OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

| From the Villa ge of Brook ly n |

OUR TIME PRESS THE L OCAL PAPER WITH THE G LOBAL VIEW

| VOL. 22 NO. 3

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January 18 – 24, 2018 |

Since 1996

Speaking Truth to Power

rooklyn’s 32nd Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was infused with a message of finding joy in resistance to the forces now in power. Men dangerous for their racism, ignorance and greed, have given us the opportunity to show our mettle against evil and ready to step into freedom’s battle.

We were not with Nat Turner or John Brown, did not face the fire hoses, dogs and clubs on the streets of Birmingham and were not among the Freedom Riders and the unnamed marchers with John Lewis on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

But we are here now, and the message on this MLK Day, was to stay focused on voting, education, and organizing, and don’t get distracted by the man with his hair on fire. The folks gathered at BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House heard their elected representatives give the word that there is work to be done by them in their office, and others on the street. Following are excerpts from a few of the remarks made and the keynote by Professor Jelani Cobb. DG Borough President Eric Adams: “These 3 cards shaped my childhood.

Those of you who are old enough to remember 3-card Monte. On my way to buy my clothing for school, I decided to stop and play 3-card Monte. Lost a $100.

Back in the ‘70s, you know what a hundred dollars was? I was so busy trying to find the red card. The sleight of hand, movement, the swiftness, of the person distracted me from my mission. Busy trying to find the red card. Donald Trump is chumping us.

He’s playing 3-card Monte. He has us so busy watching the idiot behavior of his buffoonery, we are missing the entire plan.

This is the red card. Just go back to New Orleans when they had a massive hurricane. While we were mourning our kids and our lives, Halliburton and Cheney were making billions of dollars by rebuilding New Orleans. Who saw the red card? It’s not about Korea, it’s about the multibillion-dollar military industrial complex.

Continued on Page 3

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams set the tone at the 32nd Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., displaying the cards in the 3-card Monte game that taught him a lesson in his youth, and that he warns is being played in the White House. Photo: Althea Smith

Cory Booker blasts Republicans for amnesia over Trump’s nasty remark

D Senator Cory Booker forcefully challenges Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, at Tuesday’s Judiciary committee meeting.

emocrats accused Republicans of selective amnesia on Tuesday as President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, testified under oath that she “did not hear” Trump use the term “shithole” to describe African countries.

N ew J e r s ey senator Cory Booker angrily criticized Nielsen’s comments, telling her: “Your silence and your amnesia is complicity.”

“It was a meeting of 12 people. There was cross-talk,” she had explained at a congressional hearing, but she didn’t “dispute the president was using tough language”.

Under persistent questioning, Nielsen said she didn’t recall the specific language used by Trump.

“What I was struck with frankly, as I’m sure you were as well, was just the general profanity used in the room by almost everyone.”

Nielsen’s comments came five days after the president ignited what the Republican senator Lindsey Graham termed an “s-storm” with his Oval Office remarks.

The White House has not substantively disputed accounts of the episode, in which Trump is said to have used “shithole” to describe African countries of origin for potential immigrants to the US. The revelations, semi-denials and continuing comments have cast a pall over ➔➔ Continued on page 10

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OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018 DBG MEDIA Publishers of Our Time Press, Inc. 358 Classon Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11238 (718) 599-6828 Web site: www.ourtimepress.com e-mail: editors@ourtimepress.com Publisher DBG MEDIA

The Haitian Times Guest Editorial ■■

Trump’s Assault on Haiti and the Hypocrisy of It All

By Vania Andre

O

Editor-in-Chief David Mark Greaves Consultant Bernice Elizabeth Green Legacy Ventures Contributors Victoria Horsford Abigail Rosen McGrath Fern Gillespie Akosua Albritton Margo McKenzie Priscilla Mensah Aishamanne Williams Marlon Rice Web Manager www.ourtimepress.com Liani Greaves Sports Eddie Castro Office Manager Joanna Williams © 2015, DBG MEDIA Publishers of Our Time Press, Inc., printed in New York City.

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VOL. 22 NO. 3

n the eve of the eighth anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters to hit Haiti, President Donald Trump reaffirmed his stance against Black and Brown immigrants migrating to the United States.

During a meeting on Thursday evening at the White House to discuss immigration policies, Trump said he did not want people from “shithole” countries coming to the US and went even further by signaling out Haiti, asking why Haitians are in the US, and to “take them out”.

Trump’s rhetoric and attack on the Haitian community, Black and Brown immigrants as a whole, is rife with irony and hypocrisy. During the campaign, Trump lobbied the Haitian community, promising to be a “Great White Hope” of sorts against “crooked Hillary”, who many believe robbed Haiti of millions of dollars in the aftermath of the earthquake.

With a great error of judgment, a considerable number of people in the Haitian community threw their support behind a man who is a proven pathological liar, narcissist and a manipulator of emotions.

And what did the Haitian community receive for their allegiance to him? An To Advertise in Our Time Press Call 718-599-6828 email: dbgmedia@ourtimepress.com Follow us on www.ourtimepress.com

WHERE CAN TECHNOLOGY TAKE YOU?

all-out assault on their very existence by the man they helped elect as leader of the US. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians has been rescinded under his leadership. Ignorant and false allegations that Haitians are one of the main contributors of AIDS has resurfaced under his leadership—the words came from his mouth.

He’s questioned Haitians’ place in the US and categorized their native country as a “shithole”.

These “shithole” countries, however, were good enough to be pillaged and raped of their resources—once under the era of colonialism and still again today under the guise of diplomacy and imperialism. The US and Western countries have profited from the labor and natural resources of these “shithole” countries, and yet, for Trump, the presence of people from these countries is to be looked down upon with scorn.

As a world leader, his lack of emotional intelligence and political insensitivity is appalling.

His comments are not only unfortunate and reprehensible on a moral level, but also incredibly bothersome because of the position he holds. His ignorant thoughts are reflective of the immigration policies that

we see and will continue to see under this regime.

Haitians have fought hard to dispel negative stereotypes and perceptions of their people and have come a long way from the negativity that was associated with being Haitian. It’s not by accident that Haitians have managed to make tremendous leaps socially and economically within one generation of migrating to the US. “Children of Haitian immigrants have made significant educational advances, graduating from college and earning advanced degrees at rates above the U.S. population,” the Migration Policy Institute said in a 2014 report examining the Haitian Diaspora in Haiti. There are swaths of professional Haitian-Americans in the medical, legal, political fields and more, whose parents were domestic workers, cab drivers and factory workers.

Decades ago, Haitians were seen as a politically voiceless population. Now, a number of elected officials in the city, state and federal government across the US are of Haitian descent. My hope is for these officials to use their power to fight against comments like the one the president made; to use their positions to advocate for an inclusive immigration policy that doesn’t ostracize Black and Brown immigrants.

Gov. Cuomo Closes Loophole “No more freeloading millionaires”

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ashington, DC- This past Tuesday, following New York Governor’ Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that the 2018 New York state budget will include a provision that would close the carried interest tax loophole, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires Morris Pearl, former Managing Director at BlackRock, Inc., issued the following statement: “The carried interest loophole has allowed millionaire fund managers to avoid taxes for far too long. This budget would demand that they pay the same tax rate on their income that working people pay, raising billions of dollars in tax revenue for the state of New York and restoring a sense of fairness to our tax code at the same time.

It sends a powerful message that the rest of the country should take notice of: no more freeloading millionaires. The richest Americans, those who have benefited the most from what this country and the state of New York have to offer, must contribute their fair share.

The carried interest loophole - a fundamental mischaracterization of income that allows for some asset managers to pay a tax rate that is half what every other working American pays - is the poster child for money overcoming logic and decency in our public policy process. This loophole benefits a few thousand of the richest Americans, and allows them to pretend that their labor income is actually investment income, while offering absolutely no economic benefit to anyone else. By closing this loophole, Governor Cuomo is showing that government is capable of working for the people, not just a wealthy few.”

Our Time Press inadvertently ran this image last week without the watermark. It was created by artist Andre Kervin, Akomicsart, and his work can be seen at www.spreesy.com/akomicsart

VOL. 22 NO. 3

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OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

Martin Luther King Jr., Celebrated at BAM Continued from Cover:

Gotta keep focused. Don’t be distracted by the 3-card Monte of today. Don’t lose our attention. 3 types of people we need right now: those who negotiate, those who legislate and those who agitate. Yes, go down to 42nd Street and raise your voice and agitate.

