NO PLACE FOR CHILDREN?

It was definitely in the air last night. As i sat n the stoop watching Bahiyyah play in front of the house with some of the kids from the barbecue two doors down, my gut picked up the danger. In my days working in the jails, I learned how to watch people's movements for signs of trouble. I noticed an unusual presence of gang members on Bainbridge n Howard around the bodega, staring down Howard toward Chauncey. The barbecue two doors down began to grow and there's been trouble at those events before. The streets were moving real funny (naahmean?). I was text-joking with a former co worker some lines from a famous Wu Tang album: "Feel hot at night...feel like somebody gonna get burnt tonight.."

I told B," we're going in in 5 minutes". She whined a little until I said it firmer. Twenty minutes after we came in, gunfire on the sidewalk next to the barbecue.

As the police were managing the crime scene, five more shots rang in from what sounded like the direction of Patchen, maybe near Macon or Decatur. My former co worker texted me that he heard 18-20 shots by Nostrand and Monroe.

As the nation celebrates the legacy of its soldiers, these street soldiers, urban insurgents really, are fighting their own war to establish a new republic. In this new republic, this new hood order, be sure, there is no place for children; not a decent one anyway.

We have three choices: run, stay and let them rule or build the next order with our own hands.

OPPORTUNITY IN CRISIS.

Just the other night, I saw the news report of a teenager killed in increasingly trendy Boerum Hill. Taya Conyers happens to be the daughter of my great niece's babysitter. This killing brought to the fore what's been pressing mmy mind for some years now: what are we gonna do? This killing happened against a backdrop of increasing instability, globally and locally, and we've only seen the beginning of it.
It's easy to give in to despair and fear at times like these but for those of us who haven't, this is a golden opportunity. If you like challenges, these times are for you. As black people, we must face the brutal fact that the prevailing culture is failing us, in every leading indicator including health and education.
Let's take this opportunity arising from the collapse of the old order (life on the fringes of liberal theory) and bring our best minds to bear on the next order that MUST prevail over our neighborhoods.

UPCOMING POETRY SLAM. $500 GRAND PRIZE!!!

http://brooklynslam.com/

UPCOMING EVENT!

The Urban Assembly Academy of Arts & Letters, an innovative public middle school in Fort Greene, is hosting its 3^rd Annual SummerFest on June 19^th from 12:00 to 3:00 for Brooklyn families. With student performances and work exhibitions, games for all ages (including a dunk tank!), face painting, and a Taste of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Food Fest, this day is a chance for the larger community to enjoy the season and build community while learning more about Arts & Letters and its students.

I'M A FAN OF...

SCHOLASTIC SIGHT WORD READERS.

NEW PARENTS ORGANIZATION FOR BED STUY?

Hey folks, it's been a while since i posted last. Activity hasn't slowed at all just the writing part.

What's been really interesting is the amount of really cool parents I've been meeting who are concerned with the lack of safe, constructive activities for our kids in Bed Stuy: neighbors who have been on our block for years but we rarely see each other because when it's time for our kids to play, we leave the neighborhood for points west - the slope, cobble hill, the heights and even the city.

Well, recent conversations have turned up the following conclusions:

• we can't go on like this much longer
• we won't go on like this much longer
• we must organize around our concerns

When I spoke to my neighbor today, I asked about forming an organization to structure activities, that we normally travel to, right here. She said that not only did she agree, but several more of her friends as well.

Stay tuned for the results.