meanwhile, the very next day, at an invitation-only City Hall late afternoon event, the mayor and Office of Ethnic and Community Media Executive Director José Bayona held an in-person media roundtable to discuss 2022 and topics related to the community.

At the packed Year End Ethnic and Community media roundtable, 30 or 40 members of the New York press were granted one question each. The session over-ran its allotted 45 minutes. Topics ranged from housing to health care, policing, education, the migrant crisis and immigration, and small business. Officials gave polite and standard responses as the assembled press asked their questions.

The Amsterdam News asked the mayor, now a year into his administration, about his message to and plan for the underemployed, unemployed youth who were no longer in school. “There’s about 250 thousand between the ages of 18 and 24 not in school, unemployed, not in any type of program,” Adams replied. “We have to go get them. The average person on the street—if we were to ask you, ‘Where do I go to get a job? Where do I go to get my son a job? Where do I go to get my daughter a job?’—there’s no central place of where to get a job. We’re changing that. My workforce development team [will] come up with one site … [to] be called New York City Jobs or whatever. It should be universal that no matter who you are, if you are someone with English as a second language…you know to say, ‘Go to New York City Jobs.’ If you’re a person who just came home from jail and you want to see some opportunities…’Go to New York City Jobs.’ We need a central depository of all the jobs that are available.

“We’re gonna do buses, we’re gonna do ads, we’re gonna do billboards,” Adams added. “There’s a disconnect between those who are looking for jobs and those who want to hire, so we’re gonna take the complexity out of it, and say, ‘If you’re looking for a job, here’s where you need to go as your starting point.’ Break it down for areas for jobs; what type of education you need. Some don’t need an education at all. It’s unbelievable when I sit down with business owners, large and small, and they tell me, ‘I’m looking for people to hire.’ It’s amazing.”

Adams offered an example: “We’re getting ready to open up the wind farm over in Central Park. We’re gonna need people to build these devices, to install them.”

It is not an official job-making strategy, but the mayor continued, “We need people to know there are jobs available in the city. We’ve got all these jobs for school safety agents. People are not aware of that. Do you know how many jobs we have in city government that people are not aware of? We need to have a central place [where] those who are not savvy can go to get a job, and right now, that doesn’t exist. We’re building that out right now—that’s my next meeting with my chief technology officer, to see some of the versions of it. We’re hoping to have that up and running by the end of February, because you’re right: We have got to get people employed.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting

(Bill Moore photos)

Waking Up on the Other Side of the Dream

By CANDACE ARTHUR Special to the AmNews

I was eight years old and my eyes were affixed to our black-andwhite Zenith TV. On the screen, there were pictures of Negro girls who looked very much like me. A voice in the distance told the horrible story of how they had been bombed in a church. In church? Why would anything bad ever happen in church? What is a bomb? I had never heard of that word. And where in the world is Birmingham?

For sure, Mommy knew the answers to my questions. She was sobbing uncontrollably, like all the Negro people on TV. Children hate to see their mothers cry. I was no different. It seemed to go against nature. I wished it would all go away, but I couldn’t close my eyes and make it happen. This was the first of terrible times. There would be many others to come.

Over the next few weeks, I learned words I wanted to forget, describing places that I never wanted to go to: Jim Crow; Alabama, Mississippi. Words my parents had managed to spare me until then. But no more. I had been robbed of my innocence. Bad things were happening. Earlier that year, Dr. Martin Luther King, a famous Black preacher and hero to everyone I knew, had been in jail. I had never known anyone in jail, least of all a minister. Until Dr. King, I thought

doctors only treated your cold, and told your mother to give you red medicine. It was all very confusing. My world had turned upside-down. What if these people came to my church to kill me? What if they put a bomb in our house? I was so scared. But Dr. King was not afraid of Birmingham. That’s what I told myself then. However, now, more than 56 years later, I see the fallacy of that assumption. Of course he must have been afraid. Wouldn’t you be if people wanted to kill you? I’m afraid of everything—dead bodies, driving in snow, not fitting in. But unlike Dr. King, I have never tried to push beyond the fear. I suppose I’ve been a coward all my life. Now I understand that courage is acting in spite of your fear. Dr. King had been stabbed, marched on Washington and went on to win a Nobel Prize.

Only two months after the girls were killed, I came home from school and Mommy was crying, again. My sister explained that the president had been shot. He was dead, and now there was another scary word: assassination. I felt so sorry for Mrs. Kennedy, Caroline and John-John. When he saluted his father, I thought about my own. What would I do if they assassinated Daddy? I learned the names of other fathers who’d been killed or later would be: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X. Even a

boy named Emmett Till, who was lynched just before I was born.

In 1967, a strange place called Vietnam claimed the life of my brother-in-law-to-be. Five months later, I took a break from playing outside with my friends. No one was in the living room, but the television set was on. And horror of horrors, more terrible news: “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been shot at a Memphis hotel.” Oh, no! Not again.

At 12 years old, my underdeveloped brain could not process any more tragedy, so in absolute denial, I went back outside without ever saying a word. But not an hour had passed before the streets were filled with the agonizing sounds of grief. Disbelief. Even my friends understood the significance. I felt stupid and ashamed, as I pretended not to know anything. This is the first time I’ve ever admitted it.

I had never seen a Black man’s funeral on TV. (By 1968, that’s what we were called. Somebody had decided we weren’t Negroes anymore.) I felt sorry for Mrs. King and her children. She was beautiful and elegant like Mommy. Daddy kept a stiff upper lip, but as a Black Baptist minister himself, he had to be broken into 1,000 little pieces. Nevertheless, we overcame, wishing for a day we wouldn’t have to.

A month later, we got the news that Jack was never coming home. My cousin had been killed in Vietnam on Mother’s Day.

The bad stuff increased exponentially. Terrible times to the 10th power. “Senator Robert Kennedy, brother of the late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, has been assassinated.” The media called it a curse and everybody else went along. We have so many excuses for hate. Mothers were crying again— while attending to their labors—as Black fathers showered and shaved and prayed for a more perfect day.

I tried to evolve from a scaredycat to a thinker, writing poetry with deep and dark themes. The ear plug to my transistor radio was practically a permanent fixture as I listened to the lyrics of Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. They were my favorites. Their masterful use of language was Shakespearean. Curtis and Marvin were ahead of their time. Smokey was and remains prolific—to date, he has written more than 4,000 songs. But for the most part, America has refused to acknowledge Black mastery with the credit it deserves.

In 1986, good and godly people defeated the opposition and made Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday. Although half the states refused to accept it, Black churches, schools and a host of organizations have commemorated his birth since the tragedy of his death.

Now—finally—America has to reckon with his greatness. Proud students recite “I Have A Dream” with the oratorical skills of the man

himself. People from all walks of life link arms in simulation of the 1963 March on Washington.

My personal favorite is a passionate, prophetic sermon in which he called upon the spirit of Moses. “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

The next morning, he was shot. An hour later, he was dead.

Thank you, Dr. King, for bringing disparate people together for a common cause. Sleep well, for you, more than most, have earned your rest. And as long as you’re asleep anyway, keep on dreaming for a better and brighter day.

Candace Arthur is a reader who wrote this piece on January 15, 2020, and submitted it, saying: “Waking Up on the Other Side of the Dream” is a retrospective of the 1960s, as observed through the eyes of a child. It is also American history. My generation has a responsibility to educate millennials, GenX and GenZ while we are still here to tell these stories.”

(Image by John Hain on Pixabay)

(New York Public Library / Unsplash photo)

(Unseen Histories on Unsplash)

(Public Domain)

(Public Domain)

Arts & Entertainment

Black Sundance 2023

By MARGRIRA Special to AmNews

There’s always a celebratory feeling in the air when the slate of films preparing to screen at Sundance Film Festival includes those made by filmmakers of color. It’s not like there are a lot of films in comparison to films made by and for white audiences, but there are just enough to “keep hope alive.”

For 2023, 21 filmmakers identify as “Black,” showcasing their newest projects as directors and producers at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival: “The Stroll,” directed by Kristen Lovell; “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster; “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” directed by Raven Jackson and produced by Barry Jenkins; “Magazine Dreams,” directed by Elijah Bynum; “Bravo, Burkina!,” directed by Wale Oyejide; “Kokomo City,” directed by D. Smith; “To Live and Die and Live,” directed by Qasim Basir; “Young. Wild. Free.,” directed by Thembi L. Banks and produced by Baron Davis; “Invisible Beauty,” directed by Bethann Hardison;” “Cassandro,” directed by Roger Ross Williams; “Rye Lane,” directed by Raine Allen-Miller; “Milisuthando,” directed by Milisuthando Bongela; “Girl,z’ directed by Adura Onashile; “Mami Wata,” directed by C.J. “Fiery” Obasi; “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” directed by Lisa Cortés; “A Thousand and One,” directed by A.V. Rockwell, with producer Lena Waithe; and “To Live and Die and Live & Fancy Dance,” produced by Forest Whitaker.

In the category of “Black Stories” are these films screening at Sundance 2023: “Magazine Dreams,” “A Thousand and One,” “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,” “Rye Lane,” “Mami Wata,” “Girl,” “The Stroll,” “Drift,” “Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Story,” “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” “Milisuthando,” “Kokomo City,” “ To Live and Die and Live,” “Bravo, Burkina!,” “Young. Wild. Free.,” “ Invisible Beauty,” “SLAM” (From the Collection), “Talk to Me,” and “Landscape with Invisible Hand.”

The 2023 Festival will take place January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, Utah, and at the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29, 2023. Festival-goers will once again return to theaters to discover this upcoming year’s most important independent stories. Single film tickets go on sale January 12 at 10 a.m. MT.

The full slate of works, along with the From the Collection films previously announced, includes 101 feature-length

films representing 23 countries. The 2023 program is made up of 32 of 115 (28%) feature directors who are firsttime feature filmmakers, and 17 of the feature films and projects announced today were supported by the Sundance Institute in development through direct grants or residency labs. World premieres make up 93, or 94%, of the fes -

tival’s 99 feature films; these films were selected from 15,855 submissions, including 4,061 feature-length films. Of those feature submissions, 1,662 were from the U.S. and 2,399 were international.

Film/TV pg 17 | Music pg 19 | Theater pg 21 | Jazz pg 24

Your Stars (All images courtesy of Sundance)

“Rye Lane”

“Cassandro”

“Girl”

“Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project”

Line-up announced for Best of 30th African Diaspora International Film Fest Jan. 13–16

The Best of the 30th Annual African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) comes back to Teachers College at Columbia University, January 13–16, 2023, with a selection of 12 films that received both critical and popular acclaim during the festival.

“Acting While Black: Blackness on French Screens” by Rokhaya Diallo, winner of the ADIFF 2022 Public Award for Best Film Directed by a Woman of Color, and runner-up “Kumina Queen” by Nyasha Laing, both made the selection. “Acting While Black” is a punchy documentary on the representation of Blacks in films and TV series in France. Gary Dourdan, Aïssa Maiga and Sonia Rolland are some of the Black French actors who give a strong testimony of their life in front of the camera. “Kumina Queen” is a portrait of Imogene “Queenie” Kennedy, a contemporary priestess in post-colonial Jamaica who catapulted her African spiritual practice into renown.

Films presented during Gala Screenings will return for the Best of ADIFF, including opening night film “The Woodstock of House” by Rodrick F. Wimberly and Senuwell Smith, a musical documentary that details the triumph of a genre of music that was attacked and seemingly destroyed by mainstream America in the late 1970s for being too Black, too Latin and too gay.

Closing night film “A Brother’s Whisper” by Jacinto Taras Riddick makes the Best of ADIFF for a Saturday night screening in the presence of the director, who will participate in a Q&A. In “A Brother’s Whisper,” Solomon Bordeaux returns home to Brooklyn after serving three tours of the IraqAfghanistan wars. Diagnosed with PTSD, he faces the harsh realities of racist gentrification in a neighborhood he no longer recognizes. With the welcoming by his brother David, a pro fighter, familial bonds are forged, but soon interrupted by disturbing secrets that unfold.

Other films in Gala Screenings are “Get Out Alive” by Roger Ellis, a musical about a woman’s fight against depression featuring artist and activist Nikki Lynette, and the Brazilian science fiction offering “Executive Order” by Lazaro Ramos, which presents a dystopian future where the Brazilian government decrees a measure that forces Black citizens to migrate to Africa in an attempt to cleanse Brazilian society of Black people.

Of note for its timeliness is Juan A. Zapata’s “Sugar Cane Malice,” a documentary that explores the poor working conditions of Haitian workers on one of the largest sugar cane plantations in the world, in the Dominican Republic and belonging to the Fanjul family, one of the most powerful families in America.

For more information about the Best of ADIFF and to see the full line-up, visit www.nyadiff.org. Follow on Facebook and twitter at @nyadiff, and Instagram at ny_adiff.

