Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

By Danielle Douglas
In his second major platform unveiling, democratic mayoral contender Fernando Ferrer outlined his vision for improving the City’s small businesses by providing temporary amnesty on fines, revising regulations, and providing assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs, including women and minority business owners.
Speaking at Baruch College, Ferrer criticized mayor Bloomberg’s seemingly elitist approach to economic development – imposing “burdensome” regulations and punitive laws that stifle the growth potential of small businesses. “Small businesses represent 98% of all businesses in New York and employ over 2 million New Yorkers – over half the City’s private workforce. Small businesses contribute tens of millions of dollars to the City economy. We have no choice: we must create a business environment friendly to small business owners,” says Ferrer.
With an 18.5% property tax increase many business owners are having a difficult time trying to pay their rent; over 25,000 small businesses have faced eviction in New York City, in 2004 alone, 10,000 businesses faced forced eviction. Ferrer believes Bloomberg’s strategies are really geared toward making sure his “wealthy Republican friends are taken care of while making it harder and harder for small business to succeed.” Ferrer continued to say, “Although property taxes increases are merely a drop in the bucket to Mike Bloomberg’s wealthy follow CEO’s, they can be devastating for ordinary small business owners. Increased taxes eat up profit and prevent capital investment and growth.”
Ferrer insists that when this city is presented with a Mayor who “understands the lives of regular New Yorkers” it will be possible to build “a foundation on which hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs can build the businesses of their dreams.”

Ferrer’s Small Business Plans
intends to:
Form a small business advisory council, reporting to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, and Small Business Commissioner, to make recommendations and propose policy for the small business community;
Offer a three-month amnesty program to give small business the opportunity to pay outstanding fines, and review all existing regulatory burdens to eliminate those regulations that fail to advance the public interest;
Provide greater access to capital – particularly micro-loans and technical assistance – to give individuals and small businesses the resources to grow;
Provide workforce training to every New Yorker who seeks employment opportunities; by linking education and job training, Ferrer will work to solve the pervading unemployment crisis in certain communities.
Help women and minority-owned businesses better compete for prime city contracts Provide real estate assistance to lessen the burden of rising rent costs and lack of space for small businesses.
Ferrer’s platform will cost an estimated $35 million, which will be derived from redirected tax incentive funds.
While all of Ferrer’s six initiatives are of equal value, the last three deserve further exploration as they reflect many of the concerns of central Brooklyn’s small business owners.
Access to Capital
“Financing is needed to help start-up businesses succeed and grow. Capital and interim financing is critical in supporting a variety of business activities, including construction and renovation, expansion of product lines, and investments in IT infrastructure,” says Ferrer.
He will invest $10 million into providing Micro-loans, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, to help entrepreneurs start and sustain small ventures, while building credit for larger loans. Ferrer is also setting aside another $10 million to expand seed financing programs to help small and developing businesses avoid excessive debt. A final $5 million will be designated for enhancing technical assistance programs to aide entrepreneurs in polishing their business presentation, updating their technology and writing their business plans.
Women and Minority-owned
Business Initiatives
Earlier this year, The New York City Council released a study found that of the contract dollars extended by the City on standard services prime contracts, only 1.37% went to Black Americans, 1.64% went to Hispanics, while white men received 89% of contract dollars.
In response to this disturbing, but not surprising, study Ferrer proposes a business match program, which would match small businesses with opportunities to do business with the City and State, through the financial assistance plans discussed above.
However, Ferrer would not elaborate on how his program will affect contract percentages, nor did he set any firm goals to increase contract dollars over the next few years. When asked if he would institute quotas to accelerate equality within contract bidding, Ferrer ignored the question all together.
Though his match program initiates dialogue it’s still very vague, which takes away from it’s attractiveness; the democratic frontrunner needs to supply detailed long-term goals for this initiative. Yet Ferrer did say, “The City must aid small businesses by simplifying its own procurement practices and making it easier for new companies, particularly those owned by minorities and women, to obtain a fair share of the city contracts.” But the question remains, how?
James Heyliger II, the Chairman of the Minority Leadership Council – the group responsible for the state’s adoption of Article 58, which guarantees 10% of minorities bids on state contracts – says that Ferrer is the only candidate who has put his group’s concerns on his agenda. Yet he is not solely relying on the candidate’s good faith efforts; his organization is fighting for legislation to ideally secure 20% of City contract dollars for minorities; Heyliger wants to see 80% of that 20% of City contract dollars in the hands of Blacks and Hispanics, who are suffering the most from high unemployment rates.
 Workforce Training
“One reason why we need to create a better climate for small businesses is so we can generate new jobs and opportunities for those New Yorkers who have been left out of New York’s economy,” says Ferrer. 39.3% of Black, and 32.3% of Latino men are unemployed; Ferrer ‘s key to solving this crisis is to connect small businesses to existing opportunities and training programs to develop intern and pre-employment training opportunities that lead to permanent jobs. This plan will also provide incentives to businesses in “emerging and high-growth industries” to utilize the City’s workforce development programs and direct funding to job training programs.
When asked if his workforce training plan would take into account populations of chronically unemployed ex-convicts, Ferrer acknowledged his concern for their readjustment into the community, but neglected to provide a definitive answer as to what he would do to address the situation. “When you discharge somebody from a hospital there is a protocol involved, who is the healthcare provider, what kind of prescriptions you need, how do you get them filled.we have nothing like that for returning prisoners,” says Ferrer.
“Small business can help us, given the right economic conditions and the right cooperation from the government, bring down chronic unemployment and help us close the skills gap,” Ferrer continued. “Its important to use City Universities, especially our community college campuses, to be the engines of job training in the city. I can’t be very specific about the curriculum, but it’s about basic job skills that don’t come from a trade school but a marriage of small business with community colleges so that we can place people quickly,” says Ferrer.
Ferrer presents himself as the candidate for the working class; someone who will invest time and money into their needs and wants.
His latest platform definitely brings a lot of important issues to the table, but some of the initiatives, particularly minority contract dollars, needs further examination.

