The Nubian News & El Latino News - Enero 2023

South Ward’s New Council Member

Gusciora supports Gonzalez, Feliciano, and Edwards

By Al Alatunji

TRENTON.- Trenton’s South Ward residents went to the polls on December 13, 2022, to determine who would be their next South Ward City Council member. Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg received the most votes in a close contest.

The election held on December 13th was the result of the failure of any of the candidates running for the South Ward City Council seat on November 8, 2022, to receive 50% plus one vote. The failure made a run-off election necessary between the top two vote getters in the North Ward November 8th election. The top two vote getters were Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg and Damian Malave. Figueroa Kettenburg beat Malave by 40 votes in the runoff.

Figueroa Kettenburg by winning the December 13th runoff becomes the first woman to win a Trenton City Council seat representing the South Ward. She also becomes the first Latina in the city’s history to win a South Ward seat. She will represent the South Ward for the next four years. Councilwoman-elect Figueroa Kettenburg joins West Ward Councilwoman-Elect Teska Frisby and returning East Ward Councilman Joseph Harrison as members of the City Council. West Ward Councilwoman-Elect Teska Frisby and East Ward Councilman Joseph Harrison were able to win their seats outright by getting over 50% of the votes casted in their ward races on November 8th.

Voters in the North Ward also went to the polls on December 13th to determine who would represent the North Ward on the City Council. Similarly, to voters in the South Ward, voters in the North Ward were forced into a second vote to determine its Council member since none of the candidates running on November 8th were able to obtain 50% plus one vote. However, unlike the South Ward, voters in the North Ward still remain without a declared North Ward

Council winner. Jennifer Williams and Algernon Ward, the two top vote getters on November 8th received the same exact number of votes, 425, for the December 13th runoff. No word yet has been received from election officials as to how a winner will be determined.

The final three slots on the City Council will be determined on January 24, 2023, when all Trenton voters will have the opportunity to vote as to who will be the three At-Large representatives on City Council. Similar to the North and South wards runoffs, the January 24th contest for the At-Large City Council seats was made necessary since no candidate running for the At-Large City Council seat obtained 50% plus one vote. The top six vote getters who were on the ballot on November 8th for the At-Large City Council seats will be on the ballot again on January 24th. The At Large candidates are Yazminelly Gonzalez, Crystal Feliciano, Jasi Edwards, Alex Bethea, Taiwanda Terry-Wilson, and Kadja Manuel.

Declaring that he was not look -

ing for a Council to act as a rubber stamp for his edicts, Mayor Walter Reed Gusciora on December 20, 2022, publicly endorsed Yazminelly Gonzalez, Crystal Feliciano and Jasi Edwards. “The alternative [referring to the three candidates also running] will be more of the same of the last four years, that worked against us,” stated Mayor Gusciora, when making his endorsement.

With the exception of the still to

be determined North Ward and At-Large winners, Councilwoman-elect Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg, Councilwoman-Elect Teska Frisby and Councilman Joseph Harrison will take office on January 1, 2023. Since there will only be three of the seven members of Council able to be sworn NJ Governor Phil Murphy might be required to appoint a temporary Council member so Trenton will be able lawfully to conduct business.

Publisher Emeritus: Kamau Kujichagulia

Publisher Latino News Editor: Carlos Avila // Managing Editor: Tanya Henry Turner

Reporters: Al Alatunji - Laura Rodriguez Pena - Sean Jenkins

Photographers: Karen Hilton - Carlos Estrada // Circulation: Leslie Lauts - Vernon Daniels

Design: Marcos Tamayo (Instagram: @marcostamayo) LETTERS

Photo by Carlos Ávila

Fentanyl: The New Way To Kill Black and Latin People

By Al Alatunji

TRENTON.- It is bad enough that Black and Latin people are dying from murdering each other either from guns or abortion. However, that was not quick enough. So now we have Fentanyl which is wrecking overdose and death in urban centers across the US including Trenton.

