500 Men Making a Difference

Please join“ 500 Men Making a Difference” to work on the completion of a conference center in
 

Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn.

Lets come together and put the Man back in Manhood and accomplish some tangible goals together

Sponsored By Boys and Girls High School

Estate Prompts Investigations of Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship Program and the Real Lowdown on the Slave Theater

Questions about the future of the Slave Theater have been raised to a higher level with the current photo exhibit at Five Myles Gallery.  The theater is a part of what’s left of the estate of Judge John L. Phillips after passing through the hands of four court-appointed guardians.
We spoke with Reverend Samuel Boykin, the court-appointed administrator of the Phillips estate and a nephew the eldest of Judge Phillips on the status of the estate.
He is the only member of the family the court has given permission to make financial decisions regarding the estate.   However, Synphonie Moss, a cousin, was able to make personal decisions a regarding the person of Judge Phillips.  But had overruled Moss and Boykin in placing Phillips in the Castle Senior Living at Prospect Park residence, rather than allowing him to stay at home.  Boykin is now suing the residence for wrongful death negligent health care.
As we go to press, Reverenc Boykin told us that he spoke with  the state comptroller’s office on Tuesday, and they said  they are actively considering doing an audit of the Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship program.   Boykin has charged that the illegal handling of the estates of elderly people, the misappropriation of funds and in some cases embezzlement and mortgage fraud should be a part of that probe in the handling of the Phillips estate.
He also told us that he has spoken with a representative of the NYS Unified Court System Office of Administration who said they were investigating some of the activities of the court-appointed guardians in the Judge Phillips case.   DG

Boykin: “Judge John L. Phillips had 13 properties listed with the Brooklyn Supreme Court Guardianship program.  Of those 13 properties listed, there was only rent recorded being collected for two months for two properties at 563 & 565 Nostrand Avenue, no other property has paid rent in 13 years. 
OTP:  The people in the Slave Theater now, what is their status? 
Boykin:  No one has paid rent in the entire time they’ve been there and all are there in a state of trespassing.  
OTP:  But they have access.
Boykin:  That’s because they won’t leave voluntarily.  I have an eviction notice that has been going on for 5 months, and I’m waiting on the court’s decision to evict.  We’re having a hard time selling the buildings because people want a building empty.  Not with tenants who have not paid rent in ten years. 
OTP:  But what about the electric?
BOYKIN: Dr. Paul Lewis of the Messengers for Christ World Healing center on the second floor is paying the utilities.  It’s an international church.  His church has been there for eight years and he is not paying any rent.  Mr. Hardy (downstairs) uses the church’s utilities and is paying zero bills.   People assume he is the spokesman for the family because he happens to be there. 
OTP:  And the status of the Slave Theater?
Boykin:  I’ve terminated my agreement with Massey and Knakel.  I put a “For Sale” sign on both theaters, “For Sale by Owner”.  I’ve received over a hundred calls.  We’re accepting bids and those that are authentic and qualified I will turn over to the attorneys.
What’s next for the Slave and the Black Lady Theater is that they must  be sold because we owe over $2 million dollars in back taxes and liens.  No property taxes on any of the properties have been paid in ten years. 
OTP: Whose responsibility is it to have paid those taxes?
Boykin:  These past guardians sold all the property and paid no taxes and filed no taxes. 
OTP: Where did that money go?
Boykin: A lot of that money we can’t find.  It’s been a continual embezzlement against the estate of Judge John L. Phillips non-stop by court-appointed guardians, by people who were close to Judge Phillips and say they loved him, but remain in the buildings without paying rent or taxes and others. 
OTP:  When you say that past guardians have been guilty of breaking the law, specifically, which laws are you talking about? 
Boykin:  Failure to file taxes.  Estate taxes, state and city taxes.  Selling property way undervalue.  Waiving of the guardianship law.  Failure to advertise property they were selling.  Paying off illegal mortgages.  Mortgage fraud was committed against 68 Cumberland Street for  $391,500.  Instead of the court reporting these people to the District Attorney’s Office and sending them to prison, they allowed Imani Taylor to pay off the loan from Judge Phillips’ account.  I couldn’t get anyone to respond until recently.  I sent information to the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Supreme Court Appellate Division,  State Attorney General, NYS Commission on Judicial Conduct.  Judge Phillips’ case is not isolated.   Anyone in the guardianship program is at the mercy of court-appointed attorneys and others who collaborate in mismanaging the estates.
OTP:  And the longer it takes, the more money everybody makes.
Boykin:  That’s correct.

