You are invited to Designing to Live Sustainably's inaugural Design Celebration and Gala. Please join us Saturday May 18th from 6-9 PM, at the CEPA Gallery, 617 Main St. Buffalo, NY. Our design celebration will exhibit designs submitted by entrants showing their visions for a better and more sustainable Buffalo. Please RSVP via facebook or email. www.facebook.com/d2lsBuffalo or d2lsbuffalo@gmail.com

Do you have an idea or concept for improving a piece of property in Buffalo? Designing to Live Sustainably (d2ls) is encouraging you NOW to enter our competition. Our mission is to use a highly inclusive competition to inspire the public and private sectors to submit YOUR ideas on ways to improve YOUR neighborhood or an area you know is ripe for a real face lift. The competition is open to anyone (professionals and community members, students) who can help create a livable and sustainable Buffalo in the 21st century and beyond.

D2LS seeks entries from every demographic and discipline to be catalysts to drive this conversation. From interiors and new or adaptive re-use built environment to landscape and site plans. From high school through university students to professionals and block clubs. From those who have only a great box of crayons to those with sophisticated design software.

Entrants may enter as a team or individually and are allowed to submit more than one entry. The registration fee is only $40, per submission, whether one person or multiple members work as a team. The submissions will be displayed during the Competition Celebration at the CEPA Gallery, 617 Main Street on May 18, 2013. Developers will be invited to meet and talk with the entrants with the hope of moving designs into realty! Please visit www.d2lsbuffalo.com to enter the competition and for further information. You can enter NOW and your actual illustration/design is not due until May 3rd. So get in the contest! Thank you.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about this thing called sequestration. What is it, what does it mean, how does it affect me?

Sequestration according to Dr. Paul Johnson of Auburn University was “originally a legal term referring generally to the act of valuable property being taken into custody by an agent of the court and locked away for safekeeping, usually to prevent the property from being disposed of or abused before a dispute over its ownership can be resolved.” Nowadays the term has been high jacked by congress to mean a certain type of financial policy. “If congress cannot agree on ways to cut back the total (or does not pass a new, higher Budget Resolution), then an "automatic" form of spending cutback takes place. This automatic spending cut is what is called sequestration" Johnson says.

Suddenly in March of 2013, only 3 months into the New Year – all hell (fiscally speaking) has suddenly broken loose. Has US President Barack Obama put the ball in the court of Congressional Republicans, or is it the other way around? No one seems to know. “I don’t know whether it’s going to hurt the economy or not” says House Speaker John Boehner R-Ohio in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press about sequestration 2013. GOP members of Congress have indicated that they’d be open to granting the Obama administration flexibility in choosing what to save and what to cut. President Obama however has maintained that he does not want to be made the sole decision maker of difficult or painful budget cuts.

The problem with a potential automatic form of spending cutback (or any cutback for that matter) is that nobody wins in the end. Services that are already flesh wounds get cut to the bone, and agencies that are underfunded fall by the wayside. The people who often work with the least end up getting cut into the most. These potential automatic federal budget cuts would affect among other things social service programs, and education. It remains to be seen what specific effects the sequestration would have on Buffalo NY, but it doesn’t take a mind reader to figure out that it wouldn’t be good.

When big corporations don’t pay their fair share the pie is undone. Would you eat a cherry or an apple pie with just the filling and not the crust? It’s not a pie then, is it? Now add to our revenue crisis, a budget crisis, and a sequestration, what do we do now?

Plain faced wickedness, political gamesmanship, or a sincere gentlemen’s disagreement – whatever it is we have to figure something out quick.

PS. You can check out this link to see who pays the price for these cuts and to take action against them. 

"The community benefits by partnering with groups like PUSH Green. As the districts' representative, I applaud the program and its staff. Home improvements and energy efficiencies help homeowners, neighborhoods, and our next generation."