How many people have died in Trenton within the last two years from Fentanyl seems to be unknown. Like so much vital information regarding public health and other information concerning Trenton residents, it appears no one seems to have that information. Then again perhaps there should not be any surprise about the lack of information after learning about the death of Ahsaki Tamara McCalI.

Carl McCall recently recounted the story of the perplexing circumstances surrounding the death of his daughter, Ahsaki Tamara McCall. He talked about how the Trenton police and the city’s top leadership and their response to his daughter’s death. The story he recalled paints a sad and disturbing picture of the city’s leadership attitude concerning Black and Latinx fentanyl deaths.

On the December 8, 2022 podcast of “On the Case with Kamau Kujichagulia” hosted by Kamau Kujichagulia, the founder and publisher emeritus of The Nubian News/El Latino News, Mr. McCall painfully told viewers of how the police nonchalantly handled his daughter’s death. Mr. McCall talked about how the crime scene, possibly a homicide, was handled unprofessionally and sloppily. He pressed Trenton

Trenton’s New Pipe Dream

By Al Alatunji

TRENTON.- The sale and use of marijuana in NJ is now legal. Mayor Walter Reed Gusciora and some city leaders as well as mayor and city leaders elsewhere are looking to see their local economics lit up from cannabis. The state’s new cannabis business is similar to its state lottery business. The lottery developed out of the numbers also known in its heyday as the policy business. After locking up Black and Latin people for years for engaging in the numbers business, NJ and other states decided to move into the numbers business. Unlike “Dutch” Schultz and other mobsters who tried unsuccessfully to take over the policy business, the states decided to declare it legal as long as they ran it. They reaped significant tax dollars with its legalization. NJ is attempting to do the same with cannabis. When measures were being pushed through the State Legislature the advocates for legalization of cannabis talked about how cities like Trenton would see significant economic growth and development from its passage. Mayor Gusciora and other city leaders jumped on the bandwagon and proclaimed cannabis would lead to the rebirth of Trenton’s downtown.

They talked about how Trenton, like the Biblical Lazarus, was going to rise from the dead and experience an economic boom to rival the great Gold Rush in the west during the 1800s. It seems too good to be true. It reminds some of how casino gambling was going to rebuild Atlantic City and make it a New Jerusalem paved in streets of gold. It might be useful to revisit

that adventure. State and Atlantic City officials urged state voters to roll the dice and spend the wheel on a proposal to legalize casino gambling, claiming that it would boost tourism and jobs.

NJ voters approved casino gambling in 1976. Atlantic City got its casinos. However, it did not get the promised long-term economic benefits. At its highest peak in 1990, after slightly more than a decade of casino operations, the casinos employed 46,700 people. By 2019, Atlantic City claimed just 24,600 such positions, a drop of nearly half. Atlantic City had 3 percent fewer private-sector jobs overall in 2019 than in 1990.

Hyping cannabis as a powerful engine of jobs and tax-revenue growth for Trenton and other NJ towns is a notion not just economically absurd but depressing. What will these urban development advocates come up with next red-light sex districts?

Just think how many jobs would be created and the millions of tax dollars the state could collect. Perhaps, the state should reinstate the death penalty and do live execution that individuals can watch on payview. Now clearly that should be a Brobdingnagian money maker.

Perhaps, what Trenton and other cities down on their luck need is not cannabis and casinos. They need to do the hard work of cleaning up their downtown areas, significantly improving their public safety and insisting on their public-school preparing students to be responsible and productive people.

police officials on information regarding their investigation of his daughter’s death. He was given none, not even a return telephone call back.

Mr. McCall mentioned on the podcast how he reached out to Mayor Walter Reed Gusciaro for assistance gaining information about his daughter’s death. He mentioned that Mayor Gusciaro gave Mr. McCall his word that he would get back to him with information about the police investigation of his daughter’s death.

Mr. McCall indicated just like the police who supposedly were handling the case, Mayor Gusciaro after giving his word that he would get back to Mr. McCall failed to keep his word.

