Redhawk Native American Arts Coucil presented the 16th Annual Gateway to Nations NYC Native American Heritage Celebration this past weekend.Click Below for Audio Post Card:
View pow-wow-in-brooklyn-mp3
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A Pow-Wow Comes to Brooklyn
Redhawk Native American Arts Coucil presented the 16th Annual Gateway to Nations NYC Native American Heritage Celebration this past weekend.Click Below for Audio Post Card:
View pow-wow-in-brooklyn-mp3
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Eval Time! Barack Obama's 100 Days on the Job
A new president arrives at the Oval Office with a mandate from the electorate to do good things and fix lingering mistakes, and indeed, the faster the better. The new guy knows that the best time to do this is the first three months of the job when good will and public confidence are at their highest. It is also when the lets-get-to-work optimism of the campaign platform has not yet been tarnished by the mechanics of D.C or the inevitable stumbles of on the job training.
100 days are up and its time for a performance review of a man whose groundbreaking, generation molding, world captivating ascent to high office was more apotheosis than a election for so many. So now that we know that Barack Obama is grounded by gravity like the rest of us, how is he doing?
When he assumed his post 100 days ago our economy was free falling, our banks were failing and the car industry was pleading for a lifeline. Much of this is still happening. As I write this, shareholders of Bank of America, the leading financial institution backed by the treasury has ousted its chairman Ken Lewis. The government now owns the largest car company in the country, GM, as it glides into bankruptcy. The economy heralds its second quarter of contraction and unemployment continues to rise. Oh yeah, there’s swine flu too.
This news is not good and we may not have hit the nadir of the economic downturn, but overall we may not be in such bad shape overall. The bank situation and the future of the autos are still unfolding. In both cases, the correction or reality check was long in the making and will take time to settle. The resolution maybe one nationalized automaker and fewer banks. The economy has shown some signs of stability as consumer confidence has gone up and home sales perked last month.
But what about Obama’s performance during all of this? Much of the answer is in how you interpret whether he has kept his campaign promises and how well he has adjusted to the stickiness of developing events.
The president’s first big conquest, in typical 100 Day fashion, was the expansive stimulus package in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This passed congress with zero support from Republicans, becoming the first chapter in the myth of D.C bi-partisanship. It also became a refresher course in McCarthy era talking points for Right Wing pundits and GOP up-start aspirants. Meanwhile for the rest of America, it directs sorely needed money to stop municipal job losses, increase infrastructure projects and boost alternative energy ventures. Of course there is debate, some on the Left say its not enough and on the Right, a refusal to accept that federal money is not the answer, until they accept the money. In the end, it was victory for Obama’s plan for the future, but a defeat to the dream of good feelings between the parties.
Obama acted early on other campaign promises by issuing Executive Orders to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp and support carbon restrictions for autos in California. He addressed the conflict in Iraq by officially calling for a drawn down in troops, and in turn, to the dismay of anti-war activist, a commitment to reallocating troops and resources to Afghanistan.
Such action further revealed a pragmatist side of President Obama that was often out shined by the radiance of the change he represented on the campaign trail. The fact is that Barack Obama is a moderate.
Some of his choices have disappointed his base and the left. His Administration of Change has been staffed by an economic team that are Clinton veterans and Wall Street friendlies. Looking forward, and glancing back, he has not taken a stand on healing the torture legacy of the Bush Administration. He has equivocated, most profoundly tonight, on whether or not to prosecute the authors and proponents of the torture doctrine. He has also accepted the dark facts of collateral damage of civilians continuing to die from Predator drones in Pakistan. We learned of a deliberate capital decision when he endorsed snipers to kill Somali Pirates when a hostage’s life was clearly in danger. This has been his shake down of real decisions when lives were affected.
Obama moved ahead internationally in a remarkable move to lift travel restrictions for Cubans in America. He shook hands with Hugo Chavez. A gesture that magnified our president’s power in a region that was quickly distancing itself from the U.S.
Barack Obama is no longer the candidate philosopher we got to know on the road for so many months. He is the President and now accountable for all that is involved in the “loneliest job". Regardless of whether he has not done enough or acted in line with what we believe, he is doing his job more than competently.
I will close with the President's own closing line to his news conference tonight: words that frame his past 100 days in a light both affirmative and defensive. This is a man getting accustomed to the job he holds.
"I would like a nice lean government, but we have to deal with the challenges dealt to us."