HAMPTON W. ROOKARD, Freedom Fighter and an Original Man

Hampton Woodward Rookard, the son of Ruth Woodward and Walter Rookard, was born January 29, 1929 in Rembert, South Carolina. Hampton migrated to the North with his mother and his sister Margaret. Their first stop was Harlem, then Brownsville, followed by Williamsburg before finally settling in Bedford-Stuyvesant. His early influences towards education and reading were his mother, an elementary schoolteacher, and his loving “Aunt Mae”, Marion McLester, who had remained in the south. Aunt Mae was a principal of her own school for 47 years. Hamp knew early on what he wanted out of life. He became a Merchant Marine by age nineteen and he had been around the world three times over.
Known by many names, Hamp, Prof. Aladjo Akem-Wume or Rolling Black Cloud, was a scholar, an avid reader, motorcycle enthusiast and later a talk show host on WBAI.
He aligned himself with revolutionary groups due to his belief in having the right and capability to defend himself.  Hampton was with Malcolm X when he started the Organization of Afro-American Unity in the Audubon Ballroom. He traveled to Africa with Cedric Sandiford, Nana Imhotep Gary Byrd and Dr. Barbara Justice Muhammad for the Kemron Investigation.

 He was a familiar sight in his jumpsuits & sea shelled headband. As a Stationary Engineer at several Board of Ed. schools, he was often spotted racing by in one of his signature cars or heard from blocks away on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. After his retirement, he enjoyed dividing his time between broadcasts at WBAI, volunteering his audio visual skills for important causes, traveling and keeping in touch with family and close friends.
Up until his final days, Bro. Rookard was an active warrior in the struggle for African Liberation and human rights. On May 27, 2010, Hampton was called home to rest.
Hampton’s only sister Margaret preceded him in passing. He also leaves to mourn: his son Antonio, daughter Antoinette and their mother Mildred, daughter Vicky, niece Donzia, cousins Dorothy, Thomasina, Celess, Margaret, and Lil Thomasina. He also leaves behind a legacy of four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Hampton and his words of wisdom will be missed by his many close friends and the love of anyone who was fortunate to meet him and listen to the words that he enjoyed sharing.

Through The Night Will Touch You!!

If you ever wondered what Black men struggle with in our communities, wonder no more. Go and see Through The Night at the Riverside Theatre. This newest play written and performed by the talented, versatile Daniel Beaty, is a story that lets you know some of the plights that Black men live through on a daily basis.
Beaty portrays six Black men and four Black women and does each character with such a heartfelt realism you will surely be touched by the problems and distress which plague their hearts. Beaty decided to write this play after reading a National Urban League report about the “State of Black Males in the U.S.” The report painted a bleak picture of a future filled with failure and incarceration. Beaty’s characters have issues, but also find ways to survive through their issues. The beauty of Beaty’s writing is that all his characters are intricately connected. There’s Mr. Rogers, an owner of a health food store in the ghetto; his intelligent and sensitive 10-year-old son Eric; his wife Sarah who believes in his dram of this business; his ex-con employee Dre; Dre’s pregnant girlfriend Kim; Twon, a neighbor who is graduating from high school and is going to Morehouse; his mother; the neighborhood church  pastor Bishop, his wife Ellen, their son Isaac and his boyfriend-Allen.
The story that Beaty weaves so well will have you mesmerized. From the opening scene, this incredible playwright creates characters that are so layered. As he changes persona, everything transforms into the specific character-body language, tone, voice, use of language and facial expressions. Now, some may say this is a given for any actor, but when you experience Beaty’s delivery you will realize he takes creating and performing characters to an elevated level.
I’ve tried to whet your appetite, but haven’t shared the meat of the production because the flavor of his poetry, singing and acting is a theatrical fare you need to savor first hand. Just know you will laugh a lot, you will cry some, but you will be completely engrossed from the beginning to the end.
The show is playing four more performances on June 6, 7 and 8. This is a show that not only shares the struggles of Black men, but their triumphs and the extremely critical role that a strong, loving, supportive Black mother or wife can play in the life of a Black man.
To buy tickets call 212-870-6784. This show is appropriate for teens and older. This play is powerfully directed by Charles Randolph-Wright. The show is being presented as part of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Riverside Theatre and the 46th Anniversary of the New Heritage Theatre Group.

