Fashion designer Brenda Brunson-Bey, founder, Tribal Truths’ boutique on South Oxford,
blends her grandmother’s stories growing up in the South and African ancestral callings to create her exquisite fashions.
The Georgia native/Brooklyn resident is seen here in Fort Greene’s Cyler Gore Park, the site of the upcoming Saturday, June 17th celebration of Juneteenth she produces and organizes with community advocate and humanitarian Spring McClendon. Now in its 17th year, the festival is open to the public and features culture, art, performances, history and an open mart, and, of course, fashion. “We should wear a part of our history every day – an earring, pin, scarf. It says, “I know where I am from. We have so much to celebrate. Our people went through so much for us. What they went through talks to ourselves as a people. (Photo:Courtesy Tribal Truths)
Roots of Inspiration, Motivation
OTP Print Edition – May 4th
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City to Invest $7M to Better Apprehend Domestic Violence Abusers and Ensure Support for Survivors
BP Adams: Mayor’s move “ensures care of children who are often invisible victims”.
What should be one of the warmest and most peaceful days of the year, Mother’s Day, will be the extreme opposite for individuals trapped in abusive situations. Or locked in memories of them.
While crime has lowered in New York City, domestic violence has drastically risen, according to the NYC Domestic Violence Task Force. One in every five homicides—and two in every five reported assaults—citywide is connected to domestic abuse.
It could be that more people are reporting it. It could be that the statistics are reflecting a horrible reality, but all across the country, small towns and big are reporting an increase. Here in New York, Mayor de Blasio and his wife First Lady Chirlane McCray and city officials, including the NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill and Borough President Eric Adams, are taking stands.
This week, the de Blasio Administration announced an investment of nearly $7 million to better apprehend abusers as well as ensure support for survivors. It’s a start.
The number of intimate partner homicides rose from 26 in 2015 to 37 in 2016, and the number of domestic violence incident reports rose from 74,684 in 2015 to 91,617 in 2016.
“Domestic violence is disturbingly common, and affects every neighborhood in NYC. It’s only by confronting this crime that we will end the vicious cycle that perpetuates it,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This report sends a loud and clear message: ‘We will not tolerate domestic violence, survivors have the city’s full support and abusers must be held accountable. We will do everything we can to ensure that New York City is safer for everyone, everywhere, at all times.’”
“There is no simple, one-size-fits-all solution to domestic violence but there are actions we can take to provide pathways to safety for survivors and hold abusers accountable,” said First Lady Chirlane McCray, co-chair of the Domestic Violence Task Force and the Commission on Gender Equity. “The new investments we are announcing will help us leverage bold innovations that support families, help them heal and address root causes of abusive behavior.”
“We believe that these investments will enable us to further reduce crime and violence, particularly with the victims of domestic violence,” said NYPD Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill.
In 2007, 4.8% of all major crimes in the city were related to domestic violence, broadly defined to include offenses involving members of the same family or household as well as those related to intimate partners. By 2016, that percentage had reached 11.6%.
The Task Force conducted an in-depth review of current city programs and investments to enhance the delivery of social services to victims, evidence-gathering and other law enforcement tactics. The new approach focuses on intervening as early as possible, enhancing pathways to safety for survivors and ensuring swift, effective and lasting enforcement to hold abusers accountable. Recommendations include:
Expanding the Child Trauma Response Teams: expanding the program to an additional location will provide immediate intervention for more victims of child trauma who have witnessed domestic violence in their homes, which has been shown to reduce the odds of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by 65% for children who have witnessed violence.
Investing in enhanced evidence-gathering: purchasing state-of-the-art technology, including alternative light source cameras, which can reveal evidence of strangulation often missed by traditional cameras, and mobile evidence-gathering technology, which can be a critical source of information in stalking cases. Forensic evidence can help validate a victim’s experience by substantiating abuse in a way that can be used to support criminal prosecution, inform victims of domestic violence of available options and increase the strength of a criminal case to hold the abuser accountable.
Expanding the Early Victim Engagement Program: expanding this early engagement program to an additional two locations will provide critical information to more victims at the time of an offender’s arraignment enhancing safety, access to resources and prosecutions. An evaluation of the EVE program in Brooklyn found that it increased the conviction rate in cases of intimate partner violence prosecuted by 9%, from 23.6% vs. 32.6%.
Providing Immigrant Legal Services: linking domestic violence services with immigration legal services to ensure that survivors can seek help without fear or immigration consequences.
Additionally, the strategy devotes resources to the continued work of the NYC Domestic Violence Task Force to improve data collection, integrate domestic violence reduction resources into the ThriveNYC network and develop additional strategies to prevent domestic violence.
Convened in November 2016, the Task Force was charged with developing a coordinated response to this persistent problem that included both criminal justice and social services intervention. Co-chaired by First Lady Chirlane McCray and NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill, the work of the Task Force is directed by the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Elizabeth Glazer, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence Cecile Noel and Executive Director of the Task Force Bea Hanson. The Task Force is comprised of experts from inside and outside government as well as survivors.
