Join us for the Prospect Park Alliance's first Walk-a-Thon!

A walk-a-thon is a great way to get outdoors and enjoy Prospect Park (especially when the leaves are turning color!), while also helping us raise much-needed funds for maintenance,restoration, and programming.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

5K loop around Prospect Park (course map)
Enter at 15 Street & Prospect Park West
(Bartel Pritchard entrance – see Park map)
9 a.m. – check-in begins http://www.prospectpark.org/media/image/green-dot.jpg 10 a.m. – walk starts

Advanced registration: $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12
(Advanced registration deadline: October 21, 2010)

Day of registration will be available at $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12

The walk-a-thon is open to all ages and abilities Rain or shine

For more information about walk-a-thon, contact Lindsay Casale at
lcasale at prospectpark.org or (718) 965-6992.

HALLOWEEN WEEKEND IN PROSPECT PARK!

On Saturday, October 30, from 12 - 3 p.m., the beloved Haunted Walk is back and more fun than ever at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park! Lurking high on Lookout Hill are zombies, wolf men, headless horsemen, good and bad witches, and other creepy characters. The Halloween Haunted Walk is suitable for young children accompanied by parents/guardians or older siblings. Suggested donation is $1. Enter the Park at the Prospect Park Southwest and 16th Street entrance.


October 30, from 12 - 3 p.m. is also the Haunted Carnival. This annual treat on the Nethermead in the center of the Park features games and music. Free. Both the Walk and Carnival are rain or shine.



ALSO on October 30: “Horses and Humans: A Celebration of Dancing and Healing.”

The Equus Projects, a professional dance company that makes performances with horses, and GallopNYC, an equine therapy program that works with children with disabilities, presents a series of performance staged in The Nethermead. 12 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Free.

PLUS, on Saturday Oct. 30 AND Sunday Oct. 31:

Haunted Carousel, 12 – 5 p.m.

Crank up the scary music on the Wurlitzer: our Carousel is haunted for Halloween! $1.50 per ride.

Scary Stories from the Past, 2 & 3 p.m.

Meet the old ghosts of Flatbush in haunting tales passed down from Lefferts ancestors. Lefferts Historic House. Free.

Skeleton Cut-Outs, 1 – 4 p.m.

Make your own Halloween headbands using the traditional Scharen-Knippen paper-cutting art form. Lefferts Historic House. Free.


Creepy Crawly Halloween, 12 – 5 p.m.

It’s a critter-fest in Prospect Park with lots of spiders, worms, and other creepy creatures that are sure to make your skin crawl! Creepy crafts, live critters and hands-on experiments. Audubon Center. Free.

Boo at the Zoo, 10 a.m. – 5: 30 p.m.

Go batty for Halloween with activities like face painting, craft making, encounters with "spooky" creatures and a trip through the Zoo's legendary haunted barn. Free with Zoo admission.



Get your ghoul on - be a volunteer! Volunteers are needed to dress up and be scary, prepare meals for performers, assist with carnival games, load the sets, and much more. Call (718) 965-8960 or email volunteers at prospectpark.org for more information.


For more information on Prospect Park programs, volunteering and membership, call the Park Hotline at (718) 965-8999, or visit www.prospectpark.org



Dial 311 for all Parks & Recreation information

financial course

Pratt Area Community Council Events
HSBC financial course
PACC is hosting a FREE Financial Workshop
sponsored by HSBC and John Hancock

Sessions begin Monday, November 1st, 2010 and continue every
Monday in November until November 29th from 6:30pm - 8:30pm

PACC's Community Room
226 Lefferts Place
at the corner of Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn, New York, 11216

Course Highlights:
Highlights Managing your money
Budgeting & Banking Credit History & Using Credit Wisely
Basics of Borrowing & Preventing I.D. Theft
Home-ownership & Managing your mortgage
Stocks, bonds, money market and retirement
Free Individual Credit & Investment Counseling

This is a free event

Reserve your spot now!
call 718-783-3549 Ext. 15
www.prattarea.org

Travel Info:
C/S train to Franklin Avenue
B48/B49 stops right outside the building
B25 to Franklin Avenue
or use www.hopstop.com for door to door directions
Join Our Mailing List!
Pratt Area Community Council
201 Dekalb Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11205
718-522-2613*22

Ditmas Park Blog wants you to be leery of black financial criminals

In the wake of the greatest financial theft in history in which the President of Brazil caught flak for saying that "white, blue eye bankers had brought the world economy to it's knees" The bloggers of the ditmas park blog want you to be leery of an "email from a neighbor" about a "young black male" driving a "Mercedes" going around to yard sales passing "fake $20 bills". The underlining tone of the post is to look out for "fake $20 bills from young black males in baggy jeans" because we all know white males like insurance agents at AIG, people like Bernie Maddoff are completely trustworthy and we don't ever have to be leery of anyone like that (especially white honest white people who are very white and very honest) passing around fake money. I'm sure that the lowered value of the mortgages of the vitorian houses at Ditmas Park was due to "young black males passing around fake $20 bills" The financial crisis where trillions of dollars were lost would have surely been averted had it not been for those pesky fake $20 bills at yard sales. In light of Tim Wise's imagine game. Let's see how the ditmas park post would look like and if they would even post it if it was a white hipster that was "accused" by a "neighbor" in an "email".


Bad Money

September 25th, 2010 2:54 pm

Watch out at the yard sales for a person paying with fake $20 bills, a couple of neighbors emailed on this:

There is a young man passing bad 20.00 bills and at least 4 people I spoke to got them.

They believe it is a White Beatle driven by someone and a younger, 20 something white male , very polite with Skinny Jeans and a fedora cap comes out and buys something for 1.00 or 2.00 and gets the change. He asked one person if he could take a picture of something and told 2 others to hold something he would be back once they got change.

We have alerted the Ditmas Park Parents Association and one is riding around on Vespa, but since the West Midwood Yard Sales are tomorrow, wondering if posting would help alert their parents so they can knock it off.

The bills are lighter and have blurred print and if you look, you can tell they are fake, but when someone is not on the alert they dont really pay attention and then get stuck with the bad practical jokesters money.

- Liena

BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION LAUNCHES First EVER Brooklyn Do GoodER Awards

-- Foundation celebrates anniversary, recognizes community heroes and gives $25,000 to charity via crowdsourcing initiative --



BROOKLYN, NY, August 24 2010 -- In honor of its first anniversary, the Brooklyn Community Foundation, the first borough-wide charitable organization focused solely on Brooklyn, today announced the first-ever online Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards campaign to identify and honor local individuals who embody the highest values of community giving and service. The campaign invites the broader Brooklyn community to identify individuals who display an outstanding sense of giving back locally—with time, talent or charity and to nominate and to vote for them online at www.DoGoodRightHere.org. The campaign will culminate at the Foundation's anniversary celebration on November 3, 2010 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Palm House, where the winners will be honored. Media sponsors to date for the campaign include Gothamist, GOOD Magazine, WNYC as well as other community partners.



“The work of the Brooklyn Community Foundation is to encourage giving and service to our communities. Through this effort we hope to recognize those Brooklynites who are giving back everyday to make our borough stronger and kinder. Our motto is Do Good Right Here, and we want to encourage the public to nominate and vote for those people who exemplify that spirit of generosity and goodness in their community,” said Marilyn Gelber, President of the Brooklyn Community Foundation.



Brooklyn Do Gooder nominees should have a demonstrated commitment to Brooklyn through their work within the Foundation’s five fields of interest: Arts for All, Caring Neighbors, Community Development, Education and Youth Achievement and Green Communities. Each of the five winning Brooklyn Do Gooders will receive an award as well as $5,000 to be used as a reinvestment in a recognized 501(c)3 charitable entity working in Brooklyn or in a Brooklyn Community Foundation Field of Interest Fund.



Anyone can nominate and vote for a Brooklyn Do Gooder 18 years of age or older via an online platform which is fully integrated with social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. Online voting will help determine 20 Brooklyn Do Gooder finalists, after which a distinguished panel of judges will choose the winners. Judges currently include WNYC’s Laura Walker, Freelancer Union’s Sara Horowitz, MoCADA’s Laurie Cumbo, award-winning author Peter Hedges and other local leaders. Nominations are being collected through September 30, 2010; Online voting will be open from October 1-October 15, 2010. The community celebration, “Brooklyn Does Good” takes place on November 3, 2010. Start here: www.DoGoodRightHere.org.

Taxi sting

A recent undercover investigation conducted by the Taxi & Limousine Commission found that 17 percent of New York City’s for-hire car services are either denying disabled passengers or overcharging them for rides.

The 10-month-long investigation occurred in two ways.

In a method called "Bait, Fish, and Hook," when investigators requested vehicles in the guise of disabled people, 31 bases ignored the special requests and sent insufficiently equipped cars.

In another operation done by phone, investigators requested price quotes. Once an investigator received a quote, they would say they needed a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. After receiving the additional information, 49 car services upped their original price quotes, the TLC said.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, livery cab companies are required to provide equal service at the same cost to disabled and non-disabled riders alike.

In total, 80 out of the city’s 460 livery cab and black car services were caught in the TLC sting, and will summarily be fined $1,000 and have their operating licenses suspended.

Read more: http://dnainfo.com/20100603/manhattan/eighty-new-york-city-car-services-caught-tlc-sting#ixzz0xfdAtrgp

Life is a Dream

A Festival of Fools is pleased to announce its second annual free summer production: "Life is a Dream” by
Pedro Calderon de la Barca, Translation by Gregary Racz . The production is directed by Amanda
Thompson. Performances are August 14th, 15th, 22nd and 28th at 2pm at the Prospect Park Music Pagoda. For
more information call 908-319-3527 or visit www.afestivaloffools.com

The King of Poland has banished his only son Segismund to a tower after a prophecy predicting the prince’s
tyrannical rule begins to come true. When an experiment to reinstate the prince goes awry, Segismund is
once again confined to the tower and left to question what is real and what only exists in dreams. This
classic Spanish verse play features vengeful lovers, epic sword battles and the eternal questions of existence
and morality.

