WBGO's Steven A. Williams, Saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, and Council Member Carmen De La Rosa Named JPI 2026 Honorees

The board of Jazz Power Initiative (JPI), is pleased to announce the honorees for the Syncopated Celebration 2026 fundraiser, scheduled for May 14 at 6:00 pm at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 250 West 95th Street, Manhattan.

WBGO President & CEO Steven A. Williams, who joined the iconic radio station and global jazz leader nearly six years ago, will receive the Rothman Family Syncopated Partnership Award.

Mr. Williams, a dedicated jazz enthusiast and self-described “radio guy,” credits his family's musical legacy, especially his grandfather, who introduced him to jazz, for inspiring his passion for music and education.

As WBGO’s leader, Mr. Williams is dedicated to maintaining the station's 47-year legacy of curating, promoting, presenting, and preserving this unique African American music genre, and honoring the creative talents who have inspired generations of musicians worldwide. Through its daily programming and knowledgeable on-air personalities, WBGO has built a global community of enthusiasts who help sustain the station’s independence.

“Being honored by Jazz Power Initiative as part of its Syncopated Celebration on May 14 is profoundly meaningful, as it recognizes not only my personal journey but the rich cultural legacy that jazz continues to inspire in all of us,” says Steven about the recognition. “This celebration embodies the spirit of creativity, community, and collaboration that defines jazz, and I am deeply grateful to stand alongside artists, educators, and leaders who are committed to uplifting this vital art form.”

This year’s Changemaker Award will be presented to Lakecia Benjamin, a six-time Grammy Award nominee, and New York-based saxophonist, arranger, composer, and educator.

Ms. Benjamin, a respected musician and bandleader who grew up in Washington Heights, is recognized for pushing musical boundaries and developing a distinctive jazz style that draws from R&B, Latin, and funk influences. The New York Times wrote, “...her sound feels rooted in tradition, yet broad enough to encompass R&B and Latin music; its pronounced funk suggests allegiances to hip-hop and dance.”

A powerhouse virtuoso, Lakecia Benjamin has performed with Clark Terry, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gregory Porter, Missy Elliott, Eli Yamin, and Alicia Keys. She studied with jazz veterans Billy Harper, Reggie Workman, Bob Stewart, and Buster Williams, and was mentored by Gary Bartz.

“I love what Jazz Power Initiative stands for and its mission,” says Lakecia. “It resonates deeply with me, especially since JPI and I are repping Washington Heights! I’m so honored to be recognized by an organization that is very special to me and to the jazz community at large.”

Council Member Carmen De La Rosa will receive the Miranda Family Champion of Arts and Culture Award in recognition of her leadership and support for Northern Manhattan’s arts and cultural landscape through legislation, discretionary funding, and capital investments.

Since entering public service, Council Member De La Rosa has advocated for economic justice and against racism and xenophobia. In 2021, she became the first Dominican woman elected to represent New York’s District 10 at City Hall, expanding her focus to include criminal justice reform, workers’ rights, affordable housing and tenant protections, climate justice, taxing the wealthy, LGBTIA rights, and other significant social justice policies.

“I am honored to be Jazz Power Initiative's Miranda Family Champion of Arts and Culture Award recipient. Supporting organizations like Jazz Power Initiative and investing in Uptown's artistic and cultural community uplifts the talent at the heart of our vibrant district, while removing barriers to entry for our youth. Equitable access to diverse art and cultural exploration not only brings our community together but also creates a holistic learning environment for our future leaders. Our artists, educators, and advocates make New York City a global cultural capital, and I look forward to celebrating 22 years of the incredible impact of Jazz Power Initiative," says Council Member Carmen De La Rosa.

For 22 years, Jazz Power Initiative has addressed the need for increased in-school and afterschool arts education in the communities it serves. With the support of its staff and teaching artists, children ages 6 to 18 in upper Manhattan have benefited from free and low-cost programs in voice, piano, dance, and acting. The organization seeks to broaden these programs and reach more participants through jazz arts education and ongoing intergenerational community concerts. Events like Syncopated Celebration 2026 help raise awareness and essential funds to sustain these valuable initiatives.

