New York Amsterdam News: Issue June 6-12, 2024

MAKING SUMMER SAFE

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INDEX

Arts & Entertainment Page 21

» Astro Page 24

» Jazz Page 28

» Theater Page 25

Caribbean Update Page 14

Classified Page 38

Editorial/Opinion Pages 12,13

Education Page 32

Go with the Flo .................................................... Page 8

Health Page 16

In the Classroom Page 30

Community Page 9

Religion & Spirituality Page 34

Sports Page 48

Union Matters Page 10 MAIL

International News

DEBATE BREWS OVER NEW NATIONAL ANTHEM ADOPTED BY NIGERIAN PRESIDENT

(GIN)—Nigerian President Bola Tinubu hardly anticipated a dust up when he signed a law restoring the country’s 1960 anthem “Nigeria We Hail Thee” and deleting “Arise O Compatriots,” a tune written by a group of Nigerians in 1978 in the aftermath of a brutal civil war.

But the move was met with disappointment and frustration. Critics said the president’s priorities were “mixed up” and insensitive to the plight of people dealing with inflation and insecurity.

The bill to restore the old anthem was introduced in parliament and passed within one week—exceptionally fast for Nigeria, where most bills take months to be considered.

The speedy amendment rankled many Nigerians. Approved on the day of the president’s first year anniversary, the anthem came off as a hasty attempt at contriving a feel-good moment to distract from a difficult year for residents. Inflation in the country, for example, has reached a 28-year high of 33.2%.

“What do we need a national anthem for?” asked Lukeman Ademola, a resident. “What is the national anthem doing in our lives; how does it even help the masses? Look at people suffering; the prices of commodities, the prices of goods and services are just going higher. How is this going to help us?”

On Twitter (now X), Fola Folarin said, “Changing the Nigerian national anthem written by a Nigerian, to the song written by colonizers is a stupid decision and it’s shameful that nobody in the National Assembly thought to stand against it.”

The new anthem was played publicly for the first time at a legislative session attended by Tinubu, who marked his one year in office as president on Wednesday.

Many Nigerians, however, took to social media to say they won’t be singing the new anthem, among them Oby Ezekwesili, a former education minister and presidential aspirant.

“In a 21st century Nigeria, the country’s political class found a colonial national anthem that has pejorative words like “native land” and “tribes” to be admirable enough to foist

on our citizens without their consent,” Ezekwesili posted on X.

Words to the former anthem, first stanza: “Arise, O Compatriots, Nigeria’s call obey. To serve our fatherland. With love and strength and faith. The labor of our heroes past, shall never be in vain. To serve with heart and might. One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.”

Words to the new anthem: first stanza: “Nigeria we hail thee. Our own dear native land. Though tribes and tongue may differ. In brotherhood we stand. Nigerians all, are proud to serve. Our sovereign motherland.”

FOR THE FIRST TIME, ANC LOSES ITS PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY IN HISTORIC ELECTION DEFEAT

(GIN)—The African National Congress, South Africa’s liberation party, appears to have lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in an historic election defeat.

Results show that after 30 years as the majority party, the ANC tallied only around 40% of the vote, a steep fall from 57% in the last national poll. All the ballots have now been counted. Voters, angry at joblessness, inequality, and rolling blackouts, slashed support for the legacy party. Official results released Sunday evening showed the ANC winning 159 seats in the 400-seat parliament, down from 230 in the previous assembly.

“Did we commit mistakes? Yes, we did. In governance and everywhere else,” said Fikile

Mbalula, the party’s secretary general at the first press briefing the ANC has held since the polls. The party had “nothing to celebrate,” he added.

But the ANC would not bend to pressure from other parties that current President Cyril Ramaphosa, once Mandela’s lead negotiator to end white minority rule, must step down.

“That is a no-go area,” Fikile said.

COSATU, South Africa’s largest trade union group and a major ANC ally, also rallied behind Ramaphosa.

“What’s key is that a coalition be led by the ANC and President Ramaphosa,” a COSATU spokesman said.

South Africa will now enter a new era of coalition politics, said professor David Everatt, from Johannesburg’s Wits School of Governance.

“It will be a good thing because although the ANC under Mandela and Mbeki started well, it ended under a terrible trough of corruption, state capture,” he said.

Pollsters pointed to corruption, high unemployment, and a general failure to improve the lives of poor Black South Africans, to explain the low numbers received by Ramaphosa’s party.

So with whom will the ANC partner now? Some suggest a coalition with the Democratic Alliance, a white-led, pro-business party which for years was the official opposition. They came in second with more than 21% of the vote.

Doing better than expected was uMkhonto we Sizwe, or MK, led by former President Jacob Zuma, in third place. The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, led by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, received 9.5%.

Zuma on Saturday night said his party would reject the results despite doing better than expected with about 14% of the vote, mainly thanks to the former president’s popularity with fellow ethnic Zulus.

The elections were widely declared free and fair, but Zuma’s party made unsubstantiated claims of rigging. MK says it could seek a recount or a revote.

Zuma’s comeback has been the story of this election, and his new party’s success ate into the ANC’s share of the vote. He is bitter at his former party, the ANC, for forcing him to resign in his second term as president in 2018 over corruption scandals.

Still head of the party, Zuma cannot sit in parliament with MK because of a contempt of court conviction.

His brief jailing in 2021 sparked the worst riots in South Africa’s post-apartheid history, with more than 350 people killed.

Next year, Zuma is to face trial over an alleged corrupt arms deal.

The prospect of an ANC tie-up with either the EFF or MK has rattled South Africa’s business and international investors, who would prefer a coalition that brings in the Democratic Alliance.

“For the Democratic Alliance, burying our heads in the sand while South Africa faces its

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu. (GIN photo)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. (GIN photo)

The voting power of the Bronx’s Co-op City

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

Co-op City in the Bronx is not only a bastion of affordable housing. As a state-sanctioned Mitchell-Lama housing program, it’s also composed of incredibly civically engaged residents of color that make for a very strong voting bloc—an asset for any candidate going into the June primary.

The housing cooperative prides itself on being a multi-generational, multi-ethnic space. Its resident demographics are about 60% Black, 27% Hispanic, and 12% White, and it is considered the largest Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) in the nation with many residents over the age of 65.

“My family was amongst the first

families that moved into Co-op City,” said Ebony Hollingsworth, the outreach chair for the Bronx chapter of the Working Families Party (WFP). “Both sides of my family. My great grandmother on my dad’s side lived in the building across from my mom. Her daughter babysat my mother as a toddler. We have greenways. We have community here.”

True to its name, the area operates like a small city within the northeast section of the Bronx, housing about 50,000 residents across 35 high-rise buildings and seven “townhouse clusters” near the Baychester and Eastchester neighborhoods. Co-op City has a power plant for hot water and electricity, three shopping centers, three community centers, eight parking garages, a public library, a firehouse, childcare cen-

ters, several houses of worship for different faiths, professional offices, parks, an elementary through high school, and its own public safety officers on the property. The grounds are operated by the Riverbay Corporation, a 15member volunteer Board of Directors that are elected annually, and supervised by the state’s Housing and Community Renewal (HCR). The idea for the housing cooperative program that created Co-op City belonged to Abraham E. Kazan, a Russian Jewish immigrant that made his way to New York City in 1904. Kazan dedicated his life to eradicating the city’s abject housing crisis with what was considered philosophically “progressive” and “radical” solutions at the time, and would later famously clash with real estate mogul Frederick

Legal Aid Society hits the road to offer Harlemites free legal services

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The Legal Aid Society (LAS) pulled up to the St. Nicholas Houses offering free legal services and “know your rights” education this past Tuesday, June 4. It was the third stop for the public defense organization’s Mobile Justice Bus Tour, which intends to provide such resources to 30some NYCHA developments this summer.

A team of several outreach workers and legal staff tabled on Eighth Avenue between 128th and 129th from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

They kept an open door for locals to approach them about any and all things related to local or state law and government. Some locals engaged with legal questions of their own, while others stopped by as team members rattled off a list of free services available to them. And outreach workers canvassed the surrounding area to see if others needed resources. The advocates were especially busy aiding passersby with applying for the Section 8 waitlist, which opened this past Monday, June 3 for the first time since 2009. With just a one week application window, the LAS crew encouraged anyone who would listen to apply

for the housing subsidy with particular urgency.

Beyond Section 8, the advocates also provided assistance with filing police misconduct complaints to the CCRB and requesting public records on the NYPD’s elusive gang database. They also provided information about the Clean Slate Act, which will go into effect this upcoming November and will seal many eligible state law criminal convictions.

Staff Attorney Katie Ringer fielded questions about housing and criminal law. Rap sheet reviews are offered for New Yorkers with criminal convictions so

Mel’s Law means posthumous degrees obtainable at CUNY/SUNY

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

When he was studying for his bachelor’s degree in sociology, Melquain (Mel) Jatelle Anderson transferred from a community college to John Jay College of Criminal Justice. His mother had attended John Jay College, where she had obtained her master’s in public administration. Mel wanted to get his bachelor’s degree there and then go on to law school—but the 27-year-old never got that chance.

While talking with friends on Oct. 25, 2017, near Downtown Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses, Melquain was shot to death by 24-year-old Tavon Diaz. Diaz got a gun and

shot Melquain solely because Mel was friends with someone Diaz was having problems with.

Melquain was Michelle BarnesAnderson’s only child. She was initially devastated by his murder, but she said that as she saw how gun violence not only takes away an individual but also overwhelms families, she realized she had to do something about it. Barnes-Anderson created the Melquain Jatelle Anderson Foundation (MJAF), a nonprofit community service organization designed to honor her son’s ambitions to give back to the community.

The MJAF provides emotional and financial support to families who have suffered from gun vio-

lence. The organization holds a regular set of in-person and virtual get-togethers for the mothers and siblings of gun violence victims. “We support anybody dealing with gun violence, and we’ve even moved beyond gun violence,” Barnes-Anderson said. “We deal with violence, period, because some of the mothers—their children were stabbed or died in a car accident. We moved beyond that because death is death, grief is grief. It doesn’’t necessarily matter how it happens; you’re still going through something.”

When Melquain was murdered, he had a 3.5 GPA in college. He also had a pregnant girlfriend. Barnes-Anderson didn’t think it

was fair that because he was murdered, all the successes he had in his life were gone, too. Along with other members of MJAF, she started pushing politicians to pass legislation that would allow New York State schools to grant posthumous degrees to the families of students who were killed and would have been eligible for graduation.

With the help of Assemblymember Phara Soufrant-Forrest and State Senator Jabari Brisport, Mel’s Law was passed in October 2023.

“This bill is quite simple,” AM Soufrant-Forrest said during a posthumous degree get-together held by MJAF on May 28: “Every college institution within the CUNY and SUNY system has

to have a policy about posthumous degrees, for not only victims of crimes, but victims of a disease such as cancer or traumatic events. Understand that when you send your child to college, you’re not sending that child alone. You’re sending that child with all your prayers, your love, your hope, you’re sending them on the path that you don’t know but only God knows. And you’re backing it up with some dollars, so when that child is taken away before their time, we know it’s all on God’s time, but when that child is taken away from us on this earth, what do we have left of all that hope and that investment?

Incumbent Congressmember Jamaal Bowman at a rally in Co-op City in the Bronx on May 26. (Ariama C. Long photo)

Lead community organizer Takeasha Newton and bus driver Cornellius Jeffrey inside the Mobile Justice Bus. (Tandy Lau photo)

See CO-OP CITY on page 44

See LEGAL AID on page 29

Guilty–Trump the felon!

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

In a historic verdict, 12 jurors decided former President Donald Trump was guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying records in his criminal hush-money trial. It took the jury around a dozen hours to stamp Trump as the first expresident to become a felon. He is to be sentenced July 11, and speculation abounds on how Judge Juan Merchan handles this unprecedented development.

According to those who witnessed the proceedings, Trump never looked up but, as expected, outside the courtroom he raged, calling the verdict a “disgrace,” that the “judge was corrupt,” and that the “trial never should have occurred...It was rigged.”

He said the real verdict would come from the people on Nov. 5 during the presidential election. But in advance of that date, a microcosm of the American voters have assessed the evidence, heard the witnesses, the closing arguments of the prosecution, and the defense of an outcome that most likely will be appealed.

Todd Blanche, Trump’s attorney, said during an appearance on CNN they would appeal the verdict “as soon as we can.” During the trial, they had tried several times to have the judge call it a mistrial or insist on a change of venue, some of which will probably be the basis of the appeal.

The appeal process could take months, possibly years, to complete, which means the sentencing process could be in limbo long after the election is over. What this all could mean for Trump’s fate is unclear, as is the impact it would have on his presidential quest. Several publications have recalled the presidential bids of Eugene V. Debs (1920) and Lyndon LaRouche (1992), both of whom were behind bars when they ran, and thus Trump, a convicted felon, could do the same. Later there could be developments that defy constitutional authority.

“12 everyday jurors vowed to make a decision based on the evidence and the law and the evidence and the law alone,” Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg said. “Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Donald J. Trump is guilty.”

Bragg added: “While this defendant might be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial ultimately in the same manner as every other case.”

(Even as this story was being posted, Trump held a press conference Friday morning, and it would be redundant to repeat what he has said since the case and trial began—most of it rambling lies and misinformation.)

Attorney Michael Cohen, Trump’s former “fixer,” and whose testimony may have been decisive for the jurors, said in a statement that it was “an important day for accountability and the rule of law. While it has been a difficult journey for me and my family, the truth always matters.”

Trump’s guilty on all 34 counts, but he can still run for president?!

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

Former President Donald Trump, 77, has been found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records, the first U.S. president to become a felon this Thursday. Even so, there’s still nothing in the U.S. Constitution preventing him from making another run for office.

Trump has served one term as U.S. president from 2016 to 2020, during which he was also impeached twice and lost his reelection to President Joe Biden, 81.

The frenzy surrounding Trump’s trial, held in Manhattan has captivated the nation for the last year. Every moment was historic, from the perp walk to the guilty verdict. The trial centered around Trump snuffing out the illicit relationship he had with adult film star Stephanie Clifford aka Stormy Daniels with $130,000 in hush money ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Daniels testified to the sexual encounter with Trump in July 2006 at a celebrity golf outing in Lake Tahoe, which Trump denied ever having. In a much more heated cross examination, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen testified that Trump approved the payment for Daniels’ silence ahead of the election. It took a jury of 12 New Yorkers two days to deliberate on the charges and return with a guilty verdict.

“I did my job,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg at a press con-

ference after the trial wrapped. “Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor.”

Some of the felony charges carry a max-

imum sentence of four years in prison, but it’s believed that Trump will more likely be placed under house arrest or

NYS Fair College Admissions Act: a pushback of anti-DEI policies

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

The U.S. Supreme Court’s audacious move to strike down affirmative action in the admissions process prompted New York State officials to strike back at “privileged” legacy admissions, which have been in practice since the 1920s.

New York has the largest number of institutions in the country that consider legacy status in the admissions process—at least 42% compared to the 28% of schools across the country. Schools like Fordham, Syracuse, Sarah Lawrence, Bard, Columbia, and Cornell University take legacy into consideration with admission, but City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY) colleges don’t.

Up until 2023, the ruling in the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College case had ensured greater diversity in private postsecondary schools for Black, Brown, and

See FAIR COLLEGE on page 43

See GUILTY on page 31

This mugshot provided by police in Fulton County, Georgia, shows former President Donald Trump being booked on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023.

(Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

Students celebrate graduating from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on Friday, May 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey.)

Ballroom legend Egyptt LaBeija eschews glory for self-improvement

Black New Yorker

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

Egyptt LaBeija sits at the throne of the ballroom and drag world. She’s currently the Overall Godmother of the House of LaBeija—in other words, a matriarch of New York City’s oldest and most hallowed chosen family for Black and Brown queer people.

For the past 35-plus years, LaBeija performed internationally as a model and showgirl. And this past Wednesday, June 5, she graced the stage at the Legends of Drag event hosted by the NYC AIDS Memorial and the Whitney Museum. She called the evening an opportunity to empower others through a routine she meticulously plans down to the song choice—pieces that particularly made a difference in her life.

Ball culture stems from a history of LGBTQ Black and Brown New Yorkers cast out by their families and white-led queer spaces. So they formed their own communities and queer spaces, usually named after luxury fashion brands.

House of LaBeija was the first, after drag ball judges favored a white contestant over a co-founder. They blossomed into a subculture of fashion and voguing, a highly-stylized competitive dance where participants strike pronounced poses. It’s downright impossible to avoid ballroom’s influences today, from the overt references in Beyonce’s “Renaissance” album to the general house music blaring throughout the city’s warehouses every Saturday night.

LaBeija is legendary in that world. But she says she prefers living unremarkably.

“When I leave that art, I like quiet—I have a husband and a dog,” she said. “I don’t want all

Egyptt LaBeija

(© Harry James Hanson/Devin Antheus; “Egyptt LaBeija,” 2018-2022; Courtesy of the artists and CLAMP, New York)

that attention when I’m not on stage.”

Yet attention finds her. Last year, LaBeija was one of the subjects of the documentary “The Stroll,” which recounted the perspectives of Black and Brown trans sex workers during the 80s and 90s. She says the experiences she shared made her into a stronger and better person. LaBeija’s story and likeness are also reflected in photography books like Katsu Naito’s “West Side Rendezvous” and Mark Seliger’s “On Christopher Street: Transgender Stories.”

HBO ultimately picked up “The Stroll” and the film won a myriad of awards. But LaBeija did not know that when she signed up. For her, the importance of recording otherwise lost history is essential for the next generation of trans people. Others did the same for her, unconditionally.

“I started to hang out with [people] older than me, because I didn’t know their history and how they managed to get through all the stuff they went through,” said LaBeija. “That’s how I was able to get through [what] I went through.”

After all, she once was a sheltered youngster in Long Island who escaped to New York City to pursue her true authentic self and dream of becoming a showgirl. The journey took her to Detroit, back to New York City, and then, all over the world. But for her, center stage starts from the inside.

“I’m not better than anyone else,” LaBeija said. “I’m just better than who I used to be.”

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.

THE URBAN AGENDA

By Olalekan Omodunbi

Bridging Past Injustices: Understanding Reparations for Black New Yorkers

In the grand tapestry of American history, there are threads often overlooked, narratives silenced, and injustices left unaddressed. One such chapter that echoes through the ages is the legacy of slavery and its enduring impact on generations of Black Americans. Tiffany Crutcher’s 23-year-old son, Terence, was shot and killed by a Tulsa police officer in 2016. That tragedy is just one stark reminder of the ongoing harm caused by centuries of systemic injustice felt by Black Americans.

New York is no exception – Black residents in our state are three times more likely to be incarcerated than white residents and face stark disparities in health outcomes. As a response, the push for racial reparations enters a new era. New York leads the way with its recent landmark legislation calling for a thorough examination of reparations, demonstrating our state’s commitment to addressing these historic wrongs.

It is within this historical context that the notion of reparations emerges as a beacon of acknowledgment, reconciliation, and justice. Today, as the winds of change blow across New York, we find ourselves at the forefront of a pivotal moment – the enactment of reparations legislation, a testament to our commitment to right the wrongs of the past.

But what are reparations, and why do they matter? At its core, reparations represent a moral and ethical imperative to rectify the systemic injustices inflicted upon Black or African Americans. It is a multifaceted approach encompassing acknowledgment of historical wrongs, community development initiatives, educational opportunities, and financial compensation. Reparations seek to address the intergenerational trauma, economic disparities, and social inequalities that continue to plague Black and African American communities today.

The journey towards reparations has been long and arduous, punctuated by moments of resistance and resilience. Across the United States, the legacy of slavery—compounded by the injustices of Jim Crow and the systemic inequalities akin to apartheid—casts a long shadow over the present day. This shadow manifests in stark health disparities evident throughout New York State. Grassroots movements, scholars, and activists have tirelessly advocated for reparatory measures to address these interlinked consequences of institutionalized racism. From the Civil Rights era to the present day, the call for reparations has grown louder, resonating with a sense of urgency and moral clarity. It seeks to heal deep historical wounds and create pathways for greater equity, in healthcare and more, for communities systematically marginalized by centuries of anti-Black policy.

In late 2023, New York State took a historic step forward by signing into law a landmark bill, S1163-A establishing a New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies. Spearheaded by the tireless advocacy of Senator James Sanders Jr., this legislation reflects his unwavering commitment to rectifying historical injustices and advancing reparative justice in our state. This committee comprises representatives from diverse sectors –faith-based organizations, health professionals, historians, financial experts, and educators. Together, they embody a collective commitment to truth, reconciliation, and justice.

For Black New Yorkers, the significance of this legislation cannot be overstated. It is a recognition of the enduring struggles and contributions of Black communities throughout history. It is a promise to confront the legacies of slavery, segregation, and systemic racism head-on. And it is a reaffirmation of our shared humanity and commitment to building a more equitable society for all.

As we embark on this journey towards reparative justice, it is essential to acknowledge the complexities and challenges that lie ahead. Reparations are not a panacea for all social ills, nor are they a one-size-fits-all solution. They require thoughtful deliberation, community engagement, and a sustained commitment to dismantling systems of oppression.

In the ongoing discourse on reparations for historical injustices, the predominant focus often gravitates towards monetary compensation. Undoubtedly crucial, financial restitution alone, however, falls short of the comprehensive redress required. True reparations demand a comprehensive approach, one that transcends the confines of dollars and cents.

At its essence, the concept of reparations strives to both acknowledge and rectify the enduring wounds inflicted upon marginalized communities. Stemming from centuries of systemic oppression and violence, these wounds reverberate through generations. While monetary compensation serves as a form of material redress, genuine healing necessitates a more profound engagement with history.

Moreover, reparations entail more than financial remuneration; they entail structural reforms, educational initiatives, and investments in community development. They represent a commitment to bridge racial divides, foster empathy, and nurture reconciliation. Ultimately, they aim to sculpt a more inclusive future for generations to come, one founded on understanding and solidarity.

As we move forward, let us embrace the spirit of unity, empathy, and resilience that defines our shared humanity. Let us stand together, shoulder to shoulder, as we strive to build a more just, equitable, and compassionate society for all.

Olalekan Omodunbi is Economic Development Director for State Senator James Sanders Jr. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org.

National Gun Violence Awareness Month kicks off with hopes of a safe summer

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

A sea of orange welcomed June as advocates flooded the City Hall steps donning the official color of gun violence prevention for National Gun Violence Awareness Month last Friday, May 31.

Those present largely hailed from the city’s Crisis Management System (CMS), violence interrupters tasked with preventing shootings without a badge or a gun. Instead, they broker peace on the frontlines, equipped with just their words and neighborhood connections. The “warp around” efforts vary from mentoring youth and squashing gang beefs to servicing shooting victims and dissuading retaliation—all to prevent gun violence long before the gun is picked up.

June also marks the first echoes of summer, a season when shootings historically trend upward. A.T. Mitchell, cochair of the city’s Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, told the Amsterdam News that CMS is year-round work but focuses on temperature rises.

“We know that when the weather breaks from spring to summer, a lot more people come out in our community and a lot of the unresolved conflicts that they may have been harboring over the winter months or throughout the years come to surface,” Mitchell said. “So we oftentimes brace ourselves, we prep ourselves, we retrain ourselves [for] this time of the year. Because the summer is upon us [and] it’s going to more likely be more interactions [and] more engagements needed for us to be able to get in front of the possibility of gun violence.”

“We know that when the weather breaks from spring to summer, a lot more people come out in our community and a lot of the unresolved conflicts that they may have been harboring over the winter months or throughout the years come to surface,”

—A.T. Mitchell, co-chair of the city’s Gun Violence Prevention Task Force

There’s a certain optimism among the advocates this summer as shootings are down year-to-date by more than 15%. And this coincides with the increased supply of illegal, untraceable 3D printed firearms, alternatively known as “ghost guns.” Legal guns are also less regulated after the Bruen Supreme Court decision struck down a century-old state law restricting carrying pistols in public two years ago. Yet while lawmakers and police scramble to cut off the supply, CMS tackles the demand.

tion that in our neighborhood, you’re supposed to respond violently. And we’re telling people that that’s not the case.”

