10 20 232 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:01:57 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview BUTCH 2 Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed SCRATCH Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20230328.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with SCRATCH OH-BAADP.20230328 01:01:57 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This oral history is brought to you through the support of The New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative. bxoralhistory SCRATCH Butch2 MP4 scratch--oral-history-2023-03-28.mp4 Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/V48DzcKqYi8 YouTube video English 0 Introduction Butch II (B): Welcome to the Bronx Graffiti Arts Documentary Project. My name is Butch2 and I am joined by Jenny SCRATCH. Please introduce yourself! SCRATCH (JS): Hi I'm SCRATCH, I'm originally from Stockholm, Sweden and I started writing graffiti in 1989. Interviewer Butch2 introduces himself and the narrator SCRATCH, a graffiti writer and muralist from Stockholm. Oral history Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Scratch (Graffiti artist) 0 22 Family Background B: Can you tell us a bit about your parents? Family history? JS: Yes so my mom is Swedish, my dad is Italian. I was raised by my mom in Stockholm so I don't speak Italian. Scratch introduces her family and her early life in Sweden. She was raised in Stockholm by her Swedish mother. Her Italian father did not live with them and thus she does not speak Italian. She comes from a blended family which gave her 7 total siblings. Her mother worked nights as a Nurse Assistance, while her step-father, who she was living with, was a Computer Programmer. As a girl she went to horseback riding lessons and spend summers in the country where her grandmother lived. She was a very active student. Experiences in high school led her to do an intensive one year of university and got a certificate in advertising which brought her to New York with an internship. Education, Higher--Sweden;Stockholm (Sweden);Stockholm (Sweden)--Buildings, structures, etc. Education--Sweden;Girls--Books and reading--Sweden--History--20th century;Sweden 0 497 First Graffiti Experiences/Graffiti School B: Now I wanna backtrack for a minute and ask you about that "Infamous Graffiti School." Could you tell me about that? JS: So back in 1989 back in Stockholm, Sweden, around February they opened for the public. B: Who's they? The Infamous Graffiti School you're talking about? JS: Right, so what they did was, it was a few different organizations who went together and they somehow came up with this idea to do this school, I don't remember if it was a writer. Someone came up with the idea to do it. B: Was it something like what the Hall of Fame is like? They just had big walls for everybody? Nothing like that? JS: No, so what they had was they started it and they hired one artist that was kind of considered like a street artist. He started and he got like a bucket and brush and paint on the walls in Stockholm. His name was the Hulk, the Swedish name for the hulk, Hulken. The Hulk in English. And they hired some other artists to help, to teach, right? So they gave us a space it was an abandoned school, cause they figured, you know, there might be some destruction I guess. They have us like an old workshop school classroom that we were in and they gave us paint, you know. Scratch was working in advertising as an art director for a graphic design firm. In Sweden, a few different organizations created a graffiti school which hired artists to teach graffiti to youths in an abandoned school and sponsored by paint companies and the swedish transportation authority (which did not quite achieve its goal of keeping graffiti off the trains). Back then she painted solely panthers and when she went bombing she wrote PANTHER. At the time SCRATCH was a purely legal-wall name. When she came to New York she passed the Five Pointz building and was put on to the spot. Every day she would stop by and practice on a particle board. Five Pointz;Graffiti;Stockholm Graffiti School (1989-1990);Swedsh Graffiti 0 1030 Five Pointz Graffiti Classes B: Were you ever into racking paint? Did you ever rack paint? JS: Well, remember back then you used to have all those big bomber jackets and you know [mimes throwing cans inside jacket] and then you'd walk like this [waddles] So yeah I might have done that. Scratch talks about the free "graffiti classes" Meres would put on at the Five Pointz which is where she really learned how to do her letters. Shoplifting Cohen, Jonathan;Five Pointz;Meres (Graffiti artist) 0 1205 Being an Immigrant B: Let me ask you though, coming to the US through the school program, did you have any problems with immigration or trying to get your visas? J: I mean it's a process, I mean I had I don't know how many hoops to go through. People don't understand how expensive it is. Cause you need to get the lawyer. And then it's like first you need this form, then you need this one and then this one and you need that. And it's a lot of money. I spend probably 10s of Thousands of dollars to get my papers. Scratch speaks about the difficulties she encountered while immigrating into the United States. The primary difficulty she mentions is the financial cost: she paid over $10,000 in the 1990s to get all the necessary papers. Immigration consultants--Legal status, laws, etc.;Immigration issues for the 1990s;Immigration issues in the United States 0 1271 Hall of Fame JS: I met James first at Five Pointz. B: There's another Five Pointz now did you know that? JS: Yeah, well, you know Bushwick Collective also used to be called Five Pointz? ... For me there's only one five pointz, when I was there. Call it something different it's not Five Pointz. That Five Pointz doesn't exist anymore. To go back to the Hall of Fame, I had contacted James about something, and then he was like, "hey, we have this Hall of Fame meeting you should come." And I went to the meeting and I ended up getting a spot. Scratch speaks about her involvement with the graffiti hall of fame, where she painted multiple times. She met James Top (who ran the hall) at Five Pointz. She went to a meeting for the graffiti hall of fame and ended up getting invited to paint. Typical for graffiti, she mentions how hall of fame spots always caused drama. Top, James Graffiti;Graffiti Hall of Fame (Harlem, N.Y.) 0 1515 Connection back to Sweden B: I wanted to ask you about what did your family feel about you leaving Sweden? Did anyone come with you? Did you open the doors for anybody to come through? JS: No I'm the only one. I'm the only one. My dad did not like it, he tried to stop it. It did not work, because I'm more stubborn than he is. I was like, "nope, I'm going!" Scratch is the only one of her family to make the journey to the United States, and actually her family did not originally approve of the move. Swedish American artists;United States--Emigration and immigration 0 1561 Living in New York B: So when you got here where did you first land? I mean you came here to New York, your first apartment? JS: So when I first came here, because I was in school, we were in a dorm in Brooklyn Heights and I went to Pace University. We used to walk over the bridge to save tokens, it was still tokens back then. Scratch speaks about where in New York she has lived and what she remembers from the early days of her time in New York. She first lived in Brooklyn Heights and eventually moved to East Harlem, and been in the same apartment ever since. She recalls fondly the token days of public transport. Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.);East Harlem (New York, N.Y.) International Student Exchange;Pace University 0 1715 Style Inspirations B: As you see new artists come on the scene you wanna know where they're from, what inspires them. When you paint just off the top of your head do you have any inspirations other than your panther? Any other things you like to draw like scenes, lettering? JS: Yeah so I always loved comic books and fantasy and I'm almost inspired especially way back by how creative the graffiti artists were. Because in Sweden we don't call it graffiti writer, we call it graffiti painter. That's how the translation [is]. And some of them they were so talented they had calendars, they had full production walls on buildings back then! So I always wanted to learn how to do production walls, the characters, the letters, everything. And now you see crews like Tats Cru, FX crew, and UW like all those production walls. Scratch speaks about her inspirations in style and in content. She speaks about how graffiti for her is art first, which comes from her experience in Sweden where graffiti writers are not known as writers but as painters [målare]. Large scale production walls which she saw from her childhood were what drew her to graffiti, and she wants to legitimize them as a major part of the practice of graffiti instead of a illegalist purism where tags and throws are king. Tats Cru (Group) Graffiti;Mural painting and decoration, Swedish 0 1887 Involvement in the Scene B: You've been involved with a lot of things. You're involved with a lot of crews, you've painted a lot of walls. JS: Only one crew! B: What crew is that? JS: TOP. That's it, probably. 'Cause James put me down with TOP because I used to help him with a lot of shows. I used to do the posters for him, like the flyers and stuff. So I used to help him with doing that. I used to help him with a lot of shows, I don't even know how many shows over the years. Scratch speaks about her connections in the graffiti world. She has only ever formally been down with one crew, TOP, which is headed by James Top, who runs the graffiti hall of fame. She used to do the posters for James and he repaid her in kind by featuring her in shows, in the HOF a number of years, and generally keeping her connected. She also used to have a close relationship with FEVER. Fever (Graffiti writer);Top, James Art -- Expertise;Art--Influence 0 2942 Becoming an Educator JS: And I also do, now what I've really started enjoying doing, is a lot of graffiti workshops and live painting at events. I do a lot of those and then you work with kids and they don't want you to post that stuff because parents don't want their kids on social media. I've done a lot of those. B: How'd you get plugged into that? JS: So it's also through my friend Angel. She used to do this for this company in Brooklyn. She moved to Florida so she recommended me so I ended up doing it too. So it's kind of cool actually yeah! Scratch speaks about her present engagements, the biggest of which is her educational work doing graffiti workshops and live painting, mostly with children. Art education in action;Art in education 0 2998 Favorite Walls B: So what's some of your most proud work that you've done? What have you done that impresses you? JS: One of my favorite walls that I've done is I did a Ninja Turtle wall at the Hall of Fame in 2014. Because usually when you get a spot and that's it. And for some reason this year I had this idea and I showed it to James and he gave me this little spot. And then suddenly it was a little more, and then a little more, and then a little more, and then I'm like alright! So I just went in and did a full production all by myself. So that was kinda cool because the character, the background, the piece. That was my favorite. I really like that. Scratch speaks about her favorite examples of her own work. The number one is the Ninja Turtle wall she painted in 2014 at the Graffiti Hall of Fame Graffiti;Mural painting and decoration--21st century 0 3157 Creative Firecracker B: I got a question for you. Could you tell me about that Creative Firecracker? JS: Yeah, so Creative Firecracker is my company I started in 2005 to do freelance work and contract work in art direction and graphic design. But then lately I've started getting more art projects, you know do murals, so I kinda just expanded on that. I think my experience as an art director and as a graphic designer in the advertising really helps when you do murals. Usually you get commissioned to do it and they want you to communicate a specific message. Scratch speaks about the company she founded, Creative Firecracker, which she uses to do graphic design, art direction, and murals. She also speaks about how her experience in the advertising industry has affected her artistry. Advertising;Advertising agencies Commercial art;Mural painting and decoration 0 3356 Importance of the Bronx B: OK let me ask you one more question. This is my last question to you. What does the Bronx mean to you? Bronx, New York. JS: Bronx is the birth of graffiti and hip hop! I mean come on that's where it started. For me it's actually one of my favorite places to paint. There's just a different feel when you paint in the Bronx than when you paint anywhere else. I've been fortunate to paint a few different spots in the Bronx. There's a different feel how people respond. Scratch speaks about her feelings on the Bronx. To her, there is a different feeling painting in the Bronx and it is one of her favorite places to paint. It is also of chief importance because of its role as the foundation of hip-hop. Scratch stood out from her peers in Sweden because she preferred hip-hop to the metal which was popular among her age-peers and is grateful to the Bronx for originating it. Graffiti Bronx;Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Hip-hop 0 3439 Tag Scratch writes her tag for the archive and briefly discusses the "Bastard was here" that she sometimes adds to her name. 0 Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on March 28, 2023 with SCRATCH, a Swedish graffiti writer from Stockholm who currently resides in Spanish Harlem. In her oral history SCRATCH speaks about her family background, life growing up in suburban Stockholm, and her introduction to graffiti in Sweden. She talks of her scholarship to Pace University, the U.S. immigration process, her transition to East Harlem and her career in the New York City Graffiti and Art scene. The interviewer are Butch2, pioneering graffiti writer and community historian for the The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project (BAADP) is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with SCRATCH Description An account of the resource Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on March 28, 2023 with SCRATCH, a Swedish graffiti writer from Stockholm who currently resides in Spanish Harlem. In her oral history SCRATCH speaks about her family background, life growing up in suburban Stockholm, and her introduction to graffiti in Sweden. She talks of her scholarship to Pace University, the U.S. immigration process, her transition to East Harlem and her career in the New York City Graffiti and Art scene. The interviewer is Butch2, pioneering graffiti writer and community historian for the The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project (BAADP), a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This oral history is brought to you through the support of The New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023.03.28 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20230328 graffiti SCRATCH Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 2:52:59 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Boone, Kurt Payne, Steven Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20220523.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with SEN-1 (IBM), Part 1 OH-BAADP.20220523 2:52:59 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. bxoralhistory SEN-1 (IBM) Payne, Steven Boone, Kurt MP4 sen-1-ibm-oral-history-pt1-2022-05-24.mp4 Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/KzUajMcXhwg YouTube video English 0 Introduction Steven Payne (SP): Welcome to the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project. My name is Steven Payne librarian and archivist at the Bronx County Historical Society. Today is May 23, 2022. Kurt do you wanna go ahead and introduce yourself? Kurt Boone (KB): Yeah I'm Kurt I've been writing about urban culture for 40 years. SP: Great thank you Kurt. And we're really happy to be here today with SEN-1, who is a legendary graffiti writer from a part of New York that unfortunately rarely gets the love as far as graffiti goes or other elements of hip hop culture. And SEN-1 is a member of the Incredible Bombing Masters, the IBM crew, among other groups leading up to that and we're just happy to be here with SEN-1. Interviewers Steven Payne and Kurt Boone introduce themselves and the narrator SEN-1, graffiti writer and artist. Harlem (New York, N.Y.) Graffiti;Sen-1 (Graffiti artist) 0 52 Family and Background SP: Why don't you start off by telling us a little about your family's history and background, and how they ended up in New York City whatever you know about that history. SEN: Well I'm raised with a single mother named Mercedes Morillo and we come out of the Island that's Haiti now known as Dominican Republic but at that time when she migrated here it had just went through the changes. If you look up the Morillo family line we actually are the original military under--it was a militia actually that ran, Morillo-Lopez, a militia that ran from Haiti to the other end of the Island, it was two militias. When the CIA the United States whatever put in Trujillo he recruited my grandfather's militia, which is where we get our military family. Sen's family background from the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, from a military family that began to flee the Trujillo-era violence on the Island. He details some of his home life, including some of the violence his mother would commit. Dominican Republic;Haiti;Harlem (New York, N.Y.) 0 433 Elementary Education SEN: I was one of those kids, my brother he was more of a genius... I was the opposite. I was getting thrown out of every school. I went to P.S. 75, I got thrown out of there, I went to P.S. 84 I got thrown out of there ... I was eventually sent to Holy Names which is a Catholic school on 96th St and I was thrown out of there. I basically made it through those schools maybe no more than a year or two before I would be thrown out. I was dyslexic, I had a lot of energy, I was always spaced out and in my own little world. I was really like a fun-going kid. Even with the teachers people were really angry back then, really aggressive. So if you were an innocent kid just want to have fun, you'd be beat up for that. Other kids would bully you or even the teachers. And back then the teachers could beat you and they would beat you. SEN's experiences in Elementary School. He cycled through a lot a different schools, being kicked out of several for behavioral issues. He speaks about the physical abuse he received from other students and from teachers, as well as how his temper became a defense mechanism that he did not learn to control until much later. 0 1109 Early Life, Gangs KB: What were those days like in New York as an elementary school [student]? Eventually you come into art and we'll get into that but you didn't go into little league baseball, you didn't play basketball, did you play handball? What was your outlet? No Boxing? SEN: Nah, when I was a kid, so my spine was like bent in, I had narrow shoulders, I was like totally not athletic like the kids were. But you had to keep up so little by little I developed. My brother was outta here. He was doing flips was doing skateboard like the zoo york stuff, building ramps, he was just out of here. Me, my mother had me like a momma's boy in a way, like kept me close, because again, I had issues, I was always in trouble... An overview of Sen's early life. We learn he was an unathletic child but taken around by his brother who was an early street skateboarder. He also goes into significant detail about the function of the gangs in his social circle. He also laments over the loss of community which he witnessed during his lifetime in his community in the Upper West Side. Zoo York Gang members;Skateboard industry;Skateboarding;Skateboarding parks 0 3580 Beginning Tagging and School SEN: Going into Joan of Arc, it was right next door to me, big building. But it was a school where---I'm in a prime neighborhood with a gang and everything---with thousands of kids and people now living. So I come up from Amsterdam up the block, now we talk about all these tall buildings, every single building is like a fucking neighborhood. It's huge, and we got multiple, and they're all new! They're all just going up in the mid-70s. So it's new, or most of these families are new, or they been in the neighborhood but they moved from tenements to these big buildings because they applied first. And then you got all these people from different areas. So now it's like this mixture already. Continued synopsis of Sen's early life, including the beginning of his tagging career, the incident where his photo was put up on a "wanted" poster as "George Graffiti". When he goes to Joan of Arc junior high school his crew really picks up. He also speaks on the impact of the 1977 blackout. We also hear about his brother's promising art career in oil paint, a founding member of zoo york, and roller skating which SEN remains incredibly proud of. 1977 New York City Blackout Graffiti;Hip-hop;Hip-hop dance;Junior high school facilities 0 5384 Beginning of SEN and Getting with IBM Crew SEN: Nicknames were already taken as tags from generations earlier. You were just inheriting nicknames. Sender comes from, we went through dictionaries and looked up words, you just looked up and went through comic books, you just went through everything looking for a word that would stand out. Because again it's not just that you're looking for a tag name, you're looking for---it's your alias! It has to fit you. It has to be cool, and there's a lot of of elements to it. So I go through a comic book, and you know how the comic books be bolding certain words, and I saw it said SENDER! Something something SENDER and I was like, and remember I'm only 12 years old something like that, 11 12 years old. And I go Sender... the sender! Like I felt like superman! The creation of IBM crew and the expansion of SEN's bombing career. We learn SEN comes from SENDER, coming from a bolded word in a comic book, which was shortened to SEN on the advice of DOZE. We also see the explosion of hip-hop culture with graffiti movies and breakdancing as a major phenomenon. IBM crew;Seen TC5 (Graffiti artist) Break dancing;Graffiti;Hip-hop 0 5539 Hip Hop, B-Boys, Wild Style, and Proliferation of Crews SEN: As I'm developing in there, that's happening. It's a movement now. So I watched it as it developed a lot earlier but the momentum wasn't there yet. Not my first year of junior high school I'm catching that wave with a crew of cats that have been groomed already by the people causing the wave. So I get blessed on that end. So boom I get down with POKE and them, he's down with that entire movement An explosion of hip-hop culture in the early 1980s including the park jams, break dancing crews, and Wild Style movie. We also learn how involved the gangs were in the early hip-hop scene, fiercely defending their territory, with only students, b-boys, and writers likely to get a "pass" into any given neighborhood. Doze (Graffiti artist);IBM (Graffiti crew);Poke (Graffiti artist) Hip-hop;Hip-hop dance;Hip-hop in art;Hip-hop in motion pictures;Hip-hop jewelry 0 6670 Style, Racking, Mops SEN: My first year of junior high school, I just got the SEN name, I'm piecing and you gotta think about it, now we feel like we're grown men now! We like IBM, we're gonna make our name, take this serious we re gonna go bomb. We didn't have a lot of cans, so again to your question: there was stores in West Side Bombay, on 98 St and Broadway, all writers went there they have ink, they had everything. There was a store called Goldens, try to rack up. ... Our era, mops which was markers was part of your status. So we used to make our own markers. So the markers wasn't an issue, the spray paint was the issue. SEN describes the techniques in play during his graffiti career. This includes the creation of mops and the subcultural importance of having a good mop (homemade ink or paint markers). We also learn about where writers would source their materials from, between stealing and salvaging. Shoplifting;Spray nozzles;Spray painting 0 7434 Crime and Culture SEN: Everybody that lived in New York knew that the last car of the train was off the hinges! If you go into the last car of the train you was asking for trouble. The last car of the train was designated for all the thugs, all the criminals, all the smokers, all the stick-up people. And that's where you went. Because you was down with that. If I was a stick-up kid I wanna be in the last car, I don't want to be with the others. But if you go in the last car they know what you about, you know what it's about, it's like prison. So if you go in the last car, you want that environment, because you're ready for that environment and they know it. But if you're a tourist or somebody or you're a civilian going for work, and you happen to get in the last car? Aw man, it's like a school of piranhas man, you asking for it! You're gonna get it! That's what happened with what-his-name Bernhard Goetz and them with the shooting. So that's the way the trains were that's the way the city was. Sen recalls the "silent rules" of New York City at the time, and how locals knew how to avoid crime, as well as the effect this had on the wider culture of the city, especially in the way young people made themselves into the tough characters they painted on the walls. He then moves to describe some of the concurrent developments in hip-hop subculture at the time, the proliferation of Nike Cortez and other shoes, rocking, etc. He argues that skateboarding and double-dutch should have also been included as hip hop "elements" due to their integration into the culture at the time. Double dutch (Rope skipping);Goetz, Bernhard Hugo, 1947-;Skateboarding Art & crime;Crime;Hip-hop;New York, N.Y. 0 7843 Intensifying Criminalization, Hip Hop as a Revolutionary Culture SEN: I wasn't like my brother, he had opportunities. By the time I was coming up, those same scholarships wasn't available anymore. The city was broke--completely broke. He was coming off the hippy movement, there was like, social workers, there was all kinds of stuff. Now, my era, nah that shit doesn't exists. So now you got these who have to figure things out by themselves. With all this knowledge though! See we're not like the kids today. Our knowledge is the Malcolm Xs, all those movements, Tupac's moms and them. We got this first hand neighbors to neighbors. The breakfast programs created by the Panthers, we were going to that every day! Sen speaks about the divestment in social programs and the increase in policing/criminalization of graffiti which occurred during the Koch mayoralty. This dramatically changed the writing scene by intensifying violence and moving train painting from yards, which were locked down by the mid-80s, to mid-tunnel layups. He also speaks about what legacy hip-hop owes to the revolutionary movements of the 1970s, as kids being recipients of programs by the Black Panthers, for instance. He sees hip-hop as a cultural revolution in that legacy. Black Panther Party;Shakur, Afeni;Shakur, Mutulu DIY;Hip-hop;Koch, Ed, 1924-2013;New Left 0 8483 First Train Pieces SEN: To be next to a train, that's why they called it the Iron Elephant, it was that. It was an elephant and you feel the power! And it would make noises. It was like, alive. It wasn't like you was piecing on a wall. The train was alive, because of the fact that it could move, it would breathe, it would make these sounds, steam would come out of it, you could see sparks still from the third rail sometimes, it would rev itself up. [Sen imitates revving sound] So it was like a living thing. So you're going down there and we looked up, and we did our first pieces me and POKE. We had to climb up, and they taught us that. You'd use the beams, and the doorway of the train has the little ledge, and they also had like a brim around the train. So we being so little our feets are only like this big. You're able to step on that and be comfortable. So you're leaning over you're doing it. And we did our first trains and that was it. Continuing from the last section, this tells the story of SEN's first time hitting a winter layup in a subway tunnel and painting a train. IBM (Graffiti group);Poke IBM (Graffiti artist) Graffiti 0 8886 Changing Street Landscape SEN: Basically everybody was a member of the Ball Busters. So every freakin' house, every kid who was in there was a member of the Ball Busters. So when they came for you, and I had beef with them, this was Familia's beef, when they came for you they came hundreds. Not twenty, thirty, they came hundreds. Hundreds would come for you. They'll come to your school and for blocks, you'll look down the street and it'll be three blocks of gang members surrounding the entire school like a riot just to get you. That's how they were. And then they ran all the drugs. At that time is when the drugs were just beginning, they began to run it all. They had the highway, the bridge, Fort Washington, they brought in this whole culture of racing cars, gambling, I mean they exploded the streets. They took whatever was in the streets to a whole different level, and they were violent as hell. Sen speaks on the changing gang landscape in New York at the time, and how his own affiliations briefly caused trouble in the tunnels as a large Dominican gang called the Ball Busters attempted to assert territorial control underground, though this was quashed after a large confrontation with other gangs including Zulu Nation/Black Spades. Afrika Bambaataa, 1960-;Ball Busters Gangs;Gangs--New York (State);Illicit and misused drugs;Violence;Violence in adolescence;Violence in art;Violence, cooperation, peace 0 9659 IBM to FC SEN: We was doing crazy shit. Just for fun we would, because we could jump into the tracks, certain stops, the train's flying, we would pull the emergency brakes and watch everybody in the train fall. We were riding the outside of the train, we were between the cars sitting up on it. It was crazy but that was just like, fun. Like I would do stuff like that without the crew even knowing. Like I'd be watching them then I would go and just do it. [mimes yanking emergency brake] "Oh what the fuck why you always doing that shit!" And then we'd have to run. And the train wasn't going nowhere so you just went between cars and jumped in the track and you ran to the next stop. And basically everybody'd be pissed. The conductor would be cursing at you, he would be like "fuck you!" And you'd be running to the next stop laughing, laughing, just laughing your guts out. It was funny. But people would fall that's when they started putting that stuff on it KB: Oh so you couldn't do it no more SEN: Yeah but that was a regular thing As the IBM crew begins to fade with SEN stepping back from graffiti and POKE becoming addicted and going to jail, they train the next generation, FC (First Class) crew which becomes a major graffiti crew. He also speaks about the function of graffiti crew names, noting the letters were more important than what they stood for, which was changeable. He also speaks about what it's like to be a kid beginning to write and "motion bomb" tagging through the system. FC (Graffiti crew);IBM (Graffiti crew) Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Graffiti crews 0 9949 Move into Gang Life SEN: Even in the crew, some of the older ones didn't like that. Because it was too much power, too much egos, and too much beef coming from these two tiers. And then they would all have to get involved because Familia wasn't a big big gang. It was just a loyal gang, you were chosen. You had to grow into it, it was like a mob, a family thing. It wasn't like somebody could just get down it was impossible. SEN wraps up this part of his oral history by speaking about how he got involved with the La Familia street gang and moved away from graffiti as he lost interest growing up. Falling out with POKE and getting into more serious street crime and violence leads him away from graffiti. He ended up on a list of gang members in school before he was a gang member officially. He also details how the different generations of members had different functions within the gang. La Familia (Street gang) Gangs;Urban violence;Violence--Etiology;Violence--Social aspects 0 Part 1 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on May 23, 2022 with SEN-1, who got his start as an original member of the IBM Crew (Incredible Bombing Masters) and has become a world-renowned artist commissioned by the likes of Michelle Obama, Fabolous, and Rita Ora. In this first part of his oral history SEN-1 speaks about growing up in Lower Harlem (now refashioned as the northern part of the Upper West Side) and his peak activity as a graffiti writer. He shares his family's history, his own experiences in various public and private elementary schools, the presence of street organizations like Sandman and La Familia in the neighborhood immediately south of W. 96th Street, local skateboarders like his brother who were founding members of Zoo York, attending Joan of Arc Junior High School and the explosion of the various aspects of hip hop culture at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, how he got his tag and the process of forming the IBM Crew, IBM's activity along the 1 line and the crew's tension with the Ballbusters (a Dominican drug crew along the 1 line), joining up with La Familia, and much more. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed SEN 1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with SEN 1, Part 1 Description An account of the resource Part 1 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on May 23, 2022 with SEN-1, who got his start as an original member of the IBM Crew (Incredible Bombing Masters) and has become a world-renowned artist commissioned by the likes of Michelle Obama, Fabolous, and Rita Ora. In this first part of his oral history SEN-1 speaks about growing up in Lower Harlem (now refashioned as the northern part of the Upper West Side) and his peak activity as a graffiti writer. He shares his family's history, his own experiences in various public and private elementary schools, the presence of street organizations like Sandman and La Familia in the neighborhood immediately south of W. 96th Street, local skateboarders like his brother who were founding members of Zoo York, attending Joan of Arc Junior High School and the explosion of the various aspects of hip hop culture at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, how he got his tag and the process of forming the IBM Crew, IBM's activity along the 1 line and the crew's tension with the Ballbusters (a Dominican drug crew along the 1 line), joining up with La Familia, and much more. The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022.05.23 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20220523 graffiti IBM SEN 1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 2:01:55 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed SEN 1 Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20230118.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with SEN-1 (IBM), Part 2 OH-BAADP.20230118 2:01:55 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. bxoralhistory SEN-1 (IBM) Crespo, Pastor Jr. MP4 sen-1-part2-oral-history-bgadp-2023-01-18.mp4 Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/d5lPgnlVIIY YouTube video English 0 Introduction Pastor Crespo (PC): Today is Wednesday January 18, 2023 and we are at the Bronx County Historical Society Research Center at 3313 Bainbridge Avenue, The Bronx. I am Pastor Crespo, Jr. the research librarian and archivist, and I am joined for Part 2 of an Oral History for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project with SEN-1 IBM also known as George Morillo a legend within the graffiti community and an original member of the Incredible Bombing Masters IBM. His art has transitioned from NYC subway tunnels and yards to sharing fine art gallery space alongside renowned international artists such as Pablo Picasso. Interviewer Pastor Crespo, Jr. introduces himself and the narrator, SEN-1. Artists--Anecdotes;Artists--United States;Artists--United States--Biography;Contemporary artists;Graffiti 0 91 Afro-Caribbean heritage SEN: The Afro-Caribbean thing is because if you know your culture and you know your history of the Caribbean, you know that the slave trade of America was the slave triangle, which the slaves that were brought in from Africa were transferred into the Caribbean prior to coming to the Americas, so you had the slave triangle and then back to Africa so the ship routes. So the Caribbean is highly influences by our original Arawak people, which people like to say Taino and different tribes, Ciboney and all these other tribes, but when it comes down to the bloodline, our bloodline runs through South America, Central America and so on, and Africa of course, and being that melanated people originate from where? Africa. So also in my blood trait I have the sickle cell anemia trait. Sen discusses his family and ethnic background, how the history of the Caribbean from its indigenous peoples and importance to the Atlantic slave trade has had an enormous impact on his personal consciousness. Arawak Arts, Dominican;Dominican Americans;Dominican Republic;Dominican Republic--Biography;Dominican Republic--History--1961-;Dominican Republic. Policía Nacional (1936- );Haiti;Haiti--Boundaries--Dominican Republic 0 251 Upper West Side/Harlem PC: So what neighborhood did you grow up in? SEN: I grew up in what's like the borderline of what the beginning of what Harlem is. Even though a lot of people consider 110th Street to be Harlem, but my area like 96th Street and Broadway was the Mecca for Afro-Latin Jazz growing up. So pretty much I was born on 95th/94th Street and Amsterdam, I was living in a tenement there, and I would move up to 93rd Street and Columbus. But that area was always under what they would call "Urban Development." So we went through the burnt-down stuff like the Bronx did obviously that was a way of clearing out areas and taking also---people also don't understand that when New York was burning down in the 70s it was part of a bigger plan of taking away property from people of color. Sen describes his neighborhood and its changing landscape over his lifetime. He speaks about how the Upper West Side above 90th Street was more connected to Harlem and the Bronx ("Uptown") than is commonly understood. He speaks about how urban renewal changed his life significantly while living in the neighborhood, as well as why he believes it took place. Its location makes it a unique neighborhood, being equally close to the Bronx as to Midtown. New York (N.Y.). Office of Development. Urban Renewal Unit;Urban renewal--United States Cosmopolitanism;Gentrification;Harlem (New York, N.Y.);Upper West Side (New York, N.Y.) 0 462 La West Side Familia PC: Can you talk about your association with La West Side Familia, how did that begin and your various roles and involvement with them? SEN: Absolutely, that's a major part of my life from youth to now, to this day. So La West Side Familia just to give a quick breakdown is an outlaw gang. It was an era in New York when every community had an outlaw gang. So up here you had everything from the Savage Skulls to the Ching-a-Lings and on and on. The entire city was carved out in sections. The reason this happened is originally, as people of color migrated in a lot of these communities they were not received properly. It was really hostile. Whether it was an Italian community, a Jewish community, whatever it was. They didn't want us there. Sen discusses his relationship with La West Side Familia, an outlaw gang he is a member of. Founded as an offshoot of the Brooklyn La Familia organization, it was part of an era of New York City where there were outlaw gangs in nearly every community. He credits part of its endurance to the fact it was a "mafia-type" organization where members were vetted over a very long period of time before being "made" as members. Its activities, however, extended far beyond the criminal, and included a radical political milieu including the legacy of the Young Lords. Young Lords Party Crime;Crime and race;Gang members;La West Side Familia (Street gang);Outlaw Gang 0 1726 Cyril Innis, Black Panther Party, Politicization PC: Now, an individual you know well. How did you meet Cyril Innis, and what was your involvement with the Black Panthers over the years? SEN: Oh, man Cyril Innis that's Bullwhip man. I got goosebumps. I have many teachers. I've been blessed in my life and cursed in a lot of ways because I've been put into situations, even with La Familia and different things and even with the Graffiti thing, and going further back. I've come across many souls that are amazing, and that's probably why I'm still here. Even when I was a kid and not having a father figure like I said and being on the streets young. I've met people that have been killers. You could consider them from the 70s hit men. You could probably consider them serial killers that are no longer with us. But they were the ones that would see me as a kid in the street and educated me. That taught me things that told me things. That knowledge is something that I carry with me forever and it's probably the reason why I'm alive through everything. Not probably, it's definitely the reason why I'm alive. Also knowledgeable about the stuff that's around me. So getting into that Cyril Innis is an original Black Panther member and Black Liberation Army member from the New York chapters. So he was in the front lines with Afeni Shakur and that whole generation... Sen speaks about his introduction to Cyril Innis, an original Black Panther, as well as their joint role in founding the Black Panther Collective, which SEN was a member of for nearly a decade. SEN also speaks broadly about the relevance of the 1960s and 1970s revolutionary movements to his own politics and the culture at large. Innis, Cyril;Shakur, Afeni;Shakur, Mutulu;Young Lords Party Black Panther Party;Zulu Nation 0 2412 Return to Art SEN: The universe is funny this way. I had hit a low in my life in which everything was falling apart. My mother had passed away, I was losing the job I was at, my marriage was falling apart. Basically everything was coming back to me, the dirt, the karma you could say, was coming back at once. I was at a really low spot. And what happens is my brother gets married for the third time and his wife is a top designer for Diane von Furstenburg whatever her name is and who built that whole campaign for her. And because her name was so hot as a designer, her name is Heather Harlan, she ended up getting this deal with Rachel Roy who was a big designer of color. I hate using black and all this stuff. Back then considered to be the biggest black designer, woman designer, at the time. I like to say melanated. But she was Damon Dash's ex-wife. She was also the one who was also like Michele Obama, Oprah, all them was wearing her dresses, outfits, they were really expensive high end. She got a deal it was bloomingdal---or Macy's deal she ended up getting a deal to make a low, what they would consider a lower end type of fashion which was more for the population that could be in their reach. And she got a complete deal from shoes all the way to bags, everything. It was a complete deal with everything in it. So Heather got hired and the brand was called Rachel Rachel Roy line. She got hired as the top designer because as you guys know these people's names are brands and not necessarily the designers they have people that actually design the stuff for them and they just get credit for. So Heather has this idea, this is back in about 2009, has this idea about graff. Graffiti wasn't hot the way it is right now. Especially not in fashion at all Sen talks about his reentry into the art world through a commission by his brother's wife to paint graffiti for a fashion line sold at Macy's which began anew his art career. Fashion and art;Macy's (Firm);Macy's, Inc. Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Harlan, Heather;Roy, Rachel 0 3104 Developing an Artistic Voice SEN: They were like, the subways of that era to give people an idea. Because I don't think people understand what we was dealing with. Like people nowadays look to a street, let's say graffiti piece, whether it's on a freight train or whatever. Even the ones that come from out of town and they do the New York City trains, these are all clean trains. These are all like, clean canvases. We didn't have that. I'm from the last generation with trains. We had a couple decades of trains being bombed out by the time we got it. Not only were they bombed out they were old they were falling apart, they were rusty. And they were being acid washed by Koch. Every week they were being acid washed so the trains were actually being eaten away by acid and then you had pieces under pieces underneath for decades and tags and all kinds of stuff. You had to actually, like, if it could be visible you couldn't go over it really. That would cause a conflict that was the rules of the street. And there was also a priority. Tags were at the bottom, throw-ups were basically, people didn't really do throw-ups. That was to us, especially out of IBM we skipped that part. That was considered a waste of paint and a waste of space, doing those bubble letters on trains. We went straight to burners and that's why IBM was so famous: characters and burners. Sen describes his development as an artist, and how developing his art into a number of series, including graffiti abstracts and his flag series allowed him to become a career artist. He also describes at length how his experience as a graffiti writer, especially the unspoken rules and conditions of painting trains affected his artistic style. Abstraction Art and style;Graffiti;Sen-1 (Graffiti artist) 0 4454 Galerie d'Orsay Boston SEN: I was out there on a trip, I was with the girl I was dating at the time. She was on a business trip. We was out to dinner with a coworker... I saw them strategizing. These two women strategizing some meetings the next day that had to do with million dollar deals. I'm sitting here at the table and I'm like damn, I'm feeling the pressure! And the hustling comes out of me like damn I'm sitting at this table with these women and they're talking about how they got three meetings lined up tomorrow... I'm sitting here like I gotta up my game! I gotta up my game! The story of how SEN cold-visited Galerie D'Orsay in Boston while visiting the city and was able to develop a relationship with them to the point that they are now the sole distributors of SEN-1 work. Boston (Mass.) Commercial art;Galerie d'Orsay 0 5060 Becoming President of a Mitchell-Lama SEN: I actually ride the ride of, at this age I go with the universe. If it's something bigger than me that I'm supposed to be doing, then at this stage of my life I just do it I show up for it. And it's also my mother's legacy this is what she did. So in a way I think she's also guiding a lot of this madness. In a good way! But I'm proud of it actually! I'm really proud. I've been told we've done more in this short amount of time there than almost anything in the past. And I credit that to my experience in the Panthers stuff. The organizational skills and everything came into play. How Sen-1 became the president of his Mitchell-Lama program rental building. He saw a number of misdeeds being committed by the management and by advocating for his fellow tenants found himself being nominated and ultimately elected. He has been proud of the quick change they have already been able to complete. Mitchell-Lama;New York (N.Y.). Community Planning Board No. 7 0 5317 Community/Charity Involvement PC: Could you just touch on your community work with charitable organizations? SEN: Absolutely that's been part of my beginnings, because that's been something, like My neighbor had Goddard Riverside which is a community center but I had a summer camp when we was kids. It also has legal housing, legal departments that deal with the community, so they have a lot of community outreach program stuff so I work with them and the beacon program. We created a program called arts on kick where we do the chucks [taylor]. Because of that curriculum I was able to open the center up for individual grants which now they use for individual artists. So they've backed me up a lot too even with the issues, and they're powerful! Sen outlines some of his recent work with charitable organizations in his community and beyond, volunteering his skills and time with the Goddard Riverside center to Tanzania. This has especially taken the form of art education to variously disadvantaged youths. SEN has been especially invigorated by his work in Africa, where he felt a "welcome home." Children's Village (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.);Children's Village (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.). Work Appreciation for Youth Program;Goddard-Riverside Community Center;Sierra Leone Art in education;Art therapy for youth;Arts and youth;Charitable giving;Charities;Charity;Poverty--Tanzania 0 5753 Thoughts on Hip-Hop and Street Art Going Global and Commercial SEN: I think when we talk about the graff I always see it as one big union with hip-hop. 'Cuz they all elements, well, what people know today, because it wasn't originally part of hip-hop. Hip hop obviously comes after these elements already pre-existing including b-boying b-girling. Like all these elements came together, right? But for what the world knows as the graff styles and even the breakdancing styles and dress styles that's all hip hop. Because the graff before hip-hop wasn't the same graff everyone fell in love with. The colors even the mentality. Sen gives his perspective on the significance of the globalization of graffiti, which he sees as a part of hip-hop as a global movement. Controversially among some of his peers, he's positive about the commercialization of hip-hop because of the opportunities and lessons it has given to youths often with so little. Break dancers;Break dancing Graffiti;Hip-hop;Hip-hop in art;Hip-hop--Influence;Street art 0 6442 Relationship With Brother SEN: My Brother, man, Ricky Mujica, we have different fathers, but we didn't know our fathers we was raised by our mother. So you will never ever hear us say half brother, ever. That doesn't even exist. He's seven years older than me. I'm happy he's still in my life always. My brother is my everything, man. He's been my father figure, he's been my big brother figure. He's been the one even when I went off the road a lot in my life, because I'm the black sheep, he's been the light of what I could me. And it was hard as a young kid because I was the one that couldn't learn things. Sen speaks about his brother, Ricky Mujica, whom he is very close with. Ricky's success was a guiding light for Sen even when Sen was struggling. Though, as kids, Sen found the comparison very hard because he could not keep up with his brother in school, athletics, or "coolness." Their mother would force Ricky to take Sen along to wherever Ricky was hanging out, which included the early days of New York Skateboarding with Zoo York. Sen also speaks about how their experiences differed, with Sen's generation being much more violent and pressured, whereas Ricky's generation were more mischievous at worst. Kessler, Andrew;Kessler, Andy;Zoo York Mujica, Ricardo Jose;Sibling attachment;Sibling rivalry 0 7167 The Bronx, Uptown PC: What does the Bronx mean to you? SEN: Ah man, the Bronx is everything because, like I said, for my neighborhood we only have a little bridge that separates us. I spent a lot of time in the Bronx as well. But the Bronx influenced our neighborhood tremendously especially when it came to culture. And because we had so much similarity from the burnt-down stuff. And again, like I said, Harlem, even when you listen to the Black Spades documentary they talk about their chapters with the South Bronx but also in Harlem. So it was never, we never had, when it comes to the other boroughs because Brooklyn and Queens and them were so far away, the Bronx and Manhattan was never, especially uptown, was never really divided like that. We would say "uptown." Uptown made---It was all in one. When you said uptown it meant north of 96th street up. Like, or the 90s up into the Bronx. Sen underscores the connectedness of his neighborhood on the upper west side to the Bronx, and how the creativity coming out of the Bronx influenced his life. Harlem River (N.Y.);Zulu Nation Boroughs;Bronx;Bronx River (N.Y.);Harlem (New York, N.Y.) 0 Part 2 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on January 18, 2023 with SEN-1, who got his start as an original member of the IBM Crew (Incredible Bombing Masters) and has become a world-renowned artist commissioned by "Hip Hop U.S.A. and an umbrella of grassroots organization's including Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!""initiative. In this second part of his oral history SEN-1 speaks about growing up in Lower Harlem (now refashioned as the northern part of the Upper West Side) and his family's Afro-Caribbean roots from the island of Quisqueya (the Dominican Republic) and/or Ay-Ti (Haiti) as it was known by the indigenous Taino people. He shares his association and experiences with the outlaw gang "La West Side Familia", his rise to a leadership role within La West Side Familia, and other street organizations such as Natives-Chapter 50 of Zulu Nation and the trials and tribulations of "street-life". SEN-1 discusses his quest for knowledge and his 6-year association with The Black Panther Collective, an off-shoot organization stemming from the original Black Panther Party. He speaks of his reintroduction to graffiti and his crossover to fine art, the challenges of street art acceptance into the fine art world, his commissions from the Macy's Department Store, and the art expo circuit where he sold his first piece of fine art. Finally, SEN-1 discusses his entry into the world of fine art where his artwork, presently, shares gallery space alongside internationally renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with SEN 1, Part 2 Description An account of the resource Part 2 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on May 23, 2022 with SEN-1, who got his start as an original member of the IBM Crew (Incredible Bombing Masters) and has become a world-renowned artist commissioned by the likes of Michelle Obama, Fabolous, and Rita Ora. In this second part of his oral history SEN-1 speaks about growing up in Lower Harlem (now refashioned as the northern part of the Upper West Side) and his family's Afro-Caribbean roots from the island of Quisqueya (the Dominican Republic) and/or Ay-Ti (Haiti) as it was known by the indigenous Taino people. He shares his association and experiences with the outlaw gang "La West Side Familia", his rise to a leadership role within La West Side Familia, and other street organizations such as Natives-Chapter 50 of Zulu Nation and the trials and tribulations of "street-life". SEN-1 discusses his quest for knowledge and his 6-year association with The Black Panther Collective, an off-shoot organization stemming from the original Black Panther Party. He speaks of his reintroduction to graffiti and his crossover to fine art, the challenges of street art acceptance into the fine art world, his commissions from the Macy's Department Store, and the art expo circuit where he sold his first piece of fine art. Finally, SEN-1 discusses his entry into the world of fine art where his artwork, presently, shares gallery space alongside internationally renowned artists such as Pablo Picasso. The interviewer is Pastor Crespo, Jr., librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023.01.18 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20230118 graffiti IBM SEN 1 SEN-1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:29:35 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Boone, Kurt Payne, Steven Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed SLAVE Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20220209.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with SLAVE OH-BAADP.20220209 01:29:35 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This interview made possible through the donation of Stephen DeSimone, President/CEO of DeSimone Consulting Engineers. bxoralhistory SLAVE (The Fab 5ive) Payne, Steven Boone, Kurt MP4 slave-oral-history-2022-02-09.mp4 Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/wKSJ0yddDhQ YouTube video English 0 Introduction Steven Payne Welcome to The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project. This is the third oral history for the project. My name is Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. Today is February 9, 2022, and we're very excited to have here as our guest SLAVE, and I'll say a little bit more about him in a second . . . In this segment Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture, introduce SLAVE, the legendary graffiti artist who is a part of The Fabulous Five, the first graffiti crew to paint an operational whole subway train in 1977. Whole train (Graffiti) Graffiti;Slave (Graffiti artist);The Fabulous Five (Graffiti artist group) 0 99 Early Life and Introduction to Graffiti SLAVE Yeah, well my name's Kenneth Durant, known as SLAVE from The Fabulous Five. I originally was born in The Bronx, but then we moved to Brooklyn. I really don't remember too much of The Bronx, cause I was like 2 or 3 years old when we moved to Brooklyn . . . In this segment SLAVE speaks about his early life, including his birth in The Bronx, moving then to East New York, and finally to Crown Heights in Brooklyn, where he grew up. He also remembers his introduction to graffiti in Crown Heights and how he first got involved in writing. Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.);Dash (Graffiti artist);Facts 160 (Graffiti artist);IO (Graffiti artist);Kingston Avenue (Brooklyn, N.Y.);Layups (Graffiti);Riff (Graffiti artist);The Odd Partners (Graffiti artist group);Tracy 168 (Graffiti artist) Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.);Cartoons and comics;East New York (New York, N.Y.);Graffiti;Graffiti artists 0 245 Origins of the Name "SLAVE" SLAVE I couldn't, like, think of a name. So, I, I used to work in McCrory's, when I was about like 14, 15. So we used to work, and we'd work, and we'd work, and then when we'd get the check there was hardly anything left. So that's how I came up with the name. I said, "They working me like a slave." In this segment SLAVE speaks about how he came up with his graffiti name and how he had to develop style quickly to master the first letter of the name. McCrory Corporation;Slave (Graffiti artist) Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Lettering in art;Slave (Graffiti artist);Style (Graffiti) 0 308 Family Background, Adolescence, and Public School Experience SLAVE Oh, my whole family, they originated from the Virgin Islands, St. Croix. Frederiksted. And they moved up here. And, like, all my brothers and sisters, everybody, were born there. I was the only one born in New York. My mother was a nurse. My father, believe it or not, he used to drive the subway trains . . . In this segment SLAVE speaks about his family background in St. Croix and the jobs his parents had while he was growing up. His father, coincidentally, was a subway operator, though he never expressed knowledge of SLAVE's involvement in subway writing. SLAVE also speaks about his experience attending various public schools in Brooklyn, when graffiti started to become his major focus, and the sports he would play around his neighborhood. Albany Projects (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);Brooklyn Technical High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);Frederiksted (United States Virgin Islands);Freeman Street (Bronx, N.Y.);P.S. 182 (East New York, New York, N.Y.);P.S. 221 (Brooklyn, N.Y.);P.S. 232 Winthrop School (Brooklyn, N.Y.);Racking (Graffiti);Simpson Street (Bronx, N.Y.);St. John's Park (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Basketball;Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Cartoon characters;Football;Graffiti;Migration, Internal--United States;New York City Public Schools;Saint Croix (United States Virgin Islands);Subways--New York (State)--New York 0 632 Street Gangs and Teenage Years SLAVE We had the Ghetto Brothers, we had the, the Tomahawks. Really around me were the Jolly Stompers. They, they, they headquarters were right around the corner from my house on Crown Street and Schenectady . . . In this segment SLAVE speaks about some of the prominent "gangs", or street organizations, in Crown Heights while he was growing up, including the Ghetto Brothers (he was a Junior Ghetto Brother himself), the Tomahawks, and the Jolly Stompers. He also speaks more about his experience of high school and college, before having to drop out due to work. Colors (Gangs);Crown Street (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);George W. Wingate High School (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);Ghetto Brothers;Jolly Stompers;Junior Ghetto Brothers;Montgomery Street (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);New York City College of Technology (CUNY);Queens-Midtown Tunnel (New York, N.Y.);Schenectady Avenue (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);Tomahawks Crown Heights (New York, N.Y.);Gangs--New York (State);New York City Public Schools 0 816 Various Aspects of Childhood SLAVE We used to do a lot of—I used to do them, my nephew did them, like Thor and Luke Cage, and all those. But on my wall I did like a Frankenstein dancing, and a girl with long hair, earrings dancing . . . In this segment SLAVE speaks about various additional aspects of his childhood, including the cartoons and characters he drew, the food that he and his family ate, music, house parties, and his sense of fashion. Adidas USA (Firm);Cage, Luke (Fictitious character);Cats (Gang);CONVERSE;Cooking (Chicken);Cooking (Liver);Frankenstein's monster (Fictitious character) in art;Puma;Racking;Thor;White Castle (Restaurant) Calypso (Music);Cartoons and comics;Food;Hip-hop;Hip-hop--Fashion;House parties;Reggae music;Seafood;Sneakers 0 1199 Getting into Style Writing SLAVE Oh, style letterings? Let me see. I used to always watch all the new pieces coming out. I used to see . . . But when CLIFF and them was out, well we did that one with Charlie Brown and all those . . . In this segment SLAVE speaks about his first introductions to style writing through seeing the work of individual writers and especially the crews The Odd Partners, The Fantastic Partners, and The Fabulous Five (the crew he joined). He also speaks about his time writing "RO3", what he wrote before "SLAVE", and the fact that he went straight to working with spray paint, instead of starting out tagging with markers (as was more typical). He touches on various additional basic elements of the graffiti arts movement, including racking, the brands of spray paint available during the 1970s, and where he would paint lay ups (trains resting at stations before being put back into operation). He offers his definitions of some of the standard graffiti terminology: "throw ups", "pull in and pull outs", "burners", and "pieces". 110 film;2 Seventh Avenue Express;3 Seventh Avenue Express;3 Yard Boys (Graffiti artist group);4 Lexington Avenue Express;5 Lexington Avenue Express;Atlantic Avenue station;Baychester Avenue station;BI (Graffiti artist);Blade (Graffiti artist);Bot 707 (Graffiti artist);Brown, Charlie (Fictitious character);Burners (Graffiti);Cliff 159 (Graffiti artist);Comet (Graffiti artist);Dash 167 (Graffiti artist);Doc 109 (Graffiti artist);Esplanade Avenue station;Falcon 789 (Graffiti artist);IN (Graffiti artist);Insides (Graffiti);John 150 (Graffiti artist);Kingston Avenue station;Krylon (Firm);Lay ups (Graffiti);Magik Markers;Mono (Graffiti artist);Nostrand Avenue station;OG 2 (Graffiti artist);OI (Graffiti artist);Outsides (Graffiti);Pieces (Graffiti);PO 137 (Graffiti artist);Prof 165 (Graffiti artist);Pull in and pull outs (Graffiti);Racking (Graffiti);Red Devil (Firm);Riff 170 (Graffiti artist);Rust-Oleum (Firm);Slug (Graffiti artist);Solid 1 (Graffiti artist);Stan 153 (Graffiti artist);Stim (Graffiti artist);Taggin Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Lettering in art;Photographs;Spray paint;Style writing (Graffiti);Subways--New York (State)--New York;Tools in art;Writer's bench (Graffiti);Writers' Bench 0 2257 Writing SLAVE and Joining The Fabulous Five (TF5) SLAVE In '75. And I, this is where my head was at. I, I did a silver "SLAVE". The "S" was this big, but then when it got down to the "E" it was small. But in my eyes I did a bad burner, you know. I was so proud, my chest stuck out when I got home . . . In this segment SLAVE relates a funny story about his first time writing "SLAVE" and remembers how he joined with The Fabulous Five as well as various members of the crew. Blud (Graffiti artist);Cowboy (Graffiti artist);Del (Graffiti artist);Doc (Graffiti artist);James TOP (Graffiti artist);Mono (Graffiti artist);OG (Graffiti artist);OI (Graffiti artist);Pieces (Graffiti);Prof 165 (Graffiti artist);Quinones, Lee George;Slave (Graffiti artist);Slug (Graffiti artist);The Fabulous Five (Graffiti artist group);The Odd Partners (Graffiti artist group);Throw ups (Graffiti);Ti 149 (Graffiti artist);Top to bottoms (Graffiti) Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Interborough Rapid Transit Company;Subways--New York (State)--New York 0 2497 Artistic Process and Painting the First Whole Train with TF5 SLAVE You know, sometime I, I'd take a piece of paper and draw on it. Black books wasn't really my things because I couldn't just sit in one spot all the time. Be, had be at my house doing, like, every now and then we'd have a bunch of people over and we'd just play around in black books and stuff . . . In this segment SLAVE speaks about the process behind planning and outlining pieces, which usually involved hanging out with other writers while drinking and smoking. He also remembers hanging out at LEE's house with other members of The Fabulous Five as well as the crew's painting of the first whole train, comprised of 10 cars, over the course of a weekend in 1977. Although the train was photographed, he makes the point that it was not photographed by Henry Chalfant or Martha Cooper, because they did not start coming around the graffiti scene, he recalls, until after he stopped writing in 1978. Beer;Black books;Blade (Graffiti artist);Butch 2 (Graffiti artist);Case 2 (Graffiti artist);Chalfant, Henry;Cooper, Martha;Doc (Graffiti artist);Dondi (Graffiti artist);Lay ups (Graffiti);Lee, Bruce;Lincoln Terrace Park (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.);Mickey Mouse (Fictitious character);Mono (Graffiti artist);Noc 167 (Graffiti artist);Pencil drawing;Pieces (Graffiti);Quinones, Lee George;Racking (Graffiti);The Fabulous Five (Graffiti artist group);Top to bottoms (Graffiti);Uttica Avenue station;Weed;Whole cars (Graffiti);Whole trains (Graffiti) Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Subways--New York (State)--New York 0 3035 Getting Out of the Graffiti World Kurt Boone Cause LEE, LEE was the star of Wild Style, the movie, right. Were you, were you hanging with LEE when they were making the movie? SLAVE Nah, nah cause when I, in, in '79, I had bought a car. So that was the rest of it. That was that. Now I was chasing women and making money . . . In this segment SLAVE describes getting out of graffiti in 1978/1979 and eventually moving to Florida in 1983, where he stayed until 2009/2010, when he moved back to New York City. He also speculates on Dondi's stylistic debt to Noc 167, who was and still is SLAVE's friend. This leads SLAVE to speak about the general atmosphere of friendship that has reigned in the graffiti arts community since the beginning, with a few notable exceptions. This atmosphere also shaped the etiquette around going over other artists' pieces (in most cases, this was widely looked down on). He talks about missing the transition of some writers to canvas in the early 1980s as well as not being aware of Style Wars when it came out in 1983, since he was not only out of the graffiti scene by this moment in time but also out of New York City. 4 Lexington Avenue Express;Beer;Burners (Graffiti);Canvas;Cap (Graffiti artist);Dondi (Graffiti artist);Futura (Graffiti artist);Morris Park Crew (Graffiti artist group);Noc 167 (Graffiti artist);Old timers (Graffiti);PO (Graffiti artist);Police Athletic League (U.S.);Quinones, Lee George;Style Wars (Motion Picture);The Fabulous Five (Graffiti artist group);The Odd Partners (Graffiti artist group);Weed;Wild Style (Motion Picture) Daughters;Divorce;Florida;Friendship;Graffiti;Granddaughters 0 3494 Early Graffiti Culture and Its Global Spread SLAVE Yeah, yeah, it's amazing to me, you know, of, of how back in the days artists didn't wanna have nothing to do with nobody graffiti. We vandals. We just messing up property and all that. Now look at them. Now they wanna be graffiti artists. They been artists all the time. Now all the sudden they wanna do letters and [inaudible] graffiti . . . but you don't have the soul to do this, you know. We know what the letter styles are . . . In this segment SLAVE starts off reflecting on the global spread of graffiti, especially its recent appropriation by the "high art" world and how some contemporary graffiti artists lack the soul that animated the movement during its early years. This leads him to a general discussion of various aspects of early graffiti culture, including style writing, the most famous writers' bench at Third Avenue–149th Street station in The Bronx, the thrill and terror of being chased and harassed by vandal cops, and the general underground or outlaw nature of the movement. 2 Seventh Avenue Express;5 Lexington Avenue Express;Baychester Avenue station;Brooklyn Bridge station;Chain 3 (Graffiti artist);Colors;Doc (Graffiti artist);Global culture;Hickey, Kevin;J Nassau Street Local;Layups (Graffiti);Lesnewski, Conrad ("Ski");Mono (Graffiti artist);Part One (Graffiti artist);Pieces (Graffiti);Quinones, Lee George;Racking (Graffiti);RR Fourth Avenue Local via Tunnel;Soul;Style;The Fabulous Five (Graffiti artist group);Third Avenue–149th Street station;Writers' Bench Appropriation (Arts);Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Style writing;Vandalism 0 4135 Aspects of Artistic Work, Past and Present SLAVE Well, well, I painted when I first came back. But I, I never really painted none of my old pieces because to me it's hard to recreate your old pieces. It's more easier for me to do new pieces and new canvases and styles and stuff . . . In this segment SLAVE talks about some of the artistic work he is doing currently. He also reflects on his use of cartoon characters in pieces back in the 1970s and the ways in which his crew would lessen the chance of something going wrong while painting a piece. He circles back to speaking about his current craft, which he engages in as the urge arises. He ends by relating his experiences being in shows with other old timers from the graffiti arts movement. Art commissions;Art--Exhibitions;Beer;Brown, Charlie (Fictitious character);Doc (Graffiti artist);Futura (Graffiti artist);Keep On Truckin';Layups (Graffiti);Mono (Graffiti artist);Quinones, Lee George;Ree (Graffiti artist);Sam, Yosemite (Fictitious character);Wild style (Graffiti) Canvas;Cartoon characters;Graffiti 0 4567 Inspiration, Colors, and Other Aspects of Graff SLAVE Well, let me see. When Noc came down from The Bronx me and him used to hang out and stuff. And I used to watch some of the stuff that he do, so I'd like imitate some of it, then I'd switch it around my way, then I'd start noticing, you know, different letter patterns in, in, on the train and stuff. From, a lot of people from The Bronx, you know . . . In this segment SLAVE touches on various aspects of his graffiti practice, including his inspiration, the reputation of Bronx writers as being style masters, the colors he was drawn to, how he would acquire a supply of aerosol caps, and how he would get into various layups (Uttica, Baychester, and New Lots). He also speaks more about his proximity to the M.T.A. through his father and reflects on the fact that he mostly avoided incarceration, two-week stints aside, unlike many other graffiti writers of his generation. Baychester Avenue station;Butch 2 (Graffiti artist);Cap (Graffiti artist);Cascade green;Cascade red;Jolly Stompers;Layups (Graffiti);New Lots Avenue station;Noc 167 (Graffiti artist);Racking (Graffiti);Red Devil (Firm);Rust-Oleum (Firm);Sandalwood tan;Schoolbus yellow;Skeleton keys;Style masters (Graffiti);Uttica Avenue station Aerosol caps;Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Color in art;Graffiti artists;Incarceration issues;Inspiration in art;Style;Subways--New York (State)--New York 0 4983 Final Reflections SLAVE Yosemite Sam, I liked that one. Let me see what else. Two, me and LEE did some burners, with, what's the, used to be these two bird characters in the, in the Mad books back in the day . . . In this segment SLAVE offers some final reflections on his favorite pieces as well as how he wants to be remembered in the graffiti arts movement and where he and his generation fit into its history. He ends with a reflection on the ways in which the movement helped those involved overcome some of the effects of racism. Burners (Graffiti);Chain 3 (Graffiti artist);Doc (Graffiti artist);Kool 131 (Graffiti artist);Mad magazine;Mono (Graffiti artist);Noc 167 (Graffiti artist);Part One (Graffiti artist);Quinones, Lee George;Racking (Graffiti);Riff 170 (Graffiti artist);Sam, Yosemite (Fictional character);Spy vs. Spy;The Fabulous Five (Graffiti artist group);Tracy 168 (Graffiti artist) Global art;Graffiti;Graffiti history;Mural painting and decoration;Racism in art 0 Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on February 9, 2022 with SLAVE, a member of The Fabulous Five (The Fab 5ive), one of the most accomplished graffiti crews, the first to paint an entire operational train in 1977. SLAVE was born in The Bronx and grew up in Brooklyn, although he spent a considerable amount of time writing at various Bronx layups. In this oral history SLAVE speaks about many different aspects of his graffiti practice back in the day and some of what he is up to now. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with SLAVE Description An account of the resource Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on February 9, 2022 with SLAVE, a member of The Fabulous Five (The Fab 5ive), one of the most accomplished graffiti crews, the first to paint an entire operational train in 1977. SLAVE was born in The Bronx and grew up in Brooklyn, although he spent a considerable amount of time writing at various Bronx layups. In this oral history SLAVE speaks about many different aspects of his graffiti practice back in the day and some of what he is up to now. The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This oral history is brought to you through the contribution of Stephen DeSimone, CEO/President of DeSimone Consulting Engineers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022.02.09 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20220209 graffiti SLAVE The Fab 5ive The Fabulous Five Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 02:32:04 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Boone, Kurt Payne, Steven Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed STAFF 161 Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20220223.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with STAFF 161, Part 1 OH-BAADP.20220223 02:32:04 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This interview made possible through the donation of Stephen DeSimone, President/CEO of DeSimone Consulting Engineers. bxoralhistory STAFF 161 (TED) Payne, Steven Boone, Kurt MP4 staff-161-oral-history-pt1-2022-02-23.mp4 1:|20(2)|30(10)|45(10)|90(2)|113(3)|164(3)|192(7)|222(10)|277(1)|306(1)|333(9)|364(1)|386(3)|414(1)|443(1)|480(2)|506(6)|537(6)|581(7)|597(7)|624(2)|650(11)|682(2)|716(8)|745(8)|775(9)|792(13)|816(12)|862(1)|890(5)|949(8)|957(8)|991(6)|1010(4)|1070(10)|1099(9)|1144(1)|1181(8)|1212(3)|1264(3)|1296(9)|1326(16)|1356(11)|1388(9)|1412(5)|1436(15)|1474(1)|1504(10)|1520(5)|1542(13)|1558(2)|1567(9)|1596(15)|1614(2)|1640(11)|1679(7)|1739(13)|1772(6)|1788(5)|1808(12)|1833(11)|1843(5)|1867(7)|1891(6)|1951(4)|1972(11)|1997(1)|2028(5)|2037(7)|2062(7)|2084(1)|2109(3)|2167(9)|2184(2)|2214(8)|2259(7)|2281(10)|2294(11)|2318(10)|2350(1)|2380(7)|2403(4)|2423(7)|2464(2)|2495(8)|2554(3)|2579(12)|2623(10)|2672(7)|2727(3)|2739(10)|2759(2)|2773(10)|2795(6)|2816(15)|2854(9)|2876(9)|2898(12)|2923(8)|2946(4)|2980(2)|3028(13)|3052(8)|3075(11)|3098(10)|3107(1)|3130(8)|3153(5)|3189(1)|3211(9)|3250(2)|3280(2)|3305(4)|3329(5)|3353(5)|3376(12)|3400(5)|3424(9)|3440(3)|3454(12)|3483(17)|3521(3)|3527(9)|3574(1)|3604(4)|3620(2)|3629(13)|3676(1)|3709(11)|3746(11)|3770(11)|3786(13)|3810(11)|3827(3)|3852(12)|3878(1)|3901(9)|3918(1)|3941(14)|3956(15)|3996(5)|4019(14)|4043(2)|4068(7)|4097(6)|4119(1)|4160(2)|4190(1)|4210(13)|4260(14)|4294(2)|4294(5) Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/7Fa8VeXPRcQ YouTube video English 0 Introduction Steven Payne: Welcome to the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project. My name is Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. Today is February 23, 2022, and Kurt, before we introduce our main event here, you wanna go ahead and introduce yourself? Kurt Boone: Yeah, I'm, I'm Kurt Boone. I've been writing about urban culture for 40 years. Steven Payne: Alright, great, thank you, Kurt. So we're here with STAFF 161, really a true pioneer in the graffiti arts movement, there from pretty much the, the get go, when, be-, before many people at all had started writing on subway trains, and STAFF is also the founder of The Ebony Dukes Graffiti Club, really, the, the first crew, in, graffiti crew, in The Bronx . . . In this segment, Steven Payne and Kurt Boone, the interviewers, introduce themselves as well as the interviewee, STAFF 161, an early graffiti pioneer from The Bronx and founder of The Ebony Dukes G.C., the first graffiti crew based in The Bronx. Staff 161 (Graffiti artist);The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist group) Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Graffiti;Graffiti artists 0 70 Early Life STAFF 161: Okay, so, hello. So, my name is, is Edward. Edward is my given birth name from my mother and father. And I was born in 1956 in Metropolitan Hospital in New York City. So I was basically born and, and raised in, in the city. My first residence, my parents' first residence, and basically where they brought me when I was born was in Harlem on 117th Street and Madison Avenue . . . In this segment of his oral history, STAFF speaks about his early life in Harlem, being removed from his family to Staten Island in the foster care system at age 5, and his mother's background in St. Thomas as well as his father's background in South Carolina. He also touches on his parents' separation, how this led to him and some of his siblings being put into the foster care system temporarily, the challenges of living on Staten Island as a part of one of the few Black families during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and the initial shock of moving at age 10 to a tenement apartment in the South Bronx, where his mother had resettled while he was living on Staten Island. "Fort Apache" (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.) 