Caribbean American Weekly - Issue 99

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ISSUE 99 VOLUME 18

May 28, 2020

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES!

Marijuana and COVID-19: What a Doctor Wants You to Know

BY NEHA PATHAK, MD BOARD-CERTIFIED INTERNIST, WEBMD The Caribbean: Tied to No One’s Apron Strings ....2

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ith the rapid spread of the new coronavirus throughout the globe, people are looking for ways to protect their health and lessen the risk of COVID-19 complications.

Because having damaged lungs is one of the main risk factors for complications, smoking of any kind is being discouraged by health experts.

As it's become legal in some parts of the U.S., many people use cannabis products for both medical and recreational purposes, and some who smoke, inhale, or vape marijuana are wondering if it’s safer to switch to alternatives, like “edibles” to protect their lungs and immune systems.

Just like the developing science around COVID-19, the facts around cannabis are also murky. To help me navigate the data, I turned to several scientists behind the 2017 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report on the health effects of

Experts: The Coronavirus Pandemic is about to Create a Surge in Bankruptcies

BY JANET HOWARD 311BANKRUPTCY.COM

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erek and his wife were doing pretty good: two-family house with a mortgage, two vehicles, two credit cards, decent jobs, two kids in college. Then the pandemic hit, and his wife, Joyce, lost her supervisor job

at a hotel in Manhattan. Suddenly, they were no longer doing pretty good. Derek still had his job with the MTA, but the loss of his wife’s income, coupled with the uncertainty and the bills again coming in regularly like the sun rising, had

cannabis and related products.

According to Daniele Piomelli, PhD, professor of anatomy and neurobiology, and Chair in Neuroscience at the University of California, Irvine School continued on page 14

Knowledge is Power when you use it!

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Call 855-768-8845 Reducing Family Tensions During COVID-19 ....15

What You Need to Know ....30

continued on page 13

USCIS Resuming Public Services on June 4 ....page 17

Bichotte Reintroduces Bill to End Racial Profiling ....4

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

Coronavirus Outbreak: Caribbean Tourism Struggles as Visitors Stay Home

BY GEMMA HANDY, ST JOHN’S ANTIGUA

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eagulls are the only ones using the pool at a resort fringing one of Antigua's most popular beaches.

They have the place all to themselves,

save for a solitary security guard surveying the empty terrace usually abuzz with families.

Above, the bright blue sky is devoid of the airplanes ordinarily flitting back and forth with such regularity they are used to tell the time. continued on page 8

Beanie Man vs Bounty Killer Featured on CNN ....21

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CARIBBEAN SPECIAL REPORT

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

Tied to No One’s Apron Strings: The Caribbean in an Emerging New World

BY SIR RONALD SANDERS

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eveloping countries, including Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states, would make a grave mistake if, in the wake of the economic crisis they now face, they decide to diminish their foreign affairs budgets.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have created huge challenges for advanced economies, but those challenges are even more daunting for small states.

In scrambling to cope with considerably decreased revenues and extraordinarily increased expenditure, governments will cut their budgets.

Since diplomacy is not regarded as the guardian of their interests in the global community as it should be, the first reductions will be to their Embassies and their involvement in regional and international institutions. By doing this, governments will be depriving themselves of participation in international decisionmaking, precisely when they should be fully involved in determining the kind of new world that is emerging in this epoch of COVID-19.

After World War II, when most developing countries had no voice in international relations, the victorious powers created the current major International Financial Institutions (IFIs) which they have dominated ever since, dictating the world’s economic order largely for their own benefit. The policies of the financial institutions have imposed rules and conditions on developing states that have kept them financially indentured, if not enslaved.

Caribbean countries, that have suffered in the economic order which has prevailed since 1945, have an opportunity to participate in the fashioning of a new dispensation. As the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, put it recently, “The reconfiguration of global power and the restructuring of the global economy cannot be left to the market or the dictations of a few, determined to continue to shape the future by unilateral decisions”.

Mr. Patterson’s summons to action is wise and irresistible. He advises, “The interests of the less developed, less powerful and most vulnerable will not be taken into account unless we take the decision to make our collective voices heard and our interests reflected in the new world order”. However, the Caribbean cannot do so if it does not have a seat at the table. That is why, while budget cuts clearly must be made, no government should allow indiscriminate reduction in their participation in global affairs; rather they should create a leaner, best skilled and professional foreign service focused on giving their countries the strongest voice possible in advancing their interest.

As the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, put it recently, “The reconfiguration of global power and the restructuring of the global economy cannot be left to the market or the dictations of a few, determined to continue to shape the future by unilateral decisions”.

CARICOM countries also need to settle their policy approaches in a coherent manner and set their foreign policy teams to work together, eschewing transient alliances that do not serve their fundamental interests, whatever short-term benefits they may get.

There will be a tussle for global influence between the traditional big powers – Western states, formerly led by the United States, but now fractured – and challengers from Asia of which China will be the most powerful. China is already the world’s largest trading power and the United States is increasingly isolating itself from the multilateral system in an apparent belief that it can continue to use its economic and military power to achieve its government’s objectives.

For developing countries, including the Caribbean, where they stand in the global order should not be a choice between holding on to the apron strings of either China or the US. There is no shortage among developing countries of intellectual capacity in a wide range of fields that propel human development. Their problem has been the inability to harness that collective power and deploy it jointly. Their collective strength as markets also remains a powerful chip with which to bargain. One certainty in any new global dispensation is that, if they fail to act together, they will remain in the backwater of human development. And, that is particularly true for CARICOM countries.

On a related matter, most CARICOM countries are now confronted with a wall of debt. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, that wall will grow higher and more impenetrable.

UNCTAD has forecast that, in 2020 and 2021 alone, debt will amount to about $2 trillion for high-income developing countries and to almost $1 trillion for middle- and low-income countries.

“This moment”, say a group of distinguished Economists from the developed and developing world, “poses the ultimate test of the international financial architecture”. The group, including Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz, Edmund Phelps and Carmen Reinhart, wrote on May 6, in relation to Argentina, but the basic argument holds true for all developing countries. They declared that “debt

relief is the only path to combat the pandemic and set the economy on a sustainable path”.

The response of the IFIs is not to writeoff any portion of current debt for least developed and low-income countries, but to increase their debt still further by offering more loans, albeit on easier terms.

With only a few exceptions, high income countries, such as Antigua and Barbuda and St Kitts-Nevis, were excluded from these loans even though they are mired in the same plight as their neighbors.

The IMF is encouraging high-income states to borrow under its Rapid Credit Facility with fewer conditionalities and faster approval processes, but these are still debts which would add to the burden which already weighs them down.

The level of debt is barely sustainable now; it will be utterly unsustainable if more of it is incurred. Paying it back will leave countries, including many in the Caribbean, mortgaged to the IFI’s and the conditions that they impose in accordance with policies set by the rich countries that have the greatest voting power on the governing Boards.

Since one of the principal conditions is that debt must be repaid first, many Caribbean countries will be left with little fiscal space to invest in economic and human development.

This problem underscores why Caribbean countries should not mistakenly reduce their participation in global affairs.

They should be vigorous activists in the realization of the new order that was already gathering steam before the effects of COVID-19.

There is need for change, including change in a system that encourages global inequality, and allows the marginalization of small states whose repeated debt crises have been largely created by external events exported to their shores.l Sir Ronald Michael Sanders is an Antiguan Barbudan academic, diplomat and former broadcast-journalist who is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and to the Organization of American States; he is also non-resident High Commissioner to Canada.

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3

THOUGHTS

“Why Does the U.S. Military Celebrate White Supremacy?”— A Short Answer, A Short History

BY REVCOM.US he New York Times published an editorial on Sunday, May 24, with the title “Why Does the U.S. Military Celebrate White Supremacy?”

The editorial questions, exposes and condemns the long-standing naming of U.S. military bases with names and figures drawn from the white-supremacist slaveupholding Confederacy, including some of the largest and most “storied” like Fort Benning and Fort Bragg—and righteously urges their renaming.

This is indeed an ugly reality—and it is positive that the NY Times editorial is highlighting this, especially in the age of Trump-Pence, and their regime’s openly white-supremacist rhetoric, acts, program and social base. It is significant that the Times IS exposing this ugly and outrageous reality—hiding in plain sight— on Memorial Day! And it is positive that there has been a movement to remove the names and monuments to the Confederacy in the last few years since the murder of nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, by whitesupremacist Dylann Roof.

But, at the same time, the NY Times completely elides the far more fundamental truth, that the question of white supremacy and its celebration in the military is not just limited to the Confederate scum criticized by the Times. Since the founding of this country, white supremacy has been interwoven into its history, and with the fabric of this society and its system of capitalism—and the U.S. military, in imposing the rule of this oppressive and exploitative system and carrying out its objectives, is a concentration of this country and system’s attributes, morality and goals. This defining feature has found particular expression as the U.S. has become a global power presiding over the system of capitalism-imperialism, ruthlessly dominating parts of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia with unprecedented brutality and horrific violence, largely carried out against non-white peoples in the service

T

of American imperialism.

The NY Times elides and glosses over the essence of the U.S. military, obscuring the more fundamental truth about the U.S. military, its history, its acts, and its purpose.

The U.S. Military—Origins Soaked in White Supremacy Bob Avakian has said: This system in this country was founded in genocide and slavery. From the beginning, African-Americans and Native Americans were treated as “pariahs,” a caste of people less than human and not deserving of the same rights and opportunities as the European settlers of the territory. White supremacy was poured into the foundation and into every institution of the country.

The U.S. military is one of the main enforcers of the rule of this system, and one of its main instruments in carrying out its objectives. The U.S. military has a “storied” history in the slavery of Black people and the genocide of Native Americans, from the time of George Washington. Washington—with fellow slave-holders and upholders of slavery like Thomas Jefferson and others— forged the U.S. Army out of the Continental Army that defeated the British in the Revolutionary War for Independence, and was its first general and the country’s first president.

During this war and soon after, the U.S. Army waged a campaign of extermination of Indians, such as in New York (against the Onondagas and the Iroquois) and Ohio (against the Moravian Indians), justifying them as revenge for supposed Indian atrocities, making the frontier safe for settlement and taking British allies out of the war. This campaign of genocide against the Native peoples then continued, accelerating in scope, scale and geography as the U.S. expanded westward. There were particularly horrendous campaigns. The U.S. military enforced the Indian Removal Act in 1830 that forcibly relocated East Coast tribes across the Mississippi, with about 5,000

dying in the Trail of Tears, with the army deliberately routing the march through areas of known cholera epidemic. There were a number of massacres carried out during the American Indian Wars, in particular the 1864 Sand Creek massacre, where 130 peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho were massacred, two-thirds women and children. The U.S. Army men took Indian scalps, fetuses and genitalia as trophies.

This is the ugly history of the U.S. military.

With the brief exception of the Civil War and Reconstruction that followed, the U.S. military, as concentrating the monopoly of legitimate armed force, has been a bulwark of enforcement of the oppression of Black people throughout the slave South. The NY Times in its editorial acknowledges the “toxic legacy” of the Confederacy in the naming of 10 major military installations in the South, namings that “reflect a federal embrace of white supremacy that found its most poisonous expression in military installations where black servicemen were deliberately placed under the command of white Southerners—who were said to better ‘understand’ Negroes—and confined to substandard housing, separate transportation systems and even ‘colored only’ seating in movie houses.”

At the same time, Black soldiers after Reconstruction were marshaled in the genocidal wars against Native peoples, most infamously as the Buffalo Soldiers, Colin Powell’s celebrated heroes.

This is the ugly history of the U.S. military.

The very fact that it has been more than 150 years since the end of the Civil War and the defeat of the Confederacy— and this naming of bases after Confederate generals remains a continuing practice in the South—is testament to how integral and inter-woven open white supremacy is in the U.S. military—and the system it represents and enforces.l The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

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

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4

CIVIL RIGHTS

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte and Senator Brian A. Benjamin Reintroduce Bill to End Racial Profiling

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rooklyn, NY: Nationally and in New York, reports of bias are flooding in, with the limited data available showing that arrests related to the coronavirus pandemic are overwhelmingly of persons of color and target communities of color.

Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte and State Senator Brian A. Benjamin have reintroduced a bill, A04615A on the Assembly side, and S1137A on the Senate side, to prevent racial profiling by increasing data collection and reporting standards.

Current legislation does not provide adequate rules for tracking and reporting of racial profiling, and guidelines that would give the public transparency are lacking.

