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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.

… Charles Barron still brings the fire. Burning questions in the minds of “critical thinkers” are: what’s he done lately for the community? What legislation has he passed?
Why can’t he step aside and bring in some new blood? Is Barron “for real?”

Many folks in Barron’s 42nd Councilmatic District of Brownsville-East New York hardly find the questions relevant.

Country hangs out on Stanley Avenue.  He happened to have been coming out of the Hair Cutz barbershop when he spotted his two heroes, The Rev. Al Sharpton and Councilman Charles Barron, across the street on Van Siclen Avenue, Friday, July 31.

They had just left the IS166-George Gershwin School tour stop and jumping into their vehicle to head South to another site.  Didn’t matter to Country that they didn’t have time to speak to him.

Standing with his Uncle Leon next to his van in the middle of Van Siclen Avenue in front of George Gershwin High School in East New York, Country hammered his chest with a closed fist, and yelled, as Charles Barron’s vehicle passed by, “You got my heart, man!”

Then he extended the full length of his arm into the air like a spear, slow-rising, “You got my heart.”

And that shout out was echoed by a local pizza owner.  When asked who he considered to be the most powerful leader in Brooklyn. “Just one: Barron.”

Barron wanted to bring attention to his work in the community, and he admittedly got ours when he brought in his long-time friend The Rev. Al to tour his neighborhood.  The objective was more than to network with his fellow hell (and consciousness) -raiser.    He wanted to deliver a message.

“I really want to show the other side of the value of participating in electoral politics.  I have maintained my voice, and I didn’t compromise anything.  You can be progressive; you don’t have to take the establishment line.  You can work from within, not play the game and still get things done for the community.”

“I’m from the old school,” said Country, “Been there; done that.  New people have to learn; some learning through the grapevine; others thought the roots.  Charles has done his time on the ground, and he learned during the 70’s when people were people.  Only a few people doin’ something for the community; everybody else is waitin’ for somebody else to do it for them.  It’s time to wake up. And he’s louder and blacker than ever.”

Two neighborhood mothers basically said the same.  One of them, Edith Jenkins, a 26-year resident of the neighborhood told us:  “Whenever there’s something going on in the community he checks it out, even if it’s just for a second, but he comes by and supports us if we have things out here; it’s a big thing – Fathers Day, and he’s here. My son has a football league called the Warriors; he also donates toys to the kids, he tries to get them out of the streets.”

This does not add up to a whole lot of dollars, and with Charles’ schedule, it does not add up to very much time to “drop by.”  He had just returned from the Middle East, thousands of miles away from the 42nd District, on business that on the surface may have little to do with matters of home.

In fact, Barron says he really has been taking care of business in 42, particularly in the area of housing and parks. Edith Jenkins knows of what she speaks: Big money has gone into parks in his district.  The Venable Park, the Linden/Gershwin Park and Brownsville Recreation Space are receiving a combined $14.5 million dollars worth of upgrades and development.

The Linden Houses neighborhood will be a beneficiary of new senior units, family units, a parking lot, and a new center; George Gershwin middle school’s recording studio will be outfitted with state of the art high technology and new computers.

And another major project, a possible extension of the Gateway Mall, will add 2,000 units of housing, two new parks, a new school and a supermarket.  He’s hoping to secure thousands of jobs, and “instead of having a new mall, we’re going to secure a space for local businesses who will get low rent.”  He also insured a job training program, office space sites and other gains with a Community Benefits Agreement.

He’s partnering with Rev. David Brawley, co-chair of the East Brooklyn Congregations (EBC) that’s bringing in affordable rental apartments designed for low-income families making 50 and 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).

So, while it may be no secret at City Hall, it was a surprise to us that Barron is at the very top of the Council list of members who bringing in Affordable Housing to the community.

Through his tour with Sharpton that balmy day, Barron wanted to get out another message: “to show the other side of the value of participating in electoral politics. You can be progressive; you don’t have to take the establishment line; you can be outspoken; you can work from within. And not the play the game. I have maintained my voice, my blackness and I didn’t compromise anything.”