Featured in the cast are: Timothy Bungeroth, Hannah Corrigan, Mike DeSantis, Jesse Kane-Hartnett, Sam
Maxwell and Claire Nasuti.

The Design Team and Crew include: Amanda Thompson (Director), Jack Neylan (Poster Designer), Jessa-
Raye Court (Costume Designer), Jared Kirby (Fight Choreographer) and Megan Finnegan (Executive
Producer).

Inspired by the Elizabethan verse play, we place language at the forefront of our productions to explore
mythology and folklore. At the same time, we seek to visually captivate through acrobatics, sword
fighting and mask. While we are determined to stage established verse plays, we also produce original work
tailored for a contemporary audience -in length and vernacular. Focusing on these elements allows us to
engage and excite our audiences with performances that are both cost efficient and affordable.

Performance Schedule: August 14th, 15th, 222nd and 28th
2pm
Location: Prospect Park Music PagodaBrooklyn, NY
(Take the Q Train to Prospect Park. Enter the park through the Willink
Entrance at Empire Blvd. and Ocean Ave.; follow the Blue Trail signs.)
Tickets: Free
For more information about A Festival of Fools, please visit http://www.afestivaloffools.com or
call (908) 319-3527.

NYPD Sued

Adam Cooper, a 32-year-old African American, was charged with trespass and held in police custody for three days. The charges were eventually dropped. Cooper claims that the police did not bother to knock on Suarez's door to check whether he was a guest.

Over a year later, Cooper and Suarez are now plaintiffs in a federal class action suit against the New York Police Department and the New York City Housing Authority. The complaint accuses the two agencies of encouraging aggressive patrols and illegal stops and arrests in public housing all over the city. But more significantly, the complaint, headed by the Legal Aid Society and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, asserts that this practice of vertical patrolling discriminates against blacks and Latinos. The complaint comes only a year after the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a suit alleging the NYPD practices racial profiling during its stop and frisk procedures.

In 2003 the NYPD launched Operation Clean Halls, which allows the police to stop, search and question anyone they deem to be suspicious. When officers conduct a "vertical patrol," they walk through and do a sweep of the hallways, stairwells, rooftops and landings, to ensure the building is safe and that no one is trespassing or engaging in criminal activity. The NYPD may only do this in buildings where they are given permission to do so, such as NYCHA buildings. Residents can be charged with trespass if they enter prohibited parts of the building, such as the rooftop or the basement, or if they cannot provide identification or proof of residence. Non-residents can be charged if they are uninvited or if the person they are visiting is not there to confirm they are a in fact a guest. More

Don't Believe The Hype

Guest post from one of our readers Sam. If you would like to guest post, please email us at therealflatbush(at)gmail.com

Because of Gentrification and the false, perverse and evil idea that white is somehow better, I would like to point out and show that there are some out there who are fighting the good fight and who will continue to fight for true equality. This past month the Ditmas Park blog posted a real estate video showing the virtues of an all white ditmas park by a real estate agent. The idea of gentrification is in fact inherently racist because society as a whole is inherently a racist society. The believe that white is better is ingrain into the collective mind-frame of not only white people, but a growing number of black people, hispanics and asians. They falsely believe that somehow if they can kiss enough white ass, they will become white. The beauty of this is that just because you live in an inherently racist and toxic environment, it does not necessarily mean that you have to abide by that ideology.

Although the media, Hollywood and society would like to make you believe that white women are more beautiful then black women, the facts just does not prove it. (just take a stroll down flatbush on a saturday afternoon and you will see it) There has been reports that Chad Ochocinco has a dating show where he wanted to pick an all white female hoochies or whatever they call contestants on a dating show. Does that make him a racist? Probably not in the traditional sense. But does he reflect a society that is out of whack? Yes. Does it make him someone who has bought into the white Hollywood supremacist ideology? Maybe. Did he have a choice? Yes and No. The facts are the media likes to portray a certain image of what is suppose to be the ideal and normal. Some in the black community has bought into that false ideology. But we have the power to change our own thoughts and ideas. We don't have to fall into this white supremacist ideology. If we do. We all loose. Anyone who follows such ideology is doom to live an empty life of nothing. When you rely on your outer appearance instead of your inner strength, you will be at a great disadvantage. When you have that great inner strenght and call people out on their B.S you will be unstoppable. Just like this woman.

The Murder of Oscar Grant

The Murder and subsequent unjust verdict of Oscar Grant did not happen in a vacuum. The formula and recipe for this type of senseless killing by the Oakland Police can be seen here in NYC and especially Flatbush. The 70th Precinct is being blindly supported by a local blog (the ditmas park blog) that has the eyes and ears of the New York Times, The Daily News and a number of other news organizations. The Ditmas Park Blog is the face of white privilege and white ambivalence towards injustice. They protect the police. They make-up stories to demonized black youth, They romanticize the virtuosity of gentrification, they encourage police profiling and they write out of proportion stories and narratives specifically geared towards white fear and hatred of black youth and black culture at large. Just this week, they posted a story about the "dangers" of building a "hoops" courts in the back yard of an elementary school. Their solution to this perceived problem on a story that was planted by them to the Daily News is to "have more police patrol." Their reasons for this concern is that black youth cannot be trusted to be on their own without constant police supervision and police harassment.


from Huffinton Post:
News came this week that the U.S. Justice Department will review the case of a New Year's Day 2009 BART police shooting, following recent protests and a vocal outcry from Oakland, California's black community. The case involves the fatal shooting of an unarmed man, 22-year-old Oscar Grant, by former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle. Mehserle was convicted in State court this week of involuntary manslaughter, but many in the community say this charge falls short. More

Target First Saturdays

At the Brooklyn Museum's Target First Saturdays, thousands of visitors enjoy free programs of art and entertainment each month from 5 to 11 p.m. All evening long, the Museum Café serves a wide selection of sandwiches, salads, and beverages, and a cash bar offers wine and beer. Parking is a flat rate of $4 starting at 5 p.m. All other Saturdays, the Museum closes at 6 p.m.
July 3, 2010

American Icons
Music

5–7 p.m.
An electro-pop showcase featuring two Brooklyn-based acts: Analogue Transit and Dynasty Electric. View event details.
Film

6 p.m.
Fame (Alan Parker, 1980, 134 min., PG). Gifted New York City high school students pursue their Warholian fifteen minutes. Free tickets (330) are available at the Visitor Center at 5 p.m.
Hands-On Art

6:30 p.m.
Make a print worthy of Warhol. Free timed tickets (380) are available at the Visitor Center at 5:30 p.m.
Curator Talk

7 p.m.
Associate Curator Sharon Matt Atkins discusses the exhibition Andy Warhol: The Last Decade. Sign Language interpreted. Free tickets (30) are available at the Visitor Center at 6 p.m.
Film

7 p.m.
I Shot Andy Warhol (Mary Harron, 1996, 75 min., R). The true story of Warhol assailant Valerie Solanas and her SCUM Manifesto. Free tickets (30) are available at the Visitor Center at 6 p.m.
Performance

7–8:30 p.m.
Art Battles hosts “15 Minutes of Fame,” a face-off featuring artists Antony Zito, Lexi Bella, Concep, and Marthalicia Matarrita and hosted by Illspokinn.
Young Voices Gallery Talk

8 p.m.
Student Guides highlight Andy Warhol: The Last Decade.
Karaoke

9–10:45 p.m.
Expressway Music hosts. Registration for lottery begins at 8:30 p.m. One entry per person.
Dance Party

9–11 p.m.
Society HAE hosts “The Factory 2010,” a Warhol-inspired party of eighties pop, hip-hop, and rock.

The 63th Annual Macy’s Fishing Contest at Prospect Park

WEDNESDAY, JULY 14 AT 11:00 a.m.

Opening Ceremony of

The 63th Annual Macy’s Fishing Contest at Prospect Park



New location! The Lake shoreline at Wellhouse Drive and the Peninsula


Sponsored by Macy’s Foundation

The contest runs from July 14 – July 18. Daily contest hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are no rain dates. The competition is open to children 15 years and younger. Individuals can sign-up at the contest. Groups of 10 or more must call (718) 287-3400 x101 to register. Admission is free and equipment and instruction is provided.



Prizes will be awarded daily to those who haul in the big catches from Brooklyn’s only freshwater lake. Before casting their lines, all participants attend a free, fun and educational workshop led by Prospect Park Audubon Center educators and the Urban Park Rangers. More information at:

http://www.prospectpark.org/calendar/event/fishingcontest



Directions: News vehicles should enter the Park at the 16th Street and Prospect Park Southwest, and follow the Park Drive to the Lake. Participants should enter the Park at Prospect Park Southwest and Vanderbilt Street. See Map



For more information on Prospect Park events, programs, membership and volunteering at the Park, call the Park Hotline at (718) 965-8999 or visit www.prospectpark.org

Ditmas Park Blog promotes bigotry against Muslims

The Ditmas park blog is now targeting a mainstream Muslim group for having a community center in what they deem to be an "odd location." The only thing odd about that post is the thinly veil racism and bigotry with that post. The vast majority of synagogues, Community Centers and Churches in Ditmas Park are actually in residential areas. The hypocrisy is almost comical. They claim that the community center is in "a bit of an odd location" because it's "in the middle of a single family residential block." Yet Temple Beth Emeth of Flatbush is just 3 blocks away from the proposed Islamic community center. Not only is it 3 blocks away, but it's even in a more residential block. We have counted at least 3 synagogues in Ditmas park that are located in very residential areas. As can be seen here, here and here We've also counted at least 4 Catholic Churches in Ditmas Park that are also in very residential areas. The Ditmas Park blog has never complained about any of these churches, synagogues and community centers in residential areas until an Islamic Community Center has been propose. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of churches, synigouges and community centers in Brooklyn and NYC are located in residential areas. The is no Law that requires them to be in commercial areas, because they are Non-For Profit Organization. This form of religious bigotry and fear mongering cloaked in the disguise of concern for "traffic" is unacceptable and will not go unnoticed.


