For the children…

If you see this poster, than you’ll see me there – Thur. Dec 17th 6-10pm.
Food, drinks, music, art, video..fun, fun, fun!

Who was Benny A. Lyde?

Benny A. Lyde was a 21 year old college senior at Long Island University, living in Brooklyn, NY. He lived on Lincoln Place in Crown Heights. Not too far from my home. In 2005 he suffered a murderous death by gunfire – all because of some beef that had nothing to do with him. His death went mostly unnoticed in the public eye – as if no unordinary tragedy had transpired. As if we hadn’t just lost a bright, young model American citizen. He was on the honor roll. He had a job and helped his mother pay bills – at the age of 21. He helped run a literacy program in East New York, Brooklyn and mentored younger children in his community. Children looked up to him. And he was looking forward to a shining future as he was finishing up his degrees in Business Management and Computer Science. The world was his. His mother has said he would reevaluate his life’s goals every five years. In 2005 (what would become his last year here), he aspired to be the first Black president of the United States.

A couple of weeks ago, I was taking a Saturday stroll from my house to the Brooklyn Museum. I walked into a crowd of people on that beautiful, warm, sunny Saturday. The air was perfectly crisp and the sun was gentle, not too demanding. The event in Crown Heights that afternoon was a street naming ceremony at Lincoln Place and New York Ave for “Benny A. Lyde Street”

I think I now know the taste of bittersweetness. His murderer has been captured. His mother was able to speak of him without a gush of tears. And in spite of the clear blue late summer’s sky, there was no justice.

Build a Bridge

I just spent some QT with Andrea waxing fantastic over bridges. It’s really something to hear a civil engineer poetically describe the function of bridges…spiritual, aesthetic, physical, economical, familial…
Bridges can change a culture, expand a way of life. Provide access for trade, cultural exchange. Allow travel. The 59th street bridge, for example, connected Queens to Manhattan, turning a dairy farmland into a suburb. And in parts of the world, small islands would stagnate. Lots of inbreeding, etc. But with a bridge came cute foreigners.
Of course, bridges also have negative stories attached to them. Which is the bridge in the Bronx that was built on top of a community? Was it the Cross Bronx Expressway (the “Cro-Bro”)? Imagine the block where you live – you have your neighbors across the street, and maybe two blocks away is your uncle’s friend, and around the corner is where you buy your candy. Then suddenly, your corner which was once home to a glorious magnolia tree is now a piece of a very large bridge. That part sucks.
But when a bridge is built with consideration, and care, thought and great skill, backed up with experience…it can be an incredible landmark.

There’s a company out of Tallahassee, Florida that specializes in the design and erection of bridges across the country. New Yorkers can note their work – the new AirTrain bridge is theirs. The company has recently been taken over by the founder’s daughter. And she’s added a feminine touch to bridge building that is refreshing and exciting. She has introduced a series of workshops with members of the community in which a bridge is being built to discuss the essence of the town…the culture and considerations. The history. This way, the people are involved in the project so that the bridge can fit in well with what is already there – sometimes even using the natural elements found in the landscape within the bricks. Part of the scenery – not a sore thumb.

Which gets me to thinking…there is good and there is bad in all things. When it comes to business…you’ll have lots of both. People are starting to move more towards the good now, with fair trade and the sort. But I wonder…for the first time in my life, if I can really learn to forgive the ills of the business world? Weigh the good with the bad, just as I do for individuals? Just a thought…

And in other bridge news, have you heard of Gallopin’ Gertie? I can’t quite explain the physics behind it (yet), but basically, we all know that any large man-made structure has the ability to sway, right? Skyscrapers, bridges – they all sway a bit just to allow for interaction with the wind, as opposed to resistance. Apparently, the ‘sway allowance’ is much higher than we’d be comfortable with knowing. In fact, many structures are built to sway less than they actually could, not for safety reasons, just for the psychological soundness of us human beings. But this bridge in Tacoma Narrows has just gone too, too far. Eventually the thing collapsed in the wind. You have to see it to believe it….the bridge is straight rockin and rollin!

The Carters: Love Makes You Look Good

I’ve just gotta mention the beaming light that is J and B. Yes, yes, I know. They’re rich. They’re talented. Driven. Famous. They spend a lot of money on all the products and services one can imagine to look as good as they do. But since their nuptials, I must say, they’ve upped their glow.

