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ALBANY Gov. Kathy Hochul often talks about her self-described humble beginnings that culminated in her accession to be the 57th governor of New York. Along the way, the Erie County native has made many friends, some of whom have coalesced into her inner circle.

Ahead of Hochul's first legislative session as governor, she has generally kept her top priorities close to her. She has emphasized her desire not to negotiate policy in the press. Instead, Hochul looks to speak directly with those involved in the decisions, including state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl. E Heastie.

Hochul also has a wide range of people she has met along the way to becoming governor that she can trust and turn to for input. As lieutenant governor, from 2014 until former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resigned in August, Hochul often crisscrossed the state, cutting ribbons, touting economic development and cultivating relationships with people at all levels of government and commerce.

Here are a few people who the governor has said she turns to for advice.

Hochul refers to the leader of the New York conference of the NAACP, Hazel Dukes, as her "mom on Earth." Hochul, who lost her mother seven years ago, views Dukes, 89, as someone who has "stood with me through thick and thin" and is a "spiritual advisor.

"She calls me all the time and I pick up the phone and say, 'What do you need, Hazel?'" Hochul said when she introduced then-state Sen. Brian Benjamin as her lieutenant governor in Harlem.

Dukes was one of the first noteworthy people to endorse Hochul for governor. Dukes has significant influence in New York City and is close with the similarly influential Rev. Al Sharpton. The two appeared on stage with Hochul and Benjamin during their press event in August.

An activist, but also representative of an older guard of Democrats, Dukes could be among the influential voices advisingHochul on how far to take criminal justice policies that are set to be among the most contentious issues this session.

This story appears in the Times Union's new quarterly magazine devoted to the major trends driving the Capital Region's economy.

Assembly Majority Leader Crystal D. People-Stokes may not outrank Heastie, but her long relationship with Hochul is likely to play a major factor in the dynamics during session.

While Peoples-Stokes, a Buffalo Democrat, has championed marijuana reforms, she has pushed back against more progressive policies. In the recent divisive race for mayor of Buffalo, she supported incumbent Byron Brown, who ran a successful write-in campaign, over the partys primary nominee, Democratic-Socialist India Walton. Hochul avoided offering an endorsement.

Peoples-Stokes has a long history in elected office. She was a member of the Erie County Legislature from 1993 to 2002, and has since represented the 141st Assembly district, which includes the city of Buffalo.

Peoples-Stokes recalled her close, decades-long relationship with Hochul in the days prior to Hochuls appointment as governor.

When Peoples-Stokes ran for Congress in 1998, Hochul, then on the Hamburg Town Council, was the only Democrat who was willing to walk me through her community as a candidate, Peoples-Stokes told Buffalo TV station WVIB in August.

In 2014, when Cuomo tapped Hochul to be his running mate, Peoples-Stokes was named as co-chair of Cuomos campaign.And when Hochul did take over from Cuomo, Peoples-Stokes swiftly supported her fellow Erie County politician. She was among the first state lawmakers to endorse Hochul for a full term.

Hochul often talks about her time in local government and the importance of supporting the needs of those governments, as opposed to unilaterally placing unfunded and unpopular mandates that have been drawn up out of Albany or New York City.

One person Hochul has often referenced is Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. When Hochul was county clerk, Poloncarz was comptroller there.

On Nov. 22, prior to the emergence of the omicron variant of COVID-19, Hochul issued a statement specifically thanking Poloncarz for a mask mandate he put in place as that county was dealing with overwhelmed hospitals. This is an example of the leadership we need to see at the local level to combat this deadly virus, Hochul said.

Three weeks later, defending her statewide mask policy, Hochul once again gave a shout out to Poloncarz and then vaguely referenced other, unnamed county executives.

With the state mask policy, which by this news conference already had been receiving substantial political blowback, Hochul said the county leaders are certainly appreciative now that the state will give them air cover in a sense.

The president of the influential Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York has quickly become a frequent attendee at news conferences for the governor. While Hochul looks to advance an agenda of building up the city, in step with President Joe Bidens infrastructure goals, the governor has turned to the labor leader for support.

Although LaBarbera has yet to formally endorse Hochuls bid for a full term for governor, he has appeared alongside Hochul multiple times. In December, the two joined up at events celebrating the multi-billion dollar expansion of the John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. LaBarbera, in a statement, thanked Hochul for her effective leadership in moving this landmark infrastructure project forward.

