New York Amsterdam News Issue #14 April 6-12, 2023

VOL. 1

(SEE STORIES ON PAGES 3, 4, AND 12)

TRUMP SLAMS D.A. ALVIN BRAGG AFTER HISTORIC INDICTMENT AND ARRAIGNMENT, COMMUNITY RESPONDS

Bronx school exposes kids to careers in the construction trades

(See story on page 28)

(See story on page 4)

NASA, U.S. Navy pilot to become first Black man to fly to the moon

(See story on page 7)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The other America

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

(Dr. King archive photo)

(Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

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International News

KENYAN TREE-PLANTING ACTIVIST REMEMBERED WITH CALL TO INVEST

Arts & Entertainment Page 17

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

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Editorial/Opinion Pages 12,13

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(GIN)—The Wangari Maathai Foundation observed the late Nobel laureate Wangari Muta Maathai’s birthday on April 1 with a call to invest in the planet.

“Wangari literally invested her life from a young age in this planet,” foundation CEO Njeri Kabeberi said. “As we celebrate the day God gave her to the world, and in the run-up to the International Mother Earth Day (April 22), let us begin to contemplate what each of us shall invest in the planet.”

Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 to plant trees across Kenya, alleviate poverty, and end conflict. She mobilized Kenyans, particularly women, to plant more than 30 million trees in 30 years, and inspired the United Nations to launch a campaign that has led to the planting of 11 billion trees worldwide.

More than 900,000 Kenyan women benefited from her treeplanting campaign by selling seedlings for reforestation.

Wangari was, notably, a woman of many firsts: the first woman

from Central and East Africa to earn a doctorate, obtaining her PhD from the University of Nairobi in 1971, and the first Black and African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, presented “for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace” in 2004. After graduating, Maathai became involved in a number of humanitarian organizations, including the Kenyan Red Cross, Environmental Liaison Centre, and National Council of Women of Kenya.

Maathai’s work led her to observe a correlation between poverty and environmental degradation, based on experiences of food security and water scarcity in rural Kenya. Environmental issues in Kenya today include deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, water shortage and degraded water quality, flooding, poaching, and domestic and industrial pollution.

Maathai was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem, the world’s “second lung” after the Amazon Rainforest. Her four books (“The Green Belt Movement,” “Unbowed,” “The Challenge for Africa,” and “Replenishing the Earth”) and the documentary “Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai” expanded on and deepened the key concepts behind the Green Belt Movement’s work and approach.

The work of Maathai and the Green Belt Movement continues to stand as a testament to the power of grassroots organizing, proof that one

person’s simple idea—that a community should come together to plant trees—can make a difference. Her legacy lives on through the Movement, which remains in the frontline of advocating for environmental conservation in Kenya, and has been making great progress on reclaiming and restoring forest land. The Movement has inspired similar movements in many other African countries and continues to help combat rural hunger, desertification, and water crises in more than 30 countries.

Maathai died in 2011 at the age of 71. Her story and her accomplishments remain virtually untold throughout the global north, despite her activism creating significant change and a lasting impact on women’s lives and the environment today.

The foundation will launch its second strategic plan this month on International Mother Earth Day, with the theme “Invest in our planet.”

CONTROVERSIAL DOCUMENTARY ABOUT GOLD SMUGGLING IN ZIMBABWE HITS THE AIR WAVES (GIN) — It’s the biggest criminal conspiracy you’ve never heard of.

“Gold Mafia—The Laundry Service” is a shocking tale of corruption in high places in illicit gold smuggling and its powerful enablers, who slip through international borders with gold and return with billions in American dollars.

Called a “jaw-dropping undercover investigation” by the Al Jazeera

news service, the documentary has been released after it was nearly derailed by threats from the Zimbabwe government against award-winning anti-corruption activist Hopewell Chin’ono, whose defense of “Gold Mafia” on a TV news station was broadcast throughout the country. The first two parts of the film can now be seen on YouTube.

According to the South African business news publication Moneyweb, Al Jazeera’s latest film purportedly uncovers a $4.5 billion-a-year gold smuggling racket that evaded the harsh economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the U.S. Congress.

“The film lends credence to the long-held view in Harare and abroad that there are powerful forces profiting from sanctions and an illegal gold smuggling racket reckoned to be worth more than $370 million a month operating relatively freely in the country,” wrote Moneyweb’s Ciaran Ryan.

Eddie Cross, former opposition parliamentarian and Harare-based businessperson, said: “To be frank, (news of the gold smuggling) is not anything new around here. The most shocking part of the film is the involvement of the Monetary Authority in Zimbabwe. My big fear is that we could end by back on the ‘graylist’ after we were removed a year ago.”

A country is placed on the U.S. graylist to warn the financial community that the country presents a high risk because it is not putting in

A UN resolution passed and an ambassador honored

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

It was part celebration and part tribute to a former ambassador Wednesday evening at the Millennium Hotel near the United Nations (UN). Prime Minister Ishmael

Kalsakau of Vanuatu was the central dignitary at the gathering to announce the UN’s adoption of a resolution that asks the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to lay out obligations for protection of the planet’s climate, and possible legal consequences if they fail to comply.

Kalsakau cheered the adoption of the measure, and told the UN’s General Assembly that it sends “a loud and clear message not only around the world, but far into the future.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed the prime

minister’s comments, noting that “together, you are making history.” He added that a non-binding opinion from ICJ “would assist the General Assembly, the UN, and member states to take the bolder and stronger climate action that our world so desperately needs.”

The measure was co-sponsored by more than 130 member states and is certain to be hailed by the small Pacific islands and Vanuatu, which was recently ravaged by two cyclones.

At the evening celebration, Kalsakau saluted Robert Van Lierop, Vanuatu’s ambassador to the UN from 1981 to 1994. “I would like to thank Ambassador Van Lierop for his contribution and service,” Kalsakau said. He noted that Van Lierop was instrumental in bringing the conditions of the small island na-

tions to world attention.

In accepting the honor, Van Lierop said the resolution was a solid step in the right direction, “but we still have a long way to go, but not as far as the

New York Jets to the Super Bowl.” The laughter the remark drew was an extension of the evening’s joyful reaction to the passing of the UN resolution.

Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau (left) with former Ambassador Robert Van Lierop. (Herb Boyd photo)

Wangari Maathai (GIN)

Threat Level Orange: Trump slams D.A. Alvin Bragg after historic indictment and arraignment; community responds

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

34 counts for 45. And announced by Harlem’s own.

Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg took center stage at a Lower Manhattan press conference to delineate the first-ever criminal charges against a United States president this past Tuesday, April 4.

“Earlier this afternoon, Donald Trump was arraigned on a New York Supreme Court indictment returned by a Manhattan grand jury on 34-felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree,” Bragg said. “Under New York State law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to fraud [and] conceal other [crimes]. That is exactly what this case is about: 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes.

“These are felony crimes in New York State no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.”

And speaking of serious criminal conduct, threats against Bragg and his family were reportedly on the rise over the past few weeks leading up to the indictment and subsequent arraignment. Most notably, he reportedly received a letter threatening his life and containing a white powdery substance.

Then there’s Trump’s own behavior on his Truth Social platform. The former president shared an image of himself holding a baseball bat positioned next to a photo of the Manhattan D.A. The post is now gone. Trump also recently penned a rambling paragraph on Truth Social indicating “potential death and destruction” stemming from his charges. He’s currently standing by this one—it was still up at the time of this article’s filing.

Last week, Rep. Adriano Espaillat organized a rally in Bragg’s native Central Harlem to support him and denounce the threats.

“We do not know what will happen with investigations in other jurisdictions, but we do know that New York

City stands in solidarity with Alvin Bragg, a son of Harlem, and we will not be intimidated by Republican tactics, threats, [or] racist and hate-based rhetoric,” said Espaillat.

During the rally, Upper East Side councilwoman Julie Menin—a former attorney—continued her long-time legal criticism of Trump.

“Inciting violence against our DA is more than dangerous,” she said. “It is in fact a crime—in fact, multiple crimes: harassment in the first degree, menacing in the second degree, and stalking in the third degree.”

Also on Tuesday, Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries extended his support to Bragg, in addition to denouncing Trump’s comments in a quote provided by his office from an interview with WNYC: “Well, the rhetoric that has been hurled against Alvin Bragg is dangerous, offensive, and inconsistent with any notion of decency that should exist here in this country. We need more unity,

See

INDICTMENT on page 25

Adams for Medicare contract, retirees demand Option C

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Metro Briefs

NAN Convention set to to bring together VP Harris, Tyler Perry, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, and more at annual event

Amsterdam

News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Mayor Eric Adams has officially decided to ink a five-plus-year contract with Aetna to provide a Medicare Advantage plan for the city’s roughly 250,000 retirees and their dependents. The plan aims to save the city $600 million in claims, but some believe the move will cut into retirees’ established healthcare benefits.

“Our administration has never wavered in our commitment to provide retirees and their dependents with highquality, sustainable coverage while allowing us to rein in the skyrocketing

costs of healthcare and the strain it is placing on our city’s budget,” said Adams in a statement.

The mayor’s office said that the new Aetna Medicare plan will provide a lower deductible for retirees and cap out-ofpocket expenses. Additionally, the plan significantly limits the number of procedures requiring prior authorization.

The contract was approved by the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) on March 9. This September, retirees who have Medicare will automatically be enrolled in the new plan.

President of NYC Organization of Public Service Retiree Marianne Pizzitola feels that this will force retired city

workers into a plan they don’t want. She was advocating for the mayor to consider Option C, which allows retirees to opt out and receive traditional Medicare or medigap plan.

“It’s like I’m being forced or compelled to waive my city health benefits and by doing so I am losing my Medicare B reimbursements, in some cases my prescription plan,” said Pizzitola.

Pizzitola said that the opt out option that the city went with, HIP VIP Plan, is not available in all counties and some hospitals or doctors don’t accept the Medicare Advantage plan. She’s worried about co-pays for seniors,

Stop-and-frisk remains under scrutiny nearly a decade after Floyd litigation

By ARIAMA C. LONG and TANDY LAU Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Members

Floyd v. City of New York meant to put the stop in “stop-and-frisk.” Yet, vestiges of the racist police practice still haunt the “Big Apple” today, a decade after the final ruling.

Police stops were under scrutiny during a City Council meeting this week and a federal monitor recently audited the NYPD’s now-banned interior patrols in privately owned apartments, finding the program is overwhelmingly terminated but potentially practiced in a few outlying precincts.

Technically speaking, “civilians” have the legal right to walk away from lowerlevel stops, but often people feel like they can’t do so.

“These days, the NYPD is running rampant in my neighborhood in Washington Heights. Only about three months ago, Neighborhood Safety Officers rolled up on me and a group I was with,” said Samy Feliz, whose brother Allan Feliz was shot in the chest by the NYPD during a traffic stop in 2019. His brother was initially stopped for not wearing a seatbelt.

“One of the cops asked to search me, but he kept his hand on his gun the whole time,” he said. “I said yes because I felt like saying no could be deadly.”

In 2013, a federal court ruled that the New York Police Department (NYPD) disproportionately used stop-and-frisk practices to target Black and brown New Yorkers in the Floyd case. The court appointed a federal monitor and introduced body cams by 2017. By 2019, all beat cops were required to wear the cameras to increase transparency.

Speaker Adrienne Adams held a City Council hearing about public safety on March 27. At least 11 pieces of legislation were discussed regarding the police department’s transparency and reporting on person and vehicle stops, including civilian encounters, body cam footage,

Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), will kick off NAN's 2023 annual convention next Wednesday. The four-day convention is an event to bring together the likes of Vice President Kamala Harris and nearly a dozen Biden Administration officials, with celebrities such as Tyler Perry, Kerry Washington, Magic Johnson, and other leaders in entertainment, business, civil rights, education, and more who will be making an appearance. This year’s convention will occur at a pivotal moment both in history and in today’s current affairs. The convention will be hosted a week after the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. Panels, plenary addresses, and other events all stem from the need to empower Black Americans during this crucial time. On Friday, Harris will deliver a keynote address as several cabinet secretaries are set to address the thousands of attendees throughout this year’s convention. Other key figures who will be present include the Mothers of the Movement; news figures Michelle Miller and Lawrence O’Donnell; business titans Robert F. Smith and Earvin “Magic” Johnson; and leaders of the Black Church, including Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, Chairman of NAN and the Conference of National Black Churches (CNBC).

Historic Black fencing Olympian is adding diversity to the world of fencing

Peter Westbrook is breaking down boundaries and creating a fencing dynasty in the city. Westbrooks, a 13-time national fencing champion, Olympic bronze medalist, and the first African American to win an Olympic fencing medal, is showing the world to chase their dreams— no matter how big or small they are. “I grew up in the housing projects. No one ever said anything good about me. Only thing I heard was from my mother,” Westbrook said. “As soon as I got involved in the sport was the first time I ever heard positive things about me in my life.”

Westbrook’s hard work landed him a scholarship to attend NYU and take his fencing career to the next level. He said he was given the opportunity to be trained by a Hungarian master and was able to represent the United States in a sport that lacked diversity. Now, he wants to teach others how to leave their mark, too. For the past 30 years with the Peter Westbrook Foundation, he’s been dedicated to changing the narrative that the African American community doesn’t fence. Westbrook believes that his job is to show the country—everyone else who watches the

Trump arraigned! The aftermath

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews and

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

A circus-like buzz permeated the blocks surrounding the Manhattan courthouse April 4 as a crowd gathered for former President Donald Trump's arrival and arraignment. It was less than festive inside where the former president set a precedent as the first to be indicted on criminal charges in a courtroom presided over by a no-nonsense Justice Juan Merchan. Trump, sometimes referred to as 45, is now saddled with 34 felony charges, and as expected, he pled not guilty to all of them.

“Karma” was the initial response upon hearing last week’s news of the Trump indictment from Yusef Salaam, who is one of the now Exonerated 5 both times the group of teens were falsely accused of the infamous 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park. Real estate mogul, and all-around

NYC social butterflyTrump took out full page ads in the dailies suggesting that they get the death penalty.

“It is ironic but fitting that Trump was arraigned in the same building as were the Central Park 5,” Attorney Roger Wareham, activist and December 12th Movement International Secretariat told the Amsterdam News. “But make no mistake the conditions he was arrested under are vastly different. It’s good to be rich and white in the U.S. However, I’m confident that DA Bragg has put together a web that Trump won’t be able to extricate himself from.”

The 16-page indictment cut immediately to the chase, beginning with “The People of the State of New York against Donald Trump” and noting that the Grand Jury “accuses the defendant of the crime of falsifying business records in the first degree,” all in caps. Trump, the grand jury declared, “with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the busi-

ness records of an enterprise….”

Many pundits speculated that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had something more than the charge of the hush money Trump paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels, and the other shoe, so to speak, fell with a considerable thud as Trump looked on with disdain, clearly disgusted by proceedings he had already determined were a “witch hunt.” He had predicted his arrest, perhaps hoping to rouse and provoke his base which outside the courthouse was matched in number by the police and the press.

Attorney Michael Cohen is mentioned 11 times in the indictment, mainly for invoices of an indeterminate amount and unspecified recipients; these and other details are sure to be fleshed out when the trial convenes sometime next year. Both Cohen and Daniels are sure to be star witnesses.

If Trump was fuming at the deliberations in the courtroom, where once See AFTERMATH on page 36

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The other America

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH

Special to the AmNews

Tuesday marked the 55th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After bringing international attention to the plight of Africans in the United States for a decade and a half, he was heartlessly gunned down in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. Toward the end of his physical life, he was bringing more attention to the exploitive system of capitalism, the military industrial complex, and police terrorism.

King delivered his “The Other America” dissertation on April 14, 1967, at California’s Stanford University, 10 days after his revealing “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech at Harlem’s Riverside Church. He touched on these topics, as well as this country’s overt racism and also critiqued the vast disparities in educational, employment, and housing opportunities between African Americans and European Americans.

“There are literally two Americas,” he opened with. “One America is beautiful,” which “is overflowing with the milk of prosperity and the honey of opportunity. In this America, millions experience every day the opportunity of having life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in all of their dimensions. And in this America, millions of young people grow up in the sunlight of opportunity.

“But tragically and unfortunately, there is another America,” he continued. “This other America has a daily ugliness about it that constantly transforms the ebul-

Community comes together to mark anniversary of MLK’s assassination

The People’s Organization for Progress was set to host their annual protest to observe the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Tuesday, April 4. Organizers named their event the “March For Justice, Equality, and Peace.” Participants met at the new Martin Luther King Memorial Monument at 495 Martin Luther King Blvd. by the new Essex County Building.

The protest centered on police brutality, voting rights, world peace, housing justice, worker rights and living wage jobs, environmental justice, and more. Police brutality, especially in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, was especially spotlighted with the family survivors of a number of recent cases in the area participating prominently.

“We are marching on April 4 to draw attention to police brutality in New Jersey, as well as the rest of the nation,” said chairperson Lawrence Hamm. “We [marched] to demand justice for Najee Seabrooks, Bernard Placide Jr., Carl Dorsey, Major Gulia Dale III, the Rodwell/Spivey Brothers, and many other victims in this state and across the country.”

lience of hope into the fatigue of despair. In this America, millions of work-starved men walk the streets daily in search for jobs that do not exist. In this America, millions of people find themselves living in rat-infested, vermin-filled slums. In this America, people are poor by the millions. They find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.”

King added that, “the greatest tragedy is what it does to little children [who are] forced to grow up with clouds of inferiority forming every day in their little mental skies. The [African American] finds himself living in a triple ghetto of race, poverty, and human misery.”

King went on to lay out the “humiliation that surrounded that system of segregation,” where Blacks were separated from their Caucasian counterparts in public restaurants, schools, and transportation. Some thought it was “[m]ore honorable to accept jail cell experiences than to accept segregation and humiliation,” he said.

He also mentioned the 1964 Civil Rights Bill and 1965 Voting Rights Bill as having “represented strides” toward justice, although “[Blacks are] economically facing a depression in [their] everyday life that is more staggering than the Depression of the ’30s.”

King said that “Racism is still alive in American society, and we must see racism for what it is. It’s a myth of the superior and the inferior race. In the final analysis, racism is evil because its ultimate logic is genocide.”

Although Blacks never received their

40 acres and a mule during the Reconstruction era, “America was giving millions of acres of land in the West and the Midwest, which meant that America was willing to undergird its white peasants from Europe with an economic floor that would make it possible to grow and develop, and refused to give that economic floor to its Black peasants,” King charged.

“It [says] on the Statue of Liberty that America is a home of exiles. It doesn’t take us long to realize that America has been the home of its white exiles from Europe. But it has not evinced the same kind of maternal care and concern for its Black exiles from Africa,” he said.

“Today, all of our cities are potentially powder kegs” and “it’s impracticable for [Blacks] to even think of mounting a violent revolution in the U.S.,” he said. “America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society [that] must be condemned. A riot is the language of the unheard. And so in a real sense, our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay.”

King contended that “[a]lthough it may be true that morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated. Even though it may be true that the law cannot change the heart, it can restrain the heartless. Even though it may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, it can restrain him from lynching me. And I think that’s pretty important.”

Watch the video at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8nocVHm5vwAc6cHIS16zsA

The King statue in front of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Building, near the corner of Springfield Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, was surrounded by participants with hopes of drawing attention to the fact that the social, economic, and political issues that King confronted during his lifetime are still present today, and it is our duty to continue his fight. Marchers demanded full implementation of the state’s Amistad Law, which requires teaching African American history in all public schools.

For more information about the People’s Organization for Progress, call 973-801-0001.

Gov. Phil Murphy to expand Advanced Placement African American Studies into New Jersey curriculum

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has stated that his administration will expand the Advanced Placement African American Studies courses next year. This expansion started with one school and has now grown to reach 26 schools in New Jersey after Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis blocked the course from being taught in that state’s public schools.

Murphy’s decision was made almost a month after the administration of DeSantis, a potential presidential candidate, declared—without citing any evidence—that the course violates state law and isn’t historically accurate.

Murphy cited Florida’s decision as he prepared to release course expansion Tuesday during a visit to a Newark high school, saying that DeSantis is prioritizing “political culture wars” over a child’s education.

“New Jersey will proudly teach our kids that Black History is American History,” Murphy said in a statement. “While the DeSantis Administration stated that AP African American Studies ‘significantly lacks educational value,’ New Jersey will stand on the side of teaching our full history.”

To date, 60 schools nationwide are adding the Advanced Placement African American to their curricula, which is expected expand to hundreds the following year.

Compiled by Morgan Alston.

Second City: Ernece Kelly’s journey from Dr. King’s Chicagoland office manager to Bronx-based volunteer

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

Dr. Ernece Kelly vividly remembers where she was on April 4, 1968—exactly 55 years ago from this past Tuesday.

“The day that Dr. [Martin Luther] King was assassinated, I was at a conference of English teachers—college and university professors—and needless to say, most of them were white,” said Kelly. “It was clear to me that they didn’t know what to do— hundreds of people: teachers, professors, lecturers gathered at this conference. Here, this pivotal Black man had been assassinated and they didn’t know what to do.”

She responded to the assassination by delivering a presentation titled “Murder of the American Dream.” It not only mourned King, but called out the racist, exclusionary practices of the white educators attending. To them, the conference must go on.

To her, the assassination was like a death in the family.

King wasn’t just a mythical figure for Kelly: He was once her employer. A lifelong educator, Kelly took a leave of absence from teaching to manage his office when King arrived in her hometown of Chicago during the mid-’60s. Her work largely

mobilized prospective volunteers to match their skills with the needs of the Civil Rights Movement. She proved to be a real asset, thanks to her thorough understanding of the ins and outs of the “Windy City.”

But how did King’s expert on all things Chicago end up as this week’s “Black New Yorker”?

Kelly is one of the many underappreciated Black lesbians who contributed to the Civil Rights Movement. She later ended up involved with a woman who wanted to live closer to her uncle in the Big Apple. That was all the motivation Kelly needed to make the move.

“I had always wanted to live in New York City. I fell for the stereotype—the happy stories of New York being the most exciting, the most multicultural, the most diverse city in this country,” she said. “And I wanted to be here. And so we came together.”

Three decades later, she’s still here, and still making a difference.

After moving to New York City, Kelly got involved with eldercare. These days, she volunteers for seniors in the Bronx, at both the Marble Hill NYCHA houses and the NYC Department of Aging-funded Riverdale Senior Services (RSS). She’s a proponent of working with her hands and said making minor repairs for older New York-

Black

New Yorker

ers gives her a “big charge.”

“We are proud and pleased that Ernece has found an opportunity to continue her commitment to community service at RSS,” said Department of Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez over email.

“Our network of hundreds of older adult centers and naturally occurring retirement

communities are filled with individuals just like Ernece, who continue to give back for the betterment of others.”

At the RSS, Kelly assists the senior center’s chef, who she called the most innovative cook she’s met. That’s huge praise, given the lofty benchmark of her mom’s cooking.

“My mother would make a meal with meatballs one week; another week, she’s making a Chinese dish with crispy noodles,” said Kelly. “She was cooking all over the map. My sister and I grew up [where] we were willing to try anything. I learned to cook at my mother’s knee, and [volunteering] in the kitchen at RSS in many ways reminded me of working with my mother when I was a little girl.”

