Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

In celebration of his upcoming return to the NYC stage with "Broadway Israel" on October 24 at The Green Room 42, after a long forced Covid break, Isaac Sutton has released a special Hebrew lyric video of "Till I Hear You Sing" from Phantom of the Opera's sequel "Love Never Dies".

This special Hebrew version was recorded at TanTan Studios in Israel.

Watch below!

This is the first time "Till I Hear You Sing" has been recorded in Hebrew, with translation by Mor Day Hannani.

Internationally acclaimed performer Isaac Sutton, who has introduced Israeli audiences to the Great American Songbook, will be returning to NYC with "Broadway Israel" for the first time since Covid on Sunday, October 24 at The Green Room 42 and will reunite on stage with two Broadway Stars- Amanda Jane Cooper ,Broadway's 15th Anniversary Glinda and one of the longest running 'Glindas' in WICKED's history, and DeLaney Westfall - Star of Kinky Boots, Beautiful and Sweeney Todd.

This celebration of Classic Broadway will mark their first concert appearance in NYC since Covid and their first reunion since their joint concert tours in Israel.

Tickets for October 24th performance at The Green Room 42 can be purchased at box office 646-707-2990 or HERE!

Performed by Isaac Sutton

Music by Andrew Loyd Webber

Translated by Mor Day Hannani

Recorded at TanTan Studios Israel.

Mixed by Yarden Ashkenazi

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VIDEO: Isaac Sutton Sings Hebrew Version of 'Till I Hear You Sing' - Broadway World

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

By Orge Castellano

CARACAS, Venezuela (JTA) The Champlain Towers building collapse in Surfside, Florida, impacted a range of communities whose members lived in the diverse Miami-Dade area: immigrants from across Latin America, Jewish retirees from the Northeast, Jews from Puerto Rico.

One of them still feeling the most pain months later is the Jewish community of Caracas, Venezuelas capital city.

In the wake of the collapse, seniors Christina Beatriz Elvira and Leon Oliwkowicz, both Venezuelan Jews, were among the first victims to have their remains recovered. Then came the bodies of Luis Sadovnic, Moises El Chino Rodn and Andres Levine. The three young men, who were all in their 20s, were raised in the small Jewish community surrounded by the lush El vila National Park in the heart of Caracas. Miami had become an economic stepping stone and new home for the young Venezuelans.

Many Jewish communities in Latin America are described as tight knit, but Venezuelas is unique in the region for its intense closeness. Here everyone is part of one extended family.

Those willing to speak to JTA about the Surfside tragedy emphasized how strongly the deaths of their fellow community members reverberated throughout the country.

The entire community feels this tragedy in the most innermost core of our beings, said Miguel Truzman, vice president of the Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela, known by its Spanish acronym CAIV. They were boys that we watched grow up; the whole community is deeply traumatized and devastated by this tragedy.

The Caracas areas Hebraica Jewish community center the communitys only social, cultural and religious center, which serves as a country club, sports facility, elementary school and meeting hub put out a statement in July saying the Surfside events will undoubtedly shape the rest of our lives.

Besides having shared a joint address at the Champlain Towers South condo building, the three young Venezuelans had another thing in common before moving to the U.S.: They all attended Colegio Moral y Luces Herzl-Bialik, a private Jewish high school now housed inside the Hebraica center, in Caracas Los Chorros neighborhood. Founded in 1946 by Ashkenazi emigres after quick growth in the communitys population, the school has since served as a common link for almost all Venezuelan Jews, regardless of their religious denomination or ethnic background. It is one of the main pieces that contribute to the communitys sense of unity.

The Venezuelan Ashkenazim allowed the Sephardim to study in the school without the slightest problem. If you go to another Latin American country, like Mexico or even around the world every community, depending on their origin, has their own school, said Sami Rozenbaum, journalist and current editor-in-chief of Nuevo Mundo Israelita, or New Israelite World, the communitys weekly newspaper.

A history of belonging, an uncertain future

The majority of the Jews left in Venezuela are either the children or grandchildren of European or Moroccan immigrants. Their ancestors mostly emigrated from the late 1930s through the late 60s. Newcomers quickly assimilated into mainstream Venezuelan society and never felt like outsiders, since the country was an ethnically and religiously diverse melting pot at the time. Antisemitism and racism were rarely major concerns for the community, and unlike Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile, the country has a much less significant history of harboring Nazi fugitives.

The Jewish newspaper, founded by Moiss Sananes in 1943 as Mundo Israelita (Israelite World), was the communitys first systematic effort to unite both its Ashkenazi and Sephardic immigrants, before the Bialik school.

Our community stands as a reference point in the world because of its integration. We are fully united. Here theres no distinction between whos from Ashkenazi or Sephardi ancestry. The only separate components are the synagogues and the religious and cultural traditions of each group, Rozenbaum said.

Although the community was officially established in the mid-19th century, it wasnt until 1939 that the countrys first synagogue, El Conde Synagogue, was built. The temple, however, wouldnt last long, as the government at the time approved a series of urban restructuring projects in 1954, forcing it to be demolished. In 1963, the Sephardic community in Caracas inaugurated the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, the citys largest to date.

In recent years, the community has seen several of its members leave, as a stagnant socioeconomic and humanitarian crisis continues to drive a large-scale exodus from the oil-rich country. From a population peak of 25,000 in the early 1990s, Venezuelan Jewry has dwindled to fewer than 6,000 members, a decrease of 70%.

The countrys hyperinflation, rampant violence, hunger and deepening poverty have forced many into a new diaspora. Nearly all of these Venezuelan Jewish immigrants have settled in the United States, Israel, Mexico and Panama.

Those who remain are predominantly Orthodox and live in Caracas, sometimes depending on each other for survival. Since there are so few left, nearly everyone in the community knows each other by name. Most of them consider themselves staunch Zionists.

The regime of the populist firebrand Hugo Chavez tried for years to plant anti-Israel sentiment into the political fabric of the predominantly Catholic nation, and sought to establish closer ties with Iran and Palestinian leadership. Nicolas Maduro, Chavezs successor, and his supporters have continued that legacy, but to a lesser extent.

According to the US State Departments 2020 Report on International Religious Freedom on Venezuela, criticism of Israel in Maduro-controlled or -affiliated media continued to carry anti-Semitic overtones, sometimes disguised as anti-Zionist messages. Recent examples include Holocaust trivialization, as demonstrated by Maduros comparison of US sanctions against Venezuela to Nazi persecution of Jews, and the promotion of conspiracy theories linking Israel and Jews to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite that, the governments rhetoric has not caught on with the Venezuelan population at large, which remains notably free of antisemitism.