Composer, drummer, and dhol player Sunny Jain (Red Baraat) creates music that celebrates a rich cultural diaspora. Through this illuminating residency, Jain delves into myriad facets of his identity as a first-generation South Asian-American and as a global musician.

“Sugar Cane Malice”

“A Brother’s Whisper”

Fred Hersch & esperanza spalding play

NYC’s Village Vanguard thru Jan. 15

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH Special to the AmNews

Upon the release of their new album “Alive at the Village Vanguard,” veteran pianist Fred Hersch and jazz virtuoso esperenza spalding are embarking on a tour to perform selections and offer audiences intimate opportunities to engage with and indulge in the purity of their pared-down sound.

Spalding primarily sings on the album, taking on the role as lead vocalist and putting aside her incredible talent as a bassist and composer. Vocally, she leans on her unique style: airy soprano-ranged singing colored with scatting and interplay with Hersch’s piano, which is stripped down and resembles elements of ragtime and jazz. Although spalding is a modernist artist who has created sweeping afrofuturistic and experimental pieces of music, she and Hersch seem to want to explore jazz at its root, and again, at its purest—the album is completely acoustic: piano and voice.

It’s important to see and hear artists preserving the fundamental expressions of jazz and vintage sounds of Black music. “Alive at the Village Vanguard” makes you feel like you’re sitting in a smokey club in the 1920s. It’s very rare that an album takes time travel backward, creating a setting that you can

see, feel and touch the past in your imagination. This album’s nostalgic musical atmosphere and its reminiscent revelations can cause a listener of any age to understand more about jazz and jazz vocals.

The playfulness of the album, the light sumptuousness and animations of the music, bring an enjoyable energy to the album. “Playing with Fred feels like we’re in a sandbox,” spalding said. “He takes his devotion to the music as serious as life and death, but once we start playing, it’s just fun. I like to live on the edge in my music, but I find myself trying things that I usually wouldn’t when I play with him, finding new spaces to explore in the realm of improvised lyrics.”

She added that “I was going through a very difficult time in my life. I was miserable every day when I got to the Vanguard, so I had to decide to plug into the capacity for this music to heal. I wanted to emanate something positive ’though I was feeling so horrible. Neither of us were feeling well in our lives outside of the music, so the stage of the Vanguard became an alchemizing place for both of us. I think you can feel that in the music.”

“This recording sounds like you’re in the best seat in the Vanguard for a very live experience,” said Hersch. “You can really feel the

vitality of the room, of the audience and of our interplay. We decided on the word ‘Alive’ for the album title as you can really feel the intimacy and energy of the performances.”

Hersch and spalding are live at Village Vanguard through January 15, at 8 and 10 p.m. Tickets $10. For more info, visit www. villagevanguard.com.

Musical Explorers lead exciting programming at Carnegie Hall

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH Special to the AmNews

Musical Explorers, an innovative and interactive musical program that teaches children from kindergarten through second grade about interesting facets of African American music and beyond, is at Carnegie Hall through January 14. Musical Explorers “connects students in grades K–2 to rich and diverse musical communities as they build fundamental music skills through listening, singing, and moving to songs from all over the world,” according the org’s overview.

According to a statement from the organization, Musical Explorers Family Concerts is “an interactive experience celebrating unique musical cultures and traditions. The performances feature Gullah music with Quiana, Malian traditional music with Yacouba and hip-hop with Soul Science Lab. Free pre-concert activities are offered one hour prior to each performance, preparing

parents and children to sing and dance along with the artists.”

This program is vital to the growth and advancement of children in urban communities who deserve just as much innovation and care in the music education as young children of means. This program brings a high-quality and super-fun experience for these kids as they dance, play and learn about themselves through connecting with music and understanding more of who they are through sound and movement.

The instructors for each concert include Quiana Parler, lead vocalist, lyricist and composer for the Grammy Award–winning Gullah band Ranky Tanky. The group has toured nationally and inter-

nationally, performed at venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and been featured on “The Tonight Show,” “Saturday Night Live” and the American Music Awards.

Yacouba Sissoko was born in Kita, Mali, to a long line of jelis. When he was 9, he began playing the kora and learning centuriesold oral traditions from his grandfather; by the time he was 15, he was performing with prominent African bands, which brought him to the U.S.

Soul Science Lab (SSL) is a music and multimedia duo powered by Chen Lo and Asante Amin, storytellers who inspire the future. SSL is dedicated to creating a celebrated body of work and cultivating the next generation of iconic artists.

The program also offers digital programming that provides free online classroom resources, including lesson plans, artistled videos and digital concert experiences filmed live at Carnegie Hall. For more info, visit www.carnegiehall.org.

(Erika Kapin photo)

(Fadi Kheir photo)

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By SUPREME GODDESS KYA

January 12, 2023—January 18, 2023

Rebirth of a New Nation: Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for landing as Mars in Gemini at 8-degrees stations direct on January 12th. Mercury in Capricorn at 8-degree stations direct on January 18, and finally Uranus in Taurus at 14 degrees, the planet of ancient unorthodox hard-knock lessons, stations direct on January 22. That’s a powerful concoction of a bumpy ride, turbulence, power struggle, power outage, electrical issues, gusty winds blowing in all directions, static in your tv, radio, etc. Communications on all levels are sending mixed signals. The messages aren’t clear. A time to take your time, go within, get grounded, and listen carefully, jotting down the downloads and upgrades. Take notes of clues and hunches, and pay attention to what’s in the background. Keep it moving as this is a fast curveball. The appetizer is the teaser, the main course is what satisfies your soul, and the dessert is up to you. January requires your strengths, concentration, and willpower, to make it happen. Certain test runs will show up during this week in your relationships, whether they be they personal, business, emotionally, mentally, financial, etc. is up in the air, not a definite answer. “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point”. C.S. Lewis

What a mystical month as information pops up and people keep making reappearance out of the blue. A weekly cycle to conquer by taking the lead like a warrior initiating a new beginning. Cappy, plan accordingly and follow through on your agenda, not letting no one stand in your way or distract you. Speak truth to power and lead by example. Seek and you shall find. Allow information to come to you. Do a great deed as remuneration is in effect in due time. Jan 10th-12th a silent metamorphosis is brewing up. Stay focused and do you.

Solving the pieces to the puzzle can be played like a game of wheel of fortune. Once you start filing in the blanks it’s time to solve the puzzle. This month, apply the footwork to get what needs to be done, and weed out the gossip; it’s contagious like a virus that plays “ring around the rosie”. You have opportunities available and help from family, friends, associates to flourish. January 13th-15th, it’s all in the feelings that receive the blessing. Get with the program.

To see progress, you need to ride this out to see it through by month ends. Live in the feeling, nurturing and genuine state of the mind to see the truth message. Certain information is being communicated be it telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry etc. Hug yourself as you go about your daily aspects. Partnerships is a theme this cycle as you are surrounded by influential people mainly women sharing advice or assisting you. January 16th-17th you see the bigger picture now.

January you definitely have bases loaded sending all team members home fulfilling obligations making a touchdown, slam dunk, hitting the ball out the park. It’s time to walk it like you talk it and come through. Celebrate, as you applied skin and sweat in the game, or now is the time to start building the dream you envision. Days leading up to Jan. 18th check in on your feelings and be in the present moment. There is a solid lesson in disguise: don’t resist going with the flow.

Spread the word and keep the faith. Promote, advertise, engage with your audience, family, friends, associates, as this is a busy and public cycle. A conversationalist week for round table discussions, meetups, conference calls, interviews, checking voicemails and emails, public appearances and gathering of the facts to build with like-minded individuals. Get the word out like a worldwide mandate order. January 12th, as you go about your day, new profound ideas will be the piece to your craft to make it a finished product or the missing link. Sometimes we need to revert to old ways to find the answers to the new ways like old math.

The unanticipated turn of events happened at a moment’s notice where swift action is necessary. Whatever truth needs to be brought into light has its ways of revealing itself in the darndest ways. This is a cycle to dig deep into issues that occurred in your childhood, as flashes of insight from your childhood brings back certain memories for understanding or clues to the present. Those odd feelings and moments occurring this week can catch you off guard and change your mood. Question yourself in the midst of it and ask yourself what, why, when, where, who to discover the answer. January 13th-15th, watch the movie play out as Mars goes direct on January 12th. What did you do over the summer/autumn season and last February and November of 2022?

What new adventure are you ready to go toe to toe with to see it through? It’s time to learn a new way to survive and live. This year is the end of something coming to a head, and decisions need to be made to manifest. What’s the dream you hold dear to your heart, like a hoarder holding onto items for dear life? Something got to give, including your old ways that keep you stuck, jammed, trapped in four walls as you adjust to its comfortableness. It’s time to get uncomfortable, like learning how to drive or swim and catch your own fish. January 16th-17th, change is brewing like a coffee pot steaming.

How spiritually in tune can you get as destiny, fate and the ancestors play a role this week, giving you access to secret pathways to information? What you thought was a secret was in your face the whole time. Your frequency is now matching the energy to understand. Things can get a little spooky at times as the plot of the story plays out. People do and say the darndest. Actions speak with volume. In this case it’s the details like the clue in the picture. Days leading up to Jan. 18th, time to go on a Scooby Doo mystery hunt.

The truth always has its way of revealing itself at an appointed time. Your mission is to keep building your foundation, as the adventure doesn’t stop due to life being full of invaluable information. The new information you discover is like finding a rare diamond in the ground. Pay attention to your health, mainly your respiratory system, ankles, lower and upper back. January 12th, now that you have the outline, the paper is due.

Knock knock, Who’s there? Look who’s talking. This year you need to build muscle strength for all the air that’s mentally blowing you a challenge. January focuses on quick change with unexpected visits, making short runs here and there. The seeds you planted finally have some people talking through the grapevines spreading your messages. This week isn’t an easy task as we are all tested at our highest and weakest moment to see if we are ready for advancement or have outgrown certain habits, patterns, and situations. January 13th-15th, the clock is ticking like an offer up.

Mystical things occur, like an outer body experience, déjà vu, scenes playing out in your dreams’ play by play. Your soul is going through a metamorphosis, repairing, rescripting, and rejuvenating its fate with an upgrade twist. You call it the matrix reloaded. The wake up from a deep sleep that seems like forever finally arrives like a new pair of glasses and you can see clarity now. January 16th-17th, the pressure is on time to get booted and suited to plow through the snow creating a clear path.

It’s about the details that you see, affirming your confirmation of your next adventure. The universe places people and things in your view as hints and clues to paint the picture. You are equipped with the tools, resources, and knowledge to utilize what you have in your possession to create the life you envision. Your belief is enough along with your willpower to follow suit. The evening of January 17th there is no rhyme and reason, it just is how things operate. Nourish yourself with fresh water, fruits, and vegetables.

Vinateria

The Year in Review in Black theater, Part 2

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

In July 2022, the theatre world, which awards outstanding stage debuts on and off Broadway, gave half of its 12 awards to African Americans! Kearstin Piper Brown won for her debut in Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel,” at Lincoln Center— this young lady demonstrated that Black opera singers are the bomb. After bringing the house down at every performance of “Caroline, or Change,” Sharon D. Clarke won for her debut as Caroline on Broadway. One of my favorite young actresses, Kara Young, made her Broadway debut in “Clyde’s” by Lynn Nottage and she received this well-deserved acknowledgment. Justin Cooley won for his debut in the Off-Broadway production of “Kimberly Akimbo,” which is actually currently on Broadway through March 26, 2023. Jaquel Spivey won for his Broadway debut as Usher in “A Strange Loop.” Myles Frost also came away with the coveted award for his debut in “MJ: The Musical.”

The revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” still playing at the St. James Theatre on W. 44th Street through Jan. 8, 2023, made August awesome and featured several Blacks in prominent roles. Patina Miller was amazing as the Witch; Joshua Henry was enchanting as Rapunzel’s Prince; Cole Thompson as Jack; and Ta’nika Gibson as Lucinda, Cinderella’s wicked stepsister. By the way, Joaquina Kalukango is now playing the role of the Witch and the other Black actors mentioned are still in their roles. This musical tells the tales of Cinderella, the Baker and His Wife, Jack & the Beanstalk, and Little Red Ridinghood, but takes the tales much further than we learned them as children.

September 12, 2022, marked when the Cort Theatre on W. 48th Street, after a $47 million renovation and the addition of a five-story building annex to give added public space, was renamed after the great theater legend James Earl Jones.

In October 2022, I felt privileged to be in the room where it happened. I have never been so moved in the theater! I tell you all, I saw history being made as “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller was mounted with its first Black cast in starring roles in the history of Broadway. “Death of a Salesman,” done from a Black family perspective, took Broadway brilliance to an astronomical level at the Hudson Theatre. The classic play about salesman Willy Loman and his family—wife Linda and adult sons Biff and Happy—watching his emotional and mental deterioration, profoundly demonstrated the feeling of failure that a Black man can feel when his dreams for himself and his children don’t come true. British director Miranda Cromwell let the audience know, from the very first moments, that this play had a Black focus.

