New York Amsterdam News Issue #49 Dec.8-14, 2022

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks during an election day canvass launch on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in Norcross, Ga. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

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the return of unsolicited

(GIN)—Stories abound about the majestic baobab tree: land marks across Africa, where they stand tall, have adapted to arid landscapes, are the basis of myths and thes home of vultures and bees, and are the giver of fruits that can feed families during drought. The baobab, or mbuyu in Kiswa hili, is a gigantic fibrous, leafy tree, common in the open semi-arid areas of eastern and coastal coun

ties of Kenya and in 32 other African countries. It is not uncommon to find a 5,000-year-old tree, 100 feet tall, 40 feet in diameter — a prehistoric spe cies that predates both mankind and the splitting of the continents more than 200 million years ago.

Fruit produced by the baobab contains high levels of vitamin C, antioxidants, calcium, potassium and fiber. The bark has medicinal properties, and oil from the seeds is used in beauty products.

But these benefits were out weighed by the monies being of fered to poor landowners for the trees. “Everybody was willing to sell,” Johna Kahindi, a real estate broker from the area, told a re porter. “Many people in our com munity are very poor, so even $800 would be seen as a lot of money.”

Kenyan officials have now halted the export of baobabs to the former Russian republic of Geor gia and ordered an investigation into how a foreign contractor re ceived permission to transport the ancient trees out of the country. Kenya’s president, William Ruto, ordered the Ministry of Environ ment and Forestry to investigate whether Georgy Gvasaliya, found

er of Ariba Seaweed Co., had the proper license to take the trees out of Kenya under the Nagoya pro tocol, an international agreement that governs the export of genetic resources and has been incorpo rated into Kenyan law.

Meanwhile, researchers, scien tists and environmentalists are de nouncing Ariba Seaweed Int’l. for uprooting the trees, and the envi ronmental agency and the Kenya Forest Service for allowing the dec imation of the iconic species.

Under a media spotlight, the Min istry of Environment and Forest ry claimed that the environmental impact assessment license allowing the trees to be uprooted and export ed was given “irregularly.”

However, a local official dis agreed, saying there was little they could do to halt the sales because the baobabs were on private ly owned land. “The issue here is about ownership rights. This is a tree belonging to an individual. It’s not protected; it’s not on govern ment land,” the local official said.

Kavaka Watai Mukonyi, former head of bioprospecting at the Kenya Wildlife Service, disagreed: “If there are no agreements, it does not matter

whether (the land was privately owned) or not—that is an illegality.”

In a further investigation by the Guardian UK, it was learned that the cut baobab trees were being exported to Shekvetili Dendro logical Park, which is owned by former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has been involved in other tree-uprooting activities along the Georgian coast.

According to Gvasalia, most of his customers are ambitious owners of botanical gardens. In his home country of Georgia, an $ 11 million greenhouse was to be built to exactly simulate the weather conditions and humidity of the Kilifi area in Kenya.

Arabian countries, said Gavasia, are the most eager to obtain origi nal African baobabs as exotic high lights in their desert surroundings.

Gus Le Breton, chair of the Af rican Baobab Alliance, said: “It’s biopiracy. I cannot see any justi fication for taking a reproductive tree from some part of the world and moving it to another.”

A petition has been posted on Change.org called “Please Save our Baobab Trees from wanton Destruction.

II International Workshop on History of Reparations takes place in Colombia

By JESÚS CHUCHO GARCÍA Translated by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO

Colombia, the South American nation with the second largest number of people of African descent after Brazil, has citizens who can trace their origin to different African civilizations such as Kongo-Loango, Angola, Yoruba, EweFon, Mina, Carabalies (Efik-Efok) and Bambara.

This past Nov. 21 and 22, Colombia’s Observatorio de Discriminación Racial (Racial Discrimination Observatory/ ODR) brought political, social and intel lectual leaders of African descent from all over Colombia, the Americas and the Caribbean to the capital city of Bogotá, to take part in the II International Work shop on the History of Reparations in Colombia. The event was focused on examining the idea of reparations and looked at how the subject has been han dled in different nations and by different ethnic groups throughout history.

Even though Africans and their descen dants were kidnapped during the slave trade and enslaved by Europeans, they

never stopped fighting for their freedom and against any form of oppression. For centu ries they struggled against the old sugarcane planters and against forced labor in the gold and silver mines. There was always rebellion, including during the different battles of the Americas in the 19th-century Wars of Inde pendence. Their desire to recover their Af rican heritage is reflected in their current surnames: many Afrodescendants in Colom bia, unlike in many other countries, have sur names that point to their African origins such as Mina, Matamba, Loango, Angola, Lucumi, Carabali and Huila, among others.

From their kidnapping in Africa, through their construction of liberated territories called Palenques, Afro Colombians have not stopped fighting for the conquest of territo ries as a form of reparative justice for their almost 400 years of enslavement. Afro Co lombians still have possession of nearly 5 million hectares (almost 10 million acres) of land. But since the beginning of the armed conflicts between governments, guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug traffickers, these ter ritories have faced the threat of massive dis placements, forced disappearances of Black

KENYAN OFFICIALS SQUIRM IN THE SPOTLIGHT OVER ‘IRREGULAR’ EXPORT OF ANCIENT TREES

Meeting held between activists from USA, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Western Sahara and Francia Marquez (Jesús Chucho García photo)

Bribery, fraud charges dismissed against ex-NY Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press additional reporting

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

NEW YORK (AP)—A federal judge tossed out bribery and fraud charg es against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin on Monday, Dec. 5, leaving Benjamin to face only records falsification charges and prompting his lawyers to say it was tragic that the case was ever brought.

Judge J. Paul Oetken said in a written opinion that prosecutors failed to allege an explicit exam ple in which Benjamin provided a favor for a bribe—an essential ele ment of bribery and honest servic es fraud charges.

Benjamin, a Democrat, resigned after his arrest last April. He pleaded not guilty to charges that he obtained campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for his influence to get a $50,000 grant of

state funds for a nonprofit organiza tion the developer controlled.

Benjamin’s arrest had created a po litical crisis for Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat who chose him to serve as second-in-command when she became governor after a sexual harassment scandal that drove her predecessor, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, from office.

At the time of his arrest, Benja min’s lawyers had issued a state ment saying they planned to show the courts that their client’s actions were laudable rather than a crime. On Monday, attorneys Barry Berke and Dani James said in a statement that the ruling “shows how these wrong ful charges so harmed Mr. Benjamin and unfairly cost him his position as Lt. Governor.”

“While today is a great day for jus tice, democracy and the rule of law, it is tragic that this case was ever brought and such a decision was nec essary,” they said. “From the very be ginning, we said we are shocked and

dismayed that the prosecution would bring such flimsy and unwarranted charges based on nothing more than routine fundraising and support of a nonprofit providing needed resourc es to Harlem public schools.”

They wrote that Benjamin was “thankful for his vindication and looks forward to new opportunities to serve the people of New York and his Harlem community.”

NAACP New York State Confer ence President Hazel Dukes told the AmNews she never believed the charges against Benjamin were valid. “I always believed that those charges were false. And I believe that the rest of that case will prove that he was and is a young man of integrity,” she said. Dukes charged that media coverage of the reported bribe didn’t make much sense. News articles she read seemed to point to someone want ing to save themselves from being indicted by blaming everything on Benjamin. “Brian has served his

See CHARGES on page 35

Commitment Issues: Mayor Adams’ controversial directive expands involuntary hospitalization

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

Involuntary hospitalizations head lined Mayor Eric Adams’ new mental health playbook, announced last Tuesday, Nov. 29. The administra tion’s directive to the NYPD, FDNY emergency service workers and Health Department crisis teams green-lights removing those with an “inability to meet basic needs” for a city-run hospital evaluation without their consent, even if they don’t meet the practice’s traditional standards.

“The common misunderstanding

persists that we cannot provide invol untary assistance unless the person is violent, suicidal or presenting a risk of imminent harm,” said Adams. “This myth must be put to rest. Going for ward, we will make every effort to assist those who are suffering from mental illness and whose illness is endangering them by prevent ing them from meeting their basic human needs.

“And let me be clear, we will contin ue to do all we can to persuade those in need of help to accept services vol untarily, but we will not abandon them if those efforts cannot over come the person’s unawareness of

their own illness.”

For Adams, this directive only clarifies the allegedly specious un derstanding of when involuntary hospitalizations are appropriate. But for advocates, the announcement spells fears of wrongful detainment for those living with severe mental illness and an attack on the city’s homeless population.

“The mayor is playing fast and loose with the legal rights of New Yorkers and is not dedicating the re sources necessary to address the mental health crises that affect our communities,” said NYCLU

See DIRECTIVE on page 37

Immigration rights lawyers back ARA bill

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

The ongoing migrant crisis has a coalition of New York State elected of ficials, advocates, and asylum seekers pushing for the passage of the Access to Representation Act (ARA). The bill will guarantee statewide access to lawyers for immigrants at risk of de portation who cannot afford it.

Currently, asylum seekers don’t have the right to a lawyer in immigra tion court because they’re not tech nically criminal defendants, though they face some of the same hard ships. New York State would be the

first to enact such a right if passed. Assemblymember Catalina Cruz and Senator Brad Hoylman spon sored the ARA bill in the Assembly and Senate. Cruz, a former lawyer and undocumented person, repre sents Jackson Heights, Corona, and Elmhurst in Queens. She said that these are neighborhoods with some of the highest rates of undocemented New York residents and immigrants. Over the past three years, Cruz has worked with advocates to increase the funding for immigrant legal and social services in the state’s budget.

“What we’re doing is truly caring for immigrant communities,”said Cruz at a press conference at City Hall Park

on Wed, Nov. 30. According to New York Immigra tion Coalition (NYIC), having a lawyer is not only a “cornerstone” of democ racy, it makes a significant difference in determining if a person will remain in the U.S. Immigrants in deten tion with representation are over 10 times more likely to prove their right to remain in the U.S. and seven times more likely to get released, said NYIC.

“Many immigrants don’t have the same guaranteed right as everyone else,” said Murad Awawdeh, execu tive director of NYIC. “People who face deportation are not guaran teed a right to counsel; instead those

Metro Briefs

City and state health departments encourage New Yorkers to enroll in health insurance for new year

The NYC Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit, in collaboration with the NY State of Health, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and NYC Human Resources Administration, is urging New Yorkers to enroll in health insurance as soon as possible. New Yorkers must enroll by Dec. 15 to have coverage in a Qualified Health Plan beginning Jan. 1, 2023.

New York opened its health plan Marketplace—NY State of Health—in October 2013. Its one-stop health insurance shopping experience offers high-quality comprehensive health plans. NY State of Health is the only place where consumers can qualify to get help with paying for coverage through premium discounts or tax credits.

Eligible New Yorkers can also enroll in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan through the Marketplace all year. For more infor mation about the NY State of Health Marketplace, visit nystateofhealth. ny.gov/; call Customer Service at 1-855-355-5777, TTY: 1-800-662-1220; or find an enrollment assistor.

Mayor’s office announces mediation program to help domestic workers

Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga, and Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Commissioner Asim Rehman announced the launch of a new Domestic Worker Mediation Program, created to help the city’s approximately 18,000 domestic work ers and their employers resolve workplace issues in a respectful, confi dential and free way without going to court.

A previous report conducted by DCWP has found that more than half of the city’s domestic workers—the majority of whom are immigrants and women of color—have experienced wage theft, safe and sick leave violations, harassment, discrimination and fear of retaliation from their employers if they report illegal behavior.

Mediation—which benefits both workers and employers—is volun tary and available to resolve workplace issues related to unpaid wages and overtime, paid safe and sick leave violations, and retaliation. The program builds on Mayor Adams’ commitment to ensure that New York City’s domestic workers—those who work directly for a private house hold, such as housecleaners, nannies or other care providers—are of fered the support and resources they need to thrive.

Bronx AKAs and Alphas host toy drive

The Eta Omega Omega Chapter chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha So rority Incorporated, in collaboration with Rho Psi Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated and Metro Plus Health, will host its annual Helen Morgan Tomlinson Holiday Toy Drive on Thursday at Barrio BX Restaurant in the Bronx

The purpose of this event is to provide toys to the children of the Susan E Wagner DCC Pre-School and Crawford Memorial Church. The toys will be given away on Dec. 17.

The toy drive was held in partnership with the Wheeler, Wilson and Johnson Community Project and was held in memory of the late Ron Carlos of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

‘Wrong Church’ ballot bill signed into law

Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation to prevent a form of voter suppression known as the “Wrong Church” problem into law. This legislation, written and sponsored by Brooklyn Sen. Zellnor Y. Myrie, would require the counting of affidavit ballots cast by qual ified voters who attempt to cast their votes at the incorrect polling place but in the correct county.

Previously, voters who appeared at an incorrect polling place were often directed to complete an affidavit ballot, which was then fully dis qualified even if the voter is eligible to vote in one or more contests on the ballot. More than 13,000 otherwise-valid affidavit ballots were fully disqualified in the 2020 general election for this reason—a problem that

Senator Warnock wins runoff!

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

Three and a half hours after the polls closed in Georgia, Rapha el Warnock, the Democratic in cumbent senator, won the runoff election Tuesday, defeating Her schel Walker by a narrow margin of nearly 3%. With 99% of the vote counted, Warnock had 51.2% or 1,798, 850 votes to Walker’s 48.8% or 1,713,890 votes. Warnock was unable to acquire the needed 50% in the general election but he did the job the second time around and now begins his first full term in the senate.

After a nip and tuck race through out the evening, with the vote see sawing as each candidate took a favored county, the celebrants in Warnock’s headquarters lit up the ballroom with their cell phones beaming like torches. The victory gives the Democrats a little more breathing room with a 51 to 49 ad vantage in the Senate, making it less likely to have those contentious bouts of horse-trading on legislative proposals. It is also a decisive set back for Trump, who endorsed the former football star. On the other

hand, former President Obama was among a host of Democrats who campaigned for Warnock.

Warnock, 53, took five of the six major counties, including 95% of Fulton County, amassing 362,736 votes with 95% of the votes tallied. There was some concern about the turnout of the Black vote, given the various tactics of voter suppres sion afoot. But Black Georgians and many of their white support ers in the suburbs turned out in record numbers, particularly in the early polling.

“I want to thank Georgia,” War nock said in his victory speech before a cheering throng of support ers. “I want to thank my mother who is here with us tonight and you will see her later. She used to pick cotton and tobacco, and went to the polls and picked her youngest son to be a United States senator.”

During his twenty-minute speech, he recalled Dr. King, and thanked the parishioners of Ebenezer Bap tist Church where he is the pastor. John Lewis, and several civil rights martyrs were recognized before he promised to serve all Georgians, “even those who didn’t vote for me,” he chuckled.

“And so to everyone out there struggling today, whether you voted for me or not, know this, I hear you, I see you, and I will fight for your family.”

Many listeners may have been waiting for him to thank his ex-wife but she wasn’t mentioned, though her name for their custody battle over their two children was often tabloid gossip.

Walker’s comments after his defeat weren’t exactly a concession speech, but he uttered, “I want to continue to believe in this country, believe in our elected officials and most of all, stay together. Don’t let anyone sep arate you. Don’t let anyone tell you that we can’t, because I’m here to tell you we can.”

Senate Majority Leader Schum er tweeted his celebratory re marks, beginning with “51” the number of Democratic senators seated. He said Warnock’s victo ry “was well-earned and…a vic tory for Georgia, and a victory for democracy and against MAGA Re publican extremist politics.”

“Six more years, six more years,” the crowd chanted, noting the length of term for Georgia’s first Black senator.

The fight to end New York’s HIV epidemic continues on World AIDS Day 2022

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

New Yorkers recognized World AIDS Day 2022 last Thursday, Dec. 1. For four straight hours, names of those who died from the epidemic were read in Greenwich Village for the first in-person observation at the NYC AIDS Memorial since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beyond a day of remembrance, Thursday was also a day of action. Activists and elected officials called for decriminalizing sexual activity and providing statewide permanent housing for New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS, along with more over dose prevention centers.

“We do not solve public health crises with criminalization,” said Assemblymember Jessica GonzálezRojas. “We solve public health crises with public health solutions and that means changing policies, sys tems and structures to ensure every one can get the care that they need, not just to survive but to thrive.”

VOCAL-NY organizers rallied and marched for Gov. Kathy Hochul to invest in rental assistance for New

Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS after she promised them expanded sup port last year, especially for those in Black and brown communities.

“A person who is HIV positive, and doesn’t have a place to live [is] going to be more concerned with where they live tonight, as opposed to whether or not they’re going to keep their medication,” said VOCAL-NY Board Chair Reginald T. Brown. “If they have medication, where are they going to keep the medication?

If you’re worried about where you’re going to sleep, then taking your medication is not going to be high on your list.”

Last Tuesday, Nov. 29, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed a 14% uptick of new HIV diagnoses in 2021, although officials are un clear if the increase is due to more transmissions or just delayed test ing in 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year’s rise is an ab erration, with an otherwise steady decline in new diagnoses over the past two decades.

“New HIV diagnoses continue to fall, and we are also seeing a re bound in HIV testing and care-seek

ing,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan in a statement. “Both of these achievements are a testa ment to recent and historical public health advocacy that never gave up the fight for better services and support. World AIDS Day is an im portant moment to recognize what has been won, remember what has been lost and commit to ending the epidemic once and for all.”

The department’s report found Black and brown New Yorkers made up over 80% of HIV diagnoses last year. Roughly half of those who died from AIDS in 2021 were Black. Di agnoses were the highest in Brook lyn while deaths were highest in the Bronx. Transmission from men who have sex with men was the leading category for both HIV/AIDS diag noses and deaths in 2021. Injection drug use transmission is the second leading cause of HIV/AIDS death despite making up less than 1% of HIV diagnoses and only 5% of AIDS diagnoses last year.

In 2016, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention projected half of gay Black men nationwide will be diagnosed with HIV in their See WORLD AIDS DAY on page 35

NewJersey News

Newark youth get to ‘Shop with a Hero’

By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff

The City of Newark, N.J., is partner ing with the United Community Cor poration (UCC) this holiday season to host a “Shop With a Hero” event in which 250 local youth will each have the opportunity to go on a $100 shopping spree with a first respond er, police officer, firefighter, doctor, nurse or EMT, visiting stores on Broad and Market Streets in down town Newark, on Saturday, Dec. 17.

The program comes to the city at a time when the financial costs as sociated with December holidays can burden local underserved fam ilies that are already struggling with recent economic hardships and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our administration has a longstanding commitment to connect ing our police officers and firefighters with our residents on a personal level, and Shop With a Hero does that by providing seasonal joy to city youth,” Mayor Ras Baraka said. “Our chil dren will receive more than a phys ical gift or toy when they participate in this program. They will discov er that our public servants are there to protect and serve, and their spirits will be lifted. This collaboration is a win-win for Newark’s holiday season in the present—and for its future.”

After kicking off the holiday season with a successful event last year, the city, UCC and their part ner organizations aim to build a lasting bond and mentorship be tween youth in Newark and a local hero. The goal of the event is to humanize the people behind the badge or mask so children can build relationships with police and other first responders.

“The youth and families of Newark hold a special place in my heart. Being able to provide an opportuni

ty for them to purchase gifts without them worrying about how to cover the cost is an honor,” said UCC Ex ecutive Director Craig Mainor. “UCC is dedicated to identifying the unique needs within Essex County families and uniting with agencies to meet those needs. Together, we can uplift the community.”

In addition to bringing children joy during the holiday season, the event will help families that are at risk. This event will ease the worry that parents and guardians have about provid ing gifts for their children and allow them to use their money toward basic needs.

“The Office of Community En gagement is honored to collaborate with the United Community Corpo ration in programs to support our residents,” said Deputy Mayor of Community Engagement Jacque line Quiles, whose office is among those coordinating this event. “In many ways, they have become an ex tension of our office and serve thou sands of residents with food, clothes, toys and other resources. Now we are connecting families with our every day heroes for the holiday season. Together, we will continue to build a better Newark.”

In addition to the City of Newark, Shop With a Hero received sup port from UCC’s partners, includ ing Amerigroup, United Way, New Jersey Children’s Foundation, Goya, Newark Vulcan Pioneers, PeapackGladstone Bank, Newark Depart ment of Public Safety and Newark Public Schools.

“Amerigroup is proud to partner with the UCC for their Shop with the Hero event again this year,” Ameri group Community Representative Margarita Valentin said. “This is a wonderful example of the communi ty coming together to make the hol idays special for local children and their families.”

By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff

In New Jersey, residents with greater privilege and access to op portunities not only lead healthier lives but also are less likely to ac knowledge that systemic factors, including racism and discrimina tion, contribute to poor health.

A recent poll among about 2,500 New Jerseyans by the Ea gleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University for the Robert Wood Johnson Foun dation (RWJF) revealed signifi cant differences in perceptions of health equity. Just as a combi nation of personal experiences, race, gender, income, education,

Poll finds NJ finds residents’ wellbeing, demographics shape perceptions of health inequities

Stuart Cinema & Café has brought Emelyn Stuart’s visions of a community space to life

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Emelyn Stuart is proud when visitors come to Stuart Cinema & Café, her independent movie theater in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Just a few years ago, she sold her house, car and whatever other assets she could to take over a former warehouse space and transform it into a place for film-watching, performanc es and community get-togethers.

Stuart comes from the film and television industry. She worked there for 10 years and had also been producing and investing in film projects on the side. But she said she was surprised when exhibitors told her they were not interested in distributing her work.

Stuart said when she tried to get her faithbased film “The Turnaround” picked up for theaters, she pitched it to several distrib utors but kept getting turned down. The last distributor she talked to told her it just wasn’t a film the public would be interest ed in: “He said: ‘It’s not Tyler Perry, it’s not passionate,’” she said, still incredulous after hearing those words so many years ago. “And I walked out of there, and was like, how come this guy gets to decide the future of all these people? I mean, there’s writers, directors, there is, you know, cast and crew. There’s like all these people and this one guy gets to say, ‘No, that can’t go to theaters.’”

That was the one that broke her. Stuart said she walked out of that meeting and asked herself what she needed to do to ensure her films and those of other inde pendent filmmakers have a chance to be seen. A friend told her she should build her own movie theater. “I said, all right—I will build one!”

Stuart Cinema & Café at 79 West Street in Brooklyn (www.stuartcinema.com) sits on a quiet road that has few retail business es yet block after block of luxury rentals along what developers have deemed Brook lyn’s burgeoning East River Waterfront. The Stuart Cinema & Café, the first indepen dent movie theater owned and operat ed by a Black Latina in NYC, is positioned to serve its new neighbors while also wel coming visitors from throughout the city. Its 50-seat theater features showings of the latest Hollywood film releases. There are special discounted film screenings for par ents and children on Wednesdays. And the theater’s café features soups, sandwiches, empanadas made according to the recipe of Emelyn’s mother Maria, and pastries and cupcakes from Harlem-based Fresh Taste Bakery. Patrons are encouraged to eat their food in the theater while watching films. As chief executive officer of Stuart Cinema & Café, Stuart has also made the theater a go-to place for smaller film distributors, film festivals are shown at the theater, and the location has a small stage so that musi cians can rent the space and put on perfor mances. At the height of COVID-19, Stuart made the theater accessible for families who could not travel to attend the funer

Black New Yorker

THE URBAN AGENDA

By Jennifer Jones Austin

Racial Justice and Equity Are Now A Part of the NYC Charter: So What Next?

Racism in New York City, as in the rest of America, is embedded in every pillar of our society—from education to housing, healthcare, the arts, labor, the criminal legal system, and more.

Beginning in the 17th century with the displacement of Indigenous people and the forced labor of enslaved Africans, racism has been foundational to the city’s prosperity. Indeed, New York was founded because of the displacement of the original Lenape tribes from their land. Racialized hierarchy became the justification for these atrocities and subsequent violence, segregation, and disinvestment.

But now, for the first time in our nation’s history, we have a real opportunity to reset the foundations upon which these pillars and their derivative institutions have been erected; we have the agency to determine how our society is shaped going forward. In this past election New Yorkers had the opportunity to vote for racial justice and equity, and vote they did! By an overwhelming majority, the New York City electorate approved three racial justice proposals crafted to promote and advance equity in government functions for those who’ve long been marginalized by oppressive structures, policies and practices.

of actualizing these words will take a good while. Even though all three proposals passed with approximately 70 percent approval or more, indicating a strong desire on the part of New Yorkers to live in a city that is actively anti-racist, letting go of centuries’ old policies and practices that privilege some to the detriment of others will require persistence and patience.

als of loved ones but were able to come to gether and watch a livestream of the event at Stuart Cinema & Café.

Stuart is also currently working on the opening of a second, three-screen theater in her childhood neighborhood of Sunset Park. She said she remembers having to always get on a bus and traveling to white neighborhoods to see films when she was a child, now she’s building what will be the area’s first movie theater in 30 years. The Stuart Cinema multiplex in Sunset Park will have a full restaurant and bookstore. “The place I’m opening is on the water in Sunset Park. I’m going to be the first tenant in a new development, so I’ll be their biggest tenant on the ground floor, it’s so exciting,” she said. “We are going to have three screens. We have one that’s going to be a themed screen. That’ll have an indoor/outdoor feel, so you’ll feel like you’re outside but you’ll be inside and there’ll be trees and grass.

“My vision is not to have an AMC or Regal,” she said, referencing AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas, the first and second largest movie theater chains in the world. “I would like to have a place where I would like to watch a movie. And there are just certain things that I want.”

As the Chair of the NYC Racial Justice Commission, which drafted and presented these proposals to New Yorkers following six months of learning about the lived experiences of people throughout the city, and which then sought to ensure that all New Yorkers were aware of the proposals and had enough information to make an informed decision about them, I can attest that securing a decisive electoral win was no easy feat. With no template or other municipality to look to for guidance on how to do what had never been done before, Commission members and staff labored tirelessly because they believed structural change as a crucial step in dismantling racism was possible. Yet, I am certain that the work that led to the creation and passage of the ballot measures pales in comparison to the work that lies ahead: actually disrupting and deconstructing the long-standing racist and inequitable systems that have effectively kept people and communities of color disadvantaged for centuries.