Like many Black Chicagoans from her generation, Kelly directly traces her family history to the Great Migration. Her mother was a homemaker and her father was a postal worker. They were the progeny of the southern Black upper-middle class, her family boasting a long line of doctors and entrepreneurs.

Beyond volunteering and working in the Civil Rights Movement, Kelly is, as mentioned, a lifelong educator. She was a professor at Chicago City College’s Loop

See KELLY on page 31

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PLEASE INCLUDE A SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED LEGAL SIZE ENVELOPE WITH YOUR REQUEST. COMPLETED APPLICATIONS MUST BE SENT BY REGULAR MAIL (NOT REGISTERED OR CERTIFIED MAIL) TO THE POST OFFICE BOX INDICATED ON THE APPLICATION AND MUST BE RECEIVED BY JUNE 30, 2023.

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IF YOU HAVE A DISABILITY AND NEED ASSISTANCE WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PLEASE CONTACT LOURDES ORTIZ AT 914-833-2600 EXT. 117.

Ernece Kelly (NYC Department of Aging photo)

Celebrated photographer Kwame Brathwaite dies at 85

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

Citing the luminaries captured through the lens of Kwame Brathwaite’s cameras, are, so to speak, mere snapshots of his remarkably productive career chronicling Americana, particularly Black life and culture. His images, photographed over seven decades, are a veritable encyclopedia of music, fashion, artistic and political organizations at home and abroad. Brathwaite, 85, made his transition peacefully in his sleep on April 1, according to a family statement.

Born Gilbert Ronald Brathwaite in Brooklyn on Jan. 1, 1938, he was the middle child of Cecil Brathwaite and Margaret Etelka Brathwaite that included his siblings Elombe Brath (1936-2014) and John Brathwaite (1943--). Key to his future in photography was his attendance at the School of Industrial Arts, now the High School of Art and Design, where he studied advertising arts. He graduated in 1955.

Inspired in part by the writings of Marcus Garvey and the teachings of Carlos Cooks, Brathwaite’s photography created the visual overture for the “Black is Beautiful Movement” in the early ’60s and ’70s. He energetically spread this idea through his writings and photographs, as well as the activities of the two organizations he helped co-found: AJASS (1956) and the Grandassa Models (1962).

In the late 1950s Brathwaite and AJASS became active in the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement (ANPM) led by Carlos Cooks. They were also involved in the early struggle for liberation in Southern Africa. Eleven years later they formed the Bronx-based SouthWest Africa Relief Committee to support Sam Nujoma’s South-West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) [and later, the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN)]. Parallel to these political activities, AJASS was regularly producing concerts at such venues as Club 845 in the Bronx and Small’s Paradise in Harlem. Brathwaite took on the role of photographing and promoting these concerts which included cultural activities, poetry, theater, marketplaces and African dance performances.

collections include JPMorgan Chase Art Collection (New York, NY), O’Melveny (Los Angeles, CA), Sidley Austin LLP (New York, NY), UBS Art Collection, UTA, and The Dean Collection among others. Brathwaite’s work has recently appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, New York Post, New York Magazine, National Geographic, Aperture, and other publications.

Endowed with a tireless and expansive curiosity, Brathwaite began documenting jazz, but soon embarked on ventures that took him around the globe. But the travels always brought him back to Harlem. From his work at the Apollo Theater and numerous photographs of celebrities, to his fine art, fashion and political documentation, he was always about expanding our minds and showing how great Black culture is and always will be.

Throughout the ’60s Brathwaite produced articles and pictorials for leading publications such as the Amsterdam News, Blues & Soul,

The City Sun and The Daily Challenge

By the 1970s, Brathwaite was one of the top music and cultural photographers, shaping the images of such public figures as Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Brathwaite wrote about and photographed such landmark events as the “The Motown Revue” at the Apollo (1963); “WattStax ’72” (1972); The Jackson 5’s first trip to Senegal, West Africa (1974); the “Festival in Zaire” (1974) which accompanied the famous Foreman-Ali fight, “The Rumble in the Jungle” as well as the inaugurations of Presidents Sam Nujoma in Namibia (1990) and Nelson Mandela in South Africa (1994).

Most recently, he was the subject of a major touring exhibition, “Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful.” The exhibition traveled to eight cities in the United States: the Skirball Cultural Center (Los Angeles, CA); the Museum of the African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA); Columbia Museum of Art (Columbia, SC); Blanton Museum of Art (Austin, TX); Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI); Reynolds House, (Durham, NC); New York Historical Society (New York, NY) and Abrams-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (Birmingham, AL). A monograph of the same title, produced by the Aperture Foundation, released May 2019, is in its fifth printing and features essays by Deborah Willis, professor and chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts of New York University and Tanisha C. Ford, professor of history at The Graduate

Center, CUNY. Brathwaite’s work is featured in the touring exhibition, “Black American Portraits,” which opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (Los Angeles, CA); and is currently at Spelman College Museum of Art (Atlanta, GA); and will travel to Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (Memphis, TN).

Brathwaite’s work recently appeared in “It’s Time” at Vielmetter (Los Angeles, CA), “Pocket Universe” at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), “This Tender, Fragile Thing” at Jack Shainman Gallery (Kinderhook, NY). A short list of the venues presenting his work would exhaust the space allocated here, but we should note that the Studio Museum is among a number of institutions from California to Massachusetts, including the Smithsonian Museum, in which many of his works have been purchased. Private and corporate

Ambassador Neville Gertze, Permanent Representative of Namibia, writes of Kwame’s impact: “Through the lens of his camera and through his lifelong dedication to the Pan Africanism movement, Kwame leaves us with a rich legacy of a man who was uncompromised in spirit and in his support to the Civil Rights Movement, the struggles against Apartheid colonialism, inequality and injustice.”

Brathwaite retired in 2018 and is preceded in death by his parents and older brothers Keith Campbell and Elombe Brath. He is survived by his wife Sikolo Brathwaite, brother John Brathwaite, children Ndola Carlest and Kwame Samori Brathwaite and grandchildren Amina, Jackson, Carter and Kennedy along with nieces, nephews, family, friends and a community of cultural activists and creatives. To learn more about Kwame Brathwaite and the Kwame Brathwaite Archive, go to https://kwamebrathwaite.com/archive/ or follow @kwamebphoto

on Instagram. Funeral arrangements are in progress.

Kwame Brathwaite, Sikolo Brathwaite wearing aheadpiece designed by Carolee Prince, African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS), Harlem, ca. 1968. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery,Los Angeles

Kwame Brathwaite, Grandassa Models at the Merton Simpson Gallery, New York, ca. 1967. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles

Kwame Brathwaite, Self-portrait (African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS), Harlem, ca. 1964. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles

Kwame Brathwaite, Carolee Prince wearing her own jewelry designs, African Jazz-Art Society & Studios (AJASS), Harlem, ca. 1964. Courtesy the artist and Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles

NASA, U.S. Navy pilot to become first Black man to fly to the moon

By HELINA SELEMON Blacklight Science Reporter

The first crewed mission around the moon in more than 50 years will have a Black pilot at the helm.

NASA astronaut and former U.S. Navy Captain Victor Glover, Jr. will join the Artemis II crew alongside mission commander Reid Wiseman and specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, on a mission around the moon, NASA announced on Monday.

Glover’s historic crew—the first to have a woman, a Canadian and an African American go to the moon—anticipates boarding the Orion and launching to the moon in November 2024. Their mission follows in the footsteps of the famous Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s

that paved the way for lunar exploration.

“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars. This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Born and raised in California, Glover graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University and has three masters degrees in flight test engineering, systems engineering and military operational art and science.

Between NASA and the U.S. military, Glover has over 20 years as an aviator, flying over 40 different aircrafts. His career at NASA started in 2013 when he was selected as one of the eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. As part of the Artemis II mission, he’ll serve as second in command over the mission to get humans to the moon and back.

“The most exciting aspect of this mission for me is the exploration [that] we’re doing is the first few steps of the path of getting

humans to Mars, and I don’t think that can be overstated,” Glover shared in the announcement.

The Artemis Program, started in 2017, began with Artemis I in November 2022, a 25-day unmanned mission to the moon to test the Orion spacecraft’s capabilities.

Artemis II, the anticipated 10-day mission that will take Glover to space, will be the first manned flight test around the moon to test their capabilities to explore deep space and pave the way for NASA’s long-term plans to bring humans back to the moon’s surface.

“Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers – the Artemis Generation,” Nelson stated in the announcement.

The crew announcement was broadcast in front of a crowd at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, Texas. On stage, Glover thanked the families of the crew for their support and counts himself and the crew as grateful to take on the ambitious mission.

“Human spaceflight is like a relay race,” Glover said. “That baton has been passed [from] generation to generation, from crew member to crew member.”

Black astronauts, scientists and engineers have been contributing to NASA’s mission since the agency was established. Glover is the latest addition to a long line of African American pioneers in space: Mae Jamison became the first Black woman in space when she boarded the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Bernard Harris, Jr. followed in her footsteps in 1995 as the first African American to embark on a spacewalk. Aerospace engineer Jeanette Epps made history in 2017 as the first African American space station crew member and the 15th African American to fly in space. This along with trailblazing scientists on the ground like Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan, who in the 1960s and 1970s worked on the Apollo lunar missions including the one that sent astronaut John Glenn into orbit.

Astronaut Victor Glover raises his arms after being introduced during NASA event to announce astronauts assigned to crew first flight tests and missions of Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon in 2018 (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Go with the Flo

FLO ANTHONY

Tongues are wagging that award-winning songstress/Oscar nominee Mary J. Blige can now add children’s book author to her evergrowing résumé. “The Power Book II: Ghost” cast member was at the Lit Bar in the Bronx on March 30 to promote her new book, “Mary Can.” The book went on sale in bookstores and online March 28. Blige did a reading from the book and signed copies while at the Lit Bar. According to Google Books, “Mary Can” “is a powerful tale about a confident and ambitious young girl who doesn’t feed into negativity.”....

That Malia Obama knows how to cover both the West and East Coasts. The former first daughter was recently seen on the red carpet for the premiere of “Swarm,” Donald Glover’s Amazon Prime Video dark comedy series, which Malia co-wrote. She uses the name Malia Ann in the writing credits. On April 2, she was spotted by several outlets walking around Manhattan with President Joe Biden’s grandchildren, Maisy, Finnegan, and Beau Biden Jr. The aristocratic crew reportedly had lunch at Charlie Bird, a popular Italian restaurant in SoHo. Malia was also accompanied by a handsome friend, Tyler Patterson, who, according to TMZ, is a private equity associate at Rockpoint, a real estate firm in Boston...

To kick off the National Action Network (NAN) Annual Convention on April 12 (at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel), Rev. Al Sharpton, founder of NAN, will sit down with actress, producer, and activist Kerry Washington for a fireside chat about the power of the vote. Currently starring on Hulu’s “Unprisoned” with Delroy Lindo, Washington has become one of the nation’s leading activists for stronger voter participation. The former “Scandal” star has used her platform to ensure people know when elections are, connect them with resources, and help them turn out to vote...

“American Idol” winner/R&B crooner Ruben Studdard is now with the SRG/ ILS Group, joining other music icons on the roster, including Chaka Khan, Brian McKnight, Angie Stone, Erica Campbell, and many others. Studdard is currently wrapping up production on his new album, to be released this summer. It is being produced by Balewa Muhammad. Said Studdard in a statement, “I am truly excited to join a label that is always looking out for their artists and making sure that whatever they release, it’s great music that is impactful to the culture. After partnering with veteran songwriter and producer Balewa Muhammad and Executive Producer Walter W. Millsap, I just knew that finding the right home for me was key and I am happy to be here, and I am ready to rock and roll with Claude Villani, and the entire SRG/ILS team!”

East New York Family Academy celebrates herstory

By KERON ALLEYNE Special to the AmNews

“When you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” That African proverb reigns true to this day when we look at our community. Councilmember

Charles Barron and his office hosted a closeout for Women’s Herstory Month to channel the sentiments of the proverb by honoring seven Black women who have advanced the education of many youths across various sectors of expression from the arts to sustainability.

The event took place at the newly rebuilt high school, East New York Family Academy, which towers over its oncediminutive location at 760 Van Siclen Avenue. The program was both celebratory and commemorative, featuring arts

and expression.

It was a night to remember. Every sister who attended was greeted at the door with a carnation of their choosing as a subtle nod to providing each woman “their flowers.”

The honorees included former Councilmember Inez Barron; Superintendent of CED19 Dr. Tamra Collins; executive director of East NY Restoration LDC Colette Pean; founder/CEO of Victory Music and Dance Nicole Williams; founder/ owner of Word Up Café Sharron Kennedy-Frost; founder/CEO of Elite Learners Camara Jackson; and the Amsterdam News’ very own Nayaba Arinde, Editor.

Toward the end of the evening, Barron was recognized for her role in the $80 million transformation of the building as the capstone of her council service.

Each honoree received a bouquet of flowers and a framed picture of Shirley Chisholm speaking to children as a symbolic gesture to honor them for their works, both seen and unseen.

As the program came to a close, the women and men throughout the room went around to each honoree and took photos. From the outside looking in, you could see the “Black girl magic” as a tangible fact in each smile and expression.

One of the poets read a poem entitled “Education Saved the Nation” and recalled women in his life who made a difference from the first room (the womb) to the classroom. When hearing about the dynamic work of each honoree, you could see how that could be true. Victory Music and Dance got people appreciatating and moving.

Victory music and dance. Viola Plummer (R) Honors Shakema Muhammad.

All the women's herstory month honorees. (Jeff Antoine photos)

Prayer vigil for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (BM)

The National Action Network (NAN), with Rev. Al Sharpton and local ministers, held a prayer vigil for Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, mere days before his historic arraignment of former president Donald Trump. Hosted at NAN’s Harlem headquarters, the event was joined by local ministers and Exonerated 5’s Corey Wise. The prayer vigil came in

the wake of reports that death threats and a suspicious white powder had been sent to D.A. Bragg.

With the indictment of Trump coming last week, and the arrest and arraignment happening this past Wednesday, Apr 4, 2023Bragg has been front and center in the national news cycle for days.

Written by David Goodson

Happy April/May — the Culture Tour, New Edition, Keith, Tank, D.L. Hughley & the Black Promoters Collective

By April’s end, millions nationwide will be able to share in collective and individual memories, along with the tens of thousands who ventured to the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and farther up north at the Prudential Center in Newark, as the Legacy Tour pulled into the area. Headliners New Edition wasted little to no time on capitalizing on the momentum generated by last year’s tour to bring their day-one and newfound followers assurance that they will do what they gotta do to get what they gotta get to secure their legacy as an all-time great group. Providing bang for the buck value for the tickets are Tank and headliners in their own rights and Keith Sweat and the reunion of Guy (Aaron, Damon and Teddy Riley). The New York City area gets their turn on Thursday, April 20, at the USB Arena in Elmont.

For the most part, that is the story, because ultimately the consumers are there solely for the artist. However, how many all-star lineups failed to live up to expectations? Truthfully, way too many. Having seen samples of their operation, the Black Promoters Collective (BPC) is out to assure that the consumer will never leave a venue with that sentiment.

The BPC is a coalition of six of the nation’s top independent concert promotion and event production companies. As a 100% Black-owned business, its mission is to be the world’s leading producer and provider of culturally relevant live entertainment experiences. Why not? We deserve to get the best our artists have to offer.

Having promoted last year’s tour, the BPC was quite eager to spin the block. “Few recording artists can attest to a superior 40-year career that stands the test of time, but New Edition can,” said BPC CEO Gary Guidry. “When we partnered with NE for the Culture Tour, although I knew it would be stellar, their show exceeded my expectations; the guys were nothing short of miraculous. We are excited about partnering with New Edition to further the legacy of the foundation they have already laid.”

With the Legacy Tour in full swing, the BPC has two more star-studded packages on the move. In partnership with Urban Vibe Entertainment, the BPC announced its first comedy tour, called the Straight Jokes, No Chaser Comedy Tour. The event, hosted by Mike Epps, features standup comedy greats Cedric the Entertainer, Earthquake, D.L. Hughley, and DC Young Fly. The tour makes a stop at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Saturday, April 15.

The second features DJ Cassidy, who will take his primetime television series “Pass the Mic” on tour in 2023 in partnership with the BPC. “DJ Cassidy’s Pass the Mic Live!” tour kicks off on Friday, May 12, at the Prudential Center in Newark, with an epic lineup including Ashanti, Fabolous, Ja Rule, Lil Kim, Ma$e, Ne-Yo, Robin Thicke, 112, and a slew of exciting surprise guests. The debut show, brought to you by the SJ Presents “Mother’s Day Good Music Festival,” will be the first in a series of onenight-only events taking place throughout the year, each with its own unique roster of superstar performers.

“I am overwhelmed with excitement and emotion as I announce the first in a series of one-night-only ‘Pass The Mic Live!’ events,” said DJ Cassidy. “Transforming a show that began in my living room into a live arena concert is simply surreal. I am so honored to be uniting yet another iconic list of my musical heroes, this time live on stage, and I am so grateful for the Black Promoters Collective, whose grand vision, foresight, and experience is my guiding light.”

Putting work on stage and behind the scenes? It’s about that time. Let’s GO!! Over and out, holla next week; ’til then, enjoy the nightlife.

Ricky Bell (David Goodson photos)

Ralph Tresvant

(Bill Moore photos)

Rev. Gabby Wilkes

Union Matters

Starbucks’ CEO says he’s all for unions, just not at Starbucks

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Howard Schultz, the now-former Starbucks CEO, testified in Congress about how the specialty coffee company treats workers who are trying to form a union.

The coffee chain’s workers have been calling for management to bargain with its union reps at Starbucks Workers United (SWU) ever since the first Starbucks location was unionized in Buffalo, NY in 2021.

SWU now represents workers in 295 Starbucks stores across 37 states, yet management has still not settled on a bargaining agreement.

Schultz had stepped down as Starbucks CEO on March 20, 2023––two weeks earlier than planned. But he had been warned that he might face a subpoena to get him to testify before the senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee about his coffee chain’s treatment of union organizing efforts. He had been asked to sit before the committee by HELP’s chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), who professed his concern about Schultz's strong anti-union stance at a time when the coffee chain is seeing rapid union organizing among its workers.

In a written statement before Schultz came to testify, Sanders had pointed out in a committee report that “At Schultz’s direction, Starbucks has fought the attempts of workers every step of the way, resorting to delay tactics and significant escalation in union busting, including unlawfully firing employees, having the police called in response to a peaceful and lawful congregation of workers who were attempting to present their request for union recognition, and illegally shutting down unionized stores.

“Workers in America have the constitutional right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining to improve their

wages and benefits. For far too long, Star bucks and its multi-billionaire owner have acted as though those laws do not apply to them.”

When Schultz sat down for the Senate committee hearing on March 29, Sanders accused him of trying to break the union and of trying to break the spirit of union ized workers:

“Do you understand that in America workers have a fundamental right to join a union and collectively bargain to improve wages, benefits and working conditions? Do you understand that?” Sanders asked.

“I understand and we respect the right of every partner who wears a green apron,” Schultz responded, “whether they choose to join the union or not.”

“Are you aware that NLRB judges have ruled that Starbucks violated federal labor law over 100 times during the past 18 months, far more than any other corpora tion in America?”

“Sir,” Schultz replied, “Starbucks Coffee company unequivocally––let me set the tone for this very early on––has not broken the law.”

Sanders then asked, “Are you aware that on March 1, 2023, an administrative law judge found Starbucks guilty of ‘egregious and widespread misconduct,’ widespread coercive behavior? And showed ‘a general disregard for the employees’ fundamental rights’ in a union organizing campaign that started in Buffalo, NY in 2021. Are you aware of that?”

“I’m aware that those are allegations and Congress has created a process that we are following and we’re confident that those allegations will be proven false.”

“Mr. Schultz, before answering the following … questions, let me remind you that federal law at 18 U.S. Code Section 1001 prohibits knowingly and willfully making any fraudulent statement.”

“I understand that,” Schultz stated.

Sanders then went on to ask Schultz if he had ever taken part in attempts to threaten, coerce, discipline, intimidate, or fire workers who have tried to join a Starbucks union. Schultz assured that, while some people may have interpreted some of his actions as being so, he has never done that.

“I’ve had conversations that could have been interpreted in a different way than I intended. That’s up to the person who received the information that I spoke to them about,” he said.

Ultimately, when Sanders asked Schultz point blank if the company could “make a promise to this committee that you will exchange proposals with the union so that we can begin to make meaningful progress?”,

Schultz would only state that “On a single store basis, we will continue to negotiate in good faith. That’s what we’ll do.”

Starbucks workers and union representatives were also in attendance and gave testimonies at the hearing.

Starbucks corporate has accused the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) colluding with SWU to promote union membership, while the NLRB has accused Starbucks of carrying out an anti-union campaign that has included employee surveillance and firings.

The same day Schultz testified in the senate, some 52% of Starbucks shareholders approved a proposal to have an outside organization conduct a third-party audit of its labor practices and investigate allegations of any anti-union tactics. A coalition of shareholders, including the New York City Retirement Systems (NYCERS) and other pension fund clients, pushed to ensure that Starbucks make a “commitment to workers’ rights, including freedom of association and collective bargaining.”

Also, on the day of Schultz’s Senate testimony, two Starbucks workers were fired in Buffalo, NY. Two days later, a Starbucks shift supervisor in Buffalo who had become a prominent union organizer was also fired from her job.

“At Starbucks, it’s time for a change,” Portland, Oregon Starbucks worker Alicia Flores said in an April 3 SWU press statement. “Partners are demanding a voice on the job to improve conditions. Investors are demanding scrutiny of the company’s labor practices. Senators are calling for an end to rampant union-busting. That’s why across the country, we’re calling on the Starbucks board members who lead the direction of this company to turn the page on the union-busting tactics of Howard Schultz, respect partners’ voice through their union and negotiate contracts across the country.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders grilled former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz about his treatment of workers as they try to unionize (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)

A man stands outside of a New York area Starbucks franchise

Voting for Participatory Budgeting was this week!

By ARIAMA C. LONG

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

During Participatory Budgeting (PB) Week, from March 25 to April 2, residents voted online or inperson on how to spend capital funding for the upcoming 2024 city fiscal budget. The funding is usually up to $1 million per City Council district, aimed at improving neighborhoods and local infrastructure.

“New Yorkers spent months brainstorming and refining proposals to improve our communities, and now, residents will be able to vote for their favorite projects to be funded in the city budget,” said City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement.

“Participatory Budgeting empowers local residents to get involved in their communities and decide how public dollars are spent to strengthen our neighborhoods.”

This was the 12th year that the City Council used the participatory budgeting system to crowdsource community input about what to do with city funds. It was first implemented back in 2011. Previous rounds of voting resulted in $100,000 for extended sidewalk curbs by P.S. 159 and P.S. 51 in the Bronx, $600,000 for better lighting in parks at NYCHA’s Elliott-Chelsea Houses and Fulton Houses in Manhattan, and $500,000 for basketball court repairs at the Queens Beach 9th Street Playground.

