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What’s Going On 5/12

Victoria Horsford
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SPRINGTIME IN AMERICA

Karine Jean-Pierre, 44, takes the helm as White House Press Secretary on May 15 becoming the first African American and openly gay person to ascend to that role. Don’t know why or how Jen Psaki got the job first. Jean-Pierre has a long history of political activism and action. A Columbia University graduate, her impressive CV reveals that she worked for MoveOn, worked on campaigns for John Edwards, worked in the Obama Administration, and on Joe Biden’s 2020 Presidential campaign. She got her start working with NYC Council members. Her memoir, “Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work and the Promise of America” was a popular bestseller. Like many other political cognoscente, she believes that the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race was stolen from Stacey Abrams. She has a lot on her professional platter this year, an important one for the future of our democracy.


There are lots of Republican primaries across the nation this month. And many political hopefuls supported by Donald Trump are performing well at the polls. In Ohio last week, J.D. Vance, a GOP candidate backed by Trump, won the primary race for US Senator. Author of the memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance once said, “President Trump was taking this country to a dark place.” Now he is his acolyte. Celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, a US Senator hopeful from Pennsylvania as a Republican got the Trump nod.


The 2022 midterms may be more important than the 2020 election. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have any large majority. Redistricting in Republican states is a monster. Perhaps the US Supreme Court’s potential overturning of Roe v. Wade is a gift horse to Democrats.

NEW YORK, NY
NYS primaries begin next month. State residents do not know what their congressional and senate districts look like after the state’s highest court invalidated Albany’s redistricting lines. An August 23 primary is an August primary.

NY politicos are caught up in semantics etiquette about soon-to-be Lieutenant Governor, Antonio Delgado, whose career I followed since he announced his 2017 candidacy for Congress. The controversy about his Hispanic ancestry. He is African American and Cape Verdean. His name is Portuguese. Cape Verde is a group of Islands off the African west coast. Cape Verde was colonized by the Portuguese. Now an independent nation, it is a part of the African Union. The Official Cape Verde language is Portuguese. Portugal is a Latin country. The language derives from Latin. Learned however, that Latin America means one thing in North and South America but has a more nuanced, historical meaning in Europe. Senor Delgado is Afro Latino. He is not Hispanic, which suggests a relationship with Spain. Looked ups Delgado Caucus affiliations in Congress. He is a Rhodes Scholar who holds an undergrad degree from Colgate and a Harvard Law School degree. He’s even a former rapper and in the Upstate Basketball Hall of Fame. He is with the Black and with the Hispanic Caucuses. Enuf said

BLACK ENTERPRISE
Former NBA champion and current serial entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson, reportedly is partnering with a group headed by 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, to bid on the NFL franchise, the Denver Broncos. What happened to billion-dollar media empire CEO Byron Allen’s potential bid for the same team a few months ago? If there is a deal the ballpark figure is $3-4 billion. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been wooing the wealthiest African American Richard Smith to buy into a franchise. I was disappointed when Jay-Z announced that it was time to stop kneeling, referencing Colin Kaepernick. Thought that NFL would soon announce an African American franchise owner. All that we got was the management of halftime at the Super Bowl! Read that Jay-Z and friends were interested in an NFL franchise.

ARTS/CULTURE
THEATER Congrats to 2022 Tony Nominees for excellence in Broadway theater. Broadway season was more inclusive with cast and focused on pieces about Black people. Shows with Black protagonists got a plethora of nominations like “Strange Loop” about a Black gay guy writing a musical about a Black gay guy; “MJ the Musical” about Michael Jackson; “Paradise Square” set in NYC in 1863 during the draft riots; and “Girl From North Country.” Best Play nominations include “Clyde” and “Skeleton Crew. Best Play Revival: “For Colored Girls…”, which closes soon, and “Trouble In Mind.” The Great White Way never looked this Black!!!

