Caribbean American Weekly - Issue 118

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ISSUE 118 VOLUME 20

March 11, 2021

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES!

Time for a Caribbean-US Relations Reset

BY HON. DR KEITH ROWLEY

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he United States has long been a very important neighbor to the Caribbean and continues to be a significant partner for our 16 million— strong Community in a number of areas — security, trade, investment, energy, agriculture, education, tourism and sport.

Members of our Diaspora have contributed meaningfully to the socio-economic fabric of the United States in the fields of education, medicine, academia,

AG James Stops Trump’s Public Charge Rule....16

Dr Keith Rowley

continued on page 6

What You Need to Know About TPS for Venezuela .... 17

Bunny Wailer: Reggae Pioneer, Icon & Legend

BY VICTORIA FALK

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unny Wailer, reggae pioneer, icon, and legend, is dead at age 73. The last surviving founding member of the internationally acclaimed reggae group, The Wailers, died on March 2, 2021, in a hospital, in Kingston, Jamaica. The Jamaican singer, songwriter, and percussionist Wailer.

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Meet Meisha Ross Porter. NYC New Schools Chancellor ....10

continued on page 28

Women’s Economic Empowerment Is Critical ....3

I’m Doubting My Relationship.

Is This Normal? ....25

Commissioner Cortes-Vazquez on Vaccines for Seniors....18

Coronavirus is Messing with Our Minds and Bodies ....30

Brian Figeroux, Esq., Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association

PM Harris Lauds Role of Women in COVID-19 Fight ....2

“We Play Real” Film Celebrates Black Women ....24

Child Custody and Substance Use Disorder in Divorce ....13

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CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP Caribbean Consulates Anguilla 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Antigua & Barbuda 305 East 47th Street, Suite 6A New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-541-4117 The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-421-6420 Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325 Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-593-0999 Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853 Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-599-8478 Grenada 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1101 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301 Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119 Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767 Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000 Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887 Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450 St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521 St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360 St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272 For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory

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ExxonMobil Slashes Global Spending, Production to Focus on Guyana’s Stabroek Block

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EORGETOWN, GUYANA: ExxonMobil has slashed its global oil and gas production from its operations globally to 3.7 million barrels per day in stark contrast to its push to ramp up production in Guyana.

This would lead to Guyana accounting for a quarter of ExxonMobil’s total daily global production, which is being ramped up in the Stabroek Block, projected at 750,000 barrels per day in five years’ time.

These disclosures were during its Investor Day Conference when Chief Executive Officer, Darren Woods, announced that ExxonMobil has taken a decision to further slash its capital expenditure globally—a stark contrast to its increased expenditure in the Guyana Stabroek Block.

Investors have since been told that the company estimates its 2021-capital budget to be in the range of US$16 to US$19 billion, which indicates a decline from the 2020 level of US$21.4 billion.

Capital spending by the company is expected however, to rebound to between US$20 and $25 billion per annum through 2025.

These investments will be focused primarily on Guyana’s Stabroek Block in

addition to its Brazil operations and the Permian Basin in the United States.

In the Permian Basin, production is expected to rise to 700,000 barrels per day in 2025, from 370,000 barrels daily in 2020.

Anticipating its investments to generate more than 30 percent returns, investors were told that the company’s greater focus going forward is “on more profitable assets and divesting the less profitable ones.”

This, the CEO noted “will enable it to generate more profits and cash flows, while keeping production (globally) essentially flat.”

The Company this past month, in an effort to focus on its more lucrative operations, dumped assets in the United Kingdom and previously in Canada.

Investors were informed that ExxonMobil’s slash in its global production for oil and gas production will also allow the company to focus on cutting costs and preserving dividends “to win back investors that have soured on the company after years of overspending.”

The company, a day before the Investor Conference, had announced that it will also cut 300 jobs or 7 percent of its workforce in Singapore.

Editorial credit: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

This follows the historic losses recorded by the company of US$22.4 billion last year for at the time; it had fallen out of the Dow Jones index of top US companies while its shares plunged to a twodecade low.

ExxonMobil and its partners in the Stabroek Block—Hess Corporation and China’s National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC)—have so far claimed to have invested some US$20B in the Stabroek Block.

Oil prices have since rebounded to US$70 per barrel with an upward trajectory in prices in light of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) decision to limit global production.l —Guyaneseonline.net

PM Harris Highlights Role of Women in COVID-19 Fight and Rebuilding the Federation

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ASSETERRE, St. Kitts: As the global community pauses to reflect on the role of women in our communities on International Women’s Day, March 08, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honorable Timothy Harris, has attributed the country’s successful handling of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in part to the strong leadership of a number of women in the Federation.

In an address to mark the occasion of International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Harris said he is proud to lead a Government that is committed to true equality for women here in St. Kitts and Nevis and throughout the world.

The Prime Minister said, “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were more jobs and more opportunities for women here in St. Kitts and Nevis, particularly for our young women. Indeed, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there were more women in the workplace than at any time in our recent history. We have created those jobs and those opportunities before — and we will do it again.”

The theme for this year’s UN

PM Harris

International Women’s Day is “Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”

Prime Minister Harris said this theme aptly reflects what is happening here in St. Kitts and Nevis.

“I say to the global community, you only need to look at St Kitts and Nevis to see women’s leadership in action, and to see the strong results that it has been delivering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Health Minister is a woman.

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Our Chief Medical Officer is a woman.

Our Financial Secretary is a woman. Our Cabinet Secretary is a woman. Our Chief Personnel Officer is a woman.

Permanent Secretaries in Health, Tourism, Sports, Culture, ICT, Talent Development and Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development, Legal Affairs, etc. are all women. Most of our Ambassadors are women. It is their tireless efforts, their skill and determination that have been steadily taking us through this COVID-19 crisis, and onward to a stronger, safer future,” Dr. Harris added.

The honorable Prime Minister noted that his Team Unity-led administration has always been and will remain committed to equality and equity for all.

“On this International Women’s Day, I make this commitment, as your Prime Minister and as a father of two daughters.

As we rebuild our Federation post COVID-19, it will be an equal future. It will be a future that draws on the talent, the experience, and the ambition of our strong and capable women here in St. Kitts and Nevis.”l

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THOUGHTS

Women’s Economic Empowerment is Critical to Resilient Recovery Efforts

TEAM My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. —Hosea 4:6 Publisher I.Q. INC. Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief

Pearl Phillip Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq. Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman Graphic & Website Designers Praim Samsoondar Anvaar Sabirov

BY NORMAN LOAYZA & TEA TRUMBIC WORLD BANK

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he economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound detrimental effect for most people around the world. Yet, it has impacted men and women differently. Women are more likely to work in health care, unpaid care, and domestic work, making them more susceptible to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women still earn less than men for equally valued jobs, bear more of the childcare burden, and face a higher risk of violence in their homes. The pandemic has widened the gender gap in labor force participation, risking decades of progress for women as workers and entrepreneurs. As we write this, the COVID-19 pandemic is still claiming lives and livelihoods, and government policies to address the gender effects of the pandemic have not been enough given the magnitude of the challenge.

According to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2021 report published on February 23, 2021, women still have only three-fourths the legal rights of men, on average around the world.

This matters because better performance in the areas measured by the Women, Business and the Law index is associated with a narrower gender gap in development outcomes, more female policy makers, higher female labor force participation, and lower vulnerable employment. A legal environment that encour-

ages women’s economic inclusion can also make them less vulnerable in the face of a crisis.

Women, Business and the Law measures how laws and regulations affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The 2021 edition covers reforms conducted between September 2019 and October 2020. The index analyzes economic rights during different milestones in a woman’s working life through eight indicators ranging from being able to move freely to rights in the workplace, through rights during marriage and after having children, how the law prevents or allows them to run their own businesses and manage assets all the way to retirement.

The global average score in 2020 is 76.1, up from 75.5 in 2019. In ten countries, women are on an equal legal standing with men across all areas measured – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden. This year, Ireland joined the group by reforming parental leave and Portugal equalized rules for remarriage.

Twenty-seven economies implemented reforms aimed at equality of opportunity across seven of the eight indicators measured by Women, Business and the Law. Economies in the OECD high-income and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions reformed the most. Yet, the MENA economies still have the most room to improve.

The reform effort is, however, insuffi-

cient in the vast majority of countries.

Today fewer than half of economies worldwide (90) have mandated equal remuneration for work of equal value.

And in 88 economies, laws restrict the jobs and hours that women can work, affecting 1.6 billion women. This leads to occupational segregation, which has resulted in women being overrepresented in jobs that are more affected by COVID-19 disruptions, such as education, retail, tourism, hospitality, and domestic services. While the Pay indicator, which measures job restrictions and the right to equal pay, recorded the most improvement in scores in the new Women, Business and the Law 2021 report, it is also the indicator with the second-lowest performance out of the eight indicators.

The Women, Business and the Law website has various resources available, including the report, economy snapshots, current and historical data, new data visualizations, PowerPoint slides, and much more. We invite you to visit the website, browse the information and help us disseminate the report’s findings.

Reforming laws that hold women back from fully participating in the economy is more important than ever. l Norman Loayza is the Director, Global Indicators Group, World Bank.

Tea Trumbic is the Program Manager, Women, Business and the Law

Contributors Jennine Estes Erin Telesford Janet Howard Mary Campbell Tarsha Gibbons Travis Morales Email info@myiqinc.com Telephone 718-771-0988 Website www.cawnyc.com

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CIVIL RIGHTS

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Women’s History Month: Just as in the Civil Rights Movement, Black Women are Leading the Way in Today’s Social Justice Activism

BY TAFENI ENGLISH CIVIL RIGHTS MEMORIAL CENTER

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omen’s History Month, celebrated in March, was established by Congress to recognize and celebrate the contributions of women over the course of American history.

Typically during this month, the Civil Rights Memorial Center (CRMC), where I am the director, produces a website feature and social media postings dedicated to honoring women who have shaped the civil rights movement.

We do this because we firmly believe that women’s stories — which are often overlooked — must continue to be shared. Their contributions aren’t widely discussed in the historical context of the movement.

That’s why I am launching this year’s monthlong celebration of women by sharing the stories of some of those who are currently impacting social justice activism.

The CRMC is an interpretive center operated by the Southern Poverty Law

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson Photo:highlandercenter.org

Center that includes interactive exhibits about civil rights martyrs. Like many other museums, we’ve had to pivot away from in-person visits to virtual educational tours because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But even though these tours are not in person, much remains the same about how we engage audiences about the history of the movement.

We continue to ask people online to

reflect on key events and figures of the 1950s and ’60s. Almost immediately, we get responses about towering male figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, John Lewis and Fred Gray.

When you probe a little deeper and ask about the involvement of women in the movement, a few people mention Coretta Scott King or Rosa Parks. But very few

can name other significant figures, like Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Septima Clark, Jo Ann Robinson, the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray or Daisy Bates.

Today, Black women continue to make strides in the movement. With the influence of social media platforms, they are creating space to tell their stories.

They’re women like Bree Newsome, the continued on page 5

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CIVIL RIGHTS Women’s History Month/ continued from page 4 activist from Charlotte, North Carolina, who removed the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house grounds in the aftermath of the shooting at a historically Black church in Charleston. Her actions resulted in the flag’s permanent removal.