Hochul is continuing to look to unions for political and financial support in her run for governor. Many of the trades union leaders, including LaBarbera, were politically close to Cuomo, but have generally signaled that they are moving forward with Hochul, the states top Democrat.

In 2018, when Hochul was running against New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams for reelection for lieutenant governor, LaBarbera endorsed Hochul as someone who has stood by our side on every one of our issues, bar none, according to news reports at the time. One of Hochuls potential Democratic primary opponents for governor is Williams.

As much as there are political and business people that may have the ear of Hochul, she perhaps references her faith and family as guiding her more than any other North Star.

Hochul, a Roman Catholic, has peppered her speeches with religious allegories at certain times. She had also made it an early habit to frequent churches for Sunday service and subsequent speeches.

She may not be back home in Erie County for every Sunday, but the governor has shown she is often rooted in her view of her faith, which includes a deep desire to support the homeless. Hochul, though, is a strong supporter of womens rights and their rights to abortion.

When Hochul was sworn in as governor, her immediate family members were alongside. It included her two children, her father and others. Hochul has emphasized the need to protect the elderly during the pandemic.

Hochul has also referenced her familys personal experience with losing a loved one to addiction issues, which is a guiding principle for her views on the opioid epidemic and recovery.

Hochuls husband, William J. Hochul Jr., is general counsel and secretary to Delaware North Companies, a major statewide player that deals in hospitality and gambling. Her spouse is the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of New York, serving under President Barack Obama, a point Hochul likes to discuss.

The two have vouched they would maintain a firm firewall on any potential issues of conflict and her husband has pledged to recuse himself from work that could be viewed as a conflict of interest.

The rest is here:
Allies in the governor's inner circle - Albany Times Union

Kevin Cole 'When Blessing Follows you' (2020) Mixed Media. 43 x84x9 inches. In the Collection of ... [+] John and Barbara Knox, Elgin, Illinois.

Bold colors erupt in an array of painterly strokes, from splatters to precise lines to geometric and organic shapes, applied to a labyrinthine three-dimensional sculptural canvas. The viewers gaze engages in a vibrant visual journey celebrating abstraction and multi-media textures.

The title, When Blessing Follows you (2020), evokes solace and spirituality. But a painful history is told through the vivid colors and interconnected shapes, that upon closer inspection, reveal themselves as neckties. Artist Kevin Coles work elegantly and eloquently shares narratives of Black struggle and Black power, creatively fighting to expose this nations shameful history.

Neckties emerged as a deeply personal and political symbol in Coles work after a formative conversation with his grandfather.

When I graduated high school, I didn't want to register to vote. I kept telling him I didn't think it was going to count, because Im just one person, Cole recalled. He was 91 years old, and he kneeled down and drew me a map and told me to go to a certain area on his property. He took me to a tree where Black people were lynched by their neckties on their way to vote.

His grandfather made a persuasive argument that compelled 18-year-old Cole to begin a lifelong research journey that is woven into the dialogue of decades of artworks spanning themes from powerful Black women to his appreciation of music.

Cole began studying the lynchings of Black people by white mobs in Jefferson County, Arkansas, where his grandfather lived. The area and this nation have long been confronting their racist legacies. The Equal Justice Initiative created of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, honoring more than 4,400 Black people who were lynched, burned, mutilated, or brutally assaulted in the United States between 1883 and 1940. A necktie is likened to hangman's noose, a symbol long associated with lynching and racism.

Kevin Cole 'Ballot Box Series: Box of Many Colors' (2021) 10x14x8 inches Mixed Media. From the ... [+] collection of Brenda A. and Larry D. Thompson of Atlanta.

Born in Arkansas, Cole, now 60, earned a M.F.A in drawing from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, a M.A. in art education and painting from the University of Illinois in Champaign, and aB.S. in art education from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and moved to Georgia where he has a studio in Fairburn, some 17 miles south of Atlanta. His mixed-media work appears in more than 3,600 prominent public, private, and corporate collections throughout the country. Hes won more than 66 art awards, 27 fellowships and grants, and 51 teaching awards. His work has been on view at 22 solo, group, juried, and invitational exhibitions since 1998.

Neckties are prevalent in Coles latest Gerrymandering series, which includes an array of large-scale works that amplify the charge for social justice. The ongoing series depicts the shapes of seven Southern states where Black votes are suppressed, each etched into aluminum with symbols and imagery, including neckties and scars, and dirt from that state adhered to the canvas. Seven works he calls Banners will be suspended from the ceiling to represent the swing states. Each Banner will hang nine-feet long and will be etched with necktie and scarf shapes to symbolize various court cases or information associated with each state. Cole also created life-size Poll Tax Ballot Box works, both monochromatic and brightly colored, as well as a series of smaller ballot boxes.

