"Gem In the Ocean" A Community Discussion

Art is a powerful tool, capable of telling stories in various mediums that reach the ear and soul of the observer. August Wilson art form was writing plays that shed some light on the American plight. Mr. Wilson expressions of art explore the conditions of the exploited African Americans daily routines in life and the challenging conversations that remain silent to some aka McCarthyism one of the unspoken taboo put on people of color communities. "Gem In The Ocean" explores the deep disconnect lost in industry development and the concrete jungle.

When exploring "Gem In The Ocean" i think about what a gem is and how lost the gem could be in an ocean. I know that Gems are precious stones. I've learned that these colored stones are labeled into groups, species, and varieties much like people of color. i google gem and "GEMS" Girls Educational & Mentoring Services comes up. GEMS has helped hundreds of young women and girls, ages 12–24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and to develop to their full potential. GEMS provides young women with empathetic, consistent support and viable opportunities for positive change.


Examining Ester one of the main characters in all of August Wilson plays. i recognize the representation of the superstition legacy. She has very little respect for the law because the law didn't respect her or other African Americans. Her loathsome state appears when talking to Cesar the black crooked police officer. Ester use her bill of sale to escort people to the land of bones where people tongues are on fire. Then lines from Stevie Wonder song "Superstition" pops into my head: "When you believe in things that you don't understand, / Then you suffer, / Superstition ain't the way…"

The community conversation is part of the August Wilson and Beyond class. A partnership between The University of Pennsylvania Netter Center for Community Partnership and The West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. I really enjoy the class and community conversations. The classroom conversations dissect the symbolism in the plays where as the community conversation allows for intergenerational sharing of life experiences with more members from the community who may not attend the classes. This living history often not recorded outside of the art form, is exposed and shared. My cultural knowledge expands every year after attending, listening and sharing our life experience. Some of us have expressed the healing that takes place during the community conversation. Filling culture gaps is healing that creates understanding for who i am in the African American and The United States of America cultures. August Wilson created plays that can guide us out of the disconnected communities. We have a catalyst via the August Wilson and Beyond partnership building connected communities within the West Philadelphia neighborhood and Beyond!!

http://www.gems-girls.org/gems-shop#the-survivors-guide-to-leaving

Pennsylvania's Right To Know Law 101

You have the right to remain silent anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law. The right to remain silent is well known in my community. What is not well know is that you have the right to know what is going on with our public resources. You need to know how to obtain the public documents, database, emails, dash cam content that you want. You also need to know that you want to connect with a designated open - records officer in one of these entities:  Commonwealth agency, local agency, judicial agency or the legislative agency to request the information that you would like.

There are limits to what you can request under The Right To Know Law . Attorney Ben Geffen from Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia presented a room full of advocates an informative lecture on the do's and don'ts of the Pennsylvania's Right To Know Law 101 at the United Way. We learned How to file a Right to Know Request with Office of Open Records and with agencies who may not have an Office of Open Records we would contact the human resource office and request to speak with the officer of open records. Bottom line, if you want to request a copy of public records you need to contact the right people with a specific request of information.

Audrey Buglione, Assistant General Counsel, Open Records Officer 215.400.6208 for the School District of Philadelphia was also in attendance with information about obtaining records from our school district. There are laws that trump the Right To Know Laws. For example, we learned that we can't request copies of on going business, such as contracts until the contract has been awarded. Also learned that some contractors copy right their proposals or mark the proposal as confidential. When either of these instance occur the School district has to honor the laws of copy right and confidentiality. If the material has a copy right you are allowed to view the documents, but cannot make copies.

Ben Geffen Presentation

You can view a list of the City of Philadelphia Open Records Offices at
http://www.phila.gov/privacy/pdfs/FinalCityOpenRecords.pdf

For state open records please visit http://contractspatreasury.gov

We also have the Sunshine Act which states: 

Any time a government body (referred towithin in the act as an “agency”)  holds a meeting in which “deliberation” or “official action” by

a quorum of its members takes place, the meeting must be open to the public after public notice

of the meeting. Each of these provisions can be described in more detail. 

We have FOIA, Freedom of Information Act under our federal government that allows you to request copies of federal record, unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement.

Data.gov is the one stop website to find and download free government data in raw, structured formats. Federal agencies are proactively posting data on data.gov, including data that is the subject of frequent FOIA requests.

Federalregister.gov is the daily gazette of government. The Federal Register contains information about new and pending rulemakings and other activities of the executive branch. It is fully searchable.

