Atlanta Killings Prompt National Discussion on Increased Asian American Discrimination, Violence

Currents News Staff

All eyes are on Georgia after three deadly shootings at three spas in the Atlanta metro area. Eight people are dead — six were Asian women.

This tragedy is only adding to the fear Asian Americans around the country are already facing.

People around the world are talking about the shootings.

Police say suspect Robert Aaron long told them the shootings weren’t about race, they were about eliminating sexual temptation.

But, Georgia officials are investigating whether the shootings can be prosecuted as hate crimes.

Either way it’s adding to outrage and anxiety over rising violence against Asian Americans.

The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate reports receiving almost 3,800 complaints from mid-March 2020 through February 2021.

“Many of my family members are living in fear,” one local told Currents News. “I think the rhetoric from our previous administration was definitely the catalyst for all this.”

Here’s what the current administration has to say.

“We stand with you, and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged,” said Vice President Kamala Harris.

President Joe Biden is instructing officials to conduct listening sessions in Atlanta, and on this issue, people have a lot to say.

“I think this country has a reluctance to admit that there is very real and deep rooted systemic racism that does result in violence,” said Georgia politician Nee Nguyen.

Governors of other states, former president Barack Obama, advocates and foreign leaders are also speaking out.

There are “a lot of Asian Americans who are looking over their shoulders when they go outside, when they go to the grocery store,” explained Santa Cruz Warrior NBA veteran Jeremy Lin.

They’re all pleading for change as the discussion continues on Capitol Hill and the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on “Discrimination and Violence Against Asian Americans.”

President Biden and Vice President Harris will be in Atlanta March 19.

Despite Pandemic, the Luck of the Irish Prevails for Faithful of Brooklyn and Queens

Currents News Staff

New York City’s grand St. Patrick’s Day parade turned completely virtual in 2021.

Only the fighting 69th infantry actually marched down Manhattan’s 5th Avenue, instead of the normal sea of green.

Father Christopher Heanue, director of the Irish Apostolate in the Brooklyn Diocese, usually takes part in all of the festivities. This year was a little different.

He joins Currents News to share how generations are celebrating their Irish heritage this year.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday, 3/17/21

Catholic school students are making sure people don’t go hungry, turning a classroom into a kind of supermarket.

President Biden addresses the influx of migrants from South and Central America at the U.S. border.

Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations are looking different for a second year in a row.

The Dyckman Farmhouse addresses its dark history in a new art exhibit.

St. Mel’s Catholic Academy Helps Flushing Recover From Pandemic Food Insecurity During Lent

By Jessica Easthope

The lines have been endless with people wrapped around blocks, waiting for hours for the essentials. But now, the food pantries that countless New Yorkers have relied on during the pandemic are struggling, too.

In Flushing, one of New York’s most diverse communities — St. Kevin’s food pantry — has had its operation turned upside down. But students at St. Mel’s Catholic Academy are picking up the slack.

“Because donations were really slow they were having to actually go out and use their funds to purchase items for these families, so I think what we’re doing is going to be a big help to them to help them fulfill their mission. And we know the donations the kids are bringing in are going to go to people who really need them,” Amy Barron, principal of St. Mel’s, told Currents News.

Food is piled high in an empty classroom waiting to be delivered to St. Kevin’s, a Lenten service project with a deeper meaning. Tamar Chicavich, a mother of two students at the school, says the idea for the food drive came to her while she was praying.

“It’s practical faith. Living it out here in the community, and they can do that,” Tamar explained.

A year into the pandemic, St. Kevin’s has been struggling to feed the 50 families it regularly provides for. Unemployment in Queens is nearly 13 percent, and the immigrant-rich communities rocked by the pandemic are now feeling the powerful aftershock of food insecurity. It’s a harsh reality that’s become the driving force behind St. Mel’s makeshift supermarket.

“It’s about doing stuff for people and not only giving stuff up, but you can do stuff positive for people and not just for sacrificing something you like,” third graders Destiny Danaj and Franco Santangelo explained. “We give up something like chocolate, or soda or video games, but He gave up His whole life for us.”

