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House Approves Prison Reform Bill

Editor, Our Time Press
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House Approves Prison Reform Bill

On Tuesday, May 22nd the U.S. House of Representatives passed the most substantial prison reform bill to date. H.R. 5682, FIRST STEP, (Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed, Safely Transitioning Every Person Act), is a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and Republican Congressman Doug Collins (GA-09). It is intended to propel formerly-incarcerated individuals toward success, while improving public safety and reducing recidivism. The bill authorizes $50 million annually for five years for new education, vocational training and mental health programs and passed with a 360-59 bipartisan vote.

“Passage of the FIRST STEP Act is a victory for all Americans who believe in justice and the power of redemption,” said Jeffries. “It’s… the end of the beginning on a journey undertaken to eradicate our mass incarceration epidemic in America. Rep. Collins should be commended for his tremendous leadership in this critical effort.”

Rep. Collins said: “This afternoon, my colleagues seized the opportunity to help men, women and their communities through federal prison reform. Finally, today’s vote answers a question in the House and asks one of the Senate: ‘Given the chance to accomplish good in this moment, will you act today or regret your inaction tomorrow?’ ”

While the House celebrates a sweeping measure, some reform advocates would like the bill to remedy the racial injustice of the school-to-prison pipeline and to curtail Attorney General Jeff Sessions ramping up of the failed war on drugs. They feel that a bill without reform is a paper tiger and real lives remain at stake. Neither is overcrowding and lack of decent health care or educational opportunities behind bars remedied by this bill, which was drafted by Jared Kushner with the approval of the White House.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is critical of the bill and what it portends. “The Trump Administration is pushing a misguided legislative effort that threatens to derail momentum for sentencing reform,” he said.

Highlights of the bill include:

Good Time Credit Fix: A provision ensuring incarcerated individuals can earn the 54 days of good time credit yearly that Congress intended, not just the 47 days that BOP currently allows. This retroactively applies to all who have earned credit for good behavior. It has been estimated by BOP and GAO estimates say this will lead to the release of roughly 4,000 prisoners and save $40 million the first fiscal year.

The Establishment of a Risk-Reduction System: This is already used at the state level to match inmates to programs based on dynamic factors lowering risk of recidivating over time. The bill mandates statistical validation and evaluations to ensure it does not result in unwanted racial disparities while addressing concerns about prisoners of color being disproportionately impacted. 

Requirement to Move People Closer to Home: Visits to loved ones in prison can be extremely burdensome and cost-prohibitive, though contact with family reduces recidivism. The bill mandates that prisoners are placed within 500 driving miles of their families.

Focus on Dignity for Women: Pregnancy during incarceration can be harrowing. There are far too few health and safety guarantees and no federal ban on shackling pregnant and post-partum women. This bill implements that ban from the confirmation of pregnancy to three months postpartum and requires BOP to provide free sanitary napkins and tampons.

Requirement for Provisions of IDs: Many formerly incarcerated individuals find themselves without the identification necessary to access essential services like housing or employment services. Accommodating them prior to release will allow a quicker integration back into society and create cost savings for BOP of approximately $19 million.

Compassionate Release: The prison population is aging. This bill expands compassionate release through a 10-year requirement from the pilot program created by the Second Chance Act. It reduces the minimum age of eligibility from age 65 to 60, and minimum time served from 75% to 2/3. It also expands the program to all prisons and allows prisoners to seek relief directly from a court, reducing administrative hurdles to release.

It moves to the Senate with the support of the White House.

Two Black Women Attorneys Announce Run for NYS Attorney General

Editor, Our Time Press
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Two Black Women Attorneys Announce Run for NYS Attorney General

NYC Public Advocate Letitia James:

Tish James, who has acted as a public interest lawyer filing multiple lawsuits against city agencies, announced her campaign for New York State Attorney General, last week, saying “For those of you who know me, you know that I am about people – not politics or privilege.

“Whether you’re a teacher in Buffalo, a small business owner on Long Island, a construction worker in the Bronx, or a family-farm owner in Columbia County, I won’t stop working for you.

Our campaign just started but we are only a few short months away from the September Primary. I need your support today!

“We find ourselves in a precarious time in this country – our federal government is using the law as a tool to attack so many groups of people. As the next Attorney General of New York State, I will use the law to FIGHT BACK and protect our most vulnerable citizens. New York State must be a proven example of equality and justice for all under the law.

I hope you will join us as we spread our message of equal justice across the state.

“Together, we will change New York. ”

Leecia Eve:

Hailing from Buffalo, NY, Ms. Eve is a former adviser to Democrats Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo and has announced her candidacy for New York attorney general. AP reports she “serves on the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and served in the Cuomo administration in a senior economic development position.”