“Participatory Budgeting em-

powers communities to take an active role in shaping their neighborhoods and makes sure their voices are heard,” said Councilmember Rita Joseph in a statement. “It’s a great, grassroots way to get folks of all ages and backgrounds civically engaged.”

Councilmember Pierina Sanchez said in a statement that government officials should always work to increase civic participation and transparency. She said she was proud, as a first-time councilmember, to participate.

“We are continuing the tradition this year, with nominated initiatives aimed at improving quality of life for all residents, particularly our seniors and youth; increasing access to healthy foods; expanding technological capabil-

ities of our libraries and schools; and even creating a hydroponic lab for our students,” said Sanchez.

This year, similar projects and proposals were on the ballot, with ideas that were generated by city agencies, council members, neighborhood assemblies, and budget delegate meetings held last fall and winter.

“Participatory Budgeting is a great initiative for New Yorkers to tangibly improve their neighborhoods and have their voices heard,” said Councilmember Farah Louis in a statement. “This program is a unique opportunity to participate in direct democracy where New Yorkers vote on capital projects for their districts.”

The process is technically vol-

untary, so each council member had to opt in to participate. This year, 29 districts from Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn joined in.

Council districts included in the vote were 1–3, 5–7, 10, 12–14, 16, 18, 22, 23, 25–29, 33–40, 42, and 45.

Voters can visit council.nyc.gov/ PB to see the results of the vote in May when proposals are finalized.

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

Fifth graders join Speaker Adams and Councilmember Brewer for Participatory Budgeting Week. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit photo)

Don't Buy Trump's Lies

Trump was barely sequestered in his haven in Palm Beach when he unleashed a barrage of reactions to his indictment and arraignment. According to one account, he was practically inaudible when he said “Not guilty” to the 34 felony counts against him.

But he was loud and vociferous back in Mar-a-Lago, defining the court appearance and the charges as “an insult to our country.” Aha, those are just the words we can slap on him, like the ones seen repeatedly at Tuesday’s counter demonstration outside the Manhattan courthouse.

Trump, your behavior epitomizes that statement because you are “an insult to our country.” Not to gloat, but we were hoping to see you fingerprinted and shackled with an accompanying mugshot. Alas, it’s embarrassing enough, perhaps, to have you mocked on social media, a sad clown resorting to no end in your quest for power and prestige.

The signs outside the Manhattan Criminal Courts said it all for us: “Trump the thug,” “Not above the law,” and “Lock him up!” The largest one outlined on the ground at the park across the street from the courthouse repeated the large banner emblazoned with the words “Don’t Buy Trump’s Lies.”

Unfortunately, we know that far too many Americans still embrace his lies, and a host of them are poised to carry out his provocations. That’s a sad commentary on the espoused American creed, and we have to chuckle at Trump’s recent Tweet that he can’t believe his arrest is happening in America. Well, arraigned one, you better believe and get ready for more rounds of “insult” as you call the drumbeat of justice.

Over the next several months we are sure to witness more charges against him and more inane responses as we move toward the trial date. And, to be sure, he’s going to use all the media attention to his advantage, so don’t go for the dope’s hooey. Don’t buy the lies.

America’s gun epidemic is the problem, not transgender people

By ALPHONSO DAVID

The far right wants to distort the recent horrific Nashville shooting into a story about violence and transgender people. We should strongly rebuff those efforts as a blatantly offensive sleight of hand that fundamentally ignores reality and seeks to undermine our collective humanity.

Last week, on Monday, March 27, our nation experienced another tragic mass shooting that senselessly took six lives at a covenant school in Nashville. Unfortunately, the right-wing disinformation machine has executed an all-too-familiar strategy of turning conversations regarding gun safety into an opportunity to perpetuate hatred toward marginalized groups. Channeling hate into a political strategy will only result in more gun-related deaths.

After unconfirmed reports that the perpetrator of the Nashville shooting identified as transgender, a flood of anti-transgender rhetoric began, with transphobic comments coming from across the spectrum. Across the conservative media spectrum, outlets went to pains to immediately brand the suspect as a “trans shooter.”

To give you a sense of the insanity, former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) have both speculated that hormone therapy was driving the shooter’s apparent rage, despite there being no evidence that the shooter was on hormone therapy.

The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said the media was ignoring “a clear epi-

demic of trans or non-binary mass shooters,” although he presented nothing to support that claim.

The comments demonizing transgender people are perhaps the most cynical in a long line of distraction techniques to avoid the underlying discussion of America’s gun epidemic—the one that is happening regardless of the identity of the shooter.

But let’s remember that facts matter. There have been at least 130 mass shootings this year alone. The vast majority of mass shootings in the United States are perpetrated by cisgender men, and transgender people are dramatically more likely to be victims of violent crime, not perpetrators. Most concerning, incidents of violence against transgender people are on the rise across this country.

The attacks on transgender people are part of a much broader and insidious campaign. Since the beginning of the year, more than 400 anti-LGBTQ pieces of legislation have been introduced in state legislatures nationwide as part of a national strategy to enshrine discrimination into law. Much of the legislation focuses on restricting healthcare access, visibility in the education system, and freedom of public expression. Within the LGBTQ community, transgender people are the most vulnerable, which makes these attacks all the more heartbreaking. Transgender people are our siblings, our family.

As a Black man who is also gay, I have lived my life being seen as “other” to many. In my life, I have learned that my greatest

power is my ability to stand up for others. In my roles in the private sector, government, and not-for-profit sectors and now as the president & CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, I have always believed that we must rise above the shrill pitch of fear and embrace the “human” in our communities.

For some, it is all too easy to look past the demonization of transgender people, because they are not transgender. But we cannot allow that to happen. We must stand together against campaigns to erase any of us. Let’s not forget: When they come for “them” today, they will come for “us” tomorrow, using the same strategy of fear and distortion.

Far too often, Black people face microaggressions and dog-whistle politics. We know the coded language, we know what it means, and we have always called it out. In today’s political environment, the dog whistle is a bullhorn of explicit bigotry. We deserve better: a national conversation about gun policy driven by facts, not fear, and more empathy for the transgender community, who are a part of our collective human community. The vast majority of Americans want action, not more demonization. Let’s stand up for better.

Alphonso David is president & CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum. He previously served as chief counsel to the governor of New York and as an adjunct professor of law at the Fordham University Law School and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

The struggle Dr. King gave his life for

By BEN JEALOUS

(TriceEdneyWire.com) — This week in 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in leading a bold effort to teach America an urgent lesson: Racism is not just the boot on the neck of people of color, it is also the great wedge that divides Americans. And everyone who gets divided loses.

King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

In promoting it, King would decry the “idle industries of Appalachia” in the same breath as the “empty stomachs of Mississippi.” The reality, King made clear, was that the economic value of poor whites’ labor had been depressed since the days of slavery by the forced labor and continuing oppression of Black people. The divided get conquered.

with striking sanitation workers fighting for decent working conditions.

It’s telling that King was murdered fighting to unite working people across racial lines after all he had been through in fighting Jim Crow and segregation—the bus boycott, the first March on Washington, passage of the Civil Rights Act.

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On Dec. 4, 1967, King announced a multiracial “Poor People’s Campaign” that would march on Washington, D.C., that summer. The idea gained traction as groups of poor whites, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Indigenous people joined the campaign being organized by

The idea that working people of all races had common interests to fight for threatened—as it still does today—the old colonial system of divide and conquer that allowed King George and every would-be American oligarch since to extract massive wealth by enforcing massive poverty.

Four months to the day after he announced his Poor People's Campaign,- 55 years ago this week, King was assassinated on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where he had traveled to stand

He wasn’t alone. Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down not long after as he ran for president on a similar platform.

Even before the murders of King and Kennedy, Harry Moore and his wife were blown up in their home on Christmas 1951 by the Klan. The Florida NAACP leader was organizing the Progressive Voters League, seeking to unite Floridians across racial lines, and had just led an effort that registered 1 million new voters.

Even Malcolm X was assassinated after he returned from Mecca and said unity across See DR. KING OP-ED on page 29

Contradictory reflections on Trump’s indictment

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 a political landscape where party affiliations dictate much of the discourse, it comes as no surprise that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to indict former President Donald Trump on hush money charges is seen through the lens of partisanship. Some might argue that Bragg’s move is a calculated one, aimed at shoring up his Democratic credentials in the lead-up to the re-election campaign. Yet, the deeper implications of such a move are far-reaching and cannot be ignored, for when prosecutors are chosen based on their political affiliations, the impartial administration of justice becomes a mere illusion.

The notion that justice is served regardless of the outcome in a courtroom may be nothing more than a mere platitude, especially when it comes to the motivations of prosecutors. Rather than upholding the principles of justice, some prosecutors are more concerned with securing a conviction, even if it means resorting to underhanded tactics or manipulating the system. For many prosecutors, their pursuit of a guilty verdict is driven not by a desire for justice, but by a thirst for recognition, a desire for vengeance against political adversaries, or the promise of lucrative job opportunities in the future.

The United States Supreme Court, as a practical matter, gave a constitutional green light to politically motivated prosecutions in Reno v. American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (1999).

Welcome to the world of limitless prosecutorial discretion. Attorney General Robert Jackson warned more than 80 years ago that the greatest danger in law enforcement is not discovering a crime

Pay your taxes

and searching for the culprit, but picking out someone personally obnoxious or politically hostile to the prosecutor and scouring the voluminous criminal code to pin an offense on them.

Criminal defense lawyer Harvey Silverglate, in his pathbreaking book, “Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent,” elaborates on the many technical violations that are inevitable each day with laws and regulations multiplying like rabbits with infinitely vague terminology.

Trump’s prosecution is not a legal unicorn. Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards was prosecuted for a payoff to his mistress Rielle Hunter. He was acquitted on one count with a hung jury on five other counts that the prosecutor chose not to retry.

On the other hand, President Bill Clinton’s moral and legal derelictions vis-à-vis Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones were sanctioned with a rap on the knuckles: impeachment by the House of Representatives, acquittal by the Senate, suspension of his law license, and an $850,000 settlement payment to Jones.

But considering the ongoing criminal investigations of Trump for the vastly more serious crimes of insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of justice, obliteration of presidential records, and conspiracy to manufacture bogus presidential electors, DA Bragg’s prosecution is an overreach— like convicting Chicago gangster Al Capone for income tax evasion while overlooking the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of seven of his gangland rivals.

On the other hand, Trump brought his multiple legal travails

on himself. He was not tricked into betraying and humiliating his wife, Melania. He was no ingenue. He was not tricked into paying to keep their stories out of the press to boost his presidential electoral prospects. He was not tricked by Billy Bush into boasting about seducing a married woman when he said, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab ’em by the pussy.”

Trump’s financial chicanery and dodges have been notorious for years, including paying less in federal income taxes than his hardworking assistants. His narcissism is boundless. He never learned Benjamin Franklin’s wisdom, “He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.”

The reality we face today is that politics have long been a part of the criminal justice system, and the power of prosecutors to wield their discretion in choosing whom to charge and with what crimes is immense. While this discretion can be used to pursue justice, there is the obvious worry that it can be used to unfairly target individuals for personal or political reasons. The case of Trump is just one example of how difficult this issue is to grasp.

Ultimately, what is at stake is the fundamental principle that justice should be blind, and that prosecutors should not wield their mighty sword for evil or personal gain. Every individual should be treated fairly and equally under the law, even someone as flawed as Trump.

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

It’s that time of year again. It seems like tax season always rolls up on me…and quickly. I have gotten better at keeping receipts and trying to stay organized so when tax season comes along, I have all of my paperwork ready for preparation. For some people, though, tax season makes them anxious or even frustrated if they feel like their money is not being put to good use. I know there appears to be quite a bit of waste on the local, state, and federal levels. However, our tax money does pay for necessary institutions and projects, even if we do not use all of them. I did not go to public school. I do not have any children, but I still pay my taxes. Some of that money goes toward paying for public schools from pre-K through college and I am just fine with that. I believe in an educated citizenry and want to fund education even if I do not use the resource myself.

Every time I see a fire truck racing to save a family, their most precious belongings, and their home, I am glad my tax dollars are going toward a necessary public good to serve and protect society. (I have more complex thoughts about the police, but that’s for a different column…)

Part of paying taxes also means that sometimes you pay for things you don’t always want, but we must take the good with the bad. If everyone contributed their fair share, then we would have money to pay for all of the goods and ser

vices we need. Part of the problem and extreme frustration is that far too many wealthy and extremely wealthy Americans are not paying their fair share. It makes no sense that people who make some of the least money pay a much larger percentage of their salaries in taxes when compared to wealthy Americans. We must pressure our elected officials to change the tax code to make paying taxes more equitable for working and middleclass folks.

When I was growing up, we used to joke that the only thing we had to do in life was “Stay Black and die!” One day, a friend overheard us and added that we must “Stay Black, die, and pay taxes!”

Paying taxes is an essential part of making our democratic republic run efficiently and effectively, but we all need to contribute to creating the society we want to see. If you haven’t started getting your receipts in order, I implore you to do so…and quickly. If you need more information about how to file or have any questions, go to www.irs.gov to find out more. May this tax season help you feel like a part of a whole.

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 cohost of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Ques

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

Caribbean Update

Trinidad to bring home stranded ISIS fighters, survivors

BY BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

A spirited discussion is underway in Trinidad about governmental intervention to bring back more than 100 locals who had idealistically left the southern Caribbean island to fight alongside ISIS in the Middle East in the past decade, and are now desperate to get back home.

A representative team from the Islamic movement on the island has been meeting with top government officials, including Prime Minister Keith Rowley, about the need for state assistance in bringing back the group of mostly women and children— the majority of the men who enlisted to fight were killed or are unaccounted for, officials said.

Senior local Islamists had been persistently lobbying authorities for help, but the government has made it clear that the entire process could be a long and arduous one, because multiple governments would have to be involved, as well as transit stops, airlines, diplomats, and protocol officials, and a host of other systems put in place.

To what extent these governments will

cooperate in allowing the group to change their states will have to be worked out. To this end, Rowley has appointed a working group led by former House Speaker Nizam Mohammed to oversee the process and liaise with relatives at home.

Among the nations in the 15-member regional bloc, Trinidad has been known to have sent the largest group of Muslims to join the ISIS cause; 5% of the federation with Tobago’s population is Muslim.

Many of the families who made the journey have, over the years, signaled their regrets at having done so and have been languishing in refugee camps for years, widowed and sometimes hungry. For many of them, it is time to come home, but officials are not building up their hopes.

“It is estimated that you have over 100 of our people out there and each one is going to be a special case,” said Mohammed. “Therefore, you can understand how complicated and tedious, possibly a very tedious exercise [this will be]. It is not a simple matter of just taking our people and bringing them back home. All the circumstances surrounding this situ -

ation…have all kinds of international implications and the government, though it is committed, has to be very thorough in its approach. It involves international relations, it involves other countries. We’ve got to collaborate and to cooperate, and to seek assistance where assistance is required and that kind of thing.”

Many of those who decided to join up with Islamic State fighters had come from communities in Rio Claro in southeast Trinidad, most of them traveling as families. Police said not a single individual made the trip.

The 15 surviving members include Mohammed, Rio Claro’s influential imam, among the group trying to return home. He has denied helping them make the trip, alleging that they had secretly left the enclave and country for the Middle East.

It is unclear how many have survived the battles. International intelligence officials say that Trinidad is among the hemispheric nations that had supplied the largest numbers of fighters to ISIS.

Trinidad has had some tough experiences with radical elements of the Muslim community in recent decades.

In July of 1990, more than 100 members of the radical Jamaat Al Muslimeen sect staged an attempted coup to protest inflation, a shortage of medicines, government policies, and other societal ills at the time. Heavily armed gunmen stormed the parliament, shooting thenPrime Minister Ray Robinson in the leg and injuring others. They also attacked the state television station, the main police facility, and other institutions. Large parts of commercial Port of Spain, the capital, were burned and looted in a week of mayhem that ended with a presidential pardon.

Still, the elderly Mohammed is hopeful that he will once again set eyes on his relatives before he dies, and is heaping praise on Rowley and his cabinet.

“I want to personally thank the PM for his decision to bring home these detainees who have been suffering abroad. I am so happy about what he has done. Allah will surely bless and reward him immensely. All I can say is Alhamdulillah [praise to Allah] and praise to the PM,” the Guardian newspaper quoted Mohammed as saying on Monday.

U.S. Immigration Weekly Recap

FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION KORNER

One of the biggest news stories making global headlines last week was a fire at a migrant center in Mexico that killed 39 migrants. Some critics say the White House and its policies bear the blame.

Here are some of the top headlines from last week.

1: Mexicanpresident deflects blame to U.S. for mass-casualty fire at migrant detention center

Leftist president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, blamed a lack of U.S. aid for the economic conditions causing mass migration and, essentially, the fire that killed almost 40 migrants at a Mexican detention center in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.

López Obrador said the United States should be spending more on economic development in Latin America to prevent migrants from leaving their homes, rather than sending military aid to Ukraine. He suggested the U.S. should

provide direct cash support payments to families in the region.

“How can you compare what the U.S. government sends to Central America with the $30 to $35 billion it is spending on buying weapons for Ukraine?” López Obrador said when he visited the scene on March 31.

Federal Public Safety Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said the government would close the detention center where the fire occurred. A Mexican court issued arrest orders for six people in relation to the fire. Migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, and El Salvador were among those detained at the center.

Leaked surveillance video shows migrants, reportedly fearing they were about to be moved, placing foam mattresses against the bars of their detention cells and setting them on fire. In the video, later confirmed by the government, two people dressed as guards rush into the camera frame, and at least one migrant appears by the metal gate on the other side. But the guards don’t appear to make any effort to open the cell doors and, instead, hurry away as billowing clouds of smoke fill the structure within seconds.

2: DHS accepting reported gender identity

The Biden administration will now allow immigrants seeking benefits to mark their gender identity without needing their documentation to match, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) release said the update to the immigration benefits policy is meant to clarify that immigrants do not have to submit proof of their gender identity when requesting to change their gender marker, except when submitting a Form N-565, which is used by those applying for a replacement naturalization certificate or citizenship document.

3: U.S. population grows thanks to immigration

Immigration has returned to pre-pandemic levels nationally, the Census Bureau has reported, adding 1.2 million to the population of the United States last year. The total population is now estimated at 333 million.

Immigration provided a demographic boost for states compared to the previous year. The nation’s 20 largest counties gained more than 300,000 new residents

between July 2021 and July 2022 through international migration—more than triple the gain in the previous 12 months, according to Census data.

Despite the most recent gains, Manhattan was still running a population deficit of almost 98,000 residents as of last July when compared with April 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens recorded among the biggest population declines in the U.S. last year, with losses ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 residents.

4: USCIS medical exam results change

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently removed the 60-day rule for civil surgeon signatures on the immigration medical exam results form.

This change applies to all applicants filing Form I-693, a document that must be completed by a qualified physician when an immigrant is applying for lawful permanent resident status in the U.S. Green card applicants can now submit the medical exam results form up to two years after the civil surgeon signed it.

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

City Council preliminary budget response doubles down on “People First”

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

Speaker Adrienne Adams and the New York City Council released their response to the preliminary $106.4 billion city budget for 2023 and $102.7 billion for 2024. They are pushing back on the mayor’s cuts to essential services, libraries, and education.

“Since the start of this year’s city budget process, the council has made clear that our vision for the city is one that focused on putting people over everything and investing in the essential services that all New Yorkers rely on to be healthy, safe, and successful,” said Adams.

According to the City Council’s financial report, the preliminary budget implements a city-wide savings program aimed at reserving $551 million over the current and next fiscal years. Throughout March, the City Council held 26 budget hearings to assess what agencies needed. They found that in addition to staffing shortages, there were extenuating factors, such

as the asylum-seeker crisis and inflated living costs, that have had a heavy impact on the city’s economy.

“Our budget response accounts for all of those risks, including costs related to labor settlement [that] were not accounted for in the preliminary budget,” said Adams.

The City Council identified at least $2.7 billion in additional tax revenue, projections that diverge from other agencies. They are asking for $1.3 billion in investments to offset proposed budget cuts and $1.4 billion to be put in reserves.

The budget response prioritizes affordable housing; city services like libraries, cultural institutions, food assistance, legal services, parks, and sanitation; filling staff vacancies; effective communitybased safety solutions like Closing Rikers Island; and outstanding payments to early childhood education, youth services, and other education providers.

“More than simply an itemized list of income and expenditures, a budget is a moral manifest,” said Councilmember Justin Brannan, who chairs the council’s finance committee.

Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, applauded the council’s budget response and investments in college education. “We applaud the Council’s call to restore baseline funding to expand the CUNY ACE program, which has boosted graduation rates for students from lowincome backgrounds at CUNY’s four-year colleges,” said Bowles.

Meanwhile, the deadline to finalize Governor Kathy Hochul’s $227 billion state budget was April 1. It’s unclear when it will be passed.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement that she was “disappointed” that all parties couldn’t pass the budget on time.

Speaker Adrienne Adams and NYC Council Unveil FY2024 Preliminary Budget Response (John McCarten/ NYC Council photo)

(Pexels/ John Guccione)

Health

Factcheck: False: COVID deaths are overcounted

By JILLIAN FRECHETTE MPH Candidate at Columbia University

Since the beginning of the pandemic three years ago, more than 1.12 million Americans have died of COVID-19 infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). New York was one of the hardest hit cities, with the number of total and probable deaths more than 45,000. But how do we know that those were deaths from COVID and not deaths with COVID?

As of March 31, 2023, 38,764 of the 45,156 deaths in NYC were confirmed with a positive molecular test, which detects genetic material of the virus, while the remaining deathsclassified as “probable”— had “COVID-19 or similar” listed as cause of death without confirmation. This type of death reporting has led to some confusion about whether people are actually dying from COVID, or if COVID is listed on death certificates even if it was not the infection that resulted in death.

There are good reasons for this confusion. For example, how can we be sure hospitals are reporting accurately? And what about people who die at home without taking a COVID test—how are they accounted for?

This confusion has, in turn, sown unwarranted doubt over whether COVID really is deadly—emphasized in a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post by Dr. Leana Wen, who supports the claim that

COVID deaths are overcounted.

The evidence suggests, however, that COVID-19 is indeed deadly— and that deaths may, in fact, have been undercounted

One way of understanding the death toll is looking at how many extra deaths have happened during the pandemic, using a measure called excess mortality, or excess deaths. In an interview with the AmNews, Dr. Yea-Hung Chen, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, described one way of thinking of excess mortality: “It’s this thought exercise of imagining this magical world where the pandemic never happened…It asks the question of ‘Had the pandemic not occurred, how many deaths would we have expected to see?’”

Dr. Jonathan Wakefield, a biostatistician at University of Washington and member of the Technical Advisory Group of the World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Mortality Assessment Group, explained in an interview with the AmNews why excess mortality is a more “robust measure” for assessing pandemic deaths.