Opening with gospel music strains, the play used this music throughout to soothe Willy and to dramatize moments, and then bring things full circle with more gospel toward the end for a sense of continuity. The cast is the best on Broadway, bar none. Wendell Pierce delivers Willy Loman with every fiber of his being. He takes us on an emotionally crazed journey of a man on the verge of desperation, through tremendous highs and lows. Sharon D. Clarke as Linda Loman is a powerhouse and a tour de force. She takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride that will have you gripped with emotion. Khris Davis is stunning as Biff. McKinley Belcher III is riveting as Happy, the younger son who lives in the shadow of Biff. The play is running through Jan. 15, 2023 only. October also marked the return to Broadway of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” with an all-star cast. Playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on W. 47th Street, this is a chance to see the work of a genius, but only through Jan. 29, 2023. There is a great deal of humor, moments of bringing up the past and moments of recognizing the presence of spirits. “The Piano Lesson” tells the

story of Boy Willie who has come to Pittsburgh to try to get and sell his late father’s piano, which has been in the family for generations. The piano has the personal history of this family on it, going as far back as their grandparents who were enslaved.

The piano is something that belongs to him and his sister Berniece. He looks at it as a means to a new beginning for his life, but Berniece sees it for the importance it played in the lives and deaths of their family members. The rich history of this piano is beautifully and grippingly shared by characters throughout the play from Berniece to Doaker, the uncle who Berniece and her daughter Maretha live with, and Wining Boy, his brother. This production is the quintessential example of August Wilson’s work being presented with a great deal of flair, humor, respect and distinction. The cast is absolutely mesmerizing to watch. John David Washington brings a fire, relentlessness and a demand for respect to his character that makes you see the multilayers that Boy Willie has. Danielle Brooks as Berniece is stupendous. She is the keeper of the pain, the love, the flame and the legacy that is held in every piece of wood and carving in this family heirloom. Samuel L. Jackson as Doaker has such a naturally smooth presence on stage. He is the wise elder in the family who keeps the peace, but also has a firm hand on what happens in his home. Michael Potts as Wining Boy is very funny. His character provides that musical element that fits so very well with this play. There is both a shallowness and a depth to Wining Boy. Berniece has an upand-coming preacher named Avery who is interested in her; that role was played by the understudy Charles Browning at the performance I attended, and he was tremendous. When he began to talk of God, he could have led a revival. He was absolutely wonderful, while also demonstrating that he was a man with needs. Nadia Daniel was delightful as Maretha, a role she shares with Jurnee Swan. Ray Fisher as Lymon is making his Broadway debut and is destined to become a household name. April Matthis is quite funny as Grace, a girl Boy Willie brings home to romance, but who ends up with Lymon. He is funny and endearing, and has a stage presence that reaches over the footlights and eases into your heart. This play comes together with such joy, splendor, respect and care, and that is due to the sterling direction of Latanya Richardson Jackson. Jackson took Wilson’s words and these actors, and handles every moment with great care. There is a feeling of the Black family experience from that stage that pulls you in, body and mind.

Black female playwrights were in abundance on Broadway as Suzan Lori-Parks joined the ranks as the fifth one when her production of “Topdog/Underdog” was revived on Broadway during its 20th anniversary. It was done under the awesome, powerful direction of Kenny Leon in October. In fact, the play is still playing at the John Golden Theatre on W. 45th Street through Jan. 15, 2023. Lori-Parks tells the story of two Black brothers, Lincoln and

Adam Makké, John Cariani and Sharon D. Clarke in “Caroline, or Change” (Joan Marcus photo)

Uzo Aduba and Ron Cephas Jones in “Clyde’s” (Joan Marcus photo)

Patina Miller as the Witch in “Into the Woods” (Photos by Matt Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

Black theater review, Part 2

Booth, for whom life dealt terrible cards. They have not known love, security or support in their home lives, but instead experienced abandonment by both their parents, betrayal, chaos. They have known fear, hunger, desperation. Through it all, they have always had each other, but also carried a great deal of anger and envy. They have always needed to feel loved and important and that has not worked out well for either. What happens to Black boys who grow up with only the disadvantages of life? These brothers became hustlers and thieves. They measure their success by their ability to have a place to live—no matter how poor and drab the accommodation, to get to eat and to budget whatever money they make to pay for the bare necessities. Lincoln used to make his money scamming people with the card game Three-card Monte, but he stopped after tragedy struck. His younger brother Booth wants to follow in his footsteps and tries his best to practice the card scam. These brothers take sibling rivalry to a level that boggles the mind and the heart. While Lori-Parks gives them some moments of joy, as they recall times in their childhood when they worked together, you intensely feel their pain and frus-

tration with their lot in life. From the time that the play starts, the storyline is presented fast and furious. The two actors, whether alone or together, have intensely quickspoken words that reveal some of the deep disappointment, anguish and humiliation they have suffered and are currently suffering. Corey Hawkins is meticulously brilliant as older brother Lincoln. He vividly lets you feel every emotion his character has had to endure. While he is a master at Three-card Monte, he is a mess over the current cards life has dealt him. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II makes an astounding Broadway debut as Booth. He is the ultimate younger brother who loves/respects/envies/hates his older brother.

In October–November 2022, the sixth Black female playwright had a captivating play on the stage when the late Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” was mounted at the Public Theatre. “A Raisin in the Sun” was a stellar example of what excellent theater could be. Between Hansberry’s timeless script; the ingenious, brilliant direction by Robert O’Hara; and a stunning cast led by Tonya Pinkins, there was no stopping this play from being relevant to a modern audience and speaking the

same truths it did when it was first done 65 years ago. The story of the Younger family in Chicago was a story of Black America. Of course, what was the most poignant aspect to this play was that the racism spotlighted in the ’50s was the same and in some cases, there is worse racism going on today. The play centers on the Younger family and the matriarch expecting a $10,000 life insurance check from her husband’s death. Her grown son has plans for that money, but she has other plans. Pinkins took the role of Lena Younger, the matriarch of this struggling Black family, to new heights. She inhabited this role with every fiber of her being. For those two hours and 40 minutes, she truly was Lena Younger, with all the emotions, anger, stress and hope that a mother can have for her children. François Battiste bought a strength, frustration and a certain tenderness, but also despair, to his role as Walter Lee Younger. You felt everything that Walter was feeling. Mandi Masden hit the ground running as Ruth Younger and never let up. She embodies a loving mother, wife, daughter-in-law and Black woman trying to be there for a man that she didn’t recognize anymore. Paige Gilbert was spunky, outspoken and determined as Beneatha Younger. John Clay III

the first Broadway theater named after a Black woman. Also in November, Kara Young was on Broadway again in “Cost of Living” and she was amazing in this play at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre for a limited run.

was absolutely charming as Joseph Asagai, the Nigerian college student who Beneatha hoped would show her the way to her identity. Mister Fitzgerald did a suitable job as George Murchison, the rich college student who finds Beneatha’s dream to be a doctor unimportant. Perri Gaffney is outstanding in the role of Mrs. Johnson, a neighbor. Touissant Battiste, son of François, played the role of Travis Younger. This is his son’s first professional role and their chemistry on stage was wonderful. Calvin Dutton was marvelous in his dual roles as Bobo and Ghost. Jesse Pennington was amazing as Karl Lindner. There were so many scenes with rich dialogues that one can’t name them all, but one thing that I can attest to is how often audience members could be heard crying softly. The emotional ride that this family went on was something that we willingly accompany them on.

The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on W. 47 Street was renamed the Lena Horne Theatre on Nov. 1, 2022. This made history as

in

on W. 45th Street. Yes, “Kimberly Akimbo” has made it to the big time and the offBroadway cast has come with it for the most part. It will run through March 2023. Two other Black performers are in showcased roles: Olivia Elease Hardy as Delia and Fernell Hogan as Martin. This musical by David Lindsay-Abaire is about Kimberly, a teenager with a rare disease, and her dysfunctional family and how she tries to cope with life when she moves to a new town. November also saw another Black male writer’s work, when Jeff Augustin’s “Where the Mountain Meets the Sea” played at 131 W. 55th Street. The play was about the strained, difficult relationship that this Haitian/American man had with his father. The father, Jean, had dreams of a life in America and beliefs about what being a man incorporated. His son Jonah did not live up to

November 2022 found Theatre World

Award winner Justin Cooley moving to Broadway, as the musical he made his debut

transferred to the Booth Theatre

Khris Davis, Wendell Pierce, Sharon D. Clarke and McKinley Belcher III in “Death of a Salesman” (Joan Marcus photo)

Victoria Clark, Justin Cooley and Steven Boyer in a scene from “Kimberly Akimbo” (Joan Marcus photo)

Danielle Brooks in August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” (Julieta Cervantes photo)

The James Earl Jones Theatre (Bill Moore photo)

those ideas and encountered a great deal of disapproval from his father. He grew up not accepted by anyone in his family and alone. Jonah finds himself reflecting on the harsh treatment he received from his father and his uncle. When his father died, he tried to get to see what type of person his father had been as he traveled a road his father had been on with his mother years before. There was a great tribute to Haiti’s beauty and the beauty of nature and a love for mountain music as the Bengsons supplied musical performances at important moments in the play. Billy Eugene Jones was absolutely heartwarming, determined and torn as Jean. Chris Myers gave a stunningly poignant performance that succeeded in showing compassion, understanding,and an epiphany for his character and for all those young Black men out there who need to feel that they are worthy of all the good things in life. There was smooth, engaging direction by Joshua Kahan Brody.

November 2022 meant the 50th Annual AUDELCO Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre. Held at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, it was a testament to the magnificent productions that were part of the 2021–2022 theater season. It was co-hosted by actor, singer, dancer and choreographer Ty Stephens, and actress, singer and Tony Award winner Lillias White. Always striving to do more than simply recognize excellence in performance, the AUDELCOs honored many with special awards, including presenting Sidney Poitier posthumously with a Humanitarian/Civil Rights Award and Bust. The Legacy Award went to the late Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll posthumously for the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking production “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.” Lifetime Achievement Awards went to playwright Richard Wesley; actress, director and artistic director of New Federal Theatre Elizabeth Van Dyke; veteran actor Count Stovall; and actor/singer/producer Rome Neal. The Board of Directors’ Legacy Award went to Jeanne Parnell, WHCR host of “The Jeanne Parnell Show.” Board of Directors’ Lifetime Achievement Awards went to veteran journalist Don Thomas of the New York Beacon, and Harlem Assemblywoman Inez Dickens. Pioneers Awards were bestowed on director actor Ben Harney; Peggy Alston, executive director of Brooklyn Restoration Youth Academy; and Jamal Joseph, New Heritage Theatre Co. Impact Repertory Theatre. Lazette McCants, a long-time original officer of AUDELCO, received one as well. Celebrating 30 years-plus for the beloved film “The Five Heartbeats,” cast members received Outstanding Achievement Awards, including Harry Lennix, Leon, Michael Wright, Tico Wells and Carla Brothers. Special Achievement Awards went to veteran publicist Linda Stewart, It Is Done Communication and To Go Girl; Eric Lockley of the Movement

Theatre Company and actor, singer, activist Anthony Wayne. December 2022 delivered Jordan E. Cooper’s “Ain’t No Mo’” to the Belasco Theatre on W. 44th Street. In Cooper’s comedic production, there were vignettes that addressed how Blacks are viewed in this country and how the U.S. hates Blacks so much that they are being offered oneway tickets to go back to Africa. Cooper truly put the mistreatment and negative perception of Blacks in this country front and center. He starred as Peaches, the flight attendant who boarded passengers onto the plane going back to Africa. The play used very raw and real language. The ensemble cast played multiple roles and included most of the original off-Broadway, Public Theatre production actors: Fedna Jacquet, Passenger 1; Marchant Davis, Passenger 2; Ebony Marshall-Oliver, Passenger 4; and Crystal Lucas-Perry, Passenger 5, with a newcomer to the cast, Shannon Matesky, coming on board as Passenger 3. This production had captivating direction by Stevie Walker-Webb, who was also its original director. Sadly, this production didn’t get a chance to breathe on Broadway before it was closed abruptly on December 23.

