By Maitefa Angaza Reprint from March 10, 2022 Black Rose’s instinct for style was a homegrown asset. “My mother was an expert dressmaker,” she said. “She taught us how to make dresses and hats. We modeled our fashions at church, community centers and then some clubs...

By Maitefa Angaza He was born on January 1, 1938 and became an ancestor on April 1, 2023.  The tributes are pouring in — through news media and arts program broadcasts, through word of mouth, and on social media, where many people knew and loved...

A Few Proud African Voices in the Long Song by Maitefa Angaza African Voices (AV) has been celebrating a happy and active 30th anniversary since last year. This is hard to believe for lovers of the magazine, its film festival and audiences at events and participants...

by Maitefa AngazaThere’s a wonderful photographic art show up at the New-York Historical Society (NYHS). Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite is a gorgeous and joyous celebration of art, purpose and pride. The exhibition salutes the power of this beautiful work by...

By Maitefa AngazaThe Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College celebrated two decades at a festive and fabulous 20th Anniversary Jubilee on October 20th! Authors, poets, other literary artists, scholars, readers, artists, producers, staff, and some students, were all there. They came to...

By Maitefa AngazaAt this time each year activists and advocates across the nation observe Black August. It was first organized by Black political prisoners in California in 1979 to commemorate those they deemed fallen freedom fighters. The month-long commemoration involved fasting from sunrise to...

By Maitefa AngazaThe National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) returns March 30th – April 2nd courtesy of the Center for Black Literature, founded 20 years ago by Dr. Brenda Greene at Medgar Evers College. The conference brings together celebrated and emerging novelists, nonfiction writers, poets,...

In Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of “Naturally ‘62” Part II of IIby Maitefa AngazaThe celebrated couple, jazz drummer Max Roach and vocalist Abbey Lincoln, toured by bus with the Grandassa models and AJASS producers, helping to present the Naturally shows to sold-out venues across...

By Maitefa Angaza March 10, 2022 Black Rose’s instinct for style was a homegrown asset. “My mother was an expert dressmaker,” she said. “She taught us how to make dresses and hats. We modeled our fashions at church, community centers and then some clubs in Harlem.”Along...

By Maitefa Angaza They were Black and Beautiful, proud and confident, talented and innovative. The Grandassa Models were what many young girls in the 1960s would learn was an example to strive for as they grew into their own knowledge and love of self. These...

By Maitefa Angaza There is hope—both on the horizon and here in hand—for some measure of justice and redress concerning the egregious effects that redlining has had on our communities. Students and faculty, environmental, community and political activists, historians and other scholars, technology experts, etc.,...

What’s It All About? - A Ballot Proposals Breakdown By Maitefa AngazaAlthough eyes are on the mayoral prize in next week’s election, there is life in New York City beyond that contest. Some weighty decisions will be made by voters that could significantly impact our...

By Maitefa AngazaMTOPP (Movement to Protect the People) and Our Time Press newspaper sponsored a lively virtual 36th District City Council Candidates Forum on Thursday, June 20th. It offered Bedford-Stuyvesant and North Crown Heights voters an opportunity to become better acquainted with the top...

By Maitefa AngazaA virtual 40th Congressional District Candidates’ Forum was held Thursday, March 4th, introducing local residents to five people vying for their votes in the June 22nd primary — Kenya Handy-Hilliard, Rita Joseph:, Edwin Raymond, Blake Morris and Josue Pierre. (Candidate Vivian Morgan,...

By Maitefa Angaza This weekend all are invited to enjoy something many of us miss dearly — a showcase of Black creative brilliance!The Black Artists Marketplace, hosted by innovative jeweler Lavalais and veteran milliner Ella Issac, returns for its third weekend of showcasing artists and...

By Maitefa Angaza Things will be different for many who observe Thanksgiving and many who informally participate in a day of family reconnection. Whatever our plans and our anxieties, we can, in these times, transform our views, considering how we give to ourselves and how...

By Maitefa AngazaAs early enrollment opens in a few days, (November 1st) and higher education institutions across the nation tout their bona fides, Our Time Press highlights here the top 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for consideration. They provide a rich experience...

Faculty & Students Fight for NYC’s HBCU By Maitefa Angaza Correction:From Part One of this article (MA)Comments attributed to Terrence Blackman were not made by him and he was not a MEC founder. Also, Dr. Rudy Crew’s letter of resignation to the Medgar Evers College Community...

Standing for Medgar Evers College Once Again: Part 1 By Maitefa Angaza Medgar Evers College has been here before: students and faculty make charges of disrespect and disenfranchisement, and say that the CUNY chancellor and college president appear unmoved. Stakeholders, the students who rely on MEC,...

By Maitefa Angaza COVID-19 has taken more than precious lives from us. It’s also taken livelihoods and some of the aliveness we feel in the physical company of others. So people are excited about returning to their neighborhood restaurants to enjoy their favorite dishes with...