A Go Africa Harlem Street Festival

Hey again bloggers, or whoever could be reading this blog. Okay, so in the age of social media web 2.0 user generated content, I have all of these photos sitting here from a few weeks ago or so, that just seem like they want to be shared on the internet somewhere, hence this blog post, again, in an attempt to maintain content for this blog and my other blagh whenever bloggers block possible. 

And so there was a Go Harlem Street Festival 2016 the other day in that city of New York where I attempted to vend those DecorForU ‪#‎berniesanders‬,‪#‎blacklivesmater‬,‪#‎occupywallstreet‬, ‪#‎brooklyn‬, ‪#‎harlem‬and ‪#‎yoga‬ necklaces, magnets and key chains for $1 each as one of those vendors at this Harlem Street Festival.  And it seems like I may have spent more time attempting to take photos of Gale A. Brewer, Manhattan Bourough President, and Charles Rangel, a member of Congress, who were speaking at this festival, as in some of those photos that find themselves posted above, then attempting to vend that jewelry.  And according to that Go Africa Network Facebook page post that reads something like:

“We would like to thank Gale Brewer, Michael Blake, Senator Adriano Espaillat, Charles Rangel, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Gale A. Brewer, Manhattan Borough President, Carl E. Heastie,Healthfirst, D.j. Henri,African diaspora parade1, NY African Restaurant Week, Foundation for a Drug Free World, IDNYC,Carver Federal Savings Bank, CUNY Citizenship Now, MoneyGram Africa and American Red Cross for their participation and support of the Go Africa Harlem 2016 street festival on 7/16/2016. We are looking forward to the next street festival on 7/15/2017. visitwww.GoAfricaHarlem.org for more information.”

And according to that  Go Africa Network 2016 website page, they were proud to announce a lot of people, politicians, musicians, vendors and beyond and more to this event, as their description of this Harlem Street Festival read as follows:

Street festival aims to support black-owned businesses in Harlem and New York City in general

 New York, NY — The second annual Go Africa Harlem Street Festival will be held Saturday, July 16 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on 116th Street within the boundaries of Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass boulevards in Harlem.

The festival will include live music and dance, African food and beverages, African-American food and beverages, clothing and apparel, health and wellness services, financial services such as banking and insurance, city agency services in areas such as immigration, housing and social services, taste tests and giveaways.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, a sponsor and supporter of the festival, will serve as the grand marshal for the event.

 Shaun King, senior justice writer for the New York Daily News and a prominent civil rights activist known for his use of social media to shed light on social causes, will serve as Co-cost for the event with  Charlene (“Charlie”) Cooper from WFXR, Fox News

 Some of the restaurants that will be participating in New York African Restaurant Week (NYARW) 2016, will be in attendance. A Taste of Africa, a community-based organization dedicated to promoting the best of African cuisine and culture that organizes the annual NYARW, is among the supporters of the event.

Other sponsors and supporters include the Consulate General of Senegal in New York; Association Nationale des Senegalais d’Amérique; Manhattan Community Board 10 and the Honorable Professor Michael John Downie, chairman of the CB10’s Arts and Culture Committee; the Delegate General of Côte d’Ivoire; the Permanent Mission of Guinea to the United Nations; New York State Assemblyman Keith Wright; Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and his African Advisory Council; Souleimane Konaté, imam of the Masjid Aqsa Mosque in Harlem; New York City Civil Court Judge W. Franc Perry; New York State Senator Adriano Espaillat; Manhattan Borough President Brewer’s Immigrant Task Force; and Halstead Property.

And what a great Go Africa Harlem Street Festival day this was indeed.  Have a Great Harlem Street Festival day and more. 

