“If you are white, you enjoy freedom, rights and all the privileges that come with it, Richards said to a group of young people as he canvassed for votes in the neighborhood. “But if you are Black, you have to struggle daily to gain your freedom, rights and justice in this country. The current protests across are a testimony that blacks in the US are still not free,” he said. 

Richards is one of nine candidates running for District 49. 

Richards moved to Staten Island over 20 years ago after graduating from high school in Africa. His father is Liberian and his mother is Ghanaian.  As a child he spent time in a refugee camp in Ghana. He later studied law and has been a public defender attorney for almost a decade in the borough 

Richards said, since declaring his intention to run for office, he has been a  victim of a hate crime.

Through his public defender job he has seen and heard first hand how police have been unfairly treating African Americans in Staten Island. 

“There is a relationship between low education and crime,” he said. “Most of the crimes committed like drugs consumption, gang violence, drunk driving are committed more by high school dropouts. This means, the more educated a Black man is, the less likely for him or her to commit these crimes in the community.”

As he knocked on doors, searching for votes, Richards told African American and African residents that over policing is impacting negatively the community.

“Due to the over policing of black communities, cops will see more crimes in those communities than in the white majority neighborhoods whose population is more than the blacks,” he said. “That’s why my agenda is to reform the criminal justice system and push for the rights of minorities in decision making processes.”

In a 2019 Center survey conducted by Pew research center,  84% of Black adults said they believe that they are treated less fairly.

Richards said African Americans  are also disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.

“Blacks are frontline workers more than other races,” he said.”They are the less privileged and those suffering from poverty and unemployment than all others.”

Richards urged the community to think critically about the next election as the fate of Black America is at stake.

“We can protest from January to December, but if we don’t vote for the right people in the election, our suffering will stay the same,” he said.  

Voter Lassanah Gray, said that Staten Island needs a selfless representative that will be able to deliver the high expectations of  the borough’s African Americans. 

He said he is supporting Richards because of his work in the community defending poor black people in conflict with the law. 

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A postmortem examination in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital confirmed that Kadija Saccoh was raped and killed according to the country’s national broadcaster SLBC Television.

“I received a call that my daughter Kadija is dead and they were preparing her for burial. On suspicion, I was shocked, opposed to the rush burial and called for a postmortem examination,” Abu Bakarr Saccoh, the father of the victim, a Sierra Leonean based in the U.S., posted on his Facebook account. The postmortem result proved that the girl was repeatedly raped and killed.”

The death of Kadija has sparked protests across the country’s capital as activists are calling on the government to be clamp down on fighting rape against girls and women.

A report from the Family Support Unit, a police unit that handle rape cases said in a 2019 report  that, the small West African nation of 7.5  million people recorded over 3,260 cases of sexual penetration. Over 90 % of them were done by perpetrators known to  family members of the victims, the report said.

After the report was launched, President Julius Maada Bio declared rape as a national emergency. The sexual offenses  act was amended to 15 years in jail for perpetrators found guilty of raping an adult and life imprisonment for raping a minor. 

The country’s First Lady Fatima Maada Bio who heads a campaign called  “Hands Off Our Girls” has vowed to ensure justice is done for the child. 

“Rapists have no place in our society,” the First Lady said on Facebook Live. The little girl didn’t deserve to die like that. I will pursue justice for the kid and the family. That’s why I set up the ‘Hands Off Our Girls’ campaign to protect kids.”

Female in Sierra Leone, a coalition of women activists has condemned the act and has called for justice. In a street protest broadcast on Facebook they said the act is unacceptable.

“For the past three years, we have seen an unprecedented increase in the cases of rape,” said coalition  president Emma Fumi Turay to the protestors. “Most of these perpetrators have received less punishment while some have been protected by big guns in society. We will leave no stone unturned to acquire justice for the victim and her family”.  

Deputy Inspector General of Police Elizabeth Turay  said in a press conference that already have four people in custody 

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That was the cry of the day as hundreds of  Black Lives Matters protesters in Staten Island were joined by city officials to paint Black Lives Matters  in Richmond Terrace.  It was the borough’s way of marking the commemoration of Juneteenth yesterday. 

The murals were painted close to  Staten Island Ferry,  Borough Hall, 120th Police Precinct and the Staten Island Supreme Court. The street is considered the gateway to Staten Island.