“In general, it is not straightforward to unambiguously define a COVID death. Not only do COVID death assignment procedures vary from country to country, they also vary in time within countries as, for example, testing capabilities change, so to establish a COVID death is not always straightforward… Scientifically, excess mortality is more justifiable because

Weekly and total numbers of excess deaths from all causes, and from all causes other than COVID-19* above the average number expected and the upper bound of the 95% prediction interval† — United States, January 26, 2020–February 27, 2021 (Source: CDC- https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7015a4.html)

Data in this chart is from August 2020 (Source: AP/The Marshall Project)

it's a much easier quantity to estimate: it’s more clear-cut, instead of ambiguous, and also can’t be politicized so easily.”

The data do show that COVID is causing excess deaths on the population level. Wakefield emphasized that “there is no question that there were a huge number of excess deaths in the United States.” The WHO estimates he worked on indicated that

in 2020 and 2021, there were 932,458 excess deaths in the United States.

As of this writing, the CDC places the total number of excess deaths in the pandemic period in the U.S. at 1.31 million: 215,527 more than the official death count from COVID.

Globally, Wakefield’s research suggests that there were 14.91 million excess deaths in the years 2020-2021, with most of these likely

attributable to COVID. That is 2.75 times the deaths reported as COVID deaths. Evidence also suggests that undercounting is more common in Black, Hispanic, and Native American communities.

One counter argument suggests that some of these deaths may result from other COVID-related events, such as restrictions put in

Casket being unloaded at English Bros. Funeral Home in Brooklyn in 2020. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Arts & Entertainment

New Little Richard doc is “Good Golly, Miss Molly” good

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

Little Richard—born Richard Wayne Penni man—had a lot of names during his amazing career as the self-proclaimed King of Rock and Roll. He earned that title and more, and in her fresh and moving documentary “Little Richard: I am Everything” (CNN and HBO Max), Lisa Cortés gets under the glitz and glamor.

There’s much to be learned from Cortés’s film, which means you have to pay close atten tion and not get swept up in the musical num bers. That’s easy to write, but almost impossible to do. To that end, I had to watch the doc four times for this review.

Little Richard created the template for the rock icon, and Billy Porter highlights that claim by saying, “Sorry, y’all, it wasn’t Elvis,” which is a bonafide fact.

Cortés pushes into the complexities and heartbreaking contradictions that made Little Richard’s very existence a statement of im mense political power. He was an African American artist who (for a long time) was unapologetically queer and beautifully flamboyant. In terms of Queer history, Little Richard is also a disappointment and, perhaps, a traitor. One minute, he was the very picture of homosexuality—out and proud—and in a blink, he would renounce his sexuality and healthy sexual appetite, choosing to pour himself into organized Christian religion, where he believed, at the time, that “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” saying those very words on a popular talk show.

What makes Cortés’s work so exciting is that she steps boldly into this man’s contradictions and helps us understand the years (1950s and ’60s) when Little Richard was at his height. This was an almost fable-like existence, because embracing his race and sexuality was taboo on top of more taboos. White America was terrified (terrified!) that their teenagers would be negatively affected by this “race music” that was playing on radio stations to which these kids had access.

Little Richard absolutely influenced Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones with his pounding piano coupled with his sexy, raspy, hollered vocals and falsetto screams. It was like he was not afraid to literally holler at the moon, like a wolf with glitter and eyeliner.

Cortés’s choice of clips is inspiring. Highlights include clips from the 1988 Grammy Awards, where Richard, then 56, was invited to present the award for the best new artist (click here to view it). The always-vocal Richard shook up the crowd by declaring himself the winner—three times—before reprimanding the Recording Academy for not paying him his well-earned dues.

“Little Richard: I Am Everything” jump-starts

country, to be “Black” is to be ugly and to be considered less than. Here’s the beautifully brazen Little Richard declaring himself beautiful, and telling a generation how it does it, saying, “I let it all hang out. If you got it, God gave it, show it to the world.”

If you believe in guardian angels, I can only imagine that Little Richard had an entire battalion assigned to him. And it was just more than his appearance. He had an uninhibited sexual energy that whipped audiences into a frenzy. This was pre-civil rights America and I can’t help but keep highlighting this fact. This was the era in which poor Emmett Till (God bless the dead) was brutally murdered.

Cortés and her gifted editors Nyneve Minnear and Jake Hostetter did the damn thing. Yes, I have to go there. “Little Richard: I Am Everything” is the perfect example of creative connectedness. The structure might seem loose but these “eyes” never lost sight of the goal, filling the frame so lusciously that it’s hard to look away. I can only imagine what didn’t make the cut.

The filmmakers chose (in my opinion, wisely) to follow the linear chronology of Little Richard’s life. He was born in the South—Macon, Georgia—in 1932. He was part of a family with 12 children. His father was handsome; a church deacon who ran a nightclub and sold moonshine. Richard considered himself a disappointment to his family, having been born with a limp with one leg longer than the other, and one arm longer than the other. He was bullied for being himself, that is to say, for his effeminate mannerisms and his choice of fashion, wearing his mother’s jewelry and creating clothes from her curtains and bedsheets.

But what made him sparkle (like a star) was his powerful voice, which outshined the local church choir. At first, he could not play the

sound that rang through churches into something that could be played (and would be played) in dance halls and makeshift holein-the-wall clubs. Tharpe heard Richard sing while he was working at the Macon City Auditorium. He was just a teenager. She brought him on the stage.

Later, Richard would become part of what’s known as the chitlin circuit, taking the stage with many of the African American dirty blues combos that were popular in the late 1940s. Sometimes he appeared in drag and was known as Princess LaVonne. When he connected with openly gay musician Billy Wright, who wore a pompadour and makeup (as Esquerita), Richard was transfixed by his appearance and it became a part of his visual representation.

The question is floated of whether Little Richard outright stole from Wright. The LGBTQ and Queer scholars interviewed suggested that he borrowed from Wright, not stole, pointing out that historically, traveling musicians and gigs were a safe refuge for queer and gender-nonconforming performers.

Little Richard, like many creative people in the mid-1950s, was immersed in hatred. Everywhere you turned, the images were of white people, white culture, and white music. He signed a contract with Specialty Records and delivered his first big hit, the iconic song “Tutti Frutti,” which changed everything. (The first version had to be toned down, since the song was alluding to anal sex.) When the lyrics were reshaped to be radio-friendly, the mostly white independent deejays played the song into the history books so well that covers of the song were performed by Elvis and Pat Boone, who— of all people—outsold it.

Little Richard, ignorant of legal matters, signed a contract that would give him half a

penny on the song’s royalties.

More hits tumbled out of the prolific creator, including “Long Tall Sally,” “Lucille,” “The Girl Can’t Help It,” “Keep A-Knockin’,” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly.” He was never properly compensated for his music because of poorly written contracts and shady royalty deals. Sadly, this was not uncommon at the time.

Cortés’s doc doesn’t shy away from covering his relationships with women and his five-year marriage, drug addiction, and love of orgies and sex.

Nona Hendryx made the observation that “Good Golly, Miss Molly” was about sex and maybe some people didn’t realize it, but it doesn’t take a PhD to understand what the lyrics meant underneath. Another curious observation was the wild reaction of young women to a clearly gay man of color. They threw their panties at the stage long before Elvis got the same treatment.

The doc also doesn’t shy away from Richard’s sudden conversion to Christianity. In 1957, he declared in the middle of an Australian tour that he was leaving popular music and pouring himself into a life in the ministry.

You might wonder why he came roaring back to rock ’n’ roll in the early ’60s. It was money. He was broke, so he went on a series of European tours during which the Beatles and the Stones opened for him at various times. Those then-green performers were admittedly star-struck by him and made it clear that they learned from him.

After the death of his brother, Richard turned back to a religious life, desperately trying to live between a life immersed in the sacred and the profane. To many members of the LGBTQ+ community, that made Little Richard a traitor to the cause, unable to stand the pressure to the bitter end of what it means to live out and be proud despite the stormy weather.

African American studies professor Tavia Nyong’o, who is considered an expert on the life of Little Richard, has argued that the showand-tell of his life in music, as much as the godliness, was all done to glorify his love of Jesus.

At the end of this wonderfully crafted documentary, we are left with an honest portrayal of a complicated man. Because of Richard, there was David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Rick James, Prince, and Harry Styles, to name just a few. The end montage shows the generational influence.

Award-winning performer Porter presses the highlighter firmly on the point: “Richard is the reason I can show up, and be who I want to be.”

10 out of 10.

The documentary will debut in theaters on April 21, 2023. Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films, director Lisa Cortés’s “Little Richard: I Am Everything” was the opening night documentary at Sundance.

“Little Richard: I am Everything” (Press photo)

“A Thousand to One” is a great debut

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

A.V. Rockwell’s feature film “A Thousand to One,” which opened recently after a suc cessful run at the Sundance Film Festi val, where it snagged an award, is a story about an African American single mother who’s trying to rebuild her life after a prison stint. Under director A.V. Rockwell’s careful eye—one shaped by her commercials and short films—and the work of her gifted cin ematographer Eric Yue, we care about Inez (Teyana Taylor), who’s face-to-face with some of life’s most challenging events.

Inez is a combination of many young girls who are too young for motherhood, having never had a strong mother or father, or learned those basic skills. Instead, we wit ness a mother torn away from her son, both (now) the product of the New York City foster care system.

This story is told inside the city’s acceler ated and downright aggressive gentrifica tion and discriminatory policing.

Set in 1993, in the vibrancy of Harlem, we watch Inez parlay her skills as a hairstyl ist at Rikers Island. Fast-forward to a year later, and she’s living in a Brooklyn home less shelter, trying to find work and deter mined to change her life for the better.

On the streets, Inez first re-encounters her 6-year-old son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola). Even at this tender age, he knows she’s not a dependable person and is reluctant to talk to her. He might be young, but his memory of being abandoned on the street is seared into his brain. When Terry is hospitalized after an accident at his foster home, Inez starts to visit, attempting to break the thick ice with a plastic Power Ranger toy. But this kid is being shaped by his surroundings and asks her an important question: “Why do you keep leaving me?” That triggers her own abandonment memories and, in an impulsive move, she takes him with her to Harlem.

The film does a pivot as Rockwell takes us into their lives together over 15 years, with Terry played at 13 by Aven Courtney and at 17 by Josiah Cross.

When Inez first abducts her son, the news kept her on edge, but as the years stretched out, they both began to relax as they explored creating their mother-and-son relationship. Way back in the ’90s, when rents were affordable, they find an apartment with a fake ID for Terry, aka Darrell, who starts to attend school, and he’s bright, which opens up possibilities about college but would require additional paperwork that could threaten to expose their shared secret and pull them apart again.

One of the key emotions that runs through Rockwell’s film is empathy, which is a hard, hard one to pull off, but she did it here. You care about both mother and teenage son, and we can clearly see the warning signs of his teenage angst coming toward

and reconnects with Lucky (Will Catlett) after he gets out of prison. To some degree, he’s a “father figure” for Terry, but with his own issues; it’s not the best fit, since he disappears for weeks at a time.

The casting is solid, especially with the three actors playing Terry. The director’s eye captures the disappointment and hurt as this character grows up, sadly a soul who has grown accustomed to disappointment.

And Inez is not stupid—she is aware of the tension in her son. “Hurt people, hurt people,” and they are both deeply damaged people, as is Lucky.

Because of the director’s storytelling ability, we want to see this fragile family unit come together and heal, even though we know their chances are slim to none. Taylor floats the pain to the top but keeps it nicely tucked in. The “in control”/“out of control” balance is tremendous in one scene, where she’s simultaneously laughing and crying while eating a cup of instant noodles and watching reality TV, opening the complexity of her inner life for examination.

Now to the critique. Could it have been trimmed? I think, yes. The theme was correctly introduced in act one and reinforced in act two, but little more was offered to take us into act three. The central question “will mother and son have a relationship” was raised and answered, so there’s clearly solid script development; the product of good “writers’ labs,” as Rockwell shared.

The result of those workshops is that the characters are alive and filled with compassion and love. It wasn’t easy for any family struggling to make ends meet in New York

City over Giuliani’s time as mayor, nor in the following Bloomberg years. New York is a complicated city, and the optical “crackdown” on street crime threw open racial profiling and stop-and-frisk policies that clearly target people of color. That means that Terry is abused by the police, and slammed against a wall for just walking home from school.

The property development clearly favors “the other side” while disenfranchising the longtime residents of color in entire neighborhoods.

This happened and is still happening. This is where the new “landlords” forced people out of their homes by simply making

them unlivable, which adds another crisis on Inez’s shoulders while she’s mourning a loss. Inez snapped in act one when she was told she wasn’t a good mother, but by the end of the film, she sees that her sacrifices made her exactly that: a good mother.

There’s a special place in my heart for the work of DP Eric K. Yue. He has a sharp eye with images that stay seared inside the brain. If it wasn’t for his ability, we would not be able to fall into the marginalized communities. Yue brings visual authenticity and helps create a series of moving character portraits of complicated people living in complicated times.

“A Thousand to One” is now playing.

Inez (Teyana Taylor) in a scene from “A Thousand to One” (Courtesy photos)

Inez (Teyana Taylor) and Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola)

Netflix’s ‘Beef’ is extremely well done

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

I’m sure there have been moments when you wanted to explode against people who have wronged you. I don’t think there’s a human being on this Earth who hasn’t experienced that awful, sinking feeling when you realize that you now have beef. In the new, limited series “Beef,” a dark, dark comedy from first-time creator Lee Sung Jin, premiering April 6 on Netflix, there’s an exploration into the lives of two L.A. motorists’ fury.

Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) is a struggling contractor and handyman who is filled with guilt about his immigrant parents who were forced to return to Korea. Amy Lau (Ali Wong) is inches away from selling her thriving houseplant business, for millions, to a greedy group of investors. Her dream is to stay home with her husband George (Joseph Lee) and young daughter June (Remy Holt).

When Danny and Amy meet, in a showdown in a parking lot, it sets something off in both of them as they chase each other through suburbia, which is cap -

first encounter, their desire to ruin each other’s lives builds.

The limited series slides us into this crazy beef carefully and with humor. It’s such a gentle introduction that you begin to think this should have been a simple, 90-minute feature instead of a 10-episode limited Netflix series. But the depth of why each of these characters is becoming unglued draws you into their story. Between their vicious pranks, we can clearly understand that “hurt people, hurt people” despite their mutual efforts to appear absolutely fine.

Poor Amy: This woman seems to have it all but on the inside, she’s seething over a passive-aggressive and meddling mother-in-law (Patti Yasutake); the cold, and calculated manipulations of a billionaire (Maria Bello) who continues to tease her about acquiring her business; and George’s obsession with following in his artist father’s footsteps despite having no talent, at all.

Poor Danny: He’s in debt to his cousin (David Choe), who may be a dangerous

currency-obsessed younger brother Paul (Young Mazino), who has all the energy of youth and none of the experience necessary to navigate their lives.

As the limited series progresses, we see what makes the leads tick, as well as their families. There’s a long list of disappointments across the board. And despite the awful behavior of Danny and Amy, they are actually surrounded by good people, sound advice, and support—we can clearly see that each of these revenge-obsessed souls is capable of kindness, but refuses to extend empathy to others, also in pain; instead, choosing to allow the anger to swallow them whole.

“Beef” is one of the upcoming TV projects from A24, the studio behind Best Picture winners “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Moonlight”; a company known for diversity, inclusion, and risktaking. Understanding the quality of projects produced by A24, “Beef” fits because the series is smart and well-cast with excellent direction and production design. Despite the indie current running through the series, it’s clear that it’s polished. The

writing is superlative, managing to show the differences in ethnicity and class among the Asian-American characters.

“Beef” tosses up many interesting ideas. One stuck to me more than the others. In a therapy session, Amy asks: “Do you think love can really be unconditional?”

A great question, don’t you think?

She continued, “You know, there must be some point where we all fall outside the reach of love. Like the mistake is so big and then the love has to stop.”

Yikes, another excellent question posing as a statement.

Perhaps what makes this series so special is the observational space we are given as an audience. We follow as Danny and Amy go deeper and to much sadder places. They are filled with growing anxieties and festering wounds that hurt the people in their world: hurt people, hurt people and “Beef” knows this better than most.

I won’t spoil the ending of A24’s “Beef” (on Netflix on April 6), but I will suggest that you be prepared to take a look inside yourself and if there are any simmering kinds of beef in your life, you might want to squash them.

Steven Yeun in “Beef” (Netflix photo)

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By

SUPREME GODDESS KYA

April 6, 2023—April 12, 2023

Rebirth of a New Nation: On April 5/6, what a glamorous pink full moon in Libra at 16 degrees, pulling on your heartstrings to get to the heart of matters. Pay attention to your actions and the words you speak as a reminder of balance and to not give your energy to every little thing. Do what is more important and weed out the distractions. The energy of a pioneer with balance is at its best. The greats, grands, fathers, mothers, are blowing steam at table to bring balance to collect what is due. “Every day is a bank account, and time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we’ve got 24 hours each.” — Christopher Rice

A possible meeting with the bosses and higher-ups where they will want to converse with you regarding old, ancient information. Capricorn, keep in mind that wooden nickels have no value in exchange for data. What are the people at the roundtable offering you of value? Say what is on your mind and say it as you see fit. If it’s a spade, it’s a spade; same thing as if it’s a joker, it’s a joker. Stand your ground, use practicality and sound wisdom. On April 11 until 4 p.m. April 13, no need for a tea party; ask and it shall be given. A boss cycle to make a move on the chessboard (and keep in mind who moves first on the chessboard). Handle any paperwork.

Game recognizes game, so what knowledge are you gaining to step up your game? Humanity lives in a free-will society. Always remember the Golden Rule, Matthew (7:12): “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” Work needs your attention, energy, and the magic touch to will it into existence. Be straightforward with what you are pursuing to manifest into reality. Get organized and structured, and clean up any debris around the house, office, or anywhere you see fit. In the days approaching April 6, you are surrounded by heavenly hefty energy, so stay calm and stay in your lane when others want to grab your attention for distraction.

Are you in a hurry to travel somewhere far away where the sand meshes against your toes and water cleanses your feet? The kind of atmosphere that leaves you feeling like you can walk on water? April is a cycle of fast motion and decision-making, clearing out the air to proceed to the next mission. A highly spiritual revelation will come about when you least expect it in your daily aspects, indicating a signal for departure. On April 7 until 8 a.m. on April 9, all the signs, conversation, and symbols are giving you hints and clues when you are unsure. Sit in silence and you will find what you seek. All the stars are in motion.

Wow Aries, do you feel that enormous amount of energy? Before making a hasty decision or move, engage in the energy and see how you feel first. Something is pulling you—as a matter of fact, it’s been on your mind for a minute to reach out or make a move. There is no right or wrong order, it’s all in how you view and how you approach. Be your genuine true self and express from the heart. That connection will be more rewarding when you do. The energy is more robust on April 9 until 1 p.m. on April 13—there is no holding back, so state your facts and lay your cards out on the table.

Futuristic planning that you predicted is coming to the forefront, so remember the slogan “Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.” It’s time to allow the world and your immediate folks in your space to see you on the throne, and not in an egoistic way. This about the next generation in line seated at the table, calling the shots as a family, unity, and community. Focus on the details and the history and plans/agenda that have been put in place before you came on this Earth. April 11 until 4 p.m. on April 13, when you walk through, it’s like no other, due to the fact that you are unique.

You may need to sit down for this week due to the fact that so many divine messages, signs, and conversations are blowing across the airways about you, just like you intended to draw attention. That’s one hell of a helicopter speeding ticket in the air. What better way to do something to get one’s attention? One more thing: Do you have the facts to state your claim for the claims brought against you? Let’s see; the movie is not over. On April 6 and days leading up to April 13, you are one heck of a shapeshifter with all types of piloting and schemes. Do you have the gavel?

A kind of week where you do the work and ask questions later, which seems awkward. There is a reason for the madness that is occurring for the truth to be leaked out. Once someone in the family knows, the mama knows, then the father knows. You have a lot at your table and finally the secret is out. This is a great-great-grandfather kind of news that leaks out. This is also an opportune week for home, work, family, and other obligations occurring all at once. Balance is key, and just listen. On April 7 until 8 a.m. on April 9, who let the cat out the bag?

This is an all-star week, like the world all-star game, for you to be recognized in the hall of fame. The work you do for family, friends, and in the community is greatly appreciated, so this will catch you off guard. On the other hand, you have divine intuitive messages coming to you, be they warnings or assisting you on your journey. This is a cycle to give a helping hand to an elder, child, family member, or friend, or volunteer your service and time for a greater cause. Whatever boss moves need to be made to gather a sound blueprint, it’s about time. Between April 9 until 1 p.m. on April 13, it’s showtime on a new plane.

You will be in contact with the spiritual realm, be it through the dream state; while driving, cooking, talking; or mainly through your words of action. You are going to be in rare form and that is fine, because when the divine speaks, there is no chuckling in their voice. The changes you see are a build-up to the main events that will take place by the end of the month. Barry White has a song called “Practice What You Preach,” so keep on performing, practicing, and preaching, and your actions will be in alignment with the universal flow. On April 11 until 4 p.m. on April 13, you are grasping the ideas of how to be more in tune with the rhythm of the universal frequency.

This is not a game; this is the wise owl instructing you on your agenda. Waste no time on beating around the bush; the bush is gone and there is no cover right now. The seeds are budding out, which means you are in preparation to make a grand entrance. Bring your plan and your team of folks with you to the meeting of the minds. When the bosses unite, it’s all business at the end of the day—better you leave with the whole cake, pie, punch, or even just a sliver of it. On April 6 and days leading up to April 13, what do you want?

It’s all pouring in, slowly like the air blows. It may show up in fractions here and there, not consistent, yet by the end of the month, you can add it all up. That’s right: You have to gather all the ingredients, then watch how they soak into one another to make a delightful texture and flavor. Any legal affairs require attention; also, what are your plans and have you put them together as a product, or something for you and others to see? On April 7 until 8 a.m. on April 9, there are all kinds of sudden twists, turns, moves to be made.

You are probably getting a real kick out of the 411 you are receiving. If it’s not talking to you or back to you, then what is going on? Some form of revelation is coming about that will shock you, making you turn off the faucet, stove, washing machine—whatever is making noise—to quiet everything to listen carefully. As you inner-stand the changes, and what must be done is now loud and clear, it will be time for you to make a decision. Around April 9 until 1 p.m. on April 13, what’s on your mind?

Vinateria

AmNews Food

A spring spread any bunny can create

With spring in the air, it’s the perfect time to invite guests over for a hopping party. It’s also a great opportunity to tackle that dreadful spring cleaning and spruce up your living spaces with vibrant decor for visitors to enjoy along with a delicious recipe.

With this sweet, colorful table arrangement, your whole family can get into the spring spirit. From festive utensils to a bright centerpiece and cute snacks, your spring setup can be fresh and fabulous.

