Saturday, June 2, 2018

Are Southeast Queens And Downtown Jamaica Fighting For Economic Empowerment?

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Downtown Jamaica Is Rising Like A Phoenix But Southeast Queens Will Also Not Be Denied


By Kamau Austin

Is there a war on the horizon?  Will there be an epic battle for the economic resources and development of The Southern Queens Area between Downtown Jamaica and Southeast Queens?  While some might find this article divisive does it nevertheless posit a real fear when looking at other gentrified NYC neighborhoods? 

Taking a paradigm from the great Dr. WEB Dubois, a one time Southeast Queens, legendary intellectual and Black thought leader, in his seminal work -- the Souls of Black folk, there is also an analogous two souls of Southern Queens.  There is one soul that is cosmopolitan, looking for "the come up" of corporate national retailers, international tourism, and well known restaurant chains and there is the other soul yearning for the empowerment of grassroots organic community, rich diverse cultural elements appreciated and explored like hip hop, gospel, and jazz expressed in neighborhood hangout spots and eateries.

One is following a similar playbook of gentrification in Harlem and Brooklyn in Downtown Jamaica, the other is looking to upscale and empower the outlining residential neighborhoods of Southeast Queens.  One is financed by big government and business interests and the other by determined community activists and social entrepreneurs with cultural aplomb.

Moreover, one is being planned out with billions from big government and big business while the other with boundless creative resources and community attachment is looking to enhance the main streets of Southeast Queens.  In short, there are two very determined contrasting and diametrically opposed forces in one local area - threatening to irreparably tear apart a rift within this social community.

It is no secret that Queens is becoming one of the best tourist attractions in New York City because of its diverse cultures (the most diverse in the US and possibly the world).  New York City, is one of the world's top tourist destinations and Queens once behind Manhattan and Brooklyn and is emerging as a great tourist attraction due in part to the two airports in JFK International and LaGuardia Airport.


Friday, June 1, 2018

Only Black Female Beverage Maker Signs Major Deal with Sam’s Club to Take Her Family Tea Recipe Nationwide

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The First Black Woman To Own Her Own Brewing Plant In The United States
Ellis Island Tea Founder Nailah Ellis-Brown
National Story - Detroit entrepreneur Nailah Ellis-Brown is defying the odds. At the age of 20, she started her hand-crafted tea business during the height of the Great Recession in one of the hardest hit cities in America.


She should have failed.  Instead, today Ellis-Brown's business is thriving - she has her own beverage manufacturing plant and has just inked a deal that will test her family recipe for Jamaican Sweet Tea in every Sam’s Club location in the country beginning on May 16.

Last fall, Ellis-Brown's bottled Jamaican Sweet Tea - known as Ellis Island Tea - hit the shelves in Sam's Clubs in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Response to the Sam’s Club exclusive 64-ounce bottles of her hibiscus-based tea was so good that Ed Romero, Sam's Club Sr. Vice President General Merchandise Manager of Fresh, decided to give Ellis-Brown a shot at the rest of the Sam's Club locations. Starting this May, Ellis Island Tea will be sold in all of the nearly 600 Sam’s Club locations across the nation.

Checkout The Black Enterprise Interview With Ms Nailah Ellis-Brown


Is Jazz Legend Wynton Marsalis Right About Rap Music Being Worse Than Confederate Statues Of Robert E Lee?

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The Two Faces of Wynton: Dr. Magnificence & Shrodinger’s Muse

By Earl Hazell

Wynton Marsalis Above Photo by Frank Stewart below Kendrick Lamar Photo By Merlijn Hoek at Wikipedia 
SO, CHECK IT OUT: I was a twenty-two year old singer in the early 90s when I first met the not yet thirty year old Wynton Marsalis, while we were both involved in a recording with legends I won't even name, because it sounds mind-boggling when I say it to myself.  The biggest joke in the studio of that day was that a kid who was younger than the drummer's favorite brushes was on this gig.

Wynton, in his singularly earnest and cool/poetic way, made a public comment after we talked for a hot minute about how the path ahead of me was one that, if they all thought about it, was not necessarily one to envy!  Fine wine COMES from young grapes; usually after a good stomping and plenty of time. 

I was as nervous meeting Wynton as I was the other legends we were involved with, because in the 80s, when I was in high school, he and his brother Branford were making my father and grandfather's music popular again.  With his albums HOTHOUSE FLOWERS and IN A J MOOD, Wynton, student of Art Blakey, took the essence of mid 60s Miles Davis and early Herbie Hancock and turned them into secret ingredients; ones that, combined with classic Ellington and timeless Louis, created an aroma after baking that permeated the soul of America.