But let’s legislate to make sure that we don’t allow these four years to go on by saying, we’re going to wait until the next four years.

Those next 4 years turn into 8 years. Donald Trump is not going to lose one vote because of his madness, because there’s madness all over this country. That is why we must legislate. It’s a combination of the agitators and the negotiators and legislators that move this agenda forward.

These are great moments and great times, and we’re ready for it. I want to make this very clear to you. These are the times we live for. Put your hair in a ponytail, put some Vaseline on your face…(Applause) Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez: ICE agents now routinely undermine justice by rounding up immigrants in our courthouses. I will do all I can do to gain “sensitive locations status” for our courthouses so that we can end this criminal practice.

We do not believe that mass incarceration makes us safer. I understand the disproportionate impact on Black and Brown people that mass incarceration has led to, and that’s why I just recently announced that on low-level cases and misdemeanor cases that city attorneys will no longer seek bail.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: As we come here today to celebrate the remarkable life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and recognize how much progress our country has made in the years since. We also must recognize how much more work must be done. Obviously, our nation has taken a step backwards. As I look back at 2017, I can’t help but feeling a bit of despair at that year which was so divisive. So disturbing.

Even demoralizing. We all heard more stories than we can stand about hate. About violence. About growing division among people across our beautiful state.

And in Charlottesville, we saw disgusting hatred on awful display. Hatred that was made even more painful by our own president’s comments when he blamed “both sides” in the violence in Virginia. Make no mistake. Hate was brought to Virginia by racists and Neo-Nazis, not the peaceful protestors who were standing up for a more tolerant and just society.

We have to call out these racist comments for what they are and fight back with political action. This was also a year of policies specifically designed to attack the working poor, the elderly, millions of vulnerable Americans. Men and women, especially Black and Brown men and women who are struggling and working as hard as they can

Photo: Althea Smith

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to provide for their families. And you can add to this the administration’s commitment to continuing the failing war on marijuana that sends thousands of young people, Black men and women who have never committed a violent crime, off to prison, to see just how far we still have to go.

What do we do in a time like this? He (King) says, “Our lives begin to end the day we are silent about the things that matter”.

And that’s what all of you have been doing.

Since the very first day of this presidency, you have stood up. You have spoken up.

You have marched, and I stand here as an American and a person of faith. It is inspiring to watch all of you turn those words into actions.

Jelani Cobb: I am an historian. I’m going to speak specifically to my brothers and sisters from Haiti. I want to say thank you to your contributions to the freedom of Black people in the world. We hear endlessly about the greatness of American democracy, we’re taught about the achievements of the Founding Fathers. Our young people are learning in the schools about the Louisiana Purchase. And how in 1803, Thomas Jefferson negotiated this fire-sale price of $15 million dollars that doubled the size of the United States, they had 13 states that in whole or in part, are carved out of that purchase. This is a great moment in American history we’re told. But

Photo: Althea Smith

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

they conveniently leave out the part about Napoleon being motivated to make that deal by the catastrophic loss that had been inflicted upon him by the people of Haiti.

We’re taught that in 1808, the United States became the first great power to abolish the

Transatlantic Slave Trade. We’re not taught that it was the example of Haiti that sent a shock wave of fear. And people began to think maybe we need to cut the South ➔➔ Continued on page 6

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OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

WHAT’S GOING ON ■■

By Victoria Horsford

USA/CURRENT EVENTS The Trump Presidency is consistent, consistently offensive to people of color.

Take last week’s talks about immigration to a bipartisan group of legislators at the White House. The president was referencing Haitians, El Salvadorans and African countries when he said, “Why are we having all of these people from shithole countries come here?” He continued. “We should bring more people from countries like Norway….. and we would be more open to immigrants from Asian countries because I feel that they help the U.S. economically.” Trump denies making the shithole remarks. I believe Senators Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham do not dispute the Trumpian shithole remarks. Racist?! That’s a rhetorical question.

It is hard to respond to ignorance and stupidity. Where do you begin? Does Trump know that until about 5 years ago, Africans were the best formally educated of all immigrants to the USA. Yes, they believe in Ph.Ds. They excel in engineering and many are superstars on Wall Street.

Does he know that Africa is also the richest piece (re: natural resources) of real estate on the planet.

He needs to check with some of his “really rich” white American or European buddies, the Fortune 500 gang to test their knowledge and interest in Africa and Africans.

When a country or a continent has something that your corporate denizens want, you adopt liberal immigration policies for their citizens. Africa is also a continent crucial to US security and defense strategies.

Perhaps, Trump should read a few Africom bulletins. Or just read some US Department of Defense files about the critical roles of Africa. Last year, Trump said that the US was changing its Africa policy, decreasing if not eliminating humanitarian aid, and focusing instead on strengthening local militaries. Did I mention that Africa is the home of civilization, including European civilization. Read my Haiti remarks under Foreign Affairs.

I suspect that President Trump’s behavior, outbursts and chaos explains the book industry’s fascination with the USA’s close

VOL. 22 NO. 3

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren as a LG hopeful.

encounters with disaster during his term in office. War brinksmanship, polluting the air and the waters, dismantling public education.

David Frum’s book, “TRUMPOCRACY: The Corruption of the American Republic”, hits bookstores this week. Trump also disrespected Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s holiday by playing golf! POTUS 45 is not good for the national health of America and the world really misses Barack Obama and his presidency when he did his best to help make the USA and the world a better place.

BUSINESS MATTERS Liberian-born businessman Richelieu Dennis, founder of Essence Ventures, recently purchased Essence Communications from Time Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

Brenda Brunsen Bey

NY POLITICS Councilman Corey Johnson is the new NYC Council Speaker. A politician with a progressive agenda who named committee chairmen and party leaders. Rafael Salamanca, Jr. (Bronx) chairs Land Use; Daniel Dromm (Queens) chairs Finance; Y d a n i s Rodriguez (Manhattan) c h a i r s Transportation; Andy King chairs Juvenile Justice; Richie Torres chairs Oversight and Investigations; Laurie Cumbo Jumaane Williams is new Majority Leader; and Councilman Jumaane Williams (Brooklyn) seems to be the only one who ran against Johnson for the Speakership who was not awarded a chairmanship. Not to worry. Williams has set his sights much higher….initially for the governor spot. Now his interest is the Lieutenant Governor K a t h y Hochul’s job.

Congressional Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wants Hochul back in Congress.

NYS Dems Mayor Lovely Warren are courting

Richelieu Dennis The sale included Essence magazine and the Annual Essence Festivals, held in New Orleans since 1995 and in South Africa since 2016. Essence magazine was founded in 1970 by Ed Lewis and a team of Black male entrepreneurs. Essence President Michelle Banks joins the Essence Ventures Board, as does a Black female-led executive team who will have equity in the enterprise.

Richelieu Dennis launched the successful Shea Moisture brand, a hair and skin care line which he recently sold. He also entered into a business deal with Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre building in Harlem on Fifth Avenue at 125th Street.

Wonder if Mr. Dennis has some surplus funds from his Shea Moisture revenues to buy Johnson Publishing’s iconic brand, Ebony magazine. Johnson Publishing magazines were sold to Michael Gibson’s Black-owned private equity company CLEARVIEW, which had no publishing background. I have not seen an Ebony hard copy in months. What passes as news from the site is salacious celebrity gossip, disseminated about twice a week. Ebony has been reduced to a blog!

Register for the free NY State MWBE workshop on January 25th from 9:30 am to 11:30 am at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building, located at 163 West 125th Street, Harlem, 2nd Floor Art Gallery.

Registration necessary. [Contact Harlem CDC at 212.961.4100 or harlemcdc@esd.ny.gov] Brenda Brunson’s Tribal Truths fashion emporium in Brooklyn closed on January 14.

A fashion designer and stylist, Brunson is a household name in New York’s women’s fashion circles, couture and rtw, for those disposed to drama, lyricism, Afrocentricity or all of the above. A Brunson design is its own statement. It is wearable art. Tribal Truths was housed at 117 So. Oxford Street.

We all wait with baited breath for Brunson’s next chapter or sequel to Tribal Truths.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS FORBES magazine just published its list of 23 African billionaires.

Nigerian cement and commodities businessman Aliko Dangote tops the list for the seventh consecutive year with a net worth of Richelieu Dennis $12.2 billion. Other Black African billionaires in the Forbes firmament include Zimbabwe’s Strive Masiyiwa, Econonet; Angolan Isabel Dos Santos and Nigerian Folorunsho Alakija.

