The New York Amsterdam News: Issue #41 Oct.13-19, 2022

International News

PEACE FOUNDATION LEADER ASKS: ‘IS THE U.S. LEADING THE WAR ON TIGRAY?’

Two top officials attended the latest meeting, arriving in a U.S. Air Force aircraft operating on behalf of the U.S. State Department.

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(GIN)—The disastrous war in the Horn of Africa is being guided secretly by the U.S., ac cording to briefings reported by the World Peace Foundation (WPF), a philanthropic foundation for research into peace processes affiliated with Massachusetts-based Fletcher School of Law.

The year-long conflict in Ethiopia pitting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and its allies against the Ethiopian government has caused thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of battlefield casualties.

In the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the conflict, 5.2 million people in Ethiopia’s north have faced hunger and lacked basic supplies for a year as the government sought to strangle the Tigray region.

In a commentary titled “How the Interna tional Community is Betraying Tigray—and its Principles,” the thinking of key international figures regarding the war against Tigray led by the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea is detailed.

With the African Union unable to take effective action to end one of the bloodiest wars in the world today, Western officials began holding meetings secretly in Djibouti and in the Seychelles, writes Alex de Waal, executive secretary of the WPF.

Gen. Tsadkan Gebretensae, a former chief of the Ethiopian military, now a strategist for the Tigrayans, told The New York Times in a phone interview that “the fighting is intense, and the casualties are immense.”

On Sept. 20, U.S. Special Envoy Mike Hammer held a press briefing and took questions from journalists. His performance left much to desire, opined De Waal. There were no condolences to Ethiopians, especially Tigrayans, for their be reavements, losses and fears. He failed to convey the gravity of the war in which the survival of the Tigrayan people is in question and the future of Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa will be decided.

Ethiopia could revert to normal, Hammer hinted, including its strategic partnership with the U.S., if the Ethiopian government were given the right encouragement to do the right thing.

He took the Tigrayans for granted, protested de Waal, assuming they would be ready to sur render in the negotiating room what they have refused to concede on the battlefield.

Most of all, the U.S. envoy’s speech raised ques tions about who is setting policy towards Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa and what is the strategy beyond trying to manage the crisis and hoping for the best.

GMOs THAT PROMOTE POVERTY AND DEPENDENCY GAIN FOOTHOLD IN KENYA

(GIN)—Kenya has officially entered into the cultivation and use of Genetically Modified Organisms—known as GMOs—that have been banned in 26 countries.

This month, Kenyan authorities announced plans to lift the country’s ban on genetically modified crops, in part to deal with a record

drought that is causing hunger across the Horn of Africa. The move is opposed by those concerned about potentially harmful effects on health, the environment and small farms.

Supporters maintain that lifting the ban will improve food security.

The decision by the Cabinet, chaired by President William Ruto at State House, was made in accordance with the recommenda tion of the Task Force to Review Matters Re lating to Genetically Modified Foods and Food Safety. The meeting was convened to consider the progress made in the response to the on going drought in the country.

Speaking earlier this week, Kenyan President William Ruto said lifting the ban on GMOs is part of the government’s response to the drought ravaging the country.

But critics counter that some GM crops can have a negative impact on non-target organ isms and on soil and water ecosystems. For example, the expansion of GM herbicide-tol erant corn and soy which are joined with her bicides, destroyed much of the habitat of the monarch butterfly in North America.

Egyptian archaeologists call for return of Rosetta Stone

By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff

Egyptian archaeologists are adding their names to an online petition that calls for England’s British Museum to repatriate the Rosetta Stone.

The stone, discovered in 1799 by a soldier who was part of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army, is famed because its trilingual inscriptions— in ancient Greek, colloquial Egyptian script and Egyptian hieroglyphs—was the first to grant Western scholars a way to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs. The stone was found in the city of Rosetta, the modern day city of el Rashid. The French army was in Egypt trying to wrest control of Egypt from Turkey’s Ot toman Empire. The Rosetta Stone and other antiquities that French occupiers collected became part of the “Alexandria agreement,” which was between the French, English and Ottomans. When the French surrendered their position in Egypt, Ottoman and English forces took possession of the stone.

The English brought the stone to the British

Museum in 1802.

The British Museum is currently presenting a 200th anniversary gallery display which will fea ture the Rosetta Stone and 240 more Egyptian objects. For £18, museum visitors can see “Hi eroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt,” on view through Feb. 19, 2023. “For centuries, life in an cient Egypt was a mystery,” the British Museum’s write-up for the exhibit declares. “We could only glimpse into this hidden world, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone provided the key to decod ing hieroglyphs, allowing us to read this ancient script. The breakthrough expanded our under standing of human history by some 3,000 years.

“Marking 200 years since the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, this major exhibition takes you through the trials and hard work that preceded, and the revelations that followed, this ground-breaking moment.”

The Rosetta Stone petition from Egyptian ar chaeologists, launched in September, urges Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to of ficially request the return of the Rosetta Stone and 16 other artifacts removed from the country. The petition points out that Egypt lost the Rosetta

Stone while it was under occupation by Turkey’s Ottoman Empire.

“Not only Egypt was under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire and had no say nor sovereignty on its own cultural heritage,” states the REPATRI ATE RASHID petition, “the articles of the treaty of Alexandria are in violation of the law of nations, customary international laws, and Islamic laws applicable at the time. This means the sequestra tion of the Rosetta Stone is a spoil of war and an act of plunder that has been already prohibited in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries.

“…This is a powerful opportunity for Britain to demonstrate moral leadership, and to choose to follow moral principle over profit and support the healing of the wounds inflicted by colonial powers. An act of Parliament will allow Rosetta Stone to be restored to its rightful home in Egypt.

“We urge everyone who believes in the right of cultural identity, the right of equality among na tions, and the inalienable right of each sovereign state to enjoy their own heritage and reclaiming that heritage if it has been taken from them; to sign this petition in support of the return of Rosetta Stone to its country of origin: Egypt.”

Tigray protestors outside of the U.N. (GIN)

Protest against GMOs in Ghana (GIN)

Spotlighting Domestic Violence Awareness Month

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

Governor Kathy Hochul issued a proclamation that Oc tober marks the start of Domes tic Violence Awareness Month, a deadly issue in the city and nationwide that dispropor tionately impacts women and women of color. In New York City, local initiatives are trying to turn the tide on this issue.

“Unfortunately the Bronx leads the city of New York in the highest number of DV cases and DV homicides to date and

that’s not unacceptable,” said Bronx Borough President Van essa L. Gibson, who announced a $1 million grant from the De partment of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women to improve criminal justice re sponses to domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in the Bronx.

NYPD’s 2021 Domestic Vi olence Report stated that for the last five years, 8 out of 15 community boards with the highest rates of intimate part ner homicides citywide were from the Bronx.

Statistics from the Nation

al Coalition Against Domes tic Violence (NCADV) state that domestic violence in the Black and brown community is rooted in systemic racism, racist policies, and racist soci etal structures.

Coburn Place, an anti-domes tic violence group in Indianapo lis, reached out to Black women to get their side of experienc es in domestic violence cases. They compiled stories that said Black women survivors are not believed as much as other groups, are afraid of being in volved in the justice system in

Harlem ‘disharmony,’ AM Dickens vs. CM Richardson Jordan feud

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

There’s a bit more than con tention brewing between newly elected Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan in District 9 in Harlem and long standing Black leaders, such as Assemblymem ber Inez Dickens, and constitu ents in overlapping districts.

Richardson Jordan ran against former Councilmember Bill Per kins, who at the time hadn’t rallied much for a reelection campaign and had pretty robust health issues. Richardson Jordan

won on her progressive socialist policies, but it seems that those same ideas are stirring the pot too much for constituents and elected officials who have been in Harlem offices for decades.

Dickens is a lifelong resident of the 70th Assembly District and her father and uncle both served as the assemblymember in the district before her. Additionally, she was elected councilmember of District 9 back in 2006. Dick ens last week floated a potential run to replace Richardson Jordan in the next city council election, first reported on by the New York Post. Dickens said that there’s not

a “feud” or plan to run so much as there’s a need to “save Harlem.”

“There is no feud because I’ve never even spoken to the young woman other than to see her in passing,” said Dickens, who didn’t support Richardson Jor dan’s campaign in 2021. Dickens said she reached out with a con gratulations letter and her con tact information, but Richardson Jordan hasn’t reached out to col laborate with her or any other local officials in the Harlem area.

Dickens said there’s definite ly a lack of communication from Richardson Jordan, which seems

Despite mayor’s crisis call, opposition to Randall’s Island plan remains

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

The city is struggling to get a real hold on the migrant hu manitarian crisis that’s seen over 17,000 people since April bussed to New York City’s door step. Though everyone agrees there needs to be more longterm housing solutions, once again the mayor, city council, and advocates are split on a plan of action.

So far the city has opened 42 hotels as emergency shel ters and enrolled over 5,500 children in public schools. For

months, organizations like the Legal Aid Society and New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) have been on the ground meet ing people as they arrive at Port Authority bus station and working to connect them with legal services, housing, toys for kids, food and water, and COVID testing and health care.

NYIC Senior Director of Advo cacy Abdullah Younus said the flow of people is expected up until and through the midterm elections which definitely con stitutes a ‘crisis.’

He said there’s at least 8 to 12 buses of people arriving every single day.

“These buses arrive and

people are just being dumped like produce basically at Port Authority,” said Younus. Speaker Adrienne Adams, Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala, and others expressed major concerns about the city’s plan to relocate its Humanitari an Emergency Response and Relief Center from Orchard Beach to Randall’s Island. The capacity in the “tent city” was reduced from 1,000 cot-like beds to 500 in an area that many complained is prone to flooding.

Councilmembers noted that winter is on the horizon and a

Metro Briefs

Center for Black Literature celebrating 20 years

The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City Uni versity of New York announced its 20th anniversary celebration on Thurs day, Oct. 20, 2022.

To commemorate the milestone, a special event, the 20th Anniversary Ju bilee: A Cultural and Literary Arts Experience, will take place as an in-per son event at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York.

Sonia Sanchez, a longtime supporter of the Center, is the honorary chair person for the celebration, and esteemed friends of the Center Greg E. Carr, Edwidge Danticat, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Karen Hunter, Talib Kweli, and Cornel West serve on the honorary committee.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris sent a congratulatory statement to be read publicly at the Jubilee. Additionally, members of Congress, New York State Assembly members, Council members from the City of New York, the mayor of New York City, or their official representatives will present proc lamations at the celebration.

Go to www.centerforblackliterature.org for more information.

WOCXC hosting 4th annual conference

The Women of Color and Capital (WOCXC) is hosting its 4th annual confer ence from Oct. 13 through 15 at Columbia University. Attendees will participate in three immersive days of keynotes, masterclasses, panels, recruiting and net working at Columbia University. All sessions will be in-person and virtual.

Partners for the conference include JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, One Million Black Women, Capital One, Silicon Valley Bank, Experian, Oladipo Wealth Management and more. Companies will connect with diverse attend ees around recruiting and providing access to capital, an area where women ex ecutives, professionals and entrepreneurs encounter the greatest roadblocks.

Over the past four years, WOCXC has gathered more than 2,500 diverse professionals and business owners to participate in the preeminent con ference focused on creating capital and investment opportunities for di verse women nationwide.

City celebrates reforms to expand opportunities for M/WBEs

Mayor Eric Adams and senior administration officials applauded Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature of legislation (A.10459/S.9351) co-sponsored by State Sen. James Sanders Jr. and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, increasing opportunities for minority and women-owned busi ness enterprises (M/WBEs) to contract with the city.

By increasing the threshold limit of city contracts that can utilize the city’s M/WBE non-competitive procurement method from $500,000 to $1,000,000, M/WBEs will now be able to more effectively compete for larger contracts, expanding their work with the city.

The new state law, signed Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, comes just weeks after Mayor Adams announced New York City surpassed its 10-year OneNYC goal to award $25 billion in contracts to minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBE) by Fiscal Year (FY) 2025—three years ahead of schedule.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine hosts annual Halloween Extravaganza

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s annual Halloween Extravaganza re turns to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve on Friday, Oct. 28 for two showings at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave. (at 112th Street).

The Mettawee River Theatre Company performers, led by Artist-in-Residence Ralph Lee, offer audience members a unique way to celebrate Halloween. The evening begins with the screening of classic silent film “Nosferatu” (1922) di rected by F. W. Murnau, accompanied by organist Timothy Brumfield. Following the film, goblins and ghosts fill the Cathedral for the Procession of the Ghouls.

The Cathedral’s famous Crypt Crawls return in-person on Saturday, Oct. 29, ushering visitors into the rarely seen depths of the spectacular Gothic building. Rounding out the season, the Cathedral will commemorate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls on Nov. 1 and 2 with worship services and public gatherings, honoring the traditions of el Día de Muertos with ofren das placed on altars in the Nave.

Russian forces hammer Ukraine

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

Moments after President Biden condemned the Russian missile strikes, particularly on civilians, the bombarding intensified, and it’s much too early to determine the number of casualties. On Tues day the brutal attacks continued as several cities in Ukraine were under siege. Even the capital Kyiv, which had largely been free of artillery hits, experienced a rain of missiles.

President Putin had promised to step up the attacks after he ac cused Ukraine of terrorism follow ing the destruction of the Kerch Bridge that connects the Crimean Peninsula with mainland Russia. According to Ukrainian officials, at least 19 people were killed in the

first round of strikes on Monday.

After offering his condolenc es to the victims, President Biden reiterated his promise to stand behind Ukraine. He said Putin had once again demonstrated “the utter brutality…and the ille gal war on the Ukrainian people.”

These attacks, he continued, “only further reinforce our com mitment to stand with the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes. Alongside our allies and partners, we will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes, and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom.”

The barrage of missiles from Russian forces are apparently part

of its retaliation as a response to the damage of the bridge which is crucial in delivering supplies to the Russian troops in the Ukraine; it also is a response to the advanc es made by Ukrainian troops into territory in the eastern part of the country formerly under control of Russian forces.

Meanwhile, inside Russia, there is a growing resentment from the elite, who admonished Putin and the military for its lies about the developments in the war effort and the failure to admit battle field defeats.

The setbacks, Ukraine’s Presi dent Zelensky said, are the reason the Russians “resort to this terror” and he called on his troops “to make the battlefields even more painful for the enemy.”

Un-Boxed: Statewide protests staged against prison care package ban

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

Big things come in small packag es—for example, the cost of sending food to incarcerated loved ones in New York after a recently implement ed Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) policy. In-person visit deliveries were disallowed earlier this year as a mea sure to prevent contraband from coming into state prisons. Families now need to go through third-party vendors to send food, often at elevat ed costs. Statewide rallies last month protested this ban.

“Immigrants who are jailed at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia, N.Y. just 45 minutes from us are not allowed any care packag es,” said NYIC leader Meghan Malo ney de Zaldivar at the Buffalo rally.

“The only items they can receive from outside are books, they must be new and directly from the seller. The guards routinely deny books and it seems like each day they have new restrictions.

“The majority of people who are incarcerated long term at Batavia are people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system and face double jeopardy—now jailed in the immigration system.”

Caroline Hansen of the Long Island Social Justice Action Network says the new policy is especially hard as the wife of an incarcerated man serving life without parole. Beyond her work as the organization’s social justice co ordinator, she waits tables full-time to support herself and her daughters.

“Before they took away the pack age ban, we were able to hand deliv er two packages per month and they would have to total 35 pounds, so you could bring in anything that was ap proved, you know, it had to be sealed a certain way,” said Hansen. “But you were able to bring it and I was able to coupon, I was able to go to Walmart,

Crime up, murder and gun violence down last month reports NYPD

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

The NYPD’s September crime sta tistics were released last Friday and the numbers point to continued trends in fewer murders but a gen eral rise in other major crimes com pared to 2021.

“One crime victim is one victim too many, and the hardworking women and men of the NYPD are committed to ensuring that no one—in any New York City neigh borhood—is harmed by violence or disorder,” said Police Commission

er Keechant L. Sewell at the briefing.

“Our strategies to suppress violence, to seize illegal guns, and to hold criminals accountable for their ac tions are beginning to gain traction.

“But the NYPD cannot shoulder this work alone. Our entire criminal justice system, and all of our govern ment and community partners, must pull in the same direction and remain focused on our shared goal: the safety of everyone who lives, works, and visits New York City. We have seen too much revolving-door recidivism.”

There were 12 fewer murders last month compared to September 2021, a 23.5% decrease. The NYPD

also reports 29 fewer felony as saults. But every other major index crime is up, with significantly more rapes, robberies and burgularies— on whole, reported crimes are up by 15.2% compared to last Septem ber and at their highest since 2001, according to Chief of Department Kenneth Corey. And one category stands out.

“The majority of crime in New York City is grand larceny, it ac counts for 40% of all the crime,” said Corey. “It also accounts for nearly half of the increase in crime this year. There are several ways to

NewJersey News

Newark invests $2 million in $100 million fund to support Black and Latino businesses

By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff

The Newark Municipal Coun cil voted this week to invest $2 mil lion in the New Jersey 40 Acres and a Mule Fund (NJ FAM Fund). It is an investment fund targeted to ad dress the wealth, health and social disparities that exist with Black and Latinx communities when com pared to the general population.

This first-in-the-nation invest ment vehicle makes equity and debt investments in Black and Latinx businesses in New Jersey. The $2 million contribution is ear marked specifically for Newark in vestments.

“While the racial wealth gap is a major national issue, it especial ly impacts Newark,” said Newark Mayor Baraka. “Black and Latinx businesses have always faced more roadblocks than their counter parts and the pandemic only made things worse. These investments will be a tremendous tool for them in Newark, and I am incredibly grateful for the generous support of our Municipal Council.”

According to the New Jersey In stitute for Social Justice, the median household wealth of New Jersey’s white families is $322,500, while the medians for New Jersey’s Latinx and Black families are just $26,100 and $17,700, respectively—one of the worst racial wealth gaps in the nation. The objective of the NJ FAM Fund is to close these gaps by giving

Black and Latinx business owners access to more capital and resources.

The NJFAM Fund is the vision of Baraka and co-sponsored by the mayors of Paterson, Trenton, Camden, Atlantic City, East Orange, Orange, and Irvington. The Fund is seeking to raise $100 million to invest in value-added small businesses and real estate projects that will scale and reduce the wealth, health and social disparities that currently exist.

Bank of America has committed to invest $5 million. Additional fund ing commitments have come from companies and celebrities such as AT&T, Panasonic, RWJ Barnabas Health, and Shaquille O’Neal. In this short time, the fund has already re ceived hundreds of proposals from local entities seeking funding for projects ranging from real estate de velopment to local small businesses spanning multiple sectors.

The Fund’s first project is a partner ship with United Community Cor poration to build on 10 city-owned parcels in Newark’s Central Ward, each of them selected to transform that neighborhood and provide high quality homeownership on the block.

The project involves the construc tion of nine two-family homes and the rehabilitation of one two-family home, of which four homes will be set aside for residents that have in comes below 80 percent AMI. The project is in partnership with New Jersey Community Capital, the state of New Jersey’s largest Community Development Financial Institution.

State officials announce proposal to transform youth justice system

By CYRIL JOSH BARKER Amsterdam News Staff

Attorney General Matthew J. Plat kin and Juvenile Justice Commis sion (JJC) Acting Executive Director

Dr. Jennifer LeBaron announced proposed changes that, if adopted, would advance important youth justice reforms.

In August, the JJC Executive Board approved Notices of Proposed Re adoption with Amendments to two JJC regulations. Amendments to N.J.A.C. 13:90 include the pro posed permanent adoption of the rules implementing the Restor ative and Transformative Justice

for Youths and Communities Pilot Program, as well as amendments to the rules governing the County Youth Services Commissions and the Partnership/Family Court Pro gram, including allowing “upfront” funding to be provided to commu nity-based programs.

Additionally, JJC is proposing amendments to N.J.A.C. 13:91 which include changes to the trans fer rules to allow young people to continue their residence with the JJC beyond the age of 25, if certain criteria are met.

“New Jersey’s dedication to its youth and its commitment to equity

Retired Navy Yard cook, teacher Beatrice Mobley, 96, and still impacting

By NAYABA ARINDE Amsterdam News Editor

Perched on a metal chair outside St. John Fire Baptized Holiness Church in Bedford-Stuyves ant on a cool Friday morning, giving out church pamphlets to passers-by, was the lady known as Mama Beatrice Mobley—a lively, adorable, and beloved Brooklyn treasure.

“I came to New York when I was 19 years old, and I’ve been here for 79 years, and I’m a member here. Please, come and join our ser vices.”

The 96-year-old Savannah, Georgia trans plant is a former nurse and one of the oldest surviving employees of the old Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital.

“I worked in the Navy Yard—there was a hos pital there. I worked during the wartime—before you were born. I was a cook for the Navy boys. My picture’s there now. You can look me up.”

Married at 15, Mobley left the rural climes of Savannah, aged 19, leaving her husband and her 2-year-old son James with her family there. She came to Brooklyn, New York in 1945 and became a cook at the then-still segregated Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital.

Speaking proudly of her long and storied his tory, Mobley is treated like a superstar as she steps into the Widdi family-owned Key Food supermarket on 991 Fulton Street. As cries of “Mama’s here,” ring out in happy unison, excit ed workers leave their posts to hug the delight ed elder. Co-owner Ibrahim Widdi embraces the local legend, and it is all smiles. “This is Mama,” he told this Amsterdam News report er. “She comes here every week to do her shop ping. Everyone loves her.”

Some of her memories have been record ed by the Brooklyn Historical Society in their Brooklyn Navy Yard Oral History Project, a part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center, dedicated to the women who worked in essential labor po sitions during the Second World War.

“These women paved the way for all of us in skilled professional fields today, and their oral histories are important records of personal ex perience that will be preserved to inspire future generations of innovative young women,” said Daniella Romano, vice president of BLDG 92 Exhibits and Programs-Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp, on Brooklynink.org.

Utilizing her magnificent Southern-style cooking, she left her Bedford-Stuyvesant apart ment early in the morning to get to her 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift at the Navy Yard feeding the hun dreds of people who came off of those ships to eat in the big cafeteria.

She actually went back to Georgia after a year at the Navy Yard, and went to Florida to work, but that Brooklyn energy called her back in 1948 and she returned with James.