Immediately, the New York City Charter (aka constitution) will be revised to include a preamble that declares New York City to be a multiracial democracy where all, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, have the opportunity to thrive. But the work

On Election Day, slightly more than twothirds of the New York City electorate voted to establish an Office of Racial Equity, biennial racial equity plans and public reports, and a commission that would serve as a checks and balances on the City’s progress. This is noteworthy because it is the actions of City officials and New Yorkers that will decide the impact of this revision and determine our fate. This charter change, which must be implemented by 2024, requires all City agencies to: improve racial equity in the design, implementation and impact of their policies, programs and services utilizing disaggregated data, including neighborhood metrics; develop and execute targeted strategies to strengthen communities that have been marginalized; and, measure the extent of their progress in redressing and overcoming disparities. For the first time, all agencies will be aligned in a unified strategy, and the public will be able to assess their effectiveness. New Yorkers staying vigilant will be crucial if we are to realize the potential of this now mandated charter function.

The third racial justice ballot measure, which passed with more than 80 percent of the votes cast must also be implemented beginning in 2024. Its impact will also depend on New Yorkers remaining engaged. Requiring the City to annually calculate the “True Cost of Living” by measuring the actual costs of essential needs, including housing, food, childcare, transportation, and other necessary costs will result in a clearer picture of who is hard pressed to make ends meet, even when working a full-time job. But this data will only be useful if it is utilized by government officials when making decisions about wages, community programming and resources, and funding and eligibility for critical supports for individuals, children and families. The True Cost of Living is intended to help establish a new standard that moves our city towards economic fairness and dignity, but New Yorkers will have to hold government to it.

In passing these ballot measures New Yorkers made history, but we’re not done. Now, our collective work of reshaping city governance and capturing the promise and potential of these charter revisions begins.

Jennifer Jones Austin, Esq., is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director at FPWA. Her guest column is sponsored by the Community Service Society of New York (CSS), the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers for more than 175 years. The views expressed in this column are solely those of the writer. The Urban Agenda is available on CSS’s website: www.cssny.org

Emelyn Stuart (Karen Juanita Carrillo photos)

Emelyn Stuart is the first Black Latina to own an independent movie theater in NYC

‘Clean Slate Can’t Wait,’ scream advocates & electeds

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

The Clean Slate Act isn’t so much about the numbers. It’s the story of about 8.7 million previously con victed mostly Black and brown New Yorkers, with lives derailed and dreams deferred, trying to get back on track.

An estimated 8.7 million New Yorkers have criminal records, ac cording to a recent analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. A large group of advo cates and elected officials who have been crusading for legislation that would automatically seal old con viction records gathered at City Hall and statewide on Dec. 1 to once again demand that Clean Slate be passed in the next state legislative session in January.

Currently, many people with old convictions face barriers to jobs, housing and education.

Yakik Runley, 47, has a nonvio lent conviction record for credit card possession, fraud and forgery. Before he went to prison he had a teaching license, which was sus pended for two years. He’s been out

of prison for almost 10 years and continues to be denied teaching jobs by the Office of Personnel In vestigation.

“Despite three certificates of relief and numerous job offers to teach full time I am still continued to be denied clearance,” said Runley. “All I look for is full time employment. This Clean Slate must pass, not only for myself but others like me that continue to fight the injustices.”

Runley has had over 30 offers. He currently works several part time jobs, including coaching and after school programs to support his family. He said cumulatively he makes about $38,000 a year and was blessed to at least be in affordable housing in Manhattan.

The bill aims to boost the state’s economic growth by $7.1 billion annually, expand the state’s work force, help businesses hire more Black and Latinx employees, in crease public safety, and tackle long-standing racial inequities in our criminal legal system. A per son’s criminal record would be au tomatically sealed after three years for misdemeanors and seven years

Shootings down despite uptick in murders, reports

NYPD November crime stats

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

The NYPD reported a slight decrease in overall index crime last month compared to No vember 2021 through citywide crime stats announced this past Monday, Dec. 5.

Rapes, burglaries and grand larcenies are down while mur ders, robberies, felony assaults and grand larcenies auto are up. In total, there were 127 fewer index crimes in Novem ber this year, a 1.2% decrease from 2021.

“As we near the end of this year, our department is seeing substantial, tangible prog ress toward our public-safety goals—and that is because of the dedicated work of our ex ceptional officers and civilian members,” said Police Com missioner Keechant L. Sewell. “The women and men of the NYPD have continued to reduce shootings, take illegal guns off our streets, increase arrests to bring justice for crime victims, and improve police-commu

nity relationships in every New York City neighborhood. Their work has yielded positive re sults, with major crime down in the month of November 2022 compared to the same period last year.

“Additionally, as we enter the second full month of our Tran sit Safety Awareness Campaign, major crime in our transit system has begun to decline— a strong indication that our of ficers and strategies are making a real difference in the every day lives of New Yorkers. We will continue these collective efforts, always working toward one objective: the safety of all the people we serve.”

Despite five more murders last month compared to No vember 2021, there were 39 fewer shootings—a 32% de crease. The statistics are typ ically in lockstep, with gun violence as overwhelmingly the leading cause of homicides na tionwide.

In the past 28 days up to Dec. 7, Manhattan North—which in cludes the 28th and 32nd Pre cinct in Harlem—saw only one

murder and seven shooting in cidents, an 83.3% and 72% de crease respectively from last year. The lone homicide was a fatal shooting in Hamilton Heights on Nov. 27.

In the Bronx, the eight homi cides matched last year’s 28 day total, although shootings were down by 42.3%—the count in cludes the alleged stabbing deaths of two children by their mother on Thanksgiving week end.

The NYPD also announced a “Holiday Safety Initiative” for December, featuring increased police presence at the histor ically most festive spots in the Big Apple, along with crack downs on pickpocketing and gift card fraud.

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

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Go with the Flo

FLO ANTHONY

A source exclusively told People Magazine that “GMA:3 What You Need to Know” coanchors T.J. Holmes, whose birth name is rumored to be Loutelious Holmes Jr., and Amy Robach have been re moved temporarily from the afternoon news show, which tapes in Manhattan, after news of their workplace affair became public. An in sider told People, “GMA de cided to have a period of cooling down, because they thought this was unwant ed attention. So, for the time being, they’re going to be off the air.” The source went on to say that ABC News Presi dent Kim Godwin informed the staff of her decision Dec. 5 during the daily morning editorial call. “She said even though this isn’t a violation of policy, she needs time to think about it and wanted to work through what was best and for now, they’ve decided to take TJ and Amy off the air while they figure things out,” continued the source.

On Monday, Nov. 21, phi lanthropist, author, advocate, TV host and fashion influenc er Jean Shafiroff hosted a hol iday celebration with all her closest friends and family to help raise money for the Mis sion Society of NYC. Jean has sat on the board of the Mission Society since 2014. Through out the party, guests—includ ing Martin Shafiroff, former undefeated/undisputed Light Heavyweight/Heavyweight Champion Michael Spinks, Malan Breton, Susan L. Taylor, L. Marilyn Crawford, Terry Corbett, Tony Bowles, Ruth Miller, Dawne Marie Gran num and Dr. Penny Grant— enjoyed champagne and passed around hors d’oeuvres provided by Cornelia Guest Catering. Midway through the evening, Jean took the floor to speak about how thankful she was for her friends, family and blessings that life has pro vided her, before speaking about the importance of do nating to the Mission Society

that night.

According to the New York Daily News, Jay-Z is part of a group of investors who want to open Caesars Palace Times Square, a first-ever full-scale casino at 1515 Broadway near Seventh Avenue. A native of Brooklyn, the rap mogul and his company Roc Nation have teamed up with Caesars En tertainment and SL Green to open the gaming facility. The business endeavor was an nounced Dec. 5 during SL Green’s annual investor con ference, Complex reported. Investors are proposing the casino could bring in an addi tional 7 million visitors a year to Times Square, which would include 600,000 more guests at local hotels, and over $166 million being spent by retail shoppers. The proposal also suggests the casino could boost ticket sales for Broad way shows. Said Jay-Z in a statement to Complex, “New York is a beacon, the epicen ter of culture. We have the opportunity to create a des tination at the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world.”

“Loudmouth,” the docu mentary on the life and bat tles of the Rev. Al Sharpton, will be screened in nearly 120 movie theaters on Dec. 9—a number that essentially dou bled overnight as buzz for the film continues to build. The nearly 60 new theaters in clude three in the New York metropolitan area (Brook lyn, and Newark and Eliza beth, N.J.), four in Georgia, and 11 in New Jersey, as well as the AMC theater at Disney Springs. “This is the first time a civil rights leader has lived to see their story told on the big screen,” said Sharpton. “Friday’s premiere will be a historic event, which is why you see more theaters eager to screen ‘Loudmouth’ from coast to coast and everywhere in between. I encourage all young loudmouths who want to change their community to go see this film.”

December 12th Movement 35th Anniversary—Forward Ever

By AMADI AJAMU Special to the AmNews

The December 12th Move ment’s 35th Anniversary Celebra tion will be held on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, Sky light Gallery, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn.

The December 12th Movement is a Black human rights organization based in New York City that has or ganized political actions leading to local and national mass mobiliza tions about racism, self-determi nation, reparations, quality health care, housing, criminal justice and education. Their signature dy namic street rallies, marches and forums have included the NYC “Days of Outrage,” annual Mal colm X “Shut ’Em Down” marches in Harlem on May 19, the Million Youth March in partnership with the late Dr. Khalid Muhammad, and the first U.S. National Repa rations Rally/“Millions for Repara tions” rally in Washington, D.C.

The Movement’s decades-long struggle in the local, national and international arena has set an ex traordinary example of the persis tent and relentless fight for human rights for African people, ground ed in the vision and hard work of its founders—Sonny Abubadika Carson, Elombe Brath, Viola Plum mer, Coltrane Chimurenga and Father Lawrence Lucas; its mem bers; and the people. The Decem ber 12th Movement International Secretariat is established as a nongovernmental organization with consultative status at the United Nations. The organization has participated in the Human Rights Council since 1989, representing 40 million Africans in the United States on issues and by hearings on racism, human rights, political prisoners, police terror and repa rations. The Secretariat has estab lished firm ties and alliances with nations and international organi zations around the world. Their Pan-African fight to “support the right of the Zimbabwean people to recapture their stolen land has broadened the understanding of the African revolution that you cannot sustain political indepen dence without economic self-de termination.”

The Secretariat was also instru mental in the call for the third United Nations World Conference

Against Racism (WCAR) 2001 in Durban, South Africa, and led the largest U.S. delegation in histo ry, dubbed the “Durban 400.” The WCAR’s final declaration stated that “the trans-Atlantic slave trade

was a crime against humanity” and called for reparations.

For more information about the 35th Anniversary Celebration, call 718-398-1766 or go to D12M.com. Admission is free.

(Bill Moore photos)

(Omowale Clay photo)

Winners of the first-ever Minority Women-Owned Business Pitch

Competition reveal how they won

By AKANKE JACKSON Special to the AmNews

Carver Federal Savings Bank is one of the most prominent African Amer ican operated banks in the United States. In October 2022, the bank partnered with The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce for the firstever Minority Women-Owned Busi ness Pitch Competition.

The Amsterdam News spoke with the two contest winners, Princess Jenkins of The Brownstone and Diane Da Costa of Simplee Beautiful, and the CEO of Carver Federal Sav ings Bank, Michael T. Pugh, in an ex clusive interview.

Dozens of Harlem applicants, who are business owners, public officials and community leaders, participat ed in the competition. Each contes tant filled out an application and highlighted important community matters with the goal of eliminating carbon footprint.

The two winners received a $5,000 grant to fund initiatives that will en hance energy efficiency at their com pany.

According to a press release, the Minority Women-Owned Business Pitch Competition is “designed to encourage sustainable investments in climate change measures to reduce the disproportionate nega tive impact on communities of color, [and] invited applicants to submit written business plans that were judged by a panel of Carver Bank Executives. Throughout the con test period, the competition drew interest from female entrepreneurs across New York State.”

After careful review, Jenkins from The Brownstone and Da Costa from Simplee Beautiful were announced as the winners for their innovative efforts in creating a safe work envi ronment that will reduce waste, save energy and lower emissions for their clients and employees.

During the conversation, Jen kins said that she plans on using the award to “help launch a digital cata log for 5,000 clients, which will save over 200 trees and 100,000 sheets of paper per tree.”

“The digital catalog will help re introduce the brand and increase annual revenues. The award will also be used for energy-efficient lighting and task lightening to reduce cost and energy consumption,” Jenkins explained.

She continued, “As a business, we

are always looking for sustainable models in ways we could operate in.”

Da Costa from Simplee Beauti ful said that she “will be using her award to upgrade to LED lighting, a new energy efficient HVAC system, a new low flow toilet system, and sus tainable and biodegradable pack aging for Simplee Beautiful’s CBD wellness products.”

Da Costa revealed that she has al ready begun construction at Simplee Beautiful.

“As of yesterday, I was already working with the lights. I got some LED lights put in.”

CEO of Carver Federal Savings Bank Pugh said in the press release that “the Women Business Pitch contest is about the entrepreneurial journey of our customers and what they stand for. These contest winners are but two of the many examples of successful business leadership that our entrepreneur program helps to uplift in our banking community.”

With the success of the first compe tition in 2022, Pugh confirmed that it would return the following year.

“Next year, we plan on doing it much bigger. We also plan on doing games and collaborating with other companies next year as we think beyond just a grant.”

The competition was presented to contestants in October. Each appli cant was required to fill out an online application before the deadline. The bank interviewed applicants who were selected for the second round of the competition and then chose the winners.

When asked about the number of contestants who applied for the grant, Pugh said it was “more than a dozen.”

Da Costa informed the Amsterdam News that her check cleared as soon as she was announced as the winner.

“I am a member of Carver Bank, so that check cleared instantly.”

Jenkins, who has been a business owner for 25 years, shared advice for the upcoming applicants who wish to apply in 2023.

“Think outside the box, think where you can make the most impact in terms of your footprint— look at sustainability and just have that be a part of your ongoing narra tive,” she said.

To stay up-to-date with Carver Bank and their upcoming com petitions, you can follow them on Facebook and Instagram @Carver banknyc.

Nightlife

BET soars, ‘Chante’s Got a Man’ and a great tour

Let’s exam for a minute the “men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t” credo. The numbers that just came back show that the BET net works delivered rating success with the pre mieres and encores of “SOUL TRAIN AWARDS” 2022 and “SOUL TRAIN AWARDS RED CARPET SPECIAL” last Sunday night. BET now has the top 5 cable award shows of 2022 for Black view ers: “BET Awards” (#1), “BET Hip Hop Awards” (#2), “Soul Train Awards” (#3), “Stellar Awards” (#4), and “NAACP Image Awards” (#5). “SOUL TRAIN AWARDS” 2022 was the #1 program for the night on cable for Black viewers 18-49 and 2+.

Leaving aside the statistics and demograph ics, let’s just translate into laymen’s terms; mil lions—2.5 MILLION—of eyes, ears, hearts and souls tuned in to the feel-good party of the year.

From what I’ve been hearing in my circles, the most talked-about segments of the show came first in the performance of R&B songwrit er and vocal powerhouse Chanté Moore. Her 5 minutes-plus performance wowed the au dience and reminded the nation of the stay ing power of her now 30-year-old debut album “Precious” with her sophisticated renditions of her classic hits “Love’s Taken Over” and “It’s Alright,” before closing with her most popu lar tune: “Chante’s Got a Man.” It was revealed days after the performance was aired that Moore has a few tour dates planned. So far, cities include Chicago, D.C., Detroit, Atlanta and Philadelphia. Additional dates will be an nounced at a later time, according to Moore.

This year’s highly anticipated Soul Cypher was hosted by producer and wheels of steel wielder DJ D-Nice, and as it has been since its inception, was the most buzz-worthy portion of the telecast. The Cypher featured memora ble lyricism from Muni Long, Durand Bernarr, Alex Vaughn and Grammy-winning gospel icon Tasha Cobbs Leonard over an homage paying beat to “Human Nature” to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the seminal Michael Jackson album “Thriller.”

Drawing on years of experiences and varied talents helped prep newcomer Durand Ber nerr for this golden moment. “The way I ap proached the Cypher was from years of development in church, theatre, martial arts, ballroom, skating, music theory and tour pro duction,” he said. “To have an opportunity like performing in the Soul Cypher as an indepen dent artist is beyond what I thought could take place…and yet…here we are.”

Durrand reminisced lyrically about his Soul Train Award appearance in 2018 as a support ing vocalist for Erykah Badu, but said he real ized he had to get into his bag for his solo turn. “It’s one thing to sing background and support great artists. It’s another to be able to represent yourself and show the eyes that fall on me who I am.”

Anchoring the Cypher, Cobbs Leonard show cased her versatility as a musician/artist and why she’s accrued numerous accolades, in

cluding Billboard’s Top Gospel Artist of the Decade. She also stays true to her core, while effortlessly flexing her immaculate vocal chops to illustrate her love and passion for God.

Beyoncé led the night with three wins for Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Collaboration (with Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers).

The complete list of “Soul Train Awards” 2022 winners are:

Best New Artist Tems

Certified Soul Award Mary J. Blige

Best R&B/Soul Female Artist Jazmine Sullivan

Best R&B/Soul Male Artist Chris Brown

Best Gospel/Inspirational Award Maverick City Music X, Kirk Franklin

Song of the Year Break My Soul, Beyoncé

Album of the Year Renaissance, Beyoncé

The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter’s Award Hrs & Hrs, Muni Long

Best Dance Performance About Damn Time, Lizzo

Best Collaboration Make Me Say It Again, Girl, Ronald Isley & The Isley Brothers; Feat, Beyoncé

Video of the Year Smokin’ Out the Window, Bruno Mars, Anderson. Paak, Silk Sonic

Now the award season can pivot its attention to the 2023 Grammy Awards, where Beyoncé is the most-nominated artist with nine. Ironical ly, that number of nominations finds her tied with spouse Jay Z, as the most Grammy-nom inated musician of all time, with both having 88 career nominations. Kendrick Lamar is the most-nominated male artist with eight. The 65th Annual Grammy Awards show airs live on Sunday, February 5, at 7 p.m. ET.

While not as notable, the 2022 SoulTracks Readers’ Choice Awards—the world’s leading awards dedicated to independent soul music— were announced this week. The winners are:

Album of the Year Eric Roberson, “Lessons” Song of the Year Melba Moore “So In Love”

Female Vocalist of the Year Maysa

Male Vocalist of the Year Eric Roberson Duo or Group of the Year Incognito Instrumentalist of the Year Najee New Artist of the Year The Womack Sisters

Lifetime Achievement Award The Whispers Over and out. Holla next week. ’Til then, enjoy the nightlife.

Written by David Goodson

(David Goodson photo)

Union Matters

Amazon, recognize your workers’ humanity!

Stuart Appelbaum

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

Amazon’s continued mistreatment of workers sparked huge protests across the globe on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, with workers and activists at 140 actions in more than 40 coun tries bringing attention to the company’s appall ing, dehumanizing and abusive behavior.

The Make Amazon Pay campaign—an interna tional union-led coalition of labor, progressive and activist organizations—is holding Amazon to account for treating workers as disposable com modities, for its environmental policies and for failing to pay its taxes. The campaign is leading actions such as those on Black Friday to demand Amazon raise worker pay, create safer workplac es, extend sick leave, provide job security, end union busting, respect workers’ rights and oper ate sustainably. The campaign is also demand ing that Amazon pay back to society by paying its taxes in full and ending its abuse of tax loopholes. Protests, demonstrations and walkouts world wide focused on how Amazon exploits workers and hurts communities. Workers at 18 distribu tion centers in France and Germany went on strike. In St. Peters, Missouri, Amazon work ers walked off the job at the STL8 distribu tion center. At the Amazon distribution center in Bessemer, Alabama, where employees have been trying to unionize with the RWDSU since 2020, workers joined community groups and other unions including striking Alabama mine workers in a show of solidarity. And in New York City, dozens of activists protested outside of Jeff Bezos’ $23 million luxury apartment, demand ing the Amazon chief’s attention. Amazon work ers endure unsafe work speeds, unreasonable work quotas, dangerous work and insufficient breaks, all of which contribute to the skyrocket ing rate of injuries in the industry. Workers’ pro ductivity is monitored so closely that they are afraid to take bathroom breaks.

In New York, the warehouse industry has alarm ingly high injury rates. Amazon workers are in jured at a rate of six per 100, which is five times the average in New York. While all warehouse work is dangerous, Amazon warehouse workers are 54% more likely than others in the industry to get sick or hurt on the job.

It’s a matter of decency, morality and often liter ally, life and death. We want Amazon to listen, and we want Amazon to change. Workers from New York to Alabama and from Leipzig to New Delhi want better pay, safer workplaces and a voice at work. Most of all, they want dignity and respect, and to be treated like humans from a company that can afford to change the way it operates.

Reform candidates lead in UAW races with 84% of vote counted

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP)—Members of the United Auto Workers union (UAW) appeared on Friday to favor replac ing many of their current leaders in an election that stemmed from a federal bribery and embezzlement scandal in volving former union officials.

Reform-minded candidates, many part of the UAW Members United slate, are leading or close in multiple key races with about 84% of the vote count ed. Many challengers campaigned on rescinding concessions made to com panies in previous contract talks, in cluding cost-of-living pay raises, elimination of a two-tier wage and ben efit system, and other items.

That could raise costs for Detroit’s three automakers—General Motors, Ford and Stellantis—and almost inev itably will drive up already expensive auto prices.

With tallies from eight of nine UAW regions counted as of Friday evening in a five-candidate race, incumbent Pres ident Ray Curry had a small lead over Shawn Fain, an international union of ficial who started at a Stellantis plant in Kokomo, Indiana. Curry had 38.4% of the vote, while Fain was second with 36%. There probably will be a runoff election early next year between Fain and Curry since neither had a majori ty of the votes.

Fain led the Members United ticket, which campaigned on reforming the 372,000-member UAW after the scan dal. He has advocated for more of a confrontational stance and has accused union leadership of complacency, and has said the UAW has had a philosophy for 40 years of viewing automakers as partners rather than adversaries.

He said it’s too early to declare a winner but said in an interview that the early vote totals are “a loud and clear message to the companies and the businesses to ‘get ready, we’re coming for you.’”

In the race for three vice president slots, Rich Boyer and Mike Booth, both Members United candidates, are first and second in an eight-candidate field, followed by incumbent Vice Pres ident Chuck Browning. A runoff could happen there, too.

Margaret Mock, the Members United candidate for secretary-treasurer, had 61% of the vote to lead incumbent Frank Stuglin at 39%.

Where tallies have been complet ed, candidates who campaigned on re forming the union also won three of nine regional director positions, with another heading to a runoff.

It wasn’t clear when the vote count would be finished. The ballots are being counted by a company hired by a courtappointed monitor who is overseeing the election and the union.

The election also has broad implica tions for contract talks with the Detroit auto companies that start next year.

The automakers, Fain said, are making the best profits in their histo ry, yet are closing factories and costing union jobs. He gave General Motors’ 2019 closure of its Lordstown, Ohio, as sembly plant as an example, plus a lack of new vehicles for the Stellantis plant in Belvidere, Illinois, which he said has lost 3,000 workers.

At a candidates’ forum in September, Fain said union leaders should have re versed concessions made starting in 2007 and should have won job securi ty guarantees.

“We’ve had at least 10 years with per fect conditions for regaining and im proving what was lost during the Great Recession,” he said.

The contract talks come at a critical juncture for the union, which faces a transition from internal combustion vehicles to those that run on batter ies. With vehicles having fewer moving parts, fewer people will be needed to make electric vehicles, and jobs making engines and transmissions

could be shifted to battery assembly plants that might not be unionized.

The election came after union mem bers decided last December to vote directly on leaders for the first time in stead of having them picked by dele gates to a convention.

Under the old system, convention delegates were picked by local union offices. But the new slate of officers was selected by the current leadership, and there was rarely any serious oppo sition.

A company hired by monitor Neil Barofsky mailed out about 1 million ballots to active and retired union members, but only 106,790—roughly 10.7%—were returned.

The voting happened after 11 union officials and a late official’s spouse pleaded guilty in the corruption probe since 2017, including the two former presidents, Gary Jones and Dennis Wil liams. Both were sentenced to prison.

To avoid a federal takeover, the union agreed to reforms and Barofsky’s ap pointment to oversee elections of the 14-member executive board.

Curry, elected by a vote of the Inter national Executive Board in 2021 to re place retiring Rory Gamble, said he has put financial safeguards and reforms in place and has plans to bring union members “back into greater days.” He said at the candidates’ forum that the union also has plans to recruit new members.

he said.

“We don’t just make false demands and deliver false hopes,”

"Reform-minded candidates, many part of the UAW Members United slate, are leading or close in multiple key races with about 84% of the vote counted."

Let Trump’s setbacks pile up!

Please excuse our gloating over the oodles of recent setbacks for Trump, and what we wouldn’t give for his final ly being nailed and cited with criminal charges.

This past week, we witnessed that his circle of reaction is under siege on sev eral vital fronts: The Jan. 6 House Select Committee has decided to make crim inal referrals to the Department of Jus tice about his involvement in the insurrection; the Trump Organization was found guilty on 17 counts of criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records; Trump’s endorsement of Her schel Walker in the Georgia senate runoff elec tion flopped; and among several self-inflicting wounds, Trump has called for suspension of the Constitution.

The latter item is just another gambit on his part to nullify the nation’s democratic process, which was egregiously attempted in the upris ing on Jan. 6. What next for a man fuming with discontent, maddened by exasperation and defeat? It’s good to see a bit of concern from the GOP leadership, although that’s hardly enough to deny his presidential bid in 2024, at least not yet.

