Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

By  Stanley Kinard

It seems like my column is becoming an obituary column.  I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge persons that have given their entire lives to advancing African liberation in our community.  Such was the life led by the late Barbara Smith Boyd, who recently made her transition this past week.  Barbara was the owner of Ties that Bind along with her husband Hakika.  While selling African clothing and art, the business served as a cultural center with Barbara serving as facilitator.  Ms. Boyd also served with distinction as President of School Board 13.  She always stood up for what is right, even at times when she was the lone voice that we had advancing an African-centered and progressive agenda.  In making this transition, Barbara joins sisters Jeanette Gadson and Aliyah Abdul-Karim, all major pillars of our community. 
I received several e-mails last week regarding the mandatory Black History classes taught in all Philadelphia high schools.  New York City is far behind other major cities in this regard.  Again, I will state that we need to get behind the resolution by Councilman Barron calling for Black History to be mandated as a requirement for graduation from high school.  A hearing of the City Council Education Committee can be held if we begin to make the demand for it to happen.
In 2009, the Department of Education shall revisit mayoral control of schools.  At a recent parents meeting in the Bronx, hundreds were turned away from a meeting regarding school disorganization.  The reason given was they didn’t have adequate space to accommodate the parents.  This was a poor excuse from the Klein/Bloomberg Administration that has all but eliminated real parental involvement.  Parents in Brooklyn must begin to organize so they, too, can have input in how schools are structured and run in our communities.  At recent meetings of Operation Power, education has been a major topic of discussion.  Brother Akinlabi of Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence made a presentation on BNYEE’s platform.  Others have questioned the role of charter and independent schools and are proposing them as the absolute strategy for educating Black youth. 
The opportunity to have input in the education of our children is right now.  The Bloomberg/Klein Department of Education is in a state of disarray.  We can win the cultural right for Black History to be taught in our schools.  My neighbor disagrees with me and feels that we need to teach Black History to ourselves in churches and after-school programs.  I agree with him about the latter, however, the public schools are a community property belonging to parents and residents.  We pay taxes to support these institutions and, subsequently, we should control everything that goes on in these schools and particularly as it pertains to what our children are taught.  There needs to be a major conference of education where these matters are fully discussed, a plan put in place for organizing and implementing the agenda and platforms coming out of this conference.  In the meantime, the slogan remains “Black History Now! Just Teach it and Let’s Learn it!”  Even though Black History Month is over, the education of our youth demands that Black History be taught every day, every month.

In Pursuit of Excellence and Education

As drop-out rates increase across New York City, we are encouraged by the successful work that’s going on with students in area Charter Schools. “If you were to stand at 7:30 AM each morning outside of 225 Patchen and 600 Lafayette, homes of the Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant and Leadership Prep Charter School, you would realize that these are no ordinary students you are watching arrive at school,” says  Excellence principal Jabali Sawicki in the current issue of Our Time AT HOME. “Even though these students are between the ages of five and nine years old, it is evident that they are driven by a clear purpose and direction.
They are on a mission. Our work as a school is to teach our young scholars that college can be a reality, and then, more importantly, provide them with the academic preparation and the intellectual and social tools they will need to ensure that college will become a reality.”
Photo: Courtesy of Excellence CS of Bedford Stuyvesant