Before that, Newsome protested voter ID laws in North Carolina that disproportionately disenfranchise Black and Brown voters. Today, she continues to use her platform to speak on issues of racial justice. In 2017, she became an activist for fair housing rights, including ensuring the enforcement of the last piece of civil rights legislation passed after King’s assassination, the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

When you talk about today’s movements, you must mention the three founders of the Black Lives Matter movement: Alicia Garza, Patrisse KhanCullors and Opal Tometi.

Today, women’s voices and perspectives are critical to a broader struggle for civil and human rights. They are seen and heard in women like Chanelle Helm, a Black Lives Matter activist who is leading the way for racial justice in Louisville, Kentucky; Taylor Turnage, a Tougaloo College student and local organizer who was instrumental in having the Mississippi state flag bearing a Confederate emblem removed; and AshLee Henderson, co-executive director of the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee.

New York City, New York/USA - July 26th, 2020 Black Womens/Womxn March Black Lives Matter Editorial credit: Julian Leshay / Shutterstock.com

Henderson is a long-time activist who works on issues of racial justice and environmental racism, and she is involved in the Southern Workers Assembly, organizing and transforming labor power throughout the South.

And then there are women like Jotaka Eaddy, founder of Win With Black Women, a collective of intergenerational, intersectional Black women leaders across the nation. She’s been called the Harriet Tubman of Silicon Valley and is an extraordinary woman who was born and raised in South Carolina. She’s committed to social impact and social justice, and continues to use her platform to shape policy and build movements.

Eaddy is the epitome of lifting up others as she climbs the social and economic ladders.

I often reflect on the women who made my success possible, for all the ways in which their lives have inspired and influenced my path in the fight for social justice.

I continue to draw strength, wisdom and knowledge from women of both historic and contemporary times. Words don’t even begin to describe the courage, bravery and conviction I feel when I see the rise of so many women who are leading movements, organizing communities and defending social justice across races and generations. It’s powerful.

The women’s movement has experienced gains and losses, but overall it has led to a society that is moving toward acceptance and inclusivity, and that is comfortable with successful women leading and doing this work alongside others.

As we celebrate women throughout this month, let us honor those who paved the way, even as we support and celebrate the living legends among us. Together, women are creating a level playing field that will benefit all of us.l Tafeni L. English is the director of the SPLC’s Civil Rights Memorial Center (CRMC) in Montgomery, Alabama.

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CARIBBEAN SPECIAL REPORT Caribbean-US Relations Reset/ continued from page 1 the military, culture and the arts, to name but a few. A little-known fact is that, well before the US became an independent nation, wealthy islanders from Barbados, established a colony, in what is now South Carolina, in their quest to expand their agricultural landholding in the Americas.

[Today] one can still find their historical records and descendants there. So, it can be said that we did colonize you, decolonization became fashionable. We also fought with you out of Trinidad when Fort Reed was one of the busiest Allied airfields in World War II and American sailors and marines were 'drinking rum and Coca-Cola, going down Pt Cumana', naval base before the Andrews sisters stole the haunting rhythm and those immortal lyrics.

Constituents of CARICOM lineage can be found in New York, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, and California. As a matter of fact, one will be hard-pressed to find a West Indian household today which does not have at least one family member or close relative domiciled somewhere in the United States, many in the military, such is our bond.

Distinguished US citizens of CARICOM heritage have served and continue to serve at very high levels in Congress and in public administration. The recordbreaking Vice President, Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Attorney General Eric Holder have strong familial ties with Jamaica and Barbados and the celebrated actor, choreographer, dancer, the iconic Geoffrey Holder brought to the lights of Broadway, the best of Trinidad and Tobago. One of the founding fathers of the United States, Alexander Hamilton, was born in Nevis, now part of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis where his birthplace still stands as a shrine in recognition of America's deep roots in our idyllic islands.

I cite these distinguished Americans and some history, to highlight the Caribbean, indeed CARICOM's nexus which transcends the border reality and illustrates a natural partnership. Our prosperity redounds to your benefit and vice versa. In 1997 when President Bill Clinton met with Caribbean leaders in Barbados, both sides agreed on a 'Partnership for Prosperity and Security'.

When CARICOM heads met with President George W. Bush in 2007, trade,

President Joe Biden Editorial credit: Ron Adar / Shutterstock.com

economic growth and development, security and social investment featured prominently. A year earlier, President Bush proclaimed June as Caribbean – American Heritage Month which serves as a platform to highlight the contributions of Caribbean people to America.

CARICOM also welcomed President Barack Obama for the Fifth Summit of the Americas which Trinidad and Tobago hosted in 2009 and which was attended by all the heads of state or government of the membership of the Organization of American States (OAS).

CARICOM also engaged now President Joe Biden, when he was vice president, in 2013 on security, human development and energy matters in Trinidad and Tobago with subsequent encounters in Washington DC focusing on energy. The Caribbean Basin Initiative, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative still remain invaluable areas of collaboration and partnership.

We are now in the era of the USCaribbean 2020 Engagement Strategy - a multi-year Strategy to increase the Security, Prosperity, and well-being of the people of the United States and the Caribbean. It is to the credit of the drafters, in a pre-COVID-19 era that the main tenets of the current blueprint for engagement are security, diplomacy, prosperity, energy, education, and, of course, health.

This juncture in time is an excellent opportunity to reset relations between the United States and our region on these very issues: Equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines For CARICOM, our first order of business is to ensure that as many of our citizens as possible are vaccinated as early as possible. This is fundamental to resuming social and economic activity across all spheres. The pandemic has spawned a crisis in health, closed our borders, crippled economic growth and is creating a debt crisis that is unravelling noteworthy gains made by CARICOM

countries. Last month, the World Economic Forum cautioned that job creation is slowing while simultaneously, job destruction is accelerating. We all have to fight against that and awaken the opportunities of the digital economy.

Our region, comprised of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and those with low-lying coastal areas, is considered the most tourism- and travel-dependent globally: sectors that have been hard hit, almost decimated by the pandemic. As a Community, the economic challenges reverberate throughout our Single Market. The tourism sector, which in some Member States, accounts for 50 percent of GDP, is a significant source of employment, revenue generation and earns over 60% in foreign exchange.

It is also closely-linked to food and beverage, the cultural industries, financial services, and transportation. Some of us, like Trinidad and Tobago, have grappled with collapse and fluctuations in energy and commodity prices (crude declined by 23.9%, natural gas by 2.9% in 2020), a high food import bill (currently US$4.7 billion and increasing), and the impacts of extreme weather systems such as hurricanes and floods.

A real and present danger is the emergence of new variants which may or may not be neutralized by the vaccines developed to date. It is for this reason that the fair, transparent and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines is critically urgent. We applaud President Biden's commitment to channel US$4 billion to the COVAX facility in the next two years and, the G7 pledge of US$4.3 billion to develop and distribute effective tests, treatments, and vaccines world-wide. We too recognize that no country can be safe until every country is safe.

CARICOM wants to work alongside the US and other international partners within a robust multilateral framework to build back better together and ensure that no one is left behind. On February 17, the United Nations Secretary-General regretted that ' just 10 countries have administered 75 percent of all COVID-19 vaccines…while more than 130 countries

have not received a single dose.'

We applaud his resolve to mobilize the entire UN apparatus in support of a Global Vaccination Plan and to bring together all those with the required power, expertise and production capacities to achieve this outcome. We in CARICOM expect to receive our first doses sometime around mid-March. So far, all that we have received are 170,000 doses gifted to a couple nations from the Government of India. Barbados and Dominica who received these gifts, graciously shared them around to many of us. This was done by them even as others with millions of doses that they can't use immediately are refusing to make way for others at the manufacturers.

Debt Relief, Vulnerability Index, Correspondent Banking, Investment CARICOM looks forward to working with the US and other partners to navigate global economic challenges. The IMF estimated that the global economy contracted 3.5 percent in 2020 and they have provided a somewhat optimistic, but very uncertain global outlook for 2021. This is against the backdrop of the tremendous negative impact of the weakened economy on women, young people, the poor, the informal sector, and those in sectors with intense contact. The World Bank sees no abatement of development risks, with economic activity and incomes remaining low for a protracted period of time. Not surprisingly, the IMF's World Economic Outlook forecasts significant debt servicing problems for many developing countries as a result of the massive fiscal support provided during COVID-19.

CARICOM is calling for global consideration of our peculiar challenges. We believe the time is now for the use of a multidimensional Vulnerability Index for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to supplement the current, but inherently flawed, criterion of GDP per capita, to measure development. As our Region seeks to get back on track towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, we call for the refinancing of COVIDrelated debt and the postponement of debt servicing payments; comprehensive debt relief; and appropriately priced funding to build economic and climate resilience.

Concessional lending will also allow for expenditure on public infrastructure and training to support CARICOM's digital transformation and effective participation in the digital economy; as well as pursue investments critical for nutrition continued on page 7

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CARIBBEAN SPECIAL REPORT cent by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Such action will protect our fragile ecosystems on which agriculture, fishing and tourism depend heavily.

Many of us have begun to seriously utilize and encourage low-carbon and renewables to augment and direct our energy consumption into a sustainable future. We hope to work together to urge all parties to enhance their National Determined Contributions (NDCs), before COP 26 in Glasgow in November, to make attaining a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature change a reality. To do less, is to put at risk our generation and the future.

Caribbean-US Relations Reset/ continued from page 6 and food security, and energy security.

I appeal to the banking community to desist from blacklisting and de-risking activities resulting in the withdrawal of correspondent banking services from our Member States. Severing of these services, without acknowledging ongoing actions to comply with international standards, is to cut off our proverbial oxygen supply. On behalf of CARICOM, in September 2019, I had encouraging discussions with Congresswoman Maxine Waters on this matter, and we were encouraged by her promise to have a hearing on this matter but then COVID got in the way.

Climate Change Permit me to raise the issue of climate change which represents an existential threat to all of us in CARICOM. Let me first applaud President Biden on the US officially becoming, as of Friday — February 19, a Party to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change once again.

Climate change is real as evidenced by the hitherto inconceivable reality of a major hurricane flooding the New York subway, raging fires scorching the California landscape leaving a path of destruction; and record-breaking low temperatures causing loss of life and the collapse of infrastructure in Texas. We extend our sympathy to those who have lost loved ones and indeed, also, on the

Vice President Kamala Harris.

Editorial credit: Naresh777 / Shutterstock.com

loss of livelihoods. CARICOM empathizes, having annual experiences of extreme climatic events wreaking havoc in our countries. We, therefore, continue to be actively engaged at the international level, providing guidance, scientific support and leadership on the climate issue.

As the global community prepares for the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), CARICOM sees a golden opportunity to enhance our collaboration with the United States.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming indicates that emissions of greenhouse gases must be cut by 50 per-

Way Forward The World Economic Forum declared last month that 'no institution or individual alone can address the economic, environmental, social and technological challenges of our complex, interdependent world.'

Cuba is Caribbean. Venezuela is Caribbean.

We know the nature of the issues and the history of the challenges in both areas however we were very disappointed when the US recently reversed the very welcome, halting steps towards normalization of the relationship; and most recently the announcement of the unconvincing designation of Cuba as a terrorist–sponsoring state. We believe that this is one place where climate change would be welcome. We could all benefit from a significant thaw here.

As for the Venezuelan relationship we would like to see a dispassionate early review of the US ' scorched earth policy' here since, as the United Nations assessment confirm what we always knew, and that is, that the ineffective harsh policies of unilateral sanctions are contributing immensely to widespread additional indiscriminate human suffering in this Caribbean Nation which needs help, a compassionate ingredient which is not beyond US leadership. We anxiously look forward to the United States playing that leadership role with CARICOM and the nations of Mexico and Norway to assist Venezuelans in solving their seemingly intractable political problems.

