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This year=s celebration of the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium encompasses the totality of our culture: music, spoken word, food, theater, arts, dance, and books. 
Here is a sampler of this year=s cultural celebration so far.
The festival opened with Community Day, held at Restoration. Mrs. Alma Carroll, wife of the late jazz vocalist Joe ABe Bop@ Carroll, who worked with Dizzy Gillespie, recalled the days of Model City, the development of Restoration, and Neighborhood Youth Core. She remembered when Restoration was a milk factory and Von King Park was Tompkins Park. Then, the community=s dreams were to build what we have now. According to Mrs. Carroll, the current dream is the documenting of America=s classical musicCjazz. Nightclubs, schools, and churches, 32 organizations in all, have come together to fulfill that dream.
Colvin Grannum, president of Restoration, assured those in attendance that Restoration is committed to promote the culture of our people and build the economic base of the community.
Keynote speaker Kevin Powell, hip-hop historian, gave a presentation entitled From Be Bop to Hip-Hop: the Historical Connections between Jazz and Rap.  Powell encouraged us to continue building bridges between youth and elders. He states: AYoung ears have not been acculturated to jazz.@ Powell gave three foundations for jazz: the black church, blues, and Ragtime. He noted that there is a difference between the hip-hop industry and hip-hop culture. Powell reminded us that, just as poor people created jazz, poor people created hip-hop.
Music for Community Day was energetically provided by Sabor & Company, allowing young members of Non Stop Productions to give a wonderful vocal performance.
A well-kept secret is the new Secrets Restaurant on Nostrand Avenue. Secrets hosted a couple of Sunday Jazz brunches featuring the Eric Frazier Trio. Although Frazier is a conga player, he calls himself an entertainer, engaging the audience while singing AThe Jazz Spot,@ (a tribute to the Bed-Stuy club) and a sultry version of AFever.@ The Eric Frazier Trio also performed selections from In Your Own Time, their current CD (#1 across the country, according to Frazier). Jazz vocalist Steve Cromity stopped by for brunch, and was enlisted by Frazier to give a beautiful rendition of  AOn a Clear Day.@
Despite a chilly rain, jazz lovers flocked to Sugarhill Restaurant and Supper Club for the festival gala=s Afro-Caribbean Jazz Experience featuring the Hai Resolution Band. Announcer Harold Valle provided his melodic voice and rhymes.
Jitu Weusi, president of the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC), presented awards to this year=s inductees into the Central Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame. The Deacon Leroy Appling Young Lion Award was given to Anthony Wonsey, pianist. The Hall of Fame Award was given posthumously to saxophonist and composer Roland Alexander. The Jazz Impact Award was given to drummer Ben Dixon. This year=s Jazz Shrine Award was given to Pumpkins Lounge. Saxophonist Gerald Hayes was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Weusi showed a short film of CBJC=s sojourn to the South African Jazz Festival last February. CBJC took five jazz groups representing American jazz, including Randy Weston and his Quintet, the Jeff King Band with Gregory Porter, Vanessa Rubin and her Trio, D.D. Jackson and his Trio, and Bishop Nathaniel Townsley, Jr. and the Gospel Jubilee.
The Hai Resolution Band filled Sugarhill with music, thrilling the crowd and enticing them to dance. The Band performed musical selections from all over the Caribbean, and the U.S. Hai Resolution=s band members played so tightly, the late James Brown, notorious for identifying the errant note, would have been proud. One enigma in the band was Sterling Sax, who could play both his alto and soprano saxophones at the same time, and could blow a sweet note for four bars while breathing in.
Last Friday, CBJC hosted a Jazz Sampler Tour, with first-class transportation sponsored by Brooklyn Tourism. First stop was Secrets, then on to Jazz 966. What would Jazz 966 be without house announcer Harold Valle? Dancing at Jazz 966 is rumored to cure minor aches and joint pain. Featured entertainment that night was Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers. Jeopardy question: Pucho is one of two African Americans in the Latin Jazz Hall of Fame. The other? Dizzy Gillespie. Next stop was Solomon=s Porch, home of the Jeff King Band. Solomon=s Porch is a comfortable, earthy space. It was pleasant to see the mixed crowd, young and not so, as well as singles and couples. As I looked around, I was struck by the fact that our elders felt comfortable being out at 11:00 on a Friday night in the middle of Bed-Stuy, enjoying a drink and great music.