Like many CMS groups represented on the City Hall steps, Mitchell’s Man Up! Inc.—which specifically services East New York, Brownsville, and surrounding neighborhoods—started as a labor of love after a tragic shooting. But many have since blossomed from scrappy volunteer teams of concerned parents, clergy, and reformed gang members into fully-fledged nonprofits funded by the city, state, and federal government. These organizations now boast brickand-mortar sites and mobile response vans in their toolbelt. Calliana S. Thomas, the inaugural director of the New York State Office of

“How do we change the perception? Because there is a percep -

“There’s so many guns out here on these streets, guns legal now for people in New York State to carry,” Mitchell said. “So we, knowing that, have to change the mindsets of people and change the behavior. A lot of our work is psychological. A lot of our work is to the mental health care that we need to provide people.

Gun violence prevention advocates including Man Up! Founder A.T. Mitchell (center) rally at City Hall. (Tandy Lau photo)

Go With The Flo

After Spike Lee was spotted filming a scene from his new movie “High and Low” in Bronx, New York, on May 31 with actor Dean Winters, the award-winning director wrapped the film that following weekend. Lee posted on Instagram, “Great Sunday afternoon. This past Friday We Officially Wrapped Da New Spike Joint Starring my Brother Denzel Washington. Dis Iz our 5th Joint Together.” Spike and A$AP Rocky, who also appears in the movie, were photographed posing with personalized Moet and Chandon Bottles at the film’s Wrap Party on June 1 in the Big Apple. Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright, who is also in the flick, attended the party as well. A thriller, “High and Low” chronicles the ruin of a businessman following a ransom payment to kidnappers, according to Variety.......

It was a busy weekend for the Carters. Beyonce is rumored to have performed a private Cowboy Carter concert, while her husband Jay Z was spotted on the sidelines of the UEFA Champions League final match between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid CF on June 1. Lenny Kravitz performed prior to the game. While in London, the 60-year-old celibate rock star was seen leaving the Connaught Hotel........

Philanthropist, humanitarian, and author Jean Shafiroff was recently honored with the 2024 Trailblazer Award by The Urban Resource Institute (URI), the nation’s largest provider of domestic violence shelters. Dubbed the “Diva of Philanthropy,” Shafiroff was recognized for her philanthropic endeavors and work in the areas of women’s issues and animal welfare charities. The award ceremony was held at URI’s 2024 URI Celebration: A Decade Honoring the Human Animal Bond, at Cipriani 25 Broadway in New York City. Coinciding with National Pet Month, the event highlighted the transformative impact of PALS, and celebrated the continued commitment to providing safety for survivors of domestic violence and their pets. Said Shafiroff, “As an advocate for human rights, I am dedicated to shining a spotlight on issues that face families including women, children and others affected by domestic violence and abuse. I am so honored to receive the Trailblazer Award in solidarity with URI and its important work.”........ The new Bounce TV original series “Mind Your Business” debuted June 1. Award-winning talk show host Rolonda Watts stars as Lucille Williams, a lounge owner whose business was closed due to the pandemic. However, Lucille’s brother Henry, portrayed by gospel great BeBe Winans gets the place going again. The star-studded cast also includes Columbus Short, Drew Sidora, Brely Evans and more. "Mind Your Business" is produced by Harvest Studios and executive produced by Bentley Kyle Evans....

NYC Multicultural Festival is a hit in Harlem

The New York African Chorus Ensemble, NYPD 30th Precinct and Community Council presented the 15th Annual NYC Multicultural Festival at Jackie Robinson Park Bandshell in Harlem. Festival Founder and Director Joyce Adewumi with Willie Walker opened the Festival.

ANTHONY

Annual NYC Multicultural Festival Drumers (Bill Moore photos) Joyce Adewumi

Japan

Willie Walker

Russia

Mexico

Black birders flock to the Rockaways

By ROXANNE L. SCOTT

Special to the AmNews

Birds flew far higher than the rumbling A train as enthusiasts from near and far peeked through their binoculars at mockingbirds and robins among the sound of song sparrows. On a day with blue skies and bright rays from the sun, dozens of residents showed up for the last day of Black Birder’s Week.

Saturday concluded the weeklong event across the country. The annual celebration started in 2020 by the Black AF in STEM collective. During Memorial Day Weekend that year, Christian Cooper, a Black science writer and editor, was birdwatching in Central Park when Amy Cooper, a white woman (no relation) called the police on him after he asked her to leash her dog. The collective wanted a way to honor Black naturalists. This year’s theme was ‘Wings of Justice: Soaring For Change,” with a focus on environmental justice, bird conservation and community care.

According to local organizers, the event is the first one in the Rockaways. It was hosted by the Garden By The Bay, a community garden in Edgemere and the NYC Plover Project, a volunteer group that protects the piping plover, an endangered shorebird. The event started with a nature walk in the Arverne East Nature Preserve and ended at the community garden.

“More of the community all around New York needs to come and enjoy this beautiful sanctuary,” said Myrtle E. Williams, a resident who’s lived on the Rockaways for four decades.

She brought her four-year old granddaughter with her to the nature walk. After the event, attendees strolled to the Garden By The Bay and meandered among growing eggplants, okra, peppers and cilantro, practiced yoga, and joined a community discussion about exclusion in green spaces.

AN URBAN OASIS BY THE SEA

The event also intrigued resident Florence Ferguson. Now retired, she’s lived on the peninsula since the 1990s and remembers the lot of land prior to the reserve being developed as an eyesore that dealt with issues such as illegal dumping.

The ribbon was cut on the Arverne East Nature Preserve in April. The 35-acre preserve is part of a larger plan to transform more than 100 acres of underutilized land on the Rockaways, according to the Parks Department.

The bird walk was Ferguson’s first time visiting the preserve. She said she’s watched the development of the land from the concrete being poured. Fast forward to joining the walk, she was concerned with mobility issues as she walks with a cane. The benches allowed her and her friends to stroll through the preserve and take a break when needed.

She said the guided tour helped her know the birds she looked like. She was particularly drawn to the chimney swifts and the swallows.

“Birding is for everyone. Even me,” she said. “It’s for all of us, not just the select few of us.”

Samsam Graves, an artist, was one of the volunteers with the NYC Plover Project that led the bird walk. Though volunteers don’t set government policy about protecting piping plovers, who nest in the sand of the beaches of the Rockaways, they educate residents about the threatened bird, which includes asking beachgoers to leash their dogs.

“I was still kind of afraid because of the incident with Christian Cooper,” she said.

She eventually got over her fear and said being a volunteer has helped her break out of her shell and talk to strangers. Graves said birding has allowed her to branch out to other environmental interests including composting as well as learning about bugs and native plants.

As a guide, she also gave tips to birders

during the walk including birding in quiet places, such as cemeteries, said Graves.

A MURKY HISTORY

The United States has had a gloomy record on making the outdoors a respite for people of color. Last year the NYC chapter of the National Audubon Society voted to drop “Audubon” from its title given namesake John James

views

tions against the Indigenous and people of color. The national organization, however, decided to keep the name. John James Aubudon was a 19th-century artist and ornithologist who owned enslaved people. Furthermore, the so-called “racial reckoning” that happened after George Floyd was killed (the same weekend that police

Audubon’s

and ac-

Residents spotting birds in Arverne East Nature Preserve on the last day of Black Birders Week. (Roxanne Scott photos)

Garden By The Bay, a community garden in Edgemere that was one of the organizers of Black Birders Week event on The Rockaways.

A simple word. A complex meaning.

Union Matters SEIU security guards win wage increases, paid Juneteenth holiday

From Memorial Day to Flag Day, Father’s Day, Juneteenth, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day, there will be countless celebrations across our nation where the word “hero” will be applied. That word will be the underlying theme of speeches, TV shows, parades, fireworks, barbeques, marathons, and sales throughout America.

We celebrate heroes. It’s our custom. Even though today, the actions of some of our hero standard-bearers are now being reexamined, there are still plenty to go around.

Webster’s dictionary defines the word “hero” as “a person who has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal.” In classic mythology, a hero was someone who was thought to be godlike—a talented warrior, a chieftain with special strength, or an immortal being.

Today, we tend to think of our heroes in a more down-to-earth way—still very noble, but a mortal among us who has done things—big and small—that make a difference in our lives. Everyday heroes: the Little League coach. The motorist who stopped to help you fix your flat tire. The neighbor who saved a child in a burning building. The person who found and returned your lost dog. Your parent.

Several celebrities have weighed in about being a hero, among them, Whoopie Goldberg, who once asked: “Who amongst us doesn’t want to be a hero?” Mariah Carey suggested, “If you look inside yourself and you believe, you can be your own hero.” Maya Angelou defined a hero as “any person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” Perhaps it was Arthur Ashe who summed it up best: “True heroism is remarkably sober and very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”

A hero doesn’t need a specific classification or category to qualify. In fact, that could actually limit the accomplishments. Morgan Freeman reminds us that “Martin Luther King Jr., was not a Black hero. He is an American hero.”

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

The last time security guards in the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (SEIU 32BJ) bargained for a new contract, it was four years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Security guards risked their lives as they showed up to work while most of the city remained on lockdown. They won some concessions, but it was in no way on par with the agreements won for security guards in residential and commercial establishments.

That meant as negotiations started for a new contract this year, 32BJ security division workers were ready. After seeing 32BJ commercial building service workers gain a four-year deal with a 12.6 percent wage increase, they made their intentions clear.

“Coming into this contract cycle, after our commercial brothers and sisters in December ratified and won a great contract with the best wage increases they’d ever got, it was our mandate to be able to do the same for our 20,000 security officers in New York City,” said Israel Melendez, vice president of 32BJ and director of its secu-

rity division. “It was wages, protecting our health, and protecting our benefits and training program––making sure that stays 100 percent employer paid ––and also winning Juneteenth as a paid holiday; that was very important to the membership.”

Members had, in the past, had 10 holidays that they could get paid extra for working on. Only Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and Labor Day were paid holidays. 32BJ members wanted to add Juneteenth as a paid holiday because a lot of places, such as commercial offices, are not closed, while city agencies are. The union wanted to make sure that members got paid and did not lose any pay if their work site was closed.

After a series of tough negotiations, the 32BJ security division won a new contract that members are excited about. The new agreement promises a 22-percent wage increase—more than double what they got in 2020, and the highest the union has ever acquired.

Last Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, members came in to ratify the contract. “We had two days where members came in in person and voted for it,” Melendez told the AmNews. “We had a whole program

and summary for them.

“They were very excited––a lot of members were very excited about the contract, very thankful. And they participated in it at a high clip rate. This was our first time since 2016 putting a field plan together. We had 40% of the 20,000 members participate in at least one action for their contract campaign, and that made the difference— they really moved the needle.”

The new contract was an important win for the union security guards: It demonstrates an appreciation of their importance as essential workers. “Coming off the pandemic, where we had some members that passed away from COVID, and a lot of members were out there on the front lines coming in every day…and securing buildings and facilities during the protests and everything––we had people out there during the protests, making sure that they they’re securing the properties and making sure that the tenants are safe,” Melendez said. “This was a huge, a huge endeavor to make sure that these contractors and building owners make the same commitment to the security industry as they did with the commercial industry back in December.”

Gregory Floyd President, Teamsters Local 237 and Vice President at-Large on the General Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters

SEIU 32BJ security guards have ratified a new contract (32BJ SEIU photo)

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A karmic moment

If the condemnation aimed at Trump and his recent conviction by a choir of noted or elected Black politicians needed a soloist, then New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam would be an easy choice.

Salaam, one of the so-called “Central Park Five” falsely accused, tried, and wrongfully imprisoned for beating and raping a jogger in Central Park more than 30 years ago, mimicked an ad Trump placed in New York newspapers calling for the state to bring back the death penalty.

In his open letter—a full-page response, Salaam said, “On May 1, 1989, almost thirty-four years ago, Donald J. Trump spent $85,000 to take out full-page ads in the New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and the New York Newsday, calling for the execution of the Central Park Five, an act he has never apologized for, even after someone else confessed to and was convicted of the crime, the convictions of all five of us were overturned, and we were renamed the Exonerated Five.”

While Trump’s ad did not specifically call for the execution of the young men, never mentioning the names of Salaam, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, and Antron McCray, his intentions were clear and implicitly targeted them.

“You were wrong then, and you are wrong now,” the ad, entitled “Bring Back Justice & Fairness. Build a Brighter Future for Harlem.” continued. Salaam said he wished Trump no harm, but “I hope that you exercise your civil liberties to the fullest and that you get what the Exonerated 5 did not get: presumption of innocence, and a fair trial.”

Trump’s conviction this week had a karmic aspect: He was convicted in the same courthouse where the Central Park Five heard their unjust fateful verdict. Among the most passionate voices in the choir of notables was the Rev. Al Sharpton, who devoted many hours on the air and elsewhere to pleading on behalf of the Five: “These children had to hear vitriol from people whose anger was incited by a man who spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for their execution,” he told the press. “Now the shoe is on the other foot. Donald Trump is the criminal and those five men are exonerated. I’m reminded of Dr. King’s proverb that the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.”

More precisely, King referred to the “moral arc of the universe,” which is all the more meaningful and ironic since Trump and the word moral cannot be said in the same sentence. Salaam does not appear to be gloating about Trump’s verdict and possible imprisonment, but there are millions of Americans who would love to see him locked up, and that would recall another moment of vindication, reminding us of his chant to lock up Hillary Clinton.

As we know so well in the Black parlance, what goes round comes round. This one for Trump has a karmic flavor.

A letter to Cornel West

By ISHMAEL REED

Dear Cornel,

What will your legacy be? How will your children and grandchildren view you?

Like you, I am concerned about the murder of civilians in Palestine, Haiti, and Sudan. I’m also worried about the lives of civilians in our country. You’re polling at 4% in Michigan, and 3 % nationwide according to Quinnipiac enough to elect Donald Trump. Are you sure you want to help install a dictatorship?

Donald Trump pledges to end Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare. For millions of older Americans, Social Security is their only income. The elimination of Medicaid will triple the homeless population, most of whom will be Black.

Donald Trump has pledged to end Obamacare. Millions of Americans are alive today because of Obamacare, including those with pre-existing conditions.

Donald Trump wanted Black Lives demonstrators shot. How will demonstrations be handled during a Trump administration? Law enforcement’s attitudes toward Black Americans were supposed to change after George Floyd's live execution. It hasn’t. These executions, which usually happen after traffic stops, continue.

Donald Trump referred to Black mothers as “bitches”” and Hispanics as “vermin” and “animals.” He has said that liberal Jews are destroying America and had dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, a Hispanic, who, like Irish American Steve Bannon and Jewish American Stephen Miller, has forgotten his history.

to in E Minor.” He worked on the concerto for three years, culminating in a performance with the Oakland Symphony to “say in music what I could not say in words.” His performance is on YouTube. Since then, white nationalists, not members of the Nation of Islam, have shot up synagogues.

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief

Damaso

Reyes: Executive & Investigative Editor

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Aaron Foley: News

Editor

Cyril Josh Barker:

"Sam"

Trump’s hateful, vile rhetoric is responsible for the drastic rise of hate crimes experienced by Jews, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. He said that Hitler did some good things and that he kept “Mein Kampf” as a bedtime reading. Statistically, Blacks are the most hated group.

You and Rabbi Lerner thought that Minister Farrakhan was the only problem for Jews. The late Michael Morgan, conductor of the Oakland Symphony, told me that Minister Farrakhan hired a Jewish teacher to coach him on performing Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concer-

Ironically, you’ve been accused of antisemitism because you endorsed a cartoon that was considered antisemitic. Compounding this charge, you accepted money from the same right-wing GOP billionaire as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas : Harlan Crow, the billionaire political donor with controversial links to Thomas, who has given the maximum contribution to your campaign for president, The Hill reported. You were shamed into returning the money. Crow is the guy who collects Hitler paraphernalia.

The April 11, 2024, edition of the Times reported that Jill Stein, Putin’s dinner companion, had received support from one of Trump’s money people, Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus.

The “ Times ” report says that the GOP has offered you help. Have you accepted? Are you receiving

dark money from their supporters? What about some of those surrounding Trump? A relative has criticized Stephen Miller for doing the bidding of an antisemitic president. He reminded Miller that members of his family didn’t survive the Holocaust, yet this sinister creep wants to block Black farmers from receiving compensation denied them for decades. He has influenced Trump’s immigration policy. Trump says he prefers immigrants from “nice” countries like Denmark.

Taxes? Trump promised billionaires who raised money for him at Mar-a-Lago that he’d cut theirs. Yet, the media bosses instruct their pundits and reporters to identify the alienated “white working class” as their base. In 2020, 48% of white college graduates and the majority of white women voted for Trump. Who do you think will lose their jobs if Stephen K. Bannon, an Aryan Irish American and antisemite, dismantles the administrative state? Blacks will be purged from the Civil Service.

Trump leaving abortion decisions to states like Arizona, Alabama,

Digital Editor

Author Ishmael Reed during an interview: “Even though you might tip the election, you have avoided the scrutiny you’d receive if a strong Black press existed” (AP Photo/Adam Stoltman photo)

Trump guilty, but was justice done?

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the New York Amsterdam News. We continue to publish a variety of viewpoints so that we may know the opinions of others that may differ from our own.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

Last Thursday, a unanimous New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felonies after deliberating less than 48 hours and observing Mr. Trump’s refusal to testify in his own defense. The jury found that the former president created false business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels for her silence with the purpose of either influencing the outcome of the 2016 presidential election or defrauding the Internal Revenue Service. (The payments were fraudulently represented as deductible legal expenses). Sentencing by Judge Juan Merchan is set for July. Did the guilty verdicts reflect justice? Did they prove that no one is above the law? These questions defy simple “yes” or “no” answers.

Justice incorporates values that are in tension. On the one hand is the idea that everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law irrespective of wealth, power, race, political opinion, religion, or gender. It finds expression in the words enshrined above the main entrance to the United States Supreme Court Building, “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW.”

In tension with the equal justice goal is the idea that a criminal should not escape punishment because others, equally or more culpable, have avoided punishment. Murderers were not set free because O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman notwithstanding overwhelming incriminating evidence. Imperfect justice is superior to no justice and

the law of the jungle. There, life is poor, brutish, nasty, and short.

Justice is invariably imperfect. It is never perfectly equal. Law enforcement resources are limited. Prosecutors are human. Their law enforcement priorities are not the same. Many are elected and skew their prosecution decisions to court voter popularity.

Then United States Attorney General Robert Jackson worried as long ago as 1940 that legions of technical, ambiguous criminal prohibitions invited prosecutors to weaponize the law to harass or destroy their personal or political enemies:

“[I]t is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who has committed it, it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him. It is in this realm in which the prosecutor picks some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass, or selects some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense, that the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies.”

Unequal justice is especially pronounced in the political world where law enforcement is controlled by partisan forces. Congress attempted to fix the problem with the Independent Counsel Act of 1978 to remove partisanship from the investigation of political muckety-mucks. But the cure proved worse than the disease. Independent counsels spent limitless sums going down rabbit

holes to forestall insinuations of cover-up. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr spent more than $95 million investigating President William Jefferson Clinton over Monica Lewinsky, perjury, and obstruction of justice. No criminal charges were ever filed. Independent councils were abandoned in 1999.

President Richard M. Nixon complained that his Watergate wrongdoings were indistinguishable from President Lyndon Johnson’s multiple illegalities. The latter included warrantless spying on Martin Luther King, Jr., lying to Congress to obtain the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution spawning the Vietnam War, massive vote buying in the 1948 U.S. Senate election, and the exercise of political influence with the Federal Communications Commission to make his wife Lady Bird a millionaire—as meticulously documented in Robert Caro’s “Means of Ascent.”

Mr. Nixon’s double standard argument, however, was DOA. He was forced to resign under an impeachment cloud and accepted a pardon from President Gerald R. Ford to escape prosecution for obstruction of justice.

Everything about Trump is sui generis. Comparisons are problematic. He chose to have sex with a pornography star shortly after Melania had given birth. He chose to hire liar and thug Michael Cohen as his Roy Cohn-like attorney. He volunteered his vile, vulgar remarks about women on the Access Hollywood tape. He demanded that Vice Pres-

Still thinking about my Knicks

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

ident Mike Pence choose between him and the Constitution in counting statecertified electoral votes. He chose to berate and threaten Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger if he failed to invent 11,780 votes to make Trump victorious over Biden in Georgia.

But what about Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s wretched, depraved son? He has not been given a “get out of jail” free card? He confronts twin prosecutions for income tax evasion and an illegal gun purchase. A Trump-appointed United States Attorney is running the prosecutions.

As president, Mr. Trump repeatedly attempted to interfere with law enforcement to assist himself politically. Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton’s memoir is conclusive. Mr. Bolton recounted that obstruction of justice was a “way of life” at Trump’s White House.

The powerful like Trump, Hillary Clinton, Sam Bankman-Fried, Jeffrey Epstein, Diddy, and Joe Biden, as well as the powerless, indeed, everyone needs to read more of the Bible and squander less time on fawning social media. We should all start with Galatians 6: “A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.”

Armstrong Williams (@ ARight-Side) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www.armstrongwilliams. co | www.howardstirkholdings.com

I don’t know about you, but I am still thinking about this season’s Knicks team. I was there when the Knicks lost in a game 7 at Madison Square Garden and it was the first time I truly experienced the feeling of rooting for a team with all my might and trying to will a team to a win, despite the myriad of obstacles ahead. There are still some long faces among Knicks fans in the city and I believe it’s deeper than the Knicks being knocked out of championship contention for the season. To have the Knicks season come to a close is to say goodbye to a community of fellow New Yorkers who become extended family members in this crowded and sometimes lonely city of almost nine million people. To be a real New Yorker is to be a Knicks fan (I said what I said, Nets fans). And to be a Knicks fan is to allow yourself to dream, to outwardly let others know you are filled with hope, and to outwardly set intentions and think of the best path to help you actualize your desired outcome. The Knicks have only tasted this prospect of a championship a few times since they won it all in 1970 and 1973. They’ve had some amazing runs and conference titles during the Patrick Ewing and John Starks era in the early 1990s, and the Ewing, Latrell Sprewell, Larry Johnson era of the late 1990s. There were other eras where Knicks like Stephon Marbury, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony captivated the city. This current Knicks team,

when healthy, exhibits glimmers of what a championship team could look like in NYC. Or maybe that’s just my aspirational hopeful prospecting taking over because, after all, I am a Knicks fan. To be a Knicks fan is to be simultaneously an eternal optimist and a perpetual pessimist. For now, we can engage in the necessary debates: Did Coach Thibs work his players too hard? Was the team doomed when Julius Randle was out injured for the season? Was the team riddled with too many injuries? Does Brunson need more time to develop? Are the Knicks cursed? Do they need more big men? Or, my personal favorite, should we rebuild without Randle on the roster? This season was a great run, with the Knicks ending the regular season with a 50-32 record. Yes, the stars are injured and the offseason will be filled with rehab and possibly some hard choices about who remains. Who knows what next season holds. However, as one of the eleven original teams in the NBA, the NY Knicks represent a type of permanence and stability many New Yorkers and Americans currently seek. And as Knicks fans know all too well, “There’s always next year!” Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.

Caribbean Update

Haiti gets a new PM; vows to get things moving

By BERT WILKINSON Special to AmNews

As troops and police officers from Kenya and other nations around the world prepare to deploy to strife-torn Haiti in the coming weeks, the country now has a newly appointed prime minister and he has vowed to begin work to restore peace and stability to the island.

Garry Conille was selected as the PM at the end of last month by the transitional or interim government which fellow Caribbean nations had helped to set up in the past three months, as gangs were stepping up their control of large parts of the capital.

Conille arrived in Haiti at the weekend from Panama where he was working as UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. He now has the unenviable task of setting up a government to replace the administration of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry who had resigned once the interim administration was established.

In a prerecorded video address made before he had landed on a Sunrise Air flight from Florida, Conille said he and other members of the interim administration are ready for the task ahead. “Today, I stand before you with great humility and a profound sense of responsibility and commitment to our beloved country. Our journey ahead is fraught with challenges, but together, we can rebuild and restore hope for a brighter future. I would not accept this responsibility if I could not count on the solidarity of all Haitians. Accompanied

by all the presidential council members, I will do my best to ensure that this transitional period is successful.”

