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Community Chest: Fela Barclift Founder and Director, Little Sun People

Editor, Our Time Press
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Community Chest: Fela Barclift Founder and Director, Little Sun People

To provide an excellent childhood education that particularly includes a well-developed curriculum imbued with cultural connections and important information relative to young children of color that will create a strong sense of personal identity, purpose and confidence at all times.

This is the mission statement for Little Sun People, a prodigious child care center located in Restoration on Herkimer Street. Equipped with a robust curriculum, a child-centered environment and a faculty that leads with love, Little Sun People is a proven front-runner among preschools in our community, a special place that seeks to enrich not just the children, but to reach through the children into the community and the world.

The Founder and Director of LSP is Fela Barclift. Born in Cairo, Georgia and raised from an infant in Bed-Stuy, Fela remembers hearing Malcolm X on television as a child, noting that experience as a big part of what sowed the seeds of self-determination into her fabric. “I heard him speak on television when I was 11 and I was so inspired by listening to him. Every time he was on television I’d be trying to watch and listen. Hearing his words helped to lead me to look for African-centered organizations in my community.”

Her search eventually led her through the doors of the East Organization and into the role of teacher at Uhuru Sasa Shule (Freedom Now School). She was one of the school’s first teachers, teaching the girls even while she was just a freshman in college herself. In time, Fela left Uhuru Sasa and returned full-time to college. She was diligent in her studies and wanted to become a lawyer. However, instead of going into law, Fela got married and started a family. When her first born was ready for early child care education, Fela began to seek out schools that fit her child’s needs both academically and culturally. Unable to find such a space, and with the luck of having an empty floor in her family’s brownstone on Jefferson Street and Tompkins Avenue, Fela decided to create her own kind of early child care education. She is now and has always been dedicated to instilling values in our children at a young age. “It is so important for the early stages of childhood education because that is the foundation and if that isn’t strong then everything else is weak as far as I’m concerned. And a weak identity and a weak self-image will reflect throughout a person’s life. So, I really wanted my daughter to have a positive image of herself.”

Little Sun People opened in 1981. There were four children in her first class. Pretty soon, what started as a parent fulfilling a personal child care need became a labor of love for Fela. “I didn’t think about it as a school, I just thought child care, but I knew that it was going to be African-centered and I’m going to help my child form a positive and a beautiful image of herself so that she knows who she is in this world and what her potential is.”

The school lasted in that brownstone until 1985 when Fela moved the institution into its current space in Restoration. It’s been there ever since. Now in its 38th year, Little Sun People is still using perseverance, consistency, love and commitment to guide our community’s children in the right direction. “I think the secret of our longevity is that I never went into this work as just a job. This is a passion for me and it is my contribution. I couldn’t have gotten a better opportunity to do work where I feel a sense of personal and soul satisfaction. I feel like I am contributing to my community. I’m doing positive and meaningful work, and it gives me a reason to get up every day. At Little Sun People, we respect, we honor and we love and emulate people of African heritage. We believe in us and we teach that to our children.”

BROOKLYN WOMEN LEADERS LAUNCH “BROOKLYN WOMEN FOR CUOMO”, ENDORSE GOVERNOR CUOMO FOR 3RD TERM

Editor, Our Time Press
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BROOKLYN WOMEN LEADERS LAUNCH “BROOKLYN WOMEN FOR CUOMO”, ENDORSE GOVERNOR CUOMO FOR 3RD TERM

Women Leaders Across Brooklyn Launch “Brooklyn Women For Cuomo” and Praise The Governor’s Proven Record Advancing Women’s Rights & Creating a Fairer, More Equal New York – $15 Minimum Wage, Strongest Paid Family Leave Policy in the Country, Landmark “Enough is Enough” Law, First-in-the-Nation Protections to Prevent Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Excelsior Scholarship, Highest MWBE Goal in the Nation, First Ever NYS Council on Women & Girls, Education Equity, Record Investments in Public Education at $27 Billion, Toughest & Smartest Gun Laws in the Country and the $1.4 Billion Vital Brooklyn Initiative

– Brooklyn women leaders launch “Brooklyn Women For Cuomo” and stand with Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in recognition of his strong record of proven, progressive accomplishment for women and girls across New York and endorse him for re-election. While Donald Trump and ultra-conservative Republicans are trying to roll back women’s rights, the members of the Senate and Assembly praised the governor’s leadership in creating a fairer and more equal New York, including raising the minimum wage to $15, passing the strongest paid family leave plan in the country, enacting the most aggressive public university sexual assault policy in the nation, championing legislation to remove guns from the hands of domestic abusers and delivering first-in-the-nation protections to prevent sexual assault in the workplace.

