FREE www.caribbeanlifenews.com BROOKLYN/STATEN ISLAND EDITION Sept. 22–Sept. 28, 2017 APPEAL FOR AID Dominica requests help after Maria ravages country By Bert Wilkinson one of his last social media Dominica’s embattled gov- postings that “we have lost ernment Wednesday threw out all what money can buy. We a region and worldwide appeal will need help my friend. We for help after Category Five will need all kinds of help,” he Hurricane Maria pulverized said before the power went out the Caribbean trade bloc nation island wide. that is wedged between the Dominica’s French neigh- French dependencies of Guad- bors were also reporting wide- eloupe and Martinique, killing spread damage to property and Worrell says the designation will serve to remind the city of its infl uential Caribbean seven people and setting the at least two deaths. Two boaters population. Photo by Caleb Caldwell country back by millions, two are also believed to be missing. years to the month when Hur- With adequate time and ricane Erica had also battered warnings to prepare, Carib- Caribbean to get its own hub in Brooklyn the island of 72,000. bean Community governments Video footage posted by the rushed to send aid and sup- Barbados Nation Newspaper plies to Dominica even as they By Alexandra Simon to the woman who spearhead- that of the region itself and from an overflight by a Region- were ironically still doing so for Visiting the Caribbean is ed the naming initiative. formally recognizing it will al Security System aircraft a number or countries which about to get a lot easier. “Our communities are rap- increase awareness of the local showed large holes in state and were affected by mega storm Local politicians will desig- idly changing, especially in community, ensuring it con- private buildings, debris scat- and equal opportunity destroy- nate the city’s first-ever “Little Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, tinues to thrive, Worrell said. tered as far as the eye could er Irma a mere two weeks ago. Caribbean” district on Sept. and it’s very important now “Brooklyn has the largest see and the type of desolation The St. Lucia and Antiguan 28, officially commemorating to put our stake in the ground and most diverse Caribbean normally associated with the governments asked donors parts of Prospect-Lefferts Gar- and make a collective effort population outside of the Car- aftermath of a major natural to use their island as staging dens and Flatbush for their to preserve and protect Carib- ibbean,” she said. “One of the disaster. bases for relief supplies and robust community of immi- bean culture for generations goals of Little Caribbean is to As Maria took its time over promised that all paper work grants from the region. The to come,” said Shelley Worrell, increase visibility and sales for Dominica on Monday night, and duties would be waived as recognition will ensure the the founder of cultural advo- small business along the cor- Prime Minister Roosevelt Sker- this is a regional emergency. fast-gentrifying neighbor- cacy group Caribbeing. ridors, in addition to showing rit appeared to sum up as situ- For the region, the 2017 hoods retain their Caribbean Kings County’s Caribbean Caribbean communities back ation as succinctly and as pel- storm season is one of the history and identity, according population is second only to Continued on Page 6 lucid as he could saying in Continued on Page 6 #'(( )*'/0' . % , % ,% , % ,, ,, % & , ! " ," !"#$ % &"#'$ 5 , "% &"#$ % "'$ %% */% # $ % % " $ % & #'(( )* ,1)+)1)( .3 #'(( )* ('+),( 1 , %% % 0 - ! ! " . ! 2 0 % (4 ) % % , #()%)#*%(+, 67896%'$# $6:; #()%)#*%(+,& #()%)#*%((#) 2 Caribbean Life, Sept. 22–Sept. 28, 2017 BQ Trump Local college team wins $1m Smart tightens Gun Design Competition By Nelson A. King rules for Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams on Monday announced the winner of his $1 million Smart Gun Design Com- petition, awarding the capital grant prize visas to New York University Tandon School of Engineering (NYU Tandon) on behalf of its student team Autonomous Ballistics. By Nelson A. King The team, which was selected by a In continuing its draconian immi- judging panel, is said to have created the gration policies, the Donald J. Trump’s most promising proposal that will prevent administration in the United States unauthorized users from firing a gun. is giving immigration and consular Autonomous Ballistics, which is officials new grounds to deny entry to mentored by Adjunct Professor Antho- visitors from the Caribbean and other ny Clarke, is made up of team leader places or to deport them if they are Sy Cohen, Class of 2017, with a degree already in the United States. in mechanical engineering; Ashwin Raj In a cable to American embassies Kumar, a Ph. D candidate in the Depart- around the world, United States Sec- ment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engi- retary of State