See QUEEN'S PASSING on

romanticizing the legacy of exploitation, and oppression, with deliberate misrepresentation or a lie.

“History is a rough teacher,” stated activist Maisha Ongoza on her Facebook page. “She was more than just a ceremonial figure. Nothing happened without her blessings. All the genocidal pushback from England on countries fighting for independence was condoned by her. Including South Africa Aparthied, the Nigerian Biafra war, the Kenyan Mau Mau Revolution, India’s fight for independence, Ireland’s fight for sovereignty and many other geopolitical use of force by England. Nothing happened without her knowledge and blessings.”

While some observers quoting the ‘Stockholm syndrome’ effect, discussed this past week that economics, neo-colonial politics, and familiarity to an all-be-it historically exploitative system of power and governance keeps some nations loyal to a monarchy and a nation whose self-interest threatens their own—there are millions in the Commonwealth who want to cut the tether and figure out independence in their own way and time.

From the British atrocities in Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Jamaica and all over the Continent and the Caribbean; from being accused of meddling in the affairs of kingdoms; and removal of resources, stolen jewels and historic artifacts; the brutal treatment in Kenya where the Brits held a reported over 100,000 Kenyans during the Mau Mau rebellion; to the under-reported history with the Maroon revolts in Jamaica; not to mention the Raj in India, and the dispute over Hong Kong with China, Britain has so much to unpack in terms of explanations and the call for reparations, and redress.

As Barbados did just last November, other countries in the Commonwealth realm are seriously considering removing the British monarchy as head of state. England is fully aware too that in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, nationalism is always an undercurrent.

Despite the 24-hours news cycle showing current British pomp and circumstance, the calls for recompense have once again come to the surface.

Last week Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos felt the need to try and publicly chastise Nigerian-born Carnegie Mellon Professor Uju Anya over a tweet where she refused to empathize over the passing of a queen she said reigned over the massacre of Igbo civilians in Nigeria.

A petition in support of the educator has garnered a reported 4,000 signatures.

In an email sent to the Pittsburgh PostGazette Dr. Anya said that she and siblings were survivors of British genocide in Nigeria. “From 1967-1970, more than 3 million civilians were massacred when the Igbo people of Nigeria tried to form the independent nation of Biafra…Those slaughtered included members of my family. I was born in the immediate aftermath of this genocide. "We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and Africa’s history,” said no holds-barred South African activist Julius Sello Malema. The founder and head of the Economic Freedom Fighters party said he would not be mourning but addressing Britain’s colonial past under Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

As Britain has benefitted for centuries from the evil trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Malema added that the British gave the nod to Cecil John Rhodes in Zimbabwe.

“Britain, under the leadership of the royal family, took over control of this territory that would become South Africa in 1795 from Batavian control, and took permanent control of the territory in 1806.” The current Member of Parliament continued, “From that moment onwards, native people of this land have never known peace, nor have they ever enjoyed the fruits of the riches of this land, which were and still are utilized for the enrichment of the British royal family and those who look like them.”

As if that was not sufficient Malema noted, “It was the British royal family that benefited from the brutal mutilation of people of Kenya whose valiant resistance to British colonialism invited vile responses from Britain.” He added, “In Kenya, Britain built concentration camps and suppressed with such inhumane brutality the Mau Mau rebellion, killing Dedan Kimathi on February 18, 1957, while Elizabeth was already Queen.”

Meanwhile, across the world, many nations have been paying tribute to the 96-year-old monarch. President Joseph Biden described her as “a stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States.”

Queen Elizabeth embodied a profound, sincere commitment to her duties, observed Harvard Professor Maya Jasanoff. “She was a fixture of stability, and her death in already turbulent times will send ripples of sadness around the world.”

But we should not romanticize her era, Jasanoff cautioned. “For the queen was also an image: the face of a nation that, during the course of her reign, witnessed the dissolution of nearly the entire British Empire into some 50 independent states and significantly reduced global influence.”