It’s easy to put together and easy on the budget. Pair it with appetizers or even a main dish for a full spring party

Yield: 10 chicks

1 package cream cheese

¼ tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

½ lemon, juice only

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

Crackers

Carrots

Whole black peppercorns

Using mixer, combine cream cheese, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Add salt and

Using fingers, form about 1 tablespoon of cream

Before serving, roll each ball into shredded cheddar

Cut small triangles from carrots for beaks and feet. Press

Lay napkins flat on table. Place one of each utensil in napkin facing top corner. Wrap napkin around utensils. Tie ribbon around middle of napkin. Place in bowl or basket on table.

and chocolate-coated candy eggs around bowl.

dies. Arrange fresh or fake flowers in center. Set on table as centerpiece. Place eggs around dish, if desired.

Fun Easter ‘egg-turnatives’—creative alternatives to decorating eggs this year

While decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back centuries, today’s high cost of eggs may make it more difficult for some families this year. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t find creative ways to keep the season special and create memories with loved ones.

With more than 140 years of experience, the Easter egg decorating experts at PAAS®) are sharing some ideas and inspiration for fun things to do with your Easter decorating kit. These “egg-citing” alternatives to using traditional eggs can help keep those simple moments of connection and creativity alive.

Pretty in plastic

Dyeing plastic eggs is an activity perfect for all ages, with less stress and less mess since they don’t crack or break if dropped. Dyeable plastic eggs also typically come in packages of more than a traditional dozen, offering more opportunities for creativity. Another added bonus: You

can decorate your home every year with the same finished product, since they don’t go bad. They are also perfect for DIY projects, such as making them into garlands, hanging ornaments, place settings, or gifts that can be used for years to come.

Baked Easter decor

Instead of buying eggs, you can make your own baking soda dough eggs using 1/2 cup corn starch, 1 cup baking soda, and 3/4 cup water. Combine the ingredients, roll into egg shapes, and bake in the oven for 1 hour at 175 F, then simply dye them as you would real eggs, using your favorite PAAS egg decorating kit. Fun for all ages, these eggs can be turned into a variety of decor and mementos with kids taking the lead on mixing the dough batter and shaping the eggs before an adult helps with the baking.

Creative kitchen canvases

Coffee filters are good for more

perfect canvases for Easter decorating and naturally take dye. With 100–250 coffee filters per package, they’re also a cost-effective way to maximize crafting opportunities and let creativity run wild. Once the filters are dyed and dried, you can turn them into flower centerpieces, papier maché eggs, artwork to frame, and more.

Repurposed treasure from nature

Kids often love to hunt for funshaped and colorful rocks when

exploring outdoors or collect seashells while on vacation or taking a walk on the beach. Rather than storing them in a “treasure box” or throwing them back outside, they can be decorated for Easter using paint, stickers, glitter, accessories, and other add-ons. Some seashells can even be dyed. Using rocks and shells of all shapes and sizes is a cost-effective, low-waste alternative that allows children to use their imaginations for creative play once they’re done decorating.

For more tips and ideas to make Easter “eggstra” special this year, visit paaseastereggs.com.

Sustainable tips for avoiding egg waste

If you plan to keep the tradition of dyeing eggs alive this year, you can take steps to avoid food waste once you’re done decorating. Consider these sustainable tips from the experts at PAAS:

* Make deviled eggs: As long as

you refrigerate the eggs shortly after dyeing them, you can use them to make deviled eggs — an Easter brunch staple — for your family meal.

* Create centerpieces: Dyed eggs can be used to make a beautiful centerpiece for your family dinner. Simply spread them over your table runner around other decor, fill a glass bowl or jar with the eggs, or place them in a floral arrangement to add pops of color to the table.

* Serve a salad: Eating the eggs saves you from food waste, and eggs can be used in a variety of salads, including egg salad, potato salad, or chef’s salad, to add a boost of protein and flavor.

* Start a compost pile: If you don’t plan to eat the eggs once you’re done decorating, you can create a compost pile near your garden. Hard-boiled eggshells are a rich source of calcium and other essential nutrients that plants need.

(Family Features)

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

“A Beautiful Noise” is unforgettable theatrical experience

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

“The Neil Diamond Musical: A Beautiful Noise” is a delight for your ears, eyes, and heart— an example of Broadway getting it totally right! This new Broadway musical about the journey of singer Neil Diamond lets the audience scratch the surface of what goes on in the life of a music, songwriting, and singing superstar.

The book by Anthony McCarten is masterfully constructed to let you see an older Diamond reflecting on his life and his legendary songs as he struggles with depression and anger while sitting with his therapist.

When a musical can draw you in and then present you with phenomenal, precisely placed performances of beloved songs, including “Cherry, Cherry,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Forever in Blue Jeans,” “I’m a Believer,” “I Am…I Said,” “Love on the Rocks,” “September Morn,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Sweet Caroline,” “America,” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” and you get the opportunity to sing along, it

will lift your spirits, feed your soul, and make you feel “so good.”

Watching the story of Diamond’s life, the audience sees a side to this entertainer that I know was new and foreign to me. It is always interesting to consider the lives of people who have become superstars and see behind the lights, concerts, and fame to realize that these are human beings with weaknesses, insecurities, and faults.

The cast of this musical is topnotch. There is something so magnificent in watching Will Swenson play Neil-Now and Mark Jacoby play Neil-Then. You realize, through the penetrating performances that these two men give, that had sadness, anxiety, and fear in his life. You realize that when a performer like Diamond, intensely captured by Swenson, performs a concert, he does not necessarily feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, but instead is always putting pressure on himself.

This musical also demonstrates how people have so many layers to their lives, through their family history, through traumas, and that

we truly never know the steps that someone has taken to get to the point in their lives where they are famous—and we don’t know what that fame costs them.

Several performances in this musical are outstanding, including Linda Powell as Diamond’s therapist. Powell brings to this role— what she always brings to her roles—a sensitivity, a believability, and a tenderness.

In his lifetime, Diamond had three wives, but actress Robyn Hurder, who plays Marcia, wife number two, truly delivers an outstanding performance. This actress is flawless on stage and gives a powerhouse delivery.

The choreography by Steven Hoggett flows very well with the songs and the often concert-like experience of the musical. Of course, Michael Mayer’s direction superbly brings every element together. “A Beautiful Noise” features sets by David Rockwell, fabulous costumes by Emilio Sosa, lighting by Keven Adams, and sound by Jessica Paz.

For more info, visit www.abeautifulnoisethemusical.com.

“Harder They Come” sings at the Public through April 9

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Suzan Lori-Parks always tells our stories with depth and flair, and brings our struggles and triumphs to light in a way that is funny, respectful, blunt, and engaging. That is what she has done with “The Harder They Come,” based on the film of the same name made 50 years ago, produced and directed as today’s musical by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor Rhone and on stage at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette Street).

This jammin’ musical features the songs of Jimmy Cliff, including “You Can Get It if You Really Want.”

Parks created the book and provided additional new songs to tell the story of Ivan, a young Jamaican man from the country who comes to the city to make his dreams of being a music star come true in Kingston, Jamaica.

The audience meets Ivan when he comes to Kingston to see his mother and tell her that the grandmother who raised him in the country has died. He shares his dreams of wanting to be a singing star. His mother, Daisy, tries to warn him to go back to the country. She tells him

that Kingston is a very dangerous place that can destroy you.

Ivan proves to be a hard-headed young man with a dream, but also finds himself desperate to acquire his basic needs. As you watch his journey unfold, you learn of the atmosphere in Kingston in the 1970s—how the drug trade was big business and everyone had their

hands out, including the police. You also witness how the power structure was very discouraging when it came to the music business. There was a definite monopoly environment where one man could make or break a new artist.

“The Harder They Come” has a love story, a dream, and a person who sees himself as a

hero who is fighting for the underdog. The musical is full of amazing energy by the cast, delightful choreography, and wonderful singing performances from reggae to gospel music.

Leading the cast as Ivan is Natey Jones, and he gives a charged performance.

Jeannette Bayardelle gives a cap-

tivating performance as Daisy, trying to guide her son in the right direction. Bayardelle has one of the most powerful vocal instruments! When she lets her voice go, it soars to new heights.

Meccah is charming as Elsa, Ivan’s love interest.

Jacob Ming-Trent as Pedro gives a marvelous performance. He always manages to bring humor to his roles, although like his fellow cast members, he can belt out a song as well.

Other featured performers who deliver smooth performances include Dominique Johnson as Jose, Andrew Clarke as Lyle, Ken Robinson as Hilton, and—on the night I was there—understudy Denver Andre Taylor as Preacher.

The musical has entertaining direction by Tony Taccone; co-direction by Sergio Trujillo; engaging choreography by Edgar Godineaux; and vibrant, pulsating music supervision, orchestration, and arrangements by Kenny Seymour.

If you want to get your jammin’ on, you need to head to the Public Theater right away because this production will only play through April 9. For more info, visit www. publictheater.org.

Will Swenson performs as Neil Diamond in “A Beautiful Noise.” (Julieta Cervantes photo)

Natey Jones in the world premiere of "The Harder They Come." (Joan Marcus photos)

Meecah and Natey Jones in world premiere of “The Harder They Come” at Public Theater

Spring blooms with artistic opportunities for “Black Rose”

By BRENIKA BANKS Special to the AmNews

Spring is the perfect time for a “hostile” takeover in the name of superb art, according to Roosevelt “Black Rose” Taylor. The master historical painter anticipates his collaboration with Harlem Hops, a Black-owned craft beer bar, that he’ll design labels for in time for summer. Taylor also plans on participating in events with Hackensack Brewing and Jubilee Beer to celebrate Juneteenth in upcoming months. He said working with Jubilee is “a beautiful thing” because the proceeds from his designs will help fund students in Harlem who will be attending HBCUs.

Taylor is on a mission to promote hidden and unnurtured talented youth in Harlem. His program, the Harlem Art Club, encourages young people from Harlem to obtain an education while finding creative spaces for their artistry. Artistic opportunities are vital to minors who yearn for help in uncovering their capabilities. “That’s what the Harlem Art Club does: It brings back art to the classroom,” said Taylor. He recalled enjoying the diversity of art in school by experiencing different musicals, plays, and museums. “Now, it’s not the same and the kids need [those experiences],” he said. “The creative side keeps them from being in a box.”

Creativity and thinking outside the box helped Taylor become the artist he is today. His beginnings in public hous-

ing encouraged him to visualize a way out through painting. He cites his grandmother and mother for inspiring him.

Taylor sold his first piece to an upstairs neighbor or $300 when he was 11 years old, and eventually attended the Art and Design High School, the same school his mother once attended.

Taylor said he has been honored to display artworks at places like the Harlem Fine Arts Show while uniting globally with other Black artists. Increased media coverage and features on various platforms led to greater visibility on his social media. Designing paintings for Harlem businesses such as Minton’s Playhouse, Cecil Steakhouse, and Just Lorraine’s Place 2 helps showcase the best representation of his art. “I really wanted people to experience the artwork from an individual who was bred, born, and raised in Harlem,” said Taylor.

Meesha Rose, an African and Latino Studies major who owns a painting by Taylor, is attracted to Taylor’s artwork because of the seamless connections throughout different Harlem eras. “Roosevelt captures the legacy, achievements and voice of our ancestors,” said Rose.

“His work brings forth the story of our people through precision and color in a way that gives a feeling of hope, prosperity, and promise.”

“I respect human beings who are willing to share stories of redemption,” she said.

“Roosevelt is an artist who paints stories of redemption and reclamation in color.”

Taylor wants his audience to see visions of the Harlem Renaissance era, as well as the new version of Harlem, through his creations. “Harlem inspires me in so many ways,” he said. He cherishes the continuing history of Harlem, from monuments to the names of streets and boulevards. He uses encounters of both past Harlem natives and his own to design his vision as he paints from the heart. “I’m on my A game right now,” said Taylor.

Taylor said there is a lot to be told by a Harlem artist in a Harlem gallery. He wants to see all the eras of Harlem, from the 1920s to present day and beyond, shown more. Harlem is not how it was in the ’90s, he said—it’s more complex, with people from all over the globe residing in the neighborhood.

For more information, visit @TakingHarlemBackForever on Instagram and www. facebook.com/theharlemartclub135.

Roosevelt “Black Rose” Taylor (Gavson Photo Works photo) (Harlem Gatsby photo)

(Gavson Photo Works photo)

APRIL JAZZ APPRECIATION, JAZZ MUSEUM, DIZZY’S, SISTAS’ PLACE

Jazz is supporting a friend in need.

R&B, it’s One Love, it’s for now and ever more Black music

Jazz is spending all day at the Schomburg Center for Social Research in Black Culture and realizing that if Black History Month was every day for 5,000 years, it still wouldn’t cover the history and accomplishments of Blacks folks.

Jazz is being Black and proud.

Jazz is rising up in the face of adversity—that Black girl in the Polo Grounds telling her daddy “I’m going to be a doctor” and him being so proud, seeing her in that white jacket and stethoscope, gon’ “girl, you bees bad.”

Jazz is all day, all night, dreams and wishes and what you make up.

Jazz is knowing why the Caged Bird Sings. Jazz Is Black Girl Magic. Jazz Is Cecil Taylor playing that back, Ornette Coleman’s plastic sax, Sun Ra forging Afrofuturism ahead of his time, sometimes they just don’t understand.

Jazz is getting it right or maybe getting it wrong?

Jazz is do or die.

Jazz is behop hip hop do wop and all-around Black music never stop!

Jazz is old school Apollo Theater, sitting next to my mother watching Pearl Bailey sitting on the edge of the stage declaring her feet hurt, Arthur Prysock in a silk suit and cigarette dangling. Jazz is Rashidah’s poetry, Otis Redding asking for Just one More Day.

Jazz is rain or shine.

Jazz is the Amsterdam News, 113 years.

Jazz is Randy Weston Roots of Africa.

Jazz is stayin’ when you gotta go—going when you wanna stay, love is crazy like that cowboy. Jazz is Mommy kissing your booboo making it all right…

Jazz is Daddy teaching you to ride a bike.

Jazz is dat dere and where do we get air? and Daddy can I have that big elephant over dere? Jazz is Somethin Else, it’s This Here Cannonball Adderley.

Jazz is everything Greg Tate ever wrote, Jazz Is Stanley Crouch on Notes of a Hanging Judge, Jazz is Amiri Baraka’s “Black Music” and “Blues People.” Jazz is Ishmael Reed writin’ and fightin’ “Mumbo Jumbo,” Quincy Troupe Snake-Back Solos.

Jazz is Calhoun playing a dope gig at Sistas’ Place, wondering about the Cabbage, hoping it’s not bananas.

Jazz is Sonny Rollins on the Williamsburg Bridge. Jazz is bell hooks talking truth, Jazz Is Bill’s Place, Jazz is not having to say you’re cool. Jazz is Lou Donaldson’s El Dorado, Roy Haynes driving his Bricklin, Miles Davis in his Ferrari.

Jazz is live music at Jazzmobile, Lana Turner swing-dancing in an elegant summer outfit wearing a hat that only a Charlie Parker solo can explain.

Jazz is never apologizing for your Blackness, shout out to Jack Johnson

Jazz is Forever Harlem; Jazz is Harlem’s Evolution.

Jazz is Ray Charles singing “America the Beautiful” for our children with dreams, for the ancestors and elders who showed us the way through the back door to the front door to the Air Force One stroll.

It’s soul, it’s blues, gospel,

Jazz is Eternity…It’s Jazz Appreciation Month…Y’all Support.

Free live jazz happens every Thursday afternoon at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (58 West 129th Street). Today, April 6, at 2 p.m., the drummer, arranger, and composer Ronnie Burrage and his Trio performs. The drummer refuses to be categorized— he’s a musician who loves playing great music, from straight-ahead to avant garde, having recorded with Billy Bang, Hamiet Bluiett, the World Saxophone Quartet, and Sonny Fortune. One of his first groups, the Burrage Ensemble, included Kenny Kirkland, Wallace Roney, and the Marsalis brothers (Wynton and Branford).

Burrage is a multi-instrumentalist, proficient on percussion and vibraphone, but he seems to be holding back on a great asset: his singing ability. As a youngster, he was a member of the St. Louis Cathedral Boys Choir, and he later sang with the Soul Flamingos and Fontella Bass, so just remember singing is yet another facet to his perfected arsenal.

“Live From Harlem” jazz Thursdays is presented by the Jazz Foundation of America. Seating is first come, first served.

Later at 7 p.m., the National Jazz Museum in Harlem will present “Jazz and Respectability, Unlearning the Limitations through Black Feminism,” hosted and curated by Emily Springer. Question: How does respectability influence artists, and jazz in particular? This question will be explored and serve as a platform for a larger conversation about gender, race, and jazz.

The panel will include writer, poet, and activist Dr. Naomi Extra; drummer and educator Jerome Jennings; and bassist Liany Mateo.

The evening will include a live performance by Jennings, Mateo, and pianist Alexis Lombre.

For more information, visit the website njmh.org.

On April 8, Sistas’ Place in Brooklyn (456 Nostrand Avenue), the little jazz club oasis where the sun is eternal and patrons are treated like family, will host saxophonist and composer Eric Person’s Soul Saturation, featuring pianist Brian Charette, bassist Kenny Davis, and drummer George Gray.

“This project, Soul Saturation, is a combination of my music based on my interaction and mentorship with Houston Person, who is featured on my latest CD Blue Vision (Distinction Records 2022),” said Eric Person. The music grooves with healthy doses of soul and blues.

The native of St. Louis plays alto, soprano, tenor saxophone, and flute. “The alto is first but my flute is moving up,” said Person. Over the years, he has played a variety of music with Living Colour, Chico Hamilton, John Hicks, and Ronald Shannon Jackson (who provided him with his first European tour).

“I have always been about blurring the lines and all kinds of music continues to influence me; some of it is incorporated into my repertoire,” Person said. For the last 15 years, he has enjoyed a collaboration with Houston Person under the banner Person to Person, touring together when their schedules allow.

As a band leader, Eric Person has recorded 11 CDs, eight of which appear on his independent label Distinction Records, founded in 1999. “Playing at Sistas’ is my favorite,” he said. “I wish there were more places like that.”

For reservations, call 718-398-1766.

Dizzy’s Club (60th Street and Broadway) offers a few days of required attendance beginning on April 12, with Helen Sung: “Big Band and Beyond.” Sung has established a reputation as one of the most prominent pianists of hard bop swing jazz with a soft touch that dances through ballads and heavy chords on uptempo tunes, especially her noted Thelonious Monk arrangements. Here for one night only, she moves away from her small group configurations and into her big band debut appearance.

I met Sung some years ago when she was a youngster, playing at Cleopatra’s Needle in Manhattan. It is so good to see how she continues to blossom. In 2021, she was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, which offered her the opportunity to compose “Portraits in

Jazz,” a suite of musical tributes to the jazz masters she studied with at the Herbie Hancock Institute (formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance).

Her repertoire will include tributes from the recent suite. Her trio of bassist Vincente Archer and drummer Adam Cruz will be supported by the larger ensemble, some of whom will include trumpeters Marcus Printup and Michael Rodriguez; trombone players James Burton III and Gina Benalcazar; and saxophonists Steve Wilson and John Ellis.

Two shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; for reservations, visit website jazz.org.

On April 13–14, JD Allen featuring “Charlie Hunter: Americana Vol. 2” takes the stage at Dizzy’s Club. His longtime band consists of bassist Greg August and drummer Rudy Royston, with special guest guitarist Charlie Hunter. For this CD outing, Allen and Hunter are exploring the blues legacy. Allen is committed to new territory and telling stories that demand attention.

Some years ago, at a late-night jam session during the Detroit Jazz Festival, Allen was killing it and Buster Williams leaned over and said to me, “That kid is going places.” He was so right and Allen is still soaring. You have two days to check him.

Two shows each night at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Saxophonist and composer Eric Person (Erika Kapin photo)

Indictment

Continued from page 3

more togetherness, and less and less divisiveness, and it’s my hope that cooler heads will prevail as we move forward if we can just simply allow the process to play itself out.”

But are Trump’s posts protected by the First Amendment? Even Norman Siegel, one of the country’s foremost proponents of free speech and civil liberties, is conflicted.

“Even people like Donald Trump, when they say things that are not only unpleasant, but also hurtful [and] painful, there is First Amendment protection for everyone,” said Siegel. “It doesn’t mean we should be silent and say he can continue to do it. There have been people in cases [who] use the First Amendment freedom of speech as a defense for any legal claim that they’re using their speech in a negative way.”

He added that judgment of whether Trump’s posts are protected is fact-intensive, and often relies on the line between protected rhetorical speech and direct threats. Siegal praised the judge’s decision not to issue a gag order for the ex-president to discuss the case and instead warn him to “refrain from making comments or engaging in conduct that has the potential to incite violence, create civil unrest, or jeopardize the safety or well-being of any individuals.” He said any decision to silence Trump should be made on

Medicare

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out-of-pocket costs, and useless perks. And she said, there are retirees with transplant or cancer treatments in facilities where Aetna is not in their network. She called the new plan “disingenuous.”

“We can help [the mayor] find wasteful spending in the city all day long but it should never be on the backs of a retired worker who’s disabled, infirm, who was made promises by the city that we would have premium free healthcare and a choice of our healthcare plan,” said Pizzitola.

She added that it’s especially disheartening considering the city workforce is primarily people of color and women of color and therefore many of its retirees are the same demographic. She said

Dec. 4, the next in-person hearing in the case.

NYU School of Law Prof. Erin Murphy said Trump’s actions are consistent with his history of delegitimizing Black political authority and thinks there are potentially serious teeth to the ex-president’s words.

“We should as New Yorkers, whatever our political persuasion is, experience a threat to [Bragg] as a threat to our city,” she said. “We have seen these kinds of acts of violence…we should care a great deal about letting the system in the process work out in its own way unimpeded [and] unaffected by the kind of threats that nobody else is allowed to get away with.”

Murphy cited last month’s arrest of a Yonkers man for making threats against the city’s mayor and police as a recent example of law enforcement intervening in incitement of violence. Murphy also said the ex-president’s claims that Bragg was backed by George Soros are rooted in antisemitism, conjuring images of “Jewish power and cabals.” Antisemitic attacks are rising in New York City, according to NYPD data.

While Trump’s baseball bat picture coincides with Major League Baseball’s opening day, it’s hard to imagine the intention is not threatening, given the context. Still, he’s arguing he didn’t know the bat would be next to a photo of Bragg and that he was celebrating the slugger’s “American-made” manufacturers. Fordham School of Law Prof. Cheryl Bader said Trump

that many on a fixed income can’t pay rent or afford extra costs.

“These are your ladies of color, mostly single seniors and are lowincome retirees,” said Pizzitola.

Jake Gardner of Walden Macht & Haran, a lawyer who is representing the organization, explained that the public service retiree group has already filed suit against the city three times over healthcare. A little over a year ago, they challenged the city’s initial Medicare Advantage plan. The courts ruled in their favor. In 2022, they sued the city and Emblem Health for charging retirees co-pays for their senior care, which is against the law. That litigation is ongoing, but in the meantime retirees aren’t being charged.

“This is our third time in the last year and a half suing the city for their attempt to deprive elderly and disabled retirees of their healthcare rights and so this is

knows exactly where to draw the line with his words, despite not being particularly articulate.