December 2022 also saw the first play open at the newly renamed James Earl Jones Theatre on W. 48th Street as “Ohio State Murders” took to the stage. The drama, written by 91-year-old Adrienne Kennedy, marks the au thor’s Broadway debut and the seventh play by a Black female playwright in 2022. The drama looks at the racism that Kennedy faced in the ’40s and ’50s as a young, Black, female student at Ohio State University. The main character, Suzanne Alexander, is a successful playwright who comes back to her alma mater as a guest speaker and is asked to explain the violence in her plays and other works. The character was masterfully played by six-time-Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, and she is perfection from the opening scene. Through Suzanne, everyone gets to know the racism, cruelty and isolation that Black students faced at this higher place of learning. McDonald is joined by a stunningly memorable cast that includes Bryce Pinkham as Robert Hampshire, her white professor who finds himself conflicted, but I won’t say more. Abigail Stephenson plays a Black classmate Iris Ann, Mister Fitzgerald plays David Alexander/ Val and Lizan Mitchell plays Mrs. Tyler/ Miss Dawson/Aunt Louise. This play is riveting to watch and unfolds in 75 minutes. It runs through February 12, 2023. It is worth your time and attention. It also has powerful direction by Kenny Leon. He is definitely batting 1,000 in 2022.

2022 was absolutely beaming with Black brilliance, creativity and boldness. Some other shows that are featuring Black actors and are on Broadway are “Some Like It Hot,” “&Juliet,” “Between Riverside and Crazy,” and “The Collaboration.” Try to find a show and go!

(L-R) Chris Myers and Billy Eugene Jones in a scene from “Where the Mountain Meets the Sea” (Matt Murphy photo)

Fedna Jacquet, Shannon Matesky, Marchant Davis, Crystal Lucas-Perry and Ebony MarshallOliver in a scene from “Ain’t No Mo’” on Broadway (Joan Marcus photo)

Audra McDonald and Bryce Pinkham in “Ohio State Murders” (Richard Termine photo)

AIN’TBUTAFEWOFUS, KWAME BRATHWAITE

The Winter JazzFest is ready to ignite with invigorating music and thought-provoking discussions from January 12–18 at multiple venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn, kicking off on January 15 (1 p.m.) with a conversation between leading Black music writers who collaborated with author Willard Jenkins on his recent book Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story Writing is a love, a mistress that demands unlimited time and thought but who cares; writers just want to write and write. However, in our stories of Ain’t But a Few of Us, conflicts arise such as how we as Black writers contend with a world of jazz writing dominated by white men. These and other pertinent questions will be discussed with Jenkins and his panel of Jordannah Elizabeth (freelance journalist), John Murph (freelance journalist) and Ron Scott (Amsterdam News) at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, 58 W. 129th Street. RSVP at jmih.org. The event is free. Kwame Brathwaite has been called the “Keeper of the images.” His photographs, reflective of the clichéd black fist of the Black Power movement, were instigators for the second Harlem Renaissance and far beyond. His current debut exhibit at the New York Historical Society, “Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite,” will end its successful six-month run on January 15. The exhibit includes 40 engaging photographs that offer a glimpse into the revolution of Black awareness through jazz, Buy Black, the Grandassa Models, and his African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS) organization.

Brathwaite, 85, and his brother Elombe Brath (died in 2014) were both activists who were pivotal in raising the consciousness of Harlem and New York City at large with their strong conviction of Black is Beautiful. Their belief in the power of the Black community was evident in the co-founding of AJASS, an ode to their love of jazz and the teachings of Marcus Garvey. “Later, we formed the Grandassa Models. ‘Black is Beautiful’ was my directive. It was a time when people were protesting injustices related to race, class and human rights around the globe,” said Brathwaite. “I focused on perfecting my craft so that I could use my gift to inspire thought, relay ideas and tell stories of our struggle, our work, our liberation.”

The original members of AJASS were fellow creative students of Brathwaite at Manhattan’s School of Industrial Arts (SIA), now the High School of Art and Design. To satisfy their teenage appetite for jazz, they were obligated to travel downtown (late 1950s) to Birdland, Café Bohemia and the Five Spot in the Bowery. Brathwaite and his group agreed

that the only way to stop their weekly downtown jazz excursions was to bring Black jazz artists back to their South Bronx neighborhood where the music once thrived.

They contracted an agreement with Club 845, where artists such as Nancy Wilson, Elmo Hope and Dexter Gordon performed and whose music was now being resuscitated. Bronx and Harlem jazz fans were ecstatic over jazz returning Uptown with artists such as Lee Morgan, Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln (two of their most ardent supporters). Some of these jazz photos now on exhibit are so vivid you can hear the melodic notes of Roach’s drums or Lincoln’s harmonic vocals.

AJASS held fashion shows titled “Naturally 62” that continued through the ’70s and featured the Grandassa Models (taken from the term “Grandassaland,” used to refer to Africa by Black Nationalist Carlos Cooks, whose teachings Brathwaite and his group followed), who demonstrated Black is Beautiful with their natural hairstyles (Afros) and by wearing designs of West Africa. These beautiful Black women of varied complexions and sizes shattered the European concept of beauty: 110 pounds with long straight hair. At the time, even Black publications like Ebony were holding to the European standard.

The Grandassa Models were making a bold revolutionary-political statement that vibrated the walls of America and the world. They are a focal point of the exhibit and book. Their fashion shows at the Rock-

land Palace became just as successful as AJASS’s jazz shows at Club 845. Both organizations were agents of community empowerment and self-sufficiency They employed the active concept of Black economics using the events to keep Black dollars in their community. In the book, there are images where a sign saying “Buy Black” is in the background.

Sikolo Brathwaite, an original Grandassa Model and the wife of Kwame, said the ladies now come together weekly on a Zoom call. She invited me to one of those meetings, where I had an opportunity to meet and discuss the journey of these ladies whose lives were the epitome of Black is Beautiful.

“One topic during our meetings is how to change the conversation as our women continue to wear fashions to stimulate men, which is wrong,” said Barbara Adjua Solomon. “We are spiritual beings, we bring forth life, we should be honored for our beauty and spirituality, not as sexual beings. Our role is to share with our young Black ladies.”

Ironically, the goal of the Grandassa Models has not changed at all; they still represent the Black cultural and political movement that celebrates Black is Beautiful through wearing African garments and natural hairstyles while understanding and honoring African and African American history. “I joined the group because I thought it would be fun to be a fashion model, but once I heard Elombe and Kwame talk about

Black history and Nina Simone, it made me aware of the fashion show’s importance,” said Eunice Townsend.

The youngest of the Grandassa Models, Ajuba Grinage-Bartley, was inspired when her parents would bring her to both the AJASS jazz concerts and Grandassa fashion shows. “I grew up attending those shows. That’s where I met Betty Shabazz, Ossie Davis and Sun Ra,” said Bartley. “I had the opportunity to work with Brooklyn activists Sonny Carson, Bob Law and Rev. Herbert Daughtry. That was such a positive learning experience, and it all happened because my parents took me to those fashion shows and concerts. I absorbed so much that became a part of my life. Later, when I became a Department of Education librarian, Elombe and Kwame spoke at my school.”

For Bartley, the concerts and shows were a form of edutainment that inspired her life journey. “Our role is to be role models for our young people and to let them know we are fine as we are and don’t have to emulate other people,” said Brathwaite. “We have so much more work to do.”

The exhibit has an accompanying book by the same title, Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful (Aperture). The NY Historical Society is at 170 Central Park West. For times and ticket purchases, visit nyhistory. org. The traveling exhibit is on an eight-city tour that will now make its way to Alabama.

For more information, visit grandassamodels.com

Grandassa Models (left to right) Barbara Adzua Solomon, Ama Tanks, Sikolo Brathwaite, Ajuba Grinage-Bartley, Shirley McKintosh, Eunice Townsend in front of Kwame Brathwaite’s self-portrait (Hakim Mutlaq photo)

CLASSROOM IN THE

Lucy Terry, one of America’s earliest Black poets and legal minds

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

When it comes to seminal moments in American literature, particularly in an African American context, Phillis Wheatley’s name is prominently evoked. But several years before Wheatley began her remarkable publishing career, which found resonance in England, Lucy Terry composed what is widely considered the oldest known work of literature by a Black American.

Terry, born in Africa in 1733, was abducted as a child and sold into slavery. For the first five years of her life she lived in Rhode Island and was later sold to Ebenezer Wells, who had her baptized.

If the numbers are correct, she composed “Bars Fight,” her famous ballad about a Native American attack on settlers in 1746, when she was 13 years old. There has been a lot of discussion about Terry’s work being older than the works of Wheatley, much of it centered on who was published first and not who composed first. Even so, both were extraordinary writers, especially given the often difficult circumstances of their lives in bondage.

A painting depicting an image of Lucy Terry.

Not much is known of Terry’s early years, but according to several accounts, she was quite prolific and left behind a large trove of writings that are still being pursued by scholars and researchers. In 1756, she married Abijah Prince, a free Black man from Curaçao, who purchased her freedom. They settled in Guilford, Vermont, and raised six children. One of them, Cesar, fought in the Revolutionary War.

Her poem “Bars Fight” (excerpt below) is a recounting of the raid and Terry cites several of the people involved in the incident. Bars was the colonial term for meadow, and the poem was preserved for many years orally before it was finally published in 1855.

In the future, we may find her personal account of what happened to her and her husband at the hands of neighbors who took exception to their presence, attacked them and destroyed much of their property. They filed several successful lawsuits against the aggressors, but this did not end the ongoing feud. In 1785, with the assistance of acclaimed jurist Samuel Knight, Terry was successful against her adversaries who the judge decided was “greatly oppressing” her and her husband.

But this was not the end of the family’s distress. Soon after the decision, a mob led by her neigh-

bor invaded the Princes’ property, beat a Black farmhand to death, burned crops and generally left the place devastated. While many of those involved in the attack were later convicted, the leader of the mob, a Mr. Noyes, was not. He later bailed out his henchmen and served as a state legislator in Vermont for more than 10 years.

In 1803, Terry was once again in court, this time on behalf of her sons, defending them against false land claims. The claim was successful and she was awarded $200. To this end, she was the first woman to argue before the high court, defeating two of the top lawyers, including one who would later become the chief justice. Three years later, she received an additional $200 of land to provide for her family. These successes brought her great respect and acclaim in the region.

All of this occurred after her husband’s death in 1794, which left her to conduct the various proceedings without his assistance. By this time, she lived in Sunderland, Vermont, and made annual trips by horseback to visit his gravesite. She died in 1821, but is still remembered in the community for her legal skills and devotion to family.

There are no verifiable images of her, but several artists have conceived what they believe is her countenance.

Here is part of Lucy Terry’s famous poem.

“August ‘twas the twenty-fifth, Seventeen hundred forty-six; The Indians did in ambush lay, Some very valiant men to slay, The names of whom I’ll not leave out. Samuel Allen like a hero foute, And though he was so brave and bold, His face no more shall we behold.

Eleazer Hawks was killed outright, Before he had time to fight, Before he did the Indians see, Was shot and killed immediately.

Oliver Amsden he was slain, Which caused his friends much grief and pain.

Simeon Amsden they found dead, Not many rods distant from his head.”

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

No compendium on African American literature or poetry is complete without the inclusion of Lucy Terry’s famous poem.

DISCUSSION

Much more needs to be said about the emergence of Terry and Wheatley as to who can be named the precedent, although they were equally proficient.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Terry lived to experience the outcome of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

Jan. 9, 1935: Earl Graves, the founder of Black Enterprise magazine, was born in Brooklyn. He died in 2020.

Jan.10, 1925: Max Roach, renowned percussionist, was born in North Carolina. He died in 2007.

Jan. 11, 1971: Mary J. Blige, acclaimed “Queen of Hip Hop Soul,” was born in New York City.

legislator for eight years, I’ve built a relationship with a lot of the legislators and my goal is to make sure that we unify.”

She aims to help new members navigate the legislative process and present a united front on issues like economic development, housing, health, maternal care, education, criminal justice, safety and voting rights.

“As we see changing times as it relates to our voting rights being compromised, gun safety laws being copromised, pro choice and abortion rights being com -

promised—we have a lot of work to do in making sure those rights are still in place,” said Bichotte Hermelyn.

Bichotte Hermelyn currently represents the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn, covering Ditmas Park, Flatbush, East Flatbush and Midwood. She chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight of Minority and WomenOwned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) and the task force on Women’s Issues.

The law student and new mom said she’s busy kicking off the legislative session and classes in Albany this week with her bundle of joy close by, thanks to adapted childcare rules and her husband.

“It’s opening session day and the baby’s

with me. The good thing is that Carl Heastie incorporated childcare for the legislators, which is great and that allows us to bring our babies with us. I’m really excited about that,” said Bichotte Hermelyn.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News . Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit. ly/amnews1.

Gang database

supremacists, who U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas declared the “greatest domestic threat” in 2021.

Those who are keyed in are not informed and there’s no way of knowing if someone is logged without a public records request. The little available information leads opponents like the Legal Aid Society and City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán to call the database a “dragnet,” presumed to broadly catego -

Jeffries

rize, criminalize and surveil Black and brown youth from the city’s most vulnerable communities. To understand its full scope, the city’s delayed report is necessary.

“The vast majority of the mechanics and the ability to identify patterns, or errors within it, all lie in the hands of the NYPD, so we really need the function and the authority that exists within the OIG office for a report like this to be produced,” said Posada.