A leaked New York Police Department report stated that 90% of the people arrested for coronavirus-related crimes between March 16 and May 5 were black or Hispanic. Similarly, 81% of people who received summonses for violating social distancing rules, in about the same time period, were black or Hispanic.

“I know who the heroes of this crisis are, because they are my neighbors,” Assemblymember Bichotte said. “My

Assemblymember Bichotte

district is home to many essential workers. They are the people caring for our loved ones who are sick, making sure our grocery stores are stocked and that public transit is operational. Unfortunately, they are also the people succumbing to the virus at rates much higher than the general population, losing wages and facing food insecurities. The last thing they, or anyone else, deserves is to be discriminated against by law enforcement. Our heroes should be praised, not punished.

Our bill to end racial profiling will create a tangible way for our state to prevent and track these violations, and an avenue for remedies for anyone whose civil

State Senator Benjamin

rights are determined to have been violated.” Bichotte represents the 42nd Assembly District, which encompasses parts of Flatbush, Midwood, and Ditmas Park in Brooklyn.

The pandemic has led to discriminatory practices by police and ratcheted community tensions. New Yorkers are begging for relief from racial discrimination by law enforcement.

The same community is simultaneously facing another problem in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. New York City Health Department data show that neighborhoods with high populations of black and Latino residents suffer the highest

death rate, and Brooklyn has the highest death rate by ZIP code.

Communities already plagued with devastating loss cannot bear an additional weight, that which is added when police patrol black neighborhoods, making social distancing arrests and issuing summons, while in white neighborhoods across New York City, officers hand out masks to people out socializing.

“Communities of color are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 as essential workers, and we are also dealing with a disproportionate number of deaths and infections in our neighborhoods and families,” said Senator Benjamin. “We cannot allow our law enforcement officers to add additional stress and trauma in this time with an unfair double standard for the enforcement of social distancing rules. The bill that Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte and I have introduced will prohibit law enforcement officers from engaging in racial or ethnic profiling to help ensure we have one system of enforcement for our city and state.” continued on page 5

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CIVIL RIGHTS Bill to End Racial Profiling/ continued from page 4 Benjamin is the Senate sponsor of the bill, and represents the 30th Senate District in Manhattan, including parts of Harlem and the Upper West Side.

The bill has received broad support in the Senate and Assembly.

“The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated why we need to prioritize collecting data on racial profiling,” Assemblymember Tremaine S. Wright, who is the Chair of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, said. “The little data we do have on racial profiling, just in the case of social distancing arrests, shows why it is urgent that we act to prevent these civil rights abuses from continuing.” Wright represents the 56th Assembly District in Brooklyn and is a co-sponsor on the bill.

The bill passed the Assembly side after introduction last year.

“Racial profiling has been plaguing communities of color for decades,” said state Senator Jamaal Bailey, who is a cosponsor on the bill. “Time after time, we hear of disparate enforcement when it comes to communities of color, and unfortunately, we have continued to see this throughout the pandemic as well.

Clear statistical data shows that black and brown communities have been the hardest hit by COVID-19. On top of the disparate health impacts shown, data also clearly shows that communities of color are on the receiving end of the most summonses and arrests. I am proud to cosponsor state Senator Brian Benjamin’s and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte’s bill to end racial profiling.”

Bailey’s district is New York’s 36th Senate District in the Bronx.

The legislation would prohibit law enforcement officers from engaging in racial or ethnic profiling and require every law enforcement agency to adopt a policy against racial profiling as well as establishing procedures for reviewing complaints. As required by the bill, a copy of the complaint and written summary of the disposition would be submitted to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Each law enforcement agency also would be required to collect and maintain data with respect to their civilian interactions while conducting routine and spontaneous investigatory activities.

These reports further would be made available to the attorney general upon request.

The Division of Criminal Justice Services would implement a computerized data system for public viewing of the reports and then would compile an annual report on law enforcement stops.

Personal identities would be redacted.

"Racial bias and injustice have long existed in our law enforcement and criminal justice systems,” state Senator Luis Sepulveda, a co-sponsor on the legislation, said. “This reality has yet again become all too clear as we've witnessed the discriminatory and inconsistent enforcement of social distancing guidelines during this public health crisis, with the large majority of arrests and summonses in New York City going to black and brown people. This is particularly

devastating as communities of color are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis, as essential frontline workers and residents of neighborhoods with the highest infection and death rates. I strongly support this bill to combat racial profiling in New York's law enforcement practices, which is urgently needed now more than ever, and thank my colleagues for their leadership during this time."

Senator Sepulveda represents the 32nd Senate District in the Bronx.

When passed, the bill will set forth the right of action for injunctive relief and/or damages. Under this legislation, citizens who are discriminated against on the basis of racial profiling will have a means for relief.

“Historically, to be black in this country is to carry an increased burden,” State Senator Kevin Parker, who is co-sponsoring the bill, added, “a burden that includes not only a higher death rate, but also the continuous presence of racial discrimination and bias by law enforcement officers. We are unfortunately reminded at this time of our long struggle for equal protections under our laws,

and how today, that struggle is still a tale of two hues, where officers provide white residents with PPE and other personal protective gear during a global pandemic, but proffer communities of color — the hardest hit by COVID-19 —with degradation through court summonses, and vicious assaults to our identity. This is unjust on its face, and I stand eager to support my colleagues to immediately pass this legislation this session.”

Senator Parker represents the 21st Senatorial District in Brooklyn.

"We shouldn't need legislation to prohibit law enforcement officers from engaging in illegal and unconstitutional racial and ethnic profiling, but we do," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, a co-sponsor from Manhattan’s 67th Assembly District.

"Law enforcement must work to build a relationship of trust and collaboration with the communities they serve, and creating a public database, as outlined in Assemblymember Bichotte's fine bill, will help to shine a much-needed light on law enforcement and reconstruct that relationship of trust”

"Being black and Latino is not against the law and so we need to be protected from our race being used against us by police officers,” said co-sponsor Assemblymember Michael Blake. “If someone uses race to profile us, then the law and policies must be used to punish them." Blake represents parts of the Bronx, as the 79th Assembly District leader.

"Our communities have been historically disproportionately impacted by racial profiling and unjust criminal justice policies,” Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa, a co-sponsor of the bill, agreed. She added, “During this time of pandemic and loss, the last thing our communities need is excessive force and racial profiling as we work to ensure people adhere to social distancing regulations. In order to move towards a positive community-police relationship respect is paramount." De la Rosa represents the 72nd Assembly District of Inwood and Northern Manhattan.

Bichotte cited a ruling that took place in 2013, Floyd et al. v. City of New York, et al. In that case, a federal judge found the New York City Police Department liable for a pattern and practice of racial profiling and unconstitutional stops. The city subsequently dropped its appeal and began the joint remedial process ordered by the court.

“There is a long history of racial discrimination in America,” Assemblymember Bichotte says. “In terms of the Constitution, we won in Floyd. However, the law has not trickled down through the law enforcement agencies as should have happened, and that is why we need this bill to carry out the law with directives that instill tangible measures for preventing, tracing and ending racial discrimination.”l

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CENSUS 2020

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NYC Census 2020 Inks Unprecedented Partnership with Seamless to Deliver Ten $1,000 Gift Cards to New Yorkers who Complete the 2020 Census

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ew York: In an unprecedented partnership, NYC Census 2020 and Seamless, Grubhub’s NYCspecific brand, announced today a contest where winners will receive ten $1,000 gift cards to New York City residents who recently completed the 2020 Census.

“While New York City remains the greatest city on earth, we’re going to need all the help we can get to recover from the devastation COVID-19 has wrought, and that means doing everything we can to achieve a complete and accurate count in the 2020 Census,” said Julie Menin, Director of NYC Census 2020 and Executive Assistant Corporation Counsel, NYC Law Department. “Thanks to Seamless, we will boost our numbers and provide a helpful incentive, particularly during these difficult times, to New Yorkers for completing the census.”

“Seamless has been in New Yorkers’ lives for more than 20 years, so we’ve had the opportunity to watch New York City grow and change over time,” added Padma Rao, VP of Special Projects at Grubhub. “We’re excited to give back to a city we know and love by partnering

with NYC Census 2020, helping drive respondents for an incredibly important effort.”

As of May 20, New York City’s selfresponse rate is 49.4%, whereas the nation’s is 59%. In 2010, 62% of New Yorkers responded to the 2010 census, while the U.S. average was 76%. New York City’s self-response rate is now higher than it was when compared to the national response rate in 2010. While our city trails behind the rest of the country, we have started to close the gap between the city and the nation, meaning that in

this national competition for resources and representation, a strategic and sufficient investment of resources, combined with deep community mobilization, can result in progress. The NYC Census 2020 and Seamless contest is an example of another form of outreach that will help to mobilize the approximately 50 percent of New Yorkers who have not yet completed the census.

The 2020 Census will determine the next 10 years — and beyond — of New York City’s future, including the shape of the city’s recovery following the COVID19 pandemic. The census determines each state’s fair share of hundreds of billions of dollars distributed by the federal government annually for schools, transportation, housing, roads and bridges, and even for healthcare.

The census also determines each state’s rightful share of representation in the House of Representatives, where critical financial decisions about recovery and relief funding are being made every day, and New York stands to lose up to two congressional seats as a result of a potential undercount. Census data is also used to make important community health care

decisions. For example, census data is used by public health officials to get the foundational data needed to plan for and manage situations like COVID-19.

The NYC Census 2020-Seamless contest is only open to residents of New York City, over the age of 18, who have not yet completed the census. For a New Yorker to enter this contest, they must complete the census online or on a phone and take a screenshot or photo of the confirmation page as proof of completing the census. They then can upload that picture at NYC.gov/CensusContest, explain what winning this contest would mean to them, and complete the rest of the entry form. The winners will be selected for providing the best answer to the question about what winning this gift card means to them. The full rules can be found at NYC.gov/CensusContest.

Ten winners will be selected on a weekly basis over the next ten weeks. Once someone enters they remain eligible to win every week over the course of the ten weeks. That means the sooner a New Yorker fills out their census and enters, the more chances they have to win a $1,000 gift card. l

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LIVE IN NYC? YES, you fill out the census.

The more New Yorkers who fill out the census, the more money we get for our: • Schools • Housing

• Senior Centers • Jobs

• Roads & Bridges • Hospitals

THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT IMMIGRATION OR CITIZENSHIP THE CENSUS IS EASY AND SAFE

Fill it out now at My2020census.gov or call 1-844-330-2020.

JUST 10 QUESTIONS:

NO QUESTIONS ABOUT:

BY LAW, YOUR RESPONSES CANNOT BE SHARED:

• Fill out online • By phone • By mail

• Immigration • Citizenship

• Not with ICE • Not with the police

• Your job • Social Security number

• Not with your landlord • Not with anyone

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CARIBBEAN TOURISM REPORT

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Caribbean Tourism Struggles/ continued from page 1 The absence of holidaymakers due to the Covid-19 pandemic is keenly felt on this Caribbean island for which, like many of its counterparts, tourism has long been its breadbasket.

Often dubbed the "most tourismdependent region in the world", the Caribbean attracted more than 31 million visitors last year. For some islands, the sector accounts to a colossal two-thirds of gross domestic product.

'Zero tourists, zero income' Antigua closed its borders to commercial flights in late March in an effort to contain the coronavirus.

"Zero tourists means zero income," local excursion operator Glen Hector tells the BBC. It is especially galling after ploughing his life savings into a new boat for his Creole Antigua Tours company in October.

"My business is 100% dependent on tourists. We're staying positive that things will pick up but I'm not seeing that happening until at least the end of the year," he explains.

"If things don't get better, I'm really expecting to pack up. I know other small companies who feel the same."

On 4 June the first commercial flight in 10 weeks will land in Antigua when American Airlines touches down from

Millions of visitors come to the Caribbean each year, with tourism vital to local economies. Photo: BBC

Miami. British Airways is set to follow suit in July.

Tourism bosses hope the island's ofttouted, "365 beaches" will help facilitate social distancing and woo cautious holidaymakers back.

Still, Aidan McCauley, owner of the Sugar Ridge resort, is expecting a "very soft season". He hopes to reopen by November.

"We get 50% of our guests from the US and we believe that market will recover quicker, assuming Covid is contained.

But is that likely? A second wave in the autumn would mean nobody will be able to come at all," he says.

His plans include converting some of

the hotel's 60 suites to self-catering to alleviate travelers' fears of virus transmission.

In St Lucia, the Anse Chastanet resort's 540-strong workforce is down to just 35.

