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40 Union Matters Page 10

International News

PLASTICS ARE THREATENING GHANA’S WILD FISH INDUSTRY

(GIN)—Environmentalists are worried. Plastics, tons of it, are being produced annually but 70% of it ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Several studies have predicted that by the middle of the 21st century, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s ocean.

In Ghana, some of the effects of ocean pollution are already being seen as fishers are catching more plastic than fish.

“For some years now, whenever we cast our

nets, all we catch are plastics,” said Kwame Nkum, a Ghanaian who claims to know about the problem first hand. “Sometimes, after a whole haul, you only get a dozen fishes and the rest is just waste.”

Of Ghana’s total plastic waste, an estimated 86% is improperly disposed of, resulting in plastics clogging up storm water drains, rivers and streams and ending up in the oceans. With such a huge plastic waste problem, Ghana has an overall Ocean Health Index score of 65 out of 100, which is said to be lower than the global average score of 69. The country is ranked 160 out of 220 regions on the index.

All this plastic waste poses a dire threat to Ghana’s fishing industry which employs 200,000 fishers, delivering 80% of the total fish supply locally and providing a livelihood to over 2 million people including thousands of market women.

While several other African countries have adopted punitive legislative anti-plastic bans targeting the importation, production, and consumption of single use plastics, Ghana has been slow to tackle plastics. New tools to

increase plastic waste collection and recycling are being developed along the lines of carbon credits—collectively called “plastic credits.” With these tools, the World Bank has just announced a $100M waste reduction bond for plastic and carbon credits. This innovative bond provides investors with a financial return linked to Plastic Waste Collection Credits, Plastic Waste Recycling Credits (collectively, plastic credits), and Verified Carbon Units (carbon credits).

In addition to reducing plastic pollution, these bonds will address local pollution and air quality, reduce associated health impacts, and create jobs in often overlooked and marginalized communities.

Alexander Onica of Skandia, a Swedish financial services corporation, said: “We are very pleased to participate in the Plastic Waste Reduction-Linked Bond. It’s a very good example of how investment capital can both generate a good return for our customers and at the same time contribute to solving some of today’s global challenges.

“The large amount of plastic that pollutes

Brazil’s Abstract Samba faces shadowbans, legal challenges

By PAULO MILENO Special to the AmNews

The Brazilian samba originated in the terreiro and was created in that open space used to practice Traditional African Religions, as Paulo Lins wrote in his 2012 book “Desde que o samba é samba” (“Ever Since Samba Has Been Samba”).

The Abstract Samba (Samba Abstrato) community emerged in 2016 as a critique of the commonly portrayed “abstract muse figure,” which is predominantly represented as a white woman who can’t dance. It’s a critique that synthesizes the essence of abstraction in the Brazilian carnival.

While the Abstract Samba community was on the rise, Brazil’s political landscape was embroiled in turmoil as then-President Dilma Rousseff faced impeachment proceedings. The country found itself immersed in a state of tragicomedy, with political upheaval shaping the social scene. In a scene reminiscent of an off-season carnival, the streets of Brazil were taken over by white individuals donning the national football team’s T-shirts. In their homes, amid Rousseff’s televised speeches, these individuals banged pots and pans, replicating the sound of tambourines.

Abstract Samba became a comedic relief to this harsh reality. It served as a humorous support against the overarching backdrop of “whiteness.” This was when the character of the “white, crazy pot-banger” appeared, portrayed by Black individuals alongside standup comedians and actors like Yuri Marçal.

Abstract Samba should be recognized for its cultural and historical significance as an advocate for Black representation in Brazilian

carnival culture. Without it, the avenues of the samba parade will always be dominated by white individuals. Joãozinho Trinta, one of Brazil’s greatest carnival designers, once said: “Today the samba schools are all white. When I say white, I mean, they’re from high society. [I]t’s this entire invasion of society, of foreigners, who have nothing to do with samba.”

Abstract Samba emerged as an awareness initiative, reclaiming Black people as the protagonists who are combating racism, criticizing cultural appropriation, and challenging the “whitewashing” of carnival. Even in a nation

known for carnival and soccer, though, the first online Recreational Association of Brazilian Carnival faces relentless opposition.

Legal challenges

Since its inception eight years ago, Abstract Samba has seen attacks and legal persecution.

During the 2020 pandemic, Abstract Samba faced its first lawsuit for moral damages. In a case adjudicated in São Paulo and ruled in favor of the community, Abstract Samba’s efforts to advocate for freedom of expression

Abstract Samba might have fulfilled part of its mission. Viradouro was the champion of the Rio de Janeiro carnival in 2024 with a perfect score. The performance of Érika Januza, the queen of the drum and a beautiful Black actress, was particularly noteworthy. (Renata Xavier photo)

(GIN photo)

Change comes to IMPACCT Brooklyn as Bernell K. Grier steps down

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Bernell K. Grier will be stepping down from her position as executive director of the community development corporation IMPACCT Brooklyn on March 1.

A press release from the organization said that, “The board will appoint Diana Breen as interim executive director, while it conducts a national search for a permanent CEO.

“Ms. Grier, who has served as executive director for the past seven years, will serve as executive director emeritus until June 30, 2024, to help onboard Ms. Breen in her new role and consult with IMPACCT’s leadership for a seamless transition.”

Once called the Pratt Area Community Council (PACC), the now 60-year-old organization helps small businesses with their operations, owns and operates affordable housing developments, and provides classes and assistance to residents in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, and Prospect Heights.

Grier has been IMPACCT’s executive director since 2016. She told the AmNews that even though she is retiring, she plans to stay in touch with the organization and wants to continue playing a part in IMPACCT’s mission-driven work. “But there’s

so many other things that are happening in our community that…I want to at least be able to spend some time on,” she said.

“We’re in 2024; my work career started in 1974, so it’s been a full 50 years of being in the workforce, working for others, and it’s

just time for me to celebrate myself, take a break, and sort of figure out what the next rewiring is…I just want to be more, I guess, present in things that I deeply care about.”

As IMPACCT looks for a permanent successor to Grier, she told the AmNews there are some fine points that any new leader of the community organization should have. “I would, one, want them to be connected to [the] community, and definitely have a vision for the organization going forward. IMPACCT has always been involved in housing, not so much in terms of transitional housing but permanent housing––for people to have a permanent home, so having someone that cares about that, but also someone who has the business acumen to run a corporation because IMPACCT has had, at any given time, somewhere between $4 to $6 million. Being able to run that [that large a corporation] with all the nuances and having the right complement of people to support them in doing that––a good team to help you to implement the different programs.”

Grier pointed to the importance of hiring a new executive director who has a connection to Brooklyn and lives in the borough. An IMPACCT executive director should be able to communicate with local electeds and help them understand the racial equity and economic mobility issues that remain at play in New York.

Primary: Wright officially launches campaign with fanfare

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

Jordan J. G. Wright, former campaign manager for Councilmember Yusef Salaam, officially launched his candidacy for the 70th Assembly District in front of the Schomburg Center this past weekend. He was joined by his supporters and several members of the powerful “old guard” of Harlem’s political core.

Assemblymember Inez Dickens, who currently holds the “historic seat,” is set to retire this year. Her retirement has paved the way for a pretty competitive primary race over who will replace her. Wright had been quietly putting feelers out for a while, registering with the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE) on Jan. 18.

“It’s not lost on me that this moment is bigger than all of us,” said Wright to the crowd that had gathered in front of the Schomburg. “We’re living in a time of great ambiguity, and the only thing we know for certain is that as Sam Cooke said in his famous Jim Crow-era song for civil rights–a change is gonna come and we’re here.”

Dickens, former Congressmember Charles Rangel, as well as District Leaders Wilma Brown and William Allen, all endorsed Wright at the press conference. They spoke highly of Wright as a savvy

young political figure and a son of Harlem that they essentially all helped raise. They hoped that Wright would unite generations under “one Harlem” for the better.

“We have an exciting and refreshing new face in the city council. We have his campaign manager ready to pick up the baton and move forward,” said Rangel. “I want to congratulate you, I knew from the beginning

that a seed was planted. I saw it take roots.”

Of course, Wright’s father, former Assemblymember and Manhattan Democratic Party leader Keith Wright, also threw the full weight of his support behind his son. A family tradition considering that Wright’s grandfather was State Supreme Court Judge Bruce McMarion Wright. His mother, Susan Wright, was also present.

“Can you imagine sending Jordan up to Albany, as we try to remake this political landscape here in Harlem, with the onetwo punch of Yusef Salaam? We won’t be denied anymore,” said Keith Wright at the press conference. He believes his son has the intellect, commitment, fortitude, and a capable heart and soul to represent the district. He’s proud that his son chose to run.

Wright’s campaign is being managed by Londel Davis Jr. and Black Chamber Consulting with Raziq Seabrook and Kyle Ishmael, which helped Salaam win his city council race.

Meanwhile, fellow assembly candidate Craig Schley also announced his campaign for Assembly District 70 on the same day as Wright.

“The reason I’m running is because I believe our leadership has failed the community and that it’s important that we have a new direction,” he said Schley.

As of this Tuesday, seven candidates have filed for the race.

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.

Jordan Wright announces candidacy for NY State Assembly in Harlem’s 70th District in front of the Schomburg Center on Sat, Feb. 24. (Bill Moore photo)

IMPACCT Brooklyn’s Bernell K. Grier at groundbreaking for IMPACCT Senior Residences at 811 Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn (IMPACCT Brooklyn)

Biden and Trump race to the border

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

On Thursday, President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump will be about 325 miles apart at the southern border, although they are much farther apart ideologically. Both will be contending on the Republican position on the border, with Biden to assail Republicans for blocking legislation, a stance urged by Trump.

Biden will be in Brownsville, Texas, where a meeting is planned with border patrol agents, a White House official told the press. Trump will visit Eagle Pass, west of Brownsville. The president has begun adding a little more heat to his rhetoric by blaming Republicans for killing the legislation earlier this month.

“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden promised.

Debate over the border crisis has not been a key element in the Democrats’ playbook, but Biden is taking a different tack on the issue as part of his reelection campaign. This will be Biden’s second visit to the border. Last January, he was in El Paso on his way to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Karolin Leavitt, stated that Biden “is losing terribly,” and that “he’s not going to solve the border problem.”

She said Biden’s last-minute “insincere attempt to chase Trump to the border won’t cut it. Americans know Biden is single-handedly responsible for the worst immigration crisis in history.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president “will reiterate his calls for congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology, and more.”

According to the Associated Press, Biden is exploring potential executive action on the border under federal immigration powers once used by Trump to achieve some of the policies in the legislation, although such a move is sure to anger progressives and advocates of immigration.

Moreover, the House Congressional Hispanic Caucus has noted that its members oppose unilateral attempts by the White House to overhaul the asylum system. An NBC poll this month found more voters view Trump, by 57 to 22 percent, as the better candidate than Biden to secure the border and control immigration.

Ras Baraka declares, ‘I want to be the governor of the state of New Jersey’

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Newark Mayor Ras Jua Baraka has entered the race for governorship of New Jersey.

Baraka is a three-term mayor of Newark, the largest city in the state of New Jersey: He has governed the city since 2014.

Baraka is also the son of the poet Amina Baraka and Black Arts Movement poet/playwright Amiri Baraka—he was raised in the city and his family says they can trace their Newark roots back for more than 80 years.

Baraka announced his candidacy for governor on Feb. 19 while delivering a Black History Month speech that celebrated Divine 9 fraternity and sorority members. The mayor talked about honoring and remembering the aspirations of Black ancestors who, in their day, could only pray for their children to have material comforts and live in a world where they could garner respect.

“Your great-great-great grandmother prayed for that house that you live in, that car that you drive. They prayed so that you would no longer be second class or third class, or under somebody’s feet,” he is seen in a video telling the crowd assembled in Trenton, New Jersey.

“…I thank my great-great-great grandmother in the dungeon of Elmina Castle. …So, I’m grateful for my great-great-great-great-great grandmother because she prayed for a little boy from Newark who grew up on Clinton Avenue and 10th Street and hung out at Yusef Steak N’ Take on 14th and Avon. Who gave me the opportunity to be at the Trenton War Memorial Theater with Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. My great-great-great grandmother prayed for the unlikely circumstance that this young boy who took over the administration at Howard University, would take over the city and become the mayor after running 16 years and not winning anything.

“My great-great-great grandmother, on her knees, with her eyes closed, huddled up with one another, not knowing what tomorrow looked like, said, ‘They’re not going to hold you down, they’re not going to hold you back. They’re not going to steal your future. They’re not going to keep your tomorrows. You, little Black boy, from Newark, New Jersey—just a kid, just a kid from Newark with all of your weakness and feebleness and humanity. You too can stand here at the Trenton War Memorial and say, ‘I’m going to be the governor of New Jersey!’”

Baraka would be New Jersey’s first-ever Black governor

Baraka enters an already crowded race to fill the soon-to-be vacated seat of term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy. Murphy is a two-term governor who narrowly won re-election in 2021, even though New Jersey is a heavily Democratic Party-leaning state.

The other candidates currently looking to become governor in the Nov. 4, 2025, general election include Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who is a Democrat; Stephen Sweeney, who is also a Democrat and who served as president of the New Jersey Senate; and State Senator Jon Brammick, who is running on the Republican Party ticket.

The website for the Newark mayor lauds his accomplishments: “Mayor Baraka’s progressive approach to governing has … reduced crime to its lowest levels in five decades, addressed affordability while maintaining steady growth, lowered unemployment, returned local control of schools after more than two decades, and replaced all 23,000 known lead service lines in less than three years at no cost to residents, Baraka has defied expectations since taking office in 2014.”

See BARAKA on page 25

Black-owned businesses receive sliver of contract money eligible for M/WBE program, finds NYC Comptroller

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

Minority-owned businesses still own a minority of money from city contracts. City Comptroller Brad Lander’s annual report on the city’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) found they received just 5% of the $40 billion in contract spending last fiscal year, which concluded this past fall.

The findings specifically examine agency compliance with Local Law 174 of 2019 (LL 174), which tasked agencies to contract a certain percentage of M/WBEs. Lander, who helped introduce the legislation while on the City Council, points to favorable signs, including the Adams administration’s appointment of Michael Garner as chief business diversity officer of the Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises a year ago. Generally, the report acknowledges “meaningful signs of effort, and some modest indications of progress.” But the statistics do not reflect those gains.

“If you just look at the numbers, unfortunately, they’re terrible,” said Lander. “They don’t show meaningful improvement overall from last year. And it continues to be the case that even of the portion of city procurement that is subjected to M/WBE participation goals, Blackowned, Hispanic-owned, and women of color-owned businesses only saw 1% of the value [each] of the city’s procurement last year.”

Of the $40 billion in city contract spending last fiscal year, around $9 billion falls under LL 174’s

goes to Black and brown businesses in what Lander considers a “disparity within the disparity.” Black-owned businesses receive just 1.16% of the pot for value contracts and purchase orders. Hispanic-owned businesses take home less than 1 percent. Women-owned businesses within minority racial groups receive a tiny fraction of the already miniscule money pool. And Native American-owned businesses are essentially absent from the conversation, despite being one of racial categories LL 174 aimed to increase economic involvement for.

For context, the average new contract value last fiscal year was $4.6 million. The average nosedives to just $511,000 for new contracts registered to a M/WBE.

issue entirely. Christopher Worthy, CEO of Bounce Playground, says obtaining certification for an M/WBE for his Black-owned business took him just four to five days. But he can’t imagine applying without help.

“If I didn’t have somebody helping me and guiding me through before—I knew somebody in the Parks Department where I do most of my contracts with—then it probably wouldn’t have been as easy for someone,” said Worthy. “It’s pretty hard outside of that process to get the contracts. I’m just not sure, unless you have a contact or you’re cold calling, how do you go and get these contracts?”

See M/WBE on page 25

New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivers remarks at the New York City Department of Small Business Services’ (SBS) Citywide Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/ WBE) Procurement Fair at the Barclays Center on Thursday , September 22, 2022. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Model-turned-builder: Shillae Davis pushes her passion for beauty in construction

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Shillae Davis lived in Los Angeles for seven years. Born and raised in Chicago, she headed out west to enroll in college at California State University, Northridge.

It was then that her career took off: While she majored in accounting, she soon began to compile modeling, acting, and music video gigs.

“I was modeling so much that I was traveling a lot and I was falling asleep in class.

So, I decided to put college on hold and just kind of live out the dream,” she said. Soon Shillae was flying all over, with regular jobs in Atlanta and New York City where she did runway shows and, later, commercial print work. She was making such good money that at some point she wondered, Why go back to college?

So, she didn’t. She was already making the income she wanted. Instead, she moved to New York City; she’d already made friends here and liked its energy.

“I always say that the difference between L.A. and New York is they both have a lot of people that are not from there, but L.A. is like a whole bunch of people from a whole bunch of different places, and they’re trying to fit into one mold––L.A. makes you want to fit into their mold,” she said.

“New York is the opposite. It’s a whole bunch of people from a whole bunch of different places, and they embrace their individuality.

So, me, I didn’t like L.A. because I kind of didn’t fit in: you know, I’m a Chicago girl, we keep it real, we’re kind of down to earth, that’s kind of like who we are. And L.A. is just very like, you know, fake. It was hard for me to adjust. I was a little quirky. I am a little quirky, you know?”

In New York, she got more modeling jobs and met her soon-to-be husband, Alonzo. When she wasn’t modeling, she started doing corporate temp work to make use of the spare time on her hands. And during that regular cycle of modeling and office work, Shillae and Alonzo purchased a Brooklyn brownstone. One summer, while renovating their backyard, Shillae says she found her passion. She and Alonzo had talked about purchasing and renovating properties, and she discovered that she really loved the hands-on aspect of that work. To support their goal of being property owners, Shillae signed up for a nine-month plumbing course at Apex Technical School.

Though she had planned to just take the class for the knowledge, Shillae loved the world of plumbing and made it her goal to become a plumber herself. She called several plumbing companies to ask if they were hiring and sent in her resume, but no one called her back.

“One time I was walking down the street and I saw a Vigilante Plumbing truck, but I didn’t see anybody in the truck. I had to walk back that same way and I was like, ‘Okay, if I walk back and they’re there, I’m going to say something to them.’”

The workers had come back to their truck, and she asked them about getting hired with the company. The men were somewhat taken

Shillae Davis

Black New Yorker

aback that she wanted to work at Vigilante, particularly since she was pushing a baby carriage at the time. But they called into the office for her, and Shillae was able to get an interview.

“They didn’t hesitate in hiring me. It was actually quite an amazing first experience because they were very serious about me feeling comfortable there. All the men were very respectful, and they actually had a meeting with them. It was like, ‘Listen, if she has any complaints, you’re out of here.’ So, they were very serious about making sure I was comfortable, and I learned so much from them.

“They were actually a great company to work for. Like you go to school, but you don’t really get the experience until you’re out in the field and on the job. You get the basics and the fundamentals, but you don’t see anything until you see, especially in New York City. There’s just so much, it’s overwhelming. I realized how much I didn’t know when I was working for Vigilante.”

After two years at Vigilante, Shillae was furloughed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. She thought she’d be out of work for a while, but that’s when her phone started ringing. Friends had told neighbors, and neighbors had told family members about her, and Shillae was able to set up her own company, Model Builder, LLC based on her work ethic and a growing reputation.

With Model Builder, Shillae and a small team of assistants focus on plumbing work and small construction projects. The business has kept her phone ringing: she averages two to three jobs a day.

“I always say, I don’t want to have to do marketing. I feel like my reputation is my marketing. So, I try to do a great job on every job that I do: I try to do it with care, I try to communicate. I try to do all the things that I would appreciate when people come and do services for me. If I can build a client based off of word of mouth because they appreciate my work, then I feel like I’m winning.”

Model Builder can be reached by phone at 718-952-3582 or via email at Shillae@modelbuilderllc.co

THE URBAN AGENDA

By David R. Jones, Esq

Holding Donald Trump Accountable

The term “Poetic Justice” best describes what occurred earlier this month in New York State Supreme Court.

Based on a lawsuit filed three years ago by New York State Attorney General Leticia “Tish” James against Donald Trump and number of his companies for engaging in financial fraud and illegal conduct, the court ordered Mr. Trump to pay $454 million ($355 million in penalties plus interest) to the state and prevented him from serving as an officer, or applying for any loans, for a New York corporation for three years.

Even for the self-styled billionaire real estate titan and former U.S. President —who I should note is paying multiple lawyers to defend him in the face of 91 felony charges in New York, Washington DC and Atlanta – the fine imposed by the court is no drop in the bucket. Indeed, critics and political pundits alike surmise that the nearly half a billion dollar penalty from the civil fraud case brought by the AG could spell the demise of not only the former president’s narcissistically honed image as one of the world’s elite businessmen, but his financial empire as well.

After the court handed down its ruling on February 16, Attorney General James issued this statement: “When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of honest and hardworking people. Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage to buy a home, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them. There simply cannot be different rules for different people. Now, Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating, and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law.”

Well said. “No one is above the law.” That includes Donald Trump. And make no mistake, he is seething over this ruling.

That’s because he is obsessed with his net worth, and this case could well see properties emblazoned with the Trump name sold off like prized possessions at a fire sale. Trump is also acting increasingly desperate under the onslaught of criminal charges he faces that could land him in prison. How desperate? Well, since Justice Arthur Engoron handed down his ruling, Trump has been using this defeat in fundraising pleas to donors, installed his daughterin-law as co-chair of the Republican National Conference to make it easier to raid its funds to pay his legal expenses, and recently began hawking “Trump Sneakers” at $400 a pop.

Still, the real reason Trump is fuming over the civil fraud case is not just the considerable amount of money he will have to part with, but also because of who brought the case against him.

To appreciate my meaning, you have to remember the contempt Donald Trump has shown toward the Black and brown community since he first surfaced in the public eye. It goes back to 1973, when the Trump Management Inc. was charged with violating the Fair Housing Act for its policies of refusing to rent apartments to Black and Latino families at its residential buildings in Brooklyn and Queens. Both he and his father, Fred Trump, were named defendants in the government case. This was during the Nixon Administration. Think about that. So egregious was Trump’s practices of racial bias that the Nixon Justice Department felt compelled to bring legal action.

Fast forward to 1989, when Trump took out full-page ads in prominent New York City papers calling for reinstatement of the death penalty for the Central Park Five -- five Black teens who were unjustly accused and convicted of a crime they did not commit. As President, he singled out Black professional football players who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem to protest the treatment and brutalizing of Black men by police, disrespectfully calling them “sons of bitches” that should be fired. And of course, who could forget Trump calling African nations, Haiti and El Salvador “shithole” countries at a White House meeting on immigration.

