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By Kerri Provost, August 24, 2010 7:00 pm

Entering The Hartford Club reminded me of how I felt during my first year of college. It was a monumental crossing of a threshold that seemed so off limits to me. While The Hartford Club is far more opulent than my alma mater, my anxiety level was nearly the same when approaching both places. Would it be obvious that I did not belong? I would learn, of course, that there were others like me — first generation college students. First time Hartford Club crashers. Trespassers. There was paperwork proving my right to enter, but still, a trespasser at heart.

I would observe how others moved about, spoke to one another, sat in certain groupings. In both experiences, even when I gained cultural literacy, when I began to blend, I knew that at the end of the day, there was part of me that would never, ever, feel at home. Today, as I walked home from The Hartford Club, it became much more apparent. The achievement gap that was being spoken of was purely academic for much of the audience. It was one thing to talk about discrepancies in performance and economics; it is quite another for these disparities to be palpable. In the Georgian Revival private club on Prospect Street, there is mouthwash in the “ladies lounge.” In my neighborhood, there is litter strewn across the school lawn. The litter has been there all summer long and the school is one of the lowest ranked in Hartford. It remains so, even after being shut down and later reopened as a “new school.” The kids who can not read, who are dropping out, who are creating all the financial burdens we heard about in this morning’s forum — they are not some sad abstract statistic; they are the kids that I pass every time I take a walk around the block.

Slamming the Door on the Achievement Gap

The MetroHartford Alliance forum held at The Hartford Club this morning was titled Hartford Public Schools Education Reform and Next Steps. Presenters included Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools, Dr. Steven J. Adamowski; Executive Director of Achieve Hartford!, James L. Starr; and the Commissioner of Higher Education for the State of Connecticut, Michael P. Meotti. All speakers addressed the issue of closing Connecticut’s achievement gap.

The very phrase “achievement gap” softens the issue. Education Week explains the achievement gap as:

[...] the disparity in academic performance between groups of students. It is most often used to describe the troubling performance gaps between many African-American and Hispanic students, at the lower end of the performance scale, and their non-Hispanic white peers, and the similar academic disparity between students from low-income and well-off families. The achievement gap shows up in grades, standardized-test scores, course selection, dropout rates, and college-completion rates. It has become a focal point of education reform efforts.

While National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results have shown that, over time, black and Hispanic students have made great strides in narrowing the breach that separates them from their white peers, that progress seems to have come to a halt since the mid-1980s.

The achievement gap, to put it in more direct terms, refers to the racial and economic disparities in educational outcome. Connecticut has the dishonor of having the greatest achievement gap in all 50 states, based on the NAEP results. The Superintendent stated that there is a 93% poverty rate within the Hartford school district, based on eligibility for free/reduced school lunch. There are correlations between poverty and other social problems: of those in Hartford who have dropped out of school, 60% have been incarcerated. Continue reading 'Old School, New School'»

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By Kerri Provost, July 24, 2010 1:30 pm

Tianna Glass uses the term Jazzmania 2010 on her blog, so I’m borrowing it here to refer to both the Jazz festival last weekend as well as to the free Monday night Jazz. If you have not read her blog, Things Black People Do in Hartford, you best get over there and check it out. And before freaking out about how that sounds so racist, I’ll offer this thought: almost all of the mainstream organizations and media give plenty of coverage to events and venues that already appeal to a particular audience as a whole. If a person is not feeling especially represented by that coverage, what harm is there in creating a new outlet? I mean, that is basically why this blog got started. I did not feel that most of the news in the local mainstream (and I include so-called “alternative” weeklies in this) represented my experience as a Hartford resident, and the experience of someone who is neither in abject poverty nor living in a mansion on the edge of town is somewhat needed if one is to “get” what it is like to live here. So, we welcome yet another perspective to the mix.

Last night as you probably have heard, offered up a free concert in Bushnell Park. The critiques will come below the fold, be sure, but for now, I will say that artist Janelle Monáe, the feature performer, definitely surpassed all of the hype that was permeating the cultural air space in the previous few weeks. Because of the hype, combined with underwhelming video clips online, I had gone to the show more excited for the other acts. I had never heard of her before recently, and as someone who has a radio show on a community station that receives oodles of independent, unique, and out there albums, I thought it strange that Monáe was off my radar. Usually if I do not hear of someone, it is because she is a lackluster, musically talentless pop star.

It’s safe to say that I became a Monáe fan last night.

Her show was theatrical, but not to the point of losing focus of what mattered– the music. Think of a collision between Ziggy Stardust, Freddie Mercury, Grace Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Lauryn Hill, Gwen Stefani, and Annie Lennox. Since I have seen none of them live in concert, this pleased me. There were costumes, a lot of movement on the stage, and a surprising vocal range. The guitarist wailed and made it seem effortless. This made the walk downtown worthwhile.

But, Monáe deserved a better venue and a better audience.
Continue reading 'Still Wavy versus Jazzmania 2010'»

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By Kerri Provost, June 8, 2010 8:54 am

Here are more photos from June 6th 2010. These exclusively depict the actual official parade and the Festival del Coqui which followed.

I mention this because there has been confusion over where the real parade took place.The official parade route began on Wethersfield Avenue and continued on Main Street. It did not go on Franklin Avenue or Park Street.

The burnouts and off the wall behavior that one would expect at the Mardi Gras or perhaps following a day-long drinking binge after St. Patrick’s Day were essentially absent from the real parade. All of the evening photos and videos in the previous post were taken at “spontaneous parades” which happen every year but are not part of the official Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade. From the images, you can see a huge demographic difference between the two — one features a mix of people in age range, personality, and conduct. The other features mostly teens, and young adults who are behaving boisterously. While Park Street (where the evening faux parade occurred) is always vibrant, it is usually not a hotbed of crazier-than-normal automobile activity.

