Black App! African-American Kid’s E-Book Links Culture & Character

 

The African-American presence in the technology space has been enhanced with the recent release of the first digital storybook for kids, “A Song for Miles.” Written by Dr. Tiffany S. Russell, “A Song for Miles” uses black musical history to teach children important life lessons. Launched to coincide with the start of Black Music Month, “A Song for Miles” was conceived and produced by a 100% African-American team. Here’s more:

A Song for Miles by Dr. Tiffany S. Russell takes children on a colorful and interactive musical journey. Through the lyrics of soul songs by artists like Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire and Marvin Gaye, children learn the meaning of determination, kindness, and love. The digital book nurtures children’s inquisitive nature and love of music and sounds, all while teaching valuable lessons and the importance of having good character.

A Song for Miles links with a school-based character education curriculum. The story creatively aligns with character traits such as initiative, compassion, civility, respect, empathy, responsibility, and perseverance. Character development is an integral part of raising respectful and happy children and A Song for Miles appeals to parents as it creates a platform for values discussions. Children enjoy the colorful pages while parents and music lovers appreciate the musical content and paying tribute to their favorite soul music artists. [...]

A Song for Miles represents a watershed moment in “new media.” It is the first digital storybook on the AppStore that was written (Dr. Russell), illustrated (Raheli Scarborough), scored (c’beyohn), narrated (Jamal Ahmad), and developed (Diverse Mobile) by African Americans.

Will you be picking up a copy of “A Song For Miles” to share with the young people in your life? As we delve further and further into the 21st century, we need our cultural creators to make media that preserve our traditions while teaching them to the following generation. I salute Dr. Tiffany S. Russell and her team for successfully doing both.  Now go out and support!

Read more on BlackNews.com.

Black App! African-American Kid’s E-Book Links Culture & Character
Alexis Garrett Stodghill
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:54:38 GMT

Anti-Apartheid Activist Albertina Sisulu Dies At 92

 

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Albertina Sisulu, a veteran of the anti-apartheid movement who was married to Nelson Mandela’s mentor, has died. She was 92.
African National Congress spokesman Brian Sokutu, confirming the death Thursday, said Sisulu “dedicated all her life to the ANC and to the defeat of apartheid and ushering in of constitutional democracy in South Africa.”

Walter Sisulu, who died in 2003, spent 25 years in custody on Robben Island alongside Mandela, whom he had brought into the ANC.

Albertina Sisulu was left behind to raise the couple’s five children. She spent months in jail herself and had her movements restricted.

Sisulu, trained as a nurse, campaigned against apartheid and for the rights of women and children. She was a leader of the United Democratic Front, a key anti-apartheid coalition in the 1980s that brought together religious, labor and community development groups. She also was a leader in the ANC and the ANC’s women’s wing.

She was once quoted as saying, “Over the years I got used to prison, banning and detention. I did not mind going to jail myself and I had to learn to cope without Walter. But when my children went to jail, I felt that the (oppressors) were breaking me at the knees.”

She lived to see her children take prominent positions in post-apartheid South Africa. Daughter Lindiwe Sisulu is defense minister. Son Max Sisulu is speaker of the National Assembly.

Albertina Sisulu also served in parliament, taking a seat after the first all-race elections in 1994 and serving four years.

Albertina Sisulu took part in some of the iconic moments of the anti-apartheid movement, including the launch in 1955 of the Freedom Charter, which proclaims “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.” She was a leader in 1956 of a march on Pretoria by thousands of women of all races opposing the extension to women of pass laws — which restricted the movement of black South Africans. The slogan of the 1956 march was, “You strike a woman, you strike a rock.”

RELATED:

Gil Scott-Heron Dead At 62

Faye Treadwell, Manager Of The Drifters Dies At 84

Anti-Apartheid Activist Albertina Sisulu Dies At 92
Associated Press
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:03:43 GMT

Note: Cross posted from NARMER'S PLACE.

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12-Year-Old Chess Whiz Could Become Youngest Grandmaster

 

NEW YORK — James Black Jr. is making all the right moves!

Black hopes to beat the record for the youngest American chess grandmaster, which is currently held at 14.

The Daily News reports:

Black led the chess team from Intermediate School 318 in Williamsburg to national championships in both the K-8 and K-9 divisions in April – and is only seven points away from the 2,200 needed to be named a master by the United States Chess Federation.