When it comes to spewing divisive, belligerent speech meant to belittle and dehumanize Black people and stoke racial hatred, Trump has no equal. On Saturday, he took things to a whole new level of offensiveness when he told an audience of Black conservatives in South Carolina that Black people will support him because of his criminal indictments.

Which brings me back to what happened on Feb. 16. It took incredible courage for Attorney General James to bring this case. She has had to endure racial slurs, threats and insults from the former president and his acolytes for daring to hold him and his company to account for committing fraud.

For most of his business and political life, Donald Trump has managed to evade justice and operate with virtual impunity. The civil fraud case marked a rare rebuke. And there is a profound sense of pride in our communities knowing it was a Black woman who led the effort to hold him accountable.

David R. Jones, Esq., is President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.

SUNY Downstate hospital faces uncertain future

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

Ongoing speculation about the closure of the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Health Science Center hospital and university, one of Brooklyn’s primary health resources, has spurred locals and officials to action amid decades of disinvestment and a projected $100 million deficit in the current state budget.

Hospital closures in New York City have been a fear-inducing sore spot for residents. Sites like Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, which stopped taking emergency patients in 2021, and Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan, slated to close this summer, are foundational for the nearby communities that rely on their services and care. Predominantly Black, brown, immigrant, and low-income communities have historically been at the whims of severe health inequities and hospital closures.

In Brooklyn, “the largest capacity and access gaps” in healthcare are found in ZIP codes with higher Black and Hispanic populations, according to a state health study released in January 2024. Hospital quality has deteriorated borough-wide and is lowest in communities with a large proportion of Black residents, according to the report. Black residents have

a lower life expectancy, Black immigrants are less likely to receive mental health treatment, and Black mothers are eight times more likely to die across the borough.

SUNY Downstate is a 13-acre university campus with an attached hospital, and has been located in East Flatbush on Clarkson Avenue since 1956. It’s a Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH), meaning it serves a large number of patients with Medicaid and without insurance.

The campus was the first teaching hospital in the country when it first opened, and marked several milestones along the way, including launching the nation’s first federally funded dialysis unit in 1964 and establishing the first academic emergency medicine department in New York City in 1991. Now the hospital specializes in kidney transplants, operates a regional perinatal center, provides outpatient services for Alzheimer’s patients, and is considered a national leader in training doctors from underrepresented communities.

Several resident-driven rallies, where groups have gathered from Brooklyn to Albany, have brought together supporters who have spoken out about the need to save the hospital from closing and reject the state’s proposed plans for the campus.

“You have the temerity, the audacity, the guts, to tell us you want us closed? How dare

you,” said Senator Zellnor Myrie, who’s been an outspoken advocate for SUNY Downstate for years, to a crowd of protestors in Albany on Feb. 6. “We will not stand for it anymore.”

In March 2020, Downstate was named a COVID-only hospital, diverting all other inpatients to other facilities and canceling elective and emergent surgeries, under a directive issued by former Governor Andrew Cuomo. This pushed the hospital into a deficit of about $159 million.

Before COVID-19, Cuomo also made cuts to state Medicaid spending in an effort to balance the budget.

When Myrie was diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020, he stayed at SUNY Downstate. He has voted to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates and sponsored legislation to improve the financial standing of all safety-net hospitals. He also sponsored a bill (S. 6956) that would require the health commissioner to develop a sustainability plan for Downstate.

The state’s proposal

Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed plan has four parts: Keep the medical school and student support services at Downstate, expand access to primary care and urgent care resources at Downstate and its clinics, build a new Brooklyn Institute for Health Equity center at Downstate dedicated to researching systemic health disparities, and move cur-

rent inpatient services at Downstate to a wing at Kings County Hospital across the street and to other partner hospitals.

The intention behind the controversial move is to reduce financial strain on SUNY while preserving the current levels of inpatient care the community uses. Once services are moved, SUNY Chancellor John B. King, Jr. said the SUNY building might be used for affordable or supportive senior housing.

The state has pledged a $300 million capital investment toward this “transformation.”

The state will cover the hospital’s deficit with $100 million this year and $100 million next year, and also invest $20 million annually to support outpatient services and the health disparities institute, said King. The plan has to be approved in the state’s higher education budget by April 2024.

“The hospital has deeply serious financial challenges and has for the better part of 15, 20 years,” King said in an interview with the AmNews. A Flatlands native, King assumed the position of chancellor in 2023. “If there is no additional support in this year’s budget, we will run out of cash to continue to operate.”

King said that the hospital’s facilities are antiquated and in need of infrastructure upgrades that require more than $3 billion in capital and at least eight to 10 years to

The State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate emergency room facility at 470 Clarkson Avenue in Brooklyn (Ariama C. Long photo)

Assemblymember Latrice Walker at a “Save SUNY Downstate” press conference in Albany on February 6 (Contributed by United University Professions (UUP) photos)

SUNY Downstate School of Public Health & Academic Research Complex at 450 Clarkson Avenue in Brooklyn

Senator Zellnor Myrie at a “Save SUNY Downstate” press conference in Albany on February 6

If your business accepted Visa and/or Mastercard between 2004 - 2019, you’re now eligible to claim your share of a $5.5 billion Settlement. Claim your share now.

Merchants (business owners) who accepted Visa and/or Mastercard at any time from January 1, 2004, to January 25, 2019, are eligible to claim their share of a $5.5 billion Settlement.

Visa and Mastercard and their issuing banks (the “Defendants”) are alleged to have violated the law because they wrongfully inflated Interchange Fees. Defendants say they have done nothing wrong. They claim their business practices are legal.

After years of appeals, the Settlement is now final, and Claim Forms are now being accepted. If you do not file a claim, you will not receive a Settlement Payment.

Claim Forms are now being mailed to more than 15 million merchants. Even if you do not receive a Claim Form in the mail, you may still be eligible, and you should visit www.PaymentCardSettlement.com to get more information about the Settlement. The deadline to file a claim is May 31, 2024. You can file your claim online at the website. Or, if you prefer, you can get a paper Claim Form at the website or by calling 1-800-625-6440. Assistance with preparing your claim is available at no cost to you from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel.

Submitting your claim online can take less than five minutes.

STEP ONE:

Scan the QR code to go to www.PaymentCardSettlement.com

STEP TWO: Provide the information requested about your business.

STEP THREE:

Submit your claim! Your claim process is now complete.

To get a Claim Form in Spanish , Russian , Korean , Vietnamese , Japanese , Chinese , or Thai , please visit www.PaymentCardSettlement.com Do you

Go With The Flo

FLO ANTHONY

The Harlem Globetrotters game at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple was the place to be on Feb. 24. The packed arena had a starstudded courtside roster.

Among those spotted included Andy Cohen, host of “Watch What Happens Live”; Michelle Buteau, star of Netflix’s “Survival of the Thickest”; talk show host Tamron Hall and her husband, music executive Steve Greener; Jawn Murray, executive producer of “Sherri”; and comedian and former Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. Hall got up and danced with Globetrotter Bulldog Mack during the show, while Murray and ABC 7 reporter Phil Taitt were splashed with a bucket of water by Jet Rivers & X-Over from the court. The Globetrotters hosted a private VIP reception for the players and their celebrity attendees after the game, where guests dined on delicious brisket sliders, pretzel dogs and an assortment of donuts decorated in traditional Globetrotter colors........

Word on the curb is that actor/crooner Ray J’s wife Princess Love has filed for a divorce for the fourth time, reports TMZ. “The Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” star filed the papers in L.A. County Court, noting in the documents that children are involved. The estranged couple share two small kids.

In this fourth round, Princess is the petitioner and Ray J is the respondent. He filed round three in 2021. He also filed in late 2020, while Princess filed in Spring 2020. They certainly know how to keep the courthouse busy. Princess posted on Instagram, “It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of our decision to divorce. After much reflection, discussion and counseling, we have come to the difficult realization that our paths have diverged, and it is in the best

GO

First Black NY Chief Judge Wilson honored at Londel’s in Harlem

interest of both of us to part ways.”.......

The producers of Lifetime’s “Where is Wendy Williams?” told the Hollywood Reporter: “If we’d known she had dementia, no one would’ve rolled a camera” So, for almost an entire year, the documentary’s producer Mark Ford kept shooting the film. Initially, the rumor around New York City was that the former talk show host was shooting a reality show. Meanwhile, why did a court-ordered guardian cut Williams off from her family? While that remains a mystery to the producers, as well as the guardian’s identity, a press release on Williams’s behalf was released the day before the documentary aired which revealed she had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. Two days before the documentary was released, Williams’s guardian, whose name has never been released, filed a lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company in an attempt to block the network from airing the two-night show. However, a judge dismissed the request, citing the First Amendment. Let us all pray for Wendy that God will reverse this awful diagnosis. He is still on the throne.......

Primary Wave Music and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, are proud to unveil the re-released Luther Vandross’s first two albums: “Luther” and “This Close to You.” Originally released on Cotillion Records, these seminal records are being made available commercially for the first time in over 40 years. Both albums are available for pre-order currently in multiple configurations that include vinyl, CD and digital. “Luther” and “This Close To You” are set to release in April and June respectively......

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

The Judicial Friends Association, an organization of judges of color throughout New York State, honored Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Rowan D. Wilson at a jazzy event at Londel’s Soul Food Restaurant in Harlem last week.

A California native, Wilson has lived a life of firsts throughout his legal career. In 1992, he was the first partner of color at the Cravath, Swaine & Moore law firm, a major private practice firm in New York. He is currently the first Black person to hold the chief judge position in the state.

“The thing that has disappeared is the qualification that you have to be a white establishment male to have the job,” said Wilson. “That’s what I hope, and time is ticking.”

Promoting diversity and address-

ing the impact of institutional racism throughout the state and city court system is a primary mission for the Judicial Friends Association. Supreme Court Judge Cheryl Gonzales, president of the association, was delighted to honor Wilson.

“He’s personable and approachable. Really an authentic person,” said Gonzales about Wilson. “The tenor of the whole court system has changed. Morale has improved. The administration will always have its tension with the people, but for the most part, it is just a different place in terms of transparency of what’s going on.”

Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court Joseph A. Zayas, the first Latino to hold his position, who was appointed by Wilson, said the administrative judge position was not something he wanted because he was happy in his former role in the appellate division,

but he was moved by Wilson’s leadership and vision to go for it. “I think the world of him—brilliant, smart, has all the right instincts about the direction our court should go in. Humble, collaborative,” said Zayas of Wilson. “In my view, he’s the best chief judge New York State has ever had.”

Most of the other judges at the event had similar comments about Wilson’s performance as chief judge so far.

Food and drinks were served courtesy of Londel’s Soul Food Restaurant (2620 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, Harlem).

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member who 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

Gathering at Londel’s Soul Food Restaurant in Harlem on Thursday, Feb. 22, are (l–r) Judge Christel Garland, Judge Robin K. Sheares, Judge Cheryl Gonzales, Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals Rowan D. Wilson, restaurateur Londel Davis, Judge Tanya R. Kennedy, and Judge Verna Saunders. (Ariama C. Long photos)

NY’s Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson was honored at a judicial event at Londel’s in Harlem on Thursday, Feb. 22.

High school students learn CPR, life support skills at TouroCOM in Harlem

More than 100 NYC high school students from Harlem and elsewhere in NYC enrolled in “MedAchieve,” an award-winning, two-year intensive medical science enrichment program at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (TouroCOM) in Harlem. Working with medical student mentors, the students will learn to perform CPR, defibrillation, and Basic Life Support skills: how to recognize sudden cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke, and foreign body airway obstruction.

“The purpose is to give the students practice on how to handle emergencies. They will test what they learn in a handson setting,” explained Dr. David Colbourn, assistant professor, emergency paramedic, and director of medical simulation at TouroCOM. “They are all expected to perform very well.”

The MedAchieve Scholars Program is an after-school mentoring program that increases awareness and interest in medicine and other health professions among students from public high schools in Harlem and other parts of Manhattan. Many of the participating students live in medically underserved communities and a majority are underrepresented minorities.

The students attend weekly labs and lectures at TouroCOM, taught by medical students, and are matched one-on-one with medical student mentors who work with them throughout the year.

For 2023–24, MedAchieve has enrolled 104 students from 26 schools, including the Institute for Health Professions in Cambria Heights; Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem; Columbia Secondary School; and the High School for Math, Science & Engineering at City College.

For more info, visit www.tourocom. touro.edu.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield HP celebrate Black History Month by bringing 'Barber Shop Experience' to Jamaica, Queens

To help celebrate Black History Month, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield HP offered free haircuts and manicures to those in the neighborhood surrounding their Community Service Center at 153-17 Jamaica Avenue on Thursday, Feb. 22. Many waited in anticipation as the shiny gold van approached—actually a mobile barber shop operated by Platinum and Gold Experience Luxury Mobile Grooming Spa for Men. While men had their hair cut inside the van, complete with shampoo sink, barber chair, and premium products, women received manicures inside the center.

The event was also an opportunity for Anthem staff to educate the community about high blood pressure and hypertension since February is also American Heart Month.

“This is the type of thing we do week after week at all of our Community Service

Centers throughout the city,” said Anthem Community Outreach Manager Wendy Dominguez. “It’s more than just signing up for health insurance…we continually strive to improve the general health of our members, and that means everything from food distribution to free health screenings.”

More than just a place to get a haircut, barber shops are cultural hubs—spots where friends and neighbors catch up and important issues are discussed. In many neighborhoods, barber shops are a cornerstone of community life. They can be a network of support and a place to lift people’s spirits in addition to helping them look good. Anthem brought that experience to Jamaica Avenue, where State Senator Leroy Comrie, who represents the district, stopped by to check out the event and say hello to the many attendees.

Jason Elder, manager of Medicaid Plan Marketing, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield HP; State Senator Leroy Comrie; and Wendy Dominguez, community outreach manager at Anthem (l–r) at Black History Month event. (Photos courtesy of Anthem)

(Photos courtesy of TouroCOM)

Union Matters

Starbucks’ workers in Brooklyn join unionizing effort

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Workers at a Starbucks coffee shop in Brooklyn were part of a recent filing showing that they are planning to unionize.

Employees at the coffee shop, at 4th Avenue and 11th Street in Brooklyn’s Park Slope, filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Tuesday, Feb. 20, stating that they plan to unionize with Starbucks Workers United (SWU).

Brooklyn workers were part of a cohort of want-to-be unionized workers filing on that day. They were joined by Starbucks workers at 1149 Old Country Road in Westbury, N.Y.; 184 Seventh Street in Garden City, N.Y.; and some 21 other stores in 14 states across the nation in the NLRB filing.

“We’re unionizing because we believe in democracy,” Park Slope barista Victoria Blair was quoted as saying about the reason for the filing. “Our daily lives are subject to the whims of monolithic institutions that prioritize profits over human lives and make decisions without the consent of those they govern and without input from the people most affected by their decisions. We are unionizing because

we want that to change and believe that we can change that through workplace democratization and the collective power of laborers united in a common cause.”

Savannah Benatar and Kim McDonald, who work in the Westbury Village Starbucks, said, “We, the partners of Westbury Village Starbucks, are organizing because we know we are strongest together. We are tired of being overworked, understaffed, and fighting for hours when we need them to support ourselves outside of work. We are fighting for better working conditions and updated security measures that prioritize partner safety and encourage us to thrive at work. We are excited to join this historic campaign and enact meaningful change for our current and future partners.”

The Starbucks Corporation and the companies’ workers have been in an ongoing battle regarding unionizing. SWU now represents workers in 391 Starbucks stores across 43 states, yet the union has claimed that Starbucks refuses to negotiate in good faith for a bargaining agreement. Meanwhile, the Starbucks Corporation has accused the NLRB of colluding with SWU to promote union membership.

NLRB: Home Depot violated labor law by firing an employee who drew ‘BLM’ on work apron

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer

The nation’s labor board ruled on Wednesday, Feb. 21, that Home Depot violated federal labor law when it fired an employee for refusing to remove the hand-drawn “BLM” acronym for “Black Lives Matter” from a work apron.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said it protects the legal right of employees to engage in “concerted activities” for the purpose of “mutual aid or protection,” regardless of whether they are represented by a union.

The board reasoned that the decision by the worker—identified as Antonio Morales—to display the BLM acronym on the apron was a direct response to racial discrimination complaints in the store and is protected under federal law. It was also an attempt by Morales to bring the complaints to the attention of Home Depot managers.

“It is well-established that workers have the right to join together to improve their working conditions—including by protesting racial discrimination in

the workplace,” said Chairperson Lauren McFerran in a statement. “It is equally clear that an employee who acts individually to support a group protest regarding a workplace issue remains protected under the law.”

In an email statement to the Associated Press, Home Depot, based in Atlanta, said it disagreed with the NLRB’s decision.

“The Home Depot is fully committed to diversity and respect for all people,” the company said. “We do not tolerate any kind of workplace harassment or discrimination.”

The right to wear clothing with BLM insignia or other social justice apparel in the workplace became a big issue in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020.

That same year, American Airlines announced that it would let employees wear Black Lives Matter pins on their uniforms, calling it a matter of equality and not politics. The company joined Starbucks, Delta Air Lines, and other major companies that let employees wear items supporting the movement that protests police violence against Black people.

Workers stock the shelves at a Home Depot store in Passaic, N.J. on August 14, 2018 (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey photo)

A man walks by a New York area Starbucks franchise (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Health

NY state medical director discusses health equity

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

A recently passed waiver, Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services (DHHS) the ability to approve pilot or “demonstration projects” that promote the objectives of Medicaid programs. It lets DHHS waive parts of the Medicaid law, which gives states the freedom to improve their current programs.

According to the authors of the article “Teaching Health Centers Can Meet Objectives for State Medicaid Innovation,” “[t] raditional Medicaid approaches have not always been effective at eliminating barriers to access, and lack adequate focus on a goal of achieving long-term health and economic independence. Section 1115 demonstration projects present an opportunity for states to pursue innovations that go beyond routine medical care.”

Programs under the newest 1115 Medicaid waiver in states such as Massachusetts and Oregon include, but are not limited to, nutrition and cooking education, food prescriptions, and rental insurance.

Amir Bassiri, Medicaid director for the New York State Department of Health (DOH), who joined the Department of Health in 2019 as chief of staff to the Medicaid director, spoke with the Amsterdam News about the newest 1115 Medicaid waiver New York State has received and how it advances health equity.

Bassiri provided an overview of the 1115 waiver, titse recent passage in New York, and future implications for the health and welfare of Medicaid recipients.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

AmNews: Can you give us an overview of the benefits of the 1115 waiver program?

The Medicaid Program is a joint federal and state program between the center for Medicare and Medicaid services and the single State Medicaid agencies. Typically, Medicaid is dictated by a very [specific] set of federal rules and an 1115 waiver allows allows the Secretary for Health and Human Services to waive some of the federal rules if they advance and further the underlying goals of the Medicaid Program, whether it’s expanding access to services coverage pop-

ulations that are eligible for benefits.

Amir Bassiri: New York has a long history of incorporating most of its Managed Care Program into an 1115 waiver. They’re authorized for five-year periods. They are either renewed, or amended and what we’ve done with the most recent approval is to amend an existing demonstration program to incorporate and integrate health-rated social needs into the managed care delivery system and benefit package.

These are services that are not eligible for federal financial participation or federal match. If the state was funding these services through Medicaid, we would be doing it on a state-only funding basis, which limits the scale and funding for these programs. [Through these programs, we have] integrated new health-related needs [such as] housing supportive services, nutritional supportive services, case management. . .under the premise that inclusion of these services will reduce underlying healthcare and medical spending and improve population health outcomes in the long term.

See HEALTH EQUITY continued on page 29

Amir Bassiri is the Medicaid director for the New York State Department of Health (DOH) (Photo courtesy of New York State)

Leap Year—not a time to jump to

conclusions

EDITORIAL

Ah, it’s Leap Year! One more day to celebrate Black History Month. One more day to reflect on the past and contemplate the future. Actually, we need one more year, but let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Since its inception in 1926, when it was originated by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson and called Negro History Week, the holiday, of sorts, has evolved and garnered more national support. Even so, there is much more to demand and to protect.

Looming on the horizon, there is nothing more consequential than the upcoming presidential election—something African Americans, and all Americans, should take seriously. If President Biden is to win, he must retain his hold on the battleground states, but right now, things in Michigan are not looking very promising, given his stance on the conflict in the Middle East.

Equally troubling is the imperiled Voting Rights Act that each year gets a bit more eviscerated, something that Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama view as pivotal in the fight for equality and justice. Whether in Alabama, where they spoke at HBCU Miles College, or in the state of Arizona, where Native Americans are consistently denied the use of their identification cards, marginalized citizens face an uphill battle for their rights.

And we should not ignore the problems encountered when it comes to the spread of gerrymandering and redistricting that affects voter turnout and a polarized Congress.

We know your agenda is packed with issues, but you have to keep your eyes on the prize.

It’s good to see the media attention given to the Michigan primary because it is a critical warning for the rest of the states, right down to Super Tuesday in March, although the presidential nominees for both parties appear to be foregone conclusions.

But Leap Year is not a year to leap to conclusions; it is just another day on the calendar of where to jump next in a decisive and meaningful way.

It’s time for lawmakers to eliminate deceptive hospital billing practices

By KARIM CAMARA

Small businesses are catalysts for economic growth in communities across New York. They are the heartbeat of New York’s economy, pumping vital energy into the veins of our bustling streets and vibrant communities. Despite their pivotal role in propelling New York’s economy, though, the escalating cost of healthcare for small businesses continues to threaten their viability and hinder them from expanding their workforce, growing enterprises, and reinvesting in their communities. State and federal legislators can alleviate this challenge by supporting policies that eliminate deceptive billing practices in hospitals.

Dishonest billing is a widespread issue where large corporate hospitals buy up local doctors’ offices to charge higher rates for routine services because care provided in a hospital setting costs significantly more than the same service in an office setting. This billing practice inflates hospital bills by more than 14%. Lawmakers must put an end to such billing practices at these hospitals, which boost their profits at the expense of the public.

As an entrepreneur, I have navigated the intricate dance of sustaining a business in a city that is as rewarding as it is demanding. My unique vantage point, shaped by serving as an elected official, pastor of a church, and entrepreneur, has rooted me deeply in the plight of small businesses and small-business owners. What is evident is that small-business employers are already grappling with the immense challenges of inflation and the difficult choice of growth or survival.

inflated hospital charges and preventable healthcare costs.