By Feona Sharhran Huff
I’ve read about domestic violence against women in the newspaper, watched in-depth reports and documentaries on TV, and even know female relatives and close girlfriends who have experienced verbal and physical abuse. However, it wasn’t until my son’s father began threatening to harm me that I began to truly connect with these women and understand their fears and concerns. Rather than be victimized and sit in silence as the threats continued, I decided to fight back by reporting him to my local police precinct and filing for a restraining order (FYI: These actions start a “paper trail”) as well as informing my pastor and seeking legal counsel. And, of course, I am writing this article so that women who are being subjected to domestic violence (or battery) – which additionally, consists of emotional, mental, and sexual abuse as well as threatening, intimidation, humiliation, and stalking by a spouse, boyfriend, or significant other – will fight back, too.
According to the FBI, every day four women die in the United States as a result of domestic violence – that’s 1,400 women a year. The Department of Justice reports that one-third of female homicide victims are murdered by their intimate partners each year. As an African-American woman, what particularly troubles me about domestic violence is that it continues to be a serious issue in the African-American community. And, for many reasons, including not having an open dialogue about domestic violence, the abuse going unreported by the victim as well as people who know what’s going on, a lack of enough support systems and services put in place in our neighborhoods, fear of women losing their children and of their partner going to jail, and the fear of not having a place to live if they leave their abuser.
According to Dr. Oliver Williams, executive director of The Institute on Domestic Violence in the African-American Community – a St. Paul, MN-based organization that raises community consciousness on the impact of violence in the African-American community, conducts research, disseminates information, informs public policy, and organized and facilitates conferences and training – educating the African-American community is key to combating a lot of what happens in domestic violence situations. “People have to be informed on what the issues are,” says Dr. Williams. “Women may not identify with what the term ‘battered woman’ means; they may have a different perspective of what it could be. But, by defining the experiences of the ‘battered woman’ in terms of power and control, demeaning behavior, and the possibility of being attacked, Dr. Williams believes these women will be able to better connect with their realities.
He also said the “blame game” must be addressed. “Men who batter often times blame the woman for what occurs and she accepts it,” Dr. Williams points out. “People mistake conflict with justification for the violence done. There is no justification for violence.”
At Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW), domestic violence survivors are trained so that they can be involved in policy work. “Usually all of these [domestic violence] policies are made without the real input of survivors,” says Susan Lob, executive director of the Manhattan, NY-based organization. “Our members fight to change the system. They get training in strategizing and organizing, they testify at hearings, and meet with high-level city officials.”
Recently, VOW has been campaigning around family court issues. “We see all kinds of biases,” Lob insists. A big bias the organization has observed is the case of parental alienation. In this situation, the court says the mother is alienating the child from seeing the father and when the child says s/he doesn’t want to see his/her father, the court assumes the child is being brainwashed. In the end, the father is awarded visitation with the child. Other concerns include domestic violence victims losing their cases due to abuser working for police system or the father being able to afford a better attorney. “It ends up working against her [the mother],” says Lob. Currently, VOW is surveying battered women about their experiences in family court. “Too many women aren’t seeing their children because of court decisions.”
Another avenue that will be able to greatly impact policy laws, services, and assistance for domestic violence victims in the African-American community and abroad is by Congress reauthorizing of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005. This act was originally passed in 1994 in which it poured millions of dollars into creating resources to assist women, children, and families of domestic violence. It was reauthorized in 2000, thereby continuing the work that was initially started and adding services to assist disabled, older, rural, and immigrant women.
“The Act should be renewed and important improvements should be made so that communities and organizations can expand their prevention efforts, ensure the safety of more victims, and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes,” said Diane M. Stuart, the director of the Office on Violence Against Women for the United States Department of Justice, who testified before the committee on the Judiciary United States Senate on July 19th regarding the reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act this year.

With legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 being reauthorized as well as educating the community on the impact of domestic violence on the victims and the African-American community, welcoming and initiating open dialogue, demanding accountability, and providing sufficient services, progress can happen. We must all get involved in this fight in whatever capacity we can. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Be sure to take an interest informing yourself and others about what’s being done to stop domestic violence. If you are a victim, report it and seek help. You can’t live in fear, otherwise it will rule your life and you’ll live in limitation.

If you don’t know where to go for help, turn to the following resources.

Safe Horizen
800-621-4673

National Domestic Violence Hotline
800-799-7233
www.ndvh.org

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
800-537-2238
www.nrcdv.org

National Coalition Against Domestic Violenc

Elombe Brathe,
Producer, Afrikaleidescope
On Thursday, July 28th, between 7PM and 10PM, WBAI presented a three hour African marathon special focusing on the situation in two critical countries, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, offering perspectives that differ from major media reports. The report covered the time period of “Education At The Crossroads”, 7-8PM, with Basir Mchawi; “Where We Live”, 8-9PM with Sally O’Brien and Rosa Clemente; and “Afrikaleidoscope”, 9-10PM with Elombe Brath, and featured excerpts from two fact-finding trips organized by Mr. Brath to both the DRC in 1997 and Zimbabwe in 2002. The program afforded people who have only had a chance to form their opinion of the situation of major events in these two besieged countries by the U.S.  mass media, to listen to people not usually given an opportunity to speak on their own behalf .  
It was also an opportunity for listeners to show their support for African programming which, even on WBAI, does not give enough time for African issues to be covered. In fact, even if the station could cover one African country a week during a year they still would fall short; there are 53 countries in Africa (including island nations) and there are only 52 weeks in a year.  But WBAI is the only station that seems to recognize what is really at stake in Africa, which the media consistently and erroneously reports as being the poorest continent in the world because its leaders are all corrupt or inept. In fact, Africa is acknowledged as being potentially the richest continent in the world but has the most impoverished people in the world because they have not been able to regain control of their natural resources, which remain under foreign domination, and an enormous illegitimate debt to international banking consortiums, the IMF and the World Bank. And leaders that seriously try to extract their people and countries from such an unfair relationship are targeted for either overthrow, character assassination and, in some extreme cases, physical assassination as well.
Zimbabwe and the DRC are countries whose leadership has been denounced by western media whose corporate benefactors have a vested interest in trying to remove governments which are engaged in armed national liberation struggles to achieve their  independence.  Especially those western critics which never wanted them to become independent in the first place. Thus, while the majority of countries are being savaged by an incalculable debt service that has hobbled their development, only those who cave in to the monumental pressures of the Washington Consensus and the G-7 will be spared some relief.
But even this has not satisfied the west, because the African Union and regional organizations like the Southern Africa Development Community  (SADC) refuse to submit to western domination and instructions to collaborate in undermining Presidents Robert Mugabe in Harare, Zimbabwe and Joseph Kabila in Kinshasa, Congo.  The latter government, which has been under U.S. and Belgian control for over 37 years of its 45 years of “independence,” is currently undergoing yet another interference in its political affairs, the same as at the time of its independence when it saw it’s democratically elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba deposed and assassinated and his government replaced by a CIA-installed regime led by then Col. Joseph Mobutu (cum Mobutu Sese Seko).  Mobutu,  who, after having the support of nine U.S. presidents, turned what many consider the world’s most resource endowed country into an “economic basket case” while enriching himself to the level of the second richest individual leader in the world.