- Erie County Legislator Lynn Marinelli

As some may, or may not know PUSH Green, a newly formed arm of PUSH Buffalo, has been created to:

1. Expand access to weatherization services across Erie County for all residents, regardless of income.
2. Work with homeowners who are interested in lowering their utility bills and making their home more comfortable through energy efficiency improvements like insulation and high-efficiency furnaces that help to reduce our region’s energy usage
3. Offers free comprehensive energy assessments of your home. If you choose to proceed with home improvements, we can help you access a new NYSERDA program that will allow you to finance improvements right on to your utility bill, eliminating the need to pay up-front.

We need your help in spreading the word about our Share the Savings program! You can help in two simple ways:

1. Improve Your Own Home. Schedule an appointment for a comprehensive home energy assessment, today! Call (716) 886-1780 and ask to speak with a PUSH Green Energy Advocate to get the process started!

2. Serving as an advocate for homeowners who are interested in lowering their utility bills and making their home more comfortable through energy efficiency improvements like insulation and high-efficiency furnaces that help to reduce our region’s energy usage. Your PUSH Green Energy Advocate is only a phone call away throughout the upgrade process.

The link to the online referral form is HERE

We’ll be tallying up the referrals and announcing the winners of Share the Savings the first week of March.

Prizes for those who refer the largest number of homeowners interested in learning about PUSH Green are as follows:

First Prize: $200 Gift Certificate for Buffalo Chophouse
Three Runners Up:
$50 Gift Certificate for Allen Street Hardware
$50 Gift Certificate for Lexington Co-Op
$50 Gift Certificate for Black Rock Kitchen & Bar

Have questions? Contact PUSH Green Program Manager at Kate@pushbuffalo.org or 716-886-1780

Let’s work to green our community while creating quality jobs in the process through Share the Savings.
#staygreen and #LIVEBetter friends! #ShareTheSavings

   

Two highlights of the conference that stand out in my mind are the different issues that groups across the country are working on, and a panel discussion that featured Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

They say that all politics is local, and this statement was never more true at this conference. VOCAL NY down in New York City is working on "Stop and Frisk", and on Medical Marijuana legislation, Take Action Minnesota has just beat a proposed voter ID restriction bill in that state, many groups in the Midwest, and out West are battling ant-immigration issues. Groups in Detroit Michigan are contending with of course housing issues. Keith Ellison's visit by far surprised me. Many say that compared to his colleagues in Washington he is pretty radical. I thought to myself "yeah right", but to my surprise he had some pretty interesting insights. He said "Washington can be like crack" or in other words as he broke it down later - a politician who stays in Washington DC around power, or influence long enough disconnected from the people who don't have the resources to fight on a large scale will become addicted to the power and the influence of Washington DC. He went on to give advice to organizers as how to keep their elected officials close to the common man on the street.

I am sometimes usually skeptical about events like this one, but from the opening session until the end I learned new information, connected with organizers doing similar things in other cities, and I came home empowered to continue doing my work.

You can also read this post on the goodneighborhood.com 

Remember the Hip Hop you grew up listening to? You know music with a message? It seemed for a while to us-those of us from the "Boom Bap" era of the genre, that Hip Hop went missing, it's image was placed on a milk carton. Well I have an announcement to make, real Hip Hop has been sighted in Buffalo NY.

"No Heat" a new track produced by the National Fuel Accountability Coalition, is the theme song for the National Fuel Accountability Coalition's (of which PUSH Buffalo is a part of) Weatherization Campaign. "No Heat" explores the frustrations of the working poor in dealing with utility shutoffs in the winter (particularly gas, and lights) in Buffalo NY. Many people in the Buffalo area live in older, drafty housing. Quality, affordable weatherization would make the difference for not only many Buffalo area residents, but also for people living all throughout the State of New York!

You can catch the song being performed live on Monday November 19, 2012 10am-2pm in downtown Buffalo, more info here

The hip hop MC Nas famously said, “Hip hop is dead.” To paraphrase him, many of us believe that “voting is dead.”

