Another Atlantic Yards lawsuit Allegations that training program does not bring union jobs as promised

Seven Central Brooklyn residents last week filed a federal lawsuit against Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner (FCR) and a local nonprofit organization alleging that the job training program they participated in did not result in their getting a construction union card nor work on the Atlantic Yards site.

The residents participated in a Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD) pre-apprentice job training program as part of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) between FCR and several local nonprofit organizations.
FCR is the primary funder of BUILD, which is run by longtime Crown Heights community activist James Caldwell.

“We believed them when they said that this was a path to union membership and union jobs,” said plaintiff Kathleen Noriega, 58, of Crown Heights. “They even told us that they had seen the union books that were reserved for us. They told us that we could rely on their promises because the CBA would guarantee that they keep their word.”

City Councilwoman Letitia James, who organized the press conference announcing the lawsuit, said the plaintiffs not only failed to find jobs out of the program, but also performed free labor in the construction of a house on Staten Island.
“As time moves forward, the mounting distance of (FCR President) Bruce Ratner’s promises becomes more apparent with the Atlantic Yards project,” said James. “Ratner has not fulfilled his promise of 17,000 jobs for the community. Ratner is not delivering on the 2,250 affordable housing units he promised. FCR has not delivered much to the community, and continues to do an injustice to Central and Downtown Brooklyn residents by disregarding their voices.”
But both FCR and BUILD officials said union cards were never promised, and charged James, state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery and longtime foes of Atlantic Yards are behind the lawsuit. They also said their opposition is a major contributing force behind the lack of jobs as promised by the CBA.

“Were it not for the delays brought on by opponents of the project, including some of those behind this lawsuit, even more people would be employed right now,” said FCR spokesman Joe DePlasco.

Caldwell said his organization has placed close to 400 people from the community with jobs, many on other FCR developments, and that the downturn in the economy has caused the build-out of the Atlantic Yards project to be much slower.
“Everybody knows the bottom fell out on the construction industry, especially in New York City,” said Caldwell. “Even this project (Atlantic Yards) nearly ran out. Ratner had to go to Russia to save it.”

Upon final build-out, the Atlantic Yards project is planned to include 16 high-rise buildings split evenly between affordable and market rate housing, and an arena to house the Brooklyn Nets NBA basketball team. Thus far, only the Barclays Center arena in under construction.

DePlasco said there are about 800 people currently working on the Atlantic Yards project and it is the largest construction site in the city after the World Trade Center/Freedom Tower project.
Of these workers, 410 are city residents including 174 from Brooklyn, of which 67 are from Central Brooklyn. Additionally, 51 percent of all contracts and nearly 23 percent of all contract dollars have been awarded to MWBEs (minority-and women-owned business or enterprise), DePlasco said.

DePlasco said of the 36 people that went through the BUILD pre-apprenticeship training program, 19 were working in property management, retail or construction-related positions as of September this year.
But plaintiff Maurice Griffin, 23, said he took the training because he thought it meant he would get a construction union card. He finally got one on his own with the carpenters union.

Redistricting Process and Delays Under Scrutiny by Local Groups

The process of changing boundry lines for electoral districts is a critical one and the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) has been conducting a series of forums alerting the community to upcoming actions regarding the redistricting process. Moderated by election law and voting rights specialist Judge Paul Wooten, Dr. Esmerelda Simmons and Dr. John Flateau presented data on the importance of redistricting and community participation in the process.

Dr. John Flateau, a former member of the NYS Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR), former Commissioner of the NYC Redistricting Commission for the 2000 Decennial Census for the City Council, Chairman of the U.S. Census Advisory Committee for the African-American Population, and a special advisor for redistricting of the NYS Senate Democratic Conference said, “We are under a 90-day countdown; once the holidays are over the redistricting process will be complete, unless it goes to the judiciary. If redistricting does go to court, we (the people) will be out of the process except for advocates and experts.”

CLSJ Executive Director Dr. Esmerelda Simmons said NYS redistricting should be complete by February. But, said Dr. Simmons, “LATFOR has not stated their criteria and priorities in drawing the maps. Meanwhile, they have people all over the state drawing districts.”

The problem seems to be twofold. Redistricting advocates have not been told how many Senate districts there are going to be. Right now there are 62 Senate districts based on mathematical formula in the NYS Constitution. “If they go to 63,” said Dr. Simmons, “there is going to be a lawsuit.”

In addition, LATFOR has not yet released prison data as required by the Prison Adjustment Act of 2010, which states inmates must be counted in their home districts. LATFOR has scheduled a public hearing on Prisoner Count and Reallocation which will take place in Albany on Friday, Nov. 18.

“We don’t have the prison data and we don’t have the number of Senate seats,” said Dr. Simmons. “But we are supposed to come up with maps. We see a trap. No matter what you do you are wasting some of the time. And if you don’t do anything, you are imperiling the possibility that the district you want will get drawn and be recognized.”

