Building a New Africa With its Soil and People

 

 

The new Africa starts here: how to make the people prosper.  If Africa is to thrive, a revolution in thinking is needed — and it must begin out in the farmers’ fields.

      By Wangari Maathai

      The Times (London)

      June 6, 2009

      Not long ago I was in Yaoundé, Cameroon, as part of my work as Goodwill Ambassador for the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem, a position to which I was appointed in 2005 by heads of state of the ten Central African nations. I was meeting the secretariat of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and the Commission for the Forests of Central Africa (Comifac) based in Yaoundé, as well as economic and environment ministers from the region.

      As I stood outside the hotel in a light rain I looked across to one of the seven hills that surround the city. My eyes focused on a woman in the distance who was making rows of small depressions in the soil parallel to the gradient of the hill. “She shouldn’t be making furrows in that direction on such a steep slope,” I thought, “because when the rains come, very quickly all that soil will be lost.”

      But when I asked a hotel security guard why the woman was cutting furrows downward, instead of across, he explained that the rain would run along the furrows and therefore not disturb the crops.

      This directly contradicted every principle of soil conservation that I know, because when the rains fell the soil that the woman farmer had so carefully formed, and so desperately needed to make her bananas, maize or yams grow, would be swept down that hillside — in the very furrows she had just dug. She was creating the perfect environment for soil erosion, making it less likely that anything would grow on that hill in the future.

      There was an added irony to the situation. I was waiting for a car to take me to meetings to discuss safeguarding the Congo Basin forest — an ecosystem of 700,000sq km (270,000sq miles) that is the largest intact expanse of forest in the world after the Amazon.

      Yet I realized, no matter what else we were doing, unless those of us who would assemble at the Comifac headquarters could work with that farmer, multiplied several million times in Cameroon, the Congo region, and indeed throughout Africa, not only would we not save the Congo forests, but we might also be unable to halt the rapid desertification under way across the continent.

      Of course that woman farmer and others like her are not the primary threats to the forests of the Congo Basin. Mining and timber concessions that feed the seemingly insatiable global demand for raw wood, as well as residual conflict, are more directly destructive. But once the timber Lorries and mining companies have made their inroads and cleared the trees, it is people such as this subsistence farmer who follow — completing the cycle of destruction.

      Soils in tropical forests are often not well suited to agriculture. Unless farmers practice good land management, when trees are cut down the land is degraded, further increasing the risks of soil erosion and desertification. When the rains fall, the topsoil is washed into rivers, leaving the land behind barren.

      No blame should be apportioned to the woman on the hillside for attempting to eke out a living. But as I stood there that morning, she came to represent for me the collective challenges that face agriculture and development as a whole in many African nations. I wondered how much of the revenue of the luxurious hotel where I was staying — owned by a foreign corporation — was making its way into the Government’s coffers and, in turn, how much of that the Government was investing in its agricultural extension service to assist that woman to farm in a sustainable manner. Probably not enough.

      I also reflected that if African states’ agricultural extension services had not been under-funded or neglected in the decades since independence, that woman farmer could not only have learned the right way to prepare soil for planting, but might also have had access to information, modern equipment and governmental support that would have enabled her to grow crops more efficiently and less destructively.

      If, in turn, development practitioners and international agencies had, in their work with national governments, given more priority to investing in Africa’s farmers, the continent’s agricultural systems might not be in such poor condition today.

      If the continent’s governments had set development priorities so that productive land had been distributed more equitably and used more wisely, natural resources conserved and suitable urban planning undertaken, that woman might not have been forced up that hillside. If they had addressed the inequities of land distribution left from the colonial period and taken advantage of by the ruling elite, then this farmer might not have been tilling such unproductive soil.

      If African leaders had invested more in education and the creation of sustainable employment options and inclusive economies, and if they had been more concerned with the welfare of their people and not their own enrichment, then perhaps this farmer would have had more opportunity. Today she might be in another profession altogether, or be managing a larger, more efficient farm that could have freed her from grinding poverty.

      It is my many experiences similar to that encounter in Yaoundé that lead me to believe that if Africa, particularly south of the Sahara, is to progress so that it no longer depends on aid or remains a byword for poverty, conflict and corruption, it is on hillsides such as these, and with women such as that farmer, that we must work.

      For too long Africa has been on its knees: whether during the dehumanizing exploitation of the slave trade or under the yoke of colonialism or seeking aid from the international community or servicing illegitimate debts or praying for miracles.

      To change the life of that farmer, and millions like her, a fundamental revolution in leadership is needed. This would ensure that Africans experience good governance, respect for human rights, development that is equitable and sustainable, and, eventually, peace. The most important quality that African leadership needs to embrace, and that is desperately lacking across the continent, is a sense of service to the people in whose name leaders govern.

     But this revolution cannot be confined only to the ruling elites. Even the poorest and least empowered of African citizens need to rid themselves of a culture that tolerates systemic corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement of state affairs. Such a system also privileges one ethnic or socio-economic group over another. This, too, should be unacceptable.