In a community when so many undocumented immigrants are not eligible for government assistance, relying on church-run pantries like St. Kevin’s is the only option, and motivation that has students looking past the Lenten season.

“We should do this stuff mostly very often so people in need have stuff, and especially not just in this time. You can do it whenever, always,” Destiny and Franco said.

So far the school has collected more than 2,000 nonperishable food items, and is aiming to double its donations before the food is delivered to St. Kevin’s on March 30.

Biden Administration Urges Migrants to ‘Stay Home’ Amid Surge of Unaccompanied Children at Border

Currents News Staff

“Stay home.”

That’s the message President Joe Biden has for people thinking about crossing into the United States at the southern border as his administration scrambles to respond to a surge of unaccompanied migrant children already, opening a new shelter March 17.

Officials say more people are on the way — tens of thousands of people are making the dangerous journey to the U.S.-Mexico Border.

“I can say quite clearly, ‘Don’t come, and while we’re in the process of getting set up, don’t leave your town or city or community’” Biden said.

Still, federal officials expect them to keep coming.

Most families and adults are being sent back, but all too often children are crossing by themselves.

Thousands are already in the U.S. and there’s massive overcrowding.

Peter Schey, president of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, is a lawyer representing unaccompanied minors and says things need to change.

“It is an untenable situation that the administration needs to address immediately.”

The administration says it’s a work in progress.

“We are building the capacity to address the needs of those children when they arrive,”

explained Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

That includes using a Dallas, Texas convention center to shelter migrant teenage boys, starting March 17.

The crisis these children and families are facing has become political.

‘It’s a pent up surge that started under Donald Trump,” said Representative Ruben Gallego.

“it is entirely caused by the actions of this administration,” said House Minority Leader Representative Kevin McCarthy.

The administration admits there is the perception enforcement is now more relaxed, but they say there are other elements fueling migrants outside of who’s sitting in the White House: devastation in Central America from two hurricanes last year, the toll of the pandemic and worsening conditions these people are trying to escape.

‘Unspoken Voices’ Exhibit Using Art to Humanize Those Enslaved at NYC’s Dyckman Farmhouse

By Emily Drooby

Six names are no longer hidden from the world. Now, they’re part of an exhibit at the Dyckman Farmhouse in Upper Manhattan.

“Bringing to light, the names of the enslaved people who lived and worked on the Dyckman Farm,” explained executive director Meredith Horsford as she guided Currents News through a tour of The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum.

The farmhouse built in the late 1700’s had enslaved and freed black men and women living there in the early 1800’s.

The museum now hosts a special exhibit, “Unspoken Voices: Honoring the Legacy of Black Americans.” It features special pieces from three local artists — Gwendolyn Black, Sheila Prevost and Rachel Sydlowski.

“All of their pieces are in response to the research that we’ve been doing on the enslaved and free black people who lived here,” Meredith explained.

The research the farmhouse team did was aimed at unearthing information about the farmhouse’s unspoken voices.

“It’s been a perfect opportunity to learn more about narratives that are underrepresented and silenced,” said the museum’s intern, Stephanie Barnes, when asked why this exhibit was so important.

Meredith explained further: “They prospered off of the backs of enslaved labor, and it’s very important, especially today but any time, to tell a complete history of the site, and that’s really important to us.”

Now, their six names are no longer unspoken.

To know Harry and Hannah and Will, it’s really, I find, inspiring and empowering to be able to say their names and make that a really important part of our story,” Meredith added.

The art pieces, including figures throughout the house and a multimedia display, are the artists’ reaction to that research.

Meredith hopes they spark an important conversation.

When speaking of the one thing she wants people to take away from the exhibit, Meredith said, “I hope that would just be that they feel more comfortable having a conversation about difficult topics, like slavery. I have noticed that when interacting with visitors, it really is an easy way to ease into a conversation about a really challenging topic by asking questions or talking to someone about a piece of art.”

They’re uncovering the ignored histories of their past and sharing those crucial stories with the world.

NYPD Women: Daughter of Late Detective Pays Tribute to Her Mother’s Legacy

By Jessica Easthope

Stephenie Clark says her mom Eileen was protecting and serving, long before she joined the NYPD.