Regulations.gov is the place to look for and comment on regulatory rule makings.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 requires active lobbying registrants and individual lobbyists to file a semi-annual report of certain contributions along with certification that the filer understands the gift and travel rules of both the House and Senate. Registrants and each of their lobbyists who were active for all or part of the semi-annual reporting period must file separate reports detailing their contributions, including FECA, honorary, Presidential Inaugural Committee, Presidential Library and certain payments for event costs. 

If you would like to obtain legal information about non profits you can visit www.guidestar.org 

We have the rights to create laws that protect the people from abusive policies such as the use of excessive force by the police department in our communities. We advocated for body cams so that there is accountability for the actions of those being charged and the police officers. The police unions are fighting the use of body cams and dash cams in the Pa. State Police vs Grove Dashcam. There reasoning for not using the audio of the dashcam is that the audio is protected under wiring tapping laws that are illegal. This mentality reflects the agenda of the deeply rooted racism and above the law mentality of the policing of our communities. If we people of color created a law for them to wear the bodycams then that law needs to be enforced and with no tampering of the evidence. Wearing bodycams or dashcams protects the public and is legal. Wire tapping is an invasion of privacy. Police officers wearing bodycams, do not work for private agencies they work for the public and are paid with our tax dollars. We have the right to demand ethical accountability and view along with hear the video from their body/dashcams. 

“The bottom line is, if you’re white in America, you have no idea what it’s like to be black,” Newt Gingrich declares in 13TH, the new documentary by Ava DuVernay now screening on Netflix. Titled after the Thirteenth Amendment, which legalizes slavery in the case of incarceration, the film exposes the way in which African Americans have been systematically criminalized in order to create and feed the prison industrial complex
Read more at http://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/1138773-ava-duvernays-documentary-13th-exposes-horrors-modern-day-slavery-united-states#CxooIFBRe77QSrmP.99

How is that laws are created to play against people of color and avoided to protect the same people of color? We have the right and responsibility to know the laws and agencies that impact our lives!!

What Does Local Control Of Philadelphia Public Schools Look LIke?

I'm feeling really good about the direction our city is going in with public education under our Mayor Jim Kenney. He campaigned to invest in community and schools and has done so with the community school model. He also campaigned to dissolve the School Reform Commission and turn our schools over to local control. So what does local control look like for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania?

I asked several residents of our city and public school advocates to get a take on what they would like to see in local control of our schools.


An elected school board is the only way to go. People should be discussing the mechanism for that though. How do we get a school board that reflects  each community?

One proposal I’ve made at meetings is that, since the School District is divided into Districts, why not have a member on the School Board elected by each district in an election. This way we can get a school board reflective of the different communities in the city.

Ken

thanks, i feel like an elected school board would bring more corruption to our schools.

Alicia

No system of democracy is perfect but democracy is the best. A mayoral appointed school board would be very corrupt with special interests like in Chicago. If each member of the School Board were closer to their community and elected just by that community, there would be more accountability, people would get more involved, and the School Board members would have to pay attention to their community.

Ken

you have a point there, but back when we had local control without an elected board we had great public schools that needed resources and trained professionals. just see elected boards as another avenue for corruption when we can hold people accountable without being in often ugly costly elections. look at the games being played on us all for a dollar.
Alicia

Historically public schools have been operated by publicly elected school boards who hire a superintendent to manage the operations of the district. Lately as part of technocratic, top down accountability, states have been taking over school districts.  It has never worked.   Public oversight by a local school board ensures that local citizens have democratic control.  State takeovers impose overseers from above to manage the schools. With state control, powerful interests from outside the community can impose their will, and local citizens have no recourse---no check and balance on outside power.  Too often such takeovers occur in black and brown communities.  Think Flint’s water and Detroit’s schools.  Democracy is not perfect, but a locally elected board of education ensures that local citizens can exert public oversight over the schools that serve the children.

Jan Resseger

Here are blog posts I’ve written on this subject: https://janresseger.wordpress.com/?s=state+takeovers

 by having an election for the school board that would give the people in the community a voice.

Retired Educator

 we have low voter turnout and corporate America tend to take over political races.

Alicia

the people that don't vote are the problem.

Retired Educator

the people running for office is the problem why people don't vote. 

Alicia

I'm in favor of Mayoral Control of our schools for three reasons:

1. i trust our Mayor Jim Kenney when addressing great schools in our communities. Mayor Jim Kenney was born and raised in Philadelphia and brings to the Mayor's office pride in our city. Pride that invest in our city future with resources in our schools that also connect to our community members who may not have families in schools. No more turning communities into desert storms with the dismantling of public education under the direction of Mayor Kenney. Our schools can be great like they were under the direction of the Great Constance Clayton who was appointed by the Mayor. Mayor Kenney is planning to get community input on the issue of local control, please make sure your voice is heard.