While housing and the economy are high up on Barron’s list, there are other concerns that keep him up at night, and bear a tremendous weight.  The shootings, the phone calls.
“It’s when I come home. I have to sit down. I wonder if another phone call’s coming.  I’m suddenly at the scene of a killing, or with a family in an emergency,” he said.

“I don’t seek these cases; 99% of the time, people call me.  ‘We want to have a press conference, to put the truth out there about our loved ones.’  I always ask them first: is this something you really want to do?  I go through the entire process of explaining the pros and cons of calling the media.  I’m not trying to get media attention for myself. And most of the time, these families want to just get the media to present a picture of their loved one as someone who is loved and not the person who might be projected. They want me to talk about their humanity, to get the message out that they want justice.

“The media has used the term ambulance-chasing,” he said. “We are not chasing the ambulance; we are the ambulance.”

Andrea Webb, who’s lived all her life since 1970, on Stanley Avenue, said, “If you are for the people and want to help the kids, you got my support and my vote. He has mine.”

For Barron, the questions may boil down to one – is he there for us when we need him, whether near or far. So you’ve got to wonder: if someone like Barron takes an about face on term limits, does it really matter to the people on the ground – like Country, Andrea, Edith and the barbers at Hair Cutz – who are looking for a leader they believe cares for them?

“We lost a lot of people to crack and murder,” says Country, who works in a funeral home. “I’m tired of looking at so many dead people. People need a way out of this hole. Need to get off that daydream and make that dream a reality.  Anybody daydreamin’ ain’t doing nothin’ but sendin’ up air. Charles Barron’s not a daydream leader. ”

(Part II: August 27)

There was wistfulness about the Major Owens endorsement of Councilman John Liu on Monday at his congressional office where he’s been for 24 years.  “We’re moving out in September,” the congressman said. “This is the last event we’ll be having here.” Before getting to the endorsement of Councilman Liu, the former congressman spoke of the issue of how issues of unfairness in the way “member items” or “earmarks”, the monies distributed at the discretion of individual lawmakers, cross federal, state and local levels.  After his Medgar Evers students had researched the City Council, he found that “Speaker Christine Quinn received 10 times more than any council member in Brooklyn.”
Owens and Liu agree clear that they were not against member items, but rather how they are distributed.  Owens contends that these items are a way for local politicians to answer some of the very local needs of the community.  What he has a problem with is that “these items should be distributed equally across the membership.  They all represent the same number of people, the items should be distributed equally.”
Owens spoke of Liu as someone who he trusts as “a professional finance person not connected with what I call the ‘Donocracy’ of New York,” which he described as a pool of people and institutions that funds any candidate that may win in return for access to power.  According to Owens, a prime example of a beneficiary of the Donocracy, a “creature” of it as he says, is David Yassky, apparently a man for whom Owens does not have much respect, calling him “an empty suit, interested only in power.”   Adding “John Liu is not owned by the Donocracy.”
Congressman Owens is adding his name to a long list of Liu supporters including 1199 SEIU, District Council 37 and many other unions and a wide cross section of politicians.
Answering a question on contracting, Liu said that the Bloomberg trend toward large single suppliers in the city purchasing system goes against efforts to include small and minority-owned enterprises.  He wants to go to smaller bids so more small firms can participate.  Liu said that with passage of legislation in Albany, the City Comptroller now has the authority to go into the Department of Education and audit their purchasing procedures.
On the question of whether the Comptroller’s office would play a role in ensuring that minority-worker components were adhered to in stimulus-related construction, Liu said ensuring a fair distribution of jobs was his highest priority.
Reflecting on his work on the council Transportation Committee, he was struck by how much work was contracted out to only two firms.  Liu feels that much of the work could be done by city workers, and that billions of dollars are going outside the city and at the same time, city workers are deprived of opportunities.
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Asked if he would be satisfied and stay in the Comptroller’s office were he to win, Liu said he’d serve his 4-year term and another if he could, but admitted, “Hey, I’m hungry.  I’d like to be president.”    You heard it here first.