Since then, she has lived in Farragut public houses, and is known for her work ethic and lovely personality. She has become incredibly popular with community members and her church family.

“I went to Florida for one year, I went to get my baby—he was 2 years old, and now he’ll be 80 years old next year in March, how’d you like

Black New Yorker

that! I have 5 generations: my son, his daughter, her son, his daughter.

“I have 7 grandchildren and 15 great-grand children—from one son, James. They visit me, but they live in Washington and Maryland.”

But not only did Mobley leave a great impact at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, but for the better part of four decades she also worked as a cook for the New York City Department of Education; she said that she had to retire in 2010, because of a heart condition.

“I retired from the Board of Education after I worked for the city for 37 years.”

Her job there was “Cooking and taking care of the children for over 37 years in the public school…PS11, PS9, PS42, PS 287.” She can liter ally bump into any one of the hundreds of chil dren she took care of any time of the day. “And I’m doing fine, fine, fine…and I love the lord. I don’t want to do nothing to displease God, be cause he’s been good to me for 96 years.”

Her advice for looking so beautiful, healthy, and fit after 96 years is, she says, “Living right and doing the right thing.

“I pray, eat and I go to sleep. I am blessed. That’s all,” she replied. “I never drank, never smoked, never partied.”

Tongue-in-cheek the Amsterdam News asked; “No boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?” Eyes raised, mischievous grin, Mobley said, “My boyfriend is Jesus. And I’m happy, and I’m satisfied. Whatever may come, and whatever may go—I’m a stay with him until he calls me home. All I do is church, church, church. That’s all I want to do, I don’t want to do nothing else.”

Known once for being an avid driver with trips nationwide, it is now that Mobley says she is looking to sell her 1970 mint green Chevy Impala.

After filling bellies for over 70 years, the Am sterdam News asked the still incredibly active elder what’s her specialty, if her family comes around what is she cooking?

“Anything they want. Well, I like fish and steak. I don’t care too much for chicken. I like vegetables. And I like to sleep and pray. And I do my own sewing. I make my own clothes, with no pattern. I design my own clothes. I am very happy! Lord knows that I’m satisfied that I know the Lord.

“I’m 96 years old; four more years I will also be 100 years old. And I’m satisfied.”

THE URBAN AGENDA

By David R. Jones, Esq

New York Voters Cannot Afford to Skip the Midterms

There is a lot riding on the 2022 November election. It’s time to flex our power. Not only will we elect federal and state leadership, New York voters also will cast ballots that are key to fighting right-wing policies on the rise nationally that make life worse for our most vulnerable neighbors.

The November ballot in New York is extraordinarily consequential. There are races for governor, attorney general, comptroller, U.S. Senator, Congressional representatives and various judgeships. They are the leaders with the power to address issues important to our communities, such as police reform, jobs, bus and subway service, public housing, and federal voting rights legislation.

New York City voters will also decide four ballot questions that would increase spending statewide on environmental projects, create an Office of Racial Equity to address structural racism in city agencies, and require city government to develop an alternative way to calculate poverty to determine the actual household income required to live in New York City.

As Election Day approaches and as voters concentrate on the choices in front of them, they will realize the importance of the race for governor between Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is seeking her first full term, and Rep. Lee Zeldin, an ally of former President Donald Trump who has represented Suffolk County in Congress since 2015.

Even though Hochul has a commanding lead in the polls, that’s not a reason to be complacent. Hochul has done a fine job filling the shoes of Andrew Cuomo and has dedicated herself to defending essential norms that are under attack elsewhere in the country, as well as voting rights, access to abortion and public safety. She has worked constructively with Mayor Eric Adams, a refreshing reversal of the dysfunctional relationship between Cuomo and the former mayor.

Zeldin’s views are downright scary and meanspirited. His ilk in the Republican Party have actively worked against our interests for decades. Voter turnout will send a clear message that we’ll go to the wall to protect the progress low-income families and people of color have made over the last decade.

We must demand that New York elected leaders are vocal supporters of U.S. democracy and our picks for Congress support the proposed Electoral Count Reform Act, which would make it harder for conspiracy theorists to hijack and overturn

a legitimate presidential election.

This election is happening at a five-alarm fire moment. The buffoonish Trump, threatening another run for president, and his cadre of believers in the stolen election myth are on the move nationwide. His most staunch online supporters talk of an impending “civil war.” Trump’s very presence on the national scene promotes old-fashioned prejudice, White racial conservatism, turmoil and aggrievement politics.

Further complicating matters is the U.S. Supreme Court. After overturning Roe v. Wade and eliminating the nationwide right to abortion, the conservative majority is poised to decide several important new cases that seek to undermine the Voting Rights Act, limit gay rights and eliminate affirmative action in college admissions. (I was a classmate of Justice Clarence Thomas at Yale Law School. I recall him as an extraordinarily bitter man with a penchant for wearing overalls to class.)

Whatever happens, Joe Biden will still be president. But the election results could have a profound impact on the rest of his tenure and the runup to the 2024 presidential election.

With all that happening, it’s easy to see how New Yorkers might feel that they face a catch-22 at the ballot box. In a Democratic stronghold like New York, it’s easy to believe our vote doesn’t really matter. This line of thinking holds the real action in November is in California, Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, where voters have an opportunity to decide closely contested Senate and House races, thereby making their voices heard on abortion rights, racial equity, climate change and other issues.

In the last 60 years or so, the Democratic Party – despite its many failures – has done far more for Black voters than the GOP. That’s why the vast majority of Black voters cast ballots for Democrats, even if they aren’t necessarily liberal themselves. It is the rare Republican candidate who is a truly viable option for Black and Latinx voters in New York.

But every election has consequences, which is why all groups must engage by going to the polls. We can’t buy into the false narrative that our vote will be ignored and taken for granted.

The ballot box is the most important place to have a say in who sits on our courts, who leads our communities, and who we trust to count our votes, enforce our laws and so much more.

Beatrice Mobley (Nayaba Arinde photo)

Redistricting maps are on the way to City Council

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

The New York City Districting Commis sion has finally voted 13-1 on the revised version of the redistricting maps. The next step will be for city council members to review and approve the new city council district lines.

“Overall, the redistricting process has re vealed New Yorkers’ diversity, dynamism and public participation, despite the pan demic and socioeconomic challenges. New York is still growing, ever changing, and our urban democracy is alive and well,” said Chair of the Commission Dennis Walcott in a statement.

According to the 2020 Census count, which kicks off the redistricting process every 10 years, the population of non-His panic Blacks in the city decreased by 84,000 people and the white population decreased by 3,000 people. Meanwhile the city’s His panic and Asian populations grew. The commission’s job is to redraw the district lines to reflect these populations.

Recently, the commission completed their two day process for drawing maps, which was livestreamed for the public to watch. Community groups applauded the “transparency” and appreciated a look into the mapping process to get a sense of why commissioners make certain decisions. Ba sically there are many reasons, some legal and some based on testimonies, that shape

our city’s districts.

The maps sent to the city council creat ed a Staten Island-Brooklyn in District 50 where part of the city council district will extend into Brooklyn. The necessary move is to balance the other 48 districts, but it remains a wildly unpopular idea on the island borough. In the 1991 redistricting, the Staten Island District 50 was expanded into South Brooklyn, but in 2012 the then commission put the SI city council districts wholly back on the island.

The maps also create an Asian oppor tunity district in District 43 in Brooklyn, also a somewhat controversial move by the commission since it cuts into surrounding districts.

“We appreciate the work of the NYC Dis tricting Commission and look forward to reviewing its official maps. The public en gaged in the redistricting process at record levels over the last several months at public hearings across the city, which is an en couraging indication of New York City’s healthy civic engagement,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement.

“This public outpouring of input and testimony about safeguarding protections for historically marginalized communi ties of color and communities of interest, as mandated by the Voting Rights Act and New York City Charter, appear to have been taken seriously by the Commission in its re visions. The Council will review and discuss these new district maps, along with our next steps. I thank the Commission and its

members for their work, as well as all New Yorkers who have so far engaged in this process,” she continued.

Of course not everyone is totally satisfied with the current maps.

“After the Commission voted to not move forward with their current maps last month, we were hopeful to see them put in place positive changes in the way New Yorkers are represented in this city. Al though the Commission improved trans parency by making their meetings public, it’s clear that more work needs to be done,” said The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and NYIC Action Executive Direc tor Murad Awawdeh.

Awawdeh said they were glad to see the Black representation of historically Black districts in Southeast Queens remain con sistent and kept whole. But, he wasn’t happy with the exclusion of growing South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities as well as Latino groups in the Northwest Bronx.

Awawdeh even floated the idea that the city should consider a Charter Review Com mission to create more council districts to add to the 51 the city already has in an at tempt to fairly represent minority groups. This idea of adding more seats is a growing movement led by Councilmember Justin Brannan and leaders from Queens’ South east Asian communities. They’re looking to add up to eight district seats.

Fontas Advisors, a political consulting group, predicted that calls to add more

seats to the city council will probably not happen. The city council has not been ex panded since the 1991 redistricting pro cess, which went from 35 to the current 51 seats. Fontas reasoned this may pit even more councilmembers against one anoth er in the fight for funding and programs.

The final deadline for approved maps is Dec. 7.

The revised plan and video of the meet ing of the districting commission can be watched at nyc.gov/districting.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for Ameri ca corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Am sterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-de ductible gift of any amount today by visit ing: https://tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

Fare Fights: Three fatal public transit stabbings in NYC within 10 days

By TANDY LAU

Amsterdam News Staff, Report for America Corps Member

Three New Yorkers are dead after a trio of separate, fatal stabbings on New York City mass transit within just ten days. Be tween Sept. 30 to Oct. 9, Tommy Bailey, 43, Charles Moore, 38 and Lamont Bark ley, 55, were all killed while riding public transportation.

Bailey, who lived in Brooklyn, was slashed on the neck after a dispute while aboard a southbound L train on Sept. 30. He died from his injuries at the hospital. His wake was this past Monday, and was attended by MTA CEO and Chair Janno Lieber, who spoke with reporters.

“This can’t go on,” said Lieber. “It cannot go on because the subways and mass transit is what makes New York possible. If people don’t feel safe they can’t go to school, they can’t go to work, they can’t live their lives. Not everyone has the option to jump into a $50 Uber.

“We owe it to all New Yorkers for the sub ways and mass transit to be safe and to feel safe. Got to make it that way and now. The mayor has taken the subway safety on his back and together with the governor has

made a commitment that we are going to get this addressed. And I believe it will be but right now riders are feeling unsafe and that’s not acceptable.”

Bronx resident Charles Moore was stabbed in the back and chest with a large knife in an unprovoked attack multiple times as he exited a northbound 4 train last Thursday, Oct. 6. A 27-year-old sus pect was arrested and charged for murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, according to police. Moore’s mother was not informed of his death by the NYPD and found out through a neigh bor, according to a published report.

She also blamed Eric Adams in her in terview. The mayor addressed Moore’s

death during an unrelated press confer ence about asylum seekers, mentioning the need for more mental health resources.

“Nothing is worse than a random attack,” said Adams. “It just really undermines your feeling of safety. We’re digging into exact ly what happened. It’s a bizarre sense sce nario that played out and we are looking into it. And let’s be clear, what’s happen ing on the streets with some of these cases that you looked at, there’s mental health at tached to it.”

And Lamont Barkley, another Bronx res ident, was stabbed in the torso this past Sunday, Oct. 9 inside an MTA BX19 bus while on the intersection of East 149th Street and Gerard Avenue. According to the NYPD, the incident stems from an ar gument between the victim and a pair of other passengers.

But those three only account for the fa talities—other New Yorkers were stabbed during the ten-day span while on public transit. A teenager was reportedly left with six puncture wounds after several masked men hunted him down this past Sunday from his job at Shake Shack to a Midtown subway station. Last Thursday afternoon, a 59-year-old man was stabbed in Harlem after he missed his stop and got into a dis

pute at the 125th Street and St. Nicholas station while crossing platforms, according to the NYPD. Later in the same day, anoth er man was stabbed in Cypress Hills while walking into an A train station. The NYPD says the victim was ambushed and slashed in the face.

These attacks come shortly after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced upcoming in stallations of hidden cameras on each MTA train car. During a briefing last Friday, NYPD Chief of Transit Jason Wilcox says there will be an “urgent determination” to keep city subways safe.

“We’re not going to stop, we’re going to be on the trains, uniformed train patrols, platforms—this is what we’re going to do,” he said. “Chief [Kenneth] Corey mentioned we’re getting additional subway training unit officers, they’re going to be out there, on foot, riding the trains, walking the platforms.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

Photo of Staten Island resident testifying at city council redistricting public hearing in July (Ariama C. Long photo)

Riders get on a subway train in New York City. (Marc A. Hermann/MTA photo)

Go With The Flo

Black Photographers Collective celebrates members

ABC News’ national affairs corre spondent Deborah Roberts has been named a contributing anchor for “20/20,” reports TV Newser. The news was announced to ABC staff by its pres ident Kim Godwin, who said, “Deb orah is an award-winning journalist who has traveled the world for her indepth interviews with world leaders and newsmakers.” Roberts will con tinue with her regular reporting duties at ABC News. She is also the network’s senior affairs correspondent.

There are only 14 more weeks to see the Tony Award-winning “A Strange Loop” which will play its final perfor mance Jan. 15, 2023. Michael R. Jack son’s “A Strange Loop” opened April 26 to critical acclaim at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. The musical is directed by Tony Award nominee Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, and produced by Barbara Whitman, along with Page 73 Productions, Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company and Playwrights Horizons. “A Strange Loop” will host a Big, Black and Queer Night on Oc tober 27. Season 8 winner of RuPaul’s “Drag Race” Bob the Drag Queen will host the evening and moderate a special talkback.

Tongues are wagging that Ze ndaya and her boyfriend Tom Hol land were spotted on Oct. 7 walking around the Louvre museum in Paris, and were also seen holding hands as the couple stood in line at the iconic French landmark. The “Spider-Man” costars recently hung out in New York City celebrating the Emmy award-winning actress’s 26th birth day. They had dinner at MAMO res taurant after grabbing cups of coffee earlier that day.

Ebony Media Group announced the return of its signature program, the 2022 Ebony Power 100 Present ed by Coke Zero Sugar. The annual star-studded awards ceremony will be held at Milk Studios in Los Ange les Oct. 29, hosted by Emmy-nom inated comedienne and actress Amber Ruffin, and will honor the re markable achievements of African Americans across various industries. Honorees include Usher, Quinta Brunson, Russell and Ciara Wilson, Idris and Sabrina Elba, Martin Law rence and Sherri Shepherd.

The creative Black Photographers Col lective (BPC) held the second annual BPC “Bash” in Central Park to celebrate the 80th birthday of Mel Wright, as well as noted

photog Shawn Walker and members of the photographic community. The Collective’s goals are to introduce photography to the youth through training sessions and com

munity involvement. Founded by Howard Cash with Rudy Collins as president, the Collective aims to be a positive element in the community.

Harlem celebrates life of artist Ademola Olugebefola

Ademola Olugebefola, educator, artist, cultural activist, celebrates his 81st year. At a recent event Harlem acknowl edged his legacy as one of the found ers of the Black Arts Movement in New

York City in the 1960-1970s. He was cel ebrated by friends, family and received a certificate from President Joe Biden. The event was hosted by writer/produc er Aduke Aremu from Atlanta, Brother

Harold Thomas III, LaZette McCants, and Dwyer Cultural Center’s new direc tor, Vincent Davis. Special guests and associates included: Amy Olatunji, wife of famed drummer Babatunde Olatun

ji; Rome Neal, Eric Frazier & Friends, Woodie King Jr., Elaine Baskin Bey, and Lynette White. Olugebefola’s art can be seen in the Studio Museum and the Schomburg Center.

Indigenous People’s Pow Wow celebrated at Randall’s Island

As Indigenous People’s Day was ac knowledged on Monday, Oct. 9, Randall’s Island hosted a wonderful Pow Wow. There are thousands of Pow Wows held across North America. They are held in all 50 U.S. states and in all of Canada’s prov

inces. The New York Pow Wow Calendar has all the details on PowWows.com.

(Bill Moore photos)

Union Matters

On Nov. 8, freedom and democracy are on the ballot

that ended racist immigration quotas were all made possible because elected leaders worked across the aisle.

SUNY union calls for greater state funding

By CHAD ARNOLD The Daily Gazette

GEORGE

Some people tell themselves, “I don’t care about politics.” But whether you like it or not, politics impacts you. Elec tions, and the decisions made by people in power, affect everything in your life: your wages and health care, the quality of schools and housing in your commu nity, policing and safety, your freedoms and civil rights.

A very important election is coming up in a matter of weeks. I know, it seems like every election is touted as “the most impor tant in our lifetime.” But that’s because they are, especially in this era of extreme politi cal polarization where the direction of the country—and the future of our democracy itself—can be decided by just a few votes.

Today we are standing on a razor’s edge. It’s safe to say that President Biden’s many excellent initiatives, such as student loan relief, infrastructure investment, and ex panding safety net programs will become much harder to accomplish, if not im possible, if Democrats lose their current narrow majorities on Capitol Hill.

Working people have a lot of gain if things turn out well, but a lot to lose if they don’t. In the past year we’ve witnessed the horrif ic scaling back of people’s rights in states across the country—one third of women have lost access to abortion, transphobic laws are preventing people from accessing gender-affirming care, and a flurry of voter suppression laws are limiting how, when, and where voters can cast a ballot.

Come November 8, Americans across the country will go to the polls to elect all 435 members of the House of Represen tatives and 35 senators. Here in New York, our governor’s seat is up for grabs along with every state senate and assembly seat, in addition to many other important state wide and local positions.

Nationally, President Biden will have to work with whatever combination of Dem ocrats, Republicans and independents are elected to move his agenda. That’s easier said than done with the ascendance of an extremist Republican Party wholly sub servient to Trump. There was a time when members of Congress were able to put aside partisan differences and work to gether to accomplish great things for our country. The Civil Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the interstate highway system, the Clean Air Act, and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

But that was then, and this is now. Noncooperation has become the Republican modus operandi since 1995 when thenRepublican Majority Leader Newt Gin grich shut down the government twice after President Clinton vetoed tax cuts for the rich favored by House Republicans.

The Republicans’ “my way or nothing” strategy took on a whole new meaning after Obama’s 2008 election. Senator Mitch Mc Connell, still the Republican Party’s Senate leader, publicly pledged that when it came to the first Black president’s political goals, Republicans would be “the party of no.”

This isn’t governance, it is sabotage, and is how the Republican Party has con tinued to act with increasing zeal, es chewing what’s good for Americans in favor of winning political power at any cost. Today, the deceit is glaring. Much has been written in the press, for exam ple, about how Republican members of Congress voted against President Biden’s “Build Back Better” infrastructure bill and then went back home to their districts and took credit for the roads and bridg es that would be fixed under the program.

When power itself becomes the end goal of a political party, and truth, democracy, and the rule of law become hindrances to that goal, we enter very dangerous ter rain. Even here in blue New York, a state long-known for Republican moderation, the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate is a right-wing extremist who himself voted against certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Elections these days are won or lost by the narrowest of margins, and what happens afterwards in our winner-takeall system where compromise is scarce hinges entirely on who goes out to vote.

In the last midterm elections, in 2018, only 49% of eligible voters cast a ballot. As low as that number was, it was actual ly the highest voter turnout in a midterm election since 1914. Just imagine the power that we’d have as working people, and the changes we could make for the common good, if tens of millions more Americans who believe in principles of freedom, de mocracy, justice, and equality, but who don’t always show up to vote, chose to cast a ballot this year. It would be transforma tive for our nation. Vote November 8.

George Gresham is president of 1199SEIU, the nation’s largest healthcare union rep resenting 450,000 members in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Flor ida, and the District of Columbia.

Warning of larger class sizes and possible program cuts, officials on Friday called for additional state funding to address growing deficits at colleges and universities belong ing to the State University of New York.

Leaders from the United University Pro fessions, which represents more than 42,000 academic professionals across 29 SUNY campuses, are calling for an increase in state funding to help combat multimillion-dollar budget deficits at several Capital Region in stitutions, including the University at Albany, Empire State College and SUNY Cobleskill.

“For too long, our campuses have been underfunded by the state, which has foist ed the burden of funding our campus es onto the backs of students and parents through higher tuition and fees and other ever-increasing costs,” Frederick Kowal, UUP president, said in a statement.

The union held a press event on the UAl bany campus Friday, which included a number of local and state officials, includ ing Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan and As semblywoman Patricia Fahy, D-Albany.

UAlbany faces a projected $15 million def

icit, according to UUP. Empire State College, located in Saratoga Springs, and SUNY Co bleskill, meanwhile, have projected deficits of $8 million and $4 million, respectively.

But despite the growing deficits, Kowal said state support for SUNY has remained flat for years, while tuition and fees have steadily increased. SUNY students paid $2 in tuition for every $1 in directed state op erating support, Kowal said.

Kowal warned of dire consequences if additional funding is not secured, includ ing an increase in student-to-faculty ratio and additional cuts to make ends meet.

“Without more state funding, campuses are left to consider even more drastic mea sures, which could include cutting pro grams, overloading classes, leaving full-time vacancies unfilled and hiring more adjuncts to pick up the slack,” he said.

Calls for additional SUNY funding are nothing new, and have been amplified in recent years as tuition and other fees at the sprawling university system con tinue to increase.

Last year, the state legislature ap proved a three-year freeze for SUNY

Amazon suspends at least 50 workers after fire protest

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer

Amazon has suspended at least 50 ware house employees who refused to work their shifts following a trash compactor fire at one of its New York facilities, ac cording to union organizers.

The company suspended the workers, with pay, on Tuesday, a day after the fire disrupt ed operations at the Staten Island warehouse that voted to unionize earlier this year.

Derrick Palmer, the vice president of the Amazon Labor Union, said day-shift work ers were sent home with pay due to the fire, which began late afternoon Monday.

But night-shift employees, who were just coming in for their shift, were told to remain in a break area until management figured out the situation, he said.

Dozens of workers began to raise con cerns about safety. Some were worried the air in the facility would be unsafe to breathe because of smoke from the fire. Eventually, roughly 100 workers held a sitdown protest at the facility’s main office, demanding to be sent home with pay.

“They were saying ‘we don’t feel safe, we don’t feel safe to work,’” Palmer said.