State and federal legislators sit at the helm of this change, with the power to enact policies that can banish deceptive billing practices and promote transparency in healthcare. By doing so, they can shield employers from the veiled traps of exorbitant medical costs and prevent hospitals’ profit margins from swelling on the backs of small-business owners.

economy’s lifeline, and every New Yorker’s well-being depends on swift and decisive legislative action. We implore our elected officials to stand with us, support transparent billing, and safeguard the future of small businesses.

Elinor

Damaso

Aaron Foley: News Editor

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

Siobhan

Wilbert

Moreover, the additional burden of rising healthcare costs for employees puts many small businesses at risk of extinction. Our communities face an unimaginable situation where the institutions meant to safeguard their health threaten individuals’ access to care. Given the crucial role played by small businesses in stimulating our economy and supporting local consumers, it is imperative to shield us from

“Our communities face an unimaginable situation where the institutions meant to safeguard their health threaten individuals’ access to care. Given the crucial role played by small businesses in stimulating our economy and supporting local consumers, it is imperative to shield us from inflated hospital charges and preventable healthcare costs.”

Small-business owners strive to provide for themselves, their families, and their employees, yet the escalating cost of healthcare stifles their efforts. It’s a crushing weight, sinking their ability to compete and flourish, and siphoning resources that could be invested in innovation, employment, and community development.

Our call to action, to “throw them a lifeline,” is clear and urgent: Our state and federal legislators must champion more effective policies that dismantle these duplicitous pricing schemes and restore clarity and honesty in healthcare billing. By doing so, they would protect the livelihood of small businesses and ensure that the people who keep New York’s heart beating do not bear unreasonable costs. We also need healthcare institutions to implement better policies for their patients unilaterally. The unchecked greed of hospital monopolies should not threaten the resilience and determination of our small businesses. The health of our companies and employees, our

The reality is that the solution lies not at the feet of any one stakeholder but at the center of a collective dialogue encompassing small businesses, healthcare providers, policymakers, and the communities we serve. This is not only a fiscal discussion, but a moral imperative to ensure the viability and continuous contribution of small businesses to the tapestry of New York. Together, we can preserve the legacy of our communities and ensure a healthy, thriving economy for generations to come.

Our small businesses are more than just the backbone of New York's vibrant economy—they are the very heartbeat of our local communities. We serve as engines of economic advancement, and we do so while navigating the stormy seas of healthcare costs, trying to offer our employees the care they deserve without capsizing our operations. The deceptive billing practices of hospital conglomerates are not just a hindrance; they are a looming threat to our survival, profitability, and capacity for growth.

Karim Camara is the former New York State Assemblymember for the 43rd District, a pastor, small-business owner, and Brooklyn residen

Oregon’s high cost of hope

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

In 2020, 58% of Oregon voters passed what may have been one of the most consequential ballot measures of this century.

The objective of Measure 110 was to eliminate the criminalization of minor drug possession and substitute associated penalties with a $100 fine and a card containing a number for addiction treatment services. In exchange for dismissing the citation, the offender can elect to call the hotline to seek rehabilitation.

At the time, advocates of the Measure 110 contended that it would constitute a progressive stride toward the cessation of the war on drugs, an endeavor that has disproportionately and substantially incarcerated minorities. For example, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit advocacy organization that contributed to the initiative’s funding, argued, “Measure 110 is arguably the biggest blow to the war on drugs to date. It shifts the focus where it belongs—on people and public health—and removes one of the most common justifications for law enforcement to harass, arrest, prosecute, incarcerate, and deport people.”

A number of Oregon residents at the time found this ballot initiative to be logical. Too many families have been torn apart for far too long by drugs, because of both their harmful effects and loved ones being in -

carcerated as a result of being caught using or selling them. Reformulating the approach to drug addicts from criminals to patients would constitute an important transition in preventing future substance use.

Oregon was not the first to do it, either. Portugal completely decriminalized drugs in 2001. However, much like Portugal’s law, Oregon’s is currently encountering significant criticism due to its dismal outcomes and the escalating number of overdose fatalities.

The intent of the Oregon law was to view drug use as a health concern, rather than a criminal offense, but people who are discovered using drugs should be forced to seek help, not merely encouraged to do so. Remember those cards that were included with the $100 citations? There was no penalty for nonpayment of the $100. As a consequence, in total, less than 4% of penalties were expunged through the use of the hotline, and just about everyone did not even pay the fine because there were no legal repercussions for not doing so.

Now, lawmakers are reconsidering their approach to drug crimes. Today, four years after the ballot measure was passed, the results are abysmal. In 2019, just one year before the ballot measure was passed, there were 280 overdose deaths across the entire state. In 2023, 623 died by June.

I had the opportunity to

travel to Oregon and observe the adverse consequences of Measure 110. I saw corpses strewn about the streets, individuals lawfully smoking meth and crack in public, and tent city sites where drugs are manufactured and sold that were inaccessible to law enforcement. I engaged in conversation with people with drug addictions. It was heartbreaking to see how high they were and how their lives had been squandered on narcotics. I witnessed all of this in the span of a few days; I can only speculate what Oregonians endure throughout the entire year.

Here’s the reality: Drug abuse ought to be a crime, but it also warrants treatment as a mental health condition. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Robbers may be treated as criminals while we continue to rehabilitate them to ensure that they never commit another robbery, just as we can treat drug addicts as criminals and ensure they have the necessary support to abstain from substance use in the future.

Call it what you will, but drug use is not a victimless offense. Everyone is affected by drug use. It affects family members who are forced to observe the decline of their loved ones because of substance use. They are affected when someone devotes all of their money to drugs as opposed to providing support for them. It affects the public who are forced

Marching toward March

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

to see their beautiful city transformed into a haven for drug addicts, who defile their streets and create victims from the innocent for drug money.

People are now beginning to understand that Oregon made a mistake. Legislation that would transform small-scale drug possession from a serious misdemeanor to a low-level offense punishable by up to 30 days in jail with the option to seek treatment in lieu of charges is now being sponsored by Democrats as well. This is an infinitely superior approach; however, I continue to hold the view that more stringent penalties are necessary to guarantee that individuals who engage in drug use are genuinely held accountable, as opposed to receiving a mere slap on the wrist.

Oregon is currently facing a pivotal moment: the decision of whether to eliminate drug use from the streets and safeguard the lives of Oregon families, or to continue down the path of not enforcing their liberal policies, which have resulted in numerous fatalities and the destruction of public accommodations. If Oregon wishes to save itself, it must make the right choice.

Armstrong Williams (@ ARight-Side) 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

Is it just me or is it that the older I get, the faster time flies? Even though it’s a Leap Year and we have an extra day in February, I still cannot believe we are a full two months into the “new year.” Ever since the COVID lockdown, my sense of time has been off-kilter. Sometimes, days feel like weeks and some months feel like mere days. It’s as if my body clock needs to be reset. Even the changing of the seasons seems confusing to me—springtime weather in the middle of February, followed by a brief blizzard.

As March unfolds, spring flowers try to emerge from the soil, and buds begin to bloom on the trees, I will use this time to regroup and recalibrate my inner clock.

This year has already presented “storms and rainbows.” A dear friend’s mother died rather suddenly, and another friend and their partner celebrated the birth of a healthy baby boy. The passing of parents is something I am not prepared for. So many of my friends are traveling down this road and their description of time while processing the loss of a loved one is something I can’t quite comprehend. They describe feeling like time is suspended in air. While they are at once frozen, in an emotional tundra, time still marches on.

Similarly, as some of my other friends celebrate the birth of children, they feel like time will never be the same, measured against the gains and struggles of

a little one, who at one time is solely dependent and then in the blink of an eye becomes independent, seemingly in front of one’s eyes.

Time is a mere construct that is constantly changing and evolving as we get older and, we hope, a bit wiser.

My goal is to stay present in my life so I can be more present for others.

That is, not getting too consumed with what will happen in the future and things outside of my control. It also means not being consumed by things that have happened in the past. To be present is to respect the abundance and limitations of time.

What the last two relatively glorious and turbulent months of 2024 have shown me is that time can be fleeting and it is imperative to cherish those we have in our lives while we have them. As 2024 progresses, I have made a pledge to try to remain as present as possible. To savor the moments, those perceived as good and bad, and learn from them. I am also going to allow myself to be still, do nothing, and let time pass by.

As March moves forward, we can let it lead us along.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio; and a 2023-24 Moynihan Public Scholars Fellow at CCNY.

Caribbean Update

Frustrated Caricom leaders dig in on Haiti

BY BERT WILKINSON

Special to the AmNews

Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders spent much of Sunday at bloc headquarters in Guyana trying to break the political deadlock in Haiti, but it appears that they might have to ask Prime Minister Ariel Henry at some point to think about stepping aside, as opposition and civil society groups remain bitterly opposed to his presence as head of government of the strife-torn nation.

Frustration was obvious during interviews with several leaders after a lengthy meeting before their four-day conference in Georgetown. Several hinted about the difficulty of breaking the stalemate with Henry remaining at the helm.

If Henry is asked to step down, how the country will proceed without a prime minister and a president after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse remains unclear. Bahamian Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell said the situation is frustrating because progress is

being thwarted by the continued refusal of opposition and other groups to deal with and or recognize Henry as prime minister.

“Many of the opposition groups are opposed to the prime minister, but for the international community, it would be difficult to see what will happen if you remove the present prime minister. There needs to be a political solution, but moving forward is not going as forward as expected,” Mitchell said.

“They want Henry removed,” he added.

The situation in Haiti, the most populous and poorest Caricom member state, is expected to dominate the agenda at the summit. As an indication of how seriously the effort to break the deadlock is being taken, the Biden administration has sent United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield for a dedicated session with leaders on Monday. “Haiti is the only topic; nothing else, really,” Mitchell said.

Discussion about how to push forward in Haiti has come less than a week after the international community held a donor-pledging conference in Brazil to raise funds for a multi-

national peacekeeping force to be deployed to the country in the coming weeks. Reports indicate that around $100 million was tabled at the conference while the U.S. has pledged an additional $200 million to get things started.

However, Bahamian Prime Minister Phillip Davis told the Amsterdam News that the Caricom bloc thinks “we would need a ballpark figure of around $600 million per annum” to maintain the force and to help stabilize a country where heavily armed gangs are roaming, killing people, looting stores, extorting from business owners, and paralyzing life in some districts.

Phillips said the situation in neighboring Haiti is “a threat to our national security as well,” with hundreds of scared locals arriving on Bahamian shores in rickety vessels as economic migrants, while dozens of others drown on the high seas in trying to escape the violence.

Henry, who heads to Kenya after the Guyana summit to wrap up preparations for the multinational force, said fresh elections cannot be held in less than 18 months. This will, no doubt, create more uncertainty as daily violent pro-

tests calling for his removal are likely to continue once he is head of government. He had signed an agreement to organize elections and hand over power by February 7, but no real effort has been made to do so.

Critics say that the U.S., which is trying to stabilize the situation there, is the one propping up his regime. Henry said calls for his removal are a power grab by the opposition, and urged “everyone to work together” to bring about peace. He has vowed not to compete in any fresh elections that might be organized in the coming months.

Meanwhile, current block chair and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said the region has to remain focused on solving the problems of its fellow member nation.

“Today [Sunday], we spent most of this morning on the very issue of Haiti. We are committed as a region (to) ensuring that the people of Haiti can also realize their full potential in peace, security, and with good governance. We owe it to the people of Haiti. Anything that impedes the interest of the people of Haiti is of immense concern for the leadership of this region,” he said.

Five key immigration news updates this week

FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION KORNER

From a deferred departure memo from President Joe Biden to executive action consideration about dealing with the continued onslaught of immigrants at the Southern border, here are five key immigration news updates this week.

1: With election months away, Biden eyes executive action

With the countdown to the November general elections, where it seems there will be a rematch of President Biden versus Donald Trump, Biden is seemingly eyeing executive action to deal with the crisis at the U.S. southern border. Immigration yet again becomes the hot button issue of the 2024 elections.

In Washington, Biden, according to the Associated Press, disclosed to governors nationwide on February 23 that he is considering executive action to manage migration at the southern border, following the collapse of a bipartisan congressional deal earlier this month.

Biden reportedly also called on the governors to encourage their congressional representatives to revive the failed bipartisan agreement, which fell apart in just two days and criticized the Republicans for withdrawing from the deal—influenced by former President Donald Trump’s opposition.

“Our immigration system is outdated, both in terms of laws and resources,” Biden reportedly remarked, pointing to “petty pol-

itics” as the reason for the deal’s failure. Biden is pondering the use of Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the president substantial discretion to prohibit the entry of certain immigrants if deemed harmful to national interests. This consideration follows the model of some of Trump’s controversial immigration policies, which Biden had overturned upon taking office.

2: Prince Harry’s case

The immigration case on whether Prince Harry’s visa application should be public, given his drug use confessions in his memoir “Spare,” got underway in federal court in D.C. on Feb. 23 before Judge Carl J. Nicholas. The case, The Heritage Foundation versus the U.S. DHS, saw the Biden administration’s lawyers arguing in court last Friday that Prince Harry’s memoir, which includes drug use admissions, might not be factual and could be aimed at boosting sales. DHS attorney John Bardo emphasized that the book is not legally binding evidence of drug use. Bardo also suggested it’s plausible that Harry used a diplomatic visa given his royal status.

The Heritage Foundation, however, argued for access to his immigration files, highlighting the potential impact of his drug use admissions on visa processes. Samuel Dewey, representing the Foundation, labeled Bardo’s claim as “absurd” due to Harry’s estranged relations with the Royal Family at that time The Prince Harry case raises questions about immigration policy, especially regarding public figures with disclosed drug use. It is unclear when Judge Nicholas will make a decision on the case.

3: Trump pushes “Poisoning the blood of our country” rhetoric

Now that Donald Trump looks like the Republican frontrunner he is ramping up his xenophobic rhetoric against immigrants.

Trump has escalated his use of dehumanizing language to describe migrants, accusing them of “poisoning the blood of our country” and calling the record unauthorized border crossings an “invasion,” an “open wound,” and a source of imminent terrorist attacks.

Trump also is discussing plans to ramp up deportation efforts, potentially using military resources for mass deportations and establishing detention camps. This initiative, which revisits discussions from Trump’s presidency about employing military planes and bases for deportations, is raising concerns over feasibility and safety. The proposed actions have sparked intense debate, highlighting the divisive nature of Trump’s immigration policies and rhetoric.

4: Deferred departure granted for Palestinians in the U.S.

On February 14, President Biden instructed Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, to delay the deportation of Palestinians present in the U.S. for the next 18 months, with exceptions for individuals:

Who have willingly returned to the Palestinian territories following the issuance of the President’s directive;

Who have not maintained continuous residence in the United States since February 14, 2024;

Deemed inadmissible under section 212(a) (3) or deportable under section 237(a)(4) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); Convicted of any felony or two or more misdemeanors in the U.S., or who satisfy any criteria outlined in section 208(b)(2)(A) of the INA; Under extradition orders; Considered by the Secretary of Homeland Security as detrimental to U.S. interests or a threat to public safety; Whose stay, according to the Secretary of State, could lead to significant adverse effects on U.S. foreign policy.

President Biden further instructed Mayorkas to grant work authorizations for the duration of 18 months to Palestinian non-citizens whose deportation has been deferred and to evaluate the relaxation of regulations for F-1 nonimmigrant Palestinian students. This memorandum must be published in the Federal Register to take effect.

5: USCIS reduces backlog

Officials of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) say that for the first time in over a decade, it has reduced backlogs in case processing, particularly for humanitarian and employment-based immigration. In FY 2023, USCIS received 10.9 million filings and completed more than 10 million pending cases. In doing so, the agency said it reduced overall backlogs by 15%. Among USCIS’ record number of case completions in FY 2023, the agency also administered the Oath of Allegiance to more than 878,500 new U.S. citizens, including 12,000 members of the military, effectively eliminating the backlog of naturalization applications.

Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focusing on Black immigrant issues.

Arts & Entertainment

Graphic Novels Unveiling Cultural Icons: W.E.B. Du Bois & Nina Simone

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH

Special to the AmNews

The expansion of the manner in which Black American historical explorations are presented—through artistry and creative individuality, and foundationally written in the vein of empowerment as opposed to pity—continues to peak through nearly two centuries of incoming, inaccurate Black history. The world of Bosco books is feeling fresh and uninhibited during the 2020s. The true hope and dream is that this is not a drop in the literary ocean, but a positive trend that will not revert backward ever again.

Paul Peart-Smith’s “Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation” and Sophie Adriansen’s “Nina Simone in Comics!” delve into the rich tapestry of African American history, offering readers a visual and emotional journey through pivotal moments in the lives of these cultural icons.

W.E.B. Du Bois Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation

Du Bois, a towering intellectual of the 20th century, expressed the challenges faced by the African American community with the profound statement, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.”

Paul Peart-Smith’s graphic adap-

tation of Du Bois’s seminal work not only captures the essence of this powerful declaration but also provides a nuanced exploration of the historical and cultural contexts that shaped it.

Through vibrant illustrations, readers are immersed in the world behind Du Bois’s words, gaining deeper insights into the cultur-

al debates of “The Souls of Black Folk.” In doing so, Peart-Smith’s work transcends the pages, resonating with the contemporary relevance of the 1619 Project and the Black Lives Matter movement. This intriguing Black historical graphic novel serves as a bridge between the past and present, ensuring that Du Bois’s legacy endures in the collective consciousness. It transforms a classic text into a visual overture, making the complexities of racial inequality, white supremacist terror, and cultural resilience accessible to a new generation of readers.

Nina Simone in Comics! by Sophie Adriansen

Sophie Adriansen’s “Nina Simone in Comics!” embarks on a compelling journey through the life of the profound and one-of-a-kind musician, composer, and activist Nina Simone. The graphic novel portrays Simone’s fierce battle as a musician deeply involved in the

Civil Rights Movement, illustrating her unwavering commitment to social justice through her musical prowess.

The narrative paints a vivid portrait of Nina Simone’s long and illustrious career, showcasing her brilliance as a pianist and singer. Adriansen skillfully weaves together the highs and lows of Simone’s life, portraying her as not just an artist but a symbol of resilience and determination. As a unique role model and inspiration for generations, Simone’s impact on the world transcends her musical legacy.

“Nina Simone in Comics!” pays homage to a remarkable artist, and ensures that Simone’s story resonates with contemporary audiences. Through the marriage of visuals and storytelling, Adriansen’s graphic novel becomes a testament to the enduring influence of Nina Simone, capturing the essence of her artistry and visionary allure in a format that can engage diverse generations.

Review: ‘Breaking the Chains’ by William Loren Katz

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

The death of William Loren Katz in 2019 was a devastating loss in general and specifically to the Black and Native American communities, where his books were lodestones of his outstanding publishing and literary career. His indelible work was renewed recently with the reissue of “Breaking the Chains: African American Slave Resistance” with a new introduction by acclaimed scholar Robin D.G. Kelley.

Katz, as with all of his books, is unequivocally aligned with the oppressed, particularly with the enslaved and their struggle to gain freedom and justice. He deftly chronicles how Black Americans struggled valiantly, and often successfully to obtain some measure of their civil and human rights.

At the very inception of the European plunder of Africa and subsequent Atlantic slave trade, Katz cites the countless mutinies aboard slave ships that began an unrelieved resistance. Each chapter of “Breaking the Chains” reveals the determination for freedom: “A Troublesome Property,” “The Battle for Family and Knowledge,” “Industrial and Urban Resistance,” and “Revolts in the Age of Revolution,” et al.

Katz marshals the facts, presents the data, and makes it abundantly clear that Black Americans were by no means passive onlookers in the fight for liberation, dispelling any notion that they were “the only people in the history of the world who became free without any effort of their own,” as historian W.E. Woodward wildly once claimed according to Katz.

Not only were African Amer-

icans agents of their liberation, but Katz shows their courage and resolve in the nation’s wars: the Revolutionary War, Spanish American War, and most significantly

the Civil War. Many of the events overlooked or distorted by other historians get a fresh analysis from Katz including John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. In too many accounts Brown is dismissed as a half-crazed zealot, but to Katz, he was a radical abolitionist and imbued with a charisma to convince several African Americans to join him. “On October 16, 1859,” Katz wrote, “Brown led a band that included five Blacks and seventeen whites, including his sons.” He intended to take command of the government arsenal, arm members of the enslaved on farms and plantations, and set up command stations to bring out the end of slavery. While the attempt failed, many believe it was the catalyst that ignited the Civil War.

Katz, as Kelley notes, debunks another longstanding myth that

President Lincoln freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation. “It did not liberate the four hundred and fifty thousand in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, or the two hundred and seventy-five thousand in Tennessee, and the tens of thousands in the Union-ruled portions of Louisiana and Virginia. In short, it liberated people in areas controlled by the Confederacy,” Katz wrote.

Some of what Katz recounts about America’s history, the dissolution of democracy, and the continuing menace of the Ku Klux Klan occurred with the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Readers of this book will be reminded of just how much more has to be done to fully liberate our society, and that Katz is needed all the more since there are still chains to be broken.

2024 Independent Spirit Awards: A triumph of diversity and talent

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

The 2024 Independent Spirit Awards, produced by Film Independent, continues to be a shining example of diversity and inclusion across a challenging landscape.

The annual awards show—which took place beachside in Santa Monica, Calif., and was livestreamed on both IMDB’s YouTube and Film Independent’s YouTube channel—was hosted by former ”Saturday Night Live” star Aidy Bryant.

One of the key reasons we cover this event, to be frank, is the respectful treatment our outlet receives, starting with the public relations team at Ginsberg/Libby who set the tone. Even after attending the event over the years, the enduring sense of “I belong here” remains unchanged. This reaffirms our commitment to supporting such an intelligent and effective organization.

The competition at the awards ceremony was competitive with ”Past Lives,” “May December,” and “American Fiction” battling it out with five nominations each—along with notable actors Greta Lee, Natalie Portman, Charles Melton, and Sterling K. Brown, who starred in the respective films.

Lily Gladstone also joined the festivities as honorary chair for this year’s awards.

Distributor A24 scooped up three wins:

“Past Lives” for Best Feature and Best Director, and “Showing Up” for the Altman Award. Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios/Amazon Freevee won three awards: “American Fiction” for Best Screenplay and Best Lead Performance, and “Jury Duty” for Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series. Focus Features won four awards: “The Holdovers” for Best Supporting Performance, Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Cinematographer, and “A Thousand and One” for Best First Feature. Netflix

won three awards: “Beef” for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series and Best New Scripted Series, and “May December” for Best First Screenplay.

