New York Amsterdam News Issue #9 March 2-8, 2023

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(Bill Moore and Pexels collage photo) AMNEWS HOSTS GUN VIOLENCE CONVENING Mayor Adams Must Break FDNY Diehards Resisting Long-Needed Reforms Urban Agenda by David R. Jones, President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York - See page 5

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INDEX

Arts & Entertainment Page 17

» Art Page 18

» Astro Page 20

» Jazz Page 24

Caribbean Update .........................Page 14

Classified Page 32

Editorial/Opinion Pages 12,13

Education Page 28

Go with the Flo Page 8

Health Page 16

In the Classroom Page 26

Nightlife Page 9

Religion & Spirituality Page 30

Sports Page 40

Union Matters Page 10

SOUTH AFRICA HOSTS RUSSIA AND CHINA IN JOINT NAVAL EXERCISES

(GIN) - On the heels of a nearunanimous vote at the U.N. condemning Russia over its war on Ukraine, South Africa will host 10 days of joint naval exercises with Russia and China. Opposition figures are calling this an endorsement of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

South Africa’s government says it remains neutral regarding the conflict, and that it routinely hosts similar drills with other countries,

including France and the U.S.

The naval exercises, called Mosi, which means “smoke” in the Tswana language, are taking place in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast, with 350 members of its armed forces taking part.

Russia will be sending its “Admiral Gorshkov” warship, which carries Zircon hypersonic missiles. These fly at nine times the speed of sound and have a range of 620 miles. Moscow “will be trying to show that despite its setbacks in the war in Ukraine, its

The U.N. vote called on Russia to withdraw from the Ukraine immediately and end the fighting. In the vote, 32 countries abstained and seven countries—including South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, and Mali—refused to endorse it.

“All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide,” said South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor during a visit by her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in January. Trying to stop South Africa from conducting joint military exercises with the countries of its choice amounted to “an abuse of international practice,” she said.

African nations abstaining from the vote included Burundi, Algeria, Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Mozambique, Namibia,

In an interview last March with Bloomberg News, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, “(The position of) neutrality can cost…and fortunately, we’re not alone in all this, there are many others that have chosen the same path. The benefit in all this is that we can talk to both sides.”

Last year, Kenya, then a member of the UN Security Council, deplored Russia’s invasion, calling it a resurgence of new colonialism. “We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression,” said Dr. Martin Kimani, Kenya’s Permanent Representative, to the UN at the time.

The non-binding vote means Ukraine has gained two more African backers than last year in March.

See INTERNATIONAL on page 31

Nigerians contemplate new president, after testy election

BY NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

Nigeria’s Saturday, Feb. 25th presidential election was finally called Tuesday night in the U.S., or Wednesday morning in Nigeria, which is six hours ahead.

Former governor of Lagos and All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Tinubu, 70, was declared the winner, reportedly garnering most of the popular vote, although he lost his own Lagos State.

Out of 18 candidates, there were three main challenges to replace current president Muhammadu Buhari. Tinubu was one of the leading candidates. People’s Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar, 76, was on his sixth run for presidency. Labor Party candidate Peter Obi, 61, with massive youthful support, had a surprisingly successful campaign. Has put up an impressive race, and had major support outside the country, too.

Millions of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora had been on tenterhooks awaiting the result and the aftermath.

Charges of misplaced votes, reported irregularities, prohibitive technical issues, polling units and voters being attacked, violence,

fraud, threatening behavior, and charges of corruption were levied against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as state results trickled in and people reacted to disputed results. Some calls, including from former president Olusegun Obasanjo, were made for the election to be canceled.

Until the official election result announcement, Obi’s supporters were celebrating in the streets and online as each winning result came in states such as his own Anambra, Edo, Delta, Cross River, and Imo.

But even as the definitive, immediate Nigerian opposition to the already-disputed result kicks off, INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu announced that Tinubu, “having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”

The commission declared the race for Tinubu, who garnered 8.8 million votes. Atiku Abubakar earned 6.9 million votes, and Peter Obi won 6.1 million. The uproar was immediate, however.

Any casual analysis of the political plan in the last few weeks will reveal this very scenario being a topic of discussion, as fears of a compromised election arose.

Meanwhile, even though there

have been deaths at polling sites, Nigerian civilians and public officials are calling for calm and a peaceful transition of power so that the nation’s 220 million people can regroup and rebuild.

The election and the anticipation of a fair and accurate result has been the talk of Nigeria, the African continent, and Naija people throughout the diaspora. It has been a tense few days. Results from different states like Lagos, Edo, Kano, and Delta have trickled in, giving hope to election watchers from across the 36 states. So contested have been the results with INEC refusing or unable to upload the votes as they initially came in on Saturday and Sunday that talk

of canceling the election and hosting a rerun of the proceedings was trending as late as Tuesday.

Peter Obi’s youthful, self-proclaimed Obidients have been predicting a projected win for weeks. Confident after Saturday, they have been declaring a win despite the other projections suggesting a win for Bola Tinubu. The stage was set for unrest— if not physical, at least vocal and continuous. Already Al Jazeera reports that at a joint presser from opposition parties People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and African Democratic Congress (CDC) are charging that the election result was actually “vote

(GIN photo)

Nigeria president Bola Tinubu (AP/Ben Curtis)

Brooklyn’s Restoration Plaza set to be re-developed

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

A change may be coming to the heart of Central Brooklyn: The historic Restoration Plaza is set to be torn down and rebuilt as a brandnew business, art, and tech hub.

A multi-million-dollar rebuilding of the one-time Bed Stuy HQ of community stalwarts like Rabbi Bill Tate and Sonny Abubadika Carson and his Committee to Honor Black Heroes has been announced by the site’s landlord, the Restoration Corporation.

“Central Brooklyn is a microcosm of racial inequities reflected nationwide across our cities,” said Blondel Pinnock, president and CEO of Restoration Corporation. She told the Amsterdam News, “With its focus on Black wealth creation, the Innovation Campus offers a new, replicable model for closing the wealth gap in communities across the United States.”

The vision, Restoration says, is to use the 840,000-square-foot space to “enable Restoration to meet the needs of the community today. It includes a major expansion of Restoration’s cultural center and the Billie Holiday Theatre, new public open space, and two commercial buildings that will provide world-class new offices for both current tenants and private, nonprofit, and government partners committed to disrupting the racial wealth gap. The mixed-use vision would expand Restoration’s inno-

Metro Briefs

Governor Hochul announces plans for I LOVE NY Black travel initiative

vative direct services model, comprising a set of economic mobility and arts education programs [that] today provide critical resources to more than 60,000 Central Brooklyn residents. New space would be used to scale programs such as the Restoration Software Engineering Fellowship in partnership with the Marcy Lab School, and to foster similar programs with other companies invested in advancing skills training and job placement for local residents in high-growth sectors.”

Apparently Brooklynite and Mayor Eric Adams is a fan of the plan, too.“Restoration Innovation Campus is a project unlike any other, providing a scalable model for public and private partners to disrupt the racial wealth gap,” he said.

“This visionary proposal will address a generational crisis and meet the needs of Brooklyn residents today by creating new pathways to economic mobility in the communities that need them most…I look forward to helping usher in this historic next chapter for the organization and the community.”

Marlon Rice, director of event services, Asset Management Division, is a longtime Bed Stuy resident who grew up three blocks

from Restoration Plaza. “I think the plans for Restoration’s new campus are inspiring and frankly much needed,” she said. “The Plaza has always been and is to this day a beloved gathering place for the community. Now, with the plan that Restoration has proposed, the community will get the 21st-century plaza that Central Brooklyn has long deserved, including modern space that enhances the critical cultural and financial programs Restoration currently provides, and additional space to expand a new model for generating economic opportunity and wealth creation here in the community. The widening racial wealth gap is a generational crisis and the Restoration Innovation Campus provides an exciting new model to disrupt it right here in Brooklyn.”

Once a milk bottling plant, Bedford Stuyvesant’s unofficial town hall or village square opened in 1972, in then one of the country’s largest African American communities. Currently, the community and cultural hub with the supermarket, restaurant, art gallery, and educational facilities draws more than 1.5 million visits per year.

“For 55 years, Restoration has helped lift thousands of local residents out of poverty and created countless opportunities right here in our community,” Pinnock told the Amsterdam News. “Now, the nation’s staggering racial wealth gap requires a bold, new ap-

‘Fix the MTA’ movement proposes free buses, shorter wait times

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

All aboard the struggle bus. A “Fix the MTA” legislative package promises a smoother ride across town by funding increased transit service, making buses free over time and freezing fares at $2.75 on both buses and the subway for a short term. The spending bill spe-

cifically seeks to reduce intervals between subways to six minutes or less and increase bus service by 20%. But the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is not so sure the agency needs fixing.

“Most transit customers are benefitting from better than 6-minute headways on subways already and on-time performance just hit a 10-year high,” said an MTA spokesperson. “The mission

On February 24, Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans for an I LOVE NY Black travel initiative that has been set in place with the hopes of growing New York State tourism while motivating Black travelers to visit the area.

The Governor announced the initiative at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which was a part of the state’s commemoration of this year’s Black History Month. This new program will encourage growth of the state’s tourism programs like I LOVE NY LGBTQ, and Accessible NY, by highlighting destinations of interest to and supportive of specific traveling communities.

“The new I LOVE NY Black travel initiative will be a celebration of New York’s unparalleled Black history, culture, food, and arts,” Hochul said. “From sites and museums that bring Black history to life to world-class arts and cultural institutions like the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York has so much to offer. I look forward to working with our partners to welcome even more visitors to experience Black culture in our state.”

Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado chimed in on the conversation. “I am proud our state will proactively highlight the incredible diversity we have to offer and encourage travelers from around the world to experience and appreciate New York’s Black culture,” he said Bullied teen overcomes challenges and creates very own fashion company Egypt “Ify” Ufele is not new to overcoming obstacles in her path. The 14-year-old fashion designer has created “Chubbiline,” her own company from scratch four years ago as a way to help her deal with being bullied and the nasty comments that her peers constantly made to and about her. She learned to use her sewing machine as a way to cope with the bullying.

“I was constantly degraded, but if you look good, you feel good. It boosts your self-esteem,” Ufele said.

As she created magic with her sewing machine, she started to get recognized for her work that soon went viral.

Four years later, she’s making her mark on the runway and in the classroom. She creates 60 gowns a year, selling them for an average of $1,000 each. Some of the girls who used to tease and bully Egypt for her appearance now work for her at fashion shows.

“I don’t like holding grudges. It takes too much energy,” Ufele said. Not only is Ufele making her mark throughout the fashion world, she’s also visiting schools to discuss bullying. She even speaks to students in Nigeria, explaining that Nigeria is where many of her fashion influences come from.

Ufele’s mom, Dr. Reba Perry, has said that traveling while remaining a full-time student is quite exhausting, but is definitely worth seeing her daughter make a change.

“One little girl said, ‘Why are you coming here for me? I’m nobody,’” Perry recalled. “And Egypt said, ‘You are somebody. You are me.’ And she hugged her. And that was the beginning of Egypt’s journey in understanding why her mission is so important.”

It’s a mission that Ufele continues to carry out both in person and now on paper. Last summer, the teen self-published a book called “Egypt Ufele: Life by My Own Design.”

The young activist strongly believes that if she can overcome some of the darkest days of her life, anyone can do the same.

to provide faster, cleaner, safer service is dramatically improving customer satisfaction and will benefit from Governor Hochul’s budget that provides relief from looming deficits.”

Recently, MTA CEO and Chairman Janno Leber welcomed suggestions to increase the transit service when asked about the “Fix the MTA” proposals during a WBAI

HBCU SpringComing welcomes grads back home with 9th annual festival in NYC

The nation’s largest gathering of graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the northeast and southeast will be held during a three-day weekend event that is jam-packed with festivities. The HBCU SpringComing is also presented by Indeed.

The annual HBCU SpringComing is returning bigger and better for its ninth installment of festivals, in both Birmingham, Alabama, from March 17–19 and in New York City from April 14–16.

Lauren Grove and George A. Peters II created the event to celebrate

See RESTORATION PLAZA on page 27

(Nayaba Arinde photo)

Biden assailed again for comments

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

The moment President Biden said, “I may be a white boy, but I’m not stupid” during a Black History Month celebration on Monday in the East Room of the White House, right-wingers had fresh fodder to assail him, and Fox News was quickly out of the chute with comments from conservative lawmakers, declaring the president was both a white boy and stupid.

Biden’s remarks came as he was speaking about the power of the Divine Nine, a group of Black fraternities and sororities. His attempt at a racial joke was laughed at by those in attendance, including the presidents

of the Divine Nine. “I know where the power is,” he added. “You think I’m joking. I learned a long time ago about the Divine Nine.”

These words followed what appeared to be a slap at Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and his recent action to cancel an AP history course from the College Board and remove Black progressive writers and intellectuals from the curriculum. “It’s important to say from the White House for the entire country to hear: History matters. History matters and Black history matters. I can’t just choose to learn what we want to know,”

Biden said.

“We learn what we should know,” the president continued. “We have to learn everything—the good, the bad, the

truth, and who we are as a nation.”

Perhaps one of the things Biden has to learn is keep his comments free of being misconstrued, although even his scripted best intentions are ammunition for his adversaries. Two weeks ago, the word “boy” was part of his comment in reference to Maryland’s Black governor, Wes Moore.

Once he officially declares for reelection, we are certain to hear his opponents recount a litany of his gaffes and off-the-cuff remarks. He can counter some of these attacks by noting the many good things his administration has achieved—none more approved and applauded by Black voters than hosting a White House screening of the film “Till.”

‘Public land for public good,’ say housing advocates

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Passionate Black and brown housing advocates from across New York City rallied at City Hall last Thursday to demand the passage of “social housing” bills that would address the city’s housing crisis.

Albert Scott Jr., a lifelong East New York resident in Brooklyn who heads the East New York Community Land Trust (CLT) organization, was beside himself with the turnout for the rally and subsequent hearing. His group has been working towards legislation that would protect Black & brown tenants and homeowners for years, putting an emphasis on community-first land development as opposed to a strictly forprofit-model that creates racial and economic displacement.

He said the pandemic contributed to a shift in mindset that propelled the movement forward where previously he had been shouting into the void about the impending housing crisis. “Since most people were just one or two paychecks away from not being in their homes during the pandemic, people felt it,” said Scott. “It activated this activism shift.”

Scott and advocates were joined by bill sponsors Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, and Councilmembers Pierina Sanchez, Gale Brewer, Carlina Rivera, Lincoln Restler, Sandy Nurse, and Charles Barron among others. Afterwards, the council’s Committee on Housing & Buildings held an oversight hearing and heard testimony on the council bills.

“It’s been decades and decades that the corporate model of making as much money as humanly possible has brought us to this point,” said Williams. “We cannot fix the problem while keeping the model the same. Period.”

The seven social housing bills and resolutions would establish a city land bank,

ensure that public land is prioritized for non-profit developers and CLTs under the Public Land for Public Good bill, allow tenants or nonprofits an opportunity to buy buildings first with the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) and Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), implement a feasibility study for a social housing agency, create more social housing in communities of color, and end the city’s tax lien sale. Additionally, the package of bills would further the creation of a Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) and the Good Cause Eviction bill. Sanchez, who chairs the council’s committee for housing and buildings, said the “dire housing crisis” is completely unequal and concentrated in low-income communities of color that also intersect with people living with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community. Sanchez and others were all largely in support of Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adam’s future plan to build over 800,000 thousand houses, reduce red tape, and enable market rate production across the city and state. Sanchez questioned who the new housing was meant for since historically, marginalized communities have been left out.

“This pain that is felt differentially is widely documented. It’s a function of the history of our great nation. Government and private sector policies like redlining devalued certain communities,” said Sanchez.

The bills aim to expand current housing policy in a manner that builds intergenerational wealth for Black and brown families, includes solutions for our most vulnerable, expands equity within housing, and ultimately prioritizes communities over profit, she added.

Lander, who is continuing his housing advocacy from when he was a council member, testified that median asking rents are nearing $3,500 a month with less than a 1% vacancy rate for units under $1,500 a month. He said the city is losing not only Black homeownership because of inaffordibilty, but younger

generations across the board that don’t see a path to owning or even affording an apartment.

Williams said that it is time to create alternatives, like housing owned by communities of tenants rather than corporations, as a path forward.

Barron recently championed a “100% affordable housing” project that was approved by the city council to be constructed in his district in Brooklyn. The project, dubbed Urban Village, includes 11 mixeduse buildings across 10 acres near the East New York waterfront. Over 60% of rental units are reserved for low-income residents and the homeownership units are reserved for low-income households. According to a YIMBY report, the average household income in the immediate area is around $56,000 and the median household income at $39,163.

The East New York community sends a clear message to developers and anyone else who comes to the neighborhood, Barron said.

“We define affordability,” he said. “It has to be affordable to us. You cannot come into my neighborhood saying you’re going to build something and we have to make $100,000 to get in.”

He said that this and four other coming projects is an example of community development that centers the community and stops gentrification. Part of the problem, he said, is council members who also don’t vote on housing projects with the “welfare of the people” in mind.

“These council members sit and talk all this stuff at these rallies but they go behind the scenes and vote on projects 35%, 25% affordable,” said Barron.

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

Montclair makes history during Black History Month

In Montclair, New Jersey, the future’s looking bright with a significant change to local Black history: As this year’s Black History Month began, a local grassroots group celebrated a major milestone in their efforts to save 369 Claremont Avenue, the property known as the James Howe House—the first townhouse owned by a formerly enslaved Black person.

“We have the keys!” Friends of the Howe House shouted at a news conference on Feb. 13 in front of the house.

The house has so much importance in Black history, according to Friends of the Howe House: “One of the oldest structures in Montclair, dating to the Revolutionary era, this house helps tell the story of freedom and slavery, the development of a Black community, and also the founding of Montclair as a town. James Howe worked as an enslaved man for Major Nathanial Crane in the early 1800s. After over a decade of servitude, Crane manumitted [freed] Howe, ending his enslavement. In his 1831 Testament and Last Will, Crane left Howe the house, $400, and approximately six acres of land. Howe used the home and the property to support his family and there is evidence to suggest that a small Black community developed around the James Howe House.”

The group continued: “The James Howe House creates an opportunity to study and discuss the history of Montclair’s vibrant Black community, and lift up the truth of racial injustice in the 19th century and today. In many ways, the James Howe House raises more questions than it answers and only research into the social history of Montclair will answer these questions. This work is difficult and necessary because, until recently, archivists and historians have not prioritized documenting and preserving the history of Black people in the United States, including Montclair. Preserving the James Howe House keeps Howe’s story alive, and allows it to inform the work for racial justice that is immediate and ongoing.”

Community members were worried that the property might face issues or even demolition when the property went up for sale in 2022. Instead, they worked together to raise the money to purchase the property for preservation.

The group said it had reached a deal to purchase the house in late December 2022. That deal was officially finalized this month.

“The hard work you and others have contributed has paid off: We finally got the keys to the Howe House this week,” said an email from Friends of the Howe House to its supporters.

But these are just the first few days of a new future for the historic property, the group added.

“As you know buying the house is just the beginning: we now have to secure its future,” the Friends of the Howe House stated. “We’ve got some important events coming up aimed at raising awareness and muchneeded funds—and we’d love you to get involved.”

NJ institution works hard to bring an end to racial wealth gap in America

A New Jersey institution is attacking the racial wealth gap and establishing new opportunities for Blackowned businesses and homes throughout various communities. See

BAM’s President Gina Duncan wants to connect artists with diverse audiences

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Gina Duncan has found her way back to Brooklyn.

Duncan first made her mark here when she served as associate vice president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) film program in 2017. She stood out for having changed the curatorial perspective of the BAM film series. At a time when the #OscarsSoWhite movement was questioning why white actors were consistently the main nominees for the prestigious Academy Awards, Duncan decided to challenge the white predominance in cinema in another way.

“I felt like that was a very limiting way to look at the history of women and people of color in film. Because when you say #OscarsSoWhite, the knee jerk reaction is no one else is there and that’s an erasure of the people who have come before us,” she explained. “So, I took our curated program–which was largely a celebration of the quote-unquote film masters, a canon of largely white filmmakers–and I had it all focus on Black and brown people and women who have come before us. For 365 days a year, we were showing films with Black and brown people and women, by them and featuring them.”

BAM’s marketing team initially thought Duncan’s new curatorial direction would alienate the institution’s audience. Instead, it helped broaden BAM’s reach and garnered the film program wider recognition. Duncan says that’s because the films they began showing were works that were rarely discussed or even recognized but had been influencing filmmakers for years.

Her transformation of BAM’s film program led to the offer of a job as the producing director with the Sundance Institute where she produced the Sundance Film Festival and managed the Institute’s year-round operations. Now, she’s been brought back to BAM—this time to serve as the first Black, female president of the over 150-year-old arts institution in its history.

Born in The Bronx to Jamaican immigrants, Duncan’s family moved to Mount Vernon and later Delaware where she was predominately raised. “We didn’t know it at the time,” she laughs, “but there were actually a lot of Jamaicans in Delaware then. Bob Marley had moved there because his mother had moved there with her new husband. So, both Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer lived in Delaware: they worked in the Chrysler plant making cars before they became famous. So, yeah, we found our people.”

The entrepreneurial spirit of Duncan’s mother, Clover Duncan, and grandmother, Lynnette Hunter, provided Gina with examples of how to find her place in the wider world. Her grandmother had run and operated her own bakery in Jamaica. In the U.S., she started working as a home health aide for wealthy clients. When Gina occasionally accompanied her grandmother on visits, she says she got to both see the environment wealthy people were able to create for themselves, and to watch the

Black New Yorker

way her grandmother situated herself in that space. “I saw that backbreaking labor and care that she provided, which wasn’t always appreciated. She had me there for a purpose: to see that and also to really work hard and ‘study my books,’ as she’d always say, so that I could figure out my path.”

When her mother immigrated to the U.S. she came without a college degree, yet Clover Duncan went on to climb the corporate ladder. By the time she retired she left work as a vice president at the multinational financial services firm JPMorgan. “They were two women who just figured out how to make a way through their intelligence and just their understanding of people,” Duncan recalls.

When Duncan started her own work life, she began by making football documentaries with NFL Films at age 21. “I had no experience in football,” she admits. And she found herself in a very male-oriented organization. But it was the place that taught her how to stand up and fight for herself. “I got the job based on the fact that I was a really good storyteller. Steve Sabol, who founded NFL Films, felt like he could teach anyone how to make a film, but he couldn’t teach anyone how to tell a story. So that was the skillset I came into that job with.”

When she was named president of BAM, some people questioned if her ability to successfully run film programs also meant that she could operate an institution dedicated to promoting the performing arts. Duncan has an answer to that question: “My entire career has been about telling stories and supporting artists. That, I think, is the No. 1 responsibility of the president of an organization: being able to articulate a clear story about the institution, its past and where it’s going and how this institution supports the artists that it presents. That’s something that I feel really, really strongly about.

“The purpose of BAM is to support artists by connecting them with diverse audiences. For these artists to have sustainable careers, they need to be able to draw more than just their base. So, I think BAM’s role is to help them and help contextualize the work that they’re creating so that different kinds of people can find their ways to work that they may not necessarily have known about previously.”

THE URBAN AGENDA

By David R. Jones

Mayor Adams Must Break FDNY Diehards Resisting Long-Needed Reforms

It was only a matter of time before Laura Kavanagh, the New York City Fire Department’s first woman commissioner, would catch hell for simply trying to do her job. Her detractors were bound to put up a fight. Last month, a half-dozen of the FDNY’s most senior command staff took their insolence a step further and stepped down en masse.

The FDNY Neanderthals, the apotheoses of hate, are lashing out because they truly believe the FDNY belongs to them, not NYC taxpayers. In doing so, they’re challenging Mayor Eric Adams’ authority and temperament. They’re throwing down the gauntlet at the city’s second Black mayor, the first being David N. Dinkins, elected in 1989.