Amazon spokesperson Paul Flaningan said in a prepared statement that the com pany had asked all night shift employees to report to their shifts on Monday after the New York Fire Department certified the building as safe.

“While the vast majority of employees reported to their workstations, a small group refused to return to work and re mained in the building without permis sion,” Flaningan said. Some workers had also walked out, while others continued with the protest, according to organizers.

The suspended workers were notified by email and phone that their security badges would be inactive during the duration of the probe, Palmer said. The suspensions are in effect indefinitely as the company investi gates. The number of suspended workers could rise. Seth Goldstein, an attorney for the union, said the workers intend to file unfair labor practice charges against Amazon with the National Labor Relations Board.

Amazon has filed over two dozen objec tions with the agency seeking to toss out the union’s April win. Meanwhile, ware house workers at a separate facility near Albany, New York will be voting in their own union election next week.

Built That! Recognizing Union’s Critical Role in the Advancement of Women, Especially Women of Color”.

Congratulations to the honorees—the leadership of The Coalition of Labor Women CLUW: CLUW President Elise Bryant of CWA; CLUW Treasurer Judy Beard of APWU; and The Women Leaders of Color of CLUW’s National O cers Council: Lisa C. Blake, OPEIU; Carolyn Burton, TWU; Adriana De La Cruz, IATSE; Tarn Goelling, IBEW; Jennifer L. Grigsby, AFGE; Crystal Herrera, IBEW; Angela W. Johnson, UFCW; Shyla La ‘Sha, SAG-AFTRA; Ashley Lewis, UAW; Karen Bellamy Lewis, IFPTE; Audrey Medley, UMWA; Silvia J. Ramos, CWA; Rachel Walthall, AFWU; Angel Savoy ATU; Shelvy Young Abrams, AFT

Opinion

Global chaos!

State of emergen cies exist across the globe—Ukraine, Iran, Haiti, Burkina Faso, and even here in New York City, according to Mayor Adams. Ob viously, the chaot ic situations vary in cause and alarm, and several have international implications.

Perhaps least understood is the ongoing tumult in Burki na Faso, where after a recent coup, demonstrators in the streets of Ouagadougou, the capital, were seen waving Russian flags. The Russian connection to this West Afri can nation is to some degree explained by comments from a former Russian adviser who stated, “Our people helped the new leader…Another Af rican country will move from cooperation with France to an alliance with Russia.”

One reliable resource on connecting the dots from Russia to West Africa is U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield. At the core of this issue, she says, is a group of Russian merce naries who help to facilitate the flow of natural resourc es in the Central African Re public, Mali and Sudan, to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

The Wagner Group, found ed by a Russian oligarch Yeveny Prigozhin, a close associate of Putin, is the mercenaries targeted by Am bassador Thomas-Green field. “Rather than being a transparent partner and im proving security,” she said

during a recent U.N. Securi ty Council briefing, “Wagner exploits client states who pay for their heavy-handed security services in gold, di amonds, timber, and other natural resources—this is part of the Wagner Group’s business model. We know these ill-gotten gains are used to fund Moscow’s war ma chine in Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine.” Russia has repeatedly stated that they have no relationship with the Wagner Group.

Placed in historical terms, support for the Russians is clearly a rejection of France, the European colonialists who for many years domi nated the political and eco nomic control of the country. Adding further complexity to the turmoil in Burkina Faso is the ongoing struggle with jihadist factions, who are claimed to menace everyday life in the nation.

What it boils down to is the juntas in West Africa will go along with the mercenaries who seem to be more effec tive in stifling the jihadist vi olence.

Mayor Adams you have a problem but it pales in com parison to the one in Burkina Faso, but is no less troubling.

As we have said on many occasions, there is a vital connection between global and domestic problems, es pecially as they ramify polit ically and economically. And the plight and flight of immi grants whether from Ukraine or Central America seeking asylum may soon be a larger problem to remedy.

The message is in the sports

DR. CLARENCE WILLIAMS JR.

As an educator, whenever I write an ar ticle about social issues, I think about the messaging we send to children. No one can deny that crime and more specifical ly violent crime is an issue in our city. We detest it and feel helpless every time we watch the news or read about it on our fa vorite media forum. Sports provide some relief from the harsh realities that we face

AMNEWS READERS WRITE

every day. However, they are intertwined. Over the past few days, a video has gone viral of professional basketball player Draymond Green punching his team mate Jordan Poole in the face during practice. What surprised me about this incident is the general response from the sports world. I heard comments such as, “They’re just letting off steam,” “It’s no big deal” or “It happens, let’s move on.” Here is the problem, children are watching this, children who look like him and come from neighborhoods like he came from. They see him getting a pass. We cannot be

outraged about the violence in our com munity but allowing it from our sports fig ures under the guise of, “It’s a part of the game.” Draymond Green made a heart felt apology to Jordan Poole and his family, to his team, and his own family. The one thing that was missing was the missed opportunity to address the children that look up to him and speak to them directly and say: “The level of accountability that you have will be greater if you do the same thing, I am in a position of privilege but re

Stacey Abrams’ ‘Black Men’s Agenda’ & why political leaders should take it seriously

By ROGER HOUSE

Black men are showing signs of dissatis faction with the Democratic Party agenda for the midterm election and beyond.

The problem first came to light in Stacey Abrams’ campaign for governor of Georgia but is evident in places like New York City under Mayor Eric Adams as well. The con cern of working class men is that the Demo cratic agenda fails to give priority to distinct needs rooted in their historical experiences.

It is well known that urban Black men suffer from higher rates of unemploy ment and underemployment, and from lower rates of labor force participa tion, than other ethnic groups. More over, in the post-industrial era, a gnawing crisis continues to suffocate and alien ate young men from seizing the oppor tunity to improve their lives. Not only do many not feel any sense of belonging to the economic system, but they also feel estranged from belonging to society itself.

Abrams responded with a set of eco nomic and health initiatives that she is promoting as the “Black Men’s Agenda.”

It earmarks $5 billion for investment in small business creation, health insurance, and apprenticeships in the con struction and entertainment in dustries. Most of all it shows that their lives matter beyond crimi nal justice reforms.

agenda, the primary policy concession has been non-economic reforms in the criminal justice system. An example is President Biden’s recent order to pardon people convicted of petty marijuana pos session in the federal system. It may have indirect economic benefits, but is largely a non-economic policy. In addition, Biden made the decision after a sense of betray al in the Black community over the recent passage of a bipartisan House bill known as the “Invest to Protect Act” that increas es funding for police departments.

Stacey Abrams’ “Black Men’s Agenda” should be a springboard for a broader set of priorities on the distinct needs of work ing class men. Here are some items that political leaders in both parties should consider including in their platforms.

tive order to recruit, train, and hire Black men in the array of skilled construction trades funded by the law. It could be a modern version of President Franklin Roo sevelt’s “Works Projects Administration” for white skilled labor during the depression.

Third, the agenda must be prepared to counter the dilemma of “mental slavery,” the mindset of internalized worthlessness of an oppressed people. At its worst, it exac erbates the behavior of young men in ways that further the purpose of racial oppres sion, writes psychologist Amos Wilson in the 1991 study, “Black-on-Black Violence: The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Anni hilation in Service of White Domination.”

Elinor R. Tatum:

Yet, the initiative has drawn few voices of support within the political parties, when it should be a rallying cry for Black leaders in both the Democratic and Re publican camps. If for no other reason that working class Black men are a large voting bloc open to policy appeals.

Under the Democratic

First, the agenda must center the eco nomic mobility of men as key to the sur vival of the Black middle class. Leaders must campaign for initiatives to improve occupational skills of the group. The ur gency to prepare for the “middle-skill” oc cupations in growth industries was touted in research by the McKinsey Institute. McKinsey’s “The Future of Work in Black America” calls for a broad shift from lowwage jobs to the vibrant sector of tech nical jobs that require more than a high school education but less than a four-year degree. Examples are x-ray technicians, dental hygienists, heating and refriger ation technicians, aircraft mechanics, heavy equipment operators and the like.

Second, the agenda demands the link age of the training and hiring of Black men to the vast new investments in the con struction trades. Under President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, urban proj ects will require newly trained workers for an industry that has historically shunned Black men. Biden should issue an execu

It means devising initiatives that strengthen the cultural resources of young men such as community centers and social media outreach devised to reduce the appeal of “bling” materialism. Educa tion should be geared to values that show case respect for living within one’s means, self-improvement, and self-acceptance.

Finally, the agenda must understand that young men have been the target of destruction in American history. They could benefit from youth programs that provide support systems to counter feel ings of rage with models of self-control, cooperation, love of family and commu nity. Examples are men’s group programs like President Obama’s initiative, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, which seeks to create an affirming network of support.

Such programs, as Amos Wilson de scribes it, can help to instill “cultur al identity and purpose, independence, self-determination, responsibility, selfknowledge and self-love: education for the attainment of a fulfilling and liberated life. ”

Roger House is an associate professor of American studies at Emerson College in Boston.

Israel heads to another election as Bibi eyes a return to power

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New York Amsterdam

others

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS

As the sun sets over the Holy Land, the citizens of Israel will take a muchneeded rest for the holi days as they head towards their latest election. This election, the 5th in 3 years, comes after the fragile co alition formed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid fell apart after roughly a year together. Now the nation heads to another election where former Prime Min ister Benjamin Netanyahu may have a chance at re gaining power.

Netanyahu has served as the opposition leader since the current government was formed, speaking out regularly over what he perceived to be deficiencies in leader ship on issues such as security, educa tion, and religion. Bibi, as he is known in Israel and abroad, is no strang er to the government in Israel. He is the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history and has served Israel in some capacity for most of his professional life. Now 72, his political career hangs on a thread as this will likely be his last chance at the pre miership.

Israeli polls are historically accu rate when it comes to determining who will win the most seats and have the mandate to form a government. Unlike the United States, Israel has a parliamentary system, which means that political parties are elected as op posed to individual leaders. How this plays out is that each party elects a slate of candidates who will represent the party in government if they are successful in winning enough seats in the election. Netanyahu is the leader of the Likud party, and therefore the first to join the government if they win enough seats. Today, Likud is leading with the most anticipated seats.

To make matters more difficult, the reason why there have been so many

elections in Israel over the last three years, is that political parties in par liamentary systems must negotiate cabinet positions in order to form a government. As there are 120 seats in Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, a coalition must be formed with at least 61 seats. Creating a co alition requires much political skill and can often make relatively small and unknown politicians “kingmak ers” who hold the entire government in place. This becomes very tricky be cause as we saw in the last election, the current coalition barely formed, and it took only a handful of small yet powerful politicians to make the entire government collapse. Bibi’s biggest competitor to form a government is former Ramatkal, akin to America’s joint chief of staff, and current Defense Minister Benny Gantz. Gantz previously joined forces with Bibi a few years ago only to see the government he joined collapse due to disagreements over the budget. As such, Gantz has come out and said unequivocally that he will not serve in a government with Netanyahu. Gantz for his credit has done well building relationships across the ideologi cal spectrum with both religious and secular parties. He has been able to do this because of his background in

So much good theater

CHRISTINA GREER PH.D.

the military, which is with out question the backbone and most trusted institution in Israel.

A return to power for Bibi would likely mean that his pending corruption charges would at least be temporar ily put on hold. Netanyahu has been under investiga tion for alleged gift-taking from wealthy Jewish busi nessmen domestically and abroad. This investigation is the reason for many in Israel refusing to support the former premier. In any case, though, Bibi remains wildly popular throughout the coun try as evidenced by his party current ly leading in polling.

The election is slated for Nov. 1, roughly two weeks after the conclu sion of the annual fall-time Jewish holidays. Of course, this poses a chal lenge, especially for more unknown politicians, as it will be much more difficult to campaign during the hol iday season. Either way, the energy has been tight throughout Israel due to the elections. This is because there exists a rift between the secular and religious sectors of society, each of whom has a completely different vision of where the country should be directed.

It should be interesting to see how the election ultimately unfolds. As one of America’s greatest allies, and indeed a powerhouse in the Middle East, the results of an election in Israel are always of utmost importance to the nation. Personally, I look forward to seeing what the outcome will be.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Tele vision Stations and the 2016 Multi cultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www.armstrongwilliams.co | www.howardstirkholdings.com

There is so much good theater in New York City right now. I don’t know about you, but I love watching a good play on the stage, more so than going to the movies. For me, watching actors ex hibit their craft for almost three hours on stage is just poetry in motion. Lucki ly for us, there are several revivals of old plays being staged right now.

I had the pleasure of seeing August Wilson’s “Piano Lesson” the other night at the Ethel Barry more Theatre (243 West 47th St.) and the highlight for me was seeing Samuel Jackson as Doaker Charles really show his theater bona fides. All of Wilson’s plays center around Black family and community and “Piano Lesson” was directed by LaTanya Richardson Jack son, someone who clear ly knows how to harness her husband’s talent and energy. The true stand outs in the play were Mi chael Potts as Wining Boy and Trai Byers as Avery. Both men may be famil iar to audience members from their roles on “The Wire” and “Empire” re spectively, but I had no idea they would captivate a stage in such a detailed manner. I am so looking forward to seeing them in more productions in the years to come.

Danielle Brooks as Ber nice Charles was a truly believable character, fur ther solidifying her theater credentials. I am really ex cited for her stage career and do hope she de cides to play a diverse set of characters on and off Broadway. Of course, John David Washington was a big draw for audience

members. I have quite a few notes on his perfor mance, but will reserve my judgment for now… “Piano Lesson” is showing until Jan. 15, 2023.

I plan on seeing Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreak ing play “A Raisin in the Sun” at The Public The ater 425 Lafayette St. (at Astor Place). No matter how many times I see this play, I always see some thing new in this detailed account of a Black family as they struggle, persevere, beat the odds, and find themselves beaten down by this country. There is so much packed into this 1959 classic which is on stage until Nov. 6.

I am also excited to see “Death of a Salesman” at the Hudson Theater at 141 West 44th St. (between Broadway & 6th Avenue). For those of you who are fans of “The Wire” you will be excited to see Wendell Pierce take on this iconic role from Arthur Mill er’s famed play, which is showing until Jan. 15, 2023. This will be the first time we see the character of Willy Loman told from the perspective of an Afri can American family.

These are just three of the plays showing this season. Be sure to check out the aters large and small for more great shows…in cluding Alvin Ailey Amer ican Dance Theater in December.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University, the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream,” and the co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Ques tions podcast at TheGrio.

(Amanda Ulloa photo)

Caribbean Update

Suriname may also offer economic citizenship; needs money, labor

By BERT WILKINSON Special to the AmNews

Following the recent col lapse of a special Caribbean banana export regime to the European Union, the decline of the sugar sector, and fluc tuating fortunes in the lifeline tourism industry, many Ca ribbean Community nations were forced to look for vari ous innovative ways to earn foreign exchange and keep their economies afloat.

Some placed greater em phasis on the offshore finan cial sector but soon ran into trouble with western nations which accused them of be coming havens for money launderers. Others invest ed in tourism but faced stiff competition from global des tinations and reductions in air

passenger seat availability. In the end, many of the smaller Eastern Caribbean nations such as Antigua and St. Kitts eventually followed the U.S. and other western na tions in offering economic cit izenship programs to citizens around the globe, eager to live in an offshore destination complete with a local passport and citizenship for a price. Today, Antigua and St. Kitts are followed by St. Lucia, Dominica and Grenada, all of whom have active, if not booming, citizenship-by-in vestment schemes which are bringing in millions that were once supplied by banana and sugar exports. The larger members of the 15-nation regional bloc—like Jamaica, Belize, Guyana, Barbados and Suriname—have all avoided

heading down this route, but from very recent indications, it appears like Suriname may soon become the latest of the list of regional countries of fering economic citizenship to global citizens.

In late September, President Chan Santokhi gave the coun try of close to 600,000 a sample of the thinking of his cabinet, by announcing that a special committee had been estab lished to study the feasibility of the scheme as the former Dutch colony not only needs the money but also because its growing oil and gas sector will require greater manpow er in the coming years.

“One fact is clear to me. With 600,000 people in Suri name, approximately 150,000 households, we will not be able to sufficiently devel

op the indicated sectors, and therefore not be able to earn optimally for the further de velopment of our country.”

He also said the cabinet may grant special permission for foreign companies operating in the country to get special permission to bring in larger amounts of workers.

“We hope that this discus sion can be conducted in a businesslike and down-toearth manner, underpinned by data and solid analyt ics, with the involvement of relevant stakeholders. With the oil and gas, we look for ward to the decision of the international oil companies regarding the final investment decision which is projected for the coming year.”

But the announcement has been met with some

That pesky affirmative asylum process

FELICIA PERSAUD

IMMIGRATION KORNER

On Friday, Oct. 7, 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergen cy regarding the thousands of asylum seekers who are now in the city’s shelters, after being put on buses there from Texas.

According to the mayor, more than 17,000 asylum seek ers, mostly from South Ameri ca, have been bused directly to New York City from the United States’ southern border since April of this year.

Out of the almost 20,000 children now in NYC’s shel ters, one in five is an asylum seeker, and every day the total number gets higher, according to Adams.

“We expect to spend at least $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year on this crisis. All be cause we have a functional, a compassionate system,” the mayor stated. “The time for aid to New York is now. We need help from the federal govern ment, help from the state of New York.”

And most of all he added:

“We need a realistic decom pression strategy at the border that will slow the outflow of asylum seekers. We need a coordinated effort to move asylum seekers to other cities in this country to ensure ev eryone is doing their part.”

Well good luck with that Mr. Mayor. The current issue is un sustainable, regardless of how humane we all are. The main pesky issue is how long it takes to get an asylum claim pro cessed in the U.S.

Here are the steps from ap plication to end:

1: Arrive to file Arrive in the U.S. in order to be able to apply for asylum.

2: Apply within one year

To apply for asylum, appli cants must file Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Remov al, with the USCIS within 1 year of arrival in the United States.

If they fail to file Form I-589 within 1 year of your arrival, they will no longer be eligible to apply for asylum under section 208(a) (2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Once USCIS has received the completed application, the applicant will receive 2 notices:

a: Acknowledgment of re ceipt of application, and;

b: Notice to visit the nearest application support center (ASC) for fingerprinting.

3: Fingerprinting

Read the ASC Appointment Notice and take it to the fin gerprinting appointment at the ASC. Asylum applicants do not need to pay a finger printing fee.

4: Interview schedule

Depending on where you live, USCIS will schedule an interview with an asylum of ficer at either a USCIS asylum office or a USCIS field office. Your interview notice will tell you the date, location, and time of your asylum interview.

As of Jan. 29, 2018, the USCIS Asylum Division is scheduling asylum interviews in the fol lowing order of priority:

1st priority: Applications that were scheduled for an in terview, but the interview had to be rescheduled at the appli cant’s request or the needs of USCIS;

2nd priority: Applications

that have been pending 21 days or less since filing;

3rd priority: All other pend ing affirmative asylum ap plications will be scheduled for interviews starting with newer filings and working back towards older filings.

5: Interview

Once you secure an in terview, you may bring an attorney or accredited repre sentative to the interview. You must also bring your spouse and any children seeking de rivative asylum benefits to the interview.

If you cannot proceed with the interview in English, you must bring an interpreter.

The interview will general ly last about 1 hour, although the time may vary depend ing on the case. You may also bring witnesses to testify on your behalf.

6: Asylum officer makes de termination

The asylum officer will de termine whether you are eligi ble to apply for asylum at the interview or are barred from being granted asylum under section 208(b)(2) of the INA.

A supervisory asylum offi cer reviews the asylum offi

level of pushback from in terest groups in the country, with the association of local economists warning that the switch to passports and citi zenship for money would not be that easy.

The association pointed out that in the case of neigh boring Caricom states, these have the advantage of vi sa-free travel to Canada and many European nations. This makes them attractive desti nations for persons willing to pay up to $300,000 for a pass port and citizenship, while also investing in real estate or other developmental sectors.

“This [visa-free travel] is not the case with Surinamese cit izenship. On the other hand, it is not always ‘bona fide’ world citizens who are willing to pay so much of their hard-

earned money for this. To do this, we as a country must not only make the investment cli mate attractive, but also de velop the device to separate the wheat from the chaff,” the body stated, pointing out that citizens of many of the neigh boring states can travel to up to 150 countries without a visa.

Like with the offshore fi nancial sector, western na tions are already beginning to zoom on the regional programs, accusing the na tions of lacking the ability to conduct proper due dili gence and background tests for some who apply. This is in spite of the fact that the majority of those who quali fy for passports and citizen ships have not been flagged by any international law en forcement agency.

cer’s decision to ensure it is consistent with the law. De pending on the case, the su pervisory asylum officer may refer the decision to asylum division staff at USCIS head quarters for additional review.

7: Decision In most cases, you will return to the asylum office to pick up the decision 2 weeks after the asylum officer inter viewed you.

Longer processing times may be required if you:

Are currently in valid immi gration status;

Were interviewed at a USCIS field office;

Have pending security checks; or

Have a case that is being re viewed by asylum division staff at USCIS headquarters.

USCIS says it will normal ly mail your decision to you in these situations. You can check your Case Status Online at https://egov.uscis.gov/cas estatus/landing.do. All you need is the receipt number that was mailed to you after you filed your application.

According to the Ameri can Immigration Council, as of April 1, 2022, there were

470,786 affirmative asylum applications pending with USCIS. The government does not estimate the time it will take to schedule an initial in terview for these asylum appli cants, though historically the delay could reach four years.

The backlog in U.S. immi gration courts continues every month to reach all-time highs, with over 1.82 million open re moval cases as of June 2022. Through November 2021, asylum applications had been filed in over 671,000 remov al cases, with the average case pending for over four years.

And although asylum seek ers may apply for work au thorization after their case has been pending for 150 days—or longer in some circumstanc es—the uncertainty of their future impedes employment, education, and trauma recov ery opportunities. It is why the issue in New York City’s shel ters and in other cities where asylum seekers have been dumped seems like a long hard road with no light in sight.

Art by PERLA SANCHEZ

Remember to check on your girls.

When it comes to breast health, early detection can help save lives. That’s why we go beyond coverage to connect you to local mammograms, free health and wellness classes, and in-person support at our Neighborhood Care centers. Get connected at emblemhealth.com/breasthealth.

