▲▲"Hope Road" ..via Distant Relatives▲▲▲

Love the video work in this...Distant Relatives presents: Hope Road. Nas & 'Jr. Gong' Marley at the Bob Marley Museum also an appearance from Sizzla , Spragga Benz, Stephen Marley and Wayne Marshall .

Teaching Fellowship Competition

Contest details

November, 2010 – Cambridge, Massachusetts - The SEVEN Fund is pleased to announce a competition inviting K – 12 teachers and administrators from around the United States to apply for a Summer 2011 Fellowship. The SEVEN Fund 2011 Teaching Fellowships enable teachers to travel to Rwanda and study enterprise solutions to poverty.

Quick Links:
• Background
• About SEVEN
• Questions & Answers
• Important Dates
• Terms & Conditions

Background

The objective of the Fellowship is to introduce the concepts of business solutions to poverty within the K-12 curriculum. Winners will be invited to spend two weeks in Rwanda, meeting with leaders in the private, government, and education sectors. Individual meetings and trips will also be facilitated depending upon the interests of the winning teachers. For example, a biology teacher might spend time with scientists working in Rwanda’s emerging biotech cluster; an art teacher might travel the country to study artisan cooperatives specializing in different handicrafts; a journalism teacher might shadow the editor of a major national Rwandan publication.

Three Fellows will be selected from public school settings, and one Fellow will be chosen from a faith-based school. Each year, our Faith-based Fellowship focus rotates; our 2011 Faith-Based Fellowship will focus on a K-12 teacher from a Catholic School environment. Interested applicants must submit applications online by February 15th, and the winners will be notified in early March.

What will the Fellowship include?

Fellows will travel to Rwanda for a two-week period during Summer 2011. The exact dates will be determined with the winners, but will occur between June and August 2011. Fellows will be provided with round-trip coach class airfare, lodging, and a daily stipend to cover incidental expenses, such as meals and local transportation.

During the two weeks, the Fellows will meet leaders from around Rwanda; will attend sessions led by SEVEN Fund principals exploring the concepts of business solutions to poverty; will explore for-profit ventures across different sectors in Rwanda; and will complete an individual project that aligns with their personal and academic interests.

Fellows are required to commit to the entire two-week period in Rwanda. In addition, Fellows will be asked to:

• Write a personal essay, suitable for publication on a blog or in an industry publication, exploring their experiences (e.g. Huffington Post’s Education Section; the Chronicle for Higher Education, etc.);
• Develop a series of at least five lesson plans exploring enterprise solutions to poverty within their subject area, and share those lesson plans online as a reference point for other teachers;
• Complete at least two community-based talks, e.g. at your school, local library, rotary club, etc. exploring experiences in Rwanda and with enterprise solutions to poverty;

When these activities are satisfactorily completed, during the 2011 – 12 academic year, Fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend.

How can I learn more about enterprise solutions to poverty and Rwanda?

Applicants interested in learning more about enterprise solutions to poverty are encouraged to explore SEVEN’s website at www.sevenfund.org and to read the recently published collection of essays In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty (Templeton Press, May 2009).

Rwanda has recently received negative press in connection with its Presidential election season, and many people in the US are unfamiliar with the country beyond portrayals of its 1994 genocide. Today, Rwanda is a very safe country that’s made outstanding progress in critical areas including economic growth and security. Applicants interested in learning more about Rwanda are encouraged to consult the following resources. (Please note - selected Fellows will be provided with a package of substantial background material on Rwanda to review prior to the Fellowship experience):

1. Michael Fairbanks’ article “Rwanda's president leads an inspiring turn-around” from the Washington Post:
http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/guestinsights/2010/02/paul-kagame-leadership.html

2. Jeff Chu’s article, “Rwanda Rising: A New Model of Economic Development,” from Fast Company Magazine: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/134/special-report-rwanda-rising.html

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About SEVEN

SEVEN (Social Equity Venture Fund) is a non-profit entity run by entrepreneurs whose strategy is to markedly increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise solutions to poverty. It does this by targeted investment that fosters thought leadership through books, films and websites; supporting role models - whether they are entrepreneurs or innovative firms - in developing nations; and shaping a new discourse in government, the press and the academy around private-sector innovation, prosperity and progressive human values.

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Questions & Answers

Who can participate in this competition?

The 2011 SEVEN Fund Teaching Fellowship competition is open to any K – 12 public school or Catholic School teacher or administrator in the United States. Teachers may be in any field of study or discipline.

Where do I get a paper application?

There is no paper application required for this competition. Applications should be submitted online following the instructions in the section below: “How do I submit my application?”

What must my application package include?

Application packages must include the following:

• A personal statement of no more than 1000 words addressing 1) how the 2011 Teaching Fellowship will enable you to integrate enterprise solutions to poverty into your teaching; 2) an understanding of what you hope to learn, both personally and as an educator, from participating in the Fellowship; and 3) specific factors differentiating you from other applicants, especially those that signal excellence, rigor, and potential for impact, that the jury should take into consideration when awarding Fellowships.
• A resume or CV;
• Two letters of recommendation, including one from a person who can attest to the impact of your teaching or leadership (such as a student, former student, colleague, or parent);
• A sample lesson plan;
• Contact information for your current supervisor, to verify employment;

How do I submit my application?

• Submit your essay electronically in a MS Word or PDF format only using the submission form on SEVEN’s website. All information requested, including contact information, abstract, and essay should be included in your submission.
  The URL is: http://www.sevenfund.org/teaching-fellowship/entry-form.php

Along with the submission, you MUST include the following information in the submission form:

• Your full name and mailing address, a contact telephone number, and your email.
• Subject area(s) and grade(s) taught.
• Leadership position at your school.

