The Black Zine Fair, a free event held at the Powerhouse Arts (PHA) Grand Hall on Saturday, May 11, invited zine makers, educators, collectors, and those interested in zines to gather; trade or sell zines; and exchange knowledge about zine-making, publishing, and do-it-yourself culture.
Featuring 30 to 50 exhibitors, the Black Zine Fair presented in-person programs, including an all-day zine trading station and workshops featuring zine-making, screen printing, and generative writing.
Transforming your hair can be a game-changer in how you feel about yourself. Whether you’re looking for a subtle change or a dramatic new look, there are secrets and hacks that can help you achieve stunning results. In this guide, we’ll delve into seven genius hacks for a hair transformation that will leave you feeling…
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Coffee roasting is a heat process that transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is crucial as it influences the flavor, aroma, and color. It involves roasting the coffee beans at high temperatures, where they undergo several chemical reactions that develop their rich flavors and…
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The Harlem-based youth development and social justice organization Brotherhood Sister Sol (BroSis) honored actor and singer Billy Porter and National Domestic Workers Alliance president Ai-jen Poo at its 2024 Voices gala on Thursday night, where the organization raised $1.9 million.
Returning for its 19th year, Voices is the organization’s annual benefit to celebrate its youth members and enrich programming. This year’s event took place at New York City’s Ziegfeld Ballroom, with actor and comedian Hasan Minhaj serving as host for the evening. Several BroSis students and alumni shared stories about their experience in the organization during the program.
Porter and Poo were recognized for their commitments to social justice work, Porter with the June Jordan Clarion Call Award and Poo with the Bayard Rustin Award for Social Justice.
“BroSis is a beacon for how a community can come together to work with marginalized youth,” said Porter. “Their commitment to providing support and amplifying voices aligns with my own mission of changing society for those who often go unheard. Together, we can create a more inclusive and compassionate world, where every individual can thrive and be celebrated for who they are.”
Award-winning actor, singer, and activist Porter was recognized for his achievements and fearless support in advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights. Poo, activist, National Domestic Workers Alliance president, and co-founder of Supermajority, was honored for her efforts in championing the rights of domestic workers and fairness for women in the workplace.
“The Brotherhood Sister Sol is an organization I have admired for my lifetime as an organizer,” said Poo. “It is the honor of a lifetime to be [recognized] by them. They offer a singular model of youth power building and a powerful antidote to the converting epidemics of poverty, mental health crisis, and racism plaguing too many of our communities. BroSis feeds the minds and spirits of young people—and changes lives and communities.”
Inside VOICES gala Credit: Jamel Martin of JMartinVisuals
Brotherhood Sister Sol board members Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
Billy Porter and Ai-jen Poo with Brotherhood Sister Sol students Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
Billy Porter Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
Khary Lazarre-White Credit: Jamel Martin of JMartinVisuals
Khary Lazarre-White, BroSis co-founder and executive director, told the AmNews it was appropriate to honor Porter and Poo for their contributions to civil rights, but also for breaking barriers in their work with inspiring young people. He said this year’s fundraiser was the largest BroSis has had, with more than 600 attendees.
“Brotherhood Sister Sol serves about 750 young people in Harlem and we [affect] millions of young people on the issues we organize around,” Lazarre-White said. “The percentage of high school graduation rate in BroSis is 99 percent. We’re so excited. The students go to so many wonderful schools and have so many great opportunities. We stay and support them through college to ensure that they graduate.”
For more than 25 years, BroSis has been at the forefront of social justice, educating, training, and organizing to challenge inequality and champion opportunity for all, with a focus on Black and Latinx youth. By training educators across the nation and around the world, and organizing a community of change agents, BroSis builds on its legacy of youth-led activism to realize a more just and equitable future.
In 2022, BroSis moved into its current home: a brand-new, 20,000-square-foot community center designed entirely for community and educational use.
