New York Amsterdam News

02/14/2025

BLACK NEW YORKER: The health disparities that predominantly affect Black Americans and her family’s legacy in human rights activism were the driving forces for Dr. Jessie Fields to transform the lives of hundreds of patients through medicine, art, and social justice. She has been advocating for equal access to healthcare and serving the community through medicine since 1985.

The health disparities that predominantly affect Black Americans and her family’s legacy in human rights activism were the driving forces.

02/14/2025

OP-ED: "We cannot have one standard for the streets and another for the jails. If Governor Hochul is giving judges more power to impose harsher consequences on offenders to ensure public safety, then she must also empower the DOC with the same authority in the jails." - Elias Husamudeen, New York City Correction Officers Benevolent Association, former president

Governor Hochul is fighting to maintain safety and order in the streets, NYC jails have been stripped of the ability to do the same.

02/14/2025

The REFORM Advocacy Institute is a training program for prospective criminal justice reform advocates. For six weeks, they met virtually from all over the county before culminating in an expenses-paid New York City meet-up.

The program stems from justice-reform advocacy group REFORM Alliance, which formed in 2019 to push back against draconian parole and probation laws following the re-imprisonment of rapper Meek Mill over a motorbike stunt video.

The REFORM Alliance was formed in 2019 to push back against parole and probation laws following the re-imprisonment of rapper Meek Mill.

02/14/2025

Wishing you and yours a Happy Valentine's Day!

02/13/2025

Omowale Adewale, a vegan farmer based in New York who is creating sustainable solutions, from the ground up, with his bare hands. He and his wife, Nadia Muyeeb-Adewale, operate Liberation Farm in South Kortright, N.Y., and are the founders of Black VegFest (or Black Vegan Festival), a festival celebrating veganism and food justice in the Black community.

Omowale’s personal journey to veganism began as a commitment to his own health and well-being. Omowale was born and raised in Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and has rooted his efforts in these neighborhoods. He was diagnosed with hypertension at 15 and learned the importance of foods like beets, garlic, and other fresh vegetables.

He and his wife realized that as farmers and organizers, they knew a lot about food, nutrition, and medicine. They felt a responsibility to address their communities’ health and stability. At one point, the Adewales had 340 acres of farmland — the largest farmland under Black farm stewardship in New York. July 2024 was the last time Liberation Farm had the land in possession. It is currently on 20 acres of Roots and Culture Farm’s land in the Hudson Valley.

Omowale Adewale and his wife, Nadia Muyeeb-Adewale, operate Liberation Farm and are the founders of Black VegFest.

02/13/2025

The Clash Pro (basketball) League (CPL), which debuted last year, conducted its first Clash Youth Combine this past weekend, with boys in grades four through six participating on Saturday and seventh- and eighth-graders on Sunday afternoon.

CPL was created by Chris “Gotti” Lorenzo, co-founder of live-streaming platform Clash TV. The league features top streetballers from not just the New York City area, but nationally and internationally, and plays its games at the Harlem Police Athletic Center (PAL; 441 Manhattan Avenue). The City Slammers won the inaugural championship.

“The end goal was to provide parents and young players with the opportunity to see where they stand against some of the other top players in their respective age groups, with the highest professionalism of Clash basketball,” Clash TV Director of Basketball Business Development Chris “CWill” Williams told the AmNews. Numerous middle school and high school basketball coaches were in attendance.

The Clash Pro (basketball) League (CPL), which debuted last year, conducted its first Clash Youth Combine this past weekend.

02/13/2025

PARTNERED CONTENT: Union carpenters and contractors are making a significant impact across New York City, going beyond constructing skylines to build stronger communities. Over the past few months, they've been actively engaged in community service. To learn more about these impactful initiatives and how they're building a better New York for all, read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3MUoIQp

02/13/2025

Kevin Richardson never got to graduate from Bronx Preparatory Charter. A wrongful conviction from the Central Park jogger case famously stole his youth as a teen. Yet the school, which conferred an honorary degree to him in 2017, welcomed the Harlemite as the big man on campus for a student forum last Friday, Feb. 7.

Bronx Preparatory Charter welcomed Kevin Richardson of the Exonerated Five on campus for a student forum on Friday, Feb. 7.