      For decades African elites have ignored small-scale agriculture because it is assumed that it is only for the uneducated. But much of Africa is represented by that woman farmer on the hillside. Clearly African governments need to invest in making small-scale farmers more productive, especially as the effects of climate change intensify and growing sufficient amounts of food becomes even more challenging.

      At the same time, other regions have increased food production and have used subsidies, fertilizers, mechanization and sheer hard work to not only feed themselves but also to produce food so cheaply that it undercuts local African markets. Because of corruption, mismanagement and unstable international commodity prices, the cash-crop economy has not enriched ordinary Africans.

      At the very least one would want to see co-operatives that provide farmers with accurate and timely information about their crops and weather. Affordable inputs and vibrant local and regional food markets that are sustainable would be a better option. Governments should institute and enforce policies that ensure fair prices for their farmers in the global economy.

      Governments and individuals in Africa need to do all they can to improve land management — principally, preventing erosion. Africans should continue to welcome the international agencies, donor nations and private ventures that have an interest in helping the continent to develop in a manner that is sustainable and just.

      But, ultimately, the fate of Africa depends on its own leaders and its own citizens. Only Africans can resolve to provide leadership that is responsible, accountable and equitable. It is Africans who must decide whether they will manage their natural resources responsibly and distribute them equitably, using them for the good of fellow Africans. It is they who must determine whether they will continue to allow outside forces to seduce and bully their governments into arrangements that allow those resources to be siphoned from the continent for a pittance.

      It is for Africans to choose whether they will work hard to build up their own talents and abilities, strengthen their democracies and institutions of governance, and foster peoples’ creativity and industry.

      Can Africa take a different path so that her future generations will not look back and shake their heads at the expanding deserts and degraded lands? Or lament the large numbers of people migrating in search of water, land, food and work, and the inevitable conflicts over scarce resources? This is the challenge for Africa, including that woman on the hillside in Yaoundé.

      Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is founder of the Green Belt Movement and the author, most recently, of The Challenge for Africa: A New Vision

 

Greenprint for Change – Part 1

 

Strategies for a Recalibration …

Climate change and the economic crisis are linked by the one element that created them: those who control the resources.

And it will take those who do not  … those who believe in human capital, fostering an awareness of the importance of being in harmony with nature …to bail us out.  As was repeated in many sessions at the recent high-level United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, we must go to the farmer

in Africa to find some of these answers.

There is an irony in going to that farmer; she subsists in areas where poverty and hunger are at some of the highest levels in the world.  Meanwhile, according to a study by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, “Foreign nations are showing growing interest in Africa’s production base as they seek to secure their own growing needs for food, feed, fiber and fuel.  These claims pose an additional threat to Africa’s food security.  Proactive and timely adaptation measure, both technical and institutional, might help rural Africa to capitalize on this increased demand instead of becoming victim to it.”

So what does this have to do with changing lightbulbs, weatherizing windows, using real plates instead of paper, and recyclable grocery bags?  More than you think.  Central Brooklyn has severe health issues, high foreclosure rates, low income, and high unemployment.   In Many respects, we are more Third World than not.

That farmer, bent over the soil, bringing life to a plot of land, is not so far from removed from us.  “In fact, we (of Southern and Caribbean backgrounds) are the most environmentally-based people,” said Desmond Prince, a local green entrepreneur.  “So our connection with the soil and with green is part of our heritage.” 

Unfortunately, that history maybe getting blurred from the multiversity meltdown, and that could bring on a dynamic which would be tragic: the selling of “green” literacy programs or initial ancestral basic inventions back to us.  If that happens, we will be worse off than ever.  So that is why a Greenprint for Change needs to encompass something a little deeper than a grocery list of things to do … although they should be done. 

The platform of this Greenprint will unfold over time; its core is grounded in changing value systems, recalling and respecting ancestral traditions, equalizing opportunity.  It is a revitalization of the mind set, focus on things that need to be done to help the family, the community, the nation, our children survive beyond us.  It is at that point we begin to think about how we will design our own sustainability futures and push for bold agendas, and not have designs or agendas foisted on us.  .

 

Greenprint Strategies:

Education:

A series of Boot Camp courses on Sustainability or Green Tips and Techniques to all Block Association Presidents.

Revise the city’s school textbooks to reflect accurately the histories of Native Americans and

enslaved Africans and their contributions to the “planting” of New York.  Also what they brought to

these shores that still survive.

Different communities sharing, through community board day-long conferences, how they are greening their neighborhoods, and sharing resources.  (This could also occur with the Chamber of Commerce board and the membership of, say, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Lions’ Club.)

Neighborhoods should develop “green” partnerships with neighborhoods in other cities, again all for the purpose of sharing.

Information sharing would extend to family reunions; many families from Brooklyn travel South.  They should tour the cities, and see what is being done or not being down to thwart the challenges of global warming.  Develop Local Food recipes for a Family recipe book, and include family history.

Get junk food out of the schools, as State Sen. Eric Adams said at the Brooklyn Food Conference, recently.   A door to door outreach campaign to fix the food system would begin to increase awareness of health sustainability.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goal is to halve poverty and hunger by 2015.  Set a goal in your neighborhood for developing a Food Coop by that time, and another Farmers Market.  UNEP says “25% of the world’s food production may become lost due to ecological breakdown by 2050.”

