New York's Beacon News

Mayor announces plans to curb violence at Rikers Island(See Story On Page 3)

(See Story On Page 3)

Man, 20, charged in shooting of two Ferguson police officers

SUSPECT NABBED ——Robert McCullough, prosecutor for St. Louis, announces the arrest of Jeffrey Williams, the 20-year-old charged with shooting two police officersfollowing a massive rally in Ferguson last week.

Showing the Way to Truth and Justicewebsite:

NewYorkBeacon.netE-Mail

[email protected]

75 Cents

New

Yor

k’s

BeaconWILD FERGUSON SHOOTING

Vol. 22 No. 12 March 19, 2015 - March 25, 2015

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

2

Beacon (USPS 011-156), serving Metropolitan New York is published weekly by SHGM at 600 3rd Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10016. Periodicals postage paidat New York, NY. POSTMASTER; send address changes to The New York Beacon - 600 3rd Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10016.(212) 213-8585 Fax: (212) 213-6291, Web Site: www.newyorkbeacon.com, Email:[email protected], The New York Beacon Subscription rate: $35.00 per year.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)

Yvette Campbell

The Harlem School of the Arts(HSA) has announced that presi-dent and chief executive officerYvette L. Campbell has made thedecision to leave her post inJune, at the conclusion of the2014-2015 school year. “Yvette has been instrumen-tal in the successful turnaroundof the Harlem School of the Artsand is leaving our great institu-tion stronger for its next presi-dent and future students,” saidCharles J. Hamilton, Jr. Esq., chair-man of the HSA Board of Direc-tors. “Under her leadership,Yvette has not only restored thephilanthropic community’s faithin our school, she has increasedour enrollment and expandedaccess to the highest quality artstraining in New York City.” During her tenure, Campbellhas worked with the board to re-store and grow the school’s fi-nancial endowment; raising over$11 million, including a $6 millionleadership gift from legendarymusician and philanthropistHerb Alpert – for whom HSA re-

Harlem School of Arts chiefCampbell to step down in June

named its iconic Harlem home inMarch 2013. “The turnaround of the HarlemSchool of the Arts has been aston-ishing. The faculty, staff and Boardhave fulfilled their commitment torestoring a dynamic, fiscally re-sponsible school,” said Alpert.“It’s beautiful to see how the arrayof multi-disciplinary classes opendoors of opportunity to the stu-dents, who are thriving on self-ex-pression, training and performancein the arts. The students come forthe arts education but, at HSA,they also get to participate in anexceptional arts community.” “It has been an honor to serveas Harlem School of the Arts’ Presi-dent and CEO during a period ofremarkable transition and extraor-dinary success, not only for thisvital institution but also for the vi-brant community that it serves,”said Campbell. “Along with ourdevoted staff, I believe in the powerof the arts to enrich and transformlives. The opportunity to raise one

Walter T. Mosley (D- Brooklyn)announced that he helped craftthe Assembly’s “Families First”budget proposal for the 2015-16fiscal year, which promotes jobgrowth by making critical invest-ments in infrastructure and help-ing small businesses succeed(E.203). “New York’s economy is hit-ting its stride after the economicdownturn and we have to con-tinue the momentum. TheAssembly’s proposal continuesour commitment to creating jobsand helping families all across thestate get ahead,” said Assembly-man Mosley. “Our proposal willhelp businesses grow and createbetter job opportunities.” The Assembly’s budget pro-poses $1.5 billion in economicdevelopment funding for the Up-state Revitalization Initiative,along with $250 million in grantsto local governments whose sew-ers and water mains are in needof repair or replacement. It alsoincludes $300 million for a newRegional Significant Infrastruc-ture Program to promote localeconomic development throughworkforce development, manu-facturing, agriculture and tourisminitiatives. Additionally, the Assemblybudget includes $50 million forthe RESTORE NY CommunitiesInitiative. This program promoteseconomic growth by redevelop-ing properties and attracting newbusinesses. “A solid infrastructure is thefirst step in attracting the typesof companies we need in NewYork,” said AssemblymanMosley. “Making these criticalinvestments now will go a longway in revitalizing our communi-ties and helping create jobs.” The Assembly’s budget pro-posal provides an additional $1.3million in funding for Centers ofExcellence research facilities atpublic universities across NewYork, totaling $1 million for eachof the 10 centers. “Centers of Excellence are hubsfor groundbreaking research andcutting-edge technology,” saidAssemblyman Mosley. “Makingcritical investments in these in-

Assemblyman Mosley says ‘FamiliesFirst’ budget plan will spur job growth

stitutions will not only ensure thatour state is at the forefront of in-novation, but will signal to high-tech businesses across the worldthat New York is a place where theycan build, expand and create jobs.” The Assembly’s proposal alsoprovides $500 million to expandrural broadband access that is ex-pected to generate a private-sec-tor 1:1 match, for a total of $1 bil-lion. I n addition to reducing the in-come tax rate for small businessesfrom 6.5 percent to 2.5 percent forthose that register as C Corps, theAssembly’s proposal restores$365,000 in additional funding forthe Minority- and Women-ownedBusiness Development and Lend-ing Program, for a total of $1 mil-lion. The Assembly also supportsincreasing participation in statecontracting to Minority- andWomen-owned Business Enter-prises (MWBEs) from 25 percentto 30 percent. “Supporting MWBEs is crucialto the success of our overalleconomy. We must work to ensure

these businesses have every oppor-tunity to thrive,” said AssemblymanMosley. Also included in the Assembly’sbudget proposal is $7.5 million for aNY Healthy Foods and HealthyCommunities Fund. This initiativewould support local businesses bymaking loans and grants available tosupermarkets, grocery stores, farm-ers markets and other healthy foodretailers in underserved areas. Additionally, the Assembly’s bud-get proposal provides $5.3 million forCommunity Development FinancialInstitutions (CDFIs), which facilitateloans to small businesses that mayotherwise not qualify for a bank loanand provide counseling for small-business owners. “Small businesses are the life-blood of New York’s economy andmust have access to as many re-sources as possible so they cangrow, hire more employees and helpour communities thrive,” said As-semblyman Mosley. “This fundingto CDFIs will help ensure that moresmall businesses across the statehave the opportunity to flourish.”

Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley

Attorney General Eric T.Schneiderman and New YorkState Comptroller Thomas P.DiNapoli today announced theconviction and sentence ofGraycelia Cizik, 64, a resident ofPolk County, Florida. Cizikpleaded guilty on January 21,2015 to a one-count Indictmentcharging her with the crime ofgrand larceny in the second de-gree. . She was sentenced to 2 to 6years in state prison by SupremeCourt Judge Roger D.McDonough in Albany CountyCourt. Cizik also agreed to a judg-ment in favor of the New YorkState and Local Employees Re-tirement System in the amount of

Florida woman gets prison time for defrauding New York pension fund$121,772.72. Under the plea agreement, Cizikadmitted to stealing $121,772.72 inpension benefits issued by the Of-fice of the New York State Comp-troller, on behalf of the New YorkState and Local Employees Retire-ment System, to her deceased uncle,David Wynn. Wynn was a NewYork State pensioner who retiredfrom the Port Authority of New York& New Jersey and died in 1988. “We will aggressively pursuestiff penalties for those who rip offour retirement system and stealfrom retirees across our state whocount on that money,” said Attor-ney General Schneiderman. “Wewill protect taxpayer dollars andprosecute those who misuse pub-

lic funds.” “Ms. Cizik scammed the NewYork State Retirement System andis now on her way to state prisonfor several years,” ComptrollerThomas P. DiNapoli said. “Wewill continue to safeguard thestate pension system and workwith Attorney General EricSchneiderman to punish thosewho defraud the pension fund.” A joint investigation by theNew York State AttorneyGeneral’s Office and the Office ofthe New York State Comptrollerrevealed that Cizik witnessed acremation authorization form forWynn when he died, but failed tonotify the Retirement System ofWynn’s death. Instead, Cizik sub-

mitted false information to Wynn’sbank indicating that he was stillalive, and utilized a power of attor-ney to access his account andwithdraw pension benefits paid onhis behalf during a twelve year pe-riod between June 30, 1997 andOctober 30, 2009. The case is the latest joint in-vestigation under the OperationIntegrity partnership between theAttorney General and Comptroller,which has resulted in dozens ofconvictions and more than $6 mil-lion in restitution. Cizik was ar-rested in August 2014 by agentsof the Polk County Sheriff’s Of-fice in Florida, and extradited to Al-bany County to face the Indict-ment.

Attorney General Schneidermanand Comptroller DiNapoli thank thePolk County Sheriff’s Office inFlorida for their assistance. The Attorney General’s investiga-tion was conducted by InvestigatorDennis Churns and Deputy ChiefInvestigator Antoine J. Karam. TheInvestigations Division is led byChief Investigator Dominick Zarrella. The case was prosecuted by As-sistant Attorney General BenjaminClark of the Criminal Enforcement andFinancial Crimes Bureau. The bureauis led by Bureau Chief Gary T.Fishman and Deputy Bureau ChiefsStephanie Swenton and MerylLutsky. The Division of Criminal Jus-tice is led by Executive Deputy At-torney General Kelly Donovan.

3

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M

arch 25, 2015 newyorkbeacon.net





Attorney General Eeric Holder

As part of the Department ofJustice’s ongoing commitment tostrengthening the relationship be-tween law enforcement and thecommunities they serve and pro-tect, Attorney General Eric Holderon Thursday announced the firstsix cities to host pilot sites for theNational Initiative for BuildingCommunity Trust and Justice. This $4.75 million initiative willseek to assess the police-commu-nity relationship in each of the sixpilot sites, as well as develop adetailed site-specific plan that willenhance procedural justice, reducebias and support reconciliation incommunities where trust has beeneroded. The six pilot sites announcedThursday are Birmingham, Ala-bama; Ft. Worth, Texas; Gary, In-diana; Minneapolis, Minnesota;Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; andStockton, California. “The Department of Justice iscommitted to using innovativestrategies to enhance proceduraljustice, reduce bias and supportreconciliation in communitieswhere trust has been eroded,” saidAttorney General Holder. “Byhelping to develop programs that

Attorney General unveils first 6 sites for buildingcommunity trust, justice

serve their own diverse experi-ences and environments, theseselected cities will serve on theleading edge of our effort to con-front pressing issues in commu-nities around the country.” Attorney General Holder alsoannounced that the Departmentof Justice is providing additionaltraining and technical assistanceto police departments and com-munities that are not pilot sites. Through the Office of JusticeProgram’s Diagnostic Center(>www.OJPDiagnosticCenter.org<),police departments and commu-nity groups can request training,peer mentoring, expert consulta-tion and other types of assis-tance on implicit bias, proceduraljustice and racial reconciliation. Additionally, the initiativelaunched a new online clearing-house that includes up-to-dateinformation about what works tobuild trust between citizens andlaw enforcement. The clearing-house can be found at>www.trustandjustice.org<. “Restoring trust where it haseroded is one of the defining

By Richard Valdmanis

A 20-year-old man was chargedon Sunday with first-degree as-sault in last week’s shooting oftwo policemen during a protestrally in Ferguson, Missouri, acrime that shocked a city that hasbeen devastated by months ofracial strife. The suspect, Jeffrey L. Will-iams, has admitted to firing theshots that wounded the officersearly on Thursday, said St. LouisCounty Prosecuting AttorneyRobert McCulloch. The gunfire rang out just aftermidnight at the end of a rally tocall for sweeping reforms inFerguson, where an unarmedblack 18-year-old was shot todeath by a white officer last sum-mer. Michael Brown’s deathtouched off months of protestsagainst law enforcement’s treat-ment of minority groups, inFerguson and around the coun-try, and led to a U.S. Justice De-partment probe that found perva-sive racial bias on the part of thecity’s mostly white police force. Williams was arrested after a

Suspect charged in shooting ofFerguson, Missouri police officers

massive manhunt, with the help oftips from the public and video evi-dence, McCulloch told a newsconference. An African American who hadbeen on probation for possessionof stolen property, Williams toldinvestigators that he was not tar-geting police but was shooting atsomeone else, McCulloch said.

A 41-year-old county police officersuffered a shoulder wound and a 32-year-old from a nearby police de-partment sustained a facial woundin Thursday’s shooting. Both weretreated and released by a local hos-pital. Williams, whose bond was set at$300,000, appears to have fired a .40-caliber handgun A lawyer for Williams could notimmediately be reached. A handgun was recovered in hisresidence and matched shell cas-ings found at the scene, accordingto McCulloch, who said that al-though Williams appeared to be theonly shooter, other people may becharged as the investigation con-tinues. “This arrest sends a clear mes-sage that acts of violence againstour law enforcement personnel willnever be tolerated,” U.S. AttorneyGeneral Eric Holder said in a state-ment. The shootings took place justhours after Ferguson’s police chiefresigned in the wake of the scath-ing U.S. Justice Department report.Chief Tom Jackson’s resignation

Jeffrey Williams

By Charles D. EllisonSpecial to the NNPA from ThePhiladelphia Tribune

(NNPA)—There are now fivepresidential battleground statesin 2016 that could be heavily im-pacted by the #BlackLivesMattermovement. Of course, it depends on a vari-ety of factors and where the po-litical winds blow. And many ob-servers are in wait-and-see modeover the exact status of a scat-tered, yet burgeoning “SecondCivil Rights Movement” someexperts perceive as lackingneeded political teeth. That status, also put on slighthiatus by a much more frigid thannormal winter, just got compli-cated with last week’s shootingsof two Ferguson, Mo., police of-

Black lives matter vote couldswing some very key elections

Black Lives Matter

ficers during an otherwise peacefulprotest marking the resignation ofpolice chief Thomas Jackson. Yet, despite the challenges, thereare signs the movement could dra-matically shake up the political land-scape in several key states. Loca-tion, it seems, is everything. The fivebattleground states identified arealso the same spots where tragicshootings of unarmed Black menhave taken place in recent years:Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylva-nia and Wisconsin. Three of these states are alreadylaunching pads for three prospec-tive Republican presidential candi-dates. All five states are also placeswhere Democratic presidential pri-maries, statewide gubernatorial and

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cor-rection Commissioner Joe Ponteannounced a 14-point plan to ag-gressively combat violence andpromote a culture of safety onRikers Island, including five maininitiatives to target inmate-on-in-mate violence. This plan representsthe administration’s continuedcommitment to reform Rikers Islandafter decades of neglect. At the heart of the plan are fivemajor initiatives to reduce inmate-on-inmate violence:- Keeping weapons, drugs andcontraband out of Rikers, includ-ing visitor reforms- Creating an integrated classifi-cation and housing strategy tomore safely house inmates- Providing comprehensive se-curity camera coverage

Mayor de Blasio announces 14-point plan to curb violence at Rikers Island- Designing effective inmateeducation opportunities and ser-vices to reduce idle time- Developing crisis interven-tion teams to respond morequickly to inmate-on-inmate vio-lence. Inmate-on-inmate violence hasbeen on the rise at Rikers Islandover the past decade, represent-ing 71 percent of all violent inci-dents for 2014. Thus far in 2015,711 inmates were involved in anattack on another inmate. “Today we are taking aggres-sive steps to move Rikers Islandfrom a culture of violence to aculture of safety. From changingthe visitor policy to interceptcontraband to smartly placinginmates to avoid conflict to pro-viding our inmates with expanded Mayor Bill de Blasio

educational opportunities and ser-vices, we are taking on the grow-ing number of violent incidents atRikers from every angle,” saidMayor Bill de Blasio. “As we moveforward, this 14-point agenda willhelp us rebuild Rikers as a saferinstitution for officers and inmatesalike.” “ We will aggressively tackle in-mate-on-inmate violence by stop-ping the flow of weapons anddrugs into our jails and stanchingthe flow of information that en-ables gang members to commit vio-lent acts across facilities,” Com-missioner Ponte said. “These stepswill help us stop violence before itenters our gates.” Keeping weapons, drugs andcontraband out of Rikers will beaccomplished through a number of

policy changes, including new rulesfor visitors that DOC will seek fromthe Board of Correction, its over-sight body. These rules will seek tolimit the physical contact inmatesmay have with visitors, broaden thecriteria for restricting visitors, andestablish a visitor registry. The goalis to create a common sense ap-proach to visiting policy that re-views visits on a case by case basisand limits potential for contrabandflow and crime, while respecting theability of inmates to maintain legiti-mate ties with family members andthe community. These changeswould bring DOC policy closer inline with other large jail systemssuch as Los Angeles, Cook County(Chicago), and Philadelphia, which

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

4

Rangel's food resolution

Congressman Charles Rangel(NY-13) urged eligible hard-work-ing New York City residents touse Food Bank For New YorkCity’s expanded, free, citywidetax assistance program, and filefor the Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC), highlighting the IRS FreeFile program. The Congressman was theguest speaker at a public briefinghosted by Food Bank at their Tax& Financial Services Center inHarlem. He was joined by repre-sentatives of the Computer &Communications Industry Asso-ciation (CCIA) and students fromthe Frederick Douglass Academy,his alma mater, who provided in-sight into Free File’s ease of useand their experience serving thecommunity. In general, people earning$60,000 or less – 70 percent of alltaxpayers – are eligible to usename-brand tax preparation soft-ware products to prepare and filetheir federal income tax returnonline for free through Free File. Free File is a public-private

Rangel praises free tax services from Food Bankfor New York City residents

partnership between the InternalRevenue Service and 14 tax prepa-ration software companies that notonly provides free tax preparationassistance to eligible filers, but alsocomes at no cost to the govern-ment. The tax filing process resultsin a number of unclaimed creditsand deductions, including theEarned Income Tax Credit (EITC),a refundable federal tax credit origi-nally co-sponsored by Congress-man Rangel. Estimates indicate ap-proximately 20 percent of NewYorkers eligible for the EITC fail toclaim it, missing out on refundabletax credits of up to $8,293. Food Bank For New York City,recognized by the IRS as one ofthe largest coordinator of civiliantax assistance in the country, of-fers the Free File program at 11 ofits 120 full-service and drop-offsites citywide. This year, FoodBank has been able to expand itsreach with the reopening of its flag-ship Tax & Financial Services Cen-ter in Harlem and is poised to in-

The New York State Black,Puerto Rican, Hispanic and AsianLegislative Caucus led by ChairAssemblyman Jeffrion Aubry,outlined the major priorities fromtheir annual report “The People’sPriorities 2015". Standing in support with themwas New York State UnitedTeachers (NYSUT), Fiscal PolicyInstitute (FPI), Hunger Action,American Heart Association,YMCA, and other labor unions,advocacy groups, and clergy.The Caucus formally announcedtheir agenda which ensures thatthe budget and other pieces oflegislation positively affect andprovide equal access for low in-come and minority communities. For many years the Caucus hasbeen a key advocate in a widerange of criminal justice reforms.Toward that end the Caucusseeks to work with SpeakerHeastie in reexamining how po-lice officers interact with minor-ity and low income communitiesthrough public hearings, andother forums that facilitate mean-ingful discussion around reform.The events leading up to the ap-prehension of Eric Garner, and kill-ing of Mike Brown is indicativeof a broader systemic problem;policing in minority communities. While the Caucus agrees thatthere must be greater transpar-ency within grand jury proceed-ings, transparency must be im-proved generally within the crimi-nal justice system—it is neces-sary regarding the manner inwhich law enforcement police ourstreets and shootings involvingpolice. The Caucus supports thegovernor’s plan to create an “In-dependent Monitor” position butwill advocate for full transpar-ency. New York is the only state otherthan North Carolina that pros-ecutes ALL youth as adults whenthey’ve reached 16 years of age,it is time for New York State toraise the age of juvenile jurisdic-tion, “Raise the Age” legislationis a top priority of the Caucus.Studies show that youths who areincarcerated in the adult criminaljustice system are more likely tosuffer both physical and emo-tional abuse and have a higher

State assembly caucus pusheslegislative session priorities

rate of recidivism Other statesthat have recently increased theage of criminal responsibilityhave seen dramatic decreases injuvenile crime and lower recidi-vism rates. Another top priority and longstanding issue of grave concernto the Caucus is the Campaignfor Fiscal Equity which organizeditself in 1993 and sued the Stateof New York and won, on thegrounds that the State was fail-ing to provide students the“sound basic education” or“meaningful high school educa-tion”. Since 2008, the State hasnot fulfilled this commitment. TheCaucus stands firm in urging theState to once and for all fulfill itscommitment to CFE & Gap Elimi-nation Adjustment funds. Fur-thermore, the Caucus is disap-pointed that governor has linkedincreased school funding toother programs that would onlydeter money away from tradi-tional public schools. Moreover, the governor’s fail-ure to release school aid runsalong with the executive budgetproposal places a burden onschool districts. The assembly’sbudget proposal provides $830million more than the governor’sbudget and represents the larg-est increase in school aid since2008-09. The assembly’s budget

also removes the governor’s re-quirement that increases in schoolaid be tied to other sweepingchanges. In addition to the afore-mentioned top priorities the Cau-cus is also concerned with the fol-lowing legislative issues:DREAM ActRaising the Age of Juvenile Juris-dictionSolitary ConfinementMarijuana DecriminalizationCombating PovertyHousing - Rent Regulation, BankSettlements, and Public HousingFundingMinority and Women-Owned Busi-ness Enterprises (MWBE)Farmworkers Rights Caucus Chair AssemblymanAubry (D- Queens) said, “The timeis ripe for the State’s Legislators,advocates, and community leadersto come together and stand unitedin addressing the issues mostprevalent in low income and strug-gling communities. Uplifting ourpeople through our legislative ini-tiatives and advancing their eco-nomic growth are one in the sameand they will only be achievedthrough a collective effort. This iswhy as legislators; we must ensurethat during this critical time of bud-get negotiations, our constituent’sconcerns remain at the fore. Wecannot progress as a state nor em-brace prosperity without address-ing the lack of affordable housing,need for policing reform, inad-equate education funding, and thepoverty that plagues many of ourdistricts. I am confident that withthis united front, our efforts will notbe in vain and our robust agendawill be shepherded forward”. “I look forward to continuing towork together to achieve Caucuspriorities including raising the mini-mum wage, reforming our criminaljustice system, passing raise theage legislation, improving and sup-porting public education, provid-ing affordable housing, passingthe DREAM Act, achievingwomen’s equality, and increasingfunding for day care and family ser-vices to ensure that all of NewYork’s hard working families canthrive for generations to come”-Democratic Conference LeaderSenator Andrea Stewart-Cousins(D-Westchester).

Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry


Manhattan District AttorneyCyrus R. Vance, Jr., haa an-nounced the guilty plea of ArunGanguly, 37, for defrauding in-vestment funds, start-up compa-nies, and high-net-worth indi-viduals by convincing them tohire him based on false pretenses,stolen identities, forged docu-ments, and fictitious emails. Ganguly pleaded guilty in NewYork State Supreme Court to onecount each of scheme to defraudin the first degree, grand larcenyin the second and third degrees,and identity theft in the first de-gree. He is expected to be sen-tenced on April 8, 2015. “After deceiving numerouspeople from coast to coast bycompletely fabricating his pastexperience, personal wealth, andability to fund their companies,

Bogus investment consultant pleads guilty to committing years of fraudArun Ganguly has finally acknowl-edged the depth of his fraud,” saidDistrict Attorney Vance. “Forgedemails, doctored financial docu-ments, shell companies with fabri-cated employees, and a completelyfictitious family trust were all partof the trail that established thisdefendant’s guilt. I would like tothank my Office’s prosecutors forunraveling this web of deceit, aswell as the victims who broughtthis case to our attention. I encour-age those who feel they may bevictims of identity theft to contactour Cybercrime Hotline at (212)335-9600.” According to the defendant’sguilty plea and statements madeon the record in court, in May 2011,the managing director of an SEC-registered investment advisory firmretained Ganguly as a financial

consultant and investment advi-sor. The defendant was hired af-ter claiming to be a veteran con-sultant with extensive experience,including working for individualsassociated with the Carlyle Groupand Chesapeake Energy. Begin-ning in January 2012, when thedefendant’s initial contract withthe firm expired, through Septem-ber 2014, Ganguly made numer-ous, repeated, and extensivefraudulent representations in or-der to convince the firm’s manag-ing director to re-hire him and payhim a monthly fee of $5,000. As part of the scheme, Gangulyfalsely purported to have a per-sonal relationship with Tyler andCameron Winklevoss and DivyaNarenda, all associated with thefounding of Facebook, as well asthe Winklevosses’ father, Howard

Winklevoss. Ganguly asserted thatthe Winklevosses were interested inselling their Facebook shares priorto the company’s initial public of-fering, and that they would pay asignificant finder’s fee to the per-son who found an overseas buyerfor the shares. Ganguly also claimedthat the Winklevosses and Narendawould invest millions of dollarsin the managing director’s per-sonal private equity fund, andthat numerous other individuals,including Purnendu Chatterjee,founder of principal investmentfirm The Chatterjee Group, werealso interested in invest ing.Ganguly similarly asserted thathis family had a multi-million dol-lar trust he could use to investin the pr iva te equi ty fund,though the trust was, in fact,nonexistent.Cyrus Vance

5

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

6


EditorialEditorialEditorialEditorialEditorial


BeaconWalter Smith: Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Miatta Haj Smith: Co-Publisher & Executive Editor

William Egyir: Managing Editor


By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.NNPA Columnist

The U.S. Department of Jus-t ice (DOJ) repor t on theFerguson, Mo. Police Depart-ment sheds a brighter light ona serious racial injustice malig-nancy that is not isolated orunique to that besieged city.What the Justice Departmentconcluded in Ferguson, aftermonths of intense investiga-tion, exposes a systematic pat-tern of injustice and inequal-ity that can actually be foundin many cities across the na-tion. This federal report pre-sented facts with years of sup-porting data that revealed howracism was the decisive phe-nomenon in how the police andcourts dealt disparagingly withBlack Americans. Racial disparities in policedepartments and in judicialsystems are not just local prob-lems in a few municipalitiesthat have been exposed as aresult of a pattern of racial dis-crimination. This is a nationalproblem that has persisted fordecades in the United States.The absence of a cumulativenational database on raciallymotivated police brutality andon judicial racial inequity is acontributing factor to this dis-gusting yet persistent societalcontradiction. The Justice Department re-port concluded, “These dis-parities occur, at least in part,because Ferguson law en-forcement practices are di-

Systematic racism in Americarectly shaped and perpetuatedby racial bias.” The good news is that in theaftermath of the details madepublic by the Justice Depart-ment provides a second oppor-tunity for a more thorough na-tional investigation. Racial jus-tice activists and organizationsshould demand that the federalgovernment perform a nationalinvestigation and audit of allmajor police departments andjudicial systems concerning ra-cial profiling, discrimination,abuse , pol ice v io lence ,prosecutorial misconduct andother forms of injustice basedon race. Of course, most of us alreadyknow what the outcome of sucha new national study wouldsurely reveal. Black Americansand other people of color in theUnited States continued to en-dure long-term patterns of ra-cial injustice not just in the so-called “criminal justice sys-tem,” but also in systems ofhealth care, employment, hous-ing, education, finance, and inexposures to multiple environ-mental hazards and toxicities. Systematic racism in Americahas not and does not occur myosmosis. It is intentional anddeliberate. It is the result of the“power” of imposed and un-abridged institutionalized racialbias, discrimination, bigotry,hatred, stereotyping and igno-rance. Another important and re-markable “revelation” of theDOJ report on Ferguson wasthe economic greed of that form

of systematic racism. The re-port stated, “Ferguson’s lawenforcement prac t ices a reshaped by the City’s focus onrevenue rather than by publicsafety needs. This emphasis onrevenue has compromised theins t i tu t ional charac ter ofFerguson’s police department,contributing to a pattern of un-constitutional policing, and hasalso shaped its municipal court,leading to procedures that raisedue process concerns and in-flict unnecessary harm on mem-bers of the Ferguson commu-nity.” The “harm” to the Fergusoncommunity was and continuesto be overwhelmingly targetedon Black Americans. Millionsof dollars have been unjustlytaken from the Black commu-nity in Ferguson and surround-ing areas of St. Louis Countyas a direct result of the “un-constitutional” and illegal actsof police and court officials.Will the victims of the racismin Ferguson who have been fi-nancially fleeced and extortedby the law enforcement systembe repaid or compensated? The family of young un-armed Michael Brown who wasunjustly killed by FergusonPolice Officer Darren Wilson isgoing forward with a massivecivil suit against Wilson, thepolice and the court system inFerguson. The DOJ repor tshould be used as conclusiveevidence of the pattern andsystem of racial wrong doing

By Marian Wright EdelmanNNPA Columnist

Too much and for too long, weseem to have surrendered per-sonal excellence and communityvalues in the mere accumulationof material things. Our Gross Na-tional Product, now is over $800billion dollars a year. If we judgethe United States of America bythat, Gross National Productcounts air pollution and cigaretteadvertising, and ambulances toclear our highways of carnage… Yet the Gross National Productdoes not allow for the health ofour children, the quality of theireducation, or the joy of their play.It does not include the beauty ofour poetry or the strength of ourmarriages, the intelligence of ourpublic debate or the integrity ofour public officials. It measuresneither our wit nor our courage,neither our wisdom nor our learn-ing, neither our compassion norour devotion to our country, itmeasures everything in short, ex-cept that which makes life worth-while. And it can tell us everythingabout America except why we areproud that we are Americans.–Senator Robert F. Kennedy What do we stand for as a na-tion and who do we wish to be? Ina 1968 speech at the University ofKansas, Senator Robert Kennedycorrectly worried too many usedour nation’s wealth as the stan-dard of greatness rather than thehuman values that should mattermost. Our Gross Domestic Product –now $17.7 trillion – includes manythings for us not to be proud of.So we should ask ourselves howwell America is doing on the thingsthat should matter most – the well-being of our children and familiesand the quality of justice and lifein our communities and nation? Among high-income countries,the United States ranks first inGross Domestic Product and firstin the number of billionaires, and

Child Watch:Our failure to measure up

second worst in child poverty rates– ahead only of Romania whoseeconomy is 99 percent smaller thanours. It is a national disgrace thatchildren are the poorest group ofAmericans with 14.7 million livingin poverty. We are first in military spending— $11.1 billion a week — and firstin military weapons exports. We are first in the number ofpeople incarcerated and worst inprotecting our children against gunviolence. A Black boy born in 2001has a one in three chance of goingto prison in his lifetime and a Latinoboy a one in six chance of the samefate. Children and teens in Americawere 17 times more likely to be killedby gun violence than those in 25other high-income countries com-bined. We are 30th in preschool enroll-ment rates and 17th in reading, 23rdin science, and 31st in math scoresfor our 15-year-olds. Nearly 60 per-cent of all fourth and eighth gradepublic school students in the U.S.and more than 80 percent of Blackand almost 75 percent of Latino chil-dren in those same grades could notread or compute at grade level in2013. We rank first in health expendi-tures but 25th in low birth weightrates, 26th in child immunizationrates, 31st in infant mortality rates,and second worst in teenage births– just ahead of Bulgaria. If we compare Black child well-being in America to child well-beingin other nations, the U.S. Black in-fant mortality rate exceeds that in 65nations, including Cuba, Malaysia,and Ukraine. Our incidence of low-birth weight Black infants is higherthan in 127 other nations, includingCambodia, the Congo, and Guate-mala. The United Nations Conventionon the Rights of the Child spells outthe basic rights children shouldhave everywhere and is the mostwidely and rapidly ratified interna-

By Cong. John Lewis (D-GA)

This past weekend as I intro-duced President Barack Obama onthe steps of the Edmund PettusBridge in Selma, Alabama, I wasovercome with powerful emo-tions. Of course, I reflected onhow far we have come over thepast 50 years. But one thoughtcould not escape my mind: Thosewho fight to make it harder to votedon’t know what it’s like to bekicked, clubbed, and beaten forthe simple right to cast a ballot. But I do. Fifty years ago, I, with 600 non-violent protesters, marched onSelma to protest voting discrimi-nation, and the death of JimmieLee Jackson, a civil rights activ-

The unfinished work of Selmaist who had been beaten and shotby Alabama state troopers a monthearlier. We were met with heavilyarmed police, tear gas, bullwhipsand billy clubs. But we fought on,we made our voices heard and weforced our nation to stare its soulin the mirror. One week later, PresidentLyndon Johnson stood before ajoint session of Congress to de-clare that if our nation were to trulylive up to its promise as a land ofequal opportunity, we must over-come the crippling legacy of big-otry and injustice. Five months later, we passed theVoting Rights Act, which statedthat the practices aimed deliber-ately at keeping blacks from vot-ing would not stand.

On the day it passed, I wouldhave been in utter disbelief toknow that in 2015, the VRA wouldstill be a point of debate. But in2013, the Supreme Court guttedkey aspects of the law. In theweeks that followed, Republicansin statehouses across the coun-try quickly passed laws making itharder to vote. In Texas, thestate’s Republican attorney gen-eral announced immediately afterthe Supreme Court’s decision thata law blocked in 2012 because itwas found to burden the poor andcommunities of color would gointo effect. In North Carolina, thelegislature pulled back early vot-ing. In fact, since 2011, half of thestates have passed legislation tomake voting harder.

Couched in language about“protecting the ballot box,” Re-publicans have pushed voter IDlaws that disproportionately im-pact certain blocks of voters —African-Americans, women,Latinos, the poor and youngpeople — who tend to vote againstthem. In Texas alone, 600,000 vot-ers were at risk of being disenfran-chised by the new voter ID re-quirements. We should not mince words:These are poll taxes by anothername, the very types of discrimi-nation we marched against 50years ago.I began working on this issuewhen I was a student, and I cantell you that this voter discrimina-tion is not targeted at just anyone

— if you’re a young person, it’s tar-geted directly at you. You need notlook any farther than Texas, where agun license is valid identification,but a student ID is not. And accord-ing to one study, even in stateswithout ID requirements, nearly two-thirds of young, black voters wereasked for ID, compared to just un-der 43% of young white voters. Infact, a survey found that 20% ofyoung people lack a current in-statedriver’s license. These numbers seem grim, but Ibring them to your attention not todiscourage you, but to the contrary,to challenge you. A new generationof activists has made it clear that

7

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


OpinionOpinionOpinionOpinionOpinion


By George E. CurryNNPA Columnist

Lyndon B. Johnson has donemore to help African Americansand poor people than any mod-ern president. But his defendersare cheapening his legacy by in-flating his accomplishments,which is an insult to the people –Black and White – who lost theirlives fighting for civil rights. The first and most obnoxiousexample of a LBJ supporter be-coming unhinged is Joseph A.Califano, Jr., President Johnson’sdomestic policy adviser from1965 to 1969. In a column for the Washing-ton Post, he wrote: “In fact, Selmawas LBJ’s idea, he consideredthe Voting Rights Act his great-est legislative achievement, heviewed King as an essential part-ner in getting it enacted – and hedidn’t use the FBI to disparagehim.” The idea of a Selma-to-Mont-gomery March actually origi-nated in Marion, Ala., about 30miles northwest of Selma, with thedeath of Jimmie Lee Jackson.Marchers were protesting the ar-rest of James Orange, a keySouthern Christian LeadershipConference (SCLC) field orga-

LBJ’s defenders cheapen his accomplishmentsnizer. In fact, they were marchingfrom Zion Chapel MethodistChurch a short distance to the jailwhen Jackson was killed by anAlabama State Trooper JamesBonard Fowler. At the time, he wastrying to defend his 82-year oldgrandfather, a scene vividly cap-tured in the movie, “Selma.” Theaccount is also recounted in Selma1965: The March That Changedthe South by Charles E. Fager. Instead of a traditional funeral,the idea was proposed to marchto Montgomery and presentJackson’s body to Alabama Gov.George C. Wallace at the state capi-tol. Wiser minds prevailed and theidea was refined to hold a tradi-tional funeral for Jimmie Lee Jack-son and march 54 miles from Selmato Montgomery to demand fullvoting rights for Blacks. It was the death of 26-year-oldJimmie Lee Jackson that inspiredthe Selma to Montgomery March,not an “idea” floating around inLBJ’s head. Neither Califano noranyone else is entitled to use theblood of the Civil Rights Move-ment to create a myth that is con-trary to history and commonsense. The most recent attempt to su-per-size LBJ’s legacy is the asser-tion that it was the former

president’s idea to includeLatinos in the Civil Rights Move-ment. An Associated Press storynoted, “While this week’s com-memorations of the 50th anniver-sary of ‘Bloody Sunday’ may in-voke memories of historic eventsin which the ‘real hero,’ asJohnson said, was ‘the AmericanNegro,’ little is said aboutJohnson’s call in that speech toinclude Mexican-Americans in thestruggle for equality.” The story added, “Appalled bythe brutality in Selma, Johnsonviewed it as an opportunity to ‘lib-erate himself’ by linking the vot-ing rights struggle with thestruggles, 37 years earlier, of hispoorest [Latino] students inCotulla…” Dr. King worked hard to buildcoalitions with other groups, in-cluding Latinos. In fact, manywere in attendance in great num-bers at the 1963 March on Wash-ington. Former New York City Council-man Gerena Valentín said, “Mar-tin Luther King Jr. invited me toAtlanta, Ga., to discuss the marchthat was being organized, and Iwent there with a strong team. Hepersonally invited me to organizethe Latinos in New York, New Jer-

sey, Pennsylvania, Connecticutand Massachusetts, and so I did.” King’s famous “I Have a Dream”speech – made two years beforethe Selma to Montgomery March– was a broad appeal for justicefor “all of God’s children.” So it’s preposterous to suggestthat it was President Johnson’sidea to include “Mexican-Ameri-cans in the struggle for equality.” The reality is that Johnson wasanything but a civil rights advo-cate in Congress. PoliticFact.com, the fact-check-ing site, noted that Robert Caro,LBJ’s biographer, said: “for elevenyears he had voted against everycivil rights bill – against not onlylegislation aimed at ending thepoll tax and segregation in thearmed services but even againstlegislation aimed at ending lynch-ing: a one hundred percent record. “Running for the Senate in1948, he had assailed PresidentHarry Truman’s entire civil rightsprogram (‘an effort to set up apolice state’)…Until 1957, in theSenate, as in the House, his record– by that time a twenty-yearrecord – against civil rights hadbeen consistent.” Luci Baines Johnson acceptedan award from march organizersSunday morning in Selma on be-

half of her father, saying, “It meansthe world to me to know that a half-century later you remember howdeeply Daddy cared about socialjustice and how hard he worked tomake it happen.” It was only after the assassina-tion of President John F. Kennedyand Johnson’s elevation from vicepresident that he overcame his past,signing into law the Civil Rights Actof 1964, the Voting Rights Act of1965 and the Fair Housing Act of1968. Those three laws foreverchanged the United States for thebetter. LBJ’s legacy is firmly estab-lished. He doesn’t need his sup-porters to lie about his record inorder to enlarge his reputation. George E. Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine, is edi-tor-in-chief of the National News-paper Publishers AssociationNews Service (NNPA) andBlackPressUSA.com. He is a key-note speaker, moderator, and me-dia coach. Curry can be reachedthrough his Web site,www.georgecurry.com. You canalso follow him at:www.twitter.com/currygeorge andGeorge E. Curry Fan Page onFacebook. See previous columnsat http://www.georgecurry.com/columns.