Venezuelans are not antisemitic. For example, if they see someone wearing a kippah on their head and do not know what it is, theyll ask you. The unfamiliar does not cause them estrangement but respect, said Isaac Cohen, chief rabbi of the Israelite Association of Venezuela (AIV), an umbrella organization representing Jews of Sephardic origin.

The reason I have been here for 43 years is that I do not feel, nor have I experienced antisemitism. Although, of course, in Europe, there is cultural antisemitism, but here there is no such thing as an antisemitic culture.

Why some stay

Venezuelan Jews give two answers as to why they stay both religious reasons, and economic ones.

Its hard to start again and reinvent yourself from zero, said one community member who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, fearing government retribution. Senior members stay because their home is here. They know that the same comfort and life they have in Venezuela would be hard to obtain somewhere else, especially if one has to learn another language, like English.

And even amid all the turmoil, observant Jews still thrive in Venezuela. They can practice their traditions openly and maintain a steady relationship with government authorities, who provide state-sponsored security in front of synagogues. Special food permits allow for the import and manufacture of kosher products.

Venezuela is a great country. We remain here because of the hospitality and the generosity of its people, Cohen said. In Venezuela, freedom of worship and whatever the community is willing to pursue is supported. One decides to emigrate because there is antisemitism, or because commercially, it does not work; I am not a businessman. My job is to maintain and preserve the religion in the country.

Truzman agreed, saying that the fact that everyone attended the same school binds them together for life.

Like me, there are thousands that have stayed. Why? Well, because it is our homeland, our country. We strive for whatever adverse circumstances there may be. We stay so that there is a presence of the Jewish community in Venezuela, he said.

We have spent a lifetime together.

Main Photo: Students at the Colegio Moral y Luces Herzl-Bialik Jewish school in Caracas, Venezuela.(Nuevo Mundo Israelita)

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One of the world's most tight-knit Jewish communities, Venezuelans still mourn their Surfside victims. - Connecticut Jewish Ledger

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

(JTA) Jrgen Krauss, the basically a Jewish dad on the latest season of The Great British Baking Show, lived up to his reputation during Desserts Week when he produced a Passover-inspired pavlova with a traditional charoset topping. Krauss, who is from the Black Forest region of Germany, is married to a British Jew. Their family belongs to a Reform synagogue in Brighton, where the Jewish Chronicle reported he has taught a challah-baking class to children. In the first episode of this season, a Passover Seder plate is visible behind him in a scene introducing viewers to his home and family.

That proved a prescient symbol this week, when judges charged the contestants with producing a flavorful pavlova, a delicate dessert made with just whipped egg whites and sugar. Pavlovas are naturally kosher for Passover because they lack flour, and Krauss leaned into that as he designed an inspired-by-Passover version with a charoset topping and pyramids of chocolate-covered matzah. Krauss makes his charoset in the Sephardic style, using dates, oranges and cardamom while eschewing the apples and nuts that are common in Ashkenazi versions.

The fan-favorite series has drawn criticism before for its handling of Jewish foods. In Season Five, the instruction to make a plaited loaf left some viewers wondering if anyone on the show knew about challah. Then last year, rainbow-bagel and babka challenges did not delve into the Jewish significance of the bakes.

After judge Prue Leith wonders whether the topping will be too sweet against the pavlova, Krauss explains charosets symbolism. Its the mortar used by the Jews to stick the pyramids and Pharoahs cities together, he says.

After Krauss creation earns a favorable review judge Paul Hollywood announces, Jrgens back! host Matt Lucas, who is Jewish, offers one more reaction.

Mazel tov, Lucas tells him before moving on to the next baker one who channeled the colors and flavors of Easter.

Main Photo: Jurgen Krauss, who bakes challah for his familys synagogue, shows off his Passover-inspired pavlova in The Great British Baking Show tent. (Screenshot from Netflix)

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Passover comes to the 'Great British Baking Show' - Connecticut Jewish Ledger

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

The YOU star who bagged the horror genres Scream Queen accolade for her captivating performances in various shows of the same genre. Alongside the famous gossip girl fame actor Penn Badgley, Victoria sure made her mark with her toe to toe performance both with her skills and character. YOU is one of a kid controversy, and the series presents us with the creepiest, utter maniac Joe Goldberg with his weirdest obsessions of making other lives his prey. Then comes Love Quinn, as innocent as graceful as she seems, she startles the audience with a scary obsession of her own. After her recent promotion of the new Netflixs The Haunting of Bly Manor (season 2), Victoria Peretti is yet again all over the internet, and this time people are distinctly interested to know more about her dating life, Let us quickly go over the details of Victoria Pedrettis boyfriend, and know if or not she has one.

Victoria Pedretti is an actress from the United States who was born on March 23, 1995. An MTV Award has been bestowed upon her, as well as nominations for a Saturn Award and two Critics Choice Awards. Victoria Pedretti is recognized for portraying troubled and evil characters. Her career hits list includes the recent best Netflix thriller drama series YOU, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and her unique role of Katherine in Shirley (biographical drama film) and not to forget the Netflix anthology series The Haunting in which she played distinctly unique and different roles. Let us now quickly fill you in about her early life before we get into knowing the anticipated topic, Victoria Pedrettis boyfriend.

Also read: Alex Cooper Boyfriend: All About Her Dating Life

Victoria Pedretti was born and brought up in the United States state of Pennsylvania. She has had a vaguely dysfunctional childhood because of her abusive household, which led to her being diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 6, as she mentioned in a recent interview. Victoria has roots from Jewish ancestry as her grandmother was Ashkenazi and Jew. She also is partly Italian (three-quarters). Victoria Pedretti even had her Bar Mitzvah in her teens. Despite her being raised in a somewhat emotionally dysfunctional household, the actress states that her parents had done their best to give her good life, and she loves them.

Victoria later in life attended high school at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, and it was then that she realized her interest in musical theatre. After high school, she took part in Pittsburghs Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, where she did her Bachelors in Fine Arts in acting in the year 2017. She said in an interview that in the initial days of her degree, she was not encouraged to enter the field of acting and was rather advised to try her hand at direction. The 25-year-old actress thought that would be hard, and finally, now she has indeed made her mark in the industry.

