“We’ve become complacent” about AIDS, a community member said during Tuesday’s World AIDS Dayforum in the Hartford Public Library.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s, she said, society talked about AIDS. Now, not so much. She called for the need to have conversations in places like barbershops. grocery stores, and in Spanish; then, she passed her microphone to another audience member, who delivered comments in Spanish.
This sentiment was echoed by panelists. One of them, Yvette Highsmith-Francis, the Director of Community Health Center, Inc., said we should be having these dialogues at Thanksgiving dinner and when having pedicures.
Even in 2011, misinformation about the transmission of HIV exists. Highsmith-Francis told the audience about an encounter with a woman in her forties who believed she could “catch AIDS” from hugging someone. Continue reading '“Getting to Zero” Community Forum on HIV/AIDS'»
If the police issue several traffic advisories letting the public know that they will likely be unable to use a street during part of the day, and then they barricade that street so that no vehicular traffic can use it, can activists who — after the road has been made impassable already — are physically blocking an entrance ramp on that block be arrested for impeding traffic?
Yes.
A dozen people, including some with SEIU, CCAG, and the machinists’ union, were peacefully arrested after blocking the Broad Street on-ramp to I-84 East. Peter Goselin, with the National Lawyers Guild, said that the arrests were carried out smoothly.
Rebecca Walker — author of several books including Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence — graciously stayed beyond her scheduled time in the Hartford History Center (at Hartford Public Library) on Sunday evening. She was in Hartford to give a talk about destigmatizing mental illness within the African American community, but anyone who lives in communities where this stigma remains would have benefited from Walker’s discussion of the issue. From audience reaction, it was clear that terms like “cursed” and “eccentric” are still used by some to describe those struggling with mental illness.
And the trouble with the dismissal of this health problem is that people, particularly in the African-American community, do not get the help they need “due to fear of shaming,” Walker said. In the African-American community, she said, what often happens is that people are told to take their problems to God, rather than to a counselor. As she said, “prayer is good,” but sometimes, “it’s not enough.” Continue reading 'Rejecting a Narrative with Rebecca Walker'»
Three police on horseback kept themselves at a respectful distance from activists near the Bank of America on Park Street. Saturday morning’s march had been billed as a family-friendly, law-abiding event, yet a speaker from Occupy New Haven threw around phrases that could be interpreted otherwise, at one point telling the throng to “seize the banks,” while the crowd stood opposite one. It is this uncareful rhetoric that escalates tense situations and alienates others who would have joined in. It makes one curious as to who this “99%” actually is if there is a lack of sensitivity toward those with children (this, in effect, primarily excludes mothers from the movement), those who can not risk arrest because they can not afford to be bailed out from jail, and those who can not risk injury because they lack health insurance.
Ignoring the weight words carry only further dilutes the message.
As the anti-Bank of America activists walked down Broad Street and Park Street, residents and shop owners, for the most part, looked puzzled. Sometimes the chants were about banks getting bailed out, but other times, the chanting called for an occupation of Hartford; little thought seems to have gone into what this might sound like in a neighborhood where many residents’ native countries have actually experienced occupation.
And this population along Park Street is not one Occupy Hartford activists should want to alienate. If anyone knows something about poverty, unemployment, rental housing, and medical bills, it’s Hartford locals. According to data from HartfordInfo.org, 42% of Frog Hollow residents live below the poverty line; the median household income for this neighborhood is just above $17,000. Almost all of the housing in this area is rental. The Park Street corridor might not have as much to say about student loans as some of the Occupy Hartford activists, but the residents could offer more insight about what it is like to live paycheck-to-paycheck and worry about whether or not the electricity will not be shut off that month.
