In the age of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, it may seem strange that some artists choose not to make their music available on these platforms. After all, wouldn’t they want their music to be easily accessible to the masses? The music industry has undergone a major shift in recent years, with streaming…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a member of the illustrious Kennedy dynasty, is making an unlikely run for the Democratic presidential nomination and has declared that he is steadfastly committed to continuing his family’s enduring legacy.
In a one-on-one interview with the Black Press of America, Kennedy spoke about his relentless focus on combating environmental racism, ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officers, and addressing the alarming racial disparities within the American medical system.
The 69-year-old District of Columbia-born candidate said he’s championing causes that have plagued marginalized communities for far too long.
His mission, he insisted, extends beyond rhetoric, seeking to dismantle systemic barriers and usher in a brighter, more equitable future, particularly for African Americans who have borne the brunt of injustice, including the problematic issue of maternal mortality.
As he steps onto the political stage where his uncle, John F. Kennedy, counts as one of the most popular presidents in American history and where his father had all but sewn up the Democrat nomination before his assassination in 1968, Kennedy’s audacious bid could challenge the status quo and spark a transformative movement that reverberates through the nation.
“Black Americans are going to be a principal priority for me, particularly in ending that fear of dangerous interaction with law enforcement,” Kennedy asserted. He also pledged a move to end qualified immunity, which protects police officers from personal liability in the event of a lawsuit.
“There is no incentive for individuals to change bad behavior,” Kennedy remarked. “We need systemic changes. We need to remove qualified immunity, which would make it necessary for an individual to consider his liability with every interaction. Every good economic system [should] incentive good behavior and punish bad behavior. We need to have that.”
Kennedy added that there’s a need for a reorganization of police to understand the mission of protecting and serving “instead of being in combat mode when they come into the Black community.”
One of the children of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, Kennedy announced his presidential candidacy earlier this year.
His father and uncle, John F. Kennedy, both demonstrated a desire for a united and strong America, which he said inspired him.
Despite his anti-vaccine views that have caused controversy, some surveys have giving Kennedy as much as 20 percent support among Democrats.
His unlikely challenge to the incumbent President Joe Biden has gained steam. A poll by The Economist and YouGov showed that Kennedy was viewed favorably by 49% of respondents and unfavorably by just 30%, leaving him with a net rating of 19 points—higher than any other candidate in the poll, which surveyed 1,500 adult respondents from June 10 to 13.
Further, Biden had a negative 9-point net favorability rating, with 52% of respondents viewing him somewhat or very unfavorably.
In comparison, 45% have very or somewhat favorable impressions, and Trump had a negative 10-point net rating, with 53% viewing him unfavorably and 43% favorably.
“Could Bobby Kennedy catch a spark? Maybe,” Michael Novogratz, a billionaire Democratic donor who supported Biden in 2020 but has pledged not to back any candidate older than 72, told the New York Times.
“He’s alienated himself because of some of the anti-vax positions, but he is a bright man, articulate, eloquent, connected, has the Kennedy name, and would pull a lot of the Trump voters.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy said he’d also work to end medical racism “entrenched in our medical system in this country.”
He noted a recent video he created about medical racism, where health experts have concluded that Black Americans are less likely to receive quality medical care than whites. During the pandemic, Kennedy noted that African Americans were dying at 3.6 times the rate of whites.
Regardless of their income or social status, Black mothers suffered maternal mortality alarmingly higher than any other race.
“If you’re Black in this country, you’re getting third-world style medical care,” Kennedy insisted. “The medical system is not attuned to taking care of Black patients. Being a Black patient in this country is almost as dangerous as being a Black prisoner. You won’t get good medical care, which will be one of my priorities.”
Kennedy also noted food deserts are plentiful and the quality of meals is “horrible” in most Black communities.
“Environmental issues plague Black America,” Kennedy stated. “Four out of every five toxic waste structures are in Black communities.
“The highest concentration of toxic waste is on the south side of Chicago and look at all the food deserts. And the food made available in many Black communities is highly processed and loaded with chemicals and hormones.
“It’s making African Americans sicker. We need children who have good health and healthy brains, and they need to be able to access the best medical care, but the system is predatory toward Black Americans.”