Dr. Flateau said the community must carefully watch how the Prisoner Adjustment Act of 2010 (PAA) is implemented. PAA mandates that state prisoners — about 60,000, most of whom come from downstate (Central Brooklyn, Southeast Queens, Harlem and the South Bronx), accounting for one-third of all state prisoners — need to be counted from the neighborhoods they came out of, not from the current jail cell where they are temporary residents. “Implementing PAA without any political shenanigans is going to be a critical issue,” said Flateau. “It has not yet been resolved.”

In the meantime, CLSJ has embarked on the time-consuming process of working with community groups and advocates to create two tentative sets of maps. One map will have one less congressional seat upstate and one less congressional seat downstate. The other map will have two congressional seats cut from upstate.

“We will have two less congressional seats,” Dr. Simmons said. “The usual way it works is that Republicans give up one seat and the Democrats give up one seat. However, Republicans generally control upstate, Democrats downstate. But all of the increase in population has been downstate. All of the decrease in population has been upstate.”

Dr. Simmons asked, “Is it really fair that New York City should lose a congressional seat? As advocates, we’re going to tell them that they should take two seats from upstate.”
The Asian-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Latino Justice PRLDEF, National Institute for Latino Policy (NILP), and the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) of Medgar Evers College have released the Unity Map, a joint proposal for new state Assembly and state Senate districts in New York City that reflect the changing demographics and protects the voting rights of Blacks, Latinos and Asian-Americans. “The CLSJ has joined with other groups to see if we can come out with maps that are fair,” said Dr. Simmons.

Under the Unity Map, there will be 16 Latino majority State Assembly districts rather than the current 13, and seven majority State Senate districts rather than the current five. The Unity Map also preserves the number of black districts in the State Assembly and State Senate while simultaneously expanding the number of districts in Asian-American and Latino-American communities, in accordance with their population growth.

“Gov. Paterson will be remembered forever for signing the Prisoner Adjustment Act,” said Dr. Simmons. “Now we are in court trying to get it enforced.”

Dr. Simmons explained the tension behind prisoner redistricting. “One thing about Civil Rights Bills: First you win, then for the rest of your given life you have to defend it. Don’t take anything for granted. As soon as you think it is finished, they try to reverse it,” said Dr. Simmons.

She explained further. “This one, the Prisoner Adjustment Act, they didn’t even implement and they are trying to reverse it. LATFOR and the Dept. of Corrections were to enforce it. The Dept. of Corrections prepared the numbers of where the prisoners were and where they needed to be counted. And yes, there was a problem with some people who did not have a last address. Three state senators from upstate actually went into court to sue to find this law unconstitutional. LATFOR said, ‘We are not going to enforce the law because it is being challenged.’ It took the New York Times editorial and the threat of a lawsuit for not enforcing the law, for LATFOR to at least say on August 4 that they have every intention of implementing the law. As of the end of October we still haven’t gotten the adjusted numbers from LATFOR. The court battle continues,” said Dr. Simmons. “They are trying to say the law is illegal because some people don’t have a last address. The judge that has this case is one of the slowest judges I have ever seen. Usually, a case involving redistricting or elections moves faster than this.. Now we are waiting for a summary judgment. Based on the calendar, we don’t have any time at all. In the meantime, the law needs to be implemented.”

Considering NYS population changes, the size of a congressional district has increased by 65,000, that is from 654,000 to 718,000. The size of the Senate district, assuming they stay at 62, is going up almost 7,000. The size of an Assembly district is going to increase by about 3,000. “Congressional districts have to be absolutely equal and can only differ by one person, however, the courts have held that deviation for state and city districts can be plus or minus 5%. I can work with three or 4%. Dr. Flateau is a purist; he prefers 1%,” said Dr. Simmons.

“One of the insurance policies we have politically within this whole process is voter registration,” said Flateau. “The more electoral power we have on the ground, the harder it will be to box us in, regardless of where they draw the lines. If we maximize our voter registration now, then where they drop the lines won’t matter as much if we have the ability to produce voting power from our communities.”

Flateau said, “Our top five priorities are: make sure the Prisoner Adjustment Act is implemented; obey the state constitution, no change in the number of Senate seats; keep deviation of the Senate district populations to plus or -1%; stay on top of the redistricting process; and reinforce massive citizenship voter education and voter registration drives.

“One thing we know we all have to comply with is the federal Voting Rights Act,” said Dr. Simmons. “That is how we have gotten people who did not want to draw districts that would allow people of color to elect candidates of their choice to do so by simply telling the Justice Department.”

Dr. Simmons said, “The Voting Rights Act protects Blacks and other people of color on the basis of race, yet recent Supreme Court decisions state you can’t do redistricting on the basis of race. The Justice Department will be looking to see if jurisdictions have discriminated on the basis of race. How do you do districting if you’re not using race as a criteria? Communities of interest. It makes sure you put people together who have some commonality, and do things together, like go to school together, shop together, use the same mode of transportation. Social occasions are important; the West Indian Day Parade can be used as evidence of commonality. Add to that that they vote similarly in the same neighborhood that makes the argument you can prove. Social science can show that we are one.”