Check out the full list of winners below:

BEST FEATURE

“Past Lives”

Producers: David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”

BEST DIRECTOR

Celine Song, “Past Lives”

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Monica Sorelle, Director of “Mountains”

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Set Hernandez, Director of “Unseen”

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)

“A Thousand and One”

Director: A.V. Rockwell

Producers: Julia Lebedev, Rishi Rajani, Eddie Vaisman, Lena Waithe, Brad Weston

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast

“Showing Up”

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Casting Director: Gayle Keller

MARCH 9

Take a Breath Music and the Family

Children and their families are welcome to this engaging workshop exploring the power of music to connects us. Featuring performances by New York Philharmonic musicians, and led by facilitators from Northwell Heath.

AT 2:00PM FREE and open to the public on a first-come, first-seated basis.

Mother AME Zion Church

140 West 137th Street

Ensemble Cast: André Benjamin, Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, Heather Lawless, James Le Gros, John Magaro, Matt Malloy, Amanda Plummer, Maryann Plunkett, Denzel Rodriguez, Michelle Williams

PRODUCERS AWARD

Monique Walton

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Dominic Sessa, “The Holdovers”

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1 million “Fremont”

Director/Writer: Babak Jalali

Writer: Carolina Cavalli

Producers: Rachael Fung, Chris Martin, Marjaneh Moghimi, George Rush, Sudnya Shroff, Laura Wagner

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Eigil Bryld, “The Holdovers”

BEST EDITING

Daniel Garber, “How to Blow Up a Pipeline”

BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

“Beef”

Creator/Executive Producer: Lee Sung Jin

Executive Producers: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Jake Schreier, Ravi Nandan, Alli Reich

Co-Executive Producers: Alice Ju, Carrie Kemper

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Ali Wong, “Beef”

BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES

“Dear Mama”

Executive Producers: Lasse Järvi, Quincy ‘QD3’ Jones III, Staci Robinson, Nelson George, Charles D. King, Peter Nelson, Adel ‘Future’ Nur, Jamal Joseph, Ted Skillman, Allen Hughes, Steve Berman, Marc Cimino, Jody Gerson, John Janick, Nicholas Ferrall, Nigel Sinclair

BEST SCREENPLAY

Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch, Alex Mechanik

“May December”

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

“Anatomy of a Fall”

France

Director: Justine Triet

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Keivonn Montreal Woodard, “The Last of Us”

BEST DOCUMENTARY

“Four Daughters”

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Producer: Nadim Cheikhrouha

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Nick Offerman, “The Last of Us”

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”

Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”), Best Supporting Actor (Art Sirian photos)

Cord Jefferson (“American Fiction”), Best Screenplay

2024 Independent Spirit Awards producer Lena Waithe (“A Thousand and One”)

‘Adoration’ provides artists a space to celebrate the Black lens

By BRENIKA BANKS

Special to the AmNews

At first glance, a full moon reflecting in the middle of the ocean seems normal. However, after a deeper look, one will notice eyes in the water and a ship in the far distance. Suddenly, this painting tells a story beyond a full moon, eyes, and ocean. This work creates a visualization of the uncomfortable and unsettling parts of history desperately forgotten. Artist Serron Green aims to remind the world of this uncommon knowledge.

“If the eyes are facing forward, you can picture yourself as one of those people and you’re looking at them as they’re looking at you,” said Green. The purpose of his “DEATH BETTA THAN BONDAGE, 2024” is to impel viewers to experience the emotions of those in the water. The Newark, N.J.-raised, selftaught artist referred to his painting as a nuanced Black history. “You hear about slaves, but it’s very rare that you hear about the ones that didn’t get here,” said Green.

His work, depicting the enslaved Africans’ perspective, drew many people to the recent “Black History Month Admiration” (styled ad•mi•ra•tion) opening event at the Tanya Weddemire Gallery. “I’m happy about people gravitating to what I’ve done and the reason behind it,” he said. He was also thrilled to see how many attendees were at the opening.

“I was a little caught off guard by the amount of folks here,” said Green. “I’m happy to see so many faces that look like mine.”

The opening reception took place on Thursday, Feb. 1, held in Industry City, Brooklyn, and brought out over 200 attendees to support celebrating Black art. Tanya Weddemire, the Jamaican-born gallery owner, curator, and art dealer, was pleasantly surprised with the turnout.

“It feels really good, especially to launch the new space on February 1, Black History Month, 2024, showcasing nine phenomenal artists,” said Weddemire. Her artist selections aren’t based on who’s emerging or established; rather, she seeks specific energy and flow when selecting those to showcase.

“I look at the work as a whole and see where it needs to go based on storytelling and how the guest is going to engage based on their first walk in, to the point of them leaving,” she said. She understands which works complement each other and which are better on opposite sides of the gallery space. “I look at how we’re going to tell the story with the artwork by pairing which work goes well with each other.”

One artist who admires Weddemire’s style is Guy Stanley Philoche. The Haitian-born modern artist said he and Weddemire share

similar visions when it comes to art. “It’s really good to have someone who looks like me that talks about my work.”

Philoche was also excited seeing the gallery full of supporters and art lovers. “First day of Black History Month, I see lots of beautiful Black people out here celebrating, enjoying; I like celebrating us.”

Black History Month at the Tanya Weddemire Gallery included celebrating the Black lens of beauty beyond what society deems beautiful. Self-taught illustrator and wood artist Candice Tavares creates art salut-

ing Black beauty, love, and culture. Her designs highlight the history and diversity of it all, without negative narratives. “I really want to explore Black beauty across generational lines,” she said.

Tavares, from near Philadelphia, finds the beauty of African descendants in wood. Her imagination turned African mahogany, satin wood, and macadamia nuts into “ADORNED, 2024.”

This mixed media connected with Sheraine Gilliam instantly. “When I walk into the gallery and see this image, it’s like, ‘it is me!’” said Gilliam. “It is this time in my life, and I feel free.” She is happy seeing more Black women wearing their natural hair. The new art collector was thrilled to purchase this work as an example for her six-year-old daughter. Black representation makes a huge difference for the community. Gilliam spoke of being privileged to connect with Tavares’s piece, especially because she hadn’t intended to purchase anything. Gilliam was also thrilled to meet Tavares and speak with her. “I told her, ‘I’m so proud of you, I want to support you; I’m going to buy it,’” said Gilliam.

Gilliam is also proud of Weddemire. She thanked her for providing a space that encourages people to buy art who normally don’t. “It’s good to see a Black woman so dedicated and focused on cultivating our culture through art—that makes me proud. I’m always going to support that,” said Gilliam. Another supporter in awe of the gallery opening was artist Neil Anthony Edwards.

The New York-based artist, who uses canvas, oil, acrylic, and interior paint, was fascinated by how well the opening event went. “Everybody here is different,” he said. “[Tanya] pays very close attention to details; everything is put together very well.”

Edwards’s oil on canvas, “The Once and Future City,” was inspired by last June’s five-day smog event in the city, as Edwards recalled. “It reminded me of a dystopian society,” said Edwards. “My theory was, what if the sky never came back to its original color?”

He mentioned dystopian movies like “Blade Runner” that highlight the sky’s absence. “I think it’s very important that we appreciate the sun and blue sky while we have it.”

Edwards wants his art to be thought-provoking to viewers yet work well with décor in homes.

During her closing thank-you speech, Weddemire expressed her gratitude to all.

“I thank the nine artists who decided to put their work up and gave it to me to put on display. You guys know that every single time you give me work, I’m going to take care of it as if it’s my baby.”

“Black History Month ad•mi•ra•tion” is on display until March 9. For information, visit www.tanyaweddemiregallery.org.

“Black History Month Admiration” (styled ad•mi•ra•tion) entrance with viewers observing Guy Stanley Philoche piece, “I AM A WOMAN, 2023” (Brenika Banks photos)

Artist Serron Green during gallery’s opening, speaking to viewers about inspiration for his painting, “DEATH BETTA THAN BONDAGE, 202.”

Self-taught painter Neil Anthony Edwards and his oil on canvas, “The Once and Future City,” inspired by June 2023’s five-day smog epidemic

African mahogany, satin wood, and macadamia nut mixed media, “ADORNED, 2024” by self-taught artist Candice Tavares

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

Cappy, January and February was the aftermath of November and December playing out in a different way. You are ready for the lesson now. That lesson is to do for self. Do what’s in your best interest to get the job done. Make a name for yourself within your creative pursuits or with something you have been wanting to do. From March 4 around 4:15 p.m. until March 7 around 7 p.m., the details are in the conversation and also in plain sight, so make the commitment to yourself first and then aid others. Each day when you wake up, remind yourself of one thing you need to do.

It’s a phenomenal financial cycle when you put yourself out there, be it within the community, doing workshops, working towards personal pursuits, attending lectures, gaining information for the youth, and learning from them. Get in the groove to exercise your body. In the days leading up to March 6 around 7:38 p.m., remember each day that it’s your work, your progress that later brings huge results. Inspire and motivate yourself to make progress even when you are not feeling your best. Everything is inside of you. Find a way to bring it out of you.

March brings excitement, adventures, and rapid changes that will have you here, there, back and forth. Always find a way to go straight to the source when you need information or help. Listen more than you talk as there is a message coming from wise elders to guide or inform you. From February 28 around 10:09 p.m. until March 2 around 8:08 a.m., there’s an opportunity to travel long and short distances even if it’s driving to relatives. It’s time to upgrade or change your appearance even within the home department. Hug yourself and treat yourself to something well overdue.

March has a slow-motion effect for you to nurture yourself and be mindful to read things carefully or double check the date and time. During the first week of March your plans and agenda will move swiftly as the universe is smiling down on you. From March 2 around 8:56 a.m. until March 4 around 3:33 p.m., keep note of what occurs during the first week to keep a record of what’s going on and where it is leading you to. Faith is activated when you believe and just go for it. It’s “it” factors that make you special.

Deliberately make it happen even when pushing through what may seem stuck. March is a month of advancement and opportunity for the things you invest in to yield big results. From March 4 around 4:15 p.m. until March 7 around 7 p.m., an internal transformation is brewing up to do something you have been longing to do. Why wait until you can have what you need above average? Climb higher and maintain.

Revelation will always be revealed and it’s up to you to recognize when it reveals for you. It’s a cycle to stay focused, concentrated, and dig down the rabbit hole to further your spiritual gifts. Allow that to be your transformation to build on a higher foundation of elevation. In the days leading up to March 6 around 7:38 p.m., it’s all in you, the reason why you did what you do. Make the decision as there is a greater plan unfolding within personal and business relationships. At times you must journey alone and that’s okay. March is a preview of what tests are on the way.

Reed

Rebirth of A New Nation: Pay very close attention when your spirit insists you do. There will be certain things that will pop up on TVs; you’ll see signs you never noticed, hear things that take on a different meaning, hear repetitive things, and feel and sense things in the weirdest way. Put on your looking glasses in the month of March. This month has so much in store for you that it will unravel in many different forms and ways of life. Don’t be surprised when the birds look at you a certain way and follow you or just stand there nearby. Also, the leaves might seem to move in a different way. Just know all living things have a position, and play a role in your life, as a reminder or to push you forward in life. Take heed of what seems unusual as a message being conveyed to you. Take note of the time, date, year, and place. “Rather than seeing dreams as containing hidden messages, see dreams as experiences of empathy. Then use empathy with the dream to reconnect with the experience of dreaming itself.” -Henry

Whatever the mind can conceive, it will manifest. When building a home, a blueprint is needed, including the folks and the company to participate in fulfilling the concept in mind. What’s the foundation you are building or at least envisioning to draw out the blueprint preparing for the next step? From February 28 around 10:09 p.m. until March 2 around 8:08 a.m., by month’s end you will have a solid plan and throughout the month the details of all the bells and whistles will be given to you. Your mind is a powerful source of information. When you dig deep enough you will find that you have a goldmine full of resources.

March is a month to give everything your best shot and utilize all the folks and resources you have. Be cheerful, commanding, and inner standing of the gifts and talents you possess within. Only you know thyself better than anyone. Remember to ask for what you need and more. From March 2 around 8:56 a.m. until March 4 around 3:33 p.m., you must apply the footwork, get in the mud, soak in the water, sunbathe in the sun with sweat dripping down your face, neck and back. Let’s not forget to stand in the cold or challenge yourself to stand in the cold water. When you seek, you will find. Question: Do you trust yourself enough to go after what you dream of doing?

When the spirits speak to you and through you, follow and relate the message. No need for validation, your gut instinct is enough. March is a month to travel down the rabbit hole and beavers’ burrows for self-discovery. Discipline is needed during the first week to focus on your plans, lessons, experiences, and to receive the upcoming task. From March 4 around 4:15 p.m. until March 7 around 7 p.m., let go and watch how the universe invests in you or uses you as an example when you believe in you. Nobody can do what you do so why not enrich yourself with the talent within to share with the world?

March is a time to be silent and concentrate on your agenda. Clear out any distractions, weed out any old things or donate what no longer serves you anymore. Those things can benefit another being. Although there is a healthy lesson involved, going back can be a benefit only for what you came to get; make your exit swiftly. In the days leading up to March 6 around 7:38 p.m., it’s time to invest in yourself, however that may be, just know you are “it” like in the game of tag. Tag onto what makes you happy inside and keep the inspiration by doing things like exercise, making notes or even pictures to remind you of your growth and show you it. Know that you are worth it.

Ready or not, March is here to give you a sedated vibe. You will see things that may look blurry, and both close and far distance, yet there is something in between the blurred lines. Can you guess what it is? When you do, take heed of the information. The 411 may be in the sky, a sign on the door, a person demonstrating something, a song, a dance—you will know by the feeling you receive to acknowledge that something. From February 28 around 10:09 p.m. until March 2 around 8:08 a.m., take time to nourish yourself and everyone and everything around you. Watch the unfolding story by month’s end.

March is marching in an army of folks to help you, and to help you aid them. A favor for a favor, you can call it. So much change, travel, flexibility, freedom, and opportunity are at your tippy toes and fingertips to glide through the change with adaptability. The choice is yours to participate in the activities you want to. From March 2 around 8:56 a.m. until March 4 around 3:33 p.m., go for it and just do it like the Nike slogan. What do you have to lose? The universe blows in to help like in the movie “The Help” and have you solving figures like in the movie “Hidden Figures” to make a special delivery. Go ahead to hit the ground running, or flying with the wind, or even traveling by train sightseeing the mountains.

NYBG’s spring ’24 Orchids Show on view through April 21

By RENEE MINUS WHITE AmNews Fashion & Beauty Editor

Flaunting a flair for flowery styles, the New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) exhibit “The Orchids Show: Florals in Fashion” opened last week at the Enid Haupt Conservatory. It begins with a beautiful grouping of mannequins wearing bikinis, minidresses, and playsuit fashions. The looks are intricately designed in various flower patterns that are real-flower designs.

For the opening, NYBG’s Annual Orchids dinner was held on February 22, 2024. The elegant VIP affair supports the NYBG’s global research, conservation initiatives, and programs in horticulture and education to help protect biodiversity. Guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and dancing in the beautiful Orchid dinner space, designed by Crain & Ventolo. The theme was sustainability and artisanal craftsmanship.

Three designers were featured in the show. Dauphinette by Olivia Chang’s creations were stunning. The Collina Strada by Hillary Taymour brand encourages being the best version of oneself. For their strapless gown of purple orchids, Taymour used sustainable, responsible materials and flowers to create their model.

The look is fueled by fantasy, allowing visitors to slip into this not-so-quite-human

world of fashion. FLWR PSTL, aka Kristen Alpaugh, takes a hip approach to her design with a floral leggy look worn with jean shorts and top. Alpaugh plants a captivating canvas. For playfulness, the designer’s bodily structured styles are combined with her signature hand-painted iridescent leaves, artichokes, tangerines, and other uncommon additions.

No medium or materials were off limits. Her design pays homage to past selves and looks optimistically to the future. Other pieces, consisting of menswear, saucer styles, and a plastic multi-color raincoat, were very wearable.

Throughout this extraordinary exhibit, orchids in vibrant colors are exploding all around. Visitors can read about orchids and learn the names of the various plants that cling to tree trunks and hang above and below the walkway, including Moth Orchids, Dancing Lady Orchids, Crane Flowers, and Water Lilies.

The desert area of the conservatory features a vast collection of gorgeous Cactus plants, including the Spiny Tree Cactus, before coming back into the end of the Orchid displays that are on view with hundreds of other plants. These fabulous, colorful orchids are always in fashion. Take the whole family and enjoy the show!

For more info, visit www.nybg.org.

NYBG’s Orchids Show collection (Renee Minus White/A Time To Style photos)

‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ is glorious at City Center!

By LINDA ARMSTRONG

Special to the AmNews

The New York City Center (NYCC) is celebrating its 80th anniversary, the ENCORES! Series is celebrating its 30th anniversary—what better way to do it than by presenting incredible theater, and that is what is happening right now at NYCC on W. 55th Street as it presents George C. Wolfe’s jazz musical masterpiece, “Jelly’s Last Jam.”

This production is an absolute delight from start to finish. Wolfe’s production, which features music by Jelly Roll Morton, focuses on the life of Morton, a Creole jazz performer who thought highly of himself. It is not until after his death that he has to come to grips with the fact that he was not the creator of jazz and he has to give credit to those who came before him.

Wolfe’s musical is intensely performed and shows the harsh reality of colorism that exists in the Black community. Wolfe shows that Creole Jelly Roll Morton thought himself better than other Blacks who did not have his light complexion. He is portrayed as a man who was conceited, a womanizer, and someone who felt superior to darker-complexioned Blacks.

I love how the character Chimney Man represents the ancestors. He is the one who has to bring Morton to the reality that his life

was not what he thought it was. Chimney Man takes Morton to task after Morton has died—”Jelly’s Last Jam” is Chimney Man going over the full story of Morton’s life.

That life included losing his parents, being raised by a proud Creole grandmother, embarrassing his family, and being disowned. Morton had a tough beginning, but managed to make something of himself as a musician and singer.

He grew up not receiving love and therefore not understanding how to give it. When it came to love, Morton was involved with a club owner named Anita, but his conceit got the best of him and he managed to ruin that relationship. At first, he found himself to be the next big thing, but as time went on,

things changed, people moved on to new music and he found himself struggling to survive. His conceit, womanizing, and arrogance would prove to be his downfall.

He also treated people cruelly and did so without remorse.

George paints a vivid picture of the separation that truly does exist in the Black community based on a person’s complexion. It has always been an issue and sadly will always be one.

This musical is full of fantastic music, phenomenal jazz singing, and some of the most sensational, tantalizing tap dancing you will see on a stage.

This cast is splendid. Billy Porter is stunning as Chimney Man—he is in rare form on that stage. Porter

delivers his character with respect, humor, and intensity.

Joaquina Kalukango delivers on all thrusters as Anita. Her voice is superb. She is always a delight to experience.

John Clay III is perfect as Jack the Bear. He delivers the character with a lot of heart.

Nicholas Christopher shines in the title role of Jelly Roll Morton as an adult and is accompanied by a very capable Alaman Diadhiou who plays Young Jelly.

The one and only Leslie Uggams plays Gran Mimi and let me just say, that lady has still got it! Her voice is amazing, a vocal instrument that rises to the occasion in grand fashion.

Tiffany Mann blows the audience

away as Miss Mamie. Her voice is stupendous.

It is incredibly marvelous to experience the original Hunnies portraying their roles as the chorus assisting in moving the story along. These ladies— Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Allison M. Williams—look and sound fantastic.

Okieriete Onaodowan delivers a smooth, mesmerizing performance as Buddy Bolden.

The ensemble members of this production are extraordinary. Their tap dancing skills and those of members of the lead performers are what showstopping numbers are made of, and there were quite a few of those moments.

This engaging production features lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, musical adaptation and additional music composed by Luther Henderson, score consulting by Daryl Water, choreography by Edgar Godineaux, tap choreography by Dormeshia, scenic design by Clint Ramos, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Adam Honore, and sound design by Megumi Katayama. The fascinating direction of Robert O’Hara made everything come together in a funny, captivating, and cohesive production.

You only have until March 3 to come and enjoy. For more information, go to NYCityCenter.org.

Cast of Jelly’s Last Jam. (Joan Marcus photos)

(l-r) Allison M. Williams, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, Billy Porter and Mamie Duncan-Gibbs. (l-r) Nicholas Christopher and Joaquina Kalukango.

Joaquina Kalukango, star of ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ at NYCC

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Can you believe that the Tony Award-winning musical “Jelly’s Last Jam” is going to be presented at New York City Center as part of its fabulous ENCORES! productions? Well, it is and it is happening Feb. 21 to March 3. This phenomenal, beloved musical was the brainchild of George C. Wolfe and is set to the jazz music of Jelly Roll Morton. It will be directed by Robert O’Hara. This musical is going to feature an all-star cast including Nicholas Christopher as Jelly, John Clay III as Jack The Bear, Tiffany Mann as Miss Mamie, Billy Porter as Chimney Man, the Leslie Uggams as Gran Mimi, Okieriete Onaodowan as Buddy Bolden, Alaman Diadhiou as Young Jelly, and three original Broadway cast members—Mamie Duncan-Givvs, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Allison M. Williams—reprise their roles as the Hunnies. This musical will also star the one and only Joaquina Kalukango, who took Broadway by storm in “Paradise Square.” While in rehearsals Joaquina spoke with AmNews about her role as Anita. Please enjoy the Q&A that follows.

AmNews: How did you come to be a part of “Jelly’s Last Jam” as Anita?

JK: I was in Atlanta. Robert reached out to me and asked if I would play Anita. I told him absolutely. This is my third time working with Robert and he knows that I’ll always jump at the opportunity to collaborate with him.

AmNews: How do you feel about doing this Encores! production?

JK: This is my second Encores! production. My first was Wild Party with Encores! Off-Center. It’s so nice to be back. What I love about this process is it doesn’t leave room for doubt or fear. Come rain or shine you have ten days to create something. It’s about trusting your instincts and being present with your cast.

AmNews: Were you familiar with “Jelly’s Last Jam”?

JK: I wasn’t familiar with “Jelly’s Last Jam.” So I went through the YouTube rabbit hole and tried to find as much material as I could. There’s a wonderful documentary that gives a backstage look at the process of bringing “Jelly’s Last Jam” to Broadway. And the beautiful thing is that we get to talk to the source: George C. Wolfe.

AmNews: What is it like to work with Billy Porter and Leslie Uggams and the other members of your cast?