Posada also said there are adverse effects for New Yorkers secretly tagged as gang members: It can lead to different treatment during police stops, and the label can hurt someone’s chances in

court, whether during a child custody battle or in setting bail.

Last November, groups like the Legal Aid Society and the G.A.N.G.S. Coalition protested outside the OIG-NYPD’s office, demanding the report’s release. The NYPD says entry in the database does not prove criminal behavior and that information can only be accessed by authorized police personnel to help solve crimes. Beyond arrest records, the intelligence-gathering tactics largely focus on location and personal relationships, which seem to be a root cause in the dragnet accusations.

Beyond the report, a bill to abolish the database and ban any subse -

quent attempts to resurrect or rebrand it was introduced to City Council. The OIG-NYPD would also be mandated to inform those entered that they were listed, and the floated law could allow those whose rights were potentially violated by the database to seek legal restitution.

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News . Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

House Republicans couldn’t “form a union and govern.” He belittled McCarthy as a “selfish leader only concerned with himself and not the American people.”

a working class neighborhood in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church. Started off in the cradle roll department, somehow survived the violence of the crack cocaine epidemic and wound up here in the United States Congress as the highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives. America, truly a land of opportunity.”

Meanwhile, the contentious majority speaker vote, sowed by a decades-long power struggle between McCarthy and far-right members, culminated this past weekend when U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers from Alabama was ready to throw hands at U.S. Rep Matt Gaetz from Florida on the Congress floor.

Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar were critical early on of House Republicans’ not being able to “organize themselves” and deliberately holding up Congress, since business can’t be conducted until both speaker votes are completed. This was the first time in a century that Congress had been delayed.

Plenty of Dem Congress members from New York shared the sentiment.

U.S. Rep Adriano Espaillat said the

“Last week’s chaotic vote for Kevin McCarthy has shown the country that House Republicans are not only embarrassingly dysfunctional, but supremely unprepared and unqualified to lead,” said Rep. Ritchie Torres. “Now, we have a speaker who’s beholden to a group of extremists in his own party who are more interested in grandstanding than governing, and I fear it could cause significant damage to our constituents, this Congress and our entire country.”

Torres added that George Santos, the Republican congressmember from Long Island who blatantly lied about his background and résumé, is a “disgrace” and should have never been sworn in with mounting complaints and investigations of fraud. “He is a habitual liar who knowingly misrepresented every facet of his personal and professional life in order to deceive voters and reach elected office,” said Torres.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

start your career as a restaurant cook apprenticeship program

first course nyc is an apprenticeship program that teaches the culinary skills necessary for a career as a restaurant cook.

to learn more and apply, call 311 and ask for “first course nyc” or visit nyc.gov/firstcourse

White House advisor discusses how you can prepare for COVID-19 this winter

By HEATHER M. BUTTS, JD, MPH, MA Special to the AmNews

Dr. Cameron Webb, JD, MD is a senior policy advisor for COVID-19 Equity on the White House COVID-19 Response Team. He spoke with the Amsterdam News for a Q & A about the COVID-19 Winter Preparedness Plan.

AmNews: Can you discuss the need for the Winter Preparedness Plan?

The headline is the COVIDTEST.gov is opening up again. I think a lot of people are familiar with that program and know what's important. [Through this website you can order free COVID19 home tests].

Prevention is still key so making sure people can get vaccinated is essential. The secretary of HHS reached out to state leaders and governors, and said here are all the things you can be doing. The federal resources and tools can be leveraged to make sure that not only do you have vaccines in pharmacies and in clinics, but you also have mobile and pop-up sites as well to make everything more accessible for your community. We want to make that easy for people. We are depending on the states because of how they stepped up to make sure that people got vaccinated in 2021.

We are depending on them to do it again now because, to put it plainly, the fact that people got vaccinated a year ago isn't going to protect them from hospitalization and death today. The fact that they may have had COVID in January or February of 2022 with the Omicron surge, isn't going to protect them from hospitalization or death today. There are still hundreds of people each day dying from COVID-19. Overwhelmingly, they seem to be people who are older. Seniors and people who have other chronic medical conditions are the folks we need to be protecting the most. The way that we do that is to make sure that everybody has their highest level of protection.

AmNews: Is the United States still working to assist in the COVID pandemic efforts on a global level?

Absolutely. Our global team never broke stride so we've been doing ongoing work getting vaccines to folks in other countries. We even have pharmaceutical companies now reaching out to try to get treatments to other countries as well to support them. China's situation with COVID is very different from ours because of their zero-COVID

policy, so they have fewer folks who've had a prior infection. They also have a vaccine that doesn't perform quite as well as ours, so when you put those things together, China has a population that's really at risk. We’re also trying to get into nursing homes and get more folks vaccinated. That's a big issue because I told you a lot of seniors are the ones who are getting sick.

AmNews: Can you discuss how the federal government is collaborating with state and local officials on COVID?

If you are up to date with your vaccinations and if you are wearing a mask and if you have tests available to you, you're in a pretty good situation. [Certain] recommendations are meant to be given at a local level. It wouldn't make sense for us to tell every community, nationally, what to do about masking because New York

is very different from Albemarle County, Virginia right now.

What I'll say is public health leaders have been very good over the last few years of collaborating with people nearby, but it gets much dicier, over the holidays, when folks from one part of the country come into another part of the country. However, if you are up to date with your vaccinations and you're wearing a mask in a high-COVID, community-transmission space, you're in a pretty good situation to keep yourself safe.

Take action, go ahead and request your tests as soon as you can. That’s really important. Our models are telling us by mid-January we expect to see a real surge in cases and we're on the upslope. Don't take it for granted that the environment you had a month ago is the environment you're going to have a month from now,

and make sure to prepare yourself for where we're headed.

The best time to get the booster in order to be protected today was two weeks ago. The second best time is right now.

For additional resources around COVID-19 please visit www1.nyc. gov/site/coronavirus/index.page or call 311.COVID-19. Testing and vaccination resources can also be accessed on the AmNews COVID-19 page: www. amsterdamnews.com/covid/

Nursing home administrator Crystal Scott, right, watches as Tina Sandri, CEO of Forest Hills of DC senior living facility, demonstrates COVID-19 testing procedures in Washington, DC. As nursing home leaders redouble efforts to get staff and residents boosted with the new vaccine, now recommended for those 6 months and older, they face complacency, misinformation and COVID-19 fatigue.

(AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

with Macky Sall and his government, he said.

The Court of Auditors has asked the Ministry of Justice to open a judicial investigation against at least 10 people, including officials from the ministries involved in the irregularities. Among the irregularities, it was reported, was an “overbilling” of more than 4 million euros on the price of rice purchased and distributed to the poorest populations, and several defects in “supporting documents” for expenditures.

It also noted “a cash payment to suppliers in the amount of 3.8 million euros, while the texts require the payment of state expenses by check or bank or postal transfer.

“The analysis of aid and assistance” to families shows that “people with the same first and last names, with identical identity card numbers and sometimes the same addresses, received aid several times for different amounts. The government, according

to news accounts, minimized the auditors’ findings, claiming that any discrepancies affected less than one percent of the fund.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been 88,900 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Senegal from January 2020 to January 2023, with 1,968 deaths. Recent WHO statistics show Senegal with some of the lowest vaccination numbers in Africa. Only 10% of the population of 16 million was vaccinated as of January 2022. Some 332,118 vaccine doses of the Chinese Sinopharm have recently been financed by the project.

Meanwhile, a third wave of the pandemic is sweeping through the country, notes the World Bank, overwhelming the health system and hospital capacity with an influx of new patients. In addition, unpredictable global vaccine supplies and vaccine hesitancy have dampened a swift campaign roll-out.

LaSalle

Judge LaSalle’s judicial opinions worry us, too. For example, in cases like People v. Corbin , Judge LaSalle demonstrated a lack of concern for the rights of people charged with crimes, especially when it comes to the court’s ability to review unconstitutional police conduct. In Corbin , Judge LaSalle joined an opinion that prevented the litigant from challenging a potentially unconstitutional search of his car. This was despite the fact that during the defendant’s plea proceeding, the trial judge informed the defendant that he would still be able to appeal “certain constitutional issues.” However, Judge LaSalle and his colleagues refused to allow the man to pursue his potentially meritorious appeal. This is a kind of analysis that the Court of Appeals repudiated in a later case. And yet it demonstrates Judge LaSalle’s cavalier attitude toward basic constitutional rights; an attitude that we caution our students against.

Judge LaSalle’s disregard for constitutional rights was pres -

ent in another troubling case, People v. Bridgeforth , which concerned racial discrimination against potential jurors. In 1986, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Batson v. Kentucky that parties cannot rely on race when selecting jurors for criminal trials. Yet, in Bridgeforth , Judge LaSalle joined an opinion holding that removing potential jurors because of their “darkcolored” skin was not enough to support a Batson claim. The Bridgeforth opinion ignored the possibility of discrimination based on skin color. Appropriately, the N.Y. Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the decision two years later. As the Court wrote, racial discrimination in jury selection “not only violates our Constitution and the laws enacted under it but [it] is at war with our basic concepts of a democratic society and a representative government.” Anyone who cares about constitutional protections against racial discrimination should be worried about Judge LaSalle joining this very same Court of Appeals.

We are under no illusion that the New York State Court of Appeals can fix a criminal system

that we believe to be profoundly, if not irrevocably, unjust. In addition to being law professors, each of us has worked, and continues to work, within this system, standing alongside people arrested, prosecuted and punished. As such, it is imperative that judges on our state’s highest court display integrity and respect for the minimal rights and ethical rules that offer some protection against unchecked power and devastating harm. There are other candidates who display these qualities, such as Judge Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, Professor Abbe Gluck or Corey Stoughton, each of whom would also bring a diversity of experience to the court. New Yorkers need a judge who will promote transparency and fairness, and strive for an ethical practice of law. LaSalle is not that person; he is unfit to lead our state court system.

The authors are co-directors of the Center for Criminal Justice at Brooklyn Law School. Alexis HoagFordjour is an assistant professor; Kate Mogulescu is a professor of clinical law; and Jocelyn Simonson is a professor.

Education

Advocates urge educators to heed bereft children’s cry for help by changing school culture

By SHIRLEY L. SMITH

The COVID-19 pandemic and America’s continuing struggle with gun violence have shined a long overdue spotlight on the impact of grief on children. Child advocates are hoping this heightened awareness will spark a culture shift in American schools so that grief training and counseling will become as commonplace as active-shooter drills and recreational sports.

“What people need to remember is that active shooters are most often students. They are not strangers, which means that we have to think about how to create schools where we are connected to students, and create within schools a welcoming, supportive community that supports both academic achievement and student health and well-being,” said Kristen Harper, vice president for public policy and engagement for Child Trends, a nonpartisan research organization based in Bethesda, Maryland, in an interview. “If we narrow our conversation to what to do when the active shooter is at the door, it’s far too late.”

Since COVID-19 began its deadly assault on U.S. soil in

2020, researchers estimate that as of September, more than 300,000 children have lost one or both parents or a grandparent caregiver to the disease. Black and Indigenous children have the highest rates of parental and caregiver loss to COVID compared to their share of the population, followed by Hispanic children.

Many of these children were already drowning in grief and living in fear due to poverty related issues and gun violence, said Kevin Carter, a bereavement consultant and former clinical director for the Uplift Center for Grieving Children in Philadelphia, in an interview. The center provides free grief support services to children, families and schools. Most of its clientele are people of color experiencing grief, trauma and violence.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that Black and Indigenous families also have the greatest burden of death losses from gun violence and drug overdoses , both of which soared to levels not seen in years during the pandemic. In 2020, gun violence became the leading cause of death among children.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former

director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, explained in a Webinar on Oct. 4 that Black and brown communities have borne the brunt of COVID and other life-threatening diseases because of health care disparities. It will take “a decades-long commitment in neutralizing those health disparities, which are a result of social determinants of health that I believe are deeply rooted in the original sin of racism,” he said. “We’ve got to get over that and make sure that there is equity in our ability to get care to people.”

Social determinants of health, such as structural racism and poverty, have also been cited by the CDC as contributing factors to the disproportionate impact that gun violence is having on minority communities.

The CDC data shows that Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation, has the highest rate of gun deaths. A recent examination of FBI statistics by Empower Mississippi , a nonprofit advocacy organization, uncovered that more than half of the state’s homicides in 2020 occurred in the capital of Jackson, a predominantly Black community with poor infrastructure that EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement is due to “years of neglect .” Mississippi also has the second highest rate of Black children who have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID. The homicide rate in Philadelphia, which also has high concentrations of poverty in minority communities, “escalated dramatically ” since 2016, and 2021 was proclaimed by the city controller’s office as the “deadliest year in Philadelphia’s recorded history.”