Eli Yamin, aka “Dr. E,” co-founder, Managing and Artistic Director of JPI said this about this year’s honorees, and their connection to the communities JPI serves, "We are proud to honor Lakecia Benjamin, an international jazz star who grew up in Washington Heights and has supported JPI for years with her dynamic performances at our Intergenerational Jazz Power Jam series and community concerts. WBGO gave me my first job in jazz in 1986 and set the direction of my life as an artist, educator, and advocate for jazz. For 47 years, WBGO has been carrying the torch for jazz and connecting our global community from Newark to Harlem, Brooklyn to Bonn, Washington Heights to Singapore. We are proud to salute WBGO and its stalwart and supremely resourceful CEO, Steve Williams. Council Member Carmen De La Rosa has long been a fighter for our beloved uptown community to have consistent access to high-quality arts and education. I am thrilled we can honor her as our Miranda Family Champion of Arts and Culture!"

Jazz Power Initiative Syncopated Celebration 2026 is being hosted by 11-time Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist Christian McBride. The event will include performances by Christian McBride, Lakecia Benjamin, and Dr. E, as well as JPI students.

Tanya LeMelle, VP at TD Bank/VP of JPI's Board and event chair, stated, “Through its support of the Jazz Power Initiative, TD helps young people discover their rhythm, their confidence, and their voice—an example of what being More Human truly means. Through its commitment to arts and culture across North America, TD helps amplify diverse voices and creates opportunities for the next generation of artists.”

For details about Jazz Power Initiative’s programs, Syncopated Celebration 2026, or to donate, please visit www.jazzpower.org.

SISTERS NETWORK® INC. TO HOST 16TH ANNUAL STOP THE SILENCE NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN BREAST CANCER 5K WALK/RUN

Sisters Network® Inc. (SNI), the nation’s leading voice for Black breast cancer survivors is proud to announce the 16th Annual Stop the Silence® National African American Breast Cancer 5K Walk/Run. This year’s theme; “The Power of Pink, The Spirit of Strength.” The highly anticipated 5K Walk/Run will be hosted in Houston, TX., on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Tom Bass Regional Park, 3452 Fellows Rd., from 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.

Regular registration will be open from February 4th to April 18, 2026. The fee is $45/individual and $450/team for of ten. A portion of the funds raised from the walk support the Karen E. Jackson Breast Cancer Assistance Program (BCAP). Established in 2006, BCAP provides much-needed financial support to survivors and pays for 3D mammograms for uninsured and underinsured women nationwide. To date, BCAP has provided over $2 million dollars in financial support and early detection 3D screenings. Participants can register at www.stopthesilencewalk.org.

Black women are 42% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women. Black women under 35 are diagnosed with breast cancer at 2 times the rate of White women and die at three times the rate.

First launched in April 2010, the Stop the Silence® 5K Walk/Run is the first and only national breast cancer walk hosted by a Black-founded organization specifically for Black women. The historic walk is hosted during National Minority Health Awareness month and welcomes over 3,000 participants from around the United States who come together to walk in honor, memory, and celebration of the women they love who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Now in its 16th year, the Stop the Silence Walk is a living reminder of what happens when Black women choose community over fear and action over silence. The Power of Pink, The Spirit of Strength, is more than a theme. It symbolizes the power of love we wrap around survivors and the strength and courage it takes to keep showing up for ourselves and each other. We walk united to remember those who lost the battle and to keep breast health at the forefront, because early detection, awareness, access, and support save lives,” said Karen E. Jackson, Founder/CEO, Sisters Network® Inc.

To learn more about the walk and to register, please visit www.stopthesilencewalk.org. For more information about Sisters Network® Inc. (SNI), please visit www.sistersnetworkinc.org or call (866) 781-1808. Follow us on social media, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

ABOUT SISTERS NETWORK® INC.
Sisters Network® Inc. was founded in 1994 by Karen Eubanks Jackson, 31-year, and 4-time breast cancer survivor. Today, SNI is the largest and only national Black breast cancer survivorship organization in the United States and a leading voice in the fight against breast cancer in the Black community. Sisters Network Inc. National headquarters is in Houston, Texas. The organization has over 25+ survivor-run affiliate chapters nationwide, located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Andrew Jacked wins 2026 Arnold Classic

Nigerian bodybuilder Andrew Jacked ( Chinedu Andrew Obiekea) came out on top at the 2026 Arnold Classic! He took home the title and a $750,000 prize. Andrew Jacked faced remained in stiff competition with former Mr. Olympia champion Hadi Choopan, fan favorite Nick Walker, who won the Arnold title back in 2021, and 2019 Mr Olympia Brandon Curry.