JK: It’s amazing to work with people you admire and respect. I’m a watcher. In rehearsal I’m glued to my seat observing and absorbing everything that they put out into the space. They are both filled with so much knowledge about the craft, business, and life. I just ask as many questions as I can and listen. Nicholas Christopher is remarkable as Jelly and I can’t wait for everyone to witness his brilliance. The entire cast blows me away. When you see what people had to learn in 10 days I think you’ll be pretty blown away as well!

AmNews: What does it mean to be in a musical that is so beloved and to appear in it with three of its original Broadway cast members?

JK: It’s extraordinary. This show has changed so many people’s lives and I can feel the excitement. I get goosebumps in the opener when the Hunnies appear. They are truly stunning!

AmNews: Are there any “Let It Burn” moments?

JK: “Jelly’s Last Jam” is full of hair raising, goosebump-filled, and heartpounding moments!

AmNews: Why should people come to experience this musical between Feb. 21 and March 3rd?

JK: This show is not to be missed. It’s exhilarating, entertaining, provocative, and sexy. The perfor -

mances are stellar. Everyone should come and Jam with us!

For more information, go to NYCityCenter. org.

Joaquina Kalukango (Photo courtesy of NYCC)

Paula West, Wycliffe at Vanguard, Sankofa Danzafro

The West Coast vocal stylist Paula West hit my radar screen, making me a West head for ever more during the period she was accompanied by the brilliant young pianist Eric Reed. That was quite a trio/quartet that performed often in New York City, with performances at the Jazz Standard and prestigious Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel.

West earned a reputation for turning lost songs in the back bushes, most often not even associated with jazz, but her song interpretations and musical curiosity brought attention to such non-standard songs as Bert Williams’s turn of the (20th) century classic “Nobody,” Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” Ella Mae Morse’s “Cow Cow Boogie,” and “If I Only Had A Brain” from ”The Wizard of Oz.”

By the time West began performing with another incredible pianist and arranger, George Mesterhazy, in 2007, her star was already lingering in the galaxy. That collaboration grew into a full partnership, performing with the pianist’s quartet on a regular basis

from Gotham to the Bay Area. They recorded her first album in 11 years, “Live at The Jazz Standard.”

It’s a rare treat when West visits NYC—we never know what she will have in store for us, other than extremely motivated inspirations with a great deal of swing. Now through March 3, West will grace the Dizzy’s jazz club stage (60th Street and Broadway). She will be joined by pianist John Chin, bassist Sean Conly, guitarist Ed Cherry (longtime accompanist, who was a member of the Mesterhazy quartet), and drummer Jerome Jennings.

For reservations, visit jazz.org.

Wycliffe Gordon, the trombonist, arranger, and composer, is known as a hard swinger. Some of that sweat may have come from his early attraction to Louis Armstrong and the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens. The multi-instrumentalist, who plays tuba, soprano trombone, and didgeridoo, is also a big blues singer—he belts out songs with the spirited potency of Big Joe Turner.

Early on, before developing his singing chops, Gordon performed in New York City as part of the McDonald’s High School All-American Band. He went on to study music at Florida A&M University, where he was a member of the FAMU Marching 100

Schomburg hosts ‘The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni’ on March 4

Poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni will open the Schomburg Center’s 2024 Women’s Jazz Festival (WJF) with saxophonist-composer Javon Jackson in “The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni” on March 4.

The festival is celebrating 32 years of centering Black women in the field of jazz.

Founded in 1992 by then-Harlem resident and jazz vocalist Melba Joyce, the Women’s Jazz Festival and its curators have brought together musicians, dancers, and a melding of musical genres over the years to deliver an exciting series of concerts featuring some of the best-known and emerging talent by women in jazz today.

The 2024 festival will be held in person on March 4, 18, and 25.

The connections between jazz and gospel music run deep in “The Gospel According to Nikki

General admission tickets are $35; $25 for Schomburg Society members. For more info, visit www.nypl.org/events/programs/schomburg.

Band. In 2004, Gordon conducted the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in the unforgettable premiere of his original score for “Body and Soul,” the 1925 silent film directed by filmmaker and novelist Oscar Micheaux.

The Wycliffe Gordon Quintet will bring their fiery sound of blues jazz and original elements of all music that swings to the Village Vanguard (178 7th Avenue South) now through March 3. He will be joined by saxophonist Adrian Cunningham; pianist, bassist Yasushi Nakamura; and drummer Alvin Atkinson, Jr.

For reservations, visit tvillagevanguard.com.

Through the African diaspora, we learn that dance and music are a continuous flow—moving waters eventually finding their way to the sea uniting as one. Dance is a continuous movement of expression, as music is a continuous wave of expressive sound—united elements that express life experiences of the now and ancestral past.

Now through March 3, Colombia-based Sankofa Danzafro returns to the Joyce Theater (175 8th Avenue) with a program that promotes the legacy and traditions of the Afro Colombian community, using dance to retell their history. Led by Artistic Director Rafael Palacios, Sankofa means “to return to the root,” an African philosophy that proposes the past is a lens through which to view the present.

In “Behind the South: Dances for Manuel” (Detrás del Sur: Danzas para Manuel), the company pays tribute to Colombian writer Manuel Zapata Olivella’s “Changó, el Gran Putas,” which documents the African diaspora to the Americas. The work celebrates the vital force of the muntu (the African people) and their use of the dancing body and live music as a ritual to invoke Changó, the son of Yemaja and the mother goddess, protector of birth in the Yoruba tradition.

For tickets and more information, visit https://www.joyce.org/.

We are living in a society where even the sane seems insane; confused, disillusioned over wars, political strife, propaganda, book banning, voting rights violations, just for starters. It’s time to listen once again to the over50-year album anthem, Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” It says it all.

One book suggested for this week, just to be clear in the shifting winds of propaganda and the banning books hysteria, is “A History of Negro Slavery in New York” by Edgar J. McManus (Syracuse University Press 1966).

Giovanni.” This historic collaboration between Jackson, a former Jazz Messenger, and Giovanni offers “jazzy new perspective on timeless hymns and

spirituals” with poetry throughout the performances. They will be joined by pianist Jeremy Manasia, bassist David Williams, and drummer Akin Hobson.

Paula West (James Barry Knox photo)

Nikki Giovanni and Javon Jackson (Photo via www.nypl.org)

If Ras Baraka is elected governor of New Jersey, he would be the state’s first-ever Black governor. The Newark mayor is betting he can promote the progressive policies he’s established in his majority Black city—Newark’s population is 47% Black––on a statewide level.

In the city, Baraka’s administration sponsored programs like the “Home Ownership Revitalization Program,” which allowed Newark residents to buy a house for $1 if they’ve lived in the city for at least 5 years. These new homeown-

ers had to commit to living in the property for the next 10 years. Newark’s City Council voted to lower the voting age to 16 and up for voters who want to take part in school board elections: the mayor called it part of an effort to promote civic engagement at an early age.

Newark has also seen to the redevelopment of the former Seth Boyden Terrace houses, a location in Newark’s South Ward where the city’s first public housing complex stood. That site is now slated to become a new film and television studio for the Lionsgate entertainment company. The film studio will also develop a relationship with Newark schools and provide student internships.

Worthy’s usual contracting agency, the Department of Education (DOE), only adopted M/WBE goals stemming from LL 174 this past fiscal year.

“When we think about our contract methods and new approach on how we do solicitation, that can be complex for a small business that may not have necessarily the expertise and the experience on how to navigate the solicitation process,” said DOE Chief Diversity Officer Karine Apollon.

Lander’s report ranked the Department of Transportation (DOT) last in M/WBE participation among agencies with “large LL 174-eligible contracting portfolios.” While some of the agency’s contracts are funded outside of the City of New York sources and thus not covered by LL 174, it boasts more than $918 million in contracts subject to M/WBE participation goals.

“NYC DOT is dedicated to leveling the playing field to promote more equity and diversity in the agency’s contracts,” said a department spokesperson over email. “Under this administration, NYC DOT has achieved dramatic increases in MWBE utilization, from 11 percent in 2022 to a projected 30 percent in Fiscal Year 2024–the highest percentage ever to be hit at this agency.”

Despite the DOT’s efforts employing M/ WBE businesses, most of the contract value went to vendors that weren’t certified as M/ WBEs—93.15% to be exact, according to Lander’s report. Black-owned businesses received roughly 23% of the contract value for DOT goods contracts but did not receive any money from construction services, which went almost entirely to non-M/WBEs.

So the general issue of contract value persists, even with the department’s sizable increase in M/WBEs utilized since Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez’s appointment two years ago.

The DOT’s gameplan to increase M/WBE investment moving forward includes increasing advertising with the city’s ethnic media outlets and developing outreach programs to connect certified businesses with more economic opportunities. The department also intends to follow the report’s recommendation of increasing M/WBE non-competitive small purchases, which Lander explains as a growing method to meet LL 174 goals.

“Normally, the city does a competitive bid to make sure it’s getting the best price for what it’s buying and that’s important because if you don’t, over time, you pay more than then you need to,” said Lander. “Obviously, getting the best value for taxpayer dollars is critical when the city is doing procurement. But the decision has been made and [is] supported by both the legislature and the Procurement Policy Board [that] for the smaller procurements, agencies can identify an M/WBE vendor that they know can provide that good or service and contract and negotiate with [it] without competitive bidding.

“You still have to generally do competitive bidding on larger contracts over $1.5 million but something under $1.5 [million] you can directly contract with an M/WBE.”

Also advised by Lander was a more centralized “repository” for procurement opportunities and providing more accessible resources.

“There’s no one stop shop for resources,” said Worthy, “where a small business has every single thing. It’s like [when] they have [one] piece, they have to find another piece.”

The report ranked the Department of Environmental Protection the highest among agencies with “large LL 174-eligible contracting portfolios.” The Office of Technology and Innovation was the most improved.

Lander sees M/WBE contract disparities as a part of the “broader racial wealth gap.” He points to past findings of Black New Yorkers owning fewer homes and earning a significantly lower median household income than their white counterparts as an extension to the report. For Lander, using taxpayer money to pay for city contracts that go overwhelmingly to white male-owned businesses is considered a “wealth transfer.”

“Last year, the city put [in] about $40 billion worth of goods and services,” he said. “That could be a powerful vehicle for narrowing the racial wealth gap. 52% of New Yorkers are Black or Hispanic. So if 52% of the procurement went to Black and Hispanic-owned businesses, that would be a powerful driver of narrowing the racial wealth gap. But instead what we’re doing is mostly continuing to widen it.”

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.

Mittie Lawrence, best known for her role in ‘Funny Girl’

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

Watching “Funny Girl” on TCM the other night, starring Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice, a question arose: Who was the Black actress playing Brice’s confidant and personal assistant, Emma?

That woman is Mittie Lawrence, and we were stunned to learn that she was still alive, unlike the subjects of most of our profiles. We decided she warranted an opportunity to smell the roses we can provide for her often-overlooked but astonishing career.

Lawrence was born on August 31 or September 1, 1941, and beyond this, very little was found about her early years. Her beauty is undeniable. After she won Miss Bronze California in 1959, “Jet” magazine featured a photo of her in a swimsuit. At that time, she was 19 and a student at Los Angeles City College.

The story also noted that while pursuing an acting career, she was a singer and dancer. As a beauty queen, she made her television debut on the “Steve Allen Show.”

We gathered some insights about her from Facebook, where a post by her niece, Indigo, described a conversation between them. She thanked her niece for posting it and was “literally stunned into silence.” Moreover, she was shocked that it was on the Internet.

Lawrence may also be surprised to learn that many of her film projects are listed on several sites, including IMDB.com. Only her most devoted fans or avid television viewers caught her on “The Farmer’s Daughter” in the early 1960s. A few more may have seen her onetime appearance on the popular “Profiles in Courage.” Her cameolike moments as a shopper on “I Dream of Jeannie,” starring Barbara Eden, and as Lita in the “Tarzan” TV series, were runups to her role as Emma with Streisand in “Funny Girl.” She had speaking parts in several scenes but was, nonetheless, only part of the scenery.

If you remember shows such as “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “The Name of the Game,” “Mod Squad,” or “Room 222,” then you might have

caught one of her fleeting scenes. There were more opportunities when she appeared in two episodes of “Adam-12” in 1968. Her role as Nurse Conway on “Marcus Welby, M.D.” in 1971 might have prepared her for her role as Sandra on “Night Call Nurses” in 1972.

Online, you can find two clips from “Night Call Nurses,” where Lawrence has an uplifting conversation with a wounded patient, and in another snippet of film, a shadowy interlude where her dancing skills are briefly showcased in the fading, silhou-

etted camera work. At least in these scenes, you realize her potential for something of more substance.

Having her name listed in the credits of “The New Centurions” was promising, but the one scene in which she appears is in the back of a police van with several other streetwalkers. Lawrence’s speaking part is lost amid a bunch of other characters, who, quite improbably, have been liquored up by two friendly cops—Stacy Keach and George C. Scott. Rosalind Cash is the only Black woman with a decent part,

near the end of the film, but her romance with Keach is sadly over when he is shot and killed.

Several websites confuse Lawrence with Dorothy Dandridge, and they certainly have a lovely resemblance.

Her partner or husband, a fact we can’t substantiate, was Robert DoQui, and they might have met when both were part of the cast of “Adam-12.” They also had roles in “Tarzan” and “I Dream of Jeannie.” DoQui died on February 9, 2008, at 73, reportedly of natural causes.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

You can continue to search for more information about Mittie Lawrence and her film career. Since she’s still alive, maybe a friend or relative can have her contact us.

DISCUSSION

Lawrence is listed among the actors in “The New Centurions,” a cop saga, but only in a scene with other ladies of the night, all talking at once in the back of a police van.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Fortunately, Lawrence is still with us at 82 and there’s a slight chance we will hear from her or someone who knows her.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

Feb. 26, 1966: Andrew Brimmer was appointed to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a position he held for eight years. He died in 2012.

Feb. 27, 1897: Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia. She died in 1993.

Feb. 28, 1984: Michael Jackson won a recordbreaking eight Grammys for “Thriller.” He was 50 when he died in 2009.

How Hakeem Jeffries’s Black Baptist upbringing and deep-rooted faith shapes his House leadership

By DARREN SANDS Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP)—House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stood together recently at the annual National Prayer Breakfast—an opportunity, in the words of one introductory speaker, to “put our political differences aside.”

The differences are vast between Johnson, a staunchly conservative Republican, and Jeffries, a hero to liberal Democrats. But at the prayer breakfast earlier this month, they collegially took turns reading Scripture, evoking how their shared Christianity confronts evil.

It was a fleeting moment of unity for the two Baptist leaders, who work side-by-side in the House but are miles apart politically and theologically. Jeffries, 53, whose faith is rooted in the Black social gospel, has not been shy—just not as outspoken as Johnson regarding the role faith plays in his political duties.

Jeffries spoke in depth with the Associated Press about his religious upbringing, which was centered at Cornerstone Baptist Church in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. He declined several invitations to comment on present-day dynamics in the House, including the lingering cross-party tensions brought on by Donald Trump’s presidency and efforts to contest the 2020 election.

However, Jeffries’s religious commitment while in office has been noticed by his political peers.

“There’s nothing that the public can detect more clearly than sincerity, especially young people—they know when you’re real. In terms of being a person of faith and justice, Hakeem Jeffries is real,” said former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Jeffries, a New York Democrat who became minority leader in November 2022, handed the speaker’s gavel to Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, on October 25.

Beyond that ceremonial moment, the two hardly interact in public. When pressed at a recent news conference to characterize their relationship, Jeffries said it was “functional.”

Johnson, 52, is a Southern Baptist—one of the white conservative evangelicals who are the majority in America’s largest Protestant denomination. While celebrated by many on the Christian right, Johnson’s expressions of faith and past legal advocacy have faced extensive scrutiny, including his positions against abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

For anyone curious about his views, Johnson told Fox News host Sean Hannity, “Go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it— that’s my worldview.”

Jeffries also is deeply familiar with the Bible. For example, he has shared on social media a passage from the New Testament’s Book of Ephesians evoking the need to “wrestle…against spiritual wickedness in

Photo/Seth Wenig)

high places.”

Jeffries’s leadership in the House traces back to his formative days growing up and serving at Cornerstone, a historically Black congregation that he still attends.

“It certainly was an important part of my mother’s life, and therefore my younger brother’s and myself,” he told the AP.

In its heyday, Cornerstone was the spiritual home for many grandchildren and great-grandchildren of enslaved African Americans who fled to Brooklyn from the South for better opportunities, including war-industry jobs. The church has long been part of the National Baptist Convention, the largest Black denomination in the U.S.

Cornerstone—and the Black church more broadly—taught Jeffries how to build consensus, said civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton, who met Jeffries as a young lawyer. Navigating competing in-house constituencies and varied personalities gave him the temperament needed to lead a diverse, complex body of people, Sharpton said.

“He became committed to doing what he thought was right, rather than doing what was politically advantageous for his own benefit,” Sharpton added.

In his youth, Jeffries became one of Cornerstone’s white-gloved, dues-paying ushers, tending to crying babies and handling neighborhood traffic issues during worship services. Jeffries said being an usher “taught me how to count, engage and serve.”

Jeffries said his maternal grandmother, a longtime Cornerstone member, often shared a prediction: “I think one day you’re going to be a preacher.”

Her grandson took another path of service, but Jeffries did make certain to get the blessing of two Brooklyn pastors, including Cornerstone’s, before entering his first New York legislative race.

Over the decades, Jeffries has been inspired by numerous Black leaders whose civil rights advocacy was fueled by their interpretation of the Gospel. Among them was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.—a friend of Jeffries’s childhood pastor, the Rev.

Sandy F. Ray.

Harry S. Wright, Cornerstone’s pastor after Ray’s death in 1979, said Jeffries’s upbringing at the church shaped him for a life of service.

“The emphasis was on being a wonderful person...with an idea that you make your life count for something with your commitment to make the world better,” Wright said. “With his drive, training, and genius, he just got into the right lanes, and we see the fruit of it in the kind of person that he is today.”

Jeffries came of age during an uptick in police brutality cases in New York and elsewhere. He said his decision to attend law school, and dedicate himself to the fight for racial justice, was motivated by the 1992 acquittal of four white policemen in Los Angeles after they had been shown on video brutally beating an African American man, Rodney King.

After getting his law degree, Jeffries spent 10 years in private practice before winning a seat in the New York State Assembly in 2007.

Since entering Congress in 2013, Jeffries has been true to his roots. For instance, he was lead sponsor of a 2015 measure outlawing police use of the chokehold and other tactics hindering a person’s breathing.

Early in his congressional career, when Jeffries needed help injecting theology into one of his speeches, he asked for advice from Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.). Cleaver, an ordained United Methodist minister, said that kind of deference to himself and toward late former colleagues like John Lewis, John Conyers, and Elijah Cummings, endeared Jeffries to the Congressional Black Caucus.

“You know, this guy seems a little bit different,” Cleaver recalled telling a colleague. “One of the things I liked was he wasn’t trying to (wear) his Christianity on his sleeve.”

Pelosi said she hopes that Democratic success in November will enable Jeffries to claim her former position as speaker of the House. She depicted him as a man of deep faith who believes there’s a spark of divinity in everyone.

That ethos, Pelosi said, is clear in “Hakeem’s attitude, his language, and the rest, and in fact, his beautiful speech from the Bible on the podium when he was handing over the gavel to the new speaker–which he’ll be receiving back in about 10 months.”

In that speech, Jeffries said, “Every time we have faced adversity, the good news here in America is that we have always overcome...That is why America remains the last best hope on Earth.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US and funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., records a welcome message for an upcoming conference of preachers at Cornerstone Baptist Church in New York. Jeffries’s leadership in the House traces back to his formative days growing up and serving at Cornerstone, a historically Black congregation that he still attends. “It certainly was an important part of my mother’s life, and therefore my younger brother’s and myself,” he said during an interview (AP

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., center, greets seniors at Cornerstone Baptist Church in New York. In its heyday, Cornerstone was the spiritual home for many grandchildren and great-grandchildren of enslaved African Americans who fled to Brooklyn from the South for better opportunities, including war-industry jobs (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Education

Mid-year budget cuts at CUNY affecting staff, faculty and students

By LEAH MALLORY

Special to the AmNews

This week, Mayor Eric Adams called off a round of budget cuts originally scheduled for April, citing a better-than-expected economic performance of the city.

Nine schools in the City University of New York (CUNY) system are grappling with the devastating aftermath of budget cuts announced by Adams in November. The cuts, totaling approximately $23 million, pose significant challenges for the affected institutions this semester.

James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) – the union that represents faculty and professional staff of the City University of New York institutions – said he’s concerned about the quality of education at CUNY schools.

“One of the consequences of a really large-scale budget cut like these, especially coming down the middle of the year, is that the size of classes will increase. The number of

course offerings will decrease, and the range of program offerings will contract.” said Davis. “Which is not good for student outcomes and academic progress.”

CUNY faculty and staff also faced severe setbacks, dealing with newly enforced hiring freezes and some experiencing the loss of both fulltime and part time-positions, just days before the spring semester.

In response to the mid-year cuts, the PSC, along with staff, faculty, and various student groups traveled to Albany on Wednesday for Higher Education Action Day to demand increased state resources for CUNY.

“The City University has traditionally been the engine of social mobility and economic advancement, and the creation of really enlightened citizens throughout its history,” said John Jay College Distinguished Professor Gerald Markowitz. “It is imperative that the city and the state provide the funding to ensure that that legacy continues.”

John Jay is among the nine colleges impacted by recent budget cuts. Markowitz says that many students at John Jay come from underserved communities.

“They’re generally first-generation students, they’re students of color. They’re working-class students, they’re immigrants. And the resources of our city and state should be to build up these students,” he said.

At John Jay, Markowitz has witnessed firsthand the effects of the cuts on his students. He said that nearly 70 sections were eliminated from the college.

“By cutting classes, you hurt students’ abilities to find the courses that they need to graduate. You prevent students from taking courses that are really important for their education,” said Markowitz. “Our students, who worked so hard to get an education, should be supported by the city and the state. Instead, there are these budget cuts that make it harder for them to get an education rather

than make it easier for them to get an education.”

The $23 million cuts come after Adams, who himself is a CUNY graduate, revised his NYC November Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 2024. To accommodate the costs of the asylum seeker crisis, the mayor instituted five percent budget cuts from every city agency, which began in September 2023. By November, Adams announced more cuts to city agencies and services including the Education Department, public libraries, and the NYPD. The CUNY Central Administration, grappling with city budget constraints, instructed the nine colleges to make mid-year cuts.

