“The rallying cries that have been echoing throughout the nation have been once again ignored by a justice system that claims to serve the people. But when a justice system only acts in the best interest of the most privileged and whitest among us, it has failed. For the sake of Breonna Taylor, for the sake of justice, and for the sake of all Americans, law enforcement agencies and their representatives throughout the country need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. Is t

With every American political cycle, there is an expectation that an event will occur and influence the outcome of an election. When the event occurs within a few weeks of an election, deliberately or by happenstance, it is known as an “October Surprise”. The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, on September 18, 2020, is comparable to a “September Surprise”. According to the Court, Justice Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic cancer, at age 87. Born i

I always smile when I see Black Lives Matter T-Shirts until I saw one gracing the grubby back of a white man who had on both a BLM T-Shirt and a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat. I started to either take a photo or start a conversation because I knew somebody would accuse me of making the combination up. Instead, I wondered where the man got the shirt/hat combo. Was he homeless and got the combo at a shelter? Was he visually impaired and didn’t understand the contradic

“Too many people struggled, suffered and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote. And we have come too far together to ever turn back. So we must not be silent. We must stand up, speak up and speak out. We must march to the polls like never before. We must come together and exercise our sacred right.” – Congressman John Lewis In April of 2019, the Associated Press released an analysis of census data and exit polling that reached a remarkabl

Ruth Bader Ginsburg – affectionately known as The Notorious R.B.G. (after the famous moniker of the late hip-hop star, The Notorious B.I.G.) – held on as long as she could while fiercely battling metastatic pancreatic cancer. At 87, the popular Supreme Court Justice had battled cancer and several other maladies, for some time. Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: “My most fervent wish is that I w

Part 2 of a 5-Part Series on the Lack of Accountability in Government in Mount Vernon The cornerstone of a government is the length to which it goes to protect the weakest and most vulnerable of its citizens. Often, that responsibility falls to a government’s law enforcement divisions. It’s a hard job, to be sure. And, it’s an important one. Because, if those charged with protecting us are actually harming us, the entire edifice of government comes crashing down. So, the

WHITE PLAINS, NY -- (Sept. 8, 2020) UNA-USA Westchester Chapter is pleased to recognize the City of White Plains as the second city in the State to adopted a resolution supporting the “Cities for CEDAW” (C4C) campaign on September 8, 2020, joining Mount Vernon, the first city to adopt CEDAW on September 23, 2015. The monumental task of getting the Westchester County Board of Legislators and eventually the six cities of the county to get onboard was spearheaded by UNA Westc

On the Friday before Labor Day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly report, The Employment Situation. It reported good news – the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent, higher than in February before the pandemic hit. We added 1.4 million jobs last month, the highest gain since the corona recession began. But while this is progress, it is no cause for celebration. The Black unemployment rate remains double-digit and has not dropped as rapidly as either