FASHION: Harlem Fashion Week hosts “The Art of Style” runway show,” which will feature works by cutting-edge designers, including House of Q by Anthony Mitchell; Renee France Designs; and Malcolm Savage, on May 14 at 7 pm at the Aloft Hotel. Black and white is the dress code for “The Art of Style” show, a veritable feast for the eyes. For reservations, visit Harlem FW- Instagram/Facebook

LITERATURE: “Fat Ham” by African American playwright James Ijames won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama on May 9. A comedic takeoff of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “Fat Ham” is set in a Southern BBQ restaurant. It’s a story about a Black queer’s discovery of identity, kinship, responsibility, and honesty. The play opens at NY’s Public Theater this week and is a co-production with the National Black Theatre. It is directed by Saheem Ali.

FILM: A new documentary film, “Black Women in Theatre, New York,” starring theater vets like Kim Weston Moran, Linda Armstrong, Peg Alson, Perry Gaffney, Elizabeth Van Dyke, Petronia Paley, Joyce Sylvester, Elain Graham and Terria Joseph will unspool at its world premiere at the Bombay Theatre, 68-25 Fresh Meadow, Flushing, Queens, on May 23 at 7 pm. A Juney Smith film, “Black Women” was executive produced by actor Glynn Turman.
The premiere of Harlem Film Company’s HFC, new work, “The Patterson: Another Bronx Tale,” set at the eponymous NYCHA building, directed by Bahati Best, which features NBA Hall of Famer Tiny Archibald, will be held at the Schomburg Center, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, Harlem, on May 17. A panel discussion follows the screening. Visit Harlemfilmcompany.com

TALK: The 13th Annual Pastors and Leaders Prayer Symposium convenes a free virtual event, “How can the Church be an agent of reconciliation in a Post-George Floyd World?”  on May 14, from 9 am to 12 noon. Nine leaders will participate, including Special Guest Speaker Rev. Dr. Clarence Hill, Jr, Antioch Community Church, Oklahoma; Rev. Dr. Samuel Vassel, Church of the Nazarene; Rev. Dennis Dillon, Christian Times; Rev. Dr. Reford Mott, Generations Church and Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Barker, Palmer Institute. To register visit Intercessoryprayerministry.org/APLS

A Harlem-based media consultant, Victoria can be reached at victoria.horsford@gmail.com

This is Our War

David Mark Greaves
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This is Our War

By David Mark Greaves

The Supreme Court draft Opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, shows clearly what Republicans have in mind for the country.  A fascist state where they will tell us what we can and cannot do.  And once they take the power to rule, they will not give it back. 

They will lie their way to the Supreme Court, conduct an armed insurrection with a written coup plan, and threaten county clerks to achieve their ends. 

Based solely on what they’ve already shown us across the country, we will read only what they approve of, have to meet their singular requirements to vote, have a baby no matter the circumstances of rape, incest or maternal health, we’ll be free to marry who they approve of, and we will learn that freedom of the press is not unfettered.  

This our Ukraine.  Fighting to save democracy from powerful enemies who have no use for people unlike themselves and whose sole intent is to make us bow to their will.  It is as an unbelievable situation for the country, but so are the images from Ukraine of cities turned to rubble, the dead in mass graves and left lying in the streets.

This is who we’re fighting here at home.  The dead in our country will be measured in maternal mortality on hospital gurneys and with botched abortions in makeshift rooms.  There will be babies born, who will be loved but unwanted and society will pay for that.

We have to fight like the Ukrainians, but we have no help coming from outside.  We, the People of the United States, must fend for ourselves if we are to save democracy.  And if we fail, the world is headed for more death and destruction from ruthless men and the inexorable changing climate that they deny.

As Putin must be stopped in Ukraine, the fascist right wing of the Republican party, led by our own wannabe-dictator Donald Trump, must be stopped as well, and for the same reason—to protect the masses, of which we are a part.

Taking down Donald Trump must begin with holding him accountable for his actions.  At the moment, that hope rests with two Black women, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis in Georgia and New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

DA Willis has convened a special grand jury with subpoena powers to investigate Trump’s election interference by pressuring of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes for him to win.  AG James in New York, who is investigating Trump’s business dealings, is already costing him $10,000 a day in court approved fines.  Until Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Justice Department shows its hand, it is these two women who are leading the fight for his accountability.

There will be plenty of time to get back to arguing about fairness, justice and how we divide up this American pie, but right now we have a common political enemy that must be defeated, or it will be the worst of the nation that rules us.

