New York Amsterdam Issue #43 Oct. 26 - Nov 2, 2022

Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright speaks at NYC Criminal Justic Summit this past weekend (Diane Bondareff/Mayoral Photography Office)

International News

cancer for the third time.

The 42-year-old writer and activist shared the dismaying news on her Instagram account.

“I am home and recovering from the side ef fects of my first session to treat cancer in my lungs, liver, ribs, spinal cord and hips. I’m bat tling to come to terms with my diagnosis. It’s both daunting and terrifying,” she said.

But expensive pharmaceuticals—the ‘financial toxicity’ of the new precision medicine drugs and scanning machines—benefit just 2% of the top tier medical aid plan beneficiaries.

Josh

(212) 932-7462

Josh.Barker@AmsterdamNews.com

William "Bill" Atkins (212) 932-7429

William.Atkins@AmsterdamNews.com

Ali Milliner (212) 932-7435

Ali.Milliner@AmsterdamNews.com

shaquana.folks (212) 932-7412

shaquana.folks@amsterdamnews.com

Siobhan "Sam" Bennett (212) 932-7498

Sam.Bennett@AmsterdamNews.com

Benita Darby (212) 932-7453

Benita.Darby@AmsterdamNews.com

(GIN)—As Breast Cancer Month comes to a close (Oct. 31), South Africans have been ral lying around Zoleka Zobuhle Mandela, grand daughter of Nelson Mandela, since she went public with the news that she was fighting

Founder of the Zoleka Mandela Foundation to educate people about breast cancer, Man dela is the author of “When Hope Whispers,” a book about her many life challenges, inspiring people to follow their dreams.

Meanwhile, at the World Cancer Congress meeting this month in Geneva, Switzerland, it was predicted that all cancers in South Africa would almost certainly double by 2030 with out major spending increases for screening and prevention.

This comes as new cancer therapies have boosted survival odds from six months to five or six years for even late-stage cancer patients.

Colombia’s VP Francia Márquez featured on CNN interview

up pregnant at a young age in Co lombia. “Today [young girls are be coming] pregnant at 13 years old,” she commented, “because there is no education, there is no educa tion about sexuality and about re productive life here. Talking about it is still a taboo.” Sex education which would give young people better information about their bodily development is a necessity in the nation, she said.

Márquez also spoke about how Colombia needs to advance with its teaching of history—particular ly Black history: “During my child hood, I did not want to be referred to as Black,” she told “Cara a Cara” interviewer, Fernando Ramos.

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Colombia’s Vice President Fran cia Márquez Mina was the fea tured guest on the Saturday, Oct. 20 broadcast of the CNN en Espa ñol program “Cara a Cara.”

An activist-turned-lawyer, Fran cia Márquez took office Aug. 7, 2022, as vice president of Co lombia—she is the first Afro-Co lombian woman to serve as vice president in Colombia's history.

During her interview on “Cara a Cara,” Márquez was able to speak about her personal history and the larger place of Afro Colombi ans within the nation.

Márquez was impregnated at age 16, and she noted that this is not unusual. Many young girls end

“The references that I heard grow ing up showed me not to be proud of our blackness. In school, for ex ample, the references when they talked about Black or Afro-descen dant people, they would say, ‘Look, you come from Africa, and you are slave people.’ We were never told that we were free beings, that we had been enslaved. So, for me Black was synonymous with con tempt, synonymous with some thing negative.

“Of course, for me, today, the answer to what does it mean to be Black is it means to be resilient and resistant, it means to have bravery. But also, joy. Because that is something that neither racism, nor violence nor exclusion has been able to take away from Black people in this country.”

Those among the 84% of South Africa’s pop ulation who rely on the public sector must wait for acceptance in globally funded local precision immunotherapy research trials, a rare occurrence, said medical oncologist Dr. Ronwyn van Eeden.

Already a leading cause of mortality in South Africa, cancer accounts for 10% of national deaths annually and can be partly explained by South Africa having one of the most in equitable health systems in the world, wrote Arabo K. Ewinyu in collaboration with Selog adi Mampane of the Southern Centre for In equality Studies at Wits University.

“Lack of access to health care is a reflection of income inequality, among other things and the uneven distribution of healthcare

USA must lift sanctions on Zimbabwe

Gathering in front of the U.S. Mission to United Nations, Tues day, Oct. 25, the Brooklyn-based international human rights organi zation The December 12th Move ment charges that since 2001 the U.S. has placed illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe. International Secretariat Attorney Roger Wareham said, “Fol lowing the request of its kith and kin, Great Britain, the U.S. has been pun ishing Zimbabwe for having the au dacity to reclaim for its citizens the land which was stolen from them by British colonial settlers. The goal of the sanctions is to create such eco nomic disaster that the people will rise up and overthrow the coun try’s ruling party, ZANU-PF, the or ganization which led the country to independence in1980 after a hardfought military struggle.”

Wareham declared that the U.S., Great Britain and the European Union, who all back the sanctions, have not succeeded in forcing regime change. Despite the sanc tions, Zimbabwe is making eco

nomic progress. But the obstacles imposed by these unjust sanc tions are unnecessarily affecting the growth of Zimbabwe and the member states of SADC (Southern African Development Community.)

In 2019, SADC declared October 25 as the “International Day of Solidarity to Lift the Illegal Sanc tions imposed on Zimbabwe.” In 2020, the African Union voiced its support. At the recently con cluded opening of the General Assembly, they reiterated their positions of immediate lifting of sanctions. In 2021, U.N. Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan de nounced these sanctions as vi olating “universal and regional human rights instruments.”

The D12 Movement say that the only (and unstated) reason that the West continues these sanctions is its fear of the example which Zimbabwe has set of reclaiming African lands for African hands. President Biden can and must lift the sanctions. He can do so with the stroke of a pen.

Zoleka Zobuhle Mandela (GIN)

Francia Márquez Mina was interviewed on “Cara a Cara.” (Photo courtesy of CNN en Español)

(Amadi Ajamu photo)

Weekend at Gracie’s: Mayor Adams hosts twoday public safety summit for key stakeholders

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor And

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

Not quite the Batman signal in the sky, but a crime-fighting call was put out, and Gotham City stakeholders went to the Criminal Justice Summit at Gracie Mansion. This past week end for two days, they came—from law enforcers from all New York City branches, to violence interrupters and Cure Violence members from the five crime-weary boroughs, to activists with solutions. Mayor Eric Adams asked for the major players in the NYC public safety world to come together to discuss the city’s criminal justice system. They did.

But then on Monday afternoon, a 70-year-old was shot in the thigh by a stray bullet outside a supermarket on Fulton Street in Bed Stuy. A few hours

later, a pregnant 19-year-old woman was shot in the leg in Washington Heights. The next day, a 14-year-old boy was shot outside Tottenville High School, Staten Island.

It is this onslaught of crime in the city the summit was called on to address. The attendees included judges, advocates, prosecutors and civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel. Unfortunately, everything went down behind closed doors, although Adams later hopped on a teleconfer ence Sunday to shed some light on the summit.

“We walked away with a number of things, but two areas really stood out to me,” he said. “Our focus must move to a place on justice, not simply winning, but how do we ensure that people are able to get the justice they deserve in a fair manner with out clogging up or bottlenecking the criminal justice system.

“We also want to be clear. Any time we engage in this conversation

around the criminal justice system people highlight one term and that is bail reform. There are so many other aspects of the criminal justice system that we were able to talk through and discuss, and we were extremely pleased with the conversations that we had.”

Adams added his goal was to find common ground. One participant, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clarke, told the NY Amsterdam News the event was a success in her eyes.

“It was a productive meeting,” said Clarke. “I applaud the opportunity to have all the criminal justice stake holders together in one room, and it helped immensely. We found agree ment on a few issues, including an un derstanding that we all want the same thing, a safe city and a fair criminal jus tice system. These goals are not mutu ally exclusive. We can work together to develop strategies that lead to a reduc tion in crime, build community trust

Courthouse rally, 21,000+ signature petition urges D.A. Bragg to drop murder charges against domestic abuse survivor Tracy McCarter

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

This past Monday, Oct. 24, a rally was held at Foley Square demand ing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg drop the second degree murder charges against Tracy Mc Carter. The domestic abuse survi vor is on trial for allegedly stabbing to death her estranged husband Jim Murray in self-defense on March 2, 2020 after enduring repeated vio

lence at his hands.

Just two years ago, Bragg was a public proponent of McCart er’s, tweeting his support back in September 2020. At the time, he was running for office to replace his predecessor Cy Vance, who sought a murder conviction against McCarter. At Monday’s rally, advocates strongly felt Bragg wasn’t doing enough.

“What we’re hearing from the Manhattan D.A.’s office is that Tracy, after surviving various forms of vi

olence, is now being punished be cause she dared to protect herself,” said Survived and Punished orga nizer/human rights attorney Samah Sisay. “The criminal legal system has become another form of abuser to her. Two years ago, when she was ar rested, she was incarcerated in Rikers.

“She was held there without bail during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s a nurse. She is some one who dearly wanted to be with her family, but also wanted to be out here

Q&A with AG James on her road to reelection

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

New York State Attorney Gener al Letitia “Tish” James is the first Black woman to hold statewide office and the first woman to be elected to the position. She is busy running for reelection this Nov. 8 and granted the Amsterdam News a short Q&A.

AmNews: As someone who grew up in Brooklyn and was a public defender, did you see a career for yourself in politics? Was that tran sition difficult or natural?

James: I always knew that I would do something to give back to the people and communities who raised me. The entire arc of my career has been about serving others, protecting our most frag ile rights, advocating for effective policies, and standing up for what’s right. And as the attorney gener al that is what I get to do every day: fight for ordinary New Yorkers from Brooklyn to Buffalo.

AmNews: As a Black woman in a commanding position, you’ve taken on these larger than life white male political figures, such as former President Trump and former Gov.

Cuomo, as well as the ‘radical right’ on numerous issues. Does that role ever frighten you? Are you ever wor ried for your safety in today’s polit ical climate?

James: I am not frightened by in dividuals who think they can follow a different set of rules than the rest of us and cause harm along the way. Our political climate has become more polarized and fraught, there is no doubt about that. But that does not stop me from wanting to fight for everyday New Yorkers. It gives me courage to stand up for New Yorkers and hold truth to power.

Metro Briefs

Black Solidarity Day is Nov. 7

Monday, Nov. 7, 2022, marks Black Solidarity Day, a day in which Black people in the United States take a “day of absence” to make an assessment of the struggle for freedom and plan the way forward.

Black Solidarity Day is held annually by the December 12th Movement on the Monday before Election Day in the Black com munity and calls for “No Work, No School, No Shopping.” A rally will be held at the New Canaan Baptist Church on Black Solidar ity Day at 7 p.m. at 228 Putnam Ave. between Nostrand and Bed ford Avenues in Brooklyn.

Girl Vow, Inc. presents the Second NYC Annual Candle Light Vigil for Missing and Murdered Women and Girls

Girl Vow & The National Taskforce for Missing & Murdered Women & Girls of Color is hosting the Second NYC Annual Candle Light Vigil for Missing and Murdered Women and Girls on Nov. 4, 2022, from 5:45 p.m. - 7 p.m. at City Hall Park, located at Broad way near Chambers Street.

In light of so many recent missing girls of color in New York and around the nation, Girl Vow is launching a task force to tackle the issue of why girls are going missing. As reported by the Nation al Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2019, there were 421,394 missing children in the database. Almost 75% of those missing children were females, 205,802 were Black females. Latinx are statistically invisible and considered white.

The National Taskforce for Missing and Murdered Women and Girls of Color is a response to solving the issue of girls/women of color are missing, murdered, and unnoticed. Their mission is to organize to advance beyond the issues of colorism, racial, eco nomic, and structural oppression with communities at the helm of change.

100 Black Men of America, Inc. rings NYSE closing bell

The chairman of 100 Black Men of America, Inc., Thomas W. Dortch Jr., rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday in honor of the organization’s 37th anniversary. Dortch was joined by members of the organization, Mayor Eric Adams and Alabama State University president Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr.

Earlier this month, The Wells Fargo Foundation donated $800,000 to the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. to expand eco nomic empowerment programming for youth, underserved communities and the members of the 100.

100 Black Men was founded in New York City in 1963. The na tional organization, 100 Black Men of America, Inc., began with nine chapters in 1986 as a national alliance of leading African American men of business, public affairs and government with a mission to improve the quality of life for African Americans, par ticularly African American youth.

OGS presents HarlemWeen at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Plaza

The New York State Office of General Services (OGS) is hosting the annual HarlemWeen family-friendly event from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 31 at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Build ing located at 163 West 125th St. in Harlem.

There will be storytelling, costume and dance contests, and “Thriller” dance lessons with Michael Jackson tribute artist Joye “Moses” Harper. There will also be candy giveaways and free hot beverages. Admission is free.

For event updates, follow @PlazaEventsHarlem on Facebook and Instagram or visit go to ogs.ny.gov/plaza-events-harlem.

Griner denied appeal of lengthy sentence

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

There was more bad news for WNBA star Brittney Griner on Tuesday when a Russian court rejected her appeal to shorten her nineyear sentence for drug possession. Griner, an eight-time WNBA All-Star and twice the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, who pleaded guilty to the charge, was sentenced on Aug. 4, an outcome her legal team consid ered a certainty.

Griner was arrested when she returned to Russia after a brief break in the Russian league back in March. The Russian Federal Customs Service found vape cartridges containing marijuana concentrate hashish oil in her lug

gage at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Since being placed in custody she has com plained of not receiving adequate treatment, particularly exercise time outside her cell.

In denying her appeal, the court said the time she will have to spend behind bars will be “recalculated with her time in pretrial detention taken into account,” accord ing to the AP.

One day in pre-trial detention will be equat ed to 1.5 days in prison towards her sentence, which equates to her having to serve closer to eight years in prison and not the nine years. This does little to reduce the maximum sen tence for such a crime of 10 years. Griner’s case, her lawyers argued at the beginning of trial, was not unique from other such offenses

in which the average sentence was about five years, and even with some defendants grant ed parole with no prison sentence.

But Griner’s case, given the political tur moil, especially the war with Ukraine, makes her a sort of international pawn, and even at times deemed usage in a prisoner exchange.

After she was sentenced in August, U.S. National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan re leased a statement, declaring she was being “wrongfully detained under intolerable cir cumstances after having to undergo anoth er sham judicial proceeding.”

She is permitted only one hour a day out side her cell and according to recent reports has refused to accept a basketball during her recreational period.

Voter suppression tactics surface nationwide

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Across the country, Republican Party candidates have been pushing for poll watchers—self-deputized ‘election integ rity’ enforcers—to be in attendance while people are voting during this year’s mid term elections.

After former President Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, various GOP as sociates have helped promote the passage of state level anti-voter bills designed to help suppress the vote. It’s all based on Trump’s “big lie” that he is actually, to this day, the le gitimate president of the United States, be cause—he has claimed—voting machines, owned by Dominion Voting Systems, were rigged to take votes that had been cast for him, and give them to Joseph Biden.

There are now reports of people show ing up at early voting sites and drop boxes and intimidating voters. In Arizona two masked men, wearing tactical gear, posi tioned themselves near a ballot drop box in the city of Mesa and more drop box watch ers showed up in downtown Phoenix. Even though the vigilante poll watchers left after police arrived, their intimidation tactics have been reported. Television sta tion ABC15 Arizona showed that one voter complained to the Arizona secretary of state’s office, “There’s a group of people hanging out near the ballot dropbox film ing and photographing my wife and I as we approached the dropbox and accusing us of being a mule. They took a photographs [sic] of our license plate and of us and then followed us out the parking lot in one of their cars continuing to film.”

Florida saw Gov. Ron DeSantis send out representatives from his Office of Election Crimes and Security to arrest 20 people in August. The Tampa Bay Times recently posted footage of some of the arrests which turned out to be of ex-convict voters who, reports note, had been sent voter registra tion cards and assured by state officials that they had the right to vote. Pointedly, 15 of the 20 people arrested are people of African

descent. Florida state Sen. Bobby Powell told The Palm Beach Post: “It was always obvious that this [Office of Election Crimes and Security] would be used to target and strike fear in Black voters, and this is coming to fruition.”

Some county election sites in New Jersey want to have law enforcement officials present at polling sites and they want ballot drop boxes placed near local police stations. Even though New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy banned an earlier attempt to pass a bill like this, lawmakers say this legis lation is designed to protect voters from potential violent acts. The proposed Bill S2912 “permits police officers to be pres ent at public school or senior residential center being used as a polling place under certain circumstances.”

Voting rights advocates say stationing police at election sites would have a chill ing effect. “Police at polling places could reduce the likelihood of voting by 32% for Black people,” Ron Pierce, a policy analyst with the New Jersey Institute for Social Jus tice, recently testified to the state assembly.

“This is the opposite of what we should be doing. New Jersey has fashioned itself as a beacon for democracy. And now, without good reason, incident, or science that it will create a safer polling place, you are rolling back a key law against police intimidation, intentional or not.”

In Georgia, Early Voting turnout is coming close to surpassing the number of voters who turned out for the 2020 presidential elections. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is praising the number of people choosing to vote early, “Georgia has had record Early Voting turnout since the first day of Early Voting this year, surging to nearly twice the number on the first day of Early Voting in 2018,” the secretary of state’s office said in a press release. “Totals have re mained within striking distance of the 2020 presidential election turnout and have shat tered previous midterm turnout records by 50% or greater during every day of Early Voting this week.”

But voting advocates are pointing out that

one central reason Early Voting can help is because it can make it easier for voters to beat back any challenges brought under Georgia’s new Election Integrity Act, which allows anyone to challenge a voter’s eligi bility. If you go to vote in Georgia and are challenged, you can at least file a provi sional ballot, while your eligibility is being challenged. Fair Fight, the voting rights or ganization founded by current gubernato rial candidate Stacey Abrams, pointed to several problems with the Election Integ rity Act, with the first three being:

“1. Mass Challenges: Codifies that a single person can challenge the voter reg istration of an unlimited # of voters at once, resulting in that voter being purged. (lines 575-576)

“2. Mass Challenges: Codifies that a single person can challenge the rights of an unlimited # of voters to cast their ballot in the upcoming election. 364k Georgians were frivolously challenged in the runoffs. In just 29 counties, 15,000 Black voters, 2,000 Hispanic voters, and 1500 AAPI voters were challenged. (lines 622-623)

“3. Mass Challenges: Mandates counties hold mass challenge hearings that chal lenged voter must show up to—within 10 days of frivolous challenge. (line 581)”

President Joe Biden termed the Election Integrity Act, “Jim Crow 2.0.” Biden said in January, “Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidi ous things: voter suppression and election subversion. It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making it harder to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all.”

Anyone who feels intimidated while trying to cast a vote this midterm is en couraged to try to photograph the situa tion with a cell phone, notify a poll worker of the intimidation witnessed, and reach out to the following organizations for help.

• Election Protection Coalition hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE.

• Justice Department Voting Rights hot line: 800-253-3931

• Justice Department Civil Rights Divi sion email: voting.section@usdoj.gov

NJ Assembly Committees to hold hearings on racial justice related bills

By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and partners will testify in front of two Assembly com mittees on bills with huge racial justice implica tions for the Garden State.

The New Jersey Assembly Regulated Professions Committee heard testimony on A1519, a bill aimed at ensuring that New Jersey has strong protections against discrimination in home appraisals based on race.

Under A1519, appraisers who commit discrim ination will be fined or have their licenses sus pended. California adopted similar legislation to combat discrimination in home appraisals last year.

“Discrimination in housing appraisals strips wealth from Black communities who have historically been denied the same lending opportunities, public sub sidies and other supports that white communities have used to build wealth through homeowner ship,” said Laura Sullivan, director of the Economic Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, who will testify in support of the bill. “With homeownership being the primary driver of wealth, this kind of discrimination in housing contributes to New Jersey’s huge racial wealth gap: a $300,000 disparity in the median wealth between Black and white households.”

Analysis of over 12 million appraisals national ly for home purchases demonstrated that prop erties in Black and Latino neighborhoods receive appraisal values lower than contract price (i.e., what a buyer is willing to pay and a strong indi cator of the true market price) substantially more than in white areas.

If passed, the final bill will roll back parts of a pro-democracy law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on Jan. 18 that prohibits law enforcement from being within 100 feet of polling places but allows them to respond in emergency situations.

“Law enforcement and voting do not go to gether,” said Yannick Wood, director of the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, who will testi fy against the bill. “In election after election, we see people intimidated by police at the polls, es pecially Black and brown voters. This bill doesn’t protect our democracy or our children. It could however, intentionally or not, suppress the Black vote in New Jersey.”

According to a recent study in one state, the presence of a police officer at the polls reduced the likelihood of voting for Black people by 32%.

By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff

Two Black women were presented the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation

N.J. Chamber honors two Black women breaking down barriers

NYC President of the Black Women’s Political Club Jamila Pringle-Fynes

relations firm and then a market ing firm. Even tually, she made the move to work ing for the State Assembly com munications de partment and then finally the May or’s Community Affairs unit under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Pringle-Fynes credits Queens Councilmember Nantasha Williams with the original idea for the organi zation because she recognized a gap in representation.

THE URBAN AGENDA

By David R. Jones, Esq

To Protect Working Class People, Pass Legislation to End Medical Debt

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the profound inequities in New York’s health care system and exposed the deadly consequences when a million New Yorkers are uninsured, and millions more have inadequate insurance. As a result, the economic security of most working New Yorkers – especially the communities of color whom we represent – is at risk.

All 200 hospitals in New York are nonprofit organizations and designated as charities under the tax code. And unlike their patients, they pay no income or property taxes. These same hospitals also receive billions of dollars in financial support through the state’s Indigent Care Pool (ICP) and Medicaid program. The ICP fund is specifically designed to support them in providing financial assistance to patients and to offset the costs associated with uncompensated care.

will protect patients from having liens taken against their primary residences or their wages garnished due to money judgments arising from debt collection lawsuits. The second (S.2521C/A.3470C) will ban facility fees for all preventative care and require hospitalaffiliated providers to inform patients in advance if they will be charged one.

Milagros’story is no one-off anecdote. A recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report underscored how widespread medical debt is, finding that 20 percent of Americans have medical debt, and that current practices in medical debt collections and credit reporting can cause significant harm to people with medical debt, especially for Blacks and Latinos, low-income families, younger adults of all races and ethnicities, veterans and older adults.

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

The New York City Black Women’s Polit ical Club is a relatively new organization that advances various socio-economic and political positions of Black women and other disenfranchised groups. At the helm of this organization is President Jamila Pringle-Fynes, 34, who has made it her mission to serve her community.

“For me a big thing is I don’t like when people make themselves bigger than the work,” said Pringle-Fynes.

A Brooklyn native, Pringle-Fynes is a descendant from down South and has a Caribbean background as well. She was raised in Bed Stuy. Her interest in community services was sparked after her first internship at U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke’s office in 2011. She was still in college at the time, considering a career in journalism.

