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Community Views
Your Forum for Ideas, Comments, Information, and General Gripes.

William Boyland JR, All Talk, No Action
Boyland Jr had made promises since taking the office in 2003 and has yet to deliver on any of them. Where are all the projects, jobs, affordable housing and healthcare facilities that you promised us Assemblyman? Hopefully the Brownsville community will finally wake up in the next election!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by:
Sylvia Walker
Is 2005-the SUMMER OF HATE CRIMES ?
IS THIS A SUMMER OF HATE CRIMES ?
AUG. 10, 2005
Is Summer 2005 "the summer of hate crimes." as some (including NY Newsday) have taken to calling it? Although Mayor Mike Bloomberg says hate crimes are actually down in New York City, two new incidents over this past weekend (Sunday August 7) raise the ugly spectre of hate violence once again. In a case where history seems to repeat itself--this summer started off with another horrid bias attack in Howard Beach against three black men on June 29. On August 2-A 50 year old Hasidc Man who was walking home in Crown Hts was punched in the face by at least two black men shouting ant-Jewish epithets.
As to the most recent Uglyness:
In the first incident,this past weekend- A black Brooklyn man was beaten by a gang of white men with pipes and baseball bats -early Sunday morning Aug.7(2005)in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn (Avenue N and E59th)
In the second incident, a black gay man was also attacked on Sunday -at W18th Street and 9th Avenue while with a white companion while they were en route to the Roxy nightclub in Chelsea.
There is growing concern over a recent spate of violent attacks on Black Gay Men in particular. Readers may recall the names of Dwan Prince, Jamal James, Rashawn Brazell and others all Black Gay Men who have been volently attacked relatively recently. In fact, the New York Daily News just reported over the weekend that Dwan Prince is still paralyzed from the recent attack on him.(see below).
Of course nobody can shake the awful memory of the savage murder of a Sakia Gunn, a 15 year old Black Lesbian who frequented the Christopher Street piers with her friends--In 2003. This 15-year-old was murdered in Newark, N.J.,(while on her way home from Chistopher St)while waiting at a Bus Stop--- when she refused the advances of a man, explaining to him that she was a lesbian.
So? Are there more hate crimes in genral happening of late this summer? Is there a decided increase of such crimes --particularly directed at Black Gay Men or if we are just hearing about them more?
Regardless the pattern is still very disturbing.
SEE BELOW ARTICLES and decide for yourselves.
Gaius Laurent
NEW YORK NEWSDAY
Cops: B'klyn attack a hate crime
BY DARYL KHAN
STAFF WRITER
with staff writers Jerome Burdi, Anthony Pardo and Denisa Superville
August 8, 2005
A black Brooklyn man was beaten by a gang of white men with pipes and baseball bats as they reportedly shouted racial epithets early Sunday morning, police said.
The attack came shortly after a man in Manhattan was beaten by two suspects who thought he was gay, adding to a list of high profile violent bias crimes this summer.
The attack in the Mill Basin section ended when two passengers driving in a car pulled to a stop and tried to assist the victim, Alex Moore, 29. They called 911 and approached the crowd of men surrounding Moore, but before they could engage them, the gang dispersed.
Before scattering into the night, the attackers snatched $50 from Moore's pocket, police said.
"There were half a dozen men -- white guys -- that beat up one black guy," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "The black guy says there were racial slurs. As soon as we heard that we sent the hate crimes unit in and we are investigating it." According to statements Moore made to police, the gang set upon the man without provocation shouting: "I'm going to get you, you black nigger!"
Police have no suspects.
"I know that Mr. Moore said very clearly that as he was being beaten, he was called the n-word," said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. "It's good enough for me and the police department that that activates the bias crime."
Hynes said that if convicted of a hate crime the perpetrators could face 25 years to life in prison.
"They are going to pay," he said.
According to police, Moore, was walking home after visiting with a friend who lived nearby when either a van or a sports utility vehicle made a sudden U-turn at E. 59th Street and Ave. P.
Approximately six to eight males pulled out of the van armed with metal pipes and baseball bats charged at the man, police said.
