By Jefrey Velasquez
It has been a week since Eric and I had attended our first Organizing Academy Session. At first, we were all broken into groups and were asked to answer several questions on the whiteboard.
Share your experience of the first time you experienced injustice in your life.… Read more...
By Harold DeRienzo
Government Shut Down; Debt Default; No Rental Subsidies; Food Stamp Cuts; Defund Obamacare; Sequester I; Sequester II. Turn on any news show that is not programmed to mimic Entertainment Tonight and these are headlines. The vast majority of people are suffering (or certainly struggling) and our representatives in Washington dither with brinksmanship and posturing. … Read more...
by Jefrey Velasquez and Eric Goldfischer
This fall, Banana Kelly’s two community organizers, Jefrey Velasquez (JV) at right in photo and Eric Goldfischer (EG) left in photo, will take part in the NYC Organizing Academy, hosted by the Association of Neighborhood Housing Developers, of which Banana Kelly is a member, and provided by the Center for Neighborhood Leadership.… Read more...
By Brian Sahd
Why it is always us verses them? Why do those, usually those on the left of the political spectrum, see everything as a zero sum game? This type of argument is too simplistic and in fact disingenuous. The current President uses this type of argument all the time creating needless class, race and societal divisions.… Read more...
By Harold DeRienzo
Why should the minimum wage be raised? Chris Hayes, on his August 29th MSNBC show, asked this question in a rather pointed way. Interviewing Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky he asked why this is not just a private issue between, for example, McDonald’s management and McDonald’s workers.… Read more...
By Harold DeRienzo
This past Thursday thousands of low wage workers in 60 cities walked off their jobs demanding an increase in pay to $15/hour. Of course there will be recriminations from the right concerning how raising the minimum wage will kill jobs, hurt small businesses and hurt teenagers who join the fast food workforce as a stepping stone to higher paid careers.… Read more...
Our summer camp was highlighted in a recent New York Time article. Please follow the link to read the full story. Using Baseball History to Teach Children Big Lessons
By Harold DeRienzo
There has been much discussion of late concerning the future of Community Development Corporations, or “CDCs.” CDCs have been referred to as irrelevant, inefficient, lacking in creativity, stuck in failed models, unable to compete with the private sector or undertake high-impact projects, incapable of developing neighborhood wealth and basically passé as effective development vehicles.… Read more...
By Brian Sahd
In his latest musing on the current state of our culture Harry DeRienzo laments the loss of yet another human (American) characteristic. This time it is our moral compass. And again he is not alone. Just the other day, at his mass on the beaches of Copacabana, Pope Francis challenged the 3 million in attendance as well as the billions watching across the globe:
… to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes that you are incapable of responsibility.… Read more...
By Harry DeRienzo
This third week in July marks the 10th anniversary of the killing of the two sons and a grandson of Saddam Hussein in Mosul, Iraq. I recall reading the New York Daily News account of how one of our soldiers put a bullet through the head of the wounded Uday Hussein just to make sure he was dead. … Read more...