The way forward in CARICOM's relationship with the United States is continued close collaboration and partnership on regional and international issues and a renewed commitment to pursue ardently the sustainable development of all our citizens.l Dr. Keith Rowley is the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). On Friday, February 26, 2021, Dr. Rowley spoke on “Re-Setting US-Caribbean Relations.” His address was in his role as the CARICOM Chair. CARICOM recently concluded its intersessional Heads of Government Meetings. The conversation was part of the Atlantic Council Front Page Event and launch of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center’s new Caribbean Initiative.

Keep it clean!

COVID-19 is still here.

Keep washing your hands: • Anytime you touch a shared surface • If you cough, sneeze or blow your nose • When you prepare or eat food Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds can prevent the spread of germs.

COVID-19 vaccines are now available to certain groups in New York City.

To learn more about COVID-19 and vaccines, visit nyc.gov/health/coronavirus.

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Health

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2/3/21 5:00 PM 2/3/21

ISLAND FOCUS: SAINT LUCIA

Saint Lucia Celebrates the 3rd Anniversary of the Escazú Agreement!

S

aint Lucia celebrated the third (3rd.) Anniversary of the adoption and endorsement of the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday March 4, 2021.

This environmental and human rights treaty, also known as the Escazú Agreement, was adopted and endorsed by 23 Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean including Saint Lucia, after 9 rounds of intense negotiations on March 4, 2018.

After four years of robust public consultations nationwide, the island has by Cabinet Conclusion No.1447 of 2020, approved ratification on December 02 of this critical Agreement, which it became a signatory to on September 27, 2018.

The Escazú Agreement is the only treaty emanating from the Rio + 20 Conference which fulfills the application of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development as well as the first environmental treaty of the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) which contains provisions for the protection of environmental defenders.

The Agreement seeks to guarantee the rights of every person to live in a healthy environment and to sustainable development, being ever guided by the principles of equality, non-discrimination, intergenerational equity, and the balancing of economic, social and environmental concerns.

It also seeks to deepen environmental governance by strengthening community engagement in environmental stewardship, the generation and access to environmental information, and the prevention and remedy of environmental harm.

Minister with responsibility for Sustainable Development the Honorable

8 What to Do If You’re Billed for an SBA EIDL Loan You Don’t Owe

BY ROSARIO MÉNDEZ, ATTORNEY FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

D

Prime Minister Allen M. Chastanet Signing the Escazú Agreement in 2018. Photo: OECS Pressroom

Dr. Gale T. C. Rigobert, is thrilled that her Cabinet colleagues were swift in approving the ratification of this very important instrument.

“We now have the task of putting in place the requisite institutional and procedural frameworks to ensure effective implementation of this Agreement; Though the road ahead may appear daunting, we have every confidence that we will navigate it well, for we have the support of the Stakeholders who are central to this Agreement; We need to continue to work together as environmental issues affect us all; Climate change, land degradation, rising sea levels respect no color, creed or class and accordingly we must set an example for those coming after us; Implementation will require determined collaboration and partnerships but we are excited as we have every confidence in ECLAC as the Technical Secretariat, to continue to provide us guidance and support in this task.”

The Agreement will officially enter into force next month on April 22nd, which is also very fittingly celebrated as International Mother Earth Day. Saint Lucia has continued to be at the forefront of the efforts to mainstream access rights to environmental informa-

tion and justice by not only being the 12th. Country to ratify the Agreement but by also swiftly taking steps to put the legislative and institutional framework and the public awareness and sensitization in place to ensure is optimal realization.

The Department of Sustainable Development has already formulated a New Concept Note for the period March 2021 to April 2023, which will serve as a blueprint for the way forward in the implementation process. Implementation of this Agreement which embodies cooperation and capacity building will see the review of the legislative, institutional, and procedural frameworks on the island, with assistance from the World Resources Institute (WRI). The Technical Secretariat to the Agreement which is the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC) headquartered in Santiago de Chile also will provide technical assistance to countries signatory to the Agreement. A Voluntary Fund, Committee for Compliance and Implementation, and Clearing house are some structures which the Secretariat will be putting in place when it meets for its first Conference of Parties (COP), next year.l

id you get a bill for a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, but you didn’t apply for one? It’s likely that an identity thief applied for the loan using your personal or business information. The SBA has new guidance about reporting the fraud, and the FTC has tips to help you clear up any credit problems it may cause.

The SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance has been issuing the loans under its COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. They’re designed to give financial help to small businesses and non-profit organizations. Criminals have taken advantage of the program by using stolen information to get loans in someone else’s name, or in the name of that person’s company. And now, the bills are landing in the mailboxes of people and businesses that never applied.

If you or your business is billed for an SBA EIDL loan you don’t owe: •Report the problem right away to the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance and follow their guidance on what to do.

•While the SBA processes your identity theft report, you may still get monthly invoices. Keep these invoices until the SBA has finished reviewing your identity theft report.

If you run into other problems caused by the misuse of your personal information: •Visit IdentityTheft.gov/steps, which will guide you through placing a free, oneyear fraud alert on your credit, checking your free credit reports for other accounts you did not open, closing fraudulent accounts opened in your name, and adding a free extended fraud alert or credit freeze to your credit report.

•Report on IdentityTheft.gov all instances of fraudulent accounts that you find, including the SBA loan.l

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9

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Canines in Court: Bites Are Biggest Financial Risk for Dog Owners

BY JANET HOWARD

M

ost responsible dog owners recognize the maintenance costs of owning a pet.

Training, veterinary care, food and flea control are some of the common costs of owning a dog. However, owners may underestimate the risk of their dog biting and causing injury to another animal or a person.

Over 800,000 dog bites are reported every year in the United States. Dog-bite claims represent one-quarter of all homeowner insurance policy claims. The financial repercussions of a dog bite can range from a few hundred dollars for an emergency room visit to over $1 million for a disfigurement or wrongful death claim originating from a mauling. Even a small dog can inflict serious injury to a child or an elderly person. Dog owners need to be mindful of those situations that might cause a dog to bite, and make efforts to prevent or avoid them.

Although dogs don't have legal rights, most courts presume a dog is innocent until proven guilty. Unless a pattern of aggression has been documented by animal control or the police, a pet dog is

usually assumed to be good-natured.

This is one reason dog-bite cases often end up in litigation. Dog owners will defend their animal's actions as justified, while the injured party will cite reasons to the contrary. The result is time spent in court, money spent for legal representation, and the possibility of a hefty settlement being imposed. In addition, a fairly docile dog might be labelled as a nuisance animal, putting it under the scrutiny of law enforcement for the duration of its life. It may also be deemed vicious, a label that is almost certain to lead to the dog being euthanized.

Although dog bite laws vary from state to state, in most cases, the dog owner is

held liable for the injuries caused when their dog bites. There are a few clear-cut situations in which the dog's owner is exempt from liability, such as a dog attacking a person breaking into the house.

It may not be possible to completely prevent dog bites, but there are precautions every dog owner should take. The first is to train and socialize the animal. A dog that is well trained and used to being around other pets and strangers is less likely to be aggressive when confronted by a new face. In addition, the disciplined dog will stop any aggressive behavior when its owner commands it to do so.

Second, supervise or limit interactions between dogs and small children. This may seem cruel, but young children don't have a firm grasp on what constitutes teasing or provocation to an animal. New York courts, for example, have ruled that a child under the age of 4 is innocent even if he or she engages in roughhouse behavior toward a dog, such as pulling its tail or ears. It is best to keep the dog out of reach when a child is present.

Third, be cautious when adopting a rescue animal. Rescue dogs may have a his-

tory of being abused and can be triggered to react defensively by actions that wellsocialized animals would deem innocuous. If a rescue dog's background is unknown, it is wise to introduce new situations and new people guardedly. Keep interactions quiet and calm; in the dog's mind, abrupt movements or loud noises may be associated with pain or fear.

Finally, accept that all dogs can and will bite. Just because a dog has never bitten anyone before doesn't mean it won't do so. Owning a breed or mix that is prone to bite, such as the Rottweiler or chow, might require the homeowner to add a rider to an existing homeowner's policy or obtain an umbrella liability policy. Don't assume that having a "beware of dog" sign posted on a fence or door offers protection; in many states, the presence of such a sign is considered evidence that the owner knows the dog is dangerous.

The dog has been considered man's best friend for centuries. Friends don't allow friends to end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit. Control, containment and common sense keep canines out of the courtroom and their owners out of financial hot water. l

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EDUCATION

10

Meet Meisha Ross Porter, New York City’s New Schools Chancellor

BY ALEX ZIMMERMAN, CHRISTINA VEIGA & REEMA AMIN, CHALKBEAT

150,000 employees and a $34 billion annual budget.

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‘Someone Who Understands’ “For the first time in a number of chancellors, principals and superintendents are gonna feel like they have a friend, someone to talk to and someone who understands them,” said Richard Kahan, founder of Urban Assembly, a nonprofit that has created 23 public schools, and hired Porter for her first teaching job. “It hasn’t been that happy a place for principals for a long time.”

Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, Porter graduated from Queens Vocational and Technical High School, where she majored in plumbing.

Porter was about 17 and leading an anti-drug organization for teenagers when Kahan, then overseeing an urban planning effort for the Bronx, approached her to help his team craft policy ideas, he said.

Shortly after, Kahan tasked Porter with helping to plan Urban Assembly’s first school, Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice. When the school was established, Kahan hired Porter to oversee its outside partnerships, unaware that she was studying to teach.

eisha Ross Porter, who rose through the education department’s ranks as a teacher, principal, and executive superintendent, will become the first Black woman to lead the nation’s largest school system.

Her appointment comes after the surprise resignation of Chancellor Richard Carranza Friday morning and just 10 months before Mayor Bill de Blasio will leave office.

But even if Porter’s tenure may be brief, as a new mayor is likely to pick a new chancellor, she will not simply be turning out the lights on the remaining months of the mayor’s term.

She is inheriting a system that has been rocked by the coronavirus pandemic, and she will immediately face enormous responsibilities: determining how much in-person instruction schools can offer in the coming months, developing a plan to catch up students whose education has been derailed by the pandemic, and gaining buy-in from bitterly fractured communities of families and educators.

“I promise we’ll do everything to

Chancellor Ross Porter Photo: NYC Dept of Ed

reopen schools, starting with high schools, we’re ready to go,” Porter said at a news conference, hinting that she may jumpstart reopening high school campuses, which have been shut down since November, even as elementary and middle schools have reopened.

“We’ll expand the learning opportunities and do more to address trauma and academic needs, because we know that that is very real.”

Porter is well respected among many of the city’s education leaders and known for building trust with parent leaders and principals, according to people who have worked with her. She also brings a deep understanding of the school system, a labyrinthine bureaucracy with roughly

Porter was later brought in to teach at the school, rising several years later to principal.

She was able to build relationships with students quickly and often saw opportunities to connect their learning to realworld issues, according to David Banks, the school’s founding principal.

After a student commented on a cigarette advertisement that faced the school building, Porter pushed to incorporate lessons about the effects of smoking. She also encouraged a letter-writing campaign pressuring then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani to sign a bill that would ban advertisements for tobacco near school grounds, Banks said. Giuliani signed it into law, though it hit legal roadblocks.

