Tagged: Next American City

On Moving Forward – The Feminist Wire

As a staunch opponent of mass incarceration, I loathe advocating for imprisonment in most instances and sex crimes are no different. Therefore, a multifaceted counseling strategy is, in my view, the strongest resource to curbing child sexual abuse. I would include quality sex and general health education as a form of counseling because schools and curricula shape individual and communal behavior. Again, it is important for young people to learn as early as possible that sex is not something to be ashamed of or to be kept secret. Moreover, incorporating teaching about mental and emotional health in schools will help everyone learn throughout their lifetimes how to process and articulate what is happening in their lives, and more specifically, what is happening to them. Expanding knowledge about healthy practices will not only lessen the likelihood that individuals might commit crimes, but it may also increase awareness around unacceptable behavior for young people.

Source: On Moving Forward – The Feminist Wire

Next American City » Columns » The Braddock Story

Walking down the Braddock’s main street, Braddock Avenue, two weeks back, there was hardly a person in sight. Most buildings had their addresses spraypainted on in florescent orange, as is often done to condemned structures. Embracing the decay, my trusty photographer and I wandered into an abandoned dentist’s office on the forlorn strip. The building’s roof had collapsed in on itself, as had most of the floor. In a building next door, also abandoned, I found a Pittsburgh Gazette from 1993 with a brief gossip piece on Michael J. Fox’s frustration with baby boomers. “We’re the post-Pepsi generation,” said Fox. “People graduate college and work at McDonald’s. It’s a different world.”

via Next American City » Columns » The Braddock Story.

Just in case you missed it: my two cents on Lebron

I know this is mad late, but earlier this month Next American City allowed me to share my thoughts on the Lebron saga.  Here’s a snippet:

But unlike a new stadium deal, for example, James is at least guaranteed to bring a initial boost in revenue without taxpayers taking on greater liabilities as they would with a much larger venture like a new stadium.  However, as another ballyhooed free-agent signing in this decade—the Orlando Magic’s 2001 enlistment of Tracey McGrady and Grant Hill—revealed, things don’t work out as planned.  Neither Hill nor McGrady finished their contracts with Orlando, and the Magic never advanced past the first round in the three years these two played together.  Moreover as William Rhoden, author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete, might attest: given this nation’s history with slavery, there’s something disconcerting about a “bidding war” for a black male athlete.

Jump here for the full text

Three New Essays

I have been running around so much the last month or so that I neglected to post links to three essays that were recently published.

First is this meditation on the immediate aftermath of January 12th’s earthquake in Haiti that appeared in Next American City
http://americancity.org/buzz/entry/1975/

Moving forward from Tuesday’s earthquake will not be easy, but is not impossible. After all, while it may seem that progress is a distant relative to most Haitians, it is a relative nonetheless.

Second is an essay that was part of a forum initiated by the Social Science Research Council where I explored the significance of public service in Haiti’s upcoming recovery:
http://www.ssrc.org/features/pages/haiti-now-and-next/1338/1340/

In Katrina’s aftermath, New Orleans became a virtual laboratory for a broad array of social service initiatives, resulting in unparalleled reforms of the city’s educational and housing infrastructures. It is not clear what the future holds for Haiti. Haiti has long been ahead of New Orleans as far as the number of non-governmental organizations operating locally, and after the earthquake this number will increase exponentially. However, what cannot be understated is that the desire of Haitian Americans and international allies to get “on the ground” is second only to the desire of Haitians to rescue their relatives and neighbors from the rubble and figure out ways to survive this latest catastrophe.

Finally this post for Social Text’s Periscope blog analyzes the earthquake within the here & there paradigm that I have been investigating for the past year:
http://www.socialtextjournal.org/periscope/2010/01/neither-here-nor-there.php

Now, having been reduced to its capital city, which recently crumbled into itself, Haiti is neither here nor there. Political maneuvering that once made life here treacherous and progress elusive has come to a grinding halt. With countless members of Haiti’s parliament presumed dead in the earthquake and its capital city in ruins there is barely anyone around and anyplace to carry out the political maneuvering that for many years had made public service a life-threatening occupation, the long-standing political ills that Haiti had once been synonymous with are no longer here nor there as everyone squarely focuses their attention on earthquake recovery and survival. There go the immediate hopes of the island’s tourism board, retiring baby boomers, real-estate developers and investors who had elected to cast their buckets on this island.