NJ has seen a decline in drug-related overdose deaths with the possibility of having less than

3,000 drug deaths this year. It will be the first real year-overyear drop in at least a decade. However, the state has seen an increase in drug overdose deaths of Blacks and Latinxs in the last two years. Drugs including cannabis have been laced and cut with fentanyl and individuals have used these drugs unaware that they contained fentanyl and have died.

While drug-related deaths are trending downward overall this year among White residents, the picture is different for NJ residents of color, according to the State’s medical examiner data. In 2015, more than three-quarters of the fatal overdoses involved White people, while Black people accounted for 13% and Latinx residents 9%.

Continue in Page 10...

It’s Time to Shut Down Trenton Public High Schools

By Al Alatunji

TRENTON.- It is apparent that the administrators, teachers, security personnel, board of education and city officials are unable to protect the lives of students at Trenton public high schools. It is time, passed time, to shut the schools down before a student or students end up in body bags.

That might sound like a hyperbole, exaggeration or sensationalism until it happens. Yet it is just one sucker punch, one kick to the head, one stabbing from that occurring. Then people will be all up in arms, all emotional for the motion. They will be marching and chanting. The politicians will have their speech writers to prepare their standard “My prayers and condolences goes out to the family” caca. But by then a life or lives will have been lost. Parents, no one really seems to care about your child.

With regards to the horrible attack of two high school girls on December 8 at Trenton High School, there was basically silence from the school adminis -

tration, the board of education, and the city’s politicians.

During the recent municipal election, it was interesting to hear candidates mention how they wanted to see the city public schools improve. Yet, in the next breath they stated that the city governing body was not responsible for the schools. It is correct that the mayor and council do not run the public schools. However, the children that attend those schools and the parents that send them to those schools are your constituents. The mayor and council have a political and, more important, a moral obligation and responsibilities to ensure the best possible education outcome for Trenton public schools’ students. That includes not only making sure the lights stay on but that students, all students are safe and are in a secure and safe environment. That they are free from attacks, bullying and harassment.

All students regardless of race, religion, country of origin, native language, gender or sexual orientation. It is no secret that

Latinx students in particular those recent to the country from Guatemala, Honduras and other Central American countries as well as Blacks from Haiti, the Caribbean and Africa have been subject to physical and verbal abuse. It goes beyond being just not right, but indefensible and immoral.

It was not that long ago when Black students were beaten up, harassed and intimidated at Trenton High by Italian youths when Chambersburg was all Italian and Italians were the majority students at the high school. It was wrong then and it is equally

wrong now. As a proud, extremely proud Black man it outrages me, it appalls me and it angers me to see Blacks act inhumane and barbaric to others in particular other people of color. Did we not learn anything from being an enslaved people? Did we not learn anything from the mistreatment of Jim Crow, of the lynching and brutally? We came through the inhumanity and hate that was directed at us because we are a special people. We are better than that. Human life is sacred. Black lives matter. So, do Brown lives. Yes, all lives matter.

Continue in Page 10...

Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg is the new South Ward Councilwoman

By Carlos Avila

TRENTON.- Jenna Figueroa Kettenburg is the newly elected councilwoman in Trenton, New Jersey. Figueroa Kettenburg obtained 323 votes to become the first female to represent the South Ward of Trenton in its current districting scheme. She beat Damian Malave who thought he had it in the bag in the first-round when he finished ahead but not enough to avoid a run-off. Malave stubbornly sought to win the election via the legal system by filing several claims including one challenging Figueroa Kettenburg’s use of her full last name on the ballot so as to prevent her appeal among Latino voters, but nothing came of those suits.

Figueroa Kettenburg is a native Trentonian, raised on Lamberton Street, and a graduate of Trenton Central High School’s class of 1999. After TCHS, Figueroa Kettenburg received a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice, with minors in Communications and Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Caribbean Studies from Rutgers University. After receiving her master’s degree in Criminology from Boston University, Figueroa Kettenburg served as an investigator for the State of New Jersey for 18 years.