Health

Factcheck: False: Because of COVID treatments, people do not have to be concerned about getting the vaccine or boosters

Claim: Because of COVID treatments, people do not have to be concerned about getting the vaccine or boosters. Factcheck: Individuals should be vigilant to safeguard themselves from getting COVID-19. If they do get COVID-19, there are tools to protect them from a worsening of their conditions.

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

Since the early days of COVID-19 when the best tools society had to combat the disease were physical dis tancing, masks, and hand-washing, sci ence and research have evolved. There are now vaccines to mitigate sickness and death, and treatments to allevi ate symptoms once individuals have COVID-19. Does this mean that indi viduals should be less concerned about contracting COVID-19 now that there are more ways to fight the disease? The answer is no.

Currently there are several treatments for people who contract COVID. Accord ing to Dr. Torian Easterling, first deputy commissioner and chief equity offi cer for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, “March 2020 was certainly a different pandem ic than what we experienced in July of 2021…and that’s why I continue to em phasize that it’s not just about vaccines although they are powerfully important, we do have treatment that’s available.”

Even with all the new treatments and tools at our disposal, according to the CDC, individuals 6 months and older in August 2022 had a 2.7 times chance of testing positive for COVID-19 if they were unvaccinated as opposed to vac cinated with at least a primary series and five times the chance of dying from COVID-19 if unvaccinated as opposed to

vaccinated with a pri mary series. For people 50 and older with a pri mary series and one booster versus those that are unvacci nated, people unvaccinated were two times more likely to die. For those with two or more boosters versus those that are unvaccinated, people unvaccinated were 12 times more likely to die.

Antivirals such as Paxlovid are one such treatment. It was the first COVID19 antiviral pill to receive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization (EUA), and the Na tional Institutes of Health (NIH) has pri oritized its use over other treatments for eligible patients. It is meant for people who have a current COVID-19 infection.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) are a second treatment option. Accord ing to the Health and Human Services site “Combat COVID” “The mAb treat ment can block the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering cells in your body and limit the amount of the virus within your body. This means you may have milder symptoms and may de crease the likelihood of you needing to stay in the hospital.”

Finally, Long-acting antibody (LAAB) treatments such as Evusheld help pro tect people before they are exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and are for people who are immunocompromised and may not be able to mount an effective immune re sponse to the COVID-19 vaccine or

have a history to adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine.

According to experts at UC Davis “[t]he monoclonal antibody therapy is a valuable tool for us when treating COVID-19, but in no way is it a substi tute for vaccinations…Early treatment with the monoclonal antibody therapy can reduce the risk of COVID-19 hospi talization or death, but it will not pro tect you against catching the virus.” The same is true for antiviral medications which experts agree are not a substitute for the vaccine.

According to Easterling, an impor tant reason for individuals to avoid COVID-19 is the possibility of con tracting Long COVID. “There is so much that we do not know about and we’re still learning about Long COVID. We know that long COVID symptoms exist. We know what we have seen in our data. The neurological symptoms, the ongoing respiratory symptoms that people are experiencing, which is why our colleagues at New York City Health and Hospitals have put in place infra structure through our Long COVID Centers of Excellence.” Easterling con tinued, stating, “It is really important that [people] need to understand that you do not want to experience [Long COVID] but then also I think the other

part is to remember the COVID con tinues to be a disruption in people’s lives. We’re [going] back to school, we do not want individuals to [have to miss] days from school.”

It is critical to use treatments, vac cines, masking, together, with the primary focus being preventing indi viduals from contracting COVID-19 in the first place.

For more information regarding COVID-19 treatments, please go to https://www.cdc.gov/ coronavirus/2019-ncov/yourhealth/treatments-for-severeillness.html

Additional resources can also be accessed on the AmNews

Dr. Yomaris Pena, internal medicine physician with Somos Community Care, extracts the last bit of PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 vaccine out of a vial so as not to waste it at a vaccination site at the Corsi Houses in East Harlem (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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With more than 175,000 members

We are the largest union of property service workers in the U.S.

Making the world a better place by being an organized voice for all working people — Black, brown, white – in pursuit of a more just society for present and future generations.

Honored to support

The 8th NY Amsterdam News Labor Breakfast 2022 Recognizing Union’s Critical Role in the Advancement of Women, Especially Women of Color &

Honoring the Coalition of Labor Union Women CLUW and its Women Leaders of Color

Revival of long-ignored report on conditions in Harlem

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

A report that wasn’t issued 86 years ago following the riot of 1935 was at the core of the daylong event at the Schomburg Center Tuesday. Under the rubric of “Con ditions in Harlem Revisited: From the 1936 Mayor’s Commission Report to Today,” a coterie of academics, clergy, communi ty activists and leaders, and city officials assembled and discussed the report from several angles, including employment and economic development, housing and land use, justice and public safety, health care and environment, and education and rec reation.

The 118-page report was authored by a commission formed by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia following the riot and chaired by attorney Arthur Garfield Hays. Among the Black notables on the commission were poet Countee Cullen, Hubert Delany, and Eunice Carter. “The insecurity of the indi vidual in Harlem against police aggression is in our judgment one of the most potent causes of the existing hostility to authori ty,” the report concluded.

This concern resonated at the core of the various panels assembled and Pauline Toole, commissioner of the New York City Department of Records and In formation Services, framed the discus sions at the beginning of the event. “So

many portions of the 1936 Mayor’s Com mission Report read as if they could have been written today. That’s why it was so important for us to release it to the public now—something that was done by the New York Amsterdam News at the time, but not the LaGuardia administration. When people continue to feel excluded in employment, education and other sectors of life, we must look at what got us to this place in time, and then the path forward.”

While a central aim of the gathering was to draw comparisons between the Harlem of the past and the current situ ation, most of the speakers on the panels chose to focus on the contemporary con ditions, noting that very little has changed

since 1936.

Arva Rice, president & CEO of the New York Urban League, posed her remarks in a comparative approach during the second panel on employment and economic de velopment, citing the differences between yesterday and today. “As I read through the report I was struck by the things they didn’t have, such as our agency, Lloyd Wil liams, the Harlem Business Alliance, Leti tia James, Inez Dickens, Mayor Adams and the other institutions we now have.” Curtis Archer, president of the Harlem Commu nity Development Corporation, agreed with Rice and listed the late architect Max Bond as another significant person miss ing from the 1930s, and Williams added

that Bond was the architect who designed the Schomburg Center.

Regina Smith, executive director of the Harlem Business Alliance, mentioned the need for access to capital and the creation of more Black businesses. When asked by the moderator why she lived in Harlem, she said, “I love Black people.”

One of the problems that Black residents of Harlem experienced in the 1930s and true today, said Kim Phillips Fein a his torian at Columbia University, was that “Blacks were and have been exclud ed from working in public utilities and public services.” Why, she was asked?

“Because of racism and they do not pos sess the power they need to do so.”

Dr. Mary Bassett, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, ad mitted that she had never heard of the report, and neither had many of the city officials. “And it is so contemporary in the way the riot was triggered by police action,” she explained. A main problem she said was “structural racism” that has a deleterious impact on “living conditions.” Ebone Carrington, a managing director with Manatt Health, was insightful in help ing the moderator Dr. Torian Easterling, first deputy commissioner/chief equity officer at NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, frame the comments in

"[M]any portions of the 1936 Mayor’s Commission Report read as if they could have been written today. ... When people continue to feel excluded in employment, education and other sectors of life, we must look at what got us to this place in time, and then the path forward."

PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS FROM MONKEYPOX

Monkeypox is a disease that can cause painful rashes and sores on your body. It is a virus that can easily spread through direct contact with a rash or sores of someone who has monkeypox. It can also spread through shared clothing, bedding, and other items, and prolonged face-to-face contact.

Do not have sex or other intimate contact if you or your partners have a new rash or sores, feel sick, or were recently exposed to monkeypox.

Talk to a health care provider about testing, pain management or treatment if you have monkeypox symptoms.

Frequently wash your hands, bedding, towels and other shared items.

Get vaccinated if you may have been recently exposed to monkeypox.

For more information, including about vaccine eligibility, visit nyc.gov/monkeypox or scan the QR code. Text “MONKEYPOX” to 692-692 for the most up-to-date information.

Arts

Etienne Charles’ music highlights newly renovated Geffen Hall

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

A lot of things were hap pening simultaneously at the newly renovated David Geffen Hall Saturday eve ning for the multimedia per formance of “San Juan Hill: A New York Story,” featuring trumpeter/percussionist

Etienne Charles’ composi tion. Like the music, the hall is a dazzling edifice, replete with five or six tiers of balco nies, a 50-foot wide digital screen, a spacious welcome center, and enough toilets to accommodate the more than 2,200 attendees.

While spectators fo cused on the beauty of the

Wu Tsai Theater and en joyed the plush seats with plenty of room for long legs, Charles’ task was to present a soundscape reflecting the people and culture who re sided there before urban removal razed the neigh borhood. His score touched on the music that enlivened the community before the wrecking ball arrived in the late ’50s, and often as jazz, salsa, the Charleston Strut, calypso, and the blues em anated from his Creole Soul ensemble, a fast-moving picture show flashed on the massive screen.

One of the most engross ing moments occurred when the screen was em

blazoned with the words “Riot 1905,” and there was a wee bit of cacophony in Charles’ music, replicating the bedlam but it was none theless a sonorous evoca tion. Further along in San Juan Hill’s development that got its name from the Span ish American War, there were elements of bebop that to some extent signi fied such former residents there as Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. When the ubiquitous Lana Turner re turned to the screen to em bellish the period with her narrative, a historical tab leau unfolded, one that ex tended from the indigenous Lenape to Leonard Bern

stein’s “West Side Story.”

After a lengthy exposition of totally immersive music, the ensemble shared the vast stage with the New York Philharmonic Orches tra, and under the direction of Jaap van Zweden they combined to offer shifting styles of rhythm and har mony, commensurate with the diverse creativity of San Juan Hill, and the current flavors at Lincoln Center. And when Charles’ trum pet soared above the or chestra it highlighted the new acoustics, which in the past had been a complaint. This bravura moment gave way to a lovely blend of Sul livan Fortner’s pianissimo

and Elena Pinderhughes’s symphonic flights on flute, all of it in keeping with Alex Wintz’s guitar, Ben Williams’ bass tempo and John Davis’ drums. The pace quickened when Charles set aside his trumpet and straddled the congas and his exchanges with saxophonist Godwin Louis inspired an explosive passage of melody from the orchestra that came close to the colorful array of Charles’ pink suit, Fortner’s orange jacket, and Louis’ green outfit.

It was informative to see among the images on the screen one of Hannah Elias, “The Negro Enchantress,” a wealthy sex worker of the

late 19th century and to hear the triumphant over ture akin to her magisteri al bearing. Again, Charles’ trumpet gave the moment additional sonority, and in termittent spurts from DJ Logic on the turntables left an impression of Trinida dian pans, consistent with Charles’ lineage.

The renewal of a facil ity that was once called Avery Fisher Hall on sacred ground that used to be San Juan Hill will certainly have a number of unforgetta ble concerts, but it’s hard to imagine it will have the symbolic tropes, the histor ic intersections of Charles’ premiere.

(Herb Boyd photo)

PBS presents ‘Making Black America: Through The Grapevine’

By MARGRIRA Special to the AmNews

The United States of America is crystal clear: they hate Africans, African Americans, and Afro Lati nos and that statement (sadly) can be backed up by hard, cold facts. This act was designed to break our spirits but the fact-of-the-matter is that our people created oppor tunities of their own designs.

Our people didn’t cower in the corners or hang their collective heads and cry. For example, when African American doctors were banned from joining the Amer ican Medical Association, they answered back by forming the National Medical Association in 1895; 1895—you have to respect the vision and grit of our ances tors. The very growth of social groups, fashion shows, business es, and African American colleges owe their existence to the fact that white-only institutions refused to allow people of color access.

So what happened seems like it’s an episode from “The Twilight Zone” where the African Ameri can/Afro-Latino cultures flour ished despite the dangerous acts of deeply entrenched racism that existed. Our very presence is an act of resistance and our abili ty to rise above the murk (again, and again) demonstrates the level of our resilience. This and more is clearly laid out in PBS’s “Making Black America: Through the Grapevine.”

This is a well-constructed fourpart series available on PBS. It’s produced, written, and hosted by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., with directors Stacey L. Holman and Shayla Harris. No stranger to the subject, Gates has created more than a dozen documentaries including the 2021’s Emmy-nom inated “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song.” Gates is also the host and producer of PBS’s “Finding Your Roots.”

No one can label Gate a pes simist. On the contrary, he’s a self-described optimist and beau tifully transparent about the need to produce projects like this not just for those alive but for future generations. We all know that it takes a village to break down the inaccurate and hurtful stereo types of our people.

In the series, Gates compared the pockets of community, safe havens, to those that were carved out by Jewish Americans and other ethnic groups who

were not allowed employment and other things needed to flour ish in U.S. society.

Long before there was social media, information was gath ered and shared throughout our communities. Some through Af rican American newspapers and other ways through the “grape vine” of people passing along that vital information.

One of the great things that the series breaks down is “the formal and informal networks which, for centuries, have connected Black Americans to each other through the underground, not just as a way of spreading the news, but ways of building and sustaining” Black communities, said Gates.

What you are left when watching “Making Black America: Through The Grapevine” is just how cre ative our people are. When faced with lemons (which is what our experience has been from the very beginning of our journey here to these shores) we constantly churn out lemonade.

The struggle and the dangers were life and death—serious. That’s the inspiration behind the “The Negro Motorist Greenbook,” the 1936-’67 guidebook to businesses that would serve African American travelers be cause a mistake under Jim Crow segregation could have left the traveler dead.

Our people are the very picture

of ingenuity. I tip my proverbial hat to all of the skilled and cun ning African American entre preneurs who make it happen!

We find a way where there is no way. The guide listed 7,000 Afri can American businesses, across the country, from restaurants to hotels/boarding houses to the beachfront, anywhere that was safe for us to gather.

Other safe places were the com munity barbershops and hair salons, a spot that brings up those tender, sentimental feelings.

African Americans were also barred from trade, recreational as sociations, and other professions so they formed their own using the word “national” in the titles

to politely signify the member ship was African American; those institutions include the Nation al Dental Association and the Na tional Brotherhood of Skiers.

Now to the plethora of sororities, fraternities, and fraternal orders that contribute greatly to African American networking starting in 1775 with the Massachusetts lodge started by Masons from Ire land after colonial whites rejected Hall and a handful of other men of color for membership.

African American women have always stood out as shrewd busi ness owners including the 20thcentury business mogul Madam C.J. Walker; inventor and phi lanthropist Annie Malone, and Maggie L. Walker, who were Amer ica’s first female bankers who concentrated their efforts on the needs of the working class.

And in the lucrative world of fashion and beauty, the Ebony magazine-sponsored Ebony Fash ion Fair runway shows stepped boldly into an industry that re fused to use African American models and designers. This annual event, which was staged national ly and outside the U.S. for five de cades, did good work and raised millions of dollars for charity.

There’s so much to like and even more to love. Don’t miss PBS’s “Making Black America: Through The Grapevine.”

Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. sits with Benaree Wiley, Richard Taylor, and Flash Wiley during a Literary Society scene for “Making Black America: Through The Grapevine” (Courtesy photos)

Host Henry Louis Gates Jr. sits in the barbershop with Naneka Brathwaite, Bernard Lumpkin, Julee Wilson, Dennis Mitchell Jr. and Joseph Ravenell while shooting “Making Black America: Through The Grapevine”

Dance Calendar October 2022

By CHARMAINE PATRICIA WARREN Special to the AmNews

Topping this month’s calendar is the world premiere of David Thomson’s “VESSEL,” a new durational performance

installation to be presented at The Choc olate Factory Theater Oct. 26-29. For Thomson, “VESSEL” is “…centered on a practice of witnessing. It asks all involved to engage their senses and imagina tions in the process of listening on differ

ent—and deeper—levels; embracing the unseen as a palpable state of possibility.” Even more, it is “…influenced by post-co lonialist writer Édouard Glissant’s ‘Poet ics of Relations,’ in which he explores the concept of opacity as the unquantifiable

definition of ‘other’; questioning our abili ty to truly know another or even ourselves within the constructs of socio-political identity,” according to the release. For more information, visit https://chocolate factorytheater.org/david-thomson-2022/

THIS MONTH:

Oct. 11-16 – Celebrating the music and dances from across the Black diaspora, “LaTasha Barnes Presents: The Jazz Con tinuum” for her Joyce debut, brings an intergenerational and intercommunal arts experience, while highlighting Black American culture and community. For more information visit https://www.joyce. org/performances/latasha-barnes-pres ents-jazz-continuum

Oct. 13-15 – Fadi J. Khoury and his FJK Dance will celebrate its eighth anniver sary at New York Live Arts with a host of premieres. For more information visit fjk dance.org/new-events/2022/7/19/fjk-sea son-2022-p7yct

Oct. 13-15 – At Sanctuary Space, The Center at West Park, Anabella Lenzu will present the world premiere of “The night that you stopped acting/ La noche que dejaste de actuar” reflect ing Lenzu’s experience as a Latina artist living in New York. For more informa tion visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ the-night-that-you-stopped-actinglanoche-que-dejaste-de-actuar-tickets402627097487?discount=EVOFESTEB10

Oct. 18-23 – Fouad Boussouf comes to The Joyce with his blend of hip hop, con temporary dance and new circus tradi tional forms of his native Morocco. For more information visit https://www.joyce. org/performances/fouad-boussouf-nass

Theater and

the Apollo Theater join forces to present the Camille A. Brown’s trilogy on Black identi ty: First it’s “Mr. TOL E. RAncE and BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play”—The Joyce Theater Oct. 25-30. Then Brown’s third and final work, “ink,” at Harlem’s Apollo from Nov. 4-5. For more information visit https://www. joyce.org/performances/camille-browndancers-trilogy and https://www.apollothe ater.org/event/camille-a-brown-dancers-ink/

Oct. 27-29 – At the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and in “Unavailable Memory: In Conversation with Cunningham and Cage,” students, choreographers, and musicians come together and perform “Totem Ancestor” (1942), “Loops” (1971) plus new choreography by students from The Juilliard School, Rashaun Mitchell, “telemetries,” and the world premiere of “Tether” by Bebe Miller, performed by Miller with Angie Hauser and Darrell Jones. For more information visit https:// bacnyc.org/performances/performance/ unavailable-memory-in-conversationwith-cunningham-cage

Oct. 27-29 – Sidra Bell, Gibney’s Art ist-in-Residence, will present “IN /REP” a program that connects excerpts from works Bell made for her company since its 2001 founding. Accompanying this season is a free multimedia installation, “RETURN TO FORM: The Shape of Time, An Installation by Sidra Bell Dance New York and the SBDNY Design Team.” For more information visit https://gibney dance.org/gibney-presents/

LaTasha Barnes Presents The Jazz Continuum (Cherylynn Tsushima photo)

Fouad Boussouf and his company present Näss (Charlotte Audureau photo)

Camille A. Brown (Whitney Browne photo)

HOROSCOPES

October 13, 2022 — October 19, 2022 By GODDESS KYA

Rebirth of A New Nation: What’s on your mind? What is your heart directing you to do? What signs are your body signaling to you to pay attention to or consume? What thoughts are on your mind as there are answers to the questions you seek? The best way is to listen carefully and follow hints and context clues, as the darndest things and revelations come out of the blue. It was meant for you to see it at that appointed time or place. Pluto and Mercury are stationed direct and Saturn in Aquarius at 18 degrees is soon to station direct on October 23 for the final lesson, assignment, repositions, upgrades, and reconstruction within society and humanity. Mars is soon to retrograde on October 30 at 25 degrees Gemini, a day before Halloween. Your willpower is slowed down a bit; you may experience mental fog, similar to a low cloud, waiting to clear away for a great time to rethink, modify, and switch the pace up. Don’t be so quick to jump the gun, and ask for more details, facts, and figures. Being spontaneous is cool to a certain degree, until you notice you receive the short end of the stick. Even during those experiences, there is always a lesson learned and new experiences. If it’s not conducive it is not going to work or operate smoothly. While Mars is in Gemini exercise your mental, spiritual, emotional, financial, and physical aspects in life. Do what works for you. “Your heart knows things your mind can’t explain.” Unknown

When you apply skin, sweat, time, effort, and pain in the game, re wards show up slowly yet surely. People in the background are doing their part as your ancestors are in positions to pass the baton. Your love is continuous from the inside out with grace and charm that spark your ambitions to elevate you higher. No matter what people say or do, some are confrontational so allow those frequencies to blow with the wind. You have no time for it. Balance your heart and emotions. A monthly cycle of appreciation for others and vice versa.

The decisions you are making this week are insights into the gifts you possess inside. Information and messages are channeling in from all sorts of different directions with the 411. Research the in formation, as the expression, “I heard it through the grapevine” is circulating. Double-check the source. October 13-14, you are in the spotlight, and career opportunities, tools and resources are avail able to you.

You are on a mission to provide a service to the community to enjoy life from a different perspective. There are times when you plan, and your plans have detours along the way. Think of detours as an adjustment in your schedule to correct or learn something new. This is a phase of your foundation extended into a higher version of you. When you elevate in life it’s part of your growth that reflects on the outside and the way you operate. October 17-25, start from somewhere.

Traveling to a new location is like tasting different food that has a soulful texture and flavor. Travel experiences are breathtaking— learning how people live, communicate, and operate on a daily basis. Life is a never-ending story of people’s history and educating oneself is important to extend yourself and collaborate with folks around the world. Step into new territory within your artistic flare and add it to your work collection. October 18-19, do what makes you happy.

Your vision is becoming more profound as the pieces of the puzzle begin to paint the picture. Imagination allows the vision to be seen and in the physical world, it becomes real. Not when you’re ready; it will be at an appointed time. The skills you have obtained are an addition to your foundation to deliver your products, services, or messages globally. Some form of initiation, information, or spiritu alist teacher can play a role in your life during this weekly cycle. What’s the mo tivation that feeds your soul?

This week can feel like an emotional rollercoaster as you can feel something is about to happen. You are steady and consistent in building an empire. Although things may be slow you have gifts on the way. You will see an increase in your finances and career op portunities present themselves to you. Remove any expectations, it’s simpler to change your perspective. October 13-14, reach for the stars and beyond.