While the Caravan of Corruption recently came to town, corruption in politics is nothing new in this country, and it’s certainly not anything that’s exclusive to New York State. Every state in the union has its own cast of political carnival characters. It’s like a new teen music sensation – once the fans get tired of them, they become played out.

Living in this country, many of us have grown accustomed to living a certain type of life. You wake up in the morning to get your son or daughter ready for school.You reach in the cabinet to get some Fruit Loops for yourself, and some oatmeal for your child. After putting your child on a bus for school, you have your coffee and bagel while reading the paper, saying things like, “Ooh wow…that’s crazy…how interesting…how terrible…he’s nuts.”You head to work saying to yourself, “Only eight hours to go, baby – when I get off I’m going to grab a Bud Light.”

Living in the United States, one of the world’s most powerful, wealthiest, and blessed nations, can make some of us take things for granted. We may think that because something is, that it always was. Although you put your child on that bus for school this morning, at some point in history there was such a thing as child labor in this country. This meant that instead of going to public school, young children were working long work days as if they were adults. Somebody back then voted to change that!

You only have to work eight hours today, unless you agree to do some overtime. No one can force you to work all day in order to keep your job. This wasn’t always the case, but somebody back then voted to change that. Bud Light wasn’t always legal in this country; we have a sordid past called “Prohibition” and somebody back then voted to change that.

For the last two and a half centuries, successive generations of Americans voted in some way or another to create the type of life we have here today. On a worldwide scale, the presidential election of the United States ranks as the Super Bowl of elections; the whole world is literally watching.Whether you’re rooting for team Romney or team Obama, what our future looks like depends on which way we vote on Tuesday.

Power equals one man/woman, to one vote. Whether you want to rock the vote, rap the vote, rockabilly the vote, or conserve the vote, just go out and vote!

read also on the goodneighborhood.com 

· Do you want to increase your opportunity for employment?
· Do you want to make your community more energy efficient?
· Are you an experienced and/or trained construction worker?
· Maybe you have no experience in construction?
· Do you want to become a certified Green and Healthy Homes worker?


Then the time to act is now!


PUSH Buffalo and, PUSH Green want you! It breaks down like this: A statewide coalition that PUSH Buffalo helped lead (Green Jobs, Green New York, GJGNY) wins a big victory in 2009, and then another in 2011. These victories are two different, but important bills that got passed in Albany. PUSH Green is then created to connect homeowners to energy efficiency, and to connect workers to energy efficiency jobs.

We have a free weatherization community training that we have a few spaces for. This training is in response to our federally funded Weatherization Assistance Program, or WAP special project. This means that we have funding to weatherize approximately 90-100 homes in the city of Buffalo. This training potentially connects community members to this work.

We have a few spaces remaining in our free weatherization community training, but time is running out. Anyone that’s interested in this potential opportunity should call 716-884-0356. You can also stop by the PUSH Buffalo office at 271 Grant St in Buffalo.

Over the last few years, there has been a huge push for everyone to go green. With promises of reducing your carbon footprint, lowering your heating and cooling bills and creating local jobs, the possibilities of “going green” and creating a more sustainable economy are endless.

Earlier this summer, however, someone brought to my attention that most Buffalonians probably don’t know about the current green programs that New York State has to offer…or how they even work for that matter.

Since PUSH Buffalo is so heavily involved in advocacy and organizing work – work that pertains directly to low-income weatherization and the building up of more sustainable communities - what often gets lost in all of the commotion is “the what” behind our advocating and organizing efforts. What values do are efforts bring to our neighborhoods and how do we turn public policy work into actual boots on the ground?

"How Green Works For Me" is a series of articles that discuss exactly which green programs are available for homeowners here in New York State. One of those “green” programs is NYSERDA’s Green Jobs – Green New York Program, or as we like to call it here at PUSH, PUSH Green.