The Obama Administration wasapparently shocked when the U.S.Supreme Court agreed to hear thecase of King v. Burwell, whichchallenges insurance subsidiesflowing through federal ex-changes. The Affordable Care Act(ACA) clearly states that subsi-dies flow only through Exchangesestablished by States. This, according to MIT econo-mist Jonathan Gruber, was meantto be a deal the States couldn’trefuse, to “encourage” them tocreate an Exchange. But morethan 30 of them did refuse. The Administration, however,had a ready fix: the IRS just wrotea rule that allows the subsidies toflow anyway, arguing that thatmust be what the law really meant. It reminds me of Gilbert andSullivan’s operetta Iolanthe.There was a most inconvenientlaw on the books: “The fairy thatmarries a mortal dies!” It was ter-rible enough that the belovedIolanthe had broken the law. Butultimately when all the fairiesmarry members of the House ofPeers, what is the Fairy Queen todo? “I can’t slaughter the wholecompany!” The Lord Chancellor comes tothe rescue. “The subtleties of thelegal mind are equal to the emer-gency. The thing is really quitesimple—the insertion of a singleword will do it. Let it stand thatevery fairy shall die who doesn’tmarry a mortal.” The Obama Administration is

What will happen if Supreme Court cuts ObamaCare subsidies?assuming that the Court will act asLord Chancellor, or else the Repub-lican Congress will do so, andtherefore has not bothered to warnanyone of the possible loss of sub-sidy. Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska)is concerned that patients will sud-denly lose their hemodialysis orchemotherapy, and has suggesteda COBRA-like patch. In fact, almostall patients with end-stage renaldisease are on Medicare. And whileACA caused millions to lose a planthey liked, some while on chemo-therapy, ACA plans can’t be can-celled when you get sick. Sub-scribers will, however, have to startpaying the entire premium—whichis far less expensive than chemo-therapy. The losers will be insurancecompanies. Remember, subsidiesdon’t go to sick people. They allgo to the insurer. Some insurerswill be stuck paying for 30 days oftreatment if the subscriber defaultson premiums, and providers will beforced to give treatment withoutpay for the remaining 60 days ofthe grace period. A lot of them maysimply go out of business. Healthy people will drop cover-age that is unaffordable withoutthe subsidies. Insurers who lob-bied for ACA will lose their gov-ernment-guaranteed business. This is the recipe for the “deathspiral.” As low-risk people dropout, premiums are driven higher andhigher. There will be more unin-sured people. They will likely ask

themselves why they shouldthrow fistfuls of money out thewindow month after month fortreatment they don’t need—andare increasingly less likely to getif they do need it, as supply driesup. As they lose their “insurance”card, however, people are likely tonotice that they get to keep thepremium money—and that it is farless expensive to buy care directlythan to funnel money through thepredatory, ravenous third-partysystem. But what about the “shared re-sponsibility payment”? Won’t

people have to pay that, in returnfor nothing, not even a ticket tostand in line? As premiums go up,they become more unaffordable,so more and more people are ex-empt from the penalty/tax. And bythe way, if subsidies are unavail-able in your State, businessesthere are not subject to the job-killing employer mandate. Yes, King v. Burwell could bringmuch pain—mostly on crony capi-talists. It could mark the beginningof a most beneficial medical costdeflation and correction of mas-sive resource misallocation. Instead of having the Lord

Chancellor “fix” a terribly destruc-tive law, how about learning fromhistory as in Iolanthe. Thingswould be better if “the House ofPeers withholds/ Its legislativehand/ And noble statesmen do notitch/ To interfere with matterswhich/ They do not understand.” The tangled mess of mandatesand regulations, by whichObamaCare makes care and insur-ance unaffordable, needs to be re-pealed. Then Congress can starton repealing other laws, especiallythe discriminatory tax code, whichled to the mess that ACA was sup-posed to fix.

By William Barber and Gary L.BledsoeNNPA Guest Columnists

Looking at our nation and not-ing where we have come since1965 gives us reason to celebrate.However, in our celebration weshould be mindful that true equal-ity was never achieved, and thatinstead of moving towards justicewe are moving in the other direc-tion. Just a year ago we celebratedthe 50th anniversary of the pas-sage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,though the Act has been and con-tinues to be under attack from theright wing of this nation as someeven ponder its “constitutional-ity.” And now we celebrate the

Don’t overlook contributions of Clarence Mitchell50th anniversary of the VotingRights Act of 1965, just two yearsafter the law was gutted by a deci-sion by the Supreme Court thatwas not founded in law and wherethe Chief Justice incredulouslyopined that Blacks in Mississippihad superior voter access thanBlacks in Massachusetts. It is in this vein that we say thatthere should be a celebration, butthere too must be a recognition ofthe work that must be done to re-pair the harm done by the ShelbyCounty decision. The ink wasn’tdry on that decision before South-ern states such as North Carolina,Texas and Mississippi started totake action to go back to howthings were. Blacks in all the old confederacy

are now confronting an array of re-pressive laws such as unduly re-strictive voter identification laws,cut backs on early voting, en-hanced purging of voters, burden-some identification issuance or re-newal laws, changing of voting sitesto make it more difficult for peopleof color to vote and a facing host ofother such discriminatory obstacles.We are hearing dog whistles everyday in 2015. In the wake of last weekend’s cel-ebration in Selma, we hope that theNAACP gets proper recognition forits essential role in the law’s pas-sage. We love and respect thosegreat Americans such as Dr. MartinLuther King, Jr. and President

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

8

African SceneAfrican SceneAfrican SceneAfrican SceneAfrican Scene

In this photo taken Monday March 9, 2015, Nigerian troops patrol inthe north-eastern Nigeria city of Mubi, some 20 kms (14 miles) westof the Cameroon border. Nigerian troops recaptured Mubi from BokoHaram militants in February 2015. (AP Photo/str)Sylvie Corbet, ASSOCIATED PRESS

France has reoriented its mili-tary efforts in West Africa to fo-cus more on the fight againstBoko Haram, especially by pro-viding intelligence to the Africancountries that are at war againstthe extremist movement. France supports the offensiveled by Chad in cooperation withCameroon, Niger and Nigeria —Boko Haram’s base. About 30 French troops aredeployed in Niger since lastmonth near the Nigerian border,and French jets frequently flyover the area to provide intelli-gence, according to two Frenchtop diplomatic officials, who werenot authorized to speak publicly. The country also provides fueland food supplies to Chadiantroops, said one of the officials. France has a big air base with600 troops in N’Djamena, the

France increases its efforts in the fight against Boko Haram

capital of Chad, close toCameroon’s border and northernNigeria. It has deployed 3,000 troops infive countries of the Sahel in anoperation aiming at fighting Is-lamic extremists in the region. The operation to fight BokoHaram is “flexible,” which meansthat some troops can be rede-ployed from one country to an-other, one of the officials said with-out giving more details. France’s defense minister saidthis week that the country would“slightly” increase its number oftroops in the Sahel region by theend of the year, but does not in-tend to take active part in the fight-ing against Boko Haram. France has previously helpedoust al-Qaida-linked militants fromthe main cities in northern Mali,France’s former colony.

(GIN) – The somber face of ayoung man from Sierra Leone hasbecome the emblem of Ebola’s liv-ing survivors, suffering in silencewithout families, papers, orhomes. A photo of Jimmy Thoronkaappeared this week in local Brit-ish papers. An undeclared refu-gee he went missing after com-peting in last summer’s Common-wealth Games in Glasgow. The 20-year-old was a star sprinter butfell apart as Ebola took his uncle,then his adoptive mother and foursiblings. He had already lost hisbirth parents in the country’s civilwar. Scared to go back, he decidedto stay on after his visa ran out. Thus began a seven-monthspell of ‘living rough” on thestreets. There were days withoutmeals, sleeping in parks or nightbuses in London. When hiswhereabouts emerged last week,he was arrested for overstayinghis visa. He was finally releasedSaturday night after an interviewwith immigration officers. His plight, on the heels of thehuge loss of life in three WestAfrican countries, now over9,000, sparked an online campaignin his name . Thousands tookpart, including the comedianRussell Brand, the actor SamanthaMorton and the model Lily Cole.More than 30,000 dollars wasraised. The collection took Thoronkaby complete surprise. “I amamazed that people all over theworld have offered to help me af-ter they read my story. I don’tknow how to thank everyone. If Ican make a success of my life as asprinter my plan is to go back to

Desolate Sierra Leonean livingrough in UK spurs fund drive

Sierra Leone and help homelesspeople. I know how much suffer-ing there is when you are home-less. Last week I had no hope butnow maybe I will make it.” Thoronka’s case put a spotlighton the UK’s use of immigrationdetention. A recent report from anall-party parliamentary groupcalled for detention to be limitedto 28 days and used only in excep-tional circumstances. “Immigration removal centresare places where many detaineeslanguish in indefinite detentiondespite not being accused of anycrime, and this has a tremendousnegative impact,” Emma Mlotshwa,coordinator of Medical Justice toldthe Guardian. “We have seen de-tainees’ mental and physical healthdeteriorate in immigration deten-tion and we fear for this man’swellbeing, given his existing re-ported vulnerabilities.”

The fund appeal for Thoronkawas started by a Cambridge Univer-sity student, whose PhD is on howsocial networking can be used forsocial good. The money will be putin a trust and will pay for fees andsome living costs of a year at a resi-dential athletics training facility. Meanwhile, the death toll from thevirus in Sierra Leone is more than3,500 and in the most recent devel-opment, Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana put himself in quarantineafter the death from Ebola of one ofhis security guards. He is set to be-come acting president when Presi-dent Ernest Bai Koroma leaves Si-erra Leone to attend a EuropeanUnion conference on Ebola in Bel-gium. Sam-Sumana is expected tocarry out the presidential dutiesfrom his home. He is the highest ranking Africanofficial to be quarantined in WestAfrica.

Josph Thoronka

By Mark Hosenball

The United States is limiting its intelli-gence and military aid to Nigeria duringBoko Haram’s deadly insurgency due toconcerns over the country’s human rightsrecord, U.S. officials say. Boko Haram has killed thousands ofpeople in northeastern Nigeria in its six-year insurgency and has also pledged al-legiance to the Islamic State, which hascreated a self-declared caliphate in partsof Iraq and Syria. Africa’s second-biggest economy andtop oil exporter is growing as an invest-ment destination. But reports of violenceand corruption by authorities have tar-nished its image. The United States has shied away fromproviding Nigeria with real-time informa-tion for targeting Boko Haram militants, aU.S. government official said, partly in fearthat the Nigerians will use the informationto target the wrong people. Human-rights concerns have also hin-dered the ability of the United States toassist security forces in Nigeria’s neigh-bors, including Cameroon, Chad and Niger,

Human rights concerns limit U.S. intelligence, military aid to Nigeriawhich recently have stepped up their engage-ment in the conflict against Boko Haram, theofficials said, requesting anonymity. Nigeria’s chief of defense intelligence, RearAdmiral Gabriel Okoi, said this week in Wash-ington that the United States was doing “notenough” to share intelligence. “Terrorists don’t wait to share information,so why should countries? We need to shareintel as we have it,” Okoi told an AtlanticCouncil forum. He said the Leahy Law, which bars theUnited States from providing training orequipment to foreign troops who commit hu-man-rights violations, had also limited U.S.aid to Nigerian forces. “The U.S. is doing itsbest, but the Leahy law is hindering our co-operation,” Okoi said. Human Rights Watch has accused Nige-rian authorities of ignoring violence in cen-tral Nigeria that has killed thousands of peoplesince 2010. Accusations of rights abuseshave also been made by Amnesty Interna-tional, which says Nigeria’s army has com-mitted atrocities in its fight against BokoHaram. Nigeria denies the charges.(Editing by Jason Szep and Dan Grebler)Boko Haram

9

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


Author Peter Slevin haspenned a new book. MichelleObama: A Life (Knopf, Apr. 7,2015) traces the First Lady of theUnited States (FLOTUS)Michelle Obama from herfamily’s history (dating back toslavery) through the WhiteHouse today. Richly detailedand written with elan, a power-fully inspiring story: the firstcomprehensive account of thelife and times of arguably themost unlikely first lady in thenation’s history, an AfricanAmerican descended from

slaves and of less-than-privilegedbackground. The new tome provides a portraitof a woman who – like all workingmothers – has continually struggledto balance her duties as a profes-sional with those as a mother andwife. We see her reluctance to en-ter into political life and what shehas given up, personally and pro-fessionally, for The President’s ca-reer. But Slevin also shows howFLOTUS has effectively carved outa role in the White House as a de-nouncer of inequalities, doggedlyworking to “unstack the deck” forminorities and the poor, and that sheis, contrary to popular consensus,“the most consistently political FirstLady since Eleanor Roosevelt.” To understand President Obama,you need to know The First Lady— and Slevin’s biography brings usthe full measure of the life and workof this truly exceptional woman.Who is Michelle Obama? How doesshe feel about life in the East Wing?What sacrifices have she and herfamily made to be there? What doesbeing the first Black First Ladymean? Michelle Obama: A Life is thefirst full, extensively researched andreported account of her life — andthe first to explore how the greatercontext of race and gender inAmerica have affected and moti-vated her.

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney isBlack at MIST Harlem

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

After two successful stints atMIST Harlem, actress/comedi-enne Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, isBlack celebrating Women’s His-tory Month with “Laughter AndLyrics…Saluting Ladies Of Lan-guage” Fri., Mar. 27, 2015. “Laughter and Lyrics” is ablended evening of consciouscomedy and spoken word featur-ing Stickney paying homage towomen of wisdom and wordssuch as Nikki Giovanni, Rudy Deeand more. The evening is hostedby actor, Timothy D. Stickney andincludes a special musical guestperformance by The ClaudiaHayden Project. Tickets availablevia PayPal at advocates4dia.com. Stickney whose film credits in-clude Gun Hill With Larenz Tate,New Jack City, Die Hard With AVengeance, How Stella Got HerGroove Back, The Inkwell,What’s Love Got To Do With It?And Malcolm X has been debut-ing preludes to her upcomingWhite Plains Performing Arts andComedy Festival presented byAdvocates for Diversity in theArts. “Advocates” is an organi-zation dedicated to highlightingthe talents of emerging artists ofall hues and assists them in en-hancing their careers. For moreinformation on “Laughter & Lyr-ics,” or on “Advocates for Diver-sity in the Arts” visitwww.advocates4dia.com.

Stickney – who was inducted intothe “Arkansas Black Hall of Fame”in 1998 — is a world-class artist, pro-ducer, director, author, motivationalspeaker, clothing designer, commu-nity activist and businesswoman.Stickney is best known and re-spected for her work in film, stage,television and comedy. Her film cred-its include New Jack City, Die HardWith A Vengeance, How Stella GotHer Groove Back, TheInkwell, What’s Love Got To Do WithIt?, Malcolm X, and the ABCAfterschool Special, “Daddy’s Girl.”

Honorable Gail Brewer proclaims‘Ruth D. Hunt Appreciation Day’

The distinguished BellevueCommunity Advisory Boardhosted their annual LegislativeBreakfast to a standing roomonly audience of legislators,community activists, staff and

the Bellevue community. Just afew days earlier, the board at-tended a very special retirementcelebration for one of their own,Ruth D. Hunt, who was given agrand send-off that was attendedby many community leaders, po-litical representatives, family andfriends as she retired fromBellevue Hospital Center aftermany years of devoted service asan administrator. After the meeting ManhattanBorough President GailBrewer presented Hunt with aProclamation “highlighting herunwavering commitment to pro-vide inclusive leadership to com-munity events, and raise aware-ness on a wide range of publichealth issues and concerns.”Hon. Brewer proclaimed Fri., Mar.6, 2015 “Ruth D. Hunt Apprecia-

Manhattan Borough PresidentGail Brewer presents Procla-mation to Ruth Hunt

tion Day” for her “contributionas an advocate for healthcare toNew York City’s public hospitalsand for her leadershipin fundraising efforts for theAmerican Cancer Society andgiving support andencouragement to cancer pa-tients, survivors and their fami-lies. Hunt was also recognized forhaving introduced Genealogyworkshops and a link to healthand prevention. Hunt was givena resounding standing ovationfrom her Bellevue colleagues thatincluded: President Ram Raju,Senior Vice President AntonioMartin, Vice President La RayBrown of New York City Healthand Hospital Corporation(NYCHHC), and the Bellevuecommunity at large.

Seasoned Multicultural Talent Joins GMAs Part Of Diversity Marketing Team The Diversity Marketingand Communications Centerof Excellence is pleased toannounce that, effectiveMonday, March 16, 2015,Michelle MatthewsAlexander will join GM asthe African American Assis-tant Marketing Manager.Alexander brings a wealthof multicultural automotiveexperience and has spent thepast seven and one-halfyears leading Ford andLincoln’s multicultural pub-lic relations efforts specificto the African American mar-ket for the UniWorld Group. Prior to that role she spentfour and one-half yearsheading up the internal com-munications efforts atNissan’s North Americanengineering facili ty inFarmington Hills, MI. Beforejoining Nissan, Alexanderspent two years honing hercommunications skills aspart of General Electric’sCorporate CommunicationsLeadership DevelopmentProgram. In this role,Alexander will be providingstrategic marketing assis-tance to drive insights, fo-cus and coordination insupport of the brand’sgrowth plans across divi-sions within the AfricanAmerican market. Additional responsibili-ties will include serving asthe point of contact for ex-ternal marketing partner-ships and opportunitieswithin the African Americanmarket, developing in depthtrend knowledge of the Af-rican American market andsupporting diversity market-ing, media and promotionalprograms in the AfricanAmerican market.

New book about FLOTUS— Michelle Obama: A Life

Michelle Obama

Michelle Matthews Alexander

WWWWWednesdaednesdaednesdaednesdaednesdayyyyy’’’’’ s s s s s WWWWWomanomanomanomanomanCompiled by Women’s Editor Audrey J. Bernard

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

10


On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquakestruck the nation of Haiti, causing cata-strophic damage inside and around the capi-tal city of Port-au-Prince. President BarackObama promised the people of Haiti that“you will not be forsaken, you will not beforgotten” and ordered an immediate re-sponse to the catastrophe that was swift,coordinated, and aggressive. Since then, the United States has taken awhole-of-government approach to facilitateand enhance the work of our partners inHaiti and across the international commu-nity. Thanks in part to this global effort, aswell as the leadership of the Haitian govern-ment, Haitians have better access to cleanwater, food, and medical care than they hadbefore the quake. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. JillBiden traveled to Haiti in the months follow-ing the disaster to see the devastation firsthand. A great deal of work remains to bedone — work that will take years to com-plete. Going forward, the United States willcontinue to be focused on a comprehensivestrategy drafted in partnership with the Gov-ernment of Haiti and our international part-ners to achieve economic growth and sta-bility. This strategy will focus investmenton the four areas of infrastructure and en-ergy, food and economic security, health andservices and governance and rule of law. On Friday, Mar. 27, 2015, the Fifth annualHaiti Cherie charity event will bring togetherhundreds to raise funds for local nonprofitorganizations in Haiti still working to recoverfrom the 2010 earthquake that killed an esti-mated 300,000 people. The event honors theaccomplishments of Haitian professionalswho have excelled in their fields and havebeen supporters of Haiti and serve as a re-minder of Haitian pride, culture and resil-ience. The 2015 honorees include Andre MichaelBerto, a Haitian-American professionalboxer. Berto is a two-time Welterweight cham-pion; Karen Civil, founder of Live Civil anddigital marketing expert; Harriet Michel, thefirst Black woman to lead the New York Ur-ban League; and Dr. William Pape, founderand director of GHESKIO Centers (HaitianStudy Group on Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Op-

Hundreds to gather to commemorate the resilience of theHaitian Spirit at the 5th Annual Haiti Cherie charity event

Andre Berto

Dr. William Pape

Harriet Michel

Karen Civil

portunistic Infections) in Haiti and Professor ofMedicine at Cornell University in New York. According to Fabrice Armand, founder of HaitiCherie, the event has become a unifying momentfor the Haitian Diaspora and friends of Haiti inNew York City. The event which was firstlaunched in 2010 following the devastating earth-quake in Haiti and has continued to maintainsupport for the reconstruction of the country isattended by people from across the US, Haiti,France and Canada. “Haiti Cherie is not justabout raising funds for worthy charities backhome,” said Armand. “It is also about bringingthe Haitian community together and raisingawareness of Haiti’s significance in history andits beauty and richness as a culture and a na-tion.” The fundraiser is scheduled for Mar. 27, 2015at the Broad Street Ballroom, 41 Broad Street,Lower Manhattan, New York City with a red car-pet event beginning at 6:30pm. Atlanta’s NBCNews Anchor DeMarco Morgan will serve asmaster of ceremonies. Guests will enjoy an artauction by Vivant Art Collection; an open barcourtesy of Hennessy; authentic Haitian dishescreated by Chef Stephan Berrouet, founder ofthe Haiti Food and Spirits Festival; and enter-tainment by DJ Commish and DJ Magic Kenny. Proceeds generated by the Haiti Cheriefundraiser will be distributed to, and utilized in,furthering the efforts of HELP and Project St.Anne to provide life-changing support and edu-cational opportunities to the less fortunate inHaiti. HELP (www.uhelp.net) provides univer-sity scholarships to students from disadvan-taged backgrounds. The organization also aimsto cultivate and empower a community of youngprofessionals and leaders who support socialjustice and civic responsibility for the better-ment of Haiti. Project St. Anne (http://projectstanne.org) iscommitted to brightening the lives of the Chil-dren in Camp-Perrin by sponsoring them withthe vital need of an education. To follow theconversation use #HaiticheriePLC. Haiti Cherieis the brainchild of Fabrice J. Armand, a philan-thropist, producer, vice president of GCaribbeanmagazine, to raise funds for charities creatingsustainable change in his native Haiti. To pur-chase tickets, please visit:Haiticherie5.eventbrite.com; or http://hstc.co/1wMemBT.

