New York Amsterdam News Issue # 19 May 11-17, 2023 by AmsterdamNews

THE LONG EMERGENCY: NAVIGATING COVID'S NEXT STAGE

Illustration by Amanda Ulloa (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) By HELINA SELEMON Blacklight Science Reporter

More than three years into the pandemic, our understanding of the extent of COVID-19’s impact on Black and brown communities remains incomplete due to a lack of federal data on race and ethnicity.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported over 104 million COVID-19 cases in the United States, but only 66% of those cases include race or ethnicity information. For comparison, the same data misses only 2% of sex data. Demographic data like race and ethnicity tells agencies and policymakers who’s vulnerable at different stages of the pandemic and helps them decide how and where to allocate resources like vaccines and testing. Researchers have been raising the alarms for years, and many are concerned that this can have serious implications in the years and even decades to come.

“Although race and ethnicity for testing and cases have become more complete since reporting began, a significant portion of both testing and case data continue to lack racial and ethnic information,” a CDC spokesperson said in a statement. But why is it missing in the first place?

TESTING OVERLOAD

It might come down to how the data was collected. In the early months of the pandemic, the surge of patients filling hospitals, clinics, and makeshift testing sites overwhelmed healthcare systems, making data collection on patients difficult to complete, let alone enforce.

Sarita Shah, an epidemiologist at Emory University, says the main issue early on was that data on COVID-19 cases that health departments received largely came from labs that received COVID-19 testing samples since they were quicker and most consistent at reporting information to local health departments than clinics and hospitals.

But unlike clinics and hospitals, labs don’t usually have much information about the patients they’re testing to pass on to health departments.

“The form does not typically include race and ethnicity since this is not crucial for the lab to conduct the test,” Shah told the Amsterdam News. They actually get very little information: name, DOB, address, and ordering physician.

This actually isn’t normally a problem for most diseases on an epidemic scale, Shah said. With other diseases like Ebola or tuberculosis, health de -

partments would have more time to report on it, gathering data from multiple sources to fill in gaps. COVID-19 was different, she said.

“We didn’t really have that time,” said Shah. “And the systems that we have in place for data reporting for public health purposes are huge operations and they’re not very easy to modify, adapt, pivot. They’re certainly not fast enough for the pace that COVID-19 needed.”

In April of 2020, New York City’s health department was trying to connect data from labs and hospital systems together. Celia Quinn, the deputy commissioner of disease control at the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), said their best method for getting demographic data was actually to investigate each case, “which is a huge burden on us,” she said. “People don’t always want to talk to us.”

The frantic rush in the first few months of the pandemic might explain early data gaps, but continuing trends of missing race and ethnicity data and rising trends in some states, including New York, make little sense.

“It is quite concerning to see that this remains a persistent barrier and maybe even a worsening barrier,” Shah said.

IN FORMS WE DISTRUST

The CDC uses COVID-19 data to track outbreaks and trends across the country and to assess whether public health actions are working. While the agency mandated that state and local health departments report data on the virus’s spread and impact, each state had its own way of collecting that data.

When it comes to turning over data, the CDC has no enforcement mechanism in place to make sure that health departments report this information. Testing forms asking for name, age, sex, race, and ethnicity often remained incomplete or partially complete. Doctors noted that from the start of the pandemic it was these forms required by the CDC that went unfilled by patients and providers.

“I think we were trying to put in place Band-Aids, I guess, on a system that couldn’t really handle the stress but needed to have this information,” Shah said.

It’s not clear why these problems persisted in each state, but some researchers cite issues with community trust. Historical mistrust of medical institutions from Black and brown Americans contributed to hesitancy on sharing race and ethnicity

Continued on page S3

May 11, 2023May 17, 2023 • THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 2 S

COVID-19 DATA IS MISSING LOTS OF RACE AND ETHNICITY INFO. HERE IS WHY.

A woman with a face mask walks past a mural in Brooklyn on Friday, March 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

with healthcare providers, contact tracers, and healthcare systems collecting COVID19 patient information.

As a result, the communities most impacted by the virus are usually the least likely to identify in health surveys or fill in the race and ethnicity questions.

One study found that 28% of surveyed patients were uncomfortable providing their race and ethnicity to healthcare providers, while another points to greater reluctance among those who’ve experienced discrimination.

Emil Coman, a statistician and researcher for the Health Disparities Institute at the University of Connecticut, said that collection of racial and ethnicity data in the U.S. is becoming more important than in other cultures and countries.

“Racial and ethnic minorities have inherited a set of burdens that makes the study of their health status compared to white U.S. residents somewhat more challenging,” he said.

Coman understands the skepticism people feel. Personal information that is collected by agencies, like a person’s name, birth date, and address, can feel less sensitive to share than race and ethnicity. While data systems commonly collect information about us like name and address, race and ethnicity are often excluded or requested less frequently.

“That’s the issue,” he said. “Race is a very stable characteristic of a person, and once it’s recorded in one place it should be available.”

To reduce missing data, it becomes important that public health and providers restore some of that trust by providing patients with the information they need to understand why those details are being asked of them in the first place.

Quinn said the burden is on providers to collect that information accurately and to do it in a way that’s sensitive and encourages people to report instead of simply checking “not interested” or “not applicable.”

“That’s a really high burden,” she added.

Quinn said the city’s health department is working on improving the way that they get information so that they can get as complete a picture of the virus as they can. “That’s something that we’ve worked on with providers and with labs to make sure that we have the infrastructure to receive that information,” she said.

The more passive the process is for getting this vital information, the more completeness we can start to see with race and ethnicity data, Quinn says. Testing systems at pharmacies like CVS or Walgreens make getting demographic data collection easier.

“That’s one way that we kind of work with the provider and the testing side to make sure that that information is collected so that it can come to us,” she said.

FILLING IN THE GAPS

Some researchers have tried to fill in the gaps. Chicago’s public health department teamed up with DePaul University and attempted to identify race and ethnicity in data that was previously unknown. A team at Emory University, including Shah, worked with Fulton County in Georgia to show fuller disparity by factoring for statistical biases.

“I think the best way forward is to have the actual data collected… that’s our first choice,” Shah said. “In the absence of that, though, these are tools we can use to fill in some of those gaps.”

It’s not perfect, she says, “but we do have statistical methods we can use.”

“I don’t think COVID is the [main] reason for missing race and ethnicity, I think the way it’s being collected in this country is flawed,” said Ofer Harel, professor of statistics and associate dean for research at the University of Connecticut. He added that there are a number of models that statisticians use to answer questions from data, but many researchers without this background may not know how best to apply them.

Research about missing data has been going on since the 1970s, said Harel, who researches methods for handling incomplete data. As science evolves, we may be able to develop better methods. “We’re getting better, but we don’t know everything yet,” he said.

Some states are missing more race and ethnicity data than others. According to April 2022 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, places with sizable Black and Hispanic/ Latinx populations like Louisiana (22% cases with unknown race or ethnicity), District of Columbia (22% unknown) and Massachusetts (28% unknown) had less missing data than most. (As of April 2023, California has 18% cases with unknown race or ethnicity.) Other states like Maryland (39% unknown), Texas (50% unknown), New York (51% unknown), and Connecticut (69% unknown) saw an increase in missing data as the pandemic rolled on.

Delaware had both. Delaware started off with a huge amount—78% of missing race and ethnicity data—in July 2021. That number dropped to 39% almost a year later.

Delaware Health and Social Services said that the department issued an order in March of 2020 requiring labs reporting to the state to include race and ethnicity data in their results. They credited contact tracing for filling in the gaps and manually updated information when it was missing.

New York state’s percentage of missing race and ethnicity case data was dropping until around fall 2021 when missing data started to increase again. By April 2022, New York State’s Department of Health (NYSDOH), which depended on labs to report race and ethnicity, had missed 51% of race and ethnicity data.

According to the DOHMH, New York City started out missing 60% of race and ethnicity data for cases, 17% for hospitalizations, and 10% for deaths. The amount of missing race data for new COVID-19 cases is now down to 20% and Quinn cred-

in the fall of 2021 to when the city stopped doing test and trace in the spring of 2021.

“We stopped calling people to ask them their demographics,” she said. “We never got 100% completion even on that demographic question because I think it was put at the end of the interview just to make sure that we got some of the more critical pieces of, you know, who were your contacts so that we could do the contact tracing piece of it.”

It was at that time that Quinn said the department started focusing their investigations on cases that were in congregate settings or more like high-risk locations.

Pandemic-related hospitalizations and deaths tend to be better collected because of how they’re documented. Race and ethnicity data is the least complete for cases and continues to get more difficult with athome testing being more commonplace. The only people who get counted are those who are coming to a public health laboratory that are then going to end up in the reporting system, Shah says.

WHAT HAPPENS TO DATA WITH COVID-19 EMERGENCY ENDING?

The public health emergency ends this May and so will the way that state and local health departments monitor COVID19 as the federal government won’t require reporting of testing data. Without a federal requirement, the ways that the virus is monitored by cities and states will likely vary even more.

Persistent gaps in data can lead to inequitable distribution of resources. As policymakers in New York City navigate decisions to transition the city “back to normal,” incomplete data will continue to inform those decisions.

Quinn said that the demographic data for COVID-19, like the 80-some maladies the city health department tracks, helps the agency know what’s happening with the disease, where it is coming from, whether the disease requires an emergency response, who is being most impacted, and how they communicate with communities most impacted to keep them safe.

design better systems that talk to each other and surveys that are uniform and represent people’s identifiers well. Where data like race and ethnicity are unknown, he suggests a sensitivity analysis, a statistical approach that measures the potential impact of a complete data set, would help health departments analyzing data convey a greater sense of scope for the burden on people of different races and ethnicities.

Coman said in an attempt to be broad and general, federal demographic survey questions miss out on the complexity and nuances of who we are and our lived experience. “Trying to create categories that are very general and that apply everywhere equally gets you into this trouble,” he said.

There might be some federal movement to address this issue, not specifically for COVID-19 surveillance but more widely for how the federal government collects demographic data for public responses. The federal government announced late January that they’ve begun seeking proposals for revising the federal race and ethnicity standards.

But as people and governments start to move on from the pandemic, federal and local health agencies will be rolling back how often and how much they report data on COVID-19. What’s more, states won’t be required to report cases, and the CDC will stop tracking community-level spread, focusing on deaths and hospitalizations. Less data along with missing race and ethnicity data for COVID-19 will continue to hinder our ability to understand the true impact of the pandemic on different communities. Luisa Borrell, a Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at CUNY’s Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, said obtaining better data, is crucial to effectively addressing racial and ethnic inequality.

“So I think we have to put our money where our mouth is,” she said. “We have to definitely get better data.”

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COVID-19 DATA IS MISSING LOTS OF RACE AND ETHNICITY INFO Continued from page S2

Penny Pierce fills out forms with the help of Taiwan McCall before getting tested for COVID-19 in Harlem in April of 2020. Getting patients to fill out demographic information has been a challenge during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

THE LONG EMERGENCY

Is the pandemic over? Public health experts say not yet

By HELINA SELEMON Blacklight Science Reporter

New York is as back to normal as it has ever been since the start of the COVID19 pandemic more than three years ago. After years of unprecedented disruption, restaurant-goers are squeezing indoors for brunch, catching up on lost time with friends and family. Commuters and tourists are filing back into the subway, rushing to and from work and exploring the city. And with spring in full swing, parks and convention centers are alive with energy once again. But while many in the city are moving on from the pandemic, there’s one major milestone that signifies a true turning point in America’s fight against COVID-19: the expiration of the federal public health emergency on May 11.

“The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency will mean an end to policies that made access to testing, treatment, and vaccines free or affordable,” Lesley Green-Rennis, chair and professor of health education at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) tells the Amsterdam News.

While the expiration of the federal public health emergency doesn’t signify the end of the pandemic, which is currently killing more than 1,000 Americans a week, it does mark the beginning of reductions in national emergency support.

Some of these rollbacks have already taken place: in February, Congress reduced SNAP emergency allotments, and President Joe Biden signed a congressional resolution in early April to end the

coinciding national emergency that was originally slated to expire with the national public health emergency. On the global stage, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently decided to lift its COVID19 emergency.

Grappling with these policy changes includes understanding what support remains to carry Americans through a pandemic that still isn’t over, and how to make choices on the best ways to stay safe in the months ahead.

THE PANDEMIC LINGERS ON

Three years into the pandemic, much of the anxiety and fear has been quelled since its early days. Case numbers and deaths have dropped to record lows. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. is now experiencing more than 150 deaths a day and 1,375 hospitalizations a week, down from the most recent peak in early 2022 of about 2,500 deaths per day and 21,525 hospitalizations per week. Yet Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Latinx Americans are some of the most vulnerable. Black people are 60% more likely to die of COVID-19 compared to white people, according to the latest data from the CDC. Similarly, Hispanic and Latinx people are 70% more likely to die of the virus, and American Indian or Alaska Native people are twice as likely to die. More than 326,000 Black, Hispanic, and Latinx Americans have died since the pandemic started.

The pandemic also took years off of New Yorkers’ lives. A recent study from the

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene found that the average life expectancy of Black New Yorkers is down five and a half years to 73 years, and Hispanic and Latinx New Yorkers are down six years to 77.3 years old. For comparison, life expectancy dropped three years, down to 80.1 years, for white New Yorkers.

In the 1950s, the average life expectancy for Black Americans was 63.6 years. Every fraction of a year in life expectancy can take years to gain. Luisa Borrell, a Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at CUNY’s Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, says it will take us decades to get those years back.

“Look at how long it [took] for African American [sic] to have a decent life expectancy,” she says. “And look at how long it took to get to 70.”

It will be an uphill battle to regain lost life expectancy in the years ahead. GreenRennis says it’s important to be vigilant to protect vulnerable people in our lives. This includes people of color over 50, people who are immunocompromised, pregnant people, or people living with comorbidities that make people vulnerable to COVID-19 like heart disease, high blood pressure, and asthma.

POLICY (AND COST) CHANGES TO COVERAGE AND ACCESS

The end of the public health emergency will change the cost and accessibility of preventing and treating COVID-19 for many people. Leighton Ku, Professor and Director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University, says that the three big elements he’ll be watching for

will be changes to Medicaid coverage, testing access, and SNAP benefits. Medicaid recipients will likely see the most drastic change since the health emergency allowed for continuous enrollment throughout the pandemic and prevented states from taking people off of insurance. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that between 5 and 15 million people could lose their Medicaid coverage if states no longer deem them eligible. Ku estimates that the number of people losing coverage is likely higher, between 15 to 18 million people, with many of these policy changes affecting Black and Latinx adults and children.

This dis-enrollment or “unwinding” of Medicare enrollment lists will take place over the next 14 months, sooner in some states than others. Ku says it is important that people insured through Medicaid have updated their contact information, including their address, with their state so that they don’t miss updates on their insurance.

VACCINES: MOSTLY FREE FOR NOW

On April 18, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a program to keep vaccines free for uninsured Americans. Some of the changes include paying for COVID-19 vaccines if you get your shot out-of-network and likely paying more for future shots. Those on Medicaid and with Medicare Part B will continue to have free shots, thanks to a provision in the CARES Act. According to Ku, COVID-19 vaccines are still free for anyone who has public or Continued on page S5

May 11, 2023May 17, 2023 • THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 4 S

private health insurance. So if you have Medicaid, private insurance, or Medicare, your COVID vaccine will still be covered and insured Americans will not need to pay for that as a preventive benefit. Just make sure to get your shot from an in-network provider, as private insurance companies may require people to pay for COVID-19 vaccines if they are out of network.

New Yorkers can still get a free vaccination by appointment at a NYC Health + Hospitals or Gotham Health center by calling 1-844-NYC-4NYC.

TESTING AND TREATMENT: COSTS DEPENDS

For testing, private insurance companies will no longer be required to cover up to eight rapid COVID-19 tests per month, as they were during the public health emergency. Most insurance will cover costs for COVID-19 PCR testing, but uninsured Americans – 27.5 million people, or 8% of the national population – will probably have these costs come out of their pocketbooks.

At-home test kits are still available all over the city while supplies last. With the end of mobile testing centers, New Yorkers can make an appointment to get free PCR testing at one of the city health department’s express sites, or pick up at-home testing kits at their nearest NYC Health + Hospitals and Gotham Health center. The city’s COVID hotline (212-268-4319) is available to help find free PCR testing and at-home testing kits.

For treatment, New Yorkers can go to NYC Health + Hospitals and Virtual ExpressCare or call 212-COVID19 (212-2684319) for a free prescription and delivery of the antiviral treatment Paxlovid. The medication will remain free to all Americans as long as government supplies last.

SNAP: LIKELY LESS ACCESS THAN BEFORE

At the beginning of March, SNAP allotments fell considerably for millions of people around the country, Ku says. Emergency allotments made on a sliding scale over the pandemic to meet family needs have returned to pre-pandemic amounts, a difference of up to a couple hundred dollars, depending on your household size. For those close to the poverty line, this amounts to even less than before the pandemic. “As we all know, food inflation is really high right now,” Ku says. It also halted work requirements during the pandemic and the government will be returning to a policy of only non-disabled people being allowed to receive SNAP benefits for three months unless they’re working 80 hours a week.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OR THE END OF THE BEGINNING?

Some public health experts are concerned that this might give people the indication that the pandemic is over. The World Health Organization hasn’t yet declared the

pandemic over. Sentiments about the pandemic have eased, though attitudes are mixed about the end of the pandemic.

“I think the crisis phase is definitely over,” says Celine Gounder, an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist and editor-at-large for public health at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Hospitals are not overflowing with COVID patients [and are] able to now balance COVID care with other kinds of care… but we haven’t really learned the lessons of COVID-19.”

A recent survey found that 59% of adults in America think the public health emergency ending will have no impact on them, and almost half think that it won’t have an impact on the country. The public health emergency ending drew greater concern from groups of Americans who have been more negatively affected by the pandemic. Medical and public health officials are clear that the virus is still among us, and still mutating, so there’s still some risk, Green-Rennis says. “Our primary concern is that people will forget that, or not believe it and fail to practice preventive measures.”

This includes hand washing, refraining from interacting with others when we are sick, masking, getting tested when appropriate, and staying up to date with vaccinations, especially those who are particularly vulnerable.

Jorge Moreno, a physician and assistant professor of medicine at Yale University, says that seniors should get the latest bivalent booster if they haven’t gotten COVID-19 or had any boosters in the last four months.

“I cannot stress that enough. Get your booster, if possible,” he tells the Amsterdam News. “It’s still time, it’s not gone, it will protect you.”

Gounder says that immunocompromised folks should consider getting vaccine boosters every four to six months. She also recommends masking and opening doors and windows to create better ventilation at home when the weather allows and testing before going to big events. “It’s still

a really good tool to reduce risk,” she says. According to the CDC, only 16.7% of Americans have gotten an updated booster.

The antiviral drug Paxlovid continues to reduce the risk of COVID-19 progressing to severe disease, hospitalization, or death. “I think that’s a tool that’s really underutilized,” she says.

Moreno is looking ahead at the next few months with cautious optimism but urges people to stay up-to-date on changes with COVID-19 through the CDC, their state and local public health departments, and their doctors or community health centers.

“Educate yourself, not from Facebook, not from WhatsApp, not from social media,” he says. “There’s still a ton of misinformation out there…. I think getting the right information from the right resources will help you make decisions for you and your family.” New Yorkers, for example, can check local data maps to track COVID-19 trends in their area and follow our reporting on pandemic misinformation.

Moreno says it’s also important to notice when people in your community and schools are getting sick, and take some cues to mask and protect yourself. “Whether it’s kids out sick or more people around [you] getting sick, really [be] aware of that,” he says.

Ku says it’s fine to embrace some of what’s helping people feel normal these days. That said, Ku still carries masks with him wherever he goes.

“When in doubt, fall on the side of caution,” he says. “I have a mask in my pocket. I have masks in my car. So I am ready at any given moment.”

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Dr. Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist, says when she thinks back to the early days of 2020, she remembers early conversations with her residents and medical students about a novel coronavirus when she was on service at Bellevue Hospital. At one point, she pulled out the first published epidemio-

logical report of AIDS.

“I said ‘We are at a similar moment with this new coronavirus,’” she says. Her students were skeptical, she recalled. “We haven’t really learned some of the lessons of COVID,” she says. “I think unfortunately, we’re not preparing ourselves for the next pandemic,” she added.

Gounder and others have outlined policy issues and next steps that still need to be addressed to curb this disease, like deciding what level of virus spread that we can live with, fixing our data collection systems for diseases, and addressing the ongoing shortage of public health workers.

Epidemiologist and Emeritus Professor of Public Health at Hunter College Philip Alcabes says the pandemic was an opportunity to completely reform the medical care system in America so that people could get access to the care they need. He says that some of his peers want more intensive and extensive disease surveillance systems to help us prepare for the next pandemic, but he’s thinking about how public health systems will be there for us the next time.

“I know there are people… who feel like ‘Well, what we have to do is create early warning systems so we’ll know when the new virus is coming,’” he says. “But that seems to leave unanswered the question of, well, what do we do once we know?”

The end of the public health emergency raises many questions about how we will handle the pandemic in the months and years ahead. However, experts agree that our success in dealing with the next pandemic will in large part be due to how successfully we learn, and implement, the lessons from the one we are all still living through.

For additional resources about COVID19, visit www1.nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/index.page or call 212-COVID19. COVID-19 testing, masks, and vaccination resources can also be accessed on the AmNews COVID-19 page: www.amsterdamnews.com/covid/.

May 11, 2023May 17, 2023 • THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 5 S

from page S4 THE LONG EMERGENCY

Continued

AFTER THE EMERGENCY ENDS:

What will stay and what will go?

not go back to pre-COVID times. But what impact will the end of the Federal Health Emergency on May 11 have on our lives?

Ziyad Al-Aly, MD is a clinical epidemiologist and Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Center for St. Louis, MO. He spoke with the AmNews about where we are currently regarding COVID-19 infections and why individuals must continue to stay vigilant.

“It’s actually hard to find someone who has not been infected [with COVID],” he says, adding that “it’s more common to find people who’ve been at least infected once, maybe some twice, and in some instances, really four or five times.”

Al-Aly says it’s very important for people to realize that COVID is still a novel virus and has not been on Earth for more than three or four years. “It still can wreak havoc with your body, so to the extent

sity School of Medicine “COVID-19 was something that was a tremendous learning experience for the world and we had the opportunity to come together to work together in a way that I think we probably hadn’t done previously,” she says.

“Unfortunately I think it also revealed some of the [structural inequality] . . .underlying some of the real issues in healthcare. So from my perspective some of the benefits of COVID were that we came together to look at science and companies that previously didn’t work together.”

Some of the aspects of COVID-19 that will stay with us are the therapies and treatments that were created, according to Gebo. A vaccine was developed in only 11 months and “we developed new therapies for treatment such as plasma, Paxlovid. So all of those things I think were real positives,” she says.

was already very clear.

The authors noted that “[a]s the COVID19 epidemic scales exponentially across the world, calls for expanded use of telehealth as innovative solutions, clearly highlights unmet needs” in the world healthcare system.

They say that telehealth has the potential to address many of the key challenges in providing health services during the outbreak of COVID-19: avoiding direct physical contact, minimizing the risk of COVID transmission, and continuous care. Clinicians and patients are strongly recommended to apply telehealth tools as an appropriate option to prevent and contain COVID-19 infections.

Dr. Gebo also spoke on the importance of telehealth and telemedicine. “People who were working or people who were unable to come to clinic on a regular

ers on their phones and have a face-toface visit… and I think that that actuallyular check-ins with some of my patients that I’m more concerned about instead of having them come to clinic, particularly some of my populations of patients who it’s difficult to get to clinic.”

Gebo continued, “I think that telehealth is something that we have to get better at and will be something that we move forward with. We have also gotten better with employing mobile medical devices so sending blood pressure cuffs to people at home glucometers so they can check their blood glucose. . . .It has built a health care system that is remote that is allowing people to do more interactions and more self-measurement and interactions with their health care provider to make decisions as opposed to waiting three months or six months for their next healthcare interaction.”

Other items that will “stay,” according to Gebo, include specific hospital and healthcare procedures, many of which Continued on page S7

May 11, 2023May 17, 2023 • THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 6 S

Medical director of Doctor on Demand Dr. Vibin Roy prepares to conduct an online visit with a patient from his workstation at home in April of 2021 in Keller, Texas. Telemedicine visits grew substantially during the pandemic and some doctors are advocating for it to expand. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

#JUSTICE FOR JORDAN

(See story on page 3)

City Council roadmap to mental health vs. mayor’s version

(See story on page 11)

Rent hikes: Can there be a balance for rent stabilization amid a crazy rise in costs?

(See story on page 6)

Paying homage to Soke

Ali Abdul Karim, a Great Warrior, martial artist etc

(See story on page 26)

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International News

chy should even continue to exist.

Jeremiah Garsha, an assistant professor at University College Dublin, said, “I do think that 2023 is going to be that watershed moment where we look back and see there is no place for a monarchy anymore in a new Britain.”

NEW MESSAGE RINGS OUT AT ROYAL CORONATION: ‘NOT MY KING!’

(GIN)—Along streets packed with Londoners, with visitors from around the world and members of the royal class, the coronation of Charles and Camilla was a sumptuous display of pageantry, trumpet fanfare, and gun salutes.