He needs to amass at least 2,600 points by continuing to win tournaments and score favorable results against existing grandmasters to receive that title.

As one of the few young African-American players to play on the national circuit, James wants to serve as a role model for others who want to take up the game.

RELATED:

12-Year-Old From The Bronx Is Best Chess Player Of Any Age In Country

12-Year-Old Chess Whiz Could Become Youngest Grandmaster
Charles Dixon
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:30:02 GMT

Note: Cross posted from NARMER'S PLACE.

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Truck Jumps Curb In Harlem, Hits Crowd, Kills One Woman

 

There was a bad accident during lunch hour in Harlem today. The FDNY tells us that paramedics were called to West 145 Street and Powell Boulevard at 12:11 p.m. after a collision sent a pickup truck hurtling onto the sidewalk and into a crowd of pedestrians. At least six people were rushed to the hospital. We're told one of the victims was a 70-year-old woman, who went into traumatic arrest and was pronounced dead on arrival. The other five are hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. [ more › ]

Truck Jumps Curb In Harlem, Hits Crowd, Kills One Woman
John Del Signore
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 19:52:00 GMT

Note: Cross posted from HARLEM HAPPENINGS.

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Cops Who Killed Sean Bell Will Face NYPD Disciplinary Trial

 

NEW YORK-Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper who were acquitted for killing Sean Bell in a high profile 2008 trial, are now facing an NYPD disciplinary trial according to the New York Daily News:

The NYPD would not provide any information on what would happen in the trial room, and lawyers for the cops did not respond to requests for comment.

Lt. Gary Napoli, who did not face any criminal charges in the case but was cited by the NYPD for failing to supervise, is also expected to appear Thursday.

Read The Whole Story

Cops Who Killed Sean Bell Will Face NYPD Disciplinary Trial
Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:29:48 GMT

Harlem Man Falls To Death Trying To Climb Into Mom's Apartment

Harlem Man Falls To Death Trying To Climb Into Mom's Apartment

May 31, 2011 4:24pm

The man was trying to crawl into his mother's apartment on W. 135th Street.

A Harlem man fell to his death while trying to break into his own mom's place. (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)

By Jeff Mays

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HARLEM—A Harlem man fell three stories to his death Monday while trying to climb into his own mom''s apartment on West 135th St, the Daily News reported.

The 58-year-old man's mother was away on vacation when he tried to climb into her window at about 10 p.m., according to police.

The unidentfied man, who has a history of drug abuse, lost his footing as he scaled the fire escape and fell to his death, police said.

By Jeff Mays, DNAinfo.com
Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffCMays

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110531/harlem/harlem-man-falls-death-trying-climb-into-moms-place#ixzz1O3vDt3Bl

“Cosby Show” And “Sesame Street” Actress Clarice Taylor Dies

 

NEW YORK-Clarice Taylor, famous for her role as Anna Huxtable, one of the grandmothers on the “Cosby Show” and Harriet on “Sesame Street” has died at 93. Taylor also appeared in “The Wiz” and on “Sanford and Son.”

Taylor died of hear failure according to her family.

“Cosby Show” And “Sesame Street” Actress Clarice Taylor Dies
Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger
Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:31:58 GMT

City Worker Wages To Be Docked For Parking Tix

 

When deadbeats refuse to pay their parking tickets, towing and booting aren't enough, city officials say. Now they're going after vehicle registrations. Our Erin Einhorn reports: "When you don't pay, we're going to come after you as hard as we possibly can," said Finance Commissioner David ...

City Worker Wages To Be Docked For Parking Tix
Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:02:10 GMT

Summer on the Hudson presents Game Days! in West Harlem Piers Park

Summer on the Hudson presents Game Days! in West Harlem Piers Park

Date: May 31, 2011

Calling all children under 12 who want something fun to do on a sunny afternoon.
Games such as giant tic tac toe, lawn bowling, hopscotch, jump rope and more will be ready for your arrival. Sign them out, enjoy your play, and then return the games so they will be there next week!

Start time: 10:00 am

End time: 2:00 pm

Contact phone: 311

Location: West Harlem Piers Park

New Law Threatens To Undermine The Black Vote In 2012

New Law Threatens To Undermine The Black Vote In 2012

Civil rights advocates claim a recently passed law that requires voters to show photo identification threatens to stymie the African American and politically disenfranchised in the 2012 election.

