Breaking News

AFRICAN AMERICAN PSYCHIC MEDIUM FORMS GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION

Quassan Castro, Psychic Medium

Glen Ridge, NJ (BlackNews.com) - Quassan Castro is a highly sought-after clairvoyant-medium living and working in the New Jersey/New York area. His honest, sincere and caring nature has garnered him a host of clients throughout the United States. He is often compared to famed psychics Sylvia Browne and Allison Dubois depicted in the hit TV series "Medium." In recent years, his client base has grown exponentially as supporters spread the word about his level of accuracy, strong ethics and his compassionate nature. Quassan’s clients run the gamut from celebrities to everyday folk in search of clarity and direction in their lives.

In recent weeks, Quassan formed the Global Empowerment Foundation, a New Jersey-based, non-profit corporation "dedicated to uplifting the mind and soul through conscious awareness of the Divine and activating the many miracles that can be manifested through what we think, speak and create." Through the Foundation, he seeks to empower individuals across the country through a variety of projects including empowerment workshops as a metaphysical teacher and motivational speaker.

The Foundation is currently accepting donations of books which will be given to youth exiting correctional facilities who are actively seeking to empower themselves and to gain a spiritual foothold as they re-enter society. To learn more about the work of the Foundation, visit Quassan’s website at http://quassan.blogspot.com

Background

Quassan’s visions first manifested in his sleep. "I have been very intuitive all of my life," he says. "It was not until a later age that I discovered there was a name for people like me who knew things about people. I would wake up to realize that I had been shown a movie — a movie of true existence and the people in the visions were actual people with names. As my visions increased, I would awaken and journal all that I had witnessed." As these experiences evolved, it became clear to him that he could help others with this incredible talent and he began to conduct spiritual readings.

"For me the use of my ability to connect with Spirit and offer spiritual insight is a responsibility I do not take lightly nor do I offer myself as a circus clown when there are far too many people who can positively use the information channeled through me from my ancestors, their loved ones, etc." Quassan is currently writing a memoir entitled, Dancing with the Spirit: 40 Days of Meditation and Enlightenment.

A Typical Session with the Psychic Medium

Quassan conducts his consultations in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. He does not rely on gimmicks or trickery and continues with a reading only if a connection is established with the Spirit guides on the "other side." He asks no questions up front and does not believe in telling his clients what they want to hear.

Quassan has read for people from every imaginable background, every age group and socio-economic status, from ages 18 to 91. Most recently, he was invited to Essence magazine for a meet and greet with the staff. He has worked with clients to relieve physical pain, grief and mental blockages. He also helps clients connect with their loved ones on the other side and can assist seekers in examining their past lives.

"I provide each client several traditional and metaphysical empowerment tools and techniques that assist them in creating the life they desire as they address important issues with clarity and confidence," says the clairvoyant. "I am guided by my ancestors in Spirit-world. When you service from the heart the divine is always with you."

At his website (http://quassan.blogspot.com), Quassan has numerous useful affirmations one can utilize in the areas of self-esteem and self-confidence, abundance and prosperity, life’s purpose, inner peace, opportunity, love and relationships, etc. Quassan is available for television and radio interviews and appearances as a guest reader.

For additional information or to book a spiritual consultation with Quassan at his office, email him at SpiritLevel9@gmail.com or call (973) 748-7014. Readings can also be conducted by telephone, in group settings or in private homes by special arrangement.

Members of the media contact:
Celeste Bateman
Celeste Bateman & Associates
(973) 705-8253
or
Quassan Castro
(973) 748-7014

P.O. Box 4071
Newark, New Jersey 07114
(973) 705-8253
www.CelesteBateman.com

CommUnity

AFRICAN AMERICAN PSYCHIC MEDIUM FORMS GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT FOUNDATION

Quassan Castro, Psychic Medium

Glen Ridge, NJ (BlackNews.com) - Quassan Castro is a highly sought-after clairvoyant-medium living and working in the New Jersey/New York area. His honest, sincere and caring nature has garnered him a host of clients throughout the United States. He is often compared to famed psychics Sylvia Browne and Allison Dubois depicted in the hit TV series "Medium." In recent years, his client base has grown exponentially as supporters spread the word about his level of accuracy, strong ethics and his compassionate nature. Quassan’s clients run the gamut from celebrities to everyday folk in search of clarity and direction in their lives.

In recent weeks, Quassan formed the Global Empowerment Foundation, a New Jersey-based, non-profit corporation "dedicated to uplifting the mind and soul through conscious awareness of the Divine and activating the many miracles that can be manifested through what we think, speak and create." Through the Foundation, he seeks to empower individuals across the country through a variety of projects including empowerment workshops as a metaphysical teacher and motivational speaker.