He sustained a bruise to his chest, a laceration to his ankle, and contusion on his hip and was listed in stable condition at Brookdale Hospital where he was recovering.
He was sullen as he sat by a window in his room wearing a baby blue hospital gown, sorting through a pile of detective's cards stacked on a pillow. When asked how he was doing he responded: "Not good."
He was reluctatnt to talk about what happened.
"When I talk about it I get angry," he said.
The attack stunned the ethnically diverse community of tree-lined streets and well-tended homes. As police canvassed the area a mix of white, black, Caribbean and Asian children rode their bikes in the street. Their eyes lit up when they heard the familiar sound of the ice cream man as he made his rounds.
John Fandor, 40, who is white, had trouble comprehending that these beatings could still happen. "It's just horrible," he said. "People need to get along already. I just can't understand. It's the year 2005 and people still got hate. It's disgusting."
Colwin Chester, 35, who is black, said, "It's a sad situation and a sad day to fall back into the fact you can't feel safe."
Although many adult residents condemned the attack, teenagers said fights fueled by race are commonplace.
Despite a rash of highly publicized "hate crimes" including the beating of a suspected car thief by a white man in Howard Beach, Bloomberg said such incidents are down by 50 percent.
"The bad news," he added, "is that they still exist."
NEW YORK NEWSDAY
Gay man beaten en route to nightclub
BY DARYL KHAN
STAFF WRITER
August 8, 2005
A gay man was insulted and then beaten early Sunday morning while on his way to a well-known nightclub in the Meat Packing district.
The man was walking to the Roxy with a male friend when they were approached by two men. The first man yelled an anti-gay slur, and then both perpetrators assaulted the pair, police said.
It is one of two attacks from yesterday the Police Department is investigating as hate crimes.
The victim, who is black, and his friend, who is white, neither of whom were identified by police, were walking to the Roxy, a nightclub at the corner of W. 18th St. and 10th Ave.
"The Roxy is the last of the cavernous NY gay discos, regularly hosting international DJ superstars," according to an on-line gay travel guide.
The nightclub was hosting a release party for a DVD entitled "Unleashed," according to its Web site.
It is unclear whether the victim and his friend were companions or just friends, police said.
When they were a block away from the club, at the corner of Ninth Ave. and W. 18th St., they were approached by an unknown man, who hurled anti-gay comments at the men. When the black man responded, the perpetrator punched him in the face, police said. While they were fighting, a second perpetrator hit him in the head from behind.
Both suspects quickly fled the scene.
It happened so fast that neither the victim, who was treated and released for face and head injuries at St. Vincent's Hospital, or his friend could tell investigators whether the attackers were white, black, or Hispanic.
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.
NY DAILY NEWS
How hate ruined his life
Gay-bash victim is paralyzed
By ROBERT F. MOORE
DAILY NEWS POLICE BUREAU
August 7, 2005
Valerie Prinez with her son, Dwan Prince, 27, last month.
Savagely beaten on a Brooklyn street simply because he is gay, Dwan Prince is partially paralyzed and needs a wheelchair nearly two months after he was stomped into a coma.
The 27-year-old cannot speak more than a word at a time because of his injuries, and in his first interview since the June 8 assault, he answered questions about the night he was left for dead by writing his thoughts on a piece of paper.
"I do hope the guy or person that attacked me does some time and pays for the crime," Prince wrote as he sat in a Rockland County hospital.
Prince wrote that he doesn't remember the beating and only knows he's in the hospital "because I was hurt."
His mother, Valerie Prinez, 41, rolled his chair in front of the hospital a few weeks ago and told him about the beating.
She said she spared him the horrible specifics.
"We both sat there and we cried for a while," she recalled.
A 22-year-old ex-con, Steven Pomie, was arrested last month for the hate crime attack.
Pretrial hearings began last week. Pomie, a reputed Crips gang member, has been charged with attempted murder and assault as a hate crime. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Pomie and two other men allegedly were walking near 9325 Kings Highway in Brownsville as Prince was taking out the garbage. Pomie and Prince made eye contact and then Pomie asked the frail man what he was looking at, authorities said.