The Jazzpazazz Preservation Society hosted Jazz Connection the next day at Sugarhill. The purpose of the Jazzpazazz Preservation Society is to collect and document the oral and written jazz traditions in Brooklyn. A panel of five including Mrs. Alma Carroll, Wade Barnes (drummer), Mario Escalera (saxophone), Mrs. Rachman, wife of Bilar (woodwinds), and Kiane Zawadi (euphoniumCa type of trombone), gave recollections of jazz=s heyday. Of particular interest is Bilal Rachman=s In the Key of Me, a history of jazz in Brooklyn. Original copies of In the Key of Me are available; however, the book is being edited for reprint.

Next stop was open house at Afroart, featuring the Jeff King Band and the fine art of Answered Stewart. Afroart offers beautiful home furnishings with a cultural flair. You can get custom kente cloth wallpaper and borders, cultural greeting cards, custom-carved Ghanaian art, stoneware, multi-colored woven straw baskets, as well as candles, oils and scented soaps. Afroart features a new artist every six weeks. Item prices vary, so even if you are window shopping, you can spiritually support this black-owned business with a purchase as small as $1.
Sista=s Place hosted the Sonny Fortune Trio. With its bistro-like atmosphere, Sista=s Place attracts an eclectic, interracial clientele. Sonny Fortune plays his saxophone as if he were conversing with numbers instead of words, if numbers were a language like Swahili or Wolof. Drummer Neil Smith went so deep into meditation during a solo, I thought he wouldn=t come out. David Williams dances with his bass, rocking with it, plucking and stroking with undulation rhythms as if it were a favored paramour.
The Brooklyn Historical Society featured AAn Evening of Jazz and Conversation with Randy Weston.@ The event began by previewing An African Odyssey, a soon-to-be- released film about Randy Weston. Our palates were whetted by Weston himself, who told of being born and raised in Brooklyn by a Panamanian father and African American mother. Weston recalls his father telling him, ABoy, you are an African born in America.@ Weston=s father believed in the teachings of the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, and provided him with books on African history. Weston studied the cultures of ancient Egypt and Africa.  According to Weston, AThrough that process, the music came.@ Weston found that the Atradition of music in ancient cultures@ was strong. He says, AThey were masters of making musical instruments. African people have a spiritual music, no matter what the religion.@
Weston added, ABrooklyn can be like Kansas City, New Orleans, and Harlem, if it just claims its heritage.@
And then came the music.
The Randy Weston Trio=s first song, ALittle Niles,@ began with a beautiful interlude by Weston.
This song inspired Weston to expound on the essence of traditional African rhythms. You cannot improve on traditional music. There are songs for harvest and for babies being born. Music is a healing force all over the world. Mother Nature is the original music. The wind, plants, birds and insects make music. African music projects the beauty of our people. You cannot lie about music. It is a universal language of love, healing. We respect you, Mother Africa.@
The Trio then performed ABorom XanXan,@ a song written for the great Egyptologist Chek Anta Diop. ABorom XanXan@ is a Wolof phrase that means Aman of high spiritual status.@ Next came a song called AAfrican Sunrise,@ a tribute to Dizzy Gillespie. TK Blue on sax and Bennie Powell on trombone accompanied Weston, bassist Alex Blake and Neil Clarke on African percussion.
The performance was concluded with AAfrican Village, Bed-Stuy,@ and the Trio=s theme song from Ghana, ALove, the Mystery Of.@  Now, that=s entertainment.
The Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium=s 8th Annual Festival continues through April 29. Come out and enjoy yourself. You won=t regret it.