That chef’s blend seasoned with his own post-Freddie Hubbard genius produced a new hunger for Black magnificence in jazz that made my teenage heart nearly burst.  To meet this young phenom years later was an honor.  To WORK with him, in the studio, while in the service of legends, was a dream.


Thursday, May 31, 2018

Celebrate Area Dance With The Jamaica Dance Festival Presenting The Phenomenal Vissi Dance Theater

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Vissi Dance Theater From Queens To Dazzle In Rufus King Park


The legacy of dance in Jamaica, Queens is rich but only somewhat storied. The Jamaica Dance Festival celebrates Jamaica’s rich dance legacy — and its dynamic future — and does so in grand fashion!


Founded in 1997 by Jamaican dancer/choreographer Courtney Ffrench, the Vissi Dance Theater is comprised of dancers from around the world who bring with them their cultural diversity and unique perspectives on movement and the performing arts.
Vissi combines drama and dance in scintillating ways, while exploring social issues. The dance company’s style has been described as urban contemporary.  The company has performed across the United States, Italy and Japan over the last decade. In September of 2017, the company performed in his home town of Kingston Jamaica.


See the Amazing High Energy Performances Of Vissi Dance Theatre



Be Amazed At The Jamaica Dance Festival And See The Area Standouts From The Harlem Stage E-Moves Series!

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Be Amazed At Exceptional Dance Talent Coming To Southeast Queens

The legacy of dance in Jamaica, Queens is rich but only somewhat storied. The Jamaica Dance Festival celebrates Jamaica’s rich dance legacy — and its dynamic future — and does so in grand fashion!

Join us as we present highlights from the contemporary African choreographers presented at this year’s Harlem Stage E-Moves series. Featuring Omari Mizrahi, Tatiana Desardouin, and Titilayo Derricote.




Movie Night Wednesday @ Central – The Post (2017, PG-13)

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A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country’s first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government.

Black Money Management Expert on How to Re-Write Your Financial Story to Include a Happy Ending

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Miami, FL  -- Laurick Ingram started thinking about long-term financial security while working his way through college at a convenience store.

Ten years later he found a real-life example of it in a wealthy self-made friend and mentor. But it took 15 more years of sitting on the sidelines before he finally started doing something about it.

Suddenly realizing that if he lost his job he'd be bankrupt in six months, Ingram took a closer look at the money lessons he'd heard about for so long and started putting them to use, eventually enabling both he and his wife to retire early and in comfort, and to focus on sharing their experiences and good fortune with others and their community.

In his new book, GIVE AND SAVE 365 Easy Money Management Guide, Ingram teaches readers of all ages how to change the way they think about money, quickly and simply, so that they can immediately start rewriting their financial story to include a happy ending, not just for them, but for their community and causes; that's the "give" side of the program. Whether the goal is to get out of debt, build a nest egg or stop working sooner, Ingram's fast-read approach to money management – distilled even further in the book's "Five-Minute Crash Course," a single, life-changing lesson that's key to financial health – will get readers there. That’s the "save" side. Ingram guarantees it.



Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Movie Night Wednesday @ Central – All the Money in the World (2017, R)

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The story of the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother to convince his billionaire grandfather Jean Paul Getty to pay the ransom.



Start The Summer With A Free AfriCarib Steel Pan Concert

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Groove To The Caribbean Beat With AfriCarib Steel Pan Band

Come celebrate Caribbean heritage by putting on your dancing shoes and keeping them on, while AfriCarib grooves you to the ground!  Or if you want to just lay back and enjoy the music you can do that too.

This renowned band Brooklyn-based band will rock you with familiar soca, calypso, and reggae tunes. 


Tuesday Afternoon Movies @ Central – My Beautiful Launderette (1985, R)

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An ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.

  

Tuesday Afternoon Movies @ Central – Kill Your Darlings (2013, R)

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A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs.
 
 


Movie Night Wednesday @ Central – Atomic Blonde (2017, R)

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An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.


Musical Stageplay to Bring Hattie McDaniel Back to Life in San Francisco Performance

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 San Francisco, CA  -- Rich-Rey Productions LLC has announced the Bay Area premiere of Hattie McDaniel... 

