Brooklyn Councilmember Crystal Hudson, fresh off family leave, returned to the office this October with a profound sense of appreciation for sleep after she and her wife welcomed a newborn baby girl. 

Hudson made history in 2021 as the first out gay Black woman ever elected to the New York City Council. About three months ago, she used the state’s12-week paid family leave policy to spend bonding time with her wife, Sasha Ahuja, and daughter, Cy, at home. 

“It’s definitely been stressful. It’s also really rewarding, joyful, and exciting. The sleep deprivation was something that you can never really prepare for,” said Hudson. “It’s almost unfathomable.”

She’s excited to be back at work, and at the same time, adjusting to this next chapter in her life. The first few weeks of leave were devoted to family, she said, but she eventually shifted to a hybrid schedule with her district office, assisting with projects and an asylum seeker shelter, as well as making appearances when she could. 

Hudson represents District 35, covering neighborhoods like Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Bedford Stuyvesant. She chairs the Committee on Aging and is also co-chair of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) Caucus.

A Brooklyn native, Hudson said she grew up an only child with a single parent. While on leave, she thought constantly about her mother and other single parents rising to the difficult task of raising children alone. 

Legislatively, she’s been inspired.

“I was already a huge proponent of universal childcare and (related) things, but it’s different once you’ve lived the experience. And so now I’m just like ‘everybody should just get a year,’” joked Hudson. The joke aside, she said she does believe that paid family leave could stand to be increased to possibly six months, especially for new parents.

She’s also proud of the work the City Council has done to address citywide childcare issues and pay disparities for early childhood educators. “For a city council that is majority women, I think now we have more mothers than we’ve ever had. That’s the priority you see when you have a body that looks the way that our body does,” said Hudson.    

Hudson said she didn’t desire to be pregnant herself but has been family planning with her wife for some time. Her wife delivered her daughter at NYU under the care of their family obstetrician-gynecologist (obgyn), a Black queer woman who runs an all-female practice. She thinks that for many “LGBTQIA+ identified couples,” the choice to have children is very deliberate and intentional, so it’s about commitment more than anything. The evolution of maternal leave to parental leave allows for more diverse families to make that commitment, she said.

“For the City Council specifically, we have parental leave, and it extends to all parents, whether you’re adopting, fostering, birthing, or not birthing,” said Hudson. “It’s just parental leave for everyone and it’s the most inclusive that it could be.”

Hudson said she has received some backlash from the community for taking the time off, but overwhelmingly, the feedback has been positive and congratulatory.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

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* This article was originally published here

Paralegal Pathways Initiative (PPI) is extending the arm of law into a helping hand for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers. Housed in Columbia Law School, the program fosters participants’ experience navigating the criminal legal justice system into potential careers in the law field. Applications are open until next Friday, Nov. 3. 

Co-founder Devon Simmons, who immediately went back to school after leaving state prison, realized he never applied the legal experience he gained from incarceration towards his studies. 

“The skillset that people probably develop most inside of jails and prisons is legal research, because everybody has to literally do some type of legal research whether to advocate for themselves or file a grievance,” he said. “So it’s a thing in which people [who] are incarcerated have to interact with in some shape, form or fashion. Why don’t we create a training course, which will allow people to hone those skills in which they develop inside and hopefully be able to connect it to employment.”

The program runs for 12 weeks from next January to May. Currently around 19 law students are preparing the spring semester curriculum for the new crop of PPI participants. They put together the courses with input by program alumni, factoring in legal research and writing, along with necessary professional skills needed to get hired. 

Lauren Aboodi, a Columbia Law School third year working on PPI, said the spring program is a collaborative process between the organizing students and formerly incarcerated participants.

“We go to class with them, we interact with them [and] it’s been formative to my law school experience personally because it’s very rare you actually get to interact with people who have really been touched by the incarceration system,” she said. 

Simmons’ fellow co-founder, professor Susan Sturm, said such experience is crucial for future lawyers who will inevitably work in a flawed criminal justice legal system. 

“The law in the books does not necessarily resemble what actually happens in practice,” said Sturm. “We could call it ‘ground-truthing’ the law; that people who have been through the system are often the only ones who really understand how all of the systems that are often siloed come together and affect somebody. 

“There’s also a risk of desensitization. That happens for people who work inside the system that there’s a normalization of a process that does not really think about what [this means] for the people who are actually going [through] the system. That becomes much more difficult to do when you have real people who you know are affected by things we would never want to have happen to us, or to anyone that we care about.

“[Then] there are so many stereotypes about people who have experienced incarceration that are reinforced often by some of the things that people learn in a conventional legal class. And these stereotypes really do not reflect the knowledge and the wisdom and the experiences of the people who complete their sentences in the lab and are basically ready to contribute and turn their lives around. And the preconceptions are often what stand in the way of having people be able to make those kinds of contributions.”