The new PM is getting to work as some small, but key, aspects of commercial life begin to return to Haiti. In the past few weeks, Sunrise Air and American Airlines both began flying into the main international airport in the capital. For American Airlines, it meant that its service had resumed after pausing nearly three months ago due to gang violence; armed gangsters had blocked key arteries to the airport and

had threatened violence against staff.

“It is with a feeling of pride that my staff and I are happy to see planes returning internationally to Toussaint Louverture International Airport after three months of inactivity,” Yves Ducarmel, director general of the National Airport Authority, said at the welcoming ceremony for American Airlines. Commercial flights had been largely operating from other large airports in the north but gangs had been shooting at vehicles heading there, making the journey for passengers a treacherous one.

As the team gets down to work, regional leaders, who had helped to broker the interim administration at their summit in Jamaica in March, welcomed the latest developments in a statement over the weekend as “another important step forward on the path to free and fair elections and the return to constitutional order in Haiti.”

The statement continued: “Aware that there are still many challenges ahead, CARICOM expresses its support for the new prime minister-designate and reiterates its commitment of support to the transitional presidential council and to the people of Haiti. CARICOM looks forward to the early completion of the process to officially establish the institutions of transitional governance in accordance with the agreement of March 11, 2024.”

Conille studied medicine in Haiti and also attended University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and Columbia University in New York. Regional leaders said he has their full backing as the council works to restore order with the help of the international community.

“CARICOM commends the council for putting the interest of the country and the people of Haiti above all else. This will remain a paramount objective as the TPC, working with Prime Minister Conille, continues to move forward in restoring security and in establishing the critical broadly representative institutions necessary for the delivery of public services, the provision of humanitarian relief, facilitating socio-economic improvement, and the holding of free and fair elections in a timely manner,” the statement concluded.

Immigrant jury foreperson delivers verdict that turned Don into con

Of all the ironies circulating on social media, one stands out: Donald Trump’s new title of convict, humorously dubbed “Don the Con,” was announced 34 times by an immigrant.

It seems almost poetic, given Trump’s history of xenophobic rhetoric since 2016. An Irish-born salesperson from West Harlem, serving as foreperson of the jury in Trump’s hush money trial, delivered the verdict on Thursday, May 30, in a Manhattan courtroom.

Trump, 77, was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to adult film star Stormy Dan-

iels shortly before the 2016 election. Daniels claimed to have had a sexual encounter with Trump approximately a decade earlier.

Hearing “Guilty” 34 times in an Irish accent must have been particularly jarring for Trump, making him the first U.S. president to bear the title of convict. The jury foreman, referred to as Juror B400, is an immigrant who once worked as a waiter, has some college education, is married, and enjoys outdoor activities. Despite Trump’s derogatory comments about immigrants, this Irishman—who gets his news from sources like the New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News, and MSNBC—played a pivotal role in the historic trial.

Another immigrant on the jury, Juror 8, is originally from Lebanon. Having lived on New York City’s Upper East Side since 1980, he is a retired wealth manager who still consults for clients and stays informed through the New York Times, Wall Street

Journal, BBC, and CNBC. These two immigrants were part of the 12-member jury that unanimously convicted Trump after just 10 hours of deliberation.

Despite backlash from Trump’s supporters, including violent online rhetoric targeting immigrant New York Judge Juan Manuel Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the fact remains: Two immigrants played a crucial role in delivering justice. Some posts even revealed the purported addresses of jurors, echoing threats seen before the January 6 Capitol attack in Washington. These threats, inspired by Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election and now about the hush money trial, underscore the ongoing tension.

In light of these events, it’s time for Democrats and President Joe Biden to adopt the moniker “Don the Con,” and recognize the jury’s and immigrants’ con -

tributions, especially during National Immigrant Heritage Month. This historic moment highlights the power of immigrants in helping to uphold justice and delivering accountability.

Next stop: “Lock Him Up”—a phrase Trump once directed at former First Lady, Senator, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Karma has a powerful way of making its rounds, reminding us to be mindful of our words and actions. Ideally, Don the Con, not “Honest Don,” can now learn this lesson.

The other key immigrant in this case, Merchan, the Colombian-born former prosecutor, must now deliver this final lesson: No one is above the law.

Felicia J. Persaud is the publisher of NewsAmericasNow.com, a daily news outlet focused on positive news about the Black immigrant communities of the Caribbean and Latin America.

Haiti’s then Prime Minister Garry Conille speaks with journalists after a press conference in Port-au-Prince, Oct. 6, 2011. Conille was named Haiti’s new prime minister Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)

Health

Cuban Scientist Mitchell Valdés-Sosa discusses medical collaboration and innovation

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

Dr. Mitchell Valdés-Sosa, director General for the Neuroscience Institute of Cuba and a member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, recently traveled to the United States and spoke with the Amsterdam News about medical care and research in Cuba, collaboration goals with U.S. researchers, and COVID-19 care in Cuba. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

AmNews: What is the purpose of your visit to the United States?

I think we could start collaborating more, and this could be a seed that could grow into more important forms of collaboration. The first thing is to identify common interests and start talking to each other. For example, there are people doing follow-up studies of children trying to understand child development here—very nice studies—and Cuba has been doing this also. We have a nice network of clinics for children who have learning disabilities, all over the country—208 clinics all over the country. This can be very beneficial, the kind of data we could obtain, because we still don’t understand many aspects of child development, adolescent development, and we want to prevent many kinds of diseases. Not only to cure them, [but to] prevent the development (of such diseases). I think that the goal of my visit is simply to find people, many of whom I’ve already met, but now sitting down and discussing what we cando together.

AmNews: What was your early research and work?

My PhD work was on early detection of hearing loss. I developed a system with an Apple 2 computer and some electronics for doing brainstem responses—the electrical activity of the brain to determine if the newborn was hearing or not. I took it to the hospital where my father was the director because my father specialized in obstetrics and gynecology…They gave us a room, and we tested the system…we presented this to the government, and to President Fidel [Castro]. We decided to create a network of labs to do screening for hearing loss.

AmNews: Could you tell us about how you became interested in this work and your background?

I studied medicine, but in the last year,

in the 1970s, [my] last year of medicine, I received a call from the government… [they] wanted to organize medical research centers and boost biomedical research. Cuba had, in 1965, created its first modern research center, the National Center for Scientific Research. This was the very first one. It has that name because there were no other research centers. That acted as an incubator. A

group of 30 doctors [in training] went to this special program. We were trained in math, physics, physical chemistry, so we received additional training in addition to what we studied in medicine…I have been fascinated by biomedical research since I studied medicine. I hadn’t thought of doing that full-time, but I got involved with some professors who went to Cuba to teach. It’s very interest -

ing…We needed more doctors. Professors came from all over, [from] South America, from Mexico, from Chile, Argentina. They helped expand our medical school. I was involved as a medical student, doing research first with a Mexican professor. I decided I would go into this special program…at this time, this research center had medicine, biochemistry, physiology, See HEALTH continued on next page

Cuban senior researcher Mitchell Joseph Valdes-Sosa speaks during a news conference at the Cuban embassy in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

pharmacology, and people studying chemical engineering…practically every branch of science had a small representation. From these groups, other research groups were created.

I [connected] with a Mexican professor, Dr. Thalia Harmony, who had gone to Cuba to teach and then became part of this National Research Center. Her PhD thesis was the first one defended in Cuba. We had to assemble the committee from all over the world. We hooked up with a professor from NYU, Erwin Roy John. He had gone to Cuba and he said that he wanted to know Cuba, but he didn’t want a heavily guided tour. He wanted a jeep and the possibility of moving around and seeing for himself. And that’s what he did. Then he wrote some articles…He was working in neurophysiology, applying computer research. In the 1960s and 1970s, the United Nations UNDP Program got funding and we decided to do a study about the effects of different factors on nutrition and stress on the development of a child’s brain.

In 1960–61, Cuba had carried out the National Literacy Campaign. I was born in the U.S., I grew up in Chicago. In 1961, my father [took me] to Cuba. When I got there, all my cousins—I have an extended Latin family, a lot of cousins—were in the countryside teaching people to read and write. We had this literacy campaign.

“We now have 36 centers or factories under one organization called BioCuba-Farma that has 30,000 people working there. This effort was what allowed Cuba to really confront the COVID epidemic. 5 vaccines were made in two years.”

—Cuban senior researcher

Mitchell Joseph Valdés-Sosa

We had this push: the Battle for the Sixth Grade. Then universities started multiplying. We had three universities in 1959 and now we have one in every province. Research centers were being created. We now have 36 centers or factories under one organization called BioCubaFarma that has 30,000 people working there. This effort was what allowed Cuba to really confront the COVID epidemic. 5 vaccines were made in two years. The idea was several groups would begin working and they would try different strategies, and if we had more vaccines, that would be better. (There were) five vaccines. Three of them were rolled out, two are still in the development stage because the number of cases of COVID started dropping down. The possibility of Cuba tackling the COVID epidemic came out of this effort to create this biotech sector.

AmNews: What would you like people in America to know about Cuba and Cuban medicine?

Cuban people have a great deal of friendship for people all around the world, including the U.S. We should listen to the needs—the health problems—of both countries and collaborate. The field of public health, health, biomedical research, medicine—there’s a lot we could do together. I believe there’s a lot we can do.

Join the MSK Ralph Lauren Center, The International Myeloma Foundation, and the Abyssinian Baptist Church for a

Community Health Education Panel & Dinner

At this event, you can:

• Learn how multiple myeloma impacts the Black community.

To honor Black Family Cancer Awareness Week (June 13-19). This free educational dinner in Harlem will provide information about the disease multiple myeloma – the most common blood cancer in African Americans.

• Hear how food can improve health.

• Ask experts your questions.

Event details: Thursday, June 20, 2024 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

To register for this event or to learn more about it, point your smartphone camera at the QR code and tap the link. Email communityaffairs@mskcc.org for more information.

Gun violence

Continued from page 6

she’s seen many programs develop first hand over the past two decades.

“Many of our programs started with no funding [and] they were working for free in their communities, really pushing for change,” Thomas said. “Now they are fully funded and expanding. The amazing thing to see is that community members are at the helm of this revolution.”

She adds that the people “closest to the problem” are closest to the solution for

“Many

of Neighborhood Safety, now falls under the banner of the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) as of last year.

Despite an uptick in CMS funding, including an $8.5 million increase in budget in the current fiscal year, most programs still lack around-the-clock coverage, according to Mitchell. For the gun violence prevention czar, the next logical step is 24/7 services.

of our programs started with no funding [and] they were working for free in their communities, really pushing for change. Now they are fully funded and expanding. The amazing thing to see is that community members are at the helm of this revolution.”

—Calliana S. Thomas, New York State Office of Gun Violence Prevention’s inaugural director

A full list of National Gun Violence Awareness Month programming can be found at https://www.nyc.gov/site/ dycd/services/gun_violence_awareness_month.page

ending gun violence. Yet they aren’t usually ones most experienced with navigating the nonprofit space. Last fall, Thomas’ office opened up applications for $5 million to “create a network of small grassroots organizations who normally wouldn’t be able to qualify or meet the requirements of government procurement processes.”

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for young Black men.

Back in 2014, then-Mayor Bill De Blasio officially established CMS under the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. The program’s umbrella agency, the Office

While the advocates looked forward, the rally also remembered those lost to gun violence. Not Another Mother founder Oresa Napper-Williams and fellow organization members wore jackets with their children’s faces printed on the back.

“I always say if it was a Crisis Management System in 2006, chances are my child would be here today,” she said.

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/ amnews1.

A New York City Police Department officer lights a candle at a makeshift memorial outside the NYPD’s 32nd Precinct. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Demonstrators march with photos of people who died as a result of gun violence during the Women’s March Alliance in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

beres hammond

Sun, Jun 16 @ 7PM

Earthquake’s Father’s Day Comedy Show features comedians Nate Jackson Jay Pharoah, Tony Rock and Tacarra Williams

Fri, Oct 4 @ 7:30 & 10PM

The hilarious Donnell Rawlings (Chappelle’s Show, The Wire) takes the stage for a night of unfiltered stand-up comedy. donnell rawlings

Fri, Nov 1 @ 8PM

Comedian Ali Siddiq (Unprotected Sets, The Domino Effect) will leave you laughing with his hilarious storytelling.

Samara Joy Sun, Jun 23 @ 7PM

Jeezy & Scarface Fri, Jun 28 @ 8PM Newark Symphony Hall

Jhené Aiko Sat, Jun 29 @ 8PM Prudential Center

Kevin Hart Sun, Jun 30 @ 7PM Prudential Center

Mel’s Law

“Institutions should have a policy for that. It’s not about the degree, it’s about the legacy.”

Posthumous degrees are important for the families of victims, Barnes-Anderson said, because they remind family members about what that child’s life was about. “It helps the siblings and the children to move forward, to have hope, and to have a vision for themselves, like yes, they can do it—they didn’t finish, but I have to finish it out. It’s very important to have that be the last paper that goes on your wall and not just a death certificate. Let’s give them the posh degrees to show that this is what they were like, let this be the conversation. That would be the piece on the wall that people would go ‘Oh, wow, that’s what your someone was about?’ That’s the conversation to have.”

Engraving Melquain’s name in history

Since Barnes-Anderson’s mother lived at Farragut, Melquain had grown up visiting the Houses and had a few friends there. Diaz, the boy who shot him, was new to Farragut; he hadn’t been raised there. “I don’t even understand how this guy, with something against one of my son’s friends, he felt like, ‘Oh, that’ll be a way to hurt the friend.’

“He told the police my son was just collateral damage,” Barnes-Anderson remarked. “He had nothing against my son. That, I don’t even understand, I don’t even understand it.”

Diaz was caught soon after, convicted of second-degree murder, and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but his act of anger left long standing ripples of despair.

Barnes-Anderson said she was initially so devastated by her son’s loss that she couldn’t function. “I believe they caught [Diaz] a month later. I couldn’t tell you the exact time because I was going through so much. I actually was hospitalized four different times for trying to commit suicide. I just couldn’t deal with it. I was…heavily drinking and

using my medication at the same time. I could not accept that this was happening. To this day, I still don’t accept it; I look at my son as if he’s still alive.”

One of the ways Barnes-Anderson trained herself to cope was by looking at how her son’s murder affected her family. She saw that one of Mel’s younger cousins had been sent off to college soon after the incident, with practically no one to help him manage his pain. “Nobody was looking at him because everybody was so worried about

me, so that got to me. I was like, I need to come out of this: I’m not hurting everybody around me while I’m hurting. Grief is just (that) you don’t know what to do with the breath you breathe when you’re going through that. You lose your child, it’s like, what do I do? I don’t even know what to do.

“But I had to figure it out: I got to make this boy’s name great because he didn’t get the chance to do it. And that’s how I just moved to trying to prevent another child, another mother, from going through what I’m going through.”

Through MJAF, Barnes-Anderson has sponsored employment training programs, given away books, and subsidized “Still a Mother” Mother’s Day gift baskets for victims’ parents.

One of her greatest efforts was publication of the book “The Sky Has Caring Eyes,” for her granddaughter, Melkenzye Anderson, who was born a few months after Mel, the child’s father, was sl1ain. The book was designed to help small children talk about and understand death.

“I didn’t want her to live in this shadow of ‘I don’t have a dad,’ so she thinks he lives in the sky, he sleeps on the cloud,” she said. “With the book, she talks to him and when she wants to have a visit with him, she takes a nap, and she feels like he comes to her in her dreams.

“I have to give her something to be happy about and not just feel she doesn’t have a father. She feels like she still has him, even though she’s learning that she’’ll never see him because he’s in the sky.”

Michelle Barnes-Anderson (center, with sunglasses) with Melvin Anderson at Melquain Jatelle Anderson Foundation “Posthumous Degree” celebration with sister Xenia Barnes and other mothers who’ve lost children to gun violence (First Look Photography, LLC/Nick Louisaire)

Dance Calendar June 2024

By CHARMAINE PATRICIA WARREN Special to the AmNews

This month’s calendar highlights Angie Pittman at The Chocolate Factory Theater on June 5-8. Pittman will premiere of “Black Life Chord Changes,” an eveninglength solo performance broken into scores for “day” and “night” through “…dance improvisation that pulls from and synthesizes folk traditions of liturgical dancing, soul line dancing, Umfundalai, and post-modern improvisation—with layers of sung and spoken text, patient listening, and recorded sound, to open an experimental impro-

vised movement portal. Blackly so. Through these visceral Black womanist traditions, ‘Black Life Chord Changes’ slips in and out of deep listening, seeing, improvisation, and truth telling.” according to the release. Pittman added, “the forms that I’m naming are a part of the fabric of my work always. By naming them, my goal is to trace my lineage to the experimental space that I’m working and conjuring in, and to create a new space to reflect with new possibilities and ideas. Horizontally in time, I’m always coming and going to form, and experimentation with it.” For more information visit https://chocolatefactorytheater.org/angie-pittman-2024/

ALSO THIS MONTH:

June 4-9: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to BAM with two programs: Program A - “Contemporary Visions”—featuring works by modern dance choreographers Alonzo King (“Following the Subtle Current Upstream”), Jamar Roberts (“Ode”), and Hans van Manen (“Solo”); and Program B - “All Ailey” which includes “Memoria” (1979), “A Song For You” (1972), “Cry” (1971) and the iconic masterpiece “Revelations” (1960). For more information visit https://www.bam.org/alvin-ailey

June 6-8: Kyle Abraham, choreographer, performer, and artistic director of A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham, curates Danspace Project’s sixteenth Platform. Titled “Platform 2024: A Delicate Ritual,” the series concludes with intergenerational shared evenings of performance with Vinson Fraley + Bebe Miller. For more information visit https://danspaceproject.org/calendar/

June 6-8: Triskelion Arts will present the premiere of “WHITE HOT ROOM” by Christian Warner, which draws inspiration from Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, and explores the dissociative effects of long-held traumas within a body. For more information visit https://www.triskelionarts.org/spring-2024/christian-warner

June 6-14: The Bryant Park Picnic Performances/Contemporary Dance Series returns with performances by Naomi Funaki + Jared Alexander featuring Ayodele Casel, Sidra Bell, It’s Showtime NYC!, National Dance Institute (June 6); David Dorfman Dance, Soles of Duende, Joffrey Concert Group, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (June 7); and Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Robin Dunn’s ‘SHOUT,’ Kevin Wynn Tribute, Brooklyn Arts (June 14). For more information visit https://bryantpark.org/ activities/picnic-performances

June 8: At BAAD!, the “Out Like That” festival returns with works by Anabella Lenzu, Stephany, Deepa Mahadevan, Ann-Sylvia Clark, Estelle Walkin, Charli Ariel, Shackiel Scott & Parker Ramirez. For more information visit www.eventbrite.com

June 14–15: Harlem Stage closes the E-Moves series with Camille A. Brown, and associate choreographers Chloe Davis, Juel D. Lane, Maleek Washington, Mayte Natalio, and Rickey Tripp, based on the theme “BLACK JOY.” Brown will present “TURF” featuring her company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers. For more information visit https://www.harlemstage.org/eventslist/2024/6/14/emoves-camilleabrown-blackjoy

June 14-23: As part of the “River to River Festival” at The Arts Center at Governors Island, Kayla Hamilton and Kate Speer share an installation in dialogue with their performance project “PlaceHolder,” exposing how perception actualizes and strips identities. For more information visit https://lmcc.net/r2r/placeholder-kayla-hamilton-kate-speer/

Jun. 14-15: For CPR’s annual “Open Stage: Spring Movement,” Ayana Evans curates a talk showstyle performance extravaganza titled “Giving You the Best That We Got.” Tsedaye Makonnen will be a video correspondent. For more information visit www.cprnyc.org/events/the-ayanaand-tsedaye-variety-show-jun14

June 18: For their inaugural Juneteenth Celebration, Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture will feature dance, music and spoken word with Forces of Nature Dance Company, Women of the Calabash, poet Daniel Beaty and more! For more information visit https://www.eventbrite. com/e/juneteenth-celebration-tickets-911789315387?aff=oddtdtcreator

June 18-23: Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana returns to the Joyce with the U.S. premiere of “EQUILIBRIO” (Clásica/Tradición), by Emilio Ochando, “…embracing the flamenco tradition while creating a unique environment of sound and creative staging,” according to the release. For more information visit www.joyce.org.

June 20-22: Commissioned and presented by The Shed Open Call Series, the world premiere of “Gathering: New York City” by Samar Haddad of Yaa Samar Dance Theatre!, is an invitation, a party, a protest, a celebration of harvest, and the championship game. For more information visit https://ysdt.org/gathering/

June 20-22: YY Dance Company brings Yue Yin’s “SOMEWHERE,” the second chapter of the trilogy that began with “NOWHERE” in 2023, to NYLA. For more information visit www.newyorklivearts.org.

June 21-23: At the Mark O’Donnell Theater, for their 48th season, the Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center will present “Color Pointes” featuring ballet works by Ron Alexander, Roger C. Jeffrey, Cortney Taylor Key, Christopher Charles McDaniel, Walter Rutledge and Ted Thomas. For more information visit www.eventbrite.com.

June 26-29: jess pretty brings “call and response” to The Chocolate Factory, where she wraps her audience in a conceptual, and literal, embrace by unfolding a dance-based, experiential conversation—between pretty and her younger selves, her ancestors, and everybody else in the room with pretty as the host. For more information visit https://chocolatefactorytheater.org/jess-pretty-2024/

June 27–30: At Mark Morris Dance Center, celebrating their 23rd anniversary, WHITE WAVE Dance returns with the four-day DUMBO Dance Festival of contemporary dance in the greater New York City region. For the lineup and for more information visit https://www.whitewavedance.org/

June 28-30: The Fisher Center at Bard will present Urban Bush Women’s “SCAT! The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar,” conceived, choreographed, and directed by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar who will reunite with frequent collaborator, composer Craig Harris and guests. For more information visit https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/scat/

June 30-September 29: At Arts on Site, choreographer Jessica Chen brings back “AAPI HEROES,” where audiences follow a young explorer, Kai, on a captivating journey across time to meet AAPI HEROES. For more information visit www.ticketleap.com.

Angie Pittman (Whitney Browne photo)

Ailey choreographers talk ‘Contemporary Visions’ exclusively with the AmNews

By CHARMAINE PATRICIA WARREN

Special

to the AmNews

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) returns to BAM June 4-9 with two programs: Program A, “Contemporary Visions,” features work by modern dance choreographers Alonzo King, Jamar Roberts, and Hans van Manen; while Program B, titled “All Ailey,” features work by Alvin Ailey. Roberts’ “Ode” (2019; new production 2023) offers a meditation on the beauty and fragility of life in a time of growing gun violence and features a score by the jazz pianist Don Pullen. Dutch-born van Manen divides his “Solo” (1997; new production 2023) among three dancers filled with virtuosity and corresponding wit. And King’s abstract “Following the Subtle Current Upstream” (2000; new production 2023), steeped in meaningful solos and different groupings, is matched to an eclectic score by Zakir Hussain, Miguel Frasconi, and Miriam Makeba. Roberts and King responded to questions about their works exclusively for the AmNews. AmNews: Was anything different about remounting these works?

Roberts: The cast of female dancers changed over time. Some were in the original cast, and some of the new cast members had never performed my work. So, the biggest difference was the feeling of having to reintroduce myself and my work.

King: It takes time to build a group into the idea of one united goal, and the ways that finally emerge are always different and great dancing takes time. What remains the same is the required genius, courage, selflessness, and creative play that must arise for ballets to be born and live. Trust and safety have to be established so that risk taking can occur. One or two dancers may be on fire in the beginning which assists in building a communal conflagration. And this is exactly the point of all the work; to uncover the illumination that dispels darkness.

AmNews: As your second work for AAADT in 2019 while you were a member of the company and the first resident choreographer, Ode garnered critical acclaim. Now, six years later as a freelance choreographer and a former company member, how do you look at the work?

Roberts: To see Ode on stage again makes me feel extremely proud. I think it’s one of the best works that I’ve created thus far. I remember feeling very apprehensive that I wasn’t going to “meet the mark” because the subject was so heavy, and I wasn’t sure if I had the skill to bring to life what I felt in my heart. But seeing it again so many years later I find the piece to be quite masterful, mainly for its simplicity, complexity, poignancy, and that it

was made in service to others. Ode does the thing that great art is supposed to do.