Director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Elizabeth Glazer said, “In a city in which violent crime has fallen by 75 percent in 20 years, domestic violence remains a challenge, accounting for 40 percent of citywide assaults and 20 percent of homicides”.
“Far too many individuals are the victims of domestic violence,” said Public Advocate Letitia James. “A comprehensive strategy to hold domestic abusers culpable and provide increased safety to survivors and individuals in danger is absolutely vital to ensure all our residents are protected. I applaud the mayor for taking this important step to prioritize the safety and well-being of all New Yorkers.”
“We need to ensure survivors of domestic violence are brought out of the shadows and thriving,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “I commend Mayor de Blasio, First Lady McCray and Commissioner O’Neill for taking a comprehensive approach to domestic violence including ensuring the care of children who are often invisible victims, along with making sure abusers are brought to justice. I am proud to have worked with Assembly members Amy Paulin and Jamie Williams, and survivors to introduce legislation in the state legislature to empower and strengthen the voices of those who have overcome abuse. Nobody should be allowed to silence these women and men.”
Domestic violence, both in New York City and nationally, is a challenging and complex societal problem that is yet to be solved. The crimes often occur behind closed doors, and victims face many barriers in coming forward to friends, family or to law enforcement, which complicates service provision as well as law enforcement’s investigation and evidence-gathering. Domestic violence can happen in the context of familial or intimate partner relationships, threatening not only physical safety but housing, financial security and other family members.
In addition to being a criminal justice issue, domestic violence has far-reaching effects on families, communities and our city. 20 to 40% of chronically violent adolescents have been exposed to extreme parental conflict at home. Women who experience physical violence from an intimate partner report an average of 7.2 days of lost work-related productivity a year.
New York City currently has in place multiple programs and services to support survivors, including shelter programs, training programs for staff, educational and preventive programs for youth and extensive case management services at the Family Justice Centers through a network of on-site providers in each borough. These services were recently expanded to include on-site housing legal assistance. In addition, the Paid Safe Leave legislation will provide avenues to ensure protections for domestic violence survivors in the workplace.
WHAT’S GOING ON By Victoria Horsford
TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS
The USA is in “crisis mode”. No one could have predicted the sea changes that America and the world have undergone since Donald Trump was sworn in as US President on January 20, 2017. The POTUS 45 reign has been chaotic, depressing. It is like taking a few modern literary works – “Portrait of Dorian Gray”, Kurt Vonnegut’s “The Breakfast of Champions”, Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass – and cross-pollinating their plot twists and turns to make sense of the world, effective May 2017.
Whatever the Trump vision is for America, it is dark and scary. During his campaign stomping, he boasted about building a wall to separate Mexico and the US to curb foreigners from entering the US. He argued that they were taking American jobs. He promised to scuttle Obamacare, aka the Affordable Care Act, depriving 23 million of insurance coverage. He said that NATO and other alliances must be revisited or cancelled… ditto trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He would take a tough stance against the Chinese, who also were taking “our” jobs. Tax reform was high on the list of promises to the Trump faithful followers, who are willy-nilly akin to the Jim Jones followers.
Trump has nominated more than a handful of cabinet members who advocated for the extinction of the departments they now oversee, like Betsy DeVos(education) and Rick Perry(energy). There are no Latinos in the Trump cabinet. What America got in 100 days was a domestic terrorist war on undocumented residents, including prison detention and threats from POTUS to withhold monies to sanctuary cities which did not cooperate with immigration enforcement officers. Jeff Sessions, the new Attorney General, is rolling back agreements between his office and local police departments about criminal justice reforms that would benefit nonwhites.
During his first 100 days, the US initiated two military strikes, one in Syria, the other in Afghanistan. The Syrian act was stunning in that within 24 hours of his declaration of being an American first man and would ignore the use of chemical weapons there, he strikes a Syrian base. Before the public could come up for air, the US was bombing tunnels in Afghanistan. Donald’s executive orders banning travel to the US for citizens from 6 Muslim nations was disarming. And the Trump brinksmanship with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un is reminiscent of the good old Cold War days. Please, no WWIII, Mr. President!
Trump can take credit for getting his US Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, confirmed, his sole victory. Since January 20, it seems like all of the latent racism in America has become more palpable. There have been excessive assaults on people of color like the white supremacist from Maryland who came to New York to kill Black people. He killed a Black man. There was the Vietnamese-American medical doctor who was manhandled on the United Airlines plane. More poor people are having hard times paying for their children’s lunch in public schools.
The $1 billion Trump budget called for draconian cutbacks in domestic programs which would benefit most of the people who voted for him. Budget included a $30 billion increase for the military. The budget, approved by the bipartisan Congress, included many corrections and protections for the 97%. His tax proposal would benefit America’s 2%, not the people who drank the Election Day Kool Aid! Trump promised the world and delivered on one promise, the Supreme Court confirmation. Trump’s first 100 Days would be graded D!