Black Shows And Performers Grab Tony Nominations
The Tony Award nominations are out and African-American productions and performers are faring very well. FELA, the musical produced by Jay-Z, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith and Alicia Keys is up for Best Musical; Best Book of a Musical-Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones; Best Direction of a Musical-Bill T. Jones; Best Choreography of a Musical-Bill T. Jones; Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical-Sahr Ngaujah; Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical-Lillias White; Best Scenic Design of a Musical-Marina Draghici; Best Costume Design of a Musical-Marina Dragnici; Best Lighting Design of a Musical-Robert Wierzel; Best Sound Design of a Musical-Robert Kaplowitz; and Best Orchestration of a Musical-Aaron Johnson.
Fences got 10 nominations which included: Best Revival of a Play; Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play-Denzel Washington; Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play-Viola Davis; Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play-Stephen McKinley Henderson; Best Direction of a Play-Kenny Leon; Best Costume Design of a Play-Constanza Romero; Best Scenic Design of a Play-Santo Loquasto; Best Lighting Design of a Play-Brian MacDevitt; Best Sound Design of a Play-Acme Sound Partners; and Best Original Score Written for the Theatre-Branford Marsalis.
Memphis-received eight Tony nominations: Best Musical; Best Book of a Musical; Best Original Score Written for the Theatre; Best Direction of a Musical; Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical-Chad Kimball; Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical-Montego Glover; and Best Orchestra.
In the plays Race and Superior Donuts African-American actors David Alan Grier and Jon Michael Hill respectively both received Tony nominations in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.
The Tony Awards will air live on CBS, Sunday, June 13 from 8pm-11pm. Watch and root for your favorites.

New York Architects Design “Soft House” for Haitians Facing Hurricane Season

Funds Sought to Build and Distribute Units to Not for Profits and Individuals in Haiti

 
HaitiSOFTHOUSE is a flexible and sustainable approach to shelter that provides immediate transitional housing, community development and reconstruction solutions.
The shelter is designed to resist tropical storms and hurricane conditions, resist earthquakes and provide a healthy, well- ventilated environment. The flexibility of the structure allows for multiple-unit combinations, addressing domestic space needs, institutional needs and community needs.
The design features a lightweight and easy-to-assemble structural steel frame that receives high-performance fabric with excellent weather capabilities. The structure can be anchored directly into the ground using high-strength earth anchors in a variety of soil conditions. Additionally, the structure can be mounted on a prefab concrete foundation tile system that is manufactured locally from recycled concrete rubble. The structure is designed to be assembled with a few people in one day or less.
The SOFTHOUSEgroup was conceived and initiated by a group of designers with unique complimentary expertise and a commitment to bringing high quality, sustainable design solutions to the current demands of the recovery and reconstruction efforts of Haiti. The SOFTHOUSEgroup is currently working in conjunction with The Rural Haiti Project to combine creative and professional expertise with local and cultural knowledge in addressing the intermediate needs of Haiti in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.
The SOFTHOUSEgroup has established a association with Fabric Images, a Chicago-based manufacturer of lightweight deployable environmental structures. Fabric Images has international manufacturing locations with expertise in mass production under highly demanding delivery schedules.
The SOFTHOUSEgroup, LLC, in conjunction with The Rural Haiti Project, have secured the use of a site in Jacmel, Haiti for the initial construction of prototypes for field testing in June of 2010. The initial deployment of HaitiSOFTHOUSE units is intended to expand and evolve into the Jacmel SOFTVILLAGE in 2010.

Baba Chuck Davis Proudly Walks … and Dances … in the Footsteps of The Ancestors

Chuck Davis, the architect of  DanceAfrica – the largest cultural event in this nation devoted to the African dance experience and traditions, is very clear on his role: he is not the creator nor is he the founder.

 ”DanceAfrica is a direct result of what is happening in the community and what has evolved over centuries, and of all the beauty of tradition and history – everything – in all of the cultures spread across the vast African continent,” he told us in a phone interview weeks ago from his North Carolina home.

