A Rally To Shut Down Rikers Island

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 in case you haven't heard, the Calls To Close Down Rikers Island Are Getting Louder to where even government officials are addressing the topic of closing down Rikers Island.  And in case you have been hiding out under a rock or stuck in the stone age and haven't heard again, Rikers Island is this infamous prison, or jail, located in New York City that can be compared to Abu Ghraib, a torture chamber, a concentration camp, a place with no oversight, where you have to worry for your life from the guards more so than the prisoners themselves. And Rikers Island was named after Richard Riker, who sent bounty hunters to the south to collect slaves. And a modern day slave plantation Rikers Island is. And so there has been a March to Shut Down Rikers Island protest, a A Rise Up October Rikers Island Protest and other protests held recently around Shutting Rikers Island Down.  And so just yesterday, Campaign to Shut Down Rikers held a Rally at Mayor de Blasios office to #ShutDownRikers! at New York City Hall to Shut down Rikers.   Justice for Kalief Browder. And that Facebook event invite for this event read something like:

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has called closing Rikers a "good concept" but that we need to "get real"...while he authorizes $1 billion per year to run a racist torture chamber infamous for its culture of violence: Rikers Island jail complex. 

For the 11,000 people locked up on Rikers, "getting real" means an immediate end to solitary confinement, the immediate shutdown of Rikers, and full divestment of the city's $1 billion from mass incarceration. Instead, our campaign demands investments into our communities in the form of community-based social services, mental health care, rehabilitation, and due process protections.

Recent debate among elected officials about shutting Rikers shows—finally—acknowledgment of govt. responsibility for failing practices within the criminal (in)justice system. NY Governor Andrew Cuomo and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito have voiced support for closing Rikers Island, a jail notorious for countless acts of brutality and bloodshed at the hands of correction officers. 90% of people detained on Rikers are Black or Brown, 80% could walk free if they had bail money, and 85% are awaiting trial or their next court appearance, not convicted of any crime. 40% of people held there suffer from mental health issues and need care not cages. Rikers has failed the people of NYC for far too long.
___
Join Akeem Browder, brother of Kalief Browder, and the Campaign to Shut Down Rikers:

Tuesday, February 23rd at 9 AM
City Hall - East side entrance at Park Row

Bill de Blasio: There is nothing unrealistic about shutting down Rikers. The time to close the racist torture chamber called Rikers Island is now!

Endorsed by (in aphabetical order): ICE FREE NYC, Incarcerated Nation Corp., International Socialist Organization (NYC), Millions March NYC, New Yorkers Against Bratton, NY Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement, NYC Jails Action Coalition, NYC Shut It Down, People's Power Assembly NYC, and more TBA
___
www.ShutDownRikers.org
shutdownrikers@gmail.com
#ShutDownRikers #Justice4Kalief #BlackLivesMatter

And what, if anything, does this have to do with a No Police State.

A Puffin Black History Month Art Show

Hey again bloggers or whoever could be reading this blog. And on this day finds itself as Occupy Wall Street day one thousand and something, I think. And Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, that all things police brutality and beyond movement are still moving fast. And so in an attempt to maintain content for this blog and my other blog whenever blaghers block possible, I found myself at a Conversations, Puffin Celebrates Black History Month art exhibit just yesterday in that city, or is it a town, of Teaneck to be found in that state of New Jersey. And as one of those all things #blacklivesmatter people and #occupyart people, this art show and opening reception seemed to be all things Black Lives Matter and more. And what a great day it was to venture to this exhibit throughout my travels here on planet earth.  And some of those photos from this event that I got out of that camera before it decided that it wanted to fall to the floor and break, find themselves posted above,  And according to that Facebook event invite that was created for this event, it read something like as follows:

Hi everyone,

I will have #blacklivesmatter artwork and also a "Your Thoughts On Black Lives Matter" banner for your thoughts on Black Lives Matter as part of Puffin Cultural Forum's "Conversations" exhibit for anyone who can make it.

Conversations, Puffin Celebrates Black History Month at Puffin Cultural Center, February 19th, 7pm. 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, NJ 

The participating artists are: Lehna Huie, Ify Chiejina, Carla Cubit, Andrea Cauthen, Vaimoana Litia Makakaufaki, Patrick Dougher, Kern Bruce, Michael Markman, Curtis Grayson, and TAFA.

We take a hard look at the tumultuous dialogue on race, progress, and lack thereof through the visions of contemporary Black artists. Curated by artist and curator Lehna Huie and Puffin Cultural Forum’s Andrew Lee, Conversations presents a mosaic of expressions, ideas, and emotions embedded in the social issues, news headlines, and political movements of our time. Exhibition features many artworks newly created and exhibited for the first time. On view February 19 to March 31.

Free Event
Reservations Not Required

Doors open at 6:30pm.

There will be a brief panel discussion with the artists and a musical performance will close out the evening.