“We certainly weren’t prepared enough for this increasing tsunami of grief,” Carter said. “We were in a crisis of neglect before the pandemic, because if we had better health care, better education, and if we were seen more as humans, I don’t think we would have had this disproportionate effect from COVID.” COVID exacerbated racial dis -

parities that may have generational consequences if bereaved children do not get the support they need to help them through their long-term healing journey, he said.

Carter and other experts say schools cannot continue to expect the growing number of bereft children to carry on as normal when many of them are emotionally wounded from unresolved grief and trauma.

“Grief and loss training needs to be normative. More normative than football,” Carter said. “There has to be some recognition that this is a public health and a safety issue.” Overwhelming feelings of loss and fear can lead to rage, he said, and “that rage turns into sometimes consciously hurting other people or hurting yourself.”

Yet most educators are more prepared to deal with an active shooter than the multitudes of students who are going to school grief-stricken or traumatized from witnessing or experiencing the death of a loved one at home or in their community. Many educators are also unprepared to deal with the possible emotional fallout of active-shooter drills.

The advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety reported that almost all K-12 schools in America conduct active-shooter

drills, and at least 40 states require schools to do these drills, which vary from locking students in a room with the lights off to realistic simulations of gunfire and masked gunmen. Schools in Florida are required to do active-shooter drills every month

School shootings, though tragic, are “relatively rare—accounting for less than 1% of the more than 40,000 annual U.S. gun deaths,” according to a study by Everytown for Gun Safety and the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Social Dynamics and Wellbeing Lab. The study “unveiled alarming impacts of active-shooter drills on the mental health of the students, teachers and parents,” but “limited proof of the effectiveness of these drills.”

“I used to have to put kindergarteners during a drill in the bathroom for 20 minutes with the lights off. That’s horrific,” said Amy Christopoulos , a former teacher and administrator with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, in an interview. She now works as the district’s homeless liaison. “Simulated drills can be scary for a 5-yearold. It’s very traumatic. Children were so scared that some of them peed in their pants.”

Illustration by Andrea Arroyo

Although Christopoulos said she believes Miami-Dade is “ahead of the trend” in educating teachers on how to deal with mental health, she said “we spend so much time doing active-shooter drills, but we do not spend enough time on grief training and how to connect bereaved students to mental health professionals.”

Experts say children with unresolved grief and trauma also tend to act out, which can have serious consequences, particularly for Black students and students with disabilities, because they are more likely to be suspended, expelled and arrested .

“In my experience children of color are often perceived as more threatening and people respond to that perceived threat with control and punishment,” said Carter, who has 30 years of experience as a social worker.

“There have been cases where schools are calling Emergency Management Services and calling ambulances for children that act out, because they do not know what to do,” Harper said .

Maria Collins, vice president of New York Life Foundation, one of the largest funders of childhood bereavement in the U.S., said in an interview that only 15% of educators surveyed in 2020 stated that they had received training in childhood bereavement. However, 95% of educators indicated they “would like to do more to help grieving students.”

The foundation created the Grief-Sensitive Schools Initiative (GSSI) in 2018 “to better equip educators and other school personnel to support grieving students.” Schools that join the initiative are eligible for a $500 grant and opportunities for free grief training conducted by Dr. David Schonfeld , a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Collins said more than 3,900 schools have joined the initiative.

“I think grief training should be part of the core curriculum for educators, because kids come to school upset every single day and educators can’t just say they’re not ready to learn. They have to try and build the culture and climate in the classroom to make them more capable,” Schonfeld said in an interview.

He said they are not asking educators, who are faced with unprecedented challenges, to become grief counselors, just to become more informed about how grief can impact children so they can create a more conducive learning environment.

Losing a parent or loved one at an early age can significantly affect children’s emotional, social and behavioral development and overall health, Schonfeld added. “But I don’t want people to think that they’re destined to be damaged or lesser people as a result of it.”

Unlike a mental illness, bereaved children generally do not need medical intervention, but Schonfeld stressed they need support and if they get adequate support in a nurturing environment to help them develop healthy coping skills, they can thrive.

Frank Zenere, school psychologist for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, said that the district joined GSSI about four years ago (following the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida) to increase educators’ empathy toward bereaved children. However, he acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to do.

While grief is a universal experience, it is one of the most uncomfortable things to talk about, Collins said. GSSI gives educators guidance on how to engage with bereaved students and furthers their understanding on how grief can affect children’s ability to learn.

Micki Burns, a psychologist and the chief clinical officer for Judi’s House, a comprehensive grief care facility in Colorado, cautioned in an interview that grief can mimic the symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), because bereaved children may have difficulty concentrating as well. “They may not be able to sit and focus for a 30-minute lesson and take in what’s being said by the teacher.”

On the other hand, bereaved children may get “so focused and so concentrated that they become a perfectionist, and they start to present as someone who is unable to fail, like I cannot fail,” Burns added. “Psychologically, that’s where we see the possibility of increased depression, increased anxiety and increased suicidal thinking.”

Despite evidence that school-based mental health personnel improve school climate and reduce violence, an analysis of the 2015-2016 school year by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) revealed severe staff shortages of schoolbased mental health providers and glaring disparities in school discipline in more than 96,000 public schools, which researchers say persist today.

ACLU analysts found that, “14 million students are in schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker.” These individuals are frequently the first to see children who are sick, stressed, traumatized, acting out, or who may hurt themselves or others, the report said.

School counselors have been saddled with heavy caseloads for over three decades. The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per counselor, but the average national ratio for 2020-2021 was 415 students per counselor.

Vittoria Cianciulli, trust counselor for the largely Hispanic Miami Lakes Middle School in Florida, said in an interview that she serves 1,000 students. Her duties include assisting students with

emotional and mental health issues and providing substance abuse and bullying prevention programs.

Cianciulli said she loves her job, but admits she gets frustrated because she cannot attend to the needs of every student, and she worries about students falling through the cracks. “It gets to be a lot, especially the responsibility. I just want to make sure I’m helping a child that is in crisis, that there is no one that leaves school and God forbid something happens to them.”

School psychologists are also stretched thin. The national ratio for school psychologists for 2020-2021 was 1,162 students to one school psychologist . This is well above the National Association of School Psychologists recommended ratio of 500 students per psychologist. Alabama has the highest documented ratio with an astounding 376,280 students to one psychologist.

The alarming increase in mental illness among children during the pandemic and the rise in gun violence prompted Congress to pass the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June, which includes significant investment in school-based mental health services and staff. “It’s a huge step in the right direction,” Kristen Harper of Child Trends said. “Schools need consistent funding to build a sustainable infrastructure, but it is only part of the equation. Consistent funding does not alleviate the broader health and education inequities that put students in harm’s way.”

Harper added, “The conversation about school safety and student health tends to fall off the radar until a tragedy happens, which leads to reactionary policies that give the appearance of safety but have been proven to be ineffective like punitive disciplinary practices and

ill-conceived active-shooter drills and school-based policing.” Educators need to develop “evidence-based” preventative strategies, she said.

“There needs to be a culture shift from an authoritarian, punitive culture to a culture of support,” Harper continued. At the heart of this shift is making sure schools have sufficient counselors and mental health professionals and building strong relationships between students and the adults in the schools, she said. “If children feel like they can trust a teacher or another adult within the school, they will tell them when something is wrong.” Schools should also make sure students’ basic needs are met, “so children aren’t coming to school hungry, and when they do, there’s food available for them.”

Harper insists this approach will create a safer school environment and ensure students struggling with emotional, mental or behavioral issues get appropriate care before they spiral out of control. “Students who feel supported at school are less likely to engage in risky behaviors like drug abuse and violence, or experience emotional distress.”

Kevin Carter echoed Harper’s sentiments for a less punitive system. “This doesn’t mean you should not give boundaries, but if adults are calm and understanding, then it’s probably less likely for a situation to escalate, and even if it escalates, maybe no one gets hurt, and that child will get the care that he or she needs.”

For guidance on how to talk to bereaved students, please visit:

https://grievingstudents.org/modulesection/talking-with-children/ This project was supported by the National Geographic Society’s COVID-19 Emergency Fund for Journalists.

Religion & Spirituality

Three 6 Mafia’s Gangsta Boo passes

Goshorn/MediaPunch./IPX)

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH Special to the AmNews

On Sunday fellow Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul broke news with an Instagram post that the group’s female artist, Gangsta Boo-43, passed earlier on New Year’s Day. Reportedly, she was discovered unresponsive on the porch of her home west of Memphis International Airport at approximately 4 p.m. No official cause of death has been released, although reports are saying she overdosed.

“There were no immediate signs of foul play,” the Memphis Police Department said in a statement on Monday, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

Born as Lola Chantrelle Mitchell in Memphis, Tenn., alongside three older brothers, they were raised in Nan area named “Whitehaven,” but they Ebonically coined it “Blackhaven” due to prominence of melaninated people.

“I got a hood in me because I had a lot of hood friends,” she

said in an interview with All Urban Central in June 2022.

The Memphis native helped define the South’s hip-hop genre during the mid-1990s with her distinctive flow and sound. She soon became recognized as one of the era’s elite female rappers during a time when southern rappers were gaining national recognition.

Three 6 Mafia’s dropped their debut album “Mystic Stylez” in 1995, featuring Juicy J, Gangsta Boo aka ”the devil’s daughter” and

DJ Paul. She released her debut solo album, “Enquiring Minds,” in 1998.

Although she continued recording with the group, by the dawn of the new millennium, she embarked on a solo career, and in 2001, she took on “Lady Boo” as her new moniker because she was not “living the gangster lifestyle” and was growing spiritually.

After her departure, Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar in 2006 for best original song with “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from the film

“Hustle & Flow.” She continued collaborating with many artists, especially those from the South.

Reportedly, in later years, she had issues with substance abuse. She spoke about it slightly while featured in a May 2022 episode of “Marriage Boot Camp,” after the moderator, Dr. Ish, asked about it.

Social media has been blazing with the news, with numerous fans and friends expressing their sorrow. Funeral arrangements haven’t been released at press time.

Gangsta Boo (Walik

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This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy II Charter School Board of Trustees will occur in person on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023, at 7:30 am. The meeting will transpire at 245 West 129th St, NY, NY.

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This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy I Charter School Board of Trustees will occur in person on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023, at 7:30 am. The meeting will transpire at 245 West 129th St, NY, NY.

LEGAL NOTICES 101 LEGAL NOTICES 101

NOTICES

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK

U.S. Bank NA, successor trustee to Bank of America, NA, successor in interest to LaSalle Bank NA, as trustee, on behalf of the holders of WaMu Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2005-AR17, Plaintiff

AGAINST

Sonia Leventhal a/k/a Sonia M. Leventhal; et al., Defendant(s)

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered July 14, 2022 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre St, New York, NY 10007 on January 25, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 123 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block 1520 Lot 10. Approximate amount of judgment $4,042,489.81 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 850235/2018. The auction will be conducted pursuant to the COVID-19 Policies Concerning Public Auctions of Foreclosed Property established by the First Judicial District

Roberta Ashkin, Esq., Referee

LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro , DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff

175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792

Dated: July 28, 2022

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT: NEW YORK COUNTY. W. FINANCIAL REIT, LTD., Pltf. vs 150-152 EAST 79 LLC, et al, Defts Index #850128 /2021. Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale entered August 10, 2022, I will sell at public auction on the portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on February 1, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises k/a (i) Block 1413, Lot 152; (ii) Block 1413, Lot 52; (iii) Block 1413, Lot 51; (iv) Block 1413; Lot 154; (v) Block 1413, Lot 53. Approximate amount of judgment is $61,313,320.78 plus costs and interest. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed judgment and terms of sale HALEY GREENBERG, Referee. JASPAN SCHLESINGER LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 300 Garden City Plaza, Garden City, NY 1153 0. #99922

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, 73 SERVICING LLC, Plaintiff, vs AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, INC., ET AL., Defe ndant(s)

Pursuant to an Order Appointing Referee to Conduct Sale and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered on June 24, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in the portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on February 1, 2023 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 5 West 73rd Street, New York, NY 10023. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, Block 1126 and Lot 127. Approximate amount of judgment is $18,865,223.63 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850 211/2020. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale

Thomas Kleinberger, Esq.,

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. LUCKIE PROPERTIES LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, Deft.- Index #850107/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 24, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 2:15 pm, a 0.0519 144314871446% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $70,678.13 plus costs and interest as of October 21, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. VERANIECE WILLIAMS, Deft.- Index #850124 /2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 24, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 2:15 pm, a 0.009864% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57Th Street Vacation Suites located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY Approx imate amount of judgment is $22,110.44 plus costs and interest as of October 21, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. DOMINIQUE JEFFERY and ALICIA RAMANATH, Deft - Index #850058/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated July 21, 2021, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided .004932% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57th Street Vacation Suites located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY Approximate amount of judgment is $19,699.68 plus costs and interest as of March 27, 2020. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Mark McKew, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. MICHELLE AMANO and RICHARD AMANO, Deft - Index #850044/2019. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated August 13, 2020, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.019728% tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as 57th Street Vacation Suites located at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY Approximate amount of judgment is $74,275.26 plus costs and interest as of January 23, 2020. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Mark McKew, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY

40 PLUS FAMILY LLC. Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 12/08/22. Office Location: Kings County SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: 765 Stanley Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11207. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of 426432 EAST 91ST STREET, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/06/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Eli Zabar, 403 E. 91st St., NY, NY 10128. Purpose: Any lawful activity

101 LEGAL NOTICES

831 THIRD LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/02/02. Office: New York County SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Larstrand Corporation, ATTN: Lega l Department, 500 Park Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

AfroBeets, LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 9/19/2022. Office Location: Manhattan County SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail to: 1740 Broadway, Suite 1500, New York, NY 10019 Purpose: Any lawful act.