By now, I am guessing that you are wondering what Green Jobs – Green New York and PUSH Green are and who NYSERDA is?

Well, let me feel you in.

First of all, when I say "green," I am referring to energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. Therefore, something being “green,” means that the methods (or practices) used work to save homeowners money on their utility bills and that the materials used will not destroy the environment.

Make sense? Okay – great. Let’s move on.

Who is NYSERDA?

NYSERDA or The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is a public benefit corporation that was created in the 1975 to help New York reduce energy consumption, promote the use of renewable energy sources and protect the environment.

As a public corporation of the state, NYSERDA is basically charged with researching and implementing new utility cost savings, and environmentally friendly practices. These practices include new ways of building, or retrofitting residential and commercial buildings in New York State to become more energy efficient.

The Green Jobs – Green New York program is a statewide initiative, administered by NYSERDA, that is designed to promote energy efficiency and the installation of clean technologies to reduce homeowners’ energy costs and the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. The program, which supports sustainable community development and green jobs creation, is based on the Green Jobs – Green New York Act that was signed into law in 2009.

So, what does this mean for New York State and Buffalo?

In 2009, after working with the Center for Working Families, NYSERDA, several community-based organizations, including PUSH Buffalo, and state green job training providers, Governor David Paterson signed the Green Jobs – Green New York Act into law.

In January 2012, PUSH Buffalo launched their new energy-efficiency program, PUSH Green, to improve our communities through energy efficiency and to help Erie County homeowners reduce their energy usage and lower their heating and cooling bills.

To help the State reach their energy efficiency goals, PUSH Green is directly working with NYSERDA as an independent outreach contractor to create living-wage jobs and to help homeowners reduce their high energy bills.

PUSH Green provides Erie County homeowners with access to free (yes, I said free) comprehensive home energy assessments, whole house installation services, affordable, On-Bill financing, and, most importantly, green jobs opportunities.

“PUSH Green is more than just a new energy efficiency program,” states Eric Walker, PUSH Green director. “Our program tackles the urgent question: How do we create a green economy that is not only responsive to the needs of local communities but can also empower them to work together to solve economic and environmental crises?”

“At PUSH Green, we encourage homeowners to invest in the safety, comfort and durability of their homes while creating living wage jobs for everyone,” continued Walker. “Through these actions, we can achieve triple bottom line results - equitable growth, environmental conservation, and sustainable communities.”

So, how will PUSH Green achieve these “triple bottom line” results?

The PUSH Green Friends and Neighbors Program is designed to make a bigger impact on homes and communities by scaling up work in the energy efficiency sector.

The Friends and Neighbors Program works when five (or more) homeowners agree to use the same contractor (or contractor team) to perform their free comprehensive home energy assessments and energy efficiency upgrades.

To date, PUSH Green has negotiated discounted pricing with eight contractors for their Friends and Neighbors participants. The discounts are guaranteed when three customers in their bundle sign contracts to have energy efficiency measures installed in their homes. Homeowners who bundle with more than five of their friends or neighbors will receive even more discounts.

Contractors who participate in PUSH Green’s Friends and Neighbors Program are required to sign upfront commitments with NYSERDA to hire local residents, pay family sustaining wages and health benefits to workers, ensure new and existing workers are trained and qualified, and partner with women and minority-owned businesses.

So, in sum: more work for local businesses, more energy reduction, more savings for homeowners, and more green jobs. Sounds like an all-around win-win-win!

Over the next few months, homeowners can expect to see PUSH Green’s Community Energy Advocates, certified by the Building Performance Institute (BPI), out in neighborhoods throughout Erie County, talking to homeowners about the program and how they can get involved.

As a first step, PUSH Green will work with homeowners to see if they qualify for one of those free home energy assessments I mentioned earlier and to enroll them in the Friends and Neighbors Program.

“We are advocates for the homeowners,” says Kate Howard, PUSH Green program manager. “If homeowners have questions, then we are here to help answer them and point them in the right direction.”