Dr. Simmons makes several recommendations: “Everyone needs to register and vote. Permanent residents need to apply to become citizens so that they can register and vote. Submit ideas on where district lines should be drawn to LATFOR.state.ny.us. There will be hearings after LATFOR issues its maps. Prepare to testify for or against any proposed redistricting plan because every word, every e-mail, every submission to LATFOR will ultimately end up in the U.S. Justice Department.”

Dr. Simmons and Dr. Flateau announced this is the last redistricting process they will lead. They are mentoring young people such as attorney Latrice Monique Walker, “but we don’t have enough young people,” said Dr. Simmons. “You need to get involved now because it runs in 10-year cycles. It’ll be over in another six months except for the lawsuits, then it won’t come around again for another 10 years. You need to get involved and learn now, while the process is going on.” In addition, said Dr. Simmons, “After a district is drawn we are going to have to justify the district. There is a real need for social science experts.”

View From Here: Brownsville to Wall Street –Perpetrators of Economic Injustice Called to Account by Community

Several hundred marchers came from Brownsville to Wall Street last Saturday to protest the result of economic inequities and to speak on the many connections between the targets of the Occupy Wall Street Movement and the situation of African-Americans.
Not forgotten is that the 1% got to be the 1% by first stealing the labor of African-American ancestors and using it as “starter capital” to clear the land, build the roads, and plant and harvest the crops.  To load ships with slave-produced goods, and then use the unloaded ballast as cobblestones on New York streets.
The march was organized and led by Mr. A. T. Mitchell and his community empowerment organization, Man Up!, known for  working in the hard world where the  results of economic violence are everyday affairs and where and the people were saying they were sick of it.   “This is where the money we spend every day ends up.  We’re tired of people misusing our tax dollars,” said Mr. Mitchell.  “This city is the largest city in the world.  There is no reason why we don’t have jobs and programs and services for our young people.  If you want to make some investments, invest in these young people right here.”
Speaking of the financial elites, National Action Network Executive Director Tamika Mallory said that the reason the communities lacks the resources, and “make no mistake about it,” is that “they do not care.  We have to show them that we care,” and wake up the rest of the community.  “These people are where they are, in high places with our money, because they are organized.  We have to get organized.”
City Councilman Charles Barron said that the killers of Zurana Horton have been caught, but one of those who the Councilman said are “still on the loose” is Mayor Bloomberg. As an example of the mayor’s priorities, he says,  “Mayor Bloomberg gave $200 million to a white group in Brooklyn to build a theater for Shakespeare.”   Barron suggests instead the mayor should, “build us a youth center in Brownsville and name it after Zurana Horton.  It would only cost $20 million.”
One of the mothers who had lost a child offered that, “We have to stop allowing ourselves to be used.  We are just numbers to them.   We have to say give us the funding and we will take care of our situation.  Instead, they use these dummy organizations with people who do not know us, do not care about us and give them the funding.”
Ms. Williams of the nonprofit Not Another Child, who lost her own son to gun violence, told the assembly, “We can’t bring our babies back but we can do what we can to make tomorrow better.”  Ms. Williams’ son was killed in August 2008 and she said, “If we had summer youth opportunities, if we had jobs and resources, this 15-year-old would not have been able to pull the trigger that killed my child.”
Referring to the two coffins that symbolized lives lost to violence  a speaker said, “We bring the casualties of the economic system that is devastating our communities more than the little black boys and little brown boys in our neighborhoods.  It is a government that always runs out of money when it’s time for health care programs, but always has money for things that kill.  How does that work?  Why is it my government has millions upon billions to drop bombs on black and brown people throughout the world, but they don’t have the millions and billions to invest in the education of our kids?  That question is why we are here.”
The marchers from Brownsville had come across the Brooklyn Bridge, passed south of the African Burial Ground and went down Broadway past the Zuccotti Park encampment, and on to 25 Broadway, across from that very apt symbol of market capitalism, the tourist-surrounded and police-protected, Raging Bull sculpture.
They had gone past Zucotti Park and I saw no one join in, as though to say that the battle of the bottom stratum of the 99% is their own lookout.   And even though the target is the same, for the white 99%ers we see gathered in the park, the reaction is to losing their share of an “American Dream” that had been created by unpaid labor and held in place by a relentless low-intensity ethnic warfare.  So no, no one joined in.  It wasn’t their concern.
If those 99%ers took a moment, they might look at the economic situation of African-Americans as a miner looks at a canary in a mineshaft and perhaps see what the 1% has in store for them.  Although the recent use of  pepper spray on young white girls and the serious wounding of an Iraq war veteran by police using flash bang grenades is opening their eyes.
And where once manual labor was in demand, now cheap labor is what’s called for. And now with the efficiencies of global networks, labor of all kinds, formerly middleclass labor, can be shopped for around the world like buying cloth.   And the closest capital can come  to using slave labor, in whatever job category, the better it is for capital. Witness the explosion of Indonesia, Thailand and China as manufacturing centers.  And of course behemoth companies need fewer and fewer people, to handle more and more business, as shown by Bank of America laying off 30,000 and is no less efficient.
Now the occupiers of Wall Street have found that real hard times could happen to them.  That they can be trapped before life even starts for them.  They look at debt and see no future.  No path to a better life than their parents.  Subject to a government that is not their friend. Not to have control of their lives and subject to arrest and brutality.  Welcome to Brownsville.
I hope that on the two-week march to Washington that some of the occupiers began Wednesday the 9th, they will find their way to the Brownsvilles along the route-because if there isn’t a coming together now, we will all be in that Brownsville state of mind.

