Reality Check - Summer 2008

reality check The tri-annual newsletter of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

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Summer 2008

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Vol. 10 No. 2

from the directors circle Khary Lazarre-White, Cidra M. Sebastien, Susan Wilcox

During a mid-March session with Eternal Sistas (ES), a currently graduating chapter of our Rites of Passage Program, we read the transcript of the A More Perfect Union speech by Barack Obama. Their reflection on his speech is the inspiration for this piece. Teens have an amazing gift for delivering a stinging dose of truth – whether you want to hear it or not. Before Wendy, with whom I co-facilitate ES, and I passed out the speech, the young women were spewing cynicism – “Yea yea yea, we heard this before” or “Oh, I knew he was gonna badmouth his pastor” and “Damn, he’s gonna try to please folks.”  None of them, all seniors in high school, had actually heard him deliver his speech. No one at their homes did. None of their peers listened to it on the radio or watched it on YouTube the following day. By the end of our reading, ES was impressed by how much of who they are – young Black women in Harlem, living in working class families, attending mediocre to failing public schools – was in his speech. They were glad Obama drew out the complexities of race and racism in America. Excited and overwhelmed by their first opportunity to vote this Fall, they were all inspired – except one young woman. She is 18, a mother of a threeyear-old, and struggling to graduate from high school. While sharing our reflections, she said under her breath, “So he’ll get elected President and we’ll still be poor.” Everything stopped. We all heard her – and we knew exactly what she meant. How would the election of Obama translate into real positive change for children and families in Harlem, in Bushwick, in the South Bronx; people who have been cut off from the prosperity of urban revitalization; who attend failing schools; who struggle from paycheck to paycheck; who cross the street, eyes low, to avoid glances that may lead to confrontation and senseless violence; who cringe at the sight of cops? She asked all those questions in the brevity of her statement. It is difficult to envision change and have hope, after years of broken promises and flat-out lies by people you have elected (or didn’t elect, for that matter). Amidst strong doubt that elected officials will do anything to transform our society and the world into a more just place, who will take on the challenge to bring about change? Assuring her that her skepticism was valid and understood, I asked her, “Who’s gonna take the weight?” The very simple answer is that it must be us: you and me. Ignorance and apathy must cease. We cannot live by the adage “it is what it is.” We must become informed, critical thinkers who envision possibilities and take action, whether big or small. Members of our Liberation Program have taken the weight during a six-year campaign to seek the restoration of an abandoned public school in Harlem into a viable multi-use community facility. Members of our Rites of Passage Program take the weight as they challenge each other to live up to their definitions of what it means to be a sister/brother, women/man and leader. Members of this year’s International Study Program are taking on the weight of bridging global communities as they prepare to explore the rich history and culture of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Each of us who question and act – who question why there are continuous threats to public school funding and demand more for our youth from our city; who question why Black and brown children are usual targets of police harassment and brutality; who teach young people their rights and how to avoid negative interactions with the police; who question why we are in a recession, and who create a plan to amass wealth for future generations – we all take the weight. in this issue:

What’s Good @ Bro/Sis: 2 College Acceptances: 3 Teen ASP Speaks: 4 Voices/Voces: 5 And Still I Rise: 6 Big Ups: 7

Paraphrasing Toni Morrison, the author Julia Alvarez writes, “The function of freedom is to free someone else.” Understanding that our individual lives are connected to others’ lives is an essential step toward creating an equitable and just community and world. Social justice work cannot be seen as the sole responsibility of our elected officials. It is our responsibility. While some of us wait for the right person to lead this country, we have to acknowledge that we possess the ability to become the right people to transform ourselves and the world.

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Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

what’s good @ bro/sis Passage: The Journey of Manhood

WELCOME ENMANUEL The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is excited to embrace Enmanuel Candelario as a full-time staff member. Enmanuel is an alumnus of Lyrical Circle, and has been involved with Bro/Sis since 2001. Enmanuel graduated from Fordham University in May 2007 with a B.A. in Political Science and Urban Studies. He has taught creative writing workshops all over NYC, and he will continue to co-facilitate the Writers Collective Program. “I’m super amped and ready to do great work!” This Fall, Enmanuel will be teaming up with Brotherhood Chapter Leaders Orisanmi Burton and Juan Tavarez to create two new Brotherhood chapters.

Co-Executive Directors

Cidra M. Sebastien

Board of Directors

Tinika Brown, Esq. B. Seth Bryant, Esq. (Chair) Paul E. Butler, Esq. Susan Chapman Cori Chertoff Jocelyn Cooley Rabbi Rachel Cowan Isis Delgado Stephen C. Graham (Treasurer) Frantz Jerome Jane Lazarre (Secretary) Rahsan-Rahsan Lindsey Dominique Mitchell Jon Moscow (Vice-Chair) Pedro Noguera Andrietta Sims Nicole Valentine, Esq. Minerva Warwin Douglas H. White, Esq.