“Those kids felt like they had something to do with it,” said Banks, who is now president of the Eagle Academy Foundation. “She’s not that traditional stuffy school leader. The kids adored her and they saw her as one of them.”

During a visit to the school when Porter was principal, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. recalled feeling struck by how she had students settle escalating disputes: They held a trial with student continued on page 11

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11

EDUCATION Meisha Ross Porter/ continued from page 10 attorneys, a jury, and a judge.

Promotion Party Drew Fire After 18 years at the school, she left her post as principal to become a regional superintendent for Bronx District 11.

Three years later, in 2018, Carranza tapped her as one of his newly created executive superintendents, overseeing all Bronx schools.

Porter drew some criticism in 2019, when the schools watchdog received a complaint that she had enlisted subordinates to fundraise and organize a party to celebrate her promotion. The office later dropped its investigation.

Porter’s sense of what to prioritize when the pandemic hit exemplified her leadership style, according to principals and nonprofit leaders.

Luis Torres, principal of P.S. 55, said Porter helped bring to life his idea to create educational programming for children on public access television station BronxNet by rallying support among schools in the borough, so that teachers and administrators could create prerecorded lessons for the program.

And when some students across the Bronx were still deviceless in January, Porter pushed elected leaders for help, said Torres, who said he has known and worked with Porter for 15 years. Torres said it helped fill the gap at his own school.

“Whatever it takes to get things done, this is what Meisha will do and I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Torres said.

“That’s why people appreciate her, because even though she was the executive superintendent, she gets her hands dirty, and she’s never forgotten where she came from.”

In another instance, Porter tapped New Visions for Public Schools, a nonprofit group that manages a network of district and charter schools, to help build out its data tools so that principals could better track whether students were failing to submit assignments in Google Classrooms or even whether they lacked devices for remote learning.

“She requested that we provide support and worked with us to make sure those supports complemented the greater work she was trying to do,” said Mark Dunetz, the president of New Visions. “She is somebody who is just very clear and effective.”

Lauded by Parents Bronx parents have praised Porter as an ally. The New Settlement Parent Action Committee, or PAC, an advocacy group based in the South Bronx, got word in 2018 that the education department was setting up new teams to focus on equity issues in District 9.

The team’s goals targeted many of the same issues the committee had been focusing on for years: pushing for culturally relevant curriculum that reflects the borough’s diversity, discipline reform, and more.

PAC wanted to join the equity teams, to bring the perspectives and support of parents to the mix. But they ran into

roadblocks and excuses about why they couldn’t. Until they reached out to Porter, who had recently been appointed executive superintendent.

“Meisha Ross Porter went to bat for us.

She told the equity team we must be at the table — that there’s no equity team without us,” said Ronnette Summers, a parent advocate in District 9 for more than two decades. “She was just really, really receptive. Surprisingly receptive.”

Throughout the pandemic, parents and school officials on the equity teams have worked together to make sure students have internet connections and devices, with parents passing along the names and contact information of hard-to-reach families whenever officials ran into dead ends or struggled to learn the extent of the need.

Porter is a fixture at meetings and other events like town halls — a constant presence that Summers called “unheard of” in all her tenure as a parent advocate.

Aide Zainos, another member of PAC, said she is particularly appreciative of Porter’s help ensuring parents have school materials and meetings translated in their native language, whether that’s Spanish or African dialects.

“She understands the needs of families in the city,” Zainos said in Spanish, adding that the equity teams have included “all cultures and languages.”

De Blasio Looms Large But Porter may not have a lot of runway to execute her own vision, especially as de Blasio’s propensity to micromanage his agency chiefs is well known. One factor in Carranza’s resignation, according to The New York Times, was growing tensions with the mayor about how to handle admissions to the city’s Gifted & Talented program.

At a press conference on Friday morning, Carranza left her with one piece of parting advice: “Do you, be you, lead with the heart that you’ve led in every one of the assignments that you’ve had in New York City.”

Summers credited the outgoing chancellor with helping Bronx parents advance issues important to them, even in the face of “pushback from some of the affluent places that weren’t ready to give up stuff.” Throughout his tenure, Carranza, who is Mexican-American, faced racist rhetoric while pushing for school diversity and anti-bias training for teachers.

Summers predicted that Porter will come up against some of the same challenges, but said the new chancellor won’t stand alone.

“There’s going to be a lot of pushback for her being a woman, and a woman of color. But I think she’s capable of taking that on,” Summers said. “We’re going to have her back.”l

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This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. This story was published on February 28, 2021 by THE CITY.

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DIASPORA CONCERNS

12

What Happens When a New York City Landlord Threatens to Call ICE?

BY ALLISON DIKANOVIC, THE CITY

W

e hear from a lot of tenants who are afraid of losing their homes during the pandemic.

When we teamed up with our friends at Documented — a nonprofit news organization that focuses on New York City’s immigrants and the policies that affect their lives — we started getting questions about what rights tenants have if landlords threaten to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

So, we made some calls. Here’s what we learned: Every tenant in New York has the same rights You have protection against eviction right now no matter what your immigration status — but only if you fill out a form called a hardship declaration.

Samantha Lyons, an immigrant tenant attorney at Catholic Migration Services, which provides legal help for immigrants in Queens and Brooklyn, said her office has “seen a lot of landlord behavior threatening to call ICE.” Jennie Stephens-Romero, supervising

housing attorney at Make the Road, a service provider and advocacy organization for immigrant and working-class New Yorkers, said: “We have seen a slight uptick in harassment based on immigration status during the pandemic.

Landlords know that’s a vulnerable point.”

New York’s immigrants were hit particularly hard by the pandemic. StephensRomero noted that the state’s rent relief program only applied to people with certain kinds of immigration statuses.

“Those communities were decimated at the beginning of the pandemic,” Lyons said. “We’ve been dealing with a lot of loss, a lack of work, it’s been really traumatic for a lot of people.”

Not sure if you’re living in an illegal basement apartment? You can call 311 and ask for the tenant helpline to speak with a housing advocate.

If a landlord threatens to call immigration authorities…

Lyons said: “No matter what your landlord says to you, they cannot evict you without a court order.”

There is one exception: If you live in a unit that doesn’t meet city code requirements — such as some basement apartments — the city could serve you something called a “vacate order.” These units are not protected by the moratorium.

So, a landlord can’t use immigration status or what they think the immigration status is against a tenant to get them to move out?

Exactly. Any time a landlord mentions what they think your immigration status or national origin is as a way to intimidate you, that’s probably tenant harassment and discrimination. So, they could be breaking housing law and human rights law in the city. This also includes any abusive language, slurs, suggesting you go back to the country you immigrated from or threatening to call ICE, according to Stephens-Ramos.

Are my tenant rights different if I’m not a citizen?

No. Immigration status does not affect the your rights as a tenant in New York, including in rent-regulated apartments.

Citizenship status and national origin are protected categories under New York City’s Human Rights Law. That means it’s illegal for landlords (as well as employers and providers of public services) to discriminate against someone based on their real or perceived citizenship status or national origin.

Can a landlord ask about immigration status?

No. A landlord even asking about or making any decision about whether or not to rent to you, raise your rent, renew your lease or kick you out based on your immigration status could be discrimination, which is illegal.

Both Stephens-Romero and Lyons said that if you think your landlord may be harassing you, it’s important to keep as much evidence as you can. Save any text messages, emails, letters or voicemails, and perhaps share a copy with a trusted family or friend, Stephens-Romero said.

She also recommended recording any interactions with your landlord.

You have a few options for action You can sue your landlord for harassment and bring them to Housing Court.

Even with the eviction moratorium, harassment cases are still moving forward.

You can start the case yourself by filling out the form at JustFixNYC. You also can call 311 to ask for the tenant helpline to connect with an attorney.

In addition, New York City has a hotline for immigration resources called ActionNYC. You can call 1-800-3540365 to connect with an advocate who can help you.

New York City’s Commission on Human Rights focuses on protecting people from discrimination and making sure everyone’s rights are respected. You can report your landlord to this agency.

Agency officials respond to complaints and can help you understand whether your rights are being violated. The agency can also issue fines, bring cases to court and offer trainings and other resources to stop instances of discrimination.

If you think your landlord is discriminating against you, you can call the Commission on Human Rights at 212416-0197.

When you call, you can stay anonymous and ask questions before you decide whether to file a complaint. You will not be asked about your immigration status.

What can happen if a tenant reports a landlord?

If you file a complaint against your landlord, said Kathie Carroll, assistant commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights, an attorney will contact your landlord to explain the city’s discrimination laws to them. The attorney will let the landlord know their behavior is illegal and warn them they could face legal consequences and big fines.

If the landlord does not stop the discriminatory behavior, Carroll said, the commission can file a claim. Attorneys will then conduct an investigation and try to reach an agreement with the landlord.

If that doesn’t work out, the commission can bring the landlord to court.

Some landlords have been hit with fines as high as $17,000 for threatening a tenant with a call to ICE, Carroll said. The commission can also require landlords to undergo different training sessions and restorative justice programs.

Are there resources to help pay back rent if a tenant is undocumented?

Besides the resources listed above, there’s a privately funded rent assistance program called Project Parachute that helps tenants regardless of immigration status. It’s funded largely by the Real Estate Board of New York and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, and is being run by Enterprise Community Partners.

Since August, Project Parachute has paid full rental arrears for 473 households, and 85% of those applicants have been undocumented.

You can apply through the city’s Homebase eviction prevention program providers. You can call 311 and ask for Homebase.

Meanwhile, rent is still due, and the eviction moratorium is only in place until May, if you fill out a hardship declaration.

Lyons from Catholic Migration Services said: “There are just so many stopgap measures, and it’s frustrating to not have information on what’s happening. Knowledge quells anxiety, and unfortunately we don’t know what the future looks like.” l This story was published on March 3, 2021 by THE CITY.

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FAMILY MATTERS

13

Child Custody and Substance Use Disorder in a Divorce Setting

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n all jurisdictions in the United States, decisions regarding child custody are made according to what is known as a judicial standard. That judicial standard typically is known as the best interests of the child. The best interests of a child are determined on a caseby-case basis, with an examination of the specific facts and circumstances of a particular case. A common consideration when ascertaining the best interests of a child is an examination of the physical, mental, and emotional health of the parents. If a parent is deemed to suffer from what medically is known as substance use disorder, that status can have an impact on a custody determination.

There are a number of issues that are brought to the forefront when a question of substance use disorder is raised in regard to child custody. These include: •Overview of substance use disorder •Application of best interests of a child standard •Substance use disorder and primary child custody •Substance use disorder and parenting time or visitation •Emergency change of custody or parenting time

Both the parent seeking an alteration of custody or parenting time as a result of the substance use disorder issue and the parent alleged to be so afflicted are provided with a full opportunity to present their case. In addition, a licensed professional may be called in by the court to provide an unbiased assessment of the situation.

Overview is Substance Use Disorder Substance use disorder is defined by medical and psychological professionals as a condition that occurs when the recurrent use of drugs of any type (including alcohol, illicit or street drugs, and misused prescriptions) causes significant impairment in a person's life. Significant impairment can include: •Physical health problems •Mental health problems •Emotional conditions •Disabilities of different types •Neglect of work responsibilities •Neglect of family duties •Neglect of other personal responsibilities Substance use disorder impacts people from all walks of life, in all age groups.

The impact of substance use disorder can jeopardize a parent's capacity to properly care for and protect a child.