A Black Lives Matter Art Show at Out In The Streets Festival & Chashama

And on this day finds itself as Occupy Wall Street day one thousand and something, I think.  And Occupy Wall Street and that all things police brutality and beyond movement Black Lives Matter are still moving fast. And so again, I thought to repost this blog post from that Occupy Art blog in an attempt to maintain web 2.0 user generated content for this blagh and my other blog sometimes, whenever bloggers block possible because hey, it's less writing sometimes.

Okay, so I guess I can say that another one of those Black Lives Matter Art Shows, or at least part of one, went to Out In The Streets Music & Arts Festival at Onderdonk House as part of Talking Walls in that neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn, or is it Ridgewood, Queens simply because hey, I found myself taking some of those Occupy Art and Black Lives Matter posters and banners there and attempting to vend those DecorForU #berniesanders, #blacklivesmatter, #occupywallstreet, #brooklyn, #bushwick and #yoga necklaces, magnets and key chains for $1 each at that event also.  And if I must blogger say, that event rocked, literally, with those rock bands that played that really cool rock band music and beyond.  And the weather seemed to hold up on that day, so much that those pools that find themselves in some of those photos posted above, remained full at all times.  And Ridgewood Market was there vending also. And so that Facebook event invite for that Out in the Streets Festival 2016 read something like:

July 16 - July 17
Out In The Streets Music & Arts Festival
1820 Flushing Ave.  Queens, New York 11385

☀JULY 16 - 17☀
2 days of MUSIC, ART and FOOD on 2 acres of outdoor park land at the historic ONDERDONK HOUSE 

☀LINE-UP☀

SATURDAY, JULY 16TH
The So So Glos
Potty Mouth // Guerilla Toss
BIG UPS // Beverly - Band
FUTURE PUNX // B Boys
Party Static // SOFTSPOT // Freind

SUNDAY, JULY 17TH
FRANKIE ROSE
TEEN // Honduras
EZTV // PILL // The Britanys // BOYTOY
Weekender // The Teen Age // Dead Stars

☀TICKETS☀
http://www.outinthestreets.com/tickets/
DOORS 1pm // SHOW 1:30pm
ii->ALL AGES 11 & Under FREE!!

☀AFTERPARTY☀
CHAPPO // Gemma // Surf Rock is Dead
Sunnyvale Brooklyn --> JULY 16 --> 10PM --> $5 w. wristband!
RSVP:: https://www.facebook.com/events/686724114799565/

☀FOLLOW US☀
web -www.outinthestreets.com
facebook - https://www.facebook.com/OutInTheStreets/
twitter - @outinthestreetz
instagram - @outinthestreetsfestival

****Lineup for the festival and all associated parties subject to change without notice****

☀FEATURING☀
Local vendors by Ridgewood Market
Art curated by Talking Walls
Food by ALPHAVILLE. // 140 Wilson Ave.

☀THE ONDERDONK HOUSE☀
http://www.onderdonkhouse.org/

The The Vander-Ende Onderdonk House is the oldest dutch colonial stone house in NYC and the third oldest surviving structure in Queens. In the mid-1600's, Peter Stuyvesant granted the land it sits on (over 100 acres) to its first owners . The current house was built in 1709 by Flatbush resident Paulus Vander Ende. Besides a farm, the house has served as a speakeasy and scrap glass business and once established the boundary between Kings and Queens counties. Today the space is owned by the Greater Ridgewood Historical Society, which saved it from being bulldozed after a fire in the 1970s and opened it to the public in 1982. It is currently occupied by caretakers who maintain the property and tend to the house's coop of six hens.

☀WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF ☀
The Bronx Brewery //Paper Garden Records // Tell All Your Friends PR//Newtown Radio // Ridgewood Market // Archie's // MILES // Wyckoff Starr Coffee Shop // Faro // ALPHAVILLE.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ SO MUCH LOVE ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
The Sky Report ♥ BirdDog Promo ♥ Supercrush Studio ♥

Out In The Streets 2016 is dedicated in loving memory to Trey Trenchard

And on another Black Lives Matter Art Show event note....