NEW YORK (AP) — A fire that started in a New York City e-bike shop early Tuesday spread to upper-floor apartments, killing four people and injuring several others, authorities said.
City fire officials said the blaze was reported shortly after midnight on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in a six-story building that houses HQ E-Bike Repair. A pile of burned bikes and other debris was seen on the sidewalk outside the building.
Two men and two women died and two other women were hospitalized in critical condition, officials said. A firefighter suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Electric bikes have become popular, non-gasoline-burning ways to make deliveries, commute and zip around a city that has promoted cycling in recent decades. Many run on lithium ion batteries, which have been blamed for numerous fires.
In April in the Queens section of New York City, two children were killed in a fire blamed on an electric bicycle.
NEW YORK (AP) — Charitable giving in the United States declined in 2022 — only the third time in four decades that donations did not increase year over year — according to the Giving USA report released Tuesday.
Total giving fell 3.4% in 2022 to $499.3 billion in current dollars, a drop of 10.5% when adjusted for inflation. The decline comes at a time when many nonprofits, especially ones providing services to those in need, report an increase in requests for help.
However, Josh Birkholz, chairman of the Giving USA Foundation, which publishes the report and provides data and insights about donation trends, said the results are actually much better than they could have been considering the tough economic climate of late 2022.
“I go back and forth on whether it’s encouraging or discouraging,” Birkholz told The Associated Press in an interview. “There was a 20 to 25% decline in the stock market and an 8% inflation rate, but Americans still gave nearly a half trillion dollars.”
Those 2022 donations came after two record-setting years for charitable giving, driven by the unprecedented needs of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Una Osili, associate dean for research and international programs at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Giving USA report’s lead researcher. It’s a sign of continued generosity, though there are some areas of concern.
“At the beginning of the 21st century, two thirds of Americans gave,” Osili said. “Today, that is down to under 50% for the first time. So giving has grown, but fewer people are participating.”
The downturn in giving has led to issues at Community Help in Park Slope, better known as CHiPS, as it has in many charities across the country. The Brooklyn, New York, nonprofit operates a soup kitchen and food pantry, as well as supporting single mothers and their infants.
“We saw inflation rise and, with that, we saw more working class individuals on our lines,” said Shanice Brown, CHiPS development director. “Donations declined — and donated food as well — because as the price of things increase, people need more and so they donate less.”
CHiPS’ issues are compounded by the number of asylum seekers that are currently housed near the charity in Brooklyn. While CHiPS was providing 275 warm meals a day at this time last year, these days it is offering more than 400 meals daily. And sometimes, they simply run out of food.
“When we run out of hot meals, we still provide sandwiches,” said Brown, who has been collaborating with other nonprofits and food suppliers to try to make ends meet. “Anyone who comes to our door walks away with something.”
Even large-scale nonprofits have had to come up with new solutions to battle inflation’s effects on their resources.
Jared Perry, chief revenue officer at Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, said that while donations to the foundation, which grants the wishes of children fighting critical illnesses, were up slightly in 2022, they are currently declining in some areas this year. And those drops come while Make-A-Wish copes with increased costs for travel, which is involved in about 75% of the wishes they grant.
“I think we’ve seen a 37% increase in rental car prices and that translates to a cost we have to bear,” said Perry, adding that Make-A-Wish has stepped up calls for supporters to donate their airline miles and hotel points in order to help stretch its funding. The foundation has also turned to partners in the travel industry for more help.
The need, Perry said, is also an opportunity for Make-A-Wish and other nonprofits to engage individual donors and appeal to them for help. “The message we’re going to continue to send out is: There are easy ways for people to get to get involved with Make-A-Wish, whether that be through volunteering or certainly by donating,” he said. “For every wish that we’re granting, there’s another wish waiting.”
Jon Bergdoll, associate director of data partnerships at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and the lead analyst for the Giving USA report, said the long-running trend of “dollars up, donors down” in philanthropy offers potential growth for nonprofits who can engage those currently not giving.
Decision makers for donations are “not mom and pop donors, they’re wealthy individuals,” Bergdoll said. “That is indicative of where the money is coming from now versus 30 or 40 years ago.”