Additionally, the Brooklyn elected officials applauded the Governor’s record of results for families and communities, including the Excelsior Scholarship, highest in the nation MWBE goal, safeguards for women’s reproductive health rights, first ever New York State Council on Women and Girls, record investment in public schools as well as education equity, and the toughest and smartest gun laws in the country.

Public Advocate Letitia James said, “As our governor, Andrew Cuomo has been fighting back against Donald Trump and his draconian policies that will send us back to the days when women had fewer rights and no privileges. He is invested in the future of this state. Education equity, more women and minority owned businesses participating in our economy, taking firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers.”

Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams Announce Cross-Endorsement in Brooklyn

Editor, Our Time Press
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Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams Announce Cross-Endorsement in Brooklyn

Following the announcement, the two greeted voters in Prospect Park and canvassed the nearby neighborhood.

NEW YORK, NY — Democratic candidate for governor Cynthia Nixon today endorsed Jumaane Williams for New York State Lieutenant Governor. Williams also announced his endorsement of Nixon. Nixon and Williams are both running in the September 13th primary.

“Jumaane and I are both running insurgent, people-powered campaigns, and by coming together today, we are making that coalition of everyday New Yorkers even stronger,” said Cynthia Nixon. “New Yorkers are tired of the unequal, broken, status quo. Right now, we have two criminal justice systems in New York State: one for Kalief Browder, and one for Harvey Weinstein. While Jumaane fought against stop-and-frisk, Governor Cuomo broke his promise to the Browder family that he would pass legislation to eliminate cash bail. While Jumaane has fought for decades to reduce gun violence, our current Lt. Governor had a A+ rating from the NRA when she served in Congress.”

“This is a defining moment for our state,” said Jumaane Williams. “We have the opportunity to elect New York’s first female governor who’s from the LGBTQ community, and New York’s first lieutenant governor who’s the Black son of immigrants with tourettes. We are principled progressives and an historic team who will combat Trump’s hateful agenda and Cuomo’s complacency that threatens to eclipse the progress New York has made on so many fronts, including the LGBTQ community, immigrants, women’s rights and communities of more color. Together, Cynthia and I will advance an agenda that makes New York a progressive beacon. And together, we’ll create a New York for the many, not the few.”

This cross-endorsement adds to a growing group of insurgent candidates, running people-powered campaigns to take out centrist, establishment Democrats, coming together to make their coalitions even stronger.  Cynthia has also cross-endorsed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Jessica Ramos, New York State Senate candidate in the 13th District; Julia Salazar, New York State Senate candidate in the 18th District; and Robert Jackson, New York State Senate candidate in the 31st District.

 

 

Get Civic-Minded, a Monthly Conversation about the Community

Akosua Albritton
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Get Civic-Minded, a Monthly Conversation about the Community

A mix of younger and mature adults, men and women, Caribbean, African-American and Euro-American people were present for the July 28, 2018 Get Civic-Minded monthly meeting held at MS 61. These meetings give St. Assemblywoman Diana Richardson (43 A.D.) the opportunity to not only to be an elected representative engaging with her constituents but be an itinerant political science professor. It was evident her seminars were having a positive effect from the thoughtful and shrewd comments that were voiced by this body of some thirty people.

“The point is your voice and your vote matters. Don’t believe otherwise. It is essential to study the numbers,” explained the assemblywoman. In the 43rd Assembly District, there are 87 election districts. Each election district is a gold nugget of information about voting characteristics: how many people are registered with a particular political party, how many people vote, how many did not vote and how each person voted is revealed. These statistics determine who the elected will give to. This giving comes in the form of speed bumps, traffic signs and lights, street cleaning, block party permits and police surveillance.

In the 43rd Assembly District, there are approximately 125,000 to 128,000 registered voters. However, 10% actually get out to the polls. This means between 1,250 – 1,280 people are making decisions for the other thousands of people. The most recent election was for the House of Representatives 9th District which involved a race between incumbent Yvette Clarke and new face-on-the-scene Adem Bunkeddeko. The incumbent offered a telephone town hall to her constituents rather than a live and personal gathering. Bunkeddeko’s major contention was that Clarke’s lack of legislative activity throughout her time in office. The 9th Congressional District has approximately 600,000 residents of which 70,000 are registered Democrats. The voting results were 3,500 for Clarke and 2,800 for Bunkeddeko.