Mayor de Blasio announcedthat the City is committing millionsof dollars to further resiliency plan-ning and implementation aroundLower Manhattan, part of a com-prehensive climate adaptationplan underway across the fiveboroughs. This includes $6.75 million fromthe City and State for comprehen-sive flood protection planningbelow Montgomery Street andaround the tip of Lower Manhat-tan to the west side, and another$8 million in City capital funds forBattery Park flood protection de-sign and implementation — bothaimed at protecting Lower Man-hattan residents, businesses, andinfrastructure from future extremeweather while enhancing the vi-tality of the area. The City’s resiliency plan pro-poses a significant rethinking ofLower Manhattan using a combi-nation of integrated flood protec-tion measures to control stormsurge and prevent flooding. Build-ing on those recommendations,the City will conduct advancedplanning for integrated flood pro-

tection strategies to prevent andmitigate upland flooding aroundLower Manhattan, from Mont-gomery Street south to the Batteryand up to the west side of Man-hattan to the northern terminus ofBattery Park City at Jay Street. This will build on the City’s par-ticipation in the Department ofHousing and UrbanDevelopment’s Rebuild by Designcompetition, and complement theplans for an integrated flood pro-tection system already underwaynorth of Montgomery Street. Italso dovetails with measures al-ready underway around LowerManhattan, including major infra-structure upgrades (such as thestorm hardening of utilities), criti-cal funds for post-Sandy eco-nomic development and small busi-ness recovery, improvement, andresiliency, other short- and longer-term coastal protection projects,and much more. The City and the New York StateGovernor’s Office of Storm Recov-ery are funding a total of $6.75 mil-lion in advanced planning fund-ing for comprehensive flood pro-

funds committed by GovernorAndrew M. Cuomo through theNY Rising Community Recon-struction (NYRCR) Program’sPlanning Committee for LowerManhattan. The City is also funding $8 mil-lion in capital dollars for flood

protection design and first phaseimplementation in Battery Park. These funding commitments were planned in collaboration withlocal elected officials and other keyLower Manhattan stakeholders. “These investments mark anotherstep forward as we build a stronger,more resilient New York,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Lower Manhat-tan residents and businesses knowtoo well just how devastating Sandywas to this community. By puttingin place immediate resiliency mea-sures along Battery Park, while alsolaunching planning and design forbroader integrated flood protection,we’re helping to ensure that LowerManhattan is better prepared nexttime extreme weather hits. These in-vestments are also part of a muchlarger, multi-layered resiliency planthat we’re implementing in LowerManhattan and around the five bor-oughs. Thank you to the State andour local partners for their contin-ued collaboration on these invest-ments and much more.” “Superstorm Sandy caused sig-

City announces Lower Manhattan resiliencyinvestment as part climate adaptation plan

tection in Lower Manhattan fromMontgomery Street south to theBattery and up the west side to thenorth end of Battery Park City. Thisincludes $3 million in City funds,part of the City’s latest CDBG-DRAction Plan submitted to HUD thiswinter, and $3.75 million in State

Mayor de Blasio

11

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M

arch 25, 2015 newyorkbeacon.netJudge Kathleen Williams

Florida man convicted ofunemployment insurancefraud victimizing NYers New York State Department ofLabor Acting CommissionerMario J. Musolino announcedthat Reginald Steele-Nelson, 28,of Miami, Florida was sentencedto 96 months in prison to be fol-lowed by 3 years of supervisedrelease following his convictionon charges involving identitytheft and fraud against numerousstate benefit programs in multiplestates, including New York. Mr. Steele-Nelson gained ac-cess to more than $1.1M in ben-efits, ultimately stealing$236,371.45 before he was appre-hended. His sentence is one ofthe most severe for a crime of thiskind in a case stemming from aNew York State Department ofLabor investigation. Mr. Steele-Nelson was accusedof stealing nine New Yorkers’identities and claiming $4,500, butby halting this scheme, investi-gators saved New York Statenearly $100,000. “I commend the Department ofLabor’s Office of Special Investi-gations, which continues to dis-play extraordinary diligence incurtailing criminal activity of thiskind,” said Acting CommissionerMusolino. “Due to early detec-

tion by New York State Departmentof Labor investigators, the expenseto New York State was not as ex-treme as that of other states in thiscase.” By using new technology andengaging in aggressive analysis ofpotential fraud, Department inves-tigators were able to detect and haltMr. Steele-Nelson’s actions in thestate early in the process. Once theNew York State Department of La-bor alerted federal authorities, simi-lar and eventually far more costlytheft was discovered in otherstates. New York State Department ofLabor Major Case Unit investiga-tors identified an IP address regis-tered to Mr. Steele-Nelson fromwhich multiple false claims for Un-employment Insurance benefitswere filed. The agency’s MajorCase Unit worked with federal au-thorities to expand the investiga-tion. The federal authorities discov-ered that between December, 2013and the summer of 2014, Mr. Steele-Nelson claimed the UnemploymentInsurance benefits of more than 90individuals from whom he stole per-sonal identifying information, in-cluding names and social securitynumbers.

U.S. Senators Charles E.Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrandand Congressmembers José E.Serrano, Charles Rangel, and Jo-seph Crowley have introducedlegislation to rename theMorrisania Post Office, located inthe Bronx, in honor of former Con-gressman and Bronx BoroughPresident Herman Badillo. Badillobecame the first Puerto-Rican citycommissioner and borough presi-dent, and was the first Congress-man to be born in Puerto Rico. “As a proud native son ofPuerto Rico, a product of theBronx and a champion for all ofNew York, Herman Badillo exem-plified the American ethos thatyou can achieve greatness andenact positive change regardlessof humble beginnings and eco-nomic disadvantage and discrimi-nation. While nobody can fill thevoid left by Herman Badillo, it ismy hope that all those who enterthis post office will be remindedof his incredible commitment toour city and our nation,” saidSenator Schumer. “Through hisintellect, fierceness of spirit andcompassion, Herman inspiredgenerations to believe that ‘Si sepuede’ and naming the MorrisaniaPost Office after him is a fittingtribute to his legacy of work forcivil rights, equal opportunity,education reform and more.” “Herman Badillo was an inspir-ing advocate for all New Yorkers,and a role model for countlessPuerto Rican-born Americans. Hemoved through life motivated bythe desire to help the peoplearound him, and throughout hisdecades-long political career, herepeatedly accomplished thatgoal. It is fitting that HermanBadillo’s name will now live on inpublic view at a post office in TheBronx, so that new generations ofNew Yorkers can continue to bedriven to do great things byHerman Badillo’s legacy,” saidSenator Kirsten Gillibrand. “It is an honor to serve as theoriginal sponsor of legislation inthe House of Representatives tohonor the life and legacy of thelate Herman Badillo by renamingthe Morrisania Post Office afterhim. Few people have been asimportant in shaping the historyof the Bronx and in Puerto Ricans’participation in local and statepolitics as Herman Badillo – a trail-blazer and leader in every senseof the word. The Herman Badillo

Morrisania Post Office to be renamedin tribute to late Cong. Herman Badillo

Post Office Building will help en-sure his memory lives on for gen-erations to come,” said Congress-man José E. Serrano. “My great friend Herman Badillowas a fixture in New York City poli-tics for nearly four decades, cham-pioning civil rights, jobs, housingand educational reform. Even af-ter his passing, he continues to bea true testament to the AmericanDream,” said CongressmanCharles B. Rangel. “Renaming thispost office in honor of Herman is afitting way to preserve and honorhis legacy in the Bronx.” “Herman Badillo’s contributionsto the Bronx, the City of New Yorkand our country as a whole, can-not be overstated,” said Rep. JoeCrowley (D-Queens, the Bronx).“Renaming the Morrisania branchof the U.S. Postal Service wouldbe a fitting tribute for someone whowas not only a trailblazer for theLatino community, but a championfor vulnerable communities every-where. I thank Senators Schumerand Gillibrand and CongressmenRangel and Serrano for all their ef-forts in making sure Herman’smemory and legacy are honored.” “It is so heartwarming to see theoutpouring of feeling and respectfor my husband, Herman Badillo.Herman was an outstanding pub-lic servant and an inspiration toso many people. His story of com-ing from humble beginnings, be-ing orphaned at a very young ageand rising to the top to becomethe first Congressman of PuertoRican heritage in the history of ourcountry, is truly extraordinary. It iswith enormous gratitude that Ithank Bronx Borough President

Ruben Diaz for setting into motionthe idea of naming the only federalbuilding in the Bronx after Hermanand the New York Congressionaldelegation; including CongressmanJose Serrano and Senator CharlesSchumer for their support in thisproject,” said Gail Badillo.

Badillo was born in Puerto Rico in1929. Badillo’s father, an Englishteacher, and mother passed away oftuberculosis at an early age. At 11years old, Badillo moved to theUnited States , and later settleddown in New York. In 1951, Badillograduated with honors from CityCollege and in 1954, was the vale-dictorian of his class at BrooklynLaw School. In 1965, Badillo was elected BronxBorough President and in 1970,Badillo was elected to Congress asa United States representative.Badillo spent seven years as a Con-gressman representing South Bronx.There, he fought for voting rights,programs to help inner cities, andbilingual education. In 1971, Badillobrought attention to an issue affect-ing Puerto Ricans; at the time, PuertoRicans were not eligible for federalbenefits under Social Security suchas food stamps. As chairman of theCUNY board from 1999 to 2001,Badillo oversaw the end of openenrollment in senior colleges andhigher admissions and graduationrequirements. The lawmakers today said thatthe Morrisania Post Office is a his-torical federal building included onthe National Register of HistoricPlaces, and it would only be fittingto honor Herman Badillo perma-nently at home in the Bronx.

Cong. Herman Badillo

Five master’s programs atThe City College of New Yorkhave been listed among the topin the nation in U.S. News &World Report’s “Best GraduateSchools 2016” rankings re-leased. Two of the programs, publicservice management, the MPAprogram in City College’s ColinPowell School for Civic andGlobal Leadership, and finearts, which is offered by the Di-vision of Humanities and theArts, are both ranked in the topone hundred nationally. The Colin Powell School’spsychology and clinical psy-chology programs also earned

Five CCNY graduate programs are ranked among the nation’s bestnational recognition, along withthe Grove School ofEngineering’s graduate offerings. Each year, U.S. News ranks pro-fessional school programs inbusiness, education, engineer-ing, law and medicine. This year,it introduced its first annual ex-panded ranking of master’s pro-grams in nursing. The rankingsare based on two types of data:expert opinions about programexcellence and statistical indica-tors that measure the quality of aschool’s faculty, research andstudents. The data come from statisticalsurveys sent to administrators atnearly 1,900 graduate programs

and from reputation surveyssent to more than 13,700 aca-demics and professionals in thedisciplines. The surveys wereconducted during the fall of2014 and in early 2015. This is the latest recognitionof City College’s academic cre-dentials by U.S. News & WorldReport. In fall 2014, the publi-cation named CCNY the num-ber one Regional University inthe North for racial and ethnicdiversity in its 2015 rankings.The college was cited for of-fering the most enriching learn-ing experiences where “stu-dents are most likely to en-counter undergraduates from a

different ethnic group fromtheir own.” Overall, City Collegewas ranked #65 among 620 Re-gional Universities in the North. In addition, CCNY was hailedby the U.S. Department ofState’s Bureau of Educationaland Cultural Affairs last monthfor being a co-leader nationallyin producing the most 2014-2015 Fulbright U.S. Scholars,while The Princeton Reviewnamed the 168-year-old institu-tion one of the nation’s “BestValue” colleges and universitiesand applauded its “astonish-ingly” low cost, strong connec-tion to research and rigorousacademic programs.

Since 1847, The City College ofNew York has provided low-cost,high-quality education for NewYorkers in a wide variety of disci-plines. More than 16,000 studentspursue undergraduate and gradu-ate degrees in: the College of Lib-eral Arts and Sciences; the Ber-nard and Anne Spitzer School ofArchitecture; the School of Edu-cation; the Grove School of En-gineering; the Sophie DavisSchool of Biomedical Education,and the Colin Powell School forCivic and Global Leadership. U.S.News, Princeton Review andForbes all rank City Collegeamong the best colleges and uni-versities in the United States.

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

12

ship support, the annual televisionbroadcast, UNCF An Evening of Stars,and UNCF’s traveling college-and-ca-reer-readiness expo, the Empower MeTour. Additional dollars have beenraised due to Wells Fargo’s partnershipthrough local leadership advisory coun-cils, sponsorship opportunities atevents across the country, and wide-spread national corporate volunteerism. Wells Fargo Head of Technology &Operations Group & Chief InformationOfficer and UNCF Board MemberKevin Rhein accepted the award onbehalf of Wells Fargo. “We are hon-ored to receive this prestigious awardand so very proud to be a part of theUNCF family. Wells Fargo and UNCFhave worked together for over 20 yearsto provide more than $15 million in schol-arships and resources to thousands ofstudents and families,” stated Rhein.“This award symbolizes our continued

commitment to our communities andthis important movement to build astronger, more educated workforcethat enriches America’s future for gen-erations to come.” Wells Fargo SVP& Director of National PartnershipsGeorgette Dixon was also in atten-dance. Macy’s, Inc. received the covetedUNCF President’s Award for theirsupport of UNCF as it works tostrengthen the pipeline of AfricanAmerican students who go throughcollege and become tomorrow’s lead-ers. Macy’s has been a long-timesupporter of UNCF, and in the past10 years alone, they’ve awarded $1.4million in support across all marketsof UNCF for scholarships, specialevents, UNCF An Evening of Stars,and UNCF’s Campaign for Emer-gency Student Aid, which offers last-dollar scholarships to UNCF member-

institution students. Macy’s activelyrecruits from UNCF’s 37 member in-stitutions for their Executive Devel-opment Program, Sophomore Diver-sity Program, and summer internships. Accepting the award on behalf ofMacy’s was Jeff Gennette, presidentof Macy’s, Inc. “Like UNCF, we atMacy’s firmly believe that a goodeducation truly is the key to a suc-cessful and happy life,” said Gennette.“As an involved corporate citizen, weappreciate and accept our responsi-bility to help place a quality educa-tion within the reach of all deservingyoung people, regardless of back-ground or income. We are committedto being part of the solution.” In ad-dition to Gennette, other top Macy’sexecutives in attendance included EdGoldberg, Macy’s senior vice presi-dent of government & consumer af-fairs & diversity vendor development;

By Audrey J. BernardStyle & Society Editor

Educators, business and civicleaders and education supportersnationwide attended the stellar 71st

annual gala of the United NegroCollege Fund (UNCF), the nation’slargest education organization andnational advocate for education re-form on Thurs., Mar. 5, 2015 at its71st annual UNCF “A Mind Is” Gala.Some 800 guests attended thefundraising event, which was heldat the Grand Hyatt New York, rais-ing $1.2 million to benefit more than60,000 students who receive UNCFscholarships and attend UNCF’s 37member historically black collegesand universities, and more than 900colleges and universities across thecountry. Emmy Award winner andNBC 4 New York co-anchor DavidUshery served as emcee for the galawhich featured student vocalistAmber Whitaker from Rust Collegeand acknowledgement of presi-dents from UNCF’s 37 member in-stitutions. “We are truly grateful to every-one whose support and participa-tion made this ‘A Mind Is…’ Gala asuccess,” said UNCF President &CEO Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. “It isnot simply about coming togetherfor one night, but a new philan-thropy that sees an investment inour young people that will pay divi-dends not just for them, but for allof us.” During the esteemed programUNCF paid tribute to five retiringmember-institution presidents: Dr.Carlton Brown, president of ClarkAtlanta University since 2008; Dr.Johnnie B. Watson, president ofLeMoyne-Owen College since2008; Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, whowas unable to attend, Spelman Col-lege president since 2002; Dr. LarryL. Earvin, president of Huston-Tilltson University since 2000; andDr. Norman C. Francis, who wasunable to attend, president of XavierUniversity of Louisiana for the past47 years, who is currently the long-est serving college president in thecountry. Each year, the UNCF “A Mind Is”Gala honors distinguished civic,education, and business leaders fortheir game-changing advocacy onbehalf of education through part-nerships with UNCF and their ownwork. This year, two longtime cor-porate partners — whose supporthas aided UNCF’s mission tostrengthen a college-going culture— were recognized: Wells Fargo received theFrederick D. Patterson Award,named after the founder of UNCF,for their support through a host ofprograms, initiatives, and scholar-ships that help strengthen UNCF’sthree-pillar strategy. Wells Fargo hasdonated more than $5 million toUNCF since 2008 toward scholar-

United Negro College Fund honors WellsFargo, Macy’s, Inc. & Dr. Roscoe C. Brown

71st Annual Gala

Master of Ceremonies David Ushery Hon. David N. Dinkins, Dr. Roscoe Brown Jr., Michael L. Lomax

UNCF Frederick D. Patterson Award was presentedto Wells Fargo (l-r)Dr. Michael L. Lomax, KevinRhein, Dr. Larry L. Earvin, William F. Stasior

President of Macy's, Inc. Jeff Gennette accepting awardon behalf of Macy's Inc.