Despite the lapse in judgement by a few, Saturday’s march remained peaceful. The police-to-activist ratio was something like 10-to-1, perhaps in part to the public announcement that civil disobedience was being discussed as a possible tactic. While activists stood across from Bank of America, one was inside closing her account, which was, after all, the purpose of Bank Transfer Day. Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: Marching through el barrio'»
The following is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. Rather, these are my snobbish selections of what sounds most interesting in the upcoming month. Also, to mark the ten years since September 11, 2001, there will be numerous events, re-broadcasts, etc. For this calendar, I am only including those that appear to promise not to pander to reactionaries, nor foster chauvinism.
Art After Hours: Escape to India. The Wadsworth Atheneum’s monthly party will feature Indian cuisine, dancing, henna body painting, and a fashion show by Sadhna’s, a downtown clothing boutique. The event begins at 5pm and concludes after the screening of Monsoon Wedding.
The Art of Carlos Hernandez-Chavez: “I am My Mother.” The opening reception will be from 5-8pm at the Pump House Gallery, located at 60 Elm Street at the edge of Bushnell Park. This collection of work by “Hartford visual artist, muralist, photographer, musician, arts educator and activist Carlos Hernandez-Chavez” will be on display through September 29th. Continue reading 'Happening(s) in September'»
Mental health, addiction, bullying, gay youth, hunger, and education are discussion topics for four upcoming forums at the United Methodist Church of Hartford, which is located on the corner of South Whitney and Farmington. Continue reading 'West End Forums on Neighborhood Needs'»
That smell? That’s the lingering aftermath of yesterday’s fecal explosion over who the next Top Model Superintendent will be. In recent weeks there have been rumors about who would be appointed to this position, but instead of being straight with the people, we have been teased with coy statements.
Jeff Cohen of WNPR has been tracking the complete breakdown in communication, which points at how instead of addressing each other directly, the school system and the Mayor are going at it via the media. Instead of just answering Segarra’s inquiries about school bonuses, for example, school spokesperson David Medina sent Adamowski’s response in the form of a press release. Continue reading 'Transparent Political Education'»
True Colors — a Hartford-based organization — is sponsoring a free self defense class for LGBT youth. This program runs for six weeks and will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Fern Street in West Hartford. The session begins on October 9 and runs on Saturdays October 16 and 23, November 6 and 20, and December 4, 2010. For more information about exact times or what participants should wear/bring, call 860-232-0050 ext. 306.
Update: Due to the Hartford Marathon, the class scheduled for 10/9/10 will be postponed.
To learn more about True Colors or what LGBT youth struggle with, check out this clip:
Luis Cotto, the Minority Leader of Hartford’s City Council (Court of the Common Council) is introducing a resolution that calls for “denouncing SB 1070 and [...] a boycott of discretionary City travel to Arizona and business with Arizona-based companies.” Arizona State Senate Bill 1070 enables racial profiling and restricts the freedom of Americans to travel within the nation’s borders without being treated as guilty until proven innocent via the procurement of documents that normal Americans keep in safe deposit boxes, rather than in their wallets. This resolution, which Cotto says would ” exert pressure [on the Arizona government] by taking our business elsewhere,” is to come before the City Council on Monday, May 10th.
Comments (0) 
“We’ve become complacent” about AIDS, a community member said during Tuesday’s World AIDS Day forum in the Hartford Public Library.
on Park Street. Saturday morning’s march had been billed as a family-friendly, law-abiding event, yet a speaker from Occupy New Haven threw around phrases that could be interpreted otherwise, at one point telling the throng to “seize the banks,” while the crowd stood opposite one. It is this uncareful rhetoric that escalates tense situations and alienates others who would have joined in. It makes one curious as to who this “99%” actually is if there is a lack of sensitivity toward those with children (this, in effect, primarily excludes mothers from the movement), those who can not risk arrest because they can not afford to be bailed out from jail, and those who can not risk injury because they lack health insurance.
other times, the chanting called for an 
The following is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. Rather, these are my snobbish selections of what sounds most interesting in the upcoming month. Also, to mark the ten years since September 11, 2001, there will be numerous events, re-broadcasts, etc. For this calendar, I am only including those that appear to promise not to pander to reactionaries, nor foster chauvinism.