“It just felt really good to help support with phone calls with constituents and hear a lot of ways the internal office was addressing different issues. And I was just like, I like this,” said Pringle-Fynes.

She went on to briefly work for a public

“We have so many differenc es and things that we might think dif ferently about but we don’t have any thing that really brings us togeth er at a table to sup port one another and inform one an other,” said PringleFynes. “That’s the gap we try to fill.”

The political club is deeply involved in civic engagement and showing everyday people how politics affects their lives, such as the census count, voting line re districting, city budget allocations, and local elections. Pringle-Fynes said that the club also focuses on hearing more than one narrow perspective, holding local and national discussions on con troversial topics. They hold talks about issues like developing the new canna bis industry in New York State or abor tion rights.

“You don’t necessarily have to be work ing for an elected or in government to be making shifts that can impact us on a larger scale,” said Pringle-Fynes. “We try to make sure people are informed in a real tangible way.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for Ameri ca corps member and writes about cul ture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please con sider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/ amnews1

Even so, some of these charities hound their patients into debt through aggressive collection actions, such as filing lawsuits, placing liens on their homes, and garnishing up to ten percent of their gross wages. Patients face hidden charges, such as bogus facility fees that merely pay for hospital overhead charges, not legitimate medical care. And even though all patients with incomes below 300 percent of poverty (around $70,000 a year for a family of three) are eligible for financial assistance, few patients are told about how to apply for it and the applications are difficult to find and fill out. The end result: medical debt is strangling the economic security of millions of New Yorkers.

Take, for example, the case of Milagros E., a Long Island home health worker. North Shore University hospital secured a judgment for $4,000 against her after she did not come to court. The collection agents then garnished her limited wages despite her best efforts to arrange an affordable payment plan.

These situations happen frequently, and they are not only hurtful financially, but also to the relationships New Yorkers have with their healthcare providers. Extreme medical debt collection practices also contribute to housing insecurity and jeopardize the physical and fiscal health of our citizens. As a state, we can do better. As a community striving for equity, we must do better.

In the wake of a two-year #EndMedicalDebt campaign to raise public awareness about aggressive practices like these, state lawmakers enacted two pieces of legislation protecting New Yorkers from these practices. One piece of legislation (S. 6522A/A.7363A)

The CFPB report further stated that many families are “coerced into paying invalid, unsubstantiated and inaccurate medical bills” by threat of reporting those medical accounts to the credit reporting bureaus.

A New York poll issued in March validated this point, with 41 percent of respondents saying they paid or appealed a bill they did not think they owed for fear of being placed in collections or being sued. Furthermore, an analysis by the Community Service Society of the employers of patients who were the subject of wage garnishments in medical debt lawsuits were typically paid wages at, or just above, the poverty level. In other words, most of the patients whose wages were garnished were likely eligible for hospital financial assistance and should not have been sued in the first place.

After the State Legislature passed S.6522A and A.7363A earlier this year with bi-partisan support in both chambers, the bill’s Senate sponsor and Chair of the Senate Health Committee, Senator Gustavo Rivera said: “No one should be at risk of losing their hardearned wages or their home because they needed medical care.”

We applaud the Senator, retiring Assembly Health Chair Richard Gottfried, and their colleagues in the Legislature for passing legislation that puts an end to harmful liens and wage garnishments by hospitals in medical debt collection actions, and protects patients from unnecessary facility fees. Now we need Governor Hochul to sign them into law. In doing so, she can demonstrate New York State’s commitment to its residents, by helping them avoid paying unnecessary fees at the doctor’s office and protecting their homes and their income from extreme medical debt collection practices.

David R. Jones, Esq., is President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.

Photo of Jamila Pringle-Fynes (Contributed Photo)

Off the Rails: Adams and Hochul announce tighter enforcement with explosion in subway violence

62-year-old man from the subway trackbed this past Monday after he was knocked down by an attacker, reported the NY Daily News. A 25-yearold man was similar ly rescued on Oct. 6 in Union Square, reported the New York Post.

As of Oct. 16, Transit Bureau index crime stats are up across the board compared to 2021. There are two more murders, five more rapes and 61 more felony assaults. In total, index crimes are up by almost a third from last year, with over 300 more grand larcenies in 2022.

“On October 19, 2022, the NYPD performed 3,369 station inspec tions and 1,675 train runs and train inspec tions system wide,” said an NYPD spokesperson. “The added numbers of station inspections and train runs create an om nipresence that riders, at all hours, can see and feel as they make their way to school, work, or home.”

Other measures were announced, including enhanced training for police and first respond ers from the Office of Mental Health. Conduc tors will now also an nounce police presence on trains.

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

Expect more cops at subway stations going forward. On Saturday, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced expanded initiatives to address the in crease of transit-related crime as recent stabbings and assaults crowd up the NYC newscycle like commuters on a downtown express train during rush hour.

“We have a crime-fighting strategy,” said Hochul during the press conference. “We’ve leaned into proven law enforcement strat egies, investing in new technologies, it’ll make a difference. And we’re provid ing New Yorkers the support and the help they need.

“Here’s what we’re calling it: ‘cops, cam eras, care,’ it’s easy to remember the three C’s.”

Last month, Hochul announced the in

stallment of cameras on every MTA train car. As for care, she announced the Office of Mental Health’s “Transition to Home Units,” which will help those experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness (including those living in the subway) find treatment. And cops are of course involved, even if they’re not fans. Around 1,200 NYPD overtime shifts will go towards an increased presence at train platforms. The Police Be nevolent Association opposed the move, calling it “unsustainable” in a statement.

“We have 12.45% fewer rank-and-file cops permanently assigned to the subways than we did in 2020,” said the union’s pres ident Pat Lynch. “The increased workload is crushing the cops who remain. The answer is not to squeeze them for more forced OT.”

According to an August report by state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, New York City uniformed agency overtime spend ing, which includes the NYPD, is estimat ed to hit an all-time high this fiscal year.

The month kicked off with three fatal stabbings on New York City transit, includ ing two on the subway. This past Sunday, a 14-year-old girl was stabbed on the 1 train in Washington Heights. Last Wednesday, a 26-year-old man was also stabbed on the 2 train in the Upper Westside. Both victims survived.

But the violence isn’t limited to blades. Last Monday, a 48-year-old father was hit by a train after he was allegedly pushed onto the tracks during an argument in Jackson Heights. On Oct. 14, a 15-yearold boy was shot dead on the A train in Far Rockaway. And on a related note, a 20-year-old man was dragged to death by a train in the Upper Westside this past Monday, although no foul play is suspect ed at this time.

The unfortunate chaos is bringing the best out of some New Yorkers. Good Sa maritans intervened in several of the afore mentioned incidents. Bystanders pulled a

At the ABCD subway station on Harlem’s 125th Street/St. Nicholas Avenue—where a non-fatal stabbing occurred earlier this month—an increased police presence was noticeable this past Monday. Commuters kept to themselves and largely away from the tracks. Most said they were ambiva lent or unaware about the recent surge in subway violence.

“I think it’s just [bad days]—wrong moment, wrong place,” said one rider. “Everybody [looks after] each other in New York City. So if I see anything that was hap pening to you, automatically, I will look up, look out for you.”

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

Inside the Chambers Street subway station (Tandy Lau photo)

Go With The Flo

Congratulations to song stress Chanté Moore and former BET Executive Ste phen Hill. The couple got married in Mexico on Oct. 22. Hill, who sources tell me currently works with Jesse Collins Entertainment, posted on social media, “We are married and we were surrounded (literally) by love, friends and family while it happened. More later. Not now. Still being about it.” Guests at the nup tials included former BET “106 and Park” host A.J. Calloway. This is the fourth marriage for Moore. She was married to a childhood friend from 1991-1993, then actor Kadeem Hardison from 1997-2000. They share a daughter, Sophia Hardi son. Moore married singer Kenny Lattimore in 2002. The former couple, who share son Kenny Lattimore Jr., divorced in 2011. Kenny Sr. is expecting a child with current wife, Judge Faith Jenkins.

BET recently announced the host, nominees and pre miere date of the Soul Train Awards 2022, which will take place, Sunday, Nov. 13 in Las Vegas. Actor, come dian and writer Deon Cole will host an incredible night celebrating the best in soul music and the iconic legacy brand. Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige lead the nominations with an impressive seven nods. Ari Lennox garnered the second most nods with six nominations; Lizzo and Chris Brown are tied at five nods each. Bruno Mars, An derson.Paak, Silk Sonic, PJ Morton and Tems each gar nered three nominations. The Soul Train Awards 2022 premieres Sunday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and BET Her.

Adidas is the latest com pany that Kanye West is af filiated with to cut ties with the rapper. According to the

New York Daily News, the apparel company ended its relationship with Kanye. who is now known as Ye, on Oct. 25, following his repeat ed anti-Semitic remarks in interviews on several pod casts and TV shows, as well on social media. Adidas issued the following state ment, “Adidas does not tol erate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unac ceptable, hateful and dan gerous, and they violate the company’s values of diver sity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.” The controversial emcee’s talent agency CAA dropped him as a client and Balenciaga dis continued their relationship with him as a collaborator. Adding real insult to injury, JPMorgan Chase, the big gest U.S. bank, cut ties with West following the unveiling of his “White Lives Matter” t-shirt that was modeled during Paris Fashion Week last month. The New York Times verified that the bank was ending its relationship with Yeezy LLC but would maintain the accounts until Nov. 21 to allow sufficient time to transfer the account, which is rumored to have $2 billion in it.

On Oct. 24 on “Sherri,” host Sherri Shepherd chat ted with legendary singer and social media icon Dionne Warwick. She spoke to Sherri about ev erything from new music to her crush on Rege-Jean Page and what she thinks of him playing the new Bond saying, “I think he might pass the test.” She also re vealed where she is in the process of Teyana Taylor playing her in a new biopic series. In her first live inter view discussing the cast ing decision, Warwick said, “We’ve been on the phone several times. She’s done her homework. She knows more about me than I know about me. I love her very much. She’s on it. It’s not a biopic that she will be doing…it’s a bio series.”

Members of 100 Black Men of America, Inc. and Mayor Eric Adams

ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. The or

ganization was celebrating its 37th anniversary.

Noted photographer Kwame Brathwaite honored in Harlem

Harlem Arts Alliance and the com munity honored photographer Kwame Brathwaite at his “Black Is Beautiful” Exhibition at the New York Historical Society Museum. The Alliance’s Ademola Olugebe fola and Voza Rivers presented a plaque to Brathwaite’s son Kwame II at the Museum recognizing his work. The exhibition will be seen nationand world-wide. He is noted for his photographs of “The Grandassa Models”—a positive image of people of African descent.

(New York Stock Exchange photo) (Bill Moore photos)

Bill Perkins and Charlie Rangel honored in Harlem

things around.’”

He also mentioned “Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Lloyd Dick ens, Hulan Jack, and so many others who’ve passed the baton that you’ve never have met. My wife and I sincerely thank y’all for all you’ve done.”

Pam Perkins praised “Char lie Rangel, the living legend,” prior to thanking “the voters for always having his back, and sending him back [to office],” and her husband’s staff, as Bill stood nearby; “Things don’t happen just because.”

Sen. Cleare expressed: “That’s what it’s all about, community. No matter what your ideology is, these are two legends who have served us,” as well as thanking several other attendees.

Nightlife

Written by David Goodson

Deontay ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Wilder is back

I wonder if this was his think ing process during the bout… “Hmmm, he’s looking a little light tonight at 214 pounds. I got him by about 30 pounds. Look at how he flew back when I pushed off. I’m way stronger and he knows it. He’s backing up steadily, he fears this power. Wow, he’s still throw ing wild punches, missed me by a mile. I’m more elusive than he thinks. It’s my night. Gonna get in his head and goad him into throwing another wild punch. My hands are by my sides, he’s going to take the bait and give me the opportunity to attack. It’s work ing, he’s backing up NOW it’s time for me to…. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

WHAT HAPPENED?”

That was perhaps the most ex citing fight of the weekend, but Saturday night boxing made news across the globe, literally. First, history was made in London at The O2 Arena as Claressa Shields became a three-time undisput ed champion, the first person to achieve such a feat in either men’s or women’s boxing. Shields de feated Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs) via unanimous decision to unify all the belts at middle weight in an action-packed slug fest.

Shields (13-0, 2 KOs) earned the win with scores of 96-94 and 97-93 2x, cards that demonstrat ed her superiority inside the ring.

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH Special to the AmNews

Last month on Saturday, Sept. 17, New York State Senator Mrs. Cordell Cleare sponsored a trib ute to two trailblazing Harlem politicians during an outdoor block forum at Morningside Ave. and 114th St. Several nota bles paid homage to the distin guished legacies of Bill Perkins and Charlie Rangel, who’ve served their communities for many decades.

Sen. Robert Jackson remem bered how Perkins chose to back Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential elections while most other local elected officials endorsed New York State Sena tor Hillary Clinton.

“He wasn’t looked upon fa vorably because he didn’t go along with the status quo, but Bill isn’t a status quo person,” Jackson noted, prior to reflect ing on Rangel: “He’s the ambas sador for Harlem. He’s a leader that has put his life on the line for our community. For so many years he served in the U.S. Con gress representing us.”

Sen. Kevin Parker explained how Rangel inspired him to par ticipate in politics, and that Per kins pushed for the Healthcare Act, as well as banning solitary confinement in prisons, “He was the first one leading that charge

when they weren’t popular.” And how “he’s an intrepid voice, a vanguard” who “represented not only Harlem, but also other un heard voices.”

Assemblywoman Inez Dick ens thanked the two progressive politicians “for their decades of contributions.” And thanked Perkins for “fighting and stand ing alone when it was an unpop ular issue, but he knew it was the right thing, he stood up anyway and took a lot of flak for it.” She also noted that his wife, “Pam is his wings.”

Adding: “When the republi cans said we’re going to do away with social security, [Rangel] stood up and said, ‘No you will not!’” She also mentioned the Charles B. Rangel Infrastructure Institute at Harlem’s City Col lege, “which is in our communi ty to educate our kids. God bless and thank you so much.”

Next up, Rangel abbreviated his stay and thanked his wife before saying, “I’m not leav ing until I pay tribute to my old buddy, Bill Perkins. I am re minded that life is just a short run and what all of us can ac complish is what we’re here to do. Things have changed dra matically since I was elected in 1971, things have changed dra matically when I retired in 2017, but as the Sam Cooke song goes: ‘It takes a long, long time to turn

A gracious Yusef Salaam––as his mother, Sharon, stood beside him––from the Exon erated Central Park 5 case, re called: “Bill Perkins came to our assistance from the very begin ning, when it wasn’t popular. Be cause of the malicious actions the system had sought for us, my mother told us to refuse [to cooperate]. The beautiful way Bill Perkins rose to assist us to ensure we had a fair shot, and even after we went to prison he ensured we had the opportunity to succeed.”

Former Manhattan Borough President, C. Virginia Fields, added: “There was never a time that we called on Bill and he didn’t answer.”

Assemblyman Al Taylor, John Liu and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine were among the presenters.

Not sure if this was how he thought, but it was how it looked for Robert “The Nordic Night mare” Helenius as he fell victim to superstar and former longtime heavyweight champion Deon tay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder; who announced his return in grand fashion Saturday night, by blasting out Helenius in the first round of their WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator which headlined a FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

In his first fight since an epic trilogy with Tyson Fury, Wilder stepped into the ring for the first time in just over a year and quick ly reminded the world why he’s one of the most feared punchers in boxing history.

“I set him up,” said Wilder. “I al lowed him to reach and when he reached, I attacked. It was a great fight. It’s been a good camp for me. We worked to make this fun for me. We work at this so much that it can just become a job. We made it fun again. We put in over 700 rounds, and it paid off tonight big time.”

Headlining at Barclays Center for the fifth time in his career, Wilder added yet another devas tating highlight to his resume at the arena in Brooklyn and cred ited the setting of the fight for adding inspiration leading to his triumph.

“It’s just amazing to be back in Brooklyn,” said Wilder. “It’s like a second home to me. It feels so good to be back. When I got off the plane, I felt the great energy and the love, and that’s all I needed.”

“I bit down in every round,” Shields said. “In every round, it felt like she would hit me with a big shot, and I would hit her with a big shot. If she hit me to the body, I’d punch her to the body. But I know that I did the most work today and that I was winning with my inside combinations.”

Lastly, in his second trip to the land Down Under, Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) maintained his po sition at the top of the 135-pound division with a 12-round unan imous decision victory against George Kambosos (20-2, 10 KOs) at the Rod Laver Arena in Mel bourne, Australia. “The Dream” retained the undisputed light weight championship with scores of 119-109 and 118-110 2x.

“I should definitely be on the pound-for-pound rankings. In the first fight, they said that all I had was my jab. Today, I came in and showed them my right hand. I showed how versatile I am. I came to Australia not once, but twice. I beat this man twice in his home town. I definitely deserve to be in the pound-for-pound rankings.

“He’s a warrior. I take my hat off to George Kambosos and all the Australian fans that came out. Thank you, guys, for giving me so much hospitality here. We take on all comers. No matter who it is, we want to fight the best fight ers in the world. I believe I’m the best fighter in the world. Whoever is next, bring him on.”

Looks like 2023 will be the year of the return of REAL fights. Let’s go!

Holla next week. Til then, enjoy the nightlife.

(Mal’akiy 17 Allah photos)

Union Matters

End all shapes and sizes of discrimination!

MTA workers see the violence, deal with the trauma

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

In the Big Apple, it’s still often legal to discriminate against people due to their weight or their height. That’s why the RWDSU, and a coalition of communi ty and advocacy groups, is supporting an amendment to New York City’s administra tive code that would ban New Yorkers from discrimination based upon height and weight. It’s an important issue; height and weight discrimination runs rampant and unchecked in many industries in New York, and it often goes hand-in-hand with racial discrimination and bias against women. Addressing height and weight discrimina tion with this legislation [Intro 0209-2022]

is an important step toward fighting soci etal problems such as sexism, racism, and economic inequality.

This discrimination is prevalent in the fashion retail industry. Workers who are not protected by a union have no recourse against a boss who wants to discriminate against someone due to body size, and RWDSU representatives hear about it when they organize in these workplaces. Work ers at some fast fashion stores have report ed being forced to diet or risk being fired, with some even required to send full-body photos to executives for review. Workers in the industry have reported that man agement will only hire “skinny, white, and pretty” employees to work on their sales floors.

This bill would protect countless New Yorkers from this type of blatant, often sys temic discrimination. It will help work ers who can’t get a job, or who suffer from lack of promotion at work based upon not their performance, but their appearance. It will protect people who are seeking public housing or other public accommodations avoid being affected by discrimination. Businesses would still be able to receive waivers for “reasonable” exceptions or le gitimate health and safety issues, creat ing a fairer playing field while still ensuring employers can operate appropriately and safely.

Height and weight discrimination is in tertwined with social injustice and racial discrimination. Studies show that people of color in the U.S.—Black and Hispanics— are more likely to be of a higher weight than white people. Black Americans are likely to be on average one inch shorter than white Americans, and Asian and Hispanic Ameri

The recent spate of violence in New York City’s transit system may be making New Yorkers jittery, but it’s almost par for the course for those who are paid to work on the buses and in the subway system all day long.

MTA workers are members of the Local 100 chapter of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU). Transit workers generally feel they have a good job, with good pay—and those who spoke with the Amsterdam News would only do so off the record, they did not want their names connected to any comments about prob lems in the system.

Chris Lightbourne, TWU’s department director of member services, notes that transit workers don’t regularly talk about the stressors they deal with on the job. “As a practice, they don’t really complain to the public about the dangers of being in different spaces. The only thing that they would relate—even to their union— is their actual work conditions and the environment that they work in and the conditions of certain facilities, things of that nature. You know, telling us what they need or what could change.

“But they are aware of the dangers in the subways.”

The public hears about headline-mak ing violent incidents, but there are reg ular, unreported events that happen in

the transit system on a weekly and some times daily basis. TWU workers can turn to their union for support in dealing with such issues, but the sad thing is that these have now practically become common workplace hazards.

This past Monday, a 20-year-old man got either his clothes or backpack caught in

Workers strike at Starbucks NYC Roastery

the doors of a southbound No. 1 train. As the train pulled away, it dragged the man onto the train tracks and in front of an on coming train, which killed him. A 14-yearold girl was stabbed and slashed during a fight on a No. 1 train on Sunday. And two men in Queens got into a fistfight on Oct. 17 after one accidentally knocked the oth er’s phone onto the train tracks. The man who lost his phone shoved the other into the path of an oncoming subway train at the Roosevelt Avenue subway station; two subway cars rolled over the victim before the motorman was able to stop the train.

New York City Transit Authority train operators use codes to signal when oc currences like these take place, and they need help. Their radio signal codes all begin with a 12: “12 – 7” is a request for police or medical assistance; “12 – 8” is a call about an armed passenger; “12 – 9” means a person has been hit by a train; a “12 – 10” means there are unauthorized people on the train tracks; and a “12 –11” is a call that there is vandalism taking place.

“You have to be aware of your surround ings,” one worker commented. In the city in general, the worker added, you have to pay attention and you just have to extend that to when you’re in the transit system.

Workers feel the increased police pres ence in the subway system is helpful in

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Employees at Manhattan’s Starbucks NYC Roastery walked out on strike on Oct. 25 and 26. Via their union, work ers are said to be complaining that man

agement has refused to deal with urgent health and safety issues at the location, including a moldy ice machine and bed bugs.

The Starbucks flagship location, at 61 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, saw workers with picket signs marching out in front of

the store’s entrance and chanting “What do we want?” “Health and safety!” “When do we want it?” “Now!”

“This morning Starbucks Roastery workers went on strike over health and safety issues that we have been dealing with ever since winning our union vote in April,” Laura Garza, a Starbucks worker of 22 years is quoted as saying. “This in cludes a moldy ice machine that we are not equipped to properly remediate, and which are still in current use, as well as the more recent situation with bed bugs being found in the Roastery since this past Sunday. Proper protocols and com munication to partners regarding bed bugs has been scarce and we are left in the dark. All the while, we haven’t heard from Starbucks about bargaining our contract.”

Workers United, the union representa tive for the workers, also filed a nation al Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over Star bucks’ failure to bargain with the union.

Workers went out on strike at Starbucks flagship location, at 61 Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, and chanted: “What do we want?” “Health and safety!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” (Photo credit Workers United)

New York City transit system workers “are aware of the dangers in the subways.” (Karen Juanita Carrillo photo)

Stuart Appelbaum

President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Twitter: @sappelbaum. www.rwdsu.org

Crime, Trump centerstage in sole New York governor’s debate

By MARINA VILLENEUVE Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)—Sparring over crime, abortion and the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection took center stage Tuesday as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul faced her Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin in the campaign’s only televised gubernatorial debate.