“We have a world of knowledge explored and unexplored,” he said. “My role is to make people aware of the existence of those traditions as we destroy negative images of people of African descent that have been thrown out there for such a long time. Traditions born in Africa are spread throughout the world and  touch every aspect of culture and dance in the universe, so  we must pay homage to it. That is my role. I walk in the footsteps of the ancestors who lead me in the right directions.”

And he also is forging a path of his own.  He has carried DanceAfrica from its Brooklyn start 33 years ago to several other cities in the nation.  And he has embraced more than 100 dance companies, groups and ensembles that have performed in Brooklyn annually since February of 1977. 

Baba Chuck is tirelessly passionate “about just how fantastic we are as a people and their contributions to not only dance, but fashion, music, culture, the arts and more.”
All of modern dance and every modern dancer are in debt to Africa, he says.  “Not only is it important to recognize that, it is imperative that we preserve the knowledge and the facts.  DanceAfrica takes pride in who we are and where we come from and in preserving the traditions.
 ”Are you aware that in some areas of Africa there are no drums; there is handclapping, blowing on twigs.  A leaf can be made to sound like a Jewish harp.”

“Our dress is not costume; it is depiction,” he says. “Through the fabrics we wear, our heritage is recognized.  Our attire is handed down from generation to generation. There are even lessons in which ethnic group of Africa fostered which style.”
“With regards to rhythm, we all are endowed with it: One may skip.  One may slide.  One may jump yet, we always return to the earth.”

The skipping, sliding and jumping led to one of the world’s most celebrated dance forms at one of the world’s most celebrated places. We asked Baba Chuck about it.

“Ahhh Swing. Harlem. The Savoy.  Yeaahhh,” he mused about the era that was in the fullness of its life when he was about 12.  “I’m about 7,000 years old now. So I was there. I had at least two generations of lives that hit the Savoy ballroom. I was there with Frankie Manning and Mama Norma Miller, and all the dancers who hit that one special jitterbug corner.  I relate to that place. There was a time when I was there. There was a time when all of us were there.
“You can see those movements and that swing today wherever people are moved to move their bodies.”

Another honor we can give to Africa is the birth of the break-dance, he says.  “The whole style of it came from the nomads of West Africa who made acrobatic dancing a part of their entire culture. Ballet Africaine sojourned through there.  The whip stop, whip-and-turn and all the other movements formed the groundwork.  Children, there, do those dances before they walk, talk or hum.

“Now, you know, our young people don’t wait; they take a move and go with it.
 ”We constantly remind them that what such artists as MC Hammer, Usher and others are doing is from Africa. My only thing against some of today’s young artists is they never give Africa credit or remind their followers that their style is from Africa.”

Yet, DanceAfrica, the week-long master of master classes for global dance, will continue to give credit where it is due.  Every May over the past 3 decades, the event has merged areas of Brooklyn into a total dance village with a marketplace for local and regional entrepreneurs; free schools of dance instruction for the community; and entertainment, including cinema fest of African films for all ages. 

As mentioned, DanceAfrica is alive and well in Washington, D.C. and Chicago and other cities during different parts of the year. We estimate the annual week-long treat has resulted in billions of impressions.  “Audiences are increasing, and it is gaining recognition, more and more people understand its educational value.

“It can only move forward.  It’s like a tide, gathering more and more and more.    We can not just put Africans in one little tiny space and say, ‘Now you exist.’  No, Africa is all encompassing. Everything born there is all-encompassing.  It also is being recognized that that everyone on the continent of Africa isn’t black.”

“I’ve learned from every source I’ve come in contact with.  Everything I know has had an impact.
And Davis, in turn, is having an impact. Two years ago, he expanded DanceAfrica to reach out and touch Weeksville Heritage Center in the Ocean Hill section where a 19th century longshoreman created New York State’s … and possibly the nation’s …first self-sustaining  African American village. Davis coaxes prodigies … from individuals to  cultural organizations – to come out of the shadows.  And join his dance.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. along with Weeksville and other venues is now part of DanceAfrica, so the DanceAfrica village extends several miles.
 DanceAfrica “exists to celebrate the community’s African identity.  Weddings, christenings, and other ceremonies have taken place during DanceAfrica.”  As well as a huge celebration of the ancestors and elders preceding the opening of Brooklyn Academy of Music performances.
“We must carry forward the special knowledge the ancestors gave to us – immerse ourselves in it – in order to understand our greatness.