The Puffin Cultural Forum is an intimate art and performance space located 10 minutes from the GW Bridge in NJ. We are a project of the Puffin Foundation, which is a family non-profit foundation that engages in funding projects to promote the Arts and Activism. The Forum is the local community face of the Puffin Foundation. We hold concerts, lectures, film screenings, and on our walls we install exhibitions that
convey meaning and touch on social, historical, political issues.

http://www.puffinculturalforum.org/
http://www.puffinculturalforum.org/events/event/457-conversations-puffin-celebrates-black-history-month.html

And Puffin is having more events throughout this month of Black History, many more and beyond according to their calendar. And one of  those events that seems to be all things #blacklivesmatter and beyond is:

Mark Engler

February 27, 8:00pm.

Puffin presents a new series of talks and presentations by authors from the Nation Institute. Co-author of “This is an Uprising: How Nonviolent Revolt is Shaping the 21st Century,” Mark Engler explores the “craft” of uprising and how they change the world. From protests around climate change, Occupy, Arab Spring, & #BlackLivesMatter, a new generation is unleashing strategic nonviolent action to shape public debate and force public change. Uprising shows how nonviolence can be deployed as a method of political conflict, disruption and social transformation. Mark Engler is an author and journalist based in Philadelphia. He is an editorial board member at Dissent, a contributing editor at Yes! Magazine, and a senior analyst with Foreign Policy In Focus, a network of foreign policy experts.

$10 Suggested Donation
Reservations Recommended- tix@puffinfoundation.org

Doors open at 7:30pm. Reservations held until 7:45pm.

Have a great Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Art day and more.

A Yelp Holiday Hangover 2016 Party

Okay. So it's not that often that I find myself blaghing about parties on this blog these days and yet this post happens to be about an annual Yelp Holiday Hangover 2016 party on that Hudson River to be found in that city of New York. "I'm in!", read a lot of comments to be found on that Yelp Holiday Hangover 2016 website, when those email confirmations from those rsvp's were received in those emails. "I'm not in!" read some of those comments also of people and friends who were not in and were wait listed, as from what I read, this event sold out within twenty minutes of opening at noon and there were over a thousand people on the wait list. And I thank that friend for telling me about this event.  And if I must blagher say, I was super excited to have received one of those Hornblower New York cruises and events party passes, as I have never found myself on one of those yacht party cruises before throughout my travels here on planet earth. And this cruise was a blast, food, food, and more food, entertainment, entertainment and more entertainment, catering, catering and more catering.  And that Statue of Liberty all lit up at night photo is missing in action for when that camera doesn't seem to want to see in the dark from inside that boat and its route.
And that list of performers and vendors from that night, which was actually last night, reads something like as follows:

Mark your calendar - set an alarm - RSVPs open this Thursday at noon for our Annual Yelp's Holiday Hangover party!

What/Why:
#YelpHH16

It's Holiday Hangover time once again with our friends at Hornblower NY (hornblowerny.com)! Presented by Campari America and Bronx Brewery, our goal is to make your otherwise dreary February into the best party this year.

For the fourth straight year, we'll set sail aboard the Hornblower Infinity yacht filled with food, drink, live entertainment, and so much more. Don't mind sub-freezing temps, the Hornblower Infinity is an enclosed four story beauty of a vessel. You'll be plenty toasty.

Here's what to expect:

ATTIRE:

This is a cruise, dress to impress (this means no normcore, no athleisure, etc... If it has a drawstring, chances are you're not trying hard enough) 

DRINK:

Campari America
Bronx Brewery 
Monster Energy 
Harmless Harvest 

EAT:

BarkTHINS 
Between The Bread 
Chickpea 
City Cakes 
COLORS 
Coppelia 
Dough 
Ground Central 
KIND Snacks 
Korilla BBQ 
Krave Jerky 
Lolo's Seafood Shack 
Mikey Likes It 
Oficina Latina 
Oficina 1000Miglia
Otto's Tacos 
Patacon LES
Pokeworks 
Pretzel Crisps 
Royal Munkey 
Sticky's Finger Joint 
Tea and Milk 
The MasalaWala 
Toloache 
Vosges Haut Chocolat 
Williamsburg Pizza 
*Final list of participating food vendors subject to change

FUN:

Anthony Fuscaldo Jazz 
Candy Twisted Balloons 
DJ Darnell Justin
DJ Kev G 
Eric W. Brown Magic
House of Yes 
Pendulum People / Nova Zef 
Spa Envy 
StelnikArt Soirée 
Waiting To Inhale Oxygen Bar 

IMPORTANT INFO:

1. RSVPs open Thursday, January 28th at noon. Save the date/time in your calendar now, spots will fill up fast. These are individual RSVPs so if you'd like to bring your friends, have them RSVP at noon as well.

2. The event is 21+ and your invite is non-transferrable.

3. There will be a $10 donation at entry with all proceeds benefitting Stupid Cancer's comprehensive efforts to cure young adult cancer through advocacy, research, support, outreach, and awareness.

4. Timing of RSVP won't necessarily factor into the final guest list.

5. Please sign up for Hornblower's email so you can stay up to date on important info regarding Yelp's Holiday Hangover.

And every picture tells a story as in those photos and videos that find themselves posted above. Have a great party cruise day and more.