The last guest left on 24 March.

"It's completely and utterly depressing to be here," says financial controller Stuart McKee. With tourism the country's main source of both jobs and income, the drop-off is "scary stuff".

Furloughed staff are receiving income support through the country's national insurance scheme, but residents are acutely aware that the impact on government finances will be long-lasting.

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"The government is being hammered because no-one has paid any taxes for the last couple of months. They were expecting a windfall in March from VAT as February is traditionally the strongest month," McKee explains.

"St Lucia is too well off for IMF assistance so where the funds will come from, I don't know. The virus itself has been pretty well contained but the economic fallout is terrifying," he adds.

In Dominica, tourism keeps up to 5,000 of the island's 72,000 inhabitants employed, says director of tourism Colin Piper.

The sector had already taken a hit from 2017's devastating Hurricane Maria but visitors were fast returning to explore the country's famous hot springs, rainforests and waterfalls.

Dominica's healthy agricultural industry means it is less reliant on vacation dollars than many of its neighbors.

Nonetheless, tourism contributes up to a third of GDP, Piper says, with officials working hard to ensure the "sustainability of livelihoods".

Low case numbers Many Caribbean nations are hedging their bets that people who have spent weeks cooped up on lockdowns across the world will be longing for a beach vacation.

What the islands have in their favor is relatively low numbers of virus cases.

Earlier this month, University of West Indies researchers declared Covid-19 to be contained within the English-speaking Caribbean.

Now the region has the delicate balancing act of luring tourists back while ensuring both their safety and that of their citizens in tiny nations with limited health resources.

Hospitality-related businesses employ more than 15,000 of Turks and Caicos' 40,000 inhabitants, says Todd Foss, president of the British territory's Hotel and Tourism Association.

Bookings from prospective holidaymakers are still being received daily, but lack of confidence in local health facilities is still a deterrent for many, Foss says.

"The key to welcoming the first plane appears to be for the ministry of health to increase the capacity of our hospitals, particularly the intensive care units.

Until this occurs, we are unlikely to see any revenues for the industry," he adds.

In Antigua, the government plans to require all visitors to undergo rapid Covid-19 testing upon entry.

They hope provisions such as virus tests for all industry workers and socially distanced resort dining will make people feel comfortable enough to travel.

Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez concedes "things will be slow" but says there are "promising signs" vacationers are keen to return to the Caribbean.

With the Atlantic hurricane season around the corner, those who have traditionally relied on the peak winter season to see them through the quiet summer months are hoping those predictions bear fruit. l

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—BBC News

9

FAMILY MATTERS

Stressed as a Parent? No- and Low-cost Ways to Educate and Entertain Kids

H

aving children is a great joy, but it also can be stressful. Pressures are plentiful, from making sure your child has the right gear to needing to help manage their school and social schedules. To intensify matters, COVID19 has brought quarantines and social distancing around the world, and parents are now tasked with educating and entertaining their kids more than ever before.

Financial stress is growing dramatically.

A whopping 71% of parents are worried about their personal finances right now, and 81% describe their level of parenting stress as medium or high, according to the OfferUp 2020 Parents and Kids Recommerce Report.

In addition to financial concerns, there is a multitude of challenges for parents during these unique times. Keeping kids entertained at home is the No. 1 cause of stress for parents during the pandemic, followed by educating their children at home, the study found.

Keeping kids on top of their studies as well as happily entertained doesn't require spending a lot of money. Consider these low- and no-cost ways to keep your children occupied at home: Seek free educational resources Go online to discover a variety of high-

to clean out rooms, sell unused items and save toward a group goal?

quality educational websites. Many museums are now offering virtual tours and online educational classes to engage kids of all ages. Educational websites such as Khan Academy and Sesame Street offer no-cost learning materials. Remember to sign up for newsletters from parenting organizations as well to get free activity ideas sent right to your email.

It's also smart to reach out to your children's school or local community center to explore options. Some offer memberships to websites that they can share so you can access material at no cost. Additionally, you can call and ask your local library about digital storytimes and virtual classes they might be holding, which can be a fun way to connect kids with others while they learn.

Find what you need through local resale opportunities Have your kids played with all their toys and need some new supplies? Parents are turning to online resale marketplaces such as OfferUp to buy baby and kids items during the coronavirus pandemic with the goal to save money, make more sustainable purchasing decisions and support their local communities. Whether it's a new toy or a necessary supply, you can find just what you need for less.

You can also consider selling what you no longer use and make some money as a family. OfferUp is the largest mobile marketplace in the nation for local buyers and sellers and it's as easy as taking a picture with your phone to sell items and then meet with local people in a safe, secure manner. Why not make it a family effort

Don't forget traditional fun and acts of kindness Old-fashioned fun is low cost and keeps kids entertained. Have family game nights and bust out the board games, work on puzzles together or start a crafting project.

Go outside to play yard games, catch or kick around a soccer ball. Work on a time capsule, scrapbook or teach your children a hobby. Think about all the things older generations did to stay busy when people spent less time online and find your inspiration.

To help spread positivity when so many people are stressed, consider simple things you can do from afar to spread cheer. Kids will enjoy brainstorming acts of kindness, and most don't cost anything. For example, write inspiring messages on the sidewalk for people to see as they walk by, or color pictures to send to a local nursing home for residents who may not be able to receive visitors.

Keeping kids educated and entertained while at home shouldn't cause financial stress. Follow these tips to save money and keep kids happy.l (BPT)

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BUSINESS MATTERS

10

Workplace Ready Tips for COVID-19 from occupational health and safety officers, briefing at meetings, and information on the intranet, etc.

– Ensure that face masks or paper tissues are available at your workplaces, for those who develop a runny nose or cough at work, along with closed bins for hygienically disposing of them – Why? Because good respiratory hygiene prevents the spread of COVID19.

W

hen someone who has COVID-19 coughs or exhales they release droplets of infected fluid. Most of these droplets fall on nearby surfaces and objects, such as desks, tables or telephones. People could catch COVID-19 by touching contaminated surfaces or objects, and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. If they are standing within 1 meter of a person with COVID-19 they can catch it by breathing in droplets coughed out or exhaled by them. In other words, COVID-19 spreads in a similar way to flu. Most persons infected with COVID-19 experience mild symptoms and recover. However, some experience more serious illness and may require hospital care. Risk of serious illness rises with age: people over 40 seem to be more vulnerable than those under 40. People with weakened immune systems and people with conditions such as diabetes, heart and lung disease are also more vulnerable to serious illness.

The low-cost measures below will help prevent the spread of infections in your workplace, such as colds, flu and stomach bugs, and protect your customers, contractors, and employees.

Employers should start doing these things now, even if COVID-19 has not arrived in the communities where they operate. These measures can reduce

working days lost due to illness and stop or slow the spread of COVID-19 if it arrives at one of your workplaces.

Make sure your workplaces are clean and hygienic – Surfaces (e.g. desks and tables) and objects (e.g. telephones, keyboards) need to be wiped with disinfectant regularly – Why? Because contamination on surfaces touched by employees and customers is one of the main ways that COVID-19 spreads.

Promote regular and thorough handwashing by employees, contractors, and customers – Put sanitizing hand rub dispensers in prominent places around the workplace.

Make sure these dispensers are regularly refilled

– Display posters promoting hand-washing – ask your local public health authority for these or consult www.WHO.int – Combine with other communication measures such as offering guidance from occupational health and safety officers, briefings at meetings, and information on intranet sites to promote hand-washing – Make sure that staff, contractors, and customers have access to places where they can wash their hands with soap and water – Why? Because washing kills the virus on your hands and prevents the spread of COVID19.

Promote good respiratory hygiene in the workplace – Display posters promoting respiratory hygiene. Combine this with other communication measures such as guidance

Brief your employees, contractors, and customers that if COVID-19 starts spreading in your community anyone with even a mild cough or low-grade fever (37.3 C or more) needs to stay at home. They should also stay home (or work from home) if they have had to take simple medications, such as paracetamol/acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin, which may mask symptoms of infection – Keep promoting the message that people need to stay at home even if they have only mild symptoms of COVID-19 – Display posters with this message in your workplaces. Combine this with other communication channels commonly used in your organization or business.l —World Health Organization

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WHAT IS MULTISYSTEM INFLAMMATORY SYNDROME IN CHILDREN? Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a new health condition associated with COVID-19.

SEEK CARE IF YOUR CHILD HAS PERSISTENT FEVER PLUS ANY OF THESE SYMPTOMS: Irritability or decreased activity Abdominal pain, diarrhea, or vomiting Conjunctivitis, or red or pink eyes Red, cracked lips or bumpy tongue Swollen hands or feet Lack of appetite Rash IF YOUR CHILD IS SEVERELY ILL, GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM OR CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY. For more information, call 311 or visit nyc.gov/coronavirus.

Bill de Blasio Mayor Oxiris Barbot, MD Commissioner

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EDUCATION

12

6 Ways a Drop in International Students Could Set Back US Higher Education – help employers fill critical positions when they are unable to locate qualified U.S. workers. This is particularly true in certain science and engineering fields.

The Trump administration is looking at putting restrictions on the program, it was reported on May 24.

As international enrollment declines, U.S. employers will have a harder time filling jobs. This may lead companies to look for talent in other countries – or possibly relocate jobs abroad.

BY DAVID L. DI MARIA THE CONVERSATION

E

ven before the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer and fewer international students were coming to study in the United States.

While the number of international students who newly enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 20152016 school year stood at more than 300,000, by the 2018-2019 school year, that number had fallen by about 10% to less than 270,000.

This trend will undoubtedly accelerate in the fall of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The American Council on Education predicts that overall international enrollment for the next academic year will decline by as much as 25%.

That means there could be 220,000 fewer international students in the U.S. than the approximately 870,000 there are now.

One reason is that the U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than any other country.

Other reasons include disapproval among international students regarding the U.S. response to COVID-19 compared to other nations, the ongoing suspension of the processing of U.S. visas and negative perceptions of the Trump administration’s immigration policies and rhetoric.

As an international education professional, I foresee six major ways that the expected steep decline in international enrollment will change U.S. higher education and the economy.

1. Higher tuition International students often pay full tuition, which averages more than US$26,000 per year at public four-year institutions and $36,000 at private nonprofit four-year institutions. That matters because the tuition from foreign students provides extra funds to subsidize the costs of enrolling more students from the U.S. At public colleges and universities, the revenue generated from international enrollment also helps to make up for cuts in state funding for higher education.

One study found that for every 10% drop in state funding for higher education, international enrollment increased

by 12-17% at public research universities from 1996 to 2012.

According to the Institute of International Education’s 2019 Open Doors Report, 872,214 international students are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities.

As states cut budgets due to the loss of tax revenue brought on by the economic crisis caused by COVID-19, many institutions of higher education will be forced to raise tuition. While this may help college and university finances in the short term, in the long term it will make it more difficult for international students to be able to afford to study in the U.S., which in turn will make the U.S. a less attractive study destination.

2. A weaker economy International students contribute an estimated $41 billion to the U.S. economy.

However, the actual figure is surely much higher considering these students also pay various taxes to federal, state and local governments.

While a decline in international enrollment will financially hurt American colleges and universities, it will also decrease the profits of local businesses and the tax revenues of state and local governments. While college towns are likely to be the first affected, the longterm impact of fewer international students will ultimately be fewer jobs for Americans. How? Well, consider the fact that former international students found-

ed nearly 1 out of every 4 startup companies in the U.S. individually valued at $1 billion dollars or more. Fewer international students now means fewer startups later.

3. Less innovation One of the strongest factors that influences future international scientific cooperation is having students study in different countries. This ability to collaborate across borders is critical to addressing the world’s greatest challenges, from combating climate change to eliminating COVID-19.

Additionally, economists at the World Bank estimate that a 10% increase in the number of international graduate students in the United States raises patent applications in the U.S. by 4.5% and university patent grants by 6.8%.

Worldwide, research and development is valued at nearly $2 trillion. The U.S. share of that research and development is smaller today than it was in 2000. I believe having fewer international students will only serve to make it even smaller.

4. Job losses One analysis found that international students support 455,000 U.S. jobs.

International students who participate in Optional Practical Training – a program that allows these students to gain practical experience in their field of study by working temporarily in the U.S.

5. Less exposure to diversity When students interact with people from cultures other than their own, it enhances their ability to think more critically. It also reduces prejudice.