Some years ago, I introduced the concept of mapping as the foundation for pieces related to certain counties and certain Southern towns that were hotbeds of hate over the last century. This spawned further work on lynching with the series Tied Up in Politics, said Cole.

Kevin Cole 'Ballot Boxes Series Where Fate Lies' 2021 3046x24 inches Mixed Media

Cole an educator who serves as an Advanced Placement art consultant for the New York city-based College Board representing more than 6,000 of the world's leading colleges, schools, and other educational organizations extensively researches each state and its people before creating artworks.

I stumbled upon the work of several authors who focused on gerrymandering and how it has become the last firewall for those who would rather continue their indefensible dominance in society rather than abide by the rules they made up which gave power to the idea of one man, one vote, said Cole. Through gerrymandering, even though each man and woman has a vote, districts are so drawn that the balance of power still remains with those who have always been in power. This must continue to be addressed.

Coles wide-reaching academic sources include Freedom Is Not Enough: Black Voters, Black Candidates, and American Presidential Politics, a 2007 book by Ronald W. Walters. The American author, speaker, and scholar of African-American politics who died in 2010, examined the 2000 electoral results and the potential impact of disenfranchised Black voters in Florida. Walters explored the effect that Jesse Jackson had on the Democratic party and the electorate in 1984 and 1988, and the influence that Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton had on voters during the 2004 Democratic debates.

I've tried to get rid of the neckties and just move forward, but its a political statement that stays in there, just like a lot of my titles are positive titles. The reason they're positive titles is because we've come a long way, but we have so far to go. When you listen, when you look at someones work, you find the phases of human experiences. I listen to a lot of sermons, a lot of speeches, and that's where I get my titles from. And from music, because its a universal language.

Cole is particularly inspired by jazz and gospel music. His mother was devoted to the church and his grandmother owned a jazz club.

I've always listened to all types of music, depending on what I'm working on, said Cole, underscoring the complex processes, materials, and themes across his oeuvre.

Every medium I use has to do with the situation, said Cole. I started working with aluminum after September 11 (2001). I was supposed to be in New York with a friend looking at galleries, and (the attacks) happened the day before, so I decided I wouldn't go. An artist by the name of Bill Stevens sent me a picture of a little boy holding a piece of metal and tar paper which was some of the debris from the Twin Towers.

Kevin Cole 'Arkansas: Where Faith Meets Opportunities' (2020) I15x20 inches Mixed Media on paper

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Artist Kevin Cole Depicts Complexities Of The Black Experience Through Large-Scale Multi-Media Works That Re-Examine U.S. History - Forbes

'I'll just call it rude' judge reprimands attorney during murder trial

The judge in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial reprimanded the defense attorney for disrespecting the court.

USA TODAY, Associated Press

BRUNSWICK, Ga. A man who called police to report Ahmaud Arberyinsidea house under construction testified Wednesday, giving jurors a newperspective of what happened moments before Arbery was chased down by three other men and fatally shot.

Matthew Albenze, who has lived in the Satilla Shores neighborhood of Brunswick for more than 30 years, said that minutes after he called the police nonemergency number, he heard shots and came across a "shocking scene," where Arbery's body was splayed on the road.

Albenze is the first witness who is not a police officer to testify in the murder trial of three white men accused of killing Arbery, who was Black. After father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael spotted Arbery in their neighborhood, William "Roddie" Bryanjoined in and they "cornered" Arberyhe was fatally shotby Travis.

Albenzesaid he wassplitting wood in his front yard early last year when he saw a stranger standingin front of a neighbor's house under construction. Albenze said the neighbor had once showed him a video of someone walking around the open construction site, and Albenze believed it to be the same man.

"He was just standing there looking around," Albenze said.

Ahmaud Arbery: Greg McMichael didn't know ifArbery had a gun, but 'I don't take any chances,' he told police

Albenze said he went into hishouse, grabbed his phone and a pistol, and came back outside. That's when he saw theman inside the construction site andcalled the police nonemergency number.He testified he didn'tcall 911 because he"did not see an emergency."

Prosecutors played a recording of Albenze's phone call in court on Wednesday.An operator can be heard asking Albenze ifthe man was breaking into the house:

"No, its all open,"Albenze said.