Ultimatey Jacked's size, posing routines, and symetry was too much for the competition and he won his first big shwow.<.p>

Top 5 at the Arnold Classic 2026

Andrew Jacked: Winner

Nick Walker: 2nd

Hadi Choopan: 3rd

Martin Fitzwater: 4th

Brandon Curry: 5th

Check out Andrews Jacked's post show interview with RX Muscle:

PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS WILL BEGIN ANNUAL VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE TODAY, ANNIVERSARY OF BLOODY SUNDAY

PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS WILL BEGIN ANNUAL VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE TODAY, ANNIVERSARY OF BLOODY SUNDAY

CALLS FOR NATIONAL JESSE JACKSON VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE

The People’s Organization For Progress (POP) will start its Empowerment Saturdays Voter Registration Drive today, Saturday, March 7, 2026, 3:00pm to 5:00pm on the corner of Broad and Market Streets (near 777 Broad Street) in Newark, New Jersey. 

“POP will start registering voters on Saturday because it is the anniversary of Bloody Sunday when 600 civil rights marchers were attacked and beaten by state troopers and sheriff’s deputies while trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965,” Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress stated. 

“When they attempted to cross that bridge they were marching for voting rights and to protest the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson who was killed by police,“ Hamm said. 

“Jackson had been killed the previous month during a peaceful protest for voting rights. During the march many were hurt including John Lewis and Amelia Boynton Robinson,” he said. 

“However, their struggle was not in vain because the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson five months later on August 6, 1965,” he said 

“Empowerment Saturday is extremely important to me. You see, we do voter registration because many people suffered and died so that we could have the right to vote,” Steven Hatcher, who leads the POP voter registration team, stated. 

“We want to make sure that as many people as possible are able to do so,” Hatcher said. 

“In addition, we are calling this year’s effort the Jesse Jackson Voter Registration Drive in his honor because he continued the fight for civil rights, voting rights, and human rights after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King,” he said. 

“We would like to see what we are doing at the local level to become a national effort. We would like to see a National Jesse Jackson Voter Registration Drive,” he said. 

“We believe this is appropriate because he inspired millions of people to register and vote, particularly during his 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns,” he said. 

Hamm said that he plans to attend Jackson’s funeral on Saturday in Chicago.

He also said that he will be leaving Chicago to go to Selma, Alabama to participate in the annual march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge that commemorates what happened on Bloody Sunday. 

“We will start registering voters this weekend and we will continue to do so every Saturday, weather permitting, until the cutoff date for registration in October when the drive will end,” he said. 

“Voter registration takes on increased importance in our current environment especially when there are racist and fascist forces in this country that are trying to place limits on our right to vote,” he said. 

“There are Trump administration policies, court decisions, and legislation at federal and state levels designed to interfere with, impede, and even prevent some people from voting,” he said. 

Hamm said the U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit to force New Jersey to give up its list of registered voters to the federal government is one such effort. 

“We are opposed to this attempt to seize the state’s voter rolls. We believe that the Trump administration will use that information to engage in some form of voter suppression during the midterm elections,” he said. 

POP is a grassroots, all volunteer organization that works for racial, social, economic justice and peace. Voter education, registration, and participation, have been key activities of the group since it was founded forty-four years ago.

PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION FOR PROGRESS OPPOSES U.S. WAR AGAINST IRAN

Statement by Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress. 

The People’s Organization For Progress is unequivocally opposed to the U.S. war against Iran. This war is one of the most stupid, dangerous, and tragic actions taken by the Trump administration so far, and should immediately be brought to an end.

Not one more person should die in this war. Turn the ships around and bring our troops home now. 