 

 

Parents, Teachers Protest Threatened Closing of PS 256

PTA Prez: DOE Set up 256 to Fail–

About a hundred angry parents, educators and students from PS 256 rallied outside their school this week in fear and resentment that the city’s Department of Education (DOE) is considering closing the school.
The DOE recently placed the school, located at 114 Kosciuszko Street, on its 20-low performing elementary and middle schools. It is expected to make recommendations to improve or possibly shutter the school next month.
But parents noted the DOE has cut $427,000 in funds to the school since 2008 and suspect it wants to close the school to free up space for the Community Partnership Charter School, whose middle school grades moved into the building last year.
“The DOE set our school up to fail with almost half-a-million dollars in budget cuts over the last three years,” said Natasha Dainty, President of the PTA at PS 256. “They also raised standards while decreasing resources.”
PS 256 parent Marquese Paige said the budget cuts have already cost the school an art teacher, a reading intervention teacher, a school employee, a kindergarten teacher and the Saturday Academy.
“How can our school perform well under these circumstances? Our school is suffering from years of budget cuts and a lack of support from the DOE. Parents are saying ‘enough is enough’: fix our school, don’t close it,” said Paige.
The failing grade comes after the school received an A grade three years ago and a C grade two years ago. However, the earlier grades came before it was discovered that the testing numbers were fudged in the run-up of the last mayoral election.
The rally came at the dismissal time for the Community Partnership Charter School.
According to parents at PS 256, the charter school does not integrate with anyone at their school. They share common areas such as the gym, the cafeteria and the library, but at different times.
One parent with two children at the charter school said her oldest child was accepted through a lottery system and then her second child was accepted as a sibling.
The parent, who refused to give her name, said she never stopped to think how sharing the building created something of a separate but equal situation.
The principal of the charter school refused to give her name or to comment on the rally.
But Bedford-Stuyvesant resident Tatia Allen, an elementary teacher at PS 6 in Flatbush, said she supported the rally. Allen was in the neighborhood because her daughter, like several students at both PS 256 and the Community Partnership Charter School, attends the nearby Salvation Army after-school program.
“These are all the same kids from the same neighborhood and they go to the same school,” Allen said, adding the difference is the charter school doesn’t have to take ESL students or special education students.
DOE spokesman Frank Thomas said PS 256 is not the only school to face budget cuts in the tough economic times. He also stopped short of saying the school faces closure.
“We’re engaging with parents, teachers and the leadership at all these schools (on the low-performing list) before we make any decisions about any of their plans for the future,” Thomas said.

VEW FROM HERE: From Wall Street To Marcy Avenue

The issues of home foreclosures and homes in jeopardy as well as the co-location of charter schools into “underused” public school buildings, are both rooted in the business models of hedge funds earning hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars a year. The bundling, leveraging and profit-taking from a base of home mortgages, has sucked the wealth out of the community.
Then we see them again in our community, lobbying for charter schools. Journalist Juan Gonzalez explained why in 2010 on Democracy Now! (See page 3). As it turns out, the interest in hedge funds in local political races isn’t because they want to develop African-American children with a Pan-African understanding of the world and their place in it. No. Their robust campaign contributions and enthusiastic lobbying efforts, corporate-speak for bribes and coercion, have only one goal, financial reward. Using the tax code with the familiarity of a carpenter using a hammer, financiers get to double their money in seven years by investing in charter schools. This doubling of money is ultimately from our pockets, and could have been better spent on approaching so-called underused school space with the vision and intent to enhance the student experience of all of those who are already there.
Instead, funds are invisibly diverted to hedge funds in the form of tax benefits which they can enjoy on their yachts and private jets between their gated communities. When President Obama spoke at the dedication of the memorial to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, he said: “Dr. King would want us to challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing those who work there,” but if Jesus could throw the money lenders out of the temple, then we must have a license to at least call them names.
It is true that the charter schools themselves have dedicated and passionate people working directly with the students, and committed parents, wanting to improve their child’s life. But the majority of city’s students who are not a part of the money-making machine, are pushed aside and onto the street and they find they are not alone out there. Because it is the “Street” that is making itself heard in mass demonstrations in 150 cities across the country and around the world.
The internet has connected people as never before, and the current automatic language translation technology is Star Trek’s “Universal Translator” in its infancy, breaking down language barriers, not to build a Tower of Babel, but to arm themselves with each other. In that world the meek, acting together, can inherit the earth.
“You know something is happening but you don’t know what it is do you, Mr. Jones?” is the question Bob Dylan asks in Ballad of a Thin Man. The something that was happening that Mr. Jones did not know but could feel, was the sinister hand of greed that was shaping his destiny and is what the Occupy Wall Street protests are all about.
The financial industry keeps taking with no regard to human consequences and it is those consequences we see at Occupy Wall Street in comments such as these: “I’m here because I lost everything in my life. I’m here for everybody else. I lost my job and my apartment and three days after that I found out about this place and I’ve been here ever since.” And another. “I’m a registered nurse in New York and I joined the movement to stand up with the people here who are standing against bailing out Wall Street and bailing out banks instead of bailing out teachers and hospitals and schools and working class Americans who are suffering economically.”
Once again President Barack Obama has spoken plainly about what is needed to effect change. At the dedication of the King monument he again he reminded those who wanted change to take the action needed to make it happen and that is where the chants of “We are the 99%” are coming from. And it must be impossible to stand at a monument to Martin Luther King, Jr. and not know he would be standing with the 99%.
With winter coming, the 99% may find it difficult to maintain a physical presence outdoors, but those who are new to the struggle will find they still need that freedom fix when the cold wind blows and they’re stuck in doors. The adrenaline rush of engagement against the financial/political complex will still have to be satisfied and that will come from organizing and meeting up on the Web and maybe a once-a-week get-together in Times Square. Come spring, however, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Occupy Wall Street Protest Gathers Steam