See The Story Of Harry T. Moore And Henrietta His Wife The Martyrs Who Paved The Way For The Civil Rights Movement

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 1st Time Director Shines at Orlando Urban Film Festival With Story Of Martyred Couple Who Were Forerunners Of The Civil Rights Movement
Harry and Harriette Moore Were Assassinated In Their Bedroom On Christmas To Stop His Civil Rights Activity 
"On Christmas Day 1951 -- also their 25th wedding anniversary -- the Moores returned home from a celebratory dinner.
Not long after the lights were turned out, there was an explosion that was heard more than four miles away. A bomb had gone off directly under the Moores' bedroom..." Newsday

Orlando, FL  -- The audience at the recent Orlando Urban Film Festival (OUFF) gave rave reviews for Before Selma: The Harry T. Moore Story - The Martyr Who Paved The Way For The Civil Rights Movement film directed by Dr. Florence Alexander, during her first venture as a filmmaker.


The OUFF Grand Jury selected the film for the Phenomenal Woman in Film Award category.

The 5th Annual Competition was held at the AMC Universal Studio in Orlando Florida during the Festival founded and directed by Marianne Eggleston. The docudrama winning film was based on the true story of Harry T. Moore, The First Martyr Who Paved the Way for the Civil Rights Movement. The book and script were written by Dr. Florence Alexander.

Dr. Florence Alexander

Black Narrative Artist Shines in Senegal and South Carolina

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 International -- The narrative works of artist Angela Franklin-Faye are on view in the 13th edition of the Biennale of Contemporary African Art - DAK' ART in Dakar, Senegal from May 3 to June 2, 2018.
 
 

Discover 12 Authentic Luxury Tours to South Africa And Get-Away With A Savvy Travel Guide Company!

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Take An Authentic Focused Trip To
South Africa With Familiar People

Washington DC -- The rise in African American travel over the past 6 years due to increased education and income led to the creation of travel companies, such as Travel Noire, NoMadness and Tastemakers Africa.

 "Although international travel for African Americans is rising, there still seems to be a gap left in the market," Paris Taylor, I.C.E.

Many travelers have already benefited from the development of the black travel movement. "When you speak to the tourism boards on the African continent, they will tell you that their market is middle aged, retired Europeans, so the industry is built around them," Cherae Robinson, Tastemakers Africa.

"They are looking for Safari."

They've tapped into a wave of African Americans wanting to see different representations of themselves, and people from elsewhere who want authentic experiences. The Real South Africa, a Black owned travel company, agrees with Cherae Robinson, that African American travelers are looking for more authentic experiences.


Be Truly Informed On The Real Uncle Tom See Josiah The Documentary Film

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Checkout The Documentary Film Josiah The True Story Of Uncle Tom


The NCNW, Inc. Queens County Youth Section presents a screening of the movie Josiah - The story that sparked the Civil War, by Jared Brock and their Juneteenth Celebration.

Who was Josiah Henson? How has history forgotten this man? Josiah Henson, born in Maryland, spent 41 years as a slave. He was a dynamic man with unyielding principles who overcame incredible odds to escape with his family to Canada. His story inspired the main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book that made people realize the brutal reality of slavery and fanned the flames of the Civil War. Yet despite his notable achievements and contribution to abolition, Henson’s story has been largely lost to history. Until now.

Including interviews with leading experts and Henson descendants, JOSIAH is a documentary that traces Josiah Henson’s harrowing journey from slavery in Maryland and Kentucky to freedom in Canada. His life prompts us all to ask the question: are we using our freedom well?

Refreshments will be served.

Area Parking is Limited

Near Jamaica Center Parsons/Archer Train Station & Bus Terminal


Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Juneteenth Celebration in South Carolina City Rich With Black Heritage

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Mitchelville, SC  -- Mitchelville Preservation Project has confirmed an expansive celebration of the 2018 Juneteenth Celebration presented by Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park on Hilton Head Island. 
 
 


Black Atlanta Youth to Benefit From Chess For Charity Event

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Atlanta, GA  -- On Saturday, May 26th, noted youth mentor and anti-violence and peace activist Orrin "Checkmate" Hudson will use a life-size chessboard to bring valuable life lessons to local youth at the Hilton Atlanta in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.
 
 
 



See Why This 11-Year Old Child Trading on Stock Market Is Nominated For Black Enterprise Award

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Take Stock Of The Wisdom From This
11-Year Old Day Trader 

Charlotte, NC  -- Barely standing 5 feet tall, 11-year old day trader, Christon "The Truth" Jones is on a mission to help 1,000 people become successful. And he does it one stock at a time. Yes! He's a day trader on the U.S. Stock Market, and the CEO of Return On Investment, LLC.

At the age of 8, Truth faced off with his own bullies and penned his first book, The Win Within, to help other kids. He made $5,000 in 90 days by peddling his book door to door.