According to the Giving USA report, 64% of donations in 2022 came from individual donors, 21% from foundations, 9% from bequests, generally through a will or estate plan, and 6% from corporations. In 2022, corporations donated 0.9% of their pre-tax profits in the United States, though Bergdoll said the report does not track whether multi-national corporations donated more in other countries.
For CHiPS, they are simply hoping for help wherever they can find it. Brown said many foundations have told her they are not accepting new grantees this year because of the economy and other foundations that donated in 2020 and 2021 are saying, “Don’t ask us again until 2024.”
“People have less, so they’re concerned about themselves and that’s understandable,” Brown said. “But there are so many ways the community can help.”
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
This June 3rd was the 81st anniversary of Curtis Mayfield’s birth. Today, on Juneteenth, we offer Move On Up: The Best of Curtis Mayfield playlist to celebrate the Chicago native who made an indelible mark on popular music through his protest songs and on the movie soundtrack album in particular.
As a singer, songwriter, and producer, Mayfield is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in soul and R&B music. His early days with The Impressions showcased his distinctive falsetto vocals and he penned hits like “I’m So Proud” “It’s All Right,” and “Woman’s Got Soul,” among others.
However, it was his solo career that solidified his place as a musical pioneer and visionary. Beyond his musical contributions, Mayfield was a vocal advocate for civil rights and social equality.
His songs, including “Move On Up,”“People Get Ready,” “Keep On Pushing,” “Choice of Colors” and “We’re a Winner” became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement. They have empowered marginalized communities and inspired change for decades.
The soundtrack of Superfly was a smash by any measure. The record’s first single, “Freddie’s Dead” came out in July 1972, before the full album and the movie, and hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Mayfield also crafted and composed the 1976 soundtrack to Sparkle, on which Aretha Franklin recorded the now classic #1 R&B hit “Something He Can Feel.” En Vogue remade the song in 1992 and repeated that feat, along with taking their cover to No. 6 on the Hot 100 chart.
This collection features his many hits, collaborations, remixes of his work and covers made in tribute to his impact. Enjoy.
Happy Juneteenth!! Stay sane, safe, and kind. See ya next month, y’all.
ATLANTA (AP) — Entering court using a walker, a doctor’s note clutched in his hand, 70-year-old Dana Williams, who suffers serious heart problems, hypertension and asthma, pleaded to delay eviction from his two-bedroom apartment in Atlanta.
Although sympathetic, the judge said state law required him to evict Williams and his 25-year-old daughter De’mai Williams in April because they owed $8,348 in unpaid rent and fees on their $940-a-month apartment.
They have been living in limbo ever since.
They moved into a dilapidated Atlanta hotel room with water dripping through the bathroom ceiling, broken furniture and no refrigerator or microwave. But at $275-a-week, it was all they could afford on Williams’ $900 monthly social security check and the $800 his daughter gets biweekly from a state agency as her father’s caretaker.
“I really don’t want to be here by the time his birthday comes” in August, De’mai Williams said. “For his health, it’s just not right.”
The Williams family is among millions of tenants from New York state to Las Vegas who have been evicted or face imminent eviction.
After a lull during the pandemic, eviction filings by landlords have come roaring back, driven by rising rents and a long-running shortage of affordable housing. Most low-income tenants can no longer count on pandemic resources that had kept them housed, and many are finding it hard to recover because they haven’t found steady work or their wages haven’t kept pace with the rising cost of rent, food and other necessities.
Homelessness, as a result, is rising.
“Protections have ended, the federal moratorium is obviously over, and emergency rental assistance money has dried up in most places,” said Daniel Grubbs-Donovan, a research specialist at Princeton University’s Eviction Lab.
“Across the country, low-income renters are in an even worse situation than before the pandemic due to things like massive increases in rent during the pandemic, inflation and other pandemic-era related financial difficulties.”
Eviction filings are more than 50% higher than the pre-pandemic average in some cities, according to the Eviction Lab, which tracks filings in nearly three dozen cities and 10 states. Landlords file around 3.6 million eviction cases every year.