The mayor must put them down. He appointed Kavanagh, well aware of the need to confront the overt racism and sexism in the FDNY that made it a bastion of white male privilege for nearly 150 years. At base, the FDNY had a leadership problem, and she brings to the job a mandate and perspective that have never been heretofore represented among those appointed to lead the department.

Adams has the political currency to break up, once and for all, the FDNY’s culture of employment discrimination and firehouse bigotry against Blacks, Latinos, women and gay people that has been all too acceptable. As a former New York City police captain, Adams publicly took on questionable police practices. Unlike Mayor Bill de Blasio’s doublespeak, broken promises and missed opportunities to make lasting change at the FDNY – and the NYPD for that matter – Adams knows his responsibility to stop the FDNY’s shenanigans.

The irony is thick: The lion’s share of firefighters is overwhelming white, live outside of the five boroughs, do not vote in city elections and tend not to have a vested interest in the neighborhoods where they work. Adams was brought to power by voters from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, outside the traditional city power center. The coalition also elected a City Council for the first time that looks like our racially and ethnically diverse boroughs.

Kavanagh has signaled plans to quickly step up the recruiting, hiring and promotion of women and minorities. According to New York City Council figures, 76 percent of uniformed firefighters are white, 13 percent Latinx, eight percent Black and two percent Asian. But already under her brief tenure, Kavanagh has named the first African American Emergency Medical Services chief, the first African American female executive officer, and the first Hispanic chief of staff on the executive team. She’s also credited with helping the

City Council pass legislation expected to help improve FDNY’s hiring practices.

Kavanagh’s moves couldn’t happen a moment too soon, after all the protests, promises, lawsuits, consent decrees and settlement payouts by New York City. “Commissioner Kavanagh has my full support. She is promoting a culture of true leadership, accountability, and performance within the FDNY,” Adams said in a statement that needs repeating – often.

Tensions in the FDNY leadership exploded publicly last month, when Kavanagh demoted three recalcitrant senior fire chiefs with no interest in collaborating with her for the good of the FDNY and the city. On Monday, the trio sued to get their jobs back. Among those demoted was the controversial Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Gala, who successfully sued last year to win his promotion after making racially charged remarks about the department’s diversity efforts. Kavanagh then called other top FDNY brass on the carpet in a closed-door meeting, where she demanded more out-of-the-box thinking on policy and management, and fewer inquiries about vacations and take-home city vehicles. The command staff responded by requesting in mass a return to stationhouse duty.

Firefighter union officials floated the ridiculous idea Kavanagh did not have the authority to choose her staff. James McCarthy, an official with the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, had the gall to suggest commanders were almost immune from removal. “Generally, in the fire department you don’t get demoted unless you have criminal charges or if there’s department charges,” McCarthy said in a television interview. “I’m not aware of anybody else that didn’t get charges being demoted.”

Kavanagh has since begun to appoint new commanders, including a retired FDNY 9/11 hero, Joseph Pfeifer, who has rejoined the department as deputy commissioner, Kavanagh’s second in command. His appointment was aimed at countering criticism that the commissioner’s aides have little or no firefighting experience. Pfeifer has 40 years of FDNY experience.

Meanwhile, there’s signs of progress amid the work to be done. Just under half of the new probationary firefighter class are people of color. They identify as 28 percent Hispanic, 15 percent Black, and four percent Asian American. There are seven women in the class, which brings the total number of female Firefighters to 148 – the most in FDNY history.

We can do even better. Mayor Adams and Commissioner Kavanagh can make it so.

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.

BAM’s President Gina Duncan makes her mark (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Amsterdam News holds first of 12 ‘Beyond the Barrel of the Gun’ virtual convenings

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

It took almost 114 years, but the Amsterdam News just hosted its first virtual convening for the newspaper’s “Beyond the Barrel of the Gun” initiative this past Monday, Feb. 28. Titled “From Sorrow to Solutions,” the online conversation invited anti-gun violence stakeholders to address shootings in Black and brown communities as a public health crisis.

Publisher Elinor Tatum and investigative editor Damaso Reyes took turns moderating the first three panels, which were split to cover the sorrow, challenges, and solutions stemming from gun violence. A fourth panel featured members from nonprofit news organization The Trace addressing media driven solutions when covering shootings.

In the first panel, Tatum was joined by Protect Our Stolen Treasures (P.O.S.T.) founder Kimberly Davis, Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. founder Jackie RoweAdams and Sacramento Observer publisher Larry Lee to talk about the leftover traumas from losing a loved one to gun violence.

“You understand that the person who was killed and after that pretty much everybody else goes on with their day,” said Davis, who lost her son Kimoni to a 2015 police shooting. “But as a mother of a child killed, we have to remember that every day. Not only is it a void in our family, that person could have added a staple in our society. They could have been a future doctor or lawyer or anything. So it’s not just the family that has the loss, it’s the community as well.”

Reyes hosted the second panel addressing the roadblocks to curing gun violence as a public health crisis. He was joined by Columbia University professor Dr. Charles Branas, Hope and Heal Fund Chief Equity Program Officer Refujio “Cuco” Rodriguez, The Washington Informer publisher Denise Barnes and Life Camp, Inc. founder Erica Ford, who championed communitybased solutions.

“The criminalization, the more police—that’s easy, it doesn’t require [anything] to put a cop and

say stop, I’m gonna rescue [you],” said Ford. “But to talk someone off a ledge and get them to put that gun down. [To] make a different decision on how they were going to address that interpersonal conflict. [To] help that family heal after they lose their child so that they don’t look to take another child’s life or they don’t look to take their own lives.

“Those are the real things and it tremendously impacts our city.

Our government doesn’t invest in the people who need it the most.” Reyes and Tatum were joined on the penultimate panel by NYC Department of Education Chancellor David C. Banks, Knight Foundation Vice President of Journalism Jim Brady and Common Justice founder Danielle Sered to discuss creative solutions towards the gun violence problem. Banks recommended starting in the classroom.

“I was at Rikers Island a few months ago and I talked to all these young men,” he said. “I said ‘How did you wind up here’... each story had the commonality: a disconnection from school. While in Rikers, they were doing carpentry, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing. They were learning a trade. One young man put a hand up and said, ‘Mister, if I was doing stuff like this when I was in school, I would’ve gone to school

everyday.’”

The last panel featured The Trace’s Jennifer Mascia, Mensah M. David, and Justin Agrelo, along with Temple University researcher Dr. Jessica Beard. They highlighted news gathering methods that stray away from traditional shooting coverage and instead tackle the heart of the matter. The speakers advised young reporters to connect the dots and seek out patterns in local gun violence for bigger picture stories.

“Beyond the Barrel of the Gun” was announced last August as a three-year, solutions-based reporting initiative addressing gun violence in Black and brown communities. Monday’s convening is the first of 12 such conversations. Founded in 1909, The Amsterdam News is the city’s oldest and largest Black newspaper. Sorry in advance to the subscribers and weekly readers who already know this.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recorded an introduction for the convening. He couldn’t make it live, but promised to try to attend the next one. The senator echoed the panelists, supporting local violence interruption efforts.

“There’s a better path than gangs, there’s a better path than guns, there’s a better path than shooting,” said Schumer. “And community violence intervention shows people that [a] better path is available. Because the data is clear. Community intervention works, especially in tandem with traditional policing to address problems before the trigger is pulled.

“We all need to do our part. Well, the Amsterdam News and Elinor [Tatum] sure are as usual.” Interested in getting involved with “Beyond the Barrel?” Reach out to Sam.Bennett@AmsterdamNews.com

The entire convening can be viewed on the Amsterdam News’ YouTube channel.

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

Larry Lee, publisher and president of Sacramento Observer

Manhattan DA gun violence prevention fund keeps East Harlem hub clean

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

One man’s trash is another man’s gun violence prevention initiative. Uptown Grand Central recently collected its 1,000th garbage bag, a major milestone for the East Harlem nonprofit’s efforts to clean up outside the Metro-North Railroad station at 125th Street and Park.

The area serves as a first impression of not only Harlem, but the entire “Big Apple” for newly arrived train passengers from Connecticut and the rest of New York. Workers pick up trash ranging from fastfood wrappers to injection needles and human waste.

There are also high hopes that the program will not only clean up East Harlem, but discourage shootings in the majority Black and brown neighborhood. Uptown Grand Central was one of 10 initiatives awarded $20,000 by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to prevent youth gun violence last August.

“Community-based organizations are at the heart of enhancing public safety in our neighborhoods,” said Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg over email. “As part of our comprehensive gun violence strategy, we are focused on prevention efforts to keep young people engaged through meaningful programming, and Uptown Grand Central is an exemplary model of how this approach can make a significant impact.

“It takes real partnership and collaboration to deliver the safe streets that everyone deserves, and we are going to continue to make these types of investments to prevent violence from occurring in the first place.”

Last month, a 42-year-old man was fatally shot two blocks from the train station. Five gun-related incidents have been recorded so far this year by the 25th Police Precinct, which encompasses the area. According to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office, beautifying shooting “hotspots” and providing employment for community members are worhtwhile alternativeto-policing methods for gun violence prevention and a key objective for the $20,000 award.

Uptown Grand Central stems from efforts by local businessowners to

bring back the commerce lost in East Harlem due to unkempt streets. Initially, the consortium—known as the New Harlem East Merchants Association (NHEMA)—contracted with outside clean-up crews. But in 2016,

they launched the Uptown Grand Central team, which is easily identifiable by the bright yellow garbage bags that workers carry. The area outside the Metro-North station now comes alive through a weekly farm-

make $20 an hour and the award covers roughly a month’s worth of pay. The nonprofit will continue to fundraise to keep up with wages.

“It’s great to be able to make a good, decent amount of money at $20 an hour rather than $15,” said worker Allen Rogers. “I don't know how people feed their family and put a smile on every day to go out there. I’m happy to be just picking up trash and cleaning your neighborhood and my neighborhood for $20 an hour.”

The median annual household income in East Harlem was $34,060 in 2019, according to the NYU Furman Center. That’s just slightly north of $16 an hour wage in a standard, five-day workweek.

To be clear, every dollar made by the Uptown Grand Central cleanup crew is hard-earned. Rogers and his colleagues Tyre Ramos and Jason McDavid were out working this past Tuesday, Feb. 28, despite the recent snowfall. They shared apprehensions about collecting used heroin needles and recalled frequently engaging with local drug users, and not every interaction has been positive. The country’s first safe injection site OnPoint NYC is located across the street. But McDavid, who said he’s known as the community’s “Rastaman,” welcomed the opportunity to chat.

“This job makes me be more social with people, more ready to make peace with people, more ready to converse with people,” he said. “Let me see what you are about, instead of being quick to jump on the ego, aggression, or a high temper. [It’s] made me more vigilant, more observant, [and] more aware of certain stuff around here.”

Regardless, a job collecting garbage is never easy. When the cleanup crew was asked about the grossest thing they’ve picked up, Rogers quickly answered. Without hesitation, he said human feces. Ramos took a second longer to think.

“Dead rats,” he finally says. “They’re chopped-up rats.”

ers market, wide-scale murals, and colorful overhead lights.

Director Carey King told the Amsterdam News that Bragg’s funding goes entirely to paying the workers above the minimum wage. They

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.

Allen Rogers (left) and Tyre Ramos (right) clean up outside the MetroNorth Railroad station in East Harlem. (Tandy Lau photo)

Go With The Flo

FLO ANTHONY

Congratulations are in order for Keke Palmer. The adorable actress, who revealed her pregnancy while hosting “Saturday Night Live” back in December, welcomed her first child, a boy whose name is Leodis “Leo” Andrellton Jackson, with her boyfriend actor Darius Jackson on February 25. Palmer shared the news on February 27, via Instagram. where she posted photos and videos, along with pictures of Jackson and her. The caption read, “Hey Son!!!! Only 48 hours of being parents.” The “Nope” star also wrote that Leo was born during Black History Month and gushed about Jackson for his love, reported Bazaar........

Last month, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) celebrated Black History Month with a series of soulful weekly performances from ASCAP artists and songwriters J Rome, Moxie Knox, Sha’ Leah Nikole and Kadeem Nichols. The program premiered on BET.com. Each featured artist covered one of history’s most powerful Black empowerment songs written or co-written by ASCAP members. The songs included Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is best known as the Black National Anthem......

Michael B. Jordan shows off his toned body in his new modeling gig wearing only underwear in Calvin Klein’s new Spring 2023 campaign, which debuted February 27 and can be seen on a Billboard on Houston Street in New York City and on La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles. This is a huge week for the actor, who stars in and directed “Creed III”, which hits theaters on March 3. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reported that Jordan got a chance to stand up to Morning Hustle host Lore’l, with whom he he attended Chad Science Academy in Newak, New Jersey. He caught up with her at the Atlanta premiere of “Creed III’’ at the Regal Atlanta Station recently. He told her, “Oh yeah, I was the corny kid, right. I heard it,” referring to a recent episode of her podcast, “Undressed,” where Lore’l said Michael was corny for bringing his headshots to school......

Nationally recognized non-profit pioneer and visionary education leader Earl Martin Phalen is set to release his highly anticipated new book “Giving My All” in honor of his life dedicated to making a difference. Looking ahead to a bright and prosperous future for students across America, Phalen’s passionate body of work will officially be released and sold online during February 2023. The hardcover edition of the book will be released in June 2023. Phalen reflects, “I bring urgency to the adults that we serve and the children we serve because I know their lives can be fundamentally different if they’re given the opportunity.”.....

A glorious gala for GHCC’s 125th anniversary!

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

A close facsimile of the fabled Savoy Ballroom welcomed a huge turnout at City College’s Shepard Hall Saturday evening for the celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC), and if the club’s spacious dance floor wasn’t available, much of the attire, particularly sparkling gowns, replicated the previous decades.

And when Jeff Foxx’s big band kicked in with “Take the A Train,” with a chorus line of dancers from the Uptown Dance Academy, the past was present. This musical interlude happened much later in the evening, and long after the benediction by Rev. Dennis Dillon and the opening comments from the emcees G. Keith Alexander and Debi B.

But the Savoy setting was a perfect moment for a trip down memory lane by Former Representative Charles Rangel, 92, who was among those being honored at the event and one of the senior citizens who had recollections of those halcyon days, but certainly not of 1896 when the Chamber was founded. A semblance of the Savoy must have brought back memories to Rangel of meeting his wife, Alma, there many years ago. Seated in a wheelchair not too far from his office at the college where the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service is located, he calmly surveyed the settings of the gala as his image appeared on one of the hall’s giant screens.

“The Chamber is a great institution,

and I am proud to be honored, and keep up the great work you’ve been doing,” Rangel said in a brief comment on accepting the award.

Other historic honorees, including Dr. Lee C. Bollinger, president of Columbia University; Hazel Dukes, president of the NAACP NY State Conference; and Betty Park, owner of Manna’s Restaurant, made similar expressions of appreciation, thanking Chamber President and CEO Lloyd Williams for his leadership. “I am so glad to receive this honor and I promise to do more for the Chamber in the coming years,” Park said.

Saluted also were Carver Bank and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Nancy Dalton, head of Community Experience and Customer Marketing for Amazon Access, expressed her excitement about the event and the collaboration with the GHCC. “The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce has served as an anchor of continued stability, bridging the periods of urban neglect to the future of urban prosperity since its inception,” she said as a message from the presenting sponsor.

“We are excited to collaborate with the Chamber in its quest to advance access in the Greater Harlem region,” she added. “Everyone here has an essential role to play. You are here because you care about this work, this community, and are committed to being the change. Together, we can cultivate more hope, joy, and love in Harlem, in New York, across the country, and ultimately the world.”

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was

present to help in delivering the state’s congratulations and setting the stage for the Chamber to receive a proclamation. Among the dignitaries enjoying the jubilation were former Gov. David Paterson; Denardo Coleman, son of Ornette Coleman and Jayne Cortez; and Attallah Shabazz, the eldest daughter of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz.

Before the evening concluded, director and producer Jamal Joseph teased a short but compelling documentary film that is scheduled for its premiere to be screened on June 22, 2023, at the Schomburg Center.

At the close of the festive occasion, there were accolades from a number of attendees, notably Clayton Banks, City College President Vincent Boudreau, Representative Adriano Espaillat, and Michael Sutton. Some of the hands waving in the air as things came to an end were applauding the celebration, while others were bidding on items from an auction. One of the winners came from the Lafayette Theater table—just one of the tables that symbolized famous clubs and institutions in Harlem, a subtle idea of the Chamber’s team. This hardly noticed touch symbolized the Chamber’s glorious quasquicentennial (125 years), and counting.

This coming summer, a commemorative coffee-table size book, “Harlem Evolution,” which captures the history and images of Harlem’s illustrious evolution over the last several decades, will be on sale nationally and globally through Amazon.com.

Attendees at the Greater Herlem Chamber of Commerce. (Gerald Peart photos)

Congressman Charlie Rangel

Jeff Foxx Big Band and Uptown Dance Academy dancers

Harlem candidates meet community

The Michelle Obama Community Democratic Club held a “Meet the Candidates” event for the 9th City Council District at Masjid Malcolm Shabazz in Harlem. Present were State Senator Cordell Cleare, Assemblymember Al Taylor, and activist Dr Yusef Salaam (Exonerated 5).

African Chorus ensemble Celebrates the ancestors

Joyce Adewumi and the New York African Chorus Ensemble presented a Black History Month Celebration at P.S./I.S 210 in Harlem. Dr. Sola Atanda and Aare Alasa from Nigeria opened the celebration. Manhattan Deputy Borough President Keisha Sutton-James and Hon. Al Taylor spoke at the gathering. The event included a lively panel discussion, food, giveaways, and performances by the New York African Chorus Ensemble and Gloria Anderson.

Written by David Goodson

Kings and Queens at The 2023 NAACP Image Awards

The heavy rain in Los Angeles this past weekend took a back seat to the heavy REIGN this past weekend, as the royal family of Chadwick “King T’Challa” Boseman celebrated and was celebrated at the 2023 NAACP Image Awards. Going into the festivities, Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was nominated for 12 awards and when the final tally was rendered, the Blockbuster film took home 10. The list of awards won by the film are: Outstanding Motion Picture

Tenoch Huerta for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture Camille Friend for Outstanding Hairstyling

Ruth E. Carter for Outstanding Costume Design

Rihanna for Outstanding Music

Video/Visual Album - “Lift Me Up” Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis and Dave Jordan (Hollywood Records) for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album

Tems for Outstanding International Song - “No Woman No Cry” Then there’s the work of Angela Bassett who, in addition to being lauded for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, was awarded for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series: – “9-1-1” and Entertainer of the Year. Those plaudits, combined with the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture earlier this year, kinda looks like she might be readying a spot on the mantle for the Academy Award Best Supporting Actress trophy. Also of significance was Viola Davis, the latest member of the EGOT (Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, Tony) club, who kept GOAT’n as she took home Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture for “The Woman King” as well as Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction for her book venture, “Finding Me.” A partial listing of other Black Excellence recognized for their work are as follows:

Outstanding New Artist: Coco Jones – “ICU” (Def Jam Recordings)

Outstanding Male Artist: Chris Brown – Breezy (Deluxe) (RCA Records/Chris Brown Entertainment)

Outstanding Female Artist: Beyoncé – Renaissance (Columbia Records/ Parkwood Entertainment)

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album: Kingdom Book One – Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin (Tribl Records, Fo Yo Soul Recordings and RCA Inspiration)

Outstanding Album: Renaissance – Beyoncé (Parkwood/Columbia Records)

Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song:

“Positive” – Erica Campbell (My Block Inc.)

Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental: JID014 (Jazz is Dead) – Henry Franklin, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge

Outstanding Jazz Album – Vocal: The Evening: Live at Apparatus –The Baylor Project (Be A Light)

Outstanding Soul/R&B Song: “Cuff It” – Beyoncé (Columbia Record/ Parkwood Entertainment)

Outstanding Hip Hop/Rap Song: “Hotel Lobby” – Quavo, Takeoff (Motown Records/Quality Control Music)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional): Silk Sonic – “Love’s Train” (Atlantic Records)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary): Chris Brown feat.

Wizkid – “Call Me Every Day” (RCA Records/Chris Brown Entertainment)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: Will Smith – Emancipation (Apple)

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture: Jalyn Hall – TILL (United Artists Releasing/Orion Pictures)

Outstanding Comedy Series: Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: Cedric The Entertainer – The Neighborhood (CBS) Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Janelle James – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Drama Series: P-Valley (Starz)

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series: Nicco Annan – P-Valley (Starz)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Cliff “Method Man” Smith – Power Book II: Ghost (Starz)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Loretta Devine – P-Valley (Starz)

Outstanding Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special: The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock)

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special: Morris Chestnut – The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock)

Outstanding Talk Series: Sherri (Syndicated)

Outstanding Reality Program, Reality Competition or Game Show (Series): Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls (Amazon Studios)

Outstanding Host in a Talk or News/ Information (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble: Jennifer Hudson –The Jennifer Hudson Show (Syndicated)

Outstanding Guest Performance: Glynn Turman – Queen Sugar

(OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)

Outstanding Animated Series: The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (Disney+)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television): Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special: Keith David – From Scratch (Netflix)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Television Movie, Limited–Series or Dramatic Special: Nia Long – The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock) Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture: Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author: Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen – George McCalman (HarperCollins Publishers)

Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/ Autobiography: Scenes from My Life – Michael K. Williams, Jon Sternfeld (Penguin Random House)

Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional: Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration – Tracey Lewis-Giggetts (Gallery/Simon and Schuster)

Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry: To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness – Robin Coste Lewis (Alfred A. Knopf)

Outstanding Literary Work – Children: Stacey’s Remarkable Books – Stacey Abrams, Kitt Thomas (HarperCollins – Balzer + Bray)

Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/ Teens: Cookies & Milk – Shawn Amos (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

Outstanding News and Information Podcast: Beyond the Scenes – The Daily Show (Central Productions, LLC)

Outstanding Lifestyle / SelfHelp Podcast: Therapy for Black Girls (Therapy for Black Girls)

Outstanding Society and Culture Podcast: LeVar Burton Reads (SiriusXM’s Stitcher Studios)

Outstanding Arts and Entertainment Podcast: Two Funny Mamas (Mocha Podcasts Network)

Outstanding Social Media Personality: @KevOnStage – Kevin Fredericks

Special awards were granted to: Jackie Robinson Sports

Award: Serena Williams

Chairman’s Award: Congressman Bennie Thompson.

Youth Activist of the Year: Bradley Ross Jackson

Activist of the Year: Derrick Lee Forward

Social Justice Impact

Award: Benjamin Crump

President’s Awards: Gabrielle UnionWade and Dwyane Wade

Back at it next week. Til then, enjoy the Nightlife!

Joyce Adewumi (Bill Moore photos)

Some NYC biz owners pushing to raise minimum wage

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

More than 200 New York businesses and business organizations have signed on to the New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage statement, which calls for passage of legislation that would raise the state’s minimum wage and index future increases to the cost of living.

The business owners signing on to the statement say they believe that with higher salaries, wage earners will become confident consumers who will have the income to help spur the local economy.

“Prices have increased but the minimum wage has not kept up,” said Phil Andrews, president of the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce. “I see people going into supermarkets, and they go back out the door because they can’t afford things. We can’t sustain a viable economy

this way.

“Raising the minimum wage boosts consumer spending, which is important for workers and businesses. Our programs help small businesses and workforce development. There is a strong connection between employee pay and employee retention. More experienced, better trained employees deliver better customer service and improve your business. Raising and indexing the minimum wage will help Long Island’s economic development.”

For Darius Ross, managing director of the real estate investment/property management firm D Alexander Ross Real Estate Capital Partners, this issue hits close to home.

“It’s a controversial subject among my peers,” Ross confessed to the Amsterdam News. “But I’ve been there—back when the minimum wage was $3.35, back in the ’80s. I came from a family of both fortu-

nate people and unfortunate people, so I get it, I know it.

“If people have more money, they’re going to spend more money—it’s simple.”