AmNews: Following... has had a glowing and “ageless” career since the request in 2001 from Judith Jamison (AAADT’s artistic director emerita), to “have the dancers move differently.” Do you think you succeeded?

King: Judith Jamison and I met at a convention where we were both speaking. We were

that it maintains its freshness today and works as a growing ground for young artists.

AmNews: Have either of you chatted with the dancers about the BAM debut of these works?

Roberts: No, but they have performed the work many times on tour leading up to the BAM performances. What we have spoken about is what it’s been like for them to tour a piece like this across the country, and

sitting across from each other and had what felt like an auspicious connection. I had tremendous admiration for her stage presence, the way she moved was an embodied miracle that continues to inspire me to this day. She asked me to create a work on Ailey without ever having seen my choreography. When we began Following… it was a new way of moving for everyone. The chosen members of the company were totally committed and incredible dancers. It was important to me at the time that the work have longevity, and I am happy

what it has meant to them. Their responses were sincere, total commitment to the work, and to each other. I got the sense that amidst the grind of being on the road, and having to constantly make sure they are well taken care of, Ode was a space of great care as well, and I am immensely grateful to each one of them.

King: I did not but would have liked to as there is warmness between us, but often the machinery of product and deadline can be brutal, so time is always a luxury. What I do

know is that the ballet masters and the dancers themselves have the highest standards and are committed to radiance whenever they perform.

AmNews: Ode opens Program A, and you described it as a poetic tribute to the victims of gun violence in America. What were you thinking this time around?

Roberts: I was thinking a lot about loss. About Sanda Bland, Philando Castille, Eric Garner, the Parkland School shooting, and how incessant it all felt at the time. And I knew that the grief of their families was undoubtedly so much greater than my own. Creating Ode was the least that I could do.

AmNews: Following... closes Program A and centers on joy. In making Following... you’ve said, “All of our choices, poor or wise, are based on the achievement of that one goal... joy.” What drives the joy in Following...?

King: Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi, reminds us that there is no complete fulfillment in this world from external things. It is impossible for matter to satisfy spirit. One thing that all the world holds in common is that we want to avoid pain and suffering and find some kind of ever new joy that never goes stale. Joy is our true nature. To rediscover that joy is why we are here on planet earth. The trials and difficult lessons in this exacting world school aren’t meant to destroy us, but to aid us by being the next steps in our unfoldment. Life on planet earth is the penultimate game of hide and seek to reclaim our divinity. It is why all of us are born; to get back to God, which is the only true fulfillment.

AmNews: I’m picturing a crowd of Brooklynites surrounding both of you with questions. What answers do you hope they will get after seeing your work?

Roberts: Whether it be through watching Ode, or any other work that dares to reflect back to us, to our common humanity, my wish is always for audiences to be moved and to feel the power of dance beyond mere entertainment.

King: I would like them to see that we are all immortals, and to reflect that we are made in the image of God. That liberty and the pursuit of freedom did not begin with America’s founding fathers but is the primordial aim of all creation.

Program B - “All Ailey,” includes Memoria (1979), A Song For You (1972), Cry (1971) and the iconic Revelations (1960) by Alvin Ailey. For more info, visit www.bam.org. Follow Alvin Ailey online at: https://www.facebook.com/AlvinAileyAmericanDanceTheater/; https://www. youtube.com/channel/UCg9o2fgvhIPlow5gi0sc-1w; and https://www.instagram. com/alvinailey/.

Jamar Roberts. (Dario Calmese photo)

Alonzo King. (Franck Thibault photo)

Tribeca Festival 2024 Film Review: ‘Made In Ethiopia’

By NADINE MATTHEWS Special to the AmNews

There’s a famous bible verse that states, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” This is what the viewer of the documentary “Made In Ethiopia,” currently screening at the Tribeca Festival, will perhaps think as they observe the unfolding impact of a corporate foreign entity on a small farming community in Ethiopia. The documentary feature debut of Xinyan Yu and Max Duncan chronicles the life of Motto, an amiable and ambitious Chinese deputy director of Eastern Industry Park, an enormous manufacturing park in the Ethiopian town of Dukem. It also tells the story of her diverse employees, and the local inhabitants, mostly small farmers from whom both labor and land is extracted at bargain basement prices. The action begins as Eastern Industry Park tries to move into “Phase II” of the already sprawling factory’s development- an additional 400 acres of factory space.

The action is very straightforward; interviews with floor workers who are all Ethiopian, their

families, Motto herself, and the supervisors. The film captures a community in flux moving from one way of life to another. In some ways, it’s like a look into the past; like Europeans at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution perhaps, pushed and pulled from their

farms and everything with which they were familiar. In terms of loss of land, it’s similar to what Native Americans, Australian Aboriginals, and Black South Africans perhaps experienced though the mechanism of violence appears to be absent here. In the Dukem

captured in “Made in Ethiopia,” sustained coercion and manipulation are the preferred tactics.

Dukem locals are promised that they will be compensated with “replacement land” that at least over the course of the four years of filming, never ma-

terialize. In fact, the filmmakers learn that half of the land promised to the local farmers was sold for profit to “wealthy buyers.” They don’t clarify if the “wealthy buyers” are Ethiopian or foreigners. In essence, the locals, now without land, become dependent, become subservient to the Chinese. To be poor while owning land is one thing, to be poor without land, another. Though Motto and local Ethiopian government officials insist that the factory is good for the populace, many of the locals disagree. One plainly states, “The Chinese put us in more poverty.” The factory, which churns out inexpensive shoes and garments, is reminiscent of China a generation ago. One of the supervisors, who all appear to be Chinese, opines of Dukem, “It’s just like China used to be.” And Motto, chipper and determined, believes this path is the key to happiness for the Ethiopians who work in her factory and for the country itself. “Economic development,” she insists, “is the solution.” And Motto can’t be faulted for

See ETHIOPIA on page 37

Performance after performance, you gathered with us and celebrated African immigrant life — and American dreams — in the heart of Harlem. Thank you for inspiring us, showing up for us and cheering us on. Because of your support, we have broken records and made history. These Tony nominations aren’t just ours — they’re yours, too.

With gratitude,

Chinese businesswoman Motto Ma speaks to members of an Ethiopian regional government delegation at Eastern Industry Park in Ethiopia. (Max Duncan courtesy of Hard Truth Films photo)

Illustration by Manasseh Johnson Sr.

PRESENT

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB AND MADISON WELLS LIVE WITH L aCHANZE AND TARAJI P HENSON

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By SUPREME GODDESS KYA

The best of best who have done it advise all to work in silence and allow your service, product, or fulfillment to be your noise. Create the agenda and follow through to see results. Check in on your health, your plans, vision, and mission. Check off the goals you accomplished from your agenda, and keep creating new ones to set the tone for a higher elevation. On June 12 around 1:39 a.m. and two days after, your ancestors are bringing forth information to you for guidance. A test will be presented this month. Stay focused.

Inspiration comes from the inside. Dig deep within to see what that burning passion is telling you to do, to go hear, to say, and then ask yourself why. What is the motivation for your purpose?

From June 5 around 4:36 a.m. until June 7 around 8:41 a.m., take time to nurture and nourish everything from the inside and outside. Women will be supportive to you and a contact from someone you haven’t heard from or seen will appear. It doesn’t have to be on the physical level, it can be spiritual. Listen to your higher self.

Are you feeling the beat? What’s your tune this week? The numbers indicate it’s time to take charge of your affairs by leading the way. A graduation is due for your progress upon completion—a graduation from your higher self. From June 7 around 8:41 a.m. until June 9 around 3:29 p.m., be motivated to take things to another level while remaining grounded. Make the best, most sound decisions.

Time flies by when you are enjoying the fruits of your labors in life. A higher calling awaits you. Step up in areas of your life, as your path has lately been changing at a faster pace. In those spiritual moments and pep talks with yourself, it’s most important to ask how you are treating yourself and handling your affairs. Remember the word “affairs” has the word “fair” in it. From June 9 around 3:29 p.m. until June 12 around 1:30 a.m., life is not about playing fair, but about being true to yourself. Decisions need to be made; listen to your higher self when you make them. It knows you better than you think you know yourself.

June may start off slow deliberately for a purpose; after that is when the why, the what, the when, the where, and the who questions come into play. Sit tight, your ancestors and the universe have something for you. Keep living, moving, and operating in your daily affairs, and that something will show up. On June 12 around 1:39 a.m. and two days after, schedule time with yourself. Relationships are a theme this month, along with the women and wise folks you encounter.

You are quite the character, charmer, and channeler this month. Allow information to come to you as all types of messages, signs, folks, and events are showing up in your space for a reason. As you take the lead, do it with grace, patience, and inner-standing, and maneuver as needed. From June 5 around 4:36 a.m. until June 7 around 8:41 a.m., your energy this week is like a shapeshifter. Chime in! Make the self improvements you’ve been thinking about doing. It’s time to implement them with a sound plan.

There’s a shift in energy occurring on all levels. Everything in this world vibrates, even you. During the month of June, operate as you normally do, just with more emphasis on your outcome. Be as relaxed as possible to allow distractions to pass you by, to be able to sense what you need to know. What’s for you is for you.

There’s a mission you feel is abruptly brewing in your life. This mission requires an ending, motivation, and inspiration as you elevate to the next phase of your life. Life occurs sequentially through patterns, from the initial beginning of birth. This cycle week is a spiritual revelation filled with deja vu and confirmation. From June 7 around 8:41 a.m. until June 9 around 3:29 p.m., a higher calling is calling out to you with its angels and agents to guide you. You can feel the spark brewing to a completion to let it go and move on. You can call it the purge before the great awakening.

No game, no sweat, no footwork, no hard work, and no time invested equals nothing. You know for sure this week that you’ve got to continue to bring it. This cycle week is triple the work, triple the rewards, the acknowledgment, and the progress for the trajectory you envision. Even if it’s only a notch higher, it makes a difference. Really focus on the clarity you will receive from the wise folks, nature, places, and museums you visit etc. From June 9 around 3:29 p.m. until June 12 around 1:30 a.m., keep going through the pain, good times, and tough times to see it through to be on the other side.

Yep, it’s Gemini season, your twin season, and you have a message for humanity as well. Go ahead and channel the facts and figures to match Mercury in Gemini. Make it make sense, even when you have to say it for others to relate in a different way. You are going to be seen in some type of way, be it in a class, service, product or out doing your regular, daily life. On June 12 around 1:39 a.m. and two days after, pursue a passion of yours that has been talking to you for a while, and now the timing is right. Apply your best foot forward and watch the magic happen.

The up-in-the-air effect is playing out in different scenes and you are being approached by many. No need to ask why—the why will come to you, just wait. As you wait, you will experience the why in situations, events, and episodes of your life that took place in order for you to see the why. From June 5 around 4:36 am until June 7 around 8:41 a.m., check in on your behavior, stay calm, and focus as the why has a test attached to it. Remain true, centered, and grounded at all costs. Help will come when needed to intervene or make an appearance.

June has the theme of change, action, challenges in public, and personal and private affairs. This cycle week, listen and follow up on your spirit. The people, resources, and tools you need will come to you even in the awkward twists, turns, and curveballs that are thrown at you. You manage to breeze and breathe through it like air. Revelation, Deja vu, and some truth will be exposed.You’ll be at the right place and time when things are revealed. From June 7 around 8:41 a.m. until June 9 around 3:29 p.m., change is inevitable, durable, refreshing and life changing when you make a move and decide on what it is you are going to do.

Just say it and do it. June is not playing with you with light loads. You are walking among heavy hitters, people who can make moves with one word, phone call, and their approval. You, on the other hand, have your agenda, so just be sure you are all in alignment. Everyone plays a role and serves a purpose for the mission and for everyone’s benefit. From June 9 around 3:29 p.m. until June 12 around 1:30 a.m., ask and you shall receive, be and it will be, command and it will be your will. Play your cards this week. The foundation is built, it’s time for showtime: Lights, camera, action.

‘The Great Gatsby’ is grand on Broadway!

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

“The Great Gatsby,” playing at the Broadway Theater on 53rd & Broadway, is everything that a Broadway musical should be and then some. It is a grand experience, with gorgeous costumes, brilliant and captivating choreography, show-stopping voices, and an intoxicating love story. There’s romance, brutality, a secondchance at a lost love, and so much more. Based on the novel of the same name by writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, the new musical has an engaging book by Kait Kerrigan, a stirring score by Jason Howland, and marvelous lyrics by Nathan Tysen. There is stunning, fun, jazzy choreography by Dominique Kelley and fabulous direction by Marc Bruni.

This musical will have you captivated from the beginning to the end. The production tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a millionaire trying to reunite with his lost love, Daisy Buchanan, now an unhappily married woman. Gatsby asks Nick to intercede on his behalf and bring Daisy to him. Once they are reunited, that’s when the passion truly ignites. Every scene between Gatsby and Daisy is on fire. Their love is sensu-

al and intense. Of course, Daisy’s cheating, abusive husband, Tom Buchanan, in no way appreciates what he has in her. Set in the 1920s, Tom has the attitude that as a man, he can do what he wants, when he wants, and with whomever he chooses.

You must make plans to see this show.

Jeremy Jordan plays Gatsby and his voice is absolutely phenomenal. Every time he sings, he puts his whole heart and soul into his performance and the audience can feel and appreciate that. His co-star

Eva Noblezada is perfectly cast as Daisy. She has such a delicate demeanor, but also has a strength that hides beneath the surface. When they perform together, they are unbelievably moving to behold. Noah J. Ricketts is a complete pleasure in the role of Nick Carraway, Daisy’s cousin. He has an amazing vocal instrument, and his acting is fantastic; he exudes an energy on the stage that uplifts the spirit. Samantha Pauly is wonderful as Jordan Baker, Daisy’s friend and house guest. The passion between Ricketts and Pauly’s characters is splendid to witness. Everyone in this company contributes to the smooth flow of this musical. Sara Chase delivers a stunning performance as Myrtle Wilson, Paul Whitty is memorable in the role of George Wilson, Eric Anderson powerfully performs Wolfsheim, and John Zdrojeski leaves a lasting impression in the role of Daisy’s abusive husband Tom Buchanan. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will have a wonderful time. You will laugh, smile, cheer for the fabulous voices, and be mesmerized by the grandeur of this musical. It is one of the best that Broadway has to offer. For tickets and more info, visit Broadwaygatsby.com.

‘Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club’ is a sensational evening at the theater

BY LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

Have you ever been to a theater experience where you were able to be around some of the performers prior to the start of the show? “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” is exactly that type of experience. While the production starts at 8pm, the prologue begins at 6:45 at the August Wilson Theatre on W. 52nd Street. You are able to come into the theater and walk around a certain part of the building where dancers and musicians from the show are walking and performing for you—all while drinks are available as well. These performers take to the stage and execute all types of dance moves. Everyone is of various ethnic groups, shapes and sizes, and all beautiful. They are made up extravagantly and there is a beauty, sensuality, charm, and energy, and a relaxing vibe from taking part in this experience.

“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” will have you captivated. It is like nothing you have experienced in the theater. Taking place in Berlin in 1929-1930, the musical focuses on the popular Kit Kat Klub and the wild performances that took place there. It also tells the story of the relationship between Kit Kat Club star Sally Bowles and writer Clifford Bradshaw, against the backdrop of the Nazi hatred and targeting of Jewish people growing in Berlin at that time. There is a great deal that happens with the characters in this production that will grab

your attention and sustain it. The messages in this production are shocking and, at times, disturbing. It’s better to see this production without having too much background information; I’d rather you go and experience it for yourself. The story is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. It has a riveting book by Joe Masteroff, known and beloved music by John Kander, and lyrics by

Fred Ebb. This musical has choreography by Julia Cheng that will knock your socks off. The direction by Rebecca Frecknall is flawless, as is the scenic, theater and costume design by Tom Scutt. This cast will leave you spellbound and wanting more! Eddie Redmayne is captivating as The Emcee. He has a way of grabbing the spotlight that is both intriguing and disturbing. Gayle Rankin is incredible as Sally Bowles, the lead act at the club. Ato

Blankson-Wood is absolutely marvelous in the non-traditionally cast role of Clifford Bradshaw. He, as a Black man, becomes a target of the Nazis. Bebe Neuwirth makes you feel the struggle of her character Fraulein Schneider, as she battles with love and loyalty to the Nazis. Steven Skybell does a tremendous job as Herr Schultz, a German Jew who finds himself an enemy of the state in his own country. Henry Gottfried masterfully handles the role of Ernst Ludwig. Natascia Diaz dazzles as Fritzie/Kost.

“Cabaret” is the type of musical that must have an incredible supportive cast in order to keep the audience engaged. They all bring their own special energy to the stage. This ensemble is absolutely stunning and includes Gabi Campo, Ayla Ciccone-Burton, Colin Cunliffe, Marty Lauter, Loren Lester, David Merino, Julian Ramos, MiMi Scardulla, and Paige Smallwood.

The creative team behind this experience is huge and does a superb job in making this experience unforgettable. Lighting design is by Isabella Byrd, sound design by Nick Lidster, hair and wig design by Sam Cox, makeup design by Guy Common; associate director and prologue director—Jordan Fein; U.S. Associate director—Danny Sharron; UK associate choreographer—Kayla Lomas-Kirton; U.S. associate choreographer—Ilia Jessica Castro; and prologue composer and prologue music director— Angus MacRae. For tickets to “Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club” visit kitkatclub/Cabaret-Broadway.

A scene from “The Great Gatsby” at the Broadway Theater (l-r) Jeremy Jordan, Eva Noblezada and cast (Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman photo)

Gayle Rankin and Ato Blankson-Wood in a scene from “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” playing at the August Wilson Theatre. (Marc Brenner photo)

Vontélle x DEEMED eyewear inspire ‘A Different World’ of opportunities

By BRENIKA BANKS Special to the AmNews

The popular early-’90s sitcom

“A Different World” revolved around characters attending an Historically Black College or University (HBCU), higher learning institutions created to provide a safe space primarily for African Americans. One of the show’s central characters, Dwayne Cleofis Wayne, showed along with his fellow classmates the progression of young Black people at an HBCU in a way not previously depicted on television. Kadeem Hardison, who played Dwayne, is thankful for those viewers who were positively moved and inspired by him.

The Brooklyn-born actor originally felt everything about Dwayne was “corny”—the way he dressed, spoke, and even his now iconic glasses. “When [the show’s executive producer] offered me the glasses, I just thought, ‘Anything I can have that’ll hide me, that people maybe [would] not recognize me,’” said Hardison. He didn’t initially see “A Different World” as a potential TV hit. His insecurities as a young actor prevented him from committing to his character at first, and the glasses were his shield of protection: “Whatever I could do to disguise myself.”

Unbeknownst to Hardison, 30plus years later, his character is still well known. He is now proud of Dwayne and the glasses, which led to Hardison’s publicist, Jayce Baron, initiating contact between Vontélle owners Tracy Green and Nancey Harris. Vontélle, a luxury eyewear company owned, designed, and operated by Black women, was founded in 2019 to satisfy the demand for better fitting, vibrant, fashion forward glasses. Spring 2024 appeared to be the ideal time for a new collaboration: DEEMED.

The new company united Hardison with Vontélle via launching their flip-up aviator collection inspired by the legendary character Dwayne Wayne. The collaborative vision merged quality craftsmanship and nostalgia for a “fresh reimagined collection offering a contemporary and stylish accessory for enthusiasts of iconic eyewear,” as stated in the company’s press release. Hardison’s

signature and character’s name are engraved inside every pair of DEEMED frames.

“It’s a twist on his glasses from the show,” said Green. “They have the flip-up, but we made it very fancy.”

Hardison said he didn’t think about a glasses line when he should have, during or even after the show. He told Baron it would be “a great idea” now and they found Green and Harris. Hardison was very pleased with the Vontélle owners after a couple of Zoom meetings; they were also from Brooklyn and had attended Morgan State University, an HBCU. “They were the ones,” said Hardison. “It was easy—they were it immediately.” He was thrilled with Green and Harris creating his exact vision.

Hardison and Vontélle designed four styles of the “Dwayne,” which are gold metal with clip-on colors of Chestnut and Blush. The designs with the middle name “Cleofis” are silver metal with clip-on colors of Silver and Cerulean.

“One of the components was [being] Black female-owned,” said Baron. “We wanted to be specific with who we’re working with and representing as well.”

Co-founder Tracy Green was ecstatic for the company’s official first launch party in NYC a few weeks ago.

“Our website opened [in] October 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, so we never got to do a press party,” said Green. “We just kind of launched the website, and that was it.”

“[Green and Harris] wanted

to know exactly what I wanted,” said Hardison. The frames were originally round frames until Hardison voiced that he prefers aviators. “They laid it out to my specifics and now I wear them all the time,” said Hardison. “They’re my glasses.”

He described the day of Vontélle x DEEMED’s launch party as “amazing.” Hardison’s exciting promo run throughout NYC for both Showtime’s “The Chi” and “A Different World” reunion tour was the perfect free promotional attention Vontélle needed.

“Since the launch, it’s been amazing because he is getting so much press,” said Green. “We’re selling out.” Hardison has been sure to mention Vontélle in every interview. “It’s helping bring awareness to our eyewear brand because he’s

a star,” said Green. Hardison said his Kadeem Hardison Scholarship Fund is “the best part” of this experience—“To be able to send some of the proceeds to a scholarship fund to help somebody do what I pretended to do on television, which was go to college and have that experience,” said Hardison. Green is fascinated with HBCU representation making its way back to TV and streaming services. Furthermore, she said the company is delighted with the outcome and response of the new collection.

“I’m looking forward to the next,” said Hardison. “Let’s come up with another angle and, again, help some lucky kids go to school—get educated.”

For more information, visit www.vontelle.com.

Vontélle co-founder Tracy Green posing with actor Kadeem Hardison and AmNews reporter Brenika Banks at Vontélle x DEEMED launch party. (TL Holmes photo)

Vontélle x DEEMED collection: Dwayne Chestnut, Cleofis Cerulean, Dwayne Blush and Cleofis Silver. (Brenika Banks photos)

Guests and supporters in NYC at Vontélle x DEEMED launch party.

Actor Kadeem Hardison and Vontélle co-founder Tracy Green with staff at launch party.

Marshall Allen at 100, ‘Ode to the Black Fiddler’

One of the most prolific saxophonists in the annals of earth jazz music, Marshall Allen celebrated his 100th orbit on this planet in Philadelphia on May 25. Many became fans of Allen during his long relationship of space travels with the Sun Ra Arkestra, which he began sometime in the 1950s.

After service in the U.S. Army in Europe and studying at the National Conservatory of Music in Paris, Allen returned to the states to pursue his music career. While emerging himself in the Chicago music scene, he met the genius, space philosopher, music provocateur, and bandleader Sun Ra (the Birmingham-born pianist formerly called Herman Poole Blunt).

“He had another perspective that made his music so different,” Allen recalled. “It touched you with a special feeling.”

Allen has performed with the Arkestra from his early 1950s association through Sun Ra’s transition to the stars in 1993. Another lifetime Arkestra member, the skillful tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, took over the reins for a brief two years before his transition. Allen then stepped up to the helm to lead one of the most iconoclastic jazz orchestras in the history of American music while carrying on its definitive tradition of Afrofuturism as pioneered by Sun Ra. That Afrofuturism is depicted in the Arkestra’s futuristic space galaxy ensembles, inspired by ancient Egyptian outfits and headgear.

“Marshall Allen was a mentor and friend during my days as a dancer with the Sun Ra Arkestra. He taught me some very important lessons of life. He would always say ‘Sit back and watch, sometimes being quiet is best,’” said Judith Holten-Mendez, aka Wisteria El Moondew (who flew in from her home in Mexico for the birthday celebration). “He is a master musician, but he is so humble. It’s so great to see him continue to share the music and be so happy.”

In this 21st century and Allen’s celebratory century, he continues to effortlessly lead the Arkestra through its legendary eclectic repertoire of celestial music, covering the jazz spectrum from ragtime to bebop, big-band swing, and fusion, cohabiting in the boundless forms of avant gardism. The six-plus decades of space excursions have included more than 20 musicians on stage at one time, along with dancers chanting and singing in the midst of percussion pieces, anthems, and keyboard infusions.