Hochul blasted Zeldin’s past support for abortion restrictions and for former President Donald Trump, while Zeldin vowed to repeal liberal criminal justice re forms and criticized Hochul’s push to send millions to abortion providers to expand access for a predicted surge in out-of-state patients.

Hochul labeled Zeldin an “elec tion denier” and “climate change denier” as she tried to link him to Trump, who enjoyed little support in New York.

“In Lee Zeldin’s world, you over throw the results of elections you don’t agree with,” Hochul said.

Zeldin voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election re sults in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Trump’s false claims of 2020 presidential election fraud fueled

anger among supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking to violently block Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.

When asked by moderator Susan Arbetter, host of the Spectrum News state politics show “Capital Tonight,” if he would vote against certifying the results again, Zeldin didn’t directly say yes or no.

He instead said he wanted to focus on the future, and fight to institute voter ID laws to protect election integrity.

Hochul also asked Zeldin: “Is Donald Trump a great president? Yes or no?”

Zeldin praised Trump’s record on policies from Israel to the U.S.border policy to pandemic con tainment.

And when asked if he would accept the results of the election if he lost, Zeldin said: “Well, first off, losing is not an option. Secondly, playing along with your hypothet ical question, of course.”

The debate was co-moderated by Spectrum News NY1 political anchor Errol Louis.

Hochul, the state’s former lieu tenant governor who took office after her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, resigned to avoid a likely

impeachment, has enjoyed a strong lead over Zeldin in much of the polling this year.

But Zeldin remains a contend er, enjoying support in wide swaths

of upstate New York. Some recent polling suggests the gap between the candidates could be narrowing.

The Long Island Republican has spent much of the year railing

against a streak of shootings and other violent crimes, including a series of unprovoked attacks on New York City subways. Two teen agers were also injured in a driveby shooting outside his home earlier this month.

Zeldin on Tuesday charged Hochul with failing to take seri ously the concerns of New York ers about crimes on subways and hate crimes against Jewish and Asian-American communities.

He also argued that liberal op position to natural gas extraction and new pipelines in New York is hurting the state’s economy.

“You’re poorer and less safe be cause of Kathy Hochul and ex treme policies,” Zeldin said, adding: “You deserve better.”

New York was among the first states to scale back the use of cash bail for criminal defendants start ing in 2020.

Both before and after the re forms, only a small fraction of the people released while awaiting trial—less than 1%—were re-ar rested for violent felonies.

Hochul has noted that other cities and states without similar cash bail laws have seen spikes of crime since 2020.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin Credit: Office of New York State Governor (Flickr, US Congress/Public Domain photo)

Opinion Environmental justice is a peoples’ justice

By FRANK BROWN

The recent NYC Environ mental Justice Survey has called on people to “REPRE SENT YOURSELF AND YOUR COMMUNITY.”

The peoples’ cry for ‘Envi ronmental Justice’ was heard recently due to tragedies in Jackson, Mississippi and New York City’s East Village. In Jackson, severe storms led to the flooding of the Pearl River which resulted in the city’s water treatment plant mal functioning. This preventable tragedy resulted in the con tamination of a community’s

drinking water. As for the case of residents in the NYCHA houses of East Village’s Jacob Riis, the alarm rang in horror over its water containing arse nic. In 2022 with the advance ment of technology, how can these devastating incidents occur? Elected officials re ported their concerns in Jack son several years prior to the river’s flooding. Why were their concerns—which are those of a people—not heard? Were residents well informed? Jacob Riis houses is over 70 years old. Is this the first time its residents’ water has been compromised? How often is

the water tested? Who is trust ed to inform the community? Generational effects will more than likely happen as a gener ation did not look beyond its present. East New York Res toration, L.D.C. (ENYR) a not-for-profit organization operating in the East New York section of Brooklyn, has decid ed to accept the responsibility of addressing a community’s concerns through the power of documentation. For sever al years ENYR has served the community. Whether it’s their annual 5K run/walk which at tracts hundreds from as far as New Jersey, or workshops and

training in renewable energy, the beneficiaries have always been the community. Deeply disturbed by a community’s residents suffering unnec essarily, ENYR decided to go into action. Under the banner of DOCUMENT YOUR CON CERNS! ENYR is seriously partici pating in the Environmental Justice Survey campaign. The survey addresses concerns from residents and what they know about changes in their neighborhood, providing feed back on the issue of environ mental justice. Change must be expressed through action,

and what may seem like a small action, is still action as it estab lishes momentum. Fundamen tally through documentation a community can now have a stronger input in what is hap pening; and whether it helps or hurts the community. The community is asked to join the campaign by reserving a few minutes to complete the survey at the ENYR office located at 1159 Elton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11239 (for more information, call 718-676-5920 or go to www. enyrestoration.org)

Frank Brown is the Green Initia tive Program Coordinator.

A guide to midterm elections and the art of voting

By DR. CLARENCE WILLIAMS JR.

The midterm represents a piv otal time in New York state pol itics. There are four executive offices that will be on the ballot: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and comptrol ler. It is not my goal to talk about who you should vote for or who you shouldn’t. The public has been bombarded enough with that. Rather than focus on who to vote for, I will discuss how to vote.

Voting is a multi-tiered pro cess. Before looking at a politi cian or ballot, the voter should do an assessment of what the needs and priorities of his/her family, community, and person al needs are. This should be done by understanding the economy,

education, housing, and busi nesses in the community that you live in. You must determine if the politician is meeting those needs that are relevant to you, your family, and your communi ty. You will hear statements from candidates that will include “I promise,” “I guarantee,” or the famous “read my lips.”

Personally, I respect politi cians that say, “I will support,” or “I will work hard,” or “I will do my best.” That is more real istic than promises that cannot be kept. The inability to keep a campaign promise can depend on unknown entities, such as other elected officials that can impact a politician’s platform, which is at the heart of biparti san gridlock. This happens when a governing body such as a gov

ernor does not belong to the same party as the mayor, and they have different agendas; as a result, legislation comes to a halt. Other roadblocks that affect a politician’s ability to keep campaign promises are chang ing budgets, special interest groups, changes of public opin ion, changes in social norms, or just, they said what they had to say to get elected. Understand who and what you are voting for. So, the next time a politician makes a promise, look at the governing body that can influ ence that promise. Do not think in terms of who is bad or good but who represents the needs of your community. There are var ious websites that can help you learn about the politicians and the process. I have found these sites to be helpful: https://ballotpedia.org/New_ York_state_executive_official_ elections,_2022 https://www.elections.ny.gov/ https://www.vote.org/ The second part of the process, and it is the shortest, is voting.

I know some people who are guilty of skipping the first part and going straight to the ballot, when this happens, they told me that they found themselves just selecting the person whose party they identified with or the

one whose name they heard the most in the media, or even the way their name sounds. A large group of people fall into this section which is why it is hard to remove an incumbent from office: they’re familiar.

After the vote is the most im portant part. Now it is time to hold your elected officials ac countable. All too often we think our job is done when we leave the voting booth. There is a big push to vote for your candidate. There is a push to just vote in general, but rarely do we hear ads that challenge you to hold your pol iticians accountable. Remember what your needs are and remem ber what the politician said they would produce. Reach out to them, write letters. See how ac cessible they are. They will knock on your doors and greet you at the subway station to solicit your vote, but do they show the same energy to see if your needs are being met?

So why are these midterm elec tions so important? We have a sitting mayor that is challenged with many issues and a gover nor that is up for election. This election outcome can impact the success of city and local politics. The office of comptroller is also up for election. The comptroller is a powerful position in politics.

According to NYC.GOV: “The Comptroller’s responsi bilities include:

• Conducting performance and financial audits of all City agencies;

• Serving as a fiduciary to the City’s five public pension funds totaling approximate ly $250 billion in assets, as of July 2022;

• Providing comprehensive oversight of the City’s budget and fiscal condition;

• Reviewing City contracts for integrity, accountability and fiscal compliance;

• Resolving claims both on behalf of and against the City;

• Ensuring transparency and accountability in setting pre vailing wage and vigorously enforcing prevailing wage and living wage laws; and

• Promoting policies that en hance City government’s commitment to efficiency, in tegrity and performance for all New Yorkers.”

This role can significantly impact how monies are spent to address homelessness, crime, employment, education etc.

The attorney general’s role ac cording to https://ballotpedia. org/Attorney_General_of_New_

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Nayaba Arinde: Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

Damaso Reyes: Investigative Editor

Siobhan "Sam" Bennett: Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Advertising Wilbert A. Tatum (1984-2009): Chairman of the Board, CEO and Publisher Emeritus

Something big is happening in New York, and Democrats should be scared

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

New York is often considered a beacon of democratic principles; a home for those who believe that equity and social justice trumps all. New York City, for instance, one of the largest cities in the country, is home to some of the most radical members of the Democratic Party who pass legis lation based on race and equity rather than fundamental fairness. Neverthe less, contrary to what we may think New York to be, the recent trends in the campaign for governor suggest that New York may be on its way down a different route.

Lee Zeldin, a Republican Congress man from Long Island, and Kathy Hochul, the former lieutenant gover nor who became governor after the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, are competing in a race for governor whose outcome has now become un predictable.

A few months ago, Kathy Hochul had a massive 24-point lead in the polls. However, Quinnipiac, one of the most recognized pollsters in the nation, recently released a poll with shocking results: Hochul had just a 4-point lead. This is the outcome of what seems to be a perfect storm of events that have hit New Yorkers and showed them the repercussions of ad vancing far-left policies.

First, an assassination attempt was made on Lee Zeldin during a cam paign rally. This occurred after an onslaught of unjustifiably harsh rhet oric directed towards Zeldin. Hochul’s message of compassion for him and his family, in which she failed to ac knowledge how her rhetoric played a major role in the assassination at tempt, exacerbated the situation for the Democrats. And to make matters even worse, despite the assassination attempt on a sitting Congressman, the man was released without bail under New York’s controversial bail reform laws.

What might have been the big gest eye-opener for New Yorkers was when Governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida sent

thousands of migrants to New York City, a sanctuary city that supports illegal immigrants and regularly ad monishes governors who have antiillegal immigrant policies, seemingly out of spite.

To further irritate New Yorkers, while New York City has become so prohibitively expensive that the av erage person can no longer afford to live there—with skyrocketing rents averaging around $5,000 per month for shoebox apartments—these ille gal immigrants are being housed and fed three meals a day on the taxpay ers’ dime.

Finally, escalating crime rates in New York City and its surrounding neighborhoods, seemingly fueled by a lack of prosecution of criminals by far-left district attorneys and in creased poverty, have transformed the city into a place to fear, rather than enjoy. New York City at night is a veritable Gotham City, with violence even reaching Congressman Lee Zeld in’s front door, as two men exchanged gunfire while his daughters were home alone.

Voters are beginning to understand that Democratic leaders care exclu sively about retribution and equity for the tiny minority, and not about the ordinary American. This equal ity always comes at the expense of fairness and the quality of life of the common individual. In addition, based on their rhetoric and policy proposals, it often appears that Dem ocrats only care about Democrats and future Democratic voters, not Repub licans, Independents, or anybody who disagrees with them.

New Yorkers are certainly con cerned about transgender rights, abortion, and immigration. Yet, they worry more about how they will put food on the table, if they will be able to pay rent next month, and whether they can provide a comfortable life for their children in a safe environment. The messaging of Hochul and other Democrats is entirely fixated with the trivial—significant, but less press

ing—problems of abortion, immigra tion, and transgender rights.

New Yorkers are discovering that Lee Zeldin is the governor for them because he, like the rest of the Re publican Party, seeks to be fair to everyone, but at the cost of no one. Republicans are not interested in providing illegal immigrants with support, food, and shelter when they cannot even provide for their own citizens. We cannot save everyone, but we can create an environment where everyone can save themselves, and that includes illegal immigrants, transgenders, and more.

Even though New York is often ex treme, we can use a Virginia bill intro duced in the Virginia State Legislature to demonstrate the Democratic Par ty’s electoral aims. The upcoming legislative session in Virginia was sup posed to see the reintroduction of a bill that would broaden the state’s def inition of child abuse and neglect to include people who cause mental or physical injury based on their child’s gender identity or sexual orientation. Thankfully, there was bipartisan back fire and the bill’s sponsor stated that she will not reintroduce it.

These frustrating and irrational policies are supported by the vast majority of Democrats in power. Considering what has occurred over the previous four years, it does not take a soothsayer to forecast that New York would regress significant ly over the next four years if Kathy Hochul is elected governor.

I have no doubt that Zeldin would have earned a narrow victory in the race for governor of New York State if the election had been held a month later, and a wide victory if another month later. New Yorkers will decide in the next election whether they prefer four years of senseless, lib erty-invading policies or four years of fundamental fairness, equality of opportunity—not outcome—and prosperity for everyone, including Democrats.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Sta tions and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www.arm strongwilliams.co | www.howardstirk holdings.com

What’s your voting plan?

GREER PH.D.

It’s that time of year again! As a political scien tist I absolutely love elec tion season. There are so many courageous people who love their communi ties who have decided to run for political office. They have spent time away from their families, many have learned intricate policy de tails, knocked on doors, raised money, and spent the last few months making the case as to why they would like to be chosen to represent the communities they care about so deeply.

Many of these candi dates are running to make sure 2020 election deniers do not get elected to office for the next two, four, or six years. There are incred ibly important races going on in all 50 states and some purple states like Wiscon sin, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania have incred ibly important Senate and gubernatorial races that we should be paying atten tion to. Even here in New York, incumbent Demo cratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is running against a Trump loving Republican who has some extremist ideas on policies ranging from the environment, crime, edu cation, and so much more.

There are many dangerous folks on the ballot, and we must make sure our voices are heard on Election Day––Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

For New York voters there is early voting which begins on Saturday, October 29 and goes until Sunday, No vember 6. If you miss early voting, you can vote on Election Day on Tuesday, November 8. If you need an absentee ballot, you can re quest one in person up until November 7. If you have any

questions about dates to return the ballot or that pro cess, you can visit vote.nyc or call 866-VOTE-NYC.

There are so many issues of concern today and there are real differences between the parties and the candidates. By and large, Republicans have made it known that they do not believe a woman should have autonomy over her own body. They have explicitly said that a grown woman should not be able to make her own lifelong de cisions pertaining to her re productive health. This is the same party that does not be lieve in supporting the social safety net, providing ade quate funding for housing, education, infrastructure, the environment, city servic es, and so much more.

I know people are busy, dealing with housing and job insecurities, trying to make their paychecks stretch a bit longer, and still fighting off the very real and persistent effects of COVID. However, it is imperative we make this election a priority. We cannot have election de niers in the U.S. Senate. We cannot have elected officials who have pledged their loy alty to the former president over the American people. We must vote for people with real ideas and values and self-respect. This elec tion is very likely one of the most important in our entire lifetimes.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Ford ham University, the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Im migration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream,” and the co-host of the pod cast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions pod cast at TheGrio.

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 opin ions of others that may differ from our own.

Caribbean Update

Bahamas anxious to provide military help to troubled Haiti

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

As the situation in Haiti spirals out of control and as calls for a foreign military intervention force heat up, Caribbean governments are pondering their next move as to how to deal with the 15-nation bloc’s most pop ulous but also most trouble some member state.

In the past week, leaders have held a virtual emer gency meeting among them selves and have also used a similar medium to discuss the country’s worsening crisis with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

One key subject that keeps coming up at these and other meetings is wheth

er the region should back a foreign military force going into Haiti to help main tain peace, calm down rival gangs competing for politi cal turf in the country and to generally act as a stabilizing mechanism. President Ariel Henry has attended both meetings and appealed for whatever help the region could give.

Apart from being re sponsible for an increas ing number of deaths, the heavily armed gangs roam ing the country’s capital have in recent days block aded a major fuel terminal in Port Au Prince, the capi tal, bringing economic life to a virtual halt, increasing hunger and leading to fears of famine in the Caribbean

nation of nearly 11 million. Authorities are also worried about an outbreak of chol era, fearing that the chaos from the gang violence and control of the city will pre vent health workers from beating back the spread of this disease.

In the meantime, authori ties in The Bahamas say the government there is prepar ing the local military for de ployment to Haiti once the United Nations and Cari com agree to such a devel opment in the coming days.

“We will abide by the out come” of any decision by the Caribbean to send a peacekeeping force to Haiti, Prime Minister Phillip Davis told reporters in the past week. Foreign Minister Fred

Mitchell says “the prudent thing for our own country to do is to have our forces give us advice on if we are asked for such an eventuality, can we participate and to what extent can we participate?”

At the weekend, Bahami an Chief of Staff Commo dore Raymond King said concrete steps are being made to prepare marines for deployment if necessary.

“The preparation entails identifying persons who would have been trained over the years. We have done a number of infantry training, courses and pro grammes. They may have worked regionally as well as with our U.S. partners. So, we have an annual training programme then we have a

training programme during the year for persons to ac quire those infantry com petencies as consents,” he told the Tribune newspaper.

No other Caricom govern ment has been as explicit about military help but others have done so in the past.

The Bahamas is particular ly interested in a stable and functioning Haiti as, along with The Turks and Caicos, these two neighbors are forced to rescue, assist and repatriate hundreds of Hai tian boat people annually.

Official estimates have put the Haitian population in The Bahamas up to 30% of the national total so the mini archipelago off Florida is anx ious to play any role in stabi lizing the situation there.

Anti-immigrant rhetoric and murder in West Texas

legal immigration is draining your paychecks, wrecking your schools, ruining your hospitals, and threatening your family.”

IMMIGRATION KORNER

On Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, Stephen Miller, the former nutty adviser to Trumpeto and founder of the right-wing group America First Legal, tweeted that a vote for Dem ocrats in the November 8th election is a vote for “crime, il legal immigration, inflation, gender indoctrination and child castration.”

His tweet came as baseball fans in California and Penn sylvania watching the playoffs recently, had to sit through commercial breaks that in cluded racist, xenophobic ads filled with misleading and false claims, funded by Citizens for Sanity, whose board member is Miller.

The ads are lies, much like those peddled about the stolen elections. “Joe Biden and his fellow Democrats have erased our southern border, and they have released a record number of illegal immigrants into the United States, all at your ex pense,” one of the ads states in part. “This giant flood of il

The right-wing rhetoric and the replacement theory push is on as we count down to Nov. 8th. In Mesa, Arizona, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), claimed “Joe Biden’s 5 million illegal aliens are on the verge of re placing you, replacing your jobs and replacing your kids in school and, coming from all over the world, they’re also re placing your culture. And that’s not great for America.”

Sadly, like the rhetoric that led to the deadly Capi tol riots of January 6th, the anti-immigrant rhetoric has reportedly led to murder in West Texas. Two brothers, in cluding a former jail warden, are accused of shooting at a group of 8 Mexican immi grants on Sept. 27, killing Jesús Sepúlveda Martinez, 22, and injuring Berenice Casias Carrillo at a West Texas reservoir in Sierra Nevada.

Advocates, and Democrat ic lawmakers, including Beto O’Rourke—the challenger for the post of governor in Texas— all blame “hateful rhetoric” for the actions of twin brothers

Mark Sheppard and Michael Sheppard, both 60.

Texas Ranger Juan Torez, in the affidavit written from ac counts of several migrants, and from the Sheppard broth ers, states that 13 migrants stopped to get water at the ranch reservoir and hid in the brush when they heard a truck coming.

According to the affida vit, “The illegal immigrants stated they overheard one of the males shout something in Spanish to the effect of, ‘Come out you sons of bitches, little asses!’ then revved the engine of the truck.” Then, two shots rang out.

Later, the Border Patrol used surveillance footage to identify a truck on the road at the time of the shooting, which led them to its owner, Mike Sheppard.

The affidavit said Mike Shep pard initially denied being at the location of the shooting, but then later admitted he was. According to the affidavit, “[Mark] said they were look ing for ducks then changed it to birds and then to javelina’s [sic]. Mark Sheppard told us he used binoculars and saw a ‘black butt’ thinking it was a ja

velina. Mark Sheppard told us Michael Sheppard exited the truck with a shotgun, leaned on the hood of the vehicle, and fired two rounds. Mark Sheppard told us he asked Mi chael Sheppard something to the effect of, ‘Did you get him?’ Mark Sheppard then changed ‘him’ to ‘it.’”

As authorities have kept tight-lipped about their in vestigation into the shooting, Democratic elected officials have said Republicans’ dehu manizing of immigrants con tributed to the killing.

They say that repeated calls by conservatives to label migrants as invaders and criminals have created an at mosphere that puts targets on the backs of those crossing the border. In the gubernatori al debate on Oct. 3, O’Rourke said Gov. Greg Abbott’s “hate ful rhetoric” was responsible for the migrant’s death.

Advocates say it is a hate crime. “This is a hate crime that occurred immediately after they were crossing into the United States,” said Zoe Bowman, the supervising at torney at Las Americas Immi grant Advocacy Center, who is representing the seven de

tained survivors.

U.S. Representative Veroni ca Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, and 15 other mem bers of Congress, have written to the U.S. Department of Jus tice, urging it to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

The letter noted, “This attack also comes at a time when once-fringe white su premacist propaganda is being embraced and regur gitated by Republican lead ership, boosting resentment, hatred, and, in this case, vio lence against migrants.”

According to Mother Jones, Mike Sheppard has a histo ry of racism and xenopho bia. He was the warden at the West Texas Detention Facility, which used to house U.S. Im migrations and Customs En forcement (ICE) detainees but now is a privately run prison. (LaSalle Corrections now runs the prison). He has report edly had a history of accusa tions of racial animus. A 2018 report by the Refugee and Im migrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) documented allegations of significant cases of abuse and racism directed at a group of 80 African inmates awaiting

The region, meanwhile, is also making its point known for help for Haiti at various international forums like the U.N.’s Nations Security Council. Representing the region last week, Belize’s Permanent Representative Carlos Fuller called for as sistance to the country.

“The Haitian people cannot do it alone. They re quire meaningful support from various regional, hemi spheric and international partners to assist in imple menting the way forward.”

The situation in Haiti has not been made easier by the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse during an attack on his home by Colombian mer cenaries.

deportation for minor crim inal offenses. Detainees ac cused him of punching a Black prisoner in the face four times, then repeatedly kicking him in the ribs while he was lying face down on the floor.

“Racial slurs by officers were also common, according to the men we interviewed,” the report said. “When one de tainee asked for socks and underwear, Mike allegedly re plied, ‘Shut your black ass up. You don’t deserve nothing. You belong at the back of that cage.’ The report said the warden also told another Black de tainee, ‘Boy, I’m going to show you. You’re my bitch.’ And he reportedly told another, ‘Now you belong to me, boy.’”

Both men are in the Hud speth County jail and will appear in virtual court on Oct. 27 for individual bond hear ings as the rhetoric plays on and immigrants become walk ing targets for the MAGA mag gots, dumb enough to believe that there is a sinister plan to literally “replace” native-born Americans with immigrants.