“He wants to let his followers know exactly what he wants them to do but be able to later on, claim no responsibility for the actions of others,” she said. “He might say, ‘Well, this is the perfect media post,’ but certainly, I think that it crosses the line.”

Beyond the dog-and-pony show, Bader said the case can help illustrate the criminal administrative process in New York City and how it affects those who can’t afford the same high-powered lawyers as someone like Trump.

Despite the intimidation against Bragg, the occasion of an indictment is not lost among prominent Black New Yorkers.

Basil Smikle, PhD, director of the Public Policy Program at Hunter College, called it poetic after former New York gubernatorial candidate and Trump supporter Lee Zeldin regularly attacked Bragg on his campaign.

“It is Alvin Bragg [who] made it so that Trump would have to get his behind on a plane and [head] back to New York to face these charges,” said Smikle. “The threats are very important and real, and given what happened on Jan. 6, we need to take them seriously, and I’m sure he does. But it’s also a larger threat to our democracy that Trump’s launched and wants to position himself as being above the law, which clearly is not the case.”

Rev. Al Sharpton also found

really becoming an assault on their healthcare rights of retirees,” said Gardner.

Gardner said that the retiree group does intend to challenge this Medicare Advantage plan as well but could not reveal details at this time since the lawsuit has not been filed yet.

They are also proposing a bill that mandates a medigap plan to “protect” retirees’ healthcare. Pizzitola said if she can get the bill introduced she’ll name it after former Councilmember Mary Pinkett. In the 1970s, Pinkett championed retired civil servant and city employer healthcare coverage under the 12-126 code.

“With today’s historic award by the city of New York Office of Labor Relations, we’ll offer a customized Medicare Advantage plan that provides high-quality, affordable and convenient health care for City of New York retirees who’ve devoted

the situation poetic in a National Action Network (NAN) statement last week over the news of an arraignment.

“It’s not lost on those of us who were there in 1989 that Donald Trump will likely walk into the same courthouse where the Exonerated 5 were falsely convicted for a crime they did not commit,” he said. “Let’s not forget that it was Donald Trump who took out fullpage ads calling for these five Black and brown young men to get the death penalty. This is the same man who’s now calling for violence when he has to go through the criminal justice system.

“The same man will have to stand up in a courtroom and see firsthand what the criminal justice system is like. All I can say is, what goes around comes around.”

Yusef Salaam, one of the Exonerated 5, initially provided a oneword comment on the news of Trump’s indictment: “Karma.” After Tuesday’s arraignment, he released a second statement.

“Even though 34 years ago, you effectively called for my death and the death of four other innocent children, I wish you no harm,” Salaam 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.

Metro Briefs

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program—that no matter who you are, even people of color who have not been exposed to fencing, the Black community can excel. Since 2000, his program has sent 16 athletes to the Olympics. Two secured silver medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and one brought home the bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016, showing the world there is no obstacle we can’t overcome.

Bronx kitchen teaching the youth how to create a healthier lifestyle

There is an importance in knowing not only how to cook, but how to put together nutritious meals that your body will thank you for. Jasmine Kelley, a carpenter, says eating out too much gets expensive. She enjoys the idea of cooking, but does not want to spend all night doing it.

their careers to serving New Yorkers,” said President of Aetna and Executive Vice President of CVS Health Dan Finke in a statement. “With nearly 60 years of Medicare expertise and experience, we stand ready to serve retirees through our network of primary care and specialty physicians, mental health providers and hospitals they know and trust.”

The contract is valued at more than $15 billion over the course of the first five years and four months. The MLC can negotiate the contract every two years.

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.

Cooking classes at the St. Barnabas Hospital Health and Wellness Center Teaching Kitchen have helped Kelley become an even better chef and taught her how to create a healthy lifestyle. The kitchen is located in the Belmont section of the Bronx. There are three or four classes each week, and each class shows students how to make delicious dishes using healthy ingredients. “You do it yourself. We are just gently guiding you,” said Wanda Mendez, a chef and culinary nutrition educator. Mendez, a Lower East Side native who now lives in the Bronx, added that the recipes reflect the diverse communities in the borough, and that the ingredients can be found in one’s local kitchen or the grocery store. The classes have received positive reviews and are affordable at $5 per class.

Compiled by Morgan Alston

CLASSROOM IN THE

Robert L. Poston, a journalist and loyal Garveyite

Detroit and delivered his powerful lecture, the Poston brothers were swept into his political and international orbit. “They joined the Detroit UNIA,” Martin wrote, and in 1921, Poston attended Garvey’s Second International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World in New York.

At the convention, Poston attracted Garvey’s attention. He was, as Martin described him, “a New Negro, young and fearless, well-educated and articulate, he was the kind of person that Garvey could not allow to slip by. Garvey nominated him for the post of second assistant secretary general of the UNIA. Poston was elected. Thereafter his rise in the association was rapid. He immediately became a regular contributor to, and editorial writer for the Negro World ,” the UNIA organ. In 1922, he became secretary general of the UNIA and later that year, received the UNIA decoration of Knight Commander of the Order of the Nile.

who defended him—Poston even challenged the views and opinions of W.E.B. Du Bois when Du Bois assailed Garvey. “To the credit of Dr. Du Bois, [he was] not responsible for his position,” Poston wrote in a passage quoted by Theodore Vincent in his book Black Power and the Garvey Movement . “As a literary man, as a lover and maker of books, he is great. I often look upon it as a tragedy and crime that this man should be trotted from the holy sanctum of books out into the wild rush of the mob, to assume any leadership. Dr. Du Bois is not rugged enough for the task. His very soul rebels against the thought.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

The books quoted from here and their footnotes provide a valuable sketch of Poston’s highly productive life.

DISCUSSION

A longer and more exhaustive account of Poston’s life would include the contributions he made to journalism, as well his relationship with his siblings.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

For a couple of weeks now, we have been on the journalistic beat, and we have one more beat this week with discussion of Robert T. Lincoln Poston, a prominent editor and reporter who, among other endeavors, was connected to Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).

One of the longest and most informed profiles of Poston appeared in Literary Garveyism—Garvey, Black Arts, and the Harlem Renaissance by Tony Martin. Poston was born February 25, 1891, in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and came of age in a household infused with journalism and literary prowess.

Ephraim, his father, was a teacher, poet, and graduate of Rogers University in Nashville. Among his publications are Manual on Parliamentary

Proceedings (1905) and Pastoral Poems (1906). Poston’s mother, Mollie Cox, was from Oak Grove, Kentucky, and later produced six children with her husband— Fred Douglass, Ulysses Grant, Ephraim Jr., Roberta, Lillian, and Theodore Roosevelt Poston.

Poston’s formative years were imbued with teachings from his parents that more than prepared him for the schoolroom. He attended Nashville’s Walden University and Howard University. There was a brief stint in the military before he returned to Hopkinsville and established his first newspaper, the Hopkinsville Contender . It is not clear when or why he later began his journalist career with the founding of the Detroit Contender in Detroit.

Poston launched the Contender with his brother Ulysses and within “eight months, the new paper had surpassed all its local rivals in circulation,” according to Martin. When Garvey arrived in

A year later, Poston embarked on a trip to Liberia for meetings with high-level officials of the government. “This was to be his last service to the UNIA,” Martin said, “because he died tragically on the way back. The cause of death was pneumonia and it happened at sea on March 16, 1924. Just twenty-four hours [before reaching] New York.” This was a tremendous setback for the organization, and Garvey himself cited the significance of the loss and the incomparable contributions Poston had made.

In a front page eulogy in the Negro World, Garvey said, “We say farewell to Robert Lincoln Poston, but not goodbye, for he is with us still. We see him every minute; his picture cannot escape us. We see the man still serving us. We see his spirit moving. We know that Poston’s soul is so fixed that he is omnipresent in the cause of the UNIA…Let us pray for the repose of his soul, yea, pray that that soul will have immediate entry into heaven and there forever rest in peace.”

Garvey paid tribute to a man

“I firmly believe,” Poston continued, “he has accepted leadership because some few misguided people have thrust it upon him and will not take it off him…But this has been done, and the genial Doctor sometimes feels called upon to justify himself before the public which expects it of him, by attacking Marcus Garvey, when to do this is to rebel against his own conscience.”

Garvey elevated his loyal servant to the rank of a prince and had his body lie in state overnight at Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the UNIA. Afterward, his body was put on a train and taken back to Hopkinsville, escorted by a UNIA entourage.

As Martin noted, Poston’s death was just the first part of a tragic setback for his widow, the artist and sculptor Augusta Savage. She had retired to her home in Florida to await the birth of her child, who died several months after Poston’s death.

Martin closed his discussion of Poston by citing one of his poems that was published in the Negro World . It was entitled “When You Meet a Member of the Ku Klux Klan,” and the closing lines said, “Head him off before he gets ten paces from your door/Take a bat of sturdy oak and knock down once more/This time you may leave him where he wallows in the sand/A spent and humble member of the Ku Klux Klan.”

Poston’s most important years ended abruptly in the 1920s, but he left a legacy of activism and literary output.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

April 3, 1961: Comedic actor Eddie Murphy was born in Brooklyn.

April 4, 1972: Rep. Adam Clayton Powells Jr., died in Miami. He was 63.

April 9, 1898: The great entertainer and activist Paul Robeson was born in Princeton, N.J. He died in 1976.

Robert L. Poston (Photo courtesy of Flickr)

Stop-and-frisk

and policing practices and procedures.

Adams sponsored Introduction 938, which requires the NYPD to provide the Civilian Com plaint Review Board (CCRB) with direct access to all body cam footage.

“Police transparency and accountability are critical to address the racially disparate impacts of policing on Black communities and other communities,” said Adams. “Nationally and here in New York City, we know that there is far more work to be done to ensure more effective and just policing that keeps everyone safe. Con tinued police abuses and killings are occurring throughout the country, and New York is cer tainly not immune.”

Adams said that it was “misguided” to por tray police transparency in conflict with ac countability in public safety. Current policies have fallen short in terms of access to bodyworn camera footage and NYPD oversight, and some state laws prevent the CCRB from viewing sealed records, she said.

At the hearing, the families of victims of police killings, councilmembers, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams spoke about bills related to the How Many Stops Act. The Act involves Intros 586 and 538, which require “full reporting” on low-level NYPD interactions with civilians. Currently, the NYPD is only required to report on level 3 stops or stop-and-frisk. Advocates at the hearing testified that even low-level stops could be disproportionately targeting Black and brown people.

“The How Many Stops Act is a common sense, good government package that will bring much-needed transparency to the NYPD,” said Councilmember Crystal Hudson. “This package will give New Yorkers a more complete picture of the police department’s activities in our communities, mandate the full and accurate reporting of police interactions with the public, and ensure the NYPD is adhering to the City’s Right to Know Act, creating safer communities for us all.”

Williams said that passing these bills is vital for advancing community safety and work he’s been doing since he was first elected more than a decade ago. He was adamant that a better discussion is needed about what policing is and how policing affects these communities.

“The ‘right to know’ includes the right to critical information about whether and how policing reforms are being implemented on the ground in our communities,” said Williams. “In a moment where the tragic results of law enforcement encounters gone wrong fill our headlines, our screens, and our minds, this legislation is urgent.”

Representatives for the NYPD at the hearing said that while they agree with the move toward transparency, they warn against the passage of the proposed bills. The NYPD said that the sheer “burden of documentation outweigh the benefits” would slow down investigations if each stop is recorded. If all body cam videos are declassified, it may not be appropriate for the public because some could involve information from a sealed case, and that there are already entities that report data.

“While the NYPD does not oppose reporting on discipline, it should be known that these categories fall largely within the ambit of CCRB and are currently reported monthly by them,” said an NYPD rep. “Requiring the NYPD to report on the same redundant categories would be a misuse of valuable resources that provide no benefit beyond what CCRB currently provides.”

For the fiscal year of 2022, the NYPD testified that the city paid more than $143 billion in officer misconduct payouts.

Last month, the court-appointed monitor probed the NYPD’s Trespass Affidavit Program (TAP), which once allowed officers to enter and patrol select privately owned apartment buildings, giving them the greenlight to stop, expel, and even arrest non-residents in common areas. A lawsuit alleged the initiative enabled stop-and-frisk practices and was settled in 2017, leading to the court-ordered addition of TAP to the Floyd federal monitor. The NYPD voluntarily scrapped the program in September 2020 and the auditors found the department overwhelmingly complied with the initiative’s shutdown.

But the report did suspect that two Brooklyn precincts—the 71st and 81st—engaged in TAPesque patrols in formerly enrolled apartments between the end of 2020 and the start of 2021. The findings are based on arrest and summons records from such buildings after the program ended. The 120th Precinct in Staten Island also continued to conduct interior patrols in former TAP-enrolled buildings based on camera footage, although the report indicated the precinct was simply not properly informed and immediately ceased the practice after NYPD provided further training.

Then there’s the matter of antiquated infrastructure employed when TAP was active, most notably, signs announcing routine patrols—some dating all the way back to when the program was called “Operation Clean Halls”—are still up.

“When you have the signs up, plus you have officers [who] think that certain buildings [have] more high crime, then I think it signals out [to police],” said NYCLU staff attorney Daniel

Lambright. “The existence of the sign saying that these buildings are still enrolled in TAP, as well as the institutional knowledge of this program that’s been around for over 30 years, creates a situation where these buildings are targeted for additional policing and possible unconstitutional policing.”

The NYCLU was one of the organizations involved in the 2017 settlement.

While the TAP program is officially gone, the shutdown only affects privately owned, multitenant buildings. The NYPD can still randomly or routinely patrol NYCHA complexes.

A police spokesperson disputed the report’s findings on the 71st and 81st Precinct, arguing 21 of the 29 encounters in former TAP-enrolled buildings were veritably not the result of random or routine interior patrols.

“Officers have a duty to perform a due diligence investigation when responding to a call or investigating a complaint from a commu-

nity member,” said the NYPD spokesperson by email. “For example, [if] officers responded to a 911 call of people fighting in front of the building but upon arrival, there [was] no altercation in front of the building, the officers should, if possible, enter the common areas of the building.

“It is entirely reasonable and prudent with respect to public safety that the officers conduct an interior patrol under these circumstances. The monitor’s report indicates that such action would be inappropriate since the criminal predicate has abated.”

According to Lambright, buildings formerly involved with TAP frequently house majority Black and brown residents. The 71st Precinct encompasses southern Crown Heights, Wingate, and Prospect Lefferts, while the 81st Precinct includes Bed-Stuy and Stuyvesant Heights. Both are in majority Black neighborhoods, according to the NYU Furman Center.

“Even though we didn’t bring in explicit race, like 14th Amendment race claims, in our litigation, the underlying premise is the same as the bigger stop-and-frisk narrative, which is that these buildings [house] Black and brown people. [It] fits in with why these people were being stopped,” said Lambright.

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

Bronx school exposes kids to careers in the construction trades

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Joyce Pulphus, principal of Bronx Design & Construction Academy (BDCA) welcomed parents, alumni, and prospective students to the school’s second annual Career and Technical Education (CTE) fair on Friday, March 31.

“This is an opportunity, the CTE Fair is our opportunity to show you our greatness,” Pulphus boasted. The fair was a chance to show that BDCA is more than just a regular high school; Pulphus said it was an opportunity to prove that her high school “is a gem within the Bronx community.”

Outsiders were welcomed into the school and got to see the classrooms, or CTE shops, where students work every day.

These CTE shops are where ninth through 12th graders learn trade skills like architectural engineering, HVAC engineering, carpentry technology, electrical engineering, and plumbing technology.

The school’s carpentry class is a huge room which holds two large houses. And every year, Kenneth Milani, BDCA’s physical education teacher explained, students use one of the houses as a model while they coordinate with the architecture class to design and construct a replica house––from the ground up. Once the house is finished, students in the electrical and plumbing classes come in and add their expertise to the job.

All of the work is done to city code, noted Jeffrey Smalls, the CEO of Smalls Electrical Construction, Inc. “We had a city inspector

come three years ago to make sure that everything within the building would be fine, and they passed,” Smalls, who was one of the co-founders of the BDCA in 2009, told the AmNews

At one point, BDCA had been threatened with closure. But community members held rallies and gathered more than 6,000 signatures to fight to keep it open.

Thalia Panton, the vice president of workforce development with the Transportation Diversity Council (TDC) also came to tour the CTE fair. The TDC was another founding partner of BDCA: Panton said her organization helps bring resources to the schools’ students.

“It’s always been a trade school, for 70 years. But when they were shutting it down, under Bloomberg, that’s when they jumped

in, and they said they needed to keep a trade school in the Bronx,” Milani said.

According to plumbing teacher Denise Montes, “One of the benefits the students get from coming to this school, and the different skills that they learn in the 10th and 11th and 12th grades, is that by the time they graduate, if they successfully complete all their credits and pass their final exams, they graduate with something called a CTE endorsement. That gives them two years of work experience that they could apply to city exams.”

Being able to qualify for the plumber’s helper exam, Montes said, means that 18-year-old students graduating from BDCA could potentially find employment where they could earn more than $50 an hour.

Estephany Mejia de Oleo explains HVAC operations (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)

Electrical Engineering class at Bronx Design school CTE Fair 2023

Bronx Design students construct a house

Kenneth Foster with the laptop desk he made

Mamadou Kante explains HVAC operations while BDCA’s Phys Ed teacher Kenneth Milani watches

International

Continued from page 2

the required effort to combat financial crime. Other countries on the graylist are Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Turkey, the UAE, Jordan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last year, the Zimbabwe AntiSanctions Movement attempted to have sanctions declared unlawful, unconstitutional, and invalid. The case was brought in a South African court and named President Joe Biden and the president of the US Senate, speaker of the US House of Representatives, major US banks, and others as respondents. Last week, the case was tossed for lack of jurisdiction.

Gold smuggling, organized by individuals linked to the ruling establishment, deprives Zimbabwe of an estimated 36 tons of gold annually, according to a new report by the Center for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG).

Relative to its size, Zimbabwe has the second-largest gold deposits in the world, with its extraction providing the main source of the country’s export revenues because Zimbabwe currency has no value for commercial transactions.

Dr. King Op-Ed

Continued from page 12

racial lines was possible.

Smuggling occurs mainly in the artisanal gold mining sector, which produces around 60% of Zimbabwe’s gold. Originally providing livelihoods to rural communities, the sector has been captured by political elites that moved in to harvest the artisanally mined gold for their personal enrichment.

“Gold dealers, who are protected by the ruling Zanu-PF party officials, use state apparatus to capture and control gold-rich areas throughout the country,” at about 36 tons of gold annually, said the report. That amounts to more than half of Zimbabwe’s total gold production of 29.6 tons in 2021.

By being deprived of the revenue that could be obtained by the legitimate sale of gold, Zimbabwe suffers from reduced revenue for health, education, transport, energy, agriculture, and infrastructural development.

Countries that enable smuggling with the connivance of the authorities, said Al Jazeera, are South Africa, Zambia, and Mozambique. The smuggled gold is then sold in Dubai.

Meanwhile, the government has said nothing publicly since the documentary’s screening. Officials of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe called the snippets of the documentary they had seen “sensa-

Killing those who would unite us is an American tradition older than our nation itself. The first revolt by American colonists was in Gloucester, Virginia, more than 100 years before the Declaration of Independence, when indentured Europeans and enslaved Africans organized to rise up against cruel Virginia plantation owners. The organizers were hanged.

Two years to the day after King announced the Poor People’s Campaign,

Health

Continued from page 16

place at accessing hospitals as a result of lockdown measures. Even if some excess deaths may have resulted from other pandemic-related issues, both researchers emphasize that COVID is the main culprit. Chen explained that the timing of excess deaths matters. According...to the CDC, excess deaths that are not classified as COVID deaths “peak at around the same time as excess deaths,” a pattern that would be expected only if COVID is driving these deaths.

Another argument claims that hospi-

tionally wild, false, and malicious.”

Alleged smuggling kingpins, secretly filmed, don’t represent the central bank, said the Reserve Bank.

The report was sceptical about Zimbabwe’s capacity to curb the smuggling, because politicians with a vested interest in the illicit gold trade tend to intimidate relevant authorities when they take action against the perpetrators. “While the media has been raising alarm over gold smuggling, the government has not demonstrated seriousness in punishing offenders,” it said.

KENYAN OPPOSITION LEADER URGED TO SUSPEND RALLIES AS FEARS OF VIOLENCE GROW

(GIN)—Kenya’s opposition leader, Raila Odinga, is not going away quietly.

Defeated in national elections last August, the 78-year-old opposition leader is now leading street protests in Nairobi neighborhoods, drawing thousands of followers who face growing poverty, surging living costs, joblessness, and police brutality.

Odinga and his party, Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition, have been calling for the resignation of President William Ruto, saying he wasn’t validly elected in last year’s poll. As Odinga’s convoy recently came under a barrage of tear gas

Black Panther Fred Hampton was leading a “Rainbow Coalition” of Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and poor whites in Chicago when he was murdered by local police—premeditated and carried out with military precision.

As in 1968, it’s true today that there are almost twice as many whites trapped in poverty as Blacks. The fact that the nation's news media render the white poor invisible doesn’t change the facts.

That so many of us still tolerate millions of Americans of every color being trapped in poverty is a factor in the toxic tensions that threaten our domestic tranquility.

tals are misreporting COVID deaths. The argument suggests that people are dying with COVID, rather than from COVID.

Dr. Chen responded to this theory by saying: “If you look at out of hospital settings, you see this massive, massive difference between COVID deaths and excess deaths, and we think that is very indicative of underreporting of COVID, to the extent that even if there are isolated cases of this with COVID or from COVID being an issue in hospitals, it is far outweighed by the home deaths’ underreporting and also the likelihood that in-hospital reporting probably, in general, follows the CDC guidelines.”

Wakefield allowed for the potential of

and water cannons shot by police, marchers shouted, “Ruto must go” in reference to Ruto, the new president who got his start under hardliner Daniel arap Moi.

Amnesty Kenya and the Kenya Human Rights Commission have criticized police violence while the African Union has called for calm and dialogue. Four protesters were reported to have been killed since the marches began last week.

Violence also erupted in two Nairobi slums that have long been Odinga bastions and at his gas cyl inder manufacturing firm. Property owned by former president Uhuru Kenyatta was set on fire as seen on footage from Citizen TV.

While Ruto did not get a visit from US Vice President Kamala Harris during her recent Africa tour, he was feted by other American vis itors, including US Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and U.S. investors at a meeting of the American Cham ber of Commerce in Nairobi. Ruto was among the keynote speakers at the Chamber’s summit even as the Biden administration complained that corruption and a lack of a trans parent tax policy were discouraging corporate interest in Kenya.

Ruto also met with US ambassa dor Meg Whitman, a business execu tive named in the Forbes list of the 100

It is also proof we never actually learned the lesson Dr. King gave his life trying to teach us.

If you ever forget the logic of King’s final strategy, just pull out a $1 bill and turn it over. It's right there in the Great Seal of the United States, albeit in Latin: E Pluribus Unum—Out of many, one.