Since only 10% of U.S. students study abroad prior to earning their bachelor’s degree, international students play an important role in exposing U.S. students who never go abroad to international perspectives. In essence, international students bring the world to campus and increase access to global learning for all.

The result is a more globally competent workforce, which is important considering that 1 in 5 jobs in the U.S. is tied to international trade and 93% of employers value employees who can work effectively across national and cultural boundaries.

6. Less US influence While more than 300 current and former world leaders were at one time international students in the U.S., other nations are making concerted efforts to catch up.

If there are fewer students from other countries studying in the U.S., it will lessen the ability of the United States to touch the hearts and minds of future world leaders.l

David L. Di Maria is the Associate Vice Provost for International Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore County This story was published on May 26, 2020 by The Conversation.

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13

MONEY MATTERS Surge in Bankruptcies/ continued from page 1 financial difficulty set in. Derek, with his family’s financial situation looking bleak, has started the process to file for bankruptcy.

What is the average Joe and Jane to do?

What is the legal bailout? It just makes sense that anyone who was already having or starting to have difficulty meeting their financial commitments would strongly consider and file for bankruptcy.

It just makes sense; logical.

Bankruptcy Experts And the bankruptcy experts agree that bankruptcy is the logical direction in this current bleak financial situation.

Considering a new spike in unemployment and remembering how the Great Recession caused a wave of bankruptcy cases, consumers were seeking a reset after getting too far behind on debt.

“We think business filings will see an uptick in April with consumer filings to surge in May and June,” said Amy Quackenboss, executive director at the American Bankruptcy Institute, a professional association comprised of lawyers for debtors and creditors, judges and other bankruptcy specialists.

The increase could take a bit longer because, in times of crisis, “people don’t normally race off to file bankruptcy,” said John Rao, a National Consumer Law Center staff attorney specializing in consumer bankruptcy. Still, “there is no question that given the effect of this pan-

demic, there will be an increase of bankruptcies. It’s really a question of when that rise will occur.”

What is Bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor. The two most common types of personal bankruptcies are chapter 7 and chapter 13. Below is a quick overview of each type of bankruptcy.

Review the summary below to discover which type of bankruptcy may help you.

Of course, a consultation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney will steer you in the right direction.

Chapter 7 (Liquidation) Usually the best option when:

•You have very little property except for basic necessities like clothing and furniture.

•Your debts are primarily unsecured debts like credit cards or medical bills.

•You have little or no money left over at the end of each month once you’ve paid your basic living expenses.

Chapter 13 (Repayment) Usually the best option when: • You have equity in a property that you don’t want to have to liquidate to pay creditors.

• You have regular income and can afford to pay your living expenses plus some, but not enough to pay your debts as agreed.

The Stimulus Bill and Bankruptcy The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act made changes to the bankruptcy code. It says:

•The direct checks, dubbed “recovery rebates,” do not count as income that would get factored into a “means test” that determines if someone can file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.

•The recovery rebates also do not count as “disposable income” that could be applied to things like credit card debts in Chapter 13 cases.

•People who are already in Chapter 13 repayment plans and now experiencing financial hardship because of the outbreak have a one-year window to change repayment terms. They can extend their repayment time-frame up to two years longer.

•The bankruptcy-related provisions expire on March 27, one year after being signed the bill into law.

Right for You Bottom-line is life throws us many twists and turns. And, sometimes filing for bankruptcy is inevitable. If you can’t find a clear financial direction through the coronavirus outbreak after your layoff, bankruptcy might be your best option.

Filing for bankruptcy will affect your credit score, but it will improve with time—and often far sooner than most filers expect. In fact, many people find that filing for bankruptcy repairs credit faster than would be possible otherwise.

Remember, the quicker you file, the sooner you will be able to rebuild your credit and get back on your feet, free of debt. l

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DIASPORA CONCERNS

14

Marijuana and COVID-19/ continued from page 1

According to Daniele Piomelli, PhD, professor of anatomy and neurobiology, and Chair in Neuroscience at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, “we don’t have a lot to go on” when it comes to marijuana and the risk for viral infections like COVID-19...

of Medicine, “we don’t have a lot to go on” when it comes to marijuana and the risk for viral infections like COVID-19, but there are definitely some steps we can take when it comes to reducing harms from marijuana use.

Are edibles (and other non-inhaled forms) safer than smoking marijuana?

There is a lot of evidence that points to an association between long-term cannabis smoking and lung damage causing chronic cough and phlegm production. There’s also evidence that when you stop, these lung symptoms can improve. “Are edibles safer than smoked cannabis? Yes, they are safer to the lung – that is a slam dunk,” says Piomelli. He stresses, however, that they are not risk free. He points out that it is almost impossible to know for sure how much THC (the active ingredient that gives the “high”) is in edible forms like gummies and chocolates because manufacturers are not bound by rules to abide by what is listed on the label.

When someone smokes, they have a much better sense of when to stop based on how they are feeling. This is not the case for edibles, says Piomelli. “One or two hours later, all of a sudden, it can hit like a sledgehammer – you can have a ‘bad trip’ (and) once you have it there is

no undoing it. You have to wait it out until it is metabolized and out of your system.” Side effects from overdose, like paranoia, panic, and nausea are mostly a risk for people who are switching to new products, where people don’t know how their bodies will react. Another important point is that edibles usually are high in sugar, which is not ideal for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Does cannabis have beneficial effects that help with anxiety?

There is growing concern about the mental health impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Add social isolation from strict lockdowns to economic stressors, and there is growing evidence that people are

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looking for ways to curb their anxiety.

A recent study showed that prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications, antidepressants, and anti-insomnia medicines increased after the WHO declared a global pandemic. There’s also evidence that alcohol sales and alcohol consumption have increased during this time.

Piomelli says “It’s understandable that people may be using more cannabis at home these days. Once the numbers are found out, we will have more data on this.” He suggests that cannabis products that people are comfortable and familiar with may be reasonable in moderation, and are likely safer than alcohol and other psychoactive substances.

According to the NAS report, people should be aware, however that regular, long-term use may increase the risk for developing social anxiety disorder and heavy users are more likely to report thoughts of suicide.

It’s also important to realize that if you are using cannabis to “self-medicate” for anxiety, you should reach out to a professional for help.

How does cannabis affect the immune system?

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a lot of interest around maintaining a healthy immune system. The NAS report delved into the evidence around the effects of cannabis on the immune system and the susceptibility to viral infections.

There is an intriguing finding noting a small body of evidence that shows that cannabis may decrease the production of several inflammatory cytokines (immune system proteins). This is an important area of study right now, because scientists have found that in many of the most severe cases of COVID-19, there seems to be an over-production of these cytokines, also known as “cytokine storm,” which prompts the body to attack its own cells and tissues instead of fighting the virus.

It’s really important to know, however, that the immune system is made up of a variety of cells and chemical signalers that interact through a complex interplay, so it’s hard to say where cannabis may help tamp down the immune system and where it may hurt by increasing the risk of infection.

Piomelli points out that a few more scientific papers have been released since the 2017 NAS report looking at cannabis and viral infections. One particular study

looked at the evidence not only around THC containing cannabis but also cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is also found in the cannabis plant, but unlike THC, does not have the properties that cause the “high.” The findings from this study are encouraging and will hopefully prompt further study because there may be a chance that CBD can help control inflammation and help manage certain viruses – but the evidence is still scant.

“The point is we don’t enough data. I wish we did,” says Piomelli.

Major takeaways: •Inhaling, smoking, or vaping cannabis products in the face of COVID-19 is not recommended.

•If cannabis use is legal where you live and you want to switch to edibles or other forms of cannabis, make sure it’s a known entity that you have experience with, and use only in moderation.

(Remember that these products can be high in sugar content.)

•With edibles, there is a higher risk of a “bad trip,” especially for those who have not used them in the past.

•There is not enough evidence to know the effects of cannabis on the immune system or on the susceptibility to viral infections.

•Consider other ways of managing anxiety. Creating a routine that includes exercise, proper nutrition, meditation, and regular social interactions can help manage stress in a healthy way.

•If you are using cannabis to treat anxiety, reach out for help from a mental health professional.l Neha Pathak, MD, is board certified in both internal medicine and lifestyle medicine. She is part of WebMD's team of medical editors responsible for ensuring the accuracy of health information on the site. Before joining WebMD, Pathak worked as a primary care physician at the Department of Veterans Affairs and was an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.

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15

ELDER CARE

Reducing Family Tension and Strengthening Relationships During COVID-19

W

ith the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic still requiring most people across the country to continue to shelter in place, frustrations and tension among family members may be on the rise. The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is offering tips to strengthen family relationships among those who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease.

“As our ongoing need to isolate continues, it may be harder for caregivers to be able to take a break, which can create tension, anxiety, stress and resentment,” said Jennifer Reeder, LCSW, AFA’s Director of Educational and Social Services. “The impact of Alzheimer’s on memory also makes it harder for the person living with the disease to understand what’s happening, which adds to caregiver challenges.

Taking steps to deal with all of these feelings head-on and strengthen the bonds between family members is important for everyone.”

The AFA is offering the following tips to help reduce tensions and strengthen bonds during this time: Know what works best. If your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease responds favorably to certain activities or approaches, be sure to maximize those, as it will help with stress levels and mood (both

yours and theirs). A caregiver should also communicate what works with other family members. For example, if having someone call to check in every day is helpful in reducing stress, make sure to express that.

Identify and understand the triggers.

Knowing what actions generate stress and frustration, both for the person with Alzheimer’s disease and yourself, as the caregiver, is important. Recognizing those triggers early, and reacting to them quickly and constructively, reduces the likelihood of a “blowup.” Pay attention to nonverbal cues, such as a flushed face, sweaty palms or increased heart rate, as warning signs.

Caregivers should also share these negative triggers with others who you or your loved one interact with. Be direct about their needs and your own. For example, say, “It really upsets me when you go days without checking in to see how things are going.”

Keep a journal. This will enable you to track your loved one’s behavior and triggers, both positive and negative ones, as well as keep tabs on your own. Journaling can be an effective therapeutic tool to release emotions, gain self-knowledge, increase ability to problem-solve, and heal relationships.

Try to maintain a daily structure.

Routines can help reduce stress and anxiety. If your loved one gets up, eats or goes to sleep at certain times, adhere to that schedule as best as possible. If you normally exercise every morning before work, continue doing so, even if you’re not leaving the house.

Find coping mechanisms. Meditation, counting to twenty or taking a few deep breaths are all quick and easy ways to calm yourself down and de-stress in the moment. “Venting” or talking things through with trusted loved ones or friends can be helpful. Also available seven days a week is AFA’s Helpline (866-232-8484), staffed by licensed social workers. You can also access the Helpline via our website online chat, now providing care more than 90 languages, at www.alzfdn.org (look for

the light blue and white icon on the bottom right-hand corner).

Have “family care meetings.” In the case of caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease, the relative who lives with or nearest to them often provides the majority of the care. This can lead to feelings of resentment. It’s important to regularly bring family members together for a “care meeting” to discuss the situation and divide responsibilities, which may include financial and legal duties in addition to personal care.

Collaboration, compromise and structure are key to effective family care meetings.

These meetings can be held over the phone, and virtually through Facetime, Skype, etc. AFA’s Helpline can also provide additional tips about how to organize one.l

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ISLAND FOCUS: HAITI

16

‘We Are Not Prepared At All': Haiti, Already Impoverished, Confronts a Pandemic

BY WILL GRANT BBC NEWS

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ith barely 60 ventilators for 11 million people, Haiti is the most vulnerable nation in the Americas to the coronavirus. While many countries would struggle to cope with a serious spread of Covid-19, Haiti might never recover from one.

The reality inside Haiti's intensive care units is even bleaker than that number taken from a 2019 study — suggests.

According to Stephan Dragon, a respiratory therapist in the capital, Port-auPrince, the true number of ventilators is actually closer to 40, and maybe 20 of those aren't working.

"We also have a very, very limited group of doctors who know how to operate them," Dragon said.

The Haitian government has recently attempted to buy much-needed equipment — from ventilators to PPE, including tens of thousands of facemasks from Cuba — but Haitian healthcare practitioners like Dragon fear it is too little, too late.

"To tell you the truth, we are not prepared at all," he said.

So far, this small impoverished nation has only registered three deaths from the virus and 40 confirmed cases, but many more cases may be going unreported, especially in remote areas.

Levels of testing are low, and enforcement of social distancing is patchy at best. The Haitian population also suffers high levels of diabetes and other health conditions, and a major coronavirus outbreak would place an unbearable strain on a collapsing healthcare system.