Victoria Pedretti is particularly secretive about her private life, and this has not allowed the paparazzi to uncover the mystery of whether or not she is in a relationship. On the other hand, her life under wraps has made the public speculate that she might potentially be having a secret affair that she doesnt want to catch the attention of the media and public. Victoria, as of now, hasnt appeared at any public events with a partner, let alone a boyfriend. The 25-year-old actress isnt active on social media, but she has an Instagram account which she uses to keep people updated with her stories. The point to be noted is that she has over a million followers and hasnt had a post yet.

It is also comprehensible that all her roles at hand and her hectic schedule havent left her much time to date. The young actress is at the peak just at the beginning of her career, which can show how much potential she holds. Besides repeating her role as Love on YOU Season 3, Victoria Pedretti also just wrapped up promotion for her other blockbuster Netflix program, The Haunting of Bly Manor, the second episode of the Haunting anthology series in which she played heroine Dani Clayton.

Victoria Pedretti has a lot of serious acting work to be done for her, so she may be preoccupied with that rather than dating. With that being said, her upcoming role as Alice Sebold, whos the author of The Loving Bones and the film is an adaptation of the authors memoir Sebold 1999. She is all set to come back with a smashing hit again.

Also read: Are Whitney and Frenchman Still Together? Know About The Couple

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Victoria Pedretti Boyfriend: Who Is The Actress Dating Now? - The Artistree

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

Over the past several months there has been an analysis of the Pew Research Center study in the United States which focused on the feelings, actions and considerations of American Jews. In many ways, there were no big surprises. As Andres Spokoiny, the CEO of the Jewish Funders Networks wrote, No bombshells, no surprises, no Jewish leaders pulling their hair and crying gevalt. The Jewish population is growing at the same pace as the general population, and levels of affiliation are fairly stable. Dull. But dull is good!

Yet at the same time, the question of Jewish peoplehood seems to be back on the table. Not necessarily in the terms that it was used when the 1990 NJPS study was released with regard to Jewish continuity but rather, do Jews feel connected to one another across time and space? Is there an understanding of interconnectedness to one another if we dont necessarily share the same language and experiences? We certainly saw this in May of 2021, as there wasnt a uniform voice of support by the American Jewish community while Israel was engaged in a military conflict with Hamas. This indicated for some, a withering of the seams in the strong fabric between US Jewry and Israeli Jewry. And the notion that Jews of different streams dont feel as connected to each other as they might have in the past was concerning as well.

As a congregational rabbi at a Conservative synagogue in the United States, I am certainly aware that my experience and upbringing and therefore my expression of Judaism might be varied from people who grew up elsewhere. And yet I believe there are ties that continue to bind us and what I have witnessed over the decades, even if in small ways, is that there can and should be attempts to strengthen those ties. In the past, it has been through shared moments of expression of a Jewish community striving for a shared goal. For me, the most profound moment was in December of 1987 when as a 10-year-old, I marched, with my family and many others to free Soviet Jews.

A further way of creating bonds of peoplehood was through the use of Israel trips. In many ways, American Jews went to Israel to yes, learn about Israel, but also, in order to strengthen their own Judaism. Synagogue trips, Federations missions, teen tours were all crafted as a way of creating a bond between participants while using Israel as a campus to learn more about this sacred and shared history. Eventually, American Jews went to Israel to meet with Israelis to learn about their experience. The explosion of Birthright over the past two decades has been an attempt to solidify a connection between young Jews and the land, state, and people of Israel. However, for many years, this was one-directional.

But what I am seeing now, on a small scale, is Israeli Jews coming to America to learn about our experiences and to be in dialogue. This is the most important step. The shared responsibility of crossing the Atlantic to engage in dialogue to truly learn and understand who one another is.

Just as I got on a plane in May of 2021 in the wee hours of the ceasefire with other NY area rabbis to head to Israel to learn about the struggles, sadness, and fears, of Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, so too, there needs to be a conversation taking place in the US so that Israelis can understand what American Jews are talking about and what their experiences are. Yes, Israelis need to listen and learn about the increase of antisemitism but Israeli Jews also need to learn about the creativity, adaptation taking place in the United States that is causing more Jews to connect with their heritage.

But I also know that while presentations from government officials are crucial, and much appreciated, dialogue with Israelis throughout the country is also important to forge ties beyond narratives from the past. Over the past few months, I have had the honor of welcoming two distinct groups of Israelis who, despite their full-time jobs, are engaged in studies to learn more about the American Jewish community.

One visit took place in August of this year when the participants in the University of Haifa Ruderman Program in American Jewish Studies came to NYC. The Ruderman Program is offered as a masters program in the Department of Israel Studies. It covers a range of issues pertaining to American Jewish life, American society and the long-lasting and important bond between the Jews of America, the State of Israel and Israeli society. The program caters to outstanding students who seek to expand their grasp of American Jewish life and who want to take part in a unique academic and intellectual experience.

The second type was comprised of Orthodox rabbis in the Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Beit Midrash for Rabbinic Leadership in Israel. One cohort actually already visited in February 2020 and a second contingent from this program came earlier this month.

These rabbis meet while continuing their full-time work, with the goal of enhancing their leadership with the best of the YCT curriculum: unique talmud Torah, professional rabbinics, pastoral counseling, a sense of mission to inspire and enhance the Jewish people, and an encounter with unique aspects of the American Jewish community. In these visits there was an opportunity for sharing what is currently taking place in a community, what is similar and different to what is being experienced in Israel, and how the visit itself challenged perceptions of the American Jewish community. There were discussions about affiliation patterns, behaviors, choices made regarding religious practice and more. There were open and honest moments about areas of disagreements.

But the desire to come together and learn with one another superseded any tension or concern about whether the right or wrong sentence was uttered. As one YCT rabbi shared, he saw the anxiety of choices in my face behind the mask, an anxiety that he too has experienced. The camaraderie created allowed for further conversations, scholarship, and friendship. Since greeting the first group of YCT Fellows in 2020, I had the chance to not only interact with them at the AIPAC policy conference but to have a Zoom reunion during the height of COVID to reflect on how our synagogue community was responding to the pandemic.

None of these encounters will necessarily change peoples individual behaviors, certainly not in the area of religious practice, but what it does is open the lines of communication, which strengthens the bonds between the two largest Jewish communities in the world.

