Home Blog Page 1127

2010 Project Green – Arbor Day in Herbert Von King Park

Editor, Our Time Press
-
43
Arbor Day ceremonies in Herbert Von King Park and amphitheater, last Friday, April 30 – emceed by composer/drama teacher Larry Banks, Our Time Press editorial assistant Jessica Lenore Harris, and professional
Arbor Day crabapple tree planting is watered by neighborhood youth

Hip Hop dancer Lavell Franklin (see back page) – featured hundreds of stars – 650+schoolchildren from area schools – celebrating nature, “green,” the environment, ecology, spring and good health. 

The event was sponsored by Con Edison, Super Foodtown, Flowerworks, Legacy Ventures and Earth New York.  The event was co-hosted by Carl Luciano, Councilman Al Vann’s Community Liaison and included New York City Parks and Recreation commissioners Liam Kavanaugh and Tom Ching; New York State Assemblywoman Annette Robinson, keeper of Brooklyn’s historical “green” memory as a friend to and supporter of the late Hattie Carthan; representatives of the Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford Stuyvesant, founded by Mrs. Carthan; students and educators from PS 256, Bedford Village School, PS 140, Brighter Choice, Young Scholars and other schools.  And the Brooklyn Job Corps Green Team led by Kai Smith came and helped with the complex logistics and crowd control.

Youngsters line up for healthy treats donated by Super Foodtown at Restoration.

On stage with Mr. Banks, Ms. Harris and Mr. Franklin, delivering “green” messages, were: food activist

Ajamu Brown, Bed-Stuy Eco-Mapping

Ajamu Brown of the Bed-Stuy Eco-Mapping Project; Medicine Wheel Workshop founder, Talks With Wolves (Stephen Wilson); Von King Park manager Lemuel Mial and more. There were stellar green performances and presentations by every school present, and a show-stopping presentation of a speech by Michelle Obama  by orator Ebony Leah Williams of PS 256.
Inside the Cultural Arts Center in the Eubie Blake Theater,  Durett led the community’s green leaders in an information-sharing workshop, which included a PowerPoint presentation by PS 3/Bedford Village Arts Education Liaison Stephen Mohney.

Von King gardener Marechal Brown and Park Manager Lemuel Mial.

In Von King Park’s northeast section along Lafayette, new gardener Marechal Brown, led the tree planting, and the children helped.  Next year, says Ms. Brown, the planting will be a tree ceremony in the park’s largest field, and Talks With Wolves will lead a huge Circle dance.  “And there will be a blessing of the ground.”
If anyone asks where’s Bedford Stuyvesant’s “green” movment, the answer is: it’s here.  The positioning is solid;  the center is not a brownfield nor a tarnished waterfront, it’s the schools (see story by Mohney on PS 3, page  4) where the community’s leaders of tomorrow – the message on the park’s welcoming sign – are being taught, trained, empowered and developed. 
Nationally known as a “ground zero” for myriad afflictions, Bedford Stuyvesant, as revealed by Arbor Day 2010 at Von King Park, is now leading the way on the environment and ecology leadership-building front.  And the builders of that sustainable future are caring, compassionate and committed instructors talking about health, nature, sustenance and changing lightbulbs. And our children picking up on it.
Of note: one young student, inspired by the morning activities, left the snack line, and jumped on a stanchion.  “I want to make a speech,” he told us, stretching his arms to the sky.  He talked about the importance of “not littering” and  recycling to his peers as they eagerly accepted apples, raisins and water donated by Super Foodtown at Restoration.  By the way, not one school child — in the hundreds served — turned down the healthy food snack.

Lorrie Ayers, Parent Coordinator, PS305/Dr. Peter Ray School. Photo: Hiroki Kobayashi

Something’s growing in Bedford Stuyvesant; something strong, sturdy and sustainable.  We’re glad to be a part of it. Photos on the cover, centerfold and this page tell the story of this Third Annual Project Green initiative.  You also can view images on Facebook.com and at www.ourtimeathome.com.  Bernice Elizabeth Green

Linda R. Montas, Board Member, NHS of Bedford Stuyvesant.
Sherri Hobson-Green LivingLive (green) TM Betta Broad, Deputy Director of Earth Day NY.
Cheryl Browne, Family-Friendly Environmental Education.
Hon. Annette Robinson, NYS Assemblywoman.
Altovise Fleary, President, Jefferson Avenue, Block Assoc., (bet. Tompkins & Throop)
Liam Kavanaugh, First Deputy Commissioner of NYC Parks and Recreation.