With that said, I don’t mind a little controlled chaos two days out of the year, just so long as nobody gets hurt. There have been times when parades and other large public gatherings have been tainted by violence. As far as I know, Sunday’s parade was not one of them.

Continue reading 'Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade: Part Two'»

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By Kerri Provost, June 6, 2010 6:04 pm

The official Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade traveled down Wethersfield Avenue and Main Street on Sunday, but an unofficial pre-parade began the night before on Park Street and continued until at least three in the morning.  I have included photos and videos from both events.

The Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade has been happening in Connecticut for 47 years — longer than the Greater Hartford St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

To the left is a photo of cars doing burnouts on Park Street. This happened about once every five or ten minutes.

Horns and hollering could be heard at least two blocks away.

For most of the evening there was nary a cop in sight on Park Street.

The man in the video above was also doing suggestive dancing with the street, but I failed to capture that on camera. You’re welcome.
Continue reading 'Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade: Before, During, and After — Part One'»

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By Kerri Provost, May 31, 2010 7:37 am

On Saturday, Hartford will be hosting the annual Connecticut PRIDE Rally and Festival in Bushnell Park. It starts at noon, ends around 7pm, and will feature singer Inaya Day. I’m still waiting for the day when there is an actual parade and political edge to the Hartford event, but at least they chose a musician with an impressive resume this year.

Someone recently asked “PR parade is also next weekend (Sun) wonder what the gay boricuas will do.” Well, a weekend has two days, my friend.

Sunday is the Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade and Festival del Coqui. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the name of the parade has slightly changed, as it is hosted only by CICD (Connecticut Institute for Community Development) this year, and there is a new board of directors.

CICD says, “We are a new board that is trying to keep this beautiful cultural tradition alive by implementing different element such as the red carpet VIP area, celebrity hosts and cultural costumes and floats.” Celebrities?! If we start the rumor that Ricky Martin is among them, do you think we could get him to come to Hartford?

The parade begins at corner of Wawarme and Wethersfield Avenues (edge of Colt Park) at 11 a.m. and heads up Main Street, ending at Central Row and Prospect Street. From there, people can head to the Riverfront where Festival del Coqui will follow from 2-8 p.m.

The press release promises that, “There will be many surprises throughout the parade route with some celebrity appearances on floats. At the Festival del Coqui audiences will enjoy Spanish food, local cultural entertainment, and a battle of salsa bands that will allow the audience to select the winner.”

I’m already seeing people getting their cars ready for the parade. If you have never been to Hartford before during the Puerto Rican parade, I’d suggest giving yourself plenty of time to find parking or arrange detours. Better yet, just walk.

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By Kerri Provost, May 10, 2010 7:29 pm

After a public hearing in which a few misinformed residents spoke out against the proposed City boycott and denouncement of Arizona, the resolution passed and awaits a signature from Mayor Perez.

The resolution to “denounc[e] SB 1070 and [...] boycott [...] discretionary City travel to Arizona and business with Arizona-based companies” was strongly supported by the City Council. Since the City has no apparent plans to travel to Arizona, and since it does no significant business with Arizona-based companies, this resolution is more symbolic than anything else. It is not an attempt to prevent residents from traveling to Arizona or buying goods from the state, as some believed it to be.
Continue reading 'Consider Yourself Denounced, Arizona'»

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By Kerri Provost, May 7, 2010 2:44 pm

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.

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By Kerri Provost,

High Water Marks: Art & Renewal After Katrina opened in the Amistad Center for Art & Culture (within the Wadsworth Atheneum) at the beginning of May.

Music — which should be pumped throughout the museum, so that the deafening solitude which marks it vanishes into the background — plays in the exhibit, to help set the mood. One of my strongest recollections of a trip to MASS MoCA last summer was the music that was part of a New Orleans’ themed artwork. The uptempo jazz was juxtaposed with photos of New Orleans– a culturally natural and appropriate combination, but odd when the images were of Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. Here, at the Wadsworth, a similar thing happens when this music (though the volume is fairly muted) is the backdrop for a Katrina-themed exhibit.

This exhibit contains an interesting mix of materials — washboard, pots and pans, an umbrella, wood, and then more traditional media. The “Black Bowl” by Donald Boudreaux is a black umbrella against a black backdrop. The artist invites visitors to sit in a chair to view it. From this spot, one can look out the window and see the giant red Travelers’ umbrella. Luis Cruz Azaceta’s “At the Bottom of the Pot” is an assortment of pots and pans that are covered with photographs depicting Hurricane Katrina’s damage. Radcliffe Barley’s “Storm at Sea” is a dramatic mixed media piece that blocks off an entire hallway.

The exhibit runs through mid-September of this year.

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By Kerri Provost, May 1, 2010 7:47 pm

Today, supporters of immigrants’ rights marched through Hartford.

Continue reading 'Pro-Immigration March'»

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By Kerri Provost, April 14, 2010 4:22 pm

Consider yourself cordially invited to my neighborhood this Saturday to help pick up trash. If you have been consistently reading this blog, then you’ll remember what sorts of gems can be found among the gutter junk: My Little Pony action figures (saw another one yesterday), furniture, and medical paraphernalia. The Great American Cleanup provides trash pickers with a solid excuse for sifting through roadside debris.

If the dogooderness of this is not inspiring and you do not need to fulfill some kind of community service requirement, consider this: litter clean ups are great places to meet significant others.

If you can not make it by this Saturday, you can contact Knox Parks Foundation to find out where clean ups will be meeting on April 24, May 1, and May 8th.