So, friends, if you are ready to improve your community through energy efficiency, you might want to give this green team a call…like now. The number is 716-886-1780…or you can check them out online, here.

 If you didn’t know who Nate Buckley was before, you definitely will now.

A little history:

In late 2010, while attending an anti-war demonstration downtown, a demonstration hosted by grassroots organization, United Coalitions Against War, Buckley was arrested. The group was bringing attention to the United State's involvement in several wars taking place all over the globe. The demonstrators visited several downtown sites that included City Hall, the local Federal building and M&T Bank.

Buckley, along with several others, were simply exercising their first amendment right to assemble peacefully. However, local bystanders and members of the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA) police department did not see their “simple” act of organizing outside of the bank as peaceful. NFTA police ended up arresting Buckley and the rest of the organizers and charged them with the “act inciting a riot.”

Nate Buckley, for those of you who don’t know, is the co-proprietor of Burning Books Buffalo, a local book store located on Connecticut Street that specializes in literature and events related to social justice movements, radical environmentalism and freedom struggles. He and his father are also PUSH Buffalo members and have been huge supporters of our organization since the beginning.

We caught up with Buckley and his father to shed some light on how his case is going. In this candid interview, Buckley and his father discuss a few of their “freedom adventures” as well as what Buckley calls his “supreme right” to assemble, peacefully, in the city that he calls home.

“I feel as if my right to assemble is under attack and, for me, that’s a real problem,” stated Buckley.

Unfortunately, Nate is still being ping ponged through the Buffalo court system because of this incident. Since his arrest, friends have been raising money to help him with his high legal fees.

Nate and his friends, aka the Nate Buckley Defense Commitee, will be holding a “Pie for the People Fundraiser” tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 8, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Sol Rise Farm and Cultural Arts Center, at 226 E. Utica St.

Hope to see everyone there!
 

Growing up in Buffalo, people would always say things like, “our city is such a brain drain,” that "there's nothing to do here” and that "the politicians have all the money". Some would moan about the crime, others would cite a multitude of other issues, whatever the gripe, people talked. Hearing the negative talk, I too sang along with the chorus of folks who sang the "I can't wait to get up on outta here” song.

But, Buffalo is a small city with big dreams.

Being an astute observer and being able to travel to other cities, the one thing that remains visibly clear is that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. There's nothing like a change in environment to appreciate what you have. Yes, there are some cities that might be more "poppin" than Buffalo, but this primarily depends on what one considers to be "poppin’.” And, while there are plenty of things to do in much larger cities, like Boston or D.C., I discovered that in order to partake in those “poppin’” things, you have to have money.

You may have found that dream job, the one in the 6-figure range, but something is still missing in your heart. You haven't seen your family in years. Everything in your new city is nice and new, but you have to spend most of your week inside of your car. You also can't get into that fancy restaurant or bar because they're crowded all of the time. And, to make matters worse, that front yard with the spacious sidewalks that you used to have...gone.

But, fear not...Buffalo is on the rise.

Based on recent Census data that appeared in a Buffalo News article a few weeks ago, there a several Buffalo neighborhoods that are continuously growing. The Grant Ferry corridor on the West Side was mentioned as one of these areas as well as the Black Rock/Riverside area.

So, what caused this rise in population?

The numerous refugees that have resettled in these areas. The article, which featured a Burmese family that had opened a restaurant on Niagara Street, uplifts their amazing story about why they came to”brain drain” Buffalo and opened their new restaurant. (I guess it goes to show you that another person’s trash is another person’s golden opportunity...something to think about when you are itching to, “get up outta here.”)

But, what are you really doing here? Are you in the game or just a spectator?

At some point you have to roll your sleeves up and get down to business. If there's nothing to do, what are you going to do about it? If the politicians have all the money, what are you going to do about it? If the rate of crime is rising, what are you going to do about it? If your gas bills are too high, what are you going to do about it? If there are no jobs, what are you going to do about it?

