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With Primary Day just two days away, there’s high anticipation in New York City, with people wondering: Who will emerge victorious to lead the Democrat and Republican parties come November? On April 23, mayoral hopefuls for the Democratic nomination gathered at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn for a forum hosted by Brooklyn District Leaders, local Democratic clubs, and the college itself.

While researching this article, I reconnected with Hip-Hop pioneer Kurtis Blow - now Reverend Kurtis Blow. I first met Rev Blow on the steps of the Bronx courthouse in 2017. He had made his mark with the hit song "The Breaks," which paid tribute to the rappers of South Bronx and Harlem. He and other veteran Hip-Hop performers had gathered that day to celebrate their genre. After the ceremony, Rev. Blow shared with us that he had become a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Black community has an extraordinary legacy of achievement and innovation. On this last day of Black History Month 2025, we honor one of these important Black heroes who achieved tremendous accomplishments despite numerous barriers designed to subjugate, smother, or misattribute these contributions to other groups.

In the spring of 1990, after visiting the Blue Note in Greenwich Village, Jazz 966 CEO Sam Pinn and Arnold Freeman had a vision. They believed that the same caliber of talent and passionate audience they witnessed in Manhattan could thrive on Fulton Street in Brooklyn — specifically at 966 Fulton Street.

Ever push open a door without thinking twice about it? Well, here's something that might make you pause the next time: the doorknob, a simple yet ingenious device we use countless times each day, was invented by a Black inventor named Osbourn Dorsey. Before his breakthrough in 1878, people relied on crude pull handles made of bronze or iron to open their doors - imagine that!

Siloam Presbyterian Church, a former Underground Railroad passageway, recently celebrated its 175th Anniversary with a series of concerts held at their Jefferson Avenue location in Brooklyn, New York.  Historically African-American, the church is proud to be known as a major contributor to the life of mankind.

Twenty-three years ago this month, jazz vocalist Steve Cromity was a Contract Compliance Manager in the Engineering Department with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on the 73rd floor of No. 1 World Trade Center.

During one sweltering summer day in Brooklyn, a group of musicians formed a circle in Prospect Park to continue a tradition that has been taking place on Sundays for 55 years.

At a space named Congo Square in honor of the antebellum site in New Orleans where former enslaved Africans gathered for cultural expression and entertainment, drummers began to beat on their African styled Congo drums.

As Black History Month comes to an end, I must pay homage to an influential Black leader who recently passed away. That person is the late, Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III of Abyssinia Baptist Church, which is my home church. He died on October 28. 2022 after losing his battle to cancer.