Georgia DA Fani Willis Probing Trump’s Election Interference

Editor, Our Time Press
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Georgia DA Fani Willis Probing Trump’s Election Interference

“We’re going to look at anything connected with interference with the 2020 election,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in an interview Monday with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “I’ve allowed that to be a broad scope, not just the (former) President’s phone call that you played there but other things that indicate that there may have been interference with that election, to include fake electorates.”

Willis added: “That is of interest to my office.”

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Outrage Builds Over SCOTUS Draft Opinion to Overturn Roe v. Wade

Editor, Our Time Press
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Outrage Builds Over SCOTUS Draft Opinion to Overturn Roe v. Wade

AG Letitia James, Attorney Lurie Daniel Favors Speak Out

Our Time Press reached out to Lurie Daniel Favors, Executive Director at the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) at Medgar Evers College, for her insights into the ramifications of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade.

Lurie Daniel Favors


Daniel Favors, the former general counsel at CLSJ, is an activist and attorney with a long-standing commitment to racial and social justice. At CLSJ, she leads the 36-year-old foundation’s mission to address racial justice issues by providing quality legal advocacy, conducting community education campaigns, facilitating research and building organizing capacity on behalf of New Yorkers of African descent and the disenfranchised.
Daniel Favors shared her opinion with OTP on the impact of the anti-abortion ruling on Black, Brown, and disenfranchised women.

OTP: What was your initial reaction when learning of Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade?
FAVORS: My initial reaction was one of anger but not surprise. We have seen throughout previous court hearings and oral arguments that this current Supreme court, which has a six to three conservative majority, has been intentional about using its power to dismantle access to a panoply of rights, everything from voting rights to protection from police brutality, to reproductive rights, all of these, and so many more, including our rights as, uh, to support members of the LGBTQ community, the rights to engage in interracial marriage. All of these rights have been established as a result of hard-fought civil rights battles. And from the time these rights were initially won and secured people like the radical justices on the Supreme court have been hell-bent on destroying our access to those rights.

 OTP: How does the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade affect Black and Brown women?
FAVORS: Black and brown women will be utterly devastated and unable to combat all of the contributing factors that lead to the current gross disparities in Black maternal health. Black women tend to live in communities where hospitals are closing more rapidly, where access to OB-GYNs is decimated by the sparse placement of these doctors in communities that service folks like us. This limited access increases wait times between maternal appointments. It limits our access to knowledge about treatments and care that can help ameliorate factors that contribute to the disparities in the maternal health rate. This will be the reality almost overnight for women of color in over 23 states in this nation, once this opinion becomes official.
 
OTP: How will the conservative majority on the Supreme Court impact future rulings dealing with Black and Brown people?
FAVORS: The court is signaling with this opinion, and with those that preceded, that every single civil right that we have ever come to rely on as a part of the integration framework is now up for grabs. We have already seen efforts to roll back the reach of Brown versus Board of Education. We’re witnessing efforts to roll back voting rights all across the country.
It’s important to note that New York State and the city of New York and Brooklyn Queens, and the Bronx also had districts here that were protected by the Voting Rights Act because voter suppression also happened north of the Mason Dixon line. This is signaling that until there is balance restored to the court, or until the court is expanded that every single pillar of integration meaning the civil rights act of 1964, the voting rights act of 1965, the fair housing act of 1968, each of which banned racism in public accommodations and public spaces, banned racism at the voting booth, and banned racism in housing, each of those laws is now at risk. The Supreme Court is using its power to implement rules that the majority of Americans disagree with and the justices don’t care, which is a definite signal that we are headed for trouble.
We’re not going to be able to even expand the rights that we currently have, which frankly are a shell of what they should be. We’re going to be fighting the retrenchment of those rights and conditions could quickly worsen.

 OTP: Can the upcoming ruling on Roe vs Wade from the Supreme Court be overturned in the future?
FAVORS: If we had other judicial appointments to the Supreme Court, we could definitely see this overturned, but that only happens if we keep the Senate, and we only keep the Senate if our communities, women, LGBTQ communities, Latino communities, Asian communities, rise up and vote in the Senate races. We don’t have enough senators in the Senate. The senators pick the justices. And if the senators do not have the votes to get new justices on the court, then the consequences will be dire. 