Presidents of the UNCF Member Institutions

Shirley Chisholm Award presented to Dr. RoscoeC. Brown (l-r) Fred D. Mitchell, Dr. Larry L.Earvin, William F. Stastior, Dr. Brown, Dr.Michael L. Lomax

Erica Nichole Walker

Ed Goldberg, Dr. Michael L.Lomax, Jeff Gennette, WilliamHawthorne

Beacon OnLegendary UNCF 'A mind isa terrible thing to waste' Logo and William Hawthorne, Macy’s senior

vice president of diversity and legal af-fairs. Dr. Roscoe C. Brown Jr., a noted edu-cator and Tuskegee Airman, received theShirley Chisholm Community ServiceAward. Named for the former New Yorkcongresswoman and the first major-partyAfrican American presidential candidate,the award was presented to Dr. Brownin honor of his longtime work address-ing and solving educational challengesin Greater New York City. Dr. Brown com-manded the 100th Fighter Squadron ofthe 332nd Fighter Group, the TuskegeeAirmen, in World War II and has receivednumerous awards and honors. He iscurrently the Director of the Center forUrban Education Policy and professorat the Graduate School and UniversityCenter of The City University of NewYork, and is past President of Bronx Com-munity College. The gala also highlighted and pro-vided an opportunity to contribute toUNCF’s Campaign for Emergency Stu-dent Aid (CESA) created in 2009 to pro-vide scholarships that aid students fac-ing financial shortfalls and threaten theirability to stay in college and graduate.To date, more than $20 million has beenraised to help thousands of UNCF stu-dents stay in school. Representing thosestudents at the gala was Erica NicoleWalker, a UNCF member-college gradu-ate from Bethune-Cookman Universitywho received a CESA scholarship andis now a graduate student and actress inNew York. Her moving testimony abouthow her late grandfather encouraged herto go to college and succeed, and howCESA gave her the final push to gradu-ate on time without financial stress,prompted the audience to respond, rais-ing more than $28,000 for CESA at thegala. Learn more at www.UNCF.org.(Photos by Earl Gibson III)

13

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


The Scene The Greater New York Chapterof the Links, Inc. CommunityPartnership held their Black His-tory Month Celebration at theCovello Burden Center for Ag-ing located at the LeonardCovello Center in East Harlem onFri., Feb. 27, 2015. Dr. MarcellaMaxwell, chair, The Links HealthCommittee for Seniors greetedguests and introduced the guestspeaker for the afternoon lun-cheon program — Dr. Hazel N.Dukes, president of NAACPNew York State Conference anda member of the National Boardof Directors — who captivatedthe audience with her experi-ences as a woman in the civilrights movement. The feisty civilrights advocator is an active anddynamic leader who is known forher unselfish and devoted trackrecord for improving the qualityof life to New York State. Herdedication to human rights andequality is exemplified by her rolelinking business, governmentand social causes. Also on the program was wellknown author and poet DeborahLassassier who recited movingpoems about African Americanlife which thrilled the huge audi-ence. Then, before making a spe-cial presentation to the Covello

Center of his artwork, celebratedartist Robert Carter delighted thecrowd in an art rendering. Will-iam Dionne, Director of the CarterBurden Center, accepted the art-work donation. Dr. Maxwell andMichelle D. Stent of The LinksHealth Committee for Seniors as-sisted in the presentation. TheTerri Davis Quartet played jazz se-lections with a gospel soloist andMetroPlus Health Plan providedvital health information. The organization’s excellentcommunity outreach work is on-going – never resting on its lau-rels. On the heels of its Black His-tory Month celebration, The Linkswill be partnering with Home Depot in celebration of “Women’sHistory Month” honoring andcelebrating the achievements ofWomen Veterans. In recognitionof “Women History Month” theHome Depot will be honoring andrecognizing the achievements ofwomen veterans by conductingfree, fun, and innovative DIYworkshops. There will be refresh-ments, photos, gift bags and aHome Depot job fair taking placeat the Home Depot located at West23rd Street, New York City (212-929-9571) on Sat. Mar. 21, 2015from 10am – 2pm. (Photos by GideonManasseh) (AJB)

The Greater New York Chapter of the Links, Inc. on the move

Hazel N. Dukes

Dr. Marcella Maxwell, DeborahLassassier

Dr. Marcella Maxwell, William Dionne, Michelle D. Stent holding TheLinks, donated African American artwork to the Covello Center forSeniors

Robert Carter artwork rendering

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

14

(from Page 3)

of New York’s premier arts institu-tions to new, and even greaterheights was the honor of a life-time.” HSA annually serves nearly4,000 young people from acrossthe greater New York Metro areaonsite at HSA’s Herb Alpert Cen-ter in Harlem, and offsite throughits arts education programs in thecity’s public and charter schoolsand community centers. UnderCampbell’s leadership, HSA hasincreased enrollment by 40% andprovided over $1,100,000 in finan-cial aid and scholarships to eligiblefamilies. Campbell and her family are re-locating to United Arab Emiratesat the end of the summer where

she will embark on a new chapter ofher career in international arts man-agement. The board is currently conduct-ing a national search to replaceCampbell. For nearly a half century, theHarlem School of the Arts hastransformed the lives of tens ofthousands of young peoplethrough world-class training inthe arts. HSA’s mission empow-ers young people from under-served communities in Harlemand throughout the city to findand develop the artist and citi-zen within themselves. HSA’senvironment teaches discipline,stimulates creativity, builds self-confidence and adds a dimensionof beauty to the lives of eachstudent.

Harlem School of Arts chiefCampbell to step down in June

(from page 2)

of classes or programming daily,from one hour now. The depart-ment expects this should help stopviolence by keeping inmates fo-cused on priorities that assist re-habilitation. The department expects to pro-vide access to a minimum of 5hours of non-school programminga day to adolescent (16-17) in-mates by August 2015; a minimumof 5 hours of programming a dayto young adult (18-21) inmates byDecember 2015; and a minimum of5 hours of programming a day toadult (22+) inmates by March2016.

Redefining first line incident re-sponses will more quickly end vio-lent incidents by training over 300Emergency Services Unit officerson non-lethal force technique andjointly developing Crisis Interven-tion Teams, involving training1,000 officers with DOHMH andimplementation of teams by July2015.Additional initiatives will helpmove DOC toward a culture ofsafety. DOC will create and ex-pand common-sense managerialand operational practices tostrengthen performance, account-ability, ownership and transpar-ency through the following nineinitiatives:- Improve leadership develop-ment and culture- Redefine the InvestigationsDivision

- Design a recruitment, hiringand staff selection plan- Design a performance manage-ment plan- Implement operational perfor-mance metrics and analysis- Create a well-defined supplydistribution process- Expand targeted training ofofficers and non-uniformed staff- Raise facilities to a state ofgood repair- Improve custody management From November 14 through Janu-ary 31, DOC seized 10 weapons and69 contraband drugs from 26 visi-tors who were trying to enter jails tovisit gang members. Those individu-als were arrested. The new rules would bring DOCpolicy closer into line with that ofother large jail systems such as LosAngeles, Cook County (Chicago),and Philadelphia, which limit physi-cal contact between inmates andvisitors, or restrict visitors based onsafety and security concerns. Thesepolicies are considered best prac-tices in the correction field. DOC willpropose the rule changes at BOC’snext meeting in May and, if ap-proved, would implement them byAugust. Philadelphia and Los Angelesboth limit contact visits. New YorkState, Los Angeles, and CookCounty all maintain visitor registries,and Cook County and Los Angelesmay even deny visits based on cer-tain security criteria, such as crimi-nal history.

real time, to deter and respond ina timely manner to violence, andfor intelligence purposes, to pre-vent violence altogether. DOC hasinstalled full camera coverage inadolescent facilities and installedcamera coverage in nine of thehousing units dedicated to 18-21-year-olds; DOC will add full videoand camera coverage within all fa-cilities on Rikers Island by Febru-ary 2018.

Designing effective inmate edu-cation opportunities and serviceswill result in a comprehensive idle-ness reduction program that en-visions an expansion of non-school classes and other activi-ties such as fatherhood initiativesor workforce development, so thatall inmates will have the option ofattending a minimum of five hours

separate warring gangs and war-ring factions within gangs. Pres-ently, some inmates with gang af-filiations are housed together, whileothers are sprinkled throughoutthe general population. This integrated classificationand housing strategy includes:· Refining the inmate classifi-cation process by April 2015· Launching initial Housing/Classification pilots in select facili-ties by October 2015· Stand-up Housing/Classifi-cation Unit to direct Department-wide housing and classificationsystem by January 2016· Rolling out a new housingand classification system and planto all facilities by April 2016 Comprehensive security cameracoverage will ensure there is ac-tive monitoring of jail activities in

either place limitations on physi-cal contact between inmates andvisitors, or restrict visitors basedon security and safety concerns. Additional contraband policyinitiatives include:· Implementing K-9 capabilitiesfor searches and investigationsby June 2016· Building more, new secure en-trances for each facility by De-cember 2018 Training 100% of existing frontentrance staff in enhanced TSA-style procedures by December2015 Creating an integrated classi-fication and housing strategy willensure that the toughest, mostviolent inmates of Rikers arehoused with each other, and will

Mayor de Blasio announces 14-point plan to curb violence at Rikers Island

senatorial races and general elec-tions find campaigns occasion-ally declaring all-out electoral warwhen wooing Black voters. With the tragedies in each ofthese states sparking massive so-cial justice protests — from thegenesis of #BlackLivesMatter inFerguson to the spawning ofYoung, Black and Gifted in Madi-son, Wis. — there is evidence themovements could mobilize Blackvoters into action for 2016. Thatcomes at a time when many activ-ists and voter advocates are con-cerned African-American turnoutwill be substantially depressed inthe next presidential election with-out President Barack Obama’sname on the ballot. Many Demo-cratic strategists worry Black turn-out will be a major challenge with-out the kind of candidate that willexcite them into action in the nextelection cycle. However, issues such as po-lice brutality and violence could. “Given the intensity of the is-sue and that it’s not likely to beresolved any time soon, I thinkthe momentum will last until thenext election,” DePaul Universitypolitical scientist Christina Riv-ers told the Tribune. “In particu-lar, I think the #BlackLivesMattermovement will galvanize youngBlack voters, especially stu-dents.” Rivers also points to studentsand young voters in North Caro-lina fighting against that state’svoter suppression laws. And lastweek, students from HBCUs Fiskand Tennessee State Universityfiled a federal lawsuit challeng-ing Tennessee’s voter ID law. In Florida, the African-Ameri-can community is still uneasyand upset over the needless so-called “Stand Your Ground” de-fense slayings of Black teensTrayvon Martin and JordanDavis, in which the former’s killer,a troubled George Zimmerman,was acquitted. But, the SunshineState is also a well-known politi-cal bellwether greatly influencingpresidential primaries and thegeneral election cycle. It just re-covered from a caustic guberna-torial election in which the state’scontroversial Republican Gov.

Rick Scott won a second term andone of its U.S. senators, Republi-can Marco Rubio, is openly mull-ing a 2016 presidential bid. Thestate is also 20 percent AfricanAmerican. In Missouri, Black protesters arestill smarting over the killing ofBlack teen Michael Brown and thenon-indictment of Ferguson policeofficer Darren Wilson. Upcomingcity council protests in April couldbe a preview of what the Black elec-torate, 13 percent of Missouri’spopulation, could do in 2016. While protests simmered to anear stop over the winter, advo-cates have kick-started activitiesin the wake of federal Departmentof Justice probe findings of racistpolicing patterns by the depart-ment, the announcement of no civilrights charges against Wilson andthe exit of the police chief and citymanager. Ohio is also home to two ex-tremely tragic cases: the case of12-year old Tamir Rice in Clevelandand John Crawford in Beavercreek.In both instances, white police of-ficers wrongly assumed Blackmales were armed and dangerouswhen they were not, killing bothwithin seconds of seeing them andwithout stopping to assess eithersituation. Out of all five states identified,Wisconsin could be the ugliest. Aperfect firestorm of political factorsare converging on that state, stillshaking off the hangover of a nastyrecall election triggered by laborunions against Badger State Gov.Scott Walker (R-Wis.). Walkerwon, but the wounds are visibleas Walker continues pressing for-ward with state right-to-work lawsperceived as an existential threatto the state’s public sectorworkforce. Making the situation even morepolitically caustic is the recent fa-tal shooting of unarmed Black teenTony Robinson in the state capi-tol, Madison, Wis., by a white citypolice officer. While Madison is consideredan oasis of Badger State liberalpolitics, and the state’s second-largest city with a Black popula-tion near 10 percent, it’s now be-come the flashpoint of brewingprotests over Robinson’s death. But, Walker is also currently

viewed as a growing favorite andfront-runner in the 2016 presiden-tial race. While the governor, pre-dictably, has not made any com-ment on what’s happened in Madi-son, an emerging alliance betweenBlack protesters and state laborunions desperately seeking anally in their fight against right-to-work could become a thorn inWalker’s national ambitions. It may not be as impactful in theGOP primary (since the Black voteis less than 10 percent of the Re-publican electorate). But any sud-den spike in Black political activ-ity in Wisconsin could prove chal-lenging for Republicans, espe-cially if Walker wins the primaryas a presidential nominee or, at thevery least, becomes the nominee’srunning mate. Still, some are doubtful thegrowing youth movement will gainthe traction it needs by 2016 or bepolitically savvy enough to knowwhat it must do. “We’ll see how much actualpolicy comes out of state legisla-tures and city councils in thosestates,” said former Colorado Sen-ate President Peter Groff, now aprominent national advisor toBlack state legislators. “Recom-mendations are sitting there, but Ihaven’t seen much policy move-ment.” “From a media standpoint, the‘movement’ is losing steam,”added Groff. Washington, D.C.-based attor-ney and former District of Colum-bia Democratic Party CommitteeChair A. Scott Bolden is also skep-tical. “I would be leery of the notionthat these incidents will resonatebeyond the protesters,” Boldenargued, suggesting movementplatforms could inadvertentlyalienate white voters. “People whodon’t look like you and me have amuch different and much morepositive view of police.” “Historically, these types of[police brutality] movements orprotests haven’t t ranslatedinto political impact,” addedBolden. “This angst againstpolice has always been present.The difference, obviously, issocial media since we now haveimmedia te access to theevents.”

Black lives matter vote couldswing some very key elections

(from page 3)

in Ferguson. U.S. Attorney General EricHolder did the right thing byordering the DOJ investiga-tion. Holder kept his publicpromise to stand by the peopleof Ferguson. In fact to thecredit of his outstanding lead-ership at the DOJ, there havebeen more that 20 DOJ civilrights investigations into vari-ous other police departmentsin the U.S. during Holder’s ten-ure as Attorney General. Holderreaffirmed, “I again commit tothe people of Ferguson that wewill continue to stand with youand to work with you to ensurethat the necessary reforms are

implemented.” Thus, the struggle for racialjustice continues in Fergusonand across the nation. The anti-dote to systematic racism inAmerica is to support and em-power Black Americans and otherpeople of color in the transfor-mation of the system of injusticein the U.S. into a fair and unbi-ased system of justice and equal-ity for all people. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is the presi-dent and CEO of the National News-paper Publishers Association (NNPA)and can be reached for national ad-vertisement sales and partnership pro-posals at: [email protected]; andfor lectures and other professionalconsultations at: http://drbenjaminfchavisjr.wix.com/drbfc.

Systematic racism in America(from page 6)

15

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


AUDREY'SSOCIETYWHIRL

By Audrey J. BernardStyle & Society Editor

A fantastic book bash for six-time Tony Award winning theaterproducer and historian Stewart F.Lane’s table top book BlackBroadway was held as afundraiser for the new City Col-lege Center For the Arts (CCCA)on Tues., Mar. 10, 2015. BlackBroadway is being hyped as thenew Black Bible for African Ameri-can actors and actresses whosenames have lit up Broadway mar-quees earning them a place in his-tory — not only through hardwork, perseverance, and talent —but also because of the legacy leftby those who came before them.Blacks on Broadway have hadtheir share of doors slammed intheir faces until the 1960s whendoors flung open because of theCivil Rights Movement. However,some say still not wide enough! Lane’s book addresses theseissues through the use of wordsand pictures that capture this tu-multuous century and highlightsthe rocky road that Black actorshave travelled through to reachrecognition on Broadway. After the Civil War, the popu-larity of the minstrel shows grewby leaps and bounds throughoutthe country. African Americanswere portrayed by whites, whowould entertain audiences in blackface. While the depiction ofBlacks was highly demeaning, itopened the door to African-Ameri-can performers, and by the late1800s, a number of them were play-ing to full houses. By the 1920s,the Jazz Age was in full swing, al-lowing black musicians and com-posers to reach wider audiences.And in the thirties, musicals suchas George Gershwin’s Porgy andBess and Eubie Blake’s Swing Itopened the door a little wider. As the years passed, Black per-formers continued to gain ground.In the 1940s, Broadway produc-tions of Cabin in the Sky, CarmenJones, and St. Louis Woman en-abled African Americans to dem-onstrate a fuller range of talents,and Paul Robeson reached na-tional prominence in his awarding-winning portrayal of Othello. Bythe 1950s and ’60s, more Blackactors — including Ruby Dee,Ossie Davis, and Sidney Poitier— had found their voices on stage,and Black playwrights and direc-tors had begun to make theirmarks. Black Broadway provides anentertaining, poignant history ofa Broadway of which few areaware. By focusing a spotlight

‘Black Broadway’ book bashraises funds for new art centeron both performers long forgottenand on those whom we still holddear, this unique book offers a storywell worth telling. The Black Broadway event in-cluded performances by The Sho-Off Dance Company, members ofthe cast of On Kentucky Avenueand concluded with a lecture andQ & A with celebrated author Lanewhose book, Black Broadway wasreleased in February by Square OnePublishing. Tony and OlivierAward winning producer StephenByrd was the evening’s moderator.“`Black Broadway’ is one of the bestbooks that I’ve ever had the op-portunity to read regarding BlackBroadway. It is a table top bookthat documents our history and isthoroughly researched and enlight-ening,” stated Lane’s dear friend

Byrd. The mission of The Sho-OffDance Company founded in 2014by choreographer/dancer VictorSho and performer Leah Lane topromote unity through music anddance. The company members atthe CCCA performance included:Victor Sho, Leah Lane, GarrickFootman, Chelsea Harold, LuanneHarris, Jenae Harrison, TakaeKawabe, Osmeily Luna, IantheMellors, Tatiyana Miles, TatiyanaRudisel, Robert Taylor, JordanWashington, DaShawn C. Whiteand Mea Wilkerson. The perfor-mance was produced by AlyssaRenzi. For more information onThe Sho-Off Dance Companyseevisit: www.sho-off-dance.com. Ty Stephens, Renee Ternier andFrank Owens from the Off-Broad-

way show On Kentucky Avenuesang several songs from their hitshow. The setting for On Ken-tucky Avenue, is The Atlantic CityClub Harlem Revue is the ClubHarlem dress rehearsal for open-ing night of the 1969 season.Within the show there is a ‘lovetriangle’ between the MC (IvanKing), the lead show girl and thefeatured female vocalist. For moreinformation On Kentucky Avenuevisit:www.onkentuckyavenue.com. The book party also served tolaunch the new CCCA by the Of-fice of Government & CommunityAffairs at City College which willserve as a cultural hub that buildsa sense of community both withinthe school and its surroundingneighborhood, while inspiring cre-

ativity and diversity. It will also pro-vide a premier venue for local andnational performers and for art pa-trons in the tri-state area. CCCA’sdistinguished board of directorsincludes Pam Laskin, Phillip Harvey,Khalil Kain, Stephen Byrd, RayChew, Patricia Hill, Arturo O’Farrill,Elena Sturman, Lillias White andKaren Witherspoon. Aaron Davis Hall, now under theauspices of CCCA, is the focal pointof this creative revitalization. It iscurrently undergoing a $2.5 millionlobby and exterior renovation, andthe New York City Council andCUNY have committed more than$10 million over the next five yearsfor additional capital improvements.For more information on CCCA see:www.citycollegecenterforthearts.org.(Photo Credit: Matt Peyton)

Black Broadway Book Cover

Greg Shanck, Bonnie Comley, David Covington

Anil Leeds, Bonnie Comley

Jonelle Procope, Stewart F. Lane, AliciaBythewood

Stephen Byrd, Stewart F. Lane

Stewart F. Lane autographs copies of BlackBroadway

The Sho-Off Dance Company performs

The Sho-Off Dance Company

Ty Stephens from the cast of 'On Kentucky Avenue''On Kentucky Avenue' dancers

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

16

followed the departures of thecity manager and a municipaljudge. The extent to which Williamsmay have been involved in streetdemonstrations remains unclear.McCullough said Williams mayhave participated in protests. Sev-eral long-time activists said theydid not recognize or know Will-iams. One frequent protester, BishopDerrick Robinson, told local me-dia that he had spoken to Will-iams early on Sunday and saidthe shooting had nothing to dowith the protests. Robinson said Williams hadtold him that he had been robbedearlier that night, and had re-

turned to the area and shot his gunin the air out of frustration. “He told me that he shouldn’thave done it,” Robinson told theSt. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He wasembarrassed. He showed deep re-morse. He wishes he could retractthings.” News of Sunday’s arrest wasgreeted on the streets of Fergusonwith a mix of relief and a sense thatthe protests would not fade away. “I just hope they got the rightguy, and that he gets what he de-serves,” said Gussie Klorer, a 60-year-old professor at St Louis Uni-versity, adding she thought the ar-rest would have no bearing on thestreet demonstrations. “The protests seem to have a lifeof their own,” she said. But the news also prompted a

show of support for Ferguson’s be-leaguered police force. Dozens ofpeople gathered in front of policeheadquarters, many of them hold-ing signs reading “We Support theBadge” and “Thank You Police.” There was a brief clash on Sun-day between the pro-police dem-onstrators and about 15 peoplewho converged on them shouting“you support baby killers”, whileone among them trampled andripped an American flag. The two groups met in themiddle of the street, face to face,and began shouting at each other,though tensions cooled after thepro-police group disbanded. The Justice Department re-port said Ferguson police over-whelmingly arrested and issuedtraffic citations to black resi-

Suspect charged in shooting of Ferguson, Missouri police officers(from page 3)

crease the number of tax returnsfiled citywide by 50 percent. Themajority of individuals and fami-lies reached are living in the city’shigh Meal Gap neighborhoods.The city’s official measure of foodinsecurity, the Meal Gap pin-points where hunger lives on alocal level, allowing Food Bank togeo-target its tax preparationssites to areas where working NewYorkers will benefit from them themost. “The tax services offered atFood Bank including Free Filehelp taxpayers get every federalcredit and deduction they deserveduring filing season. For example,many working people are unawarethey are eligible for the Earned In-come Tax Credit (EITC),” said Rep.Rangel, who helped create theEITC program in 1975. “Free Fileis a great example of how the gov-ernment and private sector canwork together to provide impor-tant services in our communities.” “Since 2002, Food Bank ForNew York City has helped low and

moderate-income New Yorkerscitywide file their tax returns,” saidTriada Stampas, vice president ForResearch & Public Affairs at theFood Bank For New York City. “Wewere one of the first community or-ganizations to embrace Free File, byproviding the skills and educationNew Yorkers need through experi-enced tax coaches. This year we arepoised to return $100 million to NewYorkers, and we remain committedto providing hard-working NewYorkers with free tax preparationservices.” “These software products makethe annual filing process quick andeasy. Our hope is that every eligibleperson takes advantage of Free Fileand gets every credit and deductionthey deserve this tax season,” saidEd Black of the Computer & Com-munications Industry Association(CCIA), the organization sponsor-ing today’s event. For more information on Free File,visit www.FreeFile.IRS.gov orwww.FoodBankNYC.org. More in-formation about the program is alsoavailable at CCIA’s Free Filewebsite, www.taxprephelp.org.

