With the 11th pick of the first round of the WNBA Draft, held on Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the New York Liberty selected Marquesha Davis of Ole Miss. The six-foot guard is expected to be a strong defensive presence.
“I would say something that stood out to me is them looking basically for a two-way player and me being just that,” said Davis. “Knowing that I can come in and be a two-way player and make an impact that way is something that I look forward to…Just coming in and having a certain role and knowing what’s expected of you and knowing that you don’t have to be the superhero or anything like that.”
After forgoing most of its draft picks in 2023, the Liberty had four this year. In the second round, they chose Esmery Martinez of the University of Arizona and Jessika Carter from Mississippi State. In the third round, the team selected a face familiar to New York City basketball fans: Kaitlyn Davis, who played three seasons at Columbia University and this year played at USC as a graduate student.
Columbia senior Abbey Hsu was also drafted, picked in the third round by the Connecticut Sun. Hsu watched the draft with her teammates, friends, and family on the Columbia campus. “There were so many emotions; it was pretty much a roller-coaster—nervousness, excitedness, all of it—but being surrounded by my teammates, my coaches, my girlfriend, my sister, and my mom was comforting,” said Hsu. “I was very happy to experience that outcome with them. It was very special.”
Hsu shared happiness for herself and Davis as Columbia’s first-ever WNBA draft picks. She expressed her appreciation for Coach Megan Griffith’s belief in them and in the program. “Me and KD made history, but it wasn’t just us; it was the whole Columbia program,” said Hsu.
A prolific scorer throughout college, Hsu knows that is the first thing she brings into the pros. She’s also ready to develop new skills. Speaking at the conclusion of the draft, Sun general manager Darius Taylor said the team had followed Hsu throughout this past college season.
“She’s a really good shooter; she’s also a very good rebounder,” said Taylor. “We know that she has a high ceiling and potential to grow into an even better player.”
In a surprise to no one, with the first pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft the Indiana Fever chose Caitlin Clark of the University of Iowa. Women’s college basketball’s second most noted player, LSU’s Angel Reese, was selected by the Chicago Sky with the seventh overall pick.
It was revealed that in second grade Clark wrote down her future dreams, and among them were being drafted in the WNBA. One must assume her dreams as a seven-year-old child didn’t also include a massive congratulatory billboard in Times Square from State Farm, a new Gatorade commercial, and being the first WNBA or NBA player dressed by Prada for the draft.
As people talked about this year’s super rookies and extolled Clark’s impending impact on the WNBA, Clark proved what a gracious person she is by thanking those who came before her during a pre-draft appearance on “Saturday Night Live.” She also promised to enjoy this next step of her basketball journey and said she looks forward to playing alongside Aliyah Boston and Erica Wheeler.
“I’m 22 years old, and I don’t have all the answers in the world,” said Clark on Monday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the event was held. “This is something new to me.
This is a new challenge. That’s something I’m excited for. But having those types of people around me to lean on and ask questions, or when things get hard, to be there for me.” Joining Clark in Indiana is Long Island native Celeste Taylor, a 5’11” guard chosen in the second round. Taylor’s journey to the WNBA was a bit circuitous, having played her college ball at three different universities. This past year at Ohio State showed the power and range of her game.
“[I’m] obviously a very, very big defensive-minded kid, but at the same time, I’m willing to do whatever it is that a team needs me to do,” said Taylor, who previously played alongside Clark on the USA Basketball team. “I’m willing to come in there and make an impact. I’m really big on community. So just getting my hand in the community and continuing to be who I am and continuing to make an impact.”
First round picks included Cameron Brink (No. 2) of Stanford and Rickea Jackson (No. 4) of Tennessee, both selected by the Los Angeles Sparks, and this year’s Final Four most outstanding player, Kamilla Cardoso of champion South Carolina, taken No. 3 by the Chicago Sky.
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Perhaps it was inevitable that multifaceted singer Justin Austin, who stars in the upcoming New York City premiere of the operatic production “COTTON” at the 92nd Street Y, would be singing behind the likes of Mary J. Blige and Elton John before he was even 20 years old.