Ben Jealous is executive director of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. He is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Never Forget Our People Were Always Free,” published in January.

discrepancies in reporting, noting that across states and countries it is difficult to accurately count COVID deaths. He emphasized that this is why excess mortality is a valuable measure, particularly in a country with death records as relatively robust as the United States: “It’s impossible that this excess mortality doesn’t exist… The science is quite clear here. There was a huge excess.”

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

Most Powerful Women in the World.

Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama is said to be settling in Kenya for at least a year as Special Envoy for US Diplomacy, a deployment that he said “makes me truly grateful as I pay tribute to the land of my father and forefathers.”

Obama is expected to jet into the country on June 13 to set up an office outside Nairobi, where he plans to shoot his much-anticipated documentary, “In The Land of My

Religion & Spirituality

Christopher Armstrong—a life that touched many

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

What does it mean to have someone as your best friend for 43 years, and as your husband for 34 years? It means the world. It means that this person is your lover, friend, protector, supporter, your haven from the storm. This is the person you speak to every night before you fall asleep. This is the person you were blessed to have in your life.

That is what I felt for my loving husband, Christopher Armstrong, and that is why when he passed on January 26, 2023, I felt the pain, sadness, and agony of losing the only man who captured my heart and soul, and always gave me unconditional love.

Let me tell you about him.

Christopher Armstrong was born April 6, 1962, the oldest son of Thelma and James Armstrong, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Somers Junior High School in Brooklyn, where he was a trumpet player in the school band that made All City and was the youngest group of students to play at Carnegie Hall.

Chris attended South Shore High School, was part of the Co-Op program, and went to school on alternate weeks while working at New York Life Insurance as a management trainee. Chris received both an associate’s of science and bachelor’s of science degree from Empire State University. He was a marvelous student with an overwhelming zest for learning.

Throughout his life, Chris worked at several types of jobs, from life insurance in his younger years to nonprofits that worked with youth, which was his passion. He held positions with Sheltering Arms at a youth detention home in the Bronx and at St. Christopher Ottilie, a shelter for homeless young men, as director of Epiphany for many years, developing programming to inspire and support these young men, including an inspirational speaker series where successful business people, and theater and television actors like Keith David and musicians like legend Max Roach, came and shared their stories.

He was also the recreation coordinator at Women In Need’s Junior Street Family Shelter for many years, assisting children with developing their minds and love for

cooking, and creating special projects that included an Egyptian exhibit, where the young people dressed in the traditional clothing and prepared traditional dishes from the region that he taught them to make. There was even a mummy that he and the young people made together, and they staffed stations to explain facets of Egyptian life and culture.

Chris was always about the youth. He founded the Brownsville Youth Organization as a teenager and provided programming for local community kids. Even as a teenager, Chris would never turn a young person away who needed to talk. He served throughout his life as a father figure, a mentor, and a friend to so many young people.

In his later years, Chris was diagnosed with renal failure and was unable to continue working, but in his spirit, he knew that he had to bring joy to people. At his dialy-

sis center, he was called the Candy Man and the Cake Man: Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he would give a bag of candy with three Tootsie Roll Pops taped to it to both staff and the other patients. Chris’s joy was in seeing their smiling faces, and it meant so much to him to do that for them.

An avid baker, he made cakes of all types with great love and would often go into dialysis with cakes to share with the staff and other patients. He brought joy into the room wherever he went.

And he was a lover of old-style music of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. He loved R&B music and love songs, and could often be heard playing them on his iPad at dialysis and sharing his favorite music with others.

Chris was the beloved father of Linda Nicole and Jasmine Michelle Armstrong. His daughters were his world, as was I, as well as his five-year-old Havanese dog Muffy. He

was very proud of his daughters’ accomplishments in life so far and those to come.

Chris and I were high school sweethearts. Between us were more than 43 years of shared experience, friendship, love, and support.

Chris is survived by me; daughters Linda and Jasmine; mother Thelma Armstrong; younger brother Michael Armstrong; sister-in-law Yvette Armstrong; and older siblings JT Snell, Willie Snell and his wife Mary, Lillie Mae Snell, Patricia Snell, and Ricky Snell; niece Natasha Armstrong; and a host of cousins, nieces and nephews, and greatnieces and -nephews.

Preceding him in death were his father James and his brother Rudy Snell. He will be missed tremendously by his family, his dog Muffy, friends, and friends of his daughters for whom he often cooked amazing, delicious meals and baked light, delectable cakes, often from scratch.

In addition to being a cook and baker, Chris was also a gifted artist who left behind lovely cartoon character drawings.

Anyone who came into Chris’s home got to know his open, generous heart, was touched by his spirit, and loved his cooking.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home in Brooklyn and it was well-attended, even on one of the coldest days of the year. The room was filled with men who knew Chris from their youth and had been mentored by him. One by one, they went to the podium and shared their warm memories of this man who opened their minds to art, writers (including Edgar Allan Poe), and so much more, while also always being a listening ear. His boyhood friends share tributes as well, along with his younger brother Michael. As family photos played on a screen, some of Chris’s favorite R&B and soul hits played. The services were shared through a live Zoom feed.

“Always” by Atlantic Star was supposed to be our wedding song. I never got to dance to it at our wedding, because the DJ didn’t bring it, but I danced to it with our two daughters as we completed this beautiful service.

My darling, the girls and I, your family, and friends, we will always keep you alive in our hearts!

Christopher Armstrong in 2022, in T-shirt he designed

Kelly

Continued from page 5

Campus, the University of Maryland, and her alma mater Northwestern University, as well as here in New York City at Brooklyn’s Kingsborough Community College.

While Kelly has come a long way, though, the United States still has some catching up to do. Even today, “Murder of the American Dream” remains relevant.

“I produced some materials to help these teachers and I challenged educational publishers to include more material from people of color, and it did have an effect,” said Kelly. “What’s ironic is now people like Gov. [Ron] DeSantis in Florida going backward and saying ‘let’s take [away] literature [talking] about slavery, lynchings or ways in which Black and brown people—particularly Black people—had been exploited.’

“I’m afraid he’s going to be setting a template [encouraging] other states to go backward also and—for a lack of a better word—whitewash American literature.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps

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MULTIFACETED MASTERMINDS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/02/2023. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail process to: 228 Park Ave S#240777, NY, NY 10003.

Purpose: Professional services that involve collaboration and innovation or to engage in any lawful act or activity.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1360630 for beer & wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer & wine at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 65 Sherman Ave., Bronx, NY 10040 for on-premises consumption; Casa Emilio Restaurant Corp.

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

LYNX ASSET SERVICES, LLC, Plaintiff -against- PEGGY NESTOR, MARIANNE NESTOR, et al., Defendants. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision and Order on Motion, signe d by the Honorable Francis A. Kahn, III on September 27, 2022, and entered in the Office of the New York County Clerk on Octobe r 5, 2022, and an Amended Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision and Order on Motion, signed by the Hono rable Francis A. Kahn, III on October 12, 2022, and entered in the Office of the New York County Clerk on October 12, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at pu blic auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the por tico at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, on April 26, 2023 at 2:15 p.m., all that certain plot, piece or par cel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, bounded and described as fo llows: BEGINNING at a point on the northerly side of East 63 rd Street distant 124 fe et 6 inches westerly from the corner formed by the intersection of th e no rtherly side of East 63rd Street and the westerly side of Madison Avenue; RUNNING THENCE northerly pa rallel with the westerly side of Madison Avenue and part of the distance through a party wall 100 feet 5 inches to the center line of the block between Ea st 63r d and East 64 th Street; THENCE westerly parallel with the nor therly side of East 63rd Street 25 feet; THENCE southerly and again paralle l with Madison Avenue part of th e distance through another party wall 100 feet 5 inches to the northerly side of East 63rd Street; THENCE easterly along th e northerly side of East 63 rd Street 25 feet to the point or place of BEGINNING Block: 1378 Lot: 12 on the Tax Map of the Borough of New York, County of New York All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all time s and social distancing must be ob served by all bidd ers at all time s. Bidder s who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing ma ndate will be removed from the auction.

Said pr emises known as 15 EAST 63RD STREET, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of mortgage lien: $17,251,886.48 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisio ns of the Amended Judgment and Terms of Sale, posted at the auction, and subject to (i) the prior mortgage held by Emigr ant Mortgage Company, In c., as recorded in th e Office of the City Register of the City of New York, C ounty of New York, on September 9, 2010 as CRFN: 2010000304435, (ii) the pr ior judgmen t he ld by Joseph Defino dated September 12, 2014, in the amount of $395,604.57, and (iii) the prior judgmen t held by DeLuca as Public Administrator of New York County and Administrator CTA of the Esta te of Oleg Cassini dated November 27, 2015, in the amount of $1,046,214.59.

Index Number 850129/2019

MARK L. MCKEW, ESQ., Referee

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff: McGRAIL & BENSINGER LLP

888-C Eighth Avenue, # 107, New York, NY 1 0019

Ilana Volkov, Esq.

Telephone: ( 201) 931-69 10, Email: ivolkov@mcgrailbensinger.com

Notice is hereby give n that a license, serial #1360253 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by th e undersigned to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 637 Hu dson St., NYC 11238 for on-premises consumption; Emel NY Corp

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE 200 CHAMBERS STREET CONDOMINIUM, Plaintiff -against- ERIC R. BRAVERMAN, DARYA BRAVERMAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 24, 2022 a nd entered on March 21, 2022, I, the und ersigned Re feree will se ll at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on May 3, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Unit being de signated and described as Unit No 26C in the condo minium known as "The 200 Chambers Street Condominium" together with an undivided 0.8256% in terest in the common elements.

Block: 142 Lot: 1183

ALSO, Unit being designated and described as Unit No ST14 in the condominium k nown as "The 200 Chambe rs Street Condominium" together with an undivided 0.0103% interest in the common elements.

Block: 142 Lot: 1375

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and so cial distancing must be observed by all bidder s at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mand ate will be removed from the auction.

Said pr emises known as 200 CHAMBERS STREET, UNIT 26C , NEW YORK, NY and UNIT ST14

(a storage un it), 200 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK NY

Approximate amount of lien $702,840 07 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 162556/2015

MARK MCKEW, ESQ., Referee

Armstrong Teasdale LLP

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

7 Times Squar e, 44th Floor, New York, NY 10036

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. MALOU RIVERA BRAGANZA, Deft.Index # #850 030/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale da ted September 26, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside the Po rtico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Ce ntre Street, NY, NY on Wedne sday, Ap ril 12, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 10,000/28 ,402,1 00 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as HNY Club Suites located at 1335 Ave nue of the Amer icas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $82,674.53 plus costs and interest as of January 12, 2022 Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale wh ich includes annual maintenance fees and charges Jeffr ey R. Miller, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitche ll, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingd ale, NY

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

CRYSTAL UP! LLC filed Ar ts 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 wh om process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Mary Ter novsk y, 422 E. 72nd St., Apt 37C, NY, NY, 10027. Purpose: Any lawful activity

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -aga in st- KEITH R. HUGHES, et al Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judg ment of Foreclosure and Sale dated October 12, 2022 and entered on October 20, 2022, I, the under signed Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Co ur thouse lo cated on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on May 10th, 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, being an und ivided owne rship interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, Ne w York, NY; kn own as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant u ndivided 1.4182% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership intere st in a timeshare un it, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to de clarations Declaration of Covenants, Conditio ns and Re strictions dated October 27, 2003 and Novemb er 3, 2003 as CFRN # 20030004 42513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1303.

The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District's COVID-19 Policies an d Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and so cial distancing must be observed by all bidder s at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mand ate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1 335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $117,987 17 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 850159/2020

ROBERTA E. ASHKIN, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 1159 0

Sprezz atura Pa rtners, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 01/13/23. Office located in Ne w York Co SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: United States Co rporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 1 1228. Purpo se: any lawful activity

No tice of formation of Lodeco Books LLC Arts of Org with the Secy of State of New York on 3/3/2023 New York (SSNY) Office lo cation : NY Co un ty SSNY ha s been designat ed as an agent upon wh om process against it may be serv ed and to which th e SSNY shall mail a copy of an y process against the LLC served upon is C/O the LLC/LLP 1390 Lexington Ave, #4 ; New York, NY 10128. Purpose: Any lawful activity

No tice of Formation of WALNUT HILL HOUSING DEVELOPER, LLC Ar ts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/27/23.

Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC : 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail pr ocess to Corporation Service Co ., 80 State St., Alban y, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity

No tice of Formation of WALNUT HILL HOUSING CL ASS B, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/27/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail pr ocess to Corporation Service Co ., 80 State St., Alban y, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf v. ROSA LIE T. MALONEY, Deft.- In dex #850005 /2022. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated March 2, 2023, I will se ll at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Str eet, NY, NY on W ednesday, April 12, 2023, at 2:15 pm, two undivided 0.00986400000% tenants in common interest in the timeshare known as 57th Str eet Vacation Suites lo cated at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY Appr oximate amount of judgment is $51,714.89 plus costs an d in terest as of April 22, 202 2. Sold subject to terms and condition s of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which include s a nnual maintenance fees and charges Allison Furman, Esq., Refe ree. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingda le, NY

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK INDEX NO. 850236/20 22 COUNTY OF NEW YORK

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

Plaintiff,

Un ited 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 serv ed and shall mail process to: 2320 Frederick Douglass Blvd ., Ne w York, NY, 100 27 Purpo se: Any lawful activity

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT: NEW YORK. RIMBAMBITO LLC, ET AL

V. L.I. BUILDERS CORP., ET AL Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale filed on September 27, 2022, bearing Inde x No 850 012/2022, I will sell at public auction on Wednesda y, April 19, 2023 at 2:15 pm on the portico at the New York Co un ty Supreme Court, 60 Centre Str eet, New York, NY 10007, the premises known as 59 John Street, Unit 4F, New York, NY 10038 (Block: 78, Lot: 1622) Premises is being so ld subject to a filed Judgment of Foreclosure an d Sale and Terms of Sale. Judgment amount $1,543 ,053.58 plus interest and costs. The foreclosure sale will be conducted in accordance with the 1st Judicial District's Covid-19 Policies. All parties attending must wear a mask and practice social distan cing. SCOTT SILLER, Esq., Re feree. Harry Zubli, Esq., attorne y for plaintiff (516) 487-5777.

No tice 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 Ce ntral Park West, #3A, NY, NY 10025. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon wh om process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Irina Stanovitch, 7 Berkley Pl., Co lts Neck , NJ 07722. NJ addr of LLC : 7 Berkle y Pl., Co lts Neck , NJ 07722. Cert of Form filed with Acting State Treasurer, 33 W. State St., Fifth Fl., Trenton, NJ 08646. Purpose: Any lawful activity

He ar t & Seoul Food Co LLC filed Ar ts of Org. with the SSNY on 11/08/2022. Office:

Ne w York County. SSNY has been designated as agen t of the LL C upon whom process against it may be serv ed and shall mail to: Heart & Seou l Co LLC, 55 W 95th Str eet, Ne w York, NY 10025 Purpo se: Food Ma nufacturing.

Co ntinuums Strategies LLC

Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/30/20 22 Office location: New York Coun ty SSNY designated as agent of LLC upo n whom process against it may be serv ed & shall mail to: 440 W. 34th St., #5A, New York, NY 10001.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose. continuumsstrategies.com

Ha ar ex Laboratorie s LLC filed Ar ts of Org. with the SSNY on 12/22/2022. Office: Ne w York County. SSNY has been designated as agen t of the LL C upon whom process against it may be serv ed and shall mail to: Firstbase Agent LLC, 477 Broad way, New York, NY 10013. Purp ose: an y lawful act.

No tice of Qualification of energyRe Services, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/15/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in De laware (DE) on 11/04/22.

Princ. o ffice of LLC: 30 Hu dson 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 1 9808. 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

Zobuilden LLC filed Arts of Org. with the SSNY on 02/05/2023. Office: New York Co un ty SSNY ha s been designat ed as a gent of the LL C upon whom process against it may be serv ed and shall mail to: Reindaldo Alvarado, 3556 Webster Ave. Purp ose: any lawful act.

Ra mli Jewellery LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 02 /17/22. Office located in New York Co SSNY de signated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. First Agent LLC, 447 Broadway 2nd

Plaintiff designates NEW YORK as the place of tria l situs of the real property

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

Mortgaged Prem ises: 418 CENTRAL PARK W EST, NEW YORK, NY 10025

Blo ck: 1837 , Lot: 1036 vs

ALON BARASHI; B418 CPW LLC ; BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE BRAENDER CONDOMINIUM, its successors and/or assigns; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE; NEW YORK CITY PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #1; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JOHN DOE #2; “JOHN DOE” (REFUSED NAME) AS JO HN DOE #3, “JOHN DOE #4” through “JOHN DOE #12,” the last nine names being fictitious and unknown to plaintiff, the per sons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, per sons or corporations, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the premises, de scribed in the comp la int, Defe ndants

To the above named De fendants

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in the abo ve entitled action and to serve a copy of your Answer on the plaintiffs attorn ey with in twenty (20) days of the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of serv ice, or within thirty (30) days after service of the same is complete wh er e service is made in an y ma nner other than by personal delivery with in the State. The Un ited States of America, if designa ted as a defendant in this action, may answer or appea r within sixty (60) da ys of service. Your failur e to appear or to answer will result in a judgmen t against yo u by default for the re lief demanded in the Complaint. In the even t that a deficiency balan ce re mains from the sale proceeds, a judgment may be entered against you.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $741,000.00 and interest, recorded on June 21, 2016, in CRFN 2016000207933, of the Public Re cords of NEW YORK County, New York., covering premises known as 418 CENTRAL PARK WEST, NEW YORK, NY 10 02 5.

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

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

NOTICE

YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME

If you do not respond to this summon s and complaint by serv ing a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this fo reclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a defau lt judgment may be entered and you can lose your home

Speak to an attor ney or go to the cour t wher e your ca se is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your prop er ty

Sending a payment to the mortgage compan y will not stop the foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT

Da ted: February 24, 20 23

ROBERTSON, ANSCHUTZ, SCHNEID, CRANE & PARTNERS, PLLC

Attorney for Plaintiff

Matthew Rothstein, Esq.

900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310 Westbury, NY 11590 516-280-7675#

Ru by and Rosey LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 01 /07/23. Office located in New York Co SSNY de signated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail pr ocess to: United States Corp oration Agents Inc., 7014 13th Ave, Su ite 202, Brooklyn, NY, 11228. Purpose: any lawful activity

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA CASE NO DR2022- 900699.00 IN RE: THE MARRIAGE OF GLENDA F. ARRINGTON,PETITIONER WIFE AND ROWANTA D. ARRINGTON, RESPONDENT/HUSBAND. NOTICE OF PETITION FOR DIVORCE Rowanta D. Arrington, whose whereabouts are un known, must answer Glenda F. Ar rington Complaint for Divorce by thirty (30) days of the last notice of publication, or thereafter, a judgment by default may be rendered against him in Case No DR2022-90069 9.00.

Notice is hereby give n that a license, serial #13605 25 for beer & wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer & wine at retail in a catering establishment under the ABC Law at 143 W. 69th St., NYC 10023 for onpremises consumption; Noi Du e Pizzeria LLC

Formation of NORTHERN STANDARD CONSULTING, LLC filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/17/2023. Office loc.: NY Co un ty SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The address SSNY shall mail process to 517 W. 147th St., Apt. 32, New York, NY 10031. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Queen's Ransom Media LLC

Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 02/16/23. Office located in Ne w York Co SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Queen's Ransom Media LLC, 360 W. 36th Street, Apt 7N, New York, NY 10018. Purpose: any lawful activity

UTOPIAN COLLECTIVE LLC filed Ar ts of Org. with the SSNY on 11/11/20 22 Office location: NY County. SSNY ha s been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and sh all mail process to: Elitia Mattox, 19 90 Lexington Ave., Ap t. 3K, New York, Ne w York, 10035. Purpose: Any lawful activity

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

INDEX NO. 850226/2022 COUNTY OF NEW YORK

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

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

Mortgaged Premises:

10 LITTLE WEST STREET, UNIT PH1C, NEW YORK, NY 10004

Block: 16, Lot: 9111

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -aga in st- MICHAEL SCOTT FERRARO, NANCY ANN FERRARO, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated October 4, 2022 and entered on October 7, 2022, I, the un dersigned Refe ree will sell at public au ction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on April 26, 2023 at 2:15 pm premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership intere st as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the bu ilding located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appur tenant undivided 1.4182% common intere st perce ntage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshar e un it, a studio penthouse on a floatin g use ba sis every year, in a ccordance with and subject to declarations Declaration of Coven ants, Cond itions and Restrictions dated September 22, 2014, October 6, 20 14 as CFRN # 2014 00 0330111 as record ed in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York The Timeshare Unit is also de signated as Block 1006 and Lot 1303

The Foreclosure Sale will be co nducted in accordan ce with 1 st Judicial Districts COVID-19 Policies an d Foreclosure Auction Rules.

Plaintiff, vs.

SHUIGUN CHEN, if living, and if she/he be dead, any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; MINGSEN CHEN, if living, and if she/he be dead, any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; GUIXIN HONG, if living, and if she/he be dead, any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; BOARD OF MANAGERS OF MILLENNIUM POINT CONDOMINIUM; NEW YORK CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD; NEW YORK CITY PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

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

To the above named Defendants

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

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT

THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $2,350,000.00 and interest, recorded on February 16, 2012, in CRFN 2012000064492 , of the Public Records of NEW YORK County, New York., covering premises known as 10 LITTLE WEST STREET, UNIT PH1C, NEW YORK, NY 10004.

The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. NEW YORK County is designated as the place of trial because the real property affected by this action is located in said county.

NOTICE

YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME

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

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

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

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

Dated: March 22, 2023

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

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and so cial distancing must be observed by all bidder s at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mand ate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1 335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY Approximate amount of lien $142,531 81 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 850161/2020

ALLISON FURMAN, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 1159 0

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, CAPITAL ONE, N.A., Plaintiff, vs. KENNETH D. LAUB, ET AL., Defendants.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered on October 7, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, on the portico, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York on May 3, 2023 at 2:15 P.M., premises known as 163 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City, and State of New York, Block: 1399 , Lot: 25. Approximate amount of judgment is $10,653,559.26 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 159315/2017.

If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, the Mortgagee's attorney, or the Referee.

DORON A. LEIBY, Esq., Referee Roach & Lin, P.C., 6851 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 185, Syosset, New York 11791, Attorneys for Plaintiff

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Aftermath

Continued from page 4

again he is under the gavel of Justice Merchan, he kept his responses short. That was not the case later, however, as he raged about the situation, calling the entire episode “an insult to our country, and the world is laughing at us.”

That same “laughing world” is waiting to see how the indictment, his arrest, and arraignment play out in the upcoming presidential election, and will either power his bid to return to the White House or see it fizzle out as prosecutors assemble more evidence, including those in Georgia and the DOJ.

There were brief scuffles among supporters for Trump and those declaring he was not above the law. Overall it paled in comparison to the turnout and actions of the Jan. 6 mob, many of whom are currently being tried, convicted and jailed.