“Of course, we want better from somebody who has two degrees from the City University of New York.” said Davis.

Markowitz highlighted the irony of Mayor Adams enforcing these cuts as a CUNY graduate.

“At elite institutions, the alumni of those institutions are providing the

funding to ensure that those institutions thrive in the future,” he said. “And here is Mayor Adams, the graduate of John Jay, not really supporting the college that provided him with the opportunity to succeed in his life and career, and not recognizing the obligation of an alumnus to ensure that future students have the same opportunities as he had.”

Davis said the mayor’s reversal on the budget cuts, at least in part, is due to ongoing advocacy efforts.

“I think people recognize that when you invest in CUNY, that’s not a handout; that’s actually an investment that pays dividends in the long run. So every dollar that the city puts in, or that the state puts in, comes back again to the city and the state,” said Davis. “And I think the advocacy that you’ve seen, broadly across the city around restorations for CUNY, comes out of that recognition.”

The AmNews reached out to the Mayor’s Office about the budget cuts but did not get a response by press time.

Schools say dress codes promote discipline; many Black students see traces of racism

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AP Education Writer

For as long as schools have policed hairstyles as part of their dress codes, some students have seen the rules as attempts to deny their cultural and religious identities.

Nowhere have school rules for hair been a bigger flashpoint than in Texas, where a trial this week is set to determine whether high school administrators can continue punishing a Black teenager for refusing to cut his hair. The 18-year-old student, Darryl George, who wears his hair in locs tied atop his head, has been kept out of his classroom since the start of the school year.

To school administrators, strict dress codes can be tools for promoting uniformity and discipline, but advocates say the codes disproportionately affect students of color and the punishments disrupt learning.

Under pressure, many schools in Texas have removed boys-only hair-length rules, while hundreds of districts still have hair restrictions written into their dress codes. Schools that enforce strict dress

codes have higher rates of punishment that take students away from learning, such as suspensions and expulsions, according to an October 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report called on the U.S. Department of Education to provide resources to help schools design more equitable dress codes.

Some see vestiges of racist efforts to control the appearance of Black people in stringent public school dress codes that date back to slav-

ery. In the 1700s, South Carolina’s “Negro Act” made it illegal for Black people to dress “above their condition.” Long after slavery was abolished, Black Americans were still stigmatized for not adopting grooming habits that fit white, European beauty standards and norms.

Braids and other hairstyles carry cultural significance for many African Americans. They served as methods of communication among African societies, including identifying tribal affiliation or marriage status, and as

clues to safety and freedom for those who were captured and enslaved, historians say.

Black Americans have a variety of hair textures that can require chemicals, time, and equipment to style or straighten. Some common natural styles include afros, braids, cornrows, and locs, but many have felt pressure to straighten curly hair or keep it cut short.

Research has shown that whether in professional workplaces, social clubs, or schools, such beauty norms and grooming standards have inflicted physical, psychological, and economic harm on Black people and other people of color.

Dress codes are built on regulations that stretch back decades, which explains why they often are complex, said Courtney Mauldin, a professor at Syracuse University’s School of Education.

“Schools were not designed with Black children in mind,” she said. “Our forefathers of education were all white men who set the tone for what schools would be...and what the purposes are of schooling—one of those being conformity. That’s one

of the key ideas that was actually introduced in the 1800s.”

In some cases, students and advocates have pushed back successfully.

In 2017, then-15-year-old Black twins, Deanna and Mya Cook, were punished for wearing box braids with extensions at their charter school in Malden, Massachusetts. The sisters were told their hair did not comply with the school dress code.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts filed a complaint, and the state attorney general said the school policies against extensions and other hairstyles appeared to violate racial discrimination laws.

“You don’t expect to get in trouble for your hair, but we see it happen,” said Mya Cook, now 22 and a recent graduate from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “Administrators are able to retaliate against students and use that as a form of control and oppression. And since there’s no policy in place, they’re able to get away with it.”

Schools with higher percentages of Black and Hispanic students are more likely to enforce strict dress codes, and

Darryl George, an 18-year-old high school junior, stands outside a courthouse in Anahuac, Texas, after a court hearing over whether his Houston-area school district can continue to punish him for refusing to change his hairstyle.

(AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi, File)

Samba

Continued from page 2

and the defense of samba school culture were deemed legitimate.

The case was reported in the recent article “Who is Abstract Samba? Find out before it disappears!” published by the media outlet Jornalistas Livres. As of now, there is no citation for a response or extrajudicial notification for content removal from the page.

After it was shadowbanned and blocked on Instagram, the Abstract Samba page was subsequently taken down.

What exactly is Abstract Samba?

According to its secretive and discreet directory: “The Abstract Samba is a Black and authentic carnival tradition, just like samba, samba schools, rap, capoeira, funk, and Candomblé. They all originate from the same earthen floor, the same terreiro, the same soul of Black people sitting in a circle...Samba is a history of the Orishas and is born through the hands of Black women and men.

“It is created and arises spontaneously, much like everything in nature. Samba grows, develops, expands, and creates its universe. From the existing duality between the positive and the negative, emerges the reverse world, which is the universe of abstract samba.”

Spreading hate speech?

Some individuals have accused Abstract Samba of promoting reverse racism, segregation, misogynism, and conservatism.

According to digital influencer Dam Menezes, while Abstract Samba claims to defend ancestral samba, in reality, it is spreading hate.

There are comments about Abstract Samba on Facebook, with statements like “You’re just jealous,” “We are all equal,” and “Carnival belongs to everyone.” There

Health Equity

Continued from page 11

AmNews: Why is an integrated approach important?

AB: It is no small feat to bring together health care and social service organizations to work together. Medicaid is complex, it’s cumbersome, and it is not necessarily easy to navigate for members, providers, and community-based organizations, so we are establishing social care networks…of community-based organizations, as well as other

are also remarks like: “I am white, Portuguese, I follow your page on both platforms (now only here), I admire your work, I do not feel offended in my ‘whiteness’ (that would be the last straw!) and I regret those who see your posts as a personal attack, instead of interpreting, putting their hand on their conscience and understanding that it is about roots, ancestry, culture, and place. May the strength of concrete muses be stronger than the abstract people who stop by here!”

In 2024, Abstract Samba has expanded and now reaches a growing number of followers on Facebook. Social media platforms have become the space for public debates about different worldviews, including those accusing Abstract Samba of being progressive or conservative.

Should Abstract Samba continue to exist?

“The saga of Abstract Samba reflects a systemic pattern of silencing Black voices, not only on social media but also within the

primary care providers…The networks would have to coordinate those services between their community-based organization partners to ensure people are accessing, interested in, and receiving these services.

How are we going to determine that they need the services we are putting forward? A uniform assessment, a screening tool.

We are choosing to use the Accountable Health Communities Health-Related Social Needs Screening Tool, which is a pretty well-established tool that captures a core set of social care needs,

judicial system,” argues the “Who is Abstract Samba?” article. “The deletion of the page serves as a reminder of the persistence of structural racism in carnival and highlights the ongoing need for awareness. Abstract Samba continues its mission of using the carnival stage as a space for critique and awareness, facing resistance and challenges but remaining a vital voice in the fight against racism.”

This community boasts more than 80,000 members, a number comparable to a full crowd at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã football stadium.

The criticisms from the Directory of Abstract Samba are echoed by its loyal audience, who appreciate the clever and humorous manner it addresses the lack of representation of Black women in prominent positions in Brazilian carnival.

During the Abstract Muse Trophy voting, the community’s engagement is at its peak. Several Abstract Muses have already been elected, including Adriane Galisteu, Paola Oliveira, and Viviane Araújo. Araújo’s husband, Guilherme

whether they be housing-related, nutrition-related. . .every member of our program will receive this assessment.

The purpose and goal is to focus these services on our higher-need, more vulnerable members who are in and out of the healthcare system for whatever reason, whether it’s social circumstances or life events or whatever it may be—homelessness, chronic homelessness. We typically find out about their underlying needs when they show up in the inpatient room or the emergency room, so this is intended to meet people where they are.

Militão, publicly commented, “I found it to be abstract samba,” regarding his wife’s samba dancing style. This was reported in the article titled “Husband reacts to Viviane Araújo in carnival rehearsal: Abstract Samba,” published by Isabela Frasinelli.

The theme of Abstract Samba’s 2024 season was “The Abstract Industrial Revolution,” a title highly suggestive of the historical process from which it was derived. This theme could still resonate, provided it is not deleted from the internet.

In the tradition of the Brazilian carnival, when one season ends, preparations for the next one begin, so whether Abstract Samba continues to exist or not, its legacy seems to be enduring, particularly with the release of the book and documentary. These two works will provide a historical perspective on the outcomes, significance, and impact of Abstract Samba. This year, Abstract Samba will also release shirts and mugs for fans. If the 2024 season is its last, Abstract Samba might still have ful-

AmNews: What process did the 1115 waivergo through to get passed?

AB: The federal government has the Secretary for Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—that’s the executive level agency. Then there’s the agency— it’s similar to how we have it [New York]. The governor’s office is required to be part of our application.

AmNews: What else should people know about the program?

AB: We are trying to change fundamentally the way we inte-

filled part of its mission. Viradouro samba school was the champion of the Rio de Janeiro carnival earlier in February with a perfect score, receiving a 10 in all categories. Particularly noteworthy was the performance of Érika Januza, queen of the drum and a beautiful Black actress. Indeed, there was no spotlight for the Abstract Muse. Paulo Mileno is an actor, filmmaker, cultural producer, writer, and editorial advisor to Africa and Africanities Magazine. He was a researcher in the Nucleus of African Philosophy at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Mileno also contributes to Observatório da Imprensa (São Paulo, Brazil), Brasil de Fato (São Paulo, Brazil), Jornal do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), Black History Month (London, England), Ufahamu: A Journal of Black Studies from Los Angeles University-UCLA (Los Angeles, Calif. USA), San Francisco National Black Newspaper (San Francisco, Calif. USA), Black Star News (New York, N.Y. USA) and Africa Business (Cape Town, South Africa). He can be reached at pmileno@gmail.com.

grate, deliver, and pay for social services in the Medicaid Program. We have done a decent job on physical health. We’ve integrated behavioral health. We have not previously integrated the social services, so we’re very excited about bringing these two worlds together.

[It’s not] going to be easy—there’s going to be extensive stakeholder engagement in the coming weeks and months. . .We are going to get as much information out there as quickly as possible and ideally begin to see these services delivered in the very near future.

Screenshot of Samba Abstrato’s Facebook page.

The Brazilian samba originated in the terreiro. It was created in that open space used to practice Traditional African Religions, wrote Paulo Lins in his 2012 book “Desde que o samba é samba” (“Ever Since Samba Has Been Samba”).

Religion & Spirituality

For Black ‘nones’ who leave religion, what’s next?

By KATHRYN POST Religion News Service

(RNS) — When Black Americans leave religion, it’s rarely a clean break.

Take Rogiérs Fibby, a self-described agnostic, atheist, and secular humanist who grew up in the Moravian Church. The head of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Black Secular Collective, Fibby also considers himself “culturally Christian.”

“I know all the lingo, the theologies of different denominations, the theological distinctions, how to move in those different spaces theologically and interpersonally,” he told the Religion News Service (RNS).

Or take Felicia Murrell, who served in church leadership in a range of denominations for over two decades. Today, she thinks of herself as “interspiritual,” but she also told RNS, “Christianity is my mother tongue.”

Then there’s William Matthews, a longtime Bethel Music recording artist who left the church for about six years, starting in 2016. Today, he’s the music director at New Abbey, a progressive, LGBTQ-affirming church in Los Angeles that “exvangelicals” and religious “nones” regularly attend.

“We don’t have the privilege to not need God, or some type of God or spirituality,” Matthews, who now identifies as Christian, told RNS about Black Americans. “It’s always been our backs against the world.”

Of the roughly 20% of Black Americans who are religiously unaffiliated— or nones—about one-third believe in the God of the Bible; over half believe in some other higher power, according to a January Pew study; 88% believe humans have a soul or spirit; 71% think of themselves as spiritual. By nearly every other religious or spiritual metric, belief in heaven and hell, daily prayer, Black nones come across as more religiously enmeshed than other non-affiliated groups.

“They are not affiliated with a religion, but that does not mean they don’t have various devotional practices, various spiritual beliefs,” said Kiana Cox, senior researcher on the Race and Ethnicity team at the Pew Research Center. Cox also pointed out that Black Americans generally are more likely to engage in religious

At testimony services in the Black church, Murrell said, it’s common for folks to share stories about tragedy happening in their lives, and then to say “But God!” to indicate how God intervened on their behalf.

“I think you have people looking for deeper answers,” she said. “They’re looking for a faith that can sustain and hold their mystery.”

R. Khari Brown, a sociologist at Wayne State University in Detroit, told the RNS that while the educational attainment of some Black Americans could be affecting Black nones’ departure from institutional religion, those struggling with poverty may also be affected if they are more focused on survival than attending worship services.

“One pattern is, people who are highly educated tend to be unaffiliated, which is the case among all groups, but for African Americans, I think the role of poverty, and social instability linked to poverty…is also correlated with not attending,” said Brown.

Jason Shelton, author of the forthcoming book “The Contemporary Black Church: The New Dynamics of African American Religion,” added that some historical denominations can seem overly formal or outdated.

“There’s still a sense that you have to dress formally. There’s still the sense of the detachment of the preacher in the pulpit far away,” said Shelton, who was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and is now part of the United Methodist Church. “It’s an old choir, and that organ—good God!”

practices than other racial groups.

While statistics about unaffiliated Black Americans paint a clear picture of their spiritual nature, the data doesn’t explain why this group seems to retain religious attachments, or what sorts of communities they are embracing beyond the church. As Black nones continue to depart the religious institutions that have historically served as vehicles for social change, the answers to these questions could have broader implications for the future of Black-led activism.

According to some experts, the central role religious groups played in securing civil rights is part of why Black nones retain elements of religiosity.

“When we think about the Civil Rights Movement, when we think about Reconstruction and African Americans coming out of slavery, it was important to identi-

fy with these institutions for social reasons and for economic reasons,” said Teddy Reeves, curator of religion at the National Museum of African American History & Culture. “It was a way of safety. It was a way of community. It was a way of creating meaning out of what was going on in their everyday lives.”

For Murrell, some of her most formative memories are of her grandmother starting each day sitting in her chair, Bible in her lap, glasses slipping down her face. The stories about God’s deliverance that have been handed down from generation to generation, Murrell said, are deeply rooted in the Black American experience.

“I do think a lot of the overcoming of hardships, a lot of the way that people endured, was through their belief in God, that God would make a way somehow,” said Murrell.

The theology of some churches can also feel hostile to those who are queer or LGBTQ-affirming. That was the case for Fibby, who in the late aughts was working as a church musician in both a Black Baptist church and Afro-Caribbean Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

While the two churches differed wildly on much of their theology and polity, “the one thing they agreed on was the homophobia part,” said Fibby. As a queer Black man, he said the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric he routinely heard from the pulpit is part of what made him skeptical toward claims of the faith.

Given the prominence of religious institutions in Black culture, disaffiliating from religion can leave a void in terms of community. In response, according to Reeves,

See BLACK 'NONES' continued on next page

As Black “nones” depart the religious institutions that historically served as vehicles for social change, the future of Black-centered community and collective activism will continue to evolve (AP Photo/David Goldman photo)

SUNY Downstate

Continued from page 6

replace. There have been issues with flooding, plumbing, temperature control, the ventilation system, lack of showers for expectant mothers, and erosion of facilities overall. He said the level of “renovation in place” that would be required is “difficult,” as is finding sufficient funding.

There are 1,500 inpatient beds, and about 700 are in regular use, said King.

SUNY Downstate plans to engage in public outreach with a series of surveys and sessions, but the community is already complaining that there isn’t sufficient communication.

“This is a community I grew up in. I appreciate the history,” said King. “When I was eight years old, my mom passed away at Kings County. When I was a kid, the word ‘hospital’ evoked an image of Kings County, so [there’s] a set of healthcare challenges that I deeply understand. I think folks are right to be frustrated with a history of disinvestment in Central Brooklyn. They’re right to be frustrated that the state for many years did not invest in the building.”

The impact

“Frankly, Black and brown people have been victimized by a lower level of medical equity and this is just another case of that,” said Ramik Williams, Executive Director of Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI), who collaborates with Downstate and also has a violence interrupter team at Kings County. He thinks a closure would affect communitybased groups’ access and quality of care in the neighborhood and city. The lack of communication from SUNY Downstate is causing confusion and anxiety, he said.

Khari Edwards, the first vice president of color of external affairs at Brookdale Hospital in Brownsville (2013–2020), who was born and raised in Crown Heights,has seen hospital closures and their impact up close, such as Caledonian Hospital in Flatbush, Peninsula Hospital Center in Far Rockaway in Queens, and St. Mary’s Hospital in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Black 'nones'

Continued from page 30

who created and produced the documentary “gOD-Talk: A Black Millennials and Faith Conversation,” Black millennials are gathering elsewhere, from meeting up at music festivals such as Coachella, AfroTech, and Afropunk to getting together for brunch regularly. Social media, too, has become a hub for connection, he said—some Black nones looking for spiritual fulfillment might turn to online leaders such as the Rev. Melva Sampson of the Pink Robe Chronicles and Tricia Hersey of the Nap Ministry.

After Murrell first left the church due to an experience of “church hurt” in 2014, she began teaming up with her husband to host the “Brunch Bunch,” monthly gatherings centered on food and discussion, with about five other families

Brookdale was integrated into the One Brooklyn Health system by the state in 2016, again under Cuomo, to cut costs.

“Healthcare has evolved so much, but when it comes to communities of color, it’s still pretty much the same,” Edwards told the AmNews. “Seniors use ambulatory services, undocumented folks still use emergency rooms, so no matter how we look at it, safety net hospitals are going to be in the red.”

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed the reimbursement model for the nation’s healthcare system to have an emphasis on outpatient care or primary doctors outside the hospital. The issue in areas with high Medicare or Medicaid use, which usually coincides with Black and brown neighborhoods, is that the hospitals are reliant on government subsidies for healthcare support as opposed to private or commercial insurance that pays more, Edwards said.

That’s partly due to systemic under-resourcing, and partly because the understanding of the healthcare system in communities of color hasn’t really changed. Black and brown patients historically delay care until it’s severe enough to require a hospital or use the emergency room for most health issues, Edwards said. According to SUNY Downstate’s data, the community surrounding the hospital has a “high disease burden” with “excess inpatient services and a high demand for primary and ambulatory care access.”

Edwards hadn’t wholly looked into the state’s plan for SUNY Downstate when he spoke to the AmNews, but he thinks that realistically, the solution can’t include closing another hospital.

The closed Kingsbrook hospital is blocks away from Downstate and Kings County.

“From a hospital administrative standpoint, knowing the stress that it’s going to take on that Central Brooklyn and Flatbush to East Flatbush corridor with two hospitals closing within a year of each other—it’s going to be people dead in the streets,” Edwards said.

NYC Health + Hospitals spokesperson Christopher Miller said they share SUNY Downstate’s goal of ensuring access to high-

who also had left the church. Murrell also found regular community with her Girls Nite Out group, women who, as she describes in her forthcoming book, “And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World,” are “as likely to tell you about the tarot cards (they) pulled or (give) you a crystal as another is to pray for you and give you a prophetic word.”

Matthews ended up returning to church after his years away—the pandemic, he said, and the accompanying isolation eventually “pushed” him back. He found a community with progressive theology and an anti-hierarchical model, but he knows not everyone will find a church to call home.

Outside of religious institutions, Matthews believes Black nones will need to consider what groups will be responsible for generating collective action.

“For us to see the type of change we want to see in the world around social justice

quality health care for Brooklynites.

“We have a long-standing relationship with SUNY Downstate, and we will continue to work with them as needed,” he said in a statement.

United University Professions (UUP), one of the four unions at SUNY Downstate, will undoubtedly be affected by any changes to the hospital. On behalf of its members, those who will be potentially fired or moved to other hospitals, UUP has gone on a crusade to oppose the state’s proposal, garnering some criticism from elected officials.

“The community is being abandoned,” said UUP President Fred Kowal, who testified at a State Assembly and Senate higher education hearing on February 8. “The Medicaid patients in central Brooklyn are not going to go away. If you eliminate the hospital and you level it, and you put up affordable housing— they claim (they will do that) but I don’t believe it—where are those patients going to go? ”

King told the AmNews that the transformation plan aims to preserve at least “80 to 90%” of UUP member jobs. “I understand it’s difficult for UUP to imagine reduction in their total membership, but we’re trying to make sure that all of the people who work at SUNY Downstate have roles at the end of this process,” said King.

Not everyone agrees on the plan

Because of potential firings that UUP has decried and the impact to the community, some state elected officials are somewhat at odds in their approach to “save” the hospital.

Myrie and Assemblymember Latrice Walker believe that the hospital is closing, no matter the assurances in the state’s plan, and they have vowed to fight against it.

“The greatest impact would be on people of color with the highest concentration of poverty in all of Brooklyn,” said Walker in a video statement. Walker was a major voice for keeping Brookdale Hospital afloat

Meanwhile, Assemblymember Brian Cunningham and Senator Kevin Parker are just as resolved in their decision to support the state’s plan. They both spoke to the desperate financial situation the hospital is in.

issues, around racism, sexism, homophobia, it will take collectivist work,” he said.

In some places, Black-centered institutions offering community and activism have already emerged. Around 2010, Fibby used social media to connect with other Black Americans who, like him, were looking for belonging on the other side of religion. Many of those online connections have translated to long-term, in-person friendships. As the leader of the D.C. chapter of the Black Secular Collective, Fibby connects with like-minded individuals through regular meals, volunteer work, and participation in marches and protests.

Shelton also voiced the need for institutions to galvanize Black people around issues of racial inequality.

“When Black folks leave organized religion, and they have their reasons for doing so, no question about it, what does that mean for African Americans and mobili-

“Let me be unequivocally clear: Closing SUNY Downstate is not an option that is on the table or one that I would ever support. However, it’s no secret that Downstate, like many hospitals across our borough and state, faces financial challenges due to Medicare reimbursement rates set by the federal government,” Cunningham said in a statement.

Parker said the state has been trying to shutter Downstate for decades. He reiterated that the hospital reimbursement model under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has the hospital hemorrhaging money, and said he is frustrated with “the lie” that the hospital is closing as of now when the state’s plan and proposed funding is viable. He said he can sympathize with UUP because no one likes to lose jobs, but he believes that this fight is about saving the whole institution.