The Raise the Wage Act (S1978A and A2204A), sponsored by Senate Labor Committee Chair Jessica Ramos and Assembly Labor Committee Chair Latoya Joyner, aims to incrementally raise New York State’s minimum wage. It would increase to $17.25 on January 1, 2024; $19.25 in 2025; $21.25 in 2026; and $21.25 plus indexing in 2027. Annual adjustments would ensure that the raises remain in line with purchasing power as the cost-of-living rises.

“I stand by it because I was a product of, as we say, ‘coming from nothing’ and then building from that,” Ross said. “Had it not been for increases in minimum wages because of some of the laws that took place, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Those laws

are actually what changed the game.”

Labor union campaigners have long pushed to have more wage earners “share in the wealth” created by their labor. Advocating for wage income increases as industries become more prosperous means that the wealthy elite aren’t the only ones to realize the benefits created by the labor workforce.

“When New York enacted a $15 minimum wage in 2016, it did not include cost of living adjustments after reaching $15,” New York Business for a Fair Minimum Wage said in a press release. “For perspective, the current MIT Living Wage Calculator says a full-time worker with no children needs to make $21.46/hour to meet basic expenses in New York State. The legislation has strong public support across the state, with 80% of New Yorkers supporting the proposal, according to a recent poll by Data for Progress.”

Black workers at the forefront of conversation for raising minimum wage

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

A proposed $21.25 hourly minimum wage would benefit 41.8% of the state’s Black workforce directly or indirectly, according to nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI). That’s roughly 508,600 Black New Yorkers estimated to receive an earnings boost if the Raise the Wage Act is passed.

Sponsored by State Sen. Jessica Ramos, the bill is one of two dueling plans to index the minimum wage—in other words, to raise the hourly pay annually to match inflation. Unlike the alternative proposal from Gov. Kathy Hochul, the Raise the Wage Act increases minimum wage by a fixed dollar amount before it’s indexed. Ultimately, New York City workers would be making at least $21.25 an hour by 2027 with the bill’s passing.

“Affordability is top of mind for both the legislature and New Yorkers, and we cannot afford to leave any measure on the table,” Ramos told the Amsterdam News over email. “My Raise The Wage Act would raise the wages of 2.9 million New Yorkers and then ensure through indexing that the wages keep pace with rising prices. For all the fear-mongering about the ultrawealthy leaving New York, the data shows the opposite is happening.

“Black working families are leaving because their wages are not setting them up to be able to become homeowners and build generational wealth. Raising the minimum wage, to ensure that it truly covers the cost of living, has to be a top priority if

we want to build a just budget,” she added. Minimum wage workers are estimated to earn an extra $3,300 a year if the bill passes. The Raise the Wage Act is sponsored in the State Assembly by Democrat Latoya Joyner.

Hochul’s proposal also promises to specifically assist workers of color as well as women, who the Office says both “comprise a disproportionate share of minimum wage workers.” She announced the plan as a part of her 2023 State of the State address last month.

New York City minimum wage’s rise to $15 for fast food establishments and large employers in 2019 was initially seen as a landmark victory for service industry workers. But three years and a pandemic later, fast

food and retail employees are once again in need of a raise. Thanks to inflation, a $15 hourly minimum wage today only offers $13.38 in purchasing power back when the raise was enacted, according to City Comptroller Brad Lander.

Last Friday, Feb. 24, SEIU 32BJ union members and other Raise the Wage Act proponents rallied out front of the Charging Bull statue in Wall Street to support a $21.25 minimum wage to “uplift Black futures.” Workers like security guard Elijah Mackey Sr. talked about their experiences successfully fighting for the initial $15 minimum wage increase and why they’re rejoining the new push. Many recall just a $7.25 wage back when they

got involved. Mackey later told Amsterdam News the difficult choices he regularly made before he joined the union. “I was making minimum wage,” he said. “And very often, I found that I had to choose between basic necessities that human beings need [in] paying the rent, or having something to eat. And that’s not a choice I want regular people to make.”

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also spoke at the rally, commending Hochul for her indexing proposal but insisted his former democratic gubernatorial opponent also raise the minimum wage by a fixed amount before. The governor’s proposal to index the $15 minimum wage is also capped at 3%, meaning it’s not enough to catch up to this year’s 6% inflation rate.

“If you index it at the [lowest] amount, you’re hurting a lot of people and most of those people will be Black and brown,” said Williams. “Most of them will be women working in lower paying jobs. Those are the people who need the most help, not the least help. Companies are making record amounts of profit so they won’t close up shop.

“The only thing that will happen is that people will make more money and be able to pay for a place and be able to not have to make a decision between paying for prescription drugs and paying for food.”

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

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams speaks in support of raising minimum wage before indexing at rally in front of Wall Street Charging Bull statue. (Tandy Lau photo)

‘Brooklyn is Africa’ exhibit on view at Brooklyn Borough Hall

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

The personally selected, awe-inspiring collection of Brooklyn’s African art enthusiast Eric Edwards is now on view at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

A selection of 35 cultural artifacts from Edwards’s private collection is on display as the “Brooklyn is Africa: Survival + Persistence = Resistance” exhibit. The exhibit is free and available for public viewing every day, from 10 a.m.–4 p.m., through March 3, 2023.

The exhibit opened on Feb. 24 and an enthusiastic crowd of more than 250 people showed up to attend the event in Downtown Brooklyn. This is the second consecutive year Edwards has been able to work with Borough President Antonio Reynoso to showcase his collection at Borough Hall.

Having visited all 54 countries on the continent over several decades, Edwards has collected thousands of unique African artifacts––some of which date back to from 3,000 to 4,000 years. He’s working to establish a home for his collection in the new Cultural Museum of African Artifacts (CMAA) so these works can be available for everyday viewing.

Meanwhile, the works on view at Borough Hall—and which will occupy the CMAA––are displayed in a way that Edwards said gives “voice to the artifacts. We’re going to let the artifacts tell you when they were created, why they were created, and what purpose and applications they had in everyday

people’s lives.” This is meant to help viewers understand the creativity of the African people who created the works.

For example, the label Edwards wrote to describe the 19th-century Nigerian figure of an Ikenga Ancestral Shrine does not merely list the name of the object, a year it might have been made, and the materials it’s made from.

Visitors to the Edwards collection learn that:

“This is a statue of ancestral people, which is very important to the Nigerian people, as a symbol of their heritage, esteem, and strength. Its essence centers and focuses on the individual that possesses it, as an object of the strength and power of that individual.

CMAAEEC has one of the largest ever produced in Nigeria, created by a small ethnic group, ‘Kinga’ of Northern Nigeria, particu-

larly renowned for their artistic creations of Heritage power figures of their people. These carvings are symbolized by extraordinary detail and intricate engravings of the wood, to produce an amazing combination of balanced and symmetrical carvings of animalistic and human anthropomorphic forms. The medicine man carver’s work has resulted in this powerful omnipotent figure…”

Edwards started collecting and curating African art in 1971. He was inspired by the teachings of his father, who tried to instill in him and his siblings an understanding of who they are and the African culture that is in their DNA. Edwards said his father, an immigrant from Barbados, wanted to ensure that his children understood the history of Africa and its contributions to the world. He

is trying to pass on that same understanding to today’s youth by sharing his collection. “People of African descent and their contributions are exhibited by the excellence of their creations and the workmanship that went into it,” Edwards said during a press preview of the exhibit. “Those people that were brought here over 400 years ago, in bondage—they didn’t come here as ignorant slaves. They came as people from various different parts of a huge continent which we know of as Africa, and with incredible skills. And it was those skills that were utilized to help build the United States into the powerhouse that it is today. You cannot separate the two, so we want our young people to know the history of the ancestors by putting voice to the ancestors, their contributions, and their capabilities.”

Ikenga Ancestral Shrine from Edwards’s ‘Brooklyn is Africa’ exhibit (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Eric Edwards with artifacts from his collection on opening night of ‘Brooklyn is Africa’ (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Eric Edwards joined by elected officials and community leaders on opening night of ‘Brooklyn is Africa’ (Brooklyn Borough Presidents’ office photo)

Waiting for Go-dough!

President Biden has stoked and stoked the student loan forgiveness plan, hoping to cancel $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients earning under $125,000 a year. The plan also included relief for other federal borrowers, but those efforts may be permanently blocked now.

A death knell for Biden’s dream was tolled on Tuesday by the Supreme Court and the pall over Pell recipients has all but dissipated their hopes of any kind of federal relief.

Right from the onset of Biden’s announcement last summer, the forecast was gloomy with Republican-led states Iowa, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina joining others charging that the plan would hurt their tax revenues and essentially exceed Biden’s authority, the dreaded overreach.

Desperate to bolster his plan, Biden resorted to the HEROES Act of 2003, which gives the Secretary of Education the power to waive or modify student loan balances, in effect a kind of national emergency.

But opposition forces insisted that such an action would abuse the HEROES Act. Moreover, the states declared that Biden’s plan was not within his executive jurisdiction, that it had to go through Congress.

If the Supreme Court rules against him, Biden, in reality, has no backup plan, though there remains the possibility of canceling the student debt through a settlement compromise via the Higher Education Act.

Rather than wait for the manna from Biden or the feds, debtors should canvass the various public service forgiveness programs and hope the account adjustments promises kick in later this year.

Other than that, they can only hope the Supreme Court comes to the rescue and that’s like waiting for Godot.

Mayor Adams: Don’t Mess with Separation of Church and State

By DONNA LIEBERMAN Executive Director of New York Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of NY

GUEST EDITORIAL

Mayor Eric Adams’s outlandish comments during an interfaith breakfast Tuesday criticizing the nation’s constitutionally mandated separation of church and state were playing with fire.

“Don’t tell me about no separation of church and state. State is the body, church is the heart,” Adams said during Tuesday’s event.

“You take the heart out of the body, the body dies.”

The mayor also asserted, “When we took prayers out of schools, guns came into schools.”

Adams made these statements after his chief advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin introduced him at the breakfast by saying that the Adams administration “doesn’t believe” in the separation of church and state.

Let’s be clear: Religion is a fundamental part of millions of New Yorkers’ lives and faith has played a crucial role in many of

our nation’s achievements, including the Civil Rights Movement. That’s why freedom of religion is so important.

But we are a nation and a city filled with people of many faiths and no faith. If government is going to represent all of us, it can’t favor any religious belief over another. That includes non-belief.

It isn’t like Adams should need to be reminded of what the First Amendment requires. He has sworn to uphold the Constitution more than once, first as a police officer, later as a state senator, and then last year upon becoming mayor. The very opening passage of the Bill of Rights makes clear that in matters of religion, the government must remain a neutral non-participant.

The dangers of the government favoring religion are not theoretical. When the government prefers one religion over another, it undermines the religious freedom of all of us. There are numerous examples from our city’s recent history alone when public officials or institutions have discriminated against New Yorkers because of their faith, or tried to use government power to ad-

vance religious causes. Here are two that stand out.

In 1999, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani tried to shut down the Brooklyn Museum over the “Sensation” exhibition, which featured a painting depicting the Virgin Mary in a way that offended the mayor’s religious sensibilities. Giuliani tried to pull city funding from the museum and terminate its city-issued lease, but he lost his case in court.

We at the NYCLU argued, in a brief in support of the museum, that Giuliani flagrantly violated the well-established First Amendment prohibition against viewpoint discrimination.

Then, a little over a decade ago, the Associated Press broke the news that, since at least 2002, the NYPD’s Intelligence Division had engaged in the religious profiling and suspicionless surveillance of Muslims in New York City and beyond. The unit singled out Muslim religious and community leaders, mosques, student associations, organizations, and businesses for pervasive, discriminatory surveillance that was exclusively focused on Muslims.

The NYCLU successfully sued the police department over these disturbing and illegal practices. The lawsuit resulted in the creation of a position for an independent civilian representative in the NYPD who now acts as a check against surveillance abuses.

In addition to our recent past, there is, of course, a much longer story to tell, stretching back to colonial New York, in which Catholics were denied religious and civil rights. And so on. Adams’s team is now claiming that those New Yorkers expressing concern over his comments are distorting his meaning—that he was making a point about what animates his leadership.

But, without even considering what goes on in theocracies around the world, our city’s history alone shows why Adams is playing a dangerous game by casually dismissing the well-established partition between religion and public policy.

On matters of faith, Mayor Adams is entitled to his own beliefs. On the Constitution, he must uphold his oath.

Black history isn’t “controversial,” it’s real life

By SVANTE MYRICK

caught in the crosshairs.

Member

Alliance for Audited Media

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Nayaba Arinde: Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

Damaso Reyes: Investigative Editor

Siobhan

"Sam" Bennett: Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Advertising

Wilbert A. Tatum (1984-2009): Chairman of the Board, CEO and Publisher Emeritus

Black history is the undeniable history of this country—its people, actions, triumphs, and atrocities. Yet, Black history is deemed “controversial” by people like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, institutions like the College Board that attempt to water down curricula, and those who press for outright bans on teaching about the contributions and experiences of African Americans in public schools. A battle is raging right now against terms like “intersectional” and “systemic marginalization.” Meanwhile, the freedom to learn, the future of education, and the brilliance of our children are

The context of historical events, and things many of us have directly experienced, are being called concepts too complex or challenging for high school students to appreciate.

First, this is an obvious smokescreen. But to these critics, the response should be clear: How can the lived and daily experiences of millions of people be “too controversial” to teach in school? The answer: They can’t, and it’s our moral duty to ensure our children understand that.

Attempts to ban history are inherently malicious

When I say Black history is American history, I know it’s true, you know it’s true, and the people who think Black history shouldn’t be taught in schools know it’s true. That’s why they want it banned. Hiding our history is an attempt to rob us of our historic voice, erase our contributions, and make our justified outrage look unreasonable.

The attacks are also designed to further

divide us as a nation. When Black history is taught prominently in schools, students learn to see Blackness and Americanness as one and the same. That’s precisely what opponents don’t want.

If you’re banning history, you’re on the wrong side of it

Throughout all of world history, the people attempting to limit, rewrite, or ban history have had one thing in common: They were the bad guys. We’ve seen the tactic used to oppress any number of groups around the globe, the most obvious of which was Nazi Germany banning and burning books about everything from Judaism to human sexuality. With such abundant historical evidence that banning the teaching of history is morally abhorrent, it’s even more shocking that we’re still having to defend against it today.

Attacks on education are attacks on the past, present, and future History deserves to be taught authenSee BLACK HISTORY on page 31

Kids’ Lives Matter

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 1997, Albert Shanker, then-president of the American Federation of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said, “When school children start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of children.”

In today’s world, a somber reality has emerged: That shocking and self-centered quote by the head of the AFT now appears to have taken root within his organization’s progeny. A glaring illustration of this can be found in the Baltimore City Public School District, a focal point of extensive scrutiny and a years-long investigation that revealed some of the most disconcerting, shocking data ever revealed about a public school system in America.

Just imagine the heartbreak of discovering that your child’s test scores in mathematics were not at a proficient level. This would undoubtedly be a devastating blow for any parent. However, what if you learned that your child was not the only one struggling in the classroom?

In fact, it was discovered that every single student in the school was not proficient in math.

But now imagine even that an entire school system could not say it was exceptional in that regard, as an additional 22 schools within the Baltimore City school district also reported zero students with math proficiency.

This staggering statistic is hard to fathom, but it is an indisputable fact. Even more concerning is that a further 20 schools in the Baltimore City public school district had only one or two students who were proficient in math, while the remainder fell short of this benchmark.

The catastrophic result of greed and a lack of appreciation for the crucial significance of education has now materialized, brought about by the reprehensible actions of union leaders who manipulate and disrespect our young students, treating their noble profession as just another job and prioritizing their own interests over the future of our nation.

Women’s History Month

year investigation, exposing the misappropriation of billions of taxpayer dollars, paint a picture of a broken system where bureaucracy reigns supreme and progress is impeded.

One might be tempted to brush off the zero-math proficiency statistic as mere cherry-picking, but the grim reality of Baltimore’s educational crisis is inescapable. Figures additionally reveal that a staggering 41% of all students in Baltimore City high schools have a grade point average of less than 1.0, equating to failing grades in almost every single class—with maybe lunch period as their saving grace.

The dire state of reading levels in these schools is no less concerning, with 70% of students requiring remedial reading classes and 75% only possessing elementary school-level reading skills.

Making matters worse, the budget for Baltimore’s schools stands at a staggering $1.6 billion, or $21,606 per student, making it the fourthhighest in the nation, trailing only New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Despite this astronomical budget, however, the average reading scores in Baltimore are approximately half of those achieved in those three states, highlighting the stark disparity between investment and performance.

The disturbing truth is that our system is set up so those in positions of power can profit when students fail because it brings institutions more money. The imperative to invest in a system that prioritizes the academic growth and wellbeing of our youth, free from corruption and the influence of financial gain, cannot be overstated. It is our duty to build an educational system that values the development of our youth above all else, and that holds leaders accountable when they prioritize their own selfish interests.

The failure of the Baltimore City public school district to serve its students properly is a perfect example of precisely what is wrong with our current systems. The actions of the school administrators and elected leaders in Baltimore is a betrayal of the trust placed in those tasked with shaping the future of America. The findings of Project Baltimore’s multi-

It is imperative that we act with urgency and purpose to ensure that every child receives the education they deserve, and that our society does not suffer the catastrophic consequences of a generation of unprepared leaders, particularly in light of the high reading, math, and science proficiency levels of our adversary, China, which hover at around 94%.

After all, this past decade highlighted, for most, the notion that elected leaders must be educated. The idea that a sitting president could not read or perform basic math functions would be unthinkable, yet the stark reality is that many children in entire major cities, such as Baltimore, do not possess even the most basic qualifications to be taken seriously as effective leaders by today’s standards. The implications of such a systemic educational crisis at scale would be devastating for our nation, as future American leaders who lack these fundamental skills will be unable to effectively wield power and make informed decisions. It would send us backward, not forward.

The delicate balance of our society is constantly threatened by ignorance; if just one generation falls short, it will lead to a bleak future caused by a downward spiral of ignorance. To secure a brighter future for everyone, we must nurture the seeds of knowledge within our children, for they hold the key to unlocking the path to our collective destiny. That is why it is crucial that we recognize that investing in their education is not just a duty, but a sacred obligation to ensure the preservation of progress for generations to come. The future of our society depends on it—it depends on our kids. Kids’ lives matter.

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

March is Women’s History Month. I don’t know about anyone else who is reading this column, but this past Black History Month was a doozy. I felt like, in the words of my late grandmother, “People really showed their tails!” I’m hoping March will be filled with less nonsense and more focus on inclusivity and the myriad of ways women have been trailblazers in almost every facet of our lives. I often think about the link between February and Black History Month with March and Women’s History Month. I like to make a concerted effort to recognize the multitudes of Black women, past and present, who have changed my life and the world for the better. Making this list is so easy because I am blessed to be able to start with my mother, Gloria McCray Greer. My mother has been, and luckily for me continues to be, the embodiment of a trailblazer and innovator. I think of her humble beginnings in Florida, which instilled in me the foundation of hard work and a love of nature. I think of her still sewing on the sewing machine she received for her Sweet 16 to make everything from prom dresses to curtains to now making sanitary goods for girls on the continent of Africa, which has instilled in me a creative spirit and a desire to make things with my hands and share my creative talents with others. Most importantly, my mother is a connector and a friend. When I think of the power of

women, I think of a collective. I think of deep bonds that withstand circumstance and time. I think of women coming together to lift one another up in the face of tremendous odds. I think of women sharing secrets, telling their stories, and living their truths, knowing they are surrounded by their sisters who will accept them and help serve as a foundation for them, through good times and bad. My mother has modeled the gift of friendship to me and my sister through the years and because of that, I have a collection of “aunties” who have served as an additional source of strength, guidance, mentorship, and love. As we learn more about the amazing women who have run for office or started businesses or helped their communities, let’s not forget to look closely at the amazing women who may be in our own homes…or cleaning our homes. I am so blessed to be surrounded by incredible Black women in my life and I know it is because that sense of pride and comfort with talented and caring women began in my home. Happy Women’s History Month. May you see the women in your life in the light they deserve.

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

CHRISTINA GREER PH.D.

Caribbean Update

Barbados thinks it will soon find oil

ByBERT WILKINSON

Special to the AmNews

In the last eight years, two of the Caribbean Community’s largest and most resource-rich countries—Guyana and Suriname—have found extremely large deposits of offshore oil and gas, setting the stage for massive economic transformation of a kind that could be the envy of its regional neighbors.

Of the two, “world-class deposits” of oil and gas were discovered in Guyana back in 2015. The amount was so large, the crude so light and so cheap to produce, that an international consortium led by U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil broke all records by rushing into actual production by the end of 2019, less than five years after the first discovery. Experts say this was probably an industry record for field development in

deep-sea waters. They are already raking in billions. Stockholders are enjoying a windfall.

Neighboring Suriname followed suit months after but, unlike Guyana, all of its proverbial development ducks are not as well lined up, so actual production is not expected to begin before 2027.

Exploration wells are, however, still being worked on by consortium groupings comprising the likes of Total of France, Apache and Kosmos Energy of the U.S., Petronas of Malaysia, and Tullow Oil of the United Kingdom.

The Guyana oil shout and mutterings that the country could be the Dubai of the Caribbean in a decade have led to a mad scramble by other Caricom bloc member nations to also attract global supermajors to search for offshore oil.

Just last week, authorities in

Barbados gave the strongest indication yet that it is looking at a similar type of economic transformation in the near future through commercial discoveries.

Senior Barbadian Minister Kerry Symmonds said the prospects of such a find have never been higher as several blocks officials are confident that large deposits of hydrocarbons have been identified.

“I don’t want to go and give news now before it is ready to be given, but let us say the prospectivity is highly regarded,” he told a local academic forum in the Eastern Caribbean tourism paradise. The Today newspaper quoted him as saying that “we want to be able to have natural gas as the bridging fuel as well”

Barbados has no major offshore discoveries, but for de-

cades, has been producing about 1,600 barrels of oil daily for inland wells. It neighbor Trinidad has been producing oil and gas—gas especially— in large quantities for more than 100 years. It thinks its prospects are great.

Late last year, the government placed 22 offshore blocks on the international market for companies to bid on, but it is unclear whether this has created any excitement so far. Neighboring Guyana recently placed 14 blocks near the area where Exxon, Hess Corporation, and CNOOC of China are producing nearly 400,000 barrels per day, raking in billions because production costs per barrels have never been shown to exceed $35 per barrel. International prices at the beginning of this week hovered around $76.00 per barrel, making an easy profit for the consortium.

Of the other nations in the block, efforts by the Bahamas Petroleum Corporation to explore offshore have been blocked by a tough and persistent environmental lobby that says it fears a spill could ruin tourism. In nearby Jamaica, oil leaks on shore and slicks in waters off the south coast have ignited much excitement, with efforts by authorities to attract the bigger oil players ongoing.

Grenada has also toyed with the idea of attracting exploration companies, well aware that its close proximity to daily producer Trinidad could bode well for its own prospects, but not much noise has been made in the past five years.

Symmonds meanwhile sought to dispel fears that the growing strength of the clean energy lobby could upset global efforts to explore for oil and gas, arguing that this

U.S. Immigration Weekly Recap

IMMIGRATION KORNER

There’s never a dull moment when it comes to U.S. immigration news. From a new proposal to restrict access to asylum at the southern border despite a drop in migrant encounters there to White House immigration staffers moving on, here are this week’s top four headlines on the immigration news front.

1: Biden’s New Proposal to Restrict Access to Asylum Comes into Effect

Yes, you read that headline right: President Joe Biden is set to roll out a new proposal to restrict access to asylum at the southern border. The policy would make undocumented migrants crossing the southern border ineligible for asylum if they did not first make a claim in a country they passed

through on their way to the U.S. It will take effect on May 11 and serve as the policy solution to the long-awaited end of Title 42, a pandemic-era restriction that lifts the same day.