 Micro-finance – utilizing small donations from block residents – a business for teen members of the Block Associations, as long as that business has a green aspect.  Within legal restrictions, they could test the soil of a backyard and grow, then sell their produce to block members.  Or write a book about the block which would include profiles of everyone who agreed in advance to purchase a copy.

Parents should demand agriculture, gardening, carpentry and other hands-on course be put back into the curricula, and this includes such “green” other “green” activities as home economics.

The U.N. delegate from Seychelles advised:  develop a neighbor to neighbor food trading system: one homeowner grows tomatoes; plants okras; other collards, and they share with each other.

The U.N. delegate from South Africa said:  If you see an empty unused lot, take it over. Just do it.

Organization like Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration might offer free Weatherization seminar, while Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford Stuyvesant would offer Lead Prevention workshops – a t a Block Association meeting.

Universities should take an interest in priming the pipeline before children reach high-school with mini-institutes of science in the classroom or at a nearby center – free.

Local schools can connect with HBCU agricultural colleges for week-long summer NASA-like programs for young people and their parents.  This could be by lottery with corporate sponsorship.

Every major corporation located in a striving neighborhood should invest in the environment of that neighborhood.

The Mayor should provide incentives for groups and blocks that engage in green/sustainable projects or develop their own plan for neighborhood sustainability.

Offer neighborhoods new learning opportunities to explore stimulating challenges – solving the crisis in Africa, interpretations of it through art and music, group discussions, create new ideas and engage young people in pen pal situations.

Technology companies can deploy their staffs to train in micro-green site development.

The City should create a Green Business Plan competition, open to all Block Associations, with start-up funding going to the best plan.

Universities receiving grant money for community work can split the money with the community, as well as resources and teaching labs.  Sometimes, that translates to a couple of $100,000.

Greenprint for Change continues, in an upcoming issue.

-Bernice Elizabeth Green

GOVERNOR PATERSON SIGNS GREEN JOBS/GREEN NEW YORK BILL

Program to Assist Low-Income and Unemployed Train for Green Collar Jobs

New Website – GreenCareersNY.com – to Match Job Seekers with Green Training Opportunities

This week, Governor David A. Paterson  signed the Green Jobs/Green New York Act, establishing a program that will create green jobs and stimulate investment in weatherization and energy efficiency improvements for residential and commercial buildings. Governor Paterson held the signing ceremony at the New York State Weatherization Directors Association training center in North Syracuse, where New Yorkers are being trained to weatherize and retrofit homes.

“The workforce training that this bill supports will prepare New Yorkers to find jobs in the 21st century clean energy economy that we are building here in New York. I am proud to sign into law the Green Jobs/Green New York Act, so we can help New Yorkers secure jobs that help working families and businesses cut their energy bills while reducing greenhouse gas pollution,” said Governor Paterson. “I have laid out a New Economy jobs plan that will help to put New Yorkers back to work through innovation and technology, and have set a goal to meet 45 percent of our electricity needs through energy efficiency and renewables by 2015. The Green Jobs/Green New York Act is an important tool in achieving these energy and economic goals.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said: “Thanks to the Green Jobs/Green New York legislation, homeowners, small business owners, and not-for-profit agencies are encouraged to undertake the energy efficiency projects that will reduce utility bills as well as greenhouse gas emissions. As homes and facilities are retrofitted, and green jobs are created, this program will become a much-need boost for struggling local economies throughout New York State.”

Senator Darrel J. Aubertine, Chair of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, said: “I want to thank the Governor for signing this important legislation here today. This truly is a win-win for New York State which will enable homeowners and small businesses to save money on their energy bills all while creating jobs and putting thousands of New Yorkers back to work. This legislation directs these loans to be spread across the state based on need and here in Upstate New York, where keeping the heat in is a top priority each winter, this program will create jobs and save consumers on their monthly energy bills.”

Governor Paterson also announced that $7 million from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has been awarded to 11 counties and New York City to launch the new Green Jobs Corps programs. This funding will allow local departments of social services to provide job skills training and subsidized employment opportunities in “green industries” for public assistance recipients and low-income individuals. Participants in the Green Jobs Corps program will develop occupational skills that will enable them to get jobs in addition to supporting their ability to remain employed and advance in their careers.

To help connect job seekers with the opportunities being announced today, Governor Paterson also announced the launch of a new web site to assist those seeking to enter the new green job sector. The site – www.greencareersny.com – is designed to make it easy for individuals, businesses and workforce professionals to find the State’s local training programs and green job opportunities.

The Green Jobs/Green New York Act (A.8901/S.5888 and chapter amendment A.9031/S.6032) directs the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to establish revolving loan and green jobs training programs to retrofit homes to conserve energy. Loans will be capped at $13,000 for residential and $26,000 for commercial properties. The program will target middleclass homeowners and small businesses that will pay back the loan out of what they save on their energy bills. The job training component will focus on new entrants to the workforce and displaced workers. The training programs and any education and enrollment efforts will be subjected to a competitive procurement process available to community based-organizations.