Baba Davis’ role is to show and to let people all over the world know.
This Memorial Day weekend,  DanceAfrica swings  inside and outside of the Brooklyn Academy of Music as it does every year.

The theme is African Rhythms / American Echoes.  Performing companies include:  Pamodzi Dance Troupe (Zambia), Dallas Black Dance Theatre (Dallas) Illstyle & Peace Productions (Philadelphia) and BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble.   (Bernice Elizabeth Green)
For schedule and more information, visit www.bam.org/

Wikipedia Background:
In the 1960′s, Chuck Davis moved to New York to perform with musician Michael Babatunde. When he arrived, Alvin Ailey, Talley Beatty and Donald McKayle were with the New Dance Group at the Harlem Cultural Center, and they appeared in productions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Davis also studied Katherine Dunham technique and jazz with Syvilla Fort. In 1967 Davis formed the Chuck Davis Dance Company at the South Bronx Community Action Theatre, later moved to Bronx Community College.

In February 1977, the Chuck Davis Dance Company performed in a constructed African village in the BAM Lepercq Space. The following Spring, DanceAfrica debuted with a day-long African bazaar.  Arthur Hall, Charles Moore, Chuck Davis, Dinizulu, and the International Afrikan American Ballet participated in the festival, which offered five performances in the BAM Playhouse and culminated with all five companies-approximately 70 performers-on the Opera House stage. DanceAfrica is BAM’s longest running performance series-and has become a Memorial Day weekend tradition in Brooklyn.

In the 1980s Chuck Davis added master classes in African movement and music. DanceAfrica 1993 opened with a motorcade procession from Harlem to the steps of BAM. Fifty-two members of the Imperial Bikers Motorcycle Club, each carrying the flag of an African country, were joined by the Council of Elders, artists, and dignitaries for a libation pouring ceremony that included a gigantic carrot cake baked in the shape of Africa. The 20th Anniversary Celebration in 1997 debuted the BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble, a collaboration between BAM and the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation’s Youth Arts Academy that has become an annual crowd favorite.

In 2007, DanceAfrica celebrated its 30th festival with 30 Years of DanceAfrica: Remember! Honor! Respect! An African Dance Odyssey, and marks another milestone-its founder Baba Chuck Davis’ 70th birthday.

DanceAfrica has showcased troupes based both in Africa and the African Diaspora including many from New York. Companies have ranged in style from indigenous African to urban American hip-hop. DanceAfrica has shown that “traditional” African dance is not fixed in time and remains tremendously inclusive and diverse, and that even the most cutting-edge choreography can contain African influences. DanceAfrica embodies tradition, but also a spirit of change and growth reaching back into the past and forward into the future, embracing the links between cultures across the African Diaspora, always bearing the message, “Peace, love, and respect for everybody!”

Backstage Notes on the Concert & Benefit of the Year

The performances were electric, the awards presentations poignant, the huge crowd ecstatic at last Friday’s  Benefit Concert starring Stephanie Mills; in tribute to Hon. Assemblywoman Annette M. Robinson; and designed to support efforts to complete construction of an in-the-community banquet hall. 

The evening also celebrated Bedford Stuyvesant as a great “home”  through the wonderful music of Stephanie Mills, 53, whose voice is stronger and more vibrant than ever.
And “stars” were born:  They included violinist Joya Bravo; the Voices of Cornerstone led by Natasha Quiller and the revelation of The Rev. Robert M. Waterman’s gifts as a master emcee.
There were other reminders of Bed-Stuy’s status as a bona fide village, too.  When event organizer Wayne Devonish sent a call out two weeks ago for support of his huge endeavor, soldiers lined up around him.  They included: Lorrie Ayers, Phyllis Hurd, Our Time Press intern Jessica Harris, and event coordinator/stage manager Sandra Coello.  Also, the Herbert Von King Park Friends; the Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford Stuyvesant’s Board of Directors, of which Devonish is a member; Bridge Street Development Corporation staff; and dozens of  community and faith leaders, including the the security ministry of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church (Vinessa Toyer, Elizabeth Hill, Faye Baker, Patrice Webb, Brian Springer, Tommy White, Charles Crooms and Darryl McNeil) joined by the great ushers of historic Bridge Street AWME Church, all resplendent in white.
The community’s VIPS came out in full force, including the omnipresent and ever-supportive Dr. Marcia Maxwell, The Rev. Dr. Cheryl Anthony, Barbara Sidbury and her scores of classy sweetheart friends who not only supported the event with their dollars but also with their extreme patience and class.   Dinner was served late as guests along with caterers Lemuel and Charlotte Mial,  awaited the arrival of a local company charged with delivering tablecloths, napkins, dinnerware and silverware, but delayed by extreme circumstances.