Does SEVEN have a preferred philosophical or scientific agenda?

We see a number of experts who opine about poverty and prosperity: i.e., macroeconomists, businessmen, educators, political scientists, social scientists, etc. We rarely see enough integration, where the experts of one domain borrow insights from another, and attempt to create an even more robust intellectual framework. We intend to foster this kind of integration, at the level of thought leader and practitioner.

Is this trip of specific interest to language teachers?

Rwanda is a multi-lingual country. French, English, and Kinyarwanda are all widely spoken. Teachers of all disciplines are invited to apply.  The Fellowship offers a unique opportunity to French speakers, especially French instructors, to interact with a broad group of speakers in a Francophone African nation.

Does SEVEN have any guidance to applicants preparing a submission?

Materials, especially the personal statement and the letters of recommendation, should be original works that directly address the Fellowship. We strongly discourage applicants from repurposing personal statements from other applications or providing generic letters of reference. Repurposed papers are easy to spot, and lack the integration and insight necessary to demonstrate the potential impact of this Fellowship on your teaching. Further, any incident of plagiarism will be treated very seriously, and reported to the appropriate individuals including those plagiarized and relevant professional or academic authorities.

How long should the application be?

Personal statements should not be longer than 1000 words. Resumes and CVs should not be longer than 2 pages. Each individual letter of reference should not exceed 2 pages.

How many Fellows will be selected?

Three Fellows will be selected from public schools around the United States. One Fellow will be selected from a Catholic School.

How will applications be judged?

All applications that comply with the call for submissions rules will undergo a competitive process of a confidential jury review. The winning applicants will be required to enter into a contract with SEVEN prior to final award.

What if I am unable to submit my application electronically?

Only applications submitted through this form on our website are accepted. If you encounter problems, please contact SEVEN at info@sevenfund.org.

What sort of legal organization is SEVEN?

SEVEN is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

What if I have additional questions?

You may send your questions Ms. Jessica Ullrich, M.Ed., Program Officer, to info@sevenfund.org

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Important Dates

• SEVEN Fund Call for Applications: November, 2011.
• Deadline for Application Submission: February 15, 2011.
• SEVEN Fund Essay Award Announcements: Early March, 2011.

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Terms and Conditions:

The SEVEN Fund has sole and absolute discretion to determine which submission entries, if any, merit an award. The SEVEN Fund reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to change, modify, extend or reduce the terms and conditions of, or to suspend or terminate, the competition without prior notice.  SEVEN will endeavor to inform participants of any such change, modification, extension, reduction, suspension or termination, as the case may be, through any media outlet deemed appropriate by SEVEN in its sole and absolute discretion.  SEVEN further reserves the right to nullify and/or cancel any part or all of the competition if it appears that any fraud or malfunctions have occurred in any form whatsoever.  Each participant undertakes to indemnify and keep SEVEN harmless from and against any loss, damage, claims, costs and expenses which may be incurred by or asserted against SEVEN as a result of such participant's participation in the competition.

 

Snowbound Series Chapbook Award

The 11th Annual Snowbound Series Chapbook Award is an open competition with a prize of $1,000 and fifty copies. Submissions are accepted from anyone writing in the English language, whether living in the United States or abroad (translations are not eligible for this prize). The 2011 final judge will be Ellen Doré Watson. Prior winners include Mark Yakich, Cecilia Woloch, and John Cross. All entries must be postmarked or uploaded to the online Submission Manager between December 1, 2010 and February 28, 2011.

The guidelines for the Snowbound Series Chapbook Award can be read here.

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Tupelo Press Award for a First or Second Book of Poetry

The 12th Annual Tupelo Press Award for a First or Second Book of Poetry is an open competition with a $3,000 prize. Submissions are accepted from anyone writing in the English language, whether living in the United States or abroad (translations are not eligible for this prize). The final judge is to be announced. Prior winners include Jennifer Michael Hecht, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Bill Van Every, Kristin Bock, and Jennifer Militello. All entries must be postmarked or uploaded to the online Submission Manager between January 1 and April 15, 2011.

The guidelines for the First or Second Book Award can be read here.

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July Open Submissions:

The deadline for July Open Submissions has now passed.
--> Throughout July, Tupelo Press will hold open submissions for book-length poetry collections (48-90 pages) and chapbook-length poetry collections (30-47 pages). For guidelines see our Submissions page. Please note that our editors are now reading fiction and non-fiction year-round, with guidelines also under our Submissions page.