Let us hope that he continues on this streak of governmental, judicial and personal setbacks that could lead to criminal convictions. That’s a consummation devoutly to be wished, to para phrase a Shakespearean quotation.

We are well aware of the difficulty of personal ly blaming him for the insurrection and the tax evasions and of securing a consistent march to justice by the Justice Department. But ah, “per chance to dream,” resorting once more to the Bard.

Trump has been America’s nightmare, one that may haunt us much longer than human ly possible. The only realistically possible reso lution of our problems may come from the GOP, but what can we expect from a horde of politi cians who can’t even express sentiments for the death of an officer on Capitol Hill during the up rising?

Our quandary is like our determination to keep Trump off-balance: something already readily evident.

Time is now for more diversity in U.S. media ownership

By DR. BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS JR.

Several months ago, I co-wrote an op-ed with my long-term friend and national media colleague, Jim Winston. Our commentary emphasized why “Di versifying American Media Ownership Must Become a National Priority.”

Now after the results of the high turn out of communities of color and young voters in the recent midterm elections across the United States, it is time once again to reiterate the relevance and im portance of ensuring an increase in the multiracial diversification of ownership of radio and TV broadcast stations as well as all other media platforms includ ing print and social media.

The multimedia publishing and com munications industry is a trillion-dollar business sector in America. Yet the dis parities and inequities of ownership of media industry businesses by persons of color remains glaringly inequitable.

I know some of you would ask me why I

AMNEWS READERS WRITE

am speaking up and out about other per sons of color owning media businesses in America in addition to African American ownership of media businesses. There is, I assert, only one clear answer. If you are, as I am, for equality, equity and believe in the oneness of all humanity, then we must practice what we preach.

This is why I am publicly and forth rightly supporting the efforts and leader ship of Soo Kim, founder and managing partner of Standard General. Kim is an effective and outstanding Korean Amer ican business leader, and he is on record supporting greater Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in our nation’s media ownership landscape.

As the racial demographics of our nation continue to diversity, American media must intentionally become more representative of that growth. One reason is because diversity is simply good for business. Another reason is because it is right and it is just to include the very people on which one’s business success

depends.

But perhaps the ultimate reason is be cause the greatest issues of our day— economic inequity, health disparities and systemic racism, pure and simple— will be best impacted when addressed by a multiplicity of people of all races.

Kim has announced an application for an $8.6 billion major media merger by acquiring TEGNA, a company owning 64 television stations coast to coast. Kim turned many heads with his description of a vision of “new partnership models to get diverse viewpoints and perspectives on the air and to make sure people have the resources to do it.”

One need only to review the leader ship of major media networks in Amer ica to see that there are far too few that are owned or led by people of color. This makes Soo Kim’s vision and leadership timely, inclusive and progressive. This is the kind of media ownership that is ex

Elinor R. Tatum: Publisher and Editor in Chief

Kristin

The holiday season is here. Let’s try to find some joy and peace.

By JAMES B. EWERS JR. ED.D.

We have just celebrated Thanksgiv ing with our family and friends. It was festive and fun. The food was tasty—a buffet of delightful dishes. Living in the Crescent City meant for our family that one of the dishes was gumbo. This tra dition of Thanksgiving is rich and has been with us for years, and is the start of the holiday season.

Black Friday sales, previously re served for the day after Thanksgiving, began weeks ago. A historical report says that back in the 1950s, police in Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of subur ban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city before the Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year.

Thanksgiving Parade was held on Nov. 27, 1924. It has been going strong since that time.

Let’s remember the reason for the season and not be overwhelmed by the commercial aspect of it. It is my opin ion that America has had its share of struggles this year and families have suffered in many ways. The pandemic is still with us, and millions of our broth ers and sisters have passed away from COVID-19. The latest reports say there have been more than 98 million cases and that more than 1 million people have lost their lives.

regularity. You and I know the num bers, and they are all bad. Just when we have reached a low point, we somehow manage to go even lower. When will this evil period in our America stop?

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

NBC News report ed that Black Friday online sales set a record for purchases.

Macy’s Thanksgiv ing Day Parade con tinues to be a great attraction for those watching on televi sion or in person. The first Macy’s

Vaccinations have become a staple in our healthcare maintenance sched ules. They will be with us for years to come. If you have not been vaccinated, you are playing with your life. I am glad that my family and friends have been vaccinated because it lowers the risk of contracting COVID-19. While maskwearing is not as prevalent, we should still consider them when we are in the public square.

Losing your life to an illness is one thing, but losing your life because of a shooting is quite another story. Yet we find ourselves amid a battle with our selves. You see, we are pulling the trig gers and killing each other.

Reports have shown these violent crimes are happening with increased

Despite our myriad of problems, we must create some happiness for our selves. It cannot be all doom and gloom. We have ways of finding love and peace. It is within our reach, starting with our patience—having more of it will be a great beginning. Simply smiling and using encouraging words will help to shine a bright light on someone’s dark place. We must try harder to find the good in each of us because there is good in us.

We usually make New Year’s resolu tions after the December holidays, but I believe the time is now.

Let’s resolve to stay better connected to our family members and friends.

Let’s resolve to take better care of our selves physically, mentally and spiritu ally.

Let’s resolve to control ourselves and not let our tempers control us.

Let’s resolve to help a young person with their goals and dreams.

Let’s resolve to value each day be cause tomorrow, not even the end of the day is promised.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson always tells us to “keep hope alive.” Let’s do it.

Biden’s bribe of Americans

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not repre sent 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.

Alvin Ailey is here

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

As the dust settles on the mid term elections, and the Republi can party emerges victorious in their bid for control of the House of Representatives, we can take a moment to reflect on the reasons behind the outcome. But, as we move forward, we must not forget the underhanded tactics em ployed by the Biden administra tion in their bid to influence the outcome of the election. It is this kind of deceitful behavior that un dermines the integrity of our dem ocratic process.

Make no mistake, Democrats en gaged in a nationwide bribery of young voters by handing them a $10,000 check to motivate them to go to the polls and vote for their pals in the government. Every court so far has struck down the student debt relief as an uncon stitutional exercise of executive power. The administration’s deci sion to implement this plan with out Congressional approval or support shows a blatant disregard for the rule of law and the consti tutional separation of powers. De spite having a team of lawyers at their disposal, they chose to move forward with this illegal measure in a desperate attempt to avoid a Re publican victory in the elections.

It is unfortunate that President Biden’s attempt to offer student debt relief as a means of mobiliz ing voters was ultimately success ful. Despite the Republican party’s strong showing in the midterm elections, they fell short in key Senate races that were initially projected to go their way. It is im portant to note that encouraging voter turnout is a crucial aspect of maintaining a strong democra cy. However, the use of executive power to implement an uncon stitutional plan to offer financial incentives to voters is a blatant abuse of power and runs coun ter to the values of our democrat ic system of government.

The most glaring evidence which

suggests that President Biden’s offer of student debt relief was a ploy to sway voters in the midterm elections is that the average stu dent debt is nearly $35,000, with interest accruing over time and driving many borrowers into debt that is higher than the cost of their education. Worse yet, many bor rowers have debts totaling over $100,000. Furthermore, the plan offered no restrictions on tuition increases or measures to address the root causes of student debt. It was a temporary solution that did not address the systemic issues at play and served only as a political maneuver that was used to garner support in the midterm elections. It is imperative that more compre hensive and effective measures be implemented to address the student debt crisis in the United States.

Student debt is a concern that transcends party lines. It is inex plicable that colleges endowed with generous donations from af fluent donors continue to raise tuition with flimsy justification. These institutions should not re quire students to subsidize their lavish, billion-dollar, athletic fa cilities and other unneeded build ings that offer few employment opportunities.

This supposed relief is far more nefarious than it appears at first glance. This is a calculated ploy that will exacerbate divisions within our country and generate further support for the preposter ous idea of court packing. Virtu ally every reputable legal scholar agrees that the Supreme Court will rule student debt relief unconsti tutional. If this occurs, it will cer tainly inflame divisions within the United States and further erode the credibility of the Supreme Court, as Biden and all Democrats subsequently deride Republican and so-called Trump loyalists on the Court for prioritizing their po litical ideologies over the law and

denying student debt relief to mil lions of Americans.

It seems the only way to avert the consequences of Biden’s action is for the Supreme Court to rule it unanimously, 9-0, as unconstitu tional, with a liberal justice ideally writing the opinion of the Court as the cherry on top. This would be a devastating blow to Biden’s strat egy and the Democratic party, but not as a political action. Rather, it would be a considered and unbi ased decision based on the Con stitution.

Student debt relief is merely a distraction from the many short comings of the Biden adminis tration and the Democratic party during Biden’s term. Skyrocketing inflation has made it increasing ly difficult for struggling Ameri cans to put food on the table, and rising gas prices are among the many failures that have inflict ed deep harm on the pockets of Americans. However, Biden now seeks to offer half a trillion dol lars in student debt relief, further exacerbating the already strained federal budget, in order to gain a few votes in favor of his shortsighted strategy to address a longterm but easily solvable problem.

Regardless of the outcome of the student debt relief case at the Su preme Court, it is clear that poli ticians prioritize votes and power over the American people. They will use shiny ideals and bribes to manipulate the electorate and secure their votes. This is a funda mental flaw in our political system and must be addressed to ensure that the interests of the people are truly represented.

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

CHRISTINA GREER PH.D.

It’s December, so it’s time to see Alvin Ailey! I always tell my friends that the hol iday season officially begins when I see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. I am always so moved by seeing gifted African Ameri can dancers perform iconic dance sets created by the late founder Alvin Ailey. What I also appreciate are the newer choreographed pieces that address issues as diverse and universal as incarceration, love, joy, loss and so much more.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater first per formed in March 1958 and has continued to expand into various companies and teaching programs, which have helped support gener ations of primarily African American dancers.

Let me be totally honest: The moment the curtain rises on Ailey’s signature dance “Revelations,” my eyes overflow with tears of joy. From beginning to end, I am captivated by the strength and detail of every dancer. I am overwhelmed by the sweeping music that transports me to the past and reconnects me with my ancestors. The costumes on the dancers make me think of being at sea, drifting in an ocean, and even going to church with my grand mother in the deep South.

If you have never seen Alvin Ailey during the month of December, it is a must. There are still tick ets available at City Center until December 24 at www. alvinailey.org. If you do not get to experience Ailey in December, they will be touring various American cities beginning in Febru ary 2023.

If you live in New York and

are so inspired by what you see, you (or a young person in your life) can even sign up to take classes at the Alvin Ailey school at 405 West 55th Street (at 9th Ave).

There are so many talent ed African American danc ers continuing the legacies of so many incredible Black trailblazers. There are also so many modern-day cho reographers who are build ing on the foundation of their mentors. They are cre ating ways for Black people to see themselves in a new light. They are creating art that literally moves one’s spirit and creates a collec tive emotional space for patrons to enjoy an evening of dance, community and sheer talent.

Once you have seen Ailey, you can also experience the Dance Theater of Harlem (www.dancetheatreofhar lem.org). The Dance The ater of Harlem will be on tour in several cities be ginning in January 2023. I for one have already gotten my tickets to Ailey for this holiday season and for the Dance Theater of Harlem for the spring.

It is my hope that you will take the time to enjoy and experience the arts this holiday season in some ca pacity. The communal ex perience of seeing some of the most talented dancers of our lifetime is incredible and worth every penny.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of Black Ethnics: Race, Im migration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream; and co-host of the podcast FAQNYC and host of The Black est Questions podcast at TheGrio.

Caribbean Update

Guns in containers rock Trinidad

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

For more than a decade, security officials and suc cessive governments in Trinidad have blamed the smuggling of guns from across the Gulf with Vene zuela for the major spike in gun and other forms of vio lent crimes.

The coast guard and police beefed up patrols across the seven-mile waterway with the South American main land, but police were still encountering hardened criminals with a range of high-powered weapons and handguns.

Now the situation is be coming much clearer in the wake of a parliamen tary hearing in the past week that shed new light on where the guns are actually coming from.

Police Chief McDonald Jacob and senior customs officials told the house hearing that guns are head ing into the twin-island fed eration with Tobago from a range of American states,

that of the 23,000 contain ers that have been import ed into Trinidad this year, more than 19,000 were not electronically scanned be cause the machines have long stopped working. This

told, there is a dire shortage of customs officers to man ually rummage through the containers, so many are being sent out of the system without checks for weapons and other concerns.

identified is FedEx,” Jacob said.

Jacob pointed to arms shipments from Baltimore, Georgia and Texas as main areas of concern.

“It takes a lot of energy

“It takes a lot of energy to mop up all these guns.”

including Florida and Texas. Only about 5% are being whisked across from Vene zuela.

More importantly, law makers appeared to have heard for the first time

is where enforcement offi cials are placing their focus, because they firmly believe that gangsters are easily ac cessing weapons sent by contacts in North America. As well, the house was

“We have a whole list of different locations in rela tion to FedEx where it has been breached in relation to the courier service. There are some other minor ones, but the main one we have

to mop up all these guns. It takes a tremendous amount of effort because…[in] 87% of murders, the tool is fire arms. I don’t feel good about it at all,” the chief said.

As 2022 comes to a close,

U.S. Immigration Weekly Recap

FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION

KORNER

In case you missed it, here is a recap of some of the immigration-related news around the U.S. this week.

1: ICE accidentally re leases thousands of im migrants’ personal info online

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in hot water again after accidentally posting the names, birthdates, na tionalities and detention locations to its website on Nov. 28 of more than 6,000 immigrants who claimed to be fleeing torture and per secution.

The unprecedented data dump could expose the im migrants—all of whom are currently in ICE custody— to retaliation from the very

individuals, gangs and gov ernments they fled, accord ing to attorneys for people who have sought protection in the U.S. The personal in formation of people seeking asylum and other protec tions is supposed to be kept confidential; a federal regu lation generally forbids its disclosure without sign-off by top officials in the De partment of Homeland Se curity. ICE officials say they are investigating the inci dent and will notify the af fected immigrants about the disclosure of their infor mation. The agency also has said it will not deport immi grants whose information it mistakenly posted until it is determined whether the disclosure affects their cases.

2: Martha’s Vineyard im migrants add plane com pany, high-level Florida officials to lawsuit

Attorneys from Law

yers for Civil Rights (LCR) have filed an amended complaint in the feder al class action challenging the scheme perpetrated by Florida Gov. Ron DeSan tis and others to fly immi grants to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses.

Since the filing of the orig inal complaint, the LCR has been joined by the Bostonbased firm Foley Hoag LLP, which is providing repre sentation pro bono in this litigation.

In addition to adding new factual allegations and claims under federal and state law, the amended complaint adds the plane company that flew the mi grants (Vertol Systems Company, Inc.); its CEO; Florida’s “Public Safety Czar”; Gov. DeSantis’s chief of staff; and Perla Huerta, who spearheaded the de ceptive recruitment of im migrants, as defendants.

The amended complaint

also outlines a web of in volvement from Vertol Sys tems Company, Inc., the politically connected plane company that chartered the Martha’s Vineyard flights, and the infamous “Perla,” now identified as Perla Huerta. To date, Vertol has received over $1.5 mil lion from the State of Flori da for the scheme.

3: First Black Democrat ic house leader acknowl edges Caribbean American great

The U.S.’s first black Democratic House Leader, Brooklyn-born Hakeem Jef fries, began his first public speech by thanking a Ca ribbean American lawmak er on whose shoulders he said he stands.

Jeffries paid tribute to Shirley Chisholm, who was born in Brooklyn to immi grant parents from Guyana and Barbados, on what would have been her 98th

birthday, Nov. 30.

“Growing up in that Crown Heights neighbor hood, the first member of Congress I was ever aware of was the Honorable Shir ley Chisholm and I eventu ally was able to be elected to represent many neigh borhoods in Brooklyn that she formerly represent ed,” Jeffries said. “I stand on the shoulders of people like Shirley Chisholm and so many others as we work to advance the ball for ev eryday Americans and get stuff done, because that’s what Democrats do.” He also pledged to continue to work to fight for all Amer icans, especially immi grants.

Of course, beyond the rhetoric, it’s unclear exact ly what Jeffries will be able to accomplish in a Con gress that will be controlled by Republicans come Janu ary, who have made a point of insisting they will aim to

it appears that the nation will see a record-break ing year for murders, with more than 550 in a popu lation of 1.3 million people. With more than three weeks left in this year, officials fear that the final tally could end up closer to 600, easily beat ing out the 530 back in 2008.

Similarly shaken up by the revelations, the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) called for immediate redress.

“Traditionally, TTMA has lobbied for greater ef ficiency [in] the port and has, in the past, welcomed the introduction of scan ners to aid in this efficien cy. The reports of these scanners not working are concerning and its nega tive impact on the ease of doing business cannot be denied,” TTMA President Tricia Coosal said.

make it harder for immi grants seeking to enter the U.S.

4: Kingdom of Eswati ni added to US H-2A and H-2B visa program

The Kingdom of Eswati ni, formerly Swaziland, has now been added to the na tions the U.S. deems now eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa pro grams in the next year.

The Department of Homeland Security, in con sultation with the Depart ment of State, recently announced the Kingdom of Eswatini is on the list of el igible countries in the Fed eral Register as of Nov. 10, 2022. Each country’s des ignation is currently valid from Nov. 10, 2022, until Nov. 9, 2023.

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

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Health Protecting yourself against COVID-19 during the holidays

[COVID] community levels both where you are so you know where you live and where you’re going. You can go to COVID. GOV, you can type in your county and you can get a sense of the dynamics.” He em phasized that in areas with higher rates of COVID cases it’s even more important to wear masks when indoors.

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

As we approach the third anniversa ry of the beginning of the COVID-19 pan demic, we are faced with COVID fatigue, conflicting information and the false idea that the pandemic is now over. So with the third holiday season of the COVID-19 pan demic in full swing, there are many linger ing questions regarding COVID safety. Do I still need to wear a mask? Is it too late to get the booster for maximum immunity? Where do I even go to get the booster?

While large public gatherings during COVID have received a great deal of at tention, small family gatherings during the holidays have their own risks. Ac cording to the journal Nature, “When it’s cold, people tend to gather indoors. Such gatherings pose a higher risk because the virus travels through the air in tiny droplets when an infected person talks, coughs, laughs, sings or even breathes… In winter, when people shut their doors and windows to keep out the cold, the air in the room stagnates, giving the virus a better opportunity to linger.”

“It is never too late because COVID isn’t necessarily seasonal yet,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Califor nia, San Francisco. In an interview, he stated that “in general, get [vaccinat ed and boosted] whenever you can and

the sooner, the better. Because this is a booster, it will probably start working in 3 to 4 days after the shot. And probably even sooner than that because it is a re minder, not the primary shot.” So even if your earliest availability is a few days before the holidays, it is not too late to boost your immunity against COVID. Here are Dr. Chin-Hong’s recommenda tions for a COVID-safe holiday season:

Remember the ABC Rules

Air: Ventilation is key and in environ ments like the subway, be sure to wear a mask. “Not only to protect from COVID but other things like the flu and RSV, too.”

Booster: “Get it as soon as you can. If you get it now, you may not need it until one year from now.” According to experts at Yale Medicine, the vaccine is the “most important step to protect ourselves for the holidays.”

COVID testing: You should definitely test: if after the holidays and you have symptoms. “Test at least 2-3 times over the course of three days starting from day 3 if the test is negative and you are symptomatic.” It is recommended to get tested if you had incredible exposure during the holidays. “So after the holi days on day 3, check at least once even if you don’t have any symptoms.”

According to the New York City Health

Department, “Get a COVID-19 test before and after you attend a gathering or travel, especially if you will be with older adults or others at increased risk of severe COVID-19.”

Wash your hands: While we have come to understand that COVID cannot be con tracted from surfaces, it is still crucial to wash your hands to protect against virus es like influenza and RSV.

Make a Paxlovid plan: In many pharma cies across the country, pharmacists have the authority to prescribe Paxlovid. But some are worried about prescribing it be cause people may have some drug inter action, so it is important to develop a plan before you actually need it. “Having a plan before you actually need it is going to save you a lot of anguish.”

Dr. Cameron Webb, JD, MD, a senior policy advisor for COVID-19 Equity on the White House COVID-19 Response Team, agrees. In an interview with the AmNews he stated, “Getting vaccinated now is help ful. You don’t get the full benefit of that for a couple of weeks but it’s still so important to get vaccinated now. Know to be mindful of symptoms and don’t show up if you’ve got [symptoms]. Make sure you test before you meet up with everybody and [be up to date on the] vaccines.”

Webb adds the importance of know ing community levels of COVID. “Know

The most vulnerable should also be remembered. According to Dr. Andrew Pekosz, virologist at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, “COVID-19 cases are still ex tremely high. We’re talking about surges in cases with RSV and influenza. You can be transmissible a day or so before you actually start to show symptoms, and many times those first symptoms are mild and people probably may not recognize right away that they’re feeling ill, so it’s very important to really pay attention to whether you’re sick or not. Have a few rapid antigen tests with you so that you can test yourself if you’re starting to feel a little bad. People with secondary medical conditions, those over the age of 65 are still very suscep tible to severe disease. We need to keep vigilant and keep aware of this so that we can…prevent these surges.”

Dr. Chin-Hong reminds us that “people of color are still getting infected more, hospi talized more and dying more from COVID, despite almost equivalent rates of vaccina tion so it is even more important to get your boosters and take the safety precautions.”

For additional resources around COVID-19 please visit www1.nyc.gov/site/ coronavirus/index.page or call 311. New Yorkers can find locations of where to pick up free rapid tests by calling 311 or by visiting: www.nychealthandhospitals.org/ covid-19-testing-sites/ and can schedule an at-home test by calling (929) 298-9400 between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. seven days a week.

COVID-19 testing and vaccination resources can also be accessed on the AmNews’ COVID-19 page: www. amsterdamnews.com/covid/

(AnnaStills/Adobe Stock)

Arts & Entertainment

50th annual AUDELCOs spotlights Black Theater Excellence

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

The 50th annual AUDELCO Awards took place on Monday, Nov. 28 at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center and it was a testament to the magnificent productions that were part of the 2021-2022 theater season. It was an event to be cher ished. The tone of love and devo tion to Black theater was embodied by its co-hosts, actor, singer, dancer, choreographer Ty Stephens, and actress, singer and Tony Award winner, the one-and-only Lillias White. There is something so beau tiful about being part of this annual theater family reunion.

Out of 23 categories, the VIV went to “Ella: First Lady of Song,” from Theatre for a New Audience. The production led the pack, win ning five awards. The musical won best musical; director of a musi cal—Lee Summers; outstanding musical director—Dionne Hen dricks; lead actress in a musical— Freda Payne (that’s right “Ms. Band of Gold herself”); and fea tured actress in a musical—Harri et D. Foy, who tied in that category with co-host White.

Tying with three AUDELCO Awards each were “Confederate” presented by Signature Theatre, which won outstanding ensem ble performance—Elijah Jones, Kristolyn Lloyd, Andrea Patterson, Kenzie Ross and Michelle Wilson. It also received a well-deserved VIV Award for best playwright, Dominique Morisseau, and sound design for Curtis Craig and Jimmy Keys. “Black No More” present ed by The New Group came away with lead actor in a musical, Bran don Victor Dixon; featured actress in a musical, again won by event co-host Lillias White; and featured actor in a musical, Ephraim Sykes.

Three productions earned two AUDELCO Awards: the phenom enal works “Wedding Band,” “Twelfth Night” and “Fat Ham.” “Wedding Band,” the Alice Chil dress’ play that finally got to see the light of day (thank God!), won best revival. It was a marvelous presen tation by Theatre for a New Audi ence. And a lady who always brings her A-game to every role, Elizabeth Van Dyke, won featured actress in

a play. “Twelfth Night,” presented by the incredible Classical Theatre of Harlem, garnered Carl Coefield the award for director of a play, and for the marvelous Kara Young, one of the most versatile actresses you will see on the stage, the VIV for lead actress in a play. “Fat Ham,” a presentation of The Public The atre, was recognized for set design, Maruti Evans, and light design, Stacey Derosier.

Two outstanding productions tied for best play: New Feder al Theatre’s “Gong Lum’s Legacy” and The Public Theater produc tion of “cullud wattah.”

“I Just Want to Tell Somebody,” presented by Theater for a New City, earned Ronald Stevens the VIV for solo performance. “On Sugarland” presented by New York Theatre Workshop, earned recent “Where The Mountain Meet The Sea” star, Billy Eugene Jones, the lead actor in a play VIV. “Man dela,” a production of the East

Harlem Repertory Theatre, earned James Garrett the VIV for featured actor in a play. “Oya,” a produc tion of Black Spectrum Theatre in Queens, earned Dyane Harvey Salaam the VIV for best choreog rapher. “Richard III,” presented by The Public Theater, earned veter an costume designer DeDe Ayite the VIV in that category. Anyone who knows about the AUDELCO Awards knows that they seek to honor our people on all levels. It does not just focus on what theater one has performed lately; it focuses on the accom plishments one has made over a marvelous lifetime. It is an orga nization that recognizes and holds up those in our community who are both here on earth and with the ancestors. Some of the stupen dous acknowledgments included presenting Sidney Poitier posthu mously with a Humanitarian/Civil Right Award and Bust. The Legacy Award went to the late Micki Grant

and Vinnette Carroll posthumous ly for the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking production “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope.”

Some of the heavy-hitters in the business were honored with Life time Achievement Awards: play wright Richard Wesley; actress, director and artistic director of New Federal Theatre, Elizabeth Van Dyke; veteran actor Count Stovall; and actor/singer/produc er Rome Neal. The Board of Direc tors’ Legacy Award went to the lady who has been the voice for Harlem for decades, Jeanne Parnell, WHCR host of The Jeanne Parnell Show. Board of Directors’ Lifetime Achievement Awards went to vet eran journalist Don Thomas, of the New York Beacon, and Harlem As semblywoman Inez Dickens. Pi oneers Awards were bestowed upon Ben Harney, director, actor; Peggy Alston, executive director of Brooklyn Restoration Youth Acad emy; and Jamal Joseph, New Heri

tage Theatre Co. Impact Repertory Theatre. Lazette McCants, a longtime original officer of AUDELCO, received one as well.