Figueroa Kettenburg has offered up similar promises of past politicians including demanding better security in high crime ar-

eas, holding absentee landlords accountable, and offering cleaner streets. Very little is on her website about how she will achieve these generational challenges, however, a segment of the electorate has put their trust in her and she has four years to prove herself.

With Figueroa Kettenburg being elected, three of the four ward seats are now filled including East Ward Council Joe Harrison and West Ward Council Teska Frisby, wife of popular politician Samuel Frisby. The North Ward race is tied as of print without a clear winner and the At-Large seats will have their run-off on January 24th.

Photo by Carlos Ávila

Point of View - A Christmas Story 2022

Por Al Alatunji

It was the night before Christmas in 2022, when several busloads of individuals who recently came to the US seeking a better way of life for themselves and their children were dropped off in front of US Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, DC. The individuals, many in t-shirts and sandals, had been rounded up in Texas and placed on buses without being told where they were going.

They thought those who were responsible for placing them on the buses had their best interest in heart. However, that was not the case. They ended up in Washington, DC in freezing temperatures and nowhere to go.

They had traveled hundreds if not thousands of miles to escape brutality, dictatorship, repression and inhumanity to come to the US. They came with nothing more than hope. They were told that the US was a place where people lived in freedom, dignity and respect. Where a person if they worked committedly, smartly and responsibly they could build a good life. A much better life than they had before.

America, they were told, was a land of opportunity. A place which welcomed people down on their luck with open arms. They had learned about the Statue of Liberty and the words associated with the monument “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Unfortunately, they were not told the whole story of America. The story about its overburdened, obnoxious people. Its whiners and complainers. It’s bigots and racists. Its true history of violence, hate, xenophobia, racism and pure evil.

They were not told that so many who live in the US were not willing to welcome them. Unwilling to help them pursue a better life in a new land. No one told them that too many who lived a blessed life in the US didn’t appreciate their blessings. Nor were they told there were so many who didn’t want others to have the chance to have a similar life as they themselves.

They were not told about pigheaded

political leaders, like Texas Governor Greg “If I Only Had A Brain” Abbott and Florida Governor Ronnie “Little Fascist Boy” Dement DeSantis, in an attempt to turn away those who came in peace and hope seeking a new day and a new life.

It reminds one of that great story, perhaps the greatest story ever told, about a husband and his pregnant wife who had been traveling. They were unable to find a place to rest for the wife to give birth.

The expected parents were less than affluent. Since they had very little if any material wealth, clearly no generational wealth, they were turned away unable to find a suitable place to stay. The husband and wife were forced to stay in a stable among the animals. It was there their child was born.

They called him Jesus. Others would one day call him Savior, King of Kings, Immanuel, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and Son of God.

Often, as a child I was reminded of the story of the birth of Jesus. It was a wonderful story. It was a story of wonder, magic, joy, hope, peace and great love. It took place in a meager manger among animals and under the stars. It did not take place in some wealthy establishment with bright lights and cameras.

There were no celebrities, influencers, creators, and other self important types taking up space and air. It only served to make the story that much more relevant and special.

In my teen years, Jesus became one of my heroes. Other heroes included Malcolm X, Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), H.Rap Brown, Patrice Lumumba, Che Guevera, Chairman Mao and Ho Chi Minh.

During my youth, the story of Jesus was the most important story of the Christmas season if not the entire year. In my home growing up the story of Jesus’ humble birth was not reserved only for Christmas.

My parents were born in the Jim Crow South and baptized in the righteous and powerful traditions and

salvation of good old Southern Black Christianity. They believed that the Bible was the Word of God and Jesus died on the Cross. That He rode from the dead and one day as promised He would return to walk again with men and women. So, they opened their home to parents seeking a place for their children to be cared for while they worked. They charged them no thing. My dad would be off to work and my mother who had the title of housewife when that title was res pected and appreciated would watch over the children left at the house. My mother truly believed that it was her Christian duty to take care of tho se children. Heaven forbid if she said “sorry no room for your child” to one of those the parents and their child was the returned Jesus. I have lived a truly blessed life. I grew up during a very wonderful time. A much different time than now. It clearly was not a perfect world. Nowhere near perfect. However, it was still a very blessed time.

