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OD-reversing drug proposed for bars

Editor, Our Time Press
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OD-reversing drug proposed for bars

By Griffin Kelly
New York Post
A Brooklyn lawmaker wants to provide bars and nightclubs with 10 free units of the opioid overdose-reversing drug Narcan.
Democratic Councilman Chi Ossé — a 23-year-old former rooftop party host and Black Lives Matter organizer — said the bill “will relieve those in the nightlife industry of an undue burden.”


If passed, the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will publish a list of participating establishments on its website, and businesses will have to record every time they use the drug. Businesses can be removed from the program if their “participation poses a serious danger to public health, safety or welfare,” says the bill, which was introduced last week.
If passed, the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will publish a list of participating establishments on its website.Alexandra Wimley
Even those who blasted safe-injection sites, needle vending machines and methadone home deliveries are interested in Ossé’s bill.


“Unfortunately, we need to support stocking Narcan wherever it’s needed,” Republican Councilman Joe Borelli of Staten Island said. “I only wish there was this much urgency paid to stopping fentanyl at our own southern border so we’d need less Narcan.” 


Democratic Council member Bob Holden of Queens said, “While Narcan itself is not the answer to drug addiction, a simple measure like this, that might save lives in the event of an overdose, is worth a try.
Similar proposals like requiring parks officers, libraries and schools to carry Narcan never made it to a vote. Mary Altaffer CEO of Camelot Counseling Staten Island Luke Nasta praised the bill and said unlike safe-injection sites and legalizing recreational marijuana, more access to Narcan doesn’t “act as an admission of surrender to drug culture.”
“Whether this bill gets passed or not, excuse my language … I’m so freaking excited to introduce my first bill,” said Ossé, who reps Bedford-Stuyvesant.


Ossé’s rookie excitement may be short lived as similar proposals like requiring parks officers, libraries and schools to carry Narcan never made it to a vote.
Ossé’s bill would also provide training.
Ossé refused to comment. The bill’s co-sponsor, Majority Leader Keith Powers of Manhattan, did not return a message seeking comment.
Overdose deaths have been on the rise since 2011, and the city recorded 2,062 in 2020.
In many cases, people snort cocaine or inject heroin without knowing it’s been laced with deadly fentanyl. Narcan, which comes in injections and a spray, can reverse an overdose in two to three minutes.

Jamaican Nurse set up own Hospital in Crimean war zone during the 1800’s

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Jamaican Nurse set up own Hospital in Crimean war zone during the 1800’s

Elizabeth Ofosuah Johnson
Staff Writer, facetofaceafrica.com
If there is one woman many soldiers who fought in the Crimean War should be grateful to, it has to be Mary Seacole, the Black British of Jamaican descent who stood the odds to help humanity.


Mary was born in Jamaica to a black mother and a Scottish father in 1805. Her father, James Grant was a lieutenant in the British Army, and this privilege gave Mary the right to be born free. Her mother, who was of African descent, earned her freedom after having Mary. Despite their freedom, Mary and her mother still suffered as much as the slaves did at the time. They had no rights to vote or set up businesses to make a good income.


Mary’s mother was a slave brought from Africa who had managed to retain her knowledge and training in traditional herbal medicine and healing as well as adopting the Caribbean methods. This made her one of the most sought after in Jamaica, and she passed on a significant amount of knowledge to Mary.


Mary received a sound education learning how to read and write through the kindness of an unnamed elderly woman she lived with for a few years. As slavery was fought, the privileges of mixed race children increased, and this allowed Mary more freedom in movement and working. She used her privileges to assist her mother in setting up a boarding house which served as a private hospital and hotel in Jamaica.


She got married in 1836, but her husband died in 1844. After the death of her husband, Mary travelled extensively and settled in Central America in 1851 where she suffered racial discrimination and struggled to set up a trading business. In the end, she was successful and traded in medicine until she moved to London in 1854.


Her main reason for moving to Britain during the war was to work as a healer in the British Army. Mary was fully aware of the racial disputes but attempted to be signed into the army by visiting the war office. She requested that she be sent as a nurse to Crimea where many soldiers were dying because of poor medication and facilities, but she was rejected.
Mary travelled to Crimea and set up a hotel called the British Hotel. Due to inadequate funds, the hotel was just a small quarter with mess-table for the injured and a resting room. With time, Mary became the most sought-after nurse in Crimea with a reputation for healing all sorts of deadly wounds.


