I recently testified about middle school integration at City Hall as a newly elected member of District 15’s Community Education Council, a.k.a. CEC15. My comments elicited a mildly humorous response from Councilmember Daniel Dromm, then the Education Committee Chair. I had just ended my speech with, “I am hopeful WXY can deliver a streamlined middle school process, with fewer forums… Read more →
I’ll cut to the chase. I was sexually harassed and groomed over the course of a week by James Toback, but not sexually assaulted, battered or threatened, as many others were, because I did not accompany him to a hotel room or Central Park. Listening to the news over the past week, I now realize what awaited me if I’d… Read more →
I recently spoke to parent-teacher coordinators and guidance counselors from various elementary schools and discovered a promising opportunity for District 15 parents. This year there has been a shift in 5th-grade students placed at several schools I term “Options for All.” Such schools offer parents a chance both to reform our segregated middle schools and create more “choice.” But I’m… Read more →
(Video compatible with Safari and Chrome.) It was quite a seen today at Carroll Park. After many rainy days, the sun peeked out for a few hours on one of the first warm days of springs, attracting more than kids to the park. As children were being dismissed from nearby schools, a raccoon with spring fever was foraging for an… Read more →
Isn’t this fun? We stared into a juggernaut of wars, corruption, discrimination and propaganda to create a Resistance and look how far it has come in 5 months! We have a name. We had the largest demonstration in US history. We were effective screaming in town halls, airports and courthouses. We joined Sister District, Flippable, or SwingLeft and managed to… Read more →
Signs of the resistance are everywhere including The Coal Shop: Brooklyn Workshop Gallery. I strolled in on the first spring-like Sunday and was caught off guard by Spring A.I.R., new works and works-in-progress by artists-in-residence Signe Bresling Rudolfsen and William Storms. Rudolfsen, a painter, and Storms, a weaver, working both individually and collaboratively captured the crucial interweaving of humanity. The… Read more →
Oh, give me a home where the streetcars roam. Where the children vote on participatory budgeting projects all week. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word on new school construction and the skies are not cloudy all day. It might come as a surprise to hear there are exciting government projects underway in our own backyard! I thought you might… Read more →
Like many of you, I have attended a few protests in the last month in preparation for the Women’s March in D.C. I have little prior history of activism because my twenties were spent in the Clinton years and there just wasn’t much to protest—what with all that stability. Despite my novice, I was accused of being a professional activist… Read more →
The day after the election it rained. The downpour was ceaseless, but a small group gathered to discuss the achievements and losses of women in politics at the Tenement Museum. Author of The Women Who Made New York—and mom in our fair Momtropolis—Julie Scelfo moderated an insightful discussion with Dr. Zinga Fraser, Donna Zaccaro, and Liz Abzug. Zinga Fraser, PhD… Read more →
According to Huffington Post women have their emotions on lock down until the election ends. Stephanie Schriock, President of EMILY’s List predicts if Hillary wins there will be, “…an emotional release by women across this country that is going to be extraordinary….” And she would know. EMILY’s List has been taking the basal body temperature of the female electorate for… Read more →