NEW YORK, NY
NYC: Two revelations last week reference the dire straits that the city faces in the near future. The 5BORO Institute was founded this year by some of Mayor Eric Adams’ friends, including Richard Ravitch, which will serve as a policy recommendations feeder, focused on daycare, mental health infrastructure, and teacher recruitment training. Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency by week’s end in response to the city being inundated with 17,000 asylum seekers, which is rapidly overwhelming the city’s resources.
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NY Assemblymember Inez Dickens told New York Post that she is entertaining a run for her old NYC City Council seat, representing Central Harlem, currently occupied by Kristin Richardson Jackson, owing to the barrage of complaints by constituents about Kristin’s performance to date. Kristin argues that she is working hard on behalf of her constituents and is not going anywhere. Hmmm. Manhattan Democrat Leader Keith Wright said that he does not talk with Kristin. We vote next year for NYC Council members. What is going on in Harlem? In Brooklyn, Assembly Rodneyse Bichotte, 48, was re-elected Democratic Party Chief. At press time, it was announced that newly named Deputy Brooklyn Boro Prexy Diane Richardson is out.
Regarding the November elections, I thought that Democrats Senator Chuck Schumer and NYS Attorney General Tish James were running opposed.
BUSINESS MATTERS
Last week’s business papers were rife with rumors that private equity Black billionaire Robert Smith, the philanthropist who paid for the Morehouse men’s tuition a few years ago, is looking at a new acquisition, Compass, one of the nation’s biggest real estate firms co-founded by African American Robert Reffkin whois CEO. Compass denies that it has suitors. Smith’s company Vista Equity Partners is silent.
EDUCATION UPDATES
The 10/09 NY Times included a highly informative supplement, titled LEARNING about the effects of COVID on a student’s life. It is instructive for parents and educators alike.
Somebody’s lying. Two of the nation’s most prominent public universities, the University of California and the University of Michigan, announced that their affirmative action programs, targeting Blacks are not successful. They plan to dismantle those programs. An October 9 Washington Post piece says that the University of North Carolina which once would not admit Black students until the 70s now boasts a 12 % Black student body of accept Black students and will have to fight today’s Supreme Court which feels that its Affirmative Action Program is too successful. As the Court’s trend is right, schools have to defend their policies.
What sort of pressures were put on the University of California and Michigan? Those campuses were subjects of Supreme Court scrutiny for their affirmative action programs 30 years ago.
WORLD SOCIETY
AFRICA: BURKINA FASO: The former West African French colony, experienced its second coup d’etat this year. Both coups were executed to erode the widespread influence of Jihadists. ETHIOPIA: The United States State has been involved in the months long ceasefire there has been in place. Civil war broke out two years ago between the Ethiopian central government and the Tigray region. The ceasefire is dead and new civil war aggression threatens the stability of the entire Horn of Africa.
NORTH AMERICA: The fragile South of the border neighbor HAITI seeks military help from the international community to stem the widespread chaos which prevails there. The US takes immigrants from Afghanistan, and tens of thousands from Ukraine, Central, and South America. I don’t get it.
ARTS AND CULTURE
FINE ART: The Africa Center’s new art exhibit, STATES OF BECOMING showcases works by 17 fine artists from across the African Diaspora, who have lived in the U.S. for the past three decades. Curated by Fitsum Shebeshe, the exhibit opens on October 14 with conversations between the curator and participating artists. The Africa Center is located at 1280 Fifth Avenue, Harlem.
BOOKS: Former US First Lady Michelle Obama’s book, “LIGHT WE CARRY Overcoming In Uncertain Times”, is getting ready for a multi-city book tour after its November 15 launch.
American history buffs should voraciously consume a new nonfiction book, SOUTH TO AMERICA: A Journal Below The Mason-Dixon To Understand the Soul Of a Nation,” by Imani Perry, which deals with laser-like precision about race, America, and the South. “The different Souths that many Black Americans carry with them is the central theme of the book,” says the reviewer for The Nation Magazine. Dr. Perry is an interdisciplinary scholar of race, law, and African American Literature and a prolific writer.
Internationally renowned fine arts photographer Tony Barboza’s new book, EYE DREAMING, will be published soon. The publisher will host a book signing on November 2 at the Rizzoli Book Store at 1133 Broadway, Manhattan.
FESTIVAL: Harlem Park to Park presents its 11th Annual Harlem Harvest Festival, a family-friendly affair with food vendors, Double Dutch, DJ on Saturday, October 15, from 11 am to 4 pm on St. Nicholas Avenue, between 117/118 Streets.
FILM: The Reel Sisters of the African Diaspora African Film Festival celebrates its 25th Anniversary this month, honoring actress Mugga, and filmmakers Stacey L. Holman and Booker T. Mattison on October 7. Visit Reelsisters.org for the Film Festival fall lineup.
OCTOBER CALENDAR
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AWARENESS DAY, October 10
COLUMBUS DAY, Columbus Day, October 10
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. Women should schedule their annual mammograms ASAP.
OCTOBER is LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) History Month
HISPANIC AND LATINX HISTORY MONTH September 15 to October 15. Some observe Hispanic and Latin History Awareness.
HALLOWEEN, OCTOBER 31