02/13/2025

Justice is proverbially blind, but advocates fear defendants in will once again be in the dark with evidence-sharing until the last minute. Recent amendments proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul toward discovery reform sparked the formation of an Alliance to Protect last month. A website for the campaign launched earlier this week.

Justice is proverbially blind, but advocates fear defendants in New York will once again be in the dark with evidence-sharing.

02/13/2025

: Clifton R. Wharton Jr. became the first African-American chancellor of the 64-campus State University of New York (SUNY) system in 1978. Prior to that he was the first African-American president of a major U.S. university when he was elected president of Michigan State University in 1969. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/3WZUtNr

02/13/2025

EDITORIAL: You are not alone if you are baffled by the administration’s actions and/or executive orders. Millions of citizens are scratching their heads, trying to get a bead on the decisions. In one stroke of his pen, he proclaimed , calling on public officials, librarians, educators, and all people to observe the month and its various activities. However, simultaneously with this announcement, a memo from the declared that “Identity Months Dead at DoD.”

Activities may be scaled back by the federal government, including Women’s History Month, Hispanic Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and other identity designations, but many organizations and institutions will continue with their celebrations. “We are stepping in to fill that gap,” said Karsonya Wise Whitehead, president of the ASALH: Association for the Study of African American Life and History “You don’t wait to be celebrated. We celebrate ourselves.”

You are not alone if you are flummoxed — to say the least — by the Trump administration’s actions and/or executive orders.

02/13/2025

In a recent interview, filmmaker Charlyn Griffith-Oro of the short documentary “The Aunties” told the Amsterdam News, “This film came out of my observations of the over the last almost decade." They expressed wanting to leave behind the legacy that they have [stated] explicitly, but also in their actions, in their awareness, and in their presence.” The film features elder mentors, friends, and fellow farmer/climate activitists Paulette Greene and Donna Dear, a married couple.

The film starts streaming on YouTube on Feb. 17 as part of the Black Public Media (BPM) online series .

The film was executive-produced by the The Center for Cultural Power and its distribution is supported by the QWOCMAP - Q***r Women of Color Media Arts Project.

The documentary "The Aunties" centers on two gay women farming the plantation said to have been where Harriet Tubman’s family lived.

02/13/2025

Mayor Eric Adams has long boasted about New York City’s thriving economy and breaking the all-time high jobs record for the eighth time since the start of his administration. Commendable. However, he doesn’t often mention the city’s persisting disparities among Black unemployment rates and gender pay inequities.

Long-standing challenges will remain in housing costs, lack of affordability, racial disparities in employment, and stubborn gaps between highest and lowest earners.

Mayor Eric Adams has long boasted about New York City’s thriving economy and breaking the all-time high jobs record for the eighth time.

02/13/2025

COVER STORY: As the rates of maternal mortality remain staggeringly high in New York City, especially among Black and Latino women, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams recently convened a group of advocates and city leaders to move the needle on this crisis.

Between 50 and 60 women and birthing people lose their lives during pregnancy or within a year from the end of pregnancy. Black New Yorkers are six times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes compared to white New Yorkers, according to city data.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams recently convened a group of advocates and city leaders to move the needle on this crisis.

02/13/2025

This week's front page. To subscribe, go to https://amsterdamnews.com/subscription/

02/12/2025

BLACK NEW YORKER: Two sessions, approximately 35 to 45 minutes each, once a week is how long Janice James spends tutoring students at the Benjamin Banneker Magnet School of Architecture and Engineering in Brooklyn, but the impact she has lasts for far longer.

Two sessions, approximately 35 to 45 minutes each, once a week is how long Janice James spends tutoring students.

02/12/2025

: Sidney Poitier was the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. for his role in the film "Lilies of the Field." He also won Golden Globe Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award. Along with being a noted actor, Poitier was also a film director, activist, and diplomat. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/40NC3jW

02/12/2025

EDITORIAL: The inevitability of Trump’s so-called common sense, which he first expressed in his conclusions about the fatal air disaster over the Potomac River, arrived again on Sunday when he claimed, again without an iota of evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land,” and that “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly.” As expected, he announced that he would cut off funding to the country.

The inevitability of Trump's so-called common sense, which he first expressed in his conclusions about the fatal air disaster.