A graduate of New York University Law School, Daniel Favors started her legal career as an attorney in the New York offices of Proskauer Rose LLP and Manatt Phelps and Phillips, LLP. She also served as a federal court law clerk in the chambers of the Honorable Sterling Johnson. Before completing law school, Daniel Favors co-founded Sankofa Community Empowerment and Breaking the Cycle Consulting Services, which both focused on educating and empowering communities of African descent. She is a contributing author to The Birth of a Nation: Nat Turner and the Making of a Movement and also penned Afro State of Mind: Memories of a Nappy Headed Black Girl. Currently, Daniel Favors hosts the Lurie Daniel Favors Show on Sirius XM’s Urban View Network.

Renaissance House Writers Retreat Returns to Martha’s Vineyard in the Historic Writing House of Dorothy West

Abigail Rosen McGrath
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Renaissance House Writers Retreat Returns to Martha’s Vineyard in the Historic Writing House of Dorothy West

Renaissance House Retreat for Writers and Artists in Martha’s Vineyard will celebrate its 23rd season by offering three exciting writing programs in June, July and September 2022 held in its original Oak Bluffs location–a home where legendary novelist Dorothy West (“The Wedding”) would write.

Renaissance House is one of the few retreats designed for issue-oriented writers, writers of color and writers of social justice. Renaissance House provides writers and other artists with a subsidized retreat away from life’s responsibilities and a safe space in which to create new works of art. It is one of the few retreats designed for issue-oriented writers, writers of color and writers of social justice.

Abigail McGrath, Founder and CEO, Renaissance House Writers Retreat.

“Renaissance House focuses on writers who span different stages in their careers—from emerging writers who work at 9 to 5 jobs, to notable award winners,” explained Abigail McGrath, founder of Renaissance House.  “The point of the program is to give artists “alone” time, away from their families and their jobs and the everyday chores that make up a life. The retreat, located in the historic home where Helene Johnson and Dorothy West wrote, provides a safe space in which to create new works or finish existing ones. There are workshops in memoir writing, journalism, poetry and many other aspects of the written word. But the key element is to have time to “stare into space.”

In addition to the traditional Renaissance House writers-in-residence program, a commuter program for island residents will be offered at a discounted rate. In addition, a weekend writer’s retreat will be available for activist writers in September. The dates available are:

Weeks of June 19, June 26 & July 3 – Residential and Commuter Program Writing Workshops

September 16 – September 18 – Activist Writers Workshop Retreat

On July 4 – Renaissance House will hold its annual public reading of Frederick Douglass landmark speech on Inkwell Beach.

Renaissance House, a retreat for writers on social issues, is a program of the Helene Johnson and Dorothy West Foundation for Artists In Need nonprofit. Both of these women were Martha’s Vineyard Island residents and prominent writers from the Harlem Renaissance. The deadline for applications for this program is June 6, 2022. 

The Renaissance House program’s salons have featured talks with Martha’s Vineyard literary giants such as Jill Nelson, Jessica Harris, Kate Feiffer, Susan Klein, Robert Hayden, Marty Nadler, Nat Benjamin, Shirley Craig, Brooks Robards, Janet Hill, Justen Ahern, Daniel Waters, Mike West, and others.

Writers have instructional workshops, one on one editorial advice, and most importantly–time. The retreat provides time in which to create new works or finish existing ones. Applicants can submit fiction, non-fiction, creative non-fiction and issue-oriented works to apply.
McGrath, an author, actress and playwright, was raised nurtured by leading ladies of the Harlem Renaissance. “My mother, Helene Johnson was a poet and summer resident who had to stop writing in order to support her family,” recalled McGrath. “My aunt, Dorothy West, was a year-round Martha’s Vineyard resident who, despite her talent and earlier fame, worked as a cashier at the Harbor Side Restaurant in Edgartown until an editor at Doubleday spotted her writing in the local paper and gave her the opportunity to simply ‘Stare at the trees and do nothing.’” This enabled West to write “The Wedding”, a bestselling novel inspired by the interracial marriage of McGrath, the founder and her niece. It was one of the last novels edited by fellow Vineyarder, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Participating writers include nonfiction writers Carolyn Brown, Linda Burnham, Jessica B. Harris, and activist Caroline Hunter. 

For more information, please contact Renaissance House at renaissancehse@aol.com

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