Despite killer tornadoes bearing down on the American Midwest on Tuesday, mainstream media focused on and devoured every scintilla of the Trump show, and ‘interpreted’ it for the populace. Black grassroot activists questioned the real significance for the broader Black community.

212-932-7412

“To hell with Trump! Send him to jail! Let’s focus on poverty, unemployment, homelessness, crime, education and healthcare in the Black Community,” Brooklyn City Council Man Charles Barron told the Amsterdam News. “Greedy capitalism has gone mad! Trump is a distraction!”

Molloy UniversityAdjunct Professor Casilda E. Roper-Simpson told the Amsterdam News, “After more than 20 years of practicing criminal defense law and presently teaching criminal justice as an adjunct professor, I acknowledge the historical significance of the arrest of the former president, Donald Trump. It

is worth noting that the criminal justice system is intended to guarantee that anyone accused of a crime has the opportunity to have their day in court and that the proceedings are conducted fairly and impartially.”

Divine Allah, a recent Trenton city council candidate, told the Amsterdam News. “We have to address the politicized theatrics that is surrounding Donald Trump. Any idea of significance or benefit for our community is temporary or just to appease people used to entertainment, as the white male power structure reaps every economic and political profit out of this. None of the profit, the privilege, and the accolades benefit any of us. Our struggle is for some of the basic human, civil, social and economic rights that we are still denied.”

The Jersey-based community activist and youth minister of the New Black Panther Party continued, “Our people strive to connect the dots to things that directly affect our communities. We don’t focus on those political activists who have been on lockdown for decades like the Mumia Abu Jamals, because of the politricks of those like Trump who govern this country. When I see Trump indicted, fingerprinted, and arraigned, it reminds us of how far they will go to out-do and vilify each other, at the end of the day it has no bearing on the issues that affect our people. The prison population, mostly Black and brown, are the stepping stones upon which they use to play this political theater for their own political capitalist gain.

“Not one member of our community benefits from this economically or politically.”

Meanwhile, he added, “We should be aware of all distractions. They denied the appeal of a physically unwell Mumia Abu Jamal, who has been behind the wall for 40 years, while we were focusing on this, they just denied his sixth appeal. They slid

that under the raider.

“While we are embedded in this twisted, inherited tribalism of Democrats and Republicans we are still beholden to the capitalist system because of wretched consumerism. This Trump distraction is their fight going on. We are an underclass with no stake in this, yet we are cheering for one side or the other like it benefits us. Where? We are not a part of this.”

A number of criminal cases are being prepared against Trump including the federal obstruction Department of Justice case, the Washington D.C. January 6th investigation, and Georgia state election obstruction, and the discovery of highly sensitive top secret papers at his Florida home.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said, “If America is to remain a vibrant democracy and be a nation of laws, our laws must be applied universally. And so, today is a moment of both pride and pain for our country. The presidency is meant to represent our highest ideals as Americans. To witness an individual who once held that sacred title fall to such contemptible lows will leave a scar not easily healed—but we must find reassurance in the fact that our justice system has refused to allow former President Trump to escape the consequences of his alleged actions.

“Keeping in mind Donald Trump’s long history of flagrant contempt for the precious right of due process and the rule of law, it is my sincere hope that he receives a fair trial and just treatment during the adjudication of the numerous charges against him. I look forward to seeing all evidence that would shed light on Mr. Trump’s alleged crimes come to light.”

With the next Trump court date in the Bragg case not scheduled until December, and with the former president running for the office for 2024, there are bound to be legal and election news stories ad nauseum.

LSU claims first NCAA women’s basketball title

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

“This is crazy good stuff,” said Kim Mulkey, head coach of women’s basketball at Louisiana State University (LSU). After 21 years and three Division I NCAA Championships at Baylor University, two years ago Mulkey decided you can go home again.

On Sunday, the Louisiana native coached LSU to glory, securing its first-ever national title in women’s hoops. With the victory, she became the first female coach to win NCAA titles at two schools.

After LSU secured its 102–85 victory over University of Iowa, words of praise went out to not only the players on the current roster who brought this team to victory, but to those who first put LSU women’s basketball on the map: Seimone Augustus, Sylvia Fowles, Temeka Johnson and Marie Ferdinand-Harris.

Mulkey, in only her second year at LSU, built a team of experienced transfer students willing

to do what it takes to win. None more than Angel Reese, who played her first two collegiate seasons at Maryland and was named Most Outstanding Player.

“From day one, Kim Mulkey is about togetherness, saying, ‘I need everyone,’” said FerdinandHarris. “She operates like that, not just on her team, but everyone—from the secretary to the president. She clearly and truly understands that she can’t do it by herself…and she pulls everyone in. So, it’s hard to beat Kim Mulkey because Kim Mulkey has an entourage of people working super hard.

“Of course, she’s leading by example,” she adds. “She told us alumnae, ‘I need you guys.’ When they get to those games, it’s not just the players. It’s all that extra that gives them that advantage.”

Five LSU players scored in double figures in the final game: Reese, LaDazhia Williams, Flau’jae Johnson, Alexis Morris and Jasmine Carson. Iowa had its

moments. Down 17 points at the half, the Hawkeyes got to within seven points. Despite being in foul trouble, Caitlin Clark scored 30 points.

Clark headlined this year’s WBCA NCAA Division I Coaches’ AllAmerica Team. The list also includes Aliyah Boston of the University of South Carolina and Maddy Siegrist of Villanova, both of whom are entering next week’s WNBA Draft. Columbia’s Abbey Hsu received Honorable Mention, only the second Columbia player to achieve this.

Congratulations also go to the NCAA Division II (Ashland University) and Division III (Transylvania University) National Champions, which got to play their championship games at the site of the Final Four.

Reese and Clark show men they don’t need their intervention

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Message to men: Butt out of women’s competitive affairs and let them play, let them talk junk, let them entertain us the way men sports does.

Angel Reese and Caitlan Clark are gifted basketball players and seemingly wonderful young women. Reese, star of national champion LSU, was the target of vitriol on social media and undoubtedly behind closed doors after directing the “you can’t see me” gesture, popularized by wrestler and actor John Cena, towards Clark, the transcendent guard for Iowa, late in Sunday’s NCAA women’s championship game.

LSU defeated Iowa 102–85 to earn the program its first ever NCAA women’s basketball title. The 20-year-old Reese was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2023 Women’s Basketball Championship. Some of the characterizations of Reese were usually reserved for those that commit vile offenses. They were extreme. Most that this writer read were from men, including well-known and widely followed media figures. The unmistakable marks of inherent

colorism and sexism were implicit and resonant.

Reese is Black, as are all of the prominent players for LSU. The 21-year-old Clark is white, and so are a majority of Iowa’s exceptional squad. LSU stopping Iowa also altered the storyline many white male journalists were eager to propagate: The great white player and golden girls from middle America take down the uncultured and hyper-aggressive Black girls from the South. They’ll never admit it, but consciously or subconsciously, they know it to be true.

What is disheartening and disturbing is that for the ladies of LSU and Iowa, including their head coaches Kim Mulkey and Lisa Bluder, respectively, and their staffs, the game was purely about basketball. Reese’s taunt was in response to Clark giving the Louisville Cardinals the “you can’t see me” during Iowa’s 97–83 win in the Elite Eight. She also dismissively waved off South Carolina guard Raven Johnson in their Final Four matchup, indicating to her teammates to not even bother covering the poor shooting perimeter player beyond 15-feet.

In street parlance, Clark is gang-

sta. So is Reese. Clark is from Des Moines, Iowa. Reese is from Baltimore, Maryland. The cities are ideologically and demographically worlds apart, but the two women share many commonalities that were obscured by a presumptive racial barrier erected by those pushing an agenda.

In fact, after Clark gave a Louisville player the business, Cena tweeted, "Even if they could see you…they couldn’t guard you!"

Clark’s innocuous barb was embraced and even celebrated. Reese was vilified. Double standard on steroids. On Tuesday in a televised interview on ESPN, Clark graciously defended Reese, the two likely to be teammates someday for the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team, or even in the WNBA.

“I don’t think Angel should be criticized at all,” Clark said. “No matter which way it goes, she should never be criticized for what she did. I’m one that competes, and she competed.”

What Reese and Clark did was draw 9.9 million TV viewers, peaking at 12.6 million across all platforms, making it the most watched women’s basketball game in history. Do your thing, ladies!

Angel Reese led LSU to the school’s first NCAA women’s basketball national championship with a 102-85 win over Iowa on Sunday (Credit: lsusports.net)

LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlan Clark have unintentionally helped elevate the profile and stature of women’s college basketball (1. Credit: Wikipedia, John Mac, creativecommons.org) (2.Credit: lsusports.net)

1. Caitlan Clark

2. Angel Reese

The MLB season begins with highs and lows for Mets SPORTS

RASHID MCDONALD

Special to the AmNews

Notable performances by established stars and aspiring All-Stars highlighted the start of the 2023 Major League Baseball season for the Mets and Yankees.

The Mets began in Miami last Thursday with a 5-3 win versus the Marlins, improving their franchise opening day record to 41-13. Ace Max Scherzer delivered a solid performance, going six innings and allowing three runs on four hits. However, opening day also arrived with bad news for the Mets. General Manager Billy Eppler announced that No. 2 starter Justin Verlander, last season’s American League Cy Young Award winner with the World Series champion Houston Astros, will start the season on the injured list with a low grain teres major (thick muscle of the shoulder joint) strain. There is no timetable for his return, but the Mets

hope he will not miss more than three starts. They signed Verlander to a two-year, $86.7 million deal in December.

In Games 2 and 3 of the series against the Marlins, starters David Peterson and Tylor Megill respectively had strong outings in allowing just three runs in total but the Mets settled for a split, losing Game 2, 2-1 and taking Game 3, 6-2. In the finale of the four-game set, Kodai Senga, another Mets off-season signing, dazzled in his MLB debut, striking out eight batters and allowing one run in five 1/3 innings in a 5-1 victory. The 30-year-old Senga was a two-time Pacific League (Japan) strikeout leader and fivetime Japan League champion.

The Mets opened this week getting bombed by a combined 19-0 facing the Milwaukee Brewers on the road, falling 10-0 on Monday and 9-0 on Tuesday. Starter Carlos Carasco was the losing pitcher on Monday while Scherzer gave up five runs in his second start on Tuesday. The Mets ended the three-game series at Milwaukee yesterday afternoon and will now host the Marlins for three-games at Citi Field in their home opening series with Game 1 today

(1:10 p.m.). Afterwards, they will travel to San Diego to take on the Padres for three games next Monday through Wednesday.

The Yankees’ season began last Thursday with a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants in the Bronx and featured Gerrit Cole breaking a franchise Opening Day record with 10 strikeouts in a 5-0 win. Last season’s American League MVP Aaron Judge, who broke the AL home run record with 62, picked up where left off with his first of this season. Heralded rookie Anthony Volpe made his MLB debut and showed the versatility that has the organization and fans excited about what he can become by stealing a base every game against the Giants as the Yankees captured two out of three.

“It’s been a whirlwind, but the best type of whirlwind there can be,” said the 21-yearold shortstop. On Monday, the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the Bronx 8-1 but were on the losing end Tuesday 4-1. They closed out the series yesterday and are in Baltimore to play the Orioles today, Saturday, and Sunday before meeting the Cleveland Indians on the road for three games next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

UConn men earn fifth national basketball title

All of UConn’s defeats this season were to conference foes. From February 18 until their crowning achievement on Monday, UConn was 12–1. Their lone setback was to regular season and conference tournament champion Marquette in the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 10. The game foreshadowed the dominant performance that UConn’s 6'-9" power forward/ center Adama Sanogo would produce during his team’s decisive advance to the title.

team all-league, and now this—to have the national championship— just puts him in a position in one of the most storied programs in college basketball,” said UConn head coach Dan Hurley.

Hurley added that Sanogo is among college’s historic big men. “He’s an all-time great.”

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

Early in the 2022–’23 college basketball season, the University of Connecticut Huskies men’s team emerged with the discernible appearance of a potential national champion.

On Monday night, their potential manifested into the program’s fifth title and the justifiable designation as one of the sports elite that now stands side-by-side with collegiate

royalty. Only UCLA (11), Kentucky (8), and North Carolina (6) have more and UConn’s 76–59 victory over San Diego State ties them with Duke and Indiana. Kansas, which is a college basketball standard bearer, started in 1898; was coached by the founder of the game Dr. James Naismith; and has four. The Jayhawks immediately preceded UConn as NCAA champion, defeating North Carolina in last year’s finale.

Coming out of the Big East, UConn steamrolled through their

six games in the NCAA tournament, picking off opponents by an average of 20 points per game, including a 28-point (82–54) dismantling of perennial power Gonzaga in their Elite Eight matchup. UConn went 31–8 this season and opened their schedule 14–0. Their first loss came on Christmas Eve against Big East competitor Xavier and started a challenging stretch of five losses in six games between December 31 and January 18.

The 21-year-old from the Republic of Mali in West Africa, who played in high school for Our Savior New American on Long Island and then the Patrick School in New Jersey, was virtually unstoppable. The First-Team Big East selection began the NCAA tournament by posting 28 points and 13 rebounds in UConn’s 87–63 opening round win against Iona and capped off his season by scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds versus San Diego State and being named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.

“He’s obviously cemented himself into the pantheon of the greatest big guys, with all the production and back-to-back first

The 50-year-old Hurley has continued the legacy of a legendary basketball family from Jersey City, New Jersey. Patriarch Bob Hurley is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his 39 years of heading St. Anthony’s High School, where he won 26 state and four national titles.

Dan Hurley’s older brother Bobby was a two-time NCAA champion (1991, 1992) as the starting point guard for Duke and the seventh overall pick of the Sacramento Kings in the 1993 NBA Draft. He is currently the head coach at Arizona State.

Now the younger Hurley, who had stops as the head coach at Wagner (2010–’12) and Rhode Island (2012–’18), before taking the UConn job in 2018 after the controversial departure of Kevin Ollie, who guided the Huskies to the 2014 championship, has

ed his own distinctive identity.

craft-

UConn Huskies won the men’s NCAA DI national basketball championship on Monday with 76–59 win over San Diego State (Credit: uconnhuskies.com)

Mets starter Max Scherzer has opened the season 1-1 for the Mets as the team was 3-3 heading into yesterday afternoon’s game on the road versus the Milwaukee Brewers (Credit: Wikipedia All-Pro Reels, Max Scherzer (52033391830) (cropped), CC BY-SA 2.0)

Columbia falls to Kansas in WNIT Championship game

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

It wasn’t the dream ending that Columbia University women’s basketball had hoped for, but it was still pretty special. After a victory over Bowling Green last Wednesday, Columbia advanced to the championship game of the postseason WNIT. Playing at Allen Fieldhouse with 11,000 spectators in attendance, Columbia fell to the Kansas Jayhawks 66–59. Thus ends the most successful season in pro-

gram history, with a record of 28–6.

“It’s hard to end your season this way when you’ve battled so hard and you’ve come this far,” said Columbia head coach Megan Griffith after the game. “We have such a special group of seven seniors. Really grateful that we had this opportunity.”

It was a tight and tough championship game that had multiple lead changes. The top scorer for Columbia was junior Abbey Hsu with 19 points. Senior Kaitlyn Davis had 13 points. They were

the only Lions in double figures.

“We just didn’t hit shots when we needed to,” said Griffith. “I think that’s the fatigue of a WNIT run, and Kansas made more plays than we did when they needed to. I think it was a battle today, and I think this only showed why we should have been playing in March Madness, in my opinion.”

Griffith has been vocal about Columbia deserving a spot in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. Clearly, the players, coaches, and staff used

that disappointment to fuel them to victory during the WNIT. While Columbia will lose seven seniors to graduation, they leave behind players who are accustomed to winning. Hsu returns next year as does sophomore point guard Kitty Henderson.

“I have two classes of freshmen and sophomores that all they know is winning 27 games a season and playing late into March or April,” said Griffith.

“This just shows me the best is yet to come for this program. When I

got here in 2016, we were one of the worst teams in the country. Tonight, in 2023, I’m really proud of my staff for all the hard work we put in to get to this point.”

The team even got a mention on the local news. After the sports reporter gave the story, the anchor replied with “Roar, Lion, Roar.”

“Did our leaders and our seniors get us here, and are they resilient? Absolutely, but I thought our young players really stepped up today, and that’s what I was really proud to see,” said Griffith.

Barnard hosts insightful panel on impact of women’s sports

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

It’s often said that many women hired for corporate executive positions have played sports. On March 28, a group of accomplished women gathered at Barnard College to discuss their backgrounds and the impact of sports on their lives at an event hosted by the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium.

“Beyond the Game: Women Leading the Way” was moderated by Marysol Castro, the first female public address announcer at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. The panelists were Sherrie Deans (Columbia College, class of 1998), Erinn Smart (Barnard, class of 2001), and Amy Weeks, head coach, Columbia women’s golf. The ColumbiaBarnard Athletic Consortium was established in 1983.

“I feel I came out of the womb wanting to highlight women in

sports,” said Castro, a journalist with an extensive résumé that includes being the first Latina public address announcer in Major League Baseball. She spoke about her sense of obligation to help propel girls and women in sports.

Smart began fencing with the Peter Westbrook Foundation at a young age. While a Barnard student, she tried out for the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. After being selected as only an alternate, she considered quitting the sport, but instead, dedicated herself to training, even after graduating from college and starting a career. She made the Olympic team in 2004 and again in 2008, winning a silver medal with the U.S. women’s foil team.

“The Olympic experience—the pressure is real,” said Smart, who said sport gave her a sense of what thorough preparation entails.

“When others are depending on your performance…it puts you at

a mental level that you feel you can accomplish anything.”

Weeks grew up in an environment where all girls played sports, and she played collegiate golf. Only as she entered coaching did she grasp gender inequity and has since done her best to stand up for student-athletes.

“I’m competitive and I love to be the best,” she said. “I try to instill in all the kids that I coach just to be able to take those successes every single day and move them into your real life.”

Deans was the lone non-athlete, although her career is rooted in sports. Previously executive director of the National Basketball Players Association Foundation, today she is the founder and president of the Intentional Group, through which she pushes for availability and access to sports for all. “We have to be very vigilant and understand how primary athletics is to our existence and our humanity,” she said.

Columbia women’s basketball played for the WNIT Championship (Columbia Athletics/Joshua Wang photo)

Beyond the Game panel of (l-r) Amy Weeks, Erinn Smart, Sherrie Deans, and Marysol Castro (Lois Elfman photo)

Knicks solidify playoff spot and series against Cavaliers

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Knicks came close to acquiring local product Donovan Mitchell, a 26-year-old four-time All-Star, from the Utah Jazz late last summer. Now they’ll face the Elmsford, New York, native in the first round of the playoffs in a little over a week.

When the NBA schedule began last night, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who parted with three first-round draft picks and three players last September to obtain Mitchell, had clinched the No. 4 postseason seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks, who took a fourgame winning streak into Indiana to play the Pacers last night, went in as a near certainty to be the No. 5 seed. They were 46–33 and three games up on the 43–36 Brooklyn Nets with just three games—now two—left for both teams.

The 46 wins were the most for

the Knicks since the 2012–’13 campaign, when they ended the regular season 54–28 under former head coach Mike Woodson. That team, led by Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith, lost to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals 4–2.

The Knicks have a reasonable chance to defeat the Cavaliers in their imminent best-of-seven series that will open in Cleveland— contingent on the health of their All-Star forward Julius Randle. The Knicks have fared well with Randle recovering from an ankle sprain sustained on March 29 at Madison Square Garden in a 101–92 win over the Miami Heat. Randle, who leads the Knicks in points (25.1) and rebounds (10), will be out until at least the start of the playoffs. As of today, it is uncertain whether he will be ready to return for Game 1 of the series versus the Cavaliers.

Without Randle being able to perform at a level close to what he has this season, the Knicks’ prospects of

getting by the Cavaliers are dubious. The playoffs begin on April 15. The schedule will be released by the NBA next week after the regular season concludes this Sunday. The Play-In Tournament, composed of the No. 7 through No. 10 seeds from the Eastern and Western Conferences, will take place next Tuesday through Friday.

While the status of Randle remains inconclusive, the Knicks have been encouraged by the play of, among others, point guard Jalen Brunson, who has shown he isn’t significantly hampered by a right hand injury and sore left foot, both having caused him to miss eight of the Knicks’ previous 12 games before the March 29 win over the Heat. Brunson scored a career high 48 points in a 130–116 road win over the Cavaliers last Friday and team-high 118–109 victory against the Washington Wizards at home on Sunday.

In addition, guard Immanuel

Quickley, who will garner strong consideration from voters for the Sixth Man of the Year Award, has continued his exceptional play,

The Nets urgently try to hold sixth seed in East race

season.

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Nets’ 107-102 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night could prove to be costly. They were 43-36 and the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into last night’s game against the Detroit Pistons on the road, just one game ahead

of the No. 7 seed Miami Heat, which was 42-37 and played the 76ers in Philadelphia yesterday evening.

Both teams have two regular season games remaining. The Nets will play both their games in Brooklyn. They face the Orlando Magic tomorrow and the 76ers Sunday. The Heat have the Washington Wizards on the road tomorrow and the Magic in Miami on Sunday. The Nets were on a three-game win-

ning streak prior to falling to the Timberwolves. The eventual No. 6 seed is guaranteed a spot in the playoffs while the No. 7 seed will have to earn their way into the postseason via the Play-In Tournament. They were led by guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s gamehigh 30 points. Forward Mikal Bridges deposited 24 but shot just 9-24. The Nets and Wolves remained close throughout the entire 48 minutes. There were 24 lead changes and eight ties but Minnesota closed out the final 2:36 of the fourth quarter with a 9-4 advantage after the score was equaled at 98-98 on a 26-foot step-back jumper by Dinwiddie. Forward Karl-Anthony Towns lifted the Timberwolves with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists while guard Anthony Edwards had 23 points. Center Rudy Gobert finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and his signature sound defense.

“Yeah, I thought Rudy was really good,” said Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn. “Con-

versely to the last time we played them, where he pretty much stayed in drop [coverage] and allowed us to make those shots. He kind of switched some of those pickand-rolls [tonight] and moved his feet a little bit and had some quality contests, which I thought was the difference in some of those looks for Mikal.”

On Monday, Bridges, who has been outstanding for the Nets since they acquired him from the Phoenix Suns in February in the Kevin Durant trade, was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, March 27, through Sunday, April 2. During that period, the Nets went 3-0 as Bridges averaged 33 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals in 38.3 minutes per game. It is the 26-year-old Bridges first Player of the Week honor of his five-year career.

R: Mikal Bridges

L: Spencer Dinwiddie

while guard Quentin Grimes and center Isaiah Hartenstein have been standouts for the Knicks down the stretch of this

Spencer Dinwidde’s 30 points and Mikal Bridges’ 24 couldn’t avert the Nets’ 107-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night (Bill Moore photos)

Isaiah Hartenstein R: Quentin Grimes

Knicks reserve center Isaiah Hartenstein and starting guard Quentin Grimes had a strong finish to the regular season (Bill Moore photos)