Journalist Scott Yarnow described Allen’s playing as “Johnny Hodges from another

dimension.” The native of Louisville, Kentucky, is primarily known for his fiery explosion of improvisational flurries; he has a unique percussive saxophone technique.

Allen’s skills on alto saxophone were exuberantly experienced on the eve of his centennial. That night in Baltimore, he played with his Sun Ra Arkestra similarly to the many shows he had performed around the world.

“I took the train down to Philadelphia to witness the centennial of Marshall Allen,” said trombonist and composer Craig Harris.

“I’ve known this man 50 years, since my first big-time gig with the Sun Ra Arkestra. I stayed in Marshall’s room my first night in the band and I remember he played ‘Kora’ all night—no sleep! As usual, when I got there, the band was getting into their space gear and getting ready to take off. Like me, a couple of former band members were there to see the miraculous Marshall, as was a large enthusiastic crowd. As the band played some of the old favorites, like ‘Images,’ ‘Love in Outer Space,’ and ‘It’s Spring Again,’ I reminisced [about] my early years with the band and how Marshall still sounds just as great and [is] doing it his way.”

The day after Allen’s centennial, I was on Amtrak making my way to the big birthday celebration in Philadelphia, at the Solar Myth Bar. Special guest performances for the evening included a performance by bassist and NEA Jazz Master Reggie Workman and his band, featuring Dick Griffin, Sean Hung Wei, Craig McIver, Hana Igarashi, Zach Kirsimae, Chi Westfelt, Hanah Jon Taylor (the saxophonist/flautist flew in from Madison, Wisconsin, where he owns Madison’s premiere jazz club, Café CODA).

Former Arkestra members and local Philly musicians who also performed were keyboardist Brian Marsella, saxophonist Elliott Levin, and drummers Mikel Patrick Avery

and Chad Edward Taylor.

“It was important for my wife and I to make the journey to Philadelphia to celebrate Marshall Allen’s 100th Arrival Day on this planet,” said trumpeter, composer, and former Arkestra member Ahmed Abdullah. “As the leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, he has given actual proof of instructions Sun Ra left us, which was to do the impossible! Sun Ra demonstrated that by working semi-paralyzed and in a wheelchair until he was 78 Earth Years. When Marshall took the baton from John Gilmore at 71, he had an impossible task of learning how to lead a big band. He has more than achieved that goal by leading the Sun Ra Arkestra into its current glory. He is an inspiration!” Abdullah recently wrote a most in-depth book with Louis Reyes Rivera, “A Strange Celestial Road: My Time in the Sun Ra Arkestra” (Blank Forms Editions).

The highlight of the evening, of course, was singing “Happy Birthday,” with Allen cutting the cake and taking that first piece. He was all aglow. When asked why he wasn’t playing, he commented with a smile, “I played last night, it was a blast. Tonight I’m just enjoying my birthday.”

These days, Allen is no longer the comet, star-hopping from one country to the next, infusing the world with a mystic sound of an outer galaxy. He is content with performing in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. He lives in the original house on Morton Street where Sun Ra held his marathon rehearsals before a gig or major tour.

“Yeah, Dad loves performing, but he wants to take it easy and just do local stuff, and maybe gigs in the surrounding area. Those European tours and stuff are over,” said his son Ronnie Boyd. “These days, Dad says long distance travel is rough, so together, we strategically coor-

dinate his performances.”

In 2020, Allen and the Arkestra released “Swirling,” their first new album since 1999, which went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. This year, Allen collaborated with Meshell Ndegeocello on a Sun Ra-inspired album entitled “Red Hot & Ra: Magic City.” He also worked with the Kronos Quartet on an upcoming album of classical adaptations of Sun Ra’s music called “Outer Spaceways Incorporated – Kronos Quartet & Friends Meet Sun Ra.”

“I’m just glad I can still play. I am getting older, but I keep on stepping,” said a joyful Allen. His advice to musicians is to continue to push the music forward and apply the discipline, put in the work—that’s how to be able to get back to the people and the music. Allen plays for his benefit and health; music is a healing force “that fills his tank so he can give that goodness and love to his listeners.”

June is Black Music Month, and there’s a celebration with an Ode to the Black Fiddler (OBF) at the Harlem School of the Arts (645 St. Nicholas Avenue) on June 10, beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a live DJ experience, followed by a 6:30 p.m. live performance featuring violinists Majid Khaliq and Lee England, Jr. The event is free and open to the public.

These two musicians have transformed this well-known classical instrument into a voice that is adaptable in the world of Black music, in the tradition of their predecessors, Philadelphia violinist John Blake, Jr. and Ray Nance, a member of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. This performance is in association with the IAH Studio and the Harlem School of the Arts as part of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Uptown Arts Scroll Monday concert series.

(Left to right) Ronnie Boyd, Dick Griffin, Marshall Allen, and Reggie Workman

(Left to right): Ahmed Abdullah, Judith Holten-Mendez, Marshall Allen, and Tara, the Arkestra’s vocalist, were all smiles at Allen’s 100th birthday celebration in Philadelphia May 25, 2024. (Ron Scott photos)

International

greatest threat since the dawn of democracy is not an option,” he said.

The small Inkatha Freedom Party, a conservative Zulu party with a power base in KwaZulu Natal that won nearly 4% of the vote, was to meet separately on Sunday to discuss its next steps.

Mbalula said the ANC’s leadership would meet on Tuesday for discussions on the way forward.

SOUTH AFRICAN ACTIVISTS WIN PRESTIGIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE

(GIN)—Indigenous activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu of South

Legal aid

they remain informed of what programs they are and are not eligible for. Those who couldn’t be helped directly on site left their information so the appropriate LAS unit could connect with them.

Takeasha Newton, the lead community organizer for the LAS Community Justice Unit, believes such efforts are critical towards brokering peace in historically disinvested communities.

“In order to end the violence in the community, whether it’s gun violence, physical violence [or] emotional violence, we have to

Africa are among this year’s recipients of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. The prize celebrates grassroots leaders who prove that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact on the environment.

The South Africans are among six prizewinners who range from Australia, Brazil, India, Spain, and the U.S.

Nonhle and Sinegugu organized their community to confront harmful oil and gas exploration taking place in a particularly biodiverse area.

The two asserted the rights of the local community to protect the marine environment in an area unusually rich in biodiversity known as the Wild Coast. The 360,000-acre Mpondoland marine-protected area is a major sanctuary and benefit to species survival.

tackle the day-to-day that people are dealing [with like] homelessness, employment [and] education,” Newton said. “We want to be able to provide tangible resources. So we have attorneys to answer questions.

We’re letting them know now about Section 8 and highlighting it all over Legal Aid platforms… if we are here, giving them tangible information we can end that violence [by informing] our youth about the over-polluting in [their communities] and teaching them about their rights and how to navigate faceto-face encounters with police.”

Tuesday’s tabling coincides with the start of June, the official National Gun Violence Awareness Month. The LAS Community Justice Unit adheres to the

In October 2021, Shell planned to launch seismic surveys off the Wild Coast to prospect for oil and gas reserves below the seabed. The South African government had granted the company exploration rights in 2014 and renewed them in 2021.

The surveys included blasting the seafloor with high-powered sonic air guns that reach 250 decibels. The blasts can be heard for miles and directly harm marine mammals which can suffer hearing loss and disrupted communication. They also increase the likelihood of a potentially devastating oil spill along the Wild Coast.

Nonhle, co-founder and spokesperson for the Amadiba Crisis Committee observed:

“There is no distinction between people and nature and the ocean is a sacred place for us.”

“Cure Violence” model, which aims to stop shootings through “wraparound services” to mitigate reasons why at-risk communities pick up guns in the first place. These services include housing, employment and education.

The Mobile Justice Bus dates back to Hurricane Sandy, originally used to provide legal services to New Yorkers displaced by the 2012 storm. Big and gray with the LAS logo decaled on the side, it’s hard to miss on the streets. The wood-grained interiors allow attorneys to provide the free advice in confidence. A cot, kitchen and bathroom are all inside for the team to tackle extensive outreach requiring a home away from home and an office away from the office.

Sinegugu is a conservationist working with Sustaining the Wild Coast, a nonprofit that promotes environmental sustainability. Together, they organized a seven kilometer “community walk” along the coast, summoning ancestors to support their legal case. In December 2021, the campaign submitted 400 pages of affidavits, including community and expert testimony that Nonhle and Sinegugu collected. The High Court ruled in their favor, ordering immediate cessation of Shell’s seismic survey operations.

Award winners receive access to grants, networking and professional development, security support, and strategic communications in addition to a check for $200,000.

The bus will return on the road next Wednesday, June 12. Newton says the goal is to reach a new NYCHA development each week this summer. The next location is to be determined but LAS intends to stop at four other Harlem and East Harlem locations: Polo Grounds Towers, the James Weldon Johnson Houses, Thomas Jefferson Houses and the Robert F. Wagner Houses.

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

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THE Louis Johnson, a Black trailblazer in ballet and modern dance

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

The recent publication of “The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History” by Karen Valby is on my reading list. It sounds like an incredible piece of ignored history and at the same time, it brings to mind Black male ballet dancers of prominence before Arthur Mitchell’s remarkable ascendance. Louis Johnson is often cited as a premier performer, teacher, choreographer, and director whose work spanned ballet and modern dance, and who preceded Mitchell.

Johnson was born on March 19, 1930, in Statesville, North Carolina, and grew up in Washington, D.C. where he was raised by his grandmother and mother. As a child, he often participated in acrobatics at the local YMCA and it was only after the facility was undergoing renovations that he was invited to practice at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet. His abilities impressed the school’s namesakes—Doris Jones and Claire Haywood—and he was offered a scholarship to attend the institution while still in high school. During an interview with History-

makers.com in 2005, Johnson elaborated on his formative years. “I tap danced around with my acrobatics, and there was a gentleman named Derwood Brent and Melvin Hope who tap danced. There was a thing in Washington [D.C.] called The New Faces Guild that Ralph Matthews started. He gave a show once a year at the Lincoln Theatre, which was the only theater that Black people could go to.” Johnson gradually became adept at tap dancing and tumbling and later joined a troupe headed by the comedian Nipsey Russell. “He was a great acrobat like the ones you see in the circus and he taught the young kids to do that.”

Russell’s training and the subsequent dance lessons from Jones and Haywood enhanced Johnson’s natural ability. Soon his talent was so exceptional and his teachers suggested he consider enrolling at the famed New York City School of American Ballet, where he was immediately accepted. Under the tutelage of Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine, Johnson gained recognition and was soon sought for performances on Broadway, including “Four Saints in Three Acts,” “House of Flowers,” “Damn Yankees,” and “Hallelujah Baby.” It was a thrilling time

for musicals, and Johnson recounted those days, citing performances and other notable dancers he studied with.

“I had started...at the beginning and worked my way up the class levels and I was in advanced classes with Jacques d’Amboise, Eddie Villella, Melissa Hayden, Andre Eglevsky, Tanaquil Le Clercq, [and] Maria Tallchief,” he recalled. “They were my peers at the time. It was a learning experience like no other.”

Johnson acquired so much acclaim for his performances that he was asked to choreograph shows such as “Black Nativity” by Langston Hughes. His next assignment was a production of “Lost in the Stars,” which was followed by “Treemonisha,” and Ossie Davis’s “Purlie,” and that earned him a Tony nomination.

He welcomed an opportunity to bring his choreographic genius to several operas when requested by the New York Metropolitan Opera. Among the operas where his creativity thrived were “La Gioconda,” as well as “Aida” with the great Leontyne Price in the leading role. Those of you who remember seeing such films as “The Wiz,” starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, or “Cotton Comes to Harlem,” may not have been aware that Johnson was

the choreographer.

His impressive resume included work with other ballet companies like Cincinnati Ballet and the Atlanta Ballet Company. Of course, many of New York’s leading companies benefited from his genius. In 1989, he inaugurated the Henry Street Settlement’s Dance Department and continued to work there until 2003. On the academic front, he taught the first Black theater course at Yale University and started the dance department at Howard University, a kind of homecoming for him.

He was the recipient of countless honors including the Pioneer Award from the International Association of Blacks in Dance at the Kennedy Center; an honor from the California chapter of the NAACP for his work with the Negro Ensemble Company; and a special tribute to him by the songwriters Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Johnson was also a gifted director of such productions as “Porgy and Bess,” “Miss Truth,” “Jazzbo Brown,” “Time in the Wind,” and “Ebony Game.” And it would be remiss not to include “Forces of Rhythm” in 1972, which is considered among his most enduring creations. Johnson died on March 31, 2020, in Manhattan at the age of 90.

FIND OUT MORE

Historymakers.org mentioned above is a principal resource and Dawn Lille’s conversation with Johnson for Ballet Review is indispensable.

DISCUSSION

Space didn’t allow us to submit more about Johnson’s relationship with Nipsey Russell, who was more than a phenomenal comedian.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Johnson lived nearly a century and the history of Black dance resonates from his biography.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

June 3, 1887: Roland Hayes, a noted concert artist, was born in Curryville, Ga. He died in 1977.

June 4, 1972: Noted activist and educator, Angela Davis, was acquitted of charges related to a courtroom shoot-out.

June 5, 1945: Olympic track legend, John Carlos, was born in New York City.

Louis Johnson (right) helped to build black contemporary dance. (Photo by Ayoka Chenzira, from Dr. Glory Van Scott’s private collection)

given lesser jail time. His sentencing is set for July 11 by Justice Juan Merchan.

The looming question on the horizon is how this verdict will affect his and Biden’s chances in the 2024 presidential election this November.

“There’s nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t be a candidate,” said election law attorney Sarah K. Steiner. “The Constitution was written 200 and something years ago [when] only a few people qualified to be president,” said Steiner. “All you had to be was a white man born in this country over the age of 21-years-old.”

Trump has been indicted in three other felony cases but has never been convicted until now. He also has numerous civil cases open, including one led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

Though there were provisions built in about impeachment and removal in the Constitution to avoid America becoming a tyrannical monarchy, ‘the founding fathers’ likely didn’t conceive of the current scenario where an elected president could be incarcerated, said Steiner.

There’s only been one other person in U.S. history that ran for president as a candidate while in prison–Socialist Party leader Eugene Debs in 1895. The precedent didn’t inspire any movement to amend the Constitution either through ratification by states or convention, said Steiner.

That doesn’t stop voters from hanging Trump in the gallows of public opinion.

Michael Sozan, senior fellow for democracy policy at Center for American Progress Action Fund, said the verdict certainly has the potential to sway voters outside of Trump’s base.

“A broad swath of Americans indeed care about this trial and its result, and they see the crimes Trump is charged with as serious crimes,” said Sozan. “Many Americans may not end up supporting a presidential candidate who is convicted of crimes and there’s some polling that’s shown that already. I predict that it will play a large role in the minds of many voters.”

Plenty of electeds and political figures are certainly rejoicing over the guilty verdict, hailing it as a long overdue moment of justice. While some are weary that the trial will launch even more MAGA Republicans into action.

“Today, a jury of 12 New Yorkers registered their verdict. Our criminal justice process must be respected,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement. “As we await the next steps, New Yorkers should rest assured that the NYPD stands ready to respond to any and all circumstances, including large-scale protests. While peaceful protests and assembly will always be protected, we will not be a city of any form of lawlessness.”

Councilmember Yusef Salaam is a

member of the Exonerated Five, who endured relentless racial derision from Trump during their arrest and trial as teenagers, said that he doesn’t take pleasure in Trump’s verdict.

“We should be proud that today the system worked, but we should be somber that we Americans have an ex-President who was found guilty on 34 separate felony charges. And while today might not be as shocking as January 6th, it is equally profound,” said Salaam in a statement. “On January 7th, a large majority of Americans agreed that Trump should never again lead this country. Let us hope we wake up tomorrow with the same conviction. We have to do better than this. Because we are better than this.”

Rev. Al Sharpton, the founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN) in a statement speaking about the Exonerated Five, “I couldn’t help but think throughout this trial of Donald Trump sitting through days of testimony in Manhattan Criminal Court. This is the same building that Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise all passed into, day after day, as they endured a show trial for a crime they did not commit.”

“These children had to hear vitriol from people whose anger was incited by a man who spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for their execution. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Donald Trump is the criminal, and those five men are exonerated. I’m reminded of Dr. King’s proverb that the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice,” he continued.

Sharpton said that it’s crucial to move away from the hate speech and incessant media coverage of Trump moving into the election though.

“We cannot allow it to be guided by sore winners who gloat over this conviction, when it only stands to ignite the Donald Trumps all over this nation who still want to take us back to the pre-1964 era,” said Sharpton. “Cheering this conviction with malice will only empower those who committed violence on January 6th to do it on May 31st. Instead, celebrate by casting votes for leaders who will protect democracy – not who want to kill it.”

Former National NAACP President Dr. Hazel N. Dukes desperately hopes that the verdict will influence the presidential election.

“Not on Trump, the people supporting him are extremists and racists because that’s who he is,” said Dukes, “but people who have been in the middle now know it’s the truth. Their peers sat and listened and heard. They wanted to be sure they were right.”

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

Maximizing Your Bank Branch Experience

Sponsored content by JPMorgan Case & Co.

In a world of online tools that let you make banking transactions with the touch of a button, the idea of visiting a branch might seem unnecessary.

However, if you haven’t visited your local branch recently, you might be surprised by what it has to offer. Your branch is much more than a place to deposit and withdraw money—it can offer the opportunity to build valuable relationships with people who can help you achieve financial independence.

Diedra Porché, Head of Community and Business Development at Chase, talks about how the bank model has evolved to maximize the branch experience for customers; how connecting with your local branch team can help you think differently about money and investing for your future.

Q: How can a customer feel connected to a bank branch?

I love that question because we ask ourselves the same thing every day. Being part of the community means meeting with local leaders to find out what they need from us and then designing our branches around that. For example, at some of our community branches we have what we call a living room where we can host financial workshops, small business pop-up shops or nonprofit organization meetings. We also hire locally. You feel much more connected talking about financial aspirations with people from your community who went to the same high school, place of worship or maybe frequented the same recreation center down the street when they grew up.

Q: How can I build a relationship with my bank?

Customers should feel comfortable sharing their goals, needs and wants with their banker. Also, it helps to remember the Community Manager is there to help solve your finance

challenges and build a roadmap for success. You might have a short-term or long-term goal to open a business, build your credit, become debt-free, buy a home, or save for retirement, and our community team can help. At Chase, we strive to make dreams possible for everyone, everywhere, every day. Your financial future starts with building those relationships.

Q: How can customers change negative perceptions they have about managing their money?

Far too often, customers are intimidated when they visit a bank. Our goal is to demystify banking and money myths empowering people to make the right decisions. For example, a big myth is assuming you need a lot of money to have a bank account. You don’t! Another myth is you need to carry a balance on your credit card to build credit— actively using your credit card can demonstrate that you can use credit responsibly, but carrying a balance won’t necessarily improve your credit score. Finally, having an understanding of mobile and online banking safety is key. There are so many safeguards and protections in place to guard your personal information and funds.

Q: What’s an easy step one can take to shift their financial behavior right now?

Cultivating self-awareness is a good first step. Start by taking inventory of your spending. Be honest with yourself about what you need and what you want. Too often, people confuse the two, which leads to bad decisions. Rent is something you need to pay. An extra pair of shoes is something you may want but before you buy them ask yourself if that’s the best use of your hard earned money. Too often, our beliefs and our fears shape our financial realities. If any of those beliefs are limiting your financial behavior, it’s important to question and examine them, and then decide you’re open to learning something different.

Q: What’s one perception about banking that you’d like to change?

I think folks are surprised there are so many resources available and accessible both at our branches and online, it’s always a good idea to visit a nearby branch and speak to a Community Manager or banker. Outside of what we offer in-branch, our teams also work with local neighborhood partners who provide a variety of services to support the community, businesses and residents. I had a unique piece of feedback from an employee who started with the bank and had lived in the same community his whole life. When he visited his local community branch, he said, “Diedra, when I walked in, I felt dignified.” Every time I recount that story, it warms my heart because that’s what we want—we want our centers to belong to the community.

Diedra Porché

Graduating seniors seek degrees in climate change and more U.S. universities deliver

By ALEXA ST. JOHN Associated Press

At 16, Katya Kondragunta has already lived through two disasters amped up by climate change. First came wildfires in California in 2020, when ash and smoke forced her family to stay in their home in the Bay Area city of Fremont for weeks.

Then they moved to Prosper, Texas, where she dealt with record-setting heat last summer.

“We’ve had horrible heat waves and they’ve impacted my everyday life,” the high school junior said. “I’m in cross country...I’m supposed to go outside and run every single day to get my mileage in.”

Kondragunta said in school, she hasn’t learned about how climate change is intensifying these events, and she hopes that will change when she gets to college.

Increasingly, U.S. colleges are creating climate change programs to meet demand from students who want to apply their firsthand experience to what they do after high school, and help find solutions.

“Lots of centers and departments have renamed themselves or been created around these climate issues, in part because they think it will attract students and faculty,” said Kathy Jacobs, director of the University of Arizona Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions. The center launched a decade ago and connects several climate programs at the school in Tucson.

Other early movers that created programs, majors, minors, and certificates dedicated to climate change include the University of

Washington, Yale University, Utah State University, University of Montana, Northern Vermont University, and University of California, Los Angeles. Columbia, the private university in New York City, opened its Climate School in 2020 with a graduate degree in climate and society, and has related undergraduate programs in the works.

Just in the past four years, the public Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, Iowa State, Nashville private university Vanderbilt, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others have started climaterelated studies. Hampton University, a private, historically Black university in Virginia, is building one now, and the University of Texas at Austin will offer its version this fall.

The fact that climate change is affecting more people is one factor. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in U.S. history, and growth in climate-focused jobs, are also increasing interest, experts say.

In these programs, students learn how the atmosphere is changing as a result of burning coal, oil and gas, and the way crops will shift with the warming planet and the role of renewable energy in cutting use of fossil fuels.

They dive into how to communicate about climate with the public, ethical, and environmental justice aspects of climate solutions and the roles lawmakers and businesses play in cutting greenhouse gases.

Students also cover disaster response and ways communities can prepare and adapt before climate change worsens. Offerings require biology, chemistry, physics, and social sci-

ences faculty, among others.

“It’s not just ‘oh, yeah, climate, global warming, environmental stuff,’” said Lydia Conger, a senior who enrolled at Utah State specifically for its climate science studies. “It has these interesting technical parts in math and physics, but then also has this element of geology, oceanography, and ecology.”

When higher ed institutions put their programs together, they often draw on existing meteorology and atmospheric sciences studies. Some put climate in sustainability or environmental science departments, but climate tracks have to go beyond those to satisfy some incoming students.

In Kennebunk, Maine, high school junior Will Eagleson has lived through storms that caused coastal destruction, and the sea level is rising in his hometown. As the 17-year-old considers college, he said to get his attention, schools must “narrow it down from environmental and Earth science as a whole, to more climate change-focused programs.”

For Lucia Everist, a senior at Edina High School in Minnesota who is frustrated at her own lack of climate education so far, schools need to go deeper on the human impact of climate change. She cited disproportionate impact on Black, Latino, Indigenous, and lowincome neighborhoods.

“I looked a lot into the curriculum itself,” the 18-year-old said of her college search.

Everywhere she applied, “I made sure (it) had the social aspect just as much as the science aspect.”

Climate students need to learn everything from healthcare to how to store clean solar

and wind energy, said Megan Latshaw, who runs the Johns Hopkins University master’s programs in its Environmental Health and Engineering Department. The school has a graduate degree in energy policy and climate, and also offers two certificates that include the term climate change.

“It’s the flooding. It’s the heat waves. It’s the wildfires. It’s the air pollution that’s generated when we’re burning fossil fuels. It’s allergies. It’s water scarcity, and people who may have to flee where they’ve lived for their entire life,” Latshaw said. The university looks into weaving climate change into its schools of public health, engineering, education, medicine, nursing, and more, she said.

Another factor may be that many colleges around the country face declining enrollment and less public funding, pushing them to market new degrees to stay relevant.

Many small, private colleges have had to shut down over the last decade with fewer students graduating from high school and more opting for career-oriented training. The same pressures are affecting large public university systems, which have cut academic programs and faculty to close gaps in budgets.