Alumna Day of Self-Indulgence & Reflection Young women who graduated from Sister Sol, the Liberation Program and After School Program came together on May 31st for a day of pampering and reconnecting. Sister Sol alumna received their binders—a collection of handouts and writings gathered over their 4- to 6- year experience in the Rites of Passage Program—and took a trip down memory lane. All alumna were happy to see old faces and meet new sisters. The group also completed an alumni survey. Writing about what comes to mind when she thinks of Bro/Sis, one alumna shared, “I think about self-respect. I think about struggle. I think about broadening my horizons. . . I think of myself and who I’ve become and of what a dramatic impact Sister Sol had on me.”

reality check Publication Team

Khary Lazarre-White Susan Wilcox, Ed.D.

Associate Director

This Spring, current and alumni Brotherhood members came together at Trout Lake Camp in Stroudsburg, PA for a weekend wilderness retreat to reflect, bond, build. During mind, body and spirit challenges, alumni members acted as big brothers as they pushed current members to define their values and live by their words. Of the retreat, one brother writes, “When I laid down I started thinking about a lot of stuff, and watching the stars. The stars were beautiful. I’ve never seen stars like that in the city. At the moment, I realized that I had an opportunity that other kids don’t. So I have to take advantage.”

Editor-in-Chief & Designer: Valerie Caesar Contributors: LaShae Adams, Keith Brisbane, Tiana Hammonds, Zora Howard, ShaToka Hyman, James McMichaels, Cidra Sebastien, Richard Watson, Maxwell Veloz The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is grateful for the support of hundreds of individuals and the following foundations, organizations and agencies: PRIVATE & CORPORATE SUPPORT: Booth Ferris | Cantor Foundation | Citi | Frances & Edwin Cummings Memorial Fund |Nathan Cummings Foundation | Deutsche Bank | Douglas B. Gardner | Elton John AIDS Foundation | The Fine Family Charitable Foundation | Ford Foundation | Charles Hayden Foundation | Kellogg Action Lab | W.K. Kellogg Foundation | Leadership for A Changing World | Levitt Foundation | Reginald Lewis Foundation | Theodore Luce Charitable Trust | Monet Family Fund | Vincent Mulford Foundation | New York Foundation | New York Women’s Foundation | Presbyterian Women of Katonah | Public Domain Foundation | Rush Philanthropic Art Foundation | Shelly & Donald Rubin Foundation | Rutgers Presbyterian Church | St. James Church | Scherman Foundation | Shippy Foundation | Surdna Foundation | Tiger Foundation | Trust For Public Land | Tweny-First Century Foundation | Union Square Awards | Valentine Perrry Snyder Foundation | Winky Foundation PUBLIC SUPPORT: Councilmember Robert Jackson | NYC Department of Youth and Community Development | New York State Office of Children & Family Services-APPS Program

Jason Warwin (Co-Founder on leave)

Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

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COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES Congratulations to all the graduates of the class of 2008!!

The Brotherhood/Sistser Sol provides comprehensive college guidance to our members. Over their time in our program, our teen members attend college tours where they are exposed to higher learning. We work with each young person to form a list of schools that fits her or his particular needs and interests. We provide intensive guidance, write letters of recommendation, and provide financial aid. Our members are presently attending or have graduated from a wide array of colleges and universities. Below is a list of this year’s high school class and the colleges in which they were accepted and plan to attend.

Antaeus Ashcroft-Turns St. John Fisher College Adelphi University Bryant University Clark Atlanta University Hampton University Mulhenberg University State University of New York @ Buffalo State University of New York @ Old Westbury St. John’s University Utica College

Howard brown

Haverford College Vassar College University of Connecticut State University of New York @Albany State University of New York @ Binghamton State University of New York @Buffalo

Sequan Spigner

Brandeis University Liberty University Lincoln University State University of New York @ Canton State University of New York @ Clinton State University of New York @ Delhi State University of New York @ Onondaga

jhana myers-roach

Clark Atlanta University Hartford College Hampton University Morgan State University City College of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College

andrew ensley

State University of New York @ Clinton Dowling College Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University State University of New York @ Onondaga

njeri parker Manhattanville College City College Lehman College Manhattan College St. John’s University

dominique mitchell

State University of New York @ Delhi John Jay College

Keith brisbane

State University of New York @ Cortland State University of New York @ Onondaga

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Shaun burgess

Borough of Manhattan Community College

Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

teen asp

speaks THE VIEW FROM THE THIRD FLOOR Teen ASP provides a drop-in space for youth from the immediate community and those who participate in our Rites of Passage and Liberation Programs. Our teen members have access to an environment where they can focus on their schoolwork, hang out after a long day at school, receive healthy meals, utilize computers, attend enrichment classes, and benefit from spending quality time with positive adult role models.

