The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC), wishes to introduce the Carver Bank 2023 Minority Women-Owned Business Pitch Competition partnership in Harlem. It’s all about empowering minority women-owned businesses. Money isn’t just power; it’s access. Money isn’t just power; it’s access. Carver’s Grant is more than funds; it’s an investment in the future of women-owned…
The 33rd celebration of the United Nations International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) will be held on Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and focus on “Fulfilling the promises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for Older Persons: Across Generations.”
“The event will put a spotlight on the specificity of older persons around the world, for the enjoyment of their rights and in addressing violations, and how the strengthening of solidarity through equity and reciprocity between generations offers sustainable solutions to deliver on the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Amidst the looming threat of a government shutdown as funding expiration at the end of the month draws ever closer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, has characterized the Republican Party as being “in the middle of a civil war.” The statement comes as both major parties engage in heated negotiations to reach an agreement to prevent the shutdown.
Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week,” Jeffries stated unequivocally, “Let’s be clear: House Republicans are in the middle of a civil war. The House Republican civil war is hurting hard-working American taxpayers and limiting our ability to solve problems on their behalf. It’s unfortunate, but as House Democrats, we’re going to continue to try to find common ground with the other side of the aisle to work with Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans and President Biden.”
Jeffries’ comments were made in response to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to initiate an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. That move contradicted his stance that a full chamber vote would be required for such proceedings. In response to McCarthy’s actions, Jeffries assured that the White House would cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, asserting that there was “nothing to hide.” He contended that the investigations conducted by House Republicans into the Biden family had failed to produce any evidence suggesting that the President had “engaged in impeachable offenses.”
“There are no facts on the record to suggest that President Biden broke the law in any way, shape, or form. This is an illegitimate impeachment inquiry,” he stated. “It’s a product of the House Republican civil war. Why in the world, in the middle of all the issues that we are trying to tackle, all of the problems that we are trying to solve on behalf of the American people, would House Republicans inject this illegitimate impeachment inquiry in the middle of us trying to do the business of the American people? It’s quite unfortunate, it’s wrong, it’s distracting, and it should end now.”
Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina who appeared on the same program, criticized Jeffries for using the term “civil war” to describe the internal tensions within the GOP. According to Mace, Republican use of such language would spark outrage and be considered divisive.
Members of McCarthy’s caucus on the hard right threaten to unseat him from the speakership unless he meets their demands, including spending cuts and policy add-ons to must-pass government funding legislation. Also, they have signaled their unwillingness to support a stopgap bill to buy more time before the impending government shutdown deadline at the end of the month.
In response to the ongoing negotiations, McCarthy expressed optimism that progress had been made over the weekend in an interview with NBC News. He also revealed plans to incorporate border security into a continuing resolution and expressed confidence that an agreement would be reached “this week.”
During a separate television appearance, McCarthy emphasized his commitment to putting a bill on the floor, regardless of whether it passes or fails, to showcase where lawmakers stand on crucial issues. “I gave them an opportunity this weekend to try to work through this, and we’ll bring it to the floor win or lose and show the American public who’s for the Department of Defense, who’s for our military,” McCarthy declared.
When we came into office 20 months ago, we promised we would ‘Get Stuff Done’ for New Yorkers and New York City. Our most recent “Mayor’s Management Report” (MMR) shows that our administration has been doing just that in ways that improve our quality of life and our city’s economic recovery. The MMR uses data…
Unveil the secrets of Harlem, where history and architectural wonders intertwine. Step into a world brimming with unique charm and rich historical significance. As the heartbeat of African American culture, Harlem holds hidden gems that are waiting to be discovered. From storied brownstones to iconic theaters, the architectural marvels of Harlem stand as testaments to…
NEW YORK (AP) — Yelling that the future and their lives depend on ending fossil fuels, tens of thousands of protesters on Sunday kicked off a week where leaders will try once again to curb climate change primarily caused by coal, oil and natural gas.
But protesters say it’s not going to be enough. And they aimed their wrath directly at U.S. President Joe Biden, urging him to stop approving new oil and gas projects, phase out current ones and declare a climate emergency with larger executive powers.
“We hold the power of the people, the power you need to win this election,” said 17-year-old Emma Buretta of Brooklyn of the youth protest group Fridays for Future. “If you want to win in 2024, if you do not want the blood of my generation to be on your hands, end fossil fuels.”