A glittering gold stagecoach, built in 1760, was on hand to carry the royals to Buckingham Palace.

But the crowd of 3 million was not the same as the subjects of empire in days gone by. How much has changed could be seen in the many people waving signs reading “Not My King!”

“Society has changed,” said reporter Liz Stephens. “The royal family is not representative of the society we live in. We have a lavish coronation at a time of financial hardship for many.”

A protestor said it was a disgrace. “To think this country is in a mess and we’re spending out millions on a coronation.”

At the royal coronation, the public would be asked to pledge their allegiance. But many would much rather bid farewell to the monarchy entirely, given its ties to colonialism and anti-LGBTQ+ laws around the world.

In 1952, as Queen Elizabeth acceded to the throne, British forces declared a state of emergency in Kenya—part of a shrinking British empire as colonies broke away, seeking independence.

The Kenya Land and Freedom Army, erroneously called “Mau Mau,” was a militant African national movement among the Kikuyu people that was a key element in Kenya’s path to independence. More than 20,000 Kikuyus were put in British detention camps while 11,000 rebels died in the fighting.

For many, the British monarchy is tied to that harm: The royals ruled over the empire; profited heavily from it; and, it’s argued, were complicit in it. Many believe King Charles’s coronation is a perfect opportunity to face up to this history and reflect on whether the monar-

“For us, as South Africans, obviously this is not something to be excited or happy about,” said Kealeboga Maphunye, professor of African politics at the University of South Africa (UNISA). “It’s actually sadness, because right now the country is reeling from much of the colonial legacy of the British era.

“As we speak, I’m told the monarch will be carrying the staff (the royal scepter), which has one of our diamonds from South Africa.”

South African activists have been demanding that the UK return the world’s largest diamond, the Great Star of Africa, which is kept with other jewels in the Tower of London.

“They refer to us today as third world countries, because most countries on the continent are poor due to the mineral resources colonialists looted,” added Mohammed Ali of Johannesburg. “They are rich because of us and should now return what they looted.”

Victor Izekor, a retired journalist, condemned the British invasion of Benin Kingdom in southern Nigeria, which included carting away artifacts. “They love their British tradition but they came to destroy ours,” he said.

The Commonwealth, a group of nations mostly made up of places once claimed by the British empire, sees the coronation with apathy at best. King Charles should be repairing the damage of colonialism, said Australian senator Lidia Thorpe, “including returning the stolen wealth that has been taken from our people.”

“The general mood of the place is that there isn’t enough money in the NHS, so many people are dying needlessly, and yet the coronation weekend costs came up to an estimated £200 million-plus,” London-based Counsellor S. Aghedo told the Amsterdam News.

“Not just in the NHS [is] there a lack of money, but in every sector—food banks have tripled all over England—so this weekend was really seen as out of touch. The unemployment rate has risen by 3.7%. Those [who have] work are mostly in unpredictable, insecure, and an unreliable work/income

field. Food banks are mainly used by single men and single women with children, with more nurses and teachers using the food banks as the cost of living increases. The cost of living is another factor, [with] food, bills, energy all rising high. People really are struggling to make ends meet…people are asking [why] £200 million for a family that should not exist in this role is the priority.”

Additional reporting

By Nayaba Arinde Amsterdam News Editor

PRESS FREEDOM THREATS GROW IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA (GIN)—With a blindfold, a sword in one hand and scales in another, Lady Justice is one of the most recognized legal symbols around the world.

Today, however, questionable actions cloud this moral force, from the Supreme Court of the U.S. to the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe, which is preparing to meet the challenges of crucial general elections to take place this summer.

According to the Global Impunity Index of the Committee to Protect Journalists, no one has been held to account in nearly 80% of journalist murders during the last 10 years, and governments show little interest in tackling the issue.

Despite police assurances of progress and two arrests in Ghana, nobody has been tried or convicted in the murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale Divela, an investigative reporter who exposed alleged corruption in African soccer.

Since Suela-Divela’s death, at least 30 other Ghanaian journalists and media workers have faced abuses in connection with their work, including attacks, threats, and arrests.

Divela told the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists that he feared for his life after an image of his face was broadcast on live television by Kennedy Agyapong, a member of parliament from the ruling New Patriotic Party, accompanied by repeated threats.

“I’m telling you, beat him,” Agyapong said while an image of Divela’s face aired on-screen, according to a translated copy of the event. “Whatever happens, I’ll pay. Because he’s bad, that Ahmed.”

In the Republic of Burundi, an appeals court upheld a 10-year prison term this month for Flori-

ane Irangabiye for a commentary she shared on the diaspora-based online media outlet Radio Igicaniro, in which she was critical of the political elite in Burundi.

In Kenya, 14 organizations have called on Kenyan authorities to speed up investigations into the killing of Pakistan-born Arshad Sharif, fatally shot by a police officer in a case of “mistaken identity.” Pakistani investigators described the Kenyan police version of events as “full of contradictions” and “not believable.”

Investigators called Sharif’s killing “a case of planned targeted assassination with transnational characters rather than a case of mistaken identity.”

Now, Zimbabwe’s NewsDay has expressed fears that Zimbabwean courts “are already showing us a different version of justice, one that is perverted to serve certain individuals and achieve certain ends.”

“Zimbabwe’s authorities seem to be doing their best to dampen would-be voters’ enthusiasm,” added Michelle Gavin, former managing director of the Harlembased Africa Center. “The state continues to persecute opposition politicians and voices of dissent. Police have even stopped musicians from performing songs that condemn corruption.”

The deck is stacked against Zimbabwe’s opposition in upcoming elections, wrote Zimbabwean Chipo Dendere, an assistant professor of Africana studies at Wellesley College.

Finally, the Media Institute of Southern Africa and Amnesty International are warning that “attacks, harassment, intimidation, and criminalization of journalists have been escalating in East and Southern Africa for exposing allegations of corruption and human rights violations.”

A statement by Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s director for east and southern Africa, appeared this month on World Press Freedom Day.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 2 May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023

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#JUSTICE FOR JORDAN - NYC protests for slain subway rider

No initial charges after white subway rider Daniel Penny kills Black New Yorker Jordan Neely

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor and By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Jordan Neely was the in-needof-services homeless man known around the city as a Michael Jackson impersonator. He was killed last week when former Marine Daniel Penny held him in a chokehold for a reported 15 minutes after he told F train commuters he had no food or drink.

Penny was interviewed by NYPD officers and immediately released. The medical examiner deemed it a homicide. At presstime, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was still determining whether or not, he would convene a grand jury.

These two factors have continued to enrage protestors, who are demanding immediate action in both areas. There have been constant protests since the killing on Monday, May 1, 2023, and multiple arrests of demonstrators.

The Amsterdam News asked Neely family attorney Lennon Edwards what he thought was the reason for the delay in convening a grand jury by Bragg. “It’s inexplicable what their reluctance is,” Edwards said. “When the police arrived at the scene, they had both the victim and the killer. They have the eye witnesses, and shortly thereafter the video was released, and the world has seen it. The DA should be seeing what the world is seeing. This man was killed in a way that you kill somebody at war. This is a civilian killing another civilian, and the world has seen it

and so how the DA doesn’t see it, I have no idea.”

Known to the city’s mental health services, Neely was on an elevated watchlist. A Department of Social Services spokesperson said the agency cannot disclose specifics about client cases or case histories due to state law.

His was a tragic life. He was only 14 years old when his mother, Christine Neely, was slain in the family home by her boyfriend, Shawn Southerland. Neely had wanted to greet his mother as he left for school, but Southerland said she was asleep, while in fact he had killed her. He was convicted of her murder after she was found stuffed inside a suitcase, and dumped on the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York. At age 18, Neely testified at the trial. Family and friends said it was a trauma that Neely struggled with his entire life.

Anyone who rides the MTA subway regularly will have encountered people actively experiencing poverty, homelessness, and mental illness. Neely, 30, was an unarmed individual who had been on the subway many times and was known by many regular travelers as a beloved performer.

On May 1, 2023, on the F train at Lower Manhattan’s Broadway and Lafayette Street, reports say that he loudly and persistently asked fellow riders for food and drink.

Daniel Penny, 24, the white former Marine, came from behind and decided to put him in a banned chokehold for 15 minutes, squeezing the life out of him. When police responded to the 911 calls, they found Neely unconscious. He was

administered CPR and transported to the Lenox Health Greenwich Village emergency care facility, where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.

Freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vasquez filmed the incident, and it has been seen worldwide. The graphic video depicts Penny on the subway floor with his left arm wrapped around a limp Neely’s neck for a prolonged period of time.

Vasquez told the New York Post, “He started screaming in an aggressive manner...He said he had no food, he had no drink, that he was tired and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all these things, took off his jacket—a black jacket that he had— and threw it on the ground.”

Vasquez said Neely was choked for around 15 minutes while others called police.

“Obviously, he was calling for help,” Neely’s dad, Andre Zachery, 59, told the Daily News. “He wasn’t out to hurt nobody…He was a good kid and a good man, too. Something has to be done. That man [Penny], he’s still walking around right now. My son didn’t deserve to die because he needed help.”

Edwards said, “At this point, the DA is not doing enough to even get the grand jury together. They have not laid out to anybody any concrete action that we can expect to see in the next few days. We’ve already made it clear to the world that this was something that was shown on video, and there’s no question about what happened. There’s no question about the type of technique that was used. It was

a choke that the military uses to kill. This is something that a man who spent four years in the military should have known, and we believe he absolutely knew what he was doing when he applied that choke.”

Edwards said people are purely perplexed. “The thing that we can’t understand is he held it for at least 15 minutes knowing that it would kill—and even in the video, you see that Jordan Neely’s lifeless body is still in the clutches of this killer, and he’s being helped by two people that we have not identified yet. The DA has not specified who they are, but they share in the consequences for their actions. Obviously Daniel Penny is the main culprit.”

The NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) deemed Neely’s manner of death a homicide last Wednesday, due to the “compression of neck”— in other words, a chokehold. To be clear, such an assertion is not a legal “ruling on intent or culpability,” so the ball is now in the court of Bragg and his stable of senior prosecutors for whether Penny is tried for killing Neely as an unlawful, criminal act—like murder or manslaughter.

“This is a solemn and serious matter that ended in the tragic loss of Jordan Neely’s life,” said a Manhattan DA spokesperson. “As part of our rigorous ongoing investigation, we will review the medical examiner’s report, assess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible, and obtain additional medical records.”

Frustration over the Neely

See JUSTICE on page 31

MTA invests $500M in Brooklyn Broadway Junction makeover

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

The Broadway Junction station has always been a functional yet rhythmic chaos of transfers between the A/C, J/Z, and L trains. Mayor Eric Adams, along with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), is sinking $500 million in investments to revitalize the station into an inclusive and accessible space for commuters.

Hope in Harlem Conference

“Hope in Harlem Conference: A Celebration of Community, Mental Health & Wellness!” takes place Saturday, May 13, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., at First Corinthian Baptist Church (1912 Adam Clayton Powell Junior Boulevard, Manhattan).

This in-person conference will bring together nationally recognized experts and community partners to share best practices in innovative mental health services in Harlem and the surrounding NYC area. It aims to build bridges between communitybased organizations and hospital-based services to strengthen culturally inclusive care to serve vulnerable populations.

The conference offers free 3.0 CEU credits for social workers, psychologists, and physicians for all sessions. Free tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite. com/e/hope-in-harlem-conference-tickets-510995861377.

21st Uptown Arts Stroll opening reception

Join NoMAA (Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance) and the arts community at the 21st Uptown Arts Stroll opening reception with music, art, refreshments, and honorees. The event takes place June 1 from 6 to 8.30 p.m. at the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling (898 St. Nicholas Avenue @ 155th St., Manhattan).

For more info, call NoMAA at 212-5674394 or Sugar Hill at 212-335-0004. Free tickets available at https://www.nomaanyc. org/events/uptown-arts-stroll-opening-reception-2/.

28th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition

“I fought to bring investments to this community when I was Brooklyn borough president, and as mayor, I am proud to say that we are getting it done,” Adams said in a statement.

The large subway station serves six largely residential, predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods: Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York, and Ocean Hill.

As part of the New York City Economic Development Cor-

poration (NYCEDC) plans, the city will create two new public plazas on either side of Van Sinderen Avenue and Fulton Street. The city will invest $95 million into better lighting, signage, benches, and bike infrastructure, and the plan aims to make the junction more Americans with Disabilities Act- (ADA-) friendly with $400 million toward upgraded elevators and escalators. The plan also includes a new entrance with direct access to the L train on the east side

of Van Sinderen Avenue.

“At one of Brooklyn’s busiest transit hubs, commuters deserve a fully accessible Broadway Junction complex that is surrounded by welcoming, attractive public spaces and safe infrastructure,” said Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez in a statement. “We’re working closely with the EDC and MTA to support their vision for the neighborhood and

See MTA on page 27

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 28th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival kicks off Thursday, May 11, continuing through Saturday, May 13. The annual competition brings together talented young musicians from all walks of life to participate in workshops, jam sessions, and sectionals before competing for top honors in the House of Swing.

The festival will kick off with a crowd of supporters cheering on the 15 finalist bands as they enter Frederick P. Rose Hall on May 11. On Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13, finalists will compete for a chance to be named one of this year’s top three bands and have the opportunity to perform alongside the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

This event is open to the public, and tickets are on sale. A livestream of all performances can be seen at https://www.jazzlive. com/essentially-ellington-23.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 3

––Compiled by Karen Juanita Carrillo

Metro Briefs

Biden’s numbers are not good, and there’s little relief on the horizon

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

If President Biden’s numbers continue to plummet, and the Gallup and more recent Washington Post-ABC News polls offer no relief, even the Black vote will not rescue him as it did in 2020. The ABC News poll showed that 56% of adults disapprove of Biden’s job performance while only 36% of adults approve of what he’s been doing.

More alarming, 54% percent of adults say Trump handled the economy better than Biden did. Okay, who are these people responding to these polls, where do they live, and what race or ethnic group do they belong to? To be sure, if these are respondents in red states, then we know what to expect. Even so, the numbers should be of concern for Biden and the Democratic Na-

Trump guilty!

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

A jury of nine members in Manhattan federal court took only three hours on Tuesday to find former president Donald Trump guilty of sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll, and awarded her $5 million in compensatory damages. The former Elle magazine advice columnist had accused him of raping her in the mid-1990s. He then defamed her by calling her a liar.

The jury of six men and three women rejected Trump’s denial that he had assaulted Carroll and sexually abused her, but they did not find that Trump had raped her.

Finding him liable necessitated a unanimous verdict, and because this is a

tional Committee (DNC), which hasn’t yet revealed a campaign strategy to offset the terrible numbers.

You always take polls with a grain of salt and a recognition of the margin of error, and we’re still a number of months away from when they begin to truly matter. Of deeper concern for Democrats is the diminishing support from potential African American voters.

It must be distressing for Biden to learn that if the election was held today, Trump would trounce him. But this may just be the kind of alert he and the party needs to rally the troops and begin pushing an agenda to convince the nation’s electorate of how wrong they are about the current polls.

Biden, of course, can point to several positive developments over the last year or so, particularly on the economic and employ-

ment front, and certainly when it comes to reaching out to comfort struggling marginalized communities. The rash of mass killings is disturbing, but he can point to the reluctance on the part of GOP members to do anything about background checks and other measures to keep assault weapons out of the hands of mentally distressed citizens.

It’s no time to relax, with even more trouble having loomed on the horizon with ending Title 42 and the confusion at the southern borders. And where is Vice President Harris, who has to step up her game in dealing with a multitude of pressing issues?

Nope, the polls are not good, but they are only a momentary barometer of a relative pool of pollsters, and as candidates know so well, all you need to turn things around is the next poll or intensification of the ongoing conflict in the GOP.

Seton Hall students want Africana studies protected

Seton Hall University students have staged a sit-in outside the office of the school’s president under the banner of Protect AFAM to demand that the school direct more funding toward its Africana Studies (AFAM) program and hire up to four full-time faculty for its courses.

Protect AFAM claims they have asked to speak with the administration about how AFAM appears to be being defunded, but have not been given the opportunity to sit down with them. Rev. Dr. Forrest M. Pritchett, interim director of AFAM, wrote an open letter in support of the protests According to the school newspaper, The Setonian, he termed the students’ sit-in a “last option.”

civil case, Trump faces no criminal consequences.

During the civil trial, Carroll, now 79, testified that Trump, now 76, raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in either 1995 or 1996. Subsequently, he defamed her reputation by writing a post in October on his Truth Social platform that her claim was a “complete con job” and that her accusations were “a hoax” and “a lie.”

It’s to be seen how all this will play out for the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election race. Recent polls indicate that he would defeat other GOP contenders as well as President Biden. Given the seemingly unshakable loyalty of his base, the verdict will not be enough to dis-

suade them, and may in fact bolster his run.

Trump may witness a small desertion from women and a few moderate Republicans may add to their general rejection of his candidacy.

Carroll’s case might have been helped by the fact that she immediately reported the issue to a friend, despite waiting all these years before going public with the charge. Two other women testified on her behalf, saying they were also assaulted by Trump.

Trump did not testify and there is no report about his reaction to the verdict. He may get only a few days to recover before another, more serious, charge—of sedition—may come in the wake of the trial of four Proud Boys, who were convicted for their role in the January 6 insurrection.

On the Protect AFAM Instagram page (@protect.afam.shu), students can be seen speaking about the importance of promoting Black education. They also can be seen claiming that Seton Hall does not want to allow the students to protest and decrying the fact that school security guards have been photographing the students taking part in the protest. “You want to keep us heavily surveilled?” one student says into a microphone. “Seton Hall university, let it be known that every single security guard has told you how respectful we are, has told you how accommodating we are, has told you how peaceful we are! But you need to ensure the ‘safety’ of your Seton Hall community? The only thing unsafe was our voices.”

The university said in a statement: “Seton Hall University enthusiastically supports the discipline of Africana Studies and underscores how vital it is for all our students, independent of their major field of study, to be able to learn about their (and other) cultures, histories, and identities.”

––Compiled by Karen

Juanita Carrillo

Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams’s budget briefing leaves CBOs ambivalent about funding and bail reform

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News

Corps

Member Staff, Report for America

Community-based organizations (CBOs)—including leading gun violence interrupters and reentry nonprofits—were at the table for Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams’s budget briefing on public safety in Inwood last Wednesday, May 3.

“We’re making historic investments to support organizations like [Jackie RoweAdams’s Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E.] and to transform public safety,” said Hochul. “Take those challenges and turn them into better days for our communities across the state. Because there’s my firm belief that every single New Yorker deserves to feel safe and to be safe in their communities.”

The Fortune Society’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Stanley Richards called the budget’s $31.4 million for alternatives to incarceration programs and $11.5 million for post-prison reentry services a “moment of celebration.” Increased funding will go toward organizations like the Fortune Soci-

ety to rebuild lives of justice-impacted New Yorkers after they come home. At the press conference, Richards estimated the nonprofit serves around 10,000 people.

But Richards expressed anxieties to the Amsterdam News over Hochul’s bail reform rollbacks, which held up the same budget after state lawmakers dissented. Ultimately, a concession was made to continue to give judges further discretionary powers to ensure defendants returned to court, while pruning a “dangerousness” standard when determining bail.

“This [funding] is significant in terms of our ability to provide services that help people rebuild their lives, prevent people from getting caught up in the cycle of mass incarceration, and providing tools that allow communities to thrive and create safe communities, so we’re really thankful for this budget,” said Richards. “At the same time, we are cautious and concerned that this budget included language that could result in judges detaining more people and widening the net of who [is] incarcerated.”

During the briefing, Hochul said she supported bail reform’s “core premise” and acknowledged a defendant’s wealth is frequently the determining factor in detainment at Rikers versus going home after arraignment. The comment was not lost on Richards, who pointed out that bail is merely meant to ensure the defendant shows up for court.

Meanwhile, Rowe-Adams—who lost two sons to gun violence—supported both scaling back bail reform laws and funding second-chance organizations like the Fortune Society, strongly commending Hochul as an ally of Black and brown New Yorkers. The governor in turn thanked the lifelong Harlemite “for her courage” and called her a “beacon of hope” during the briefing.

But funding remains an issue—despite Hochul’s shoutout, Rowe-Adams said Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. doesn’t receive “a dime of state funding.” She said localized victim services like hers can often be overlooked.

“We have been fighting for us to get money—the victims, the support groups,”

she said. “It takes forever for us to get it [from the city] but we get it to do the programs. We have to. We have bereavement counseling, we do social and emotional workshops. So we definitely need money.”

Despite its diverse resources, Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E. is narrowly focused on gun violence prevention. Rowe-Adams is well-known uptown for her role supporting those who lose loved ones to shootings. “We are the ones grieving and [fighting],” she said. “We’re talking to the other parents that have other kids. And we are going to the schools, the victims, because we know the pain of the families. We know the pain when they get killed out there. And we go to the mothers and fathers and the families come to us, but we get overlooked.”

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.

4 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

NewJersey News

’90s music video mystery man

Power Malu now on volunteer frontlines of city’s migrant influx

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

The search for Power—lifelong Lower East Side resident Power Malu—started in hiphop. Recognizable by his big hair, the AfroBoricua New Yorker was a staple “Where’s Waldo” cameo in 1990s music videos like Digable Planets’ “9th Wonder” (Blackitolism) and De La Soul’s “Itzsoweezee.”

These days, Malu is mostly sought by the city’s incoming migrants as a grassroots organizer known for connecting them to resources and championing family reunification. He spoke with the Amsterdam News at the Port Authority as he greeted newly arrived asylum seekers, his trademark hair often the first thing they see as they get off the bus. Beyond cameos and advocacy, Malu has done seemingly everything, from hosting MTV shows to influencing bicycle meets in Yugoslavia to running the city’s first plant-based community fridge. His “CVS receipt” of a résumé is best broken down by the name of his organization: Artists Athletes Activists.

“From a young age, I was always a mediator—I got along with the entire neighborhood,” he said. “I would roam the streets and I would know people from different blocks. By default, sometimes people have issues with each other. We would be in a park or another location [with] both parties…they saw that whatever beef that they had, it would be squashed organically.”

Pounding the pavement soon opened more doors for Malu, who ended up handing out fliers in clubs. He found himself hosting shows and developing friendships with artists coming into New York City. His community-building skills led to a public access show where Malu interviewed highprofile artists and DJs. Malu soon found himself invited to music video sets, where his cameo became a “stamp of approval.”

But he said he’s stepped away from the “ego system” in favor of the ecosystem. Malu’s advocacy now largely forms around what current issues are—the son of a boxer,

he learned to pivot at a young age, so when southern border states started busing asylum seekers to New York City last year, he stepped up.

“The emergency is really when people are here and they’re not getting access to services or then there’s no outreach being done,” said Malu. “People are coming back here to the Port Authority for services, information, and help with their asylum cases, help with enrolling their kids in school, [and getting] culturally sensitive food.

“We have moms [whose] babies are being born here in New York City. We’re helping them get to their appointments. We’re helping them get food.”

His work is only more pressing with the recent lifting of Title 42, a measure used by both the Trump and Biden administrations to restrict asylum seeker entry under the pretense of COVID19 safety. A recent Mayor’s Office memo asked for potential emergency site ideas to address dire housing needs for the more than 36,500 migrants in the city’s care. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Malu.

“You have people here in New York City [who] are just sitting in hotel rooms, or sitting in their shelters because they can’t travel,” he said. “They want to work. They’re not legally allowed to work, so they’re getting exploited, a lot of them, when they actually do find work. We’re constantly advocating to keep families together. We’re advocating to be able to support these families. The majority of them are people [who] have already been in the system, but they’re not receiving the services. They’re not getting the services that they need.”

More about Malu’s work can be found at https://artists-athletes-activists.org/.

THE URBAN AGENDA

By David R. Jones, Esq

States Begin to Take Housing Affordability

Seriously . . . Except New York

Another state budget season passes in New York, and yet again, Albany shows where its priorities lie.

It is customary for the state budget deadline to bring with it stories in late April — late May this year — chronicling what did and did not make it into the adopted budget. But even with a negotiation process as opaque as it is in New York, we learned that housing policy was “out” very early on in the process. What’s more interesting than what New York policymakers didn’t prioritize, is what other states did.

Some states have a considerable lead when it comes to using their powers to take housing affordability seriously. Since the 1960s, Massachusetts has streamlined the process for affordable housing developments to overcome local zoning, especially in the most unaffordable communities. Chapter 40B and 40R laid the foundation for a smart approach to overcoming local obstruction to affordable development.

Simply put, the laws give affordable housing projects proposed in localities not meeting their affordability responsibility (those with less than 10 percent affordable units) the ability to utilize a simplified permitting process through a single authority and appeal denials of permits with a state Housing Appeals Committee. And a range of incentives are provided to promote transit assessable affordable unit construction.

More recently, upon receiving Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding from the federal government, Massachusetts decided to prioritize public housing and other assisted households. This bold move was a part of a trend across the country, as states looked for ways to target those more impacted during the pandemic. This is the opposite of New York’s policy of putting public housing at the back of the line for ERAP.

Consider this: California passed a “Just Cause Eviction” bill in 2019, which limited landlords’ ability to terminate leases for tenants that lived in a unit for at least a year. To prevent large rent increases as a workaround, the bill capped rent at the lesser of five percent plus Consumer Price Index (CPI) and 10 percent. The bill exempted buildings built within the last 15 years. This is just the recent step taken by California to address the housing affordability crisis. Not only has the state provided numerous ways for developers to bypass local zoning to build Accessory Dwelling Units, in 2017, the state essentially ended single family zoning and took steps to streamline affordable housing in a way that’s similar to Massachusetts.