Vinateria

Relocating and reorganizing your home, drawers, and file cabi nets is featured, as is a change in the workplace, be it a raise, new schedule, new locations, also separation in your relationships. Paying attention to details is a must to understand your circum stances. It’s the universe’s way of communicating with you. A cycle that includes exercise workouts, meditation, and quality rest for your mental sustainability.

It’s time for a new direction, new terms and conditions, reposition ing your staff, and taking note of detailed information to paint the story. In October the pressure is on for the fulfillment of your obli gations to activate your blueprint. As long as you apply yourself you will see results towards the end of the month. End any repetitive be haviors, patterns, or habits that no longer serve a purpose or feed your spirit. October 18-19 is a time to plan for an event or workshops; also sched ule time to concentrate on your prior obligations.

Imagination is key for the fulfillment of a goal, dream, or task. You have a radiant aura that is attractive, charming, and glowing like a pregnant woman. A cycle of gifts, favors, appreciation, and being compensated for your dedicated work. Mentally you are receiving flashes of insight and downloads to understand the full picture of your dreams and forthcom ing plans. A time to elevate yourself and reposition yourself within your work profession. It’s time to have a seat with the board of directors planning for the future.

Your profession is taking quite a dramatic turn with a window of opportunities knocking on your door. You have angels in the wood work working for you in the background preparing your assignments. Work can be overloading, exhausting and fun at the same time as you get to the end of the assignment. This weekly cycle is slowed down for a reason to exercise your sixth sense to have faith in your progress moving forward. October 13-14, the decision is up to you.

Partnerships, publications, travels, study, research, and legal entangle ment are a few themes occurring this month. It’s time for a new direction connecting with like-minded individuals with the same vibrations. Being affiliated or a member of a club, association, or group opens doors that allow access to certain knowledge, connections, and support systems. October 15-17, choose the route that’s in your best interest.

You are off to a new start and if you need something, ask. Ask and you shall receive. You must apply footwork along the way. It’s a two-way street with stop signs. Now that you ask, information is overflowing with the supply you need. A week to sell services and products, or assist within your neighborhood and immediate family members. As you progress for ward through life take pictures and videos of your journey as a legacy or keepsake. October 18-19, do your best and follow your heart.

‘Just Above Midtown’ opens at MoMA; Studio Museum in Harlem co-publishes accompanying catalog

By JORDANNAH ELIZABETH Special to the AmNews

In New York, during the 1970s and 1980s, Black artists made themselves a home at the Just Above Midtown (JAM), cultivat ing a seminal space for their community as the art world centered their exhi bitions around present ing and amplifying white artists. “At the time, to be an artist of color in one of these galleries’ stables was unusual, if not extremely rare,” writes ArtNews.

JAM, founded by film maker Linda Goode Bryant in 1974, opened the gallery space on 50 West 57th St., creating a supportive and thriving environment for prolific Black artists such as Senga Nengudi, How ardena Pindell and Lor raine O’Grady. Greg Tate and Vernon Reid spent time there jamming their music and the space wel comed legendary visitors like Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis.

On Oct. 9, the Museum of Modern Art premiered an exhibition honoring the creative power and potency of JAM titled “Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces.” “The accompany ing catalog, co-published with The Studio Museum in Harlem, tells this oneof-a-kind story of an at tempt to transform the art world’s infrastructure,” according to a statement from MoMa. The exhibi tion is a culturally pro found celebration of an intimate artistic repre sentation of Black excel lence. “Most Black-run art organizations in Man hattan, Brooklyn, and Queens tended to ex hibit representation al work, which I called “red-green-and-black” or “Black-women-nursing babies” art because those were common elements. It was considered nation alist art,” said Goode. “We opened as a commercial gallery in 1974 but applied

for and secured nonprof it status in 1975. In JAM’s early years, I was very in terested in cultivating Black collectors and creat ing an infrastructure that would enable our com munity to support the art being made.”

“Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces” offers an opportunity to engage the next generation of Black artists to explore their his tory and understand the strides that have been made for the Black commu nity. The groundwork laid by JAM and other galleries such as the WeusiNyum ba Ya Sanaa Gallery and Studio Museum in Harlem has brought forward motion and forward-think more info.

OCT 21–22

EMMET COHEN TRIO AND FRIENDS

Pianist and unrivaled improviser Emmet Cohen puts his inspired trio at the service of veteran singer Mary Stallings, up-and-comer Lucy Yeghiazaryan, and revered pianist-singer Johnny O’Neal in this Singers Over Manhattan series season opener.

WHO IS CHARLES MINGUS?

This fall’s family concert explores composer-bassist-bandleader Charles Mingus, whose sophisticated, socially conscious, and theatrical music has a colorful, playful nature that will draw in listeners of all ages, hosted by award-winning bassist Endea Owens

SHADES OF DJANGO WITH STÉPHANE WREMBEL

A musical celebration created by acclaimed French-born guitarist and composer Stéphane Wrembel featuring special guests Sam Bush and Cyrille Aimee. From swing to bebop, impressionism to New Orleans jazz, Shades of Django pays tribute to the many facets of legendary musician Django Reinhardt.

STEVE MILLER ON STEVE

Steve Miller returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center for his annual concert celebrating his heroes from the great blues music highway and how they influenced his own music. Steve Miller on Steve Miller: A Blues and Rock & Roll Journey will feature members of the Steve Miller Band and special guests from the JALC musical family.

“Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces” by Linda Goode Bryant, Thomas J. Lax (editor), Lilia Rocio Taboada (editor), Thelma Golden (interviewer), Eric Booker (contributor), Brandon Eng (contributor), Kellie Jones (contributor), Yelena Keller (contributor), Marielle Ingram (contributor), Legacy Russell (contributor)

‘Death of a Salesman’ brings B’way brillianceto an astronomical level

By LINDA ARMSTRONG Special to the AmNews

I have never been so moved in the the ater! I tell you all, I saw history being made as “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller was mounted with its first Black cast in starring roles in the history of Broad way! “Death of a Salesman,” done from a Black family perspective, takes Broad way BRILLIANCE to an astronomical level at the Hudson Theatre. The classic play about salesman Willy Loman, and his family—wife Linda and adult sons Biff and Happy—watching his emotional and mental deterioration, profoundly demon strates the feeling of failure that a Black man can feel when his dreams for himself and his children don’t come true. British director Miranda Cromwell lets the audi ence know, from the very first moments, that this play has a Black focus. Opening with gospel music strains, the play utilizes this music throughout, to soothe Willy and to dramatize moments, and then bring things full circle with more gospel towards the end for a sense of continuity.

Wendell Pierce delivers Willy Loman with every fiber of his being! He takes us on an emotionally crazed journey of a man on the verge of desperation. He takes us through tremendous highs and lows. He talks about being so tired when driv ing back from Yonkers that he forgot he

was driving. He is tired of being a sales man who no one knows anymore. He is no longer welcome when he comes to call—he’s ignored. You see Willy’s depres sion, fatigue, and mental illness as he re calls memories from his past with his sons, mostly focusing on Biff’s accom plishments as captain of his high school football team and how everyone looked up to Biff as a leader. Everyone knows that something is seriously wrong with Willy.

Sharon D Clarke as Linda Loman is a powerhouse and a tour-de-force. She takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride that will have you gripped with emotion. You will have tears streaming down your face as you hear her implore Biff and Happy to help Willy. As the matriarch, she has taken on the role of attempting to unite the family, but the relationships be tween Willy and his sons are too dam aged. She goes into protective mode for Willy, but his state of mind is beyond her healing.

Clarke masterfully gives us those heart pounding moments of disgust, disap pointment and anger, anger that was wellfounded against two ungrateful sons.

Khris Davis is stunning as Biff. His best years were in high school; he can’t amount to the man his father wanted him to be.

Biff has a pivotal moment that happened between him and Willy in the past, that changed the course of his life and to which cannot let go. Davis lets you see the conflict

that this character experiences. He needs his father to drop the high expectations he has of him, but Willy won’t do that.

McKinley Belcher III is riveting as Happy, the younger son who lives in the shadow of Biff. He was always ignored by Willy, so he’s always trying to get his ac knowledgement and approval.

Happy has no problem lying to Willy about his business success and future plans, just to try to give him a moment of fake joy. But when the truth comes out he backs away.

Andre De Shields gives a sterling perfor mance as Ben. There is a certain charm, elegance and sophistication that goes with this veteran thespian of over 50 years and he brings it all to this role.

This is one play where the supporting cast are absolutely phenomenal. Del aney Williams as Willy’s only friend Char ley, brings a great deal of patience and compassion to the play. Charley helps Willy financially, but is also someone that Willy is jealous of, but he stays true to his friend. Stephen Stocking as Ber nard, Charley’s smart son and a friend and tutor to Biff, gives a delightful perfor mance. Chelsea Lee Williams plays mul tiple roles and adds an element of humor to the play. The rest of this capable cast includes Lynn Hawley, Blake DeLong and Grace Porter. Although “Death of a Sales man” is set in 1949, Brooklyn, it is a story

that is very relevant today. I think anyone sitting in the theater can identify with what Willy and his family went through.

“Death of a Salesman” is as good as it gets for a remarkable drama on Broadway. I cannot stress this enough—go and see it!!!

For tickets and more info, visit www.salesmanonbroadway.com

Sharon D Clarke in “Death of a Salesman”

Wendell Pierce and Sharon D Clarke in a scene from “Death of a Salesman” (Joan Marcus photos)

Khris Davis, Wendell Pierce, Sharon D Clarke and McKinley Belcher III in “Death of a Salesman”

Stars of Broadway’s ‘Salesman’ in conversation at the Schomburg

92NY Center For Culture & Arts, in a co-presentation with NYPL’s Schomburg Center, recently hosted the stars of the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” Wendell Pierce (Willy Loman) and André De Shields (Ben Loman) discussed the play’s legacy and their new production alongside its director, Miranda Cromwell, in a talk moderated by Salamishah Tillet. The free event took place at the Schomburg Center.

“So many of the elements of the play are fundamentally question ing of the American dream, and when you put that through the perspective of the Black experi ence, that enriches it,” said Crom well. “The obstacles are harder, the stakes become higher.”

(Isseu Diouf Campbell photos)

AACM, BREATHE, JAZZ FOR LUNCH, ‘THE CONDUCTOR’

Association for the Advance ment of Creative Musicians (ACCM) founded in 1965 (by pi anist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drum mer Steve McCall, and compos er Phil Cohranis) is the most adventurous organization of mu sicians on the planet. Their music is called avant-garde which is cool, everything must be catego rized for American consumption but mostly it is music of indepen dent thought, an organic response to life’s experiences still fighting to be free.

On Oct. 15, take a journey with the orchestra of the S.E.M. En semble, as conductor Peter Kotik performs the music of the world renowned AACM New York City Chapter, Inc. Composers: Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams, Thurman Barker, Adegoke Steve Colson, Leonard E. Jones, George E. Lewis, Amina Claudine Myers, and Henry Threadgill with special guest 2022 NYSCA Composers Commission recipient master percussionist Thurman Barker at the DiMenna Center for classical music at 450 West 37th St. (between 9th and 10th Avenues), 7 p.m.-10 p.m.

Be ready for a most invigorat ing evening. Don’t be afraid, yes avant-garde goes beyond the pe rimeters of jazz, it is a diverse form of expression that encompasses the body of Black music with the African diaspora from the in and out of now and beyond.

For tickets visit the website AACM-NewYork.com. Note to those attending: Must wear a mask and show proof of vaccina tion and ID to enter.

FREE music every Wednesday (Oct. 5-May 31, 2023) at the In terchurch Center at 61 Clare mont Avenue (120th Street-119th Street). No reservations required just show up and enjoy the music. The weekly programs range from string quartets to woodwind en sembles to jazz, vocal soloists to choirs and emerging artists to es tablished professionals. The pro grams last one-half hour (12:05 p.m.-12:35 p.m.). After the music lunch can be purchased on the lower level.

Upcoming concerts will include Oct. 19 City Winds Trio (Flute, Oboe, & Bassoon), Oct. 26 the

baritone Russell Saint John. For a complete schedule visit the web site theinterchurchcenter.org. This program is a co-partnership with Jazzmobile.

On Oct. 16 (3 p.m.), com munity activist and jazz war rior trombonist and composer Craig Harris is returning to Har lem’s historical Mt. Olivet Baptist Church (201 Lenox Ave.) with the return of BREATHE. A free con cert comprised of over 20 musi cians with “a powerful love-filled sonic statement” in response to the long-term and current in justices inflicted upon African American people. BREATHE— conceived by Harris who is known as a “sonic shaman,” is a remind er for the community to remain resilient in fighting for justice. It is a statement that echoes every day “BREATHE beyond bondage, beyond brutality, beyond bigotry!”

BREATHE premiered in Harlem on Oct. 16, 2016, with an ensemble of nearly 50 musicians. In January 2017, Harris presented BREATHE at the 13th annual Winter JazzFest in New York City and later that year BREATHE was performed at the Outreach Festival in Schwaz, Austria. Most recently, BREATHE was performed at Brooklyn Botan ic Garden in 2021 and at the River to River Festival in Manhattan in 2022. Harris gives insight into the history of the work, “When Fer guson happened and Michael Brown was killed—if Amiri Baraka was alive I would have gotten that call. If my friend, Sekou Sundia ta was here, I would have gotten that call. What are WE going to

do? I had thought for a long time about what to do, then I saw Eric Garner on the ground saying, “I can’t breathe” and it hit me AHA!

The whole concept of playing brass and woodwind instruments is that you must breathe; it’s es sential. The breath is essential to everything. BREATHE is about the ancient contemporary sonic of ferings we play, which will inspire one to only accept social justice… past, present, and future.”

Craig is a 2022 NAACP Image Award nominee for his co-compo sition of the score for “Judas and the Black Messiah” (the Oscarwinning film). His newly released CD, “Managing the Mask,” is avail able on Bandcamp and all digital music platforms. This latest re lease is another example of Harris’ music that grabs the soul. All 13 tracks are filled with, as Harris says, “righteous music, great Black music/ yes the world can really use it.” The CD opens with those

song lyrics titled “Deep Thought”

as Harris lends his vocals to this funky “real feeling music.”

This ensemble of big deal brass and percussion sections boasts an all-star cast with too many to mention here, some playing multiple instruments. “Take the time, to be kind/help someone in a bind” sings Harris on this midtempo arrangement. “Wild seed” is an integration of flow ing trumpets, flutes, bass clarinet swinging throughout with Harris’ trombone doing damage in and out of spaces. “Song for a Friend” and “Harlem Village” and two fiery ballads. The final tune “The Mask” is a somber romping swing er with trumpet flying high over keyboards and drums as Harris comes in over drums and hittin’ cymbals. The album is an assort ment of inventive arrangements and assorted musical ingredients that add to colorful textures and tones that combine like a pow

erful rainbow. “We managed the mask because we were commit ted in unity to using music to deal with the virus,” said Harris in his liner notes. The trombonist is a liberated progressor whose musi cal journeys consistently takes un expected turns.

The award-winning novel ist, playwright, and poet Ishmael Reed’s works regardless of writ ten pages or stage performance reflect the creative aggressiveness of a Cecil Taylor solo. Reed’s latest play, “The Con ductor,” demonstrates that Blacks and whites are not the only racial groups contributing to the racial divide. The two-act play will be per formed in four live-streamed virtu al readings Oct. 13-15 at 8 p.m., and on Oct. 16 a matinee at 3 p.m. It is hosted by the Theater for the New City (155 First Ave., lower eastside).

Cast for “The Conductor” read ings include Emil Guillermo, Imran Javaid, Tennessee Reed, Laura Ro bards, Monisha Shiva, Brian Sim mons, and Kenya Wilson. The play is directed by Carla Blank, who also directed and choreographed Reed’s play, “The Slave Who Loved Caviar” (December 2021-January 2022). She co-edited the anthol ogy “Bigotry On Broadway” with Reed (Baraka Books, 2021).

“The Conductor” is based upon the recall of three school board members accused of instituting a lottery system that would lead to a more diverse student body at one of San Francisco’s elite high schools. An Anglo-Indian named Shashi Parmar is considered a hero for his leadership of the recall. It is then revealed that he might be working for a firebrand Indian prime minister who is an ti-American.

The San Francisco recall elec tion pitted Asians against Asians, Blacks, and Latinos, a divide and conquer event manipulated by billionaires and enforced by those who doxxed the three school board members with threats to them and members of their families.

For those on the East Coast who may not be aware, the recall actu ally did happen in San Francisco.

“The Conductor” is Reed’s satirical production of the situation that is totally not in step with the general media. No, Reed is our media in stigator, our writer producer, radio announcer, TV reporter, who tells the painful truth, the real deal, the sho’ nuff. For tickets call 212-2541109; tickets are $18.

Craig Harris (Mundi-Joe Tilburg, The Netherlands https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Craig_Harris.jpg),

„Craig Harris“,

(Ron Scott photo)

gardless I must do better.”

The same could be said for what was missing from Will Smith’s apology. But there are so many other examples of ath letes behaving poorly. And al though these are not examples of violence, in our communi ties the same expressions and actions can lead to violence based on what is perceived as disrespect. Tampa Bay Bucca neers wide receiver, Antonio Brown, in a disagreement with his coach about his playing, de cides to take off his shirt, walk off the field and abandon his team. Brooklyn Nets Forward Kevin Durant tweeted, “This [expletive] stinks.” This was re garding a tweet of a high school player’s basketball skill. LeBron James was fined for using what is referred to as the big ball dance, in which he suggestive ly grabs his private parts in cel ebration during a game. And New York Knicks owner Julius Randolph, in an act of frus tration, told fans to shut the f**k up. These are a few exam ples. It makes it harder for our children to teach citizenship, cooperation, dignity, and stew ardship when this is considered acceptable behavior. I total ly understand that these are high-pressure sports and yes people will say and do things in the heat of the moment. My greater concern is the response of the players and the public when this happens. These are missed opportunities for teachable moments. I am also not suggesting that the vio lence in our community comes from watching athletes behave poorly, but that does not mean we should cosign it either.

Magic Johnson once said: “I have to tell you, I’m proudest of my life off the court. There will always be great basketball players who bounce that little round ball, but my proudest moments are affecting people’s lives, effecting change, being a role model in the community.”

This is the definition of a pro fessional, not the skill level or how much you get paid but your professional persona off the court. In any business, you represent your company on and off the clock. No clear er example of this is seen than in professional sports. Top-ti er athletes get paid millions

of dollars, not just for their skills but for their image, likeli ness, style, and ultimately their brand. In the world of social media, this cannot be under scored. To reach the level of a superstar in the NBA, NFL or MLB is extremely rare. It is a privilege. Charles Barkley once infamously said, “I am not a role model.” What Bark ley didn’t realize was that it is not up to him whether he sees himself as a role model or not. That is not his decision. People choose their role models. Be cause of this, athletes have a responsibility to their fans and those who follow them to con duct themselves in a manner that is consistent with citizen ship and professionalism and be aware of the message we send to our young people.

I happen to be a fan of these athletes. They entertain us with their talent which is a result of their hard work, ethic, disci pline, and practice. But to be a professional these qualities must transcend beyond the court. Sports has a unique op portunity to provide an exam ple of how we are flawed but we must learn from it. A great deal of the violence that we are seeing on our subways stems from arguments and disagree ments, or someone was pushed or shoved. No matter what your economic status is, people ex perience the same frustrations. Our sports heroes are no differ ent. We cringe when they cross the line into felonies and hei nous crimes, but we look the other way when the root of that behavior is evident. The men tality is, “As long as my team is winning.” If you are one of the privileged sports figures who are fortunate enough to make a living doing what you love, then help us put sports manship back into sports and let our children believe in not just your skills but also your character.

Dr. Clarence Williams Jr. is a retired assistant superinten dent in the New York city public school system. He holds a doctor ate in Educational Leadership, a master’s in education adminis tration, and a master’s in mul ticultural education.Williams Jr. has a K-12 license in special ed ucation and educational leader ship, has worked as an educator and leader in the public school system for over 30 years and is an Assistant Professor.

Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces

Space for art for community to create to debate to experiment to be Black to jam for action

Learn more and book tickets at moma.org/jam

THE

CLASSROOM

Charles Fuller, a playwright interested in the complexity of Black life

appointing and at least one review found him lacking any real talent as a playwright.

Despite the rejection, he was undaunted and by the 1970s he settled in New York, and the famed Negro Ensemble Company ac cepted and four year later staged his drama “In the Deepest Part of Sleep” and in 1976 opened its 10th anniversary season with his play “The Brownsville Raid,” which was based on an incident in which Black soldiers were unfairly ac cused and convicted of a shooting in the Texas city. It was a story of racial in justice that won Fuller great admiration and re views, though it reached beyond just dealing with racial injustice.

By HERB BOYD Special to the AmNews

Most mainstream news outlets who chose to publish an obitu ary of Charles Fuller, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, focused on his plays with no mention of his novella “Snatch: The Adven tures of David and Me in Old New York.” This book was published in 2010, his first venture in writing a children’s book and fulfilling a long ago promise he made to his two sons.

But it was “A Soldier’s Play,” among his dozen or so plays, that brought him the attention that came a generation after struggling to find a footing on Broadway. In fact, at the very beginning of his career, his first play received such negative reviews that it almost discouraged him from attempt ing any more. As you can see he endured and succeeded famously.

Born Charles H. Fuller Jr. on March 5, 1939, in Philadelphia, he

was the son of a father who was a printer and a mother a homemak er. He continued his education at Roman Catholic High School, and attended his first play at the Walnut Street Theater, a Yiddish production. While he didn’t under stand the play or the language, it sparked his interest in the theater.

Before joining the Army, he studied at Villanova Universi ty for two years. After four years in the military, including stints in Japan and South Korea, he re turned to his hometown and took night classes at LaSalle College (now University), while work ing as housing inspector for the city. It was in 1968, as the Black Arts Movement flourished, that he and some friends founded the Afro-American Arts Theater in Philadelphia. They were faced with the dilemma of having no resident playwright when Fuller volunteered to fill the role. “The Village: A Party” was his initial step into the field but it was dis

“Zooman and the Sign” (1982) which preceded his widely acclaimed “A Soldier’s Play,” was another of his plays staged Off-Broadway by the Negro Ensemble Company, and delved once more into the com plexity of Black and white charac ters. The filmed version, renamed “A Soldier’s Story,” was directed by Norman Jewison, featuring Denzel Washington, who had starred in the theater version, and David Alan Grier, and a deeply moving performance by Adolph Caesar. It received three Oscar Nomina tions in 1984, including one for the screenplay done by Fuller.