To fund the weatherization loan program and establish the statewide green jobs training program, NYSERDA will use a portion of $112 million from the auction of carbon emission credits through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The seed money from the RGGI fund will be used to leverage private investment, which will move us toward a goal of retrofitting one million homes over the next five years.

The Green Jobs bill will allow the State to increase its existing and successful weatherization efforts that are already underway. The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) will eventually administer $394 million in funds under American Recover and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). By the end of this month, $190 million in 64 contracts, representing every county in New York, will be executed as part of the WAP program. Under WAP, a minimum of 45,000 residential units will be weatherized in New York State.

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, Chair of the Assembly Energy Committee, said: “The goal of the Green Jobs/Green New York Program is three fold. It is designed to create jobs, lower energy costs for households, not-for-profits and small businesses and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is exactly the type of innovative initiative President Obama envisions when he talks about creating green jobs and the new clean energy economy. A successful program here in New York will establish us as a national leader in tackling the tough challenges of climate change and employment opportunities in the 21st Century.”

ENERGIZED STUDENTS IMPRESS COMMUNITY, CORPORATE LEADERS

How many young people have seen the inside of a battleship, toured a utilities plant, met a bridge builder, developed a high-scale project, conferred with top-tier leaders in the energy field   –  all within the span of 6 weeks?

Thanks to a wonderful experiential program developed by the American Association of Blacks in Energy, New York Metro Chapter (AABE-NYMAC), facilitated and hosted by Polytechnic Institute of NYU and supported by National Grid and Consolidated Edison, fourteen of our brightest stars, ranging in age from 11-14, received that experience plus a jump-start on the future.

The Summer Energy Academy (SEA) for Children, hosted by NYU-POLY in Brooklyn, was designed to introduce our young people to the career possibilities that exist in the energy industry when they study science, engineering and technology.

The SEA commenced July 6 from 8:30am to 3:00pm and concluded with a graduation ceremony on August 14.  The daily curriculum, taught by college students, included discussions of basic electricity, energy conservation, green technology, elements of NYU-POLY’s YES and I2E programs.   Program highlights also included the development of energy-focused team projects, field trips and tours, and lectures by leaders in the energy field.

Earlier this year, AABE brought the idea of the SEA to NYU-POLY and that idea culminated in the successful graduation of fourteen students from AABE-NYMAC’s first energy- focused summer academy.

“This is a great accomplishment for the community, NYU/POLY, Con Edison, National Grid and AABE-NYMAC.” said William Suggs, President of AABE-NYMAC and Senior Specialist, Corporate Environmental Health & Safety Department, Con Ed.  “We all pulled together and implemented an educational program on this level with talented children to help them begin a future in a new dynamic field to consider, explore and hopefully embrace.”

“Some students have never been exposed to the science, technology, energy and math fields,” says Ms. Beverly Johnson, NYU-POLY’s Associate Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Executive Director of YES Center.  “Many students are not turned on to STEM careers until the late high school years.  But this program starts with students in the early years.

“We viewed this program as an excellent opportunity to work with our long-standing partners,” says Renee McClure of National Grid, adding, “AABE, Con Ed and Polytech, in not only educating our future generation on the energy industry, but also laying the foundation for our future workforce – what a winning combination”.

“These 14 students have made history.  This is POLY’s – and Brooklyn’s first Summer Energy Academy,” revealed Suggs, adding, “And a special thanks to Beverly Johnson who helped to make this experience happen. POLY students and graduates served as mentors, facilitators and teaching assistants in the program, and were responsible for educating and directing SEA participants.  Those young students saw college students who looked like them getting prepared to work in these fields.”

Tanzee Silver, an NYU-POLY graduate and now construction manager for the Port Authority, advised the students (who were separated into three teams) on their special assignment projects.   She explained how they created a company, designed a 1600- square -foot home, and as part of the research component, designated a location for the home and presented a rationale for where they were building the home.  “Utilizing Google start-up software, the students created 3-D models for the project which normally takes 13 weeks; the Energy Academy students completed their assignments in five.”

The teams were Solar Arrows: Jalls Civil, Sarah Semple, Dom Gill, Tyree White and Diamond Small; Con Energy: Elijah Addison, Ibrahim Jihad, Joshua Franklin and Daweet McIntosh; and Energy Savers: Kayla Brown, Sabrina Johnson, Brianna Suggs, Alyssa Venable and Victoria Wilson.

NYU-POLY Mathematics graduate Jonathan D. Williams, a SEA program facilitator, told Our Time Press, the program was “mind-engaging.”    He said, “SEA students had fun learning about sustainability: urban greenhouses, increasing production, minimizing pollution and the effects of climate and weather change on the earth.”

Coran James of the NAACP noted that the event was a milestone.  She said to parents, caregivers and educators in the audience that “the struggle” is not over. “Fourteen representatives of the future are here today.  We want to multiply that by a million.”

To the students, she said, “You are standing on the shoulders of giants who are encouraging you to go forward.  And if you need a role model, take a look at our President.”

Ms. Lima A. Jones of Con Edison, and member of AABE-NYMAC’s Scholarship/Education Committee, was the source for the idea and creation of the SEA.  At the graduation, she praised the students for electing to spend their summer learning about the exciting career possibilities in the energy sector when they study science and technology.  She also congratulated Sarah, Dom and Joshua for using what they had already learned in the program to conserve energy at home and to firm up college selections (Sarah is determined to attend MIT).