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

Fighting, surviving, and thriving after breast cancer: The personal testimonies

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

In a time when eggs are nearly a dollar a piece, filling up a tank of gas is almost a monthly rent/mort gage payment, and everybody is walking around in ugly/practical/ ultra-comfortable plastic shoes with coordinated holes in them—a yearly staple is the corporate pink drenched recognition of breast cancer survivors and fighters.

There is respect, gratitude, and hope tied into the annual walks, the ultra-produced documentaries, and special news reports. Some people want to note the corporate hustle, and others focus on the kitchen-ta ble, survivor-created cottage indus try born out of the need to recover, inspire and share.

Full disclosure this reporter is a 15year breast cancer survivor, who cre ated a survivor support group called Square Circles, and engages regularly with fellow survivors and fighters and supporters of folks wrestling with any number of the all-too-common ail ments which particularly affect the Black community—perhaps dispro portionately.

Early detection, maintaining a healthy lifestyle as best you can, per

sonally researching your options, and being your own most powerful health advocate—especially in the hallowed halls of hospitals and doc tor’s offices. In order to spread the word, be a resource, and be visible in the fight, in August 2008, after being done with chemo, I wrote “Survive and Thrive,” and “Respecting the Unexpected,” my personal cancer story, and had them published in the Amsterdam News.

In 2020, just before the coronavi rus pandemic shut down the world, one of 11 co-authors of the Women’s Empowerment Breakthrough Edi tion I once again detailed the story of detection, and life during and after a

breast cancer journey.

Deniece Mitchell-Delerme is a fellow survivor, and her organiza tion Slay Cancer is about the work of doing just that. On Tuesday, Oct. 23 she told the Amsterdam News, “I am 6 years and four months and two weeks and three days cancer free.” She mentions the minutes and na no-seconds too.

Still determined to be “an open book,” Mitchell-Delerme introduced her breast cancer story to the world as the bald-headed, Blacknificent beauty Queen, former Miss Grena da/USA.

Whether it is getting her ‘No Mo’ Chemo crop tops, or her LDC–Last

Day of Chemo tee, or logging on to her socials or podcast, MitchellDelerme of SlayCancer.org focused on how to combat that evasive specter which is cancer. Her events, her Caribbean girl Slay Cancer dishes declaring, “I’ve got 99 prob lems, but Turmeric solved like 86 of them,” are all designed to heal with love, humor, great holistic energy and informed hope.

Last year Mitchell-Delerme cele brated her “Five years, 60 months, 260 weeks, 1825 days, 43800 hours, 2628000 minutes, 157680000 sec onds of #NoChemo. This five-year milestone.”

As any survivor will repeat, you can

sometimes find joy in the simply glo rious facts which you chose not to take for granted.

Thirty years old when her own mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was told that she was too young to get a mammogram herself. “I was told I was young. I was naive at the time. I know better now. About two years later I found a little lump while I was showering. I knew. I got a biopsy, and it was diagnosed as stage 2 breast cancer. I was 32 years old, a week from my 33rd birthday.” She did chemotherapy and radiation, and “I went homeopathic also. I used sour sop which is a natural cancer killer.

The Amsterdam News staff and friends with Nayaba Arinde on 2009 Susan G. Komen annual Breast Cancer walk (Bill Moore photos)

Breast Cancer Square Circles event at Sista's Place with State Senator Kevin Parker, Nayaba Arinde, Bishop Michel White Haynes, Dr. Dawn Aldrich, and Viola Plummer and amazing panel of survivors and fighters

Square Circles Breast Cancer community support event at Sista's Place

Dr. Torian Easterling reflects on his legacy at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

By HEATHER M. BUTTS, JD, MPH, MA Special to the AmNews

Dr. Torian Easterling, the outgoing first deputy commissioner and chief equity officer for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, spoke with the Amster dam News for a Q&A on the work he has done while at the Department, and the challenges New York still faces. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

AmNews: Please tell us about your thoughts as you look back on your time and accom plishments with the New York City Depart ment of Health and Mental Hygiene?

As I look back on the last seven-and-a-half years during my tenure at the New York City Health Department of Health and Mental Hy giene, it’s been an incredible opportunity, an opportunity of a lifetime. I’m a family phy sician, public health physician, who initial ly thought that I would practice and hang up my shingle and see patients in northern New Jersey, and then got focused on community health…Black and brown communities that have been marginalized [and] disproportion ately impacted for decades…the best way to describe some of the accomplishments here at the Health Department—for one I

think it has been a major accom plishment and an opportunity to work under major leaders who have championed equity and really focus their invest ments in neighborhoods during my time.

When you do a scan across this country you look at public health de partments and certain ly one that is as large as ours, to be bold about talking about structur al racism, to be bold about making specific investments in neighbor hoods like South Bronx, Brownsville, East Harlem, and saying I’m going to put millions of dollars into these communities, not just on staff but brick and mortar on-site pro grams, and say to our partners we need to work with, we cannot meet our goals unless we work with them, and so that’s how I got to the health department back in 2015. A com mitment to working in the neighborhoods that I just referenced and so many more, and that’s the work that I’ve been doing over the last seven and a half years.

When we think about the data and what we’re seeing in Black and brown communities, the homicide rate due to gun violence of young men between ages of 18 and 44…the ongoing

inequities around infant mortality…

We’re still seeing these persistent inequities and Black women dying during childbirth in New York City compared to white women…somehow we are not making enough noise about that…the work that we were doing in Brook lyn was supporting a lot of the partners who’ve been working for more than two decades in this city and really trying to close the gap around maternalistic health out comes and also expand ing our investment in doula services…We have signifi cantly grown [doula servic es] by starting A Healthy Start which funded team-based organi zations…so we were having doula ser vices in Staten Island and Queens working with a number of different organizations now under the Adams administration. I’m extreme ly grateful around the chronic disease preven tion. We did a lot around expanding access.

AmNews: Are there any challenges you still feel need to be overcome?

I think the work of continuing to oper ationalize what it means to do equity not only in New York City but across the coun try, that’s our ongoing work and this is

going to be long-term work. I lift it up be cause I want to ensure that…the achieve ments that we’ve made so far, we’re talking about 400 years of hardship for Black and brown folks in this country…this is a very young country and so the original sin of racism still is pervasive in our country in our society, so there’s a lot of work that we have to do to make sure that we do not just rely on what’s easy, to make decisions on what’s easy and what’s already set up.

We certainly had to be really mindful about that during our COVID response when we talk about vaccine equities.

AmNews: Where are you headed and where will the future take you?

I’m certainly looking forward to resting and relaxing with my family. Into the future is to be determined, there are lots of opportunities and possibilities. I hope to keep growing pro fessionally and keep working in public health administration. There’s so many organiza tions and institutions who have committed to really growing equity investments and wheth er that’s a foundation or a healthcare system or academia, I think it’s really important making sure that I’m going to be working in an insti tution where there’s a real commitment to advancing health equity, that we’re not just giving lip service but that we are also saying to our own staff that we have to figure out what are the mistakes that we’ve made and how do we transform our own organization.

Health commissioner Ashwin Vasan talks polio vaccines with the NYAmsterdamNews

in India in the 1950s. My father’s younger brother is a polio survivor and his daily life is a reminder of the effects of the disease. He is paralyzed on one side of his lower body. That was not my reality since I was vac cinated against the virus as a baby.”

to a quiet return of polio.

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

With spooky season in full swing, polio is back from the dead after a re ported case in Rockland County ear lier this year, with evidence of the disease spreading through great er NYC-area wastewater soon after.

Over email, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Com missioner Ashwin Vasan answered questions about the resurgence of the life-threatening virus—and it’s a personal matter.

“I know firsthand how polio robs people of their lives,” he said. “My father’s older sister was an aspiring doctor when she died of the disease

Vasan urges parents to get children vaccinated ASAP. He says the city is prioritizing getting kids under 5 their shots “without delay.” It’s typically a four shot process starting from a newborn’s early months. Chances are grownups are good, as the vaccina tion is mandated for schools in New York as well as across the country. But those unsure should talk to a doctor.

There are city-run clinics where New Yorkers can get themselves and loved ones a shot. Those under four can get the vaccine for low-to-no cost at an immu nization clinic at the Fort Greene Health Center.

A myriad of reasons are leading

“We are seeing polio reappear in countries that we thought had eradicated it [due to] the combined effect of global under-vaccination that was created by a combina tion of mistrust and misinforma tion, amplified by social media; poor implementation of vaccina tion programs in other parts of the world; lack of access in conflict zones, insufficient funding, and work suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Vasan.

According to the CDC, the vac cine is 99-100% effective against polio after three doses. The lone person to contract polio this year in New York was unvaccinated.

Last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared an emergency over polio in hopes of reaching the unvacci nated and under-vaccinated. Her executive order expanded vaccine administration permissions to EMS

workers, midwives and pharma cists. According to Hochul’s office, polio was declared eliminated in the United States back in 1979.

“People are leading safer lives be cause of the polio vaccine and other important vaccinations and it’s more important than ever to renew confidence in one of the greatest marvels of human ingenuity and public health: vaccines,” said Vasan. “Please get vaccinated today.”

Polio vaccine appointments can be made on https://vaccinefinder. nyc.gov

Tandy Lau is a Report for Ameri ca 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 consid er making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting:

Arts

‘Interview with the Vampire’—AMC’s wonderfully bold remake

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

I confess, we accept ed AMC’s seven-day trial offer just to watch (and rewatch) the remake of Anne Rice’s novel “Interview with the Vampire,” shaped into a new series constructed with care. The new series is wonderfully bold and steps into tackling a cru cial question in act one. Set 50 years after the events in the film version, the inter viewer Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) is now old, not the kid we met inside a San Francisco hotel room, but those audio tapes remain of his interview with Louis de Pointe du Lac. Now, set in the middle of a world wide pandemic, Louis (Jacob Anderson) reaches out to Daniel to open their conversation again with the hope that both men have wised up.

Race and sexuality are a big part of this retelling which gives this version a depth the movie missed. Here, the series deliberately reframes Louis’ story where he was a plantation owner (a mixed man) whose view of a new world and new life with the vampire Lestat (Sam Reid), his maker, is complicated.

Told in episodic install ments, the relationship between the two is electri fying and like all love af fairs, deeply conflicted, as we examine their every shifting mood.

Circa 2022, the modernday Louis lives in a Dubai skyscraper that sways, a specific and deliberate construction design. In re hashing his life, he pulls us back to his life as a cun ning businessman in New Orleans and it’s clear that

he’s a family man with a strong love for his kind sister (Kalyne Coleman), troubled brother (Steven Norfleet), and suspecting mother (Rae Dawn Chong).

But Louis is a tortured soul and is always fighting what his heart wants and needs and what he’s allowed to have as an African Amer ican man in America and now, as an immortal vam pire, and of yes, as a homo sexual man—we can now clearly see that this modern life of Louis is filled with conflicts.

It’s genius recasting Louis’ character with such delicious complexities. It makes the story deeply en tertaining and rich with storytelling possibilities, and when Louis performs

a rather barbaric kill, it jump-starts a reaction that causes havoc to the very people (BIOPOC people) he cares to help.

In the chaos of the moment, Louis finds a dying young girl and begs Lestat to turn her, Claudia (Bailey Bass), into his vam pire “daughter” which he does but keeps his distance.

The director attributed to this new series is Alan Taylor (“Game of Thrones”) with production designer Mara Lepere-Schloop, and costume design by Carol Cutshall. Let’s call these creatives the “holy trinity” because they complement each other perfectly.

“Interview with the Vam pire” debuts new episodes every Sunday, at 10 p.m. ET.

Scenes from AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” (Courtesy photos)

‘Black Adam’—a new antihero is born

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

“Black Adam,” with Dwayne Johnson as the DC superhero, is action-packed and if you love movies like this (and I do), this is a winner.

Here’s the story: Black Adam has been in lockdown for 5,000 years and is considered a nearly invin cible global threat because he’s more impactful than an atomic bomb. When he wakes up, the Justice Society of America, or JSA, enlists an elite group to help “con tain” him that includes Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), Hawk man (Aldis Hodge), and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).

In the film he’s called Teth-Ad am and he is clearly angry, with a built-in instinct to un-alive anyone that makes him unhap py. But in all that tightly packed anger he’s still basically reason able, which serves him later when dealing with a deeper and much more dangerous character who wants to liberate the fictional country, Kahndaq, that feels like the Middle East where the film takes place.

Naturally, we get to see the dig nity of the locals who want the an

cient hero to help them stop the cruel, white mercenaries from taking their Eternium. And what’s amazing about the mineral is its power to transform a human being—with the help of well prac ticed magic—into an almost god like state.

Growing weary of living in a state of oppression, a group of lib erators, lead by Adrianna (Sarah Shahi), go on a quest to find a leg endary crown made of Eternium.

Adrianna and her team recov er the famed crown and in doing so, unleash Teth-Adam from his

imprisonment. He is equipped to deal with bad guys by blasting blue light from his fists and bouncing bullets off his body, so equipped as a moving weapon that even a bazooka can’t stop him.

This world has an interesting twist because it’s seen through

the eyes of Adrianna’s young, comic book-obsessed son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) who idolizes Teth-Adam.

The politics of Kahndaq are complex and therefore believable so when Amon, who carries the crown in his backpack for a while, is kidnapped by Ishmael (Marwan Kenzari), we get a sense of the bravery of the people.

In fact the citizens don’t wait around for Black Adam to save the day, they stand up to the bad guys including teenager Hurut (Jalon Christian) who is featured in the film’s ancient-history prologue. I offer again, there’s dignity to the citizens of this fictional country.

It’s not a perfect film and a ques tion looms over the insertion of the JSA members. Why do they show up at all? What harm, exact ly, is Teth-Adam doing?

The screenplay is co-written by Sohrab Noshirvani, Rory Haines, and Adam Sztykiel and delivers solid action sequences laced with strong story and world building. Black Adam didn’t wake up to ne gotiate. He woke up to exact re venge, and this viewer gets the feeling that Black Adam will be back and will be faced with a more deserving adversary—and there fore a new franchise is born.

‘The Redeem Team’ on Netflix—not just for sports fans

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

“The Redeem Team”—current ly playing on Netflix—is pro duced by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Jon Weinbach. You don’t have to be a sports fan to be absorbed by this documen tary that focuses on the 2008 United States men’s Olympic basketball team and their thirst to recapture the winning gold medal that comes with the feel ing of accomplishment.

This is the stuff that makes great docs because NBA’s big gest stars set aside their egos and allowed a strong coach whip them into shape.

The late Kobe Bryant’s voice is heard in the doc which opens with the late NBA legend sitting beside LeBron James where he shared that to win Olympic gold meant more to him than any league championship.

To place the story into con

text, the film retraces the history of America’s Olympic basketball teams, which lost two games be tween 1936 and 1988, with the last defeat in Seoul, Korea. This em barrassment inspired the NBA to allow its gifted players to partici pate in the games and inspired the

creation of the Dream Team.

But the fact of the matter was that with Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson doing their thing they were promoting the sport to an international market and entic ing gifted and motivated players who wanted nothing more than to

go toe-to-toe with the best in the sport. To wit, it wasn’t very long before some of the NBA’s top draft picks were hailing from countries like Argentina and Spain.

The filmmakers utilized a rich archive of vintage footage (cour tesy of NBA Entertainment) with the top-of-the-line interviews from those involved in the 2008 “Redeem Team” that includes Bryant whose voice is promi nent in the doc. For a moment, too fleeting, it seems that he was still alive.

The manner that the doc is stitched together is the story of how America’s premiere athletes stood under the same flag for a moment—united—in their desire to win for a country.

It’s interesting to see how the power of natural pride is shined up and the film shines because the members of the 2008 team are wonderfully charismatic who love sharing those inside sto ries of their time together. Their

memories quickly become our memories and it’s interesting how the legendary Duke coach, Mike Krzyzewski, inspired them to be their very best.

Then the tone shifts—dramat ically—when Bryant joins the team at a tender moment in his professional career. The history of how he interacted with Shaq in LA is shown, and how he caused some issues for the Lakers, when he enters into the picture at a moment when he’s wrestling his younger self. It’s such an interest ing moment watching the amount of energy that he brought.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the surviving members of the Redeem Team speak freely about Bryant, sharing about the issues he brought and the hard work he put into getting himself together.

There’s a lot to like and love about “The Redeem Team” and if you love the sport and the NBA then this is the documentary made just for you.

“Black Adam” (Courtesy photo)

T“The Redeem Team” (Image courtesy of Netflix)

Struggle is superbly emphasized in ‘Topdog/Underdog’

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Pulitzer Prize winning play wright Suzan Lori-Parks dem onstrates that she is the master wordsmith with her play “Topdog/Underdog,” now having an explosive 20th anniversary re vival at the John Golden Theatre at 252 W. 45th St. Lori-Parks tells the story of two Black brothers, Lincoln and Booth. These are two Black men for whom life dealt ter rible cards. They have not known love, security, support in their home lives, but instead expe rienced abandonment by both their parents, betrayal, chaos.

They have known fear, hunger, desperation. Through it all they have always had each other, but also carried a great deal of anger and envy. They have always needed to feel loved and impor tant and that has not worked out well for either. What happens to Black boys who grow up with only the disadvantages of life?

These brothers became hustlers and thieves. They measure their success by their ability to have a place to live, no matter how poor

and drab the accommodation, to get to eat and to budget whatev er money they make to pay for the bare necessities.

Lincoln used to make his money scamming people with the card game Three-card Monte, but he stopped after trag edy struck. His younger broth er Booth wants to follow in his footsteps and tries his best to practice the card scam. These brothers take sibling rivalry to a level that boggles the mind and the heart. While Lori-Parks gives them some moments of joy, as they recall times in their child hood when they worked togeth er, you intensely feel both of their pain and frustration with their lot in life.

From the time that the play starts the storyline is present ed fast and furious. The two actors, whether alone or to gether, have intensely quickspoken words that reveal some of the deep disappointment, an guish and humiliation they have suffered and are currently suf fering. Corey Hawkins is metic ulously brilliant as older brother Lincoln. He vividly lets you feel

every emotion his character has had to endure. While he is a master at Three-card Monte, he is a mess over the current cards life has dealt him. Yahya AbdulMateen II makes an astounding Broadway debut as Booth. He is the ultimately younger broth er who loves/respects/envies/ hates his older brother.

Life has given these two Black brothers a card hand that would have anyone feeling they have no self-worth. When you feel that way what can you really do? When you are angry with the world, who

will you take it out on? “Topdog/ Underdog” is the ultimate look at sibling rivalry gone mad, but its background story helps the au dience to see why. You can’t be angry with these terribly unfor tunate men.

Every moment in the theater was vivid and memorable! Before the play started you walked in to hear rap music blasting. The au dience was a lovely sight to see as it was populated by so many Black people. We were out there and representing beautifully. It warmed my soul to see that the

audience had people of all colors and races, bopping to the rap beat. When the play started we all took the ride with these two phenomenal actors. We laughed, we were shocked, we felt their pain, and sympathy for their tragic lives. This magnificent play is directed by Kenny Leon and he always brings the drive and power of what the Black man has suffered to whatever work he directs. Leon took this play and made us see the connection be tween these two brothers, but also the huge disconnect. His work is what a great director is, he makes you feel something deep inside.

Every technical element of this production also lent itself to setting the mood, from the drab, barely furnished room the brothers shared with milk crates and cardboard for a table, set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, to the costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by Allen Lee Hughes and sound by Justin Ellington. They all worked together to create this feeling of struggle. Please make plans to experience

“Topdog/Underdog”!

“Topdog Underdog” team: director Kenny Leon, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Corey Hawkins, playwright Suzan Lori-Parks (Courtesy photo)

Rebirth of A

By GODDESS KYA

October 27,

— November

substitutes. The real thing is in demand, and the truth about things. A New Moon is in Scorpio

your birthright’s inheritance and demand what you need. Your ancestors are there to

world. Whatever your preference is for how you communicate with the spiritual

with new as generations heal and evolve life, like fine wine from 1776. Evolution is taking place, and Mother Earth has a new hidden treasure being discovered to benefit humanity—in your state, city, country one by one and time by time to see results and hidden gems pop up. “Spiritual evolution is part of every soul’s destiny on Earth, and each soul evolves at a different rate. You are right where you need to be.” James Van Praagh

Your life is taking a new direction, one you have to swim to the depths within to seek the answers to your questions. This cycle is time to come out of hiding to share information with others. Plan a social event, gathering, or roundtable discussion with a goal in mind leading to results. Start the new thing you envision. The vision is given to rise to the occasion. Travel, study, gaining insights of truths and understanding people are in the background making plans for you. October 29th-30th, you have angels calling out to you and working with you.

Aquarius: Short distance travel is indicated, perhaps a stay for 3-5 days for business and personal affairs. It’s a cycle for self-development, branding yourself, and polishing up areas that need work. Having a plan in place is necessary as the unexpected detours may pop up. In the midst of your daily program deep inside there is a need for commitment to self to follow your heart to flourish in your plans or projects. October 31st, your heart is set on a direction and a decision needs to be made. Be mindful of your environment and your ap proach to people, not everyone is your kind of people or your friend.

This year by far is a transformational year and to allow bygones to be bygones as you elevate into new heights. Being true to who you really are is key. The su perficial is not going to get you by in life. Set your heart on a new schedule, regime, and work on that into you see results as new ideas of ways of operating will come to you. Listen to your emotions and control your anger to get your mind right for clarity while focusing on your agenda. October 25th-26th sched ule time for solitude, calmness for your own reflection of your life and your next plans.

A double dose of pressure is applied. No need to complain, it’s the divine creator passing out homework after the given lecture. Balance, organizations, cutting any loose ends and investing in self is vital for growth. Explore new ways to navigate to accomplish what you set your heart on. A separation of something is due for clarity; it’s part of your purpose and mission this cycle. As the new beginning starts, old ones usher in the new you. The caterpillar transformed into a butterfly. October 27th-28th something major is on the way; you can sense it and feel it. Keep working on your goal. Make the effort.

Far distance travel for personal and business are on the horizon. Building new connections and partnerships to branch off in many avenues for the ex pansion of your business. You know exactly what to say, what you want and bring the vision of the appearance to reality. By the end of the month new in sights and opportunities require your attention once you are ready to take off the glues and get to business. October 29th-30th is all in divine timing by being at the right place at the right time.

Building a new home by yourself is great. It’s better when you have a team to assist you performing a task to get it started. Dedication comes in handy to complete or promises made to self and others you will do. Spontaneous travel occurs abruptly and a cycle to stand on your own two feet no matter what occurs. People will want to pull you in their agenda and plans; howev er, you’ve got your own plans to stick to. October 31st, you are building from what you initiated in August.

Vinateria

A whole new attitude, directions, beginning, appliance, home are crys talizing with a fresh new start. A cycle to listen to your intuition and moth erly advice once given to you from your mother, or sister, daughter, aunt, and niece. Your life is changing, and you feel it. Strike out on your own to be different. Become the first out of your family or immediate environment making a difference and strong stand for what you believe you can do. You have the vision, now it’s time to apply the building blocks. October 25th26th, a brand new you of maturity is happening.