In Colorado, a sprawling land-use bill passed in the State House earlier this month. The bill would lead to greater density in many areas of the state that currently allow only single-family homes. Despite pushback and amendments to the bill to create exceptions for specific locales like ski towns and small and underdeveloped areas, the bill is making its way through the legislature.

Similarly, Washington State’s House of Representatives passed a bill effectively banning single family zoning in a 75-21 vote this March. The bill legalized duplexes and or fourplexes in every neighborhood and gives a density bonus for projects with a certain percentage of affordable housing units. A month later, the Washington State Senate voted 35-14 to pass the bill with a number of amendments to make it more lenient on small towns. This bill is a major step in helping the state increase its housing supply and diversify neighborhoods across the state.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law this March banning local governments from adopting rent control, providing regulatory relief for projects where 40 percent of the units are affordable for at least 30 years, offer $711 million dollars’ worth in tax credits, and other zoning reforms. While the increased tax credits and regulatory relief will have some positive effect on the construction of new units in the state, the ban on rent control is a devastating policy change. It goes to show that all interventions by states into housing policy aren’t positive. Still, DeSantis and the Florida legislature certainly realized that ignoring the issue was unacceptable.

Surveys show year after year that affordable housing is a top concern for New Yorkers. The good news is Albany can still act to address unaffordability: We have a `Good Cause Eviction’ bill in S3082/A5573, ready to protect millions of tenants; a version of Massachusetts’ 40B in S7635/A8883, already modified to fit New York and address fair housing across the state; and, S221/A3353 (Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) that would give tenants the right of first offer and right of first refusal when their building goes up for sale, creating potentially over 20,000 social housing units across the state over the next five years.

All of these bills can be passed outside of the budget in the five weeks between now and the end of the legislative session.

Lawmakers must decide whether New York’s place as “the most progressive state” will languish as an amusing moniker or if we will lead the nation again in tenant stability and the creation and preservation of affordable sustainable housing in the decades to come.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023• 5

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

Black New Yorker

Rent hikes: Can there be a balance for rent stabilization amid a crazy rise in costs?

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

A New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) meeting was attempting to go about business as usual when they were interrupted by a band of protesters and City Council members upset about the proposed hikes to rent-stabilized apartments.

Councilmembers Chi Ossé, Tiffany Cabán, Sandy Nurse, Shahana Hanif, and Alexa Avilés booed throughout most of the meeting, chanted “shame on you,” and then took to the stage yelling “rent rollbacks.” Despite the chaos during the preliminary vote, the RGB still decided to increase rents from 2–5% for one-year leases and 4–7% for twoyear leases. If finalized, the decision will go into effect October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.

“While we are reviewing the preliminary ranges put forward by the Rent Guidelines Board this evening, I want to be clear that a 7% rent increase is clearly beyond what renters can afford and what I feel is appropriate this year,” said Mayor Eric Adams in a statement released after the meeting.

Adams asked that the nine-person board review their options and aim to “strike the right balance” for renters and building owners.

“I recognize that property owners face growing challenges [with] maintaining their

buildings and accessing financing to make repairs; at the same time, we simply cannot put tenants in a position where they can’t afford to make rent,” continued Adams.

The problem is that the board has been trying to find balance since its conception, and other than a rent freeze during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s term, it has often opted to raise rents for tenants.

According to the New York University Furman Center’s “The Economic Challenge for the Rent Guidelines Board: Balancing Long-Term Affordability in Rent-Stabilized Housing,” rent-stabilized housing is a crucial source of low-cost apartments. The majority were built in 1974. NYU estimates that about 60% of all rent-stabilized apartments are in these pre-1974 buildings.

The vote for rent guidelines for these apartments, hotels, and commercial spaces happens every year, but is a “show” in terms of demonstrations and protests against rent

hikes, said an NYU researcher. Usually, rent increases happen to help building owners cover maintenance costs. In June 2019, New York State passed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), which curtailed some of these increases. Before HSTPA’s passage, rent-stabilized amounts could and did rise at higher rates than the RGB’s annual vote, said NYU.

A joint statement from Speaker Adrienne Adams and Housing & Buildings Chair Pierina Sanchez said the RGB vote takes place against the backdrop of a citywide housing and affordability crisis, where median rents have skyrocketed to their highest levels.

“We urge the board to account for these economic realities, avoiding proposed increases that are counterproductive to New Yorkers persevering beyond our housing challenges,” they said. “Our city’s nearly 1 million rent-stabilized units are a significant part of New York City’s housing stock and must be preserved as affordable. Continuing to erode their affordability will only exacerbate our housing crisis and disproportionately harm working people and families in communities of color.”

Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), said the RGB process is clearly broken and the increases do not come close to covering the rising costs in rent-stabilized buildings.

“Even the highest end of these ranges will

not put a penny in rent-stabilized building owners’ pockets,” said Martin. “Every single cent of the proposed rent adjustment will go to property tax payments, maintenance, skyrocketing insurance, and mandatory upgrades to buildings.”

Martin put the onus on elected officials to find ways to reduce the costs of operating housing and provide more financial aid to vulnerable renters.

“CHIP will continue to advocate for property tax reform, expanding vouchers, and creating a pathway for vacant units to be renovated and put back on the market. Any one of these things would reduce the reliance on the RGB’s annual decision,” said Martin.

The bottom line is that the stability of the low-cost apartments or net operating income (NOI) depends on “having sufficient rent increases” that won’t impair a building’s operations and maintenance, said NYU.

NYU suggested an automatic system that adjusts every five years—“to prevent any systemic misalignment between CPI growth and expense increases from growing into long-term problems.”

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

6 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Learn more: conEd.com/cleanenergy

We’ve already cut our carbon footprint by 50%, and we’re reducing methane emissions by updating our natural gas delivery system—prioritizing our energy future. This is where clean energy lives.

for a renewable New York

Committed to clean energy

Tour of NYCHA (Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit photo)

Go with the Flo

Seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles married Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens on May 6 at Nobu Los Cabos in Mexico in front of 144 guests, according to Vogue magazine. This was the second ceremony for the newlyweds, who officially tied the knot in April at the Harris County Courthouse in Houston, Texas. For the Mexico nuptials, the bride wore a gown by Galia Lahav. She was escorted down the aisle by her father as a cellist reportedly played in the background…

Two-time Grammy winner and Stellar winner Kiera Sheard-Kelly released her second book, “The Vibes You Feel.” In the inspiring book for teens and young women, Sheard-Kelly invites readers to uncover what it means to have the Holy Spirit in your life, and how listening to the vibes that are sensed in certain situations can help steer everyone toward the future God intends. Sheard-Kelly’s seventh studio album, “All Yours,” is also currently available…

The producers of “New York, New York,” the new Broadway musical, nominated for nine Tony awards, including “Best Musical,” have announced the show’s original Broadway cast recording will be released digitally on June 9. CD and vinyl versions are planned for later this year. Like the show, the album will be a love letter to New York City. The album is released through the Wine & Peaches label and produced by Michael Croiter, Sam Davis, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. “New York, New York” is currently running on Broadway at the St. James Theatre…

According to Variety, Marvel Studios shut down pre-production of “Blade” due to the ongoing writers strike. Mahershala Ali is set to portray the vampire hunter alongside Delroy Lindo and others. Production was scheduled to start sometime this month in Atlanta…

Soke Ali Abdul Karim celebrated in Brooklyn

Saturday, May 6, 2023, saw the janazah of Soke Ali Abdul Karim, martial artist and community treasure, who passed on Friday, May 5, 2023.

Hundreds upon hundreds of Muslims came to the Masjid Al Taqwa in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, and poured out onto the corner of Fulton Street

and Bedford Avenue. Family, friends, students, and colleagues came from across the city, state, and country to attend events held in his honor.

Attorney Alton Maddox celebrated as the ‘People’s Lawyer’

Friends and family from all walks of life came out on May 1, 2023, to the famed Harlem Abyssinian Baptist

Church to bid farewell to attorney Alton Maddox, Jr., who joined the ancestors on April 23, 2023.

8 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS GO WITH THE FLO

FLO ANTHONY

Soke Ali Abdul Karim Janazah. (Nayaba Arinde photos) (Bill Moore photos) Soke Ali Abdul Karim Janazah crowd (Daniel Goodine photo) Former Assemblywoman and City Councilman Inez and Charles Barron Rev. C. Vernon Mason Prof. James Small

Harlem hosts Drum Circle

Harlem hosted the Rites of Drum last weekend during the third Annual Spring Cele -

bration at the Marcus Garvey Amphitheater. People of all cultural traditions came with

their children, their drums, and their dance to celebrate community drumming.

Written by David Goodson

The F.O.R.C.E. is with us

Human nature is a beast. We can look at a structure, marvel at the obvious beauty and grandeur, but ofttimes give little to no thought to those who put in the work. As we near the six-month mark of the year of celebrating hip-hop culture’s birth, it’s bittersweet that we bask in the beauty of what it is at the moment— conspicuous by its absence is the acknowledgment of the visionaries, architects, and builders of this thing. That kind of explains why our artists are more influenced by Jerry Springer than Jerry D Lewis. From here on out for the duration of the year, we gonna drop some seeds on some people, places, and things that are integral to the formation and fortification of what hip-hop is.

Now to the business of the week,

It appears that instead of looking for an adversary for a Verzus battle, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Kennedy Center Honoree, two-time GRAMMY® Award winner, actor, and author LL COOL J will headline a full-on national tour for the first time in 30 years. For this trek, LL, through his company Rock the Bells, has paired with Live Nation Urban for The F.O.R.C.E. (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) Live.

Building on their amazing performance together at the GRAMMY Awards earlier this year, all dates will celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop by featuring collaborative live performances with preeminent award-winning hip-hop band the Roots, legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff, and DJ Z-Trip. Unlike the traditional “opening act—headliner” format, the show will be a nonstop musical mash-up with artist performances interwoven into one continuous musical set, backed by the Roots. In select cities, the bill also boasts a rotating cast of iconic acts, including Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Rakim, Common, MC Lyte, Method Man & Redman, Big Boi, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Ice T, Juvenile, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, De La Soul, Goodie Mob, Jadakiss, Rick Ross, and probably more to follow.

Of the venture, LL COOL J said, “I’m excited to be on my first Arena tour in 30 years. It’s proof

that our culture is more viable than ever. Get ready for some non-stop beats and rhymes. See you this summer!”

The F.O.R.C.E. Live hits the road on June 25 in Boston at the TD Garden before stopping in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center on June 27, rolling through arenas across the U.S. and Canada, and closing out on September 3 in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum.

Just as exciting for LL fans is that the tour will be accompanied by new music. A snippet of a track called “FORCE” debuted on Rock the Bells Radio on Thursday, May 4, that might serve as a precursor to the release of the upcoming 14th studio album, which will be produced entirely by A Tribe Called Quest’s lead emcee Q Tip. If rumors hold true, a who’s who of guests, including Nas, Eminem, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, and Saweetie, are just a few of the featured collaborations.

While his music assures that LL the artist will remain immortal, his Rock the Bells brand looks to secure the presence of hip-hop. During a recent interview on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, LL revealed, “One of the things I did with Rock the Bells, the company—it’s not just a radio channel, it’s not just a festival, it’s not just the cruise. It’s an actual full company with content, commerce, and experiences. Kool Herc has equity in the company; he owns a piece. Big Daddy Kane owns a piece, Roxanne Shantae owns a piece, Run DMC owns a piece, Jonathan Mannion (the photographer), Salt’n’Pepa own a piece…I made sure that different people had a piece. Eminem actually invested, too. I made sure that people…who started this culture and who helped contribute to this culture deserve to share in the success of the company of Rock the Bells, because I believed from the beginning that it would be a success. Sometimes I’m not even sure they understand what they own now, because Rock the Bells has become something really major.”

Survival through the break of dawn, years. Over. Out. Holla next week, ’til then, enjoy the nightlife.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023• 9 OUT & ABOUT

Nightlife

(Bill Moore photos)

Union Matters

Harry Belafonte and George Gresham Farewell, Mr. B, who led a revolutionary life

Black workers died on the job at the highest rate, AFL-CIO report says

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

People of color are dying while at work more than others, the AFL-CIO said in its latest report: “Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect.”

On April 25, we said farewell to one of the giants of American life. The rarest of individuals who combined immense artistic talent with an unrivaled sense of justice, Harry Belafonte made an indelible impact on the world.

Like Paul Robeson before him, Belafonte refused to allow superstardom to compromise his values. He willingly risked fame, fortune, and blacklisting; he passed on any number of lucrative film roles he deemed exploitative; and he used his influence to advance workers’ rights, racial equality, and countless other humanitarian goals.

Growing up in the Jim Crow South, I knew Harry Belafonte as a cultural icon. On the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was buried in 1968, I recall sitting with my family around our small black-and-white TV watching the funeral—Harry Belafonte by Coretta Scott King’s side—and my father teaching me about Belafonte’s commitment to the civil rights cause. I never imagined that decades later, I would be sitting with Mr. B in his office, previewing a documentary about his life that contained that very same scene.

I came to know Mr. B through our mutual commitment to the labor movement and healthcare. Well before I became a rank-and-file member of my union, 1199, he was a major champion. He often spoke at events, performed at rallies, and lent his significant star power to expose the immense exploitation of the thousands of low-income, predominantly workers of color employed in New York’s hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, pharmacies, and in homecare.

In 1959, when workers went on an historic 46-day strike in seven hospitals to demand union recognition and protest intolerable wages and working conditions, Harry Belafonte walked the picket line. This strike was

See BELAFONTE on page 32

Looking at the number of worker deaths in 2021, the union found that “Black workers died on the job at the highest rate in more than a decade”

and “Latino workers continue to be at greater risk of dying on the job than all workers.”

“Black workers had a job fatality rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers, a substantial increase from 3.5 in 2020 and 3.6 in 2019,” authors of the report stated. “This is now the third year in a row the fatality rate for Black workers is greater than the overall job fatality rate and the highest rate in more than a decade. In 2021, 653 Black workers died—up from 541 in 2020 and 634 in 2019—the highest number seen in more than two decades.

“The top industries where workplace fatalities occurred among Black workers in 2021 were transportation and warehousing (207),

professional and business services (91), and construction (69). Within the transportation and warehousing industry, there were significant increases in Black worker fatalities from the previous year, including 19% among truck transportation (138 from 116), 183% among couriers and messengers (17 from 6), and 300% among warehousing and storage (12 from 3). In 2021, similar to all other workers, transportation incidents (267) was the top cause of fatalities among Black workers. The number of Black worker deaths due to violence on the job (155) increased from 125 in 2020, and is close to the highest number in the past decade, 160 in 2019. The third-leading cause of death was from contact with equipment (73).”

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black workers and others of color were employed in jobs that exposed them to the dangers of the coronavirus disease. When COVID-19 outbreaks occurred in food processing plants, among transit workers, or in agricultural or warehouse-based job sites, workers who spoke up about those dangers often felt they risked losing their jobs while

trying to protect their lives.

One recent example of this was in New York with the case of Chris Smalls, the former Amazon Staten

Island warehouse worker who was fired from his job and went

Writers’ Guild strike has impact on scripted shows across the nation

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, which started on May 2, reaches from coast to coast and brought 11,000 TV and film writers out on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)

In New York City, WGA members picketed HBO and Amazon offices on Wednesday, May 10, in Manhattan’s midtown neighborhood of Hudson Yards. Union leaders said that after trying to negotiate with the AMPTP for weeks, there was no resolution. Members went out on strike after contract negotiations failed, meaning film and television productions came to a halt nationwide.

“Over the course of the negotiation, we explained how the companies’ business practices have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions,” the union

wrote in a message announcing the strike to its members. “Our chief negotiator, as well as writers on the committee, made clear to the studios’ labor representatives that we are determined to achieve a new contract with fair pay that reflects the value of our contribution to company success and includes protections to ensure that writing survives as a sustainable profession.”

For the WGA, the main issues are that they want producers to be required to hire a minimum of 12 writers per TV show rather than the current number, which is currently set at six. Writers should receive more in residual pay, and there should be regulations for the composition of scripts via the use of artificial intelligence (AI), the union contends.

Video streaming compa-

nies have also had a major impact on how WGA members get paid now. With the major technological shifts brought on by streamers, “companies have leveraged the streaming transition to underpay writers, creating more precarious, lower-paid models for writers’ work,” the WGA said.

The AMPTP represents 350 broadcast television studios and video streaming services such as Netflix, HULU, Amazon, ABC, CBS, FOX, Apple TV, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount, and Sony. While the AMPTP remains in contention with the WGA, it had to sit down this week to negotiate a new contract with the Directors Guild of America (DGA)

The DGA’s contract with the AMPTP is set to expire on June 30. Having both the DGA and WGA out on strike at the same time would severely cripple the nation’s broadcast production industry.

10 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

GEORGE GRESHAM See AFL-CIO on page 32 An infographic from the AFL-CIO notes that workers of color are dying on the job at higher rates than others (AFL-CIO photo) WGA members picketing on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on May 2, 2023 (Laurie Davidson photo)

Health

City Council roadmap to mental health vs. mayor’s version

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

Mental health has been the topic of a huge conversation among electeds in the last few months—not just how to legislate it, but also how to mediate and deal with people on the streets of New York City who need help.

Mayor Eric Adams put out his own controversial plan back in March and the City Council revealed their plan that “fills in the gaps” this past week, just after Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man with a history of trauma, was choked to death by a white ex-marine in a subway car in Manhattan. A string of protests has broken out in the city on behalf of Neely.

“I’m frustrated, I’m angry, I’m sad, because for the last few years we’re watching—literally, instead of us receiving resources, we are being choked out,” said Councilmember Kevin C. Riley in reference to Neely’s death. Riley is a sponsor of a mental health bill for supportive community centers. “Black men are not safe and I can’t explain this to my kids [anymore].”

What’s in the plan

The Council Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction held a hearing on the Mental Health Roadmap Legislative package on Thursday, May 4. The package includes several bills centered on four main areas: prevention and supportive services, the mental health workforce shortage, decriminalization, and public awareness.

“We can’t continue to point people toward systems that don’t work and expect frontline workers in hospitals and jails to shoulder the systemic failures that for too long have needed to be urgently addressed,” said Councilmember Carlina Rivera, sponsor of a bill and resolution for more treatment in hospitals and less jailing.

The roadmap seeks to increase access to “healthcare and medication, housing, food…, technology and internet access, economic and job stability, and supportive community infrastructure” as a means of treating mental illness and helping individuals. The council wants to expand the number of Crisis Respite Centers, member-run clubhouses, and community centers. But most importantly, the roadmap aims to redirect people from being arrested or going to jail.

The mayor’s Care, Community, Action: A Mental Health Plan for NYC agenda has language similar to the City Council plans, but diverges in one critical way: The “Care” agenda focuses on mental health services for youth and families, people with serious mental illness, and those at risk of drug overdoses. It also includes a component that allows police officers and the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) teams to invoke involuntary

street and subway removals of those deemed mentally ill, a move that received immediate backlash because of the deep fear most have of being institutionalized.

In the City Council hearing, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Dr. Ashwin Vasan said that overall, the mayor’s office supports the council plans, especially for more respite services, clubhouses, and community centers. Vasan promised that the city is gathering data about the involuntary removals and how their teams are operating on the ground as mandated, without compromising patient privacy.

“Let me add, given recent events specifically around Mr. Neely, I’m not here to comment on an open investigation but as a doctor, as the city’s doctor, as a New Yorker, and as a human being, this was a tragedy and our hearts go out to Mr. Neely’s family and loved ones,” said Vasan.

The divide in approaches

Beth Haroules, senior staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), said the difference is indicative of two primary schools of thought. In the 1960s and ’70s, people viewed mental illness and individuals with it differently from today. More people were locked up in psychiatric hospitals and not necessarily treated, she said. In 1972, TV reporter Geraldo Rivera exposed the horrible living conditions at the Willowbrook facility in Staten Island that housed disabled children and adults, many of whom were left unsupervised, many naked, in unsanitary conditions.

“There were a lot of lawsuits being filed around the country, coming off the model of the Civil Rights Movement, directed at disability justice, so large facilities that were warehouses, where nobody looked at the conditions, were all being closed,” said Haroules.

New York City was a part of the wave of closing its massive psychiatric facilities in an attempt to deinstitutionalize individuals. Haroules said that New York State was supposed to take the profits from selling

off these large facilities and put the monies back into community-based services, but that didn’t materialize. Instead, over the last 50 years, there’s been a huge jump in the criminalization of mental illness, with Rikers Island now considered one of the “three largest providers of psychiatric care in the U.S.” The other two are also jails—the LA County Jail in Los Angeles and Cook County Jail in Chicago, according to the City Council.

“The government made a policy choice not to put resources into that, and of course, the folks who get impacted the most are men of color, 20 to 45,” said Haroules.

This is mostly because the care provided is a “white-male–led apparatus” that falsely promises medication as a solution to mental illness and jail for the mentally ill homeless, said Haroules.

During the onslaught of the pandemic in 2020, this situation only worsened since former Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered most of the psychiatric care beds left at hospitals be converted into COVID surge beds, said Haroules. At the City Council hearing, the health department confirmed that many of these beds are still shut down three years later.

According to Haroules, people with serious mental illness are being routed to a transitional housing unit facility on Ward’s Island and possibly a rebooted psychiatric facility at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn. She said it’s hard to track because the city hasn’t dispersed data yet.

What can work

“The City Council is taking the lead in ensuring that from their perspective and a community perspective, because their [efforts] involve community organizations with decades of experience in addressing some of the really difficult issues in a way that, in my experience, the mayor’s plan does not,” said Matt Kudish, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI-NYC). “We heard about the mayor’s plan when it was announced.

We didn’t have an opportunity to inform the mayor’s plan as mental health experts.”

The roadmap emphasizes family support for individuals who are dealing with a serious mental illness, which makes a monumental difference in terms of recovery, said Kudish.

“We didn’t talk about it. We didn’t know how to talk about it, especially in underserved, marginalized, and minority communities, where there is even more stigma around mental illness and more that gets in the way of seeking support,” said Kudish.

Assemblymember Monique ChandlerWaterman, who testified at the City Council hearing, said she supports the package of bills and is adamantly opposed to involuntary removals. She is an advocate for peer specialists and family member support programs for mentally ill individuals. She also wants to address the racial disparity among mental health workers and create more culturally sensitive programming that correctly diagnoses Black and brown people.

“Involuntary removals are similar to mental health profiling,” said ChandlerWaterman. “We must stop criminalizing people with mental health conditions. We must have trained mental health professionals, not law enforcement officers. In fact, they often escalate the crisis because they’re not properly trained.”

Institute for Community Living (ICL) CEO Jody Rudin said the City Council plan is going in the right direction by addressing the mental health workforce shortage and establishing pay parity with state-funded programs. “The investments in proven community-based programs, coupled with support for the frontline workforce, are key to a successful mental health effort,” said Rudin. “We know because we run these programs and see their impact daily.”

Haroules is more skeptical about the implementation of the mayor’s and council plans. She said Adams’s plan leads with force, policing, and psychiatric settings while the council plan “talks the talk” without any real action behind it. She thinks the City Council can take affirmative steps to enact legislation and vote affirmatively to reject Adams’s budget, but there’s already a “major disconnect” in the rollout of Adams’s plan.

“There aren’t resources,” said Haroules. “The criminal system doesn’t have a place to actually refer people to, and the services that do exist are services that people aren’t happy with.”

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 11

Bronx Councilmember Kevin C. Riley at the Committee on Mental Health (Gerardo Romo/ New York City Council Media Unit photo)

How the Jordan Neely tragedy can change our way of thinking

By DR. CLARENCE WILLIAMS JR.

In the wake of the Jordan Neely murder, mental illness and homelessness have once again come to the forefront. How do we handle it? How do we address it? What is our level of exposure to it and who should be answering those questions?

We often think of public officials as people

Racism: Premeditation

having experience in finance, business, and law. We do not think about how this person would handle a pandemic or a mental health crisis. Oddly enough, these issues have been proven to directly affect the aforementioned. COVID changed the way we do business; funding and lawyers can barely keep up with the new legislation that COVID has created. The same can be said for mental health, or at least it should be. Our hospitals and schools are full of people with this experience. Do we consult with them enough? Do public officials seek training in this area?

The tragic end of Jordan Neely’s life was shocking and another reminder of how “white men fight,” to quote the nefarious thinking of Tucker Carlson.

Being reminded of memories of Darrell Cabey, who was shot and permanently paralyzed by socalled vigilante Bernard Goetz in 1984, or Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a neighborhood watch, and certainly George Floyd, is not an easy thing for Black Americans, and it should have the same effect on all Americans.

When a mentally distressed person encounters someone ready to take the law into their own arms around your neck in a chokehold, it should be alarming to all of us. The ex-Marine Daniel Penny, using a method he obviously perfected in uniform, has said through his lawyers that he was only holding Neely until the police arrived. It only takes a matter of seconds for that hold to become fatal, and to expect a prompt arrival of cops in this city is akin to hitting the lottery.