A huge part of my blessing was to have parents like my mother and father. I am more than certain that they would be nothing less than welcoming of those recent to this land. If not for any other reason than one of them might be the returned Jesus.

JOIN US EVERY THURSDAY AT 8PM ON OUR WEBSITE WWW.THENUBIANNEWS.COM

¡En

este 2023, deseamos lo mejor a todos nuestros clientes y a la comunidad latina!

We will talk with and interview someone who has connections with the Trenton/NJ/world community. We will ask them what they think is the best way to get us from where we are to where we want to be.

Alliances Emerge Among Trenton City Council General Candidates

Comunidad - Se realizó la celebración a la Virgen de la Nube en Trenton

Trenton.- La celebración religiosa en honor a la Virgen de la Nube que se realiza todos los 1ro de enero de cada año ya es una tradición que reúne a cientos de devotos en Trenton.

En la fotografía, frente a la iglesia Inmaculada Concepción posa el grupo de floreras , guapas mujeres con trajes típicos de la mujer indígena ecuatoriana. (Foto de cortesía).

Tai Wilson, Alex Bathea, and Kadja Manuel team up to represent the resistance to the establishment promising to be a voice for the people not a rubber stamp to Gusciora.

how

When someone you care about is sick, you’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they get the best care. And so do we.

With a collaborative structure so our doctors can craft a treatment that’s uniquely right for you. With primary care physicians who never schedule an appointment that’s less than 20 minutes. With world-renowned surgeons that are changing cancer treatment.

Because you’d go to the ends of the earth for the people you care about. And we do too.

William Trent fue quien le dió el nombre a la ciudad de Trenton

Por Carlos Ávila

TRENTON.- La ciudad adoptó el nombre de Trent-Towne, en 1719, en honor a William Trent, un terrateniente que había adquirido gran parte de la tierra de esta región. El nombre de ‘Trentowne’ se acortó más tarde y se cambió a lo que hoy todos conocemos como Trenton, aun todavía muchos lo llaman simplemente Trent.

La ciudad Trenton es histórica, fue el sitio de la primera victoria militar de George Washington durante la Guerra Revolucionaria. Washington y su ejército, después de cruzar el gélido río Delaware hacia Trenton el 26 de diciembre de 1776, derrotaron a las tropas de Hesse. Los Hessians eran soldados alemanes que sirvieron como auxiliares del ejército británico durante la Guerra de Independencia de los Estados Unidos. Después de la guerra, Trenton fue brevemente nombrada como la capital

nacional de los Estados Unidos en noviembre y diciembre de 1784. En primera instancia Trenton fue considerada una capital para el nuevo país, sin embargo los representantes de los estados del sur favorecieron una ciudad más al sur de Trenton. Luego determinarían que Washington DC seria la capital permanente de los EEUU.

La ciudad de Trenton es hoy en día el hogar de muchas familias que han llegado de diversas partes del mundo. Trenton es la capital permanente del estado de Nueva Jersey y su eslogan es “Trenton Makes the World Takes”. La ciudad actualmente como en tantas otras ciudades de la Unión Americana enfrenta diversos desafíos sobre todo en el ámbito de la seguridad y la educación, sin embargo hay que mencionar que también tiene una comunidad de inmigrantes mujeres y hombres trabajadores que miran hacia el futuro con gran entusiasmo.

¿Cuáles son los mejores lugares para vivir en EEUU?

Editorial

NUEVA YORK.- La página web www.niche.com ha publicado su quinta lista anual de los mejores lugares para vivir, que incluye una serie de categorías, como las mejores ciudades de Estados Unidos, zonas urbanas con una población de 100.000 habitantes o más, los lugares con el menor costo de vida y mucho más.

