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Parents Notebook: Home Works! During Summer and Beyond…

Aminisha Black
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The slower days of summer bring an opportunity for parents to begin using the home as a learning lab.  Parents are experienced at functioning in the real world, having skills for various workplaces.  We want our children to have Survival skills – and we want them to have a sense of purpose – their purpose, contribution.   It must start with Self.  We can no longer depend on a system that values profit over humanity to protect our children.  Parents allowing children to practice skills learned at home generates a feeling of being capable – the major ingredient of self-esteem.  Family and neighbors can play a role by assigning and rewarding tasks.   Home is the place to grow emotionally secure, confident youngsters who are capable of problem-solving and making life-supportive choices.

While February, being Black History Month, is always filled with programming that brings new heroes and heroines to light, summer can be a time to extend those discoveries from home base.  Roots Revisited developed and circulated a flyer “Elders/Ancestors/Inventors- Deserve Respect:” The flyer lists over 80 Black inventors with their invention. (Call 718-773-0246 or 718-778-0009, ext 17 for flyer) Youngsters could choose an invention of choice and research the inventor and circumstances associated with the invention. Using the invention as object of choice is important as it may provide clues to child’s stronger intelligences. And while your child’s school may or may not have included a Multiple Intelligence-oriented curriculum, parents must find ways to allow their child to grow.

1. Designate a weekly family night with hours that work for all family members. Use time for each to share what’s happening with them, assign weekly chores, acknowledge accomplishments, resolve disputes, plan family events. This activity will add to family cohesiveness, setting the stage for family to function as a team.

2. Have each family member select, read a newspaper or magazine article at a family meal and please plan at least one family meal per week.

3. Assign the responsibility for checking utility bills each month. You may want to develop a chart for monthly comparisons.

4. Have child read a recipe while you prepare the dish or have student read recipe and prepare dish.

5.  Have student compare prices on sales sheets, read directions on medication or household products.

6. Prepare and divide items on shopping list, allowing child or children to find items at market.

7. Provide a map and ask child to write directions to destinations.

8. Play word games –SCRABBLE, Puzzles, Word Search, etc.  These provide fun while building vocabulary and sharpening math skills.

9. Create a project that neighbors and neighborhood kids can join.

Please send ideas for summer projects at home and on the city blocks growing community during the summer.  Share your project and send ideas to parentsnotebook@yahoo.com.

PN Alerts!!

***Summer Tech Internship for H.S. girls –

an 8-week summer program embeds high school girls inside a technology company or university setting from 9-5 each day where they get hands-on experience in  computing concepts, programming fundamentals, mobile phone development, robotics and Web development and  design. The 2013 Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program will be offered in New York, Detroit and the San Francisco Bay Area. Applicants must be current high school sophomores or juniors and must commit to attending the full 8-week program  at 9am-5pm each day.  No background in computer science is required. Deadline for applying is April 15, 2013 at 11:59PM EST.  Visit www.girlswhocode.com for more information and to apply.

***Career Opportunities in Accounting Program at Long Island University Bklyn campus – program for high school juniors.  Program runs from Sunday, July 7- July 11. Free and includes accommodations in the LIU residence halls.  Deadline to apply – Saturday, April 20.  For more info and apply community@brooklyn.liu.edu. ***Resources for upcoming state exams – http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2011/release/

http://nationsreportcard.gov/testyourself.asp

***OTP readers are invited to participate in “The 45-Day Challenge” a program which is designed to make a difference by utilizing the tested and proven formula “it takes 21 days to form or change habits” for parents or grandparents  of youth 6 to 16 years to turn problems into projects and discover the youth’s strongest intelligences, connect youth with activities that stimulate and motivate resulting with tools for rearing Self-determining, Motivated, Achieving, Responsible, Team-oriented or SMART youth.  Adults grouped by age of child, meetings held by teleconference –   Admission: A problem to solve.  For more info and to register call 718-783-0059 or e-mail parentsnotebook@yahoo.com.

Malcolm Smith’s Fall from Power

Editor, Our Time Press
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State Senator Malcolm Smith

State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, who sided with an “independent” group to give control of the State Senate to Republicans, was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday with charges of wire fraud, extortion and bribery in an attempt to get onto the Republican ballot for mayor of New York City.   Republican City Councilman Daniel J. Halloran III and four Republican Party leaders were also arrested for their part in the conspiracy.  All have been released on $250,000 bail.

FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos

said that the six defendants were involved in three bribery schemes that saw tens of thousands of dollars change hands.

“The common thread was that evidence of the three schemes was mainly gathered by two participants: unbeknownst to the corrupt officials, these two were working for the FBI. One is a cooperating witness (CW), the other is an FBI agent working undercover and posing as a wealthy real estate developer.

“The fact is, while the CW and the undercover did great work, they did not have to twist any arms. The defendants were eager to take bribes or have bribes paid on their behalf.”

The corruption extended to Rockland County where, “in exchange for paying the bribes for Smith, the CW and undercover were promised a half-million dollars in state transportation funding for their Spring Valley real estate project”.

The FBI complaint shows elected representatives behaving as underworld mobsters with clandestine meetings in cars, restaurants,  hotel rooms and exchanges of envelopes of tens of thousands of dollars in cash.

In his statement, FBI Asst. Director Venizelos said that “City Councilman Daniel Halloran was paid more than $20,000 to arrange bribe payments to Bronx Republican Chairman Joseph Savino and Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone so they would grant the Wilson-Pakula letters for Smith.

“After a series of meetings to negotiate the price for their approval, Savino and Tabone each met with Halloran and the undercover—at separate times in the same restaurant—to receive their payoffs from the undercover. This was Valentine’s Day, but the way to their hearts wasn’t a box of chocolates or a dozen roses. It was cold hard cash in an envelope.

“When Tabone, was asked if he could deliver the Wilson-Pakula letter, he boasted to the undercover, “Nobody else runs the party. I run the party.”

“Clearly aware the scheme was illegal, Tabone patted down the undercover to see if he was wearing a recording device. He was—but Tabone was less skilled at conducting a pat-down than he was at conducting a shakedown.”    

Kirsten Foy Seeks Bed-Stuy Council Seat

Mary Alice Miller
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Kirsten Foy

By Mary Alice Miller

Community activist Kirsten Foy is running for the open 36th Council District being vacated by term-limited Al Vann. Running is “a natural extension of my previous service,” said Foy. “I’ve been an activist all my adult life – in protest politics, electoral politics, inside government and outside government. Whether it was fighting the rent-to-own industry, running food pantries out of his home church — Abiding Love Ministries— marching with SOS in Crown Heights dealing with the issue of violence, trying to change the NYPD stop-and-frisk policy, or tenant rights, Foy said his focus is ‘moving us forward in a progressive manner’. I think it’s time for a new generation of leadership with new ideas with a fresh perspective to deal with the problems facing our community today.”

Since he moved into the district more than a decade ago to raise his family, Foy said he has observed community needs and developed solutions to address them.

Foy said the city has not done enough to alleviate the pressures of water and property tax liens that impact people who have lived in their homes for 30-40 years. He said vulnerable people on fixed incomes are targeted “because it is in [the city’s] interests to move them out.” Foy’s solution is property tax abatements for small residential homeowners who have lived here all their lives “the same way we offer property tax abatements to big developers.”

For those who live in public housing, Foy said he would press to enforce a federal regulation mandating that a percentage of the NYCHA capital budget go towards developing employment and contracting opportunities for NYCHA residents.

“I have always fought for police accountability, but at the same time I have also fought for community responsibility,” said Foy on public safety. “The same way NYPD has Project Impact to allocate manpower and resources to high-crime areas, the city should use that same methodology for youth development.”

According to Foy, small business fines as well as personal tickets and traffic summonses are abusive. “I want to take away the perverse incentive the city has to use fines and fees to close the budget gap,” said Foy. How? By allocating each ticket and fine to the community board in which it was generated. In turn, the community board could use the funds to create small business loans and support needed services.

Foy wants to maintain Interfaith Hospital as a full-service facility. “We have to do what we can to maintain Interfaith as a viable institution,” he said. Regarding education, Foy believes co-locating charter schools is a “gross violation” of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. “You cannot maintain two separate systems of public accountability and ensure equality,” he said.

Foy was the National Director for the National Action Network’s Criminal Justice Initiative before he served as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and then-Director of Community Affairs in the Office of New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. Currently, Foy is a senior advisor to Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International President Lawrence J. Hanley.