When the spiritual being meets the true reflection of self, not just in the mirror, it will be a spiritual meeting and you will know it. It will feel similar to meeting your true love or life-term partner. Tears of joy occur as you re flect back on all the work, time you invested and self-awareness during the process. This week your world is expanding and transferring into a new level, making your mark and imprint on the globe. You deserve it, so claim it, be it, see it, and keep on dreaming manifesting into a reality.

Gathering information and details on how to use the knowledge is your gift. You articulate and comprehend well assisting people in changing their perspective to better themselves. It’s all in the mind—you command your mind to produce a way to fulfill your request. You are working on new estab lishments, programs, products to elevate you in your due diligence. October 29th-30th, mother earth energy presence is felt, and you can sense and feel it.

It’s time to spread the word and see how far your words go, be it your service, products, or assisting you to bring to the table. This week, what are you committed to personally, to self, work, family, to balance the scale in your affairs? A deeper insight into your plans, blueprints, ways to invest are showing you signs and symbols. A busy month to run er rands, be a helping hand, travel to short distances and incorporate flexi bility into your schedule. October 31st, a higher calling is at your beck and call, make the decision or stay where you are.

Life and death has an entry and exit date. What you do with the dura tion of your life is up to you. Live in your purpose, do what’s conducive to you and follow your passion that will drive you to new sites, cities, states, mountains, and countries. A metamorphosis week that stops you in your tracks. You are embarking upon a new cycle taking place in a slow-mo tion effect like the planet Pluto, a slow burner. October 25th-26th, during the new Moon in Scorpio all eyes on you as you shake away things, places, people that no longer serve your soul into a well-seasoned you.

You name it, you got it, and heard about it. A week to give it your best shot and command or ask for the things you need or want to wheel it into existence. You have a wealth of knowledge and experience that you can equip people with the information you know to help themselves. A cycle in which people will ask can you lend me, spare me, borrow, also making self-improvement to be more than well seasoned. A moment to ask yourself the five W’s as to what your next moves are and who you are bringing abroad. October 27th-28th, when you are in

is at its finest

you understand the cycles and assignment better.

How to protect home and valuables this holiday travel season

Whether you’re visiting your in-laws or taking a tropical vacation over the holidays, you’ll likely be leaving your house and the majority of your belongings unattended while you’re gone. Recent research suggests that if you’re like many Americans, you may not be doing enough to protect your assets when you hit the road.

According to a study conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Selective Insurance, 59% of U.S. homeowners have a home se curity system or device, yet less than half (49%) use one to protect their unoccupied homes when they are on vacation.

However, most homeowners do take some safety measures before departing for extended periods. For instance, 68% lock all their windows when they leave town. Addi tional precautions include having someone check their home (61%), setting lights on a timer (39%), shutting off water (21%), and hiring a house sitter (13%).

Nevertheless, risk experts say you’re best

off with a system that monitors for breakins and other mishaps, including fire and flooding from storms or leaky pipes.

“Vacations are a great time to create new memories, but they are quickly forgotten if you return to a damaged or burglarized home. Taking sensible home safety prep arations before leaving is as important as packing the right items in your suitcase,” says Allen Anderson, senior vice president of Personal Lines at Selective Insurance.

“Our research shows that home security systems and devices are widely under-used across the country, but they are powerful tools to mitigate against unoccupied home theft, fire and water leaks.”

According to Anderson, here are some steps you can take this holiday travel season for greater peace of mind:

• Install and use a smart home security system or device. Doing so provides a vital line of defense and could save you money. Many insurers, including Selective Insur

ance, will provide a homeowners policy discount to policyholders with a profes sionally monitored security system.

• Lock your garage and all of your doors and windows—and double-check them.

• Install outdoor lights. Use an automatic timer to set your interior and exterior lights and give your home the appearance of oc cupancy.

• Stop your mail, package and news de liveries.

• Stow away your valuables.

• Consider waiting until you return from your trip to share vacation photos to social media, or use privacy settings to control who sees your posts.

• Unplug all unnecessary electronics.

• Bring all house keys with you, or leave one with a trusted friend to check up on your home while you’re gone.

• Turn off your water! Some of the most frequent and costly homeowners’ claims are due to water damage.

For more home protection tips, visit se lective.com.

As you make your holiday travel arrange ments, think beyond airline tickets and hotel bookings. Be sure that your plans also include home protection in your absence.

LOTERIA™/©: Licensed by Don Clemente,

((c) monkeybusinessimages / iStock via Getty Images Plus)

AmNews FOOD

Spooky snacks that make Halloween pop

From watching scary movies to dressing up as ghouls and gob lins, spooky season means it’s time to pop up your loved ones’ favorite snacks for a ghostly good time. Before heading out to trick-or-treat, gather your minions in the kitchen for some fam ily-friendly fun crafting these haunting yet tasty treats.

Throughout October, you can honor National Popcorn Poppin’ Month with eerie, delicious eats like Spooky Popcorn Spider Web, Green Halloween Zombies, Witchy Popcorn Balls, and Popcorn Caramel Apples that add festive fun to the Halloween excitement.

As a perfect ingredient in treats of all types, popcorn is be loved for its seed-to-snack simplicity as a non-GMO, vegan, glu ten-free, sugar-free snack that’s naturally low in fat and calories. Add in its irresistible smell, taste, and versatility, and it’s easy to see why it pairs so well with spooky celebrations.

Find more Halloween treats at popcorn.org

Spooky Popcorn Spider Web

Yield: 1 spider web

1/4 cup butter

8 cups mini marshmallows, divided 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

9 cups popped popcorn, di vided

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided black string licorice candy eyes

Line round pizza pan with parchment paper; set aside. In large saucepan over low heat, melt butter; stir in 5 cups marshmallows, stirring con stantly, 3-4 minutes, or until completely melted. Stir in va nilla. Remove from heat. Stir in 8 cups popcorn until coated.

Spread onto prepared pizza pan in irregular round shape, about 1-inch thick, to resem ble spider web. Refrigerate about 15 minutes, or until firm.

In microwave, melt re maining marshmallows about 20 seconds, or until melted. Using spatula, string strands of melted marsh mallow over popcorn spider web to create cobweb effect.

In heatproof bowl set over saucepan of hot (not boiling)

water, melt 3/4 cup chocolate chips; cool slightly. In large bowl of remaining popcorn, pour chocolate over popcorn, folding gently to coat. Spread mixture on waxed paper-lined baking sheet, separating into eight small clusters. Affix two candy eyes to each popcorn cluster. Refrigerate 10-15 min utes, or until set.

Melt remaining chocolate chips. Cut licorice into 1-inch lengths. Using small spoon, dab circles of chocolate onto spider web. Affix chocolatecoated popcorn onto choco late circles. Affix licorice lengths to chocolate popcorn clusters to resemble spider legs.

Refrigerate 15 minutes, or until set. To serve, cut into smaller pieces.

Witchy Popcorn Balls

Yield: 8 popcorn balls

16 chocolate wafer cookies nonstick cooking spray

3 quarts popped popcorn

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter or margarine

3 cups miniature marshmallows

3 tablespoons (½ of 3-ounce box) lime gelatin dessert mix green food color (optional)

¾ cup chocolate chips licorice strings

8 chocolate ice cream cones orange sugar sprinkles, placed in small dish jellybeans candy corns

Spread sheet of waxed or parchment paper over work surface and place wafer cookies on it. Spray large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray and place popcorn inside.

In medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Stir in marshmallows and gelatin

Green Halloween Zombies

Yield: about 7 pieces

2½ quarts

popcorn in large bowl; set aside.

Stir

butter

Stir in

powder until marshmallows are melted and mixture is smooth. Adjust color with 1-2 drops food color, if desired. Pour mix ture over popcorn and mix until coated. Spray hands with nonstick cooking spray and press firmly to form into eight balls. Place balls on eight wafer cookies. Press candy decorations into popcorn balls to form “eyes,” “nose” and “mouth.”

In small, microwave-safe bowl, heat chocolate chips, covered, 10 seconds. Stir to aid melting. Repeat as needed until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Spoon about ½ teaspoon melted choco late on top of each popcorn ball. Press lic orice strings into chocolate to form “hair.”

Dip cone edges into melted chocolate then orange sugar sprinkles. Place on remaining wafer cookies to form “witches’ hats.” Place hats on popcorn balls. Allow chocolate to set about 45 minutes before serving. Serve or seal individually in plastic wrap.

melted mixture over popcorn and

coated. With buttered hands, shape popcorn into seven ovals.

Flatten one oval slightly and squeeze one end to form “skull” shape. Place on parch ment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with re maining ovals.

To decorate: Press two gumballs into each skull to form “eyes.” Press candy corn into skull to form “teeth.” Use scissors to trim candy strips and press into top for “hair.” Sprinkle with sugar sprinkles.

Allow “zombies” to set about 20 min utes before wrapping individually in plas tic wrap or serve immediately.

Popcorn Caramel Apples

into apple center

cara

with

caramel-coated apple in bowl of popcorn

press popcorn onto cara mel to cover. Place apple on waxed paper to set; repeat with remaining apples.

small, resealable plastic bag, micro wave chocolate chips 10 seconds and press chips to aid melting. Repeat, heat ing at 10-second intervals, until chips are completely melted. Cut small corner off bag and squeeze chocolate onto each apple, allowing chocolate to drip down sides. Sprinkle with sugar sprinkles.

bow to each apple stick, if desired. To serve, cut apples into slices.

‘Gemmel & Tim’—a true crime documentary with bite

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

The world is a dangerous place. There are predators everywhere but for young, African American men those dangers are ampli fied and in the new documenta ry “Gemmel & Tim” the deaths of Gemmel “Juelz” Moore who died in 2017 and Timothy “Tim” Dean who died in 2019, are carefully explored. Gemmel and Tim were young, gay African American men who lived in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles and whose paths, tragically, crossed when they connected with a much older white man named Ed Buck, a.k.a. “the devil.” What Buck did was grim and deadly. He would invite young, fit, dynamic, Afri can American gay men to his West Hollywood apartment to give them drugs—crystal meth—that he would inject into their bodies getting them hooked with ease.

The doc makes the point that Tim’s death could have been avoided if the police and justice system had acted in time to put a stop to Ed Buck back in 2017: the police did not. It’s a known fact that police respond differently to white people and things would have been treated very differently if the body of a white young man had been found in the house of an African American man.

Here’s what you need to know: crystal meth is the common name for crystal methamphetamine, a strong and highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system. There is no legal use for it. Methamphetamine is a manmade stimulant that was devel oped during World War II and given to soldiers to keep them awake. Believe it or not, this highly addictive and destructive drug has been used to assist in weight loss and ease depression.

Gemmel and Tim went to Buck’s apartment numerous times, where the evil, white man injected them with the drug which eventually led to their deaths. Some mainstream media outlets seem to imply that Gemmel and Tim dying of a meth overdose was deserved. Even Tim othy’s past as a part-time adult film actor was used against him. A number of outlets even tried to brush away the story but the doc, “Gemmel & Tim” focuses the nar rative firmly in the hands of people who love these men, to this day, and refuse to let them be forgotten.

They humanize them correct ly, showing the viewer the quali ties that made them both special. Gemmel and Tim were basketball players, friends, and hikers, with momentum and dreams, not sta tistics. On a deeper level, this doc is an intersectional look at racism, drug use, drug abuse, and the

queer community.

Naturally and sadly, society tends to look away in shame as margin alized communities fall victim to predators and that’s exactly what Ed Buck was—a protected predator be cause he was male, white and he was preying on African American men.

“Gemmel & Tim” portrayed the interviewees in their raw state where some felt a strong sense of guilt for not helping enough but the fact of the matter is that there’s only so much a person can do when dealing with active drug addicts.

Seeing what Gemmel and Tim othy had in common as well as their differences deeply humaniz es their struggle, not making them unique, of course, but helping the viewer understand that there by the grace of the God of your own understanding go…any one of us.

Producer Michael Franklin is an American actor and film produc er who got his start in Hollywood as a dancer, working for artists in cluding Mariah Carey, Rihanna, and Beyonce. Franklin plays the recurring role of young Leander “Shreve” Scoville on the Apple TV+ drama series “Truth Be Told.” His most recent appearance is in the series “Atypical” on Netflix and “91-1: Lone Star” on FOX. Franklin is a producer on the documentary fea tures “Gemmel & Tim” and “That’s Wild,” both directed by Thomas.

Producer, editor, and writer Niq

Lewis is an award-winning editor and visual storyteller with over 10 years of experience editing nar rative and commercial content for clients including Vice Media Group, TV ONE, BET, Food Net work, Fox, Lifetime, Macy’s, Home Depot, and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Most recently she edited the Net flix feature documentary “In Our Mothers’ Gardens.” A native New Yorker, her family moved from Brownsville, Brooklyn to Central Harlem in the early ’90s, and it was at the Schomburg library, reading poetry by Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, that she began to understand the power that came with telling our own stories, un apologetically, as Black people.

Here’s what producer Niq Lewis had to share about why getting “Gemmel & Tim” made was important.

AmNews: Why did you feel the need to create this doc?

Niq Lewis: I’m born and raised in NYC and have been a spectator of the ballroom scene since coming out in my late teens. It was one of the first places I felt a sense of com munity in my queerness. So when Michael approached me to edit this story, I immediately gravitated toward Gemmel’s story. After fur ther research, I was almost in dis belief when I realized how long the family and friends of both Gemmel

and Tim had been fighting for jus tice, with no answers or action. As a Black, queer filmmaker, it’s been my goal and my responsibility to shed light on the stories within my community—the stories that don’t often get told.

AmNews: How (or has it) helped bring awareness to issues surround ing the vulnerable community?

NL: Black gay and trans men and women are being preyed upon and murdered by numbers that are unfathomable; 2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans people and we aren’t talk ing about this enough. I think this film, along with films like “Crystal Diaries” directed by Enyce Smith, has helped to keep stories of the vulnerable in people’s minds. Plenty of folks knew of Ed Buck when these stories hit mainstream media and now a wider audience will get to know Gemmel and Tim. AmNews: Do you think (or rather, do you feel) that the vic tims would have been supportive in this pursuit of justice?

NL: I can’t speak for the victims because I didn’t know them per sonally, but based on the testimo nies from Gemmel’s friends, they believed that he was on a mission to expose Ed Buck.

So with that information in mind, I do believe they would have supported their friends’ and families’ fight for justice.

Animation of Ed Buck putting a spell on his victims (Remy M. Ndow (Animator) & Shivelight LLC photo)

One of Ed Buck’s victims recalls his experience at the infamous apartment on 1234 North Laurel Street (Shivelight LLC photo)

Gemmel’s friend Jerome Kitchen fighting for justice (Shivelight LLC photo)

GLASPER RESIDENCY, JACQUET CENTENNIAL

brate the centennial of the legend ary improvisational tenor Illinois Jacquet whose honks and wails ex plored the higher and lower reg isters of the tenor and influenced the sound of jazz. His technique and exuberant live performanc es influenced the saxophone style of rock-and-roll and R&B. The Il linois Jacquet Centennial Orches tra, a 16-piece jazz orchestra loaded with a cast of all-stars, are dedicat ed to preserving and expanding the rich musical legacy of Jean Baptiste Illinois Jacquet. The orchestra will be by trombonist, composer James Burton III, a member of the tenor’s final big band.

The evening will feature his original arrangements performed by esteemed alumni of Jacquet’s band plus special guest tenor sax ophonist, composer and vocalist Camille Thurman (her vocals will take you places of wonderment and her sax will spark a light). The rhythm section will include pia nist Jeb Patton, bassist Clovis, and drummer Kenny Washington.

The pianist, composer, producer, and arranger Robert Glasper closes out his October Residency at the Blue Note (131 West 4th Street) jazz club Oct. 27 through Nov. 6. He is joyfully coming to his performing a total of 52 shows over 26 nights, for the 4th annual Robtober.

From Oct. 25-28, it will be Robert Glasper x Lala Hathaway featuring drummer Justin Tyson, bassist Burniss Travis, guitar ist Isaiah Sharkey (Grammy winner/member of blues rocker John Mayer band) with DJ Jahi Sundance. Travis Tyson and DJ Jahi played on Glasper’s Grammy winning album “Black Radio” (2013). (It was the first album in history to debut in the top 10 of four different genre charts si multaneously: Hip Hop R&B, Urban Contemporary, Jazz and Contemporary Jazz.) These cats are soul musicians, they don’t worry about genre, music is a gumbo to be deliberately mixed for the best taste. The mix is all the better with the soulful smoky timbre of Hathaway, she capti vates any audience. Her voice was the sound of the 1990s into

early 2000 but regardless of her hiatus, the warmth of her harmo ny lingers through time. Being the daughter of the great Donny Hathaway matters. She sings the soul of rhythm and blues, chil dren, even when she swings.

On Oct. 29 and 30, it will be Robert Glasper: The Original Trio, musicians to be announced. On Halloween, Oct. 31, Glasper fea tures Thundercat. This is sure to be a roller coaster ride on the scariest day of the year with bass guitarist, singer and songwriter Thundercat. Both Glasper and the bass guitar ist appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Glasper won a Grammy for the track “These Walls.”

On Nov. 2 it’s Glasper with Igmar Thomas and the Revive Big Band “Tribute to Meghan Stabile” (jazz concert promoter, producer and friend, who was bridging the gap between hip hop and jazz before her untimely transition). The Big Band reflects Stabile’s efforts to bring these genres together under one big sound. November 3, at SONY Hall (235 West 46th St.), Glasper presents yasiin bey (for merly Mos Def) featuring Bilal. Bey’s inspired bullets of aware ness and Bilal’s vocals rolling on Glasper’s keyboard melodies will make an evening of ignited plea sure along with band members

bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Chris Dave and DJ Jahi Sundance. Robtober comes to an end Nov. 4-5 back at the Blue Note with the same cast special guest yasiin bey and the band; Dave, Hodge, and DJ Jahi Sundance.

Glasper holds three Grammy awards and eight nominations across six categories, and an Emmy Award for his song for Ava DuVernay’s critically ac claimed documentary “13th” with Common and Karriem Riggins.

The pianist’s October release of “Black Radio III: Supreme Edition” features his collaboration with the late Mac Miller (singer, rapper and record producer who died in 2018) entitled “Therapy Pt. 2.” “I sent Mac a track I was working on and he lit erally sent that joint back in like 45 minutes to an hour,” said Glasper.

“He was always like that, he always wanted to work. Few times he came and sat in with me, some of my shows, always talking about music.

Gonna miss that dude.”

Released last February, the origi nal version of “Black Radio III” was highlighted by guest appearances from Killer Mike, Q-Tip, Esperan za Spalding, Ant Clemons, H.E.R., Jennifer Hudson, and Ty Dolla Sign, among others. “Black Radio III” follows Glasper’s “Black Radio” (2012) and “Black Radio II” (2013).

Glasper is in pursuit of good

music be dam genres, music is boundless categories and boxed descriptions keep the music in a holding pad. Glasper shares music without borders. Black music that swings despite its name or title. For reservations visit the web site bluenotejazz.com.

In today’s jazz society, musi cians can win a Grammy award for performing an outstanding (album) solo. However, in 1942, the Grammy awards didn’t exist when at the age of 19 tenor sax ophonist Illinois Jacquet earned his reputation playing an outra geous solo on the Lionel Hamp ton Orchestra recording of “Flying Home.” The record became a big hit and the orchestra’s main stay tune on every performance. Such a big hit made it evident Jac quet had to burn it every show. The saxophonist once noted, “I loved playing that song and tried to out-do myself every time, the only problem—the audience didn’t want any changes.” The solo was played by every saxophonist, who followed Jacquet in the or chestra including Arnett Cobb and Dexter Gordon. It became a standing rule any aspiring saxo phonist had better be able to blast that Jacquet “Flying High” solo.

On Nov. 1, Dizzy’s jazz club (60th Street Columbus Circle) will cele

Jacquet (Oct. 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) appeared with Cab Callo way’s band in Lena Horne’s movie “Stormy Weather” (1943). Jacquet was called on for performanc es with Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, and Buddy Rich. As a leader, the tenor saxophonist recorded extensively from 1951-2004. His final record ing “Swingin’ Live with Illinois Jacquet: His Final Performance” was released in 2006.

Jacquet was a mean dresser. He often shared his tour adventures, jokes and traveling in the midst of segregation, during Sunday after noon dinners at Cheryl Weston’s home. He became the first jazz musician to be an artist-in-res idence at Harvard University, in 1983. He played “C-Jam Blues” with President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn during Clin ton’s inaugural ball in 1993. Jac quet’s final performance was on July 16, 2004, at the Lincoln Center in New York. In 2008, The Chapel of the Sisters in Prospect Cemetery was restored and re-dedicated as the Illinois Jacquet Performance Space on the grounds of York Col lege in Jamaica, Queens.

“I am extremely proud of my dad and his dedication to his craft,” said his daughter Dr. Pamela Jacquet Davis during a phone interview. “The legacy he is leaving for young people is so good, I am speechless.”

For reservations visit the web site jazz.org or call 212-258-9595.

Comedian Hannibal Buress surprised Blue Note New York’s audience when he jumped on stage and rapped during Robert Glasper’s performance (Dervon Dixon photos)

Pianist Robert Glasper performing at Blue Note New York

CLASSROOMIN THE

Rev. Charles Sherrod, legendary SNCC organizer and powerful singer

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

This week, as promised in last week’s editorial, the late Charles Melvin Sherrod is our Classroom subject, and a formidable subject he is. Sherrod died on Oct. 11, in Albany, Georgia, at 85. Few mem bers of the Civil Rights Movement were as devoted to both theory and practice of fighting racism and discrimination as Sherrod.

That is, he fully practiced what he preached, taking the lessons he acquired during his days in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and applying them in the organization of farm ing cooperatives.

Sherrod was born Jan. 2, 1937, in Petersburg, Virginia and raised by his grandmother, a devout Baptist. It was from her beliefs and instruc tion that he was totally immersed in the Baptist religion, and at an early age, an active participant in church affairs, including singing in the choir. Soon, he was youth preacher at Mount Olivet Baptist Church, urging the younger mem bers in fellowship. His first brush with Jim Crow occurred when he was two years old and his mother forcibly removed him from the white section of a bus.

By 1954, just after the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. the Board of Education, he began his civil rights activism, joining others in the fight to end segregation in public schools. Before the advent of the sit-ins, Sherrod had taken such a bold step when he and a friend attended an all-white church and took a seat in the sanctuary. From this decisive step came his progress toward even more demanding and dangerous encounters later in 1961 as a student at Virginia Union Uni versity. He was a protester in a group of students during a sit-in at sever al department stores. In the winter of 1961, he and three other students traveled to Rock Hill, South Caroli na, to support students there who had been arrested for sit-ins. His scholarship and activism were in strumental in his being offered a teaching position, but he turned it down and instead set out for Shaw

University and became a founding member of SNCC.