117th Street (New York, N.Y.);Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Civil rights movement;Divorce;Foster home care;Harlem (New York, N.Y.);Madison Avenue (New York, N.Y.);Metropolitan Hospital (New York, N.Y.);Migration, Internal--United States--History--20th century;New York (State). Family Court;Saint Thomas (United States Virgin Islands);South Carolina;Staten Island (New York, N.Y.);Tenement houses 0 634 Adolescence in The Bronx STAFF 161: This was a place, in, in, in The South Bronx, between Westchester Avenue and Longwood Avenue, by the name Hewitt Place—H, E, W, I, T, T Place. And a section of 161st Street intersected Hewitt Place. And, so that was basically in the heart of, of, of the section of the South Bronx that we referred to as "Fort Apache" . . . In this segment, STAFF describes the area of the South Bronx that he moved to at the age of 10, called "Fort Apache" colloquially. He describes the background of the name, the tension between residents and the 41st Police Precinct, and the general environment of the neighborhood as a result of housing deterioration and abandonment and arson. He also speaks about his apartment at 858 Hewitt Place, what children would do for fun in the neighborhood, the centrality of a back wall of a large church in street games and early graffiti culture, and the general ubiquity of graffiti in the neighborhood (especially when compared to Staten Island, with one notable exception aside). He reflects on his public school experience at nearby P.S. 130, the old desks in the school and how formative the writings and carvings on them were for his artistic imagination, his fascination with his younger brother Joseph's cartoon sketching, and the classes he was drawn to in school, especially History, English, Art, and Arts and Crafts. He then reflects on the de-funding of arts and music programs in many New York City public schools that took place while he was coming of age and the effects of this on South Bronx communities. "Fort Apache" (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);basketball;Bugs Bunny;Casper;Flintstones;hot peas and butter (game);Intervale Avenue station;Johnny on the Pony (game);Prospect Avenue station;Ringolevio (game);Simpson Street station;Spider Man;stickball;television;Wendy the Witch 41st Police Precinct Station House (New York, N.Y.);Arson;Art in education;Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Caricatures and cartoons;Fort Apache (Motion picture);Graffiti;Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Housing--Abandonment;Music in education;New York City--street games;P.S. 130 (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Southern Boulevard (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Tenement houses;Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (New York, N.Y.);Westchester Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Wood carving;Writing desks 0 1776 South Bronx of the Late 1960s and Early 1970s STAFF 161: I think, you know, in an environment like the South Bronx, and based on what the South Bronx was, was going through, and, and the disenfranchisement that was in the South Bronx of that time. The people of the South Bronx, I got to realize, in that area of the South—Fort Apache section specifically—seemed to be ostracized politically. It was like a blaming thing, like because of the high rate of fires, and the decay of the neighborhood and such, and, and the high gang, gang, street gang presence and drug addiction—you know, lot of heroin available in that part of The Bronx. And what, it seemed like that politically and in the media and such that, that those people who were living in the area were blamed for that, and I, I, I always thought that was so unfair . . . In this segment STAFF paints a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up in his section of the South Bronx during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He touches on the political disenfranchisement of the South Bronx, particularly the "Fort Apache" section, the landlord neglect of buildings and high rate of arson, drug addiction, and the presence of street gangs, and how all of these factors were used by the media to blame the people who lived in the South Bronx for all the area's ills. STAFF reflects on how he witnessed building deterioration all around him in his neighborhood, and how it often started with the disappearance of building superintendents and the subsequent cutting off of heat, which was still largely provided by coal-fired furnaces requiring daily upkeep. He also touches on the demographic makeup of his block on Hewitt Place and how some degree of housing segregation between Black and Puerto Rican residents was still maintained. He then elaborates on the atmosphere of suspicion and violence that he faced among some youth in his neighborhood as well as the positive local influences of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. He particularly remembers area locations associated with the Black Panthers and the Young Lords. He remembers the wider street gang culture that was emerging at this time, the colors and "outlaw" appearance associated with most of the gangs and the effect of this on school attendance, and his own attraction to the Youth Division of the Ghetto Brothers as a result of the group's Latin rock music and militant outlook, as well as the influence of older members Slick and Black Benjie. In connection with street clean-up, which was a focus of the Ghetto Brothers, STAFF reflects on the trash, rats, and stray cats and dogs that were a regular feature of his neighborhood. He relates the story he heard as a Ghetto Brother of the murder in 1971 of Black Benjie, who was trying to broker peace between warring street gangs in the South Bronx. "Fort Apache" (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);arson;berets;colors;cut sleeves;disenfranchisement;drugs;fighting;heroin;housing deterioration;landlord neglect;militant;motorcycle boots;ostracization;outlaw;racial segregation;street gangs Addiction;African Americans;Arson--United States;Bachelors;Beck Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Benjamin, Cornell "Black Benjie" (member of the Ghetto Brothers);Black Panther Party;Black power--United States;Black Spades;Civil rights movement;Coal-fired furnaces;East 162nd Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);East 163rd Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Gang colors;Gangs;Gangs--style;Gangs--truancy;Ghetto Brothers;Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Housing--Deterioration;Housing--Landlord neglect;Javelins;Kelly Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Latin rock music;Mongols;Peacemakers;Political disenfranchisement;Puerto Ricans;Puerto Rico--Liberation;Racism in mass media;Savage Skulls;Segregation in housing;Seven Immortals;Slick (member of Ghetto Brothers);South Bronx;Stebbins Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Turbans;Westchester Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Young Lords Party 0 3180 Getting Into Graffiti STAFF 161: So, you know, that led to a few things that I decided I was gonna do, and that was 1) to, you know, come out of that environment of, or that situation of, of being a "gang-banger", so to speak, you know, part of that gang, street gang scene there in that area; and also to more or less focus in on graffiti writing. At that point, I had acquired spray paint . . . In this segment STAFF describes the process of how he got into graffiti and gradually disaffiliated with the street gangs. He remembers the intensification of gang activity at J.H.S. 52, particularly around the handball courts, and his mother's decision to place him and his brother Adam in the Seventh-Day Adventist R.T. Hudson School on Forest Avenue, where his neighbors Danny and Betina also attended. He recalls his fascination with seeing graffiti tags on the way to this school in the interior of subway cars and the thrill of meeting taggers. He also speaks about his own early tagging with the street names of "Corky" and "Mr. Ed", as well as how he got these names. He then speaks about his first experience with spray paint in connection with his block crew stealing bikes from other neighborhoods as well as the various places—stores and the superintendents' areas in tenements—where he and others would acquire cans. He speaks about the general necessity of kids shoplifting in the neighborhood, given the general lack of money and other resources. He reflects further on the phenomenon of superintendents abandoning the basements of buildings and how this facilitated the acquisition of spray paint, on the one hand, and the proliferation of heroin dens and gang clubhouses, on the other. bike stealing;block crew;Corky;fighting;handball courts;hustling;junkies;Mr. Ed;racking;shoplifting;snap back;snapping;spray paint;street gangs;tagging;Topaz Graffiti;Heroin;Housing--superintendents;J.H.S. 52 (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);John's Bargain Store (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);P.S. 130 (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Powell, Colin L.;Prospect Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);R.T. Hudson School (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Savage Skulls;Seventh-Day Adventists;Spray paint;Street names;Subways--New York (State)--New York;Theodore Roosevelt High School;Woolworths 0 4235 Making His Niche Through Graffiti STAFF 161: Well, okay, see here's the thing. I'm already in the environment, and I see what it is, right? I know it's not, it's not Staten Island no more, right? And, you know, this is where I gotta, I have to be, so I have to make my niche. Now, now the first thing was, is, is learning how to defend yourself, right? So, so me and my brother seen that we were in the situation together, and we were the oldest of our siblings . . . In this segment STAFF gets into how he established a niche for himself in the early graffiti scene in The Bronx. He stresses that establishing yourself was crucial to survival in his neighborhood, remembering how he and his brother Adam (A.J.) had to learn to defend themselves and their younger siblings. He also recalls the first drawing he did with spray paint, a skull and crossbones on a church's back wall on Hewitt Place, and how this caused conflict with Hippie from the Savage Skulls, a street gang whose colors were somewhat similar. Around this time, STAFF also began to realize the contradictions of so many rival gangs being represented on his block, since he had become close with so many of these rival gang members by playing a variety of games together around the neighborhood in prior years. He realized, then and now, the social support provided by gangs, and at the time wanted to do something similar, only with graffiti. He also revisits how his daily trips to R.T. Hudson on buses and subways provided ample opportunity for exploring the emerging world of tagging (mostly interior tagging at this point in time) and opened his eyes to the possibilities of the mass transit system as a way to circulate tags. This realization, in addition to the general ubiquity of gang and political street writing and learning about the Ex-Vandals (one of the earliest graffiti crews, based in Brooklyn), influenced his decision to organize a crew on Hewitt Place specifically devoted to graffiti. STAFF also muses on the wider social significant of graffiti, particularly its potential to give voice to the voiceless, and draws a distinction between the more basic tagging of the early Signature Era and the more intricate tagging of the Stylistic Signature Era, which took off particularly in The Bronx during 1970–1972. canes (walking sticks);celebrity;colors;Corky;defense;disenfranchisement;interior tagging;Johnny on the Pony;jumping game;Mr. Ed;notoriety;ostracization;Playboy Bunny;ringolevio;skelzies;skull and crossbones;street gangs;tagging 2 Seventh Avenue Express;3 Seventh Avenue Express;5 Lexington Avenue Express;A.J. (graffiti artist);Black Spades;BMT Broadway Line;Boston Road (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Bug 170 (graffiti artist);East 161st Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Eddie 181 (Graffiti artist);El Marko 174 (graffiti artist);Ex-Vandals (graffiti artist group);Exploration, urban;Fighting;Flint 707 (Graffiti artist);Gangs;Gangs--Social aspects;Ghetto Brothers;Graffiti;Graffiti--Signature Era;Graffiti--social significance;Graffiti--Stylistic Signature Era;Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Hippie (member of Savage Skulls);IRT Third Avenue Line;Joe 182 (graffiti artist);Kool Herc (Graffiti artist);Kool Kevin 1 (Graffiti artist);Lee 163 (graffiti artist);Phase 2 (Graffiti artist);Prospect Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Saint (Motion picture);Savage Skulls;SJK 171 (Graffiti artist);Spin (Graffiti artist);Spray paint;Staff 161 (graffiti artist);Stay High 149 (Graffiti artist), 1950-2012;Street games;Subways--New York (State)--New 0 6126 Emergence of "STAFF" STAFF 161: Okay, so "Staff", "Staff" came about like, like the early part of '70, when I—in, in the culture of, the street gang culture, and in the culture of the day, you had these walking sticks. Not, now I'm doing like this, but you had the ones that you would make. Guys would walk around with golf clubs, with golf clubs, right, and, you know, you know a 9-iron, you know, a golf club, and, as a weapon, and as, as a cool thing, you know, a walking stick. And then you had guys that would make their own, you know, get a piece of tree limb and cut out their own walking stick, and shellac it . . . In this segment STAFF narrates how he developed the tag "STAFF". He remembers the phenomenon of walking sticks at the time, both as a weapon and as a result of a rising consciousness of Afrocentrism, with dashikis, Afros, and canes in vogue. He also recalls the impact of the imagery of Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments, and how this led him to carve his own large staff from a piece of wood he found in Crotona Park. Although others in the neighborhood called him "Staff" in jest at first, the name stuck, and he adopted it as his tag and identity. STAFF also reflects on the historical nature of all human behavior and culture, including graffiti, and makes links between elements of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the day—particularly Malcolm X's discussion of "slave names"—and the desire of Black and Brown graffiti writers to create their own new identity. This leads him to a discussion of graffiti as particularly a youth movement and one of the earliest elements of a nascent "hip hop" culture, the full content and very name of which would emerge only years later. "We Shall Overcome";afros;canes (walking sticks);dashikis;golf clubs (sports equipment);Mr. Ed;slave names;staffs (walking sticks);tag;youth movement Afrocentrism;Black Panther Party;Bug 170 (Graffiti artist);Crotona Park (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Graffiti--as youth movement;Heston, Charlton;King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968;Lee 161 (Graffiti artist);Naming;National Baptist Convention of the United States of America;Staff 161 (Graffiti artist);Staten Island (New York, N.Y.);Stay High 149 (Graffiti artist), 1950-2012;Super Kool 223 (Graffiti artist);Superheroes;Ten commandments (Motion picture : 1956);Weapons;X, Malcolm, 1925-1965 0 6699 Graffiti, Hip Hop, and Identity STAFF 161: Yeah, so I was saying the thing with hip hop culture, as they call it now, "hip hop culture": now, just like I mentioned that on the street in that community where I was there was prevalent markings, markings that we referred to as "graffiti", graffiti is basically markings and sketching and, you know, other things that's in the public form. That was, it's part of the community, it's part of what I would perceive, the culture of that community to basically mark your turf, make your presence known by putting your mark in the community . . . In this segment STAFF speaks about the graffiti as an early component of a wider emerging hip hop culture, which he defines as a youth movement primarily concerned with creating new identities for and by Black and Brown youth. He recalls the ubiquity in his neighborhood not only of street writing but also of MCing (in the form of loudly playing records in public places) and "wild" dancing (primarily through the celebratory, sometimes drunken dances of street gangs). He also reflects on the role that the de-funding of public music and art programs had in the development of these more DIY street cultural expressions. He revisits what he sees as the intimate connection between these new expressions of culture among Black and Brown youth, on the one hand, and what Malcolm X struggled for, on the other. In connection with this discussion, STAFF elaborates on the meaning that he assigned his tag: "Seek Truth Always Faithfully Forever." As one among other new means of youth self-expression, graffiti, STAFF relates, naturally developed more intricate ways of self-elaboration, with the generation of taggers of the early Signature Era (including Kool Herc, before he got into MCing) largely fading away and the more elaborate taggers of the Stylistic Signature Era taking their place. breaking;Corky;drawing;embellishment;emceeing;graff writing;graffiti;hip hop;identity;Mr. Ed;self-expression;splif;stylistic;tagging A.J. (Graffiti artist);Art in education;Black Spades;Break dancing;Bug 170 (Graffiti artist);Dewitt Clinton High School (New York, N.Y.);DJ Kool Herc;DJing;El Marko 174 (Graffiti artist);Gangs;Graffiti;Graffiti--Signature Era;Graffiti--Stylistic Signature Era;Hip-hop;Joe 182 (Graffiti artist);Junior 161 (Graffiti artist);Lee 163 (Graffiti artist);MCing;Music in education;Saint (Motion picture);Staff 161 (Graffiti artist);Stay High 149 (Graffiti artist), 1950-2012;Super Kool 223 (Graffiti artist);Taki 183 (Graffiti artist);X, Malcolm, 1925-1965;Youth cultures 0 7399 Graffiti Movement Takes Off STAFF 161: Yeah, so, yeah, so by '71, even '70 you started seeing a few tags that would be coming on the exterior of the train, and so it started to build up. Now, a lot of people—again, everything is time specific, and you gotta understand the political, social factors that happened, were happening in The Bronx, in New York City, in the world at that time, why, why these things happened. And again, New York going through a fiscal crisis and stuff like that: they weren't cleaning the trains . . . In this segment STAFF reflects on various factors that led to the explosion of graffiti as part of the wider youth culture that came to be called hip hop. He mentions the general disrepair of subways in New York City at the time as one factor, alongside the incredible resolve of youth in the South Bronx (and places like it) to create their own culture, even though public funding for cultural training and activities was being cut during the same period. STAFF also reflects further on graffiti as an integral part of what would eventually come to be called "hip hop culture", since all of the elements of this culture, at least in some form, were organically connected in his neighborhood in the early 1970s. He realizes that this was not the case in every neighborhood, and that graffiti developed in more isolation from new techniques of MCing and dance elsewhere. He also touches on the appeal in the community of rock music like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrex, Black Sabbath, and Santana, even though this was not the kind of music heard primarily in the streets. exterior;fiscal crisis;inspiration;maintenance;tagging Black Sabbath (Musical group);Break dancing;Ghetto Brothers;Graffiti;Hendrix, Jimi;Hip-hop;Led Zeppelin (Musical group);MCing;Rolling Stones;Santana (Musical group);South Bronx;Subways--Maintenance and repair;Subways--New York (State)--New York 0 7720 Formation of The Ebony Dukes G.C. STAFF 161: Very good, so. Okay, so, so by 1970, right, there, again, like I said, I recognized that there was numerous people in my community that, right, on my block—not even community, on my block, that were actual taggers. I felt a responsibility to organize them, right, and, and so we could be unified in what we were doing on that block . . . In this segment STAFF narrates the formation of The Ebony Dukes G.C. in the Spring of 1970. He mentions that leading up to the formation he had realized that there were people who were pursing tagging as a full-time activity and not just something incidental to their environment, all centered around the New York City transit system. He also remembers how instrumental the technique of "motion tagging"—doing a tag while a subway is temporarily stopped at a station—helped facilitate the movement from the interior to the exterior of trains. STAFF then recalls Birdie, his friend Danny's uncle, and how Birdie would invite him along on painting jobs, during which he would tell STAFF old war stories from the original Ebony Dukes, a gang in Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s. Fascinated by these stories, STAFF decided he wanted to preserve this history specifically through forming a graffiti crew of the same name. He also wanted to escape street gang culture and realized that the Ghetto Brothers, of which he was still a part, did not always look kindly on graffiti tagging. All of this led STAFF to form The Ebony Dukes Graffiti Crew in the Spring of 1970. The original lineup consisted of seven members, all from Hewitt Place: Staff 161, All Jive 161, Dynamite 161, Topaz 1, Hot Sauce 575, King Kool 156, and Super Slick 156. STAFF remembers making membership cards for the crew at a relatively early date, as it started to spread outside the neighborhood. He reflects on some of his motivation underlying the membership cards—i.e., inclusion of youth otherwise excluded from this kind of thing—as well as how he would produce the cards. He ends by remembering a few women involved in graffiti at the time, both within The Ebony Dukes and without, and stresses that women were largely excluded from participating in graffiti due to still prevalent notions of male chauvinism. badge;Birdie;boosting;colors;divide and conquer;exterior;graffiti;hustling;index cards;interior;membership card;motion tagging;painting;preservation;racking;tagging Adam 12 (Graffiti artist);All Jive 161 (Graffiti artist);Barbara 62 (Graffiti artist);Black Benjie (member of Ghetto Brothers);Blade (Graffiti artist);Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Clubs;Dr. Soul 1 (Graffiti artist);Dynamite 161 (Graffiti artist);Ebony Dukes (Gang);El Marko 174 (Graffiti artist);Eva 62 (Graffiti artist);Felt-tip markers;Ghetto Brothers;Graffiti;Graffiti--Women;Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Hot Sauce 575 (Graffiti artist);King Kool 156 (Graffiti artist);Kivu 1 (Graffiti artist);Line 149 (Graffiti artist);Male chauvinism;Segregation;Staff 161 (Graffiti artist);Stay High 149 (Graffiti artist), 1950-2012;Subways--New York (State)--New York;Super Slick 156 (Graffiti artist);Sweet Tea 163 (Graffiti artist);The Ebony Dukes G.S. (Graffiti artist group);Topaz 1 (Graffiti artist);Woolworths 0 Part 1 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on February 23, 2022 with STAFF 161, a true pioneer of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx, and the founder of the first Bronx graffiti crew, The Ebony Dukes Graffiti Club. In this oral history, STAFF 161 describes his time growing up in Harlem, Staten Island, and the South Bronx of the 1960s and 1970s and how the Bronx context especially shaped his and others' approach to graffiti during this time period. Steven Payne Welcome to the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project. My name is Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at the Bronx County Historical Society. Today is February 23 2022. And, Kurt, Before we introduce our main event here, you want to go ahead and introduce yourself? Kurt Boone Yeah. I'm Kurt Boone and I've been writing about urban culture for 40 years. Steven Payne Alright, great. Thank you, Kurt. So we're here with Staff 161 really a true pioneer in the graffiti arts movement, there from pretty much the the get go when before many people at all had started writing on subway trains. And Staff is also the founder of the Ebony Dukes Graffiti Club, really the first crew and graffiti crew in the Bronx. And really excited to hear about this early history from from Staff today. And Staff, we begin these oral histories by asking people to talk a little bit about their family's history and background if they know it, and some of your earliest life experiences. STAFF 161 Okay, so hello. So my name is Edward. Edward is my given birth name from my mother, and father, and I was born in 1956. In Metropolitan Hospital here in New York City. So I was basically born and raised in the city. My first residence, my own my parents first residence, and basically, where they you know brought me when I was born, was in Harlem, 117 Street in Madison Avenue, where they were living my mother and father were living together there. And so I was the first firstborn of nine children that, you know, my mother eventually had. So there, is where I got my start in the city. Eventually, I was moved from my mother's home, right. Through a court action, family court action after my parents' marriage, you know, dissolved. I wouldn't say dissolved, but they separated. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 My mother and father and my mother came to the attention of the family court with her children. I had another brother born after me by that point, my brother, Adam, and I had two twin brothers. After that, David and Daniel. So at that point, is where my mother and father had separated. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And my mother came to the attention of the family court here in New York City. And eventually, her children, which was my three younger brothers were removed from her along with myself from her and placed in foster care, which were all of us had foster care homes in Staten Island. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 At that time, right. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And we remained in foster care, at least me and my next youngest brother after me. Adam, we remained in foster care for the duration of five years before we returned to my mother's care or custody. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 Which she she was living in the Fort Apache section of the South Bronx Steven Payne Okay she moved up there. Within those five years. STAFF 161 Yes. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 That was when I returned to her. That's where we went to the Fort Apache section of the South Bronx. Steven Payne Sure, sure. And do you know much about how your mother and father ended up in New York and, you know, before they had children or anything like that, STAFF 161 okay, so my mother has a Caribbean background. She was born in, in, in the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. And she came here with her mother which my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, with her siblings, my mother had five or six younger siblings at that point, right. Now, some of her siblings were born here, but my mother and at least three of her youngest siblings were born in the Virgin Islands like her. So my maternal grandmother came here. In I would say, the, the early 50s. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 Early 50s or with her, my mother and the rest of her, her children in the early 50s from the Virgin Islands. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And basically they are residing in Harlem. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Now um after, My mother was like, she got here when she was 16. But after she was like, 19 years old, I believe she met my father. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 In Harlem. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Now my father is originally from South Carolina. Steven Payne Okay. Sure. Yeah. STAFF 161 Alright. And they, you know, got together and eventually were married. And somewhere during that time, or, or just before, I'm not sure, when my grandmother deceased, but my mother took up the care of her siblings. Steven Payne Sure. Yeah. STAFF 161 And, and along with her marriage, and the resulting children that she had from my father, Steven Payne She had her hands full, huh? STAFF 161 That's what the conflict came in. And the family court came in and then saud, you know, Miss, you can't have your siblings. Right. Plus your four children. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And at that point that had created a rift between my mother and father. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And my father basic basically exited this situation. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 So here's my mother, with her four children, plus her siblings trying to juggle this, this family situation which didn't work out, of course. And so um four of our children went into foster care, including myself, and as well as two of her younger sisters. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. Wow. And what was Staten Island like when you were there for you said five years? STAFF 161 Oh, yeah. Now you got to understand now this is now the early 60s When I say the early 60s, right. I'm about 62, 63. At least. Well, even earlier than that, because I was born in 56. So by the late 50s, the court action, had probably came in like maybe in 59. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 60s right. Kurt Boone You were about 4 years old. STAFF 161 Yeah, I went into foster care when I was five years old. And I left when I was, like, 10, I returned return to my mother when I was 10, 10 years old. And that time she was living in the South Bronx. But ah, yeah, Staten Island. Staten Island was, you gotta understand the times, in the early 60s, the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Steven Payne yeah. STAFF 161 And other movements that were happening. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So Staten Island was like less than one 1% non-white? Steven Payne Yeah, very little. STAFF 161 less than 1%. Non-white, and even today Staten Island remains like a very conservative type of environment. But it was it was a little more dramatic. At that point. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So so like to two young black kids, right. I'm staying with one of the very few non-white families on Staten Island was, was a little dramatic, Steven Payne I'm sure. Yeah, STAFF 161 It was a it was a nice, middle class type of environ, working class, middle type of environment. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 But the fact that we're in the middle of the civil rights movement in this environment where there's like, a population of less than 1% non-whites, who I was a part of, it was pretty dramatic experience to me, Steven Payne I'm sure. Yeah, STAFF 161 but, soon after I say like 1965 I was returned to my mother in the South Bronx. And basically it was a whole new experience for me at that point from coming from Staten Island, Staten Island, basically a middle class working class type of environment and in a residential home house sure to this tenement environment in, in the South Bronx. That was basically a dramatic change. Steven Payne Which street did she live on when you when you moved up there? STAFF 161 This was a place in the South Bronx between Westchester Avenue, and Longwood Avenue. Steven Payne Okay, sure, STAFF 161 uh, by the name of Hewitt Place at H E W I T T, Steven Payne yeah, STAFF 161 Place, and a section of 161st Street intersected Hewitt Place. And so that was basically in the heart of a section of the South Bronx that we referred to as Fort Apache. And the reason that we referred it was referred to as Fort Apache was because the station after where was closest to my or the station that was closest to where we were living at was Prospect Avenue where the 2 and number the 5 IRT trains stopped at. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Where we live that Prospect Avenue, and the following station, going uptown would be Intervale Avenue. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And the station right after that would be Simpson. Right off of, Simpson Street, there was the 41st precinct. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And the 41st precinct was the jurisdiction in that general area. And the 41 precinct was dubbed or renamed. The Fort Apache. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 So Kurt Boone Did that slang term come from the streets? I did the movie. People come up with that name. STAFF 161 Okay, so you mentioned the movie. So eventually a movie with Paul New starring Paul Newman was, was made about that area Fort Apache, South Bronx. I believe, you know, the police. The police labeled it Fort Apache. Right. And, and I, and that was because of the perspective that I guess they had, that they had a fort that was built in the midst of a very hostile environment. Right. Yeah. For them. Yeah. Yeah. So it's it Yeah. So it became the normal label for for for that, that area, the South Bronx Fort Apache. Kurt Boone So when you were in elementary school, did you start drawing then? Or did you play sports like basketball? Baseball? football. STAFF 161 Yeah. Okay. So here's the thing, the environment. Right, was dramatically different. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Coming from this Staten Island area where I was in foster care. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 The South Bronx was was generally a slum. It was very rundown, a lot of abandoned and, empty areas of it, when I say bad and empty buildings were tore down and rundown, and some of them were demolished. Due to high occurrences of fires, Steven Payne sure. STAFF 161 A lot of fires in the area. And, and as a result of the fires, some of the buildings were demolished and had these large, empty lots for blocks and blocks. You know, so it gave this appearance that it was like a war zone. And there was like, almost like heavy shelling in the area. And and, and, you know, destruction that follows of course, after shelling, just look gave that appearance. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 Yes. Steven Payne What was your, the building that you lived in, like as far as the state of it? STAFF 161 Okay, so I was on the Westchester Street, which was the main street that ran through the neighborhood. I was on the Westchester end of Hewitt Place. Steven Payne Okay. Okay. Yeah. STAFF 161 And my building was 858. Right next to the last building on that side of Hewitt Place, which was 862. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 so 862 and 858. Right. And then there was a following row of tenement buildings on on the street. But 862 was the last residential building on that end of Hewitt Place. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Before you got to Westchester Avenue, and then you had a few commercial establishments that led into Westchester Avenue. Steven Payne Sure. Sure. Kurt Boone So so. So why you was this young kid, you know, and you see photos of the kids playing in empty, lots and doing all kind of like acrobatic stuff or couches, you do a lot of different creative games. with what they have? STAFF 161 Yeah, Kurt Boone So what was your experience? What kind of games did you like Butch Two talked about playing football on the street? STAFF 161 Okay, so, yeah, Kurt Boone Tackle football on the street. STAFF 161 Yeah, so basically, it was an adolescent mind, it will make their own fun, regardless of, of the environmental circumstances, how traumatic or bad it may be. You'll see kids usually, you know, to make their own fun. So we had games like, like Ringolevio, right. And Johnny on the Pony and Skelzies Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. We used to play stickball in the middle of the street. You know, it was a lot of games, you know, Hot Peas and Butter. You know, we used to make our own makeshift basketball hoop out of the frame for chairs. Yeah, we would make a you had this window on the street. That we was at there across the street from from the building a row of tenement buildings? Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 on my end of Hewitt Place, there was this huge church building that's still there to this day that kind of dominates that area. Huge church building. Right, that ran the course from Westchester Avenue to where 161st Street intersected on you Hewitt Place Steven Payne sure, STAFF 161 and that church building had this huge wall. Right. And that's where we were like, on one in the bars with one of the windows of of the church, we would put the, the, the frame for the chair what we used as a basketball hoop. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 And played right, you know, against that wall there. Kurt Boone Yeah. STAFF 161 That wall also served as a beginning stage of some major graffiti tagging. Steven Payne Oh, okay. STAFF 161 Okay, so now, the thing about the most dramatic one of the most dramatic things about the South Bronx, when I first you know, came into the area was the writing. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 A lot of writing on walls and surfaces in, which was it was I never really noticed that Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 to that extreme in Staten Island it was almost non existent. You know, and In Staten Island. I did have a pre-experience seeing it. When um because at the time I was living in Staten Island, they was just building the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, not too far from where I was living with the foster parents there with the Verrazano Narrows Bridge that was being built. It was in construction during that period, and I used to, you know, it was a distance from the house but I used to go over there. And like, right over in the construction area, Steven Payne yeah. STAFF 161 But basically under where, you know, the, the base of the bridge was being built. I would see some of my my first experiences seeing you know, graffiti tagging, right. Right in Staten Island that was, you know, very minimal. That was like the most, you know, biggest experience. I've you know, seeing it. But again, the South Bronx, when I first arrived, there was like, dramatic. As far as amount of writing that I saw. It was like, just about everywhere, you know, you know, the exterior of buildings and the interior of buildings. Steven Payne Sure, sure. STAFF 161 And so that was based and even in the school, I used to go my first school, public school. in um that's that part of the Bronx, South Bronx, on Hewitt Place. In Fort Apache section was PS 130, which was down the street on Hewitt Place on the other side of Hewitt Place near like, more or less 156th Street. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 But on 156 Street and Southern Boulevard. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 right. So it was, some walking distance from where I was living at 858, Hewitt Place and that was, you know, my first grades public grade school location, PS 130. And I did my first years of public school there. Now, In the school, right, there was like these wooden desks. Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 right. And, you know, I'm talking about the old school wooden desks with the inkwell. Steven Payne Oh, STAFF 161 yeah. So that's how old it was the inkwell, it's like you dip the pen in the but. So they had right the desks. And the desks were very interesting to me. I thought it'd be an understatement to say I was a little bit distracted in school. Right? Um, I just got in the habit of doodling, doodling on the desk, writing and drawing stuff. It always seemed to be somewhat of a therapeutic type of thing for me to draw or sketch things. And you had these amazing carvings and writings on those wooden desks. Yeah, and that just, you know, I would just sit there in different, you know, sometimes I'll be at this desk or that doesn't, it wasn't a standard desk that I was at. And I would just be amazed at the writings and the carvings that were in. On the desk. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 you know, yeah. And so I kind of got involved in doing those writing some carvings through the doodlings, right, Steven Payne sure. STAFF 161 Or You can carve something out into the desk, or you can just, you know, draw or write what your because you had pens and pencils. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 Yeah. So Kurt Boone that kind of writing you. maybe. I know that what I was seeing and you would say, Oh, Johnny loves Carol, or, you know, you put girlfriend and boyfriend style, you know, STAFF 161 well, yeah. Okay, so are you talking about like, like, General? General graffiti writing? Yeah. This was more or less like, um, like, some artistic renderings? Yeah, like, sketchings and stuff like that. And people would leave their names. Steven Payne Yeah. Kurt Boone Oh, STAFF 161 yeah. leave their names. Right. Yeah. So yeah. So yeah, the romantic type things like, you know, they were there too. But this was more or less. People would like, like, draw things and carve things into those those wooden desks. Kurt Boone cartoon characters, or the famous, like spider man? STAFF 161 Yes. Stuff like that. Yeah. And, and see, um, you know, I wasn't really like, you know, very aware of the subconscious of it at that point. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Of my ability to sketch things or write things. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Because I had a younger brother that I met when I came from Staten Island to my mother's home in in the South Bronx. Right. My brother Joseph was he just was extremely talented from from a youth and he would draw things. He would draw things on sight. I never forget like, like the early cartoons. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Like your Flintstones and the Jetsons. Woody Woodpecker, Casper, Bugs Bunny, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Joseph basically was just getting out of diapers. It was amazing that he would sit in front of the TV. Right? And this time, we're talking about, you know, still black and white TVs, Steven Payne yeah, STAFF 161 And the big cabinet TVs, furniture type things with the big screen and antenna that sat on top, you know, what, you know, big antenna? Dial the antenna, and so forth. You know? Yes. So, um, Joseph we would, you know, my mother had that, you know? And, um, you know, which is, you know, a blessing in a lot of ways, you know, being, you know, a poor, a poor woman by herself at this point. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And, and I had a four, four other brothers and sisters. Right, that I'm just meeting. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Because in the interim, while I was in foster care, my mother had other children. So I came into this environment, where I'm just meeting new brothers and sisters. And Joseph being one of them. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Yeah. And other brothers and sisters. were younger, of course, we had David and Daniel, and Adam, who were in foster care with me. Right? They were just under me and in age, and then Joseph came next. And Joseph was the one that was the one that that was very artistic. In, he would, he would draw the Flintstones just sitting in front of the TV, just like that, you know, he'd get a piece of paper and a pencil. And he would just draw the Flintstones. And um Casper the Friendly Ghost, or Wendy, the Witch and, you know, yeah, Bugs Bunny, just like that. And to this day, you know, he's, you know, he still draws. So I was amazed by that. And now in Staten Island. While I was in grade school, I had some indication because there was this like that in the grade school that I was in Staten Island. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 There were desks old desks like that. But they weren't. Marked as much as these desks that were in PS 1 30. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 But they were markings. Because they're wooden desks they're wooden desks those old wooden desks. And but they weren't as marked as the ones that I saw in PS 130. And so I would say that, that was like the really beginning I didn't really start drawing too much on paper. As opposed and this is like you know, in retrospect, it kind of like doing that I started marking on surfaces like that, before I actually really got into drawing on paper. Steven Payne Sure, sure. STAFF 161 Right. So those wooden desks, those old wooden desks with that inkwell, you know, were like, basically, like, my first sketching pads, Steven Payne wow. Wow, STAFF 161 My first sketching pads, and so I quickly realized that, you know, maybe it was a genetic thing, and, but I could sketch certain, you know, basic things too, as well. So I got into, you know, sketching and drawing things to basically as a distraction in school. I was a little bit distracted in school. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 I had classes that I appreciate it more than others. Right. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 English in and writing classes and history classes. I appreciated. And, of course, art classes. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 He had these arts and crafts classes back then. That you got to be creative. Steven Payne Sure. Yeah. STAFF 161 To my dismay, New York was going through a fiscal crisis at that time. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And the funding for a lot of those music and art classes. Right were taken away. Steven Payne Yep. STAFF 161 And so they ceased to exist. And I think, you know, in an environment like the South Bronx, based on what the South Bronx was, was was going through, and the disenfranchisement that was our Bronx at that time in the people in the South Bronx. I got to realize, in that area of the South Bronx, Fort Apache section specifically seem to be ostracized. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Politically Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 It was like a blaming thing. Like, because of the high rate of fires. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And the decay of the neighborhood and such. And the high gang, gang, street gang presence. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 and drug addiction, you know, a lot of heroin. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Available in that part of the Bronx? And what? It seemed like that politically, an immediate such that that those people that were living in the area were blamed for that. Steven Payne Absolutely. STAFF 161 And I always thought that was so unfair. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Because what I got from the decay of the, the buildings, the tenement buildings that were in the area, is that, okay? If those people, they're renting, that building, you know, the upkeep of the building, is the responsibility of the property management and the landlord. And that was basically non existent. A lot of those buildings, right? They were, at least most of the buildings during that time were heated, heated, you know, heat and hot water. with the old coal burning furnaces. So I remember the old coal burning furnaces where the trucks would come in, and they would have this shaft, this slide that would go down and attach into the basement of the building. And they would just just have the coal, coal slide into the basement, and remember that the superintendent that have to shovel the coal into the furnace to keep the buildings heated. Steven Payne Yeah. Yeah. STAFF 161 And that seemed to dismantle, you know, very quickly you know because you had to have you had to have a superintendent that would maintain that, that those coal burning furnaces, you know, because you had to take out the ashes. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Yeah. And, you know, so it was a big job to do that plus the, to sweep and mop the building and do repairs and such like that. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Yeah. But um, this, this, this whole block here, on Hewitt Place was a was a good representation of the decay of that whole area of the South Bronx. Steven Payne Sure. Wow. Oh, yeah, sure. So what what about the people who lived in your building or on Hewitt Place? What kinds of people lived on the block? Or was your family close with? STAFF 161 Okay, so the area was generally African American and Hispanic, mostly on Puerto Rican, Steven Payne yeah, STAFF 161 Hispanics, that lived on the block. My Side of Hewitt Place including 862 was the last residential building and my building was 858 and then it proceeded to go up, you know, the street towards Longwood my side, a lot of African Americans right. And then it seemed like it was only segregated between Hispanics and African Americans on the same block. And then you had, like, in my building, you only had one Hispanic family on the ground floor. On my building. And you didn't see Hispanic families. Until you got like, towards the middle of the block near like, maybe 161st Street. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 Right. You had another Hispanic family there. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And that didn't change for a while. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. So mostly African American and Hispanic families. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Yeah. So my thing was, like, you know, I was the new kid. Me and my brother, Adam, right. Were the new kids on the block and, you know, in a hostile environment, but they it was definitely hostile. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. Um, you could be and we were, we could and we were singled out, as you know. you know targets like who, who you? Where you come from? Steven Payne The kids on the block. STAFF 161 Yeah. And so Kurt Boone this is like 10 years old, right? STAFF 161 10 years old? Yeah, we ten me and um Adam is like one year under me. So he's nine. And I'm ten. So a lot of fights. A lot of fights, especially like, in school, right? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 from going to school and back a lot of fights in school, after school, a lot of fights. And you know, you got the street gang presence as well. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 Which is starting to develop more now we're this is the 60s. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 This is like, I returned to my mother in the South Bronx in 1965. So this is the 60s or mid 60s. At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and other movements that were happening. And those movements were that were reflected in the neighborhood the street that I was on. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And I remember on Beck Street, okay, which was on the other side of Longwood Avenue, I ran across Longwood Avenue, Beck Street. But I'm on the other side of Longwood Avenue on Beck Street, you had like, like a safe house for the Black Panther Party? Steven Payne Ah, STAFF 161 yeah, Steven Payne sure. STAFF 161 And I remember like, you know, getting to know and frequently seeing those people. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And you also had, I believe, on Kelly street, a location where the Young Lords was, so you had these militant militant groups that were in the neighborhood? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 As well as on street gangs. Street basic street gangs. And when I say street gangs, the outlaw street gangs. Outlaw street gangs were like, the prototype of say, like, the Hells Angels type of appearance with Kurt Boone The Jacket STAFF 161 Yeah, with the cut sleeve, denim jackets. And the, the colors on the back, which was the rocker, top rocker, you know, and a bottom rocker, and sent the patch. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And even though that was, you know, in a lot of respects, frightening in a sense, when you would like see them? Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 It to me, it was very attractive. Steven Payne Absolutely. STAFF 161 Right. Now. Now, now, now, you might say that, that's odd, but yet, it's attractive. You know, and I've had my experiences before are kind of more or less with what I would call crewed up. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Right. I had my experiences where, you know, being the new, you know, kid in the, in the block, when I got singled out, right, being by walking by yourself as as a as a youth in that environment. Right. You get singled out by the street gang, street gangs are all like, like wolf packs, or like wolf packs, that would like single out a lone wolf or lone sheep or whatever. And you would you would get victimized. Steven Payne What are some of the names of the street gangs from that period that you remember? STAFF 161 Okay. So you had major street gangs that were in that neighborhood during that period? Like the Savage Skulls? Steven Payne Sure. Sure. STAFF 161 The the Peacemakers Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 The Black Spades. Steven Payne Sure. Yeah. STAFF 161 The Bachelors. Steven Payne Yeah. The Bachelors, STAFF 161 the Turbans, the Javelins And the Ghetto Brothers had a clubhouse that was like, right around the corner, like I remember now. And on 61st Street intersected my street he Hewitt Place but 163rd Street, which was right around the corner off of Westchester Avenue. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 Right. There was a hill that went up off of Westchester Avenue 163rd Street, and up that on that right on that hill, well actually on 162nd Street. Steven Payne Sure STAFF 161 On 162nd and then you had the big hill was 163rd on 162nd Street. There was a clubhouse Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 For the Ghetto Brothers, Steven Payne Yeah, it's like a parking garage now, something like that. But yeah, STAFF 161 yeah. That was the clubhouse for the Ghetto Brothers. Now, what attracted me to the Ghetto Brothers. Other than the fact that they was right there in the neighborhood, and they would be seen frequently, right. was, um, they had like this this Latin rock band. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And they would play open jams in the neighborhood, you know, regularly, especially up on the hill on 163rd Street up on the hill. They had a bodega that was there, Steven Payne sure. STAFF 161 And they would play in front of that bodega. But they had other locations along in that area where I would see them, you know, they would plug into the light poles for their amps and stuff. And just, you know, and play, you know, Latin rock music. And that really attracted me as far as that music playing. But you would hear for blocks over when they hooked up. Steven Payne I'm sure. STAFF 161 That was that was a big, that was a big. That was a big event. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 To see that happening? You know, and I, and I would go up there and check them out. So eventually I gravitated towards them. And I started going up there to the clubhouse, right. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And when I got up there, one, one day I met on one of the older members, there. Not old, but he um Slick and he, I was talking to him he, any about? You know the music and, and, and the organization. And he invited me to come for a meeting that they were going to have. And when I went to the meeting a person who was there that had you know, very dramatic impact. On how I gravitated towards the Ghetto Brothers was Black Benjie. Steven Payne Absolutely. STAFF 161 Now Black Benjie was mostly the Ghetto Brothers were Hispanic. Steven Payne Sure, sure. STAFF 161 And Black Benjie was African American. And so and, and the first connection I made was a Hispanic guy named was Slick, right? And so they had like, what you call a youth division. Got to understand that Black Benjie was was an ex addict himself. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And he was like, like, either a peer counselor or straight up drug counselor of some sort. And, um, he was also a member of the Ghetto Brothers as well. Now in the Ghetto Brothers, they they weren't like the, to me. They weren't like the the conventional, or a regular street gang in that neighborhood. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 Outlaw street gang. They, they kind of more or less, gave me the impression. They were more or less like the, like the Young Lords for the Black Panther Party in how they approached their organization. They were more they were more militant, and aware, aware of their circumstances and situations socially and politically. A lot of them wore like, like, you know, right. Steven Payne Some of them even wore, even started wearing berets. STAFF 161 Oh, yeah, they had the berets. Yeah, they had. Yeah, they wore those berets like, similar to what the Young Lords would wear. And they were into the politics of Puerto Rico. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 yeah. And the liberation of Puerto Rico and such like that, which I didn't really understand. You know what that was all about, but their colors, alright. They had the center patch, and it had three garbage cans in the center patch. I didn't I didn't like them one of the things that that attracted me to the street gangs was the colors. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 And certain street gangs had nice colors. And what what it was was the imagery that was in the colors. And eventually because of my sketching and drawing abilities, I got into drawing different images of those street gang colors. Most of it of it being like with skulls, skulls and crossbones type things. Most of them had it like the Savage Nomads and the Savage Skulls. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 that was, you know, so I got into drawing skulls and, and bones and stuff like that. But um, Yeah, but the Ghetto Brothers had three garbage cans. And I was always like, why is it? But the thing is, is that their thing was assisting the Department of Sanitation, and cleaning out empty lots and stuff. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 for some reason, I don't know how they got into that. But that was a, I wouldn't say duties, but part of what they were volunteering to do. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 Right, in that, in that part of the South Bronx, like cleaning out empty lots and stuff, along with the Department, because it was this effort to try to clear out some of these empty lots, which I think was almost futile, because it got so bad with the mattresses and old furniture, and abandoned cars, and lots, was just strewn with a lot of garbage and stuff. You know, and along with that, you had a lot of rats in and you had a lot of stray dogs in and to this day, I wonder where did all those stray dogs go? They had a lot you had, like packs of stray dogs that would roam the streets in the Bronx. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 Packs of them. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 You know, and, you know, they would like to, like move you off, off the off the sidewalk, you know, they would come through. Like, they wouldn't run or anything like that you had, they're coming down as a pack of dogs. And you either you're gonna move out the way or they gonna move you out the way. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 So I'm not these packs of dogs and that would roam the streets and cats along with the cats. And, and, and rats, a lot of rats from the empty lots and stuff like that. So it was very like, like, you know, this, disconcerting type of environment for me to come into, you know, that I just had to, you know, I had to get you know, accustomed to it. Kurt Boone So in junior high school like Queens, that's when I really saw the gangs so the gangs would come with the colors so they'd be in the same classroom with you. You were sitting in class and you know you got members wearing their colors in class, What was your junior high school, cuz I want to lead into the, to the high school and then we kind of get into the graffiti, but you're going into graffiti before kind of like high school. But so let's just talk cause in junior high school would experience I felt was quite interesting how in Queens it wasn't as rough as they way it was up in the Bronx. But you started at elementary school you're fighting fighting in the schoolyards and stuff. But when you're getting to junior high, it takes it's more aggressive. STAFF 161 Yeah, absolutely. Kurt Boone Right. And then you run into the gangs straight on? STAFF 161 Yeah. Okay, so yeah, that's true. But um, in in this, you had some gang members that were still in school. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 But a good majority of them had left school. Right, a good majority during that month, because see, they were so they were very, they were a little more. They couldn't blend in, like, you know, what, you could probably, you know, say up of the current gang situation. They couldn't blend it because of the outlaw appearance. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 You got to understand these district gangs of that period. They had the that look, they they wore denim cut off sleeve jackets, and with the very blatant colors on the on the back of denim jacket. Right? And numerous patches. And I'm talking about, you know, patches with skull and crossbones, swastikas, and, yeah, and other things that, you know, would be like, to most people offensive. MC boots, you know, the motorcycle boots, and big flop hats. They deliberately gave this appearance of dread or terror. Yeah. And, um, you know, and like, the Hispanic ones, you know, long hair or during that period in African American kids, huge Afros. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 You know, so they were very visual. So it wasn't, so I kind of more or less, you know, copied that in a lot of ways. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So eventually, I became part of the Ghetto Brothers your younger, younger division of the Ghetto Brothers. Right. And under the tutelage of Slick and Black Benjie. So a very bad situation happened. Benjie was more diplomatic, you know, a type of person. A Very What do you call it? expressive, brother he was was able to, to relate and express himself because I don't know what his education was, but it appeared that he had some education. You know, he had he, you know, he knew how to, to converse, and to relate, and perhaps what he was doing with the counseling, brought that in hand, but he was the person that would counsel and organize. And but the main thing with him was the the peacemaking thing. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. Which eventually led to his death. You know, then street gangs were very violent. And there was a lot of rivalries with the street gangs for territory and and what happened is that there was an account of or report of a disturbance with what's a few street gangs and Black Benjie showed up with a few younger Ghetto Brothers. Right. And to this day, I, you know, I'm saying to myself, because he will bring the younger ones when I don't, you know, he, some of the older Ghetto Brothers, you know, I, you know, you know, weren't his his his main focus, he would deal with a lot of the younger members of the, of the Ghetto Brothers. And so, that's what we would be seeing with, and today that this incident happened, he was with a few younger Ghetto Brothers, and I, and I, you know, to this day, you know, and that this, I could have been there at the situation when this thing happened. Right. But he confronted this conflict, with a few gangs, you know, Javelins and other gang members that were there. And 7 Immortals. Steven Payne Mortals for sure. STAFF 161 7 Immortals Steven Payne The Mongols, maybe were in the mix somewhere, STAFF 161 yeah, possibly, but the main was Javelins, 7 Immortals, and a few other gangs that was there. And he got there wile it was already set off the situation. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 you know, and immediately, he tried to interject into the situation. Now, I wasn't there, I didn't see it, actually, myself, but the report was, he tried to interject in the situation immediately, and to separate these his rival gangs members, and it turned on him and he was eventually killed at that location. So you know, that that led to a few things that I, I decided I was going to do and that was one that you know, come out of that environment of, or that situation of being, you know, gangbanger so to speak you know part of that, that gang street gang in scene there in that area. And also to like, more or less focusing on graffiti writing. At that point, I had acquired spray paint, right when I say spray paint, you know, you know the spray paint? Steven Payne Yeah (everyone laughs). STAFF 161 So spray paint, so this is where everything set off, right? Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right now. Now, here's the thing with this, right. This was really, this really got me right here. Right? When I say this really got me. There was a few stores. There was a few stores. Remember Prospect Avenue was this train station. Prospect Avenue. What's a train station that would get off the IRT 2 and 5 Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 that the walk down to where I was living at. And by that point, right, I was, I was going to school or I had left. I left PS 130 and was going to junior high school. 52 52 right. One, one notable prior student that was 52 was Colin Powell. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Colin Powell used to go to that school. Right. That was where Colin Powell was here, you know, yeah. So um, yeah. So PS 52. was a little more dramatic. You had mentioned that IS 52 They call it but through a junior high at that in between grade school and high school. Yeah. Eventually the high school would go to would be Theodore Roosevelt. or Junior High School 52 I noticed you got a little more dramatic. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And, um, the practice it was like, you know, like these little um, handball courts and, and recreational areas that was around that school. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Where Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 specifically, like Savage Skulls and other main gangs would like, keep, you know, keep up residence right in that area. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So it got a little more, you know, funkier, so to speak, right. You know, dealing with with, with junior high school with school, period, you know, when I got to Junior High School 52. My mother took me out of that school. Right, me and my brother and put us in a parochial school situation that was run by the church she was attending, right? Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And that started me riding the trains and the bus. Steven Payne Oh, STAFF 161 right. Steven Payne Where was that high school located? STAFF 161 That was on Forest Avenue. Right. Not too far from from Morris High School. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 Right down the street from Morris High School. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. On Forest, R.T. Hudson, which was a a school that was run by the church. Right. Kurt Boone It was a Seventh Day Adventist. STAFF 161 it was a Seventh Day Adventist school that was run. Yeah. By that church. Yeah. Yeah. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 which my mother was a member of that church, okay. And she felt that was, you know, the best environment to get us out of you know, getting in trouble because, you know, a few incidences did happen in 52 You know, fights and stuff that you know, that she was called in and and things happen and stuff. So she seen, you know, some signs and she said, The best thing is to try to pull me out of that school and put me into that particular parochial school that was run by this church. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And I'm so dramatic thing now. Now all of a sudden I don't wear any uniform to school right and stuff. And but right next door to me was was Danny Danny was one of the the people the young kids of my age that was on the street, Danny and his sister, Bettina. Right. And they know we're close. friends or associates of my family. Right? Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Because they've we went, you know, similar denomination of church. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And now Danny, and Bettina is going to that parochial school RT Hudson, on Forest Avenue. That me and Adam is going to so we're traveling the same route every day, and attending the same school. So we got, you know, pretty, pretty tight. As far but here's the thing, right? On the street on Hewitt Place? Right? Something became apparent, right. Besides all the writings that were in the neighborhood, right, on the exterior of buildings and stuff, and other services in the, in that area, the public and in the interior of buildings, right. And specifically in school buildings to on the desks, And bathroom stalls and stuff like that. I got to meet some of the people who was putting the marks there. Steven Payne Ah, STAFF 161 and that was the most dramatic thing. And that's the thing that never ceases to amaze me. Or what what graffiti markings? Is that the mystique of seeing the mark continually in different places. And, and is the owner of the mark. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And what the person is like, right then and and why are they making that mark? You know, and that was a very appealing thing for me to see. Kurt Boone What did the marks say at that time? Where they different marks the same name?. STAFF 161 Yeah well, okay. Well, okay, so I would see different marks, right. Mostly. It was like gang related stuff. Right gang related stuff, you know, um, you know, in street gangs you you have to have a street gang Yeah, right, you'd have your government name, your government name, it's the name, your birth name that was given to you at birth to your parents and on your birth certificate. But you wouldn't use that name. you wouldn't use that name and in the street gang,, so immediately in the street gang, I got a nickname, Corky C O R K Y. Yeah. And that was one of the first names I used to write along with my affiliation. Right? with the street gang? Yeah, Kurt Boone That was the Ghetto Brothers you were a Ghetto Brother right? STAFF 161 Yeah. Um, but before that also had Mr. Ed. Mr. Ed, I, I'm now in the Mr. Ed factor came in because of my name is Edward. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 And, and in the mid early, early to mid 60s, they had this TV sitcom. Yeah, Mr. Ed the Talking Horse. And, you know, it was like, more or less a comedy type thing. Because, you know, he's talking horse thing, you know. But, um, so I used to get, like, you know, teased about it in school. Right. You know, it's like, in school in school during that period, especially a kid that's not that they didn't know them. The kids the kids. If the kids didn't know you their whole life. They didn't know, you know, you from being born and raised up in there. And all of a sudden, here's this like, 10 year old 11 year old kid, right? In the neighborhood. Right. Right. If you if you didn't make a name for yourself, or give them a name? Yeah. Right. They would give you a name. Yeah. Okay, or you n image right and usually it'll be something that you wouldn't like, it wouldn't be flattering. Yeah, it wouldn't be flattering. You said, because most of the time, they didn't want to give you they didn't want want to refer to you. As your birth name. Steven Payne Sure. Yeah. STAFF 161 All right. Edward wasn't an appealing thing. to call somebody to them. Right. So or they would make mockery of it. So, you know, Mr. Ed the talking Horse thing came in? Right. As you know, basically they call we call we call you know, snapping. Snapping. Snapping is being in school. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Snapping is being in school. And you being made mockery of in the classroom. Right. So your only defense, right for that is, is to be able to snap back but harder, you know, what I'm saying? And embarrass people. And you know, what, see that just led to a whole bunch of fights. Steven Payne Yeah. Yeah, for sure. STAFF 161 Yeah. In class out of class continuously, right? Because that was your only defense because you in class, and you continually being ridiculed and mocked and snapped on. Right. So you got to come back, you know, hard hardcore, like with your snaps. And so I got good at that. But the only thing with that is that it led to a lot of fights. A lot of fights. So, you know, so I kind of, you know, became diplomatic with it with the whole Mr. Ed thing. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 I just adopted it. I started drawing. Right. And I and I kind of related to the theme the whole Mr. Ed with, you know, with the horse and everything I started drawing horses. Right. And cowboy type of themes. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. The cowboy riding the horse. The the cowboy hat. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 The stars. Right. Okay. You know, Deputy badge star, right. And I started throwing that around on the desk. And in the restrooms and stuff like that. Kurt Boone Oh Okay. and you wasn't moving on it wasn't on paper at that time? STAFF 161 And Stuff like that. That's what I'm saying. I'm leaving. Yeah, I'm leaving, like the desks now. Right. Yeah. And now I'm starting to put it actually on walls. Kurt Boone Yeah. STAFF 161 Mainly around the school and stuff like that. So that's my first, you know, really would say tagging experience. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 like grade school like it's PS. 130 Still, Steven Payne yeah. STAFF 161 So like, by (IS) 52 it became a little more dramatic now by 52. Right now, um, the whole thing with spray paint came in. Now, Steven Payne okay, STAFF 161 now the day would spray paint. Right now you understand that spray paint was something that wasn't it wasn't made, you know, Kurt Boone It wasn't made for art. STAFF 161 It wasn't made for writing or drawing with. Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 spray paint was made basically as a utility type tool industrial use thing. Right, you know, to do you know, no utility and industrial work with, right? Yeah. Um, I would first my first account with it right, I can remember would be that we needed spray paint to cover the identity of a stolen bike. Yeah, if the bike costs, yes, so. Yeah. So, basically, at this point, yeah. So here's what's happening right? At this point, we got this this. This block crew as Topaz liked to call it block crew. And on the block crew, you know, it's like, you know, you know, you had a couple of like, marauding kids in the block crew, including myself. You know, would go around. And we shoplift stuff. shoplifting became a major thing. And stealing bikes? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 From other neighborhoods. So what happened is that we realized that the book, you can't keep riding that bike around, if it's stolen. And if it's being looked for by by the cops. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So we got to change up the appearance of the above the bike. And so up on Prospect Avenue. We had Woolworth and John's Bargain Store. And both of them had had like, supplied spray paint. Right? And so we acquired some spray paint and spray painted the bike, right? Kurt Boone Did you rack it or bought it?, STAFF 161 No well. No, actually everything. There was no money involved. We have no money. There was no yeah. There was absolutely no money. So, so so so so shoplifting became a thing for everything, you know, for eating for clothing yourself. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And for acquiring anything. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 there was no money at all you can get right. Later on, you know, as far as hustling thing, like, he would have stuff like packing bags at the, at the a&p That was on Westchester Ave or, you know, or doing some little chore for somebody, you know, carrying bags for somebody back to, you know, from the supermarket or something like that. But in general, there was no money to be had. Right? So, shoplifting became a major factor. Right? In just having stuff and getting things. So that's the first, you know, experience with like, spray paint. And then you had, like, you know, really, there was some spray paint that was in the basement of the superintendent, where the superintendent of the building had some spray paint down in the basement for some reason. Yeah. And we got that spray paint with access to the basement, he had this whole maze of basements, and apartments down in the lower part of the tenement, and in his backyard is huge backyard, whole maze in the backyard. And, and of the tenements and, and the lower part, our basement you had these basement apartments with a boiler rooms in the basement with the boiler and the cold room, and all this was and those those after a lot of the superintendents ceased to keep maintenance in the building or they were no longer you know, taking care of the building those basement apartments where the boilers and stuff like that was became like, like shooting dens for the heroin addicts. Steven Payne Sure, sure. Sure. STAFF 161 So that was either in the basement, or it was up on the roof. Yeah, yeah. And so the apartment that I lived in with my mother and my younger brothers and sisters was on the top floor, just before we hit the roof. So there was continually junkies up on that roof landing. shooting heroin was a terrifying scene. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. So between the junkie shooting heroin in the street gangs, right, that you You know, you was always had to be on the lookout for always on, you know, on, you was always on the target side of them. Right. It was pretty dreadful environment. Kurt Boone So two questions for you. See you getting your spray paint. What age kind of like where you like cause Junior High is like 11, 12 years old? STAFF 161 Yeah. So that around that time was the spray paint? Yeah, yeah. Kurt Boone You being 11 or 12 years old? It's pretty dramatic to see all that how did how did you take that in? STAFF 161 I'm already in the environment, and I see what it is right. I know it's not it's not Staten Island no more. Right. And, you know, this is where I have to be. So I have to make my niche. Right. Right now. I'm now the first thing was, is knowing how to defend yourself? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. So, um, so me and my brother, seeing that we were in a situation together and we were the oldest of our siblings. So it's the responsibility to me to me the responsibility was that I had younger brothers and sisters. Right? That, you know, I had to defend. And I noticed that that that larger families like mine of kids, right, that the older brothers were the ones that will come to the defense of the younger brothers and sisters. Or you had to make a reputation for yourself that don't mess with his him or his brothers and sisters. because so and so will get you. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 So and I had to be what your fighting game or whatever, or whatever, you know, or, you know, or the get knocked in the head with a stick game or I'll stick you with a with a K55 or 007 game? Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 Yeah. So it was with that. So, me, me, me and AJ was like, our jumping game. Right? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Now, when I say jumping game, you know, I would like say, Yo, listen, you see that? They down on the corner right there. Right. So when we get down there? You know, I'm saying I'll give you the cue. And that dude that one particular dude we got to jump on him. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 All right. And we're gonna whip him out. And so and then the rest of them will know that we gonna do that. Now. No. So so that started happening. Now AJ became more of a fighter than me. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. My thing was, I'll hit you in the head with a stick. Yeah, that was my thing. I'll hit you the head with a stick. Steven Payne Yeah. Kurt Boone That was your brother right?> STAFF 161 Right. So but AJ will fight you. Right? Kurt Boone And that's your brother? STAFF 161 Yeah, yeah. The younger brother. Yeah. Adam, So he'll hit you in the head with a stick so. So the AJ thing was eventually would become his tag. And my tag would be Mr. Ed 161. And Staff 161 Eventually, right. Yeah. So that came eventually. But that's what I'm referring to as AJ his tag. Alright, right. So yeah, so that thing became a dramatic experience dealing with that part, hostile part of the Bronx. So spray paint came in into play. So up on Prospect Avenue, we had Woolworth and you had John's Bargain Store. John's Bargain store had had had wet-look Paint, wet-look paint. Right, which I thought was very interesting. It's supposed to give you the shine wet look type of appearance. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So the spray paint came into play. Now the church building that was across the street. That became basically my, my first public canvas. Steven Payne Sure, sure. Sure. STAFF 161 Yeah. Now. Okay, so on that street with spray paint for the first time. I actually drew something. Right. And that was early 1970. I was around. Yeah. Early 1970. I drew something with spray paint. And that was a skull and crossbones. What with a crown Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And there's the bones of the skull and crossbones were dripping. So I drew the drip. So I actually drew that on there. And that was a very dramatic thing. But the thing is, is that that brought a conflict too, because this the Savage Skulls, their colors Steven Payne yeah STAFF 161 was a skull, not a skull and crossbones. but a skull with this here Nazi helmet on. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And I never forget that. One of the major members of the Savage Skulls, which that baby Skulls its not Hippie, Steven Payne oh, Hippie. Okay. STAFF 161 Right. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 he comes to the neighborhood. Right. And he sees that skull and crossbones that I wrote. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Or drew on the on the side of that wall, that wall. Right. And he's staring at it and starts kicking in, and stuff like that. And, you know, and now so that what about that street conflict? Now, at that time? Kurt Boone Did he know you drew it? STAFF 161 He didn't know who he didn't know who drew it. Now. Now, this is just prior. This is just prior to me establishing what I will refer to as a graffiti crew or graffiti club. Steven Payne Sure, sure. Sure. STAFF 161 Now, I mentioned that there was like, at least a few people that I had became aware of, on that street on the on that particular street that were were gang members, street gang members of different street gangs. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And, but they were all that I knew. And I know, you no, um interacted with either, you know, playing stickball or a basketball and on our makeshift court, or Johnny on the Pony, ringolevio, skelzies, or whatever. Yeah, or just like, um, he would go on these like exploration. Because adventures because the whole that whole environment, there was rooftops, basements, and stuff that, you know, we would explore. So I had started to, you know, make my niche into the, the youth crew, or the peers of my age that were in that community. So, like, so it was a few people. So it was Danny that was next door. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And there was Dope. And there was a Paul. And there was Kenny, and Cookie. And Jojo. And Skeeter, and such like that, now some of these some of these guys, right. Some of these guys were like, at least two of them. Were part of the of that whole affiliation with the Ghetto Brothers with me. Steven Payne Okay, okay. STAFF 161 There was a younger division of the Ghetto Brothers, like they had the Baby Skulls. They had younger division of the Ghetto Brothers, that Slick and Black Benjie would like more or less counsel and supervise? Steven Payne Sure, sure. STAFF 161 So that's what I was a part of. And along with a few other people on my street, so that became apparent, like more dominant, because the other people that will have that would belong to other gangs like the Savage Skulls, and the Black Spades. Doug was a Black Spade. Super Slick was or Paul. Getting you know a little ahead of him. Yeah. That was his tag, so Paul, was was part of the Savage Skulls. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 yeah, I found that kind of like, you know, dis dis concerning that, you know, all these rival gangs on the same block and these guys I'm associating with, but you got to understand that the whole nature of street gangs is that if you in the community, and you're not like, associated with something that's dominating on the street level like that, in some ways, and you like traveling in different places, you left very vulnerable. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 so a lot. I understood that a lot of kids, right young youth become affiliated with those things for like a support base that they usually, or ordinarily you don't get they ordinarily don't get like either from their, their, their home, or some other community based situation, right. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 street gang can be very supportive. Right for like family things for defense. And for essentials, food, clothing, sometimes even shelter. You know, you know, companionship, you know. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And, and so I got to understand that was a major thing. And again, like I said, the Ghetto Brothers was very appealing because they were more or less like interactive socially in and as far as we want to help the community type thing. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 You know, they had social issues that they were backing. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah, STAFF 161 that that I kind of like and then the whole thing was a music band. Right, that they were playing, you know, for free in the community and stuff like that. Alright, but again, like I said, I tended the after Black Benjie, you know, being killed, I tended to, like, grav, gravitate away from that, and more or less towards, like, more graffiti writing? Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 so this is on the street. This is solely on the street now. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 but it it slowly gravitated to the mass transit system. Cause of, myself, my younger brother, Danny. And his sister Bettina riding the buses and the train to get to the private school. And so more time on the, on the trains and the buses, and being on the interior of the buses and the trains. Right. gave us the opportunity. For the to write on the interior of the trains and the buses. So the marker thing, yeah, you had markers because, you know, of school and stuff like that. But um, that's I started getting my first interior tags, specifically on Third Avenue El. Okay. And the 2 and the 5. And I can't recall the number of the bus but the bus that went up Prospect Avenue. Right, that stopped right on the corner of Westchester and Prospect, and headed, you know, uptown towards Boston Row. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Right. That bus I would take, as well as the 2 and the 5 to Third Avenue, and switch to get the Third Avenue El. to the station where I would get off to go to RT Hudson. And that ride right along along with our neighbor, Danny. We started getting our first tags. on the Third Avenue El You know, that's a defunct line now. Kurt Boone You was writing Corky and Mr. Ed? STAFF 161 I would write Corky Mr. Ed. And then eventually I got Staff Staff S T A F F. Kurt Boone And this is like right around you was like 14, 13, coming out of junior high going into high? STAFF 161 Yeah. I'm still like, like, like, like, 12 years old when I first go into RT Hudson. Kurt Boone Oh, STAFF 161 yeah. And then, you know, like, by 13. You know, I just like that we fully organized as far as graffiti on. Like I said, on that street, you had a few people. Right, that I started to realize they were the author's Kurt Boone Oh, STAFF 161 Of the tags, yeah. Again, it's that's the whole thing, the nature of tagging, you see the tag first. And you get familiar with the tag? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And it brings the question mark, who, when and how, right. And that is a very interesting factor. In the whole graffiti tagging scene is to see the tag first. And become familiar with the tag, and to to long to meet the author of the tag, so I started meeting the author of the tags on my block. So that I put that together. As far as commonality besides being, you know, on on the same block around the same age, you know, the adverse of that is that How come you belong to this gang and you belong to that gang and I belong to this gang, and so forth we on the same block. But we still supposed to be like, Hewitt Place boys? Steven Payne Yes. Kurt Boone Okay. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. Yeah. All right. We got to get something a little more in common. And that was like the graffiti tagging. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 right. And since by that point, Like, I was starting to draw things with the can. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 I didn't, I didn't make nothing of it at that point. Right. But that wasn't being done. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 As far as if it was being done, it was being done. Right. And that kind of more or less led me to draw the skull and crossbones, and with the crown, it was it is being done by gang members. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 But they would draw, you know, like, crude murals of they gang colors. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 At the handball courts, or something in their area. So that's what kind of more or less attracted me and said oh look at that, you know, either it was the gang colors themselves, or, like, the gang would like find a handball court or wall near their turf area, and draw their colors. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And so I kind of more or less, you know, got into drawing with the can because of that. Steven Payne Okay. Yeah, sure. Kurt Boone Your inspiration. So, um, so you you mentioned a step deal you know, the 1970s, and thought about developing this club? Did you? Did you already knew that it was an ex Vandal crew already? STAFF 161 Okay. Yeah. So I'm riding the trains, right, at that point, going back and forth to school now, I'm doing more commuting. Now. I'm not like, you know, going to school right there in the neighborhood, I'm leaving out the neighborhood, specifically to go to school and traveling on buses and trains. Right? I start to see tags in the interior of the trains. Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 interior of the trains, right. And these are basically, you know, wouldn't be like these, like, you know, heavy duty Marker was like the Pilots, it'd be like, like, you know, like, little dry markers, and other smaller tip felt tip markers. And I started to see the tags after a while. And so, I made the affiliation, right, based on what I seen and knew about street gangs and the tags and marking turf, that the tags were from people that was in the general neighborhood. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. For instance, Lee 163. I knew that the number referred to the area where the tagger was from Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 I kind of made that out. So I'm saying so Lee, and Lee with a very prevalent tagger. And Sweet Duke 161. El Marko 174. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 And Bug 170. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 you know, I'm starting to see these tags, you know, Kurt Boone and that's on the interior before the outside? you would see the interior of STAFF 161 the interior, mainly the interior of the train. Yeah. And this is like, like felt tip. Tags. there wasn't, there wasn't, um, you would very rarely see something marked on the outside or surface of a subway car. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. This is a 69, 70. You would very rarely see something marked on the outside of a car. you would see a lot of tags and stuff on the street. Right, depending on the area you was in occasionally you'd see something marked in a subway station. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. But not a saturation of tags on the exterior of trains. Steven Payne Sure. Kurt Boone Most of the walls were prevalent too, like you were growing up and you would see STAFF 161 in the neighborhood. Yeah. Kurt Boone On your neighborhood on the buildings on the side of your buildings. STAFF 161 Especially in South Bronx neighborhood. Yeah. Yeah. And again, you know, a lot of people, you know, the gangs, they marked they turf, Steven Payne yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And then you had a lot of political graffiti and stuff like that. And it just came became a cultural thing. Right, that if you lived in a neighborhood, you got to sign it. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 I just, it its just that's the appearance that I got from that. And I could and was all on, you know, so. So, um, so And of course, you know, the, the more historical people like Joe 182 and Taki 183 Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 They started to notice them. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And of course, those those taggers, or writers are not in the general area. They're like more like Washington Heights. Steven Payne Sure. So yeah, STAFF 161 the way I became familiar with them is basically riding the subway. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 because they weren't, they didn't have tags in my neighborhood. Joe 182. And Taki 183. So now I'm I'm getting to realize that the mass transit system would carry your tag around the city. Right? And it's a good way for your tag or your graffiti name, right or handle will become known outside of your community. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 Right because the whole thing was mainly to impress people within your community, with graffiti now I also realized this in retrospect with the whole thing. All the logic and in writing, vandalizing defacement defacing your community around you. If you know, for use of a better explanation description or or term for. It has legitimate it it has legitimate meaning to it. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. As asinine as it may seem. It gives the individual that doesn't have that identity or that voice, an identity and a voice. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 A lot of people in that community of the South Bronx appeared to be ostracized, and disenfranchised. And in a big metropolis like New York City, right. Where it's, it seemed like everything was based on celebrity, and notoriety and flash and glam. And, you know, and and who you are in the city. How you place? How are you placed in the city? What do you mean, in this big place? New York, New York? The tagging thing kind of more or less gave you that, your props. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah, STAFF 161 The tagging thing gave you your props. Because especially if a lot of people gave your props because alright one of the more prevalent tags that I saw. Right. And I got, I was gravitating to. After you know a while I started to see him was Stay High 149. Right. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And the reason that I kind of more or less gravitated towards his tag is because his tag incorporated a lot of things that I really liked about tagging, or writing it incorporated drawing. He was drawing. Right. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 Sweet Duke was nothing he was drawing Sweet Duke tag Incorporated. a Playboy bunny. He drew a Playboy Bunny's head. And he had on gloves and a martini glass. He would draw with his tag in the interior. Right? Stay High's tag included. The smoker character, the stick figure. Right? And with the halo, and everything from the the 60s sitcom The Saint. El Marko. drew the, the hat character you know, from the El Marko pen felt tip pen. It had this logo with this you know hat character with two eyes, right. Which I eventually adopted myself. So I kind of took from them. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 that thing you know. Kurt Boone Okay, so Taki 183 New York Times article came out in 1971. So when in that period? STAFF 161 Yeah, I wasn't I wasn't that's the signature era. See, that's the thing. Okay, it Taki 183 Joe 182. These guys are what you refer to as the earliest of the signature era. Right? Kurt Boone This is around the time you're writing too right. STAFF 161 Yeah, yeah. Eddie, Eddie 181 Eddie 181. That's another one that and the only reason Eddie 181 kind of stood out for me was because he had my name Eddie. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 you know. And I said, you know, so Wow. There's somebody that has my name that's tagging. Right? But he had a plain tag. Kurt Boone Oh, STAFF 161 right. He got to plain tag. Right? I'm Kool Kevin One. And Kool Kevin One. And Kool Herc. right now. Now. Their tags were pretty dramatic, too, in the sense that they were drawings. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 Kool Herc drew a face with his tag, a very crude face. And Kool Kevin. He spelled it K O O L for Kool. With the O's he made eyes out of the O's with eyebrows. Right? Yeah. And, you know, and Incorporated arrows and stuff, you know, along with the tag, so the thing with Taki and Joe 182 in the earliest of the taggers. They weren't into the style of the tag, they were just writing a very, you know, brief rendering, of um print. Steven Payne Sure, sure. STAFF 161 Right. Their signature was very simplistic. Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 very simplistic. With just the name. And the number. Referring to the area that they came from the real attraction to me, I more or less came in, I more or less came in into the stylistic era of of tagging, tagging, not not piecing the signature, they had a they had the regular signature era was very simple. tags. And then it had the stylistic signature era. When you had people like El Marko 174 and Sweet Duke. And, and Phase Two, and Stay High One. Now the tags are starting to look a little more dramatic. Bug 170 and Lee 160 That's a stylistic era of signature tags. Kurt Boone And what year was was that? STAFF 161 that that that is that's that's still that's still early 70s. Early that's like, like 70, 71. Right? into 72. And even you can say, like, even like 69 Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 because Stay High was was tagging in 69. To a certain degree. I saw some of his tags. Steven Payne Yeah. Kurt Boone Was he from the Bronx or did you know where he was from? STAFF 161 He was yeah, he lived in the Bronx. Yeah, yeah. on 149th Street. And then he went eventually moved to Harlem. Yeah. When were the the Broadway train line is yard is is? Yeah. But he was he was he was initially in the Bronx. But, um, yeah, so that's another factor. A lot of Bronx people. A lot of Bronx people, you gotta understand that IRT, number 1, number 2 and number 5 train run from the Bronx into the into Manhattan and clear into Brooklyn and back. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So, um, you got a large three borough area where you would see taggers people who are writing graffiti. Right. Would would have access to those trains? The 2 and a 5 in in in the Bronx and Manhattan and in Brooklyn. Right, you would, you would know that, that and you would see that? Well, you wouldn't know exactly. Sometimes off the top, especially with like the Brooklyn guys. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 A lot of the Brooklyn guys didn't write the numbers. So you wouldn't know exactly off the top where they was from. Right, like Spin. Right. and you wouldn't know that. He was from Brooklyn at first. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. But eventually, a system came about later with more or less you could find that out. that they was from Brooklyn or Flint. Right? Right. Or, you know, people like that. Right? You had, Flint 707 and Flint For Those That Dare right. Um, you wouldn't know that they was cause the Brooklyn guys, they know, maybe it's how the streets are organized, they didn't have a number system, or they weren't really prevalent with adding a number to they tag as the people who were from the Bronx. And and Manhattan. Right. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And you had the most prevalent tagging. To be honest, right? Um, initially wasn't the Bronx, it was like, with like, the Broadway lines. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 The 2 not the 2 but the 1 and 3, Steven Payne The 1 and the 3 okay. STAFF 161 Right. Where Taki 183 and Joe 182. And those original guys were from Kurt Boone SJK SJK was number one and Mike, STAFF 161 yeah, yeah, that's it. You know, you had those. You had those people from what they refer to. WC 188. Kurt Boone Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 So Writer's Corner. 188. Right. Those those people, those people were like, the most prevalent taggers of the signature era to tell you the honest Truth. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Right. And then the Bronx was a close, a close, close second. Right. Kurt Boone So Writers Corner 188 it's Washington Heights. It's not STAFF 161 It's Washington Heights yeah And that's where you had those people Kurt Boone Less than a mile away right. Yeah, that's STAFF 161 what you had. And that's what kind of got me what the 161 thing? Because I, you know, I adopted the 161 because I said 161st Street, intersected, um, Hewitt Place Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So I had to, you know, represent, you know, my hood, that's what it was all about. So, I had to add the 161. And then I acquired Staff. Kurt Boone Alright so please, right here that was my next question. When did you start writing Staff? STAFF 161 So, okay, so, so Staff, Staff came, came about, like, like, the early part of 70, when I um. in the culture of the street gang culture, and in the culture of the day, you had these walking sticks, not what not doing like this, but you had the ones that they would make you guys who walk around with golf clubs. Kurt Boone Whoa, STAFF 161 With golf clubs, right. And, you know, you know, a 9-iron, you know a golf club, and as a weapon and as a as a cool thing, you know, a walking stick right, and then you had guys that would make their own right, you know, you know, get a piece of a tree limb and cut out your own walking stick, and shellac it and hook it up. You know what I'm saying it was part of the um, the whole thing the whole scene with the maybe the Afro central centric Look with the dashiki and the big afro. Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 And you had the walking cane? Yeah. And I thought that was a cool thing. So I attempted, I attempted to make my own walking stick. Right. Right. And, um, and I probably got a little more exaggerated with it did, then I should have, which I did. And that's because of, I was I was, I was influenced by popular culture a lot. What I saw on TV, one of the main things all the luxuries that my mother was able to afford us was that TV. Steven Payne Sure STAFF 161 that big furniture TV that was in the house with the with the big antenna on top, you know what I'm saying? And I got a lot of stuff from the TV. And one of the things like the movies that I I saw was Charlton Heston. And he's the greatest story ever told on the 10 Commandments. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 And he played the part of Moses. And to me, I like superheroes in general. Yeah, yeah. I like superheroes in general. Right. But he seemed like, you know, the more dramatic, realistic superhero because he was just like a regular like guy that was leading people but he had this this staff and the staff was this superhero weapon. Right. He was fighting this whole big kingdom headed by Pharaoh in Egypt, right. With his staff? Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 right and leading the people and He would like use that staff to open up rivers and oceans and, and bring water out of a rock. And you know, he would it would be his weapon. So when I seen the mostly the old yeah, mostly the older dudes in the community like were making these walking sticks. And so I tried to, you know, get one I believe it was Crotona Park or one of the Parks yeah Crotona Park, I got a tree limb a tree limb I got, and try to carve out, you know, my knife, pen knife, the tree limb, but the stick was too big. I didn't cut it down, like, you know, so basically, I'm holding all the walking stick. And it's like that it's a little bigger. Yeah. And you know, you know, you it's it seconded as a weapon too Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 With those those golf clubs and them walking sticks that guys were walking around with they basically were weapons too. You know? So, basically, I left it like that. Right? And so people was like, like, like, mocking me with it. Like, hey what's that your staff? Yeah. So that was the whole thing that and I started to hear that I always I already was kind of more or less focused on that I wanted to get them um a tag that rivaled what was. I would see the tags I started to see on the train right the Bug 170, Lee 163 and Stay High 149. And then of course, one of my other taggers I admired was Super Cool 223. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 right. So I had, I wanted to get a tag that was very dramatic, like that, one of those tags. So, and, of course, nobody else had, and that was Staff. Because they they started Hey, that's your Staff, hey Staff. You know what I'm saying that were starting to mock be with that. So it's stuck the same thing with Mr. Ed. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. It's the whole thing, the whole thing with acquiring a tag, is that you gotta understand again, everything is is time specific, you know, and just being that Historical Society, history has a lot to say, on for human behavior, and why things are the way they are? And where things came from. And so in history was always one of my life, subjects cause I like to know what happened before. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And why is it this way now? You know, and so, um, yeah. So the, the era of that time with the civil rights movement, and the black pow Power Movement was like, there was this focus with, um, it was Martin Luther King. And it was Malcolm X. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And they appeared to have different agendas. But it's really the same, but it's approaching it different ways. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Right. And remember, I said the Black Panther Party was right there in the neighborhood. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And when I was in Staten Island Now, going back to Staten Island, good, good. The foster, the parents that I lived with, were born into the Baptist Church. Kurt Boone Sure, sure. STAFF 161 And the Baptist Church is where Martin Luther King was Kurt Boone a pastor. Yeah, STAFF 161 yeah. He, that's what he came through in leadership in that church. And so that church in Staten Island was used as an organizing base Steven Payne Sure, STAFF 161 for some of his marches. And I actually me and my brother actually participated in a few marches in Staten Island as little kids. Yeah. What Yeah, so Martin Luther King, Malcolm X. Now, the thing was, so I had that experience marching, you know, "we shall overcome" with Martin Luther King Movement. Now, the Malcolm X perspective as far as approach to, you know, civil rights and black nationalism. Right. And, and justice, you know, and Respect, human rights, right. Steven Payne Sure STAFF 161 was a different approach. And he would say things like that kind of really dawned on me. Is that Oh! You know, we don't even know our original names. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 We don't know you have the name that you have. Right was given to you. And you don't even know that that name is is the name of your oppressor. And, and you know, you don't even have your name. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So that was another factor why I wanted to get a name. Right? Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 Or an identity and a lot of taggers don't realize that during that period, everything is time specific. It just didn't just happen just because you know how to the blues, the blue sky, there was things political things, social things happening during that period where people youth, I look at the whole thing as a youth movement. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 because, I believe there was a crossroads at that point. Not so much for the adult black and brown people of the era, but for the youth, because the youth had to get their their grip on where they're gonna go in society. So and that brings the whole question of hip hop culture. Kurt Boone Yeah, STAFF 161 yeah, so I was saying, um, the thing with like, hip hop culture, as they call it now, hip hop culture. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. Now, just like I, I mentioned, that, on the street, in that community, where I was there there was prevalent markings, markings what we referred to as graffiti, that means basically, markings and sketchings, of, you know, things that's in the public form, that was this part of the community, it was part of what I perceived the culture of that community, to basically mark your turf, make your presence known by putting your your mark in the community, either in the exterior or interior of that community. Right, it was just there, right? They didn't just like oh some single person decided, you had people that were prevalent in it, I, you know, but in that community, where I came up in, in late 60s, and early 70s, it was a prevalent thing that was this, you know, saturating the community Steven Payne sure. STAFF 161 The other thing, right, that was there, at the same time, in the community in the public was, was what they refer to as emceeing and DJing. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. People would play their music, like they people would, you know, just put speakers in the windows and stuff like that, sure. And play music and now, you know, and that's another thing that kind of was, was very, like, you know, you know, new to me you know coming from Staten. It's people playing music loud in the street, as if, you know, they are, you know, performing or doing that task. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 you know, as a duty, but the emceeing and DJing thing with the label that, you know, DJing is playing records. And of course, the emceeing is master of ceremony, someone hosting the playing of the records. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Alright. that I knew was something that was on the street, especially in the early 70s. And what people referred to as breakdancing. I knew that as a gang-bands, gangs would get together, and they would, you know, do this celebratory type of, you know, thing festive thing. And it would be this wild dancing, right? For a better word wild right where they would get out on the ground and spin and flip and stuff like that. You know, Steven Payne I heard some of the Black Spades talk about the dances they used to do to "Soul Power," but they would change at the Spade Power. And they had this whole dance routine. STAFF 161 Yeah. Yeah, when they got together, and sometimes when maybe a little intoxication or something like the dance routines would get a little wild they would get on the ground. And so I seen that I seen that, right. And again, I'm referring to this this whole social revolution for the Youth for Youth. Right. As far as the arts. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. I'm drawing right? The vocal arts and the music arts and the dance arts. Right. All right. And remember, there was a deficit in the end, because the schools had stopped, you know, hosting music and art classes. So. And then I believe there was a disconnection between the old school or older generation of those communities. And what the new generation or the younger youth of that time wanted to be represented as Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 right. And like I said, one of the things was, you know, I want my own name, I want my own identity. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. I understand ma, that you gave me, Edward. Right. And I appreciate Edward, I understand what it means lord of riches and everything. But culturally, that's really not, you know, where my ancestors came from? Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 that's, I understand that I understand lord of riches. I like it. Beautiful. Right? But, I'm not saying that. But you know, so consciously, that's what through my actions, so I appreciate the name. But I like to get my own name. And so Staff, because even Mr. Ed basically was given to me, and Corky was given to me by a street gang. And Mr. Ed was something that I got from the kids in school. That was mocking me with it, because, you know, my name is Edward. Right. But Staff is basically something that I feel that I took on for myself. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 so aligning with that whole philosophy of Malcolm X, that we don't know, our original names and our identity, he took X. Right? Because he didn't know his last name. Right. And so alright, from his cultural ancestry, right. And so, I took Staff, and I, you know, I gave it an acronym a meaning to it, because all names should have a meaning. Now, commonly be all What did you get Staff from? You know, a staff is a group of people or something like that. Right? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And yes, that's the definition and that you might find in Webster Dictionary, or, or it's, it's the apparatus where, you know, or the diagram where you put musical notes on, you know, to might music on Yes, yeah. And that's another definition. Right. You know but, you know, eventually I got I made it an acronym. Right. Seek Truth Always, Faithfully Forever. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 So that's, you know, so I made it I gave it its own meaning with separate wording. Right. So, again, taking on that identity, I believe the youth wanted to take on their own identity, the early writers, right. And be known as who they want it to be known as. And also with expressions self expression, with the dance and and with the music and how they listen to the music. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. And so you know, you know, like in 73 that Kool Herc broke off from tagging He was an active tagging right. tagged with me and my brother and we on the same got pictures with me him and and AJ on my brother on the same trains. I saw him regularly at the meeting location for writers which he didn't come to the writers bench that often but I would see him like, around Clinton High School. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 at the right on the corner in the square there. Where the bagel shop was there was a meeting place like a little writer's corner or writer's bench meeting location. For writers, so I would see see him there, Kool Herc. But he broke off early. Right? Just like some of the early signature era people like Taki 183 and Joe 182 and such like that, right? Junior 161 and El Marko 174 and Bug 170 and Lee 163. Right. That that generation that era of taggers signature early signature era taggers were kind of faded away And the more stylistic writers kind of more or less came to the front, I say stylistic writers, right? Still signature era, this same signature, but the signature the calligraphy of the writing became a lot more aesthetic. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And dramatized, like I said, drawing. So, so drawing became a big factor with me early on, or the whole whole graff writing scene. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 All right. Not so much that I wanted to be an artist, but more so that I realize it brought more attention to the tag. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 I mean, to me, it just like, Stay High 149's tag was a lot more appealing than the average tag. Steven Payne Yeah, yeah. He had an arrow, right? STAFF 161 He had he had a S with the devil tail Steven Payne Oh with a devil tail. Yeah. STAFF 161 Which I adopted. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 His tag was was was vertical stack. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And, um, he had different um, figurative things he added to it. Like he would cross his his H. With with a spliff. Right. Yeah, I like a lit spliff with a with a trail of smoke coming from it. And he had the stick figure The Saint character, The Smoker where he called it, with the halo, all that was bought with quotation marks, similar to what Super Cool used too Super Cool wasn't a dramatic drawing person. But embellishing the tag was, was is the primary thing I noticed with him with the Crown. Right. He drew the crown, he, he drew grammatical things, like Super Cool 223 he wrote a D, and exclamation point, and underlining, you know, or putting a ribbon under the 223. Drawing a cloud around the tag. So basically embellishing, that's a different, that's a different aspect of the signature era, again, the early Taki 183s and Joe 182s that's moving into more of the aesthetics and the artistic factor. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Of graffiti writing. That's even before major large pieces on the trains. Large pieces on the trains didn't even come to' 72 and Super Cool did the first one. Kurt Boone Okay, on the train. Okay. STAFF 161 Yeah, Kurt Boone outside. STAFF 161 Yeah, yeah. Yeah so yeah. So, um, by 71, and even 70, you started seeing a few tags that would be coming on the exterior of the trains. Right. And so it started to build up now. A lot of people. Again, everything is time specific. And you got to understand the political and social factors that what happened happening in the Bronx. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 in in New York City, in the world at that time, why, why these things happen. And again, New York going through a fiscal crisis and stuff like that. Right. They weren't cleaning the trains. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 All right. Not no real maintenance. Right. And that became apparent, that became apparent when if you tagged a train in 1970 or something, and in 71, 72, you can see that same tag on the train that you've seen that the same time that I put on there. Like, almost two years ago, it's still there. So then how much maintenance could he have been doing, Steven Payne yeah. STAFF 161 Right. So that's why the factors. And the other factor. Right of the explosion of it was, and I always say it couldn't happen to anywhere else. But New York City. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And, and especially, you know, in the Bronx, Steven Payne yeah STAFF 161 When I say in the Bronx, as they say that's the birth of hip hop culture. In the area that devastated area that I came up in, right, with all of the misery and the dread that was happening there with the fires, the high infant mortality rate, the drug overdoses, the gang violence and stuff like that. The the arson, you know, Steven Payne yeah, STAFF 161 it was out of control. Those people that were living in it, and especially the youth, the youth, in that community still found the resolve, and the motivation and inspiration to create their own cultural foundation, they was able to create their own cultural foundation. And that's why I can't, you know, beyond me understand why I could I do understand why some people think that, that, that, that graffiti writing is not part of hip hop culture. It might not have been called that at the time. But it's still part of that youthful youth movement. It is plain to me maybe see now I understand that maybe if you were in certain neighborhoods, and you you just, you know, adopted, tagging writing your name, that maybe you might not have an affiliation with the emceeing and DJing because it wasn't happening in your, in your neighborhood. Maybe you listening to Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones. And that's cool. But I was I was, I, you know, from the time that the Ghetto Brothers started jamming in my neighborhood, I got into all of that I've been into Jimi Hendrix. All of that you know what I'm saying? And, yeah, you know, Black Sabbath, you know, sure. I play guitar. I play guitar bass to this day. Steven Payne Okay. STAFF 161 Yeah. And I played in numerous bands and heavy metal, classic rock. You know, Santana, definitely, you know, and definitely Santana, who was the biggest one? You know, one of the major things that songs that they don't that the Ghetto Brothers were playing was Santana. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Is Latin rock band. So um, yes, I'm familiar with that music. And I've always loved that music. But I understand the music that was on the street in my community. Right. That was part of that youth movement, you youth culture movement that in compares, tagging. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 emceeing and DJing and a dance style called breaking? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And basically, that put together in a package is called Hip Hop culture. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 I understand that totally. Right. And I understand where other people might not understand it, because it just wasn't in their community. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. But you got to understand I was in the heart, the heart of that seven mile square, where they say that those things manifested and became what is now known as hip hop culture. I was in, I grew up in that. Steven Payne Absolutely. STAFF 161 I have a full insight into why, where and how that happened. Steven Payne Yeah. Kurt Boone So when did you paint your first exterior? STAFF 161 Very good. So. Okay, so, um, so by 1970, right, there, again, like I said, I recognized that there was numerous people in my community that right on my block, not in community on my block, that were actual taggers I felt a responsibility to organize them. Right. And, and so we can be like, unified and what we're doing on that block. Steven Payne Yeah. Kurt Boone Okay. STAFF 161 All right. And that happened to happen to be other things I was involved in whatever, you know, more or less, you know, not to become victimized. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Right. Right. You know, you have so many other gangs and stuff and, you know, and hostilities from it was just that, you gotta understand a lot of a lot of the Bronx, Manhattan, New York, the country was segregated. Either it racially or with street gangs or whatever there's just boundaries, you just don't go over here and over here, whatever. And I'm talking about in the next block for you. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 even in the same community. My next block over there. That's dumb dudes over here. Oh, come on. They don't go on their block, and so forth. Unless you know what I'm saying you got permission to go over there, and so forth. Because like you know what you doing over here? it was, you know, because you just had the hostility going on. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And I always kind of like was dismayed with that, you know, that's not unification. It's like, divide and conquer type stuff to me, you know? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So when I had found out about the whole system of things, that there were people who were actively pursuing tagging, as a activity, not incidental to their environment. Now, prior to that, my tagging was just incidental to my environment, as I said, it was on the street, in my community. So I would tag because it's part of what people around here do. I gotta put my tag up too I'm a be part of this, I'm not gonna be left out I could tag too. And so forth I could tag and then I put my, my customized thing on it, with drawing stuff with the tag, you know, and then later on, I realized they had other people who was drawing things with they tag Sweet Dude and Stay High, you know, an El Marko 174. You know, And them guys could draw and things with their tag too. And so, um, so. But there was this, this whole ah ah system. I noticed, eventually, of taggers, who were tagging for the sake, and only for the sake of tagging alone, and having their tag saturated through the city. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And the nucleus of that I noticed happens to be from riding the train back and forth to school. Right? Me and Danny and my younger brother, Adam, was the New York City transit system. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right, and so, slowly, and surely, I noticed that it started to leave from the interior, to the exterior of the trains. And that has to do with motion tagging. Right being in at a Station. Alright, so So some of my first exterior tags, was standing on Prospect Avenue, subway platform when the train pulled in. Right. I would wait for the train and once the train pulls in and stop was tag on the outside of the train, Steven Payne yeah, STAFF 161 with Markers. Right, and then eventually spray paint, right. It's called motion tagging. As the train, it pulls into the station, right stops to let passengers on and off, right, and then that know those few seconds while its there in the station, you can get your tag off and that that contributed to the speed of tagging. Steven Payne Okay, yeah, STAFF 161 that built out built up your, your propensity to tag real fast because you gotta to hurry up because the train gonna pull out the station. Alright, so that builds up your speed with tagging. So blue things happen. So, the Ebony Dukes. So again, um Danny, who was one of my closest peers. Right on on that street, living right next to the building right next door to me going to school with me. Right, his uncle again, the families were knew each other. His uncle, I started getting painting jobs with little hustling jobs with you know, you're ay, I'm going to do paint this apartment with me. You want to come and help me out paint today? Right? Yeah, you know, I want to paint you know, and get a little change and stuff like that. Yeah, actually, I'm gonna help you paint and I'm gonna learn something were painting too. I like to paint. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And then I'm getting into paint now and spray paint. But you know, I'm saying I was painting. Go Karts. I was painting kites. I was painting because people got to realize that I was a kid that could draw something gang colors. Kurt Boone Yeah, yeah. STAFF 161 Right. So painting, right so anything with painting I was there. And Bertie was Bertie is his name. Right? So um Bertie said. Yo, come I'm gonna paint some apartments up here. Right? You want to come help out? You know, I give you a little something. All right. You can learn something. Right? And I did. And as he's painting, and I'm working with him I'm getting these war stories about this organization, this crew this gang that he was associated with from Harlem called the Ebony Dukes? Right? And I'm just getting amazed with the war stories. And so I'll become interested and, and the name, the Ebony Dukes it just has a ring to it that, you know, I said, I'd like to know what happened to it. And the people that was in it. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 And what's going on with that name? Did you preserve it? Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right, that's a historical and preserving, you know, things that were a part of the history as a, you just gonna let that name just go away. Next thing you know, he makes the point that a lot of the people are you know no longer in contact, when he says some of them are dead, some of them went to prison and lost contact. And, you know, so, but I'm still adamant about preserving the name. So I come up with, you know, eventually I come up with the idea. Because now that I'm learning that there's a system there's a system that is, you know, maybe not as as firm, as it eventually became at that point. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 But there's a system of youth that are going through the city, right? Deliberately to put up tags. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Not as it was with me at that point. It's just part of my existence here in this neighborhood. But they would systematically go around and put up tags and started to notice that in the subway system, and on the buses, and so wanting to get away from the street gang environment, right after Black Benjie and so forth. Right. And such, you know, and everything and and what was going on with street gangs in the neighborhood and general, right. I believe Black Benjie was the conclusive thing. But there was things that happened before that. Yeah. Then I said had number one the Ghetto Brothers. Were not. Were not akin to graffiti tagging. Steven Payne Sure. Yeah, they Yeah, STAFF 161 I got that impression slowly. And that they didn't really, they weren't appreciative. Right, even though they had some stuff up too, let's say, Ghetto Brothers sons. Of certain certain division. Right. But in general, right. They, remember, they had three garbage cans as the center patch. Yeah. And they worked with the sanitation department to clean up empty lots and all that stuff in the community. And, and part of the look of decay of so to speak, was the tags that were in the neighborhood her in the graffiti. So I got the impression that the leadership in it wasn't for graffiti writing. Sure. So now, I'm coming to a crossroads. Like, why am I part of something that is not really for graffiti writing? Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. But yet, I'm doing graffiti writing. And I'm like, taking like center stage on that street with graffiti writing with all these other kids on my block that's doing graffiti writing. So we got to organize under graffiti writing. And that's when I eventually asked Bertie. Cab I used that name that Ebony Dukes to make a graffiti club? And he didn't understand with graffiti club was, he said you know, I mean, you want to use it use it. But you know, Steven Payne yeah, STAFF 161 you know, you know, but you know, don't make another gang. Now you guys are concerned about being a gang. But I said it's not gonna be a gang. We're not gonna be a gang, you know, so we're gonna be a guys that do graffiti, writing? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Okay, you know? Okay. Do your thing. So that's in the spring of 1970. Right. I established the Ebony Dukes, GC standing for graffiti crew. So that happened in the spring of 1970. And so the people the first initial people that was in that was like seven people from Hewitt Place. Oh, yeah. So that was on myself. My brother Adam. And of course Danny who was next door who wrote Adam wrote AJ One, but at that time, I was Staff 161. 161st Street intersecting the street, on Hewitt Place? So Staff 161 Right. My brother Adam, who wrote AJ which is his initials for his government name, but it also stood for All Jive 161 he also wrote Adam, Adam 12. Kurt Boone Okay. STAFF 161 Right. Kurt Boone Like a cop. STAFF 161 Yeah, but everything was in the sitcom. Remember, you gotta understand, to see how early graffiti tagging was influenced by popular culture, especially stuff and things that were on TV and everything during that period. Steven Payne Sure. STAFF 161 Again, I say everything is time specific. And a lot of people discount that and not understand that was happening socially, politically and culturally of the time. influenced what eventually happened? Right. So Adam, right, myself, Adam, Danny next door, who started to write Dynamite 161. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 right. And later on, he took on Dr. Soul One, right up the street from us. Right. What's Dub, right? Who lived on the end of Hewitt Place that was closer to Longwood Avenue. Steven Payne Okay, STAFF 161 right. D U B. No, yeah. Yeah. And so, um, eventually, he starts writing Topaz when I gave him that tag. Again here's my leadership role is coming in that I'm giving people tags now. And directing people with graffiti and stuff like that, you know, so, um, I'm kind of like, you know, assuming that role of the graffiti guy in the neighborhood. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. Under that new title, the Ebony Dukes GC. Right. So Dub becomes Topaz. Right. All right. Um, Topaz One. And then up the street was Kay. Who lived on Hewitt Place near closer to almost like 150 or closer to the Longwood Avenue. Right, but on the other side from from from Topaz. Kenny's is writing Hot Sauce 575, which had happened to have been, I believe he's hit the building number he was he was on remember. Eight sets I'm 858. So further up, and further down really? is 575. So Hot Sauce 575 or H S 575 for short. Right, was his tag. And then right here on 156 feet on who would place again, right is Kenny, who was the the Puerto Rican kid? That was part of the crew. Right, Kenny? I'm sorry not Kenny but Cookie, Steven Payne cookie, STAFF 161 Cookie, we refer to him as we knew him on the street as right he starts to write King Kool 156, Right. King Kool 156. Right. Kurt Boone I love these names. Steven Payne Yeah STAFF 161 right. And then, um, okay. Kurt Boone And that's six African Americans and one Hispanic. STAFF 161 Yes. Yeah.Yeah. Okay. Um, and then, um, last but not least, um Paul, who was part of one of the bigger families or the oldest in one of the bigger families in the neighborhood. He was a Savage Skull. He started writing Super Slick 156 So that was the nucleus of the original. The Ebony Duke Crew, Steven Payne yeah. STAFF 161 Ebony Dukes GC crew that started there on the block. And eventually, we added all members from all over the Bronx, and, and into Manhattan, and into Brooklyn, in eventually, Queens and stuff, you know, Kurt Boone So where did membership cards come from? Because you would get memberships cards like boys, the Boys Club of America card. STAFF 161 Well, It was like, um, again, um, I started to pick up on things that were on that, um, I felt like we were left out at Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 out of in those communities. And you had these exclusive clubs of the day, that or the whole idea of being in a club, and membership in a club was as seen as an honorary thing. Right, or, and to be excluded from that. Right? Or was a less than honorary thing. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 right. Yeah. Um, you know, you're not part of this, you know, you don't, you know, come to our standards of being part of this. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And one of the, the affirmations, or the credentials of being part of these special clubs is some kind of a badge, or identification. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 So, um, I wanted to, like, try to address that, right. And I came up with the idea of making membership cards. So I would hand draw, I would go to like, Woolworths and boost, or rack, these index cards, you know, index cards in the package with the lines. And, and, and color color. Felt Tip markers, and both package, felt tip markers. And I would hand draw membership cards and started to give them out. Kurt Boone Right away. or took a couple years before? STAFF 161 I did that, like, right away. Kurt Boone Wow, STAFF 161 I did that right away. Because here's the thing, right? We didn't have we weren't a outdoor street gang no more like that. So we didn't have colors? Steven Payne Sure. Yeah. STAFF 161 We didn't have we weren't wearing colored. So how do we identify ourselves? Other than the fact of our tag and we writing the tag? Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. So I said, Well, okay. To certify your membership, their membership in the crew, this rep. Okay. It didn't happen immediately on the street. It started to happen. When, um, I started getting membership outside of the neighborhood. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. And I had to, I felt it was the necessary for the existing membership, to know that the person that's saying that they're part of the crew can prove it by having my hand hand drawn membership card. Alright, so. So more or less akin to that. I'm certifying people. That is not we don't know, within our circle, yeah, that they're part of the crew. So I started drawing membership cards for people that were outside of our community. Steven Payne You know, if anyone still has one of the membership cards? STAFF 161 yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A couple of people on Fam and has one. Yeah, others, you know, from the Uptown crew that we had uptown. I stuck up past 180th Street. Steven Payne Sure, sure, sure. STAFF 161 Blade and Crotchy and, and Comic those guys, you know. Kurt Boone I want to try on your next next round. You want to get into some writers like playing? But we didn't speak much about the women in this, but I know a few women in the Ebony Dukes? STAFF 161 Yeah. Yeah. There was on the, on the street on the street that we was at, right, eventually. They were females? Yeah, you gotta understand again, everything is time specific. And, and certain things of that time era. That you know, like, ladies, were, you know, left out of the equation, you know, this is not for you, you know, this is for guys, man. We you ain't gonna do what we doing. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 you know. So, you know, you had that type of male chauvinistic type of mentality at the time that was, again, everything is time specific. But you had like the, what we refer to as the tomboy type girls, that was like, they could fight just as much as the dudes. Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 so to speak, are all just as rough as that dudes, so to speak, and you know, and they would, you know, hell bent on that, you know, that we can do we you can do it better. Steven Payne Yeah. STAFF 161 Right. So, there was a few on the block right us. That was like that. One was Line 149 who lived in my building, right? Kurt Boone How do you spell that? STAFF 161 L I N E Steven Payne LINE okay. Kurt Boone Oh, Line 149. STAFF 161 Line 149 Kurt Boone 149 Okay, STAFF 161 all right. And there was a Sweet Tea 163. Right. Darlene. Yeah, who will became some of the first female affiliations and then later on, when we kind of branched out in the neighborhood. We had Kivu Kivu One, you know. Yeah. So, but it wasn't like a lot of females who were members at that time, but they were there. They were there. Kurt Boone Alright, so they know I'll let you go, Barbara, STAFF 161 and Eva 62 Okay, so they were basically obscure in the sense that I didn't see them a lot, but there was you know major female taggers right. That were around right during the period. Early signature era Steven Payne Yeah, STAFF 161 they didn't come in too much in the stylistic era, or the piecing era. Kurt Boone Were they members also? STAFF 161 No, they weren't they weren't part I don't remember them being part of any crew. Kurt Boone Any crew. okay. Yeah. Yeah, so I think what we're gonna do cuz you have to leave, we use have each artist to leave a tag for us for the library. Alright, great. All right, thank you. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with STAFF 161, Part 1 Description An account of the resource Part 1 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on February 23, 2022 with STAFF 161, a true pioneer of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx, and the founder of the first Bronx graffiti crew, The Ebony Dukes Graffiti Club. In this oral history, STAFF 161 describes his time growing up in Harlem, Staten Island, and the South Bronx of the 1960s and 1970s and how the Bronx context especially shaped his and others' approach to graffiti during this time period. The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This oral history is brought to you through the contribution of Stephen DeSimone, CEO/President of DeSimone Consulting Engineers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022.02.23 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20220223 graffiti STAFF 161 TED The Ebony Dukes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 01:50:48 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Boone, Kurt Payne, Steven Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed STAFF 161 Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20220323.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with STAFF 161, Part 2 OH-BAADP.20220323 01:50:48 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This interview made possible through the donation of Stephen DeSimone, President/CEO of DeSimone Consulting Engineers. bxoralhistory STAFF 161 (TED) Payne, Steven Boone, Kurt MP4 staff-161-oral-history-pt2-2022-03-23.mp4 Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/ZfvUJwbc7YU YouTube video English 0 Introduction and Membership Card Steven Payne: Welcome back to the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project. Today is March 23, 2022. My name is Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and we're again with STAFF 161, and Kurt Boone is also here. And, and we're looking forward to everything that STAFF will share with us today. And picking up from last time, we're gonna start off by showing a photo of an original membership card of The Ebony Dukes . . . In this segment of the second and final part of STAFF 161's oral history, Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban life and culture, introduce the narrator, the founder of The Ebony Dukes G.C., the first graffiti crew in The Bronx. STAFF also shows and speaks about a digital image of an original membership card for The Ebony Dukes, G.C., sent to STAFF by VAM. bottom rocker;cut sleeves;denim jackets;gang colors;gauntlet;initiation;markers;membership cards;top rocker;writer Gangs;Graffiti;Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Initiation;Peace symbol;Prospect Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Spray can;Staff 161 (Graffiti artist);The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist group);Vam (Graffiti artist);Woolworths 0 333 Outlaw Youth Culture of Early Graffiti STAFF 161: It, the whole thing with, the whole thing with the early writing era was that it was just more than just tagging your name. It was the fact that, that you had to be rocking spray paint. So it was like more or less, I assumed that if I saw your name up, that you was like a racking person, or basically a street urchin person bas-, and you, that you had that heart that I was looking for as part of the crew members . . . In this segment STAFF speaks about the early graffiti movement's culture, particularly its outlaw, or underground, elements and youth focus. These aspects of the culture, STAFF explains, stemmed from the reality of New York State penal law, which defined graffiti as "vandalism" or "defacement of public property" and typically assigned milder sentences to minors aged 16 and younger. The likelihood of arrest—whether for tagging, racking, or any of the other activities related to graffiti—along with fear of incarceration, particularly at Rikers Island, led many of the early graffiti pioneers to stop writing past the age of 16. STAFF himself stopped writing in 1975, at age 17, which means that his rap sheet to this day shows one charge related his graffiti activities as an "adult". STAFF also speaks about the various challenges faced by and charges brought against "juvenile" writers in Family Court, sentences that those convicted would have to serve in the Spofford Juvenile Center in The Bronx, and how all of this helped shape the original outlaw youth culture of graffiti, which, STAFF notes, has changed considerably now that graffiti has been partially institutionalized and monetized. boosting;early pioneers;heart;minor;outlaw culture;racking;rap sheet;retirement time;spray paint;street urchin;tagging;underground culture;writers;youth culture Astoria (New York, N.Y.);Bosket, William James;Community service (Punishment);Criminal mischief;Criminal trespassing;Defacement of property;Graffiti;Hunts Point (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Nanny;New York (State). Family Court (City of New York);Racking (Graffiti);Rikers Island (N.Y.);Shoplifting;Single parents;Spofford Juvenile Center (Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Stay High 149 (Graffiti artist);Vandalism 0 1255 Artistic Elements in Early Graffiti STAFF 161: Yeah, yeah, okay, so if you talk to any of the pioneers, early Signature Era pioneers, in writing, tagging, the early Joe 182s and the Taki 183s, and Frank 207, and Turok 161, these early Broadway guys, and basically the, the, the be-, just, the beginning stages of it. That's where it started to proliferate in New York City early on around that, those Broadway writers, earlier—we call them Broadway writers, but Upper, Upper, Upper Manhattan, Washington Heights area, a lot of those writers come from. Those writers will tell you that they, they weren't, you know, looking at themselves as artists at that time. The art thing came a little, well, a long ways after. Some of the taggers, right? Some of the taggers, as my myself, had a natural, a natural propensity to draw things . . . In this segment STAFF speaks about the various artistic elements at play in the early graffiti movement, even if writers at the time did not think of themselves as producing "art". He remembers his own sketching and drawing in black books on the roof of his tenement. He also recalls designing kits for friends and the aesthetic inspiration he found in the street gang culture in the neighborhood. For instance, his early fascination with the Grim Reaper character came from the colors of the Reapers, and his various skull and crossbones played on the colors of the Savage Skulls (much to their dismay). The transition from sketchpads and black books to drawing with spray paint ("can control"), therefore, was quite natural for STAFF. For this reason, he draws a clear line of descent from the early spray paint drawings produced by himself and others on walls and other surfaces to the murals and "street art" so ubiquitous around the world today. STAFF then reflects on the term "style" as it is used in the graffiti movement and defines it as basically the same as "art", plus a little something more, especially as connected to the letter form of the tag. From here, STAFF discusses some of the early fonts used in the early Piecing Era, particularly bubble letters, and the development of wild style lettering from the more stylistic tags of the Signature Era. The driving motivation behind the proliferation of "style" at this point in time, however, was not art, STAFF insists, but rather the desire to bring attention to one's tag. As more and more writers started to enter the scene, things became more competitive and it took more effort and embellishment to make your tag stand out. STAFF also discusses the more derivative nature of bubble lettering, which was directly influenced by pop culture, particularly cartoons and advertisements, and wild style, which grew more organically out of the Signature Era. STAFF ends the segment by drawing a distinction between "graffiti writing", an "illegal" activity someone engages in primarily to get their tag up (hopefully acquiring "all city" status), and "graffiti art", a legal activity authorized and in some cases commissioned by the powers that be, done primarily for artistic or aesthetic purposes. This is a distinction, STAFF notes, that emerged early on within the movement and is still operative today. all city;B. Boney;bombing;can control;Corky;cut sleeves;denim jacket;embellishment;gang colors;grassroots writing;kite flying;mobile canvas;Mr. Ed;pieces (masterpieces);pioneers;signature era;skull and crossbones;style;tagging;tenement houses;underground;up;wild style;writers;writing 7 Flushing Local;<7> Flushing Express;Art and graffiti;Black books;Broadway (New York, N.Y.);Bubble letters;Cartoon characters in art;Comic books, strips, etc;East 161st Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Ex-Vandals (Graffiti artist group);Fonts;Frank 207 (Graffiti artist);Gangs;Graffiti;Harlem (New York, N.Y.);Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Hippie (Member of Savage Skulls);Joe 182 (Graffiti artist);King Kool 156 (Graffiti artist);Lettering in art;Murals;Pop culture;Reapers;Riff 170 (Graffiti artist);Savage Skulls;Signature Era (Graffiti);Spencer 1 (Graffiti artist);Spray paint;Street art;Style (Graffiti);Super Cool (Graffiti artist);Taki 183 (Graffiti artist);Tenement houses;Tracy 168 (Graffiti artist);Turok 161 (Graffiti artist);Upper Manhattan (New York, N.Y.);Washington Heights (New York, N.Y.);Westchester Avenue (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Wild Style (Graffiti) 0 2571 Whole Cars in Early Graffiti STAFF 161: Here's the thing with that, right? It, it's, that's where the aesthetic factor, how the, your tag looks, right, came into play in the, in the graffiti, or the writing world. The shape, or the style, right, or the font of your tag, right—for instance, this is Stay High's tag there. So that's Butch, and Ralph Macdonald, and this is a brother named "Ket", K-E-T . . . In this segment STAFF talks about the transition from the Stylistic Signature Era to the Piecing Era of the early graffiti movement, noting that a primary concern running through both eras was making your tag stand. This concern was only amplified as more writers joined the movement and began taking up more space on the exterior of subway cars with "pieces", or "masterpieces". According to STAFF, the whole point of these increasingly larger and more dramatic pieces, at least initially, was making sure the tag stood out. His brother Adam, who wrote "A.J." or "All Jive 161", for instance, was one of the first to do a "married couple", or a tag that spanned two subway cars. The addition of characters to these early pieces by STAFF and other pioneers was also a part of this same process of embellishing the tag. STAFF also discusses his general avoidance of schematic drawings for pieces at the time, given the risks of being arrested with such clear evidence of your "crime". For similar reasons, STAFF and other pioneers also generally avoided taking photographs of their pieces—besides, cameras were too expensive for most youth in the South Bronx. Some of the earliest photographs of pieces along the 2 and 5 lines, nevertheless, were taken by members of the Uptown crew of The Ebony Dukes. STAFF then speaks about the different subway lines he would write along, the importance of the main Writers' Bench (and other ones) in early graffiti culture, and the significance of black books, both as a part of the social environment of "benching" and as a major influence on early subway pieces. STAFF reflects on the early days of doing pieces on whole cars and how he worked alone at first and also began doing outlines and helping out other members of his crew. benching;black books;boosting;bubble letter font;cannon;checkerboard;clouds;color schemes;dots;embellishing;graff;graff names;Grim Reaper;kickin' it willie bobo;layup;married couple (Graffiti);One-armed Jeff (Case 2);outline;pat down;Phase 2 (Graffiti artist);pieces (masterpieces);Piecing Era;Signature Era;stripes;tag;whole cars;Writers' Bench 149th Street–Grand Concourse station;2 Seventh Avenue Express;4 Lexington Avenue Express;5 Lexington Avenue Express;6 Lexington Avenue Local;<6> Pelham Bay Park Express;All Jive 161 (Graffiti artist);Black books;Blade (Graffiti artist);Butch 2 (Graffiti artist);Cameras;Cartoon characters in art;Case 2 (Graffiti artist);Comet (Graffiti artist);Community--graffiti;Crachee (Graffiti artist);Evidence (Law)--New York (State);Graffiti;Hunts Point station;Ket (Graffiti artist);Longwood Avenue station;MacDonald, Ralph;Naming;Phase 2 (Graffiti artist);Schematic drawings (Graffiti);Stay High 149 (Graffiti artist);Subways--New York (State)--New York;Sweet Duke (Graffiti artist);The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist group);Vam (Graffiti artist) 0 3702 Graffiti, Race, and Gender STAFF 161: With the, the early writing thing, to me, it was a unifying force, a youth culture, a youth movement to bring disenfranchised youth, or, or, or segregated youth communities together, you know. That ordinarily, we, we wouldn't have interpersonal communications with each other but now we have a base thing now. We have a base thing, which is graff writing, right? Aerosol painting, use of markers, putting our tags up, right, racking paint, going on missions. This is a unifying thing, right, that bring, all, all these segregated youth communities together, from racial, to gang affiliation, to "I'm from the east side, I'm from the west side" . . . In this segment STAFF speaks first about graffiti as a unifying force for disenfranchised urban youth living in communities facing various degrees of segregation. He speaks about how race was somewhat de-emphasized in the early graffiti movement and also touches on the involvement of women in graffiti from the very start of the movement. He reflects on the contribution of these women to the movement as well as the ways that male chauvinism worked to limit the involvement of other women. camaraderie;disenfranchised youth;diversion;racking;segregated communities;unifying force;women writers;writing Barbara 62 (Graffiti artist);Charmin 65 (Graffiti artist);Dewitt Clinton High School (New York, N.Y.);Eva 62 (Graffiti artist);Feminism and art;Graffiti;Kivu (Graffiti artist);Male chauvinism;Phase 2 (Graffiti artist);Racism and the arts;S.PAT 161 (Graffiti artist);Segregation--United States;The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist group);Writers' Bench 0 4058 United Graffiti Artists STAFF 161: Yeah, absolutely. The whole thing with U.G.A. started early on in the Piecing Era. It was formed early on in the Piecing Era. When—not so much the Signature Era—in, in the early Piecing Era, we heard that there was this fellow that was around that had started a, a group with taggers to come and to paint in a, in a structured, formal setting, to come and do their "graff writing" in a structured, formal setting. Now, graff writing at that point is already structured in the sense that we have a meeting place, which is the Writers' Bench, and we have a network of writers that is grassroots, and we have protocol, and we have hierarchy . . . In this segment STAFF speaks about the formation of the United Graffiti Artists during the Piecing Era and how he and many other pioneers saw the group as part of the establishment, as opposed to an organic part of the underground, or outlaw, youth culture that the early graffiti movement represented. STAFF also draws out the ways in which graffiti's roots in both street gang culture and militant organizations made many writers and crews, including The Ebony Dukes, wary of U.G.A., in spite of the group's promise of gallery showings and supplies. STAFF remembers his shock at the time when he learned about the ultimatums handed down by U.G.A.—that members had to swear off tagging—and the new, outsider terminology coined by the group. He does not remember "graffiti art", for instance, being used too much, if at all, before United Graffiti Artists came on the scene. He recalls his confusion with seeing members of U.G.A. identified by their government names in various publications, something he viewed as completely at odds with the spirit of the early graffiti movement. Although there was always the desire for recognition among the disenfranchised youth that comprised the early graff community, the recognition was supposed to come from other writers and never at the expense of exposing your government name (and thus opening yourself up to prosecution). He reflects on the very terminology used to describe the movement, drawing out the contradictions of people who bristle at the term "graffiti", on the one hand, but align themselves with the legacy of "United Graffiti Artists", on the other. Although STAFF insists that he and other pioneers would have identified themselves as "writers" (certainly not "artists" or "graffiti artists") at the time, he realizes that in a court of law his activity was, in fact, called "graffiti" and that the illegal connotations of the term were actually central to the movement itself. "Fort Apache" (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);"graffiti art";age out;anti-graff;art;burglaries;canvas;Daily News;drug selling;establishment;exhibit;formal setting;graff writing;homicide;militant;outlaw culture;outsiders;Piecing Era;publication;recognition;robberies;street gangs;supplies;swear off tagging;tag;theater;ultimatums;underground culture;writers;Writers' Bench 41st Police Precinct Station House (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Beck Street (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Black Panther Party;Ex-Vandals (Graffiti artist group);Gangs;Ghetto Brothers;Graffiti;Graffiti--terminology;Martinez, Hugo, 1951-;Militant organizations--United States;Nova 1 (Graffiti artist);The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist group);Underground culture;United Graffiti Artists;Young Lords Party 0 4858 Graffiti and Hip Hop Revisited STAFF 161: And it's the same thing with the hip hop thing, right. I, I seen it, and I lived it, so I understand where it's coming from. So, so you have people, right, you have people who, who make a big thing about: "Oh, graffiti writing, or tagging, right, graff writing, writing, was before hip hop." It was before the actual label of hip hop, yes. But, to me, it's one of the elements, or aspects, of the culture, the youth movements that started happening in the late '60s, early '70s, here in New York and in South Philly. In the community, or neighborhood where I grew up in, all those activities—tagging, emceeing and DJing, and break dancing—was part of the youth culture . . . In this segment STAFF revisits a topic he spoke about at more length in part 1 of his oral history: the place of graffiti within the wider hip hop culture, which he defines as a youth movement that began to form in the late 1960s and early 1970s (even if it did not come together fully until later) and involved various new expressions of music, dance, and visual cultures. blues;breaking;DJing;emceeing;hip hop;rock and roll;soul Blues (Music);Break dancing;Classic rock;Graffiti;Hip-hop;MCing;Rock and roll;Soul 0 4995 Overcoming the North–South Bronx Division Yeah, so, those (Blade and Comet) are early members. See, most of them guys is, is known as The Crazy Five now. Vam, and Crachee, and Death, and those guys, but, again, tagging, graffiti writing, as a grassroots youth movement in, in, in the early '70s was a unifying force for segregated neighborhoods. The, the neighborhood that, that those guys lived in, Upper Bronx, was, was generally an off-, off-limits neighborhood for people who were from like the South Bronx and other places because number 1: gang affiliation and racial barriers . . . In this segment STAFF tells a story about how he and his crew worked to overcome the gang and racial segregation the reigned between the South Bronx and the northern Bronx of the early 1970s. STAFF got wind that Death, a writer from the northern Bronx, had marked over his famous cannon piece. Death was getting up, but like other writers from the northern part of The Bronx (most, but not all, of whom, were white), he rarely ventured down to the Writers' Bench at 149th Street and Grand Concourse, instead staying north of East 180th Street station. When the Writers' Bench community somehow figured out that Death was the culprit, STAFF decided to confront Death on the latter's home turf. Although Death refused to meet at East 180th Street station, STAFF agreed to meet him at his home in the Valley section of The Bronx, an area typically off limits to Black folks at the time, especially Black folks from the South Bronx. STAFF and Death sat down in the backyard, and Death explained that he had accidentally marked over STAFF's piece and vowed to fix it. STAFF then invited Death and other writers from that part of The Bronx to join The Ebony Dukes, G.C., which they did until they started their own crew, The Crazy Five. This story, STAFF stresses, highlights the unifying nature of the youth movement originally represented by graffiti, which eventually changed into something else as a result of outside influence from the establishment. cannon;community;cross out;establishment;getting up;graff writing;pieces (masterpieces);straight letter style;tagging;unifying;uptown;Writers' Bench;youth movement 2 Seventh Avenue Express;5 Lexington Avenue Express;Blade (Graffiti artist);Comet (Graffiti artist);Crachee (Graffiti artist);Death (Graffiti artist);East 180th Street station;Gangs;Hewitt Place (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);King Kool (Graffiti artist);Racism in art;Segregation--United States;South Bronx;The Crazy Five (Graffiti artist group);The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist group);The Valley (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);Vam (Graffiti artist);White Plains Road (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.) 0 5555 The Ebony Dukes, Living Preservation of Graffiti History STAFF 161: Well, okay, I, I more or less look at it as what it, what it initially was, to some aspects, which is basically a graffiti, graffiti crew, right, a graffiti club, right, a graffiti fraternity, graffiti writing fraternity, grassroots, but you have some aspects of it that I look at it, it's more and more a cultural guild, yeah, you know, basically that preserves the culture and the history of what it was, right, and is . . . In this segment STAFF speaks about The Ebony Dukes G.C. as a kind of living preservation of the history of the early graffiti movement. Because of this focus, the crew has started accepting members from around the globe, including Europe, where aspects of the original underground culture of graffiti are still often front and center. STAFF then reflects on other attempts to preserve and document the early graffiti movement, including efforts by outsiders (like the well known photographs of Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant or Norman Mailer's 1974 essay) and writers themselves (like Phase 2). documentation;outside;pictorials;pioneers;preservation;underground culture;writer Baugh, Keith;Beat Street (Motion picture);Carson, Johnny, 1925-2005;Chalfant, Henry;Cooper, Martha;Graffiti;Graffiti--Denmark;Graffiti--Europe;International Graffiti Times;Mailer, Norman;Naar, Jon;Paze (Graffiti artist);Phase 2 (Graffiti artist);Stewart, Jack;Style Wars (Motion picture);Styles from the Underground;Subway Art;The Birth of Graffiti;The Ebony Dukes G.C. (Graffiti artist club);The Faith of Graffiti;Tonight show (Television program);Wild Style (Motion picture) 0 6172 Final Reflections on Graffiti and The Bronx STAFF 161: I see it, I, I, I, I admire it, you know. I mean, what can I say? You know, it's, it's more than I even, even, even imagined it to happen. See, you gotta understand, the early, the early proponents of this, from the Signature Era to, you gotta understand, what it was intended to be was this, that, something that was gonna be an underground, street art—not street art—but street writing movement, youth movement, youth movement to put your tag around . . . In this final segment of his two-part oral history STAFF reflects on the now global nature of graffiti, what the movement originally represented, and still is to a certain extent—i.e. an underground youth culture—and what it has become. He also elaborates on the role that The Bronx, especially the South Bronx, played in the formation of graffiti and other aspects of hip hop culture, drawing out both the negative aspects of the environment—the daily experiences of violence, high rates of infant mortality, mass incarceration, etc.—and the incredibly creative expressions that first emerged among South Bronx youth in spite of it all. He offers a final reflection on graffiti as originally and still to a certain extent the voice of the voiceless. This aspect of graffiti, STAFF is confident, will always remain, at least to one degree or another, even though other elements of the original movement have evolved and become part of the establishment over the years. "Fort Apache" (The Bronx, New York, N.Y.);anti-establishment;can control;dread;grassroots;street credibility;tagging;voice for the voiceless;writer;youth movement Aerosol;All Jive 161 (Graffiti artist);Bronx (New York, N.Y.);Graffiti;Graffiti--Globalization;Gun violence;Hip-hop;Infant mortality;Joe 182 (Graffiti artist);Mass incarceration;Spray paint;Taki 183 (Graffiti artist) 0 Part 2 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on March 23, 2022 with STAFF 161, a true pioneer of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx, and the founder of the first Bronx graffiti crew, The Ebony Dukes Graffiti Club. In this part of his oral history, STAFF 161 speaks about the early days of The Ebony Dukes, the gradual development of style in the signature era, graffiti as originally an outlaw youth movement and an integral part of the wider emerging hip hop culture, and much more. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with STAFF 161, Part 2 Description An account of the resource Part 2 of an oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on March 23, 2022 with STAFF 161, a true pioneer of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx, and the founder of the first Bronx graffiti crew, The Ebony Dukes Graffiti Club. In this part of his oral history, STAFF 161 speaks about the early days of The Ebony Dukes, the gradual development of style in the signature era, graffiti as originally an outlaw youth movement and an integral part of the wider emerging hip hop culture, and much more. The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This oral history is brought to you through the contribution of Stephen DeSimone, CEO/President of DeSimone Consulting Engineers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022.03.23 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20220323 graffiti STAFF 161 TED The Ebony Dukes Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 02:38:55 Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Boone, Kurt Payne, Steven Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed TKID 170 Location The location of the interview The Bronx, NY OHMS Object Embedded OHMS XML file https://oralhistory.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/viewer.php?cachefile=OH-BAADP.20220815.xml Interview Format Audio or Video Video OHMS Content Content of OHMS Index/Transcript for searching (Hidden) 5.4 Interview with T-KID 170 OH-BAADP.20220815 02:38:55 OH-BAADP Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Bronx Oral History Center This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. bxoralhistory T-KID 170 Boone, Kurt Crespo, Pastor Jr. Payne, Steven MP4 t-kid-170-oral-history-2022-08-15.mp4 Undefined 1 https://youtu.be/JbUANB9wSxo YouTube video English 0 Introduction Steven Payne: Welcome to the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project. My name is Steven Payne, director of the Bronx County Historical Society. Kurt and Pastor you wanna go ahead and introduce yourselves? Kurt Boone: Yeah I'm Kurt Boone and I've been writing about urban culture for 40 years. Pastor Crespo: I'm Pastor Crespo, Jr. and I am the research librarian for the Bronx County Historical Society. Steven Payne: Great, thank you both. We're very happy, thrilled to be here with the legendary graff writer and world renowned artist from none other than the BX. T-KID, Terrible T-KID 170, goes by a few names but really most people know him as T-KID. T-KID's gonna get into all kinds of things, he came up during the golden age of graffiti and a force of nature really ever since in the graff world and beyond the graff world. Steven Payne, Kurt Boone, and Pastor Crespo, Jr. introduce themselves and the narrator, T-KID 170 world-renowned graffiti writer and artist from The Bronx. T-Kid 170 (Graffiti artist) Graffiti;Oral history 0 61 Family History and Background TKID: So, you know, my father wanted to take me for a weekend and he kidnapped me and took me to Peru. SP and KB: Oh, Wow! TKID: Yeah when they were separated, when they weren't together. Back then you could leave the country with no passport, but you couldn't come back in. My father's plans was to keep me in Peru. And there are pictures in my family archives of me in Peru as a little kid, you know, I wanna say I was about 2 years old, I think my mother was pregnant with my brother at the time. No bullshit, I was 3 years old then and my mother had my brother, now that I remember. And there's some pictures of me in Peru with some of my Peruvian family which I barely know any of. T-KID discusses his family's history and background in the Bronx. His mother was from Puerto Rico who came to the mainland in the 1950s with her mother (T-KID's grandmother) who worked in a fishing net factory. His father immigrated from Peru and moved to New Jersey, trained as an accountant and working as a house painter on the weekends, but dreamed of being an ironworker which he did eventually become. Shortly after they were married their two kids were born, T-KID and his brother. However the marriage rapidly deteriorated as T-KID's father developed a drinking habit and became physically abusive to his mother and to T-KID, leading to a divorce early on in T-KID's life. We also learn about how T-KID was taken to Peru by his father as a toddler while on visitation, essentially kidnapping T-KID as he did not have a passport to reenter the country, but an (apparently legally empty) threat by law enforcement scared his father into coming back to the US. Hunts Point Palace;Kidnapping;Kidnapping victims;Parental kidnapping Children of immigrants;Foreign workers, Peruvian;Immigrants;Immigrants in America;Immigration & society;Peru;Puerto Rican experience;Puerto Ricans;Women immigrants;Women immigrants--Abuse of--United States 0 792 Early Childhood and Education TKID: We used to hustle back then! And before I get into that story these are the hustles that we had: We used to go to the supermarket and carry the shopping bags for the old ladies. I'm not gonna say what race or whatever, you know, I'm just gonna say there were certain type of people who gave us a penny, the other people who gave us a nickel, the people just like me gave us a quarter! And that was one of the hustles, so I was always hustling. The Bronx Hustle, kid! I remember the hammer trucks. People used to get sodas, like soda water delivered to their houses. And trying to steal it, let me tell you they used to be like hawks watching those things. Cause you take a bottle they come running around and chase you up the block and stuff. Then I found out you could return bottles, you'd get 2 cents or whatever it was back then. T-KID speaks about his early education experiences and what activities he remembers doing at that time. Popular games included skellies, a popular board game played with custom playing pieces derived from various salvaged materials. Another game, Off the Point, involved bounding a ball off a curb and seeing how high it would reach. He also speaks about how as a child he was hustling for spare change, for bottles, to carry groceries, and so on. One time, a worker for the Police Athletic League lured an approximately 6-year old T-KID in with the promise of a number of bottles to return for the deposit, and attempted to rape T-KID, only thwarted by being walked in on by another person. T-KID reflects on this, noting how lucky he was and that was how his neighborhood could be then. He furthermore speaks about how he met his best friends because they fought every day. Adult child abuse victims;Skully (game) Ball games;Early childhood education;Friendship;Fun and Games;Games;Games people play;Games--Equipment and supplies;Games--Rules;Games--United States;Milkcap games;Rape 0 1510 Home Life: Food, Music, and Finances Ah, the music. Everything from salsa to whatever was happening. My mother loved music, my mother loved to dance. So she was constantly listening to music. My grandmother on the other hand she would listed to the old-school Puerto Rican music. What do you call aginando [sic] aguinaldo, the old jíbaro music she would listen to. T-KID's life at home as a young kid: the food Puerto Rican food he ate his mother and grandmother made. He especially remembers the Cod Fritters and fruit juices. His mother and grandmother had different taste in music, with his mother liking anything she could dance to but his grandmother preferring classic Puerto Rican jíbaro music. He also remembers the facts of poverty: manufacturing jobs shutting down, hiding goods so that welfare inspectors would not find them, and expansion of gangs. Guiro;Jíbaro (Puerto Rican identity) Cooking, Puerto Rican;Dance music--Puerto Rico;Folk music--Puerto Rico;Popular music--Puerto Rico;Popular music--Puerto Rico--1971-1980 0 1810 Neighborhood Gangs SP: So you mentioned the Ghetto Brothers already why don't you speak a little about some of the gangs you were seeing in your neighborhood in like the late 60s? TK: So when we lived in University I remember the Ghetto Brothers because the guy, this kid named Alex, or was it Tommy? No it was Alex. And he was a Ghetto Brother. And we used to play baseball in the convent, there was a convent next to my building and there was a little park. And we used to play baseball right in there. And I remember they used to call me "Johnny Bench with the Pussy in the Chin" because I had a cleft and I was always the catcher. And I had a cleft and they used to call be Johnny Bench. And this guy Alex used to call me, "Hey! Johnny Bench with the Pussy in the Chin!" So he lived in the basement right on the corner of 170th and University he lived in the building, in the basement, and his mother used to sell Limber. Now Limber is a cup of frozen, let's say kool aid, it's just frozen, it's an ICEE. Different flavor ICEEs. But they made it with let's say fruit juice and they freeze it. And that's it; it was a nickel. So we were always there. And one day we seen he comes up and he has these colors on. And we were like "oh shit what's that?" "Oh, I'm a ghetto brother blah blah blah" and we were like "Oh, yeah cool!" T-KID discusses the gangs he remembers, their rise and changing nature. He especially discusses the Ghetto Brothers, members of which he was friends with and became involved with eventually. Ghetto Brothers Gangs;Outlaw Gang 0 1927 Growing Up, Moving Around TK: So I remember on one trip, on one weekend, my mother, we were supposed to meet my mother at my grandmother's house on 192nd and Aqueduct, right? And I remember she decided, because she was still married to the guy in Queens, and I remember going there and she was like "alright let's go" and we took a cab from 192 and Aqueduct to Queens and she caught the man in bed with another woman! Yo my mother flipped on the dude, man. She fuckin' flipped! So you see my childhood was fucking insane! You PTSD bro I never stood a chance man. And I'm not even getting into the shit I saw that my father did to my mother. I'm not even gonna get into that. But I remember my mother taking a knife, man, breaking up all the furniture chasing the fucking woman out of the house, talking about how she wanna kill this mother fucker, man. And I'm laughing like "yeah you fucking prick!" SP: So he got his ass kicked by both your parents! TK: No but listen, listen, listen! So after that we end up back at my grandmother's house. And I don't know a couple of months down the road that's when she met Frank Payne, and that's my sister's father. An incident of abuse by T-KID's father causes his mother to move the family to Puerto Rico, beginning a period of turmoil in his young life. She goes back to New York and eventually remarries, calling the children to her in Queens. Eventually, an incident with his mother's new husband occurs and T-KID runs away to his father's house back in the Bronx. His father beats up his mother's new husband and takes both kids to the Bronx to live with him from then on. He gets a new group of friends and plays Ringolevio. During one such game he witnessed a kid get killed by a moving car. He also began attending the Catholic school system on his father's insistence. He would continue to see his mother on the weekends, who eventually caught her new husband in bed with another woman leaving him as well and moving back in with T-KID's grandmother (her mother). She eventually starts dating a man named Frank Payne, who worked for Con Edison and is the father of T-KID's sister. T-KID developed a strong relationship with Frank, who taught him how to box and supported T-KID. T-KID also describes the competitive relationship his father fostered between T-KID and his brother, which transferred into a competitive spirit in almost everything T-KID would do from then on. Pedestrian accidents;Tag games Family violence 0 2968 First Graffiti and Gang Experiences TK: Now I'm hanging tough in Harlem and coming home later and later and my father's starting to, you know. And I remember coming home late one day and stripping me naked and checking my body for needle marks he thought I was shooting up heroin. And that was a time in the couple incidents that had already happened where my father really got physical and abusive with me. At one point a couple of years prior he put a fucking gun to my face. He was drunk, you know. I think I walked in and averted a suicide. I didn't know it at the time. I thought I walked in, my father was drunk in the living room. He had these heavy curtains that darkened out the whole place and he had a recliner. I remember walking in and he had the Beretta in his hand, fucking bottle of whiskey there and shit. I turned on the lights and, "Shut off the lights" I go "Woah Dad what's going on" I saw the gun and oh, shit. We knew he had the gun. My father used to teach us how to shoot, shooting into the corner of the bed that's in the room. KB: That's loud! TK: Yeah and it was a 9mm Beretta man. You know? It was like, I remember I walked in on that and I remember he told me to shut off the light and I said no, Dad. And I'm like looking and I'm like, "what the hell is going on?" I remember he got up and he puts the gun to my face and he goes, "I don't know if I should blow your brains out and kill myself or just blow your brains out." And he put his hand down and said, "you remind me of your mother." And he went back and he sat down. T-KID and his friends became hugely into doing tricks on the swings, and competing with other crews who could perform the most impressive tricks. After a particularly impressive battle T-KID gets the moniker "king of the swings" and begins writing KING 13 as his first graffiti name. This is also when was pressed into joining the neighborhood gang. He was initiated at Monroe High School and was involved in the gang but did not appreciate the choice of who they robbed, including older people and a beloved local shop owner. Ultimately he left that gang and left the name KING 13 behind with it. At this point he started writing SEM 102 and gets in with a crew in Harlem called the Renegades. He also around this time walks in on his father, drunk and with a gun, which T-KID now believes may have been a planned suicide attempt. His father threatened T-KID with the weapon, scaring T-KID deeply, and so T-KID stole the weapon from the bedroom, hid it away, and kept it for himself. Heroin;Renegades of Harlem;Suicide Abuse;Family violence;Gangs;Gangs--New York (State);Gangs--United States;Swings 0 3892 Accidentally Shooting Himself TK: Anyway make a long story short, man, this is what happened, man. I ended up shooting myself with that gun. You know. I ended up shooting myself. You know I wrote a different story and I say a different story to everybody because it doesn't sound as exiting, but the truth of the matter is, is I did shoot myself with that gun and Satch saved my life. And that was in Crotona Park and I was 16 years old. September 26th it was like 2 months after my birthday. My 16th Birthday. KB: In your arm or your leg? TK: In my groin. KB: That's gotta be painful! TK: Yeah they said I wouldn't have kids. I got a daughter, I got a son. And I got another kid I don't know if she's mine or not but she says she is! She don't look nothing like me! Every time I go for a blood test they disappear, so. But she does get checks from me every once in a while. KB: So what did your dad say? TK: He disowned me. Nobody came to see me. Nobody from the gang came. This is when Lincoln Hospital was brand new. The new Lincoln Hospital on 149th. I mean it was packed in. They had a trauma center there was a lot of gunshots going on. Now this is between us here... but it's in the archives ok because if you really do the research you'll find out. T-KID accidentally shoots himself with the same gun he stole from his father to protect him and his brother. With the gun cocked T-KID goes to stash the pistol in his waistband and sits down on the bench, causing the hammer to release and hitting T-KID in the groin. When none of his gang members come to visit him in the hospital, he is disillusioned from gang life and swears it off for good. Crotona Play Center (New York, N.Y.);Lincoln Hospital (New York, N.Y.) Accident victims;Gangs;Gunshot wounds 0 4479 Creating T-KID, Leaving Gang, Becoming Dedicated Writer TK: They used to call me big T because I was tall and skinny. By now I'm tall. By 16 I just shot up like a fucking week, right? But I was skinny! When we used to play football on the block, 2 hand touch, remember that? I used to say oh! throw me the ball [spreads arms straight out]. Satch used to laugh "oh look at that big T over there." Called me a T and shit. And Kid because I was always the youngest. Everybody was older than me except for my brother so they called me kid. So when I was in the hospital I was doing big T and KID. And then I saw T-KID. So in 1977, right after I got shot, I came up with the name T-KID. And that's when I decided, that's it man. Fuck this gang shit, I ain't with this gang because all I could think about was nobody came to see me, we was supposed to be fucking brothers, ok. All I could remember was them fucking robbing fucking Cheap Charlie, a place that I liked! And then fucking stealing fucking welfare, not welfare checks, social security checks. They used to wait by the check cashing place and wait for people to cash checks and rob em. I dedicated myself to graffiti. While recovering in the hospital, T-KID comes up with a new graffiti game combining two nicknames he acquired: "Big T" and "The Kid." With not much else to do T-KID used the supplies his brother brought him to start sketching out this name, the tag, and a few pieces and resolved to make graffiti his raison d'être from then on. Hip 1 (Graffiti artist);John F. Kennedy Senior High School;Padre (Graffiti artist);Rep 2 (Graffiti artist);Set 149 (Graffiti artist);Tracy 168 (Graffiti artist) Graffiti;Graffiti artists;Pseudonym library 0 5021 Developing Technique KB: I'm always fascinated on you guys getting spray paint cans and being able to paint with it! Right, so how does skill get developed? Did you learn something from Tracy or did you learn by experiment. TK: You learn by trial and error, everything was trial and error. Like once I started hitting the fucking trains man I started to learn that if I spray with the regular cap it would take me forever and doesn't come out real cool. So what I started to learn was that there was these things called Jifoams and Niagaras and those were fat caps. You come in and do the outline and fill it in with those. And if I remember correctly the Jifoam were for rust-oleums and the Niagaras were for everything else otherwise the paint would go all over the place. Also for doing the outlines I learned if you let it get clogged a little bit a skinny line would come out. T-KID speaks about the process of trial and error in developing technique in spray painting. For instance, the process of discovering what caps work best for fill-ins: the cap from Jifoam oven cleaner worked best for Rust-Oleum paint as a fat cap, while Niagara spray starch worked best for other paint brands. Art techniques from pencil to paint;Paint--Testing;Rust-Oleum (Firm) Aerosol propellants;Art & technique series;Art--Technique;Graphic arts--Technique;Spray painting;Technique 0 5205 Crews and Prominent Writers, TVS KB: Now did you get involved in any crews? TK: I started my own crew man The Nasty Boys back in 1977 man. The Nasty Boys that was my crew I started that in 1977. But I was always Wild Style, Tracy [168] had put me in Wild Style. So I was down with Wild Style. And before that it was FTW - Fuck The World! Everybody wrote that shit, man. You know that wasn't necessarily a crew it was more of a statement. KB: So who was in The Nasty Boys? TK: The original Nasty Boys was myself, PESER, was PESER he also wrote INT 1 and he was down with TMT that was my connection to SKEME and them and CHAIN. The Magnificent Team. So that was my connection with them, was PESER. T-KID discusses the crews he was down with in his writing career, including two he played a foundational leading role in: TNB - The Nasty Boys and TVS - The Vamp Squad. Chain 3 (Graffiti artist);Peser (Graffiti artist);Skeme (Graffiti artist);T-Kid (Graffiti artist);TMT - The Magnificent Team (Graffiti crew);TNB - The Nasty Boys (Graffiti crew);Tracy 168 (Graffiti artist);TVS - The Vamp Squad (Graffiti artists) Graffiti;Graffiti artists 0 5664 Getting into Yards KB: You hit a lot of trains over the years, so what was your technique getting into the yards? TK: It didn't matter man! I remember when they came up with, they were talking about we're gonna start putting dogs in the yards. We were like, "how the fuck are they gonna put dogs in the yard?" You know? We just saw, like, they did it in the Bedford Yard, they had dogs in that area and shit. So all we did is come down from the top of the tracks where the dogs weren't and you'd jump into the track. When they did the razor wire, we invented wirecutters! What we learned quickly is when you cut razor wire it has the tendency to spring. So you gotta watch it. So you cut it and watch it spring. So you'd take a board and put it like that [holds an imaginary board in front of face/wire. You know we'd come up with whatever way. It was just your imagination you were limited by your imagination. If you wanted to get into a yard bad enough you could get into a yard. T-KID discusses how he and his crew mates would get into layups and yards after security tightened up. The dogs and razor wire wire turned out to be not too much of an issue, but when police showed up they were known to be caught. Koch, Ed Breaking in;Trespass 0 5739 Relationship to "Fine Art" Graffiti TK: He did an interview for that hip-hop magazine and said the T in T-KID stands for Tracy's Kid right after that's when he did that because he's been mad at me for that shit ever since. I mean Tracy's ego he wouldn't let me sign my name next to him, his ego was so big. And you know that's typical of artists, especially geniuses 'cause he's a fucking genius and I get it and I understand it but the truth is I heard this fucking ego so forever he's got this grudge. And one this I always tell him, I am Wild Style, you made me Wild Style. I will forever be Wild Style. You know? And Wild Style, one thing about Wild Style it's not about letters! You know these guys Zephyr and them think Wild Style was about letters. No, Wild Style was a way of life! It's how we live in the Bronx. T-KID speaks about his experiences with the move that his peers were making into the galleries. He was separated from the gallery scene, feeling that the move into the gallery was in effect the culture being hijacked by money. He nonetheless knew them, with Henry Chalfant at one point asking T-KID to narrate Style Wars, which T-KID eventually turned down due to beef with CAP. This is an attitude that T-KID now says he regrets, and was influenced by a bad headspace at the time and cocaine addiction. Quinones, Lee George;Tracy 168 (Graffiti artist);Zephyr (Graffiti artist) Commercial art 0 6529 "Ghost Yard" Story KB: So you got a couple of infamous stories out there that you can tell us what you want. First is this Ghost Yard story. That's the first one. Then this event with Cap, you and Cap had this fight SP: At fashion moda right? TK: Which story about the Ghost Yard there was a bunch of them? KB: Tell me about you running it? TK: Ok so yeah man the thing with the ghost yard was I found the perfect place to paint. And I protected it. Basically what I was doing is I protected it because at the time you had all these new writers, guys like COPE who would come in and bomb. Not only would they bomb which is ok, but they would break the windows, fuck shit up. You know they didn't give a shit. They didn't see it like I saw. Cause finding a good place, and I had beef with the Ballbusters in the 1 tunnel so I couldn't go in the 1 tunnel because they almost killed me there, right? And then I found the ghost yard and I was like ok, this is my fucking spot. So I protected it, you know and I was very limited to who I brought in there. And whoever I would catch in there, this is, by this time I had met MAC and them and shit man, and BIO and those cats, you know they came up to St. James park where I was hanging out and ask permission to go to the ghost. And I took em to the ghost! T-KID speaks about how he was able to control the "Ghost Yard", the 207th St. Repair Station which was the perfect place to paint due to the variety of trains that came into the yard, how it was typically inactive in terms of workers, and outside of the territory of the Ballbusters street gang. He decided who would be allowed into the yard and made sure they were respectful enough to the trains and the yard in order to make sure the spot remained ideal. He also was the one who let Bio TATS Cru in for the first time, who would end up being the next crew to hold a monopoly on the Ghost Yard. Bio (Graffiti artist) Graffiti 0 6864 Fashion Moda and Fight with Cap TK: Fashion Moda. So what led up to the fight with CAP was COPE. Little COPE2. So I remember we're hanging out in St. James' Park right. St. James' Park is right off of 192nd and Jerome between Fordham Road and Kingsbridge. And you got St. James' Park, right? That was my hangout because I lived in 192nd and Aqueduct. So we're hanging out, we're chilling you know. Smoking weed, you know. Suddenly, you know, there's a layup between Fordham Road and Kingsbridge, and we hear doors opening. Someone said it was COPE2. T-KID tells the story of how he ended up in a fistfight with CAP at a Fashion Moda (an art space/storefront that served as a hub for the international art scene's interest in graffiti) event. After cornering COPE2 coming out of the tunnels, T-KID and his crew demand COPE stop writing for Morris Park Crew (MPC) due to its leader CAP writing over everybody's pieces. After COPE tells CAP, CAP decides to confront T-KID and stick up for his young crew member, but ends up on the ground at Fashion Moda. Cap (Graffiti artist);Cope 2 (Graffiti artist) Fashion Moda (Group);Morris Park Crew (Graffiti artist group) 0 7268 Travel KB: Let me, before I get into the book, you travel quite a bit. When was your first trip overseas for graffiti? TK: My first trip was, I had mentioned it before, Henry had hooked that up. That was 1986 which was for TDK Cassettes a company called Newton and Godwin an advertising agency that had the account from London, actually out of Tunbridge Wells, UK. And they had approached Henry. At that same time was when they did the Freedom Train, right? And I was the only one who actually did a sketch for the freedom train. That's when CRASH, PINK... And I didn't get accepted for that Freedom Train project that they painted I think it was in Philadelphia where they got an actual train and Crash and Lady Pink and Art and Tracy and these guys they painted on that train. I was the only one excluded from that, and I was the only one that actually did a sketch! So Henry kinda felt bad so these people had reached out to him and he hooked me up with that gig. T-KID talks about the importance of travel to him. His first trip overseas was a mural gig Henry Chalfant hooked up for him for TDK Cassettes, which he got paid $1,000 plus airfare. He also got hooked up with the European graffiti scene. Bando (Graffiti artist);Mode 2 (Graffiti artist) Graffiti;Mural painting and decoration, European 0 7853 Creating the Book TK: I saw the interest in my artwork, and I met this guy named Nick Tarkov who said yo you should do a book. I said I got a bunch of shit. He said, "you got it with you?" I said no, I didn't come there for that, but if you come to New York I'll show you. Guess what, he came to New York. He saw my portfolio I said my wife was gonna throw this shit out. He said, "damn, bro you got a gold mine here! All this shit is from back then?" I'm like yeah, because I had this big giant portfolio full of fucking sketches, drawings, all my ideas man. I sold a lot of it, I have a lot of it, I have half of it from that portfolio but on top of that I have my blackbooks and all the artwork like folders in a box that my mother kept in Chicago. KB: Wow you blessed. You know how valuable it is! TK: Yeah I know. A lot of that shit is for my kids man. T-KID explains the impetus behind and the process of creating his "Terrible T-KID" book which showcases his art and writing. He wanted a book that was more than just a bunch of photos, and was able to create a book that showcased his developing art style and outlook on life with plenty of his own words. Books, publishing, and libraries information guide series;Folio art books 0 8592 Documentary TK: I was doing the book tour when I first met Carly. I was doing the book tour, I was in California LA, doing this shop. That's when you see me, I got the red devil shirt on? That was Carly interviewing me that's when I met her, I met Brian Grazer... So, you know she wanted to do an interview, she wanted to interview me, man. I'm lying I first met her in San Diego when I was doing the San Diego book signing. And I was heavier. I had just come back from Europe for the tour... She loved that interview so much she wanted to do a movie based on that interview. T-KID speaks about the creation of the T-KID documentary about 10 years after the publication of the book. He met the filmmaker while on the book tour. He ultimately never made any money on the movie due to the contract terms, but he's been able to use the movie in order to promote himself and his art. Autobiography;Documentary film experience American movies;Digital filmmaking series;Graffiti 0 8837 Graffiti as a Global Phenomenon SP: How do you feel about, kind of, graffiti becoming this global phenomenon now. I mean you know, I'm sure back in the 70s and even in the 80s you woulda had no idea it would've become this huge thing. But what are your thoughts toward the global nature of graffiti these days. TK: It's funny because like I said man, I thought graffiti should've remained underground and it became this big tool that's not just used as artistic expression, but to promote, to advertise. One of the things I always said is that graffiti is art and I've been a strong supporter of that, the fact that graffiti is art that it's pure expressionism, that it was for kids by kids. The graffiti that we did in New York on trains, not graffiti in general which is from the beginning of time. T-Kid reflects on how graffiti has changed since he started, having become a global phenomenon that exceeded the bounds of pure juvenile expression into a commercial and artistic tool for the entire world. He has somewhat mixed feelings. He's happy that it's kept alive but worries that it is in danger of losing its foundation. He also speaks about the Bronx and the culture of the Bronx with the enduring legacy of hip-hop. Advertising;Art collections of Europe Art and globalization;Arts and globalization;Graffiti;Street art 0 Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on August 15, 2022 with T-KID 170, a legendary graffiti writer from the Golden Age and world-renowned artist. In his oral history T-KID speaks about his family background in Peru and Puerto Rico and how his family ended up in The Bronx, the various neighborhoods he grew up in, street life in his neighborhoods and early years, his involvement in gangs, and how he first got involved in graffiti. He also speaks about pivotal events in the graff world in which he was involved, including his famous Fashion Moda fight with Cap (MPC), and the many amazing places his career has taken him in the subsequent years. The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, director at The Bronx County Historical Society, Pastor Crespo, Jr., research librarian at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This oral history is brought to you through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) video Content may be utilized only for non-commercial purposes so long as equal sharing privileges are preserved and the following attribution is included: "Courtesy of The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library." 