Ben Lerner will judge the 2011 Omnidawn Chapbook Poetry Contest. Electronic and postal submissions will be accepted from January 1, 2011 to February 28, 2011. The 2011 Omnidawn Chapbook Poetry Prize is open to any poet writing in English. The prize includes $1,000, Fall 2011 publication by Omnidawn, and 100 complimentary copies of the chapbook. The winning poet and manuscript will also be  advertised in American Poetry Review, Poets & Writers Magazine, Writer’s Chronicle, Rain Taxi Review of Books, and other publications. Manuscripts will remain anonymous until a winner is selected. All entrants will be mailed a copy of the winning chapbook. The reading fee for each manuscript is $15.   Two Submission Options: 1. Submit on our web site. (Most submissions are via our web site. This is generally the easiest way to submit.) 2. Submit via postal mail. Detailed requirements for each method of submission are listed at the end of this web page.   Requirements: 1. The chapbook contest is open from January 1 to February 28. Electronically submitted manuscripts must be received between January 1, 2011 and midnight, Pacific Standard Time, on February 28, 2011. Manuscripts sent by postal mail must be postmarked between January 1, 2011 and February 28, 2011. 2.  This contest is open to all writers no matter how many books they have published. 3. Manuscripts must be 20 to 40 pages of poetry (not including the front and back matter). 4. Individual poems in a contest manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, print or web journals, or anthologies, but the work as a whole must be unpublished. Manuscripts that have been self-published as books or chapbooks are also ineligible. 5. The manuscript must be original and in English. Translations are ineligible. However, we do understand that you may choose to use some words from other languages occasionally in poems. This is perfectly acceptable.  6. Manuscripts by more than one author are ineligible. 7. Friends, colleagues, and students of the judge are not eligible to compete. 8. A reading fee of $15 must accompany each entry.   General Guidelines: —Manuscripts must include one cover page with title of manuscript only, and a second cover page with title plus your name, address, telephone number, email address, and where you learned about the Omnidawn chapbook contest to the best of your recollection. Please do not include any other identifying information in or with the manuscript. Please do not include acknowledgements page, cover letter, or bio. —Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please notify us with an email to submissions@omnidawn.com if your manuscript has been accepted elsewhere. —Multiple submissions to this contest are acceptable, but each manuscript must be submitted separately, with a separate entry fee. —The manuscript should be paginated. —Please notify us of changes in your contact information with an email to submissions@omnidawn.com, or if you submitted electronically you can log in to your account and change the contact information yourself. —No revisions to submitted manuscripts will be allowed during the contest. —All manuscripts will be deleted or recycled at the end of the contest. For entries sent by postal mail, please do NOT enclose SASE for return of the manuscript. You may enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard, which we will mail back to you to confirm receipt of your manuscript. Your cancelled check will also confirm receipt. —We will announce contest results by email, as well as at www.omnidawn.com/contest the Omnidawn blog (http://omnidawn.wordpress.com), and in display advertisements in American Poetry Review, Poets & Writers Magazine, Writers Chronicle, Rain Taxi Review of Books, and other publications. —All entrants will be mailed a copy of the winning chapbook when it is published in the fall of 2011. (Some of our notices about this contest state that a copy of the chapbook will be sent if you include the cost of an SASE. This is no longer necessary and all entrants will be mailed a copy of the winning chapbook.) —Regarding the winning manuscript: The chapbook may not be published in a subsequent book or chapbook by the winning poet for one year after publication by Omnidawn.   How We Judge—Each Manuscript is Read by at Least Two Editors: Identifying information will be removed from all manuscripts before they are sent to an editor. All manuscripts will be given a number to associate them with the contact information of their submitters. All personal identifying information will then be removed from manuscripts before these are forwarded to editors. The Omnidawn staff members who remove the identifying information are NOT involved in the reading process. All manuscripts will then be read by at least two different editors. Only Omnidawn's Senior Poetry Editor and Poetry Editors will read submissions, and these editors will not have access to the identities of the submitters. For the sake of avoiding any conflict of interest, if an editor believes that he/she recognizes the work of a colleague, student, or friend, then that manuscript is given to another editor. The editors will select the semi-finalists to be sent to the judge. The judge will then select the winner and five finalists. If the judge wishes to see additional manuscripts, he may request them; the judge is not, however, permitted to request specific manuscripts. Friends, colleagues, and/or students of the judge are not eligible to compete. The judge is not allowed to choose manuscripts that present a conflict of interest. Omnidawn abides by The CLMP Code of Ethics. The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses’ community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our staff, editors, or judges; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines -- defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage. Two Submission Options Option 1: Submit on our web site. (Usually the easiest way to submit) Option 2: Submit via postal mail. Procedures for each of these options are listed in detail below. Option 1: Procedure to submit on our secure web site. —PLEASE READ AT LEAST THE BOLD TYPE in the directions below before proceeding to the online submissions web page. You will find the button to direct you there at the end of this procedure. —If you have any questions send an email to submissions@omnidawn.com or telephone our toll free number (800) 792-4957. If we can’t take your call immediately, we can usually call you back within 30 minutes. —Electronically submitted manuscripts must be received between January 1, 2011 and midnight, Pacific Standard Time, on February 28, 2011. —The secure online submissions web site has been tested for use with various browsers including Internet Explorer 6.0 and above, Safari 2.0 and above, and all versions of Firefox. Earlier versions may also work. The latest versions of these programs are available for free on the Internet. Your Internet browser must be set to accept cookies and to allow pop-ups in order to use our online submission program. —If you did NOT enter an Omnidawn Poetry Contest last year (2010), or previously this year, when you go to our secure online submission page, you will be asked to enter your credit card billing and contact information, the title of your manuscript, and a six character password of your choice. (Contact information is retained in our database, but credit card numbers are not.) —If you DID enter an Omnidawn Poetry Contest last year (2010) or previously this year, either online or via postal mail, you probably have an account. If so, when you go to the secure online submissions page you can log in using the box on the upper left by entering your email address and your password. If you don’t have your password, click “need help” below the login button, and you can have a new password sent to your email address. Once you are logged in you can click “submit your work” in the new box on your left, which will take you to a secure web page to submit a new manuscript. (Contact information is retained in our database, but credit card numbers are not.) —You will be able to upload your manuscript on the submissions page. Manuscripts must be sent in one file, not multiple files. Please submit files in .RTF (Rich Text Format) or MS Word .DOC or .DOCX format only. Most word processing programs can save files as .RTF by going to FILE—SAVE AS, and then choosing Rich Text Format in the FORMAT drop-down box. —Please DO use the “comments” field to tell us where you learned about the Omnidawn contest to the best of your recollection. You may also add other information you would like us to know, but please do not use this box to share any personal or publication history. These comments will only be read by staff who are not involved in the selection process. —If you want to submit additional work you can login at the end of this process or in the future using the email address and password you entered so that you will not need to complete contact information again. —If when you click “Continue” your credit card is NOT accepted (usually because of a typo) your contact information and manuscript have still been uploaded to our database so that we have everything we need except your payment. You can resolve this by completing the payment in one of two ways: (a) Mail a check for $15 to the address at the bottom of this web page. Please write your email address and the title of your manuscript on your check (or money order, which is also acceptable). We will send you an email confirming that your manuscript has been entered into the contest when your check arrives. (b) Enter your credit card info again by going to https://omnidawn.net and using the box on the left to log in using the email address and password you just entered. A screen will appear displaying the contact info you have entered with a record showing the entry you just submitted. In the second field of that record click on the words “pay now” and a secure screen will appear so that you can enter your credit card information again. If successful you will receive an immediate notification of success and an email notification that your submission has been entered into the contest. If your credit card still does not work you can still use option (a) above by mailing a check. To go to the secure submissions page and begin the electronic submission process, please click here.   Option 2: Procedure to submit via postal mail: If you have any questions send an email to submissions@omnidawn.com or telephone our toll free number (800) 792-4957. If we can’t take your call immediately, we can usually call you back within 30 minutes. Manuscripts sent by postal mail must be postmarked between January 1, 2011 and February 28, 2011. Please DO NOT send Fed Ex, UPS, or signature required US Post Office envelopes. These will not be accepted. Please DO NOT send cover letter, acknowledgements, or bio. These will only be removed before your manuscript is read. Please enclose the following: 1. Reading fee of $15. This can be either a check or money order. Make checks or money orders payable to Omnidawn. (A reading fee of $15 must accompany each submission.) 2. One title page with your name, contact information, and where you learned about our contest (to the best of your recollection). Please include your mailing address, phone number, and email address if you have one. 3. One title page with manuscript title only and nothing else. 4. 20–40 pages of poetry in a manuscript with pagination. 5. (Optional) A self-addressed stamped post card. You may, if you choose, include a self-addressed stamped postcard, and we will mail this back to you to verify that your manuscript has been received. (If you include an Email address, you will also receive an email when we enter your submission into our database. Your cancelled check will also confirm that your entry has been received.)   Send postal submissions via First Class or Priority Mail to: Omnidawn Chapbook Poetry Prize Omnidawn Publishing 1632 Elm Avenue Richmond, CA 94805-1614