Also Ben Smith claims that the concern of "some neighbors" about a very modern building will be on a residential block does not hold any water. This is the same blog that has been promoting a very modern building with luxury condo's on a very residential area on Beverly Road and east 16 street.

We will continue to monitor the situation.

Celebrate Liberty in Prospect Park

From Prospect Park Alliance:

July 3, 4 & 5: Celebrate Liberty in Prospect Park

Special free events at the Lefferts Historic House and the

Prospect Park Audubon Center: mark the anniversary of the end of slavery in NY State, learn about the American eagle and the Declaration of Independence.

The spirit of independence fills Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. For many years in the 19th century, July 5 was a day to celebrate the end of slavery in NY State (July 4th, 1827),with parades and festive dinners. Monday, July 5 at the Lefferts Historic House there will be a special celebration to mark the 183rd anniversary of the end of slavery in New York State. From 1pm to 4 pm enjoy crafts on the lawn, read accounts of those days, decorate your clothes as many folks did back then and join our Freedom Strut -- a noisy and proud march recalling the days of the first generations of free African- Americans in New York. Free!

- AND –

July 3 & 4: “Declare Independence” at the Lefferts Historic House: kids can sign a reproduction of the Declaration of Independence with an authentic quill pen and make a plumed paper hat! 1 – 4 p.m. Free!

July 3 & 4: “Eagle as Icon” at the Prospect Park Audubon Center. The eagle is one of the most recognizable patriotic symbols because of its strength, courage, and pride. Learn more about the role that the image has played in shaping our nation’s identity by enjoying eagle-themed crafts and viewing an engaging exhibition. 12 – 5 p.m. Free!

Directions: Lefferts Historic House is located at the Children's Corner, inside the Park’s Willink entrance, at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard. For the Prospect Park Audubon Center, enter the Park at Lincoln Road & Ocean Ave., Parkside & Ocean Aves., or Flatbush Ave. & Empire Blvd. (Willink entrance) and follow the directional signs. By train: Q, S, or B run to Prospect Park Station. By bus: B-16, B-41, B-43 and B-48 will bring you close to The Children’s Corner.


-REMINDER –
Planning a picnic or a barbecue in the Park? Remember, “Charcoal Kills Trees!” Read The Prospect Park Alliance guidelines for safe barbecuing.

NYPD cop Busted for stalking 11 year old girl

An NYPD cop has been accused of stalking an 11-year old girl and authorities have charged the police officer with harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Officer Arrested.
Officer Arrested.

Authorities believe Detective Deodhram Singh, 38, followed the young girl in his pickup truck and harassed her and frightened her by asking her "do you want to make some money" and pushed farther, cops say the girl claimed he asked her if she was "young" and wanted to make $100. More

Brooklyn Dreamers

What: A Benefit for Theatre for a New Audience, presented by Brooklyn's Dreamers
When: Thursday, July 22, 2010
6 P.M until 9 P.M. (with free Salsa Fever party continuing all night!)
Where: Deity – 368 Atlantic Avenue, btwn Hoyt and Bond, Brooklyn cost (includes a free drink): $25 – Basic
$40 – Because You Can
$35 – At the Door

Tickets & Info: www.tfana.org/brooklynsdreamers

Theatre for a New Audience is an award-winning off-Broadway classical theater company in New York committed to finding the contemporary heart of the classics. Now in its 31st year, The Theatre’s mission is to vitalize and develop the performance and study of Shakespeare and classic drama. TFANA runs the largest arts-in-education programs to introduce Shakespeare in the NYC Public Schools to students from the fifth through twelfth grades. TFANA’s programs began in 1983 and we serve more students in Brooklyn than in any other borough.

Fabfest

from pratt
MJ feetThe Fabfest Finale is happening this Sunday and it's going to be an ALL day Michael Jackson themed dance party. Moonwalk on over to Fulton and Lafayette from noon to six!

This Sunday, June 27, 2010, FABfest is going out with 4-hours of Michael Jackson - on the anniversary of his passing - with music, dance and more in honor of the King of Pop... featuring DJ REBORN.
Plus there will be games, crafts and activities for kids; chess tournaments and mini-golf putt-putt competitions. Plus EVERYBODY PAINT is back, where everyone is invited to grab a brush and create a work of art inspired by MJ.


It's all FREE on Fulton Street between Lafayette and South Oxford, Sundays in JUNE.

Presented by the FAB Alliance (www.faballiance.org)

Yvette Clarke issues statement on Immigration

In light of the Immigration debate, our congresswoman Yvette Clarke denounced the Arizona Immigration law. It is a very difficult issue. It is not always black and white. We hope that the U.S Government and Congresswoman Clarke holds Latin American Countries to the same standards that we hold ourselves to, because that is the only way we are truly going to move forward.

Update and Impact

Because of our previous efforts, Bobby's Department Store is no longer requiring the discriminatory and illegal credit card ID policy. If you have any other issues with other merchants you can make a complaint for any of the following:
1. The merchant/retailer required a minimum or maximum amount.
2. The merchant/retailer is adding a charge for using your MasterCard card.
3. The merchant/retailer required identification.
4. A merchant/retailer displaying the MasterCard decal in their window refused to accept your MasterCard card. Make a complaint here

Also,

The Flatbush Community Church no longer advertises on the ditmas park blog. As of today June 22, 2010 the advertisers on the ditmas park blog are:

1. Sycomore Brooklyn
2. Olive Design
3. Small World Pet sitters
4. NYdogworld
5. The Farm on Aderly
6. Brooklyn hearth Realtors
7. CJ Segal-Isaacson

Spend your money wisely.

Ditmas Park Blog covers for the NYPD

Ditmas Park Blog covers for the NYPD while hypocritically covers areas that they deem a bit outside of the small area they cover.

NYPD Assaults Iraq war veteran

The Manhattan DA's office has released the highly controversial footage at the heart of a police brutality case involving an Iraq war veteran.

Officer David London is on trial for assault and falsifying a police report after being caught on tape beating Walter Harvin with his baton even after the vet had been handcuffed.

On Monday, London's partner Mohammed Khan testified that Harvin was needlessly aggressive before, during, and after the incident.

Reports the Daily News:

Harvin yelled "I'll kill you mother----er," and "I'll f--- you up" as London hit him repeatedly, Khan said. He also kicked the cop while on the ground, Khan said.

The 28-year-old Harvin, who recently returned from Iraq, was stopped by officers after trying to enter his mother's West 93rd Street housing project without a key.

The video shows Harvin shoving London in front of a group of people. The officer and Harvin then exchange words, inaudible on the tape.

After a few moments London proceeds to strike Harvin with his baton and continues doing so while Khan tries to cuff him. London hits Harvin at least 20 times.

Stop the Stop-and-Frisk Databank

Last year the NYPD stopped and interrogated enough completely innocent people to fill Yankee Stadium nine times over.

New York Times columnist Bob Herbert called the Police Department's stop-and-frisk practices "Jim Crow policing" because the targets of this abuse are almost always people of color, and they are almost always stopped without cause.

Making matters worse, hundreds of thousands of these innocent people are subjected to the added injustice of having their personal information stored indefinitely in a sprawling NYPD database. With this vast database, the NYPD has turned more than 1 million innocent black and Latino New Yorkers into criminal suspects.

But the push back has begun. Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Eric Adams have introduced a bill that would protect New Yorkers’ privacy and due process rights by barring police departments from keeping computer databases of innocent people who are stopped, questioned or frisked by police officers.

We need to act now. Time is running out before the end of the legislative session!

Tell Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader John Sampson and your local representatives to stand up and support the Stop-and-Frisk Database Bill.

We are so close to ending this invasion of privacy.

If even half of you contact your legislative leaders, we can shut down the NYPD's stop-and-frisk databank.

Breaking NEWS

Ditmas Park residents have found a way to end all ills in the world. The white residents of ditmas park specifically the white commentators of the ditmas park blog has come up with the greatest gift to mankind that the world has ever seen. This will cure and solve every problem in the world. The solution you ask? Get this! If you don't talk about something or acknowledge the existence of said thing it does not EXIST and will go away. Now this is groundbreaking stuff. Apparently if you don't talk about racism or mention race while doing something that is racist, its not Racist and it will not be racist unless you mention race or the act as being racist. And if someone calls you out on the racism, it will be there fault that racism exist. This has tremendous impact not only for racism, but theoretically for every ill in the world. We can finally have world peace if we use this new found phenomena. It would work like this. Say the oil spill in the gulf. If we don't talk about the oil spill in the gulf or acknowledge the oil spill then the oil spill will magically go away. As long as no one calls out BP or say anything about the oil spill, it does not exist. If you acknowledge the oil spill then it will be your fault that the oil spill exist. So just don't mention it and it will go away ok? This has will have a tremendous impact on the environment. If we do not acknowledge pollution or call it pollution we can pollute the environment as much as we can as long as we don't acknowledge that its pollution or call it pollution. The will not be any pollution and if you talk about pollution then it will be your fault that pollution exist. So just don't talk about pollution!!! ok. This new idea will end wars, diseases and anything that exist that we wish not to exist anymore. If your diagnose with say cancer, you can curse your doctor, tell her its not cancer, do not acknowledge cancer, don't call it cancer and it will cease to exist. Similarly if you are a racist real estate agent and you want to promote a certain neighborhood on a certain neighborhood blog that lets say rhymes with dark men's bark, you can put all the racism in a 5 minute video as you can, as long as you don't acknowledge the racism in the video. The beauty of this new found cure is that as long as you refuse to acknowledge the reality around you, you can practice whatever you want, war not a problem, don't call it a war, don't acknowledge it as a war and you can have world peace at the same time your bombing the hell out of your enemies.