Celebrating 30 years plus for the beloved film “The Five Heartbeats,” cast members re ceived Outstanding Achievement Awards, including Harry Lennix, Leon, Michael Wright, Tico Wells and Carla Brothers. Special Achievement Awards went to vet eran publicist Linda Stewart, It Is Done Communication and To Go Girl; Eric Lockley of The Move ment Theatre Company and actor, singer, activist Anthony Wayne.

The AUDELCO Awards are a cherished part of the Black The ater community. Visit www.audel co.org and become a member, it’s worth your time and attention. Let’s always make sure to partic ipate in organizations that put our people and their accomplish ments on a pedestal. After all, we deserve it! See you next year!

Theater pg 17 | Dance pg 18 | Film/TV pg 19 | Jazz pg 31

Your Stars (Tanja Hayes photos)

Elizabeth Van Dyke, Count Stovall and Rome Neal happily hold their Lifetime Achievement Awards.

“The Five Heartbeats”—Leon, Michael Wright, Tico Wells and Harry Lennix receive the Outstanding Achievement Award at AUDELCO for the movie’s 25th anniversary.

Ty Stephens and Lillias White co-host the 50th Anniversary AUDELCO at Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Lillias White hosts the 50th Anniversary AUDELCO at Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

Ephraim Sykes proudly holds his VIV for featured actor for “Black No More.”

Jeanne Parnell displays her Board of Directors’ Legacy Award at the 50th annual AUDELCOs.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater season is ON!

By ZITA ALLEN Special to the AmNews

Opening night of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was an auspicious beginning to what promises to be an electrifying winter season at New York City Center (Nov. 30-Dec. 24). Ushered in with a dash of glitz and glamor, the season got off to a dazzling start with a smattering of speech es in a theater filled with wellheeled supporters and bold-faced names, rubbing elbows with us or dinary folks. And capping off the formalities was the down-home warmth of guest host TV celeb Tamron Hall, who introduced the Texas teacher who introduced her to the AAADT years ago. And, of course, there was AAADT Artis tic Director Robert Battle, whose speeches always seem like inti mate tete-a-tetes. But, of course, the main attraction was the danc ers themselves, who delivered electrifying performances that warmed the heart, energized the spirit, soothed the soul, put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

And, that was just the begin ning of four weeks that featured a world premiere by Kyle Abra ham, the company premiere of Twyla Tharp’s “Roy’s Joys,” and a new production of Alvin Ai ley’s “Survivors.” Programs also feature the Company’s City Center premieres of Paul Tay lor’s “DUET,” Jamar Roberts’ “In a Sentimental Mood” and Ailey & Jazz programs performed with live music. The season showcas es over half a dozen classic works by founder Alvin Ailey, includ ing the always inspiring master piece, “Revelations.”

This season’s programs con sist of a remarkable mix of works that amaze with their technical prowess, seduce with their in fectious musicality, excite with their technical brilliance, and in spire us with their heartwarm ing bursts of beauty and joy. Battle says, “The repertory I have chosen for this season puts audi ences back in touch with some of the richest, deepest works Alvin Ailey ever choreographed, shows off the brilliance of our dancers in pieces by great contemporaries of Mr. Ailey—Twyla Tharp and Paul Taylor—and introduces ev eryone to amazing new works by Kyle Abraham and Jamar Roberts that find reservoirs of love and re silience in our complicated lives

and times. This is going to be a season overflowing with the joy of connections—eclectic, surprising, moving connections—between eras, between dancemakers, and between people.”

One of the insightful pieces on this season’s program is a new production of Alvin Ailey’s im passioned tribute to the profound courage and terrible anguish of the late South African President, freedom fighter Nelson Mandela and his then-wife, Winnie Man dela, “Survivors” (1986), which has not been seen since 1988. A soundtrack of Max Roach’s richly masterful drumming and Abbey Lincoln’s commanding vocals sets the emotional tone for a work that presents a portrait of people transformed by injustice and lifts up those who resist racism and oppression in any form.

Proof that Ailey’s genius is time less, this work speaks also to the times we’re living. The Amster dam News was anxious to talk to the man responsible for restag ing this work, Masazumi Chaya, whose sensitivity and insights comes not only from an amazing memory but from having worked closely with Alvin Ailey and being

part of the AAADT family. Chaya danced with AAADT for 15 years, and worked closely with Ailey as acting rehearsal director and re hearsal director. Then, when Ailey transitioned, and the brilliantly charismatic star of the company, Judith Jamison, became artistic director, Chaya became associ ate artistic director (1991-2019).

Now, he has been charged with the task of restaging this work Ailey co-choreographed with his trusted colleague Mary Barnett.

The Ailey program notation de scribes “Survivors” as “a tribute to the profound courage and terri ble anguish” the Mandelas experi enced as anti-Apartheid freedom fighters, him as a political prison er for 27 years, and her as the wife who knew that freedom is not free.

Ailey told a reporter back in 1987, “It’s real jail bars, not cir cles of light that are supposed to imprison. Part of the memory, the experience, is in its physi cal headiness, its heat, its tex ture, its agony, its abstraction, its sound…This piece is a kind of compendium and abstraction of my rage, an abstraction of that frustration, that anger, that pain.

It’s about the passing of strength

from person to person, the pass ing on of images and ideas. I was trying to go into the interior of the situation, to the feelings, to say something beyond what we already know about what’s going on there.” That message was one that rankled some feathers as the company received threats.

“It was scary,” Chaya said. Still the company decided the pro gram had to go on. “Alvin wanted to do this ballet because of those prejudices,” Chaya said. Now Chaya has worked to recapture that essence of Alvin’s choreogra phy and recalls the journey. “We performed the piece all around the world, even in South Africa, twice, once while Mr. Mandela was still in prison and then once when he was president of South Africa,” he says as he digs into his rich treasure trove of mem ories of Ailey. Recalling how the dance came together, Chaya talks about Ailey’s voracious reading appetite which included stacks of newspapers in every town the company visited, and, of course, the Nelson Mandela biography, “Long Walk to Freedom,” which Ailey gave him to read. Then there was the music—a piece by jazz-

great drummer Max Roach and his wife, singer/actress and out spoken activist Aminata Moseka (Abbey Lincoln). Interesting ly, the choice of music mirrored both couples’ dynamic. Chaya says, “The music of Max Roach was calm and complex. Abbey Lincoln’s voice was powerful and insistent. Alvin made the orches tra pit a little bit higher so we could see Max and Max could see the dancers. That was an amazing experience for me.”

Recalling rehearsals with the two dancers Ailey set the work on—the masterfully musical Dudley Williams and technical ly impressive Lena Horne lookalike Sherrell Mesh—Chaya recalls Ailey chose each because of their unique movement qual ities. There was Dudley’s gentle yet powerful lyricism and Sher rell’s powerful charisma, all a factor in this restaging. And, to make sure the restaging was ac curate, Chaya, whose memory of movement is legendary, poured over four video tapes to make sure he was true to Ailey’s inten tion. To that end, Chaya explored both the physical terrain and emotional terrain.

“I went to South Africa twice, after, of course, the sanctions were lifted. I’ve been to Robben Island. They showed the room where Mr. Mandela was imprisoned.” The impact was profound, Chaya said, to see the room where Mande la read, and studied law. “His fight was internal, grappling with the es sence of human rights and what it would take to make South Africa change…Then I saw outdoors where they were allowed to walk. It was a small space enclosed by a huge wall so the only thing you could see was sky.” In many ways, one couldn’t help but be in awe of Mandela’s quiet strength. In fact, Chaya says, that made him think of Alvin’s quiet power. “I enjoyed being around him. He was so sensitive but, my God, the knowledge. When he passed away, on December 1, 1989, I was holding his hand...Now, teaching ‘Survivors’ I love to teach the dancers not only the steps but about Alvin to give them a little bit of a sense of the creative genius…I really feel like it’s something I have to let them know.”

Now, when audiences view “Sur vivors,” they will not only see a work about the Mandelas but with Masazumi Chaya’s help they will learn even more about Alvin Ai ley’s creative genius.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Kyle Abraham’s “Are You in Your Feelings” (Paul Kolnik photo)

‘The Menu’—A delicious reason to go to the movies

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

The arrival of the foodie, I think, was hastened by the Food Network and the plethora of other cooking shows, on television and streaming. And stepping into the joys, ups and downs of exploring food and the cul ture attached to it can get you firmly stamped. It’s a club that will never be short of members.

Proving this point to the maximum is the film “The Menu,” which pokes fun at the aforementioned food cul ture, twisting the experience into a well-spiced, hilarious thriller.

The film is focused on a designer restaurant, a church of sorts, locat ed on its own island—Hawthorne Island, a 12-acre farm-to-table des tination where the uber-wealthy, the ridiculously famous and the self-ab sorbed pretentious pay $1,250 a head to sample the ever-changing tasting menu chosen by Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), who runs his establish ment like a drill sergeant in his army. Yes, his army because the staff fol lows him like slavishly devoted sol diers, but maybe a better description is cult members.

He is such a control freak that he instructs his diners—“Do not eat,” he demands that instead, they “taste.” This is just another exam ple of the chef’s narcissism—he’s a legend in his own mind, which is what makes this black comedy delicious.

For those audience members who love the thrill of thrillers, “The Menu” will not disappoint because the cov eted food moves from being wildly pretentious to being downright dan gerous. The shift from salivating over the food demonstrates that the food

never mattered; it was simply a clever distraction.

All of the guests are getting what they truly deserve and their crime is coming to this restaurant. The vic tims, that is to say the guests, include the following: Lillian (Janet McTeer), a food critic whose joy is writing the kind of reviews that close restau rants. Tyler (Nichols Hoult), a devot ed foodie geek who invited his date, Margot (Anya Taylor-Joy), who is not a foodie and represents the other slice of the audience who can see through the fluff.

There are also three tech bros (Arturo Castro, Rob Yang and Mark St. Cyr) who are equal part obnox ious followed by the fading movie star, played by John Leguizamo, along with his assistant (Aimee Car rero), who’s using the dinner as a way to part ways with him.

The visuals are perfect with the movie divided into courses, with each dish, along with its ingredi ents listed for an easy read. The first dish features foam with each dish representing more and more of a deconstruction of a meal as

we understand it.

To say that Chef Slowik is a mad scientist of gastronomy is only half true. He literally treats each meal like a necessary lab experiment with the diners being used as guinea pigs. The truth of the matter is that he’s de signed it meticulously so that each guest gets exactly what karma would dish out if it was a masterful chef.

“The Menu” is kind of like the horror film “Saw” but not exactly.

Directed by Mark Mylod, who cut his teeth directing British television series including “Succession,” here his ability to stage a thriller is evident. The screenplay is written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy and it’s brimming with keen, over-the-top observation.

Fiennes is pitch-perfect as the snobby chef, and Taylor-Joy, as the customer who can see through his performance, stands out and grows on you the more you watch her.

The grand finale—the big finish— is funny as the chef deconstructs the s’more, calling it a “monstrosity” that will cleanse everything with its fire.

“The Menu” tries to make many points and actually hits most. In sum mary, perhaps the biggest takeaway is that being snobby about food is silly.

Can ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ be considered for Best Picture?

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

This is the time of year that most people are concentrating on the holidays and looking towards a new year. But for me, this is the period where I watch, intense ly, the movie campaigns for films that could be considered for the Oscars. The nominations will be announced Jan. 24, and the tele cast will take place on Sunday, March 12.

While most film industry in siders are whimpering about the weak box office for most films, there is still a robust global au dience who enjoy the entire the atrical experience. Director Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” (Warner Bros) hit the theaters in June and at the time of filing had earned a neat $286 million globally. The moment it rolled out the critics considered it an Oscar contender.

The little movie that could, and I predict, will dominate the nomi nations is A24’s “Everything Every where All At Once” despite it being

an indie film. It appears that the strategy is leaning toward a cam paign that helped “Jojo Rabbit” go the distance. The other indies coming up strong are “Tár” and “Banshees of Inisherin,” which is currently in limited release. I’ve not seen “Tár” but I have started reading the screenplay and you can as well: https://indiefilmhus tle.com/free-screenplays-down load/. Indie Film Hustle provides links to most of the screenplays of films that are sharpening their Oscar campaigns. At the time of filing McDonagh’s “Ban shees” had earned under $10 mil lion in domestic sales and Todd Field’s drama, “Tár,” which ex panded to more than 1,000 the aters at the end of October, has brought in $5.1 million to date.

The question about Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is the same question (basically) that was presented when “Black Panther” rolled out, and that is whether “Wakanda Forever” might be nominated in the Best Picture race, since “Black Pan

ther” was nominated there. The win for the breakthrough movie was a solid run earning them wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for best ensemble cast in 2019. This film is considered a tentpole but for millions of people around the world, it’s much, much more. At the time of filing the Coogler spectacular has earned $733 mil lion (global box office) and it’s pre dicted that it will overtake “Thor: Love and Thunder” both domes tically and internationally in just a few days.

Insiders are fast-tracking Hannah Beachler for her second Oscar for her work on the second installment.

And there is no getting around Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabel mans” for a myriad of reasons. Described as a “heavy drama” it has the legacy of the director, so the only surprise would be if it’s not nominated under the Best Picture category.

This year the streamers are being closely monitored. It’s assumed that Netflix will be pushing for

“Glass Onion” giving it a limited theatrical rollout, no doubt taking notes from the success of Apple’s “CODA,” which was the first fea ture film starring a predominant ly deaf cast in leading roles to win Best Picture.

The predictions for Best Pic ture made by Clayton Davis, Va riety’s senior awards editor, can be found at: https://variety.com/ feature/2023-oscars-best-picture-

predictions-1235306911/. I’ve been following him for years, he’s an award-winning journalist and was selected as one of 2022’s Ima gen’s Influential Latinos in Media, recipient of the Excellence in En tertainment Journalism Award by NALIP, and winner of a Telly Award for co-programming the inaugu ral Celebration of Latino Cinema for the Critics Choice Association, where he is a board member.

“The Menu” (Courtesy photo)

Hannah Beachler is the first African American to win an Oscar in production design for her work on Marvel’s “Black Panther”

By GODDESS KYA

December 8, 2022 — December 14, 2022

Rebirth of a New Nation: It’s a “wait for it” kind of week, with time to work on your agenda. The movie is still playing. There are so many good scenes to get to the main part, yet it’s not over. Keep your eyes on the prize, on the road, on the steering wheel, with less phone interaction, less talking and more patience. Listen carefully to what the wind is whispering and brewing up. There is something moving with silent force behind the scenes, like a scorpion or stalker creeping up on you. The unexpected out-of-the-blue is becoming the norm, due to you trusting in yourself and in the process, that what is coming for you is for you. It’s for you to see, hear, feel, be and inherit it. Drink plenty of fluids this week as this is a fire month; with the energy of getting to the finish line on a project or something being fulfilled. Can you say mission accomplished? Be selective with what you eat, as it may cause stomach upsets and digestive concerns. “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Saint Augustine

March to the beat of your own drum. As long as you believe, anything feels like magic abracadabra then Wa La magic. A new adventure is on the way, as you are in preparation for what’s in store. December is a month to fill out the clothes you wear. It’s the sturdy in you, the tone and shape of your body structure. A swift decision needs to be made. December is attached with a huge assignment backed by an extraordi nary benefit you didn’t see coming. Dec. 14-15, set the tone and lay the foundation, creating new habits to change your outcome.

Your dedication and commitment to stay focused on the direction to achieve a goal is coming to completion. This cycle week you have work to do that will make your knees shake, buckle, and make you sit down to get to the business, perhaps even pulling an all-nighter as your energy is high to get the job done. Old and new news appears also as compensation or an act of kindness from someone or vice versa. Dec. 8, review and proofread all work before submitting.

A remarkable week to make progress in any aspect of your life, including with your reputation. It’s time to get serious with yourself and the direction in which you are headed. Being in the limelight you got to keep up with the Joneses; being organically you is what matters more, and Mars in Gemini is steering you behind the scenes to make wise choices. Events, workshops and taking an educational course will be beneficial for self-development. Be mindful of the company you keep as everyone is not your friend—watch out for people who have an ulterior motive. Dec. 9-10, do a double take in the mirror and seek advice if needed.

Your emotions are supercharged this week so pray, sing, dance, clap and apply yourself, aiming for the best results with a winning attitude. There is a sense of knowing how things will go, so speak up and don’t get choked up. Relax in a bubble bath or hot tub, finishing with a full-body massage. A sep aration of something is underway, so let it flow as you may shed tears. Dec. 11-13, continue to build onto your foundation to maximize your craft.

Money, money, money is coming in from all sorts of avenues from prior in vestments, along with new concepts and meeting people from afar. Oppor tunities to sign contracts, people scouting you out who want to invest in or sponsor you. New additional assignments are coming down the pipeline and it’s going to be a grand slam and one-of-a-kind. So many choices and variety to choose from like shopping at a materials store for quality over quantity. Go with what gives the most usage and results. Dec. 14-15, the details tell a story.

Expect an unorthodox week of sudden meetings, offers, signing new contracts and asking yourself if this is what you truly want. If not, make it work for you on your terms and conditions, or cancel your subscription to avoid any underhanded affairs. Flip the script. Backstabbers smile in your face, kick it with you, support you, and at the end of the day, they are for themselves. Once you see it, nip things in the bud and don’t go back. Dec. 8, a message, a date from source intervenes, or things might be revealed to you in a dream state. Take heed of the information.

It boils down to deciding what direction to start building and gath ering your team members. Enlist all the resources needed to build this foundation and give everyone their role and position. The out-of-theblue come-up is steering you in a different direction to see something you didn’t notice. Check in on your health in order to not to over whelm yourself or others due to your need to get it done. Dec. 9-10, go with your gut feeling.

It’s lights, camera, action. You are a busy bee on the go with business and personal affairs and remembering to catch your flight. Yes, when you begin a new cycle it’s slow until you get into the flow of the opera tions. People are assisting you and vice versa. Walking, talking, texting, checking voicemail, prompting and putting on events is also indicat ed. Dec. 11-13, listen to your heart, as contradiction plays a gymnastics trick on your mind like déjà vu.

You have a message to deliver, be it publicly or through another chan nel. It’s a powerful week that may seem strange at first, as information is revealed either straight from the divine or from walking right into the scenes playing out. Take a deep sigh. New partnerships are forming as well as cancellations of your memberships. Discard anything taking up space as you clean and organize your home and business area. Dec. 14-15, when we are tested it is mainly about our faith, beliefs and action.

Get ready, it’s raining diamonds and the universe wants to dance at your feet with rewards for the work you put in. Or a wake-up call is underway, with hefty assignments attached. Tie up any loose ends as old and new are paying you a visit. Remember the universe tests our strength and power before you walk through another door, to ensure you learned the lesson. Think it over as you move forward. Dec. 8, the clock is ticking, and the sand in the hourglass is running low to finish up your projects.

This week is moving like slow steady water with a few brushes here on the shores. Mainly, what is your gut pulling you to do and what thoughts are in your mind? Do not second guess yourself as emotions are steer ing you in a direction. It could be a faint one testing your willpower. An underlying issue is resurfacing with a twist to the story, and it may not sound right or be what you want to hear. It is what it is, you are the master of your fate, make the choice. Dec. 9-10, change is inevitable for growth. You have the re sources you need, exploit them at all costs.

What you say manifests, and it shows up in your personal and busi ness affairs. Whatever you do this week, back it up with actions as it will catch up to you. What ball are you going to throw yourself—a curveball, straight ball, sinker, cutter, changeup, or splitter—to see what results you produce? Find your avenue of expression and stick to your passion. Dec. 11-13, your mind is everywhere in the here and now without any doubts. Speak truth to power, and you have opportunities to move in new directions.

Vinateria

By J. STEIN AND THE AMSTERDAM ELVES edition

THE HOLIDAYS ARE ONCE AGAIN UPON US.

The holidays are once again upon us. This means finding the perfect presents for family and friends. This year we are all conscious of cost. The gift guide has been curated to show case products big and small, merry and bright, educational and sensational, for those very young and those older, and items that can relax and renew our spirit.

As the guide reflects society around us, this year for the first time we have a CBD section and a sec tion on health products. Picking gifts that repair and revitalize, moisturize and heal, and unwind us and keep people calm in the flurry of activity we all partake in, was important. Happy and healthy

holidays are a wish we have for everyone.

As you dispose of toys that your kids no longer play with, please consider donating them to charity. Many groups like shelters will take toys that are in good condition. This teaches young people the gift of helping others. Winter coats are also a great item to donate.

Get creative with gifts! They can be funny and not cost much money. Make some cookies and put them in tins. Give certificates to do chores like babysit and clean the house. Donate hours to a charity of a gift recipient’s choice.

While many companies on this list contribut ed to charity, some toy companies this year do

nated in multiple instances. Hasbro, Jazwares, Spin Master, BitOGenius, NSI International and Basic Fun each gave to groups that needed toys for kids who were going through very hard times.

The prices on the below list may vary depend ing on when you shop and where you purchase products. Look for deals running on websites and sales on Amazon. Pixicade on this list is buy one/get one half off on their website. Gift cer tificates almost always are received very well. Remember to order in time for your holiday if you are getting presents online!

LOOK OUT NEXT WEEK FOR OUR LAST MINUTE GIFT GUIDE

Most of all, have fun while getting gifts for others! Be present while purchasing your presents. House

Care

Pink

BEST FOR BABY 0-3

Kidsdream Instant Warmer by Pinke Group. Inc $33.98

Baby Bottle Warmer with 3 modes, fits many types of bot tles, BPA free, overheating protection, & 24-hour Smart Thermostat. Lifetime warranty. www.amazon.com

Wild Animals of South America 2+ Lego Duplo $54.99

Kids will adore these South American Animals, plants, trees and food! This colorful kit is sure to be an educational hit! Play mat included. www.lego.com

Wild Animals of the Ocean 2+ Lego Duplo $19.99

My First Puppy & Kitten with Sounds

18m+ Lego Duplo $44.99

Big pieces for little hands and animal sounds on pets www.lego.com

Pieces float and make air bub bles in the water! There is a playmat included for land play with this colorful set that includes a turtle, fish and whales. www.lego.com

Cozy Train Scoot Little Tikes 18m+ MGA Entertainment $99.99

Sturdy ride-on train with seat storage. 8 pieces of track come with the set to make this an epic experience! www.littletikes.com

CurioCity 1+ Battat $139

7-sided multi-sensory activi ty cube with vehicles to go on top of the city themed playset. www.battattoys.com

Ride Along Scooter 18m+ Step 2 $79.99

Sturdy scooter with 4 wheels & seat storage that encourages activity. www.step2.com

Celestial Star Explorer 1+ Manhattan Toy $210

Multisensory activity toy that 4 kids can play with at the same time. Shaped like a star, it has different levels of learning ac

tivities for families with multiple kids. www.manhattantoy.com

DJ Bouncin Beats 9m+ Fisher-Price $44.99

Interactive learning friend has 3 modes and can record! www.fisher-price.com

Wooden AlphaPup 12m+ LeapFrog $33.23

Learn letters with your wooden puppy and motor skills. www.leapfrog.com

Marvel Spidey and his Amazing Spider Friends Crawl Arachno-Mobile 2 in 1 3+ Hasbro $89.99

2 ft tall spider mobile playset with 24 sounds and phrases. www.hasbro.com

Jungle Journey Set the Scene Transfer Sticker Magic 3+ Ooly $8.5 60+

Adorable rub-on stick ers that go onto a colorful double sided play board with a wooden tool or a popsicle stick. Great for travel! www.ooly.com

Paw Patrol Wooden Paw Patroller Activity Center 3+ Melissa & Doug $214.99

Designed to look like a vehicle, this activity center with sounds has so much to do! www.melissaanddoug.com

Star Wars Mission Fleet Hover E-Web Cannon

with The Mandalorian 5+ Disney+ Hasbro $16.99

Mini figure with cannon for the Star Wars kid on your list! www.hasbro.com

92 Piece Ball Run Pack 3+ Connetix $109

Magnetic tile kit with six wooden balls to create a super STEM run! These tiles are super sturdy and incredi bly high quality. www.connetixtiles.com

Little Genius Starter Kit 3+ Osmo $79.99

STEM kit that has tons of edu cational activities that are fun for little learners. www.playosmo.com

Nickelodeon Santiago of The Seas Lights and Sounds El Bravo Pirate Ship 3+ Fisher-Price $44.99

75+ Sounds, phrases & pirate

adventures with this ship. Eng lish and Spanish. www.fisherprice.com

Karma’s World Sing and Rhyme Microphone 3+ Mattel $10.99

From the Netflix animated series, this microphone lights up and plays “Welcome to Karma’s World.” www.mattel.com

Baby Shark’s Big Show! Ultimate Shipwreck Playset 3+ WowWee $49.99

Kids will create and engage in pretend play with this 25-piece adventure set that includes Moldable Shark Sand. wowwee.com

Terrific for Toddlers 3-5

Stackables 2+ Ooly $30.99

Vivid nesting boxes & wood car playset that has 10 pieces that build fine motor skills, number and size recognition, and in spires imaginative play! www.ooly.com

DREAMING OF DOLLS

Claudie Wells Doll, Book, and Accessories 8+ American Girl $151

A beautiful Black doll from the historic collection of American Girl that lived in Harlem 100 years ago with her parents and artists in a boarding house is in cluded in this set with a book, and her accessories. Claudie has beautiful hair and fun fashions. www.americangirl.com