Bonus Notes from Press Conference:
Response to Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times on what surprised, troubled, enchanted and humbled him about the presidency:
surprised: surprised by number of critical issues that are coming to head at one time: iraq, health care, the economy coming on at once. 7 or 8 big problems. had to move very quickly.
troubled: sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slow. certain quotient of posturing and bickering even when we are in the middle of very big crisis. "can we take a time out out on political games". focus on this year and start running for office next year.
enchanted: when he meets service men and women, profoundly impressed and grateful. good at job and willing to make extraordinary sacrifice w/o complaint. fiercely patriotic.
humbled: by the fact that the presidency is extraordinary powerful but part of a tapestry of life, power. can't push button and bankers can't do what he wants, or make congress fall in line.
Later on:
ship of state in an ocean liner (again this metaphor) not a speed boat. if we can move this big battle ship a few degrees you will not see all consequences until 10 years ago. president has a longer time horizon than being a candidate or media reportage.
100 days are up and its time for a performance review of a man whose groundbreaking, generation molding, world captivating ascent to high office was more apotheosis than a election for so many. So now that we know that Barack Obama is grounded by gravity like the rest of us, how is he doing?
When he assumed his post 100 days ago our economy was free falling, our banks were failing and the car industry was pleading for a lifeline. Much of this is still happening. As I write this, shareholders of Bank of America, the leading financial institution backed by the treasury has ousted its chairman Ken Lewis. The government now owns the largest car company in the country, GM, as it glides into bankruptcy. The economy heralds its second quarter of contraction and unemployment continues to rise. Oh yeah, there’s swine flu too.
This news is not good and we may not have hit the nadir of the economic downturn, but overall we may not be in such bad shape overall. The bank situation and the future of the autos are still unfolding. In both cases, the correction or reality check was long in the making and will take time to settle. The resolution maybe one nationalized automaker and fewer banks. The economy has shown some signs of stability as consumer confidence has gone up and home sales perked last month.
But what about Obama’s performance during all of this? Much of the answer is in how you interpret whether he has kept his campaign promises and how well he has adjusted to the stickiness of developing events.
The president’s first big conquest, in typical 100 Day fashion, was the expansive stimulus package in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This passed congress with zero support from Republicans, becoming the first chapter in the myth of D.C bi-partisanship. It also became a refresher course in McCarthy era talking points for Right Wing pundits and GOP up-start aspirants. Meanwhile for the rest of America, it directs sorely needed money to stop municipal job losses, increase infrastructure projects and boost alternative energy ventures. Of course there is debate, some on the Left say its not enough and on the Right, a refusal to accept that federal money is not the answer, until they accept the money. In the end, it was victory for Obama’s plan for the future, but a defeat to the dream of good feelings between the parties.
Obama acted early on other campaign promises by issuing Executive Orders to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp and support carbon restrictions for autos in California. He addressed the conflict in Iraq by officially calling for a drawn down in troops, and in turn, to the dismay of anti-war activist, a commitment to reallocating troops and resources to Afghanistan.
Such action further revealed a pragmatist side of President Obama that was often out shined by the radiance of the change he represented on the campaign trail. The fact is that Barack Obama is a moderate.
Some of his choices have disappointed his base and the left. His Administration of Change has been staffed by an economic team that are Clinton veterans and Wall Street friendlies. Looking forward, and glancing back, he has not taken a stand on healing the torture legacy of the Bush Administration. He has equivocated, most profoundly tonight, on whether or not to prosecute the authors and proponents of the torture doctrine. He has also accepted the dark facts of collateral damage of civilians continuing to die from Predator drones in Pakistan. We learned of a deliberate capital decision when he endorsed snipers to kill Somali Pirates when a hostage’s life was clearly in danger. This has been his shake down of real decisions when lives were affected.
Obama moved ahead internationally in a remarkable move to lift travel restrictions for Cubans in America. He shook hands with Hugo Chavez. A gesture that magnified our president’s power in a region that was quickly distancing itself from the U.S.
Barack Obama is no longer the candidate philosopher we got to know on the road for so many months. He is the President and now accountable for all that is involved in the “loneliest job". Regardless of whether he has not done enough or acted in line with what we believe, he is doing his job more than competently.
I will close with the President's own closing line to his news conference tonight: words that frame his past 100 days in a light both affirmative and defensive. This is a man getting accustomed to the job he holds.