Application of Best Interests of a Child Standard When an issue arises regarding a parent laboring under substance use disorder, and a consideration of changing custody becomes necessary, the application of the best interests of a child standard applies.

A judge is called upon to ascertain how a child is impacted by a parent's substance use disorder. In this regard, a hearing typically is held and evidence is presented about conduct and actions of the parent relative to mind-altering substance use, abuse, or addiction issues.

Substance Use Disorder and Primary Child Custody If an issue regarding substance use disorder is confirmed, a court likely will issue an order that at least temporarily changes custody of a minor child. Provided the parent identified as having a substance use disorder seeks appropriate treatment and assistance, in time custody very well may revert back to that parent. If such recovery doesn't occur, a more permanent change of custody likely will be the outcome.

Substance Use Disorder and Parenting Time or Visitation If a noncustodial parent is identified as having a substance use disorder, parenting time allocated to that parent may be continued on page 14

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FAMILY MATTERS

14

How the Pandemic is Impacting Children and Families

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ore than 2.7 million American children are growing up in grandfamilies — families in which grandparents, other adult family members, or close family friends are raising children. A new report highlights how the pandemic has amplified their unique challenges, and offers solutions to better serve them.

The report, “Facing a Pandemic: Families Living Together During COVID-19 and Thriving Beyond” authored by the non-profit Generations United and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Casey Family Programs, points out that at a time when older adults are being cautioned to keep their distance from children because of the heightened risk of infection and death from COVID-19, for grandfamilies, that distance is impossible.

Advocates point out that these caregivers are the first line of defense for children during the pandemic, having stepped in when parents cannot raise them for many reasons, including cases where children’s parents have died from COVID-19. At the same time, 30 percent of kin caregivers lack an alternative caregiving plan if they should die or become disabled, a troubling statistic in the face of the pandemic, which disproportionately affects older adults.

While grandfamilies are diverse in geography, income and race, the report

finds that caregivers in grandfamilies are disproportionally Black or Native American; nearly half of grandparent caregivers are over age 60; and one in four grandparent caregivers has a disability. These are the same populations that are more likely to be impacted by the pandemic and die as a result.

“While we’re all impacted by COVID19, grandfamilies, especially, have had tough realities, with limited support systems,” says Donna Butts, executive director of Generations United, a nonprofit with the mission of improving the lives of children, youth and older people.

“State and local child welfare and other agencies must better support them during COVID-19 recovery and beyond.”

Federal, state and local governments recognize foster families and provide them with access to resources, but there is little available for grandfamilies raising children outside of foster care. While Congress included support for grandfamilies in the December 2020 COVID-19 relief package, including better access to kinship navigator programs, which help

connect families to information and community support as well as provide some direct help to families to meet emergency needs, advocates say this is just a start.

“With so many families continuing to struggle with impacts from COVID-19, it’s critical that state and local child welfare agencies distribute the funds in this package,” says Butts. “Congress also needs to ensure families have ongoing financial support so that caregivers can meet the basic needs of children as they live with the long-term impacts of COVID -19.”

The report also finds that about 19 percent of grandparents responsible for grandchildren live in poverty and 38 percent of grandfamilies are unable to pay or are worried about paying mortgage or rent. Among the solutions to these figures, Generations United is calling for grandfamilies to be specifically named in the next COVID-relief package as an eligible population for financial relief such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

To access the report, visit www.gu.org.

To hear grandfamilies discuss the pandemic’s impacts, visit everyfamilyforward.org.

While the pandemic has heightened the inequities different types of families face, advocates say that sufficient support can help grandfamilies recover and thrive.

(StatePoint)l

Child Custody and Substance Use Disorder in Divorce/ continued from page 13

temporarily suspended. In the alternative, a temporary order of supervised visitation might be handed down by a court.

Emergency Change of Custody or Parenting Time In many situations involving substance use disorder, a need arises for quick action in regard to contact between a parent with this condition and a minor child.

Generally speaking, a parent should never take custody or parenting time changes into their own hands. Rather, a person with a concern about a parent laboring under substance use disorder should seek judicial action to protect the interests of a child.

Courts that deal with custody issues are capable of issuing temporary emergency orders that can allow for a temporary change of custody or a suspension of parenting time until the matter at hand can be more fully explored. This is the course that a party to divorce needs to take when the other parent is identified as having a substance use, abuse, or addiction issue that jeopardizes the welfare of a minor child.

Addressing an issue of substance use disorder within the confines of child custody (or parenting time) presents a complicated legal situation in many cases. It definitely creates an emotionally charged state of affairs. As a consequence, when a custody issue arises associated with substance use disorder, retaining the assistance of an experience child custody lawyer is a recommended course. l

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15

MONEY MATTERS

6 Common Tax Myths, Debunked

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s you look ahead to doing your taxes this year, there are a number of myths you may think are true for the 2020 tax year. If so, you are not alone — tax myths and misinformation are more common than you may think. And unfortunately, these myths can be costly if they lead to mistakes on your taxes.

Here are the top six tax myths this year: Myth 1: Anyone working at home can deduct their home office expenses Just because you're working from home —as many taxpayers are now —doesn't mean you can deduct the cost and expenses of the space used for your home office. In fact, this deduction only applies to people who are self-employed. But, some taxpayers may also be eligible if they are employed by someone else but use the space to engage in self-employment activities.

up to $300 in charitable donations made to IRS-approved organizations when you take the standard deduction. But if you do itemize, you still get to claim the deduction anyway.

thing. However, dependents are still very important for tax benefit purposes, including increased credits, child tax credits, filings status determination and many more benefits. Just not a simple tax deduction as in the past.

Myth 2: You can claim dependent exemptions for your children In the past, dependent exemptions allowed taxpayers to claim deductions for dependents (such as children) on their federal tax return. Unfortunately, dependent exemptions are no longer a

Myth 3: You must itemize to deduct charitable donations This was the rule in prior years, but it changed for the 2020 tax year — you don't have to itemize deductions to take a charitable donation deduction this year.

Under the CARES Act, you can deduct

Myth 4: You can file taxes on a postcard This is not true. When the tax regulations were revised, you may have read in the press about a new "postcard" tax return, but it was never true. The "form" that was circulated to be like a "postcard" is in fact two pages long, plus three schedules!

Myth 5: You've already paid taxes on your retirement distribution Just because you had taxes withheld on your retirement or IRA distributions doesn't mean you've fully paid taxes on it. This is a very common misconception.

The income and withholding are still reported on your tax return, along with any other sources of income you may have, including Social Security benefits if you receive them. It's important to gather all that information together to discuss with your tax professional whether you may still have a tax obligation for 2020.

Myth 6: There's no longer a tax penalty for not having healthcare coverage While the tax law went into effect in 2020 to remove the federal penalty for not having health insurance as required under the Affordable Care Act, you still have a responsibility to reconcile your advanced premium tax credit when you have insurance through your state's Health Insurance Marketplace. Plus, some states do charge penalties if you don't have health insurance. If you get healthcare through a marketplace, you still may get credits and must report it on your taxes. Ask your tax professional if you need help understanding your healthcare coverage as it relates to your taxes.

"If you have questions or concerns about your taxes this year, don't wait until the last minute to get professional help," advises Mark Steber, Chief Tax Information Officer at Jackson Hewitt Tax Services. "Making errors on your taxes can cost you both time and money — not to mention stress and anxiety!

Work with a tax pro who is up-to-date on all the latest changes and can advise you on your situation."l

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IMMIGRATION

16

AG James Helps Restore Injunction of Trump Administration’s Public Charge Rule

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ew York, NY: Attorney General Letitia James helped to restore an injunction against the continued implementation of the Public Charge Rule that had been issued by the Trump Administration. The Public Charge Rule denied green cards and visas to immigrants that use or have used certain government assistance programs. The BidenHarris Administration’s U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today agreed with the Office of the New York Attorney General (OAG) to dismiss the DOJ’s pending appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court.

That dismissal effectively lifted a previous stay that the Supreme Court had issued and restored a preliminary injunction against the Public Charge Rule that the OAG had successfully obtained in October 2019 and defended on appeal in August 2020.

“Today, we dismissed this case and restored the preliminary injunction that ensures that those living in New York and in other states do not have to choose between their immigration status and securing the necessary support to survive,” said Attorney General James. “Our immigrant neighbors seeking to make a better life for themselves deserve more than living in the shadows and on the

Rule Targeting Immigrants’ Health and Nation’s Overall Economy Immediately Halted

Editorial credit: Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com

streets, which is why the Trump Administration’s Public Charge Rule was nothing more than an egregious attempt to infringe upon the laws and the values of this nation. Quite simply, today, fewer children will go hungry and more families will get the medical care they desperately need. We look forward to continuing to work with the Biden-Harris Administration as we bring more immi-

grants out of the shadows and help rebuild our economy, as well as our nation’s public health.”

Federal law allows lawful immigrants to apply for certain supplemental health and nutritional public benefits if they have been in the country for at least five years.

But, in August 2019, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a Public Charge Rule that changed the established

meaning of public charge, which had long been that immigrants who use certain supplemental benefits are not considered public charges because they are not primarily dependent on the government for survival. This “bait-and-switch” consequently jeopardized immigrants’ chances of becoming legal permanent residents or renewing their visas if they used the supplemental benefits to which they are legally entitled.

In August 2019, Attorney General James filed a lawsuit to block the Trump Administration’s Public Charge Rule.

Soon after, in September 2019, Attorney General James filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which was granted by the district court in October 2019 and affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in August 2020. Until the dismissal today, that preliminary injunction had been stayed by the Supreme Court.

The attorneys general of Connecticut and Vermont, as well as corporation counsel for New York City all joined Attorney General James in filing this lawsuit.l

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IMMIGRATION

17

What You Need to Know About Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela

BY LENNET PENATE

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he Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on March 8 that Venezuelan nationals present in the United States would be eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The TPS designation provides immigration status to many Venezuelans for the next 18 months. At least 200,000 Venezuelans are expected to be eligible.

TPS was created by Congress in 1990 and protects people from designated foreign countries from having to return to unsafe conditions due to armed conflict, environmental disasters, or extraordinary conditions.

Venezuela’s government has created uninhabitable conditions. The country faces disparaging inequality that has created an ongoing economic crisis and has suffered from failed attempts to replace the authoritarian regime of President Nicolas Maduro. Along with continued surges in COVID-19 numbers, Venezuela’s humanitarian and health crises have forced many nationals to seek refuge in the U.S. This TPS designation comes months

Venezuelan Refugee family.

Editorial credit: Glenn R. Specht-grs photo /

after the Trump administration was found to be deporting Venezuelans secretly through a third country, despite a ban on all direct air travel to the country. The day before he left office, Trump announced Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) for Venezuelans, but no further details about how to benefit from this program had been made until now.

To qualify for TPS, Venezuelans must be physically present and residing in the United States as of March 8, 2021 and not be subject to certain bars based on past criminal history. Once granted status, the primary benefits are protection from deportation while Venezuela is designated for TPS, work authorization, and

the ability to travel abroad with advance permission and return to the United States.

The announcement also explained how Venezuelans could apply and benefit from DED, which requires presence in the United States since January 19, 2021.

DED and TPS are similar programs, but DED does not provide any formal immigration status; it merely protects eligible nationals from deportation.

People with DED must apply separately for work authorization.

TPS has been proven to have positive economic benefits for individuals and their communities. TPS holders participate at high levels in the workforce and

make large contributions to the tax base, Social Security, and Medicare.