Like their American counterparts, their net worth is guestimated by Forbes.

HAITI celebrated its 214th Independence Day on January 1, 2018. The enslaved Africans in Haiti emancipated themselves and declared independence from Napolean’s France, which boasted one of Europe’s most formidable armies.

The African ➔➔ Continued on page 9

Panel for Educational Policy to Vote on WEB DuBois & Brownsville Academy Consolidation ■■

T

By Akosua K. Albritton

he Panel for Educational Policy (aka NYC Department of Education) has scheduled a meeting on January 24, 2018, 6:00 PM at PS 20, the Anna Silver School, located at 166 Essex Street, New York, NY, wherein the panel will vote on the consolidation of WEB DuBois Academic High School (17K489), located at 402 Eastern Parkway, with Brownsville Academy High School (17K568), located at 1150 East New York Avenue (K907). Both are transfer schools that serve “overaged and undercredited students who seek to attain high school diplomas”. The grounds for the consolidation are both schools are underenrolled. Each currently has under 200 students.

The Panel for Educational Policy’s (PEP) notice describes, “WEB DuBois and Brownsville Academy have persistently struggled with low enrollment, each serving fewer than 200 students per year over the last five years. Enrollment at WEB DuBois has declined by 46% in the last five years and enrollment at Brownsville Academy has declined by 29% in the last five years”.

Enrollment numbers directly affect school budgets and therefore, the programming

provided to the pupils. WEB DuBois High School, where Dr. Catherine Costa is Principal, currently shares 402 Eastern Parkway with a suspension center and Restart, an alternative high school. WEB DuBois offers music and video production, intramural basketball, student government, career readiness services and academic tutoring. Should the consolidation go through, there is no other transfer school to serve the western portion of School District 17.

Further, there are no plans to bring in another school at 402 Eastern Parkway at this time.

Brownsville Academy High School, where Ms. Carol Ying is Principal, is located also in School District 17, in the eastern portion. It offers the Learn to Work Initiative, College Now at Brooklyn College, college tours, dance, drama, cheerleading, tennis, chess, internships and the school newsletter. It shares space with Unity Preparatory Charter School, CAMBA, a nonprofit service agency, and the Executive Superintendent of Equity and Access. CAMBA is in the building as a result of Brownsville Academy High School being selected into the NYC Community Schools program in 2014. The NYC Community Schools program provides a wraparound of services for the students and their families.

The public review period for this proposal spans from November 30, 2017 through January 23, 2018, 6:00 PM. Public hearings were held on December 13, 2017 at WEB DuBois Academic High School and December 14, 2017 at Brownsville Academy High School.

WEB DuBois’ Principal Dr. Catherine Costa is not in agreement with the consolidation on many grounds. One concern is W.E.B. DuBois High School and Brownsville Academy are the only two transfer high schools located in District 17. However, Brownsville Academy is located on the border of District 23.

W.E.B. DuBois High School is home to the New York City WEB Center, The Reverend Clarence Norman Recording Studio and the W.E.B. DuBois Television Studio. The WEB Center is a digital lounge equipped with Apple desktops, laptops and iPads. The recording studio and television production studio are equipped with professional-grade music and video production equipment. Further, W.E.B. DuBois High School recently received funding in the amount of $250,000 from St. Assemblyman Walter Mosley to replace obsolete computers, laptops and smart boards. Eliminating W.E.B. DuBois High School would

eliminate student access to these amazing resources.

It is unlikely that eliminating W.E.B. DuBois High School will increase enrollment at Brownsville Academy High School. We have surveyed 100% of our student population about their thoughts on the proposed consolidation. 100% stated that they do not think consolidation is a good idea and 100% stated that if the consolidation is approved, they will not attend Brownsville Academy High School.

W.E.B. DuBois High School is located in the 71st Precinct. Brownsville Academy High School is located in the 73rd Precinct.

CompStat data provided by the New York City Police Department indicates that the crime rate in the 73rd Precinct increased by 2% in 2017, whereas the crime rate in the 71st Precinct decreased by 3.5%.

Brownsville Academy Principal Ms. Carol Ying was not available for comment due to leaving the high school early due to illness.

Note: Given Rev. Clarence Norman, Sr.’s work to establish WEB DuBois Academic High School, this writer sought comments from his son, former Assembly member Clarence Norman, Jr. He has not been available for comment.

VOL. 22 NO. 3

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OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

Thinker's Notebook

Haiti: The Tip of Freedom's Spear in North America ■■

By Marlon Rice

A

llow me to tell you a wonderful story about a most productive and resilient island in the Caribbean.

The island was called Hispaniola and the colonization of this island was shared by Spain, who owned two-thirds, and France who owned the remaining third. For those of you not aware, colonization was an imperialist strategy that Europeans instituted for around four hundred years. Basically, it’s when Europeans “discovered” your land, began to settle on it and then enacted laws to control you; to decimate your sovereignty and to simply utilize the idea of manifest destiny as an impetus to usurp all of the resources from your land for profit.

In 1789, North America and the entire Caribbean Sea were engulfed in centuries of colonization. The French controlled their portion of Hispaniola, calling it SaintDomingue. This little territory was the most prosperous colony in the entire Caribbean.

No Caribbean colony churned more profit in 1789 than Saint-Domingue. 60% of the world’s coffee and 40% of the world’s sugar came out of that colony. Slavery, the primary commodity of the time, was solely responsible for the economic boom in Saint-Domingue. French plantation owners imported tens of thousands of Africans for slavery annually. For example, in one year the French delivered 20,000 slaves to SaintDomingue. Comparatively, in that same year, 38,000 slaves were delivered to every other Caribbean island. A big reason for the influx of slaves into France was the fact that during this time the yellow fever was rampant

throughout the island. Slave owners would bring in more and more slaves in order to cover the ones they assumed would die after contracting the illness. It made great business sense, allowing the French slave owners to push out tons and tons of raw material for use in the European world. However, the aggressive stockpiling of slaves led to some very uneasy numbers with regards to population. In Saint-Domingue in 1789, African slaves outnumbered whites by a ratio of 10:1.

It was a combination of the horrible treatment of the slaves by the French, the persistence of free men of color in SaintDomingue and the ideas of enlightenment which called into question the practice of slavery which put in motion the gears that grinded into revolution on the island. In April of 1791, slaves in Saint-Domingue revolted against slave owners. In just two months, 4,000 whites were murdered by a slave revolt that counted as many as 100,000 members. In a year, slaves owned almost half of Saint-Domingue. The siege would become known as the Haitian Revolution. JeanJacque Dessaline named the island Haiti in 1804. Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin America, and the first post-colonial independent Black state in the world. Haiti is the only place that took their independence through a slave revolt.

In 1825, the French Government demanded that Haiti pay an “independence debt”, basically offering reparations to France for their economic losses which stemmed from the loss of the island. France placed warships at the ready, making it hard for Haiti to refuse. The fee was 150 million francs, a figure that would represent trillions of dollars

A bird's-eye view of colorful and crowded Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Image by Larry McCormack. Haiti, 2016. today. The debt crippled Haiti’s economy for a whole century. Finally, in 1947, they were able to pay in full. Ten years later, the ushering in of the Duvalier family and Papa Doc as President led to enormous economic upheaval for Haiti, as the Duvaliers took incurred loans that at one point were responsible for 40% of Haiti’s debt. Between the “independence debt” and the Duvaliers, Haiti was constantly robbed of their resources and kept an unstable country due to corruption.

Eventually, Papa Doc’s son, Baby Doc, was kicked out of Haiti and sent into exile. This began a turn for Haiti which now has the country currently coming together after over

a century of mismanagement and corruption.

When Baby Doc left Haiti though, he rested comfortably for a time in a lavish apartment at Trump Tower. Our president sold the Haitian dictator a condo on the 54th floor of the building in 1983. Baby Doc owned the place until Ronald Reagan froze his assets in 1987. Still, Baby Doc counted Trump as a friend.

Trump was quoted this week, calling Haiti and countries in Africa “shithole countries”. I guess now that his friend isn’t in charge anymore he could care less about the place. Funny thing is that the more he talks, the less we all could care about him.