Ditmas Park Admits it's promoting hysteria

Freudian slip or not the ditmas park blog admits that it is part of the hysteria. In one of their postings, Liena claims that the police told her that the crime in flatbush seems so high because of ALL THE REPORTING THEY HAVE BEEN DOING without giving any context to the situation. As a matter of fact the vast majority if not all the conflicts in flatbush involves people who are part of the drug mafia. One would have to wonder would the ditmas park be so vigilant against all this perceived violence if Ben Smith lived in say Carroll Gardens, where the Italian mafia still orders hits and have similar isolated violence regarding turf wars. Would they blog about shootings at a social club? or a mob hit job every other week? Would they be calling for an impact zone in Caroll Gardens or Bensonhurst? Would they speak out about the Stop Snitching code of silence throughout these Italian neighborhoods from the shopkeepers to the bloggers, students and everyone in between. But that's not all, Flatbush has a very large orthodox Jewish community. It seems kind of hypocritical for the Ditmas Park blog to point out the ills of the black community while they stay silent about the orthodox Jewish community's own code of silence. As this blog points out one of the worst things a Jew could be is a "mosser" a term generally translated as “informer” but more accurately rendered as a “snitch. But wait... that's not all. There is also a well documented code of silence within the NYPD called the Blue Wall of Silence. Yet the only issue with the code of silence that the ditmas park blog has a problem with are the code of silence of the coloreds. hmmm

Ditmas Park Blog promotes separatist group

It has come to our attention by one of our readers that the ditmas park blog is promoting a right wing website that is currently promoting a segregationist group in Israel. In the last 2 weeks the ditmas park blog has been linking to a right wing site called the Yeshiva World News, which has been accused of bias reporting in the past. As can be seen here and here. Although the ditmas park has been very critical of the minority community in flatbush for the false smear that they are causing more violence with the stop snitching phenomena, yet they see no hypocrisy in promoting a news organization that promotes and encourages Jews to not snitch on each other.

Storefront stroll

"Rolling Up the Gates": Storefront Stroll and Tour
Come see vacant storefronts open for viewing!!

Welcome Reception and Breakfast
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Vacant Space@
900 Fulton Street, Between Washington and Waverly

9-10:00am Breakfast Reception | 10-12pm info session
12-2pm tour with Molly the Trolley

Maps and Property Info
Pick up the list of vacancies at the event only!

Information about:
*Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Area*
vacancies between Flatbush and Bedford

Take Action

“Go back to your country, we don’t want you here.”

“Faggot.”

“Terrorist.”

Imagine hearing this every day as you walk through your school’s doors. Verbal abuse, physical abuse and fear are a way of life for too many of New York's students.

Bullying has reached crisis proportions in our schools yet we are one of only eight states without a law to protect students from bullying and harassment.

You have a chance to change that - but time is running out!

The Dignity for All Students Act is an essential first step to stopping bullying and building a culture of respect and understanding in our schools. The bill provides training and tools for educators and students, mandates reporting of bias incidents and holds schools accountable, while respecting students’ rights.

The end of the legislative session is just days away yet the Senate still hasn't passed the Dignity for All Students Act.

Raise your voice and tell your senator to vote YES on this important civil rights legislation. Our kids cannot wait another year for the Dignity for All Students Act to pass.

Dollar Van Demos

Dollar Van Demos returns to Internet Week NY on June 10, 2010 with a line up featuring nationally acclaimed hip hop performers BROOKLYN, NY MAY 17, 2010 – Dollar Van Demos announced today that it will present DOLLAR VAN DEMOS LIVE! on June 10, 2010 in Brooklyn as part of Internet Week New York(IWNY). Rapidly emerging as one of the leading global gatherings of Internet innovators, Internet Week New York, now in its third year, is expected to draw more than 20,000 people to more than 100 events across New York City from June 7 - 14. Internet Week Ne wYork will kick off with an official proclamation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on June 7th and culminate with The 14th Annual Webby Awards, a star-studded gala honoring the Internet's best and brightest at Cipriani Wall Street on June 14th. In between,conferences, networking events, meetups, screenings, and even sports competitions will unfold across In a major expansion for the festival, many of this year's events will take place at the first-ever Internet Week New York Headquarters at Chelsea's Metropolitan Pavilion, including the Internet Week Opening Night Party, the Provoke Summit hosted by presenting sponsor Yahoo!, IAB's Innovation Days,and panels, exhibits, and parties hosted by official sponsors HP, IAC, Microsoft Expression Studio, and Included in the official events is DOLLAR VAN DEMOS LIVE! featuring a collection of the best undiscovered hip hop and reggae performers. The occasion marks the return of Dollar Van Demos to IWNY after their successful debut last year. The following is a list of performers who will appear:

Tef Poe (short for Teflon Poetix) is an American rapper from St. Louis, Missouri. He has perfomed alongside as well as opened for: Common, De La Soul, Fabolous, Talib Kweli, MF Doom, and Lupe Fiasco. Through his uncompromising poetic rhymes and lyrical delivery, emcee Tef Poe has made his presence known on large hip hop sites such as ThisIs50, Global Grind, the Smoking Section, The River Front Times and many more. By no means does Tef Poe have any intentions of divorcing his first lady,
hip hop. His commitment and music acumen has made him a proven contender.
(more)
www.DollarVanDemos.com
(347) 878-DEMO

STOP SNITCHING?

In light of "a string of break-ins" and "thugs" "hanging outside" in Flatbush, we were wondering if this "problem" would have cause so much stir at the Ditmas Park blog had the perceived "perps" were white teens. This video from ABC clearly shows that there is a double standard of how crime is perceived. Businessdictionary defines racism as

"Determination of attitudes and policies on the basis of racial characteristics, often due to racialism. Racism manifests in hatred and fear of people of different ethnicity, and in overt or covert attempts to keep them in subordinate (less important and less powerful) positions. Whereas individual racism is expressed usually in open antagonism and prejudice, institutional racism involves subtle structuring of organizations and systems in a tacit understanding to keep 'them' down or out."

As the video from ABC shows, the practices of the Ditmas Park blog is eerily similar to the reactions on the ABC experiment. The overzealous posts and obsession with "crime" while ignoring significant problems and police misconduct within the same precinct is uncanny. As these videos show. There is a huge problem with the "stop snitching" phenomenon, the problem is white people refusing to snitch on other white people, while they are tripping over themselves to snitch on minorities. Likewise as the video shows, it is highly likely that the reason that these car break-ins have not been solve is because the perpetrators could have been white teenagers.

Put an End to Workplace Discrimination

It may be hard to believe, but the original version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) was first introduced in Congress more than a generation ago. LGBT people have made a great deal of progress in the decades since; however, the need for Congress to act and finally pass ENDA could not be stronger.

Today, it remains legal to fire or refuse to hire someone for being lesbian, gay or bisexual in 29 states—while transgender workers can be denied or refused jobs in 38 states. These numbers clearly demonstrate the pressing need for the federal government to expand employment non-discrimination protections to LGBT workers.

ENDA will allow all American workers who stand side-by-side at the workplace and contribute with equal measure in their jobs to also stand on the same equal footing in the eyes of the law. It is fundamentally unacceptable that in present-day America there is a group of people who go to work and are forced to deny their families and loved ones—and have to hide who they are for fear of losing their livelihood.

The House of Representatives will soon be voting on a fully-inclusive version of ENDA that will protect workers from discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity. This critical and long-overdue legislation will not succeed without the support of Americans who are committed to fairness and equality in the workplace.


>> Take action! Please ask your representative to support ENDA today.

It’s My Park! Day at Prospect Park

It’s My Park! Day at Prospect Park

Saturday, May 15

9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

What: Hundreds of Volunteers will help care for 585-acre Prospect Park as part of a citywide effort to tidy up and support our urban greenspaces on It’s My Park! Day.

When and Where: Volunteers will meet at 9:30 a.m. for registration at the Wollman Rink at Prospect Park. To get ready for the work ahead, members of Raízes do Brasil Capoeira Brooklyn (a local martial arts studio) will lead volunteers in warm-up exercises.

Around 10:15 a.m. Volunteer groups will then head to 10+ locations around the park, including the Lake edge, Concert Grove, Park Circle, the Lullwater and BBQ areas (see our interactive park map).

From approx 10:30 a.m. until around 1:30 /2 p.m., volunteers at these locations will be doing various projects such as cleaning and trash pick-up, weeding and removal of invasive plant species, raking and mulching.





The public can call (718) 965-8960 for more information or email volunteers@prospectpark.org

For information on It’s My Park! Day events at other NYC Parks, visit http://www.partnershipsforparks.org/get_involved/volunteer/its_my_park_day.html

The Dangers of the Ditmas Park Blog

Racism is Universal. In the middle of a debate over levels of African migration in Australia,the 3 major news channels in Australia all seized on (similar to the practices of Politico and the Ditmas park blog) what they said was evidence that young African migrants weren't fitting in. Luckily in Australia, they actually have a Media Watch that holds the media accountable for false reporting and sensationalism. Just this past week, the ditmas park blog is continuing their sensationalist, false and sometimes racist reporting about "certain segments" of the population who are "trouble makers". In their "moderated comments" section they have people complaining about "thugs" (code word for black teens) on the corner lately since the weather has been nicer. They've got the public all wild up on the basis of a few isolated incidents, that goes on on every neighborhood in the world. They have even offered free self-defense classes because of "the latest strings of incidents." It's interesting that when a group of black teenage boys are hanging out in front of an establishment for just a few seconds, it's a "problem" that "needs to be dealt with". But a group of white hipsters hanging out in front of a bar or coffee shop, is "great for the scene" and that they are being "scene kids" and comments about "how cool it is to be outside on a warm sunny day." The latent racism of the Ditmaspark blog can be very dangerous to this community. It is used to not only degrade people, but to dehumanize. If left unchecked or not marginalized can lead to hate crimes, as was the case in Australia. The young teen in the video that had nothing to do with any "mayhem" was subsequently savagely beaten and murdered. We will continue to monitor this situation.

The Brian Lehrer Show invite

The Brian Lehrer Show presents YOUR ANECDOTAL CENSUS – a county-by-county look at the stories emerging from each neighborhood in 2010. The series continues each Tuesday at 11am through September. Guests will include county executives, mayors and other policymakers who matter in your community, as the program explores how the census affects policy.