On a rainy Tuesday in a sea of  drenched  mainly white faces, Kamar Duncan, 21, stood out as one of the few African-Americans involved on the fourth day of Occupy Wall Street – the largely Internet-organized protest questioning the federal bailout of investment banks and large corporations.
“I’m here because we need to do something to fight corporate greed and to reform the system because we can’t perpetuate making people poorer and poorer,” he said.

Duncan, who now lives in Sunset Park, said his mother’s house on Rochester Avenue in Bed-Stuy was foreclosed on recently, and that he has been at the gathering in Liberty Plaza – a stone’s throw away from Wall Street and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – since the protest started on Saturday.
When asked why he thought more people of color weren’t part of the protest, Duncan surmised that perhaps younger blacks were scared because police have made arrests every day since the protest began.
“It’s not about white and black, it’s about rights and wanting the world to be better,” he said.

Duncan noted that the loosely-led protest, which has facilitators rather than leaders or spokespeople, has yet to make a list of demands of what they wanted to see happen as a result of the open-ended protest, which is gathering steam via such social Web sites as Facebook and Twitter.
Duncan said he might try to incorporate more jobs for people of color into the list of demands that the ad hoc group of protestors expect to release within days. Another possible demand might be for Wall Street higher-ups to set up programs in communities of color to teach how Wall Street works.
Walking among the estimated 200 protestors revealed one group of facilitators discussing a rough draft of six general principles that came from protestors being broken into smaller groups for brainstorming sessions.“One of the demands is for more jobs, but it was not broken up along racial lines,” said one man in the group.

When pressed over the fact that the unemployment rate among African-Americans is roughly 16 percent – nearly double the national unemployment rate, the man said there is talk of adding in a demand to empower marginalized groups including race, gender, class and sexual persuasion.
Ari Cowan, 21, originally from San Francisco and most recently a community organizer in Massachusetts, said there has been an ongoing effort to get more people of color involved in the protest.
Besides social networking there are planned outreaches to go directly into housing projects and unemployment offices to get people involved in this movement, he said.  “The message is to join us. We want you here,” he said.

“Speaking for myself any list of demands should be accompanied by a creation of a new capitalist system,” he added.
While many in the protest resembled those of the old hippie and Yippie movement – complete with acoustic guitars and comical masks, others mingled around dressed more fashionable and were there to support the protest for a few hours.
“I support this protest and plan to donate some money,” said Guyanese immigrant and Harlem resident Joy A, who was in the neighborhood to take care of some personal business.
“People need to speak out as far as the economy and bailout of huge corporations. There is general agreement in the public about this and we need millions out here,” she added.
People wanting to learn more about the growing movement can visit www.nycga.net or www.occupywallst.org.

Man Up Inc!’s Ceasefire ENY Team Reaches 100 Days of Peace!

In the midst of a violent, gory summer, there was an oasis of peace. The summer of 2011 marks the first time in recent memory in which no shootings, stabbings or killings occurred in what has historically been known as the most violent section of the 75th precinct. Man Up Inc!’s Cease-Fire ENY Team has taken the blocks bounded by Sutter, Pennsylvania, New Lots and Hinsdale – where 60% of the shootings took place in the 75th Precinct last year – and provided hope.