Isabel Wilkerson’s Leaderless March that Remade America

By chris · October 12, 2010 · 5 Comments

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Isabel Wilkerson is the epic tale teller of the Great Migration of Southern black people that remade America — sound, substance and spirit — in the 20th Century. The proof is in the soundtrack — musical highlights of a comprehensive revolution. It was one of two modern migrations, it’s been said, that made American culture what it is — of blacks from the Jim Crow South, and of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe.

The movement of masses is an ageless, ongoing piece of human history: in India and China today, more people migrate internally from village to city in one year than left the South from the onset of World War I (1915) to the end of the Civil Rights era (1970), as Isabel Wilkerson frames her story. But was there ever a migration that beyond moving people transformed a national culture as ours did? Songs, games, language, art, style, worship, every kind of entertainment including pro sports — in fact almost all we feel about ourselves, how we look to the world, changed in the sweep of Isabel Wilkerson’s magnificent story, The Warmth of Other Suns.

Great swaths of the pop and serious culture I grew up in – my children as well – were fruit of Ms. Wilkerson’s story: Jazz and its immortals like Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Illinois Jacquet, Miles Davis, the Basie and Ellington bands and stars like Duke’s greatest soloist Johnny Hodges, whose family moved from Virginia to Boston very early in the century; Mahalia Jackson and Gospel music; Rhythm and Blues, Ray Charles, the Motown sound, the Jackson family and little Michael; sports immortals like Bill Russell and Jackie Robinson, and athletes without number are players in this story. Writers, actors, politicians, comedians… Toni Morison, Spike Lee, Michelle Obama are all children of the Great Migration.

It was “the first big step the nation’s servant class took without asking,” in one of many graceful Wilkerson lines about “a leaderless revolution.” But it was a graceless, usually violent, threatened, lonely experience. Isabel Wilkerson is speaking of the mothers, fathers and families that faced it down — the Russells of Monroe, Louisiana, in one example, who gave the world the greatest team-sport winner we ever saw (13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, 11 NBA championships), the most charismatic defensive player in any game on earth. But for the migration, Wilkerson observes, Bill Russell “might have been working in a hardware store. It’s hard to know — there are a lot of mills around Monroe, LA. It’s hard to imagine what would have happened to that enormous talent that changed a sport…

They lived under a caste system … known as Jim Crow. Bill Russell’s family experienced some of the harsh realities of that. One story involving Bill Russell’s father involves a day where he was just wanting to get gas. The custom in the Jim Crow South is that when an African American was in line for something, any white southerner who came up could cut in line.

One white motorist after another had shown up and gone in front of him, and he had to wait, and he had to wait, and he had to wait. Eventually he decided he would just back out and drive the half-hour to the next gas station where he might be able to get served. As he was beginning to back out, the owner of the gas station stopped pumping gas for the white motorist he was working with and got a shotgun, held it to Bill Russell’s father’s head and said “You’ll leave when I tell you to leave. Don’t ever let me see you trying that again.”

His mother was, around the same time, stopped on the street because she was dressed in her Sunday clothes. … A police officer stopped her and said “You go home right now and take that off. That is not what a colored woman should be wearing.” …

The family decided that they would leave Monroe Louisiana, a very difficult decision, for a far away place, Oakland California. And it was there that Bill Russell had the opportunity to go to integrated schools, to be able to go to an NCAA school; he would never had had the opportunity to do that had they stayed in the South. He ended up leading the Dons of UCSF to two NCAA championships, and then of course came to the attention of the Celtics… Basketball would not be what we know it to be, had this Great Migration not occurred. And he’s but one person out of this entire experience of six million people who migrated.