The move has been criticized by his base, but the Biden administration has, however, said it wants to incentivize more migrants to apply for asylum in their home countries, before making the dangerous trip. The roll out comes as Trump ally and immigration hard-liner Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, meanwhile, offered qualified support for the new policy even as 100 immigration advocacy groups likened the policy to a similar strategy known as a “transit ban” that was championed by Stephen Miller, the former senior adviser to El Trumpeto.

2: Biden Immigration Staff Moving on Two White House officials involved in crafting immigration policy are reportedly preparing to depart the Biden administration. The departures reportedly relate to frustration over

the increasingly hardline policies being embraced by the administration on the immigration front, including the upcoming May rule.

Lise Clavel, deputy assistant to the president and senior adviser for migration, and Leidy Perez-Davis, special assistant to the president for immigration, are set to leave the White House, according to Politico, quoting two sources familiar with the plans. Clavel’s last day will reportedly be March 1, but Perez-Davis was asked by the White House to delay her departure and will leave in a couple months, Politico reported. Their exits from the administration are just the latest changes on Biden’s team handling migration and the border in his first two years. Tyler Moran, Biden’s senior adviser for migration, left in January 2022, after replacing Amy Pope the previous summer. Esther Olavarria, deputy assistant to the president for immigration on the Domestic Policy Council, also retired that month.

Roberta Jacobson, Biden’s “border czar,” left in April 2021, and some mid- and low-level aides have also departed.

3: What Border Crisis?

Meanwhile, the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection numbers show that migrant encounters at the United States-Mexico border dropped from a record of about 252,000 in December 2022 to about 156,000 in January 2023. That’s nearly a 40% difference.

The CBP credits the decrease to a parole program that began on January 5 for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, the four countries that had the highest numbers of migrants trying to cross into the U.S. during the preceding months. The program is designed to decrease unauthorized migration, including crossing between ports of entry, and will allow up to 30,000 migrants per month from each country to enter the and live in the

is not the case.

“Let’s be frank: All of the oil producers of the world, including Canada, speak the language of climate change and putting a stop to that, which is now being done by small entities or like those of us in Barbados who are contemplating finding natural gas, but the reality is, none of them is saying ‘I will not continue to produce the oil that I produce’ or ‘I’m shutting down all my wells,’” he said. “The Americans are not going to tell you that that’s what’s going to happen in Texas. The British, for all their partnership value, will not tell you that the North Sea will not be full of Brent crude. They’re not going to do that because they intend to produce for the next 50 years. Nobody is coming forward to say we are prepared to pay you to keep the natural gas and the oil in the ground.”

U.S. for up to two years. Once their applications are approved, they will be allowed to proceed with travel arrangements.

4:

“Death Santis” Keeps on Scapegoating Immigrants

Florida’s mini-Trumpeto continues to scapegoat immigrants to make himself noticed for 2024 and a national run for president. He continues to take a much harder-line stance on immigration. After kidnapping and transporting nearly 50 migrants, mostly Venezuelans, across state lines from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, last year, Death Santis now wants to repeal a 2014 law, sponsored by current Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez when she was a member of the Florida House, that offered out-of-state tuition vouchers to some eligible Dreamers. After the law passed with Republican support and becoming law, mini-Trumpeto now says has to be repealed to keep down tuition costs.

“If we want to hold the line on tuition, then you have got

to say: ‘You need to be a U.S. citizen living in Florida,’” DeSantis said last week. “Why would we subsidize a non-U.S. citizen when we want to make sure we can keep it affordable for our own people?”

His other immigration package also includes:

Making it a third-degree felony to “transport, conceal, or harbor illegal aliens,” and a second-degree felony if the person being transported is a minor.

Mandating that hospitals collect data about the immigration status of patients and submit reports on costs associated with providing care to undocumented immigrants.

Requiring that people registering to vote check a box affirming they are U.S. citizens and Florida residents.

Prohibiting local governments from issuing ID cards to unauthorized “aliens and invalidating out-of-state licenses issued to unauthorized aliens.”

The writer is publisher of

Helina Selemon joins Amsterdam News as Blacklight’s new science reporter

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

Ethiopian coffee ceremonies aren’t about the coffee for Helina Selemon. She’s roasted and hosted since age 12 to keep in touch with her family’s heritage and enjoy the company of others.

“I’ve always known coffee as a social thing,” said Selemon. “It doesn’t just serve a function. [So I’m a] fan of that. It’s one of the few Ethiopian things I can do.”

But she’s going to need all the caffeine as the new science reporter for Amsterdam News’ Blacklight Investigative unit. Not only is Selemon bringing her long history of reporting on health and New York City, she also boasts experience lecturing at CUNY Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and leading audience development for the Health & Science desk at the Associated Press Oh, and don’t forget her aforementioned coffee ceremony skills.

Her journalism journey starts in Columbus, Ohio, as one of four children of former refugees who she calls “pillars of their people and community.” Selemon’s parents weren’t reporters, but her father’s job as a bi-

lingual case worker meant informing the public on matters ranging from employment to what an emergency exit sign was. They would take her to community gatherings, where she was encouraged to greet everyone in the room. Looking back, Selemon says her parents were inadvertently training her to become a journalist. She was formally introduced to the profession in the 10th grade. Selemon needed to pick an honors English class, and everyone said journalism was the easier class.

Back then, Selemon didn’t know her predilection for a lighter course load was planting the seeds for a lifelong career. She was set on studying medicine after witnessing the lack of medical care Ethiopians received when she visited her parents’ home country in 2001, so she majored in microbiology at Ohio State University. She was on track and well on her way in the medical field.

“Until I wasn’t,” said Selemon. “I wasn’t sure this was the path for me and I worked in a lab for a few years. And I realized I like to talk about science more with my colleagues and with people more than I like to do it. I like making it make sense to people.

“That was the moment I realized, I have to do something different. I

have to do something with this. That started a cascade towards finding a way to get to journalism school and doing this work.”

Not only did she get into a graduate journalism program, she now teaches there. For the past five years, Selemon helped develop up-andcoming reporters’ investigative skills through her two courses offered at CUNY Newmark.

Plenty of work awaits her as a science reporter at the Amsterdam News during an age of pandemics and climate change and how such issues disproportionately affect Black and brown New Yorkers. She’s the first full-time reporter to join the burgeoning Blacklight desk under investigative editor Damaso Reyes.

“We are very fortunate to have a journalist of Helina’s experience and quality join our investigative unit,” Reyes said. “The depth and compassion of her reporting will benefit our readership and community greatly.”

For Selemon, her new role means an opportunity to return to covering New York City, where she first started reporting on local issues like the environmental risks of a Greenpoint plastics factory. But working at a weekly Black newspaper like the Amsterdam News provides Selemon

a grand assortment of new story opportunities. And she can’t wait to start.

“What’s unique about this role and exciting about it is that we can go past day one,” said Selemon. “We can spend a lot of time past day one on really digging in and learning and bringing the issues to light in a way that engages people, equip them with new information, and empower them to do something about it. Empower people with what they need from their health, science, and environmental news.

“These are areas that are easy to feel out of reach. And communities need people to make it make sense to them.”

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.

NY Amsterdam News science reporter Helina Selemon (John Smock photo)

Health

Amref Health Africa mixes culture, philanthropy to fundraise with annual ArtBall

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Some 500 artists and art lovers turned out on on Feb. 25 for the annual Amref Health Africa ArtBall in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The event provided a chance to sample West and East African food by Teranga and Bunna Café; dance to live music by Chop and Quench (the house band in “Fela! on Broadway”); and make connections and network––all while contributing to a philanthropic cause.

Amref Health Africa is a nonprofit whose mission is to improve the overall delivery of healthcare services in Africa. The organization has held an annual fundraiser every year since 2016 to support its healthcare programs on the continent.

This year’s ArtBall was the first since the start of the pandemic in 2019. Emily Correale, Amref Health Africa’s director of development and communications, told the AmNews, “It was just overall, such a great night. We were super-happy to have it back!”

Art galas in New York City are traditionally centered around white artists and geared toward moneyed audiences; Amref wanted their ArtBall to be different. “The way that we designed our ball was that we wanted it to be the antithesis of the traditional New York City charity gala,” Correale said. “There’s not a huge barrier because of the price, there’s not a sit-down dinner; it’s not a place where people feel excluded. It’s always been a very diverse event: all of our stakeholders at the event, all

of our curators—everyone from our event’s producer to all of our partners. We really are careful about whom we work with and about how we can create a space that’s more inclusive than the traditional fundraiser that is usually in the fundraiser/nonprofit world.”

The ArtBall fundraiser featured an installation that explained elements of the Kefeta program.

In addition to ArtBall, Amref conducted an online art auction. Together, the two events aimed to raise $150,000 to help fund Amref’s five-year partnership in working with the Ethiopian youth program, Kefeta. The program will work with 2 million youth across 18 Ethiopian cities to create youth employment, financial education, health services, and adult literacy programs.

Jamel Robinson, Britnie George, Merle Hock, Sherlen Archibald at Amref Health Africa’s ArtBall 2023 (BFA photos)

Ethiopian American artist Julie Mehretu, who received the Rees Visionary Award, with Nigerian abstract expressionist painter Doba Afolabi

Arts & Entertainment

Vy Higginsen talks “Mama I Want to Sing!” at 40

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

There is something so important and beautiful about us telling our stories and sharing our rich creative history. For 40 years, Vy Higginsen has been doing just that as the creator of the musical “Mama I Want to Sing” and has been presenting it for four decades, sharing the story of her sister Doris Troy, a child singer with a superb voice who grew to be a gifted soul and R&B singer—something not readily embraced by her Pentecostal minister father. Higginsen tells the story of her sister’s struggles to do what was in her heart to do, and audiences have been coming to hear the story, the incredible music, and vocal performances for years. In this production, you get to hear gospel and Troy’s hits like “Just One Look” and “Whatcha Gonna Do About It.”

The musical, which was co-written, produced, and directed originally by Higginsen (who is also the founder, executive director, and producer of the Mama Foundation for the Arts) and her husband Ken Wydro in 1983, has come full circle and returned to its original home at El Museo’s El Teatro— formerly known as the Heckscher Theater (1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street). The musical will play only through March 12.

The journey that Higginsen chronicles for her sister is filled with drama, sorrow, love, and inspiration, and highlights all of Troy’s accomplishments in the music industry, which are quite a lot. This musical succeeds in taking the audience to church every time.

Higginsen recently spoke to the AmNews about the show’s 40th Anniversary.

AmNews: How does it feel to have “Mama I Want to Sing” being performed for its 40th anniversary?

VH: Well, it seems like just yesterday and the memories are flowing through my brain from 1983 to now 2023—40 years on a magical musical ride, a journey through time zones: eight years at the Heckscher Theater, two and a half years around the United States of America. “Mama I Want to Sing” traveled to many countries, including the West End of London, then two to three times a year in Japan since 1988. It’s exciting, it’s scary, wonderful, hopeful, and inspiring.

AmNews: You wrote this musical to share the story and legacy of your sister Doris Troy, but over the decades, what has this production grown into, in addition to that?

VH: I wrote this musical with my hus-

band, Ken Wydro, to celebrate my sister, Doris Troy, and the music that was created contributed to the American musical landscape—the power of music and the music that came from the church.

AmNews: You’ve always been someone who puts their money where their mouth is, thus starting the Mama Foundation for the Arts to ensure that young Black people who love to sing have a place to go and hone that craft from ages 7–19. What has being at the helm of something so important and amazing meant to you and your family?

VH: Traveling with “Mama I Want to Sing,” we realized that we had valuable information to share, so we came back home to give that to our community—what we learned, and how to keep the music alive and seek using young people as ambassadors of the music.

AmNews: You have put pen to paper and created a trilogy of musicals: two other incarnations of your sister’s story include “Sing! Mama I1” and “Mama III: Born to Sing,” but “Mama I Want to Sing” is what started it all. Why is our capturing the stories of our families and sharing them with others something that more of us should strive to do?

VH: I can’t honestly say that it’s easy— it’s hard, and there are ups and downs and lots of no’s and enough yes’s to keep you going. I do believe that writing a journal is healthy and good for well-being. Transporting your ideas into reality is sometimes far more difficult mentally, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. It’s not easy just to be honest.

AmNews: “Mama I Want to Sing” has become a vehicle for many people’s careers. Tell me about the three LaGuardia High students you have alternating as Doris: Asa Sulton, Elise Silva, and Faith Cochrane.

VH: The artist needs a platform, a vehicle, to express their talent and not everybody gets that.

The three young girls who are part of the Mama Foundation for the Arts and sharing the role of Doris Winter have a platform to be nurtured, developed, and have access to opportunity. The role of Doris Winter can change your life: A 14-year-old or 16-yearold gets a chance to grow in front of an audience and it’s a beautiful thing.

AmNews: What made these girls stand out?

VH: These girls were standouts because they were vocally talented, as well as good actresses. Ninety percent of the show is the right

casting. They are young, gifted, and Black.

AmNews: You have your daughter Knoelle directing the production. She has grown up with this musical, played the role of Doris herself, and plays a vital role with the Mama Foundation. Why was it important to you to make sure that this was part of the legacy you gave in her life?

VH: Bottom line is she’s qualified. She’s been in the show, she’s seen all of the versions of the show, she knows the music. She’s an excellent teacher, so she trained the cast vocally as well as the choreographer.

AmNews: What is the message of “Mama I Want to Sing” that you want an audience to get?

VH: The messages are in the music, in the lyrics—we talk about faith, hope, and possibility. We talk about visualizing and following your dream and purpose in life.

AmNews: What does it take to dedicate your life to eternalizing those you love?

VH: Hard work—there’s no substitute for hard work. You have to put in the time, and love unconditionally.

AmNews: Why should people come to see “Mama I Want to Sing”?

VH: People should come to see the show because music has power. People should come to see the show because the messages are in the music and the music is transformative. You can lift your spirits. It turns you around—music can put you in a better frame of mind. We need music now, more than ever to help us make good choices and become whole human beings.

In addition to the three actresses starring as Doris Troy, the cast includes Letrice Arlene Cherry-Stardivaat as Mama; Dawn Joyner and Leah Stewart sharing the role of Sister Carrie; Richard Hartley and Lamont O’Neal sharing the role of Rev. Winter; and Carlton Ellen as the Minister of Music.

The musical features the graduate choir from the Mama Foundation for the Arts program, including Jaron K. Fields, Barry Manderson, Deana Cowan, Asia Desheilds, Lateria Powell, Khyra Cunningham, Melonie B. Smith, Jonique Edwards, Hannah Asencio, Gloria Anderson, Shaterrica Hyder, Sanaa Lee, Domonique Dawkins, Neil Watt, Kaiya Stevens, Kamal Morales, Cherise Gissentanner, and Turner Messer.

The musical is directed by AhmayaKnoelle with musical direction by Kevin McCoy and Greg Kelly and costume design by Theda Dennis.

For tickets, visit www.MamaFoundation.org.

Scene from the 40th anniversary production of “Mama I Want To Sing!”

(Carol Rosegg photo)

Harlem Fine Arts Show expands into new home

By BRENIKA BANKS Special to the AmNews

The Harlem Fine Arts Show’s 15th anniversary, presented by Lexus of Manhattan, returned on Friday, Feb. 24, in person for the first time since 2020. The traveling art show celebrated the country’s largest African Diasporic art show, which provides a space for African and Caribbean descendants’ artworks. The show’s 15th-year celebration marked a major change of location: This year’s festivities were held at The Glasshouse near Hudson Yard in Midtown NYC.

The show was Midtown Manhattan’s first time hosting a large African Diasporic art show owned and operated by multicultural individuals. The three-day event featured 100 artists and independent galleries with an expected turnout of 15,000 guests.

Glasshouse previously hosted events for IBM, TikTok, Goldman Sachs, and more. Jack Guttman, owner of The Glasshouse, welcomed the opportunity for a first-time art show event after it was suggested by Lexus, which is located in the same building.

“Lexus recommended [the show] because they knew it was a great site for the event,” said Guttman on opening day. “Once they came to us about hosting, we said yes.”

He complimented the art show’s national appeal and fine artworks. “It’s very nice; the ceramics and a lot of the paintings are fabulous,” said Guttman.

Dion Clarke, founder of the Harlem Fine Arts Show, loved the benefits of the new location. “This

is bringing diversity into New York City, bringing uptown to downtown,” Clarke said. He emphasized the importance of the world

for a new journey. “I love every imprint that we left in Harlem, but I’m loving the imprint we’re establishing in New York City,” he said.

ger and [Guttman] becomes stronger by empowering the African American community to be a part of Glasshouse,” said Clarke.

Kailee Finn. The illustrator major at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City creates works that focus on social commentary and political art centered around the Black community.

One of Finn’s powerful drawings is her recreation of Norman Rockwell’s famous painting “Going and Coming.” Her piece highlights juvenile incarceration and excessive sentencing against the Black community. Her picture, drawn when she was only 16, shows young Black men on a bus going to prison and coming out as older Black men. Finn uses art to convey her frustrations about how society mistreats Black people. “My America is not ideal,” said Finn.

Another piece she showcased was a two-part drawing representing Black maternal mortality. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are four times more likely to die giving birth in the United States than white women. According to the CDC, the number is even higher in New York City, where Black women are 12 times more likely to die giving birth.

experiencing African Diasporic art beyond Harlem. “It’s a great way to impact cultural nutrition and cultural understanding, and to show the great way our artists actually relate to the world.”

Clarke said the art show outgrew its roots in Harlem and was ready

Building a partnership with Guttman was key for Clarke to bring the art show into its new home. Financing, diversity, and inclusion components made the Harlem Fine Arts Show at The Glasshouse beneficial for everyone involved. “We become stron-

A major part of empowering the African American community is welcoming new artists who are passionate about the injustices experienced by African descendants in the United States. The very first art display seen as guests arrived at the art event was by newcomer

One of Finn’s Black maternal mortality drawings represents foreshadowing her own death. Her older version of herself breaks the fourth wall as her image looks at the audience from a hospital bed, knowing her unfair death is near. “This can happen to any Black woman,” said Finn. “It’s not a class thing or money thing; it’s an institutionalized problem.”

The front of the art show by Kailee Finn’s artworks

Artist Lucas “Luca” Goly with his piece, “Distracted Faces”

In the second drawing, Finn included an alternative representation of herself as older while having a natural birth with midwives. Black midwives were crucial to aiding Black women during childbirth before they were eventually demonized and criminalized.

Although Finn is pursuing an arts degree, she is avid about remaining well versed on subjects that pertain to Black history and Black social issues. “My inspirations are people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Angela Davis, because that’s what fuels this art and keeps me educated,” said Finn.

She described her first year at the Harlem Fine Arts show as a shocking yet humble experience. “It’s almost unbelievable that I’m at this level and in this space with other Black artists,” said Finn. She is grateful for all the positive feedback.

“She is phenomenal,” said Helena Lewis about Finn. “She brings a whole new young flavor of her artwork and her purpose for it.” The long-time supporter of the Harlem Fine Arts Show and member of the David I. Martin Music Guild was inspired to purchase a painting years ago. She chose one showing a blue-haired woman holding a violin made by Michael Escoffery. “I love music and because of my love for music, I was drawn to it,” said Lewis. “It was perfect for me to put up my home.” She categorized artworks by Escoffery as “welcoming” because of the warm colors he uses.

Escoffery has enjoyed participating in the art show every year since its 2009 beginning. He appreciates the show because it gives him the opportunity to meet art collectors, mingle with guests, and reconnect with customers like Lewis. As an oil painter, Escoffery uses the long drying time of oil paint to design three to four paintings in one setting. Because of this, he likes to create diptych and triptych paintings. The Jamaican artist sees colors in unique ways based on his roots. The inspiration for his art comes from bright colors that are reminiscent of his childhood growing up in Kingston, Jamaica. “Caribbean colors are greens and they’re very vibrant,” said Escoffery.

Escoffery prefers guests who are willing to buy his pieces, but recommends only purchasing art that resonates with them. “You have to have it on your wall, so if you don’t like it, don’t buy it,” said Escoffery. Both Escoffery and

Lewis love the new home of the art show at Glasshouse. They cited the bigger space and better lighting as upgrades compared to the show’s older spaces.

Lewis added her fondness in seeing African descendants supporting one another by purchasing artworks. “We can only thrive if we support each other,” said Lewis.

The Harlem Fine Arts Show is an excellent way for artists to gain support and make connections. Luca (styled as Lv<^), a first-time artist at the show, said his favorite part about being an artist is connections. “I love to connect with people,” said Luca. The Nicaraguan and Puerto Rican artist said creating and enjoying art makes him feel like he lives in multiverses. He defined his friendly interactions with the people he met at the show

as “New Yorkers you know from your neighborhood.”

“Distracted Faces,” the first art piece Luca ever created, is a painting inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s neo-expressionism, mixed with cubism style art. It was one of the first ones seen by guests during the art show. He is multitalented, creating artworks that are also abstract and surrealistic. He struggled with anxiety for two years before creating his first painting. “I didn’t want to touch the canvas and then say, ‘Damn, I don’t love it,’” said Luca. He was finally inspired to paint after moving back to NYC in November 2020. He credits Psilocybin mushrooms for helping him reduce anxiety.

“I think everyone should try mushrooms at least once in their life,” said Luca. He believes expe-

riencing mushrooms opened his mind to a deeper level of thinking and creating. His “Distracted Faces” painting represents what it’s like to be continuously judged while learning how to respond in a collective manner.

“His mouth is blue, but his teeth are gold and that’s his value,” said Luca in describing his work. “His words are of value in the way he responds, and his third eye is on his chin because when you speak your ideas into existence, it’s coming from that territory.” He

looks forward to being a part of the art show for years to come.

The Harlem Fine Arts Show will travel to other cities and return to New York City in February 2024.

Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternal-mortality/ pregnancy-mortality-surveillance-system.htm?CDC_AA_ refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww. cdc.gov%2Freproductivehealth%2Fmaternalinfanthealth%2Fpr

egnancy-mortality-surveillance-s ystem.htm.

Artist Kailee Finn with her artwork, the recreation of “Going and Coming”

Guests looking at artworks (Brenika Banks photos)

Guests gathered around Luca’s art piece

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By

SUPREME

GODDESS KYA

March 2, 2023—March 8, 2023

Words have replaced reality. Always remember where you come from to recognize where you are heading. It takes courage to change the course to get out of your comfortability and ascend to a higher level. Allow the full moon at 16-degree Virgo install some hard-knocks lessons from back in the day of how to eat to live. Back then, folks prepared meals on the table for breakfast and suppertime, and grew their foods. Nowadays it’s hot and ready being served and delivered, making no time for family bonding or discussion. A change in the way we live, eat, bank, communicate, and—most important—treat each other with morals, respect, values like the old days. A new way of life is rebirthing and you can also feel the change from within on the outside. “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them—that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” — Lao Tzu

March is a month of ending, liberation fulfillment, public appearance, humanitarian work, learning from the trials and errors and experiences over the last 15 years of Pluto in Capricorn. Pluto in Capricorn takes a dip out of your sign on March 23, giving you a mini break till June 11, 2023. In the mist of the transfer energy of uploads, pay close attention to the facts, details, instructions, assignments, and invaluable lesson shown to you. This cycle week is a higher inner standing of something much greater to connect to the heart, soul, spirit, body, and mind. March 5, 38 minutes after 10 p.m. till 9 a.m. 15 minutes before 10 a.m., it’s about marrying the opposition to become whole. Surrender or sacrifice for the greater good.

The flexibility and adaptability needed to change the course of your life. In life, just as we drive, there are sharp turns, bends, curves, narrow paths when you travel in the mountains. These experiences assist in your elevation of growth within you and gaining wisdom. March is a fast-pace cycle for you to make some type of change in your lifestyle that will push you to progress on the journey forward. It already has been building up and toward the end of the month you need to make a decision about something that’s been sparking a flame from within. Beginning on March 8, 45 minutes before 9 a.m., certain situations require action with footwork.