The March to End Fossil Fuels featured such politicians as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and actors Susan Sarandon, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Kyra Sedgewick and Kevin Bacon. But the real action on Broadway was where protesters crowded the street, pleading for a better but not-so-hot future. It was the opening salvo to New York’s Climate Week, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts gather to try to save the planet, highlighted by a new special United Nations summit Wednesday.
Many of the leaders of countries that cause the most heat-trapping carbon pollution will not be in attendance. And they won’t speak at the summit organized by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a way that only countries that promise new concrete action are invited to speak.
Organizers estimated 75,000 people marched Sunday.
“We have people all across the world in the streets, showing up, demanding a cessation of what is killing us,” Ocasio-Cortez told a cheering crowd. “We have to send a message that some of us are going to be living on, on this planet 30, 40, 50 years from now. And we will not take no for an answer.”
This protest was far more focused on fossil fuels and the industry than previous marches. Sunday’s rally attracted a large chunk, 15%, of first-time protesters and was overwhelmingly female, said American University sociologist Dana Fisher, who studies environmental movements and was surveying march participants.
Of the people Fisher talked to, 86% had experienced extreme heat recently, 21% floods and 18% severe drought, she said. They mostly reported feeling sad and angry. Earth has just gone through the hottest summer on record.
Among the marchers was 8-year-old Athena Wilson from Boca Raton, Florida. She and her mother Maleah, flew from Florida for Sunday’s protest.
“Because we care about our planet,” Athena said. “I really want the Earth to feel better.”
People in the South, especially where the oil industry is, and the global south, “have not felt heard,” said 23-year-old Alexandria Gordon, originally from Houston. “It is frustrating.”
Protest organizers emphasized how let down they felt that Biden, who many of them supported in 2020, has overseen increased drilling for oil and fossil fuels.
“President Biden, our lives depend on your actions today,” said Louisiana environmental activist Sharon Lavigne. “If you don’t stop fossil fuels our blood is on your hands.”
Nearly one-third of the world’s planned drilling for oil and gas between now and 2050 is by U.S. interests, environmental activists calculate. Over the past 100 years, the United States has put more heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than any other country, though China now emits more carbon pollution on an annual basis.
“You need to phase out fossil fuels to survive our planet,” said Jean Su, a march organizer and energy justice director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
Marchers and speakers spoke of increasing urgency and fear of the future. The actress known as V, formerly Eve Ensler, premiered the anthem “Panic” from her new climate change oriented musical scheduled for next year. The chorus goes: “We want you to panic. We want you to act. You stole our future and we want it back.”
Signs included “Even Santa Knows Coal is Bad” and “Fossil fuels are killing us” and “I want a fossil free future” and “keep it in the ground.”
That’s because leaders don’t want to acknowledge “the elephant in the room,” said Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate. “The elephant is that fossil fuels are responsible for the crisis. We can’t eat coal. We can’t drink oil, and we can’t have any new fossil fuel investments.”
But oil and gas industry officials said their products are vital to the economy.
“We share the urgency of confronting climate change together without delay; yet doing so by eliminating America’s energy options is the wrong approach and would leave American families and businesses beholden to unstable foreign regions for higher cost and far less reliable energy,” said American Petroleum Institute Senior Vice President Megan Bloomgren.
Activists weren’t having any of that.
“The fossil fuel industry is choosing to rule and conquer and take and take and take without limit,” Rabbi Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim of Brooklyn said. “And so waters are rising and the skies are turning orange (from wildfire smoke) and the heat is taking lives. But you Mr. President can choose the other path, to be a protector of this Earth.”
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Linda Klamm, who works as an attorney for insurance policyholders after catastrophes, lost her home to a firestorm in Oakland, California, in 1991, and has firsthand experience with the challenges of collecting on a policy.
“The sky went from being a reddish color to the sun looking bloodied. Then it quickly became black,” she said, of that year. “I loaded my 3-year-old and not-quite-6-year-old into the back of the car. We got a few things — our dog, one of our three cats, the kids. There were two ways out. By the time I was leaving, one was engulfed in flames.”
In the wake of subsequent fires, including wildfires in California and other states, Klamm offers assistance to policyholders on recovering funds. While homeowners tend to have more financial stability, renters more often face the burden of losses without a financial cushion, she said.