The organization is gearing up for its Summer Leadership Program, which includes the International Study Program for 9th through 12th graders, where students explore the city through fun and educational activities, and helps them gain skills for entering the workforce. BroSis also provides a Summer Day Camp where 7th and 8th graders participate in daily activities focused on team-building, life skills, and leadership development.
by Executive Editor, Eartha Watts Hicks A woman’s fragrance ritual is personal, even intimate. Harlem World Magazine’s Eartha Watts Hicks interviewed the enchanting, internationally-acclaimed, award-winning soloist, and opera soprano, Marsha Thompson for more insight. Eartha asked Ms. Thompson during a gift unwrapping of Irresistible, the parfum gifted to Harlem World Magazine by Givenchy, and any part of her…
It was a quintessential Hollywood feel-good story. A short documentary spotlighting a small group of technicians selflessly fixing 80,000 instruments for student musicians in Los Angeles’ underfunded public schools won an Oscar at the Academy Awards.
“’The Last Repair Shop’ is about the heroes in our schools who often go unsung, unthanked, and unseen,” Kris Bowers, the documentary’s co-director, said in his acceptance speech at the awards ceremony Sunday night. “Tonight, you are sung, you are thanked, and you are seen.”
Yet when it comes to music programs in public education across the country, however, data show the big picture is far more complex.
While more than 90% of U.S. public school students have access to music education in school, even in the face of district budget cuts, some 3.6 million don’t, according to a major national survey. Those children, according to the survey, are more likely to attend a majority-Black or majority-Latino school, and most of the students at that school are likely to qualify for free or reduced lunch.
At the same time, a recent study found a significant lack of diversity among music educators, an issue that could keep Black and brown children away from the music room.
Amanda Karhuse, an assistant executive director for the National Association for Music Education, believes the Oscar win for “The Last Repair Shop” could help insert music education into the national conversation about equity and public-school funding in public schools. Schools, she said, must see music education as something for all students — an integral part of a student’s education that boosts academic performance and well-being.
“In Kris Bowers’ acceptance speech, he speaks about how music education isn’t about creating incredible musicians, but incredible humans,” Karhuse says. “When fully funded and supported, music education is a space for all students to develop a sense of self within a community. It is a bridge between school, the community, and the world at large.”
L.A. Times Short Docs & Searchlight Pictures in a nondescript warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain over 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of the recording capital of the world. Watch “The Last Repair Shop,” directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers.
But much like in other areas of education, funding is rarely equal — and exact data is hard to come by.
According to a 2022 survey by the nonprofit Arts Education Data Project, a collaboration between the State Education Agencies Directors of Arts Education, Quadrant Research, and the Quadrant Foundation,” the U.S. has made significant progress in restoring music education to classrooms after years of budget cuts and declining investment. But while 92% of public school students have access to music education, 3.6 million students “do not have that same opportunity,” according to the survey.
Moreover, “a disproportionate number of public-school students without access to music and arts education are concentrated in schools in major urban communities; have the highest percentage of students eligible for free/reduced price meals; and are either majority Black, Hispanic, or Native American,” according to the survey. “In addition, many of these students without music and arts education attend public charter schools.”
Karhuse said the federal government provides Title I funds for those schools that could be used “to support a well-rounded education that includes music education,” but it doesn’t always make it to the band room.
“Our survey results show that very few schools are using Title I funds for this purpose — usually because the resources are allocated for other activities or because districts lack awareness that the funds can be used for music education,” she says.
In focusing on Los Angeles public schools, “The Last Repair Shop” inadvertently underscored that disparity: it is the last school district in the country to provide instruments, free of charge, to any child who wants to play. And the documentary is expected to kick-start a $15 million fundraising campaign to upgrade instruments and expand the repair program.
But instruments aren’t the only factor in music education, Karhuse said. Poor urban schools, she said, “have a lack of resources and certified music educators.”
“Nearly 93 percent of all music educators are white,” according to a January 2024 report on the state of music educators by the National Federation of State High School Associations. “The lack of diversity creates challenges for students who do not see themselves” leading or participating in music classes.
Ultimately, Karhuse says, school and public officials must steer more money towards music education programs in general, instruct schools how to use Title I funds, and do more to integrate music education into curricula that’s available to all students.
“Music education creates environments that foster community and collaboration among our students,” she says. “These spaces are also the last stronghold of safe spaces for students who may otherwise never attend or engage in school. Our students deserve safe spaces for them to learn, to be challenged and succeed.”