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OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

VOL. 22 NO. 3

MLK Day at BAM: A Celebration of Resistance ➔➔ Continued from page 3

Dr. King understood this. In 1967, looking at the hallmark achievements of the Civil Rights Movement. They had fought for and achieved the passage of a Civil Rights Act in 1964. That had fought for and achieved the passage of a Voting Rights Act in 1965.

And they had begun to feel an increasing headwind against their attempts to create more reform and make way for more equality in the United States. It is in that context that he sat down and wrote a book called Where Do We Go from Here, Chaos or Community. In it he said, “The backlash

before people get hold of this example and start trying to live the way that they did. So, these are the communities that we respect.

These are the people who have come here against great odds. These are people whom this country is intimately and intricately indebted to. We cannot talk about the story of American history or American liberty without talking about the people of Haiti or talking about the African continent which supplied the labor that built this country.

There are some things we need to talk about today. I’m very pleased, I’m a historian, I’m a writer and I could not be more happy to see that annually we recognize Dr. King’s legacy.

This is important. And they understood the importance of this. The origins of this day coming directly from that terrible moment 50 years ago this year when Dr. King was killed on the Photo: Althea Smith balcony of the Lorraine Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo Motel in Memphis. 4 days after his assassination, his colleagues, his is nothing new. It is the surfacing of old widow, gathered together to complete the prejudices, hostilities and ambivalences that march that Dr. King was set to lead on April have always been there. The white man’s 3rd. They did so symbolically and concrete- action today is rooted in the same problem ly following through on the work that he had that has characterized the American problem set out to do. It was in that week, in the week ever since the Black man landed in chains in which he was killed, that Congressman on the shores of this nation. The source of John Conyers introduced a bill to make his this backlash is the congenital deformity of Photo: Althea Smith birthday a national holiday. The bill went racism that has crippled the nation from its Keynote speaker Professor Jelani Cobb nowhere. But the lesson they took from Dr. King’s example was that we had to persevere we celebrate them. Not for what they did if anything were to be achieved. And they during easy times, but because what they continued and continued and continued. did was to achieve their accomplishments They tried in 1979, and got close to having during moments that were most difficult. So Congress pass a bill, and then in 1983, they surveying the landscape of 1967, Dr. King passed the bill, and it was signed into law posed that we had to look forward, that and became a national holiday. We recognize we had to look at the things that united us Dr. King’s achievements as a result of this. rather than the things that divided us. The There are some places, of course, that try to version of populism and toxic version of skew in a different direction and recognize populism that we’re seeing which is pitted Robert E. Lee’s birthday. We know who they one group of people vs. another group of are, but this is an achievement. But it comes people has made it seem that wrongdoing with a particular set of fine print. In it, we could so easily be called and coordinated as see that one of the implications, unforeseen being recognized by the color of one’s skin. implications of having Dr. King recogThat form of populism was the antithesis of Photo: Althea Smith nized by the official channels of American what Dr. King was trying to achieve in 1967 Senator Kirsten Gillbrand Government and power authority, would when he said we have to organize the poor be a circumstance such that we witnessed inception. Historically, it was so acceptable this, and he said, because you all are raping people in this country. We have to organize recently in which the 45th President of the in American life that it’s still only white our women and taking over the world. And the people who are commonly afflicted. We United States, fresh off of having insulted that lightly burdens the conscience. No we had seen this language deployed, twice have to organize people so they do not fall one community, a series of communities in one surveying the moral landscape of our in the same week. I’m not saying there is prey to the same divide-and-conquer tactics the long, litany of racist diatribes he has nation could overlook the pathetic wreck- a causal relationship between these two that have defined the history of the United issued, not just since he’s been in the White age of commitment and twisted and turned things but I’m saying they’re responding to States. I want all of us to think for a moment House, but since he’s been in public life, into a thousand shapes under the stress the same historical threat that Dr. King tried about one thing that Dr. King said in closing. could, nonetheless, turn around and praise of prejudice and irrationality”. Dr. King to warn us about. So, what do we do in this When he received the Nobel Peace Prize, he Dr. King’s message of equality. understood that there was this cycle that moment? How do we move forward? took a moment in that speech to say that he

I have to say, he’s forgotten who people of conscience gathered together and When Dr. King in 1967 came out wanted to explain the meaning of the phrase Dr. King was. And I lament the moment worked. That we actually pushed ourselves against the Vietnam War, he warned us of “We Shall Overcome”. He said that people that a man such as Dr. King could be com- closer to actually conveying the existence in what he called the triple threats. The triple understand when we’re singing this, they’re memorated by a man such as Mr. Trump. this world and that there is a countermeasure evils. Racism, militarism and economic believing that we’re saying this to our oppothat happens as a result of it. This backlash. exploitation. If we look at our current po- nents, but in actuality, it’s a mantra. We’re There’s this backlash moment that we litical landscape, at our current leadership, saying this to ourselves. He says this phrase are inhabiting now. But we can chart this it would appear they took those words that helps renew our hope but gives the uncerbacklash to the moment in which a person Dr. King uttered and used them as a how-to tainties of the future. He says it gives our is able to stand up in public and say that guide. These are the exact issues we see. weary feet renewed strength as we march he was running to prevent Mexican rapists Racism disposed from the highest offices. on toward the city of freedom. When our from taking over. And he was allowed to And enabled by people who ought to know days grow dreary with low-hanging clouds, continue to exist in American life and taken better. We see economic exploitation of the and our nights grow darker than a thousand seriously. tax bill that will harm people who are so bro- midnights, we will, nonetheless, know that I’ll tell you this, as a historian I know ken and intoxicated with the liquor of racism we are witnessing the creative turmoil of a these things. That that was an interesting that they can hardly tell that they were being new civilization struggling to be born. Dr. week for me. That this statement was made harmed. We see militarism, where is this King told us to look at these dark moments on the 16th of June 2015. On the 17th of reality? We see the president tweet about and see within it the creative tension of two June 2015, we witnessed the atrocity that nuclear conflict? Is this the world that we civilizations struggling to be born. That happened at Emmanuel AME Church in actually live in? It’s at that point we have to civilization has not yet been born, that march South Carolina. We witnessed a young man ask ourselves the questions and recognize that he began has not yet been completed. in all his destruction that took the lives of 9 the true value of Dr. King. I want to remind That is the work he left to us and that is the us today that not simply Dr. King, but all work that most assuredly was inspired by his Photo:Althea Smith people. In the midst of this, one person, who was wounded, asked him why he was doing of our heroes, we commemorate them, example, “we shall overcome”.

Senator Chuck Schumer

VOL. 22 NO. 3

7

OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

Haitian Ambassador Encourages Trump to Visit Haiti

W

ASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — An invitation has been extended to US President Donald Trump to visit Haiti in the aftermath of reports that he made a derogatory comment about the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state.

The invitation came from Haiti’s Ambassador to the US, Paul Altidor, who was speaking with CNN on Monday.

According to Altidor, the words reportedly said by the president were an insult to Haiti’s dignity.

“The words, they did hurt the community, they did hurt the country of Haiti…..it hurt because one, it’s an insult to our dignity, but more importantly, it’s because too much of Haiti is misunderstood,” said Altidor.

The Haitian Ambassador, in issuing the invitation, said it “doesn’t excuse an apology for what was said”, and that “such words shouldn’t be coming out of anybody’s mouth, let alone the President of the United States”.

During a meeting with lawmakers here last week, the president reportedly made the comment about immigrations from Haiti, El Salvador and African nations.

However, Trump later tweeted that he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians, other than Haiti is obviously a very poor and troubled country”.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Allen Chastanet, has also weighed in on the issue.

Chastanet told reporters in St. Lucia on Monday that Trump’s statements were “very unfortunate”.

He expressed the view that CARICOM had issued an appropriate response.

“If anything, I think that maybe the African Union’s response, which asked for an apology, would have been appropriate,” Chastanet declared.

MLK was marked by thousands of Haitians rallying in Time Square against President Trump's remarks..

Photo: Garry Pierre Pierre “I think there are two sides to take, one obviously from an international perspective that it’s just insulting and particularly when you think of what Haitians and Haiti have gone through and the need for our assistance,” he observed.

According to Chastanet, Haitians are still

This Haiti Earthquake Anniversary, Black Immigrants are Under Threat ■■

I

by Luce Janvier

n so many ways, our lives as immigrants in the United States are the same as anyone who works hard to take care of their families. My story is an example of this.