A bestselling author by the age of 10, Truth's investor students of his Truth Success Series, an online mastermind course, include adults who want to soak up his wisdom. His success has garnered him both national and international attention.

For example, residing in Germany with his military mom, Truth is on his way to Charlotte, NC on June 8, 2018 to hopefully accept the Black Enterprise Teenpreneur of the Year Award. Plus, as a skillful keynote speaker, he has already addressed audiences on three different continents.


Monday, May 28, 2018

Checkout How NYS Senator Leroy Comrie Honors Veterans And Shares Their Important Support Resources

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Elected Leaders Honor Our Veterans

Queens Borough President Melissa Katz middle and Leroy Comrie 2nd Right Honor Veterans


From New York State Senator Leroy Comrie


My Senate Democratic colleagues and I know that it is imperative that we provide our veterans and their families with the true support they both need and deserve. We are constantly striving to ensure that all of our veterans are safely housed, provided with education and training opportunities that lead to gainful employment, and able to receive proper and long-standing medical care.

838,000 veterans call New York home, making the state fifth in the country in terms of largest veteran population. If you or a family member are a veteran of the Armed Forces, I urge you to look at the website of the State Division of Veteran Affairs, which provides information on numerous programs and services available to Veterans. Please click here to access the NYS DVA’s website.

Additionally, on the Federal level, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense administer the National Resource Directory, which provides Wounded Warriors, Service Members, Veterans, their families and caregivers with information on the many federal programs available to service members. Please click here for the DVA's website.

Have a safe and healthy Memorial Day Weekend! And to all veterans, service members and their families, thank you for your remarkable service and your sacrifice. For more information on veterans’ issues and programs, please feel free to contact my office at (718) 765-6359. Have a safe and healthy Memorial Day weekend.

Yours in service,

Leroy Comrie
District 14/Queens


The Jamaica Dance Festival: Sonali Skandan & Jiva Dance

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The legacy of dance in Jamaica, Queens is rich but only somewhat storied. The Jamaica Dance Festival celebrates Jamaica’s rich dance legacy — and its dynamic future — and does so in grand fashion!
 
 

Seniors: The Rhythm Is Gonna Get You

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Calling all seniors! Join in on dancing, singing, exercising and healing techniques to assist with managing; diabetes, arthritis, blood pressure, stress helping you move more freely.  

NYC Senator Leroy Comrie Weatherization Assistance Program Workshop

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New York State Senator Leroy Comrie is pleased to invite one and all to a weatherization assistance program workshop conducted by Ian Minerve of Green Power Associates.
 
 



Sunday, May 27, 2018

Work For Positive Change With The National Action Network

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Impact Your Community For
Positive Change



All are welcome to attend the next general meeting of the Queens Chapter of the National Action Network.


Fire Safety Training

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New York State Senator Leroy Comrie and New York State Assembly Member Clyde Vanel invite one and all to fire safety training.
 
 

Learn To Bling UP Your Smart Phone Video At The Free Cellphone Videography Workshop

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Learn How To Optimize Your Cell Phone Video With Filmmakers

In the age of connectivity, make sure that your posts, pictures, and videos are telling the right story and getting you the results you want.  Under the guidance of professional filmmakers, directors, and producers from Queens World Film Festival, you will learn how to incorporate your community, your process, and your life into videos that work for you.

This workshop is free and open to the public.




Listen To The Soulful Jazz Of Prest4time

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Prest4time Brings Soulful Jazz
To The AirTrain

The AirTrain Jazz Festival series continues this week with Prest4time on the AirTrain Jamaica stage. Join us as we pay tribute to Jamaica’s rich jazz history by presenting some of the New York City metropolitan area’s best jazz musicians playing live.



Community Clean Up!

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New York State Senator Leroy Comrie and New York State Assembly Member Clyde Vanel invite one and all to a community clean up!



Coming to LA, Millionaire to Teach Black Women How to "Defy Impossible"

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 Nationwide  -- From living on the streets of Baltimore in her youth to obtaining a Stanford PhD to becoming a self-made millionaire, Dr. Venus Opal Reese - aka "Dr. Venus" - is nationally renowned for sharing how she became empowered to "monetized her messy" life, that was a byproduct of the historically dysfunctional legacy that plagues what she calls the "financial DNA" of too many Black women - especially entrepreneurs and career professionals.



Honor Our Veterans Attend The Rosedale Memorial Day Parade 2018

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Honor Our Veterans At The Memorial Day Parade 2018


Honor Our Veterans Attend The Laurelton Memorial Day Parade

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Attend The 29th Annual Laurelton Memorial Day Parade