"I would like a nice lean government, but we have to deal with the challenges dealt to us."
Bonus Notes from Press Conference:
Response to Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times on what surprised, troubled, enchanted and humbled him about the presidency:
surprised: surprised by number of critical issues that are coming to head at one time: iraq, health care, the economy coming on at once. 7 or 8 big problems. had to move very quickly.
troubled: sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slow. certain quotient of posturing and bickering even when we are in the middle of very big crisis. "can we take a time out out on political games". focus on this year and start running for office next year.
enchanted: when he meets service men and women, profoundly impressed and grateful. good at job and willing to make extraordinary sacrifice w/o complaint. fiercely patriotic.
humbled: by the fact that the presidency is extraordinary powerful but part of a tapestry of life, power. can't push button and bankers can't do what he wants, or make congress fall in line.
Later on:
ship of state in an ocean liner (again this metaphor) not a speed boat. if we can move this big battle ship a few degrees you will not see all consequences until 10 years ago. president has a longer time horizon than being a candidate or media reportage.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Notes on POTUS News Conference: From my Living Room TV to Your Computer
Health Care on an Ocean Liner
President reviewed his list of reporters and called them out by name rather than respond to a sea of hands.
(Are these questions previewed?)
Chipp Reid ask about the trillion debt that will be passed on to future generations.
President defends by way of saying that they forecast 2.6 percent growth rather than 2.2 as per GOP. He focuses on health Care costs as a major driver of deficit in the future. Growth must be encouraged and health care must be tackled. Investments need to meet growth targets. Budget cuts will include the Pentagon and line by line cutting back of programs that don't work.
Frames government spending via econ. and growth job creation.
Univision ask about violence along Mexico border - is it a national security issue? POTUS responds that he has sent surveillance and officers as of today. Guns and cash need to stop crossing over from U.S.
(Push back on gun lobby here; is Cancun spring break in jeopardy?).
Ed Henry of CNN ask why Cuomo had more traction on AIG than WH from the outset - why no comment earlier. POTUS responds curtly that as a rule he wants to know what he's talking about before he goes public.
(hush now, Ed)
Questions again about deficit spending:
POTUS replies that it takes time to do this and returns to issue of health care costs: tech, prevention, outcomes. He wants to reimburse on improved quality not on number of procedures.
Paints gloomy future if money is not spent: US will be out competed and growth slowed.
Politico's Mike Allen asks if he was following through on reducing the amount that people can deduct on their charity giving. President says he wants to return to '80-'90s rate and disagrees in what charities are saying that it will hurt them. He says that fixing the economy is what is good for charities.
(Call your accountants, people; curious to see how Robin Hood Fundraiser did this year with no Street bonuses to deduct)
Asked about homeless children and his inaugural comment that "help is on the way". Where is the money now? He did not get into specifically, but focused on vets.
Ann Compton of ABC Radio is surprised to be asked on, and goes ahead and asks about race in the last 64 days. Has it been "color blind". POTUS says that he has been completely focused on the economy.
(Ann, really? That is what you are asking now? What a throw away.)
On to Stems cells from somebody else (missed name). POTUS says he "does not have investment in controversy". Does not believe that scientific consensus removes morality from the conversation.
In response to a Brit's question on future of Palestinian/Isreali states he says that new prime minster does not make things easier, but status quo is unacceptable. He has faith in Mitchell's work. Pointed to St. Paddy's day presence of N.Ireland factions together.
POTUS stated that persistence is always the answer, be it the Mid-East, health care, energy and budget.
Then inserts defense of Geithner in response of today's testimony in front of Congress presenting his plan.
POTUS closes in that he is confident that they are heading on the right path, staying with it. Persistence, again
This is a big ocean liner, not a speed boat.
Axlerod is chewing gum in back of room (classy, dude). Emmanuel is grinning at somebody.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hope 2009: Homeless Street Survey
This past Tuesday between 12:15am and 4am thousands of volunteers canvassed the five boroughs to survey New Yorkers who were spending the night on the street or on a subway platform. Held each January since 2003, the Department of Homeless Services conducts the survey to estimate the true number of chronically homeless- those people that cannot or will not secure indoor shelter on a midwinter night.
“Tonight is a Code Blue”, says Fernando, the district captain from DHS to the room full of canvassers at a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn elementary school. Code Blue indicates that the air temperature, then dipping below freezing, made sleeping outside a critical health risk for those intoxicated or without adequately warm garments.
