Bronx River Ecomedia Blog

Last week-end, as just about everyone in the city knows by now, 23-year-old Sean Bell, a black man, was killed when police fired 50 shots into his car. Two others were wounded, one described in the press as “a convicted felon.” None of the three were armed. Most (I forget how many exactly) of the five police involved were either black or Hispanic.

From what I hear, most black people see this as yet another expression of racist fears of black men. Many white people take more a “we don’t know all the facts yet” point of view. I would like to hear comments from residents of the Bronx, particularly the West Farms area. What is your experience with police conduct? Do you think young blacks and Hispanics are particularly targeted by police? How? What is your opinion of the actions of police in this case? What do you make of the fact that some of the police officers were black?
–Peggy

I was invited to have short session with teenagers attending UN Forum on Our Common Humanity in the Information Age.

This forum will gather top-level speakers, including Nobel laureates and some of the leading thinkers and innovators of our time. They will focus on the values that unite our common humanity and how these values may be expressed globally through the Millennium Development Goals, empowered by the new and rapidly developing information and communication technologies.

http://och-forum.blogspot.com/
29 November, 1:15-2:45pm EST (location: Ex Press Bar, 3rd Floor)

We’ll be holding a workshop for teens, geared toward raising awareness of the Millennium Development Goals via fun activities like creating a 30-second TV spot, storyboarding an online game, and making a skit or a song.

Facilitated by Luma Alsaleh, Marlon Barrios-Solano, Sandra Behar, Tina Gongsakdi, Debra Cole, Hugo Berkeley, Josephine Dorado, Medard Gabel, Idrissa Mamane Rabiou, Johnny Ramos, Ben Robison, Bhaskar Sahrawat, Robert David Steele (Vivas), Naveena Swamy.

The Bronx river is a beautiful river extending north to Westchester and south to hunts point in the south Bronx. The river is in the process of being restored to a clean ,non toxic river where fish can habitat. There are gardens near the river to enhance the quality of the Bronx river. New flowers and plants are also being planted. The Bronx river art center is a hub in the south Bronx where students of all ages can attend classes to raise their level of in site and consciousness, regarding the environment and community sensitivity along with art and photography.

Allan