0 https://viewer.mybcpl.org/viewer.php?cachefile=/render.php?cachefile= Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with T-KID 170 Description An account of the resource Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on August 15, 2022 with T-KID 170, a legendary graffiti writer from the Golden Age and world-renowned artist. In his oral history T-KID speaks about his family background in Peru and Puerto Rico and how his family ended up in The Bronx, the various neighborhoods he grew up in, street life in his neighborhoods and early years, his involvement in gangs, and how he first got involved in graffiti. He also speaks about pivotal events in the graff world in which he was involved, including his famous Fashion Moda fight with Cap (MPC), and the many amazing places his career has taken him in the subsequent years. The interviewers are Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society, and Kurt Boone, prolific documentarian of urban culture for the past 40 years. The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This interview made possible through the contribution of Columbia University's Oral History Archives at Columbia (OHAC) and will be dual-listed in a collection there. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022.08.15 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.20220815 graffiti T-Kid 170 Terrible T-Kid TKID https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/9f6a95272c290df8f488ac63079978ac.pdf f805cad82667b6094eeb0dfb258bd26a PDF Text Text Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 2, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 6 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA Bronx and J. TANNER Brooklyn black. becomes operational under Title activists prevenied approval of’ I, ‘Institutes’ will be, therefore, “Operation Return’ at the’ ineligible for a Title JI grant Board of Education meeting on : Wednesday, Feb, 12, charging; at a later date. The Institutes proposal was that the program for suspendedi students was a “bastardization' based on data gatHered by of, and deliberate attempt tq’ BRONCO as they worked with preclude establishment of the'Elmira State Penitentiary more meaningful program|parollees, dropoxts, and submitted last Fall be Brooklyn |Suspended and Bronx CORE. Supt. Donovan's “Qperation $224,839 Return’ and was designated Title I which Not mandates Board The of CORE over the was to disruptive child is usually a high become operational February 1, | Spirited, control. students past year. It is based on the theory that “the so-called non-conformist willing to who accept is the Education.mediocre education available in program;our schools.” They will offer was to be governed by aj walk-in” guidance, and Community Board inj)structure classes to relate to consultation with the Board of,students home Education, and was submitted | life.” and commumity under Title 11, which permits; Operation Return on the other programs to be subcontracted/hand is an outgrowth of to community groups. Principal Jack Landeman’s pilet Solomon Herbert and Mrs.|project at JHS 71 'M, where Bonnie Barrow of BRONCO SIA,:"two master teachers worked key figures in drafting ‘In-.with six students who could not stitutes’, have spurned offars adjust to normal school routines. to serve as consultants on:Classes which met at the Boys “Operation Return,” and in ajClub, emphasized building up Ieltcr to the Board dated Feb, |academic and social skills,” Mr. 12, stated that they “would not;Landeman said, “and returned lallow any such programs to children to school as quickly function anywhere in our as possible."’ community.” This proposal, which hopes for $3-million in next year’s budget, | Subterfuge Afoot? | “It is like saying to a mother, has the approval of Donovan's ‘we are going to let you help Committee on the Disruptive raise your child,” ’* Mrs. Barrow Child which included Louise said in a moving speech before Bolling of District 16 Brooklyn, the Board. “We worked with and Jeff Greenup of Harlem 'you, Dr. Donovan, because we NAACP, “The Committee welcomed believed that you would be Operation Returns ‘professional and ethical . . .the {proposal,” said Mrs, Leah bul the Board has reneged on attorney for Citizens their agreements to establish |Marks, 'an educational institution which \Committee for Children who would be partially administered altended several meetings, ‘by ihe Board of local resident “because we are concerned that all children get a full years’ ‘educators,"* Mrs. Barrow referred to a education,” serics of meetings held with Direct Line Mr. Donovan and Esther M. How important the disruptive Swanker of the State Education child is as a __ educational office where it was established] problem is disputable, Last year that monies for “Institutes’’ 13,284 children were suspended. would come from Title II] which for periods ranging from five; makes grants only to original, days upwards. Dr. Donovan experimental programs, not claims that less than 1 percent operational before, The fear is of the total population fs that, if the Operation Return disruptive, but Harvey Hertzman, UFT representative at Herman Ritter JHS meeting! recently claimed that 10 percent or at least 200 students in that school alone were disruptive. “IT am trying to find money to real efforts to teach children for Institutes for Learning,” Dr. in our schools. Donovan said, “but as 1 have Noting that there was not one said before, there js not instant black cpntractor among the 112 money for this,’’ to be approved by the Board Said Dennis Gardner, of to provide goods and services Morrisania CPC Board: “if you ranging from erasers to boiler Mr. Solomon could find instant money to installations, support a police force to keep Herbert said: “This Institute of these children quiet, why not Learning proposal! means more’ for this program?” And Cathy chan education to us — it means Goldman of United Bronx. sontracts for black merchants Parents charged that the move} and jobs for our unemployed. to allot $100,000 for direct lines Even if I were offered $500; in each school to local police yer day to work on Operation precincts (which was passed by Return I could not accept it.” the Board) was in direct conflict| A five percenter, designating limself as living testament of he inferior education meted out ‘o black children, offered to support with his life the ‘Institues for Learning’’ yroposal. “I have two choices, 1e said, either to die fighting ‘or nothing in Vict-nam or on he ~~ streets = fighting §=for something here,” Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 9, 1968: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News "In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER “We're racist, so there: knew it all along. so what!” That is how young black you 100 children coukd not attend heir graduaion exercises for reasons of poor men ill-defined like Nat Martin of Hunts Point, conduct. Of 509 ninth grade CPC community organizer, as- children, 25 are reiding below sesses white America's mood 6.9, and many al HA and oth following the report of the Presi- grade level Started Boscutt dent's Commission on Civil Disorders Jast week. It was, howev a case of This is one of the young men child asSault, where & parent, in their twenties whom James Mr. Clarence Dabney. stopped Baldwin says are speaking to a teacher fram attacking a us loud and clear: “Old man. child, that precipated the be still: we will not take what boycott. While Hernan you did, we will be men in Ferguson gets lil set al our own time.” $100,000 for escorting children Nat Martin is Rood in to a Maleslm XN Memorial. company, for Dr. Kenneth anotier teacher, alle pediy Clark, the eminent psychologist, suspended several vears ago for agrees with him: he has read a similar offense. is reinstated. previous riot reports and its and although involved in a all heen said before. Marcover, recent assaull case, is permitted Congress has failed to to canlinuc te teach children, implement the Report's basic Mr. Martin, vouthfully. recommendation — massive reflects on the dauble standard. funds to attack the root causes. and is) disenchanted) by While the Civil Rights bill, conferences and fact finding mangled by War hawks months Jans. ago, languishes, the Subversive Fortunately, some para. Activities Control Bill is being professionals began working al quietly rejuvenated. JustIn caS@ 175 136 last week, and reported threats to internal security start that they were starlled by whut cropping Up again. Youth ts Impatient The young oncs fecl, more dceply ‘than their elders, the constriction of society, One-fifth of all Bronx families live they saw. They were among 250 fram schools in Marrisania who met at Bethel Temple on Saturday. “You must sec yeursell as advocates for the in children abject poverty, and half of them Green, in the school,” CPC Jerome Educational are black, Morrisania is a poor, Coordinator who negotiated Iheir neglected neighborhood = disenfranchised of contracts said, “as well as aides transients with to the teaching program.” Can Raise Level all the ingredients to be the next Newark. Can you blame Most. of them considered youth, then, for spurning the;protection of children us, ndvice of elders whom they see-primary and while evaluation: bogged down in acquicscence:reports, when the program ends; and inaction in the face of these this June, may call them; conditions? “Intruders or “busybodies,"j For over a year, Nat Martin|with proper supervision they cz nl has worked with parents and help raise the level of Jesrning| staff at JHS 136 te improvejin ghetto schools, conditions. The 14-year olds who, Getting those 200) para-: roam the corridors communicate to him: therclorofessional johs paying to $2.50. ‘We're tourly for the people who necd, not Jearning nothing,” they say.; hens most (when much Es ! Impatient to help last your, he,’ noncy had been cestined to pay, impetuously . offered to buy torefessional salaries) was nol expensive trophies for kids, “if small feat. Giving them praper: they would only stay in school.” training for the job is the next i phase. in This year, Monday morning (acl, he was a marshall on, Youth should be angry lat, the picket line areund JUS i whale generation of chiklren: {o oust (he principal, Robert:bas been lost since the 1954! Greenberg. ‘Supreme Courl decision, But In the ten years he bas heen sith the paraprofessional lo there, Mr. Greenberg tad arestore the link between group of parents Friday community and school, adulls; conditions in the échoo} have!lmay vel take Une iniative in, worsened, And parents ofiplanning for youth again, children in the school, becoming|Perhaps wilh the help of youth, vocal at last agree is right. “It is chool they say, thal he|they may be a pusitive a punitivejin the prevention of Within the disorders. Or is it, as last week, ten youngsters been suspended, and last have; Marlin year!late?” says, fuetor civil. Nat’ “Already — loo : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 16, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 4 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA Sinee J. TANNER Concentrated department.” But that three of Employment Program (CEP) six classes are Spanish, and opencd its doors last October the English speaking classes to the unemployed of South contain many newlyly arrived Broax, £916 applicants havi. Puerto Ricans may appear to been 1-949 were Puerta show preference for our Puerto fican, 593 Negro cad 159 of Rican Citizens. Some trainces olher ethnic groups, according say that the sessions ‘‘do not to Frank Valdes. director at the deal with the real problems of Courtland: Avenuc Center. But finding a job. where employers the aceusatian that Negroes themselves may prefer the wre not getting a fair young,-caucasian loaking Puerto deul has came sources, from several who rep Riean ort girl ta an older black woman. discrimination at both intake The sessions do not discuss and placement. “Preferance is the underlying feelings of given to young Puerto Rican distrust between Negroes and girls,” said Mrs. Mary Puerto Ricans which U.S. Bridgewater a trainee. “Y would disassociate myself from any program — Lat racism has created, because, on the surface relationships are amiable and cordial. Underclass practiced discrimination,” suid The Forgotten “l no for New York City Dept. of Labor Albert Terranova, assistant The Negro represents director in charge of training. percent of the Jabor farce have heing here. olher reason bul to sce that CP fulfills provide its commitment 2,099 opportunities ait people the whe need recent lo hut by for welfare them according 16 in to statistics, giving preference to recipients — and unemployed adult male heads within the year of our grant.’ of ~~ houscholds, ihe Negro. Structure Seems Equitable ‘underemployed, whe have Operating with a $4.6 million cxisted on subsislance wages, grant from Une Departmentof Labor, under Manpower and js overlooked. As a maticr arcer Development Agency, CEP is charged to improve welfare department does not provide a stipend for on-the-job employment trainees, opportunities of the disadvantaged, with priorilies individually, . of unless policy, they the apply and = mect the given to heads of households criteria, for a supplementary’ and welfare recipients. _ allowance. Field workers canvassed the: ‘The procedural difficulties adiscourage neighborhood for reeruils, and involved would storefronts are used = aS man from taking a training: recruitment vehicles. A 1wo- opportunity with, say. the week orientation peried telephone company paying $64; introduces participants to weekly. He remains a car-! employment and training washer even though with! possibilities, and tests them to training he could make $150 with: determine their academic levels.’ the telephone company. in twa; They are then cither placed in years, Unwitlingly this intake, jobs, or in pre-employment procedure, diseriminales against: training provided by the Board these who have struggled over. of {ducation. . ithe years in marginal jobs, and’ Pre-employment. trainees who' on wham the stalislics providing secive $43 weekly plus $5 for fa» CEP euch dependent, must travel Lo Marhattan sinee “four years ef in ‘fort has not produced an Adult ys raining Center for the Bronx,” Cente fact thal aver Bronxiles The are scattered Manhattan Centers communication improve skills 500 based. the United Slates, ag well Nogroos arriving fram the coral ecording ta Dr. Moerman ressel. director af the Harlem was pyerta Riewns, newly arrived’ seth, catld . pack CEP and foave the hard underemnloved Negroes oe onside looking CED Dragrams, in 3 nit-and-miss compounds in’ at training pernetually tied tov jobs. - and efforts to, training,” Mr.’ core on the oy liunts Point Piebiscite Still unresolved, bul moving | nov itl. acrimoniously toward solution is, 1D slalf (42 pereent Snanish the problem of ethnic balance’ speaking, 20° percent Nogro) on the Ilunts Point Community instudes Carl Bristown, Negro, Corporation. AL a CAP meeting,who heads otienteion, botdine Thursday March 7, tempers, starefronts arp used Qared when 14 Afro-american, in English as well as Sames were submitted by the, and disclaims “any HPCC that “Interested Citizens” trace of diserimination an three cl Span in. his headed by Richard Weeks did — 1 names rool feel were representative, BACK FROM Marine Cnderdue Ife. James of {he Bronx HELL ‘' These were 9S. ‘handpicked by Ramon Beleza’ | gat ‘forees."” they claimed. The lwo, shot in the head in a remote . ficlions agreed in a subsequent. valley of Vietnam, saw six meeting to acecpt 14 Afroow his seven) buddies Americans chosen in a mass; massacred by the Vielcong | meeting, Tucsday night as the, and still) alive after 17 [final recommendation to CAP. | lortured hours. San of Mr! An open hearing lo review lames Underdue of :the whole question of ethnic 7h Me Ave., the Bronx, [balance in N.Y.C. community} his sister is a secretary. in ‘corporalions is scheduled for 7] the hind: Administration. ths brather David, 21, ‘p.m. and . Board Iie sister: Geraldine, 15, and all the Underdues count the minttes watit Fim eames back Thursday of March Estimate. 16 at the! CAP will propose that future commnnunity | capuration elections allow forjellinfe praup participation al in September, Ue fights near levery: shige. Phu Dai whieh is rugged “There will be a pracedare country ining miean’s hook. review of names on the ballot lv oa droadty representative and impartial election board in cach poverty area,’ Edwin Greenidge chairman suid. ‘Together with corresponding city-wide board they will hear appeals and assure that guidelines are adhered Lo. While CAP does net propose a quota syste, it does suggest a minimum number of slots to, reflect ethnic clemagraphy. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 23, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News g. 6 | In The . Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER June 18, Primary Day, could be a big day for Bronx Democratic voters. since they will decide who shall run for congress, and usually he who wins the primary is a shoo-in at the November election. Renortedly, politicos arc caucusing not to oppose any incumbent, so as not to split the Democratic volte. This means that men like Congressmen James Scheuer (21CD) and Jacah Gilbert (22CD) and state democratic segislators under them will ¢ ¥% 538% sggee @ be uncontested. No Cantest, No ay, Chaice Such a ‘no-cantest will not produce even a debate of the issues, mucn less alternatives for the black community. Sullen voters, who just stay home (like they did in the 1966 Primary when only 5860 Democrais out of a possible 15,000 voted in 429" . 44; the 78ta AD) will assure victory for whomever the party designates. It is interesting to noic, in that sixeway 1986 Primary’ TELIS OF RESULTS ~~ District tz superiniendem, Edythe Gaines, describes contest, Gvhen George Silcott,! Irma Sentiella, Nathan Straus: and two others ran) Jacob; just plurality was about the 2.143; board avmber! of Education who of people registered in the Forest! previewed personnel, the em A Gilberts votes, some of the results ef the ‘Taylor Method of reading instruction to parents and its inStallation with her before Hou: nok to mention the, in DistricL 12 schools unregistered, non-voting, eligi-| Septemh lugs = (See bles there. ! Community Conscious). Anyway, the Joint Legislative Committee in Albany has drawn sg ducational for the Developmental: new lines, designed, we are told,’ Laboratorics and Taylor Center) tn provide a “safe” district for “jfuntinglon, Long Island) to see| Gilbert, (a_ Regular), and the'‘echnological teaching aids in debonair Refermer, James Scheuer, considered a- formidable aetion. Demonstrated votegeltler.: Redistricting hardly serpentine altered rips, records, the-and= patlern of : wero other film: lachistascopes' aids designed lo sermit children to move at their, Hepublican-Conservalive Paulawn learning rate, rather than, and Crish Is, Finn's district (considered safeae bound to traditional block | until co-op cily opens) to thessystem of grade placement. Kast: while placing Highbridge vionrae ound) Morris High Washington Heights und conservatives) culing Pelham (iheral and Jewish) 2ord, making + in, ane Parkway: cut af the and 15) elementary) will ave several of hese wnils in September, Mrs. Gaines said. things pretly shaky: Abandonment | for Reformer Jonathan Biaghnl! Baraugh President Herman ta the West. , i Badilio accused the Beard of; The Pelham Parkway Jewish Hberals are now Gilbert's bonus ‘jie YMCA (whose xypressed concern members! over the = in the 22nd, but reformers Leo':ytight of the poor, while closing Isaacson Gvho hopes to make town facilities in the ghette) hay with them) and Ted Vel “running out oan the! of Kast Harlem Tenants Coun problem." Speaking at a vy" (who hanks on the Puerto’ Dinner, March {1, he said they, TUcans at the other end haverpravided service when the aveady thrown their hats the ring to oppose Gilbert. antossommunily | Shass, . a was white. middie, bat that they. ateny Mr. Velox is elasping 19 his with the Protestant “council,. hosom the clusive Reform; Catholic Charities and churehes| CDAD rort, a dove thal were “relocating elsewhere, and might tz Hight UW Senator! doing nothing to replace needed. Kennedy overpowers MeCarthy: facilities." : a peace ecndidate, and thei He urged them ‘not Io, lie-contest” boys hold sway. | abandon as, but te make the’ Petitions fer candidates to run cayestment necessary fo keep in the primery will he circulated from April 220 ta Mayo ‘hese, or build and fe rectnit a wholo shite of candidates, dul real service to the poor." Hepisercd voters may sim for“ ony vss ance for ony single gnd office,’ your signature be chsquilified. Black citizens must new and of staff that One facilities. i trains the’ and can render returning these abandoned fagilities, Broux Union azo bi iist SL, of efients residents lo in: socially, useful, praductive lives.” ef at | support — Aflereare personnel will) YMCA‘ supervise 700 clients, in various bas been stages af rehabilitation Reb into the act new, at pre-'nequired by the NY Stale employment or retraining, primary time, te propose Narealies Addiction Control Mr. Wepkins reports candidates wha stand on the Cammissien “lo provide s“numerous job opportunities” at issues that matter most. aftercare for persens with ‘the Center, Other job vacancies Decentralization Preview? history of nareoties*around town are the Program Fifty-one community people, - dependeney.” CRED) honored farmer; Morvisania members of the aud) Hopkins, parcul advisory! Police Deparlment council, af ‘Irictt worker, now were Sunorintendent and school puests | our Willard including paraprofessionals, Edythe J. Gaines! relations persanne! at the’ Couter, wanls Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. “the ($10,090 Youthotxecutive comarnnity, specialist Director for the cooperation per CPC, year) and Director (Chwemant Neighborhood Gsalary open, preferred, Master of Center of tut net required), Further reproduction prohibited without permission. at the SW �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 30, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 6 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER seems Jess than real with March 2), Wednesday, the | Last condemn . they is talking Black Negroes” whom Everyone Coalition, but such a necessity| as scllouts. and petty:a committee chaired by Lucille division, apathy grievances that are rendering| Murray of South Bronx Was to us impotent at ihe grassroots. |screen Ji Puecrio Rican The poor, whose participation: candidates, and recommend is mandated on OEO boards,seven to the SBCPC Beard, to with moncy to dispense, scems comply with the CDA ruling little more able to take care on ethnic balance. At the Board of business than the “‘bourgeous meeting the following evening, where the executive committee was lo be elected, and the seven members seated, nine dlack board members did not even show, and two left before the vote. UNITED GROUP An organized and united Puerto Rican contingent, led by Frank Lugovina, who was elected chairman, had the bylaws of the Board set aside. They were able to push through candidates who, black board members claim. “represented only ane health area. and mainly one organization, OUB (United Organizations of the Bronx.) ig, violation of the Conslitution, Lack of selection criteria and proper review of applications’ protests were overriden. With« over half the black, representatives absent, it was too much to expect black women to hold ihe line against: ambitious Pucrto Rican males... To compound the problem, a rift exists between the CPC: director, Mrs. Gladys. Harrington and Mrs. Lucille. Murray, a board member and communily leader, At the bottom of it seems to be a. tack ef communication centering around differenees of, interpretation of board's and staff's rale. . For the second time in as.‘ many months, Mrs, Harrington's; resignation is an issue. Rev. Elmere Brooks sought it in February, and Mrs, Murray! concurred: ‘For some reason. Mrs. Harrington did not wish! to deal with the Board's’: appointee, Rev. Brooks,” Mrs.: Murray sald. “and does not want (o give the Board, information we need for: planning. Furthermore she does-. not reach out community.”” to the black. . Mrs. Murray ciled a budget eut which eliminated 123 block workers as partieul arly-: distressing to her. “These were: the poorest people, making ihe ~ lowest salaries who nev must’ return to welfare.” she said. “while hiring of highly paid staf(,_ was going on in another| department, Manpower.” . These 2 Years Mrs. Harrington came wv. South Bronx in its infancy two! years ago, and given hours’’ beyond the call of duty to CPC..- Soulh Bronx has jis own. scholarship fund and eredit* union, a carpentry and print:” shop, and a parolee program|: “of which I am_ particularlyproud,” Mrs. Harrington said. But in communily organization, ste admits. “we.just don’t secm fo be able to. accomplish all we want to,” The deck is stacked against: her with a Jarge transient.“paper organizations,” and lack. cf grass roots leadership, “7 think there needs to be a better: interpretation of dhe uature and. scope, and potential power of. a CPC Board,” Mrs. Harrington. . said. “Do they understand allthat is involved? . “Can they plan ahead five. years, using OEO funds as seed money io build something * permanent, or will they continue -* to tic themselves down, delving into problems of day-by-day , operations. . Throughout the Bronx,’ wherever the bone has been:thrown, the enemy need not \divide and conquer. We manage” |(0 do il so cffectively ourselves, +” ‘ Model Cities Protest ‘The Morrisania Model Cities Policy Committee Jodaed a’ complitint against Housing ant Administration, the N.Y. City... Development- claiming that, been: has community “the excluded from performing any. meaninglul roll in planning anc. policymaking, They charged that the policy citywide committee’ black. adequate lacks and the,, representation: exclusion of community from interaction with City agencies. be will failure “Similar documented in other boroughs. . at a conference this weekend: at Salem Acthodist Church in: Harlem,” Mr, Sol Herbert, a, Morrisania the of member have “We said. Committee witnessed. during several visits” an, their offices. throughout inadequate number of blacks, . and those who are there are’ functioning in lesser positions:° than they were hired for,’ he, of Development said, ‘Dept. Commissioner Robert G. Hazen‘ was also named in the complaintfor questionable implementation, ef fair employment practices. when the City subcontracts for? + services.” Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Apr 6, 1 968: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 23 In_The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER Tremontis a neighborbood in the transition; urban renewal people so and organization,” he lacking in said, New other unsettling changes are in Housing selection criteria will the wind even before the shew avoid some of the moralistic peoples who judgments of the former rulings, arrived since 1960, but still the people, unless they can settle themselves.. ;can organize themselves, will 1 For the black people who fled! be only tenants again, with no part in the rebuilding of their from the bulldozer to ‘Tremont, community, Twin Parks. East which would build $59 dwelling units on seven Seattered sites, poses the old Ineligible Agencics Infant organizations like treat — black removal. (Better Organizations for Mid _ This fear is understandable, Bronx) and WANA (Washington in view of the “social criteria” Ave., Neighborhood Association) under which Housing decides that have sprung up to deal with who shall enter public housing. eritical problems are ineligible Despite (Relocation Board to apply for mortgages under Chairman) Frank Arricale's Federal Housing Authority 221Statement at a March 19 D-3 grants. To be eligible an meeting that residents now in organization ‘must have the the area would be given possibility of lasting for at least 40 years to support the life preference for a new housing. Under Review of the mortgage,” Father Mario Zicarelli of Mt, Carmel Catholic Church chairman of the Twin The 22-point “social criteria” Park Association said. in under review, and well it This private organization of need be, for it excluded people local churches is seeking who “present a clear and, sponsorship for all or part of present danger” past or Twin Parks. Many months of present illegal occupation,| hard work have gone into their confirmed drug addiction; and those with “conditions indicative project, and the plan is good of potential problems” like showing low-income unit disrecords of poor rent payment, pursed throughout middle inirregular work history, out of come housing. But the ‘deliberative’ vote wedlock children, and unusually frequent changes in residence belongs to the parishioners, ‘‘We are broadening our. base,” among other things. Father Zacarelli said, ‘‘in “These are the people who inviting all neighborhood groups have filled the substandard to participate with us.’ But apattments and clapboard those neighborhood groups who private houses turned multiple did get in function as dwellings,” said Mrs. Dorothy “consultative members” only. May a Fremont community April 12 js the deadline for worker. ‘‘Where will they go?” submitting applications and it The new residents of Tremont is doubtful that neighborhood groups can structure themselves) have many problems, and “few black hands to work, We don’t to take advantage of 221-D-3 know what is happening, or who mortagages. to turn to for Jeadership,” said Black Apathy Again Mrs, Mays from her office at Poor participation by black CAB (Community Action Board I), One of the persons and community exists too in the Community Corplaces where she has found help Tremont is the Tremont Neighborhood poration now in the planning stages, A board of 19 had one City Hall and its Community Organizer, Roger Witherspoon. elected black member, but with CDA ethnic balance stipulations, | “TY wags amazed by what I now has four black, 19 Puerto. saw here, not in Brooklyn, nor| Rican and three ‘others’. Mr. Harlem, nor anywhere else were! Cesar Rosado, program coordinator for the Planning Committee claims that the area is approximately 55 per cent Puerto Rican, 35 per cent black. “There is no spirit that we can do it, no precedent for building from scratch for our black people,” laments Mrs. May a black member of the Board. ‘‘Our people are pressed by their immediate sustenance problems, and all their energies are expended there.” With her meager salary, Mrs. May operates a day care program which permits 13 mothers to work. Her car is the neighborhood taxi by day, and patrol car by night. “We are without services,” she says, “how can I complain about conditions unless I dt least try to do something.” The Board meets April 10, 7:30 at 927 E, 180th Street. Some black residents should certainly come out to decide how best to spend the $685,700 allotted’ by CDA and make recommen.| dations regarding summer year round programs. and 4 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Apr 13, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News [In The Bronx Communit onscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER A black man whose work has How can we honor Dr. Martin)’ King? Should Harold|i Dicks feel that what he is loing to assist paraprofessionals to become teachers and take the responsibility for educating the black child is, ‘‘notbing compared to what King was: doing?” Are ali our efforts to oppese stalmate and| acquiesence on the political: scene now futile? If there is’ a master plan to exterminate us, must we march quietly to the gas chambers, or be the ‘gained him the respect of our Luther community was in deep mourning Thursday, April 4) for the murdered Martin Luther King. “You don't know what ‘Rev. King did,” he said to me, “You have never lived in the deep South and suffered the degradation black men felt there. “As farm boys in Georgia,” Harold Dicks, Education Chair-| taau, Bronx NAACP said, “We would have to ride on the back of boys in Georgia,” Harold Dicks, Education Chairman, Bronx NAACP said, “We would have to ride on the back of the pickup truck with the rain beating in our faces, while a white woman and her dog rode inside. Our only protection from frameups that Jed to jail or lynching was a white bossman who would call the jail and say to the crooked chief of} police, ‘Let my Niggers out! To have had the courage to say, ‘No, we will not ride in the back of the bus,’ was an victims of street massacres? Martin Luther King was an eloquent spokesman for non violence, but he never ran from a fight. In our town last week,|. Rev. Ralph Abernathy pleaded while gathering forces for the march, Symbolically, we could honor Dr, King by going to Washington June 18 But it is not the finest way to honor atijjaborers get decent jobs him. Io a letter from jail in 1963, Dr. King wrote: “The Negro's greatest stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not act of heroism beyond the White Citizens Council or; measure.” the Ku Klux Klan but the white The Price of Compromise moderate, who is more devoted) I was reminded as Harold| to order than justice; who wept of a German - Jewish prefers a negative peace, which concentration camp survivor is the absence of tension to: who became an importer in this a positive peace, which is the country, and for whom I worked presence of justice.” Our own as a secretary, he pleaded with community was to Dr. King me to always remember who that indispensible ‘‘little drop I was; that the Negro in this: of water,” but black people here country who thought he was take the attitude of the white becoming assimilated and could moderates. Law and order is forget his identity should look the call; train the militia if to the fate of the German Jew. necessary to ‘‘caol the long hot “We felt superior to the Slavic summer!” Are our black Jew because we thought we had! lawyers and teachers, our status, education and rights as| doctors and businessmen Germans,” he said. “Those committed to justice for all Jews with money who looked black men? How aclive are they Aryan, who had married: beyond going to the polls and Germans, compromised, and pulling the lever on election day sold out the rest of us. But for some candidate they had when they tried to buy their no part in putting there? How way out, they found that the responsive are black legislators Gestopo was indiscriminate in to the needs of our own people? their hatred of all of us.” Six Dr. King sat with the President million dead was the price they the day he signed the Voting paid. Rights Act to permit the Negro Dr. Martin Luther King fought to become a political force in for the Jowliest among us; he the South. But is a community died fighting for a decent wage wide disgrace to attend for garbage collectors, and was; political conventions in the 21st preparing for a massive “Poor; or 22nd Congressional Districts People’s March.” To our: 1 and see so few black men and oppressors he said on the eve; women active there, making of his death, ‘You can never| would honor Dr. King. Beyond be what you wish to be, unless ‘the tears that may be shed for' I become what I should be . the death of Dr. King is the .. our destinies are inextricably necessity to risk losing the sorbound.” His words apply did privilege some of us bave equally to stralas and economic gained by ‘“prostituting” a litlevels within the race. tle. It may mean giving up a As we recover from the. good-paying job that makes you stunned horror of Dr. King’s see our people short. assassination, we must all It would not take half the reassess the degree of our courage Dr. King had, nor a compromise. Mr. and Mrs. dream of what he gave for Dicks, my husband and 1 were" gy, architects and othe r| privileged to talk with Dr. King«edueated men to see that black just a few weeks ago in Freedom ways Magazine’simodel Cities, and that black Dubois Centennial Celebration. Citizens are irganized to gain He praised the work on th Cllsome contracts and own some local level, in the words of the property through Urban nurssery rhyme, “little drops Renewal. Drop by drop such of water, little grains of sand,” continuing effort woul truly declaring that it WaSlhonor Dr. King, and add to indispensible to his own work.|lthe quality of all our lives. He said, then, that he was not so concerned with the “quantity , of his life as the quality’? and. that his family understood that! “from any of my sojournes,: I might not return.” i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Apr 20, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News 15 | In The By Bronx MARIETTA J. TANNER When the Board of Estimate and the City Council on March 15 amended the 1968-69 Capital ; Budget to restore vital Bronx’ projects vetoed by the Mayor,: “Elected officials still have! the basic responsibility to provide services: they cannot! toss the problems to the people! and walkaway. It is the’ Bronx Borough President, mayor's responsibility to see! on top. Twelve years of, Herman Badillo said the victory that they get additional’ frustrating delays preceded the! was “a dramatic case study: resources.” he said. Mr. Badillo| ceremonies, and Daniel Nelson, of the effectiveness of citizen was director of the firmly against the executive participation in the budgct-? establishment af Little City Educational Construction Fund, making process . . .”” praised Assemblyman: Seymour ‘Halls because “only the Mayor not other Especially cited were the 14 and clected city Posner for “the tremendous job Community Planning Boards. officials would have access to he did in Albany to eliminate hearings’ hem,” “which held public : ji the roadblocks that held up constructian.” Posner was in where neighborhood people! Borough President Elevated | Albany that Monday, but lots: testified on local necds. \ of other politicians posed for| At the present time, Mr,’ Mr. Badilio. prepared his Li indsay has appointed an groundbreaking pictures, Since: budget on the basis of this taped awnoaann te. sat . Highbridge became Posner's! testimony and submitted it to Me econ fox says, cannot Be district with reapportionment 15! PLANNING BETTER BRONX — Bronx Borough President Herman Badillo, left, sits with black planning Board II members from Hunts PointMorrisania: Mrs. Daisy Bradshaw, Mrs. .Esmay Robinson; standing Lawrence Burr, chairman, and Mrs. Vivian Harris, Standing behind the borough president is Annette F, Morton, one of two black staff assistants, who is in charge of Planning Board I. “The 14-Branx Planning Boards are being structured and strengthened, ‘‘Mr. understanding between ethnic groups and sections of the Borough with varying necds.” Mr. Badillo’s plans for them the subject of The Community Canscious, (Parkway Studios Phato) Badilo said, “to: foster City Planning Commission, Bur expeditor for construction, who months ago, he has been battling! budget deleted! atfoctive, since he is on the with Housing and Redevelopmany Bronx projects, reasoningi:seme level as the commission ment for construction of this that these items would HOt ois, He suggests adeputy mayor school, and is girding ‘fer a the . Mayor's beter the before the et construction staBe! who can bring the commission- battle to win the June 18 prim. end of the fiscal’ a. together to expedite the ary there, too. : yee say Ballo a Feud Iprojecis ye'lpartments through the and 167-300 12-20 de- opera- . at, Badillo charged that the’ tions between capital budget alcity administration was location and completion of a “penalizing the people of the! roject ™ Bronx for their own failure, |) PY —~ . ill Bronx projects were 100 per) fhe were mayor, Mr. Badillo cent behind schedule, he said,/'5aid. he “would give the borough and the Bronx js suffering 26]!Presidents (an elected official]? years of neglect and failure to| Wilh prestige under the charter) obtain its proper share of city; Siatus and full authority to serviees and facilities, | Supervise the commissioner to He abhorred the mayor's: Sc¢ that approved items in their proposal that the 1968-69 budget! boroughs were completed.” The be cul because of the backlog! borough president represents an ($1.2! entity, and wilh his planning. ibillion allocated for city-wide! boards (whose members are ‘construction, and 128 projects; how appointed by the BP) in the Bronx alone were not elected by district, they could yet begun), charging the city truly represent and speak for, administration with laxity, the needs of every community | providing superfluous fancy and plan ahead for the. next’ programs for the poor, when fifty years, Mr. Badillo said. construction would generate 56-| There are 297.562 Puerto billion in employment and Ricans and 248,013 blacks in’ goods.” ! the Bronx, hut there are also} There is strong feeling 460.000 Italins, Between groups, between Mayor Lindsay and Mr,! there is tremendous hostility Badillo, generated some political, concerning what one community observers say, by Mr. Badillo’s; gets over another. A case in desire to be the next mayor. point are the Minipools proposed: “Mr, Lindsay and I disagree by Parks Commissioner, on priorities,’ "Mr. Badillo says, Heckscher as “lop priority for “He is more given to public the ghetto” at $33,000 each, relations than executive “People in Throggs Neck and | management.” East Bronx have been waiting Morris High School is 180 per for years for swimming pool'' cent avercrowded, intermediate’ construction; such unilateral schools in the Bronx are 200; allocations foster racial and per cent overcrowded. “AN the sectional animosity.” . fanfare about decentralization is A beller idea, Mr, Badillo, meaningless without additional said, would be ‘‘to strengthen; facilities; yot the Mayor vetoed community planning boards who] P.S, 74 and additions to Morris presently have joint meetings) High School,” Mr. Badillo said, of the 14-chairmen and) People Participation Ineffective subcommittee heads and have testified at hearings for each Meaningful citizen. parneeds.- In this way we {ticipation has deteriorated other. tunder the poverty programs, as could develop a realistic master plan. for the boraugh. Whether! presently set up, Mr. Badillo ilthis would diminish the power: (of authorized projects isaid. Even with ethnic balance ‘provisions, one ethnic graup jot the Mayor, or free him to campaigns against another and concern himself with Cily-wide lean gain problems will be the subject $1 per cent control. The only purpose of poverty; of a later article. programs, as Mr. Badillo sees Posner at Highbridge | lit, is to develop new concepls Ground was broken April 1 and better means of|'for PS 126 in Highbridge, which communicating with the poor. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Apr 27, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 17 In_ The |Bronx “All this own bank staffs indicates a color tblack congressional candidate In line) as well as the obviously tthis district, which redistricting gave a slight edge, on the basis African-ancestored blacks, when id population alone, in favor “passing” is permitted to tof blacks. Unfortunately, black© become once more the ticket jineligibles outlandishly exceed to economic parity with whites. ithe number of registered voters. We sce it in the better housing And it should plague the in the West Bronx, made available with the Jewish tconscience of all the candidates ithat they did not fill the Board _ exodus, Where fair-skinned : . Puerto Ricans are admitted to of Elections last Spring and rsummer with the sweet sound Two men, one black (Kenneth jjAlmeida, chairman of the PR- the exclusion of blacks. of new registrants. Mr. Badillo admits Miller) and one Puerto Ricaniispanic Center and OUB Vit be among those regretting powerlessness to prevent this that we did not do more to (Pedro Morales) tried to occupy strategist “if the Negrocs had; insidious type of discrimination the director’s seat at Hunts register the poor and apathetic Point Community Progress used their organizations like we “since it is private housing, and voter, for I will be running, Center last Wednesday thus iaid to get out tie vote.’ discrimination has traditionally with Leo Isacson and Jules dramatizing a controversy that ‘Mr. Almeida and Mr. Weeks| been on the basis of color.” Feiffer, as a delegale to the has been snowballing for agree that an impartial body’ Third Avenue stores and National Democratic Convention months, vested downtown restaurants alike seem in the 2:CD. of people with no Deadline for “We have shown that if one interest, should be appointed to to prefer the foreign-sounding, registration at 1780 Grand director can be appointed by mediate the situation, As a caucasian-looking P.R.toblacks. Concourse is May 15, new and a body not duly constituted, then beginning, Herman Badillo and Whereas black and P.R, non-voters please vote! any group can appeint a Jackie Robinson were on the scholars may theorize at At a party packed with well director,” Richard Weeks, scene Jast Wednesday to lend Brotherhood-in-Action about wishers, and many spunky, chairman of Interested Citizens their influence to averting crisis. depressed people and common cager young supporters said. Nat Martin a black bonds, black people on Fox Saturday, April 20, Reformer organizer (who Street are beginning to know Dennig Gardner announced for They claimed that Morales community during the 1966 “where it's at.” Said Robert the Assembly 78th AD. At his waS appointed by an worked campaigned) LaForey: “As militant as I am side was CDV Bronx Acting ‘uneertificd, incomplete beard,” Registration and that their move to have eoneurred with Almeida that for black rights, even I have Chairman, Lais Fuentes, who hesitated to face the fact that ‘will oppose Ivan Warner (Reg. registration wis all acts of that board ratified black insufficient, “for multiple the conflict here in Hunts Point ‘Dem) for the State Senate in March 23 was illegal. the 3ist. Moreover, Adolph Roberts, reasons. For one thing,” he said, is racist, plain and simple.” Those New Yorkers who flew chairman of Kelly St. Block “the anger, so sharp jn black against white controtniatiou, is to Atlanta to communicate with Association said, “criteria, and| open announcement of the blunted in Hunts Point, because dreamers of Dr. Martin Luther must wake up vacancy has been insufficient; many blacks feel that Puerta King’s dream and help “black and whites (and jisallowing time and procedures Ricans are one with us.” It is becoming more obvious all shades ja between) sit down for due consideration of other to blacks, however, that most! together" at Hunts Point. qualified le.”” Puerto Ricans want to Ah Politics! Its swect sounds Dr. Helen Mitchell, contrary: to reports Jast week, ‘was not: disassociate themselves, and not of instant change fill the spring fired, but resigned as director be contaminated by the man, air, as Nathan Straus (Reform of Hunts Point CPC effectivellat the bollom — the Negro. designate}, moves to challenge April 12, and is on terminaljTheir strategy is to move as Jacob Gilbert (Incumbent, Reg.) leave until June 29. Dr. Mitchell, swiftly and as unencumbered for Congress (22D) in the who is now Director of Citygas possible into the American Democratic Primary June 18, wide Summer Projects CDA,|mainstream by becoming as Still in the race, loo, is Ted Velez with Coalition for bore the brunt of the canflict||Caucasian as possible, ’ Of course, this augers;Demecratic Alternatives’ (the between the minority groups. avoided,” could have been!miserably for the black Puerto} McCarthy Group) support. said SalvatorellRican (and one look at their AL Nall (Republican) is the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); May 4, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg.6 | In_ The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Angry and shake in principais attended tne School Board District #9 mecting Jast Wednesday, April 24. 4A principal, appointed according to UFT regulations had been removed by the community and parents of IS 148, “placing all our jobs in jeopardy.” the principals said. “In a manner! of speaking. they were absolutely correct, unless they‘ make first-rate education for the ghetto child a reality,’ said Ed Hopper. chairman of Neighbors for Education, Action & Reform (NEAR). Reversal at 1S. 18 With limited information at their disposal, and three days to make 2 decision, a committee of community, IS. 148 § - parents and Local School Board, had approved Milton Sticr as principal, effective April 12. After talking with parents of his former school ¢p.s. 80M+ who reported that Mr. Stier had REGINALD WALTON heen Jess than an able administrator there, lhe schos) Harold Dicks, Jerome Green, communily group withdrew and the Parent Association's M their approval of Stier’s Brown counseled with paren ,who wavered at tines, fearing! appointment. They felt that sirce 1S. 148 that the demonstration might! had : been without a principalibccome a power struggle at! it opened last September, ‘their children’s expense: and since it opened last resulling in faxity teacher September “Ed Hopper, chairmanuM of ean concerning. responsibility, student! as 2 prudent organizer. Now a black man, Reginald the academic! discipline und program, they needed a HU. Walton is acting principal. principal who could be relied.His appointment circumvented upon to set things right. The Board regulations, since he is body, among those unappointed on the communiity parent therefore, informed Dr, assistant principal's list. He was Maurice Ames, Superintendent. ‘he Advisory Council's choice,! on April iat (under threat of and luoks like a good one. Mr.° demonstration the following, Wallon has been in the school Stier's system since 1946, spending 5! Mr. that Monday)? appointment must be rescinded,‘years with the burcau__ of! two other teachers removed,-Educational and Vocational, 148's" (IS 55 PS at administrator:Guidanee and a lemporary appointed until’ the Advisory:parent school); he is deeply; a coneerned about the academic! seleet could Council salisfactory principal. Sitin and standing of 1S 148, and plans: sleep-in they did for three days, we work closely with the: ‘Advisory Council and the Parent: ‘Assaciat‘an, whose full support, ! in he has been assured, are Nis. and all the demands were met. Black Men Forward ‘Two clements stood out victory, and the least the process these is of achieving not that the Power in the 77 AD that: of Assembly District 77 Cower parent Bronx, Hunts Point) maybe a pivotal ore, as political jockeys community group developed Concerned boroughs of other ys a Regular to oppose Reform! parents supported — the, Democrat Jaunes Scheuer for; Galamison of Brooklyn, Daniels and starting gale, Irma OWA move to the their in confidence unity. Santaella has entered the race: ard determination Lorene President, from PS Alexandria 80 came 2st CD. ‘This should Millon Congress, Rev. objectives: Mrs. consalidate to say,/(29§D) Garcia, vs Regular the leaving P.A.'fteform — positions, Coloa'nobert Senator; Stale straddling previously “Miseducalion af minority-group' both horses, dangling, Or maybe; children anywhere affects us."|nol he, but Elected officials lent the weight dangling. of their office to altaining a! qt seems solution. Al Goadman the volers Garcia was are left to be: unopposed in the rather odd, of the imrd St. songlomeration ef neighborhoods, Improvement Council sent in that make up the 29th, which: breakfast; William I, Rrowa!siretches from the Puerto Rican!” 77th AD? Armandal of the Pit sent dinner, and Mrs, stronghold, Uses Bo'nt, down in the ab Montano is up_ for of El Barrio Georgia Lamar, whase child had ta the end Assemblyman, and Cesar, between, In Man. St. suffered injury at 1.5. 14, fried-agr@ Rosado for Male Jeader, a black! black of host a ere were;however, wamen The chicken. “ethers” who believe, male in opposition to Garcia: constant and reflective: Mrs. falks and | all clecled sflcials are less than woukl balance things well,” Bronco of Barrow Bonnie Only then could they consider; S. 1 A, Mrs. June Salters of perfect, and therefore, in need LABOR, Mrs. Lucy Vigay, Mrs. af exposure to opposition at cach: agreeing to the black, female: a host of others. Hach election, So be it, tea, with district Ieader which they were’ Fling and cantribulion wi & significant, But Robert Garcia, Far the thing. offered. In the 7ith, as at 1S’ the finest result of the whole to be achieved in New York 118, and everywhere, recognition process was thal the leadership City in 196i is a warkable power sof the black male is the key was clearly ins the hands of relationsh'n between Negrees to equality and slablitity for black family — and black men. Sal Elerbert of CORE aad Cuerbi Ricans. “Why not the volers: are communily. Why wait until next th Bros of begin and Robert 1. Jackson ng the slate lime; 300 yours is long enough. PLAN. were the spokes Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); May 11, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 |In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The James fact that Congressman ‘formed the National Commitice Scheuer’s (2ist CD) bill to support the Commission, to set up a National Conimission whose chairman was Jackie on Negro History and Cullure Robinson, and honorary was reported out of commiltec chairmen, Roy Wilkins, Whitney last Monday may come as a Young, and Charles Wesley. surprise to many of his black Only one Bronx person, “Mrs. constituents and fellow Theodore Khecl of Riverdale, Bronxites. I doubt that even was chosen, the event of its passage will Congressman Sehever be greeted with dancing in the ‘overlooked such distinguished streets, because it is a gift, black members of his own and not the result of our own ‘communily and constituency as struggle to better our condition. ‘Rev. Edler G. Hawkins of St. When Captain Robert Johnson Augustine Presbyterian Church. (42nd_ Precinct) speaks on ‘Well versed in Afro-American controlling juvenile delinquency, history and thought Rev. he talks about the responsibility ‘Hawkins, two years ago, sought to purehase an of black adults for instilling self- funds respect and respect for toutstanding collection of authority in the young through ‘volumes and manuscripts on generous amounts of love and \Negro history for the Bronx. * discipline, rather than by He felt strongly then that the increasing numbers of street lack of access to information, patrolmen, ‘about themselves contributed to us about ourselves.” “T don’t want white liberals (the miseducation of Black youth, $500,000 is the probable fo give me anything, but the iand the fact that the library appropriation for the year-long opportunity to earn what I need was not achieved camo back “study and investigation, which for myself,” he said, “A chick to haunt him last Thursday will recommend to the President won't learn to walk, if you crack might. At a “Unity mecting sleps that would resull in the the shell for him.” ” . al Morris High School, t7-year- integration of the Speaking to the bevy af ‘old Brother William Ketchum, uecomplishmentL of black magnificent, flowered heads, Ipresident of the Morris High Americans into American life.” and chie pastel colored dresses School Afro-American Club The t-man Commission of Negro business and ‘spurned the “leadership of black should be chosen by a professional ‘middiz-class” Ibourgeoise adults” as jacking conference of black leaders, women last Sunday, he said: “energy to unify the community, rather than appointed by the “My friends, black: childrea cut since they were puppets, merely President,” objected Roy Innis in the streets need your help. «delegated authority by whites,”’ of CORE a member of the These are your children. , .you With no tangible evidence of Committee. cannot remove yourself from {the goals and goods black men Said Congressman Scheuer: their squalor and deprivation.” Ihave sought for their young, “When a Negro child is given Permissiveness and the William Ketchums believe his primer on Dick, Jane and transmission of “the-world - iblack adults “‘have not learned Spot, he has only to thumb owes - you - a living culture tto fight, just to bleed.” through a few pages before he spells racial doom,” Unworthy These youngsters decry the Says, ‘That’s not me.’ He has of respect are parents who “burn baby burn” cult, and only to read of the contributions purchase stolen goods or send declare that among their of the many immigrant groups their children out to loot, he growing numbers there is a that make up America... .and said. “Teach them that “definite tightening up on dope.” walk through almost any ignorance is bad; guide them; ‘They protest the intellectual museum in the country and leak let them know they are stiflmg they suffer at Morris around ...” to feel total: aand the four other Bronx high alienation fram America, somehody.’* | In introducing the Bill (HR schools represented. i Nobody knows this better than: 12962,) April 1, Congressman Said Charles Olaves, a Morris James Pruitt, or Edler Hawkins Scheuer said: ‘the unfamiliarity senior: ‘‘What they don't teach or Captain Johnson or a host of Negro history and culture ws is even worse than what ‘of other adult, black Bronxites|: has deprived white Americans they do. The books on George whose harvest of frustration is|, because they remain ignorant ‘Washington Carver make you all their young can build upon. of a vital part of American {think he loved slavery,” he said, What a shot in the arm for history and are easy victims declaring that he was almost them, and for reconcilialion of of malicious myths; and black expelled from school because the generations, the Americans because they are Ihe thought “Cry, the Beloved achievement of a Commission robbed of the pride and self- ‘Country’ ‘was degrading to and the eventual integration of esteem that comes from iblack manhood. the Black man's history and knowing their noble past.” Fortunately, one back man, contributions into American life Bronxites like Captain James Pruitt, their history aight have been. Bul alas, poor Johnson might have deen able tteacher and = Afro-American ‘birds, black Bronxites . had to counsel wisely with the ‘History Club faculty advisory, nothing lo do with breaking that Congressman on the subject of is their hero, because “he taught shell. a Commission to Study Negra History sinca those already down-and-out youngsters whom he meets daily in Morrisania suffer the degradation of spirit and lack of self-resp ect born: of negative self-image. 138 distinguished Sree Lh b’ Jack" and white Americans nationwide Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): May 18, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amstet dam News p26 In_The Bronx Commun ity Conscious By When Health opened MARIETTA J. TANNER Neighborhood Mental Servieecenters were with a demonstration “the| They admitted that Debilitaling and! mental psychomatie effect of hard core sovial problems of patients makes the psychiatrist's treatment dependent upon the work of the CMHW. The new approach to psychiatric services Grant three years ago. poor peo-, ple were beguiled by its promise’ to realistically deal with the burgeoning problen of mental, health deterioration in the: Bhetto. lin the ghetto (under grant auspices the was that and patient Of'between the bridge this gap would An integral part of the $500,000; CyHW Yeshiva University, Linstein' professional. ee (allege, Heat was| Morcover, CMH workers feel the new career opportunities far| fat bn freatment dispensed ospitals and centers indigenous workers as mental! rom use —— “upon the teo heavily leaving Telics_ medication, health They services were toaides. be the link i Of problems socialwelfare community between — housing, health. real the! Patients and person’ needing theservices by the Phi with ealt professional workers. There was to pe R also the implication that the ° CMH tw ptogram’s objective was to train; + © S Pp on 8 | bility! the: D0tWithstanding to eventually run ‘administration the indigenous their own program. has so far “failed! 7 :to incorporate the concrete: ‘experience and contributions of, Upgrading Was The Bure Last year, Dr. Tom Levin, ‘CMHW into definable and viable’ status.” Theoretically, they _of:.job professor associale an psychiatry al Einstein, received'were to serve as role models: a‘ study grant to cereale a'lfor the rest of the community; structure whereby even anmltealistically their subintelligent, high school dropout Iprofessional jobs are deadend. . asi could enier medical services with advance, a trainee; an !o training service their contrac of Meal ‘ era Seo mene in-! aide;! receive a high school diploma: :45 yet lo be mcgotiated. They enter college courses, advaneing| Want & work study program through assistant, ass ociatelne i at a worker ond serve positions; and upon graduation!“0 which upon lures, These fours on the job, and have hours of training for which receive's> jhe receives credit toward a: specialization and professional status. to “legree. CMHW will speak before: some extent, OEO based their|,the Board of Estimate | May: theory,"2 when the “Community Mental: remained have study grants, Dr. Levin's grant expires! Health Board’, Yeshiva, Einstei Yeshiva, Hospital Board”, this August; at this veriting, | Health there is no structure, no grant Linstein and Lincoln for an their proposals to institution- [present its findings. implement to Last week, community mental; S8-million grant health workers al Lincoln alize Community slept-in and sat_ Hospital Mental Health tor services, demand clarity |; protest the Tack of definilive| They will the purpose of the and‘“thout practices personacl conditions — of ipropram. They question the equitable employment. Their nefotiatars Seriousness. of Yeshiva-Einstein to commitment its chairman); said that for three chout workers.|. (Ali. Malik. el Mohammed, |wpgrade indigenious Indicates): ‘Past performance touched upon: the upgrading the} |that role their Einstein, helieves years they have becn operating without proper evaluation! be the training of physicians, nol want to gtc the/#nd making procedures, i sUey ini do career ladder | 'iimvalved nal’ dependent ssio job araprofe | thon the subjective judgment programs.’ Mr. Weeks said. . There is implied racism in} of supervisor personnel. So thick has been the red,maintaining a “medical elite’) tape, that il was an achievement ‘composed of outsiders, since) just to. be [community people are black and| | for the negotiators authoritative Yeshiva-Einstein | Professionals white. , Furthermore representatives, On May 10, Dr. Lincoln's Warris Peck, Health Services Nealth Mental Mental Dean! ™isnomer, director; William Glazer of Yeshiva, ard :people and Rica a, Puerto with| down sil (0 able are since on the ; ‘Community i Board" no is a , communily it, yel it inne | President Perlstein of Einstein the authority lo make decisions| of Medigine College the CMHW they wan demands. But what ;Merlical service, The community | increly “redress | might better be served on every, was machinery [level if the Buard were clected the “grievances, of agreeed ta | eancerning funding allocation for| tather than appointed. and solution for which should have heen established loug age, snid Weeks, Richard : oa hegolinter, Jobs Remain 1 Deadenad not’ was issue the upgrading of basic The fonched upon, according, fo The rationale fur employing the aecording, to the indigenaus, Hipenous, Sinstein'’s original proposal, was that the professional staff Cor the most part white, middle. class and not community-based) was unfamiliar wilh the poverty world and the cullural patlerns af the ethnic groups, . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): May 25, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 In_ The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The United Federation of ethnic barriers to college are Teachers has spent millions for ridiculous in the face of these advertising and to transport facts. teachers away from their The present Demonstration schools to Albany to prevent projects, like open enrollment, passage of (Mayor's Lindsay's) are designed to fail. They are School Decentralization Plan. given not local control or They are seeking, instead,!autonomy, but monics with all passage of (Staten Island State kinds of strings attached. Senator John) Marchi Plan'Autonomy mcans control over which offers for legislators non- staff — hiring and firing, commitment during this deciding whether you want election year; and the ghetto! merit increases for exceptional schools in crises, another year teachers who do in fact improve of study with present board of teading levels. Parents who education policies in tact, tead the UBP report will know How contemptuous to moralize that ‘“‘only they can save our about a “black power grab” schools,” and they won't need at Ocean Hill-Brwonsville, and another year of study under to continue to dally with UFT aegis to prove it. decentralization when education June 8 at Bethel-Temple, the in New York City is defacto Word Power League will hold segregated, and grossly unequal. its Oratorical Contest. This was Our children are dying, under ‘a project sponsored under ESEA the present system. We have in districts 9 and 8 to increase always known that ghetto vocabulary and improve schools were being language use. South Bronx shortchanged. now a_ timely NAACP will offer $100 and report by United Bronx Parents trophies to the winner. jon “Distribution of Educational \Resourecs” proves it. For two years, teams of parents and youth researchers examined the 12 highest ranking elementary schools. and the 12 lowest: (according to the Metropolitan Reading Achievement test scores of May 1966) to find the reasons for the wide disparity of pupil achievement. For example, whereas the 5th grade median should have been 5.8, the median score for fifth graders at PS 24 (Riverdale) was 9.7, and 4.2 for the fifth graders at PS 48 (Hunts Point). Eleven of the top 12 schools are located in the middleclass northeast, west Bronx, Riverdale sections, while all 12 bottom schools are in South Bronx black and Puerto Rican areas. All of the bottom schools were, overutilized, with 92 regular through sixth grade classes {8,938 pupils) on double session. None of the top 12 schools had classes on double session, and 7,489 seats in Bronx schools were empty. (Remember how Open Enrollment was designed to fail?) The More Effective Schools program, favored by UFT whereby schools with low achievement, high mobility and poverty were compensatory to iven features like lower class size, extra teaching’ personnel, etc, is theory, nat fact. Regular elementary schools were supposed to spend $750 per child; special service schools in the ghetto, were to Bet $150 to $200 more. The UBP study shows that the average for the top 12 schools was $670 per child, while! the average expenditure for the bottom 12 (all special service! schools) was $519.00. | Class size reduction too is! a fallacy: seven of the top: schools had class sizes below average; while only four of the bottom 12 enjoyed reduced class size. Statistic after statistic proves that more money is spent to provide the superior; education for the top twelve's’ schoolchildren. Said Evalinaj Antionetty, Executive Director of UBP: ! “Since these schools in the black and Puerto Rican arcas receive the bulk of inexperienced teachers at the: lowest. salaries, “unless money, is appropriated on a per capita basis, the current practice will continue ~~ of budgeting about, $9,000 for a teacher, then assigning a teacher at $6500, but returning the $2500 difference to headquarters, often to be spent in a white school, | where. most experienced teachers are getting $11,000." Parents, amazed at the facts uncovered packed the two discussion sessions held: Tuesday, May 21 by UBP. They! began to understand the extent’ of miseducation of clementary school children, and could, appreciate the plight of the; army of low achievers, so rebejlious and baffling to! educators at the junior high school level. Further data will soon be, publistied on the upper grades, | but it is known that: 66 per, cent of the youngsters from the | bottom 12 elementary schools go to Morris. | Benjamin| Franklin, Walton and Clinton High Schools, while 50 per cent; of the top 12 are at Bronx Science and Columbus. Only 25 of Morris’ 871 graduates received academic diplomas last year: whereas 92.8; per cent of Bronx Science's! Braduates did. Relaxing of, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): un 1, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 11 lIn The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J, TANNER Eighteen more days io serve the consumer well, if we Primary Day; and there do will begin to read the fine print, * black “Bronxites sland as But the dating of bread failed, the help of Bronx” electors of those who write the with bills and pass the Icgislation Assemblyman Harry Kraf; and that governs them? Estimates so. did = seethrough meat. in 1966, based on Health packaging provisions. s Department ethnic breakdowns Policeman and private citizens .~ (sinee the Bpard of Elections may now “use deadly force” does not record registrants by when they reasonably believe ~ . race) indicated that not one and intruder or fleeing criminal , in ten cligible black people were is carrying a firearm or deadly .weapon, But the provisions for registered. After working with two voter licensing of firearms was killed, . registration campaigns, and and so was the pork-barrel, City | checking with political club Marshal System, (whom your ., carried — de- district leaders nominate, by the who ‘members : signating petitons Jast month, way). A whopping payrise was voted T would conclude that the for the Governor, and other picture is not much brighter. “The Negro is not a political State officials, and increased force in the Bronx. His numbers pensions for legislators, Had far execed his influence on the conservative, pennypincher on Icgislation, John H elected offeial. Nalurally they welfare ignore his aspirations because Calandra (33SD) had his way, would also have he docs not vote,” political Iogisialors enjoyed a payrise to $20,000 observers say. oo Primaries Count | yearly. .Ask the incumbent candidates Why is it important. to vote they voled on the in the June [8lh Primary? how Enralled voters will elect establishment of a compulsory delegates and alternates to the pool for slum fire insurance, Nalional Conventions of their which passed; or on the Ramos dill for men who parties, These delegates will Amnesty nominate the party's committed misdemeanors presidential and vice presidental (allowing them to apply for candidates. Voters will also clect licenses and civil service jobs). delegates and alicrnates to the) Question all candidates on the judicial convention, who will implementation of the Urban Corporation $6court Development supreme nominate million slum rebuilding program, . justices, Along with selecting parly and on the legislation they plan candidates for the Assembly, for 1969. State, Senate, and Congress, All of this affects black thése:who vate in tho Primary people; your-vote does Indeed Will eect county committeemen count, Create the kinds of and district Jeaders. Black discussions around issues that people are one-third of the ‘will being black voters to the but polls, Pla to- transport some Bronx, population of the we have only one black State yourself so wa' will become a Senator, one Assemblyman, onc force to be reckoned with. Issues judge; no black man in the surrounding the candidates for no black Congress will be the subject and Cily’ Council, cven to next week's column. (or Congressman Health Careers Complex Conercssional candidate). ‘The. Nation's first para“ what da. these legislators do education whom: black people generally professional ihealth Jcomplex is scheduled to open have “no..patt in naming? Let temporary quarters with 750 me tell you that they deelde your fate, so it is just plain sludents in Fall, 1969, under sponsorship of City stupid not to share in thelr joint selection. 1,000 bills passed by University, Einstcin, N.Y. City Board of Education and the the Legislature await Governor Department of Hospitals. Rockefeller’s signiture. A permanent $136-million They include the walered-down \Marehi Dentralization Plan facility to be built near (discussed in last week's article) Concourse Village adjacent to which” enlarges the present the $74niillion Lincoln Hospital, Board of Education and |will include Community College /Vill, and an clementary, jempowcrs it to prepare detailed, permancn! intermediate and high school decentralization plan for next emphasizing health careers. How muny black youngsters year’s legislative consideration. No new experimental will be cntolled, the kind of and whether decentralized districts wilt be curriculum, crealed this year; but the Board staffing of these facilities is may delegate any of its powers integrated are questions being now. This bears to the 20 existing “advisory” decided focal school boards. One possible now before the Human Rights good. piece of legislation: for watching, especially since suits involve workers ‘ black teachers permits Commission charge Einstein-Lincolninterstale certification of who Yeshiva with discriminatory teachers and other educational hiring “and prometional ssonnel, which means that lack teachers and supeivisory practices. Presently at Lincoln (whieh serve personnel from outside the city hospital (or even dlack personnel within ipredomincatly blank and Puerto the City who never became Rican people) only one dluck holds a_head-ofeligible under present Board of woman Examiners. structure) now may department position (Social Service Supervisor, outpatient Lhe principals. one... black physician + Passed also was ‘Truth in clinic); Lending” providing -for (Head of Anesthiology); and one ~ Spanish physician (Assistant disclosure of credit charges, and licensing aud inspection of meat Administrator of Out patient processing plants which might Clinic). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jun 8, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 11 In_The Bronx Community ~ Conscious ‘By MARIETTA J. TANNER’ Voters, on Primary Day, June Reactionaries have reason to; mass registration, as: 18, have an important part in ‘ear and .vielories in selecting presidential contests Mississippi, Gary, and candidates, although none of- Charleston, S.C. will altest. their names will appear on the In poor communitiesballot. Voters vote for local throughout. the ‘country, there delegates to the National Party isa crises in leadership, where, Conventions. Because of my ideally, those who are ‘‘the deep concern that the black people’s choice” should supply lit, ‘When Senator Robert position be represented by black Kennedy visited the South Bronx | people at the Democratic llast August, [ asked him what ‘ convention, | am a candidate his program was for assisting}, for delegate in the 21st CD. Geveloping leadership in the about the T want to urge the nomination ghetto. He replied: “That is of a man uncompromising in the responsibility of the local his opposition to the war in people.” Vietnam, This hypocritical war But, just as government abroad diverts our human and protects emerging industry, if economic resources, while our we are serious cities burn, and millions of reconciliation of peoples, so Americans are homeless and must government now assist hungry. emergirg ghetto political} Thus distracted, there is no leadership. This cannot be done: en to solve the crucial by indiscriminately endorsing | problem for America: to bring “old guard” local politicians, as the masses of Americans now Kennedy forecs did this Spring outside the political slructure when they reportedly promised contest” to Bronx into the democratic process, 50 “no that they may achieve justice incumbents who jumped on his without recourse to violence, or bandwagon, pathetic, prolonged marches. Without benefit of debaic on issues, ‘Vice President Agents of Alienation ¥ Humphrey has gathered unto Some sensitive’ people believe by the ack door, that so chronic is the alienation himself of the masses that “we must hundreds of delegate votes, He fashion a new political vehicle jis, according to the Gallup poll, “the cleay choice of 70 per cent (like the Peace and Freedom of the ‘nation’s Democratic Party) to meet the needs of Party County chairmen in every people ignored by the American region, and does best in the political machine.” We are like outh,”? taxed colonials, too often Commitment. by any without representation, but to attempt a 3rd party movement candidaté to such “old guard” preclude his is at best a longshot effort to factions _ would influence policy of the two supporting /realistically emerging legitimate ‘'new major parties, and at worse Politics’, on the local Jevel. an exercise in futility.: For example, on Chicago's While the machinery for side, August A. reconciliation is the law of the Southwest land, nevertheless obstacles Savage, a black publisher, is always spring up to block such challenging Mayor Daley’s that candidate for Congress (who ‘wse , of fundamental machinery as the right to vote. opposes school bussing and open Quo Daley are housing). . Status election of Boards themselves agents of alienation, eontrols the bulk of Chicago’s with intricate rules. and 118 delegates votes, which are safely in the regulations, indifferent ewonsidered registrars and formidable Humphrey camp. literacy tests. Toward Sclf-Determination In an outreach registration Fundamental io all change program last year thousands of poor New Yorkers registered jis that emerging people in the slums, on reservations, in the for anti-poverty corporations. Restrictions then limited the use rural areas. (as well as the of OEO -funds for voter suburbs) have the right to sclfThe candidate registration; bills introduced by determination. Rep. Williams of Delaware, last whom J support must be commilted to protect these emergOctober, now specifically prohibit use of both federal anti- jing people in their pursuit of poverty and migratory worker that right. funds for voter registration. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): un 15, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 11 In The Bronx Communit By MARIETTA J. TANNER Senator Robert Kennedy is I pray we will not dead, and the alleged killer of that all is lost with the despair untimely Martin Luther King is caught and tragic death of this one in one menentous week. Stunned man. Certainly, the young black Bronxites were saying on that men Mr. Kennedy had around morbid Thursday, a week ago: him must have learned “IVs all a plot to wipe gut something of the power of the anyone who helps black men will and the ballot, There was achieve their rights."’ 90 percent of the black voters But with the apprehension of in Watts, Rafer Johson risking James Earl Ray, perhaps black his lite to disarm the killer men will feel, as Kenneth Clark and the joyous Charles Evers out said: “that American justice drawing the vote of will work for us, too.” But black minorities in the cities made in victory men still have reason to be Mr. = Kennedy’s fearful: California a reality, The need Will Ray arrive safely back for black men to vote here in the United States? Will ha in the June 18 primaries is live throug a trial in Memphis, evan more urgent now. Tennessee? They want black As a candidate for delegate in the 2Ist CD who supports men to serve on the juries Senator Eguene MeCarthy, I an Kennedy's Robert iry Martin Luther King’s killers, for mourn the death of the senator. no one has a larger stake than Jt has taken the heart out of ut not the us in seeing to it that justice the campaign, is done. We which Mr. Kennedy so have been the causes nobly espoused. Polls indicate victims of innumerable delegates kangeroo courts; death and that the Kennedy violence has marked our history elected in California, Indiana, in the United States, just as South Dakota and elsewhere are it mow stalks the Kennedy rapidly swinging to Humphrey. They would do better to wait, family. and be a moral force at the A fair and thorough trial so Democratic Convention to sland that the full story of Sirhan’s fast for the minorities that were and Ray's deeds are known, indispensible to their election. bound to full citizenship for Negrocs United States. is inextricably in the Facing Your If I go to Chicago, I shall Join them in asserting that the cost of war has made a mockery Accusers Everyone has speculated as to the causes of violence: too many murders portrayed in the movies and on television; too muck reliance on “get rich quick” schemes, rather than the building of skills and character, making noteriety synonomous with fame, And then there is the lack of respect for human life itself, as expressed by the American Rifle Association which declares “no gun control of "great saclety” egislation, and in pressing for the money to implement the findings of the President’s commission on Civil Disorders. «Youth in Politics Young people everywhere are Tegarded as the vanguard of social change; and in the Bronx, Dennis Gardner, candidate for the 78th Assembly seat, has them, Born in Morrisania, Mr, Gardner has lived there all his =oe law that the mind of man could 23 years, ‘“‘Throvghout those caniceive, . . would have the years, lack of communily slightest effect in preventing involvement on the part of any of the assassinations of our elected politicians has been a cause of the dlatant neglect and ay.” Said Harold W. Glassen, misery of the people,” he said. Just recently, 59 cammunity president of the Association . + the availability of a weapon grotps requested $1,661,508 for Summer poverty programs, but has little to do with commission of a crime.” He recelved a meager $328,000 to indicated that a dietating fund only 20 groups. “Had our politicians been machine, telephone or picture frame could be used to kill truly committed,* Mr. Gardner! as easily as a gun, What a told ‘his 169th Street Subway marvellous chance to fight for stop audience, “‘they would have his life Martin Luther King, been duty bound to sce that’ Senator Robert or President this poverty ridden community John Kennedy might have had, without extensive programs like had dhey deen attacked by a Bedford-Stuyvesant or Harlem. got a larger share.” _ man wielding a picture frame. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Fun 29, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 12 In_ The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA I support Eugene the J. TANNER candidacy of because I McCarthy, helieve there is an opportunity in his candidacy for meaningful political involvement at the local level. He was the anly Senator man of integrity and legislative experience, who offers hope that I black people and other minorities determine and in their rise America can|' above thel! own destiny, who voted against both bills powerlessness and despair born!: limiting the use of poverty funds of dependency on handouts. Y for voter registration, In 1949 < voted to outlaw the poll tax; in 1959-60 he authored or coauthored ten major civil rights bills on lynching, voting registrars and discrimination in transportation. As a matter of principle, he tisked his 20-year career in government to actively oppose the war, causing President Johnson to withdraw, and to send envoys to peace talks with the Vietcong. The cost of war makes a mockery of “great society” legislation; there is no money to implement the findings of the President's Comnuission on Civil Disorders. Black adults generally do not ow MeCarthy’s record; but a growing number of black youths support him. Ending the war in Vietnam means life to hem; furthermore, McCarthy has spoken out for revision of the draft laws now weighted in favor of the college boy. and against the undereducated poor. If elected I will go to the convention as a McCarthy Delegate (with Leo Isacson and Jules Fiefer) ‘because he is a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Tul 5, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 In_The Bronx Communit onscious By By MARIETTA MARIETTA J. TANNER TANNER There have been fires and » came. ‘riots’. at other high schools in * in second in the race for the Bronx. A 17-year old black Democratie Councilman at Clinton senior, Guy Oliver, with potential” was Large, losing about 3 to one “leadership to the incumbent Aileen Ryan. killed May 22.1 Goenwald. Two | 23,000 votes is not too bad for black students were severely: Andrew Curtiss Parks the first time out, with no funds! beatened at Roosevelt. Their+ or high-powered staff. assailants, identified only in Most regretable is that he one case as “local toughs,” have did not carry all neighborhoods neither been found nor tried. where black people ‘These murders were buried deep predominate. “I’m not voting’ in the papers that made the . for him just because he’s indictment front page news. ‘A: * black,” black women on Boston man is innocent until he is Road told me as they proven guilty,” said Dennis campaigned for his opposition, Gardner, chairman of the Board But blackness is a part of the of Morrisania Community reason why he should have com- Corporation, ‘‘and it's high time manded all the black votes, and we see to it that the law works ; the white ones, of good will, for us.” ‘il Boynes, whg.too. Black people need someone alledgedly committed all thesp7 to take their position un- acts (an uninvited quest at, thp,equivocably; to bargain for Honorarium) was the faculty5 them in the Council chambers. advisor of the Afro-American* What black Bronx voice will History Club at Morris; the© speak out (here against school founder of the Black Arts budget cuts that profoundly Library on Prospect Avenue, a affect us? Even the two, Puerto lifetime community resident; a > Ricans Robert Lebron (who was graduate of Music and Art, a beaten in a 3-way race in the scholarship student at a city.: tenth) and Herman Badillo (wha college; ‘‘The best math teacher .; had two votes as Borough 1 ever had,” his students saye3 President) won't be there next A tutor in his spare times: year, It’s high time black people married and bout to be a father < began to think in terms of their « . . He has lost his Board own enlightened self-interest. of Education substitute's license, his livelihood, Similar reprisals, Honor jn the form of exclusions and It was Teacher Honorarium threats sre suffered by his co- Day, June 21 at the Gramercy! idefendent, Ronald Dicks, and Boy’s Club. The Morrisania Ed- his father, Harold Dicks, the ucational Council, sponsored it Citywide Education Chairman of © to honor “community oriented the NAACP. educators . . . whose sacrifices “Seeing to it that these enbled us to continue education defendents receive the conof our children during the work Stitutionally guaranteed trial by stoppage of 1968 . . .” Omittedijury, and not by slander protects from the roster honored schools of some I4/the rights of all,” Mr. Gardner was Morris|said. He called fay contributions High School, which a 23-year/to a Legal Def@pse Fund for old math teacher, Cyril Boynes|them. “By helping Mr. Boynes, and a few of his colleaguesjwe honor our teachers by letting had endured considerable|them know we will stand behind hardships to open and run. Cyriljthem.” Mr. Gardner continued: Boynes was also one of thel*We don’t know what the people indicted on May 19 forjramifications are in this case; “conspiracy arson,{opposing a total of 12 counts to riot, including}they unlawful assembly, possession ofjMr. all were Dicks very active in appeared for the teacher's has strike; dangerous weapons.” His picture|children at suspense hearings and that of his co-defendents,|for years. It’s in our best Ronald Dicks and Jerry Wooleylinterest made the front NY. Dailies. page not to Jet those of thelhave exercised leadership summarily struck down.’”” who be Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Tul 19, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe.6 In The Bronx By MARIETTA “It's hello again to all J. TANNER thetelevision for “doing too much readers who welcomed back our! for blacks and Puerto Ricans.” initial reentry and to the fellow Bronxites whose activities are | Before K.0O. the stuf this column is made | But, unfortunately, we never of. punch until Renewing old acquaintances ‘seem to feel the all over the Bronx, we find the blood starts. Welfare clients the more things change, the ‘as of July 1 must eke out a day’s rations on 90 cents per more they stay the same Puerto Ricans and blacks in Person; elderly poor have to pay $11.00 a visit to outpatient the South Bronx are still battling Clinics because of Medicaid cuts. it out for ascendency. Mode] Cities has the Federal Some of us went personally to letter of credit for $21.5 million Albany to appeal, but legislaand could jJaunch its program tors didn’t give a hoot about non-voting black residents. tomorrow, if Ramon Velez and | his Multi-Service Center cohorts | Without bothering to be subtle: would not insist upon their they are socking it to us: Take: the case to Aileen B, Ryan, the| private brand of ‘community contze]” (meaning Puerto Rican i darling of the law and order Democrats, whom many blacks contrd].) ! recently helped return to office. | Councilwoman Lacky Fights Ryan and two But. why not have a good! allies in Albany are sponsoring fight in the ghetto for control?! a dill to license building Everyone else does, why not| wreckers and demolition the blacks and Puerto Ricans, ,companies in order to ‘drive: or even the blacks among the fly-by-night wreckers from themselves. Power has got to the business.”’ Guess who those be won; nobody is giving it “fly-by-night wreckers”’ are? : up without a fight, Let’s look! Why they are the infant black: at some of the recent battles, with fisticuffs and threats no and Puerto Rican companies less, among non-ghetto that have been supported by Manpower. Neighborhood residents: “movers” who have gotten The Fusco versus the apital from OEO to get Ribustelio forces really swung ‘surance and some equipment for control of the Bronx County - order to demolish some of Republican party at their the buildings coming down in convention, Black Bronx ‘he ghettos. Republicans watched the tables “With the vast new slum being turned over by law and and Model Cities order Republicans from the vlearance getting underway.”