The number of incidents and arrests Neely had endured should have been enough of a warning to indicate that he was seriously troubled, and should have been in some form of rehabilitation. And what about the mental and physical condition of the ex-Marine— what pre-existing conditions motivated him to act? We have heard repeatedly that if this was a Black person apprehending and choking a white man to death, there is no way in the world they would have walked away as though nothing had happened.

Witnesses are still being summoned, the investigation of the tragedy continues, and the city is waiting to see if charges will be brought against Penny, and whether the outcome will be one we’ve experienced again when a white man kills a Black man. Racism and white supremacy are preexisting conditions that have fomented countless killings and should be, as we see it, viewed in the same way as when other premeditated murders occur.

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher

and Editor in Chief Member Alliance for Audited Media

Like it or not, mental illness is part of our everyday lives. We see people who may have mental illness asking for change, talking aimlessly to themselves, and sometimes showing signs of aggression. Most appear to be homeless. They are a part of our everyday walk, commute, or errands we run. They are entrenched in the landscape of the city as much as newsstands and traffic

lights. Sometimes we might give them some change, or we avoid them by walking around them, but no sooner do we walk by them that they are an afterthought.

Some, like Jordan Neely, are talented. Maybe we tell ourselves they could be dangerous or aggressive. Perhaps they are reminders of our lack of humanity. Either way, they represent that part of our subconscious that suggests our society is flawed and we have a mental health crisis that always seems to be somebody else’s problem. At best, we go about our daily lives and think, “What can I do? I’m not qualified to address it” or “What are our politicians doing?”

If the Jordan Neely tragedy proves anything, it’s that we have an indifferent and sometimes hostile attitude toward mentally ill people. Who are they to invade our space and force us to deal with them?

According to the New York State Department of Health:

“Mental disorders continue to be common, widespread, and disabling. Every year, more than 1 in 5 New Yorkers has symptoms of a mental disorder. Moreover, in any year, 1 in 10 adults and children experience mental health challenges serious enough to affect functioning in work, family, and school life. The disease burden or total cost of mental

illness exceeds that caused by all cancers. Barriers to effective care—stigma and discrimination, symptoms that reduce the ability to recognize problems, insurance limits—add up. In our nation, people enter care on average nine years after problems first appear. Mental health problems are a leading health challenge for children; half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, while three-quarters begin by age 24.

Mental disorders that appear early on, when left untreated, are associated with disability, school failure, teenage childbearing, unstable employment, marital instability, death by suicide, and violence.”

Do we know how to address mental illness?

Do school clinicians identify, diagnose, and treat children with mental health concerns? Do our police understand and have the training to address aggressive homeless people with mental health issues? If we look at these statistics, they suggest we are not close to understanding this serious issue. Is our apathy or indecisiveness exacerbating the problem?

Everyone has a past. When we see homeless people suffering from mental health issues, we do not consider that they were someone’s promise, someone’s joy. This was not the plan their parents had for them. As

See THINKING on page 25

It’s time for Western Countries to redefine their relations with Africa and its diaspora

By PASTOR MURILLO Translated by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Activists from the United Nations’ 2009 Durban World Conference Against Racism have often asserted that Africa and its diaspora are undercounted— particularly in Latin America.

They believe Black people make up the largest ethnic group in the world: around 1.6 billion people. And Black people live in regions blessed with great natural wealth and they are geographically favorably positioned for trade.

with Africa. Europe and the United States are taking initial steps.

At the international level, several U.N. actions show a greater interest in connecting Africa and its diaspora, such as the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, which fights against systemic racism. This will help with creating a new paradigm in international relations that overcomes the disdain for the African continent and its diaspora, based on the remnants of colonialism and its heir, racism, through the adoption of historical reparation measures.

A global power in the making

Between 2009 and 2019, before the pandemic, Africa’s GDP grew by an average of 4% per year. By 2020, six African countries were on the list of the world’s ten fastestgrowing economies––with an emphasis on Ethiopia and Rwanda.

The African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), effective from Jan. 2021, is the largest in the world. It has a GDP of $3.4 trillion. Longterm trends show that African countries are increasingly attractive investment destinations, especially in telecommunications, information technology, agribusiness, renewable energy, health, education, infrastructure, and microcredit.

Kristin Fayne-Mulroy: Managing Editor

Nayaba Arinde: Editor

Cyril Josh Barker: Digital Editor

Damaso Reyes: Investigative Editor

Siobhan "Sam"

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

Until now, the West and much of the global South seemed to ignore this reality––except for Cuba, which has even fought for the decolonization of Africa and has Africa as the main point of reference for its health diplomacy. More recently, Brazil has also begun to re-establish relations

With Agenda 2063, which has been promoted by the African Union since 2013, Africa is projecting itself into the future. The continent is seeking to overcome the remnants of colonialism, enhance cooperation for sustainable development, assert its sovereignty, and promote international cooperation.

Africa has what it takes. To begin with, it has the third largest population after India and China and is the only region that still has a demographic advantage, as it has the youngest population in the world, which places the continent in a favorable position for production and consumption. A population of 2.5 billion people is projected for 2050.

In terms of geopolitics, it is sufficient to highlight the gravity of its 54 countries in the United Nations and other multilateral organizations which count African countries as members. In the Americas, Brazil and CARICOM have taken advantage of this asset.

A new relationship

Traditionally, the West’s view of Africa has been reduced to colonialism and extractivism. Indeed, several European countries have acknowledged their historical responsibility for the deconstructing of the continent because of colonialism and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

See DIASPORA on page 25

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 12 May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023

Opinion

EDITORIAL

Washington, D.C.: a symptom of urban crime’s toll on college students

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

In recent years, there has been a surge in violent crime in our nation’s capital, and unfortunately, our college students have not been spared. This issue has become symptomatic of a larger problem that plagues urban cities across the nation, where college students are being robbed and carjacked, all at gunpoint. As these young adults work to educate themselves and become productive citizens, they are faced with a harrowing reality: Crime can find them even in the hallowed halls of academia.

Washington, D.C., the city that represents our nation’s values and aspirations, has become a chilling example of the challenges these students face.

As parents send their children off to college, they envision a sanctuary of learning, growth, and self-discovery. They do not expect their sons and daughters to be held at gunpoint while walking to class or to the library. Yet, that is the disheartening truth for far too many students in urban environments. Washington, D.C., is home to several prestigious universities and has seen an alarming uptick in violent crime targeting college students.

In neighborhoods adjacent to some of our most esteemed higher education institutions, such as Howard University, Georgetown University, and American University, students are faced with a constant barrage of news stories about classmates being robbed, assaulted, or even killed. This unrelenting assault on their sense of security and wellbeing has forced these young adults to adapt to a new reality—one where they are always on high alert, not just in their quest for knowledge but also for their personal safety.

The reasons for this surge in violent crime are multifaceted, ranging from poverty to drug addiction to the breakdown of the family structure. As a nation, we must confront these issues head-on to help create a safer environment for our

students, and ultimately, for all of our citizens.

We cannot continue to ignore the impact of poverty on crime rates. For generations, the lack of resources and opportunities in underserved urban communities has led to a sense of despair and hopelessness. This desperation can drive young people to make regrettable choices, including resorting to crime as a means of survival. By investing in education, job training, and community development initiatives, we can provide a pathway out of poverty and give these individuals a reason to believe in a brighter future.

Another contributing factor to the high crime rates in our urban centers is drug addiction. The scourge of drugs, particularly opioids, has ravaged communities across the country. This epidemic has torn families apart and created a breeding ground for crime. A comprehensive approach to addressing the opioid crisis, including accessible addiction treatment services and support for those in recovery, is essential in our fight against urban crime.

In many of these communities, the breakdown of the family structure has been a significant contributor to the rise in crime. With an increase in single-parent households and the absence of positive role models, young people are often left to navigate the challenges of life without proper guidance. This void in their lives can make them susceptible to the influences of gang culture and criminal activity. By promoting strong families and providing mentorship programs, we can help our youth resist these dangerous temptations.

While we work to address these complex issues, we must also recognize the importance of supporting our law enforcement agencies. The men and women in blue risk their lives every day to keep our communities safe, and they need the proper resources and support to do their jobs effectively. The current trend of demonizing the police and advocating for defunding their budgets is counterproductive and detrimental to the safety of our college students

and urban communities.

We need leaders who not only understand the gravity of the situation but are also willing to take bold and decisive actions to protect our most vulnerable citizens. This is not a time for complacency or empty promises. We need representatives who prioritize public safety above all else and are committed to allocating the necessary resources to combat crime effectively.

One crucial aspect of this is increasing the police presence in high-risk areas. We cannot ignore the fact that a visible and proactive law enforcement presence is vital in deterring criminals and ensuring the safety of our communities. By supporting initiatives that bolster police presence and provide them with the tools they need, we send a strong message to criminals that their actions will not go unpunished.

We cannot stop at simply electing officials who promise change. We must hold them accountable for their actions. Transparency, effectiveness, and proactive policing are non-negotiable. Our elected officials must be transparent in their decision-making processes, ensuring that the public is well-informed and involved. We need them to implement strategies that have been proven to work, continuously evaluate their effectiveness, and make adjustments as needed.

To achieve this, we must actively participate in the democratic process. We must engage with our elected officials, express our concerns, and demand action. By raising our voices, we can create a groundswell of support for the safety and well-being of our college students and urban communities. Together, we can work toward a future where education thrives and the halls of academia remain sanctuaries of learning and growth, free from the grip of violent crime.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) 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

New author alert: Sidik Fofana

CHRISTINA GREER, PH.D.

As summer approaches, I am always looking for good books to add to my summer reading list. TFew things are better than a good book while traveling, at the beach, or for allowing yourself a little down time when school is no longer in session and the world seems to move at a slightly slower pace. I have the pleasure of serving as a judge for the Gotham Book Prize, a generous award for authors who have written book about New York City— fact, fiction, poetry. The book prize and generous award, are the brainchild of Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson, two men who love New York City, politics, and all of the characters who make this city vibrant.

This year, we awarded the prize to two books because we could not decide between the wonderfully researched “The Sewing Girl’s Tale” by John Wood Sweet (Holt and Company 2022) or the amazingly detailed short stories told in “Stories from the Tenants Downstairs” by Sidik Fofana (Simon & Schuster 2022). I was immediately drawn to Fofana’s rich storytelling. Each character felt like someone with whom I have crossed paths at some point in my life. There is nothing better than a pageturning book where as you’re reading, you’re asking yourself just how an author came up with so many characters, voices, stories, and emotions.

Fofana is part of a new style of writer who unapologetically centers myriad Black voices while weaving a larger narrative about urban environments. In so many ways, New

York City is an additional character in his stories, patiently sitting in the background in some stories and pushing its way to the foreground in others.

I had an opportunity to meet Fofana and hear about the odyssey he endeavored to complete the book, writing in basements and classrooms and kitchens at any time of day or night. This Bronx high school teacher is simultaneously helping his 11th and 12th grade students find their voices on the page and creating vivid stories for us, the reader, to devour and better understand ourselves.

It was no surprise when Fofana and I discovered a mutual friend and colleague, the prolific writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Jackson, author of “The Residue Years” (Bloomsbury 2013) and “Oversoul: Stories & Essays” (The Collections House 2012), to name just a few of his writings. Both Fofana and Jackson are building upon the foundation set by the likes of James Baldwin and Maya Angelou, and adding 21st century nuance, debates, and triumphs of Black people in their writing.

If you have not done so already, pick up their books and add them to your summer reading list. You’ll be sure to thank me!

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; the 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.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 13 OPINION

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Caribbean Update

Two more Caribbean countries increase pace to become republics

BY BERT WILKINSON

Special to the AmNews

While ceremonies for the formal crowning of King Charles III were taking place in London over the weekend, two more Caribbean countries thought it was timely to publicly indicate that they want to become republics and no longer have a British monarch as their head of state.

Belize and—surprisingly—Grenada said they were actively considering joining Guyana, Trinidad, Dominica, and Barbados to move from independent nations to fullfledged republics in the coming months.

This is as a recently appointed Jamaican constitutional commission has formally recommended that the island become a republic in the next year and appoint its own native president as head of state after holding a referendum on the issue. The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has signaled support for the switch as the committee works on deleting parts of the constitution that will have to be amended and on those that will have to be included in a new constitutional order.

In Belize, Prime Minister John Briceno told the UK Guardian newspaper that locals are not that excited about the monarchy and related activities in London. He said the time has come to move on and that it is very likely that the nation would do so.

“You don’t see people taking out their Union Jack flags or anything,” he said.

Asked about whether Belize would become a republic, he said that “I think the chance is quite high. It’s quite likely.”

The cabinet established a reform commission late last year to update clauses to better reflect present-day realities. Sessions have already been held. Constitutional Affairs Minister Charles Usher said at the launching ceremony that the new document should represent local values and principles: “Should we as a sovereign independent nation continue to be told what to think? Or how to govern ourselves? Or should we advocate for the ability to make decisions that we believe are in the best interest of Belize? Will we finally appreciate that sovereignty does not reside in an island thousands of miles away but rather is firmly entrenched in the Belizean people?”

As with other Caricom nations, entrenched clauses like a switch to republicanism must be approved by a referendum.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Caribbean nation of Grenada said now may be the best time for it to dump the British king as head of state, but Prime Minister Dickon Amiss Thomas Mitchell did indicate that such a move has its political and other challenges. “It’s not an immediate priority for us. If the public is convinced that it’s the right thing to happen, then I think we will see energy being galvanized and I think we will see us moving in that direction,” he told British Sky News recently, noting he hopes this is achieved while he is prime minister. He won general elections nearly a year ago. He is 45.

The PM is, however, a bit worried about financing for a local president who will re-

place a governor general. “You have a ceremonial head of state, so you have the governor-general, who essentially represents the monarch, and then you have a prime minister. It’s not inexpensive [to change]. If you’re a small developing nation, the cost of government matters, because if you’ve got too expensive a government, then that means you’re putting resources into government that can be better used for education, healthcare— for improving the general standard of care of the citizens.”

Others making noises about becoming republics include the Bahamas, Antigua, and St. Vincent.

Late last year, Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves asked opposition parties to unite on the subject, saying he won’t take the issue to a referendum vote unless they support it.

“I will tell you this,” he said. “I am prepared, if the opposition agrees today, before the end of the year or early next year, to put one question in a referendum to have a home-grown president in the manner in which I’ve just described—a non-executive president, and as was laid out in the proposed constitution—and let us go with that one single issue to the people to complete the national democratic task,” Gonsalves told parliament.

Back in 2009, locals voted 29,109 to 22,493 against dumping the British colonial system in favor of a local one.

Where in the world is the nation’s immigration czar?

CBS

FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER

If you, like many Americans, are wondering where in the world the nation’s immigration czar has disappeared to, you are not alone. I found myself again asking this question amid news that the Biden administration is sending 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern U.S. border before Title 42 ends on May 11.

And before you ask, no, it was not because Immigration Czar and U.S. Veep Kamala Harris requested it. It came about reportedly because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made the request to the Department of Defense (DOD).

This means 1,500 active-duty U.S. troops will be stationed at the nation’s southern border for 90 days. Is this the Trump or Biden administration? I’m confused!

a supporting role, assisting with transportation, administrative duties, narcotics detection, data entry, and warehouse support. This as roughly 2,500 National Guard troops are already at the southern border, supporting the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

But wait a minute. Remember when the Trump administration authorized dozens of similar deployments as part of a broader crackdown on illegal border crossings?

Remember how that was criticized? Yet, here we are seeing the same play from the same playbook, and many are turning a blind eye.

Politics as usual, you say?

But back to the anointed immigration czar. Anyone know where she is?

This is in addition to the May 11 countdown, when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives plans to pass a package of border security measures next week to place tougher constraints on asylum

seekers, resume construction of a wall along the southwest border with Mexico, and expand federal law enforcement.

And as Florida Republicans, led by their man Ron Death Santis, have passed a sweeping anti-immigration measure that will guarantee millions of dollars more for controversial programs like the ones used to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

That means he could soon be sending migrants from the southern border to the White House and Harris’s own house, too, on the backs of Florida taxpayers, who can barely keep up with spiking rents, HOAs, homeowners’ insurance, and interest rates.

Additionally, Colombia has suspended U.S. deportation flights returning citizens detained at the Mexico border, because of claims of cruel and degrading treatment by U.S. migration officials. Fernando García, head of Colombia’s migration agency, blasted cruel and degrading treatment that some migrants were subjected to before boarding and during the flights, including

“There are recurring complaints about the poor conditions in detention centers and mistreatment during flights, which represented a determining factor in the decisions adopted in the last few hours,” Garcia said in a statement.

Harris has been MIA on all those issues. Instead, I found out that she has apparently dropped the hot tamale that is immigration and moved on to being the administration’s new AI czar and the White House’s new face on Asian American Heritage.

On Cinco de Mayo, she added a new title: Taco Picker-Upper. Who needs Door Dash? Harris and Biden took off to Taqueria Habanero, a Mexican restaurant in the Bryant Street shopping mall in D.C., to get tacos.

I guess that’s as close as the immigration czar will get to the southern border and dealing with immigrants and things on the immigration front. Who cares about that? Let them eat tacos, OK!

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

14 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

News quoted Brigadier General Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, as saying the military units will play use of cuffs for hands and feet.

“Meanwhile, the Eastern Caribbean nation of Grenada says now may be the best time for it to dump the British king as head of state but he did indicate that such a move has its political and other challenges.”

Arts & Entertainment

‘Queen Charlotte’ is a touching, captivating addition to the series

Lady Danbury, played by Arsema Thomas, is one of the most interesting characters in the show, carefully leveraging her relationship with the queen to secure her family’s place in society.

Rhimes’s reimagined 18th-century England is a true masterpiece, and the portrayal of characters of color resonates with viewers, showcasing their power and dignity. Charlotte’s struggle with mental health is heart-wrenching to watch, as she worries about her appearance and the impact on her marriage. One poignant scene is when Charlotte notices that the painter has made her complexion too light in a wedding portrait. “Paint my skin darker, as it actually is,” Charlotte tells him.

By MAGRIRA Special to the AmNews

Prepare to shed tears and be swept away by the touching and captivating story of “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” Serving as both a prequel and spinoff to the beloved Netflix series, this intellectual property is based on Julia Quinn’s Regency-era romance novels and produced by Shonda Rhimes’s production company, Shondaland.

The six-episode series transports viewers back 50 years to the start of Queen Charlotte’s marriage while remaining true to the excellent quality that is a hallmark of the Bridgerton series. Fans will be delighted to know that the show still features classical versions of contemporary pop songs and narration by Lady Whistledown, voiced by none other than the iconic Julie Andrews.

In “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” we get to delve into the early lives of Lady Danbury, Violet Bridgerton, and the titular Queen

Charlotte, who serve as the social set’s wise sages. The story begins with the young Charlotte, played by the talented India Amarteifio, traveling by carriage from her home in Germany to England to marry a king she has never met. Her stern brother, played by Tunji Kasim, remarks that Charlotte looks as stiff as a statue, and she breaks down the uncomfortable aspects of her clothing, paying particular atten-

tion to the tight corset: “Whales died so I could look like this,” she laments, highlighting the sharpness of the whalebone and the risks associated with moving too much while wearing the corset. Queen Charlotte is a breakout character in the Bridgerton series. Although this prequel takes place decades earlier than the main series, it holds true to the series traditions. We are informed by

the voice of Lady Whistledown that “Queen Charlotte is not a history lesson. It is fiction inspired by fact. All liberties taken by the author are quite intentional.”

The series highlights the differences and newness of the integration of Black people in royal circles called “the Great Experiment.” Although it does not fully examine the unpleasant attitudes implied by this necessary decree,

At the core of this love story lies the issue of mental health, with King George’s condition being a central focus. If he were in any other position in life, he would be deemed unfit for even the most basic of jobs. However, his birthright as king leaves very little choice. During an argument with George, Charlotte yells, “I want to fight with you. Fight with me. Fight for me,” expressing her fury while also reflecting the series’ view of love as something that requires active defense each day, rather than simply happening by chance.

While a typical happy ending may not be in store for these two, at least not in the way we expect from the series, an older Charlotte and George still see the beauty in each other despite all they’ve been through. Queen Charlotte argues that the battles we fight for love are what make it so rewarding.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 15

Pg. 18 Your Stars Dance pg 16 | Theater pg 17 | Trends pg 19 | Jazz pg 22

“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” (Photos courtesy of Netflix)

New York City Ballet’s India Bradley personifies Black ballerina magic

By ZITA ALLEN Special to the AmNews

When India Bradley steps onstage at Lincoln Center to dance in George Balanchine’s “Agon” this season for the New York City Ballet (NYCB), she will bring the same sparkle to this well-known masterpiece that she has brought to other roles since joining the company several years ago, but this performance will offer a little something extra.

This season, Bradley dances one of the work’s fast-paced, intricately structured pas de trois, bringing to it her brisk, long-legged attack and adding another dazzling dimension to this exciting ballet masterpiece and another important milestone in dance history.

Bradley joined the New York City Ballet in 2017 after attending the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet not far from her Detroit, Michigan, home before coming to New York, first to attend Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Summer Program in 2012 and enter the Professional Training Program under the

direction of Andrea Long-Naidu

In 2014, she attended the summer session at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the NYCB’s official school, before enrolling as a full-time student later that year.

In August 2017, she became a NYCB apprentice and in August 2018, she joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet. In addition to “Agon,” her slightly shortened season due to a slight injury, includes dancing in Justin Peck’s “Partita” and Balanchine’s “Swan Lake.”

Not only is “Agon” known for what in 1957 was viewed as Balanchine’s revolutionary interracial casting, pairing Arthur Mitchell, the company’s first and, at the time, only Black dancer, in an intimate and evocative pas de deux with a white ballerina, Diana Adams. It also has an Igor Stravinsky score, specifically created for the NYCB.

In a recent conversation, Bradley’s commitment to ballet and her excitement about this current NYCB season were obvious as she touched on a range of topics that included life as a Black ballerina

at the predominantly white NYCB, her experience as a young aspiring dancer studying briefly at Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH), and the realization that her determination to pursue her passion is also meaningful to other budding young Black ballerinas. Here is what she had to say.

On joining NYCB: As a young ballerina, I remember telling everyone, there is no other option for me other than getting into New York City Ballet. That was just my thing. I had other companies I wouldn’t have minded dancing for, but I didn’t have a Plan B, so frankly, I remember being very excited at being chosen to join NYCB.

On being an aspiring young Black ballerina: I knew my whole life I was going to be an artist. I was dancing from 3 or 4 years old, but I was a very nonchalant kid. I loved ballet, but I wasn’t ready to make it my whole life. But, when I got into SAB, I was like, “Oh, I want to be better than everyone else.” The first time I re-

member saying I was going to be a ballet dancer I was around 14. As for race and racism, when I was young, I just had no idea. I wasn’t ignorant of racism, of course, but I had a really good support system behind me and my parents were very supportive and Andrea Long (a teacher at DTH who had danced with the NYCB) was the first person who told me I needed to go to SAB. I think, too, my innocence...at the time it didn’t occur to me that it wouldn’t happen because I was Black. I just knew that I wanted to get into the company.

On studying at Dance Theatre of Harlem: I was really young and I remember the company was still on a hiatus. Virginia was there— she was the one who told me to come. I was dancing with the DTH Professional Training Program and I think you had to be 17 or 18 to be in that program, but I was 13 going on 14. Everyone was older than me. And we did a ton of performances. EndalynTaylor choreographed for us. Francesca Harper came. It was a lot of fun.

The first time I met Virginia Johnson, she was teaching at a college. I was 11 and that was when she told me to come to the summer program… I also remember conversations they had with my mom about possibly a future in the company at DTH, but DTH as a company was still on hiatus. But my time at DTH was great. I always say that I could not have attended the school of SAB had I not spent that time at DTH. When I went to DTH, like every Black kid who studied ballet in predominantly white ballet schools, I was like “Oh, I didn’t know it could feel like this at all.” It felt like family.

On Arthur Mitchell’s advice: Oh, my gosh! At DTH, he would come in and watch class, but for him, watching class meant offering his input every 5 seconds, so it was more like taking his class. In addition to classes, we did a ton of studio showings and performances in small venues here and there. I was only 13 years old, but I learned a lot working with Mr. Mitchell. Of course, he was a very demanding

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 16 May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023

India Bradley of New York City Ballet with Claire Kretzschmar in Justin Peck’s “Partita” (Erin Baiano photo) India Bradley of New York City Ballet in George Balanchine’s “Agon” (Erin Baiano photo)

See BALLERINA MAGIC on page 21 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

India Bradley of New York City Ballet in George Balanchine’s “Raymonda Variations (Paul Kolnik photo)

‘A Doll’s House’ is dynamic on B’way

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

“A Doll’s House” has been given a brilliant new breath of life by playwright Amy Herzog. Her new version of the Henrik Ibsen classic—currently playing at the Hudson Theatre at 141 W. 44th Street—has become one of the most powerful, captivating dramas you will see on Broadway.

The audience is introduced to the character of Nora, played with pure splendor by Jessica Chastain. Chastain is absolutely riveting as Nora, a woman who is married to Torvald and with whom she has children. Nora has always been taken for granted by Torvald and treated like a child. Hers is a life of knowing she is Torvald’s subordinate and making the best of that situation. Hers is the life of a woman who has no identity except that of wife and mother—and a woman needs more than that.

