“Brooklyn is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, so it’s especially offensive that not only did this reprehensible anti-Semitic act occur in our borough, but at Holocaust Memorial Park, a peaceful place of reflection that memorializes the millions of lives lost due to this very kind of hatred. The Holocaust showed the depth to which humanity can sink, and incidents like these remind us that those who use hate, vandalism and violence to vilify others still walk among us and need to be separated from society. But Brooklyn’s diversity is our strength, and ultimately there is more that unites us than divides us. That’s why we must remain vigilant in condemning hatred and discrimination against anyone—there’s no place for it in Brooklyn or anywhere in the world. I have every confidence that the NYPD will do everything in its power to track down and apprehend the thugs responsible. And, in addition to their punishment, the perpetrators should be made to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan or the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. to learn about the atrocities of the Holocaust and to understand the depth of their ignorance.”
Council Member Williams’ Statement Regarding Citywide Shootings On National Night Out
BROOKLYN, NY, August 8, 2012: Council Member Jumaane D. Williams (D-Brooklyn), co-chair of the Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, released the following statement in response to gun violence incidents that took place last night citywide. This includes a triple shooting at the Agnes Haywood Playground in Gun Hill, with all three victims being teenagers. In East Flatbush, three men were shot on East 46th Street. In Harlem, three people were hit on Frederick Douglass Boulevard while another was shot on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. In East New York, one man was hit in the torso on Atlantic Avenue. These shootings took place on the day, National Night Out, an annual anti-crime event to advance police-community relations, was celebrated . “The madness of this shooting spree knows no bounds; even National Night Out is not a timeout from gun violence. Once again, there seems to be no corner of this city right now that is truly safe from guns and the young men who are foolishly and brazenly brandishing them, as if this is a video game. These shooters are not only providing excuses for the NYPD’s ineffective but emotionally satisfying stop, question and frisk policy, they are stealing lives. Our community must demand greater accountability from our own, and we must advance policing strategies that strengthen neighborhood relations with the NYPD, furthering the great work done by efforts like National Night Out. In addition, government needs to support efforts like CeaseFire to fully address this crisis. I am for additional police on the ground and better policing strategies, but the NYPD cannot do it alone. “My prayers for recovery go to the victims and their families of last night’s shootings. We all must assure them that our commitment to reducing gun violence has never been more resolute. We can and will achieve better policing and safer streets for all New Yorkers.”
View From Here: Unconscionable Acts of Violence
By David Mark Greaves
On the Social Scene …
Let’s be clear here: President Barack Obama must be re-elected and the thought of a Mitt Romney Presidency is enough to chill a soul, and yet the one percent — like old movie western claim-jumpers, is setting about the theft of the nation “all nice and legal-like.” They are shamelessly buying the levers of power they don’t already own to protect their position, and ensure that their addiction to the accumulation of money is satisfied.
Voter suppression, voter ID laws and the Republican attempt to, once again, steal the Presidential Election are acts of social terrorism that are placing the highest ideals of a nation “of the people” at risk.
Brooklyn has people pouring in from all over the country. They should all call back home and tell them to get out the vote for Obama. As Our Time Press reader Shirley N. Bland wrote in a handwritten note to the paper about fighting voter suppression, “Let’s go forward my brothers and sisters, we have no time to waste.”
In the Community …
It is obvious that everyone wants to feel safe from random gunfire. This we had driven home again on last Friday afternoon when, across the street in Herbert Von King Park, a young man was chased by a group and shot in the buttocks. This is a horrible thing to be happening, we have to get it to stop, but the only villains that people are passionate about are these young men, and to a lesser extent, lax gun laws. But there is no passion for programs and services and infrastructure rebuilding projects to provide jobs and opportunities to combat the hopelessness of seeing a consumer-driven world and knowing that you have no place in it.
To grow up both poor and poorly parented, dropping out of school and seeing no chance of participating in the world that everyone else is enjoying is not the life one dreams for. Finding your role as the gangsta, running the street because “that’s what gangstas do.” So filled with the self-hate of knowing that the dreams they had can never come true, these young males explode in a paroxysm of power that comes from the holding and firing of a gun. This is how it feels to be behind the glass, looking at the American Dream that others are enjoying all around you, and finding your role as “the gangsta” who will kill others who remind him of himself and who has to be stopped.
The frustration comes in because there are so many other villains that go unsung, those pointing with an arrogant smugness.
People like Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire who enjoys being tough on the least among us, and whose passion really comes out when he opposes a “Living Wage” bill and his administration issues RFP’s that make decades-old community organizations unqualified for the work they‘ve been doing every day. His proposal for private industry takeover of jobs such as meter maids is just the latest in an ongoing destruction of the economic base of the black community. That’s one part of it, education is another.
In the Education Arena …
There is a history of Africans in education that stretches back a millennia and African-Americans were first practicing public education when it had to be hidden away in a shed, and practiced by the light of a lantern and in schoolhouses the freed people built with their own hands after Emancipation. And then working with hand-me-down readers during segregation, these teachers, devoted to the upliftment of the race from enforced illiteracy, taught generations of respected doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and engineers. And now that European men have taken over the moment-to-moment education of African-American children, suddenly no matter how much money they spend, they just can’t get it right. So they hire European consultants, pay them good tax dollars for all kinds of new methods and systems and either the mayor and others are earnest but very slow learners, or else everything is working perfectly, as evidenced by the school-to-prison and the school to dead-end pipelines, running at full capacity.