At a time when many are speaking only to those with whom they already agree and quite often it is the most extreme voices, on both sides, that are heard, bringing people together to a central location with a goal of listening more than speaking, can have ripple effects for generations to come.

The writer is the rabbi at Sutton Place Synagogue, a Conservative (Masorti) synagogue in Midtown Manhattan.

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Jews across the world can only connect through dialogue - opinion - The Jerusalem Post

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

Jury selection began Monday in an ambitious civil lawsuit against two dozen white nationalist individuals and organizations four years after a sweeping coalition of neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other extremist factions descended on Charlottesville, Virginia, for a hate-fueled weekend rally that left one woman dead and many more people injured.

Attorneys representing nine members of the Charlottesville community will attempt to prove that the defendants a range of far-right groups and white supremacist figureheads, including Richard Spencer, Jason Kessler and Christopher Cantwell conspired to commit acts of racial violence and force them to pay damages that could leave them in financial ruin.

As a group, the plaintiffs who are Black, white and multiracial represent the kind of diversity the defendants oppose in America. The plaintiffs attorneys are hoping a 19th century law will help them succeed in the civil suit. Under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was enacted to protect the civil rights of newly freed slaves from white bigots, victims of racially motivated violence are allowed to sue their perpetrators in federal court.

First and foremost, this is about justice for our plaintiffs and accountability for the defendants, which is all the more important given the stunning lack of accountability weve seen when it comes to white supremacy in recent years, said Amy Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America, the nonprofit funding the lawsuit.

By winning large financial judgments at trial, this case can also effectively bankrupt and dismantle a number of the groups, she added.

NurPhoto via Getty Images

During jury selection at the Charlottesville federal courthouse on Monday, U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon dismissed some potential jurors for having negative views of anti-racism demonstrators and anti-fascist activists, sometimes known as antifa. One man said he viewed antifa as troublemakers but believed he could be impartial at trial and was permitted to join the jury. Each juror was asked to complete a questionnaire asking how concerned they felt about racism against different groups, such as Black people or Jewish people.

Once the jury is seated, the trial is expected to last several weeks.

Some defendants have already complained about the financial toll the long-running case has taken. Spencer, who is credited with coining the phrase alt-right, has been living at his mothers house in Whitefish, Montana, and will represent himself in court to save money. So will Cantwell, who was dubbed the crying Nazi for his emotional reaction after learning there was a warrant for his arrest.

At least two defendants are believed to be in hiding.

The groups targeted in the lawsuit, and their overlapping ideologies, are well-known to extremism researchers. They include Vanguard America, whose members believe people with white blood have a bond with American soil, and Identity Evropa, whose members champion white American identity.

The Unite the Right rally in August 2017 was ostensibly a chance for right-wingers to protest the proposed removal of a monument to the defeated Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The white nationalist who obtained a permit from the city for the weekend rally, Jason Kessler, is among the defendants.

Digital messages between organizers and participants would later show how many of the events organizers seemed to anticipate and fervently encourage the violence that ultimately transpired and the hatred that was displayed.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs will use those digital records in total, they have sifted through 5.3 terabytes of data related to the case in order to make their argument. They will need to prove two things: that the defendants conspired to commit acts of violence, even if they did not all know each other beforehand, and that the violence was motivated by racial animus, Spitalnick told HuffPost.

Clearly, we think its quite a strong case, she said.

Some of the planning conversations have already leaked out; screenshots from the communications platform Discord were published online not long after the Unite the Right event.

But theres stuff we havent seen yet text messages and internal private chat rooms and things like that, noted Emily Gorcenski, a data scientist from Charlottesville who has been working to document white supremacist violence across the United States. So I think that, looking forward, that evidence being revealed in public will be interesting.

Images from the Unite the Right rally crowds of angry white men blending American flags with racist and anti-Semitic iconography provided a stunning reminder of the hateful ideologies that still permeate parts of the United States.

On the evening of Friday, Aug. 11, 2017, a crowd of white nationalists and neo-Nazis surrounded Charlottesvilles Robert E. Lee statue carrying tiki torches, chanting, Jews will not replace us and White lives matter!

The coalition then marched to the University of Virginias campus rotunda, where a group of about two dozen counterprotesters were gathered at a statue of President Thomas Jefferson, who founded the campus. Two plaintiffs, Natalie Romero and John Doe, were doused with fluid that they thought could be flammable. John Doe a Black man who wishes to be anonymous out of fear for his safety was afraid he might die being in such close proximity to a hostile mob with lit torches, court documents say.

One of the defendants, Robert Azzmador Ray, who writes for the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, allegedly shouted, The heat here is nothing compared to what youre going to get in the ovens!

The following day, a 20-year-old neo-Nazi, James Alex Fields Jr., deliberately drove his gray Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counterprotesters. More than 30 people were injured, some gravely, and one died: 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

The aim of this lawsuit, states an amended complaint filed in 2019, is to ensure that nothing like this will happen again at the hands of Defendants not on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, and not anywhere else in the United States of America.

This was never about a free speech rally. They planned to inflict violence. And we knew that, and we tried to sound the alarm but were dismissed as crazy, flailing, arm-waving leftists who just want to shut down free speech.

- Jalane Schmidt, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia

Several of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit were seriously injured by Fields, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.

Thomas Baker was walking with a group of counterprotesters on Aug. 12 when he was struck by Fields vehicle and thrown into the air, suffering a concussion, a torn ligament in his left wrist and a torn labrum in his right hip that required surgery. He missed more than a month of work and has had trouble even standing for long periods of time without pain.

Romero, then an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, was also hit by the car, which knocked her to the ground and fractured her skull. She continues to suffer vertigo and debilitating headaches, court documents say.

Marcus Martin managed to push his fiance out of the path of the Dodge Challenger but got hit himself, suffering a broken leg and ankle. He can be seen wearing red-and-white shoes in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken of the crash by Ryan M. Kelly.

All of the plaintiffs say they have emotional scars from the Unite the Right rally weekend.

The Lee statue was finally removed last July. A museum for Black culture and history, the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, wants to melt it down and use the bronze to create new public art.

Jalane Schmidt, a Black Lives Matter activist and associate professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia, has been working for years to push back against the type of hateful views espoused by the Charlottesville defendants.

In some ways, she told HuffPost, the trial is a vindication of the activism, the vigilance and the vehemence of local anti-racist activists.