The son of an African-American man from the South and a German-American woman from New York City, Foy has fought for civil rights, equal protection under the law and human rights for all. He is a minister, husband and father of three children residing in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Kirsten Foy has received the endorsements of Local 32BJ SEIU, UFCW Local 1500, PSC CUNY, the Progressive Caucus Alliance and the Working Families Party.

Who is Responsible for Unsavory Rap Lyrics? Rap Music Moguls Sound like the National Rifle Association: Blame everybody but us.

Mary Alice Miller
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Two decades after C. Delores Tucker called rap lyrics “pornographic filth”, the battle over a culture of incivility marketed to impressionable youth continues. Last week middle-age rapper Rick Ross generated outrage with lyrics that referenced a dangerous new street drug, slipping it in an unsuspecting woman’s drink, and raping her. The pushback was swift, even from within the music industry. But we have been here before.

Just a few weeks ago, Lil Wayne compared the brutal murder of Emmett Till with a violent sex act. Teenage Chief Keef — who can’t seem to get off probation – had a Twitter beef with another young rapper who was later shot to death. Last year, Too Short advised boys how to sexually abuse young girls in a magazine article. Though the hip hop industry has been dominated by males, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Nikki Minaj have brought their own unladylike messaging to the genre.

Time and time again the public has been offended. And artists defend their 1st Amendment right to say what they please, except when they go too far. It seems that uncivilized lyrics and behavior are part of hip hop’s marketing plan. But despite the insistence that hip hop clean up its act, artists and record executives push back, blaming parents, the community and radio stations for having more influence on young people than rap.

“I think that hip hop takes too much of the blame for some of these kid’s actions,” said Michael “Blue” Williams, a music mogul who has represented Cee Lo Green, Outkast and Nas. “I think that while there is a lot of hyper-exaggeration in the music, I think that a kid that doesn’t have a father and his mother is working 20 hours and he doesn’t have anything and he is trying to figure out how to help his mother out isn’t going to go out and get a gun and commit a crime because he heard it in a rap song. He’s going out because he is trying to improve his environment.”

Williams has stepped forward with Guns 4 Greatness, a privately funded gun buy-back/mentoring program that removed 115 guns off the streets this past weekend.  “What I would like to do is to offer him an opportunity to learn that there are other ways to improve that environment,” he said. “While music is an influence and has a strong impact, I think the reality is that connection to another person that they are not getting at home because they don’t have a father in more important and can have more of an impact.”

When pushed about hip hop’s relationship to violence Williams replied, “It’s not just hip hop. I get personally offended when people blame hip hop. Hip hop’s violent nature, so to speak, stems from a lot of grandiose postures. I think hip hop can take more responsibility, but we have to start changing our culture and taking a more proactive approach to get our people to a better position.” Williams said the American culture right now is completely involved in getting what they want quickly. “That is what American Idol and all these shows are about. They are trying to get quick rewards without a lot of work. That’s not real. I think we have to start teaching people that you have to do the work to get what you want to get.”

It’s not just American culture, though. Internationally known reggae artist Ed Robinson (with multi-decades in the business) said young people get the message of anti-violence through music, just like they get the message of violence through the music. “Don’t underestimate young people, they are very smart,” said Robinson.  When asked if it is the responsibility of other recording artists to carry a message of peace and anti-violence, Robinson said, “Yes it is”. Asked if he thought enough was being done, Robinson said, “No”.

More than a year ago, Ruff Ryders business consultant Geoffrey Atkins who has worked with DMX, Jadakiss and Swizz Beatz said, “Artists are artists. As a company we don’t tell artists what they should say or do. We don’t censor them. We’ve never done that. We came from the streets and we understand that the streets are all about. What we can to do so is inspire people who come from the streets to see there is other things that they can do.”

Atkins gave an overall assessment. “As far as music goes, everybody has their tastes… their likes and dislikes in music. I personally am a big jazz fan, but music is music. It’s creative,” said Atkins. “Anytime you have anything creative there is always going to be criticism of it – whether it is comedy, acting or music.”

But there is a bigger picture. Atkins took pride in Ruff Ryders being an independent label. “We are the only black-owned music company left the United States,” he said.  Atkins cautioned that there is a difference between an Indy and a major label. He saw what happened when “as rap or hip-hop grew, everyone was enveloped. All of a sudden all of the majors said, ‘We are going to buy this one out, we’re going to buy that one out. And if we are going to put an artist on the shelf, we put them on the shelf because they are not doing what we want them to do.’”