Rangel praises free tax services from Food Bankfor New York City residents

(from page 4)

(from Page 7) on board. And as the nation’s chief civilrights lobbyist, he helped to orga-nize and guide a coalition of di-verse supporters from NAACPunits, other civil rights, church andlabor groups to address pressurepoints as they arose in Congressand to keep pressure on for mem-bers of Congress to support thebill. President Johnson was evenquoted as saying no person forcedhis door open more than ClarenceMitchell. As we celebrate Bloody Sundayand the march from Selma to Mont-gomery and other vital and impor-tant events from 1965, let us remem-ber the heroes and martyrs – Dr.King, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.),Hosea Williams of SCLC, AmeliaBoynton and Jimmie Lee Jackson.In addition to those great African-Americans we should celebrate thecourageous actions of WhiteAmericans such as Rev. JamesReeb and Viola Liuzzo who gavetheir lives so that we could have a

better country. And let us remem-ber Clarence Mitchell too! Remembering Clarence Mitchellreminds us of how important anintegrated strategy was before andis now. We must go to the streetsas LBJ insisted, but the work inthe halls of Congress and in thehome s ta tes or d is t r ic ts ofCongresspersons plays an essen-tial and vital role as well. The strat-egy needed and included theNAACP and Mitchell and RoyWilkins, SNCC with Lewis, JulianBond and others and of coursethe SCLC with King, Hosea Wil-liams, Andrew Young and oth-ers. And as we try to fix this law,let us restore it with substanceand vitality in honor of all thosegreat people, named and un-named, who gave so much sothat we might have the right tovote. William Barber is state presi-dent of the North Carolina NAACPand Gary L. Bledsoe is state presi-dent of the Texas NAACP.

Lyndon Baines Johnson who aredeservedly given so much credit,but others, including RepublicanSenate Leader Everett Dirksen ofIllinois and the NAACP’sClarence Mitchell, had indis-pensable roles as well. Sadly, thecelebration of the 1964 Actlargely ignored Mitchell and wehope this year’s celebration doesnot do the same. Clarence Mitchell was borninto poverty, but rose into promi-nence as the NAACP’s chief lob-byist and became widely knownas the Nation’s 101st Senator. Hewas awarded the PresidentialMedal of Freedom in 1980 byPresident Jimmy Carter and theNAACP’s Spingarn Medal in1969. Mitchell strategized withJohnson to keep waffling north-ern Senators on board and uti-lized his friendships with Repub-licans and Democrats to help ef-fectively persuade them to come

Don’t overlook contributions of Clarence Mitchell

public safety challenges of ourday,” said Assistant AttorneyGeneral Karol V. Mason of theOffice of Justice Programs. “Trust-building is the responsi-bility of the police and the com-munity, and the NationalInitiative’s goal is to build thebridge that will define a new erain public safety.” The Justice Department es-tablished the National Initiativefor Building Community Trustand Justice as part PresidentObama’s groundbreaking launch

of the My Brother’s Keeper initia-tive, which seeks to create oppor-tunities for all young people in thiscountry—regardless of their back-ground—to improve their livesand reach their full potential. The three-year grant has beenawarded to a consortium of na-tional law enforcement experts fromJohn Jay College of Criminal Jus-tice, Yale Law School, the Centerfor Policing Equity at UCLA andthe Urban Institute. The initiativeis guided by a board of advisorswhich includes national leadersfrom law enforcement, academia

Attorney General unveils first 6 sitesfor building community trust, justice

(from page 3) and faith-based groups, as well ascommunity stakeholders and civilrights advocates. In a holistic ap-proach, the initiative simulta-neously addresses the tenets ofprocedural justice, reducing im-plicit bias and facilitating racial rec-onciliation. The initiative comple-ments and is advised by other Jus-tice Department components suchas the Office of Justice Programs,the Office of Community OrientedPolicing Services, the Office onViolence Against Women, the CivilRights Division and the Commu-nity Relations Service.

dents to boost city coffersthrough fines. That helped cre-ate a culture of distrust that ex-ploded in August when citypolice officer Darren Wilsonfatally shot Brown. (Writing by

Jon Herskovi tz and FrankMcGurty; Additional reportingby Brendan O’Brien in Wiscon-sin; Editing by Kevin Liffey,Frances Kerry and Eric Walsh,and Simon Cameron-Moore)

tional human rights treaty in his-tory. The United States standsonly with new U.N. member stateSouth Sudan as the two coun-tries that have not ratified it – andSouth Sudan has started work-ing towards ratification. The United States standsalone, despite recent progress, instill permitting life-without-parolesentences for juvenile offenderswho were under 18 at the time ofthe offense. The U.S. SupremeCourt has banned capital punish-ment for crimes committed by ju-veniles but America remains oneof 58 nations that continues touse capital punishment foradults. In 2013 the U.S. had thesixth highest number of execu-tions — after China, Iran, Iraq,Saudi Arabia, and North Korea. If America wants to be a trulygreat nation on the world stage,it’s time to redefine the measures

Child Watch:Our failure to measure up

of our success. The litmus test I pro-pose is that of the great German Prot-estant theologian DietrichBonhoeffer executed for opposingHitler’s holocaust, who said “thetest of the morality of a society iswhat it does for its children.” Thegreat South African presidentNelson Mandela agreed with himand believed “there can be nokeener revelation of a society’s soulthan the way in which it treats itschildren.” On the Bonhoeffer-Mandela measure of success, wemust do much, much better. Marian Wright Edelman ispresident of the Children’s De-fense Fund whose Leave NoChild Behind® mission is to en-sure every child a Healthy Start,a Head Start, a Fair Start, a SafeStart and a Moral Start in lifeand successful passage to adult-hood with the help of caringfamilies and communities. Formore in format ion go towww.childrensdefense.org.

(from page 6)

the unfinished work of Selma, ofBirmingham and of Greensborowill continue today in Ferguson,New York and Cleveland. Weraise our voices to say that wewill not allow our progress to berolled back, that we will continueto march forward and that weknow the unavoidable truth thatblack lives matter.

We have never solved a problemin this country with less democracy,and so the persistent efforts fromsome in political power to restrictthe right to vote should be a call toaction for us all. This week we havereflected on Bloody Sunday not tocelebrate a battle long since won.Instead, we are reminded that thestruggle we fought for, we marchedfor and some died for continues inthis very moment.

The unfinished work of Selma(from page 6)

nificant damage to communitiesthroughout Lower Manhattan,but today we are continuing tobuild the region back strongerthan before,” GovernorCuomo said. “By learning the les-sons of Sandy and other extremeweather events, we can makeNew York a safer and more resil-ient place for people to live andwork, and I am proud to see these

projects moving forward in col-laboration with our local partners.” “Hurricane Sandy vividly high-lighted the vulnerabilities thatLower Manhattan faces from sealevel rise and coastal storms. That’s why the City is committedto investing in flood protection inLower Manhattan to complementother recovery and resiliency in-vestments already underway,”said Daniel Zarrilli, Director of theMayor’s Office of Recovery and

Resiliency. “With these new funds,we are ensuring that we can takethe critical next steps on advanc-ing planning and design for a com-prehensive and integrated floodprotection system in Lower Man-hattan, while also making a set offirst-phase investments in BatteryPark that will reduce risk. Thankyou to NY Rising and the entirecommunity that helped make thispossible.” “Through our innovative NY

City announces Lower Manhattan resiliencyinvestment as part climate adaptation plan

(from page 10)

17

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


WHAT’S GOING ON

By Victoria Horsford

HOT TOPICS On Monday, March 16, an In-teractive Session with the Trans-formation Team, Nigeria headedby President Goodluck Jonathanwas held at the Willard Interconti-nental Hotel in Washington, D.C.The President was acccompaniedby his Minister of Aviation and hisMinister of Special Duties, whowere special guests along withFormer US African American Con-gressmen J.C. Watts and RonDellums and Melvin Foote, Con-stituency for Africa. Session, nodoubt is related to forthcomingNigerian general election onMarch 28 and appealing to largeNigerian diaspora in the UnitedStates. South Africa: The DemocraticLeft Front (DLF) group demon-strated at the U.S. ConsulateGeneral’s Office in Johannesburg,on March 18 to protest against theKilling of African American Peoplein the U.S. and to protest againstapartheid in the U.S. While Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu lec-tured the ill informed US Congressin Washington, DC on March 3about the dangers of US partici-pation in a nuclear agreement withIran, his Likud Party’s poll num-bers started traveling south. Pollsproject that opposing ZionistUnion Party a coalition of the La-bor and Hatnua Parties wins mostof the seats on election day, 3/17.Moreover, Israel’s Joint List Party,a group of Arab factions, whichrepresents the nation’s 20% Arabpopulation, is polling as its thirdlargest bloc. Is Bibi out of touchwith Israeli realities?

MEDIA MATTERS Everyone’s talking about vet-eran journalist Peter Slevin’s newbook, MICHELLE OBAMA, ALIFE” which will be published nextmonth. An authorized bio, Slevinhad access to Michelle’s brotherCraig Robinson and a number ofObama White House insiders. The 3/14 NY Post story “ObamaAdvisor Behind Leak Of HillaryClinton’s Email” had tongueswagging. The Obama advisor isValerie Jarrett. A possible hot catfight between two of America’smost powerful women. WOW!The story unfolds without attribu-tions, with far too many holes, andwas written by Obama/Clintonhater, Ed Klein, who is a polemi-cist with little regard for truth orfacts. He wrote the book, TheClintons and The Obamas. It’sMore Than A Political Rivalry; It’sa Blood Feud.” Why did he writethe NY Post story. He says thatObama fears that a Hillary presi-dential victory next year will erodehis legacy. Pulleasee!

PHENOMENAL WOMEN NY 1 News TV Cheryl Wills isthe talk of the town with her exclu-sive interview with Liberia Presi-dent Ellen Sirleaf Johnson whenshe was in NY last month. NY 1

has aired the segment every daylast week. NY1 is a Time Warnerchannel The talk ran the gamut fromlife in Liberia to the Ebola crisis. Itwas wonderful seeing an AfricanAmerican talking with a head ofstate. Settepani Restaurant celebratesA TOAST TO WOMEN eventsthroughout March. The Ode ToHarlem on Thursday nights, March19 and /26, honors women musi-cians. The “Dine With LegendsBrunch Tour” (March 21/22/29) ispoised on women who shaped ourmusical traditions. All events plusfine dining available at Settepani,located at 196 Lenox Avenue at 120Street, Harlem. 917.492.4806. Visitsettepani.com. The Harlem Business Alliancecelebrates Women Who Excel inNon Traditional Field at its head-quarters located at 275 Lenox Av-enue, Harlem on March 19 at 7 pm.The three honorees aree BarbaraArmand, President, Armand Corpo-ration and Professional Women inConstruction; Audra Fordin,Owner, Great Bear Auto & BodyShop; and Nigerian-AmericanOlufunmilo F, Obe, Harlem’s 28th

Precinct Commander, NYPD. The Network Journal Women’sHistory Month Affair. The NYbased The Network Journal Maga-zine to host its annual 2015 25 in-fluential balck Women in BusinessAwards Luncheon on March 26 atthe NY Marriott Marquis GrandBallroom located at 1535 Broadway,Manhattan, on March 26 at noon.Honorees Katrina M Adams, USTennis Association; BeatriceHamza Bassey, Esquire, HughesHubbard and Reed LLP; LoriGeorge Billingsley, Coca Cola NorthAmerica; Miko Branch, MissJessie’s LLC; Sharon L. Contreras,Syracuse City Schools; Rosalind P.Danner, CPA, McGraw Hill Finan-cial; Leecia Eve, Verizon Communi-cations Inc. ; Allyson Hugley, We-ber Shandwick; Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Metropolitan Museum ofArt; Melissa E. James, MorganStanley; Gennell A Jefferson, GEAsset Management, Inc; DanielleMoss Lee, Ed.D, YWCA of City ofNY; Necole Merritt, Entergy Ser-vices, Inc; Alison L. Moore, JPMorgan Chase & Co; Vivian RogersPickard, President General Motors,Foundation; JoAnn Rolle, PhD,Medgar Evers College, CUNY;Helen C. Shelton, Finn Partners,Inc.; Donna Lynne Skerrett, MD,Mesoblast; Faith Taylor, WyndhamWorldwide, Josie J. Thomas, CBSCorporation; Yvonne S. Thornton,MD FACOG, NY Medical College;Diane L. Waller, Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch; Carol H. Williams,Carol. H. Williams Advertising;Karen Mackey Witherspoon, CityCollege Of NY, CUNY; and LanaWoods, Lana Woods Gallery. Visittnj.com

NEWSMAKERS The vernal equinox and Ariesbirthday shout outs to UN GA Sec-retary General Kofi Annan; MariahCarey; Brenda Clark; Lady Gaga;Karen Horsford, Rocky Horsford,Jr., Rocky Horsford III; Sir EltonJohn; Ernest Hopkins, San Fran-cisco AIDS Foundation; ActorsMartin Lawrence and EddieMurphy; General Colin Powell;Charles Richardson; Diana Ross;

Joseph Semper; Maxine Sidberry;Maxwell Sidberry, 9; Music phenomPharrel HAPPY) Williams; Verta MaeGrosvenor, author of “Notes of aGeechie Girl; Journalist Gloria DulanWilson; and South African PresidentJacob Zuma. A belated birthday wishto Piscean, Dr. Irene Elmore.RIP: Native New Yorker, Connecticutand Rhode Island denizen, ErnestConstantine Cobb, 87, died. The old-est of three sons born to Jamaicanimmigrants, Hilda and RobertConstantine Cobb, Ernest served inthe U.S. Army, and earned a degree atCity College, which he called the“Harvard On The Hudson.” He beganhis professional life in sales withLucky Strike and Hoffman Sodas, be-fore attracting the attention of foodand beverage giants like Canada Dryand where he was promoted to branchmanager. Later, he became generalsales manager at Pepsi Colas, thenwith Coca Cola. He had managerialposts with Arnold and at Drake Bak-eries. He called Connecticut andRhode Island home in his goldenyears. He is survived by his wife FredaPeters-Cobb, his daughters WhitneeCobb and LaLisa Vesterholm , a sonTroy Peters; grandchildren, niecesnephews and grandnieces/nephews.Freda and the family will host a Cel-ebration of His Life on April 11 in Con-necticut

MARCH MADNESS & BEYOND “Little Children Dream of God” is anew Off Broadway play, runningthrough April 19, at the Black BoxTheatre, located at 111 West 46 Street.The NY Times calls it, “a warm andfanciful drama by Jeff Austin.” Storycenters on a pregnant immigrant wholeaves her native Haiti to start a newlife on the rough streets of Miami. The Jeff King Band, the incompa-rable jazz and blues group, performsat the Stratosphere Club, located at227 Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, onMarch 19 at 8 pm. King is the saxo-phonist arranger/composer, who hasworked with jazz greats the world over.His septet includes Frank Lacy, RileyMullins, Yoichi Uzeki, Bryce Sebastianand Cook Broadnay. Call 718.771.8400.T The New Heritage Theatre Grouppresents award-winning thespian/playwright Daniel Beaty, who stars ina solo play, TALLEST TREE IN THEFOREST, a piece about political activ-ist/artist Paul Robeson in song andstory, at the Brooklyn Academy ofMusic Harvey Theater located at 651Fulton Street on March 22 at 7:30 pm.Visit bam.org. Entertainment impresario DarrinRoss will produce INVINCIBLE: ATRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JACKSON,a show of shows, an unadulteratedspectacle boasting a huge cast of char-acters, including Jackson imperson-ators, concert performer Jeffry Perez,dancers like Pete Cateronly, vocalists,top-of- the- chart musicians, vocalistsand the Harlem Gospel Choir MichaelJackson classics like “Beat It,” BillieJean,” “Thriller” figure prominently onthe playbill. The INVINCIBLE Tribute,now in its 6th year, is set for June 13 atthe NJ Performing Arts Center, in New-ark. Show will tease and titillate all ofthe senses. Tickets are on sale. Visitwww.njpac.org. Victoria Horsford is a Harlem-based writer/blogger who can bereached at:[email protected]

Mihelle Obama

Cheryl Wills

Varlerie JarrettVivian Pickard

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

18

By Don Thomas

NNPA Award Winner

EnterEnterEnterEnterEntertainmenttainmenttainmenttainmenttainmentWomen’s History Month:

Songbirds sing praises to pioneeringwomen in Jamaican music

der’ is revealing their ignorance.Althea and Donna were pioneersand innovators more than theyever knew at the time they re-corded their now classic songand others that followed,’Augustyn penned. Music insiders familiar with“Uptown Ranking” would con-firm the claim. That informationand countless tid-bits provideengaging read in the Half PintPress publication which lauds un-sung enhancers to the male-touted and gender dominatedmusic industry internationally ac-claimed from Jamaica. Chapters lauding the first ladyof Jamaican Jazz – Totlyn Jack-son; the Mother of Jamaican Mu-sic – Sister Ignatius Davies; theFirst Lady of Song – HortenseEllis; the Queen of Ska – DoreenShaffer; The Nightingale –Yvonne Harrison; The RhumbaQueen – Anita Mahfood; Sisterof the Studio – EnidCumberbatch; The Blue Beat Girl– Millie Small; Queen of Rock-steady – Phyllis Dillon; The Leg-end – Norma Fraser; ReggaeQueen – Marcia Griffiths; Queenof Lovers Rock – SusanCadogan; First lady of Record-ing – Sonia Pottinger and manyothers dub this a must-read foranyone interested in any genreof music. Augustyn veers through theperiod from 1940 to the 1980s todeliver the gospel on Jamaica’spioneering women. And yes, first-time gospel recorders are includedin this text-book. Add country and even latter-day dancehall, the book compilesvaluable information for anyonewanting to set the record straightwhile recognizing women whopaved the way for individualssuch as NBC-TV’s season fiveepisodes of “The Voice!” winnerTessanne Chin and others com-peting in international contests. As a matter of fact, Chin’s par-ents are pioneers in Jamaica’s mu-sic history. Her mother and fa-ther both played in a Ska bandnamed the Carnations when theymere teenagers. It was theworld’s first, all-female Ska band. The band’s trumpet player wasChristine Levy, Tessanne’smother. Her father Richard Chin,was brother to bass player IngridChin. Because Richard playedthe drums and could double aschaperone to the bevy, he washidden in plain sight amidst theworld’s pioneering women. They married and together theyparented two of Jamaica’s now in-ternationally acclaimed Song-birds – Tami and Tessanne.“These are the never-before-toldstories of the women who triedand persevered and made it, nomatter what their struggle,”

Augustyn said. Enhanced by photos andone-on-one interviews with thewomen, Augustyn’s “Song-birds” provide the first compre-hens ive d iscography oftrailblazing women that sacri-ficed family, home and reputa-t ion and in the process“changed the course of music

Book Cover

Millie Small (Photo: courtsey of daughter Jalee- Small)

Tessane Chin

Top Ranking Althea and Donna

The Carnations

By Vinette K. PryceSpecial Assignment

Ask Author Heather Augustyn,the name of the world’s first fe-male rappers and you might besurprised at her response. Con-trary to popular belief, it is notQueen Latifah. And those thatoffered Queens-based Salt-N-Pepa duo as pioneers of the rapgenre in 1985 would have to con-cede to Augustyn’s book “Song-birds: Pioneering Women In Ja-maican Music.” According to the revealing 423-page tribute, Althea Forest andDonna Reid were already blazinga trail in 1978, more than a decadebefore the Jersey girl dubbed her-

self female royalty with the releaseof “All Hail the Queen.” Similarly, the duo popularlyknown as Althea and Donna hadalready won acclaim in Jamaica,performing at the island’s NationalStadium at the renowned “OneLove Peace Concert” long beforeJamaica-born Sandy “Pepa”Denton a/k/a Pepa met Salt collabo-rator Cheryl James to form Salt-n-Pepa. “We were the first female deejays,we were the first female deejays inthe world,” Althea claimed. “Therewas no Queen Latifah. QueenLatifah came after us. Salt-n-Pepacame after us.” “Anyone who claims that Altheaand Donna were a ‘one-hit won-

all over the world.” Augustyn’s previous contribu-tion to documenting Jamaica’s mu-sic history include three previousbooks – “Ska: An Oral History,”(2010) “Don Drummond: The Ge-nius and Tragedy of the World’sGreatest Trombonist” (2013) and“Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation(2013).