Britain “lost an empire, and [has] not yet found a role,” commented American statesman Dean Acheson. The deep and painful traumas and confusions that the loss of empire produced helped many years later to produce Brexit, and enduring and dangerous British fantasies about playing the role of a great power on the world stage.

Others showed little sympathy for the fallen empire and demanded amends for colonial-era crimes. Dr. Anya had the sharpest criticism of the queen. The Nigerian-born professor wrote, “If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star.”

“I guess it depends what you think a good job of being queen is,” opined Birmingham City University Professor Kehinde Andrews of British African Caribbean heritage. “So, if a good job of being queen is to represent white supremacy and to represent that link to colonialism, then, yeah, I think she’s done a very good job.”

“Let us remember,” added University of Cambridge professor Priya Gopal, “that when she became queen at Treetops [Hotel] in Kenya, Britain had just commenced a brutal, vicious insurgency that carried on for several years. In recent years, we have had Kenyans who were tortured by the British raise lawsuits, successfully in some cases, around the vicious violence of the British state at that point.

“I do wonder whether we actually live in a deeply different world,” she continued. “We live in a world where formally the British crown is no longer an imperial crown, but Elizabeth II was, in a sense, obsessed with the Commonwealth, made sure that Charles III would also be head of the Commonwealth.

“I think, as Maya just suggested, much of that order has not changed.”

Gopal said she found herself appreciating the circumstances in which Elizabeth passed—good medical care, in a secure shelter in a place she loved. But how many British retirees would have the same easeful passing this winter? She answered her own question. “I think many will be in insecure housing, without heat, potentially without food, and certainly without access to good medical care.”

Painfully ironic perhaps, given Britain’s support of the South African Apartheid regime, amid the strait-laced protocols of the position, the Queen enjoyed one rare privilege—a relationship on a first name basis with late President Nelson Mandela.

The exchanges between these two worldrenown figures were warm, recalls this statement of the Mandela Foundation.

“They spoke frequently on the phone, calling each other by their respective first names as a sign of mutual respect and affection,” said the statement, issued the day after the British monarch died.

“In the years following his release from prison, he cultivated a close bond with the Queen,” the text said. “He received her in South Africa and visited her in England, not shying away from exploring Buckingham Palace.”

He also gave the Queen the nickname “Motlalepula”—“come with the rain”—after a state visit in 1995, when Elizabeth arrived with torrential rain, “the like of which had not been seen for a long time.” It became a song by the world renowned artist Hugh Masekela.

The Mandela Foundation “joins the multitude around the world in saying +hamba kahle+ (go in peace) to the Queen.”

However, mutually polite or not, chances are her successor son Charles will find himself immediately navigating a host of the 14 Commonwealth nations seriously contemplating releasing themselves from the grip Britain has held over them for centuries/decades.

“In responses from our readers, they have said they are not lowering flags outside of their establishments, and they will not be watching the memorial services,” writer and author Debert Cook told the Amsterdam News. The U.S.-based, living and working Ghana publisher of African American Golfer’s Digest added, “Instead, they cite the ill monetary gains of her country from stolen African jewels and relics to natural resources, slavery, and other atrocities.”

“The Queen’s passing should represent the end of the African Oppression Era,” said Ogugua Iwelu, the African cultural architect with the Afromonic Group. “Africans globally must unite.”

“For the Edo people in diaspora and those back home, the passing of the Queen in the year where the largest number of artifacts looted from Benin Kingdom during the British invasion of 1897 is repatriated is significant,” said cultural activist Richard Iyasere a.k.a. DaddyRich. “We do not pretend to mourn her passing, neither do we rejoice over her demise. Indeed, for over eight decades, there have been calls for the return of artifacts looted by the British, it was only in 2022 that the largest amount of the artifact looted was formally returned back to Benin. It is significant that the deceased Queen never made an official statement regarding the return of the artifact nor did she comment on the unprecedented brutality and injustice of the actions of the British soldiers during the invasion of Benin Kingdom in 1897. However, what is certain is that her death in the same year that the largest number of artifacts was returned back to Nigeria, and to the Benin Monarch who holds the artifacts in trust for the Edo people is significant, and this is no coincidence.”