The law, which requires voters to show state-issued identification may keep millions of African American who lack the time and resources needed to obtain the proper documents from the polls.

Barbara R. Arnwine, executive director for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, said:

"The time and resources needed to acquire the identification as well as lack of easy access to the needed underlying documents, such as a certified birth certificate and other forms of documentation, are particularly burdensome on minority, low-income, elderly, disabled and student voters."

Read more at The Root:

RELATED:

Voting Experts Predicts Black Vote Will Help Re-Elect Pres. Obama.

What Obama Must Do To Keep The Black Vote [VIDEO].

• 

• MAY 19, 2011, 5:59 A.M. ET

Court fight: Where should NY inmates be counted?

Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. — The fight over whether New York's prisoners should be considered residents where their prison cell is located or their home town just got more heated.

Civil rights groups have filed a legal motion to defend a new state law that counts prisoners as still being residents of their last home town when election districts are redrawn next year.

The law favors urban, mostly Democratic strongholds.

But if inmates in mostly upstate prisoners were counted as residents of their cells, more sparsely populated upstate Republican districts could get more clout, and more state and congressional districts.

Republicans have already sued to block the law.

In one rural upstate district, prisoners account for 12,000 people.

—Copyright 2011 Associated Press

Two New Apartment Buildings to Rise in Central Harlem

May 23, 2011

 

The developers of P.S. 90 and Kalahari are building 195 new residential units in Central Harlem.

 

Two new Harlem buildings are slated to rise on this (DNAInfo/Jeff Mays)

By Jeff Mays

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HARLEM—Two new apartment buildings with a total of nearly 200 units are coming to central Harlem — one on West 116th Street and the other on West 117th Street.

L+M Development Partners Inc., the developers who own the nearby buildings Kalahari and P.S. 90, are in the process of getting approval to build a new 12-story residential 95-unit market rate building with 20,000 feet of retail space on West 116th Street, they confirmed. They also have a nine-story, 100-unit affordable housing building with 9,000 feet of community facility space planned for West 117th Street.

Across the street from the proposed new development on West 116th Street is the Kalahari. The 249 unit condo contains 125 affordable units. (DNAInfo/Jeff Mays)

A parking lot and basketball court now occupies the future site of the buildings, between Fifth and Lenox avenues.Both projects are still in the middle of the uniform land use review process.

Community Board 10 will have a hearing on proposed zoning changes on June 1. The developer is requesting changes and exemptions to the commercial zoning now in place at the locations.

L+M Development Partners Inc. declined to comment further. The group is responsible for redeveloping P.S. 90, a six-story Beaux Arts building at West 148th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. The former school was abandoned because of asbestos problems.

P.S. 90, a six-story Beaux-Arts building at West 148th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard.

P.S. 90 includes 75 units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms that range in price from $450,000 to $899,000. Twenty of the units were set aside as affordable housing.

The proposed new development on West 116th Street is across the street from the Kalahari, a 249-unit condo that includes 125 affordable units.

Some members of Community Board 10's land-use committee complained that the affordable units should be divided among the two proposed buildings.

Even so, the projects received the land-use committee's stamp of approval as well as the support of area Councilwoman Inez Dickens.

By Jeff Mays, DNAinfo.com
Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffCMays

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110523/harlem/two-new-apartment-buildings-rise-central-harlem?utm_content=blackcotton212%40gmail.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Two%20New%20Apartment%20Buildings%20to%20Rise%20in%20Central%20Harlem&utm_campaign=Budget%20Cuts%20Could%20Shutter%20Librariescontent#ixzz1NJKWBAYT

Black Unemployment Rate At 15 Percent, Is Discrimination To Blame?

Black Unemployment Rate At 15 Percent, Is Discrimination To Blame?

The unemployment rate for African-Americans now soars at an astonishing 15.8 percent, the highest it has been in years. African-Americans also have an unemployment rate that is twice as more than whites (who come in at a lower 7.7  percent), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Could discrimination be a culprit in the high unemployment rate for African-Americans?

Many African-Americans site race-related discriminatory hiring practices as a challenge when looking for work. Could this be a reason that the Black unemployment rate is so high? Could there be a lack of postings for jobs at companies interested in diversity?