“There is definitely some part of academia that just simply responds to consumer demand,” said John Knox, undergraduate coordinator for the University of Georgia’s Atmospheric Sciences program, who is considering whether the school should offer a climate certificate. “In the end, I’m worried more about our students succeeding than marketing something to somebody.”

Climate Data Analyst Casey Olson (center left) of Utah State University stands with students during a tour of climate reference station on April 1, 2024, in Logan, Utah. Increasingly, U.S. universities are creating climate change programs to meet demand from students who want to apply firsthand experience to what they do after high school (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Most U.S. students are recovering from pandemic-era setbacks, but millions are making up little ground

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—On one side of the classroom, students circled teacher Maria Fletcher and practiced vowel sounds. In another corner, children read together from a book. Scattered elsewhere, students sat at laptop computers and got reading help from online tutors.

For the third graders at Mount Vernon Community School in Virginia, it was an ordinary school day—but educators were racing to get students learning more and faster, and to overcome setbacks that have persisted since schools closed in the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago.

America’s schools have started to make progress toward getting students back on track, but improvement has been slow and uneven across geography and economic status, with millions of students—often those from marginalized groups—making up little or no ground.

Nationally, students made up one-third of their pandemic losses in math during the past school year and one-quarter of losses in reading, according to the Education Recovery Scorecard, an analysis of state and national test scores by researchers at Harvard and Stanford.

In nine states, though, including Virginia, reading scores continued to fall during the 2022–23 school year after previous decreases during the pandemic.

Clouding the recovery is a looming financial crisis: States have used some money from the historic $190 billion in federal pandemic relief to help students catch up, but that money runs out later this year.

“The recovery is not finished, and it won’t be finished without state action,” said Thomas Kane, a Harvard economist behind the scorecard. “States need to start planning for what they’re going to do when the federal money runs out in September. And I think few states have actually started that discussion.”

Virginia lawmakers approved an extra $418 million last year to accelerate recovery. Massachusetts officials set aside $3.2 million to provide math tutoring for fourth- and eighth-grade students who are behind grade level, along with $8 million for literacy tutoring.

Few other states with lagging progress, however, said they were changing their strategies or spending more to speed up improvement.

Virginia hired online tutoring companies and gave schools a “playbook” showing how to build effective tutoring programs.

Lisa Coons, Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction, said last year’s state test scores were a wake-up call.

“We weren’t recovering as fast as we needed,” Coons said in an interview.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has called for states to continue funding extra academic help for students as the federal money expires.

“We just can’t stop now,” he said at a May 30 conference for education journalists. “The states need to recognize these interventions work. Funding public education does make a difference.”

The Alexandria, Virginia, district received $2.3 million in additional state money to expand tutoring.

At Mount Vernon, where classes are taught in English and Spanish, students are divided into groups and rotate through stations customized to their skill levels. Those who need the most help get online tutoring. In Fletcher’s classroom recently, a handful of students wore headsets and worked with tutors through Ignite Learning, one of the companies hired by the state.

With tutors in high demand, the online option has been a big help, Mount Vernon principal Jennifer Hamilton said.

“That’s something that we just could not provide here,” she said.

Ana Marisela Ventura Moreno said her 9-year-old daughter, Sabrina, benefited significantly from extra reading help during second grade last year, but she’s still catching up.

“She needs to get better. She’s not at the level she should be,” the mother said in Spanish. She noted the school did not offer the tutoring help this year, but she did not know why.

Alexandria education officials said students scoring below proficient or close to

that cutoff receive high-intensity tutoring help, and they have to prioritize students with the greatest needs. Alexandria trailed the state average on math and reading exams in 2023, but is slowly improving.

More worrying to officials are the gaps: Among poorer students at Mount Vernon, just 24% scored proficient in math and 28% hit the mark in reading. That’s far lower than the rates among wealthier students, and the divide is growing wider.

Failing to get students back on track could have serious consequences. Researchers at Harvard and Stanford found communities with higher test scores have higher incomes and lower rates of arrest and incarceration. If pandemic setbacks become permanent, they could follow students for life.

The Education Recovery Scorecard tracks about 30 states, all of which made at least some improvement in math from 2022 to 2023. The states whose reading scores fell in that span, in addition to Virginia, were Nevada, California, South Dakota, Wyoming, Indiana, Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Washington.

Only a few states have rebounded to prepandemic testing levels. Alabama was the only state where math achievement increased past 2019 levels, while Illinois, Mississippi, and Louisiana accomplished that in reading.

In the Chicago Public Schools, the average reading score went up by the equivalent of 70% of a grade level from 2022 to 2023. Math gains were less dramatic, with students still behind almost half a grade level compared with 2019. Chicago offi-

cials credit the improvement to changes made possible with nearly $3 billion in federal relief.

The district trained hundreds of Chicago residents to work as tutors. Every school building received an interventionist—an educator who focuses on helping struggling students.

The district also used federal money for home visits and expanded arts education in an effort to re-engage students.

“Academic recovery in isolation, just through ‘drill and kill,’ either tutoring or interventions, is not effective,” said Bogdana Chkoumbova, the district’s chief education officer. “Students need to feel engaged.”

At Wells Preparatory Elementary on Chicago’s South Side, only 3% of students met state reading standards in 2021. Last year, 30% hit the mark. Federal relief allowed the school to hire an interventionist for the first time, and teachers get paid to team up on recovery outside working hours.

In the classroom, the school put a sharper focus on collaboration. Along with academic setbacks, students came back from school closures with lower maturity levels, principal Vincent Izuegbu said. By building lessons around discussion, officials found students took more interest in learning.

“We do not let 10 minutes go by without a teacher giving students the opportunity to engage with the subject,” Izuegbu said. “That’s very, very important in terms of the growth that we’ve seen.”

Olorunkemi Atoyebi was an A student before the pandemic, but after spending fifth grade learning at home, she fell behind. During remote learning, she was nervous about stopping class to ask questions. Before long, math lessons stopped making sense. When she returned to school, she struggled with multiplication, and terms such as “dividend” and “divisor” confused her.

While other students worked in groups, her math teacher took Atoyebi aside for individual help. Atoyebi learned a rhyming song to help memorize multiplication tables. Over time, it began to click.

“They made me feel more confident in everything,” said Atoyebi, now 14. “My grades started going up. My scores started going up. Everything has felt like I understand it better.”

Associated Press writers Michael Melia in Hartford, Conn., and Chrissie Thompson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’s education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Fifth-grade student attends math lesson at Mount Vernon Community School, in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, May 1, 2024 (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Netanyahu frequently makes claims of antisemitism.

Critics say he’s deflecting from his own problems

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel—After the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense minister, and top Hamas officials, the Israeli leader accused Khan of being one of “the great antisemites in modern times.”

As protests roiled college campuses across the United States over the Gaza war, Netanyahu said they were awash with “antisemitic mobs.”

These are just two of the many instances during the war in which Netanyahu has accused critics of Israel or his policies, using fiery rhetoric to compare them to the Jewish people’s worst persecutors. But his detractors say he is overusing the label to further his political agenda and try to stifle even legitimate criticism, and that doing so risks diluting the term’s meaning at a time when antisemitism is surging worldwide.

“Not every criticism against Israel is antisemitic,” said Tom Segev, an Israeli historian. “The moment you say it is antisemitic hate...you take away all legitimacy from the criticism and try to crush the debate.”

There has been a spike in antisemitic incidents since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to researchers, and many Jews in North America and Europe have said they feel unsafe, citing threats to Jewish schools and synagogues, and the pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations in the U.S., although organizers deny that antisemitism drives the protests.

The war has reignited the long debate about the definition of antisemitism and whether any criticism of Israel, including questions over Israel’s very right to exist, amounts to anti-Jewish hate speech.

Netanyahu, the son of a scholar of medieval Jewish persecution, has long used the travails of the Jewish people to color his political rhetoric. And he certainly isn’t the first world leader accused of using national trauma to advance political goals.

Netanyahu’s supporters say he is honest-

ly worried for the safety of Jews around the world, but his accusations of antisemitism come as he has repeatedly sidestepped accountability for not preventing Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, which many in Israel’s defense establishment acknowledge they shoulder the blame for.

Netanyahu has continued to face criticism at home and abroad throughout the war, which has killed 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between fighters and noncombatants. The fighting has sparked a humanitarian catastrophe, and Khan has accused Netanyahu and his defense minister of using starvation as a “method of warfare,” among other crimes.

Segev acknowledged there is a rise in “violent hate” toward Israel and, speaking from Vienna, said he wasn’t sure if speaking Hebrew in public was safe. But he said Netanyahu has long used Jewish crises to his political benefit, including invoking the Jewish people’s deepest trauma: the Holocaust, to further his goals.

At the height of the campus protests, Netanyahu released a video statement condemning their “unconscionable” anti-

semitism and comparing the mushrooming encampments on college greens to Nazi Germany of the 1930s.

“What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific,” he said.

In response to Khan seeking the arrest warrants, he said the ICC prosecutor was “callously pouring gasoline on the fires of antisemitism that are raging across the world,” comparing him to German judges who approved of the Nazis’ race laws against Jews.

Those comments drew a rebuke from the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. “The prosecutor of the court has been strongly intimidated and accused of antisemitism—as always when anybody, anyone does something that Netanyahu’s government does not like,” Borrell said. “The word antisemitic, it’s too heavy. It’s too important.”

Netanyahu has compared accusations that Israel’s war is causing starvation in Gaza or that the war is genocidal to blood libels: unfounded centuries-old accusations that Jews sacrificed Christian children and used their blood to make unleavened bread for Passover.

“These false accusations are not leveled against us because of the things we do, but because of the simple fact that we exist,” he said at a ceremony marking Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day earlier this month.

Netanyahu previously made repeated allusions to the Holocaust while trying to galvanize the world against Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli leaders and the country’s media

also made such comparisons about Oct. 7, describing the Hamas attackers as Nazis, comparing their rampage to the historic violence inflicted on Eastern European Jews, and referring to the images of Jewish victims’ burned bodies as a Shoah—the Hebrew word for Holocaust.

Israelis have been jarred by the global rise in antisemitism, and many view the swell of criticism against Israel as part of that rise. They see hypocrisy in the world’s intense focus on Israel’s war with Hamas while other conflicts get much less attention.

Moshe Klughaft, a former advisor to Netanyahu, said he believes the Israeli leader is genuinely concerned about rising antisemitism.

“It is his duty to condemn antisemitism as prime minister of Israel and as head of a country that sees itself as responsible for world Jewry,” he said.

Many Israelis view the war in Gaza as a just act of self-defense and are befuddled by what many think should be criticism directed at Hamas—that Hamas should be blamed for starting the war, using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and refusing to free the Jewish hostages. The ICC warrant requests have probably bolstered such feelings.

When Netanyahu leans on accusations of antisemitism, he is doing so with the Israeli public in mind, said Reuven Hazan, a political scientist at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

Hazan said Netanyahu has leveraged the campus protests, for example, to get Israelis to rally around him at a time when his public support has plummeted and Israelis are growing impatient with the war. He said Netanyahu has also used the protests as a scapegoat for his failure so far to achieve the war’s two goals: destroying Hamas and freeing the hostages.

“He deflects blame from himself, attributing any shortcomings not to his foreign policies or policies in the (Palestinian) territories, but rather to antisemitism. This narrative benefits him greatly, absolving him of responsibility,” Hazan said.

Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think thank, rejects the notion that Netanyahu stifles criticism by calling it antisemitic, pointing to just how much criticism the country receives. However, he said using the antisemitic label to achieve political ends could cheapen it.

“I’d be more selective than the government of Israel in choosing the people and bodies they tag ‘antisemitic,’” he said.

Pro-Palestinian Pasadena City College students walk out of class as they demonstrate against the Israel-Hamas war in Pasadena, Calif. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused critics of Israel or his policies of antisemitism.

(Sarah Reingewirtz/The Orange County Register via AP)

He feared coming out. Now this pastor wants to help Black churches become as welcoming as his own

By DARREN SANDS Associated Press

It was daunting when the Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley, at age 22, replaced a beloved pastor who had ministered to one of suburban Boston’s most famed Black churches for 24 years.

It was more daunting—at times agonizing—to reach the decision six years later, in 2015, that God wanted him to tell his congregation that he was gay.

To his relief, most of the worshippers at Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Massachusetts, embraced him. Crowley’s career has flourished, and he has now written a book— ”Queering the Black Church”—that he hopes can serve as a guide for other congregations to be “open and affirming” to LGBTQ+ people rather than shunning them.

Crowley, 37, was born in Atlanta and raised in Rome, Georgia. He admired the preachers he heard as a child, especially at Lovejoy Baptist Church, his home congregation.

One Sunday, however, the pastor preached a fiery sermon against homosexuals.

“He called them all types of names, using derogatory phrases and really describing it as a detestable group and a sinful thing, and I just sort of knew he was talking about me,” Crowley said in an interview. “That was my first introduction to really knowing the beauty of who I am as a queer person.”

Crowley said his great grandmother repeatedly assured him that he was made in the image of God. She also told him about getting pregnant at 14—and breaking away from her own church after refusing its demand to apologize to the congregation.

“She would say, ‘God loves you,’” Crowley recalled. “She said, ‘They almost made me take my own life when I was pregnant, but I came to know a God beyond the church, and I’ve got beyond what these preachers say.’”

Nonetheless, throughout this period, Crowley felt he was called to be a Christian pastor— a preacher of the social justice gospel.

Believing he had to hide his sexual identity in order to pursue that calling, he began dating a girl at Lovejoy.

He had still not come out by the time he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta, joining its Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel Assistants program. While at Morehouse, he said, he experienced his first serious romance with a young man, but led his family to believe it was a non-romantic friendship. After graduating from Morehouse, Crowley was accepted by Harvard Divinity School. He considered abandoning his dream to be a preacher, and instead “write books about the Black church being dead.”

But one of his friends, convinced of his spiritual talents, encouraged Crowley to apply for the open pastorate at Myrtle Baptist—less than 10 miles from the divinity school.

Soon after he expressed initial interest, Crowley said, he received word that he was

The Rev.

Thomas

speaks during Sunday service at Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Mass. In 2015, Crowley, the senior pastor of the church, one of America’s oldest Black churches, announced to his congregation, “I am a proud, Black, gay Christian male.”

(AP Photos/ Josh Reynolds)

“exactly” what Myrtle’s search committee was seeking. He recalled his inner reaction: “I was like, ‘What are y’all talking about? Like, I’m gay! This can’t happen.’”

But he stayed in the running for the job— even breaking away from a weekend Gay Pride party in Miami to get back to Boston in time to preach at a service attended by the search committee.

Before long, Crowley was named a finalist. His closest mentors were split over whether he should tell Myrtle’s leaders about his sexuality or stay quiet on that topic while doing a good job as preacher. He chose the latter course— and operated that way for six years after his election as Myrtle’s new senior pastor in 2009. But over time, Crowley said, he realized “I could only really do the work of God if I operated from a place of real authenticity.”

He also found love in the church. Crowley first met Tyrone Sutton, his partner of three years, when he was guest preaching. Sutton was sitting at the organ. On one of their first dates they sang and played music together.

Periodically during his life, Crowley said, he heard a voice he believed was coming from the spirit of God. He says it first spoke approvingly of his same-sex attraction as a child in 1993, after he was rebuked by a relative for saying that a male character on a sitcom was “so fine.”

“God doesn’t like that,” the relative said. But Crowley recalls hearing the voice tell him that God had made him that way. He says he heard it again at age 12, beckoning him to a life in ministry.

Years later, as an adult, he said it would guide him through the emotional process of breaking up with a girlfriend after telling her about his homosexuality.

But those occasions all occurred in private. In the spring of 2015, Crowley says he was sitting in Myrtle’s pulpit one Sunday when he heard the voice speaking to him—telling him it was time to come out.

“Are you crazy? These people are going to put me out,” Crowley recalls telling the voice that was urging him to share the truth.

But minutes later, a tearful Crowley did just

that—announcing to his congregation, “I am a proud, Black, gay Christian male.”

“We already knew, reverend,” one church mother told him. “We were just waiting on you.”

Some congregation members decided to leave Myrtle after the announcement, but mostly there was strong support for the pastor.

Myrtle’s pews swelled with new members, many of them gay, and Crowley felt emboldened to look beyond Newton and take aim at the broader realm of the Black Church.

This year, his first book, “Queering the Black Church: Dismantling Heteronormativity in the African American Church,” was published by Oxford Press.

In the book, Crowley recounts more than a century of Black Christian preaching that was often laden with homophobic diatribes and broad characterizations of homosexuality as sinful. He notes that the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell Sr. crusaded against homosexuality during his 1908-1936 leadership of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church—one of the most prominent Black churches in the country. Myrtle, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, takes pride in its progressive, inclusive congregation, but many Black churches and denominations in the U.S. remain opposed to celebrating same-sex marriages or ordaining openly LGBTQ+ clergy.

The Rev. Karmen Michael Smith, who wrote “Holy Queer,” about the gift of being a gay Black Christian, and lectures frequently on the topic, said he’s not as optimistic as Crowley that Black churches can be “queered.” For many members of the LGBTQ+ community, Black churches are the site of trauma and exclusion, he said.

“Those folks aren’t coming back,” Smith said. It remains a volatile issue in some quarters. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, for example, is expected to vote at an upcoming national meeting on a measure which would allow AME pastors to conduct same-sex marriages.

While pastoring at Myrtle, Crowley earned a Ph.D. from Boston University’s School of Theology. He hopes to become a professor as well as a preacher, he said via email, “further serving my Queer and Black communities in both spiritual and scholarly contexts.”

The Rev. Martha Simmons, an expert in Black preaching and founder of the advocacy group Women of Color in Ministry, became a mentor for Crowley after appearing at Morehouse as a guest speaker. She describes him as perhaps the most gifted of all the students she has encountered in her career.

“The most impressive thing about Brandon is that it’s really hard to be queer in a Black Baptist world, and that’s what he’s been in for most of his adult life,” Simmons said. “And he handles it all so well.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

The Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley embraces a parishioner after Sunday services at Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, Mass. Some congregation members decided to leave Myrtle after he announced he was gay, but mostly there was strong support for the pastor. Myrtle’s pews swelled with new members, many of them gay, and Crowley felt emboldened to look beyond Newton and take aim at the broader realm of the Black Church.

Brandon

Crowley

Black Birders

were called on Christan Cooper), laid bare again this country’s history of excluding people of color from the outdoors. That includes racializing urban spaces as “dirty,” the conservation movement’s ties to eugenics and laws that kept Black people away or segregated in national parks. Communities of color also don’t have the same access to green spaces, such as parks, which can lead to health issues including from extreme heat

The Rockaways was once a land where New Yorkers with some money summered. By the 1950s, the peninsula was seen as a place to castaway the city’s most vulnerable residents in need of social services. Today, zip code 11692, which includes Edgemere, Far Rockaway and Bayswater are predominately Black and Latino. Historical disinvestment has left Edgemere and other Black and Brown neighborhoods lacking resources such as more banks and medical facilities. Furthermore, the peninsula is perpetually at risk of tidal flooding, storm surges and heavy rainfall

Organizers of the event had high hopes that the bird walk will highlight the beauty of the Rockaways. “The goal of the event was to expose

people to the natural resources in their community,” said Jackie Rogers, president of the Garden By The Bay. Mel Julien, community engagement director of the NYC Plover Project, said she was glad to see a new interest sparked in residents.

BIRD’S EYE VIEW

Tammy Oruwariye traveled from Harlem for the walk and was stunned to learn during the walk that more than 400 species of birds visit New York and the surrounding areas.

Continued from page 10

Whether it’s the countless men and women in the military who bring dignity and valor to the uniform they wear in defense of our freedom, or the school safety agents who provide students with free prom gowns, or the NYCHA worker who makes sure the flowers are in full bloom by the benches where the elderly ladies sit, we take special pride in knowing that many Local 237 members selflessly help others. To them we say, “Thank you.”

Along with laughing gulls and mourning doves there were plenty of pigeons to spot, which, despite making a home in the city, are not native to New York

Areli Castillo Velazquez is a Garden By The Bay member and an amateur birder. She said the creatures can offer humans a meditation on freedom, particularly for communities who have been oppressed. “I think we can learn from the birds,” she said, and “be deserving of that peace that birds embody themselves.”

Among them is the late Tuskegee Airman Dabney Montgomery. Dabney was a NYCHA housing assistant for 14 years, who distinguished himself as an exemplary soldier, known for his bravery in World War II, yet was denied the right to vote when he got home—it took nearly 60 years after War II ended for him to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. He was on the security detail for Dr. King on the historic march from Selma to Memphis. Now, the heels of his shoes from that march are on display at the first-of- its-kind National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and a street sign in Harlem bears his name. Wow! How many unions can boast of having a Tuskegee Airman among its members?

Clearly, the word hero applies to the highly acclaimed and the virtually unknown—men and women who rise to the situation but might not get a parade to honor their accomplishments, medals to wear on their chests, trophies for the mantelpiece, or their names in news headlines. Just everyday heroes whose reward is knowing that they made a difference.

To them we say, “Thank you.”

Gregory Floyd is president of Teamsters Local 237 and vice president at-large on the General Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Eric Adams Mayor

Areli Castillo Velazquez, 23, an Edgemere resident and amateur birder. (Roxanne Scott photo)

and Nebraska has already led to thousands of women queuing up for emergency care; how do you think this will affect Black, Latino, and Native American women? Millions of Blacks don’t have the beautiful health care offered to academics like you and me. The statistics are dire: Black women are twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s as whites, and prostate cancer among Black men is among the highest in the world.

Even though you might tip the election, you have avoided the scrutiny you’d receive if a strong Black press existed. Will you have a press conference to answer the questions raised by David Masciotra in “The New Republic” (December 29, 2023)? Will those Black public intellectuals found acceptable by the media remain silent about your bid?

“As Forbes revealed in an investigation earlier this month, West is broke —living ‘paycheck to paycheck,’ he says—despite earning $500,000 per year over the past three decades. That’s because he has often failed to pay taxes, resulting in liens totaling in the hundreds of thousands; his current IRS bill is approximately $483,000. Despite his sizable debt, he has overspent—purchasing multiple homes, including a Four Seasons condo in Boston.”

I thought that Jesus’s form of transportation was a mule, and he depended upon strangers to feed and house him. You’re not the only Black post-modern theologian who enjoys kingly living. You guys have each other’s backs, so you’re getting a pass.

You’ve defended Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine, the position of The Nation magazine progressives. Who are your donors?

Is this presidential bid all about Obama providing you with only one ticket to his inaugural?

Don’t you realize that your progressives will turn on you and have more options than you? They can retreat to anonymity under an autocracy. Or go right like the Neo-Cons, who were former radicals, or Max Eastman, the socialist who ended up writing for The National Review, or progressive Norman Mailer, who became a fan of Pat Buchanan later in life.

No, Cornel—you have to decide how you want to be known by future generations: as a brilliant scholar, a “spoiler,” or even a pariah. Your election bid is not between you and your presidential rivals but between you and history.

Respectfully, Ishmael

Ishmael Reed is Distinguished Professor at the California College of the Arts. His latest play is “The Shine Challenge, 2024.”

Ethiopia

Continued from page 23

worshipping at this particular altar. It makes sense from the standpoint of selfinterest, for one thing. For another, her homeland is an apparent example of success via this economic model. With tens of thousands of companies across numerous African countries and billions in investment since the end of European colonialism there, operating and investing in Africa has helped China become the second largest economy in the world. China has a stranglehold on Congo’s production of cobalt, essential for manufacturing electric cars, cell phones, and computers. According to a report in the American Economic Review, “China’s share of world GDP increased from less than 3% in 1978 to 20% in 2015, while average income has increased by a factor of eight.” Though this is far from a nuanced view of China’s economy, it is fair to say a significant number of Chinese are doing better than they were fifty years ago, all things being equal.

But “Made in Ethiopia” demonstrates that the fate of Ethiopia is likely not the same as that of China. There is the hint of imperialism, which historically has meant exploitation, not real progress for populations of color. Many of the automated machines “speak” Chinese, not the local language. Even now, almost 20 years after China built this economic zone, the workers live in dire

circumstances, the Chinese supervisors in houses with modern accoutrements. More importantly, profit from the Eastern Industry Park is not being reinvested into Ethiopia or Dukem in a substantive manner. Yes, there have been great investments in infrastructure, but that is primarily to make it easier for the Chinese to make more money there, not to benefit the local population. A local political official lamented the lack of investment on health care and education for the locals who make up the labor force for the Chinese factory owners, casting a foreboding light on the future earning potential for those workers. “They make billions but give pennies,” he states. There is the aforementioned loss of land which translates into loss of resources and community cohesion in addition. The community itself is starting to unravel under the stressors of development that essentially excludes them.

