Our Time PressThe Local Paper with the Global View

By Akosua Kathryn Albritton
The following is a modified reprint from the September 2003 Wired For Success column.  It discusses practices to maintain optimal performance of IBM-compatible personal computers that run on MS Windows (sorry Linux, Mac OS and Amiga fans). It makes another run because maintenance is essential.
Computer Housekeeping
Personal computers and workstations have made a difference in our lifestyles.  Someone who couldn’t draw a heart with a crayon now produces fabulous calendars, seasonal cards and cartoons.  A bookkeeper can crunch out the cash receipt and cash disbursal journals in seconds.  Income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements are cinches.  Have a stock market ticker tape glide through the bottom of your screen while you write your blog?  You want to go to New Guinea? Easter Island?  Micronesia?  Log into a newsgroup to learn about great travel expeditions into the rain forest, find out about the cheapest airfare and even take a three-dimensional tour of the island.  No need to mention the thousands of music titles that your I-pod or media player having waiting for you to groove to.  Yes, computers make life global and expedient, but what does it take to keep your personal computer work optimally?  It’s not too sexy.
Like it or not, if you own Microsoft Windows you must make the time to download the MS Windows patches and updates.  If a Windows 98 user, the PC will notify you that it’s time to check in for updates when you log onto the Web.  If a Windows XP user, the updates are automatically done.  You have to be willing to allow the site to check for “critical updates”.  Most of them are security measures and code to make the operating system more stable.  Sure, it may take more than an hour if you have a dial-up connection.  Don’t you want a computer that seamlessly prints, saves and simultaneously runs many applications without hanging?  Make that time to log in, select the download and then walk away and do something else.
Then there’s guarding against viruses and worms.  You ever wonder what kind of person gets satisfaction in crashing thousands of PCs?  Imagine some young man (sorry that’s the demographics), awake late at night, staring at his PC monitor and devising his “bomb”.  Need I go into detail about the ravages of SoBig (Did you wonder why you received so many “nondeliverable” messages last week for e-mail you didn’t send)?  The best step for the average computer user is to purchase and install virus detection software.  Again, you must respond affirmatively to the request to download the virus-definition and virus library.  It takes a few moments and is an important investment in time.  My personal plea: stop passing on forwards.  Forwards that require numerous “Opens” have gone through too many computers.  The chance is too great that you infect your computer and those you wish to share that “inspiring message” (yes, men just love those x-rated shots and women wish to raise the esteem of their sister-friends).  Also, a fire wall is a must if you have a DSL connection to the Internet.
Is the laptop or desktop running slower? Freezing or hanging upon shutdown?  System maintenance may resolve it.  Delete the temporary files in Windows and the temporary files from the temporary Web folder.  Scan disk the hard drive.  The last three jobs are defragmenting, optimizing and backing up the hard drive.  What does all that mean?  Straightening up the hard drive: putting parts of files closer together, moving files and folder in different parts of the memory based on your past usage.  Backing up is a full save of the hard drive and any other drive that you select.  There are many utility software that will do this for you in an orderly and expedient fashion rather than you remembering the different tasks.  Though Windows supplies the system with a maintenance application, it is a shadow to the other utilities sitting on store shelves.  Be aware that the hanging may be due to a conflict between software.  Frequently, the hanging is due to Norton AntiVirus.  Resolve the situation by visiting Microsoft’s web site and type in the error message.  If Norton AntiVirus is the cause, there are step-by-step instructions for changing a line of code.
As referenced above, error messages must be addressed.  The trick is getting past the idiosyncratic language to respond to the problem.  For example: “Notification Wnd for RNAdministration,” “Winword caused an invalid page fault in module.,” “STM3 is either working or waiting for a response from .”  What does this mean?  Who wants to learn?  On a certain level, the average computer user needs to learn it to avoid being a captive to the computer consultant.  Some error messages relate to a system application and others refer to software.  Frequently, uninstalling and then reinstalling software will resolve the situation.  It will require rebooting the system with each uninstall/reinstall.  Other cases may require going to the Web site of the software maker and accessing the “Knowledge Base.”  Knowing how to use the knowledge base is another adventure.
You don’t have to shout at this columnist about how horrid all this sounds.  This columnist grudgingly does it when it has to be done.  I learn much in the process.  You will too.  Now take care of your PC the way you care for your car.