Additionally, over the past decade the TPS workforce has added over $45.2 billion in GDP. These are important statistics as the U.S. continues to recover amid the pandemic.

On the campaign trail, Biden promised to offer TPS to eligible Venezuelans.

This announcement has been welcomed

by Democrats and Republicans alike.

Both sides have acknowledged the importance of the administration’s move and need to shield the Venezuelan people from harm back home.

Though TPS offers immediate relief for Venezuelan nationals, the administration will need to revisit the designation as the 18-month period nears expiration to decide to extend or terminate the status.

There are many countries in need of new and restored TPS designations. But an announcement like this just six weeks into the new administration that benefits so many people already in the U.S. is a welcome development. It also marks a dramatic shift away from the punitive approach of the Trump administration to one that is more welcoming and protective.l

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GENERATIONS

18

Building Trust & Confidence Among Oldest New Yorkers to Get COVID 19 Vaccine: A Conversation

BY LINDA N. SPECIAL TO CAW

A

ccording to Dr. Joseph Lapado, "90% of deaths from Covid-19 are among those over 55…death rate would be expected to plummet if the older and vulnerable were protected effectively (by getting vaccinated) …".

This issue formed the basis for the conversation between selected New York City community leaders, organized by the NYC Department for Aging, Global Coalition on Aging, and Age-Friendly NYC. In the virtual forum, moderated by Michael Hodin, CEO of Global Coalition on Aging, speakers discussed how to build trust and confidence toward vaccination among New York City Seniors, especially among people of color and other immigrants. Each speaker spoke about their organization's roles, challenges, and some recommendations.

At the New York City's Department for Aging, the Commissioner, Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, acknowledged the importance of getting communities, including the people of color, vaccinated.

She revealed that although the process has been daunting and frustrating given the disequilibrium between vaccine supply and demand, her department keeps the feedback and communication channel user-friendly. Another speaker, Dr. Olusimbo Ige, Assistant Commissioner, from the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, reported that "... Over 1.3 million New Yorkers are vaccinated, with over 215,581 seniors vaccinated." She explained that the department is concerned about making sure all New Yorkers have information.

Also, " 50 % who were vaccinated, identified as White and Caucasian, and there was a lower percentage of Blacks and Latinos. We are working hard to address the concerns of these groups so that they can access their resources."

Buttressing this point, a public health expert in CUNY, Dr. Scott Ratzan, said that according to the latest survey released on vaccines in NYC, the numbers are going up. "…64% of New Yorkers have received the vaccine, yet the numbers are not high enough … we are working to build vaccine confidence and be a physician that causes no harm at the same time." He reiterated that their mandate as experts is on building trust not only for the vaccine but also on the whole. Confirming the low turnout, Dana Atmore-Dolly, Executive Director, Greater Allen AME Cathedral, who oversees five senior centers shares that, their non-profit allows them to hear and provide advice to the seniors and "…the numbers are low, but their(seniors) concerns are not insurmountable."

A few participants who had received the vaccine have been using it as a tool for advocacy. For instance, Dr. Thomas Johnson, Senior Minister Harlem Baptist, received the vaccine. Martha Works, a community member, also received the vaccine to promote advocacy, in her words."… I am thankful that I had the vaccine…." Marilyn Lopez, a geriatric nurse, also said, "It is an opportunity to protect myself, family, and my patients."

The conversation then moved into other issues.

Moderator: What can be done to reach the community?

Responding, Frankie Miranda, President & CEO Hispanic Federation, shared that from the onset of the pandemic, they knew the pandemic would have a significant impact in their community. . . "It was going to be very difficult, especially when we know that members of our community felt they would be penalized. It affected people by having our headquarters in New York and getting information from all other parts of the country. We knew our people were getting sick, having facts like over 65% of people in our community are people in jobs considered essential work. These are the people who had to go to work and get exposed.

Secondly, most of our community is multigeneration, so the tendency of infection will be higher. The city tried to combat this, but it has remained traumatic for our community."

He recommended that to overcome, his community members need cash assistance, food assistance, and providing agencies with equipment to help them serve their community better.

And, he said, "… there is need to continue to use the third sector, the non-profit sector which are often trusted within the community, partner with them so that they can deliver a more culturally appropriate way and trusted way to the community."

Moderator: What are the messages that are working in the community? Is it fear of getting COVID 19? or is it gaining trust and promoting vaccination?

To address this point, Dr. Thomas Johnson, Senior Pastor Canaan Baptist Church, explained that the use of sociomedia to communicate to members of the congregation seems effective, yet it is not working. He explained that the method is not direct enough, and people need hands-on solutions because fear has exasperated things. "Our communities are fearful of the federal government; they are afraid of the vaccine; they are fearful of everything. I think the more

community-based it is, the more effective it will be." The expected result will be a narrower gap and better access to vital resources with the church and faith community serving as the conduit.

At the Commissioner's request, Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez, community leaders shared their experiences: Donna Atmore -Dolly revealed that there is a comfort level created for taking the vaccine. They make calls and see if the seniors are interested, some of the seniors want someone to talk the issue through with them, and "…we are trying to address their concerns."

Jo-Ann Yoo, the Executive Director of the Asian-American Federation, acknowledged a lot of work by their allies in the government, reiterating the need for more work in getting people to sign up. "…Seniors won't be able to stay up to refresh their website to book a vaccination, secondly, they have to deal with limited English proficiency, and within the Asian -American community, hate crimes have really created a challenge.

Seniors are afraid to leave their home."

She recommended that "We need to get the federal government to turn on the vaccine tap. We want to see some of the prominent leaders in our community vaccinated."

Consistent with other non-profit leaders, she feels that the non-profit is a crucial partner to increasing the numbers of vaccinated community members, with adequate funding provisions for their activities.

Rabbi Michael Miller, Jewish Community, the Executive Vice President /CEO, listed five key areas of consideration in getting more participation: the importance of a trusted voice, sending a non-judgmental message, ensuring that the message is respectful, employing the use of peer influence, and having a trusted site. A key insight was the realization that most seniors don't want to go outside their community for vaccination and that the senior population needs different management. "I want to go to a senior center in my hood. " continued on page 19

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19

GENERATIONS Building Confidence and Trust: A Conversation/ continued from page 18 FPWA's Director of Membership & Strategic Partnerships, Rev. Derrick Harkins, is a voice in the issue of equity and accessibility to healthcare. In his view, access to vaccines, especially in communities of color, is critical. He shared some works his agency has been doing, like designing a tool kit to address issues that might help people make decisions. The toolkit will be accessible, legible, and answers consumers' questions.

Moderator: So many seniors who are home alone, incapacitated, how are they getting their information?

Most seniors do not use social media, so the community's outreach is essential; we can't rely on social media. Using mails, handouts, making sure that they are receiving their supplies are crucial.

Moderator: What about the concerns of side effects?

The medical expert and Assistant Commissioner, Dr. Olusimbo Ige, explained that "It is not unusual to have side-effects from the vaccination. For COVID-19 vaccine: swelling, fever, headache, feeling under the weather. It is not a sign that you are getting the virus because it does not contain the virus. The symptom goes away within days.

Symptoms happen more after the 2nd shot. From the data, there is no long-term effect. Safety is a major concern; we

want to reassure folks that it is safe. The benefits far outweigh the minor sideeffect." Dr. Jennifer Rosen, Director, Epidemiology, and Surveillance, supported the explanation,"…majority of symptoms experienced within 1-3 days and are a similar reaction to other vaccines."

Dr. Ige also shared some of NYC's strategies in countering the fear of not getting vaccinated. Dr. Ige noted that one of the prevalent concerns is the difficulty in navigating the online booking process.

Thus far, the approach has been through the website and calling designated phone numbers. However, other options introduced include: "For eligible older adults, training of community organization has been done with community-based organizations that can provide information to the older adults, for instance, NYCHA development have been supported, and DFIT is used to provide robocalls and

mails to NY seniors. Transportation support is provided for older adults by Hunter ambulette, and we are exploring opportunities for non-internet-based appointments."

Moderator: Considering the impact of where you will get vaccinated. Are there things we are doing to enhance skepticism?

Dr. Thomas Johnson said that "Faithbased leaders know that faith and reason work best when aligned. We need to address the "fear factor"…start conveying… persistence, keep working together towards getting needles into the arms of Seniors in the community. Anything done to reduce the barrier is important."

As a form of recommendation, Rev. Harkins claims that the power of validation by having community leaders' participation is important and transparency because people appreciate transparency.

According to him, "It's going to be important for the store-front community leaders to have access to these resources and circulate the information. The hesitancy in the black community and overcoming that is emphasizing validation.

There is so much to be said transparently, and validation on every level is very important."

Dr. Ratzan also suggested that "Creating a 'vaccine literacy' and simplifying the system is important and providing economic and behavioral incentives. There is a need for a highly localized strategy, asking open-ended questions and having dialogues, using different questions.

Finally, in the words of Rabbi Miller, "…

We are all created in the image of God. We must do all we can to preserve life.

All of us regardless, are doing God's work, we have a tremendous amount of work to do."l

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Beauty Mogul Grandma Elaine's Chooses Haiti as the Unstuffed Sweet and Home For Producing Sour Cabbage Her Baby Naps Wigs

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his is a family heirloom recipe that has been handed down through the ages. My mother taught it to me, and I tweaked it to its current form. I have eaten all kinds of 'stuffed' cabbage and this recipe beats them all. It's sweet, sour, and comforting.

The flavors are even better the second day. This dish also freezes well.

—Chef Daddy Pete, Allrecipes.com

A

tlanta, GA: One of the greatest breakthroughs in wig design and style for 2020 was surely the Baby Naps Wig by Runway Curls.

Innovated by Runway Curls’ founder and the natural hair queen herself — Mushiya Tshikuka (most known for her role in WE tv’s Cutting It In the ATL) — the Baby Naps Wig came to the rescue of thousands of women seeking a hassle-free, natural protective style during the pandemic lockdowns.

However, the demand resulting from the viral success of this wig outpaced the capacity in which Mushiya was able to produce it. After numerous attempts to overcome this challenge, Mushiya discovered that the solution to her problems resided in the tropical mountaintops of Haiti, her husband‘s native country.

“The Runway Curls brand was not ready for the immediate demand upon the launch of our breakthrough wig collection — Baby Naps Wigs,” says Mushiya Tshikuka, founder of and Creative Director for Runway Curls. “Orders were rolling in by the minute, and local wigmakers in the U.S. simply could not keep up with this demand. After numerous attempts to gain better control and avoid having to permanently discontinue the wig line, my husband Lou and I, decided to explore Haiti as the home for producing our Baby Naps Wig line. This decision couldn’t have turned out any better for us! Our amazing Haitian wigmakers have exceeded all expectations, increasing the production from just a handful of wigs per month to hundreds of wigs monthly. In short, the Baby Naps wig prevails and is available to customers worldwide!”

Upon making the decision to produce Baby Naps Wigs in Haiti, Mushiya spent months there to establish a manufacturing warehouse, equipped with more than 20 wigmakers fully trained to produce the wigs flawlessly. Not long after arriving in Haiti and witnessing the overwhelming enthusiasm from natives,

Mushiya Tshikuka

Mushiya and her husband realized that their golden nugget (aka the Baby Naps Wig) was bigger than just the product itself. They both realized that the product provided an opportunity for them to contribute to the Haitian economy by providing much-needed job opportunities, skills training, and resources. Additionally, the overnight and ongoing success of the Baby Naps Wig enables them to contribute some of the wealth generated within the black hair care industry with black people, residing in a predominantly black country.