Schmidt recalled being treated with skepticism by others in the Charlottesville community prior to Unite the Right. In 2017, she said, we were getting a constant message that we were the problem, trying to prevent people like Spencer from exercising his First Amendment rights.

We were onto this early. We saw it for what it was, Schmidt said. This was never about a free speech rally. They planned to inflict violence. And we knew that, and we tried to sound the alarm, but were dismissed as crazy, flailing, arm-waving leftists who just want to shut down free speech.

So this is a sense of vindication and seeing the clear parallel with Jan. 6, where people are planning out in the open that theyre going to do this. And then, sure enough, it comes to pass, Schmidt said.

Gorcenski also sees a clear line between Charlottesville to the right-wing violence that exploded on Capitol Hill early this year and stressed the importance of the work local activists have been doing to fight for civil rights.

The movement to bring down the Lee statue was started by a 15-year-old a Black girl named Zyahna Bryant who started a Change.org petition in 2016.

Long after the cameras are gone and the verdict is in, these are people who will continue doing the work because Charlottesville is not just about what happened in 2017. Charlottesville is an ongoing story with ongoing struggles, and has been for 400 years and will be for another 400 years, Gorcenski said.

For the locals, Richard Spencer will come and go, and all of these guys, but our struggle, our love, our community, our bonds will be here forever.

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Neo-Nazis And Extremists Face Justice As Civil Trial Over Charlottesville Rally Is Set To Begin - HuffPost

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

For local coverage related to the coronavirus, go to dailyfreeman.com/tag/coronavirus.

The Fall for Art Show, Sale and Community Fundraiser, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Ulster County, runs through 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, in a virtual format. The 25th-anniversary celebration will give participants days to shop from works created by 34 Hudson Valley artists. Online: fallforart.org.

The Ulster County Office for the Aging, in conjunction with NY Connects and the Ulster County Department of Social Services, will present the Halloween Trunk or Treat Human Services Expo on Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Tech City, 300 Enterprise Drive. In case of rain, the expo will take place Thursday, Oct. 28.Local service providers and area agencies will be on hand to discuss their services for seniors, as well as adults and children, as well as answer questions. Attendees will park their vehicles and can visit each provider for a Halloween treat and to learn about what they provide.

Topic of Cancer, Family of Woodstocks support group for cancer survivors, patients and caretakers, will have its second meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at Woodstock Reformed Church, 16 Tinker St. Woodstock. Topic of Cancer helps people transitioning to a new way of life, assists with problems at home, work or school, deals with the side effects of treatment, role and relationship changes, financial concerns, and, in the words of Family of Woodstock, just about any problem under the sun relevant to participants. The group meets regularly on the fourth Wednesday of each month. For more information, call Jane Young at (914) 466-2917 or Eric Glass at (845) 750-1253.

The Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, 661 state Route 308, Rhinebeck, will present Gaslight, which tells the story of a cruel cold-hearted husband who employs all sorts of sinister tricks, to manipulate his wife into believing she is going insane. Performances run through Oct. 31 and take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at centerforperformingarts.org.

Performing Arts of Woodstock has postponed the production of The Moors and has rescheduled the play for June 2022.

The Rosendale Library, 264 Main St., Rosendale, will have a pumpkin-carving contest on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 4 p.m. Ten pumpkins will be available or participants can bring their own. Register for either event at rosendalelibrary.org.

The Rhinecliff Volunteer Fire Company and Rhinebeck Grange 896 will host soup sales starting Thursday, Oct. 28, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the firehouse, 17 Shatzell Ave. Orders are $10 for soup or chili, sold by the quart. Orders are takeout only. Additional sales are planned for Nov. 18, Dec. 16, Jan. 27 and Feb. 24. To order ahead, send an email to Joey Potsandpans at baerhands@aol.com or call (845) 876-6149 after 10:30 a.m.

Boom Town living history cemetery tours take place at 7 p.m. Saturdays through October at the Old Dutch Church cemetery in Uptown Kingston. Tickets are $15; $10 for students and seniors. Online: livinghistoryny.com.

Boy Scout Troop 163 is holding a spaghetti dinner fundraiser from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 30 (dine-in or takeout) at the Olivebridge Fire Department, 9 Mill Road. The suggested donation of $10 includes spaghetti, meatballs, salad and dessert.

Morton Memorial Library, 82 Kelly St, Rhinecliff, is having a food donation drive through Oct. 31. Drop off non-perishable food items at the front desk or in the orange bin on the porch. Call (845) 876-2903 for more information.

The Kingston Community Singers are looking for new members. The group meets Wednesdays at 1 p.m. at the Old Dutch Church, 272 Wall St., Kingston. There is no need to audition. CDC guidelines for vaccination and social distancing are required. Call (856) 305-1546 for more information.

The silent horror film Nosferatu will be shown Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m., at the Ulster Performing Arts Center, 601 Broadway, Kingston. The screening will feature live organ accompaniment. Admission is $6. Free admission to those dressed as vampires. Tickets are available at the UPAC and Bardavon box offices Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets also are available by calling UPAC at (845) 339-6088 or the Bardavon at (845) 473-5288, or by sending an email to boxoffice@bardavon.org.

The MyKingstonKids Halloween Fest and Parade takes place on Saturday, Oct. 30 in Kingston. The parade takes place from 3 to 4 p.m. from the Kingston Plaza up Broadway to the YMCA Festival, taking place at the Y parking lot from 4 to 8 p.m. Register for free and receive a complimentary gift. https://tinyurl.com/cr4cnspm.

Our Lady of Fatima Church, 1250 state Route 32, Plattekill, will have its annual Fall Penny Social on Saturday, Oct. 30. Doors open at 6 p.m., with the calling starting at 6:30 p.m. Masks must be worn at all times. Call (845) 564-4972 for more information.

The Fairly New Thrift Shop, 58 Pearl St., Kingston, is open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for shopping. It is also open Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to accept donations only. Call (845) 481-4171 for more information.

Family of Woodstock has postponed its planned gala from Nov. 4, 2021, to May 5, 2022.

Coach House Players, 12 Augusta St. Kingston, will present Agatha Christies murder mystery Night Watch on Nov. 12-14 and Nov. 19-21. Friday and Saturday evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m. CDC protocols will be in place and proof of vaccination will be required. More information can be found at http://www.coachhouseplayers.org. Reservations can also be made by calling (845) 331-2476. Ticket prices are $20, $18 for seniors 62 and over, and $10 for youths 18 and under.