March is going to sweep the rug from under your feet and make you stand and fish for your own. Although it’s your season and the sun is beaming on the warm water you travel through boundaries, it comes with being honest and straightforward with people and with self. This cycle is similar when your great-grandmother put you in check to better prepare you for life’s turn of events. In March, know thyself and continue your agenda as the support you used to get is canceling their subscription on you. Days leading up to the March 10, it’s time to take matters in your own hands and build with what’s in your possession.

When you are on new mission, it begins with giving birth to a new train of thought and operating in a different way. Most times on the journey, it’s you until you start to do the work to build it past a certain phase. An unexplainable event will lead you to the right people, place, things, items for the alignment of crossing paths. In retrospect, look at the details and say what you feel without any contradictions. It’s better to tell the truth than a lie. March 3 till 30 minutes to 11 p.m., the 411 sits in like a ripple effect that keeps on expanding to give shape and form.

March is a mystical, strange, cloak kind of month that comes with an inner standing of self-recognition of the gifts you possess and discovering the truth about something. “Why”will be the question you ask and as you do your research, the answer will come. Solitude, connecting with nature, meditation, going swimming, drinking water will assist and study will aid in the rejuvenation process this month for next month. The work you are developing is a piece of what you are creating content for this year and for the next five years to come. It will all make sense later as each assignment has its process for building a lasting foundation. March 5 till 44 minutes after 9 a.m., a silent revelation will present itself to you. Question everything when you don’t know.

This is a slingshot kind of week when what you are building will support you financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally, and soulfully. You are being guided and given privy information to resolve a certain circumstance. This is not your typical kind of week—in fact, it’s a straight spiritual alignment that the physical reality has no explanation for. Listen carefully and perform the duties you laid out for yourself. In the days leading up to March 8, it’s about the commitment to see results.

After a process of initiation of new beginning, it’s time to apply the footwork, time, effort, and sweat, and make the investment without overwhelming yourself. A cycle to spiritually develop your inner spirit growth, environment, to be more conscious of your actions. It’s time to allow your light to shine. You have done enough talking and it’s time to show up for yourself. It’s okay to learn a few new lessons and travel through the experiences to gain the wisdom due to it’s all part of the journey of life. March 2, you are evolving and you know it’s time to cut your losses for a fresh start.

Once you plant the seed, you need the water and the sunlight for growth and durability. This is a slow germination process where the inner cells are gathering the support they need to sprout and lean toward the sun like a sunflower. To know what you need, there is an examination and evaluation that will take place. Sometimes the process is as easy as being still, so still that you feel the winds surrounding you to listen to the conversation like a record playing. March 3 till March 5, 38 minutes past 10 p.m., the tools and resources come together after a journey of surveying to fill in the blank.

March is a month of going back to school in some shape or form or signing up to do community volunteer work. The topic of partnerships will come up for you or reconstructing how you operate the partnership roles. A hefty duty month with responsibilities swinging the door at you all at once and the main recipe is balance, including rest your body. Take a cat nap from time to time. A month to assist with your elders or work with your elders because your help is greatly appreciated. March 5 till 15 minutes before 10 a.m., the benefit of your labor arrives.

What’s the vision and the dream that’s prompting you to go into a new direction within your profession? “Why” will frequently visit you as you have questions that need answers you are not clear about. When you apply your mind to the vision, to start at least jot down the outline. You are in the process of developing a new program for yourself. Do your research and continue to create the outcome of your vision in your mind. Take a break for a nature walk and visit near a body of water for clarity. In the days leading up to March 8, it’s important to make your dreams a reality—it’s one reason why we have dreams. Our dreams help guide us on our path.

It’s time to make boss moves and only you know the moves you need make happen. It’s a new process that will free up time, space, for you do something you’ve never done before. Be daring. You are the only one who can stop your growth. March is the month you walk into the unknown, starting a whole new agenda with new terms, conditions, rights, and amenities. Make the first move as the leader you are and use the resources in your environment. March 2, it’s time to be 100% real with self and walk the walk to talk the talk.

This is a sink or swim kind of month. What’s it going to be? You have a new agenda you are rolling out with. It’s easy to say what you are going to do. Applying the words to action means business. Either way, you have to stand on your own against any opposition. Always remember that opposite means to connect with both ends to operate in the highest form to see results. Set the tone as you build the foundation with the team in positions to secure the safety of everyone’s future. March 3 through March 5, the best investment is investing in you.

Vinateria

Oscar voting begins March 2

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

The Screen Actors Guild winners have been announced and the analysis of the Oscar race (March 12) has begun. Last year, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards’ top winners corresponded exactly with the Academy Awards winners.

A24’s “Everything Everywhere

All at Once,” directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“The Daniels”), was the big winner. The film’s stars—Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis—all received SAG awards for their individual performances, as well as the award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture, the equivalent of Best Picture.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” won the Directors Guild Award and the Producers and Screen Actors Guild award. This is the little indie that is upsetting industry expectations. The film has scored 11 Oscar nominations.

In the old days, the Golden Globe used to be the Oscar indicator. Now, it’s SAG and last year was the first indication of an Oscar race that shifted handing the Oscar to “CODA” when the wind was under “The Power of the Dog.”

“CODA” won the Producers Guild, as did “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” SAG also led the way to an Oscar win by forecasting films like “Spotlight” and “Parasite,” with both films going all the way with the Actors Guild. And to a bigger point, A24 also won a Best Picture Oscar with “Moonlight,” but this is the studio’s first SAG ensemble victory. This little film is making history in many ways. This is the non-streaming film to win this top award since “Parasite” won in 2020.

“I think if I speak, my heart will explode,” an emotional Yeoh said on stage while accepting her award. “SAG-AFTRA, to get this from you, who understand what it is to get here…Every one of you knows the journey, the rollercoaster ride, the ups and downs. But most importantly, we never give up. I thank you…This is not just for me. This is for every little girl who looks like me.”

Yeoh follows Yuh Jung Youn’s Supporting Actress win for “Minari” (2020) as the second Asian woman to win a film acting prize.

I’m confident that the winner for Best Picture will be “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but some insiders are still suggesting that “All Quiet on the Western Front” or

The other predicted wins are:

Original Screenplay, Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Adapted Screenplay, Sarah Polley, “Women Talking”

Animated Feature, “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

Production Design, “Babylon”

Cinematography: “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Costume Design, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Editing, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Makeup and Hairstyling, “The Whale”

Sound, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Visual Effects, “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Original Score, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Original Song, “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

Documentary, “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

International Feature, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Animated Short, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

Documentary Short, “The Elephant Whisperers”

Live Action Short, “An Irish Goodbye”

“The Banshees of Inisherin” could still upset the Oscar race.

Insiders have been confident that director Steven Spielberg was a lock for “The Fabelmans” and since the Academy’s voting base is still 66% male and 81% white, the vote might swing in his direction. But “the Daniels” won the Directors Guild of America honor, which has moved them closer to winning the gold statue on March 12.

Now to Best Actor. All five nominees are first-timers and not since 1935 has that occurred.

For insiders, the competition is between SAG winner Brendan Fraser for “The Whale” and Austin Butler for “Elvis.” My money’s on Fraser because Hollywood loves a good comeback story.

In the Best Actress category, it’s

SAG winner Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” with Cate Blanchett (“TÁR”) nipping at her heels.

I agree with my colleagues that the Best Supporting Actor honor is going to Ke Huy Quan for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which delivers another Hollywood comeback, and one that’s inspirational on myriad levels.

For Best Supporting Actress, all indicators are pointing toward Angela Bassett’s “Wakanda Forever,” but if we are all wrong, it would be Jamie Lee Curtis who upsets this momentum because she just won a SAG award. Bassett is the first actor ever nominated from an MCU film and there’s an empire working behind the scenes to help her take home the gold.

Final Oscar voting begins at 9 a.m. PT on Thursday, Mar. 2, 2023, and ends at 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday, Mar. 7, 2023.

The 95th Academy Awards® show airs on Sunday, Mar. 12, 2023.

(Image by Gia Knight from Pixabay)

Billie Holiday Theatre, at 50, celebrates Black Genius

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Have you ever witnessed something that made you feel blessed— like you and your people were seen in a way that was not happening before? Like the stories, acting, and creative talents of Black people were being put in the forefront, and allowed to have a venue where they not only had a chance to show their greatness, but were able to use the venue as a steppingstone in their careers?

I am so happy to say that I know of such a place. I know of a place where Black stories, playwrights, directors, sound designers, set designers, lighting designers, hair and wig stylists, and all creatives have been able to go to for 50 years and get their first taste of theater.

That is the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn. For 50 years, the Billie Holiday Theatre has been on an amazing mission, and it continues: The theatre recently celebrated 50 years in the Bedford Stuyvesant community (1368 Fulton Street) with the “World Premiere of Black Genius in the American Theater: A Concert Reading.”

“Black Genius in the American Theatre: A Concert Reading” was superbly hosted by Phyllis Yvonne Stickney and Harry Lennox. The fabulous program included excerpts from six productions that got their start at the Billie Holiday Theatre and highlighted a play per decade from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, 2000s, and 2010s.

I so enjoy when my people are doing what they do best and rising to the occasion, and that is exactly what happened during this marvelous theater celebration.

The first excerpt came from “Over Forty” by Celeste Walked and featured four women who had a lot to say and said it with a sauciness, passion, energy, and joy that was the

perfect way to start off the performances. It set an amazing standard of excellence that was maintained throughout the program. In addition to dialogue, they also performed brief moments from classic songs like “In the Still of the Night.” The dynamic, gifted actresses were Pauletta Washington, Denise Burse, Peggy Alston, and Shani Tabia, who made her Billie Holiday debut—and it was a very impressive one.

Up next was “Inacent Black and the Five Brothers” by A. Marcus Hemphill. Alston as Mama Rydell delivered her monologue with tenderness, humor, and the frustration of a widow who doesn’t know how to raise her sons now that her husband has died. She also is a woman in pain, regretting his choice to put himself in harm’s way the night he lost his life. In another excerpt from this classic play, the audience was treated to some humorous moments, some going-to-church moments, and an engaging introduction to “Inacent Black” spiritedly played by Tabia. Donald Hinson was marvelous as Marv Rydell, a man trying to look out for the innocence and naïve young woman who got off the bus at New York City’s Port Authority. Terrence Riggins was a smooth-talking MacDaddy as Pretty Pete. Joyce Sylvester played the Waitress in the scene.

The Billie Holiday Theatre has not only been a place for new playwrights to present and hone their work; it has touted the work of some of the greatest Black writers, such as Langston Hughes and his play “Tamborines to Glory,” which was also part of this event. The play tells the story of two poor Black women, Laura and Essie (played by Burse and Washington), who decide that the best way to make money in Harlem is to start a church on the street to save the sinners. Essie believes in making money by any means necessary, while Laura truly wants to help people come to

Jesus, but won’t mind taking their money as well. The supportive cast in the very funny excerpt included Hinson and Tabia.

“The Past Is the Past” by legendary playwright Richard Wesley was delivered through a riveting excerpt that showcased the phenomenal talents of actors Billy Eugene Jones and Kim Sullivan. Jones played Eddie Green and Sullivan played Earl Davis. Set in a pool hall, it is the story of a son who is meeting his absentee father for the first time. Eddie has many questions to ask Davis; he just wants answers and a connection that he has missed his entire life. Jones and Sullivan took these characters to great heights. This play was a commentary on the relationship between absentee fathers and their children, and what I appreciated is that it told the story from both perspectives. This play leaves you jarred, but also allows you to have a different understanding of this issue.

The next play was one that I saw in the original production and thoroughly enjoyed: “Faith On Line” by Joyce Sylvester. In the two excerpts, Higgins played Abdul and Hinson played Taylor. These men are on opposite sides of the gentrification issue in Harlem. Taylor wants his sister to sell their late father’s brownstone and get out of Harlem, while Abdul, her troubled boyfriend, wants her to keep it and fight for Blacks to stay in their Harlem. Abdul delivered one of the most powerful speeches against gentrification in Harlem you would have the chance to hear. This speech has ancestors, history, Black inventors, our accomplishments and pride vibrantly flowing throughout. The words are inspiring and proclaim our power and our glory if We Stand Together! Sylvester demonstrated her talent as a gifted playwright with this piece. To hear her words spoken by Higgins just made my heart glad.

An excerpt from “Brothers from

the Bottom” by Jackie Alexander featured the awesome talents of Alston as Malika and Sullivan as her husband Chris, as they struggle with gentrification in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. As they disagreed about whether to sell or not, they brought the love, the heat, and the confusion to life that people felt as companies tried to come in and get the people who had stayed in their homes to sell out. I love to see seasoned actors do their thing.

An added pleasure of the event was Phyllis Yvonne Stickney dramatically and flawlessly reciting Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” as Forces of Nature’s Tina Bush and Jason Herbert performed gorgeous interpretative dance moves. There was power, conviction, determination, joy, pride, and affirmation that made the spirit rejoice.

The final excerpt was from the timeless play “Old Settler” by John Henry Redwood. This play, about two elderly sisters in Harlem who take in a roomer to pay the rent, is a favorite for many. Washington was delightful and a breath of fresh air as Elizabeth. Burse was feisty and funny as her sister Quilly. Jones was enchanting as Husband, their roomer, delivering the character—a naïve country guy—splendidly. Tabia totally fit the bill as Lou Bessie, showing her priorities as happy to be in Harlem, loving the nightlife, the money, and the men. This story is a love story in different ways, and a story that stays with you as all six excerpts represent plays that do just that.

Throughout the event, the names of the famous alumni were not only announced, but video messages came from them as well, including Samuel L. Jackson and Tashina Arnold, with each person fondly remembering their time at the theater.

As each excerpt took place, a large black-and-white photo of the original production stars was displayed. Many renowned people from the industry have had a hand in the Billie Holiday Theatre, including Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samm Art Williams, Debbie Allen, Woodie King Jr., Ken Roberson, Count Stovall, Peter Jay Fernandez, Stephanie Berry, and many others. The politicians who assisted along the way were also acknowledged, including Robert Kennedy, Marty Markowitz, Shirley Chisholm, Ed Townes, Major Owens, Charles Barron, Annette Robinson, and current NYC Mayor Eric Adams.

The history of the theater was discussed, from its first funding to the renovation and reopening. Director emeritus Marjorie Moon delivered a heartfelt video message with grace, love, and humility. I encountered this amazing woman for many years at the helm of the Billie Holiday Theatre and she was a beautiful, committed guiding force who saw it through so many journeys.

Be a part of our history and support this cherished institution in Bed-Stuy that always puts Blacks telling our story first

For more info, visit www https:// thebillieholiday.org.

(L-R) Tina Bush, Shani Tabia, Pauletta Washington, Donald Hinson, Peggy Alston, Harry Lennox, Denise Burse, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Billy Eugene Jones, Jason Herbert, Kim Sullivan, Terrence Riggins; in front, Joyce Sylvester. (Kevin A. Richards photos)

(L-R) Denise Burse, Billy Eugene Jones, and Pauletta Washington

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney and Harry Lennox

Dance Calendar March 2023

By CHARMAINE PATRICIA WARREN Special to the AmNews

This month’s dance calendar boasts works from an impressive range of dancemakers.

Begin with Jordan Demetrius Lloyd’s new evening-length work, Blackbare in the Basement, Mar. 9–11 at Danspace Project. Promising to “…transform Danspace’s sanctuary inside St. Mark’s Church into a site of fantasy and textural collage.

Still running

Feb. 28–Mar.12: Batsheva Dance Company comes to the Joyce Theater with house choreographer Ohad Naharin’s Hora: “A green, disquieting, and hauntingly beautiful world…simultaneously primordial and futuristic. Moving bodies create an emergent folklore and embody the beauty of the struggle to distinguish oneself amongst a collective,” according to the release.

For more information, visit https:// www.joyce.org/performances/batsheva-dance-company.

Also this month

Mar. 8–11: Battery Dance NOW, presented by Battery Dance, makes their New York Live Arts debut, including works by Robin Cantrell, Ana Maria Lucaicu, and Tsai Hsi Hung. For more information, visit https://batterydance.org/2023-ny-season/.

Mar. 11: For one night only, as part of the Works & Process programs at the Guggenheim, choreographer and direc-

Lloyd returns to presenting work in a theater for the first time since the pandemic, organizing his desires around choreographic and visual design, storytelling, philosophy, and various contemporary performance aesthetics.”

For Blackbare in the Basement , “Lloyd divides an eight-person ensemble into an amalgamation of solos, duets, and trios that are threaded together to produce experiences of calculated entropy

tor Francesca Harper’s The Reckoning is a film and a live performance. Made in collaboration with composer Nona Hendryx, The Reckoning is Harper’s response to the 2010 killing of seven-yearold Aiyana Mo’Nay Stanley-Jones at the hands of Detroit law enforcement.

For more information, visit https://www. guggenheim.org/event/works-processarrays-leap-the-reckoning-by-francesca-harper-music-by-nona-hendryx.

Mar. 14–Apr. 1: Joan Jonas and Eiko Otake come together in the collaborative project Drawing in Circles, an exhibition and accompanying live performances. For more information, visit https://danspaceproject.org/calendar/winter2023jonas-otake/.

Mar. 18–19: At Arts on Site, Mango Season by Joya Powell and A.K.A. Ka Inoa (excerpt) by Pele Bauch will be part of EstroGenius in the shared program, “Who We Are | Ban(ned) Together.”

For more information, visit www.artsonsite.org/events.

and disorientation via an intuitive shifting of language and logic,” according to a press release. According to Lloyd, “Within the nuances of the movement vocabulary, there is an intuitive shifting of language and logic between the groupings which allows for experiences of otherworldliness.”

For more information, visit www.danspaceproject.org/calendar/winter2023lloyd/.

Mar. 22–Apr. 2: Ailey II returns with two programs featuring works by artistic director, Francesca Harper, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s artistic director Robert Battle, William Forsythe, Andrea Miller, and former Ailey Company member Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish. For more information, visit https://www. alvinailey.org/engagement/ailey-ii-nyc.

Mar. 24–25: At NYU Skirball, the Korean Dance Company Bereishit Dance will present Balance and Imbalance and Judo choreographed by Soon-ho Park. For more information, visit https://nyuskirball.org/events/bereishit-dancecompany/.

Mar. 29–Apr. 2: New Zealand’s Atamira Dance Company, the creator and presenter of Māori contemporary dance theater, comes to The Joyce Theater with the New York premiere of the eveninglength Te Wheke. For more information, visit https:// www.joyce.org/performances/atamiradance-company.

Life, legacy of Ballet Hispánico founder celebrated at 92Y

A ceremony to honor the passing of dance innovator Tina Ramirez, the founding artistic director of Ballet Hispánico, was held on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 92NY. The event offered tribute, in both words and in movement, to all that Ramirez created. The memorial featured performances by the Ballet Hispánico Company and School of Dance with guest artists. Among those offering remarks and remembrances were Kate Lear, chair of the Board of Directors; Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director & CEO; Verdery Roosevelt, former executive director; artist Nancy Ticotin; Council Member Gale A. Brewer; and Jody Gottfried Arnhold, founder of the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL), and 92NY and Ballet Hispánico board chair emeritus.

Jordan Demetrius Lloyd (Whitney Browne photos)

Artistic director and Ballet Hispánico CEO Eduardo Vilaro offered remarks at the ceremony honoring Tina Ramirez, who founded the dance company in 1970 and passed away last September. (Destiny Mata photos)

LAKECIA BENJAMIN, WOMEN’S JAZZ MONTH AT SCHOMBURG

In a special collaboration, the Harlem Stage (150 Convent Avenue) and Carnegie Hall copresent saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin on March 11 in a free concert. She will appear in celebration of her recently released album “Phoenix” (Whirlwind Recordings), which consists of mostly original compositions. Joining her is an all-star lineup of special guests, including Dianne Reeves, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis, Wayne Shorter, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

This fourth studio album was produced by multi-Grammy Award-winning drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington.

On occasion, some artists use big names to hype their albums, but understand that Benjamin has developed a reputation for bringing in renowned artists as collaborative partners, which is usually an intergenerational configuration exchanging concepts and ideas. Both “Phoenix” album guests— political activist and educator Angela Davis and poet and writer Sonia Sanchez—were activists in the Black Power and Black Arts Movements, and infuse the recording with a revolutionary perspective.

“Amerikkan Skin,” features Davis’s thoughtprovoking words and revolutionary hope, with Benjamin’s bluesy midtempo riffing trumpet joining in high-hittin’ call and response with saxophone. Sanchez offers words of peace in this now and future on the tracks “Peace is a Haiku,” which features Sanchez’s intense bullets over guitar melodies. On the track “Blast,” Sanchez continues her poem, which escalates into a fiery tone as Benjamin and the ensemble join in.

The track “Super Nova” features the wisdom and philosophy of the iconic Shorter in a short but definitive interlude. The tune “Basquiat” is a real burner—Benjamin’s dexterity and improvisational technique in conjunction with the ensemble are delightful.

“Phoenix” is thought-provoking and musically stimulating. Benjamin has a Coltranish thing going on that suits her perfectly. It is part of her playing style, but it’s her own sound (a soulful Harlem intensity) that brings it all together.

Benjamin’s concert is both a free and general admission-based event: Admission to the Gatehouse and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The event will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

The Harlem Stage is a premiere arts organization whose stage presentations represent revolutionary thought by Black creative visionaries at the intersection of art and social justice. The collective works of such artists since 1983 also represent the legacy of Black America, from its potent cultural history to the peoples’ amplified voices that continue in the streets, denouncing America’s destructive social-structured racism.

The Harlem Stage’s current ongoing series “Black Arts Movement: Examined,” which began in October 1922 and will continue through May 2023 with a dynamic three-day conference. This series features the 1960s and ’70s cultural movement that was rooted in the music, literature, dance, drama and visual arts. It reflects the Harlem Stage mission and the ongoing creativity and definitive statement of today’s artists.

For more info about the free event and a complete schedule for the Black Arts Movement, visit the website harlemstage.org.

The Schomburg Center’s annual Women’s Jazz Festival (WJF) is celebrating 31 years of featuring Black women in jazz with the Women’s Jazz Festival, founded in 1992 by then-Harlem resident and jazz vocalist Melba Joyce. During an interview a few years ago for this publication, Joyce said, “I was looking for a place for women (vocalists) to have a performance platform and the Schomburg liked my idea and gave us a home that continues today.”

This year’s Schomburg Center Festival (515 Malcolm X Blvd.) will present a spirited variety of jazz genres for audiences of mixed tastes, live on March 6, 13, and 20.

The concert series opens with drummer and composer Shirazette Tinnin’s MOODS OF HER. She will be joined by her abled ensemble: vocalist and saxophonist Orange Coffee, bassist Amina Scott, guitarist Alicyn Yaff, pianist Brittany Anjou, trumpeter Lessie Bonner, tenor saxophone Chelsea Baratz, and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut.

These names may not roll off your tongue like household words, but they are all band leaders in their own right— young architects building their own jazz structures. Chestnut is a protégé of Savion Glover and follows predecessors like the Nicholas Brothers and Honi Coles. His tap shoes are a viable jazz instrument (presented by Jazzmobile, Inc. and executive producer Robin Bell-Stevens).

Tinnin is the music director and drummer for Allan Harris’s ensemble. When not leading her own bands (Shirazette and Sonic wallpaper Fusion Band and the Blue Popped Trio), she often plays with Dee Dee Bridgewater’s big band. While performing at a jazz festival in Peru in 2009, she met trumpeter Gabriel Alegría, who invited her to New York to join his Afro Peruvian Sextet. Since that time, she recorded Alegría’s 2013 album, “Ciudad de los Reyes,” and continues to tour with him and his group regularly in the U.S. and Peru.

Tinnin also plays the cajón, a widely used Afro Peruvian percussion instrument. “Playing the cajón has expanded my playing ability and I use these rhythms in my music,” she said—a combustion of jazz, world, and pop music. She says her goal is to have an album that is strictly Peruvian rhythms.

When asked if the patriarchal grip on jazz has loosened for women, Tinnin said, “It’s a vicious cycle in jazz. Because of my gender, some think I can’t do certain things, but that isn’t intelligent thinking. It’s not about being a woman, but a control thing for people who are insecure. Some want to keep things the way they were, but

there has been an improvement. My gift was given to me by God, so I will move forward on my path and not be stopped but transcend above.”