| North Bronx said: “for shame”! drograms Mrs, Ryan said, “ite and promptly got themselves that we move; together behind John Lindsay, is essential to bar these for whom they had delivered quickly a. 342 to 1 margin in the Prim- inexperienced, greedy firms from doing business in New ary, York.” Hot breath and bad blood were! Mrs. Ryan responded toi on the agenda as usual when the New Democratic Coalition appeals of the Demolition Industry Board and the House met Wednesday to resolve Reform (Keanedy wing versus Wreckers Union, Local 95, both McCarthy dissidents) and of which have inconsequential upstate versus urban slack memberships. O£ course, differences. Scattered black We are not against regulation -of the industry; we have taken were there, but were not representative of the troops to more than most. But the effect command respect and af the Ryan legislation would recogaition. Still by watching the be to let everyone now operating fights, blacks saw the men being in, and require all manner of proof and credentials of new separated from the boys. While NDC officially talked applicants, thereby excluding new alignment with minorities, minorities. So why squabble about some of its membership was ready to paint Mario Prococcino “community control” of Model! ‘“Hberal,” and to discredit Paul! Cities; those who your apathy! O’Dwyer’s -attempt . to work)or your vote have made: out -a fusion -tickel-with John legislators will still see to it Lindsay, Prococeino many sound that you have none of the gravy. folksy, beware and of look cherubic, the company but .Let’s Register he and Vote! keeps. “Welcome aboard,” said he to John J. Cassesse of the PBA, wkom you may remember| denounced the Mayor on/ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 2, 1 969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa.4 In The |Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The poverty war is still with us, dut not expending all its energies to fight poverty as the thousands ef poor people in the Bronx might wish “Give my workers their money, now, so they can cash their checks,” the Neighborhood Youth Director at South Bronx Community Corporation yelled to the Chairman of the Board, Francisco Lugovina last Friday afternoon. The names of the signers of checks had the bank been switched to eliminate at Frank ‘appoint committees said Mr. the members that Lugovina. constituted Committee Wright’s was will The duly Personnel recommended dismissai. notified to work,” after the Mr. He Board met in executive session and accepted that report, since he did not appear before the Board to answer charges hand delivered to him that day.” “I answered in writing, requesting formal charges with specifications, and time.’ Mr. Wright said. Seven weeks before, the same Board had cited Frank Wright’s outstanding performance, and recommended that his salary be raised from $15,000 to $19,000 Wright, the Executive Director, deposed by order of the Personnel Committee. The fight between the Board and the Executive director over who should approve publications, annually. Majority Myth whether a dance should be “Puerto Ricans are in_ the given, or whether the here.” said Mr. Corporation automobile should majority be used for weddings, etc, had Lugovina, "and they are coming of age, ready to take more finally hit the fan. responsibility in the Corporation. Boards Flounder This is a public corporation, | Poverty corporations in each and our staff is interracial, but : of the four areas of South Bronx you must consider your, are readying themselves for ‘population in relation to those elections, This year Council ‘who serve them.” : Against Poverty has provided Mr. Lugovina piaces Puerto! for ethnic balance by selection PRican population at between 60! of some members to eliminate and 70 percent. “The figures’ the major cause of strife. South are inaccurate, but even if they Bronx has published a most at- were correct, the Puerto Ricans tractive booklet (FACTS) ex- cannot “have” this corporation; plaining duties of its 3¢-mem- on that basis any more than ber Board and eligibility re the blacks can ‘‘have’’ quirements for candidate and Mississippi,” said Mrs. Murray.; the electorate. She charged that groups from But despite the intention, and other communities, ‘‘the same| repeatedly’ come to the improved procedures veoole Bronx, disrupting hammered out over long months South meetings, and forcing) of wrangling, these boards may of those Puerto, continue to strangle themselves conformity and impede the functioning of/Ricans who would be: their Corporations by thejreasonable. j : In Hunts Point from manipulation constant Blacks have reported similar without, and the flouting of the rules and mandates of their jtacties at Hunts Point where. ‘Puerta Rican dominance is nat} charter. The struggle in the South supported by ethnic demography) Bronx is essentially an ethnic leither. Raleigh Davenport of the; one. Reasonable people on both {Council Against Poverty in a study cites population sides say: ‘We can get along, 1968 as follows: Hunts we do work together, but we: statistics are caught in a power play.” Point, 28% Black, 49%Puerto| For example. Lucille Murray, Rican, 23% other; Morrisania,’ the convenor of the Bylaws 64% black, 29% Puerto Rican,' Committee of the Board said 4% other: South Bronx, 22% “New bylaws were drawn up, black, 43% Puerto Rican, 35% ‘ . and I was not even present other. Clearly the Puerto Rican at the meeting. . .” She charged that the meeting majority in Bronx poverty areas avas convened by the Chairman, is a myth not a mandate for of all poverty and and on the basis of these bylaws, control ‘Mr, Wright was asked to vacate Federal funding based on thase his position. Further, Mrs. May indices. come “other” Compromise must (the J. Silvermann member on the Board) com- swiftly between blacks and plained that ‘she was appointed Puerto Ricans as resentment myth” to committees without her over the ‘dominance high. Recently Nasry knowledge, and was not called runs president to the meetings of those Michelin was named Community College 8, the of committees. Moreover, the blacks on the same peoples ‘names appear although again and again an committees, Committee favored any of the Puerte Ricans rendering many Board members four other named. inactive,” Mrs. Murray said. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 9, 1969: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 16 In_The_ By -A Bronx MARIETTA month has passed J. TANNER since revolves right out again when South Bronx received the $21.5 the spoils are dispensed. Mon allocated for Model articulate, One young spokesman for the Citywide Black Independent Voters, Bill (Strickland, says political Cities; but not a penny has been spent. A day care center for children of mothers without partners could have beenlarithmetic shows that black operating; 15 additionatipeople were critical in the 1965] sanitation trucks, sidewalk|Lindsay victory. “In 1965, 2% sweepers and a special vacant, Million people voted. Lindsay lot cleanup program might be|beat Beame by 100,000 votes. functioning now in the Model |Lindsay’s total consisted of, neighborhoods. 870,000 Republicans and 290,00) But control” policy the phony issue, board “communit perpetuated “Since there were only 620,000 by members who/registered Republicans in the. self-interest beforelCity, we know that at least place community need, keeps progress 230,000 Democrats crossed over at a stalemate. to support Lindsay ... When we examine who some of those The Defective Model Democrats were, we discover Last week members of the, that 40 per cent ot the Black supported Lindsay. Policy Committee met with community Mayor Lindsay who reiterated At that time, black registration was 584,000. If only 50 per cent that he must follow the Federal mandate: City agencies must of the black vote turned out run the programs. He noted! (297,000), 40 per cent of that that East St. Louis (which some! figure is 117,000, or almost the policy members had cited as exact margin of the Lindsay . having community control) was victory.” We contend that black people: in danger of losing its grant. can be decisive in the upcom“The Mayors of Cities must’ ing election. be responsible,” he said. But A new crop of registered Lindsay is reluctant to initiate voters is crucial to a Lindsay| programs without the consent victory in November. Only of the comm«munity. mit ‘blacks and Puerto Ricans (who may exercise control when ihe ‘have nowhere else to go) can program is erway 7 counted on to enlarge stopping any activity which they ibe ‘Lindsay’s voting base ‘without feel is ineffective. ! ing his competitors. The Whilec the South Bronx Policy rm ‘crucial question for Mr. Committee fitters away thel Strickland is: “What happens|: camp the summer.|'Lindsay?” Heretofore there hasi funds (all must be spent within|-to black people after November, | a 12month period), 1,000/ after they have voted 65 per! children could have been in'cent to 80 per cent for: for Concerned citizens should write'jbeen no relationship between: to George Rodriguez, Model black appointments and power‘; Cities Chairman, 3164 Third/jin the black community. “This!: Ave. demanding that programs|itime the reelection strategy for)! be implemented immediately. {iblacks must be tied to gaining: The Revolving Door August is emergency registration month when every black adult should make sare ithat power,” he said. : le For Chancellor é High on the list of possibilities t 1 sas Chancellor of Education for é ithe City of New York is Dr.l) Bernard Friedman, nowl} Assistant Superintendent of} ‘District No. 7. He kept his} he can vote in November. Mississippi and Eutaw, Alabama have pointed the way. Black people who virtually put their lives on the line, voted and won victories which changed the ‘schools open during the school}; complexion and the diction (they strike; he has maintained|: dialogue withl, can say Negro now instead of ‘meaningful Nigra) of Southern politics. community groups; under his| his district has Neighborhood registration leadership, stations are open Wednesday, welcom ¢ and initiated Thursday, Friday from 4 to 1¢/| innovative programs. P-m., Saturdays 10 to 6. Citizens|, Mrs. Blanche Dixon, now) willing to assist their neighbors'\chairman of the South Bronx; in_the registration house should or bBiock|Community contact St. tion Augustine Presbyterian Charch, |respected the Bronxwide Headquarters ofjeducation, the black drive. Corporation| Committee, fighter a for parent a quality whose association with Dr. Friedman We must register, we mast/extends over many years, is vote, we must make ourselves; staunclily in his corner. a political force. But we must; “In him we would have a not be again the “revolving| mian who knows the problems door’ Negro. This is the black|of urban education firsthand, who gets into politics during| and who has had some success the campaigns, when thelin dealing with them. That’s politicoes need him, and! what we need at the top. | Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Aug 16, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 In The By Ever Bronx MARIETTA. since Dr. J. TANNER Helen {2qually among the three poverty! ’ Mitchell’s car was bombed to’ ‘2orporations, hasten her ouster as Director; ' Each 5 would get 1/3 cf a fund } of the Hunts Point Community Progress Center, this columo ‘ho bolster their services, and I\would in turn distribute it), as sought an end to the Mafia. like gangmen who take control! ‘among their delegate agencies.i’ dispute centers around’ fatal The of the public meetings and, parpatation’s:, subsequently, the poverty funds! i 4 it i Service in thene. South Bronx, stifling |Gche!gatethat itagencyshouldto share be the equ:only : legitimate communityiin that pies receiving . e esualy| participation. { i Share as ¢ The hoods have grown fatter he corporations. | . In effect this would mean that!’ since 1967; they have made delegate agency would themselves look respectable the behind = fancy titles and! rot the parent corporation,| iC. ‘Joe {Which is practically the case! ghaulfearcrtenutomabls npvay.. Men and worms) with chains and Knives ¥ the employ of Multi-service siti vot those Tet ion the Board of Model Cities!’ down their“ir opposition with (8 of 23 members) on Mes: the! corporation, and domination of! automobiles Oppas they wndid the!poog Hunts and Point young social worker, their population. Edwin| . ‘another, must be enforced forj; . . yall agencies, nat just the 163rd]j One of their job duties seems Street Improvement Council. Not satisfied with a huge share. some elements in South to be to attend meetings, and! And further, citizens who want!! they come when ordinary’ Bronx feet they must contro} the poverty monies used to! and. better conditions in South Bronx it all. The Multi-Service i@itizens (housewives Vaborers are absent.: Corporation in Hunts Point, for must beware of the enemy example, has a budget of about Commanding a majority, and. within: who are the people! $8-million yearly, ane ‘Speaking with the conviction of whose mullifarious dealings: ‘authority. continuously gets other control every program where. Enemy Within contracts for pest control and large sums of money are: This is how it was fast sanitation through other funds. agarmarked for the public goad? i1 [Wednesday at Medel Cities, Black people, who campose Black Business i! when at 7:30; roughly 28 per cent of the ‘Headquarters, Concerning the question af%, population of Hunts Point, have ‘Bm., Multi-service and Hunts ‘money for black business, the!’ literally no aceess to these iPoint Corporation forces clashed Reverend Edler G. Hawkins of iprior fo a scheduled meeting. funds. Recently, a black woman It was to be the showdown St. Augustine Presbyterian|! deputy director of Multi-Service, an internationally! Session anyway. The Board was (Church, was called “the moving spirit” respected churchman, and behind the corporation. But a Gut in full, many to peacefully ehairman of the Presbyterian|' Some to a decision so that the Jook at the structure of that $21.5 million, wasting away in ‘Economic Deyelopment|' corporation reveals that she has)j, he bank, could begin to be Corporation, says that! no structure under her, no Spent. But, for the enforcers, organization has $10 million for!! services and funds to be deputy the usual slapping around in investment in ghetto projects. of. All authority stems from ithe early evening didn’t work CHE Davis on the Board of]: her counterpart in the’hierachy, ithis time; the mecting was ‘Freedom National Bank, is the George Rodriquez. sfancelied by George Rodriguez, man to sec for business loans Ethnic Character ‘Model Cities chairman; death and certificates of deposits from’, So the fight for a fair share: ¢ame to opposition at 9:45 p.m, $2000 to 2-million through the has had an ethnic characters Now we ask, will murder: Interracial: Council on Business ! — black against Puerto Rican. i bring the authorities to the aid,2pperiunity of PECDO. However, lately, Puerto Rican‘of inexperienced citizens trying: groups, too, have begun to speak to manage their own affairs? out against the monopoly which:If we are not careful, South excludes a large segment of|Bronx Corporation will be next. Rivera, last Wednesday. A Corporation, powerCouncil Against Poverty struggle is now in full swingi¢ontinues to shirk its between Salvator Almeida, a/responsibility in the Wright vs former assemblyman (and close|Lugovinia situation there: Bob friend of the victim) and the|Wright is the director, with forces of Ramon Velez, director |responsibility for funds; yet of the Multi-Service center. ‘Board action, characterized by] Multi-Service is a delegate’ many of the same tactics listed: agency of the Hunts Piint shove, ‘by Washington prevents Corporation. It is a pilot project, gigning checks, that will probably nol be funded| Who then will directly year, The committee next'accountable hasiand for improved be funds? from! held Rules| safeguards decreed that Model Cities money |regarding conflict in South Bronx will be divided ‘like employment Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. him of interest, with one Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious By MARIETTA J TANNER, New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 23, 1969. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 4 In The By Bronx MARIETTA J. TANNER enemas There are 91,000 unregistered, know eligible black voters in the inseparable even a fourth. i frome 7 Is Bronx; but unless we get down |(Albert Shanker has Pitlin athe: to business, not UFT’s intensive and te of them will he registered this! frankly political the (extensive year. Only registered votersiWhen we A have mew role,) may participate in the mayoral-! powertu! part of the elector te ity in-November and the schoo}, we can turn our energies toward beard elections in drive February. The registration Bronxwide Headquarters, developing “‘systems relevant to is on: the black experience” in the'as well as education politi as Urban Task Force, 1158" Wilcox suggests , Washington Ave., 669-1140. . Materials and information are College No, § available there weekdays and . To the author of a Saturdays. Registered their own apartment voters.t0 the editor last Mr. ‘ letter week, can help by simply calling to!implicating me (as an alternate say that they wish to canvass. Member of the Screening building: Committee for the president of [to assist these unregistered; Community Colleze No. 8) in jtenants in getting to the nearby ; complicity with the choice: the ‘registration sites. committee members reached | Getting In agreement that the president | There is apathy; but our job, Should be Puerto Rican (since! lis to dispel it. At the Kelly; one college in the Bronx has, Street Block Association street) meeting recently, Paul Butel,; black president), but that he Should be one acceptable to all. Socialist Workers candidate for} The dominating faction, which mayor, talked of the similarity;Claimed a majority and and do-nothing attitude af both! wanimily among all of its major political block parties. dwellers’ The members, soon genera), Spirit, of abandoned the! comnromise,|! sentiment was that the present} demanding in the letter writer’s|’ political structure was own words, “exclusively a irrelevant; they concurred with|-Puerto Rican choice.” . Mr, Butel that “black people/ Some excellent candidates): should form their own political; were interviewed, meeting the party.” veriteria of legitimate experience with political process. Once machinery people and|‘ways to open doors to higher are education and thereby job registered, let them decide what opportunity for black and Puerto to do with their vote. Ricans trapped at This week in Atlanta, a slay,of the economy. University Conference of Black| Educators will convene, I the participated with;sereeving, some important ideas on making: minority, as a part I was not bottom in_ this of the a_parly DeRESMEaSUAUWRERaeaannenoes Pec AD Re PM ne But black people in the Brony ‘in the community, emphathy are not sufficiently registered ‘with residents, scholastic, or active in any political party, €xcellence, committment to the: and have had little experience!Iprime objective of finding new institutions relevant to the black'{tto the disruption of the March life style. Preston Wilcox, the; ll meeting when the Screening chancellor and President, in his| (Committce was to report ‘le the Convention Call rejected {urther;community; where Puerto debate over whether integration) IRicans and blacks sat on or nationalism is the thing for Separate sides of the raom, and lack people. where many of the same men! “Forget the rhetoric about, who lurked outside the screening; other people’s goals for us.”;committee door, (inlerrupting! 1e said, “Our job is to develop /aften to confer with the auther| strong black families and of the letter) refused to allow | communities, using the tools we|the coramunity to hear the feel are necessary, applying|qwalifications of the candidates! them however we see fit.” jaind to make their choice on! Our Own Thing ‘that basis, There was concern at Kelly; Jt is one thing to finh Street for the black home and with bare hands, and quite sommunity too, Patrick Aga, {another Fordham University Student and;behind with you. Director of the School for Self-|“‘community a whole With a so agency called committee,’’ Defense, urged residents to|(whose-major effort seemed to protect black women andjbe to drum up support for the thildren, and cooperate with one|IMichelen. nomination), it was another. Robert LaForey, the/@asy to -solict 500 signatures. assistant director and “big| Perhaps this is why the College jaddy” to all the kids, sees/No. 8 has become a_virtna! yrogress toward their’ goal of|mork barrel for the Multi-Service mproving black home life! Corporation. x ‘through an awakening sense: Its Board Chairman = is)® f pride and self assurance ‘Community Affairs Director of|§ specially in the children.” ‘ {College No. 8; a high ranking | ¢ Both Mr. Wilcox and Mr.;sitalfer and Model Cities board vaForey seem to view education! member is admissions officer. is the prime instrument for/and the author of the letter ‘harge; yet anyone who hasjto the editor is slated to receive vorked for quality schools!tlhe public relations spot. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 30, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 2 In The Bronx 6 Community: 7- : Conscious By MARIETTA F 8 J. TANNER ,_ Im one of the hottest routines borhoods runs high in in AUantie City nightclubs this | Williamsbridge, but with some summer, a comedian describes; differences among residents as how black people can “teah up’ ||to method. This is one of the a neighborhood. His colloquy is:oldest black communities _in packing them in, and rolling in the folks are |New York; aisles about some @ families” declare of the “first that welfare golf course that was beautiful, !clicnts, the lower-class Harlem Just lyimg there, ripe for attack slumdwellers are ruining the by black encroachment. ypace. They want to enjoy : ‘undisturbed t heir beautiful i Just Dying homes and lovely patios; and Psychologist say you can ce tell ave worked haru for a clean, " in je et ete sem quiet neighborhood. This desire Pomselves. Remember when ian aura of conservatism to the ithe those cect [years ago; |Boston-Secor ye “ear ;tO Maintain gentility has given down soho “worn an prea ing |homeowners of Williamsbridge. to eas shout cursclves? Thee iThey fought the construction of has been 2. slight chan ein pEdenwald Projects some 15 : humor: ‘ to that and theTheyrecent: houses. fear| tickle the funnybone, most | the black youths that come out a eva a ng whiley Tae o with of Edenwald “tas destructive and; ye ie Beet aa - radical.” ‘Not so,” says George oni. id seemed a Sands, “These youngsters wee tr oe fas le ac . me. people ate jwithe at their they services, that resorted to gangs." is why ldeteriorating neighborhoods: but’ sands is adult chairman of they blame each other 5 usually the Youth Leadership! | ewcomers — for the Foundation. YLF brought the| itistbeldge ws peing ‘i year {ten yet done. YMCA-Mobile unit to territory was beautiful,” a controlled by a black resident said, “intereerime’? this amy poole. came, hen n jools, née Parks, everything went.” ni You still have “without a gang called: sn mert spec. of trouble,” according to Y-director, Mrs. Norma n Gearge. . YLF iss a hon: : Avenue but he garoee pal eeannace “Sag” ueaty litter, the pakept Buildings, the ‘Collins, the young president. Its, lanhattan thouth “trom Ie ough where Woodyerest ere comma ai fools appear aS |program helt iented ! is designed by youth: some plague has struckiwho used its services. Its a quiet, well-kept!members include youngsters| rug Samuelra ne UGE OP Ise‘ Ueda community was. elementary ; who y there schoo] made had formed isters” fords.” this point: “The landlords havelencouraged not really abandoned buildings,”’ she said. “But and the lenants don’t are that Jewish have each other the business advisor works with for| VLF's Frank Platt, and others. acts‘heading up a Laundromat, the Irish have fied, and: business venture. On August als their, YLF signed landlords still! despite control, decisions,| togerer e@ co. while and to make the but on every committee adults jadvise, For example, Mrs. Mary families politicians of! are so new,,D, Osborne, a real estate dealer, : trust enough to in their rights.” societies an e ‘*Priben Voungsters are a the lease, mysterious fire and, that: and are not/almost ruined the premises the| responsive to new constituency, the new |day before YLF took over. They lare determined to pad othe The Action mm million ro dollar Concourse business. not extend . ea m * i to Highbridge that y were the old jokes were saying was|AUgust we stilli YLF will hold “the does {Edenwald Cultural Renaissance| what Friday, August 29Saturday through and31 Sunday,' at the} on the clothe us. 29 Bronxwooe Ce throug Inneeiti to help pay; ! plantation: that Massa was‘Property acquisition expenses, supposed to do something for!2nd to show doubting Thomases us, like give us a decent placej What they can do. to live; feed and But when you declare you are) Slightly Revolutionary These kids are interested in| t: no longer a vassal, you must jeening up their neighborhoods, | it a better place! take the iniative yourself. is revolutionary: This) .nq making tenants mustit, jive,” Mr. Sands said. They take over the buildings that are! 44, and sist attractive still liveablestrong, and _with determina-i yay planning a benefit to asa local church to fund a care center, These young- tion, preserve them. :sters know first hand what it; means to be poor, without re Freedmen The spirit to preserve the|Sources, and without adult su-! beauty of their own neigh-!pervision. : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Sep 6, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 44 In The Bronx Community Conscious By Ralph MARIETTA Benjamin J. TANNER is young, leaving,’ Mrs. Beauford said. black and wears a bush. Three! But we invited them inside our things that made him stand out storefront. and our people from most of the Board of brought the residents Elections registrars working’ downstairs, out of the bars ,and during the August Voter off the stoops, encouraging them Regisiration Drive. Black every step of the way until Independent Voters Committee: they became registered voters.” workers with the Mobile Unit; Hor teadership trainees were on McKinley Square last: suests at the League of Women Thursday observed him moving ‘Voters Luncheo nin July “which among the people like he knew opened our eves to see that that voter registration is aM women who vote can be such; outreach job. Said citizen Lucyia force, , with such power,”, she’ : Vigay: “Registrars can't just|saig sit insidt the schoolhouse and’ “ expect people te come in.: Several Corporatio Someone has to go tell people. agencies n held of the similar, to come out and register: thenj®! the Morrisania Community; the registrars have fot to make {programs: LAB OR's was, tm fel wont ar reget area,by erty Manito 3s eine essterd they i Hennessey. Each group participated in voter registraticn {because “it was inseparable . The New Breed Maybe Ralph Benjamin is ajfrom community control.” Their prototype for the new registrars breed:|Workshop leaders paid to do a selling politicians included like Joseph Galibur job for the Board of Elections, and Sy not to do the citizens a favor, ;Lorraine Posner; educators, Hale and Marie planning to push legislation tolniict No. 12° Schoolboard! ‘ ; : :Thomas; as wellEloise as community Voter registration workers are fea ders’ like Krause,j chang,e roads in NES Chan and Geraldine sm go through all New York’s reat MUST. tape in California, for example. Not Registered You can register by mail, or: Unfortunately, he registered at their residence. This voters were not 4,000 black registered in is expecially urgent for the Bronx. But some very good black registration. since blacks things like the OURS enthusias: are shy about signing anything;|eommendation is in order for about getting themselveS:frma Moore, and Marietta involved with any legal forms. ifango in the rein; Bob York + Know and Ida Townsend in University ep Don’t Know _iArea; James. Roundtree and thie ve been soak : . Ralph barmiette : Benjamin o said, every were: Oe rane RnOW about. They q ‘18 Godley ‘Bronx; Chet ‘‘and gonie’ Jones oot Concourse, allitremont:; in South! Henderson and: in Cross Bronx-| Dorothy Margaret Mays in’ Hall and think they @re-atary Thomas in Morrisania; signing don’t up forreally some think candidate.| nq" ann Gaddy. in Brucknerthey coundview They have a choice, registration the jong will .une or that” help them Someone bia ut we oat voting eam Ne Beauford, * ao . have funds ot ‘ together i not,” Mrs. PACKS Beauford said. But we know that! ‘ihe long hard winter is upon “them, and the realities for Gut Re ch Grace , in’ on a hen on edn and the:earning a living for ihe black, parents of schoal children vio ivoman (makes olunteering fall: worked with her in the OURS’ tim Pe e ague of: Leadership Training for Local/Women Voters women do) even| Contrel program this summer, for so urgent a cause as this,’ learned what voter registration ‘an impossibility. means, “and they will never; Speaking | of elections: Each be the same ee, said. Ten of the Commuaity Corporations: trainees. Obadi ‘cod, Delia. South Bronx, Hunts Point,’ Martinez, Edith Hichs, Clarine;Morrisania, Tremont and now; jrcher, Rey, Steel,pasa and pom River ai are preparing : Marguerite Brown od ajfor their elections. Slates of: Lawrence and Genevalcandidates are due or past due.| Vanderpool — registered 33;The Federation of South Bronx: people in less than two hours!Community when the Mobile Unit came 833 E.- 167th Street. to'however, Organizations. is calling a special’ meeting September 4 at Sachs| “First the Mobile's staff Auditorium. Percellus Jones of: couldn’t stand the smell of our,the East Side Neighborhood: block, and said they were: House is chairman. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Sep 13, 1969: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 44 In_The By MARIETTA There was the Judicial at Bronx plenty J. TANNER at stake the candidates different enough Convention the Commodore at ‘to warrant the extra effort. last Saturday,’ ‘The other Mario's, Biaggi and and delegates gathered were the 'Proceacino, are backing Merola; “people's choice” to select eight ard the company one keeps is pupreme court justices to fill always revealing. Biaggi, who oOurteen - year terms for y Manhattan ard the Bronx. There ces i were the gavel, and the podium. made ang: pitchers there was of water, nothing to and Lejuene TeSsi i concrete headlines saan at recently amp about the + hite sergeants at arms, and pia, i ; pafliamentarians to enforce Mee cating up oe Roberts . Rules ‘of Order. sBut. e iproudest of his; voluntary decide.‘ contro} The eight candidates had already been selected, bill, whieh rent Tandlords were supposed to comply with jock month and most ‘didn’t somenshere. 4 and asa undetermined individuals, landlords’ interests: ever ‘s effect, anyway, serves three outside this august body. The Rubber Stamp .years without putting ina sinigle improvement, the landlord .The Reformers, led by Robert! gets a 15 percent increase, and Abrams, candidate for Borough! even if services are removed President of the Bronx. walked‘ nothing is done. out, declaring that “there had? Israel Rubin been no screening of any of the-thoughtful nominees by any and, therefore. were unprepared a panel make 2!] “Last yearsthe of citizens lawyers, quiet, a fine delegcterideferded attest. A young man to the Botein committee, consisting/an of the but committee "lawyer, the many blacks he has the determination, is kind; know was andl goodbye reviewed standing subway cigarette, to a friend. thelajlegedily outside turnstile, carrying unlighted accosted saying by He was two qualifications of judiciallpolicemen, beaten severely, nominees, (Men not considered| cursed about his African qualified by the Botein now sit/ ancestors, on the bench, anyway.) and arrested for But,!resisting arrest. Rubin defended at least, there was some wider/him, ard many others without participation in the selection charge. “The Councilman should process. “The convention h2s'be that Little City Hall, X now reverted to the old-Mfayor Lindsay politics,” said Bert Bauman, aljsrac] talks Rubin said. about,” The fellow dist AD Delegate, ‘with 'incumbent makes no effort to courty leaders dictating the!set around the district, or to choices based on factors.'atterd the Planning Board generally excluding judicial meetings, qualifications.” and therefore, is not the link to City Hall that the, When blacks complain about-community needs.” Mr, Rubin unequal justice, we might well believes the black communities begin to review how Little we of Williamsbridge and Edenwald’ have to do with the selection will be swamped by Co-op City,/ of justices. Only three Bronx which will be a 90 percent white: assambly distriets had any black woting block.” unless they elect| representation, and these were'a councilman sworn to serve! not united behind a position or‘all the people.” ! candidate. we lack Bronxite was put forward. One black.; Black oe Woman Power Andrew Tyler of Manhattan was ana i important to ey out, nominated. But we were ju cower Pe process, and that a oom Officials excluded from the real selection 517 POreT the ow are being | : black: never: selected or, appointments as well, and all issues decided. Bronx Wome: | the secretaryships and underling positions at §17.000 up. The! recisely that eptember 13 Political Chicago tn at Saturday,. Town Hall.! convention, National as thelyy Giien ere 1 Congresswoman Democratic “rill, keynote Shirley: the. debacle illustrated, is obsolete; [C 1s oti 1 mesin ot the acd further. a_ justice should Unved Black Women's Political not owe party. his allegiance Moore, the \ prltical The need to fer@ League. . Mrs. Erma eee rsform is evident and urgent./Bronx chairman, active in voter Why should not we spearhead registration, is a headstart a teacher at the St. Paul's iw ay . [episcopal Church PLAN center. _Speciat Election = i1509 women from four boroughs Running for Councilmarjand all walks of life will attend. at the top of the Brony|phe main thrusts is to organize (Williamsbridge to Israel Mario Rubin, Merola, who will facelfamilies.” which the group feels the incumbent,lare being threatened and Riverdale):tg “protect black homes and 16. is hard enough the..issues are in a Special Election September Ishattered by laws and policies. It to getinot profound, and‘ggss, designed in our best, people out to vote in the regular /interests. Tickets may be: primary (which Rubin wou by!secured by calling Ida! a contested narrow margin), but!*Townsend, coordinator, at 29+: : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Sep 20, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New Yo: tk Amsterdam News pg. LL hopelessness, In The lives on drugs.” Bronx MARIETTA ruin their Cut Robberies The By will Fourth Platoon, which Mayor Lindsay fought suceessfully for, has . cut robberies by 23.2 percent and felonious assult by 11.2 per cent in the four months of the: experiment. J. TANNER Mr. Lindsay cared enough “Racism is the issue in this writing up the policy of the about law and order to test election campaign,” said Ethelin organization, Civil Liberties this plan in a heavily black and Puerto Rican area — the Dubin of Brooklyn to a cheering Attorney Holmes {7th Eleanor Division which included crowd of 750 black women at Norton, the co-chairman said: Morrisania — where poor people Town Hall Saturday. Mrs. Dubin “Nothing better illustrates the \1J_ know are stripped constantly was enunciating the position on to ,of woman black for hard-earned clothing the Mayorality election of the need wnusua’ imecessities, their than and minor United Black Women’s Political organize League which has formed to Proximity {o the major domestic| [conveniences by drug addicts problems of our time Zhe opponents of John Lindsay. “develop black grassroots problems, indecent ‘are conspicuous by the silence womanpower as 2 pvlitical consumer housing, inadequate and in the Fourth Platoon fight; foree.” : Standing ovations greeted degrading welfare programs, . and their supporters, namely Congresswoman Shirley|} « « Black men and children John Cassesse of the PBA, Chisholm, the keynote speaker look to their wife and mother vehemently opposed it, to find for her family a way We think that now is the time and inspiration for the group’ whom, they said, “by her to make a home amidst the ifor dialogue between groups whe poverty and blight that engulfs care about this City, less racism independence and commitment ignite the powder keg, rekindling to her people, exemplifies what our communities.” So therefore, the United Black old hatreds between whites, ar black women could stand for Political League j well aS against blacks. in American politics today.” Women’s bi jGhisholm had Crossed turned its resources inward — to strengthen the black home party lines in support of Jo Lindsay, and was threatened by and family, pledging war on State Democratic Chairman|‘© islators and administrative policies that were not in our for Procaccino) with loss of her best interest, ‘“‘so that the NY State Democratic National quality of black family life wil ‘not. deteriorate beyond repair.” Committee woman seat. “Let them bring me up on: The stability of the black charges,” Shirley Chisholm said, home, they noted, is threatened “Franklin Delano Roosevelt had by the war, by poverty, by |done the same thing, in support) powerlessness, and by the lack of Fiorello LaGuardia, and of “law and order.”‘The Mafia nothing was done.” Thus she control led drug traffic assures proclaimed black women free that our communities will be and equal. Her audience wildly crime infested, and that many responded with support of her of our young men, in their position, and their determination John Burns (now campaignin; to work for the election of John indsay for Mayor. . ~ Now ¢o the question of racism, and. ‘What tH means for Mr, ay to have the support of black women activists in each borough. Black people, even if we got every living one out to vote, would only be 15 per cent of the electorate — but crucial! But then, the Mayor has indicated that he would be the Mayor of “all the minorities.” The Jews are the largest minority, and some of them are rabidly anti-Negro, but they are not too comfortable with conservatives and reactionaries either, Somewhere, somehow (and why not in New York City) white people have got to begin to see that there is no hiding place down here. Black people jare everywhere! Who can deny justice for such Americans as we: after all we have been in this country for 400 years; our ancestors were here before the Mayflower; our fathers anc sons fought in every war this country has had; we are a part of the very fiber of this Jand and most assuredly this City. Common Problems Now is the time to sit down as equals, and talk about the future. Whites who think about the future and have learned something from the . must recognize that keeping blacks back is a costly business. Welfare cuts hurt black families its true, hut the chieslers black and white are usually ablebodied, and are now finding new ways to chiesle. The blind, the sick, the aged, the dependent children of all: racial groups are suffering the: 66e a day. A NY Times reporter’ in Baychester noted that the white-taxi-driver homeowners and there waiter. see the Mayorality as a ‘test of strength between the black poor and the white lower middle class . and Procaccino as the champion of their interests.” Though they mouth law and order and label destructiveness black, they have to admit that property values have not gone down when blacks bought homes, because blacks as well as whites have the same ‘aspirations for thelr families. Our Homes First And this emerged so positively from the Saturday meeting. In Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohi ibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Sep 27, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 28 with a $9,400. a In_ The BA lack In d2gree starts Washington, of at there enthusiasm is for improving the lot of the poor. Rey Wilkins has noted it: the black elected officials scored it, and the New Careerist got the: cold treatment as further proof. : Imporiant Side Effects The purpose of Title I ESEA may have been to raise the Bronx Community Conscious. achievement level of disadvantaged school children, ; but improving the ability of their parents to earn a living was certainly a worthwhile The New Careerist met in/der program. And it will take 10; peripheral benefit. The SeptemWashington last week, andiyears before they get the BS: ber UFT newspaper reported learned a hard lesson: the funds degree, at the present rate of! “the job picture for black is are not available to develop New 'g credits per semester. These worsening and. . . the By MARIETTA J. TANNER Careers for the Poor. ‘were to Simeon satGolar and Albert: weapon down to a friendly, Shanker have been for “community| whites a secretiynemployment control.” getting the knowledge| television discussion Sunday and, and skill to man jobless ‘and gap black rate between in widening. poverty schools’ neighborhoods “increased from heaved a sigh of relief: no ugly | properly; the rest was merely'73 to8 percent over the year.” racial confrontations like last’ public relations, ! For black women (who are year because of the school: strike. But Albert Shanker, m) Jobs Dwindle ‘the While last year over heads of households in 3 10,000jout of 5 of the lowest income might do something now to, the rights of, paraprofessionals. They might, confrontation is good, and! decentralized and centralized! per cert for white women ‘for example, seek an increase necessary, and he is getting: programs. 9,000 of these were|according to the Department :in salary for them, through a’ increase ‘salar. ready for it. _He 18’ not eligible for Career Ladder,|of Labor. Now many of the , blanket decentralizing his union, just ;and most received no training,|career ladder jobs are held by ‘appeal’, even while the figh like the school system: he is other is in’ than through their! these women, and what will it for bargaining rights going political just in time for asscciation with a teacher. The/all have meant to the poor progress. ' the school board elections. ~ mer of paraprofessionals has communities to have had 10.000 | .No teachers who are parents Our communities are ed this year. even though jcbs in the school system once. of school children have yet come cemplacent—there is peace in N’xen has extended; ‘t m'zht have meant some real ‘hrcugh this much touted our schools. But it docs seem: Tile E fer two years at its job training for them, had a ‘“‘Career Ladder’’. a pity that they are “back to current rate ef funding. ,Meaningful career ladder been Paraprofessionals in health and| normal” like nothing ever Other programs, formerly established. ‘social services are faring happened last year. Community carried with central funds. are| The UFT promises of $8500 . somewhat better. Complacency people were saying as they slept: now in Title I, and Title I' would apply only to about 3,000 : the face of no jebs is an. in those schools, that they were teachers’ salaries have inereasESEA programs would be- > sem'nation, ard ras, these “never going to let them go!” ed but net those of paras. “No eubject of only tinker with. the heart of the Baard to Ah, well, it was only an: increase is possible,” the Board: Examiners, not the Community; the problem of the: illustration anyway, How do you says, ‘while unions are at the Corporations for screening, The| disadvantaged child: his; hold on to something when you point of bargaining.” Community Corporations,]| disadvantaged parent, who real.| have no control of the funds.) The election held last Spring through the Council Against ly wants and could do, a decent; or the contracts, or even the: (in which only the 3,000 Poverty, on which they sit, jab. jobs? Centralized paraprofessionals No Professionals were to have participated, is Jobs, In Pittsburgh and Cairo still in litigation. Only when the and Mississippi, black poor, results are certified can salaries Mexican. poor, Puerto Rican be negotiated. poor, beg for jobs. Morrisania UFT and District Council No. and Hunts Point poor want jobs 37 promise high salaries, UFT too, Professional. jobs in the has published a wage scale of school system, the communities from $6500 with no experience never had, and witk or high school diploma. to $5200 decentralization they are more: with 3 years of college. But firmly in the hands of the Board! the way things are going, few of Examiners than ever. : paras will ever enjoy such But, the ‘‘community)| salaries. It looks like the funding professionals” — teacher aides/ without a high school diploma; sources are drying up for sevwho were to rise to the rank eral reasons. Paraprofessionals cf teacher throvgh a career | came into public services where ladder program — what has: there was a shortage of skilled become of them? : orofessionals. In education. thai Actually only about 1,000) condition no longer exists. kindergarten educational: Shanker reported a surplus of; teachers awaiting: assistants in the entire city were! 1,000 ever involved in a Career Lad-; placement, now that a teacher: his low-keyed, off hard Way.' people worked with the Board| families) the jobless rate is 6.7 protect is tough: he says Som¢iof Education as paras Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. in/per cent against 38 Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Oct 4, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 15 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Although I am nat too much [ten, and impossible to ‘revive. for rituals, I participated in ‘Most black people, especially one on Sunday, designed to those young .arid sophisticated “bind together and strengthen ones who were in that audience, black people so they can survive are questioning religion in any| the long struggle which lay lform, and most certainly the ahead.” : ‘superstitious and supernatural. Clean Sweep | .Yet they moved to the rhythm I had participated in the com- of the drum, and the delightiul munity corporation elections the ymusic played with African inday before, and n6thing could ; struments. There did not seem bring home more forcibly that to be too much of a difference some kind of binding together between the Afro beat, and the And. when the of black people was indeed nec- bougaloo. essary. Puerto Ricans had swept audience was invited to get up every community in the South and do their thing, many sponBronx. Black people, customar- taneously and joyfully joined in ily unbound, unorganized and the dance, Even the fairest-skinapathetic, did not come out to ned engaged at least in pat-andvote, Now, of course, there will juba at the Ritual. It was, for be protests, anger, firings of @ moment, a revival at the the staffs that, unfortunately, Baptist church I used to attend. did not see the wisdom of get- There was the movement, the involvement of my ting out the vote to protect pulsing neighbor with me, that I missed their own jobs. So we went down to Harlem when I attend integrated to participate in the Ritual, de- churches... . signed to bind black people toNew Ties gether, at the New Lafayette So, we have discovered, music Theater. The attractive performers, including the Bronx’s binds us together. But how can! own: Estelle Evans, succeeded we transfer’ this to life? Of; itself, spirited revivals do not? in creating a relaxed atmos- make black people trust each: phere, and a camaraderie withother, or follow leaders, or rein the audience. There was comevaluate priorities. : munion and symbolic cleaning; Disparate priorities kept greeting. and hand-shaking Some of the people who had black people away from thej come only to be entertained polls Saturday. Household duties: were reluctant to join in the came first, or a game, or listen-! ing to sounds, took precedence. rites. | It was a beautiful audience, When you ask, remorsefully, the wore non-voters will say, ‘but I was! all handsome black men bush haircuts, ranging from too busy.” Hat in hand once again, black well-spoken curly to kinky; and people in the Bronx will be slim’ women, young graceful, wore theirs in bubble begging for poverty jobs: ‘They shaped afros or tied up in geles. wont give us any jobs.” I do Dashikies, bubas and lapas of believe that it takes a long exquisite fabric abounded. Jt fime to separate a man from was unlike the audiences seen his heritage. That’s why I still at Greenwich Village produc- become emotionally involved in tions in that there were no inter- spirituals; and why the Ritual racial couples, and few in West- was strangely moving. Is thal ern dress, The younger people why, too, as black people, we there, obviously, were not there must constantly fight against only to be entertained; most the inclination to be slaves — seemed to have come hoping to expect other people to take care of us? Even. now there to be bound together... are blacks who seem satisfied Old Forms Which brings us to the ques- to receive the crumbs of MultiCenter, and Model! tion, what kind of ceremonies Service might we evolve that would have Cities: and those (now with! this effect on black people? The Saturday’s vote) who will be! Ritual at the New Lafayette content with the leavings of each could only ‘suggest an’ answer. of the Community Corporations. Its: sparkling, bright audience Believe it or not black men was asked to participate of superior qualifications and in obsolescence — 0 worship ability will quietly take sublancestors and forms long forgot- ordinate positions and.erve. It’s great to have Rituals to | sway together, but it's about lime we found forms that bind us together far survival. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta 1 New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Oct 11, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News By ‘ The MARIETTA J. TANNER timetable for, majority the the South Bronx, the decentralization lists November| havejoritythe inj most vocal lected ag ‘schoolboard ‘tentaté date when p publish plan. es Ha ve officials, and most importantly the most cohesive community, To outsiders, the folks United Bronx quany black p the fie weer | Parents, seems to speak for tr worked dr {all the parents. Therefore, to December 1 On hearings eon a et new. one?! public having Bob downtown LeBron at and CUE Dr. Friedman on their ‘on December ieting plan; and Board to represent the Bronx tentative distric ‘and communi bel on 4 Bernard ae ete nea seems logical and equitable. After all, there are Rhody ‘on the ball, } ee must get MeCoy and Livingston Wingate! e 6 all they from Brooklyn and Harlem! an about changes, respectively. how thelr thechiFropose"3d education will be affected, and whether ‘or not this is the jan th want, B ®Y for Innocent Lambs This summer Th US i CUE proposal , before the 1 office of Education is in rough going, considering the anyway, present climate for funding domestic projects several in Washington. Nevertheless, the; community workshops on locali $2.7 million requested must! control were held in the black: include the thinking and be community, United Bronx tailored to meet the special Parents, funded for these needs of the Black Bronx classes for several years, has; community as well. Black recently received a grant of parents in the Bronx need $80,000 from the Urban Coalition! training in local control, and/ to extend their program. | are entitled to do it their way i The Center for Urb ar Education, in cooperation with] the Puerta Rican Forum| conducted leadership training) workshops for twenty-five! with personnel they relate to/ and want. Only innocent lambs! going to the slaughter would have it any other way. Youngsters in grades six te Spanish-speaking adulls in the! 9 can audition October Ly and South Bronx last Spring. They! ig for the Bronxwide Chorus. will repeat these workshops this! Ronald Smith, Director, says winter, fn Districts 7 im the that a pleasant voice, good Bronx and 13 in Brooklyn. musica! ear, and good “In both places we will work: attendance are the basic, with the community parents in} requirements. The chorus was both black and areas, as well Puerto Rican! established seven years ago asi as the locali an outgrowth boards.” Dr, Robert A. Dentler,| of wusic, of the Friends Inc., in cooperation Executive Director said. Dr.| with the Board of Education.| Dentler has a fine record of| Rehearsals and auditions are’ working for integrated held ' Saturday, education, and for being in thel JHS 115, 9 to 12:20 at 183rd Street and forefront of the open enro/iment. Valentine Avenue. battle. He and the men at CUE’ probably believe they were listening to the pulse of the Bronx — they and just about: every other source of funds have, it dunned into their ears: ‘The, major need in the Bronx is| for Spanish, or to put it anotherj way, bilingual programs. They can Tun down cogent, scentific statistically plausible reasons for placing all their program in District 7, for example: It’s a Model Cities area; it’s de facto segregated, ete. True, Spanish-! speaking parents are in the! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta 1 New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Oct 18, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 16 In_The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER res, The Borough President of the (and certainly in . Bronx, Herman Badillo, will television debates, comes hat hold Budget Hearings October as the most knowledgeable) is 34 through =Decem ber 3. Robert Abrams. Planning District No. 3, for Black people have a stake example, will convene at Mortis in getting him elected. bot in High School, October 20, and/this’as in all other campaigns No, 4 the follownig evening atlthe “poor cannot PS 35. Other areas should call) readily volunteer. Every morning after CY 93000 for their date andj the children are off to ,school, time. 7 women with leisure, who believe Every black citizen of the/ in a candidate, go out and work Bronx should make the sacrifice| for him, Any candidate will tell to attend these bearings, They! are not just another meeting;| but one that can have concrete| results. Projects under! consideration include renovation’ of Lincoln Hospital. a new multi-: you he can’t do without them. These women are one ood reason swhv they (or their yusbands) have all the influence once the candidate wins. > * : service health facility replacing; Equal Volunteers St. Francis Hospital; the|/ But, alas, any black woman modernization and construction||Wo can type is working at of public schools borough wide, |/it, full time, and can’t afford as well as the negotiations for||to volunteer. Coming home after building Community College No.tia hard day's work, the wife g. ‘iand mother has shopping to do, These budget hearings are the Clothes to prepare for the Kids will Ivt ard Tndity an ent: jects hows involved testament of School next day, an apartment pe Ra-qen’s, (0 keep, a husband’s meals to the and their that he Jocal avmher of Prepare, lessons to assist with, pertinence, has not communities al! in the few hours between only Six and 11 o'clock, in _ The Lindsay campaign in the} \ planning their borough, but that Bronx suffers, too, froma dearth, their concerns transmitted are being of black volunteers. Reelection not unless by their elected]of Mayor Lindsay is not assured, officials to City Hall. Participate and’ will More blacks, who be are a crucial the 15 It would be marvellous if we| Per cent of the vote, get out, could gripe less and participate| to the consuming. Many his democracy through man, to vote for him, more. But participation is time-] All has not been perfection in people have| administration, been introduced to participatory| has the quality but of neither Badillo's; participation been nerfect. our evening vo cf the Planning! The Mayor doés, however,| Boards. They want to sea the|have character: his honesty, responsibilities and authority of}decency, and lack of prejudice the Borough President| comes through even when he expanded. The man who ‘has|is annoyed and tired. One of sworn to continue in this vein|his law-and - order opponent, OO “Mario Procaccino, who selfrighteously blasts welfare recipient chiseling, has recently been accused of ‘inflating scholastie achievements his in Verrazzano dis- campaign literature.’ The Procaceino campaign brochure erroneously claimed Mr. Procaceino had graduated from City College “with honors’ and that he was “president of College, later covered not to exist.” Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Oct 25, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 16 In _ The Bronx Communi onscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The 51 voice Featherbed Lane Community Freedom Chorus will sing an original Jazz Mass in Ossining, NY. on Sunday Why did this community chorus want to go to Sing Sing? Because, said Marvin (Bob) York, president of the group, in , N.Y: on lay “Tt was our way of expressing October 26. The Chorus of 7th cur concern for those inside; and 12th graders would: have sung for the prisoners at Sing Sing, also. But the warden, J.L. Casscles, said ‘Not possible,” because their auditorium ‘will not accommodate this large The “Mass of the People,” is a collection of original liturgical jazz compositions by Dennis Bell, a teacher at JHS 6&2, who directs the Freedom Chorus. ‘Proceeds from performances are divided among its members (who graduate from high school) as partial scholarships. our singing may have been in-, spirational, and rehabilitative.” Too bad the warden said, “No,” for Bob York echoes the sentiment heard more and more these days that we are not going to thraw away members of our group either. Black families are! plack children; adopting teachers are saying our children can learn, and black community fortunately (who people managed te escape a brush with the law themselves) are ‘giving a hand up to prisoners, Movement around the idea of shaping our own destiny was evident, too, at the IS 148 Advisory Council and Bronx NAACP Sponsored meeting October 22 to plan for Dist, 9 School Board Elections, January 2, 1970. The DecenTimetable tralization gives January 18 as the date for circulating nominating petitions. But the organizers of the meeting have learned from hard experience the value of advanced planning and organ- ization, The coalition of community groups decided to divide itself into five areas and to develop a olate of 15 candidates. It worked on criteria or selection and procedures for finding the most qualified and communityidentified candidates. Interim Board Districting plans are to be published November 17 and public hearing December 1. The IS 148 on them begins coalition seeks workshop leaders to discuss the Decentralization law with parents and to carry the message of registering and voting to all. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Nov 8, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 4 In_The Bronx. Communit onscious By MARIETTA Congresswoman holm was in the J. TANNER Chis- have been even easier for white Bronx last politicians to name our leaders, Sunday to campaign for John V. when the machine made the Lindsay. Rain washed out the pitch. But we will have some of bigh point of her day, which the benefits of victory, because was to have been a rally with of courageous black leaders like the Mayor and Senator Javits in Congresswoman Chisholm who the heart of the black communi- took a position at the beginning, ty, Me ia, But her indomi-|when all the chips were down, table spirit was the brightest and stuck by it until the end. spot in the campaign for the The Clear Choice black people who met her. For the issue in the election Shirley Chisholm spoke of was racism. We had to select’ revolution designed to bring us the best qualified men from| into the mainstream of Ameri- among the candidates — men: can life. She talked unity, COM-'who had shown by word and| mittment, organization, self-as- deed that they opposed racism, surance, hard work, integrity:and stood for a fair deal for and rewards for services TeB-: black men, too. John V. Lindsay dered. Those members of Trini-has that record; Robert ty Baptist Church at 224th abrams, the borough president,| Street who waited with their:appeared with Mrs. Chisholm: pastor, Reverend Lloyd, and jast week, reaffirming his stand! George Sands of the Indepen-' for fair play. | dent Voters Club of the Bronx,’ we couid not afford to “ignore to hear her, got her message. ‘the top of the ticket? as Roy Both major political parties in New York City will be in turmoil when John Lindsay, the candidate of neither of them, wins the election. A better place jn the new organization must be Innis of CORE suggested, to demonstrate our awareness that we “need not be forced to ac- cent the lesser of three evils.” How barren this philosophy; how capriciously reactionary to ours, foister this on black people! Fruits of Victory We have never had clear Mrs, Chisholm knows what ii choices, mainly because leader-' takes for victory, so ram ship people never took clear-cut doesn’t stop her. She worked 2s positions when it counted — at an underling for years in Brook- the time of the Primaries when lyn before she went to Albany. they could name candidates and She bolted the whole gang of bring out a vote in support of is“Jeaders” to try for Congress. sues. Our leaders have usually That's why she, too, abhorred taken a safe position until they the election boycott proposed by could ‘get their thing together” so-called “black leaders.’ ‘behind some lesser spokesman. Black people had to have a: The inadequacy of our leadershare in the making of the ship forced us to choose “‘the Mayor 1969, if they are to have lesser of three evils’’ with little a future in New York City. real imput in the shaping of any Those people who said other- of their platforms and organizawise remind me of the rooster sions. who thought his crowing every morning brought the sun up. Black people are apathetic about voting anyway; reactionaries were counting on our staying home. Only those who worked to bring out the vote in large numbers did something worth crowing about. And furthermore, where were those so-called leaders during: the Primary, when they could have put forward a candidate, or gotten blacks registered so they could have made their positions felt more positively through the elective process? In the Bronx, black are reaping the bitter harvest of withdrawal from the democratic process: they are the minority in every communit» corporation board, with clear dimunition of power. The election process, its wealmesses and inequities notwithstanding, can work for black people, too, once cocky little people stop selling it short. There were many flaws in the Mayoral campaign. Candidates gave primacy to television advertising, which had the danger of not oringirg the candidate into personal contact with people through his foot soldier-. In black communities where Betting out the vote was a stairclimbing, person-to-person, ar-' duous, unglamorous job, m‘gi:: Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Nov 15, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 44 Black people gave John Lind-(week, television made the pitch say Ore cmt of thelr vote, fa for votes and the large expendi- the eaciion. No « ture of money for media lett lit- ‘nteerkty 98 solkdiy We for strengthening neighborthe Mayor — the Puerto Ricans} hood political organization. Now werk 63 per cent for Lindsa tojwe y learn that the “Little City der cent for Procaorino; endjHalls” will be revitalized, tc take the place of indigenous organization. There is also planstakes initiative to deliver;jning to merge these with their 2 must mean that Meck peopla| Urban Task Force structure and are “We want tha right/the Planning Boards (which te by tre andjwere controlled by borough do not the great while) Presidents). It may be a legitifather todo forus."°* =‘ = ‘Imate effort to decentralize govThis Kind of vote should put:eroment. But we must be sure the blacks like Congresswoman that the leadership whom the Shirley Chishalm and Assembly- People select will be there, lead- man Charles Rangel in the inner ership that is dependent upon cirele, solidly on that bipartisan the people for their jobs. coalition that the Mayor has set! Often, in the previous admin- up to run things; but such anj istration, Mr. Lindsay went outimportant matter as self-deter-: side New York to find personnel mination cannot chance, In the California, black can caucus be left to'for high level positions, Even Mexican-Ameri- and lefficient black men who filled for example, commissionerships were re not a man who sented in the black community. are demanding 30 If there was per cent of the total budget of knew abou: recreation in Brookthe Democratic State Commit-jlyn, the Bronx, or Harlem, aptee to establish and maintain aj prentice apparatus in the agencontinuous political operation.} cies needs investigating. Without this committment,| The protesting stage is over. tied to finance, whites may con-| Black people living in poor comtinue to name our leaders and| munities need facts and skills so say, “Be low.” a good boy, and fol-ithey Controlled Machinery It requires vigilance can be involved in plan- ning before the fact. One good way to insure thisis through to see|Tespansive, that community people identify, Sentatives. responsible repre- their own leaders, and that: A college by any other name these are not displaced by the! May still be a college, butmany handmaidens of the power! South Bronx residents are balk-| structure. During the campaign,|'9& at the same (supposedly outsiders unfamiliar with the:“Nanimously endorsed by the black community, were in con-|Board after polling the commutrol of the campaign machinery. uty). for Community College #8, It would tive had have been more effec-'These kinds of decisions cannot neighborhood people’ be made by the entire commu- had the responsibility for get-'nity; nor can everyone be ex- ting out the vote, and the tools ected .to know enough about to do it with. ‘she college to act wisely on the ven the 80 per cent margin Matters of curriculum, enroll. does not represent the kind of: Ment, location, budget, and pers massive support we could give; Sounel that are being considere a candidate, and must muster;00w and must be befor the school board elections.|fore the school opensfinalized in tempoEach assembly district is com-|:'aty quarters next September. prised of approximately 60,000| The search to find competent voters: the 80th in the predo-|tepresentatives whom they trust minently white East Bronx de-|must be a real one for black livered 49,382 voters; the 78th Bronx residents. These peaple (including Morrisania) only} must live and vote with the peo16,955, and the 75th a mere:ple whose interests they Tepre- 14,450 voters in the Mayoralty,'sent. College #8 yet be The 77th vote reflected Procac.!saved to serve the may entire com- cino’s activity and the support! munity; but volunteer minute indigenous leaders gave him. |men cannot be expected to conMoreover, as mentioned last'tinue to put out every fire, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Nov 22, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 16 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Dr. Alvin Pouissant, the! Student’s-Rights of Board eminent black psychiatrist came; Education hearing at Fashion to the Ethical Culture Fieldston! Industries, Lane and Wingate School, November 10 to discuss, | High School Students appealed | “The Black Experience in the'to Isaiah Robinson, the lone|f Private School.” black man on the Board, tolf™ This was a little revolution. listen to their side. They said He came at the behest of black they would not expect their parents, (many children students) are who of whose-black brother's position to bel] scholarship determined by reports of the requested that:police department and UFT.| this humanist school (a pioncer;Perhaps it is a sense of fair in integrated education) alteriplay forged by our bitter 3m the curriculum, staffing, andimemories of injustice, that administration of the school to' prevents even our tested leaders reflect the black experience. from acting in our enlightened! Dr. Pouissant was the respected authority supporting tc the black students, need “meet together as ca act cf reaffirmation of their blackness, self-interest. Other groups just'approved a decentralization billtt impossible ror any black to don’t seem to get all tangled: acceptable to UFT/CSA: during: get a majority. We are always the victims up in seeing the other fellow’s the teacher's strike and during! Side like we do. negotiations on the Bill, black of integrating before we are Politics in educotion wi’: antisemitism was distorted to ready to move as a unit. Rhody | - BRONX EXHIBIT — Gil Edwards (left) of 164 W. 174th St., the Bronx, is one of many talented black artists exhibiting in the Third Annual Whites have always felt that move to the local level withifam the white backlash, tojMcCoy, the Ocean Hill Showcase of the Visual Arts there is something sinister about; Decentralization and some: mobilize whites against Lindsay|Administrator whose calm, sponsored by the Bronx Council on the Arts now under blacks meeting in groups,’’ he sharpening of our political wits (and especially against his!singlemindedness against the way at the Bronx County said. No other groups’ is urgent! Presently. leaders'liberal Board headed by John ‘exemics of black education! 161st Street and collectivism is thus regarded. who take a position in the black Doar, with black conscious, inspired us, now is being: Building. The black high school students interest that cannot be Milton Galamison in a position attacked in his own community.| Grand Concourse. Shown at are Mrs. Edward at Ficldston were the catalysts compromised are as scarce as.of power). So will black candidates for| Tight for this meeting. “Just because’ hen’s teeth. District No. 9School! The ‘compromise’ Marchi, School boards unless some prior Bramson, Showcase chairman; Gerald Klot, Counwe are receiving a privileged'Board, with black members,!bill has eliminated the Doarl agreement is reached. _ chairman and William eliminated: thei Alvin Pouissant said that ceil education," they said, “does not, shifted (through a “typographi|Board, B.- Hopkins, member of the ; set us apart from other blacks.” cai error” the nine schools with| Demonstration Districts, and #black youths must talk and meet Council executive board. The Their education must prepare'the lowest reading grades ou! kept the Board of Examiners,|together to reaflirm their exhibit of 200 paintings them for working with their:cf the district. -What victory was there for the|blackness, and work out their continues until November 23. brothers. They would not be The nine ghetto schools were black “leadership?” Mr. Dicks; own destinies. Some good skull! SC! homogenized. restored during a shouting, no-; asked. {sessions among black adults| Taking Stands confidence meeting; four of the; New coalitions are in the yseem indicated now, before our Black youngsters are taking: nine were eliminated anyway,| making, Will they make fo wl power to educate our children stands, and it is gratifying when by whatever powers designed|the selection of blacks who will cation is homogenized beyond identifitheir parents back them up. the Redistricting Plan. At the|identify on local boards, or will The Reverend Jesse Jackson said: “‘Whitey’s practice is to hearings on Hien neh lines oe ahs eceptable to. Wwhite give us a little bit, just enough | Hecemper 2, 7:30 p.m.) more|money to make some one of us believe! spouting and anger onthe swite;be to manipulate elected? it is enough to fight over; or! <n bo fistened to, but will hard.| Randolph tanta the fhink We are iy change things. A scholarship to @ privatebeen. Ss ad once No Real Meat spe ys The A. blacks) Philip Institute, with its ‘director, Bayard Rustin, are in ftm° healthe breach. between i : eoough fo sedi the mouths of Nether redistricting, ‘nor QlaGts and the, UF. Their black black parents, students . and to cause fiscal “control” has been upp at Brotherhood in-Action to refuse to transferred to the community.’ pecember 2 will unwrap a UFT identify with their brothers. The “What we will fight over.” says ‘fully clothed in community Ricans demanded majority of the Fieldston youths Harold Dicks, Citywide NAACP; consciousness Locally UFT is will graduate from college; they, Chairman is disciptine, the) active in preparing candidates are potential leaders, and it is cafeteria and recreation; notthejrg; the School Board a matter of black survival that‘ceal meat of education.” White| rections (A meeting at JHS 22 they learn now to identify. ipoliticians, and white-controlled*j2ct week ended in chaos after Last Thursday, at the.black ones, drafted and:the Pyerto that the entire proceedings be translated into Spanish.) Like the poverty elections, Decentralization portends outbursts between blacks and Puerto Ricans, and splits among the blacks who might flood the field, with candidates, making Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Nov 29, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News 8. In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Decentralization of the big citywide agencies to make them more responsive to the community, may not, in the first analysis, make them more responsive. As a matter of fact, first rumblings point toward administration seems to be tightening the reins. Lincoln Hospital is searching for a new: administrator; Andre Walker, a! dlack man, who was Michelin's| Deputy is there, but may be: tighter control by an entrenched : oypassed. administration, _ placing | The hiring of a | new. whatever community boards that mcy be voted upon by administrator must be tied to! of the Affiliations a helpful citizenry in weak review jwontracts, whereby Lincoln advisory positions. School personnel, with the nas been a “teaching hospital’? strongest union of all, moved tor Hinstein-Yeshiva, rather swiftly last year to guarantee ‘ban a hospital whose main tenure rights to teachers; now ‘unction was to give service the Council of Supervisory Lo patients. Associations has successfully Under the Affiliations fought the qualifying list and deans of schools the acting principal position. Vontracts, of medicine are the heads of Under the new law, the department of the communities will not be able avery to name their principals by tospital. While the contracts selecting those who pass met a real need and hospitals qualifying examinations or who sould not survive without the and internes they have state certification (like residents oring, accountability for patient Rhody McCoy, for example.) ‘Mare was not a built-in priority, The legislature has mandated when they were negotiated. that the principal on Board of “A total disregard for the Examiners Hst will be aeeds of patients,” said Mrs. appointed, even if there are no Odessa Carrion in a hearing schools available for them. If defore the City Commission on they do not bave schools to go to, appointed men get the duman Rights last Thursday, “permits Lincola-Einstein to run fall principal’s salary anyway. six departments with case aides One Bronx District ‘who darry caseloads of as many} already as 80 patients.” is Superintendent i dickering for list but school-less Exclusion Turns Screws | principals to replace District Odessa Carrion, supervisor of. Coordinators on his personal :Medical Social Services: staff, The New York Times labelled ‘outpatient department, with 20; experience, claimed as “racist” the Central Board’s years the -liscrimination by Abraham plan which cancelled principal’s examination sched- Silverberg and Raymond Cagan, uled for Jast week, and Einstein Administrator and Soopened eligibility to take a cial Service Supervisor respec“because she was new exam to anyone who bad tively, bypassed for two promotions, taught five years. while caucasians with lesser This will, obviously, permit qualifications were placed ir, more blacks and Puerto Ricans the fobs.” | . to apply. ' Mrs. Carrion was fired. Actually, this is the way it ‘ea without due process, on: i is statewide, and the way it ‘charges of “insubordination” was before 1960: Only in New jOctober 31. (The AfricanYork City was service as an ‘American Coalition is’ spearassistant principal a require- heading a demonstration ment for taking the principal's Tuesday io demand her exam. Rather than lowering the immediate reinstatement, and qualifications, this qualify disciplinary action against examination may permit cap- \Messes. Silverberg and Cagan.) | able men with some knowledge of the community (which often’ Tightening up may take the seems lacking in those who form of “exclusion of those wha spend all their lives studying to work in the people’s interest. pass examinations) to serve @5 This kind of discrimination as administrators of schools. |practiced in the North is subtle, Hospitals Tightening, Too By July, are to be the hospitals decentralized; jand hard to prove. An agency too, receiving public funds could staff every department with white supervisors, certifying whites with foreign degrees or no degrees and devising all manner of exclusionary rationalizations, and still claim, Ne discrimination. Communities will be looking for well-qualified people to fill positions like the ad- ministrator Hospital. with They community of Lincoln want someone| saavy, but: enough knowledge about the field to build a decent medical: program for the people of South Bronx, and enough independence to get our money’s worth from! the medical school. Urban League’s Skills Bank is being revitalized to help qualified people t to meet these jeb | ties. partles opportumit -should send resumes to: Bronx Urban League, 204 West 136th Street, New York. Every morning between 30 end 60 schoo! children are fed breakfast et the Kelly Street Block Association (926 Intervale Ave.) through its School for Self Defense. Robert LaForey, assistant director, cooks great grits and eggs; and his pancakes! are so popular with the children, | that even those who are not actually hungry drop in (and are welcome) to get a -little supplement. Thanksgiving Day, the Mor- risania Pilgrims will fee’ Senior Citizens at 2:30 p.m.. Hobson Center (Webster Avenue ‘at 170th St.). Sponsors include Diana Paul and Nina Creque (secy) of the King Health Center; Lucy Vigay (chairman) and Dorothy Morrison, IS 143 Paraprefessionals; Phyllis Ludway, Dennis Gardner, and Ronald Lopez of Morrisania Community Corp; Dorothy Simmons and Philomena Allen of LABOR; and Christine Russel of Welfare Action for Progress. Community businessmen (especially Kennie Wilkens of Bronxwood Inn) will feed 40 teenagers at Edenwald Center, 149 E. 22th Street on Thanksgiving Day. Youngsters of Youth Leadership Foundation will serve as hosts; and the Independent Voters Political Club, under Walter Williams, will be coordinating chefs. Contributions of food or funds to each of these groups will be appreciated. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Dec 6, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 33 In_ The ‘Mr. Cagan, and that the Union (District Council @ ie ci el a petition thraa toi Bronx 'strike the hospital unless Mrs,! Communi onscious By MARIETTA 'Cartion was dismissed.” In ¢ross examination of defense witnesses, Mr. Taylor showed that none of the signers of the. petition worked under Mrs. Carrion, and were, in fact, ‘Mostly “white supervisors of " ,O:her departments, who had no ——__—_—_..| Contact with the Plaintiff ‘The J. TANNER Charging that '‘Abraham:Medical Social Service Petition was circulat Silverberg. liaisonof Medicine officer ofat!Lincoln OutpatientHospital,” Department a Mrs. Riccardo, Einstein College Timothy, "e>esentative Lincoln Hospital, willfully and)Taylor, deliberately practiced Plaintiff, discrimination in the dismissal, damages October 31, of Mrs. Odessalpefore the New Carrion, black supervisor, Commission ~ y a an elected! for Local 1199, attorney for the The D.C-37 representative asked’ $300,000 in Mr. Foster, testified that his in a suit brought:union had not threatened strike York on Human on November 20, City|action. Moreover, those wit. Rights nesses supposedly harassed [Mrs. Carrion, said that by they Mrs. Carrion declared under had never seen, before the day oath that the dismissal was 2'of the trial, a document signed “culmination cf steming 1957 was from denied harassmen' by when Stanley Shulman, Assistant shc}Ccmmissioner of Hospitals, two promotions Which purported to relate the because of her race by Raymon; iDroceedings of a meeting where Cagan, director of Socia’i*he clerical ‘workers attested to Services at Einstein College of Medicine and Mr. Silberberg.” Mrs. Carrion’s harassment of |them, and had requested her! Two caucasians with lesser :\lismissal. qualifications (to which Mr." Ope of the stapnamsakans j Cagan testified) were hired in tasted to several distortions. the Positions of Student Unit in the document, Another Supervisor for Group Work and ¢j-rica) worker, who was: 2'lee., Casework. ‘ed to have suffered a dis! Double Standard iny ‘collapse under Mrs. Carrion's;. the,Taylor to have been; Mrs. Carrion stated that sac pressuring, was shown by Mr./' had a critic of management and quality ofi “hospitalized before, and to; service of the social services, have a record of not following jepartment at Lincoln, Herjher medication and diet: department, andling WFclinies had no Spanish-speaking worker regimen.” r unlit the Fall of 1968, when sme to ‘baht wieiserimination ana Mrs. Frieda Vasquez, a caseaide. ny was hired. realistic service Medicine, Mathew, a Puerto Rican! She urged more sosnital administrator, sald that staffing of the social departments Pediatrics, Rehabilitation, in.'@ had been ha fi . M. m fired twice by Mr. Surgery,/Silverberg Emergency and conditions, under similar the personnel ie., Home care, which were eae department was used to ey serced by one graduate shat they would leave | clinics are “The if he actually "2S reinstated. manned by caseaides, who have The case, heard before Human caseloads of as many as 80 Rights Commissioners Rabbi! |patients,” she said. Claim Harassment ‘Halpern of Jewish Theological ‘Seminary Gilbert Colgate, and | ‘The charged that Mrs. aad sharp io defense Ghatessed wortain brought ‘clerical workers ene reaction 1gfrom’ | them: any South Bronx community: to sign spurious charges agzins‘. organize‘ions (led by Richard’ Weeks of the African American; Coalition), decrying the “rotten: double standard” practiced by| Einstein, and demanding Mrs.| Carrion’s immediate reinstatement. ! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ; : �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Dec 20, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 12 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER P;araprofessi ionals were pretty|know better. But shocked when Jim _ Howard|paraprofessionals in showed Union many Brooklyn at their Forum ‘on| school districts with whom Jim Membership (held injhad met personally to District No. 12 last April) asS|breakdown their resistance to the UFT Field Representative. | UFT, are turning in their cards Jim did come on pretty strong] in his support. there, blasting black racism and} whitewashing UFT, tHe sincerely felt he could ! help us from the inside,” they Many parap rofessionals, !.said. “He thought he was getting turned off completely, called: in on the ground floor and would him a sellout. But Jim learned | have some real power.” They unionism quickly, so well in fact; will be at 27 Union Square, that he said his boss, Al) Thursday, December 18, 4 p.m., Shanker, -called him ‘'the| when UFT's Al Shanker meets architect of the paraprofessional | with paraprofessionals program”? just a few weeks ago’ celebrate the victory. in queens. . Borough President UFT has now been-designated bargaining agent for. most: paraprofessionals (Educational: to? Herman! i Badillo was said ‘'Goodbye™ tol at a swank dinner last Saturday, but conspicuous by their absence Associated. Assistants, anc; were the blacks who said teacher aides) and (even if; “Hello” to him with their votes District Council 37 doesn't know) four years ago. Of course, the it yet) they are busy collecting) bash was $25 a-plate, and not cards on the rest (parent) many of us can spare that for program assts, family assts and | a meal. But many worked har¢ family workers). On December! enough to have heen offered 3, James Howard, the only lack! the opportunity to decline. i UFT Field Representative, who| This writer doubts that any) “had delivered 90 per cent of’ black man in New York City! the para-professionals,” was: politics today could have, fired. . gathered that assemblage.! Vito Deleonardis, director of; Senator Eugene McCarthy,: slaff, who wrote the dismissal] Mayor Lindsay, and Reformers note, claimed that Jim had! and Regular Democrats from become ‘“‘too independent.’’ Jim,} everywhere came to wish Mr. »ABOR last month, was told iow unsatisfactory present nethods of distribution were;| how the crippled and aged could who had delivered those. Badillo, well. yt haul a month's supply of: paranrofessionals, who would] Course it's not really goodbye.' surplus foads, and how a mother xoq an estimated $489,000 to; Herman Badillo is slated to be iever got all the foods listed. the UFT coffers ($42 yearly the Congressional candidate And the indignity of it all:| the new district the per person) had dared to ask from to be placed on the Contract: legislature is carving out for hat a family should have to! Negotiating Team, So he went| East Bronx, extending down wait for hours in all weather to his boss, Al Shanker, who’ through Spanish Harlem. This for inferiorly prepared meats said graciously, according to| new district will slice the black and coarse cornmeal. No resulis Mr. Howard, “I don’t have to| stronghold into three parts, af the meeting are yet in sight. explain anything to you, or even! giving part of Morrisania to Hunger is a national emergency, talk to you people, if I don't: Mr. Gilbert’s 22nd, a third to and our hats are off te Margie want to.” | James Scheuer’s 2{st and the Mazel! and the others who help Met With Rustin lrest to Mr. Badillo’s new keep up the fighting spirit of: Jim Howard also went to see) district. the poor despite their empty Bayard Rustin, close associate] Funny, but this doesn’t seem stomachs. and banquet-giver for his boss,! to bring Al Shanker, who serve but he was legislators, a rise from who powerless reconsider. to have Shanker to be helping to The other blacks district. But this Secretary and President were even broach Shanker. — as are black supposed lay out the redistricting Assist ant ‘certainly seems to set back the Assistant careful the Vice jemergence not subject ; of a black to lcongressman from the Bronx. to' Congratulations to the Alliance for Adequate Living in its Traditionally, hand-picked -continuing fight for a decent: “black representatives" without , meal for poor citizens. The lines black identity are easily used lat ‘the Forest House Food and quickly discarded by whitey. | Distribution Depot grow longer once their purpose has been |every month, A representative served; and blacks should now of Senator Javits’ office at Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohi ibited without permission. �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Dec 27, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe.5 In The |Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER In the spirit of the season, the blacks who met the Yast Thuraday seemed re: to give j Sommissioner Ownes fired, and abolished because it is to them ‘a black clique, containing 26 slack members as compared to ie rly ple. 3 Puerto Ricans.” Actually there fair share , Tecording to the are 23 whites, 18 blacks and lastest figures, would wipe out: 3 Puerto Ricans. such programs as P .| Already Integrated (which assists Puerto Rican| Joseph Monsarate wrote youngsters with scholarship aid: several years ago that the and counselling) and the Puerto! Puerto Rican and blackj Rican Development Corporation, communities did not have the) (which aids Puerto Rican same aspirations; that Puerto business and economic’ Ricans considered themselves: :' already integrated, and interests). The newly formed Puerto therefore did not object to what Rican Council Against Poverty, blacks considered “segregated” of which Ramon Velez is schools. Blacks would not let it stay chairman, wants to become a separate poverty agency, so that that way. Never was a breath uttered by a black leader about poverty funds can be split right unless he down the middle between Puerto discrimination, Rican Rican-Hispanics and black included his Puerto others. They claim $900,000 brother. The concern has not mutual. Puerto Rican Hispanic-Puerto Ricans can be been their classified as poor; reliable elected officials flaunt statistics show that there are devotion to the advancement of approximately §50,000 Spanish- Puerto Rican children only when speaking persons (including they visit schoo! districts, or Mexicans, Cubans, Columbians’ speak at Parent Association and others) in New York City. mectings. compared to one and one-half Smoko Screen ‘ raillion blacks. The Black Organizations Moreover, Chairman David Against Poverty considers the Billings of the Council Against Mayors special panel set up Poverty (which the Puerto to investigate current blackRicans are seeking to abolish,) Puerto Rican tensions, as a pointed out that “of the twenty “classic example of official buck five community corporations, 10! passing, with no attempt to are controlled by Puerto Rican ferret out the real issues.” members, ..and of the $3 “Black members were ‘million allocated for programs racially attacked, and the Mayor with city-wide impact and, did not meet with Chairman prior to the special emphasis, over 81 per| Billings of the cent of the total goes to fund | establishment exclusively Puerto Rican Commission,’ Mrs. Lucille programs. | Murray, co-chairman of the City Council of Black Fomenting Nationalism \ wide Maybe it would be better to Organizations, said. eliminate these raciall | Maybe in all charity, the two isegregated corporations, funded groups should try to behave like ‘at the public expense, No other brothers. There are some who ‘group, certainly no black group, want to, but it is in the interest ‘has an exclusive publicly of the “povertycrats” to keep spreading hate between supported city-wide development on ‘agency. Members of the City- inferior brother and superior wide Black Organizations| brother based on color and ‘Against Poverty, pointed out at national origin. This plotting fhe press conference that they | may just backfire, The blacks still have a gripe. jconsidered such programs “an illegal use of public dollars to, After all when one brother has a 400-year history of struggle foster nationalism.” The group cited a recent in this country,and the other statement by Ramon Velez that less than 30 years. . .well the he hopes to return to Puerto blacks may rise up and claim ‘Rico in order to train Puerto their birthright, for they have Becca ey eT 'Ricans there to come to New ‘suffered the most unfair of all. Merry ‘York and organize the limbalance communities. . \Christmas, and Feliz Navidad. i “We cannot allow,” said ‘Jerome Green of the Morrisania Education Council, “another immigrant group to come to ithis country and rise on the ibacks of blacks, as the European has done. We will Inoct be the Puerto Ricans’ ‘footstool,’ he said. | While the Puerto Rican council members had access to ‘all the facts, it is incredible how distorted their figures were ‘in print. They want Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 3, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 5 In The \Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA Ring in the tions, ring out new the J. TANNER administra- old. auu uu. (we nope) oecause sne And protested discriminatory hiring what changes, what advan- policies. But as long as there is’ cement for 3 million poor 0 community board with teeth,people living in New York City buck passing between Commiswhen John V. Lindsay is inau- sioner Terrenzio of the Departgurated or December 31, or for ment of Hospitals and Dean the black veople of the Bronx Glazier of Einstein at Lincoln when Robert Abrams says “I Hospital will continue to be the solemnly swear” on January 7? rule, . One of the areas to look at No Administrator carefully as we make our New There is presently no adminYear’s resolutions is health:istrator at Lincoln, A Dr. ‘care: it is gelting worse not'Bauer is now acting, replacing better, and the caliber of care Dr. Lubell, who was also act- ‘will not automatically improve, ing. These lonce the new corporation board brought are established, July 1. Mospital Corporations The City Council pital Corporation jslated to have which in gentlemen when were Dr. .Nasry Michelin became President of Community College No. 8, alHos- though Andre’ Walker, the is'black deputy, might have been a major role in|the logical one to act. setting up these new boards,| No appointment has been has shown little interest. More-imade, although there have lover, the Bronx will have no!been trips to Puerto Rico and ‘black or Puerto Rican repre- elsewhere to find a suitable adlsentative on the 1970 City Coun-!ministrator. Dr, Antero Lacot |cil, so the poor will have to!has the Community Board's fight for every inch of consider-:support, and that of the Afri‘ation on the Hospital Corpora-‘can-American Coalition, as weil ition Board. as of the many citizens who Fifteen members must be have known his work as Direcchosen before the new boards ;tor of the Neighborhood Materbecome operational — five ap-jnity Center on Prospect Avepointed by the Mayor, five by nue. the City Council, and five from| But Einsteia drags its feet City government. on his appointment, Is this be- New Hospital cause Lacct has some definite A new $74-million Lincoln Hos-|ideas about health care super- pital is to be constructed in the |seding the teaching role of the Bronx. has not The ground-breaking |College of Medicine in the pubbegun; meanwhile, at:lic hospital which do not con- the old Lincoln site repairs are}form to Einstein’s mold? Dr. tabled, awaiting the new facili-jLacot has the administrative ty, but the patients keep crowd-|background, and the degree of ing in. Bronx State Children’s |medicine with 20 years of pracPsychiatric Hospital has been'tice in obstetrics and gynecocompleted over a year, and hasilogy. remained patientiess, because; Politics Moves In the State did not provide funds! to staff it. The need for 1970 is far com- | munity boards in health as well At Lincoln, some semblance ;as education, Although govern- of a community board is now in|ment is obstensibly moving to- operation. But it is without any|ward decentralization, it will power, having just something;mean nothing ta the poor citiof an advisory nature. For ex-{zens who call all night for a ample, on December 10, the/jurse on the wards at Lincoln, community board requested ajor the sick who lie on reversal of Dr. Schulman’s Oct-;stretchers for hours awaiting ober 23 decision to fire Odessa |care at Morrisania, Carrion, a black medical social, Politics and politicians are worker. | moving in on the Hospital CorHer reinstatement has, untiljporation boards, pressuring this day not been effected, and|(Councilmen with their choices, everyone Terrenzio from on Commissioner like any other pork barrel. down is busily] No professional staff has yet engaged in passing the buckj}een chosen, even at this late between the affiliation (Ein-jdale. If there is going to be stein College of Medicine) and!decentralization, if we want a the City. They claim they are}more humane, less demoralizawaiting the decision of the |ing, impersonal City, then the on Human |citizens must_act now to sce City Commission Rights, regarding Mrs. Carri-jthat John V. Lindsay and Robon’s two-year old charge of dis- jert Abrams make the governcrimination, because two cau-;ment relate to them. casians were appointed to posi-; For openers, how about a few tions for which she had superi-|letters on the subject of decenor qualifications. |tralization and health care? Actually, the CCHR decision | Your voice at this prupitious would have no bearing on Mrs.