The community was very much aware of the days in which there were no shootings. Members of the community were literally walking around counting days with members of Man Up Inc!’s Cease Fire ENY Team. “Everybody was looking to get the number of days of peace up as high as it could possibly go,” said A.T. Mitchell, founder of Man Up Inc!
The day count was broken at 101 days during the Labor Day weekend. Last Friday night into Saturday morning, one shooting occurred within Man Up Inc!’s catchment area. The next night another shooting occurred which resulted in a death. That particular incident was devastating for the family of the deceased as it was the third time that a family member had been killed by gun violence.
Mitchell said, “The shootings sent the community back into relapse in terms of trauma. The community had begun to experience a taste of peace and had just begun to get comfortable. These incidences sends a community back into a ‘state of depression’.”
Yet, there is hope. Man Up Inc! has again begun counting days of no shootings or killings. Man Up Inc! has a model that can be replicated in other communities.
Each member of Man Up Inc! has a caseload that is based upon certain criteria which is used to deem a person high-risk. Based on the information garnered from trying to get to know the young people in the community, they assess them. If they meet Man Up Inc!’s criteria and are classified as high-risk, that is when the relationship is established in a more formal manner. “Our outreach workers help them get on their feet,” Mitchell said.
Man Up Inc!’s team members are from the community which is their advantage. They are credible messengers. “Our model requires hiring people from the community,” Mitchell said. “They know the people in the community and the community knows them based on their credibility.”
“Because our people are of the community, we know who the high-risk individuals could be. We’d literally scour the community for those people who are deemed high risk in our eyes,” said Mitchell. These are people who have been in prison before. Some of them are current members of street gangs or groups. Some have access to a weapon or fall within a particular age bracket. “We use all of these things to determine if a person is in our eyes high-risk. We do pre-screenings in the street. If they meet our criteria, the relationship is established,” said Mitchell. “They do know that we are establishing a relationship with them with the intent of helping them help themselves.”
The participant knows the outreach worker has a job to do. “The job is to reach out to you, make contact and pull you in to become part of my caseload to assist you going forward with the matters you say you need help with,” he said.
Man Up Inc! helps with employment, getting proper identification, setting up housing and assisting participants with trying to get back in school or vocational training courses. “Sometimes this family matters that are sometimes very small,” Mitchell said, “such as maybe their mom won’t let them back in the house because of issues they have. There are a lot of dynamics involved.”
The worker must have a minimum of nine contacts with each participant per week. “If one of our people has a caseload of 10 or 15 participants, you can imagine what kind of case management they are responsible for. It’s very intense,” Mitchell said. “Our workers have to maintain communication with them to build a relationship. Once we build a relationship and trust is established, now you can be able to do a lot more with them.”
During the last year, Man Up Inc! had been working with 90 individuals. Currently, they are managing 77 cases. “Our caseload has gone down because sometimes people move out of the neighborhood or sometimes we have to drop a participant because this is about a partnership,” Mitchell said. “We are not chasing behind you. You have to meet us where you are as well. You have to be willing to do some things. You can’t just not want to go get any resources, like go to a job fair. You can’t (on a continuous basis) be a no-show. You have to show interest.”
If Man Up Inc! finds that there was a participant who has been difficult to manage, they make a determination whether or not they should keep trying to extend ourselves to that person. “If they are involved in very violent activity, we tell them all the time we will help you, but once you shoot that gun, there is nothing more we can really do for you because you have actually violated our code,” Mitchell said. “We stand for reducing shootings and killings. At that point, you need a lawyer or a doctor or a mortician.”
“The whole idea of this is to get to them before they shoot the next person, or before they commit the next act of crime,” said Mitchell.

Summer Energy Academy Prepares Youth for Global Energy Challenge

Bedford Academy High School has collaborated with the American Association of Blacks in Energy in the New York Metropolitan Area (AABE- NYMAC) to sponsor the Summer Energy Academy (S.E.A. Program) at Bedford Academy H.S. Seventeen students between the ages of 11-14 were carefully selected to engage in the 6-week summer program, highlighting several aspects of energy with a focus on energy conservation through renewable and clean energy technology.
The purpose of the Summer Energy Academy is to assist in meeting the global energy challenge. For us to prevent the impending energy crisis, it is imperative that we expose students to the concepts of energy and STEM (Science, Technology Environment and Math) disciplines at an early age, therefore laying the foundation for future scientists and engineers to develop the needed technology to reduce and change how we consume energy.
NYC Council member Letitia James (35th) provided all of the students that participated in the S.E.A. Program with citations from Council members which were presented by William Suggs. Council member Darlene Mealy (41st) also provided all of the volunteers who helped make this program successful with Citations from the City Council presented by Arna Lipkind, Community Relations. Assemblyman Karim Camara (43rd) provided all of the instructors/Mentors a certificate of
Appreciation. And NYS Senator Eric Adams provided Certificates of Appreciation to people that are sponsors and supporters of this program, including Kevin Burke, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Consolidated Edison of New York, Inc.  and AABE Member and Craig Ivey, President of Consolidated Edison of New York and AABE Member)presented by William Suggs. Craig is also the first African-American President for Con Ed. Tanzee Silver, Phyllis White-Thorne and Lima Jones were the organizers and MC’s.
Parents and friends supported this event which was held at Con Edison HQ. Tanya Brown, from National Grid, attended, and Onita Mayers, from the NAACP Brooklyn Branch provided remarks. NYC Mayor’s Office was represented by Greg Mayers and Claude Trahan, Con Ed Gas Operations SVP, was the keynote speaker. Additional remarks were provided by: Ms. C. Lavache, Assistant Principal from Bedford Academy; Milovan Blair, Brooklyn/Queens Electric Operations V.P.; and members of the AABE National Board, Wilton Cedeno and Gerry Dawes.
The program is sponsored by the American Association of Blacks in Energy, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, National Grid, Bedford Academy High School and the NAACP.
Submitted by William M. Suggs,  President, AABE-NYMAC, NE Regional Director.

