Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. stops by Black Westchester presents the People Before Politics Radio Show, on Sunday, August 20, 2023, to discuss the City of White Plains Common Council approval of the $5 million settlement with his family, twelve years after his father Kenneth Chamberlain was killed by the White Plains Police Department.
Friends & Family March For Justice For Jerrell Garris Who Was fatally shot by NRPD Detective Stephen Conn
Friends and family of Jarrell Garris marched from Starbucks in Wykagyl on North Avenue to the New Rochelle Police Department on Friday, July 21st to honor his life. The 37-year-old unarmed Black man was shot and killed by New Rochelle Detective Stephan Conn.
Bodycam footage released by the NRPD shows officers and a detective confronting Garris on Lincoln Avenue and asking about stolen food on July 3. Police say Garris reached at one of the officer’s guns, which is when Garris was shot, but all three body cam videos shut off before the fatal shot and contradict the department’s statement.
Family members told Black Westchester, Garris suffered from mental illness and that police in the area knew of him. They are demanding Det. Conn be fired.
“Tonight, I’m really praying for unity and that people that see this march understand that this could be your son, this can be your dad, this can be your sister, this can be your brother,” said Reverend Jamel Hollis. “It’s going to be important that everybody gets involved.”
All three of the officers have been placed on paid administrative leave.
“I promise you, on everything I love, I ain’t going nowhere; I’m gonna stand on these right here (pointing to his feet); I’m standing ten toes down; I ain’t going nowhere until we get justice for my son,” Raymond Fowler, father of Jarrel (pictured above), said on the steps on the New Rochelle Police Department located at 475 North Avenue, after the march. “Yall gotta be mindful; they think we’re gonna tear up shit, we going to beat them with this (he says, pointing to his brain) and their own law. Cause they knew they violated my son’s human rights, they killed him like an animal. [Detective] Stephen Conn is a coward. Anytime you hear the code word gun, that means shoot. That’s what that is, that’s the code word for shoot. You got a taser, you got pepper spray, and you wanted to shoot him. Why? Shoot him and paralyze him instantly. On Monday I meet with the AG, but it doesn’t even matter cause at the end of the day I know who the best of planners is, it ain’t mankind, Allah is the best planner, God is the best planner and that’s who I put my faith and my trust in. they tried to smear my son talking about his charges, what about Steve Conn’s charges? How the hell did he end up being a police officer? Huh? You got an assault charge, you shooting up dogs and you still become an officer? How do you serve and protect, how is that possible? If anybody needs a psych evaluation, it’s Steve Conn. On June 9th they promoted him to Detective. So as a detective, you are supposed to de-escalate the situation, not escalate it and that’s what he did. Show all the video, show all the body cam, dont edit that shit out, let’s see all of it, show all of it. they claimed my son reached for a gun, show when yall are beating my son before you shot him. They’re not going to do that. They are trying to paint this false narrative. That’s why I made it my business to be here today and that’s why I made it business to be there when it first happened, And I aint going nowhere, as long as I have breath in my body, regardless of what the decision is, I know the law and I’m gonna do what I gotta do.” (“And we gonna be here with you,” shouted out the crowd).
“As a community, we can’t accept it,” said New Rochelle NAACP Acting President Aisha Cook at the start of the march. “We need to be out here, we need to be in force and we need to make sure that everybody knows that we do not stand for it, it’s not ok.
Distressing bodycam video captured the moment police in Westchester County fatally shot a man accused of stealing fruit – which his father described as a “modern-day lynching.”
Three New Rochelle cops — identified as Kari Bird, Gabrielle Chavarry, and Detective Steven Conn — confronted Jarrell Garris, 37, at a grocery store on July 3. Detective Conn fired one round, which hit Garris in the neck and impacted his cervical spine and spinal cord, the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office said July 12.
Garris remained in a coma and was taken off life support on July 10. His death was ruled a homicide and is being investigated by the state Attorney General’s Office.
The AG’s Office of Special Investigation takes over when a police officer may have caused a person’s death, according to state law. Stay tuned to Black Westchester for updates on this case!
PBP RADIO – The Mount Vernon City School District’s Recent Report
On July 16, 2023, we discussed the findings of the recently released redacted report…
In November 2022, the Board retained an outside firm, Cerini & Associates, LLP (“Cerini”), to examine all aspects of the District’s grant procurement, selection of vendors, payments, and all related issues, with an initial focus on one particular vendor. Cerini has completed this review as it relates to this first vendor and has issued a comprehensive final report setting forth certain findings and recommendations for the Board’s review and consideration. As previously promised, the Board is now releasing the attached report in redacted form for the community’s review.