On Tuesday, May 25th, tune in to Brian Lehrer for a special look at Brooklyn, New York. The Brian Lehrer has invited you to share your stories about the county of Kings by visiting its homepage at http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/bl/blogs/scrapbook/2010/may/04/your-anecdotal-census-schedule/.



Sample questions include:


How has the housing boom changed your community?

How have the politics of your community changed? If power has shifted in your community, how and why?

What's an untold story of change in your community that needs to be told?

How is your community different today than it was 10 years ago?

This Mother's Day, Urge your Senators to Stand Up for Women and Mothers

Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Nauru, Palau, Tonga, and the United States.

Those are the seven nations worldwide that have not yet ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a landmark international treaty that affirms women's human rights. Although the U.S. played a major role in drafting the treaty and signed it in 1980, it has never been ratified by the Senate. In fact, CEDAW has been dormant in the Senate since 2002, when it was last reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But we're happy to report that, last year, the Obama administration prioritized CEDAW ratification, prompting a reenergized campaign to join the 186 countries around the world that have ratified CEDAW.

Across the globe, CEDAW has been used to ensure primary education for girls, improve access to health care services, combat human trafficking, pass laws against domestic violence and female genital mutilation, and allow women to own and inherit property.

Domestically, ratification of CEDAW would encourage the U.S. to take stronger action against issues such as gender-based and domestic violence, as well as discrimination against women in housing, education and employment. Though ratifying CEDAW will not automatically result in changes to U.S. law, it would provide a new and significant opportunity for a national dialogue on the gains made and the challenges that remain to improve women's full equality.

>> This Mother's Day, urge your Senators to stand up for women and mothers in the U.S. and across the globe by finally ratifying CEDAW..

Party for playgrounds

Party for Playgrounds 2010
Dancin' in the Rain
Friday, May 21, 2010
7 – 10 p.m.
The Boathouse at Prospect Park
Cocktails ole1 Hors D’Oeuvres ole2 Music
Boat Rides ole3 Silent Auction
Cocktail Attire ole4 Parking Available

Tickets $75 and up

More details at http://www.prospectpark.org/calendar/event/party-for-playgrounds

A donation to Prospect Park's playgrounds is a unique way to honor a child

The Prospect Park Alliance’s Playground Committee works to support the Park’s seven award-winning playgrounds. Founded in 2004, the Committee has raised more than $150,000 to date to ensure that these spaces receive diligent care and maintenance, in addition to raising awareness and advocating on behalf of the Park’s playgrounds and open spaces.

Financial workshop

PACC wants you to get your
"Credit Where Credit is Due" at our
free Financial Personal Finance Workshop!

Sessions begin Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 and
continue every Tuesday in May until June 1st from 6:30pm - 8:30pm

PACC's Community Room
226 Lefferts Place
at the corner of Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn, New York, 11216

Course Highlights:
Personal Financial Plan * Free Credit Report * Free Individual Counseling * Free Savings Account at a Credit Union * Personal Finance Course Diploma

This is a free event - refreshments will be served

For More Info: 718-783-3549
Charrisse Smith Ext. 15

The Big Gay Variety Show

The NYCLU Young Professionals invite you to
The 3rd Annual
BIG GAY VARIETY SHOW!

At the fabulous (le) Poisson Rouge,
158 Bleecker St. in NYC
Tuesday, April 13th @ 7 p.m.

Buy your tickets now!

Proceeds benefit the NYCLU's work to win marriage rights for lesbian and gay New Yorkers, transgender non-discrimination protections and safe schools for LGBT youth.

OPEN BAR ALL NIGHT!
Sponsored by Smirnoff, Red Stripe, Magic Hat and The Artisan Wine Company.

Plus chances to win incredible RAFFLE PRIZES including getaways, Broadway tickets with backstage tours, and dinner for two by a personal chef!

Featuring some of NYC's hottest singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and performers, including:

* Comedienne, chanteuse and "cabaret superstar" (NY Mag) Lady Rizo
* Actor and comedian Jesse Tyler Ferguson (ABC's Modern Family)
* Tony-nominated Celia Keenan-Bolger and NYC singer-songwriter Maddy Wyatt
* Magician Matthew Holtzclaw
* Songstress Our Lady J (one of Out Magazine's OUT 100)
* And many more!

For an updated list of performers, visit the NYCLU's website.

Update on local Bloggers

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes hate blogs as any blog that constantly try to "present (pick any group) in a bad light. They profile the Council of Conservative Citizens as being well known for presenting African Americans in a bad light. Some of the most recent headlines they point to was "Gonorrhea is now almost exclusively a black disease” and “Black thugs hold white teens captive while raping and torturing them" In similar faction the SPLC also profiles the Anti-Immigrant hate group "American Patrol" as taking the same approach.

The SPLC describes the American Patrol's report as a report that "endlessly maligns Latinos, especially those in the United States illegally. Some recent headlines on its website: “Mexican police chief decapitated” and “More than 100 illegals, others arrested at cockfight.” The SPLC also points out that "Not as well known, but equally racist is an Internet blog called White Watch. Its target: White folks." SPLC's hate report says that all these hate blogs and site have something in common. "They all have a fondness for posting what are seen as embarrassing news stories about the racial group they are skewering." At White Watch that means the worst and wackiest of white people. Headlines have included: “HIV Positive White Man Rapes Teenage Boy,” “Lazy Brit fined for walking dog from his car” and “White Woman Attacks Cop…With Her Breast Milk.” Of course she had nothing on “Germans Caught Having Sex In The Middle of a Busy Street” — with a photo of the amorous Aryans.


The Southern Poverty Law Center is one of the most prominent civil rights organizations in the world. They don't take any sides. They call it how it is. With that definition of what hate looks like. Can anyone realistically believe that the Ditmas Park Blog does not fall into the category of a hate blog?

Some of the latest post on the Ditmas Park have been:

"Brooklyn Crime Rising" with questionable statistics about the supposedly crime wave in the 70TH precinct. Another says "Murder at the Parade Ground" this time skewing Dominicans. Another has the headline "Million $ Bucks" showing how much money is spent on prisons block by block. What is so strange about that last posting was that it is data from more then 5 years ago. There is no Rhyme or Reason to the "Million $ Bucks" posting. What exactly were they trying to point out? What this shows is clearly a problem. They've also been comments about how day laborers should be put into some type of holding center because "it would be good for the aesthetics of the Neighborhood"

This is not something recent. As far back as 2007 they were postings that showed the African American Community in the worst possible way. One of their supporters even wrote


"But look at the posts you put up that have engendered so much controversy.
Look at the posts regarding the Heather Louise Bennett dolls. Did you post an image of her “Bat Doll’s” with white or checkered faces? No you posted a black faced doll then feigned surprise at the reaction.
You work a political blog at http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/ so you know what provokes and what doesn’t.
I’m sorry you can’t be a professional blogger and think that no one will see that you are looking for controversy.
I, for one, think your blog is fun but if you continue to post about robberies, dead cabbies, black faced dolls, blood at Newkirk, the Pakistan forum, Stabbing on Westminster, Getting run over crossing Cortelyou, Shooting on Cortelyou, Sander Hicks as Jason Bourn, “Go Back to Park Slope”, Harasser on a Bike, Early morning shooting on Rugby and Newkirk, and the post office still sucks you will get strong comments.
It’s clear you know how this blogging game works, so be honest about the provocation and be ready for the reactions."


This is actually from one of their strongest supporter who has since had a change of heart. Obviously these people know what they are doing. They know how to manipulate the public. They know how to stir up enough controversy to keep their blog rolling. They also know how to use plausible denial by having posts about restaurant openings, new bars, dance studios in between skewing and showing Mexicans, Dominicans, Blacks and other minorities in the most embarrassing and worst ways. They can also have as many people as they want defending them. At the end of the day the truth will prevailed.

The SPLC has 10 ways a community like ours can fight hate.

There has been some questions as to who the realflatbush is.

We at the Realflatbush believe that humanity has always constituted one group, but that ignorance, prejudice and power-seeking have prevented the recognition of the oneness of humanity. We believe that there is Unity in Diversity. The Diversity of the human race should be valued and celebrated instead of being skewed. We believe that all humans have been created equal in the image of God, and that God does not make any distinction between people. We believe that the world of humanity is like unto a rose garden and the various races, tongues and people are like unto contrasting flowers. The diversity of colors in a rose-garden adds to the charm and beauty of the scene as variety enhances unity. The very diversity of the human race is, in fact, a means for creating a world based on unity rather than uniformity. It is not by the suppression of differences that we will arrive at unity, but rather by an increased awareness of and respect for the intrinsic value of each separate culture, and indeed, of each individual. It is not diversity itself which is the cause of conflict, but rather our immature attitude towards it, our intolerance and misconceptions of others. For these reasons we don't see eye to eye with the Ditmas Park Blog. We will continue to fight for Humanity. For too much of its history and in so many places the human race has squandered its energy and resources in futile efforts to prove the unprovable: that one portion of itself, because of separation by geography, a difference in skin color, or the diversity of cultural expression, is intrinsically distinct from another portion. The ignorance and prejudice on which such efforts are founded have led to endless conflicts in the name of the sanctity of tribe, race, class, nation, and religion. Paradoxical as it may seem, in the consistency of these negative efforts across the spectrum of the race, humanity has proved the exact opposite: it has affirmed its oneness. The proof is in the fact that, given the same circumstances, all people, regardless of ethnic or cultural variety, behave essentially the same way. As Ted Kennedy said "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die."