Niche clasifica los lugares utilizando datos de fuentes que van desde el censo de EE UU hasta millones de opiniones de residentes. La empresa toma en cuenta factores como las oportunidades de trabajo, la asequibilidad, el mercado local de la vivienda, la diversidad de los barrios, las escuelas y colegios públicos, por nombrar algunos.

Lista de las mejores ciudades para vivir en Estados Unidos según el portal NICHE:

1.- Hell’s Kitchen, New York City.

2.- Nolita, New York City.

3.- Telegraph Hill, San Francisco.

4.- Center Square, Albany, NY.

5.- Showplace Square, San Francisco.

6.- Downtown Orlando, Florida.

7.- Arena District, Columbus, Ohio.

8.- The Port, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

9.- South Lake Union, Seattle, Washington.

10.- Murray Hill, New York City.

Photo by Carlos Ávila

Opinión - ¿Es hora de cerrar las escuelas secundarias públicas de Trenton?

Por Al Alatunji

TRENTON.- Es evidente que los administradores, maestros, personal de seguridad, la junta de educación y los funcionarios de la ciudad no pueden proteger la vida de los estudiantes en las escuelas secundarias públicas de Trenton. Es hora pues, de cerrar las escuelas antes de que un estudiante o estudiantes terminen en bolsas para cadáveres.

Esto puede sonar como una hipérbole, una exageración o un sensacionalismo hasta que sucede. Sin embargo, es solo un puñetazo, una patada en la cabeza, una puñalada por eso. Entonces la gente se levantará en armas, toda emocionada por la moción. Estarán marchando y cantando.

Los políticos contarán con sus redactores de discursos para preparar su estandarte “Mis oraciones y condolencias para la familia” Julano de Tal. Pero para entonces se habrá perdido una vida o vidas. Padres, a nadie parece importarle realmente su hijo. Con respecto al horrible ataque de dos niñas de secundaria el 8 de diciembre en Trenton High School, básicamente hubo silencio por parte de la administración de la escuela, la junta de educación y los políticos de la ciudad.

Durante las recientes elecciones municipales, fue interesante escuchar a los candidatos mencionar cómo querían que las escuelas públicas de la ciudad mejoraran. Sin embargo, en el siguiente aliento declararon que el órgano de gobierno de la ciudad no era responsable de las escuelas.

Es correcto que el alcalde y el concejo no administren las escuelas públicas. Sin embargo, los niños que asisten a esas escuelas y los padres que los envían a esas escuelas son sus electores. El alcalde y el concejo tienen una obligación política y, lo que es más importante, moral y responsabilidades para garantizar el mejor

resultado educativo posible para los estudiantes de las escuelas públicas de Trenton. Eso incluye no solo asegurarse de que las luces permanezcan encendidas, sino también que los estudiantes, todos los estudiantes, estén seguros y en un entorno seguro y protegido. Que estén libres de ataques, intimidación y acoso. Todos los estudiantes independientemente de su raza, religión, país de origen, lengua materna, género u orientación sexual. No es ningún secreto que los estudiantes latinos, en particular los recién llegados al país de Guatemala, Honduras y otros países centroamericanos, así como los negros de Haití, el Caribe y África, han sido objeto de abuso físico y verbal. Va más allá de no ser justo, sino indefendible e inmoral.

No fue hace mucho tiempo cuando jóvenes italianos golpearon, acosaron e intimidaron a estudiantes negros en Trenton High cuando Chambersburg era todo italiano y los italianos eran la mayoría de los estudiantes en la escuela secundaria. Estaba mal entonces y está igualmente mal ahora.

Como hombre negro orgulloso y extremadamente orgulloso, me indigna, me horroriza y me enoja ver a los negros actuar de manera inhumana y bárbara con los demás, en particular con otras personas de color. ¿No aprendimos nada siendo un pueblo esclavizado?