Too often law students become stakeholders to incarceration outside of the classroom. Sturm said such students often end up limiting their ability to connect with their clients. Working with PPI participants creates “more complexity around how people who are themselves affected by racism in mass incarceration navigate their roles as public defenders, prosecutors or other…lawyers in the criminal legal system.”

But the benefits are mutual. Aboodi said law students remain a resource for participants as they begin to apply for jobs and law school. To be clear, PPI is not a reentry program. Applicants need to be a year removed from being released to qualify. 

“Your first year at home you don’t have the availability to be effective as a paralegal or somebody that’s reliable in this space and the worst thing we want to do is set people up for failure,” said Simmons. 

For justice-impacted New Yorkers, PPI opens doors in the highly-competitive legal field to a population often struggling to find basic employment. Prior to enrollment, Kevin Campfield said he stocked shelves overnight for CVS Pharmacy and only after a connection landed him the job. 

“I did 13 years in prison, from the age of 18 to 31 [and] I studied law the whole time I was incarcerated,” he said. “I said this was something I wanted to do once I got out because it’s what I know.” 

Campfield went through PPI and started applying to law firms, ultimately landing several offers. He now balances his time working as a paralegal, attending Columbia University, and runs the National Paralegal Center, his own legal support services company.

After completing his degree in general studies, Campfield has aspirations of enrolling in the law school. As for why Campfield isn’t doing pre-law, he mentioned the fewer credits needed to finish. The faster he graduates, the more quickly he starts applying for law school. 

“The 13 years I’ve been in prison was enough pre-law for me,” Campfield added, chuckling. 
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

Paralegal Pathways Initiative (PPI) is extending the arm of law into a helping hand for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers. Housed in Columbia Law School, the program fosters participants’ experience navigating the criminal legal justice system into potential careers in the law field. Applications are open until next Friday, Nov. 3. 

Co-founder Devon Simmons, who immediately went back to school after leaving state prison, realized he never applied the legal experience he gained from incarceration towards his studies. 

“The skillset that people probably develop most inside of jails and prisons is legal research, because everybody has to literally do some type of legal research whether to advocate for themselves or file a grievance,” he said. “So it’s a thing in which people [who] are incarcerated have to interact with in some shape, form or fashion. Why don’t we create a training course, which will allow people to hone those skills in which they develop inside and hopefully be able to connect it to employment.”

The program runs for 12 weeks from next January to May. Currently around 19 law students are preparing the spring semester curriculum for the new crop of PPI participants. They put together the courses with input by program alumni, factoring in legal research and writing, along with necessary professional skills needed to get hired. 

Lauren Aboodi, a Columbia Law School third year working on PPI, said the spring program is a collaborative process between the organizing students and formerly incarcerated participants.

“We go to class with them, we interact with them [and] it’s been formative to my law school experience personally because it’s very rare you actually get to interact with people who have really been touched by the incarceration system,” she said. 

Simmons’ fellow co-founder, professor Susan Sturm, said such experience is crucial for future lawyers who will inevitably work in a flawed criminal justice legal system. 

“The law in the books does not necessarily resemble what actually happens in practice,” said Sturm. “We could call it ‘ground-truthing’ the law; that people who have been through the system are often the only ones who really understand how all of the systems that are often siloed come together and affect somebody. 

“There’s also a risk of desensitization. That happens for people who work inside the system that there’s a normalization of a process that does not really think about what [this means] for the people who are actually going [through] the system. That becomes much more difficult to do when you have real people who you know are affected by things we would never want to have happen to us, or to anyone that we care about.

“[Then] there are so many stereotypes about people who have experienced incarceration that are reinforced often by some of the things that people learn in a conventional legal class. And these stereotypes really do not reflect the knowledge and the wisdom and the experiences of the people who complete their sentences in the lab and are basically ready to contribute and turn their lives around. And the preconceptions are often what stand in the way of having people be able to make those kinds of contributions.”

Too often law students become stakeholders to incarceration outside of the classroom. Sturm said such students often end up limiting their ability to connect with their clients. Working with PPI participants creates “more complexity around how people who are themselves affected by racism in mass incarceration navigate their roles as public defenders, prosecutors or other…lawyers in the criminal legal system.”

But the benefits are mutual. Aboodi said law students remain a resource for participants as they begin to apply for jobs and law school. To be clear, PPI is not a reentry program. Applicants need to be a year removed from being released to qualify. 

“Your first year at home you don’t have the availability to be effective as a paralegal or somebody that’s reliable in this space and the worst thing we want to do is set people up for failure,” said Simmons. 

For justice-impacted New Yorkers, PPI opens doors in the highly-competitive legal field to a population often struggling to find basic employment. Prior to enrollment, Kevin Campfield said he stocked shelves overnight for CVS Pharmacy and only after a connection landed him the job. 

“I did 13 years in prison, from the age of 18 to 31 [and] I studied law the whole time I was incarcerated,” he said. “I said this was something I wanted to do once I got out because it’s what I know.” 

Campfield went through PPI and started applying to law firms, ultimately landing several offers. He now balances his time working as a paralegal, attending Columbia University, and runs the National Paralegal Center, his own legal support services company.