Open House

Pratt Area Community Council Events

Gates Ave Co-Ops
PACC invites you to an Open House at the
Gates Avenue Cooperatives this weekend!
A Sunny Spacious, Affordable Cooperative Building in Bed-Stuy
for incomes ranging from 50K - $84,480


*1 Bedroom Units from $134,550-139,500*
recently dropped to a lower price
&
*2 Bedroom Units at $167,253*


Showings:
Saturday, April 10th (11:00am to 2:00pm) and
Sunday, April 11th (1:00pm to 4:00pm)
at
566 Gates Avenue
(Throop and Tompkins)
Bed-Stuy Brooklyn

566 Gates Ave Exterior

Wideshot of Gates Unit

Gates Ave View

for more info, pictures and to obtain an application call 718-522-2613 x 15
or visit www.thegatescoop.org

Savings in Brooklyn: Fab deals in Flatbush

Located in the heart of Brooklyn and home to a diverse community filled with plenty of resources, Flatbush is a fantastic place to live. If this is your home, or you want to move there, here are some cheap neighborhood staples:

Read more:

ACLU big victory

Do not patent my genes
On Sunday night, CBS's 60 Minutes will present a profile about a recent victory in a ground-breaking gene patent case.
Please tune in and see the important work your support helps to make possible.
From ACLU

I wanted to let you know about a recent groundbreaking ACLU victory that the support of friends like you helped make happen.

For over 20 years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has been issuing patents on human genes—giving corporations, individuals, and universities exclusive rights to test, study, or even look at specific genes.

Arguing that this practice violates patent law as well as the public's First Amendment rights, which protect the free exchange of ideas and information, the ACLU—along with the Public Patent Foundation—filed suit against the PTO and Myriad Genetics in May 2009. Myriad Genetics holds the patent on two genes linked with breast and ovarian cancer, BRCA1 and BRCA2.

I am thrilled to report that, on Monday, a federal district court judge ruled that human genes can not be patented. This is the first time a court has said that this practice is unlawful.

Myriad Genetics has already announced that it will appeal this decision. But, this is a tremendous first step in bringing an end to patents that restrict people's access to their own genetic information and interfere with their medical care.

I could not be prouder of the creative and hard-working ACLU attorneys who argued this case. While many have spoken out against gene patenting over the years, our lawsuit was the first to ever challenge gene patents on First Amendment grounds. The Genomics Law Report called the decision "radical and astonishing in its sweep."

It is only with the support of friends like you that we are able to take on groundbreaking cases like this to defend, preserve and expand individual rights.

Best,


Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union

Free Trees

from Pratt Area Community Council:

On April 17-18, 2010, over 200 FREE TREES will be available for people to plant in their front yard... back yard... at their church... in the ground on any private property. It is part of the Million Trees initiative, and the FAB Alliance is proud to be co-hosting this event along with the FGA's "Green Fort Greene & Clinton Hill".

Where to Get your FREE tree

Come to the Putnam Triangle in Clinton Hill (Fulton St and Grand Ave) on Saturday and Sunday, April 17-18 from 10AM-3PM and leave with a FREE TREE to plant!

Tree Info

All you need is a place to plant and access to water. We will give you advice and lend a shovel. Trees will be available to individuals, families and community groups for planting on private property only. Trees will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis until supplies run out. Simple tree planting and care instructions come with your free tree.
For more info:
contact tree (at)greenfgch.com

Future Writers

From the Brooklyn Public Library
If you're a writer, you should check out inkpop, a new site from Harper Collins Publishers. Set up a profile, and join this online community of teen writers. Work on your own writing, and help pick your favorite projects: the top five get reviewed by editors, and have a chance of being published!

Brooklyn Library

Learn how to deal with snakes
Monday, April 5, 2:00PM
Central Library, Dweck Center
10 Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 1123

Erik's Reptile Edventures

Learn about and handle LIVE reptiles and snakes, lizards, turtles, frogs and salamanders

Job and Career fair

Where: East Flatbush Library (9612 Church Avenue)
When: Tuesdays, Mar 2 & 16, 1:30 PM
Tuesdays, Apr 6 & 20, 1:30 PM
Tuesdays, May 11 & 25, 1:30 PM
Tuesday, Jun 1 1:30 PM
Audience: For Adults

Explore career possibilities.

Drop in and meet with a trained STEP counselor for job and career help. Learn about Brooklyn Public Library resources. Get tips on improving your resume.

Update and Correction

The farm on Adderly has responded to this email. As the emailed said, the Farm on Adderly has been a great asset and a welcome addition to all of us. It is actually one of the jewels of Flatbush, along with the many other great businesses we have here.

Our email:
The Ditmas Park blog has been involved in a number of questionable and racially insensitive post on their blog. You are one of their advertisers. Your restaurant has been an added benefit to the neighborhood, it has serve many different patrons of many different races. It has made all welcomed in your establishment. I'm sure you would not want your good reputation and hard work in the community be sullied by being in association with hate. As such I would like to get a comment on whether you support the practices of the blog you advertise on. The most recent questionable post on this blog has been a post about a mugging where a number of hateful comments (including a hateful comment that either a pro-choice or pro-life person would find extremely atrocious)on the moderated comments section was allowed.

Their Response:
Hi The Real Flatbush,

The Farm On Adderley actually does not do any advertising of any kind with ditmaspark.blogspot.com. The Ditmas Park Blog does not appear to engage in advertising other than public service ads. Although that is really just a casual observation. Having read your post on realflatbush.blogspot.com I can sympathize with your argument and effort to expose racially fueled comments. I am not sure that we are being fairly framed in that post or that we are even in any way relevant. Since we do not advertise with the ditmaspark.blogspot.com it is factually incorrect to assert that we do. I hope that you consider our position and correct or rescind your post from March 30th.

Thank you and good luck,
The Farm On Adderley
1108 Cortleyou Road
Brooklyn, NY 11218
718.287.3101
www.thefarmonadderley.com

Egyptian-inspired Target First Saturdays this Saturday

April 3, 2010

To Live Forever
Discussion

5–6 p.m.
Curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Near Eastern Art Edward Bleiberg and Objects Conservator Lisa Bruno discuss the process of researching and conserving the objects in To Live Forever: Art and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt.
Music

5–7 p.m.
Arab ensemble Zikrayat combines the atmosphere of Egyptian musical cinema with the music and dance traditions of Egypt, Lebanon, and the greater Arab world.
Object of the Month

5–11 p.m.
Explore the Egyptian sculpture Pair Statue of Nebsen and Nebet-ta, the Museum's featured object for the month of April. Use our Looking Closer guide to gain insight into the artwork.
Film

6:30–p.m.
Academy Award winner Departures (Yojiro Takita, 2008, 130 min., PG-13, English subtitles) tells the story of a Japanese musician who becomes a mortician in a funeral home. Free tickets (330) are available at the Visitor Center at 5 p.m.
Hands-On Art

6:30–8:30 p.m.
Design a copper embossed amulet with Egyptian symbols. Free timed tickets (380) are available at the Visitor Center at 5:30 p.m.
Curator Talk

7–p.m.
Edward Bleiberg, curator of To Live Forever, speaks about the exhibition. A catalogue signing follows. Sign Language interpreted. Free tickets (30) are available at the Visitor Center at 6 p.m.
Young Voices Gallery Talk

8–p.m.
Student Guides give a talk on the afterlife in ancient Egypt.
Book Club

9–10 p.m.
Author Joshua Cohen discusses his book A Heaven of Others, a poetic dream-world novel about a Jewish boy who ends up in Muslim heaven.
Dance Party

9–11 p.m.
DJ Nickodemus and the Spy from Cairo host an Egyptian-inspired funk and Afrobeat dance party.

Who's Policing the police?

You've read the headlines and seen the videos: A cop caught repeatedly beating a man curled up on the street. Or an officer spotted delivering a vicious shoulder check to a biker in Times Square. The stories are shocking, but the NYPD's response is all too often unsurprising: It regularly turns a blind eye to officer misconduct.

But there's momentum building in New York City to strengthen oversight of the NYPD. In just the past month, the City Council has introduced two bills that would give some muscle to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the city body intended to provide accountability for acts of police misconduct.

As part of the NYCLU's continuing Civil Liberties Discussion Series, NYCLU Legislative Director Robert Perry will discuss ways to deal with NYPD misconduct and how to have real oversight over the police.

Please join us on Tuesday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in our offices at 125 Broad Street on the 19th floor.

Following the presentation, we will discuss how we can work together to achieve meaningful reform of New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board. Pizza will be provided to get the conversation going.

Please be sure to RSVP by emailing discussionseries (at)nyclu.org or calling (212) 607-3358.

Gardening Invite

Pratt Area Community Council Events
YFOP Gardening Invite 4/17/10
Pratt Area Community Council invites you to
our second annual Earth Day planting Event!

Hosted by the Young Friends of PACC
and PACC Property Management

Saturday, April 17th, 2010 from 9:30am - 1:00 pm
at PACC's affordable rental building, "15 Quincy"
15 Quincy Street between Classon and Downing , Clinton Hill Brooklyn

Gardening at Gibb Sujatha Plantingat Gibb

Come out, get your hands dirty, and enjoy making the neighborhood greener! We'll prep soil, then plant flowers, shrubs and trees at 15 Quincy Street, one of PACC's newest affordable housing developments. Before gardening, we'll have a chance to tour the building, with a focus on 15 Quincy's "green" elements. Breakfast, lunch and plenty of water will be served -
featuring food from Desserts by Michael Allen, a local favorite.

Rain Date: Saturday, April 24th

Young Friends of PACC is dedicated to engaging community members in their 20s and 30s in activities supporting affordable housing, tenant rights, community and economic development in Central Brooklyn.