From the NY Times: “In an interview with The New York Times on Monday, Ms. Eve acknowledged the heightened attention to diversity in political leadership but emphasized her own accomplishments. “I am proud to be a woman, and a woman of color in particular,” she said. “But I’m running because I believe I’m the best person to be the attorney general of our state.”

“Ms. Eve, 53, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has worked for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Mrs. Clinton when they were in the Senate, and also served as a senior adviser to Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. From 2011 to 2013, she served as Mr. Cuomo’s deputy economic development secretary.

“Ms. Eve said she planned to attend the state party’s convention this week, where she will seek the requisite 25 percent of delegate votes to ensure a ballot spot for September’s primary. If unsuccessful, she would secure a spot by collecting signatures from enrolled Democrats across the state.

“The level of distrust about government and public service right now is at an all-time high,” she said. “If I don’t get the 25 percent this week, and wind up making my case directly to Democratic voters, that’s really not a bad place to be.”

 

 

 

WHAT’S GOING ON

Victoria Horsford
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NEW YORK 

Yvette Clarke

The City & State New York.com published the 100 Most Powerful People in NYS 2018. The following is a truncated list of mostly African-Americans who made this power elite:   1) Gov. Andrew Cuomo; 2) Donald Trump; 3) Carl Heastie, NYS Assembly Speaker; 8) Alphonso David, Counsel to Governor Cuomo; 11) Cynthia Nixon; 13) Andrea Stewart-Cousins, NYS Senate Minority Leader soon-to-be Majority Leader; 14) George Gresham, 1199 SEIU; 20) Mayor Bill de Blasio; 33) John Banks, Real Estate Board of NY; 41) Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Borough President; 46) Bill Thompson; 55) Wayne Spense, President, NYS Public Employees Federation; 68) Patrick Jenkins, Patrick Jenkins & Associates.

Eric Adams

NEWS ROUNDUP: Hillary Clinton will keynote the NYS Democratic Convention on Wednesday, May 23. Former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic candidate for the US Presidency, Clinton will endorse Governor Andrew Cuomo’s third-term candidacy.   Many top Democrats announced support for NYC Public Advocate Letitia James Primary run for the NYS Attorney General’s Office. She distanced herself from the progressive Working Families Party, stating that her interest is solely in the Democratic Party……. On May 21, African-American Buffalo Democrat Leecia Eve, former aide to Hillary Clinton and Governor Cuomo, entered the AG race……. The former rogue Democratic Independent Conference (IDC) members and senators who caucused with the NYS Senate Republicans, face opponents in the Primary. NYS Democrat Senator Allessandra Biaggi is running against Jeff Klein, erstwhile IDC leader……. Is Brooklyn-based NYS Democratic Assemblyman Walter Mosley exploring a transition to the NYS Senate?

HOT TOPICS

Congrats to Ms. Stacey Abrams, who won the Georgia Democratic Primary on Tuesday for Governor.   A former liberal statehouse leader, she is Georgia’s first Black nominee for Governor.   Can a Black woman win in the Deep South?

Harlem Democrats hosted a fundraiser for Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke at Londel’s Restaurant, which was attended by most of the uptown political grandees. Yvette Clarke has been a member of Congress since 2007. Before that, she was a NYC Councilwoman. Her mom is Una Clarke. She faces a Primary challenger, Adem Bunkeddeko, who is a well-funded upstart with supporters like Vernon Jordan and former NYS Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch. Bunkeddeko is a Harvard B-school alum. More than 594 Black women are running for elective office this year, according to the Black Women in Politics organization, which published a recent report, “The Chisholm Effect: Black Women in Politics 2018.”  Since 2013, eight Black women have been elected mayor in the 100 most populous U.S. markets in cities like Baltimore, Maryland; Washington, DC; Baton Rouge, La.; Charlotte, NC; Atlanta, Georgia; and New Orleans. Black women make up 3.6% of the US Congress. HARLEM gentrification and its discontents: Three African-American women were racially profiled at the Angel of Harlem Bistro, located at 2272 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, in February. The manager accused the women of frequenting the site a week earlier and leaving before paying the bill. The women denied any wrongdoing, admitting that evening was their first there. Manager pulled out video on his phone to prove that the women were the ones on his screen. After viewing cell phone video, the women said that there was no resemblance between them and the offenders. They told the white manager that “we do not all look alike.” He got   testier, snatched menus from them and pushed one of the women outside. Last month, the NY Daily News reported that the three women filed a lawsuit against the establishment.   When asked to comment about the incident, owner Anahi Angelone would only say “there are two sides to every story.” Angelone also owns other Harlem restaurants: Corner Social, Cecil’s Steak House and Minton’s.

