A Man found more Slavery than Ever

A reporter Benjamin Skinner just released a book "A Crime So Monstrous" about the 30 million or so totally in bondage slaves in the world today. They are not only in Sudan but in places like India, Haiti, Romania, and Miami, Florida. Some are sex slaves, but 90-percent are in good old fashion human bondage.

Ironically, it seems that Mr. Skinner first learned about slavery when sent to Sudan to report on it. At the time, there were huge accusations of the Sudanese government promoting slavery, but it seems that everyone there did some slavery on the side. This is when Mr. Skinner realized that slavery is a widespread economic crime. Of course working at Mcdonalds on 125th St in Harlem could also be called slavery, but at least you can walk off the job.

Does Obama Really Got it?

It seems that Obama really has the Democratic nomination, or is that the case? There is still a Democratic convention, and technically, even the pledged delegates from various candidates can vote their conscience and someone else. The US in general and the Democratic party still have a representational system. Just because some losers like Howard Dean and former VP Al Gore want to change that doesn't make it right. There is enthusiasm for the idea of a black President, but we in Harlem already have a black Governor David Paterson, so I don't think that is enough reason.

Also, Florida had Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on the ballot. Though the primary was too early, and the candidates did not campaign there, the vote was honest. Hillary should get the win. (to be continued).

James Cayne and Bear Stearns- No Respect

Your kisses, are sweeter than honey;
But so what, so was his money;
Why didn't they just sweep the street, with that thief.
Jimmy Bear Cayne, Oh Yeah!

( spoof- Respect- sung by Aretha Franklin)

The disrespect of idiots like James Cayne is beyond belief. While millions face home foreclosure, largely because of the bogus deals of the defunct Bear Stearns, Bear Bear Jimmy Cayne got bailed out. And how many dudes are stuck with $1 million dollar mortgages now in the Adjusting Rate Mortgage phase, going up up up?

Jimmy Cayne and wife were worth $1 billion. Now they are worth $61 billion, after selling their Bear stock for $10 a change a share. If they had to accept $2 a share, they would have been worth a mere $10 million. But, without this lousy Federal Reserve bailout they would be penniless bankrupts, which is exactly what they should be.

Stop bailing out these dudes. Hillary, do you hear me? I don't think Obama is going to break from financial orthodoxy for Wall St., he just doesn't get it.

Don't wait for these dudes to get some loser in the white house and start World War over Tibet and the Dalai Lama. I thought a daily lama was what Prince wore when he sings Rasberry Beret.

Harlem and Bear Stearns and the Global Village

Sometimes we like to talk about Harlem as a village in New York City, and part of the global village. Yet we in Harlem and the Bronx are also dependent on things like the financial system. Now that Bear Stearns has crashed, the king has no clothes. The Federal Reserve of Ben Bernanke have run this $30-billion bailout. You have the travesty of 14,000 employees, 8,000 of them in New York City trying to get at least a pittance out of their IRAs and 401k. You see, it's just like Enron, 40-percent of the company was owned by the employees, now the stock was worth $170 a share, and has gone done first to $2-a share. Then you have this funny freakout, to shove the value for the Chase-Bear deal up to $10-a share. So let us say that Joe Harlem has a job at Bear Stearns. He has at least a 50-percent chance of being laid off now.

Joe has $2-million (he thought last year) in stock in his 401-k, of Bear Stearns stock. At $2-a share it is worth less than $30,000. At 10-a-share it is worth a big $150,000.
So he is still going to lose 7/8th of its value, but I guess he still has something, as shares in the new Chase mega-company.

Rosa Parks Speaks

That deceased civil rights heroine seems to be speaking again in the special production of the play "Rosa Parks Speaks" at City Tech in Brooklyn, NY. This event, for Women's History month, will happen on Thursday, March 27th, from 2:30 pm to 4 pm, at the Atrium Amphitheater, 300 Jay St., by Tillary. Just take the "A" train to Jay St, and you are almost there. Professor Byrd is due the wild thing about Rosa, from seamstress and church goody goody girl, to civil rights fighter.