AJL Construction and Management LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 12/17/2022. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: 40 Monroe Street, Apt FF6, New York, NY 10002. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Amont Partners LLC filed w/ SSNY 11/8/22. Off. in NY Co SSNY desig as agt of LLC whom process may be served & shall mail process to Zhaoyu Li, 1740 Broadway, 15th Fl, NY, NY 10019. Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of ARMORY PLAZA HOUSING CLASS B, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/23/22. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity

BROTHERLY LIQUIDATION LLC Art of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/10/2022. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, LEGALCORP SOLUTIONS, 1060 Broadway, Suite 100, ALBANY, NY 12204. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Referee

Glenn Rodney, PC, 368 Birch Road, Wallkill, New York 12589, Attorneys for Plaintiff

Notice of Formation of 421 EAST 91ST STREET, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/06/22. Office location: NY County SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Eli Zabar, 403 E. 91st St., NY, NY 10128. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of 429433 EAST 91ST STREET, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/06/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Eli Zabar, 403 E. 91st St., NY, NY 10128. Purpose: Any lawful activity

CORDETT CREATIONS LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/12/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against LLC & shall mail a copy to: P.O. Box 2891, New York, NY 10163 Purpose: Any lawful activity

Plugout, LLC filed w/ SSNY 11/12/03. Off. in NY Co SSNY desig as agt of LLC whom process may be served & shall mail process to c/o John Aksoy, 506 La Guardia Pl, Ste. 4, NY, NY 10012. Any lawful purpose.

Under this agreement rates are subject to change with 30 days notice. event of a cancellation before schedule completion, I understand that rate charged will be based upon the rate for the number of insertions

Under this agreement rates are subject to change with 30 days notice. In the event of a cancellation before schedule completion, I understand that the rate charged will be based upon the rate for the number of insertions used.

Notice of Qualification of DERBY COPELAND FUND II, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/24/22. Princ. office of LLC: 41 Madison Ave., 40th Fl., NY, NY 10010. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of DERBY COPELAND MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC Appl for Auth. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/22. Office location: NY County LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/25/22. Princ. office of LLC: 41 Madison Ave., 40th Fl., NY, NY 10010. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

MKSLSL LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 12/08/2022. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: Michael Emmel, CPA, 270 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act.

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Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #13559 37 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 2531 Frederick Douglas Blvd., New York, NY 10030 for onpremises consumption; Caribbean Flower Corp.

Notice of formation of Bayview Capital Solutions, LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/13/2022. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail copy to: Thomson Ollunga LLP, 41 Madison Ave., 31st Fl., NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Merchant cash advances.

WEB3 MEDIA PARTNERS LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 2/11/2022. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: 1755 Bdwy Front 3, #1005 , NY, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful activity

LAURA PURDY, M.D., PLLC, a Prof LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/01/2022. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served SSNY shall mail process to: The PLLC, 1806 Williamson Court, Ste 135, Brentwood, TN 37027.

Purpose: To Practice The Profession Of Medicine.

Notice of Qualification of LEGGETT AVENUE PROPERTY LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/21/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/11/22. NYS fictitious name: 1175 LEGGETT AVENUE PROPERTY LLC SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543 DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy of State, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

WEB3 SOCIAL GROUP LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 2/2/2022. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: 1755 Bdwy Front 3, #1006, NY, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of 282 WEST 11TH STREET LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/21/22. Office location: NY County Princ. office of LLC: 207 W. 110th St., Apt. 4, NY, NY 10026. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of 212 E 47TH 8A AF LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/22. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 420 E. 23rd St., NY, NY 10010. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Asaf Frig at the princ. office of the LLC Purpose: Real estate holding.

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Retirees

the 1960s.

Former city workers are fighting to keep the coverage they were originally promised. They have formed organizations like the Cross-union Retirees Organizing Committee (CROC) and NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees ––the latter of which even filed a $55 million class-action lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court against the city’s proposed health care coverage changes on behalf of 183,0000 retirees.

Retirees are upset that the new plan has a different fee structure and offers a network with fewer doctors, which would force them to pay out-of-pocket costs.

Several former city workers showed up at City Hall on Jan. 9 looking to get into City Council chambers for the hear-

ing on a bill that could change the city’s administrative code 12-126 , which delineates the kind of health insurance coverage provided to city employees. An amendment to this code would give the city the go-ahead to change the retirees’ insurance plan.

Advocates for maintaining the current Medicare plan say they have proposed alternative methods for the city to save money and keep retirees happy. “[I]t is not true that Medicare Advantage is the only path to achieving savings for the city, or that premiums must be charged to retirees who remain enrolled in Senior Care or for active employee health insurance,” said James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC)/ CUNY union, during his testimony to the council’s Committee on Civil Service and Labor.

Mayor Eric Adams is in support of putting all retirees into a Medicare Advantage plan, but Davis said forcing city retirees, whose average pension

is $26,596 per year, to pay up to $200 a month in fees if they don’t want Medicare Advantage and want to keep their current plans, would impoverish many of them: “For low-income retirees and their dependents, that is not a real choice. You have heard that if you fail to change the administrative code, retirees will be forced into Medicare Advantage, but many will be forced to enroll if the administrative code is changed. That is not legislating boldly; it is accepting a tiered system that regulates access by income and race.”

Barbara Caress, a PSC/CUNY member and health care consultant, told the council meeting about the widely noted differences between Medicare and Medicare Advantage. She said that care centers like the Mayo Clinic have informed patients not to participate in Medicare Advantage because of confusion about fee structures and out-of-network providers. “Provider directories are always out of date,” Caress asserted. “The only way to know if a doctor

is in or out is to ask. And even then, there is no guarantee that a doctor will still be accepting [Medicare Advantage] when you need her care.

“We know that [Medicare Advantage] works for most retirees most of the time, but when it doesn’t, the consequences could be catastrophic––no access to the doctor or treatment that might save your life. That is the nightmare of NYC retirees.”

Some City Council representatives, like members Charles Barron and Kristin Richardson Jordan, have already been vocal in opposing any change to administrative code 12-126. Other advocates who are pushing to have the administrative code remain without changes posted a Change.org petition at https://www.change.org/p/mayor-deblasio-preserve-medicare-part-b-fornyc-retirees/u/30951908 .

The City Council is expected to hold a vote on any amendments to administrative code 12-126 on Jan. 19.

8 kids a day are accidentally killed or injured by FAMILY FIRE.

FAMILY FIRE is a shooting involving an improperly stored gun, often found in the home.

The reduction of Black NFL head coaches persists

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

And then there were two.

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and the Tampa Buccaneers’ Todd Bowles are the only current Black NFL head coaches. Bowles, an Elizabeth, New Jersey, native, was the Jets’ head coach from 2015–18.

The number was reduced on Sunday when the Houston Texans fired Lovie Smith, who was only afforded one season on the job and finished with the second-worst record in the league at 3-13-1. However, even the legendary late Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi couldn’t have won more than a handful of games with the deficient Texans roster.

Smith, 64, was the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2004–12 and guided them to Super Bowl XLI to conclude the 2006 season by losing 29-17 to the Indianapolis Colts. He was the Titans’ associate head coach and defensive coordinator last season and promoted to head coach in February of last year after owner Cal McNair and general manager Nick Caserio gave David Culley the boot after a 4-13 stretch.

Among the many commonalities shared by Smith and Culley are

they are both Black and were both terminated after just one season.

Culley, 67, was a 27-year assistant coach in the league before getting his first head coaching opportunity, and it couldn’t have been with a more poorly run franchise. Juxtapose Smith and Culley with Kliff Kingsbury, who was given his walking papers by the Arizona Cardinals on Monday.

The 43-year-old Kingsbury was hired by the Cardinals to be their head coach in January 2019 in what could be developed as a unit in a class curriculum on the subject of white privilege. He was given that position with no professional coaching experience on his résumé and a dubious 35-40 record, including a 19-35 mark in Big 12 Conference games in six seasons as the head coach for Texas Tech.

Kingsbury was hired by the Cardinals after going 5-7 in his final season at Texas Tech, which foreshadowed what would be an inadequate four-season tenure with Arizona, compiling a nine-gamesbelow-.500 record of 27-38. Kingsbury did lead the Cardinals to the playoffs last season, going 11-6 and losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in their NFC wildcard game.

The fundamental point is Black coaches aren’t provided with the same longevity to weather losing seasons as white coaches. In the cases of Smith and Culley, just one. A little under a year ago today, Brian Flores, who in three seasons as the Miami Dolphins head coach had them on an upward trajectory, filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the NFL and its 32 teams, alleging discrimination against Black head coaches and executives. The suit is ongoing. Several other Black coaches subsequently joined the suit. Flores, 41, who is of Honduran descent and was born and raised in Brooklyn, was fired by the Dolphins after a 9-8 record in the 2021 campaign, which included winning eight of their last nine games. He was 10-6 in 2020 and 5-11 in 2019, having to first clean up the mess left by his predecessor, Adam Gase, who was rewarded for his failed stay from 2016–18 by being hired by the Jets as their head coach in January 2019, less than three weeks after being dismissed by the Dolphins.

The Jets booted Gase in January of 2021 after a two-year run at 9-23. Flores is still waiting for another shot while serving as the senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Steelers. Like Smith and Culley, Steve Wilks was one-

and-done with the Cardinals. He was shown the door at the end of a 3-13 2018 season and replaced by Kingsbury. He started this season as the Carolina Panthers’ defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach, and was elevated to interim head coach when Matt Rhule was dumped in October.

The 53-year-old Wilks went 6-6 and has been praised by numerous Panthers players for his leadership, acumen and preparation. According to team owner David Tepper, he is a candidate for the head coaching opening, but for Black coaches, history says that means be hopeful, not optimistic.

President Biden signs Equal Pay for Team USA Act

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Last week, President Joe Biden signed the Cantwell-Capito Equal Pay for Team USA Act into law, which ensures all athletes representing the U.S. in international competition, such as the Olympics, Paralympics and World Cup, receive equal pay and benefits, regardless of gender.

“From here on out, when women win, they no longer have to worry that a men’s team will still somehow be paid more,” said Senator Maria Cantwell, who with Senator Shelley Moore Capito first introduced this legislation in 2019 in response to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) suing for equal pay. They reintroduced the bipartisan bill in 2022 before the 50th anniversary of Title IX. The bill passed the Senate on December 8 and the House of Representatives on December 21. Biden signed the bill on January 5.

“This law requires that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and sports’ governing bodies provide the same pay, medical care, travel accommodations and coverage of expenses to U.S. athletes regardless of gender or risk decertification,” said Cantwell.

Thebill applies to 50 sports’ national governing bodies, including USA Volleyball and U.S. Soccer. USA Basketball settled this matter years ago, most notably after the U.S. women’s team at the 1992 Olympics was treated like the poor relation of the Dream Team. Today, U.S. women’s national basketball teams receive the same accommodations as men’s teams.

The driver behind this bill was the USWNT’s lawsuit. Despite the fact that the women’s national soccer team had won multiple World Cups and Olympic medals while U.S. men’s soccer teams often did not even qualify for the Olympics, the women were subjected to extensive sexist rhetoric.

“When American athletes compete on the world stage, they represent our great nation,” said Capito. “Therefore, it’s only right that female athletes receive the same kind of pay and benefits as their male counterparts, and this legislation does just that.”

Passage of this equal pay bill may well be cause for celebration, but it does not mean there is equality in sports. Many athletic departments of U.S. colleges and universities are not in Title IX compliance. Last month, at a panel discussion at the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum addressing change and transformation in college sports, panelists refused to endorse the idea that the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament should have its television rights handled separately as opposed to bundled with other sports as it is currently.

Gender bias in sports remains alive and well, but because this bill received bipartisan support, there is hope that the tide is turning.

Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin (pictured) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Todd Bowles are the only two Black NFL head coaches (Bill Moore photo)

Soccer star Megan Rapinoe with Senator Maria Cantwell (Office of Sen. Cantwell photo)

With RJ Barrett on the mend, Thibodeau’s bench is summoned

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Knicks were back at Madison Square Garden last night (Wednesday) to face the Indiana Pacers endeavoring to bounce back from a deflating loss at home on Monday to the Milwaukee Bucks. Leading by 70-53 with five minutes remaining after forward Julius Randle made two foul shots, the Bucks outscored the Knicks over the next seven minutes and 29 seconds 29-11 to go up 82-81 on a 25-foot three-pointer by forward Joe Ingles.

The Knicks and Bucks were never separated by more than four points the rest of the way, and Milwaukee was more resolute in edging the their giving host by 111-107. The loss dropped the Knicks to 22-19, seventh in the Eastern Conference before taking on the Pacers, which were 23-18 and No.6 in the East heading into

the second matchup between the teams this season. New York defeated Indiana on the road 109-106 on December 18.

"I saw a championship team just grind us down, chipping away,” said Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, who was sensational, scoring a career-high 44 points against the Bucks. “We didn't hold up enough resistance to keep that lead, so just have to give them credit. We have to be better but have to give them credit as well."

The daggers down the stretch were inflicted by Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday, who dropped nine points in the final two minutes and 23 seconds of the fourth quarter, including two 3-pointers to hold off the Knicks and raise their record to 26-14, third best in the East.

“It seemed like it was just pick-androlls, and he was making a lot of shots,” said Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley of Holiday. Quickley, who scored 23 points on 9-14 shooting in 43 minutes versus the Bucks, has been starting in place of RJ Barrett, who sat out his sixth straight game on Monday with a lacerated finger on his right (non-shooting) hand.

“Honestly,” continued Quickley, “I was

face-blocking my man, so I couldn’t see a lot and I’d have to go back and look at the film, but every time I looked back, he was making a three.”

Barrett, who injured his finger two minutes into the game on December 27 versus the Mavericks, was listed as questionable to play against the Pacers. His absence, and that of Obi Toppin, opened opportunities for more playing time for Quickley and the insertion of guard Evan Fournier back into the rotation. Toppin came back Monday after missing the Knicks previous 15 games with a non-displaced fracture in his right fibula. He logged eight minutes and had three points.

Fournier played in and started 80 of the Knicks 82 games last season, setting the franchise’s single season 3-point record with 241. This season he has appeared in just 19, starting 7. Over the past six games prior to meeting the Pacers, Fournier had averaged 14.8 minutes.

The Knicks will be on the road tomorrow and Sunday to challenge the Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons respectively, then return to the Garden on Monday to play the Toronto Raptors ahead of a rematch with the Wizards next Wednesday.

How will the Nets maintain with Durant sidelined?

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews

Things were good for the Brooklyn Nets. There was a 12-game win streak. They had ascended from the muck of the Eastern Conference to the top. Off-court issues that had plagued them had subsided. There was a successful coaching change and they were overcoming their injuries. Then on Sunday night in Miami, Heat forward Jimmy Butler fell backward onto Kevin Durant’s right leg after Nets forward Ben Simmons blocked a drive to the basket with 1:08 left in the third quarter, forcing Durant to leave the game roughly a half minute afterward. The Nets went on to take a thrilling 102-101 victory to improve to 27-13 before hosting the Boston Celtics at the Barclays Center tonight in Brooklyn.

An MRI taken on Monday revealed no major structural damage to Durant’s knee. He was diagnosed with an isolated MCL sprain and will be reevaluated in two weeks. Durant is expected to miss a month.

“You never want to see him go down like that. Any player for that matter,” said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn via the YES Network.

Vaughn will now have to find a way to keep his team close to the Eastern Conference’s best squads without his top player and the NBA’s sixth-leading scorer (29.7 points per game), who has been named conference Player of the Week twice this season.

Kyrie Irving, who has been dazzling this season, averaging 26 points per game and ranking 14th among all players, will have an increased burden to carry the Nets’ offense. Simmons, a career 15.1 points

career scorer but just 7.7 points per game this season, must increase his production and become more aggressive on the offensive end of the floor.

It’s also an opportunity for forward TJ Warren, who returned to action this season after missing two years with foot injuries and surgery, to put up the numbers he did from the 2017–18 season through the 2019–20 season when he averaged 19.6, 18 and 19.8 points per game respectively.

The Nets have won 18 of their last 20 games and are the No. 2 seed in the East, with the second-best record in the league behind the Celtics, which were 29-12 before facing the New Orleans Pelicans at home last night. The Nets will meet the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday at the Barclays and then head to San Antonio to play the Spurs next Tuesday.

Nets forward Kevin Durant is expected to be sidelined for a month after suffering a sprained MCL in his right knee in a 102-101 win over the Miami Heat this past Sunday (Bill Moore photo)

Knicks guard Evan Fournier has, for the moment, moved back into head coach’s Tom Thibodeau’s rotation with RJ Barrett still recovering from a lacerated finger (Bill Moore photo)

John Jay women’s hoops puts focus on CUNY action

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

The women’s basketball team at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice is now in the thick of CUNYAC action. Tough nonconference play provided a solid foundation, but thus far, conference action has been a bit challenging: The Bloodhounds won their CUNYAC opener against City College but lost to Brooklyn College and York College.

“We have a very big returning core that did have a successful year last year, and we knew that to truly prepare ourselves to not only get to where we were last year but to try to go above and beyond, we definitely needed to play a much tougher non-conference schedule,” said John Jay head coach Lynda Day. “I thought that we handled ourselves pretty well,” she added.

“For the first time, I had the good issue of having so much depth and trying to see what combinations we can put together and what are our ultimate strengths.”

Division III is often a challenge because it has no athletic scholarships. In addition, many of these players have part-time jobs as well as to being full-time students. Many coaches at CUNY institutions also have other jobs. Day is fortunate that as of January 2022, she is full-time at John Jay, also serving as coordinator of student success, which connects her to the college’s other athletic teams.

“You’re in school and you have the opportunity to continue playing the sport you love,” Day said. “When they were little girls, they picked up a ball and they fell in love, wanting to play it for as long as they possibly can. Quite a few of them

do work when we’re in season. [I have] tremendous respect for how they handle all that. They’re also good students. They take everything they do seriously.” Day appreciates the diversity of interests of the student-athletes on her team. Several want to become

law enforcement officers, while others have different interests. There are several transfers from community colleges.

“We do draw a lot of out-of-state interest because of our unique set of majors,” she said. “Our forensics program has taken off. A lot of

kids love our toxicology program. The student-athletes we bring in, they really want what the school has to offer … Winning always helps recruiting.”

John Jay has a home game against Lehman College on Saturday afternoon.

Howard women’s hoops gaining momentum with conference season

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

After a bit of a rough start to the season during non-conference play, Howard University women’s basketball opened MEAC action with wins over Delaware State and Maryland Eastern Shore.

“I feel like we’re figuring out who we are as a team and understanding more about what we need to do individually to help us succeed as a whole,” said the Bisons’ leading scorer, Destiny Howell, who is averaging 16 points per game. “Going into conference, we’re pretty confident.

Winning games and keeping our energy level high can keep our momentum going.”

Howell, a shooting guard from Queens, is in her junior year. Her long-term goals are to play pro basketball and become a coach. “Every year, I feel like I’ve elevated some aspect of my game,” she said. “This year, particularly, I feel as though I’m focusing harder on the mental part of the game … I’ve been consistently telling my mind that I can do the things that I’m doing. I believe it’s allowed me to take my game to a different level.”

Her role as a leader has increased this year, and she’s being more vocal. She’s will-

ing to pull teammates to the side during practices to help them refocus, motivate them or let them know what she expects from them to help the team win.

“Every day, I want my teammates to see how passionate I am about the game and my desire to win,” said Howell. “I see how much influence my energy has on the team. When I’m diving for loose balls, being active on defense, cheering for my teammates on a good play, I see how it affects the mood of the game or practice.”

In 2022, Howard women’s basketball earned a berth in the NCAA Division I Women’s Bas-

ketball Tournament, playing in the first-ever round of 68 and achieving the Bisons’ first tournament victory. Howell said she watched March Madness as a kid and told herself she wanted to be part of that. “From being that little girl watching college teams on TV to being one of those college teams on TV with little girls watching me, it kind of came full circle and it was a really heartwarming feeling,” she said. “I want to get back there again. Every day I wake up chasing that feeling of being in the tournament.”

MEAC action continues as Howard takes on Norfolk State on Saturday.

Queens native Destiny Howell is leading Howard’s offense (Courtesy of Howard Athletics photos)

The John Jay Bloodhounds aim to excel (John Jay Athletics photo)

Sports

Wild card Giants’ chances to defeat Vikings are favorable

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Giants’ long-awaited return to the playoffs has them traveling to Minnesota this weekend to take on the Vikings in one of the National Football Conference’s three wild card games to open the playoffs. The American Football Conference also has three games to feed the voracious appetite sports fans in this country have for football.

The Giants (9-7-1), the NFC’s No. 6 seed, lost a gripping 27-24 Christmas Eve road battle against the Vikings (13-4), who are the NFC North champions and No. 3 seed. The contest ended on Vikings kicker Greg Joseph’s franchise record 61-yard field goal as time expired. Three weeks later, Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. rematch has much more significance and the Giants enter the game supremely confident they can win their first postseason game since February 5, 2012, when they upset the New England Patriots 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI (46).

The Giants’ last playoff appearance was a 38-13 wild card game loss on January 8, 2017, to the Green Bay Packers. They have a far better chance this time around, know-

ing their opponent experientially after last month’s hard-fought matchup in which quarterback Daniel Jones threw for a season-high 334 yards. The Giants exploited weaknesses in the Vikings’ secondary but Minnesota’s passing game lit them up in kind.

Superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson was unguardable. He had 12 receptions for 133 yards from QB Kirk Cousins, and talented tight end T.J. Hockenson pulled in 13 for 109. Preventing the trio from replicating such high production

and minimizing the Vikings’ offensive efficiency in the red zone is undoubtedly high on Giants’ head coach Brian Daboll’s list of objectives.

If the Giants’ 25th-ranked defense (358.2 yards per game), which is No. 11 among the 14 playoff teams, can effectively pressure Cousins with a mix of a four-man front and the multiple blitz packages employed by defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, and force a turnover or two from the Vikings, it could be the game’s deciding factor.

The Giants’ offense should be able to approach or exceed their point total in the team’s Week 16 matchup facing the worst defense of all the playoff squads. The Vikings ended the regular season ranked 31st out of the NFL’s 32 clubs, allowing 388.7 yards per game—123.1 rushing and 265.6 passing. Giants running back Saquon Barkley, who, like most of the starters, sat out last Sunday’s regular season finale versus the Philadelphia Eagles (a 22-16 loss) to rest and avoid injury, finished fourth in the league in rushing yards with 1,312.

The eye-test and fundamental metrics conclude the Giants are in a promising position to exit Minnesota with a victory.

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to theAmNews

Eighteen weeks of the NFL regular season has come and gone. Now the postseason begins this weekend. The Super Bowl is just a month away. In the AFC, the Los Angeles Chargers will be in Jacksonville to meet the Jaguars on Saturday night to begin the hunt for the league’s ultimate prize. The NFC’s Seattle Seahawks will take on the San Francisco 49ers on the road earlier in the afternoon.

The Jaguars, 3-14 last season, began this season 4-8 before going on a five-game winning streak to win the AFC South. "We just kept believing," said Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence after his team defeated the Tennessee Titans 20-16 in a winner-take-all division battle to earn a playoff spot. Lawrence will be playing in his first postseason game since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2021.

"Nobody ever lost faith. Everybody believed in one another."

On Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens playing will play the Cincinnati Bengals in the 8:15 p.m. primetime pairing. The Bengals are the defending AFC champions making an attempt to avenge their 23-20 Super Bowl loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The Miami Dolphins facing the Buffalo Bills will begin Sunday's schedule followed by the Giants and Vikings in Minnesota at 4:15 p.m.

The NFC’s top seed, the Philadelphia Eagles, also have a bye. The Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have all the attention on Monday when they play the day’s only game with the Buccaneers hosting.

The No. 1 seed Kansas City Chiefs have a bye and will await their next yet to be determined opponent. City Chiefs who clinched will sit out, rest up this first weekend of games, a first-

round bye. They'll play the lowest remaining seed in next weekend’s divisional round.

As for sitting out, two of the most asked questions heading into the playoffs have been is Lamar Jackson, the Ravens QB and Tua Tagovailoa, Miami's quarterback, playing this weekend? Jackson, who last played December 4 versus the Denver Broncos when he suffered a knee injury.

Tagovailoa suffered his second concussion of the season during Miami's Christmas Day game against the Green Bay Packers. He hasn't played since and is waiting to be medically cleared.

Giants defensive tackle Leonard Williams, pictured in his team’s Week 16 game against the Minnesota Vikings, will look to pressure Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins in their playoff matchup this Sunday (Giants.com photo)