2. Dark Money controls politics and have a interest in controlling our schools. How are we dissolving the School Reform Commission to end the privatization of our public schools and yet giving corporate America the vessel that they own aka elected school boards as an option to stop the corporate take overs of our schools.

3. We can't get people to elect judges on the ballot, now we want to add a school board to an already low voter turnout on crucial issues. Not to mention not all voters have children in public schools aka interest in what's best in our public schools.

Please add your voice to this conversation!!

Decrease in Voters Voting 

http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-voter-turnout-municipal-elections.html

Lest We Forget Holocaust Slavery Museum Needs Your Support, Let's Get Vested In Our Culture

African Americans we have to invest in our history and culture so that we can know who we are and build a legacy for our youth. We didn't come to this country as slaves, African Americans were in this country before slavery but most us don't know these facts because some of us believe that we were always slaves. The ugly realities of slavery is what some of us choose to run from. For some reason we don't want to embrace the truth about slavery. Maybe because we were so demeaned by Capitalism, that we don't know that we can heal from the image of slavery. Maybe because some of us believe that we are nothing more than slaves and have accepted that place in life.

The truth is that slavery was an ugly plight, but not just for African people. African people were created the poster image of slavery. Indentured servants signed contracts with their masters for freedom, these servants were of European decent and the masters didn't always honor their contracts. In the 1650's a world market for exploited free labor began to evolve and indenture servants were fading out. There are different mentalities that make up our world, unfortunately some of those mentalities seek to exploit natural resources and vulnerable people for selfish gains. Slaves were created from various vulnerable cultures but we rarely hear about the Asian slave trade or Third World countries slave trades and abuse.

I was recently sent a request to support "Lest We Forget Black Holocaust" Museum. i didn't hesitate to make a donation because i understand the need to be vested in our culture so that we have the museum to learn from and hold on to our legacy honoring our descendants from Africa bought to a country against their will. Yes slavery has an ugly side, but we are strong people who were able to over come some harsh situations and not all us suffered harsh conditions under slave masters. Slavery is filled with revolts and fights for freedom. Some of us are free today but many of us are still in bondage because we don't know all there is to know about our culture, how we were captured and how we became/become free.

We have the same issue at the Paul Robeson House in West Philly. Mr. Robeson was blacklisted by a paranoid United State government. The blacklisting encouraged other African Americans as well as other culture of people to alienate Mr. Robeson out of fear of being blacklisted. Blacklisted took Mr. Robeson freedom to be the man he wanted to be away from him because he refused segregation. Today the museum gets support mainly from cultures other than African American. Nothing wrong with other cultures supporting The Paul Robeson house a staple in The United States of America history, just would like to see more people of African descend learn about, along with support Mr. Robeson who has supporters internationally and songs about him in different languages.

I posted to social media that i supported "Lest We Forget" and asked others to support the museum also. The post received several likes but not one donation. I'm baffled by the lack of support for this great treasure of our culture. Seems we don't know how to support our culture, too busy being jealous of each others gains without understanding that when one of us gain we all gain. To make those gains we must invest in one another by accepting each others differences. Yes Mr. Ragsdale has been collecting staples of our culture to share with us. No we shouldn't want his collection in our homes, but yes we should start our own collection if that is what we want and still support "Lest We Forget" public display. We have a small collection of African mask and artifacts in our home because this is who we are. But i don't wish to have the collection that is at the museum, just want to invest in the collection and be able to view when we can. There is a sense of pride that we lack in our communities based off of immaturity aka loathsome aka self destructed slave mentality. Please let's see past our differences aka agree to disagree, for the sake of building stronger African Americans, African Latinos and all of African descend.

The Black Panthers are celebrating their 50th anniversary and could use your support also for the 

program. 

October 2016 marks the 50 th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party. An ad hoc committee of former members of the Party is hosting events commemorating the anniversary from October 20-23 rd in Oakland, California.

The theme of our commemoration is “Where Do We Go From Here?” The Black Panther Party is well-known and admired in Oakland and around the world for its stand against police brutality, for its Survival Programs—which included free breakfast for school children and free health clinics—its coalitions with other people of color, and its effort to bring about revolutionary change in America. The anniversary events will explore and celebrate the history and legacy of the Black Panther Party.