Three Brooklyn Youth Bring Home Gold At 33rd NAACP Act-So Awards “Olympics of the Mind” kicked off

102nd Annual NAACP Convention in Los Angeles
(New York City, NY) – Three Brooklyn high school students brought home medals from the NAACP’s 33rd annual Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) in Los Angeles, California. The five-day event capped months of local competition in which high school from students around the country jockeyed for a spot to compete in nationals. The 26 categories ranged from the performing arts and music to mathematics, biology and business.
Arhea Marshall, a 12th grader at the High School for Math, Science and Engineering, won the Gold medal in Biology/Microbiology. Crystal Burgess, an 11th grader at the Manhattan Center High School for Science, won the Gold medal in Physics and Malik Williams, silver medallist in architecture. All three young scholars are affiliated with the Brooklyn NAACP Branch.

More than 1200 gold medallists, chairpersons, youth observers and supporters convened in Los Angeles July 20-24 for the national competition. The July 24 award ceremony was hosted by actress Rocsi and featured performances by Venus Williams, Julia Pace and Bobby Soto, among others.
Previous ACT-SO contestants and winners include filmmaker John Singleton, musician Kanye West and actress Jada Pinkett Smith.
“The 33rd National ACT-SO Competition showcased our country’s best and brightest. Thousands of adults, community and corporate volunteers lent their efforts to this annual mammoth undertaking,” stated Anana Kambon, ACT-SO National Executive Director. “These young competitors are the architects and innovators who will influence our changing world. The NAACP is honored to provide a platform for their exhibition of excellence.”
“ACT-SO has a record of producing leaders in the arts, sciences and business world,” stated NAACP President & CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “The program is an excellent opportunity for young African Americans from all walks of life to come together, exchange ideas and flourish.”
The ACT-SO program centers on the dedication and commitment of community volunteers and business leaders who serve as mentors and coaches to promote academic and artistic excellence among African-American students. It was founded by renowned author and journalist Vernon Jarrett in 1978.

A GEM GLOWS IN BROOKLYN: RUBY DEE HONORED

Ruby Dee, an icon of stage, screen and television, role model for women globally, activist for people’s causes and a beloved humanitarian, was honored by The Coalition of Theatres of Color,  Tuesday, June 28 at an afternoon reception hosted by the Coalition’s Brooklyn delegation, The Billie Holiday Theatre and The Paul Robeson Theatre in Brooklyn.
Held at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Bedford Stuyvesant, the tribute was the third in a series of recent Coalition events, designed by chair Woodie King, honoring pioneers and veterans of the stage who are committed to sustaining the black theater heritage. Previous honorees were Gertrude Jeannette of the Hadley Players in Harlem and actor Arthur French of Queens.
“You can’t honor Ruby Dee enough,” said Marjorie Moon, the Coalition’s Vice Chair.  Yet, the Coalition did their best.  Gifts included: Artwork by the major artist Otto Neal, special tributes including a recitation of “A Poem for Ruby Dee” by its writer, the revered poet-playwright Sonia Sanchez; soul-stirring music by award-winning actress-vocalist Ebony Jo-Ann; a moving reading of selections from Miss Dee’s “My One Good Nerve” by Peggy Alston, an original company member of the Billie Holiday Theater’s Resident Acting Company and currently Restoration Corporation’s director of the Youth Arts Academy; resolutions, proclamations, citations or messages from the local to the Federal, including Congressman Edolphus Towns, New York Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Brooklyn’s Borough President Marty Markowitz, New York City Councilmen Al Vann and Charles Barron, and a dozen long-stemmed yellow roses from New York State Assemblywoman Annette Robinson.
Nearly 200 people packed the community room and lobby area of Restoration Plaza that houses the Billie Holiday Theatre, creating the intimate and up-close atmosphere of a Little Theatre, complete with poster-size images of dramatic scenes from some of Ms. Dee’s many powerful portrayals in such productions as: Anna Lucasta, My One Good Nerve, Raisin in the Sun, and The American Shakespeare production of King Lear.
The Brooklyn Coalition’s “collectors’ item” event programs featured color images of some of Ms. Dee’s other unforgettable portrayals, including a still from Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever” of the Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated actress and Samuel Jackson, in the roles of Mrs. Purify and her son, Gator.
The “audience” comprised an intergenerational mix unlike no other in attendance at an event in Miss Dee’s honor.  The young teen daughters of thespian and conscious rap artist Mos Def, a friend of Miss Dee’s, introduced themselves to publishing and Civil Rights legend Esther Cooper Jackson, 93, founder with her husband James Jackson of the groundbreaking national “Freedomways” periodicals.  Mrs. Jackson has been a friend of Ms. Dee’s for more than 60 years.
Sister Sonia Sanchez, a friend since the poets’ theatre going days together in the ’70′s, said in a telephone interview yesterday, “When Ruby opens her mouth, I like to say that it’s the thunder of angels.  She is the epitome of a woman who has learned her craft and performed it well.  She is one of the great minds of the 20th century by her presence, her dignity and her work. I am so happy to have been a part of this warm and lovely event to honor such a great woman as Ruby Dee.”
Sister Sonia traveled from Philadelphia to participate in the event, and was met at the station by Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Executive Director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College.
With regard to the Coalition of Theatres of Color, Miss Sanchez said, “I love supporting efforts like the Coalition of Theatres of Color. This organization of community-based theaters is at the frontlines, working in the neighborhoods where people live, bringing culture to them. Coming out of the ’60′s, it is important that we (the artists) are always there for the community,  as this is the work that needs to be done.”
“We are saluting Ms. Dee for her monumental impact as an artist and her tenacious vocal advocacy on behalf of the theatrical community,” said Marjorie Moon, executive director of the Billie Holiday Theatre which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year.
“Ruby Dee is more than an icon, she is authentic, a role model – not just on stage, but also behind the scenes,” said Dr. Josephine English, MD, founder of The Paul Robeson Theater, currently celebrating its 30th year.
Miss Dee, sitting regally beneath an enlarged photograph of her in 1946 on tour in the lead role of Anna Lucasta, was visibly moved by the Coalition celebration.  At the program’s end, her thank you embraced the Coalition, all who were present, all who bestowed gifts, all who wanted to come and could not, all those on whose shoulders she stands, strong women like her stepmother and all “the steps” it took to get to yesterday, the ancestors and the Kings and Queens of black theater, heralded and unknown.
The guests responded with a standing ovation.