And, if that is not enough for you, another, this time still live and old, but kicking civil rights heroine is making the rounds. That is Amelia Boynton Robinson, who led Dr. King's movement, both before Dr. King's ministry and after his death, in Selma Alabama. Mrs. Robinson has just toured Europe, and is speaking out against the feudalistic and evil Lisbon Treaty, which will put all the citizens of Europe under a Europe wide President, leaving the citizens with no power to stop war and oppression. Amelia Boynton Robinson is Vice Chairwoman of the Schiller Institute.

Harlem day dream with the new Gov, David Paterson

The joy in Harlem over our new Afro-American Governor is beyond belief. We love David A. Paterson, and we know he will be a Governor for all the people of New York State. Let's look at his career a bit.

In 1985, David Paterson won a Senate Senate in the Manhattan Valley and upper West Side areas of Manhatan. This, the 30th Senate district is the same district represented by David Paterson's father Basil Paterson. He was sworn in as Governor on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. By the way, he said that after a DNA test, he has some blood from Ireland and Scotland in him too. So Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Although, we at harlemface.com are sad and mad about what happened to Governor Spitzer, we will be marching on.

Flu Rate Rising, Get your Shot- Mt Sinai

You can get your flu shot as late as May, as long as it is still cold. That is what they say at New York and Harlem's Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Although tons of flu vaccine has been around this year, the vaccination rate has been fairly low. The flu is usually much more severe than a cold. It can be deadly for the very young and the very old. In January, the NY City Medical Dept reported 19-percent more cases of emergency room cases with flu like symptoms. The New York Medical Society advises every New Yorker (and every Harlem resident) to get their flu shot, even now, until the hot weather (over 86 degrees F) arrives.

Harlem Stars at the Oscars

It's interesting that many Harlem stars made it to the Oscar awards. There is Harlem's Impact theater with the song "Raise it Up" nominatned for best original song, from the film "August Rush." Jamal Joseph is the founder of the IMPACT theater. Jamal also wrote the song "Raise it Up" which lost to the song "Falling Slowly" but in any case definitely made an impact.

A Harlem New York Story

Keep that Harlem feeling and that Harlem t-shirt and groove on. Here's a story:


“Coins” by Mona Simpson

This story has a hazy feeling to it, as if the lady, by telling the story in the first person, is an unclear person. What does Lola want? Is there any tension in the story, or is this just a descriptive “days in the life” sort of thing?

Lola is a Filipina, whose youngest child of five children is already 17. She has to do babysitting in Harlem New York to help pay for her children’s education. She also wants to take Richard/Ricardo, a 3-year old baby back home to the Philippines while his parents are on vacation. Lola is an upbeat sort of person who wants to be a good babysitter and not offend American sensibilities.

The story does have a sort of poignancy, with this woman trying so hard to be good. Lola doesn’t seem sad, though she can not be with her husband or see her five grown children. There is some dialogue in the story, mostly between Lola and the baby, Ricardo.

The story has an extra feature or “bagatelle” added to it. One is the collecting of coins to “help fund the trip” to the Philippines. Is this a joke? It is a nice story, though oddly vague and slightly sad.
-----------------------------------------------###########-------------------------

A Harlem Story

A Country Not Her Own--- This is a Harlem Story, but set in the Bronx, about 3 miles north of Harlem, NY---

“Why did you have to take me to this stinking country?” Maritza sobbed, as Fernando held her tightly in his strong arms.
“OK, you make some money here, el dinero but it’s so goddam expensive!” she said.
“Look it’s gonna be alright. Why do you have to freak out all thetime?”
“Three children. The two girls and now this baby boy.”
“Look why do you hate Pedro so much, you hardly even say his name” Fernando answered.
“You tricked me. I didn’t want to have him.”
“Let’s go to sleep. I’m tired.” Pedro sighed. He took Maritza’s hand and pulled her to the bed.
“Don’t you try anything. I’m exhausted. The baby will get up in an hour.”
“All right, all right.” Pedro murmured.

