Kennedy on Beyond The Hype with Alfred Edmond

Posted on January 17, 2023January 17, 2023 by Teresa Kennedy

NEW YORK, NY – On January 17, 2023, Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy, founder of Elder Dignity, discussed predatory guardianships and estate trafficking on Black Enterprise's Beyond The Hype with Alfred Edmond as part of National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month. This vicious crime, which involves stealing estates and people using guardianships laws, is rising in communities of color. Watch the interview: https://www.facebook.com/BLACKENTERPRISE/videos/548278873702557 Kennedy explai...

Kennedy Testifies at NY Senate Guardianship Hearing

Posted on September 12, 2022February 3, 2023 by Teresa Kennedy

Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy testifying at the New York Guardianship Roundtable on August 25, 2022

NEW YORK, NY - On August 25, 2022, New York Senators Anthony Palumbo and George Borrello hosted a Guardianship Roundtable in Manhattan at the Office of the Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt at 250 Broadway. Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy, founder of Elder Dignity, testified about the abduction of her aunt, Dr. Lillie Sykes White, and offered policy proposals for next year's Legislative Session. The event was streamed on Facebook Live. Watch the full event: https://fb.watch/fa473Rw2J3/ Others who shar...

Feeding Frenzy [Video]

Posted on March 3, 2021September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

On February 25, 2021, there was a status hearing on the Dr. Lillie Sykes White guardianship case in front of Judge Terence R. Perkins of the Flagler County Court in the seventh judicial circuit of Florida. Conducted via Zoom, upwards of forty elder justice advocates and family members witnessed the proceedings much to the surprise of the judge and attorneys. All previous hearings were closed to the public. The optics were interesting: at least eight White attorneys preying on the over $4 mil...

Press Release: Advocates Petition For Department Of Justice And Senate Special Committee On Aging To Investigate Predatory Guardianships

Posted on March 3, 2021September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

PRESS RELEASE ADVOCATES PETITION FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON AGING TO INVESTIGATE PREDATORY GUARDIANSHIP INDUSTRY Calls for more aggressive prosecution and the acceleration of federal reform March 3, 2021 – Flagler County, FL - The number one Netflix movie this past week was I Care a Lot and its star Rosamund Pike just won a Golden Globe. The fictional film exposes exploitative aspects of the guardianship industry which may give you chills, but the real-life...

Guardian Waits 12 Days To Tell Family Of Lillie’s Death [Media]

Posted on January 23, 2021September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

DELAND, FL. - Retired educator Dr. Lillie Sykes White died on Dec. 31. 2020 and her guardian waited 12 days to tell her sister and niece. The family is calling the Florida guardianship “a civil rights violation." On January 22, 2021, Adam Walser from ABC Action News Tampa Bay reported on the new developments. Watch the WFTS piece: https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/the-price-of-protection/guardian-waits-14-days-to-inform-family-members-of-their-loved-ones-covi...

Yoga Master Tao Porchon-Lynch Advocates For Senior Rights… from the beyond

Posted on January 21, 2021September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

Today, I was looking for a certain picture of my aunt and found this - my dear mentor, historical icon and yoga master Tao Porchon-Lynch, advocating for Aunt Lillie in 2017. My mother and I are Tao's biographers. Tao was a lifelong activist who had marched with both Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I knew her twelve years. We spent a decade traveling together doing 66 events spanning 10 countries, including events at the United Nations, Pentagon and World Government Summi...

I Can’t Breathe For Aunt Lillie [Video]

Posted on July 2, 2020September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

If two months in lockdown due to COVID-19 was driving you stir crazy, how would you feel after FOUR YEARS in lockdown? As of the filming of this video, Lillie has been in forced isolation away from her chosen family for 1403 days. It is simply inhumane. The attorneys that are spending down her estate are keeping her tucked away like property. Even with the global pandemic, they don't feel it's necessary to update her family regarding her wellbeing. They are treating her like a slave in "the ...

Advocacy Efforts Gets Covered By Florida News [Media]

Posted on January 31, 2020January 21, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

TALLAHASSEE, FL. - The Elder Dignity advocacy efforts this week made it on the 5 o'clock news in Florida. I flew to Tallahassee from New York on January 28th to speak at the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting re: SB 944 on guardianship. A handful of advocates traveled hundreds of miles to share their voices and concerns. The next day, a number of us did a media interview with Mike Vasilinda of Capitol News Service. Afterwards, fellow advocate Doug Franks and I staged an impromptu protest that...

Meeting With Secretary After Impromptu Protest

Posted on January 30, 2020September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

TALLAHASSEE, FL. - Florida's guardianship system is terribly broken and it took a slightly rogue move--which ended up making the 5 o'clock news--to finally get a meeting with leadership. After an interview with Mike Vasilinda of Capitol News Service, the day's schedule was fairly open. Our team of advocates, who had driven from across Florida to participate in the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on January 28th, was dispersing to head home. Fellow advocate Doug Franks and I were the only tw...

Elder Advocates Speak Up in Tallahassee [Video]

Posted on January 29, 2020September 26, 2021 by Teresa Kennedy

Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy speaking at the Senate Committee on Judiciary in Tallahassee, FL - January 28, 2020 TALLAHASSEE, FL. - Elder justice advocates in Florida and across the country traveled hundreds of miles to Tallahassee to speak for just one or two minutes at the Senate Committee on Judiciary meeting on Tuesday, January 28, 2020. State Senator Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, sponsored SB 994 to increase protections for seniors under guardianship. The bill passed by a vote of 6 to 0. Advo...