Always an audacious demon strator for his rights, Sherrod was among the first to practice the “nojail” policy when arrested for par ticipating in the sit-in actions. He was 22 when he arrived in south west Georgia as a field worker for SNCC and began organizing young people to register voters and gen erally oppose the demeaning Jim Crow laws. For three very chal lenging years he was at the helm of such rallies and demonstrations, often arrested, but was undaunt ed in passing out leaflets and defy ing law enforcement officials. The SNCC activists extended their work throughout the region, and their commitment and risk became an enduring story of the struggle in America for civil and human rights.

It was in this sector of Georgia that Sherrod dedicated his deter mination to bring about change, especially for Black farmers who had been for years systematically denied their rights as citizens. He was relentless in urging residents to exercise their franchise, to regis ter and vote despite the inevitable harassment and mistreatment—

and far too often death. When he wasn’t an active fighter on the ram parts in the area, he found time to continue his pursuit to be a minis ter. To that end, he earned a mas ter’s degree in sacred theology from Union Theological Seminary in 1967. After this sojourn he was back in Albany where he continued at the helm of the Southwest Geor gia Project for Community Educa tion. He also was director of New Communities, Inc., a cooperative farming project from 1969 to 1985. During his period he also served on the Albany City Commission and in 1996 ran unsuccessfully for the George State Senate. Two things were inseparable from this political activism—working in various facets of religion, mainly as a chaplain at the Georgia State Prison, and lend ing his glorious voice in church and community groups. This was some thing he began at Albany State Col lege where he sang beside Bernice Reagon, later a founding member of Sweet Honey and the Rock.

And we would be remiss to ignore his wife, Shirley, who was often by his side as well as making her own indelible mark as an activist in the struggle for civil and human rights.

At his funeral on Oct. 22, there was a litany of songs about his life, in cluding one he composed called “Soul Child.” One line from the song, sung by Rutha Harris, who joined Sherrod as one of the orig inal “Freedom Singers,” was “The tree limb couldn’t hold me, segre gation tried. Jumped the gun on freedom, getting closer with every stride. Nothing but a soul child.”

Willie Ricks, who is often cited with first shouting “Black Power,” was among the civil rights luminar ies at the services. “That little old country boy named Charles Sher rod said we’ll do something about it. And he came to Albany, Georgia and we rounded the people up. And we marched and we demonstrated and we sang and we fought in the streets and we died. But at the same time, Sherrod taught us our history. He let us know that we’re Africans.”

Russia Sherrod, Charles’ daughter, recounted fervent memories of her father and the lessons he bestowed on her. “He will always be a part of me,” she said, gripping a piece of African cloth that was widely worn at the funeral. And Sherrod will always be part of the movement that he helped propel to victory.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

His iconic presence in the Civil Rights Move ment is widely depict ed, as well as in several documentaries, includ ing “Eyes on the Prize.”

DISCUSSION

More needs to be said about his musical contri butions, particularly the songs he composed.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

From his family he was given an early indoctri nation in the struggle for freedom and justice.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

Oct. 25, 1985: Singer Ciara was born in Austin, Texas.

Oct. 26, 1911: Extraor dinary vocalist Maha lia Jackson was born in New Orleans. She died in 1972.

Oct. 26, 1951: Funk bassist William “Bootsy” Collins was born in Cin cinnati, Ohio.

The Rev. Charles M. Sherrod (Photo courtesy of his family)

Education

City holds massive ‘I WILL GRADUATE’ day for students

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

“I WILL GRADUATE” Day popped off without a hitch as 11,000 eager stu dents from 179 New York City schools gathered at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to celebrate their commit ment to education on Oct. 24.

I WILL GRADUATE (IWG) is a non profit co-founded and led by former music industry Roc-A-Fella Records executive and gospel singer Tonya Lewis Taylor. It was established in 2008. The 7-12th grade students who attended the celebration vol untarily participated in a 6-week curriculum, called ‘Get Focused, Stay Focused,’ that IWG donated to hundreds of schools. The curricu lum Taylor uses addresses social and mental health issues, provides en trepreneurial workshops, and high lights gun violence awareness. IWG also has a robust music and record ing studio program.

Taylor was born in Canarsie, raised in East Flatbush in Brooklyn. She said her parents were hard-working working class people. During her upbringing, hardship, gang violence,

poverty, and drugs flooded her com munity and neighboring districts. “I think growing up I learned to make decisions about what I wanted my life to be,” said Taylor. “I made the decision that I wanted to rise above and I went on a journey to structure my life, and it was a group like mine that came to my high school that got me to start thinking.”

Her organization, along with a co alition of elected officials and hip hop heads, aims to combat low gradua tion rates in the city’s public school system and connect Black and Brown youth to critical resources.

Recent National Assessment for Ed ucational Progress (NAEP) data indi cates pandemic learning loss has been pretty severe nationwide. In New York City, 18% of the city’s 4th graders were proficient in math, com pared with 24% in 2019. The data said the scores have not been this low for nearly 20 years, and as expected, exist ing disparities among Black and His panic students were exacerbated.

“It’s no surprise that scores have dropped. They are really reflective of what has happened during the pan demic,” said Schools Chancellor David Banks at the event. “We’ve got a

lot of work to do.” Banks said that he’s committed to closing the racial dis parities in the city’s education system that existed prior to the pandemic, making sure children learn how to read by the 3rd grade, and that even beyond graduation students have a plethora of opportunities to pursue.

About 11% of Black and Hispan ic students scored as proficient in 4th grade math compared with 39% of white students and 48% of Asian American students in the same grade, said NAEP. Reading scores in the city remained below national and state averages across the board.

“It’s about over-resourcing,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso about the drop in scores, “we see a tick down in education, we should be putting out mental health professionals, advisors, and teach ers. Investing the same way we do with everything else in our children. I do that by supporting I Will Gradu ate and their programming.”

Attendees included Public Advo cate Jumaane Williams, NLE Choppa, Sean “Arnstar” Kirkland, Fivio For eign, and Life Camp Founder Erica Ford as well as countless others. Williams praised the IWG program

for generating genuine excitement and energy around education in such a dire time. On stage, he spoke to the students about his own strug gles at Brooklyn Tech High School after his Tourette’s Syndrome diag nosis in 9th grade. He said without summer school, night study, and the dedication of his 5th grade teacher Jenni Net, he would absolutely not be an elected official today.

“There was a bit of struggle for most of my schooling,” said Williams.

“I don’t think people thought that I’d be a citywide elected official.”

A Harlem native, Arnstar is best known for his role on the TV game show “Wild N’ Out” and as rapper Lil’ Mama’s brother. He said he got his start in activism after losing his

father to gun violence. He’s one of the performers for the students ben efit concert and has been partici pating in the program since 2018. “I will graduate, it’s an affirmation, it’s a plan of action,” said Arnstar, “And so being successful and having films and music that’s going viral, it’s only right that I let the kids know that they’re next.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-de ductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/amnews1

Fellowship named in honor of Dr. Sadie T.M. Alexander at the New School

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

During her extraordinarily pro ductive life, Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander accomplished a number of incomparable breakthroughs: the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in economics in the U.S.; the first Black woman enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law; the first Black woman to prac tice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and one of the found ers of Delta Sigma Theta, as well as its first president, among other pio neering advances. This was just an iota of information about her for midable past that was shared with an audience on Thursday evening at the New School for Social Research by Dr. Nina Banks, who was there to recount her legacy as part of estab lishing a fellowship at the school to honor Dr. Alexander.

Given her outstanding achieve ments in the field of economics, Dr. Banks, an associate professor of economics at Bucknell University who is working on a biography and

speeches of Dr. Alexander, is emi nently qualified for the occasion, a point noted by Dean William Mil berg in his introduction. Her nearly hour-long lecture, accompanied by a montage of photos, was entitled “Fascism and Race,” and focused on how Dr. Alexander’s research and analysis revealed the connection be tween these societal vectors.

She began with a brief outline of Dr. Alexander’s odyssey, noting that she was born Jan. 2, 1898, in Phila delphia and was the product and a member of a distinguished family, including her husband Judge Ray mond Pace Alexander. Her grand father was Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner, a leader in the African Meth odist Episcopal Church, her uncle was the famous painter Henry O. Tanner, and another uncle, Nathan F. Mossell, was the first African Ameri can to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania medical school and later a founder of the Frederick Dou glass Memorial and Training School for Nurses in 1895. Notable among the relatives in attendance was Dr. Alexander’s daughter, Dr. Rae Alex

ander Minter, whose cogent com ments during the Q&A segment added insight and gravitas.

Dr. Banks then immediately cut to the chase, citing the rise of Nazism in Germany, “whose policies were already in place in the United States,” according to Dr. Alexander, she observed. She devoted consid erable time to chronicling Dr. Al exander’s pursuit of fascism even showing a photo of Father Coughlin, a despicable racist and anti-Semite on the screen during her outline. To this end, she discussed several char acteristics of fascism—racial myths, nativism, propaganda, criminality, hierarchy, unreality, sexual anxiety, etc. all cited in one of Dr. Alexan der’s speeches. One of Dr. Alexan der’s speeches that was of particular resonance dealt with the genocidal steps to exterminate Jews, savage ly denying their rights to life, lib erty and the pursuit of happiness.

“The right of all individuals to earn a decent living must be achieved if we here at home and throughout the world are to have the kind of life we call a democracy,” she said.

This outlook was consistent with the conditions Black Americans faced, a case of “intensified racism,” as Dr. Alexander defined social and political affairs in the 1930s. And they would continue through the postWorld War II period, in which Dr. Al exander would be part of President Truman’s 15-person Committee on civil rights, popularly known as “To Secure These Rights.” Even then, as pects of fascism and totalitarian ism were on her mind as well as race and segregation when she noted, “The separation of children in public schools, the building of Black and white army, in which Puerto Ricans are placed on the basis of their skin and the texture of their hair, while all native born citizens with one drop of Negro blood on their birth certif icates are placed in the Black army, creates in a democracy the totalitar ian concept of ‘my race’ and causes men and women who might other wise have maintained the equalitari an morality of their forebears to look down on fellowmen, who differ in physical appearance but not in abili ty nor in human dignity by which all

men are endowed by their creator.”

It was on such a note that Dr. Banks ended her highly informa tive presentation—and a speech that is certain to be found in her col lection, an endeavor that required her to comb through more than 80 boxes of memorabilia. Right to the end of her eventful life, Dr. Banks said, there was no compromise on democracy, and several years before her death on Nov. 1, 1989, she was just as outspoken as ever during her acceptance speech of the Award of the Pennsylvania Society for Pro moting the Abolition of Slavery. She told the chair and the officers of the society, “I wish to express my appre ciation for your affording me the op portunity to join in celebrating 200 years of dedication to your purpose, not only to abolish slavery but to relieve Negroes unlawfully held in bondage and to improve the con dition of the African race.” She not only improved the conditions of her race but to the general social, polit ical, and certainly the economic af fairs, where through the collective in her name her legacy is ensured.

I WILL GRADUATE ceremony to celebrate students on Monday, Oct. 24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (Ariama C. Long)

and promote safety.”

When asked about action items, Adams mentioned modernizing court systems, with more centralized hubs for information and discovery, as well as reducing the arduous time spent by defense lawyers and prose cutors “for just a 30 second appear ance in front of a judge.” His chief counsel, Brendan McGuire, added the desire to develop more immedi ate mental health resources for those in the criminal justice system.

“There’s some successful models on that,” he said. “And so one model there is, which has been one phrase that has been used, is a ‘Care Van’ where you have resources outside, mobile resources outside of a court house where [immediate] treatment and other options can be provided to those who need it.”

Adams credited Siegel for inspiring the summit and helping him assem ble such a cast. The renowned attor ney, who is a past contributor to the Amsterdam News, served as the New York Civil Liberties Union’s execu tive director between 1985-2000. The Mayor’s Office wasn’t shy to namedrop his past role in the initial an nouncement. But Siegel’s former employer distanced itself from his participation in the summit and stated concerns with the Adams ad ministration’s handling of policing and criminalization, according to an NYCLU spokesperson.

Public safety continues to concern New Yorkers, especially given a recent surge in major index crimes like rob

bery, burglary and grand larceny. Ac cording to NYPD statistics, violent crime is down as of late, but high-pro file incidents keep the city on alert.

“Crime is up 40 percent,” Brook lyn’s Charles Barron told the Amster dam News. “The police department have an $11 billion budget, and a $85 million overtime budget. They brought back another version of the Street Crimes Unit, but crime was down in 2021 without it. The issue is poverty. We need the mayor to create a multi-billion dollar anti-poverty policy which includes jobs, housing and mental health.”

A day after the summit the typical Monday bustle in Bed Stuy, Brook lyn was violently disrupted when two young men started arguing and shooting. A 70-year-old woman was shot in the thigh outside Super Food Town. Shocked onlookers voiced their horror and their disgust, as in vestigators swamped the neigh borhood, put up yellow police tape, canvassed the stunned observers and business owners, and released a video of two suspects. No one had been caught by press time. A few hours later across the city a 19-yearold 8-month pregnant woman was shot in the leg sitting in a car in Washington Heights. The next day as school was letting out, a 14-yearold boy was shot outside Tottenville High School, Staten Island. Thankful ly none of the above injuries were life threatening, but the torment of New Yorkers is that this steady wave of vi olence is ongoing.

“We’ve been round this block too many times before,” said activist A.T. Mitchell. Mitchell, Mayor Adams’ NYC gun violence prevention czar,

characterize your run for governor as being too ambitious, or at least ambi tious for a Black woman. Would you say that’s accurate? Why or why not?

has spent decades fighting gun vi olence in Brooklyn and nationwide and internationally. “Unfortunate ly these sporadic shootings are part of this disease which is raising its ugly head. We as a city are trying to get ahead of it. There are too many guns making their way into the inner city, and getting into the hands of people making bad choices and the wrong decisions. No one is exempt or immune to this violence sadly.”

Last week Mayor Adams told the Amsterdam News that media focus and front page headlines are creating a more dangerous Gotham percep tion than the actual Big Apple reality.

“We’re fighting a perception issue,” Adams said.“On average we have less than six felony crimes a day…On our subway system, we have 3.5 million riders a day. For the most part, your ride is uneventful, you’re not a victim of a crime.”

He insisted, “We have a great er presence of police that are riding trains visibly present.”

Police officers were in the station duringing at least two of the violent incidents.

“The statistics may show no sig nificant or discernable pattern of increased violence; however, safety has always been about percep tion,” Marq Claxton, director, Black Law Enforcement Alliance, told the AmNews. “As is the case in New York, the government has to account for the perception and use the meta-da ta to develop effective anti-violence strategies that provide immediate relief. This trend of violence feels dif ferent. It feels closer and more arbi trary. Many hardened New Yorkers are expressing feelings of increased

physical vulnerability. Many socioeconomic factors lead to increased violence and re-socializing after a pandemic presents challenges, but New Yorkers’ patience with more progressive initiatives and programs is becoming thinner. What has in creased the level of anxiety is that many of these victims are the most vulnerable, the very young and the very old. If the children and elders are falling victims to violence, the sense is that no one is truly safe.”

“We are working tirelessly to con front this public health crisis. That is what the two-day Criminal Jus tice Summit at Gracie Mansion was about this past weekend,” said Mitch ell, who is also CEO and co-founder of the community advocacy organi zation Man Up, Inc. “We are working around the clock, putting our heads together from different branches of government, community-based groups, civil liberties and rights orga nizations—to try and figure out this epidemic.”

Asked if the weekend justice summit was more than just an ex ercise in getting together, Mitchell seemed to be pleasantly surprised about the contents of the gathering,

“It was very refreshing seeing all these people from different walks of life and professions; some on the opposite sides, coming together on the common goal of increasing public safety.”

“Murders and shootings are down compared to the national average,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said this past weekend.

But with shootings and stabbings up this year, and with 23 people pushed onto the tracks and nine

people killed in the subway system, this weekend Adams, Hochul, and Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell announced that they will be flooding the MTA subway system with hundreds of visible cops.

Communities United for Police Reform spokesperson Sala Cyril said that Black and brown New Yorkers “know all too well that the mayor and governor’s surveillance and broken windows policing tactics do not keep our communities safe. Spend ing more resources to inundate our subway system with police will not address violence in our subways— it will only lead to increased crimi nalization and harassment of New Yorkers who the mayor and governor claim to be protecting.”

Cyril added, “Solutions to address violence in our subways and through out the city will come from investing in our communities and address ing the long-term systemic needs of our city. New Yorkers need resourc es put into our crumbling subway in frastructure to ensure we have better, more accessible, and frequent trans portation service. The mayor and governor must invest in creating af fordable, permanent housing to ensure all New Yorkers have access to safe places to live with dignity, and invest in comprehensive, accessible mental health services.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for Ameri ca 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-de ductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/amnews1

other run for governor of New York, or perhaps another state/federal office in the future?

AmNews: I imagine there’s a par ticular clout and pressure that comes along with being the first woman of color to hold a statewide office and the first state AG. Do you think your time in office has been praised or vili fied because of your gender and race?

James: Like any job, being the first Black woman attorney general of New York comes with its share of praise and criticism. But I am not concerned with what the naysayers have to say. I am more focused on delivering for New Yorkers, defending our common-sense gun laws, getting guns off our streets, keeping tenants in their homes, and holding predatory companies account able. I am focused on doing the job I was elected to do to the best of my ability.

AmNews: I think many people

James: Let me emphasize some thing for your readers, especial ly young Black girls: there is no role too ambitious for a Black woman. If someone ever dares to tell you oth erwise, they are intimidated by your potential because they know you are capable of extraordinary success. At different points in my career, I have been told to wait my turn or was discouraged from pursuing certain roles and issues, but I didn’t let them stop me.

I had unfinished business as attor ney general and I needed to honor that commitment first and foremost. New Yorkers deserve loyalty and transparen cy from their elected officials and that is the standard I hold myself to.

AmNews: Would you consider an

James: Right now, I am commit ted to serving the people of New York as attorney general. There are many critical issues my office is working on, and I am determined to see them through. My office is working every day to make good on the promise to serve and protect New Yorkers.

AmNews: October 1 marked Do mestic Violence Awareness Month. Many women in politics in the city have spoken out about their own ex periences with domestic violence, and according to studies, over 40% of Black women experience physi cal violence with an intimate part ner. Would you like to speak to your own experiences with domestic vio lence, if any, and how your office can best address intimate partner abuse that affects Black women and Black

men at disproportionately high rates?

James: Domestic violence is unfor tunately a far too prevalent issue, es pecially for women of color. Things got worse especially during the early months of the pandemic. Stay-athome mandates and social isolation turned homes into torture chambers for many women. It is important to un derstand that gender-based violence is not just a women’s issue. It is a societal issue. Addressing domestic violence requires a holistic approach, from ed ucation to counseling to privacy rights to housing and to legislation.

My office is working to support robust programs to inform New Yorkers of their rights and resources.

Throughout the pandemic, we have worked to direct domestic violence victims towards critical resources, such as 24-hour help hotlines and domestic violence shelters. At the onset of the pandemic, my office called for the reauthorization of the

Violence Against Women Act, which allows the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute violent crimes against women.

The Act was reauthorized and signed into law earlier this year. It expands jurisdiction to include protections for women in tribal communities, increases funding to legal services for victims, supports programs that help survivors. Survi vors deserve to be believed, deserve to be respected, and deserve to have the opportunity to tell their stories no matter where or how they are experi encing violence.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for Amer ica corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your do nation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deduct ible gift of any amount today by visit ing: https://bit.ly/amnews1

Religion & Spirituality

Versatile creative artist Bob Gumbs joins ancestors at 83

By CINQUE BRATH and HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

Bob Gumbs was a creative artist who was active in his community for years.

He worked as a graphic artist, photog rapher, and designer of commemorative emblems, book publisher, painter, author and editor. Bob was one of the handful of Black coin designers in the United States. In 1956, he was one of the founding mem bers of the Jazz-Art Society, later the Afri can Jazz Arts Society and Studios (AJASS), along with Elombe Brath and Kwame Brathwaite. Beginning in 1962, AJASS produced a series of “Black Is Beautiful” natural hair fashion shows featuring the Grandassa Models which set off a global movement.

Bob Gumbs was born in Harlem on March 15, 1939, and raised in the South Bronx. A graduate of New York City Com munity College, he also studied at The School of Visual Arts, The Arts Students League, New York University and the New School. From 1963 to 1965 Bob was a United States Army photographer.

He designed a series of commemorative coins to honor notable African and African American men and women: Sgt. Corneli ous H. Charlton, Doris ‘Dorie’ Miller, Mary McLeod Bethune, Harriet Tubman, Thelo nious Monk, Nelson Mandela, The Black Panther Party and the Montford Point Ma rines. Two of his drawings of Thelonious Monk were featured in a New York City Art Exhibit, to honor the legendary jazz pia nist and composer.

One of his most popular publications,

“The Harlem Cultural/Political Move ments, 1960-1970,” was done in associa tion with Klytus Smith and Abiola Sinclair in 1995. And he was an important editor and advisor on “Elombe Brath—Selected Writings and Essays,” edited by Herb Boyd, and published by the Elombe Brath Foun dation.

Bob served on the board of several non profit organizations and was responsible for nearly a half dozen street co-namings of jazz artists that took place in the Bronx over the past few decades. He helped define the history of the South Bronx with Professor Mark Naison of Fordham Uni versity in “Before the Fires: An Oral History of African American Life in the Bronx from the 1930s to the 1960s.” More recently Bob Gumbs served as the lead commentator for the six award winning documentary by Louise Dente entitled “AJASS: Pioneers of the Black Is Beautiful Movement.”

A mural was created by 320 Arts under the nonprofit organization Uptown Grand Central on 125th Street between Park and Lexington Avenue that prominently fea tures Bob Gumbs.

Bob was recognized as one of the top 50 Black designers and Black graphic artists of the ’60s and ’70s, and he was in the pro cess of helping to commemorate an exhib it of his and fellow AJASS members’ design history with Cooper Union Herb Lubalin Center for Design and topography in 2024. His most famous design is likely the iconic Black Is Beautiful poster he designed using photos of Grandassa Models taken by Kwame Brathwaite. The poster sold out in the Studio Museum in Harlem and has ap

peared as 20x20 displays in museums and was turned into an 8x5 flag that flew over Rockefeller Center under the flag project in March of 2021.

Bob transitioned due to a sudden heart attack on the morning of October 23, 2022, and he is survived by his wife Ida Gumbs and son Diallo Gumbs.

Robert Gumbs pointing to himself on the mural (Cinque Brath photo)

helping her community because that’s who she is.”