Likewise, no matter what people have read in regards to Zimbabwe, whose leader Mugabe has been targeted by George Bush and Britain’s Tony Blair for regime change, much in the same way as they had fabricated bogus reasons to wage an illegal war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The American people have now come to realize Hussein was once a staunch ally of the U.S.,  when most of the charges against him were carried out.  They are now demanding answers to a growing number of questions and have turned against the U.S. war in Iraq. The current growing consensus is that the war in Iraq was not valid nor worth the effort.  They see more and more of their children being horrendously killed daily in a war that was supposed to have been over more than a year ago.
With the DRC being destabilized by a seven year war that was waged against the newly freed country by two U.S. military African client states after the Congolese people had just ostensibly regained their independence, Africa’s third largest country – both geographically and by population numbers – has been reported to have had four million people killed as a result of a war which has had more casualties than any war since World War II.
The DRC is also being victimized by UN personnel who have brutalized and raped Congolese women.  They had been invited into the country to safeguard it from the same appalling behavior and outrageous atrocities that were being committed by anti-government militias.
This ws dealt with on Thursday’sprogram as the people not normally heard from Zimbabwe and the DRC had  the opportunities to rebut most of the subjective spins against their leaders and governments, still struggling to gain control of their natural resources from the colonial powers which ruled and exploited African countries for centuries during a 500 year old presence on the continent.  It is necessary to hear reports on the prevailing issues from a people’s perspective based on a cause and effect analysis to place the current struggles in an historical and political context to truly understand what is really going on.
Indeed, the same can be said with a host of other African countries which have also had their respective countries destabilized and exploited during their history with the west. This includes from the time of the European Trans-Atlantic slave trade, followed by the 1884-85 Berlin Conference and its subsequent colonial epoch, and after the post-World War II decolonization period, neo-colonialism based on Cold War objectives – to now in the post-Cold War period where the U.S. and its erstwhile European allies are engaged in a new “scramble for Africa” and its treasure trove of mineral resources, including a growing discovery of oil deposits.
At the same time U.S. anti-war movements have mobilized thousands of people with little or no mention at all of the events in Africa where more wars have been fought and more casualties have been documented since the decolonization struggle began at  end of the Second World War and the founding of the United Nations.
WBAI is also suffering a severe crisis at a time when it is needed more than ever before. Based on an escalation of costs of its office and studio space in a non-profit building which has been hit by the phenomena of gentrification on Wall Street that has now upped rentals to market rates, antenna rates in the post-9/11 reaction, and an insidious campaign by an opposing faction at the station which continuously tried to scare listeners from financially supporting the most important radio station with a progressive agenda and news analysis.  They do this by falsely claiming that Black voices like Malcolm X, Dr. John Hendrik Clarke, Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, Dr. Yosef Ben Jochannan, and Dr. Joy Leary, among others, are spouting racism and the airing of Palestinian views, and that supporters of them is anti-Semitism.  They say these points of view are being broadcasted because of Black people at the helm.  People such as program director, Bernard White, who has been doing a tremendous job of programming brilliant issues which the mass media refuses to honestly deal with; and  general manager, Don Rojas, recently resigned after a systematic denigrating conspiracy,  to take up another post on the west coast, which delighted the opposition.
It has been argued that it is not just the fact of Black people being on air that has caused concerns to the ensconced racist opposition members but their mere presence on the premises. It has also been argued that “years ago an anti-Semite was someone who didn’t like Jews, but today an anti-Semite is someone that Jews don’t like.”
Whatever or whichever way you view these problems the fact remains that WBAI has become a major source of information for the entire African community, including those born not only in Africa but within the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S. To continue to support WBAI is critically important. To support WBAI’s African programming is a life and death issue.   WBAI, 99.5 FM.  (www.wbai.org)