Nickelodeon That Girl Singing Lay Lay 6+ Just Play $19.99

The trendy doll sings “That Girl Lay Lay” theme song! www.just playproducts.com

Bloopies Fairies 3+ IMC Toys $9.50

Collect all nine fantastic lightup fairies that come in a great case and have 9+ accessories! www.imctoys.com

GLORIOUS GAMES

Cocomelon Picture Pairing Game

3+ Funko Games $9.99

Kids use their memory to find their favorite friends from the Netflix series. www.funkogames.com

Disney Goofy Movie Game 7+ Funko Games $23.99 Make your way across the U.S. map in this Goofy themed game that takes about 25 minutes per game for 2-4 players. www.funkogames.com

Bad Christmas Movie Bingo $29.99

Play this game while you watch any TV Christmas movie. It works with them all! www.badchristmasmoviebingo.com

Fire in the Hole 7+ McMiller $34.99 Players throw felt cannonballs into a 3D pop-up ship. Link four balls to win! Plas

Karma’s World Making Rhymes Recording Studio with doll 6+ Mattel $33.99

This set will have kids pretend ing to be in a recording studio with their little friend Karma! It is all about pretend play and music! www.mattel.com

Karma’s World Singing Star Karma 3+ Mattel $26.99

Karma sings two songs and comes with five accessories

Zoe 8+ Healthy Roots $84.99

Zoe is a Black doll that loves her self and how she looks! She is beautiful and the website is com pletely positive and inspiring! We want all three dolls in the collec tion! www.healthyrootsdolls.com

Marvel Studios Black Panther Wakanda Forever Marvel Legends Series Okoye 4+ Hasbro $39.95

Build A Figure Attuma set comes with three pieces. Col lect all six characters from the movie. Okoye is detailed and fierce! www.hasbro.com

Santiago of the Seas Light Up Talking Santiago 3+ Fisher-Price $14.99 Santiago has 20+ sounds and phrases in English and Spanish! www.fisher-price.com

Fashion Show Hair Edition

Twist Queen 4+ Lol Surprise O.M.G Outrageous Millennial Girls MGAE $34.99

Style hair without heat with this funky diva doll with divine long hair! Mousse, accessories, two fashions & more included. www.lolsurprise.com

Allie Cry Babies Fun N’ Sun 18m+ IMC Toys $19.99

Baby Allie has a floaty, hat, sun glasses and passie. She is ready for the beach! www.imctoys.com

Baby Alive Sudsy Styling 3+ Hasbro $38.99

It’s all about super styling and hair play with this doll that comes with 10 accessories for her Bubbly Salon! Bubble solu tion is included. www.babyalive.com

tic free, biodegradable, compostable and carbon neutral. www.mcmiller.fun

Pando Kids Edition by Roots Family History 7+ $27.63

The get to know you game where no secret is safe! The adult edition is hysterical fun for people 18+ and a party favorite. www.playpando.com

Spiderweb Bug-Catching Logic Game 8+ Thinkfun $19.99

With 40 challenges from beginner to expert, “catch” bugs on a board based on cards given to you and elastic bands. www.thinkfun.com

#TellMe Challenge 12+ Ultra Pro Entertainment $29.99 Really funny game for the tween or teen on your holiday list based on social media

viral challenges. www.ultrapro.com

Relative Insanity 2nd Generat!on 14+ PlayMonster $19.82

Card game that asks for the funniest an swers that will have families laughing this holiday! www.playmonster.com

Socially Twisted Friends and Family Game 12+ Original Ideas, LLC $21.99

The most twisted story wins in this hilarious card game. www.sociallytwistedgames.com

Bonus: What If…? The hilarious party game of outrageous scenarios. 21+ Kheper Games $14.68 Very adult party game where you blurt out the craziest answers you come up with to “what if?” scenarios. Beyond fun! www.khepergames.com

Marvel Edition UNO Ultimate 7+ Mattel $14.99

Each player becomes a Marvel Hero with their own unique deck. There are two ways to win in this game with collectable foil cards. www.mattel.com

CREATIVE KIDS

Made By Me Build and Paint Your Own Wooden Train 6+ Horizon Group USA $19.99

Paint and build your own wooden train with 4 cars in this all-inclusive colorful kit. www.horizongroupusa.com

Little Knitty Bittys Woodsy Series Bunny 7+ Playmonster $18.99

Use a round knitting loom to knit for your animal friend figure. www.playmonster.com

Carry-Along Cat Sketch Book 3+ Ooly $14.50

60 blank perforated acid free 9x7 sheets on a cool kitty pad that is easy for kids to take along.

Rainbow Sparkle Watercolor Gel Crayons 6+ Ooly $17.99

These are great to draw with in your cat book! 12 Bright washable easy-grip metallic color crayons that you can use a paintbrush + water with to create a wa tercolor effect! www.ooly.com

Pixicade 6 + BitOGenius $19.99

Make your own play able video games with this award-winning STEM certified kit that has so many added new fea tures this year, that we have included it again! www.pixicade.com

Big Fat Yarn Plush Décor Kit 6+ Jaz wares $21.99

Cool creative kit that teaches finger knitting with multiple projects. www.jazwares.com

The Original Spirograph 3D 8+ Playmonster $20.97

Comes with 2 pairs of 3D glasses, 24-page pattern pad, spirographs, markers, paper, guidebook, stick ers, putty, and graph pad. www.playmonster.com

Stitch ‘N Style Fashion Studio PreThreaded Sewing 8+ Spin Master $31.49

The sensor knows when to sew and you can customize accessories of most fabrics. www.coolmaker.com

Play- Doh Kitchen Creations Ultimate Ice Cream Truck 3+ Hasbro $94.99

This ice cream truck has just about everything from music to a soft-serve ma chine! www.hasbro.com

Made By Me Build and Paint Your Own Wooden Train 6+ Horizon Group USA $19.99

Paint and build your own wooden train with 4 cars in this all-inclusive colorful kit. www.horizongroupusa.com

Clay Sculpting Station 4+ Crayola $25.99

Make mini creatures and paint them! www.crayola.com

HOLIDAYS

EXCELLENT FOR ELEMENTARY 6-11

HBCyoU Nicole Homecoming Queen 3+ Purpose Toys $34.95

Dolls that are sharing the Magic of Historically Black Colleges & Universities that are beautiful, positive, in telligent & stylish! www.HBCyoUDOLLS.com

Bumper Car XL 12v 6+ Flybar $349

This rechargeable bumper car can hold a child or adult up to 175 lbs. and go 3.3mph! It has lights, a seatbelt, and bumper to help protect all the things your kids will ram in the house. www.flybar.com

GraviTrax Pro 8+ Ravensburger $139.80

153-piece innovative STEM set that is a marble run and teach es physics. www.walmart.com

Pixicade Pets 6+ BitOGenius $19.99 Create your own virtual pets, their eggs to hatch from, their home, toys and treats and then care and play with them in a safe, wonderful, vibrant world! www.pixicade.com

Monster High The Coffin Bean Playset 5+ Mattel $64.95

5 Monster High Ghouls can all chill at this dark stylish coffee shop themed play set. www.mattel.com

Candy Vending Machine 6+ Thames & Kosmos $39.99 Build a working toy vend ing machine with this engineering kit. www. thamesandkosmos.com

Disney Ultimate Adventure Castle 6+ Lego $99.99 698 pieces will keep kids busy this holiday vacation! www.lego.com

Bounce Off Pop Out Game 7+ Mattel $19.99

Bounce balls into the game to match your card before the timer goes off and the balls pop! www.mattel.com

AirTitans Jurassic World Massive Attack T Rex R/C 8+ Jakks Pacific $129.99

Inflatable Rex is over 6ft long and roars! Con trol it with the joystick and in attack mode it stomps around and thrashes! It looks jolly with a holiday hat on! www.jakks.com

Marvel Studios The Infinity Saga I am Groot 10+ LEGO $54.99

Build Groot and the mixtape that many of us love! www. lego.com

Wireless Bluetooth Karaoke 2022 Microphone by Bonaok $210.99

Bluetooth wireless microphone for karaoke that is clear and easy to use. Teens can sing “Joy to the World” with this! www.bonaok.com

African Dwarf Classic Biosphere 7+ Froggys Lair $44.99

The Classic Biosphere comes with two live frogs, tank, sand, food, gravel, instructions, rocks and aquatic plants. The frogs are super easy to care for, teach kids re sponsibility, are fun for everyone in the family to watch, and are just ridiculously cool. We named the Amster dam News test frogs, Miss Piggy and Kermit! The Gallon Biosphere has three frogs. $69.99 www.froggyslair.com

Splash Proof Mini Hip Pack by Aloha Collection $42.00

Look hip with this fanny pack with 5% of profits going to Hawaii conserva tion organizations. www.aloha-collection.com

Roam Portable Speaker by Sonos $179

Clear lightweight speak er with 10-hour battery life and a choice of five colors. www.sonos.com

Panoramic Las Vegas Puzzle by Master Pieces $19.99

1,000 pieces that are ecofriendly and show the famous Las Vegas Strip from Mandalay Bay. www.masterpieces.com

Air Tag 4 Pack by Apple $95

Have your teen or tween put the tags on things they lose like keys, phones, or luggage so they can find them quickly. www.amazon.com

Flare Light-Up Makeup Brush by Centric Beauty LLC $29.98

This innovative light up makeup brush has soft multiple heads for great application in any lighting! www.flarebeauty.com

Rabble 17+ Rabble Media LLC $29.99 In this exciting game, friends must guess your team’s Rabble cards as quickly as possible. Play challenge cards to slow other teams down! www.RabbleGame.com

Moon Oil infused with moonstones by Dollymoo $24

This oil smells rich and warm without being adult and perfumy. It is a great gift for a young er person or for an older one as well! Try Evil Eye Perfume Oil as well! $26 www.dollymoo.com

27-inch Curved Gaming Monitor by Dell $299.99

Amazing clarity from a curved 27-inch panel to game on. The display res olution of 2560 x 1440 165 Hz refresh rate leads to im mersive play! www.dell.com

TECH THE HALLS!

MERRY FOR MOMS

A DELIGHT FOR DAD

House of Marley Exodus ANC Wireless Headphones $249.99

Galaxy Tab A7 3-7yrs Samsung $129

The 10.4-inch screen, great graphics and Dolby sound are good for gamers! The A7 has solid parental con trols and 64MB of built-in storage for pictures, videos and, we hope, homework. This tablet also is tough. The sound and graphics quality lend to books and creative activities that are STEAM. www.samsung.com

Nano Real Bugs 3+ HexBug $24.99

Scare everyone with these realistic robotic insects that scurry with vibration technology. www.hexbug.com

3Doodler Start + 6+ WobbleWorks $49.99

Each creative kit contains 1 3Dooodler pen, 72 color strands, one doodle pad and 10 activities. Make wild 3D objects from this easy-to-use pen. www.the3doodler.com

EchoDot Kids Owl 3-12yrs Amazon $59.99

This smart speaker with Alexa can play music, tell stories and even help with homework! It includes one year of Amazon Kids+. It is easy to use with strong parental controls. www.amazon.com

Pixicade Quest 10+ BitOGenius $29.99

Make multilevel video games with this award-win ning STEAM certified kit. It has everything that you need to develop exciting multi-level video games and then play them on a device. Game creation that is a sensation with older gamers on your list! www.BitOGenius.com

Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet 3+ Amazon $54.99

The 7” tablet has content through Amazon Kids+, 16GB and a touchscreen. With up to 10 hours of bat tery life, kids can use it on trips. This is affordable fun tech! www.amazon.com

Battle Bots Arena Max 8+ HexBug $119.99

Create your bots and the arena for them to spar in. This is a good parent child activity to do together for technical kids. Create and play. www.hexbug.com

Hex Mods Pro Series Elite Raceway 8+ HexBug $99.99

Design and customize your race car with over 150 pieces. Build the track and then race your creation. This will keep kids busy for hours at a time! www.hexbug.com

Got 2 Glow Fairy Baby Finder 5+ WowWee $24.99

The Got2Glow Baby Fairy Finder in a smaller size lights up as it detects virtual baby fairies around kids, follow the lights, sounds, and directions on screen to find all the baby fairies! www.wowwee.com

Mint Green Tea Jade

Crystal Facial Roller by ESW Beauty $28

This facial roller promotes gentle toning and relax ation. After a stressful day this feels great on your face and is calming. A women-owned business. www.eswbeauty.com

La Vie Boheme Ylang Ylang + Cedarwood Diffuser by Lit Lab $47

Beautiful floral diffuser with a heavenly scent for ylang-ylang lovers that comes in pretty packag ing. The female owned company looks to balance scents to create peaceful moods. www.litlab.us

DYP Holiday Gift Box $98

Huge14 pieces super set that include shower steamers, oils, cleans er, balms and scrubs that are made in Canada from a company that cares. DYP=Do Your Part www.dypshop.com

Holo Holo Tote by Aloha Collection

Wet/ dry tote $64.00

FUNctional tote for the pool or to take out in damp weather. www.alo ha-collection.com

Walala CBD Ultimate Holiday Gift Box $186

Point Cream, Enrichment Serum and Wellness Sup plements repair skin and moisturize it. Great for winter weather. www.walala.jp

Estelle Colored Glass Cake Stand $225 and Dome $75 Hand-blown colored glass stands and domes

made in Poland that come in a number of vi brant tones. Red looks great on a holiday table! www.estellecol oredglass.com

Storyworth $99

This is a great gift for a grandmom. She gets to write a book all about herself by answering weekly questions. After a year, the answers are put together and pub lished in a hardcover book. This keeps family history and passes it down in a beautiful way. www.storyworth.com

Snowed In by Aged & Infused $25 Apple, ginger, & carda mom alcohol infusion kit that is ready in three days. Craft a better cocktail with this kit in a glass with a pour top. It looks interesting as you use it to make the cre ation. Momma needs this! www.agedandin fused.com

Happy

Eco-conscious noise-can celing cushy headphones so you can be a Buffalo Soldier brought to you by the Marley family! With a 28-hour bat tery life, superior sharp sound and sustainable ma terials, these headphones are something to sing about. www.thehouseofmarley.com

Holiday Infusion

Set by Craft Cocktail Infusions $59.99

The set includes a cock tail strainer, sparkling water, Pumpkin Spice, Spar kling Glitter Citrus, Choco late Marshmallow Mint and Smoked Maple Bacon In fusion sets to become your own master drink mixolo gist. Just add alcohol to the glass jars that have delicious ingredients and special ar tisanal spirited drinks come alive! www.craftcocktailinfu sions.com

Man Tea Tree Cream by Foot Nanny $48 Moisturizes feet and soothes them after a long day. Try Man Eucalyptus Cream as well. $48 www.footnanny.com

The Carry-On by Away Travel $275

Going away this holiday season? Then pack it all into the durable lightweight carry-on that has easy to move wheels. www.awaytravel.com

Uncle Nearest 1856 Pre mium Whiskey $59

Named after the first ever African American master distiller, this 100-proof award-winning whiskey is smooth and can go in drinks, sauces or jams. www.unclenearest.com

Tech Ring by FirmTech $275

This device is for men’s health but should be given by an adult in private. It is the first device of its kind that can look at vascular health and sleep patterns in men and send the results to a

doctor. This device also helps many men who have ED and PE live happy lives. This is a gift that will make men very merry because who doesn’t want health for the holidays? www.myfirmtech.com

Whiskey Appreciation Crate by Man Crate $159

The crate is for the whisky lover on your list. It comes with a personalized whis key decanter, two personal ized glasses, two ice sphere molds, coasters, a drinking journal and three types of nuts. www.mancrates.com

The Seventy2 Survival System by Unchartered Supply Co $399 Get dad this backpack that is filled with essentials for emergencies like food, power supplies, light, first aid essentials, tools, air and vision gear, and water filtra tion. If this is in the car and he hits an issue or one hits him, he has a much better chance of being ok. Great for long road trips! www.uncharteredsupply co.com

Hydrate Spark Pro World’s Smartest Water Bottle by Hidrate Inc. $69.99

Keep drinks cold for 14 hours and hot for 4, syncs to app, Bluetooth, vac uum-insulated stainless steel, has a rechargeable battery, works with Fitbit, has hydration history, and has a find bottle feature! This is cool tech that keeps you healthy! www.hi drateSpark.com

BEAUTIFUL FOR THE BATH

Coconut + Bourbon Vanilla Milk by Bathorium $18

A mineral milk bath that is made in Canada, cer tified organic, not tested on animals, feels like a dream and the scent is warm. Long days need this at the end! www.bathorium.com

CBD

(ALWAYS ask your doctor first before using or taking any health item or non-prescribed remedy. What is amazing for some can be dangerous for others.)

CBD Bonbons by Black Dahlia $60

Seven delicious rich and beautiful bonbons that contain 20 mg of CBD each. Perfect for after dinner for adults to be relaxed without any THC. Try their White Peach & Strawberry Lemonade Gelees, too! $55 www.blackdahlia.co

Orange Lavender with Chamomile CBD Herbal 1X Salve by Healing Rose $60

The salve contains calendula, arnica, nourishing oils, butters and beeswax to repair & hydrate. A little bit goes a long way! www.thehealingroseco.com

Intimacy Bath

Never Thirsty Moisturizer by Pierre Performance $30

This moisturizer refreshes tired dry chalky skin! www.pierreskin.com

Meticulous Complete Bundle from UB Super $265

This skintastic bundle in cludes Anti-Inflammatory Molecular Repair Cream, Ultra-Lift Revitalizing Eye Cream, Advanced Hydrat ing Moisturizer, and Anti oxidant Defense Serum. The gift pack is designed to repair the effects of daily environmental expo sures. www.ubsuper.com

Salts

with CBD & Cacao by Foria $38

Bath salts with botanicals, coconut oil, rose, and mint combine to provide a fragrant bath that is relaxing and perfect for couples. www.exploreforia.com

Blue Crystal Sugar

Raw Juice Cleanse Mask Set by ESW Beauty $85

Sleep, Relief, Energy and Resilience Patches by Astraea & Co. $17.96

Healing Salve by Franny’s Farmacy $50

Chamomile

& Honey Body Scrub by Lumi Bloom $25

Chamomile & Honey are a yummy combo for the bath. Who knew? www.lumibloom.com

CBD Bath Soak Relax & Rewind by The Healing Rose $25

Add this to your bath for extra tranquility. The jojoba, lavender, rosemary, hemp and eucalyptus oils come together to relax and sooth. www.thehealin groseco.com

Zen Lavender Bath Bombs by Astraea & Co. $26.21

Relax this holiday season with these natu ral fragrant bath bombs

and drift in the bathtub. www.astraea.co

Bath Bomb Bundle by Lumi Bloom $64.77

You get to pick 3 differ ent bath bomb com binations from their lavender, revitalize and cherish lines. Get ready for peace this holiday! www.lumibloom.com

Lavender Calming Collection Gift Box by DollyMoo $90

The holidays can be happy, but also filled with stress. This lavender themed gift was creat ed to bring calm to the re cipient! The Gift box has a lavender water, body scrub, body oil, shower steamer salve, bath bomb, loofah, and lip balm. www.dollymoo.com

Each bundling all four togeth er as one gift is a great idea as individual packets con tain four natural CBD based patches that can be reused and have no adhesive on them. They are easy to travel with in this form and even to keep in a gym bag or purse. They are effective relief for common holiday and every day issues. www.astraea.co

Rose Petal CBD Infused Body Oil with Vitamin E and Rosehip by LumiBloom $60

The body oil restores moisture while creating a hydrating glow. www.lumibloom.com

Full Spectrum Hemp CBD + Magnesium Cream by Function Botanicals $60

This feels amazing on the feel at the end of the day! www. functionbotanicals.com

Heal and hydrate with this salve! www.frannysfarmacy.com

Synony Hemp+ Beauty Sleeping Mask by Inno can Pharma $44.99

Moisturizes and can reduce fine lines with vitamins to protect the skin. www.innocanpharma.com

Superbotanical Gel for Sore Muscles by Stella Via $24

Overworked your muscles? This is a gel that soothes the pain and helps the healing process. www.stellavia.com

different Organic Vegan Plant Based Milk Masks by ESW $8 each Avoca do Banana Milk hydrat ing mask, Matcha Almond Milk radiance mask or Va nilla Oat Milk nourish ing mask soothe the skin while providing moisture. A Women owned business www.eswbeauty.com

Synony Hemp Eye Serum by Innocan Pharma $29.99

The serum reduces puff iness and revitalizes the skin around the eye. www. innocanpharma.com

KDara Lavender Full Spectrum CBD Shea Body Butter

(purchase on website) fantastic for feet and elbows! The company is owned by brilliant Black females www.kdara.com

Botanical Hand Care Set by Brown Butter Beauty $85

Moisturizing and fragrant set featuring Thieves Es sential Oil 3 pieces- Soap, Cleansing Spray, and their hand balm. www.brown butterbeautyshop.com

Brave Smooth and Clear Aftershave by Yelle Skin Care $30

Control oil and hydrate skin while reducing pore size with this dynamic aftershave! www.yelleskincare.com

Relief Warming Salve Jar by Astraea & Co $59.96

This CBD based salve moisturizes while it can heal muscle and joint paint. Always ask a doctor before using for a medical condition. EVERY person we tested this on felt better from this natu ral salve made with love in NJ! www.astraea.co

HEALTH IS WEALTH

(ALWAYS ask your doctor first before using or taking any health item or non-prescribed remedy. What is amazing for some can be dangerous for others.)

Blisslets by Bliss Bracelets $29.99

LLC Fashion forward acupressure bracelets for nausea relief. Contain natural rubber latex www.blisslets.com

Bee Pollen by Savannah Bee Company $24

Natures power food promotes wellbeing with vitamins and minerals www.savannahbee.com

BURN IT BRIGHT

St. Nicholas Luxury Candle by Harlem Candle Company $48

With the scents of ginger bread and holiday spice, this candle is a holiday treat that is supporting a local business. www.harlemcan dlecompany.com

Travel Message Oil Candle + CBD $36 6oz

These travel size message candles in tins come in deli cious fragrances like grape fruit, rose/sage, eucalyptus, and lavender. They make any message better! www.errbshop.com

FUN FOR THE

Cuisinart CBK-200 Bread Maker $179.95

This machine will make breaking bread delicious for years to come! There are 16 preprogrammed menu options, 3 crust color options, 3 loaf size choices, and over 100 dif ferent carbs to create with this convection style easy to use and clean machine! www.cuisinart.com

Hello Kitty Waffle Maker 14+ Uncanny Brands $44.99

The waffle maker leaves a Hello Kitty print on the food to put you in a good mood! www.uncanny brands.com

Porcelain Message

Hibiscus White Tea Rose Quartz Gua Sha by ESW Beauty $25

Facial message tool to boost circulation made withbeautiful rose quartz www.eswbeauty.com

Probiotics & Postbiotics: gut, brain & im mune system support by Plantwise $40

With 125 billion CFU, 12 DNA -verified probiotic strains, 2 tyndallized probiotic strains & prebiotic fiber www.getplantwise.com

Immune Prime by Plantwise $44

With so many people trav eling for the holidays on public transportation, these supplements con tain vitamins, zinc, elder berry, selenium, hemp extract, and other ingre dients to boost the body. www.getplantwise.com

Super Botanical High Heel Patches by Stella Via $16

White Willow bark ex tract, arnica, & vitamin B, black pepper extract all come together with hemp oil extract in patches to help fix feet that are in

pain from holiday heels! www.stellavia.com

Breathe Easy Salve Cold-Sinus-Headache by DollyMoo $14 Female owned company in NJ makes this amazing salve for the whole family that works wonders! www.dollymoo.com

UB Full Spectrum Enhanced CBG 5:1 Tincture Plus Anti-Inflammatory Recovery Orange/Cinnamon by UB Real LLC $96

Tested on patients with arthritis and they found healing relief! www.ubsuper.com

Healing Lotion by Franny’s Farmacy $50

Certified organic ingre dients that you can pro nounce that heal life’s little ouchies. www.franniesfarmacy.com

Scented Oil Candles by Errbshop $60 for 5oz $90 for 12oz & $150 for the 24oz

In the perfect easy to pour holder, this candle produces a rich oil that nourishes the body and is sensual to the skin. Choose from Santal, Oud, Original, Grapefruit, Lav ender, Eucalyptus, and Rose/Sage scents! www.errbshop.com

Pomelo Incense by Black Dahlia $ (buy on website)

With notes of currant, bergamot and Himalayan salt, this CBD infused in cense vaporizes for aro matherapeutic benefits. Try Sandalwood, Chamo mile & Cypress too! www. blackdahlia.co

Autumn Lodge by Lit Lab Co $39

All-natural soy wax candle that smells like a holiday in a jar. It is ridic ulously delicious! Do not try to eat it though! www. litlab.com

Balsam Mahogany by Cue Company $30

This candle has a rich holiday scent, burns about 40 hours and is made in the USA. www.cuecompany.com

Sacred Space Candle by DollyMoo $24

Hand-mixed ingredi ents of all-natural soy wax, essential/fragrance oil blend and red san dalwood come togeth er to create a candle that is made to ground your spirit in your space. www.dollymoo.com

Essex Candle by Yasaf, Lit $48 Over 50 hours of burn time from this candle from a Black-owned busi ness that smells of fresh balsam, sweet jasmine, patchouli and neroli. www.yasaflit.com

Alchemy Inspiratio by Black Dahlia $(buy at website)

Aromatic, CBD-infused candle made with all nat ural waxes in the USA. It envelopes you with a warm relaxing scent. Per fect for holiday events! www.blackdahlia.co

100% Bees Wax handmade Pillar Candle By Zach & Zoe Sweet Bee Farm $20

This beautiful candle is made by a Black-owned family business and has a clean burn. www.zachandzoe.co

The Wand $24.99 Patented wine purifier that removes histamines and sulfates by PureWine. Inc. Made in the USA $24.99 for 8 wands. This device helps stop the reason why many get headaches when drinking wine. www.drinkpurewine.com

Hello Kitty Two-Slice Toaster 10+ Uncanny Brands $39.99 The toast comes out with your favorite kitty on it every time clear. www.uncannybrands.com

Gold $ Cup by Kheper Games $12.99

Put your money where your mouth is while you bring your BLING to a party. This brilliant, shiny gold dollar signshaped cup is fun and flashy! It is great for events. Holds 24 ounces. Hand wash only. www.Khepergames.com

Beer Can Chicken Crate by Man Crates $99.99

The crate contains 2 savory rubs, a beer can roaster with infuser, poul try sheers, and poultry thermometers. This set creates a moist chicken

inside and crisp one out side. www.mancrates.com

Cosori Toaster Oven $149.99

This little oven has 12 cooking functions and a 2-year warranty. www.cosori.com

Disco Pineapple Cup by Kheper Games $14.99

This stylish golden Disco Pineapple Cup is great for theme parties! Holds ap proximately 28 oz of your favorite drink. www.Khepergames.com

Always Pan $145

This pan with nonstick ceramic coating was designed to replace 8 tra ditional pieces of cook ware. It succeeds. It comes with one pan, a steamer basket, a lid, and a spoon. A great gift for a some one in a small apartment. www.fromourplace.com

Texturra Performance Non-Stick Bakeware 7 piece set by Wilton $84.99

This light blue baking set is easy on the eyes and easy to clean. Food seems to float out of it instead of stick. www.wilton.com

‘Tis the season to save on holiday essentials

This holiday season, stretch your budget when shopping for gifts, including toys and stocking stuffers, as well as last-min ute needs, meal prep and more.