Many wounded soldiers were sent to her hotel, and she visited the battlefield during more dangerous times to cater for the sick. She soon became known as Mother Seacole, the black Florence Nightingale.
After the war in 1856, Mary fell seriously sick and was bankrupt; with the help of the media, a festival was organized for her and money was raised. The festival was supported by Count Gleichen, Queen Victoria’s nephew and it raised enough money to cater for Mary and her illness as well as her livelihood. Mary wrote and published her memoir; Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands.


Between 1860 and 1881, Mary moved in and out of Jamaica and Britain and became nationally recognized in both countries. She became close to the British royal and was decorated with medals by the military in Jamaica. She lived in London until she died on May 14, 1881.
Even in death, Mary still suffers racial discrimination. Her life and the success of Mary Seacole have not been fully accepted by many western historians and scholars. In 1991, she was posthumously awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.


In 2012, there were threats to remove her from the educational curriculum, but this was stopped in 2013 by a group called Operation Black Votes. This threat started in 2004 when she was voted the most celebrated black Briton.


A statue of the Black British who dedicated her life to saving soldiers stands at the St. Thomas Hospital in London. Although it was significantly spoken against, the figure was raised in 2016 with the inscription: a pioneer nurse.

Grandassa Models: Beautiful, Black History Still Being Made

Maitefa Angaza
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Grandassa Models: Beautiful, Black History Still Being Made

In Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of “Naturally ‘62”

Part II of II
by Maitefa Angaza
The 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 the nation. Many Black women were enthused, many more were intrigued, but cautious. “The Grandassa Models paved the way for these women,” said Bob Gumbs, “because it was challenging at that time. Many lost their jobs because there were no laws that protected them.”

Barbara Solomon, one of the original Grandassa Models of the 1960’s, is founder of Adzua Art Associates and author of the popular Princess Kamala series.


In addition to the clothing-design skills many of the models had, they would make their own outfits and even accessories, including jewelry.
”We were able to employ ourselves and manufacture for us,” said Black Rose. “Being self-sufficient gives us a sense of pride.”


Today, Barbara Adzua Solomon, founder of Adzua Arts Associates and author of the Princess Kamala series, offers several other engaging titles for children at adzuaarts.com. Lifelong entrepreneur Black Rose produces essential-oil blends as a certified aromatherapist and sculpts beauty onto the heads of Black women with her hairstyling skills. Graphic designer and author Gumbs says that this summer the Studio Museum should have new copies of the sold-out Black Is Beautiful poster he helped to create.
Solomon’s stand for self-love faced an extreme emotional challenge that she was victorious in overcoming.


“My mom was very much against it,” [her natural hair] she said. “And when she saw that she could no longer control me, she took some sleeping pills and tried to kill herself. We caught it in time and when she got to the hospital, they pumped her stomach. But the caveat to this was when the doctor came and asked what happened. He wanted to know why she had done this. My father said, ‘Well she was upset because my daughter wouldn’t straighten her hair anymore. But the doctor had the most peculiar look… He was white and his cultural background wouldn’t let him understand why this was so important.”

Black Is Beautiful letter-poster by Kwame Brathwaite and Robert Gumbs


What is significant, however, is the legacy left by Naturally ‘62 which has made it easier for the Black women and girls who came after Solomon. Naturally ‘62 is number eight on New York Magazine’s The Cut list of “8 Runway Shows That Pushed Fashion Forward.” And the aforementioned iconic 1970s poster uses Braithwaite’s photos and Gumbs’ design to spell out the words, “Black Is Beautiful.” At an exhibition of fashion photography at Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts the poster was made into an arresting 20-ft high mural; visitors looked up to these fashion pioneers, literally and figuratively. Particularly important because, as Souleo pointed out, the show was groundbreaking in showcasing models of all shapes, sizes and colors, placing them “at the forefront of breaking barriers.”