American Legion Post No. 187, 94 Second St., Athens, will have a craft fair on Saturday, Dec. 11, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Set up will start at 10:30 a.m. Vendors are welcome and applications are available at the post or on its Facebook page.

The Arts Society of Kingston has suspended figure drawing for the time being.

The Hurley Heritage Museum has reopened for Saturday visits and tours. Walking tours of Historic Main Street will take place at 1 and 3 p.m. Tours cost $5. Meet in front of the museum; reservations are advised. Museum hours are 1-4 p.m. Saturdays through the end of October. Online: hurleyheritagesociety.org.

City of Kingston municipal buildings are open, but all employees and visitors must wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie and the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston have reopened. Go to bardavon.org for info about upcoming shows.

Ulster Countys offices are open, but all employees and visitors must wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. The Department of Motor Vehicles office remains open by appointment only. Go to clerk.ulstercountyny.gov or dmv.ny.gov.

The Kingston Library is open. More info: kingstonlibrary.org.

The Kingston Farmers Market takes place Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Ulster County Courthouse parking lot. (Enter from John Street or Wall Street.) The market is scheduled to run, rain or shine, through Nov. 20. Online: kingstonfarmersmarket.org.

The Rhinebeck Farmers Market is open Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the municipal parking lot at 61 E. Market St. It will run outside until Dec. 26. (There will not be a market on Dec. 5.) Go to rhinebeckfarmersmarket.com for more information.

The Ulster County Historical Society, 2682 U.S. Route 209, Marbletown, has opened for the season. Hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and students. Admission for society members is free.

Opus 40, located at 50 Fite Road in Saugerties, is open Friday through Sunday.

The Stone Ridge Library, 3700 Main St. (U.S. Route 209), is open. Hours are Monday, 1:30 to 7 p.m.; Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. More info: stoneridgelibrary.org.

Friends of Historic Saugerties, a program of the Saugerties Public Library, has suspended its monthly local history lecture. Online: FHSSaugerties.wixsite.com/home

The town of Ulsters Russell Brott Senior Center is now open for daily activities. Contact group leaders or the Town Clerks Office (845) 382-2455 for class schedules.

Happy to Help Food Pantry is located at St. James United Methodist Church, 35 Pearl St., Kingston. The food pantry is only open on Sundays, from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Participants are asked to follow COVID procedures by wearing masks, bringing in their own bags, entering through the Fair Street entrance, and observe social distancing. The food pantry does not deliver food. (845) 331-3030.

The Peoples Place Food Pantry is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 17 St. James St., Kingston. Donations of fresh and shelf-stable foods are being accepted. Call (845) 338-4030.

The Peoples Place Community Caf is open and free to all Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., serving continental breakfast and lunch.

The Peoples Place Bounty Table, located just outside the doors, offers free produce, breads, baked goods, dairy items and proteins. The items change daily and are first-come, first serve during business hours, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Peoples Place Thrift Store and Boutique has reopened. Hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston, is open from noon to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays for 30-minute visits by groups of up to four. Advance tickets are required. Go to hrmm.org.

The Saugerties Public Library is open to the public. Go to saugertiespubliclibrary.org or call (845) 246-4317.

The Arts Society of Kingstons gallery has reopened. Hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays. Visit askforarts.org.

The Highland Public Library is open. Hours are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2-6 p.m.; and Saturdays, noon to 2 p.m. More info: (845) 691-2275 or highlandlibrary.org.

The Starr Library in Rhinebeck has reopened. The hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. More info: starrlibrary.org or (845) 876-4030.

The Woodstock Library is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visit woodstock.org.

The Red Hook Public Library is open. Call (845) 758-3241, email director@redhooklibrary.org or go to http://www.redhooklibrary.org.

The Olive Free Library is open. More info: olivefreelibrary.org.

The Rosendale Library is open. (845) 658-9013, rosendalelibrary.org.

The Hurley and West Hurley libraries have reopened.

The D.R. Evarts Library in Athens is open. More info: (518) 945-1417.

The Clinton Community Library has reopened.

The Ellenville Public Library and Museum is open. Call (845) 647-5530.

The Town of Esopus Library is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursdays. More info: (845) 338-5580, info@esopuslibrary.org or http://www.esopuslibrary.org.

The Morton Memorial Library & Community House in Rhinecliff has reopened to the public. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. (845) 876-2903 or email sandy@mortonrhinecliff.org.

The Morton Memorial Library in Pine Hill is open. More info: (845) 254-4222, http://www.pinehilllibrary.org.

The Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Tower in Arkville has reopened its top cab to visitors.

The Food Pantry at Trinity Lutheran Church, 72 Spring St., Kingston, is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The pantry is closed on Mondays and Fridays. Wear a mask when picking up a bag of groceries at the door.

The city of Kingstons playgrounds have reopened.

The Dutchess County Department of Motor Vehicles, 22 Market St., Poughkeepsie, has resumed in-person license, permits and non-driver ID transactions by appointment only. Appointments may be made by calling (845) 486-2388 between 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. For information about vehicle registrations, go to dutchessny.gov/countyclerk.

The city of Poughkeepsie has reopened its parks and skate park.

The town of Ulster transfer station is open.

Dutchess County Public Transit and Ulster County Area Transit have increased bus service. Go to bit.ly/bus-resume for details.

Kingstons Emergency Food Hotline has added a website, http://www.kingstonemergencyfood.com. To provide meals and groceries to those in need across the Kingston City School District, the Emergency Food hotline, (888) 316-0879, was created to streamline the intake of requests.

The Samuel Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz has reopened. Its hours are Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attendance is limited to allow for social distancing. Go to newpaltz.edu/dorskymuseum for more information.

All requests for Kingston Police Department reports should be directed to Records Clerk Alyssa Rockefeller at (845) 331-2061 or arockefeller@kingston-ny.gov.

The Dutchess County Office for the Aging prepares hot meals that are delivered to home-bound seniors Monday to Friday. During the COVID-19 outbreak, New York state has temporarily expanded eligibility for the home-delivered meals program for seniors. Contact the Office for the Aging to find out more, (845) 486-2555, or email nbhargava@dutchessny.gov.

Catholic Charities Case Management Services, including the Housing Resource Center, remain available for assistance with emergency food and shelter, and other basic social safety net support. Requests for assistance should be initiated with a phone in Ulster at (845) 340-9170, extension 3000, or by email at cccosuhelpline@cccsos.org.

