Rikers

Continued from page 6 a law-abiding life and to receive medical treatment outside Department of Corrections custody.

“On two separate occasions, our office consented to Mr. Howell’s release from custody, and on both occasions, he failed to abide by every term of his release, and is alleged to have committed two additional burglaries in Queens.”

Howell pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary, the same non-violent felony charge Tavares was arrested on. They were also both charged in Richmond County. But while the debate over Howell’s detainment raged on alongside his deteriorating health, Tavares awaits his next court date in August. Bail was set at $35,000 cash or $100,000 bond, according to the DOC.

Tamara Carter—whose son Brandon Rodriguez died in Rikers—says bail is a “trap” for Black and brown households given the statistically lower median savings account balances, according to the Federal Reserve.

“Right now, I only have $500,” she said. “God forbid any one of my other children get locked up. So you’re putting these high bails and you already know where we’re coming from. How are we going to have that money, or our families have that money?”

A progress report—stemming from 1975’s Benjamin v. Molina litigation filed by the memorabilia by several other “Golden Era” artists, such as Joe Ski Love, Salt & Pepa, and Rakim, among others.

Thanks to the museum, “people have the wherewithal to save stuff,” DMC surmised. To watch the live tour, go to: https:// youtu.be/KC-ZIJYEhXc.

Legal Aid Society—published last Wednesday, July 5, pointed to sanitation, fire safety and ventilation issues across multiple Rikers Island jails in 2023’s first quarter.

The independent monitor, Office of Compliance Consultants, found shower mold and mildew at the George R. Vierno Center, with live roaches observed both at the Robert N. Davoren Center and the AMKC. There were also 109 ventilationrelated violations tallied by the monitor, compounded with the concern of COVID19 and recent wildfire smoke. And a fire post—employed in the absence of smoke detectors at the West Facility jail—was “frequently” abandoned or understaffed, according to findings from the logbooks.

“The monitor itself has complained and has been struggling to get access to a fair amount of data from the department, which we see as just another way in which the Department of Corrections is cutting itself off from public scrutiny,” said Legal Aid Society staff attorney Lauren StephensDavidowitz. “But even with the monitor’s limited access, the report is scathing. There’s still so much in there about just how awful things are.”

Advocates criticized the DOC last month after curbing “proactive” custody death notifications to the press, pivoting to an opt-in system, which the Amsterdam News is participating in. Information about Tavares’s death was provided over the federal holiday upon request while an incident report about Howell’s death was sent out.

Shakur

Continued from previous page addiction in NYC during the 1970s. He also advocated for holistic healthcare. He married Tupac’s mother, Afeni, in 1975, and they had a daughter, Sekyiwa, but divorced in 1982.

“Mutulu was the quintessential re-Africanized New African Freedom fighter,” said his comrade Tarik Haskins. “He was a healer. After seeing an alarming, horrific number of Black and Puerto Rican people succumbing to drug overdoses and the AIDS epidemic, he stepped forward to learn and apply acupuncture to save our people. He multiplied his efforts by training people to become acupuncturists.”

Shakur went underground after authorities sought him out for his alleged role in the “expropriation” of $1.6 million from a Brinks armored truck in 1981, which resulted in the deaths of two cops and a security guard. He was eventually apprehended in 1989, convicted on RICO charges, and sentenced to 60 years in prison. After serving half his sentence--30 years--he became eligible for parole in 2016.

“More than a comrade, we were true friends,” said elected activist Charles Barron. “Mutulu was an iconic revolutionary and inspired so many others. It’s a sad loss and I’m angry that this vicious, capitalist, colonial system kept him in prison all those years until he was close to death.”

Barron said Shakur was always optimistic, and a devoted family man who “touched and saved a lot of lives with his acupuncture clinic. He had a profound love for his people. The revolution never dies.”

Although he had a clean institutional record and mentored other inmates, he was denied parole nine times, including during the COVID-19 crisis.

“He was a close friend, comrade, brother,” said Sekou Odinga. “Mutu was motivated by love and was committed to the struggle of Black and brown people. He did a lot of good work. He stayed in it until the day he passed. We will continue on with his work. He lived what he believed.”

There will be local memorial services next month.