“While we’re here talking about our current D.A., we can’t forget that it was Cy Vance that indicted this case to begin with,” said Deputy Public Advocate for Justice, Health Equity and Safety Solomon Aceve do. “This is a systemic issue when it comes to what we do when people survive domestic violence by any means necessary.

“It’s a complicated issue and the problem that we’re having is that we don’t want to deal with it. We don’t want to deal with the fact that more often than not, it is Black women who are the ones who are being prosecuted for things like this dis proportionately.”

An online petition to drop McCart er’s charges with over 21,000 signa

tures was delivered to Bragg’s office. The motion-to-dismiss court doc ument delineated Murray’s history with alcoholism, as well as McCart er’s claims of violence against her, which include repeated chokeholds and hair-pulling. Murray arrived at McCarter’s Upper Westside apart ment drunk on the date of his death. Her neighbor overheard her yelling for him to “get the f- -k out.” He found McCarter attempting to aid an unre sponsive Murray. A bloody kitchen knife was recovered from the scene. Murray was stabbed in the chest. Mc Carter dialed 911, and her neighbor helped her complete the call.

Since Bragg took office this year, attempts to resolve McCarter’s case without imprisonment were made.

In May, an Alford plea agreement— where the defendant can maintain his or her innocence—was proposed for second degree counts of man slaughter and criminal menacing. A judge shot down the proposal, which would mandate McCarter to attend

PTSD treat ment, and upon comple tion with the added con dition that she avoid rearrest, the manslaugh ter convic tion would be dismissed. A motion to dis miss was also denied by the judge. But the charges remain undropped.

“The dignity and wellbeing of sur vivors is at the center of the office’s work, and the Special Victims Divi sion leadership supervising this case has deep experience in survivor-cen tered and trauma-informed prac tice,” said a spokesperson from the Manhattan D.A.’s office. “Because this case is open and pending, we will have to decline to comment.”

McCarter’s son, Justin, says he moved back with her and serves as her proxy. He says she’s received outpouring support. But it’s a tough situation.

“It’s difficult, for sure,” he said. “But

she is holding on to that hope. And she’s not letting go. So she’s definite ly struggling. But she’s persevering through it.”

There’s more to McCarter than just the case. She’s a mother and a grandmother. At the time of her arrest, she was a nurse and Ivy League grad student. But both pur suits were suspended after her hus band’s killing.

“I guess the main takeaway I really get from this is that my mom’s a sur vivor,” added Justin McCarter. “She’s a victim. She’s not a perpetrator. And we just want an outcome that reflects that and for her to be able to move on with her life.

Tandy Lau is a Report for Ameri ca 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-de ductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://bit.ly/amnews1

Awards on Oct. 12.

DeAnna Minus-Vincent, executive vice president, chief social justice and

accountability officer at RWJBarnabas Health, is the awardee for innovation in health care and social justice. Mi nus-Vincent’s primary responsibility at RWJBarnabas Health calls for pur suing an “intentionally anti-racist, eq uitable culture” within its walls and in its communities.

She praised RJWB Health for taking on inequality in a real way. “While other companies decreed and pledged, they put their money where their mouth is,” Minus-Vincent said. “It takes courage for a system to look at themselves and change things we didn’t like.”

Jill Johnson, co-founder and CEO of

the Institute for Entrepreneurial Lead ership, is the awardee for innovation in finance and social advancement.

In 2002, Johnson co-founded the In stitute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, an independent not-for-profit that helps people of color access the knowl edge, network and capital required for

entrepreneurial success and wealth creation.

“There is a lot of potential among many different populations, but what they often don’t have is the capital and the connections to achieve the entre preneurial success and create wealth,” Johnson said.

October is National Domestic Vio lence Awareness Month. And accord ing to the Vera Institute of Justice, 77% of incarcerated women experienced intimate partner violence.

NYC older adult

Vocal-NY members stand with Tracy McCarter at Foley Square rally. (Tandy Lau photo)

workers between private and public hos pitals in South Africa is an indication of gross inequality, as most highly skilled medical professionals serve a minority of the population who often have medi cal insurance.”

“Africa as a whole, for example, has one healthcare worker for approximately 1,000 people, South Africa being no dif ferent. This figure falls far short of the set standard of 2.5 health workers per 1,000 individuals that is required to provide basic health care.”

Estimates reveal that over 80% of the South African population is uninsured.

In another paper presented at the global conference, Cape Town’s Dr. Salome Meyer, a consultant to the South Afri can Cancer Alliance, revealed there was no national cancer control plan in South Africa. The Strategic Framework and pol icies ‘will not alleviate the current cancer care gaps as provincial health depart ments are not instructed to prioritize im plementation of cancer policies in health budgets,’ she asserted.

Elsewhere in Africa, the first lady of Niger state, Nigeria, concurred that governments invest too little in cancer care. “In Nigeria we have a Cancer Control Plan, but it has not been implemented.”

Meanwhile, cancer’s high mortality rate shows no signs of abating. On the contrary, it now surpasses other highly prevalent local non-communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/Aids, and malaria, ac cording to Medical Brief, an academic enewsletter published in Cape Town.

IN NIGERIA, 72,000 CANCER DEATHS ANNUALLY AND RISING (GIN)—Nigeria has one of the highest cancer mortality rates in the world, with an estimated 72,000 cancer deaths oc curring annually and 102,000 new cases diagnosed from its population of 200 million people, according to a report in Frontiers in Oncology.

Breast cancer accounted for the high est mortality, followed by prostate cancer. “There is no efficient public policy on cancer issues,” says Chioma

Obinna, writer of Good Health Weekly for Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper. “And cancer mortality among Nigerians con tinues to rise despite improvements in cancer care across the world.”

She cites the case of Nkechi Odogwu, di agnosed with stage 1 cancer but who lost the battle for life due to prolonged ap pointments, breakdown of equipment and the high cost of care, among other treat ment challenges.

“Federal and state governments are still paying lip service to issues around health,” she says disappointedly.

“Nigeria was part of the historic 2001 Abuja Declaration which mandates Af rican Union member states to allocate a minimum of 15% of their national budgets to health care,” noted Obinna, “but Nige ria never fulfilled this recommendation.”

“The national health budgetary alloca tion for 2022 is below 6% even as politi cal office holders continue to fly abroad for medical treatment, depleting the country’s foreign reserve and worsening the medical tourism problem that con sumes over $1 billion annually.”

Financing cancer management is a major challenge for both patients and their caregivers. Cancer care also results in a loss of economic income available to the community/country. “The cost of treating cancer remains prohibitive,” Obinna says. “Most Nigerians pay outof-pocket for their medical treatment as the National Health Insurance Scheme has failed woefully.”

Specialty care such as radiotherapy costs about $2.3 million per person per treat ment cycle at the Lagos University Teach ing Hospital. Radiotherapy is vital during cancer treatment as 70% of cancer patients have multiple sessions in the process of cure. Only three public radiotherapy ma chines are working at full capacity.

The others, scattered in the 20 universi ty teaching hospitals in the 36 states of the country, including Federal Capital Territo ry, are either obsolete or in comatose.

A couple of private hospitals in the country have serviceable radiotherapy machines but they are beyond the reach of average Nigerians.

Similarly, in Libya, the president of the Libyan Union for Cancer Control, Asmaa Jumaa Jouili, faults the government for insufficient spending on cancer. “The Min istry of Health has failed but our work with the awareness campaign involves over a thousand vol unteers. Fortunately, we do not depend on ministries or govern ment departments.”

According to the World Health Or ganization, at least 44,699 women died of cancer in 2021.

CLASSIFIED ADS

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SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -againstCHARLES LEO FONAROW, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 5, 2022 and entered on April 19, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse locate d on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on November 9th, 2022 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 undivided ownership interest as tenant-incommon with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the build ing located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appur tenant undivided 3.1810% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 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 1302

The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial Districts COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules.

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and so cial distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the so cial distancing mandat e will be removed from the auction. Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $38,120.82 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale Index Number 850106/2020

HAYLEY GREENBERG, ESQ., Referee DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

Articles of Organization (DOM-PROF.LLC). Jennifer Toh, MD, PLLC filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) 9/8/2022. Office loc.: NY County SSNY is designated as agent of DOM-PROF LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The address SSNY shall mail copy of process to 105 W. 86th St., #501, New York, NY 10024 Purpose: The practice of Medicine.

Notice of Formation of MARCUM PHILIPPINES LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/19/22. Office location: NY County Princ. office of LLC: 730 Third Ave., NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543

Purpose: Gener al corporate use.

SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUN TY OF NEW YORK HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff, -against- UN KNOWN HEIRS AND DISTRIBUTEES OF THE ESTATE OF RECA DANIELLE BARWIN, if living, and if they be dead, any and all persons unknown to Plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or generally or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown per sons being herein generally described and intended to be in cluded in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs-at-law, next of kin, descendants, ex ecutors, 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 ei ther 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, JAN BARWIN AS THE HEIR OF THE ESTATE OF RECA DANIELLE BARWIN, Defendants. INDEX NO.: 850059/2022 FILED: September 30, 2022 TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action, and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance on the Plaintiff's attorney within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service or within 30 days af ter completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by perso nal delivery within the State. In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: The foregoing Summons is served upon you by publication pursuant an Order of the Hon. Francis A. Kahn III, a Justice of the Supreme Court, New York County, dated September 28, 2022 and entered September 29, 2022. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Timeshare Mortgage in the amount of $29,354.08, recorded in New York County Clerk's Office on March 1, 2019 in CRFN: 2019000068725 of Mort gages covering the (1) 0.8100% undivided tenant in common interest and (2) 0.8100% undivided tenant in common interest in the Timeshare Unit identified as HNY CLUB SUITES Phase II which comprises a portion of the NYH Condominium at the premises also referre d to as the New York Hilton, 1335 Av enue of the Americas, Unit HU4, New York, New York 100196012. The relief sought in the within action is a final Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale directing the sale of the (1) 0.8100% undivided tenant in common interest and (2) 0.8100% undivided tenant in common interest in the Timeshare Unit identified as HNY CLUB SUITES Phase II which comprises a portion of the NYH Condominium at the premises also referr ed to as the New York Hilton, described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage. New York County is designated as the place of trial on the basis of the fact that the real property affected by this action is located wholly within said County. Dated: August 4, 2022 Westbury, New York, Maria Sideris, Esq. DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC, Attorneys for Plaintiff, 242 Drexel Av enue, Westbury, New York 11590 (516) 876-0800 WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.

Notice of Qualification of AEL FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Se cy of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/19/22. Office location: NY County LLC formed in North Carolina (NC) on 06/22/22. Princ. office of LLC: 1155 Ave. of the Americas, 35th Fl., NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. NC addr of LLC: 2101 Rexford Rd., Ste. 310, Charlotte, NC 28211. Cert of Form. filed with Secy of State, 2 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27601-2903 Purpose: The business purpose is to act as a registered broker-dealer, and conduct certain approved securities transactions

CARALEX PROPERTIES

Notice of Qualification of 428 & 432 WEST 19TH STREET LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/20/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/06/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Anbau Enterprises, 11 E. 26th St., NY, NY 10010. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, DE Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

MCMLXXXVIII LLC. Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/6/2022. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served against LLC to: 200 E. 36th Street, 4A, NY, NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful act.

MTA REAL ESTATE (MTARE)

Request for Proposals No. AG1022: Lease of up to 3 retail units at 2 Broadway, New York, New York For more info on this RFP, visit: https://new.m ta.info/agency/real-estate

LLC filed Arts of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 8/10/2022. Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: The LLC, 440 E. 57th St., #4A, New York, NY, 10022 Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #13525 04 for beer, wine & liquor has been applied for by the under signed to sell beer, wine & liquor at retail in a restaurant under the ABC Law at 200 8th Ave., New York, NY 10011 for on-premises consumption; Ariyasap Inc.

.

Summons

ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S)

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiffs' attorney within twenty (20) days af ter the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York); and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded herein.

Dated: May 23, 2022 New Rochelle, NY

Yours etc. Todd Rothenberg, Esq. Atto rney for Plaintiff 271 North Avenue, Suite 115 New Rochelle, N.Y. 10801 (914) 235-7234 todd@trothenbergesq.com

Notice of Formation of OR BITAL KITCHENS USQ LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/29/22. Office location: NY County Princ. office of LLC: 74 5th Ave., NY, NY 10011. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543 Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of RK ART LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/29/22. Office location: NY County SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of formation of STRONG & FREE LLC Arts of Org filed with Secy of State New York (SSNY) on 09/13/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy to: 244 West 136th St., Ground Floor, New York, NY 10030. Purpose: any lawful act.

RMR Solutions LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 8/3/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 496 W 133rd St, Apt. 2E, New York, NY 10027. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of STABILIS JV LENDING LLC Appl for Auth filed with Se cy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/14/22. Office location: NY County LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/22/22. Princ. office of LLC: 140 E. 45th St., Ste. 22-C, NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with DE Secy of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of MARITIME MANAGEMENT, L.L.C. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/20/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/23/16. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any

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To: Claude Louzon

90 Prince Street, Apt. 8-S a/k/a 8 B-S New York, NY 10012

Claude Louzon

184 Thompson Street, Apt. 4-J New York, NY 10012

Claude Louzon

350 West 14th Street, Apt. 7-C New York, NY 10014

This action arises from a breach of a personal guarantee of a commercial lease. Plaintiff seeks a money judgment from De fendant in sum of $654,642.20.

Notice of formation of A&P DECOR LLC Arts of Org filed with SSNY on 10/03/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to: 2075 2nd Ave., Apt. 20E, New York, NY 10029.

Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of formation of ALOE VERA SUPREME LLC Arti cles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 7/5/2022. NY office location: New York County SSNY has been des ignated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served, The post of fice address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him is Lawrence Long, 229 E 85th Street #564 NYC NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful.activity

Notice of formation of CALL TO GATHER LLC Arts of Org filed with Secy of State New York (SSNY) on 09/21/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy to: 226-230 E 12th St., 7E, New York, NY 10030.

Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of formation of CLEARLINE RE LLC Arts of Org filed with SSNY on 08/22/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to: 950 Third Avenue, 23rd Floor NY, NY 10022 Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of formation of FIVE IRON GOLF INDIANAPOLIS LLC Arts of Org filed with Secy of State NY (SSNY) on 06/15/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to c/o 883 Avenue of the Americas, Floor 3, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of NO MAND ADVISORY LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/26/22. Office location: NY County Princ. office of LLC: 15 E. 30th St., Unit 48D, NY, NY 10016. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Johnathon Gibson at the princ. office of the LLC Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of SIFI NETWORKS NEW YORK CITY LLC Appl for Auth. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/30/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/20/22. Princ. office of LLC: 103 Foulk Rd., Ste. 500, Wilmington, DE 19803. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Development and operation of fiber optic network

NY CITY PSYCHOTHERAPY LCSW PLLC, a Prof LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/29/2022 Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served SSNY shall mail process to: The PLLC, 82 Nassau St., #60683, NY, NY 10038. Purpose: To Prac tice The Profession Of Li censed Clinical Social Work

PATTY O'BRIEN LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 5/2/2022. Office location: NY County SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 13 Longworth Ct., West Brook, NJ 08092.

Purpose: Any lawful act.

RitzyDitz LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 06/2/2022. Office Location: 1216 Bdwy, Fl 2, PMB 1031, NY, NY 10001. SSNY desig nated as agent upon whom process may be served against LLC to: US Corp Agents Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste. 202, Bklyn, NY 11228

Purpose: any lawful act.

N9363V LLC Arts of Org.

filed with SSNY on 09/29/22.

Office loc.: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against LLC to: 345 W. 30th St., NY, NY 10001.

Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of SU PER NICE GUYS, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/21/22. Office location: NY County LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/28/22. Princ. office of LLC: 335 W. 38th St., Apt. 5, NY, NY 10018. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity

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Where my family is from, Grenada, we have soursop tea. I drink it hot, cold. And I still do. I think that had a huge effect on shrinking the cancer cells. I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction.”

This reporter met Mitchell-Del erme at a Manhattan taping of an October 2016 panel on The Root with host and cancer warrior Nacole Ali.

“I’ve always had a passion for fash ion. After my diagnosis, I needed something to keep my focus on other than me having cancer and having to go through the process. So, with my passion for fashion and breast cancer awareness, I came up with Slay Cancer. Since then, I have been on a mission to promote proactive health care, preventative health care, and just knowing your body; and knowing what’s normal, and what’s not normal.” She says she wanted es pecially Black women to be comfort able with figuring out how to have “a normal conversation about our breast health and hearing our stories and experiences—and slaying cancer the whole time.”

She has raised money for breast cancer centers in Grenada, she’s worked with the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen, and held her Caribbean Slay Cancer Fest, where with food, fun, and music Mitchell-Delerme has raised money for the cancer center in St. Thomas after the terrible devastation caused by Hurricane Irma.

“I talk a lot because some people think that breast cancer is an old white woman’s disease, and that’s not the case. So, when people see me, and they hear my story, they’re in total shock. This could happen to you; it could happen to anyone. Cancer knows no sex, no sexual orientation, no race, no gender, no identity. It can strike anywhere at any time.

“I was still going through treatment, and I think Slay Cancer saved my life because I was focusing on helping, as opposed to what I was going through at the same time.”

At the time even those of us in the studio were in awe of her bright and beautiful approach while she still had more treatments to go through, but she was like, “Yeah, I know, but look at this great Slay Cancer hat, and tshirt and tutu!”

She is selfless. “I am blessed,” she counters.

We have to help ourselves

While October is breast cancer awareness month, the disease takes no breaks year-round. The CDC

states that breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women in the U.S., next to skin cancer.

Breast Cancer Prevention Part ners (BCPP) note what has become a statement of fact after Black health advocates have pressed the point, “African American women face both disproportionate expo sure to breast carcinogens and the highest risk of serious health im pacts from the disease.”

As L’Oréal has been forced to with draw a range of their haircare prod ucts after news this week of a lawsuit charging that they increase the risk of uterine cancer, BCPP has creat ed a list of products to watch out for as “these products are often market ed to Black women yet contain some of the most worrisome ingredients in cosmetics.” They include hair relax ers, acrylic nails, skin lighteners, and Brazilian blowout treatments.

“A U.S. woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is 1-in-8,” BCPP states on its website: “Breast cancer has the highest mortality rate of any cancer in women between the ages of 20 and 59. African American women have a 31% breast cancer mortality rate—the highest of any U.S. racial or ethnic group. Among women younger than 45, breast cancer in cidence is higher among Afri can American women than white women. Younger women in gener al, and younger African American women in particular, are more likely to present with the triple-negative subtype of the disease, a subtype that is both more aggressive and as sociated with a higher mortality.”

The BCPP state that “over the past 20 years, despite the universal drop in mortality rates, we have seen a rise in the in cidence of breast cancer in African American women. In particular, dis parities between mortality rates for white and Black women have grown significantly. The mortality rate for Black women diagnosed with breast cancer is 42% higher than the com parable rate for white women. Triplenegative breast cancer is diagnosed more often in American women of African descent than in those of Eu

ropean descent in the United States.”

BCPP focuses on environmen tal toxins which increase cancer risks. Also, how people can, “protect yourself and your family from expo sure to toxic chemicals in everyday cleaning products.”

The “science-based policy and ad vocacy organization” declare that they “have achieved much in our first 25 years. We’ve passed critical state and federal legislation, issued 31 major scientific reports, and influ enced multi-national corporations, such as Unilever, Procter & Gamble, and Johnson & Johnson to adopt safer chemical policies.”

Preventing breast cancer can come down to changing lifestyle choic es according to BCPP. They say that “cosmetic and personal care giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) data shows that 22.5% of Black women choose a product based on fragrance. A com monly used ingredient in fragrance is diethyl phthalate (DEP), an endo crine disruptor. Phthalates are linked to breast cancer, developmental issues, decreased fertility, obesity and asthma. Fragrance on a product label can mask countless carcinogens and hormone-disrupting chemicals.”

Highlighting that a breast cancer diagnosis can render a person in complete shock, but be fought gal lantly, Queens Assemblymember Jes sica González-Rojas determined that she wanted to share a personal story and information to spread awareness about breast cancer.

“When I was 16 years old, I found a lump in my breast during a health class that taught fellow classmates about breast self-exams. Thankful

ly, as a daughter of a hospital worker, I had health insurance and was able to access quality care. I caught it early and was able to get it removed by the health provider. The lump ended up being benign, but because I am still high-risk, I have become very diligent about getting regular mammograms. When detected early, many forms of breast cancer can be effectively treat ed. In order to detect breast cancer early, we have to know how to spot it and look for potential symptoms.”

González-Rojas pointed out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states the following as common symptoms of breast cancer:

• Changes in the size or the shape of the breast

• Pain in any area of the breast

• Discharge other than breast milk (including blood)

• A new lump in underarm or breast

For people going through the cancer journey

For people going through the cancer journey, they help in ways such as helping folk find a health center with low-cost or free cancer screenings with no insurance re quired.

There is a large segment of the population that does not adhere to chemical options and radical treat ments such as chemo, radiation, and surgical possibilities. It is definitely personal choice, and truth be told, a person may vocally espouse opposi tion to one way to address the news that cancer has invaded their body, but only if one has faced it can their theories be tested.

The New York State Department of Health has a Cancer Services Pro gram that provides free mammo grams for women ages 40 and older (some programs serve women ages 50 and older only), or under age 40 at high risk for breast cancer.

There are times—no cap—when a survivor, of anything really, but talk ing breast cancer for now, when you don’t want to sit in that space and let that be your sole identifier. You might just not want to talk about it come Breast Cancer Awareness Month be cause you’ve had 11 other months of handling the trials and tribulations, or the residue thereof.

“Me too,” Deniece Mitchell-Del erme replied, happy for the acknowl edgement and understanding. “We’re in the club that we didn’t ask to be a part of, but things brought us togeth er. I am appreciative of this sister hood, the strong women that I have met because there are times when you feel super alone. I have a great support system. I am so blessed, but there is nothing like talking to a fellow Cancer Slayer because we’ve known and been through things that no one else can know about but us.”

People must consider the envi ronment, and, close to home— family history.

Mitchell-Delerme’s mom faced her own breast cancer struggle. “My mum is great. She is retired, living her best life.”

A family of Cancer Slayers! “Oh wow,” Mitchell-Delerme laughs. “When you say it like that! I know what I’ve been through, but sometimes you need someone to remind you, ‘You know you’ve been through some stuff. You over came, and you did it with grace, and a sense of humor, and still being happy nevertheless.’”

After October, the designat ed Breast Cancer Month, Novem ber, December, etc. comes around. “It is a continuous process; the fight doesn’t end in October. People still going through it.” Mitchell-Delerme still deals with the painful twinges of chemo-created neuropathy, having to pull over as she drives sometimes.

And there are Cancer Slayers, Square Circles, and other breast cancer health advocates just plod ding through the world inspiring someone else after all the pain, the bleeding, the crying, and the over coming.