Isabel Wilkerson in conversation with Chris Lydon, October 5, 2010.

Five killed in shootings in New Orleans on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Published: Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 6:00 AM     Updated: Wednesday, January 19, 2011, 10:10 AM

By Brendan McCarthy, The Times-Picayune

Five people were killed in shootings in New Orleans on Monday, a holiday meant to honor a man who preached nonviolence as a means to social change.

 

Enlarge Matthew Hinton, The Times-Picayune MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE People take part in the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church and New Pilgrim Baptist Church sponsored Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade and rally in LaPlace, Louisiana Monday January 17, 2010. Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the New Orleans metro area Monday, January 17, 2011 gallery (48 photos)

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In one case, a couple were shot inside their eastern New Orleans home. In another, police found a 28-year-old man shot in the rear yard of a Central City house. Minutes later, detectives began investigating a double shooting in the St. Roch neighborhood that left one man dead. And before midnight, a 19-year-old man was gunned down after he walked outside a popular bar Uptown.

 

The deaths followed a relative lull in killings through the first few weeks of this year. But the violence rose to a crescendo over the weekend, with seven people fatally shot over three days.

The recent killings do not appear to be linked.

There have been 11 people killed in the city this year, compared with 12 as of this date last year. But five of the deaths occurred on a single day, Monday.

The first killing happened shortly after midnight, when a group of gunmen fatally shot a couple in front of their 5-year-old son inside their eastern New Orleans home. The Police Department said investigators found narcotics inside the home and that the killing appeared to be drug-related. Both victims had previous drug arrests.

The next killing occurred just after 9 p.m. Officers found Steven Powell, 28, lying in the yard of a house in the 2900 block of Dryades Street in Central City, authorities said. Powell died at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds in his body.

Powell, of New Orleans, has a checkered past, including an arrest for murder. Police booked him in October 2009 in a year-old killing in the Gentilly area. Prosecutors later refused the charges, according to court records. Powell, who has other gun and drug convictions, was also booked in 2007 with attempted murder. That case too was refused by prosecutors, records show.

Police have not released details on a possible motive, or a suspect, in Powell's slaying. A spokesman for district attorney's office said issues with witness cooperation, or witness testimony, resulted in the refusals. 

Within minutes of his death, homicide detectives were rushing to a separate scene in the 2800 block of Urquhart Street in the St. Roch neighborhood. There, officers found two men wounded by gunfire.

Derrick Hutton, 22, died inside an apartment, authorities said. Meanwhile, a 34-year-old man, whom police found outside the home, was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Police believe three suspects forced their way into the home and demanded money from the two victims. After the two men complied, the gunmen opened fire and ran from the home, according to police.

The next fatal shooting occurred hours later, just after 11 p.m., in the 5100 block of Freret Street. Police said the victim -- identified as 19-year-old Errol Meeks -- exited Friar Tuck's bar and was approached from behind. A gunman fired, hitting Meeks twice in the back and once in the back of the head. Meeks, of New Orleans, died in the street.

The Uptown bar is a popular college hangout and had been cited recently by the city for serving to minors. The city sought to revoke the bar's liquor license in November. The Alcohol Beverage Control Board responded by handing down a 30-day suspension, which was to start mid-January, according to Devona Dolliole, spokeswoman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office.

But the bar's owner, Jason Blitch, appealed and a Civil District Court judge issued a stay in the case, allowing Friar Tuck's to remain open, Dolliole said.

Dolliole said the city filed a another motion to the board Tuesday to revoke the bar's license. Meanwhile, Blitch, the bar owner, reached out to city officials Tuesday and said his bar would remain closed, Dolliole said. It is was not clear, however, if the closure is permanent. Neither Blitch nor his attorney could be reached for comment Tuesday.

Police did not comment on whether Meeks had been drinking inside the bar. Blitch told WWL-TV that Meeks, whom he called "a friendly neighborhood gentleman," had been inside the bar, but not drinking, when he received a call on his cell phone telling him to come outside. When he did so, he was shot, Blitch said.

Police responded to several other shootings, and another slaying, earlier in the weekend.

A woman and a young man were killed Saturday in the Holy Cross neighborhood. Three other shootings -- in the 7100 block of Fig Street, 8200 block of Belfast Street, 1200 block of Gallier Street -- were reported that day.

On Sunday, police responded to two shootings, in the 2300 block of Murl Street and the 1900 block of Urquhart Street. They also reported two rapes, in the 1500 block of St. Charles Avenue and in the 2000 block of North Miro Street.

Police ask that anyone with information on these crimes call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111.

Brendan McCarthy can be reached at bmccarthy@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3301.

 

January 19, 2011 7:36 PM

The Real Power Behind Baby Doc

Exiled dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier made a spectacular return to Haiti, where he's facing charges. But no one seems to be talking about who the real culprit may be - his reviled wife Michele. Here's the stunning story of how a shopping spree caused a revolution.

GO HERE TO VIEW TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY

When Jean-Claude Duvalier, the notorious Haitian dictator known as "Baby Doc," ended his 25-year exile this week, he made a surprise return to Haiti with an elegant woman on his arm. But it wasn't the same woman who was forced to flee alongside him a quarter century ago.

Anyone who saw Ed Bradley's fantastic 1986 piece on the ouster of Jean-Claude Duvalier, probably wondered: Is that Michele? The one who refrigerated a room of the presidential palace so she could comfortably wear her fur coats in tropical weather? The one who pilfered millions of dollars from Haitian coffers for shopping sprees and parties?

