Cong. Hakeem Jeffries Takes P.S. 5 Student-Led Master Classes in Brooklyn
Ronald E McNair Public School 5 principal Lena Gates and students invited U.S. House Leader Hakeem Jeffries to join them in a showcase of their Aviation, STEM, and Urban Farm “Master Class” program, where, for a short while, the students, ages 5-11, are the teachers.
Jeffries visited the school on Tuesday. Impressed, he took something back to Washington from the experience — a glimpse into the future of technology and the young people who will be among its leaders.
He also left something behind — inspirational words, encouragement, and an invitation to walk the path he forges now and advance beyond it.
To one bright youngster, Jeffries offered a high compliment, in an acknowledgement of the student’s gift at breaking down a complex fact. He told the scholar that a future political career could be a consideration, maybe a run for office. “But one thing,” said Jeffries. “Don’t run against me.”
In the school’s innovative Master Class program, the students step into the role of classroom instructors and guides, revealing a mastery of complicated subjects at the college level and beyond.
The three programs Jeffries experienced hands-on included the Dr. Ronald E McNair Aviation Center, where the young would-be aviators participated in topflight simulation and co-piloting; STEM-related courses encompassing AI, 3-dimensional printing, and virtual technology; and urban gardening, using the latest technology to grow sustainable food for healthy cooking and eating.
The meeting mini-workshops opened Tuesday with a special presentation from the students to Jeffries, followed by the Master Classes in Aviation Flight Simulation Instructions, agriculture/Technology, and “One Planet.”
Our Time Press provides a more in-depth recap of Congressman Jeffries’ visit, P.S. 5’s Master Class experience, and the contributions of all who made it happen, next week in a story by Yvette Moore. –The Editors
The Association of Black Educators 47th Annual Scholarship & Awards Luncheon
By Eulene Inniss
A Swahili proverb states that “education has no end” and this was best exemplified the 47th Annual Scholarship & Awards Luncheon of the Association of Black Educators of New York (ABENY), which was held at Antun’s, Queens, on June 14th 2025.
ABENY’s Luncheon Chairs, Past President Mellouise Murdaugh and Evelyn (Pat) Hairston , stressed the need for more community involvement and organizations such as the UFT( United Federation of Teachers, CSA (Council of Supervisors and Administrators), Eric Edwards- Cultural Museum of African Arts and Sororities responded to the clarion call to support the students.
Fourteen (14) High School graduates from High Schools across NYC were awarded scholarships ranging from $1.000.00 to $5.000.00 dollars each. Three Awards of Distinction were also presented to: Dr. Adofo Abdullah Muhammad , Educator of the Year-Principal of Brooklyn Academy; Jerema Brown, Teacher of the Year-Riverdale Middle School, Bklyn. and Dr. Temica S. Francis: Friend of Education – Monroe University Dean of the School of Education.
Dr. Francis spoke of her journey from Marcy House to Dean of Education at Monroe University, incorporating some the many pit-stops as Teacher, Principal, Associate College Professor and her role at the New York State Department of Education.
She encouraged the students to,” reject the negativity of those around them, including some educators, and remain focused on their goals because each one has unlimited potentials”. She thanked her family and community for believing in her and their never-ending support.
In this season of a National assault on Education and Educators and the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education , the New York City Council President, Adrian Adams has helped to allocate 27 million dollars to the development of the Black Studies Curriculum. The course of study is designed to give students an African Centered perspective that pre-dates Slavery.
This Education Equity Action Plan (EEAP) or Black Studies curriculum was launched on February 28th, 2025 during a Press Conference at York College, CUNY. ABENY is a co-sponsor. The President of ABENY, Adrian Straker, placed ABENY at the decision making table in developing this EEAP city-wide Black Studies Curriculum. A fitting role for ABENY since it has been leading the battle for inclusivity of Black representation in NYC schools from the 1960’s.
Past scholarship recipients returned to support the new honorees and the Luncheon’s Theme: “Recognizing the Progress made And Empowering the Next Generation”. State Senator Leroy Comrie was recognized for his continuous collaboration with ABENY. Education is Circular!
The Music AI Can’t Touch
By Robert Thony
Why should our kids learn music, not just enjoy it, but study it deeply? Why commit to an art that demands years of practice, patience, and vulnerability in a world where a machine can generate a symphony in seconds?
Because music holds a secret code.
Not the kind of code that powers AI or tells a program what to do. This is older, messier, and more beautiful. It’s a human code—one that unlocks emotion, connection, memory, and meaning. It’s the difference between what a computer can simulate and what a soul can feel.
AI can compose. It can copy. But it can’t recreate the moment my son Nolan heard Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal for the first time and just… froze. Didn’t dance. Didn’t speak. Just listened. “Play it again, Daddy.” And again. Then: “Can I watch the video?” That wasn’t consumption. That was curiosity, awe, and love awakening.
Or my daughter Nova, shouting full Hamilton verses in the shower like she’s the whole cast. For her, music isn’t about performing; it’s how she processes the world.
Music activates more than just the brain. It’s math, yes—but it’s also physics, memory, biology, rhythm, and empathy. It teaches our children to notice subtleties, feel deeply, and listen—not just with ears, but with presence. That kind of focus is rare. That kind of focus is human.
As a child, I fell for the piano—the beauty of the keys, the grace of PBS recitals, the feel of harmony under my fingertips. That love led me to choirs, composition, and eventually to representing the rights of music creators. But somewhere between work and parenting, I forgot: my kids don’t just need my support—they need my authenticity. And mine is rooted in music.