We were all looking at our handsomely designed Hope 2009 guide book that outlined the priorities and protocol for the survey. Fernando added that if we found a person whom we judged to be in severe risk, we were to call the vans to pick he or she up and bring that person to a shelter- a service we provided to all who were willing to accept it.
(City and private shelters are not all guaranteed safe havens. They present their own set of risks throughout the night. Theft or bodily harm occurs unobserved and the setting can be more dangerous than the streets. )
The main goal of tonight was not to reach out, but to obtain information. That information would be culled from a questionnaire we carried with us. We were instructed to administer this questionnaire to anybody we met on the street, regardless of appearance. There are potentially 11 parts to the questionnaire, but Question 6 is the most important.
“Do you believe that this person is homeless? (If the answer is “Yes”; then you have several questions about the individual’s identity, age and location. If the answer is “No”; then you write down the time and your done. )
Most of our encounters never really went beyond Question 2: “May I ask you a few questions?” Answer: “No”.
Our team was made up of five people, four of whom worked for the City or in health care respectively: a grade school speech therapist, a Board of Education claims advisor, a nurse, and a Department of Transportation construction worker. None of us planned to go to work the next day and until then we took a four-hour walk in Bay Ridge.
Our leader, the claims advisor, carried the maps - printed swatches of street grids outlined and bordered with arrows tracing our route.
So we headed out.
Even if a stranger on the street cooperates with you asking he or she a question, that permission does not make Question 3 any less awkward:
“Tonight, do you have some place that you consider to be your home or a place where you live?”
“Yes? You pry further, “What kind of place is that? A room/apartment/house/hotel/dorm/drop-in center/shelter/subway/bus…car?”
Most people we met were clearly going home as they jangled keys nearing a house or a car, but accordingly to guide book rules we were to ask these people just the same.
If we skipped anybody we might miss one of the several hired decoys spread around the city to keep tabs on survey quality. The decoys could appear in a suit made of either fine wool or deli bags. We had to be vigilant.
We walked the Arab, Irish, Italian, Chinese and Greek enclaves of Bay Ridge and Sunset Park. We crossed the Gowanus Expressway and Bay Ridge Parkway. We examined brownstone lined streets, the alleys behind large Italianate homes, and the garden store lot that sells make your own wine kits.
The speech therapist talked about growing up in this neighborhood and the people that cut holes in the fence to go below the overpasses. The construction worker talked about patching those holes.
The claims advisor deciphered the switchbacks on our route. “Haven’t we been on this street already?” We stopped in for hot cocoa at the 24 Hour diner.
The guidelines state that we walk until we have completed the turf or 4am, whichever arrives first. The time approached 3:30am. One cut through a park and then we go back to the school.
We found no homeless in our 4-hour tour of the neighborhood and we felt a bit cheated. It's an odd point of view to take on other people’s destitution, but when roaming the street with a script and an agenda you want to show something for it. I imagine however, nobody with a full folder of accounts relished their hull. The format is to yield data, but it is ultimate people counted on those sheets. Now more than ever the recession is making us all consider the tenuousness of survival in the land of plenty.
I will be back next year for HOPE 2010 and my hope is still to find no homeless in Bay Ridge.
“Tonight is a Code Blue”, says Fernando, the district captain from DHS to the room full of canvassers at a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn elementary school. Code Blue indicates that the air temperature, then dipping below freezing, made sleeping outside a critical health risk for those intoxicated or without adequately warm garments.
We were all looking at our handsomely designed Hope 2009 guide book that outlined the priorities and protocol for the survey. Fernando added that if we found a person whom we judged to be in severe risk, we were to call the vans to pick he or she up and bring that person to a shelter- a service we provided to all who were willing to accept it.
(City and private shelters are not all guaranteed safe havens. They present their own set of risks throughout the night. Theft or bodily harm occurs unobserved and the setting can be more dangerous than the streets. )
The main goal of tonight was not to reach out, but to obtain information. That information would be culled from a questionnaire we carried with us. We were instructed to administer this questionnaire to anybody we met on the street, regardless of appearance. There are potentially 11 parts to the questionnaire, but Question 6 is the most important.
“Do you believe that this person is homeless? (If the answer is “Yes”; then you have several questions about the individual’s identity, age and location. If the answer is “No”; then you write down the time and your done. )
Most of our encounters never really went beyond Question 2: “May I ask you a few questions?” Answer: “No”.