At a time in their lives when most men are starting careers and families, Bronx native Alan Newton was on trial for a rape he didn=t commit. The 22-year-old was engaged to be married and working for a phone company at the World Trade Center when a rape victim picked his photo out of a lineup. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. He was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to 13.3 to 40 years in prison. Partly because of his refusal to participate in the sex offender program, he was denied parole several times and, eventually, served nearly half his lifeC21 yearsCbehind bars. Since his release last July, five more New York State men have been proven innocent through DNA testing. They come from all over the stateCfrom Cayuga County to Westchester County to Kings CountyCand more will surely follow.
The Innocence Project, a pro bono legal clinic that represented Newton in his exoneration, has identified the common causes of wrongful convictions. In the next week, the organization will mark the 200th DNA exoneration nationwide. These DNA exonerations represent an unprecedented data set on wrongful convictions in the U.S. They show us the shortcomings of the criminal justice system that have been proven by hard science. For example, they show us that eyewitness misidentification played a role in 77% of wrongful convictions that were overturned by DNA, and that faulty science played a role in more than one-third of the cases.   
Two-thirds of the 200 people exonerated through DNA are African American. Most of the wrongful convictions that were overturned by DNA were rapes; 55% were cross-racial, and of those, 85% involved black defendants.
Actual Innocence, by Innocence Project co-directors Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld (with Jim Dwyer, of the New York Times), notes that just 15% of all sexual assaults nationwide involve black assailants and white victims (according to the Justice Department), yet the DNA exoneration cases alone show the starkly disproportionate rate at which black men are prosecuted aggressively (and convicted erroneously) for raping white women. The startling figures remind us that we have not come very far since the first half of the 1900s, when rape was a capital offense in most states, and 90% of those executed for rape were black men who were convicted of raping white women.
The DNA exonerations show us the causes of wrongful convictions and have helped develop reforms that can prevent such injustice in the future. But Scheck and Neufeld are quick to point out that there is one prevalent cause that has not yet been fixed: racism. Asked why he thinks he was wrongfully convicted, Newton says, ARace, economics, there=s a whole bunch of things you can point to. If I=d had more money, I would=ve had a better lawyer. With a better lawyer you get better representation, and with better representation, the court will listen.@
For many of the African American men exonerated through DNA, racism continues to prevent them from fully re-entering society after exoneration. Having served 10, 15, or 25 years for crimes they did not commit, these men often lost opportunities to build families or careers. Starting out from scratch once they are released, they face tremendous obstacles in finding homes or jobs. The stigma of serving time in prison is much harder for a black man to explain than it is for a white man (who is often given the benefit of the doubt when he explains that he was in prison for a crime he did not commit). Some black men who were exonerated have gone on to pursue higher education, start families, and build impressive careers. Since his exoneration, Alan Newton has enrolled at Medgar Evers College on a Thurgood Marshall Scholarship and is studying business administration. Many other exonerees have not adjusted so well, and will continue struggling for years.
Already, these DNA exonerations have transformed criminal justice nationwide. As a direct result, important reforms have been implemented (such as better eyewitness identification procedures, better oversight of crime labs, recording of interrogations, etc.), but these reforms have not yet taken hold everywhere in the nation. New York is not among the states that have implemented procedures that are proven to make eyewitness identification more accurate. New York still has not mandated the electronic recording of custodial interrogations. New Jersey, however, has done both.
Every exoneration provides a Alearning moment@ about how to make the system better. The first 200 DNA exonerations in the nation are a collective lesson, an opportunity to take stock of what still needs to be done to improve the criminal justice system. While DNA has been the key to releasing these 200 innocent men, DNA exonerations cannot represent the magnitude of the problem or the frequency of wrongful convictions. DNA testing is an option in less than 10% of cases. That makes these 200 exonereesCin this one senseCfortunate.

The genesis of Imus= racism and sexism is not rooted in rap music. It did not come from listening to Snoop Dogg or 50 Cents.