I am super looking forward to Black Lives Matter Art Show at Chashama, 

We give you what you need. SPACE! 
chashama presents artists' works in many different venues, and thanks to the The Durst Organization, artists are able to present their work in the lobbies of many buildings in NYC. Another way in which we can keep alive the cultural richness of our city!

Art is powerful.

Carla Jean of Occupy Art and a speaker for The Stop Mass Incarceration Network displays her ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ artwork and posters, alongside her photographs from Black Lives Matter protests throughout the NYC area.

August 5 - September 4, 2016

at 

Chashama 266 West 37th Street, New York, New York, 10018

Have a great Out In The Streets Music & Arts Festival, Chashama day and more.

Alton Sterling. Black Lives Matter

First they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists,

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left to speak for me.

#2012 wake up world

#blacklivesmatter

And a host of Black Lives Matter related events and beyond have passed since I left that Stop Mass Incarceration Network Justice for Alton Sterling & Philando Castile #StopPoliceTerror-Which Side Are You On? protest at Union Square just yesterday in that city of New York that seems to have been part of a much larger nationwide protest for Alton Sterling and all victims of police brutality. And the latest headline news of the day on this day for the Dallas protests yesterday, has me wanting to say Occupy the NRA. And Alton Sterling was the 558th person killed by cops in 2016.  And if you don't take issue with this then you are part of the problem. And By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years.  And that event invite for that Stop Mass Incarceration Network Facebook event invite read something like:

July 7 - July 8

at 7PM

Union Square Park, New York, New York

Friday July 8 7:00 pm people will meet again at Union Square, 14th Street (south) end of the park near the steps. Bring your signs, your banners, your drums, your noise makers, your anger and and your determination to#StopPoliceTerror

The Stop Mass Incarceration Network & the NYC Revolution Club call on you to get in the streets right away in response to the outrageous and criminal murder of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and of Philando Castile in Minneapolis MN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A73Vr-CWcsQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qq4-hl5XnE

Stop police terror!

Indict, convict, send the killer cops to jail!

Carl Dix: http://comradecarl.blogspot.com/

revcom.us: http://revcom.us/a/447/alton-sterling-baton-rouge-louisiana-en.html

Just this week we have #3deadin3days! Starting with so-called Independence Day:

Monday #DelwarnSmall was shot by an off duty cop in from of his family during a road rage incident in Brooklyn NY.

Tuesday #AltonSterling was murdered while pinned down by officers which was caught on video in Baton Rouge LA.

Wednesday #PhilandoCastile was murdered in Falcon Heights, MN also in front of his family after complying with officers, also on video.

And those photos and video that find themselves posted above from this protest, tell a story, part of a story. And what, if anything, does this have to do with a No Police State.

Another Patriotic Holiday

The only thing constant is change and some stories do not end as you expect. You take a deep breath and you jump, or you try and jump.  And you hope that there is water at the bottom of the pool when you land.  And it is the saddest story ever told. And as I was wandering throughout the streets on this day, all of the activities and advertisements in the stores seem to point to the latest buy everything for this holiday day of the day.  And July 4th was this holiday.  Another one of those red, white and blue flag waving holidays, similar to those holidays of Memorial Day and Veterans day, where the patriots come out in force to wave those American flags.  And though that photo in this blog post above doesn’t really have anything to do with July 4th, it was taken on that July 4th weekend during that one day road trip in that state of New York near that town of Beacon, New York on the roadside towards that 2016 Vermont Annual Rainbow Gathering, that I never seemingly made it to, though attempted.  And even in the midst of one of those hippie peace and love gatherings, this is also what a police state looks like, with a description of that event that reads something like:

We will gather peacefully for silent meditation in the morning of July 4th, 2016 until noon; and a peaceful assembly of free speech and expression from July 1st through the end of Vision Counsel; in the public lands of the White and Green Mountains National Forests in the states of Vermont, Maine or New Hampshire