¿No aprendimos nada del maltrato a Jim Crow, del linchamiento y brutalidad? Superamos la inhumanidad y el odio que se nos dirigía porque somos un pueblo especial. Somos mejores que eso.

La vida humana es sagrada. Las vidas de los negros son importantes. Entonces, Brown vive. Sí, todas las vidas importan. Cuando fallamos en proteger y celebrar todas las vidas, entonces nuestras vidas y todas las vidas están en peligro. Nuestra historia sagrada como pueblo negro no nos permite actuar como salvajes e inhumanos con

los demás. Nuestra historia sagrada no nos permite causar dolor, sufrimiento e injusticia a otros porque hablan un idioma

diferente al nuestro, provienen de tierras diferentes a las nuestras o cualquier otra consideración sin sentido.

Photo by Carlos Ávila

Fentanyl: The New Way To Kill Black and Latin People Part 2 (for the first part of this article go to page 3)

In 2022, White people comprised just over half of the fatalities. Black deaths made up 28% and Latinx deaths made up 15%. Two-thirds of the drug-related deaths now involve fentanyl or a similar synthetic opioid. They are cheap substitutes for heroin that have become near-ubiquitous in illegal drug compounding.. The US Drug Enforcement Administration revealed in December 2022, it seized more than 379 million deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022 — more than enough to kill every single American.

According toThe US Drug Enforcement Administration its agents confiscated more than 50.6 million fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills, which is more than double compared to last year, and over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder since January, 2022.

The highly addictive synthetic opioid is 50 times stronger than heroin. Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl — an amount that fits on the tip of a pencil — is considered a potentially deadly dose.

What is perhaps most alarming and disturbing is that NJ, similar to NYC has seen an increase in unregistered cannabis “mom and pop” type drug stores. These stores were established without the state’s venting process and without being registered.

A registered and legal cannabis op-

eration is required to meet the state’s strict standard as to the quality and constancy of the products sold in their stores. On the other hand, the mom and pop cannabis operations sell whatever they can obtain off the gray market.

Cannabis products sold through these illegal operations often contain harmful contaminants. One of those contaminants is fentanyl with the store owner and his or her customers totally unaware of what exactly is being sold.

However, with the exception of the government not getting its tax cut of the unregulated cannabis businesses, the fact that it is only Black and Latinx consumers who are dying seems not to be a concern.

It reminds one of the quote from the Godfather I, “I also don’t believe in drugs. For years I paid my people extra so they wouldn’t do that kind of business. Somebody comes to them and says, I have powders; if you put up three, four thousand dollar investment - we can make fifty thousand distributing. So they can’t resist. I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable. I don’t want it near schools - I don’t want it sold to children! That’s an infamia. In my city, we would keep the traffic in the dark people - the colored. They’re animals anyway so let them lose their souls.”

Makes you wonder if Ahsaki Tamara McCall was White if her death might have been handled differently.

Ahsaki Tamara McCall was born September 3, 1973 and transitioned on December 5, 2021. She was the oldest daughter of Carl and Flora McCall and beloved mother to Iman Lively. At an early age she was baptized at Union Baptist Church in Trenton where she was a member and served as a junior usher.

Ahsaki was a lifelong resident of the Ewing and Trenton area. She graduated from Bethany Lutheran School in Ewing and Blessed Sacrament in Trenton. Later she graduated from Ewing High School where she played basketball and was an avid swimmer receiving a certificate of achievement from the College of New Jersey. While in high school, Ahsaki was a junior debutante and graduated from the Granville Academy.

She continued her education at Mercer County Community College and The College of New Jersey where she earned her Bachelor’s in Communications and Journalism. She also completed her coursework at the Princeton School of Real Estate and subsequently obtained her real estate license.

Professionally, Ahsaki was an Asso-

ciate of the Public Partnership, the Slate House Group Property Management, and a real estate agent for Hundley Real Estate. She also worked for 18 years with the NJ Department of Commerce and briefly with the NJ Department of Treasury.