People of Color Circle – Boston

Bringing ancient tradition into our everyday lives. Once circle at a time. Boston. Brooklyn.

This video is of my first participation in circle. In Boston. People often ask, “what is circle?” It’s one of those things that is both very easy and very difficult to explain. Simply, circle is a gathering of people who sit – in a circle – and discuss. Traditionally, three questions/topics are posed to the group, and one by one, every person in the circle speaks. We pass around a talking piece. Whomever holds the talking piece can hold it for as long or as short as they’d like. And while they hold the talking piece, everyone else listens actively. It’s that simple.

To go a little further, imagine a clock. From 12 to 3 o’clock is the first quarter of circle, during which time the focus is on introductions. From 3 to 6 o’clock, trust is built. From 6 to 9 o’clock we share issues of interest. From 9 to 12 o’clock is time for action. The key here is that each quarter is equally timed. A quarter can be 3 months, or it can be 3 years. The key is not to rush and to fully flesh out each stage honestly, openly and with love and hope for an ideal continuous present.
In “western” culture, when it comes to work and the workplace, we spend 12 to 1 o’clock introducing ourselves then immediately get to work from 1 all the way to 12 o’clock again. But we haven’t built any trust. We don’t even know what issues are of importance to our co-workers. We’ve barely even introduced ourselves properly.
The method of circle can be found among indigenous cultures throughout the Americas and in Africa and parts of Asia. It has maintained its place among people of color throughout the world – and is a way of life from which we all can benefit.
I’ve been part of the Brooklyn People of Color Circle since we started in October of ’07. Circle has a way of reminding me of my connectedness to the goodness of our collective spirit. It brings me closer to the flow. Sacred space. I look forward every month.

A Great Day to be Born

I got a call at 6:30 this morning from a then pregnant Luchana. They were on their way to the hospital. I sent out prayers, affirmations and positive thoughts and solicited more of the same via txt messages, facebook and twitter. And, at 9:17am on Tuesday, May 19th 2009, Renee Doris Marie Caviness was born.

On this day 84 years ago, baby Malcolm Little was born and would grow to be El Hajj Malik Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X. He would stand for the freedom of many, to be remembered, studied, loved and revered.

Below is a video sent on twitter by @zaheerali of a secret audio recording of Brother Malcolm meeting with a couple of members of the FBI. They really tried to insult his intelligence. You have to listen to it. The nerve! Proof that the brother was committed. Unwavering. Steady. Reliable. Worthy.

Happy Malcolm X Day. And welcome to the world, Baby Renee!

The 6

Just now coming home from the Boogie-down-Bronx, on the 6 – I was sitting amidst a group of teenagers who had apparently just come from some type of formalized dance-off activity, as they kept commenting about how they “smoked ‘im” and replayed the sit-down versions of some of the nice moves they saw involving sneakers and swift leg movements and humor, joking about music selections and giving lots of honors to “that Connecticut shit” (whatever that means).

For those of you who haven’t experienced the 6 train in the Bronx, let me break down the dynamics: it’s a very communal ride. Any and everyone can easily slip in and out of conversation with other passengers whether or not there is any relation. Case in point, after enough time passed, I gave up pretending not to be entertained by the conversation these teens were having as I chomped on my Hershey’s bar with almonds (they were all out of symphony). One of the more animated of the bunch pulled out a snack from his pocket, chewed it for a couple of seconds, then walked to the opening subway car door to spit this snack inbetween the train and the platform (that dangerous zone – pointy-toed shoe wearers beware!)
The snack, it turns out, was chocolate flavored gum. According to the look of putrid disgust on the faces of these youngsters, it is pretty damn gross. I won’t be trying it. The farthest chewy-chocolatey goodness I’ll be indulging in is a tootsie-roll. They’ve been up there on my candy hierarchy since the 80s.
Anyway, shorty must’ve peeped my look of confusion after witnessing him spit out something brown. He shows me the packaging, telling me “it’s chocolate gum”. He points to my Hershey’s bar and says “it’s kinda like that, but then the after taste (ewww face)”!

We exchanged a few more words and smiles and laughter. Even a raised eyebrow at some inappropriate behavior at the other end of the car. We all got of at 125th street. No goodbyes necessary – the embrace is in spirit form. The 6.