The sun filtered in to Pedro and Martiza bedroom. The baby begins to cry, first softly, then louder.

Story theme- suffering and then death.

Maritza is married to Fernando. Only Fernando has recently succeeded in getting a green card. And baby Pedro is a US Citizen because he was born in the Bronx.

The two girls Esmeralda and Jacky also are not citizens. They are aged 5 and 7. Fernando was sponsored by his rich brother, Hekmat, who now owns two candy stores on the lower east side. Still Maritza hates it in the Bronx.

They have a lot of expenses, the two bedroom apartment is $1,400 a month. Even though it is rather big, it is crowded. Maritza’s brother just came up from Matamoros. He is 20-years old and sleeping on the living room couch. The two girls Esmie and Jacky sleep in the little room, and the baby, Pedro, who is 5 months old, sleeps with her parents.

Of course, the kicker of the story, we can put Rosa C. in as the crazy baby sitter, who sees the evil forces attacking the child. She protects the child with her spiritual “crazy” powers, but one week she doesn’t come... to be continued.

Pain for Harlem, NY with Bear Stearns Going Down

The Wall St. and monetary collapse has not been easy for Harlem. First we lost Stanley O'Neal of Merrill Lynch, probably America's leading black financial executive. He crashed and burned in the sub-prime crimes.

Now with the fall of Bear Stearns, sold to Chase at a penny on the dollar, thousands of easy money jobs are about to go. The good times have been going for twenty years. You get a cheap place in Harlem or the Bronx, or even in a project. Neighborhood groups have upgraded security tremendously at many of the projects, for example on West 125th St. and on West 225th St and Broadway in the Bronx. You pay a low rent, and still get a $60,000 a year Wall St. job in administration. You know, something easy like proofreading, para-legal or word processing. It can be weird sometimes, but it's easy money. Now we need the Homeowner (Mortgage) and Bank Protection Act fast. We need two-tier credit for low interest rates for infrastructure and jobs and the hell with the rest. Otherwise, there is a long way down.

High times, high times, but....
You might meet up, on the way downnnnnnnnn!

A Slice of Life from the Bronx Ghetto

Today we have a slice of life from the Bronx ghetto. I will try to write more of these, as a part of my realistic fiction:

The Smells of East Kingsbridge Road

She just didn’t care. Yes, Pedro was making more money in New York than he ever did in Matamoros, but everything was so expensive. Back home she had some time to take a siesta, to see Pedro in the afternoon. Now, he had to work for such long hours. And who ever heard of such a crazy job, a Doorman. That was the best way he had figured out to make money. He had tried trying a radio-directed car for a while, but he said that driving made him ill. So, now he was a doorman, not bad pay at 15-dollars an hour, but for them to be comfortable, he had to work 50 hours a week. That left him with $750, minus taxes, about $620. Times four, plus a little more, about $2500 a month. The goddamn apartment cost $1400 a month plus $150 in utilities. Another $80 for his bus pass. A grand total of $200 a week for food, medicine, travel, everything. And now they had three little mouths to feed. The girls Analisa and Dominique she had had in Mexico and they were getting a little bit big. It was the baby, Thomas that killed her. He was only 3-months old. He was the first American citizen in the family.

Everyone else had a green card. Well really, just Pedro. She had an application, but they still had to finance it. Getting a green card was expensive. That is why they had let Juan, Pedro’s lazy brother move in to. He slept on the couch. Pedro said he could make a big contribution to the rent, but all he did was stand at the side of the road by East 149th St. and get day work. Not great pay at all. He got $8 an hour, and about $64 for a whole day, not paying any taxes of course. He was illegal anyway. That way, he did make about $800 a month, of which he gave a whopping $300 toward the rent. It helped. At least she could buy meat and some take-out food, they weren’t reduced to eating rice and beans all the time and nothing else.

Maria Luisa had been lost in thought about her situation that day, standing by the window in March, smelling the breezes that sometimes smelled of the rose garden next door, sometimes of the stinking garbage trucks that passed by on noisy East Kingsbridge Road.