We hope you will join us in commemorating this historic 50th anniversary by participating in the various workshops and panels of the conference, enjoying our wonderful dinner and gala, advertising in our souvenir program book. Below are an overview of the conference and gala schedule and links to more information, ticket purchasing and advertising.

Sincerely yours,

Clark Bailey, Coordinator
Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Host Committee

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-panther-party-50th-anniversary-tickets-25604896936

CONFERENCE EVENT SCHEDULE A
	James Moore Theatre			Lecture Hall
Times	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM	TECH SUMMIT MASTERING TECHNOLOGY FOR SELF DETERMINATION Presenter: Idalin Bobe, Founder of Bobby Hutton 2.0 The Tenth Point of the BPP”s 10-Point Platform & Program set forth the goal of “People’s community control of modern technology.” This Summit, a centerpiece of the 50th Anniversary Conference, will focus on two major themes: • Diversity in the Tech Industry • Black Self-Determination in a Tech-Driven Economy	WOMEN OF THE INTERNATIONAL SECTION OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY Presenters: Kathleen Cleaver, Barbara Easley-Cox, Charlotte O'Neal	LIBERATION THEOLOGY—THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY & THE CHURCH Sankofa, Looking Back to Go Forward Presenters: Rev. M. Gayle (Asali) Dickson Former Panther, Sycamore Community Church Pastor Michael McBride, The Way Christian Center Rev. Kamal Hassan, Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church Dr. Martha C. Taylor, Allen Temple Baptist Church	THE YOUNG LORDS Puerto Rican Revolutionaries United with the Black Panther Party Presenter: José (Cha-Cha) Jimenez, Founder	THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY NEWSPAPER Presenters: Former Panthers: Emory Douglas, Billy Jennings, Elbert “Big Man” Howard	THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT Presenter: Lenny Foster A short film and presentation and time for Q & A.
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM		180 YEARS OF INCARCERATION Black Panther Party Political Prisoners Presenters: Albert Woodfox, “Angola Three” Robert King, “Angola Three” Eddie Conway, Former Deputy Minister of Defense, Baltimore, BPP Sekou Odinga, Brooklyn Branch, BPP	THE REAL RAINBOW COALITION BLACK, RED, WHITE, BROWN REVOLUTIONARIES Moderator: Aaron Dixon Panel: Lenny Foster, American Indian Movement Hy Thurman, Young Patriots Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez, Young Lords Stan McKinney, Black Panther Party, Illinois Chapter	PANTHERS LIVING EXILED IN AFRICA Presenter: Charlotte O’Neal	THE BROWN BERETS: STRUGGLE FOR CHICANO/A POWER Presenters: Carlos Montes and Cruz Olmeda, Founders of the Brown Berets	THE GENIUS AND LEGACY OF HUEY P. NEWTON Presenters: Dr. Judson Jeffries, Ohio State University, Author, and Elaine Brown, Former BPP Minister of Information and Chairman
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM	THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY SCHOOL The Oakland Community School Point No. 5 of the Black Panther Program Presenters: Ericka Huggins, Former Central Committee Member of the Black Panther Party M. Gayle (Asali) Dickson, Former Panther and Teacher at OCS Dr. Kimberly Mayfield Lynch, Holy Names University	SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY and MURDERS of BLACK and OPPRESSED PEOPLE Moderator: Malik Edwards, Former Member, BPP Panel: Wanda Johnson and Cephus Johnson, Mother and Uncle of Oscar Grant Gwen Woods, Mother of Mario Woods Denika Chatman, Mother of Kenneth Harding, Jr. Andrea Prichett, CopWatch	THE GENIUS AND LEGACY OF HUEY P. NEWTON Presenters: Dr. Judson Jeffries, Ohio State University, Author, and Elaine Brown, Former BPP Minister of Information and Chairman	THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY v. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Panthers Take the Government to Court for Murder and Other Crimes Presenters: Attorneys Fred Hiestand, Jeff Haas, Dennis Cunningham	THE FBI’s “BLACK HATE GROUP” COINTELPROs The Murder of Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam  Presenters: Elaine Brown, Former Chairman of the BPP Minister Christopher Muhammad, the Nation of Islam	POOR AND WORKING CLASS WHITES WITH BLACK PANTHERS The Coalition of the Young Patriot Party & The Black Panther Party Presenters: Hy Thurman, Co-Founder, Young Patriots, Chuck Armsbury, Former Chairman, Eugene, Oregon, Young Patriot Party Amy Sonnie, Author of Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels and Black Power

