"Psychopolitics": Inside The Independence Party Of Fred Newman, Part Five

A youth charity with ties to Manhattan's Independence Party recently received a contract to run after-school programs in city schools. But that contract is on hold after a California woman came forward with some startling allegations. NY1's Rita Nissan has more in part five of her series, "Psychopolitics."

NY1/November 4, 2005
By Rita Nissan

Lenora Fulani talks tough. Sometimes too tough, according to Molly Hardy.

"The kids were intimidated. I think they were confused. I think they were probably scared," says Hardy.

Hardy is a playwright who was hired, she says, to bring Fulani's youth charity, the All Stars Project, to Los Angeles. Hardy was employed by St. Johns, a government funded health clinic in South Central, LA. All Stars and St. John's are tied to Fulani's mentor, psychotherapist, Fred Newman.

Hardy was sent to New York for training at All Stars last year, along with three teens from California. She says the teens were put up in a flop house, and she says they paid for the trip by panhandling.

"In Oakland they had panhandled for their money to fly them out here," she says. "They had taken I believe a red eye and checked into this kind of seedy hotel. They were very unhappy about it."

Hardy says she never met Newman, but she got to know Fulani.

"She was introduced as one of the most important people in the world, and the first African-American woman to ever run for president of the United States," she says.

Hardy says Fulani didn't very act presidential. She claims Fulani emotionally and verbally abused the teens.

"Fulani said, 'Do you think that white people care about you, what's going in your schools, what's going on in your neighborhoods? I can tell you they don't,'" says Hardy.

Hardy says they were told to interview Fulani, but she didn't like their questions.

"She got very upset at the man who had set this up and said, 'I thought this interview would be about a lot more important issues than where I was born and where I was from,'" says Hardy. "She said to the kid, 'You can look that up on the Internet about me. Let's ask some important questions that matter.' The kids were like, woah."

Hardy says Fulani really got going when she brought up Newman.

"She talked about meeting Fred Newman, and that that was the most profound experience of her life," she says. "What he said to her was, 'Do you want to be just another black woman in academia or do you want to follow me and make a difference?' And she said that's what she did."

Hardy says the teens were tired and confused, but Fulani kept at it.

"One of the girls was starting to nod off a bit, and [Fulani] said, 'You. You are performing tired. Get up and perform differently. Put some water on your face and perform differently,'" she says.

Another day, Hardy says she observed a talent show at Walton High School in the Bronx. She says about a dozen children showed up, and was shocked when three girls were turned away because their mother couldn't afford the fee.

"She didn't have the money, the $5 each for them to be in it. She thought it was $5 for them to perform a little dance routine together, for the whole group," she says. "She was talked to very condescendingly and told that she needed to perform differently. The kids were crying and she left very upset."

And so did Hardy. She contacted the New York State Attorney General's office, and the Attorney General and city are looking into her allegations of child abuse.

Hardy also claims financial misappropriations. Hardy says the health clinic diverted government money to fund Fred Newman's other interests, including $11,300 in consulting fees paid to his therapy clinic in San Francisco and $25,000 in licensing agreements to All Stars.

Critics say it's a tactic Newman has perfected over the years, taking money from one cause to fund another. Between 2001 and 2003, records show All Stars shelled out $52,000 to Newman's therapy practice in Manhattan for "scholarship and training."

We asked Newman about how All Stars is funded.

"I really don't [know]. I have good reason to believe that we raise enough money to support ourselves, and it's hard to raise it all," he said. "That's kind of what I know about the money angle."

As for Hardy's claims, an All Stars spokesperson says, "The allegation of child abuse is totally unfounded. Ms. Hardy's contact with the All Stars in New York City is entirely minimal."

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