Councilwoman Tish James, moved by the students’ presentation and ardor for science, said she also was “blown away by the level of talent and skills.”  Nereida Perez, VP, Inclusion and Diversity, National Grid, exclaimed, “You are outstanding!  I can’t wait to see where you will be in the next few years.  And remember, in the next few years, there will be major gaps to fill.  We will need you to fill these jobs.  I hope you pursue a career in the natural sciences, and participate in the energy sector.”

Ms. Phyllis White-Thorne, Manager, Public Affairs, Con Edison, who chairs AABE’s Scholarship/Education Committee, encouraged the SEA students to strive higher. “Modeling the courage, tenacity and perseverance of the AABE-NYMAC members, she said, they too can make their dreams come true.”

SEA mentors and facilitators were: Sarah Ahmed, Christopher Brathwaite, Maggie Castillo, Nadira Choudhury, Konstantino Dimopoulos, Kayami Facey, Philippe Laurent, Pedro Santos, Mr. Williams and Ms. Silver.

Members of the AABE-NYMAC and NYU-POLY team include: Albert Sanchez, Bill Suggs, Phyllis White-Thorne, Blondell Lighty, Lima Jones, Renee McClure, Dianne Fuller and Beverly Johnson.

Multi-Year New York City GreenWorks Project Launched

GREENPRINT for CHANGE
Green Works

Multi-Year New York City GreenWorks Project Launched
Public Conference Event with Exhibitors, Panels, Speakers, to Take Place, Sunday, July 26

The publishers of Our Time Press have engaged in a sustainable work life for many years; we’ve racked up thousands of hours in bike time and speed-walking to and from our offices.  Those basic efforts clearly save money and time, and reduce the carbon footprint.  We learned yesterday that utilizing subway travel to write stories like this saves and generates income – although we’re not exactly sure how that works.

Poised to tell us explain the what, why, where and how every business in the Big Apple can be green is Manhattan District One Councilman Alan J. Gerson, and environmental activists and industry leaders.  They are betting their GreenWorks NYC, a new and innovative multi-year green economy project, will not only explain how green works in New York’s own economy, but it also will connect all the disparate entities to make for green connections and collective consciousness.
“The Green Marketplace is exploding,” said Councilman Gerson at the launch, “but there’s a dynamic missing: information is sporadic and fragmented making it difficult for businesses and our community to be prepared for opportunities when they arise. Currently, information is disseminated through specialized sector-specific networks. No one has created a cross-sector collaborative platform for managing large-scale change and mobilizing actionable intelligence.”
Gerson stood with several leading environmental activists and industry leaders to announce what they consider to be the solution to the “disconnect” and to invite the public to day-long community sustainability strategy and information-sharing sessions to be held this Sunday, July 26 (12:00n – 5:30pm) at the New York Academy of Sciences Conference Center, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St., 40th Floor in Manhattan. Tickets: $15. Advance Registration Required for Building Admission.  (Visit: www.GreenWorks NYC.net, or email: GW-RSVP@WeTheWorld.org.  Your advance ticket payment registers you for the event.  Go to www.WeTheWorld.org/greenworkspayments.)
The July 26 event kicks off the multi-year effort to inspire “results-driven collaborations” with respect to designing “new models” from disparate disciplines and different voices.  Event speakers and/or panelists include:  Rick Ulfik of We, the World (Building local-to-global networks of collaboration), George Gosieski of Corenet Global Business Ecosystems (Built Environment), Debra Italiano of GreenWorks NYC (Sustainable Food Systems), Deborah Stern of the 2020 Fund (Sustainable Earth by 2020); Mike Gordon, C-Power (Smart Energy); Whitney Smith (Social Innovation); Mathew Ahrens (Environmental Law and Policy); Scott Beall of Integrated Vision Learning (Education & Green Workforce Development); Ariane Burgess, Regenerative Culture (Regenerative Leadership & Community Systems) and Douglas Cohen of the U.S. Partnership/Education for Sustainability (Leadership & Community Engagement), who made the case eloquently for GreenWorks NYC early yesterday morning on WBAI-FM radio.
Proactive supporters and partners in this GreenWorks effort include: Battery Park City Authority, the Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations , the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), Earthventure Capital, LLC and Green Map System.
Year One of the GreenWorks NYC Forums will focus on the following sectors: Green Buildings & Smart, Renewable Energy; Sustainable Food Systems; Capital Markets; Urban Planning & Transportation; Social Innovation; Health & Wellness.  The Sunday event’s overarching objectives include: Convening Solutions Roundtables, Creating a Social Network Map for the emerging Green Business landscape and providing strategies for Education and Green Jobs Development pathways bridging K-12, Higher Education, Industry and Government.
To illustrate and chronicle the development and growth of New York City as a global green marketplace, results from the GreenWorks forums, panels and roundtables will be published on the web and various media, including Our Time Press.   For more information, visit: www.GreenWorksNYC.net.