Hey it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it. We all have our part to play and some of us just haven't figured out what our roles are yet. Appreciate what you have, but more importantly make some noise in the areas that need it. I know that there may be people reading this who are already making things happen in our city. Keep doing what you're doing; I promise you, whether you realize it or not, your hard work will pay off.

It's time for all of us to put our heads together, to figure out how to plug this “brain drain.”

Rodney Lee interned at PUSH through the Liberty Partnership Program at the University at Buffalo during the summer of 2012. The following are Lee’s reflections of his time at PUSH.

Theater is one of the oldest forms of art. Back in the day, most theatrical performances were very simple. They usually consisted of one person – the protagonist (the main character) – and the audience. As time went on, more roles were added, including the birth of the antagonist – i.e the bad guy.

The costs of these first performances were sponsored by wealthy donors. In some instances – ancient Greece, for example – theater was a way for sponsors to get into politics, or at the very least a way to influence policy.

Activism is the art of using various campaigning strategies to create change. History is littered with people who, intentionally or not, used campaign strategies to spark change in their surroundings. Some people have even combined the two elements of activist theater to incite change and move the world into a better place.

When German Monk Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses onto a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, his act heavily influenced the Protestant Reformation. Luther showed the world that a bit of theatrical flair could launch a whole new movement – a movement that spread like wildfire across Europe.

Theater and activism are like fraternal twins. They are not physically identical, but they are still the same.

As part of the Buffalo Infringement Festival, a festival that showcases “underground art” that might not make it onto a Broadway stage or a famous museum like The MMoA, PUSH Buffalo and the National Fuel Accountability Coalition have produced a series of short, activist-style performances called, “If it don’t make dollars, It don’t make cents: A conversation with the 1%.”

We had heard about the festival for quite some time. It wasn’t until this past spring that our spider senses started to tingle and we made the connection between the festival’s mission and ours. While we were not created to address the same things “issues,” we both seek to bring about change – change in the fundamental way people see things.

Below are the dates of our upcoming performances. We won’t give you a list of the characters and actors; you’ll have to come to one of the shows to see for yourself.

July 28: 5 pm – 5:30 pm
Aug. 1: 4 pm – 4:30 pm
Aug. 2: 6 pm – 6:30 pm
Aug. 4: 5 pm – 5:30 pm, and 8:30 pm - 9pm

All performances are free and will take place at Burning Books Buffalo, located at 420 Connecticut St. Hope to see everyone there.

Wednesday was the Fourth of July. After sleeping for most of the day, I decided to ride my bike through the hood to see what was good. After all, it was the Fourth, and somebody should be barbequing, right?

The Fourth on the West Side of Buffalo is crazy. Every block held a mini- Independence Day fireworks session. The smell of gunpowder and smoke filled the air and the only thing you could hear was the sound of fireworks. As I rode around, the one thing that jumped out at me was the sight of a family in one of PUSH’s community gardens.

The family looked so proud of their growing garden. And while I couldn’t tell what they were growing (the plants were really tall though), their smiles were all I needed to see, to know that they were truly happy.

This “love scene” was observed at the new PUSH Buffalo Community Garden located on 14th Street near Rhode Island. This area of land began as an empty field before being developed into five houses. Over the years, the houses disintegrated and became unoccupied, eventually becoming vacant lots.

The idea of transforming a vacant urban lot into a community garden is not new, nor is PUSH Buffalo the first group to do this. Other groups, like the Massachusetts Avenue Project, Grassroots Gardens, and several private citizens have been turning vacant lots into gardens for many years.

In fact, several cities outside of the Buffalo area have been transforming vacant spaces into gardens – gardens that have become big hits in their communities. In places like Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Newark, and New York City, people have figured out that community gardens are important pieces of their community’s sustainability and revitalization.