We

why do you come to the after school program every day?

asked teens:

”I come because the program keeps me off the street and offers other opportunities for me.” --Richard Watson

It is my home, and home is where the heart is, so they say. -James McMichaels I come to the After School Program because it is fun and we do lots of cool activities. -Tiana Hammonds

I come to meet new people and I want to get better at my English. The people who work here make me feel at home. -Maxwell Veloz

It’s like my second home. I love being here; I love the people that come here; and most of all, I love myself when I am here. -LaShae Adams Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

I come to the program to be with my family! -ShaToka Hyman

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VOiCES VOCES

Mad old and dusty   But hopefully short enough   I can’t stand on two feet because I got A womb full of premature dreams And garbage pails too overwhelmed With ribcages Of caged birds too empty to sing So we string together melodies of babies on The end of rusty hangers and destinies we could never Bend With no mothers to breastfeed We choked so many times on these curdled dreams That never comes in true, crème, skim Or low fat. Because of black there is Life We search these dark alleyways where black cats always Passed my paths We went from being the first man to kingdoms of gold With no other place to stand To slavery and labor that made our heart turn cold Find ourselves underneath ladders Influencing great things That never got no rungs going high enough Like rock and roll and the blues From swing dancing to shaking a tail feather up out them shoes Till we find them same alleyways to get high above behind our high schools We went from rap to love songs to hip-hop and R&B despite what mothers told Everyone in the world knew black was the thing to be cause I would trade a million of my broken souls But we had white man tryin to put us down if one of those many seeds I once planted could grow Hangin us around trees lynchin us and if only a weed Havin us on our knees whipin us until we bleed and if only some green Callin us niggas plantin they hate seed Cause maybe with that damn tree So we can kill each other I could spread roots through hoods So our blood wouldn't be on their hands That little girls never had to comb Tryin to make their race look grand And crack up that cocaine When they knew we were the dominant race Someone sprinkled across their skies Tryin to make us think being black was a disgrace So when they wanted to reach for stars But because of black there is life They never had to reach so far So tell me can your race be misused confused Maybe with that tree Put against each other and still come out on top I could plant a garden I dont think they can Sound a little much? So this is why we hot I should beg your pardon. - James McMichaels III Too many broken Brooklyns We craven And baking babies in bellies No hubbies So these babies just party And these babies just junkies Maybe I could plant my seed Maybe I can plant my weeds Maybe I could grow this tree So when we ain’t have nothing to lean on We’d just hold on

Cultivating young voices is a vital component of our work, and Writers Collective (WC) is a program that helps spoken-word artists and poets hone their creative voices. WC emerged from Lyrical Circle, an alumni group that met weekly over five years, went on to receive both local and national recognition for their work, and published the collection Off The Subject: The Words of Lyrical Circle of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. The current WC group, Poetic Mosaic, has been meeting for one year and its activities are co-facilitated by a member of Lyrical Circle.

- Zora Howard

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Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

