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lower east side
Next Entries »Celebrating Jacob Riis and the fight for economic justice
Thursday, June 9th, 2005Generation Xcel opened its first youth center nine years ago this summer in a New York City public housing project named after Jacob Riis. A Dutch immigrant in the late 1800s, Riis employed new technology as one of the first photojournalists in exposing the harsh living condions of the urban poor. His most influential book, [...]
A walking tour of Avenue D
Thursday, June 9th, 2005For a primer on our neighborhood, check out the walking tour map by New York Songlines.
This is why
Tuesday, May 17th, 2005“I have heard many times, from students who share the distinction of coming from the ‘projects,’ that their deepest fear is to try to ‘finish college,’ ‘lead a ministry,’ etc. — and fail. As a certified project girl I would like to challenge that. I think the ‘project plight’ lies not in the fear of [...]
29,000 died of hunger today
Friday, February 25th, 2005That many die of hunger every 24 hours. To them we dedicated the Voice of Silence. Over two hundred inner city teens gathered at Primitive Christian Church to consider the pain of hunger as part of World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. Through spoken word, music, dance, and art, they identified with the hurting and vowed [...]
Murder made for prime time
Wednesday, February 9th, 2005Last week I posted a note about the disproportionate news coverage generated by a murder in the Lower East Side. This week’s Village Voice chronicles the story behind the story of how a seemingly unexceptional murder became front page news around the country. Race is undeniably part of the duFresne story. The randomness and location [...]
Local guy makes good
Wednesday, February 9th, 2005I never met him, but Rocky Stella is a friend of Jose and Mayra, so that’s good enough for me. This week’s New Yorker of the Week, named by NY1, founded and directs a soup kitchen at a Spanish pentecostal church not far from Xcel. Congratulations.
“It started spreading like cockroaches”
Thursday, February 3rd, 2005This story reminded me of Enid. Last night, fans at an Alabama girls high school basketball game rioted, forcing police to clear the gym and cancel the game. Before Enid became the mature, wise-beyond-her-years youth specialist we at Xcel know and love, my first introduction to her was at a neighborhood football game nine or [...]
Things that make you go hmm
Tuesday, February 1st, 2005A pretty, 20-something aspiring actress was shot and killed by a thuggish posse of muggers last week in our neighborhood. Her fiance cradled her in his lap as she breathed her last breath. This murder was indeed a tragic crime. People should be outraged. But from the resulting press coverage one would think it is [...]
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