Blood, bread and order.

Blood, bread and order.

No sleep tonight. It's in the air, again. At 9, just at the start of
the Celtic game, two .40 caliber guns engaged in a running battle
along the Gaza strip, aka Howard ave, Bainbridge n Chauncey. A massive
police presence followed. Then at 1:15 am, a .9mm rang out. Same
location.
In the hood, we're as close to the general breakdown of order as a
community can get (without curfew).
That got me thinking, what would the general breakdown of order look
like in the hood? Remember, David Paterson is entertaining the total
shutdown of state government, a scenario he said would lead to chaos.
Major investors are voicing their fears, openly talking on cnbc about
investing in guns, barbed wire and land.
In civilized orders, after the breakdown of the state, civil society
should be the next line of defense against anarchy. The houses of
worship, qualified citizens from all disciplines and the non profit
sector should be able to continue some semblance of order.
But in the hood, houses of worship don't even talk to each other,
qualified citizens are too often too self involved and the non profits
don't think far ahead enough to plan these contingencies out.
That, in turn, leaves the next organized level if society, the gangs,
in charge. Doubt it? They've already dropped out of society, formed
their own culture(s), language(s), marked territory and communicate
much, much better than traditional civic society.
So, how would you live in a time when Bloods deliver the bread, make
laws and control access to your block? Scared? Good. I'm trying to
and i'm not making any of this up.
If you really care, pass this around and get involved yourself.

Sent from my iPod

Today's Daily News

People are dying in the streets: Violence is up in parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx

ERROL LOUIS

Thursday, June 3rd 2010, 4:00 AM

Residents in my Brooklyn neighborhood - and many others like it around the city - are grappling with a stunning rise in violent crime that must rank near the top of the list of items Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council address in these final weeks before the June 30 budget deadline.

The 10 precincts in the Brooklyn North command have collectively seen a 19% rise in murders so far this year, up to 43 killings from 36, and 91 reported rapes, up 44% from the same period last year.

Something similar is going on in the eight precincts of Queens South, where the 25 homicides so far this year are a 39% increase over last year's 18.

In the Bronx, murders are up 11% compared to last year and rapes have increased 15%.

The oft-given explanation from City Hall and 1 Police Plaza is that years of driving down crime figures mean that small increases are inevitable.

That explanation - the bureaucratic equivalent of "move along folks, nothing to see here" - provides no comfort. In some cases, it's not even true.

As my Daily News colleague Rocco Parascandola recently reported, East New York's 75th Precinct has seen sizable jumps in murders, rapes, robberies and felony assaults. And homicides in the precinct are up 20% compared with 2001, the year Bloomberg took office, suggesting nearly a decade of progress lost on public safety.

More striking than the numbers are the shocking particulars of the crimes.

Brooklyn recently witnessed the chilling spectacle of 16-year-old Al-Taya Conyers, the daughter of a correction officer, screaming "No! No! No!" and begging for her life shortly before being executed at point-blank range near the Wyckoff Gardens housing project by 18-year-old Kendale Robinson, police say.

A few weeks back, Inspector Jeffrey Maddrey, commander of the 75th Precinct, ended up in a gunfight with teen gangsters while out on a mission of mercy, searching for a lost 7-year-old.

And Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has busted several sex-slavery rings run by alleged Bloods gang members that imprisoned girls as young as 15 and forced them into prostitution.

Alongside the big-headline stories is the dreary, ongoing toll of young men and women dying violently around the city. I track many of them on my blog, savebrooklynnow.blogspot.com.

The good news is that communities rocked by the upsurge in violence are fighting back.

There was standing room only at a public safety forum held by the Rosa Parks Democratic Club in Crown Heights shortly after shots were fired near the Washington Temple Church and lodged in the door of the house of worship.

More than 100 residents were disappointed that the new commander of the 77th Precinct, Capt. Elvio Capocci, was a no-show at the meeting; close cooperation between communities and cops is an absolute must if we hope to beat back the tide of violence.

Everybody agrees that the crucial ingredient in public safety is active, creative partnerships between law enforcement and block associations, tenant groups, pastors, merchants, principals and unaffiliated civic elders who hold neighborhoods together.

In too many places, the binding has frayed and communities are coming unglued. It's time to reestablish and broaden our police-community alliances and prepare for a long, difficult season of dialing back the violence before it spirals completely out of control.

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.

BED STUY NEEDS ONE OF THESE...

Work station

The Sign Language Tree, done in conjunction with a local grade school.

Bahiyyah at the "Flubber" station

Last Sunday, we took Bahiyyah to a place I found while strolling through lower Manhattan. The Children's Museum of the Arts, 182 Lafayette Street, is a great place for kids to go and burn creative calories. It reminds me of the Brooklyn Children's Museum but only for creative arts. She had a ball, mingled and for parents, bring a book and cool off waiting for your kid(s) to finish in the lounge at the front. If you haven't been already, check it out. Highly recommended. Or, for Bed Stuy, what do we need to do to get one started? If there is one already, let me know.

Pilot Project.