He had the unmitigated gall to lecture us about the negative lyrics of rap artists, now that he is in hot water because of his outrageous denigrating, racist, sexist remarks about the predominately Black Rutgers women=s basketball team – remarks so repugnant, disgusting and sickening it doesn=t warrant repeating.
Don Imus is a repeating racist offender. This wasn=t the first time. He referred to the two Black women queens of tennis, Venus and Serena Williams, as animals who belonged in National Geographic Magazine. He called a prominent Black female journalist a cleaning lady. He dissed Maya Angelou. None of this happened because he was listening to rap music.
I will be the first to say that some rap music is vile, disgusting, misogynist, sexist, self destructive, hurtful, and embarrassing. We must continue to speak out against that kind of rap music and promote more positive rap on the airways.
But let=s put this in perspective. The AN@ word didn=t originate from rap music. Denigrating Black women did not start with rap music. Rap music is only 30 to 40 years old. The AN@ word and disrespecting Black women is as old as this country. It started with the racist white male founding fathers who Imus thinks like.
Remember George  Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. Thomas Jefferson raped a 14 year-old enslaved African girl named Sally Hemmings. Remember the founding fathers called us Coons, Sambo, Savages, Animals, AB=s@s and AN=s.@  Jiggaboos, Imus, came from racist white men like you, not Spike Lee=s movie ASchool Daze.@ By the way, Spike=s message in ASchool Daze@ was to raise our consciousness regarding the internalization of our racist oppression, not to denigrate Black women as you did.
When Al Campanis said that Blacks don=t swim well because they lack buoyancy, he was fired. When Howard Cosell said a Black football player was running like a little monkey, he was fired. When Jimmy Athe Greek@ made racial comments about black athletes, he was fired. Iums, you continued in that racist tradition. These young dignified Black women and their coach from the Rutgers women=s basketball team did nothing to warrant these vile racist remarks from Imus. This came from the depth of his being. He is not a good man who said something bad. He is a racist, mean-spirited bigot, who got what he deserved from MSNBC and CBS.
MSNBC and CBS was under pressure from Black women in particular and women in general across this nation. They were under pressure from Black men who stood strong to protect their sisters, wives, mothers, and grandmothers. They were under pressure from Black leaders and presidential candidates. Certainly the dignified response of the coach and young women from this Rutgers team had an impact. MSNBC and CBS were also influenced by the internal discussions and pressure from their staff, particularly their Black staff members.
But make no mistake about it. It was the power of the people that forced major advertisers to threaten to pull their ads. Thats when MSNBC and CBS got the message. They were concerned about their pockets. Unfortunately, that=s what it takes for people in power to do the right thing.
The Imus situation has put racism and sexism, which permeates every institution in America, on the front burner as issues to be seriously addressed.

& the U.S. Encourages Turmoil in Zimbabwe
By Mary Alice Miller
In response to the increasingly sensationalist Anews@ regarding conditions in Zimbabwe, the December 12 Movement recently held an information forum in Mt. Olivet Church in Harlem.