I first visited the U.S. in 2004, amidst the coup d’etat against President JeanBertrand Aristide. I didn’t know at the time that I would have to stay here. But by the time Aristide was ousted from power, I was forced to seek refuge in this country because I feared for my life.

As someone who belonged to a community group that supported his political party (Lavalas), I became a target.

When I started to build a life here, it was very difficult. Within a year, Hurricane Wilma damaged the house where I was staying, and I lost my papers in the storm. During that time, I started going to a Catholic church, where I found a school whose staff told me where to go for help. The school helped me get a bus card so that I could get back and forth and they also helped me find a lawyer who informed me that I was here too long to file for asylum.

In order to feed myself and support my family in Haiti, I had to work in the bean fields for two years.

It was very difficult work, at times my lips would crack and bleed from the products they used.

Eventually, a lawyer helped me file

for a work permit that enabled me to find a job as a housekeeper and rent a room to live in. But I still didn’t have enough to eat. I would go to church and school on an empty stomach.

The minimum wage I made was just enough to pay for transportation and to send money for my three kids in Haiti.

Then the earthquake struck. It destroyed the home in Delmas (in the greater Port-au-Prince area) where my kids lived. So for several months they had to live in a tent. My son’s foot was injured, almost broken in the earthquake. My family didn’t receive any of the aid that was sent to support survivors. And because I didn’t have all my papers, I couldn’t be there with them. All I could do was send money.

Things began to turn for the better once I found out about TPS (Temporary Protected Status). Through my church, I got connected with Catholic Charities, which helped me file for TPS. For the first time in 12 years, I would be able to travel and see my children.

And then I applied for permanent residence. Though I built my life here and paid taxes, there were some basic services I still didn’t have full access to.

For example, I couldn’t afford health insurance so I couldn’t go to the doctor.

I haven’t been able to afford a decent apartment, so I still have to rent a room. ➔➔ Continued on page 9

trying to recover from a devastating earthquake and Hurricane Matthew one year ago.

“If anything, they need our sympathy, not that level of criticism,” Chastanet told reporters.

He explained that the world is becoming very unsympathetic.

“We need to know that we need to get our own act together and we have to do more in order to progress our own development plans and make sure that we are viable countries,” he said.

Courtesy: The Haitian Times

THE WILLIAM M. MOSS

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8

OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

NEW BUSINESS FORMATIONS MCNUTT ALEXANDRA LEE L.L.C. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 7/11/2017 Office: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of the PLLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to the MCNUTT ALEXANDRA LEE L.L.C. 1408 PUTNAM AVE. APT 1R BROOKLYN, NY 11237. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SIDE HUG LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/21/17. Office location:

LEGAL NOTICES FAMILY COURT FOR THE STATE OF DELAWARE NOTICE OF FAMILY COURT ACTION To Justine Alexis, Quentin George, respondent (s) Petitioner, Marion Council-Goerge has filed a Guardianship petition against you in the family Court of the State of Delaware for New Castle County on 10/2/2017. If you do not file and answer with the Family Court within 20 days after publication of this notice, exculisive of the date of publication as required by statue, this action will be heard in family Court without further notice. Petition# 17-27078 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT: KINGS COUNTY FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION (“FANNIE MAE”), A CORPORATION ORGANIZED AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Plaintiff(s) vs. GREGORY HOERZ; et al; Defendant(s) Attorney (s) for Plaintiff (s): ROSICKI, ROSICKI & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 2 Summit Court, Suite 301, Fishkill, New York, 12524, 845.897.1600 Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on or about November 29, 2017, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder in Room 224 at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York. On February 22, 2018 at 2:30 pm.

Premises known as 701 PRESIDENT STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11215 Block: 00956 Lot: 0065 ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York. As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale. Sold subject to all of the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale. Approximate amount of judgment $653,208.67 plus interest and costs. INDEX NO. 507054/2014 Jack Segal, Esq., Referee NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court County of Kings MIDFIRST BANK, Plaintiff AGAINST TANYA T. BROWN, DELORES BROWN, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 7/30/2014 and entered on 7/14/2014, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on February 08, 2018 at 02:30 PM premises known as 849 Madison Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 1481, LOT: 52. Approximate amount of judgment is $399,821.50 plus interests and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 24545/08. Jeffrey R. Miller, Referee FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT

Kings County. Princ. office of LLC: 493 Park Pl., #4R, Brooklyn, NY 11238. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Divergent Streams Media, LLC, Arts of Org filed with SSNY on 12/04/2017 Office Location: Kings County, SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail COUNTY OF KINGS JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Plaintiff AGAINST Hugh Smith a/k/a Hugh C. Smith; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated November 20, 2017 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on February 15, 2018 at 2:30PM, premises known as 2264 Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY 11208. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block 4360 Lot 8. Approximate amount of judgment $491,759.17 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 509165/2014.

Stephen Barbaro, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 759-1835 Dated: December 21, 2017 50604 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT: KINGS COUNTY FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION (“FANNIE MAE”), A CORPORATION ORGANIZED AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Plaintiff(s) vs. GREGORY HOERZ; et al; Defendant(s) Attorney (s) for Plaintiff (s): ROSICKI, ROSICKI & ASSOCIATES, P.C., 2 Summit Court, Suite 301, Fishkill, New York, 12524, 845.897.1600 Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on or about November 29, 2017, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder in Room 224 at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York. On February 22, 2018 at 2:30 pm.

Premises known as 701 PRESIDENT STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11215 Block: 00956 Lot: 0065 ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York. As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale. Sold subject to all of the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale. Approximate amount of judgment $653,208.67 plus interest and costs. INDEX NO. 507054/2014 Jack Segal, Esq., Referee FAMILY COURT FOR THE STATE OF DELAWARE NOTICE OF FAMILY COURT ACTION To Justine Alexis, Quentin George, respondent (s) Petitioner, Marion Council-Goerge has filed a Guardianship petition against you in the family Court of the State of Delaware for New Castle County on 10/2/2017. If you do not file and answer with the Family Court within 20 days after publication of this notice, exculisive of the date of publication as required by statue, this action will be heard in family Court without further notice. Petition# 17-27078 SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS GMAT LEGAL TITLE

a copy of process to: The LLC, c/o Mark Kirshner, Divergent Streams Media, LLC, 2935 W5th St., Apt 16C, Brooklyn, NY 11224. Purpose: to engage in any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of GOLDEN FILMS, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/01/17. Office location: Kings County. Princ. office of LLC: 123 Coffey St., Brooklyn, NY 11231.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity TRUST 2014-1, U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS LEGAL TITLE TRUSTEE, Plaintiff -against- DELYS HALLEY, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale dated May 5, 2017 and entered on May 30, 2017, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Courthouse 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY on February 22, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at a point on the westerly side of East 53rd Street, distant 376 feet southerly from the corner formed by the intersection of the westerly side of East 53rd Street, with the southerly side of Clarendon Road; being a plot 100 feet by 24 feet by 100 feet by 24 feet. Block: 4773 Lot: 25.

Said premises known as 654 EAST 53RD STREET, BROOKLYN, NY Approximate amount of lien $811,056.00 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. Index Number 8699/2013. JOHN M. BRICKMAN, ESQ., Referee, Jeffrey A. Kosterich, LLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff, 68 Main Street, 3rd Floor, Tuckahoe, NY 10707 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE OF OWS REMIC TRUST 2015-1, Plaintiff, Against Index No.: 509325/14 CARLOS LIRIANO, JASSON LIRIANO, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, duly entered in the Kings County Clerk’s Office on 4/6/2017, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at Room 224 of Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on 2/22/2018 at 2:30 pm, premises known as 905 Belmont Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208, and described as follows: ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, and designated on the tax maps of the Kings County Treasurer as Block 4228 and Lot 40. The approximate amount of the current Judgment lien is $506,616.14 plus interest and costs. The premises will be sold subject to provisions of the aforesaid Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; Index # 509325/14. Dominic J. Famulari, Esq., Referee. STIENE & ASSOCIATES, P.C. (Attorneys for Plaintiff), 167 Main Street, Northport, NY 11768 Dated: 12/14/2017 File Number: 201401018 TKS NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court County Of Kings MIDFIRST BANK, Plaintiff AGAINST TANYA T. BROWN, DELORES BROWN, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 7/30/2014 and entered on 7/14/2014, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street,

VOL. 22 NO. 3 Notice of Qualification of 5540 - 409421 14TH STREET BROOKLYN LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/21/17. Office location: Kings County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/13/17. Princ. office of LLC: 110 William St., Ste. 2402, NY, NY 10038.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. Of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Real estate.