“The reason this decision to manufacture our products out of Haiti is such a big deal is because I could’ve gone to China; I could’ve gone to Mexico, or I could’ve gone to any of the typical countries that manufacture US products. Yet, Haitian people are known for being master artisans but are often overlooked by the rest of the world for manufacturing opportunities. Since I am African and my husband is Haitian, it was important to outsource our business to a country composed of people who look like us and can benefit from the resources that we have to offer. If we’re going to put our money anywhere and create job opportunities anywhere then let it be in a country of our own people,” says Mushiya. l —Black News

Ingredients 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 3 onions, sliced 1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 ½ teaspoons salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 2 pounds green cabbage, cored, and cut into 3 inch chunks 2 pounds lean ground beef 2 eggs 1 onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons instant white rice 3 tablespoons water 1 ½ teaspoons salt ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ⅓ cup golden raisins 1 tablespoon honey ½ cup packed brown sugar, or to taste Directions Step 1 Place the vegetable oil into a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the sliced onions, and cook until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, using a spoon to slightly chop the whole tomatoes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir the cabbage into the tomatoes. Cover, and simmer 1 hour until the cabbage is tender and mixes easily with the tomatoes.

Step 2 Place the ground beef, eggs, finely chopped onion, rice, water, additional 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix together with hands until thoroughly blended. Add

additional rice if mixture is too moist.

Form into golf ball-sized meatballs.

Place meatballs on a plate, and refrigerate 20 minutes to firm.

Step 3 Place meatballs on the surface of the tomato mixture. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the meatballs are firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Gently stir the meatballs into the tomato mixture. Cover the pot and continue to simmer 45 minutes more. Stir in the lemon juice, and taste for seasoning, adding additional lemon juice if required. Stir in the raisins, and honey.

Add the brown sugar, a little at a time, tasting after each addition. Cook mixture over medium heat 15 minutes more.

General Prep:20 mins Cook: 2 hrs 40 mins Additional: 20 mins Total: 3 hrs 20 mins Servings: 10 Nutrition Facts Per Serving: 347 calories; protein 20.4g; carbohydrates 34.7g; fat 15.2g; cholesterol 92.1mg; sodium 1116.6mg.l

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22

HEALTH

Does Type 2 Diabetes Increase Your Risk for Kidney Disease? Yes

BY NATIONAL KIDNEY ASSOCIATION

I

f you have type 2 diabetes (T2D), you are at greater risk of developing kidney disease, a serious illness. In fact, diabetes is a leading cause for developing kidney disease. Have you found out if you are at risk for kidney disease?

In the United States, 37 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease but only about 10 percent are diagnosed.

That means millions and millions of adults in the United States are walking around with kidney disease and don’t even know it. To make matters worse, one in every three adults in the country are at risk of developing kidney disease in the future.

Should I really care about kidney disease?

Type 2 diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, and if your kidneys fail, you will need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. People with kidney disease and type 2 diabetes are three times more likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than patients with type 2 diabetes alone.

The fact is kidney disease is a dangerous

March is National Kidney Month.

Diabetes is Focus.

comorbidity to T2D. The earlier you discover kidney disease, the better chance you have for the best prognosis. Early diagnosis and intervention are critical to try to slow the progression of the disease. For those of you living with type 2 diabetes, you need to know if you have kidney disease before the disease does further damage to your important organs.

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What is type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which your body cannot regulate sugar. It occurs if your body cannot use insulin very well. Insulin is a hormone that controls how much sugar is in your blood. A high blood sugar level can cause all sorts of problems in your body, including damaging your kidneys.

Diabetes cannot be cured, but it can be well managed with diet, exercise, and medications. Of course, many people live long, active lives with diabetes.

What should you do?

Take the MinuteForYourKidneys.org quiz to understand your risk of kidney disease. Then talk to your doctor about kidney disease and ask how often you are tested. You should be tested for kidney disease every year.

Also: •Home monitoring of your blood glucose levels; •Maintaining an awareness of controlling your blood pressure, and possibly monitoring your pressure at home; and •Following your special diet.

What should you look for?

The earliest sign of diabetic kidney disease is an increased excretion of albumin, a protein, in the urine. This is present long before the usual tests that are done in your doctor's office show evidence of kidney disease. Signs that you may have kidney disease are: •Weight gain and ankle swelling, leg cramps; •You will use the bathroom more at night; •Albumin/protein in the urine; •High blood pressure; •High levels of blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine in blood; •Less need for insulin or antidiabetic medications; •Morning sickness, nausea and vomiting; Weakness, paleness and anemia; or •Itching.

How’s your bladder?

Small blood vessels can be injured by diabetes. When the vessels in your kidneys are injured, your kidneys cannot clean your blood properly. Your body will retain more water and salt than it should, which can result in weight gain and ankle swelling. Waste materials will build up in your blood.

Diabetes can also cause nerve damage that can sometimes result in difficulty in emptying your bladder. The pressure resulting from your full bladder can back up and injure the kidneys. Also, if urine remains in your bladder too long, you can develop an infection from bacteria in urine with a high sugar level.

What will happen if your kidneys have been damaged?

First, the doctor needs to find out if your diabetes is the reason for kidney damage because there can be other causes. If you have kidney damage, you should: •Control your diabetes; •Control high blood pressure; Get treatment for urinary tract infections; •Correct any problems in your urinary system; and •Avoid any medicines that may damage the kidneys (especially over-the-counter pain medications).

Important reminder If you have T2D speak with your healthcare professional about having your blood, urine and blood pressure checked at least once a year. This will lead to better control of your disease and early treatment of kidney disease. Maintaining control of your diabetes can lower your risk of developing severe kidney disease.

To learn more Go to MiniuteForYourKidneys.org to know your risk for kidney disease. Learn more about the connection between diabetes and kidney disease.l

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—kidney.org

High blood pressure, diabetes & your heart Type 2 diabetes puts you at higher risk for heart disease, but there are steps you can take to lower your risk. Managing your blood pressure is one way to lower your risk of heart disease.

High blood pressure is anything above 120/80 mmHg.

What can you do?

Start simple

What’s the connection?

Ask your doctor to check your kidney function and blood pressure.

Adults with diabetes are

Know your numbers

MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK OR STROKE THAN PEOPLE WITHOUT DIABETES.

The combination of high blood pressure and diabetes drastically increases your risks. That’s why it’s vital to keep your blood pressure in a healthy range.

If you have diabetes, there is a lot you can do to manage your high blood pressure.

Talk to your doctor about your next steps.

Keeping your blood pressure and blood glucose in your target ranges is vital for your overall health.

Keep it up Take care of yourself with exercise, healthy diet and taking your medications as prescribed.

You’re not in this alone. Find answers to your questions and join the initiative at: https://KnowDiabetesbyHeart.org/join © 2020 American Heart Association, Inc. and American Diabetes Association, 501(c)(3) not-for-profits. All rights reserved. Know Diabetes by Heart is a trademark of the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association. Unauthorized use prohibited. Citations available upon request.

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24

BOOKS & SPORTS

Nike Debuts “We Play Real” Film to Celebrate Black Women

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

N

ike has debuted a short film that honors the impact of black women on sports and other industries.

Narrated by actress and playwright Dominique Fishback, the minute-long video titled “We Play Real” aims to highlight the accomplishments of black female athletes and performers while “celebrating their resilience to lead the world forward,” said Nike in a press release. Athletes spotlighted in the film include WNBA players A’ja Wilson and Jewell Lloyd, NWSL player Crystal Dunn, tennis champion Serena Williams

and Olympic runner Sha’Carri Richardson, among others. Additionally, it showcases the Alabama State University Honey Beez, a group of student dancers that perform at games and university functions.

The film also references instances in which these women have used their platform to promote racial justice, such as the time Naomi Osaka drew attention to the killing of Breonna Taylor by wearing a mask adorned with her name on day one of the U.S Open in September.l —footwearnews.com

Reading for Winter

Black Girl in Love (with Herself)

S

peaker, writer, and producer Trey Anthony breaks it down, giving black women a relatable voice and personalized "keeping it real" to-do list on how to practice self-love and self-care.

Therapy is not just for white women-no matter what your momma told you!

After a lifetime of never truly relating to the personal development experts because of the color of her skin, Trey Anthony has written the book she needed to read as a black woman trying to navigate a world filled with unique challenges that often acts like she doesn't exist.

On the outside Trey Anthony was the overachieving, reliable, and strong black woman she was raised to be, but on the inside the pressure of sacrificing her own needs to please others was building.

When her grandmother and mother raised her strong, they also unknowingly taught her that self-love and expressing emotions were weak, creating an unhealthy dynamic that had Trey facing burnout and rock bottom.

In Black Girl in Love (with Herself), Trey breaks down the lessons and tools that she used to heal her life, including how to: •Set clear and healthy boundaries—even with the people who raised you

•Quit being the family ATM •Sort out who is a real friend, and who is just there for parties and gossip •Confront microaggressions at work without missing a beat •Forget who black women are "supposed" to bea nd fall in love with yourself.

—Amazon.com

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LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

25

I’m Doubting My Relationship – Is This Normal? take a step back and give yourself a break.

BY SARAH O’LEARY ESTES THERAPY

I

s it common to have second thoughts in a relationship? How can you tell if it's just a temporary doubt, or something more?

It is absolutely common and in fact natural to have second thoughts or relationship doubts. This typically happens after the “honeymoon” period starts to wind down, or when there are big life changes or points of self-reflection. Especially now with COVID, relationships are in a place no one could have predicted. Most people are now at home most of the day, everyday. There are 2 important pieces with this change: 1. With this new dynamic many are now turning to their partner to be their pillar for everything – or at least much more than before. This means your partner is potentially your go-to for frustrations with work, discussions of the news, your social life, even your work-out buddy.

When this happens, it is hard to feel like you have space from your partner, and it can put a lot of pressure on each other.

Which brings us to…

2. We need time apart from our partner.

It’s easy to feel like the relationship is “stale” when you’re in this space. Your partner might not be able to give you the conversation about football or the Great British Baking Show that your friends do. And then, in turn, this might give you feelings of doubt. Ex: “Why are we even together if they can’t appreciate …” when before, this wouldn’t have been an issue because you were having that conversation with your friend. A healthy relationship does not mean you need to like everything your partner likes, but spending all of your time with one person can make these differences feel glaring.

It’s also important to note that now, with COVID and staying at home more often, it is easy to misattribute negative feelings to your partner. I’ve seen this come up in many relationships, admittedly including my own. It’s okay! It’s a learning experience that’s new for everyone. When the stress of life and the added stress of COVID (the virus itself, the financial impact, the social impact, etc.) is bringing you down, but the one consistent thing is your partner, it is easy to blame the negative feelings on them.

This is done on a subconscious level, so it takes paying attention to yourself and your feelings to combat this. When you notice yourself feeling irritated or short,

So, when is it a problem?

This takes self-reflection and being real with yourself. What is it that you are seeing as a problem? Is it really an issue or is it circumstantial? For example, are you truly feeling disconnected from your partner, or are you feeling lonely from social distancing? Do they “never listen” or are you trying to talk about a topic they are either not interested in or know nothing about? On the other hand, is it truly okay that they are working overtime most days or do you need to spend time connecting in the evening? Is it truly okay that you do all the cleaning, or do you need to feel more balanced in household chores?