Austin, who attended the Choir Academy of Harlem, LaGuardia High School, and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, recently told the Amsterdam News that not only was he exposed to music early in life, he was surrounded by it in his immediate and extended family. “Both of my parents were opera singers,” he said. “They met at the Juilliard School. My uncles and aunts are opera singers and many of my parents’ friends are opera singers. Even my babysitters, when my parents had date nights, were singers, so music was always a part of my life from the very beginning.”
“COTTON” is not a full-length opera, but a song cycle. Inspired by and set against the backdrop of the photography of John Dowell, it is an immersive work dramatizing African American history and resilience. Composed by Damien Geter and originally commissioned by the organizers of Philadelphia’s Lyric Fest, it incorporates the words of poets Nikki Giovanni, Michael Weaver, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and others, with Laura Ward on piano.
Austin also said that it was later on in life, after encountering other Black opera singers who reported feelings of isolation, when he realized how lucky he was. “I realized I was always surrounded by Black opera singers. I grew up with lots of Black opera singers, so it felt normal to me. It shielded me from the insecurities of feeling like I may not be invited to certain rooms.”
As an adult, he has been encouraged by how the opera world is evolving by telling more stories that originate with Black cast members. “More Black stories are being told, such as ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones,’ ‘Champion,’ and ‘COTTON,’” Austin said. “They’re no longer just relying on ‘Porgy and Bess.’ The stories are not just being written but people want to produce them. People want to put them on their stages, people want to buy tickets.”
Austin also believes that adding Black artists who aim to do what are considered Black stories gives the companies the opportunity to cast them in more traditional or classic operas. “It allows the companies to kind of see you and hear you in a different light, and they want to know where else they can put you. You can tell them, ‘Hey, I sing Mozart. I sing Donizetti, I sing Rossini,’ and then they can make that happen, which is very positive.”
About “COTTON,” Austin said, “‘COTTON’ is probably one of the most beautiful and interesting projects I’ve ever been a part of. It is told through fully multi-faceted, multi-dimensional multi-media. It represents a very dark time in our country, but it also represents hope, the future, and how we are economically powerful.”
As Austin explained the origin of the production, “Dowell took a trip to the South and was really moved by the beauty of the cotton fields. He took these gorgeous photos of cotton and he ended up superimposing them onto photos of Harlem. He has photos of the cotton kind of wrapped around buildings on Wall Street. Those were the photos that really affected and struck the co-founders of Lyric Fest, who decided to commission a song cycle dedicated to these photos.”
“COTTON” sets poetry around these photos. “They asked Black poets from all different generations to write whatever they felt was appropriate—whatever came from their heart—when they looked at these photos,” Austin said. “They all were uniquely tragic, uplifting, and everything that you could imagine a piece about cotton to be about.” Ultimately, they ended up with an eight-movement cycle where each song has a different librettist.
Originally, opera legend Denyce Graves was slated to perform “COTTON” solo. It was later suggested that a male point of view was also needed, so parts for baritone were written. When Austin’s name was floated as fitting for the role, Graves and Ward, who were unfamiliar with him, went to see him perform in Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel” at Lincoln Center. “They came to my show and they became fans instantly, and they said ‘Yes, we have to have Justin,’” he recalled.
Austin is aware that many New Yorkers see opera as something foreign to them, even with some of the greatest stages being in New York City. “People can feel like they’re not intellectual enough or they’re not cultured, and that’s not the case,” he said. “If you go see a movie, and you don’t [like it], you don’t leave the theater saying, ‘I don’t like movies.’ You just didn’t like that movie. Go see a different movie. Same with opera: If you don’t like one, go see another.”
People might also think that opera is about only people who are wealthier than they are—but “the most popular opera, ‘La Boheme,’is about people who can’t pay their rent,” Austin said. “No, it’s not fancy at all. It’s real. If you allow people the opportunity to understand that, people will realize this is accessible. ‘This is something that I can be interested in. This is for me.’”