As the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Wangari Maathai, 65, has left an indelible mark on the struggle for environmental and social justice. As founder of the Green Belt Movement, in her native Kenya, Maathai has led thousands of Kenyan women in a crusade to protect environmental resources by planting over 30 million trees.
On Saturday March 5, Professor Maathai appeared on WBAI’s Afrikaleidoscope with Elombe Brath. I sat in on the taping of the radio show, captivated by Maathai’s passion and pure joy in working towards restoring balance between the earth and its inhabitants. She exuded confidence without a trace of arrogance, seemingly humbled by acknowledgement of her accomplishments and grounded by the reality of the work ahead. “[The Nobel Peace Prize] is not an honor for a single person, this is a moment for humanity, a moment to understand that what has been honored is the struggle of millions of people all over the world. The Nobel Committee has decided that it wants to recognize these people by saying that the environment, democratic space and peace are inseparable causes; for those of us who work in these areas we must see them as such in order to bring all of these movements together to truly create a better world,” said Maathai.
Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize in October of 2004, Wangari Maathai has been at the forefront of the international stage, promoting environmental conservation and community development. She is an example of the boundless potential of grassroots organizing, and the Nobel Committee’s recognition of her movement’s success has brought attention to the triumph of self-determination.
During the 1970s Kenya, like many other East African countries, began noticing the damaging effects of logging and the conversion of natural forests into commercial agricultural land. The deforestation, or cutting down of trees, involved in both processes created a rippling effect, that would be felt for decades to come. Environmental experts say that a forest cover of 10% is required for a country to sustain life naturally – availability of rain, availability of underground water, soil fertility, clean air and prevention of soil erosion; at the time Kenya’s forest cover was less than 2%. Although the government made an effort to counter the problem by creating tree plantations, they only further complicated the issue as the imported trees began to kill off native vegetation, which had a greater capacity for retaining water to be later released in forms of streams and rivers.
Like many other Kenyans Professor Maathai observed the alarming trend, at the time she was an active member of the National Council of Women of Kenya. Through that forum she became privy to the how deforestation effected the day to day living of many families. Maathai listened to rural women who complained about the lack of firewood (a main source of fuel in the region), clean drinking water, food and income. In 1977 she established the Green Belt Movement, focused on planting trees in order to conserve the environment and improve the overall quality of life; after all trees provide clean air, clean drinking water, enriched soil for food and a source of income (through the sale of firewood and fruits).
During her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, Maathai said, “Tree planting became a natural choice to address some of the initial basic needs identified by women. Also, tree planting is simple, attainable and guarantees quick, successful results within a reasonable amount of time, which sustains interest and commitment.” Her ingenuity empowered thousands of women to take a personal role in sustaining their environment and working towards ensuring a healthy future for their families.
As Green Belt’s core of committed members grew the organization broadened its horizons and began to campaign for improvements in education, women’s rights, and the democratic process. However, not everyone was impressed or encouraged by Maathai’s activism, for much of the 1980s and 1990s Green Belt went head to head with Kenya’s then president Daniel Arap Moi, whose vision of progress was not inclusive of the needs of the people. One particular incident, which gained Green Belt notoriety was the regime’s plans to build a 60-story skyscraper in Uhuru Park, one of the few remaining expanses of greenery left in the capital city. Professor Maathai took legal action to stop construction, and although her case was dismissed her protest gained so much international attention, particularly in Western countries that provided Kenya with necessary aid, that the project was eventually abandoned. </! P
Other confrontations were far more violent as Maathai was arrested and once beaten unconscious by police for demonstrating against the government’s environmental practices. “If you try to promote justice and equity you are going to be an enemy of those who want to control, who want to exploit, who want to be in charge at the expense of others,” said Maathai. Wangari Maathai recognizes that she is lucky to be alive, as so many of her comrades throughout the world, like Ken Saro-Wiwa of Nigeria and Chico Mendes of Brazil, died for their commitment to environmentalism.