Converting land and labor to factories to promote economic development is certainly a positive thing for any nation. The problem lies in who it intends to benefit. In China, those changes were meant to better China and ultimately did improve China’s economic standing. “Made in Ethiopia” causes one to question of who China is developing Ethiopia for.

Please visit https://www.tribecafilm. com/festival for more information on this film and other programming at the 2024 Tribeca Festival.

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NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK: COUNTY OF NEW YORK. JY TANGEROUS L.P., Pltf v. SIXTH STREET COMMUNITY CENTER, INC, et al., Defts. Index No. 850041/2021pursuant to the Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated August 16, 2023 and entered on October 12, 2023, I will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse, at the Courthouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, room 130 on June 26, 2024 at 2:15 p.m., prem. k/a 638 East Sixth Street, New York, New York 10009, Block 387, Lot 128 (the “Property”). Approx. amt of judgment is $ 1,483,225.50, plus costs, attorneys’ fees and interest. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee. Jacobowitz Newman Tversky LLP, Attys. for Plaintiff, 377 Pearsall Ave., Ste C, Cedarhurst, NY.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK LINKER NOTES, LLC, Plaintiff, Against MARC SCOTT KALLMAN, ET AL

Defendant(s)

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered 01/25/2024, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction, at the New York County Supreme Courthouse, in Room 130 at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 on 6/26/2024 at 2:15PM, premises known as 52 East End Avenue Ph 2, Manhattan, NY, 10028 And Described As Follows:

ALL that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in The Condominium Unit (Hereinafter Referred To As The "Unit") Know As Unit No. PH-2 In The Building (Herinafter Referred To As The "Building") Known As 52 East End Avenue Condominium And By The Street Number 52 East End Avenue, Borough Of Manhattan, County Of New York, City And State Of New York. Block 1578 Lot 1083

The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $618,916.49 plus interest and costs. The Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the aforesaid Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; Index # 850273/2019

Mark L. McKew, Esq., Referee. Richland & Falkowski, PLLC, 28-07 Jackson Avenue, 5th Floor, LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101

Dated: 3/4/2024 File Number: KALLMAN CA

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

JOSEPH NATHANSON,

Plaintiff -against- THE NORA GROUP, LLC, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated February 5, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on June 26, 2024 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, known and designated as Block 2059 and Lot 43. Said premises known as 453 WEST 144TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10030

Approximate amount of lien $204,394.08 plus interest & costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 850205/2020.

PAUL R. SKLAR, ESQ., Referee

The Law Office of Jason Chang, Esq.

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 252 West 37th Street, Suite 600, New York, NY 10018

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK.

OCTAVIA CONDOMINIUM, BY ITS BOARD OF MANAGERS, Plaintiff -against- AASH TWO CORP., et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 2, 2024 and entered on February 6, 2024, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 130 of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street New York, NY on June 26, 2024 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, known as Unit No. 6B in the premises known as Octavia and by the Street Number 216-218 East 47th Street, Borough of Manhattan, together with an undivided 1.69% interest in the common elements. Block: 01320 Lot: 1310

Said premises known as 216 EAST 47TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10017

Approximate amount of lien $89,663.03 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 154684/2023. SOFIA BALILE, ESQ., Referee Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas LLP

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 444 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York, NY 10022

McDonough Engineering Practice, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 06/27/2023. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 3528 80th Street, Jackson Heights, New York, 11372. Purpose: Any lawful act.

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- TREVOR C. MORAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated April 22, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on July 10, 2024 at 2:15 p.m. The Unit known as Residential Unit No. 10A in the building known as The Heritage at Trump Place, 240 Riverside Boulevard, in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Together with an undivided 0.7911% interest in the common elements. Block: 1171 Tax Lot: 2111. Said premises known as 240 RIVERSIDE BOULEVARD, UNIT 10A, NEW YORK, NY 10069. Approximate amount of lien $5,673,292.89 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. Index Number 850110/2019.

THOMAS KLEINBERGER, ESQ., Referee, David A. Gallo & Associates LLP, Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 47 Hillside Avenue, 2nd Floor, Manhasset, NY 11030. File# 5025.1930

The West Prjct LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/14/2024. Office: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 110 Horatio St #111, New York, NY 10014. Purpose: Any lawful act.

TOP CHOICE SERVICING, LLC. App. for Auth. filed with the SSNY on 05/14/24. Originally filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware on 9/27/2023. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 1500 Broadway, 2022, New York, NY 10036. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK-COUNTY OF ORANGEIndex No. EF007582-2023-Date Purchased 11-03-2023-SUMMONS WITH NOTICE- Plaintiff designates Orange County as the place of trial - Basis of venue: Plaintiff's Residence-James Cade, Plaintiff-againstStephanie Mack aka Stephanie Mack-Cade, Defendant-ACTION FOR DIVORCE-To the above named Defendant YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to serve a notice of appearance on the plaintiff's attorney within thirty (30) days after the service of this summons is complete and in case of your failure to appear, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the notice set forth below. Dated: May 30, 2024, Melville, New York, by Roy F. Gerard, Esq., Plaintiff's Attorney, 68 South Service Road, Suite 100, Melville, New York 11747, (800)495-8028, NOTICE: The nature of this action is to dissolve the marriage between the parties on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment by the Defendant against the Plaintiff pursuant to DRL Section 170 (1). The relief sought is a judgment of absolute divorce in favor of the plaintiff dissolving the marriage between the parties in this action. NOTICE OF AUTOMATIC ORDERS: Pursuant to domestic relations law section 236 part b, section 2, the parties are bound by certain automatic orders which shall remain in full force and effect during the pendency of the action. NOTICE OF GUIDLELINE MAINTENANCE: Pursuant to Chapter 269, Laws of 2015. NOTICE OF ELECTRONIC FILING: Uniform Rule Section 202.5-b. For further details on any of the preceding you should contact the clerk of court, Supreme Court, 285 Main Street, Orange County Government Center, Goshen, New York 10924, Tel: (845) 4763500.

DRL 255 NOTICE: Please be advised that once a judgment of divorce is signed in this action, both you and your spouse may or may not continue to be eligible for coverage under each other's health insurance plan, depending on the terms of the plan.

Supreme Court-New York County - Hilton Resorts Corp., Pltf. V. JIM YOUNG LIM, 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 persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in the following designation, namely: the wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs-at-law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs-at-law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to Plaintiff, et al., Deft. - Index # 850560/2023. The foregoing supplemental summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Honorable FRANCIS KAHN, III, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, dated the 9th day of May 2024 and duly entered the 10th day of May 2024 in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York, State of New York. 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 twenty (20) days after the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within thirty (30) days after completion of service where service is made in any other manner than by personal 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.

NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is for the foreclosure of an undivided 0.00493200000 tenant in common interest in 57TH STREET VACTION SUITES located at 102 West 57th Street NY, NY. Mortgage bearing the date of November 12, 2021, executed by Jim Young Lim to Hilton Resorts Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, to secure the sum of $23,639.65, and interest and recorded in the Office of the Clerk of New York County on June 2, 2022, in CRFN 2022000221254. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the Mortgaged Premises as described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above.

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

Notice of Formation of LLC

Name: 216 E 6 Street LLC Articles of Organization filed by the Department of State of New York on: 04/03/2024 Office location: County of New York. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: c/o The Sabet Group, 38 West 31 Street, Suite 3, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any and all lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of LLC

Name: 329 E 17 Street LLC

Articles of Organization filed by the Department of State of New York on: 04/03/2024. Office location: County of New York. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: c/o The Sabet Group, 38 West 31 Street, Suite 3, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any and all lawful activities.

Supplemental Summons And Notice Of Object Of Action Supreme Court Of The State Of New York County Of New York Action to Foreclosure a Mortgage Index #: 850626/2023 Wilmington Savings Fund Society, Fsb, D/B/A Christiana Trust, Not Individually But As Trustee For Pretium Mortgage Acquisition Trust Plaintiff, Vs Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner Individually And As Heir To The Estate Of Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner, Joshua L Weiner As Heir To The Estate Of Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner If Living, And If He/She Be Dead, Any And All Persons Unknown To Plaintiff, Claiming, Or Who May Claim To Have An Interest In, Or General Or Specific Lien Upon The Real Property Described In This Action; Such Unknown Persons Being Herein Generally Described And Intended To Be Included In Wife, Widow, Husband, Widower, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assignees Of Such Deceased, Any And All Persons Deriving Interest In Or Lien Upon, Or Title To Said Real Property By, Through Or Under Them, Or Either Of Them, And Their Respective Wives, Widows, Husbands, Widowers, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assigns, All Of Whom And Whose Names, Except As Stated, Are Unknown To Plaintiff, Alexis M Holton As Heir To The Estate Of Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner, Unknown Heirs Of Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner If Living, And If He/She Be Dead, Any And All Persons Unknown To Plaintiff, Claiming, Or Who May Claim To Have An Interest In, Or General Or Specific Lien Upon The Real Property Described In This Action; Such Unknown Persons Being Herein Generally Described And Intended To Be Included In Wife, Widow, Husband, Widower, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assignees Of Such Deceased, Any And All Persons Deriving Interest In Or Lien Upon, Or Title To Said Real Property By, Through Or Under Them, Or Either Of Them, And Their Respective Wives, Widows, Husbands, Widowers, Heirs At Law, Next Of Kin, Descendants, Executors, Administrators, Devisees, Legatees, Creditors, Trustees, Committees, Lienors, And Assigns, All Of Whom And Whose Names, Except As Stated, Are Unknown To Plaintiff, Board Of Managers Of The Pickwick House Condominium, Board Of Managers Of Bethune Street Condo, David F. Eisner, Karen Lehmann Eisner, Theodore Haber, New York City Parking Violations Bureau, United States Of America On Behalf Of The Irs, People Of The State Of New York, New York Supreme Court, Lawyers Fund For Client Protection For The State Of New York, Christopher Aidun John Doe (Those Unknown Tenants, Occupants, Persons Or Corporations Or Their Heirs, Distributees, Executors, Administrators, Trustees, Guardians, Assignees, Creditors Or Successors Claiming An Interest In The Mortgaged Premises.) Defendant(S). Mortgaged Premises: 35 Bethune Street, Apt. 1b New York, Ny 10014 Aka 33/35 Bethune Street, Unit 1b, New York, Ny 10014 To The Above Named Defendant: 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 Supplemental Summons, To Serve A Notice Of Appearance, On The Plaintiff(S) Attorney(S) Within Twenty Days After The Service Of This Supplemental Summons, Exclusive Of The Day Of Service (Or Within 30 Days After The Service Is Complete If This Supplemental Summons Is Not Personally Delivered To You Within The State Of New York). In Case Of Your Failure To Appear Or Answer, Judgment Will Be Taken Against You By Default For The Relief Demanded In The Complaint. The Attorney For Plaintiff Has An Office For Business In The County Of Erie. Trial To Be Held In The County Of New York. The Basis Of The Venue Designated Above Is The Location Of The Mortgaged Premises. To Joshua L Weiner As Heir To The Estate Of Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner, Unknown Heirs Of Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner Defendants In This Action. The Foregoing Supplemental Summons Is Served Upon You By Publication, Pursuant To An Order Of Hon. Francis A Kahn Of The Supreme Court Of The State Of New York, Dated The Ninth Day Of May, 2024 And Filed With The Complaint In The Office Of The Clerk Of The County Of New York, In The City Of New York. The Object Of This Action Is To Foreclosure A Mortgage Upon The Premises Described Below, Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner (Who Died On March 20, 2020, A Resident Of The County Of New York, State Of New York) Dated The June 16, 1999, To Secure The Sum Of $551,000.00 And Recorded At Book 2904, Page 672 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County On June 30, 1999. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed May 25, 2001 And Recorded On August 31, 2001, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Book 3351, Page 463. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By A Gap Assignment Executed February 26, 2020 And Recorded On May 17, 2021, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2021000180314. Plaintiff Is Also Holder Of A Mortgage Dated June 18, 2001 Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan

Weiner To Secure The Sum Of $206,760.59 And Recorded At Book 3351, Page 466 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County On August 31, 2001. Said Mortgage Was Consolidated With The Mortgage Referred To At Book 2904, Page 672 By A Consolidation, Extension And Modification Agreement Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner Dated June 18, 2001 And Recorded August 31, 2001 At Book 3351, Page 493 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County To Form A Single Lien In The Amount Of $750,000.00. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By A Gap Assignment Executed August 19, 2020 And Recorded On May 17, 2021, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2021000180315. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed July 13, 2003 And Recorded On July 10, 2003, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2003000223378. Plaintiff Is Also Holder Of A Mortgage Dated January 24, 2003 Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner To Secure The Sum Of $209,900.63 And Recorded At Crfn 2003000223379 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County On July 10, 2003. Said Mortgage Was Consolidated With The Mortgage Referred To At Book 3351, Page 493 By A Consolidation, Extension And Modification Agreement Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner Dated January 24, 2003 And Recorded July 10, 2003 At Crfn 2003000223380 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County To Form A Single Lien In The Amount Of $950,000.00. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed July 29, 2005 And Recorded On March 10, 2006, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2006000136531. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By A Gap Assignment Executed November 17, 2020 And Recorded On November 30, 2020, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2020000337168. Plaintiff Is Also Holder Of A Mortgage Dated August 4, 2005 Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner To Secure The Sum Of $572,990.62 And Recorded At Crfn 2006000136532 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County On March 10, 2006. Said Mortgage Was Consolidated With The Mortgage Referred To At Crfn: 2003000223380 By A Consolidation, Extension And Modification Agreement Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner Dated August 4, 2005 And Recorded March 10, 2006 At Crfn 2006000136533 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County To Form A Single Lien In The Amount Of $1,500,000.00. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed November 29, 2007 And Recorded On November 21, 2007, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2007000581072. Plaintiff Is Also Holder Of A Mortgage Dated September 5, 2007 Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner To Secure The Sum Of $160,834.90 And Recorded At Crfn 2007000575041 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County On November 19, 2007. Said Mortgage Was Consolidated With The Mortgage Referred To At Crfn: 2006000136533 By A Consolidation, Extension And Modification Agreement Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner Dated September 5, 2007 And Recorded November 19, 2007 At Crfn 2007000575042 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County To Form A Single Lien In The Amount Of $1,750,000.00. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed July 2, 2015 And Recorded On July 20, 2015, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2015000249598. Said Mortgage Was Subsequently Modified By A Loan Modification Agreement Executed By Peter N. Weiner Aka Peter Weiner And Susan N. Weiner Aka Susan Weiner On June 15, 2017 And Recorded August 17, 2017 In Crfn 2017000308213 In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed January 30, 2020 And Recorded On May 17, 2021, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2021000180317. The Consolidated Mortgage Was Subsequently Assigned By An Assignment Executed June 17, 2019 And Recorded On May 17, 2021, In The City Register Of The City Of New York, New York County At Crfn 2021000180318. The property in question is described as follows: 35 Bethune Street, Apt. 1B, New York, NY 10014 AKA 33/35 Bethune Street, Unit 1B, New York, NY 10014 NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this Foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. DATED: May 13, 2024 Gross Polowy LLC Attorney(s) For Plaintiff(s) 1775 Wehrle Drive, Suite 100 Williamsville, NY 14221 The law firm of Gross Polowy LLC and the attorneys whom it employs are debt collectors who are attempting to collect a debt. Any information obtained by them will be used for that purpose. 80873

Notice is hereby given that Application ID Number NA-034024-117482 for a On-Premises Restaurant license has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine and spirits at retail in a Restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at Buffalo Wild Wings Bar & Grill located at 139 Flatbush Avenue, Floor 2, Brooklyn in Kings County for on-premises consumption. Munson of Atlantic Terminal Wings LLC, 139 Flatbush Avenue, Floor 2, Brooklyn, NY 11217-1450.

Notice is hereby given that Application ID number NA-034024-119901 for a On-Premises Restaurant liquor license has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine and liquor at retail in a Restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at the to be named restaurant located at 601 West 26 th Street, 10 th and 11 th Floor, Outdoor Terrace, New York in New York County for on-premises consumption. RXR SL TRS Sub LLC and SL F&B Management, LLC, 601 West 26 th Street, 10 th and 11 th Fl, Outdoor Terrace, New York, NY 10001.

Notice is hereby given that a license for RW 241 Wine, Beer and Cider License, has been applied for by Salka Food LLC dba Copper Mug Coffee, to sell wine, beer and cider under the Alcoholic Beverage Control law at the premises located at 131 N 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249.

Notice of Qualification of SOLAR DG NY SUNNYSIDE 2, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/01/22. 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. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Sophie Amelkin Music LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on April 14, 2024. Office location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 110-20 71st Avenue, Apt 204, Forest Hills, NY 11375. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Harolds Cargo LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/7/24. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 4372 Wickham Ave, Bronx, NY 10466. Purpose: Any lawful act.

APM LUXURY LIMO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 2/4/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 205 W 115 St Suite 4A, NY, NY 10026. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Application of Authority of Limited Liability Company Zen Org LLC (“LLC”). LLC Application for Authority filed with the Secretary of State of New York (“SSNY”) on February 13, 2024. N.Y. Department of State Office location: One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12231. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against LLC served upon it is c/o the LLC: Zen Org LLC, 401 Ryland Street, Suite 200-A, Reno, NV 89502. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION OF AUTHORITY IN NEW YORK BY A FOREIGN LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. Name: JANS Investment Company LLC. The fictitious name which the LLC will use in the State of New York is AntNick Company LLC. Application of Authority filed with sec. of state of NY (SOS) on 4/24/24. Office location: New York County. SOS is designated as agent of LLC for service of process. SOS shall mail copy of process to 105 Fifth Ave, 5D, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: All lawful purposes.

Rake Eats LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/05/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 154 Attorney Street, Unit 702, New York, NY, 10002. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of EH DOMINION HOLDING COMPANY, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/29/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 55 Water St., NY, NY 10038. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Attn: Jeffrey Chansler at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

111 CHAMBERS STREET LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/01/24. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 111 Chambers Street, Apartment 3, New York, NY 10007. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Jamie Samantha Glass LCSW PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 04/03/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail to: 228 Park Ave S, #941255, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.

LF 2024 RETAIL LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/09/24. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Larstrand Corporation, 500 Park Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of 499 GRAND ST, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/10/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/23/24. NYS fictitious name: GB 499 GRAND ST, LLC. 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. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

TAMARES CORNER OF MAIN LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 09/20/19. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Braunstein Turkish LLP, 7600 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 402, Woodbury, NY 11797. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Qualification of THIRD PRIME CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/02/24. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/29/16. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of BST KNOX LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/01/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/22/24. 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., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of FIVE IRON GOLF KIRKLAND LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/26/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 883 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Uptown Clay LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/22/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 14 Bogardus Pl. #5W, NY, NY 10040. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of MH Equestrian, LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/15/23. Office location: New York County. NY Sec. of State designated agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served, and shall mail process to The LLC, c/o Monica L Halem, MD, FAAD, 988 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10075. DE addr. of LLC c/o Vanguard Corporate Services Ltd, 3500 S Dupont Hwy, Dover, DE 19901. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St, Dover, DE 19901 on 8/9/23. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Lanark Consulting LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/18/24. Office location: Queens County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 983 Wyckoff Ave #1, Ridgewood, NY 11385. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Harvest NP in Psychiatry, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/19/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 7014 13th Ave., Ste. 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Pure Holding LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/08/2023. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 7 Sutton Square, NY, NY 10022. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Pars Abode, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/11/2023. Office: Nassau County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 29 Burt Ct, Valley Stream NY 11581. Purpose: Any lawful act.

KREISMANN ADR SERVICES, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 5/09/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 2500 Westchester Ave, STE 117, Purchase, NY 10577. Purpose: Any lawful act.

The Loke Lounge LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/27/2024. Office: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 157 E 32nd St, Apt 17A, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of COMBINED BUILDING SERVICES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/07/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/24/86. Princ. office of LLC: 150 E. 42nd St., Fl. 7, 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. (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, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of DD BEDFORD PARKING LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/09/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 7 Penn Plaza, Ste. 600, NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Ambitious Soule L.L.C. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/08/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & mail a copy to: 7014 13th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of 2125TH9B LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/01/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 212 Fifth Ave., 9B, NY, NY 10010. 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 122072543. Purpose: Rental.

Notice of Qualification of ARTEMIS INVESTOR HOLDINGS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/14/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/07/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ARTEMIS OUTDOOR HOLDINGS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/14/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/07/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 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., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

SNF Global LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 3/23/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 100 W 31 St Apt 20D, NY, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of MAD RIVER MANOR PRESERVATION GP, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/16/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of PRIVACORE CAPITAL ADVISORS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/02/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/05/24. Princ. office of LLC: 1411 Broadway, 17th Fl., Ste. B, NY, NY 10018. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Investment advisor.

Notice of Formation of NORTHCREST GARDENS HOUSING GP, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/17/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of NORTHCREST GARDENS HOUSING, L.P. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LP: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. Latest date on which the LP may dissolve is 12/31/2123. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of FAIRVIEW HOUSING I AND II, L.P. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LP: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. Latest date on which the LP may dissolve is 12/31/2123. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Cameron Enterprises A Limited Partnership filed with the NY Secretary of State on January 30, 2024, Office Location New York County. LLC formed in Oklahoma (OK) on 2/18/1986. Secretary of State of New York is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. Secretary of State of New York shall mail process to 28 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10005. Oklahoma address of LLC is 9000 Cameron Parkway, Oklahoma City, OK 73114. Certificate of Formation filed with OK Secretary of State, 421 NW 13th St., Ste 210/220, Oklahoma City, OK 73103, Purpose: any lawful activity.

Zyero LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 4/7/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 228 Park Ave S PMB 416142, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of SOLAR DG NY SUNNYSIDE 1, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/16/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/01/22. 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. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

The Missouri Rowe Collective LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/07/2024. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 228 Park Ave S PMB 321009, New York, NY, 100031502. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Compass Rose Publishing LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 4/27/2024. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail a copy to: 7014 13TH AVENUE, SUITE 202, BROOKLYN, NY, 11228. Purpose: Any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of NORWALK NORTH HOUSING CLASS B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/20/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of NORWALK NORTH HOUSING, L.P. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/21/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LP: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. Latest date on which the LP may dissolve is 12/31/2123. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ARTEMIS MANAGEMENT MERGER SUB, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/14/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/07/24. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Sonny ‘Abubadika’ Carson and the hip-hop generation

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH

Special to the AmNews

Although Brooklyn street warrior Sonny “Abubadika” Carson transitioned to the ancestral realm on Dec. 20, 2002, his influence continues to flow through the youths of the hip-hop generation. This year would’ve marked his 95th birthday, a milestone year to look back at how his behind-the-scenes relationships influenced many positive messages that fortified several artists’ raps.

While living in Bedford-Stuyvesant during the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was an aficionado of that era’s revolutionary rhythms by hip-hop progenitors Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Nina Simone, The Last Poets, Watts Prophets, and Gil Scott Heron, among others.

“That was his soundtrack,” notes Paradise Gray, an artist, activist, and architect of X Clan, one of the early hip-hop groups to blend rap with Afrocentrism. “He loved all of the foundational artists who laid down our culture for us.”

Carson’s son, Lumumba Carson, better known as Professor X, also was a member of X Clan, whose revolutionary and progressive lyrics and themes would become one of hip-hop’s prominent movements during its Golden Era. They released recordings with similar ideologies, namely “Grand Verbalizer,” “Close The Crack House,” “F.T.P.,” and “Exodus.” They also

Supporters display a banner on the steps of City Hall as they call for the renaming of a Brooklyn street for former community leader and activist Sonny Carson, before a council meeting to vote on the issue. After heated arguments with members in favor saying the issue is a matter of “self-determination” for a community, while those against cited his “divisiveness,” the council voted against the honor for Carson.