For those who do acquire a policy ahead of time, which Klamm encourages, fire and many other “catastrophic events” are typically covered to a point, but most policies still exclude earthquakes and floods.
Replacing the bare necessities is “all-consuming and exhausting,” Klamm recalls, of the days after the firestorm. “When I wasn’t driving or at work, I was working on the claim or shopping. My youngest cried every night and begged to go home.”
Even though she had trained to handle insurance claims, Klamm found the process of re-acquiring possessions, communicating with the insurance company, and rebuilding her life grueling — and that’s with a policy in place.
The average cost of a renters insurance policy in 2023 was $148 per year, or about $12 per month, according to the most recent analysis by NerdWallet. That number’s based on a policy for a hypothetical 30-year-old with $30,000 in personal property coverage, $100,000 in liability coverage and a $500 deductible, but coverage rates vary widely by state and policy choices.
A new analysis from the nonprofit Financial Health Network has found that the uneven distribution of insurance coverage tends to leave low-income households lacking policies, especially in states that have experienced the greatest losses due to climate disaster.
“The cost of insurance products can act as a barrier,” the researchers found. “Some consumers prefer not to purchase insurance, especially if they are unaware of their risks or perceive their risks to be manageable.”
Asked why they choose not to purchase renters insurance, more than one in three polled said the cost was “too expensive” and they felt they had “no need for it,” according to the Financial Health Network.
States with higher-than-average annual losses include California, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Washington, according to the Financial Health Network. The losses are incurred by flooding, hurricanes, landslides, and wildfires, among other unusual weather events, such as tornadoes.
“Losses from natural disasters are an equity issue,” the study’s authors write. “Those living in high-loss states were more frequently financially vulnerable than residents of low-loss states.”
Following a disaster, renters are not responsible for financing repairs to the building where they live, but still need to replace or repair belongings that are damaged or destroyed. As renters typically have lower incomes, less wealth, and lower financial health than homeowners, the difficulties have a compounding effect.
The authors of the Financial Health Network report recommend structural policy changes. They suggest states mandate grace periods for consumers who experience financial hardship and struggle to pay insurance premiums, to help renters keep coverage if they experience cash flow issues. They also recommend landlords increase the uptake of rental insurance by making it a default expense for renters, which they would choose to opt out of, rather than opting into.
Here’s what to keep in mind:
WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT ACQUIRING RENTERS INSURANCE?
Many insurance companies will give you a discount on your renters insurance if you buy it along with another policy — such as auto insurance — which is known as “bundling.” For consumers who live in high-risk states, Klamm said, “the first piece of advice is to get it — renters insurance — and then to consider cash value versus replacement cost.”
Insurance companies make this distinction between the kinds of compensation a policyholder receives after losses. Essentially: Would you prefer to receive the dollar value of what you own (the “cash value”), or the cost of replacing it (which tends to be higher, as goods depreciate over time)? If you opt for the “replacement cost,” you’ll pay a higher monthly premium.
WHAT’S COVERED BY RENTERS INSURANCE?
Most renters insurance policies include:
— Personal property protection. If your belongings are stolen or destroyed, the insurance company pays (minus your deductible).
— Liability and medical costs. If you’re found responsible for a person being injured or property being damaged in your home, the insurance company pays.
— Loss of use. If you need to relocate after a disaster while your home is being repaired, the policy may cover hotel bills and other unexpected expenses in the interim.
REMEMBER TO UPDATE THE POLICY OVER TIME.
Klamm advises policyholders to check in and make changes to their coverage choices over the years.
“While people tend to get a policy and pay on it without changes, the limits get completely askew with reality as to what things might cost over time,” she said. “So check in on those and see that they’re adjusted, as you do tend to acquire more things.”
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The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Albany State University defeated Morehouse College 24-14. The two Georgia-based HBCUs met on a neutral field at MetLife Stadium for the second annual Toyota HBCU New York Classic.
Albany State scored two touchdowns early in the first quarter including a 58-yard pass by quarterback Isaiah Knowles to Rashad Jordan. They would connect again on a 13-yard reception in the fourth quarter with Isaiah Knowles finishing the game 20 for 30 and 245 yards passing with three touchdowns.
“I really wanted to win. And we went out and got it,” said Jordan.