Cunningham has introduced a bill (A7546) that is the assembly version of Myrie’s sustainability commission bill. He is also introducing the assembly version of Parker’s bill (S8523), which establishes the SUNY Downstate medical support fund to provide financial support for infrastructural upgrades and expansion. This bill will also facilitate research and development grants in medical and health-related fields, offer scholarships and financial aid, and support community health initiatives and outreach programs.

“As the chair of the Council’s Committee on Hospitals and a registered nurse myself, I am deeply concerned about the proposed transformation plan for SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University,” said Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse. “This institution is not just one of the largest employers in Brooklyn, but is also a vital cornerstone of New York’s public health infrastructure.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member who 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.

zation to address long-standing disparities?” he asked.

While Reeves echoed concerns about the importance of physical meeting spaces for social change, he also said it’s an “amazing time for Black faith.” It’s a season of change, and perhaps a time of reckoning, he said, as millennials refuse to put themselves in spaces that no longer serve them.

“This generation is following spirit,” said Reeves. “If spirit is leading them outside the walls of our churches, and outside of the walls of our temples, and outside of the walls of our mosques, it begs our institutions to figure out: Are they listening to spirit and the new ways this spirit may be moving?”

This content is written and produced by the Religion News Service and distributed by the Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story.

100 PUBLIC NOTI CES

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101

101

Notice of Qualification of GREYSTONE MONTICELLO

FUNDING SH-69-A LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/04/24. Princ. office of LLC: 600 Third Ave., 21st Fl., NY, NY 10016. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Engaging in and exercising all powers permitted to a limited liability company formed under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act.

Notice of Qualification of GREYSTONE MONTICELLO

FUNDING SH-73 LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/13/24. Princ. office of LLC: 600 Third Ave., 21st Fl., NY, NY 10016. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Engaging in and exercising all powers permitted to a limited liability company formed under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act.

101 LEGAL NOTICES

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

NYCTL 1998-2 TRUST, and THE BANK OF NEW YORK

MELLON AS COLLATERAL AGENT AND CUSTODIAN FOR THE NYCTL 1998-2

TRUST, Plaintiff -against- JAPI HOLDINGS USA INC., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated November 24, 2023, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on April 3, 2024 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, Unit being designated and described as Hotel Suite Unit 2504, known as "Trump Soho Hotel Condominium" Together with an undivided 0.1437% interest in the common elements. Block: 491

Lot: 1384

Said premises known as 246 SPRING STREET, UNIT 2504, NEW YORK, NY 10013

Approximate amount of lien $31,564.07 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 161116/2020.

ROBERTA E. ASHKIN, ESQ., Referee Bronster, LLP

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 156 West 56th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10019

NOTICE OF SALE

101 LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME

Mobile Medicine, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 2/16/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 228 Park Ave S, Ste 20769, NY, NY, 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of MIDTOWN ESTATES PRESERVATION GP, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/05/24. 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.

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF New York , U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR VRMTG ASSET TRUST, Plaintiff, vs . Avi Sivan , Defendant(s). Pursuant to an Amended Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion duly entered on January 5, 2024 , I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, Room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on April 3, 2024 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 635 West 42nd Street, Unit 45H, New York, NY 10036. 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, City and State of New York, Block 1090 and Lot 1337 together with an undivided 0.17879 percent interest in the Common Elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $734,925.62 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850226/2019. Cash will not be accepted. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale.

Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff

COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK US Bank National Association as Trustee for CMSI REMIC Series 2008-02 - Remic Pass-Through Certificates Series 2008-02, Plaintiff AGAINST Paul Mihalitsianos a/k/a Paul Peter Mihalitsianos, Corrinne Borges a/k/a Corrine Borges, et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered August 28, 2023, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse in Room 130, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on March 27, 2024 at 2:15PM, premises known as 309 East 105th Street, Unit 1N, New York, NY 10029. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the City, County and State of New York, BLOCK: 1677, LOT: 1102. Approximate amount of judgment $823,969.95 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850147/2019. The aforementioned auction will be conducted in accordance with the NEW YORK County COVID-19 Protocols located on the Office of Court Administration (OCA) website (https://ww2.nycourts. gov/Admin/oca.shtml) and as such all persons must comply with social distancing, wearing masks and screening practices in effect at the time of this foreclosure sale. Thomas R. Kleinberger, Esq., Referee Frenkel Lambert Weiss Weisman & Gordon, LLP 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 01-087595-F00 78581

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NYCNCC SUB-CDE 21, LLC(the “LLC”) filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on 11/16/2023. Office location: New York County. The principal business address of the LLC is: One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006. SSNY has been designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail service of process to c/o New York City Economic Development Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006, Attention: General Counsel. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of ESRT 1400 TOWNHALL TRS, L.L.C. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/25/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

STATE OF NEW MEXICO COUNTY OF D-101CV-2023-02136 AUDRA ARMIJO AND CARLOS VALLES, SR. INDIVIDUALLY AND CARLOS VALLES, SR., AS THE PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE WRONGFUL DEATH

ESTATE OF ALVARO VALLES, DECEASED, Plaintiffs, vs. BRIAN V. CASHIN, MD, TAJDHARY TIWARI, MD and DEMING HOSPITAL CORPORATION

D/B/A MIMBRES MEMORIAL

HOSPITAL, Defendants. NOTICE OF SUIT TO: Defendant

Tajdhary Tiwari, MD, You are hereby notified that the abovenamed Plaintiffs have filed a civil action against you in the above-entitled Court and cause, the general object thereof being to bring about a medical malpractice and wrongful death suit. That unless you respond to the Complaint for Medical Malpractice and Wrongful Death within 30 days of completion of publication of this Notice, judgment by default will be entered against you. Name, address, and phone number of Plaintiffs’ attorney: Poulos & Coates, LLP 1802 Avenida de Mesilla, Las Cruces, NM 88005 575-5234444. BY ORDER OF The Honorable Bryan Biedsheid, District Judge of the First Judicial District Court of the State of New Mexico and the Seal of the District Court of Santa Fes County, entered on December 27, 2023.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NATASA KENNEDY CONSULT-

ING LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/12/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 228 Park Ave S. #178498, NY, NY 10003. R/A: US Corp Agents Inc. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act.

AOIFE REDDAN PHOTOGRAPHY LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/04/24. 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, 200 North End Avenue, Apartment 9A, New York, NY 10282. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Corrente Medical Care PLLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/5/2024. Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o The DeIorio Law Group PLLC, 800 Westchester Ave, Ste S-608, Rye Brook, NY 10573. Purpose: Medicine.

Notice of Formation of Law Office of Brett J. Nomberg, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/31/2023. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against PLLC to: 600 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. Purpose: any lawful activity.

216 EAST 47TH STREET, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/05/24. 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, 312 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF SALE - SUPREME COURT – NEW YORK COUNTY – AC 31, LLC, Plaintiff against Melissa Fawer, Mark Fawer, et. al., Defendant(s) – Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision + Order on Motion dated December 5, 2023, and entered in the New York County Clerk’s Office on January 11, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, Room 130, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on April 3, 2024, at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 52 East End Avenue, Units 12A, 12C, 14B & 14C, New York, NY 10028. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Block 1578 Lot 1023, Lot 1025, Lot 1026 and Lot 1027. Approximate amount of judgment $4,091,749.40, plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index #850250/2017 and Terms of Sale. The auction will be conducted pursuant to Supreme Court, New York County Auction Park Rules for Outdoor Auctions.

Craig J. Albert, Esq., Referee Dated: February 9, 2024

Harris Beach PLLC

Kevin Tompsett, Esq.

Attorneys for Plaintiff 99 Garnsey Road Pittsford, NY 14534

Joshua Engle MD PLLC dba ExciteMD Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/31/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 501 5th Ave, Ste 1203, NY, NY, 10017. Purpose: Any lawful act.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of NYCNCC SUB-CDE 22, LLC (the “LLC”) filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on 11/16/2023. Office location: New York County. The principal business address of the LLC is: One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006. SSNY has been designated as the agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail service of process to c/o New York City Economic Development Corporation, One Liberty Plaza, New York, New York 10006, Attention: General Counsel. Purpose: any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of 2 CROSBY OWNER LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/28/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of HYDROGEN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/11/22. Princ. office of LLC: 205 Detroit St., Ste. 200, Denver, CO 80206. 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 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808-1674. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Evey Gallery New York LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/01/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 240 S County Rd, Palm Beach, FL, 33480. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

INDEX NO. 850554/2023 COUNTY OF NEW YORK

U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS OWNER TRUSTEE FOR RCF 2 ACQUISITION TRUST

Plaintiff designates NEW YORK as the place of trial situs of the real property

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

Mortgaged Premises: 46 MERCER STREET, UNIT 4W, NEW YORK, NY 10013

Block: 474

Lot: 1407

RPM & COMPANY, LLC filed with the SSNY on 01/18/24 under the fictitious name of RPMUMBY LLC. Originally filed with the Secretary of State of Louisiana on 05/21/2012. 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, 41 5th Avenue, #4F, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of GTK CREATIVE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, Attn: Gina Piazza, Esq., 1350 Broadway, 11th Fl., NY, NY 10018. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of 105 CGD LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/26/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 111 E. 88th St., Apt. 4A, NY, NY 10128. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Nicholas W. Burke at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Alan's Blow Clear LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/14/23. Office: Albany County. Registered Agent Inc. designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to United States Corporation Agents, Inc 7014 13th Ave Suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SHELBY MULLER LCSW PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of PLLC: 401 E. 80th St., Apt. 17K, NY, NY 10075. SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the PLLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Licensed clinical social work.

Notice of Formation of GOLD TOP MANAGEMENT, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/24. Office location: NY County. 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 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Plaintiff, vs.

GIANLUIGI TORZI, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PRESIDENT OF SUNSET U.S. CORPORATION, if living, and if she/he be dead, any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; SUNSET U.S. CORPORATION; BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE SOHO APARTMENTS; PARADIGM CREDIT CORPORATION II; NEW YORK CITY PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE; PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

"JOHN DOE #1" through "JOHN DOE #12," the last twelve names being fictitious and unknown to plaintiff, the persons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, persons or corporations, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the premises, described in the complaint, Defendants,

To the above named Defendants

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action and to serve a copy of your Answer on the plaintiff’s attorney within twenty (20) days of the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty (30) days after service of the same is complete where service is made in any manner other than by personal delivery within the State. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service. Your failure to appear or to answer will result in a judgment against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. In the event that a deficiency balance remains from the sale proceeds, a judgment may be entered against you.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $2,557,750.00 and interest, recorded on September 05, 2018, in Instrument Number 2018000296942 , of the Public Records of NEW YORK County, New York, covering premises known as 46 MERCER STREET, UNIT 4W, NEW YORK, NY 10013.

The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

NEW YORK County is designated as the place of trial because the real property affected by this action is located in said county.

NOTICE

YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME

If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home.

Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property.

Sending a payment to the mortgage company will not stop the foreclosure action.

YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.

Dated: February 1st, 2024

ROBERTSON, ANSCHUTZ, SCHNEID, CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC Attorney for Plaintiff Jinghan Zhang, Esq. 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310 Westbury, NY 11590 516-280-7675

LITTMAN PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/18/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 368 Briarcliffe Road, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Purpose: Practice of psychology.

Notice of Formation of PC NYC PROPERTY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/24. Office location: NY County. 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 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of STRETCHD WORLDWIDE, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/17/24. Princ. office of LLC: 12636 High Bluff Dr., Ste. 200, San Diego, CA 92130. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o C T Corporation System, 28 Liberty St., NY, NY 10005. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CT Corporation System, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Stretching services.

Notice of Formation of CVE US NY WELLSVILLE 362 LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 109 W. 27th St., 8th 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 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Annah Mayer Fine Jewelry LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/2/2024. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 108 Leonard Street, #7F, NY, NY 10013. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

101 LEGAL NOTICES 101 LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Qualification of RGNNEW YORK C, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/16/24. 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 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of FORTHILL MOXY HOLDER, LLC

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/15/24. 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 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secy. of State, 820 N. French St., 10th Fl., Wilmington, DE 19801. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of BENNY BRONCO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/24. Office location: NY County. 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 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Falafel & Crepe LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 9/8/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 265 West 114th St., Ste. 521, NY, NY 10026. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

HELL'S KITCHEN PICKLE

BALL LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/04/23. 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 Robert Iacono, 660 12th Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10019. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

234 West 123rd Street Apts, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/25/2015. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 234 W. 123rd St., Apt. G., NY, NY 10027. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of SPECIAL PRODUCTION AGENCY LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/19/21. Princ. office of LLC: 545 W. 25th St., 11th 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. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Application for Authority of PRIVATE LENDER PARTNERS

LLC filed with the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) 2/12/2024. Formed in FL 1/29/2024. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The principal business loc. and address SSNY shall mail copy of process is Sergey Smirnov, 17475 Collins Ave., Unit 603, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160. Arts. of Organization filed with the Secy. of State, Div. of Corporations, 2415 N. Monroe St., Ste. 810, Tallahassee, FL 32303. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

TESLA SKY LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/29/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 28 LIBERTY ST, NEW YORK, NY 10005. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Step Change Coaching LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/04/24 Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 8 Spruce St, NY, NY 10038. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of MIDTOWN ESTATES DEVELOPER, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/05/24. 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.

Mama Naya LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/29/2024. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 182 Bennett Ave., #1H, NY, NY 10040. Purpose: Any lawful act.

ELECTRICAL APPRENTICE

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Harlem residents continue to rally in front of vacant building

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

Silent Voices United Inc. and the St. Nicholas Houses Resident Association continued their demands for affordable housing at 2201 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd. this past weekend. They gathered in front of the vacant luxury building.

“Our mission is to give a voice to those who have no voice,” said Tiffany Fulton, who heads Silent Voices United. “We stand united, a diverse community with a shared purpose.”

According to the city, the original developer went bankrupt and the new owner was going to lease the building to a nonprofit with the assumption that it would be used as a shelter for asylum seekers. The community realized the city had not held a public forum or informed Community Board 10 of any plans for the 53-unit building in question at 2201 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. Organizers angrily railed against resources not being prioritized for residents and put the word out to come together to stop it, which prompted Mayor Eric Adams to visit the community twice to try and smooth things over.

Last week, property owners allowed residents on a walkthrough of the building where they were not allowed to take pictures, they said. Fulton said that the community’s demands for the vacant building to be slated for permanent lowincome targeted housing are not

being met by the city or the owners.

Ruth McDaniels, another organizer, said that the Black community in Harlem has been overlooked for decades. “Enough is enough,” said McDaniels. “That’s where we are right now. We’re not going to just sit back and allow people, mayors, or governors, or anyone for that matter, to just come in and tell us that they’re going to allow people to come in and take our housing.”

Manhattan Democratic District Leader for the 70 Assembly District William Allen spoke at the rally about the Harlem community being “sold out” for the sake of gentrification a generation ago, which has led to a dearth of affordable housing.

“Gentrification is a public policy, your government supports that. That’s a government policy that says that we want to move you out,” said Allen. “So your presence and continued presence means a lot.”

Allen encouraged the groups to keep pressure on local politicians for results.

“Our office has been made aware of plans to change the use of this building and we stand with you that this community is an active participant in the housing plan taking place in this district,” said Shanny Herrera, who is the District Manager for Councilmember Yusef Salaam. “We look forward to being part of the conversation.”

Longtime Harlem resident Trevor Whittingham is a native of Jamaica who owns a locksmith and hardware store in the city. He claims rightful ownership of the vacant building and asserted that he’s been in court since 2011 trying to get his property back. According to the New York City Department of Finance Office of the City Register, Whittingham has shown up on the deed information for the building for at least a decade. He said the building was put in a trust which he is the sole beneficiary of.

Craig Schley and Shana Harmongoff, assembly candidates in the upcoming 70th District race, also made an appearance at the rally.

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.

Silent Voices United and residents of St. Nicholas Houses protest the uses of the building at 2201 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd. as a shelter or to house asylum seekers on Sat, Feb. 24. (Bill Moore photos)

Building owner Trevor Whittingham makes an appearance at the rally on Sat, Feb. 24.

International

Continued from page 2

the world’s oceans [is] everyone’s responsibility. I’m pleased that Skandia is participating and contributing to part of the solution.”

Elsewhere, Kenya and Rwanda continue to break records in recycling plastic waste.

This week, a group of Kenyan women could be seen picking up plastic waste that will serve to build freezers. The waste is sold to Kuza Freezer where employees break down the plastics into pellets before molding them into cold storage units.

Rwanda has been carrying out national bans to reduce the consumption and manufacturing of single-use plastics since 2004. Rwanda was the first country in the African region to introduce a law banning plastic and is now recognized as one of the few countries in the world to progressively react to the issue of plastic pollution.

SCIENCE CENTER PROTESTS LOSS OF PROPERTY TO HOME BUILDER (GIN)—The

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is the foremost national science and technology institution in Ghana, mandated to carry out scientific and technological research for national development. So the discovery that their 400 acres of land reserved for animal research and tree planting had been secretly transferred to housing developers came as an unpleasant shock.

It was the second encroachment of land in the Greater Accra region that had formerly been used for various projects and as a vital resource for the CSIR.

Last week, at a press conference, Michael Ammoo Gyasi, chair of the CSIR Central Committee of Local Unions, expressed “shock and dismay that a private developer had been clearing the research property— all 400 plus acres of land—in Pokuase and Amasaman for private use.”

Earlier, some 6,000 acres of state land were encroached up at Adenta Katamanso in Accra, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Kweku Asomah-Cheremeh, confirmed.

Dress codes

Continued from page 28

schools in the South are twice as likely to enforce strict dress codes as those in the Northeast, according to the GAO report. In the subregion that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana, 71% of public schools have strict dress codes—the highest in the country, the report said.

School districts have argued that strict dress codes increase academic performance, encourage discipline and good hygiene and help to limit distractions.

At Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, where Darryl George is a junior, Superintendent Greg Poole has compared the district’s grooming policies to military practices. In a full-page advertisement in the Houston Chronicle last month, Poole said service mem-

According to Gyasi, the Lands Commission cut back their 400 acre property to 184 acres and then reduced it again to 100 acres, in a sod-cutting ceremony attended by the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo.

After CSIR agreed to sign for 100 acres, they discovered the entire parcel was being cleared by a private developer, disregarding the terms of an initial agreement. In the process, ongoing scientific experiments and valuable CSIR research materials which had taken decades to develop were destroyed with impunity.

These activities, he said, posed a significant threat to the vital research and development activities carried out by the institution.

CSIR has been leading the way in developing different crop varieties, preserving Ghana’s native genetic resources, soil conservation, food processing, and forest and water resource management, as well as advancements in building technology, agriculture, aquaculture and food security.

The crisis of land expropriations was recently addressed in a stern letter to Akufo-Addo. “Mr. President,” wrote Dr. Benjamin Hussey, a columnist with GhanaWeb. “There is a land stealing and document forgery syndicate operating from the Lands Commission which is working with Nigerian criminal gangs and the Ghana Police Service to steal land and forge documents belonging to chiefs and genuine landowners.”

CSIR has reportedly issued a three-week ultimatum to the government and individuals who have encroached on its 400-acre Pokuase–Amasaman lands, ordering them to vacate immediately.

Failure to comply with this ultimatum, they said, would result in the CSIR taking legal action to reclaim its land, including the possibility of staging a peaceful demonstration to draw attention to the issue. Meanwhile, men in military fatigues began the demolition of houses on the science center property to the dismay of the working class families who moved there.

About six million out of the 33 million Ghanaians reportedly need affordable housing that Accra has not been able to build.

CEASEFIRE NEEDED TO END SUDAN’S ‘INTERMINABLE WAR’ (GIN)—It’s been called ‘Sudan’s Intermi-

bers “realize being an American requires conformity with the positive benefit of unity, and being part of something bigger than yourself.”

George has either been serving in-school suspension or spending time at an off-site disciplinary program since the end of August. His family was denied a religious exemption and has argued his locs have cultural significance. They also filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and a federal civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with the school district.

The lawsuits allege the state and district failed to enforce the CROWN Act, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination and took effect in Texas in September.

Asking students to change how they wear their hair for the sake of uniformity is a proxy for racism, said U.S. Rep Bonnie Watson Coleman, a New Jersey Democrat who has

nable War,’ relegated to invisibility by wars in Gaza and Ukraine. But for the selfless aid workers and the remaining Sudanese, it’s been an endless nightmare with no tangible end in sight to the widespread suffering endured by the country and its people.

Sudan, once known as Nubia and Ta Nehesi or Ta-Seti by ancient Egyptians, became an independent sovereign state, the Republic of the Sudan, in 1956—bringing to an end its nearly 136-year union with Egypt and its 56year occupation by the British.

The British colonial policy in Sudan developed unsustainable power structures between North and South Sudan, and between ethnic groups in the South. The result of this mismanagement, underdevelopment, and neglect was Northern dominance and hegemony within the independent Sudanese government.

The economic, educational, and political benefits supplied to the North, compared to the neglect and expropriation inflicted upon the South led to a vastly uneven balance of power which was the direct cause of the Sudanese Civil War, fought between 1956 and 2005.

When South Sudan gained full independence in 2011, it entered statehood as one of the poorest, least developed nations in the world. The century of neglect under the British and of violence and oppression under the North Sudanese left the fledgling country with an insecure future.

Omar al-Bashir, a former Sudanese military officer, led a revolt that overthrew the elected government of Sudan in 1989. He served as president of Sudan for nearly 30 years, from 1993 until 2019, before he was overthrown by the Sudanese Armed Forces after months of popular protests by, among others, 17 different trade unions and an alliance of doctors, journalists and lawyers demanding his departure.

Protesters adopted slogans of regime change that echoed the Arab Spring of 2011. They gathered outside the headquarters of the military in the capital and refused to move.

The proportion of women among the protesters has been put as high as 70% and from all ages and backgrounds. They say they were also demonstrating against Sudan’s sexist attitudes in a conservative Muslim society where Sharia law is practiced.

championed the CROWN Act.

“To be confronted with this unnecessary discrimination, which has nothing to do with your ability to learn, has nothing to do with your ability to sit in a classroom, has nothing to do with your ability to thrive academically, is wrong,” she said.

In 2020, the same high school told a Black male student that he had to cut his dreadlocks to return to school or participate in graduation. In recent years, several other Texas high schools have told Black students their hair violated dress code policies. The ACLU has filed lawsuits in a couple of cases, including against the Magnolia Independent School District, which ultimately ended up removing its hair restrictions from the dress code.