After showing a short video of a UN debate on human rights in Zimbabwe, Omowale Clay gave an analysis of the political issues underlying Zimbabwe=s current situation. According to Clay, AThe question of land is the tip of the iceberg. This issue is underlying the politics of other African countries, including Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. The issue is self-determination, control of land. Culture is not just music and arts. Culture is a weapon for liberation. Zimbabwe is asking itself, >What were our goals when we set out to free our nation?= Zimbabwe was the first to defend Congo against multinational corporations. Zimbabwe delayed land reform for 10 years to allow South Africa to take care of its business.@
Clay outlined three Alies@ that are part of worldwide media disinformation:
1) Mugabe is alleged to be unable to govern Zimbabwe. There are allegations of human rights violations and fiscal mismanagement, leading to calls for regime change. AThe issue is not regime change. Britain must pay the money owed. Britain must lift economic sanctions.@ (Economic sanctions have led to recent reports of the 5000% inflation rate in Zimbabwe. In addition, there are reports out of Harare alleging acts of terrorism from opposition groups. AThe MDC has been involved in acts of violence which border on terrorism, and no sane government in Africa would support such madness. They (MDC youths) have been petrol-bombing police stations, inter-city trains, public transport, residential properties and supermarkets with the covert support of their western masters.@ The Herald (Harare) April 9, 2007)
2) Mugabe has successfully called for harmonization of presidential and parliamentary elections. 2008 will be the first time in Zimbabwe=s history when both president and parliament elections will be held at the same time. At 80 years old, Mugabe will run again. Clay states, ANo one questions the leadership longevity of the Shah of Iran, Pinochet, or Castro.@
3) AIn the absence of relief from the West (IMF and World Bank), Zimbabwe has developed a >Look East= policy. Zimbabwe believes it can go into legitimate and equal trade relations with the Chinese, Malaysia, and India. Zimbabwe is looking for constructive economic trade and development.@
Members of the December 12 Movement fielded questions from the audience. The group included Viola Plumber, Coltrane Chimurenga, Omowale Clay, and Roger Wareham.
Ms. Plumber gave a history leading to current conditions. During Zimbabwe=s struggle to free itself from British colonization, the question of land was addressed. AIn 1980, the Lancaster House agreement established that land holdings would remain with Britain under a policy of >Willing Buyer, Willing Seller.= Under this agreement, the UK and USA would make dollars available to pay these thieves [white land holders] for the land [which would be returned to Zimbabwe control]. Thatcher and Reagan were signatories to the agreement. The Lancaster Agreement has not been honored. Blair and Bush say, >We did not make the agreement.= With no >Willing Buyer,= Zimbabwe=s 1997-99 land acquisition policy came into being.@
When an audience member asked about the land situation, Ms. Plumber said AFour percent of white land holders owned 80% of arable land. Under land acquisition, if a white land holder held four farms, three were distributed to Zimbabweans, and one remained with the white.@ Clay added, ACommercial industrial farming was controlled by Rhodesians (the colonial name for Zimbabwe). When land reform came into effect, the whites took their liquid capital out of the country, >leaving no foreign reserves.=@
The question of leveling slums came up. Ms. Plumber spoke of what she observed during a trip to Zimbabwe. APrior to the clearance, some housing in Harare was below sub-standard. I saw raw garbage that was piled six feet high. Conditions were horrendous. A year later, that housing was raised, with housing being built in rural areas.@
Chimurenga added, AAs in most areas of the world, young people are attracted to cities. Landowners exploited the rural labor force. As a result, many young came to the city looking for economic opportunities. Harare does not have the infrastructure to support the population surge. In addition, many >riff-raff= and squatters came to Harare, creating an unacceptable situation. The Mugabe government decided to build housing in the rural areas, with a >Clean Up, Restore, and Rebuild= policy. Construction is slowed due to there being no foreign currency to buy building supplies.@
An audience member was concerned about stories of repression of the press. Clay stated that there are major newspapers in support of the Mugabe government, Aincluding the Herald, the Sunday Mail and newsletters. [However] there are more opposition papers than government papers. Opposition newspapers outnumber government papers three or four to one.@
The December 12 Movement provided documentation of African support for President Mugabe and Zimbabwe.

According to this documentation, Zimbabwe=s Mugabe has the unconditional support of Southern African Development Community (SADC). The Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State and Government of SADC met in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania on March 29, 2007. Member countries of SADC in attendance at this meeting included the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Kingdom of Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, the Kingdom of Swaziland, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Angola, Madagascar, and Mauritius. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the political, economic, and security situation in the region, with special focus on the situations in Lesotho, DRC, and Zimbabwe.