Ditmas Park Blog promotes hate through "moderated" comments

The Ditmas Park Blog is promoting hate through their moderated comments. The Ditmas Park Blog is promoting a story petaled by the questionable "news paper" NY Post about a 15-20 year old Hispanic kid mugging someone. They have a mug shot prominently displayed and 2 posts with more to come. Some of the most visceral and hateful comments on the "moderated" blog followed. One said:
"this is shitty parenting. it was a kid that did something so awful? when they find this waste of human scum, they should put whoever was in charge of raising him in jail too." Followed by their in-house white supremacist NoSlappz who chimes in "I think the kid committed the robbery so he could go to jail and live with his father full time instead of visiting the old man on alternate weekends." The hateful comments continued on with the climax of "keep abortion legal, ’s all i’m sayin’.". Yet no one could deny that is the suspect was a white kid the comments would not be so visceral or hateful. As a matter of fact if the suspect was a white kid the narrative would have been about how this was a youthful indiscretion or he must have had some "emotional problems." What now has to be done is to call them out on there obvious bias, smear and assault on the minority community. Ask yourself this... Why is the Ditmas Park jumping on a petty crime such as a mugging by a teen, while a few weeks back and all year long they completely ignored the Police Sodomy case? Fox News' Glenn Beck's advertisers were made to either stand by him or denounce his inflammatory show. Most of the reputable companies has since taken their Ads of the Glenn Beck show. It is time to hold the people who continue to support the Ditmas Park blog and it's incendiary posts and comments to the same standard as Glenn Beck's Advertisers. I will be in the next week give the advertisers on the Ditmas Park blog the opportunity to respond as to why they continue to advertise on what is essentially a divisive and racially insensitive blog.
As of 3/30/2010
here are the advertisers on the Ditmas Park Blog and the email that I will send to clarify why they will continue their relationship with the Ditmas Park Blog.

"The Ditmas Park blog has been involved in a number of questionable and racially insensitive post on their blog. You are one of their advertisers. As such I would like to get a comment on whether you support the practices of the blog you advertise on. The most recent questionable post on this blog has been a post about a mugging where a number of hateful comments (including a hateful comment that either a pro-choice or pro-life person would find extremely atrocious)on the moderated comments section was allowed."


1. Sycomore Brooklyn
2. Olive Design
3. Flatbush Community Church
4. Small World Pet sitters
5. NYdogworld
6. The Farm on Aderly
7. Brooklyn hearth Realtors

Flatbush PSA

I've lived in my Building for years. I see this same white woman every mourning. Yet never a hello or hi. She still snatches her bag every time I see her in the elevator. If I was going to mug you, I think I would've done it the first 600 times I saw your arse. When I saw this youtube video, I had to dedicate it. This is a Special PSA for all my "creative types" (wink wink). Don't fret.

NY Times covers nypd corruption

CASE file: His night began in the bars of Staten Island, and by 2 a.m., he was buying crack cocaine. Inside his car, he flicked a lighter and inhaled. He picked up a woman; they got high together. She left after he spotted the authorities. More

NY Times Review

Nell Irvin Painter’s title, “The History of White People,” is a provocation in several ways: it’s monumental in sweep, and its absurd grandiosity should call to mind the fact that writing a “History of Black People” might seem perfectly reasonable to white people. But the title is literally accurate, because the book traces characterizations of the lighter-skinned people we call white today, starting with the ancient Scythians. For those who have not yet registered how much these characterizations have changed, let me assure you that sensory observation was not the basis of racial nomenclature. More

Dollar Van Concert Tonight

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An “Opening Day” Tradition in Prospect Park.

In just one month, nearly 2,000 Little League players will start the 2010 baseball season in Prospect Park. The pint-sized players will be joined by their friends, families, local community leaders and elected officials for a parade through Park Slope and on into the Park. Everyone then will gather at the Prospect Park Bandshell for a ceremonial first ball toss to start another great season of baseball and softball at the seven fields in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow and the six fields at the historic Parade Ground.

The Little League Parade gets underway at 10 a.m., starting at Seventh Avenue and Carroll Street, then moving along Seventh Avenue to 9th Street before turning up 9th Street into the Park and ending at the Bandshell. The Opening Day ceremony at the Bandshell will begin at approximately 11 a.m.

Also worth cheering for are Prospect Park’s dedicated volunteers who will be holding an Opening Day Clean-Up, April 10 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Anyone wanting to lend a hand can meet near the Tennis House, near 9th St. and Prospect Park West. Call or email for more information: (718) 965-8960, volunteers@prospectpark.org.

Young children can get into the spring cleaning spirit at the Park’s Lefferts Historic House during Spring Wash Day, 1 – 4 p.m. (both April 10 and April 11). Out come the washtubs and washboards as Lefferts turns back the clock to when Brooklynites cleaned without the help of electricity. Free.

Opening Day is the perfect time to take a ride on the Park’s historic 1912 Carousel, visit the interactive nature exhibits at the Prospect Park Audubon Center, or visit with the more than 80 species of wildlife at the Prospect Park Zoo!

For more information on Prospect Park events, programs, membership and volunteering, call the Park Hotline at (718) 965-8999 or visit www.prospectpark.org

The NYPD

Last year the NYPD stopped and interrogated enough completely innocent people to fill Yankee Stadium nine times over.

This month, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert called the Police Department's stop-and-frisk practices "Jim Crow policing" because not only are police stopping hundreds of thousands of innocent people every year, but 85 percent of those stopped are black or Latino.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has been leading the fight against the NYPD's racial profiling for years. We have shown that hundreds of thousands of innocent people are subjected to the added injustice of having their personal information stored indefinitely in a sprawling NYPD database. With this vast database, the NYPD has turned more than 1 million innocent black and Latino New Yorkers into criminal suspects.

But the push back has begun.

Last week, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sent a letter to Police Chief Ray Kelly demanding that the NYPD stop collecting the personal information of innocent New Yorkers stopped by the police, and telling the Department to delete the information it's already collected.

Contact Speaker Quinn to thank her for her important stand and to urge her to keep the pressure on. And call 311 and tell Mayor Bloomberg to scale back the NYPD's overly aggressive stop-and-frisk policy and to stop collecting the personal information of innocent New Yorkers stopped by the police.

We are so close to ending this invasion of privacy. The Police Department is feeling immense public pressure and said - for the first time ever - that it is reconsidering its practice of keeping the personal information of innocent New Yorkers in its database. We need to keep the pressure on.

Contact Speaker Quinn right now, and forward this email to every New Yorker you know. We can win this one - we just need your help.

Thank you for all that you do,

- The New York Civil Liberties Union

SHARON JONES & the DAP-KINGS

SHARON JONES & the DAP-KINGS

To Kick Off Their Fourth Full-Length Album with a

Live Performance at WNYC’s The Greene Space



The heralded soul singer to perform

during a live broadcast of Soundcheck with host John Schaefer



Chilean Hip-Hop Artist ANA TIJOUX Also to Perform



Tuesday, April 6th at 2pm



(March 16, 2010 – New York, NY) – Soul singer SHARON JONES went from appearing as a wedding singer while making a living as a corrections officer to appearing on CNN, MTV News, VH1, and Late Show with David Letterman, among other national outlets. Now, she is readying the release of her fourth album with the DAP-KINGS, “I Learned the Hard Way.”



On Tuesday, April 6th at 2pm, the day of the album’s release, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings will kick off their new album with a special performance at WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, hosted by WNYC’s daily music and conversation program, Soundcheck.



The group will join host John Schaefer in front of a studio audience to play songs from “I Learned the Hard Way” and chat about its unique recording process – using an Ampex eight-track tape machine. Schaefer will talk to the band about its gilded and gritty gospel, soul and funk sound and the role it played in helping return today’s soul music to its more traditional sound.



Also performing on the show is ANA TIJOUX, regarded as one of the leading female MCs in Latin America today. Born in France to a French mother and a Chilean father in political exile during Pinochet's dictatorship, Tijoux will discuss how her childhood has influenced her music, how collaborating with Julieta Venegas helped launch her career, and her evolution into a politically charged hip-hop singer.



This special edition of Soundcheck, live from The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, will broadcast on 93.9FM and will be available as a videocast at www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace.





WHAT: Soundcheck with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Ana Tijoux

WHEN: Tuesday, April 6th at 2 pm

WHERE: The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space

44 Charlton Street (at Varick Street)

New York, NY 10014

TICKETS: $10, available at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/8013235

More information: (646) 829-4000

Join PACC for the Working in the Shadows Book Reading

From PACC

Hosted by the Young Friends of PACC
featuring Gabriel Thompson, author of Working In The Shadows



Tuesday, March 16, 2010 @ 7:30 pm

Greenlight Bookstore

686 Fulton Street

(@ the corner of South Portland)



What is it like doing the back-breaking work of low-wage immigrants? To find out, Gabriel Thompson spent the year working alongside Latino immigrants, who initially thought he was either crazy or an undercover immigration agent. He stooped over lettuce fields in Arizona and worked the graveyard shift at a chicken slaughterhouse in rural Alabama. He dodged taxis as a bicycle delivery “boy” for an upscale Manhattan restaurant and was fired from a flower shop in Chelsea. Combining personal narrative with investigative reporting, Working in the Shadows shines a bright light on the underside of the American economy, exposing harsh working conditions, union busting, and lax government enforcement—while telling the stories of workers, undocumented immigrants and desperate US citizens alike, forced to live with chronic pain in the pursuit of $8 an hour.



Working in the Shadows has been widely featured since its release on February 1st. Check out Gabriel Thompson’s interviews on Tavis Smiley on PBS, Salon.com’s Growers and Producers, and the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC.



Not so long before he went undercover as part of the low-wage immigrant workforce, Brooklyn-based author Gabriel Thompson was the director of community organizing at PACC. The Young Friends of PACC are thrilled to host this book reading at Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene. Light refreshments and wine will be served.



Young Friends of PACC is dedicated to engaging community members in their 20s and 30s in activities supporting affordable housing, tenant rights, community and economic development in Central Brooklyn.