In 2020, the ACLU of Texas identified 477 school districts with boys-only hair-length rules. Since then, half have removed the restrictions from their policies, according to

But the protestors failed to reap the dividends of that revolution because the transitional government was not given sufficient support by the international community, according to BBC radio journalist Zeinab Badawi.

“It is extraordinary how a country as large as Sudan, the third biggest in Africa, hasn’t received more attention,” she observed.

“In the short term there is an absolute dire humanitarian crisis and people are in desperate need of food, of clean water and medicine. There’s been a lack of security—we need some kind of immediate ceasefire to help the people get their needs attended to.”

She continued: “How do we stop the two warring generals from fighting on the ground? We need a more concerted, united diplomatic effort internationally. At the moment we are seeing very splintered efforts. We’re seeing one track through Jeddah which involves the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. We see other tracks through the African Union and IGAD. Frankly it’s just led to this patchwork which has created a space for the generals to continue their battle. This is not conducive to peace at all.”

“Amidst all that wreckage that was Sudan, the spirit of the Sudanese people has not been extinguished,” she declared.

“Large parts of Africa are predominantly young. The average age is 18. They have never lost their desire for a better world. We should encourage their resilience and help them in any way we can.”

family in

an ACLU report. It argues for more equitable dress codes, noting that Black students are more likely to face disciplinary action.

Hair-length rules applying to boys at Texas schools also unfairly target transgender and non-binary students, said Chloe Kempf, an attorney at the ACLU of Texas.

The trial Thursday is being held in state court in Anahuac to decide whether George’s high school is violating the CROWN Act through dress code restrictions limiting the length of boys’ hair. The decision is expected to set a precedent in a state where several districts have similar policies.

Associated Press education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters, and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Sudanese

Khartoum (GIN photo)

St. John’s strives for a strong finish to Big East schedule

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

The St. John’s Red Storm had arguably the most important win of their season when they defeated the Creighton Bluejays, currently ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press poll, 80-66 on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm were 16-12 overall, and 8-9 in Big East Conference play heading into last night’s (Wednesday) road game against the Butler Bulldogs.

Senior guard Daniss Jenkins, who played for St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino a year ago at Iona, scored a team-high 27 points versus Creighton and became the team’s leading scorer after 28 games at 14.8 points per contest, edging out senior center Joel Soriano, who stood at 14.7 points per game before facing Butler after a subpar 12-point, seven-rebound effort on Sunday.

Despite defeating a top-12 team, the Red Storm needs to close out the conference regular season schedule strongly and have a deep run in the Big East Tournament, which begins on March 13 at the Garden, to have a favorable possibility to make the NCAA Tournament field of 68.

“I’d say, I hope so, but I don’t have a crystal ball here,” Pitino said after the victory over Creighton regarding St. John’s being an at-large NCAA team if they don’t win

Former

By LOIS ELFMAN

the Big East Tournament and earn an automatic bid.

After a 12-4 start, the Red Storm dropped eight of their next 10 games to fall to 14-12 before a road win over Georgetown on February 21. It was their first time taking two

straight since capturing four in a row from December 30 to January 10.

“I think that we were fabulous tonight,” Pitino said of his team after their showing against Creighton, “and I think the thing that they learned more than anything else,

obviously [the] defense was very good, but to just move the basketball and then your talented ball players don’t come down and just take bad shots.”

Pitino, who publicly and harshly criticized the Red Storm players after giving up a 19-point lead in losing to Seton Hall 68-62 on February 18, apologized three days later during the postgame press conference after a 90-85 win over Georgetown.

On Sunday, Jenkins explained his team’s mentality during their 2-8 stretch that took them out of solid NCAA Tournament consideration.

“In those other games, when we lost in the second half, we were playing not to lose, like, scared to win the game,” said Jenkins, alluding to one-point losses to No. 5 Marquette and Creighton, and a four-point loss to No. 3 Connecticut.

“It’s a lot of pressure on every shot, a lot of pressure on this defensive possession, a lot of pressure on whether you help or not,” Jenkins said. “Just thinking too much and worrying about the score.”

In the victory over Creighton, Jenkins noticed a change. “I didn’t look at the scoreboard. Not one time in that second half.”

The Red Storm will be at DePaul next Tuesday and at Madison Square Garden on March 9 to end their Big East regular season schedule.

sprinter Bianca Knight profiled in the documentary ‘Fast Dreams’

Special to the AmNews

Olympic gold medalist Bianca Knight was a sprinter, but the documentary “Fast Dreams” was definitely a marathon for the filmmakers, who filmed her over a 17-year period. It shows her roots in Mississippi, her brief collegiate career, her time on the pro track circuit, the Olympics, motherhood and finally coaching. The film premiered at the 2023 Essence Film Festival, winning the Audience Award, and is currently nominated for a 2024 NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Documentary Film category.

The film’s three directors—Harry Davis, Alexander Tejeda and Krista Saint-Dic— remained with the project throughout. Brooklyn native Tejeda recalled a phone call from Davis in 2007 asking him to come to Austin, Texas. Knight had recently arrived at University of Texas at Austin to be a student-athlete and train under Longhorns’ track coach Beverly Kearney.

“I wasn’t really that knowledgeable about track and field, but I knew Harry ran track and had a passion for that,” said Tejeda. “We were shooting, not really having a direction at the time.”

After the end of indoor season, during which Knight won an NCAA title, she decid-

ed to leave the team and turn professional. The film then follows Knight’s journey, which included the disappointment of not making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team, earning a spot on the 2012 team and winning gold as part of the 4x100 meter relay.

“Bianca had this belief in herself that she wanted to do it how she envisioned it, and she ran with her beliefs,” said Tejeda. “She believed in herself and she went for it. … Her dream was to make it, and we believed in her, but whether she won or not, we always felt there was a story.” Production Company 99 Ways Entertainment had a test screening run at a Regal Cinema in New York. Tejeda said the goal is to inspire young people.

“We want to take this film across the country and show the film because today’s youth need something different,” Tejeda said. “The message we want to portray is that failure is part of success. We want to show it to schoolkids and in addition to watching the film, we want to engage in educational discussion about resilience and perseverance.

“At the screenings in New York, we were overwhelmed,” he added. “I was surprised to see these kids asking questions afterwards. Kids [aged] 7 to high school pretty much said the same thing, ‘Never give up.’ This is exactly what we wanted.”

Olympic gold medal sprinter Bianca Knight is now an assistant coach at Queens University of Charlotte. (Royals Athletics photo)

St. John’s guard Daniss Jenkins and forward Glenn Taylor Jr. enjoy the Red Storm’s 80-66 win over Creighton at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

The Mets and Yankees open spring training with contract uncertainties

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

No doubt, the most important agenda item for first-year Mets general manager David Stearns is the contract status of 29-year-old first baseman Pete Alonso, one of the franchise’s most statistically productive position players ever. Alonso has 192 home runs and 498 RBI in five seasons, including a 57game, Major League Baseball-shortened 2020 COVID-19 campaign. When he made his MLB debut in 2019, he played in 161 of 162 possible games, crushed a rookie record 53 homers, in addition to 120 RBI and 30 doubles on his way to being named the NL Rookie of the Year.

His resume is also highlighted by three All-Star Game appearances (2019, 2022, 2023), the MLB home run leader (2019), and the most RBI in the NL in 2022 (131). But it is no sure thing the Mets and Alonso will agree on a long-term deal. They avoided arbitration on a contract for this season when Alonso signed a one-year deal for $20.5 million in January. But now, entering his sixth season, his Mets career could be close to its ending.

Alonso’s status amplifies the uncertainties the Mets face with a new general manager and manager in Carlos Mendoza, the 44-year-old former bench coach for the Yankees who is in his first job pilot-

ing a team on the major league level. The 39-year-old Stearns came to the Mets after holding the GM position for the Milwaukee Brewers from September 2015 through last season. He is a Manhattan native from the Upper East Side who worked in the Mets’ baseball operations department in 2007 after graduating from Harvard. The Mets finished last season 75-87 and in fourth place in the NL East.

“The only contract matters that we talked about were my one-year contract this year,” said Alonso last Saturday at the Mets’ spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida. “And again, I’m very happy that I’m back with this group. Yeah, I’m stoked. I’m stoked to get this year going, and it’s an exciting time in spring.”

On Meet at the Apple, the Mets’ official podcast, team owner Steve Cohen acknowledged

Alonso’s significance on and off the field.

“He’s an important part of our team today and hopefully in the future,” Cohen said. “We know the fans feel strongly about him and I’m not tone-deaf. I totally understand the fans’ love of Pete.”

A supposition by many around baseball is that Alonso’s agent, Scott Boras, one of the most influential and pioneering agents in the history of sports business, will take Alonso into free-agency next season with the objective of securing his client a multiyear contract that will exceed $300 million. There are currently only 14 MLB players with contracts that have a value of $300 million or more, topped by the Dodgers DH/pitcher Shohei Ohtani, who inked a 10-year, $700 million deal with the team in December, the highest ever in North American team sports.

Boras also represents Yankees superstar outfielder Juan Soto, who the team acquired in a seven-player trade with the San Diego Padres in December. Soto, like Alonso, is in the final year of his contract and will command more money than Alonso. Similar to the Mets, whether Soto will remain a Yankee beyond this season is unclear. The Yankees signed 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge to a nine-year, $360 million contract in December of 2022 and still have DH/outfielder Giancarlo Stanton’s deal under them for $98 million and four more seasons.

The Combine provides the Jets and Giants closer looks at QB prospects

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The annual NFL Combine began on Monday in Indianapolis and today will mark the opening of players performing drills on the field.

Quarterbacks will be showcased on Saturday so the Jets and Giants can get a closer look at their potential future starters. There are 32 starters and 32 primary backups in the NFL for a total of 64 quarterbacks—yet there aren’t 64 quarterbacks in the world in any given season that solidly man their stated roles.

The league is in perpetual pursuit of quality talent at a position that is as difficult to fill as any in American business and industry. Consider that there are more qualified Fortune 500 CEO candidates than franchise quarterbacks. The Giants and Jets, who went 6-11 and 7-10 last season, respectively, are prime examples.

When Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn left Achilles tendon four snaps into this past season, Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, proved incapable of effectively guiding the team. Wilson was replaced by veteran Trevor Siemian, who was equally limited.

The Giants starter Daniel Jones went down with a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee during Week 9 and his backup

Tyrod Taylor was sidelined for four weeks after suffering a rib injury during Week 8. Head coach Brian Daboll had to rely on rookie Tommy DeVito, who grew up in the shadows of MetLife Stadium playing for Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey, to play in nine games, starting six.

While the jury is still out on whether Jones has the necessities to lead the Giants to the Super Bowl, Taylor is now a 34-year-old free-

agent seeking another contract as a backup, perhaps back with the Giants, and DeVito will still have to battle for a roster spot.

So drafting a quarterback this year has to be in the Giants’ and Jets’ calculus. Not with their first round picks, because the three top prospects according to most draft evaluators—Caleb Williams of USC, 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels of Arizona State, and 2023 Heisman Trophy recipient

Drake May of North Carolina—are likely to be off the board before the Giants select at No. 6 and the Jets at No. 10.

The Chicago Bears will take a quarterback at the No. 1 spot, the Washington Commanders undoubtedly will snatch up a quarterback at No. 2, and the New England Patriots, who will begin next season with new head coach Jerod Mayo after the departure of Bill Belichick, may be leaning towards taking a quarterback at No. 3.

The Giants currently own two second round picks at 39 and 47. They are also in the No. 70 slot in the third round. Conversely, the Jets do not have a second round pick and after No. 10 aren’t up again until the third round (No. 72). Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix could eventually be successful starters, and one could be available for the Giants at 39. The Jets would have to move up into the high second round to have a chance at Nix or Penix.

There are other quarterbacks that could emerge, such as Tulane’s Michae Pratt, South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler, and Tennessee’s Joe Milton III, who may have the most arm talent of any quarterback in this year’s draft. But the odds of getting a franchise quarterback in the late rounds like Brock Purdy, the last pick (Round 7, No. 262) in the 2022 draft who led the San Francisco 49ers to this year’s Super Bowl, is almost zero.

University of Washington product, Micheal Penix Jr., practicing at last month’s senior bowl, could be a draft target of the Jets and Giants. (AP photo/Butch Dill)

Mets first baseman Pete Alonso prepares for the upcoming season at spring training as his impending free-agency will be an ongoing topic of discussion. (AP/Jeff Roberson)

Hostos women’s basketball aims for another national title

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Earlier this month, Hostos Community College women’s basketball reasserted its supremacy in the CUNY Athletic Conference (CUNYAC), winning its 11th championship title. While victory was sweet for the Caimans, the players and coaches left hungry to earn their place in history by winning a NJCAA Division III National Championship as the teams of 2018 and 2019 did.

The women’s basketball program at Hostos has become a family for players searching for a place they belong. Some have tried unsuccessfully to find it elsewhere, but now have a home on the basketball court and in the classroom.

“When I’m here, I have anchors of love, support and humor; everyone has a smile on their face,” said Chyna Bryant, 21, who noted that the team not only welcomed her, but also embraced her daughter, Aviana, 2. Pregnancy and childbirth temporarily upended her plans to play college basketball,

but Hostos, which has a childcare center, made everything possible.

“Hostos helped me get back in shape,” said Bryant. “They honestly offered me every resource possible that I needed to succeed this season…This is a phenomenal group of personalities.”

Jae’oni Davis, a sophomore guard who was MVP of the CUNYAC Tournament, said she’s lived in multiple

cities around the U.S., but NYC is home. She also mentions the teamwork of the Caimans—whether it’s helping a teammate with schoolwork or encouraging someone to overcome injury.

“I’ve never been on a necessarily championship team, so it was kind of cool to win a championship and get MVP,” said Davis. “We’ve been working really hard. We always have

each other’s backs because we all have the same end goal, and that’s to win the national championship. CUNY was the first little taste of it, and it was a great win, but we went right back to work.”

Davis expects to complete her associate’s degree this spring, and her next step will be playing college hoops at a four-year institution. “I take interest in multiple things,”

she said. “I’m looking to go to a four-year school, high level in basketball and academics. I’m looking to major in sports medicine.”

Hostos men’s basketball also won the CUNYAC title and advanced to the NJCAA Region 15 Quarterfinals. The teams played a double header against Suffolk County Community College on Tuesday. The Region 15 Semifinals are on Saturday.

Women’s wrestling moves toward NCAA championship status

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Earlier this month, women’s wrestling moved ever closer to becoming the 91st NCAA championship sport. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics voted to recommend that Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a national collegiate women’s wrestling championship. If it proceeds, the first NCAA championship will take place in winter 2026.

Currently, women’s wrestling programs exist as an intercollegiate sport at some colleges and universities and as a club sport at others. If it is designated with NCAA championship status, it will be the sixth sport to receive this through the Emerging Sports for Women program, joining rowing, ice hockey, water polo, bowling, and beach volleyball.

This comes as great news to one of the sport’s most ferocious advocates, Sally Roberts, founder and CEO of Wrestle Like a Girl, whose mission is to empower girls and women through the sport. “We make sure that we’re ushering this movement that’s

going to benefit all for generations to come,” she said.

Roberts said this move toward NCAA championship status is powerful. It potentially can lead to athletic scholarships for young women in the U.S. and internationally.

“When we submitted the bid for women’s wrestling to become an NCAA Emerging Sport, we did it with a coalition

of national leaders here in the United States with the vision that we wanted to be an inclusive sport that could provide opportunities for girls not only here in the United States but across the globe,” she said. “We made it freestyle, which is the Olympic style of wrestling.”

Approximately 43% of female participation in wrestling are girls and women of color. Wom-

en’s wrestling made its Olympic debut in 2004. NCAA championship status will lead to the development of more talent, as the collegiate ranks serve as training ground for athletes in many sports, such as track and field and swimming.

A multi-stakeholder coalition is working together to see that NCAA championship status becomes a reality. There is currently

a varsity system of official NCAA programs. As of February 2024, there are 57 schools with women’s wrestling programs that meet NCAA qualifications. Additionally, there are over 20 club programs. “With the reduction of barriers to entry and the opening of doors of access to opportunities, the schools are absolutely adding women’s wrestling programs at a fervent pace,” Roberts said.

Chyna Bryant (l) and Jae’oni Davis have flourished at Hostos. (Hostos Athletics photos)

The Hostos Caimans celebrate their CUNYAC Championship.

Sacred Heart University wrestler Jacklyn Smith. (Greg Vasil photo) At Columbia University, women’s wrestling is a club sport for athletes like Chelsea Marcelle. (Emma Randall photo)

Necessary lineup shifts have become taxing for the Knicks Sports

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

With 9:33 displayed on the mighty Madison Square Garden video board in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ match up with the Detroit Pistons on Monday night, Coach Tom Thibodeau looked down the baseline at his bench and summoned AllStar point-guard Jalen Brunson to the scorer’s table. The Knicks, facing the team with the worst record in the NBA, needing their best player to reenter the game at a stage when he should have been resting for the closing minutes, reflected their dire injury circumstances and the major minutes being incurred by several starters.

Thibodeau was acutely aware that the 94-89 lead his squad held was tenuous playing with a lineup depleted by injuries to regular starters Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson. Brunson indeed provided crucial production, ending with 35 points, albeit on 11-26 shooting overall and 3-11 on 3-point attempts. And he logged a strenuous 40 minutes.

Along with guard/forward Josh Hart, who registered 42 exceptional minutes, posting 23 points and eight rebounds, the duo tugged the Knicks to a 113-111 win that was marred by a controversial final eight seconds when Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo committed a blatant foul on Pistons rookie forward Ausar Thompson during a scramble for a loose ball that ultimately led to a layup by Hart with 2.1 seconds remaining to give the Knicks a 112-111 advantage.

“Absolute worst call of the season,” Pistons Coach Williams angrily said at his postgame press conference. His frustration was warranted as victories have been elusive for the young Pistons, which are just 9-49. The average age of four of the Pistons starters who took on the Knicks is 21.

“No call. Enough’s enough. We’ve done it the right way. We’ve called the league. We’ve sent clips. We’re sick of hearing the same stuff over and over again. We had a chance to win the game, and the guy dove into Ausar’s legs and there was no call. That’s an abomination. You cannot

Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa, pictured guarding the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic in a game on February 8, has emerged as a key member of the team’s rotation.

miss that in an NBA game. Period,” Williams continued.

The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report, a play-by-play report assessing all calls and non-calls in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and the last two minutes of overtime, affirmed that DiVincenzo should have been called for a foul.

The Knicks escaped with the win but playing without Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein the following night hosting the New Orleans Pel-

icans, didn’t have enough on the offensive end to overcome the absences of five of their top rotation pieces and lost 115-92. Brunson sat out due to neck spasms and Hartenstein with lingering left Achilles tendinopathy. Both are expected back in the lineup for tonight’s game at MSG versus the Golden State Warriors.

The rash of injuries the Knicks have sustained has compelled Thibodeau to extend the minutes of his available

The Nets look to close the play-in gap facing the Hawks for two

By DERREL JOHNSON

Special to the AmNews

The Brooklyn Nets begin a fourgame homestand tonight at the Barclays Center with 24 regular season games remaining, and trailing the Atlanta Hawks by four games for the final NBA Eastern Conference NBA Play-In Tournament spot. The Nets are 22-36 and the No. 11 seed. The Hawks are 26-32.

In a scheduling anomaly, the Nets play back-to-back home games against the Hawks. They will host them again on Saturday afternoon. Atlanta will be without three-time NBA All-Star guard Trae Young, who recently tore a ligament in his left hand and will be sidelined until at least the end of March. Young leads the Hawks in points (26.4), assists (10.8), and steals (1.4).

Two wins against Atlanta would put Brooklyn only two games out of the play-in, whereas a sweep by the Hawks would leave the Nets six games behind with only 22 contests

left to play. Splitting the two games does little for Brooklyn. Furthermore, the Nets will meet up with the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, which have been severely weakened by injuries this season, including one to its best player, star point-guard Ja Morant. The 2022 All-NBA selection had a seasonending surgery on his right shoulder in January.

The Nets defeated Memphis 111-86 on Monday in a team effort that saw all five starters and two players off the bench score 10 or more. Brooklyn lost Tuesday to the Orlando Magic 108-81.

They will close out the four-game home stretch against the Philadelphia 76ers next Tuesday. The 76ers have been struggling since their reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid has

players, notably Bunson, Hart and forward Precious Achiuwa, the latter who has been a critically important contributor replacing Randle as the starting power forward.

“You do what you have to do to win. Whatever it takes to get it done” said Thibodeau on Monday following the win over the Pistons regarding the heavy minutes being assigned to key players. “Those guys have done a great job, it’s interesting because those are probably the guys (Brunson and Hart) that are putting a ton of work into it.

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Last night both guys were in the gym shooting and will be there tomorrow. There’s a reason why they’re playing the way they’re playing. There’s a reason why they can handle those minutes. They prepare themselves to handle those minutes.”

But for how long will be determined as the 35-24 Knicks, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, have 23 regular season games remaining. In addition to the Warriors, the Knicks will be in Cleveland on Sunday to face the Cavaliers and back at the Garden on Tuesday to meet the Atlanta Hawks.

been out. Embiid has not played since January 30 when Golden State Warriors forward Johnathan Kuminga unintentionally fell on his left knee diving for a loose ball, injuring Embiid’s left meniscus.

Nets guard Cam Thomas, who is the team’s second-leading scorer at 20.9 points per contest, left Monday’s game against Memphis with an ankle injury and did not play Tuesday against Orlando. Thomas missed nine games earlier this season with an ankle injury. His status for tonight at AmNews press time was uncertain.

Even if Thomas is out for the first game of two versus the Hawks, four games at home against three teams without injured superstars is an opportunity for the Nets to make up ground in the standings. Brooklyn’s interim head coach Kevin Ollie says his team outlook remains optimistic.

“They just kept believing [because] it’s been a

couple up and down days, unknown days, and they just stayed together,” he said after the Grizzlies win. “One thing I know about this team, they love each other and that’s the only thing I want to see because love can get through anything. So the joy and the love that they share for each other is amazing.

“They play for each other, they want to win for each other. And that’s what we got to do. That’s the way we have to play. We got to play with grit, we got to play with defense, and then we got to share the basketball.”

After the homestand, the Nets will begin a five-game road trip, all against East opponents, next Thursday.

(Bill Moore photo)

Nets point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and his teammates face an important stretch of games at home beginning tonight. (Bill Moore photo)