On March 13, the Women’s festival continues with the Original Pinettes Brass Band of New Orleans. The all-female brass band leans more toward contemporary brass band music rather than traditional New Orleans Jazz, so be ready for some off-beat second-line swing. The band was founded in 1991 at St. Mary’s Academy, a Catholic girls’ school in New Orleans.

The festival concludes on March 20 with vocalist Lizz Wright. Since signing her first recording contract with Verve Records (the home of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday) in 2003, Wright has established a personal style that encompasses jazz, gospel, and folk music. The native of Hahira, Georgia, has developed a musical blend that is spiritually motivating.

“The Women’s Jazz Festival celebrates women of the African diaspora and their contributions to jazz and the community,” said Novella Ford, program and exhibitions curator for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. “We have continued Melba Joyce’s original concept to ensure that women vocalists, musicians, writers, and composers have an artistic platform to showcase their work.”

Once again, Black History Month might be only a month, but should be celebrated every day. Join this journey of the matriarch’s herstory. For tickets, visit the website https:// www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-womens-jazz.

Shiranette Tinnin (Jazzmobile Office photo)

Fix the MTA

Continued from page 3

Radio interview. However, he added the agency needs to prioritize raising enough funds to maintain the current level of service. Six minute headways for the subway system and a 20% increase in bus service would cost $788 million a year.

Proponents of “Fix the MTA” like Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY16), from the Ridership Alliance and legislative sponsors State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani rallied in the Bronx last Friday, Feb. 24.

“For years, New Yorkers have been coping with the breakdown of our public transit system, and it’s long past time to get serious about fixing it,” said Bowman. “One of the best ways we can improve the MTA for working families in our city is by making our buses free. New Yorkers have been struggling to afford the necessities of life, and we can and should ease their burden with free, more frequent buses.

“We need a realistic plan to stabilize the agency’s finances, because continuing to hike fares while service deteriorates is simply not an option for working class people.”

Mamdani told the Amsterdam News he believes the “Fix the MTA” package would particularly benefit Black New Yorkers, who rely on public transportation the most. If passed, the buses would first be free in the

Bronx, then in Brooklyn. Those two boroughs boast the highest percentage of Black populations in New York City.

“Black New Yorkers suffer from the fact that our transit system was built around Manhattan,” said Mamdani. “The further that you get out from Manhattan, the more you tend to wait on the platform. And waiting on the platform has many consequences. It means that you’re late for work, which can often mean a financial penalty. For so many working-class New Yorkers, it can also mean that you feel less safe because you’re waiting 10-20 minutes.”

Three fatal stabbings on New York City public transit were recorded within a 10 day span last October—the victims were all Bronx or Brooklyn residents.

Mamdani adds free buses would reduce hostile encounters while enforcing fares for bus operators—many who are Black themselves. The MTA found 46.89% of the agency’s workforce was Black in 2017.

And the proposed 5.5% fare hike could lead to an increase of fare evasion. 91.5% of those arrested for the crime are New Yorkers of color, according to NYPD watchdog Police Reform Organizing Project (PROP).

The MTA currently offers a reduced fare of $1.35 for straphangers 65 and older or with a qualifying disability. But Mamdani says less than half of eligible New Yorkers are applying.

“If we are not able to provide efficient relief actually reaching people in their pocket, and not simply in their mailbox as an application for a bureaucratic system of thresholds and

eligibility, [then] we know that we are failing Black New Yorkers,” he said.

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.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16)(center) speaks in support of the “Fix the MTA” movement. (Office of Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris photo)

Lucy Wilmot Smith: journalist, educator, and suffragette

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

There are a few uncertainties and much that is unknown about the life and legacy of Lucy (or Lucie) Wilmot Smith. Was she born a slave on November 16, 1861, in Lexington, Kentucky? Who was her father?

Unquestionable, however, is that her mother was Margaret Smith, and Smith was a teenager when she began working as a teacher to support herself and her mother. Little information is available about her early education until she received a degree from State University in Louisville. It has been speculated that she was taught and trained by her mother.

In 1877, after some years of teaching, Smith became the private secretary of William J. Simmons, a position she would hold until 1884. Simmons was a formerly enslaved educator who became president of Simmons College. At his suggestion, she began writing a children’s column for the American Baptist, a prominent publication at that time. She succeeded with such acclaim that by 1888, she was named director of communication at Our Women and Children, based in Louisville.

Smith was an unwavering advocate for women’s rights, a passion that is captured in this quote from one of her articles: “It is said by many that women do not want the ballot. We are not sure that the 15,000,000 women of voting age would say this, and if they did[,] majorities do not always establish the right of a thing. Our position is that women should have the ballot, not as a matter of expediency, but as a matter of pure justice.”

What she wrote was often given greater resonance from the podium, as this sample indicates in her speech “The Future Colored Girl,” where she notes some of the desires of Black girls beyond housework and maids: “Give the girl the same freedom in exercising as the boy, the same liberty of wearing loose clothes, the same mental food[,] and she will accomplish the same work.”

On another occasion, Smith said, “I think all surgical operations on women should be performed only by women,” intimating that women were best suited to care for other women. She also encouraged women to pursue journalism, saying, “We need papers and magazines edited by women for women.”

Smith was the editor of the publication’s “Women and Women’s Work” column, which may have been the beginning of her work in the suffragette movement. Her renown increased with each publication where she was listed as a contributor or editor, including the Baptist Journal out of St. Louis and under the stewardship of Rev. R.H. Coles; the New York-based The Journalist; and the more prestigious Indianapolis Freeman , the nation’s first, and at that time, only illustrated paper specifically created for Black Americans. Her articles also appeared in the Boston Advocate (now known as the Jewish Advocate). She also taught at Louisville University for a period of years and was among the few women to hold a leadership position in the American National Baptist Convention.

In 1884, according to magazine accounts, Smith filled a teaching position in Wyandotte County, Kansas. She also became president of the Sewing Circle of the Wyandotte Baptist Church and of a society connected with the Methodist Church, as well as secretary of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Upon the urgent request of the president and trustees, she returned to her old position at the state university in September 1885, where she served as financial clerk and city missionary for the YMCA/YWCA; she also served this body as president.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

Several publications that focus on the suffragette movement and Black women in journalism have accounts of Lucy Wilmot Smith’s writings and speeches.

DISCUSSION

Nothing here indicates her formative years as an aspiring writer and journalist, but it has been suggested by several writers that her mother was her first and most influential teacher.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Perhaps born in servitude, Lucy Wilmot Smith soared to the heights of journalism and women’s rights before her death near the end of the 19th century.

CLASSROOM IN THE THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

Working tirelessly in several organizations and institutions, by the fall of 1888, a persistent cough curtailed Smith’s activities. She rejected all the advice from friends and associates who insisted she take a break and rest. Several doctors began to attend to her but were unable to find the source of her illness. She gradually began to accept that she was incurable and requested that Simmons preach at her funeral. Her condition was diagnosed as terminal and she finally consented to her mother’s suggestion that she spend her final days in Lexington.

During her productive life, Smith held a number of significant memberships in organizations and journals, most notably the Afro-American Press Convention. Consistent with many facts about her life, there is no agreement about the year of her death, which has been cited as 1889 or 1891, nor is there any further indication of what she did in those later years. Not much was probably available anyway, since she was still a very young woman—probably only in her late 20s—when she died.

Feb. 26, 1928: Antoine Dominique “Fats” Domino born in New Orleans. He died in 2017.

Feb. 26, 1971: Vocalist Erykah Badu (Erica Abi Wright) born in South Dallas, Texas.

Feb. 27, 1902: Opera singer Marian Anderson born in Philadelphia. She died in 1993.

Lucy Wilmot Smith

Restoration Plaza

proach—to harness Brooklyn’s economic growth to support wealth creation for our neighbors, particularly longtime residents and people of color. We look forward to working with local elected leaders and the residents we’ve proudly served for generations to realize this critical vision.”

In 1967, after the Democrats, with Sen. Robert Kennedy, and the Republicans, with Sen. Jacob Javits, acquired the land under special conditions with government help, along with banks and corporations, they formed a board. They got some Black community folk involved, and after political and socio-economic to-ing and fro-ing, they planned to establish Restoration. Expectations were that the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation would become the “nation’s first community development corporation.”

Restoration Plaza was built to “serve as a catalytic engine for economic and cultural change in a neighborhood plagued by divestment. But the needs it was built to address—including delivering basic infrastructure—have changed dramatically as Central Brooklyn has become a national epicenter of gentrification.”

Last month, developers revealed sketches and plans to reimagine the Fulton Street/ Harriet Ross Tubman Avenue block as home to the “Restoration Innovation Campus, a global hub dedicated to closing Brooklyn’s racial wealth gap.”

Selected to bring the plan to fruition is architect Sir David Adjaye, designer of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. His mission is to incorporate the Restoration’s mission and resident feedback “gathered in a community visioning process in 2019. There, they announced four top priorities emerged: (1) increasing the visibility of the arts programs; (2) expanding job and educational opportunities; (3) improving the open space; and (4) bringing in mission-aligned retail.”

“The design of Innovation Campus taps into Bed-Stuy’s vibrant culture to create a place-based model to disrupt the racial wealth gap,” said Adjaye. “Based on extensive community engagement sessions, the design scheme prioritizes the public realm and ensures dedicated space for collaboration between mission aligned partners. We look forward to seeing the campus become a reality and model for others as Restoration moves the transformative plan forward.”

Restoration has always been so much more than a community meeting space. It has provided resources and exposure for art, entertainment, free tax preparation, education, grassroots rallies, and offices for assembly and City Council members. For five decades, thousands upon thousands of Bed Stuy residents and others have regularly used this site for a variety of resources.

Generations of family members know Restoration as the heartbeat of the com -

munity: from the old Pathmark to great annual residential events, from art at the Skylight Gallery to mega stars and upand-coming actors and poets, dancers, and singers at the Billie Holiday Theater. Money matters are handled at Carver, Citi, and Chase banks; hundreds learn about life and lessons at Mama Fela Barcliff’s Little Sun People school and New Rochelle college; community news is reported from the Daily Challenge newspaper; bills were paid at the always-busy old Con Ed offices; and the Avenue women’s clothing store closed after the last renovation in 2011. Now Moshood Creations draws a whole other culturally focused fashion conscious clientele. There have been Restoration Rocks with musical greats like Big Daddy Kane and Les Nubians; hundreds of soul, reggae, and hip hop shows; R&B, Under Da Tent Caribbean music and comedy.

Restoration is attempting to allay any fears that longtime residents are not intended to be the beneficiaries of all this new development. They said in a statement, “Innovation Campus is Restoration’s direct response to America’s ever-growing racial wealth gap, a national crisis for cities across the country. Black households in the U.S. have a median net worth of $24,000 compared to $188,000 for white households. In Brooklyn alone, the racial wealth gap is between $40 and $50 billion—and widening amid a pandemic that was devastating to Black and brown businesses and neighborhoods.”

According to Restoration, they serve more than 60,000 people annually “as an advocate, coalition-builder, and direct service provider with a focus on the predominantly Black, brown, and low-income communities of Central Brooklyn.”

Meanwhile, Bed Stuy residents first heard rumblings of change about 10 to15 years ago, when the neighborhood saw a significant and dramatic change, new stores and produce, new infrastructure, new schools, new condominiums—a new wave of people. New rents. Increased house prices.

Bed Stuy has changed a lot in the last two decades. With gentrification an obvious reality, residents have witnessed a marked change with the influx of a white demographic in the traditionally Black neighborhood. Some Brooklyn observers said they fear that this change to Restoration will be a clarion call for the strip going the way of Harlem’s 125th Street and the surrounding Uptown neighborhood.

“Despite Brooklyn’s exponential growth over the past 20 years, longtime residents and people of color have largely been excluded from the borough’s economic success,” said the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. “Restoration’s mission is to relentlessly pursue strategies to close gaps in family and community wealth to ensure all families in Central Brooklyn

are prosperous and healthy.”

“There is no better place to begin disrupting the racial wealth than Central Brooklyn,” said Colvin Grannum, senior advisor and longtime former president of Restoration. “While Bed Stuy has long served as one of the cradles of African American culture, it is also a testament to the systemic obstacles Black Americans face nationwide. With Innovation Campus, we’re shining a spotlight on the rising racial wealth gap, and offering a replicable, self-funding model for Black communities across the country to close the gap and build wealth locally.”

But the reality is, with the tearing down and rebuilding of half-a-century old buildings will probably mean at least five years of commotion and chaos.

Most residents and business people who spoke with the Amsterdam News seemed lukewarm to the idea of demolishing of an entire city block, but do not dislike the idea of a new cultural art museum and two 13story commercial, educational, tech, busi-

ness, and not-for-profit towers.

One such resident told the paper, “Absolutely it is going to be an eyesore, but you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs. Redevelopment is always problematic in NYC. [We] are hoping the end result will be worth all the displacement and inconvenience.”

There have been public conversations and hearings. The land is reportedly to be leased to the developers by the Restoration Corporation. Barring an outcry, this change is scheduled to be definite.

“Why don’t they just landmark the building?” a local resident and Amsterdam News reader offered. “It is still not a done deal, depending upon the outcry of elected officials, backed by the community.”

The Amsterdam News reached out to Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman, State Senator Jabari Brisport, and City Councilmember Chi Osse for comment about the reconstruction, but did not hear back by press time.

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Bedford Academy’s student activists in the making

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

Bedford Academy is a small, stand alone public school that caters to primarily Black and brown students in Brooklyn and shares its campus with the YMCA next door. The school fosters bright young minds and has a nearly 100% graduation rate. Its students are dedicated, forward thinkers that aren’t afraid to get a little political.

“This is what we like to call educational Wakanda,” said Principal Dr. Adofo A. Muhammad, “and the students have done exceedingly well.”

The school was founded in 2003 and serves less than 400 students.

The school’s founders, Dr. Lester Young Jr. and the late elected official Al Vann, designed the school

to be a safe and equitable alternative to specialized high schools for minorities. The school specializes in career and college readiness, math and science, and has partnered with Syracuse University, Long Island University, Medgars Evers College, Monroe College, St. Joseph’s College and SUNY Albany to provide dual credit programs for students.

When two 10th grade students, Haneen Abouelker, 15, and Tiffany Sadiq, 15, on the student leadership team (SLT) heard in January that the school could possibly be relocated they sprang into action, circulating a paper petition on every floor of the school. The petition quickly was filled with signatures from students and teachers both past and present, about 900, stating that they were also against the move.

“Being in this school as a stand-

alone, I’m able to go around the whole building, everybody knows everybody, you can communicate with teachers that aren’t yours. It’s a safe space,” said Abouelker, who first launched the petition.

Abouelker was excited about the response from students, staff, and even parents to her petition. She appreciates that her school supports democracy and free thinking. “We’re able to spread news and communicate with students. The ability to show yourself and ideas is something that some schools don’t favor,” said Abouelker. “This school makes us question things.”

The DOE has since said that there is absolutely no plan or official proposal to move the school to another location or to a colocated location with other high schools in one building. There was only an initial conversation that was had with the SLT to see how people would feel about relocation, said the DOE.

Sadiq has aspirations to be in the nursing or biomedical field while Abouelker is less sure, but both were passionate about attending Bedford Academy and preserving its legacy of inclusion and high academic standards.

“I think, especially being an African American girl, I’ve gone to a lot of schools and a lot that are predominantly Black tend to have this defeatist attitude to it,” said Sadiq. “What makes Bedford Academy amazing is that it’s

a predominantly Black school and it really empowers the students to break that stigma and go beyond.”

The students said that any relocation of the school could affect their already long commutes, interrupt their learning environment and graduation rates, and have public safety consequences later down the road. “The students really don’t want to relocate,” said Abouelker.

Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman confirmed that there’s only been preliminary conversations about the space, possibly going to a larger stand alone space, and no official plans to move the school.

“The issue remains that Bedford Academy has its own culture and they’ve built a strong relationship with the Bedford Y,” said Zinerman. “I am not in support of them going into a building where they

Will student debt finally be forgiven?

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

When President Joe Biden announced his student debt relief plan, most people leapt for joy. But despite millions of borrowers qualifying to have some or all loans wiped out, the implementation of the program has been tied up in litigation. This Tuesday, the fight went all the way to the Supreme Court.

The justices have scheduled hours of arguments, but it is likely to be months before borrowers learn the outcome of the case. Generally speaking, decisions are handed out by the end of June.

Biden first went public with the plan last August. At least 43 million borrowers are eligible for some debt forgiveness, with 20 million who could have their debt erased entirely, reported the Associated Press (AP). The Congressional Budget Office has said the program will cost about $400 billion over the next three decades.

Almost immediately, six Republican-led states and two students filed a lawsuit.

A lower court dismissed the lawsuit involving Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina. But a panel of three federal appeals court judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit—all of them appoint-

ed by Republican presidents— put the program on hold during an appeal, said the AP.

The question then became whether the Biden administration had the authority from Congress to implement the program. Biden used the extended Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act (HEROES), originally enacted after the 9/11 terror attack, to allow the secretary of education to waive or modify the terms of federal student loans as necessary in connection with a national emergency. The COVID19 pandemic became a national emergency in March 2020 under former President Donald Trump, said the AP.

The AP reported that Biden said the end to the national emergency doesn’t change the legal argument for student loan debt cancellation because the pandemic affected millions of student borrowers who might have fallen behind on their loans during the emergency. He’s facing Republican-appointed judges outnumbering Democratic judges on the Supreme Court, 6–3.

Biden announced another nationwide pause on student loans in the meantime, leaving millions of Black borrowers anxiously awaiting the court’s decision.

Queens resident Madeline Mensah, 34, an example of someone affected by student loan. She is a clinical social worker who

would be collocated with other programs. That school works because they are self contained.”

A representative for the Bedford Avenue YMCA, which owns the Bedford Academy property, said that they have a great partnership with the school and have no current desire or plan to relocate the school either.

In the event of any move, Muhammad said that the school would be open to it as long as it’s not a colocated space.

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

graduated from SUNY Buffalo and went on to get her master’s from Fordham University in 2020. Her annual salary is about $65,000. She believes that she has well over $100,000 in student loan debt, but hasn’t paid off all of her undergrad or private student loans, either. She’s worried about paying bills, maintaining her credit, and will probably have to defer her loans once the pause comes off.

“I feel like with Republicans, they want you to continue to struggle here in America like the whole point is the struggle,” said Mensah. “I’ll drown and I think people know that everybody

See DEBT continued on next page

Budding student activists with Bedford Academy circulate petition. (Ariama C. Long photos)

will drown.”

Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, 55, is the advocacy director for Alliance For Quality Education. Although she has already paid off her own student loans, she does have eight children, seven of whom would be potentially affected by the court’s decision.

“My daughters are looking for this to be a thing that comes to fruition so they can be free of debt and actually turn that money to investing in the ones that have children,” said Shaakir-Ansari.

Over the years, Shaakir-Ansari said, she has co-signed and assisted her children where she can in financing school. As soon as the announcement for the loan forgiveness program was made, they assisted each other in applying. She said her younger children have fewer loans than the older ones because her family was not as financially stable before now.

Many in the country are upset about the program and have not acknowledged how racialized the issue has become, she said.

“I learned very early on how much politics is in education,

period,” said Shaakir-Ansari. “The difference now is that Trump really brought out the beast and reignited the racist phobias, opened up people to say whatever they want, and the right-wing MAGA folks that have infiltrated. The thing that we’ve been missing and what’s taken a back seat is our humanity.”

Shaakir-Ansari said the loan forgiveness plan essentially symbolizes a “handout” for ethnic and racial groups that fall into the category of “other” across the country for those who oppose it, even though the program will

benefit countless low-income groups regardless of race. Canceling the forgiveness program will only further the vicious cycle of inequities in the country and hinder people’s ability to have upward mobility, she said.

“I hope that the Supreme Court will uphold this and allow this to be a thing, because it will be good for the country and help people who have been chasing this school debt tail for decades and don’t see a way out—my children being some,” said Shaakir-Ansari.

Whether or not the debt gets canceled, the case’s resolution

will bring changes. While federal student loan payments are currently paused, that will end 60 days after the case is resolved. If the case hasn’t been resolved by June 30, payments will start 60 days after that, said AP.

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.

Religion & Spirituality

The crowning event of Black History Month: ‘Saviours’ Day 2023’

By DALEEL JABIR MUHAMMAD Special to AmNews

Saviours’ Day is an annual Nation of Islam commemoration of the birth of Master Fard Muhammad, the Great Mahdi of the Muslims, and the messiah of the Christians, who appeared in North America on July 4, 1930, and declared that the 400 years of bondage Blacks served in America had ended.

His coming and declaration fulfill many scriptures; however, perhaps most notable is the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham that his descendants would endure bondage in a strange land, among a strange people—before God Himself would deliver Abraham’s seed and judge the nation they served. Master Fard Muhammad was born on February 26, 1877, in the Holy City of Mecca.

He raised and taught the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, who dedicated over 40 years of his life to the resurrection of the mentally, morally, spiritually, and economically dead so-called American Negro. Each year he would convene Saviour’s Day and deliver a major address and expound on the Divine Wisdom given to Him by Master Fard Muhammad.

After the 1975 departure of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, in September of 1977, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan decided to rebuild the work of his Father, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and reestablish the Nation of Islam. Under Minister Farrakhan’s leadership, Saviour’s Day returned in 1981 in Chicago. In 1983, Minister Farrakhan changed the spelling of the commemoration from Saviour’s Day, as it had been, to the plural Saviours’ Day.

This year’s convention was held in the city of the Nation of Islam’s headquarters from Feb. 24-26 at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois, and was livestreamed throughout the United States, Africa, the United Kingdom, and the Caribbean. This was the first full in-person Saviours’ Day gathering since 2020 due to the pandemic. This year’s theme for the conven-

tion was from the book of Ephesians in the Bible which states in part: “Put on the Whole Armor of God.”

Thousands filled the McCormick convention center over the weekend for the plenary sessions, talent showcase, social entertainment, chess tournament, children’s activities, martial arts training, and the much anticipated return of the drill competition. On Sunday, Feb. 26, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan delivered the keynote address at the Wintrust Arena, where over 10,000 were filled with

guests, believers, families, Muslims, Christians, Hebrews, and other faiths and denominations, from a myriad of races. His message of “The War of Armageddon has begun” was one of warning, love, salvation, and truth.

“Truth is the most necessary ingredient for our salvation,” the minister proclaimed to the packed audience. His sermon included biblical and scriptural messages from the Bible and Holy Quran on following the right path and not the path of Satan. “Use your strength, whatever truth you know.

Tell it! Say it! And put your trust in God.”

The soon-to-be-90-year-old minister encouraged everyone to release the grip of Satan on their lives. Farrakhan addressed claims of antisemitism back in 1983 after he supported Jesse Jackson in his run for president. “God was with my tongue. God was with my mouth, and I stood with the spirit for Reverend Jackson’s run,” he said.

A list was read of prominent religious and political leaders along with Pan-Africanists, scholars, and national organizations who were once labeled antisemitic because of the positions they took on freedom, justice, equality, and fair dealing, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), The Nation of Islam, Rev. Billy Graham, Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, William Tatum, Marcus Garvey, John Henrik Clarke, James Baldwin, Rosa Parks, Jimmy Carter, Booker T. Washington, Malcolm X, Jay Z, Kanye West, Kyrie Irving, and many others.

At the head of the antisemitism battle cry are the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, groups that have conducted activities to diminish Black power and unity. These organizations label people who criticize Jewish behavior as antisemitic without proof, the minister said. They have power over the media and other avenues that shape the human mind and just the charge of antisemitism brings public condemnation and isolation.

Labeled by these groups as the world’s top antisemites, the minister said when somebody has lied so well when the truth comes and a man is born to tell that truth, the deceiver must hide that man.