For more info and to RSVP: rsvp@prattarea.org, 718-522-2613 x 14





Travel Info:
C train to Lafayette | G to Fulton
or Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street Station trains
B25/B26/B38/B52 run near the bookstore
or use www.hopstop.com for door to door directions

Financial Course

Pratt Area Community Council Events
please click here to view all our upcoming events
hsbc financial course
Pratt Area Community Council Hosts:
HSBC's Financial Education Workshops

Sessions begin Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
6:30pm - 8:30pm

PACC's Community Room
226 Lefferts Place
at the corner of Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn, New York, 11216

Highlights Include:
Managing your money * Budgeting & Banking * Credit History & Using Credit Wisely * Basics of Borrowing & Preventing I.D. Theft * Homeownership & Managing your mortgage * Free Individual Credit Counseling

This is a free event - refreshments will be served

For More Info: 718-783-3549
Charrisse Smith Ext. 15
pacc@prattarea.org | www.prattarea.org

Travel Info:
C/S train to Franklin Avenue
B48/B49 stops right outside the building
B25 to Franklin Avenue
or use www.hopstop.com for door to door directions
Join Our Mailing List!
Pratt Area Community Council
201 Dekalb Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11205
718-522-2613*22

Gentrification, Models of Whiteness, Ditmas Park Blog and what it means to you.

The website whiteantiracist.org has a pretty nice write up about the different models of whiteness in today's society. Reading this will give you a better perspective into the behaviors of gentrification blogs like the ditmas park blog and others similar to them. What I came away from reading this is that the world is a very complicated place. Some of us choose to be blinded by what goes around us, unless we are directly affected by it. What this mean is that African Americans in particular will feel frustrated and angered when they come in contact with certain white persons who may not see themselves as racist. See below:

Models of Whiteness

This page discusses some models of whiteness currently in use and available to whites in the United States. These are only models, and not real people. Any one white person could fall into more than one category, or change categories over time.

_________________________________________________________________________
White Supremacist

A person who believes that the white race is or should be supreme.

_________________________________________________________________________
What Whiteness?

There are many ways that white people avoid examining their whiteness and consequently, white racism. It is common practice in conversation for white people to mention the race of black or Asian friends, neighbors, or co-workers while never mentioning the whiteness of the white people they know (Dyer, 1997, p. 2). The effect of this and thousands of other cultural practices by whites is to position whites as the “human norm.” Dyer rightly points out, “As long as race is something only applied to non-white peoples, as long as white people are not racially seen and named, they/we function as a human norm. Other people are raced, we are just people” (1997, p.1). Dyer argues convincingly that “there is something especially white in this non-located and disembodied position of knowledge, and thus it seems especially important to try to break the hold of whiteness by locating and embodying it in a particular experience of being white” (1997, p.4).

Another way white people avoid naming whiteness is through a subtle manipulation of sentence structure. In “White Silence, White Solidarity,” Christine E. Sleeter gives two examples. When whites say, “racism causes poor education in inner-city schools,” it is unclear who is responsible for the poor education in inner-city schools. Another example to consider is: “Filipinos were brought to Hawaii to work as cheap laborers.” Again, the question remains: Who brought Filipinos to Hawaii and underpaid them? In this way, white people “personify racism, making it (rather than ourselves) the subject of sentences” (Sleeter, 1996, p. 260).

An effective strategy that many whites use to deflect attention from white racism, and their place in the power structure, is to “transmute many issues of racism into depoliticized questions of cultural difference” (Sleeter, 1996, p. 259). A similar strategy is to equate ethnicity with race. By turning race and racism into issues of culture, diversity, and difference, whites erase the story of power and privilege that pits them against people of color. The phrase "celebrate diversity" is often used by organizations and businesses to show their appreciation of difference - while effectively diverting attention from poor labor conditions, racist promotion and hiring practices, etc.

Advocates of colorblindness fall into this model of whiteness, as well. O'Brien (2001) writes that when whites pride themselves on not noticing others' race (as in “I didn't even notice she was black”) “there is an implicit ideology of white as the norm” (p. 46). When whites say things like “it wouldn't matter if she was black, green, yellow or pink,” they are employing a “strategy for avoiding race: it shifts attention away from color differences that make a political difference by embedding meaningful differences among nonmeaningful ones” (Frankenberg, 1993, p. 38).

_________________________________________________________________________
Guilty White

The “guilty white” model refers to a white person who is able to identify their whiteness and their position in the racial hierarchy, but is unable to identify their personal responsibility for racism or the manifestations of racism in their own life. Ellen Kaye Scott describes this phenomenon in “From Race Cognizance to Racism Cognizance” (2001). Scott begins by discussing the state of antiracist discourse in the United States . She believes that in this discourse

individuals occupy one of two subject positions: victim or perpetrator. This discourse of agency in racial politics paralyzes action. Activists tend to vie for membership in the victim category and attach a great deal of shame to belonging to the perpetrator category (2001, p. 126).

She analyzes two organizations that use racism awareness workshops for their employees and/or volunteers. Scott finds that even with these racism awareness workshops, “identifying individual agency within a system of racial domination and subordination proved very difficult for these [white] women, despite their willingness to recognize their own white racial identity as a political position” (2001, p. 146). This is the essence of the “guilty white”; she feels guilty for being white in a racist society, but cannot identify the effects of racism, her part in them, or what she can do to change the situation. She is paralyzed with guilt.

_________________________________________________________________________
Antiracist White: Standing Against Most Extreme Forms of Racism

In this model of whiteness, the antiracist white makes a public stand against the actions of groups like the KKK or the neo-Nazis. In her book Whites Confront Racism , Eileen O'Brien describes the group Anti-Racist Action (ARA) as fitting into this category. ARA focuses on “overt forms of racism” as can be seen in their main principles which include:

• We go where they go. Whenever racists/fascists are organizing or active in public, we confront them and do our best to stop them.

• We don't rely on the cops or courts to do our work or to protect us (O'Brien, 2001, p.12).

Groups such as ARA are sometimes criticized for focusing their energies on “fringe” groups like the KKK. However, it can be argued (and ARA does) that these groups are not so fringe in reality (O'Brien, 2001, p.12). Mab Segrest discusses the way that institutional racism allows Klan terrorism to happen, and quotes a black minister she worked with as saying “Our greatest danger is sympathy and cooperation by millions of American people with the Klan” (1994, p. 27). Another critique of groups like ARA and their approach to confronting racism is that members “are aware of institutional racism, but are not reflexive about their own role or position within these institutionalized arrangements” (O'Brien, 2001, p.102). Members also “are less likely to take activist stands within the institutions in which they live and work” because of a focus on overt forms of racism (O'Brien, 2001, p.101). John Garvey gives some examples of these inconsistencies in the lives of white antiracists:

Thus, gentrification in a neighborhood like Park Slope … and its sure-fire accompaniment of homelessness for some, have nothing to do with the movement into the neighborhood of numerous ex-members of the movement of the 1960s. We can live where we want and be advocates for the homeless and critics of governmental inaction. In the case of schools, we can send our children to elite programs within the public schools or to private schools and be teachers of non-white students in schools and colleges and lamenters of the poor quality of education (1996, p. 254).

__________________________________________________________________________
Antiracist White: Working against Internalized White Supremacy and External Manifestations of White Racism

This model of antiracism acknowledges that “race is not the work of racists” (Ignatiev & Garvey, 1996, p. 179). Another way of putting this idea is that white antiracists acknowledge that “we are the problem” (O'Brien, 2001, p.57). In this model, whites acknowledge that institutions in our society perpetuate racism, including “the schools (which define ‘excellence'), the labor market (which defines ‘employment'), the law (which defines ‘crime'), the welfare system (which defines ‘poverty'), and the family (which defines ‘kinship')” (Ignatiev & Garvey, 1996, p. 179-180). White people are a part of all these institutions, and in this model the white antiracist works to acknowledge, and take responsibility for, her part in reproducing racism in the institutions she finds herself a part of. The philosophy of this model can be summed up by Dyer's statement, “I did not invent racist thought, it is part of the cultural non-consciousness that we all inhabit. One must take responsibility for it, but that is not the same as being responsible, that is, to blame for it” (1997, p. 7). Rather than being a “guilty white,” this antiracist white takes responsibility for working on her own internalized white supremacy and racism, as well as standing with people of color against overt acts of racism.

__________________________________________________________________________
Race Traitor/Abolitionist

Noel Ignatiev and John Garvey founded the journal Race Traitor in 1992, with the guiding principle “treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity.” They do not identify themselves or their politics as antiracist. They believe antiracism is problematic because it still acknowledges and legitimates the existence of ‘race.' Rather, Ignatiev & Garvey, and their followers, believe that “the key to solving the social problems of our age is to abolish the white race” (Ignatiev & Garvey, 1996, p. 10). By this, they do not mean the genocide of white people. In their view,

the existence of the white race depends on the willingness of those assigned to it to place their racial interests above class, gender, or any other interests they hold. The defection of enough of its members to make it unreliable as a determinant of behavior will set off tremors that will lead to its collapse (Ignatiev & Garvey, 1996, p.10).

Or, in other words, when enough white people start acting in unexpected ways, that will be the start of the abolition of the white race. In “Richmond Journal”, Edward H. Peeples, a white man, offers a few examples. As a young child, his father owned a small grocery business that Peeples was expected to work in. It was World War II, and there were shortages of items such as bread, sugar and butter. Peeple's father would hide these items in the store, and when asked by a white customer, would sell them. If a black customer requested one of these scarce items, he would deny having any. He instructed Peeples to do the same. At first, Peeples obeyed his father. But then, one day, a black woman came into the store and demanded a loaf of bread. Peeples sold her a loaf of bread, and from that day forward, secretly disobeyed his father's orders and sold bread to blacks. Another example Peeples gives of being a race traitor is an incident that occurred in 1960 at Richmond's Thalhimer's Department Store. A group of young blacks were challenging segregation. Peeples decided to join their group, and was promptly spat on by an elderly white woman. He stood in silent protest with the rest of the group until the store management summoned the police to throw him out of the store. The last example in “Richmond Journal,” involves Peeples trying to buy the “Richmond Afro-American,” a local alternative newspaper. When the cashier sees what newspaper Peeples has selected, she tells him he doesn't want that newspaper, because it's the “colored newspaper.” She goes on to instruct Peeples where to find the “white newspaper.” He responds, “You must think I'm white,” once again betraying the white race, and carrying out an act of racial sedition by acting outside of accepted norms for white people's behavior (Peeples in Ignatiev & Garvey, 1996, p. 82).

Source