Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
Nelson King, Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, AUGUST 20-26, 2021
By Mark Shervington
Running up to the June 22
primary election, my mailbox
overflowed with campaign
literature from candidates
aspiring to be the next
Manhattan district attorney.
I met a few of them.
Some seemed to be genuine
people-people; others the
pandering type and a little
too slick, like the prosecutors
my community and I
know too well. But most of
the candidates didn’t even
bother to come to my neighborhood.
Black and Latinx New
Yorkers are disproportionately
arrested and prosecuted,
leading to the mass incarceration
of us and our families.
Once that incarceration happens,
it is extremely difficult
to get free, a reality experienced
most excruciatingly by
incarcerated people stuck in
New York State’s broken and
unfair parole release process.
I’m Black, born and raised
in New York City. I have vivid
memories of the 1980s in this
racially stratified city where
my very existence was a de
facto crime. And not just to
the two Brooklyn cops who
assaulted me with blackjacks
or the Guardian Angels who
wore kung-fu slippers while
terrorizing Black boys like
the patterollers of not long
ago. To the courts, too – particularly
the District Attorney’s
office in my borough.
When I was 22 years old I
sat at the defendant’s table in
court, staring at the words,
“Let justice be done though
the heavens fall” emblazoned
on the courtroom wall. My
then-fiancée had been sexually
assaulted and in my rage
and pain at her suffering I
confronted her assailant. I
needed resources, guidance
and a way to support my
fiancée’s healing, but instead
I had a gun. I was sentenced
to 15 years to life in prison
with the possibility of parole
for my role in killing the person
who abused my fiancée.
I made a terrible choice that
caused irreparable harm.
To the courts, this was
justice.
I did my time in prison
righteously, meeting and
exceeding all requirements
and expectations of the judge
and prison system. When I
came up for parole 15 years
later, my great work was all
but ignored and I was denied
release and effectively resentenced
to two more years.
The same facts the judge
used to make me eligible for
release at that time were used
to deny me parole, and to add
insult to injury, my borough
DA office registered an objection
to my release based on
the same facts, namely my
crime of conviction from so
many years ago, and without
any regard for my change
and growth.
I went through this process
eight more times, and
received eight more denials.
Finally, I was granted release
on parole at age 50 after
serving twice as much time
as the judge deemed appropriate.
Today I continue
working to promote justice
and safety in my community,
and to give others a second
chance.
I am voting in the general
election to elect a new
Manhattan District Attorney.
My main concern as a constituent
is, how will the next
Manhattan DA help fix the
inequities of parole?
Prosecutorial fairness
and the equal treatment of
New Yorkers in the courts,
whether during trial or
when applying for parole,
should concern everyone in
New York State. The local
District Attorney’s office in
every borough has a huge
impact on how many people
are incarcerated in state prisons
and for how long and,
often, whether or not parole
requests for New Yorkers are
granted by the State’s Parole
Board.
Instead of flooding mailboxes,
here is something
concrete the next Manhattan
DA can do: join the many
crime victims, survivors
and their advocates in urging
Senate Majority Leader
Stewart-Cousins and Assembly
Speaker Heastie to pass
the Elder Parole bill and the
Fair & Timely Parole bill,
both pending in the State
Legislature. At sentencing,
recommend parole release
upon first eligibility and
refrain from routinely opposing
parole release for people
serving long sentences or life
sentences when they come
up for parole.
The Democratic primary
winner, Alvin Bragg, supports
the bills and other
reforms (as did nearly every
other candidate) but actions
speak louder than words, and
we need the next Manhattan
DA to help save lives and
prevent the continuation of
historic racist wrongs. Trust
me, the heavens won’t fall.
Mark Shervington is a
New York City Community
Organizer for the Release
Aging People in Prison Campaign/
RAPP.
By Annika T. D’Andrea
In a few short weeks,
Queens will resume its annual
tradition of welcoming the
world’s best tennis players and
sports’ enthusiasts to Flushing
Meadows Corona Park. All
eyes will undoubtedly be on
Naomi Osaka, who over the
last few months has received
both praise and criticism for
her decision to withdraw from
the French Open, citing mental
health reasons.
Up until this pivotal moment,
Osaka had used her global platform
to address systemic racism
and police brutality. She
was intentional on using her
platform to “say their names”
during the 2020 tennis season
when she wore protective
face masks bearing the names
of victims like George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud
Arbery.
Osaka’s recent decision to
set boundaries in an effort to
protect her mental well-being
has had wide-ranging positive
impact. Athletes like Kyrie Irving
and Michael Phelps came to
her defense for shedding much
needed light on the mental
health strains they endure during
competition as well as press
conferences with journalists.
People from all walks of life
were also able to relate to her,
particularly those who experienced
mental health strains
exacerbated by the pandemic.
The cultural impact of Osaka’s
decision is very profound.
As a Japanese-Haitian athlete,
she is helping de-stigmatize
discussions around mental
health in Black American, Caribbean
and countless cultures
throughout the world where
acknowledging issues like
depression and anxiety, and
seeking help, are taboo.
While most people are familiar
with Wimbledon, the U.S.
Open is one of several dozen
tournaments in which tennis
players compete. This results in
an incredible amount of pressure
on tennis players to excel
on the court, and still reserve
enough mental energy to speak
with reporters about their performance
shortly after each
match –win or lose.
I grew up during a time when
male tennis players were given
a pass for unruly and unsportsmanlike
behavior on the court.
Male athletes in every sport are
still allowed to have a bad day
and not suffer the level of scrutiny
that Osaka has faced for
prioritizing her mental health
and empowering others to do
the same. We were once again
reminded of the mental health
toll athletes endure when
Simone Biles temporarily withdrew
from the Tokyo Olympics
because she didn’t realize just
how stressful the competition
was becoming.
Athletes are not robots, and
their sole purpose is not just to
“shut up and dribble” – or hit
a ball with their racket. Osaka
is human, and like many of us,
she is trying to figure out how
to overcome difficult situations.
Resilience is learning that even
though we face adversities, we
are able to develop strategies
that will allow us to combat
those adversities, cope and
become stronger individuals.
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The next Manhattan DA must
help fix the incarceration crisis
Becoming your own champion
starts with a reality check of
your mental health
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