Damaso Reyes

Barcelona, New York

Investigative Editor at New York Amsterdam News

Executive & Investigative Editor @nyamnews, founding editor @nyblacklight. Living kidney donor. Media Literacy Expert. Retweets ≠ endorsements, He/His.

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Articles

Calvin Alexander Ramsey: Photographing upstate NY’s Black history

1 month ago | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

Those who know Calvin Alexander Ramsey best for his words will be pleasantly surprised by his exhibition of photographs, “Quest for Freedom,” now on display at the June Kelly Gallery until April 1. The photographs capture the remains of the community of Timbuctoo in North Elba, N.Y. Before the Civil War, abolitionist Gerrit Smith offered land and financing to Black families willing to brave the short growing season and harsh conditions of upstate New York.
‘We quit America’: a conversation with a couple that left the U.S.

Jan 17, 2025 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

We recently published an excerpt from the book “We Quit America: Our Exit From a Country Designed to Kill Black People,” written by Yanique Redwood and Ronnie Galvin. As the U.S. prepares itself for a second Trump administration, folks are getting their passports ready and thinking about heading for the exits. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. AmNews: When did this idea of leaving the U.S. start, and what was the impetus for you as a couple?
PHOTOS: Mayor Adams faces protestors in Harlem at State of the City Address

Jan 9, 2025 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

Advocate Ruth McDaniels protests outside Mayor Eric Adams State of the City Address in Harlem Credit: Damaso Reyes photo Protesters braved subfreezing temperatures to protest Mayor Eric Adams as he came to the famed Apollo Theater to deliver his 2025 State of the City address.
Here’s how to apply for a US passport

Nov 6, 2024 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

A United States Passport Credit: (Tony Webster photo via Wikimedia) If you were shocked and dismayed by the presidential election results, you may be looking for property in Belize, or to join the many Black Americans who have moved to Portugal. Or maybe you swore that you’d quit America if Trump won.
Students, and protests, return to Columbia University

Oct 2, 2024 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

Demonstrators on Columbia University’s campus protest the war in Gaza (Damaso Reyes photo) Students and protests returned to Columbia University this month. Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli demonstrators pushed their messages both on campus and behind police barricades on Broadway outside the university.
Educator Dr. Kassie Freeman joins Export-Import Bank’s Council on Advancing Women in Business

Sep 18, 2024 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

Kassie Freeman(Courtesy of ADC) It has been long said that knowledge is power and Dr. Kassie Freeman, founder, president and CEO of the African Diaspora Consortium (ADC) is among those leading the fight to make sure that education, and education around the African diaspora is being centered.
Despite controversy, Trump addresses Black journalists in Chicago

Jul 31, 2024 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

NABJ Convention Credit: Damaso Reyes photo Chicago —Despite the uproar on social media, NABJ convention attendees and media from around the country packed the Chicago Hilton to hear from former President Trump. Convention goers started lining up as early as 9 a.m. to secure their spot and to clear security for the Q&A.
Chester Higgins Jr. visualizes the Black Pantheon

Nov 8, 2023 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

Photographer Chester Higgins Jr(Photo by Damaso Reyes) If one thing embodies all the images that photographer Chester Higgins, Jr. has taken, from his portraits of kings and political leaders to musicians and visual artists, it is dignity. In a world filled with negative visual depictions of people of color, what comes across in his decades of visual art is the love he has for Black people, a love he wishes they had for themselves as well.
Why Bail Reform Was Needed

Oct 18, 2023 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

In early December 1975, the Amsterdam News published a front page story about a “revolt” on Rikers Island that ended peacefully after hours of negotiations involving a federal judge, the Bronx district attorney, and the corrections commissioner, among other officials.
The Price of Freedom Part 3: Freedom from Fear of Crime

Oct 18, 2023 | amsterdamnews.com | Damaso Reyes

Room 130 of the New York County Criminal Court is about the size of a middle school auditorium, but lacks the splendor of Surrogate’s Court and other monuments to justice in Manhattan. The prewar art deco building at 100 Centre St. is showing its age. Old murals line some of its walls and the solid wooden doors are heavy enough to allow a regular visitor to give up a gym membership. Room 130, and rooms like it throughout the city, are the defendant’s first stop after getting arrested.