PUSH Buffalo has strongly advocated sustainable living since the beginning. Sustainability as it relates to our society is simply the cleanest (less taxing on the human body and environment), most economical (makes good financial sense for society as a whole), most efficient (makes the most logical use of environmental, financial, and human resources), and most humane means of building a strong community.

The creation of a community garden (especially in an urban area) is a no-brainer. Many neighborhoods in urban cities like Buffalo suffer from vacant land and poor housing conditions. In these same areas, residents have limited access to fresh food options. Activate the sustainability drive, and all of a sudden several vacant areas become beautiful community assets where residents can grow food that their friends and families can enjoy.

I remember when I first started at PUSH Buffalo, I thought everyone was a little crazy. I wondered what the hell sustainability was and why they kept talking about it? The sight of that family in the community garden makes it very clear for me now, and with the creation of each new garden the picture becomes clearer and clearer.

Staying true to our mission of helping to show what sustainability is, we have a couple gardens that have blossomed up in the neighborhood that include: Hampshire Street near 15th Street, 14th Street near Rhode Island, Winter Street, and 15th Street and W. Utica Street. There are some other gardens in the works. If you’re not too busy this summer, stop by and take a look at one or all of them.

Who knows – you might fall in love with the neighborhood all over again.

Tomorrow PUSH Buffalo will throw a small celebration at the Massachusetts Avenue Park to keep the peace and kick off the start to the summer. Well, actually, now that I think about it, our celebration will be more than just some small party; we'll be gathering for a commencement of sorts to come together in harmony.

Not too long ago PUSH Buffalo helped transform a park on the West Side of Buffalo. The park in question was the Mass Ave Park (Massachusetts Avenue Park) located on Massachusetts Avenue between Lawrence Place and Winter Street. Years of neglect did not make the park the most inviting public space in the community. Neighbors had concerns about the lighting, liter, unscrupulous activities, and safety.

Members of PUSH who lived in the parks vicinity suggested that we do something to help immediately. The community could not afford to have a public space that big in their own back yard disintegrate into dust. Our members knew that the park could be brought back to life so that future generations of parents and youth could make use of the space. To date, youth living in the surrounding area have only ever heard about the park's “glory days.” Because of the work of our dedicated staff, members and community leaders, our youth can now experience all that the park has to offer (and will offer) for themselves; not the other way around.

A few preliminary planning sessions and several meetings later here we are. The Mass Ave Park is reborn. On Friday, June 22 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., PUSH will hold our “Stop the Violence Community Luau” to celebrate in grand fashion all of the hard work that our community members and leaders – thank you Councilman David Rivera and Mayor Byron Brown – have put into reviving this historic space. Join us as we show people what great organizing and real power look like.

Our “Stop the Violence Community Luau” will also address the rash of violence that our community has experienced toward the end of May. Now, I don't know if it had anything to do with drugs, a gang dispute or because we had a few days of hot weather, but our neighborhood suffered great losses – losses that we don’t want to experience again this summer.

So, we’re speaking out and taking a more proactive approach. At the end of May, members of the community held a candle light vigil in remembrance of Jay Nieves who sadly went on to a more beautiful place a year ago. His family and friends decided that his legacy needed to be lifted up for those who use violence as a way to solve their problems. No one’s life should be taken in vain; there are better ways to solve your problems and Nieves friends and family agree.

Inspired by the vigil, the "Stop the Violence Community Luau" was conceived as a way to officially coronet the newly rehabbed park and shed light on a much bigger scourge facing the community. The Luau will feature great music from TNT Productions, games for the whole family and awesome barbecue. Just as community leaders stepped up to save a park from oblivion, we must step up to save our young men and women from senseless actions of violence.

What good is a brand new park in an area that still deals with issues of violence? Join us on Friday June 22, (@ 5pm) as we celebrate family, friends, our children, and our future. "It takes a whole village to raise a child” and we look forward to seeing you there!