BROOKLYN, New York — In a neighborhood just miles from where his father was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer nine years ago, Zaiden Small sat on a couch, kicking and dangling his feet as he listened to stories about a man he never knew. He was a protector, a provider, and a […]
New York
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
Grand Jury Declines to Reindict N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James
New York Attorney General Letitia James is “grateful” after a grand jury declined to reindict her on mortgage fraud charges. On Thursday, the grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia, rejected the Department of Justice’s attempt to refile the case just days after a federal judge dismissed an earlier case, sources familiar with the case told multiple news […]
Posted inEquity, History, Wealth Gap
Will Zohran Mamdani Make New York the First City to Confront Its Debt to Slavery?
Reparations for slavery and historic discrimination against African Americans once seemed like a pipe dream. But momentum for it has been building in the past five years in cities across America, including New York City, which has deep ties to slavery and has become an important testing ground of whether America is ready to make […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy, Violence Against Women
New York’s Sexual Assault Law Excludes the Intoxicated. This Bill Aims to Fix It.
After surviving rape twice, calling 911 for help wasn’t Akia Nyrie Smith’s first instinct. As a Black nonbinary person, they knew all too well how law enforcement might respond, especially when alcohol was involved, as it had been both nights in Michigan. When Smith moved to New York in 2020, in the depths of the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Incarceration
Saniyah Cheatham’s Family Demands Answers in Her Death
The Fourth of July was the last time family and friends saw or heard from Saniyah Cheatham. Just hours before the 18-year-old was arrested in connection with a fight involving a friend, her mother said she was “happy” at their family barbecue. A close friend who texted with her that day agreed that she was […]
Posted inCourts, Maternal Health, Politics & Policy
Hospitals Are Drug Testing Mothers Without Consent, Fueling Family Separations
By junior year of high school, Desseray Wright was already a mother and didn’t expect to become pregnant again so soon. The Bronx, New York, teen was juggling raising a toddler and dreaming about becoming a lawyer. Sometimes, she would hang out with her friends and occasionally smoked weed. Then one day, despite still getting […]
Posted inHousing, Politics & Policy
Black Renters Could Be Displaced by Historic Affordable Housing Cuts
Elisha Fye Jr. grew up hearing his father’s stories of the Jim Crow South. There, Elisa Sr. was born on a plantation in 1918 and one of 14 children in a family of sharecroppers who toiled all year for just $200 and a share of the crops in Vidalia, Georgia. After a violent run-in with […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A New York Man is Released After 25 Years. Now Begins His Next Chapter.
Kenneth Hogan is moments away from enjoying his first slice of New York City pizza in nearly 25 years. But before he can savor the moment, he has a long to-do list — starting with registering with the New York State Board of Parole. Staying focused is imperative, Hogan said over the phone from prison […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Why Mayor Eric Adams’ Scandal Doesn’t Shock Black New Yorkers
Outside the steps of New York City’s Gracie Mansion, Mayor Eric Leroy Adams, surrounded by more than a dozen Black clergy members and civil rights activists, approached the podium to make a statement before his indictment on bribery and other charges. But a hefty male voice from the crowd interrupted. “Your policies are anti-Black. You […]
Posted inHousing
In Brooklyn, a New Homeless Shelter Reignites Decades of Racism
Thirty-five years ago this month, 16-year-old Yusef Hawkins hopped off the 20th Avenue subway in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, to view a used car for sale. He would never make it back home. At the time, the neighborhood was primarily Italian and known for being a place where Black people were not welcomed. Shortly […]