| moment may just seat someone Carrion’s reinstatement, as she who cares about you on the was fired without due process, j Hospital Corporation Board. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 17, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa.4 In The \Bronx Community Conscio us By MARIETTA J. TANNER As black people endure and oppose lobbyist whose agencies| have Life memberships; survive in America, the issues, like the complexions of their children, become, not so much black, and white, but shades between. There was a time when Labor was considered our champion. Now their role is grayed by but it is also ridiculous for unions to! believe blacks so gullible a:| to continue to regard them as: our champions while they| exclude us salvation. Those about from unions who the quota economic; cried system out didn’t the demands of craft unions shed a tear about the fact that to limit membership to fathers fewer than 4 per cent of the and sons, and by all manner 1,3 millon workers in the $24-|: space program were of shenanigans to restrict billion apprenticeships, and keep black black. men from making it in the We must organize.to move building trades. Of course, this against even our traditional exclusion was ever so... but friends, when necessary, to do then Labor was all the civil this, we must develop a liaison right advocate we had. between those members of the Last week, the Congress voted community with skills and the to give the Nixon administration: grass roots where the troops the authority to compel labor are, unions to hire more blacks . That Philadelphia Plan was through its Philadelphia Plan. The Plan requires bidders on passed not just because the Administration wanted it, and federally assisted projects costing more than $500,000 to abetted it, but because some! “work toward specific goals for smart men on the inside knew improving minority employment how to maneuver, and some in the craft unions.” The unions men of influence on the outside]: cried “foul"’. Their lobbyists got with troops applied the pressure}! the Controller General to rule to its enemies. Team effort was 1 nM Black people have marched the hero, in Pittsburgh for the right to work, and they cue up daily for the few unskilled openings construction projects in New York City. The unions are using available to them on this devious “quotas” ploy more that.the Plan was in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" because it established quotas. In Unskilled Jobs and more, as the pressure for the right to earn a living fori black men mounts. Only an estimated 8.4 percent of the 1.3 million union members are; black, and most of these are In unskilled jobs. i President Nixon said that his. administration is committed to: a civil rights policy of; “demonstrable deeds," and that: “one of the things that counts! is earning power.” He called! on civil rights agencies like the Urban Coalition, NAACP and Plan. It’s difficult. : make the! NAACP in South Bronx Williamsbridge and what and Roy Urban League, who supnorted| nis stand on the Philadelphia! connection to sometimes | between Wilkins does on the national level. In this case he influenced | the course of history. This was possible because local memberships provide the troops which make his word stand for something. Opposing Enemies . The Unions have high paid akilled lobbyists is to convince oppose fob *. congressmen whes? to. legislation not in the: union’s vested interest. Tr, influence legislation, since we do not contro] major industries, or corporations to provide! private funding, blacks must depend on agencies like Urban League and NAACP. : It's an egg-stepoing task t:: MOTHER BROWN church since. Mrs. Mary Green, church secretary said of Mother Brown, "I rejoice knowing she is at peace. She really lived a full life, we loved her so.”” Rev. pastor Herman H. of Friendship Watts, Baptist claimed her body and made final funeral arrangements. Mother Brown's bedy will be on view at the Lafayette Memortal Chapel Funeral Home, at 2455 8h Avenue beginning at 7 p.m, Friday night, Rev. Lafayete Rogers will greet visitors. Fina! funeral! rites will be held 9 a.m., Saturday morning at Friendship Baptist Church. Rev. Watts will offi- ciate. Burial will be in Mt. Holiness Cemetery New Jersey. in Butler, Reproduced with permission of the copyright o wer, Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 24, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa.4 In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER As black people endure and Administrator to reinstate Mrs. survive in America, the issues,: Odessa Carrion to her position like the complexions of their chit become not so much as Medical Social Worker. at black and white, but shades be- Lincoln Hospital. tween. The integration we suf-' Mrs. Carrion filed charges of fer in the North scatters our discrimination way back in Auforces, making it difficult for Bust 1967, when Einstein byus to keep our eyes on the ball passed her for three promotions of black survival. For example, in favor of white workers. The a few weeks back. Congress firing, which was proved to passed the Philadelphia Plan stem from unfounded charges requiring bidders on federally that Mrs. Carrion had harassisted projects costing more rassed workers, had no relation than $500,000 to employ more to the original discrimination minority people in the craft, suit. However, a smokescreen unions. Our traditional friends, | seems to be emerging, making the labor unions, labored Mrs. Carrion’s reinstatement mightily to defeat this mini- be construed as the restitution scule effort at giving black for damages in the case. At the men the right to earn a living. hearing, her attorney, Timothy The labor unions claimed that Taylor, requested $300,000 in the Philadelphia Plan set damages. Odessa Carrion is adquotas, which was a violation ament: "I cannot accept back af the Civil Rights Act of 1964. pay and the old job back in lieu of the settlement,” she said. NEW RITUALS The Afro American Coalition The “‘quolas" argument was and the Advisory Board of Lina devious ploy, a smokes- coln Hospital (which earlier deCxzrivn's reinscreen, a discoloration of the manded Mrs. issue to fool us. Those labor slalement) avais ts kom: unions did not shed a tear ruling of NYCHR before further about the fact that fewer than 4 action, per cent of the 1.3. million TESTIMONIAL workers in the $24 billion space program were black. NevertheRev. Kenneth Foulkes is less, Some of us were taken in chairman of the Madison Boys by the Union's argument; and Club Testimonial Dinner Comnone of us were really equipped intitee which will boot hace ta put the pressure on them at 12, superintendent Edythe J. the local level to make them Gaines at the Cancourse Piuza cease chipping away at con- Hotel April 30. Dalila ‘foro gressional support for the plan. Conrad, president of PS 4] We do not have the means to parent association, says the explain these things to our little people whom Dr. Geines people; and therefore, expose has helped so mueh should be the rank and file to slavisly fol- there. But the dinner ents £2 Towing the line of so-called tra- per. Mrs. Toro Conrad. as ditional friends and saviors. usual, has a plan, She win Jim Howard, until recently grass roots organizations w the only black UFT field repre- wish to express their feelings : sentative, who was fired, says for Dr. Gaines’ leadership in the habit of not asking “why” ‘such struggles as community and demanding explanations Control fand minority group ; from so-called friends and sav- principals) should contact her { jors is extant among parapro- @t 1550 Crotona Park Fast, « fessionals. They raise questions %42-7454. . . about Howard's dismissal, but’ The appointment of Henry Jet the UFT Chapter chairman Morgenthau to the third deputy. off the hook when he replies: jslot in the Lindsay administra- ] “We don’t care to discuss it.” |tion augers well for the black Howard’s claim of discrimi- people of the Bronx, who have nalion will he aired before the reason to- respect Mr. Mor- NYCCHR against UFT’s coun- genthau's sense of fair play in terclaim that he did not do the word as well as deed. We can- d job. (Those para-professionals not forget, however, the injuswho think Jim Howard worked tice in that none of the three pretty hard and cficctively deputy slots went to blacks. might write Lawrence Hood at] we went all out ta reelect the Civil Rights Commission, 80) John Lindsay. Maybe we need Lafayette Street, in Findirg our way throug: administration, He, knows what} Part.) his sup- 1& man like Morgenthau to prick |{the conscience of the Lindsay| Smokescreens, picking our wa: lhappens when alienated people through masses of rhetoric de- oannot be heard within the sy- signed to delay black progress, stem. Mr. Morgenthau undersearching out sell-outs is our. stands the travail of black leadjob for the 70's. In the North, rs who have said to their we waver and become compl vyoung, ‘Register, vote, bricks cent. But Mississippians set the {through windows don't open’ record straight. Black |doors, we can have justice in! members of a county election America.” { commission there said they ' Instead, we are getting the “stopped looking for saviors leftovers, as usual. The black when the civil rights workers ‘who have been elevated to aspulled out, and buckled down to ‘sistanships have been promoted do the job of organizing" (hem- mot because black constituselves. Constantly working for ‘encies have chosen them, but black cooneratioy ttre try" because white leaders said, not handshakes, or dashikis, or “*Put this black man there.”: Alro haircuts. We wanted more than that Black cooperation can bring ‘when we went all out for Lindus victories too. On January 7, ,Say. No black peuple fcel the Commissioner Golar of the -Dpinch of powerlessness more Human Rights Commissian than your fellow Bronxites, Mr. directed the Health Services Morgenthau. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 31, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 11 In The Bronx Community f Conscious - By The MARIETTA Congressional b J. TANNER redis- small part Harlem, and of Spanish Bast part of Hutts tricting lines are drawn; Albany bas approved them as expected, and whatever was said by local politicians, as the ax fell, signified nothing. Point (but not the peninsul¥ao Puerto Rican stronghold, sest-still belongs to Gilbert.) Gar-~ the lines rend the most den- Bronx Just as this writer predicted, sely populated black commu- nity, Morrisanla, into three parts, making the emergence of a black congressman tually impossible. The Silent Minority We are the minority vir- cia (who is the Assemblyman for most of the 2ist South* in Gilbert is snug in his coccoon Harlem Areg). ing in Astoria, who will vgeT in a block in the crucial pri- maries sional each of the districts, and probably will be silent. Jacob and writhed about the Italians liv— when be designated. the congfes-— candidates will He made no mention of the. heavy black population living-in South west. It was of the 22nd; there are enough as though Puerto Rican and Black peoples were ane; a and along Bruckner Bouleyard however, to insist on re- hardly expressed before, blacks east of Third Avenue form. Gilbert sits on seatiment Robert Garcia has the House Ways and Means Committee, and that’s where the Democrats on and Republicans the bipartisan committee that drew the lines want him to stay. His conservative confrer, Mario Biaggi's district. encompasses the whole of Williamsbridge, the second most black Bronx, area of the Drastically outnumbered by Throggs Neck and the southernmost western tip of Yonkers, our voice in the 24th can only be a whisper. On the West, James Scheuer's old 21st has been almost completely absorbed by Congressman Jonathan Bingham, whose = record am fecting blacks should even become stronger once bis now considerable black population makes its presence felt, Robert Garcia was miffed ou that last day about .the creation of a Puerto Rican district that wasn’t. What a travesty the new 2ist is! It was created at. the insistance of Puerto Ricans on the IsJand and the mainland that they have one of their own in Congress, However, none of the constituents of that hod- gepodge district can he pro; erly served by it. Prop: It seems spitefully drawn a tantalizer, impossible to govern. It takes in a miserably Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Feb 7, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 10 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Apologies to Robert Morgenthau, the third deputy mayor, called in this column jJast week by another name (a wholly typographical error). United Bronx Parents say they won't participate in the local school board elections; thus they join the Ocean Hilt and the IS 201 Complex in a boycott. None can dispute the logie behind the move: the school boards will be powerless, the election procedures are undemocratic, and the district lines are illegitimate. Parents at P.S. 132 will still have to picket ta protest Principal Frome's refusal to retain a white teacher who worked during the strike, and whom the parents feel has served their children well. Boycotting the election, however, may make them even Jess effective. Organizations like UFT are the only ones with money and know-how to systematically develop candidates. Must the few who do know let the masses go like sheep to elect these handpicked men, or shall we assure their victory by staying home? The overthrow of the Jaw is a baitle to be enjoined at another time; once we get out the vote for this election, we may have the forces to put some men in Albany to win that one too. The Vacancy Declared vacant is lhe directorship of South Bronx Model Cities, so said chair- man Ramon Velez, in the Spanish press last week. Black acting director, Augustus Davis, who wrote the programs (and who Puerto Ricans and blacks alike agree has been doing an exemplary job) could not get a vote of confidence from the Velez controled board. EuBenia Flatow, the adminisirator, named Davis deputy, replacing Velez's choice, Anibal Acensio, whom downtown considered inept. Davis is at the, merey of a personnel board whose dispassionate black minority (3 members) attends poorly, Velez rationaiizes that all the big deputy posts downtown are held by blacks; so the top local slots belong to Puerto Ricans. Only Bronx residents may apply; a high school diploma and five years administrative experience are all that the position require. $32,000 Where are the committed black men ianguishing in insurance and real estate with know-how enough about buildings and develop contracts to take on this job? Soon Model Cities wil spin off land development projects or education contracts (to agencies like UBP perhaps). With pensions intact, even black men can now leave the safety af civil service for an opportunity like this to deai with the polltics and power in the mainsiream. Even cocoons, SO warm and safe, are impregnable. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Tanner, Marietta Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Feb 14, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 23 | In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Judge Jacob Grumpet released, without probation, last week, Cyril Boynes, Ronald Dicks and Jerry Wooley. You remember the Morris High School teacher, the black student, and paraprofessional who were indicted by the Grand Jury last May on 10 criminal counts including arson, conspiracy to riot, unlawiul assembly and possession of a deadly weapon? Their pictures were flashed from every television screen; their faces downcast as they skulked in the custody of po Vice were front page news; the story of how they conspired to firebomb Morris gave substance to the fear teachers felt for black adolescents, It’s Sensational On December 9th, those 10 counts were reduced to a charge of Class-B misdemeanor — the young men were merely accused of ‘‘engaging in conduct that would ‘ cause public alarm.” Now is the time for headlines and accolades, but alas the media wants sensational news. This columnist thinks it is sensational that Cyril Boynes has picked himself up after that demoralizing public exposure and become a teacher at Queens College; that Ronald Dicks and Jerry Wooley are now college hound, doing excellent school work at HarJem Prep. Every black child, so vulneraple to brushes with the law ought to know about their achievement. Mrs. Odessa Carrion, the medical social worker who won reinstatement to her post at Lincoln Hospital through the City Commission on Human Rights ruling, January 6, is to be awarded $100 as compensation for ‘the humiliation, outrage, and men- tal anguish suffered as a direct result of the respondent’s unlawful discrimination.” How little the life of the black woman is worth! $100 bucks is “mitey” little compensation for the anguish Mrs, Carrion ssffered when discrimination Yoreatened to wreck her professional career, Also at Lincoln, Black and Puerto Rican leadership has united behind Dr. Antero LeCot for administrator. He Says No But, Commissioner Teren- zio says, ‘No,’ The community board sat in last week, taking over ‘he administralion of the hospital, until the police evacuated them. Hand in hand Richard Weeks and Bob LaForey, black leaders, left with Ramon Velez and Ralph Alvarado. Blacks are hoping for the same kind of unity behind Augustus Davis, for direetor of Bronx Model Cities, Without a doubt, attorney Davis is well qualified for the job. Moreover he sweated to get ihe South Bronx package together and funded. He was mentioned in the proposal, submitted to Washington, for his contribution, above and beyond the cail of duty. Then too, its about time Mayor Lindsay did something for the blacks of the Bronx, who worked for his reclection. Last October while blacks were campaigning for Lindsay, the Velez forces were holding a testimonial dinner at Alex and Henry's for Procaccino. Plenty of black poor live in those rotting tenements of Melrose and Mott Haven, who have confidence in Davis. The American way is to promote loyal, capable, hard working, loyal employees. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Feb 28, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 11 In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER i the county leader, will probably select Barry Solomon If the people shall get the government they deserve, who shall govern Concourse- (hardly a symbol of new era polities) to fill the vacancy until the election next November. East? The effects of the mass exodus of the Jewish middle- class 10 Co-Op City are now being felt in the institutions Politics was everybody's thereabouts. subject: The YMHA at 167th Street and Grand Concourse, for example, used to be the hub of Jewish culture and recreation. Even though a large percentage of the kids who dates Ivy Barnes and Ted Mendel were shaking hands with the club people who vote and who have, in the past gotten out the vote. But with- Puerte Rican, they still get a a constituency who takes the vote seriously. No Conquering [ero In the harsh light at the now attend are black Community initiative has not arisen to suggest innovation in staff or style. This venerable institution could wither on the vine and finally its doors against Abalon Caterers, as the Tremont YMHA did a few years ago. . schools Revival necded The Concourse-Jefferson Reform Democratic Club at 169th Slrect and Grand Concourse honored Paul O'Dwyer wilh Kosher smorgesbard at a local hall Sunday. Sensing that this institution, like the black and High School, and oldsters ab Mt. Eden the Park, But the “leadership” is still white; it lives in segregated buildings on the Concourse, and that “leadership” seems to be waiting for a chance. to move on to something better, black owned Next Step dress shop (1221 Sherman Ave.) to show some of their Afro designs and zippy little models like Betty Wiley. Their presentation was fresh and “now” but not enough to dispel the per- surer. The blacks and Puerto Ricaus who have sunk their savings into the vintage 1930 Morris Avenue 2-families vasive aura of decline. have For one thing, the congressman who nurtured the club will be moving across town to Tun against the incumbent in the 22nd. Instability was further evidenced by the fact not taken hold. The preachers who have turned abandoned synagogues into Baptist or Pentacostal churches shout every Sunday “Trying to make heaven my home.” But for now, “home” is the East Concourse. The evange- that the councilmatic seat va- cated by Lawrence Bernstein (now a judge of the Criminal Court), is allegedly sought by Seymour Posner, now the assemblyman for the 76th (who has always detested Albany nightlife anyway . Boss Patrick Cunningham, whose crowding out the Aristers at Taft Zimmering filled their tables with the new population. invited of Puerto Rican students cannot read;.of the unemployed, the welfare mothers, the addicts and pushers moving in fast on the side sircets leading to the Concourse. The new population is many others needs the winds of change, Leo and Irene They no man the people was shown forth, no conquering-hero type who could begin to attack the problems of the decaying apartment houses, now tenements; of overcrowded the influx of a new population candi- out the old P-ZAZ born of confidence that behind you is and steady diet of Jewish culture, shut school board lists must , exhort new resi- dents to take up the gavel to govern themselves. The Gospel The S. Bronx NAACP will repeat its successful Gospel Caravan March 8, with more at Morris School. Tickets 3225 Third Ave, are gospel, High $3.00 at For Victor Marrero, a June Yale graduate, the $32,000 Model Citles Director post will be his first real job. He is the Mayor’s appointee over Augustus Davis, now acting director, who could become deputy director again, or else , ‘Community College No, 8 is - moving lugubriously toward not opening in September. At this late date, space has not be contracted for at the Concourse Plaza Hotel. Its ‘“systems approach” to curricu- lum requires machines, and the time to ready the physical plant, as well as to progtam the subject matter. Anxious citizens art planning to enter, but the admissions office cannot speak. Someone must, however, as so much is being spent for technical personnel (computer programmers) and for on-the-job-training perienced for inex- administrators, that funds for the real busi- ness of the college ning low. are run- Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 7, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 22 In The Bronz Community ~ Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER One of the things that Elsie Brown wants to know about is how you get to be a narcat- ics expert. Mrs. Elsie Brown is the president of the Community Council for Narcotics Programs, who has been working with the problem of drug addiction for 17 years before it moved to the suburbs, when just ghott “dispensibles” were wasting their lives on drugs. Mrs. Rose Shapiro is an ex. pert. The former head of the NYC-Board of Education ha: been named by Governor Rockefeller as his special as sistant for narcotics educa tion programs in the state’s $250-million program. In a burst of eruditior about the narcotics problem. Mrs. Shapiro said: “I’m told that some of the elementary schools have very real problems, One principal told me ol little children rubbing cocaine into their gums. . .” Elsie Brown wouldn’t have to be told about cocaine. There are plenty of pre-teen mainliners in her neighbor- hood. Where she lives, addcts rob apartments nightly to support their habits, suc climbs over them in hall ways, she has named names of big time pushers, who never got arrested. She has seen youngsters die of over- dose and infection. She has a record of rehabilitation without recidivism. But she is not an “expert.”for any of the tax-supported programs. Went To Agency Last October, she went to see Larry Bear, head of the City Addiction Services Agency, to ask if the Community Orientation Centers could be used by neighborhood narcotics workers after 5 o’clock. (These centers only service addicts from 9-5 p.m.) ‘Shey also wanted to have tne icp requirements changed for counsellors. It seems that only former addicts who have speni 3 years in a theraupeutic community like Synanon of Daytop are eligible. This requirement excludes a Muslim Pentacostal or just anout any black or Puerto Rican “cured” addict since few had the cash or inclination to submit to such treatment. “Burthermore,” said Mrs. Brown, “Encounter-type therapy is destructive of black and Puerto Rican identity. They have {orn cown our men with encounter more than with drugs. Well, anyway, it seems that Mr. Bear was not interested in seeing Mrs. Brown that day, and even after several months of pressure exerted by neighborhood groups through OEO in Washington, ASA still does not communicate with community-based programs, “They gave $4.7 million to Phoenix House to develop nar- cotics pragrams with a staff that doesn’t live here, and cannot relate,’ Mrs. Brown said. The same was true of the three other agencies that receive %4th of all the money. About Rockefeller’s “Total war on narcotics,” Mrs. Brown is even more pessimistie. $200 million of the $250 million will go for “construction. of new rehabilitation centers for teenage addicts, that will take .ages. City agencies are already saying MRS. ELSIE BROWN She’s An ‘Expert’ they cannot match on a 50-50 basis the $65 million allotted to operate local treatment centers. $550,000 will go to Byard of Regents for teacher training and other public relations programs, all managed by “white power structure’? groups and “experts” like Mrs. Shapiro. “The focus of addiction services these days is on the young, white, middle-class addict, and the way the pregrams are developed and staffed proves it,” said Mrs. Elsie Brown, expert without portfolio. Make Black Count “Make Black Count” will be the subject of a public meeting on the 1970 Census to be held at St. Augustine Presbyterian Church, Thursday evening March 12 at 7:30 p.m. the N.Y. Urban League and the United Black Women’s Political League are joint sponsors of a project to enlighten blacks and other minorities on the importance of an accurate count. Mrs. Veralyn Hamilton, chairman of the Bronx UBWPL, will be coordinating the program from the Urban Leagues 509 Willis Ave. office. Mrs. Ruth Beshong, who made. an impressive record as a Census Coordinator durng the 1960 Census will also ake part. . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. �Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 14, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg.4 ‘In The Bronx Community Conscious — By MARIETTA J. TANNER - Dr, Antero LaCot is in as administrator for Lincoln Hospitat and Commissioner Joseph Terenzio, who opposed him, is out. That's Puerto Rican power, when your leadership can topple the Mayor's man: (especially when tos! opposed leadership Jargely that Mayor’s reelection). Black leadership in the Bronx supported ~~. Latnt also. They knew him aS a the competent director of Neighborhood Maternity Clin- je in Morrisania and of his record of study in public health administration, and mm medical practice in Puerto Rico. Moreover, his views un “upgrading the quality of pa- “tient care at Lincoln, places hospital. services above the feeds of its teaching affilia‘tion, were widely hailed in “the black community. . “Too bad that the black share of which was never mistakenly — beJeadership ‘Vieved their LaCot Support to be a part of a package, their honored, They wanted Augus- director, of South Bronx Model Cities, since virtually every other -tax-supported Peony pregvem has a Puerto Rican at the ' head. It’s unfortunate, too, black public officials that city wide played a significant part in in the giveaway game which Bronx blacks were the it until now, Up pawns, Jooked like the game was chess, but it may really be dominees. The blacks . : knows establishment the don't vote in Bronx, and thal's tha way they want to keep it. A massive registration dures to improve conditions under which black men vote in this county? Black power In the Bronx is, therefore, boxed into the 70th AD the 38th SD infighting and there for a pittance of patronage. All the big ones outside these few square miles get away. There is the 76t1 (Car. course East to Highbridge) where blacks are numerically dominant, but where, repertedly, an assemblyman and a Puerto Rican leader have already made a deal for the City Council seat and Assemblyman reelection. The Councilmatic seat, vacated when Bernstein became a judge, encompasses an area almost It's Dominoes dus Davis named black population could change things. But then, wha public c2ftl) nos erst to the streets or to the Legislature to foree new Board of Elections proce- cnd ve.'n totally black, but no black candidate was put forward. A Little Puzzle But this little deal is a nart of the total plan. Rumor has it that the 2Ist Congressional District (which straddles three boroughs, but was originally to have been carved out to provide a Puerto Rican majority for the assured election of a Puerto Rican congressman, but instead tas a large black ponulation wit: South Bronx and Harlem sec- tions, and a large Italian constituency which votes in Queens) is being abandoned by its favorite son, Herman Badillo ex - Bronx borough president in favor of ona Ramon Velez, frequent headline grabber in far-ranging Puerto Rican power-play events. If Mr. Badillo plans to challenge Velez, why all the negotiations with Arthur Goldberg to team up wilh him as Lieutenant Governor against Basil Patterson, the outstanding black legislator and the choice of the Black Elected Democrats? This statewide contest less blacks make should provincial. It would help all blacks if we come out strong and unified for Patterson, lining up all the other pieces.Would this mean we are engaged in a “hate Puerto Rican” campaign? You can bet it will be construed that way, When blacks try to obtain equal rights, or their fair share, it is always construed as a hate campaign. Take the example of the grow to trying Muslims, crops in Mississippi to feed and give jobs to the hungry blacks whom whites therea- pouts have alwayS spat upon. Just because they are militantly pursuing their own survival, they are accused of the most violent anti-svhite acts. Why are we alone asked to be patient, and why have we swallowed the “fair play'’ egalitarian ethos whole? , You remember that black leadership walked hand in hand to jail with Puerto Ricans in order to have LaCot named ° administrator of Lincoln Hospital; not one promise in the best interest of Bronx blacks has as yet been honored. The dlack community in the Bronx cries out for leadership, and unless our brothers citywide begin to deal more constructively with us, their little dominoes will topple also! _ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, Eta Omega Omega Chapter Records Subject The topic of the resource Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Bronx African American History Project Eta Omega Omega Bronx Graduate Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Wheeler, Wilson & Johnson Community Projects, Inc. Wheeler, Wilson & Johnson Community Projects, Inc. Description An account of the resource Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated® was chartered on May 23, 1964, by twelve members. The chapter celebrates a rich history of service, philanthropy, and scholarship for the Bronx community. From its inception, programs of service were launched to enhance the quality of life for residents of The Bronx. Specific emphasis was placed on engaging youth, working with developmentally disabled children, and providing services to the elderly.<br /><br />Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated® provides volunteer services to vulnerable and underserved communities. One of the first programs started by the chapter was a garden project at the Southeast Neighborhood Center for developmentally disabled adults. Since then, the chapter has initiated several other service projects, including Impact Days, Earth Day and Akarosa Adopt A Highway beautification initiatives, financial literacy workshops, Alzheimer's awareness projects, mental health support projects, and healthy heart initiatives. The chapter also spearheads the MLK Day of Service project, various toy drives, collaborative Global Impact Day with South Africa and St, Croix members as well as a host of other programs that demonstrate a strong commitment to serving the Bronx community. In addition to serving the community, members also participate in weekly prayer calls, leadership enrichment opportunities, membership and sisterly relations activities that are intergenerational, like book, movie, exercise, and travel clubs. Eta Omega Omega chartered Xi Xi chapter, an undergraduate chapter at Lehman College on June 25, 1983, and members of that chapter have participated in many of the projects.<br /><br />Eta Omega Omega chapter's signature program is the <em>Rites of Passage Mentoring Program</em>. This program provides high school girls with year-long intensive workshops on personal development, ancestral history, interpersonal relations, etiquette, and goal setting. Since 1991 this program has guided young girls towards their transition into womanhood by fostering a sense of responsibility, sisterhood, and self-pride. The chapter will continue the Rites of Passage Program in collaboration with ((#CAP℠), the current administration’s College Admissions Process program ((#CAP℠), designed to assist students in their efforts to enter college.<br /><br />As a result of the work that Eta Omega Omega has done, the chapter has earned many national and international accolades and awards. Some awards earned were Small and Medium Chapter of the Year, the Spirit Award, Membership, Connection, and Star Award for Outstanding Programs. On a regional level, several chapter members have been recognized for their outstanding service in leadership. Members were honored as Basileus of the year, Silver Star of the year, Graduate Advisor of the year, and the Idell Pugh Angel Award.<br /><br />In 1994, the Chapter established a not-for-profit corporation and later changed the name of this corporation to Wheeler, Wilson and Johnson Community Projects, Inc. The corporation was organized exclusively for educational and charitable purposes within Bronx County. Through the foundation the chapter hosts an annual holiday toy drive, leads peace walks, and donates dorm baskets to students leaving for college. In addition, the Chapter annually gives over $10,000 in scholarships to support youth attending two-year, four year, and HBCU colleges.<br /><br />As a large-sized chapter, with 129 members, Eta Omega Omega is one of seventeen exceptional graduate chapters in Cluster III of the Notable North Atlantic Region. Many members have moved up in leadership. Eta Omega Omega members have served as Cluster and Regional Committee Chairman and Cluster Co-Coordinators. Chapter member Soror Joy Elaine Daley has served previously as the North Atlantic Regional Director and currently serves as the International Regional Director.<br /> <p><br />Eta Omega Omega Members continue to exemplify the ideals that Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated^® was founded on well over 110 years ago.&nbsp; Through the direction of our 30th International President, Dr. Glenda Glover, the Chapter has implemented the 2018–2022 International Program under the theme, "Exemplifying Excellence Through Sustainable Service." The International Program includes five program targets designed to advance the mission of Alpha Kappa Alpha with excellence and underscore a commitment to sustainable service.</p> <p>The five program targets for 2018–2022 are:</p> <ol> <li><a>HBCU for Life: A Call to Action</a></li> <li><a>Women's Healthcare and Wellness</a></li> <li><a>Building Your Economic Legacy</a></li> <li><a><em>The Arts!</em></a></li> <li><a>Global Impact</a></li> </ol> <p>In addition, Eta Omega Omega members implement International Community Service Days annually to highlight the organization's collective impact in program target areas:</p> <ul> <li>Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January)</li> <li>Pink Goes Red for Heart Health Day (February)</li> <li>AKA Global Impact Day (April)</li> <li>AKA International Day of Prayer (August)</li> <li>AKA HBCU Day (September)</li> <li>Breast Cancer Awareness Day (October)</li> <li>AKA Caregivers' Day (November)</li> </ul> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, Eta Omega Omega Chapter, Donna Joseph, President, Saudah Muhammad, Chapter Historian Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1964–present Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-AKAHOO Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 2, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 6 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Bronx and Brooklyn black. becomes operational under Title activists prevenied approval of’ I, ‘Institutes’ will be, therefore, “Operation Return’ at the’ ineligible for a Title JI grant Board of Education meeting on at a later date. : Wednesday, Feb, 12, charging; that the program for suspendedi The Institutes proposal was students was a “bastardization' based on data gatHered by of, and deliberate attempt tq’ BRONCO as they worked with preclude establishment of the'Elmira State Penitentiary more meaningful program|parollees, dropoxts, and submitted last Fall be Brooklyn |Suspended students over the and Bronx CORE. past year. It is based on the Supt. Donovan's $224,839 theory that “the so-called “Qperation Return’ was to disruptive child is usually a high become operational February 1, |Spirited, non-conformist who is andwasdesignatedTitIlwheichNotwillingtoacceptthe mandates Board of Education.mediocre education available in control. The CORE program;our schools.” They will offer was to be governed by aj walk-in” guidance, and Community Board inj)structure classes to relate to consultation with the Board of,students home and commumity Education, and was submitted | life.” under Title 11, which permits; Operation Return on the other programs to be subcontracted/hand is an outgrowth of to community groups. Principal Jack Landeman’s pilet Solomon Herbert and Mrs.|project at JHS 71 'M, where Bonnie Barrow of BRONCO SIA,:"two master teachers worked key figures in drafting ‘In-.with six students who could not stitutes’, have spurned offars adjust to normal school routines. to serve as consultants on:Classes which met at the Boys “Operation Return,” and in ajClub, emphasized building up Ieltcr to the Board dated Feb, |academic and social skills,” Mr. 12, stated that they “would not;Landeman said, “and returned lallow any such programs to children to school as quickly function anywhere in our as possible."’ community.” | Subterfuge Afoot? This proposal, which hopes for $3-million in next year’s budget, | “It is like saying to a mother, has the approval of Donovan's ‘we are going to let you help Committee on the Disruptive raise your child,” ’* Mrs. Barrow Child which included Louise said in a moving speech before Bolling of District 16 Brooklyn, the Board. “We worked with and Jeff Greenup of Harlem 'you, Dr. Donovan, because we NAACP, “The Committee welcomed ‘professional and ethical . . .the Operation Returns believed that you would be bul the Board has reneged on {proposal,” said Mrs, Leah their agreements to establish |Marks, attorney for Citizens 'an educational institution which \Committee for Children who would be partially administered altended several meetings, ‘by ihe Board of local resident “because we are concerned that all children get a full years’ Mrs. Barrow referred to a education,” ‘educators,"* serics of meetings held with Direct Line Mr. Donovan and Esther M. How important the disruptive Swanker of the State Education child is as a_ educational office where it was established] that monies for “Institutes’’ would come from Title II] which makes grants only to original, experimental programs, not operational before, The fear is that, if the Operation Return disruptive, but Harvey problem is disputable, Last year 13,284 children were suspended. for periods ranging from five; days upwards. Dr. Donovan claims that less than 1 percent of the total population fs Hertzman, UFT representative at Herman Ritter JHS meeting! recently claimed that 10 percent or at least 200 students in that school alone were disruptive. “IT am trying to find money for Institutes for Learning,” Dr. Donovan said, “but as 1 have said before, there js not instant money for this,’’ to real efforts to teach children in our schools. Noting that there was not one black cpntractor among the 112 to be approved by the Board to provide goods and services ranging from erasers to boiler installations, Mr. Solomon Herbert said: “This Institute of Learning proposal! means more’ chan education to us — it means sontracts for black merchants and jobs for our unemployed. Even if I were offered $500; yer day to work on Operation Return Icould not accept it.” Said Dennis Gardner, of Morrisania CPC Board: “if you could find instant money to support a police force to keep these children quiet, why not for this program?” And Cathy Goldman of United Bronx. Parents charged that the move} to allot $100,000 for direct lines in each school to local police precincts (which was passed by the Board) was in direct conflict| A five percenter, designating Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. limself as living testament of he inferior education meted out ‘o black children, offered to support with his life the ‘Institues for Learning’’ yroposal. “I have two choices, 1e said, either to die fighting ‘or nothing in Vict-nam or on he ~~ streets = fighting §=for something here,” Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 9, 1968: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News "In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER “We're racist, so there: you 100 children coukd not attend knew it all along. so what!” heir graduaion exercises for That is how young black men ill-defined reasons of poor like Nat Martin of Hunts Point, conduct. Of 509 ninth grade CPC community organizer, as- children, 25 are reiding below sesses white America's mood 6.9, and many al HA and oth following the report of the Presi- grade level dent's Commission on Civil Dis- Started Boscutt orders Jast week. It was, howev a case of This is one of the young men child asSault, where & parent, in their twenties whom James Mr. Clarence Dabney. stopped Baldwin says are speaking to a teacher fram attacking a us loud and clear: “Old man. child, that precipated the be still: we will not take what boycott. While Hernan you did, we will be men in Ferguson gets lil set al $100,000 for escorting children agrees with him: he has read a similar offense. is reinstated. previous riot reports and its and although involved in a our own time.” Nat Martin is in Rood to a Maleslm XN Memorial. company, for Dr. Kenneth anotier teacher, alle pediy Clark, the eminent psychologist, suspended several vears ago for all heen said before. Marcover, recent assaull case, is permitted Congress has failed to to canlinuc te teach children, implement the Report's basic Mr. Martin, vouthfully. recommendation — massive reflects on the dauble standard. funds to attack the root causes. and is) disenchanted) by While the Civil Rights bill, conferences and fact finding mangled by War hawks months Jans. ago, languishes, the Subversive Fortunately, some para. Activities Control Bill is being professionals began working al quietly rejuvenated. JustIn caS@ 175 136 last week, and reported threats to internal security start that they were starlled by whut cropping Up again. they saw. They were among Youth ts Impatient 250 fram schools in Marrisania The young oncs fecl, more who met at Bethel Temple on dceply ‘than their elders, the Saturday. “You must sec constriction of society, One-fifth yeursell as advocates for the of all Bronx families live in children in the school,” Jerome abject poverty, and half of them Green, CPC Educational are black, Morrisania is a poor, Coordinator who negotiated Iheir neglected neighborhood = of contracts said, “as well as aides disenfranchised transients with to the teaching program.” all the ingredients to be the Can Raise Level next Newark. Can you blame Most. of them considered youth, then, for spurning the;protection of children us, ndvice of elders whom they see-primary and while evaluation: bogged down in acquicscence:reports, when the program ends; and inaction in the face of these this June, may call them; conditions? “Intruders or “busybodies,"j For over a year, Nat Martin|with proper supervision they cznl has worked with parents and help raise the level of Jesrning| staff at JHS 136 te improvejin ghetto schools, conditions. The 14-year olds who, Getting those 20) para-: roam the corridors therclorofessional johs paying to $2.50. communicate to him: ‘We're tourly for the people who necd, not Jearning nothing,” they say.; hens most (when much Es ! Impatient to help last your, he,’ noncy had been cestined to pay, impetuously . offered to buy torefessional salaries) was nol expensive trophies for kids, “if small feat. Giving them praper: they would only stay in school.” training for the job is the next This year, Monday morning in phase. i (acl, he was a marshall on, Youth should be angry lat, the picket line areund JUS i whale generation of chiklren: {o oust (he principal, Robert:bas been lost since the 1954! Greenberg. ‘Supreme Courl decision, But In the ten years he bas heen sith the paraprofessional lo there, Mr. Greenberg tad arestore the link between group of parents Friday community and school, adulls; conditions in the échoo} have!lmay vel take Une iniative in, worsened, And parents ofiplanning for youth again, children in the school, becoming|Perhaps wilh the help of youth, vocal at last agree thal he|they may be a pusitive fuetor is right. “It is a punitivejin the prevention of civil. chool they say, Within the disorders. Or is it, as Nat’ last week, ten youngsters have; Marlin says, “Already — loo been suspended, and last year!late?” : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 16, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 4 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Sinee Concentrated department.” But that three of Employment Program (CEP) opencd its doors last October to the unemployed of South Broax, £916 applicants havi. been 1-949 were Puerta six classes are Spanish, and the English speaking classes contain many newlyly arrived Puerto Ricans may appear to show preference for our Puerto Rican Citizens. Some trainces say that the sessions ‘‘do not deal with the real problems of finding a job. where employers themselves may prefer the young,-caucasian loaking Puerto fican, 593 Negro cad 159 of olher ethnic groups, according to Frank Valdes. director at the Courtland: Avenuc Center. But the aceusatian that Negroes wre not getting a fair deul has came from several Riean girl ta an older black sources, who rep ort woman. discrimination at both intake The sessions do not discuss and placement. “Preferance is the underlying feelings of given to young Puerto Rican distrust between Negroes and girls,” said Mrs. Mary Puerto Ricans which U.S. Bridgewater a trainee. racism has created, because, “Y would disassociate myself on the surface relationships are from any program — Lat amiable and cordial. practiced discrimination,” suid The Forgotten Underclass Albert Terranova, assistant The Negro represents 16 director in charge of training. percent of the Jabor farce in “l have no olher reason for New York City according to heing here. bul to sce that CP recent Dept. of Labor statistics, fulfills its commitment lo hut by giving preference to provide 2,099 opportunities for welfare recipients — and ait the people whe need them unemployed adult male heads within the year of our grant.’ of ~ houscholds, ihe Negro. Structure Seems Equitable ‘underemployed, whe have Operating with a $4.6 million cxisted on subsislance wages, grant from Une Departmentof js overlooked. . Labor, under Manpower and As a maticr of policy, the arcer Development Agency, welfare department does not CEP is charged to improve provide a stipend for on-the-job employment opportunities of the trainees, unless they apply disadvantaged, with priorilies individually, and = mect the given to heads of households criteria, for a supplementary’ and welfare recipients. _allowance. Field workers canvassed the: ‘The procedural difficulties neighborhood for reeruils, and involved would discourage a- storefronts are used = aS man from taking a training: recruitment vehicles. A 1wo- opportunity with, say. the week orientation peried telephone company paying $64; introduces participants to weekly. He remains a car-! employment and training washer even though with! possibilities, and tests them to training he could make $150 with: determine their academic levels.’ the telephone company. in twa; They are then cither placed in years, Unwitlingly this intake, jobs, or in pre-employment procedure, diseriminales against: training provided by the Board these who have struggled over. of {ducation. . ithe years in marginal jobs, and’ Pre-employment. trainees who' on wham the stalislics providing secive $43 weekly plus $5 for fa» CEP was based. euch dependent, must travel Lo pyerta Riewns, newly arrived’ Marhattan sinee “four years ef in the United Slates, ag well ‘fort has not produced an Adult ys Nogroos arriving fram the raining Center for the Bronx,” coral seth, catld .pack CEP ecording ta Dr. Moerman and foave the hard core ressel. director af the Harlem underemnloved Negroes on the Cente oe onside looking in’ at training The fact thal aver 500 CED Dragrams, pernetually tied tov Bronxiles are scattered in 3 nit-and-miss jobs. Manhattan Centers compounds - oy communication and efforts to, liunts Point Piebiscite improve skills training,” Mr.’ Stil unresolved, bul moving| nov itl. acrimoniously toward solution is, 1D slalf (42 pereent Snanish the problem of ethnic balance’ speaking, 20° percent Nogro) on the Ilunts Point Community instudes Carl Bristown, Negro, Corporation. AL a CAP meeting,- who heads otienteion, botdine Thursday March 7, tempers, three starefronts arp used Qared when 14 Afro-american, cl in English as well as Sames were submitted by the, Span and disclaims “any HPCC that “Interested Citizens” trace of diserimination in. his headed by Richard Weeks did BACK FROM HELL — 1 ‘' These names were Marine Ife. James 9S. ‘handpicked by Ramon Beleza’ | Cnderdue of {he Bronx gat ‘forees."” they claimed. The lwo, shot in the head in a remote . ficlions agreed in a subsequent. valley of Vietnam, saw six meeting to acecpt 14 Afro- ow his seven) buddies Americans chosen in a mass; massacred by the Vielcong | meeting, Tucsday night as the, and stil) alive after 17 [final recommendation to CAP. | lortured hours. San of Mr! An open hearing lo review lames Underdue of :the whole question of ethnic 7h Me Ave., the Bronx, [balance in N.Y.C. community} his sister is a secretary. in ‘corporalions is scheduled for 7] the hind: Administration. ‘p.m. Thursday March 16 at the! ths brather David, 21, and . Board of Estimate. CAP will Iie sister: Geraldine, 15, and propose that future commnnunity | all the Underdues count the capuration elections allow for- minttes watit Fim eames back jellinfe praup participation al in September, Ue fights near levery: shige. Phu Dai whieh is rugged “There will be a pracedare country ining miean’s hook. review of names on the ballot lv oa droadty representative and impartial election board in cach poverty area,’ Edwin Greenidge chairman suid. ‘Together with corresponding city-wide board they will hear appeals and assure that guidelines are adhered Lo. While CAP does net propose a quota syste, it does suggest a minimum number of slots to, reflect ethnic clemagraphy. rool feel were representative, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission an Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 23, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News g. 6 |In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER June 18, Primary Day, could be a big day for Bronx Democratic voters. since they will decide who shall run for congress, and usually he who wins the primary is a shoo-in at the November election. Re- nortedly, politicos arc caucusing not to oppose any incumbent, so ¢ as not to split the Democratic volte. This means that men ¥% like Congressmen James Scheu- 538% er (21CD) and Jacah Gilbert sggee (22CD) and state democratic @ segislators under them will be uncontested. No Cantest, No Chaice ay, Such a ‘no-cantest will not 429" produce even a debate of the issues, mucn less alternatives . for the black community. Sullen 44; voters, who just stay home (like they did in the 1966 Primary when only 5860 Democrais out of a possible 15,000 voted in the 78ta AD) will assure victory for whomever the party . designates. TELIS OF RESULTS ~ It is interesting to noic, in District tz superiniendem, that sixeway 1986 Primary’ Edythe Gaines, describes contest, Gvhen George Silcott,! some of the results ef the Irma Sentiella, Nathan Straus: ‘Taylor Method of reading and two others ran) Jacob; instruction to parents and Gilberts plurality was 2.143; board of Education personnel, votes, just about the avmber! who previewed the em of people registered in the Forest! with her before its inStallation Hou: nok to mention the, in DistricL 12 schools for unregistered, non-voting, eligi-| Septemh lugs = (See the bles there. ! Community Conscious). Anyway, the Joint Legislative Committee in Albany has drawn sg ducational Developmental: new lines, designed, we are told,’ Laboratorics and Taylor Center) tn provide a “safe” district for “jfuntinglon, Long Island) to see| Gilbert, (a_ Regular), and the'‘echnological teaching aids in debonair Refermer, James aetion. : Scheuer, considered a- Demonstrated wero film: formidable votegeltler.: rips, records, lachistascopes' Redistricting hardly altered the-and= other aids designed lo serpentine patlern of sermit children to move at their, Hepublican-Conservalive Paulawn learning rate, rather than, Finn's district (considered safeae bound to traditional block | until co-op cily opens) to thessystem of grade placement. Kast: while placing Highbridge vionrae ound) Morris High and Washington Heights Crish + Is, and 15) elementary) und conservatives) in, ane will ave several of culingPelhamParkway:hesewnilsinSeptember,Mrs. (iheral and Jewish) cut af the Gaines said. 2ord, making things pretly shaky: Abandonment | for Reformer Jonathan Biaghnl! Baraugh President Herman ta the West. , iBadilio accused the Beard of; The Pelham Parkway Jewish ‘jie YMCA (whose members! Hberals are now Gilbert's bonus xypressed concern over the in the 2nd, but reformers Leo':ytight of the poor, while closing Isaacson Gvho hopes to make town facilities in the ghette) hay with them) and Ted Vel “running out oan the! of KastHarlem Tenants Coun problem." Speaking at a vy" (who hanks on the Puerto’ Dinner, March {1, he said they, TUcans at the other end haverpravided service when the aveady thrown their hats antossommunily was white. middie, the ring to oppose Gilbert. |Shass, . a bat that they. ateny Mr. Velox is elasping 19 his with the Protestant “council,. hosom the clusive Reform; Catholic Charities and churehes| CDAD rort, a dove thal were “relocating elsewhere, and might tz Hight UW Senator! doing nothing to replace needed. Kennedy overpowers MeCarthy: facilities." : a peace ecndidate, and thei He urged them ‘not Io, lie-contest” boys hold sway. |abandon as, but te make the’ Petitions fer candidates to run cayestment necessary fo keep in the primery will he circulated ‘hese, or build new facilities.i | from April 20 ta Mayo and fe rectnit and trains the’ and support of residents in: Hepisercd voters may sim for“ gnd of staff that can render returning efients lo socially, a wholo shite of candidates, dul real service to the poor." useful, praductive lives.” ony ance for ony single office,’ One ef these abandoned — Aflereare personnel will) vss your signature be fagilities, Broux Union YMCA‘ supervise 700 clients, in various chsquilified. Black citizens must at azo bi iist SL, bas been stages af rehabilitation Reb into the act new, at pre-'nequired by the NY Stale employment or retraining, primary time, te propose Narealies Addiction Control Mr. Wepkins reports candidates wha stand on the Cammissien “lo provide s“numerous job opportunities” at issues that matter most. aftercare for persens with ‘the Center, Other job vacancies Decentralization Preview? history of nareoties*around town are the Program Fifty-one community people, -dependeney.” Willard CRED) Director ($10,090 per year) at including paraprofessionals, aud) Hopkins, our honored farmer; Morvisania CPC, and the members of the parcul advisory! Police Deparlment Youthotxecutive Director of council,werepuestsaf|‘Iricttworker, now comarnnity, (ChwemantNeighborhoodCenter Sunorintendent Edythe J. Gaines! relations specialist for the Gsalary open, Master of SW and school persanne! at the’ Couter, wanls “the cooperation preferred, tut net required), Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. = A Tanner, Marietta Community Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 30, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 6 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Everyone is talking Black Negroes” whom they condemn Coalition, but such a necessity| as scllouts. . seems Jess than real with the | Last Wednesday, March 2), division, apathy and petty:a committee chaired by Lucille grievances that are rendering| Murray of South Bronx Was to us impotent at ihe grassroots. |screen Ji Puecrio Rican The poor, whose participation: candidates, and recommend is mandated on OEO boards,seven to the SBCPC Beard, to with moncy to dispense, scems comply with the CDA ruling little more able to take care on ethnic balance. At the Board of business than the “‘bourgeous meeting the following evening, where the executive committee was lo be elected, and the seven members seated, nine dlack board members did not even show, and two left before the vote. UNITED GROUP An organized and united Puerto Rican contingent, led by Frank Lugovina, who was elected chairman, had the by- laws of the Board set aside. They were able to push through candidates who, black board members claim. “represented only ane health area. and mainly one organization, OUB (United Organizations of the Bronx.) ig, violation of the Conslitution, Lack of selection criteria and proper review of applications’ protests were overriden. With« over half the black, representatives absent, it was too much to expect black women to hold ihe line against: ambitious Pucrto Rican males... To compound the problem, a rift exists between the CPC: director, Mrs. Gladys. Harrington and Mrs. Lucille. Murray, a board member and communily leader, At the bottom of it seems to be a. tack ef communication centering around differenees of, interpretation of board's and staff's rale. . For the second time in as.‘ many months, Mrs, Harrington's; resignation is an issue. Rev. Elmere Brooks sought it in February, and Mrs, Murray! concurred: ‘For some reason. Mrs. Harrington did not wish! to deal with the Board's’: appointee, Rev. Brooks,” Mrs.: Murray sald. “and does not want (o give the Board, information we need for: planning. Furthermore she does-. not reach out to the black. community.”” . Mrs. Murray ciled a budget eut which eliminated 123 block - workers as partieul arly-: distressing to her. “These were: the poorest people, making ihe ~ lowest salaries who nev must’ return to welfare.” she said. “while hiring of highly paid staf(,_ was going on in another| department, Manpower.” . These 2 Years Mrs. Harrington came wv. South Bronx in its infancy two! years ago, and given hours’’ beyond the call of duty to CPC..- Soulh Bronx has jis own. scholarship fund and eredit* union, a carpentry and print:” shop, and a parolee program|: “of which I am_ particularly- proud,” Mrs. Harrington said. But in communily organization, ste admits. “we.- just don’t secm fo be able to. accomplish all we want to,” The deck is stacked against: her with a Jarge transient.- “paper organizations,” and lack. cf grass roots leadership, “7 think there needs to be a better: interpretation of dhe uature and. - scope, and potential power of. a CPC Board,” Mrs. Harrington. . said. “Do they understand all- that is involved? . “Can they plan ahead five. years, using OEO funds as seed money io build something * permanent, or will they continue -* to tic themselves down, delving into problems of day-by-day , operations. . Throughout the Bronx,’ wherever the bone has been:- thrown, the enemy need not \divide and conquer. We manage” |(0 do il so cffectively ourselves, +” ‘ Model Cities Protest ‘The Morrisania Model Cities Policy Committee Jodaed a’ complitint against the N.Y. City... Housing ant Development- Administration, claiming that, “the community has been: excluded from performing any. meaninglul roll in planning anc. policymaking, They charged that the policy citywide committee’ lacks adequate black. representation: and the,, exclusion of community from interaction with City agencies. “Similar failure will be documented in other boroughs. . at a conference this weekend: at Salem Acthodist Church in: Harlem,” Mr, Sol Herbert, a, member of the Morrisania Committee said. “We have witnessed. during several visits” throughout their offices. an, inadequate number of blacks, . and those who are there are’ functioning in lesser positions:° than they were hired for,’ he, said, ‘Dept. of Development Commissioner Robert G. Hazen‘ was also named in the complaint- for questionable implementation, ef fair employment practices. when the City subcontracts for? services.” + Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Apr 6, 1968: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 23 In_The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER Tremontis a neighborbood in the people so lacking in transition; urban renewal and organization,” he said, New other unsettling changes are in Housing selection criteria will the wind even before the shew avoid some of the moralistic peoples who arrived since 1960, judgments of the former rulings, can settle themselves. but still the people, unless they . ;1can organize themselves, will For the black people who fled! be only tenants again, with no from the bulldozer to ‘Tremont, part in the rebuilding of their community, Twin Parks. East which would build $59 dwelling units on seven Ineligible Agencics Seattered sites, poses the old Infant organizations like treat — black removal. (Better Organizations for Mid _ This fear is understandable, Bronx) and WANA (Washington in view of the “social criteria” Ave., Neighborhood Association) under which Housing decides that have sprung up to deal with who shall enter public housing. eritical problems are ineligible Despite (Relocation Board to apply for mortgages under Chairman) Frank Arricale's Federal Housing Authority 221- Statement at a March 19 D-3 grants. To be eligible an meeting that residents now in organization ‘must have the the area would be given possibility of lasting for at least preference for a new housing. 40 years to support the life of the mortgage,” Father Mario Under Review Zicarelli of Mt, Carmel Catholic Church chairman of the Twin The 22-point “social criteria” Park Association said. in under review, and well it This private organization of need be, for it excluded people who “present a clear and, local churches is seeking present danger” past or sponsorship for all or part of present illegal occupation,| Twin Parks. Many months of confirmed drug addiction; and project, and the plan is good hard work have gone into their those with “conditions indicative showing low-income unit dis- records of poor rent payment, come housing. of potential problems” like pursed throughout middle in- irregular work history, out of But the ‘deliberative’ vote wedlock children, and unusually frequent changes in residence belongs to the parishioners, ‘‘We among other things. are broadening our. base,” Father Zacarelli said, ‘‘in “These are the people who inviting all neighborhood groups have filled the substandard to participate with us.’ But apattments and clapboard those neighborhood groups who private houses turned multiple did get in function as dwellings,” said Mrs. Dorothy “consultative members” only. May a Fremont community April 12 js the deadline for worker. ‘‘Where will they go?” submitting applications and it The new residents of Tremont is doubtful that neighborhood have many problems, and “few groups can structure themselves) black hands to work, We don’t to take advantage of 221-D-3 know what is happening, or who mortagages. to turn to for Jeadership,” said Black Apathy Again Mrs, Mays from her office at Poor participation by black CAB (Community Action Board community exists too in the I), One of the persons and Tremont Community Cor- places where she has found help poration now in the planning is the Tremont Neighborhood stages, A board of 19 had one City Hall and its Community elected black member, but with Organizer, Roger Witherspoon. CDA ethnic balance stipulations,| “TY wags amazed by what I now has four black, 19 Puerto. saw here, not in Brooklyn, nor| Rican and three ‘others’. Mr. Harlem, nor anywhere else were! Cesar Rosado, program coordinator for the Planning Committee claims that the area is approximately 55 per cent Puerto Rican, 35 per cent black. “There is no spirit that we can do it, no precedent for building from scratch for our black people,” laments Mrs. May a black member of the Board. ‘‘Our people are pressed by their immediate sustenance problems, and all their energies are expended there.” With her meager salary, Mrs. May operates a day care program which permits 13 mothers to work. Her car is the neighborhood taxi by day, and patrol car by night. “We are without services,” she says, “how can I complain about conditions unless I dt least try to do something.” The Board meets April 10, 7:30 at 927 E, 180th Street. Some black residents should certainly come out to decide how best to spend the $685,700 allotted’ by CDA and make recommen.| dations regarding summer and year round programs. 4 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Apr 13, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News [In The Bronx Communit onscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER A black man whose work has How can we honor Dr. Martin)’ ‘gained him the respect of our Luther King? Should Harold|i community was in deep Dicks feel that what he is loing mourning Thursday, April 4)for to assist paraprofessionals to the murdered Martin Luther become teachers and take the King. “You don't know what responsibility for educating the ‘Rev. King did,” he said to me, black child is, ‘‘notbing “You have never lived in the compared to what King was: deep South and suffered the de- doing?” Are ali our efforts to gradation black men felt there. oppese stalmate and| “As farm boys in Georgia,” acquiesence on the political: Harold Dicks, Education Chair-| scene now futile? If there is’ taau, Bronx NAACP said, “We a master plan to exterminate would have to ride on the back of us, must we march quietly to boys in Georgia,” Harold the gas chambers, or be the Dicks, Education Chairman, victimsofstreetmassacres? Bronx NAACP said, “We would Martin Luther King was an have to ride on the back of eloquent spokesman for non the pickup truck with the rain violence, but he never ran from beating in our faces, while a a fight. In our town last week,|. white woman and her dog rode Rev. Ralph Abernathy pleaded inside. Our only protection from march, Symbolically, we could frameups that Jed to jail or honor Dr, King by going to lynching was a white bossman Washington June 18 But it is who would call the jail and not the finest way to honor say to the crooked chief of} him. police, ‘Let my Niggers out! To have had the courage to Dr. King wrote: “The Negro's say, ‘No, we will not ride in the back of the bus,’ was an act of heroism beyond measure.” The Price of Compromise I was reminded as Harold| wept of a German - Jewish greatest stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Council or; the Ku Klux Klan but the white moderate, who is more devoted) to order than justice; who prefers a negative peace, which concentration camp survivor is the absence of tension to: who became an importer in this a positive peace, which is the country, and for whom Iworked presence of justice.” Our own as a secretary, he pleaded with community was to Dr. King me to always remember who that indispensible ‘‘little drop I was; that the Negro in this: of water,” but black people here country who thought he was take the attitude of the white becoming assimilated and could moderates. Law and order is forget his identity should look the call; train the militia if to the fate of the German Jew. necessary to ‘‘caol the long hot “We felt superior to the Slavic summer!” Are our black Jew because we thought we had! status, education and rights as| Germans,” he said. “Those lawyers and teachers, our doctors and businessmen committed to justice for all Jews with money who looked black men? How aclive are they Aryan, who had married: beyond going to the polls and Germans, compromised, and pulling the lever on election day sold out the rest of us. But when they tried to buy their way out, they found that the Gestopo was indiscriminate in to the needs of our own people? their hatred of al of us.” Six million dead was the price they paid. the South. But is a community wide disgrace to attend political conventions in the 21st preparing for a massive “Poor; or 22nd Congressional Districts People’s March.” To our:1and see so few black men and oppressors he said on the eve; women active there, making of his death, ‘You can never| would honor Dr. King. Beyond be what you wish to be, unless ‘the tears that may be shed for' I become what I should be . the death of Dr. King is the .. our destinies are inextricably necessity to risk losing the sor- bound.” His words apply did privilege some of us bave equally to stralas and economic gained by ‘“prostituting” a lit- while gathering forces for the Io a letter from jail in 1963, for some candidate they had no part in putting there? How responsive are black legislators Dr. King sat with the President the day he signed the Voting Rights Act to permit the Negro Dr. Martin Luther King fought to become a political force in for the Jowliest among us; he died fighting for a decent wage for garbage collectors, and was; levels within the race. tle. It may mean giving up a As we recover from the. good-paying job that makes you stunned horror of Dr. King’s see our people short. assassination, we must all reassess the degree of our courage Dr. King had, nor a compromise. Mr. and Mrs. dream of what he gave for Dicks, my husband and 1 were" gy, architects and othe r| privileged to talk with Dr. King«edueated men to see that black just a few weeks ago atijjaborers get decent jobs in Freedom ways Dubois Centennial Celebration. Citizens are irganized to gain Magazine’simodel Cities, and that black He praised the work on th Cllsome contracts and own some local level, in the words of the property through nurssery rhyme, “little drops Renewal. Drop by drop such of water, little grains of sand,” continuing effort woul truly declaring that it WaSlhonor Dr. King, and add to indispensible to his own work.|lthe quality of all our lives. He said, then, that he was not so concerned with the “quantity , of his life as the quality’? and. that his family understood that! “from any of my sojournes,: I might not return.” i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission It would not take half the Urban Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Apr 20, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News 15 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. |In The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER When the Board of Estimate “Elected officials still have! and the City Council on March the basic responsibility to 15 amended the 1968-69 Capital provide services: they cannot! ; Budget to restore vital Bronx’ toss the problems to the people! projects vetoed by the Mayor,: and walkaway. It is the’ Bronx Borough President, mayor's responsibility to see! on top. Twelve years of, Herman Badillo said the victory that they get additional’ frustrating delays preceded the! was “a dramatic case study: resources.” he said. Mr. Badillo| ceremonies, and Daniel Nelson, of the effectiveness of citizen was firmly against the executive director of the participation in the budgct-? establishment af Little City Educational Construction Fund, making process . . .” ‘Halls because “only the Mayor praised Assemblyman: Seymour Especially cited were the 14 and not other clected city Posner for “the tremendous job Community Planning Boards. officials would have access to he did in Albany to eliminate “which held public hearings’ hem,” : jthe roadblocks that held up i where neighborhood people! constructian.” Posner was in testified on local necds. \ Borough President Elevated | Albany that Monday, but lots: Mr. Badilio. prepared his LiAt the present time, Mr,’ of other politicians posed for| indsay has appointed an groundbreaking pictures, Since: budgonethebasisofthistapedawnoaannte. sat .HighbridgebecamePosner's! testimony and submitted it to Me econ fox says, cannot Be district with reapportionment 15! City Planning Commission, Bur expeditor for construction, who months ago, he has been battling! PLANNING BETTER BRONX Vivian Harris, Standing behind understanding between ethnic the .Mayor's budget deleted! atfoctive, since he is on the with Housing and Redevelop- — Bronx Borough President the borough president is groups and sections of the many Bronx projects, reasoningi:seme level as the commission ment for construction of this Herman Badillo, left, sits with Annette F, Morton, one of Borough with varying necds.” that these items would HOt ois, He suggests adeputy mayor school, and is girding ‘fer a black planning Board I two black staff assistants, who Mr. Badillo’s plans for them beter the construction staBe! who can bring the commission- battle to win the June 18 prim. members from Hunts Point- is in charge of Planning Board the subject of The Community before the end of the fiscala.’ together to expedite the ary there, too. Morrisania: Mrs. Daisy I. “The 14-Branx Planning Canscious, (Parkway Studios et : a Iprojecis through the 12-20 de- Bradshaw, Mrs. .Esmay Boards are being structured Phato) ye sayBallo Feud ye'lpartments and 167-300 opera- Robinson; standing Lawrence and strengthened, ‘‘Mr. .at, Badillo charged that the’ tions between capital budget al- Burr, chairman, and Mrs. city administration was location and completion of a Badilosaid, “to: foster “penalizing the people of the! roject TM Bronx for their own failure, |)PY —~ . il Bronx projects were 10 per) fhe were mayor, Mr. Badillo cent behind schedule, he said,/'5aid. he “would give the borough and the Bronx js suffering 26]!Presidents (an elected official]? years of neglect and failure to| Wilh prestige under the charter) obtain its proper share of city; Siatus and full authority to serviees and facilities, |Supervise the commissioner to He abhorred the mayor's: Sc¢ that approved items in their proposal that the 1968-69 budget! boroughs were completed.” The be cul because of the backlog! borough president represents an (of authorized projects ($1.2! entity, and wilh his planning. ibilion allocated for city-wide! boards (whose members are ‘construction, and 128 projects; how appointed by the BP) in the Bronx alone were not elected by district, they could yet begun), charging the city truly represent and speak for, administration with laxity, the needs of every community| providing superfluous fancy and plan ahead for the. next’ programs for the poor, when fifty years, Mr. Badillo said. construction would generate 56-| There are 297.562 Puerto billion in employment and Ricans and 248,013 blacks in’ goods.” ! the Bronx, hut there are also} There is strong feeling 460.000 Italins, Between groups, between Mayor Lindsay and Mr,! there is tremendous hostility Badillo, generated some political, concerning what one community observers say, by Mr. Badillo’s; gets over another. A case in desire to be the next mayor. point are the Minipools proposed: - “Mr, Lindsay and I disagree by Parks Commissioner, on priorities,’ "Mr. Badillo says, Heckscher as “lop priority for “He is more given to public the ghetto” at $33,000 each, relations than executive “People in Throggs Neck and | management.” East Bronx have been waiting Morris High School is 180 per for years for swimming pool'' cent avercrowded, intermediate’ construction; such unilateral schools in the Bronx are 200; allocations foster racial and per cent overcrowded. “AN the sectional animosity.” . fanfare about decentralization is A beller idea, Mr, Badillo, meaningless without additional said, would be ‘‘to strengthen; facilities; yot the Mayor vetoed community planning boards who] P.S, 74 and additions to Morris presently have joint meetings) High School,” Mr. Badillo said, of the 14-chairmen and) People Participation Ineffective subcommittee heads and have Meaningful citizen. par- testified at hearings for each {ticipation has deteriorated other. needs.- In this way we tunder the poverty programs, as could develop a realistic master presently set up, Mr. Badillo plan. for the boraugh. Whether! isaid. Even with ethnic balance ilthis would diminish the power: campaigns against another and concern himself with Cily-wide ‘provisions, one ethnic graup jot the Mayor, or free him to lean gain $1 per cent control. problems will be the subject The only purpose of poverty; of a later article. programs, as Mr. Badillo sees Posner at Highbridge | lit, is to develop new concepls Ground was broken April 1 and better means of|'for PS 126 in Highbridge, which communicating with the poor. Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Apr 27, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 17 In_ The |Bronx own bank staffs indicates a color tblack congressional candidate In line) as well as the obviously tthis district, which redistricting gave a slight edge, on the basis African-ancestored blacks, when id population alone, in favor “passing” is permitted to tof blacks. Unfortunately, black© become once more the ticket jineligibles outlandishly exceed to economic parity with whites. ithe number of registered voters. We sce it in the better housing And it should plague the in the West Bronx, made tconscience of all the candidates _ available with the Jewish ithat they did not fill the Board exodus, Where fair-skinned of Elections last Spring and : . Puerto Ricans are admitted to rsummer with the sweet sound Two men, one black (Kenneth jjAlmeida, chairman of the PR- the exclusion of blacks. of new registrants. Miller) and one Puerto Ricaniispanic Center and OUB Mr. Badillo admits Vit be among those regretting (Pedro Morales) tried to occupy strategist “if the Negrocs had; powerlessness to prevent this that we did not do more to the director’s seat at Hunts used their organizations like we insidious type of discrimination register the poor and apathetic Point Community Progress “since it is private housing, and voter, for I will be running, Center last Wednesday thus iaid to get out tie vote.’ discrimination has traditionally with Leo Isacson and Jules dramatizing a controversy that ‘Mr. Almeida and Mr. Weeks| been on the basis of color.” Feiffer, as a delegale to the has been snowballing for agree that an impartial body’ Third Avenue stores and National Democratic Convention months, of people with no vested downtown restaurants alike seem in the 2:CD. Deadline for “We have shown that if one interest, should be appointed to to prefer the foreign-sounding, registration at 1780 Grand director can be appointed by mediate the situation, As a caucasian-looking P.R.toblacks. Concourse is May 15, new and a body not duly constituted, then beginning, Herman Badillo and Whereas black and P.R, non-voters please vote! any group can appeint a Jackie Robinson were on the scholars may theorize at At a party packed with well director,” Richard Weeks, scene Jast Wednesday to lend Brotherhood-in-Action about wishers, and many spunky, chairmanofInterestedCitizenstheirinfluencetoavertingcrisis.depressedpeopleandcommoncager young supporters said. Nat Martin a black bonds, black people on Fox Saturday, April 20, Reformer They claimed that Morales community organizer (who Street are beginning to know Dennig Gardner announced for waS appointed by an worked during the 1966 “where it's at.” Said Robert the Assembly 78th AD. At his ‘uneertificd, incomplete beard,” Registration campaigned) LaForey: “As militant as I am side was CDV Bronx Acting and that their move to have eoneurred with Almeida that for black rights, even I have Chairman, Lais Fuentes, who all acts of that board ratified black registration wis hesitated to face the fact that ‘will oppose Ivan Warner (Reg. March 23 was illegal. insufficient, “for multiple the conflict here in Hunts Point ‘Dem) for the State Senate in Moreover, Adolph Roberts, reasons. For one thing,” he said, is racist, plain and simple.” the 3ist. chairman of Kelly St. Block “the anger, so sharp jn black Those New Yorkers who flew Association said, “criteria, and| against white controtniatiou, is to Atlanta to communicate with open announcement of the blunted in Hunts Point, because dreamers of Dr. Martin Luther vacancy has been insufficient; many blacks feel that Puerta King’s dream must wake up jisallowing time and procedures Ricans are one with us.” and help “black and whites (and for due consideration of other It is becoming more obvious al shades ja between) sit down qualified le.”” to blacks, however, that most! together" at Hunts Point. Dr. Helen Mitchell, contrary: Puerto Ricans want to Ah Politics! Its swect sounds to reports Jast week, ‘was not: disassociate themselves, and not of instant change fil the spring fired, but resigned as director be contaminated by the man, air, as Nathan Straus (Reform of Hunts Point CPC effectivellat the bollom — the Negro. designate}, moves to challenge April 12, and is on terminaljTheir strategy is to move as Jacob Gilbert (Incumbent, Reg.) leave until June 29. Dr. Mitchell, swiftly and as unencumbered for Congress (22D) in the who is now Director of Citygas possible into the American Democratic Primary June 18, wide Summer Projects CDA,|mainstream by becoming as Still in the race, loo, is Ted bore the brunt of the canflict||Caucasian as possible, Velez wi’th Coalition for between the minority groups. Of course, this augers;Demecratic Alternatives’ (the “All this could have been!miserably for the black Puerto} McCarthy Group) support. avoided,” said SalvatorellRican (and one look at their AL Nall (Republican) is the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); May 4, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg.6 |In_ The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Angry and shake in principais attended tne School Board District #9 mecting Jast Wednesday, April 24. 4A principal, appointed according to UFT regulations had been removed by the community and parents of IS 148, “placing al our jobs in jeopardy.” the principals said. “In a manner! § of speaking. they were absolutely correct, unless they‘ make first-rate education for the ghetto child a reality,’ said Ed Hopper. chairman of Neighbors for Education, Action & Reform (NEAR). Reversal at 1S. 18 With limited information at - their disposal, and three days to make 2 decision, a committee of community, IS. 148 parents and Local School Board, had approved Milton Sticr as principal, effective April 12. After talking with parents of his former school ¢p.s. 80M+ who reported that Mr. Stier had REGINALD WALTON heen Jess than an able administrator there, lhe schos) Harold Dicks, Jerome Green, communily group withdrew and the Parent Association's M their approval of Stier’s Brown counseled with paren appointment. ,who wavered at tines, fearing! They felt that sirce 1S. 148 that the demonstration might! had been without a principalibccome a power struggle at! : it opened last September, ‘their children’s expense: and resulling in faxity concerning.“ uM since it opened last September Ed Hopper, chairman of ean teacherresponsibility,stuasd2perudennttorga!nizer. discipline und the academic! Now a black man, Reginald program, they needed a HU. Walton is acting principal. principal who could be relied.His appointment circumvented upon to set things right. The Board regulations, since he is parent communiity body, among those unappointed on the therefore, informed Dr, assistant principal's list. He was Maurice Ames, Superintendent‘.he Advisory Council's choice,! on April iat (under threat of and luoks like a good one. Mr.° demonstration the following, Wallon has been in the school Monday)? that Mr. Stier's system since 1946, spending 5! appointment must be rescinded,‘years with the burcau__ of! two other teachers removed,-Educational and Vocational, and a lemporary administrator:Guidanee at PS 55 (IS 148's" appointed until’ the Advisory:parent school); he is deeply; Council could seleet a coneerned about the academic! salisfactory principal. Sitin and standing of 1S 148, and plans: sleep-in they did for three days, we work closely with the: and al the demands were met. ‘Advisory Council and the Parent: ‘Assaciat‘an, whose full support,! Black Men Forward in he has been assured, are Nis. ‘Two clements stood out the process of achieving that: Power in the 7 AD victory, and not the least of Assembly District 77 Cower these is that the parent Bronx, Hunts Point) maybe a community group developed pivotal ore, as political jockeys confidence in their OWA move to the starting gale, Irma determination ard unity. Santaella has entered the race: Concerned parents of other ys a Regular to oppose Reform! boroughs supported — the,Democrat Jaunes Scheuer for; objectives: Rev. Millon Congres, 2st CD. ‘This should Galamison of Brooklyn, Mrs. consalidate the Regular vs Lorene Daniels and P.A.'fteform — positions, leaving President, Alexandria Coloa'nobert Garcia, Stale Senator; from PS 80 came to say,/(29§D) previously straddling “Miseducalion af minority-groubpo'th horses, dangling, Or maybe; children anywhere affects us."|nol he, but the volers are left Elected officials lent the weight dangling. of their office to altaining a! qt seems Garcia was to be: solution. unopposed in the rather odd, Al Goadman of the imrd St. songlomeration ef neighborhoods, Improvement Council sent in that make up the 29th, which: breakfast; William I, Rrowa!siretches from the Puerto Rican!” of the Pit sent dinner, and Mrs, stronghold, Uses Bo'nt, down in the 77th AD? Armandal Georgia Lamar, whase child had ta the end of El Barrio ab Montano is up_ for suffered injury at 1.5. 14, fried-agr@ St. Man. In between, Assemblyman, and Cesar, chicken. The wamen were;however, ere a host of black Rosado for Male Jeader, a black! constant and reflective: Mrs. falks and “ethers” who believe, male in opposition to Garcia: Bonnie Barrow of Bronco all clecled sflcials are less than woukl balance things well,” | S. 1 A, Mrs. June Salters of perfect, and therefore, in need Only then could they consider; LABOR, Mrs. Lucy Vigay, Mrs. af exposure to opposition at cach: agreeing to the black, female: Flinganadhostofothers.Hachelection,Sobeit,tea,withdistrictIeaderwhichtheywere’ cantribulion wi & significant, But Robert Garcia, Far the thing. offered. In the 7ith, as at 1S’ the finest result of the whole to be achieved in New York 118, and everywhere, recognition process was thal the leadership City in 196i is a warkable power sof the black male is the key was clearly ins the hands of relationsh'n between Negrees to equality and slablitity for black men. Sal Elerbert of CORE aad Cuerbi Ricans. “Why not the black family — and and Robert 1. Jackson of begin th Bros volers: are communily. Why wait until next PLAN. werethespokes ngtheslatelime;300yoursislongenough. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); May 11, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 |In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The fact that Congressman ‘formed the National Commitice James Scheuer’s (2ist CD) bill to support the Commission, to set up a National Conimission whose chairman was Jackie on Negro History and Cullure Robinson, and honorary was reported out of commiltec chairmen, Roy Wilkins, Whitney last Monday may come as a Young, and Charles Wesley. surprise to many of his black Only one Bronx person, “Mrs. constituents and fellow Theodore Khecl of Riverdale, Bronxites. I doubt that even was chosen, the event of its passage will Congressman Sehever be greeted with dancing in the ‘overlooked such distinguished streets, because it is a gift, black members of his own and not the result of our own ‘communily and constituency as struggle to better our condition. ‘Rev. Edler G. Hawkins of St. When Captain Robert Johnson Augustine Presbyterian Church. (42nd_ Precinct) speaks on ‘Well versed in Afro-American controlling juvenile delinquency, history and thought Rev. he talks about the responsibility ‘Hawkins, two years ago, sought of black adults for instilling self- respect and respect for authority in the young through generous amounts of love and discipline, rather than by increasing numbers of street patrolmen, “T don’t want white liberals fo give me anything, but the opportunity to earn what I need for myself,” he said, “A chick won't learn to walk, if you crack the shell for him.”” . funds to purehase an toutstanding collection of ‘volumes and manuscripts on \Negro history for the Bronx. * He felt strongly then that the lack of access to information, ‘about themselves contributed to us about ourselves.” (the miseducation of Black youth, $500,000 is the probable iand the fact that the library appropriation for the year-long was not achieved camo back “study and investigation, which to haunt him last Thursday will recommend to the President might. At a “Unity mecting sleps that would resull in the al Morris High School, t7-year- integration of the Speaking to the bevy af ‘old Brother William Ketchum, uecomplishmentL of black magnificent, flowered heads, Ipresident of the Morris High Americans into American life.” and chie pastel colored dresses School Afro-American Club of Negro business and ‘spurned the “leadership of black should be chosen by a professional ‘middiz-class” Ibourgeoise adults” as jacking conference of black leaders, women last Sunday, he said: “energy to unify the community, rather than appointed by the “My friends, black: childrea cut since they were puppets, merely President,” objected Roy Innis in the streets need your help. «delegated authority by whites,”’ of CORE a member of the These are your children. , .you With no tangible evidence of Committee. cannot remove yourself from {the goals and goods black men their squalor and deprivation.” Ihave sought for their young, “When a Negro child is given Permissiveness and the William Ketchums believe his primer on Dick, Jane and transmission of “the-world - iblack adults “‘have not learned Spot, he has only to thumb owes - you - a living culture to fight, just to bleed.” spells racial doom,” Unworthy These youngsters decry the through a few pages before he Says, ‘That’s not me.’ He has only to read of the contributions of the many immigrant groups that make up America... .and walk through almost any museum in the country and leak around ...” to feel total: alienation fram America, | of respect are parents who purchase stolen goods or send their children out to loot, he said. “Teach them that ignorance is bad; guide them; let them know they are somehody.’* “burn baby burn” cult, and declare that among their growing numbers there is a “definite tightening up on dope.” ‘They protest the intellectual stiflmg they suffer at Morris aand the four other Bronx high schools represented. In introducing the Bill (HR 12962,) April 1, Congressman Said Charles Olaves, a Morris i Nobody knows this better than: James Pruitt, or Edler Hawkins or Captain Johnson or a host ‘of other adult, black Bronxites|: Scheuer said: ‘the unfamiliarity of Negro history and culture has deprived white Americans because they remain ignorant ‘Washington Carver make you of a vital part of American {think he loved slavery,” he said, history and are easy victims declaring that he was almost of malicious myths; and black expelled from school because Americans because they are Ihe thought “Cry, the Beloved robbed of the pride and self- ‘Country’ ‘was degrading to and the eventual integration of esteem that comes from iblack manhood. the Black man's history and knowing their noble past.” Fortunately, one back man, contributions into American life Bronxites like Captain James Pruitt, their history aight have been. Bul alas, poor Johnson might have deen able tteacher and = Afro-American ‘birds, black Bronxites .had to counsel wisely with the ‘History Club faculty advisory, nothing lo do with breaking that Congressman on the subject of is their hero, because “he taught shell. a Commission to Study Negra History sinca those already down-and-out youngsters whom he meets daily in Morrisania suffer the degradation of spirit and lack of self-resp ect born: of negative self-image. Sre Lh 138 distinguished b’Jack" and white Americans nationwide senior: ‘‘What they don't teach ws is even worse than what they do. The books on George whose harvest of frustration is|, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The t-man Commission Said Congressman Scheuer: all their young can build upon. What a shot in the arm for them, and for reconcilialion of the generations, the achievement of a Commission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): May 18, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amstetdam News p26 In_The Bronx Commun ity Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER When Neighborhood Mental They admitted that “the| Health Servieecenters were Debilitaling mental and! opened with a demonstration psychomatie effect of hard core Grant three years ago. poor peo-, sovial problems of patients ple were beguiled by its promise’ makes the psychiatrist's to realistically deal with the treatment dependent upon the burgeoning problen of mental, work of the CMHW. The new health deterioration in the: approach to psychiatric services Bhetto. lin the ghetto was that the Anintegral part of the $500,000; CyHW would bridge this gap grant (under the auspices Of'between patient and Yeshiva University, Linstein' professional. ee(allege,Heatwas|Morcover,CMHworkersfeel the new career opportunities far| fat bn freatment dispensed indigenous workers as mental! rom ospitals and centers health services aides. iTelics teo heavily — “upon use They were to be the link Of _medication, leaving the needing services and the! health. housing, welfare between the community person’ Patients real social problem—s professional workers. There was to pe ealt with by the CMH also the implication that the R ° Phi tw ptogram’s objective was to train; + © S Pp on 8 | bility! the: their own program. ‘administration has so far “failed! the indigenous to eventually run D0tWithstanding 7 :to incorporate the concrete: Upgrading Was The Bure ‘experience and contributions of, Last year, Dr. Tom Levin, ‘CMHW into definable and viable’ an associale professor _of:.job status.” Theoretically, they psychiatry al Einstein, received'were to serve as role models: a‘ study grant to cereale a'lfor the rest of the community; structure whereby even anmltealistically their sub- intelligent, high school dropout Iprofessional jobs are deadend. could enier medical services asi . a trainee; advance, with in-! mene Seo era ‘ service training !o an aide;! Meal of their contrac receive a high schol diploma: :45 yet lobe mcgotiated. They enter college courses, advaneing| Want & work study program through assistant, ass ociatelne i at a worker ond serve positions; and upon graduation!“0 fours on the job, and have professional status. jhe receives credit toward a: and specialization receive's> hours of training for which These lures, upon which to “legree. CMHW will speak before: some extent, OEO based their|,the Board of Estimate |May: Dr. Levin's study grant expires! Health Board’, Yeshiva, Einstei grants, have remained theory,"2 when the “Community Mental: this August; at this veriting, | Health Board”, Yeshiva, there is no structure, no grant Linstein and Lincoln Hospital to implement its findings. [present their proposals for an Last week, community mental; S8-million grant to institution- health workers al Lincoln alize Community Mental Health Hospital sat_ and slept-in torservices, demand clarity |; protest the Tack of definilive| They will personacl practices and‘“thout the purpose of the equitable conditions — of ipropram. They question the employment. Their nefotiatars Seriousness. of Yeshiva-Einstein chairman); said that for three chout its commitment to (Ali. Malik. el Mohammed, |wpgrade indigenious workers.|. touched upon: the upgrading the} ‘Past performance Indicates): years they have becn operating |that Einstein, helieves their role without proper evaluation! be the training of physicians, procedures, making the/#nd Uey do nol want to gtc araprofejosbsdepienodenta'liim’vaslved in career ladder ii| thon the subjective judgment programs.’ Mr. Weeks said. | of supervisor personnel. . There is implied racism in} So thick has been the red,maintaining a “medical elite’) tape, that il was anachievement ‘composed of outsiders, since) for the negotiators just to. be [community people are black and| able (0 sil down with| Puerto Rica a, and the | authoritative Yeshiva-Einstein|Professionals white. ; representatives, On May 10, Dr. Furthermore, ‘Communiity Warris Peck, Lincoln's Mental Mental Nealth Board" is a Health Services director; Dean! TMisnomer, since no communily , William Glazer of Yeshiva, ard :people are on it, yel it ine| President Perlstein of Einstein the authority lo make decisions| College of Medigine agreeed ta |eancerning funding allocation for| the CMHW demands. But what ;Merlical service, The community| they wan was increly “redress |might better be served on every, of “grievances, the machinery [level if the Buard were clected and solution for which should tather than appointed. : have heen established loug age, snid Richard Weeks, oa hegolinter, Jobs Remain Deadenad The basic issue was not’ fonched upon, the upgrading of the indigenaus, according, fo The rationale fur employing the Hipenous, aecording, to Sinstein'’s original proposal, was that the professional staff Cor the most part white, middle. class and not community-based) was unfamiliar wilh the poverty world and the cullural patlerns 1 af the ethnic groups, . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Tanner, Marietta Community Conscious New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): May 25, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 In_ The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The United Federation of ethnic barriers to college are Teachers has spent millions for ridiculous in the face of these advertising and to transport facts. teachers away from their The present Demonstration schools to Albany to prevent projects, like open enrollment, passage of (Mayor's Lindsay's) are designed to fail. They are School Decentralization Plan. given not local control or They are seeking, instead,!autonomy, but monics with all passage of (Staten Island State kinds of strings attached. Senator John) Marchi Plan'Autonomy mcans control over which offers for legislators non- staff — hiring and firing, commitment during this deciding whether you want election year; and the ghetto! merit increases for exceptional schools in crises, another year teachers who do in fact improve of study with present board of teading levels. Parents who education policies in tact, tead the UBP report will know How contemptuous to moralize that ‘“‘only they can save our about a “black power grab” schools,” and they won't need at Ocean Hill-Brwonsville, and another year of study under to continue to dally with UFT aegis to prove it. decentralization when education June 8 at Bethel-Temple, the segregated, and grossly unequal. its Oratorical Contest. This was in New York City is defacto Word Power League will hold Our children are dying, under ‘aproject sponsored under ESEA always known that ghetto vocabulary and improve the present system. We have in districts 9 and 8 to increase schools were being language use. South Bronx shortchanged. now a_ timely NAACP will offer $100 and report by United Bronx Parents trophies to the winner. jon “Distribution of Educational \Resourecs” proves it. For two years, teams of parents and youth researchers examined the 12 highest ranking elementary schools. and the 12 lowest: (according to the Metropolitan Reading Achievement test scores of May 1966) to find the reasons for the wide disparity of pupil achievement. For example, whereas the 5th grade median should have been 5.8, the median score for fifth graders at PS 24 (Riverdale) was 9.7, and 4.2 for the fifth graders at PS 48 (Hunts Point). Eleven of the top 12 schools are located in the middleclass northeast, west Bronx, Riverdale sections, while all 12 bottom schools are in South Bronx black and Puerto Rican areas. All of the bottom schools were, overutilized, with 92 regular through sixth grade classes {8,938 pupils) on double session. None of the top 12 schools had classes on double session, and 7,489 seats in Bronx schools were empty. (Remember how Open Enrollment was designed to fail?) The More Effective Schools program, favored by UFT whereby schools with low achievement, high mobility and poverty were to iven compensatory features like lower class size, extra teaching’ personnel, etc, is theory, nat fact. Regular elementary schools were supposed to spend $750 per child; special service schools in the ghetto, were to Bet $150 to $200 more. The UBP study shows that the average for the top 12 schools was $670 per child, while! the average expenditure for the bottom 12 (all special service! schools) was $519.00. | Class size reduction too is! a fallacy: seven of the top: schools had class sizes below average; while only four of the bottom 12 enjoyed reduced class size. Statistic after statistic proves that more money is spent to provide the superior; education for the top twelve's’ schoolchildren. Said Evalinaj Antionetty, Executive Director of UBP: ! “Since these schools in the black and Puerto Rican arcas receive the bulk of inexperienced teachers at the: lowest. salaries, “unless money, is appropriated on a per capita basis, the current practice will continue ~~ of budgeting about, $9,000 for a teacher, then assigning a teacher at $6500, but returning the $2500 difference to headquarters, often to be spent in a white school, | where. most experienced teachers are getting $11,000." | Parents, amazed at the facts uncovered packed the two discussion sessions held: Tuesday, May 21 by UBP. They! began to understand the extent’ of miseducation of clementary school children, and could, appreciate the plight of the; army of low achievers, so rebejlious and baffling to! educators at the junior high school level. Further data will soon be, publistied on the upper grades,| but it is known that: 66 per, cent of the youngsters from the | bottom 12 elementary schools go to Morris. Benjamin| Franklin, Walton and Clinton High Schools, while 50 per cent; of the top 12 are at Bronx Science and Columbus. Only 25 of Morris’ 871 graduates received academic diplomas last year: whereas 92.8; per cent of Bronx Science's! Braduates did. Relaxing of, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New YorkAmsterdam News (1962-1993): un 1,1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 1 lIn The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J, TANNER Eighteen more days io serve the consumer well, if we Primary Day; and there do wil begin to read the fine print, * black “Bronxites sland as But the dating of bread failed, electors of those who write the with the help of Bronx” bills and pass the Icgislation Assemblyman Harry Kraf; and that governs them? Estimates so. did = seethrough meat. in 1966, based on Health packaging provisions. s Department ethnic breakdowns Policeman and private citizens .~ (sinee the Bpard of Elections may now “use deadly force” does not record registrants by when they reasonably believe ~ . race) indicated that not one and intruder or fleeing criminal , in ten cligible black people were is carrying a firearm or deadly .- registered. weapon, But the provisions for After working with two voter licensing of firearms was killed, . registration campaigns, and and so was the pork-barrel, City | checking with political club Marshal System, (whom your ., ‘members who carried — de- district leaders nominate, by the - signating petitons Jast month, way). : T would conclude that the A whopping payrise was voted picture is not much brighter. for the Governor, and other “The Negro is not a political State officials, and increased force in the Bronx. His numbers pensions for legislators, Had far execed his influence on the conservative, pennypincher on elected offeial. Nalurally they welfare Icgislation, John H ignore his aspirations because Calandra (33SD) had his way, he docs not vote,” political Iogisialors would also have observers say. oo enjoyed a payrise to $20,000 Primaries Count | yearly. Why is it important. to vote .Ask the incumbent candidates in the June [8lh Primary? how they voled on the Enralled voters will elect establishment of a compulsory delegates and alternates to the pool for slum fire insurance, Nalional Conventions of their which passed; or on the Ramos parties, These delegates will Amnesty dill for men who nominate the party's committed misdemeanors presidential and vice presidental (allowing them to apply for candidates. Voters will also clect licenses and civil service jobs). delegates and alicrnates to the) Question al candidates on the judicial convention, who will implementation of the Urban nominate supreme court Development Corporation $6- justices, . million slum rebuilding program, Along with selecting parly and on the legislation they plan candidates for the Assembly, for 1969. State, Senate, and Congress, All of this affects black thése:who vate in tho Primary people; your-vote does Indeed Will eect county committeemen count, Create the kinds of and district Jeaders. Black discussions around issues that people are one-third of the ‘will being black voters to the population of the Bronx, but polls, Pla to- transport some we have only one black State yourself so wa' will become a Senator, one Assemblyman, onc force to be reckoned with. Issues judge; no black man in the surrounding the candidates for Cily’ Council, and no black Congress will be the subject Congressman (or cven to next week's column. Conercssional candidate). Health Careers Complex “ what da. these legislators do ‘The. Nation's first para- whom: black people generally professional ihealth education have “no..patt in naming? Let Jcomplex is scheduled to open me tell you that they deelde temporary quarters with 750 your fate, so it is just plain sludents in Fall, 1969, under stupid not to share in thelr joint sponsorship of City selection. 1,000 bills passed by University, Einstcin, N.Y. City the Legislature await Governor Board of Education and the Rockefeller’s signiture. Department of Hospitals. They include the walered-down A permanent $136-million \Marehi Dentralization Plan facility to be built near (discussed in last week's article) Concourse Village adjacent to which” enlarges the present the $74niillion Lincoln Hospital, Board of Education and |will include Community College jempowcrs it to prepare /Vill, and an clementary, detailed, permancn! intermediate and high school decentralization plan for next emphasizing health careers. year’s legislative consideration. How muny black youngsters No new experimental will be cntolled, the kind of decentralized districts wilt be curriculum, and whether crealed this year; but the Board staffing of these facilities is may delegate any of its powers integrated are questions being to the 20 existing “advisory” decided now. This bears focal school boards. One possible now before the Human Rights good. piece of legislation: for watching, especially since suits black teachers permits Commission involve workers ‘ interstale certification of who charge Einstein-Lincoln- teachers and other educational Yeshiva with discriminatory ssonnel, which means that hiring “and prometional lack teachers and supeivisory practices. Presently at Lincoln personnel from outside the city hospital (whieh serve (or even dlack personnel within ipredomincatly blank and Puerto the City who never became Rican people) only one dluck eligible under present Board of woman holds a_head-of- Examiners. structure) now may department position (Social Lhe principals. Service Supervisor, outpatient Passed also was ‘Truth in clinic); one... black physician + Lending” providing -for (Head of Anesthiology); and one ~ disclosure of credit charges, and Spanish physician (Assistant licensing aud inspection of meat Administrator of Out patient processing plants which might Clinic). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jun 8, 1968; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 1 In_The Bronx Community ~ Conscious ‘By MARIETTA J. TANNER’ Voters, on Primary Day, June Reactionaries have reason to; 18, have an important part in ‘ear mass registration, as: selecting presidential contests and .vielories in and In poor communities- ballot. Voters vote for local throughout. the ‘country, there delegates to the National Party isa crises in leadership, where, Conventions. Because of my ideally, those who are ‘‘the people’s choice” should supply Mississippi, Gary, candidates, although none of- Charleston,S.C. wil altest. their names will appear on the deep concern that the black position be represented by black lit, ‘When Senator Robert Kennedy visited the South Bronx | llast August, [ asked him what ‘ his program was for assisting}, Geveloping leadership in the ghetto. He replied: “That is the responsibility of the local people.” But, just as government protects emerging industry, if we are serious about the reconciliation of peoples, so must government now assist emergirg ghetto political} leadership. This cannot be done: by indiscriminately endorsing | “old guard” local politicians, as Kennedy forecs did this Spring when they reportedly promised “no contest” to Bronx incumbents who jumped on his bandwagon, Without benefit of debaic on issues, ‘Vice President Humphrey has gathered unto himself by the ack door, hundreds of delegate votes, He jis, according to the Gallup poll, people at the Democratic convention, | am a candidate for delegate in the 21st CD. T want to urge the nomination of a man uncompromising in his opposition to the war in Vietnam, This hypocritical war abroad diverts our human and economic resources, while our cities burn, and millions of Americans are homeless and hungry. Thus distracted, there is no en to solve the crucial problem for America: to bring the masses of Americans now outside the political slructure into the democratic process, 50 that they may achieve justice without recourse to violence, or pathetic, prolonged marches. ¥ Agents of Alienation Some sensitive’ people believe that so chronic is the alienation of the masses that “we must fashion a new political vehicle (like the Peace and Freedom “the cleay choice of 70 per cent Party) to meet the needs of people ignored by the American political machine.” We are like colonials, too often taxed without representation, but to attempt a 3rd party movement is at best a longshot effort to influence policy of the two supporting /realistically major parties, and at worse emerging legitimate ‘'new an exercise in futility.: While the machinery for reconciliation is the law of the land, nevertheless obstacles always spring up to block such fundamental ‘wse , of that machinery as the right to vote. Boards of election are themselves agents of alienation, with intricate rules. and regulations, indifferent registrars and formidable literacy tests. Politics’o,n the local Jevel. For example, on Chicago's Southwest side, August A. Savage, a black publisher, is challenging Mayor Daley’s candidate for Congress (who opposes school bussing and open housing). .Status Quo Daley eontrols the bulk of Chicago’s 118 delegates votes, which are ewonsidered safely in the Humphrey camp. of the ‘nation’s Democratic Party County chairmen in every region, and does best in the Toward Sclf-Determination In an outreach registration Fundamental io all change program last year thousands of jis that emerging people in the poor New Yorkers registered slums, on reservations, in the for anti-poverty corporations. rural areas. (as well as the Restrictions then limited the use suburbs) have the right to sclf- of OEO -funds for voter determination. The candidate registration; bills introduced by whom J support must be com- Rep. Williams of Delaware, last milted to protect these emerg- October, now specifically jing people in their pursuit of prohibit use of both federal anti- that right. poverty and migratory worker funds for voter registration. outh,”? Commitment. by any candidaté to such “old guard” factions _would preclude his Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission =oe Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): un 15, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 1 In The Bronx Communit By MARIETTA J. TANNER Senator Robert Kennedy is I pray we will not despair dead, and the alleged killer of that all is lost with the untimely Martin Luther King is caught and tragic death of this one in one menentous week. Stunned man. Certainly, the young black Bronxites were saying on that men Mr. Kennedy had around morbid Thursday, a week ago: him must have learned “IVs all a plot to wipe gut something of the power of the anyone who helps black men will and the ballot, There was achieve their rights."’ 90 percent of the black voters But with the apprehension of in Watts, Rafer Johson risking James Earl Ray, perhaps black his lite to disarm the killer men will feel, as Kenneth Clark and the joyous Charles Evers said: “that American justice drawing out the vote of will work for us, too.” But black minorities in the cities made men still have reason to be Mr. =Kennedy’s victory in fearful: California a reality, The need Will Ray arrive safely back for black men to vote here in the United States? Will ha in the June 18 primaries is live throug a trial in Memphis, evan more urgent now. Tennessee? They want black As a candidate for delegate men to serve on the juries in the 2Ist CD who supports iry Robert Kennedy's an Senator Eguene MeCarthy, I Martin Luther King’s killers, for mourn the death of the senator. no one has a larger stake than Jt has taken the heart out of us in seeing to it that justice the campaign, ut not the is done. We have been the causes which Mr. Kennedy so victims of innumerable nobly espoused. Polls indicate kangeroo courts; death and that the Kennedy delegates violence has marked our history elected in California, Indiana, in the United States, just as South Dakota and elsewhere are it mow stalks the Kennedy rapidly swinging to Humphrey. family. They would do better to wait, and be a moral force at the A fair and thorough trial so Democratic Convention to sland and Ray's deeds are known, fast for the minorities that were that the full story of Sirhan’s is inextricably bound to ful indispensible to their election. citizenship for Negrocs in the If I go to Chicago, I shall United States. Join them in asserting that the cost of war has made a mockery Facing Your Accusers of "great saclety” egislation, and in pressing for the money Everyone has speculated as to implement the findings of to the causes of violence: too many murders portrayed in the the President’s commission on movies and on television; too Civil Disorders. muck reliance on “get rich «Youth in Politics quick” schemes, rather than the Young people everywhere are building of skills and character, Tegarded as the vanguard of making noteriety synonomous social change; and in the Bronx, with fame, And then there is Dennis Gardner, candidate for the lack of respect for human the 78th Assembly seat, has life itself, as expressed by the them, Born in Morrisania, Mr, American Rifle Association Gardner has lived there al his which declares “no gun control 23 years, ‘“‘Throvghout those law that the mind of man could years, lack of communily caniceive, . . would have the involvement on the part of slightest effect in preventing any of the assassinations of our elected politicians has been a ay.” cause of the dlatant neglect and misery of the people,” he said. Said Harold W. Glassen, Just recently, 59 cammunity president of the Association grotps requested $1,661,508 for . + the availabilitoyf a weapon Summer poverty programs, but has litle to do with recelved a meager $328,000 to commission of a crime.” He fund only 20 groups. indicated that a dietating machine, telephone or picture “Had our politicians been frame could be used to kill truly committed,* Mr. Gardner! as easily as a gun, What a told ‘his 169th Street Subway marvellous chance to fight for stop audience, “‘they would have his life Martin Luther King, been duty bound to sce that’ Senator Robert or President this poverty ridden community John Kennedy might have had, without extensive programs like had dhey deen attacked by a Bedford-Stuyvesant or Harlem. man wielding a picture frame. got a larger share.” _ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Fun 29, 1968, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 12 In_ The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER I support the candidacy of man of integrity and legislative Eugene McCarthy, because I experience, who offers hope that I helieve there is an opportunity black people and other in his candidacy for meaningful minorities in America can|' political involvement at the local determine their own destiny, level. He was the anly Senator and rise above thel! who voted against both bills powerlessness and despair born!: limiting the use of poverty funds of dependency on handouts. Y for voter registration, In 1949 < voted to outlaw the poll tax; in 1959-60 he authored or co- authored ten major civil rights bills on lynching, voting registrars and discrimination in transportation. As a matter of principle, he tisked his 20-year career in government to actively oppose the war, causing President Johnson to withdraw, and to send envoys to peace talks with the Vietcong. The cost of war makes a mockery of “great society” legislation; there is no money to implement the findings of the President's Comnuission on Civil Disorders. Black adults generally do not ow MeCarthy’s record; but a growing number of black youths support him. Ending the war in Vietnam means life to hem; furthermore, McCarthy has spoken out for revision of the draft laws now weighted in favor of the college boy. and against the undereducated poor. If elected I will go to the convention as a McCarthy Delegate (with Leo Isacson and Jules Fiefer) ‘because he is a Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Tul 5, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 In_The Bronx Communit onscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER By MARIETTA TANNER Andrew Curtiss Parks came. ‘riots’. at other high schools in * in second in the race for the Bronx. A 17-year old black Democratie Councilman at Clinton senior, Guy Oliver, with Large, losing about 3 to one “leadership potential” was to the incumbent Aileen Ryan. killed May 22.1 Goenwald. Two | 23,000 votes is not too bad for black students were severely: the first time out, with no funds! beatened at Roosevelt. Their+ or high-powered staff. assailants, identified only in Most regretable is that he one case as “local toughs,” have did not carry all neighborhoods neither been found nor tried. where black people ‘These murders were buried deep predominate. “I’m not voting’ in the papers that made the . for him just because he’s indictment front page news. ‘A: * black,” black women on Boston man is innocent until he is Road told me as they proven guilty,” said Dennis campaigned for his opposition, Gardner, chairman of the Board But blackness is a part of the of Morrisania Community reason why he should have com- Corporation, ‘‘and it's high time manded all the black votes, and we see to it that the law works ; the white ones, of good will, for us.” ‘il Boynes, whg.- too. Black people need someone to take their position un- equivocably; to bargain for them in the Council chambers. What black Bronx voice will speak out (here against school budget cuts that profoundly affect us? Even the two, Puerto Ricans Robert Lebron (who was beaten in a 3-way race in the tenth) and Herman Badillo (wha had two votes as Borough President) won't be there next year, It’s high time black people began to think in terms of their own enlightened self-interest. Honor educators . . . whose sacrifices “Seeing to it that these enbled us to continue education defendents receive the con- of our children during the work Stitutionally guaranteed trial by stoppage of 1968 . . .” Omittedijury, and not by slander protects from the roster of some I4/the rights of all,” Mr. Gardner honored schools was Morris|said. He called fay contributions High School, which a 23-year/to a Legal Def@pse Fund for old math teacher, Cyril Boynes|them. “By helping Mr. Boynes, and a few of his colleaguesjwe honor our teachers by letting had endured considerable|them know we will stand behind hardships to open and run. Cyriljthem.” Mr. Gardner continued: Boynes was also one of thel*We don’t know what the people indicted on May 19 forjramifications are in this case; a total of 12 counts including}they all were very active in “conspiracy to riot, arson,{opposing the teacher's strike; unlawful assembly, possession ofjMr. Dicks has appeared for dangerous weapons.” His picture|children at suspense hearings and that of his co-defendents,|for years. It’s in our best Ronald Dicks and Jerry Wooleylinterest not to Jet those who made the front page of thelhave exercised leadership be NY. Dailies. summarily struck down.’”” There have been fires and » alledgedly committed all thesp7 acts (an uninvited quest at, thp,- Honorarium) was the faculty5 advisor of the Afro-American* History Club at Morris; the© founder of the Black Arts Library on Prospect Avenue, a lifetime community resident; a > graduate of Music and Art, a scholarship student at a city.: college; ‘‘The best math teacher .; 1 ever had,” his students saye3 A tutor in his spare times: married and bout to be a father < « . . He has lost his Board of Education substitute's license, his livelihood, Similar reprisals, jn the form of exclusions and threats sre suffered by his co- - idefendent, Ronald Dicks, and It was Teacher Honorarium Day, June 21 at the Gramercy! Boy’s Club. The Morrisania Ed- ucational Council, sponsored it Citywide Education Chairman of © to honor “community oriented the NAACP. his father, Harold Dicks, the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Tul 19, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe.6 In The Bronx By MARIETTA J.TANNER “It's hello again to all thetelevision for “doing too much readers who welcomed back our! for blacks and Puerto Ricans.” initial reentry and to the fellow Bronxites whose activities are | Before K.0O. the stuf this column is made | But, unfortunately, we never of.Renewing old acquaintances ‘seem to feel the punch until all over the Bronx, we find the blood starts. Welfare clients the more things change, the‘as of July 1 must eke out a more they stay the same day’s rations on 90 cents per Puerto Ricans and blacks in Person; elderly poor have to the South Bronx are still battling pay $11.00 a visit to outpatient it out for ascendency. Clinics because of Medicaid cuts. Mode] Cities has the Federal |Some of us went personally to letter of credit for $21.5 million Albany to appeal, but legisla- |tors didn’t give a hoot about and could jJaunch its program non-voting black residents. his Multi-Service Center cohorts they are socking it to us: Take: tomorrow, if Ramon Velez and Without bothering to be subtle: would not insist upon their the case to Aileen B, Ryan, the| private brand of ‘community darling of the law and order contze]” (meaning Puerto Rican iDemocrats, whom many blacks contrd].) ! recently helped return to office. But. why not have a good! Councilwoman Ryan and two Lacky Fights | fight in the ghetto for control?! allies in Albany are sponsoring Everyone else does, why not| a dill to license building the blacks and Puerto Ricans, wreckers and demolition or even the blacks among ,companies in order to ‘drive: themselves. Power has got to the fly-by-night wreckers from the business.”’ Guess who those be won; nobody is giving it “fly-by-night wreckers”’ are? : up without a fight, Let’s look! Why they are the infant black: at some of the recent battles, and Puerto Rican companies with fisticuffs and threats no that have been supported by less, among non-ghetto Manpower. Neighborhood residents: “movers” who have gotten The Fusco versus the apital from OEO to get Ribustelio forces really swung ‘surance and some equipment for control of the Bronx County - order to demolish some of Republican party at their the buildings coming down in convention, Black Bronx ‘he ghettos. Republicans watched the tables “With the vast new slum being turned over by law and vlearance and Model Cities order Republicans from the drograms getting underway.”| North Bronx said: “for shame”! and promptly got themselves Mrs, Ryan said, “ite together behind John Lindsay, is essential that we move; for whom they had delivered quickly to bar these a. 342 to 1 margin in the Prim- inexperienced, greedy firms ary, from doing business in New Hot breath and bad blood were! York.” on the agenda as usual when Mrs. Ryan responded toi the New Democratic Coalition appeals of the Demolition met Wednesday to resolve Industry Board and the House Reform (Keanedy wing versus Wreckers Union, Local 95, both McCarthy dissidents) and of which have inconsequential upstate versus urban slack memberships. O£ course, differences. Scattered black We are not against regulation were there, but were not -of the industry; we have taken representative of the troops to more than most. But the effect command respect and af the Ryan legislation would recogaition. Still by watching the be to let everyone now operating fights, blacks saw the men being in, and require all manner of separated from the boys. proof and credentials of new While NDC officially talked applicants, thereby excluding new alignment with minorities, minorities. some of its membership was So why squabble about ready to paint Mario Prococcino “community control” of Model! ‘“Hberal,” and to discredit Paul! Cities; those who your apathy! O’Dwyer’s -attempt . to work)or your vote have made: out -a fusion -tickel-with John legislators will still see to it Lindsay, Prococeino many sound that you have none of the gravy. folksy, and look cherubic, but .Let’s Register and Vote! beware of the company he keeps. “Welcome aboard,” said he to John J. Cassesse of the PBA, wkom you may remember| denounced the Mayor on/ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 2, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa.4 In The |Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The poverty war is still with ‘appoint the members to us, dut not expending all its committees that will work,” energies to fight poverty as the said Mr. Lugovina. The duly thousands ef poor people in the constituted Personnel Bronx might wish “Give my Committee recommended Mr. workers their money, now, so Wright’s dismissai. He they can cash their checks,” was notified after the Board the Neighborhood Youth met in executive session and Director at South Bronx accepted that report, since he Community Corporation yelled did not appear before the Board to the Chairman of the Board, to answer charges hand Francisco Lugovina last Friday delivered to him that day.” “I answered in writing, The names of the signers of requesting formal charges with checks had been switched at specifications, and time.’ Mr. afternoon. the bank to eliminate Frank Wright said. Seven weeks Wright, the Executive Director, before, the same Board had deposed by order of the cited Frank Wright’s Personnel Committee. The fight outstanding performance, and between the Board and the recommended that his salary Executive director over who be raised from $15,000 to $19,000 should approve publications, annually. Majority Myth whether a dance should be “Puerto Ricans are in_ the given, or whether the majority here.” said Mr. Corporation automobile should be used for weddings, etc, had Lugovina, "and they are coming finaly hit the fan. Boards Flounder of age, ready to take more responsibility in the Corporation. This is a public corporation, | Poverty corporations in each and our staff is interracial, but : of the four areas of South Bronx you must consider your, are readying themselves for ‘population in relation to those elections, This year Council ‘who serve them.” : Against Poverty has provided Mr. Lugovina piaces Puerto! for ethnic balance by selection PRican population at between 60! of some members to eliminate and 70 percent. “The figures’ the major cause of strife. South are inaccurate, but even if they Bronx has published a most at- were correct, the Puerto Ricans tractive booklet (FACTS) ex- cannot “have” this corporation; plaining duties of its 3¢-mem- on that basis any more than ber Board and eligibility re the blacks can ‘‘have’’ quirements for candidate and Mississippi,” said Mrs. Murray.; the electorate. She charged that groups from But despite the intention, and other communities, ‘‘the same| the improved procedures veoole repeatedly’ come to hammered out over long months South Bronx, disrupting of wrangling, these boards may meetings, and forcing) continue to strangle themselves conformity of those Puerto, and impede the functioning of/Ricans who would their Corporations by thejreasonable. constant manipulation from In Hunts Point without, and the flouting of the Blacks have reported similar rules and mandates of their jtacties at Hunts Point where. ‘Puerta Rican dominance is nat} The struggle in the South supported by ethnic demography) Bronx is essentially an ethnic leither. Raleigh Davenport ofthe; charter. one. Reasonable people on both {Council Against Poverty in a sides say: ‘We can get along, 1968 study cites population we do work together, but we: statistics as follows: Hunts are caught in a power play.” Point, 28% Black, 49%Puerto| For example. Lucille Murray, Rican, 23% other; Morrisania,’ the convenor of the Bylaws 64% black, 29% Puerto Rican,' Committee of the Board said 4% other: South Bronx, 22% “New bylaws were drawn up, black, 43% Puerto Rican, 35% and I was not even present other. ‘ . at the meeting. . .” Clearly the Puerto Rican She charged that the meeting majority in Bronx poverty areas avas convened by the Chairman, is a myth not a mandate for and on the basis of these bylaws, ‘Mr, Wright was asked to vacate his position. Further, Mrs. May J. Silvermann (the “other” member on the Board) com- plained that ‘she was appointed to committees without her knowledge, and was not called to the meetings of those committees. Moreover, the same peoples ‘names appear again and again an committees, rendering many Board members inactive,” Mrs. Murray said. control of all poverty and Federal funding based on thase indices. Compromise must come swiftly between blacks and Puerto Ricans as resentment over the ‘dominance myth” runs high. Recently Nasry Michelin was named president of Community College 8, although the blacks on the Committee favored any of the four other Puerte Ricans named. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission be: j : Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 9, 1969: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 16 In_The_ Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER -A month has passed since revolves right out again when South Bronx received the $21.5 the spoils are dispensed. Mon allocated for Model One articulate, young Cities; but not a penny has spokesman for the Citywide been spent. A day care center for children of mothers withou Black Independent Voters, Bill partnerscouldhavet(Strickland,sayspolitical operating; 15 beenlarithmetic shows that black additionatipeople were critical in the 1965] sanitation trucks, sidewalk|Lindsay victory. “In 1965, 2% sweepers and a special vacant, Million people voted. Lindsay lot cleanup program might be|beat Beame by 100,000 votes. functioning now in the Model |Lindsay’s total consisted of, neighborhoods. 870,000 Republicans and 290,00) But the phony “communit control” issue, perpetuated by “Since there were only 620,000 policy board members who/registered Republicans in the. place self-interest beforelCity, we know that at least community need, keeps progress 230,000 Democrats crossed over at a stalemate. to support Lindsay ... When we examine who some of those The Defective Model Democrats were, we discover Last week members of the, that 40 per cent ot the Black Policy Committee met with community supported Lindsay. Mayor Lindsay who reiterated At that time, black registration that he must follow the Federal was 584,000. If only 50 per cent mandate: City agencies must of the black vote turned out run the programs. He noted! (297,000), 40 per cent of that that East St. Louis (which some! figure is 117,000, or almost the policy members had cited as exact margin of the Lindsay having community control) was victory.” . in danger of losing its grant. We contend that black people: “The Mayors of Cities must’ can be decisive in the upcom- be responsible,” he said. But ing election. programs without the consent voters is crucial to a Lindsay| Lindsay is reluctant to initiate A new crop of registered of the comm«munity. mit victory in November. Only may exercise control when ihe ‘blacks and Puerto Ricans (who program is erway 7 ‘have nowhere else to go) can stopping any activity which they ibe counted on to enlarge feel is ineffective. ‘Lindsay’s voting base ‘without While the South Bronx Policy ! ing his competitors. The c rm ‘crucial question for Mr. Committee fitters away thel Strickland is: “What happens|: funds (all must be spent within|-to black people after November, | a 12month period), 1,000/ after they have voted 65 per! children could have been in'cent to 80 per cent for: camp for the summer.|'Lindsay?” Heretofore there hasi Concerned citizens should write'jbeen no relationship between: to George Rodriguez, Model black appointments and power‘; Cities Chairman, 3164 Third/jin the black community. “This!: Ave. demanding that programs|itime the reelection strategyfor)! be implemented immediately. {iblacks must be tied to gaining: The Revolving Door ithat power,” he said. : August is emergency le registration month when every For Chancellor é black adult should make sare High on the list of possibilities t 1 he can vote in November. sas Chancellor of Education for é Mississippi and Eutaw, Alabama ithe City of New York is Dr.l) have pointed the way. Black Bernard Friedman, nowl} people who virtually put their Assistant Superintendent of} lives on the line, voted and ‘District No. 7. He kept his} won victories which changed the ‘schools open during the school}; complexion and the diction (they strike; he has maintained|: can say Negro now instead of ‘meaningful dialogue withl, Nigra) of Southern politics. community groups; under his| Neighborhood registration leadership, his district has stations are open Wednesday, welcom ¢ and initiated Thursday, Friday from 4 to 1¢/| innovative programs. P-m., Saturdays 10 to 6. Citizens|, Mrs. Blanche Dixon, now) willing toassist their neighbors'\chairman of the South Bronx; in_the house or bBiock|Community Corporation| registration should contact St. tion Committee, a Augustine Presbyterian Charch, |respected fighter for quality the Bronxwide Headquarters ofjeducation, a parent whose the black drive. association with Dr. Friedman We must register, we mast/extends over many years, is vote, we must make ourselves; stauncliliyn his corner. a political force. But we must; “In him we would have a not be again the “revolving| mian who knows the problems door’ Negro. This is the black|of urban education firsthand, who gets into politics during| and who has had some success the campaigns, when thelin dealing with them. That’s politicoes need him, and! what we need at the top. | Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Aug 16, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 13 In The Bronx By MARIETTA. J. TANNER Ever since Dr. Helen {2qually among the three poverty!’ Mitchell’s car was bombed to’ ‘2orporations, 5 hasten her ouster as Director; of the Hunts Point Community ' Each would get 1/3 cf a fund } Progress Center, this columo ‘ho bolster their services, and as sought an end to the Mafia. I\would in turn distribute it), like gangmen who take control! ‘among their delegate agencies.i’ of the public meetings and, The fatal dispute centers around’ subsequently, the poverty funds! i 4 it i Service parpatation’s:, in the South Bronx, stifling |Gche! ne. gate agency to share equ: : thatitshould betheonly legitimate communityiin that piesreceiving eesualy| participation. {. Share as ¢ i The hoods have grown fatter he corporations. since 1967; they have made |. In effect this would mean that!’ themselves look respectable the delegate agency would behind=fancy titles and!rot theparentcorporation,| iC. ‘Joe {Which is practically the case! ghaulfearcrtenutomanbpvlasy.Men and worms) i with chains and Knives ¥the employ of Multi-service sit vot Tetion the Board of Model Cities!’ down their opposition with those Mes: automobiles as they did the!poog “ir Op wn (8 of 23 members) and on the! Hunts Point corporation, and domination of! young social worker, Edwin| . ‘another, must be enforced forj; Rivera, last Wednesday. Corporation, . . yall agencies, nat just the 163rd]j Not satisfied with a huge One of their job duties seems Street Improvement Council. share. some elements in South to be to attend meetings, and! And further, citizens who want!! Bronx feet they must contro} they come when ordinary’ the poverty monies used to! it all. The Multi-Service i@itizens (housewives and. better conditions in South Bronx Corporation in Hunts Point, for Vaborers are absent.: must beware of the enemy example, has a budget of about Commanding a majority, and. within: who are the people! $8-million yearly, ane ‘Speaking with the conviction of whose mullifarious dealings: continuously gets other ‘authority. control every program where. contracts for pest control and Enemy Within large sums of money are: sanitation through other funds. This is how it was fast agarmarked for the public goad? i1 Black people, who campose [Wednesday at Medel Cities, Black Business i! roughly 28 per cent of the ‘Headquarters, when at 7:30; Concerning the question af%, population of Hunts Point, have ‘Bm., Multi-service and Hunts ‘money for black business, the!’ literally no aceess to these iPoint Corporation forces clashed Reverend Edler G. Hawkins of funds. Recently, a black woman iprior fo a scheduled meeting. St. Augustine Presbyterian|! deputy director of Multi-Service, It was to be the showdown (Church, an internationally! was called “the moving spirit” Session anyway. The Board was respected churchman, and behind the corporation. But a Gut in full, many to peacefully ehairman of the Presbyterian|' Jook at the structure of that Some to a decision so that the ‘Economic Deyelopment|' $21.5 million, wasting away in corporation reveals that she has)j, he bank, could begin to be Corporation, says that! no structure under her, no Spent. But, for the enforcers, organization has $10 million for!! services and funds to be deputy the usual slapping around in investment in ghetto projects. of. All authority stems from ithe early evening didn’t work CHE Davis on the Board of]: her counterpart in the’hierachy, ithis time; the mecting was ‘Freedom National Bank, is the George Rodriquez. sfancelied by George Rodriguez, man to sec for business loans Ethnic Character ‘Model Cities chairman; death and certificates of deposits from’, So the fight for a fair share: ¢ame to opposition at 9:45 p.m, $2000 to 2-million through the has had an ethnic characters Now we ask, will murder: : Interracial Council on Business ! — black against Puerto Rican. ibring the authorities to the aid,2pperiunity of PECDO. However, lately, Puerto Rican‘of inexperienced citizens trying: groups, too, have begun to speak to manage their own affairs? out against the monopoly which:If we are not careful, South excludes a large segment of|Bronx Corporation will be next. their population. A powerCouncil Against Poverty struggle is now in full swingi¢ontinues to shirk its between Salvator Almeida, a/responsibility in the Wright vs former assemblyman (and close|Lugovinia situation there: Bob friend of the victim) and the|Wright is the director, with forces of Ramon Velez, director |responsibility for funds; yet of the Multi-Service center. ‘Board action, characterized by] Multi-Service is a delegate’ many of the same tactics listed: agency of the Hunts Piint shove, prevents him from! Corporation. It is a pilot project, gigning checks, that will probably nol be funded| Who then will be held directly ‘by Washington next'accountable for funds? Rules| year, The committee hasiand improved safeguards decreed that Model Cities money |regarding conflict of interest, in South Bronx will be divided ‘like employment with one Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DeRESMEaSUAUWRERaeaannenoes Pec AD Re PM ne Community Conscious By MARIETTA JTANNER, New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 23, 1969. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 4 In The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER enemas There are 91,000 unregistered, know i 7 eligible black voters in the inseparable frome Is Bronx; but unless we get down |(Albert Shanker has Pitlin athe: to business, not even a fourth. UFT’s intensive and te the of them wil he registered this! frankly political (extensive year. Only registered votersiWhen we A have mew role,) may participate in the mayoral-! powertu! part of the elector te ity in-November and the schoo}, we can turn our energies toward beard elections in February. developing “‘systems relevant to The registration drive is on: the black experience” in politi Bronxwide Headquarters, the'as well as education as Mr. Urban Task Force, 1158" Wilcox suggests , ‘ Washington Ave., 669-1140. . Materials and information are College No, § available there weekdays and . To the author of a letter Saturdays. Registered voters.t0 the editor last week, can help by simply calling to!implicating me (as an alternate say that they wish to canvass. Member of the Screening their own apartment building: Committee for the president of [to assist these unregistered; Community Colleze No. 8) in jtenants in getting to the nearby ; complicity with the choice: the ‘registration sites. committee members reached | Getting In agreement that the president | There is apathy; but our job, Should be Puerto Rican (since! lis to dispel it. At the Kelly; one college in the Bronx has, Street Block Association street) black president), but that he meeting recently, Paul Butel,; Should be one acceptable to all. Socialist Workers candidate for} The dominating faction, which mayor, talked of the similarity;Claimed a majority and and do-nothing attitude af both! wanimily among al of its major political parties. The members, soon abandoned the! block dwellers’ genera), Spirit, of comnromise,|! sentiment was that the present} demanding in the letter writer’s|’ political structure was own words, “exclusively a irrelevant; they concurred with|-Puerto Rican choice.” . Mr, Butel that “black people/ Some excellent candidates): should form their ownpolitical;were interviewed, meeting the party.” veriteria of legitimate experience But black people in the Brony ‘in the community, emphathy are not sufficiently registered ‘with residents, scholastic, or active in any political party, €xcellence, committment to the: and have had little experience!Iprime objective of finding new with political machinery and|‘ways to open doors to higher process. Once people are education and thereby job registered, let them decide what opportunity for black and Puerto to do with their vote. Ricans trapped at the bottom This week in Atlanta, a slay,of the economy. University Conference of Black| I participated in_ this Educators wil convene, with;sereeving, as a part of the some important ideas on making: minority, I was not a_parly institutions relevant to the black'{tto the disruption of the March life style. Preston Wilcox, the; l meeting when the Screening chancellor and President, inhis| (Committce was to report ‘le the Convention Call rejected {urther;community; where Puerto debate over whether integration) IRicans and blacks sat on or nationalism is the thing for Separate sides of the raom, and lack people. where many of the same men! “Forgettherhetoricabowhuotlur,kedoutsidethescreening; other people’s goals for us.”;committee door, (inlerrupting! 1e said, “Our job is to develop /aften to confer with the auther| strong black families and of the letter) refused toallow | communities, using the tools we|the coramunity to hear the feel are necessary, applying|qwalifications of the candidates! them however we see fit.” jaind to make their choice on! Our Own Thing ‘that basis, There was concern at Kelly; Jt is one thing to finh Street for the black home and with bare hands, and quite sommunity too, Patrick Aga, {another with a whole agency Fordham University Student and;behind you. With a so called Director of the School for Self-|“‘community committee,’’ Defense, urged residents to|(whose-major effort seemed to protect black women andjbe to drum up support for the thildren, and cooperate with one|IMichelen. nomination), it was another. Robert LaForey, the/@asy to -solict 500 signatures. assistant director and “big| Perhaps this is why the College jaddy” to all the kids, sees/No. 8 has become a_virtna! yrogress toward their’ goal of|mork barrel for the Multi-Service mproving black home life! Corporation. x ‘through an awakening sense: Its Board Chairman = is)® f pride and self assurance ‘Community Affairs Director of|§ specially in the children.” ‘ {College No. 8; a high ranking | ¢ Both Mr. Wilcox and Mr.;sitalfer and Model Cities board vaForey seem to view education! member is admissions officer. is the prime instrument for/and the author of the letter ‘harge; yet anyone who hasjto the editor is slated to receive vorked for quality schools!tlhe public relations spot. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Aug 30, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 2 In The Bronx 6 Community: 7-: Conscious F 8 By MARIETTA J. TANNER ,_ Im one of the hottest routines borhoods runs high in in AUantie City nightclubs this |Williamsbridge, but with some summer, a comedian describes; differences among residents as how black people can “teah up’ ||to method. This is one of the a neighborhood. His colloquy is:oldest black communities _in packing themin, and folks are |New York; some of the “first rolling in the aisles about @ families” declare that welfare golf course that was beautiful, !clicnts, the lower-class Harlem Just lyimg there, ripe for attack slumdwellers are ruining the by black encroachment. ypace. They want to enjoy : i Just Dying ‘undisturbed t heir beautiful homes and lovely patios; and Psychologist say you can tell " ce ave worked haru for a clean, in je et ete sem quiet neighborhood. This desire ye “ear ;tO Maintain gentility has given Pomselves. Remember when ian aura of conservatism to the down soho “worn an prea ing |homeowners of Williamsbridge. to eas shout cursclves? Thee iThey fought the construction of has been 2. slight chan ein pEdenwald Projects some 15 ithe humor: those that cect [years ago; and the recent: : ‘ |Boston-Secor houses. They fear| to tickle the funnybone, most |the black youths that come out a eva a ng whiley Tae owith of Edenwald “tas destructive and; ye Beet -radical.”‘Notso,”saysGeorge ie aa oni. id seemed a Sands, “These youngsters wee tr oe fas le . me. jwitheat services, that is why ac people ate their they resorted to gangs." ldeteriorating neighborhoods: but’ sands is adult chairman of theyblame each other 5 usually the Youth Leadership! | ewcomers — for the Foundation. YLF brought the| itistbeldge ws peing done. YMCA-Mobile unit to territory ‘i was beautiful,” a controlled by a gang called: {ten year black resident said, “intereerime’? this sn mert yet amy poole. came, hen “without a spec.of trouble,” n jools, née Parks, according to Y-director, Mrs. everything went.” You still have Norma Gearge. YLF is a hon: ni n.s: lanhattan “trom Woodyerest ere comma helt iented ! Avenue buthegaroe paleanace “Sag”ueaty litter, thepakept Buildings, the ‘Collins, the young president. Its, thouth Ie ai fools appear aS |program is designed by youth: ough some plague has struckiwho used its services. Its where a quiet, well-kept!members include youngsters| community was. ; who had formed societies of! rugSamuelraneUGEOPIse‘ Ueda y is ters ” an e ‘* Pr ib en elementary schoo] there made fords.” Voungsters are this point: “The landlords havelencouraged to make decisions,| not really abandoned the but on every committee adults buildings,”’ she said. jadvise, For example, Mrs. Mary “But the lenants are so new,,D, Osborne, a real estate dealer,: and don’t trust each other the business advisor works with enough to in togerer for|VLF's Frank Platt,and others. their rights.” e@ co. acts‘heading up a Laundromat, are that while the Irish and: business venture. On August als Jewish families have fied, their, YLF signed the lease, and, politicians and landlords still! despite a mysterious fire that: have control, and are not/almost ruined the premises the| responsive to the new |day before YLF took over. They new constituency, lare determined to pad othe The milion dolar Concourse business. YLF will hold “the Action mm ro . ea m does {Edenwald Cultural Renaissance| not extend to Highbridge what August 29 through 31 at the} * i Friday, Saturday and Sunday,' the old jokes were saying was|AUgust 29 throug ! that we were still on the Ce eeiti y i Bronxwooe Inn to help pay; plantation: that Massa was‘Property acquisition expenses, supposed to do something for!2nd to show doubting Thomases us, like give us a decent placej What they can do. to live; feed and clothe us. Slightly Revolutionary t : But when you declare you are) These kids are interested in| no longer a vassal, you must jeening up their neighborhoods, | take the iniative yourself. This) .nq making it a better place! is revolutionary: tenants mustit, jive,” Mr. Sands said. They take over the buildings that are! 44, planning a benefit to as- still strong, _ attractive and sist a local church to fund a liveable and with determina-i yay care center, These young- tion, preserve them. :sters know first hand what it; Freedmen means to be poor, without re The spirit to preserve the|Sources, and without adult su-! beauty of their own neigh-!pervision. : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Sep 6, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 44 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Ralph Benjamin is young, leaving,’ Mrs. Beauford said. black and wears a bush. Three! But we invited them inside our things that made him stand out storefront. and our people from most of the Board of brought the residents Elections registrars working’ downstairs, out of the bars ,and during the August Voter off the stoops, encouraging them Regisiration Drive. Black every step of the way until Independent Voters Committee: they became registered voters.” workers with the Mobile Unit; Hor teadership trainees were on McKinley Square last: suests at the League of Women Thursday observed him moving ‘Voters Luncheo nin July “which among the people like he knew opened our eves to see that that voter registration is aMwomen who vote can be such; outreach job. Said citizen Lucyia force, with such power,” she’ Vigay: “Registrars can't just|saig , , : sit insidt the schoolhouse and’ “ expect people te come in.: Several agencies of Someone has to go tell people.Corporatio n held similar, to come out and register: thenj®! the Morrisania Community; the registrars have fot to make {programs: LAB OR's was, tm fel wont ar reget area,by erty Manito 3s eine essterd . they iHennessey. Each group partici- pated in voter registraticn {because “it was inseparable The New Breed Maybe Ralph Benjamin is ajfrom community control.” Their prototype for the new breed:|Workshop leaders included registrars paid to do aselling politicians like Joseph Galibur job for the Board of Elections, and Sy Posner; educators, nottodothecitizaefanvosr, ;Lorraine Hale and Marie ‘ ; : :Thomas; as well as community Voter registration workers are fea ders’ like Eloise Krause,j planning to push legislation tolniict No. 12° Schoolboard! chang,eroadsinNESChan andGeraldinesm go through al New York’sreat MUST. tape in California, for example. Not Registered You can register by mail, or: Unfortunately, 4,000 black he registered at theirresidence. voters were not registered in This is expecially urgent for the Bronx. But some very good black registration. since blacks things like the OURS enthusias: are shy about signing anything;|eommendation is in order for about getting themselveS:frma Moore, and Marietta involved with any legal forms. ifango in the rein; Bob York + Know and Ida Townsend in University ep Don’t Know _iArea; James. Roundtree and thie ve been soak Ralph barmiette Godley in South! : . : o ‘Bronx; Chet Henderson and: Benjamin said, ‘and gonie’ Jones in Cross Bronx-| every were: Oe rane oot Concourse, Dorothy Mays in’ RnOW q ‘18 allitremont:; Margaret Hall and about. They think they @re-atary Thomas in Morrisania; signing up for some candidate.n|q" ann Gaddy in Bruckner- They don’t really think they coundview . have a choice, or that” , * ao . ‘ registration will help them in’onahen on edn togetheri the jong .une Someone bia ut we have funds ot not,” Mrs. oatvotingeam Ne PACKSBeaufordsaid.Butweknowthat! ‘ihe long hard winter is upon Gut Re ch “them, and the realities for Grace Beauford, and the:earning a living for ihe black, parents of schoal children vio ivoman (makes olunteering fal: worked with her in the OURS’ tim Pe e ague of: Leadership Training for Local/Women Voters women do) even| Contrel program this summer, for so urgent a cause as this,’ learned what voter registration ‘an impossibility. | means, “and they wil never; Speaking of elections: Each be the same ee, said. Ten of the Commuaity Corporations: trainees. Obadi ‘cod, Delia. South Bronx, Hunts Point,’ Martinez, Edith Hichs, Clarine;Morrisania, Tremont and now; jrcher, Rey, Steel,pasa and pom River ai are preparing : Marguerite Brown od ajfor their elections. Slates of: Lawrence and Genevalcandidates are due or past due.| Vanderpool — registered 33;The Federation of South Bronx: people in less than two hours!Community Organizations. when the Mobile Unit came to'however, is calling a special’ 833 E.- 167th Street. meeting September 4 atSachs| “First the Mobile's staff Auditorium. Percellus Jones of: couldn’t stand the smell of our,the East Side Neighborhood: block, and said they were: House is chairman. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission the Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Sep 13, 1969: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 44 In_The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER There was plenty atstake the candidates different enough at the Judicial Convention at ‘to warrant the extra effort. the Commodore last Saturday,’ ‘The other Mario's, Biaggi and and delegates gathered were the 'Proceacino, are backing Merola; “people's choice” to select eight ard the company one keeps is pupreme court justices to fil always revealing. Biaggi, who oOurteen - year terms for y i TeSsi i ManhattanardtheBronx.Thereces concrete saan were the gavel, and the podium. made headlines at amp ang: pitchers of water, and Lejuene recently about the sergeants at arms, and pia, i ; + pafliamentarianstoenforceMeecatingupoe hite Roberts Rules of Order. But. ; . ‘ se iproudest of his voluntary rent there was nothing to decide.‘ contro} bil, whieh Tandlords The eight candidates had were supposed to comply with already been selected, jock month and most ‘didn’t somenshere. 4 and asa ‘s effect, anyway, serves undetermined individuals, landlords’ interests: ever three outside this august body. .years without puttingina sin- The Rubber Stamp igle improvement, the landlord .The Reformers, led by Robert! gets a 15 percent increase, and Abrams, candidate forBorough! even if services are removed President of the Bronx. walked‘ nothing is done. out, declaring that “there had? Israel Rubin is the quiet, been no screening of any of the-thoughtful kind; but a fine nominees by any committee "lawyer, the many blacks he has and, therefore. the delegcterideferded attest. A young man were unprepared to make 2!] know was standing outside determination, “Last yearsthe subway turnstile, carrying the Botein committee, consisting/an unlighted cigarette, saying of a panel of citizens andl goodbye to a friend. He was lawyers, reviewed thelajlegedily accosted by two qualifications of judiciallpolicemen, beaten severely, nominees, (Men not considered| cursed about his African qualified by the Botein nowsit/ ancestors, and arrested for on the bench, anyway.) But,!resisting arrest. Rubin defended at least, there was some wider/him, ard many others without participation in the selection charge. “The Councilman should process. “The convention h2s'be that Litle City Hal, X now reverted to the old-Mfayor Lindsay talks about,” politics,” said Bert Bauman, aljsrac] Rubin said. The fellow dist AD Delegate, ‘with 'incumbent makes no effort to courty leaders dictating the!set around the district, or to choices based on factors.'atterd the Planning Board generally excluding judicial meetings, and therefore, is not qualifications.” the link to City Hall that the, When blacks complain about-community needs.” Mr, Rubin unequal justice, we might well believes the black communities begin to review how Little we of Williamsbridge and Edenwald’ have to do with the selection will be swamped by Co-op City,/ of justices. Only three Bronx which will be a 90 percent white: assambly distriets had any black woting block.” unless they elect| representation, and these were'a councilman sworn to serve! not united behind a position or‘all the people.” ! candidate. we lack Bronxite Black Woman Power | was put forward. One black.; oe : Andrew Tyler ofManhattan was ana i important toey out, nominated. But we were ju cower Pe the black: excluded from the real selection 517 POreT ow never: rocess, and that a oom Officials are being selected or, appointments as well, and al issues decided. Bronx Wome: | the secretaryships and underling recisely that tn Saturday,. positions at §17.000 up. The! eptember 13 at Town Hall.! Political convention, as thely ere Congresswoman Shirley: Chicago Democratic National Giien 1 “ril, keynote the. debacle illustrated, isobsolete; [C 1s oti 1 mesin ot the acd further. a_ justice should Unved Black Women's Political not owe his allegiance to @ League. Mrs. Erma Moore, the prltical party. The need fer . eee \ rsform is evident and urgent./Bronx chairman, active in voter Why should not we spearhead registration, is a headstart a teacher at the St. Paul's iw ay . [episcopal Church PLAN center. _Speciat Election = i1509 women from four boroughs Running for Councilmarjand al walks of life wil attend. at the top of the Brony|phe main thrusts is to organize (Williamsbridge to Riverdale):tg “protect black homes and Israel Rubin, who will facelfamilies.” which the group feels Mario Merola, the incumbent,lare being threatened and in a Special Election September Ishattered by laws and policies. 16. It is hard enough to getinot designed in our best, peopleouttovotinetheregular/interests. Tickets may be: primary (which Rubin wou by!secured by calling Ida! a contested narrow margin), but!*Townsend, coordinator, at 29+: the..issues are profound, and‘ggss, : Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission p Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Sep 20, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New Yo: tk Amsterdam News pg. LL In The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER hopelessness, will ruin their lives on drugs.” Cut Robberies The Fourth Platoon, which Mayor Lindsay fought suceessfully for, has . cut robberies by 23.2 percent and felonious assult by 11.2 per cent in the four months of the: experiment. Mr. Lindsay cared enough “Racism is the issue in this writing up the policy of the about law and order to test election campaign,” said Ethelin this plan in a heavily black Dubin of Brooklyn to a cheering organization, Civil Liberties and Puerto Rican area — the crowd of 750 black women at Attorney Eleanor Holmes Town Hall Saturday. Mrs. Dubin Norton, the co-chairman said: {7th Division which included Morrisania — where poor people was enunciating the position on “Nothin better illustrate the gs \1J_ know are stripped constantly the Mayorality election of the need for black woman to ,of hard-earned clothing United Black Women’s Political organize than their wnusua’ imecessities, and minor League which has formed to Proximity {o the major domestic| [conveniences by drug addicts “develop black grassroots problems of our time Zhe opponents of John Lindsay. womanpower as 2 pvlitical consumer problems, indecent ‘are conspicuous by the silence foree.” : housing, inadequate and in the Fourth Platoon fight; Standing ovations greeted degrading welfare programs, .and their supporters, namely Congresswoman Shirley|} « « Black men and children John Cassesse of the PBA, Chisholm, the keynote speaker look to their wife and mother vehemently opposed it, and inspiration for the group’ to find for her family a way We think that now is the time whom, they said, “by her to make a home amidst the ifor dialogue between groups whe independence and commitment poverty and blight that engulfs care about this City, less racism to her people, exemplifies what our communities.” ignite the powder keg, rekindling black women could stand for So therefore, the United Black old hatreds between whites, ar in American politics today.” Women’s Political League jwell aS against blacks. bijGhisholmhadCrossedturneditsresourcesinward— party lines in support of Jo to strengthen the black home Lindsay, and was threatened by and family, pledging war on State Democratic Chairman|‘© islators and administrative John Burns (now campaignin; policies that were not in our for Procaccino) with loss of her best interest, ‘“‘so that the NY State Democratic National quality of black family life wil Committee woman seat. ‘not. deteriorate beyond repair.” “Let them bring me up on: The stability of the black charges,” Shirley Chisholm said, home, they noted, is threatened “Franklin Delano Roosevelt had by the war, by poverty, by |done the same thing, in support) powerlessness, and by the lack of Fiorello LaGuardia, and of “law and order.”‘The Mafia nothing was done.” Thus she control led drug traffic assures proclaimed black women free that our communities will be and equal. Her audience wildly crime infested, and that many responded with support of her of our young men, in their positaindonth,eir determination to work for the election of John indsay for Mayor. . ~No¢owthequesotfiraocinsm, and. ‘What tH means for Mr, ay to have the support of black women activists in each borough. Black people, even if we got every living one out to vote, would only be 15 per cent of the electorate — but crucial! But then, the Mayor has indicated that he would be the Mayor of “all the minorities.” The Jews are the largest minority, and some of them are rabidly anti-Negro, but they are not too comfortable with conservatives and reactionaries either, Somewhere, somehow (and why not in New York City) white people have got to begin to see that there is no hiding place down here. Black people jare everywhere! Who can deny justice for such Americans as we: after all we have been in this country for 400 years; our ancestors were here before the Mayflower; our fathers anc sons fought in every war this country has had; we are a part of the very fiber of this Jand and most assuredly this City. Common Problems Now is the time to sit down as equals, and talk about the future. Whites who think about the future and have learned something from the . must recognize that keeping blacks back is a costly business. Welfare cuts hurt black families its true, hut the chieslers black and white are usually able- bodied, and are now finding new ways to chiesle. The blind, the sick, the aged, the dependent children of all: racial groups are suffering the: 66e a day. A NY Times reporter’ in Baychester noted that the white-taxi-driver and waiter. homeowners there see the Mayorality as a ‘test of strength between the black poor and the white lower middle class . and Procaccino as the champion of their interests.” Though they mouth law and order and label destructiveness black, they have to admit that property values have not gone down when blacks bought homes, because blacks as well as whites have the same ‘aspirations for thelr families. Our Homes First And this emerged so positively from the Saturday meeting. In Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohi ibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Sep 27, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 28 with a BA d2gree starts at $9,400. In Washington, there is a lack of enthusiasm for improving the lot of the poor. Rey Wilkins has noted it: the In_ The Bronx black elected officials scored it, and the New Careerist got the: cold treatment as further proof. : Community Imporiant Side Effects The purpose of Title I ESEA may have been to raise the Conscious. achievement level of disadvantaged school children, ; By MARIETTA J. TANNER but improving the ability of their parents to earn a living was certainly a worthwhile The New Careerist met in/der program. And it will take 10; peripheral benefit. The Septem- Washington last week, andiyears before they get the BS: ber UFT newspaper reported learned a hard lesson: the funds degree, at the present rate of! “the job picture for black is are not available to develop New 'g credits per semester. These worsening and. . . the Careers for the Poor. ‘were to have been a secretiynemployment gap between Simeon Golar and Albert: weapon for “community| whites ‘and black widening. Shanker sat down to a friendly, control.” getting the knowledge| jobless rate in poverty television discussion Sunday and, and skil to man schools’ neighborhoods “increased from heaved a sigh of relief: no ugly | properly; the rest was merely'73 to8 percent over the year.” racial confrontations like last’ public relations, ! For black women (who are year because of the school: Jobs Dwindle ‘the heads of households in 3 strike. But Albert Shanker, m) While last year over 10,000jout of 5 of the lowest income might do something now to, his low-keyed, of hard Way.' people worked with the Board| families) the jobless rate is6.7 protect the rights of, is tough: he says Som¢iof Education as paras in/per cent against 38 paraprofessionals. They might, confrontation is good, and! decentralized and centralizedp!er cert for white women ‘for example, seek an increase necessary, and he is getting: programs. 9,000 of these were|according to the Department :in salary for them, through a’ ready for it. _He 18’not eligible for Career Ladder,|of Labor. Now many of the ,blanket increase ‘salar. decentralizing his union, just ;and most received no training,|career ladder jobs are held by ‘appeal’, even while the figh like the school system: he is other than through their! these women, and what will it for bargaining rights is in’ going political just in time for asscciation with a teacher. The/all have meant to the poor progress. ' the school board elections. ~ mer of paraprofessionals has communities to have had 10.000 | .No teachers who are parents Our communities are - ed this year. even though jcbs in the school system once. of school children have yet come cemplacent—there is peace in N’xen has extended; ‘t m'zht have meant some real ‘hrcugh this much touted our schools. But it docs seem: Tile E fer two years at its job training for them, had a ‘“‘Career Ladder’’. a pity that they are “back to current rate ef funding. ,Meaningful career ladder been Paraprofessionals in health and| normal” like nothing ever Other programs, formerly established. ‘social services are faring happened last year. Community carried with central funds. are| The UFT promises of $8500 .somewhat better. Complacency people were saying as they slept: now in Title I, and Title I' would apply only to about 3,000 : the face of no jebs is an. in those schools, that they were teachers’ salaries have inereas- ras, ard these would be- >sem'nation, ESEA programs “never going to let them go!” ed but net those of paras. “No eubject to the Baard of only tinker with. the heart of Ah, well, it was only an: increase is possible,” the Board: Examiners, not the Community; the problem of the: illustration anyway, How do you says, ‘while unions are at the Corporations for screening, The| disadvantaged child: his; hold on to something when you point of bargaining.” Community Corporations,]| disadvantaged parent, who real.| have no control of the funds.) The election held last Spring through the Council Against ly wants and could do, a decent; or the contracts, or even the: (in which only the 3,000 Poverty, on which they sit, jab. jobs? Centralized paraprofessionals No Professionals were to have participated, is Jobs, In Pittsburgh and Cairo still in litigation. Only when the and Mississippi, black poor, results are certified can salaries Mexican. poor, Puerto Rican be negotiated. poor, beg for jobs. Morrisania UFT and District Council No. and Hunts Point poor want jobs 37 promise high salaries, UFT too, Professional. jobs in the has published a wage scale of school system, the communities from $6500 with no experience never had, and witk or high school diploma. to $5200 decentralization they are more: with 3 years of college. But firmly in the hands of the Board! the way things are going, few of Examiners than ever. :paras will ever enjoy such But, the ‘‘community)| salaries. professionals” — teacher aides/ It looks like the funding without a high school diploma; sources are drying up for sev- who were to rise to the rank eral reasons. Paraprofessionals cf teacher throvgh a career | came into public services where ladder program — what has: there was a shortage of skilled become of them? :orofessionals. In education. thai Actually only about 1,000) condition no longer exists. kindergarten educational: Shanker reported a surplus of; assistants in the entire city were! 1,000 teachers awaiting: ever involved in a Career Lad-; placement, now that a teacher: Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Oct 4, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 15 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Although I am nat too much [ten, and impossible to ‘revive. for rituals, I participated in ‘Most black people, especially one on Sunday, designed to those young .arid sophisticated “bind together and strengthen ones who were in that audience, black people so they can survive are questioning religion inany| the long struggle which lay lform, and most certainly the ahead.” : Clean Sweep | .Yet they moved to the rhythm were reluctant to join in the rites. | It was a beautiful audience, handsome black men all wore bush haircuts, ranging from curly to kinky; well-spoken Hat in hand once again, black there, obviously, were not there must constantly fight against only to be entertained; most the inclination to be slaves — seemed to have come hoping to expect other people to take ‘superstitious and supernatural. I had participated in the com- of the drum, and the delightiul munity corporation elections the ymusic played with African in- day before, and n6thing could ;struments. There did not seem bring home more forcibly that to be too much ofa difference some kind of binding together between the Afro beat, and the of black people was indeed nec- bougaloo. And. when the essary. Puerto Ricans had swept audience was invited to get up every community in the South and do their thing, many spon- Bronx. Black people, customar- taneously and joyfully joined in ily unbound, unorganized and the dance, Even the fairest-skin- apathetic, did not come out to ned engaged at least in pat-and- vote, Now, of course, there will juba at the Ritual. It was, for be protests, anger, firings of @ moment, a revival at the the staffs that, unfortunately, Baptist church I used to attend. did not see the wisdom of get- There was the movement, the ting out the vote to protect pulsing involvement of my their own jobs. neighbor with me, that I missed So we went down to Harlem when I attend integrated to participate in the Ritual, de- churches... . signed to bind black people to- gether, at the New Lafayette Theater. The attractive per- So, we have discovered, music formers, including the Bronx’s binds us together. But how can! own: Estelle Evans, succeeded we transfer’ this to life? Of; in creating a relaxed atmos- itself, spirited revivals do not? phere, and a camaraderie with- in the audience. There was com- munion and symbolic cleaning; ing to sounds, took precedence. When you ask, remorsefully, the non-voters will say, ‘but I was! too busy.” young women, slim’ and graceful, wore theirs in bubble shaped afros or tied up ingeles. Dashikies, bubas and lapas of exquisite fabric abounded. Jt fime to separate a man from was unlike the audiences seen his heritage. That’s why I still at Greenwich Village produc- become emotionally involved in tions in that there were no inter- spirituals; and why the Ritual racial couples, and few in West- was strangely moving. Is thal ern dress, The younger people why, too, as black people, we Disparate priorities kept Some of the people who had black people away from thej come only to be entertained polls Saturday. Household duties: came first, or a game, or listen-! hand-shaking and greeting. might we evolve that would have Cities: and those (now with! this effect on black people? The Saturday’s vote) who will be! Ritual at the New Lafayette content with the leavings of each could only ‘suggest an’ answer. of the Community Corporations. Its: sparkling, bright audience Believe it or not black men was asked to participate of superior qualifications and in obsolescence — 0 worship ability will quietly take sub- lancestors and forms longforgot- ordinate positions and.erve. It’s great to have Rituals to |sway together, but it's about lime we found forms that bind us together far survival. New Ties make black people trust each: other, or follow leaders, or re- evaluate priorities. : people in the Bronx will be begging for poverty jobs: ‘They wont give us any jobs.” I do believe that it takes a long care of us? Even. now there Old Forms are blacks who seem satisfied Which brings us to the ques- to receive the crumbs of Multi- to be bound together... tion, what kind of ceremonies Service Center, and Model! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta 1 New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Oct 1, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News By MARIETTA J. TANNER ‘ The timetable for, majori jotryity ijn South Bronx, the decentralization lists November| have the most vocal lected ag the date when the officials, and most importantly ‘schoolboard publishes ‘tentaté p plan. Have the most cohesive community, To outsiders, United Bronx quany black p the fie weer |Parents, seems to speak for tr worked dr {all the parents. Therefore, to December 1 On a new. one?! the folks downtown at CUE hearings eon et public having Bob LeBron and Dr. tentative distric bel on 4 Bernard Friedman on their ‘on December ieting plan; and Board to represent the Bronx ae seems logical and equitable. ‘andcommuni nea ete After al, there are Rhody ‘on the ball, } ee must get MeCoy and Livingston Wingate! e 6 al they from Brooklyn and Harlem! an about theFroposed changes, respectively. how thelr chi "3 education Th , 1 will be affected, and whether i CUE proposal before the ‘or not this is the jan th US office of Education is in want, B ®Y for rough going, anyway, considering the present climate Innocent Lambs for funding domestic projects This summer several inWashington. Nevertheless, the; community workshops onlocali $2.7 million requested must! control were held in the black: include the thinking and be community, United Bronx tailored to meet the special Parents, funded for these needs of the Black Bronx classes for several years, has; community as well. Black recently received a grant of parents in the Bronx need $80,000 from the Urban Coalition! training in local control, and/ to extend their program. |are entitled to do it their way i The Center for Urb ar with personnel they relate to/ Education, in cooperation with] and want. Only innocent lambs! the Puerta Rican Forum| going to the slaughter would conducted leadership training) have itany other way. workshops for twenty-five! Youngsters in grades six te Spanish-speaking adulls in the! 9 can audition October Ly and South Bronx last Spring. They! ig for the Bronxwide Chorus. will repeat these workshops this! Ronald Smith, Director, says winter, fn Districts 7 im the that a pleasant voice, good Bronx and 13in Brooklyn. musica! ear, and good “In both places we wil work: attendance are the basic, with the community parentsin} requirements. The chorus was both black and Puerto Rican! established seven years ago asi areas, as well as thelocali an outgrowth of the Friends boards.” Dr, Robert A. Dentler,| of wusic, Inc., in cooperation Executive Director said. Dr.| with the Board of Education.| Dentler has a fine record of| Rehearsals and auditions are’ working for integratedhe'ld Saturday, 9 to 12:20 at education, and for being in thel JHS 15, 183rd Stret and forefront of the open enro/iment. Valentine Avenue. battle. He and the men at CUE’ probably believe they were listening to the pulse of the Bronx — they and just about: every other source of funds have, it dunned into their ears: ‘The, major need in the Bronx is| for Spanish, or to put it anotherj way, bilingual programs. They can Tun down cogent, scentific statistically plausible reasons for placing all their program in District 7, for example: It’s a Model Cities area; it’s de facto segregated, ete. True, Spanish-! speaking parents are in the! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta 1 New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Oct 18, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 16 In_The Bronx By MARIETTA J. TANNER res, The Borough President of the (and certainly in . Bronx, Herman Badillo, wil television debates, comes hat hold Budget Hearings October as the most knowledgeable) is 34 through =December 3. Robert Abrams. Planning District No. 3, for Black people have a stake example, will convene at Mortis in getting him elected. bot in High Schol, October 20, and/this’as in al other campaigns No, 4 the folownig evening atlthe “por cannot readily PS 35. Other areas should call) volunteer. Every morning, after CY 93000 for their date andj the children are of to school, time. 7 women with leisure, who believe Every black citizen of the/ in a candidate, go out and work Bronx should make the sacrifice| for him, Any candidate will tell to attend these bearings, They! you he can’t do without them. are not just another meeting;| These women are one ood but one that can have concrete| reason swhv they (or their under! yusbands) have all theinfluence results. Projects consideration include renovation’ once the candidate wins. > *: of Lincoln Hospital. a new multi-: service health facility replacing; Equal Volunteers St. Francis Hospital; the|/ But, alas, any black woman modernization and construction||Wo can type is working at of public schools borough wide, |/it, ful time, and can’t afford as well as the negotiations for||to volunteer. Coming home after building Community College No.tia hard day's work, the wife g. ‘iand mother has shopping to do, These budget hearings are the Clothes to prepare for the Kids Ivt will ard testament of School next day, an apartment an Tndity pe Ra-qen’s, (0 keep, a husband’s meals to ent: the avmher of Prepare, lessons to assist with, jects and their pertinence, al! in the few hours between hows that he has not only Six and 11 o'clock, th \ involvedJocalcommunitiesin_TheLindsaycampaignine} planning their borough, but that Bronx suffers, too, froma dearth, their concerns are being of black volunteers. Reelection transmitted by their elected]of Mayor Lindsay is not assured, officials to City Hall. and’ will not be unless the Participate More blacks, who are a crucial 15 It would be marvellous if we| Per cent of the vote, get out, could gripe less and participate| to the man, to vote for him, more. But participation is time-] Al has not been perfection in consuming. Many people have| his administration, but neither been introduced to participatory| has the quality of our democracy through Badillo's; participation been nerfect. evening vo cf the Planning! The Mayor doés, however,| Boards. They want to sea the|have character: his honesty, responsibilities and authority of}decency, and lack of prejudice theBoroughPresident|comesthroughevenwhenhe expanded. The man who ‘has|is annoyed and tired. One of sworn to continue in this vein|his law-and - order opponent, OO “Mario Procaccino, who self- righteously blasts welfare recip- ient chiseling, has recently been accused of ‘inflating his scholastie achievements in campaign literature.’ The Procaceino campaign brochure erroneously claimed Mr. Procaceino had graduated from City College “with honors’ and that he was “president of Verrazzano College, later dis- covered not to exist.” Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Oct 25, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 16 In _The Bronx Communi onscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER The 51 voice Featherbed Lane Why did this community Community Freedom Chorus chorus want to go to Sing Sing? will sing an original Jazz Mass Because, said Marvin (Bob) York, president of the group, ininOsining, NYN.Y:onon Sundalyay “Tt was our way of expressing October 26. The Chorus of 7th cur concern for those inside; and 12th graders would: have our singing may have been in-, sung for the prisoners at Sing spirational, and rehabilitative.” Sing, also. But the warden, J.L. Too bad the warden said, Casscles, said ‘Not possible,” “No,” for Bob York echoes the because their auditorium ‘will sentiment heard more and more not accommodate this large these days that we are not going to thraw away members of our The “Mass of the People,” is group either. Black families are! a collection of original liturgical adopting children; plack jazz compositions by Dennis teachers are saying our children Bell, a teacher at JHS 6&2, can learn, and black community who directs the Freedom Chorus. people (who fortunately ‘Proceeds from performances managed te escape a brush with are divided among its members the law themselves) are ‘giving (who graduate from high school) a hand up to prisoners, as partial scholarships. Movement around the idea of shaping our own destiny was evident, too, at the IS 148 Advisory Council and Bronx NAACP Sponsored meeting October 22 to plan for Dist, 9 School Board Elections, January 2, 1970. The Decen- tralization Timetable gives January 18 as the date for circulating nominating petitions. But the organizers of the meeting have learned from hard experience the value of advanced planning and organ- ization, The coalition of community groups decided to divide itself into five areas and to develop a olate of 15 candidates. It worked on criteria or selection and procedures for finding the most qualified and community- identified candidates. Interim Board Districting plans are to be published November 17 and public hearing on them begins December 1. The IS 148 coalition seeks workshop leaders to discuss the Decentralization law with parents and to carry the message of registering and voting to all. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Nov 8, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 4 In_The Bronx. Communit onscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Congresswoman Chis- have been even easier for white holm was in the Bronx last politicians to name our leaders, Sunday to campaign for John V. when the machine made the Lindsay. Rain washed out the pitch. But we will have some of bigh point of her day, which the benefits of victory, because was to have been arally with of courageous black leaders like the Mayor and Senator Javits in Congresswoman Chisholm who the heart of the black communi- took a position at the beginning, ty, Me ia, But her indomi-|when al the chips were down, table spirit was the brightest and stuck by it until the end. spot in the campaign for the The Clear Choice black people who met her. For the issue in the election Shirley Chisholm spoke of was racism. We had to select’ revolution designed to bring us the best qualified men from| into the mainstream of Ameri- among the candidates — men: can life. She talked unity, COM-'who had shown by word and| mittment, organization, self-as- deed that they opposed racism, surance, hard work, integrity:and stood for a fair deal for and rewards for services TeB-: black men, too. John V. Lindsay dered. Those members of Trini-has that record; Robert ty Baptist Church at 224th abrams, the borough president,| Street who waited with their:appeared with Mrs. Chisholm: pastor, Reverend Lloyd, and jast week, reaffirming his stand! George Sands of the Indepen-fo'r fair play. | dent Voters Club of the Bronx,’ we couid not afford to “ignore to hear her, got her message. ‘the top of the ticket? as Roy Both major political parties in Innis of CORE suggested, to New York City will be in tur- demonstrate our awareness that moil when John Lindsay, the we “need not be forced to ac- candidate of neither of them, cent the lesser of three evils.” wins the election. A better place How barren this philosophy; jn the new organization must be how capriciously reactionary to ours, foister this on black people! Fruits of Victory We have never had clear Mrs, Chisholm knows what i choices, mainly because leader-' takes for victory, so ram ship people never took clear-cut doesn’t stop her. She worked 2s positions when it counted — at an underling for years in Brook- the time of the Primaries when lyn before she went to Albany. they could name candidates and She bolted the whole gang of bring out a vote in support of is- “Jeaders” to try for Congress. sues. Our leaders have usually That's why she, too, abhorred taken a safe position until they the election boycott proposed by could ‘get their thing together” so-called “black leaders.’ ‘behind some lesser spokesman. B lack people had to have a: The inadequacy of our leader- share in the making of the ship forced us to choose “‘the Mayor 1969, if they are to have lesser of three evils’’ with little a future in New York City. real imput in the shaping of any Those people who said other- of their platforms and organiza- wise remind me of the rooster sions. who thought his crowing every morning brought the sun up. Black people are apathetic about voting anyway; reaction- aries were counting on our stay- ing home. Only those who worked to bring out the vote in large numbers did something worth crowing about. And furthermore, where were those so-called leaders during: the Primary, when they could have put forward a candidate, or gotten blacks registered so they could have made their po- sitions felt more positively through the elective process? In the Bronx, black are reap- ing the bitter harvest of with- drawal from the democratic process: they are the minority in every communit» corporation board, with clear dimunition of power. The election process, its wealmesses and inequities not- withstanding, can work for black people, too, once cocky little people stop selling it short. There were many flaws in the Mayoral campaign. Candidates gave primacy to television ad- vertising, which had the danger of not oringirg the candidate into personal contact with peo- ple through his foot soldier-. In black communities where Betting out the vote was a stair- climbing, person-to-person, ar-' duous, unglamorous job, m‘gi:: Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Nov 15, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa. 44 Black people gave John Lind-(week, television made the pitch sayOrecmtofthelrvote,faforvotesandthelargeexpendi- the eaciion. No « ture of money for media lett lit- ‘nteerkty 98 solkdiy We for strengthening neighbor- theMayor — the Puerto Ricans} hood political organization. Now werk63percentforLindstaojywe learn that the “Little City der cent for Procaorino; endjHalls” will be revitalized, tc take the place of indigenous or- ganization. There is also plan- stakes initiative to deliver;jning to merge these with their 2 must mean that Meck peopla| Urban Task Force structure and are “We want tha right/the Planning Boards (which te by tre andjwere controlled by borough do not the great while) Presidents). It may be a legiti- father todo forus."°* =‘ = ‘Imate effort to decentralize gov- This Kind of vote should put:eroment. But we must be sure the blacks like Congresswoman that the leadership whom the Shirley Chishalm and Assembly- People select will be there, lead- man Charles Ranginetlhe innerership that is dependent upon cirele, solidly on that bipartisan the people for their jobs. coalition that the Mayor has set! Often, in the previous admin- up to run things; but such anj istration, Mr. Lindsay went out- important matter as self-deter-: side New York to find personnel mination cannot be left to'for high level positions, Even chance, lefficient black men who filled In California, for example, commissionerships were re the black and Mexican-Ameri- sented in the black community. can caucus are demanding 30 If there was not a man who per cent of the total budget of knew abou: recreation in Brook- the Democratic State Commit-jlyn, the Bronx, or Harlem, ap- tee to establish and maintain aj prentice apparatus in the agen- continuous political operation.} cies needs investigating. Without this committment,| The protesting stage is over. tied to finance, whites may con-| Black people living in poor com- tinue to name our leaders and| munities need facts and skills so say, “Be a good boy, and fol-ithey can be involved in plan- low.” ning before the fact. One good Controlled Machinery way to insure thiiss through It requires vigilance to see|Tespansive, responsible repre- that community peopleidentify, Sentatives. their own leaders, and that: A college by any other name these are not displaced bythe! May stil be a college, butmany handmaidens of the power! South Bronx residents are balk-| structure. During the campaign,|'9& at the same (supposedly outsiders unfamiliar with the:“Nanimously endorsed by the black community, were in con-|Board after polling the commu- trol of the campaign machinery. uty). for Community College #8, It would have been more effec-'These kinds of decisions cannot tive had neighborhood people’ be made by the entire commu- had the responsibility for get-'nity; nor can everyone be ex- ting out the vote, and thetools ected .to know enough about to do it with. ‘she college to act wisely on the ven the 80 per cent margin Matters of curriculum, enroll. does not represent the kind of: Ment, location, budget, and pers massive support we could give; Sounel that are being considere a candidate, and must muster;00w and must be finalized be- for the school board elections.|fore the school opens in tempo- Each assembly district is com-|:'aty quarters next September. prised of approximately 60,000| The search to find competent voters: the 80th in the predo-|tepresentatives whom they trust minently white East Bronx de-|must be a real one for black livered 49,382 voters; the 78th Bronx residents. These peaple (including Morrisania) only} must live and vote with the peo- 16,955, and the 75th a mere:ple whose interests they Tepre- 14,450 voters in the Mayoralty,'sent. College #8 may yet be The 77th vote reflected Procac.!saved to serve the entire com- cino’s activity and the support! munity; but volunteer minute indigenous leaders gave him. |men cannot be expected to con- Moreover, as mentioned last'tinue to put out every fire, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Nov 22, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 16 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Dr. Alvin Pouissant, the! Student’s-Rights Board of eminent black psychiatrist came; Education hearing at Fashion to the Ethical Culture Fieldston! Industries, Lane and Wingate School, November 10 todiscuss, |High School Students appealed | “The Black Experience in the'to Isaiah Robinson, the lone|f Private School.” black man on the Board, tolfTM This was a little revolution. listen to their side. They said He came at the behest of black they would not expect their parents, (many of whose-black brother's position to bel] children are scholarship determined by reports of the students) who requested that:police department and UFT.| 3m this humanist school (a pioncer;Perhaps it is a sense of fair in integrated education) alteriplay forged by our bitter the curriculum, staffing, andimemories of injustice, that administration of the school to' prevents even our tested leaders reflect the black experience. from acting in our enlightened! - BRONX EXHIBIT — Gil Dr. Pouissant was the self-interest. Other groups just'approved a decentralization billtt impossible ror any black to Edwards (left) of 164 W. 174th respected authority supporting don’t seem to get all tangled: acceptable to UFT/CSA: during: get a majority. St., the Bronx, is one of many the black students, need tc up in seeing the other fellow’s the teacher's strike and during! We are always the victims talented black artists “meet together as ca act cf Side like we do. negotiations on the Bill, black of integrating before we are exhibiting in the Third Annual reaffirmation of their blackness, Politics in educotion wi’: antisemitism was distorted to ready to move as a unit. Rhody | Showcase of the Visual Arts Whites have always felt that move to the local level withifam the white backlash, tojMcCoy, the Ocean Hill sponsored by the Bronx there is something sinister about; Decentralization and some: mobilize whites against Lindsay|Administrator whose calm, Council on the Arts now under blacks meeting in groups,’’ he sharpening of our political wits (and especially against his!singlemindedness against the way at the Bronx County said. No other groups’ is urgent! Presently. leaders'liberal Board headed by John ‘exemics of black education! Building. 161st Street and collectivism is thus regarded. who take a position in the black Doar, with black conscious, inspired us, now is being: Grand Concourse. Shown at The black high school students interest that cannot be Milton Galamison in a position attacked in his own community.| at Ficldston were the catalysts compromised are as scarce as.of power). So will black candidates for| Tight are Mrs. Edward for this meeting. “Just because’ hen’s teeth. District No. 9School! The ‘compromise’ Marchi, School boards unless some prior Bramson, Showcase chair- wearereceivingaprivileged'Board,withblackmembers,!billhaseliminatedtheDoarlagreeimsreeanchted._ man;GeraldKlot,Coun- education," they said, “does not, shifted (through a “typographi|Board, eliminated: thei Alvin Pouissant said that ceil chairman and William set us apart from other blacks.” cai error” the nine schools with| Demonstration Districts, and #black youths must talk and meet B.- Hopkins, member of the ; Their education must prepare'the lowest reading grades ou! kept the Board of Examiners,|together to reaflirm their Council executive board. The them for working with their:cf the district. -What victory was there for the|blackness, and work out their exhibit of 200 paintings continues until November 23. The nine ghetto schools were black “leadership?” Mr. Dicks; own destinies. Some good skull! SC! stands, and it is gratifying when is homogenized beyond identifi- their parents back them up. by whatever powers designed|the selection of blacks who will cation The Reverend Jesse Jackson the Redistricting Plan. At the|identify on local boards, or will said:“‘Whitey’spracticeistohearings onHien nehlinesoe ahseceptableto.Wwhite give usalittle bit, just enough |Hecemper 2, 7:30 p.m.) more|money to manipulate blacks) to make some one of usbelieve! spouting and anger onthe swite;be elected? The A. Philip brothers. They would not be homogenized. restored during a shouting, no-; asked. {sessions among black adults| confidence meeting; four of the; New coalitions are in the yseem indicated now, before our Taking Stands Blackyoungstersaretaking:ninewereeliminatedanyway,|making,Willtheymakefowlpowertoeducateourchildren it is enough to fight over; or! <n bo fistened to, but wil hard.| Randolph Institute, with its tanta the fhink We are iy change things. ‘director, Bayard Rustin, are in A scholarship to @ private Ss ad once been. . spe ys : i No Real Meat ftm°healthe breach.betwen eoughfosedithemouthsof Nether redistricting,‘norQlaGtansdthe,UF. Their black parents, and to cause fiscal “control” has been upp at Brotherhood in-Action black students to refuse to transferred to the community.’ pecember 2will unwrap a UFT identify with their brothers. The “What we wil fight over.” says ‘fuly clothed in community majority of the Fieldston youths Harold Dicks, Citywide NAACP; consciousness Locally UFT is will graduate from college; they, Chairman is disciptine, the) active in preparing candidates are potential leaders, and it iscafeteria and recreation; notthejrg; the School Board a matter of black survival that‘ceal meat of education.” White| rections (A meeting at JHS 22 they learn now to identify. ipoliticians, and white-controlled*j2ct week ended in chaos after Last Thursday, at the.black ones, drafted and:the Pyerto Ricans demanded that the entire proceedings be translated into Spanish.) Like the poverty elections, Decentralization portends outbursts between blacks and Puerto Ricans, and splits among the blacks who might flood the field, with candidates, making Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Tanner, Marietta Community Conscious ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Nov 29, 1969; 8. In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Decentralization of the big administration seems to be citywide agencies to make them tightening the reins. Lincoln more responsive to the Hospital is searching for a new: first analysis, make them more community, may not, in the administrator; Andre Walker, a! responsive. As a matter of fact, dlack man, who was Michelin's| first rumblings point toward Deputy is there, but may be: tighter control by an entrenched :oypassed. | administration, _ placing | The hiring of a new. that mcy be voted upon by whatever community boards administrator must be tied to! a helpful citizenry in weak review of the Affiliations advisory positions. jwontracts, whereby Lincoln School personnel, with the nas been a “teaching hospital’? strongest union of all, moved tor Hinstein-Yeshiva, rather swiftly last year to guarantee ‘bana hospital whose main tenure rights to teachers; now ‘unction was to give service the Council of Supervisory Lo patients. Associations has successfully Under the Affiliations fought the qualifying list and Vontracts, deans of schools the acting principal position. Under the new law, the of medicine are the heads of communities will not be able avery department of the to name their principals by tospital. While the contracts met a real need and hospitals qualifying examinations or who selecting those who pass sould not survive without the have state certification (like residents and internes they Rhody McCoy, for example.) oring, accountability for patient The legislature has mandated ‘Mare was not a built-in priority, that the principal on Board of “A total disregard for the when they were negotiated. Examiners Hst will be aeeds of patients,” said Mrs. appointed, even if there are no Odessa Carrion in a hearing schools available for them. If defore the City Commission on they do not bave schools to go to, appointed men get the duman Rights last Thursday, fall principal’s salary anyway. “permits Lincola-Einstein to run One Bronx District six departments with case aides ‘who darry caseloads of asmany} Superintendent is already dickering for list but school-less as 80 patients.” i principals to replace District Exclusion Turns Screws | Coordinators on his personal Odessa Carrion, supervisor of. staff, :Medical Social Services: The New York Times labelled ‘outpatient department, with 20; plan which cancelled the -liscrimination by Abraham as “racist” the Central Board’s years experience, claimed principal’s examination sched- Silverberg and Raymond Cagan, uled for Jast week, and Einstein Administrator and So- opened eligibility to take a cial Service Supervisor respec- new exam to anyone who bad tively, “because she was taught five years. bypassed for two promotions, more blacks and Puerto Ricans qualifications were placed ir, This will, obviously, permit while caucasians with lesser to apply. | . the fobs.” Actually, this is the way it‘ea without due process, on: ' Mrs. Carrion was fired. is statewide, and the way it i was before 1960: Only in New ‘charges of “insubordination” York City was service as an jOctober 31. (The African- assistant principal a require- ‘American Coalition is’ spear- ment for taking the principal's heading a demonstration exam. Rather than lowering the Tuesday io demand her examination may permit cap- disciplinary action against qualifications, this qualify immediate reinstatement, and able men with some knowledge \Messes. Silverberg and Cagan.)| of the community (which often’ Tightening up may take the seems lacking in those who form of “exclusion of those wha spend altheir lives studying to work in the people’s interest. pass examinations) to serve @5 This kind of discrimination as administrators of schools. |practiced in the North is subtle, Hospitals Tightening, Too jand hard to prove. An agency By July, the hospitals too, receiving public funds could are to be decentralized; staff every department with white supervisors, certifying whites with foreign degrees or no degrees and devising all manner of exclusionary ration- alizations, and still claim, Ne discrimination. Communities will be looking for well-qualified people to fil positions like the ad- ministrator of Lincoln Hospital. They want someone| with community saavy, but: enough knowledge about the field to build a decent medical: program for the people of South Bronx, and enough independence to get our money’s worth from! the medical school. Urban League’s Skills Bank is being revitalized to help qualified people tto meet these j|eb opportumitties. partles -should send resumes to: Bronx Urban League, 204 West 136th Street, New York. Every morning between 30 end 60 schoo! children are fed breakfast et the Kelly Street Block Association (926 Intervale Ave.) through its School for Self Defense. Robert LaForey, assistant director, cooks great grits and eggs; and his pancakes! are so popular with the children, | that even those who are not actually hungry drop in (and are welcome) to get a -little supplement. Thanksgiving Day, the Mor- risania Pilgrims will fee’ Senior Citizens at 2:30 p.m.. Hobson Center (Webster Avenue ‘at 170th St.). Sponsors include Diana Paul and Nina Creque (secy) of the King Health Center; Lucy Vigay (chairman) and Dorothy Morrison, IS 143 Paraprefessionals; Phyllis Ludway, Dennis Gardner, and Ronald Lopez of Morrisania Community Corp; Dorothy Simmons and Philomena Allen of LABOR; and Christine Russel of Welfare Action for Progress. Community businessmen (especially Kennie Wilkens of Bronxwood Inn) will feed 40 teenagers at Edenwald Center, 149 E. 22th Street on Thanksgiving Day. Youngsters of Youth Leadership Foundation will serve as hosts; and the Independent Voters Political Club, under Walter Williams, will be coordinating chefs. Contributions of food or funds to each of these groups will be appreciated. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Dec 6, 1969; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 33 ‘Mr. Cagan, and that the Union (DistrictCouncil@ie ci In_ The Bronx el a petition thra toi 'strike the hospital unless Mrs,! 'Cartion was dismissed.” : Communi In ¢ross examination of defense witnesses, Mr. Taylor showed that none of the signers of the. petition worked under onscious Mrs. Carrion, and were, in fact, By MARIETTA J. TANNER ‘Mostly “white supervisors of " ,O:her departments, who had no ——__—_—_..| Contact with the Plaintiff ‘The Charging that '‘Abraham:Medical Social Service Petition was circulat y a Silverberg. liaison officer of Outpatient Department a Mrs. Riccardo, an elected! Einstein College of Medicine at!Lincoln Hospital,” Timothy, "e>esentative for Local 1199, Lincoln Hospital, willfully and)Taylor, attorney for the The D.C-37 representative deliberately practiced Plaintiff, asked’ $300,000 in Mr. Foster, testified that his discrimination in the dismissal, damages in a suit brought:union had not threatened strike October 31, of Mrs. Odessalpefore the New York City|action. Moreover, those wit. Carrion, black supervisor, Commission on Human Rights nesses supposedly harassed by ~ on November 20, [Mrs. Carrion, said that they Mrs. Carrion declared under had never seen, before the day oath that the dismissal was 2'of the trial, a document signed “culmination cf harassmen' by Stanley Shulman, Assistant steming from 1957 when shc}Ccmmissioner of Hospitals, was denied two promotions Which purported to relate the because of her race by Raymon; iDroceedings of a meeting where Cagan, director of Socia’i*heclerical ‘workers attested to Services at Einstein College of Mrs. Carrion’s harassment of Medicine and Mr. Silberberg.” |them, and had requested her! Two caucasians with lesser :\lismissal. j qualifications (to which Mr." Ope of the stapnamsakans Cagan testified) were hired in tasted to several distortions. the Positions of Student Unit in the document, Another Supervisor for Group Work and ¢j-rica) worker, who was: 2'lee., Casework. ‘ed to have suffered a dis! iny Double Standard ‘collapse under Mrs. Carrion's;. Mrs. Carrion stated that sac pressuring, was shown by Mr./' had a critic of the,Taylor to have been; management and quality ofi “hospitalized before, and to; service of the social services, have a record of not following jepartment at Lincoln, Herjher medication and diet: department, andling WFclinies regimen.” ; had no Spanish-speaking worker r iserimination unlit the Fal of 1968, when sme to‘bahtwie ana Mrs. Frieda Vasquez, acaseaide. ny Mathew, a Puerto Rican! was hired. She urged more sosnital administrator, sald that realistic staffing of the social had been fi . M. service departments in.'@ ha m fired twice by Mr. Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery,/Silverberg under similar Rehabilitation, Emergency and conditions, ie., the personnel Home care, which were eae department was used to ey serced by one graduate shat they would leave if he | “The clinics are actually "2S reinstated. manned by caseaides, who have The case, heard before Human caseloads of as many as 80 Rights Commissioners Rabbi! |patients,” she said. ‘Halpern of Jewish Theological Claim Harassment ‘Seminary and Gilbert Colgate, | ‘The defense charged that io Ghatessed wortain brought sharp reaction Mrs. aad 1g from’ | ‘clericalworkers ene them: any South Bronx community: to sign spurious charges agzins‘. organize‘ions (led by Richard’ Weeks of the African American; Coalition), decrying the “rotten: double standard” practiced by| Einstein, and demanding Mrs.| Carrion’s immediate reinstatement. ! Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Dec 20, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 12 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER P;araprofessi ionals were pretty|know shocked when Jim _ Howard|paraprofessionals in Brooklyn showed at their Forum ‘on| school districts with whom Jim Union Membership (held injhad met personally to District No. 12 last April) asS|breakdown their resistance to the UFT Field Representative. |UFT, are turning in their cards Jim did come on pretty strong] in his support. there, blasting black racism and} tHe sincerely felt he could whitewashing UFT, !help us from the inside,” they Many parap rofessionals, !.said. “He thought he was getting turned off completely, called: in on the ground floor and would him a sellout. But Jim learned |have some real power.” They unionism quickly, so well in fact; will be at 27 Union Square, that he said his boss, Al) Thursday, December 18, 4 p.m., Shanker, -called him ‘'the| when UFT's Al Shanker meets architect of the paraprofessional |with paraprofessionals to? program”? just a few weeks ago’ celebrate the victory. in queens. . Borough President Herman! i UFT has now been-designated Badillo was said ‘'GoodbyeTM tol bargaining agent for. most: at a swank dinner last Saturday, paraprofessionals (Educational: but conspicuous by their absence Associated. Assistants, anc; were the blacks who said teacher aides) and (even if; “Hello” to him with their votes District Council37 doesn't know) four years ago. Of course, the it yet) they are busy collecting) bash was $25 a-plate, and not cards on the rest (parent) many of us can spare that for program assts, family assts and | a meal. But many worked har¢ family workers). On December! enough to have heen offered 3, James Howard, the only lack! the opportunity to decline. i UFT Field Representative, who| This writer doubts that any) “had delivered 90 per cent of’ black man in New York City! the para-professionals,” was: fired. . Vito Deleonardis, director of; slaff, who wrote the dismissal] Mayor Lindsay, and Reformers note, claimed that Jim had! and Regular Democrats from become ‘“‘too independent.J’im’,} everywhere came to wish Mr. who had delivered those. Badillo, well. paranrofessionals, who would] Course it's not really goodbye.' xoq an estimated $489,000 to; Herman Badillo is slated to be the UFT coffers ($42 yearly the Congressional candidate per person) had dared to ask from the new district the to be placed on the Contract: legislature is carving out for Negotiating Team, So he went| East Bronx, extending down to his boss, Al Shanker, who’ through Spanish Harlem. This said graciously, according to| new district will slice the black Mr. Howard, “I don’t have to| stronghold into three parts, explain anything to you, or even! giving part of Morrisania to talk to you people, if I don't: Mr. Gilbert’s 22nd, a third to want to.” |James Scheuer’s 2{st and the Met With Rustin lrest to Mr. Badillo’s new Jim Howard also went to see) district. Bayard Rustin, close associate] Funny, but this doesn’t seem and banquet-giver for his boss,! to bring a rise from black Al Shanker, but he was legislators, who are supposed powerless to have Shanker to be helping to lay out the reconsider. The other blacks district. But this redistricting who serve as Assist ant ‘certainly seems to set back the Secretary and Assistant Vice jemergence of a black President were careful not to lcongressman from the Bronx. even broach the subject to' Congratulations to the Alliance Shanker. — ; for Adequate Living in its Traditionally, hand-picked -continuing fight for a decent: “black representatives" without ,meal for poor citizens. The lines black identity are easily used lat ‘the Forest House Food and quickly discarded by whitey. |Distribution Depot grow longer once their purpose has been |every month, A representative served; and blacks should now of Senator Javits’ office at better. But many politics today could have, gathered that assemblage.! Senator Eugene McCarthy,: »ABOR last month, was told iow unsatisfactory present nethods of distribution were;| how the crippled and aged could yt haul a month's supply of: surplus foads, and how a mother iever got all the foods listed. And the indignity of it all:| hat a family should have to! wait for hours in all weather for inferiorly prepared meats and coarse cornmeal. No resulis af the meeting are yet in sight. Hunger is a national emergency, and our hats are off te Margie Mazel! and the others who help keep up the fighting spirit of: the poor despite their empty stomachs. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohi ibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Dec 27, 1969, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe.5 In The |Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER In the spirit of the season, the Sommissioner Ownes fired, and blacks who met the Thuraday seemed re: Yast abolished because it is to them to give ‘a black clique, containing 26 slack members as compared to 3 Puerto Ricans.” Actually there Beca ey eT ie fair share ,Tecording to the rly ple. lastest figures, would wipe out: such programs as P .| (which assists Puerto Rican| Joseph Monsarate wrote youngsters with scholarship aid: and counselling) and the Puerto! Rican Development Corporation, (which aids Puerto Rican business and economic’ Ricans considered themselves: interests). :'already integrated, and The newly formed Puerto therefore did not object to what Rican Council Against Poverty, blacks considered “segregated” of which Ramon Velez is schools. chairman, wants to become a separate poverty agency, so that that way. Never was a breath poverty funds can be split right uttered by a black leader about down the middle between Puerto discrimination, unless he Rican-Hispanics and black included his Puerto Rican others. They claim $900,000 brother. The concern has not Hispanic-Puerto Ricans can be been mutual. Puerto Rican classified as poor; reliable elected officials flaunt their statistics show that there are devotion to the advancement of approximately §50,000 Spanish- Puerto Rican children only when they visit schoo! districts, or Mexicans, Cubans, Columbians’ speak at Parent Association speaking persons (including and others) in New York City. mectings. compared to one and one-half raillion blacks. Moreover, Chairman David Against Poverty considers the Billings of the Council Against Poverty (which the Puerto Ricans are seeking to abolish,) pointed out that “of the twenty Mayors special panel set up to investigate current black- Puerto Rican tensions, as a “classic example of official buck five community corporations, 10! passing, with no attempt to are controlled by Puerto Rican ferret out the real issues.” members, ..and of the $3 “Black members were ‘million allocated for programs racially attacked, and the Mayor with city-wide impact and, did not meet with Chairman special emphasis, over 81 per| Billings prior to the cent of the total goes to fund |establishment of the exclusively Puerto Rican Commission,’ Mrs. Lucille programs. |Murray, co-chairman of the City Fomenting Nationalism \wide Council of Black Maybe it would be better to Organizations, said. eliminate these raciall | Maybe in all charity, the two isegregated corporations, funded groups should try to behave like ‘at the public expense, No other brothers. There are some who ‘group, certainly no black group, want to, but it is in the interest ‘has an exclusive publicly of the “povertycrats” to keep supported city-wide development on spreading hate between ‘agency. Members of the City- inferior brother and superior wide Black Organizations| brother based on color and ‘Against Poverty, pointed out at national origin. This plotting fhe press conference that they | may just backfire, The blacks still have a gripe. illegal use of public dollars to, After all when one brother has jconsidered such programs “an a 400-year history of struggle The group cited a recent in this country,and the other statement by Ramon Velez that less than 30 years. ..well the he hopes to return to Puerto blacks may rise up and claim ‘Rico in order to train Puerto their birthright, for they have foster nationalism.” 'Ricans there to come to New ‘suffered the most unfair ‘York and communities. i “We cannot organize the limbalance of al. Merry . \Christmas, and Feliz Navidad. allow,” said ‘Jerome Green of the Morrisania Education Council, “another immigrant group to come to ithis country and rise on the ibacks of blacks, as the European has done. We will Inoct be the Puerto Ricans’ ‘footstool,’ he said. | While the Puerto Rican council members had access to ‘all the facts, it is incredible how distorted their figures were ‘in print. They want Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission are 23 whites, 18 blacks and 3Puerto Ricans. Already Integrated several years ago that the Puerto Rican and blackj communities did not have the) same aspirations; that Puerto Blacks would not let it stay Smoko Screen ‘ The Black Organizations j Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 3, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 5 In The \Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Ring in the new administra- auu uu. (we nope) oecause sne tions, ring out the old. And protested discriminatory hiring what changes, what advan- policies. But as long as there is’ cement for 3 million poor 0 community board with teeth,- people living in New York City buck passing between Commis- when John V. Lindsay is inau- sioner Terrenzio of the Depart- gurated or December 31, or for ment of Hospitals and Dean the black veople of the Bronx Glazier of Einstein at Lincoln when Robert Abrams says “I Hospital will continue to be the solemnly swear” on January 7? rule, . One of the areas to look at No Administrator carefully as we make our New There is presently no admin- Year’s resolutions is health:istrator at Lincoln, A Dr. ‘care: it is gelting worse not'Bauer is now acting, replacing better, and the caliber of care Dr. Lubell, who was also act- ‘will not automatically improve, ing. These gentlemen were lonce the new corporation board brought in when Dr. .Nasry are established, July 1. Michelin became President of Mospital Corporations Community College No. 8, al- The City Council Hos- though Andre’ Walker, the pital Corporation which is'black deputy, might have been jslated to have a major role in|the logical one to act. setting up these new boards,| No appointment has been has shown little interest. More-imade, although there have lover, the Bronx will have no!been trips to Puerto Rico and ‘black or Puerto Rican repre- elsewhere to find a suitable ad- lsentative on the 1970 City Coun-!ministrator. Dr, Antero Lacot |cil, so the poor will have to!has the Community Board's fight for every inch of consider-:support, and that of the Afri- ‘ation on the Hospital Corpora-‘can-American Coalition, as weil ition Board. as of the many citizens who Fifteen members must be have known his work as Direc- chosen before the new boards ;tor of the Neighborhood Mater- become operational — five ap-jnity Center on Prospect Ave- pointed by the Mayor, five by nue. the City Council, and five from| But Einsteia drags its feet City government. on his appointment, Is this be- New Hospital cause Lacct has some definite A new $74-million Lincoln Hos-|ideas about health care super- pital is to be constructed in the |seding the teaching role of the Bronx. The ground-breaking |College of Medicine in the pub- has not begun; meanwhile, at:lic hospital which do not con- the old Lincoln site repairs are}form to Einstein’s mold? Dr. tabled, awaiting the new facili-jLacot has the administrative ty, but the patients keep crowd-|background, and the degree of ing in. Bronx State Children’s |medicine with 20 years of prac- Psychiatric Hospital has been'tice in obstetrics and gyneco- completed over a year, and hasilogy. remained patientiess, because; Politics Moves In the State did not provide funds! The need for 1970 is far com- to staff it. |munity boards in health as well At Lincoln, some semblance ;as education, Although govern- of a community board is now in|ment is obstensibly moving to- operation. But it is without any|ward decentralization, it will power, having just something;mean nothing ta the poor citi- of an advisory nature. For ex-{zens who call al night for a ample, on December 10, the/jurse on the wards at Lincoln, community board requested ajor the sick who lie on reversal of Dr. Schulman’s Oct-;stretchers for hours awaiting ober 23 decision to fire Odessa |care at Morrisania, Carrion, a black medical social, Politics and politicians are worker. |moving in on the Hospital Cor- Her reinstatement has, untiljporation boards, pressuring this day not been effected, and|(Councilmen with their choices, everyone from Commissioner like any other pork barrel. Terrenzio on down is busily] No professional staff has yet engaged in passing the buckj}een chosen, even at this late between the affiliation (Ein-jdale. If there is going to be stein College of Medicine) and!decentralization, if we want a the City. They claim they are}more humane, less demoraliz- awaiting the decision of the |ing, impersonal City, then the City Commission on Human |citizens must_act now to sce Rights, regarding Mrs. Carri-jthat John V. Lindsay and Rob- on’s two-year old charge of dis- jert Abrams make the govern- crimination, because two cau-;ment relate to them. casians were appointed to posi-; For openers, how about a few tions for which she had superi-|letters on the subject of decen- or qualifications. |tralization and health care? Actually, the CCHR decision |Your voice at this prupitious would have no bearing on Mrs.| moment may just seat someone Carrion’s reinstatement, as she who cares about you on the was fired without due process, jHospital Corporation Board. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 17, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa.4 In The \Bronx Community Conscio us By MARIETTA J. TANNER As black people endure and oppose lobbyist whose agencies| survive in America, the issues, have Life memberships; but it like the complexions of their is also ridiculous for unions to! children, become, not so much believe blacks so gulible a:| to continue to regard them as: black, and white, but shades our champions while they| between. There was a time when exclude us from economic; Labor was considered our salvation. champion. Those unions who cried out Now their role is grayed by about the quota system didn’t the demands of craft unions shed a tear about the fact that to limit membership to fathers fewer than 4 per cent of the and sons, and by all manner 1,3 millon workers in the $24-|: of shenanigans to restrict billion space program were apprenticeships, and keep black black. men from making it in the We must organize.to move building trades. Of course, this exclusion was ever so... but then Labor was all the civil right advocate we had. against even our traditional friends, when necessary, to do this, we must develop a liaison between those members of the community with skills and the grass roots where the troops Last week, the Congress voted to give the Nixon administration: the authority to compel labor are, unions to hire more blacks . That Philadelphia Plan was through its Philadelphia Plan. The Plan requires bidders on passed not just because the federally assisted projects Administration wanted it, and costing more than $500,000 to abetted it, but because some! “work toward specific goals for smart men on the inside knew improving minority employment how to maneuver, and some in the craft unions.” The unions men of influence on the outside]: cried “foul"’. Their lobbyists got with troops applied the pressure}! the Controller General to rule to its enemies. Team effort was 1 construction projects in New York City. The unions are using available to them on this devious “quotas” ploy more that.the Plan was in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" because it established quotas. In Unskilled Jobs and more, as the pressure for the right to earn a living fori black men mounts. Only an estimated 8.4 percent of the 1.3 million union members are; black, and most of these are In unskilled jobs. i President Nixon said that his. administration is committed to: a civil rights policy of; “demonstrable deeds," and that: “one of the things that counts! is earning power.” He called! on civil rights agencies like the Urban Coalition, NAACP and Urban League, who supnorted| nis stand on the Philadelphia! Plan. : | It’s difficult. to make the! connection sometimes between NAACP in South Bronx and Williamsbridge and what Roy Wilkins does on the national level. In this case he influenced | the course of history. This was possible because local memberships provide the troops which make his word stand for something. Opposing Enemies . The Unions have high paid akilled lobbyists whes? fob *. is to convince congressmen to. oppose legislation not in the: union’s vested interest. Tr, influence legislation, since we do not contro] major industries, or corporations to provide! private funding, blacks must depend on agencies like Urban League and NAACP. : It's an egg-stepoing task t:: Black people have marched the hero, nM in Pittsburgh for the right to work, and they cue up daily for the few unskilled openings MOTHER BROWN church since. Mrs. Mary Green, church secretary said of Mother Brown, "I rejoice knowing she is at peace. She really lived a full life, we loved her so.”” Rev. Herman H. Watts, pastor of Friendship Baptist claimed her body and made final funeral arrangements. Mother Brown's bedy will be on view at the Lafayette Mem- ortal Chapel Funeral Home, at 2455 8h Avenue beginning at 7 p.m, Friday night, Rev. Lafayete Rogers will greet visitors. Fina! funeral! rites will be held 9 a.m., Saturday morn- ing at Friendship Baptist Church. Rev. Watts will offi- ciate. Burial will be in Mt. Holiness Cemetery in Butler, New Jersey. Reproduced with permission of the copyright ower, Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 24, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pa.4 In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER As black people endure and Administrator to reinstate Mrs. survive in America, the issues,: Odessa Carrion to her position like the complexions of their as Medical Social Worker. at chit become not so much black and white, but shades be- Lincoln Hospital. tween. The integration we suf-' Mrs. Carrion filed charges of fer in the North scatters our discrimination way back in Au- forces, making it difficult for Bust 1967, when Einstein by- us to keep our eyes on the ball passed her for three promotions of black survival. For example, in favor of white workers. The a few weeks back. Congress firing, which was proved to passed the Philadelphia Plan stem from unfounded charges requiring bidders on federally that Mrs. Carrion had har- assisted projects costing more rassed workers, had no relation than $500,000 to employ more to the original discrimination minority people in the craft, suit. However, a smokescreen unions. Our traditional friends,|seems to be emerging, making the labor unions, labored Mrs. Carrion’s reinstatement mightily to defeat this mini- be construed as the restitution scule effort at giving black for damages in the case. At the men the right to earn a living. hearing, her attorney, Timothy The labor unions claimed that Taylor, requested $300,000 in the Philadelphia Plan set damages. Odessa Carrion is ad- quotas, which was a violation ament: "I cannot accept back af the Civil Rights Act of 1964. pay and the old job back in lieu NEW RITUALS of the settlement,” she said. The Afro American Coalition The “‘quolas" argument was and the Advisory Board of Lin- a devious ploy, a smokes- coln Hospital (which earlier de- screen, a discoloration of the manded Mrs. Cxzrivn's rein- issue to fool us. Those labor slalement) avais ts kom: unions did not shed a tear ruling of NYCHR before further about the fact that fewer than 4 action, per cent of the 1.3. million workers in the $24 billion space TESTIMONIAL program were black. Neverthe- Rev. Kenneth Foulkes is less, Some of us were taken in chairman of the Madison Boys by the Union's argument; and Club Testimonial Dinner Com- none of us were really equipped intitee which will boot hace ta put the pressure on them at 12, superintendent Edythe J. the local level to make them Gaines at the Cancourse Piuza cease chipping away at con- Hotel April 30. Dalila ‘foro gressional support for the plan. Conrad, president of PS 4] We do not have the means to parent association, says the explain these things to our little people whom Dr. Geines people; and therefore, expose has helped so mueh should be the rank and file to slavisly fol- there. But the dinner ents £2 Towing the line of so-called tra- per. Mrs. Toro Conrad. as ditional friends and saviors. usual, has a plan, She win Jim Howard, until recently grass roots organizations w the only black UFT field repre- wish to express their feelings : sentative, who was fired, says for Dr. Gaines’ leadership in the habit of not asking “why” ‘such struggles as community and demanding explanations Control fand minority group ; from so-called friends and sav- principals) should contact her { jors is extant among parapro- @t 1550 Crotona Park Fast, « fessionals. They raise questions %42-7454. . . about Howard's dismissal, but’ The appointment of Henry Jet the UFT Chapter chairman Morgenthau to the third deputy. of the hook when he replies: jslot in the Lindsay administra- ] “We don’t care to discuss it.” |tion augers well for the black Howard’s claim of discrimi- people of the Bronx, who have nalion will he aired before the reason to- respect Mr. Mor- NYCCHR against UFT’s coun- genthau's sense of fair play in terclaim that he did not do the word as well as deed. We can- d job. (Those para-professionals not forget, however, the injus- who think Jim Howard worked tice in that none of the three pretty hard and cficctively deputy slots went to blacks. might write Lawrence Hood at] we went all out ta reelect the Civil Rights Commission, 80) John Lindsay. Maybe we need Lafayette Street, in his sup- 1& man like Morgenthau to prick Part.) |{the conscience of the Lindsay| Findirg our way throug: administration, He, knows what} Smokescreens, picking our wa: lhappens when alienated people through masses of rhetoric de- oannot be heard within the sy- signed to delay black progress, stem. Mr. Morgenthau under- searching out sell-outs is our. stands the travail of black lead- job for the 70's. In the North, rs who have said to their we waver and become compl vyoung, ‘Register, vote, bricks cent. But Mississippians set the {through windows don't open’ record straight. Black |doors, we can have justice in! members of a county election America.” { commission there said they ' Instead, we are getting the “stopped looking for saviors leftovers, as usual. The black when the civil rights workers ‘who have been elevated to as- pulled out, and buckled down to ‘sistanships have been promoted do the job of organizing" (hem- mot because black constitu- selves. Constantly working for ‘encies have chosen them, but black cooneratioy ttre try" because white leaders said, not handshakes, or dashikis, or “*Put this black man there.”: Alro haircuts. We wanted more than that Black cooperation can bring ‘when we went all out for Lind- us victories too. On January 7,,Say. No black peuple fcel the Commissioner Golar of the -Dpinch of powerlessness more Human Rights Commissian than your fellow Bronxites, Mr. directed the Health Services Morgenthau. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Jan 31, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 1 In The Bronx Community f Conscious -b By MARIETTA J. TANNER The Congressional redis- small part of Spanish Bast tricting lines are drawn; Al- Harlem, and part of Hutts bany bas approved them as expected, and whatever was Point (but not the peninsul¥ao Puerto Rican stronghold, sest-- said by local politicians, as still belongs to Gilbert.) Gar-~ the ax fell, signified nothing. Just as this writer predicted, the lines rend the most den- sely populated black commu- cia (who is the Assemblyman for most of the 2ist South* Bronx and Harlem Areg). writhed about the Italians liv— nity, Morrisanla, into three ing in Astoria, who will vgeT parts, making the emergence in a block in the crucial pri- of a black congressman vir- maries when the congfes-— tually impossible. The Silent Minority We are the minority in each of the districts, and probably will be silent. Jacob Gilbert is snug in his coccoon of the 22nd; there are enough blacks east of Third Avenue and along Bruckner Boule- hardly expressed before, yard however, to insist on re- form. Gilbert sits on the House Ways and Means Com- mittee, and that’s where the Democrats and Republicans on the bipartisan committee that drew the lines want him to stay. His conservative confrer, Mario Biaggi's dis- trict. encompasses the whole of Williamsbridge, the second most black area of the Bronx, Drastically outnumbered by Throggs Neck and the south- ernmost western tip of Yonkers, our voice in the 24th can only be a whisper. On the West, James Scheuer'sold21st has been almost completely absorbed by Congressman Jonathan Bingham, whose record am = fecting blacks should even be- come stronger once bis now considerable black population makes its presence felt, Robert Garcia was miffed ou that last day about .the creation of a Puerto Rican district that wasn’t. What a travesty the new 2ist is! It was created at. the insistance of Puerto Ricans on the Is- Jand and the mainland that they have one of their own in Congress, However, none of the constituents of that hod- gepodge district can he pro; erly served by it. Prop: It seems spitefully drawn a tantalizer, impossible to gov- ern. It takes in a miserably Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission sional candidates will be designated. He made no mention of the. heavy black population living-- in South west. It was as though Puerto Rican and Black peoples were ane; a seatiment Robert Garcia has Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Feb 7, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 10 In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Apologies to Robert Mor- man Ramon Velez, in the genthau, the third deputy Spanish press last week. mayor, called in this column Black acting director, Augus- jJast week by another name tus Davis, who wrote the pro- (a wholly typographical grams (and who Puerto error). Ricans and blacks alike United Bronx Parents say agree has been doing an ex- they won't participate in the emplary job) could not get a local school board elections; vote of confidence from the thus they join the Ocean Hilt Velez controled board. Eu- and the IS 201 Complex in a Benia Flatow, the adminisira- boycott. None can dispute the tor, named Davis deputy, logie behind the move: the replacing Velez's choice, Ani- school boards will be power- bal Acensio, whom downtown less, the election procedures considered inept. Davis is at are undemocratic, and the the, merey of a personnel district lines are illegitimate. board whose dispassionate black minority (3 members) Parents at P.S. 132 will still have to picket ta protest attends poorly, Principal Frome's refusal to Velez rationaiizes that all retain a white teacher who the big deputy posts down- worked during the strike, and town are held by blacks; so whom the parents feel has the top local slots belong to served their children well. Puerto Ricans. Boycotting the election, how- Only Bronx residents may ever, may make them even apply; a high school diploma Jess effective. Organizations and five years administrative like UFT are the only ones experience are all that the with money and know-how to $32,000 position require. systematically develop candi- Where are the committed dates. Must the few who do black men ianguishing in in- know let the masses go like surance and real estate with sheep to elect these hand- know-how enough about build- picked men, or shall we as- ings and develop contracts to sure their victory by staying take on this job? Soon Model home? The overthrow of the Cities wil spin off land devel- Jaw is a baitle to be enjoined opment projects or education at another time; once we get contracts (to agencies like out the vote for this election, UBP perhaps). With pensions we may have the forces to intact, even black men can put some men in Albany to now leave the safety af civil win that one too. service for an opportunity like this to deai with the poll- The Vacancy tics and power in the main- Declared vacant is lhe siream. Even cocoons, SO directorship of South Bronx warm and safe, are impreg- Model Cities, so said chair- nable. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Feb 14, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 23 | In The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER Judge Jacob Grumpet re- tal anguish suffered as a leased, without probation, direct result of the respon- last week, Cyril Boynes, Ron- dent’s unlawful discrimi- ald Dicks and Jerry Wooley. nation.” How little the life of You remember the Morris the black woman is worth! High School teacher, the $100 bucks is “mitey” little black student, and parapro- compensation for the anguish fessional who were indicted by the Grand Jury last May discrimination Yoreatened to on 10 criminal counts includ- wreck her professional ca- ing arson, conspiracy to riot, unlawiul assembly and pos- session of a deadly weapon? Their pictures were flashed from every television screen; their faces downcast as they skulked in the custody of po - Vice were front page news; the story of how they con- spired to firebomb Morris gave substance to the fear teachers felt for black adoles- cents, It’s Sensational reer, Also at Lincoln, Black and Puerto Rican leadership has united behind Dr. Antero LeCot for administrator. He Says No But, Commissioner Teren- zio says, ‘No,’ The commu- nity board sat in last week, taking over ‘he administra- lion of the hospital, until the police evacuated them. Hand in hand Richard Weeks and Bob LaForey, black leaders, On December 9th, those 10 left with Ramon Velez and counts were reduced to a Ralph Alvarado. charge of Class-B misde- meanor — the young men were merely accused of ‘‘en- gaging in conduct that would ‘ cause public alarm.” Now is the time for headlines and accolades, but alas the media wants sensational news. This columnist thinks it is sensa- tional that Cyril Boynes has picked himself up after that demoralizing public exposure and become a teacher at Queens College; that Ronald Dicks and Jerry Wooley are now college hound, doing ex- cellent school work at Har- Jem Prep. Every black child, tion. Last October while so vulneraple to brushes with the law ought to know about their achievement. blacks were campaigning for Lindsay, the Velez forces were holding a testimonial dinner at Alex and Henry's for Procaccino. Mrs. Odessa Carrion, the medical social worker who won reinstatement to her post at Lincoln Hospital through those rotting tenements of the City Commission on Human Rights ruling, Jan- uary 6, is to be awarded $100 as compensation for ‘the hu- miliation, outrage, and men- working, loyal employees. Mrs, Carrion ssffered when Blacks are hoping for the same kind of unity behind Augustus Davis, for direetor of Bronx Model Cities, With- out a doubt, attorney Davis is well qualified for the job. Moreover he sweated to get ihe South Bronx package to- gether and funded. He was mentioned in the proposal, submitted to Washington, for his contribution, above and beyond the cail of duty. Then too, its about time Mayor Lindsay did something for the blacks of the Bronx, who worked for his reclec- Plenty of black poor live in Melrose and Mott Haven, who have confidence in Davis. The American way is to pro- mote loyal, capable, hard Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, Marietta J New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993): Feb 28, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pe. 1 In_The Bronx Community Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER i If the people shall get the government they deserve, who shall govern Concourse- East? The effects of the mass the county leader, will proba- bly select Barry Solomon (hardly a symbol of new era polities) to fil the vacancy until the election next No- vember. vote seriously. No Conquering [ero In the harsh light at the Abalon Caterers, no man of the people was shown forth, no conquering-hero type who could begin to attack the problems of the decaying apartment houses, now tene- ments; of overcrowded schools whose black and Puerto Rican students cannot read;.of the unemployed, the exodus of the Jewish middle- class 10 Co-Op City are now being felt in the institutions thereabouts. Politics was everybody's subject: school board candi- dates Ivy Barnes and Ted Mendel were shaking hands The YMHA at 167th Street and Grand Concourse, for ex- ample, used to be the hub of with the club people who vote Jewish culture and recrea- and who have, in the past tion. Even though a large gotten out the vote. But with- percentage of the kids who out the old P-ZAZ born of now attend are black and confidence that behind you is Puerte Rican, they still get a a constituency who takes the steady diet of Jewish culture, Community initiative has not arisen to suggest innova- tion in staff or style. This venerable institution could wither on the vine and finally shut its doors against the influx of a new population as the Tremont YMHA did a few years ago. . Revival necded The Concourse-Jefferson Reform Democratic Club at welfare mothers, the addicts 169th Slrect and Grand Con- and pushers moving in fast on the side sircets leading to wilh Kosher smorgesbard at the Concourse. course honored Paul O'Dwyer The new population is that this institution, like crowding out the Aristers at many others needs the winds Taft High School, and the a local hall Sunday. Sensing of change, Leo and Irene oldsters ab Mt. Eden Park, Zimmering filled their tables But the “leadership” is still white; it lives in segregated They invited the black buildings on the Concourse, with the new population. owned Next Step dress shop (1221 Sherman Ave.) to show some of their Afro designs and zippy little models like Betty Wiley. Their presenta- tion was fresh and “now” but not enough to dispel the per- vasive aura of decline. For one thing, the congress- man who nurtured the club and that “leadership” seems to be waiting for a chance. to move on to something better, surer. The blacks and Puerto Ricaus who have sunk their savings into the vintage 1930 Morris Avenue 2-families have not taken hold. The preachers who have turned will be moving across town to abandoned synagogues into Tun against the incumbent in Baptist or Pentacostal the 22nd. Instability was fur- churches shout every Sunday ther evidenced by the fact “Trying to make heaven my that the councilmatic seat va- cated by Lawrence Bernstein (now a judge of the Criminal Court), is allegedly sought by Seymour Posner, now the as- dents to take up the gavel to semblyman for the 76th (who has always detested Albany nightlife anyway . govern themselves. The Gospel Boss Patrick Cunningham, , repeat its successful Gospel Caravan with more gospel, March 8, at Morris High home.” But for now, “home” is the East Concourse. The evange- lists must exhort new resi- The S. Bronx NAACP will School. Tickets are $3.00 at 3225 Third Ave, For Victor Marrero, a June Yale graduate, the $32,000 Model Citles Director post will be his first real job. He is the Mayor’s appointee over Augustus Davis, now acting director, who could become deputy director again, or else , ‘Community College No, 8 is - moving lugubriously toward not opening in September. At this late date, space has not be contracted for at the Con- course Plaza Hotel. Its ‘“sy- stems approach” to curricu- lum requires machines, and the time to ready the physi- cal plant, as well as to pro- gtam the subject matter. Anxious citizens art planning to enter, but the admissions office cannot speak. Someone must, however, as so much is being spent for technical personnel (com- puter programmers) and for on-the-job-training for inex- perienced administrators, that funds for the real busi- ness of the college are run- ning low. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 7, 1970, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 22 In The Bronz Community ~ Conscious By MARIETTA J. TANNER One ofthe things that Elsie Brown wants to know about is how you get to be a narcat- ics expert. Mrs. Elsie Brown is the president of the Com- munity Council for Narcotics cotics pragrams with a staff that doesn’t live here, and cannot relate,’ Mrs. Brown said. The same was true of the three other agencies that re- ceive %4th of all the money. Programs, who has been working with the problem of war on narcotics,” Mrs. drug addiction for 17 years before it moved to the suburbs, when just ghott “dispensibles” were wasting tion. of new rehabilitation centers for teenage addicts, that will take .ages. City agencies are already saying they cannot match on a 50-50 basis the $65 million allotted to operate local treatment centers. $550,000 will go to Byard of Regents for teacher training and other public re- lations programs, all man- aged by “white power struc- ture’? groups and “experts” like Mrs. Shapiro. “The focus of addiction ser- vices these days is on the young, white, middle-class Elsie Brown wouldn’t have addict, and the way the pre- to be told about cocaine. grams are developed and There are plenty of pre-teen staffed proves it,” said Mrs. mainliners in her neighbor- Elsie Brown, expert without their lives on drugs. MRS. ELSIE BROWN She’s An ‘Expert’ Mrs. Rose Shapiro is an ex. pert. The former head of the NYC-Board of Education ha: been named by Governor Rockefeller as his special as sistant for narcotics educa tion programs in the state’s $250-million program. In a burst of eruditior about the narcotics problem. Mrs. Shapiro said: “I’m told that some of the elementary schools have very real prob- lems, One principal told me ol little children rubbing cocaine into their gums. . .” hood. Where she lives, addcts rob apartments nightly to support their habits, suc climbs over them in hall ways, she has named names of big time pushers, who never got arrested. She has seen youngsters die of over- Presbyterian Church, Thurs- dose and infection. She has a record of rehabilitation with- out recidivism. But she is not an “ex- pert.”for any of the tax-sup- ported programs. Went To Agency Last October, she went to see Larry Bear, head of the City Addiction Services Agency, to askif the Commu- nity Orientation Centers could be used by neighborhood nar- cotics workers after 5 o’clock. (These centers only service addicts from 9-5 p.m.) ‘Shey also wanted to have tne icp requirements changed for counsellors. It seems that only former addicts who have speni 3 years in a theraupeutic com- munity like Synanon of Day- top are eligible. This require- ment excludes a Muslim Pentacostal or just anout any black or Puerto Rican “cured” addict since few had the cash or inclination to sub- mit to such treatment. “Burthermore,” said Mrs. Brown, “Encounter-type ther- apy is destructive of black and Puerto Rican identity. They have {orn cown our men with encounter more than with drugs. Well, anyway, it seems that Mr. Bear was not interested in seeing Mrs. Brown that day, and even after several months of pressure exerted by neighborhood groups through OEO in Washington, ASA still does not communi- cate with community-based programs, “They gave $4.7 million to Phoenix House to develop nar- day evening March 12 at 7:30 p.m. the N.Y. Urban League and the United Black Wo- men’s Political League are joint sponsors of a project to enlighten blacks and other minorities on the importance of an accurate count. Mrs. Veralyn Hamilton, chairman of the Bronx UBWPL, will be coordinating the program from the Urban Leagues 509 Willis Ave. of- fice. Mrs. Ruth Beshong, who made. an impressive record as a Census Coordinator dur- ng the 1960 Census will also ake part. . About Rockefeller’s “Total Brown is even more pessimis- tie. $200 million of the $250 million will go for “construc- portfolio. Make Black Count “Make Black Count” will be the subject of a public meeting on the 1970 Census to be held at St. Augustine Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Community Conscious Tanner, MariettaJ New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); Mar 14, 1970; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg.4 ‘In The Bronx Community Conscious — By MARIETTA J. TANNER -Dr, Antero LaCot is in as black population could administrator for Lincoln change things. But then, Hospitat and Commissioner wha public c2ftl) nos erst Joseph Terenzio, who opposed to the streets or to the him, is out. That's Puerto Legislature to foree new Rican power, when your lead- Board of Elections proce- ership can topple the Mayor's dures to improve conditions man: (especially when tos! under which black men vote leadership Jargely opposed in this county? Black power that Mayor’s reelection). In the Bronx is, therefore, Black leadership in the boxed into the 70th AD and Bronx supported ~~. Latnt the 38th SD infighting there also. They knew him aS a for a pittance of patronage. competent director of the All the big ones outside these Neighborhood Maternity Clin- few square miles get away. je in Morrisania and of his There is the 76t1 (Car. record of study in public course East to Highbridge) health administration, and mm where black s are numerically medical practice in Puerto dominant, but where, reper- Rico. Moreover, his views un tedly, an assemblyman and a “upgrading the quality of pa- Puerto Rican leader have al- “tient care at Lincoln, places ready made a deal for the hospital. services above the City Council seat and Assem- feeds of its teaching affilia- blyman reelection. The Coun- ‘tion, were widely hailed in cilmatic seat, vacated when “the black community. Bernstein became a judge, . It's Dominoes encompasses an area almost totally black, but no black “Too bad that the black candidate was put forward. Jeadership mistakenly — be- A Little Puzzle ‘Vieved their LaCot Support to But this little deal is a nart be a part of a package, their of the total plan. Rumor has share of which was never it that the 2Ist Congressional negotiations with Arthur honored, They wanted Augus- District (which straddles Goldberg to team up wilh dus Davis named director, of three boroughs, but was him as Lieutenant Governor South Bronx Model Cities, originally to have been carved against Basil Patterson, the since virtually every other out to provide a Puerto Rican outstanding black legislator -tax-supported Peony pregvem majority for the assured elec- and the choice of the Black has a Puerto Rican at the tion of a Puerto Rican Elected Democrats? 'head. congressman, but instead tas This statewide contest It’s unfortunate, too, that a large black ponulation wit: should make blacks less black public officials city South Bronx and Harlem sec- provincial. It would help all wide played a significant part tions, and a large Italian blacks if we come out strong in the giveaway game in constituency which votes in and unified for Patterson, lin- which Bronx blacks were the Queens) is being abandoned ing up all the other pieces.- pawns, Up until now, it by its favorite son, Herman Would this mean we are en- Jooked like the game was Badillo ex - Bronx borough gaged in a “hate Puerto chess, but it may really be president in favor of ona dominees. : . Rican” campaign? You can Ramon Velez, frequent head- bet it will be construed that The establishment knows line grabber in far-ranging way, When blacks try to ob- blacks don't vote in the Puerto Rican power-play tain equal rights, or their fair Bronx, and thal's tha way events. share, it is always construed they want to keep it. A mas- If Mr. Badillo plans to as a hate campaign. sive registration cnd ve.'n challenge Velez, why all the Take the example of the Muslims, trying to grow crops in Mississippi to feed Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and give jobs to the hungry blacks whom whites therea- pouts have alwayS spat upon. Just because they are mili- tantly pursuing their own sur- vival, they are accused of the most violent anti-svhite acts. Why are we alone asked to be patient, and why have we swallowed the “fair play'’ egalitarian ethos whole? , You remember that black leadership walked hand in hand to jail with Puerto Ricans in order to have LaCot named °administrator of Lincoln Hospital; not one promise in the best interest of Bronx blacks has as yet been honored. The dlack community in the Bronx cries out for lead- ership, and unless our brothers citywide begin to deal more constructively with us, their little dominoes will topple also! _ Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data PDF Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Marietta J. Tanner, Community Conscious column (Amsterdam News) Subject The topic of the resource Tanner, Marietta J. Charter members of Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Amsterdam News Community Conscious Description An account of the resource Collection of "Community Conscious" columns written by charter member Marietta J. Tanner for Amsterdam News, 1968–1970 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanner, Marietta J. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Amsterdam News Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1968–1970 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-AKAHOO.BD.056 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/adf27308f13b2bf67bd83c0d8fbd02e5.jpg 41c50af820fcf8f22903988ec3668ed8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 5859x4570px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández artistic rendering Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="item-description">Photograph, artistically rendered, of Mariposa Fernández reciting poetry.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.007 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/916467a4b453f35dcadc3884f4598bed.jpg f622a9fe4f7ab9b2b4165b8a337645e0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 4885x6000px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández in first magazine feature (Urban Latino) Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text">First magazine feature piece on Mariposa Fernández, published in <em>Urban Latino</em>.</div> </div> </div> </div> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Urban Latino Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.006 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/698cf1f7361089e2e04fbf996a5551f6.jpg dc1f03033b9578374a9433c23105590d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 4752x5918 px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández in second grade Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Schools and education (The Bronx, New York) -- Immaculate Conception School Streets and avenues (The Bronx, New York) -- East Gun Hill Road Neighborhoods (The Bronx, New York) -- Williamsbridge Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text">Headshot of Mariposa Fernández in second grade at Immaculate Conception School, located at 760 East Gun Hill Road.</div> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.001 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/1637ad18172893a14f6d04b44e02a89a.jpg db859fb94833b43bb94f009fe8e8926e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 4113x2944 px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández in second-grade class photo Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Schools and education (The Bronx, New York) -- Immaculate Conception School Streets and avenues (The Bronx, New York) -- East Gun Hill Road Neighborhoods (The Bronx, New York) -- Williamsbridge MelleSOL (MelleSoul) Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="item-description">Second-grade class photo of Mariposa Fernández class at Immaculate Conception School, located at 760 East Gun Hill Road. Mariposa is in third row from bottom at the far right. Her twin sister is on the same row, third from left.</div> </div> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.002 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/e2e1af00f753f959dec72700e4908880.jpg 594dda6cbbb93b61b19b056a605781b0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 5063x6532px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández professional shot Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text">Photograph of Mariposa Fernández taken for professional and promotional use.</div> </div> </div> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.005 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/8779f4f035d95e731ef4819583c27256.jpg 06a05f523c8ff81d126ecf9526789e6b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 5058x6532px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández self-photo Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text">Photograph of Mariposa Fernández taken by Mariposa for a photography class in high school.</div> </div> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980s Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.004 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/b8a6d5bd3ca8c38b5f3d2756d79f0f9d.jpg a66fc31ee4a5dbc938f51aad8e1880d0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 3512x2348 px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández with twin sister Melissa Isabel Fernández after Mariposa's first poem published Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) "Ode to the Nuyorican" MelleSOL (MelleSoul) Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="item-description"> <div class="item-description">Photograph of Mariposa Fernández posing with twin sister Melissa Isabel Fernández ("melleSOL") in front of father's Chevrolet Reliant, after Mariposa's first poem, "Ode to the Nuyorican," was published in <em>New York Newsday</em>.</div> </div> </div> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.027.003 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/38c51bd404b874c49bd1049a40ba47fc.mp4 d2353adde9f98f36a1797169a3c89ffd Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data VHS recording Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 00:03:55 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Sings to Lolita Lebrón on Her Birthday Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Ethnic groups and nationalities -- Puerto Ricans (Boricuas) Puerto Rican liberation Lebrón, Lolita Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text">Recording of Mariposa singing to famous Puerto Rican Nationalist Lolita Lebrón on the occasion of her birthday.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Urban Latino Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP4 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Archival video Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.034 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/2875078b6288e38b211f37f3d5d9242d.jpg 8178a05e70d4aa08e2d41b76bd41f667 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, Eta Omega Omega Chapter Records Subject The topic of the resource Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Bronx African American History Project Eta Omega Omega Bronx Graduate Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Wheeler, Wilson & Johnson Community Projects, Inc. Wheeler, Wilson & Johnson Community Projects, Inc. Description An account of the resource Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated® was chartered on May 23, 1964, by twelve members. The chapter celebrates a rich history of service, philanthropy, and scholarship for the Bronx community. From its inception, programs of service were launched to enhance the quality of life for residents of The Bronx. Specific emphasis was placed on engaging youth, working with developmentally disabled children, and providing services to the elderly.<br /><br />Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated® provides volunteer services to vulnerable and underserved communities. One of the first programs started by the chapter was a garden project at the Southeast Neighborhood Center for developmentally disabled adults. Since then, the chapter has initiated several other service projects, including Impact Days, Earth Day and Akarosa Adopt A Highway beautification initiatives, financial literacy workshops, Alzheimer's awareness projects, mental health support projects, and healthy heart initiatives. The chapter also spearheads the MLK Day of Service project, various toy drives, collaborative Global Impact Day with South Africa and St, Croix members as well as a host of other programs that demonstrate a strong commitment to serving the Bronx community. In addition to serving the community, members also participate in weekly prayer calls, leadership enrichment opportunities, membership and sisterly relations activities that are intergenerational, like book, movie, exercise, and travel clubs. Eta Omega Omega chartered Xi Xi chapter, an undergraduate chapter at Lehman College on June 25, 1983, and members of that chapter have participated in many of the projects.<br /><br />Eta Omega Omega chapter's signature program is the <em>Rites of Passage Mentoring Program</em>. This program provides high school girls with year-long intensive workshops on personal development, ancestral history, interpersonal relations, etiquette, and goal setting. Since 1991 this program has guided young girls towards their transition into womanhood by fostering a sense of responsibility, sisterhood, and self-pride. The chapter will continue the Rites of Passage Program in collaboration with ((#CAP℠), the current administration’s College Admissions Process program ((#CAP℠), designed to assist students in their efforts to enter college.<br /><br />As a result of the work that Eta Omega Omega has done, the chapter has earned many national and international accolades and awards. Some awards earned were Small and Medium Chapter of the Year, the Spirit Award, Membership, Connection, and Star Award for Outstanding Programs. On a regional level, several chapter members have been recognized for their outstanding service in leadership. Members were honored as Basileus of the year, Silver Star of the year, Graduate Advisor of the year, and the Idell Pugh Angel Award.<br /><br />In 1994, the Chapter established a not-for-profit corporation and later changed the name of this corporation to Wheeler, Wilson and Johnson Community Projects, Inc. The corporation was organized exclusively for educational and charitable purposes within Bronx County. Through the foundation the chapter hosts an annual holiday toy drive, leads peace walks, and donates dorm baskets to students leaving for college. In addition, the Chapter annually gives over $10,000 in scholarships to support youth attending two-year, four year, and HBCU colleges.<br /><br />As a large-sized chapter, with 129 members, Eta Omega Omega is one of seventeen exceptional graduate chapters in Cluster III of the Notable North Atlantic Region. Many members have moved up in leadership. Eta Omega Omega members have served as Cluster and Regional Committee Chairman and Cluster Co-Coordinators. Chapter member Soror Joy Elaine Daley has served previously as the North Atlantic Regional Director and currently serves as the International Regional Director.<br /> <p><br />Eta Omega Omega Members continue to exemplify the ideals that Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated^® was founded on well over 110 years ago.&nbsp; Through the direction of our 30th International President, Dr. Glenda Glover, the Chapter has implemented the 2018–2022 International Program under the theme, "Exemplifying Excellence Through Sustainable Service." The International Program includes five program targets designed to advance the mission of Alpha Kappa Alpha with excellence and underscore a commitment to sustainable service.</p> <p>The five program targets for 2018–2022 are:</p> <ol> <li><a>HBCU for Life: A Call to Action</a></li> <li><a>Women's Healthcare and Wellness</a></li> <li><a>Building Your Economic Legacy</a></li> <li><a><em>The Arts!</em></a></li> <li><a>Global Impact</a></li> </ol> <p>In addition, Eta Omega Omega members implement International Community Service Days annually to highlight the organization's collective impact in program target areas:</p> <ul> <li>Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January)</li> <li>Pink Goes Red for Heart Health Day (February)</li> <li>AKA Global Impact Day (April)</li> <li>AKA International Day of Prayer (August)</li> <li>AKA HBCU Day (September)</li> <li>Breast Cancer Awareness Day (October)</li> <li>AKA Caregivers' Day (November)</li> </ul> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated®, Eta Omega Omega Chapter, Donna Joseph, President, Saudah Muhammad, Chapter Historian Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1964–present Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-AKAHOO Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 673x421px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Members of Eta Omega Omega Chapter at Autumn Frolic Subject The topic of the resource Charter members of Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Autumn Frolic Description An account of the resource Group photograph of members of Eta Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at Autumn Frolic. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource JPG Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-AKAHOO.BD.003 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/95f51c37b7f0c50c5dfff682db841f25.jpg 40de1bc54f8272003f9fbfef369bd8b4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data JPG Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image 3038x3840px Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ntozake Shange as a boxer Subject The topic of the resource Shange, Ntozake Fernández, Mariposa Maldonado, Adál Perez, Rosie Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="element-text"> <div class="item-description">Photograph of Ntozake Shange as a boxer, photographed by Adál Maldonado in 1993 and dedicated to Mariposa Fernández on the occasion of her wedding to herself on August 11, 2001. Among attendees was actress Rosie Perez. Retouched digitally to mitigate water damage caused by humidity buildup in frame.</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPG Type The nature or genre of the resource Photograph Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ-BD004.001 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Maldonado, Adál Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Description An account of the resource The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project is a collaboration between Kurt Boone, veteran documentarian of urban culture in New York City, and Dr. Steven Payne, librarian and archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The project aims to document the early years of the graffiti arts movement in The Bronx through recording oral histories and collecting tags from surviving Bronx pioneers of the art form. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boone, Kurt BUTCH 2 Crespo, Pastor, Jr. Payne, Steven Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource CC-BY-NC-SA (Creative Commons) Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data MP4 Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 11:06 Compression Type/rate of compression for moving image file (i.e. MPEG-4) MPEG-4 Media Embedded media file for non-oral history recorded sound and moving images. <br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KLO7_5Ro6_E?si=xxLSxRlYKbE-ncNh" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource On the Tracks: Graffiti in NYC (Community Notes) Subject The topic of the resource Graffiti Bronx (New York, N.Y.) Graffiti artists--women Description An account of the resource Video produced by Shekinah Green for the Community Notes section of this repository, inspired by The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Green, Shekinah Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2022 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the individual or organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource MP4 Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OH-BAADP.2022.11.18 https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/files/original/cd3846d1c35f1cf5aab7c89eb82ed4c5.pdf 3bf335345e802247a4e363a733cf6f8e PDF Text Text AT五 ble6 δal電/ ■ ●● u ■, ′つ ル ヽレた2ゴa慶 り anc lle cordially r{ Bookstorc invite you .. to join dり HOS us to tlr.nh Caballero ■1 鑑 of・ heno Rcm M帥 昴 奪 r and support ' 11 and・ The lぶ 騎 dttat' along with s ScrI r his glEst: ontri― Nuyorican Rule ons ぶl ● ¨ fe ￨￨￨ ち︐ ・︑ ︐ ︱ ．こ ィヽ ■■ ド ︱ ｉ ・ ● 一 ′ ・ ︐ ●:' FHends of Gl 趾 oll Naomi M.Mel̀ndcz Li」 ian Percz A3圃 ε78人∝ハ ,Mul(1 lldeos Pueno■ (コ :3ooに ' 192A,mue B(oo 12山 Stm).212・ ,39‐ 1 2 % 醐iぽ t魚 η歌 ｀ ひ´´｀ψ フ ハ エ ハ α01) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariposa Fernández Papers Description An account of the resource Mariposa María Teresa Fernández (1971–) is a Puerto Rican poet and performance artist born and raised in The Bronx. She was the first in her family to graduate from college, having earned a BA and MA at New York University. Mariposa's poetry, which often intertwines Spanish and English lines, meditates on empowerment, identity, family, all through a Bronx lens. Mariposa has authored Born Bronxeña: Poems on Identity, Love & Survival (2001) and is featured in multiple anthologies. Her work has also appeared on a variety of programs produced for HBO, PBS, Lifetime TV, and BET, and she has performed for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, the Essence Music Festival, and the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit. Mariposa is an accomplished educator and has also worked towards women's empowerment through a variety of outlets. Her honors include a Van Lier Fellowship, an El Comité Noviembre’s Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Award, and recognition from the nonprofit El Maestro. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fernández, Mariposa Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1978–2020 Language A language of the resource English Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Mixed-media collection Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ Archival Folder Folder from an archival collection. Series If a new series of a periodical, note here. 1. Poetry Performances Box # Box number for archival folder. 1 Folder/Item # Folder/item # 2 Text Any textual data included in the document Gl ハエハα01) ■1 ●:' 趾 Naomi M.Mel`ndcz oll Li」 ian Percz FHends of A3圃ε78人∝ハ Pueno■ (コ :3ooに '“ ,Mul(1 lldeos 192A,mue B(oo 12山 Stm).212・ ,39‐ 1“2 t魚 % η歌フ` ひ ́ ́`ψ醐iぽ AT五ble6 δal電 ■ つ /′ル ヽレた2ゴa慶り 奪r anc ●● ■, lle cordially invite you .. to join us to tlr.nh and support ScrI r his ontri― “ ons u r{ Bookstorc HOS“ dり Caballero 鑑 of・heno Rcm M帥昴' 11 and・ The lぶ 騎dttat' along with s Nuyorican Rule ||| glEst: ̈ fe ぶl ● ・、ち， ， .こ ィヽ ■■ ド ――i ・ ● 一′ ， ・ Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Performances, fliers and promotional material (1997) Subject The topic of the resource Fernández, Mariposa Poets and performance artists (The Bronx, New York) Colón, Sery Ortiz, Ricky Valdejuli, Jorge Matos La Bruja Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center (107 Suffolk Street) Caballero, Luis Nuyorican Rule Description An account of the resource Folder containing fliers and promotional material from Mariposa's performances in 1997. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Archival folder Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MS-FERNANDEZ.001.002 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made.