Chastain plays Nora with honesty and dignity. As you watch her character evolve, you have to be captivated by all that she has done in the name of love and family, and for Torvald. Chastain gives Nora multiple levels and helps you to discover who this timid woman could be. Arian Moayed is relentless as Torvald, a chauvinist who thinks

women are inferior and needs to be controlled, protected, and guided like children.

Nora has a secret that she has kept from Torvald, and she will do anything to ensure that the secret is not discovered; however, a situation arises in which she has no control. “A Doll’s House” is delightfully written and has a lot of humor throughout, although it is also quite degrading to women.

The female characters in this play also include Kristine, Nora’s longtime and good friend—someone who seems to view her

in a love/hate sort of manner. I love how the production beautifully used non-traditional casting, with African American Jesmille Darbouze in the role and delivering a poignant performance. Non-traditional casting was also used for the character of Nils Krogstad, stunningly played by Okieriete Onaodowan. Michael Patrick Thornton plays Dr. Rank, a friend of Torvald, who has his own health issues and his own secret. Jessica Chastain, who plays Anne-Marie, the nanny to Nora’s children, completes the

tremendously talented cast.

This play will grab your attention, move you, and make you want to cheer. The actors play their roles to perfection, and their timing is exact.

I truly loved the unique direction of Jamie Lloyd.

This play has so many engaging factors to it: There is not much of a set, and the actors are seated in chairs. There are moments when conversations happen, but not with characters facing each other; instead, they sit in chairs back-to-back and their shadows are completely motionless. I loved the intensity that this type of staging gave to every poignant scene.

“A Doll’s House” is not child’s play. It is a devastatingly important drama that all need to experience and appreciate.

The spaces to focus on the brilliant words and the interaction between scenes are assisted by the sparse technical aspects of this production. Scenic and costume design are the work of Soutra Gilmour, Enver Chakartash is a costume co-designer, lighting design is by Jon Clark, sound design is by Ben & Max Ringham, music from Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto, and choreography by Jennifer Rias. For more info, visit www.adollshousebroadway.com.

Broadway’s ‘Parade’ is stunning, moving spectacle

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

“Parade” is a paralyzing, captivating musical that truly puts into perspective what can come from hating someone who is different from you. Leo Frank is a Jewish man from Brooklyn, married to a Jewish woman and living in Georgia in the 1800s. A college graduate who mostly keeps to himself, he becomes a victim of ignorance, hatred, lies, and violence when he is accused of murdering a 13-year-old girl in the pencil factory he manages. This musical, sadly based on a true historical event, features a stunning book by Alfred Uhry and dynamic, penetrating music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The lyrics not only poignantly succeed in expressing the characters’ emotions, but serve to smoothly move the story along.

“Parade” was co-conceived by the late Harold Prince and is a testament to his superb talent.

The audience is introduced to the Confederate soldiers of Georgia and its Confederate-flag–toting, hatred-spewing white population. Leo is uncomfortable in his surroundings and

comes across as cold to people in the community. He is accused of murdering this teenager, and what happens afterward is truly devastating. It is interesting to see how a judicial system and a town full of Confederate racists go after someone and use any means necessary to destroy them.

It is stunning to watch Leo move through different emotional stages when he is accused of this horrible crime. It is also intriguing to watch the interactions between him and his wife, Lucille, and how their relationship as a couple begins to grow.

The hatred spewed by the community is toxic. Sadly, though, it is still timely to watch, when we look at what is currently going on in our society with its continuing occurrences of anti-semitic violence. The ignorance, discrimination, and abuse that Black people suffered at the hands of the whites in this racist town are turned onto Leo, and they come at him with all barrels blazing. To see anyone railroaded hurts me deeply.

This musical will give you food for thought, move you on different levels, and truly make you realize that this is history, espe-

cially as it introduces characters on stage and shows photos of the real people they are depicting. You get to learn the parts that everyone played in the tragedy that befell Leo Frank.

The cast is splendid. Ben Platt gives a sterling performance as Leo—a man who has to struggle with so much and under the worst of circumstances—and practically explodes on the stage. Micaela Diamond is a shining gem as his wife Lucille. Diamond delivers a powerhouse performance, and her character’s growth within this musical is admirable.

Featured members of the cast gave marvelous performances that gripped the soul: Sean Allan Krill, Howard McGillin, Paul Alexander Nolan, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Kelli Barrett, Courtnee Carter, Eddie Cooper, Erin Rose Doyle, Manuel Felciano, Danielle Lee Greaves, Douglas Lyons, and Jake Pedersen.

Another featured actor I must spotlight is Alex Joseph Grayson, who delivers a commanding performance in the role of Jim Conley.

The remaining ensemble of actors lend themselves to the power and the impact of telling this tale. You will remember this story for a long time to come because of the incredible way they cohesively bring it to life.

You will also enjoy the brilliant direction of Michael Arden.

“Parade” features scenic design by Dan Laffrey, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting by Heather Gilbert, sound by Jan Weston, projection by Sven Ortel, and musical direction by Thomas Murray. “Parade” is playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on W. 45th Street. Line up and get your tickets! For more info, visit www. paradebroadway.com.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 17

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Jesmille Darbouze, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Jessica Chastain in a scene from “A Doll’s House” (Photo courtesy of “A Doll’s House”) Scene from “Parade” (l–r): Micaela Diamond and Ben Platt (Joan Marcus photos) Scene from “Parade” (l-r): Paul Alexander Nolan and Alex Joseph Grayson

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

By SUPREME GODDESS

KYA

May 11, 2023—May 17, 2023

Jupiter in Taurus at 0 degrees, Mercury in Taurus at 6 degrees, Uranus in Taurus at 19 degrees, sun at 28 degrees, moon at 28 degrees, and Pluto in Aquarius at 0 degrees with an Earth element stellium in Taurus, accompanied by some form of sudden surprise energy that has been building up to this point, are unveiling parts of your true self and personal, business, and global status. Getting in touch with mother nature is one way to feel connected. On the other scale, what are your feelings directing you to do or saying to you? Some of the areas of health being affected during this time are the heart, respiratory conditions, throat, ears, nose, or feeling a little queasy in your stomach. Finances, love, home, family, romance, and professionalism are matters of focus, and the six senses are strongly activated, along with the spiritual gifts you were given at birth. You are receiving an activation upgrade back-to-life frequency. This energy can definitely send some electromagnetic energy into our bodies for healing. Sometimes the body goes through self-destruction to repair the body structure. Listen to sounds, music, or instruments for peace of mind.

You’re busy as a bee fulfilling personal and business responsibilities and soaring high like a bird, freeing up your time to unwind. A weekly cycle to listen more than you speak, while the facts present themselves to you in slow motion. Sudden insights are being shown to you so take heed, and by the end of May, you shall see what’s in store for you. Check in on folks and follow up on any task for completion because recompense is due. In the days leading up to May 17 until 2 p.m. May 19, when you play your role, everything else flows accordingly.

It’s time to change the game you are playing a bit, by applying new and updated rules to the game. What haven’t you done in your personal and professional life to up your ante? This cycle week, new ideas are pouring in like water flowing, so start filling up your cup rather than looking at the water flow to get a taste of it. Jot down the new ideas and choose the best ones your soul and spirit resonate with. May 11 until 12 a.m. on May 13, at the end of the day, it’s on you. Act sooner rather than later and as a reminder that you are the creator of your life.

Which way the fishes are swimming this time of season depends on where you are stationed. What station are you on? You know something has come to an end, and now you choose the direction to swim in to capture the moment in the unknown. What a voyage it will be, to sightsee so many excursions, yet only one of them will feel at home. That feeling is your call to home on a different level, preparing you for the main event. No need to ask questions—you’ve got to feel this one out by following your gut instincts. From May 13 until 3 a.m. on May 15, boundaries must be met with a constant reminder of “Know thyself.”

It’s a power-moves cycle week, with the power of your ancestors shedding light on your finances, obligations, inherited DNA, and genes, and spiritual gifts are awakened. Whatever is unfolding, there is a hard-knock lesson involved in progressing forward. Sometimes it’s the small things that bring about huge circumstances. Before moving forward, count your days, nights, hours, minutes, seconds, etc., so you are graced for each day and make amends. May 15 until 8 a.m. on May 17, when the mind and heart are in sync, great outcomes happen.

Jupiter has almost completed visiting the sign Aries and is coming to visit you in your home from May 17 until May 27 of 2024. You are making headway this year with the assistance of Jupiter in Aries, with a semi-sextile of opportunities onsite for you to test-drive it or initiate your agenda. By the end of May, you will know what you need to do to build on what’s already in progress. Formulate your plan and make it a goal to accomplish. Some messages that come through are straight from the spiritual realm, whether you meet them in person; during a phone call; or in songs, signs, birds, animals, listening to something, reading, etc. In the days leading up to May 17 until 2 p.m. May 19, the source will always find the right time to put a person, thing, or place in position to deliver a message.

Let go of what you cling to now, or in a short period of time it becomes an issue. This is a cycle month to position yourself for advancement, whether it’s in professionalism or in your home as you organize your space, because concentration is needed to move forward. Decisions usually come up when we have outgrown something and the body, soul, spirit knows you are ready for the next level. It’s the mental facility that needs to be redirected into a new program. May 11 until 12 a.m. on May 13, change is essential due to nothing staying the same forever.

Stop, drop, and roll is the fire drill technique when there is fire. What’s your fire drill technique for your emergency? Things are rumbling in your life like your belly growling with hunger. That is the sound of change approaching around the corner. You have been working on the adventure for a while and now it’s ready to manifest with an extraordinary grandma swag. When the leader appears, the team appears. May 13 until 3 a.m. on May 15, it’s all in the ingredients to make the sauce a tasteful one. Ready or not, you can’t hide.

The stars in the cosmos have a special delivery and messages in due time for you. This cycle week has an unusual twist as you arrive at a certain destination. It will feel like you have done this already, or some form of unusually familiar experience will come about. Partnerships, semi-legal matters, public appearances, and the resources needed have a specific role they play. May 15 until 8 a.m. on May 17, the 411 mixed with the 911 brings an unforeseen occurrence and possibly also a meeting of some kind, whether spiritual or physical.

The revelation coming to you that may seem strange or a coincidence is not. This cycle week, your mind is bringing you revelations from the spiritual realm through messages from people, events, conversations, and the places you visit. You are in an awakening state of mind—what people usually cannot see with the naked eye. The feeling of visiting time and space in a different reality occurs when you are in a higher state of mind/consciousness. In the days leading up to May 17 until 2 p.m. May 19, nothing is the same or feels the same; even food tastes strange.

You are making headway this week with public announcements, upcoming events, attending networking affairs, and—most importantly— self-development. Your work is paying off greatly. As you go through this emotional and mental upgrade, you will find a deep connection, be it good or different, that keeps you attached to something. Just remember: There is duality that needs discernment. Obedience is your best friend, as well as release, forgiveness, and moving on. On May 11 until 12 a.m. on May 13, a physical purge and an emotional charge bring self awareness.

Healthy boundaries serve you the best to serve yourself and others. This cycle week, responsibility is a theme where your help, guidance, and expertise are in demand. Your intuition is highly charged, sending you signals of feeling of an upcoming alignment before the moment occurs. There is a message, lesson, and reward all in one this week. Keep your eyes peeled as you go about your daily affairs. Any public work, services you provide, words of advice, acts of kindness are done in an old-fashioned way. From May 13 until 3 a.m. on May 15, sudden travels or making special appearances are within this forecast.

The universe always delivers in the most ironic way with a reward attached after you discover what the assignment is. Normally, you discover the assignment while on the assignment due to the experience, and the outcome you receive leads to clues, facts, and figures to put it together. Borders are created to know your limits, and at some point, you have to position yourself on where you are headed rather than where you are now. It’s the state of mind that leads you from point A to point B and C. From May 15 until 8 a.m. on May 17, the work you do does not go unnoticed.

18 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Vinateria

WWW.KYAFRENCH.COM | CONSULTATIONS 866-331-5088

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‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ now at the Met

By RENEE MINUS WHITE Fashion & Beauty Editor

On May 1, 2023, the Met’s Costume Institute introduced its spring exhibition, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” at a press preview before the Met Gala, which happened later that evening. The exhibit will be on view at the Met Fifth Avenue through July 16, 2023.

When I arrived on the scene at Fifth Avenue and W. 86th Street, the sidewalks were lined with a crowd of photographers, TV cameras, and reporters stretching down the avenue to the entrance of the Met at W. 82nd St. and securing their spots while waiting for the Met Gala celebration later that night, where the focus would be on Karl Lagerfeld’s designs.

Co-chaired by Michaela Coel, Penelope Cruz, Roger Federer, Dua Lupa, and Anna Wintour, the Met Gala is the Costume Institute’s primary source of income for annual exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, operations, and capital improvements.

The glamorous affair draws all the stars, this year including Rihanna and Serena Williams, who are both expecting. Naomi Campbell, Beyoncé, Jay Z, and other A-listers graced the Met Gala carpet, and Lizzo performed at the event. Editors and other VIPs at the scene were dressed in their best Fendi, Chanel, or Lagerfeld styles.

Lagerfeld (1933–2019) had a career that spanned a remarkable 65 years. The show opens with introductory galleries that explore his early career, including being awarded the International Woolmark Award in 1954, and his roles as a design assistant at Balmain and an artistic director of Patou, where he continued to hone his unique sketching technique.

Lagerfeld’s looks are stunning. Whether you walk to the right or left, the awesome displays of day suits, dresses, evening wear, and furs are suspended from high spots and in various groups on a lower level. Lagerfeld’s mesmerizing fashions are color- and style-coordinated. His attention to detail, including draping, glit-

tery accents, feathers, flowers, and color fusions, immediately grab the eye.

William Hogarth’s book, “The Analysis of Beauty” was the inspiration for the exhibit. The book centered on the author’s concept of the line of beauty, or the serpentine line: a curved, S-shaped line appearing within an object or as the boundary line of an object, representing liveliness or movement. While Hogarth viewed straight lines as representative of stillness and inactivity, Lagerfeld took inspiration from both the straight and serpentine line in equal measure.

“Karl Lagerfeld was one of the most captivating, prolific, and recognizable forces in fashion and culture, known as much for his extraordinary designs and tireless creative output as his legendary persona,” said Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director of the Met. Fendi provided major support

for the exhibition, with additional support from Karl Lagerfeld and Conde Nast. For more info, visit www.metmuseum. org/exhibitions.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 19 Trends

Lagerfeld Self sketch (Photo courtesy of the Met) Karl Lagerfeld’s Designs on view at The Met’s Costume Institute Spring show from May 5 to July 16 , 2023 (Renee Minus White/A Time To Style photos)

IT’S TIME, TIMES SQUARE

Dear New York,

A gaming license is going to be awarded to New York City. A bill was passed in the state legislature confirming it. The question is: which applicant will get the license? Some conflicted parties have attempted to spread misinformation, so we wanted to speak to you, New York City, directly.

The winning group must have a track record of turning words into deeds—of putting New York City and its residents first—people of all races, religions, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and socio-economic statuses. New Yorkers in every corner of every borough - all of us. The winning organization must have a history of campaigning for fair hiring, representation, and reform. Hate, as well as groups that have a history of oppressing the most vulnerable, have no place in New York.

The winning licensee must always put the well-being of New Yorkers at the top of their agenda and do right by its residents. This is too important of a moment in our city’s illustrious history. Times Square, the epicenter of entertainment with a palpable energy, is unmatched. Roc Nation and our partners are here to ensure Times Square remains connected to all facets of culture. There’s no better location for a Caesars Palace entertainment destination than the Crossroads of the World.

Our proposal lays out an innovative plan that will not only draw additional tourists to our city but will also enhance the lives of everyday New Yorkers.

• Gives back to all surrounding businesses.

• Benefits mass transit.

• Invests money into sanitation and security from the bowtie all the way west into Hell’s Kitchen.

• Develops and delivers a much-needed transportation plan.

• Protects the interests of the actors, producers, theatre staff, writers and patrons that represent the true heart and soul of Broadway.

• Provides opportunity for all.

Caesars Palace Times Square will benefit all of New York— the hotel and restaurant workers in the area, retailers and surrounding neighborhoods. Our bid commits $115 million for diverse theater programs that include daycare for Broadway workers and their families.

Our bid honors the city of dreams, New York City, and the people that have made this place we call home the cultural and entertainment capital of the world. This is our moment, our opportunity to capture the energy of Times Square and invest in our city. You’re a New Yorker, you get it.

20 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

In service, Roc Nation

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Ballerina magic

Continued from page 16

teacher. I would cry. I would cry during. I would cry after. I would cry before his critique, out of fear. I was so young—a child— and I didn’t always understand what tough love was. I think I’m a very tough person. I don’t think anybody who knows me would call me emotional, but Mr. Mitchell would get the waterworks going.

Then, as I got older, during my apprenticeship at NYCB, I would work with him, and he would give me advice. I learned so much. Once, when we were having lunch a few days before he passed away, he told me, every time I walk into a room, I’ve got to walk in like I’ve got Double G cups…“You don’t have anything there, but every time you walk into the rooms at NYCB, you’ve got to walk in like you’ve got Double G cups ’cause people need to see you.” I was like “OK, [pause] sure.” He was wonderful!

On being at New York City Ballet in the era of diversity, equity, and inclusion: NYCB when I was 18 is very different from NYCB now. Obviously, before I wouldn’t say I was naïve; I was just a very nonchalant teenager and young person, to a point where I wanted to be a people pleaser. I wanted everyone to be happy. I wouldn’t say I was a very outspoken activist type as a younger person, but you know, racism was different in 2017 than it is now. When I first got into the company, it wasn’t always to the surface.

Things would happen and I didn’t always realize people were intentionally or unintentionally saying things that shouldn’t be said, or doing things that were kind of passiveaggressive. Since I’ve gotten older and with all these meetings on diversity, equity, and inclusion lately, after the pandemic, things have changed Jonathan Stafford (artistic di-

rector with associate artistic director Wendy Whelan) and I have had a lot of interesting and really good conversations.

I think City Ballet did a lot of work to try to come back to a place that wasn’t hurtful to people of color and was sensitive to people who wanted to be considered with different pronouns, trying to take certain things out

of certain productions. Things that make you look better as an institution.

On being a Black ballerina with the New York City Ballet: I have thought long and hard about my place in this company and not just my place, but about my friends in the company and the young Black girls coming after us. There are only three or four of us women of color here in the first place. It’s so weird that we’re having this conversation. I looked around at “Agon.” It used to just be me in the studio, and now there’s another Black girl in the room, one of my closest friends. But it’s just us. When I think of when it was just Andrea Long-Naidu, or Debra Austin, or Aesha Ash—it had to be lonely for them.

A few days ago, I went to the Dance Theatre of Harlem season at City Center and there was a little girl who goes to the DTH school. She came up to me with tears in her eyes during intermission and she said, “I had to tell you, you’re the entire reason I started doing ballet. I just had to tell you that.” I was like, “Oh my God!” I almost started crying. It’s such a generic answer, but that’s literally the only thing you could want. It made me realize there is still so much to do. Sometimes, even when I’m having a terrible day, like Arthur Mitchell used to say, I remember that this has to do with so much more than just me—my being at New York City ballet is about so much more than just me.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 21 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

India Bradley, center, with Olivia Boisson and Jenelle Manzi of New York City Ballet in George Balanchine’s “Walpurgisnacht Ballet” (Erin Baiano photos)

SISTER’S PLACE, BIRDLAND, CHAMPION, NOD TO RAOUL ABDUL

Vocalist Leon Thomas recently brought a unique sound to the bandstand that was never heard before. He was placed in the same category as male jazz vocalists Babs Gonzalez and Eddie Jefferson, but their similarities quickly evaporated when Thomas commenced to his unique yodeling call. That rhythmic offbeat yodeling was so intense, yet done so effortlessly. It was a sonic spiraling tempo (of jazz and scat) that hijacked listeners’ ears. For such a vocal feat, Thomas should be immortalized with a statue in his hometown of East St. Louis or a statue in Harlem, where so many of us often stopped to chat with him as he cruised the hip streets with his larger-than-life African walking cane.

In honor of his undisputable contribution and dedication to the spirit of his ancestral roots, Sista’s Place (456 Nostrand Avenue) will pay tribute to Thomas on May 13, with two sets, at 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Thomas’s most impressive songs will be resurrected by guitarist Kevin McNeal, pianist Ian MacDonald, bassist Hill Greene, and drummer Allan Mednard, featuring vocalist Miles Griffith. Like his predecessor, Griffith is an improvising vocalist, who riffs like a blazing saxophone. He is drastically underrated among most critics, but his devoted cult following suggests his name should be glittering on every top marquee around the country.

Thomas recorded on two of Pharoah Sanders’s most renowned albums: “Karma” (Impulse! 1969), his vocals on their co-written song “The Creator Has a Master Plan,"and “Hum-Allah” on the album “Jewels of Thought” (1970). His contract signing with Flying Dutchman Records began his solo career. His debut album “Spirits Known and Unknown” (1969) was a well of spiritualisms with resistance. He often approached writing lyrics as a means of social commentary: “You just have to be more than an entertainer. How the blazes can you ignore what is happening around you?” he said.

All seven debut tracks are gems, such as the protest song “Damn Nam (Ain’t Goin’ to Vietnam)” and the intense “Malcolm’s Gone.”

This ode to brother Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz) is just as moving as Nina Simone’s “Why? (The King of Love is Dead).” This collector’s item features the iconic drummer Roy Haynes, alto sax James Spaulding, bassist Cecil McBee, Sanders under the alias “Little Rock,” and Lonnie Liston Smith on piano. This was followed up with four other Dutchman releases.

For reservations, call 718-398-1766.

NEA Jazz Master alto saxophonist and composer Donald Harrison will make his presence heard May 16–20 at midtown Manhattan’s Birdland jazz club (315 W. 44th Street). His able musicians, up to the task of swinging

hard with new material for new dimensions, will include pianist Dan Kaufman, drummer Brian Richburg, and bassist Nori Naraoka.

Harrison’s latest CD, “Congo Square Suite,” was just released under his ceremonial title Big Chief Donald Harrison, Jr. of the Congo Square Nation Afro New Orleans Cultural Group. “This release merges my experiences as the Big Chief of Congo Square, classic orchestral music, and the history of jazz into a unique multi-genre experience,” said Harrison during a phone interview. The saxophonist was made a chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019 by Queen Diambi Kabatusuila.

Harrison has been a mentor to artists as diverse as the Notorious B.I.G., JJon Batiste, Christian Scott, Trombone Shorty, and Esperanza Spaulding. Having created Nouveau Swing and two other influential styles of jazz, his music is just as varied as the young musicians he has mentored over the years.

For more information, visit the website birdlandjazz.com or call 212-581-3080.

The Metropolitan Opera isn’t known for presenting rough pugilistic themes with boxing rings, trash-talking, and flying knockout blows, but with a new sense of diversity, performances such as Terence Blanchard’s Champion for its 2022–2023 season were welcome premiere productions. “Champion” follows Blanchard’s successful masterpiece from last year, “Shut Up in My Bones.”

“Champion” tells the story of the melodramatic life of the undisputed welterweight champion Emile Griffith, whose struggle with sexuality became an albatross once his opponent Benny “Kid” Paret (played by baritone Eric Greene) disgracefully made homophobic slurs in front of the press corps at the 1962 weigh-in for their welterweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden.

After the weigh-in, the young Emile, played

by bass-baritone Ryan “Speedo” Green, attempted to explain to his manager Howie Albert, played by tenor Paul Groves, why Paret’s words were so hurtful, but that was something men did not discuss. As Howie leaves the dark room, Emile sits dejected as he belts out the emotional blues- ridden “What Is a Man,” with the deep flair of a lonely riffing baritone saxophone.

The exciting staged fight is a multi-media conversion of actual fight night video clips (March 24, 1962) outside Madison Square Garden, buzzing with all its hoopla. Choreographer Camille A. Brown (from Blanchard’s “Shut Up in My Bones”) created an all-out dazzling extravaganza, with dancers in colorful outfits and high-steppin’ stilt walkers. Indoors, the ring was all-a-glow, with fight night video-clips and Brown’s creative choreographed fight having both men swinging blows in slow motion. It was the unforgettable 12th round when Griffith dropped 72 ferocious blows to Paret’s head before Paret dropped to the canvas. Paret was in the hospital for 10 days before he died. In his later life, Griffith (portrayed as older by Eric Owens, also in “Shut Up in My Bones”) remained haunted by that fight and hampered by his questioned sexuality in the eyes of himself and the public. One of his key lines was “The world forgave me for killing a man and the world hated me for loving a man.”

As a young man, Emile leaves his native St. Thomas for New York in hopes of finding his mother Emelda. Ironically, he does run into his mom while walking the busy streets of New York (a great choreographic scene of scurrying dancers, vendors, and street performers). Emile and his mother (soprano Latonia Moore, also from “Shut Up in My Bones”) get into a rousing soprano-baritone duo riff. Unfortunately, Emelda doesn’t recognize Emile as one of her seven abandoned

children, but once those old memories are sparked, she becomes the compassionate mother, trying to make up for those years of abandonment. “In this production, my character had an opportunity to enjoy herself— something I can relate to that wasn’t the case with the complicated theme of ‘Shut Up in My Bones,’” said Moore. The adolescent Emile was played by Ethan Joseph, who enjoyed a few good scenes.