Rex W. Tillerson wrote neering; Jonathan Ng, Class of 2016, with Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams (right) announces the win- that visitors who require a visa before a degree in mechanical engineering; and ner of his $1 million Smart Gun Design Competition, awarding the capital entering the United States must then Eddilene Paola Cordero Pardo, an officer grant prize to New York University Tandon School of Engineering (NYU follow through on their stated plans in the Colombian Navy and a Master’s Tandon). for at least three months, according degree student majoring in technology to the New York Times. management. neled our collective pain from senseless Gun Design Competition between Sept. 1, If in that period, they do some- The conclusion of this competition — gun violence into a purposeful mission of 2016 and Jan. 1, 2017, and submitted their thing they failed to mention in an held in collaboration with the Mayor’s designing technology that can save lives,” design by the deadline of Jun. 1, 2017, interview with a consular official — Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ), New he said. “I look forward to working with Adams said. such as marry an American citizen, Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV), NYU Tandon and their students on this He said one entry was accepted per go to school or get a job — it will be the New York City Police Department proposal in the months ahead. team, with school entering as many presumed that they have deliberately (NYPD), and the Smart Tech Challenge “Today, Brooklyn is taking a mean- teams as they wished. lied, reported the Times on Monday. Foundation — featured a design expo in ingful step forward for our nation and One graduate student or professor was It said that would make it difficult, the Community Room of Brooklyn Bor- our world in advancing a future where required to be on each team with under- if not impossible, for them to renew ough Hall that included presentations smarter guns and safer streets are a real- graduate students. a visa, get a new one or change their from the five student teams that were ity,” he added. The team leader had to be affiliated status. named finalists last month. The finalists also included Energy Envi- with the school, but team membership Additionally, if visitors were still in Adams, himself a former police officer, ronmental Simulation (EES) Lab from was open to the public. the United States, they would be eligi- as well as a gun owner, praised all of New York City College of Technology, A committee of jurists selected the ble for deportation, the Times said. the competition’s teams for contributing Intelligent Defense Systems (IDS) from five best ideas submitted to the Smart Changes of plans that occur after positively to the ongoing effort to end gun Pratt Institute, Pew Pew from New York Gun Design Competition and allocated three months may still be problematic violence in Brooklyn. City College of Technology, and Smartfire $10,000 grants from Adams’ discretion- but are not presumed to be the result “I am so proud of these incredibly Technology from NYU Tandon. ary budget to the finalists’ institutions in of “willful misrepresentation,” the innovative young people, who have chan- Teams were invited to enter the Smart order to further their work. cable said, according to the Times. It said that, under previous rules, a change in plans was deemed to be misrepresentation only for the first month after arrival in the United Federal judge urges Trump to push back DACA deadline States. “If someone comes to the U.S. as a tourist, falls in love and gets mar- By Nelson A. King the president and Congress have time DACA, a matter that arrived in his court ried within 90 days and then applies United States federal judge in Brook- to fix the program through legislation, last week when immigration lawyers for a green card, this means the lyn on Thursday urged the Trump according to the New York Times. filed a federal complaint saying that end- application would be denied,” said administration to extend its dead- “The concern of the court is that Oct. ing the program was an “arbitrary, capri- Diane Rish, the associate director of line for young, undocumented Carib- 5 is three weeks away,” Judge Garaufis cious” move “based upon animus toward government relations at the Ameri- bean and other immigrants to apply said at an hour-long hearing in Federal Latinos,” according to the Times. can Immigration Lawyers Associa- to stay in the US under a program by District Court in Brooklyn. “It would It said the complaint, which revived tion. “This is a significant policy former President Barack Obama that make a lot of sense from various van- a prior lawsuit filed in support of DACA change.” Trump recently announced that he was tage points to extend this deadline.” last year, was the first legal assault on In 2016, the United States issued rescinding.