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

titled a track “The Day of Outrage,” named after the Sonny Carson-led protest against the city’s racial violence, which occurred in late August 1989 following Yusuf Hawkins’ murder. The Black Watch Movement in-

cluded artists Brother, Isis, Queen Mother Rage, and others.

“We didn’t see ourselves as hip-hop yet,” Gray explains. “We were a continuation of the Black Power and Civil Rights

movements.”

Gray then details the Meeting Of The Minds forums during the mid-1980s at the legendary Latin Quarter, a hip-hop venue in midtown Manhattan where the elder Carson built alliances with artists like KRSOne, Just Ice, Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest, Das Efx, Edwin Birdsong, TaharQa & Tunde-Ra Aleem, Native Tongues, Public Enemy, King Sun, Zulu Nation, and more.

“Abubadika served as godfather to BedStuy native Biggie Smalls, as well as to Tupac Shakur, whom he became acquainted with through his mother, Afeni,” reflected his comrade Ali Lamont Jr.

Sonny also had a close alliance with WuTang’s patriarch Popa Wu, aka Freedum Allah, which spanned decades. Popa Wu had a music studio at Bed-Stuy’s Restoration Plaza in the same complex as Sonny’s office, and frequently brought Wu members through to meet him. His 1974 film,

“The Education of Sonny Carson,” was prominently sampled on Wu-Tang’s Ghostface Killah’s 1996 debut album Iron Man.

“Lauryn met Sonny when she was young and his film inspired the title of her solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” theorized Ali Lamont Jr., who once served as Sonny Carson’s bodyguard.

“Sonny had great relations with all the conscious artists. He was jazz in the hood. He gave respect and commanded it as well,” Gray added.

Christ Trump Sr., former President Donald Trump’s father.

With the backing of the United Housing Foundation (UHF), a coalition of labor unions established by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACW), former Governor Al Smith, and former Mayor Al Smith, Kazan launched his first housing complex in 1927. He utilized the New York State Housing Law of 1926, which had “limited dividend” tax abatements for developers that built safe and affordable housing. Later in 1955, the Private Housing Finance Law, or the Mitchell-Lama law, was sponsored by Senator MacNeil Mitchell and Assemblymember Alfred Lama. It financed the building of Co-op City with a mission to house middle-income working families.

It broke ground in 1966 and was completed in 1971. Apartments in Co-op City cannot be resold on the open market.

“To be here, supporting candidates that I truly believe in is so special to me,” said Hollingsworth, as she got ready to canvass door-to-door in Co-op City buildings for the upcoming congressional election. “We need people that actually hear us.”

Some of the most pressing issues the community faces are increasing housing costs and funding for capital repairs to the aging infrastructure.

In 2012, Wells Fargo gave a $621 million

government-insured refinancing mortgage loan to Riverbay Corp that helped with apartment repairs.

Congressmember Jamaal Bowman, who’s running for reelection this year, was a fresh face to politics and an established Cornerstone Academy for Social Action Middle School (CASA) founder when he was elected in 2020 over former Congressmember Eliot Engel.

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“During 2020, we had Eliot Engel who had served as an elected official for 40 plus years. We appreciated his leadership, however, there’s a time you have to learn to pass the baton and get fresh ideas and make sure you are changing with the times. And that’s something we all saw in Congressmember Bowman at the time when he was just Jamaal Bowman or Principal Bowman,” said Katrina Asante, field captain for Bowman’s campaign for reelection and a 23year Co-op City resident.

Political watchers agree that the Black and Brown voter turnout in the district as well as an energized progressive wave in New York helped Bowman oust Engel. During his early days in office, Bowman pushed for capital repair funding and mortgage loan refinancing for Co-op City and had to deal with a loss in his voting base when the developments were briefly redistricted out of the 16th congressional district.

In May, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Assemblymember Michael Benedetto, Senator Jamaal Bailey, and Councilmember Kevin Riley announced a $51 million allocation in the enacted state budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25. The money is intended to help with capital expenses, operating costs, and the proposed 8.1% carrying charge or “rent” increase on residents, who in the cooperative are encouraged to think of themselves as shareholders, not tenants.

“Co-op City’s robust voting turnout can be attributed to its roots as a Mitchell-Lama cooperative, which not only provided affordable housing but also instilled a strong sense of community and civic engagement among its residents,” said Riley in a statement. “The cooperative spirit and collective responsibility have endured, making the area a powerful and active political demographic.”

Co-op City also holds its own internal elections for the Riverbay Corp Board of Directors every year, a stirring force for civic engagement locally. Sonia Feliciano is the current Riverbay Corporation President.

“There are so many facets of running a development of this size. We are not perfect but we all strive everyday to ensure Co-op City will always be the best place to live,” Feliciano wrote in her president’s report, which is published in the Co-op City Times’ weekly newspaper.

At present there are 12 certified candidates running for the board in the Riverbay Corp elections: Jaqueline Smith, Mary Pearson, Aaron Carnegie, Shanauzelda Montgomery, Bernard Cylich, Ezekiel Springer Jr., Corazon Fernandez, Sheila Richburg, Kyshawn White, Kevin Foggie, Leah Graham, and Andrea Leslie.

“We were devastated and heartbroken to lose Co-op City after my first year because of redistricting. So when I ran in 2022 it was in a whole new district. We only had Co-op City for a short period of time,” said Bowman.

Voting for the board elections caps on June 14, right before the state primary on June 25. Community members have shown up en masse to make calls and tell their neighbors about Bowman. A plethora of canvassers—including the WFP, Protect Our Power, Jewish Voice For Peace Action, Jews For Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), Met Council on Housing, Churches United for Fair Housing (CUFFH), Voices of Community Activists and Leaders (VOCALNY), and New York Progressive Action Network—are also knocking on the doors of Co-op residents and seizing the opportunity to directly reach out to constituents ahead of election day.

By 2022, Bowman had secured $124 million for upgrades to the heating, ventilation, electrical, and air-conditioning system. “We helped to refinance their mortgage. Free up [$124] million dollars for much needed repairs in Co-op, including replacing the convectors which is key because those convectors were causing fires all throughout Co-op,” said Bowman. “But I think the biggest thing I’ve done is before I got to Congress I served here as a middle school principal, and so many of the families from Co-op City came to my school. That’s why we continue to have so much support here.”

It’s the combination of dedicated middleand working-class families with access to fairly stable housing that’s really helped Co-op City become such a sought after voting bloc.

“I work specifically in Co-op City to rally my residents, my people, my neighbors, my family, my friends, everyone, to get out to vote. It’s important to have people-power in an election of this size,” Asante said. “And that’s only because you have money that’s coming from all different directions. Such as Republican, MAGA money for a Democrat.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a

gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1

Duke volleyball standout Christina Barrow joins The HistoryMakers

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

With the spring semester concluded, Duke University rising junior Christina Barrow is home with family while continuing to train in anticipation of returning to campus and preparing for the upcoming season. Volleyball is a fall sport and intercollegiate competition begins before the fall semester even starts.

This summer and for the 2024-25 school year, Barrow will also be serving as a Digital Archive Student Ambassador for The HistoryMakers, an archive of over 3,500 oral histories with prominent African Americans. Student ambassadors work to make their campuses more aware of HistoryMakers and its remarkable archive, which includes lengthy, detailed interviews with politicians, movie stars, musicians, athletes, style icons and more.

“African American history will try to be rewritten and taken away, and this is one way we’re trying to preserve it,” said Barrow, who is studying political science, psychology and African and African American Studies at Duke. “Honestly, the application process was really cool because in one of the essays you had to write how you found yourself when using HistoryMakers.”

So far, Barrow has not watched videos

for some of the more famous names, preferring to explore the lesser known stories. “[I] appreciate all the pieces of history,” she said. “One of the things I wrote about was integration in New York. My parents were from New York. It was nice to be able to hear stories from politicians, teachers and business owners in New York.”

She anticipates using material from The HistoryMakers in her research papers going forward and enlightening fellow students how to do so as well. “Being able to learn from everyone’s experiences is something I am inspired by,” Barrow said. “I want to pursue politics and law, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to look at other spheres of life, such as entertainment and medicine. Being able to soak in and be a sponge.”

In addition to watching videos in the HistoryMakers archives and being a resource for people who may also find the material useful in research, she is in training. “I’m incredibly blessed for the people around me and for my coaches to give me a chance to play at Duke,” said Barrow, who has played volleyball since middle school and is a defensive specialist and setter. “Them telling me their expectations and giving me any kind of feedback I ask for really helped me in my confidence and how I go about pursuing anything that I want at Duke.”

Columbia pitcher James Vaughn ponders his future in baseball

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

As Harlem native James Vaughn spends his final days on the campus of Columbia University, he reflects on his two years as a member of the baseball team. He walked at the recent graduation ceremony and will take his final two courses this summer. Training continues as Vaughn, a pitcher, has another year of eligibility and hopes to join a Division I team, allowing him to continue to play the sport he loves while also working on a master’s degree.

“I love everything about baseball,” he said. This includes playing, watching and even reading about it. “I really love the process of working on it. Being very detail oriented about it. I like how fulfilling it is to succeed in baseball because of how hard it is to succeed. … I don’t feel like I’ve maxed out my own ability and potential yet. That’s something that really drives me.”

Vaughn came to Columbia after spending a year and a half at Duke University and one semester at Monroe College. While his family relocated to Atlanta a couple of years ago, attending Columbia made him feel more rooted and he was genuinely satisfied with the studentathlete experience despite the base -

ball team being predominantly white. He praises how the Lions’ coaches recruit people who play well together and enjoy being around each other, noting this year’s team, which went 26–18, had a special bond.

“It’s very clear that baseball is very white,” said Vaughn, noting that there are fewer than 10 Black baseball players in the entire Ivy League. “[Baseball] is not a space that is really in any hurry to change from the Major League level down to Little League.”

While he wishes that there were more efforts toward growing diversity, his love for the sport shines through. Vaughn’s baseball journey began when his father signed him up for Harlem Little League when he was about four. “I was a rambunctious kid and it was a sport that could tire me out. He played when he was younger,” he said. “I’ve loved baseball ever since.”

He attended the Collegiate School from kindergarten through high school, playing on the varsity baseball team. An anthropology major at Columbia, Vaughn is planning to study education in graduate school and hopes to teach after that.

“Start out in the classroom and maybe move into something administrative or government or nonprofit in the education realm,” Vaughn said.

Columbia University pitcher James Vaughn has one more year of college eligibility after recently being awarded an undergraduate degree. (Columbia Athletics photo)

Junior Christina Barrow looks forward to more memorable moments with the Duke volleyball team. (Duke Athletics photo)

What has gone wrong with the floundering Mets?

By RUDY ROBINSON Special to the AmNews

The Mets season has taken a turn for the worse in the past month.

While not expected to contend for the World Series this season, the losses have been repetitive. They were 26-35 after defeating the Washington Nationals 6-3 on the road on Tuesday night. It was their second win in a row after Monday’s 8-7 win over the Nationals. Yet, from May 6 to June 4, the Mets were just 9-17.

Blowing late leads has been damaging and thus far been one of the causes of their fleeting prospects of challenging near the top of the National League East. They were in fourth place and already 16.5 games behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies, which were 43-19 and tied with the Yankees for the best record in all of MLB, going into yesterday’s slate of games.

The Mets’ bullpen has been a major factor in their demise. Two-time MLB Reliever of the Year, Edwin Diaz, was being

counted on to be a reliable closer—but he has four blown saves and a 5.40 earned run average in 20 appearances.

Maybe injuries were a factor: Diaz is presently on the disabled list. Without him, others have been pushed into the closer’s role and the results have been low. Minus Diaz, the other relievers have eight blown saves in May. Additionally, the Mets have five extra inning losses over the last month!

The offense also shares the blame. They were held to two runs or less in 10 losses in May and were batting just .238 midweek as a team. Designated hitter J. D. Martinez led the regulars with a .275 average in 131 at-bats as of yesterday. He didn’t join the team until late March after signing a one-year, $12 million free-agent deal.

Second baseman Jeff McNeil has labored at the plate, sitting out Tuesday’s win with a .227 average and only 14 runs batted.

Centerfielder Brandon Nimmo has also been a disappointment,

The Yankees winning machine keeps pumping

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Yankees 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the Bronx on Tuesday evening had them neck and neck with the Philadelphia Phillies for the best record in Major League Baseball at the start of their game last night (Wednesday) versus the Twins. They were 43-19, grabbing first place in the American League East, 2.5 games in front of the second place Baltimore Orioles (39-20), last year’s division champions. The Yankees went into last night’s second game of the threegame series against the Twins on a six-game win streak and 17-4 over their previous 21.

Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil continued his sterling campaign on Tuesday, tossing six-innings of one-hit ball to raise his record to 8-1 in 12 starts this season. It was Gil’s seventh straight win and he ended his night tied for second in all of MLB in wins and second in ERA at 1.82 behind the Phillies’ Ranger Suarez’s 1.70. Although the 26-year-old righty from the Dominican Republic pitched 29.1 innings for the Yankees in 2022 and

Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil improved 8-1 after throwing six innings and allowing just one hit on Tuesday night in a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins in the Bronx.

hitting only .222 after going 2-4 on Tuesday.

As a team, the Mets are in the bottom half of most major hitting categories. The absence of catcher Francisco Alvarez, who is recovering from surgery in April to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb, has been a big void in the lineup.

A team-only meeting after a loss to the Dodgers last week has produced some improvement, but it couldn’t get much worse. While the trade deadline is next month, it has been suggested that the Mets should deal All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso. He’ll be a free agent after the season and is represented by powerful agent Scott Boras.

While team owner Steve Cohen has accepted this as a rebuilding year, he might not want to spend big bucks on Alonso. Others could be trade candidates. However, for now, the Mets may be patient less than four games out of a wildcard spot but must be realistic about their postseason chances.

four last season, he is still considered a rookie and the early favorite for the American League Rookie of the Year honor.

Through an interpreter Gil noted that the “experience I’ve been gaining, little by little, is definitely a plus.” With Gil coming off Tommy John surgery, Yankees

manager Aaron Boone said the team will take a prudent approach to his workload.

Boone noted “there may be outings along the way, assuming everything continues to go well, where I pull back on pitch count or whatever,’’ said Boone. “There’ll be some strategic things like that.’’

Center fielder Aaron Judge and right fielder Juan Soto have been the drivers of a potent offense and arguably the top two AL MVP candidates as the competition stands today. Soto entered last night’s game with fourth in the league in batting at .319, tied for fourth in home runs with 17 and tied for

second in RBI with 53. Judge led all of baseball with 21 homers and was fifth 49 runs batted in. The Yankees finish up with the Twins tonight, face the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games this weekend at home and will take on the Kansas City Royals beginning on Monday four games on the road.

(AP Photo/ Frank Franklin II)

New York Mets’ second baseman Jeff McNeil shows his frustration during 5-2 loss to Los Dodgers on May 28 at Citi Field. (AP Photo/ Frank Franklin II)

Zhang KOs the faltering former WBC champion Wilder

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

Zhilei Zhang handed former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder his fourth loss in his last five fights this past Saturday in Saudi Arabia with a fifth-round knockout. Wilder only landed 16 of his 95 punches in the match while Zhang connected on 33 of 73, including 29 of his 57 power punches.

At this point in his career, the 38-year-old Wilder (43-4-1, 42 KOs) should seriously consider retirement. Never a great technical boxer, the fighter nicknamed the Bronze Bomber, who battled in the ring five times at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, winning all five, now essentially has just one effective punch in his arsenal: a still thunderous right hand. Furthermore, the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native’s lack of mobility made him an easy target for Zhang (27-2-1, 21 KOs), which it also did for Joseph Parker, Robert Helenius and Tyson Fury in succession, who account for his other three defeats.

Also on Saturday, the UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev defeated Dustin Poirier by submission in the fifth round to retain his title in the main event of UFC 302 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

It was the second UFC event at Prudential Center in a city that is nearly 50% African American, and the economic benefits are consequential. “Last year’s UFC 288 event marked the highest-grossing sporting event in Prudential Center history and generated

over $25 million in total economic output,” said New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy in a statement.

“The City of Newark and Prudential Center continue to be a premium entertainment hub for visitors all across the country and the world. We are proud and excit-

ed to welcome the UFC and its fans back to New Jersey.”

UFC 288, held last September, attracted a sold-out crowd of more than 17,500 and recorded a gate of $5.2 million, making it the highest-grossing sporting event in Prudential Center histo-

ry until Saturday, when UFC 302 surpassed that total, with a gate of $7,255,040 and 17,834 attendees.

UFC lightweight competitor Terrance McKinney visited the Boys & Girls Club of Newark and offered advice to the teen boys and girls, one of three community service events the company did in the Newark area. “You can let it define you, or you can get back up and keep fighting, and that’s kind of what I stand on,” he shared. “You can start at the bottom, but the top is not that far away if you look up.”

This Saturday night, Puerto Rican boxer Xander Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) will challenge Patrick Teixeira Jr. (34-4, 25 KOs) on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in a 10-round, junior middleweight matchup that will also air on ESPN beginning at 11 p.m. Also on the card, Brownsville, Brooklyn’s own Bruce Carrington (11-0, 7 KOs) will take on Jose Enrique Vivas (23-3, 12 KOs) in a 10round featherweight battle in the co-main event.

On July 6 at the Prudential Center, Newark native and WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) will face German Artem Harutyunyan (12-1, 7 KOs) in a 12-round clash.

MLB home run king Barry Bonds enters Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame

By RONALD AGERS MLBbro.com

Special to the AmNews

All-time MLB great and reigning home run king Barry Bonds has ripped up the record books when it pertains to offensive productivity over his career. For a five-year period, pitchers were so afraid to throw to him that intentional walks were pretty much the norm and drew boos from the crowd… when his team was on the road. Bonds will unfortunately be defined by allegations of using banned performance-enhancing substances that arose while he played for the San Francisco Giants from 1993–2007. His detractors forget or consciously ignore that Bonds was one of the sport’s best players in his time with the Pirates and one of the most influential superstars in franchise history.

Gaining election to the Nation-

Former Major League Baseball star and all-time home run leader Barry Bonds will be inducted into Pittsburgh Pirates Hall Fame on August 24 (MLBbro photo)

al Baseball Hall of Fame with the 75 percent needed 10 years on the ballot due to the banned substances controversy, Bonds will be inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame on August 24.

The Pirates drafted Bonds with the sixth pick in 1985 after his outstanding collegiate career playing for Arizona State, and the next seven years were filled with awards as he helped elevate the Pirates to a World Series contender. His time with them included:

• A hitting slash of .275/.380/.503 that adds to the OPS+ advanced stat of 147

• The only player in franchise history with two MVP awards

• Won two Silver Slugger awards and three Gold Gloves

• Ranks fifth on the Pirates franchise list in homers with 176.

• Only player in franchise history to have at least 175 home runs and 200 stolen bases

• Three straight NL East titles in his final three years

• 1992 NL championship series matchup with the Atlanta Braves

“As an organization, we are proud to add three significant members to the Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “Included in this year’s class is a two-time MVP award-winner in Barry, a twotime Manager of the Year-winner in Jim (Leyland), and a two-time World Series champion with the Pirates in Manny (Sanguillen).

“All three inductees are very deserving of this prestigious recognition. We look forward to celebrating their induction with our fans and sharing their stories with generations to come.”

Heavyweight Zhielei Zhang knocked out former WBC champion Deontay Wilder in the fifth round in their bout in Saudi Arabia this past Saturday. (Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing photo)

Sports

The Celtics and Mavericks open the NBA Finals with star power

By JAIME C. HARRIS

AmNews Sports Editor

The Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and the Dallas Mavericks’ Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, have a combined 21 NBA All-Star Game selections and 13 All-NBA honors. They will bring those lofty achievements into the National Basketball Association Finals that begins tonight (8:30 p.m.) in Boston. The Celtics arrived at the best-of-seven series by dismissing the Miami Heat 4-1 in the opening round of the playoffs followed by packing up the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-1 in Eastern Conference semifinals then sweeping the Indiana Pacers 4-0 in the conference championship. The Mavericks handled the Los Angeles Clippers (4-2), Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2) and lastly the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals 4-1 to reach the league’s conclusive 2024 matchup. Only Irving among the aforementioned stars has won an NBA championship. Paired with LeBron James, Irving helped lead the Cavaliers to a 4-3 series victory over Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors 4-3 in the 2016 finals. Irving hit a memorable go-ahead 3-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to help cement the

Cavs’ 93-89 win. After the Cavs’ finals loss the following season, he requested a trade and on August 22, 2017 was dealt to the Celtics, for which he played 127 regu-

lar season games and nine playoff games over two seasons.

Irving signed with the Nets as a free agent in July 2019 after assuring Celt -

ics fans he was returning to Boston. The Nets ultimately traded him to the Mavericks last February 6, ending his tumultuous tenure in Brooklyn. As for his time with the Celtics, the 32-year-old product of St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, admitted to his faults meeting the media on Monday.

“I think I’m better at consolidating kind of the emotions now or being aware of what it’s going to be like,” Irving said of facing his former team. ”But I will say last time in Boston, I don’t think that was the best…when we played in the playoffs (April 2022) and everyone saw me flip off the birds and kind of lose my s --t a little bit…

“It wasn’t a great reflection on my end towards the next generation on what it means to control your emotions in that type of environment, no matter what people are yelling at you.”

Irving knows he will hear more harsh jeers and vulgarity from the notoriously cantankerous Celtics faithful. It comes with being an archenemy and a chief impediment to the Celtics’ goal of winning the franchise’s first title since 2008. The Mavericks lone championship was won in 2011. It’s been a long drought for both. Game time!

Liberty open a three-game road trip with win over the Sky

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

The New York Liberty extended their winning streak to four games on Tuesday with an 88-75 victory against the Chicago Sky in a Commissioner’s Cup matchup on the road to begin a two-game trip away from the Barclays Center.

It raised their record to 8-2, second overall in the Eastern Conference to the undefeated Connecticut Sun, who moved to 9-0 after taking down the Washington Mystics 76-59 on Tuesday.

The Liberty and Sun will meet on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in a nationally televised ABC game. But before then, the Liberty will face the Atlanta Dream tonight. Their next game at the Barclays will be Sunday afternoon versus the Mystics.

Reigning WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart was stellar in the Liberty’s win over the Sky. The 6’4” forward’s 33 points and 14 rebounds were both game highs. Guard Sabrina Ionescu

added 24 points and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton contributed 14.

The Liberty’s current four-game unbeaten stretch began with the Phoenix Mercury on May 29, from which the Liberty emerged with an 81–78 victory. Then came a 90–79 win over the Washington Mystics last Friday. In that home game, the Liberty were without starting guard Courtney Vandersloot, who was nursing a sore back. It was the first Liberty start for forward Kayla Thornton, who came up big with 20 points.

“My coaches had me work on things when I went overseas,” said Thornton after the 20-point game. “I did that, brought it back and incorporated it with our system. Just being confident.”

On Sunday, the Liberty took on the Fever in the team’s first Commissioner’s Cup game of the season. Vandersloot returned to the lineup, contributing nine points and seven assists. The game marked 2,000 career points for forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. Forward Kennedy Burke, in her first season with the Liberty following stints with the Indiana Fever, Seattle Storm and Washington Mystics, had 10 points, three steals and three blocks.

“As I prepare, just knowing where my spots are and getting there,” said Laney-Hamilton following Sunday’s win. “Continuing to stay ready for the moment and making the most out of my opportunity.” Starting forward Jonquel Jones, a team cornerstone, posted a double-double in the Liberty’s 104-68 trouncing of the Fever on Sunday, with 18 points and 13 rebounds. “When I have the ball, I pride myself on making the right plays and doing whatever is best for the team,” said Jones.

“When we’re playing great defense and pushing in transition, that looks great for us,” said Liberty coach Sandy Brondello. “We continue to work on the spacing. … When we’re sharing it and playing selflessly, that’s beautiful basketball.”

Kayla Thornton came up strong in her first start with the Liberty and receives a post-game hug from teammate Jonquel Jones. (Brandon Todd/ New York Liberty photo)

Boston Celtics forward (l) Jayson Tatum and Dallas Mavericks guard (r) Kyrie Irving will be central to their team’s chances of winning the NBA Finals. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, AP Photo/Abbie Parr)