Spend more time creating memories and less time preparing with a few tips from ex perts at Dollar General.

Joyful gifts

One of the best parts of the holidays may be seeing the excited reaction of someone opening a gift, especially children. Save on some of America’s most popular name brand toys at Dollar General, which recent ly announced an enhanced 2022 toy selec tion from popular brands such as Melissa & Doug, LEGO, Fisher-Price, VTech, PlayDoh, Barbie, Pokémon, L.O.L. Surprise!, ZURU 5 Surprise and more. Most toys are priced at $10 or less. Another option for the person who has everything is a gift card. Available at neighborhood stores, gift cards provide the recipient with various ways to enjoy your thoughtfulness!

Dashing decor

To transform the home, consider choos ing one holiday color palette to stay con sistent in each room. Color options may include gold and silver, various shades of green, red and green or blue and silver. Next, shop for decorations in your pre ferred palette and sprinkle throughout

the home. Ornaments, bows, ribbons and stockings aren’t just for the tree and fire place. Add accents to the kitchen table, front porch, living room surfaces and ev erywhere else for more holiday spirit throughout the home.

Festive food

The holidays are often synonymous with family meals, get-togethers with friends and coworkers, and seasonal dishes. For all household essentials, such as canned foods, milk, bread, eggs, baking items and more, consider shopping at a discount re tailer to save in one convenient shopping trip. Additionally, consider using healthier variations of the season’s comforting and tasty dishes with DG Better For You reci pes found at dollargeneral.com. Created by a registered dietician and nutritionist, these recipes include options like risotto and hamburger soup and all use ingredi ents available at every Dollar General store.

The holidays are a busy time for every one, but keep your sights on the essentials! Simplify shopping by creating a signature theme for your home décor, finding deals on gifts for everyone on your list, and serv ing something easy and delicious for the whole crew. Plan ahead this year and enjoy the extra time you’ll have celebrating the season with friends and family.

Dance Calendar December 2022

By CHARMAINE PATRICIA WARREN Special to the AmNews

Close out the year with some dance! Raja Feath er Kelly and his compa ny, the feath3r theory, will present “UGLY Part 3: BLUE” (Dec. 8-10) at The Chelsea Factory. Conceived, directed and performed by Kelly and company, “UGLY Part 3: BLUE” is the conclu sion of Kelly’s trilogy on Queer Black subjectiv ity in the mainstream media. “The trilogy began as a search for a metaphor to juxtapose Kelly’s identity as a Queer Black artist with his feeling of being an

outsider to the main stream Queer Black ex perience. It comes to a close with Kelly bridg ing his highly person al journey to one that is both universal and Alien. In UGLY Part 3: BLUE, the Alien—and the audience—are com pletely distinct and able to examine the popular culture that has shaped them and from which they desire to be freed,” notes the release. Kelly’s adds, “We are all search ing for ourselves; there are too many labels and not enough mean ing.” For more informa tion visit https://www. chelseafactory.org/uglypart-3-blue

ALSO THIS MONTH:

Nov. 30-Dec. 24: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

FRI, DEC 9 @ 8:00 PM

ZEPON - GALA SCREENING

ZEPON is a poetic comedy set on the island of Martinique today in the world of cock fighting and Creole culture. A man makes a bet that he will regret.... Q&A after the screening

CLOSING NIGHT - SUN, DEC 11 @ 6PM

A BROTHER’S WHISPER

Solomon Bordeaux returns home to Brooklyn after serving three tours of the Iraq-Afghanistan Wars. Diagnosed with PTSD, he faces the harsh realities of racist-gentrification in a neighborhood he no longer recognizes.. Q&A after screening.

ADIFF at a Glance - Now to DEC. 11

under artistic director Robert Battle, returns to New York City Center for their annual winter season. The season’s program will include world and compa ny premieres by Kyle Abraham, Jamar Roberts, Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp. Also on the programs are repertory favorites by Alvin Ailey, including a new production of “Survivors,” “Revelations” and many more. For more informa tion, visit: https://www.alvinailey.org/engagement/new-york-city-center

8-10:

$0 to $20

will offer an evening of new works as part of Bloodlines/Bloodlines(future), a concept that began in 2014 to honor and preserve a lineage of postmod ern dance artists who have inspired Stephen Petronio’s career as a dance maker. Also on the program is a re-staging of a work by Petronio’s mentor and postmodern icon, Steve Paxton, for his company. For more informa tion, visit: https://danspaceproject.org/calendar/fall2022-petronio/

Dec. 22: At the 92nd Street Y, Music from the Sole: Leonardo Sandoval & Gregory Richardson

will present the evening-length work, “Partido,” mixing tap dance, body per cussion and live music, with contemporary urban dance and music in the U.S. and Brazil. From Dec. 23-26, an online version will be available. For more information, visit: https://www.92ny.org/event/music-from-the-sole

Raja Feather Kelly (Karolina Miernik photo)

REVIEWS: ISHMAEL REED, MATTHEW SHIPP

was thinking as he danced with his brushes hitting the canvas like long strokes of a Coltrane solo.

Ishmael Reed, the poet, novel ist and playwright whose creative works habitually uncover the real truths of the social structure, is also acknowledged as a jazz musi cian. Only a few of his ilk held such a chair in jazz, such as Greg Tate, Melvin Van Peebles and Amiri Baraka (he wasn’t a musician, but he led his Blue Ark Band).

As a prolific writer, Reed has to make space for jazz, which he did during the pandem ic when he arranged and com posed the music for his second album, “The Hands of Grace” (10 tracks) on his label (Read ing Group, 2022). Some of the compositions recorded here are from his recent play “The Slave Who Loved Caviar,” based on the relationship between pop artist Andy Warhol and Jean Michel Basquiat, whose paintings are considered awareness activism.

“Instead of paying a compos er as we had done in the past, we saved money because I wrote the music and became the composer,” explained Reed during a phone in terview. Reed’s ensemble includes himself on piano, Ray Obiedo on guitar and bass, Roger Glenn on flute, Carla Blank Reed on violin and Tennessee Reed, vocals.

The CD opens with “Bells of Basquiat,” a lonely, meandering ballad. Reed’s keys are melodic rhythms and somewhat repetitive, making me wonder what Basquiat

“When Beautiful Boys Drown in the Nile, They Become Gods” rep resents an ancient tale about a decadent emperor who entices a beautiful young boy with his trap pings of materialism. During a boat ride with the emperor’s sub jects, the boy falls out of the boat and drowns. “The song is some what of a metaphor of the rela tionship between Warhol and Basquiat,” says Reed. The tune is a haunting ballad led by Reed’s me lodic deep piano tones that offer blues trimmings.

“How High the Moon” isn’t the well-traveled standard but an essay by Reed, read by his daugh ter Tennessee. The words talk of the moon slipping out of sight, then back in view again. Reed in serts familiar moon titles: “When the Moon Hits Your Eyes,” “Blue Moon” “Many Moons Ago.”

His track “What I Hear When I View Basquiats” is in that downhome, Tabasco sauce, funky blues, swinging in Fats Waller stride piano style perfected in Harlem. “Yes— that stride style is dedicated to my grandmother’s brother Emmitt Coleman, who played stride piano in the Dixie Chick Orchestra back in the days,” said Reed.

The composition “Elegy for Lucille Clifton” is a tribute to the poet and writer who was Reed’s friend and colleague. He was responsible for her intro duction to her husband Fred Clifton while he was organizing the Buffalo Community Drama Workshop. In 1966, Reed took

some of Clifton’s poems to Langs ton Hughes, who included them in his anthol ogy “The Poetry of the Negro.” In 2006, Reed was diagnosed with prostate cancer and told his wife Carla that he didn’t want to check out without playing be-bop. He hastily arranged for a record ing session in Berkeley, California. He enlisted his wife, a violinist, and Chris Planas on guitar, Roger Glenn on flute and David Murray on saxophones. This quintet was the foundation for Reed’s debut jazz album “For All We Know” (Konch Records, 2007), which so lidified him as a jazz band leader. He is currently raising money for his third CD, which will include respected elder blues musicians in their 80s. He will be reaching out to Ronnie Stewart (king of the Westcoast Blues and president of the Oakland Blues Society) to be a part of the group. But for now, take joy in listening to “The Hands of Grace.” Jazz is an essential part of Reed’s diet; writing makes his day.

The pianist and composer Matthew Shipp has complete control of the keyboards. He is a masterful pianist on all genre fronts. Unfortunately, this must be noted since there are so many categories for this art we call jazz: straight-ahead traditional and avant-garde, smooth, fusion and on and on. Jazz has been in tellectualized for the bourgeoi sie, but all jazzheads want to know is can the cat play? Shipp has released four albums since 2020, the most recent being the

Matthew Shipp Trio’s “World Construct” (ESP-Disk 2022).

This album, like all of his contri butions since 1988, demonstrates that avant-gardism shouldn’t be a scary defining moment. Actual ly, it is a badge of freedom, tran scending space, where Shipp’s music drifts into the stratosphere dancing with the stars on the Milky Way. “World Construct” is a pandemic (it’s not over) contri bution for Shipp, with his trusted bassist Michael Bislo and drum mer Newman Taylor Baker, who are from beyond yesternow.

The 11 tracks are stimulating journeys, moving listeners into realms of varied spaces. The CD opens with “Tangile,” a short, breezy piano trio interlude. On “Positive Jazz,” check out the drums rumbling like a summer storm and cymbals hittin’. Bassist Bislo comes in with deep, explicit, bellowing tones conversing with

running piano keys and authori tative bass on top. Shipp weaves in and out, giving Bislo and Baker room to extend their rapid con versation. Its charging ends on a melodic drum solo. Wow.

“Talk Power” is in a mid-tempo mood, with Shipp playing haunt ing tones that move with a breath of warmth. Bislo huddles in, then all of a sudden, crash-boom, percussive notes all together create wake meshake me music in its own space and time; a percussive roar.

“A Mysterious State” has a clas sical feel as the trio is definitely intertwined on an intuitive level, the conversions of multiple mel odies rhythms bouncing off each other; the drums rapid tat-a-tat; Shipp romping the keyboard; and the bass in the background and out front, ending with soul.

“World Construct” from the Matthew Shipp Trio is an out rageous winner for 2022.

Roger Glenn, Tennessee Reed, Carla Blank, Ishmael Reed, Ray Obieta (Photos courtesy of Ishmael Reed)

Holiday Gift —gifts not to be missed

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

There are just days left for the 2022 shopping season. Here are a few suggestions to help make your shopping experience smoother.

BEAUTY Haus Labs

Lady Gaga’s Triclone Skin Tech Medium Coverage Foundation comes in 51 shades. It’s pure per fection. You can’t go wrong with this medium buildable coverage. This is luxury at an affordable price delivering high performance and providing a weightless, clean foundation that helps reduce red ness, evens skin tone and protects from environmental stress.

Aeva

Aeva, an African American owned beauty brand, is an afford able choice that delivers pigmen tation. CEO and Founder Fancisca Francois is on a mission to create diversity, one beauty product at a time. They create cruelty-free and vegan, multi-purpose products.

FOR THE HOME

Pretty Rugged Original Blanket

This blanket is soft enough to

keep you cozy, yet rugged enough to handle the outdoors with ease. This is an award-winning versatile blanket that features the brand’s faux fur and innovative water proof, windproof, washable Rug gedTex nylon.

Chantal Cookware is durable and stylish with every pot, pan and kettle crafted to the highest FDA health and safety standards. In addition to American expecta tions, Chantal’s ID21 series also exceeds the incredibly detailed testing of the German LFDG (Leb ensmittel und Futtermittelgesetz buch).

FRAGRANCE & CANDLES

Replica By Fireplace & Beach Walk Set

Inspired by the iconic Maison Margiela fashion “Paint Drop” pattern, this limited-edition Beach Walk & By The Fireplace Eau de Toilette 2x30ml set will embark you on a colorful and arty holiday season.

Perfect Pair Jazz Club Set

This two-piece set features a Jazz Club fragrance and candle and is inspired to bring in the aroma of fine aged liquor and burning cigars in an intimate jazz club.

Boy Smells

Boy Smells began as an exper iment in candle-making in the kitchen of co-founders and part ners Matthew Herman and David Kien. Now Boy Smells is currently carried in over 750 retail locations (300 in the U.S. alone), across 35 countries on six continents. Every scent is a winner.

THESE ARE ALL AFRICANAMERICAN-OWNED BRANDS:

BEAUTY

Fenty

Rihanna’s new favorite lip mask smooths, conditions and plumps. Just in time for the holidays is Fenty Skin Plush Puddin’ Inten sive Recovery Lip Mask ($22) made with coconut & castor oils, pomegranate & jojoba oil com plex, pomegranate sterols, Bar bados cherry (Acerola), vitamin C and vitamin E.

Beneath Your Mask

Created by Dana Jackson, in 2011, after she was diagnosed with lupus a diagnosis that complete ly changed her life. To deal with certain symptoms of the disease, she stepped into an all-natural approach to beauty and wellness.

All the products have completely natural ingredients, with her skin soufflé a cult favorite.

Ellie Bianca

Evelyn Nyairo, an environ mental scientist, founded Ellie Bianca crafting vegan and cru elty-free skin-care products. The products that have caught the imagination are the Rose Skin Oil, Breathe Bath Salt and the Luxe Day/Night Serum.

Foxie Cosmetics

Kayla Phillips, who is a touring musician and founder of Foxie Cosmetics, deals with chron ic pain, so in 2015 she start ed making soothing bath bombs and salts and later expanded to create hair, skin and body prod ucts and fragrance. These prod ucts are cruelty-free, sustainably made, handcrafted, packaged and shipped by Phillips herself.

COFFEE

Simpli Press, a French Press without the mess, features a stain less steel ultrafine double filter and coffee basket system that re sults in grit-free, flavorful coffee and easy removal of grounds. In scribed with pre-measured brew

ing guidelines for that perfect cup each and every time. Design made with high-quality materials: bo rosilicate glass, stainless steel and silicone.

CLOTHING

Coco and Breezy

Coco and Breezy was found ed in 2009 by Corianna and Bri anna Dotson; the goal was to create sunglasses with solid detail and superlative quali ty. One of the fan favorites in the line is the Avatars.

Daily Paper

Created by Hussein Suleiman, Jefferson Osei, and Abderrah mane Trabsini, this Amsterdambased men’s and women’s clothing brand was made to be easy, wear able and stylish enough to wear separately or with other things from your closet.

House of Aama

Mother-daughter designers Re becca Henry and Akua Shabaka started House of Aama to explore “the folkways of the Black expe rience by designing timeless gar ments with nostalgic references informed by historical research, archival analysis and storytelling.”

Pretty Rugged Original Blanket  Chantal Cookware

Haus Labs

(Courtesy photos)

CONTACT US:

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CLASSROOM IN THE

Gertrude Morgan, founding member of the Niagara Movement and the NAACP

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

On several occasions, it has been my pleasure to salute some of the relatively unknown mem bers of the famed Niagara Move ment (1905–1909), which—as many of readers know—had a short but significant timeline that morphed into the NAACP. Invariably, the next words fol lowing a mention of this move ment is W.E.B. Du Bois, since he was the prime mover and a founding member.

The male advocates of the sem inal civil rights group included Clement Morgan, but his wife, Gertrude, should be given more attention, not only for her pivotal role in this formation but in a few others. Born in 1861 in Spring field, Illinois, Gertrude was the daughter of Thomas Wright and Sarah Fortune Wright. Her father was a formerly enslaved person who bought himself and later his son out of bondage. The condi tion of her mother and other sib lings was not available.

But we do know that Gertrude was the first African American stu dent at Springfield High School, where she was forced to endure daily insults and shunning from the white students. She was fortunate, however, to have at least one white student, Hattie Palmer, comfort her and walk with her to school. In 1877, Gertrude graduated and was ranked third in her class and pre sented a paper about “Unknown Heroes.” According to one report, she was also the first Black person to graduate in all of Illinois.

Gertrude applied to become a teacher in her hometown, but Blacks were not allowed to teach in the schools there. Unable to pursue her profession in Spring field, she moved to St. Louis and secured a position at Charles Sumner High School, an allBlack school. Her future hus band, Clement, also taught there and after their marriage in 1897, they moved to Cambridge, Massa chusetts, where they began their activist careers. Along with his ac tivism, Clement became the first

African American to deliver Har vard’s senior class oration, and the first Black elected a city alder man anywhere in New England. Thus, you gather some notion of what a remarkable duo they were. They both became members of the Niagara Movement, which was merely one of the organiza tions that benefited from Ger trude’s commitment. She later became instrumental in founding the NAACP and played a promi nent role in the suffrage moment and the fight for women’s rights. In addition to these activities, she served as president of the Wom en’s Era Club, was on the board of the Harriet Tubman House and was appointed by Gov. Cox to represent the Commonwealth at the dedication of the Freder ick Douglass House Museum in 1922. And we should note that she was a tireless worker to get the 19th Amendment passed to give women the right to vote.

In 2020, the Cambridge His

torical Commission, the city council and community mem bers named two cross streets in honor of Gertrude and of Harri et Jacobs, author of the famous slave narrative “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” in 1861, the same year Gertrude was born. The streets were the first in Cam bridge named after Black women with ties to the city. At the cer emony, her great-great-neph ew, Dr. James Spencer, said, “A lot of people didn’t know about my great-great-aunt Gertrude (although) my family had been trying for years to talk about her,” he said. “So now she is no longer an unsung hero. She’s some body having a street named after her at Cambridge Crossing, and her family is so proud.” He was making reference to the paper she had written back in high school.

From either his Twitter or Face book page, Spencer added this information about his remark able family and their achieve

ments: “I was in Springfield about 8 years ago and supplied the library with pictures and deeds that I had about my family (The Wrights). I gave the library

My Grandfather’s World War L diary believed to be the only one written by an African American for that war. I plan to come back again to solve the family mystery of how my great, great grand father Tom Wright (Gertrude’s Father) became so rich. My grandfather Bruce Wright born in Springfield was the son of Willis Wright (Gertrude’s Brother) and Mamie Drake Wright supposedly a teacher there in Springfield who died about 1906. Both of his par ents deceased, Bruce and his sister Nadine came here to live with Ger trude and her husband. Nadine was one of the first African Amer icans to graduate from Radcliffe and one of the first African Amer ican teachers here in Cambridge.”

Gertrude died in 1931, two years after her husband’s death.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

If there’s further infor mation about this fabulous freedom fighter, it’s proba bly in the state files in Illi nois and Massachusetts.

DISCUSSION

Wish I could have found the paper she wrote upon graduation from high school.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Her presence in orga nizations at the dawn of the 20th century was no less significant than her continued work for civil and human rights in the 1920s.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

Dec. 4, 1955: Vocalist Cassandra Wilson was born in Jackson, Miss.

Dec. 5, 1870: Rodeo star Bill Pickett was born in Travis, Tex. He died in 1932.

Dec. 6, 1897: Jesse Blay ton, the first Black to own and operate a radio sta tion, was born in Fallis, Okla. He died in 1977.

Pictured are Mrs. Gertrude Wright Morgan (seated) and (left to right) Mrs. O.M. Waller, Mrs. H.F.M. Murray, Mrs. Mollie Lewis Kelan, Mrs. Ida D. Bailey, Miss Sadie Shorter, and Mrs. Charlotte Hershaw

community well: he’s served on the commu nity board, he is a community person, so the community has been very, very upset from the day it happened.”

“It’s horrific, it’s unfair, it’s unconsciona ble,” commented New York County Demo crat Leader Keith Wright about the charges brought against Benjamin. “And I predict he will eventually be vindicated. I can’t imag ine the pain and suffering that his family has gone through.”

With the bribery and fraud charges dis missed, Wright said it makes it less likely the records falsification charges can be proven.

When the charges against Benjamin were announced and he was arrested by federal authorities, it was all done with great fan fare. Benjamin was only able to serve as lieutenant governor of New York from Sep

World AIDS Day

Continued from page 4

lifetimes, although the model is based on if rates from 2009-2013 persisted, according to an agency spokesperson. Since the turn of the cen tury, the city documents a 7% change decrease annually in HIV diagnoses for Black New York ers—in 2001, 3,016 were diagnosed with HIV, compared to 704 last year.

tember 2021 until April 12, 2022, when he re signed in apparent disgrace.

“The major charges, the major crime he was accused of, [have] been dropped and that’s what often happens in the legal system: it overcharges,” the Rev. Conrad Tillard explained to the AmNews. “My question is, had they done a better investi gation of this, would he have been hound ed out of office?”

It’s not unusual for Black politicians to have corruption charges against them widely proclaimed, Tillard noted, and then later either dismissed or for the person ac cused to be charged with a lesser, minor of fense. Black elected officials have raised issues about this type of persecution before Congress, but it’s still widely seen.

“I think it’s very important that the com munity shares this news as widely as the news of his arrest and his slander,” Til lard added. “You know, Brian Benjamin is a person of extraordinary capabilities—who

But the epidemic isn’t finished yet. For New Yorkers living with HIV like Brown, who uses they/them pronouns, breaking societal barri ers will encourage testing and medicine use, ultimately saving lives.

“Stigma is actually more deadly now than HIV,” they said. “Even right now—40 years into this—and the stigma is almost still as bad as it was at the beginning. And now we know what’s going on, we know what to do. But the stigma surrounding [HIV/AIDS] is still found.

Speeding ruins

knows where his career might have gone had this not happened. … It’s entirely possi ble that we may see the reemerging of Brian Benjamin, but we have to start with letting folks know that the major charges that he was facing have been dropped––and his community deserves to know that.”

A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment.

Benjamin was the state’s second Black lieutenant governor. During a state Legis lature career that began in May 2017, he emphasized criminal justice reform and af fordable housing. His district included most of central Harlem, where he was born and raised by Caribbean immigrant parents.

In tossing out the first three charges of a five-count indictment, the judge wrote that appeals courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have made clear that proof of a prom ise was necessary to support criminal charg es when payments are made in the form of campaign contributions.

“The way I fight the stigma is by standing up and publicly saying, ‘I’ve been HIV positive and this is what it looks like.’ There’s nothing you can stigmatize me [for].”

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 con sider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

The judge said he also agreed with a sep arate defense argument that the facts al leged in the indictment, even if true, fail to establish criminal liability. He noted that the government’s timeline of events shows that there was no agreement between Benjamin and the developer at the time Benjamin pro cured the $50,000 in state funding.

The charges that were left intact allege that Benjamin knowingly made a false entry in a record with the intent to impede an investigation.

Metro Briefs

Continued from page 3

disproportionately affects majority-mi nority communities. The new law would ensure these voters’ ballots would be counted for all contests in which they are eligible to vote, as long as they appear at a polling place within their correct county. This year, more than 86,000 voters in New York City alone had their polling places changed between the June and August primaries. One of the top com plaints heard from voters during Myrie’s 2021 election reform hearings was insuffi cient communication about polling place changes, leading many voters to appear at incorrect polling places on Election Day. These disqualifications disproportionate ly affect voters in New York City.

lives. Slow down.

Education

Former Education Secretary King named SUNY chancellor

By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press

Former U.S. Education Secre tary John King Jr. has been ap pointed chancellor of the State University of New York, the na tion’s largest university system, SUNY announced Monday.

King is scheduled to begin in January at a salary of $750,000 a year. The appointment marks a return to New York for King, who was the state’s education com missioner during the conten tious rollout of the Common Core learning standards meant to ele vate K–12 academics across states.

The unanimous vote by the SUNY Board of Trustees in Albany fills an opening left by the resigna tion of James Malatras a year ago in fallout from the investigation of former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Malatras stepped down after the release of text messag es showing he mocked one of the women who later accused Cuomo of sexual harassment.

“As we work to continue to trans form SUNY to meet the needs of the next generation of students and New York’s economy, we need a leader who understands how to balance striving for both excel lence and equity. John King has a proven record of doing both,” SUNY Chairperson Merryl Tisch said in a statement.

King, who was New York’s first Black and Puerto Rican education commissioner, served as President Barack Obama’s education secre tary in the last year of his presiden cy, advocating for a federal-state partnership to make attendance at community colleges free.

In 2020, King and other alumni of the administration formed the political group Strong Future Maryland, which led to an unsuc cessful campaign for Maryland governor earlier this year.

As education commissioner from 2011 to 2015, King fielded criticism over the uneven rollout of the Common Core standards across the state’s 700 K–12 districts and clashed with teachers’ unions over efforts to link student test scores to teacher evaluations. On Monday, New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta said the union would work with King to “ensure that our campus es and the educators serving on

them receive the critical funding and support they deserve.”