We, who are brothers & sisters, children of God, families of life on earth, friends of nature & of all people, children of humankind calling ourselves Rainbow Family Tribe, humbly invite:

•     All races, peoples, tribes, communes, men, women, children, individuals — out of love.
•     All nations & national leaders — out of respect
•     All religions & religious leaders — out of faith
•     All politicians — out of charity

 to join with us in gathering together for the purpose of expressing our sincere desire that there shall be peace on earth, harmony among all people. & to hold open worship, prayer, chanting or whatever is the want or desire of the people, for three days, but upon the fourth day of July at noon to ask that there be a meditative, contemplative silence wherein we, the invited people of the world may consider & give honor & respect to anyone or anything that has aided in the positive evolution of humankind & nature upon this, our most beloved & beautiful world — asking blessing upon we people of this world & hope that we people can effectively proceed to evolve, expand, & live in harmony & peace.

Feel free to arrive a few weeks early to create the gathering and/or stay a few weeks late to clean it all up.

Welcome Home.

And so here is another one of those recycle this blagh July 4th blog posts in an attempt to maintain content for this blog and my other blog whenever bloggers block possible because hey, it’s less writing sometimes.

The 4th of July Again

And here on this day is another one of those holidays that seem to repeat itself each year as if to say same holiday, different year, so much that I find myself reposting those holiday blog entries again, as this blog seems as if it wants to repeat itself sometimes over the days, months, years, centuries and infinity, maybe:

It’s July 4th again. Another one of those national American patriotic holidays that is celebrated and observed only in America and nowhere else in the world. And what does the word “Patriotic” mean anyway? And for what reason does the word patriot have the word riot in it. And that “Parens Patriae” government as parent, father of a country sovereign guardianship of property thing, what’s that all about? And for what reason does the phrase Parens Patriae have the word patriot in it. That could be a whole another blog post of isms of some sort. And it’s that time of year again when the image of the American flag is worshiped and honored for whatever the reason may be and more patriotic songs are sung and more pledging of allegiance to the flags are pledged. Didn’t the flag waving just end last month with Memorial May, the other ultimate patriotic American holiday? And what is being celebrated this time? I can’t remember the meaning of July fourth. Doesn’t it have something to do with freedom or the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia? I am not sure if anyone is free when others are oppressed and civil liberties are disappearing at the speed of light in the name of “Security and terrorism” and now, the latest trend “Plots”. Although the show business of fireworks for pyrotechnics of peace and war for this day can be really cool to look at and the rooftop parties can be fun. Again, I should consult Wikipedia, the ultimate internet bible to understand the meaning of this holiday. Happy July 4th, great travels, fireworks, barbecues, beachgoing and picnics.

And this one also…..

Plastic

Today is July 4th. The fourth of July. It’s a day when there will be lots of events, celebrations, parties, barbeque’s and outdoor activities going on. Have you ever thought about the amount of plastic that will be disposed of today in all of this activity? Have you taken time to think of where that plastic cup or bag goes when you throw it in the garbage. As most of the parties today will most likely not be contributing to the recycling program. There are countries in Europe that impose a plastic bag tax, PlasTax of .5 cents for every plastic bag you receive to discourage the frivolous use of plastic. Ireland has reduced their consumption of plastic bags by 90 percent as a result. As New York City is contemplating a plastic ban, the plastic pimper corporations are not. America is drowning in plastic. As I have mentioned before, the evils of plastic are many. It is a non biodegradable object fueling the petroleum oil industry. The health hazards of plastic are many. Greenhouse gas emissions have run amok. Drains are being clogged and drain flooding is increasing. The birds of the earth are dying and choking from it and people are suffocating from it. For what reason is not a more natural material and product being created to replace plastic? If you are at a party today, consider the environment. Consider reusing your cup or your bag today. Go Green. And what does this have to do with a No Police State? Happy July 4th.