In a meeting, Paret’s son (also played by Eric Greene) forgives Emile for his father’s death. His forgiveness allows Emile to finally let go of his guilt over the tragic death. Blanchard’s multi-layered music embraces the many rising and subdued emotions that embrace Emile, from socializing in gay bars to childhood reflections, dream-like states, and memories that allowed Blanchard to open up his music arsenal. He was able to expand his jazz vocabulary, resonating in the choruses of crowds, reporters, and workers. His orchestral passages were experienced through Emile’s journey for forgiveness and redemption.

“I want to be involved in stories that are relevant,” said Blanchard. “The issues experienced in Emile’s life remain relevant today. We are still having the same discussions today as it relates to issues of sexuality and the LBGTQ community.”

The librettist was Micahael Crisofer. The outstanding sets were designed by Allen Moyer, also an alumnus of “Shut Up in My Bones.”

This piece about “Champion” is dedicated to the classical music critic for the New York Amsterdam News Raoul Abdul, whose column was titled “Reading the Score.” Abdul was a concert baritone and German lieder expert who studied voice with William Warfield and Marian Anderson. He founded Coffeehouse Concerts in Harlem and performed at Carnegie Hall and in Europe. Abdul served as Langston Hughes’s literary assistant from 1961 until Hughes’s death in 1967.

During his years with the Amsterdam News, Abdul covered classical music and opera performed by prominent singers and composers such as William Grant Still, soprano Camilla Williams, and baritone Simon Estes among the many classical/opera artists who performed in his Coffeehouse series. He probably covered Leontyne Price’s inaugural performance for the opening of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1966. He promoted and shared his knowledge of opera music for years and was well aware that a Black audience existed and was agitated over the fact that major opera houses in NYC and around the country were not more inclusive. But despite its shortcomings, Abdul would have rejoiced as the Met has finally become more inclusive and welcomed its first Black composer, Terence Blanchard, after over 130 years. Thank you, Abdul, for keeping the legacy of opera alive in the Black community and around the world (1929–2010).

“Be satisfied to serve art without regard for financial rewards—they will come in time,” said Abdul in an interview some years ago.

22 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Ryan Speedo Green (center) as Young Emile Griffith in a scene from Terence Blanchard’s “Champion.” (Ken Howard / Met Opera photo)

CLASSROOM IN

Mama Leola Maddox, indomitable activist and librarian

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

Whenever I spoke at the United African Movement (UAM), it was Leola Maddox who insisted I take the offering. She refused to take no for an answer, believing my time there was important and had to be recognized with some sort of honorarium. Remembering those honorariums and other gifts she gave us, I move to honor Leola, the wife of Alton Maddox. Maddox joined the ancestors on April 23, 2023, and defined himself as the "attorney-at-war." He lived up to this title, and Leola was right with him on every step of his activist career.

Leola joined the ancestors in March 2017. She was 71 and a native of Manchester, Georgia. In a statement sent to the Amsterdam News, Alton Maddox said, “The cause of death of Leola W. Maddox is a work-in-progress. The investigation will include a motorcade to and from Meriwether County, Ga. There are multiple crime scenes between New York and Georgia. The death certificate will be published at the end of the investigation.”

Leola was always interested in my books and made sure the latest one was available to be sold at an event. It was only later that I learned of her background and profession as a librarian. She had a long and dedicated interest in the world of books, although I have little else to relate about her early years.

What we do know is that for 30 years, first at Teaneck High School and then at Thomas Jefferson, she maintained a quiet place to study or a sympathetic ear for the concerns of the students. They were invited to share their homework and other problems as they heard her soothing words and read the multitude of books under her jurisdiction.

“You went in there and it was her space. She kind of made it a home for everybody,” said Angela Taylor, a history teacher at Thomas Jeffer-

son, who worked with Maddox for 20 years. “She was like the heart of our building.” She joined the Teaneck school district in 1987.

To the students and her colleagues, she was known affectionately as “Mama Maddox,” and made

everyone feel welcome, former students said.

Co-worker Ellen Wrightfondly remembered Leola: “It was my privilege to work with Mrs. Maddox for many years at Teaneck High School in New Jersey. Leola was a mother

in the struggle to many of the African American teachers here, and she was respected by everyone. When she worked at the high school, she was instrumental in the establishment of the African-American Center and our annual Kwanzaa celebration. Mrs. Maddox was never afraid to speak her mind or to stand up for what is right. She was compassionate and strong, tenderhearted and courageous, diminutive and a giant in her own right. We will miss her sagacity, her wit and her passion for learning.”

That same warmth and compassion resonated at UAM meetings, where after introducing the speaker or speakers, she dutifully assumed her position at the door, greeting guests and often escorting them to a seat.

Leola’s death was stunning news to her associates and comrades, and Linda Gillbeaux, presiding officer of the weekly UAM forum at Brooklyn Christian Center on Atlantic Avenue. Alton said, “We intend to write ‘Lee’s death certificate’ and preserve her legacy. This means settling the cause of death.”

A funeral service was held at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, on April 3, 2017. Dr. Calvin O. Butts officiated over the homegoing services. Roscoe Jenkins Funeral Home, in Newnan, Coweta County, Georgia, prepared the body for ascension. She joined Rev. Alton Maddox, Sr. and his wife, Mrs. N.S. Maddox, in the family plot at Sunshine Cemetery in Newnan, GA. A repast was held at the Clay-Wood Community Center in Newnan.

She is survived by one son, Charles Maddox; two grandchildren, Malaysia and Cee Jay Maddox; two great grandchildren; three brothers; one sister; and several relatives and friends. The remains lay in state an hour before the service. Interment was at Sunset Cemetery, Newnan, GA 30263.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

The Teaneck High School Library is a good place to start in tracing the career and legacy of Leola Maddox.

DISCUSSION

If we read between the lines of Alton’s comments about his wife’s death, there seems to be something vitally unsaid.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Leola Maddox came of age as Black liberation was in its last vibrancy but grew into resurrecting the movement.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

May 7, 1845: Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African American registered nurse, is born Dorcester, Massachusetts. She died in 1926 at 81.

May 8, 1911: Blues legend Robert Johnson born in Hazelhurst, Miss. He died in 1938 at 27.

May 9, 1970: Rapper Dennis Coles (Ghostface Killah) was born in Staten Island, NY.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023• 23

THE

Mrs. Leola Maddox, courtesy of Teaneck High School (Solwazi Afi Olusola photo) UNIA - ACL (Universal Negro Improvement Association African Communities League) Philadelphia presenting Leola Maddox Marcus Garvey and community members awards. (Bill Moore photo)

Medgar Evers awarded Spectrum grant for digital education

The Medgar Evers College (MEC) Educational Foundation received a $25,000 grant from the broadband cable company Spectrum last week.

The Spectrum Digital Education Grant will be used to purchase laptops for incoming MEC freshmen students at the school and toward tutoring in its Academic Support Center.

SEEK is a New York State-funded program designed to meet the needs of students from low-income households and disadvantaged neighborhoods or schools that have underprepared them for college. The program is offered at senior (four-year) City University of New York colleges to New York State residents who do not meet traditional admissions criteria but demonstrate potential for academic success.

The check presentation took place on May 4 during the college’s Percy Ellis Sutton Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) annual awards ceremony.

“With the $25,000, Spectrum will be donating to our SEEK program. Laptops will be purchased for 65 students, enabling them to fulfill their potential while pursuing their degrees,” said MEC President Dr. Patricia Ramsey. “Up to this point, these young people have had to resort to doing schoolwork and homework on their phones, due to their inability to afford their own computers. This grant goes a long way in bridging the digital divide.”

For the SEEK program alone, about 20% to 30% of freshmen have their own devices, a MEC spokesperson said. “Some students rely on their phones, others have borrowed laptops or iPads from the college’s laptop loaner program, and the others complete their work on computers in the library or computer labs on campus,” the spokesperson added.

The grant is part of the company’s six-year, $8 million commitment to promote digital education and broadband technology in communities across the country. The Medgar Evers College Educational Foundation is one of two New York City recipients of the Spectrum Digital Education Grant program. The Northern Manhattan Improvement

Corporation also received a grant.

“Digital skills are critical to navigating everything from finding a job to going to school, to buying groceries––yet too many families still have not adopted inter-

net at home,” said Rahman Khan, group vice president of community impact for Charter Communications, Inc., which operates the Spectrum brand of internet, mobile, TV, and voice ser-

vices. “Through the Spectrum Digital Education Grant program, we’re committed to supporting local initiatives like [the] Medgar Evers College Educational Foundation to promote digital

literacy and inclusion, and help educate community members in New York City about the value of adopting broadband in their lives so they can succeed in today’s connected society.”

24 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Education

Among those on hand at the check-presentation were (from left): Rodney Capel, Spectrum Vice President for Government Affairs Rodney Capel; Medgar Evers College President Dr. Patricia Ramsey; Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams; State Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest; and SEEK Program Director Sherrill-Ann Mason. (Spectrum photo)

fellow citizens, we seem to be uncomfortable with people we can’t relate to with language or expression. We don’t like to be taken out of our comfort zone.

Perhaps if we understood the different disorders and symptoms, we could bridge the gap from unawareness to caring and at the very least, have an understanding about who these people are and what conditions they suffer from. Maybe then we could serve them through understanding first and action second.

The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation website states: “Affective disorders such

Diaspora

Continued from page 12

The reality check of the migratory crisis affecting Europe, with migrants coming from several sub-Saharan African countries, has become the main fuel for the resurgence of ethno-nationalism and fascism.

Now, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union is puzzled, because it is not finding the solidarity it expects from some African governments. Realizing that Russia and China have taken the upper hand in Africa, Europe is reacting by announcing an investment of around 150 billion euros in the coming years and is showing signs of wanting to redefine its relationship with Africa. The European Union’s desire to build a new paradigm, including its willingness to make amends for the past, is also evident.

For its part, the United States––home to some 50 million people of African descent––held a summit in Washington during the Obama administration with African heads of state and government, but reneged on its commitments after the election of Donald Trump. The Biden administration has gotten back on track with a summit held in December 2022 that featured 49 African leaders. The BidenHarris administration pledged to invest at least $55 billion in Africa over the next three years, underscoring this administration’s understanding of the importance of the relationship with Africa and its intermeshing.

Brazil, an emblematic case

In contrast to the experiences described above, Brazil, which

as depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse disorders are among the most common types of mental illness in the homeless population.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Schizophrenia is characterized by significant impairments in perception and changes in behavior. Symptoms may include persistent delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking, highly disorganized behavior, or extreme agitation.”

WHO further states that bipolar or manic symptoms “may include euphoria or irritability, increased activity or energy, and … increased talkativeness,

racing thoughts, increased selfesteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, and impulsive reckless behavior.”

These are common mental health issues among the homeless population in New York City. There are other forms of mental illness and although the ones cited can be managed with proper healthcare, the problem becomes exacerbated with financial problems and drug dependency. According to American Addiction Centers, “Most research shows that around 1/3 of people who are homeless have problems with alcohol and/or drugs, and around 2/3 of these people have lifetime histories of drug or al -

cohol use disorders.” Yes, drug abuse is also a mental health crisis.

I realize there are more questions than answers, but through questioning, the work begins. The interesting thing to note is that mental health in the homeless population is a societal problem with roots in economics, genes, equity, opportunity (or lack thereof), housing, employment, and drug abuse. We must consider all these factors before we say, “They brought this on themselves” or “It’s someone else’s problem.” Anyone can find themselves in this situation, and if we are not sure how to help, then maybe we can educate ourselves by feed -

ing our humanity and working toward true equity for all. There is a bright spot in all of this: Jordan Neely left us a message that simply says, “I am a person also.”

Dr. Clarence Williams Jr. is a retired assistant superintendent in the New York city public school system and an assistant professor. He holds a doctorate in educational leadership, a master’s in education administration, a master’s in multicultural education, and a K–12 license in special education and educational leadership. He has worked as an educator and leader in the public school system for more than 30 years.

has more than 110 million people of African descent (about 55% of its total population) represents an emblematic case in its foreign policy towards Africa, particularly in Lula’s vision.

Suffice it to say that, between 2003 and 2009, Lula visited 29 African countries––some more than once––and he was always accompanied by an entourage of businessmen and entrepreneurs who had an ethnic-racial perspective, which has given him great economic, geopolitical, and cultural advantages.

According to the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Economy, Brazil’s exports to the African continent increased from 10% in 2004 to 30% in 2014. By 2001, Brazil’s investments in Africa totaled $69 billion. By 2009, this figure had reached $214 billion.

Lula promoted the South America-Africa Summit (ASA), the installation of an office for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) in Ghana, the antiretroviral factory in Mozambique, a model farm for cotton production in Mali, and the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophonia (UNILAB), with half of the quotas for African students. Such actions are eloquent signs of an assertive foreign policy.

In 2021, Brazil and the African continent had a total trade of $15.911 billion. In 2022, bilateral exchanges totaled $17.254 billion, an increase of 36.9% over 2021.

Brazilian exports to Africa increased by 42.3 %, for a total of

$10.446 billion and Brazil’s imports increased by 27.1 %, worth $6.808 billion. However, this growth is far from the historical record registered in 2013, when the flow of exports-imports totaled $28.465 billion.

Colombia towards a new relationship with Africa

After Brazil and the United States, Colombia is the largest non-African country with the highest community of African descendants, more than ten million people, 4.7 million of whom are recognized as such.

With an explicit policy in the draft National Development Plan, the appointment of several Afro-descendant ambassadors, and a tour by Vice President Francia Marquez to South Africa, Kenya, and Ethiopia, in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a delegation including Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva, Colombia wants to improve its relations with Africa. Except for when President Samper visited South Africa and Senegal in 1997, Colombian governments have not tended to look toward Africa.

From Africa to Colombia, it is worth mentioning two facts: in mid-2001, South Africa’s Deputy President Jacob Zuma––who would later govern his country between 2009 and 2014––visited Colombia with a large delegation that included 19 officials with ministerial rank. At that time, the main product imported by Colombia from South Africa was ammunition, around 60% of the national consumption came from that country. Deputy President Zuma had in his portfolio his government’s concerns about the penetration

of drug trafficking from Colombia and South Africa’s interest in forging ties with the African descendant community.

The other important development was the very representative participation of African leaders in the Third World Summit of African and Afro-descendant Mayors and Leaders in 2013 promoted by the Association of Mayors of Municipalities with Afro-descendant Population (AMUNAFRO). This Summit produced the “Cali and Cartagena Declaration and Plan of Action on Africans and Afro-descendants,” which includes actions and strategies to improve relations between the parties.

The summit was attended by more than 20 African mayors, including Alfred Vanderpuije, mayor of Ghana’s capital, Accra, who in 2015 was elected president of the Global Alliance of African and Afro-descendant Mayors and Leaders. Vanderpuije, who returned to Colombia on two other occasions, was determined to connect us with the African continent.

It is worth noting that Colom bia’s exports to Africa currently account for less than 1% of the country’s total sales to the world.

Pan-Africanism for Dignity, Justice, and Peace

Pan-Africanism is one of the central themes to be discussed at the second session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent to be held in New York from May 30 to June 2 this year. This forum will be another way to advance in the reconstruction of the bridge between Africans and Afro-descendants, through a sui generis free trade agreement that redefines triangular trade and connects Africa and the African diaspora for prosperity and the adoption of a “UN Declaration on the Promotion, Protection and Full Respect for the Human Rights of People of African Descent,” including reparations.

The possibility of a World Summit on People of African Descent, at the behest of the U.N., and AfroExpo 2024, could be ideal scenarios to advance such a consensus.

Pastor Elías Murillo Martínez is a lawyer from Colombia. Murillo is an inaugural

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 25

from page 12 DON’T PLAY WITH FIRE. IF YOU SMOKED, GET SCANNED. Get SavedByTheScan.org

Thinking Continued

Religion & Spirituality

Paying homage to Soke Ali Karim, a Great Black Warrior, martial artist, etc

By DALEEL JABIR MUHAMMAD Special to the AmNews

Stunned by the untimely passing of a beloved martial artist master, hundreds traveled from points far and near to attend Janazah services (funeral) for Soke Ali Abdul Karim in the heart of Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy, on Saturday, May 6, at Masjid At-Taqwa.

He was revered as a skilled martial artist who formed his own style of Ninjitsu at his Star and Crescent School of Essential Knowledge in the heart of Bed-Stuy. Many Grandmasters of martial arts, teachers of various systems, students of the arts, family, and friends came to show their respects at his Janazah, traveling from as far as Ankara, Turkey.

“This is brotherhood and how we show love to our brother Soke Abdul Ali-Karim,” said Soke Haisan Kaleak from Kuroshi Kai Dojo in East New York. “That’s why all these brothers and sisters are here. We came from all over. I greeted no less than 20 people from out of state, knowing that when the word went out, we would all be here to pay

our last respects. We lost a giant in martial arts and also a community leader as well.”

Imam Abdul Malik said, “Ali-Karim was always kind. He always loved Islam and always had that warrior spirit to do what was right for the Muslims. He always protected this house of Allah. When you look at the number of people here today, that is a testament of the manifestation of the love that we have for him. You cannot get a turnout like this unless people love you. This turnout is beautiful.”

Sister Badiyah Hafiz said, “I have had my six-degree black belt from Soke Ali Karim for over 20 years, and although he is not here with us physically, his name and his school will live on. We will carry on his legacy.”

Soke Ali's son, Rashid Abdul, called him an incredible father and incredible man. “He helped not only Muslims but people in general. He helped to clean up this part of Brooklyn from the scourge of drugs and violence. His tutelage in Islam and in martial arts is something to be revered. He helped so many to protect themselves in martial arts and to better themselves in Islam. He is

Carl David Berry, Sr. was born on August 28, 1935 to John and Mary Berry. A proud Harlemite, Carl attended grade school at Resurrection Catholic Church where he served as an altar boy. He went to Cardinal Hayes High School where he played Alto Saxophone in the band and began his lifelong love and appreciation for Jazz.

After high school, Carl attended Brooklyn College where he was initiated into the Zeta Psi Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in the Fall of 1955. While attending Brooklyn College, he met and later married the love of his life, Elsie Torain, with whom he shared the last 68 years. Together, in partnership, Carl & Elsie raised their four children in a home filled with an abundance of love and support.

Carl graduated with a degree in Psychology in 1960. He then went to work for the Bureau of Child Welfare as a Social Worker, later transferring to the New York State Division of Parole as a Parole Officer in 1963.

Carl’s ability to positively impact the lives of the men he served as a Parole Officer was notable and recognized. In the aftermath of the 1971 riots at Attica State Prison, Carl was appointed by the New York State Department of Corrections to the position of Deputy Superintendent of Programs at Greenhaven Correctional Facility. He assumed this newly created position with the goal of addressing the racism, inadequacies and unfairness of the criminal justice system. Carl worked tirelessly to on rehabilitation: addressing education, community service, and family re-unification needs.

In 1976, Carl was appointed to the position of Deputy Commissioner of Programs for the NY State Department of Corrections. In this position, he worked to expand innovative and effective programs statewide, implementing policy from his offices located both in Albany and the Harlem State Office Building. Carl’s tenure in Corrections included positions as Deputy Superintendent of Security at Sing-Sing Correctional Facility and Superintendent of Woodbourne Correctional Facility where he ended his career in NYS Corrections retiring in 1993.

Throughout his tenure in Corrections, Carl linked training & education programs with religious institutions, health & mental health services to create re-entry programs in communities throughout the state. The programs he developed became models for rehabilitation throughout the country. As such, in 1981, Carl travelled to China as part of a U.S. delegation to exchange ideas on rehabilitation systems.

After retiring from NYS Department of Corrections, Carl moved to Florida with his wife Elsie, and shortly thereafter embarked on a stellar career with Florida State Department of Corrections as the Regional Director of Region 17, bringing innovative and effective services to the fellow residents of his new home state. He retired a second time in 1998.

After a brief illness, Carl transitioned on May 2, 2023.

His life and legacy will be celebrated in a memorial mass on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at Resurrection Church, located at 276 West 151st Street in Harlem.

by far someone worthy to be remembered. So many people are here to give him honor, which is indicative to the type of man he was. This is just remarkable.”

Kiyoshi Khaleeq Lewis, a student since 1993, said, “Master Ali Kareem was a student of the great grandmaster Ronald Duncan. He started in 1969 in the American Bushido self-defense system—at that time, the art of Ninjitsu. He later developed the Star and Crescent School of Essential

this world in his physical skin to his earthly plane, which is his soul. He will always be in my heart.”

He went on to say, “His dedication and commitment helped me clean up parts of South Jamaica, Queens, near Sumpter Boulevard. Soke Ali Karim was the first person that I went to for help when we put a siege on the drug activity there to stop. He came and helped without any hesitation.”

Karim Camara, community activist, former elected official, and longtime friend of Soke Ali, recalled the early days of Soke training and developing the young students at his parents’ Cush Campus School Al-Karim in Crown Heights. “Not only did he teach the children how to defend themselves, but also how to be humble. He was a humble man and he walked with humility. He was a strong brother who instilled that in the students. People need to remember that not only was he respected in the Islamic community, but he was known and respected throughout the larger community. He gave of his talents and his gifts, and he was a very humble servant.”

Grandmaster Najee Hassan, Sirat AlSayf, who traveled from Philadelphia, said on his Facebook page, “My beloved broth

26 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Soke Ali Abdul Karim (Family photo)

Continued from page 3

look forward to building on the street safety work DOT has done in the area.”

Deborah Williams, a nine-year Community Board (CB) 16 member, resident of Ocean Hill, and previous transit worker, said that the changes were a long time coming and widely welcomed.

“Today’s historic commitment to Broadway Junction is a victory and a direct result of the years of organizing and advocacy by East New York residents,” said Councilmem ber Sandy Nurse in a statement. “These investments are decades overdue.”

Nurse said that the process has been led by the people who live nearby, and her administration is completely committed to keeping the community’s residents front and center.

Supposedly “affordable” housing will be constructed near the station, as well as a business district.

The city said more than 433 homes have recently been completed or are under construction, with more than 1,700 additional homes projected or permitted. Nearly all of the 433 homes are meant for families earning less than 80% of area median income (AIM), and nearly 60% will be for families earning less than 50% of AIM.

At least 35% of design and construction contracts for the public space around the junction will be set aside for Mi nority and Women Business Enterprise (MWBE) business es. The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) will also partner with NYCEDC, the MTA, and other employers on targeted outreach and marketing through upcoming training and recruitment events at the East New York Workforce 1 Center and throughout the Workforce1 system to meet hiring goals.

Planning and design will kick off this summer with community workshops. Groundbreaking is anticipated in 2027 and completion by 2030.

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WE WILL BE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR ONE (1) AND THREE (3) BEDROOMS. QUALIFICATIONS WILL BE BASED ON THE SECTION 8 GUIDELINES. ALL WHO ARE INTERESTED WILL BE PLACED ON A WAITING LIST. EXPECTED VACANCIES CAN OCCUR AT ANY TIME. INTERESTED PEOPLE MAY OBTAIN AN APPLICATION BY WRITING TO:

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THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 27

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member

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rendering of Broadway Junction (Contributed photo)

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HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- SHEILA G. SCOTT, CRANFORD L. SCOTT, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated November 1, 2022 and entered on November 9, 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 May 24, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 3.1810% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1302. The Foreclosure Sale will be conducted in accordance with 1st Judicial District’s COVID-19 Policies and Foreclosure Auction Rules. All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $93,944.86 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale.

Index Number 850031/2022.

SCOTT H. SILLER, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RESORTS CORP., Pltf. v. DARRELL GLENN PORTER, Deft.- Index # 850194/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated July 21, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside on the Portico, NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 11,000/16,783,800 tenant in common interest in the timeshare known as HNY CLUB SUITES Phase 2 located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judgment is $73,674.97 plus costs and interest as of March 22, 2022. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which includes annual maintenance fees and charges. Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell & Novitz, LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Street, Farmingdale, NY.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION MORTGAGE ASSET BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2007-PA,

PAULA RICE, ET AL.

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated November 9, 2022, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York, wherein HSBC BANK USA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR WELLS FARGO ASSET SECURITIES CORPORATION MORTGAGE ASSET BACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES 2007-PA is the Plaintiff and PAULA RICE, ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE, at the PORTICO OF THE CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, LOCATED AT 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on June 7, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 316 W 116TH ST, UNIT 3A, NEW YORK, NY 10029: Block 1848, Lot 1107: THE UNIT KNOWN AS RESIDENTIAL UNIT NO. 3A (THE "UNIT") IN THE BUILDING KNOWN AS 374 MANHATTAN CONDOMINIUM, 316 WEST 116TH STREET, IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 850130/2018. Joseph F. Buono, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing.

*LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

NOTICE

SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF

NEW

YORK HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -against- CHARLES LEO FONAROW, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 5, 2022 and entered on April 19, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on May 31st, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appurtenant undivided 3.1810% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York. The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1302.

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

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and social distanc ing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the social distancing mandate will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as 1335 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY

Approximate amount of lien $38,120.82 plus interest & costs.

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

Index Number 850106/2020.