19

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


AUDREY’S REEL WHIRL with Film Reviewer Audrey J. Bernard

‘Cinderella’ is the belle of the box office!

Disney's Cinderella

The Prince and his Princess'Cinderella'

Lily James attends New Yorkpremiere of 'Cinderella'

'Cinderella' arriving at the ballin gold coach

Richard Madden and Lily James in 'Cinderella'

Cinderella is an amazingfairytale that will never go out ofstyle! It is still the most belovedfantasy story of all times! Fromlittle girls to teenagers to youngwomen to elders – women lovethe lady in the glass slippers.Leave it to Disney to recreate aclassic fairytale for this genera-tion. Inspired by the classic fairytale, Cinderella brings to life thetimeless images from Disney’s1950 animated masterpiece asfully-realized characters in a vi-sually-dazzling spectacle for awhole new generation. This version of Cinderella isridiculously beautiful! And thebox office receipts proves itbringing in $67.9 million domes-tically making it the belle of thebox office – and the ball!. Noth-ing beats a love story that in-volves a Prince and a pauper.And Kenneth Branagh’s live-ac-tion take on Disney’s fairytalefrom a screenplay written by ChrisWeitz pulled all of the rightheartstrings. The story of Cinderella fol-lows the fortunes of young Ella(Lily James) whose merchant fa-ther remarries following the deathof her mother. Eager to supporther loving father, Ella welcomesher new Stepmother (CateBlanchett) and her daughtersAnastasia (Holliday Grainger)and Drisella (Sophie McShera)into the family home. But, whenElla’s father unexpectedly passesaway, she finds herself at themercy of a jealous and cruel newfamily. Soon, she is forced to becometheir servant, disrespected, cov-ered in ashes and spitefullyrenamed Cinderella. Yet, despitethe cruelty inflicted upon her, Ellawill not give in to despair nordespise those who mistreat her,and she continues to remain posi-tive, determined to honor hermother’s dying words and to“have courage and be kind.” When Ella meets a dashingstranger in the woods, unawarethat he is really the Prince (Rich-ard Madden) and not merely Kit,an apprentice at the palace, shebelieves she has finally found akindred soul. It appears her for-tunes may be about to changewhen the King (Derek Jacobi)summons all maidens in the king-dom to attend a royal ball at thepalace, raising Ella’s hopes ofonce again encountering thecharming Kit. Alas, her Step-mother forbids her to attend andcallously destroys her dress.Soon, a kindly beggar woman(Helena Bonham Carter) steps

forward and, armed with a pump-kin, a few mice and a magic wand,changes Cinderella’s life forever. Meanwhile, the calculating GrandDuke (Stellan Skarsgård) devises aplan to thwart the Prince’s hopesof reuniting with Ella and enlists thesupport of the devious Stepmother.But, as in all good fairy tales, helpis at hand as the towering Captainof the Guard (Nonso Anozie) spoilsthe Duke’s plan. In an interview with Black-

Holliday Grainger, Cate Blanchett, Sophie McShera in 'Cinderella' Lily James and Richard Madden attend New York Premiere

film.com, Anozie spoke candidlyabout working on the film. “Thisis a movie that will be a classic.They are pulling out all of thestops for this. Cate Blanchett andHelena Bonham Carter are fantas-tic in different ways. I’m workingclosely with Cate Blanchett in thefilm and we have a couple ofscenes where we butt heads be-cause I play the captain of theguards who is the head of theArmy in the fantasy. I’m the best

friend of the prince. I play his ad-visor. I’m the guy he comes totalk about girls and eventuallyabout Cinderella. I’m the guythat wants him to find his truelove and everyone else is anobstacle to that. It’s really beena great experience and to havea part like that is a godsend. Itwill be a while before it comesout, but when it does, it will livein the minds of people of chil-dren and adults for years to

come.” The cast of Cinderella in-c ludes Cate Blanchet t , Li lyJames, Richard Madden, NonsoAnozie , S te l lan Skarsgard ,Hol l iday Gra inger, SophieMcShera, Derek Jacobi and Hel-ena Bonham Carter. This editionof Cinderella is produced bySimon Kinberg, Allison ShearmurDavid Barron and executive pro-duced by Tim Lewis. (Photoscourtesy Disney)

Stellan Skarsgard in'Cinderella'

Captain Nonso Anozie with 'Cinderella' cast members The Prince (Richard Madden) with TheCaptain (Nonso Anozie

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

20 NYC Bound

Britian’s R&B/Pop icon Billy Ocean coming!

30th Anniversary

SummerStage is back on the scene

Billy Ocean, the most successful Black recording starBritain has ever produced will join the “Royal Family ofReggae” Morgan Heritage as headline performers at theannual “Groovin’ In The Park” concert at Roy Wilkins Parkin Jamaica, Queens, New York on Sunday, June 28. Ocean the triple platinum seller has a solid track recordof riveting live performances with his hit songs and he isexpected to ignite New York City with musical flames withfavorites including “Caribbean Queen,” “Mystery Lady,”“Lover Boy,” “Get Out of My Dreams,” “Suddenly” and“Love” Zone,” to name a few. Billy Ocean was born in Trinidad with the beat ofcalypso in his blood. When he migrated from the Car-ibbean to London’s East End at age 7, his passion formusic was further fueled by soul idols Otis Reddingand Sam Cooke. He got his first break when he recorded “Love Re-ally Hurts Without You,” which reached # 2 on theUnited Kingdom charts. Two top 20 singles followed;“Love on Delivery” and “Stop Me.” And in the UnitedStates, Billy scored with #1 singles, “There’ll be SadSongs,” and “Get Outta My Dreams and Into My Car.” Ocean joined Jive Records in 1984 gaining successwith the million selling “Caribbean Queen” which won aGrammy Award for Best R&B Vocal. He also struck gold in1986 with “When the Going gets Tough,” the theme songto the Michael Douglas/Kathleen Turner/Danny Devitomovie Jewel of the Nile. “We have had our eyes on Billy Ocean for a long timeand I am just elated that we have finally got our man for‘Groovin’ In The Park’ this year. Billy is a global superstarwho has sold over 30 million records. He has collected apile of Gold and Platinum records and hit the number onespot worldwide on pop charts in the USA, Australia, Ger-many and Holland,” said Christopher Roberts, CEO of‘Groovin’ in the Park.’ Visit www.groovininthepark.comor www.groovinradiony.com for concert information.

The non-profit City Parks Foundation’sSummerStage performing arts festival iscelebrating its 30th anniversary seasonthis year. To get fans pumped for thesummer and to shake off a case of thelate winter blues, SummerStage will re-leased the names of 30 artists perform-ing at the citywide festival which kicked-off on Tuesday, March 9th. One artist will be announced daily overthe course of 30 days, culminating in thefull season announcement on Wednes-day, April 8th. Artists will be broadcastvia all three of SummerStage’s social me-dia accounts, giving fans an interactiveoutlet to share their excitement for thisseason’s upcoming shows. SummerStage, a program of City ParksFoundation, presents performances ofoutstanding artistic quality, free ofcharge, to serve the diverse communi-ties of New York City. The artists repre-sent a potpourri of cultures and performin an outdoor set t ing accessible topeople of all ages and backgrounds. SummerStage strives to develop audi-ences appreciation for contemporary,traditional, and emerging artists as wellas the communities in which these art-ists reside. City Parks Foundation is the only in-dependent, nonprofit organization whosemission is to offer programs in parksthroughout the five boroughs of NewYork City, and more than 350 parkscitywide, presenting a broad range ofprograms in an effort to promote healthyand vibrant communities. The programsand community building init iat ivesreaches 425,000 people each year. Tostay up to date on the ar t is ts vis i twww.SummerStage.org for festival infor-mation (D.T.)

The Black Public Relations Society of Los Angeles (BPRS-LA), in conjunction with CBS Entertainment Diversity, celebratedfour senior communications executives who have made significant contributions to the PR industry at the 2nd annual Pat TobinPR Excellence Awards. The event was held Thursday, March 12 at CBS Studios Center in Studio City, California. Honoreesincluded Roslyn Bibby-Madison, vice president of media relations for FX Networks, Cassandra Butcher, vice president ofnational publicity for Fox Searchlight Pictures, Rita Cooper Lee, senior vice president of communications for WGN Americaand Tribune Studios and Kenneth R. Reynolds, president/CEO of Boutique Agency Public Relations+. [Pictured] Kenneth R.Reynolds, Cassandra Butcher, Roslyn Bibby-Madison and Rita Cooper Lee

Grammy Award-winner Billy Ocean is a global megarstar

21

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


Helen Mirren is to theBroadway stage what MerylStreep is to the big screen!And like Streep’s comparisonto being the greatest livingactress in the movie industry,Mirren is considered the bestactress to grace a stage – al-ways adding majestic vivac-ity to her portrayal in anyrole. Presently, she’s makingdreams come t rue fortheatergoers who like theirplays done well in a new playby Peter Morgan whichopened on Sun., Mar. 8, 2015

Magnetic Helen Mirren gives royalcommand performance in ‘The Audience’at Broadway’s Gerald SchoenfeldTheatre, 236 West 45th Street, NewYork City for a limited engagementthrough June 28, 2015, followedby a noble after party at Urbo NewYork. Mirren is brilliant as QueenElizabeth II in the production ma-jestically directed by two-timeTony Award winner StephenDaldry. Daldry’s seamless direct-ing is “spot-on!” The Audience gives newmeaning to a royal commandperformance as i t reuni tesMirren with Morgan. The char-ismatic actress first workedwith him in Stephen Frears’ film“The Queen” for which shewon an Oscar in 2007. Now,she’s replicating that iconicrole in The Audience for whichit’s heavily rumored that shemight add a Tony to that Oscar. For sixty years Elizabeth IIhas met each of her twelve

Prime Ministers in a weeklyaudience at Buckingham Pal-ace — a meeting like no otherin British public life. Both par-ties have an unspoken agree-ment never to repeat what issa id . Not even to the i rspouses. The Audience breaksthis contract of silence andimagines a series of pivotalmeetings between the Down-ing Street incumbents and theirQueen . From Churchi l l toCameron, each Prime Ministerhas used these private conver-sations as a sounding boardand a confessional — some-times intimate, sometimes ex-plosive. In turn, the Queencan’t help but reveal her ownself as she advises, consolesand, on occasion, teases. In addition to Helen Mirren(Queen Elizabeth II), the castfor The Audience includes

Dylan Baker (John Major),Geoffrey Beevers (TheQueen’s Equerry), MichaelElwyn (Sir Anthony Eden),Judi th Ivey (Margare tThatcher), Dakin Matthews(Winston Churchill), RichardMcCabe (Harold Wilson), RodMcLachlan (Gordon Brown),Rufus Wright (David Cameron/ Tony Bla i r ) , AnthonyCochrane (Ceci l Beaton /Bishop / Detective), GraydonLong (Footman) , JasonLoughlin(Footman), MichaelRudko (Private Secretary /Archbishop), Henny Russell(Queen’s Secretary / Mistressof the Robes), Tracy Sallows(Bobo McDonald), Sadie Sink(Young Elizabeth), ElizabethTeeter (Young Elizabeth), andTony Ward (James Callaghan /Bishop / Camera Loader / Po-liceman / Detective).

The imperial creative team iscomposed of Bob Crowley(sets); Rick Fisher (lighting);Paul Ardi t t i ( sound) ; PaulEnglishby (or iginal music) ;Ivana Primorac (hair & makeup);Jill Cordle (production stagemanager ) . Boneau/Bryan-Brown is the press representa-tive. The Audience is presented byMatthew Byam Shaw, RobertFox, Andy Harries, BeverlyBartner, Scott M. Delman, EdMirvish Enterpr ises Ltd . ,Stephanie McClelland, MSGWLE, Jon B. Platt , CaroleShorenstein Hays, The ShubertOrganizat ion , and Al iceTulchin, with associate produc-ers Nick Salmon, Nia Janis,Marieke Spencer, and GeorgiaGatti, of a play in two acts byPeter Morgan. (Photos by BruceGlikas courtesy Broadway.com)

The Audience starringHelen Mirren at TheSchoenfeld Theatre Marquis

Helen Mirren (center) stars as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience.” Here, she’s flankedby her Prime Ministers and others (from left) Rod McLachlan as Gordon Brown; AnthonyCochrane as Cecil Beaton; Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson; Tony Ward as JamesCallaghan; Judith Ivey as Margaret Thatcher; Rufus Wright as David Cameron and TonyBlair; Michael Rudko as an archbishop; Dakin Matthews as Winston Churchill; JasonLoughlin as a footman; Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden; Geoffrey Beevers as an aide; andDylan Baker as John Major.

Dame Helen Mirren at opening night afterparty at Urbo New York(Photo by Getty Im-ages)

Dylan Baker, Rufus Wright, Elizabeth Tee-ter, Helen Mirren, Sadie Sink, Michael Elwyn,Richard McCabe and Judith Ivey take a castphoto

Dylan Baker, Rufus Wright, MichaelElwyn, Richard McCabe

The Audience direc-tor Stephen Daldry,daughter AnnabelClare Daldry

The Audience producer RobertFox, wife Fiona Golfar

The Audience star JudithIvey, daughter Margaret

Dame Helen Mirren, husband TaylorHackford

The Audience's Rufus Wright, RichardMcCabe

Playwright Peter Mor-gan

The Audience's Tracy SallowsBetty Jacobs (right, widow ofShubert Org. President BernardJacobs) with family

Nora Ariffin, Duncan Sheik

THEATER TALK

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

22

Oscar winner Common excellent in thrillerFlick-Chat

By Kam WilliamsSenior Movie Critic

“Run All Night” features anexcellent supporting cast whichincludes Nick Nolte, 2015 Os-car-winner Common (for theBest Song “Glory”), heard inthe movie “Selma” and veterancharacter actors VincentD’Onofrio and Bruce McGill.Liam Neeson delivers afresh inan edge-of-your-seat , highbody-count thriller every bit asgood as they come! Hit man Jimmy Conlon (LiamNeeson) and mob boss ShawnMaguire (Ed Harris) have beenBFFs for decades. In fact, theblood brothers from Brooklynare so close that they routinelyrecite their loyalty oath, “Wher-ever we’re going, we’re goingtogether” as a reminder of theirenduring alliance. However, that seemingly un-breakable bond is shattered inan instant after Shawn’s sonDanny (Boyd Holbrook) isgunned down in the wake of adrug deal gone bad with acouple of Albanian heroin deal-ers. Trouble is, Jimmy’s sonMike (Joel Kinnaman), whomakes an honest living as achauffeur with a limo company,just happened to be in thewrong place at the wrong time.For, he had no idea what wasup when he was hired to serveas the pair’s getaway driver. Nevertheless, revenge-minded Shawn decides that hisbest friend’s kid has to pay withhis life. So, he informs Jimmy

less rogues by the end of the origi-nal. Insurgent picks up right where“Divergent” left off, though uppingthe ante in terms of intensity and vi-sually-captivating special f/x. At the point of departure, we findTris on the run with her boyfriendFour (Theo James), her brother Caleb(Ansel Elgort) and the duplicitousPeter Hayes (Miles Teller). The fugi-tives are being sought by Jeanine(Kate Winslet), the monomaniacalErudite leader who has seized con-trol of the city by commandeeringthe Dauntless warrior class. The Machiavellian despot has de-clared martial law until all threats toher power have been neutralized.Meanwhile, Tris and company pro-ceed to elude apprehension as theysearch for a sacred talisman suppos-edly hidden somewhere by her latemom (Ashley Judd). The ancient artifact is rumored tocontain an important message fromChicago’s founding fathers. How-ever, the box can only be accessedby a Divergent who succeeds at sur-viving an ordeal testing for all fiveof the commonwealth’s designatedvirtues. Sure, it’s obvious that Tris is

By Kam Williams

“Insurgent” is the second in theaction-oriented series of screen ad-aptations based on Veronica Roth’sblockbuster “Divergent” trilogy.This installment represents a rarityfor a cinematic sequel in that it’sactually better than the first epi-sode. In case you’re unfamiliar with thefranchise’s basic premise, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi is set amidst thecrumbling ruins of a walled-in Chi-cago where what’s left of humanityhas been strictly divided into fivefactions based on personalitytypes, namely, Abnegation (the self-less); Amity (the peaceful); Candor(the honest); Dauntless (thebrave); and Erudite (the intelligent). Our intrepid heroine, Tris(Shailene Woodley) was deemed athreat to society after testing posi-tive for several of the aforemen-tioned qualities since that makesher a Divergent, one of the handfulof nonconformists whose mindsthe government cannot control. Consequently, the headstrongrebel ended up orphaned and roam-ing the streets with fellow faction-

that he’s sending his assassinsafter Mike to even the score. Ofcourse, Jimmy warns his son.Mike then calls the cops, ignor-ing his father’s advice to avoidthe local police since they’rebought and likely in cahoots withthe Maguire crime family. Whenthat turns out to be true, fatherand son end up on the run allover the city from both the au-thorities and bloodthirsty badguys. Thus unfolds “Run AllNight,” the latest high-octaneoffering from Liam Neeson who’sagain typecast in a role that he’sbecome closely associated withever since his phenomenal per-formance as an overprotectiveparent in Taken. This picture’spremise puts a slight twist on thefamiliar theme in that Jimmy’s notexactly an empathetic protago-nist given his long career as afeared enforcer known as “TheGravedigger.” Still, he’s sorely in need of ashot at redemption, especially inthe eyes of his estranged sonwho rejected the notion of everfollowing in his father’s foot-steps. Instead, Mike tried tomake it as a boxer, and when thatdidn’t pan out he took the legitjob as a limo driver. “Run All Night” was directedby Jaume Collet-Serra who pre-viously worked with LiamNeeson on both “Unknown”(2011) and “Non-Stop” (2014).Three times is definitely thecharm for the pair as this adrena-line-fueled adventure proves tobe their best collaboration yet. Excellent (4 stars). Rated Rfor profanity, sexual refer-ences, graphic violence anddrug use. In English and Alba-nian with subtitles. Runningtime: 114 minutes. Distributor:Warner Brothers Pictures.Actor Common

