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 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, 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 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. That 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 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 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, 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 Read more