HAYLEY GREENBERG, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC

Attorney(s) for Plaintiff

242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Plaintiff AGAINST Pedro D. A. Alvarez Arenas, if living and if dead, the respective heirs at law, next of kin, distribu tees, executors administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees, assignors, lienors, creditors and successors in interest and generally all persons having or claiming under, by or through said defendant who may be deceased, purchase, inheritance lien, or otherwise or any right, title or interest in and to the premises…; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly entered March 28, 2022 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre St, New York, NY 10007 on June 7, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 15 William Street, New York, NY 10005. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block: 25 Lot: 1503. Approximate amount of judgment $792,245.73 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 810049/2012. The auction will be conducted pursuant to the COVID-19 Policies Concerning Public Auctions of Foreclosed Property established by the First Judicial District. Mark McKew, Esq., Referee LOGS Legal Group LLP f/k/a Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plain tiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 4304792 Dated: February 7, 2023 75149

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK

ConnectOne Bank, Plaintiff against PAL Real Estate Holdings II, LLC, MTB AMG, Inc., PAL AMG, Inc. and Arthur H. Nelson, Defendant(s)

Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered in NY County on Dec. 5, 2022; Referee will sell at public auction to highest bidder on the Portico, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY10007, at 2:15 p.m. on May 31, 2023; premises:144 West 27th Street, Unit 6R, New York, NY 10001, described as: condo unit in building known as 144 West 27th Street Condominium and street address 144-152 West 27th Street, New York, NY; designated Unit 6R in Declaration of12/8/1992 by 276 Street Associates, Parcel ID: Block 802, Lot 1023. Approx. judgment $2,303,702.84, plus int. and costs. Subject to provisions of Judgment Index No. 850120/2022. Conducted under NY County Auction Part Rules; Georgia Papazis, Esq., Referee. Jonathan P. Vuotto, Esq., Attorney for Plaintiff, 1 Blue Hill Plaza, Ste. 1509, Pearl River, NY 10965 (212) 382-2208

This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy II Charter School Board of Trustees will occur in person on Tuesday, May 16th at 7:30am. The meeting will transpire at 245 West 129th St, NY, NY.

This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy I Charter School Board of Trustees will occur in person on Tuesday, May 16th at 7:30am. The meeting will transpire at 245 West 129th St, NY, NY.

Notice is hereby given that a license, serial #1362544 for beer & wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer & wine at retail in a tavern under the ABC Law at 60 Grand Central Terminal, Sp. LC-05, NYC 10017 for on-premises con-

SHAQUANA FOLKS  212-932-7412

SHAQUANA.FOLKS@ AMSTERDAMNEWS.COM

Notice of Qualification of LSC NYC PORTFOLIO LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/01/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/14/23. 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.

28 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

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Belafonte

Continued from page 10

instrumental in transforming New York’s healthcare system into an industry that today is much like what the auto industry was to Detroit decades ago: the foundation of our economy. Mr. B was there at ground zero, and the members of our union know him as much for his labor activism as for his artistic accomplishments.

AFL-CIO

Continued from page 10

on to co-found the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). Smalls had alleged that Amazon did not provide proper safety precautions for its majority people of color line workers who worked in person throughout the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He claimed that, in contrast, the health and safety concerns of white workers––who held most of the management-level positions at the company’s Staten Island warehouse––were better attended to.

Smalls alleges that Amazon.com Services LLC fired him because he organized and led fellow workers on a walkout on March 30, 2020.

“At the peak of the recent Omicron surge, the COVID-19 death rate among workingage Black and Latino people was more than

Over the decades, Harry Belafonte became deeply involved in Bread & Roses, our union’s groundbreaking cultural program that promotes artistic creativity and expression for those who may otherwise have little access to the arts. Alongside other luminaries such as Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Sidney Poitier, and many more, Belafonte inspired our members, and he eventually took the helm of the Bread and Roses program.

1.5 times to 2.0 times the death rate among white people,” the AFL-CIO report noted.

“Throughout the pandemic, there has been a scattered patchwork of mitigation measures to prevent exposures and infections, but this approach has not been effective in protecting people at work, where employers are responsible for protecting workers from occupational exposures.”

In the state of New York, worker fatalities increased from 233 in 2001 to 247 in 2021. Numbers show that 5,190 working people were killed on the job across the United States in 2021, and an estimated 120,000 more died from occupational diseases.

Even with these numbers available, reports out of Washington, D.C., are that members of the hard-right Republican House Freedom Caucus have put together a bill designed to defund the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),

MASARYK TOWERS

61 COLUMBIA STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10002 • MITCHELL-LAMA CO-OP TWO BEDROOM CO-OP APARTMENT WAITING LIST IS BEING OPENED

*Based upon the number of persons in household. **Subject to change.

OCCUPANCY STANDARDS: TWO (2) BEDROOM: No fewer than three persons, a brother and a sister who are both adults, OR a parent or guardian with at least one child.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: (FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION)

• Applications are not transferable.

• Applicants must be financially responsible.

• Current Shareholders are not eligible to apply

• Applicant must be a New York State resident

• Applicant must be at least 18 Years Old at the time of the lottery.

• Preference will be given to documented veterans selected in the lottery.

Mr. B’s great influence, or course, was not restricted to the United States. He was an internationalist, opposing wars abroad; organizing against apartheid in South Africa; establishing an AIDS foundation; becoming a UNICEF ambassador; and promoting education, democracy, and development worldwide. His list of accomplishments is astounding. I cannot think of a freedom or justice movement that did not have Harry Belafonte behind it in some way.

Harry Belafonte was, truly, a working-

the agency created by Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970 to enforce safe and healthy working standards.

A bill proposed by Rep. Andy Biggs (RArizona) is to “provide for a limitation on availability of funds for [the] Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration for fiscal year 2024.” The bill might only see the light of day via Republican Party attempts to negotiate the national debt ceiling, but it states that it is designed to “notwithstanding any other provision of the law, amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise available for Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration for fiscal year 2024 may not exceed $0.”

Biggs has said he believes private corporations and state governments should be able to regulate themselves.

Biggs would also like to eliminate the De-

class hero: the son of a housekeeper and a cook who never lost sight of what is important. Being able to call Mr. B a mentor, brother, and friend has been one of the great privileges of my life. He was an amazing man—a man of history, and his legacy will live on through the millions of people he has inspired to fight for a better world.

George Gresham is president of 1199 SIU United Healthcare Workers East, the largest union of healthcare workers in the nation.

partment of Education and Department of Health and Human Services.

“Fifty-two years ago on April 28, the OSH Act went into effect, promising every worker the right to a safe job,” the AFL-CIO report said. “More than 668,000 workers now can say their lives have been saved since the passage of the OSH Act. Since that time, workplace safety and health conditions have improved. But too many workers remain at serious risk of injury, illness, or death as chemical plant explosions, major fires, construction collapses, infectious disease outbreaks, workplace assaults, and other preventable workplace tragedies continue to occur. Workplace hazards kill and disable approximately 125,000 workers each year— 5,190 from traumatic injuries, and an estimated 120,000 from occupational diseases. Job injury and illness numbers continue to be severe undercounts of the real problem.”

INVITATION TO PREQUALIFY AND TO BID

Invitation to Prequalify and to Bid

Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium, Brooklyn, NY: Turner Construction Company, an EEO Employer, is currently soliciting bids for the Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium from subcontractors and vendors for the following bid packages: BP #041B - Plumbing

Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium, Brooklyn, NY : Turner Construction Company, an EEO Employer, is currently soliciting bids for the Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium from subcontractors and vendors for the following bid packages:

Only bids responsive to the entire scope of work will be considered and, to be successful, bidders must be prequalified by Turner. Certified M/WBE and Small Business (13 CFR part 121) companies are encouraged to submit.

• Any applicant that does not have the proper family composition will automatically be disqualified.

• ONE REQUEST ONLY PER APPLICANT. Any applicant placing a duplicate request will not be entered into the lottery. An applicant can only submit a paper entry or an on-line entry. If applicants enter on-line and also mail in a letter or postcard, they have submitted a duplicate request and will not be eligible for the lottery.

BP #041B - Plumbing

• An applicant whose name is selected in a lottery cannot be included in the family composition of any other applicant who is selected in the same lottery for that particular housing company development. Failure to comply will result in the disqualification of both applicants.

Only bids responsive to the entire scope of work will be cons idered and, to be successful, bidders must be prequalified by Turner. Certified M/WBE and Small Business (13 CFR part 121) companies are encouraged to submit.

• HPD is not affiliated with any third party organizations regarding Mitchell Lama lotteries. If applicants use a third party organization to assist with applying for the lottery, no preference will be given to applicants nor should an applicant pay any fees to apply to the lottery.

Additional Information: A $75 non-refundable application fee will be required at the completion of the lottery for candidates that are selected. Those selected will be notified by the managing agent and will be required to submit the application fee made payable to the managing agent only. The Two-Bedroom Waiting list will be established by a limited lottery and 200 applicants will be drawn.

HOW TO APPLY: ONLINE You can now apply to a lottery online through Mitchell-Lama Connect. Applying is fast, easy and you will be able to check the status of your entry to see if you have been selected. To apply on line go to: https://a806-housingconnect.nyc.gov/nyclottery/lottery.html#ml-home

BY MAIL Mail Post Card or Envelope by regular mail. Registered and Certified Mail will not be accepted. Clearly print your full first and last name, current address and last 4 digits of your social security number and the bedroom size lottery that you wish to apply for. If you do not include the last 4 digits of your social security number or fail to indicate the bedroom size lottery, you will not be entered into the lottery. Mail post card or envelope to:

In order to receive the bid packages, potential bidders either (1) must initiate the prequalification process by submitting a Subcontractor/Vendor Prequalification Statement to Turner, or (2) must be prequalified based on a prior submission to Turner. (Note: Prior prequalification submissions that remain current will be considered as previously submitted or may be updated at this time. ) All bidders must be prequalified by the bid deadline: July 6th, 2023 and initial submission of a prequalification statement not later than July 6th, 2023 is strongly encouraged. All bidders must have an acceptable EMR, and will be subject to government regulations such as 44 CFR and Federal Executive Order 11246. Successful bidders will be required to use LCP Tracker compliance verification software. Note that while this is a New York City prevailing wage project, union affiliation is not required for BP #041B

In order to receive the bid packages, potential bidders either (1) must initiate the prequalification process by submitting a Subcontractor/Vendor Prequalification Statement to Turner, or (2) must be prequalified based on a prior submission to Turner. (Note: Prior prequalification submissions that remain current will be considered as previously submitted or may be updated at this time.) All bidders must be prequalified by the bid deadline: July 6th, 2023 and initial submission of a prequalification statement not later than July 6th, 2023 is strongly encouraged. All bidders must have an acceptable EMR, and will be subject to government regulations such as 44 CFR and Federal Executive Order 11246. Successful bidders will be required to use LCP Tracker compliance verification software. Note that while this is a New York City prevailing wage project, union affiliation is not required for BP #041B A Webcast about the above Bid Package/s will be held on June 8th, 2023. Attendance is optional for all; the Webcast is designed to assist potential M/WBE subcontractors/vendors. Link: Please join this meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_

NTVjNmZlMTctODdjNy00YWRmLWJmMmYtZjI4NzNjMzcwNWVi%40thread.v2/0?context= %7b%22Tid%22%3a%2220e27700-b670-4553-a27c-d8e2583b3289%22%2c%22Oid%2 2%3a%22732a90ce-24b7-42eb-bf78-d638e2a629ac%22%7d

To obtain further information about contracting opportunities and/or the prequalification package and bid solicitation package/s, please contact Lyndsey Spangel, lspangel@tcco. com 646-842-1659.

The date for the virtual public opening at the Turner Construction Company office located at 66 Hudson Yards, New York, New York, is July 7th, 2023 10 AM

Link: Please join this opening meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_

DIRECTLY TO THE DEVELOPMENT. • EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING PRESERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT

A Webcast about the above Bid Package/s will be held on June 8th, 2023. Attendance is optional for all;

NThmN2MzNDctNGEzNC00MTA5LWE2NjYtZTI0ZWVjZGVmM2Nj%40thread.v2/0?context =%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2220e27700-b670-4553-a27c-d8e2583b3289%22%2c%22Oid% 22%3a%22732a90ce-24b7-42eb-bf78-d638e2a629ac%22%7d

32 • May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS

Eric Adams, Mayor • Adolfo Carrión, Commissioner • www.nyc.gov/hpd DEADLINE: Requests must be postmarked by: JUNE 2, 2023. YOU CANNOT APPLY

SUPERVISED BY

Masaryk Towers 2 Bedroom Lottery • P.O. Box 997 • New York, NY 10272

Apartment SizeIncome Limits Min - Max* 125% AMI Monthly Maintenance Min - Max** Purchase Price Min - Max** 2-Bedroom$43,585-$180,125$1090-$1,307$11,075-$12,306

Aljamain Sterling retains title with win at UFC 288

By DERREL JOHNSON Special to the AmNews

Newark, New Jersey — In a hotly contested matchup that went to the scorecards, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defeated Henry Cejudo by split decisions 47–48, 48–47, and 48–47 in the main event of UFC 288 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. For Sterling, a native of Long Island of Jamaican descent, it was probably his domination of Cejudo at the end of the first round that seemed to be the margin of victory. All three judges gave the first round to the champion.

Sterling, who successfully defended his title for the third time, discussed the win with the media after the match, and discussed the strategic battle outside the Octagon between the two combatants.

“The guy is freaking smart,” Sterling expressed of his fallen foe. “I don’t think a lot of people could even appreciate what was going on in the middle of that Octagon. Both of us, making adjustments to each other’s adjustments. It was a highlevel, physical chess match and thankfully, I think I came out just a little bit better.”

When asked if he thought he earned the victory as it went to the scorecards, Ster-

ling, who has now won nine in a row, had a positive mindset.

“I definitely feel like I won that (match) 3–2,” he said. “Close fight, but I definitely thought I won and edged it out, in my personal opinion.”

What’s next for Sterling? A showdown with

Sean O’Malley in Boston, which was confirmed as the future target by Dana White when he spoke to the media after the event.

“My thoughts on Sean O’Malley is that [expletive] is frail, frail,” Sterling exclaimed. “Frail. If I can take down a short, stocky guy like Henry, who is a gold med -

alist and has good takedown defense, what am I going to do to Sean O’Malley?

Let’s be honest here, guys. Yeah, he been promised a title shot. He opted not to take the title shot and gave Henry a chance to come back and chase history. I beat Henry and now there is no more running. You either want to swim with the big boys or you don’t. If you don’t, get the [expletive] out of the pool and go up a weight class or some [stuff]. Don’t keep sitting around here talking and barking and not saddling up and taking the opportunities that are given.”

With three UFC events in the New York/ New Jersey area since August 2022, a return to the New York and/or New Jersey area, outside the annual card at Madison Square Garden, seems possible. The Amsterdam News asked UFC President Dana White about that. White said he plans to host a card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, later this year. In the co-main, Belal Muhammad, a Muslim who accepted the fight while fasting during Ramadan, defeated Gilbert Burns, winning 13 of the 15 rounds on the three scorecards. White said the winner would get a title shot, with Leon Edwards currently holding the UFC lightweight championship after defeating Kamaru Usman twice.

The Nuggets and Lakers move closer to a clash in the West

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic hears the opinions regarding his legacy. The 28-yearold 2014 second round pick from Serbia, an unlikely all-time great player, is well aware that his back-to-back NBA MVPs in 2021 and last season won’t completely validate him in the view of many as one of the game’s historical best unless he wins a championship.

Similar to Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton and other Hall of Famers who ended their brilliant careers without a title, the narratives when comparing Jokic to his contemporaries such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time league most valuable player (2019, 2020) who carried the Milwaukee Bucks to the championship in 2021 and earned the Finals MVP, will be less approving.

But the big man who finished second in the MVP voting this season to the Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid—Antetokounmpo was third—is moving closer to getting to the game’s largest stage. While Embiid, who is also pursuing his first title, has the 76ers up 3–2 in their Eastern Conference semifinals series versus the Boston Celtics, Jokic and the No. 1 seed Nuggets took a 3–2 lead over the No. 4 seed Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night at home with a 118–102 win.

His dominant 29-point, 13-rebound, 12-assists night followed a 53-point, 11-assists performance on Sunday night in a

129–124 Game 4 loss. Tuesday marked Jokic’s 11th career playoff triple-double in his 58 games played.

“To be honest, I just like to win the game, so whatever it takes,” Jokic said of his massive numbers.

In 10 games this postseason, Jokic is posting 30.6 points, 13.1 rebounds and 9.5 rebounds per game. The Suns have received consistently strong performances from their two superstars, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, but have not had the necessary level of production from the players surrounding them that Jokic’s supporting cast has generated notably guard Jamal Murray. The Nuggets will look to close out the Suns on the road in Game 6 tonight. A loss would force Game 7 in Denver on Sunday.

The No. 7 Los Angeles Lakers took a 3–1 lead into San Francisco last night (Wednesday) with the objective of ending the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors season in the other Western Conference semifinal pairing. The No. 6 seed Warriors continued their uneven play this season in Game 4 on Sunday, falling to the Lakers 104–101. It wasn’t mega-stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis that put the Warriors on the brink of going on vacation, but reserve guard Lonnie Walker IV, who came off the bench to torch them for 15 points in the fourth quarter.

“…The greatest feeling you could ever imagine,” said Walker afterwards. “As a kid, this is something I’ve been dreaming of.”

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 33

Nikola Jokic Anthony Davis

SPORTS

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling retained his title this past Saturday with a victory over Henry Cejudo (Derrel Johnson photo) The Denver Nuggets two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Los Angeles Lakers eighttime NBA All-Star Anthony Davis are trying to lead their teams to the Western Conference finals (Bill Moore photos)

Yankees and Mets face internal and external challenges SPORTS

By RASHID MCDONALD Special to the AmNews

The Yankees played three hardfought games at Tropicana Field against the American League East’s first place Tampa Bay Rays this past weekend to finish a short road trip. They would lose the series, only taking Saturday’s game 3–2, and were 4–6 over their previous 10 games. The Yankees held a record of 19–17 and were in last place in the division before hosting Game 2 in the Bronx on Tuesday of a threegame series versus the Oakland A’s. The Yankees have been inconsistent in the opening two months of Major League Baseball this season. The most unexpected performance over the weekend was from ace starter Gerrit Cole (5–0), who entered the game with a 1.35 ERA, but delivered his worst start of the season, giving up five earned runs in five innings pitched. He allowed two home runs, including a game-tying three run homer to Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Rays would win the game 8–7 in 10 innings.

After losing the series to the Rays, manager Aaron Boone’s Yankee squad came back with a 7–2 victory over the A’s on Monday night and were 10 games behind Tampa Bay as of Tuesday. The Rays are at Yankee Stadium for a four-game series starting tonight.

A positive for the Yankees has been outfielder Harrison Bader, who has been their best player since making his season debut on May 2 after recovering from a strained oblique suffered in spring training. Bader was posting a .389 average with two home runs, seven RBIs, and a 1.222 OPS when the Yankees faced the A’s on Tuesday. In addition, last year’s AL MVP Aaron Judge returned on Tuesday from the injured list after being placed on it May 1 with a right hip strain. Judge gives the Yankees muchneeded offensive help since they were averaging just 4.08 runs per game when they played Oakland on Tuesday. Starter Carlos Rodon, who the Yankees signed to a six-year, $162 million free-agent deal in December, is making progress toward appearing in his first regular season game with

the franchise. According to multiple reports, Rodon isn’t feeling any pain in his injured back, but he must clear some mental hurdles before starting his rehab assignment.

The news isn’t all bad on the injury front: Pitcher Luis Severino is on his way back from a right lat strain, sustained the last week of spring training, and is expected to make a minor league start this week in hopes of returning to the rotation next week.

“I’ll do whatever they want me to do,” said Severino. Meanwhile, the Mets have also found it difficult to find some quality starts from their rotation. They dropped two out of three to the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field this past weekend, making it three series in a row that the Mets have lost. They were under .500 at 17–18 when they began a three-game set on the road versus the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday with Max Scherzer on the mound, but in second place in the NL East—although standing nine games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves.

The Mets are encouraged by the

Poly Prep leading competitive softball action in Brooklyn

play of rookie third baseman Brett Baty and rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez, who have been getting more comfortable at the plate. First baseman Pete Alonso led the team with 11 homers, 29 RBIs, and 23 runs scored as of Tuesday. However, after a strong beginning to this season, he had hit a lowly .164 over his previous 15 games going into Tuesday night. Outfielder Brandon Nimmo topped the Mets with a .310 batting average and 39 hits. All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor was hitting just .217 but was second on the team in RBIs (25) and runs scored (22), and first in doubles (12).

The mediocre and, at times, poor performance by the Mets’ pitching staff has been the key issue for a team that has played well below expectations. They were ranked 22nd out of the 30 MLB teams with a 4.74 ERA and had surrendered 52 home runs, the third most.

Manager Buck Showalter’s group will finish their series against the Reds this afternoon before taking on the Washington Nationals on the road tomorrow through Monday.

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

The season is heating up for Poly Prep Blue Devils softball as the team looks to score some big wins in the next couple of weeks. Poly Prep is a demanding school where student-athletes balance academics and athletics, but their passion for their sport drives them to excellence.

In her second year on the varsity team, sophomore Jordin Walker said pitching is fun but also challenging. “You have to control yourself when you’re on the mound and notice what’s around you in

the game,” she said. “When I’m pitching, there could be a lot happening. It could be a tied situation where there are people on base and I have to focus.”

Celia Camara is already playing varsity softball in the eighth grade at third base, shortstop, and pitcher. “I love the environment and the people,” she said. When pitching, she does her utmost to stay calm.

“Usually, the pitcher controls the whole mood of the team. As long as I’m calm and collected on the mound, I know that my teammates have my back.”

Freshman Tori Eanes describes herself as a utility player—adept at third base, first base,

and pitching. She demands a lot of herself. “When I see where my work goes on the field when I’m playing, it makes it a thousand times better, because you know your work is showing on the field and that’s what it’s supposed to do,” she said. “I definitely want to be more consistent with batting and pitching because pitching is as much a mental game as it is physical.”

All three are aiming to play softball at the collegiate level, so they’re playing summer travel ball, attending camps, and maintaining stellar grades. Walker balances school and sports by making the most of her free periods during the day to get as much

homework done as possible. Eanes said the transition to the high school workload has not been easy, but she’s adapting.

While Eanes plays softball, her brother, who attends St. Francis Prep, plays baseball. They gravitated to similar sports when the family lived in California. “It’s such a popular sport there,” she said. Both of her parents attended Historically Black College and University (HBCU) schools, and she’s got some on her list, but she’s also considering a possible return to California. “California, Nevada, and Florida are softball states.”

The Ivy Prep League Championships are next week.

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 34 May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023

Jordin Walker (Photos courtesy of Poly Prep) Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo hopes the Mets’ trajectory is upward after they went into Tuesday night’s game on the road versus the Cincinnati Reds 17–18 (Wikipedia photo) Tori Eanes Celia Camara

Important topics in women’s sports highlight ESPNW Summit

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

During a panel discussion with New York Liberty players Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart at last week’s ESPNW Summit in New York, moderator LaChina Robinson mentioned that both women’s college basketball and the WNBA are growing in their metrics—“in their viewership, in their merchandise, in their social engagement,” she said. However, in a league in which many players are Black,

marketing opportunities tend to be greater for white players.

“To be one of the select few to have a signature shoe was a bittersweet feeling,” said Stewart. “There are so many amazing basketball players in this league, there should be more…We’re in a league that’s majority Black women. There are a lot of stories that need to be told.”

One powerful story told at the ESPNW Summit was “Hoops Family: The Iveys,” which featured Niele Ivey, head women’s basket-

ball coach at Notre Dame, and her son, Jaden Ivey, a player with the Detroit Pistons.

Niele gave birth to Jaden between her first and second years in the WNBA and raised him as a single mom. In the off-season, she played overseas, taking her son with her. In 2007, she joined the coaching staff at Notre Dame, where she remained until 2019, when she accepted an assistant coaching position with the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2020, she returned to Notre Dame, be -

coming head coach after the retirement of Muffet McGraw.

Jaden was alongside Niele during her basketball journey as a player and coach, and women players like (Notre Dame alums) Skylar Diggins and Arike Ogunbowale were his role models. “I remember being in the gym with [Arike] and losing in one-on-one games,” said Jaden.

“I really thank her for inspiring me, putting that strength in me.”

Stewart also spoke about the nomadic life of a women’s professional basketball player. Stewart and her

wife, Marta Xargay, have a daughter, Ruby Mae, and they travel as a family. This past WNBA off-season, Stewart played in Turkey.

“We’re experiencing all these different countries,” Stewart said. “To be able to do it with my wife and my daughter—it’s opening her eyes to everything she can do in this world. Being surrounded by so many amazing role models in the women’s basketball world and the professional world in general, I hope that she will realize that she can do whatever she wants.”

Skating luminary Rohene Ward honored by Ice Theatre of New York

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

It was a hectic and exhilarating few days for skater, coach, and choreographer Rohene Ward. He performed with Ice Theatre of New York (ITNY), and on Monday evening the ensemble skating company honored him with the Choreography Award, given to a choreographer who has contributed to skating as a performing art. It was especially meaningful as the evening’s honorees also included twotime Olympian Jason Brown, for whom Ward has choreographed for 18 years.

“I truly am grateful that he has trusted my vision and my process and allowed me to be an artist and grow with him as an adult,” said Ward. Among the programs Ward choreographed was Brown’s iconic 2014 “Riverdance,” which has been viewed millions of times on YouTube.