Undeterred by the threat of violence and struggle, Wangari Maathai continued to speak out against corruption and political greed, even unsuccessfully running for president in 1997. By 2002 President Arap Moi stepped down from power, ushering in a more environmentally progressive regime under the leadership of Emilio Mwai Kibaki. In the same election, Maathai was elected to Parliament with 98% of the votes, and by 2003 she was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Environment.
Through her years of progressive work with the environment, Wangari Maathai began to see the inextricable connection between the “sustainable management of the earth’s resources” and obtaining world peace. Many of the military conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries have been fought over natural resources: oil in the Middle East, minerals and land in Africa; which speaks to the need for a less self-indulgent approach to management of the world’s resources. With the recent enactment of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which calls for the reduction of carbon emissions, environmentalists’ work to create a more environmentally sound future is coming to fruition. Over 141 countries have signed the agreement; however, the major emitter of greenhouse gas, the United States, has yet to get on board. Yet Maathai is encouraged by the millions of citizens in this country who are still adhering to the principles of the agreement. “Eventually it will be the citizens of this country that will put enough pressure on their governments, but it will come from the citizens themselves agreeing that they want to change their consumptive patterns,” said Professor Maathai.
Maathai is a strong believer in self-determination, a principle that has remained a mainstay of her movement. Her advocacy for self-resilience for the people of Kenya, can be easily applied to any struggle for liberation, particularly that of people of color in this country. “I wanted to empower our people to understand that the solutions to their problems lie within them, and while there may be many forces that want to keep them where they are, that would almost want to see them remain impoverished, remain dis-empowered¼we have power within us and we can do things for ourselves. All that is needed is a commitment, patience and persistence,” said Maathai. “Things don’t happen overnight. If you plant a tree today it will not give you fruits tomorrow; you have to have the patience and the persistence to stay there and make sure it survives.”
Wangari Maathai attributes much of her success to those who have come before her, the revolutionaries such as Martin Luther King and the Mau Mau, who fought for her freedom, a freedom that has allowed her to carry on their mission of ensuring a prosperous future for all humankind.

Freestyle Kids clothing company was established in by Mimi Humphrey in 2005 to meet the fashion needs of parents looking for a return to a more traditional style of dress for children from newborn through size 10.  As a parent, Mimi was often challenged to find appropriate clothing for both everyday and special occasion wear, particularly in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights.   She found that in exploring the need for a children’s store, the number one need as expressed by survey participants was for clothing that did not encourage brand-name addiction in young children.  Parents were interested in developing their children’s intellect and social skills without having to worry about what they were wearing to school.  Many of those surveyed also reflected on the difficulty in finding appropriate special occasion clothing.  
Ms. Humphrey believes that her target market is saturated with clothing that speaks to a “hip-hop” look that is fashionably inappropriate for young children and a lifestyle that is often in conflict with the values being stressed at home.  “Freestyle Kids will address this shortcoming in the Central Brooklyn market by opening a retail establishment that is a throwback to a time where children were free to explore and exercise their natural curiosities while looking great and remaining free of negative pressure as it relates to dress.”
Mimi Humphrey is the founder and chief designer of Kendiwear Clothing, established in 1996 specializing in tailored yet affordable clothing for children.  She sold Kendiwear’s products at street fairs and special events for 2 years before the company transitioned to a retail space in downtown Brooklyn where it operated for 6 years before closing.
Freestyle Kids will open its retail space in an attractive corner location at 373 Lewis Avenue at Macon Street.  Since 2000, Lewis Avenue has become a shopping destination for Bedford-Stuyvesant residents.  The strip boasts Akwaaba Restaurant, Bread Stuy Coffee Shop, Brownstone Books and the Parlor Floor Antiques, each a destination in their own right.  Freestyle Kids will open one block down from these establishments across the street from the Macon Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and next to The House of Brown wellness shop.  Freestyle Kids certainly expects to benefit from its proximity to these locations.  By Public transit: B15 and B25 bus routes and the A and C train to Utica Avenue.