For 14 years, immigrants covered under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) legislation have gone without federal protection or regulations allowing enrollment in state-run or private health insurance plans provided under the Affordable Care Act. President Joe Biden struck out this omission on Friday, May 10, when he signed off on approval to expand those policies for more than 100,000 DACA recipients.
The U.S. is home to more than 530,000 DACA recipients, commonly known as Dreamers, per national statistics. New York City is home to 35,000 DACA beneficiaries, 81% of whom are currently in the labor force.
“Nearly 12 years ago, President Obama and I announced the DACA program to allow our young people to live and work in the only country they’ve called home,” Biden said in a public address. “Since then, DACA has provided more than 800,000 Dreamers with the ability to work lawfully, pursue an education, and contribute their immense talents to make our communities better and stronger.
“I’m proud of the contributions of Dreamers to our country and committed to providing Dreamers the support they need to succeed. I’ve previously directed the Department of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to ‘preserve and fortify’ DACA. And that’s why…we are taking this historic step to ensure that DACA recipients have the same access to health care through the Affordable Care Act as their neighbors.”
This new opportunity will be offered only for those interested in obtaining services through a Health Insurance Marketplace plan or a state-run Basic Health Program (BHP) for lawfully present noncitizens. New York is one of two states that have implemented the measure; the state’s application for BHP received approval on Mar. 1, 2024, and will remain in effect for five years, from April 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2028.
Although this development is a major win for various DACA recipients, it will not permit registration for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIPS). Still, Friday’s signature is being called a victory for proponents of immigration reform.
“I commend the Biden-Harris Administration on this latest effort to support immigrant families by expanding affordable, quality healthcare coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients,” Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) of Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Bronx said in a statement.
“Our work (on May 10) to support Dreamers will have reverberating implications for many years to come, (by) keeping our communities and local economies strong. I will never give up my fight to ensure Dreamers permanent status and a pathway to citizenship, and remain committed to working with President Biden and my colleagues to protect DACA and provide all immigrant youth with the opportunities and support they need to succeed,” Espaillat added.
As the first Dominican American to serve in the House of Representatives, Espaillat has been a vocal advocate for a progressive approach to changing American immigration policy, calling for rejection of the many repeals Republicans have been pushing for.
Despite the large number of people in the U.S. covered by DACA, some requirements in the law limit several individuals from receiving the designated status. Those seeking that status must have arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday and before June 15, 2007; be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012 (i.e., under age 41 as of 2022); be currently enrolled in school, have completed high school or its equivalent, or be a veteran; and have no lawful status as of June 15, 2012.
Former President Donald Trump unsuccessfully attempted to end DACA. A 2024 re-election campaign strategy includes campaign staff reiterating his previous claims, made during his time in the Oval Office, that DACA policies are detrimental to the average American worker.
In a post on X, Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson said, “Joe Biden continues to force hardworking, tax-paying, struggling Americans to pay for the housing, welfare, and now the healthcare of illegal immigrants. This is unfair and unsustainable; and Joe Biden’s handouts for illegal immigrants are especially devastating to Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and union workers who are forced to watch their jobs and public resources stolen by people who illegally entered our country.
“President Trump will put America and the American worker first. He will seal the border, stop the invasion, and expand economic opportunity for American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
The legality of DACA is under scrutiny in ongoing cases in Texas and New Jersey. Observers believe it will soon reach the Supreme Court.
“Even as we celebrate this victory, we must also remember that politically motivated attacks on DACA continue, DACA recipients remain in limbo, and the health and wellbeing of our communities has suffered as a result,” Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement.
More than 25.6 million Americans are uninsured, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. As prescription drugs and medical rates skyrocket, hundreds of thousands of people are forced to choose between food and medical care daily. Federal numbers show that most go without the latter.“The Biden-Harris Administration is taking a bold step toward equity and inclusivity in healthcare access by ensuring that approximately 100,000 DACA recipients can enjoy the peace of mind and security that access to health care brings,” said Mayra Macias, executive director of Building Back Together. “By expanding DACA recipients’ healthcare options, President Biden is reaffirming that health care is a fundamental right.”