Ahsaki was remembered as a kind person who liked to share her many skills, including fashion and speaking talents, with others. She loved to travel and spend time with family and friends.

But more than anything, Ahsaki loved being the mother of her daughter, Iman and spoiling her granddaughter, Kennedy, who affectionately called Ahsaki GiGi.

She was so proud of her family and would often be heard recounting the special time she spent with each one. In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, Ahsaki had a close bond with her parents and her younger sister, Shahida.

Ahsaki Tamara McCall lived and her life mattered.

Readers are encouraged to go to the The Nubian News website clink on the podcast and view Mr. McCall’s story of the death of his beloved and beautiful daughter, Ahsaki Tamara McCal.

It’s Time to Shut Down Trenton Public High Schools

Part 2 (for the first part of this article go to page 4)

When we fail to protect and celebrate all lives then our lives and all lives are in danger. Our sacred history as Black people does not allow us to act as savageous and inhumane to others. Our sacred history does not permit us to cause pain, suffering and injustice to others because they speak a language different from us, hail from lands different from ours or any other meaningless considerations.

When we do we become no different than the pathic dehumanized slave owner, demented racist and deranged white supremacist. If we do, we shame our ancestors and negate their suffering, pain,

injustice, blood, lives and legacy. To all parents, run. Don’t walk. Get your child, your children out of the Trenton public high schools. A little-known provision of the federal “No Child Left Behind Act” allows a student who is subject to violence or the threat of violence to be able to leave that school and attend any school of their choice.

The district from which the child is leaving is required to send the money which was used to educate the child to the new school district. Don’t worry about the Trenton school district losing money. Let it go broke. Let students who want to learn and better themselves go to

other schools where they can learn and where they will be safe.

As for the parents of the two high school girls who were attacked at Trenton High School on December 8, 2022 you are encouraged to seek an attorney, an attorney like Ben Crump. An attorney who will sue for no less than two billion dollars. Have the attorney consider a federal hate crime as well as a civil rights violation case also. Go after the school district, its administrators and staff, the school board, the current Trenton municipal governing body as well as the teacher’s union, individually and collectively. Go after everyone. Leave no stone unturned.

Bankrupt the city and school district. Force them out of existence. Make them have to auction the few remaining assets of the city. Force them to have to auction off cars, desks, chairs, computers, paper clips and toilet paper, everything. Shut it down. Compel the state to create a State Complex district and manage it.

Take the remaining sections of the city and annex it to other municipalities. Trenton’s leaders have shown they just are incapable of running the city and the school district. Trenton residents, parents and students deserve better. Shut it down!!

Cortos - Lo que la periodista Sofia Martinez le dijo a Lionel Messi

Cortos - Obituario por Doña Delia Sebastiana de León Vasquez

“Lo último que te voy a decir no es una pregunta, sino solamente te quiero decir que se viene una final del mundo. Y si bien todos queremos ganar la Copa, quiero decirte que, más allá del resultado, hay algo que no te va a sacar nadie: atravesaste a cada uno de los argentinos. De verdad te lo digo. No hay nene que no tenga tu remera, sea la original, la trucha o la inventada, o la imagi-

naria. De verdad, marcaste la vida de todos. Y eso, para mí, es más grande que cualquier Copa del Mundo, y eso no te lo va a sacar nadie. Es un agradecimiento por un momento de felicidad tan grande que le hiciste vivir a tanta gente que, de verdad, ojalá te lo lleves en el corazón porque creo que es más importante que una Copa del Mundo... y eso ya lo tenés, así que gracias, Capitán”.

Nuestro sentido pésame, ante el sensible fallecimiento en Salcaja - Guatemala de Doña Delia Sebastiana de León Vasquez, madre de nuestro amigo Carlos Estrada. Pedimos a Dios consuelo en los corazones de todos los miembros de su familia en estos difíciles momentos.

Sinceramente, El Latino News