By the age of twenty-three, his youngest assailant had learned the lesson of hate.  Why hadn’t he learned it by age forty-nine?  Shouldn’t he have known better?  It was during the wee hours of  Sunday morning; all drunk:  three white males-in a pick up-on a dark Texas road. One black male-on foot-been drinking and he accepts their offer for a ride?  Even the predictably anti Black everything, Rent-A-Toms took a pass on this outrageous display of inhumanity.  Perhaps the reality of their own colored liability forced them into quiet reflection. The dastardly murder of James Byrd, Jr., on that fateful June morning, in 1998, sent America into national  rigor mortis. No one was recorded asking those questions; rather, the wisest among us questioned the unbelievable act of barbarity.  And that is how it should have been.

Fast forward to the year, 2003, and head northwest, about 150 miles, from the infamous Jasper decapitation site.  December 4, to be exact.  A thirtysomething Black woman witnesses the murder of her mother, Janice Reebes, by her then boyfriend, Terrance Dwayne “Popeye” Kelly.  The single shot to her mother’s stomach was followed by the life altering shot to her own head, leaving Carolyn Thomas, today, with half of a face.

There was no phalanx of clergy and elected officials descending upon Waco, Texas, decrying the horrendous act; as there had been to Jasper.  The final services for Ms. Reebes mother was not attended by scores of resurrected 1960’s super heroes; i.e., the NEW Black Panthers; the NEW Fruit of Islam; or the same old rhetoricians declaring how fired up they were and weren’t “gonna take it no mo’!” No Presidential message; no commissions created; no town hall meetings.  After all, one in two women, in
America, will experience a violent relationship in her lifetime.  Women are treated in the emergency room for domestic violence in larger numbers than for rapes, muggings and vehicular incidents combined. The response to the violence against Black women from the Black community is summed up in the words of CC in Gloria Naylor’s, Women of Brewster Place:  “She ain’t nothin’ but a woman.”

Violence within the community of African ancestry takes as many forms as it does in any other cultural configuration of citizens.  Domestic violence has no boundaries that follow skin color, religious, socio- economic, age, gender or gender preference guidelines.  According to the American Medical Association, domestic violence is the fastest growing silent epidemic in America.  The Surgeon General has identified domestic violence as America’s number one social disease.  In New York City, the Health Department’s studies have found that Brooklyn is the borough where more Black women are murdered by their intimate partners; the Bronx is number two. Domestic violence is the last social issue to rest snuggly in “the closet” and will not come out without a great deal of kicking and screaming.  An unfortunate fact is that many who rail against internecine destruction, are abusive in their personal and family relationships. Others among the hearty protesters remain silent about their own abuse.

Double standards “double” the trouble families have when one parent  murders the other; and  is incarcerated; or, one parent murders the other and then commits suicide.  Children are doubly “parentless”.  Both parents’ families grieve. The economic devastation of losing two incomes is inarguable. Surviving family members must double their living accommodations to take in orphaned nieces, nephews, godchildren and the like. Boys raised in an abusive environment are more likely to engage in violent behavior and to continue the cycle of partner abuse.  Girls raised in violent homes are more likely to become promiscuous; or to become a runaway.  Boys are likely to protect their mothers by either killing or attempting to kill the batterer.  This has resulted in over sixty per cent of males, between the ages of 11 and 20, being incarcerated for murdering their mother’s batterer.  How many of them are of African ancestry is unclear. It would be unthinkable to state, especially in public, that the trail of black men who have been the victims of police violence deserved the excessive force that caused their injury or death.  Women affected by domestic violence, on the other hand, are more often than not scorned and blamed for the violence meted upon them.  “Serves her right.”  “She must like it; she keeps going back.”  “What did she expect?  Everybody knows how she is.”  “What else was he suppose to do?  She dissed him.”

So, what do we do?  The first step is toward community education. In their report titled, ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: An Agenda For the Nation, the Department Of Justice noted,

“Women of color¼have struggled more than others to have their experiences with violence understood and addressed.  To be effective, intervention and prevention efforts must be culturally¼appropriate, address across women’s lifespan, and be rooted in communities themselves.”1ä1

Become familiar with the facts of the matter and release the myths. Brothers, declare a “misogyny free zone” in your physical, mental and social space.  Do not tolerate sexist or violent conversation; even in jest. Initiate action, discussion and education in your place of worship; in your fraternal and social organizations; in your place of employment.  Sisters, develop support systems for those in violent relationships.  Impress upon your daughters the need for zero tolerance of “play hitting, pulling or pushing”.  Guide them in their quest for loving and caring partners. No longer can we declare that we’re minding our “business”.  Domestic violence IS our business.  Remember that domestic violence, regardless of the gender of the abuser or the abused, is unacceptable.