The operator asks:"OK, what ishe doing?"

"Hes running down the street," Albenze says.

Albenze said he did not know why Arbery started running. He also said he did not call the McMichaels or communicate with them in any way.Meanwhile, the McMichaels got in a truck and pursued Arbery.

"In a few minutes, I heard gunshots," said Albenze, who reported hearing three gunshots.

Defense attorneys have said the McMichaels and Bryan were legally justified in chasing and trying to detain Arbery because they believed he was a burglar, and that Travis fired his gun in self-defense. The prosecution has argued Arbery committed no crimes.

After hearing the gunshots, Albenze told the court he rode his bicycle downthe street to see what happened and came upon Arbery's body, a police carand Travis and Gregory McMichael.

"I stopped and went home. It was kind of a shocking scene," Albenze said.

On cross-examination, defense attorneys questioned Albenze on why he felt compelled to call police in the first place. Albenze said he was part of a neighborhood Facebook group where residents were posting about property crimes in the area.

Asked if he was concerned about property thefts in Satilla Shores, Albenze said, "Of course. ... Its our home." Albenze said he was also aware ofcar break-ins in the neighborhood.

Stephan Lowrey, a former Glynn County police officer who led the investigation, spent much of the afternoon testifying about his interview with Bryan.

Bryan told the officerhe angled his truck at Arbery multiple times and tried to steer him off the road.Prosecutors had the officerread aloud from a transcript of his interview with Bryan.

According to the transcript, Bryan said he believed Arbery was trying to get into his truck at one point during the chase, and the officerlater found fingerprints and white fibers on the drivers side door of the vehicle.

"But I didn't hit him,"Bryan told the officer. "I wish I would have, might have took him out and not got him shot."

When asked during a lengthy cross-examination if the shooting had anything to do with Arbery being Black, the officersaid no.

Lowrey also agreed with a defense attorneythat if he believed Bryan deliberately attacked Arbery or committed a felony like aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, he would have read him his Miranda rights during theinterview.

"That wasnt the way I interpreted it at the time, though," the officersaid.

Earlier Wednesday, Investigator Roderic Nohilly with the Glynn County Police Department told prosecutors he spoke briefly to Gregory McMichael after the shooting, with McMichael describingArbery as being "trapped like a rat."

"His (Arbery's) intention was to grab that shotgun and probably shoot Travis," McMichael told Nohilly, who said he has known McMichael professionally for at least 16 years.

Witness Kellie Parr, who grew up in a house near where Arbery was shot, testified she had been visiting her parentsin late December or early January when she drove by a house under construction andsaw a tall Black man standing in the doorframe.

Parr said she wondered what the man was doing there but thought to herself, "No Kellie, dont be racist." She said she kept driving.

Cara Richardson, the director of the local 911 call center, was the day's final witness. Prosecutors played a series of 911 calls made by Greg and Travis McMichael, including the call made the day of the shooting, while she was on the stand. During cross-examination, Richardson told the defense she was not aware of any calls made to the personal numbers of police officers.

The trial has drawn scrutiny over the nearly all-white juryconsidering charges against the three white men accused of killing Ahmaud, who was Black.Several public figures have called Arbery's killing a "lynching," and JudgeTimothy Walmsleyhas acknowledged the "racial overtones" of the case.

The Rev. Al Sharpton and civil rights attorney Ben Crump, whorepresents Arbery's father, werein the courtroom Wednesday.As Nohilly testified,Crump spoke outside the courthouse, calling it "concerning" that the jury doesnt reflect the diversity of the county.

In Brunswick, more than 55% of residents are Black, and more than 26% of residents in Glynn County are Black, according the U.S. Census Bureau. One Black man is serving on the jury.

Who's on the jury?Here's what we know about them

While jurors are told to follow evidence and the law as instructed by the court,Crump saidthey are told they can use their life experiences and perspectives.

"When they do that, do they understand the life experiences of Ahmaud? His background? His culture?" Crump asked. "Or will they be more akin to the perspective and background of the killers of AhmaudArbery?It is concerning and we have to call out thisintellectualjustification of discrimination of our entire legal system."

Sharpton, who said he was invited to Brunswick by Arbery's mother and father, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, led Arberys family and supporters in a prayer vigil.

"I didnt want to just pray with the family in Savannah or put them on TV, I wanted to sit with them today with the trial," said Sharpton, who called Arberys killing "a lynching in the 21st century."