A police source said Prince responded flirtatiously, sending Pomie into a rage, and he and another man beat Prince, while the third watched.
Prosecutors said Pomie delivered the final blow - a kick to the head that sent Prince into darkness.
Pomie, according to witnesses, later said he beat the victim because he was "talking that faggot s--- again."
One of the attackers is still at large.
"They were trying to kill my son," said Prinez, a paralegal from New Jersey. "Animals attack only to defend themselves. They're worse than animals."
Prince began eating soft food just a few days ago. He has no use of his left arm or left leg. On July 26, he said his first word since the attack: "Hello."
A speech therapist has been pushing him - with varying success - to recite: "Roses are red. Violets are blue."
Complicating Prince's recovery are previous health issues. He's HIV-positive and weighs just over 100 pounds. Prince is likely to require 24-hour care for the next several months.
Prinez kissed him on the cheek during a recent visit. She told him that she'll help him walk again.
"You, me and God," she said.
Asked what it would take for him to overcome his injuries, Prince appeared confident. He snatched a black pen with his right hand and wrote in all capital letters: "MY WILL."
NY NEWSDAY
Originally published on August 7, 2005
Summer of hate crimes?
BY DARYL KHAN, JEROME BURDI AND JONATHAN MUMMOLO
STAFF WRITERS
August 8, 2005
Sunday's violent bias attacks in Brooklyn and Manhattan come after a string of similiar assaults across the city this summer.
The most sensational was the June 29 attack in Howard Beach, in which a a 19-year-old white man and two of his friends chased three black men who they thought were out to steal a car. One victim, Glenn Moore, 22, was beaten so badly with a baseball bat he suffered a fractued skull.
That incident brought back the city's memory of the 1986 fatal beating of a black man in the same neighborhood.
In the latest incident, a 29-year-old black man walking alone at 1:30 a.m. in the Mill Basin section was severely beaten by six to eight white men who police said wielded metal pipes and reportedly hurled racial epithets.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said it was the first time in 16 years in the borough that a bias attack victim had to be hospitalized overnight.
But this was the same, Hynes said: "He was assaulted for the color of his skin. That's just outrageous."
About a half hour before the Mill Basin attack, two men, one white, one black, were set upon by one or more attackers in Chelsea, police said. The assailants also made anti-gay remarks, police said.
While reflecting that bias incidents have dropped by 50 percent in the last five years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged that they are a hard fact in a diverse city of 8 million people.
"It's always an ongoing problem," the mayor said. On Aug. 2, a 50-year-old Hasidic man walking home in Crown Heights was punched in the face by at least two black men yelling, ""Hey Jew, what are you doing here?" police sources and the victim have said.
A day before, a 22-year-old Asian woman was knocked to the ground in Sheepshead Bay by a group of at least seven blacks and Hispanics who mugged and beat her.
On June 8, a 28-year-old gay man, Dwan Prince, was pummeled into a coma outside his Flatbush home by a neighbor who accused victim of making sexual overtures. On June 1,a man and two women, both white, atack a black woman at a 34th Street subway station in Manhattan.
Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc.
BLACK AIDS INSTITUTE
By Kenyon Farrow
First Published: 7/25/2005
Today, many Black LGBT people also live daily with the real threat of violence. Just the perception of gender variance can mean verbal or physical assault.
In 2003, 15-year-old Sakia Gunn was murdered in Newark, N.J., when she refused the advances of a man, explaining to him that she was a lesbian.
This past June, 32-year-old Dwan Prince was verbally harassed by two young men in his largely Black neighborhood in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. When he was so arrogant as to speak up for himself, his attackers viciously beat him nearly to death. He remains in a coma.
A few months later, when a Black youth was attacked by white men in Howard Beach, Queens, it made front page news and many prominent Black leaders loudly denounced it. Rightly so. But none of them have said a word about Dwan Prince.
Since February, we in New York City have also been witness to four murders of members of our community, including Rashawn Brazell, Marvin Paige, Kenmoore Thomas and Jamal James. It is not clear that any of these murders were “hate crimes” as we currently define the term, but each murder bore the hallmark of antigay attacks: extreme, over-the-top violence. In Brazell’s case, police found his body dismembered and discarded in trash bags that were ditched on subway tracks and at a recycling plant.