Among the hardest-hit are Houston, where rates were 56% higher in April and 50% higher in May. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, rates rose 106% in March, 55% in April and 63% in May. Nashville was 35% higher and Phoenix 33% higher in May; Rhode Island was up 32% in May.
The latest data mirrors trends that started last year, with the Eviction Lab finding nearly 970,000 evictions filed in locations it tracks — a 78.6% increase compared to 2021, when much of the country was following an eviction moratorium. By December, eviction filings were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.
At the same time, rent prices nationwide are up about 5% from a year ago and 30.5% above 2019, according to the real estate company Zillow. There are few places for displaced tenants to go, with the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimating a 7.3 million shortfall of affordable units nationwide.
The federal government, as well as many states and localities, issued moratoriums during the pandemic that put evictions on hold; most have now ended. There was also $46.5 billion in federal Emergency Rental Assistance that helped tenants pay rent and funded other tenant protections. Much of that has been spent or allocated, and calls for additional resources have failed to gain traction in Congress.
“The disturbing rise of evictions to pre-pandemic levels is an alarming reminder of the need for us to act — at every level of government — to keep folks safely housed,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, urging Congress to pass a bill cracking down on illegal evictions, fund legal help for tenants and keep evictions off credit reports.
Housing courts are again filling up and ensnaring the likes of 79-year-old Maria Jackson.
Jackson worked for nearly two decades building a loyal clientele as a massage therapist in Las Vegas, which has seen one of the country’s biggest jumps in eviction filings. That evaporated during the pandemic-triggered shutdown in March 2020. Her business fell apart; she sold her car and applied for food stamps.
She got behind on the $1,083 monthly rent on her one-bedroom apartment, and owing $12,489 in back rent was evicted in March. She moved in with a former client about an hour northeast of Las Vegas.
“Who could imagine this happening to someone who has worked all their life?” Jackson asked.
Last month she found a room in Las Vegas for $400 a month, paid for with her $1,241 monthly social security check. It’s not home, but “I’m one of the lucky ones,” she said.
“I could be in a tent or at a shelter right now.”
In upstate New York, evictions are rising after a moratorium lifted last year. Forty of the state’s 62 counties had higher eviction filings in 2022 than before the pandemic, including two where eviction filings more than doubled compared to 2019.
“How do we care for the folks who are evicted … when the capacity is not in place and ready to roll out in places that haven’t experienced a lot of eviction recently?” said Russell Weaver, whose Cornell University lab tracks evictions statewide.
Housing advocates had hoped the Democrat-controlled state Legislature would pass a bill requiring landlords to provide justification for evicting tenants and limit rent increases to 3% or 1.5 times inflation. But it was excluded from the state budget and lawmakers failed to pass it before the legislative session ended this month.
“Our state Legislature should have fought harder,” said Oscar Brewer, a tenant organizer facing eviction from the apartment he shares with his 6-year-old daughter in Rochester.
In Texas, evictions were kept down during the pandemic by federal assistance and the moratoriums. But as protections went away, housing prices skyrocketed in Austin, Dallas and elsewhere, leading to a record 270,000 eviction filings statewide in 2022.
Advocates were hoping the state Legislature might provide relief, directing some of the $32 billion budget surplus into rental assistance. But that hasn’t happened.
“It’s a huge mistake to miss our shot here,” said Ben Martin, a research director at nonprofit Texas Housers. “If we don’t address it, now, the crisis is going to get worse.”
Still, some pandemic protections are being made permanent, and having an impact on eviction rates. Nationwide, 200 measures have passed since January 2021, including legal representation for tenants, sealing eviction records and mediation to resolve cases before they reach court, said the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
These measures are credited with keeping eviction filings down in several cities, including New York City and Philadelphia — 41% below pre-pandemic levels in May for the former and 33% for the latter.
A right-to-counsel program and the fact that housing courts aren’t prosecuting cases involving rent arears are among the factors keeping New York City filings down.
In Philadelphia, 70% of the more than 5,000 tenants and landlords who took part in the eviction diversion program resolved their cases. The city also set aside $30 million in assistance for those with less than $3,000 in arears, and started a right-to-counsel program, doubling representation rates for tenants.
The future is not so bright for Williams and his daughter, who remain stuck in their dimly-lit hotel room. Without even a microwave or nearby grocery stores, they rely on pizza deliveries and snacks from the hotel vending machine.