Haiti's ability to respond is confounded by its economic straits. Around 60% of Haitians live below the poverty line and many face a stark choice: either go about your daily business and run the risk of contracting COVID-19, or stay indoors, as the government advises, and be unable to put food on the table.

It is little wonder that so many are taking their chances.

"It's impossible for me to not leave the house," said Jean Raymond, a motorbike taxi driver. Photo: bbc.com

It has fallen to local grassroots groups to create handwashing stations in communities.

Photo: bbc.com

That is the dilemma facing Jean Raymond and his family. He lives in Furcy, a mountainous village outside of Port-au-Prince where most families scratch a meagre living from land.

Jean Raymond, however, isn't a farmer but a motorbike taxi driver, part of Haiti's vast informal economy. Remaining indoors is not an option if he is to feed his wife and two young children, he said.

"It's impossible for me to not leave the house," he said. "If I'm obligated to stay in my home, what would we eat?"

Jean Raymond's wife, Lucienne, criticized the government for failing to show enough support in the village. "We want to respect the rules, but we can't," she said. "I see what governments are doing in other countries, but here they aren't doing anything."

In the absence of the state, it has fallen

to local grassroots organizations to carry out basic but vital tasks. Clean water is a precious commodity in Furcy — indeed it is a scarce resource across Haiti — and one environmentalist group called Ekoloji pou Ayiti has prepared dozens of water canisters to make handwashing stations in some of the neediest communities.

Given the deep distrust of NGOs in Haiti, it was crucial to "make sure the community leaders were part of the project," said Max Faublas, co-founder of Ekoloji pou Ayiti.

As well as building 88 water stations, the group showed people how to make their own hand-sanitizer using vinegar.

They have also tried to tackle widespread misinformation with a public education campaign on the importance of wearing a facemask, avoiding hand-

shakes and disinfecting shoes and clothes.

Still, although members of the community appreciate the rules in theory, putting them into practice can be hard. For example, Jean Raymond and his family live with his parents — six people in a tiny home, all living on top of each other.

And if social distancing is difficult in rural Furcy, it is almost out of the question for many in Haiti's sprawling, densely-populated shantytowns.

In Port-au-Prince, market days have been cut back, creating further demand for basic food supplies. Some are growing desperate. There have been chaotic scenes outside food distribution points and trucks selling bread. The government has been distributing food parcels to the most vulnerable households but many are angry at having to jostle and compete in a crowd for food.

"The way they are distributing food is humiliating," one resident, Mesmin Louigene, told the Reuters news agency.

"People do not respect social distancing.

The government should organize it better. I'm very concerned at the sanitary conditions, it's very worrying."

That the looming healthcare crisis is a great threat to Haiti is of little surprise that is true of most of Latin America and the Caribbean. What's especially deadly in the region's poorest country though is the combination of the pandemic and a crippling economic crisis. In a bid to stave off further economic ruin, the Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said this week the country's textile factories would re-open later this month, but the move runs contrary to advice from the Pan American Health Organization to keep lockdown restrictions in place.

In Furcy, Jean Raymond was under no illusions about what a major COVID-19 outbreak would mean to his village.

"If Coronavirus comes into my community, it would be a disaster. We don't have a hospital or even a good road. The conditions we live in…" his voice trailed off. "There's no way. We will all die if coronavirus comes here."l

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IMMIGRATION

17

USCIS Preparing to Resume Public Services on June 4

U

.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) is preparing some domestic offices to reopen and resume non-emergency public services on or after June 4. On March 18, USCIS temporarily suspended routine inperson services at its field offices, asylum offices and application support centers (ASCs) to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). USCIS is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines to protect our workforce and the public.

While certain offices are temporarily closed, USCIS continues to provide limited emergency in-person services. Please call the USCIS Contact Center for assistance with emergency services.

As services begin to reopen, offices will reduce the number of appointments and interviews to ensure social distancing, allow time for cleaning and reduce waiting room occupancy. Appointment notices will contain information on safety precautions that visitors to USCIS facilities must follow.

If you are feeling sick, please do not go to your appointment. Follow the instructions on your appointment notice to reschedule your appointment for when you are healthy. There is no penalty for

any family members listed on the interview notice. Representatives may attend credible and reasonable fear interviews but are encouraged to participate telephonically. USCIS will provide contracted, professional interpreters for credible and reasonable fear interviews.

rescheduling your appointment if you are sick.

Asylum Offices USCIS asylum offices will automatically reschedule asylum interviews that were cancelled during the temporary closures.

When USCIS reschedules the interview, asylum applicants will receive a new interview notice with the new time, date and location for the interview and information about safety precautions.

In accordance with social distancing guidelines, and due to the length of asylum interviews, asylum offices expect to conduct video-facilitated asylum interviews, where the applicants sit in one room and the interviewing officer sits in

another room. Asylum offices will use available technology, including mobile devices provided by the agency, to ensure that the officer, applicant, interpreter and representative can fully and safely participate in the interview while maintaining social distancing.

For affirmative asylum interviews, applicants must bring all immediate family members listed as dependents on the application and an interpreter, if the applicant does not speak English.

Additionally, a representative, witness, individual providing disability accommodations or “trusted adult” if an applicant is a minor, may attend the interview.

For non-detained credible or reasonable fear interviews, individuals must bring

Naturalization Ceremonies USCIS will send notices to applicants to reschedule postponed naturalization ceremonies. The ceremonies may be shorter to limit exposure to those in attendance.

Instead of playing videos during naturalization ceremonies, attendees will receive a flyer with information and links directing them to the videos on the USCIS website. Under the shortened format, all legally required portions of the ceremony will take place.

Attendance is limited to the naturalization candidate and individuals providing assistance to disabled persons.

Interviews and Appointments USCIS will send notices to applicants and petitioners with previously scheduled appointments and interviews. Those attending appointments should follow the safety guidelines outlined below. continued on page 19

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IN THE NEWS

18

Black Doctor Who Delayed Retirement to Help COVID-19 Patients, Dies From the Virus

Coronavirus: Jamaican Bobsleigh Team in Peterborough Mini Push

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EW YORK, NY: Dr. James A. Mahoney, a 62-year old doctor who spent 40 years serving hospitals in underserved communities and even helped treat coronavirus patients despite his retirement age, has sadly died from the virus himself.

Throughout Mahoney’s 40-year service, he had been on the medical frontlines at the time of the AIDS crisis, crack epidemic, and 9/11 terrorist attacks. He felt it is his obligation to also see through the COVID-19 pandemic even though it poses a higher health risk for his age.

Other elderly people in the medical field, including Mahoney’s older brother, already stopped seeing patients in order to prevent contracting the deadly virus.

However, Mahoney, who could have already retired, delayed his retirement to continue helping his colleague in caring for COVID-19 patients.

In April, he started having fever but insisted on still treating patients remotely

Dr James Mahoney

from home. When his condition worsened and wasn’t able to walk, he was hospitalized as 5 of his colleagues were with him until his death.

Mahoney is remembered by the community, his colleagues, and other Black young professionals who look up to him and refer to him as their Jay-Z in the

medical field.

“As a young Black man, I looked at this guy and said to myself, ‘Twenty years from now I want to be like him,'” Dr. Latif A. Salam told Blavity. “When a Black medical student, a Black resident sees him, he sees a hero. Someone that you can be one day.” l

Black Fatherhood Advocate Pens Children’s Books That Help Parents Discuss Ahmaud Author & CEO Arbery Case Kenneth Braswell wrote these books understanding that cases like Ahmaud Arbery highlight racial trauma for Black parents and children.

A

tlanta, GA: Kenneth Braswell, Atlanta-based CEO of Fathers Incorporated, has authored two children’s books, Daddy, There’s a Noise Outside and Daddy Can I Cry? to specifically help parents talk with their children about sensitive issues such as losing friends to gun violence, police brutality and the resulting protests that are a natural occurrence to a majority of these issues.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and another reminder for African Americans, their mental health is in a constant state of threat. The horrific incident of Ahmaud Arbery and the trauma inflicted through the viral video on top of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new barriers for people already suffering from mental illness. In a recent KFF poll, nearly half (45%) of adults in

the United States reported that their mental health has been negatively impacted due to worry and stress over the virus.

Following the Black Lives Matter movement in 2016, parents, educators and librarians around the world have been looking for ways to talk to children about race, justice, and privilege.

Braswell explains, “Over the past few years, it is sadly evident we still have a great deal of work to do to heal racial issues in our society. As a parent, I believe it is critical to be prepared to

address any questions or concerns children may have about things they see in the media or their communities. This can be done by educating ourselves on the issues and ensuring we can use quality resources and books like Daddy, There’s a Noise Outside and Daddy Can I Cry? to teach and understand the current and historic justice debates and protests.”l Both books are available on Amazon or can be purchased directly at FistoreOnline.com

Situation in Venezuela: 'A Time Bomb’

H

uman Rights Watch (HRW) are warning that the Venezuelan healthcare system is not prepared for the pandemic and that this will be both a danger for the Venezuelans as well as the entire region.

Venezuela has 1,211 confirmed infections and 11 deaths but HRW says the real number is "almost certainly much higher" due to limited reliable testing and a lack of transparency.

The situation in the country "may drive people to try to leave the country, further straining the health systems of neighboring countries and imperiling regional health more broadly,” the NGO cites Kathleen Page of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as saying.

Colombian president Iván Duque has called the situation in Venezuela "a time bomb".l

President Duque

M

embers of the Jamaican bobsleigh team have been pushing a car around an industrial estate as they have been unable to access training facilities during the coronavirus lockdown.

Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott have been in isolation in Peterborough.

They have built a gym in the garden but use a Mini Cooper for resistance training, as the Sun first reported.

The pair, who have represented Jamaica since 2017 are training for events including the Winter Olympics.

Stephens, 29, a gunner with the RAF Regiment and part of the force's elite athlete scheme, moved to the UK from Jamaica when he was 11.

Turgott, 27, who lives in Jamaica, had come to the UK after the pair competed in bobsleigh and skeleton world cup in Austria in January, but when the country went into lockdown he went into isolation with his teammate at his Peterborough home.

"Obviously we've had to create new ways to get our training done," Stephens told the BBC. In scenes reminiscent of the film Cool Runnings — inspired by the story of Jamaica's first ever bobsleigh team training against all odds for a place in the 1988 Winter Olympics - the pair are using whatever they have to hand to keep fit.

"I loved that movie as a child and it taught me never to give up on my dreams," Stephens said.

"We normally have resistance training where we push sleds, but we've not had access to sleds, so we thought why don't we just go out and push the car around for a bit," he said.

The pair have also constructed a mini gym in the back garden.

"The next Winter Olympics are in Beijing in 2022 but prior to that we'll be competing again in North America and hopefully in Europe — and we also have the world championships in February next year in Lake Placid," he said.

Asked whether he thought the Jamaican team had a chance of a medal in the next Olympics, Stephens said: "Everyone has the opportunity to win a medal — it's all about working hard and believing you can win that medal."l

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19

IN THE NEWS

New Yorkers Warned about COVID-19 Related Scams

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EW YORK, NY: Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Commissioner Lorelei Salas today warned New Yorkers of scams related to COVID-19 to protect consumers’ identity and money.

“It is a sad reality that scammers often take advantage of people during times of crisis,” said DCWP Commissioner Lorelei Salas. “People are especially vulnerable right now and scammers will use that to their benefit. I urge everyone to think twice and do their research before giving away any personal or banking information. During difficult times like these, people cannot afford to be scammed out of their hard-earned money, especially when it comes to their vital stimulus checks.”

Scammers have come up with numerous ways to defraud people in connection with COVID-19. These scams may be phone calls, emails, text messages, or sometimes even in person. It is important to be aware of them and know what to do if you encounter one.

The scams are divided into several common categories: Fake Government Calls/Emails/Texts Beware of calls from scammers claiming to be from a government agency, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL), or a law enforcement agency, and asking for personal or banking information.

Legitimate government agencies do not call unexpectedly asking for money, especially in the form of gift cards. Most payments can be done through their official websites. If the caller asks for personal information, make sure they can verify themselves first. If you are still unsure, hang up and call the official agency number.

Charity Scams Always do your research before donating to a charity organization or person setting up a GoFundMe page. Ask organizations what their registration number is—all legitimate charities must be registered with the New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau. Never donate in cash, by gift card, or by wiring money. Report

charity scams by filing a complaint at charitiesnys.com. If you’d like to help New Yorkers affected by COVID-19, visit nyc.gov/helpnow.

seems like a scam, delete the email and file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at fcc.gov/complaints.