Greenprint for Change The Sustainability Movement: Grassroots to Global – Pt. 1

Greenprint for Change – Part 1

Strategies for a Recalibration …

Climate change and the economic crisis are linked by the one element that created them: those who control the resources.

And it will take those who do not  … those who believe in human capital, fostering an awareness of the importance of being in harmony with nature …to bail us out.  As was repeated in many sessions at the recent high-level United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, we must go to the farmer
in Africa to find some of these answers.

There is an irony in going to that farmer; she subsists in areas where poverty and hunger are at some of the highest levels in the world.  Meanwhile, according to a study by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, “Foreign nations are showing growing interest in Africa’s production base as they seek to secure their own growing needs for food, feed, fiber and fuel.  These claims pose an additional threat to Africa’s food security.  Proactive and timely adaptation measure, both technical and institutional, might help rural Africa to capitalize on this increased demand instead of becoming victim to it.”

So what does this have to do with changing lightbulbs, weatherizing windows, using real plates instead of paper, and recyclable grocery bags?  More than you think.  Central Brooklyn has severe health issues, high foreclosure rates, low income, and high unemployment.   In Many respects, we are more Third World than not.

That farmer, bent over the soil, bringing life to a plot of land, is not so far from removed from us.  “In fact, we (of Southern and Caribbean backgrounds) are the most environmentally-based people,” said Desmond Prince, a local green entrepreneur.  “So our connection with the soil and with green is part of our heritage.”

Unfortunately, that history maybe getting blurred from the multiversity meltdown, and that could bring on a dynamic which would be tragic: the selling of “green” literacy programs or initial ancestral basic inventions back to us.  If that happens, we will be worse off than ever.  So that is why a Greenprint for Change needs to encompass something a little deeper than a grocery list of things to do … although they should be done.

The platform of this Greenprint will unfold over time; its core is grounded in changing value systems, recalling and respecting ancestral traditions, equalizing opportunity.  It is a revitalization of the mind set, focus on things that need to be done to help the family, the community, the nation, our children survive beyond us.  It is at that point we begin to think about how we will design our own sustainability futures and push for bold agendas, and not have designs or agendas foisted on us.  .

Greenprint Strategies:
Education:

A series of Boot Camp courses on Sustainability or Green Tips and Techniques to all Block Association Presidents.

Revise the city’s school textbooks to reflect accurately the histories of Native Americans and
enslaved Africans and their contributions to the “planting” of New York.  Also what they brought to
these shores that still survive.

Different communities sharing, through community board day-long conferences, how they are greening their neighborhoods, and sharing resources.  (This could also occur with the Chamber of Commerce board and the membership of, say, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Lions’ Club.)

Neighborhoods should develop “green” partnerships with neighborhoods in other cities, again all for the purpose of sharing.

Information sharing would extend to family reunions; many families from Brooklyn travel South.  They should tour the cities, and see what is being done or not being down to thwart the challenges of global warming.  Develop Local Food recipes for a Family recipe book, and include family history.

Get junk food out of the schools, as State Sen. Eric Adams said at the Brooklyn Food Conference, recently.   A door to door outreach campaign to fix the food system would begin to increase awareness of health sustainability.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goal is to halve poverty and hunger by 2015.  Set a goal in your neighborhood for developing a Food Coop by that time, and another Farmers Market.  UNEP says “25% of the world’s food production may become lost due to ecological breakdown by 2050.”

Micro-finance – utilizing small donations from block residents – a business for teen members of the Block Associations, as long as that business has a green aspect.  Within legal restrictions, they could test the soil of a backyard and grow, then sell their produce to block members.  Or write a book about the block which would include profiles of everyone who agreed in advance to purchase a copy.

Parents should demand agriculture, gardening, carpentry and other hands-on course be put back into the curricula, and this includes such “green” other “green” activities as home economics.

The U.N. delegate from Seychelles advised:  develop a neighbor to neighbor food trading system: one homeowner grows tomatoes; plants okras; other collards, and they share with each other.

The U.N. delegate from South Africa said:  If you see an empty unused lot, take it over. Just do it.

Organization like Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration might offer free Weatherization seminar, while Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford Stuyvesant would offer Lead Prevention workshops – a t a Block Association meeting.

Universities should take an interest in priming the pipeline before children reach high-school with mini-institutes of science in the classroom or at a nearby center – free.

Local schools can connect with HBCU agricultural colleges for week-long summer NASA-like programs for young people and their parents.  This could be by lottery with corporate sponsorship.

Every major corporation located in a striving neighborhood should invest in the environment of that neighborhood.

The Mayor should provide incentives for groups and blocks that engage in green/sustainable projects or develop their own plan for neighborhood sustainability.

Offer neighborhoods new learning opportunities to explore stimulating challenges – solving the crisis in Africa, interpretations of it through art and music, group discussions, create new ideas and engage young people in pen pal situations.

Technology companies can deploy their staffs to train in micro-green site development.

The City should create a Green Business Plan competition, open to all Block Associations, with start-up funding going to the best plan.

Universities receiving grant money for community work can split the money with the community, as well as resources and teaching labs.  Sometimes, that translates to a couple of $100,000.

Greenprint for Change continues, in an upcoming issue.