Williams used to love having his six grandchildren over for dinner at his old apartment, but those days are over for now.
“I just want to be able to host my grandchildren,” he said, pausing to cough heavily. “I just want to live somewhere where they can come and sit down and hang out with me.”
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Casey reported from Boston. AP writer Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed.
For more than one-and-a-half centuries, the Juneteenth holiday has been sacred to many Black communities.
It marks the day in 1865 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed — after the end of the Civil war, and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Since it was designated a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth has become more universally recognized beyond Black America. Many people get the day off work or school, and there are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events.
People who never gave the holiday on June 19 more than a passing thought may be asking themselves, is there a “right” way to celebrate Juneteenth?
For beginners and those brushing up history, here are some answers:
IS JUNETEENTH A SOLEMN DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OR MORE OF A PARTY?
It just depends on what you want. Juneteenth festivities are rooted in cookouts and barbecues. In the beginnings of the holiday celebrated as Black Americans’ true Independence Day, the outdoors allowed for large, raucous reunions among formerly enslaved family, many of whom had been separated. The gatherings were especially revolutionary because they were free of restrictive measures, known as “Black Codes,” enforced in Confederate states, controlling whether liberated slaves could vote, buy property, gather for worship and other aspects of daily life.
Alan Freeman, 60, grew up celebrating Juneteenth every year in Houston, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Galveston. A comedian who is producing Galveston’s first ever Juneteenth Comedy Festival on Saturday, he has vivid memories of smoke permeating his entire neighborhood because so many people were using their barbecue pits for celebratory cookouts. You could go to anyone’s house and be welcomed to join in the feast, which could include grilled chicken and beef and other regional cuisines — jerk meats, fried fish, Jamaican plantains.
“It’s where I began to really see Black unity because I realized that that was the one day that African Americans considered ours,” Freeman said. “The one holiday that was ours. We didn’t have to share with anybody. And it was about freedom because what we understood is that we were emancipated from slavery. But, there was so many beautiful activities.”
Others may choose to treat Juneteenth as a day of rest and remembrance. That can mean doing community service, attending an education panel or taking time off.
The important thing is to make people feel they have options on how to observe the occasion, said Dr. David Anderson, a Black pastor and CEO of Gracism Global, a consulting firm helping leaders navigate conversations bridging divides across race and culture.
“Just like the Martin Luther King holiday, we say it’s a day of service and a lot of people will do things. There are a lot of other people who are just ‘I appreciate Dr. King, I’ll watch what’s on the television, and I’m gonna rest,’” Anderson said. “I don’t want to make people feel guilty about that. What I want to do is give everyday people a choice.”
WHAT IF YOU’VE NEVER CELEBRATED JUNETEENTH?
Anderson, 57, of Columbia, Maryland, never did anything on Juneteenth in his youth. He didn’t learn about it until his 30s.
“I think many folks haven’t known about it — who are even my color as an African American male. Even if you heard about it and knew about it, you didn’t celebrate it,” Anderson said. “It was like just a part of history. It wasn’t a celebration of history.”
For many African Americans, the farther away from Texas that they grew up increased the likelihood they didn’t have big Juneteenth celebrations regularly. In the South, the day can vary based on when word of Emancipation reached each state.
Anderson has no special event planned other than giving his employees Friday and Monday off. If anything, Anderson is thinking about the fact it’s Father’s Day this weekend.
“If I can unite Father’s Day and Juneteenth to be with my family and honor them, that would be wonderful,” he said.
WHAT KIND OF PUBLIC JUNETEENTH EVENTS ARE GOING ON AROUND THE COUNTRY?
Search online and you will find a smorgasbord of gatherings in major cities and suburbs all varying in scope and tone. Some are more carnival-esque festivals with food trucks, arts and crafts and parades. Within those festivals, you’ll likely find access to professionals in health care, finance and community resources. There also are concerts and fashion shows to highlight Black excellence and creativity. For those who want to look back, plenty of organizations and universities host panels to remind people of Juneteenth’s history.
ARE THERE SPECIAL FOODS SERVED ON JUNETEENTH?