After Brown didn’t make the U.S. Olympic team in 2018 and made the decision to change coaches, he and Ward had serious discussions about the future. Today, Brown is considered one of the artistic greats in competitive skating.

“I feel privileged that I was able to have a canvas like him to be a muse for me,” Ward said. “It’s very rewarding to watch

him and see how much joy people get from watching him skate.”

For the shows, Ward was looking forward to sharing his own skating with audiences. The performances, set to Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth” mixed with Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight,” were dedicated to his sister, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, and his late father’s cancer battle. “I’ve been holding back this particular music since my dad passed about nine years ago,” Ward said. “I’m letting go of all of the things I’m feeling about it.”

Ward appreciates ITNY’s understanding of the arts, the blending of dance and skating. Every program Ward has choreographed for Brown has had a specific vision behind it. One that stands out for Ward is “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone, a short program choreographed in 2020 that Brown performed for two seasons, including at last year’s Olympic Winter Games.

“During the pandemic, when Jason and I created “Sinnerman” and “Melancholy”

[Brown’s short program this season], it happened right after George Floyd’s passing,” said Ward. “He ended up being in Chicago for like six months [Brown normally trains in Toronto]. That was when we’d get on the ice every day and skate around and talk about life. … It gave him a platform to really find his voice.”

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 35

SPORTS

Jaden and Niele Ivey discuss their unique bond (ESPN Images) New York Liberty newbies Breanna Stewart (l) and Jonquel Jones (r) with moderator LaChina Robinson Before being honored by ITNY, Rohene Ward performed in the company’s home season (Ed Forti photo)

The Knicks’ struggles against the Miami Heat are beyond Randle

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Knicks All-Star forward

Julius Randle came into Game

5 of his team’s Eastern Conference semifinals playoff matchup versus the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden as the emotionally charged home fan base’s scapegoat. The No. 5 seed Knicks were down 3–1 and staring at being eliminated by the No. 8 seed Heat in what was a distressing and unforeseen circumstance for their devoted followers.

By his own admission, Randle’s cumulative postseason performance had been subpar. In eight games prior to Game 5, the 6-foot-8-inch power forward, who sat out the Knicks’ 108–101 Game 1 loss to the Heat due to a sprained left ankle, was averaging 16.7 points shooting a meager 34.1% overall and acutely deficient 27.1% on 3-point attempts. Randle’s 9.6 rebounds were roughly the same as his regular season average of 10 per game but the 2021 All-NBA Second Team selection had seen a precipitous decline in his offensive production and efficiency.

The Knicks and their committed fans were looking for the version of Randle that put up 25.1 points per game and shot at a 46% clip in 77 games entering the playoffs. He was getting less opportunities from the foul line as well, dipping from 6.9 shots and 5.2 makes to 4.5 and 3.1, respectively. Then, after fouling out of Game 4 on Monday night in Miami with 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter with a solid stat line of 39 minutes played, 20 points on 8–13 shooting and nine rebounds, Randle gave an assessment of the Knicks’ 109–101 setback, specifically the Heat grabbing seven offensive re-

bounds to their one in the final quarter, that stirred anger in the squad’s exacerbated supporters.

“Maybe they wanted it more. I don’t know,” the 28-year-old with nine years of NBA experience said matter-of-factly. It was a tone deaf and revealing comment, one that simultaneously could be construed as defeatist and detached. It wasn’t the message that needed to be sent regardless of the intent. Randle not choosing his words more prudently stoked Knicks fans’ emotional ar-

senal with more ammunition to demand that the franchise’s chief decision makers, namely CEO James Dolan and president Leon Rose, rid the team of a perceived problem.

What struck a deep chord for those who have closely watched the Knicks this season is the fact that their exceeding effort and intensity have been their calling card. They have been consistently more physical and outworked their opponents from tip-off to the ending buzzer, grinding them

into submission. Until meeting the Heat, a team led by superstar forward Jimmy Butler and directed by 52-year-old head coach Eric Spolestra, one of the best ever by any measure. Miami is the mirror image of the Knicks in the relentless physicality and dogged energy with which they play. However, the distinction between them has been evident.

The Heat have the offensive balance and 3-point shooting the Knicks glaringly lack. After Game

5, the Knicks were hitting just 28.2% on 3-point tries in the playoffs and only 43.2% on all shot attempts. Their frequently stagnant player and ball movement in favor of isolation sets which have Jalen Brunson, Randle, and RJ Barrett dominating the ball, contracts the floor instead of optimally spreading it, ceding strategic and schematic advantages to the Heat’s swarming defense. Brunson had a game-high 32 points and Barrett 24 Game 4. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who has implored his players to cut, screen, and pass with more crispness and fluidity throughout this season, has not seen it manifest versus the Heat. Meanwhile, he had made minimal discernible adjustments in the four games before last night to counter the Heat’s superior execution and collective abilities.

Perhaps the most confounding issue is that he had not played guard Evan Fournier in the series despite the Knicks’ dire 3-point shooting. Fournier holds the franchise’s single-season mark of 241 3-pointers made, set a year ago. The 30-year-old Fournier, who started 80 games last season, has been buried on the bench this year, appearing in only 27 games. But it’s plausible to argue his potential offensive efficiency would outweigh his possible defensive liability.

Following Game 4, Thibodeau took a pragmatic view in stating the obvious of the Knicks’ dilemma. “You’ve got to win four to win a series,” he said. “So, all we’re thinking about is win the next game. Go quarter by quarter. Win the first quarter, win the second quarter, win the third, win the fourth. And then the next day we’ll think about the next day.”

THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS May 11, 2023 - May 17, 2023 • 36 Sports

Julius Randle and the Knicks went into Game 5 of their playoff series last night at Madison Square Garden versus Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat down 3–1 and facing elimination. (Bill Moore photos) Julius Randle Bam Adebayo

were available prior to COVID, but now have become deeply entrenched.

“I think one of the other things that will potentially continue is the idea of wearing masks in the hospital or medical facilities for high risk respiratory flu season or other seasons…. the fact that we as healthcare providers are now wearing masks is an important thing as we care for people who are high risk because they have symptoms so from my perspective I anticipate that during seasons where we have high flu rates or high COVID rates that we will re-implement these probably mandatory masks for healthcare providers in various situations at different times during the year.”

JD Davids is the Co-Director of Strategies for High Impact (S4HI), and is a health justice strategist for networks of disabled and chronically ill people and a queer and trans person living with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), Long COVID, and other complex chronic conditions.

January 2022 to really crystallize work that some of us have been doing before and during this ongoing pandemic as chronically ill and disabled people so our work is to build the power of chronically ill and disabled people to fight for and win the policies and programs that help us and our communities have healthy and safe and dignified lives. So in the course of this pandemic even as the pandemic was approaching, the conventional wisdom or the myth was that COVID wouldn’t be that big of a deal because it would only hurt people who are only sick or chronically ill already or are elderly. We think that our lives actually matter and that everyone was talking about us but not to us.”

The centering of people, coupled with the need for more trust, is something that Gebo cited as a real issue in the COVID-19 pandemic during her interview with the AmNews : “I think some of the things that were really complicated where we didn’t understand how it was transmitted and that led to some confu

health precautions that should be taken and as we learned more and changed our recommendations that led to feelings of that the government couldn’t be trusted or that people weren’t given the truth. As a scientist, it was very difficult because we were giving what we thought was our best advice at that time. . . with COVID, it was changing on a weekly, if not monthly basis.”

Gebo continued, stating “it developed this misinformation distrust because we were learning more and as we changed our messaging people felt that we were trying to hide things or we weren’t being forthcoming.”

As to where we are headed, according to Dr. Al-Aly, “the pandemic is not over. People are dying every day… people [are] getting infected and the virus is evolving… there’s really no guarantee that the next one around the corner will be milder and might be actually more severe so we have to be cautious… our situation today is certainly much better than what we were in March 2020… but

I really think that people need to be cautious… we’re asking for common sense measures for people to really take care of themselves and their families.”

Gebo also spoke to another aspect of the COVID crisis that may go namely specific health coverage, which could lead to equity issues.

“I think that there’s going to be some states that are going to really have significant swaths of the population who had coverage during COVID that are not going to and we had universal testing and treatment vaccines which rolled out, you know, very quickly, and I think it was well accepted and I think people appreciated that going back to the old system if you have health insurance and you can get coverage is going to continue those fissures in the healthcare system.”

May 11, 2023May 17, 2023 • THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 7 S

AFTER THE EMERGENCY ENDS:

Continued from page S6

Harlem resident Eleanor Kennedy, left, waits in line during a COVID-19 antibody test drive at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in May of 2020 in Harlem (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) By HEATHER M. BUTTS, JD, MPH, MA Special to the AmNews

As we continue to learn to live with and survive COVID-19, patients, policymakers, and doctors are still asking key questions. How should we as a society be serving people as the COVID-19 pandemic continues? How should individuals affected by COVID-19 be protected after the end of the public health emergency on May 11?

Dr. Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, spoke with the AmNews about one group in particular that needs to be protected: those with Long COVID.

“I think Long COVID is a spectrum of a couple of different kinds of diseases,” he says. “We’re starting to really pay attention to [the fact] that some people have maybe more respiratory long-term side effects, some people have some neurological side effects, others have this general malaise feeling across their entire body.” Pekosz says that most people control infections and their bodies come back to a level that was exactly the same as it was before the infection. “But under certain conditions, and with certain viruses, there’s a larger portion of people that never make it back to that starting point,” he says. “And that’s where you can have some of these longterm effects.”

Pekosz says that one of the challeng-

es with studying and treating these longterm effects is the conflation of Long COVID into one disease when he believes that it is really various diseases. “I think it’s important to note that there’s probably a lot of different kinds of Long COVID that we’re now lumping together that I think we as scientists have to really separate out and study individually,” he says.

Lisa McCorkell, a co-founder of the Patient-Led Research Collaborative, an organization made up of Long COVID patients who are also researchers in fields such as biomedical research, public policy, and health activism, spoke with the AmNews about individuals that are chronically ill and suffering with Long COVID.

“I tell everyone, all patients, that they

know their body best, so if a provider tells you something that doesn’t align with what you’re experiencing, you’re not in the wrong,” she said. “There is a large community online that are experiencing exactly what Long COVID patients are going through, so trying to find that support can be really helpful.”

McCorkell says that many of the conditions that patients were getting diagnosed with like myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/ CFS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a blood circulation disorder, are generally lifelong conditions.

“I would say we are seeing people recover from Long COVID within a year but

Continued on page S9

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IMPACTED BY COVID-19

PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS

WILL CONTINUE TO FACE CHALLENGES

Julian Boyce, 14, gets a hug from his mother, Satrina Boyce, after he received his first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination dose at NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, in 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

many of us have not. It’s a pretty significantly high number of us that are not,” she said.

“We’re all hitting our three-year anniversary and I don’t anticipate recovery,” she added. “It’s whether I get a treatment or not that helps me manage my symptoms so that’s definitely a myth that you recover from Long COVID [after] a few months because it’s possible people do but, [some] of us are not recovering within a year and if you don’t recover within a year, especially in things like ME/CFS and POTS, you’re more likely for it to be a lifelong illness.”

The continued struggle for many is not lost on experts like Dr. Kelly Gebo, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“There are pockets of our population with people who have chronic diseases or who are caring for people with chronic diseases that are trying to continue to self-protect and there’s a real stigma associated with that,” Gebo says.

People with Long COVID are not the only ones facing pandemic-related challenges such as fighting for benefits, managing other chronic diseases, and dealing with food insecurity.

According to Gebo, there is a particularly vulnerable population in the aftermath of COVID-19: those who have been orphaned during the pandemic. Gebo highlights the significant needs of this group, emphasizing that losing a caregiver can have a profound impact on a child’s life.

People with disabilities are another impacted population. According to a report by the Center for Law and Social Policy, the backlog of applications at the Social Security Administration is “a hindrance for long COVID applicants, and others.”

The report recommends that programs like “TANF and SNAP be available to help people with Long COVID and other disabilities avoid hunger and hardship.”

Instead, disabled people face significant challenges in getting access to these essential support systems. The report highlights a concern that the systemic inequities of being denied benefits or losing them disproportionately can harm disabled people of color, individuals with low incomes, and those with marginalized identities. According to JD Davids, the Co-Director of Strategies for High Impact, we’ve been down this road before with other diseases.

“On the one hand we’ve seen what has happened with HIV with strategic investments and pushed by activists,” he says. “Over four decades, we’ve taken an almost universally fatal condition and been able to have it be a mostly manageable chronic condition if people get the treatment and care they need and it’s now even more readily a preventable condition.”

Davids says that we have a lot to learn

from past epidemics and the question is whether we will take those lessons and utilize them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So we have a choice here: we can go down the road of what we’ve done with HIV, or we could look at what . . .happened with myalgic encephalomyelitis . . .where we have …drastic lack of care and actual disbelief and doubting of those who have it who can be profoundly disabled.”

As for the end of the public health emergency on May 11, according to Davids, this is another place where looking to the past and HIV can be instructive. “It’s hard to call something an emergency for 40 years but when you look at the way that HIV has been and continues to be handled, it’s with specific and dedicated ongoing resources that has allowed us to have this success and that’s what we need for COVID and Long COVID,” he says.

Specific solutions that Davids gives in cludes creating long term federal fund ing similar to the Ryan White Care Act, which Davids says helps people get into and stay on the care and treatments that they need with all the support that helps them be able to do that. Training medi cal providers, funding for research, and national strategies are other solutions from Davids.

“What’s happening is right and left, measures are being dropped and it hap pened way before May 11th,” he says. “So what we’re going to see is basically at best a return to business as usual.”

Dr. Gebo is also an expert in the HIV arena, and spoke to some of these sim ilarities with the AmNews.

“I think the other thing [COVID-19] exposed was the difficulties and dispar ities in our health care system. There are populations that don’t get the same medical care as others and it’s important to try to engage everyone to make sure that we’re providing . . .the best possible care. Having done HIV medicine for 20 years, it wasn’t a shock to me, but I think having a global pandemic that affected everybody at the same time really exposed some significant flaws in our Healthcare system.”

Ultimately, Dr. Lisa McCorkell emphasizes the importance of taking measures to reduce the risk of experiencing these issues before, during, and after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

“It’s still worth it to try to not get COVID, to then try to not get Long COVID, and then if you are experiencing symptoms after COVID infection, it’s really important, especially if you’re having chest pain or anything that could be indicative of a stroke or a heart attack, to make sure to get that checked out and to not normalize that,” she says.

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Continued from page S8 PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS IMPACTED BY COVID WILL CONTINUE TO FACE CHALLENGES

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DECLINING ACCESS TO COVID-19 SERVICES WILL WORSEN HEALTH DISPARITIES

For much of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City has offered a variety of services to support its residents who got infected. New Yorkers could get tested for free at sites across the city, even without health insurance; they could receive Paxlovid prescriptions from the same sites where they were tested; they could call a hotline for treatments or care advice; and they could even receive a free hotel room to isolate themselves from family members.

Those services have declined over the last year, however, culminating with the shutdown of many public testing sites this spring in time with the ending of federal emergency measures. In late March, NYC Health + Hospitals announced that it would end its mobile program for testing and Paxlovid prescriptions by May 11; testing will still be available at hospital sites, by appointment. For New Yorkers who are at higher risk of COVID-19, the change will make it harder to stay safe as the virus continues to spread.

Health + Hospitals provided a “vital resource and safety net” for New Yorkers throughout the last three years, said Dr.

The public health system primarily serves Black and Latino communities, including many New Yorkers who are low-income, don’t have health insurance, and are undocumented, she said. For these groups, the city’s free COVID-19 programs provided services that they may not have been able to access anywhere else.

Steven Thrasher, a professor at Northwestern University and author of the book “The Viral Underclass,” told the Amsterdam News that the city has been “a leader in a lot of ways” during the pandemic. City institutions quickly built a COVID-19 service infrastructure that didn’t exist in other parts of the U.S., he explained.

But now, much of that infrastructure has been dismantled, both in New York City and across the country. The local closures come as healthcare organizations nationwide prepare for the federal public health emergency to end on May 11.

The combination of local and national changes is “a perfect storm,” Blackstock said. “It really feels like an abandonment of public health.”

At this point, while the federal govern-

insurance companies to provide free tests, and insurance coverage of treatments and vaccines is likely to change as well.

After May 11, many New Yorkers may not know where or how to get COVID19 care—and this will lead fewer people to seek it out, experts say. Still, one important program remains intact: people will still be able to connect with doctors for COVID-19 care through calling the Health + Hospitals hotline, 212-COVID19, or making an appointment by calling 1-844-NYC-4NYC.

In response to questions, Health + Hospitals and the city health department both referred to its March press release announcing the site closures. “As we transition out of the emergency phase of the pandemic, the Health Department and NYC Health + Hospitals will continue to provide services and support to New Yorkers and ensure access to lifesaving COVID19 care,” Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said in a statement.

The federal public health emergency “bolstered” New York State’s response to COVID-19, a spokesperson for the state

health department said. After it ends, “thegoing access to vaccines, COVID-19 tests, and treatments.”

COVID-19 SERVICES REMAIN VALUABLE

While COVID-19 may not be spreading across NYC as much now as it was in 2020, the disease still kills hundreds of Americans every day and has led to long-term symptoms for millions. Testing remains important as a preventative measure, said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and global health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. A positive test result can lead the patient to isolate, breaking potential chains of transmission, El-Sadr said. This may be particularly helpful for reducing outbreaks in workplaces that require in-person attendance. At the same time, the patient can seek out Paxlovid or other COVID-19 treatments.

Paxlovid, the most effective treatment against currently-circulating variants, is more effective when patients receive it quickly after becoming sick. “So the easier it is to get tested promptly, the better,” ElContinued on page S11

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A worker wearing a protective face shield checks for open windows at a New York City Health + Hospitals COVID-19 testing site in Brooklyn in November of 2020. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Sadr said. The New York health system is also still distributing Paxlovid for free through its ExpressCare hotline at 212COVID19 (212-268-4319).

The ExpressCare program has sent about 40,000 Paxlovid prescriptions as of April 2023, according to a spokesperson at Health + Hospitals. Nearly 43% of the hotline’s patients live in communities that the city’s Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity has determined most impacted by COVID-19.

As PCR testing sites across the city close, healthcare providers have directed New Yorkers to utilize at-home, rapid tests instead. Health + Hospitals, for example, continues to distribute free at-home tests at a number of locations around the five boroughs, and will keep the program going as long as supplies last.

However, PCR tests are more accurate than the at-home tests, particularly as the coronavirus continues to mutate.

Elana Levin found out that she had COVID-19 this past December through a PCR test at a mobile site in her Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park. The PCR result allowed her to isolate soon after her symptoms started, she said, while an at-home test she took the same day was negative.

sites also showed New Yorkers that they could easily access COVID-19 care if they needed it. These sites were highly visible, outdoors, and required no appointments; all of these qualities implicitly encouraged people to take advantage of the sites.

Their absence “will change the perception of access” to COVID-19 services, ElSadr said.

CLOSURES WILL WORSEN DISPARITIES

As the Health + Hospitals walk-in sites close and the federal health emergency ends, New Yorkers will have to work harder to get a PCR test if they need one. Health + Hospitals still offers free testing at its hospital sites, but patients now need to make an appointment for the service. They might need to make an appointment with a doctor, pay a $100 fee, or even risk COVID-19 exposure by entering a healthcare clinic to get tested, as outdoor options will no longer be available.

Many healthcare settings have also dropped their mask requirements after a statewide rule expired in February, increasing the risk that someone might get COVID-19 while seeking a test. The advocacy group Mandate Masks NY has compiled a list of organizations across the state that still require masks.

Jasmin Smith, a former contact tracer who lives in Brooklyn, worries that di-

it harder for people with existing health conditions to participate in common activities, like taking the subway or going to the grocery store.

COVID-19 safety measures “make the world more open to people like myself who are COVID-conscious and people who might be immunocompromised, disabled, chronically ill,” Smith said. “When those things go away, your world becomes smaller and smaller.”

The ending federal public health emergency has also contributed to widespread confusion and anxiety about COVID-19 services, El-Sadr said. “People have so many questions about this transition,” she said, and local leaders could do more to answer these questions for New Yorkers. The near future of COVID-19 care in the U.S. could reflect existing health disparities for other endemic diseases, like the seasonal flu and HIV/AIDS, Thrasher said. For example, people with insurance and a primary care physician are more likely to get their annual flu shots, he said, while those without are more likely to face severe outcomes from the disease.

After May 11, COVID-19 outcomes are likely to fall along similar lines. “More people have died of AIDS after there were HIV medications,” Thrasher said. “More people have died of COVID when there were vaccines in this country than before.”

COVID-19 services for people who need them most. This might include giving out free masks and rapid tests, requiring masks in crucial locations like healthcare settings, and improving awareness of COVID-19 and long COVID through public campaigns.

Some of the infrastructure built during COVID-19 may also be valuable in responding to other health crises. Health + Hospitals has maintained its ExpressCare hotline (631-397-2273), initially developed to provide COVID-19 services; New Yorkers can now contact this hotline 24/7 for a variety of health needs. According to the website: “For medical urgent care, self-pay patients will pay a flat $125, and insured patients will pay a copay amount based on their plan.” Health + Hospitals has a policy to not deny care to those who are uninsured and can help those who qualify sign up for coverage.

The mobile testing sites similarly provide a model for easily-accessible care in future crises. “We need to be meeting people where they are,” Blackstock said, whether organizations are providing COVID-19 tests, treatment for substance use disorder, or anything in between.

For additional resources about COVID19, visit www1.nyc.gov/site/coronavirus/index.page or call 212-COVID19. COVID-19 testing, masks, and vaccination resources can also be accessed on

May 11, 2023May 17, 2023 • THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS 11 S

Continued from page S10 DECLINING ACCESS TO COVID-19 SERVICES WILL WORSEN HEALTH DISPARITIES

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The Apollo Theater is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic but carries the message "Be Well," Thursday, April 16, 2020, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. Most entertainment venues nationwide are closed during the pandemic. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

New York Amsterdam News Issue # 19 May 11-17, 2023

THE LONG EMERGENCY: NAVIGATING COVID'S NEXT STAGE

TESTING OVERLOAD

IN FORMS WE DISTRUST

FILLING IN THE GAPS

WHAT HAPPENS TO DATA WITH COVID-19 EMERGENCY ENDING?

THE LONG EMERGENCY

Is the pandemic over? Public health experts say not yet

THE PANDEMIC LINGERS ON

POLICY (AND COST) CHANGES TO COVERAGE AND ACCESS

VACCINES: MOSTLY FREE FOR NOW

TESTING AND TREATMENT: COSTS DEPENDS

SNAP: LIKELY LESS ACCESS THAN BEFORE

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OR THE END OF THE BEGINNING?

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

AFTER THE EMERGENCY ENDS:

What will stay and what will go?

#JUSTICE FOR JORDAN

DIRECTORY

INDEX

International News

NEW MESSAGE RINGS OUT AT ROYAL CORONATION: ‘NOT MY KING!’

Additional reporting

#JUSTICE FOR JORDAN - NYC protests for slain subway rider

No initial charges after white subway rider Daniel Penny kills Black New Yorker Jordan Neely

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

MTA invests $500M in Brooklyn Broadway Junction makeover

Hope in Harlem Conference

21st Uptown Arts Stroll opening reception

28th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition

Biden’s numbers are not good, and there’s little relief on the horizon

Trump guilty!

Seton Hall students want Africana studies protected

Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams’s budget briefing leaves CBOs ambivalent about funding and bail reform

’90s music video mystery man

Power Malu now on volunteer frontlines of city’s migrant influx

THE URBAN AGENDA

States Begin to Take Housing Affordability

Seriously . . . Except New York

Rent hikes: Can there be a balance for rent stabilization amid a crazy rise in costs?

Go with the Flo

Soke Ali Abdul Karim celebrated in Brooklyn

Attorney Alton Maddox celebrated as the ‘People’s Lawyer’

Harlem hosts Drum Circle

The F.O.R.C.E. is with us

Union Matters

Harry Belafonte and George Gresham Farewell, Mr. B, who led a revolutionary life

Black workers died on the job at the highest rate, AFL-CIO report says

Writers’ Guild strike has impact on scripted shows across the nation

Health

City Council roadmap to mental health vs. mayor’s version

What’s in the plan

What can work

How the Jordan Neely tragedy can change our way of thinking

Racism: Premeditation

It’s time for Western Countries to redefine their relations with Africa and its diaspora

A new relationship

Washington, D.C.: a symptom of urban crime’s toll on college students

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

New author alert: Sidik Fofana

Caribbean Update

Two more Caribbean countries increase pace to become republics

Special to the AmNews

Where in the world is the nation’s immigration czar?

FELICIA PERSAUD IMMIGRATION KORNER

Arts & Entertainment

‘Queen Charlotte’ is a touching, captivating addition to the series

New York City Ballet’s India Bradley personifies Black ballerina magic

direction of Andrea Long-Naidu

‘A Doll’s House’ is dynamic on B’way

Broadway’s ‘Parade’ is stunning, moving spectacle

HOROSCOPES BY KNOWYOURNUMB3RS

KYA

May 11, 2023—May 17, 2023

‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty’ now at the Met

IT’S TIME, TIMES SQUARE

Dear New York,

Ballerina magic

SISTER’S PLACE, BIRDLAND, CHAMPION, NOD TO RAOUL ABDUL

CLASSROOM IN