“I have never been an antisemite. If I had them in front of me, they could not prove their charge,” he said. “They don’t want you to hear what I have to say.” Farrakhan is considered the last man standing for the cause of truth and liberation for all people. Saviours’ Day, the crowning event of Black History Month, was an enlightened event that was open to the public and viewed worldwide.

(Courtesy of Facebook)

Continued from page 2

TUNISIAN LEADER IN HOT WATER OVER RACIALIZED CLAIM ABOUT BLACKS (GIN)

- Tunisian President Kais

Saied sparked controversy this week when he complained that sub-Saharan migrants arriving in Tunisia were changing the complexion of the North African country from “Arab” to Black.

Saied said that “the undeclared goal of the successive waves of illegal immigration is to consider Tunisia a purely African country that has no affiliation to the Arab and Islamic nations.”

Saied added there was a need to “put an end to this phenomenon quickly, especially as the uncon-

Nigeria election

Continued from page 2

allocation and not collation.”

“I appeal to my fellow contestants to let us team together,” said ‘Jagaban’ Tinubu during his acceptance speech on Wednesday. “It is the only nation we have. It is one country that we must build together.”

As Obi and Atiku supporters slam the result as a sham, Tinubu, who had long determined he was running for president because “Emi lokan” (“It’s my turn” in Yoruba), expressed to Nigerians that he is ready to accept this “serious mandate…to serve you…to work with you and make Nigeria great.”

INEC stated out of Nigeria’s 36 states, Tinubu won 12, including Rivers, Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, and Zamfara; while Atiku won Adamawa, Kaduna, Bayelsa, Taraba, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Katsina, Sokoto, Yobe, Kebbi, and Bauchi; and Obi won in Edo, Cross River, Delta, Lagos, FCT, Imo, Ebonyi, Plateau, Anambra, Abia, Enugu and Nasarawa.

New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) candidate Rabbiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiya (Red Cap Revolution) won Kano State.

Dismissing demands for him to resign, INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu announced instead that on March 1, the Certificate of Return for the President and Vice President would be presented to Tinubu and his vice president, Kashim Shettima, at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, the capital. The INEC determined, “There are laid down procedures for aggrieved parties or candidates to follow when they are dissatisfied about the outcome of an election.”

Self-declared “One hundred Peter

trolled immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa continue with violence [and] unacceptable crimes.” He said earlier this week that “urgent measures” were needed to address the entry of irregular immigrants from sub-Saharan countries, “with their lot of violence, crimes[,] and unacceptable practices.”

In recent years, Tunisia has been a key transit hub for people from other African countries crossing the Mediterranean to enter Europe. Tunisia is a founding member of the African Union, which has summoned the leading Tunisian diplomat in Addis Ababa over the issue.

The remark prompted the African Union to issue a strongly worded statement criticizing “racialized comments” made by Tunisia’s leader berating African migrants. They called

Obi supporter” Richard Iyasere told the Amsterdam News that any announcement which did not determine Obi to be the actual winner would be an issue for millions of voters and his supporters.

Decrying fraudulent shenanigans at the polls, and INEC’s refusal to ensure the uploading of the election results onto the server as promised, the Bronx-based activist said, “There is enough evidence that this election was not conducted in a free and fair way. The legal machine is already in place to go to court and not to accept the result.”

Iyasere slammed the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which was supposed to securely upload the nation’s votes.

The community organizer added, “Nigeria is a complicated country. After the election we had some challenges with the electronic system. We thought we would rescue the result, yet INEC has failed to deliver a free and fair election.

“I will mobilize my own team and the protests will start by Thursday.”

He added cautiously, “This shouldn’t be a second End Sars situation. We are talking to the youth. We want them to protest peacefully.

“What was a good thing though was our youth standing up for their vote. They demanded a credible actual result at the polling units to be announced with no manipulation.”

“There is sadness and frustration in the country,” said former Amsterdam News reporter Ikenna Ellis Ezenekwe, an Abuja-based activist and publisher of 247ureports.com.

“Nigeria conducted its largest election in history, and it was criminally hijacked by a political gang that controls the levels of power. The people of Nigeria were robbed on February 25, 2023 of their mandate forcefully in the most brutal and bloody form ever witnessed in

his comments “hate speech.”

“The chairperson of the African Union Commission H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemns the shocking statement issued by Tunisian authorities targeting fellow Africans, which go against the letter and spirit of our Organization and founding principles,” said his spokesperson in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters in Tunisia’s capital also protested the president’s remark, taking to the streets to denounce racism and express solidarity toward migrants.

Shouting “No to racism,” “Solidarity with migrants,” and “No to police crackdown,” protestors marched through central Tunis as part of a demonstration staged by Tunisia’s journalists, unions, and several nongovernmental organizations.

the 24 years of Nigerian democracy [after military rule]. The Independent National Electoral Commission in cahoots with the ruling political party rigged the presidential election in a manner never witnessed in the history of Africa. It was not done in hiding. It was broad daylight.

It was brutal and bloody.

“The few patriotic staff of the electoral empire who refused to go along with the rigging were attacked. They totally falsified the election results. Many of the voters were chased away using thugs and Nigerian security officers. It was a charade.”

Ezenekwe is outraged. “This action by the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress, may result in the return of the military. The youths are angry, and are readying to hit the streets massively across the regions of the country in protest against the nature of the election.”

Lookman Mashood is the owner of Buka, a Nigerian restaurant with locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and told the Amsterdam News, “We know many people wanted Obi to win. But Tinubu won. Obi supporters are going to wait another four years. The Obi outing has been amazing. Congratulations Nigeria, in this great man we have an opportunity for a better to morrow. May God give him great health.

Congratula tions to Peter Obi. He put up a great fight, and of course Alhaji Atiku. May peace reign in our wonder ful country.”

Several social media users likened Saied’s comment to the notion of “the great replacement,” a conspiracy theory that white people in Europe are being usurped by foreigners, mainly from Africa and the Middle East.

“Kais Saied is repeating racist replacement-type theories that many Tunisians have been saying for a long time,” said Shreya Parikh, a researcher on Black and Arab identity.

After Saied’s remarks, Romdhane Ben Amor, spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights, deplored an increasing number of racist assaults against sub-Saharan migrants.

“We noted attempts to drive some migrants out of their homes,” he told the Associated Press. “Others are being prevented from taking

public transportation.”

A statement by the African Union reminded countries, especially its member states, “to honor their obligations under international law and relevant instruments to treat all migrants with dignity, wherever they come from; refrain from racialized hate speech that could bring people to harm; and prioritize their safety and human rights.”

(GIN photo)

Black history

Continued from page 12

tically, even when that history is unpleasant. We owe it to the people who got us to this point to portray their lives and their lessons correctly. When we deny any student the truth, we hinder their ability to grow into empathetic adults who will continue driving society forward. We are shooting ourselves in both feet if we think society can progress without an honest view of history as a guiding light. For people who want to ban Black history, denialism and regression are the whole point.

Those who oppose Black history are destined to fail

Labeling a topic as “controversial” won’t make it go away, nor will removing it from school curricula, especially in a day and age when kids can access virtually unlimited information with a swipe of their fingers. We will fight back against

the banning of Black history, just as we’ve done every time our lived experiences have been disregarded and called “controversial” or worse. And we will win, because the truth cannot be silenced. Black history is at the heart of America’s origins, how it has endured, and how it will survive future challenges. Instead of trying to ban it, the people who consider it so controversial should try actually reading it. They might learn something.

Svante Myrick is president of People For the American Way. Previously, he served as executive director of People For and led campaigns focused on transforming public safety, racial equity, voting rights, and empowering young elected officials. Myrick garnered national attention as the youngest-ever mayor in New York State history.

Robert Davis Jefferson, formerly of Mount Vernon, NY, passed away on February 13, 2023 in his nursing home in Yonkers, NY. He was the younger son born to the late George Jefferson and Milbert Davis Jefferson of Harlem, NY. He is survived by his daughter Dawn (Marquita); his brother, George, Jr. and nephew, Chad Ayers. A graduate of Brooklyn Tech, University of Wyoming, and Pratt Institute, Bob worked for I.M. Pei & Partners and Lewis, Turner Partnership as an Associate Architect on the Jacob Javits Convention Center, and the NYC School Construction Authority as Director of Design Review.

On Saturday, March 4th, a memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at Hope UCC in Alexandria, VA.

RobeRt Davis JeffeRson

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SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff, -aga in st- FOLAYEMI ANIFOWOSHE, if living, and if they be dead, an y and all persons unknown to Plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or generally or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown perso ns being herein generally described and intended to be in cluded in the fo llowing desig nation, namely: the wife, widow, hu sband, widower, heirs-at-law, next of kin, de scendants, executors, administrators, devisee s, legatee s, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assig nees of such de ceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, th rough or u nder them, or either of them, and their respective wives, wido ws, husbands, widowers, heirs-at-law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, le gatees, cred itors, trustees, committees, lienors and a ssigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to Plaintiff, Defendants. INDEX NO.: 850029/2020 FILED: February 16, 2023

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to an swer the comp laint in this action, and to serve a copy of yo ur answer, or, if t he complaint is not served with th is summons, to serve a no tice of appearance on the Plaintiff's attorney with in 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service or within 30 days after comp letion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal delivery with in the State. In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by de fault for the relief demanded in the complaint.

TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: The foregoing Summons is served upon you by p ublication pursuant an Order of the Hon. FRANCIS A. KAHN, III, a Justice of the Supreme Court, New Yo rk County, dated January 24, 2023 and entered January 31, 2023

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Timeshare Mortgage in the amount of $28,125.00, recorded in New York County Clerk's Office on August 14, 2014, in CRFN: 2014000 27 1605 of Mo rtgages covering the 5,000/28,402,100 undivided tenant in common in terest in the Timeshare Unit ident ified as HNY CLUB SUITES Phase I which comprise s a portion of the NYH Cond ominiu m at th e premises also referred to as the New York Hilton, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 1 0019-6012

The relief sought in the within action is a fina l Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale directing the sa le of the 5,000/28,402,100 undivided tenant in common interest in th e Cond ominium Unit known as the Timeshare Unit identified as HNY CLUB SUITES Phase I which comprises a portion of the NYH Condominium at the premises also referred to as the New York Hilton, described a bove to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage. New York County is desig nated as the place of trial on th e basis of the fact that the real property affected by this action is located wholly within said County.

Dated: Westbury, New York October 28, 2022 Maria Sideris, Esq. DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorneys for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue Westbury, NY 1 1590 (516) 87 6-0800 WE AR E ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAIN ED WILL BE U SED FOR TH AT PURPOSE.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK

INTERAUDI BANK, Plaintiff, -against- SOHO 1602 OWNER LLC, BOARD OF MANAGERS OF TRUMP SOHO HOTEL CONDOMINIUM NEW YORK, TRUMP INTERNATIONAL HOTELS MANAGEMENT LLC, NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, and JOHN DOE NOS. 1-5, Defendants. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated September 6, 2022 and entered on September 9, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at pu blic auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on March 29th, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. the following premises identified as Block: 491 and Lot: 1276, located in the premises identified as Block 491 Lot: 36 and Block: 491 Lot: 34, situ ate, lying and being in the Borough of Ma nha ttan, City, County of New York, known as Unit No 1602 in the condomin ium kn own as "Spring Street Condominium f/k/a Trump SoHo Hotel Condominium" toge ther with an undivided 0.1315% interest in the common elements, said premises, Block: 491 and Lot: 1276, to be sold in one parcel. All bidd ers must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction. Sa id premises known as 246 SPRING STREET, UNIT 1602, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien is $376,915.68 plus atto rney's fees of $18,287.45, interest and co sts. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment an d Terms of Sale Index No. 850039/20 22

ALLISON FURMAN, ESQ., Referee

Dona ld Pearce Attorney for Plaintiff 260 Madison Avenue, 17 th Floor New York, NY 10016 (212) 221-8733

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. TALEB AVWEROSUO TEBITE, Defts. - Index #850058/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 28, 2021, I will se ll at public auction Outside th e Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Wednesday, Ma rch 8, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00986400000% common interest in the vacation owne rship interest timeshare known as 57TH STREET VACATION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $49,905.98 plus costs and in terest as of January 28, 2022. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment an d Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Elaine Shay, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sa nchez, Gaston , & Zimet LLP, Attys. fo r Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingd ale, NY

Notice of Qualification of ARHC SPALBNY01, LLC

Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/12/23. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/12/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upo n whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corp oration Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543 DE ad dr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form file d with Secy of State, 40 1 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Own, rent, lease and ma nage commercial real estate

Notice of Qualification of ASTON 41C LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/14/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 08/19/22. Princ. office of LLC: Ira Z. Kevelson, 410 Central Park West, #3A, NY, NY 10025. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Irina Stanovitch, 7 Berkley Pl., Colts Neck, NJ 07722. NJ addr of LLC: 7 Berkle y Pl., Colts Neck, NJ 07722. Cert of Form filed with Acting State Treasurer, 33 W. State St., Fifth Fl., Trenton, NJ 08646. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of energyRe Services, LLC

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. BRIAN JOHNSON, CARRIE JOHNSON, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE, NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU, NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU, NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD, Defts. - Index #850117 /2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated August 18, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.0450946335738578% common interest in the vacation ownership interest timeshare known as Phase II of HNY CLUB SUITES lo cated at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judg ment is $36,010.01 plus costs and interest as of Janu ary 17, 2022. Sold subject to te rms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual mainten ance fees an d charges Elaine Shay, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanche z, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. AILEEN E. WARREN, ROBERT W. WARREN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF 57TH STREET VACATION OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Defts - Inde x #850181 /2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated Nove mber 21, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Wednesday, Ma rch 15 , 2023, at 2:15 pm, a fractional interest of 0.009864 00000% in the time share known as 57th Street Vacation Suites located at 102 We st 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $20,07 9.37 plus costs and interest as of January 17, 202 2. Sold subject to terms and cond itions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Jerr y Merola, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingd ale, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. RACQUEL JULIA STONE, DAVID CARMICHAEL STONE, Defts. - Index #850043/2019 Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sa le dated March 22, 2022, I will se ll at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY Coun ty Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 7,000 /16,783,800 common in terest in the vacation ownership in terest timeshare known as Phase II of HNY CLUB SUITES loca ted at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the Coun ty of NY, State of NY Approximate amount of judgment is $55 ,433.29 plus costs and interest as of January 23, 2020. Sold subject to terms and condition s of filed Ju dg ment and Terms of Sale which includes annua l ma intenance fees and charges. Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitche ll, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingd ale, NY

Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/04/22. Princ. o ffice of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corp oratio n Service Co (CSC), 80 State St., Alban y, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with DE Secy of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 40 1 Federal St - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19 901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice is hereby give n that a license, serial #13587 19 for beer & wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer & wine at retail in a restaurant unde r the ABC Law at 80 Nassau St., NYC 10038 for on -premise s consumption; Me Kong 88 Inc.

Adalys Trains LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 1/10/2023. Office: NY County SSNY ha s been de signated as agent of the LLC upo n whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to : 530 East 88th St., #1B, New York, NY, 10128

Purpose: any lawful act.

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. STANLEY WILLIAMS, JULIA F. WILLIAMS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE HNY CLUB SUITES OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC., NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU, Deft. - Inde x #850135/2021 Pursua nt to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale da ted June 14, 2022, I will sell at pu blic au ction Outside the Portico of th e NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on We dnesday, March 15, 2023, at 2:15 pm, a fractiona l interest of 5,000/28,402,100 in the timeshare known as HNY Club Suites located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY Approx imate amount of judgment is $6,700.96 plus costs and interest as of August 26, 2021. So ld subject to terms and condition s of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges Hayley Greenberg, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitche ll, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. DANIEL NYAMEKYE-AMOATENG, Defts - Index #850178/2020. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated March 22, 2022, I will se ll at public au ction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Wed., March 8, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0450946335738578% common interest in the vacation ownership interest timeshare known as Phase II of HNY CLUB SUITES located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in th e County of NY, State of NY Approx imate amount of judgment is $62,766.50 plus co sts and interest as of August 4, 2021. Sold subject to terms and cond itions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which in cludes annual mainten ance fees and charges Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Stree t, Farmingdale, NY

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

CAPITAL ONE, N.A., Plaintiff -against- MAJESTIC HOLDINGS (USA) LLC, THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF CIPRIANI CLUB HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION A/K/A THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF CIPRIANI RESIDENCE AT 55 WALL CONDOMINIUM, Defendant(s). Pu rsuant to a ju dgment of foreclosure and sale dated October 7, 2022 a nd entered on October 7, 20 22, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at pub lic au ction on the portico of th e New York Coun ty Courthouse located at 60 Centre Stree t, New York, NY on Ma rch 29, 2023 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, bounded and described as 55 Wall Street, Unit 714 , New York, New York being the same property conveyed by 55 Wall Associates LLC to Majestic Hold ings (USA), LLC and recorded on 11 -24-2006 under CRFN 20060 00 651956

All Bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all time s and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or th e social distancing mandat e will be removed from the auction. Said premises known as 55 WALL STREET, NEW YORK, NY Approximate amount of lien $960,250.96 plus interest and costs

Premises will be so ld subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale

Index Number 850024/2015

JOSEPH BUONO, ESQ., Refe ree

MENASHE AND LAPA LLP, ATTORNEY(S) FOR PLAINTIFF

400 RELLA BLVD., SUITE 19 0, SUFFERN, NY 10901

DATED: February 16, 2 023

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT NEW YORK COUNTY

U.S. BANK NA, SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE TO BANK OF AMERICA, NA, SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO LASALLE BANK N.A. AS TRUSTEE, ON BEHALF OF THE HOLDERS OF THE WAMU MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-HY6, Plaintiff against BRENDA GALLANT, et al Defendant(s)

Attorney for Plaintiff(s) Fein, Su ch & Crane, LLP, 28 East Main Street Suite 1800, Rochester, NY 14614.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered October 19, 2021, I will sell at public auction to the highe st bidder at the Portico of the New York Coun ty Courthouse, 60 Centre St, New York, NY 10007 on March 15, 2023 at 2:15 PM. Premises known as 40 Sutton Place, Unit 2D, New York, NY 10022, 40 Sutton Place, Unit 2E, New York, NY 10022 and 40 Sutton Place, Unit 2F, New York, NY 10022. Block 1370 Lot 1005 and Block 1370 Lo t 1007 and Block 1370 Lot 1006. All the certain lo t, piece or parce l of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York. Approximate Amount of Judg ment is $1,785,016.43 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index No 850284/2017.

The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District's Covid 19 Policies and foreclosure auction rules. The Referee sh all enforce any rules in place regarding facial co verings and so cial distancing. Referee will only accept a certified ba nk check made payable to the referee.

Thomas Kleinberger, Esq., Referee SPSJC179

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. GARY D. LOWER, JESSICA M. LOWER, Defts.- Index #850259/20 21 Pu rsuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale da ted December 22, 2022, I will se ll at public au ction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Monday, March 20, 2023, at 2:15 pm, a 0.00986400000% tenant in common interest in the timeshare kn own as 57th Street Va cation Suites located at 102 W. 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY Approximate amount of judgment is $14,673.01 plus costs and inte rest as of May 17, 2022. Sold subject to terms and condition s of filed Judgmen t and Terms of Sale which includes annual ma intenance fees and charges Hayley Greenberg, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitche ll, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingda le, NY

CRYSTAL UP! LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 12/02/2022. Office loca tion: One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231, New York County. SSNY has be en designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Mary Ternovsky, 422 E. 72nd St., Apt 37C, NY, NY, 10027. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of CSA PRESERVATION MM LLC

Arts of Org. file d with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/11/23. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty Prin c. office of LLC: 116 E. 27th St., 11th 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., 80 State St., Alban y, NY 12207. Purpose: Real estate - Development

Notice of Qualification of ELYSIAN COMMUNICATIONS LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/14/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 10/03/12. Prin c. office of LLC: 255 W. 94th St., Apt. 11-U, NY, NY 10025. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Kristina B. DiPalo at the princ. office of the LLC Cert of Form. filed with State Treasurer, Dept of the Treasury, PO Box 002, Trenton , NJ 0862 5-0002 Purpose: Any lawful activity

Good Kid En tertainment LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 10/12/2022. Office Loc: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail to: Omar Diongue, 233 West 111th St., Apt. 3C, NY, NY 10026 Purpo se: Any lawful activity

Guangstar LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 1/17/2023. Office loca tion: NY County. SSNY has been de signated as agent of th e LLC upo n whom process against it may be served and shall mail to: 307 W. 111th St., Apt. 2R, NY, NY, 10026. Purpo se: any lawful activity

HOVDEN LAW LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 1/23/2023. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail to: Hovden Law, 250 West 15th St., Suite 6B, New York, NY 10011. Purpo se: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of ATLANTIC AVENUE GP LLC

Arts of Org. file d with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/23. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty Prin c. office of LLC: 7 Penn Plaza, Ste. 600, NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr of its princ. office Purpose: Any lawful activity

Built Ahead LLC filed Articles of Organization with the NYS Depa rtment of State (SSNY) on 12/15/2022. Office location: New York County.

KLM Advisory, LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 1/15/2023. Office loca tion: NY County. SSNY has been de signated as agent of th e LLC upo n whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: KLM Advisory, LLC, 64 East 94th St., #6F, NY, NY, 10128. Purpo se: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of THE DIGGING CREW LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/27/23. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty SSNY de signated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Sam Karp, 279 Crown St., New Haven, CT 06511. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice is hereby give n that a license, serial #13585 73 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by th e undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a catering establishment under the ABC Law at 148 E. 40th St., NYC 10016 for on -premise s consumption; Maison Rouge NYC LLC

Notice of Formation of DD ATLANTIC AVENUE LLC

Arts of Org. file d with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/23. Office lo cation: NY

Coun ty Prin c. office of LLC: 7 Penn Plaza, Ste. 600, NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Corporation at the princ. office of the LLC Purpo se: Any lawful activity

Formation of CARNUTE LLC filed with th e Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/1/2022. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY de signated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The registered agent and address SSNY shall mail process to Corporate Service Bureau Inc., 283 Wash ington Ave., Albany, NY 12206. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of JLT HOLDINGS, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/06/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Virginia (VA) on 01/29 /19. NYS fictitious name: JLT HOLDINGS 197 1 LLC SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. VA addr of LLC: 13511 Split Creek Dr., Chester, VA 23831. Cert of Form. filed with State Corp Commission, 1300 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219-3630. Purpose: Any lawful activity

SSNY designated as agent of the Company upon whom process against it may be served, and a copy of any process shall be mailed to 7 Le xington Ave., Apt. 4B, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: any la wful business.

CHRISTIAN G CAROLLO MANAGEMENT, LLC filed Arts of Org. with th e Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/6/2023. Office: NY County.

SSNY has be en designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 12 Ash Pl., Huntin gton, NY, 11743. Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of 121 GREENE STREET LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/20/22. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty SSNY de signated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o DLA Piper LLP, Attn: Bruce Saber, 1251 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10020. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice is hereby give n that an On-Premises Liquor License for beer, wine and spirits has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sa le of beer, wine and spirits at retail rates for on-premises consumption (Movie Theater and Restaurant) at LOOK Dine-In Cinemas located at 657 West 57th Street, New Yo rk, NY 10019 under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law LOOK Cinemas V, LLC

Notice of Qualification of MAROON PEAK MANAGEMENT LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/10/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/01/22. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmingt on, DE 19808. Cert of Form. filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

MERCER CM, LLC, Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/09/2022. Office loc: Bronx Coun ty SSNY ha s been designat ed as agent up on whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 79 Alexander Ave Ste 33A, Bronx, NY 10454. Reg Agent: Aaron Yaghoobi an , 79 Alexander Ave Ste 33A, Bronx, NY 10454. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Ms Laura LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 1/03/2023. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail to: 228 Park Ave S., #913 865, NY, NY 10003.

Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of formation of Limited Liab ility Company Name: EC Central Hudson 2 LLC (“LL C”). Articles of Organization file d with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on December 23, 2022. NY office location: New York County. The SSNY ha s been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The SSNY shall mail a copy of an y process to EC Central Hudson 2 LLC, c/o Exact Capital Group LLC, 150 East 52nd St., 14th Floor, New York, NY 10022 Purpose/character of LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

INDEX NO 850377/2015 COUNTY OF NEW YORK

Notice of Qualification of OTCex Derivatives Hold ing

BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY,

Plaintiff designates NEW YORK as N.A. AS TRUSTEE FOR MORTGAGE ASSETS the place of trial situs of the real property MANAGEMENT SERIES I TRUST, Plaintiff,

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS vs Mortgaged Premises: 340 WEST 57TH STREET, UNIT 9-E

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR OF NEW YORK AS DISTRIBUTEE NEW YORK, NY 10019 OF THE ESTATE OF MARIAN S. O'HARA; UNKNOWN HEIRS AND DISTIRBUTEES OF THE ESTATE OF MARIAN S. O'HARA, Block: 1047 , Lot: 1096 an y 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 de scribed in this action; such unknown persons be ing herein gen erally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, he irs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legat ees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and a ssignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to sa id 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, ad ministrators , devisees, legat ees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE PARC VENDOME CONDOMINIUM; SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant(s),

TO:

THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S)

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 th is Summons, e xclusive of th e day of service, or within thirty (30) days after service of the same is complete where service is made in any ma nner other than by personal delivery within the State. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or ap pear with in sixty (60) days of service. Your failure to appear or to answer will result in a judgmen t against you by defau lt for the relief demanded in the Complaint In the event that a deficienc y balance remain s from the sale proceeds, a judgment ma y 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 se cure the sum of $625,500.00 and interest, recorded on February 24, 2009, in CRFN 200 9000055488, of the Public Records of NEW YORK County, New York., covering premises known as 340 W EST 57TH STREET, UNIT 9-E, NEW YORK, NY 10019.

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 af fected 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 f iled this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home

Spea k 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 forecl osure action.

YOU MU ST R ESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF TH E ANSWER ON TH E ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT

Dated: January 25, 2023

Notice of Formation of NYPC CROWN, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/26/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY de signated 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. Purpo se: Any lawful activity

RADER COMMUNICATIONS LLC, Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/28/2022. Office loc: NY County. SSNY ha s been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served & sh all mail process to: 250 West 94th St., Suite 15D, NY, NY 1002 5. Purpo se: Any Lawful Purpose.

ROBERTSON, ANSCHUTZ, SCHNEID, CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC Attorney for Plaintiff Ma tthew Rothstein, Esq. 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310 Westbu ry, NY 11590 516-280-7675

Notice is hereby give n that an On-Premises Liquor License for beer, wine and spirits has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sa le of beer, wine and spirits at retail rates for on-premises consumption (Hotel) at Tempo by Hilton Times Square locate d at 1568 Broadway, New York, NY 10036 unde r the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Times Square Hotel Op erating Le ssee, LLC and Tempo Hotel Management LLC.

Tender Mountain LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 11/28/2022. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall ma il to: Alice Liang, 228 Park Ave S., #584754, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity

RHG Time Square LLC file d Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 01/12/2023. Office: New York County. SSNY has been de signated as agent of th e LLC upo n whom process against it may be served and shall mail to: Gary Wallach, 2 Renwich St., NY, NY, 10013 Purpose: any lawful act.

RHG Chelsea LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 01/12/2023. Office: New York Coun ty SSNY ha s been designat ed as agent of the LL C upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail to: Gary Wallach, 2 Renwich St., NY, NY, 10013. Purpose: an y lawful act.

LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/24/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/07/22.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upo n 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., Wilmin gton, DE 19808. Cert. of Form filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

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TICKET ME PINK LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/13/23. Office : New York County. SSNY de signated as agent of the LLC upo n whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 178 Duane Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10013. Purpo se: Any lawful purpose.

United Laundre LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 11/16/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agen t of the LL C upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 2320 Frederick Douglass Blvd ., New York, NY, 100 27 Purpo se: Any lawful activity

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We are seeking a candidate who uses the app daily and understands what resonates. Interested candidates should send a letter of interest to doug@nynewspapers.com explaining their qualifications and expertise. Include the name of the college you attend, expected year of graduation, and the names of three references — at least one of whom is one of your professors or instructors. Attaching sample videos encouraged.

Application deadline is April 1, 2023.

and acknowledge the accomplishments of influential HBCU graduates from around the country who have made their mark. The co-founders have developed a safe community that encourages building a bond between HBCU students and alumni while honoring the spirit of the southern Black collegiate homecoming.

After being hosted virtually in 2021 due to the spread of Covid-19, the HBCU SpringComing returned last year with record-breaking numbers, raised more than $75,000 in scholarship donations, and secured exclusive partnership deals.

“As HBCU SpringComing continues to grow and evolve, we’re very proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish within the HBCU community through innovative and intentional events,” said Peters. “Bridging the gap between HBCU alumni and allies in the New York Tri-State area and now Birmingham—a city in the south, deeply rooted in Black excellence—is just one of the many reasons why our festival is so special and unique. To date, we’ve had more than 25,000 attendees. This speaks to our team’s ability to create authentic culture and conversation amongst a group of Black leaders representing the best and brightest to come out of historically Black colleges and universities.”

Compiled by Morgan Alston.

Continued from page 4

It is common that when it comes to Black communities and establishments, various opportunities are not available for those who may truly need them, resulting in lack of confidence and success. In New Jersey, there is a wide and significant gap in homeownership between Black and white families of about 30% to 40%.

Bernel Hall, CEO of New Jersey Community Capital, is not stopping until there is a change. New Jersey Community Capital is a financial institution that highlights creating opportunities throughout the community and growing residents’ self confidence.

“We love dreamers. We finance dreamers every day,” Hall said. “We are being very deliberate about attacking the racial wealth gap. We have to acknowledge that this country is becoming a minority majority, and the people who allocate the capital and fund people’s first homes more and more really need to look like the people that they serve.”

According to Hall, “It creates trust, it creates rapport, and it makes it easier for people to move into the capitalistic society that they are a part of.”

Hall said it is up to the company and individuals themselves to not only want the change, but to stand up and truly advocate for what is right.

Man on mission to discover New Jersey’s Black history

Author and historian Rick Geffken grew up in New Jersey and was shocked after learning just how entrenched the state is in terms of slavery. When he moved to Farmingdale 12 years ago, he was intrigued with the colonial times and wanted to do in-depth research about slavery that had occurred in New Jersey on the county and municipality levels. His findings led him to write the book “Stories of Slavery in New Jersey.”

“We thought slavery was restricted to those bad people downSouth—that we had nothing to do with it,” Geffken said. “The history of enslavement for Black people goes back in this state to the 1620s.”

Geffken believes that Black history isn’t just Black history, but American history—the history that helped build and lead New Jersey to what it is today.

Geffken said he was hesitant to write the book, out of concern that it would look like he was attempting to profit from the misery, pain, and struggles of others. After receiving advice from Black and white scholars and educators, however, he has high hopes that the book will be used as a blueprint to educate everyone about New Jersey’s honest history, how far the state has come, and how much further there is to go.

Unexpected upsets mark women’s Division I hoops

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

During the years that the University of Connecticut dominated women’s college basketball, one would often hear people say the game needed more parity. The rise of the University of South Carolina as a national powerhouse and the reemergence of Louisiana State University has shown that women’s college hoops are thriving and you can’t sleep on any team.

On Feb. 21, St. John’s University drove that point home when the Red Storm defeated the UConn Huskies 69–64 in a Big East Conference game, giving St. John’s its first 20-win season in six years and moving it one step closer to a return to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Another team making some serious noise is Iona University, which has dominated conference action in the MAAC. Senior post player Ketsia Athias has been a valuable contributor to the team’s 22–5 record, 17–1 in conference play. Averaging 11.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, Athias’s success is all the more impressive given that she played Division II before joining the Gaels.

“I feel that everyone on this team contributes; it’s not just one person doing all the work,” said Athias. “Everyone puts in the work and the effort. It’s what makes us successful.”

Athias said the game is faster and more intense in Division I. She accepts that at times, there are players better than her on the court, but she plays her game and focuses on the team effort. She also has consistently worked on her game, which has helped her be successful.

“Being a student-athlete is hard at times, but I’ve played college basketball for five years, so I know how to manage my time—balance the work, practice, and all the basketball stuff,” said Athias, a sociology major. Her plan is to pursue a nursing degree after her playing days are done, which she hopes won’t be too soon because she has her eye on a pro career.

A Brooklyn native, Athias said she has some edginess, but really just plays her game and doesn’t do a lot of trash-talking. She appreciates her teammates and the Iona coaching staff, noting that head coach Billi Chambers “pushes everyone to be a better person overall in terms of basketball and even outside of basketball.”

Iona has two more conference games left. Then the MAAC Tournament, for which the Gaels have locked in the No. 1 seed, begins on March 8.

Local men’s college hoops teams prepare for conference tournaments

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The month of March signals that college basketball will become more prominent on this country’s sports radar and afforded increased attention as the madness is already underway as several conference’s are already engaged in their postseason tournaments.

Local men’s hoop teams are completing their regular season schedules and moving towards single elimination conference tournaments. The Big East, Atlantic 10, America East, Colonial Athletic Association, Ivy, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and Northeast Conference all have Tri-State area schools that will be competing with aspirations, some more favorable than others, of making the NCAA field of 68.

There was a time St. John’s was a college basketball power. But the Red Storm has made only one appearance in the NCAA tournament over the past six seasons it was held. There was no postseason in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Former St. John’s great and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Chris Mullin coached his alma mater to a First

Four game in the 2018-19 campaign, losing to Arizona State in the tournament’s early stages.

Now in his fourth season as the Red Storm’s head coach, Mike Anderson, has yet to take the team to the college basketball’s major showcase. This season they are unranked at 17-13 overall and 7-12 in the Big East (8th place), and coming off of a 95-86 home defeat last Saturday to the No. 18 ranked Connecticut Huskies. The Red Storm will conclude their regular season Saturday on the road against the Marquette Warriors, the No. 6 ranked team in the country, ahead of the Big East Tournament, which will be held from March 8 to March 11 at Madison Square Garden. They’ll have to win the tournament in what would be a monumental accomplishment to make the field of 68.

A team that could win their conference tournament championship is the Fordham Rams, who are a surprising 23-6 and third in the Atlantic 10 play at 11-5 with one remaining regular season game hosting Duquesne this Saturday.

Fordham University guard Darius Quisenberry is having an outstanding senior season for the Rams, which will be one of the favorites to win the upcoming Atlantic 10 Conference tournament (Fordhamsports.comphoto)

Ketsia Athias has been a vital part of Iona’s winning season (Iona Athletics photos)

Fordham women’s hoops are aiming for an Atlantic 10 title

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

College basketball has been somewhat of a winding journey for guard Asiah Dingle, but she’s finishing off with a flourish at Fordham University. Dingle previously played at Kent State and SUNY Stony Brook, at the latter leading the Seawolves to their firstever America East Championship and trip to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. In her final collegiate season, Dingle is leading the Rams in scoring and is tied in assists.

Dingle became interested in transferring to Fordham in a most unusual setting, during a

game in which she was on the opposing team. “I was talking to some of the girls during the game, which is not usual,” she recalled. “It happened to be a great fit. I came in last year and it’s been great ever since.”

Fordham had a coaching change just prior to the season, but Dingle said it wasn’t a big adjustment because interim head coach Candice Green had been an assistant coach with the team. “We were very comfortable and confident that we’d pick up where we left off,” said Dingle. “The group of people that [former coach] Gaitley brought here makes it easier. It’s easy to get along.”

The Rams amassed an 18–11 record overall, 10–6 in conference play. Dingle is averaging 19.4 points per game. The Atlantic 10 Tournament began yesterday and Fordham is looking for a

title and return trip to the NCAA Tournament. Once the team gets into a flow, she said they’ll be unstoppable. Her goal following graduation in May is to play professionally.

“Wherever I can start,” said Dingle. “I see myself playing until I can’t anymore physically, and I have my own business. I do YouTube and Instagram [adingle3], stuff like that. Lifestyle, beauty, basketball.” This includes some inside information on how to get false eyelashes to last through a tough game. “You have to have a good glue,” she said. “Sometimes, I’ll get mine individually done. Of course, when I do get those, I always get hit in the eye.” She also speaks about being a woman in sports in 2023 “Just trying to set an example,” Dingle said. “You can do it while looking good. As long as you’re still performing.”

Queens native Kania Pollock finds her power at an HBCU

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

As basketball season moved toward its most intense time of the year, Kania Pollock’s strengths have been on full display. First, the Queens native, a guard at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, earned Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Defensive Player of the Week Honors. Then, at the CIAA Tip-Off Awards banquet, Pollock was named to the All-CIAA Team. Although Lincoln was defeated by Shaw Uni-

versity in the CIAA Tournament semi-finals, Pollock was honored on the CIAA Women’s Basketball All-Tournament list.

“I literally appreciate every single aspect of being at an HBCU. The people I’ve met, the opportunities I’ve had, the way the alums make everybody feel present. It feels like a home here,” said Pollock, who began her college career at Manhattan College, transferring to Lincoln in 2020.

Pollock’s introduction to basketball was playing recreational streetball. After meeting coaches

who began crafting her skills, she found a support system. Her mother is disabled and her upbringing was challenging, but basketball provided a safe haven. “There’s not a lot of opportunity, so you have to make the best out of what cards you’re dealt, and that’s what I did,” Pollock said. “The older I got, the more appreciation I gained for basketball. It opened a lot of opportunities.”

She attended The Mary Louis Academy and played hoops all over NYC, including Rucker Park. Although Pollock has affection for her teammates and the coaches at Man-

hattan College, she felt she didn’t fit in. After her sophomore year, she explored going to an HBCU, picking Lincoln because she didn’t want to go too far from Queens in case her mother needed her. Although some people tried to dissuade her from going from Division I to Division II, she realized “there’s talent at every level,” she said. “The games are packed, and you just feel the love.”

Head coach Janice Washington, who came to Lincoln in 2021 and was named 2023 CIAA Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year, saw something special in Pollock and

pushed her to excel, especially on defense. “I was never a vocal leader, and Coach made me realize that you don’t always have to be vocal to lead,” Pollock said. Pollock hopes that Lincoln will be selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament. After that is graduation and she wants to play professionally. She will also continue to pursue her other interests— photography and being a barber. “I ultimately want to open my own studio, which will be a safe space for people and I can give back to the community,” she said.

Fordham University guard Asiah Dingle, driving to the hoop, has the Rams in contention for the Atlantic 10 Conference title (Fordham Athletics photos)

Lincoln University basketball standout Kania Pollock has earned multiple accolades in her senior season (Photos Courtesy of the CIAA)

The Mets and Yankees open spring training as World Series contenders

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Mets and Yankees have begun what will be a long and taxing season that could end with one or both playing in the World Series. The Mets are holding spring training at their facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida and the Yankees in Tampa, Florida.

“Hope springs eternal. It’s a rebirth of baseball. Everybody is so upbeat. You just kind of feed off the energy of the fans and the ‘What ifs,’” said Mets manager Buck Showalter last week.

Similarly, the Mets and the Yankees are constructed with exorbitant payrolls and star laden rosters with the Mets, which sit atop of Major League Baseball’s list, considerably dwarfing the league’s 29 other franchises. According to Spotrac, which analyzes payrolls and salaries of sports teams, the Mets are currently at $336,

143, 332. That’s $68, 189, 285 more than the Yankees, who have the second highest payroll at $267, 954, 047.

Mets CEO Steve Cohen’s winter spending spree included signing 2022 American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to a two-year, $86.7 million deal. The 40-year-old Verlander was 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA and 2-0 in four postseason starts for the World Series champion Houston Astros. They also retained their closer Edwin Diaz to a 5-year, $102 contract and outfielder Brandon Nimmo to an eight-year, $162 million.

The Yankees resigned AL MVP Aaron Judge, who broke legendary Yankee Roger Maris’ AL home run record last season by hitting 62, to a nine-year, $360 million contract in December and added a top of the rotation starter in former San Francisco Giant lefty Carlos Rodon for six years and $162 million.

Both the Mets (101-61) and Yankees (99-63) were playoff teams last season, but weren’t able to secure the ultimate prize. The Mets haven’t won a World Series title since 1986 and the Yanks last championship was 2009. The Mets were eliminated by the San Diego Padres 3-0 in the National League Wild-Card Series and the Yankees swept 4-0 by the Astros.

The Mets’ optimism of winning the NL East—they finished second to the Atlanta Braves (101-61) last season in a tie-breaker—and the Yankees’ expectations of repeating as champions of the AL East is plausible. They’ll face gauntlets in their respective divisions as the NL East and AL East are formidable. Case in point, the Philadelphia Phillies, who were third in the NL East last season with a record of 87-75, won the pennant and faced the Astros in the World Series.

Players, managers, coaches and fans adjust to MLB’s new rules

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews

Major League Baseball spring training began last week and there is an unfamiliar feeling for those who watch their first pre-regular season game. MLB has instituted several new rules and changes and the size of bases. Previously the bases were 15 inches. They’ve been increased to 18, with the exception of home plate. The distance between first and second base, and between second and third base, has been decreased by 4.5 inches from the traditional 90 feet.

The change gives infielders and base runners more space to maneuver. The shift has been eliminated. Now, the infield defenses must have a minimum of four players in the infield, with at least two infielders stationed on each side of second base. The most difficult adjustment for players has been the addition of a time clock. Pitchers are now required to begin their pitch motion 15 seconds after receiving the ball if the bases are empty and 20 seconds after receiving the ball with runners on base. Failure to do so will add a ball to the batter’s count.

Pitchers will be limited to two disengagements from the mound per hitter. For example, a pickoff attempt stepping off the mound with a runner on first. For hitters, they have to be in the batter’s box ready to face the pitcher by the 8-second mark on the clock. A violation will result in an automatic strike to their count.

The first player to be penalized for this infraction was San Diego Padres star thirdbaseman Manny Machado. Machado, who signed an 11-year, $350 million extension with the Padres earlier this week, was not set in an at-bat in a game last Friday against the Seattle Mariners. He failed to place his left foot inside of the batter’s box within the 8-second limit.

“That time came by quick,” Machado said after the game. “It’s going to be an interesting year… Who knows where this leads. There’s going to be a lot of strategy that goes into this.”

The goal of MLB’s Joint Competition Committee who created and approved the changes is to make the games shorter in terms of hours and minutes played, safer for base runners, and to increase the potential for runs scored.

The Mets and their All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso will be locked in on winning the franchise’s first World Series since 1986 (Wikipedia CreativeCommons.org)

San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado became the first Major League Baseball player to commit a clock violation as several new rules have been implemented for the upcoming season (Wikipedia Ryan Casey Aguinaldo, Manny Machado 8.27.21 (cropped), CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sports

The Knicks rise in the East during the stretch run of the regular season

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Knicks are ascending in the Eastern Conference standings at the most important juncture of the season.

After a stirring 109-94 win over the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden Monday night, the Knicks overtook the Brooklyn Nets for the No. 5 seed, a desirable position that moves them further away from the Play-In Tournament spots for teams ranked seventh through tenth. The Knicks were 36-27 when they hosted the 34-27 Nets at the Garden on Wednesday.

Brooklyn lost 118-104 to the Milwaukee Bucks at the Barclays Center on Tuesday, the seventh loss in their previous nine games. Conversely, the Knicks were on a sixgame winning streak and 8-1 in their previous nine prior to facing the Nets. The Knicks have 18 regular season games remaining and will play the Miami Heat on the road

tomorrow, followed by the Celtics on Sunday, this time in Boston. The Knicks will be back home on Tuesday to take on the Charlotte Hornets before embarking on a six-day, four-game West Coast road trip that begins next Thursday versus the Sacramento Kings.

Knicks guard Josh Hart, who was acquired in a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers on Feb. 9 and has improved the team’s depth and production on both ends of the court, said the upcoming slate of games starting with the Nets yesterday evening is pivotal.

“It is huge. It’s not a make-orbreak week by any means, but we have to be locked in on both sides of the ball,” said the 27-year-old former Villanova star after a forceful 12-point, five-rebound, five-assist performance against the Celtics.

“Obviously, Thibs [Knick head coach Tom Thibodeau] and the coaching staff will make sure we are prepared, and we have to go out and execute. With Brooklyn,

they are a team trying to find their identity right now, but they have some good pieces.

Spencer [Dinwiddie] is a big part of it and Mikal [Bridges], Cam [Thomas], Cam Johnson, Joe Harris, they’ve got guys who are really good players, so we have to make sure we come in prepared and focused and continue to build on what we’re doing.”

Consistent winning has engendered a collective self-assured attitude that has the Knicks believing they can successfully compete against the league’s best teams, the top two by record and the eye-test being the Bucks and the Celtics. When the schedule began last night, the Bucks had the No. 1 overall record at 44-17 and the Celtics were No. 2 at 44-18, one loss better in the win column than the Western Conference’s Denver Nuggets, who were 44-19.

Thibodeau and the players stress that if they stay true and committed to their established methods and

blueprint, they will have ongoing positive results.

“We’re trying to stay hungry, not be satisfied, and get better every day. Finding ways to get better individually, also, so just trying not to be satisfied and take all that we can,” said guard Immanual Quickley on Tuesday. The third-year pro is a leading candidate for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 12.9 points, four rebounds and 3 assists in 27.8 minutes.

The return of Mitchell Robinson last Friday to the lineup after the center missed 14 games with a fractured thumb also has solidified the Knicks. They were 8-6 without Robinson, but 3-0 since his return prior to playing the Nets last night. Robinson had posted at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in all three games.

The Nets face struggles trying to find late season chemistry

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews

As the NBA season has moved into March, it was a difficult month of February for the Nets. They were 3-8 and since returning from the All-Star break last week had dropped three in a row before playing the Knicks last night (Wednesday) at Madison Square Garden. Prior to facing the Knicks, Brooklyn fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 118-104 on Tuesday at the Barclays Center. It was the Bucks’ 15th straight win, a league high this season.

The Nets, 34-27 going into their game against the Knicks, also stumbled out of the No. 5 seed in the East. The Knicks, which were 36-27, moved ahead of them. The Nets were No. 6 as of last night, 1.5 games in front of the 33-29 Miami Heat.

Defeating the Bucks was a tough prospect but the Nets held a 62-52 halftime lead. Things turned fast in the third quarter

and they were outscored 39-23 in the period and 66-42 in the game’s final 24 minutes.

“Our approach at the beginning of the game was really good. We gave ourselves a chance at halftime,” said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn. “We’ve got to be able to sustain it.” They haven’t been able to consistently gain or hold leads since January 8, the day Kevin Durant went down with an isolated MCL sprain in his right knee. The Nets lost their next four and haven’t been the same team that was looking like a championship contender in early January. Kyrie Irving (February 6 to the Dallas Mavericks) and Durant (February 9, Phoenix Suns) were traded and the Nets have yet to find reliable finishers. The Bucks game was another example.

“The third quarter, Giannis [Antetokounmpo] picked up aggressiveness and lived at the rim,” said Nets forward Spencer

Dinwiddie about his team’s second half collapse. “Our collective activity level didn’t match his aggressiveness. He turned the tide of the game, took over.”

Nets forward Mikal Bridges, who led the team with 31 points, agreed with Dinwiddie’s viewpoint. “We weren’t in our shifts, not getting back as hard, and then Giannis got going.”

The Nets could receive some relief in their next two games, playing the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday in Brooklyn and the Houston Rockets on the road next Tuesday. As of yesterday, the Hornets were 20-43 and the Rockets had the league’s worst record at 13-48.

Mitchell Robinson returned to the Knicks starting lineup last Friday after missing 14 games due to a fractured right thumb. (Bill Moore photo)

Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith and center Nic Claxton are trying to keep the Nets in solid playoff contention as they continue to fall in the standings (Bill Moore photos)

L: Dorian Finney-Smith R: Nic Claxton