In early April, in the 54th Circuit Court in Waco, Texas, the Kelly trial will begin.  It won’t be the caravan of buses transporting an outraged Black community that will bring this case to the world stage.  No clerical pilgrimage to another tragic landmark.  The cameras and peppered strokes on laptops will be heard because of the resilient, “Faith Based” Black woman; Carolyn Thomas, whose quest for life is indefatigable.  Maybe you won’t be there but wherever you are, you can do something.  If you know of someone in a violent relationship, there are five things that can be said to them.  The complexity of domestic violence may require that any or all of the following be repeated over the course of days, weeks or even years.  But it is a task that we must do.  We must save the children; we must save the “homegirlies”.  We must double our efforts; not double the standard.

1. It [the abuse] will only get worse.
2. I’m afraid for your safety.
3. I’m afraid for the safety of your loved ones.
4. You don’t deserve to be treated this way.
5. There’s help when you’re ready: THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE #:1-800-799-SAFE
(This number is available 24 hours a day; 365 days a year; from any state in the country.)
Roslyn Bacon is a retired educator and 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@hotmail.com
1 1 Ending Violence Against Women:  An Agenda for the Nation (2000). Washington, DC: US Department of Justice.

Hon. Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, came to Brooklyn last month to personally announce the 2005 Millions More Movement and to call for unity among Black leaders, Black men,  Black women and the greater Diaspora family. 
He spoke at the historic House of the Lord Church, pastored by The Reverend Herbert Daughtry, May 7, as keynote speaker for the 21st Century State of the Black World Forum organized by the Institute of the Black World (IBW).
The “Movement”, which will be held in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14 – 16 pays tribute to the 10th anniversary of the single largest gathering of Black men ever in America — The historic Million Man March, in which millions of people particpated, and millions more viewed throughout the world.
At a press announcement at the National Press Club in D.C. two weeks ago, Farrakhan said, “We called it a Millions More Movement. We already had millions at the Mall for the Million Man March. Our Sisters had millions in Philadelphia for the Million Women March,”  this is a call to bring them together in the creation of a movement of unity of  leadership across ideological, gender and other barriers.
The mission of the IBW (founded by Ron Daniels) is to uplift Black America and the global Black community, and they certainly were on that path with the minister’s two-hour presentation.  But before the uplifting, there had to be an explanation of how things are. 
With stories, metaphors, the Bible and the Koran, all laced with humor to break barriers and ease understanding, the minister told the overflowing crowd, “You are a great people and the enemy knows it”, and that is why they work so hard to “keep you from finding out who you are…there is a great conspiracy against your rise.”  He spoke also of the co-conspirators within ourselves, a human nature “twisted like a pretzel” and formed by four hundred years of terror used as a means of control.  
When Minister Farrakhan says “the enemy is working night and day to destroy our future,” and speaks of a “conspiracy,” many scoff and call it paranoia or worse, but the “enemy” is not necessarily five guys meeting once a week plotting the downfall of Black people, rather, he speaks to individual and institutional sins of commission and omission, the deliberate and the unthinking actions of society.  
Whether it’s the criminal justice system, gentrification, beer that’s cheaper than water, or the millions of dollars spent creating marketing campaigns for fast-food meals of astonishing cholesterol and fat content targeted at Black consumers already besieged with health problems, there is a constant grinding down of the Black community.
When he says “the enemy makes death taste good to you”, Farrakhan is not just speaking about fast foods and  hormones in the food supply causing “9-year-old girls to have Barbie in one hand and a sanitary napkin in the other,” but death for a race of people distracted by the sexual frenzy perpetrated by pop culture, the ease of letting the television raise the children and the marketing industry insistence that instant self-gratification is the best reward.  “The enemy makes a sneaker with the Jordan image for $150…and then we rob each other, having allowed things to define us”, said Farrakhan.
The co-option of Black intellectuals and professionals was also spoken of.  Coming out of college, they are “hidden away in corporate America,” with their salary, benefits and cars, thinking that by not being poor, they are doing something for the race.  But Farrakhan says “the enemy is laughing because we are a destroyed people on a death march to social deterioration.” Emphasizing how “language has the power to change the way you think,” Farrakhan reminded that “everyone who has conquered us has inflicted us with their language,” and used it to divide us into speakers of English, Spanish or French but “Blackness unites us all.”
He spoke of the African liberation successes of the 50’s and 60’s and how Blacks were uniting and taking pride in being Black, “we saw we were not the minority but the majority.  Churches began to have a liberation theology.  When we opened the Bibles we began looking for ourselves.” 
But something has happened says Farrakhan, and many in the new generation have lost the meaning of the struggle for freedom.  That “something” can be seen as evidence of the enemy being afoot.  The Counterintelligence Program, the infamous COINTELPRO operation of federal and local security forces, used any means necessary, killing, perjury, dirty tricks to destroy Black  leadership.  This was followed by the CIA-enabled crack epidemic, amply documented in Gary Webb’s Dark Alliance, which was nothing less than chemical warfare on the Black community.