The Board and the administrative team will be working closely in the coming months to create an action plan to address the finding(s) and recommendation(s) set forth in the report, to the extent necessary and appropriate. It should also be noted that the ongoing investigation commenced by the US Attorney’s Office on February 10, 2023, has not been completed. Nor has any timeline been provided to the District as to an anticipated completion date.
In deference to this ongoing investigation, the Board does not intend at this juncture to issue any further public comments regarding the report.
BW 2023 Pre-Primary Issue
Welcome to our special Pre-Primary Edition We will be giving you one last look at every race in the June 27, 2023, Westchester County Democratic Primary. I know I said we would not be endorsing any candidates in the election, but as I was finishing up the issue, I made an editorial decision to make one exception. Black Westchester proudly announces Shanae Williams for County Legislator – District 16 as our SOLE endorsement. I agree 100% with Thomas Meier, Chairman of the Yonkers Democratic City Committee, when he said, “Shanae has been a fighter for her community as a councilwoman and will fight for Yonkers as a County Legislator.” We have endorsed her for council in 2019, for clerk in 2021, and we proudly endorse her for County Legislator in 2023.
We will release our regular June issue in a week or so but we wanted to put out this Special Pre Primary issue and give information on all the candidates. As well as all the information on election day, early voting dates, times, locations, and more.
As always, we would like to take this time to thank all the readers, listeners, supporters, sponsors, contributors, and advertisers for their support in our effort to deliver the “News With The Black Point Of View,” since 2014. We are always looking for writers, photographers, and interns, email BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com to inquire.
Please send us your feedback and let us know what you think of this issue. Let us know subjects or topics you would like to see us cover in the future and send your letters to the editor to BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com.
Peace and Blessings
AJ Woodson, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Owner
Mount Vernon NAACP 2023 Mayoral Debate
The Mount Vernon Branch of the NAACP (#2161) held the ONLY 2023 Mount Vernon Mayoral Debate on Tuesday, June 13th at Friendship Worship Center located at 261 E. Lincoln Avenue, between Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard and Former Mount Vernon Mayor & Councilman André Wallace.
You can watch the entire debate in the video below…
The Mount Vernon Branch of NAACP #2161 meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7 P. M. at Macedonia Baptist Church, located at 141 S. 9th Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY. For more information on the MV NAACP, you can email them at naacpmountvernon@gmail.com or follow them on Facebook.
A Look At The Yonkers 2023 Mayoral Race
The two most watched and possibly most heated elections in Westchester County will be the 2023 Mount Vernon and Yonkers Mayoral races. Each started with at least 3-4 candidates running in the Democratic primary. But, unlike Mount Vernon, which is primarily a Black run heavily Democratic municipality, the winner of the Yonkers Democratic Mayoral race will face a Republican challenger, Councilman Anthony Merante in the General Election in November.
While all eyes will be on be on the heated elections of Mount Vernon like the previous years, the many moving parts in the Yonkers election make them a contender for the most watched and covered election. In addition to the mayoral race, there are some other interesting storylines that will play out this year including Councilwoman Shanae Williams challenging County Legislator Christopher Johnson. Greenburgh’s primary will also be one to watch we will do a deep dive into that race a little later, but for now, let’s take a look at the 2023 Yonkers Democratic Mayoral Primary.
Mayor Mike Spano now in his 11th year in office is running for his fourth term. After being elected twice, the city council voted to extend term limits twice which allowed him to run for a third term in 2019, which he won, easily defeating republican Mario De Giorgio, and now a fourth term. The Council voting for the extension of term limits has been contested by Yonkers voters who feel they should have been given the opportunity to vote on extending term limits, especially since the last time the residents overwhelmingly voted against extending term limits back in 2001.
Spano, the incumbent while favored will have to face at least two Democrats, Rev. Margaret Fountain Coleman – who announced her candidacy on January 15th – and Democratic Councilwoman Corazon Pinada Issac, who announced Thursday, February 16th with more than 150 constituents in her home district on South Broadway.
Both Pinada Issac – daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, working mother of three, and lifelong Democrat – and Rev. Fountain-Coleman who made history as the first African American to serve as a trustee in the Village of Tuckahoe in March 2018 and was also elected to the town council in South Boston, Virginia are both looking to make history as the first woman and first person of color ever elected Mayor of the third biggest city in New York State.
MAYOR MIKE SPANO – THE INCUMBENT
A lifelong Yonkers resident, husband, father of three, and former State Assembly Member, Mayor Mike Spano has dedicated his life to standing up for Yonkers families.
Elected in 1992 as the youngest member of the State Assembly, Mike proudly represented Yonkers for two decades, fighting for students, protecting taxpayers, and supporting economic growth. He led the Task Force on Sex Crimes Against Children and Women (SAVE New York), fought for the passage of Megan’s Law, and secured legislation to protect children across the state. He also wrote the language enabling Yonkers to receive a direct portion of revenue from video lottery terminals at Empire City Casino. It was an enormous victory for Yonkers and its public schools, providing $20 million in direct aid annually for education in the city.