Aside from barbecue, the color red has been a through line for Juneteenth food for generations. Red symbolizes the bloodshed and sacrifice of enslaved ancestors. A Juneteenth menu might incorporate items like barbecued ribs or other red meat, watermelon and red velvet cake. Drinks like fruit punch and red Kool-Aid may make an appearance at the table.
DOES HOW YOU CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH MATTER IF YOU AREN’T BLACK?
Dr. Karida Brown, a sociology professor at Emory University whose research focuses on race, said there’s no reason to feel awkward about wanting to recognize Juneteenth because you have no personal ties or you’re not Black. In fact, embrace it.
“I would reframe that and challenge my non-Black folks who want to lean into Juneteenth and celebrate,” Brown said. “It absolutely is your history. It absolutely is a part of your experience. … Isn’t this all of our history? The good, the bad, the ugly, the story of emancipation and freedom for for your Black brothers and sisters under the Constitution of the law.”
If you want to bring some authenticity to your recognition of Juneteenth, educate yourself. Attending a street festival or patronizing a Black-owned business is a good start but it also would be good to “make your mind better,” Anderson said.
“That goes longer than a celebration,” Anderson said. “I think Black people need to do it too because it’s new for us as well, in America. But for non-Black people, if they could read on this topic and read on Black history beyond Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, that would show me that you’re really serious about growing in this area.”
If you’re struggling with how to “ethically” mark the day, Brown also suggested expanding your knowledge of why the holiday matters so much. That can be through reading, attending an event or going to an African American history museum if there’s one nearby.
“Have that full human experience of seeing yourself in and through the eyes of others, even if that’s not your own lived experience,” she said. “That is a radical human act that is awesome and should be encouraged and celebrated.”
WHAT ARE OTHER NAMES USED TO REFER TO JUNETEENTH?
Over the decades, Juneteenth has also been called Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Black Fourth of July and second Independence Day among others.
“Because 1776, Fourth of July, where we’re celebrating freedom and liberty and all of that, that did not include my descendants,” Brown said. “Black people in America were still enslaved. So that that holiday always comes with a bittersweet tinge to it.”
IS THERE A PROPER JUNETEENTH GREETING?
It’s typical to wish people a “Happy Juneteenth” or “Happy Teenth,” said Freeman, the comedian.
“You know how at Christmas people will say ‘Merry Christmas’ to each other and not even know each other? You can get a ‘Merry Christmas’ from everybody. This is the same way,” Freeman said.
No matter what race you are, you will “absolutely” elicit a smile if you utter either greeting, he said.
“I believe that a non-Black person who celebrates Juneteenth … it’s their one time to have a voice, to participate.”
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Tang, who reported from Phoenix, is a member of The Associated Press’ Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter at @ttangAP.
Lots of dads love to grill. They’re usually the ones in charge of the cooking, but this time let him sit back and relax while you prepare drool worthy dishes on the grill. Dads love their meat, so cook him some of some amazing barbecue that are perfect for Father’s Day – show your love for him even just through these BBQ recipes that all dads will love!
Tropical Salmon BBQ
What you need:
1/2 kilogram fresh salmon fillets, sliced into 1/2-inch strips
1 zucchini, sliced in 1/8-inch pieces
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Mix together white wine vinegar, dill, lemon juice and lemon zest in a large resealable bag. Add salmon fillets to the bag and shake to coat with marinade. Seal and refrigerate for 30 minutes only (the vinegar will cook the salmon if marinated longer). When ready, thread salmon pieces onto skewers, alternating with zucchini. Season with salt and pepper then cook on a pre-heated grill over medium heat, flipping constantly, until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Delicious Grilled Beer Chicken
What you need:
1 roaster chicken
1 can light beer
1 1/4 cup chilli sauce
3/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon chilli powder
1/2 tablespoon liquid smoke
Pour half of the contents of the beer can in a container and reserve. Insert the can in the cavity of the chicken then place the chicken in a large aluminum roaster pan. Cook on a pre-heated grill over medium heat, covered, for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together chilli sauce, molasses, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, hot sauce, chilli powder and liquid sauce in a bowl. When chicken is ready, baste generously with the sauce mixture. Grill chicken for another 45 minutes. Pour remaining sauce in a pan and simmer until reduced in half, about 20 minutes. When chicken is ready, remove from the grill and slice. Serve with sauce for dipping.