 The community’s reaction to police and gang violence falls within tacit boundaries that do not include intimate partner abuse. Why is it that the violence perpetrated upon Black women and girls, by their significant other, is still considered a nonissue? Why do the myths about intimate partner violence; i.e., that women choose to remain in violent relationships continues to overshadow enlightened action on the part of elected officials, clergy, educators, [Black] media and celebrities? Why won’t community activists engage in “antiviolence triage” by intervening on behalf of those wounded by family violence, whether in Darfur or on Decatur Street?
Brooklyn is both the borough of churches and the borough where more Black women are murdered by their intimate partner; the latter, a finding of the New York City Department of Health. Why isn’t the Black church in the forefront of this salient health concern? Rev. Dr. Doretha Custis is the founder of Precious Lambs Ministry Consultants and a survivor of domestic violence. She frequently leads workshops and presentations before members of the faith community. During those addresses and particularly to the women, she reminds them, “You know, every shout is not a shout of joy”.
The need for more pastors to have an unconditional commitment to a ministry that addresses this formidable challenge to Black families is clear. This is not about pitting Black men and women against one another or choosing one’s “pain” over the other. To the contrary, this is about the entire community addressing an issue that EVERYBODY knows about.
The American Bar Association reports that domestic violence is America’s fastest-growing silent epidemic, and this finding is no more evident than in the Black community. The “silence” maintains myths like, “She must like it. She keeps going back.” The “silence” results in a girl having a one in three chance of being in a violent relationship by the time she’s graduated from high school. The “silence” increases the risk of a girl becoming promiscuous or of a boy following a life of crime.
The failings of Black youth have gotten a lot of media attention in the last few years. During that time, teen dating violence increased at an alarming rate, yet none of the, “What’s wrong with Black youth” brigade has taken that into account while railing against youthful indiscretions.
J. Robert Flores is the administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for the United States Department of Justice and has made the following observation:
“Teen dating violence is a growing problem and a sad reality for many teenagers… Our research has consistently demonstrated that teens exposed to or victimized by abuse are at increased risk for delinquency…”
Paul Mooney, the sharp-tongued comic, frequently uses the phrase, “It is too late in the day.” It is too late in the day to continually repeat the laundry list of uninformed excuses like “I’m minding my own business”, for ignoring the suffering of Black women and girls because breaking the cycle of family violence is everybody’s business.
Let us consider a few facts:
 Domestic violence occurs regardless of skin color, age, socioeconomic status, educational attainment, cultural or religious identification, or gender preference.
 70% of child abuse cases occur in homes where family violence occurs.
 An abuser’s public face is often different from his private face.
Isn’t it time to break the silence and the cycle of domestic violence? Isn’t it time to stop explaining away abusive behavior with statements like:  “but he’s a great athlete; but he’s a member of the clergy; but he’s a great educator?” His contribution to the arts, to culture, to anything must not eclipse the damage he may have done to the spirit of his partner or to the future of his children.
If you agree that it’s time to stop domestic violence, begin by:
 Getting informed. Stop repeating statements that under gird intimate partner violence;
 Getting involved with and supporting groups and organizations that are committed to preventing family violence;
 Encouraging your circle of family and friends to join you in your efforts; particularly, in your place of worship;
 Establishing a zero tolerance for jokes, music, videos, literature and language that objectifies women and girls.
So, if the Black community is serious about ending violence, why won’t it start at the beginning; in the home? It truly is too late in the day for ANY form of violence to get a free pass; regardless who the perpetrator is. It’s time to stop domestic violence; no “buts” about it!
Roslyn Bacon is the Executive Director of JONAH VILLAGE, INC.; a non profit, youth leadership organization dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence. Contact: 347-432-4617 Email: timetostopdv@gmail.com www.jonahvillage.org

1. Wall Street Slave Market (Wall and Water Streets). A market for the sale and hire of enslaved Africans and Indians was established here at the Meal (Grain) Market in 1711 by the New York Common Council.

2. Amistad Defense Committee (122 Pearl Street near Hanover Street). Offices of silk merchants Lewis and Arthur Tappan, abolitionists who organized the defense committee to free enslaved Africans on the Amistad. The Tappans were among the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society in December 1833. In 1834, it was attacked by a pro-slavery mob.

3. Financier of the Slave Trade (55 South Street). Moses Taylor was a sugar merchant and banker with offices at 55 South Street. Taylor became a member of the board of the City Bank in 1837, and served as its president from 1855 until his death in 1882. Taylor’s personal resources and role as business agent for the leading exporter of Cuban sugar to the United States was invaluable to the growth of the institution now known as Citibank.

4. Slave Traders’ Meeting Place (Fulton and South Streets). The men who smuggled enslaved Africans referred to themselves as “blackbirders” and their illegal human cargo as “black ivory.” Their favorite New York City meeting place was Sweet’s Restaurant at the corner of Fulton and South Streets.

5. Abolitionist Meeting House (118 Williams Street between Fulton and John). Site of a boarding house operated by Asenath Hatch Nicholson, an ardent abolitionist. Starting in 1835, abolitionists met here to plan campaigns to end slavery.

6. African Free School (William and Beekman Streets). The first African Free School was established at 245 Williams Street in 1787 by the New York Manumission Society. Forty boys and girls were taught in a single room. It was destroyed in 1814 and replaced by a new building on William Street near Duane.

7. 1712 Slave Rebellion (Maiden Lane near Broadway). In 1712, a group of more than 20 enslaved Africans set fire to a building on Maiden Lane in Manhattan and ambushed whites who tried to put out the blaze. Eight white men were killed in this abortive rebellion. In response, 13 black men were hanged, one was starved to death, four were burned alive at the stake, and another broken on the wheel.

8. Hughson’s Tavern (Liberty Street and Trinity Place). The location of the tavern where enslaved Africans, free blacks and white supporters are supposed to have plotted the 1741 Slave Conspiracy. White New Yorkers, afraid of another slave revolt, responded to rumors and unexplained fires with the arrest of 146 enslaved Africans, the execution of 35 blacks and four whites, and the transport to other colonies of 70 enslaved people. Historians continue to doubt whether a slave conspiracy ever existed.