Responding to Mr. Devonish’s requests, post-concert, Ms. Mills greeted community leaders and the Voices of Cornerstone Baptist Church where she first started performing and both parents were deacons for 25 years.  Images of Miss Mills with community leaders can be seen on these pages of Our Time Press and, thanks to Lem Peterkin and other local photojournalists, in other  community papers, including The Amsterdam News, The Beacon and The Daily Challenge.
Wayne Devonish, Bill Wren, president of CBCSC and their staff, including the efficient Susan Bishop, Devonish’s assistant, have extended a special thanks to the entire Central Brooklyn family.  Said Mr. Wren, “It takes a village to get things done, and it always will.”

A Great Day In Bed-Stuy: Discover Your Neighborhood Expo Set For June 10th

June 10th will, indeed, be a great day in Bedford-Stuyvesant.  Brooklyn-Queens Day seemed a fitting choice for a day of celebration.  There are still several churches that participate in the traditional Sunday School Parade, and efforts are underway to renew the wonderful spirit of that event in the coming years.  In its place is what may become a new tradition as the Discover Your Neighborhood Expo joins forces with Boys and Girls High School for their first “Pride and Joy Day”.
The Fourth Annual Discover Your Neighborhood Resource and Safety Expo will be held at historic Boys and Girls High School, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.  With the theme, “Discover Bed-Stuy”, the event is an invitation to neighbors throughout the community to come and find out more about the many services and programs that are available either  right in the neighborhood, or easily accessible through the network of city services. 
The Expo is presented by the Bedford-Stuyvesant Youth, Education and Safety (YES)  Task Force, Community Board 3 and the Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc.  This year, the event is hosted in partnership with Boys and Girls High School.  The new principal, Bernard Gassaway, has solid plans to open the school to the community, and to develop collaborative efforts that will assist the students.  Under his leadership, creative initiatives have already been instituted, and the Expo is an example of the type of ongoing community support that will be necessary to encourage  the entire school family. As part of the Expo collaboration, the students have designed an exciting series of events under the banner of “Pride and Joy Day”.  Plans are underway for a Pride and Joy Parade that will begin at noon and proceed from “the High” to “Old Boys High”, “Old Girls High”, and back to the school.  Other activities may take place on the field prior to the opening of the Expo at 5:00 p.m.
According to Michael Bailey, this year’s Discover chairperson, “This is one-stop shopping in a fun and exciting setting.  People will be able to meet and talk with representatives from municipal agencies as well as local groups of all kinds.”  Last year, more than thirty city agencies and community-based organizations were represented.  This year, such municipal agencies as the Departments of Fire, Sanitation, Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD), and Parks and Recreation are already set to participate.  Critical youth services such as SCO Family Dynamics, Herbert Von King Cultural Center and Children of Promise will all have information about their programs.
Discover 2010 is planned as a community happening that will have something for every community resident.  The Health Pavilion is being coordinated by The Watchful Eye and Community Board 3, and will provide confidential on-site screenings and wellness information.  Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Services,  the Provident Clinical Society and Woodhull Hospital will be among the providers taking part.