Brooklyn, NY on February 08, 2018 at 02:30 PM premises known as 849 Madison Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 1481, LOT: 52. Approximate amount of judgment is $399,821.50 plus interests and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 24545/08. Jeffrey R. Miller, Referee FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court County Of Kings Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, as Trustee for Harbor View Mortgage Loan Trust Mortgage Loan PassThrough Certificates, Series 2006-5 Trust, Plaintiff AGAINST Gladwin Waldron, Paulette Waldron, et al, Defendant Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated 10/3/2017 and entered on 12/7/2017, I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on February 8, 2018 at 2:30pm premises known as 654 East 87th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11236. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of New York, BLOCK: 7991, LOT: 59. Approximate amount of judgment is $460,762.16 plus interests and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 502053/2012. Angelyn D. Johnson, Referee FRENKEL LAMBERT WEISS WEISMAN & GORDON LLP 53 Gibson Street Bay Shore, NY 11706 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, MTGLQ INVESTORS, L.P., Plaintiff, vs. BARUCH KUPFERSTEIN A/K/A BARUCH M. KUPFERSTEIN, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale, Order to Amend Caption and Request for Other Relief duly filed on December 06, 2017, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on February 08, 2018 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 1128 41st Street, Unit 2, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Kings, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 05592 and Lot 01902; together with an undivided 25.36 percent interest in the common elements. Approximate amount of judgment is $211,614.65 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 8820/2013. Cash will not be accepted.

Philip L. Kamaras, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Ste. 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff ➔➔ Continued on page 10

VOL. 22 NO. 3

9

OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

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This Haiti Earthquake Anniversary, Black Immigrants are Under Threat ➔➔ Continued from page 7 I’m sharing my story for one simple reason: to let you know that immigrants like me want what every person wants and deserves. We want to live and work to provide for our families. And for those of us who have made our lives here, we want a path to permanent residence and a path to citizenship. We want to live with dignity, not just to survive.

As we work towards that permanent

WHAT’S GOING ON

➔➔ Continued from page 4

Jean Bertrand Aristide

Haitians were the only New World Blacks who snatched their freedom. Therein lies its problem to this day. Wonder if Trump remembers Haiti’s last legitimate democratic election when Jean-Bertrand Aristide became president. What happened? The US, France and Canada removed him from office and relocated him to the Central African

solution, we’re asking you to stand in solidarity with us now.

Thousands of residents are fearful that they may lose their jobs because they haven’t been able to renew their work permits.

The Department of Homeland Security neglected to provide Haitian TPS holders with updated information on the work authorization renewal period. We need the Department of Homeland Security to update the Federal Register, with the start date the 60-day re-registration period

Republic. A screenwriter could not conjure up a scenario like that. A superpower act like that threatens political stability. Then came the 2010 earthquake with recovery pledges and commitments just north of $5 billion. Where did the money disappear to?

Certainly not to Haiti’s treasury. P.S.-- Who is collecting the Haitian gold mine revenue?

HEALTH WATCH CEMOTAP (Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African People) hosts

beginning on the day the Federal Register is updated.

We also need Congress to enact legislation that provides a humane, holistic solution for Haitians and other TPS holders. We need legislation that formalize what TPS holders already are—permanent residents of the United States.

-Luce Janvier is a Haitian North Miami resident, a member of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (www.

BAJI.org) and recipient of Temporary Protected Status. This essay was written as part of a national initiative of the Black Immigration Network (www. blackimmigration.net). a FORUM, “African Guide for Physical, Mental and Spiritual Health”, featuring scholars/healers Dr. James McIntosh, MD; Dr. Arthur Lewis and Professor James Small on Saturday, January 27 at 2 pm at the CEMOTAP Center, located at 135-05 Rockaway Boulevard, South Ozone Park, Queens 11420. Free admission, registration required, call 347.907.0629.

A Harlem-based management consultant, Victoria can be reached at Victoria. horsford@gmail.com.

10

OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

LEGAL NOTICES ➔➔ Continued from page 8 SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS Index No. 503821/2014 STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS PENNYMAC CORP., Plaintiff, -vs- THE HEIRS AT LARGE OF HUBERT BEARAM, deceased, and all persons who are husbands, widows, grantees, mortgagees, lienors, heirs, devisees, distributees, successors in interest of such of them as may be dead, and their husbands and wives, heirs, devisees, distributees and successors of interest of all of whom and whose names and places are unknown to Plaintiff; KWESI BEARAM; BERNADETTE SPROSTA A/K/A BERNADETTE BEARAM; LATTOYA ST. HILL; HUBERT JOHNSON; HART 452 INC.; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; NEW YORK STATEDEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; “JOHN DOE” AND “JANE DOE” said names being fictitious, it being the intention of Plaintiff to designate any and all occupants of premises being foreclosed herein, Defendants.

Mortgaged Premises: 452 HART STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11221 TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANT(S): YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the Complaint in the above entitled action and to serve a copy of your Answer on the plaintiff’s attorney within twenty (20) days of the service of this Summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty (30) days after service of the same is complete where service is made in any manner other than by personal delivery within the State.

The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may answer or appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof. Your failure to appear or answer will result in a judgment against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint. In the event that a deficiency balance remains from the sale proceeds, a judgment may be entered against you, unless the Defendant obtained a bankruptcy discharge and such other or further relief as may be just and equitable. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer to the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. These pleadings are

being amended to include the Heirs at Large of HUBERT BEARAM, deceased.

These pleadings are also being amended to include Bernadette Sprosta a/k/a Bernadette Bearam, Lattoya St. Hill and Hubert Johnson as possible heirs to the estate of HUBERT BEARAM, deceased. These pleadings are also being amended to include United States of America, Hart 452 Inc., and New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

KINGS County is designated as the place of trial. The basis of venue is the location of the mortgaged premises. Dated: August 7, 2017 Mark K. Broyles, Esq. FEIN SUCH & CRANE, LLP Attorneys for Plaintiff Office and P.O. Address 28 East Main Street, Suite 1800 Rochester, New York 14614 Telephone No. (585) 232-7400 Block: 1596 Lot: 128 NATURE AND OBJECT OF ACTION The object of the above action is to foreclose a mortgage held by the Plaintiff recorded in the County of KINGS, State of New York as more particularly described in the Complaint herein. TO THE DEFENDANT, the plaintiff makes no personal claim against you in this action. To the above named defendants: The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an order of HON. NOACH DEAR, Justice of the SUPREME Court of the State of New York, dated October 16, 2017 and filed along with the supporting papers in the KINGS County Clerk’s Office. This is an action to foreclose a Mortgage. ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land situate lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: Beginning at a point on the southerly side of Hart Street, distant 405 feet easterly from the corner formed by the intersection of the southerly side of Hart Street and the easterly side of Stuyvesant Avenue; Running thence southerly parallel with Stuyvesant Avenue, 100 feet; Thence easterly parallel with Hart Street, 19 feet 8 inches; Thence northerly again parallel with Stuyvesant Avenue and part of the distance through a party wall, 100 feet to the southerly side of Hart Street; Thence westerly along the southerly side of Hart Street, 19 feet 8 inches to the point or place of beginning. Mortgaged Premises: 452 HART STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11221 Tax Map/Parcel ID No.: Block: 1596 Lot: 128 of the BOROUGH of BROOKLYN, NY 11221 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS HSBC Bank USA, National Association as Trustee for Nomura Asset Acceptance Corporation, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2007-1, Plaintiff AGAINST Merwyn Fraser; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated August 26, 2015 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on February 1, 2018 at 2:30PM, premises known as 220 Nichols Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208. All

VOL. 22 NO. 3

that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough and County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block 4134 Lot 44. Approximate amount of judgment $966,696.08 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 6045/2013.

Anthony J. Lamberti, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 759-1835 Dated: November 29, 2017 50287 NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC AUCTION Supreme Court of New York, Kings County.