Assemblywoman Richardson and other members of the NYS Assembly have several responsibilities. One of which is “to bring her or his district to the US Representatives.” Richardson explained at the meeting, “I could not do so because the leadership ought to be visible to her constituents.” This is a statement full of angst because Richardson recognizes Mrs. Una Clarke as her political mentor. Rather, Richardson may reveal to Rep. Clarke: “The constituents of the 43rd A.D. are very angry with you due to some decisions you’ve made. Hence, it’s difficult to bring them into your fold.”

The assemblywoman recognizes flaws in the people’s actions, too. “We tend to start a fight but not finish,” stated Richardson. This statement refers to the communities of color having a legitimate gripe about municipal services, social standing or a specific promise made but not kept, yet not having the will to carry on negotiations or struggle to bring the service unit into existence. Any pushback from the government or the reality of the government’s pace can have an issue lose steam.

As the voting season heats up, the assemblywoman revealed that she’s keeping a low profile or as she says, “I haven’t been answering the phone from any elected official because I’m not siding with anyone given the 43rd A.D. has not received the funds to carry out the proposed plans.” The proposed plans are laid out in the Vital Brooklyn Plan that she submitted on behalf of the district. It has been approved and the funds allocated for it but the funds have not been released. This situation had her bring up “Home Rule Authority.” Home Rule Authority as defined by Bob Reed, director of the Better Government Association, “Basically, it gives communities more control in both how they finance and how they will run their communities.” How Home Rule is relevant to the City of New York is the fact that Brooklyn has the highest population in the city and in the state, yet the New York City and New York State legislature control Brooklyn’s finances and how the funds are to be spent.

The Get Civic-Minded meeting moved into the study of the upcoming political campaigns. It was in this part of the meeting that community residents eagerly revealed their political astuteness. The first campaign discussed was the NYS Senate primary which is slated for September 13, 2018 rather than September 11th in order to observe the 2001 attacks upon Lower Manhattan.

The relevant race for the 43rd A.D. is between St. Senator Jesse Hamilton and Zelnor Myrie.

Zelnor Myrie is a lawyer who knows his way around the New York City Council. Myrie is running as a “real Democrat to protect and expand affordable housing.”

For the governor’s seat the contenders are Governor Andrew Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon. Though considered a newbie, Cynthia Nixon is an actress, an activist and known to be progressive in her politics. The latest polling has Cuomo leading significantly ahead of Nixon.

For Lt. Governor it is C.M. Jumaane Williams and Cathy Hochul, the incumbent. The meeting attendees believe Jumaane Williams’ best bet is to run for Borough President, Public Advocate or Comptroller because he hasn’t done much in upstate New York to be recognizable beyond New York City. Possibly, Williams would gather more steam and recognition by running for NYS Senate or Assembly.

For St. Attorney General it is Letitia James, Sean Patrick Maloney, Alicia Eaves and Zephyr Teachout. Letitia James is seen as trying to move too soon from an exceptional post. Sean Patrick Maloney is a US Congressman who said he will run for Congress should he lose the St. Attorney General race. Alicia Eaves of Buffalo, NY is a law professor and has declared she will not take corporate money. Zephyr Teachout believes that “Trump’s Presidency poses an existential threat to our democracy and we’ve got to fight it with every legal tool we have, including going after his business empire.”

For St. Assembly in the 43rd, it is Diana Richardson running unopposed. In her first term in office, she was able to get six pieces of legislation passed.

For District Leader it is Geoffrey Davis running unopposed.

For State Comptroller, it is Thomas P. DiNapoli running unopposed.

After studying the candidates, Richardson went into a study of the New York State Senate. There are 63 Senators in the  New York State (NYS) of which 23 are mainline Democrats and 8 Democrats who are former Independent Democratic Caucus (IDC) members. The IDC was disbanded in April 16, 2018. The 31 Democrats are unified under Senator Stewart Cousins. Senator Simcha Felder (D) has voted for Republican leadership of the NYS Senate since he was elected in November 2012 and ran on the Republican, Conservative, and Democratic lines. This results in 32 Senators  voting Republican, making the NYS Senate Republican led.