A communiqué from SADC outlined the meeting=s assessment of the political situation in Zimbabwe. According to this communiqué, the Extra-Ordinary Summit recalled that the 2002 Presidential elections in Zimbabwe were free, fair, and democratic. The Summit reaffirmed its solidarity with the Government and people of Zimbabwe. The Extra-Ordinary Summit mandated the SADC Executive Secretary to undertake a study on the economic situation in Zimbabwe and proposes measures on how SADC can assist Zimbabwe and recover economically. The Summit also reiterated the appeal to Britain to honor its compensation obligations with regard to land reform made at the Lancaster House and appealed for the lifting of all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
The December 12 Movement reminds us to look beneath the façade of vitriol and righteous indignation coming from the West. In other words, don=t believe the hype.

Community Board 3 (CB3) chairwoman Beatrice P. Jones announced that she will not be seeking re-election. The announcement was made Monday, April 2, at the CB3 monthly meeting.  Ms. Jones, a longtime Bedford-Stuyvesant resident, has held the current position for the past three years.  AThis appointment was only temporary and was only supposed to last a year,@ stated Ms. Jones.  AI stayed three.@ Jones will remain an active board member. However, she is looking forward to spending more time at her Bed- Stuy daycare center, Good Samaritans.  A nomination committee has been formed.
In addition to the announcement, the monthly event, which took place at Restoration Plaza, included an amazingly condensed agenda. 
The first item on the agenda was a presentation by Lesley Ester Redwine, director of External Affairs for Achievement First.  Introduced by Education Committee Chair Mildred Vann, Ms. Redwine shared with the community the non-profit charter school=s plans for opening a new high school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Ms. Redwine sees this opportunity as a way to further enhance Bed-Stuy=s economic base by creating job opportunities.  Charter schools, which are considered a great alternative to the overcrowded public school systems, are not required to hire United Federated of Teachers members.
The next item on the agenda was from the Transportation committee, chaired by Rev. Robert Waterman. Rev. Waterman introduced Scott Codey, legislative manager for the Citizen=s Committee for NYC, whose organization is offering small grants to support traffic relief throughout New York. AOur goal is to band together community-based groups to focus in on a few neighborhood concerns related to traffic,@ Mr. Scott stated. AWe want residents to tell us what their concerns are and let=s work together to help resolve them.@
 The proposed grant will give qualified community-based organizations the resources needed to conduct studies and reports in hopes of securing the necessary infrastructure needed to correct the faltering traffic conditions. According to Mr. Codey, these items could include traffic bumps, stop signs, and, as in the case of the ASafe Routes to School Program,@ visibility improvement and safety for neighborhood school routes. The deadline for this grant has been extended until April 15. 
  For the past few years, CB3 Consumer Affairs Committee, chaired by Hardy AJoe@ Long, has been reaching out to the State Liquor License Association (SLA) for a meeting. The committee has been seeking clarity regarding the issuance and procedure of obtaining a license.  On March 12, 2007, their wish came true when committee members sat down for a one-on-one discussion with SLA=s new CEO, Joshua Toas, and Commissioner of Government Affairs, Thomas O=Connor. Mr. Long happily reported that the meeting was a success. According to Mr. Long, SLA, which recently underwent major administrative changes, is looking forward to strengthening its ties with community boards throughout New York.
Amalgamated Bank, touted as America=s labor bank, has its sights set on Bed-Stuy. Executives from the 90-year-old establishment, including its CEO, Derrick Cephas, held a public hearing to discuss and seek receiving a letter of support for its plans to open its first Brooklyn branch at 1245 Fulton Street.  The full-service facility will offer a variety of products and services and, according to Mr. Cephas, Ajob opportunities for local residents.@  CB3 board members voted 34 to 1 in favor.
Other agenda items and announcements included an update from the Block, Civic & Religious Committee=s upcoming expo. The event is scheduled to take place May 15 at Boys & Girls High School, and will include joint block watch training and citywide agencies workshops. CB3 Youth, Parks and Recreation Committee, chaired by Mr. Marion Little, will host a youth conference to discuss gang prevention on May 16.  Designed to educate youth on what to really expect when they join a gang, the conference is expected to include testimonials from former gang members, as well as gang- prevention police officers. 
Community Board 3 monthly meetings take place the first Monday of every month at Restoration Plaza, 1260 Fulton Street.