We are opposed to this war as are the majority of Americans. We don’t want another war for oil. We don’t want another regime change war. We don’t want another forever war like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam. We want peace. 

It is an illegal war since it is not a war declared by Congress. According to the Constitution it is Congress, not the President, who has the power to declare war.

This is a war of imperialist aggression. Iran did not attack the United States and posed no threat to this country. The U.S. attacked Iran first. In this conflict it is our country that is the aggressor.

Dr Martin Luther King when discussing the Vietnam War said the greatest purveyor of violence in the world was the U.S. government. That was true then and it is true today. 

The U.S. is the purveyor of state terror. The Trump administration acts like a mafia state with little regard for domestic and international law. He kidnaps Venezuela’s president and holds him for ransom, for a cut of the oil business. 

He kills the president of Iran, knock him off to get him out of the way. He strangles countries like Cuba with economic sanctions, so he can take over their territory. 

This war is totally unnecessary and in part is one of Trump’s own making. It has already caused the needless loss of not only American and Iranian lives but also the lives of people in other countries in the region.

POP opposes the war with Iran because it is paid for with funds that could have been used for our domestic needs, such as health care, education, jobs, and housing. It is not only paid for in tax dollars it is paid for with lives. 

Rich people benefit from these wars but their children don’t fight in them. Barron Trump will not be fighting in Iran. It is the sons and daughters of the working class, poor folk, black people, Latinos, and other minorities who make up the majority of those who will fight and die in Iran and other wars for empire. 

Trump’s recent attack on Iran began a few days ago but it has already become a regional conflagration. In a region already roiling from Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians, and Trump’s attack on Iran last year, the U.S. and Israel decided to strike Iran again. 

In retaliation Iran has struck back at U.S. forces and also bombed Israel, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria. This conflict has the potential of escalating further and dragging us into a world war. 

Despite Trump’s pronouncements, he bears responsibility for bringing the U.S. into this conflict. He says this is about nuclear weapons. However, he withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal that was in place that kept Iran from developing nuclear weapons. 

However, most people know this war is not about nuclear weapons. Iran is one of the major producers of oil. This is yet another war for oil. This is a war about U.S. dominance and empire. 

Iran is the biggest obstacle to Israel’s hegemony in the region. Israel has been urging the U.S. to go to war with Iran for decades. This war is about Israel’s hegemony in the region and the establishment of Netanyahu’s goal of a “greater Israel,” which he announced at the United Nations. 

Many understand that this war is about distraction. This is a war to draw our attention away from the Epstein files, which is shaping up to be perhaps one of the biggest scandals in American history. A scandal which many believe could implicate President Trump and several of his cabinet members in various types of criminal activity. 

The People’s Organization For Progress urges people to take every action necessary to bring this unjust war with Iran to an end. People should utilize every tool available to express their opposition to this war. In the fight for peace there is something everyone can do. 

We should take to the streets and protest now, and keep the protests up until the war in Iran ends.  Demonstrations took place this weekend in cities and towns across the country. 

There will be another massive wave of No Kings protests across the U.S. on Saturday, March 28th. A No Kings protests is scheduled for that day beginning 12:00 noon at the Lincoln Statue, 12 Springfield Avenue in Newark, NJ. 

People should participate in these protests and use them as an opportunity to demonstrate opposition to Trump administration’s foreign policy toward Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Congo, Sudan, South Africa, and other countries. 

We should engage in economic initiatives such as boycotts, divestment, and sanctions. We should boycott and divest from companies whose products and services are used to support these unjust wars. 

We should pressure our elected officials to take a stand against the war and pass legislation to bring it to an end. We should write, call, text, email, and meet with our congressional representatives and let them know about our opposition to the war. 

POP calls on all congressional representatives to vote in favor of the war powers resolutions sponsored by U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA). 

These bills require the removal of U.S. Armed Forces from the conflict in Iran and that future military action against Iran must be authorized by Congress. 

We must use our votes for peace. We should vote for anti-war candidates and vote against those that are pro-war. 

As we fight to end the war in Iran let us also work to change our political-economic system, an imperialist system, that profits from and drives us to war. These wars are not only policy choices they are systemic in nature.