“It was unusual back then to have a mother working, so it was nice that she wanted to be able to help support the household, move out to the suburbs. She wanted to be able to have a career that was different and forward for women back then,” said Stephenie.

Eileen Clark joined the NYPD in 1969 when the department was only two percent women. She was among the first group of women to go out on patrol in 1972.

“I remember her waiting to get on, I remember her talking about the physical exam but back then women were only brought on every four years,” Stephanie said.

Then in 1987, Stephenie followed in her mom’s footsteps, joining the force and having a career her mom paved the way for.

“She made it easy to do because she had done it. It was nice to say I was a second generation female member of the service, I did really like saying that,” she said.

Stephenie retired in 2013 after 26 years on the job. Though her career mirrored her mom’s, the path life and NYPD took them down was different.

“We were never the same rank, she was a policewoman and a detective and I was a police officer, a sergeant and a lieutenant,” Stephanie told Currents News.

Stephenie was the second woman in the NYPD to ever be part of a promotion class while pregnant. She said her mom made Catholic values part of her job as an officer.

“Anti-abortion, anti-death penalty, her Catholic upbringing brought her into this life also, just wanting to help people and she knew she could,” Stephanie said.

And those same values became her own.

“I think I always try to not judge people, be careful how I’m treating people, to be true to my faith. It’s not hard to do when you’re able to help people,” she explained.

Eileen passed away of cancer at 51, just shy of Stephanie’s 20th anniversary on the job.

“I remember my dad called and he said, ‘Your mother would have been so proud,’ and I know she would have been. All the units that I went to, I wish she would have been there, but she was there,” said Stephenie.

Stephenie says her mom is a trailblazer, not only for women on the force but for all officers who join the NYPD to help others.

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday, 3/16/21

Vaccine concerns – European countries are dropping AstraZeneca’s shot amid blood clot worries.

Moderna is now holding a trial to see how effective their shot is in children.

Migrant crisis – teens caught along the border are now being bussed to a convention center in Dallas.

Meet the women who are breaking ground in the field of wildlife conservation.

Newborn Baby Delivered Curbside With Help of Hospital Security

Currents News Staff

One week ago, Lacey Gonzalez held her baby for the first time. It was something that happened before she even entered the hospital.

“I remember the whole ride, my husband kept saying ‘The water hasn’t broken yet, we’re going to be okay,’” Lacey said. “‘We’ll make it, we’ll make it.’”

Lacey says her water didn’t break until the baby’s head came out and at that point, she was in the van outside Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) in Minneapolis.

Her husband ran inside for help.

“I asked him the same question that I ask every labor patient that comes in, ‘Are they actively pushing?’” said Tiffany Owen, an HCMC security officer. “And this one time, he said ‘Yes.’”

Tiffany came to the rescue.

“The whole time I just kept looking at her eyes,” Lacey said, “and all I could see was courage. I knew everything was going to be okay.”

“I was by myself for what seemed like eternity but it was just a minute or two,” Tiffany said. “She continued to push. I caught the baby when she was born and it was a girl.”

Medical staff arrived and brought Lacey and her baby to the ER before being brought to the birth center.

On that day, Officer Tiffany Owen became an honorary midwife. She’s also a mom.

“I would say my experiences best helped her more than any of my training that I went through,” Tiffany said.

The Gonzalez family welcomed a baby girl named Tiffany, which was the same name as the officer who delivered her. It means “manifestation of God.”

Officer Tiffany called the experience amazing.

“One of the most amazing moments of my life,” she said.

The Pandemic Is Impacting Teens’ Mental Health, a Family Therapist Says Do This to Support Them

Currents News Staff

March 16 marks one year since New York City schools shut down with the uncertainty of a reopening date.

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn have been back and operating since September.

Yet, New York City public schools have had a rocky time getting back open and staying open. More than 150 public schools across the city are currently closed.

Licensed marriage and family therapist on the Board of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, Dr. Kate Walsh Soucheray joined Currents News to talk more about how the pandemic and school closures has affected kids.