CONFERENCE EVENT SCHEDULE B
	Learning Center			California Room
Times	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM			THE 1968 TRIAL OF HUEY P. NEWTON Melvin Dickson, BPP Photo Essay and Presentation	GROWING UP PANTHER Fred Hampton Jr. on Police Murders of Black Panthers	CHICANO BLACK BERETS The Untold Story of New Mexico’s Black Berets Presenter: Richard Moore, Los Jardines Institute and Justice Health Alliance	THE INTELLECTUAL LEGACY OF THE BLACK PANTHERS Presenter: Dr. Charity Clay, Merritt College, Sankofa Program
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM	MARXISM AND THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY Presenters: Master Steve D. McCutchen, Former BPP Instructor Byron Aldredge	THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY AND POPULAR MUSIC Presenters: Dr. Rickey Vincent and Pat Thomas	EDUCATE TO LIBERATE Presenters: Steve McCutchen, BPP, Alprentice A. McCutchen, Former Student, Oakland Community School	BLACKS AND JEWS Presenter: Avi Edelman, Operation Understanding, D.C.	THE SEATTLE CHAPTER First Black Panther Party Chapter Outside of California Presenter: Dr. Charity Clay, Merritt College, Sankofa Program
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM	MARTIAL ARTS AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Presenters: Master Steve D. McCutchen, Former BPP Instructor Byron Aldredge	VANGUARD STUDENT PARTY The Vanguard Student Party at Historically-Black Norfolk State University Presenter: Dr. Latif A. Tarik	HEARTS of the HOMIEZ #OPEN—Our People Effecting Neighborhoods Program Presenters: Jack Jackson, Hanif Wynn, Kimya Jackson, Stacey McKennon, Nicole Welch	THE LEGACY OF GEORGE JACKSON Presenters: Jerry Elster - Co-Founder of No More Tears, Kumasi - Black August and Folsom Manifesto, Dr. Greg Thomas - Tufts University Author of the upcoming The Immortal George L. Jackson	ZAPANTERA NEGRA Presenters: Caleb Duarte, Founder of EDELO and Emory Douglas, BPP Minister of Culture

Black Urban Growers (BUGS) is an organization of volunteers committed to building networks and community support for growers in both urban and rural settings. Through education and advocacy around food and farm issues, we nurture collective black leadership to ensure we have a seat at the table.

In November of 2009, Black Urban Growers began organizing and hosting a series of community events with the purpose of starting a conversation around food: Where does it come from? Who is providing it? Why don’t we see more black farmers at the farmers markets? What is the relationship between our individual health and the health of our communities, and why does it matter? 

Full Event Ticket (Friday Fundraiser, Saturday Workshops, Sunday Community Action!), $75.00
The full event ticket covers the Friday kick-off party, the Saturday Conference which includes a full day of workshops, panel discussions and networking and Sunday's community action planning sessions! Register Now!

CAN'T ATTEND ALL THE EVENTS? PICK AND CHOOSE THE EVENTS YOU'D LIKE TO ATTENDED.

Friday, Harlem Community Gardens Walking-Tour (Friday, November 4, 3-5pm – Tour only), $10.00
Visit opulent gardens and urban farms, growing unique vegetables, fields of pollen-rich wild flowers, and native plants, herbs, fruit, peanuts, and cotton. There are gazebos, hoop houses, hydroponic growing systems, grape arbors, ponds, highly-developed composting systems and more in this sampling of Harlem's Community Gardens. Register Now!

Friday, Kick Off Party & Scholarship Donation (Friday, November 4, 6-10pm - Party only),  $150.00Join us at the A’dar Moroccan Lounge for the VIP hour before the kick-off party gets underway. Funds for the VIP tickets go directly to the conference scholarship fund to provide travel and lodging support for those of us on a limited budget. Register Now!

Friday, Kick Off Party (Friday, November 4, 7-10pm - Party only), $20.00Join us at A'Dar Moroccan Lounge for the kick off party and networking event. Meet with keynote speakers, presenters and conference organizers! Register Now!

Saturday, Conference (Saturday, November 5, 8am - 5pm - Conference only), $35.00

A day full of workshops, panel discussions, demonstrations and much more with presenters from around the country. Learn from others and share what you are doing in your community! Register Now!

Sunday, Community Action Planning! (Sunday, November 6, 8am - 12pm - Community Action only), $15.00Join us on Sunday for a morning of collective action planning around food, farming and restoring community ownership to our local food economies. Register Now!

CAN'T ATTEND ANY EVENTS BUT STILL WANT TO SUPPORT THE CONFERENCE!

Please donate to the Conference Scholarship Fund and help us provide travel and lodging stipends to those of us on a limited budget. Donate Now!