BROOKLYN:   Haiti updates on Haitian Flag Day. Haitian and local politicos celebrated Haitian Flag Day and talked of the imminent arrival of a “Little Haiti Business and Cultural District in Flatbush.” Little Haiti would border Avenue H, Brooklyn Avenue, Parkside Avenue and East 16th Street. Official designation of the area awaits City Council approval. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams enthused. “Little Haiti is an idea whose time has come. Brooklyn is the Port-au-Prince of America, and it’s time for the world to know and experience all we have to offer.” Brooklyn has more than 90,000 Haitian-Americans, the third-largest in the United States. BLACK ENTERPRISE

Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty, Barbados-born, world-class music diva dons the cover of the June issue of Vogue magazine. The 11-page spread does not disappoint. It includes hot topic entries like her soon-to-be-released Hollywood movie “Ocean’s 8;” her alleged billionaire Saudi boyfriend and the broad reach of her philanthropic endeavors. However, the most impressive story info is about Rihanna, the hands-on CEO of a beauty and fashion empire, including FENTY BEAUTY, a makeup line in collaboration with Kendo, an LVMH incubator which grossed $100 million in 40 days, and her SAVAGE X FENTY, a new lingerie line in partnership with online retail behemoth TechStyle. NEWSMAKERS Dear Geminis, Happy Birthday: Beverly Alston, Vicktoria Bodin, Sherry Bronfman, Roslyn Woods-Cabbagestalk, Angela Clark, Diane Clear, Destiny Horsford, AUDELCO Awards director Grace Jones, P.R. guru Donna Walker-Kuhne, Shaunte Martin, FILM/TV executive Mamadou Niang; Wadleigh Scholars Program architect Edouard Plummer was joined by WSP alum who helped him celebrate his 90th in Maryland; Congressman Charles Rangel, scholar/author Edgar Ridley, Karen Saltau, Kai Sidberry, fine art photog Ming Smith, President Donald Trump, Patti LaBelle, Bob Tate, world-renown chef Pierre Thiam and Kanye West.

RIP: My brother, New Yorker Rocky Horsford, 67, died at his Bronx home on May 18. He was the youngest of four children born to Caribbean immigrants Lillian and Victor Horsford from the Dominican Republic and Antigua, respectively.   He married his childhood sweetheart Karen Wingate and they had nine plus one children.   Their daughter, Gloria Torruella, died last December.     He cut his teeth early in entrepreneurial projects as a realtor, grocer, investor in entertainment principals like Chris Brown and Omega, a Dominican vocalist. He owned and managed a plumbing contracting company and a general contracting company. He was a globe-trotter, oftentimes marrying travel to business opportunities in Ghana and Nigeria; and possibly to all but a few of the Caribbean Basin countries.   He is survived by his wife Karen, nine children and close to 30 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements have been finalized. The Viewing will be held on Friday, May 25th from 4 pm to 7 pm.   The funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 26th at 10 am. Both will be held at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, located at 201 Lenox Avenue at 120th Street in Harlem.

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

We’ll Always Have Summer

Marlon Rice
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We’ll Always Have Summer

Memorial Day Weekend marks the unofficial start of the summer, the most important season of the human experience here in Brooklyn. Summer means a renewed connectivity to the community. Barbecues, block parties, festivals, free concerts in Prospect Park, while our winter event schedule keeps us huddled into auditoriums and event spaces, our summer schedule brings us out into our world and uses the beautiful weather as the backdrop.

For our children, summer is a magical time that signifies a break from the regimented life of scholastics. It means waking up later and playing outside, riding your bike or just sitting on the stoop waiting to hear the music from the Mr. Softee ice cream truck creep through your block. Summer is also a time for family. 70% of all family vacations happen during the summer. Summer is a time to explore the world together, a time to taste new foods and experience new places. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who does not find summer the most attractive of seasons.

As a child, this weekend was always an important one. The last three-day weekend of the school year meant that summer vacation was soon to come. I’m a Gemini, so Memorial Day Weekend always means that my birthday is soon to come, and as a kid life revolves around your birthday. When you’re 8, you can’t wait to be 9. When you’re 9, you can’t wait until you’re 10. Now, I know that there is an actual holiday called Memorial Day, and I’m aware that the holiday is to commemorate our soldiers who died while in active military service, but as a kid the actual meaning of these holidays always meant significantly less than they do now. Truthfully, the actual meanings meant nothing at all. My father is a veteran, and each Memorial Day he’d make sure to explain the meaning of the day to us, but his explanation was received at best as obtuse, like trying to make a kid in Maui understand the significance of the Arctic Circle. Even if he gets what you’re saying, in most cases he really doesn’t care. In my childhood, each of the three major summer holidays were defined by the community events associated with them. Labor Day meant the Caribbean Carnival on Eastern Parkway, July 4th Weekend meant the African Street Festival (now known as the International African Arts Festival) and Memorial Day weekend meant Dance Africa.