One of the most popular aspects of the Expo is the informative workshop series.  For example, adults are invited to the session on free and low-cost job training programs. Daisy Torres, Principal of the Brooklyn Adult Learning Center, said that, “Very often, people are either looking to learn a new skill in order to upgrade on a present job or to prepare to compete in the job market for the first time.  They do not know that Brooklyn Adult Learning Center has been right here in the Old Girls High School building for more than forty years. We have thousands of great success stories of people who have gone on to make better lives for their families.   We offer a wide variety of courses that range from basic education and GED prep all the way to careers in such fast-growing areas as computer repair and licensed practical nursing.” A second workforce preparation session will offer information for young adults who have left school before graduating.
 Another important workshop will focus on the greening of Bedford-Stuyvesant.  Retrofit Bed-Stuy is a project that is operated jointly by NYSERDA and the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in collaboration with the Pratt Center for Community Development. Homeowners and block associations will learn more about the programs under the Retrofit umbrella that will bring much-needed relief to people who want to make more energy-efficient improvement to their properties.  There are many incentives for block associations, as well as real opportunities for training and placement in green jobs. In a community with high unemployment and foreclosure rates, these workshops will provide hopeful resources.
The 79th and 81st Precincts will be on hand with a workshop entitled, “Working Together to Create a Crime-free Community.”  This workshop will feature strategies that can be jointly undertaken by residents and police personnel operating in a cooperative manner.  Crime rates have spiked in some areas, and there is growing concern in all parts of the community.  Brenda Fryson, one of the co-chairs of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Youth, Education and Safety Task Force, said that this situation can only get better when police and community work hand in hand.  “There must be mutual respect on both sides.  We depend on NYPD personnel to be as courteous and professional as they are in other neighborhoods around the city.  We have the exact same expectations, and will accept no less.  Thanks to the work of our precinct councils and other groups such as the Task Force, we have made steps toward better police-community relations.”
Color and excitement will be added to the evening with the popular Food Court, Kids’ Corner and Shopping Bazaar.  The Food Court will feature reasonably priced tastings from some of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s most gifted chefs and caterers.  The cost of the food is intentionally kept low so that more people can have the opportunity to enjoy what is known as “A Taste of Bed-Stuy”.  The Family and Kids’ Corner will play host to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library, an arts and crafts table, face painting and family reading information provided by the Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
All block and tenant associations are encouraged to register for the workshop series that has been designed especially for them. Topics include:  Retrofit Bed-Stuy, Foreclosure Prevention Assistance, and Creating a Crime-free Community.  As in past years, a gift will be presented to each association that sends at least five representatives to each of the workshops.  There will be special recognition at the fall meeting of Community Board 3.
“We want to make sure that all of our neighbors come out and enjoy this free  event.  It is just for us …those of us who live and work in Bedford-Stuyvesant.  We have a lot to offer, and the Expo is a great opportunity to find help of all kinds,” said Henry Butler, Chairperson of Community Board 3.
Funding for the Expo is generously provided by Councilman Albert Vann and the New York City Council. Community partners include Our Time Press, Office of the Brooklyn District Attorney, the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford-Stuyvesant, African-American Clergy and Elected Officials Organization, and the Boys and Girls High School Advisory Committee. 
For more information on all Expo events and to register block and tenant associations, please call Community Board 3 at (718) 778-6005.