and still i rise

youth reflections and insights

Long Journey Home by Keith Brisbane

I cried there, like I never have before. It opened me up. All When I was younger all I knew of the world was of my soul poured out of me into the holding area that was the what I saw along the journey between my house and my male dungeon. But my soul came back and with it a whole new school. As I became older I learned more and more about outlook on life, and knowledge of who I am. the world through school and my own studies. But none of There was one village where we stayed that was named it was real to me. In July of 2007 I took the chance to make Wusuta. It is a quaint village a few kilometers inland from the all those National Geographic specials real. Thanks to The main road. I was home. Wusuta is an Ewe community from Brotherhood/Sister Sol, I was able to travel to Ghana, Africa. which many Africans were taken, led out towards the coast to the I can say it truly was the most life altering experience I have aforementioned slave castles. Uprooted from their homes by other ever had. Africans, and then sold to marauders of the British and Portuguese I went because I yearned for and needed something variety, I felt like I was going back to the start, I was re-planting different. My trip home to the Motherland was a gateway to those roots. I call Wusuta my African neighborhood. There was a new beginning. Everything smelled, tasted, felt, and looked little electricity and no hot water, but I still felt good. It taught new. The food was more succulent, the color of the sky was me that I really don’t need all of the things I am accustomed to more vibrant, and everything felt right for a change. My soul, at home. Trivial things like computers, television, and public body, heart, and mind - they were all completely refreshed. transportation, they all made me lazy and I had to adjust to the I really didn’t like my life in America; I was always heated village lifestyle. I met people in and stressed because the village that were genuinely of my academic and My trip home to the Motherland was a friendly, they took care of me as family life. My high gateway to a new beginning. Everything if I was family, and it really felt school has never smelled, tasted, felt, and looked new. The that way. really captured my For the final test I had to interest or challenged food was more succulent, the color of the sky was more vibrant, and everything felt face life at home, life in America. m e t o r e a ch m y The long and arduous plane ride full potential. My right for a change. My soul, body, heart, and gave me a lot of time to think, to voyage gave me time mind - they were all completely refreshed. think about change, about my to find myself and friends and family, about my make some serious education. I’ve never been the studious type; my high school adjustments. It helped me to reevaluate the way I treated my career was sidetracked by my frustration with the tediousness family, the company I kept, and my approach to school. of the curriculum being taught. On the plane, on my way back, I was challenged mentally, physically, and spiritually I realized that although I was intelligent, I need my grades to during my stay in Ghana. We traveled throughout several reflect my intellect, and they do not. I was diverted away from regions of the country. My body and mind were strained my schoolwork because I felt that only I could develop my mind. because we traveled via bus and most of our destinations I read a vast amount, consuming all the information held in books were usually six to eight hours apart. such as 1984 by George Orwell, James Baldwin’s Going to Meet We visited various landmarks, with one being the most the Man, and Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land. dreadful, yet spiritually liberating places on the planet. I’m Upon my return I began reading Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall speaking of Cape Coast Castle. It is the site where millions of Apart, the story of an Ibo village in present day Nigeria. I read Africans were placed in bondage and transported through the this novel because of my interest in the study of my people and “Middle” Passage. It is also the site where the British governor my culture before colonialism. Reading Things Fall Apart and held office and where foreign students came to learn on experiencing my trip back to the Motherland has given me a new the upper levels, while hundreds of enslaved Africans died direction towards the decisions I make in my life. beneath them. Everything about that place was wrong. The smell was rancid and the walls were filthy from centuries of blood and dead flesh. There were scratches on the walls Keith Brisbane is a member of the Intrinsic Kings Chapter and will attend where my ancestors tried to claw their way to freedom. SUNY Cortland in Fall 2008.

Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

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Big Ups!!! books, movies, music, & events that we enjoy

Women Writing Resistance: Essays on Latin America and the Caribbean edited by Jennifer Browdy De Hernandez Eighteen writer-activists explore art, feminism and activism in this collection that reflects the connections among women as artists, social change agents and sisters. Contributing authors include Gloria Anzaldua, Jamaica Kincaid, Cherrie Moraga, and Margaret Randall.

Who’s Gonna Take the Weight: Manhood, Race, and Power in America by Kevin Powell

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Powell’s collection of essays focuses on issues facing us today, from manhood, violence, and gender oppression to celebrity culture and hip-hop. Using compelling personal stories as the connecting thread, he examines what our nation has become and challenges readers to take the weight to transform it.

Diaz’ long awaited novel is a great look into a Dominican American family. Seamlessly linking historical events in Dominican history to the lives of the de Leons in New Jersey, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao has readers hoping that Oscar will get some R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

School’s out for summer. Young people need safe spaces more than ever. Please consider making a contribution to support summer programs at The Brotherhood/Sister Sol. Please take a moment to support The Brotherhood/Sister Sol by making a tax-deductible contribution. $500

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Please make your check or money order payable to: The Brotherhood/Sister Sol 512 West 143rd Street New York, NY 10031 or you can donate online at www.brotherhood-sistersol.org/donate

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Reality Check - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

Each of us who question and act - who question why there are continuous threats to public school funding and demand more for our youth from our city; who question why Black and brown children are usual targets of police harassment and brutality; who teach young people their rights and how to avoid negative interactions with the police; who question why we are in a recession, and who create a plan to amass wealth for future generations - we all take the weight. NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID NEW YORK, NY PERMIT #5147 Established 1995

512 West 143rd Street New York, NY 10031 www.brotherhood-sistersol.org

Our Mission The Brotherhood/Sister Sol was created to address the dire need for supportive programs for Black and Latino youth who are surrounded by the poverty, drugs, violence, racism and mis-education that plague America’s cities. The Brotherhood/Sister Sol provides these youth with the knowledge, resources, opportunities and love necessary in order to understand and overcome these negative pressures, as well as the skills to combat them. The Brotherhood/Sister Sol is not simply an organization; it is more accurately a way of life. Providing youth with an opportunity to explore their ideas, identity and future among peers, with the support and guidance of their immediate elders, is a natural method of promoting development Reality Check positive - a publication of The Brotherhood/Sister Sol into adulthood.

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