That “something” can be seen in research by Human Rights Watch that shows “Blacks comprise 13 percent of the national population, but 30 percent of people arrested, 41 percent of people in jail, and 49 percent of those in prison. Nine percent of all Black adults are under some form of correctional supervision (in jail or prison, on probation or parole), compared to two percent of white adults.  One in three Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 was either in jail or prison, or on parole or probation in 1995. One in ten Black men in their twenties and early thirties are in prison or jail. Thirteen percent of the Black adult male population has lost the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement laws.”
That “something” can be seen in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that HIV is the leading cause of death for African Americans ages 25-44 and that the AIDS rate for African American women in 2001 was almost 20 times that of white women and the statistics get worse with each year’s report.
That “something” can be seen in the poor performance of school systems around the country, the  paucity of Blacks, particularly Black men, in higher education, and this as businesses require increasing levels of education, and can instantly access the needed brainpower, for the lowest price, anywhere in the world.
And yet through it all, says the minister, “In your madness, you rule the world.”  Everywhere you look there are Black images on the walls of white children he says.  Hip-Hop has white children enthralled.  These are symptoms of the spiritual and creative essence that keeps the world captivated, and a life force which will not be denied but which needs assistance. “We have to remedy the condition we’re in.   We have found the bottom and there’s no place to go but up.” Do not be discouraged, says Farrakhan.  “There is a way out of all this.”   A unity of leadership that spans the slave-era languages of the Diaspora, English, French and Spanish.   A unity brought together by the condition of the people and the direction the country is taking, and coming together in the  form of the Millions More Movement For Change on the 10th Anniversary of the Million Man March in October 2005.
It is to be a physical representation of a change of mind that is joining the leadership of different political stripes.  “The NAACP board is 100% in support” and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference “wants to work with us to create a movement,” said the minister,   saying also that Coretta Scott King and the Conference of Black Mayors, the “brilliant” Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, were all supporters as well.  “The family is coming together because we need to save our people.”
Farrakhan reminded the assembled that, “When the poor get together the rich fall off our backs and they don’t like that”, and this is a time to be ready.  “They’ve knocked us down in the past but not this time…  There is a balm in Gilead, our unity is the balm.”
“The minister’s message was right on the mark,” said community activist Bruce Green a few days after the meeting. “The community is so scattered with everyone looking out for themselves that they’re taking us off one by one.  Bob Marley was right when he sang ,’They don’t want to see us unite, they don’t want to see us live together.'”  A participant in the Million Man March, Green contends that the effort caused change in the community, “a lot of serious commitments were made and promises were kept.”
“The Millions More Movement is necessary to bring nationalists and politicians together,” continued Green. “The plight of black people is the important part of our situation.  If you want to change the neighborhood, it has to be street by street and block by block. We see the common goal and work toward its solution.  This is the beginning.”
            David Mark Greaves