Both of King’s parents died before he was 12, and he credits public schools in New York City with giving him hope and purpose.

“Public education quite literal ly saved my life when I lost both of my parents at a young age, and I have dedicated my professional career ever since to ensuring that every student has access to the academic opportunities that they need and deserve,” King said in a written statement.

As chancellor, he wants to resume previous efforts to lever age federal Perkins funding to enable K–12 schools, colleges and employers to work together on a high school curriculum tailored toward the needs of the work force, according to SUNY, which enrolls about 370,000 students on 64 campuses.

SUNY Student Assembly Pres ident Alexandria Chun said King has proven his commitment to students’ needs.

“As student debt has grown over the past few decades into a na tional crisis, he has shown time and again that he prioritizes col lege affordability as a platform for future success, closing opportuni ty gaps for students of color and low-income students, and excel lence in education,” Chun said.

United University Professions (UUP), the union representing more than 37,000 employees of SUNY and its teaching hospitals, said it hoped King would advocate strongly for more state funding.

“UUP shares Dr. King’s commit ment to equity and excellence for all students and making a college education affordable and acces sible,” said UUP President Fred erick Kowal. “These are attributes we believe SUNY’s new chancellor must have to be effective.”

King has been president of the nonprofit Education Trust since 2017, a Washington, D.C., think tank that advocates for access to high-quality education for lowincome students and students of color. A former classroom teach er, he has degrees from Harvard University, Columbia Universi ty’s Teachers College and Yale Law School.

—Thompson reported from Buf falo, New York.

John King (Public Domain photo)

Executive Director Donna Lieberman in a statement. “The federal and state constitutions impose strict limits on the government’s ability to detain people experiencing mental illness— limits that the mayor’s proposed expansion is likely to violate.”

“New Yorkers will see this plan for what it is: a draconian attempt to say the Adams adminis tration is tackling a problem, while only making it worse,” added VOCAL-NY Director of Orga nizing Jawanza Williams. “The lives of people dealing with mental health crises won’t be im proved by forcing them into treatment, espe cially if it’s coming from law enforcement. All this directive will do is disappear them.”

Both the NYCLU and VOCAL-NY are steadfast proponents of “Daniel’s Law” (S.4814/A.4697), a proposed bill removing armed police officers from handling mental health crises and re placing them with mental health profession als unless another person’s safety is at risk. It’s named after Daniel Prude, a Black Chicagoan who was killed by Rochester, N.Y. police in 2020 during an episode. Back in 2018, NYPD officers fatally shot Jamaican-born Saheed Vassell, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

A 2019 Office of the New York City Public Advocate report delineated the elevated risk Black men with mental illness face during police encounters. Untreated illness increases the risk of being killed during a police encoun ter by 16-fold, compounded with the general

increased dangers for Black men when deal ing with cops. The report also mentions that Black Americans are significantly more prone to mental health problems.

While the NYPD cannot directly involuntari ly transport and hospitalize New Yorkers with severe mental illness, police are called upon to request the removals, so the judgment calls often fall squarely on the shoulders of officers.

Adams promised training and mental health clinician hotlines for police to assist them with this decision-making.

Adams also reinforced the application of court-mandated Assisted Outpatient Treat ment, dubbed “Kendra’s Law” after the sub way-pushing death of writer Kendra Webdale by an individual with severe mental illness. In New York City, 44% of recipients are Black—by far the highest. A quarter of all recipients have experienced homelessness.

Adams continued to champion the clubhouse model of voluntary, community-recovery spaces for those diagnosed with severe mental illness to hang out, meet peers and find employment. But one of those programs, Fountain House, com municated anxieties over the mayor’s new di rective. Their clubhouse, which Adams visited earlier this year and is the previous employer of Health Department Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, revealed one member feared harm from law enforcement and another “wanted to cry” after hearing the mayor’s speech.

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

location and other factors determine health in New Jersey, so too do they influence public awareness and per ception of health inequities and their causes.

“Structural racism is not just histo ry. Unjust and unfair policies, practic es and norms underlie every aspect of society, enabling health inequities to persist despite medical advance ments,” said Maisha Simmons, RWJF’s senior director of New Jersey grant making. “It’s time we truly believe that every neighborhood can be healthpromoting and look beyond a person’s race to ensure they have the same op portunities as someone else living just a few miles away.”

Despite glaring health disparities along racial lines in New Jersey, only a third of those polled say they feel race and ethnicity have major influences on someone’s ability to lead a healthy life. Black residents (54%) are more likely to believe a person’s race or eth nicity significantly influences health outcomes, compared to white (30%), Hispanic (29%) and Asian (28%) re spondents.

Mayor Eric Adams announces a new pathway forward to address the ongoing crisis of individuals experiencing severe mental illnesses.

(Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Harriett Suzanne Pruitt McFeeters

Harriett was an amazing woman, who had many accomplishments in an era when professional opportunities for Black women were few. At the time of her death, she was the family matriarch for the four-generation Pruitt family clan. Entering this world on July 8, 1926 at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, Harriett was the first of five children born to Katherine Blanks Pruitt and Henry J. Pruitt Sr., dedicated community activists and church members.

Harriett spent the majority of her life in the Bronx, New York. A graduate of PS 40 and Walton High School, she enjoyed attending Camp Minisink during her youth. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College, becoming a second generation college graduate. In 2007, Harriett was inducted to Hunter’s Hall of Fame. She held a Master’s degree from Fordham University, and was selected for a Ford Foundation Fellowship for Educational Leadership and Administration program there.

In line with many members of the Pruitt family across generations, Harriett’s career and passion was education, and she spent 50 years working in the New York City public school system. She taught at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels, specializing in biology, general science, and special education. She held positions as a teacher trainer, community relations coordinator, and special assistant to the Superintendent. Fifteen years of her career were spent as Deputy Superintendent of Community School District 8 in the Bronx, a jurisdiction with 40,000 students.

She retired in 1998, after receiving over 25 awards for her dedication to the profession and community. Highlights included: Bronx NAACP Woman of the Year; New York City Educational Administrator Leadership Award; National Alliance of Black School Educators Foundation Bell Award; Puerto Rican Organization for Educational Development honoree; and the District 8 Parent Association President’s Award.

Harriett was involved in many organizations on the highest levels, including the Morrisania Community Corporation Board, and the New York Association of Black School Supervisors and Administrators Executive Board. She was active in the Grace Congregational Church in Harlem, and served on its Board of the Christian Education Committee. She served on the Education Committee of State Senator Joseph Galiber as well. A member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.   for over 70 years, Harriett won the Educational Leadership Award in 1973, and was a member of the Education Committee.

A veteran world traveler throughout her adult life, Harriett’s voyages included destinations in: South Africa, Mozambique, France, Russia, Australia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga, New Caledonia, Mexico, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Palestine, Israel, Spain, Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, New Zealand, and China, among others.

All of us will miss her very much.

Religion & Spirituality

Celebrating

the life of street

scholar Sekou Fortune Allah

By MAL’AKIY 17 ALLAH Special to the AmNews

A going home service was conducted Wednesday, Nov. 16, at New Rochelle’s Barney T. McClanahan Funeral Home celebrating the influential life of urban educator, Sekou For tune Allah, 75. After a prolonged illness he tran sitioned to the ancestors Nov. 7 during his rest. While learning at the feet of some prominent African scholar warriors, he devoted his life to sharing that reinvigorating info.

“Sekou wasn’t just a guy that sold things in the streets. Before there was an internet, social media, there was Sekou. All the [Black cultural info online] now, we were getting from him,” noted Professor James Small. “He took the knowledge that was only heard by a hundred people, and shared it with a hun dred-thousand.”

As a street vendor since the mid-1980s, Sekou was a conduit between the refined halls of ac ademia and the gritty streets of the ghetto, providing empowering African-centered edu cation via books and videos. He was primari ly on Central Harlem’s 125th Street. In fact, his table was known as “Harlem’s U.C.L.A., the University on the Corner of Lenox Ave.” where noted educators like Dr. Ben and Dr. Marim ba Ani often stopped by and engaged those present in spirited conversations regarding the Motherland.

“This is serious business [informing people], and time. He didn’t play. He was there,” Dr. Leonard Jeffries opened the event, prior to explaining how Sekou was consis tently present at the First World Alliance, United Afrikan Movement and similar edu cational platforms. “Brother we’re going to miss you, but you will always be here, and you were there with the big-time folks. Wakanda forever! Blueprint for Black Power!”

Then Prof. Small thanked “Sekou’s beautiful family for sending us this god. He did his work and never gave up.” Small then expressed, “We come to say a temporary goodbye to an extraor dinary spirit,” and described him as “having this vast intelligence of African history and cul ture, and love for African people and teaching.”

He then read a passage from “The Book of the Dialog of the Soul,” relaying the process of tran sitioning to the ancestral realm.

Sekou’s good friend Brother Ativa played mu sical tributes. “He helped us connect the dots.”

Several friends described Sekou as a “man

of integrity” and recalled establishing study groups and visiting Africa together.

Trust Allah described Sekou as “one of the best friends I’ve ever had,” and said, “Our thirst for knowledge bonded us. There’s no other wealth you can give other than knowledge of self, and he did that.”

Some recalled the profound influence he had on them. The Sons of Africa’s Reggie Mabry stated: “A tall, tall tree in the African forest has fallen. All his life he planted seeds, and we are some of those seeds; seeds give fruit, and life continues.”

Reggie also noted how Sekou assisted Dr. Ben in his last days.

Ron Campbell traced his friendship with “Al varez” to 1973 at SUNY New Paltz: “I saw his conscious development from an African per spective. He was a principled brother. It was his African consciousness that led him to want to help people.”

Small then anointed his former pupil: “Sekou would qualify, if this was ancient Egypt, to be in line with the ones we call the pharaohs, to have his mouth opened so he can speak for eternity. I’m going to give him all the degrees he should’ve had. So I quietly have given him his Master’s Degree. What Sekou tried to do is use history to erase the mystery. Each one of us is an expression of an aspect of the divine essence having the human experience. Sekou taught it because he understood it.”

Some relatives were present including his sister, Debbie and niece Japera. A Harlem me morial took place Saturday, Dec. 3, at 3 p.m., at the Allah School In Mecca, 2122 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. Peace 7!

(Mal’akiy 17 Allah photo)

leaders, and massacres of entire families.

Blacks in Colombia are demanding the reclamation of their territories—they want to use them for sustainable ances tral African agriculture. They demand that neither fertilizers that contaminate Mother Earth nor agrochemicals/aerial spraying be used against coca cultiva tion. The earth is life, as is our access to water—it makes it so that the planet can live in the face of the threat of global warming and climate change.

Afro Argentinean journalist Federi co Pita reports that at one point Vice President Francia Márquez Mina invit ed those attending the ODR workshop into her official private residence to conduct a more detailed analysis of the current global political situation and what the prospects are for reparations, racial justice and climate change poli cies that would benefit traditionally ex cluded communities.

Márquez, Pita noted, told the attend ees, “When I said that I wanted to discuss the issue of historical reparations [when running for office], some people…told me, ‘No! Don’t put that discussion on the table, it will weaken your base.’

“The same with racism, when I put the issue of racism on the table people told me, ‘If you want to be in politics, there is no talking about racism.’ That

was from my own people, it hurt me a lot. ‘Stop talking about racism because white people are not going to vote for us.’ I think that’s all wrong—when we put our issues out there, others sup port us. It was a surprise to me that the more I talked about racism, the more the young white people, the white people who mostly supported me, the more they told me, ‘You have to talk more about it.’

“…I say this to make the point that I don’t want to work on an agenda of racial justice and historical reparations just to create rhetorical messages, while our people are starving to death, while our people continue to suffer from con flicts. While our young people have no choice but to grab a gun and go to the bush. While our women, my sisters, con tinue to lose their lives. We are going to work on this. The discourse and the nar rative are important, but we have to put it into practice, into action.”

Márquez announced that she would like to organize a World Summit of Rep arations for next year, which would also take on the issues of saving the planet and demanding reparations for slavery and compensation for the contamina tion of Afro Colombian lands and waters in territories along the Pacific, and in Cauca, Cali Valley and the Caribbean.

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This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy I Charter School Board of Trustees will o ccur in person on Tuesday, De cember 13th, 2022, at 7:30 am The meeting will tran spire at 245 We st 129th St, NY, NY

This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy II Charter Schoo l Board of Trustees will o ccur in person on Tuesday, De cember 13th, 2022, at 7:30 am The meeting will tran spire at 245 We st 129th St, NY, NY

101 LEGAL NOTICES

17R LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/14/22. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LL C upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 1129 Northern Boulevard, Suite 400, Manhas set, NY 11030. Purpo se: Any lawful purpose.

57 PARK OPS LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/13/22. Office: New York Coun ty SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY sha ll ma il copy of process to the LLC, c/o Gary Spindler, 250 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Amont Partners LLC filed w/ SSNY 11/8/22. Off. in NY Co SSNY desig as agt of LLC whom process may be served & sh all mail process to Zhaoyu Li, 1740 Broad way, 15th Fl, NY, NY 10019. Any lawful purpose.

Hous ing Pres ervation & De ve lopment–Badge No 4016 was lost in the vacinity of 138th St and Brook Ave. in the Bronx If found please ca ll 718.2 08.7276

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SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RE SORTS CORP., Pltf v. CHRISTIE LEE GARDNER, Deft - In de x #8 50039/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 19, 202 2, I will sell at public auction Outsid e the Portico of the NY County Courth ouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undi vided 0.00493200000% ten ant in common in terest in the time share known as 57th Street Vacation Suites lo cated at 102 West 57th Street, in the County of NY, State of NY. Approximate amoun t of judgment is $21,880.44 plus costs and in terest as of January 28, 2022. So ld subject to terms and cond itions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which include s an nual maintenance fees and ch arges Paul Sklar, Esq., Refe ree. Cruser, Mitche ll, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 341 Conklin Stree t, Farmingdale, NY

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK: COUNTY OF NEW YORK 307-309 Sixth Av enue LLC., Pltf v. 307 Assets LLC, et al., Defts. Index No 850138/2020, pursu ant to the Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated June 1, 2022 and entered on June 6, 2022, I will sell at pu blic auction at the New York County Courthouse, at the portico of the Courth ouse located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, on December 14, 2022 at 2:15 p.m., prem k/a 30 7/307-A Sixth Aven ue , New York, NY (Block: 589; Lot 40) and 309 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY (Block: 589; Lot: 39) (the “Prope rties”). Approx amt of judgment is $13,686,392, plus costs, attorneys' fees and in terest Sold subject to terms and condition s of filed judgment and te rms of sale Bruce Le de rman, Esq., Referee. JACOBOWITZ NEWMAN TVERSKY, LLP, Attys. for Plaintiff, 377 Pearsall Ave., Ste C, Cedarhurst, NY

SUPREME COURT-NEW YORK COUNTY- HILTON RE SORTS CORP., Pltf v. BRENDA JEAN AMBRIZE, GORDON W. STATHAM, Deft. - Index #850033/2021. Pursuant to Judgment of Foreclosure and Sa le dated January 28, 2022, I will sell at public auction Outside the Portico of the NY County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, NY, NY on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at 2:15 pm, an undivided 0.00493200000% tenant in common in terest in the timeshare kn own as 57th Street Vaca tion Suites loca ted at 102 West 57th Street, in the Coun ty of NY, State of NY. Approximate amount of judg ment is $49,366.11 plus costs and in terest as of Au gust 4, 2021. Sold subject to terms and conditions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale which in cludes annual maintena nce fees and charges Paul Sklar, Esq., Referee. Cruser, Mitchell, Novitz, Sanchez, Gaston, & Zimet LLP, Attys. for Pltf., 34 1 Conklin Street, Farmingd ale, NY

NOTICE OF SALE

In pursuance and by virtue of a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly granted an d entered in an action entitled NYCTL 1998-2 Trust and The Bank of New York Mellon as Collateral Agent and Custodian for the NYCTL 1998-2 Trust v. NYC Property Owners Inc., et al., bearing Index No 155371/2019 on or about February 22, 2022, by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, I, the Referee, duly appointed in th is action for such purpose, will expose for sale and sell at pu blic auction to the highest bidder on December 14, 2022 at 2:15 p.m., on the po rtico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007, the liened premises designated as Block 1643, Lot 129, in the City of New York, County of New York and Borough of Manhattan, State of New York and known as East 115th Street, New York, New York, directed in and by said judgment to be sold The sale will be conducted pursuant to the Courts Auction Rules and any COVID Restrictions

The approximate amount of the judgment is $2,099.77 plus interest and other charges, and the property is being sold subject to the terms and conditions stated in the judgmen t, any prior encumbrances and the terms of sale which shall be availab le at the time of sale

Dated: November 15, 2022 New York, New York

Thomas Richard Kleinberger, Esq. Referee 411 5th Avenue New York, New York 100 16-220 3 (917) 326-5523

David P. Stich, Esq. Attorney for Plaintiff 52 1 Fifth Avenue, 17th Floor New York, New York 10 175 (646) 554-4421

CORDETT CREATIONS

LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/12/22 . Office location: NY County. SSNY de signated as agent upon whom process against LLC & shall mail a copy to: P.O. Box 2891, New York, NY 10163

Purpose: Any lawful activity

Plugout, LLC filed w/ SSNY 11/12/03. Off. in NY Co SSNY desig as agt of LLC whom process may be served & sh all mail process to c/o John Aksoy, 506 La Guardia Pl, Ste. 4, NY, NY 10012. Any lawful purpose.

GRAPEVINE

TECHNOLO GIES LLC Articles of Orga nization filed with Sec. of State of NY(SOS) on 10/17/2022. Office Location: New York County SOS is de signated as agent of LLC for service of process. SOS shall mail copy of process to 1107 Broad way, 8H, New York, NY 10010. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity

NEW YORK STATE

VENERATION ADVANTAGE, LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/19/22. Office lo cation: NY County. SSNY de signated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail to: Nitanya Nedd, 10 8 Edge combe Ave., NY, NY 100 30 Purpose: any lawful activity

DRAFT 2023 A NNUAL ACTION PLAN PU BLIC COMMENT PERIOD ANNOUNCEMENT

To participate in certain federal community development and housing programs, the State of New York an annu al Action Plan and provide opportunities for citizens to participate in its developmen t. As part of th is process, New York State invites interested perso ns to review and comment on the Annual Action Plan for 2023 during an upcoming pub lic comment period.

The An nual Action Plan focuses principa lly on five federal programs: the New York State Community Develo pment Block Grant Program (CDBG); the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME); Housing Trust Fund (HTF); the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program (HOPWA); and the Emergency Shelter Grants Program (ESGP)

The Annual Action Plan will describe th e States plann ed use of federal Fiscal Year 2022 CDBG, HOME, HTF, HOPWA and ESGP funds it admin isters to address the needs identified by its five- year Consolidated Plan and further the Consolidated Plans ob je ctives and will also de scribe the States method s for distributing these funds

The 30-day public comment period will begin on Monday, December 19, 2022, and ext end through close of business Thursday, January 19 , 2023. Beginning on December 19, 2 022, Ne w York States draft Annual Action Plan for 2023 may be viewed on and downloaded from the New York State Housing and Community Renewal ( HCR) website at hcr.ny.gov/pressroom. In addition, copies can be requested by email (HCRConPln@hcr.ny gov) or by calling 1-518-486-3452.

Comments should be emailed to HCRConPln@hcr.ny.gov or mailed to New York State Homes and Community Renewal, Attn: Rachel Yerdon, 38-40 State Street, Albany NY, 12207. Comments must be rece ived by close of business January 19, 2023.#23.

KA REN KENNEY A/K/A KAREN KENN Y, ET AL

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Forec losure dated July 5, 2022, and entered in the Of fice of the Clerk of the County of New York, wherein HSBC BA NK USA is the Plaintiff and KA REN KENNEY A/K/A KA REN KENNY, ET AL are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE, at the PORTICO OF THE CIVIL SU PREME COURTHOUSE, LOCATED AT 60 CENTRE STR EET, NEW YORK , NY 10007, on January 4, 2023 at 2:15PM, premises known as 144 WEST 123 RD STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10 027: Block 1907, Lot 53:

ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PA RCEL OF LAND SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHA TTAN, COUNTY, CITY AND STATE OF N.Y.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 810040/2 012. Elaine Shay, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaint iff. All forecl osure sales will be conducted in accord ance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO C HANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES

Notice of Qualification of DERBY COPELAND FUND II, LLC Appl for Auth file d with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/24/22. Prin c. office of LLC: 41 Madison Ave., 40th Fl., NY, NY 10010. SSNY desig nated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of DERBY COPELAND MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC Ap pl for Auth. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/29/22. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/25/22. Princ. office of LLC: 41 Madi son Ave., 40th Fl., NY, NY 10010. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Heavens Love Puzzle LLC

Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 08/15/2022 Office Location: NY County. SSNY des ignat ed as agent up on whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: 14 25 Amsterdam Ave, 5B, NY, NY 100 27. Purpose: Re lationship podcast & coaching in an y lawful activity www.heavenslovepuzzle.com

KIMBERLY ANN YEE, LLC

Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/21/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail to: 87 Baxter Street, Apt. 6, NY, NY 10013. Purpose: any lawful activity

JAHAN TRAVEL DESIGNS

LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/13/22. Office lo cation: NY County. SSNY has been designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Po st Of fice address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of an y process against the LL C served upon her is C/O Ma ri anna Leivada, 45-02 Ditmars Blvd, Qu eens, NY 11105.

Principal business address: 19 W 69th St, NY, NY 100 23. Purpose: any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of ANN+ Sofia Beauty Artists LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/25/18. Office lo cation: NY County. SSNY de signated as agent upon whom process against LLC & shall mail a copy to : 315 5th Avenue, #1004, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity

Notice of Formation of HAYE WIRING & HOME SPECIALTY, LLC Arts of Org. file d with the SSNY on 10/18/22. Office location: NY County. SSNY has be en designated as agent upon whom process against LLC & sh all mail a copy to: 539 East 95th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11212. Purpo se: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of HARMONY MART LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/10/22. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against LLC & sh all mail a copy to: 177 East 101st Street, Apt 1D, New York, NY 10039. Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity

Notice of formation of Only Lo ve Stran gers LLC. Arts of Org. filed with the Se cy. of NY (SSNY) on 08/19/22. NY office location: NY County. SSNY has be en designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC is C/O the LLC: 122 1st Ave, New York, NY 10009. Purpo se: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of Solar Merger Sub, LLC Arts of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/04/22. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against LLC & sh all mail a copy to: 10900 Red Circle Drive, Minnetonka, MN 55343 Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of RO BARDS FAMILY IN VESTORS LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/07/22. Office location: NY County SSNY de signated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served SSNY shall mail process to Thomas F. Roba rds, 173 Riverside Dr., Apt. 8D, NY, NY 10024 Purpo se: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of STYLE SHUTTER, LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/27/22. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty SSNY de signated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Hanna Rose Hunt, 60 W. 20th St., Apt. 3E, NY, NY 10011. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Melq73 Se venty Five LLC, Arts of Org filed with SSNY on 11/11/22. Off Loc: New York County, SSNY de signat ed as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: The LLC, 52 Mulberry St, New York NY 10013. Purpose: to engage in an y lawful act.

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Notice of formation of Anny77 LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 10/26/20 22 Office Lo cation: New York Coun ty SSNY desig nated as agent upon whom process may be served against it & shall mail a copy to: 22 5 W. 86th St., Hall 1, Ste. 717, New York, NY 10024. Purpose: To en gage in any lawful activity

Notice is hereby give n that a license, serial #13543 47 for beer & wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer & wine at reta il in a Cafe under the ABC Law at 264 Lenox Ave., NYC 10027 for on-premises consumption; Pastitalia In c.

Notice of Qualification of UMAMI ADVISORS, LLC Ap pl for Auth. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/26/22. Office lo cation: NY Coun ty LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/21/22. Princ. office of LL C: 3013 Libby Ter., Richmond, VA 23223. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

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for felonies once someone has successfully completed their sentence, is not on commu nity supervision, and has not incurred any new charges or convictions.

“This is an economic justice issue. This is a workforce development issue. This is an eco nomic development issue,” said President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Com merce Randy Peers. “I can attest, because we’re out in every community in Brook lyn day in and out, that this is a soft labor market. It means our small businesses can’t find enough employees to get back on their feet from COVID. So why would we put ad ditional barriers in front of access to jobs and employment?”

The bill is sponsored by Assemblymem ber Catalina Cruz and supported by officials such as Assemblymember Latrice Walker, Assemblymember Al Taylor, Assemblymem ber Robert Carroll, Sen. Cordell Cleare and Sen. Andrew Gounardes. There’s also a large support group among labor unions for the bill including 1199 SEIU, DC37, Mason Ten

Diversity

actly what our nation needs at this trans formational moment.

Current TV broadcast industry owner ship stats reveal a pattern that favors in cumbent owners who are primarily white males—less than 2% of U.S. TV stations are owned by minorities. If the FCC and the DOJ block this deal, it would signal that the broadcast industry continues to be exclusively reserved for white male in cumbent players.

I support and join with Congresswom an Marilyn Strickland (D-WA) in her letter to the Federal Communications Com mission that commends and endorses the proposed merger between Standard General and TEGNA. Strickland stated to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, “I share your long standing goal of expand ing voices and minority ownership in this sector, and the merger would be a critical step in that direction.”

We also note with appreciation that FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, a strong advocate for equity in the communica tions industry, observed last year, “Ma jority ownership of full power TV stations significantly worsened for Asian Ameri can owners (from nine full power TV sta tions in 2017 to four stations in 2019). The numbers don’t lie—we must ensure that ownership at broadcast stations better re flects the rich diversity of the communi ties that they serve. We still have work to do, and we have to do better.”