Dance Africa was founded by Baba Chuck Davis in 1977 as a way of heightening the already-burgeoning awareness of African culture in Brooklyn. At its root, Dance Africa is a dance festival where dance troupes from every part of the African Diaspora express and demonstrate their creativity and skill through dance. It’s traditional at times, contemporary at others and always enjoyable and spiritually enriching. Even bigger than the performances though, Dance Africa is a full-on global bazaar. Vendors line Ashland Place and Lafayette Avenue throughout the weekend, and the BAM perimeter becomes a marketplace. As a kid, this is what was most attractive to me, the thing that drew me in. Imagine, if you will, your first introduction to falafel, or the first time you ever smelled myrrh burning from a charcoal burner. Imagine tasting your first gyro or witnessing for the first time in person the multitude of colors and designs of the fabrics used to make geles and dashikis. And then imagine that every vendor introducing you to these new scents and tastes all look like you, some from your neighborhood, others from an entire world away, but all looking just like you. This was Dance Africa to me as a child, an empowering lesson in the Diaspora of African peoples across the globe who adapted and flourished by keeping the thread of their roots intact. Collard greens ain’t much different than callaloo. Lemonade made by a brother from Senegal still tastes as good as the lemonade my mother makes. I always knew I had cousins in Virginia. Festivals like Dance Africa reminded me that I had cousins in Benin, too, and in Honduras, too, and in Haiti, and in Panama and even in Marrakech.

In Brooklyn, summer begins this weekend on Lafayette Avenue. Take your children to Dance Africa and let them experience the performances and the marketplace. Let them eat new things and smell new scents. No matter their background, every child can benefit from the opportunity to witness the beautiful results of the African Diaspora, for in that opportunity they will come to know that adversity and struggle can never defeat resilience and love.

The May Power

Eddie Castro
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The May Power

I’m not a fan of using the cliché quote of “I told you so.” But Our Time Press universe, I told you so. It has been quite the turnaround in the Bronx as the New York Yankees have flexed their muscles towards the last few weeks of April and into May thus far. Through the first 18 games, the team had posted an inconsistent win-loss record of 9-9. Since then, the Yankees have been sizzling like a steak on a skillet pan winning 22 of their last 27 games as we go to press. What has led to the team’s turnaround, you ask? How about a simple dose of patience and a “youth movement.”

I’ve spoken to many Yankee fans during a game last month. Many were saying how they felt letting former manager Joe Girardi walk was a mistake and current Manager Aaron Boone was not ready to be a manager at the Major League level. Then at a recent game I attended, I interviewed a few fans and the reaction to just a month ago and now was quite a different reaction. Yes, Giancarlo Stanton, who was the team’s biggest acquisition of the winter, started his season struggling really bad, however, history indicates Stanton is a slow starter. He had the same kind of statistical start last year at this point and still managed to hit 59 homers then with the Miami Marlins. As Stanton makes the adjustment to New York, he is currently swinging a hot bat. He has not been doing it alone. Two “Baby Bombers” have made their way to the scene and have been giving this Yankee club a spark. Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres have been swinging hot bats and have contributed to the recent surge the team has been on. It is almost a certainty that the 23-year-old (Andujar) and the 21-year-old (Torres) will be contributing factors for this year’s Yankee ball club.

The team is clicking on all cylinders as of now. The Yankees currently hold a two-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League East and they even had consistent starting pitching, something many thought, including yours truly, would be their Achilles heel throughout the season. The scary part is that the team is still not at full strength health-wise. Relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle is expected to be activated from the disabled list tomorrow and the Yanks have another big-time bat coming back to their lineup in first baseman Greg Bird. When healthy, Bird has shown potential to one day hit 30 home runs in a season with his power. Bird has not yet played this year after ankle surgery in late March. I’ve been hearing whispers of this current team having similar traits to the 1998 Yankee team. For now, OTP universe, let’s just enjoy the young players and hope the team’s success leads to great things in October!

Sports Notes: Who will meet in this year’s NBA Finals? E-mail me at Castroeddie714@gmail.com Let’s chop it up!

 

 

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