Juneteenth is the date Galveston, Texas slaves were told that they were free. This was two years after slaves were freed through the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Mayor Bill De Blasio told the crowd that the city is committed to fight racial injustice.

“We are working on strategies to form a racial justice and reconciliation commission,” he said. “It will be similar to other Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s in other parts of the world to know what went wrong and how can it be corrected with a deep historical reflection.”

District Councilwoman Debi Rose, remembered the murder of Eric Garner who died while in a chokehold by police for selling loose cigarretes near the ferry.  The officer was never charged. 

“It was here at this point where Eric Garner was killed in 2014 by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo through an aggressive and illegal chokehold,” she said.  “So painting here today is to call on the authorities to end injustice and racial biases.”

Amoy Barnes, a city council candidate said the street murals should remind residents  that people of color have been suffering for too long and it’s time for words to be put into practice. 

“Black Lives Matter is a movement not a moment,’’ Barnes said. “There is a need for consistency, enactment of legislations, voting, census participation and other actions to ensure inequality and injustice against blacks are fought.” 

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 “Park-Hill used to be dangerous for us the African migrants. African Americans refused to welcome us. Some of us were harassed and arrested. Over 45 of our colleagues who retaliated were charged to court and some were deported” Freeman said. 

Freeman recalled how he was chased one night by a street gang for refusing to greet them. 

“In the process, I lost my $50 in my possession,” he said.  

Years down the line, tension has lessened between the two communities in Staten island because the African migrant’s community here grew to over 50,000 and a realization that what drove them apart should bind them together.

Alex Moore is the CEO of 1847 night club on Bay street in Staten Island. Its name is derived from July 26, 1847 when an African American from Virginia, Joseph Jenkins Roberts declared the colony of Liberia as an independent republic. It’s a key meeting point for members of both communities on Staten Island.

“We play both African and hip-hop music because we serve the two parties. We screen football, African movies and even serve both African and American dishes. This shows we are one and the same,”Moore said.  

Abraham Tucker is the president of the Liberian community in Staten Island. With black people facing  racism and police brutality, Tucker said  there is a need for both communities to work together. 

“What affects one, affects the other,” he said.  “The racists and the police are not targeting African Americans alone, they are targeting blacks.”

Al Peters  is an African American activist who operates a studio for arts and culture. He blamed Western education as the factor that divides what he called ‘Continent African born’ and ‘American born Africans’. 

“When Black history is taught in schools, they make it sound like, the existence of Black people started from slavery,” he said. “No, it didn’t. It started way back when we were Kings and Queens in our villages. Until the slave masters destroyed that peaceful life.”

Peters  said that some African Americans viewed the arrival of African migrants in the U.S. as a threat because they believe they will take their jobs from them. Cultural differences he believes also played a part. 

“But all that is as a result of the slavery mentality of the mind placed in our brothers by the colonial powers,” he said. “The same who are still killing black people, the oppressors. This is now the right time to work together and fight for justice,” he said.

Peters said he uses his studio and art  to inform both communities about peace, freedom and love for one another.

“These days, we attend parties, night clubs and chill as a family together which was unheard of in the past” he said.

Over the years, music, sports and intermarriages have played a part in improving the relationship between the two communities. 

The Lutheran church in Staten Island attracts worshippers from both the African and African American community.

“We even organized intermarriages between both communities,” said Zizi Kendakai, the  assistant pastor of the church.  “When we arrived here, the community was hostile. But prayers and the choir music got them attracted to this church and we are now united as one family.”

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together”, he said quoting from Psalms 133 of the Bible. 

 These words would lead to everlasting peace between the communities if they live by them, he said.

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Christiana Jabbie the head of  Being Human organization has joined Wendy De Shong Neuhalfen who is the CEO of New Direction Services to feed vulnerable communities in Staten Island as COVID-19 ravages the borough.  

“This is a time when we all need to come together and support our communities,” De Shong said. “Since the virus struck, people have been sitting home jobless and starving. It’s important to work together and help one another.”

The two agencies have been providing food for hundreds of vulnerable communities in Park Hill, Clifton and other areas of Staten Island New York throughout the lockdown. The neighborhoods are home to largely migrants, African Americans and less privileged communities. 

 The borough now has the second highest rate of documented infections, just behind the Bronx, with 21 cases per 1,000 people, according to data from the city health department.

Almost 380,000 New Yorkers have tested positive for the virus as of June 4  and 11,000 of them live on Staten Island. 