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Tampa Bay Rays made a run at the Yankees for first place in the National League East but the Bombers dug in and with a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Tuesday increased their lead to six games in the division.

After facing the Red Sox again last night to conclude their short two-game series, the Yankees, who were 86-56 going into the game, had 19 games remaining on their regular season schedule. Aaron Judge hit his 56th and 57th home runs of the season on Tuesday and now trails Roger Maris by four to tie the franchise’s all-time record. Maris hit 61 in 1961.

With the score even at 4-4, Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres had a key three-run double in the top of 10th and closer Clay Holmes held off the Red Sox, who came back with two runs in the bottom of the frame. “They came here to see a good game and to see a show,” said Judge of the Red Sox fans witnessing his power display. “Both teams I think put on a good show for them.”

The Yankees will next face the Milwaukee Brewers for three-games on the road beginning tomorrow and then will play the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Bronx for two next Tuesday and Wednesday. Afterwards, they will meet up with the Red Sox again next Thursday, Sept. 22, through Sunday, Sept. 25.

The Mets’ lead in the National League East has been tenuous for the past month and they were only a half game ahead of the second place Atlanta Braves when they took on the Chicago Cubs last night (Wednesday) at Citi Field in Queens. The Mets lost 5-2 on Monday and 4-1 on Tuesday to the Cubs, who at 60-82 were 22 games below .500 before yesterday’s series finale. The Mets were 89-54 and had the third best record in all of baseball. Unfortunately for them, the Braves, the defending World Series champions, were 88-54 and held the fourth best mark in Major League Baseball.

“Finishing off a good season is really challenging,” maintained Mets manager Buck Showalter after Tuesday’s defeat. “Because you see the finish line. You’re trying to get there and kind of sometimes get away from the things that got you there.”

The Mets will host the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field for a four-game series beginning tonight and then will play the Brewers for three games in Milwaukee next Monday through Wednesday.

Gleyber Torres’ three-run double in the top of the tenth inning on Tuesday helped power the Yankees to a 7-4 win over the Boston Red Sox (MLB.com)

The Las Vegas Aces’ Chelsea Gray has been unstoppable, helping her team take a 2-0 lead in the WNBA Finals over the Connecticut Sun (WNBA photo)

Aces take 2–0 lead over the Sun in the WNBA Finals

By LOIS ELFMAN Special the AmNews

This is the dawn of a new era in the WNBA. Viewership is up. The first two rounds of the playoffs had the most TV viewers for playoffs in 20 years. Game one of the Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and the Connecticut Sun was shown on ABC, making it the most viewed game one in five years.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert held a press conference prior to game one. She thanked ESPN for the expanded coverage of the playoffs and finals. “Thinking about what is really driving all this, it’s the players, and so improving the player experience and compensation has been a main priority for the league since I joined,” said Engelbert.

Game one of the finals was close, with the Aces prevailing 67–64. A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray were the high scorers for the Aces, combining for 45 points. The Sun had three players in double figures—Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones and Natisha Hiedeman.

“These are statement games in a way and when you are playing a good team like Connecticut, you have to really lock in at all costs. It was good to have a game underneath our belt,” said Wilson. Despite the win, Aces coach Becky Hammon was not happy with her team’s play. “Happy that we won,” Hammon said. “It’s better than losing, but there’s a lot of things that we can do better.”

The Aces brought that better in game two, prevailing 85–71. Wilson, Gray and Kelsey Plum all scored over 20 points. “It’s about time I joined the party,” said Plum. “My teammates are putting me in a situation where I’m comfortable and I’m just getting to my spot and taking what the defense gives me,” said Wilson, who added that the role of the Aces is to dominate the paint.

WNBA awards continue to be announced. Aces guard Jackie Young, the top pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft, was named Most Improved Player. The New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu finished second in the vote. Aces forward A’ja Wilson earned her second Most Valuable Player honor in three years, narrowly edging out the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart. She previously won in 2020.