SRMOF II 2012-1 TRUST, U.S. BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, -against- CLEO CHARLESPHILLIPS; ROBERT PHILLIPS; CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PARKING VIOLATIONS BUREAU; CITY OF NEW YORK TRANSIT AUTHORITY TRANSIT ADJUDICATION BUREAU; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION & FINANCE; SOPHIA JOHNSON, Index No. 2713/2013. Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated, February 21, 2017 and entered with the Kings County Clerk on April 6, 2017, Gregory Laspina, Esq., the Appointed Referee, will sell the premises known as 553 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, New York 11203 at public auction at Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, New York 11201, on February 8, 2018 at 2:30 P.M. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings and State of New York known as Block: 4845; Lot: 28 will be sold subject to the provisions of filed Judgment, Index No. 2713/2013.

The approximate amount of judgment is $1,047,226.32 plus interest and costs.

FRIEDMAN VARTOLO, LLP 85 Broad Street, Suite 501, New York, New York 10004, Attorneys for Plaintiff.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. Bank National Association as Trustee for Merrill Lynch First Franklin Mortgage Loan Trust, Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2007-5, Plaintiff AGAINST Nelson Moncion; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated July 28, 2017 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on January 25, 2018 at 2:30PM, premises known as 291 Ridgewood Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208.

All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block 4114 Lot 56. Approximate amount of judgment $796,122.49 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment

Index# 507269/2014. Shmuel Taub, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 759-1835 Dated: December 6, 2017 50336 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS Santander Bank, N.A. f/k/a Sovereign Bank, N.A. f/k/a Sovereign Bank, Plaintiff -against- Paulette Wellington a/k/a Paula Wellington a/k/a Paula R. Wellington, First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Rochester, City of New York Department of Transportation Parking Violations Bureau Defendant(s) Pursuant to a judgment of foreclosure and sale entered on November 29, 2017 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction to the highest bidder at ROOM 224 F/K/A ROOM 274 OF KINGS COUNTY SUPREME COURT, 360 ADAMS STREET, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11201 on January 25, 2018 at 2:30 PM premises known as 930 East 101st, Brooklyn, NY 11236 ALL that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of KINGS, City and State of New York.

Block: 8208 Lot: 51Approximate amount of lien $608,011.60 plus interest and costs.

Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment Index # 502496/2015 Helene Blank, Esq., REFEREESTEIN, WIENER AND ROTH, L.L.P., ATTORNEYS FOR THE PLAINTIFF ONE OLD COUNTRY ROAD, SUITE 113 CARLE PLACE, NY 11514 DATED: December 20, 2017 FILE #: SANTANDER 67255 NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB DOING BUSINESS AS CHRISTIANA TRUST NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR BCAT 2015-13ATT, Plaintiff, vs. DIANA VILLARREAL A/K/A DIANA C. VILLARREAL A/K/A DIANA GUEVARA A/K/A DIANA C. GUEVARA, ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on August 17, 2017, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on January 25, 2018 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 166 Glen Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 4168 and Lot 22. Approximate amount of judgment is $398,425.96 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 503328/2013. Shmuel D. Taub, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Ste. 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff

Cory Booker blasts Republicans ➔➔ Continued from page 1 the White House’s legislative agenda, brought the country closer to the brink of a government shutdown and sparked international outrage.

And with the midterm elections approaching, there are fresh fears among Republicans who were already anxious over the political climate going into November and over Trump’s unpredictable actions.

Administration officials and lawmakers spent the holiday weekend debating the precise presidential vulgarity used, and moved to cast last Thursday’s White

House meeting as a salty affair, with expletives flying in all directions.

The White House said Trump had no intention of apologizing.

“The president hasn’t said he didn’t use strong language, and this is an important issue,” the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, said.

“He’s passionate about it, he’s not going to apologize for trying to fix our immigration system.”

There is internal debate in the West Wing over whether Trump said “shithole” or “shithouse”.

One person who attended the meeting told aides they heard the latter expletive,

while others recalled the president saying the more widely reported “shithole”, according to a person briefed on the meeting but not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Trump has not clarified to aides what he said, but told reporters Sunday night in Florida that comments attributed to him “weren’t made”.

From: www.theguardian.com

Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen

VOL. 22 NO. 3

11

OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

Slavebreeding in the South’s “Peculiar Institution”

Part 2 ■■

T

By Professor Milfred Fierce

homas Jefferson Randolph, nephew of Thomas Jefferson, speaking to the same Virginia legislature during the winter of 1831-1832, boldly asserted: “The exportation has averaged 8,500 for the last twenty years. It’s a practice, and an increasing practice, in parts of Virginia to rear slaves for market. How can an honorable mind, a patriot and a lover of his country bear to see this ancient dominion coverted into one grand menagerie, where men are to be reared for market like oxen for the shambles?”

Randolph is also credited with having shown that the Black population of eastern Virginia increased 186 percent from 1790 to 1830, while the white population in the same region increased only 51 percent. 3 In a speech on the same subject, to the same audience and delivered at the same time and place, Henry Berry of Jefferson County estimated that the annual exports would be not less than 10,000 - Bancroft says 9,500.32 Thomas Marshall of Fauquier, son of Chief Justice John Marshall, reportedly offered a still higher number.

According to Jesse Burton Harrison, “Virginia has a greater number of slaves than any other state in the union - and more than Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee all put together; and more than four times as many as either of them”. (34) In 1840, the Anti-Slavery Society estimated that there were 80,000 slaves exported annually from the more Northern states to the South.35 While no estimate is given for individual states, it is generally accepted that Virginia was the leading exporter, therefore, she must have had a sizeable portion of this estimated 80,000.36 I am not concerned here and now with whether the number of slaves marketed for profit was 6,000, 8,000, 10,000 or 20,000 annually. If the repeated citations of civic and political leaders, guardians of Southern civilization, can be accepted - it tends to adduce that shred of evidence that U.B. Philips and his colleagues indicated could not be found.

The attestations of two additional individuals might be helpful here. With a quotable invective regarding the evils of slavery in Virginia, the South and the possibility of its extension into the territories, Thaddeus Stevens discusses the glorious days of the republic led by Virginia and guided by such patriots as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Now Virginia is reduced to the humiliating business of breeding slaves.

“The learned and able gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Meade) in a pamphlet which he laid upon our table, takes the same view of it.

He says: ‘Virginia has a slave population of nearly half a million, whose value is chiefly dependent on Southern demand.’ Let us pause for a minute over this humiliating confession.

In plain English, what does it mean? That Virginia is now only fit to be the breeder, not the employer of slaves. That she is reduced to the condition that her proud chivalry is compelled to turn slave traders for a livelihood!

Instead of attempting to renovate the soil, and by their own honest labor compelling the earth to yield her abundance - instead of seeking for the best breed of cattle and horses to feed on her hills and valleys and fertilize the land, the sons of this great state must devote their time to selecting and grooming the most lusty sires and the most fruitful wenches to supply the slave barracoons of the South! And the learned gentleman pathetically laments that the profits of this genteel traffic will be greatly lessened by the circumscription of slavery. Reacting to a revenue tariff passed in the mid - 1840’s and in an attack on Pennsylvania Democrats, Joshua Giddings states: “Are the liberty-loving Democrats of Pennsylvania ready to give up the tariff? To strike off all protection from the articles of iron and coal and other productions of that state in order to purchase a slave market

for their neighbors who ... breed men for market like oxen for the shambles.” (37) Anticipating the incredulity of some, even though the declarations of Olmsted, Dew, Thaddeus Stevens and others unquestionably affirm the omnipresence of commercial slavebreeding in the “Old Dominion”, there are a host of current scholars who also confirm the existence of systematic slavebreeding: Dr. John Hope Franklin, Chairman of the History Department at the University of Chicago, a leading United States Historian and the Dean of Black Scholars, was a special consultant to a New York City Board of Education publication designed for teachers which states, “The systematic breeding of slaves appears to have been widely practiced and openly admitted by a number of prominent slaveholders. (emphasis mine) In The American Negro Reference Book, Dr. Franklin notes that because of the illicit foreign slave trade and slavebreeding, plus the normal excess of births over deaths, Black population in the United States increased steadily during the first half of the nineteenth century”. In 1790, there were 604,000 slaves. By 1808, there were about 1,000,000. In 1830, there were 2,156,900, and by 1860, the number had increased to 3,953,760. Virginia continued to lead with 549,000. (40) Professor Franklin continues in From Slavery to Freedom that Southerners feared that the supply of slaves would run out while there was still such great demand. He elaborates on the slaveholder’s solution: “The systematic breeding of slaves is one of the most fantastic manipulations of human development in the history of mankind.