Our team was made up of five people, four of whom worked for the City or in health care respectively: a grade school speech therapist, a Board of Education claims advisor, a nurse, and a Department of Transportation construction worker. None of us planned to go to work the next day and until then we took a four-hour walk in Bay Ridge.
Our leader, the claims advisor, carried the maps - printed swatches of street grids outlined and bordered with arrows tracing our route.
So we headed out.
Even if a stranger on the street cooperates with you asking he or she a question, that permission does not make Question 3 any less awkward:
“Tonight, do you have some place that you consider to be your home or a place where you live?”
“Yes? You pry further, “What kind of place is that? A room/apartment/house/hotel/dorm/drop-in center/shelter/subway/bus…car?”
Most people we met were clearly going home as they jangled keys nearing a house or a car, but accordingly to guide book rules we were to ask these people just the same.
If we skipped anybody we might miss one of the several hired decoys spread around the city to keep tabs on survey quality. The decoys could appear in a suit made of either fine wool or deli bags. We had to be vigilant.
We walked the Arab, Irish, Italian, Chinese and Greek enclaves of Bay Ridge and Sunset Park. We crossed the Gowanus Expressway and Bay Ridge Parkway. We examined brownstone lined streets, the alleys behind large Italianate homes, and the garden store lot that sells make your own wine kits.
The speech therapist talked about growing up in this neighborhood and the people that cut holes in the fence to go below the overpasses. The construction worker talked about patching those holes.
The claims advisor deciphered the switchbacks on our route. “Haven’t we been on this street already?” We stopped in for hot cocoa at the 24 Hour diner.
The guidelines state that we walk until we have completed the turf or 4am, whichever arrives first. The time approached 3:30am. One cut through a park and then we go back to the school.
We found no homeless in our 4-hour tour of the neighborhood and we felt a bit cheated. It's an odd point of view to take on other people’s destitution, but when roaming the street with a script and an agenda you want to show something for it. I imagine however, nobody with a full folder of accounts relished their hull. The format is to yield data, but it is ultimate people counted on those sheets. Now more than ever the recession is making us all consider the tenuousness of survival in the land of plenty.
I will be back next year for HOPE 2010 and my hope is still to find no homeless in Bay Ridge.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
We Have Arrived: 1.20.09
The sight from the capital steps was filled with millions of Americans, many of whom had arrived at 4am to secure a better view of history soon to be made. When that moment finally arrived, President-Elect standing in front of Justice Roberts, hand on bible, was a visage that seemed like destiny, but still so surreal.He (correction) slightly stumbled through the oath, but then Barack Hussein Obama our 44th President turned towards the crowd and delivered soaring words that will launch us into a new era. He spoke sweepingly of unity, possibility, necessity and specifically about our role as citizens to participate in our future.
Now is a daunting chapter of time as described by our president, but it is in this darkened period that America will remake itself. To begin this national reboot he uttered one of the better lines of the speech, "as for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. " It was Obama's most singular break from and indictment of the last eight damaging years, and the man soon to board a helicopter and fly off from OZ immediately after the ceremony.
President Obama used a critical historical moment of American resilience to close his speech. He recalled of the crossing of the Delaware when Washington and his troops braved cold long odds to be victorious over an advancing enemy.
Change has come to Washington in the crucible of crisis, we should however feel confident that that among all that which is packed into that word "change" intelligence is foremost. Until we commence analyzing our new president, let us celebrate and be happy Americans.
Here is an email from observer Charley Miller celebrating today's victory for Democracy:
In about 30 minutes, Obama is scheduled to deliver his inaugural speech and I'm sitting here thinking that while many people are talking about the man that will serve as our 44th President, or about the symbol he represents in the eyes of our country's racial struggle, something that seems to be lost is something that has nothing to do with Obama but rather with our country. I think Obama would be the first to remind us that if anything, his inauguration proves our system can work, in the sense we always have another chance -- this thing WE call democracy. And while so much has failed us lately, it's nice to take in today as a sign that democracy ensures that while we don't always get it right, WE can and will keep trying. WE are the people. WE make the change. The whole world is watching.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
D.U.M.B.O: Angles
One of my favorite neighborhoods to photograph. D.U.M.B.O (down under Manhattan bridge overpass) is full of geometric drama.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
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