The Foundation is currently accepting donations of books which will be given to youth exiting correctional facilities who are actively seeking to empower themselves and to gain a spiritual foothold as they re-enter society. To learn more about the work of the Foundation, visit Quassan’s website at http://quassan.blogspot.com

Background

Quassan’s visions first manifested in his sleep. "I have been very intuitive all of my life," he says. "It was not until a later age that I discovered there was a name for people like me who knew things about people. I would wake up to realize that I had been shown a movie — a movie of true existence and the people in the visions were actual people with names. As my visions increased, I would awaken and journal all that I had witnessed." As these experiences evolved, it became clear to him that he could help others with this incredible talent and he began to conduct spiritual readings.

"For me the use of my ability to connect with Spirit and offer spiritual insight is a responsibility I do not take lightly nor do I offer myself as a circus clown when there are far too many people who can positively use the information channeled through me from my ancestors, their loved ones, etc." Quassan is currently writing a memoir entitled, Dancing with the Spirit: 40 Days of Meditation and Enlightenment.

A Typical Session with the Psychic Medium

Quassan conducts his consultations in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere. He does not rely on gimmicks or trickery and continues with a reading only if a connection is established with the Spirit guides on the "other side." He asks no questions up front and does not believe in telling his clients what they want to hear.

Quassan has read for people from every imaginable background, every age group and socio-economic status, from ages 18 to 91. Most recently, he was invited to Essence magazine for a meet and greet with the staff. He has worked with clients to relieve physical pain, grief and mental blockages. He also helps clients connect with their loved ones on the other side and can assist seekers in examining their past lives.

"I provide each client several traditional and metaphysical empowerment tools and techniques that assist them in creating the life they desire as they address important issues with clarity and confidence," says the clairvoyant. "I am guided by my ancestors in Spirit-world. When you service from the heart the divine is always with you."

At his website (http://quassan.blogspot.com), Quassan has numerous useful affirmations one can utilize in the areas of self-esteem and self-confidence, abundance and prosperity, life’s purpose, inner peace, opportunity, love and relationships, etc. Quassan is available for television and radio interviews and appearances as a guest reader.

For additional information or to book a spiritual consultation with Quassan at his office, email him at SpiritLevel9@gmail.com or call (973) 748-7014. Readings can also be conducted by telephone, in group settings or in private homes by special arrangement.

Members of the media contact:
Celeste Bateman
Celeste Bateman & Associates
(973) 705-8253
or
Quassan Castro
(973) 748-7014

P.O. Box 4071
Newark, New Jersey 07114
(973) 705-8253
www.CelesteBateman.com

Health

AMERICAN LEGACY MAGAZINE’S EIGHTH ANNUAL MULTICULTURAL HEALTHCARE AWARDS

B. Waine Kong, JD, PhD, Executive Vice President, The Heart Institute of the Caribbean

Debra A. Toney, PhD., RN - President, National Black Nurses Association and Owner, TLC Health Care Services

New York, NY (BlackNews.com) - American Legacy Magazine–premier magazine of African-American history and culture–and Bayer® Aspirin partner for the fourth year to salute extraordinary individuals at the Eighth Annual American Legacy Multicultural Healthcare Awards to be held on Thursday, June 19, 2008 and sponsored by the Bayer Aspirin brand. "It is with great pride that American Legacy and Bayer® continue this partnership in honoring individuals that have taken a personal role in helping eliminate health disparities for minorities," says founder and publisher Rodney J. Reynolds. This year’s healthcare award recipients are:

* B. Waine Kong, J.D. Ph.D - Executive Vice President of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean, Kingston, Jamaica

* Debra A. Toney, Ph.D., R.N. - President, National Black Nurses Association and Owner TLC Health Care Services

On the morning of the awards reception, American Legacy Magazine and Bayer®, will host the Fourth Annual Healthcare Forum panel discussion on The State of Black Health at the Swayduck Auditorium at the New School University, beginning at 8:00 a.m. Our elite panelists include:

* B. Waine Kong, J.D. Ph.D - Executive Vice President of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean, Kingston, Jamaica

* Debra A. Toney, Ph.D., R.N. - President, National Black Nurses Association and Owner TLC Health Care Services

* Harriet A. Washington, Editor, American Legacy Healthcare Advantage and Author of the award winning Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present

* Khadijah Matin (Moderator) Associate Director, Organizational Learning, Lutheran Medical Center, New York City

The honorees will receive their awards during a special ceremony at the reception.