“At this stage, with so many cases coming in across the five boroughs every day, it’s hard to pinpoint what’s going on in Staten Island,” said Patrick Gallahue, a spokesman for the New York city’s Department of Health and Hygiene.    “We need to pay close attention to that borough.”

Neuhalfen, the CEO of New Direction Services said she founded the agency 20 years ago to address food insecurity among the elderly and the less privileged on Staten Island. The pandemic led her to scale up the agency’s response to help the community. They have been supporting over 1,000 families weekly.

“This is a time when we all need to come together and support our communities,” she said.

 Jabbie said they give out hundreds of bags of food, cartoons of eggs, vegetables, fruits and other consumables weekly as a way of giving hope. 

“The Park-Hill community needs this food because it’s a middle-class community,” she said. “It deserves more support because it does not have access to support given to other boroughs in New York city as a result of its location.”

The volunteers of the two organizations worked tirelessly to interact with dozens of beneficiaries during the distribution. But they never ignored safety  regulations.

“All our beneficiaries and our volunteers must wear their masks and follow the six feet distancing,” Jabbie said.  “We don’t allow overcrowding and any risky health practice during the process.”

The food distribution also includes awareness messages on Covid-19 to avoid practices that will spread the virus. 

Janet Freeman, a Liberian American living in Staten Island, appreciates the food support. She said it has saved her a lot of stress in trying to buy food since she lost her job in a local pub recently due to the virus.  Freeman believes the neighborhood is neglected by the city authorities. 

“We have to take the long journey to Manhattan or Brooklyn for jobs, leisure and other key city facilities,” she said. “Sometimes, we feel like we are not in New York. Covid-19 has even made our situation worse.”

The organizers said food donations will continue even when the pandemic ends.

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The city that never sleeps is in deep slumber.  I have been sitting home for over two months now. My room is both my classroom and my work space. When I arrived here in September 2019, New York was buzzing with a mix of everything. Culture, food, music, and arts-it was full of vibe. 

 Now  my life consists of washing  my hands frequently and wearing a mask to go to the store.  There are restrictions everywhere to prevent the spread of  the virus. The warnings reinforce the new codes of behavior that dominates what was once a vibrant, buzzing and multicultural city. Now social distancing, avoiding crowded spaces, avoiding family, avoiding friends are the new orders. Our normal lives are gone. 

The streets are blocked off. Schools and businesses are closed. Cinemas and restaurants are shuttered. Even the city’s lovely Time Square is empty, lonely and deserted.

Almost 30,000 in New York alone and over 100,000 have died from the virus nationwide.

The doors of my university are closed and my courses restricted online. 

The social and psychological shift that’s taken place under COVID-19’s regime worries me more than the government’s temporary restrictions on our movements to deal with the public health crisis. When fear becomes a prime motivator for people, they lose touch with the better angels of their nature. I’ve seen it firsthand. When I sneezed in public people looked at me with suspicion and ran away. 

This is not the first time I am facing a dictatorial regime.  In the 90’s, while living in my home country of Sierra Leone,  I witnessed a military regime with brutal restrictions. Five years ago I faced the Ebola virus. Both were brutal. But I was not expecting another like this in New York, the buzzing capital of the world.

Since COVID-19 struck, I have seen people lose jobs, family members abandon their sick loved ones. I have seen people buried in body bags, their families unable to participate in giving proper burial rites. I have seen marketplaces increase food prices because everything imported is more expensive these days. I have paid my fair share to  the virus regime.

I came close to the virus myself. A source I interviewed for a university assignment tested positive two weeks after our meeting. She survived. A black African who owns a shop close to my house on Staten Island succumbed to the virus. His shop is still closed and RIP written on it. 

When I started reporting on COVID-19 in New York for my classes months ago, I never thought it would devastate the city and the world like this. The world is on a lockdown. All because of a dictatorial virus.

Barber shops and hair salons are closed and my bushy hair reminds me that these are not normal times. 

I have turned to watching movies, reading books and watching television shows that occupy my time in isolation. I too am succumbing to COVID-19’s state of sadness or dictatorial tendencies. 

But I am trying to make up for what I’ve seen I want to replace bad energy with something positive. I’m playing my part as the dissident in COVID-19’s dictatorship.

Just like I survived the other dictatorial regimes in the past, I am hopeful that I will survive this because this too shall soon pass.

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