It finally made it to Broadway in 2020 by the Roundabout Theater with a cast that included Grier and Blair Underwood. And Grier won a Tony for best actor in a featured role in a play. The play was classified as a “classic” according to Tony rules and thereby eligible for awards in the revival category though it had never been on Broadway.

In an interview Fuller explained his approach to playwriting, noting, “In the 1960s and early

’70s, Black plays were directed at whites. They were primarily con frontational pieces, whose major concern was to address racism and white-Black relationships in the country. Now we are more concerned with examining our selves, with looking at our own situations—historically in many instances. We are seeing characters who are more complex, one who has bad qualities as well as good ones.” Caesar’s role in “A Soldier’s Story,” is a good example of this complexity where a Black charac ter is, in effect, the problem.

In the 1980s, Fuller moved to To ronto, no longer excited about living in New York City and he was there when he died on Oct. 3. He was 83.

Fuller, given the extensive re search he did on New York’s histo ry during the Civil War era, could be defined as a historian. His no vella “Snatch,” though a work of fiction, is loaded with tons of fac tual individuals and incidents. He had promised the book to Charles III and David Ira Fuller 50 years prior, but, as he explained in the book’s afterword, “but my life as a playwright was moving forward, I did not find the time or make time to keep the promise.” But, at last, he finished it, and it’s a book that reads so cinematically that a film version of it could be easily done.

On several occasions, Fuller re marked on his early years coming of age in Philadelphia, and noted that “I grew up in a project in a neighborhood where people shot each other, where gangs fought each other. Not white people— Black people, where the idea of who was the best, toughest, was part of life. We have a his tory that’s different from a lot of people, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t cheat on each other, kill each other, love each other, marry each other, do all that, things that, really, people anywhere in the world do.”

And this complex and often complicated way of life was sharp ly distilled in many of his plays.

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

The New York Times, Washington Post, and nearly every major daily posted an obituary on the talented writer.

DISCUSSION

We were unable to find more information about his departure from the U.S. to live in Canada.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Fuller had an abiding interest in the 1860s but it was the 1960s where he made his mark as a play wright interested in the complexity of Black char acters.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

Oct. 9. 1944: Singer Nona Hendryx, part of LaBelle, was born in Trenton, N.J.

Oct. 9, 1960: Saxo phonist and composer Kenny Garrett was born in Detroit.

Oct. 10, 1917: Jazz im mortal Thelonious Monk was born in Rocky Mount, N.C. He died in 1982.

Charles Fuller with his book

The

CLUW

Congratulations to our President

And our Treasurer

The Women Leaders of Color from our National Officers Council

Carolyn Burton, TWU; Adriana De La Cruz, IATSE; Tarn Goelling, IBEW; Jennifer L. Grigsby, AFGE; Crystal Herrera, IBEW; Angela W. Johnson, UFCW; Shyla La ‘Sha, SAG-AFTRA; Ashley Lewis, UAW; Karen Bellamy Lewis, IFPTE; Audrey Medley, UMWA; Silvia J. Ramos, CWA; Rachel Walthall, AFWU; Angel Savoy ATU; Shelvy Young Abrams, AFT; Lisa C. Blake, OPEIU

Education

City’s ‘College Choice’ program to cover school costs for students in foster care

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

Mayor Eric Adams is being praised for his innovative financial support program, College Choice, which will provide college students in foster care with a daily stipend and remaining costs of college tu ition—up to $15,000 each year.

College Choice builds off a promise to improve the city’s edu cation system on all fronts, similar to Adams’ fortifying the Fair Fu tures program to include youth in foster care from ages 21 to 26. All full-time college students in foster care will be eligible for the benefits as long as they have applied for fi nancial aid, maintain a 2.0 grade point average, and participate in any academic support programs, said the mayor’s office.

“I realized how we have aban doned young people that are in foster care and I was focused and my North Star was to see a pro gram like this,” said Adams at a presser on Oct. 4.

About 230 young people current ly in the city’s foster care system will benefit this upcoming school year from College Choice. Accord ing to city stats, there are 7,111 children in foster care as of De cember 2021.

The average school attendance rate for foster care children who are 16-20 years old is 58% over all. In the 2019-2020 school year there were 252 foster care youth enrolled in public high schools. Most were identified as 17-yearold Black females at graduation. In the 2020-2021 school year there were 2,155 foster care youth enrolled in public high schools. Again, primarily Black and Latina girls ages 16-18 years old were on track to graduate.

“In order to help those who are going through a lot, we must have leaders who have gone through a lot. And they personify that in a very real way. The dollars that we are allocating to pay tuition, to give money in their pockets to pay for the necessary necessities they need while going to college, and then not just having a cliff once

they reach the end of their college life, we have a bridge to allow them to transition into making some of the important decisions that are needed,” continued Adams.

Adams said he was pleased that the city could put the dollars in to make sure that the program is funded properly. College Choice is estimated to cost the city about $10 million. Certain benefits will be covered by the Administration for Children’s Services, such as tu ition and fees, room and board, and a stipend of $60 per day to cover food and other expenses while attending school. The sti pend is available for students up to six months after graduation from college, said the mayor’s office.

Students, under The Dorm Proj ect, have the option of living in res idence halls if attending in-person or online classes in the city. If out side the city, they can live in hous ing sponsored by that college or off-campus private housing. These

options are similarly offered with the College Choice program.

“With the Dorm Project, I was able to pursue my dual bache lor’s and master’s degrees without having to worry about my finan cial situation. I was really able to just focus on my goals and my studies. The College Choice pro gram is now a resource available to all youth in care if they choose to pursue higher education,” said Sanjida Afruz, student participant in College Choice at City College.

“The College Choice program es sentially says that young people in foster care can and should dream big. With time and evident passion from people, like Mayor Adams and Commissioner Dannhaus er, we are seeing changes that we have advocated for, and it makes me happier than ever.”

The City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez commended the Col lege Choice program. He said

a college degree is a major step toward upward mobility and eco nomic freedom, but it is often out of reach for students because they can’t pay for costs not covered by financial aid. He’s proud that the city is providing a financial path way for young people in foster care to pay for tuition, room and board costs, and other essentials, like food and transportation.

“These young people shouldn’t have to go hungry or build debt to attend college,” said Rodríguez in a statement. “More than half of the students benefiting from Col lege Choice this academic year are attending a CUNY college and we are grateful to Mayor Adams for helping these young people get the support they need to achieve their educational dreams.”

Assemblymember Nikki Lucas spoke on her full support of the program and how it will assist stu dents in foster care in her district in East New York, Brooklyn.

“Unfortunately, there is a dis proportionate number of stu dents in foster care in my district, which makes the ‘College Choice’ program even more important for students in the 60th Assembly District,” said Lucas. “The program gives students an opportunity to go to college with a little less stress in their lives. This program might be the difference we need to have more students continue their ed ucation on the college level. Now we have to provide the outreach to get the information to the students who are eligible.”

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

Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Commissioner Jess Dannhauser announce “College Choice,” a program that will provide college students in foster care with greater support systems, including financial support, so they can attend the college of their dreams without having to worry about the hefty price tag. City College, The Ballroom, Manhattan. Tuesday, October 4, 2022. (Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office photo)

Religion & Spirituality

Former NY Urban League President Darwin Davis funeralized in Harlem

Darwin Davis, the former presi dent of the New York Urban League, passed away on September 25, 2022. The former activist and nation-

building Pan Africanist who also went by the name Kamau, was born in Maryland, but grew up and worked in the New York area, until he passed

away in his home in New Jersey. His viewing and funeral was held on Wednesday, October 12, at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church. A memo

rial is scheduled for the Schomburg Center in a couple of weeks. The Am sterdam News will bring full coverage at that time.

(New York Urban League photo)

Harlem

advocacy, particularly to challenge the overcrowding factor and providing repre sentation consistent with the background of the patients. Monique Hardin-Cordero, who has spent a generation in the health care industry and is director of program at the National Kidney Foundation, and recruited to the panel at the last minute, observed that “we have to galvanize our re sources” in order to deal with an expand ing agenda of challenges.

Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Strategic Initiatives, spearheaded the panel on “Jus tice and Public Safety, and the Rev. Fred Davie of the Union Theological Seminary, emphasized that “trust” is the basic ingre dient between the police and the commu nity. “Racial bias and prejudice were at the heart of the mayor’s report in 1936,” he said, and one of the remedies today can be facilitated through the community boards and “investigations initiated by the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board.” The panel’s objective was right in Dr. Bruce Western’s bailiwick, where he is the direc tor of the justice lab at Columbia Univer sity. Central to his discussion was the issue of economic poverty and he concluded that much of that is systemic and “related to the history of racial segregation.” For all the good and solid advice, Iesha Sekou, a community activist, and founder of Street Corner Resources, insisted that “We have to get beyond talk…action is necessary. And we have to create forums where our young people can speak on violence and their backgrounds.”

She did not cite the 1936 report but it was a young person, Lino Rivera, a Black Latino, who was arrested and from which a false rumor circulated that he had been beaten in the basement of a department store, setting off the disturbance. Police re lations to the community were crucial to remarks by Flores A. Forbes, adjunct associ ate professor Graduate School of Architec ture Planning & Preservation at Columbia University, and former member of the Black Panther Party, highlighting conditions that were true in the 1930s and 30 years later. “We were living under terror then and during the ’60s,” he said, and the terror continues said Mia White, an assistant pro fessor of environmental studies at the New School. White also noted the infrastructur al similarities that existed in the 1930s and today, much of which pivoted on housing and land use, the topic of the panel.

The panel was moderated by Marco Car rion, executive director of El Puente, and included Wallace L. Ford II, professor of public administration at Medgar Evers Col lege, and Sideya Sherman, commissioner, Mayor’s Office of Equity, who underscored the housing problems. For Ford a plan of collaborative development was essential in the quest of affordable housing and “elect ed officials must be held accountable,” he said. Sherman said public housing was one

of the developments out of the riot, “but there has been a steady decline nowadays in public housing.” And many of the points they made were put forth in the opening plenary by Dr. Shango Blake, co-director of NYC Speaks, and the son of distinguished educators; by William Rodgers III, vice pres ident and director of the Institute of Eco nomic Equity, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; and Professor Cheryl Greenberg, Paul E. Raether distinguished professor of history at Trinity College. Economic wealth disparity was a central concern for Rodgers and it tied in directly to Dr. Blake’s remarks about the continuing problem of system ic racism. Greenberg, as she did so well in her book “Or Does It Explode?” recounted again the issues that encumbered Harlem during the Depression and the riots.

Black women in education played a prominent role in the report—though were generally ignored—said Dr. Ansley Erick son, associate professor of history and edu cation policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, and she evoked such memora ble teachers and activists as Gertrude Ayer, Ella Baker, and Hubert Harrison but “basi cally very little has changed,” she lamented. City College Professor Terri Watson echoed Erickson’s comments in her role as mod erator on the “Education and Recreation,” panel, that included Dr. Basil Smikle, a noted scholar and political commentator and Dr. John Reddick of the Harlem Focus Series. Both picked up on Watson’s notion about the absences of “Black agency” as an important lesson to be learned from the report and today. Smikle had some signif icant advice about independent schools, a topic close to his heart given his role in the founding of the Eagle Academy. Reddick’s experience and service on Cityscape reso nated on his discussion about the need for recreational outlets to curb discrimination and violence.

Glenn Hunter, co-founder and co-direc tor of Harlem Archives, had the unenvi able job of summarizing the conference, which he did succinctly and insightfully, moving meticulous through each panel, where the through line was racism and discrimination. “We must make a serious investment in our young people,” he said toward the end of his remarks. Deputy Mayor Wright in her closing remarks posed a very interesting question, “Have we moved the needle forward?”

It has taken nearly a century to get to that question and there is still much work to be done to rectify and to improve on all the issues raised at this very informative daylong conference. Even with the tech nological advances at our disposal, the need to share the long ago report was less than perfect with those online unable to have the chat room and closed captions available. Perhaps these problems, like those discussed at the conference, will be resolved in the next 86 years.

Randall’s Island

temporary housing environment would be difficult to live in sur rounded by water on the East River.

“These tent camps they’re trying to set up on Randall’s Island don’t meet requirements. They’re not safe. They’re not warm. They’re also located in a completely inac cessible place,” said Younus.

Younus said that there’s a rich history of refugees settling into cities upstate, like Utica, N.Y. But more coordination is needed be tween all government authorities.

Councilmembers urged Mayor Adams to consider indoor loca tions to more “humanely” pro vide emergency relief and intake services to people seeking asylum. They suggested 10 large-scale hotels in Manhattan that are cur rently closed and might have better space for people. They said there are over 70 additional closed

Protest

I was able to go to my local grocery store or Costco or BJs and get things that were on sale. Now we have to go through these approved vendors.”

She isn’t shy about how she’s on public assistance. Vendors do not accept food stamps. Hansen says in the past, she could fill a 35 pound package to the brim for roughly $120. She recently paid a third-par ty vendor $236 to ship 11 pounds of food to her husband, Kristian. In a statement, he said these packages

hotels, such as the Gramercy Park Hotel, that could be converted to supportive housing.

“While an emergency relief center providing more effective intake services for asylum seek ers than the Port Authority makes sense, neither outdoor locations of Orchard Beach nor Randall’s Island are adequate,” said Speak er Adams. “There are better op tions that New York City should explore to provide healthier and safer conditions for people who have already experienced so much trauma.”

Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas along with Sen ators Jessica Ramos and Gustavo Rivera and Councilmember Sha hana Hanif jointly penned a letter to Mayor Adams adding that he should move away from the Ran dall’s Island idea. They suggest

are the regular highlight of his life time sentence in Sullivan Correc tional Facility.

“I’ve been incarcerated since I was 20 years old and each month my family shares their support and love with a care package for me,” he said. “This ban takes away the only ray of sunshine I have while I’m here. I depend on fresh fruits and vegetables to maintain my health and this will drastically impact my ability to stay healthy as I age.”

Access to healthy food for incar cerated loved ones is one of the pri mary objectives for the rallies, says Hansen. Her husband only makes $17.11 every two weeks working in

ed using union hotel rooms, the Jacob Javits Center, and working to decrease the average length of shelter stays in the city.

On Oct. 7, Mayor Eric Adams declared the situation an official state of emergency that would re quire state and federal help. It in cluded an emergency executive order to construct the city’s relief centers. The city projects costs of more than $1 billion to support asylum seekers that need “ex pedited work permits, a nation al decompression strategy, and a resettlement strategy” in the coming months, said the mayor.

“This is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and in stability in South America, and it is being accelerated by American political dynamics,” said Mayor Adams. “Thousands of asylum seekers have been bused into New York City and simply dropped off without notice, coordination of care and more are arriving every day. This crisis is not of our own

prison. And she says his first and fif teenth is actually considered high for someone incarcerated. But if inflation is already bad outside of prison, then costs are skyrocket ing inside the commissary. Hansen says a stick of deodorant jumped from roughly $3 to almost $7. A jar of mayo is $4 and a loaf of bread is $5. No financial wizard is going to budget those costs with around $17 a paycheck.

But beyond the costs, there’s sen timental importance to care pack ages. Hansen’s husband thinks of home whenever he takes a bite out of a Snickers or Three Musketeers chocolate bar mailed through.

making, but one that will affect ev eryone in this city, now and in the months ahead.”

Adams said it’s “not lost on” him that cities that Republicans are bussing people to are all under Black leadership. New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago all have Black mayors.

The announcement was made shortly after there was backlash to the mayor’s relocation plan for the relief centers.

Younus said the mayor’s decla ration is a “great step” but the re ality is that the city hadn’t invested in the shelter system in decades.

City council also wanted to im plement solutions to reduce the lengthy stays in its homeless shel ters that have historically strained the system. They’re urging for more permanent affordable hous ing. For the first time, Adams ac knowledged the suggestion and concurred.

“Our city is grappling with a homelessness crisis exacerbated

by an international emergency that we did not create but demands ef fective and compassionate re sponses,” said Speaker Adams.

Additional reporting contributed by Tandy Lau.

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 sto ries like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https:// tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News.

Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing sto ries like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https:// tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

“It made me feel good knowing that he had something because he has had everything taken away from him—and rightfully so, people have to pay the price for the crimes they committed, and they need to be held accountable,” said Hansen.

She adds the ban just ultimate ly doesn’t make sense, although she understands the DOCCS’ need to prevent contraband from coming in.

“I just don’t see what good it does, taking this away, putting more strain on the families out here like myself, who was basically doing my time on the outside,” said Hansen.

“I’m barely holding it together for my girls and I, so we really have to

get our voices heard, because these men and women have been si lenced. And we have to give them a voice.

“We have to stand up for what’s right, for human dignity. And we have to take care of ourselves, the families and the activists too.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for Ameri ca corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://ti nyurl.com/fcszwj8w

subsequent release of repeat offend ers during the briefing.

commit grand larceny, but the most common one is the theft of proper ty valued at more than $1,000.”

Both Corey and Sewell blamed re cidivism, claiming a small minority of New Yorkers drive crime and vi olence in New York City. Bail reform was largely not mentioned by name, but the police chiefs frequently brought up the recurring arrests and

New Jersey

and justice have made it a leader in youth justice reform,” said Plat

A 13.2% reduction in gun violence was also reported last month, along with a 7.4% increase in citywide gun arrests. The NYPD reports over 5,600 firearms seized this year. 2022 gun arrests are at record highs not seen since 27 years ago.

Additionally, the NYPD identi fied youth gun violence as a growing citywide issue. According to Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri, 10% of shooting victims and 13% of those arrested for shootings

kin. “From our partnerships that expand preventative and diversion ary programs throughout New Jersey’s communities, to funding communitybased providers in a way that ensures equity, to identifying the most appro

are under 18 years old this year. And 15% of minors arrested with a gun go on to commit a shooting.

In August, similar trends of fewer murders and shootings but higher overall crime were reported by the NYPD. In mid-September, Sewell and Mayor Eric Adams revealed they were prioritizing violent crime prevention during an appearance on “GMA3: What You Need to Know.” And took credit for the decrease in gun vio lence while blaming the increase of general crime on a lack of coopera tion from fellow city officials.

priate out-of-home placements and rehabilitative settings for each young person, changes continue to be made to enhance a system that expands op portunities for growth and success.”

In addition to the proposed amend

“The commissioner was laser-fo cused on violent crimes, laser-fo cused,” said Adams during the interview. “And at the same time, predatory crimes. When the com missioner came in January and when I became the mayor in Janu ary, we looked at the team—judges, prosecutors, lawmakers—and we said, ‘Everyone is going to focus on the team together.’

“What we did during the early ’90s, that didn’t happen. Police, highest number of gun arrests, highest number of violent arrests.

ments to N.J.A.C. 13:90, the JJC and the New Jersey Department of Cor rections (DOC) are jointly proposing to readopt with amendments N.J.A.C. 13:91, which regulates the transfer of custody of juveniles waived to adult

We’re doing our job of taking dan gerous people off the streets and taking guns off the streets, but the rest of the team is not playing ball correctly and that is impacting some of our results.”

Tandy Lau is a Report for Ameri ca corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-de ductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

criminal court and currently serv ing their sentences with the JJC. The amendments provide for an excep tion to the current rule requiring youth to be transferred to the DOC when they reach the age of 25.

any way, and don’t want their part ner to interact with law enforce ment out of a genuine fear that the police will kill or shoot them.

NCADV said that 45% of Black women and 40% of Black men ex perience intimate partner violence, intimate partner sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes, a disproportionate ly high rate. NCADV stats estimate that 51.3% of Black adult female homicides are related to intimate partner violence, and about 57% of Black women homicide victims were murdered with the use of a gun between 2003-2014.

“We had a transit cop that was fa tally stabbed by her estranged hus band a couple of months ago, and we had a mom and a 6-year-old killed by their boyfriend and step father. These things are happen ing constantly and as a borough we have to do more,” said Gibson.

The brutal stabbing of Offi cer Arianna Reyes-Gomez, 31, occurred in Melrose on June 14 earlier this year, reported ABC. Reyes-Gomez’s estranged hus band, Argenis Baez, 33, stabbed her to death while she was off-du

ty and was charged with second degree murder, first degree man slaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. There were no prior domestic calls from this couple.

Bronx Community Boards 3 and 6 combined showed 17 intimate part ner homicides in neighborhoods that include Claremont, Crotona Park, Melrose, Morrisania, Bath gate, and Belmont.

Gibson partnered with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office and ad vocates to announce the Domestic Violence Advisory Council on Oct. 1 for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The advisory council in cludes community groups, social services, cops, survivor groups, first responders, and healthcare pro viders that are pooling resources to make it easier for victims to seek and receive help, said Gibson. She said that sometimes people can be “retraumatized” just telling their story, so the advisory council en courages empathy from law en forcement. The advisory council is also adamant about protecting sur vivors’ identities.

New York State Division of Crim inal Justice Services Commissioner Rossana Rosado said that domes tic violence is one of the most chal lenging crimes to address and it is critical that the voices of victims

and survivors of domestic and gen der-based violence be heard.

“I want people to know that we are here to help and love should never hurt. You do not need to be a victim of your circumstances, you can be a victor,” said Gibson. “There is life after you come forward.”

In other boroughs, community groups are doing the crucial work of keeping the spotlight on domestic violence year round. In Harlem this month, WARM, a non-profit organi zation dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence, is organizing a ‘Love on the Block’ series of block parties and virtual workshops with a life coach to empower women and boost their self esteem. They’re capping the programming with a huge women’s march for domestic violence victims and awareness on the issue on Thursday, Oct. 27.

WARM founder Stephanie McGraw, who also is a survivor of domestic violence herself, said that domestic violence is a “silent na tionwide public health crisis” that isn’t being taken nearly as serious ly as it should be because it primar ily affects women, Black and brown women in particular.

“Black and brown women are still disregarded, disrespected and unprotected,” said McGraw. “White women have a different

experience than a Black woman’s so we have some work to do. Still a hidden killer.”

McGraw recalls the death of young mom Azsia Johnson, 20, who was shot in the head at pointblank range in Manhattan in June.