One form of discrimination that has been documented is against the unemployed. Some employers were caught posting available jobs with the attached statement, "NO UNEMPLOYED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED AT ALL." States like New Jersey have started to crack down on this practice. N.J. Gov. Chris Christie signed a law that prohibits companies from posting jobs with such application requirements. Violators can be fined up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $5,000 for subsequent offenses. New Jersey state Rep. Celeste Riley (D-Cumberland) explained to The Huffington Post, why she supports the bill and not the employers:

"My district has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, and when jobs are few and far between, I don't want somebody saying, ‘Just because you're unemployed I'm not gonna hire you,'" she told The Huffington Post. "There's the old theory of ‘you need a job to get a job,' but that's absolutely unacceptable. You should be employed based on your skills and what you bring to the table."

It is usually thought that African-Americans are discriminated against based on race while job searching. Discrimination can also come from different angles, such as this case of discrimination against the unemployed. While this is not directly race-related, it may have a greater impact on the already large African-American unemployment rate than it does for the unemployment rate of whites.

In the end, no one should be discriminated against when looking for work based on any factor, whether it is age, gender, race or employment status. In current times of high unemployment rates it is important to get people jobs for which they are qualified. 

Looking for work? Click here to see Monster's diversity job openings on BlackPlanet.com.

Never Forget...To Use The Bathroom Before Visiting The 9/11 Memorial

Never Forget...To Use The Bathroom Before Visiting The 9/11 Memorial

The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum is on track to open in time for the tenth anniversary of the attack, but it seems that there's just one little problem: you may have to hold it in while you're there. "Visitors will be provided with information to help plan their visit, including being advised that bathrooms will not be accessible on the site," Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent told the Post. [ more › ]

Mayor Bloomberg Offends Some With Comment About New York Parents Updated 3 hrs ago

May 21, 2011 The mayor said parents from poor neighborhoods fighting his school-closure plan lack "formal education."

 

 

Mayor Bloomberg offended some New Yorkers with comments about parents fighting his plan to shutter schools. (Jill Colvin/DNAinfo)

By Dave Goldiner

 

 

DNAinfo News Editor

 

MANHATTAN - Mayor Michael Bloomberg put his foot in his mouth Friday when he said that parents who oppose his plan to shut down poorly-performing schools lack "formal education."

On his weekly radio show, Bloomberg appeared to insult parents who are fighting to keep their children's schools, including several in Harlem, from being shut down.

"They never had a formal education and they don't understand the value of education," he said.

The billionaire mayor showed his tone-deaf side when he continued to discuss the opposition to closing the schools, at which many students come from poor, homeless or immigrant families.

"The old Norman Rockwell family is gone," he said.

City Advocate Bill de Blasio told The New York Times that the mayor's comments were "profoundly disrespectful." Parent advocates also slammed the comments as insensitive.

The teachers union and parents are suing to block Bloomberg's controversial plan to shut down nearly two dozen schools citywide.

Among the targeted schools are Intermediate School 195 in Harlem; the Academy for Collaborative Education in Harlem; the Academy for Environmental Science Secondary High School in East Harlem; the Frederick Douglass Academy III in Harlem; Kappa II in East Harlem; and Norman Thomas High School on the Upper East Side.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110521/manhattan/mayor-bloomberg-offends-some-with-comment-about-new-york-parents#ixzz1N1jzZ1e4

Sean Bell Community Center Opens In Queens

 

Close to five years ago Sean Bell was shot in a hail of 50 bullets on a Queens, New York street.

Today, a new community center erected in the name of Sean Bell has opened on the intersection now known as Sean Bell way in Jamaica, Queens. It is called the Sean Elijah Bell Community Center on Sutphin Boulevard, reports the Daily News.

The center, which will offer mentoring, GED and tutoring programs for children and adolescents, as well as job-training referral programs for adults, is expected to be fully operational by June.

The nonprofit center, which is expected to serve up to 5,000 locals annually, was funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant

Read more at TheGrio

RELATED:

Sean Bell family still gripped by grief

Sean Bell Community Center Opens In Queens
NewsOne Staff
Fri, 20 May 2011 14:55:21 GMT

Brazilian Woman Wins Right To Masturbate At Work

 

Have you seen, heard or read something interesting lately?

Tip your editors

In a decision that can only be described as touchy, a Brazilian judge has reportedly ruled that a 36-year-old female accountant can legally masturbate at work and watch porn on her work computer.

Ana Catarian Bezerra successfully argued that she suffers from a chemical imbalance that triggers severe anxiety and hypersexuality, according to a viral news story.

