NEW ORLEANS, LA

In NOLA we had a great time!!
We went to many different places and toured areas that were affected greatly by Hurricane Katrina. This includes the Ninth Ward and Harvey, LA.
While there, we worked with Acorn, and Habitat for Humanities.
Pictures coming soon!

My Community

MILL BASIN- OLD AND NEW










Marty Markowitz is Brooklyn's Borough President
















**Council Man for Mill Basin**
Kendall Stewart ( District 45)



















-Kendall Stewart was born in St.Vincent, and he is devoted to helping the community by providing comprehensive services to seniors, better schools, quality tutoring and after-school programs, more job opportunities for all, improved health care, exceptional public safety, more affordable and accessible child care, better quality of life in the community, clean streets and access to immigration services.


**CLICK HERE TO SEE WHATS HAPPENING IN MILL BASIN**
**CLICK HERE TO SEE WHATS HAPPENING IN MILL BASIN**

**Facts about Mill Basin**

-Schools in the area are among the best. For example P.S. 236, according to John T. Comer, superintendent of District 22. The school has ranked in the top 3 percent in reading and math citywide for the last two decades.

-The politicians that keep Mill Basin together constantly find ways to keep the young children occupied. We have many parks that include the 6.7-acre triangular Alex Lindower Park at Mill and Strickland Avenues, which recently underwent a $600,000 renovation of its playground, comfort station, ball field and warm-up equipment. Two 2.3-acre parks in Old Mill Basin are James Marshall Power Playground, at Avenue N and Utica Avenue, where adult softball teams compete, and Monsignor Crawford Athletic Field along Avenue U, which has two ballfields (one called Amity) where Little Leaguers gather.

-There are many different side stores and privately owned businesses where you can shop at, but Kings Plaza Mall is usually one of the favorites because of its location (Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U), and its vast amount of stores to choose from (130 stores) in its 1.1 milion square feet, with a dozen more expected to open.

**My Community Story**
-My experience in Mill Basin is a very positive one. I love living in an environment that is not too chaotic and is quiet at times, but also filled with children. It is sad to see that many gangs around the area are trying to destroy property because it is decreasing our property value. I would recommend anyone to invest in land in Mill Basin because it is a safe place to live.
In terms of safe, I mean that there is not a lot of hoodlums and thugs living in the area. Besides the neighboring Glenwood Projects trouble makers, we are living safely. Occasionally, there will be a spring of robberies to some homes in the neighborhood, but that does not happen often. If anything does happen however, there will be police patrolling the area, and in my opinion, that is because there are many Caucasian people, along with mansions in the area.
If someone was looking for a nice CLEAN place to start and raise a family, Mill Basin would be the perfect place because you can buy open lots to build your own house, or you can buy many new houses that are being built in the area. Also, a lot of the older houses are kept in good condition and the structure of them are very unique and might be just your taste of a house.
Around my area, especially on my block, there are many children (all of different ethnicities), and we are all about the same age; ranging from about 10 to 20. When we were younger, we used to play around with each other a lot, but as we got older, people started to drift away from each other and hang out with their friends in neighboring communities such as East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Canarsie because there was more to do.

**Things To Do**
In my community there are many things to do such as bowling, going to Kings Plaza Mall, visiting a big variety of public parks, and many more. A lot of kids like to go outside to play with their friends and a big favorite is water fights in the summer time. The people are friendly and the community children are like a big family.