The finals continue with game three tonight, and the Aces are looking to close it out and win the team’s first championship. “It’s going to take every bit of everybody,” said Gray. “We’ve been a good road team this year, so we might as well just go ahead and try to win on the road.”

Women’s world No. 1 Iga Swiatek won her third grand slam singles title with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over Iga Swiatek at the US Open (Margot Jordan photo)

Swiatek wins women’s title at record-breaking US Open

By B.L. OLIVER

Special to the AmNews

The 2022 US Open ended this past weekend at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, having set the record for the most fans to attend the event in its history. A total of 776,120 fans packed the stands in the various stadiums at the complex, surpassing the previous high of 737, 872 set in 2019. There were many emotional moments. Serena Williams, the GOAT (greatest of all time) of women’s tennis, played her last competitive match, losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovi in a three-set thriller—7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1—as the passionate crowd that filled Arthur Ashe Stadium showered the 23-time grand slam singles champion with adulation.

By the end of the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek from Poland, the No. 1 ranked female player in the world, solidified her standing with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over world No. 5 ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, to capture her first win at the US Open and becoming the first Polish woman to ever win the tournament.

The 21-year-old Swiatek is also the first woman to win two grand slam singles titles in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016. Swiatek made her professional debut in 2016. She is a three-time major singles champion, having previously won the 2020 and 2022 French Open.

“For sure this tournament was challenging,” she said in an interview on the court after defeating the 28-yearold Jabeur. “It’s New York, it’s so loud, it’s crazy, so many temptations in the city…I’m so proud that I could handle it mentally.”

Swiatek took home a winner’s check for $2.6 million. Jabeur received $1.3 million as the runner-up. She is the only native African and Arab woman to reach the US Open finals. “Definitely I’m not someone that’s going to give up,” she said. “I am sure I will be back in the final again.”

The women’s doubles final was won by Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, both from Czech Republic, who defeated Americans Cathy McNally and Taylor Townsend 3-6,7-5, 6-1.

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, only 19, won the men’s singles title at the US Open and is now the new No. 1 ranked male player in the world; American Frances Tiafoe lost to Alcaraz in the semifinals (Margot Jordan photos)

Carlos Alcaraz Frances Tiafoe

Carlos Alcaraz closes out the US Open winning the men’s title

By VINCENT DAVIS

Special to the AmNews

Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, only 19, is the new No. 1 ranked men’s player in the world after winning the US Open title on Sunday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. Alcaraz defeated 23-year-old Casper Ruud of Norway in four sets 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. He is the youngest world No. 1 in the history of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) rankings. Ruud, the runner up in this year’s French Open, moved up to No. 2 in the rankings.

“This is something I’ve dreamt of since I was a kid,” said Alcaraz. “To be No. 1 in the world, to be a champion.”

The Alcaraz-Ruud match was played in front of a sold-out crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, which was sold out throughout this year’s tournament, the first time that has happened in the structure’s 25year history. A record total of 776,120 fans attended matches during the two-week main draw, and overall, including the US Open Fan Week, the number of people that passed through the gates was 888, 044.

Alcaraz defeated No. 22 Frances Tiafoe, a native of Hyattsville, Maryland, on Friday night, 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 to advance to the final. Ruud defeated 27th ranked Russian Karen Khachanov, 7-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 in the semifinals. Tiafoe bested Rafael Nadal, the all-time leader in men’s grand slam titles (22) on his way to the semifinals.

He was the first American man to make it a grand slam final since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009. An American man hasn’t advanced to the US Open finals since Roddick in 2006. “I gave everything I had,” said an emotional Tiafoe after falling to Alcaraz, with former First Lady Michelle Obama watching from the stands.

“I gave everything I had the last two weeks. Honestly, I came here and wanted to win the US Open. I feel like I let you guys down. This one really hurts. This one really, really hurts.”