Michele Bennett was a divorcee and mother of two when she married the young dictator and became the first lady of Haiti. As you'll learn in this classic "60 Minutes" piece produced by the late George Crile, Michele enlisted the Haitian TV network to promote her efforts to alleviate the extreme poverty of the Haitian people. But behind palace walls, Michele's story took a very different turn, and with it, turned Haitian history.

Jean-Claude Duvalier, who took the title "President For Life" at the age of 19, ruled the country from 1971 until 1986, the year this piece was broadcast. After being chased from Haiti by angry mobs, Michele and Jean-Claude spent years living in luxury on the French Riviera. The couple has since divorced, and Veronique Roy (pictured at left with Duvalier), is the female companion who arrived in Haiti on his arm this week.

Haiti's democracy in the balance

'Baby Doc' Duvalier's return does not change the basic issue for Haiti: only an election re-run can thwart foreign interference

• 
• • Mark Weisbrot
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 18 January 2011 17.46 GMT
  • Article history

Haiti police go up the stairs at the Hotel Karibe in Port-au-Prince to take Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier into custody. Photograph: Andres Martinez Casares/EPA

The return to Haiti – and now, possible arrest – of the infamous former dictator, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, after 25 years in exile in the south of France, has made the headlines this week. But behind the scenes, the US state department and the French foreign ministry have been ratcheting up the pressure on the impoverished, earthquake-wrecked and cholera-stricken country of Haiti. The pressure is not to prosecute the dictator for his atrocities, as human rights groups such asAmnesty International and Human Rights Watch have recommended. The pressure is to force the government of Haiti to accept the decision of the United States and France as to who should be allowed to compete in the second round of Haiti's presidential election.

It is worth looking at the details of this international subversion of the democratic process in Haiti – just to see just how outrageous it is. The first thing to notice is how unusual it is for any electoral authority to change the results of an election without a recount of the vote. Imagine that happening in Florida in 2000, or Mexico in 2006, or in any close, disputed election with irregularities. It just wouldn't happen. There could be a recount and a new result; the original result could stand; or the election could be redone. But the electoral authorities don't just change the result without a recount.

Now, add into the mix that the electoral body seeking to change the result of the election is the Organisation of American States (OAS). More accurately, it is Washington, which controls the bureaucracy of the OAS in these situations (unless there is a lot of pushback from South America, as happened after the Honduran coup in 2009).

In fact, six of the seven members of the OAS "expert verification mission" are from the United States, Canada and France. France! Not a member of the OAS but the former slave-holding colonial power that was still forcing Haiti to pay for its loss of property (that is, the slaves who liberated themselves) until the 1940s. Apparently, the OAS couldn't find any experts in all of Latin America (though they found one from Jamaica) to review Haiti's election.

This is not a matter of political correctness; rather, it indicates how much Washington wanted to control the result of this OAS mission. These are the three governments that led the effort to topple Haiti's democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 2004. WikiLeaks cables released this week show that the United States also pressured Brazil to help keep Aristide out of Haiti after the coup. Since Aristide was, and remains to this day, the most popular politician in the country, the WikiLeaks cables show that Washington and its allies also worked to keep him from having any influence on the country from his forced exile in South Africa.

As it turns out, the OAS "experts" did a very poor job on their election analysis. They threw out 234 tally sheets, thus changing the election result. According to the OAS, the government candidate, Jude Celestin, was pushed into third place and, therefore, out of the runoff election. This leaves two rightwing candidates – former first lady Mirlande Manigat, and popular musician Michel Martelly – to compete in the runoff. The OAS has Martelly taking second place by just 3,200 votes, or 0.3% of the vote.

The first problem with the OAS mission's report is that there were more than 1,300 ballot sheets, representing about 156,000 votes, that went missing or were quarantined. This is about six times as many ballot sheets as the ones that the mission eliminated. Since these areas were more pro-Celestin than the rest of the country, he would very likely have come in second if the missing tally sheets had been included. The mission did not address this problem in its report.

The second problem is that the mission examined only 919 of the 11,181 tally sheets to find the 234 that they threw out. This would not be so strange if they had used statistical inference, as is commonly done in polling, to say something about the other 92% of ballot sheets, which they did not examine. However, this is not included in the leaked report.

Lacking the force of logic, the US and French governments are turning to the logic of force to get the result that they want. Journalism professor and author Amy Wilentz wrote this weekend in the LA Times:

"According to many sources, including the president himself, the international community has threatened Preval with immediate exile if he does not bow to their interpretation of election results."

These are not empty threats. Preval's predecessor, Aristide, was whisked out of the country on a US plane in 2004. And now the US ambassador to Haiti is making it clear, in mafia-godfather-style, that this is an offer he cannot refuse:

"US ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten said in an interview that the US government supports the OAS report and its conclusions. 'The international community is entirely unified on this point. There is nothing to negotiate in the report,' Merten said."

The French weighed in on Friday, AFP reports:

"France warned Haiti's government on Friday to respect a report by OAS poll monitors that is thought to call for President Rene Preval's preferred successor to drop out of the election race …"

So far, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) hasn't caved. But the pressure and threats are very intense. Some of it appears to come from hard-right Republicans, whose influence on foreign policy in the western hemisphere has remained strong under the Obama administration and has increased with their takeover of the House of Representatives. Rightwing activists such as Roger Noriega, who was involved in the 2004 Haitian coup as President Bush's assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, are among those fighting to control the runoff election in Haiti.

It is quite possible that the hard right was responsible for the leaking of the draft OAS mission report. On Monday, OAS secretary general Jose Miguel Insulza – embarrassed and angered by the leak, and probably also by Washington and France's gross disregard for Haiti's sovereignty and democratic rights– sought to downplay the mission's report:

"The report, Insulza said, is based on "calculations" and not results. "It's not in our power to give results," he told the Miami Herald. "We are not publishing any kind of results."