Naturally ‘62 inspired similar shows, not only in the U.S. but across the world. And AJASS brought the Grandassa models to Africa, the Caribbean and other destinations.They became known worldwide, appearing in newspapers and magazines and on album covers. Their natural Black beauty movement inspired Angela Davis, The Black Panthers, Nikki Giovanni, Nina Simone, Aretha, James Brown, Miriam Makeba, Melba Tolliver, Cicely Tyson, Ed Bradley, Stevie Wonder, Gil Scott-Heron, Sly and The Family Stone, Richard Pryor, Arthur Ashe, Colin Kaepernick, Questlove, and so many more who wore, and some who still wear, natural hair. Even Rihanna, who is not often seen with a natural style, cited Kwame Brathwaite’s photos as the inspiration for her fashion line.


“It’s no longer a conversation about hair,” said Solomon. “It’s no longer an upset if you’re called black… So we have changed the conversation with the help of AJASS, with the help of Carlos Cooks. All these people who have come before us, they stood in the breach when there was nothing there. And we built something on that so that when we turn on our TV, we look at our magazines and Black is beautiful all over.”


The acclaimed photo exhibition, Black Is Beautiful: Kwame Brathwaite will return to New York August 19th after traveling the nation and will be on display at the New York Historical Society until January 16th, 2023. The show and its attendant programming will celebrate not only his gifted eye, but his creative mind, and his heart filled with love for the people.

What’s Going On – 3/18/22

Victoria Horsford
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THE WORLD/PRE-SPRING
Don’t want to consider the possibility of another World War, which originated in Europe by a megalomaniac. The world has not recovered from the war against COVID19 yet as the world gets ready for the fallout from a containable hot war initiated by Russian aggression against Ukraine. For more than two weeks now, we have not seen any Ukrainians with masks. Moreover, Ukraine is a major food supplier. A media outlet warned. “War In Ukraine is catastrophic for global food supply.”
Last weekend, President Barack Obama tested positive for COVID–the two shots and the booster shot notwithstanding. Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Douglas Emhoff tested positive for COVID19. COVID surges reported in the United Kingdom, Germany and France and Asia. Why is Pfizer working on approval for a second COVID booster vaccine for people 65-plus years?

BUSINESS MATTERS
MONEY/MONEY The Harlem Entrepreneurial Micro-Grant Initiative, in partnership with BET, the Apollo Theater and the 125th Street Business Improvement District will award 10 businesses and nonprofits, which have been affected by the world health crisis, with $10,000 grants. Applications will be accepted through March 31. Visit Harlem Entrepreneurial Micro-Grant Initiative and email BID125thst@aol.com.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine’s office has partnered with the Hebrew Free Loan Society to offer $2 million in interest-free loans to Manhattan small businesses impacted by the pandemic. HFLS is a non-sectarian lender. For more info, contact Mark Levine’s office at 212-669-8300 or email info@manhattanbp.nyc.gov.


Melba Wilson of Melba’s restaurant comfort food fame, located on Frederick Douglass Boulevard Avenue on 114th Street in Harlem, is expanding her brand. She plans to open Melba’s 550 at 550 Broad Street in Newark, New Jersey later this year. Today, I get an email for a New York Senator Cordell Cleare re-election fundraiser, set for later this month, at Melba’s on Lenox, located at 161 Lenox Avenue, Harlem, a venue that she booked before the Coronavirus era.


The Robeson, is the name of a sleek, new 10-story, mixed-used building, located at 407 Lenox Avenue aka Malcolm X Boulevard at 131st Street with 79 rental units. Named after world-renown Black actor/vocalist/activist Paul Robeson, the building will house a church and boasts 7,500 SF of commercial space. Property was developed by African Americans Kenneth Morrison and Harrison Rayford, Lemor Development principals.

WOMEN IN THE NEWS
African American women are at the forefront of US foreign affairs as the Russian initiated war on Ukraine continues. The Vice President has been liaising with our NATO and EU eminences. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN, must walk a fine line on the matter of Russia aggression at the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council. There were 141 members of the 193-nation General Assembly that voted to condemn the Russian war in Ukraine. Ambassador Greenfield and her boss, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have their work cut out for them. The State Department has key role to play for a ceasefire in the Russian/Ukraine war.


Teresa Clarke’s Africa.com will host a virtual summit, WOMEN HEADS OF STATE INITIATIVE, which will “focus on Africa’s Advancement Agenda -agriculture, manufacturing, economic policies, and climate change – through a gender lens. Held on March 23 at 8 pm NY time, summit participants will include 22 women, who are former and current heads of state, as president or prime minister, including Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia; Joyce Banda, Malawi; Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Mauritius and Namibia Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. Register to attend at virtualeventcenter.africa.com

Rihanna, uber pop star, cosmetics/fashion mogul, is considering an Initial Public Offering with a $3 billion valuation for her Savage X Fenty lingerie brand. Her accountants and lawyers are reportedly working with banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to make it happen this year. What’s next on the IPO radar for Rihanna! Her cosmetics empire?