Lena Horne Passes Late Sunday Night

Editor, Our Time Press
-
5

 
Singer, dancer and actress Lena Horne died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. Horne was 92.

She was one of the first African-Americans to sign a long-term movie contract with a major Hollywood studio when she joined MGM in 1942.
Horne’s expressive voice made her a singing star after Hollywood failed to give her roles that might have made her a big screen starlet.
Horne complained she was used as “window dressing” in white films, mostly limited to singing performances that could be easily edited out for play in southern theaters.

The light-complected Horne refused to go along with studio plans to promote her as a Latin American.
She later said she did not want to be “an imitation of a white woman.”
Her childhood was nomadic as she traveled with her actress mother, but much of her time growing up was spent in Brooklyn, New York, where she was born in 1917.

Horne was 16 when she began her show business career as a dancer at Harlem’s Cotton Club. She later became a singer there, playing to packed houses of white patrons, with band leaders Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington.

She toured as a featured singer with a white band in 1940, a first for an African-American, according to her official biography.
Her first film role came in 1938 in “The Duke is Tops,” but her next movie didn’t come along for another four years.

She was given a screen test by MGM and signed to a movie contract after a studio scout saw her performing in a New York club.
“I think the black boy that cleaned the shoes and me were the only two black people except the maids who were there working for the stars,” Horne said in a CNN interview. “And it was very lonely, and I wasn’t very happy.”

Still, Horne said she was grateful that her World War II-era films — including “Cabin in the Sky” and “Stormy Weather” — were seen by black and white soldiers.
“But after I realized I would only go so far, I went on the stage,” Horne said.
With only subservient roles available for a black actress in Hollywood in the 1940s, Horne turned to recording top-selling songs.
Horne said performing for live audiences was what she loved most.
“I’m always happy when I’m surrounded by people to react and feel and touch,” she said.

She has a son and daughter from a first marriage that ended in 1944.
Horne married again in 1947 to Lennie Hayton, who was then MGM’s music director.

She was an active supporter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights movement. Horne was there when King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps in 1963.

(From: NOLA.Tv – New Orleans innovative web based News, Entertainment and Local television broadcasting.)

 

LENA HORNE, SINGER, ACTRESS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST, DIES AT 92
 
HORNE WAS AWARDED NAACP’S SPINGARN MEDAL FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT IN 1983, NAACP IMAGE AWARD IN 1999
 
WASHINGTON DC – The NAACP is saddened by the loss of singer, actress and civil rights activist Lena Horne.  Horne died on May 9 at the age of 92.
 
“We mourn the passing of Lena Horne, an outstanding, groundbreaking entertainer and a staunch civil rights activist who stood on the side of justice and equality,” said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “Lena Horne won the hearts of millions of Americans of all backgrounds as a glamorous and graceful actress and singer. She courageously broke many color barriers and fought valiantly to bring down the institutionalized racism that plagues our society and prevents all Americans from an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream.”
 
An accomplished singer and actress, Horne became the first black performer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio, signing with MGM in 1943, but became disenchanted with Hollywood by the mid-1950s. She increased her focus on her singing career, solidifying herself as a premiere nightclub performer and starring in several musicals. Horne later returned to acting, appearing on several television shows such as Kraft Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show and The Bell Telephone Hour. She later co-starred with prominent actors Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett in Harry and Lena and Tony and Lena, and starred in the classic African American musical The Wiz. The singer also performed on dozens of albums featuring the likes of Belafonte, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joe Williams, and Gábor Szabó, and received an NAACP Image Award in 1999 for Outstanding Jazz Artist.
 
In addition to her legacy as an entertainer, Horne was also known for her advocacy and contributions to social justice. At an early age, Horne displayed a passion for civil rights, and she first became a member of the NAACP as a student at Atlanta’s Washington High School. Later, while singing for troops during World War II, she refused to perform “for segregated audiences or for groups in which German POWs were seated in front of African American servicemen.” She was in attendance at an NAACP rally with Field Secretary Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi on the weekend before Evers was assassinated, and spoke and performed at the March on Washington on behalf of the NAACP, SNCC and the National Council of Negro Women.
 
“Lena Horne’s spirit and willingness to stand for what is just transcended her accomplishments in the arts, and we are extremely grateful for her commitment to civil rights and the mission of the NAACP,” said NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock. “Her long-standing relationship with the NAACP dates back to high school, while her service to the Association as a member and public advocate was invaluable. Lena Horne was an excellent example of someone who used her platform as an entertainer to advocate for equal rights for African Americans and give a voice to the voiceless, and she will be missed” added Brock.
 