**Federal Government**
President George Bush

**Federal State Senator**
Chuck Schumer

**State Governor**
David Patterson

**City Representative**
Mayor Michael Bloomberg

**Assembly Woman**
Helene E. Weinstein

New York Voices: The Liberians of Staten Island

February 30th 2008

*Why did freed Americans go to Liberia?*
Would you do something to help people that you see are in great need? Or will you just sit back and watch them suffer with no help what so ever from their own government? I would most definitely help out. That is what free Americans did for the Liberians. The article from New York Voices on "The Freed Liberians in Staten Island" has taught me that freed Americans went to Liberia after seeing the conditions that the Liberians that escaped the bloody civil war at their homeland was in. Many Liberians who escaped the war came to United States and got help from international relief programs and taken in as refugees. Thousands of them that survived wound up in the Park Hill section of Staten Island. Those that went and helped the Liberians also helped with the "Americanization" of the refugees. Many people helped to teach them how to read because it was imperative for them to get a job so that they could support their families both in the States, and back in their own country.

Barbara Jordan

Feb. 29th 2008



Barbara Jordan was born Barbara Charline Jordan on the 21st of February 1936 in Houston Texas.

*Achievements*
Barbara served in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 [a democrat]. She was the first black woman to serve on the US Congress from the South. Both as a state senator and as a U.S. Congresswoman, Jordan sponsored bills that championed the cause of poor, Black, and disadvantaged people. One of the most important bills as senator was the Workman's Compensation Act, which increased the maximum benefits paid to injured workers. As a congresswoman, she sponsored legislation to broaden the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to cover Mexican Americans in Texas and other southwestern states and to extend its authority to those states where minorities had been denied the right to vote or had had their rights restricted by unfair registration practices, such as literacy tests.

*Time line*
1936- Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas.
1948-1952- Attended Phyllis Wheatley High School and graduated in the upper five percent of her class.
1952-1956- Attended Texas Southern University and pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Barbara graduated she graduated magna cum laude in political science and history.
1962-Jordan ran for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives, but lost.
1964- Ran for the Texas House of Representatives again, but lost again.
1966- Elected to the newly drawn Texas Senate seat becoming the first Black to serve in that
body since 1883.
1966-1975- Accomplished many things that she set out to accomplish during this time, in terms
of politics. For example, she sponsored bills that helped the poor, black, and
disadvantaged people.
1996- Barbara Jordan died of complications from pneumonia on January 17.

*Quote*
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total."

*Impacts from the outside World*
Society impacted Jordan's life in a positive way. Even though she had to push through brick walls to accomplish what she set out to accomplish, it drove her to go even further with the world thinking that she would not succeed.

*My observations*
I discovered that Barbara Jordan was a successful black woman who was a step stone for Black people because she ran for office when the world was still extremely racists. She showed young blacks that they can do anything if they believed in themselves and worked hard to achieve it.

*Citation*
"Barbara Jordan." Barbara Jordan-Wikipedia. 07 March 2008. GNU Free Documentation License. 7 Mar 2008

Martin Luther King Jr.

Feb. 15th 2008

Loving Your Enemies by Martin Luther King Jr.

This speech was made on November 17th 1957 at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It's so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, "Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy." But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.

"Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn't possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.

**My opinion**

In my opinion, I believe that Dr. Kings words were very wise. My mother (and family) constantly tells me to keep my enemies close. By doing this, you will be able to predict your enemies every move. Also, remember the golden rule, treat others like you will like to be treated. You cant fight fire with fire because youll both end up getting burned.

**Questions**

1) In your opinion, what do you think was the point that Dr. King was trying to get across?

2) Do you think that you would be able to do as Dr. King says and love your enemies?

3) Do you think that it was right for Dr. King to go against what God stated "Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy?"

*Citation*
King, Martin. "Martin Luther King Speeches." MLK Online. 28 Feb 2008

An Interesting Webite...

Feb. 15th 2008

A new website that people may find interesting is:
*www.perezhilton.com
This website basically has information on celebrities and their lives. I usually do not prefer to read into the gossip that the media tells about celebrities like Brittney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, but sometimes the information isnt all bad. You can find out the new couples and whos working on new projects.

African American Lives

African American Lives Video

Feb. 13th 2007

Channel 13 @ 9:00 P.M.

Choose one of the interveiwee and discuss the following:

1) The significance of their last name

2) The historical events in their family/ lives