Everyone's familiar with MAARUF's focus on leadership development for young people. We're about to begin a new phase of the effort. We've taken on a project which, we hope, will encourage an at risk youth to change tracks. We were approached by his mother after his second arrest for a minor offense. We've established contact with his probation officer and will design a series of leadership activities designed to expose him to local level civics. The general approach to a community service sentence is a mop and broom, an approach that does not build the character we need in our young people. We hope that through this effort we can have a new alternative to offer at risk youth.

Bahiyyah's quote of the day...

"This is the life!"  (@  yamashiro on myrtle / washington with a piece of salmon roll in her hand.  Did I mention she doesn't have a job?)

PRODUCT REVIEW

It's official. SHE CAN REEEEAD!!!! She read a book full of sight word sentences today without any help from me. Scholastic makes a series of phonics based beginner's readers that can be bought at Barnes & Noble. Another method I bought, "Your Baby Can Read" does work, if you favor the whole word approach to reading. It uses the whole word and recognition of it using pictures and sound. I preferred the "Click N Kids" model because it's phonics based. By using phonics, I feel, the child is better equipped to read because they learn word structure - something the whole word approach doesn't address.

Bed Stuy's own, "Dazzle Divaz"!!!

I met Bernice Foster Malone in Stuyvesant Park a few weeks back and couldn't wait to post this one. She's owner and founder of Dazzle Divaz. This is more than her business, it's her passion. It shows what can happen when we extend our concerns beyond our own kids - we just might end up with something to benefit all of them. Having a daughter myself, ideas like this, where little girls can engage and have clean fun, are more than welcome. We must support Bernice and bring out other ideas to enhance kid life in Bed Stuy. Thank you Bernice!

Leadership Development in Focus

The Bridge Street Development Corporation and Project for Public Spaces have partnered with MAARUF in a new project, planning a new Malcolm X - Fulton Street plaza. The first phase will consist of survey taking. In the photo above, (left to right) Jamera Mcneil, Dante Davis, Aurash Khawarzad and Karen Levy are doing pedestrian surveys aimed at getting community opinion on what it would like to see in a newly designed space. For MAARUF, this is our way of getting our young people involved in meaningful neighborhood change - being in on the decisions that will impact how we all live and share space.

Bahiyyah's first piano performance.

Just thought I'd share this. The program, "Upbeat Bed Stuy" teaches once a week in her daycare center. They're currently reaching out for volunteers to teach with them. They're excellent.

Tech Review

In this new category, I'll be reviewing technology for kids that I've used or purchased.

Bahiyyah is 4 and recognizes letter sounds. I've been looking for an online resource to get her reading to the next level. I googled the category and several resources came up. I went into "Click N Kids" and what I found was remarkable.

The user friendliness of the program is outstanding. Your child can operate the mouse controlled commands themselves and they're taught to identify letters corresponding to their sound on the keyboard. In the setup, you create a desktop icon for easy access to the program.

The graphics are great and effective at communicating the lessons.

Price makes it even more attractive. You have the option to make three $20.00 payments or pay all at once.

The lessons are based on your child's skill level. Because of her familiarity with letters and their sounds, she started at lesson 10 out of a total of 100 lessons.

She's taken to it, is doing great with it and building confidence. I recommend it.

Leadership Development In Focus

We're pleased to announce our first official leadership trainee, Jamera McNeil, sophomore at Brooklyn College Academy. As part of her community service requirement for credits, MAARUF Strategies Inc has agreed to allow her to serve as our youth liaison between MAARUF and local civic groups. In her role, she and her parent will be attending meetings, such as Community Board #3's Bed Stuy Safety Task Force (above). The purpose is to introduce her to the network of local decision makers so that she will be an informed adult, ready to make informed decisions about her own life and her community's. This is just one of our continuing initiatives aimed at addressing the leadership deficit among our young people.

UPCOMING EVENT!!!!

2nd Annual SummerFest celebrating students, summer, and community!
Saturday, June 20th, 2009 from Noon to 3:00pm
The Urban Assembly Academy of Arts & Letters, 225 Adelphi St, Brooklyn, NY 11205 (between Dekalb and Willoughby in Fort Greene)  G train to Clinton-Washington; C train to Lafayette; R, N, D, Q trains to Dekalb.
Free and open to the public, SummerFest invites all to this outdoor festival featuring an exhibition of student artwork, student performances, face painting, and games for all ages, including a dunk tank!  Enjoy our "Taste of Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Food Fest" with food from: Bacchus, Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, Chez Lola & Chez Oscar, Graziella's, Habana Outpost, iCi, Island Pride Restaurant, Kif, Kum Kau, La Villa Pizzeria & Restaurant, Mont Blanc Dessert, Olea Mediterranean Taverna, Red Bamboo, Roosters Chicken Rotisserie, Ruthie's Restaurant of Brooklyn, and Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies.  Raffle items include a Park Slope YMCA family membership, a Giants football jacket signed by Carl Banks, 2 i-Pod nano's, and a digital camera!  Join us!  Questions?: (718) 222-1605 x3042 or view www.uaaal.org.

The Park..By Bahiyyah

I really enjoyed this one. It's Bahiyyah's version of "The Park". It's watercolor on white paper. I really like the glitter in the tree on the left. On the right is the slide. At top is the moon in purple alongside the sun.

UPCOMING EVENT: BENEFIT CONCERT FOR BROOKLYN BROWNSTONE SCHOOL.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.