Whatever the motives, there remains a stony silence from our community and religious leaders about the clear rash of deadly violence Black LGBT New Yorkers are currently enduring. That silence further emphasizes how little our lives matter to the larger Black community.
So, what are we to do about this? Personally, I am sick and tired of conjuring the names of Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Angela Davis, Alice Walker and, our new favorite, Bayard Rustin as proof that Black folks “in the life” are a value and an asset to the community. That kind of awareness building has its place, but it is woefully insufficient. Knowledge is power, but fear can override all common sense – and, as Rev. Wilson has sadly demonstrated, common human decency as well.
Black gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender folks, as well as those in the community who stand with us, have got to publicly challenge the institutions and individuals that continue to add to our oppression. Thankfully, this very thing is happening all over the country.
Black LGBT people of faith held the second Souls a’Fire! conference in Chicago in June. In New York City, several organizations and have come together for a campaign mobilizing Black LGBT people of faith. We are challenge Black clergy to work toward ending violence in our community. We will host REVIVAL!: Victory Over Spiritual Violence Through Grace on July 31, 2005, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Riverside Church in Harlem. It will be both a worship service and our first community-mobilizing tool. The sponsoring organizations — Gay Men of African Descent, New York State Black Gay Network, Soulforce and Empire State Pride Agenda’s Pride In the Pulpit — encourage you to attend – or, better yet, to begin your own movement in your city!
It is often said that if every churchgoing Black person “in the life” did not go to church one Sunday morning, many congregations would simply be incapable of having service. (They certainly would be without the tenor section!) Whether or not Wilson, as leader of the Millions More Movement, recognizes our worth and our power, we ourselves must remember that we, too, can move millions! And we can do so by taking a lesson from the title of Wilson’s sermon: You’ve got to fight to be free.
Kenyon Farrow is co-editor of the anthology “Letters from Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out,” due out this November with Nation Books, and the communications and public education coordinator for New York State Black Gay Network. To learn more about REVIVAL!, email him or call (212) 828-9393 ext. 138
Black AIDS Institute
1833 W 8th St Ste 200
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 353-3610 Tel
(213) 989-0181 Fax
Posted by:
Gaius Laurent
State Committee Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel
A Day in the Life of a . . .District Leader - My name is Alicka Ampry-Samuel and I currently serve as the Female District Leader in the 55th Assembly District. I was appointed to the party position as the New York State Democratic Committeewoman in 2001. I ran for the position and was elected in 2002. Being 27 years of age, I find my role in the community to be an exciting challenge. Serving as the State Committee Member in Brooklyn, I represent the Democratic Party throughout the 55th Assembly District which consists of Brownsville, Ocean-Hill, East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Bedford Stuyvesant and East New York. Some of my responsibilities and duties are to select county committee members who convene to designate judges and fill immediate vacancies of elected officials. I also appoint poll site inspectors during election time while mobilizing support for Democratic candidates.
As a District Leader, I have been given the opportunity to meet with
various community leaders representing Planning Boards, Community School Boards, Precinct Councils, community based organizations, just to name a few. Together we discuss ways to improve the community while developing strategies in finding ways to inform the constituents about pertinent information.
This was the best decision of my life (becoming a District Leader) and I thank my community for allowing me to serve in this capacity. I look forward to a career in politics serving the Democratic Party and the people.
Posted by:
Alicka Ampry-Samuel
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• Read All Views
William Boyland JR, All Talk, No Action
(Dec 21, 2006)
Is 2005-the SUMMER OF HATE CRIMES ?
(Aug 10, 2005)
A Letter from Former State Committee Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel
(Jan 03, 2005)
State Committee Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel
(Jan 03, 2005)
Response to Who's Pimping Who by Mr. Brownsville
(Nov 10, 2004)
Who's Pimpin who?
(Sep 15, 2004)
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(Aug 17, 2004)
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(Jul 26, 2004)
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(Jul 26, 2004)
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(May 16, 2004)
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(May 03, 2004)
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(Nov 06, 2003)
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(Nov 05, 2003)
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