PROJECT GREEN ECO-WEEKEND PROMOTES UNITY & COMMUNITY SPIRIT AS NATURAL “GREEN” RESOURCE

PROJECT GREEN ECO-WEEKEND PROMOTES UNITY
& COMMUNITY SPIRIT AS NATURAL “GREEN” RESOURCE

Alicia Mack

This year’s Project Green two-day event on Arbor Day, Friday, April 24 and Family Day, Saturday, April 25 at Herbert Von King Park, where 10,000 bulbs planted in fall are now coming into bloom, helped expand the community’s perspective on its role in preserving and protecting the neighborhood’s natural resources, while creating foundations for Bedford-Stuyvesant’s sustainable future.
Project Green is also an initiative designed to bring community awareness of the neighborhood’s nature organizations – Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford Stuyvesant, Von King Park & Cultural Arts Center and the Hattie Carthan Community Garden — comprising Bedford Stuyvesant’s largest green space.
With the support of major sponsors Con Edison, Amalgamated Bank and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation; the blessing of beautiful weather; and the overwhelming response from community residents to useful free green-oriented products and information and intriguing stage performances, this year’s event was nothing less than inspiring and fun.
Arbor Day opened the weekend with a celebration of spring by some 500 area schoolchildren from P.S. 256, P.S. 305, George Murray Academy, Concord Baptist School, 117 and P.S. 3. The students were the stars of the morning presentation which featured them performing in unison the first-ever Arbor Day song, Planting Our Future, written particularly for the children of Bedford-Stuyvesant by noted composer-songwriter Larry Banks.
At the event hosted grandly by educator and Civil Rights pioneer Mama Leah (Ms. Lois Gilliard), elders, New York City Parks and New York City garden officials offered messages from the stage, which was adorned by Von King Park’s stage manager, Berris, with enlarged images of environmental heroes: Harriet Tubman, Hattie Carthan, Wangari Matheii, Majora Carter, Van Jones and George Washington Carver.
Athlete Mary Sobers, historian Mama Olatunji, and environmentalist Dyanne Norris were brief in their words, but memorable in their presentations. Ms. Norris summed up the thoughts for the day: “Green is not new to us; it represents the rich heritage from which we emerged.”
The lessons of the day extended to Mama Leah’s involving the students creating their own definition for “green.” Words and phrases from the amphitheater ricocheted off the cement walls as the young people shared what they knew and what they had learned that day about the food we eat, the air we breathe, the land we tend and more.

A tree-planting ceremony followed with the students and community leaders encircling a baby Spruce (compliments of John Bowne H.S. via the intercession of Magnolia Tree Earth Center board member Nancy Wolf). Mama Leah blessed the grounds and the ceremony, and Councilman Al Vann, life-time resident of Bedford Stuyvesant and dedicated supporter of community youth programs spoke about Harriet Tubman’s natural genius and environmentalist spirit.
With the assistance of some 40 motivated Brooklyn Job Corps’ volunteers, the children reprised Banks’ wonderful song, as they stood around the island of grass in the northeast side of the Park, now home to the Spruce and the history of that unique and memorable Arbor Day.
Brooklyn Job Corps’ volunteers also helped facilitate a structured arrangement that helped schoolchildren view and take part in the tree planting presentation. Gifts were donated from numerous sponsors to teachers and librarians in the participating schools. “The day was an overall learning experience, encouraging everyone, primarily the youth to think about nature and the environment,” said Bernice Elizabeth Green, who with James Durrah of the Neighborhood Housing Services-Bedford Stuyvesant, originated the concept for Project Green, now in its second year.
Throughout the entire structured production, students were enlightened of the many ways to live a healthier lifestyle and educated about some of the contributors who will support them in their personal and united pursuits of a sustainable future for the community.
The goodwill spirit of Arbor Day carried over to Project Green 2009 Community (“Go Green”) Expo, the next day (April 25), a day for all family members. From the numerous organizations, businesses and individuals who displayed and gave away useful products and green information, to inspirational performances promoting unity and love, the Expo explored the importance of paying attention to the earth, nature and the environment.
A sense of unity was in the air even before the Expo commenced. Mama Leah, the very first arrival at 7:30am, blessed all the corners of the park, and the Spruce Tree.