Of course, the obvious solution would be to re-run the election, since nearly three-quarters of registered voters didn't vote in the first round, reflecting the fact that the country's largest political party – not coincidentally, the party of Aristide – was arbitrarily excluded. But Washington and its allies don't want to take any chances that they could end up with a free and fair election in Haiti, which hasn't led to their preferred outcome in the very few times that it has been allowed.

• Editor's note: This article originally gave Jose Miguel Insulza's post erroneously as "secretary of state" of the OAS; this was amended to the correct title "secretary general" at 17:00 ET (22:00 GMT) on 18 January 2011.

>via: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/18/haiti-usa

 

__________________________

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Return of Former Haiti's Democratically Elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Is Crucial for his Health

by Wadner Pierre

 

"The return is indispensable, too, for medical reasons: It is strongly recommended that I not spend the coming winter in South Africa’s because in 6 years I have undergone 6 eye surgeries.  The surgeons are excellent and very well skilled, but the unbearable pain experienced in the winter must be avoided in order to reduce any risk of further complications and blindness," from the letter of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide wrote to describe the state of his health

 One and eight days already passed since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit the most important part of Haiti. This horrible earthquake took away over 300, 000 lives, left over 1.5 million homeless and several thousands injured. Ten months after this tragedy a Cholera outbreak discovered. UN is accused. This deadly cholera already sent over a thousand people to death and several thousands to hospital.

Seemingly, the Haiti's former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier  took advantage of the terrible and inhumane situation, and  chose to return to the country. It was told that Mr. " Baby Dictator" received his diplomatic passport under the defacto regime Boniface Alexandre/Gerard Latortue, a regime fully backed by Washington at that time. Why Mr. Dictator did not make it back in 2005 or whatever the time he received it? Mr. 'Dictator' brutally ruled the country for 15 years after his father 's death.

The question is, why cannot  former democratically elected President Aristide, a victim of the 2004 coup d'etat obtain his diplomatic passport to return to his country or to go to a country where  he can receive the care he needs for his health? It is a way that the coup organizers and executors use to slowly kill him?  The health of former President Aristide is now a human rights concern. Right to health care is one of the rights that President Aristide has as human. Former President Aristide was forced to leave Haiti. His return should be conditioned. how can a dictator come back to his country,  perhaps, one of his victims cannot?

Mr. Duvalier  left Haiti in 1986 with  millions of dollars and let thousands of people with tears. Now he is in Haiti, the Haiti's justice system made a an important step on January 17th to prosecute him. Haitian people deserve justice, and justice must be given to all victims of the Duvalier's regime.
 

Meanwhile, President Aristide has been asking for a diplomatic passport for several years. He still cannot obtain it.  President's supporters have been asking for his return since the day after the coup d'etat.  But they have been asking for all coup leaders like Louis Jodel chamblain, Guy Phillipes along with "Mr. Baby Doc' to be take to the court.

The return of President Aristide is today imminent, not only because he legally has  to come back to his homeland,  but also his health condition necessitates this return. He would be shameful to have a democratic President constraints to reserve the care  that his health necessitates  while assassins, murders and criminals are  freed to walk on the streets teasing their victims like nothing had ever happened. "There is reconciliation without justice," said Haitian famous Agronomist Journalist Jean-Leopold Dominique.

Time is come to render justice to the thirty of justice. Time is come to judge the criminals and to send a clear message to those who intend to commit the same criminal acts as did the Duvalier regime.
 

Haiti has suffering for a long time. Haiti's suffering started back from the day  of its independence. United States, France and Canada along with the Haitian elite, who see only their own economic-interest by destroying the masses, or make them poorer that they had never been before.

   As know on December 16, 1990 Haitian said no to dictatorship and military regimes that ruled this country for a long amount of times. But seven month after the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide got into office, a coup ousted him. This Coup d'etat was backed up by United States/ CIA , the Haitian elite and the Haitian former army as the executor of this coup.

Resistance of Haitian people defeated this coup d'etat. on October 15, 1994 "Titid" came back, and he organized democratic elections and  made the first peaceful transitional power in the history of Haiti.
 

After the celebration of Haiti's hundredth Independence, Another coup d'etat was already on its way. And this this time it was curried by a special US commando. The February 24 coup was the worst political coup  in Haiti's history because it was the time that the country was trying to ride the democratic and economic bus.

In 2006, again people's resistance defeated the coup by electing Preval at the head of the country. President Preval normally has betrayed them. Still, they want to get ride of him in a democratic way, which is inclusive, fair and just elections. But, not the one  OAS, UN, CARICOM cautioned last November 28. Haitian demand for new  fair, just and inclusive elections, not flawed elections. Less than 70% of the Haiti's population went to vote on November 28, 2010.

As many political, economical and sociological experts acknowledge or can argue, progress cannot be made where there is political instabilities, and where  injustice is the rule. 

Below is a letter from first former Haiti's democratically elected President Aristide from his exile describing the state of his health. Special thank to Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network who shares this letter with us.

Dr  Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Former President of Haiti
19 January 2011

I would like to thank the government and the people of South Africa
for the historic hospitality, deeply rooted in Ubuntu, extended to my family
and I.

Since my forced arrival in the Mother Continent six and a half
years ago, the people of Haiti have never stopped calling for my return to
Haiti.    Despite the enormous challenges that they face in the aftermath of the
deadly January 12, 2010 earthquake, their determination to make the return
happen has increased.

As far as I am concerned, I am ready.  Once again I express my
readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time.  The purpose is very clear: To
contribute to serving my Haitian sisters and brothers as a simple citizen in
the field of education. 