Of note, Miss Dee’s fine griot memory of the chapters and players in the art known as Black Theater is unparalleled.  Her sharp knowledge of the history – and generous sharing of untold stories  – enthralled the audience members, and in itself was a gift.  Miss Moon reiterated, “We can not honor Miss Dee enough; she sets the stage for giving.”
Miss Dee is a founding member of the Coalition of Theatres of Color and a board member of the Billie Holiday Theatre.   The Oscar-nominated, Emmy winning actress/writer; winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild, was awarded a Doctor of Arts honorary degree earlier this month from Dartmouth.  She began her career in the lead role of the legendary American Negro Theater production of Anna Lucasta.  A graduate of Hunter College, she made her Broadway debut in the 1943 drama South Pacific. In 1946, she was featured in the Broadway production, Jeb, where she met the star in the title role, Ossie Davis. Her other stage work included: Lutiebelle in Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious; Ruth in A Raisin in the Sun; Lena in Boesman and Lena, for which she received and Obie and a Drama Desk award; and Mary Tyrone in A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Her credits in television and film include Anna Lucasta, Wedding Band, St. Lucy’s Eyes, The Jackie Robinson Story, St. Louis Blues, A Raisin in the Sun, Uptight (which she co-wrote), Buck and the Preacher, Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Peyton Place, Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Stand, Roots: The Next Generation and Having Our Say.
She has received several Emmy nominations, and in 1991, won an Emmy for her performance in Decoration Day. Ms Dee starred in American Gangster for which she received a Screen Actors Guild award and her first Academy award nomination in 2008.  In 1994, Ms. Dee and Mr. Davis were presented with The Academy of Television Arts and Science’s Silver Circle Award. The following year, they officially became “national treasures” when they received the National Medal of Arts. In 2000, they were presented the Screen Actors Guild’s Life Achievement Award. The couple has also been honored with The Marian Anderson Award and the Screen Actors Lifetime Achievement Award. They are inductees in the Theater Hall of Fame as well as the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame. They received John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. Ms. Dee is active in the NAACP, CORE, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Southern Christian Leadership Council and many more progressive organizations.
The Coalition of Theatres of Color (CTC) is a non-profit community of renowned multi-cultural theatre arts organizations in New York State. These institutions have joined forces to ensure sustainability and longevity of theatre of color in multicultural communities. Each institution brings over 25 years of artistic achievement with critically acclaimed and award-winning work and for nurturing the artistry of some of the world’s finest actors, directors, playwrights, producers, musicians and choreographers. New York City theatres are Billie Holiday Theatre, Black Spectrum Theatre, H.A.D.L.E.Y Players, National Black Theatre, New Federal Theatre, New Heritage Theatre, Negro Ensemble Company and Paul Robeson Theatre.  Acclaimed producer Woodie King is chairman of CTC, Carl Clay is vice chair and Marjorie Moon, executive producer, Billie Holiday Theatre, serves as second vice chair. CTC is supported through grants from the New York City Council Committee and The New York Community Trust.
On behalf of the entire Coalition of Theatres, Mr. King thanked Ms. Dee for her contributions to black theater behind the scenes, underscoring the Dee-Davis legacy of humanitarianism: on their 50th wedding anniversary in 1998 the couple donated a total of some $240,000 to 12 community theatres.  To a round of applause, Woodie King also announced that the New York City Council had restored cuts to the   Coalition’s 2012 budget.

« Previous Page — Next Page »