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil

 

Village Voice Exposé! The NYPD Tapes: "Inside Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct"

David Mark Greaves
-
17

 

“Two years ago, a police officer in a Brooklyn precinct became gravely concerned about how the public was being served. To document his concerns, he began carrying around a digital sound recorder, secretly recording his colleagues and superiors.
He recorded precinct roll calls. He recorded his precinct commander and other supervisors. He recorded street encounters. He recorded small talk and stationhouse banter. In all, he surreptitiously collected hundreds of hours of cops talking about their jobs.
Made without the knowledge or approval of the NYPD, the tapes-made between June 1, 2008, and October 31, 2009, in the 81st Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant and obtained exclusively by the Voice-provide an unprecedented portrait of what it’s like to work as a cop in this city.”
From the Village Voice, May 4, 2010

And so begins Graham Rayman’s “just the facts, ma’am” reporting of the chilling truth of  policing procedures in Bedford-Stuyvesant’s 81st Precinct and it would seem to require a questioning of all precinct commanders by politicians, community boards and precinct councils in their area on exactly what’s going on?  
If the capture of the Time Square Bomber withing 54 hours was police work at its finest, then what goes on at the 81 is on the other end of the spectrum.  The tapes reveal a deliberate manipulation of statistics in opposing directions that would make Goldman Sachs blush, if not liable.  The edicts coming down from the chain of command required officers to show they are working by producing stop-and-frisks and summonses.  The more  numbers of this busywork,the better.  However, actual crimes such as robbery are either downgraded or not recorded because of police harassment of complaintants, both designed to give the impression that crime is going down. 
These secret recordings tell of “bosses” “spend”-ing “more time in the roll calls haranguing the officers for ‘activity’-or ‘paying the rent,’ as it was known-than anything else. In other words, writing summonses, doing stop-and-frisks (known as ‘250s’), doing community visits and making arrests.”
And again “On June 12, 2008, Lieutenant B. relayed the summons target: ‘The XO [second-in-command] was in the other day. He actually laid down a number. He wants at least three seat belts, one cell phone, and 11 others. All right, so if I was on patrol, I would be sure to get three seat belts, one cell phone and 11 others.'”
It may have been one such stop that led to attorney’s Michael and Evelyn Warren being brutalized by police after coming to the assistance of a stopped and harassed motorist.
The tapes reveal Roll Call instructions to beat officers to make their numbers and they are told they are at the bottom catching these orders from on high, the “s-” , that rolls downhill.  But in truth, these officers are many rungs from the bottom and this is a very large load.  After the officer is forced to act, because “low numbers meant criticism and demotion; high numbers meant praise and promotion”, the load lands on the citizen stopped in the street, affecting their mental and financial health.  It continues on to hit significant others who have to work on the healing, it smacks into sons and daughters, little brothers and sisters, all being taught the way things really are.  But it does not stop there, because this system of policing, with people used as things to “pay the rent”, is a holdover from slavery, interacting with and feeding the Prison Industrial Complex that Brooklyn resident John Flateau exposed in his book of the same name.  But it does not stop there.  It continues on and is used by upstate Republicans to gerrymander districts using prison populations as residents, increasing their power while robbing the prisoner home districts.
The Voice advises: If you want to avoid getting a ticket, stay away from police officers during the last few days of the month when the pressure for numbers is the highest.  From the tapes, it’s not hard to imagine an officer desperately driving to the precinct, looking for someone smoking pot on a stoop or double-parking to fill some gap in their productivity.
What happens after Schoolcraft meets with investigators is astonishing.  After calling in sick, “A dozen police supervisors came to his house and demanded that he return to work. He declined on health grounds. Eventually, Deputy Chief Michael Marino, the commander of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, which covers 10 precincts, ordered that Schoolcraft be dragged from his apartment in handcuffs and forcibly placed in a Queens mental ward for six days.”
This series will be a must-read.  If you can’t find the print edition of the Village Voice, read the whole story on the Web at www.villagevoice.com.  Also, thanks to Errol Louis for pulling our coat to this story on his morning show on WWRL 1600AM  6am-9am.   David Mark Greaves