By David Mark Greaves
An enlightening window into the soul of a politician opened when Fernando Ferrer said the killing of Amadou Diallo, forty-one shots fired at an unarmed man, was not a crime.  It showed Ferrer giving up the African-American community at a dinner held by the Police Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, telling them in effect, “I don’t think they’re worth anything, either.”  
The groveling dismissal of an atrocity for political gain and approval, is bad enough.  But now he’s going to come to the Black community and ask for our vote, and for us to trust him with the health and well-being of the community and the education of Black children.  The C. Virginia Fields campaign should gain momentum from this Ferrer kowtowing.   
But when it comes to pandering at the coarsest level, none can surpass the behavior of the Republicans and their intrusion into personal family matters between the parents, husband, doctors and the courts involving the life-and-death wishes of Ms. Terri Schiavo, a woman 15 years in a vegetative state. 
Used as a hot-button issue to energize their political base of fundamentalist religious groups, President of the United States interrupted his vacation and rushed back to Washington joining his Republican comrades in coming to the aid of the sacredness of life.  It is hard to believe that the man who as governor spent no more than fifteen minutes reviewing over 150 death sentences he handed out, who has caused the violent deaths of tens of thousands of people for political ends, really believes, without smirking,  that “we must always err on the side of life.”   
I’d say look at the Democrats, but first you’d have to find them.  Giving the devil his due, at least the elite guard guiding the antics of the Republicans know how to fight for their politics.  They’re wrong headed, but they’re effective and they know what they want; they have a Planter’s legacy to hold onto.  As W.E.B. DuBois wrote in Black Reconstruction in America, 1860-1880,  “…Seven percent of a section within a nation ruled five million white people and owned four million black people and sought to make agriculture equal to industry through the rule of property without yielding political power or education to labor.”  
That is the legacy being continued, and the Democrats have no answer for it.   “If I say something, someone might not like me,” seems to be their guiding spirit.  Well they’d better start paying attention because the Planter mentality is always at work and they’re about to sit down and eat the Democrat’s lunch.  
The heirs to the “seven percent” that DuBois spoke of, after having physically and digitally stolen and suppressed the African-American vote in the last two national elections, now have the Republican National Party “courting the Black vote” with the tried-and-true method of visiting Black areas dispensing a mixture of gifts, smiles and the Bible. Done today with a scientific accuracy, bit by bit it’s beginning to work and this is dangerous for the nation and the world.
Now that the Planter class has access to hundreds of billions of dollars to have their way globally, they’ve taken to exporting the lash as well as the cotton and people around the world watch in horror as arrogant men crush whole populations and take natural resources.   The Planter’s nature is such that on the wish list of their military arm, is a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget item, for what is called a Future Combat System to aid them in their efforts.
 The only way to stop this class is for the non-Planters to step up.  Ninety-three percent of the population should be in play, but the Democrats or a third party, have to confront the seven percent, set the rules, new agenda, and have the courage to pursue it.

