What’s Going On – 7/21

SUMMER/NEW YORK
Don’t forget the August 23 NY Primary races for Congressional and NYS Senate seats. This Primary vote is very important. Most Democratic victors will win the November vote. Democrats MUST retain their NY Senate and Congressional majorities. Note voting calendar: early voting/ August 13 to 21 and August 8 is absentee ballot request deadline.

Visit NYCVOTES,ORG. Do you know the candidates representing your district on the 8/23 ballot. I know the Central Harlem incumbents, Congressman Adriano Espaillat and Senator Cordell Cleare, in my neighborhood. Do you know yours? Make plans to participate on 8/23.
Former NYC Bill deBlasio quits Primary race for newly created Congressional District 10, in Lower Manhattan Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Sluggish fundraising and poll numbers.

Thought that the epitaphs were written in last week’s internet media outlets in “The City” and “City & State NY” for Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, Brooklyn Democratic Party Leader. Not really! NY 1 anchor Errol Louis, himself a Brooklyn Power 100 denizen, writes for The City this week. He reports that Bichotte Hermelyn, 49, says she has no plans to give up her job as Democrat honcho yet. She is too busy attending to her pregnancy and to law school. She is also a NYS Assembly member.

SUMMER IN AMERICA
MIDTERMS: America has reached a fever pitch with summer Midterm Primary races for state houses, US Congress and US Senate seats, outcomes from which will determine the fate of the Biden agenda through 2024. The Democrats must retain all of their seats and capture 2-4 more seats in the US Senate.
US SENATE: Joe Manchin, US Senator from West Virginia, is a Democrat in name only, often voting against Democratic interests and abandoning the Biden agenda. He is from West Virginia where coal is/was king. He nor his corporate supporters have any interest in clean energy and/or planetary survival. Why is he Chair of the powerful Energy And Natural Resources Committee? He deserves excommunication
MARYLAND: Three African American Democrats competed in a crowded interracial field for Governor on July 19. They are Wes Moore, former NY based Robin Hood Foundation President; Tom Perez, former DNC Chair and Obama Cabinet member; and Dr. John King, former Education Secretary under Obama.

GEORGIA: We know that Georgia’s next US Senator will be a Black man. Will it be Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock or Trump-puppet Republican Herschel Walker, former NFL player, a walking gaffe machine and serial baby daddy. Lawyer, former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams is running against incumbent Governor Brian Kemp, in what is a close race, depending upon the pollster.
Will abortion rights, contraceptive availabity; gun reform, human rights, inflation, COVID 19 fatigue conspire to determine November electorate behavior?

BUSINESS MATTERS
The National Urban League hosts a Virtual Career Fair on July 22 from 12 noon to 5 pm ET. More than 50 employers will participate, including Delta Airlines, NY Life, Ernest & Young, National Grid, Master Card, McDonalds, and FedEx. Visit NUL.ORG to register.
African American media mogul Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Network is the successful bidder for the Black News Channel, BNC, which filed for bankruptcy protection, a few months ago. Allen bid $11 million for the BNC television platform, which was conceived as an outlet for African Americans audiences, and which is bleeding losses in excess of $50 million. BNC’s failure was attributed to low audience outreach and threadbare advertising support.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice, college professor, former US Secretary of State, Russia scholar, is another minority investor like Mellody Hobson, who joins Rob Walton of the Walmart family who recently bought the NFL’s Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion.

NON PROFIT NEWS
The Metropolitan Black Bar Association named its new President, Carl Forbes Jr. founder and principal of the Carl Forbes Law Firm, PLLC, which specializes in Real Estate law, Estate Planning and Probate and Estate Administration.

The Riverside Club Chapter of The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Woman’s Club Inc, which was founded in 1935, hosted it 40th Founders Day Observance in May and honored local trailblazers, including Darryl T. Downing, entrepreneur and founder of I Am Harlem Consultancy, with its Man Of The Year Award.

NEWSMAKERS
Birthday shoutouts to Leo the Lion natives. Lloyd J.Austin, US Secretary of Defense; Leah Abraham, Settepani Ristorante, Dawn Parks Anderson;

Barbara Askin, BID 125; Halle Berry; David Banks, NYC Education Chancellor; Angela Bassett; Rev. AR Bernard, Christian Cultural Center; Ryan Brooks; Designer Dapper Dan; Viola Davis; Ambassador Alice Dear; Lisa Downing, real estate executive; Ramona Grey Harris, Edward Sisters Realty; Michael Horsford; Amari Jacobs; Hakeem Jeffries, Congress; Magic Johnson; Fine artist Martha Jones; Woodie King, New Federal Theatre; Amari Jacobs; Mona Manigo; Meghan Markel, Duchess of Sussex; Mari Moss, Harlem consultant; President Barack Obama; Professor Keith Taylor, John Jay College; Danny Simmons, fine artist/philanthropist; Yvonne Stafford, real estate broker; Wesley Snipes; Dr. Yinka Stanford; Maxine Waters, Congress; and Sharene Wood, Harlem Haberdashery CEO
RIP: Al Vann, 87, elder statesman of Brooklyn, politics died last week. His turf was BedStuy and Crown Heights Brooklyn, where his long term goal was African American empowerment in education and politics. A fixture in the NY public school system as teacher and administrator, he broadened his activities. A household name in elected politics, Vann was NYS Assemblyman from 1975 to 2001 and NYC Councilman from 2002 to 2013, an energetic advocate for his constituents. Vann was a mentor to current political elites like Mayor Eric Adams, NYS Attorney General Letitia James, and NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

SUMMER PLEASURES
Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of NYC Restaurant Week, July 18 to August 21, and break bread at some of the 660 participating bistros, offering deep-discounted prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner, at – $30, $45 and $60. Visit nycgo.com.
A Harlem-based business/culture consultant, Victoria can be reached at victoria.horsford@gmail.com