Shailene Woodley radiates chemistry as Heroinebright, fearless and altruistic. But shecould perish in the process of attempt-ing to prove herself a pacifist andtruthful, too. Fans of the source ma-terial will undoubtedly be surprisedby this complicated box challengewhich wasn’t in the book. Neverthe-less, the seamlessly-interwoven plotdevice works in terms of ratchetingup the tension. The film features an A-list support-ing cast that includes Oscar-winnersKate Winslet and Octavia Spencerand nominee Naomi Watts, along witheffective performances on the part ofTheo James, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitzand Miles Teller. Still, make no mis-take. “Insurgent” is a ShaileneWoodley vehicle from beginning toend. And the rising young star exhibitsan impressive acting range in a physi-cally as well as emotionally-demand-ing role promising to do for her what“The Hunger Games” did for JenniferLawrence. Very Good (3 stars). Rated PG-13for sensuality, pervasive violence,intense action, mature themes andbrief profanity. Running time: 119minutes. Distributor: Lions GateFilmsActress Shailene Woodley

23

BE

AC

ON

, March 19, 2015 - M


C L A S S I F I E DLegal NoticeName change

Adoption

ADOPTION: A childless youngmarried couple, hands on mom/devoted dad (she-31/ he-37) seeksto adopt. Financial security, ex-penses paid. Call/ text Mary &Adam 1-800-790-5260

ADOPT: Loving family of threeseeking baby or toddler to cher-ish forever. Mom/Dad are teach-ers. Close extended families. Con-tact Robin/Neil: 866-303-0668Text: 646-467-0499www.rnladopt.info [email protected]

ADOPT: A dream is a wish yourheart makes, our wish is a baby tolove. We're loving, educated,close family. Expenses paid.Danny/ Lorraine 1-866-997-7171

Auctions

AUCTION CHEMUNG COUNTYREAL PROPERTY TAX FORE-CLOSURES- 100+ PropertiesMarch 25 @11AM. Holiday Inn,Elmira, NY. 800-243-0061 HAR, Inc.& AAR, Inc. Free brochure:www.NYSAUCTIONS.com

Live Simulcast Bankruptcy Auc-tion Case 13-10157, Hayes Iron &Metal, Inc. Office Bldg., MetalFrame Bldgs, Workshop, ShopEquip., Tools, Office Furnishings& Equip., Providence, NC. 3/26/15 at 10am. Auction at The Insti-tute Conference CenterBarkhouser Auditorium, Danville,VA. 800-997-2248, NCAL3936/VAAL580.www.ironhorseauction.com

Auto Donations

Donate your car to Wheels ForWishes, benefiting Make-A-Wish.We offer free towing and your do-nation is 100% tax deductible. Call(855) 376-9474

Career Opportunities

WELDING CAREERS- Hands ontraining for career opportunities inaviation, automotive, manufactur-ing and more. Financial aid forqualified students. Job placementassistance. CALL AIM 877-206-4006

Help Wanted

Can You Dig It? Heavy EquipmentOperator Career! Receive HandsOn Training And NationalCertifications Operating Bulldoz-ers, Backhoes & Excavators. Life-time Job Placement. Veteran Ben-efits Eligible! 1-866-968-2577

Help Wanted

AIRLINE CAREERS begin here GetFAA approved Aviation Mainte-nance Technician training. Finan-cial aid for qualified students –Housing available. Job placementassistance. Call AIM 866-296-7093

Land For Sale

UPSTATE NY WATERFRONT!11 acres- $69,900 Beautifulwoods on bass lake 5 miles toCooperstown!Private setting for camp, cabinor year round home! Termsavail! 888-479-3394NewYorkLandandLakes.com

COOPERSTOWN LAND SALE!5 acres- $24,900 5 mins to Village.Gorgeous wooded setting, pricedat 60% BELOW MARKET! Townrd, utils, ez terms! 888-905-8847or newyorklandandlakes.com

Mortgages

Your Homeownership Partner. The State of NY MortgageAgency offers up to $15,000down paymentassistance. www.sonyma.org. 1-800-382-HOME(4663)

Vacation Rentals

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND.Best selection of affordable rent-als. Full/ partial weeks. Call forFREEbrochure. Open daily. HolidayResort Services. 1-800-638-2102.Online reservations:www.holidayoc.com

Wanted

CASH for Coins! Buying Gold &Silver. Also Stamps, PaperMoney, Comics, Entire Collec-tions, Estates.Travel to your home. Call Marcin NY: 1-800-959-3419

Subscribe and Advertise in the New York Beacon

600 3rd Avenue,2nd Floor New York, New York 10016

Tel: (212) 213-8585

Notice is hereby given that an Or-der entered by the Civil Court, NewYork County on 3/13/2015, bear-ing Index Number NC-000367-15/NY, a copy of which may be exam-ined at the Office of the Clerk, lo-cated at 111 Centre Street, NewYork, NY 10013, grants me the rightto: Assume the name of AanyaVydya Kumar Amaresh. Mypresent name is Aanya VydyaKumar. My place of birth is Chi-cago, IL, my date of birth is Jan. 1,2015 and my present address is 150East 85th Street, Apt. 3B, New York,NY 10028.

Notice is hereby given that an Or-der entered by the Civil Court, NewYork County on 3/11/2015, bear-ing Index Number NC-000532-15/NY, a copy of which may be exam-ined at the Office of the Clerk, lo-cated at 111 Centre Street, NewYork, NY 10013, grants me the rightto: Assume the name of FreddieMartel. My present name isFerdinand Maristela. My place ofbirth is Luana City, Philippines, mydate of birth is June 9, 1963 andmy present address is 504 E 63rd

Street, Apt. 18, N, New York, NY10065.

Notice is hereby given that an Or-der entered by the Civil Court, NewYork County on 3/13/2015, bear-ing Index Number NC-000507-15/NY, a copy of which may be exam-ined at the Office of the Clerk, lo-cated at 111 Centre Street, NewYork, NY 10013, grants me the rightto: Assume the name of MichelleYu. My present name is Hui-YingYu. My place of birth is New York,NY, my date of birth is Nov. 16,1997 and my present address is1352-65th Street, Brooklyn, NY11219.

Notice is hereby given that an Or-der entered by the Civil Court, NewYork County on 10/13/2011, bearingIndex Number NC-002407-11/NY, acopy of which may be examined atthe Office of the Clerk, located at111 Centre Street, New York, NY10013, grants me (us) the right to:Assume the name DilaniaRodriguez. My present name isDilania Rodriquez AKA DilaniaRodriguez. My place of birth isSanto Domingo, Dominican Repub-lic, my date of birth is March 22, 1975;Assume the name of Dillian Vittini.My present name is Dillian RodrguezAKA Dilania Rodriguez. My placeof birth is New York, NY, my date ofbirth is April 3, 2006 and the presentaddress is 2754 Grand Concourse,Apt. 3A Bronx, NY 10458.

Notice is hereby given that an Or-der entered by the Civil Court, NewYork County on 3/11/2015, bearingIndex Number NC-000274-15/NY, acopy of which may be examined atthe Office of the Clerk, located at111 Centre Street, New York, NY10013, grants me the right to: As-sume the name of Alexandra NinaFine. My present name is AlexandraNina Aseel-Fine AKA Alexa AseelFine, Alexa Fine, Alexa Nina Aseel.My place of birth is Manhasset, NY,my date of birth is Feb. 2, 1995 andmy present address is 140 East 14th

Street Apt. 622B, NewYork, NY 10003.

Notice is hereby given that an Or-der entered by the Civil Court, NewYork County on 3/11/2015, bearingIndex Number NC-000393-15/NY, acopy of which may be examined atthe Office of the Clerk, located at111 Centre Street, New York, NY10013, grants me the right to: As-sume the name of Leopold AtlasPincus. My present name isLeopold Alexander Pincus. Myplace of birth is New York, NY, mydate of birth is Sept. 14, 2011 andmy present address is 205 W. 19th

Street 9th FL New York, NY 10011.

Residence Inn by Marriott WorldTrade held its ribbon-cutting cer-emony on Thurs., Feb. 12, 2015,marking Marriott’s official return tothe Financial District since 9/11 andcelebrating the comeback of tour-ism to lower Manhattan. Represen-tatives from Manhattan Commu-nity Board, Marriott, NYC & Co.,and Sage Hospitality were presentfor the occasion. In the last year,lower Manhattan has seen the ad-dition of One World Trade Center,the 9/11 Memorial, the new FultonCenter, and several new dining andshopping establishments, and isestimated to have more than 115,000rooms by 2017. Located withinwalking distance from One World

GRAND OPENINGResidence Inn Hotel opens in Lower Manhattan

Marriott Residence Inn ribbon cutting

Trade and the 9/11 Memorial, WallStreet and the New York Stock Ex-change, as well as trendy neighbor-hoods such as SoHo, Greenwich Vil-lage and Tribeca, Residence Inn byMarriottWorld Trade is in an ideal lo-cation for both business and leisuretravelers. The hotel offers 243 spa-cious studio and one-bedroom suiteseach with separate living areas anddeluxe kitchenettes equipped withpots, pans, coffee makers, dishwash-ers, convection-bake ovens, and re-frigerators – perfect for cooking home-made meals while on the road. In ad-dition, the hotel offers a variety ofcomplimentary amenities includinggrocery shopping services, daily hotbreakfast, a state-of-the-art 24-hour

fitness center overlookingMaiden Lane and Broadway, andhigh-speed Internet access in aneffort to provide guests with thecomforts and conveniences ofhome. Located at 170 Broadway,the all-suite Residence Inn NewYork Manhattan/World TradeCenter Area will operate as aMarriott franchise, owned by Pre-mier Group and managed by SageHospitality of Denver, Colorado.Rates vary depending on lengthof stay. “We are pleased with thecontinued growth of ResidenceInn hotels in the Manhattan area,”said Diane Mayer, vice presidentand global brand manager, Resi-dence Inn. “When on the roadfor an extended period or even ashort business trip, our guestsneed space to spread out, main-tain their life’s pace and restoretheir energy to help them main-tain a healthy balance and rou-tine while traveling. This new ho-tel offers them a seamless blendof modern style and functionalitythat allows them to settle in andthrive.”Visit Marriott International, Inc.(NASDAQ: MAR) for companyinformation. For more informationor reservations, please visit ourwebsite at:www.marriott.com, and for the lat-est company news, visitwww.marriottnewscenter.com.

BE

AC

ON

, M

arch

19,

201

5 - M

arch

25,

201

5

new

york

beac

on.n

et

24 BEACONSPORTSMarc Rasbury

By Derrel Jazz Johnson

March Madness invaded NewYork City last week at the Big Eastand Atlantic 10 Tournaments,which took place at MadisonSquare Garden and Barclays Cen-ter, respectively. The Big East Tournament at theWorld’s Most Famous Arena fea-tured 10 teams playing in 9 gamesover the course of four days. Ul-timately, it was the Villanova Wild-cats who cut down the nets, run-ning away in the final against theXavier Musketeers, 69-52. The Wildcats had their biggestscare in the semifinals against the2014 Big East Tournament win-ners, the Providence Friars.Villanova benefited from a terriblefoul call against the Friars thatsent Ryan Arcidiacono to the free-throw line with 3.1 seconds leftand the game tied. He nailed bothfree throws, and the Friars wereunable to hit a desperation shotto win the game. Villanova head coach JayWright waxed poetic about theBig East Tournament and how im-portant it is to him. “I grew upcoming to this tournament as afan. When I coached at Hofstra, Iwould make sure, even if we werein the championship game, whichwas always 11am, I’d come hereto this tournament to watchVillanova. This is my favorite tour-nament. I love the NCAA Tour-nament, obviously, but this iswhere we’re all from. We’re all

Big East, Atlantic 10 tournaments bring March Madness to NYCand knew he was coming in togive us energy. And to do it in allthese big games, it just shows youtalent, character, and it also showsyou how much better he can get.” Six teams from the Big EastConference who played at Madi-son Square Garden will be head-ing to the NCAA Tournament, in-cluding Villanova, Georgetown,Providence, St. John’s, Butler, andXavier. Coach Wright talkedabout the possibility of the teamfacing the 34-0 Kentucky Wild-cats. “We could win it. But wecould get beat by anybody. It’sjust the way college basketball is.We’re not Kentucky in terms ofdepth and talent, but we couldbeat them. But we could lose to a15 or 16, too, if we don’t play right.I just think that’s what we are.” IfVillanova faces Kentucky, itwould be in the NCAA Tourna-ment final on Monday, April 6th. Over at Barclays Center inBrooklyn, the Atlantic 10 Tourna-ment featured 14 teams and 13games over 5 days. For the third-straight year, Shaka Smart and theVirginia Commonwealth Univer-sity Rams advanced to the Sun-day afternoon final, but unlike theprevious two years, VCU was vic-torious, defeating the Dayton Fly-ers 71-65. It was the fourth win inas many days for the Rams, whoopened the tournament Thursdaynight as a five seed. Coach Smart compared thefeeling of winning this year to los-ing the previous two years in the

tournament final. “Certainly, thegoal, when you come up here toBrooklyn, is to win a championship.We were the 2seed each of the lasttwo years. We really liked ourchances. We felt good about ouropportunity. But we came up short. And Ithink in both those games, the otherteam outplayed us, Saint Louis andSaint Joe’s the last couple of years.The one thing we wanted to fix anddo better was have a higher level ofresolve and be able to respondwithin the game. I thought we did abetter job of that. Last year when we lost, it’s atricky situation, because it’s Sun-day, you’re about to find out whoyou’re going to play. You have toturn the page quickly and you can’tbe down about the loss for too longbecause you have to move on tothe NCAA Tournament. This yearwe won and we are extremely ex-cited about the win. You want tocherish championships, and we areso happy about that. But at the same time, we have toturn the page. We are going to findout in less than two hours wherewe play, where we’re going. We’regoing to get on a flight and go backhome. We’re going to rest our bod-ies and we’re going to prepare, be-cause we’re not done. We want togo make some noise. We want tocontinue this season. Hopefully ourguys can learn some lessons fromtoday and apply them wherever wego in the NCAA Tournament.” ForVCU, third time’s a charm.

Jay Wright

By Marc Rasbury

Apparently there is no off-sea-son when it comes to the NFL. Inthe midst of March Madness, thepending NBA post season andbaseball’s spring training, profes-sional football still dominated theheadlines last week. Based onsome of the moves that the AFCand NFC East Divisions teamsmade, most of the NFL fans on theEast Coast can’t wait for Septem-ber. Most of those seismic rum-blings occurred on the East Coastwhere trades and free agentsignings drastically altered therosters of the two Eastern Divi-sions. As the 2014 season came toclose, it was a foregone conclu-sion that Jets Head Coach RexRyan’s days were numbered. Ryanand General Manager John Idzikwere released from their duties af-ter the last regular season game.That was only the beginning ofan off-season of flux and change.A couple of weeks later, Ryanfound himself trading his greenoutfits for blue as he took his com-edy act to Western New York whenhe signed with Buffalo Bills. It isgoing to be weird to see the Big

The Wild Wild EastFella sporting the Bills’ red, whiteand blue verses the Jets’ green andwhite. However, that is the realityof the new NFL where you couldbe the face of one franchise oneday then the face of another in aNew York minute. Ryan’s move was only the be-ginning of what was the crazy startof the NFL off-season. His formerteam, the New York Jets, wereamong the most active organiza-tions in the League over the lasttwo weeks. First, Gang Green ac-quired standout Wide ReceiverBrandon Marshall for a late roundpick. This move gives the Jets alegitimate number one wideout anddown field threat that the offensedesperately needs. Then theybrought home the prodigal son,Darrelle Revis, back to the BigApple. This move not only strengthensan already potent Jets defense butalso weakens the defendingchamps New England Patriots’ de-fense. The Jets also signedCleveland’s Defensive Back BusterSkrine. This move shores up theirdefense to point where the second-ary which was the unit’s weaknesslast season should be a strengththis upcoming campaign. To thesurprise to everyone, the Jets also

resigned Linebacker David Har-ris. Most folks felt that Harriswould follow Rex and shuffle offto Buffalo. With secondary nowan asset and add them to that ex-plosive front seven, expect theJets defense should be among thebest in the business under newHead Coach Todd Bowles, whois perceived to be a more disci-pline and organized Rex Ryan. In addition to bringing inMarshall, the Jets signedHouston’s QB Ryan Fitzpatrick tochallenge incumbent and em-battled Geno Smith. I feel that

Smith will beat out Fitzpatrick.However, this is it for the thirdyear pro. Smith has no more ex-cuses. He has two years of experi-ence under his belt. He also haslegitimate downfield weapons inMarshall and Eric Decker. Geno ittime to step up or shut up! The Jets were not only AFCEast team making moves thispast week. The Miami Dolphinssigned mega star DefensiveTackle Ndamunong Suh, whoshould make a good pass rusheven more lethal. New England made head-lines more for whom they lostinstead of whom they signed.Losing Revis was a big blowbut to also let Vince Wilforkand Shane Vereen walk out thedoor is going hurt their chancesof defending their Super Bowltitle. Rex Ryan did not stand patwhile his AFC counterpartsmade all of those moves. He gotLeSean McCoy from the Phila-delphia Eagles for second yearLB Kiko Alonso, who is com-ing back from a serious kneeinjury. When healthy, Alonsois a solid player but is he wor-thy of McCoy? Speaking of Philadelphia,

what is Head Coach Chip Kellycelebrating in the City of Broth-erly Love? First he trades McCoythen he lets WR Jeremy Maclinsign with the Kansas City Chiefs.Add to fact that the organizationjettisoned Desean Jackson on thefirst bus out of Philly last year,one has to wonder what is goingon in Kelly’s mind, He virtuallylet three Pro Bowl players justwalk out the door. Then he tradedfor often-injured Sam Bradford torun the show. Good luck withthat. Some feel that he is actinglike one of those corporate raid-ers of the 80’s who were broughtinto a company to sell off differ-ent pieces or units for a profit. Kelly did make one good move.He signed DeMarcus Murray lastseason’s leading rusher. Why theCowboys let him go will be thebiggest question going into nextseason but who am I to questiona genius like Jerry Jones. All of these moves made myhead spin last week. Some ofthem made me scratch my head. Iassure you there will be probablymore block buster moves in theweeks to come leading up to thedraft. It just goes to show youthat there is no off-season withthe NFL season.

Chip Kelly

from the Northeast. New York,Madison Square Garden is theMecca, and so to come here andjust play in it is a thrill for us. Towin it, I can’t even tell you. I don’tknow if it’s really sunk in yet. I doknow we’re going to have to for-get about it, though, on Monday.” Josh Hart, who scored 53 pointsin three games during the tourna-ment, won the Most ValuablePlayer Award. Coach Wright dis-cussed the potential of Hart, who

also one Sixth Man of the Yearfor the Big East Conference com-ing off the bench for the Wild-cats. “Honestly, he’s about half-way there to what he can be. Hereally can be a great player. Hehad a great freshman year. We allhear about the sophomore jinx,and he came back and had a bet-ter sophomore year, which is re-ally difficult to do, because thisyear people knew who he was,and when he came in the game

New York's Beacon News

Documents

Transcript of New York's Beacon News