Tax questions bogging you down?  Ask Bed-Stuy native and tax expert Janie L. Bradley, a career certified public accountant and owner-operator of a financial, accounting and consulting business, located at 1785 Fulton Street, between Rochester and Utica Avenues.
A powerful, positive force in public accounting,and in her Bedford-Stuyvesant community, where for over 23 years she has served as tax consultant, expertly navigating tax-payers through the myriad of IRS requirements and forms and staying current with the ever-changing tax laws.  And when the situation presents itself, Ms. Bradley appropriately dons the hat of financial consultant and advisor, to interpret for the novice, the tangled web of financial jargon.  Drawing on years of experience coupled with an in-depth cross-disciplinary knowledge in managing personal finances, she has identified for many satisfied clients, tax-incentive programs and other financial opportunities and benefits that would have otherwise gone untapped.
Her professional career began right out of college when she was hired by Arthur Andersen, a Big Eight accounting firm.  After three years, she moved to Mitchell Titus, LLP, one of the largest Black accounting firms nationwide, where she remained for five years.  After leaving the public accounting sector and prior to going solo, Ms. Bradley spent a number of years honing her skills in the corporate industry, as the  controller for Christian Dior Coats, a licensee of Christian Dior.
The decision to go into financial management, often viewed as a male-dominated field, as a career was a logical choice for Ms. Bradley, as she explains, “I have always been good with numbers, and excelled in math as a child.  It was, without a doubt, my strongest subject in grade school.” She then adds, “And in college, I finished in the top half of my class in both math and economics.”  What an asset in her line of work!
Another asset is in recognizing the undisputed value in building and maintaining good customer relations, as she brings a compassion for quality service into her office every day. 

“My number one goal is to provide the absolute best service to each and every client, each and every time, and to treat them with the respect they deserve,” says Ms. Bradley.  “Maybe that sounds like a clich‚, but it’s my formula for a successful ‘business-client’ relationship.”
A formula she has applied since the early 90’s, when she worked out of her small home office, all the while establishing a solid and steadily growing clientele base.  But by 2002, she knew, with absolute certainty, that expansion and staff recruitment was an inevitable fact.
It was a ‘For Sale’ sign on a vacant storefront property, right in her own community that propelled her into action.  Once the deal was closed, she wasted little time to begin the construction work.  The space, formerly a hardware store, was gutted and rebuilt to her specifications. She then contracted the services of professional interior decorators, “Great Find Designs”, to add the finishing touch.  The result.Nubian-inspired artwork adorning Wedgwood blue-hued walls, luscious plants, and state-of-the-art furnishings and technology.is spectacular!
Born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Brooklyn, Ms. Bradley is a life-long resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant.  She received her education at Brooklyn College. Professional affiliations include: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.  She is an active and concerned community resident, and has served as treasurer for  the FARR (Fulton-Atlantic-Rochester-Ralph) Block Association. 
Assisting Ms. Bradley in administrative duties are Tammy Alston and Georgia Williams.  Office hours are Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.  During tax season: Mon-Sat, 8am-8pm. To schedule an appointment please call718-221-2909.
By Sandy E. Patterson