Radio Transmission Antennas Linked to Deadly Health Problems

David Mark Greaves
-
2

Cell phones, WiFi, wireless relay towers, all of which were unknown 20 years ago, are now a part of our everyday lives, bathing us in microwave radiation that studies have associated with a variety of physical and emotional disorders that used to be called radio wave sickness when it was first seen in military radar operators.
In a report released yesterday, The BRAGT Antenna Ranking of Schools documents the density and proximity of antennas near schools in the 50 State capitals and in Washington, D.C.  The more antennas that are near schools the greater the potential exposure of students and teachers to radio frequency radiation from external antennas.
Author and researcher, Professor Magda Havas began a telephone press conference about the report with a short review of the science of the relationship of cell phones to brain tumors and cancer of the salivary glands, the danger to sperm for men using a cell 2-4 hours a day, and noting that studiies have shown that women who use cell phones while pregnant run the risk of giving birth to babies with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
According to Dr. Havas, more and more studies are beginning to document adverse biological and health effects for people who live near cell phone and broadcast antennas.  Some show an increased risk of cancers for those living within 350 to 400 meters of cell phone antennas at exposure levels well below federal guidelines in the US and Canada.  Other studies show an increase in symptoms that have been classified as “electrohypersensitivity”.  These symptoms  include difficulty sleeping, fatigue, pain, poor short-term memory, difficulty concentrating, anxiety, irritability and depression, skin problems, dizziness, nausea and ringing in the ears.  Therefore says Havas, exposure to microwave radiation may interfere with learning and may not be conducive to a  good learning environment and that younger students are more vulnerable than adults to this type of radiation.
For these reasons, the report recommends that exposure of students to microwave radiation be minimized.  This can be done by placing cell phone antennas at least 1,500 feet away (approximately 460m) from schools and by using wired rather than wireless (WiFi) connection for Internet access within schools.

Responding to a question from OTP, Dr. Havas said that the effects of the radiation can be lessened by placing protective see-through films over windows and shielding roof areas, particularly for top floors directly under the rooftop antennas.  She also said that cable or fiber-optic lines are preferred over wireless technology for home and school.  And that anyone living near one of the new WiMax towers now being placed, should move.  “They will become very ill, very quickly,” says Prof. Havas.
What do we do with this information?  Give your thoughts on the Forum.

To find information about the microwave towers near your home, Click Here.

Children Have A “Village” Green Start

Editor, Our Time Press
-
44

At PS3 Bedford Village School, the learning experience for students is rich, deep, organic, and evergreen.

As part of their “Rainforest Environmental Study”, art and science programs facilitated by the school’s Art-in-Education partners, Orchestra of St. Luke’s and The Rainforest Alliance with grants from the Independence Community Foundation and other funding organizations,  have

Bedford Village Teacher: Marcia Calbert First Grade Cl. 1-209 Students: (from left to right) Daniel Christie (age 6), Saimun Uddin (age 7) Avani Adams (age 7) and Tameika Miller (age 6)

created paper rainforest ecosystems throughout the schools.  In one hallway, branches created from brown paper bag twists hang from the ceiling; tall cardboard canisters double as tree trunks; on another floor, the sounds of the rainforest, as composed, performed and recorded by the students, are a tranquil, comforting surprise.


And in another, students, under the guidance of their instructor, perform their choreography of the rain and waterfall experience which is danced to classical chamber music: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The aim of these kinds of “green” projects, said parent coordinator Atasha Johnson, “is to connect our students with conservation, and to create a setting where they can think creatively, express themselves effectively and learn without barriers.”  She said, “parents, administrators and faculty have a role in this.” And at Bedford Village, Stephen Mohney, has an even higher role in environmental studies.  He coordinates the art programs for the school, and has been affiliated with P.S.3 for more than 25 years.  With principal Beecher, he and other art and science teachers – has found a way to pique the students’ imaginations; they even take planting projects home to work on them with their parents.

Bedford Village Teacher: Carmen Applewhite 1st Grade Cl.1-222 Students: (from left to right) Akeem Johnson (age 8) Ulysses Haywood (age 6), John Harvey (age 7) Aicha Niang (age 6)

Mohney who, as a teenager lived in Ghana for two years, and now heads a Tech4ghana project designed to close the digital divide in the country.  He shared,  “My years of living and regular travel to Africa propelled my concern for environmental stewardship.”

All of Bedford Village’s teachers bring their unique positive experiences to the classroom as the students journey to become citizens of the earth:  “It’s all about education; it’s a bit of an abstraction to imagine the planet as it was and might be, for future generations, if we don’t mend out destructive ways.”

1...1,1261,1271,128...1,302Page 1,127 of 1,302