The state police have suspended employment fingerprinting, along with child safety seat checks, at their stations.

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Whats open in the Mid-Hudson Valley as of Oct. 26, 2021 - The Daily Freeman

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

The Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies has entered its fourth year with a new chair at the helm, Kellie Jones, the Hans Hofman Professor of Modern Art in the Department of Art History and Archaeology and a MacArthur fellow. She has big plans for the department, which include furthering the work done by her predecessor as chair, Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin.

Jones recently discussed her vision for the department with Columbia News, as well as how African American and African Diaspora Studies plays a vital role not only in training students to be active, informed global citizens, but also in producing innovative, socially engaged scholarship, research, and programming.

Q. As the new department chair, how will you build on Farahs work over the next three years?

A. Farah was an amazing inaugural chair. She set a lot of things in motion, and we are presently in the building stage. Now that we are a department as opposed to an institute, we can grow our faculty and student body according to our own vision. Its key to keep our connections with other departments like history and art history, because were revitalizing those fields as well as ours.

We have gotten great support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to center the arts in African American and African Diaspora Studies. Its surprising to think that art and culture play such a major role in this countryand African American art and artists in particularyet in this discipline, they havent been as central, so were looking to change that.

We have a postdoctoral fellow, Jonah Mixon-Webster, a poet and sound artist who teaches literature, joining us this year. Our inaugural artist-in-residence last year was jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran; this year its writer Edwidge Danticat, who will be doing a public program in the spring, so watch out for news on that. Also with us this year is music historian Salim Washington, who is our international visiting professor from Durban, South Africa.

Additionally, in a collaboration with the art history department, we have two more professors teaching in that area: This semester, its Uchenna Itam, who just finished her PhD at the University of Texas, Austin, and is now doing postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania. In the spring, its Christina Knight from Haverford College. They are teaching contemporary courses focusing on African Diaspora art and theory in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Q. As chair, are you continuing to teach?

A. Yes, this semester Im teaching my Issues in Performance Art graduate seminar. It has a feminist focus, and of course, I love to teach it when Performa, the biennial of visual performance art, is on with almost all of its programs taking place out-of-doors. In the spring Ill be teaching my African American Artists in the 20th and 21st Centuries survey course.

A lot of my coursesover the next few years at leastwill have a strong African American and African Diasporic focus. Since the pandemic and all the social justice work that went on last year, people really want to see these courses. Potentially, the classes are going to get larger. Usually, theyre very self-selecting, so Im excited about that, and particularly now, as visual artists from the African Diaspora are very visible these days.

Q. Will there be more exhibitions, like 2019s 20 and Odd: The 400-Year Anniversary of 1619at the LeRoy Neiman Gallery?

A. It would be great. The curator of that show was Kalia Brooks Nelson, who is our Mellon Arts Project director, so its a possibility. Right now, its a challenge to bring artists and their work to campus, but once we move past our current situation, we will revisit the idea of exhibitions.

Q. Are there plans for including Latinx and Latin American art and artists in the department since thats another focus of your research?

A. Yes, as a department, thats also part of what we do. History Professor Frank Guridys work focuses in part on Latinx and Latin America, as I do, and it is an area we are looking to have more coverage in. The beauty of having an African Diaspora aspect to our unit is that we can be inclusive. Take, for example, Music Professor Kevin Fellezss most recent book, Listen But Dont Ask Question: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Across the TransPacific. When we say diaspora, were not leaving any part of the world out. There are all sorts of collaborations and connections, and so much work to be done in this field.

Q. Youve already touched on this, but is there anything you want to add about the multidisciplinary nature of the department?

A. African American and African Diaspora Studies has always been interdisciplinary. It embraces social sciences and the humanities. In the past, social sciences have been dominant, and certainly after 2020, with social justice concerns and interest in the Black Lives Matter movement, people will look to that area.

But we cant forget that rights movements are also driven by culturemusic, posters, and other visual documentation. When you really look at social justice, activism, all sorts of political movements, and even the study of peoples lives, youre going to encounter literature, music, and the visual. We have a terrific group of professors who work in all these areas and understand their connections.

For example, GSAPP Professor Mabel O. Wilson, who, among many other projects, co-curated the exhibitionReconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in Americaat the Museum of Modern Art in New York earlier in 2021. She recently won the National Building Museums annual Vincent Scully Prize. You might say that architecture involves just buildings, but Mabels work shows that its so much more than that.

This discipline looks at these important movements of people and culture, but not only in terms of social justice and social problems, as African American life has often been looked at. We take a broader approach to unpacking life inequities, and pushing the arts forward sheds a light on that more expansive approach.

Q. What impact do you want the department to have on Harlem and Morningside Heights?

A. Since our founding by Manning Marable in 1993 as the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, we have had an urban focus and have collaborated with our neighbors. I want the community to be able to take advantage of all the department has to offer. This year all of our programming is online, which allows us to reach so many more people who are looking for this type of content. And we continue to work with local organizations.

Another program supported by Mellon that Im heading up is Black Curators Matter: An Oral History Project, which were doing in collaboration with the Columbia Center for Oral History Research. Were creating oral histories with six curators who were activeand still are activefrom the 1970s to the early 2000s. These are narratives that grew out of the current strong interest in African American and African Diaspora visual artists. We never want to forget the curators who worked tirelessly to bring this art to us. They were like the bridge between 1960s activism and what we see now in terms of so many Black people working in museums. That was unheard of in the 1970s, 1980s, and even into the 1990s and the 2000s.

Were collaborating with a number of institutions on this project, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. Since this is an oral history project, much of it will be recorded and deposited into libraries, but there is a public component, which will be happening over the next year and a half. Its also an intergenerational dialogue; one of the dialogues, for instance, is between Lowery Stokes Sims, who was the first Black curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, starting in 1974, and Ashley James (CC09), who is the first full-time Black curator at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, where she was hired in 2019. A lot of Black figures in the New York art world are Columbia graduates, including Whitney Museum of Art curator Rujeko Hockley (CC05), and MoMA curator Thomas Lax (GSAS2013), who are also part of the Black Curators Matter project.

Q. What are your hopes for the future of the department?

A. That we can grow, not only the faculty, but also the major and student interest. We want to be a resource for students. We hope the rest of the Universityas well as the entire Columbia community and our surrounding neighborhooddigs into these histories of African American and African Diaspora culture. We hope to serve all these populationsespecially during this challenging time when so many of us have been under threat in so many waysby developing our events, programs, teaching, research, and visibility.