His campaign website says, ‘Since taking office as Yonkers’ chief executive in 2012, Mayor Mike Spano has led the passage of balanced, bi-partisan budgets, without cuts to services, while providing historic investments to Yonkers Schools. Mayor Mike Spano is committed to securing a strong financial future for Yonkers and building upon its greatest strengths—its location, its history, its pride, and its people.’
For more on Mayor Mike Spano visit his website and follow him on Facebook & Instagram
Rev. Margaret Fountain Coleman
Rev. Margaret Fountain-Coleman made the announcement that she’d be running for office at the Yonkers Veterans Memorial, on Sunday, January 15th. If she is victorious in the upcoming election, she will be the first female elected Mayor of the city of Yonkers.
“We have African American people who cannot remain and people of color who cannot remain in their homes because of escalations of rental costs, affordable cost of living…We’re going to get that legislation passed. It is going to be signed off by me so that people can truly live here in Yonkers and have quality housing, decent and quality housing,” she said.
Rev. Coleman was the 1st major candidate to challenge incumbent Mayor Spano in the 2023 Democratic Primary. She is the wife of Frank Coleman Jr., a pastor at Messiah Baptist and the President of the Yonkers branch of the NAACP. Alongside 11 other Yonkers voters, he sued the Mayor and the City in December over the extension of term limits without a voter referendum.
Margaret Fountain-Coleman is an innovative and efficient leader who represents what Yonkers needs for its students and this community, said Bryan Boyd, Yonkers Teacher
For more info on Rev Coleman visit her website and follow her on Facebook & Instagram
Councilwoman Corazon Pinada Issac
“The people of Yonkers are ready for a change and as Mayor, I’ll bring a fresh vision and new leadership. I’m not from a political dynasty. I’m an Afro-Latina daughter of immigrants, a working mother of three children, and a City Council member who understands that I answer only to the people I represent. I am running to make real progress on affordable housing, prioritize public education, and take a proactive and holistic approach to public safety. But more importantly, when I am elected, I’ll restore the pride of what it means to be from Yonkers, something we’ve lost under the current Mayor,” Democratic Candidate for Mayor Corazón Pineda-Isaac shared.
Corazón Pineda-Isaac currently serves as the Yonkers City Council representative for the second council district of Yonkers, New York. First elected in 2013, Corazón Pineda-Isaac is currently serving her third four-year term representing the second district in the Yonkers City Council. As a lifelong Democrat, she fights every day to ensure that the City of Yonkers continues to improve its schools, fight crime, build affordable housing, and provide high-quality municipal services to all neighborhoods.
For more on Councilwoman Pineda Issac visit her website and follow her on Facebook & Instagram
Upcoming candidate forums in Yonkers include the River Communities Coalition of Yonkers (RCCY) on Wednesday, June 7th @ 7pm in person, the Westchester Black Women Political Caucus (WBWPC) Yonkers Chapter will host a candidate forum on Monday, June 12th, it will be virtual. And District Leader Candidate Night Wards 1, 3, and 4 on Thursday, June 15th @ 7pm in person at the Chemo Center.
Check BlackWestchester.com for more information on these forums.
BW May 15, 2023 Digital Edition
Welcome to our May 15, 2023, the first of three issues over the next month. Look out for our special Pre-Primary Edition (we will be giving you a last look at every race in the Westchester County Democratic Primary – June 27, 2023) hitting streets around June 5th and our regularly scheduled June 15, 2023 hitting streets around June 20th.
In this issue, we extensively celebrate the Youth Shelter of Westchester, who just celebrated their 45th Anniversary (pages 14-15), The Mount Vernon Police Department National Police Day celebration (page 18) and we share all the results (that were available at press time) of all the Westchester County School Board Elections (page 7).
As always, we would like to take this time to thank all the readers, listeners, supporters, sponsors, contributors, and advertisers for their support in our effort to deliver the “News With The Black Point Of View,” since 2014. We are always looking for writers, photographers and interns, email BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com to inquire.
Send us your feedback, let us know what you think of this issue. Let us know subjects/topics you would like to see us cover in the future, and send your letters to the editor at BlackWestchesterMag@gmail.com.
Peace and Blessings
AJ Woodson, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Owner
PBP Radio – The Financial State Of The City With MV Comptroller Dr. Darren M. Morton
Black Westchester presents the People Before Politics Radio Show
With hosts Damon K. Jones and AJ Woodson
Mount Vernon Comptroller Dr. Darren M. Morton gives the Financial State of the City