Amongst the thirty- eight volunteers, one stood out the most, to this writer. A teen by the name of Robert from the Bedford Stuyvesant area, stumbled upon the event, insisting that we use his help “in anyway possible.” This, indeed, was the quintessential example of the many courtesy and union aspects of “going green” that occurred over the weekend in Von King Park.
Motorcycle Bikers (who wanted to perform “great community service” for the neighborhood), Brooklyn College and Pratt College students, and local parkside neighbors were among the wide range of volunteers who dedicated their time and effort in making this two- day event a success; proving that it takes a village to create a foster a movement.
The Park was sectioned into among other areas a Children’s Arts & Crafts walkway with face painting and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s live animals; The Congo Drummers’ Circle, near beds of tulips, and the Restoration-sponsored At Home Way with organizations such as NHS, Brownstoners of Bedford Stuyvesant, NYSERDA, and Pratt Sustainability and enterprises such as “Go Green, Inc.” and Therapeutate.
Performances presented by various age groups on this day captured the attention of park visitors from all walks of life and all ages: the dynamic and articulate seven-year-old Nyla Anderson opened up the day’s entertainment presentations, sponsored by Con Edison and Restoration, with a remarkable speech on going green from a youthful standpoint. Von King’s Martial Arts Group, under the guidance of Master Nash, and Double Dutch Jammin Jumpers, under the aegis of Ruth Payne, by their skills and physical stamina, exemplified the importance of exercise and discipline in our lives. The ongoing Inner City Sports Little Leagues games were also a live example of this point.
A highlight of the day was the launch of this year’s celebrations of the 40th Anniversary of Congo Square Drummers and Dancers and the 10th Anniversary of the Universal Hip Hop Parade 2009 Association Inc. Phoenix Rising and Mama Leah of drum royalty led the historic Congo Square masters in a majestic performance with elder kings, Brother Abu Abidun and Brother Monte.
Nearly 700 hundred bottles of AriZona water and 250 canvas eco-bags were distributed at the event (note: attendees were provided with information on tap water vs. bottled water), and the kick-off of the Green Teen essay contest was announced by Marcia Melendez, owner of Flowerworks, who gave away a Mother’s Day gift basket and a large philodendron plant in two drawings.
Gifting and greening went hand in hand during this weekend with the sound of the drums echoing through the evening and all helping to create a green uprising, an uplift, and an awareness that it all starts with our relationship to ourselves and each other. With events such as these in the future, the community will be encouraged to become more active in the issues surrounding global warming, and how we can all contribute now and together for a “greener” future for the children of tomorrow. (Alicia Mack was the event organizer for Project Green 2009.)
(Readers, please note: A more detailed story on the Community Expo written by Kimberley Banjoko appears in next week’s Our Time Press Legal News issue.)

Central Brooklyn “PROJECT GREEN 2009″

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 (10a-12n)
Bedford Stuyvesant
Arbor Day Celebration of Spring
Herbert Von King Park
670 Lafayette Avenue – Brooklyn, NY
(Raindate: Friday, May 1)
HIGHLIGHTS:

Hundreds of schoolchildren participate in planting of Spruce Tree in Herbert Von King Park and performing in unison — for the first time — original Arbor Day songs (“Planting Our Future” and “Like an Oak Tree”) composed by Larry Banks, blind writer/music impresario and New York City Parks  Music and Drama Instructor. Gardening Interns identify trees in the 140-year-old park, and point out flowers blooming from 10,000 bulbs planted last fall.

________________________________________________________

SATURDAY, APRIL 25
(12n-4p)
Bedford Stuyvesant
Community Environmental “Go Green” Expo
Herbert Von King Park
670 Lafayette Avenue – Brooklyn, NY
(Raindate: Saturday, May 2)
HIGHLIGHTS:
Eco-News Announcements:

Special “Go Green” welcome and remarks by Nyla Anderson, 7-year-old  Girl Scout (Brownie), on new eco-service initiative;

“Green Teen” Announcement from FlowerWorks and City of New York;

For Families, Young People: Storytelling Hours- Brownstone Books special “green books” sessions; and David Mark Greaves (“Sycamore Tree”)

Origami, Insect Identification Workshop, Bat Calls – Michael Foster, Bio-Diversity, American Museum of Natural History

Climate Change Information- City Tech

Live Animals-Brooklyn Children’s Museum

Newspaper Placemat making-Our Time Press/

Herb-Planting, Clay Pot Painting-Magnolia Tree

Tree & Flower Identification

Double Dutch Demo- Jammin Jumpers.

Finger Print Identification – New York Life Insurance

Information on Children’s Savings – Amalgamated Bank

Eco-Entertainment:

Ancestral “Eco” From the Past – (Legacy Ventures): The Legendary Congo Square Drummers of Prospect Park

Green Rap, Dance, Hip-Hop, Spoken Word-Universal Hip-Hop Parade Association

Composer Larry Banks (“Like an Oak Tree”) Gospel & Von King Drama Group.

Eco-Sustenance:

Water, Vegetables, Fruit – Bed Stuy YMCA and Foodtown
For Mind, Body, Soul:

Healthy Living: Mind, Body, Soul product giveaways – Phoenix Rising, Tioma and Therapeutate entrepreneurs

Second-Time-Around “Reuseable” Treasure Clothing, Books

FREE Massages.

At Home:

At-Home “Green” Cleaning Demonstration, Tips

Energy Saving Tips and Giveaways from Con Edison – major sponsor, Pratt Sustainability & NYSERDA

For Young  Strivers:

Career, Job, Entrepreneur, Education Routes w/Brooklyn College, Vannguard, Job Corps.

Land People:

Gardening Workshop, Seed Giveaway -Hattie Carthan Community Gardeners

Local Planting and Foods – Yonnette Fleming

FREE Compost-Von King Park;

And More.  For info: 718-599-6828 – Alicia Mack, Event Coordinator

Project Green 2009 — produced by LEGACY VENTURES

for Magnolia Tree Earth Center, Von King Cultural Arts Center and Hattie Carthan Community Garden

Major Sponsor:  Con Edison