BLACK ENTERPRISE
Actor Don Cheadle, who brought the Miles Davis biopix to the big screen, has another Black biopix on his radar screen. It is about America’s first Black millionaire, Haitian-born Jeremiah Hamilton, who made his fortune on Wall Street. He arrived in the USA in 1928 and made his fortune in less than 10 years. Film will be adapted to screen from the 2015 biography, “Prince of Darkness: The Untold Story of Jeremiah G. Hamilton: Wall Street’s first Black Millionaire”. Hamilton’s net worth when he died in 1875 was $2 million, which adjusted to today’s inflation, would be about $42 million.
The Bradhurst Merchants Association will host its 3rd Annual Awards and Cocktail reception on June 10 at Mist Harlem, 46 West 116th Street, on June 22nd at 6-9 pm. Event honorees are the Honorable Charles Rangel; Kenneth Morrison, Lemor Development Group; City National Bank; and Nina Saxon, Community Liaison, City of NY Comptroller.
AFRICA MATTERS
The Initiative for Global Development (IGD) convenes its Spring Frontier 100 Forum on May 5-6 in Durban, South Africa, on the heels of the World Economic Conference, which ends 5/5. Founded in 2003, the IGD is a Washington, DC- based nonprofit which engages the power of the private sector to create sustainable development and inclusive growth in Africa through business investment. [Visit: Igdleaders.org]
Mohamed Abdullai MohamedThe United States has deployed a few dozen troops from the 101st Airborne Division to Somalia for the first time in about 20 years. Somalia’s new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo), is a Somali-American who took office in February and has declared war on its insurgents, Al-Shabaab. Somalia, on the Horn of Africa, is one of the countries on President Trump’s “travel ban” list.
China is ready to set up its first overseas military naval base, which will be in Djibouti, another Horn of Africa nation. Is this move an expression of China’s military industrial complex? More than 1 million Chinese have relocated to Africa, the continent richest in natural resources.
ARTS/CULTURE
Lynn NottageCongratulations to all of the theater people who earned Tony nominations. JITNEY: Best Revival of a Play, Santiago-Hudson, Best Director, and John Douglas Thompson, Best Featured Actor; SWEAT: Best Play by Lynn Nottage, who won 2017 Pulitzer for “Sweat”. Tonys will be presented on June 11. Additionally, Bed-Stuy Restoration Art; Eric Adams, Brooklyn Borough President and Our Time Press will co-host a celebration of two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage on May 15 at the Skylight Gallery, Restoration Corporation, Brooklyn.
A special theatrical reading of the Zora Neal Hurston classic, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, will be presented at the newly renovated Billie Holiday Theatre, 1368 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, on May 12/13. Marquee names like Leslie Uggams, Roslyn Ruff, Brandon Dirden, Ebony Jo-Ann are some cast members.
Shared Interest will host its Annual Fundraiser Benefit, CONVERSATIONS FOR CHANGE, on May 25, 5:30 to 8:30 pm at the Columbia University Law Memorial Library Rotunda, Harlem, NY. Guest conversationalists are Sheila Sisulu, former SA Ambassador; actor/activist Danny Glover; Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now”; and Felicia Mabuza-Suttle. Founded in 1994, SHARED INTEREST is a NY organization which facilitates economic development for South African Blacks: small businessmen, farmers, homeowners. [Visit sharedinterest.org]
NEWSMAKERS
Laurie CumboCongrats to Brooklyn City Council member Laurie Cumbo, 42, who is running for reelection this year and who is pregnant. She joins the “mom list” with Janet Jackson at 50, Halle at 45, and Serena Williams.TAURUS Birthday greetings to Andie Barneih; Sadikisha Collier; David Dent, NYU Professor; Willie Egyir, NY Beacon; Grace Hamler; Ed Lewis, “The Man from Essence”; Margaret Porter Troupe; Tony Barboza; Patricia Peters Eaton; Nadiah Fattah; Harriette Mandeville; Otis Wright.
People: FAR ROCKAWAY’S MARY HENDRIX RECEIVES CON EDISON’S HIGHEST HONOR
If you’ve ever encountered the “singing nurse” at Con Edison’s Employee Wellness Center, you probably felt a little bit better as soon as you walked in the door.
“One of my passions is music, and as the saying goes, ‘music soothes the soul’,” said Con Edison senior specialist and registered nurse Mary Hendrix.
The Far Rockaway, Queens resident is responsible for the day-to-day administrative operations of the utility’s health care hub at 4 Irving Place in Manhattan.
Hendrix received Con Edison’s highest employee honor, the “Living Our Values” Award at a recent company ceremony. This recognition is given annually to Con Edison employees who exemplify the company’s values of service, teamwork, excellence and concern for the quality of life in their communities.