What's Going On

What’s Going On – 9/8

USA/SUMMER/FALL
Summer is almost over, and fall arrives imminently as American society slides into a new, awkward normal with loose contours. Sports domination, a necessary distraction in most societies, is back with a vengeance. The NY Tennis Open ends this week after we witnessed the exit of Tennis GOAT Serena Williams MLB is getting ready for its world series as the NFL and NBA seasons approach. Americans are uneasy about what comes next. Do we return to offices and other brick-and-mortar work venues or insist that home and office are indistinguishable? Not anymore! Last week CEOS at investment houses and banks announced that home/office settings would be akin to the dinosaur. Oh, I forgot the ultimate blood sport, the American Midterms.

Most American colleges and public schools open this week. The nation’s most extensive school system opens in NYC on September 8. Another national trend is teacher shortages owing to COVID, burnout, and low pay. Some mayors are talking about recalling retired people without jeopardizing their tax protections. Why not hire recent college graduates? There is a shortage of registered nurses from coast to coast. NYC has all of the above, including disgruntled unions, tenants fighting eviction, and an influx of almost 10,000 asylum-seeking immigrants exported from Texas Gov. Abbott. The top NYC headline grabber is arsenic found in the water supply in Manhattan’s Jacob Riis Housing, a NYCHA complex. Huh? NYC is not Michigan or Mississippi! I will reserve commentary on media coverage of the 9/5 West Indian Day Parade.

Lastly, we are bombarded with daily reports by media cognoscenti, normally gloom and doom. Last month, reports were rampant about a red House of Reps and US Senate. Today, they concur that both chambers could remain blue. The never-ending stories about the criminal Trump, his hubris, and his greed make one wonder. When will he be indicted and convicted? Why did he steal sensitive national security files from the White House? How did he profit from that info? For American democracy to survive, the electorate must emerge from the dark Trump space and view the light! Readers MUST VOTE in November.

EDUCATION
National HBCU, Historically Black Colleges, and Universities Week is observed September 7-10, 2022. National HBCU Week was established by an executive order signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 to be executed through the US Department of Education. It was to eliminate barriers by HBCUs to federal programs. All subsequent US Presidents have updated it.

What is taxable of President Biden’s college debt reduction plan in about 15 states? The forgiveness amount will be calculated as income in AR, SC, MA, MS, HI, SC., and WV.

Advertisement
Francia Marquez

WORLD AFFAIRS
SOUTH AMERICA: COLOMBIA. Former leftist Gustavo Petro, and environmentalist Afro Latina Francia Marquez were sworn in last month as president and vice president, respectively. ARGENTINA: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentine Vice President, and former President survived an attempt on her life because the assassin’s gun misfired. BRAZIL: Ultra Conservative President Bolsonaro is up for re-election next month. Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, aka Lula, whom Conservatives jailed, is also a Presidential contender. Authoritarian, Trump-loving Bolsonaro has mismanaged the COVID crisis, disregards climate change warnings, and ruined the economy. It’s time for a Lula re-election.

AFRICA: War-ravaged African countries are plagued by humanitarian crises, refugees, famine, and local terrorists are ubiquitous. Read stories from Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia, all recipients of meager Western aid. Europe and US are Ukraine-focused, which is white and Christian. However, Western Europe is the main destination for Ukrainian refugees.

AFRICA/CHINA: Last month, China agreed to forgive 23 interest-free loans to 17 African Countries and re-direct $10 billion of its IMF reserve to nationals on the Continent. China did not disclose nations who would benefit nor the amount owed. Forgiven loans were foreign-aid related. China’s more recent loans – concessional and commercial – were not a part of the African loan waiver.

Liz Truss

EUROPE: Liz Truss was elected Great Britain’s Prime Minister by the Conservative Party, succeeding Boris Johnson.

FALL ARTS PREVIEW
THEATER; Theater aficionados, take advantage of NYC Broadway Week from September 6-25. Take advantage of 2-for-one ticket discounts for 21 Broadway shows. Yes, buy one ticket, get the second one free. Participating plays include “A Strange Loop,” by Michael R. Jackson, 2022 Tony Best Musical winner and a Pulitzer winner; “The Lion King,” “MJ, The Musical (Michael Jackson); “Death of a Salesman,” starring Wendell Pierce, in the first African American incarnation of Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer classic.” “Chicago;” “The Piano Lesson,” starring Samuel Jackson.

Michael R. Jackson

FINE ART: The Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s new exhibit, “William T. Williams, Tension To The Edge,” a Selection of Paintings and Works on Paper 1968 to 1970, accompanied by a fully-illustrated color catalog, opens September 8 to November 5, at 100 Eleventh Avenue at 19th Street, Manhattan. Call 212.237.0082 or visit michaelrosenfeld.com.

The June Kelly Gallery’s new exhibit, CHARLES MARTIN Metropolis Photography, September 8 to October 18 at 166 Mercer Street, Soho, Manhattan. Martin explains, “Metropolis, visually, is the blend or interruption of architectural form and scale set comfortably or awkwardly in nature, if only under the sky or amid a body of water.” Call 212.226.1660 or visit junekellygallery.com

Sheena Wright

On September 20, from 9:30 am to 6:30 pm, attend “Conditions In Harlem Revisited: From the 1936 Mayor’s Commission Report to Today,” a collaborative in-person/virtual presentation by NYC Dept of Records & Info Service: Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright’s Office for Strategic Initiatives; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard; and the NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research & Vital City. Register to attend and learn more at Harlemconditions.cityofnewyork.us

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

Advertisement
Exit mobile version