Atkins said that is why independence is critical. “We are in an industry where we contribute the basic money that is made in this industry, but we don’t have a distribution company,” said Atkins. “People are going to come to us with whatever music they have as independents, but what we are saying is that if you don’t have control over distribution you are not going to be able to change anything in the industry.”

Atkins referred to a DMX song called The Industry in which he “talks about how screwed up” it is. “The industry has always been one where they treated artists like slaves; they did basically what they were told to do,” said Atkins. “When you signed a contract as an artist back in the day, you were told you were going to do five albums and you’re going to make X amount of dollars. You are not going to make any more money until we recoup our money. So if you sign with a major label, you’re stuck. Most [artists] are going to do what [the record labels] want to do.”

“You need to look at who is making those decisions,” said Atkins. “Who are the real decision-makers? Who is behind this?”

“… Black Heroes” Evicted from Restoration Corp: Sonny Carson’s Organization Forced to Move

Stephen Witt
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Ali Lamont, Committee to Honor Black Heroes

By Stephen Witt

A bedrock Bed-Stuy grassroots community organization vowed this week to continue fighting the recent eviction from their Restoration Plaza office space amid rumors that the complex will be turned into a high-end hotel.

Meanwhile, the ongoing dispute between the two entities – both created as vital community resources- has civic leader sources questioning how does the increasingly gentrifying neighborhood both protect and grow the black professional and middle class while at the same time continue to advocate for the many local residents facing severe economic hardships.

“The Committee to Honor Black Heroes represents the DNA of the community that made the creation of Restoration possible,” said one source that like several sources spoken to for this story requested anonymity lest they get caught in the crossfire between the two sides in the dispute. “I understand the need to expand and do a hotel, but losing a root organization is a high price.”

The Committee to Honor Black Heroes (CHBH), which was founded by Sonny Carson, a community activist, Korean War veteran and neighborhood leader, was locked out of their offices by marshals on Feb. 19 following a lengthy landlord-tenant dispute.

Carson was one of the original board members that played an instrumental role in the creation of Restoration Plaza through a federally orchestrated public-private partnership brokered by U.S. Senator Bobby Kennedy in 1967.  Restoration’s original mandate held that local grassroots activists, policymakers and corporate entities work together to build the community.

As part of the deal, Carson was given an office space in the basement of Restoration Plaza to house CHBH.  After his death, Ali Lamont became the CHBH Chief Executive Officer and the office was moved up to the fourth floor, where it signed a lease to pay a nominal rent.

The office has long been a central location for grassroots advocacy to those struggling under economic hardship in the community. It also houses a unique and heart-wrenching historical photo and art collection depicting the horrors and aftermath of African-American slavery and segregation. This collection allegedly remains in the locked office.

Lamont is continuing to work on behalf of disenfranchised residents out of a temporary office on Macon Street and is continuing to fight the eviction with plans on taking the matter to federal court.

“I love everybody here, but I don’t love everybody’s politics,” said Lamont. “I want everybody to stay here and build the community. These developers are not God.”

Officials from the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation did not respond to several phone calls and e-mails at press time.

According to Restoration’s Web site, a majority of the board of directors have close ties to investment banks and Wall Street. At one time, Restoration controlled thousands of units of affordable housing in Central Brooklyn, but in recent years has sold and/or divested from many of these properties. At the same time, they have picked up lucrative contracts from the city and nonprofit organizations tied to Wall Street for workforce development and other social programs. Despite these programs, unemployment in Central Brooklyn remains extremely high – well exceeding the city, state and country’s unemployment rate.

The eviction is one of several at the Restoration Plaza complex located at 1368 Fulton, further fueling rumors that the board is looking to clear out tenants to make way for the first black-owned hotel in the borough.

“I’ve seen a lot of things changing in the last six or seven years,” said one former tenant source. “I heard through the grapevine that they want all the people out of the building and to turn it into a hotel. Several tenants including Con Ed, clothing stores and others have moved out and the space has never been reoccupied.”

Another source long active in the black community said they understand the importance of a black-owned hotel and when it comes to community development “more is better” but the source also had empathy for the CHBH fight to stay at Restoration.

“Sonny Carson was an ex-board member and they (CHBH) want to continue to facilitate for people in this community,” said the source.

“I was a college student when Restoration opened 40-plus years ago and its purpose was to centralize help for the community.”

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