Congresswoman Strickland concluded, “This is why the Standard General-TEG NA acquisition is especially important. If

ders District Council, Laborers Local 79 and RWDSU Local 338.

“We are going to use this bill to change the lives of people who deserve it. Of the chil dren whose parents have to struggle every day, and these people had to struggle two or three times as hard during the pandemic because many people lost their jobs, imag ine the excuses they used to let go of people with criminal records or not even give them a job,” said Cruz.

Cleare said that too often the scales in Black and brown communities start out “unbalanced.”

“If you are concerned about recidivism, let people get jobs,” said Cleare.

Walker said that about 25,000 from the upstate criminal justice system were re turning to her district in Brownsville, Brooklyn. She equated passing Clean Slate to an “abolitionist moment” because under the law slavery is abolished except for in the case of criminal punishment.

“So that means that anytime someone is subjected to the criminal justice system, they are a slave,” said Walker. “So are you asking why they can deny jobs, why they can deny housing, why can they deny op

the transaction goes through, Soo Kim, a Korean American naturalized citizen, would be the first Asian American to own and operate a major broadcast sta tion group. Additionally, it is my under standing that if this deal is approved, the new entity would be the largest minorityowned broadcast station group in Amer ica today. It would also be managed by a leading female broadcast executive with a history of investing in local news and in her employee base. I understand further that…at least half of the proposed board of directors will be of minority composi tion and a majority will be women.”

Lastly, as has been widely publicized, access to capital also continues to be a big barrier for minority broadcast owners— from getting a mortgage to being able to obtain financing to conduct business deals, like the one with TEGNA. Again, that is why the proposed Soo Kim deal will be a real game-changing move, if ap proved, that will overcome some of the past significant barriers that minorities have faced to get access to financing in general, but especially for the FCC-regu lated broadcast and media space.

The U.S. Justice Department and the FCC should therefore move forward ex peditiously to approve the merger, and to reaffirm the importance of serving the greater public good and the issue of equity for all minority-owned media busi nesses in America. Now is the time.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is president and CEO of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association representing the Black Press of America, and Executive Producer/ Host of The Chavis Chronicles weekly on PBS TV Stations across the nation. He can be reached at: dr.bchavis@nnpa.org

portunities to this particular group of people? The same exact laws that existed to take away our humanity, our citizenry are the same laws being relied on to do it today.”

Clean Slate bills have earned bipartisan support and passed in red and blue states including Utah, Connecticut, California and Michigan. Even Texas, Missouri and West Vir

ginia are actively considering them as well.

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

Clean Slate Act rally on Thursday, Dec. 1 at City Hall (Ariama C. Long photo)

who can afford to hire an attorney are forced to fend for themselves against a trained govern ment attorney. Navigating courts alone can be an almost impossible task for anyone, let alone newly arrived immigrants and those who do not speak English.”

Awawdeh said that without access to legal representation, immigrants are far more likely to lose their legal cases, “be ripped from their loved ones,” and be deported back to coun tries where their lives and livelihoods may remain in jeopardy.

Some at the press conference spoke about their struggles to find an adequate lawyer that would maintain contact with them and actually assist on cases. Some asylum seekers spoke out against fraudulent legal schemes and scams. All spoke about the pervading fear that comes with the overhanging threat of being deported.

One El Salvadorian man said that he attempt ed to represent himself after being detained and was denied. He’s currently appealing his case. “It’s so important to have an attorney be cause you’re facing an attorney and also a dis trict attorney,” he said through a translator present. “You face a lot of different questions and alot of the proof that we are bringing from our countries, it was in Spanish. So if we provide those documents in Spanish, they are denied.”

Yimy Benitez is from Honduras and identi fies as nonbinary (they/them). Benitez paid a private attorney $450 for an initial consulta tion in 2016. “The answer they gave me was that they had no solution and they suggested that I should leave the country voluntarily so that I will not have any problems with the im migration laws of this country,” said Benitez via translator. “I know people close to me such as family and friends who have paid a lot of money to attorneys just to consult or request advice on their cases and they have obtained the same response.”

Ilze Theilmann is a former lawyer and a vol unteer at Team TLC NYC, a grassroots organi zation for asylum seekers and migrants. She’s been on the frontline at Port Authority assist ing with the buses on asylum seekers that were sent from Southern states to New York for the last several months.

Theilmann said that there are rights that immigrants are guaranteed if they comply, but language barriers, lack of representa tion and lack of knowledge of the U.S. courts system constantly leaves people open to deportation by default. Within weeks to months if certain applications and appoint

ments aren’t made, asylum seekers who get through the border inadvertently waive their rights without assistance. She said it’s next to impossible for people to prioritize getting a lawyer when they have clothing, housing, food and health needs to worry about when they first arrive in “survival mode.”

“There’s very important instructions on how they are supposed to comply and keep those rights alive but are in English in small print on a paper they’re handed,” said Theilmann about the paperwork she’s seen given to people at the border. “The right to counsel is the key.”

Theilmann said that it’s as crucial for an asylum seeker to have a lawyer as it is for a criminal defendant because in both instanc es freedom and livelihood could be removed.

This comes as Axios recently broke the news that U.S. officials are considering barring some asylum seekers because Title 42, a public health border policy enacted during the pandemic, is ending. Immigrant rights advocates bashed the Biden administration for potentially walk ing back promises made about reform.

Kate Jastram, director of Policy and Advocacy at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, said she was astonished that the president would revive “failed Trump era policies” that punish people for seeking asylum.

“We are particularly disturbed by reports that the administration might try barring from asylum those who cannot apply for protection before reaching U.S. soil. When the previous administration attempted the same, the policy was struck down as illegal in multiple federal lawsuits,” said Jastram in a statement. “Presi dent Biden knows better.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics in New York City for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing sto ries like this one; please consider making a taxdeductible gift of any amount today by visiting:

Rally for legal representation to support asylum seekers on Wednesday, Nov. 30 (Contributed photos from NYIC)

The Jets persevere and remain in the playoff chase

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews

Jets quarterback Mike White tried to lead his team to a road win last Sunday over the Minnesota Vikings, who came into the game 9-2 and leading the NFC North. The offense consistently put points on the board throughout the game but most by kicking field goals. The Jets reached the red zone six times but the Vikings held them to just one touchdown, a fourth down quarter back sneak by White from the 1-yard line with 6:45 to go.

White and the Jets offense had anoth er fourth down attempt from the Vikings 1-yard line at 1:43 of the final quarter that would have put them ahead, but a pass to wide receiver Braxton Berri os was incomplete. Having one more possession, the Jets’ hopes ended with a White interception by safety Camryn Bynum on 4th and 10 from the Vikings 19-yard line with 16 seconds to go.

The Jets left Minnesota with a 27-22 loss in a game they showed a never-saydie mindset. It has been at the heart of their 7-5 record and being the No. 7 seed in the AFC, the last wild card spot in the conference, as they prepare for this Sun day’s game in Buffalo against the 9-3

Bills, the AFC’s top seed in Week 14.

White, making his second straight start after Jets head coach Robert Saleh benched second-year quarterback Zach Wilson due to his poor play and lack of accountability, was 31-57 for 369 yards, the most ever for a Jets QB in a game without throwing a touchdown, and showed that he is a better option than Wilson for the moment to help his team win games. He has given the defense, one of the best in the league, a feeling they don’t have to do all of the heavy lift ing and that the offense now can hold their own weight.

“We stared adversity straight in the face and responded. Just got to respond better,” said White of the loss to the Vi kings.

“He was out there controlling the huddle, never letting the moment get too big,” said Jets rookie receiver Gar rett Wilson, an outspoken White advo cate. “It was cool to see.”

Wilson, taken with the No. 10 overall pick by the Jets out of Ohio State in last April’s NFL draft, had his best day as a pro, catching eight passes for 152 yards. The 22-year-old from Columbus, Ohio gave White much of the credit.

“I’ll go to war for that boy. He’s got something special.”

After a tie with the Commanders, the Giants get back to their playoff hunt

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

When Giants kicker Graham Gano’s 58-yard field goal fell short of the crossbar as time expired in overtime on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, disap pointingly ending their game with the Washington Commanders in a 20-20 tie, it made their path to the playoffs much more jagged.

The Giants started this season an unforeseen and promising 6-1, but are just 1-3-1 in their last five games. At 7-4-1 they are third in the NFC East behind the 11-1 Philadelphia Eagles and 9-3 Dallas Cowboys, and have a slim advan tage over the 7-5-1 Command ers. Conversely the Commanders, who began the campaign unable to find their footing going 1-4, have gone 6-1-1 since to put themselves in the thick of the postseason race.

The Giants are currently the No. 6 seed in the NFC and have a tenu ous hold on the top wild card spot, with Seattle Seahawks No. 7 at 7-5 and the Commanders the eighth seed. Seven teams from each con

ference—the other the AFC— make the playoffs. The Giants have a difficult remaining schedule with the Eagles up next this Sunday at MetLife, then a rematch with Washington on the road on Dec. 18 in a Week 15 primetime set that will kickoff at 8:20 p.m.

The loss to the Commanders on Sunday was a favorable circum stance squandered. The Giants were up 20-13 late in the fourth quarter but Washington executed an eight play, 90-yard drive that culminated with a 23-yard touch down pass from quarterback Taylor Heinicke to rookie wide re ceiver Jahan Dotson with 1:45 left in regulation. On the Giants’ next possession the offense, directed by their QB Daniel Jones, failed in giving Gano a closer try than the missed 58-yarder.

“It was weird, it was my first tie,” said Giants safety Julian Love to the media on Monday. The fourth-year player out of Notre Dame, who was drafted by the Giants in the fourth round in 2019, played a notable 104 snaps versus the Commanders.

“I don’t know, it just felt like the game just ended,” Love explained.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a situation like that before. I think we put ourselves in a good position for this game…We just didn’t make the plays that needed to be made.

“There were a few out there for us, so if you make one of those, the game goes a different way. We do get another shot. Obviously, we’re still in this thing. The hard work that we’ve put in all season has put us in the position that we still have opportunities in front of us.”

Head coach Brian Daboll’s crew now must figure out how to crack the code of beating the Eagles, who are led by the NFL’s leading MVP candidate, quarterback Jalen Hurts. The 23-year-old was raised in Houston, played his college ball at powerhouses Alabama and Oklahoma, and was one of the top players in the nation but dropped to the second round of the 2020 draft due to doubts about his abil ity to be a proficient passer.

Hurts has resoundingly dis missed the skepticism and fur ther quieted the disbelievers in last Sunday’s 35-10 Eagles beat down of the Tennessee Titans by throwing for 380 yards.

Garrett Wilson

Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein had five field goals and rookie Garrett Wilson 152 yards receiving in a 27-22 loss to the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday (Bill Moore photos)

Greg Zuerlein

The 7-4-1 Giants are focused on slowing down the 11-1 Eagles dynamic quarterback Jalen Hurts, the leading candidate for NFL MVP who they’ll face at home this Sunday (Credit: Wikipedia (All-Pro Reels, Jalen Hurts 11-14-22 (cropped), CC BY-SA 2.0)

The uneven Knicks ready for their next road test

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Uneven. That may be the most apt description of the Knicks’ 25 games into the season. They have shown the capabil ity of playing better than their record reflects when defense and player and ball movement is prioritized. On many other occasions, a collective defi ciency in star level talent when facing teams such as the Mil waukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors, to whom they have already lost, illuminates the ev ident gap between the Knicks and the league’s top teams.

They were 11-13 before play ing the Atlanta Hawks last night (Wednesday) at Madi son Square Garden and were two games under .500 (5-7) in their own building. Away from the Garden the Knicks were 6-6 as they look toward a five-game stretch beginning tomorrow versus the Hornets in which four will be in opposing arenas.

The Knicks were 3-2 on a seven-day, fivegame slate that spanned from Nov. 15-21 facing Western Conference competition.

They’ll have a rare two consecutive games on the road against the same team in facing the Chicago Bulls next Wednesday and Friday, and meet up with the rising Indiana Pacers on Dec. 18. The only contest of the five at MSG will be versus the much improved Sac ramento Kings this Sunday.

The Knicks broke a five-game home losing streak on Sunday with a critical 92-81 victory over the Cleveland Cava liers that came one day following a dis concerting 121-100 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in which the Knicks were out scored 41-15 in the third quarter after being up 59-52 at halftime.

Already Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is being positioned as the scapegoat for a season in which they haven’t been able to sustain consistent ly good performances. But starting point guard Jalen Brunson, who has been the team’s best player thus far, supported Thibodeau’s approach in preparing them.

“Coach Thibs has done a great job,” Brunson said after losing to the Maver icks, his former team before signing a free-

agent deal with the Knicks in July. “He’s been able to put us in positions where we can succeed. And I think he knows where to put those puzzle pieces and it’s just on us to execute and do things.”

The Knicks showed determination and urgency in beating the Cavaliers, a tight ly officiated game that had a ridiculous 14 calls for traveling. According to the Elias Bureau, it was the most called in an NBA in the last 25 years.

“Look, I’m all for enforcing the rules, I am. I thought we had a good crew. And they’re being told to call it a certain way,” said an incredulous Thibodeau. “So I think I know what the intent is…but it can’t be, you can’t pick and choose. I want to see a consistency to it. If I see consistency, there will not be any complaining by me.”

Thibodeau continues to try to estab lish a rotation that can be effective and efficient on both ends of the court. He has ushered in guard Quentin Grimes into the starting lineup and moved guard/forward Cam Reddish back to the bench. Reddish played just nine minutes against the Mavericks and re ceived a DNP (did not play versus the Cavs). Prior to last night, Reddish had appeared in 20 games and started eight.

The Nets are eager to get whole after navigating injuries

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Last Friday was a feel-good moment for the Brooklyn Nets. Forward TJ Warren, who they signed as a free-agent last July, appeared in his first NBA game since Dec. 29, 2020, after undergoing two surgeries on his left foot to address stress fractures. That’s 703 days to be exact that Warren was out. In 17 minutes of playing time, he had 10 points and four rebounds in the Nets 114-105 win over the Toronto Raptors.

“It was a lot of emotion before the game. I went through every emotion to get back to this point,” he said afterwards. “The training staff, my teammates, the coaching staff, organization, did a great job getting me back to this point and I’m just forever grateful for this opportunity.”

In the shortened 71-game post-COV ID shutdown season of 2019-2020, Warren, now 29, played in 67 games for the Indiana Pacers and averaged 19. 8 points. He only played in four in 2020-21 and missed all of last season. Drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 2014 with the 14th pick in the first round out of North Carolina State, Warren has posted an average of at least 18 points in three seasons. He is a career 50.6% career field goal shooter.

The Nets, who were 13-12, the No. 6 seed in the East before meeting up with the Charlotte Hornets last night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, hope to have point-for ward Ben Simmons back in the rotation to

morrow night when they face the Atlanta Hawks at the Barclays Center. He has been out four straight games. He suffered a calf strain in the second quarter against the Or lando Magic on Nov. 28. Before the injury Simmons was resembling the player who was a three-time All-Star and two-time AllNBA Defensive First Team.

He was playing with renewed confidence and aggression, pushing the ball off re bounds for kickouts to Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the Nets’ other shooters for open perimeter looks, hitting center Nic Claxton on rim runs, and selectively attacking the rim in transition and half court sets.

The Nets are also getting back forward Yuta Watanabe soon. Perhaps the most surprisingly productive player for head coach Jacque Vaughn this season, Wata nabe missed his ninth consecutive game last night with a hamstring injury. Born and raised in Japan, Watanabe was the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year while playing for George Washington University from 2014-2018.

He was a member of the Memphis Griz zlies and Toronto Raptors before being signed by Brooklyn late last August. In 14 games played this season, the 28-year-old 6-foot-8 Watanabe is averaging 8.1 points in 18.2 minutes and shooting a scorching 57.1% (24-42) on three-point attempts. Kevin Durant leads the Nets in scoring, posting 29.9 points in 25 games before taking on the Hor nets, which was sixth overall in the NBA.

The Nets will welcome forwards Ben Simmons and Yuta Watanabe back to the lineup after both were sidelined with injuries (Bill Moore photos)

Knicks guard/forward Cam Reddish has been moved from the starting rotation and replaced by guard Quentin Grimes as head coach Tom Thibodeau continues to shuffle his rotation (Bill Moore photo)

Ben Simmons

Yuta Watanabe

Columbia women’s hoops makes history with win over Marist

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

It took three minutes into the first quarter until the first basket was made, but after that slow start to the game Columbia University women’s basketball dominated Marist College in un precedented fashion. When the game was done, Columbia had prevailed 103–54. It was the most points that Columbia women’s hoops scored in a 40-minute game in program history (the only higher score came in a qua druple overtime game in 1988).

“I was really proud of our girls for dictating tempo and pace on both sides of the floor and put ting together a really nice of fensive effort,” said head coach Megan Griffith. Twelve players played, all scoring at least one point. Junior guard/forward Paige Lauder scored a career-

high 24 points, going five-for-six on 3-pointers and shooting nine for 11 overall.

“Shout out to my teammates for finding me and getting me the ball,” said Lauder. “That’s the great thing about our team is any day someone can step up, and we’re clearly a very deep team. That will make us very hard to defend going into conference play.”

Throughout the game, Co lumbia never lost focus, even as players who don’t get a lot of playing time were in the action. “Last year, sometimes we strug gled with putting away teams. This was a big growth step for us, becoming that more mature team where we’re able to lock in from start to finish for all 40 minutes,” said senior guard Jaida Patrick.

Patrick received Ivy League Player of the Week honors fol lowing the team’s victory at the

Miami Thanksgiving Tourna ment. She was also named to the NCAA’s Starting Five Play ers of the Week, the first Lion to receive such recognition since Camille Zimmerman in 2017. “It did feel good, especially since freshman year we proba bly would have never thought I would be able to get that acco lade,” she said.

“This year, specifically, I’ve really been trying to enjoy our team every day, every minute I get with them because they’re a really special group,” said Griffith. “I’m just really trying to enjoy all the small moments.”

Columbia followed up the Marist win with a 91-43 defeat of Lafayette on Saturday. Colum bia now has three road games before breaking for final exams. The team wraps up non-confer ence play on home court Dec. 28 versus Ohio University.

Liberty announces 2023 schedule and spotlights Black women-owned businesses

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

After a strong close to its 2022 season, the New York Liberty is looking for bigger and better in 2023. Next year’s schedule was announced on Nov. 30 as the team also spotlighted Black women-owned businesses in Brooklyn. The Liberty’s mascot, Ellie, paid a visit to each of the businesses, getting a courtside view of their unique excellence.

“It was a fun day for Ellie,” said Liber ty chief brand officer Shana Stephenson. “Ellie really took all of Brooklyn in.” The Liberty announced its schedule

with a lighthearted video campaign. The four businesses are part of The Social Justice Fund’s Brooklyn EXCELerate pro gram, a character-based loan program that supports Brooklyn’s BIPOC business owners following the pandemic. Led by Liberty governor Clara Wu Tsai, The Social Justice Fund focuses on racial jus tice and the economic recovery of Brook lyn post-pandemic.

“Everything that we do from the market ing side has to check off three boxes. How do we show up in the community? How do we amplify what we’re doing on the court?

After all, we’re a basketball team. Culture is the third big part of who we are as an or

ganization,” says Stephenson.

This campaign was a way for the Liber ty to meet its tenets in a creative way. The four businesses are Donna Prescott Beauty, Jones Family Touch Day Care, The Amulet Factory and Therapy Wine Bar 2.0. Fans can get a glimpse of each business on the Lib erty’s social media platforms and video will run next season on the jumbotron.

“I thought how fun would it be if we got Ellie to go visit some of these business es and allowed us to amplify and raise awareness,” said Stephenson. “Through this campaign, introducing our commu nity of fans to these businesses.”

Donna Prescott Beauty in Crown

Heights offers luxury salon services, hair extensions and luxury wigs. Ellie is seen preening with a new ponytail. Saman tha Beckford’s Amulet Fairy on Flatbush Avenue is a self-care center with crystals, aroma therapy soundbaths and com munity events. Jones Family Touch Day Care in East Flatbush has been serving the community for 20 years. Finally, Ellie wound down at Angela Terry’s Therapy Wine Bar 2.0 in Bed-Stuy.

“We love to showcase these businesses and women in our community,” said Ste phenson. Liberty season kicks off on May 19 at the Washington Mystics. The first home game is May 21 versus the Indiana Fever.

Ellie gets some Zen at Amulet Fairy (Brandon Todd/New York Liberty photos)

Senior Jaida Patrick was named Ivy League Player of the Week after leading the Columbia women’s basketball team to the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament title (University of Miami Athletics)

Celebrating the New York Liberty’s 2023 schedule at Therapy Wine Bar

Sports

The stars still shine at the FIFA World Cup 2022

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The FIFA World Cup 2022 has met and for many exceeded its enormous global fanfare. For those who have traveled to the tournament’s host country Qatar, which in 2010 shockingly won the bid to become the first Arab nation to stage the event in a ballot of FIFA’s (International Federa tion Association of Football) 22 executive members, they have been the beneficiaries of superlative play by some of the sport’s foremost stars, dramatic finishes, stunning upsets and the continued dominance on the pitch of historically superior countries.

The single elimination event, the 22nd edition of the men’s FIFA World Cup—the first was held in 1930 in Uruguay—began on Nov. 20 with the group stage consist ing of eight groups A-H and has been chipped down to eight with the quar terfinals set for tomorrow and Saturday. Most of the usual powers still remain. On Friday, Dec. 9, the pre-tournament favor ite Brazil will face Croatia at 10 a.m. (East Standard Time) and the Netherlands will take on Argentina at 2 p.m.

On Saturday, Morocco will try to engi neer another astonishing win squaring

off with Portugal at 10 a.m. On Tuesday, they took down Spain, the 2010 champi ons and a side some predicted would be the last standing, 3-0 on penalty kicks in a shootout after ending the 120 minutes of play 0-0. Morocco is the third African nation to reach the quarterfinals round, joining Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana 2010. They are the first Arab country to be one of the final eight teams.

In Saturday’s other pairing, two giants, France and England, will do battle start ing at 2 p.m. France, who captured the last World Cup title in 2018, is led by their elec trifying 23-year-old forward Kylian Mbappe, who showed glimpses of brilliance as a 19-year-old in the previous World Cup and has since become one of soccer’s best and most dazzling practitioners.

In 2018 in Russia, Mbappe became only the second teenager, etching his name with Brazil’s legendary Pele, to notch a goal in a World Cup Final. Mbappe leads this year’s competition with five goals, two ahead of nine players with three, including the great Lionel Messi of Argentina, and is ahead of the chase for the Golden Boot, awarded to the World Cup’s top goal scorer.

Missing from the aforementioned list is Portugal’s Cristiano Renaldo, who a pleth

ora of soccer aficionados consider the best player in history, although sup porters of the 82-year-old Pele, who’s currently bat tling a lung infection in a Brazilian hospital and in recent years cancer, ve hemently differ.

Renaldo has just one goal and was not named a starter by Portugal’s coach Fernando Santos for their 6-1 romp over Switzerland on Tuesday. The decision by Santos came after the two had a conflict regarding the 37-year-old’s frustrated reaction to being pulled in the 65th minute in a 2-1 loss to South Korea last Friday.

Fans of the U.S. team should be optimis tic looking towards the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in North American stadiums in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including MetLife in New Jersey.

Designated to Group B, the U.S. had ties with Wales (1-1) and England (0-0),

and defeated Iran (1-0) to move on to the round of 16 where they were eliminated 3-1 in a knockout test against the Nether lands last Saturday. They had the second youngest team in the tournament (25.2 years), with Ghana fielding the youngest (24.7 years) and should be primed for a strong run four years from now.

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

As a college basketball player, Law rencia Moten played for the University of Hartford Hawks, graduating in 2020 with a communications major. Today, the 6-foot-2 forward is applying her focus to sports broadcasting. On Dec. 3 she debuted as part of a history-making all-female broadcasting team for Allen Media Group’s streaming digital plat form HBCU Go, a media provider for the nation’s 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

“In my freshman year at University of Buffalo, I had a Facebook show called ‘Lawrencia Live,’” said Moten, daughter of Lawrence Moten, the all-time lead ing scorer at Syracuse University. “It was a show before and after practice where I would ask my teammates and coach es some questions and give our fans an inside look onto the team.”

After transferring to Hartford, she continued to build her on-camera skills,

but the pandemic brought an abrupt end to her senior season. The follow ing year, while a graduate assistant in the sports information department at University of Lynchburg, she was able to gain experience hosting games and doing both play-by-play and color com mentary for men’s and women’s basket ball. Over the past year, she built her presence on social media and began working as a multimedia journalist.

“As a kid, when I went to my father’s games, I remember seeing no females at the media table. That’s when I real ized the lack of representation in the broadcasters, but I was so interested in it. I always knew this is what I wanted to do,” said Moten, who also works for other networks and platforms.

For the HBCU Go broadcasts, Moten will do the play-by-play. Nicole Hutchin son will be the color commentator and Courtney Tate the sideline host. Having played at the Division I level, Moten said she understands from the players’ per spective what it means to have the media

care about you. “I wanted to be on the other side of that narrative and make players feel more comfortable,” she said.

While Moten didn’t attend an HBCU, her sister attended Morgan State Uni versity, so she gained a deep appreci ation for the HBCU experience. She’s looking forward to conveying the impact and importance of HBCUs while covering basketball.

“Having an all-female broadcast team will be awesome, especially when we’re calling men’s games,” said Moten, 24, whose goal is to make Forbes’ list of 30 under 30. “It’s going to give viewers a more in-depth look. We want to shine light on the HBCU experience.”

France’s superstar Kylian Mbappe (far left), pictured last year playing with soccer greats Lionel Messi and Neymar, leads the FIFA World Cup 2022 with five goals (Credit: Wikipedia (Bigmatbasket, Mbappe Messi Neymar, CC BY-SA 4.0)