Go with the Flo

FLO

ANTHONY

Khadine Bakarat-Joseph, owner of Vedette Beauty & Skincare, and guest speaker Jillian Smith

Former “Empire” stars Trai and Grace Byers, who portrayed Andre Lyon and Anika Calhoun on the show, are expecting their first child together after six years of marriage, according to Just Jared. Grace, who now plays Quinn on the Amazon Prime Video show “Harlem,” posted a photo of herself and her husband that showed her baby bump at the opening night of “The Piano Lesson” at the Barrymore Theatre in New York City. Trai makes his Broadway debut in the play which also stars Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Danielle Brooks. It is directed by Jackson’s wife, LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

On Oct. 11, the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation celebrated its ongoing commitment to support mental health with a cocktail fundraiser hosted by executive chairman of Saks and President of the Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation Richard Baker and Saks CEO Marc Metrick at L’Avenue at Saks in New York City. The event raised $1.8 million to strengthen the Foundation’s mission to make mental health a priority in every community by increasing awareness and education, improving access to care, and promoting the tools and skills that build positive mental health for those who need it most. Guests at the fundraiser enjoyed a special performance by six-time Grammy Award-winning artist and pop culture icon, Dionne Warwick. Said Warwick, “There’s something that can be done about mental illness and it takes all of us to do that. All we have to do is care, truly care, and always try to make people smile.” The same week, Warwick received the Trailblazer award at the Fashion Group International 38th Night of Stars.

Kevin Hart, who is a longstanding friend of Audemars Piguet, co-hosted the 50th anniversary of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in Beverly Hills, California, and the launch of a book that charts the life and times of the iconic luxury sports watch, titled “Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon” on Oct. 14. Guests included Hart’s wife Eniko, Audemars Piguet’s CEO for the Americas Ginny Wright, sports agent Rich Paul and his girlfriend, Grammy Awardwinning singer Adele, Kenya Barris and more.

In honor of Inner Beauty Day—a time set aside to bring global awareness and provide support for survivors of human trafficking— beauty preneur Khadine Bakarat-Joseph, owner of Vedette Beauty & Skincare, in partnership with the Brooklyn district attorney’s office’s Brooklyn Human Trafficking Task Force hosted “Strength in Beauty.” The midday affair provided local high school students a behind-the-scenes look at the business of beauty while delivering an impactful, open dialogue of the dangers of human trafficking. “Growing up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn I suffered low self-esteem and was often bullied and found myself constantly seeking the approval of my friends,” said Bakarat-Joseph, who hosted the event at her Flatbush day spa.

Plaque unveiled for African American suffragists in Brooklyn

Dr. Judith A. Burgess unveiled the new plaque at 405 Carlton Street which celebrates African American suffragists (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos) NY State Attorney General Tish James and City Councilmember Crystal Hudson attended the plaque dedication ceremony

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO

Amsterdam News Staff

Voting rights struggles are not new for African Americans. On Saturday, Oct. 15, Brooklynites gathered to celebrate four notable women who fought in the early 1900s to ensure that African American women had the right to vote.

Congress had passed the 14th and 15th amendments granting African Americans U.S. citizenship rights and prohibiting racial discrimination in voting, but neither amendment was being enforced. So activists such as Sarah J.S. Garnet, Mary E. Eato, Dr. Verina MortonJones, and Lydia C. Smith formed and served as officers of the Equal Suffrage League (ESL), where they pushed to have Black citizenship opportunities made real.

The Oct. 15th plaque dedication, sponsored by the National Votes for Women Trail (NVWT) and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, brought out state and local politicians, members of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, members of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s local Psi Lambda Omega chapter, and area residents to take part in honoring these early activists. Dr. Judith A. Burgess served as the host of the ceremony at Cuyler Gore Park, which is across the street from the New Carlton Rehabilitation & Nursing Center building at 405 Carlton Street—the former site of the YMCA, where the ESL used to hold their meetings.

Dr. Burgess did the primary research on the work of these pioneering women suffragists, and she is a member of the NVWT. She reminded the audience that the ESL activists being celebrated “didn’t sleep on the job. They worked hard to make sure that we had the vote.

“Now,” she said, referencing getout-the-vote efforts today, “we have to make sure that we have a democracy.”

City Councilmember Crystal Hudson praised Dr. Burgess’ work promoting the history of Black women suffragists in Brooklyn. “It’s a real honor to represent a district that has so much rich history—particularly by Black women,” Hudson said. “Not so long ago we renamed PS9 to Sarah Smith Garnet School because we know that Black women started so many movements here in Brooklyn—particularly the right to vote, the movement for women to be able to vote. And for Black women, specifically, to be able to vote. People like myself and the assemblymember, the state attorney general, and every other Black woman who’s ever been elected would not be able to stand before you as elected representatives if it wasn’t for the history that’s come before us and the good fight that so many Black women have fought to ensure that.”

State Attorney General Tish James attended the ceremony—she is from the neighborhood and wanted to add her praise for the ESL activists and their efforts to push for passage of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote: “It was a long, frustrating, and arduous effort, one in which our ancestors and our great grandmothers and our grandmothers, and—for some of us—our mothers never received proper credit for in the struggle. And the struggle, unfortunately, continues,” James said.

“Our foremothers never received proper credit for their efforts to shore up democracy in this country, despite being the Americans most committed to universal suffrage and, frankly, the Americans with the most to lose. … The hard work and diligence of our ancestors were crucial for women gaining the right to vote. However, for Black women and our families, we know it’s only been 60 years,” James added, noting that the Black community, as a whole, has literally only had voting rights enforced since 1965.

Following readings of the biographies of Sarah J.S. Garnet, Mary E. Eato, Dr. Verina Morton-Jones, and Lydia C. Smith, Dr. Burgess took ceremony participants over to 405 Carlton Street. The audience applauded as she unveiled the new plaque on the building which states: “Road to the 19th amendment. Votes For Women. African American women led by Pres. Dr. Verina Morton-Jones used this former YMCA in 1908 as headquarters of the Equal Suffrage League of Brooklyn, William C. Pomeroy Foundation 2022.”