Low-Intensity Warfare
So while the 99% is kept busy with this low-intensity racial and class warfare, the 1% are busily taking steps to complete their control of the United States. With the Citizens United case, they can spend as much as they want on influencing elections, and with voter suppression laws potentially disenfranchising millions, they are getting into position to assume the powers and airs of a palace court and if they are successful, it will not end well for anyone, including them.
On Gabrielle Douglas …
Olympic gymnastic gold medalist Gabrielle Douglas is a self-made wonder who took her competitive and goal-setting nature and coupled it with a grueling work ethic to create her incarnation as the embodiment of a role model for young girls in general and African-American girls in particular. To have her hair become a focus of disdainful discussion, to have young girls take away from her Olympic performance the understanding that no matter how good you are or how hard you work, you still have to weave in some Brazilian hair to be a whole woman, is profoundly sad and yet another manifestation of the damage remaining from slavery and the self-hate it sired.
Sports: FOOTBALL STATE of MIND
By Eddie Castro
We are 27 days away from the 2012-13 NFL season as both the Giants and Jets gear up for the preseason which starts this week. It is the tale of two tapes for the Giants and Jets. The Giants will try to become just the 8th team in NFL history to repeat as Super Bowl Champions, the first team to repeat since the New England Patriots did it in 2004 and in 2005.
In Jets minicamp this year, it has been pandemonium since the arrival of quarterback Tim Tebow. There will be high expectations for both teams and it all starts this Friday in their first preseason game.
The New York Giants shocked the world once again last year defeating the best teams in the NFC including the Falcons, Packers and 49ers to win the Lombardi trophy. With key departures of Brandon Jacobs (signed with 49ers) and Mario Manningham (signed with 49ers), it will be a much more difficult task for the team to get back to the Super Bowl, let alone win the NFC East.
With the Tebow hype going on from the other side of town, and with a lot of the attention this off-season, the Jets have stolen away the back pages of many papers from the champs. It’s like the Giants’ Super Bowl victory has become an afterthought. If you ask Eli Manning, he has no problem with that. “We got a good team this year and I’m anxious to get going and see how far we can go,” Manning said. “The other team in New York can eat up all the attention, I just want to be a better player.”
The Giants offense will be good, however, there will be a lot of speculations with their receiving corps. Victor Cruz had a sensational breakout year with the G-Men. Now that teams know what he’s capable of doing, we can all look for several double coverages on him from opposing teams.
Hakeem Nicks is still nursing a broken foot, so Cruz may very well be Manning’s number 1 target at the start of the campaign. If Cruz can make the adjustment with defenses playing him different, we will see more salsa dances at the stadium this year. Their defense will be dynamic as always with Jason Pierre-Paul, O.C. Umenyiora and Justin Tuck leading that ferocious pass rush. The defending champs have the toughest strength of schedule of any team in the NFL this year with games against the Steelers, Packers, Ravens and 49ers — all were playoff teams last year. We’ll see if that plays a factor in the win/loss column come January.
As far as the J-E-T-S goes, aside from acquiring Tebow in a trade with the Denver Broncos, there have been speculations whether there will be a quarterback controversy at Jets camp. According to Tebow and Mark Sanchez, there’s an understanding between the two about their roles on the team. Tebow was brought in to fill in what the Jets were so successful in doing 2 years ago and that’s RUNNING THE BALL!!!
In 2010, the Jets ran the ball and displayed “wild cat” plays over 70 times. In 2011, the Jets ran the wild cat a total of 12 times last season. The Jets did not get any big-time acquisitions, but they do have some promising rookie receivers like Stephen Hill who will bring a vertical dimension the Jets haven’t had at wide-out since the days of Braylon Edwards. There are high hopes for Hill. The biggest acquisition for Gang Green would have to be the signing of Tony Sparano. Sparano was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins for 4 seasons. Now he will fill in as the offensive coordinator of the Jets. With his unbelievable wild cat packages, Sparano can help Tebow, Sanchez and the rest of the gang get back to the two AFC Championship runs they had in 2010 and 2011. The Jets had a disappointing end of the season and missed the playoffs last year. For now, there has been no Super Bowl guarantee by coach Rex Ryan; he did lose 100 pounds during the off-season to enlighten Jets fans. It appears to be a “now-or-never” year for the team.
Sports Notes: (Olympics Swimming) Missy Franklin dominates once again capturing her 4th Gold medal. (Basketball) The U.S. basketball team dominates Argentina and prepares for the medal round as they battle with Australia. Winner meets the winner of the Brazil/Argentina game. (Baseball) The Yankees look to try to get things back on track as they wrap up a four-game series today at Detroit vs. the Tigers. Yanks then head back home to begin a 3-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays. It has been a struggle for the Mets since the All-Star break; they hope to change their luck a bit against the rival Atlanta Braves. (Preseason Football) The Giants play the Jaguars and the Jets play the Bengals, both games on Friday night. 2012 Olympics close this Sunday.