Following decades of financial disinvestment in SUNY Downstate, one of Brooklyn’s largest and most important hospitals, by prior administrations, Governor Hochul has announced that financial assistance for SUNY Downstate is contingent upon its closure. It is unconscionable for her to link financial support to the closure of a vital healthcare institution that serves as a lifeline for our community.
This fast-track approval of the restructuring plan for SUNY Downstate by April 1, 2024, under the guise of “transformation,” is deeply troubling. The State has failed to comply with laws requiring a report on SUNY Downstate’s infrastructure needs yet bases its closure decision on these alleged deficiencies. By doing so, it is endangering the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Brooklyn residents.
SUNY Downstate serves patients like me, Nardel Joseph. I am 34 years old, and I have relied on dialysis to stay alive since 2018 due to end-stage renal disease. Over the past six years, it’s been very difficult to work and live a normal life. For most of this time on dialysis, I believed that I was not eligible for a kidney transplant because of my immigration status and lack of Social Security number. With help from volunteer lawyers working with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, I was able to qualify for health insurance that will cover my transplant. After being denied appointments at other hospitals in Manhattan, I was welcomed at SUNY Downstate, which houses the city’s only organ transplant program within a safety net hospital, and I am now on a waitlist to receive a transplant. Shuttering SUNY Downstate could leave me and over 100 other people who are currently listed for transplants in a state of limbo and with limited options for necessary medical care that is both as welcoming and as culturally competent as the care we receive at SUNY Downstate.
SUNY Downstate is not just a hospital; it is a cornerstone of the Black, brown, low-income, and immigrant community in central Brooklyn. It has proven to be an essential healthcare service for New Yorkers in a community that has been historically overburdened by high incidences of chronic disease. It provides unparalleled access to transplants for low-income, Black, and immigrant patients who have been systemically excluded from these operations by racially biased medical algorithms and decision-making models. The closure of such a facility would have devastating consequences for the health and well-being of the city.
For those who have received their transplants at SUNY Downstate, the majority of whom are covered by public insurance like Medicaid and the Essential Plan, connecting with the specialized medical care needed to preserve the transplanted organ could prove difficult, if not impossible, given the limited uptake of such insurance at private hospitals.
On top of the terrible toll closing SUNY Downstate would have on current patients, the restructuring relies on the proposed transfer of patients to already overcrowded hospitals. This move disregards the urgent healthcare needs of city residents. It will likely exacerbate the strain on the public health system, further marginalize vulnerable populations, and lead to worse health outcomes for people who rely on our public health system. Furthermore, the lack of transparency and community involvement in this decision-making process is unacceptable and harmful to a large swath of our community who already face barriers to accessing lifesaving care.
Governor Hochul and our state elected officials have the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to accessible healthcare for all by investing in the modernization and revitalization of SUNY Downstate while engaging with stakeholders including residents, patients, community organizations, and healthcare professionals to ensure their perspectives are central to the decision-making process. These principles are outlined in the Senate’s budget proposal and have been championed by legislators like Senator Zellnor Myrie, who represents the hospital and the surrounding community.
By investing in this critical institution, the state can strengthen our healthcare infrastructure, improve patient outcomes, and uphold our shared values of equity and compassion while continuing to address the harms that prevent the Black community from accessing life-saving kidney transplants. Governor Hochul must walk back the proposed closure of SUNY Downstate and ensure the hospital can remain an integral part of the Brooklyn community for years to come.
Nardel Joseph is a Brooklyn resident and SUNY Downstate patient. Karina Albistegui Adler is co-director of Health Justice at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
The National Action Network recently held its 33rd convention with Joy Reid of MSNBC, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie among the high-profile attendees.
New York State Senator Cordell Cleare hosted the third annual EID celebration this week at the Millbank Center in Harlem, along with Hon. Yusef Salaam, Hon. Charles Fall, Hon. Eddie Gibbs. The day of food, fashion, games, and more was co-sponsored with community masjids. All were welcome to the gathering.
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