Brooklyn continues to be plagued by senseless violence among African-American and Caribbean youths, culminating in a Father's Day gun battle that left one dead and six wounded. Now, local clergy, politicians, and police are speaking out to end the violence. more>

The Rev. Dr. Peter Bramble (Courtesy Carib News).

Unable to reconcile himself with the approval of same-sex marriage in New York State and the Long Island Episcopal Diocese, Rev. Dr. Peter Bramble will step down from his post at the predominantly West Indian St. Mark's church in Crown Heights after 15 years. more>

The Haitian Diaspora sends home more than $1 billion annually in remittances, but a surprise new plan by the Haitian government will impose a tax on these exchanges that cuts into the money meant to aid needy families.

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Brooklyn Democratic State Senator Eric Adams claims the NYPD has been using the Taxi/Livery Inspection Program as an excuse to frisk passengers without reasonable suspicion of illegal behavior. The NYCLU filed a May 26th lawsuit against the city, citing two instances of men being unlawfully detained and questioned while riding in livery cabs in non-white neighborhoods. more>

In a vote late on Sunday, lawmakers amended the Haitian constitution abolishing the dual citizenship ban. However, there is a restrained reaction, largely because of the limitations placed on overseas nationals when it comes to holding top political and judicial office. more>

Caribbean teachers who came to New York City a decade ago, from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and other island-nations, to help end a dire shortage of classroom professionals, are now facing a nightmare of their own: a possible loss of their jobs and eventual deportation.

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West Indians, including a large number of Jamaicans, Haitians and Guyanese, may be one of the largest immigrants groups in New York City and, in the main, are middle-income residents, but far too many of them are forced to live in sub-standard housing. more>

"These are tough times and we see it in the cases for foreclosures, unpaid debt and landlords who have not been paid the rents due to them and the tenants who are fighting evictions," said a court official in the Bronx. more>

"It was significant and regrettable that one of the first acts of the new Republican House was the strip the voting rights of the territorial delegates sent to Capitol Hill by the voters of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Mariana Islands and American Samoa. It's a travesty when you deny elected representatives a vote of such significance," stated U.S. Representative Dr. Donna Christian Christensen. more>

A pediatrician who survived the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12^th tells how she joined thousands who crossed to the Dominican Republic only to return to help her country pick up the pieces. more>

Caribbean immigrant teenagers are on the radar screen of criminal youth gangs who threaten or otherwise force young women into becoming prostitutes. That alarm was raised by Charles Hynes, Brooklyn's District Attorney who has created the Brooklyn Sex Trafficking Unit to investigate cases and bring perpetrators to court. more>

A messy foreclosure scandal that defers the American dream of home owner­ship has put foreclosures into doubt as well as the real owners of properties across the country, including New York. more>

"We definitely need to ensure that the message about the funds' availability is widely disseminated to the business owners who are struggling to survive in the face of an acute shortage of operating capital," says CACCI President Dr. Roy Hastick.  more>

Kings County has slashed the time it takes for a patient to walk through the door of the emergency room until he or she sees a doctor. From TRIAGE to the presence of a physician, the waiting time has gone from about two hours to less than 30 minutes. more>

The new legislation gives a much better chance of successfully competing for many of the billions of dollars in state contracts awarded annually to the private sector. more>

"With our economy being as it is, people not receiving raises on their jobs, people actually being laid off, we are nowhere being our of the woods yet," stated U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke of Brooklyn. more>

The U.S. State Department charged that at least 225,000 Haitian children were victims of forced domestic servitude or slavery before the onslaught of the deadly earthquake. That estimated figure has skyrocketed since then. more>

While Haitians see this as a golden opportunity to set Haiti on the right path, there is still concern of the effort being dominated by non-Haitians, those that do not have a stake in the effort, and the use of funds.  more>

Another damaging round of home foreclosure may be on Brooklyn's horizon. Two prominent federal lawmakers, U.S. Representatives Edolphus "Ed" Towns (D-NY-10) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY-11) are blaming the problem on a combination of high unemployment and the negative fallout from skyrocketing mortgage interest rates being charged by banks for adjustable loans.

VIDEO :: GRITtv's Laura Flanders headed to Cooper Union the day that President Obama spoke there, and spoke to Kai Wright of ColorLines and The Nation about the ongoing problem with foreclosures and whether Obama's solutions will help anyone keep their home. more>

AUDIO :: All Things Considered Host, Melissa Block, spoke with Linda Blumberg of the Urban Institute about who will be left out in the new health care reform legislation. more>

It's becoming a nightmare for Caribbean youth, a headache that begins with youth gang criminal activity on neighborhood streets but usually ends with a stint in state prison.

VIDEO :: Students traded a day off from school on President's Day for a day of brainstorming about how to take back their neighborhoods from gangs, which have turned them into battlefields. NY1's Natasha Ghoneim reported. more>

Haitian earthquake refugees in New York City are now facing another emergency: getting their children into school. more>

In 1827, West Indian John Russwurm and Rev. Samuel Cornish, an African American, launched the first Black newspaper in the United States. It was called Freedom Journal and it made its appearance in Manhattan. The purpose was clear: "We wish to plead our case," the founders stated.

VIDEO :: This is an excerpt of "Soldiers Without Swords", the first documentary to chronicle the history of the Black press, including its central role in the construction of modern African American identity more>

A mobile trauma unit was dispatched to help Flatbush Avenue's Caribbean store owners – Haitian, Jamaican, Guyanese, Trinidadian, Grenadian and other West Indian vendors – who were left traumatized by the tragic events in the Caribbean country. more>

As many as 107 immigrants from around the world, including men and women from the Caribbean, Africa and Latin American have died in privately run U.S. government immigration jails since October 2003.

VIDEO :: Democracy Now reports on a scathing report in the New York Times that revealed federal officials have used their role as overseers to prevent media from reporting deaths and abuses inside the nation's immigration prisons.

As the policy fight over the budget continues, Paterson has decided to use his executive authority to prevent the state from running out of cash. more>

When Dr. Milton Haynes, one of the few Blacks to head the Medical Society of New York County, came out early in the game for comprehensive health care reform, it was clear he was calling for radical surgery to a system that was badly broken.

VIDEO :: In its new podcast, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) presented a discussion on health care reform with Michele Lew. more>

The need for change was apparent as many believe that access to health care is a right and not a privilege. more>

"The leaders are being targeted. They have always been targeted," declared Hazel Dukes, head of the NY chapter of the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

VIDEO :: Journalist Gwen Ifill speaks about the future of American democracy and the Black political structure in the age of Obama. more>

VIDEO :: Earlier this year, Brooklyn D.A. Charles Joe Hynes and New York Senator Chuck Schumer held a press conference to announce the formation of a task force to tackle mortgage fraud.

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Thompson supporter Councilmember Charles Barron listed some key factors behind what is repeatedly described as Bloomberg's vulnerability. At the top of the list is the term limit issue.

VIDEO :: Campaign video--Bill Thompson for Mayor more>

Ask any Black Democrats who sits in the New York State Senate about the cham­ber's portrayal in the media and the answer is simple enough: biased and without merit. more>

The hand of State Senator John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) is seen in the promotions Black and Hispanic judges and women moving up the courts' ladder. more>

AUDIO :: WNYC's Beth Fertig reports on the establishment of the Black Male Initiative at Medgar Evers College. more>

The barrier to TPS for Haitians has remained in force despite the fact that civil strife, which forced tens of thousands to flee the country, can be traced directly to U.S. policy in Port-au-Prince. more>