Food Shortages in the Bronx, New York

It's expensive to live in New York. A two-bedroom in Harlem or Kingsbridge Bronx is going for $1400 a month and up. One and six families, it is reported, have to go to a soup kitchen or some other place to get free food.

Reverend Martha Overall is feeling the strain in the South Bronx, at St. Ann's Church, at 295 St. Ann's Avenue. They have 500 people a week coming to the food pantry to get dry goods and canned goods, and another 200 people a week coming to the St. Ann's soup kitchen.

Part of the problem is that donations don't go as far as they used to. Flour prices have gone up from $22 for 100-lbs. up to $59 for the same bag of 100-lbs of flour.

Lots of First Wednesdays, Thursday Stuff in New York

There are a lot of programs in New York to attract tourists and culture vultures. Take in the Bronx, there is the first Wednesday Bronx Trolley Program. It seems to be a lot of fun, but is this just a lot of hoopla about nothing? I mean, I went to things like the BAAD dance space in Hunts Point, and it was different but, like, I don't know.

There seem to be first Thursday events in Harlem, but I couldn't get the link anymore for March 6th. There is however, a nice free event on Tuesday March 18th, 7 pmwith a jazz singer. It is jazz singer Melba Joyce, singing for free, at the Pelham Fritz Rec Center in Mt. Morris Park at West 122nd St. That always struck me as a cute square around a park, and now has become a pricey area. More at Harlem One Stop.

David Paterson, the new NY Governor

David Paterson has some Harlem roots, though not exclusively. He was born in Brooklyn, NY and went to school in Hempstead LI. He had been a state senator for many years from Central Harlem. Mr. Paterson also had the honor of being part of the coup d'etat that ousted the Minority leader in the Senate, and made it his own, in 2002.

At the same time, there are a lot of questions on the targeting on Elliot Spitzer. The amount of money even to pay $4,300 a shot Prostitute would not normally be enough to trigger an investigation. He was targeted, that must be the case. Was it because he would not consider abandoning Hillary Clinton, in his role as the head of 43 New York State superdelegates?

Fun in Harlem at the Studio Museum

Another place to go in Harlem is the Studio Museum. It is located at 144 West 125th St, by 7th Avenue. It will have an upcoming exhibit called Flow, starting April 2nd, which features emerging young artists. Their work is in multi-media and three dimensional media, including imaginary architecture and the like. Look for a display as well of the still-lifes and landscape paintings of Charles Ethan Porter, who died in 1923.

This type of art can be a drag because it is very commercial and in the modern art genre. The work of Mr. Porter is much more in tune with classical painting.

The Studio Museum is at the center of Harlem, across the street from the Harlem Central office building, with the famous Adam Clayton Powell statue. There are also many places to eat in the area, including Burger King and Manna's, the favorite salad bar site.

Afro-Dominican Exhibit at the Longwood Gallery

The latest exhibition at the Longwood Gallery is entitled “Congos, Guloyas y Altares: Afro-Dominican Images. This multi-media exhibition celebrates Afro-Dominican culture and features documentary photographs, drawings by Nadal Walcot, an installation of an Afro-Dominican religious altar by Juan Fernando Morales, and videography by Michael Max Knobbe. The exhibit is also part of the celebration of Dominican History Week. This exhibition runs until May 10th at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse, in the Bronx.

The opening reception on March 5th drew a large crowd, and the Bronx Trolley was parked outside, to take people to other places. It’s nice to make these opening nights, with wine and cheese offered and lots of entertainment. An exhibit of the art of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos, from the Dominican village of Villa Melia is on display. In 2001, the Brotherhood was added to the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Brotherhood organizes the annual festival of the Virgin of the Rosary. What makes this a remarkable exhibit are the flowery and colorful costumes that the participants wear and their total religious fervor, shown in pictures.

