Jacobi Health Care Workers Highlight Racial Disparity in Health Care, Address City Budget Cuts

By SÍLE MOLONEY

A solidarity event in support of the Black Lives Matter movement took place at Jacobi Medical Center on Jun. 9, 2020. About 35 hospital staff members stood outside the hospital displaying signs of support. Others spoke about the racial inequities that exist within the health care system and decried budget cuts to health care while the City pays out millions in law settlements relating to police misconduct. Kelly Cabrera, a registered nurse working in emergency medicine addressed those gathered saying, “Racism is a public health emergency. We’re here as health care workers in one of the areas that

By Síle Moloney

Impassioned and resolute, Bronx City Councilman Andy King laid out the implications of being Black in America from a physical, emotional and economic standpoint when he addressed a crowd at a Unity and Solidarity food and face mask distribution event on Jun. 9, 2020. Joined by former NYPD officer and Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, and 32 BJ Union President Kyle Bragg, King appealed to Black elected leaders to seize the moment and stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protestors to effect lasting change. The event was held outside King’s District 12 office on East Gun Hill

By Síle Moloney

In response to the uprisings across the globe demanding justice for Black lives, New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has created a Black liberation reading list. The 95 titles on the list represent books that the Center and the public regularly turn to as activists, students, archivists, and curators, with a particular focus on books by Black authors and those whose papers the center stewards. For 95 years, the Schomburg Center has preserved, protected, and fostered a greater understanding of the Black experience through its collections, exhibitions, programs, and scholarship. Most of the #Schomburg95 books

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Melissa Mark-Viverito, former City Council Speaker and candidate in the City’s 15th congressional district, called on Bronx Councilman and fellow candidate, City Council Member Rev. Ruben Díaz Sr. (C.D. 18), to drop out of the race on Wednesday, June 3, via a live Twitter post, calling him “a hoax” and “a huckster.”

Academy of Mount St. Ursula Earns Middle States Re-Accreditation

By Síle Moloney

The Academy of Mount St. Ursula (AMSU), located in the Bedford Park area of the Bronx, recently earned re-accreditation by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, a worldwide leader in accreditation and continuous school improvement for over 130 years. Sr. Jean Marie Humphries, PhD is the school’s principal. A member of the Order of St. Ursula, she is also a former student of AMSU, having graduated with the Class of ‘89. Sr. Humphries said she is proud to have earned re-accreditation, since she said it serves as an independent validation of the good work

By Anisah Sabur

We are in the midst of the gravest humanitarian, economic, and social crisis in at least a generation, and one that is disproportionately harming Black and Brown people, poor people, and other marginalized people and communities. Over 27,600 New Yorkers have died from COVID-19 already and many more are projected to die. Hundreds of thousands of people are out of work. People cannot afford to pay their rent or their medical bills. Many are going hungry. The police are brutalizing Black and Brown people in the street and forcing people who are homeless out of the subway –

The Bronx Toastmasters Club of Riverdale will hold a virtual “Open House” meeting on Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom Video Conferencing. The committee is asking anyone interested in joining the meeting to RSVP to bronxtoastmastersclub@gmail.com. The club is an affiliate of Toastmasters International, a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the organization’s membership exceeds 358,000 in more than 16,800 clubs in 143 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.

By Síle Moloney

Earlier this week, on May 13, Melissa Mark-Viverito received a boost to her latest election campaign to become the democratic nominee for the City’s 15th congressional district in the Bronx, as four of the country’s leading teachers’ unions announced their endorsement of her. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the National Education Association (NEA) all threw their weight behind Mark-Viverito, one of around a dozen remaining candidates in the race. UFT represents over 190,000 members nationwide and is, therefore, considered a major win for

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned New Yorkers during his regular press briefing on Sunday, Apr. 26 about an unintended consequence of his “PAUSE” executive order which has been in effect since March, ever since the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic. The impact of having to stay home, cancelling public events and social gatherings, closing non-essential businesses, schools, religious and sports venues has given rise to a common dilemma – how to maintain positive mental health. Coincidentally, May marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month. “Do not underestimate the stress that this situation has