Fake COVID-19 Treatment and Testing “Anti-COVID-19” Products and Medicines: Do not use products or medicines promoted as “anti-COVID-19” unless approved by a health care provider. These may be dangerous and fatal. There are currently no products proven to treat or prevent COVID-19.

The only preventive measures for COVID-19 currently approved are social distancing and hand washing.

Home Test Kits: Ignore any online offers for vaccinations and home test kits for COVID-19. Report any you come across to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. If someone unexpectedly knocks on your door claiming to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), or NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to conduct a “COVID-19 test” – dial 911.

Unknown Callers and Robocalls Scammers may call you or use illegal robocalls to pitch everything from scam COVID-19 treatments to work-at-home schemes.

-Beware of calls threatening to disconnect gas and electric services unless you pay immediately. The caller may use sophisticated phone systems that display the energy company’s name on the caller ID. This is a scam. When in doubt, you should hang up and call the customer service number located on your bill.

-If an unfamiliar number ever calls you, don’t pick up. Answering and pressing any keys may lead to more scam calls.

Personal Protective Equipment Scams -Beware of fake calls to your business requesting money for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The caller may state that a manager had placed an order for PPE for the company and a money order is needed to be sent prior to delivery.

Make sure to always check in with a manager or person in charge before sending any money.

-If you are making an online purchase for PPE, such as face masks, always buy from reputable stores and websites.

Phishing Scams. Phishing emails, text messages, or social media posts often contain a link or ask you to provide personal information that can be used to commit fraud or identity theft.

-Always verify the email address or link before clicking or responding.

-If the caller claims to be from a government agency, make sure they can verify themselves first. If you are suspicious, go to the official website the sender claims to be from or call the official number to confirm the legitimacy of the email. If it

Fake Money Deals If a deal is too good to be true, it usually is. Beware of these ‘great deals’: Debt Relief Scams: If you receive a call claiming to offer debt relief, do not engage. The caller may say they can offer you a 50 percent settlement to help pay your debt and to contact them to take advantage of the offer. Hang up immediately and avoid answering any unknown calls. If you are facing financial hardship due to COVID-19, you can request debt collection agencies to stop contacting you about your existing debt.

Counterfeit Coupons: Beware of fake coupon deals circulating on social media.

The coupon link may take you to a thirdparty site and ask for your personal information in order to receive the coupon.

Legitimate businesses do not ask for any banking information in exchange for a coupon deal. Always go to the official business website to see if they are offering any coupons.

Tax Loans: It is important to be careful when selecting a tax professional. While most preparers provide honest and highquality service, some may mislead people into taking credits or deductions they aren’t entitled to claim. By promising a “bigger” refund, they will increase their fees and taxpayers will end up losing their money instead of gaining. l Read more at www.cawnyc.com

USCIS Resumes Public Service/ continued from page 17 Those who had other appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contact Center once field offices are open to the public. Please check our office closure page to see if your respective office has been reopened before calling the Contact Center.

Visitors are limited to the applicant, one representative, one family member and one individual providing disability accommodations. The applicant should arrange to have their interpreter available by phone.

Application Support Centers USCIS will automatically reschedule any necessary ASC appointments that were cancelled due to the temporary office closure. Individuals will receive a new appointment letter in the mail with specific safety requirements. Individuals who appear at a date or time other than what is listed on the ASC appointment notice may encounter significant processing delays, except for military members.

Guidelines for Entering USCIS Facilities Visitors may not enter a USCIS facility if they: nHave any symptoms of COVID-19, including cough, fever or difficulty breathing; nHave been in close contact with anyone known or suspected to have COVID-19 in the last 14 days; or nHave been individually directed to selfquarantine or self-isolate by a health care provider or public health official within the last 14 days. nVisitors may not enter the facility more than 15 minutes prior to their appointment (30 minutes for naturalization ceremonies). nHand sanitizer will be provided for visitors at entry points. nMembers of the public must wear facial coverings that cover both the mouth and nose when entering facilities. Visitors may be directed to briefly remove their face covering to confirm identity or take their photograph. There will be markings and physical barriers in the facility; visitors should pay close attention to these signs to ensure they follow social distancing guidelines nIndividuals are encouraged to bring their own black or blue ink pens.l

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This FREE Citizenship Program does not apply to anyone who has ever been arrested since getting their Green Card.

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nHEALTH

nENTERTAINMENT

nRELATIONSHIPS

nRECIPES

nSPORTS

nHOROSCOPE

Beenie Man vs Bounty Killer Featured on CNN & Watched By Millions Online

BY STEPHANIE K, JAMAICANS.COM

Kitchen Corner Nobody's Strawberry Watermelon Shakedown

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ans from around the world tuned in online as Jamaican dancehall artists Beenie Man and Bounty Killer faced off in-person in Jamaica in a clash in the Verzuz music battle series on May 23, 2020. The two deejays who have a famous rivalry were featured as part of the series created by American record producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland on the Instagram platform.

The online clash lasted for more than an hour and was viewed by 500,000 people on Instagram and 1.7 million people on a variety of other platforms. Among the viewers were many celebrities, including pop stars and entrepreneur Rihanna, actor Idris Elba, music industry mogul Diddy, Jamaican Olympic sprint legend Usain Bolt, and the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness.

The duo showed respect by starting their battle with the playing of Jamaica’s national anthem. They then went on to perform 20 songs each in a back-andforth format, exchanging jabs at one another throughout the clash as well as telling stories about “goings-on” behind the music.

In what was described as “true Jamaican fashion,” the battle experienced a brief interruption when police came to ask about the loud music and social gathering. Beenie Man told them that they were

"Frozen strawberries and watermelon take a spin in the blender with cream, yogurt, and orange juice for a sensational summer smoothie! Serve with a slice of fresh watermelon, or a dollop of whipped cream!"

—Nobody’s Girl, Allrecipes.com participating in a global event, and the police let things continue. The organizers of the clash, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland, and most viewers thought this battle was the best in the Verzuz series to date.

Following the battle, Swizz Beatz said that Jamaica, which has long been thought of as a third-world country, was represented as the leader of the world through this performance. There was a virtual after-party following the clash that featured Stone Love sound, which was cited by the producers as among the organizers of clash culture.

Both Beenie Man and Bounty Killer trended for hours on social media follow-

ing the event, which was covered by CNN, the global media television network, and both artists also received a big boost in music streams since the battle.

Damion Crawford, among other Jamaican politicians, commented on Twitter, stating that COVID-19 has caused major damage to Jamaica’s tourism sector in 2020, but Beenie Man and Bounty Killer have succeeded in saving the whole industry with their music battle.

Here is a partial list of the celebrities, dignitaries, politicians, media personality and prominent people that tuned in to the Beenie Man vs. Bounty Killer Verzuz.l

Ingredients 1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries 1 1/2 cups frozen diced watermelon 1/4 cup cream 1/4 cup plain yogurt 2 tablespoons orange juice 1 tablespoon white sugar (optional) 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Directions Blend the strawberries, watermelon, cream, yogurt, orange juice, sugar, and vanilla in a blender until smooth.l Prep 5 mins Ready 5mins

Netflix Announces Summertime Season 2

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fter the success of the first season, Netflix confirms the second season of Summertime, the Italian original series produced by Cattleya — part of ITV Studios.

The main cast, who already conquered the hearts of the first season’s audience, is also returning: Summer (Coco Rebecca Edogamhe), Ale (Ludovico Tersigni), Dario (Andrea Lattanzi), Sofia (Amanda Campana), Edo (Giovanni Maini) and Blue (Alicia Ann Edogamhe).

Along with them, Thony will be back as Summer and Blue’s mom Isabella, and Mario Sgueglia as Ale’s dad Maurizio.

The second season will be directed by Francesco Lagi, co-director and co-

writer of the first season, and by Marta Savina. The second season will be directed by Francesco Lagi, co-director and cowriter of the first season, and by Marta Savina. Each episode will be written by Enrico Audenino and Francesco Lagi with Daniela Gambaro, Luca Giordano and Vanessa Picciarelli working alongside them on the scripts of various episodes.

The second season of Summertime will take the audience back to the summer atmosphere on Italy's Adriatic Coast, thanks also to the support of EmiliaRomagna Film Commission. l Coco Rebecca Edogamhe as Summer. Photo Netflix

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SPORTS & BOOKS

22

Naomi Osaka Becomes Highest Paid Female Athlete in History After Earning $37M Last Year

Reading for Summer

VIA BLACKBUSINESS.COM

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aomi Osaka, the 22-year old tennis star, is now the highest-paid female athlete in history, according to Forbes. She reportedly earned $34.7 million over the last 12 months from prize money and endorsements, setting a new all-time record for a female athlete that broke the previous record of $29.7 million Maria Sharapova earned in 2015.

Osaka surpassed 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams, who has been the highest-paid female athlete in the last four years with earnings from $18 million to $29 million. This year, Osaka raked in $1.4 million more than Williams.

In September 2018, Osaka beat Williams in a remarkable U.S. Open women's final. It was one of her two grand slam wins to date, the other one was at the Australian Open in 2018.

Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother,

H Editorial credit: Rena Schild / Shutterstock.com

has lived and trained in the United States since she was three years old. Osaka is known for her multi-ethnic background and her shy, candid personality. With her diverse background and status as a Grand Slam singles champion, she is one of the most marketable women athletes in the world. The tennis star initially struggled with her shyness, making it hard for her to appear in interviews and interact with other people, players, and fans. But now, she is making the most out of her plat-

form.

In fact, she has been receiving a number of deals with several sponsors. She currently has 15 endorsement partners and a lucrative apparel deal with Nike. More than that, Osaka ranks 29th in the top 100 highest-paid athletes, joining Williams who ranks 33rd, making them two of the only female athletes in the list.l Follow Naomi Osaka on Instagram @naomiosaka

air Love, is a 7 minute animated short film that centers around the relationship between an AfricanAmerican father, Stephen, his daughter, Zuri and her hair. Despite having long locks, Stephen has been used to his wife doing his daughter's hair, so when she is unavailable right before a big event, Stephen will have to figure it out on his own. This sounds simple enough, but we soon come to find that Zuri's hair has a mind of its own.

This story was born out of seeing a lack of representation in mainstream animated projects, and also wanting to promote hair love amongst young men and women of color. It is our hope that this project will inspire.

The Hair Love Picture book hit stores on 5/14/19 and made the New York Times best seller list.

The Hair Love short film hit theaters August 14th in front of Angry Birds 2 and won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. l

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About the author Academy Award winning filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry is a Chicago native and a former NFL wide receiver who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and the Baltimore Ravens.

In 2007, Cherry retired and moved to LA to pursue a career in entertainment landing work as a production assistant on over 40 commercials and as a director for over 20 music videos. Cherry received his first directorial credit in 2008 for a music video featuring R&B artist Terry Dexter.

Since then, Cherry has gone on to direct music videos for various artists, including Michelle Williams featuring Beyoncé & Kelly Rowland, Tweet, Jazmine Sullivan, Lalah Hathaway, Kindred The Family Soul, Snoop Dogg, The Foreign Exchange, Bilal, N'Dambi, Maysa Leak, Dwele, Najee, K’Jon and Chloe X Halle.

—www.matthewacherry.com

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23

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Women: Do You Say “Go” When You Really Mean “Stay”? this can be very scary. The security in your attachment to each other becomes unstable. Instead of pushing them out to “rip the Band Aid off”, reach to your partner and try to find closeness again.

BY JENNINE ESTES

D

o you push your partner away when you're in trouble?

Sometimes when one partner is in pain, he or she will tell the other person to leave. Especially if your partner is the threatening to leave, your hurt feelings may cause you to react by saying, "Fine, just go!" You might mean that you want them to leave for the night or forever. In reality, many times when this happens you actually want your partner to stay and fight for the relationship — you don't want them to go at all!

Why do people say “go” when they really mean “stay”? Here are 4 things to keep in mind if this is happening in your relationship.

1. Get clarification first!

If your partner threatens to leave, what exactly does s/he mean? Does it mean s/he is breaking up with you?

Threatening a break up is a pretty serious card that can’t be played all the time. Or, does s/he mean s/he is leaving for the

4. Don’t confirm your partner’s fears.

Your partner may be at wits end, not knowing how to make things change.