Both teams have trained under new head coaches this season who met for their first competition at the Toyota HBCU New York Classic.
“This is a game for our kids [and] they’ve been playing this game since they were four or five years old. The fact that we’re in MetLife Stadium…doesn’t change the fact that you’re in between those lines,” said the Golden Rams head coach Quinn Gray, Sr., a former NFL quarterback and FAMU legend. “We would have played in the parking lot if they put the ball down, it doesn’t matter where, we play football. We’ll play anywhere, anytime, anyplace.”
Regarding the opportunity to play in the Toyota HBCU New York Classic, he added, “Eleven of these kids had never been on an airplane before so the experiences this has created for these kids is second to none.”
Morehouse was led by coach and alumni Gerard Wilcher, who fulfilled his dream to become a head coach for the prestigious college last February when he was brought in to lead the Tigers.
“These are Morehouse men. We are here to win and graduate. We are working on the winning part as well as the graduation part,” said Wilcher. “It’s about growing and learning from our mistakes. Somewhere along the years, we fell way behind, and now we are playing catch up.”
The Toyota HBCU New York Classic is a multi-day celebration of HBCU culture and community activities, including career fairs and education days, a Greek step show, tailgate, battle of the bands, and more. The game’s halftime show included a live performance by rap legend Big Daddy Kane, plus spectacular drumline performances and a battle of the bands between Morehouse College and Albany State University.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Help-wanted advertisements in New York will have to disclose proposed pay rates after a statewide salary transparency law goes into effect on Sunday, part of growing state and city efforts to give women and people of color a tool to advocate for equal pay for equal work.
Employers with at least four workers will be required to disclose salary ranges for any job advertised externally to the public or internally to workers interested in a promotion or transfer.
Pay transparency, supporters say, will prevent employers from offering some job candidates less or more money based on age, gender, race or other factors not related to their skills.
Advocates believe the change also could help underpaid workers realize they make less than people doing the same job.
A similar pay transparency ordinance has been in effect in New York City since 2022. Now, the rest of the state joins a handful of others with similar laws, including California and Colorado.
“There is a trend, not just in legislatures but among workers, to know how much they can expect going into a job. There’s a demand from workers to know of the pay range,” said Da Hae Kim, a state policy senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center.
The law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022, also will apply to remote employees who work outside of New York but report to a supervisor, office or worksite based in the state. The law would not apply to government agencies or temporary help firms.
Compliance will be a challenge, said Frank Kerbein, director of human resources at the New York Business Council, which has criticized the law for putting an additional administrative burden on employers.
“We have small employers who don’t even know about the law,” said Kerbein, who predicted there would be “a lot of unintentional noncompliance.”
To avoid trouble when setting a salary range, an employer should examine pay for current employees, said Allen Shoikhetbrod, who practices employment law at Tully Rinckley, a private law firm.
State Senator Jessica Ramos, a Democrat representing parts of Queens, said the law is a win for labor rights groups.
“This is something that, organically, workers are asking for,” she said. “Particularly with young people entering the workforce, they’ll have a greater understanding about how their work is valued.”
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Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Maysoon Khan on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
New congressional maps would have to include more districts in Alabama and potentially other states where Black voters would have a better chance of electing someone of their choice, a decision widely seen as benefiting Democrats.
It’s been more than three months since the justice’s 5-4 ruling, and maps that could produce more districts represented by Black lawmakers still do not exist.
Alabama Republicans are hoping to get a fresh hearing on the issue before the Supreme Court. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana never even bothered to draw a new map.
Khadidah Stone, a plaintiff in the Alabama case, said the continuing opposition was “appalling” but “not surprising.” She noted that Alabama is where then-Gov. George Wallace blocked Black students from integrating the University of Alabama in 1963.
“There is a long history there of disobeying court orders to deny Black people our rights,” she said.
A similar dynamic is playing out in Florida, where Republicans are appealing a ruling favorable to Black voters to the Republican-majority state Supreme Court.
Lawsuits over racially gerrymandered congressional maps in several other states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, quickly followed the Supreme Court’s landmark Voting Rights Act decision in June. But the continued pushback from Republican legislatures in control of redistricting means there is great uncertainty about whether –- or how soon -– new maps offering equal representation for Black voters will be drawn.
Whether the Republican strategy proves to be a defiance of court orders that the Supreme Court will shoot down or a deft political move will be become clearer over the next month.