There is also a presentation of the Guloyas’ Dance Theater from the port city of San Pedro de Macoris, from the Southeast corner of the Dominican Republic. There is a video of this group dancing. The third culture on display is the Cocolo culture, which is derived from Afro-Dominican and British sources. These people are the descendants of sugar plantation workers and their art includes drawings such as “the Bull,” a picture of a gentleman strolling with dancers and musicians, and another drawing “Hoy un Quijote Africano” (I’m an African Quijote) which illustrates Cervantes’ famous knight Don Quijote. The drawings are by Nadal Walcot, who is a leading Cocolo artist.

Medea, at the National Black Theatre

The performance of Medea at the National Black Theater drew rave reviews. The NBT has again proven itself a treasure in Harlem, NY.
Nicholas Rudall wrote a special translation from the Greek and the play is directed by Petronia Paley. The play Medea, obviously in Ancient Greek, has been around for a long time. My favorite rendition of this tale is the Cherubini opera, Medea, also a favorite vehicle for the late opera singing great, Maria Callas, who played Medea.
Tony Award Winning actress Trezana Beverley (For Colored Girls...) got to play Medea this time, all in a speking part. This great performance closed March 2nd.

Going back to the ancient Greek story, Jason had stolen Medea from her father and her homeland. Medea committed all sorts of treachery in order to help Jason and the Argonauts steal the golden fleece. Jason goes on to impregnate Medea twice and deserts her after having two healthy children with him. This is why Medea will stop at nothing to get revenge, including poisoning the King's daughter who is about to marry Jason, and killing her own children, because they are Jason's children as well. With Beverly in the play are Ian Stuart, Renauld White and Dathan B. Williams. Featured in the cast are Sharita Hunt, Natasha Yannacanedo, Beverley Prentice, Marishka Phillips, Mary E. Hodges, Ma'at Zachary, Bryan Webster, David Heron and David D. Wright. Costume Design is by Ali Turns, Lighting Design by Joyce Liao, Sound Design by David D. Wright with original live music composed & performed by David D. Wright.

There is that significant line when Medea asks for one more day. You think, what can happen in a day? Of course that gives Medea a chance to go on her murderous rampage.

The current performance associated with NBT is Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof, which is being performed at the Broadhurst Theater, 235 W 44th St., NY NY.

A Restaurant with Art in Harlem New York

The Creole Restaurant has fine food and now some art. It is located at : the Creole Restaurant, 2167 Third Ave., @118th St, Harlem NY. It has a free exhibition this month of March, for Women's History Month "Her Story." The works of art are available for purchase, and special items on the menu are Dijon Steak and Shrimp Creole.

There is also an art exhibit at the T & J Bakery-Cafe, at 2541 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd (7th Ave) at 148th St. The opening is March 9th, this coming Sunday, from 3pm to 5 pm. This bakery makes baked goods and is owned and operated by Tommy Brown and his wife Jean. T & J's is a good place to hang-out with art and musical performances now and then. Tommy and Jean's daughter Stacy Robin Johnson sometimes exhibits her art at the bakery. You can call T & J's at 212-234-5662

Harlem Week of Prayer for AIDS victims

Friday, March 7th is the start of the ninth annual Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS. The kick-off breakfast is at St. Charles Borremeo RC Church at 211 W 141st St, by 7th Ave. Dr. Monica Sweeney, from the Bureau of HIV services will be guest speaker. Tickets still available for the kick-off breakfast, email to csimons@hcci.org. Hcci.org is another site to check-out.

AIDS has certainly not gone away. On the contrary AIDS rates are climbing among young black men and women, young gays and others. There is too much complacency because AIDS is treatable to some extent. However, you can still die from AIDS and its side effects like cancer, and a lot of people are dying. Plus taking a drug cocktail for the rest of your life with tons of side effects is no picnic either.

Friday, March 14th will be the sixth annual, an 8-hour Gospel Concert and Prayer Vigil for the Healing of AIDS, from 4 pm to 12 midnight. It will be at the Salvation and Deliverance Church, 37 W 116th St, by 5th Ave. Dr. Cissy Houston, gospel diva will host the choirs from all over the New York City area.