“Sometimes I want to put blinders on—leave me be!” Mitchell-Delerme said. But after working through that emotion, “I feel I have an obligation to share my testimony with anybody who wants to hear it!”

More information on cdc. gov, BCPP.org, Slaycancer.org, SquareCircles.org

Breast cancer event Deneice Delerme, Nacoli Ali The Root show 2016 archive photo

Breast cancer event The Root host Danielle Young, Deneice Delerme, Nacoli Ali The Root show Oct 2016 archive photo

Friends and supporters from the Dececemcer 12th Movement join the Breast Cancer walk (Nosayaba Odesanya photo archive)

End All

Continued

in America are more likely than men to be considered obese, and studies show that women are more likely to be discriminated against than men due to their appearance.

Discrimination based upon appear ance and size hits New Yorkers right in their wallets, hurts our communi ties, and hurts families. A study on the issue showed that larger workers earn lower wages and are more likely to be viewed negatively by hiring managers. Larger peoples’ performance is more likely to be viewed negatively by su pervisors; with “weight bias” hurting workers’ overall compensation, perfor mance evaluations, and even quality of training.

As a society, and in our workplaces, discrimination due to appearance is sadly all too prevalent.

Every single New Yorker deserves the right to a workplace and employment landscape free of prejudice and dis crimination, and every industry in New York needs to recognize that good work ers come in all shapes and sizes. Pass ing Intro 0209-2022 is how we can make this happen.

MTA Workers

concept, but if the police are not making arrests, their show of author ity isn’t accomplishing much.

“I can tell you that basically when it comes to, like, fare evasion, they don’t really want the cops to crack down on it,” observed one MTA worker.

“And a lot of crime, most of the crime that happens on the subway, it starts from fare evasion. They’re not really telling the cops to really enforce it.”

Another worker recalled when NYC Transit Police used K-9 dogs on the subway, back in the 1980s: “They should have the dogs, you know like they used to have: they go, they board the buses, they board the trains, you know, basically looking for crimi nal activity. That’s something they should really look into. I mean, I know that marijuana is legal, it’s legal on the streets, but it’s not legal in the transit system, for obvious reasons. But every day we have people smok ing on the subway and the bus, and nothing is being done.” The worker said police don’t have to use violence, but they should have greater authori ty to escort violators off of trains and buses.

Some TWU members think police

presence can be a crime deterrent. But another MTA worker declared that the main problem is that home less people have taken up residence on the trains: “Let me put it this way: right now, there’s a lot of crazy people out there on the subway. One of the main things is the home less people, and now when it starts getting cold, they’re not allowed to take them out of the station when the temperature outside is under 32 degrees.”

“We have to be more careful right now,” a worker told the AmNews. “I’m in the booth all day, so I’m ba sically okay. But then you got your cleaners outside there, they just have to be aware of their surround ings and not walk towards a situa tion where you, say, see two people fighting. You’re not going to walk by them.”

When asked if the violence in the system is too much, and if they plan on maintaining a career work ing with the MTA, all workers said they would. “I wouldn’t mind, this is just always kind of what I wanted to do,” shrugged one TWU member. “I mean employment-wise, this is one of the best jobs you can do. As far as the safety aspect of things, you know things do need to change—but that has more to do with politics.”

York : “The Attorney General of New York is the state’s chief legal officer and heads the New York State Department of Law. Ac cording to the office’s of ficial website, the attorney general ‘not only advis es the Executive branch of State government, but also defends actions and proceedings on behalf of the State.’ The attorney general is elected in the midterm elections and serves four-year terms.”

The influence this office holds is significant in that it is supposed to be the voice of the people and push the legislation and agendas that impact our communities.

When we vote, we are not just voting for one person or office, we are also deciding how much our candidate will be sup ported from the other offices that are up for

election. In this sense, it’s like a game of chess. We should think in terms of multiple moves ahead. I share this information to ensure that as citizens of New York City and State we push for a better qual ity of life and understand that voting is more than pulling a lever; it’s an in vestment in our future. So yes, vote, but be an in formed voter who follows through—then perhaps we can change the world one vote at a time.

Dr. Clarence Williams Jr. is a retired assistant super intendent in the New York city public school system. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership, a master’s in education ad ministration, and a mas ter’s in multicultural education. Williams Jr. has a K-12 license in special education and education al leadership, has worked as an educator and leader in the public school system for over 30 years and is an assistant professor.

Marie Ferdinand-Harris turns personal tragedy into purpose

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

The child of Haitian immigrants, Marie Ferdinand-Harris grew up in Miami with few resources and describes her high school as sig nificantly under-resourced. But she had basketball talent and was determined to turn that into op portunity. She earned an athlet ic scholarship to Louisiana State University and was a first-round draft pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft.

Over the course of her 11-year

professional basketball career in the WNBA and overseas, she learned to be a better teammate and pay more attention to details. She instilled that in her three sons, and her oldest, CJ, born in 2006, took it to heart. Even though Ferdinand-Harris and husband Cedric Harris were able to buy their kids new clothes and shoes, CJ saw many of his friends couldn’t afford that, so he pre ferred to dress down for school.

CJ tragically died last year after an accident, and Ferdinand-Harris

is intent on keeping his light shin ing through the #BeLikeCJ Foun dation, which on Aug. 28 held a #BacktoSchool Clothing Giveaway in the Texarkana, Arkansas com munity where the family lives.

“I love sharing his story, and I love working for CJ,” said Fer dinand-Harris. “CJ didn’t want to make himself look more im portant. He didn’t care about the worldly stuff. He wanted to make a difference in the school and be there for the kids who were ex cluded. I thought, what better way

to honor CJ than to do a clothing giveaway.”

She and her two younger sons gath ered up shoes and clothes they no longer wear. Then, FerdinandHarris called her friends and asked them to do the same. “The day of the event, my husband and I were walking around and seeing countless shoes,” she recalled. “He said, ‘We’re going to bless a lot of people’s lives today.’”

People came throughout the day and took shoes, clothes and backpacks. One of the mis sions of the foundation is to bring joy and inspiration to the lives of others while bridging

the gap between people of dif ferent backgrounds. They also plan to develop digital curricu lum about anti-bullying, respect and goal setting.

On Nov. 3, the foundation is holding a fundraiser dinner that will include a raffle with cash prizes. Information is available at belikecj.org. Ferdinand-Har ris described it as an evening of fellowship. There will be food, drinks and a disc jockey to create an upbeat mood.

“It’s a family-oriented event,” said Ferdinand-Harris. “We’ll tell them about the foundation and what we’re doing and eat, laugh, enjoy the music and dance.”

The Uptown Games takes center stage at The Armory in Washington Heights

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

This Sunday, The Armory New Bal ance Track & Field Center in Washington Heights (Manhattan) will once again host the Uptown Games as youth in the 1st through 8th grades will participate in var ious track & field events including sprints, relay races and field competitions. Addi tionally, adults will also display their skills and show age is not a limitation when they engage in the Super Senior shuttle race for athletes 60 and over.

The Halloween-themed afternoon is expected to attract more than 500 chil dren from Washington Heights and sur rounding communities. Students in grades 1-8 who live or attend school in Washington Heights, Inwood or Harlem are eligible to take part. Families can reg ister at armory.nyc/uptown.

“We are delighted to once again host hun dreds of our children from the communi ty for a beautiful day of Halloween fun and

track & field during the Uptown Games,” said Armory Foundation Co-President Rita Finkel. Congressmember Adriano Espail lat and New York State Assembly Member Carmen De La Rosa are two of the local elected officials scheduled to attend.

The Uptown Games were canceled in June of 2020 and June of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but returned last October. In the past it was held in June to cap The Armory’s track & field season. Con versely, this year it is kicking off the slate.

The Armory, located on 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, offers fitness and educational programs for youth and adults. Among them are the Armory College Prep for students in grades 5-12, as well as Seniors AIM High for older adults, a new initiative in partnership with Associates in Internal Medicine (AIM) from Columbia Universi ty Irving Medical Center. Seniors AIM High takes place on Tuesday mornings and fea tures walking, jogging, stretching, danc ing and Columbia doctors-led discussions about relevant health and longevity topics.

Youth and adults from Washington Heights, Inwood and Harlem will gather at The Armory New Balance Track and Field Center in Manhattan this Sunday for the annual Uptown Games (The Armory photo)

Marie Ferdinand-Harris with husband Cedrick Harris

Marie Ferdinand-Harris with some of the recipients at the #BacktoSchool Clothing Giveaway (Photos Courtesy of Marie Ferdinand-Harris)

Jalen Brunson is at the core of the Knicks’ evolving offense

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Knicks hosted the Charlotte Hornets last night (Wednesday) at Madison Square Garden having won back-to-back home games after a season-opening overtime road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. They dismantled the Detroit Pis tons in their 2022-23 home debut by 130-106 last Friday and put away the Orlando Magic 115-102 on Monday to move to 2-1.

What is most evident for the Knicks over the first week of the new season is the evolution of their offense. They are playing with more pace and ball movement than in the previous two seasons under head coach Tom Thibodeau, who is now in his third season after being hired in July of 2020.

The Knicks were next to last in pace in the NBA, which is aver age possessions per 48 minutes, in 2020-21 at 99.6 and were 26th out of the league’s 30 teams last season at 99.7. They were also 26th in scor ing, putting up just 106.5.

Furthermore, Thibodeau is compelling his team to look for

and attempt more 3-pointers per game than they did in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In 2020 they took 30 per game and last season 36.9. In three games before last night, the Knicks were at 37.3.

The overall offensive uptick this season has been catalyzed by new starting point guard Jalen Brunson, who the Knicks signed to a four-year, $104 mil lion free agent contract this past July. The former Dallas Mav erick has stepped in and done exactly what Knicks president Leon Rose and Thibodeau envi sioned, which is to provide high level play and stability at a posi tion that before his acquisition had been in a state of flux for the franchise for well over a decade.

“I’m just flowing with these guys. They welcomed me with open arms, so I trust them, and they trust me. It’s working well right now,” said Brunson following the Knicks’ win over the Pistons.

Brunson’s impact should be measured beyond his own indi vidual metrics. He was averag ing solid numbers in points (17.7) and assists (seven) prior to play

ing the Hornets. But Brunson has already had a demonstra ble effect on Julius Randle. After being named All NBA Second Team for the 2020-21 season, Randle shot just 41% last season, by far the lowest of his career, excluding the one game he played in his rookie year before suffering a season-ending injury.

With Brunson command ing the offense, Randle was at 51% from the field and av eraging 21.4 points heading into last night’s game.

“For him to take that pressure off me is huge,” said Randle of Brunson on Monday. “I’m just trying to lose myself in the team. Lean on guys like him and RJ [Barrett], just play for my team. The only thing that matters is winning.”

The Knicks will play the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday and the Cleveland Cava liers on Sunday, both on the road, and return to the Garden next Wednesday to take on the Atlanta Hawks.

The Nets need early season adjustments after a rocky start

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews

No one is expecting the Brooklyn Nets to tie or break the Golden State Warriors’ 2016 regular season win-loss record of 73-9. But they were projected to come out of the gate much better than they were heading into last night’s game versus the Milwaukee Bucks on the road.

They were 2-1 and took blowout losses in their season and home opener on Oct. 19 to the New Orleans Pelicans, falling 130-108, and were run out of Memphis 134-124 by the Grizzlies on Monday. In between the Nets had a close 109-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last Friday.

One problem the Nets don’t have is getting production from Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Durant dropped 32 points against the Pelicans, 27 versus Raptors and 37 on the Grizzlies. Irving scored a moderate 15 points in Game 1, followed up by 30 against the Raptors and equaled Durant’s 37 in Memphis, scoring 19 in the fourth quarter.

Ben Simmons, the newcomer to Brooklyn’s lineup, has been waiting for

his breakout game. Simmons only had four points, five rebounds and five as sists in his Nets’ debut against the Pel icans. He came back in Game 2 and contributed six points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. In Memphis, Simmons’ stat line was six points, three rebounds and eight assists.

Simmons’ specialty is defense, and he brought a resume to the Nets that in cludes twice being named NBA All De fense First Team. Defense also has been the Nets’ main flaw early this season. In their first three games they allowed an average of 124.3 points per game.

A Net who’s had some breakout games is forward Nic Claxton. Sporting a new look as he cut off his signature long locks this past summer, the 23-year-old Clax ton, drafted by Brooklyn in the second round (No. 31 overall) in 2019 out of the University of Georgia, has been a con sistent contributor, dropping 13 points with 10 rebounds on opening night. The 6-foot-11 Claxton added 19 points and 11 points in the Nets’ win over the Rap tors and had 16 points and seven re bounds facing the Grizzlies.

“You know, we need other guys to

step up. Can’t have Kyrie [Irving] and KD [Kevin Durant] trying to do every thing,” said Claxton after the Nets’ win over the Raptors. The Nets re-signed Clax ton in late June to a two-year, $20 million dollar contract.

“Coach trusts him,” said Durant, refer ring to Nets head coach Steve Nash. “His teammates trust him, so he can go out there and do his thing.”

The Nets will play their next four games at home hosting the Dallas Mavericks to night, two straight versus the Indiana Pacers Saturday and Monday, and Tuesday matching up with the Chicago Bulls.

Nets center Nic Claxton’s growth has accelerated at the start of this season, as he was posting averages of 16 points and 9.3 rebounds before facing the Milwaukee Bucks on the road last night (Bill Moore photo)

Knicks starting point guard Jalen Brunson has had an immediate positive impact on forward Julius Randle, who was averaging 21.3 points on 51% shooting before last night’s game versus the Charlotte Hornets (Bill Moore photo)

Jalen Brunson Julius Randle

Columbia women’s hoops continue forward momentum

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

After making program history with its best-ever record and an appearance in the quarter-finals of the post-season WNIT, Co lumbia University women’s basketball was picked second in the 2022-23 Ivy League Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll. The top spot went to Princeton University, a con sistent presence in the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Lions got an early start on this season with a foreign tour to Morocco and Spain.

Already this fall, junior guard Abbey Hsu, a two-time All-Ivy selection, was named to the preseason watch list for the 2023 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award, presented by Her Hoops Stats.

“We’re just excited to get back after it,” said head coach Megan Griffith at last week’s Ivy League media day. “We didn’t tap out last year in terms of potential. We barely even saw where our potential was. … Huge credit to them for coming off of the COVID season where none of…the athletes in the Ivy League competed. To have the season we did was special, and

I was really proud of them.

“We’re just peeling back those layers for how good and how special this pro gram can be,” she added. “As long as they

stay humble and hungry throughout that process as we do as a coaching staff, it’s really sky’s the limit.”

Despite receiving accolades last

season, including First Team All-Ivy and Ivy League Player of the Week, senior guard/forward Kaitlyn Davis said she will continue to be a team player. “It’s going to be important this year as we have a lot of opportunities ahead of us,” said Davis. “Carrying along the energy we’ve had so far into the upcoming season.”

Hsu, who holds the program record for 3-pointers, said she will continue to refine her game. She is excited to show what she worked on all summer. Most of last year’s team is returning, and Hsu said the overseas trip provided a great bond ing experience.

The coaching staff has put together a challenging non-conference sched ule filled with games against nationally ranked opponents. “The goal is still the same,” said Davis. “We haven’t gotten there yet, but we’re working on it. Every day is what matters. It’s not about the long-term outlook. It’s about how we do today and tomorrow. That’s where our heads are at, and when we focus on that it will take us where we want to be.”

Columbia’s home opener is on Nov. 13 against Vanderbilt.

St. John’s enshrines seven new members to its Athletics Hall of Fame

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

On Saturday night as part of St. John’s Uni versity’s homecoming weekend, seven indi viduals were inducted to the Athletics Hall of Fame. The HOF includes former studentathletes and coaches who achieved excel lence while representing the Red Storm on the national and international levels. This year’s honorees were baseball coach Ed Blankmeyer, Olympians Priscilla Freder ick Loomis and Daryl Homer, lacrosse AllAmerican Kieran McArdle, and basketball stand-outs Jerry Houston, Jayson Williams and Nadirah McKenith.

“It was surreal,” said McKenith, an AllBig East First Team selection and part of the women’s basketball team that in 2012 ended University of Connecticut’s 99-game home court winning streak. “It was a huge honor for me and my family. I couldn’t guess in a million years that I would be in a hall of fame, coming from where I grew up. It felt so good that all my accomplishments and my hard work and dedication paid off for the university and the basketball team.”

To date, McKenith is the only St. John’s player to play in the WNBA (2013 Wash

ington Mystics, 2014 Minnesota Lynx). She currently works as a teacher’s aide at an ele mentary school, where she coaches as well, and she’s a high school assistant basketball coach at her former high school.

“It was my dream to play in the WNBA,” said McKenith, a point guard, who also played overseas for several years. “To be able to ac complish that, it means a lot. I was trying to do it so St. John’s could get some recognition for its women’s basketball program. Hopeful ly, we’ll have some more draft picks.”

McKenith bought a new red suit for the HOF event. “I figured red was the only color to wear,” she said. She was joined at the Hall of Fame event by her parents and siblings, whom she thanked in her speech along with her high school and AAU coaches as well as St. John’s head coach Joe Tartamella, who was an assis tant coach when McKenith was in high school and played a huge role her in recruiting her.

“It was easy for me to choose there,” she said.

The Red Storm went to the NCAA Tourna ment during each of McKenith’s four years, in cluding a trip to the Sweet 16 her junior year. Feeling she was an underdog, she brought dedication, work ethic and determination.

“I made the right choice going to St. John’s,” she said. “It was the perfect fit for me.”

Columbia University women’s basketball is aiming for another stellar season (Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin photo)

The 2022 inductees to St. John’s Athletics Hall of Fame (Red Storm Athletics/Vincent Dusovic photo)

Injuries become the 5-2 Jets’ biggest obstacle to progress

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Jets’ gritty 16-9 road victory over the Denver Bron cos on Sunday came with a steep cost as they lost sen sational rookie running back Breece Hall and versatile of fensive lineman Alijah Ve ra-Tucker to season-ending injuries. Both players sus tained their injuries in the second quarter. Hall tore the ACL in his right knee and also experienced damage to his meniscus. Tucker suffered a torn triceps.

Hall, a second round pick by the Jets in last April’s NFL Draft out of Iowa State, was a leading candidate for Offen sive Rookie of the Year. He has 463 yards rushing on 80 carries, 19 receptions for 218 yards and five total touch downs. Vera-Tucker, selected 14th overall in the 2021 draft

by the Jets from USC, had emerged as one of the team’s most indispensable players. He excelled at right guard, left tackle and right tackle this season and played all three positions at a high level.

“There’s two potential Pro Bowlers [out for the season],” said Jets head coach Robert Saleh on Monday. “It’s the NFL, next man up. M.C. [running back Mi chael Carter] proved he can carry the load, Ty Johnson did a nice job. And with the O-line, it’s been that way all year, guys shuffling in. I have a lot of faith in the guys who stepped in.”

On Tuesday, the Jets looked outside the organization for running back help and acquired James Robinson from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2023 condi tional sixth-round pick. It will convert to a fifth-round pick if Robinson rushes for 600 yards this season. The 24-yearold Robinson has run for 2,177 yards on 485 attempts in 35 games played for the Jaguars since signing with them as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State in 2020. In seven games this season he has 340. Robinson is a capable back who is likely to immediately become the

Win by win, the Giants convert doubters into believers

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Giants understandably still have many skeptics that aren’t convinced the team has staying power despite their implausible 6-1 start to this season. But entering Week 8 as they prepare to face the arguably equally surprising 4-3 Seattle Seahawks this Sunday on the road, the Giants are rapidly convert ing doubters into believers.

Coming off of their 23-17 win versus the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road this past Sunday, a deep dive into their roster and raw metrics, as well as the eye test, doesn’t yield a determination the Giants are flush with All-Pro and Pro Bowl players, or match the collective talent of several of the NFL’s star-filled squads such as the Kansas Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.

The Giants have a developing quarterback in Daniel Jones, who did not have his fifthyear contract option picked up by the orga nization in the off-season, a clear sign the new regime of general manager Joe Schoen

and head coach Brian Daboll were not sold on the 25-year-old No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 draft being their long-term QB.

They came into this season unsure if run ning back Saquon Barkley, the NFL’s No. 2 pick in 2018 who like Jones is playing for a new contract, could return to his rookie su perstar form after a rash of injuries, nota bly a torn ACL that limited him to only two games in the 2020 campaign and relegated the gifted Bronx-born Penn State product to ordinary status over the past two seasons.

There were also warranted concerns about the offensive line. Although left tackle Andrew Thomas, another Giants first round pick (No. 4 in 2020), had steadily improved over his two years in the league, there was still noticeable room for refinement before he could be considered a stabilizing force of the unit.

On the other side of the ball, the de fense, which under former coordinator Patrick Graham, now the defensive coor dinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, had been solid in 2020 but last season, they lacked a disrupted pass rush and consistent play

makers. Furthermore, for salary cap pur poses, Schoen and the Giants’ key decision makers released the team’s best corner back, James Bradberry, in May.

As a footnote, Bradberry subsequently signed with the Giants’ NFC East rival Phil adelphia Eagles, who at 6-0 are the NFL’s only undefeated team, and has had a sig nificant impact on their defense.

The aforementioned uncertainties prior to the Giants starting the season have thus far been allayed. Jones has been solid and at times resembled a player who could move into a higher tier on the league’s QB stratum, Barkley has been as explosive and productive as any back in football, Thomas is establishing himself as one of the game’s most reliable left tackles, and the defense, under new coordinator Don “Wink” Mar tindale, has been fast, stout and aggressive.

Jones was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after becoming the first Giants player in franchise history to pass for over 200 yards and rush for 100 in a single game. He had 202 passing and ran for 107 in the victory over the Jaguars.

Jets’ primary ball carrier. They’ll need to continue to focus their offense on their ground game until second-year quarter back Zach Wilson improves his produc tivity as a passer. In the last two games, both victories, Wilson has thrown for under 200 yards in each. He passed for just 110 yards in a 27-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers and only 121 versus the Broncos. The Jets have won four in a row and face the New England Patri ots on the road this Sunday.

They expect to have wide receiver Elijah Moore active again after he was benched on Sunday, days after he de manded a trade for his diminished role in the offense. Some of it can be attrib uted to Wilson’s deficiencies and some to Moore’s underperformance. The Jets anticipated Moore, a second round pick from the University of Mississippi in 2021, emerging as one of the league’s more dynamic weapons this season after amassing 59 catches, 741 yards and five TDs as a rookie.

Instead, he has only been targeted 29 times and has just 16 receptions for 203 yards and no touchdowns.

Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas has been a cornerstone of the team’s improved offensive line (Wikipedia All Pro Reels (Andrew Thomas WFT-Giants SEP2021 (cropped), CC BY-SA 2.0)

Disgruntled Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore, who was benched in Sunday’s 16-9 win over the Denver Broncos after requesting to be traded, is expected to play this Sunday against the New England Patriots (Bill Moore photo)

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