WHO: American Legacy Magazine and Bayer® Aspirin

WHAT: Multicultural Healthcare Forum and Awards Reception

WHEN: June 19, 2008

WHERE:
Healthcare Forum - 8:00 a.m.
The New School
Swayduck Auditorium
65 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011

Awards Reception - 6:00 p.m.
Forbes Galleries
60 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011

American Legacy Magazine is distributed nationwide to over 2.05 million readers through black churches, educational and cultural institutions. Also available on newsstands and through paid subscriptions, American Legacy is a joint venture between RJR Communications Inc. and the American Heritage, a division of Forbes. Other brands include American Legacy Woman; American Legacy Healthcare Advantage; American Legacy, Jr.; and American Legacy TV. For more information on American Legacy Magazine, log onto www.americanlegacymag.com

Politics

Is Riding the Bus a Ticket to Jail?

By Caroline Kim and Jenna Loyd

In December 2007, Artemio and two of his friends were traveling by bus through Syracuse, New York on their way to their homes in Mexico. Rather than celebrating Christmas with their families, however, the three men were arrested by immigration agents at a bus station. They were then detained at a county jail before being transferred to the ICE facility in Batavia, New York, and eventually deported to Mexico.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, also known as the Border Patrol, confirms that its agents in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo check the citizenship status of travelers passing through by bus and train every day. These three cities are within 100 miles of the US-Canadian border. But more important than the border zone is the location of these cities on a major transportation corridor linking the Northeast (New York City and Boston) with the Midwest (Cleveland and Chicago). Border Patrol agents use Syracuse’s location as the functional equivalent of the border to police people traveling within the interior of the country.

Agents check for citizenship in the bus and train station—often waiting at the Greyhound ticket counter, or watching people as they disembark for food—and onboard buses and trains already filled with passengers. People who have witnessed or been subject to Border Patrol agents questioning describe two practices: agents explicitly target a group of people or ask everyone on board about their citizenship status.

According to reports from the Detainment Task Force, a Northern New York group, people routinely singled out for questioning include those who appear to be Mexican, Central American, South Asian, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, or Middle Eastern.  Border Patrol officials deny that the agency racially profiles, insisting that they look for suspicious behaviors and, “question people with blond hair and blue eyes as much as anyone else.” But common understandings of race in the U.S. fuse nationality and ethnicity so that some groups are permanently deemed to be “foreign.”

* * *

The story of Tomas, who is from Guatemala, illustrates the ways in which law enforcement’s use of racial profiling—and the collaboration of local law enforcement with Border Patrol agents—impedes people’s ability to travel.

In July 2007, Tomas and his friend Salvador were driving to a doctor’s appointment. As they pulled out of the toll plaza from the I-90 throughway in Syracuse, a state trooper stopped them. Tomas has a valid U.S. driver’s license and a properly registered vehicle. The state trooper gave no indication of why he had stopped the vehicle, but he did ask Tomas and Salvador about their immigration status and then called Border Patrol agents. “The police officer stopped us because we have Hispanic faces,” Tomas said.

Tomas has had the same experience traveling by bus. Last October he was traveling to Syracuse on Greyhound when Border Patrol agents boarded the bus at the Rochester bus station. “The Border Patrol agents questioned all the Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Asian passengers,” he recalled. “They did not question any of the white passengers except some women who were wearing veils. Border Patrol had dogs with them and checked the whole bus. They even looked in the bathroom.”

A separate incident occurred in December when Tomas was at the Syracuse bus station with another friend. They were speaking to each other in Spanish as they approached the ticket counter where a Border Patrol agent was stationed. “As soon as the Border Patrol agent heard us speaking Spanish, he asked me for my papers,” he said.

Even when Latino travelers produce documents proving their legal status, they are not safe from harassment.

When Tomas finally boarded the bus and arrived in Rochester, Border Patrol was there as well. “I saw them [Border Patrol] on the platform questioning two Hispanic men. The men gave them permanent resident cards. The Border Patrol agent didn’t believe them. He took the cards and called somewhere else. The men had to wait for twenty minutes.” The two men were eventually released.

Tomas’s testimony is not unique. A professor at Syracuse University who is a naturalized citizen originally from the Dominican Republic has been questioned multiple times in his travels and a Syracuse University student who is a U.S. citizen of South Asian descent was separated from his wife, a legal permanent resident, and both interrogated about their status.

* * *

This video filmed by Andrew Burton, a Syracuse University junior journalism student and winner of a 2008 Hearst Journalism Award, documents an actual raid on a Greyhound bus. If you can’t view the video below, please click here:

http://cmr.syr.edu/nhinteractive/story.cfm?storyid=64

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Yes We Can