The return is indispensable, too, for medical reasons: It is strongly
recommended that I not spend the coming winter in South Africa’s because in 6
years I have undergone 6 eye surgeries.  The surgeons are excellent and very
well skilled, but the unbearable pain experienced in the winter must be avoided
in order to reduce any risk of further complications and blindness. 

So, to all those asking me to return home, I reiterate my
willingness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time.  Let us hope that the
Haitian and South African governments will enter into communication in order to
make that happen in the next coming days. 

United to the Haitian people, once again my family and I express
our sincere gratitude to the government and the people of South Africa.

Posted by Wadner Pierre at 11:58 PM

 

About the author

Wadner Pierre

Je suis originaire des Gonaïves, departement de l'Artibonite,photojournaliste indépendant Haitien, j'ai écrit pour l'Inter Press Service (IPS) et le journal HaïtiLiberté. Contributeur et membre fondateur de Analiz Ayiti (HaitiAnalysis) le médias collectif. Wadner Pierre is a Haitian Photojournalist originally from the city of Gonaives, department of Artibonite. I currently live in United States for my studies, but I have eyes focused on what is going on in Haiti . I talk to people and I read everyday about what the ongoing on in ground of Haiti. I have been writting for theInter Press Service (IPS), Haiti Liberte. I am a co-founder and frequent contributor to HaitiAnalysis.com a media collective of young journalists.

 

 

>via: http://wadnerpierre.blogspot.com/2011/01/return-of-former-haitis-democratical...  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rebuilding Haiti and

reshaping Africa

As Haiti since the quake shares the headlines with political change in Ivory Coast and Sudan, we bring you the best live coverage, news and analysis from the world of development

• Liz Ford
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 January 2011 13.34 GMT

 A woman and her child arrive at a polling station in Juba to vote on independence for southern Sudan. Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA 

 

The Haiti earthquake and events in southern Sudan and Ivory Coast have dominated content on the global development site so far this year.

To mark the first anniversary of the earthquake that killed more than 230,000 and devastated an already fragile infrastructure in January 2010, Robin Cross, from the charity Article 25, emphasised the need for local people to be involved in the reconstruction process, while Oxfam's Martin Hartberg was live online from Port-au-Prince to answer readers' questions on how re-building is going. A blog from our data team showed how much money countries had given in aid.

 

We also saw Haiti through the eyes of teenagers in a gallery and a video showing how nine-year-old Andrise is coping after a year living in a tent.

As with all anniversaries, one year on from the earthquake, a plethora of progress reports on the country's progress have been published by NGOs. We've summarised a selection, but are happy to hear your suggestions on those not included.

 

The referendum on independence in southern Sudan began on Sunday. Morri Francis, a student and broadcaster with Cafod, shared his experience of voting in Juba on Monday, while Peter Moszynski warned of the problems southern Sudanese people living in the north could face if the vote favours secession, while Madeleine Bunting blogged that the outcome of a new oil revenue sharing agreement will have a huge bearing on future stability in Sudan.

 

On Ivory Coast, Paul Collier suggested that the international community could work with the Ivorian army to force Laurent Gbagbo from power, and we charted the events since the disputed election in November in a gallery.

 

Elsewhere on the site

Ugandan journalist Richard Kavuma blogs on the impact of the Ivory Coast presidential crisis on other elections involving Africa's "strongmen", such as Yoweri Museveni.

 

Madeleine Bunting blogged on whether India should continue to receive aid from the UK and if the country was in a position to reject it.

 

Meanwhile, Ally Carnwath wrote about a new project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that seeks to rein in the violent excesses of some of its soldiers.

 

Coming up on the site

 

We'll have further coverage on the south Sudan referendum and on the situation in Ivory Coast, and will begin to report on African elections taking place over the next few months. Richard Kavuma will be looking closer at the Ugandan presidential elections due to take place next month.

 

We'll be looking again at the impact on rising food prices on low-income countries, and will blog a work scheme being introduced in India.

 

Six months on from the floods in Pakistan, we'll find out the reconstruction taking place.

 

And we'll have the latest progress report on the development project in Katine that the Guardian has tracked full-time for the past three years.

 

Multimedia

Audio slideshow: Southern Sudan students with high school dreams. At Juba Technical high school, the NGO Plan International is retraining former child soldiers and other young people in skills such as building, mechanics and carpentry so they can build new lives. Pupils and other young people share their stories.

 

Video: Ghana's young city street porters. At 13, Katumi left her rural home in Ghana to work as a street porter – carrying goods for people – in the city to earn money for her schooling. Away from her family, she was vulnerable to financial and sexual exploitation. Follow her story.

 

What you said: Some of the best comments from our readers

On Peter Moszynski's blog on fears for minorities in north Sudan if south votes to secede, SelmaAlRasheed: said

 

 

I am Nubian and the Nubian people have suffered under successive Arab/Islamic rulers in Sudan. Leaders in the Communist party and others are Nubian, many jailed and tortured by this and previous regimes. Two dams have destroyed our land and our way of life, our language is banned from schools, formal and informal. Attempts to teach it in the Nubian Club in Khartoum was met with threats.

 

 

On a piece on tax in poor countries, MariaFarrell said:

 

 

Another area of real progress is that, instead of the big institutional players trying to control, copy or contain crowd-sourcing initiatives like Ushahidi, CrisisCommons or Random Hacks of Kindness, you get the World Bank, Google, and US state department offering support that lets these initiatives evolve independently and define themselves.

 

 

Highlights from the blogosphere

 

The director of the Institute of Development Studies, Lawrence Haddad made some predictions for 2011, which prompted a response from Harvard University's Calestous Juma, which he posted.

 

On Aid Watch, Laura Freschi analysed the USAID transparency site and found it wanting.

 

While the Centre for Global Development's director Nancy Birdsall proposed 10 ideas for development progress that won't cost a dime in budget terms.