ARTS/CULTURE
FINE ART: The marble bust “Why Born Enslaved!” was first conceived in 1868 by French sculptor Jean Baptiste Carpeaux. It is the centerpiece of the new Metropolitan Museum exhibition, “FICTIONS OF EMANCIPATION: Carpeaux Recast,” which is an “in-depth look of “Western sculpture in relation to the histories of TransAtlantic Slavery Colonialism and Empire.” The exhibit includes “35 works from the Met’s American and European collections embracing the role Western art played in representing misconceptions of racial differences.” The Met is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and the exhibition runs through March 5, 2023. Visit metmuseum.org


The New York Historical Society says BLACK DOLLS is a landmark exhibit, which showcases about 120 handmade cloth dolls, made mostly by African American women between 1850 and 1940. It explores the evolution of Blacks in America, through the lens of race, gender and identity, beginning with the antebellum era. Exhibit is supported by the Coby Foundation, the NEA and Carol Sutton Lewis and Bill Lewis and New York Historical Society’s Frederick Douglas Council. Exhibit runs through June 5. Visit nyhistory.org.


Mattel’s Barbie doll family is growing more diverse. In honor of Women’s History Month, two Black women Shonda Rhimes, TV producer/director and writer of shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Scandal” and Black British cosmetics legend Pat McGrath, whose Pat McGrath Labs had a $1 billion valuation about five years ago. Rhimes and McGrath were among 12 global role models whose likenesses joined Barbie doll counters this month.

MEDIA NOTES: Mary J. Blige and Halle Berry are Women’s History Month fifty-something magazine cover subjects. Actress Halle Berry dons the cover of the Feb/March issue of AARP Magazine with a story titled “How Halle Berry Found Her Groove.” Queen of HIPHOP Soul Mary J. Blige dons the cover of the March 13 New York Times Magazine’s The Music Issue, with an illuminating Q&A about her life and “The Songs That Get Us Through It.”

MUSIC: The 2022 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert, honoring bassist Stanley Clarke, saxophonist Donald Harrison, drummer Billy Hart and vocalist Cassandra Wilson, will be held, at the San Francisco Jazz Center on March 31, at 7:30pm Pacific Time. For live webcast and radio broadcast info, visit sfjazz.org

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

100 Black Male Law Deans and Professors Pen Letter in Support of Judge Ketanji Jackson’s Nomination

Editor, Our Time Press
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100 Black Male Law Deans and Professors Pen Letter in Support of Judge Ketanji Jackson’s Nomination

by Yolanda Baruch
In a letter shared with Blavity News, 100 Black male law deans and professors proclaimed their support for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the United States Supreme Court.


“We unanimously applaud and endorse, without reservation, President Joe Biden’s nomination of Judge Jackson, who is truly one of our nation’s brightest legal minds. From Judge Jackson’s breathtaking credentials as an extraordinary jurist to her unimpeachable character and unwavering integrity, we believe that she is eminently qualified to fill this historic position,” the letter reads.


The letter also lists Jackson’s academic achievements and boasts her career which is “rich in depth, complexity, efficiency, and common sense. More than that, Judge Jackson’s jurisprudence is braided in fairness, compassion, and justice.”


The lawyers’ message also calls attention to the imbalance of representation on the federal bench.
“While White men comprise roughly 30 percent of our nation’s population, they hold over 70 percent of federal judiciary positions. Further, while 108 White men have served as justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, there have only been two Black men and five women appointed to serve on the Court. Of those five women, only one has been a woman of color,” the group writes.
“Judge Jackson is uniquely positioned to bring a historically absent perspective to the challenging and complex questions that will be presented to the Supreme Court in the years to come,” the statement continues.
The law school graduate’s nomination has conservatives including Fox News host Tucker Carlson angered. As Blavity previously reported, Carlson was criticized for requesting to see her LSAT scores.
Jackson obtained her J.D. from Harvard Law School and worked as a law review editor. She gained legal experience by clerking for three judges, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

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