Johnson’s mother told police she was a victim of domestic vio lence and that she feared for her daughter’s life. Johnson had filed in January 2021 reports of abuse and eventually ended up in a do mestic violence shelter with her son when the shooting occurred. Though Johnson’s mother was convinced the father of her child and abuser was responsible, he was not immediately a suspect, according to news outlets.

“Our state has come a long way since the days when my mother advocated for the survivors of do mestic violence, but there is still much work to be done in help ing to put an end to the abuse and suffering that far too many New Yorkers have endured over the years,” said Hochul in a statement.

“Throughout October, we are re minded of the need to continue evolving our approach to domes tic and gender-based violence so that we can best meet the needs of survivors and their families.”

Additionally, state statistics from

the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence said that over 165,000 domestic violence orders of protection were issued in New York State in 2020. The numbers also show that the COVID-19 pan demic “exacerbated domestic vio lence problems.”

Kim Gandy, former CEO of the National Action Network to End Domestic Violence, said that no one is immune from domestic violence. Gandy said it’s not just one incident but a pattern of behavior and abuse to gain power and control over an other person, which is not always just physical abuse. Gandy said that COVID definitely was a diffi cult time for domestic violence sur vivors because of job losses.

“COVID related job losses made it harder than ever to leave an abusive partner and live independently. If you don’t have a job and resources, you can feel trapped,” said Gandy.

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing sto ries like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https:// tinyurl.com/fcszwj8w

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NOTICE OF SALE

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CLASSIFICATIONS

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BASIS OF CHARGE

Charges are based on point size and characters per line. Upon reaching 15 lines the rate converts to column inch. Any deviation from solid composition such as indenta tion, use of white space, bold type, etc., will incur a premium.

Public Notice

The Boys Club of New York is inviting bids for their CACFP Vendor Contract The contract is to serve meals at two centers, one in Manhattan and one in Queens starting in Nove mber 2022. Sealed bids will be received at the admin istrative office of BCNY at 91 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10003 until October 28th 2022. Please contact Mallory Hanna at (212)260-6249 for specifications on the number of breakfast, supper, and snack meals that need to be served and to obtain the IFB. All work will be conducted in strict accordance with bid specifications Bids will be opened on Monday, October 31st at 11am at the adminis trative offices of BCNY located at 91 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10003.

This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy I Charter School Board of Trustees will be held in perso n on Wednesday, October 19th, 2022 at 7:30 am The minutes of the meet ing will be posted on our website at https://hczpromise.org/com munity/board-meeting-doc uments/

This is to announce that the next meeting of the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy II Charter School Board of Trustees will be held in person on Wednesday, October 19th, 2022 at 7:30 am. The minutes of the meeting will be posted on our website at https://hczpromise.org/com munity/board-meeting-doc uments/

101 LEGAL NOTICES

101 LEGAL NOTICES

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

Purpose: The practice of Medicine.

N9363V LLC Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 09/29/22. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served against LLC to: 345 W. 30th St., NY, NY 10001. Purpose: any lawful act.

MTA REAL ESTATE (MTA RE)

Request for Proposals no. BWSW2022: Lease of one retail unit at Stillwell Avenue Terminal Complex in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

Request for Proposals Lease opportunity for Retail, at the MTA Metro North

Railroad (Metro North) Hartsdale and Port Chester train stations Points of Contact: Ira Kerner, 212-984-8081 and Robert Goldberg, 212-878-7035.

More info available at: https://new.mta.info/agency/real-estate/

Ahern Painting Contractors, Inc is seeking DBE Subcon tractor proposals for the Project: “C-34921R Overcoat Painting and Steel Repair of Elevated Structure Williams burg Bridge to Myrtle Avenue Jamaica Line” Please contact Anna at 718-639-5880 for details

Ahern Painting Contractors, Inc is seeking MWBE and SDVOB Subcontractor proposals for the Project: “TN-52 Miscellaneous Structural Re pairs at the Throgs Neck Bridge” Please contact Anna at 718-639-5880 for details

CARALEX PROPERTIES

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

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

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -againstCHARLES LEO FONAROW, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 5, 2022 and entered on April 19, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse locate d on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on November 9th, 2022 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County of New York, City and State of New York, being an undivided ownership interest as tenant-incommon with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the build ing located at 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY; known as The NYH Condominium. Together with an appur tenant undivided 3.1810% common interest percentage. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a timeshare unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accordance with and subject to declarations Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 27, 2003 and November 3, 2003 as CFRN # 2003000442513 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1006 and Lot 1302

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

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

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

HAYLEY GREENBERG, ESQ., Referee

DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

HILTON RESORTS CORPORATION, Plaintiff -againstMICHAEL C. ROGERS, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated April 5, 2022 and entered on April 19, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse locate d on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on November 2nd, 2022 at 2:15 p.m. an undivided ownership interest as tenant in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit in the building located at 102 West 57th Street, New York, NY To gether with an undivided 009864% interest in the common el ements. This a foreclosure on ownership interest in a time share unit, a studio penthouse on a floating use basis every year, in accor dance with and subject to declarations. Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions dated October 10, 2008 and October 31, 2008 as CFRN # 2008000426142 as recorded in the Office of the City Register, County, City and State of New York The Timeshare Unit is also designated as Block 1009 and Lots 37 and 39.

REFEREE WILL NOT ACCEPT CASH AS A DEPOSIT OR PAYMENT, ONLY BANK OR CERTIFIED FUNDS WILL BE ACCEPTED

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

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and so cial distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the so cial distancing mandat e will be removed from the auction.

Said premises known as undivided ownership interest as tenant-in-common with other owners in the Timeshare Unit at 102 WEST 57TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY Approximate amount of lien $29,976.06 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale Index Number 850105/2020

Notice of Formation of JOSHUA PERLMAN & AS SOCIATES LLP Art. Of Org. filed with SSNY on 4/12/22. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 20 W 64th Street, Apt 12N, New York, New York, 10023. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice is hereby given that an On-Premises Liquor License for beer, wine and spirits has been applied for by the undersigned to permit the sale of beer, wine and spirits at re tail rates for on-premises consumption (bar) at MT 181 Waverly LLC located at 150 West 10 th Street, New York, NY 10014 under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law MT 181 Waverly LLC

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

Purpose: any lawful act.

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

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

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

DC TERRA VILLAGE LLC

Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/27/2022 Office Location: NY County. SSNY des ignated as agent upon whom process may be served against LLC to: 91 Leonard St., 6G, NY, NY 10013. Reg.

Agent: US Corp. Agents Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste. 202, Bklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act.

BRUCE N. LEDERMAN, ESQ., Refere e DRUCKMAN LAW GROUP PLLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 242 Drexel Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590

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

COVID CO2 Tracker, LLC

Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/6/2022. Office location: NY County SSNY designated as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 315 E 69th St., Apt. 9JK, NY, NY 10021.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

DAVIDSON CAPITAL LLC

Arts of Org. filed with SSNY on 05/27/2022 Office Location: NY County. SSNY des ignated as agent upon whom process may be served against LLC to: 91 Leonard St., 6G, New York, NY 11228. Reg. Agent: US Corp Agents Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste. 202, Bklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act.

NOTICE OF SALE

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NEW YORK, U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR THE RMAC TRUST SERIES 2016-CTT, Plaintiff, vs JAMES S. COHEN A/K/A JAMES STERLING COHEN AS CO-EXECUTOR OF THE ES TATE OF CYNTHIA PRICE COHEN A/K/A CYNTHIA P. CO HEN A/K/A CYNTHIA COHEN, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and Decision and Order on Motion duly entered on May 11, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the portico of the New York County Courthouse, 60 Centre Street, New York, NY on November 2, 2022 at 2:15 p.m., premises known as 35 West 83rd Street, New York, NY 10024 All that certain plot, piece or parce l of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, County, City and State of New York, Block 1197 and Lot 18. Approximate amount of judgment is $2,460,113.41 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 850141/2015. Cash will not be accepted. COVID-19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale

Paul R. Sklar, Esq., Refe ree

Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523,

Attorneys for Plaintiff

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

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

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

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF NEW YORK

BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE 200 CHAMBERS STREET CONDOMINIUM, Plaintiff -against- ERIC R. BRAVERMAN, DARYA BRAVERMAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated February 24, 2022 and entered on March 21, 2022, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the New York County Courthouse located on the portico at 60 Centre Street, New York on Octo ber 26, 2022 at 2:15 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Manhattan, City, County and State of New York, Unit being designated and described as Unit No 26C in the condominium known as "The 200 Chambers Street Condominium" together with an undivided 0.8256% interest in the common elements. Block: 142 Lot: 1183

ALSO, Unit being designated and described as Unit No. ST14 in the condominium known as "The 200 Chambers Street Condominium" together with an undivided 0.0103% interest in the common elements. Block: 142 Lot: 1375

All bidders must wear a face mask/shield at all times and so cial distancing must be observed by all bidders at all times. Bidders who do not comply with the face mask and/or the so cial distancing mandat e will be removed from the auction. Said premises known as 200 CHAMBERS STREET, UNIT 26C, NEW YORK, NY and UNIT ST14 (a storage unit), 200 CHAMBERS STREET, NEW YORK NY Approximate amount of lien $702,840 07 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale Index Number 162556/2015

MARK MCKEW, ESQ., Referee Armstrong Teasdale LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 7 Times Square, 44th Floor, New York, NY 10036

YUK CHIU,

LOUZON,

TO: THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S)

HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in

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

herein.

Dated: May 23, 2022 New Rochelle, NY

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK - COUN TY OF NEW YORK

WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR OPTION ONE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-5, ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-5, V.

DONNA FERRATO, ET AL

NOTICE OF SALE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated May 10, 2022, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of New York, wherein WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION AS TRUSTEE FOR OPTION ONE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2007-5, ASSETBACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2007-5 is the Plaintiff and DONNA FERRATO, ET AL are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE, at the PORTICO OF THE CIVIL SUPREME COURTHOUSE, LOCATED AT 60 CENTRE STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10007, on November 2, 2022 at 2:15PM, premises known as 25 LEONARD ST APT 3, NEW YORK, NY 10013: Block 179, Lot 1003:

THE CONDOMINIUM UNIT (HEREINAFTERE REFERRED TO AS THE UNIT) KNOWN AS RESIDENTIAL UNIT NO. 3 IN THE BUILDING (HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AS THE BUILDING) KNOWN AS THE SIMON & MILLS BUILDINGS CONDOMINIUM AND THE STREET NUMBER 25 LEONARD STREET, BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 850294/2017. Ronald Zezima, Esq. - Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, At torneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES.

Notice of Formation of OR BITAL KITCHENS USQ LLC

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

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

Notice of Qualification of MONDAY MORNING MANAGEMENT, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/31/22. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/13/22. Princ. office of LLC: 41 Madison 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., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NY CITY PSYCHOTHERAPY

To: Claude Louzon

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

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

Claude Louzon

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

Claude Louzon

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

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

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

Notice of Formation of SUANNE MANAGING LLC

Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/15/22. Office location: NY County Princ. office of LLC: 680 Fifth Ave., 23rd Fl., NY, NY 10019. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Winter Management Corp., Attn: Benjamin J. Winter at the princ. office of the LLC Purpose: Any lawful ac tivity

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

Prevail The Label LLC Arts of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/15/2022. Office location: NY County. SSNY designat ed as an agent upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail copy to: 40 Wall St., Ste. #2859 New York, NY 10005. Purpose: providing professional consulting services to clients.

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

Notice of Qualification of STABILIS JV LENDING LLC

Appl for Auth filed with Se cy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/14/22. Office location: NY

County LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/22/22.

Princ. office of LLC: 140 E. 45th St., Ste. 22-C, NY, NY 10017. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE

addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert of Form filed with DE Secy of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of SU PER NICE GUYS, LLC Appl for Auth filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/21/22. Office location: NY

County LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/28/22.

Princ. office of LLC: 335 W. 38th St., Apt. 5, NY, NY 10018. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Al bany, NY 12207-2543. DE

addr of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert of Form filed with Secy. of State, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity

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On any given day, nearly 2 million people in the U.S. are incarcerated in jail or prison and rates of incarceration are highest for Black communities. These are our neighbors, and they are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters - but far too often, those aren’t the words media outlets use to describe them. Instead, they’re given harmful labels like criminal, felon, o ender, inmate and convict.

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Continued from page 10

tuition following years of steady tuition increases, even as the state continued to tout free education for thousands of New Yorkers as part of the Excelsior Scholar ship program, which provided New York ers whose families had an income of $125,000 or less with free tuition.

SUNY in-state tuition currently costs $8,122 per year, a 64% increase from the $4,970 price tag back in 2011.

International

Continued from page 2

Kenya has prohibited cultivation of geneti cally modified crops and the importing of food crops and animal feeds produced through biotechnology innovation since 2012. The government’s move paves the way for the im portation of GMO products, which the gov ernment says will help boost food security.

GMOs have their defenders—mostly seed and chemical companies who claim that ge netically engineered crops are good for the environment by reducing pesticide use and increasing crop yields.

However, research indicates that GM crop technology can result in a net increase in her bicide use and can foster the growth of her bicide resistant weeds. In addition, there is concern that the use of GM crops may nega tively impact the agriculture ecosystem.

Countries that ban GMOs include Al geria, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, Turkey, among others.

Also gaining a foothold in Africa is Bayer Malawi, whose presence in Malawi originates from the late 1950s when the company was mainly known for its pharmaceutical prod ucts such as aspirin, and as a distributor for Farmer’s Organization and Shell Chemicals.

“Today Bayer Malawi Ltd provides a full agricultural production service package to enable farmers to acquire not only highquality seed but also quality crop protection solutions to combat plant diseases, insect pests and weeds.” (from the Bayer website)

Last August agricultural students at the University of Ghana held a teach-in to urge youth to support the adoption of GMO tech nology to help improve farm productivity and ensure food security. They held a debate competition but with few students willing to argue against GMO seeds, the pro-GMO seeds group was the hands-down winner.

Meanwhile, in an article titled: “Twelve rea sons for Africa to reject GMO crops,” Kenyan born Zachary Makanya writing for the news letter GRAIN pointed out a growing list of or ganizations, networks and lobby groups with close ties to the GM industry, working to pro mote GM agriculture on the continent.

While seed and chemical companies like Monsanto claim that genetically engineered crops would be good for the environment by reducing pesticide use and increasing crop yields, the past 20 years have shown that

But a SUNY spokesperson pushed back, noting that this year’s state budget “included the most significant invest ment in higher education in a genera tion,” including a $300 million increase in operating aid for SUNY and an addi tional $660 million for new capital costs.

The budget also included $53 million for new faculty, $60 million to bolster ac ademic programming, a $150 million in crease in the Tuition Assistance Program and an increase in funding for the Ed ucational Opportunity Program, which provides those from underprivileged

they do nothing of the sort, Makanya said. Not only have GMO crops not improved yields, they have vastly increased the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Mon santo’s Roundup herbicide and “probably carcinogenic to humans,” according to the World Health Organization.

Moreover, most GMOs have not been en gineered to improve yields or make food healthier, but to be herbicide resistant. Corn, soybeans and other crops have been genetically engineered to withstand blasts of glyphosate. It kills all the weeds in the field, but the GMO crops survive.

At least 12 African countries are carry ing out research on GM crops, including Egypt, Uganda, Morocco, Nigeria, Tuni sia and Cameroon, and a long list of GM crops are in the pipeline for introduction in various African countries.

Finally, a group of African environmen talists, in an article titled “GMOs promote poverty and dependency in Africa” point ed out in Grain magazine: “The obsession in promoting GM crops in Africa diverts attention and resources away from a plu rality of genuine and localized solutions and flies in the face of the recommenda tions of independent science.”

LANDLOCKED LESOTHO VOTES A REVOLUTION FOR PROSPERITY

(GIN)––A recently organized party led by a millionaire diamond magnate looks set to win Lesotho’s parliamentary elec tion, having secured enough for a simple majority, according to preliminary results from the election commission.

By Sunday afternoon, results from the Oct. 7 vote were in for 49 out of a total of 80 constituencies. The Revolution for Prosper ity (RFP) party, formed by Sam Matekane in March, had secured 41 seats, the minimum required to reach a simple majority.

The current ruling party All Basotho Convention (ABC), which has run the country of 2.14 million people since 2017, was faring badly with no seats won so far, the tally showed.

Wealthy Lesotho businessman Sam Matekane and his brand-new Revolution for Prosperity party is on track to defy predic tions that no single party would win a clear majority and that Lesotho would be saddled with yet another unstable coalition.

The Democratic Congress (DC), the main opposition party and member of

communities the opportunity to pursue an education.

“This significant funding supports the governor’s vision to secure SUNY’s place as a global leader in higher education and workforce development, and—most importantly—includes unprecedented funding to support students, campuses, faculty, and researchers across all public colleges and universities,” Holly Liapis, the SUNY spokesperson, said in a state ment.

SUNY is one of the largest employ ers in the state and has an economic

impact of $30 billion annually, accord ing to UUP. Every dollar invested in by the state yields at $8.17 return, accord ing to the union.

In the Capital Region, SUNY schools account for 9,800 jobs and help more than 21,000 other jobs indirectly. A 2018 study found SUNY generated $3.4 bil lion in economic activity throughout the Capital Region.

Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: car nold@dailygazette.net. Follow him on Twitter: @ChadGArnold.

the coalition government, is running a distant second to the RFP in the race, having secured some six seats.

Under the outgoing All Basotho Con vention, the southern African country was marred by political upheaval, stalled reforms and widespread exasperation of people over political wrangling, corrup tion and policy paralysis.

Matekane has promised to usher in a new era of governance and prosperity in the country by exploiting its natural resources and its commercial compet itiveness, drawing from its founder’s ex perience in running businesses.

In the October 7 poll, security, cor ruption and jobs were the three main issues highlighted by politicians in the seventh ballot since the reinstatement of democracy in 1993. But whether this makes any difference to the mountain kingdom’s economic trajectory is ques tionable, Dr. Greg Miles, head of The Brenthurst Foundation, wrote in the South African Daily Maverick . “Poli tics is supposed to be the means to pro vide a policy and governance platform for growth and development,” he wrote, adding “Not so in Lesotho, as in much of southern Africa. Rather it’s been about the redistribution of wealth to parties indistinguishable by their policies, if not their promises, and defined by their personalities.

“Elections have become a competition

between personalities and their promises. Party manifestos are routinely a laundry list of unfunded (and apparently unfundable) projects, with subsequent governments ap parently wholly incapable of delivery.

“This explains why there were 65 political parties contesting the Oct. 7 election, and why the civil service wage bill, at 20% of GDP, is unbearably large, or why at a more mundane level, its overinflated 38 minis ters are entitled to two cars, a 4X4 and an upmarket German luxury sedan.”

Currently, “one third of Lesotho’s 2.1 mil lion citizens live in poverty. A breakdown in governance—the rule of law—along side low growth and high inequality lends itself to violence. Lesotho’s murder rate is 44 per 100,000, compared to South Africa’s already insufferably high 33/100,000.

“Lesotho has never had to develop its own development path replete with hard choices and ownership of its destiny. There has always been a soft, diplomati cally-directed option: donor funding espe cially during the apartheid years.

“The RFP will likely be at the helm of the new government, led by a man with obvious business successes and interests. A national prosperity agenda will require turning poli tics from simply being economics by other means to driving a national development plan aimed at growth rather than redistribu tion. If it doesn’t change the act of politics in Lesotho, the RFP can only become anoth er casualty of its ongoing political drama.”

Lesotho voters supporting Matekane (GIN)

Actress and director LisaRaye McCoy talks breast cancer and her BET Film, ‘The Pink Fight’

By STACY M. BROWN

NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

This year, the American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that health professionals will diagnose more than 287,850 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 51,400 new cases of ductal carcinoma in situ/stage 0 breast cancer in women in the United States.

While there has been an overall 43% decline in breast cancer deaths over the last three decades—thanks to gains in awareness, early diagno sis, and treatment—there remains a persistent mortality gap between Black women and white women.

Succinctly, African American women have a 31% breast cancer mortality rate.

Earlier this year, BET HER an nounced four original 20-minute dramas to premiere during Minor ity Mental Health Month (July) and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The short films celebrate the sto ries of Black women, which are all written, directed, and produced by Black women while bringing aware

ness to issues directly affecting the Black community.

Actresses Meagan Good, Naturi Naughton, Tichina Arnold, and Lisa Raye Mccoy serve as specially invited directors.

For McCoy, who slayed in films like “The Player’s Club,” “The Wood,” and “Twice Bitten,” her behind-the-cam era directorial skills shined on Oct. 6 with the premiere of “The Pink Fight,” a captivating film about a female boxer diagnosed with breast cancer.

The film follows Tomeka—played by boxing champion Claressa Shields—as she and her wife fight for survival after a devastating breast cancer diagnosis.

“Breast cancer has attacked my family. Some have survived, and some have not,” McCoy said during an appearance on the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s live morning show, “Let It Be Known.”

“I was an ambassador for Susan B. Komen and ran my first 5K race with them. I didn’t want to be one of those public figures who cut the ribbon and be off. There was a joy that I got when I crossed the finish line that I wouldn’t have gotten if I didn’t participate. You

have to walk the walk.”

In “The Pink Fight,” McCoy did just so, helping to bring to the screen the rollercoaster of emotions that come with a breast cancer diagnosis.

“I am absolutely proud to have taken this opportunity,” McCoy said. The renowned actress described herself as very strict behind the camera.

“My reputation is that I don’t take no stuff,” McCoy asserted. Howev er, tempering that assertion, McCoy noted that she’s a bit of a jokester.

“When I began to realize that I had value from coming from in front of the screen as an actress, I know how it is to have to muster emotions that may not be there because you may not have experienced this in your life,” she said, describing the job of a director.

“I will say that my lead actress, Cla rissa Shields, is a powerhouse. She’s a professional boxer and the only male or female boxer to hold four major world championships.”

McCoy continued, “Clarissa wanted to get her feet wet as an ac tress, and she was a little nervous about the emotional part, but that’s

the part she did best.”

McCoy said she hopes the film will inspire Black women and their sup port system not to take any potential health problems for granted.

“As strong as people want to por tray Black women, we are still girls,” she insisted.