Ana Catarian Bezerra is a 36-year-old Brazilian woman who suffers from a chemical imbalance that triggers severe anxiety and hypersexuality. Ana, an accountant by day, began to have problems at work because the only way to relieve said anxiety is by masturbating. A lot. Now, after winning a court battle and seeking professional medical help, Ana is allowed to masturbate and watch porn — using her work's computer, no less — legally.

Ana wasn't always like this, she was worse:

"I got so bad I would to masturbate up to forty seven-times a day. That's when I asked for help, I knew it wasn't normal."

Carlos Howert, Ana's doctor, prescribes Ana with a "cocktail" (read: an entire medicine cabinet's worth) of tranquillizers. We're not sure how that "cocktail" doesn't knock Ana out (half a Claritin feels like an elephant tranquillizer to us), but thanks to Dr. Howert's concoction, Ana only has to masturbate around eighteen-times a day.

So, like, a little less than Elvis Crespo.

Of course all of this sounds absurd and hilarious to most us but for Ana it's probably anything but. Last April she had to take her employer to court in order to be allowed to masturbate during work hours. Ana won.

Still, imagine an office full of of scandalized and perverted stares as you exit the bathroom or bend down to pick up a pencil — awkward? Very. Also, as a woman, having a bunch of men knowing you're a clinical nympho probably doesn't help deter unwanted sexual advances.

Source: Analitica

What do you think?

Brazilian Woman Wins Right To Masturbate At Work
Rafael Martínez Alequín
Tue, 17 May 2011 17:10:00 GMT

Artist Paints Her Vision of Harlem One Building at a Time

May 17, 2011 Harlem artist Lynn Lieberman paints whimsical watercolors of Harlem buildings.

 

By Jeff Mays

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

HARLEM — Looking at Harlem's ornate buildings sets Lynn Lieberman's imagination loose.

At James Van Der Zee's former photo studio on Lenox Avenue, Lieberman thinks about all the famous, and not so famous, people who had their portraits taken there. A few blocks away, a row of abandoned brownstones conjures thoughts of the lives lived there.

"I really love these old buildings and the things that I know happened there," said Lieberman, 61. "We have such wonderful history in Harlem."

So in 2004, after leaving the consulting business she and her husband founded, Lieberman, a Harlem resident, began painting some of the buildings that fascinated her. Formerly a glass mosaic artist, Lieberman had been longing to try her hand at being a full-time artist.

A few years later, friends and family saw a map of Harlem painted in her whimsical style using watercolors, and suggested she try selling it.

"I thought they were being ridiculous," Lieberman said. "This was just my version of what Harlem looks like."

It turns out they were right. The Studio Museum in Harlem loved the map.

Soon, Lieberman's depictions of Harlem landmarks, such as Sylvia's, Lenox Lounge and Abyssinian Baptist Church, were being carried as notecards and postcards in several boutiques and stores throughout Harlem.

"People who live here love the familiarity of looking at places we know and visitors want to take a piece of Harlem home with them," said Louis Gagliano, co-owner of Flor Boutique, describing why Lieberman's notecards sell so well. "I love the vibrancy of her work."

Lieberman painted Jacob's, a soul food buffet on Lenox Avenue, after she learned that the owners fed the homeless for free on Thanksgiving. And although Red Rooster is one of Harlem's hottest attractions today, when Lieberman's eye was drawn to the beautiful ornate style of buildings on the same block, she painted those instead.

Lieberman makes no bones about being a commercial artist. While she'd like to spend more time painting, she has to spend time choosing paper for her note cards and prepping marketing materials.

"I am a commercial artist and that is what pays the bills," said Lieberman. "I'm not just an artist who shows."

But she's being pushed in that direction more and more by fellow Harlem artists.

Her work is now on display at the Dwyer Cultural Center as a part of their "Spirit of Community" exhibition and Cafe One on Amsterdam Avenue also recently launched a display of Lieberman's work.

"I get a lot of support from other Harlem artists. We show up for each other's functions," Lieberman said of some on the Harlem art scene. "The artists here put competitiveness aside."

Sensing the popularity of her Harlem series, Lieberman has started a Greenwich Village series. The arch in Washington Square Park and the purple New York University buses are some of her first renderings.

But Lieberman says she's not done with Harlem yet. There are already 50 Harlem renderings in her portfolio and many others waiting to be fleshed out in her sketchbook. She has yet to make her way uptown through Sugar Hill.