They might be threatening to leave because they fear things can’t get better or aren’t sure how to start the journey of making things better. If your response is to say “go,” it only confirms that there is no hope left. It makes them feel unwanted and uncared for if you can opt out that easily.l night? Either way, you need clarity about what your partner’s leaving means before you become reactive so you can better understand what to do next.

2. Don’t push your partner out the door.

You can’t force your partner to stay, but you don’t have to push them out when all you want is for them to stay. If you want

I’m done!

the relationship, fight for it. Don’t give up! Share that you want the relationship to last, even if it feels very scary and vulnerable. Take the risk. If they are walking out, there is nothing else to lose.

3. Work to rebuild a secure attachment.

When you see your partner upset, threatening to leave, or emotionally distancing,

About Jennine Estes, MFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, CA. Estes is certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and writes relationship and self-growth advice for her column, Relationships in the Raw. She is the creator of #BeingLOVEDIs campaign.

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25

HEALTH

Black People, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the Risk of Death From Coronavirus (COVID-19)

H

ere are some facts: Black people have been found to be more likely to die from COVID-19 infection than white people, both in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Black people also have a higher rate of PTSD diagnosis than white people. PTSD can result in suppression of the immune system. Immunosuppression is associated with a higher risk of death from COVID-19. It is thus not unreasonable to question whether PTSD-induced immunosuppression is contributing to the elevated risk of dying from COVID-19 amongst black people.

Data reveals that Black people are more than four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people in England and Wales and that even after adjusting for age, socioeconomic conditions and prior health, the figures show that Black people remain twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white people in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics. Some suggest sickle cell disease is the explanation, however this is unlikely, being already in a shielded group they are likely to have little or

no ongoing expo-sure to COVID-19.

Other contributary factors which have been highlighted are obesity, over-crowding and frontline working, however these are likely to be already adjusted for within socioeconomic status.

This article proposes that PTSDinduced immunosuppression contributes to raised mortality from COVID-19.

PTSD is a condition which occurs after a traumatic experience where symptoms persist of reliving the distressing event and there is hypervigilance, numbing, mood changes including negativity about the self, the world and the future. There is avoidance of people and situations that

act as reminders of the event and sleep and concentration disturbance. Physical symptoms including Neurological, Respiratory and Cardiovascular symptoms also occur in PTSD. What is the evidence that Black people have higher rates of PTSD? The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey: Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2014 found doubling of the rate of PTSD amongst black adults at 8.3 per compared to white adults at 4.2 though assumed that the differences could not be relied on because of the small sizes involved.

One study found that when PTSD affects US race/ethnic minorities, it is usually untreated and likely to become chronic and persistent and suggested that the large disparities in treatment indicate a need for investment in accessible and culturally sensitive treatment options. A separate two year follow up study found that African Americans with PTSD experience high number of traumas and most do not receive treatment.

Findings from large-scale national studies suggest African Americans have a 9.1% prevalence rate for PTSD. This suggests that almost one in ten Black people becomes traumatized. This is an underestimate due to known under-diagnosis of PTSD in black people. Studies of racial discrimination and race-related stress have shown that when an individual reports psychological distress from racism, trauma was often not considered.

Why would Black people be at increased risk of PTSD? In addition to traumatic experiences that a person of any race or ethnicity might face, race-specific traumas include micro-aggressions and the erosion of a fundamental requirement for human beings – a sense of belonging. A striking example of that undermining of belonging was witnessed by the Windrush generation in the UK. Black people face challenges to a sense of belonging to desirable social, housing, occupational groups and on a wider scale there are challenges to the black person’s right to belong in a country such as the UK, a crude example being the ‘go back to where you came from’ statement. A sense of belonging is an intrinsic human need.

The psychologist Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs defined self-actualization and self-esteem as requiring the secure foundations created by a sense of belonging.

Another often overlooked contributory factor to the large prevalence of traumas affecting Black people is Intergenerational transmission of trauma.

Parent-child attachment patterns are known to replicate through generations within families. Going back to slavery and post-slavery eras, forced black familial disruption was part of the mechanism that enabled forced labour and enrichment of slave owners and others and this involved brutal disregard for the integrity of the black family unit by white oppressors. Yet another overlooked factor is vicarious trauma and witnessing shootings of unarmed black people can give rise to a sense of threat to the black viewer’s sense of their own safety.

What is the evidence that PTSD suppresses the immune system?

A study of 1,550 male workers with a previous history of PTSD concluded that PTSD produces immunosuppression and has long-term implications for health.This finding is now widely accepted amongst mental health professionals and a questionnaire commonly used as a tool to diagnose PTSD is the IES-r. A cutoff point of 37 and above in the IES-r is commonly accepted by mental health workers as associated with immunosuppression.

Treatment of PTSD PTSD in Black people is treatable with a growing number of psychotherapies including prolonged exposure therapy, EMDR, cognitive processing therapy, somatic experiencing, if delivered by psychotherapists with training and knowledge of diversity matters.

Medication is sometimes but not always required.

Conclusion There now exists evidence for higher death rates of Black people from COVID-19 compared to White people as well as evidence that Black people have a higher rate of PTSD diagnosis than White people and furthermore that PTSD is associated with immunosuppression and we know that immunosuppression is associated with a higher risk of death from COVID-19. The proposed association described here between PTSDinduced immunosuppression and increased risk of death from COVID-19 needs to be explored further and in addition, high PTSD rates in black people need to be recognised and treated as both a mental and physical health priority.l

—Nationwide/Blacknews.com

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JOBS & RECESSION

26

Unemployed New Yorkers Cling to Fragile Pandemic Safety Net

BY CARA EISENPRESS, THECITY

E

mma Craig, who made $200 a night singing in a Soho supper club, found herself navigating the unemployment maze as an independent contractor and negotiating a temporary rent reprieve while waiting weeks for benefits to kick in.

“My landlord is cool, but I’m going to have to pay,” said Craig, 31.

As a union hotel worker, Elaine Wong, had a more straightforward experience getting unemployment. She paid the rent on her family’s Flushing apartment, but at the expense of skipping her $650 car bill.

“I had to pay to have a roof over my head,” said Wong, a 48-year-old married mother of one.

Emmanuel Munoz, a 40-year-old Mexican immigrant who has worked in New York for 15 years, lost his job as a restaurant manager.

He hasn’t received a penny in unemployment insurance or other benefits from the city, state or federal government because he’s not allowed to work on the books. He told his Bronx landlord he couldn’t pay the rent.

“Whatever money I get, it’s because I work,” said Munoz.

‘A Chaotic Situation’ All three New Yorkers lost their jobs in mid March as coronavirus all but paralyzed the city. The crisis is growing in the city and beyond: The U.S. economy shed a record 20.5 million jobs last month, according to figures released Friday.

The trio’s varying challenges underscore the crucial role of New York’s social safety net, which has ramped up dramatically during the economic chaos

tracking the COVID-19 spread.

Most important is the unemployment benefit: The state distributed more than $4.6 billion to 1.6 million out-of-work New Yorkers between the middle of March and April 30.

The federal government’s temporary $600 addition to weekly unemployment benefits, which New York has disbursed more quickly than most states, is buoying those with access to the benefit. The federal government sent out federal stimulus checks of $1,200 per person and $500 per dependent to everyone below a certain

income threshold.

The city has reduced requirements for applying for and keeping cash assistance and food stamps — and put muscle and money into getting people food. The state put a 90-day moratorium on evictions, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently extended until Aug. 20.

But lower-income workers don’t get as substantial a benefit. And those who don’t qualify for unemployment — including 190,000 undocumented workers — are left to rely on small bits of relief or find new work that could endanger their health.

Meanwhile, summer brings the onetwo punch of the ends of the eviction moratorium and the $600 payment, whose expected loss in July “injects uncertainty into a chaotic situation,” said James Parrott, an economist at the New School.

When the two income substitutes disappear, many New Yorkers will be left with bills they can’t pay and unimaginable choices that will reshape the lives they have built here.

Citywide, the unemployment rate could continued on page 28

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28

JOBS & RECESSION

need in store.

Zandra Haywood of Homebase, a cityfunded program that’s part of the nonprofit BronxWorks and helps New Yorkers find housing after they’ve been in shelters, said she expects to see quadruple the clients this summer, even though not many clients have reached out yet.

Pandemic Safety Net/ continued from page 26 rise as high as 30%, Parrott projects, up from 3.4% in February, with hourly workers bearing the brunt. Falling tax revenue could shrink benefit programs that have never before responded to this kind of need.

“People don’t know if the jobs they got laid off from are ever going to come back,” said Nancy Rankin, vice president for policy, research and advocacy at the Community Service Society.

‘I Can Tough It Out’ In ordinary times, New York state pays out 50% of earnings to previously employed workers for 26 weeks. This comes from an unemployment trust fund stocked by employers through a percentage of the first $25,000 of each employee’s wages.

While a recently unemployed worker earning $17 an hour for 40 hours a week used to expect a benefit in New York of around $300 after taxes each week, now that person is getting close to $900 because of the pandemic assistance.

That’s about one and a half times what they take home when they are working.

The federal pandemic unemployment assistance program also extends benefits to independent contractors, gig workers, self-employed people and others who

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have lost work because of COVID-19.

But the program came with a confusing rollout that New York navigated better than some, fronting the money before funds arrived from the federal government and updating its application process on April 20, a week earlier than other states.

At first, applicants needed to be rejected for traditional unemployment insurance before they could apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a hurdle that was later removed.

Craig, the singer, said she called the Department of Labor hundreds of times and followed arcane advice shared on Facebook about how to get through.

Since she is a contractor, not an employee, she fell into a group the unemployment system was not set up to process.

While she waited six weeks for her first check, she cut as many monthly expenses as she could and borrowed $200 from her parents.

“I’ve lived here for 10 years,” she said, “I can tough it out. I love what I do, and I can’t do it anywhere else.”

Toughing it out is harder for some New Yorkers than others.

“Low-wage workers in particular have a lack of savings,” said Rankin. “A few weeks means desperate hardship.”

Even before the pandemic, more than half of employed New Yorkers making at or below 200% of the federal poverty level had less than $500 in savings.

Nothing Coming Among those with little backup are people with no access to unemployment benefits: day laborers and domestic workers, street vendors and car wash workers, manicurists and kitchen staff like Munoz who may not have authorization to work in the U.S. Even for legal residents, having a parttime job or being a parent with extra expenses means that the benefit, including the extra $600, is not always enough.

New York’s minimum benefit is $104 per week and it does not increase for people who have dependents as it does in some nearby states.

Their plight is also a preview of what could happen to a bigger group when the $600 ends and more people start paying rent again. The city has boosted services to deal with gaps.

Some schools opened for free meals in late March. An investment of $170 million is going towards securing, making, and delivering food to those homebound and in need, including older adults.

The state added $25 million to the effort last week, with more than $10 million allocated to New York City. The Food Bank for New York, a nonprofit, said it

had distributed an extra two million pounds of food during the first month of the pandemic, even as 40% of its partner pantries shut down for safety reasons.

Some pantries and soup kitchens were seeing a 50% increase in need, said Leslie Gordon, its president and CEO, with some rising as much as 800%. At one agency where 1,000 people used to line up for food, now 5,000 people are coming.

The Coalition for the Homeless has counted an uptick among day laborers, who tend to pay their rent weekly, on the regular routes of its mobile food vans, said Joshua Goldfein, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, who represents the Coalition.

“They’re not sticking around waiting to be evicted,” he said. “Or in the absence of any income they are paying 100% of whatever they have saved to rent so they’re coming out for food because they want to keep the landlord happy.”

Help By Phone At the Human Resources Administration, New Yorkers can access SNAP food stamps online and new applicants can do interviews by phone.

The department applied for waivers from the state and federal government that allowed it to eliminate interviews when it had enough documentation to process applications, and to make sure clients weren’t penalized for not keeping appointments.

HRA suspended the requirement to reapply for benefits to prevent people who needed to recertify from creating a backlog. And, building off its SNAP app, in four days the agency launched a system that allowed people to apply for cash assistance online and to permit HRA, the Department of Social Services and agency partners to work remotely.

Looking at the trends on their apps from mid-March to late April, there has been a significant increase in need, though the exact percentage is still being calculated.

“We’re trying to do everything we can to see that people aren’t left behind by an affordability problem that’s gotten worse,” said Steven Banks, the Department of Social Services commissioner.

The city’s budget, meanwhile, has a gap of $125 million in its cash assistance programs because of an effective cut to Transitional Aid for Needy Families (TANF).