Ask yourself: How much of you is committed to staying and how much is committed to leaving? Is it that you really want this to work but there are a few things that need changing? Or is it that you want to leave but are afraid of what happens next? Living life on the fence of a relationship can be draining and leave you feeling unfulfilled. continued on page 26

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26

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS Doubting My Relationship/ continued from page 25 It is also important to note how often these thoughts are occurring and the circumstances surrounding them.

Everyday? Once a week? That’s a strong signal that you need change. Whether that is a change within your relationship, or the change of ending a relationship.

Again, circumstance: pay attention to what else is going on when these thoughts come up. Don’t ignore or downplay these feelings. Honor your emotions and reflect on these relationship doubts.

Tune in to what you are feeling and your automatic thoughts. Your body tells you a lot. What do you feel when you think of your partner? Does your chest feel lighter, maybe you can’t help but smile… this is typically a sign of positive feelings. On the other hand, do you feel a weight in the pit of your stomach?

Heavy? Or even a bit numb? This is a sign that there is a problem in your relationship. Your automatic thoughts are the knee-jerk thoughts you have to a situation. When you haven’t seen your partner in a while is the thought more “yay” or “ugh?”

I’m still not sure… What are some signs this is normal relationship doubts and not something more?

•When something happens, you first think to share it with your partner. This is

a sign that your partner is one of your pillars of support. While you don’t want them to be your only pillar, you do want them to be a pillar. This is both when something exciting happens and when something upsetting happens. Turning to your partner signals that they are important to you •When you think of your future together, there are no major stipulations. When you think of your future together what feelings do you get in your body? What thoughts do you have? Are you excited or does it feel exhausting to picture your future together? If you are excited without the stipulation of your partner needing to change XYZ, then that’s a good sign. “No stipulations” doesn’t mean no growth or change. But if the stipulation is a lifestyle or character change, that’s a big ask and often does not happen.

(These big ask changes would be some-

thing like if you expect your partner to become “outdoorsy” or extraverted, if that’s not something they want to change.)

•You want to put in the work. This is one of the biggest signs that you want to stay.

When putting in the work still feels worth it (because relationships are always work). When you stop feeling like putting in the work, part of you has already left the relationship – but that doesn’t mean there is no getting it back.

•You can talk to and confide in your partner. When you can talk to your partner about what’s going on in your life and in your mind, it’s a sign that you feel safe.

It is with safety in relationships that we can be vulnerable, take chances, and explore not only the relationship but ourselves individually.

•You think about your partner during sex.

Sex is an integral part of most relation-

ships and intimacy. But the intimacy aspect only comes when you are being present – which means you are thinking of this moment, this sex with your partner, not fantasizing about someone else.

When you are feeling connected and having fun being intimate and having sex with your partner, that’s a sign that this connection is working. If you need to think of someone else to get in the mood, it’s a sign there is a problem.

Ultimately, you are the only who decides if you want to stay in the relationship or leave. Relationship doubts are normal. But you need to tune in to yourself to know if this is a temporary doubt, or something more substantial.

Couples’ counseling is a great way to learn how to have tough conversations, reconnect, and work through relationship doubts. Individual counseling can help you work through your thoughts and feelings; and if you decide to breakup, through that transition and process your grief.l Sarah O’Leary AMFT#123449 was supervised by Erin C. Falvey-Hogue, Ph.D. LMFT#45322 for this article.

Sarah is captivated most by the importance of relationships and emotions and their impact on our everyday lives. Both relationships and our emotions help shape who we are as a person.

Reprinted with kind permission. Visit www.estestherapy.com

AFTER YOU HAVE A LUNG REMOVED, TAKE SHORT BREATHS. Annette, Age 57, Diagnosed at 52 New York

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Your work is essential!

Protect yourself & others from flu and COVID-19 this fall and winter:

MASK UP

LATHER UP

SLEEVE UP

Wear a face mask that covers your nose and mouth.

And keep your distance (at least 6 feet) from others when you can.

Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Getting a flu vaccine is more important than ever.

Everyone 6 months and older should get a flu vaccine every season.

A flu vaccine can protect you, your loved ones, and your co-workers from flu.

You can also protect those around you by staying home if you are sick.

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28

CARIBBEAN STAR Bunny Wailer/ continued from page 1 reportedly died of complications brought on by a stroke he had earlier. In October of 2018, Wailer suffered a minor stroke that left him with speech problems. Then again, in July of 2020, he suffered another stroke. This second stroke was more debilitating, leaving him with unrepairable damage to his body and led to the complications that ended his life.

Bunny Wailer’s life was well-lived. His story began on April 10, 1947, when he was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Wailer’s given name at birth was Neville O’ Riley.

However, he chose to be known professionally as Bunny Wailer. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O’ Riley, and Bunny Livingston. However, he was most known as Bunny Wailer.

Bunny was raised by a single father, Thaddeus Livingston. During his youth, his father had a relationship with the famed reggae artist Bob Marley’s mother. Young Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley were raised as brothers in the same household and became good friends. The two boys, who shared musical aspirations, later met the young Winston Herbert McIntosh, who later adopted the name, Peter Tosh.

In their adulthood, the long-time friends co-founded the original Wailers group.

Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, and Peter Tosh achieved great success together.

The world-famous reggae group was credited with transforming Jamaican cul-

Bunny Wailer in 2014.

Editorial credit: Peter Verwimp - Own work, CC0, commons.wikimedia.org

ture. They were the pioneers of reggae music. They brought roots reggae and the Rastafarian way of life, along with dreadlocked hair, to the international stage. “Some say they were like the Beetles. They brought attention to the music genre of reggae.

Their style spoke of the hardships of being Black, marginalized, and Rastafarian. The music is still highly regarded in the Jamaican culture as the issues discussed then still persist and exist today,” shared Janice Blake, a proud Jamaican in New York, when asked what Bunny Wailer and the Wailers mean to Jamaican people. The

Wailers achieved international fame with such reggae classics as Stir It Up and Simmer Down.

After leaving the Wailers in the early 1970s, Bunny Wailer became a reggae icon as a solo artist. His first solo album, Blackheart Man, was described as a “masterpiece.” He recorded over 20 albums during his lifetime and won a total of 3 Grammy awards for Best Reggae Album. The first Grammy was in 1991 for “Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley,” the second in 1995 for “Crucial! Roots Classics’ and the third Grammy was received in 1997 for “Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley’s 50th

Anniversary.” Bunny Wailer also was awarded the Order of Merit from the Jamaican government in 2017, and Jamaican Irie FM (107.5) honored Wailer with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. In 2019 he accepted the Pinnacle Award from the Coalition to Preserve Reggae Music on behalf of the Wailers, who were recognized for their role in reggae music being declared by UNESCO as “an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”

When asked her thoughts about Bunny Wailer’s death, Jennifer Nelson, a proud Jamaican who resides in Florida, stated, “When I heard about his death, this was my first thoughts: A legend and household name from Jamaican history has passed away. Many of us remember growing up listening to Bob Marley and the Wailers. My brother Bunny even got his nickname from Bunny Wailer. The rockers and seeing our parents dance and party to the good old beats will never be forgotten! The oldies but goodies.” Proud Jamaicans like Mrs. Blake and Ms. Nelson, along with the many nonJamaicans who came to love and respect the man known as Bunny Wailer, are mourning a significant loss as the world says good-bye to a legend, an icon, and one of the pioneers of reggae music.

The Caribbean American Weekly team extends our sincere condolences to Bunny Wailer's family and the people of Jamaica. We have lost a Caribbean star, icon, and legend. May he rest in peace. l

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30

CONVERSATIONS

A Year Into the Pandemic, the Coronavirus Is Messing With Our Minds As Well As Our Bodies

BY ATHENA AKTIPIS & JOE ALCOCK THE CONVERSATION

A

s we see it, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is a sort of zombie virus, turning people not into the undead but rather into the unsick. By interfering with our bodies’ normal immune response and blocking pain, the virus keeps the infected on their feet, spreading the virus.

People typically think of zombies as the stuff of science fiction. But in the biological world, zombies are all over the place, from the Ophiocordyceps fungus that perpetuates itself by zombifying ants; to Toxoplasma gondii, a single-celled parasite that completes its life cycle by leading rodents into the jaws of predators.

Zombie viruses are also a real thing, influencing their host’s behavior in ways that enhance the viruses’ evolutionary fitness.

One of us is a professor of psychology.

The other is an emergency physician.

Both of us are evolutionary medicine

researchers. And we suggest to you that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is yet another zombie virus, a master manipulator operating under the radar. This pandemic may have unleashed a horde of the unsick: infected and unwitting victims of a manipulative virus.

How the virus turns us into the unsick It is the unsick who spread the virus most readily. About 40% of those with SARS-

CoV-2 are asymptomatic spreaders, never showing symptoms at all. And those who do show symptoms are most contagious in the two days before symptoms appear. Why people don’t feel sick earlier – or sick at all – might be part of the evolutionary strategy of SARS-CoV2.

A look under the hood of the virus reveals more about that manipulative machinery. SARS-CoV-2 interferes with a person’s immune response; this is why people don’t necessarily feel sick and withdrawn as they would in a typical viral infection. Instead, SARS-CoV-2 silences the body’s alarm signals that otherwise would orchestrate anti-viral defenses. It blocks interferons, a set of molecules that help fight viruses.

Interferon activity makes people feel more depressed and socially withdrawn – so when the novel coronanvirus impedes interferon activity, mood is lifted, sociality is increased and you feel less sick.

The virus also decreases pain perception. Normally, pain motivates us to hunker down when we need to heal. But

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SARS-CoV-2 blocks this response by preventing the transmission of pain signals. This is why people feel fine even when they are teeming with virus before the onset of symptoms.

At the same time, SARS-CoV-2 dampens the body’s response to infection. It hinders pro-inflammatory cytokines, molecules that help spur the immune response. This too makes hosts feel better than they should. Typically, feeling sick helps our bodies prioritize healing by making us reduce our energy expenditure. With SARS-CoV-2, unsick hosts have the energy to do as much as they used to, maybe more.

It’s possible that SARS-CoV-2 might make people feel even better than they would without infection from the virus.

One study found people did not reduce their time out in public even when they had COVID-19 symptoms. If anything, they went out more. Any variant that does this clearly has an evolutionary advantage when it comes to transmission. Using surveys and social media data, our research team is now testing whether people are more social during their most infectious days.

Things to consider We must take seriously the possibility that the virus is zombifying us – altering our behavior in ways that help perpetuate it. By keeping people feeling good when they are capable of spreading the virus, SARS-CoV-2 spreads under the radar, more like a sexually transmitted disease than a respiratory virus.

Many of us have unwittingly acted as vehicles for its propagation, with stunning implications. Our behavior might not be in our own evolutionary interests.

Instead, the unsick may be serving the virus.

Researchers often ignore the impact that viruses might have on our moods and behaviors. But like ants and rodents, humans are not exempt from the neural and behavioral hijacking that’s widespread in the natural world.

We believe that it is critical to consider the possible “anti-symptoms” of this virus: temporary reduction in pain, feeling more energetic than normal and perhaps even wanting to be around people more than usual. With all this in mind, here’s some advice, likely the most ironic you’ve heard in the last year: If you’ve been feeling surprisingly good the last few days, you might want to get a COVID-19 test.l

Athena Aktipis is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University. Joe Alcock is a Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of New Mexico

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WHAT’S NEXT

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