Caribbean Life, MAR. 26-APR. 1, 2021 3
By Nelson A. King
Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams
on Wednesday urged city and
state leadership to pause the impending
re-openings currently planned for
April in order to slow the spread and
help New York win the race between
COVID-19 vaccines and variants.
“Right now, New York is in a race
between vaccines and variants,” said
Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants,
during a press conference
on the issue held with City Council
Health Committee Chair Mark Levine
and renowned epidemiologist, Dr.
Celine Gounder.
“It’s neck and neck; and rushing
to reopen, getting ahead of ourselves,
will only help the virus get ahead of
us in that race,” Williams added. “In
this moment, when the majority of
new cases of COVID-19 in New York
City come from highly contagious
variants and only 14 percent of New
Yorkers are fully vaccinated, we need
to continue to scale up vaccination
while scaling back these re-openings.
“We’ve been behind throughout
the pandemic, forced to be reactive
and responsive, but we know what
works,” he continued. “And we can
win this race if we stay the course
rather than declare premature victory.
“New Yorkers can do their part
by getting vaccinated when eligible
and adhering to health guidelines,”
Williams said. “Government can do
theirs by keeping those guidelines in
place, providing financial incentives
to reduce the economic pain of restrictions
and averting the even greater
pain that would come if viral spread
led to even further shutdowns.
“I ask the governor to stick to the
science, trust the experts, and pause
the planned re-openings now before
they take effect and more are infected,”
he urged.
The public advocate noted that,
presently, several key re-openings are
set to occur in New York in the first
week of April.
By Nelson A. King
Several organizations and individuals
with whom veteran Vincentian
broadcaster, Nina Maloney were closely
associated have paid glowing tributes
to her.
According to Maloney’s nephew,
attorney Akin John, their tributes
appeared primarily in the funeral program
and were not voiced at the service,
in honoring Maloney’s wish.
Maloney — a former general manager
and chairman of the Board of Directors
of the National Broadcasting Corporation
(NBC) Radio in St. Vincent and
the Grenadines — died on March 11, at
the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, in
Kingstown, the Vincentian capital, after
a brief illness, John said. She was 85.
The local Girl Guides Association
said that Maloney’s role in the association
was “not just a part time affair” but
“a way of life of which she was extremely
proud.”
It said Maloney was a member “from
her early days,” and that she had volunteered
her service for her “entire adult
life.”
“She worked tirelessly with Miss Inez
Coombs and others of revered memory
in the earlier days and always contributed
significantly to all Guiding activities,”
the association said. “A career
public servant, our sister never let the
demands of the public service frustrate
her and prevent her from making time
for contributing to the development of
our girls and young women.”
The Girl Guides Association said
Maloney served as a Guide leader in
the #6 Cathedral Guide Company, and
later became public relations officer for
the association, District Commissioner
for the Grenadines, and then Division
Commissioner for Kingstown and the
Grenadines.
She represented the Girl Guides
Association on the Duke of Edinburgh
Committee for many years and, at the
time of her death, was still an executive
member of the Girl Guides Association.
The association said Maloney also
volunteered on the Children Welfare
Fund Committee, as one of the founding
members, for which she was honored
on Nov. 27, 2020 by Governor General,
Dame Susan Dougan.
She was also a former member of
the Thompson Home Committee,
and, at the time of her death, was an
active member of the Royal St. Vincent
Legion, the Salvation Army and Soroptimist
International.
By Nelson A. King
The Caribbean Research Center
(CRC) at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers
College, City University of New York
(CUNY), on March 10 bestowed special
honor on three distinguished academic,
civic and labor union personalities during
the center’s 9th Annual Shirley
Chisholm Conference.
The ceremony, held virtually this
year because of the COVID-19 pandemic,
honored Dr. Una S.T. Clarke,
the trail-blazing, former New York City
Council Member and CUNY trustee;
Dr. Zinga Fraser, Assistant Professor,
Africana Studies Department, Brooklyn
College, CUNY, and director of the
Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn
Women’s Activism at Brooklyn College;
and Earl Phillips, secretary treasurer,
Transport Workers Union, Local 100.
Jamaican-born Dr. Clarke, the first
Caribbean-born woman to be elected to
the City Council, received the Shirley
Chisholm Award.
Dr. Fraser — an award-winning
interdisciplinary scholar, author, lecturer,
historical consultant and philanthropist
— received the J. A. George
Irish Scholar-Activist Award in honor of
the late Montserratian-born Dr. Irish, a
former CRC executive director and erstwhile
dean at Medgar Evers College.
Dr. Fraser was presented with the
award by Dr. Irish’s son, Dr. Kenneth
Irish-Bramble, assistant professor,
Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences,
Medgar Evers College.
Phillips, considered the highestranking
Barbadian in a trade union
outside of his native country, received
CRC’s Community Engagement Award
from CRC’s Jamaican-born Dr. Michael
Flanigan.
According to CRC, the Shirley
Chisolm Award recognizes the achievement
of women from the African
Diaspora, “who have labored unstintingly
for the progress of their communities,
locally, nationally, and/or
globally, through their contributions
in the areas of politics, education and
community empowerment.”
CRC also said the J. A. George Irish
Scholar-Activist Award “recognizes an
individual whose contributions in the
areas of culture, scholarship, social
activism and education upholds the
legacy of Dr. George A. G. Irish.”
Dr. Zinga Fraser. Medgar Evers College,
Caribbean Research Center
Public Advocate, Jumaane D. Williams
Offi ce of Public Advocate
CRC honors three at Annual
Shirley Chisholm Conference
Tribute to veteran Vincentian broadcaster
Williams wants
pause of April
re-openings
Earl Phillips,TWU Local 100 Secretary
Treasurer, 2017. Caribbean
Research Center, Medgar Evers College
Dr. Una S.T. Clarke. Caribbean Research
Center, Medgar Evers College