Show your love and appreciation to all the dads in your life like father, your grandfather, your husband, a friends and other special dads – cook them something the will never forget – try these Father’s Day barbecue recipes. Keep in mind that it’s the thought that always counts!
Adrian T. Cheng is a food blogger and a BBQ expert. Through years of grill experience, reviewing various grilling accessories and trying delicious and unique recipes, he is sharing his knowledge with everyone through his blog. For more grilling secrets, tips, recipes and more, head over to Adrian’s website where he has other interesting grill-related products and posts.
Having a strong and engaging Instagram presence in today’s social media is more important than ever. You can find opportunities on Instagram if you are an influencer, small business owner, or just someone who shares compelling visuals. We will introduce you to the best four websites that can help you skyrocket your Instagram followers and…
As early voting in New York’s upcoming Primary Elections begin, Faith In New York along with other local faith leaders are looking to mobilize the local voters through their “Souls to the Polls” voting campaign this weekend. The two days will include “action, civic engagement, and advocacy to engage low-propensity voters, increase turnout, and ensure Black and Brown constituents are heard.”
Faith In New York’s campaign kicked off Friday with a press conference at City Hall where the group demanded that Mayor Eric Adams adopt an equity-centered budget.
Adam’s deadline to submit a budget is July 1.
Saturday will feature a “citywide day of action” including various events across the five boroughs. Scheduled events include a non-partisan Harlem City Council candidates forum, a “Souls to the Polls” block party, and an immigration resource fair.
“We’ll be engaged in community outreach, making sure that people are registered to vote, making sure that people know where their polling location is, that their voter registration status is up to date. We’re at community events, at workshops, at different congregations, at block parties interfacing with the community… I would say the biggest thing with all of this is working to disrupt the narrative that our vote doesn’t matter,” said Crystal Walthall, executive director of Faith In New York.
Participants and volunteers are able to register and see the list of events here.
New York voters will be deciding critical positions in the City Council as well as the District Attorney in The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island.
Early voting period officially begins June 17. The primary election is on June 27 with the general election being held on November 7. Voters can learn more at NYC.gov.
The push to get New Yorkers to the polls for the Primary comes following the release of Adams preliminary fiscal budget proposal for 2024 which included significant cuts to city agencies like the Department of Education, public libraries, and social services.
“This proposal would further marginalize the city’s most vulnerable populations who have historically been impacted by systemic inequities, particularly Black and Brown communities,” the organization said in statement.
As a member of the NYC Budget Justice Coalition, formed by Communities United for Police Reform, the organization supports the outline laid out in the CPR’s FY24 budget justice platform.
“We are one of many organizations that endorse CPR’s FY24 budget justice platform and we are calling on the mayor to reallocate an overinflated NYPD budget to true public safety solutions. When we invest in education, mental health services, public libraries and jobs, we will see true public safety and improvement in quality of life,” Walthall said.
Withall says they are educating New York community members most impacted by these cuts in resources on the issues.
“Faith in New York is doing citywide outreach, both virtual and in person, to the communities that would be the most negatively impacted by Mayor Adams’ budget proposal: especially Bed-Stuy, South Jamaica, South Bronx and Harlem,” said Walthall.” “Our goal is to make sure that the information our communities need is going directly to the people, and to ensure that our communities know how to harness the power of their voice and their vote.”
The campaign is geared toward reaching the low-propensity voters as well as the Black and Brown communities that ill be most affected.
“We hover around 20% which means around 1 in 5 New Yorkers is actually voting. Our vote is our power when it comes to our budgets, our legislations…A lot of people still don’t know how ranked choice voting works. We want to make sure that all of our community members are equipped to make the right choices for their communities at the polls.” Walthall said.
Faith In New York is collaborating on voter events with other local organizations such as Bronx Defenders, Latino Justice, Mott Haven Reformed Church, among others.
Walthall noted they will continue to ramp up organizing events and mobilizing voters throughout the summer and the fall ahead of the general election in November.