 

 

 

On Education: If you are waiting on a judge to rule that your child should be able to read & write effectively by the 12th grade, well…

Michael Johnson
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On Education: If you are waiting on a judge to rule that your child should be able to read & write effectively by the 12th grade, well…

“Michigan judge rules kids don’t have a fundamental right to literacy”

 “Some folks,” as one Brooklyn NY elder once told the teenage me, “are focusing on the ice cubes in the glass, even as they are melting!” If parents are waiting on a judge to rule that their children should be able to read and write by the 12th grade, then sad to say, but the battle is already lost. I have not spoken to the judge, but I imagine that several questions & concerns may have entered his mind:

  • How can a child spend 12-14 years in an “educational system” and end up not being able to read? Since children are normally inquisitive learners (ever chased a toddler around the house), language acquisition is a “natural” event and given the number of years available to accomplish literacy, there would almost need to be an antiliteracy plan in place for a child to be semi- or fully illiterate at the end of such a long process!
  • The now-illiterate teenager would have been exposed to large numbers of professional school district personnel, teachers, support staff, reading specialist, administrators who were responsible for making him literate. Did any of these professionals: lose their jobs, were suspended, demoted, lose pay, have their licenses and certifications revoked?
  • When the child was in 1st, 3rd, 7th, 9th and 11th grades, did anybody notice that the child could not read? If so, what radical intervention actions were taken; like putting the best, most effective teachers in front of the literacy-weakest students? Extra mandated 2 hours of school? A “reading for fun” rewards program? Providing free home/family libraries? SYEP summer “learning to read” jobs?
  • And especially scary is if the child graduated from high school how on earth did they accomplish that goal being semi- or fully illiterate? (employers & college officials have been asking that question for years!)
  • How did the parents of children who could not read in the 2nd, 4th, 8th and 10th grades respond when they found out their children could not read? How did the local, state and federal political leaders respond, the “woke” folks, the civic and religious leaders in the communities where these children live; what did they do in the face of a clear crisis?
  • What role did the federal, state and local governments play in continuing to fund school systems annually (including additional funding specifically for reading intervention services) when these districts were not successfully producing an outcome for which they were being paid. And,
  • What statutes, laws, labor contract (or political) agreements have the above entities and both major political parties put in place that would allow for educators to keep their jobs, get increases, even paid to not work, in the face of clear teaching literacy incompetence? How did schools fail to fulfill a fundamental institutional minimum mandate, the very reason for their existence?
  • It seems that the “illiterate group” is concentrated in specific zip codes, neighborhoods, schools, on children of color, poor children and the children of parents with missing political clout and organizational strength. Meanwhile, the children of entitlement flourished in the school system. And so obviously, when it chooses to do so, the educational system could teach children to read and write before they reached the 12th grade!

Parents, it is you who must build a love of books, reading and writing in your child. My mother only stepped onto a college campus to attend a child’s graduation ceremony. Daily, she traveled a long distance by subway to work a very exhausting domestic worker job. As a single parent, she then had to come home, cook and maintain her own home. And although she was often tired from a day of maintaining two homes, she somehow found the strength at the end of the day to read to me during my baby-through-toddler stages. Being read to daily, despite her personal exhaustion, eventually as an adult, took on for me, the meaning of an act of love.

In my elementary school days, I met her at the IRT Eastern Parkway subway stop every month as she labored to carry a heavy shopping bag of magazines destined to be trashed by her employer. I looked forward to, and cherished those month-old copies of Life, The New Yorker, Look, Natural History and National Geographic magazines! My mom taught me to read, exposed me to books long before I started school. Every summer school break, I had mother assigned reading and writing goals to meet; and at some point, in my preadolescent life, those exercises became self-motivationally initiated. It was not that my mother held any animosity toward the public school or judicial systems. It’s just that she did not fully trust them with matters of literacy and her child; and so, like all good education parents, she took (reading & writing) matters into her own hands.

Michael A. Johnson has served as a public schoolteacher, Science Skills Center director, principal, and a school district superintendent. He also served as an adjunct professor of Science Education in the School of Education at St. John’s University. He recently published a book on school leadership: Report to the Principal’s Office: Tools for Building Successful High School Administrative Leadership… http://reporttotheprincipalsoffice.net/.

 

 

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