So yes, anyone can go viral today without artistry. But real music—the kind that touches something eternal—requires work. And it’s worth it. When we teach our kids music, we give them more than a skill. We hand them a compass. We remind them what it means to feel.
Beat that, AI.
First Notes
My brother and I started piano lessons together—thirty minutes for him, thirty for me. We took turns, one of us playing while the other waited outside with our parents. It was a simple rhythm at first, but in hindsight, it planted the seeds of a musical bond we still share today—a foundation for a lifetime of collaboration, creativity, and connection.
I was nine—nervous, but excited. I had asked for lessons myself, eager to learn what felt like a secret language. When we met our teacher, I was struck by the pronounced shaking in her hands and head—a result of moderate Parkinson’s. It was a little jarring at first, but I felt more curiosity and compassion than fear. Then she sat at the piano.
And the shaking stopped.
Her hands, once trembling, became steady. The music flowed—fluid, full of grace and purpose. For the length of that demonstration, it was as if the piano restored her. That moment left a lasting impression—not just because of what she played, but because of what it meant: music as peace, power, and presence.
It was the first time I understood music not just as something you do, but something you become. That image still returns to me every time I sit at the keys, now with my own children beside me, the way my parents once sat with us.
Rep. Clarke Brought Fire to Townhall at Wingate High School
By Mary Alice Miller
Eager and engaged constituents of the 9th Congressional District flocked to Wingate High School Campus to witness Congresswoman Yvette Clarke give a brutal outline of the changes the Trump administration has made to the federal government in just his first six months in his second term. The town hall meeting was fact-based and informative.
The question-and-answer period allowed Clarke and panelists to address constituent fears and concerns while providing an action plan. Clarke was joined by panelists James Lopez, an Immigration Attorney at Make the Road, Diego Fernandez Pages, a Workplace Justice Attorney at Make the Road, and Maya Wiley, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams introduced Rep. Clarke. “There are a lot of things going on from the White House to City Hall. I am proud to work with our congress member. The congresswoman is in the belly of the beasts in the United States right now fighting for us and for the nation,” said Williams. “Some of us drank the orange Kool-Aid last year because we thought it would happen to other people. My belief is we all learned, and we are going to get through this together.”
Representative Clarke’s plainly laid out the issues the nation faces from the Trump administration and what the American people can do about it.
The national election of 2024 dealt a quite significant blow to the Democratic Party. And we House Democrats saw our shortfalls and are adjusting accordingly.
“In the aftermath of the 2024 election Republicans now control the White House. They hold the majority in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. And the Supreme Court.
We are dealing with a trifecta.
And for Congressional Democrats this means we have no control over things like bills that come to the floor for a vote, or the topics of committee hearings and investigations.
It means we have in place a hostile administration that is often non responsive to our requests for information.
In just 160 days in office the Trump administration has unleashed terror, confusion, chaos across this nation at a level not like any before in our nation’s history, implementing the 2025 manifesto by alienating the functionality of Congress, enforcing unconstitutional executive orders, hiring billionaires and loyalists to serve as secretary over our nations top federal agencies, most of whom have no prior governmental experience, while giving them government contracts under the table and purging the federal workforce;
Unlawfully eliminating and dismantling federal agencies and implementing mass firings of the federal workforce without a real justification for their actions;
An unconstitutional mass deportation scheme is underway, unleashing a nationwide dragnet against immigrants with no due process.
Revoking temporary protected status for migrants from primarily Black and brown countries, and implementing racist travel bans against Haiti and Cuba, several nations on the continent of Africa, including the Republic of Congo, and just announced Nigeria and Ghana among other countries.
The One Big Ugly Bill has passed the House of Representatives by one vote and is now in the United States Senate.
And if passed, it would decimate programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and end the provision of critical aid and support domestically and internationally, all of which is to maintain trillions of dollars in tax cuts to billionaires in perpetuity and widening the economic wealth gap for this and future generations to come.
We are experiencing the unlawful implementation of tariffs imposed on our foreign allies and neighbors, destroying the economy, crashing the stock market, and escalating costs on everyday essentials for American families, devastating the working and middle class, and making it hard for small businesses to stay afloat.
Eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion, also known as DEI initiatives, in our federal agencies and our courses, and threatening school systems, colleges, universities, and corporations for anything that they may perceive as DEI. The attack on DEI is an attack on progress and American values in action.
These policies and tax scams were never meant to help the American people, but were implemented to line the pockets of the rich with tax breaks and take from the less fortunate all under the guise of waste, fraud, and abuse.
They don’t want you or anyone else to know they are doing this because House Republicans pushed the passage of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill in the dead of night to deter you from watching their every move.
This so-called Beautiful Bill will strip away life-saving health care for 17.3 million Americans, nearly 7 million, or one in three New Yorkers who rely on this program.
In New York’s 9th District, this amounts to over 65,000 people over the age of 65, over 24,000 disabled children and adults, over 146,000 young adults, over 149,000 children, and over 11,000 pregnant women.
These are the people who will be affected by the gutting of Medicaid.
House Democrats are working diligently to hold the Trump administration accountable by educating, litigating, legislating, and communicating the disastrous policies and executive orders that the Trump administration has already enacted, as well as all those lying in wait.
It is critical that I keep you informed.
We need you. We are in this battle together. We cannot do this alone. This fight belongs to all of us. We must do everything to push back against these unlawful, cruel, draconian, and authoritarian measures and empower one another to weather this storm.
In order for us to stop this administration, we have to encourage everyone to vote.
What we can do is use our voices, use our platforms as elected officials. We are doing everything in our power to bring attention to the illegal, immoral actions taken by the Trump administration. Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and public outrage is one of the best ways to push back against this administration.”