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Meet the New Chair of the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies - Columbia University

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

Music Sociology and the African Diaspora

Tues., Oct. 26, 7-9 p.m.

Kilworth Chapel at University of Puget Sound,3410 N. 18thSt., Tacoma

Info HERE

Pianist and social musicologist Joshua Thompson, a.k.a. "Sock Joplin," presents an evening of music, dance, and conversation about African diasporic music and musicians in the world of classical music. Mr. Thompson is co-host with Angela Brown of the award-winning podcast, "Melanated Moments in Classical Music."

This event is sponsored by the Catharine Gould Chism Fund for the Humanities, the School of Music, the African American Studies Department, and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Emphasis.

Attendance Guidelines: This event is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required and proof of full vaccination must be presented upon entry. Due to the vaccination requirement, children under 12 are not permitted. All attendees are required to wear masks that completely cover the mouth and nose while indoors. Seating is general admission, with social distancing between parties required. Attendance will be monitored to comply with adjusted venue capacity.

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Music Sociology and the African Diaspora - Tacoma Weekly

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Posted By admin on October 26, 2021

Dr. Carole Boyce Davies lengthy title at Cornell University Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of Africana studies and literatures in English denotes an impressive career in academia but doesnt begin to describe the international recognition she has received and the breadth of her knowledge about the African Diaspora.

I often tell people I live the Diaspora, she remarks. I was born in Trinidad & Tobago, studied in the United States, studied in Nigeria, had a Fulbright in Brazil, did research in the U.S., Brazil, Africa, India, China and the U.K., so I am truly international.

One of Boyce Davies notable accomplishments is serving as editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture published in 2008. According Dr. Carole Boyce Daviesto Midwest Book Review, it is both an accessible resource and a work of exacting research on Diaspora communities, locations, peoples, culture, arts, historical events, organizations, theories and more.

The tome along with dozens of other books and more than 100 chapters and journal articles she has written or edited have positioned Boyce Davies as one of the premier authorities on African Diaspora studies.

Boyce Davies sprinkles her conversation with references to Black literary icons such as Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde on the subject of scholar-activists, though she prefers the term radical intellectuals. Boyce Davies designed and taught a course on civil rights attorney Michelle Alexanders groundbreaking 2010 bestseller The New Jim Crow and she touts Henry Louis Gates Black in Latin America research.

Amid the widespread campus unrest of the early 1970s, Boyce Davies credits Howard University, where she earned her masters degree in African studies in 1974, with exposing her to a variety of Black historians and literary giants. They included Sterling Brown; C.L.R. James; John O. Killens; Lon Damas, who was her thesis advisor; Arthur P. Davis, who was one of her literature professors; and Howards pioneering Black librarian Dorothy Porter Wesley, who developed the world-renowned Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. They were such brilliant activists and intellectuals conscious, committed people. I was blessed to have been immersed in so much culture. She sees a connection to her later research and scholarship.

The mantra for many of us during my time as a Howard grad student was study and struggle, she says. The adult version of this is represented in the Black radical intellectual tradition which sees the Black struggle as global and one to which scholarship uncovers these histories, cultures and practices and shares that knowledge with campus and community.

A native of Trinidad & Tobago and a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Boyce Davies was awarded a Commonwealth scholarship to pursue her doctorate at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria with an agreement to return to the University of the West Indies to teach for at least three years. After earning her Ph.D. and fulfilling her teaching commitment, she came back to the States, where she held tenured positions at SUNY-Binghamton and Florida International University before arriving at Cornell in 2007.

One of her favorite topics is her research on Black feminist journalist and avowed Communist activist Claudia Jones. Boyce Davies calls Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Black Communist Claudia Jones probably my most popular book. Author Donald Hinds praised it as a remarkably readable and informative study of a woman who was equally adept in her writing and public speaking on feminism, and as a social pioneer, a political analyst, and an avowed adversary of racism. Boyce Davies followed it up three years later with Claudia Jones through Beyond Containment: Autobiographical Reflections, Essays, Poems.

Boyce Davies believes Jones, who was also a native Trinidadian and whose real last name was Cumberbatch, is probably not as well-known as she should be because she was deported from the United States and ended up going to England. In the U.K., Jones was acclaimed as the founder and editor of Britains first major Black newspaper, The West Indian Gazette, and for launching a huge annual event that became known as the Notting Hill Carnival.

Pointing out that Jones raised the question of women, race and class, Boyce Davies adds, She was part of a group of Black people who were in the Communist party in the 1940s and 50s who were oppressed by the McCarthy era and the red scare. Some of them were incarcerated and she was among them.

Continuing her focus, Boyce Davies current book project is an examination of Black women in political leadership in the African Diaspora. It centers Shirley Chisolm and the way in which her leadership had an impact, not just in the United States but around the world, Boyce Davies says, explaining that the book, slated for publication next year, will include international political figures such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former president of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Portia Simpson-Miller, former prime minister of Jamaica.

My position is that we should have a substantial number of women in office representing the population in their countries. We should not be happy just because we have one or a token number of women elected. We should have full representation.

Boyce Davies notes that she was among the Cornell faculty who supported student protesters demanding reforms after the killing of George Floyd. Using the hashtag #DoBetterCornell, they met with university officials to discuss actions the university could take. One of the things the students asked for is an anti-racism institute, Boyce Davies recalls. It passed the faculty senate and hopefully it will become a reality,

In response to students concerns, in July 2020, Dr. Martha E. Pollack, Cornells president, announced several measures the university would initiate including the creation of a for-credit requirement on racism, bias and equity for all Cornell students and the creation of an Anti-Racism Center along with other actions to increase diversity, equity and inclusion.

Boyce Davies says she has been outspoken on social and political issues throughout her career without the backlash that some professors are experiencing today. I guess Ive been fortunate, she jokes, quickly adding but I have also done the work. She believes strong scholarship is the key.

Her advice to young scholars and professors is based on that precept. Maintain your integrity. Dont feel that you have to compromise your political positions in order to make it up the ladder. In fact, I have found that the people who do that usually end up totally destroyed, she asserts. But you have to be strategic and you have to demonstrate that you have done intellectual work on a national level.

This article originally appeared in the October 28, 2021 edition of Diverse. Read it here.

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Dr. Carole Boyce Davies: Lessons from the Diaspora - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

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