Yet because the shutdown has caused a drop in people seeking services, especially ones where they would meet caseworkers in person, those who work at the ground level see an enormous flood of

Getting By — For Now For those who were paid as employees, not contractors, and who earned higher wages before the crisis, unemployment benefits have been generous and disbursed quickly.

When the Beekman Hotel opened in the summer of 2016, Wong was the only one of the 24 students interviewed from her English-as-a-second-language program to land a room attendant job there, a union position. By this March 23, she was earning $28 an hour, a wage set to rise to $33.87 at the end of the year.

She last went in on March 17, and was officially laid off five days later. Soon, she was sick with COVID-19 symptoms and felt so unwell she didn’t apply for unemployment benefits immediately.

Still, her benefit left her with enough money — $966 per week after taxes — that she could pay the $1,500 April rent on the Flushing apartment where she lives with her husband, a sushi chef, and 11-year-old daughter. She felt she could not skip it.

“I don’t have anybody here in the U.S.,” she said. “Only my husband and daughter.”

By many measures, Wong is the ideal beneficiary: Her full-time earnings were from an employer who paid into the state’s unemployment trust fund, so her application was processed promptly.

Because she is a member of the New York Hotel Trades Council, she will receive health insurance and care for six months. During her illness, she saw doctors, got daily calls from nurses and paid little for prescription drugs she said helped her recover.

Still, like Munoz, Craig, and others, she is rethinking her place in the city she first came to from Malaysia in 2002, working her way up from restaurants to the hotel job.

“If the second wave comes back around September and October,” she said, “I worry that it’s more serious than the first.

At that time I don’t think I’d be able to go back to work. And with no more health insurance…I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

When he lost his job, Munoz’ bosses gave him a modest, informal severance.

They recently called with some news: They’re reopening for takeout and delivery. They want him to come back to work — one day a week.

He could use the money as he finds himself these days rethinking his life in New York.

“I have lived here for so many years,” he said. “You live in a city that is so…full of opportunity but you don’t have the tools to really go and do something for yourself.”l This story was published on May 10, 2020 by THE CITY.

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MOVING FORWARD

29

Stay at Home: A New Norm?

BY DR BASIL SPRINGER

T

hose of us who are occupied as housewives or househusbands, are retired, home-school children, have a virtual job enabled by digital technology or conduct business from home, tend to naturally manage our time in a home environment.

On the other hand, when a “Stay-AtHome Order” is imposed by the government as an optimal solution to combat a disease pandemic, transmitted from human to human, it is a different matter.

Parents and children are confined to the same space 24 hours per day, there is a void of external social interaction, outdoor sport is curtailed, the discipline of preparing attractive, home-cooked food becomes the order of the day, home help is restricted, exercise routines are disrupted, meetings must be held by audio and video conferencing, irritability may set in, and when you venture out to access essential services, personal hygiene must be carefully practiced, physical distancing observed and masks worn.

Also, the national borders are temporarily closed to passenger traffic to reduce the spread of the disease and prevent a second wave of infection, trade is significantly less than before COVID-19, the economy grinds to a halt, and jobs are

lost.

The recovery process, which includes gradually relaxing the “stay-at-home” protocols and opening up the borders, then becomes a balancing act between saving lives and protecting livelihoods.

Because no one really knows if and when the pandemic will end and cease to be a threat to us, we must be prepared to adopt a positive mindset to address the new national “stay-at-home” norm, for as long as it is necessary.

The secret is to use our God-given resource of 24 hours in a day to manage this new norm, while satisfying our fundamental needs of love, food, air cooling,

heating, clothing, housing, sleep, exercise, electricity, money, digital equipment, internet connectivity, education and the like. Realizing a vision begins with the first step. Determine your budget e.g. eight hours’ sleep, eight hours’ work and eight hours’ personal time and community service. Here, are some costefficient ideas.

The recognition that God is Love is a good starting point in this management process.

Remember that nutrition is paramount – grow what you eat and eat what you grow. Acquire a piece of black plastic, used tires, soil mix and compost and start

your own food production unit. Make your own compost from organic waste.

Distill your grey water, e.g. water from baths, sinks, washing machines, using a solar still and irrigate your plants. Collect and store rainwater when in season and make a water air cooler. Heat your water with a solar water heater. Install photovoltaic panels and generate electricity from the sun’s free energy.

Get a total of eight hours’ sleep per day by working smarter not harder. Daily walking exercise works wonders for the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

Generate money by starting a home enterprise of your choice rather than looking for paid employment. Ideas abound! Seek a shepherd to guide you and lead you to sources of seed, equity and working capital. Embrace smart technology. Secure reliable broadband internet connectivity, educate yourself, and communicate with the world through social media, videoconferencing and messaging apps.

Enjoy working from home. For many, it may soon become the norm that’s not so new.l Dr. Basil Springer GCM is a ChangeEngine Consultant.

His columns may be found at www.nothingbeatsbusiness.com/basilspringer-column

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ELECTIONS 2020

30

What You Need to Know to Vote in New York’s June Primary

BY RACHEL HOLLIDAY SMITH THECITY ADDITIONALLY REPORTING BY CHRISTINE CHUNG

F

or a moment, New York’s moot presidential primary was off. Then it was back on. Now, the state is trying again in court to nix it.

But with or without the likes of Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang on the ballot, New Yorkers will cast votes on June 23, the state’s primary day. Plenty of competitive congressional, state-level and local seats are up for consideration.

Because of special rules created in response to the pandemic, all New Yorkers now have the option to vote by absentee ballot. To do so, however, you have to request a ballot before June 16, then send it in.

We’ve got the information you need to be prepared for the city’s first election in the coronavirus era.

So, are We Having a Primary or Not? As of this writing, New York will have a primary election, including the Democratic and Republican presidential contests, which had been postponed from April 28.

On May 5, a federal judge ruled against New York state election officials who canceled the June 23 presidential contest.

Responding to a lawsuit brought by former White House hopeful Yang, District Court Judge Analisa Torres ordered New York to hold the election as scheduled in June and return all qualifying presidential candidates to the ballot — even if a Joe Biden nomination appears inevitable.

The Board of Elections has appealed that order. A spokesperson for state Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the appeal on behalf of the board, said arguments in the case are scheduled to begin May 15.

All other contested seats will be on the ballot — a great many this year, said Laura Wood, senior advisor for City Hall’s DemocracyNYC initiative.

“Even if the presidential primary is canceled, almost every election district in the city will have a primary on June 23,” she said. “It’s a relatively small number who don’t.”

Between city, state and congressional races, only a few neighborhoods in southern Brooklyn will be without at least one primary, according to the city’s Campaign Finance Board.

What’s at Stake?

New Yorkers can expect competitive primaries for several Congressional races, including one for Rep. Yvette Clarke’s seat in Brooklyn, Rep. Eliot Engel’s post in The Bronx and Westchester and the soon-to-be-empty slot of Rep. Jose Serrano in the South Bronx.

Freshman Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-The Bronx, Queens), meanwhile, faces a challenge from former CNBC contributor Michelle Caruso-

Cabrera.

On the local level, the primaries will include two tumultuous races for a new Queens borough president and a replacement for City Councilmember Rafael Espinal, who resigned from his Bushwick district earlier this year.

How can you find out who is challenging who where you live? Use this tool (nyc.pollsitelocator.com) from the city’s election board to plug in your address, then click the button for “Ballot Information.” It will generate a sample ballot of all the candidates in races in your district by party.

Or, use a similar tool from Ballotpedia, or check out voting guides from vote411.org or the city’s Campaign Finance Board.

With Everything Going On, How Can I Cast My Vote?

For now, in-person voting will still happen — including nine days of early voting — despite the current stay-at-home order. But the state is making a big push for mail-in ballots.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made that possible through an executive order allowing all New Yorkers to vote using an absentee ballot during the COVID-19 crisis.

Cuomo committed to mail every registered voter with a contested election in their district a postage-paid application for an absentee ballot.

Last week, Cuomo said he’s not crazy about the idea of people going out and “standing on line to vote,” but noted the in-person primary would go forward.

“My two cents to people is, please vote by absentee ballot so you don’t have to show up,” he said during a May 6 news conference on Long Island.

So How Do I Get My Ballot?

The state said it started sending ballot applications to every registered voter the week of May 8.

But Jennifer Wilson, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of New York State, says there’s no reason to sit by the mailbox. In New York City, you can apply for a ballot online at the Board of Elections site NYCAbsentee.com, or by fax, email, through snail mail or by calling 1-866-VOTE-NYC. “You don’t have to wait to get that ballot application in the mail. You can start now,” she said.

On your application, all those requesting an absentee ballot will need to check a box marked “temporary illness” as the reason for the request.

Why? What If I’m Not Sick?

According to Sabrina Castillo, of the city’s Campaign Finance Board, the emergency voting measure by the governor expanded the definition of temporary illness to cover not just being sick, but also “the risk of contracting the disease.”

“This is what you put, regardless of whether you’re sick or not,” she said.

For the people who have fled New York during the crisis, make sure to have the ballot sent to wherever you are staying now. The application includes a section to indicate the address of where you’d like your ballot to go.

The last day to postmark and send your ballot application is June 16. But Castillo’s advice is: Do it now.

“You don’t want to miss that window,” she said. “I would do it as soon as you can.”

Once you receive your ballot through the mail, you can mail it back — or take it (safely) to your borough’s Board of Elections office. The last day to postmark your ballot is June 22, according to the CFB. That’s also the last day you can apply for an absentee ballot in person.

If you don’t want to bother with the absentee ballot and feel safe going to the polls, you will still be able to, Wilson said. But be prepared for some changes.

The state Board of Elections commissioners have already discussed rolling back poll sites and hours — especially for early voting — “to encourage people to vote by mail instead,” she said.

Matthew Sollars, spokesperson for the CFB, and be aware there will be two envelopes: One that will mail everything back to the Board of Elections, and one “privacy envelope” that contains your actual ballot, he said.

You’ll need to sign that envelope, he said, “to make sure your ballot is counted.”

Wilson of the LMV said to watch out for a piece of paper called a “witness slip” that may appear in your ballot, as well. Some counties in New York send them, but keep in mind: It’s not likely you’ll need to sign it.

“You don’t need a witness signature in New York State unless you had assistance filling in your ballot,” she said. “If you can’t hand mark yourself, somebody has to sign and say they helped you. But there’s no direction saying that. It’s just a slip included for a witness signature.”

Above all, be extra careful, she said, go slowly — and read everything.

“The thing I’ve been saying to everyone is just follow the directions,” she said. “Please read the directions and follow them closely!” l

Is That as Huge an Undertaking as It Sounds?

Yup. “Typically, less than 4% of New York voters vote absentee. So to go from 4% to potentially 80%, or ideally 90% of people voting absentee — that’s a huge, huge jump,” Wilson noted.

At DemocracyNYC, Wood is looking at the primary as an opportunity for a simpler way to conduct elections, pointing to research that shows voter participation has gotten a boost in states that have moved to mail-in voting.

“We are very hopeful that people will take advantage of how easy this is this year,” she said — while acknowledging that “nothing is easy right now during this pandemic.”

This story was originally published on May 14, 2020 by THE CITY.

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If you’ve never voted by absentee ballot before, here’s what to expect: Always use blue or black ink, said

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June is Men's Health Month awareness | prevention | education | family

01

Eat Healthy. Start by taking small steps like saying no to super-sizing and yes to a healthy breakfast. Eat many different types of foods to get all the vitamins and minerals you need. Add at least one fruit and vegetable to every meal.

02

Get Moving. Play with your kids or grandkids. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Do yard work. Play a sport. Keep comfortable walking shoes handy at work and in the car.

Most importantly, choose activities that you enjoy to stay motivated.

1994 100%

Women are 100% more likely than men to visit the doctor for annual exams and preventive services.

1 2 in

1 in 2 men are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime compared to 1 in 3 women.

On May 31, 1994 President Clinton signed the bill establishing National Men’s Health Week.

“Recognizing and preventing men’s health problems is not just a man’s issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.”

Congressman Bill Richardson (May 1994) In 2000 there were fewer than 80 men for every 100 women by the time they reach age 65 – 74.

80

03

Make Prevention a Priority.

Many health conditions can be prevented or detected early with regular checkups from your healthcare provider. Regular screenings may include blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, prostate health and more.

Online Resources Men’s Health Month menshealthmonth.org Men’s Health Network menshealthnetwork.org Get It Checked getitchecked.com Talking About Men’s Health Blog talkingaboutmenshealth.com Women Against Prostate Cancer womenagainstprostatecancer.org

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