Sharpton also raised concerns about the jury failing to reflect Glynn Countys population, but said he is encouraged by knowing that some white people in Brunswick have spoken out against the defendants' actions.

"This is not limited to race. There are white people who see this as disgraceful and dont want their town known for this," he said.

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Ahmaud Arbery trial: Witness tells jury about moments ...

Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy at the funeral for 14-year-old Valentina Orellana Peralta, who was killed by a Los Angeles police officer while shopping with her mother at a North Hollywood store.

Valentina and her mother, Soledad Peralta, had been shopping for dresses on Dec. 23 and were in the changing room of a Burlington store when one of three rounds fired by Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. penetrated the wall and struck the girl, who died in her mother's arms.

Jones was firing at a man, later identified as Daniel Elena-Lopez, who had assaulted customers with a bicycle lock and was holding the lock at the time of the shooting, according to police body camera video of the incident.

Valentina's funeral will be Monday at the City of Refuge Church in Gardena.

Along with Sharpton, Refuge Senior Pastor Bishop Noel Jones and attorneys Ben Crump and Rahul Ravipudi, who represent her mother and father, will deliver what they term a "call to justice" in the child's shooting.

Crump has represented numerous families of people shot or killed by police, including George Floyd, whose May 2020 slaying by a Minneapolis police officer triggered global protests over policing.

Valentina's shooting has sparked outrage and spurred debate about police response in tense, crowded situations. Los Angeles City Council members have commented, along with experts on the use of force and advocates for the Latino community.

Police dispatchers that night received multiple, conflicting 911 calls about the assaults, some saying incorrectly that Elena-Lopez had a gun.

A video including surveillance and body camera footage and 911 calls was released last week by the LAPD. In it, Jones rushes past other police officers, one of whom shouts, "Hold up! Hold up!" Jones then stands over a bleeding woman who had been attacked by Elena-Lopez as the assailant moves away at the opposite end of an aisle.

Story continues

Jones fires three times, then the shrieks of a woman in a nearby fitting room fill the air.

Valentina and Elena-Lopez were both pronounced dead at the scene. The LAPD and the state Department of Justice are investigating.

President Biden offered his condolences to Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric during their first call last week.

In a brief statement posted on the White House website, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had "offered his deep condolences to the people of Chile for the tragic death" of Valentina, who was born in Santiago.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Boric acknowledged Biden's sympathy and noted that Valentina had been killed "at the hands of the United States police."

"We accompany her family in their pain," Boric continued, "and we pledge our support for justice."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Excerpt from:
Sharpton will deliver eulogy for 14-year-old girl killed by LAPD stray bullet - Yahoo News

Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump Named to TIME Magazines 100 Most Influential People

Attorney Benjamin Crump (NNPA)

TIME named nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump to the 2021 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, making him the only personal injury trial lawyer to make the list.

Crump has established himself as one of the nations foremost lawyers and advocates for social and racialjustice.

In addition to working on some of the most high-profile cases in the U.S., representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, Crump has fought for justice for the residents of Flint, Michigan, who were affected by poisoned water; Black women with ovarian cancer targeted by Johnson & Johnson to use talc products; and people who experienced discriminatory practices banking while Black by some of the nations largest banks.

He is the founder and principal owner ofBen Crump Law.

Ben Crump transcends and transforms the traditional role of a lawyer, said U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters.

He is not only having an impact on the culture both inside and outside the courtroom, but his advocacy is influencing corporate boardrooms and the highest levels of government.

Crump has been nationally recognized as the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers, Ebony Magazine Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, and has been referred to as Black Americas Attorney General.

His book, published in October 2019,Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,documents how America is killing Black people, whether with a bullet or a lengthy prison sentence, and justifying it legally.

Its an honor to be recognized this way and to use any influence I have to bring about greater racial justice for all Americans, Crump said.

I am deeply grateful to every single person who has raised a voice to elevate our cries for equality, and I will continue to use any influence I have to make our laws, our justice system, and corporate America more just and free of systemic racism.

He released avideowith the family members of people killed by police, urging supporters to call their senators.

Ben is shining a light on racial injustice everywhere it exists, said Rev. Al Sharpton, who has called him Black Americas attorney general.

He is changing hearts and minds, practices and precedents, laws and lives.

The list, now in its eighteenth year, recognizes the impact, innovation and achievement of the worlds most influential individuals.

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Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump Named to TIME Magazines 100 Most Influential People - Lasentinel