Shawn Donahue of the State University of New York at Buffalo, an expert on voting rights and redistricting, said the Supreme Court could put a quick end to the delays and “summarily affirm” the decision of a lower court panel that rejected the latest Alabama congressional map. That map continued to provide just one majority Black district out of seven in a state where Black residents comprise 27% of the population.
“You could have some of (the justices) just kind of say — ‘You know what, I didn’t agree, but that’s what the ruling was,’” Donahue said.
The Supreme Court also could agree to hear Alabama’s challenge, bringing the state’s redistricting plans back to the court less than a year after it rendered its opinion in the previous case.
Republicans want to keep their map in place as the state continues to fight the lower court ruling ordering them to create a second district where Black voters constitute a majority or close to it. The state contends the Supreme Court set no such remedy and that the new map complies with the court’s decision by fixing the problems it identified — such as how the state’s Black Belt region was split into multiple districts.
“A stay is warranted before voters are sorted into racially gerrymandered districts that are by their very nature odious,’ the state attorney general’s office wrote in the stay request.
The stakes are high. With Republicans holding a slim majority in the U.S. House, the redistricting cases have the potential to switch control of the chamber next year.
Shortly after its decision in the Alabama case, the Supreme Court lifted its hold on a similar case from Louisiana, raising hopes among Democrats that the state would be forced to draw another Black majority congressional district.
But even if the court rejects Alabama’s latest plan, it would not necessarily bring an instant end to the case in Louisiana, where U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick has ruled that a second majority-Black district must be drawn.
Dick has three days of hearings scheduled to begin Oct. 3. But her initial order blocking the 2022 congressional map drawn by Louisiana’s GOP-controlled Legislature — which maintains white majorities in five of six districts in a state where about one-third of voters are Black — remains on appeal. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear arguments Oct. 6.
Louisiana’s lawyers argue that the Black communities the plaintiffs and the district court seek to include in a second majority Black district are too far-flung, even under the Alabama precedent.
The high court’s decision in the Alabama case “did not present a free pass to future plaintiffs to establish (Voting Rights Act) liability without proving that the relevant minority population is itself compact,” Louisiana said in its argument.
The voting rights advocates suing the state argue that the plans they have suggested so far are “on average more compact” than the plan the state is trying to preserve.
Stuart Naifeh, who is a plaintiff as part of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said in Louisiana that the court is considering the maps drawn by only the plaintiffs because the Legislature chose not to draw any. Louisiana state Rep. Sam Jenkins Jr., a Democrat, said he is optimistic now that the matter is in the courts.
“We had the opportunity to do the right thing, which would have been fair for all the people of Louisiana,” he said. “I am disappointed that the court still has to come in and make our state do what is right.”
Louisiana’s argument against a second district has less merit than Alabama’s, said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat. Louisiana has just one majority Black congressional district out of six even though Black residents account for one-third of the state’s population. That lone district encompasses both New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
“These are two distinct cities, two distinct regions, two distinct interests and needs, and it only makes sense to have these two large communities to anchor individual congressional districts,” Duplessis said. “We have shown that there is a multitude of ways to draw a map that has two majority Black districts that meet all the criteria for fair redistricting.”
A similar case is playing out in Florida, though not in federal court.
A state judge ruled earlier this month that a redistricting plan pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a GOP presidential contender, should be redrawn because it diminishes the ability of Black voters in north Florida to pick a representative of their choice.
The state is appealing that ruling, and the case might be fast-tracked to the Florida Supreme Court, where five of the seven justices were appointed by DeSantis. Both sides are requesting a quick resolution before the next legislative session in case districts need to be redrawn for the 2024 elections.
The new map essentially drew Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, who is Black, out of office by carving up his district and dividing a large number of Black voters into conservative districts represented by white Republicans. DeSantis contended the previous district extended 200 miles just to link Black communities, violating the constitutional standards for compactness.
Angie Nixon, a Black state representative from Jacksonville, was one of the Democratic lawmakers who led a protest against the DeSantis map. She said she is still hopeful the state’s high court will ultimately deliver the outcome wanted by voting rights groups.
Nixon said groups have been organizing to get more people engaged.
“We are going to use this as an opportunity to serve as a catalyst to get people moving and get people out to vote,” she said.
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Gomez Licon reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.