Living Wage Bill Introduced

A monumental shift regarding how developers relate to working class New Yorkers was introduced in the City Council this week. Intro. # 251, also known as “The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act”  would amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the payment of a living wage to employees employed on property developed by recipients of financial assistance for economic development.  
The living wage bill proposes that any development project that receives  public subsidies pay a living wage to employees, defined as $10.00 per hour plus benefits or $11.50 per hour without benefits. The bill would establish a city-wide standard for all development projects that receive public subsidies worth more than $100,000 in the form of tax credits, discounted land sales, or other benefits.  
The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act was introduced by Council member G. Oliver Koppell and sponsored by Council members Koppell, Palma, Arroyo, Cabrera, Chin, Dromm, Ferrera, James, Mendez, Sanders Jr., Mark-Viverito, Foster and Seabrook (by request of the Bronx Borough President), then referred to the Committee on Contracts, Chaired by Council member Darlene Mealy. The Contracts Committee will hold a public hearing, solicit expert testimony, and receive public comments. The bill will go back to the full council for a vote, then be sent to the Mayor for signing. If the mayor vetoes the bill, it will be sent back to the Council, where it will need 34 votes to override the Mayor’s veto.
Council member Barron said the living wage bill is “very important,” and referenced the Gateway ll project, with 2,300 affordable housing units and 600,000 square feet of new commercial space as an example. “This is where the bill helps,” said Barron, “Any business that receives public subsidies must pay a living wage.”
For Barron, Walmart is a classic example of what not to do. “Walmart,” Barron said, “They are the worst when it comes to paying employees fairly. Walmart has $13 billion in annual profit. Walmart’s CEO makes more that $20 million a year. Yet they want to pay workers $2,000 below the federal poverty level. Business can’t rip off labor by paying minimum or below minimum slave wages.”
Barron said Mayor Bloomberg supports developer’s interests, and is against the bill. Barrons suggested low wage workers pack the hearing “like an invasion of City Hall.” He said workers should demand organization, mobilization, and activism. Barron said “I am tired of developers getting rich off the backs of workers. When they get free money, it is called subsidies. When we get free money, it is called welfare.” The current environment, Barron said, “maximizes profits with slave wages and union busting.”
Council member Barron said the Mayor’s argument that the bill will encourage developers to stop doing business is “Nonsense. Related is one of the richest developers in the country. Will Related go broke or leave the city if they pay a living wage? Only middle and working class people making $58,000 or less can no longer afford to live here.” Barron said companies like Related “will continue to build and develop here because they are making money here.”
Marie Louis, CEO of BUILD said the living wage bill “is an important piece of legislation. It would help to insure that people earn the wages they need to afford to live in the city. If someone is working on a project subsidized by public funds, there should be an obligation for those who benefit from public subsidies to pay people decent living wages.”
“There are too many hardworking New Yorkers earning poverty wages, and for too long, city-subsidized developers have earned profits at the expense of taxpayers and low-wage workers,” said Council Member Al Vann. It is time for these developers to provide public benefits to our city’s communities in return for receiving this taxpayer money. Living wage laws, as enforced in other cities and states, have proven to not only be beneficial for workers, but also for local economies. This law would be a critical tool for lifting New Yorkers out of poverty, and therefore I support it.”
Council member Mealy, Chair of the Contracts Committee, was unavailable for comment.
Just one day before introduction of the living wage bill, the Drum Major Institute hosted a forum entitled, “Using Economic Development to Create Good Jobs.”
Comptroller Liu said “The issue is not all economic development. The issue is specifically about economic development that involves large amounts of public subsidies. In these cases, the public needs a far better understanding of exactly what the city does in deciding who or which private developer gets these huge public subsidies. The public is already demanding an answer. The Comptroller’s office is going to do everything we possible can to answer those questions so that the public can better understand what goes into, and comes out of the EDC (the city’s economic development office). When there is a subsidy for economic development, it is absolutely reasonable for public officials and the public to demand that the jobs created are decent jobs, not just minimum wage jobs.”

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View From Here: Terror in the Gulf

The oil gushing from a well a mile underwater is the result of  an amazing feat of engineering that private industry has achieved and only they have the engineering technology, robotic submersibles working at the drill head and controlled from a room in Houston, Texas for one example, to even begin to stop it.   The Obama Administration has very smart people giving advice and support as they work their way through the unique and “unprepared for” engineering predicament their expertise and technological hubris has led to.
This piercing of the earth and continuing another 35,000ft. through rock to tap a toxic substance that Mother Nature surely thought she had safely tucked away, has allowed us to see oil in its purest form-as a destroyer of life.  It is akin to an underwater radioactive bomb, destroying life throughout the water column and a way of life all along the coastline. 
We see independent reports with estimates ranging between 25,000-90,000 barrels of oil a day being released and spewing into the Gulf.  Much of it is being dispersed into droplets too small to see, too small to rise to the top but able to be caught in ocean currents fouling life cycles from plankton to people and from the wetlands of Louisiana on to Florida and possibly around and up the East Coast.
President Obama has to bring a full light on the situation in the form of an official revision upward of the estimate of the gusher and a radical recalibration in the level of his response such that the perception of government is changed.   If current efforts, what the industry calls a “top kill” fail to stop the discharge, Obama can keep his cool but he’ll have to do it at a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting where they treat the Gulf Coast as a third front for all appropriate resources.  Have Drones monitor the oil above and below the surface and put the images on YouTube. Break protocol on nuclear subs and announce there’s one in the area full of scientists.  Call in the Marines.  Have troop trucks on the highways headed for the coast.  Show them marching down to the shoreline with shovels, oil-absorbent material and buckets of Dawn.  Let the debate be if the administration went “over the top” in its response to protecting the coastline and the nation’s security.  Less than that and the possibility exists that Obama will spend the rest of his presidency in explanations instead of cheers.

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