“We’re still daddy’s girls and mom ma’s babies. A lot of time we get afraid to go to the doctor and when you don’t have good insurance and you feel they’re not going to pay for this and you don’t have symptoms and then you say ‘I’m ok.’”

That’s where self-examination

counts as crucial, McCoy stated.

“I was paranoid,” she declared. “We are ner vous and scared. We say things like if we don’t know about it, we don’t have to deal with it. But we can head it off. We can have a second chance at life if we get diagnosed before it’s too late.

“We have a good sur vival rate, and you can live a healthy life. You just can’t act like you don’t know anything about it. Di alogue is so important for us.”

That’s what the “Pink Fight” high lights, McCoy continued.

“Athletes think they are a pillar of health. They eat right, eat salads, and exercise,” she related. “That’s why you need that accountability part ner, someone to say, ‘I think it’s worth us going to check this out.’

“The operative word is ‘us.’ Some one to say they’ll go with you because there’s this rollercoaster of emotions, and you’re wondering if you’ll survive chemo and radiation. You can.”

LOTERIA™/©: Licensed by Don Clemente, Inc.

Rights Reserved.

LisaRaye McCoy stars in BET Her The Waiting Room: “The Pink Fight” (Mega Mind Media photo)

Affordable Housing for Rent

AVAILABLE

How Do You Apply?

Apply online or through mail. To apply online, please go to https://housingconnect.nyc.gov/PublicWeb/. To request an application by mail, send a self-addressed envelope to: MGNY Consulting, c/o Astoria West, 109 East 9 th Street, Storefront, New York NY 10003. Only send one application per development. Do not submit duplicate applications. Do not apply online and also send in a paper application. Applicants who submit more than one application may be disqualified.

When is the Deadline?

Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than [November 14th, 2022]. Late applications will not be considered.

What Happens After You Submit an Application?

After the deadline, applications are selected for review through a lottery process. If yours is selected and you appear to qualify, you will be invited to submit documents to continue the process of determining your eligibility. Appointments are usually scheduled from 2 to 10 months after the application deadline. You will be asked to bring documents that verify your household size, identity of members of your household, and your household income.

Español Presente una solicitud en línea en nyc.gov/housingconnect. Para recibir una traducción de español de este anuncio y la solicitud impresa, envíe un sobre con la dirección a: MGNY Consulting, c/o Astoria West, 109 East 9th Street, Storefront, New York NY 10003.Enel reverso del sobre, escriba en inglés la palabra

Disharmony

to be fueling a division in alli ances on a few big issues.

One issue they were split on was the redistricting of Harlem. During the redistrict ing commission’s public hear ing process to create new city council district maps, Harlem residents and officials were visibly divided at one of the sessions held at the Schom burg Center. A group with Dickens, Assemblymember Al Taylor, Sen. Cordell Cleare, and NAACP’s Hazel Dukes were positioned at the right of the auditorium while Richard son Jordan and her staff were clear across the room on the left. A version of the commis sion’s maps are currently being reviewed by city council mem bers to be voted on with Har lem’s district mostly intact.

“We should be all working together to create the best map possible for the surviv al of Black plurality for voting purposes—not just this year but looking forward 10 years,” said Dickens.

Dickens said that constitu ents, NYCHA residents, small business owners, and officials have been calling for her to run for the city council seat against Richardson Jordan be cause she’s not doing an ade quate job so far.

Dickens said that unlike Richardson Jordan’s ‘partner in crime’ Councilmember Charles Barron, she simply doesn’t have the experience, networking ability, and histor ic information to navigate the city’s budget and get resourc es for Harlem.

“The Assemblyperson has had the opportunity to fight and represent the people of Harlem for almost 20 years. During that time, our Black and working-class commu nities faced mass displace ment,” said Richardson Jordan in a statement. “Those who remained have struggled to access affordable hous ing, quality education, decent health care, as well as safe streets. The old way of doing things hasn’t worked.”

Dickens said that there’s no generational divide or older way of doing things. She said people just want politicians who pro duce favorable results. She said she’d be lying if people loved her

24/7 but the job is to secure re sources for the community.

Another major issue Dickens and Richardson Jordan saw dif ferently was the now scrapped One 45 housing project that was slated to have three mixed-use buildings with two towers, one 27 stories and the other 31 sto ries high, that spanned five lots of land space on 145th Street.

Richardson Jordan very publicly opposed the project and the de velopers. The jaded developers are now proposing a heavy-duty truck rental depot on the space after heated council hearings.

Dickens admits that she comes from a real estate background so her focus in the fight for more affordable housing in Harlem isn’t as ide alistic as Richardson Jordan. She believes in networking, negotiating, and finding fund ing to get more development that benefits the community.

“Let’s face the truth, the building has to be able to pay for itself. We’re not even talk ing about making a profit,” said Dickens.

She doesn’t support the truck depot and added that honestly the developers may be “a little vindictive” in the One 45 case.

“Our office has centered the community in every aspect of our work and re-direct ed needed resources into the district,” said Richardson Jordan in a statement. “This year we launched the first ever ‘Summer of Hope’ to prevent violence in our community by providing resources and family activities on the streets of Harlem for 60 days straight.

We don’t have a ‘self policing’ policy, we have a community care policy. We look forward to continuing to put forth a new vision to persevere in Harlem and letting the people decide who best represents their in terests in next year’s election.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and pol itics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your dona tion to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting:

The Yankees’ pitching will be the key to a 28th World Series title

By VINCENT DAVIS Special to the AmNews

When the Yankees take the field tonight at home for Game 2 of their best-of-five American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, they will be one step closer to their ultimate goal of winning the franchise’s 28th World Series title after win ning Game 1 by 4-1 on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Their 27 world championships are the most of any American professional sports franchise but the last came in 2009 when they defeated the Phil adelphia Phillies 4-2 led by Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in MLB history.

The Yankees hope this year’s pitching staff can have a similar impact as their 2009 staff. Gerrit Cole, the team’s No. 1 starter,

who was 13-8 during the regular season and led MLB in strikeouts with 257, setting a new franchise single season record, break ing Ron Guidry’s record of 249 achieved in 1978, had a strong beginning to the playoffs. He pitched into the seventh inning, going 6 1/3 giving up four hits, one earned run and striking out eight in front of 47,000 plus fans.

“Sometimes when you feel the crowd or the energy, it sometimes can become a little easier just to quiet things down because it’s so loud,” said Cole. “I don’t know if that makes sense, but it does to me.”

Outfielder Harrison Bader hit a solo homer in the third and first baseman Anthony Rizzo a tworun shot in the sixth with Aaron Judge on third base. Judge, whose 62 home runs in the regular season set the AL and Yankees record, went 0-3 with three strikeouts.

Before facing the Yanks, Cleve land, the AL Central champs at 92-70, who haven’t won a World Series in 74 years, defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in a wild card matchup. The Yankees, who led the American League East divi sion with a record of 99-63 and received a first round bye after playing the final regular season game on October 5. The Yanks and Guardians played six times in the first half of the season with the Yankees taking five.

Nestor Cortes (12-4) will start for the Yankees tonight and Luis Sev erino, who pitched seven innings of no-hit ball in his last start on Oct. 3 in a 3-1 Yankees win over the Texas Rangers, is scheduled to go in Game 3 in Cleveland on Sat urday. Game 4, if necessary, will also be in Cleveland on Sunday with a potential Game 5 back in the Bronx on Monday.

The Mets’ season ends with a disappointing playoff performance

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Mets ended the regular season with 101 wins, tied for the third most in Major League Baseball. So did the Atlanta Braves. It is why the Mets had to play San Diego Padres in a Nation al League wild card matchup beginning two days after their final regular season game instead of a five-day bye.

After being stunningly swept by the Braves three games in Atlanta Oct. 1-3, the Mets surrendered the NL East lead and tie-breaker, and finished second in the division despite having the second best regular season win total in franchise history, behind only the 108 victory 1986 team, which won the World Series.

Their collapse continued versus the Padres, as they went down shockingly without much resistance in the best-ofthree series at Citi Field in Queens, their home stadium. The Mets lost Games 1 and 3, dominated in the closeout contest on Sunday 6-0, unfathomably being held to just one hit over nine innings.

“They flat out beat us,” said Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, summarizing his team’s dismissal.

Padres starter Joe Musgrove threw seven of them. He was in command all evening and didn’t lose his composure even after Mets manager Buck Showalter had the umpires check him in the bottom of the seventh for illegal substances as his ears

were conspicuously shiny. He was found to have no illegal enhancements, just su perior pitches to the Mets’ ailing bats. It was as disappointing a conclusion as Mets fans could envision for a team that was in sole possession of first place in their division for 175 of the 182 days of the regular season dating back to April 7.

Mets starter Max Scherzer was rocked for four home runs in a 7-1 Game 1 defeat and Chris Bassit took the mound in Game 3 with an opportunity to lead the Mets to the next round—the National League Division Series—but lasted just four in nings, giving up three runs and three hits.

“I would say more so I beat myself,” assessed Bassit. “It’s a terrible, terrible feeling,” is how he described his emo tions of the Mets being sent home for five long months of reflection and re tooling before they return for spring training in February.

Jacob de Grom gave the Mets a chance to win the series as he went six innings allowing just two earned runs with eight strikeouts as the Mets captured Game 2 on Saturday by 7-3, forcing the decisive meeting the following night. Instead it is the Padres who are playing the top seeded Los Angeles Dodgers.

“It’s raw,” said Showalter. “It’s just cruel, time like this because I feel for the players cause they put so much into it and were such a special group.”

A group that fell short of the fans and their own expectations.

Mets manager Buck Showalter and his team were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday by the the San Diego Padres 2-1 in their wild card seriess (Wikipedia All-Pro Reels photo)

The Yankees are relying heavily on Gerrit Cole, their No. 1 starter, to have strong outings this postseason in their pursuit of the franchise’s 28th World Series title (Wikipedia All-Pro Reels photo)

Obi Toppin tries to make a case for an expanded role

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The Knicks played the third of their four preseason games last night (Wednesday) facing the Indi ana Pacers on the road. They were 2-0 going in, having defeated the Detroit Pistons 117-96 on Oct. 4 and the Pacers 131-114 last Friday, both at Madison Square Garden. Their final preseason game will be tomorrow at the Garden hosting the Washington Wizards before the regular season opener on the road versus the Memphis Griz zlies next Wednesday.

The Knicks will be at MSG for their next three games, playing the Pistons next Friday, the Orlando Magic on Oct. 24 and the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 26. Head coach Tom Thibodeau is shaping what will be his early season rotation

that includes starters Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, RJ Barrett, Evan Fournier and Jalen Brunson.

For the Knicks to improve on their 11th seed in the Eastern Con ference standings from last season and be in the mix for a playoff spot, the growth and production of for ward Obi Toppin must change from a variable to a positive con stant. The 24-year-old Brooklyn native was named the 2020 na tional college player of the year at Dayton a few months before being selected by the Knicks with the No. 8 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

His first two years with the team have been uneven, as he has shown flashes of being an impact offen sive player and simultaneous ly displaying frequent defensive lapses. As last season progressed Toppin made strides on both ends of the floor and may be primed

for a breakout 2022-23 campaign. Against the Pacers last Friday, he led the Knicks with 24 points in 20 minutes on 10-14 shooting going 4-7 on three-point attempts.

Playing behind Julius Randle at the power forward position has also been a factor in Toppin av eraging just 14.3 minutes—17.1 last season—per game early in career. Randle has led the Knicks in points, rebounds and assists the past two seasons. During the first week of training camp, Thibodeau said he doesn’t fore see Randle and Toppin being on the floor together for extended time this season. A season ago they shared the court for just 101 minutes.

“It’s based on performance, who fits best together,” Thibodeau said. “It’s not fantasy basketball, it’s what makes the group work best.”

Karissa Williams thrives in adult skating competition

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

Karissa Williams, U.S. Figure Skat ing and Professional Skaters Asso ciation senior rated and ranked figure skating professional coach, keeps a busy schedule. On the ice teaching several hours a day, she still makes time for her own train ing. At age 37, she’s an active adult competitor and in late September won two medals at the Interna tional Skating Union Adult Figure Skating Competition in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at which skaters from 12 countries competed.

Adult skating emerged as se rious competitions in the late-1990s. Some skaters, like Wil liams, skated since their youth, and others get into the sport as adults. It’s a supportive environ ment, and the annual U.S. Adult Championships are more di verse than the U.S. Figure Skating Championships tend to be. That said, Williams noted that unless she missed someone, she was the only Black person competing at this international event.

“For my artistic program I skated to a piece of music from the Jordan Peele thriller movie ‘Us,’” said Williams, who won a silver medal in the masters women artistic class I (masters refers to people who have skated before adulthood, and I is an age classification). “I was wearing a

red dress because I was required to wear something skating appro priate. I could not wear an actual red jumpsuit that the characters wore in the movie or hold a prop.”

She describes the program, which she loves performing, as a scary thriller. Williams also took the bronze in the gold women free skating class I. For that routine, her program was set to “Zarabanda.”

“It’s really cool and very naturelike. The music is calming and powerful at the same time,” said Williams, who is hoping to com pete again internationally in May 2023 in Oberstdorf, Germany.

Williams, who has lived in Michigan since attending the University of Michigan, grew up skating, but her single mom could not afford the level of coaching and ice time necessary for her to be a serious competitor. She began coaching at age 15 and was able to realize her competi tive dreams with her university’s skating team. When Williams was old enough to enter adult com petitions, she shined. In 2018, she became the first Black female skater to win a U.S. adult title.

“I continue competing because I feel I still have more to achieve,” said Williams. “I still enjoy per forming, being out on the ice and moving to a piece of music that moves me. … I’m proud that I can be a trailblazer for people of color just getting started in this sport.”

Knicks

Karissa Williams performing her artistic program (Danielle Earl Photography)

Karissa Williams free skating

Former Liberty player Tiffany Jackson passes away at age 37

By LOIS ELFMAN Special to the AmNews

During Tiffany Jackson’s years with the New York Liberty, I always enjoyed watching her rebound. It was like a dance. You wouldn’t even notice her, but then she would pop up and grab the rebound, often changing the flow of the game. She wasn’t a player who got an enormous amount of fanfare during her seasons (2007–10) with the Liberty, but she was always a fierce contributor.

Jackson passed away on Oct. 3 at the age of 37 after a seven-year battle with breast cancer. In the days after the tragic news broke, there was an outpouring of affection and admiration on social media from former teammates, coaches, opponents and friends.

Megan Duffy, who is in her fourth year as head women’s basketball coach at Mar quette University, played for the New York Liberty in the 2008 season. It was Jackson’s second season in the WNBA, and she wel comed the rookies onto the team.

“I remember her spirit, that smile on her face,” said Duffy. “She was tough as nails. Had a swagger and an aura about her as a young player. I remember how talented she was coming into the league. Some of the things that come to mind are she was a great teammate, she worked hard.

“An overall great teammate and even better person,” she added. “Great personality, funny. We had a good group. I remember having a lot of fun navigating the pro waters together.”

In recent years, Duffy, who began her coaching career in 2009 as an assistant coach at St. John’s University, saw that Jackson had gotten into coaching. Jack son spent two years as an assistant coach at her alma mater, University of Texas, and just this past April was named head coach at Wiley College, an HBCU school in Texas. Wiley will honor Jackson at the first wom en’s basketball home game of the season.

“I think we’re all driven and we’ve had good experiences as players,” said Duffy. “If you get into the coaching side, [you know] how much you can impact young women. I know for a fact she did.”

The Liberty traded Jackson, a 6-foot-3 for ward, to the Tulsa Shock during the 2010 WNBA season. She remained with the Shock through out its time in Tulsa, including the break through 2015 season when the team finally earned a playoff spot, missing only the 2012 season when she gave birth to son Marley.

The team subsequently relocated to Dallas and became the Wings, but Jack son did not play in 2016 after being diag nosed with breast cancer. In remission, she returned to the court for the 2017 WNBA season, playing with the Los Angeles Sparks. She announced her retirement in 2018.

Jackson paid a visit to the Liberty during the 2021 season when she joined a group of former players for a “family and friends” day at Barclays Center. It was a joyful re union, and longtime Liberty chaplain Yvette Hamilton was thrilled to see Jack

son, who had faithfully attended pregame chapel throughout her time in New York.

“She was a good listener,” said Hamil ton. “She would faithfully come to chapel. Never missed one. On occasion, she would either be the first one there or the last one to go. … Always a smile. Always bubbly. At tentive when it came to chapel.

“I nicknamed her Lady Tiff because that’s how she operated, like a lady,” she added.

“When you watched her play, she was always going to give you a good game. She was def initely a hustler. Even if her game was a little off, she continued to hustle. When she wasn’t playing you would always hear her encourag ing the other girls. It was always a selfless act.”

Cathrine Kraayeveld played for the Lib erty from 2005–09. She fondly recalls Jackson as a teammate and enjoyed re connecting with her at last year’s reunion.

Even though they weren’t extremely close, she remembers them having a great time.

“We were always laughing and having fun,” said Kraayeveld. “Tiffany always had a smile on her face, always in a good mood, super kind and sweet to everybody. That team, we got along so well.

“We got to experience Madison Square Garden,” she added. “I vividly remember this one picture. We were in a huddle, me and her looking at each other, talking and laughing. We both had these huge smiles on our faces. That’s how I remember her. I don’t know that I ever really saw her mad, even when we weren’t playing that well. We always tried to keep it lighthearted. There are so many fun memories and good times with teammates.

“I feel for her son. I have two little kids. It makes you appreciate the time you do have and what you’ve been blessed with. I feel fortunate to be one of her teammates and to have that experience with her.”

SPORTS

Former WNBA standout Tiffany Jackson passed away on Oct. 3 after a long battle with breast cancer (Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Tiffany Jackson in 2017 pictured in her final WNBA season with the Los Angeles Sparks (Getty Images/Los Angeles Sparks)

Sports

The 4-1 Giants ride momentum with Lamar Jackson up next

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

Call it the Daboll effect. The redemption of Barkley. Wink’s Warriors. The monikers being ascribed to the Giants this season are plentiful, as they were in recent years. The glaring difference is that for the moment, the descriptions are positive contrasted with those over much of the past decade, which were often accentuated by expletives.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll, run ning back Saquon Barkley and defen sive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale have led a resurgence of a team that in two of the past three years had records of 4-12 (2019) and 4-13 last season. Heading into this Sunday’s Week 6 game against the 3-2 Baltimore Ravens and their sen sational quarterback Lamar Jackson at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the Giants have already won four games and at 4-1 are tied for second place with the

Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East division.

They are coming off of a gripping 27-22 comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in London on Sunday after falling behind 20-10 at halftime and entering the fourth quarter down 20-13. But the defense shut out the Packers in the final two quarters.

Green Bay only scored two points in the last 30 minutes on an intentional Giants’ safety with 11 seconds remaining to avoid a potential blocked punt.

Rookie defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and safety Xavier McKinney deflected backto-back passes from the Packers’ four-time and reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers on third and fourth downs respectively with a little over a minute remaining, which effec tively sealed the Giants’ victory.

“I think we are just taking it one week at a time,” said Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. “Like I said, I think we’re confident, I think we’re tough, we’re competitive and we know those things. We are confident in those

things. So, we are going to take it one week at a time and continue to im prove as a group.”

Daboll’s imprint on the Giants and emphasis on discipline and detail was reflected in Jones’ pro tection of the football. Jones, who in his previous three seasons had 29 interceptions and 19 fumbles lost in 38 games, has just two INTs and one fumble lost in five games this season. As for Barkley, he had an in consequential 593 yards on 162 car ries in 13 games a season ago.

After running for 70 yards against the Packers, he has nearly reached his 2021 total in a mere five games this season. Barkley was second in the league in rush ing when the NFL’s Week 6 sched ule began with 533 yards and topped the league in all-purpose yards from scrimmage with 676.

The rising Jets see talented rookies Hall and Gardner bear fruit

By JAIME C. HARRIS AmNews Sports Editor

The kids are showing out.

Rookies Breece Hall and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner are major parts of the Jets’ re building process. General manager Joe

Douglas has significantly upgraded the Jets’ talent on both sides of the ball since taking over the position in June 2019. It’s been an arduous climb and the team still has an obvious gap to close between them selves and the NFL’s perennial playoff con tenders such as the Kansas Chiefs and

Baltimore Ravens, who they will face this Sunday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Nevertheless, they have revealed a col lective ascendancy under the patient but demanding teaching of second-year head coach Robert Saleh. The running back Hall and cornerback Gardner are manifesta tions of ability married to opportunity and systems. The pair were expected to con tribute immediately this season and they were near the forefront of the Jets’ impres sive 40-17 home win over their AFC East rival Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

Hall, 21, drafted in the second round with the 36th pick by the Jets in April from Iowa State, rushed for 97 yards on 18 car ries and one touchdown, in addition to 100 yards receiving on two catches, one going 79 yards. His rushing and receiving numbers were both team highs.

“We were just out there balling and making plays today,” Hall said. “The coaches put us in a good position to ex ecute and make really good plays for the team and that is what we did.”

Saleh was highly complimentary of the versatile Hall. “He was awesome,” he said in an effusive tone. “He’s an explosive player. When we drafted him, it was be cause we needed a home run hitter on this team, and he did that. He had a couple of home runs today.”

Gardner, 22, the Jets’ top pick in the 2022 draft, No. 4 overall from the University of

Cincinnati, had five tackles, three for a loss and one interception. In just five games of his blooming career, the highly touted prospect is already viewed by his peers and opposing coaches as one of the best young corners in the league.

The Jets are waiting on quarterback Zach Wilson to elevate into a franchisecaliber quarterback. He’s only in his second season after being the No. 2 over all selection by the Jets in 2021. Wilson has given glimpses of being a QB who has the necessities to help lift the Jets to the upper echelon of the league since making his season debut in Week 4 after returning from a knee injury suffered in the Jets’ preseason opener.

He threw for 210 yards versus the Dol phins and despite not having a touchdown Wilson did not turn the ball over. “The ex pectation is changing,” Wilson said. “We’re expected to go out here and win and be shocked when we don’t. That’s how the mindset needs to be for everybody.”

Breece Hall (NewYorkJets.com photo) Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner (Wikipedia/New York Jets, Sauce Gardner 2022, CC BY 3.0)

Safety Xavier McKinney and the Giants’ defense have been integral components of the team’s 4-1 start (Bill Moore photo)