"I can go up and down Seventh and Eighth avenues all day long looking at the peeling paint," Lieberman said. "Each layer represents a layer of lives."

By Jeff Mays, DNAinfo.com
Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffCMays

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20110517/harlem/artist-paints-her-vision-of-harlem-one-building-at-time?utm_content=chiefcharley472%40gmail.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Artist%20Paints%20Her%20Vision%20of%20Harlem%20One%20Building%20at%20a%20Time&utm_campaign=%27I%27ve%20Been%20Attacked%2C%27%20Cried%20Alleged%20Victim%20of%20I%2EM%2EF%2E%20Chiefcontent#ixzz1Me5XEWQ6

Bridges By Night--Uptown

By Anonymous

Created 04/25/2011 - 12:11pm

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/25/2011 - 12:11pm

Date: 

Friday, May 20, 2011 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Location: 

All the way east on E 84th Street, Manhattan, at Carl Schurz Par k

A twilight tour of numerous bridges along the Harlem River.
Join us for a twilight tour of numerous bridges over the Harlem River, the Bronx Kill, and Little Hell Gate Inlet, with stops in Manhattan, Wards and Randall's Island, and the Bronx. Find little-known bicycle access points and takes in stunning sunset vistas while touching on environmental issues as overly industrialized waterfronts, highway systems, and damaged marine and shore ecosystems are viewed.Though it's just 6 miles long, the Harlem River is crossed by 14 bridges, making it the most-bridged waterway of that length in the world. Our ride will take us to both NYC's oldest and newest bridges and over two car-free spans as we cross between islands and the mainland (i.e., the Bronx). The last bridge we cross will leave us at 179th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, from which some people will head to the subway and others will ride back to the start location. Total r

Link: 

http://times-up.org/calendar/detail.php?calendarid=3208 [1]

• bike ride [2]
 
• Time's Up! [3]
 
• Environment [4]

Fight Back Friday

By Anonymous

Created 05/15/2011 - 5:21pm

Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 05/15/2011 - 5:21pm

Date: 

Friday, May 20, 2011 - 7:00am - 5:00pm

Location: 

Schools Across New York CIty

Contact: 

peter.lamphere@gmail.com [1]

Mayor Bloomberg has gone too far. And we are fighting back!!!

Over the past year, at least 50 schools have participated in the many Fight Back Fridays that have occurred across the city.

GEM is teaming up with other teacher activist groups to pull in as many schools as possible to this important day of action.

May 20th is the next city wide FBF and it needs to be huge!!

What is Fight Back Friday?? Read on or Email: peter.lamphere@gmail.com [1]

FBF gives every school community a chance to stand up and say NO to the cuts and lay-offs at whatever level the community can be organized.

-Everyone wears black (Wear black, take our schools back!). It can be as simple as just that.

-We have stickers people can print out with messages about the cuts and the kinds of changes we would all like to see in education that folks can wear and give out.

-We have fliers that you can adjust to fit your school, which you can use on the day of.

- Many schools have a picket outside of school either before or after the school day. We have fliers you can use to publicize the picket during the week leading up to the 20th.

- The fliers will be in at least English and Spanish, and if we can, Chinese.

- We have post cards that we are asking people to get signed that will then be delivered en-masse to city council members. You can print those out, or come get them at a couple of different locations.

- We ask everyone to take pictures to send in that then go on our fight back friday blog and face book page.

We will be putting out a press release and press statement and pushing the press to cover as many school events as we can. And the more schools participating the more coverage we will get.

Please, even if it sounds hard or overwhelming, consider pushing your school community to join in. Email
Peter at peter.lamphere@gmail.com [1] with any questions. We will send you the tool kit with all the fliers and stickers and such. We are happy to help you think through all the steps.

This is a way for your whole community to work together, parents, students and staff, to build solidarity within and across schools. These actions are great for training ourselves to do the organizing that we need if we are to turn the tide of the destruction of public education. In order to fight for the transformations we all want to see in our education system, we need to do the grassroots educating, organizing and mobilizing that it takes to move whole communities.

Thanks,

In solidarity,

Peter Lamphere, for the GEM and the Fight Back Friday Committee

CAPE, Grassroots Education Movement, Independent Community of Educators, NYCoRE, People Power Movement, Teachers for a Just Contract, Teachers Unite