After completing his degree in general studies, Campfield has aspirations of enrolling in the law school. As for why Campfield isn’t doing pre-law, he mentioned the fewer credits needed to finish. The faster he graduates, the more quickly he starts applying for law school. 

“The 13 years I’ve been in prison was enough pre-law for me,” Campfield added, chuckling. 
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

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* This article was originally published here

Marcus Semien and the Texas Rangers are no longer “little bro” after putting an end to the reign of dominance  of Dusty Baker and the Houston Astros with an 11-4 road win in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night.

The series victory earned the Rangers their first American League pennant since 2011.

“Fans have been waiting for this moment for 12 years and I cannot wait to be a part of it,” Semien told reporters in the Rangers’ clubhouse as his teammates doused each other in a champagne celebration.

For Semien and the Rangers, the series was personal, facing their fellow state of Texas and AL West rival. It is only fitting that the team’s captain and leader was able to record the last out to bring a World Series baseball back to Arlington, Texas. In an unlikely outcome, the road team won every game.

At the plate in Game 7, Semien was just 1-for-5 with a walk and a run scored, but on defense, turned a critical double play with the Astros’ left fielder Michael Brantley up in the bottom of the first inning to preserve the Rangers’ 3-1 lead.  

Third base coach Tony Beasley, who has been with the Rangers since 2015, put his impact on the game. Javier was a priority. The Rangers swiped three bags on the night, their most in a game this postseason.

Game 1 of the World Series will take place at the Rangers stadium, GlobeLife Field, tomorrow night.

As for what’s next for the Astros’ future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker, as of yesterday (Wednesday), reports of his future managing Houston or any other team is speculative.

After dropping to 0-8 in winner-take-all games and falling short in the mission to lead the Astros to a second straight World Series title, conventional thinking is the 74-year-old Baker, who is seventh overall in MLB history with 2, 183 wins, will retire. His contract with Houston is up and with 55 years of Major League Baseball under his belt, Baker should not waste his time on joining any team that is not on the brink of winning a title.

Outfielder Michael Brantley also suited up in an Astros uniform for probably the last time. He was 0-for-5 in Game 7 and finished the playoffs with just a .179 batting average.

A shoulder injury dating back to last year caused Brantley to miss a majority of this season, appearing in only 15 games before the start of the playoffs.

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* This article was originally published here

Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn has a very different task than he had a year ago. With the big names gone and many new faces that can make contributions. He has the challenge of building a cohesive team that will contend for a playoff spot in the 2023-2024 NBA season. Vaughn and the Nets began last night at home at the Barclays Center hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers in the regular season debut for both teams.

The Nets have sufficient talent on the roster, led by potential All-Star forward Mikal Bridges and three-time All-Star, point-forward Ben Simmons. The 27-year-old Bridges, who came to the Nets last February from the Phoenix Suns in the Kevin Durant trade, averaged 28.8 points per game in March, solidifying his status as the centerpiece of the team.  

As far as the 6-foot-10-inch Simmons, at this point, it seems overly optimistic to expect him to reemerge as the player who was borderline top 15 in the NBA from 2019-2021. Still, the two-time NBA All Defensive First Team selection (2020, 2021) is only 27, and remains a versatile defender, as well as solid rebounder and facilitator. Simmons’ weaknesses until proven otherwise are his health (previous back, foot and knee injuries) and perimeter shot. He has also battled mental health challenges. Getting the maximum out of Simmons may be the key to the Nets season.

Another wild card for the team is guard 6-foot-3-inch guard Cam Thomas, who exploded for 40 or more in four games last season, including three straight in the first week of February. For the third-year guard, his ability to contribute on the defensive end of the floor will determine the amount of playing time he will see.

Bridges, Simmons, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Nic Claxton all appear certain as starters, based on preseason lineups. Dorian Finney-Smith appears to be the most likely fifth starter because of his defensive prowess, with Thomas being a better offensive option.  
Lonnie Walker IV was acquired by Brooklyn over the summer as a free-agent signing and led the team with 22 points in 25 minutes in the final preseason game, a win over the Miami Heat. Walker, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers a season ago, averaged 11.7 points per game on 44.8% from the field (36.5 % from three) with a season-high of 28. 

Brooklyn also acquired point guard and former NBA Draft lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr over the summer, who averaged 8.8 points and 4.8 assists a season ago. Smith Jr did suffer an ankle injury during a preseason game and his availability is uncertain to start the season.
Rookie Noah Clowney, who turned 19 over the summer and averaged 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds as a freshman for Alabama, grabbed 8 rebounds against the Lakers in the preseason and may get some consistent minutes off the bench. Rookie Dariq Whitehead, a 6-foot-7-inch swingman who had foot surgery in May, has resumed on-court activities.

Brooklyn will play their next four games on the road starting with facing their former star point guard Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks tomorrow, followed by the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, the Miami Heat next Wednesday, and the Chicago Bulls next Friday.

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* This article was originally published here