9. New York City Hall. William Havemeyer, elected mayor of New York City in 1845, 1848 and 1872 launched his political career from the family’s sugar refining business. The sugar was produced in the South and Cuba by enslaved African labor. Fernando Wood, as mayor of New York City in 1861, called on the city to secede from the Union along with the South. As a congressman, he opposed the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

10. African Burial Ground. The African Burial Ground is a five- or six-acre cemetery that was used between the late 1600s and 1796 and originally contained 10,000 to 20,000 burials. Despite the harsh treatment these African people experienced in colonial America, the 427 bodies recovered from the site were buried with great care and love. They were wrapped in linen shrouds and methodically positioned in well-built cedar or pine coffins that sometimes contained beads or other treasured objects.

11. 1741 Execution of Enslaved Africans (Foley Square). The site where enslaved Africans, free blacks and white supporters were accused of plotting the 1741 Slave Conspiracy were executed.

Other Important Manhattan Sites
12. David Ruggles’ Home (36 Lispendard Street, one block south of Canal Street at the corner of Church Street). In 1838, Ruggles harbored a fugitive slave here named Frederick Washington Bailey who later became known as Frederick Douglass.

13. Land of the Blacks (Washington Square Park). In 1644, 11 enslaved African men petitioned the local government and obtained their freedom in exchange for the promise to pay an annual tax in produce. They each received the title to land on the outskirts of the colony where they would be a buffer against attack from native forces. Black farmers soon owned a two-mile-long strip of land from what is now Canal Street to 34th Street in Manhattan. This is the site of the farm of Anthony Portugies.

14. Seneca Village (Central Park). Seneca Village was Manhattan’s first prominent community of African-American property owners. From 1825 to 1857, it was located between 82nd and 89th Streets at Seventh and Eighth Avenues in what is now a section of Central Park.

Resources and Background
Since 1996, the New York State Human Rights curriculum is supposed to include guidelines and material for teaching about the European Holocaust, the Great Irish Famine, slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade. A curriculum on the Great Irish Famine was completed and distributed by the state in 2001. A number of Holocaust curricula have been developed by museums, local school districts and nonprofit agencies (e.g., Facing History and Ourselves). But an official curriculum for teaching about slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade was never developed because of political conflict. The state Department of Education envisioned a slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade curriculum as a celebration of “New York’s Freedom Trail” and its role on the underground railway and as a base of operations for abolitionists.

Many historians, especially those from the African-American community, wanted students to take a much more critical look at the state’s role in promoting and profiting from human bondage. While many prominent individuals from New York State were important abolitionists and the state did offer safe haven to some escaped slaves, slavery existed in New York until 1827. Of greater historical importance is the state’s economic and political complicity with the Southern and Caribbean “slavocracy,” and the continuing involvement of its merchant and banking elite with the illegal Atlantic slave trade up until the Civil War. Slavery and the Atlantic Slave Trade, rather than just being a Southern institution, were integral parts of the national and global economy in the 18th and 19th centuries and produced much of the capital that financed the industrial revolution in Europe and the United States.

The New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance curriculum guide used in Michael Pezone’s African-American history class opens with an examination of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and follows the history of New York State from the original Dutch settlement at the beginning of the 17th century through the end of the Civil War. It focuses on the positions and contributions of people of African ancestry in New York during this period and on the roles played by the citizens of New York in both maintaining and challenging the slave system.

The curriculum guide was developed independently with support from the “Gateway to the City” Teaching American History Grant, a partnership of the Hofstra University School of Education and Allied Human Services, the New York City Department of Education and the Brooklyn Historical Society. More than 80 classroom teachers in the New York metropolitan area participated in researching, developing and field-testing lessons.
In November 2005, the New York and Slavery: Complicity and Resistance curriculum guide received a National Council for the Social Studies Program of Excellence Award. The entire guide is available at the Web site of the New York State Council for the Social Studies (www.nyscss.org).
The curriculum guide was edited by Dr. Alan Singer and Mary Carter of the Hofstra University School of Education and Allied Human Services.
Other Resources Used for Creating the New York and Slavery African-American Heritage Trail Markers:
Slavery in New York by Ira Berlin and Leslie Harris (New Press, 2005)
Slavery and the Making of America by James and Lois Horton (Oxford, 2005)
Black Legacy, A History of New York’s African Americans by William Loren Katz, (Atheneum, 1997)
From: www.rethinkingschools.org

Technology Panel At Burson-Marsteller In Manhattan

New York, NY – January 2007 – The Black Public Relations Society-New York’s (BPRS-NY) recent “Technology Trends for PR Professionals” presentation featured Doug Simon of broadcast media distribution giant DS Simon Productions and digital multimedia specialist Lisa Bass of Washington DC-based e-MediaPro,LLC. Held at the Manhattan offices of Burson-Marsteller, the event was moderated by Akosua Albritton, technology / new media columnist for Our Time Press newspaper. Co-Sponsored by the KIP Business Report, the presentation was part of an ongoing professional development series for communicators and entrepreneurs. Connect, Communicate, and Collaborate with BPRSNY at www.bprsny.org