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

Growing up, Sydney LeGuillow, a senior forward with the Hofstra University field hockey team, participated in an organization called YLYM (Young Ladies Young Men), that fostered leadership development. It contributed greatly to her confidence, mindfulness and ability to have constructive conversations. Today, LeGuillow is not only a leader on the field hockey team, but also president of Hofstra’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

“College is when I started taking more opportunities to lead with activism. BLM was definitely a catalyst,” said LeGuillow, who is a CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) commissioner’s academic honor roll member and NFHCA Division I national academic squad member. She has a double major in political science and global studies and a minor in economics and international affairs. This past summer she had an internship with the Institute for Workforce Advancement.

LeGuillow, who grew up in Virginia Beach, Va., started playing field hockey at around age six because someone was starting a league and her sister was playing. Her parents, who both grew up in Queens, had no idea what field hockey was, but were totally supportive. Midway through high school, she realized she could have the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.

“My high school team was pretty good and a lot of people older than me played on my club team and went on to play Division I,” she said. “I thought if I play alongside these people I might have a shot myself.”

Being a top student—LeGuillow also earned the Hofstra Pride Community Service Award— while competing in a fall sport has been challenging and rewarding. “I’ve always valued education so much, and I really do enjoy school and going to classes. I see field hockey, being outside and being around my teammates as a release. I feel this is good for my health and my spirit. I use it as an outlet,” she said.

When LeGuillow originally joined the SAAC, she was the diversity, equity and wellness coordinator on the executive board. A field hockey teammate serving as president encouraged her to run for president, and she was elected the following year. Playing well and being an effective team leader are important.

“We have great players on our team,” LeGuillow said. “I really want to go to the CAA Championship and make a name in our conference. Our team doesn’t have a history of doing that, so the main focus is doing everything I can to get us there. That’s the big goal.”

Hofstra senior Sydney LeGuillow (Hofstra Athletics photos)

History-making Olympian focuses on athlete wellness and performance

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

Although more than four years have passed since Dr. Seun Adigun made history at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, she still hasn’t fully processed the magnitude of what she and her Nigerian teammates accomplished as the first African competitors in the bobsled. Adigun, a chiropractor and biomechanist, now works to optimize the performance of other athletes at her Extra Wellness Center practice in Houston, Texas.

“It’s going to take several years to really understand the magnitude of what was done, but for now I still live in a state of complete gratefulness that my teammates and I were able to do something that really shook the world and created such a feel good story,” said Adigun, who also competed in the 100meter hurdles at the 2012 Olympics, making her the only African person to compete at both the Summer and Winter Games.

She added, “There are now four winter sports federations that are growing in the country of Nigeria and looking to compete athletes at international levels and to qualify for the Olympics.”

Adigun had coached at her alma mater, University of Houston, and earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees before taking up bobsled. She felt an expanded athletic resume would give her additional credibility.

“As a Black woman in sports medicine…when it came to working with NFL players, world champions, NBA players and other Olympians, it would make it a lot easier for me to be respected in that space if I competed in another Olympic Games and competed in another sport,” said Adigun. “I’ve been on a mission to revolutionize sports medicine for years.

“I spend a significant amount of time getting to the root of what their issues are,” she continued. “I treat both as a chiropractor but mostly as a biomechanist. … Especially with the athletes I work with, I treat in order to help increase their quality of life, but also increase their athletic potential—identifying their weaknesses, strengths and imbalances, teaching them how to fire certain muscles that will protect them from injuries, and identifying ways that they can get rid of current lingering issues.”

Adigun, who utilizes an integrated approach to sports medicine, made her return to the Winter Olympics this past February, joining the Nigerian team as medical staff. When the team’s lone athlete, a cross-country skier, was temporarily quarantined, she carried the flag in the Opening Ceremony. She’s also been instrumental in training bobsled and skeleton coaches and plays a role in athlete development.

“We’re on the road to Milano/ Cortina 2026,” she said. “Doing whatever I can to help the next generation of athletes believe in the possibilities.”

Former track and bobsled athlete Dr. Seun Adigun now helps athletes at Extra Wellness Center (Taylor Hayden photo)