Despite the denials and apologies of many students of the history of American slavery, there seems to be no doubt that innumerable slaveholders deliberately undertook to increase the number of salable slaves by advantageously mating them and by encouraging prolificacy in every possible way experiments in slaverearing were carried on, albeit surreptitiously, in much the same way that efforts were made to discover new products that would grow on the exhausted oil.” (41) (emphasis mine) Lerone Bennett, Jr. is no less consistent than John Hope Franklin remarking that “some masters sanctioned polygamy and polyandry”. Others kept “Stud Negroes” and bred slaves for the market. He follows with several pages of testimony to slavebreeding practices in the antebellum South. The late Dr. E. Franklin Frazier, eminent Black sociologist and Howard University Professor suggests that on most antebellum plantations mating varied from purely forced physical contacts to associations of genuine sentiment. Harold D. Woodman offers a new introduction to the 1969 revival of a work originally published in 1862, The Slave Power by John Elliot Cairnes. “The old states undertook the part of breeding and rearing slaves until they attained to physical vigor and of using up the development of their virgin resources the physical vigor which had been thus obtained.” Cairnes adds that “the whole business of raising slaves in the border states is carried on with reference to their price, and that the price of the slaves in the border states is determined by the demand for them in the Southern markets”. (44) Edward Byron Reuter commenting on the American race problem writes that slavebreeders had more aristocratic status than overseers or slavetraders even though their business was purportedly considered more ominous. As mentioned earlier, Reuter maintains that all slaveowners were slavebreeders and that commercial slavebreeding was an incidental by-product of the system.45 Charles Nichols, in his recent book entitled Many Thousand Gone, discusses the auction block and the kinds of questions planters and speculators would ask the slaves, notes that females were asked how many children they could turn out per year.46 Stanley Feldstein in Once a Slave talks about a slaveowner who kept fifty to sixty slaves for breeding alone. “No other slave was allowed near them, for they were reserved for the whites. From twenty to twenty-five children a year were bred on this plantation, and as soon as they were ready for market, they would be taken away and sold.

(47) References such as these could go on ad infinitum. Moreover, the frequency with which

politicians, planters, academicians and common folk referred to slavebreeders and slavebreeding states, convinces me, beyond a reasonable doubt, that commercial slavebreeding was a very popular business in the antebellum South.

And Virginia, as Charles Henry Ambler’s vitriolic pen reveals, slavebreeding “enabled the inhabitants to keep the wolf from the door, and to maintain a semblance of their former hospitality”. Turning briefly to slave narratives, Mary Agnes Lewis illustrates the communication between a runaway slave and his former mistress. The mistress, Sarah Logue, asks J. W. Loguen to return home or send her $1,000 for her loss. She insisted that she raised the slave as she did her own children. However, the runaway asks, “Woman, did you raise your own children for the market”? (49) According to Paul Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, most famous of the runaway slaves speaking about his former master, reports: “In pursuit of this object {wealth}, pious as Mr. Covey was, he proved himself unscrupulous and baseless as the worst of his neighbors. In the beginning he was only able - as he said - ‘to buy one slave’, and scandalous and shocking as is the fact, he boasted that he bought her simply ‘as a breeder’. ... No better illustration of the unchaste, demoralizing and debasing character of slavery can be found than is furnished in the fact that this professedly Christian slaveholder, amidst all his prayers and hymns, was shamelessly and boastfully encouraging and actually compelling in his own house, undisguised and unmitigated fornication as a means of increasing his stock. It is the system of slavery which made this allowable, and which condemned the slaveholder for buying a slave woman and devoting her to this life no more than for buying a cow and raising stock from her and the same rules were observed with a view to increasing the number and quality of the ‘one as the other’.” (50) American Slavery As It Is, the monumental collection by the West’s leading abolitionist, is virtually inundated with notations on slavebreeding and slavebreeders.

One section in particular reviews the testimony to slavebreeding in Virginia and the denials are described as “ridiculous and contemptible”. (1) The question then, bears repeating. To what extent was the practice of slavebreeding the exception, and to what extent was it the rule?

Or, exactly how widespread was slavebreeding in Virginia? Or, to posit the question by way of illustration, using Virginia as an example, what proportion of the slaveholders {with let us say, more than a dozen slaves} consistently bred them for market and resale to the lower South? Three-fourths, one-half, one-fifth, one-twentieth? To answer this elusive question in terms of proportions or percentages will require investigation and sophistication which goes far beyond the natural limits of this brief conspectus. Moreover, the mission is exacerbated by the fact that research of this scope and depth has never been published. Therefore, the scholar who is interested in resolving this issue must do all pioneer work, Frederick Bancroft notwithstanding. However, the “scientific search” can commence where discourse ends.

For my part, “scientific” population statistics; plantation, county or state if they can be found, which would supposedly demonstrate widespread slavebreeding, would only reconfirm that which has already been satisfactorily confirmed, albeit empirically. To be sure, the discussion which appears here, the dutiful testimony and repeated observations of leading spokesmen of the period, the remarks by current scholars, the presence of an overwhelming number of slaves in Virginia where commercial agriculture, to all intents and purposes, was bankrupt, and the reasonable explanation for the existence of the domestic slave trade--in the face of maximum efforts to leave no records - argues persuasively that widespread slavebreeding was a reality.

Taken separately or in isolation, perhaps none of these factors is convincing evidence for the popularity of slavebreeding. However,

when consolidated, they leave little room for disclaimers regarding a Southern predilection for wholesale exploitation of African man by European man (slavebreeding), “the hallmark of a capitalist society”. (2)

A note of advice for further investigation After completing a thorough review of what literature there is, the investigator might compile a list of the leading planters and slaveowners in antebellum Virginia.

Then proceed to make a county-by-county examination of the slave population statistics.

From plantation to plantation, farm to farm and year to year from whatever records are available. Of course, if the statistics show an unusual increase {beyond what is considered the natural increase}, it will then be necessary to prove that this abnormal rise in slave population cannot be explained elsewhere; i.e., the “illicit slave trade”. Not satisfied here, the investigator can examine the state of Virginia population statistics from year to year for clues. Needless to say, the question of reliability as well as the validity of statistics must be dealt with by the student. The researcher can delve into materials on the domestic slave trade. An examination of the size and nature of slave sales - source destination, etc. - from the upper South to the lower South should reveal whether the traffic was heavy or light from Virginia. If the theory holds up that one major source of supply might have been a series of slavebreeding farms which contemporaries often made reference to.

For more help the scholar can conduct an intensive exploration of abolitionist literature.

Although perhaps not as scientific as population or domestic slave trade statistics, the writings and speeches of Arthur and Lewis Tappan, the Grimke sisters, the Lovejoys, Charles Stuart, Garrison, Weld, Giddings, Adams and a host of others should turn up something.

Abolitionist newspapers such as the Liberator, Emancipator or North Star cannot afford to be overlooked. Early periodicals owned and operated by free Blacks such as Freedom’s Journal, The National Watchman and Mirror of Liberty should be seen. Slave narratives can be a source for future consideration. If it is discovered that a substantial portion of the slaves who left narratives referred, repeatedly, to breeding practices they witnessed, it would be a valuable addition to the investigation.

As I see it, there can be no more reliable sources than the writings and speeches of contemporaries like Harriet Martineau, Olmsted, Henry Berry, Thomas J. Randolph, Thaddeus Stevens, planta- tion owners, overseers and “Southern gentlemen”. Everything they wrote and said must be gleaned for clues. I haven’t mentioned the larger newspapers and periodicals earlier because information gathered from the above sources are very likely to appear in the leading newspapers. However, some idea of the attitude of Southerners toward slavebreeding can be found in organs like the Richmond Enquirer, Richmond Whig or Charleston Mercury, plus many others.

Finally, I do not want to create the impression that one needs to be limited to these brief suggestions. On the contrary, they represent merely some place to begin and are more selective than exhaustive. Certainly, many more areas for perusal will reveal themselves once the task has begun.

It is most difficult to distinguish between what is considered the natural increase and what could be considered a forced increase.

Assuming that promiscuity among Africans was a little different from that of Europeans, any disproportionate rise in the Black population during this period might be considered a coercive or forced increase. (2) Matthew Hammond, The Cotton Industry: An Essay in American Economic History (New York, 1897), McMillan Company 54, rpt. 1966 Johnson Reprint Corp.

12

OUR TIME PRESS January 18 – 24, 2018

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VOL. 22 NO. 3