Governor Andrew Cuomo Plans College Education for Prison Inmates

-->By Gloria Dulan-Wilson 

I'm sure those who gathered at the Wilborn Temple in Albany, NY for the 43^rd Annual Black and Puerto Rican Caucus' day of worship, were prepared for the usual politically correct speeches from the elected officials who routinely show up in a show of solidarity with 48 State legislators and various other elected officials and community leaders from across New York State.

It is perhaps the largest gathering the church has, with people jockeying for favored positions to be seen or to be next those who are sought.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Imagine their surprise when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his plan to provide free college education to prison inmates – a major point of departure from the routine “everything's fine” speech, wouldn't you say?

The fact that there is still controversy about this concept, with many falling on one or the other side of the line, attests to how off guard many were caught.

I, for one, applaud the Governor's bold move!

It takes the argument of incarceration, prison, industrial, military complex, and recidivism out of the game. It puts it now where it should be – prisons were not just designed for incarceration, but for rehabilitation. Inmates were supposed to come out contrite, better than when they went in. However, not only has this not been the case, when there were options for obtaining higher education while suffering through incarceration, George Pataki, the only other worse thing to happen to New York than Bloomie and Giuliani, completely cut all educational programs. Under the guise of “budgetary considerations,” which really meant he shifted the funds to his construction cronies – he deliberately did more harm than good. Chalk that one up to the rest of his sabotage of New York – the end of affordable housing, the end of viable educational programs, etc.

Governor Cuomo has taken this issue to a whole nuther level – and anyone who has a brother, sister, son, daughter, cousin, neighbor, whatever, who is either incarcerated or has been incarcerated, should be lining up to back him in this endeavor.

Of course we know the repuglycons aren't going to like it – but then, what's new and different. If it's the right thing to do (and I don't mean right wing either), they will definitely be against it. So, with that said, totally expected response to the negative from them, there should be no arguments whatsoever. They feel the state shouldn’t use taxpayer's money on the program at a time when aid to education and tuition-assistance efforts are limited. In 2011 the state approved a five-year plan that allowed State University of New York (SUNY) schools to raise tuition $300 a year.

Comparatively speaking $5,000 year vs. $60,000 a year, should be convincing enough. In fact, the obtaining of an education shouldn't even be optional – it should be mandatory. Whether it's a college education, a trade, a certification in a specific program, it will not only set that person on a better footing once he or she is released, it will give New York the highest educated level of constituents ever. By investing in education, Cuomo said the initiative would save the state money in the long run if it is successful because it would keep people out of prison and fewer tax dollars would be spent maintaining a smaller number of inmates.

The fact that currently the state’s inmate population is 49 percent African-American, 24 percent Hispanic and 24 percent white, should be more than enough reason for Caucus members to stand with the Governor in making sure things go smoothly with this new legislation.

Of course, concomitant with that will be the necessity for job development, entrepreneurial business training and management. This may be the incentive to step up the return of jobs that have been shipped overseas, as the intelligent workforce returns to New York via this bold plan. All the things that the activists have been calling for all these years, now being provided for with a simple paradigm shift.

Ending the stories of being deprived, being from the wrong neighborhood, being neglected, rejected, dejected would be great wouldn't it? To go from that to accepted and respected. I'm sure that Dr. Divine Pryor, who has been advocating for college education for formerly incarcerated individuals is pleased to find that his concepts are being adopted and adhered to by the governor.

The state plans to issue a Request for Proposal starting March 3.

Interesting, how the meanstream media seemed to completely overlook the fact that this announcement was first made to the Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus, isn't it? Oh, well – it is what it is, isn't it?

In the interim, while others are pondering and reacting, it has been learned that the Governor has already been experimenting with the program in 22 of the 58 prisons throughout the state, with a plan to expand it to 10 more within the next few months. Apparently he has already been able to measure the merits of the concept, and colleges would apply to participate next month. He is planning to include the proposal in his amended budget plan this week.

Per Cuomo, “Giving men and women in prison the opportunity to earn a college degree costs our state less and benefits our society more. Existing programs show that providing a college education in our prisons is much cheaper for the state and delivers far better results. Someone who leaves prison with a college degree has a real shot at a second lease on life because their education gives them the opportunity to get a job and avoid falling back into a cycle of crime. You want to save money? Get the inmate educational skills; the recidivism rate goes down to 4 percent. ”

New York's recidivism rate is a whopping 40% !! compared to a national rate of 43%, according to DC'S Pew Center on the States. 

The Bard Prison Initiative in Dutchess County is among nonprofit groups that partner with colleges and prisons to provide college classes. It says the recidivism rate is only  4 % in the program.

According to Cuomo taxpayers should support the plan: “A person who is paying to put their kid through college, they understand how expensive college is and then they have to pay these state taxes on top of it,” Cuomo said. “What they are really saying is I can’t pay all these bills. And the taxes are driving me crazy.” This implies that taxes would be lowered as a result of this program, something that should make many New Yorkers happy.

Of course, in addition the the repuglycons, other naysayers include the proponents of the “Dream Act” who see this as obviating any opportunity for there being a bill passed for those immigrants who are living and working in New York and seek financial assistance to attend college as well.

The state has other programs, including Dutchess and Westchester counties, that provide prisoners with an education, but do not receive any government funding. Cornell University, in partnership with Cayuga Community College, provides a free college education for inmates in Auburn and Cayuga state prisons using grants. 

While many are complaining that the educational system in New York could use a financial boost, they're not doing the math. When you consider that incarceration is $60.000 per year, compared to $5,000 per year for a college education, it actually boils down, mathematically to the fact that the savings would then provide education for 11 other college students – the funds saved from incarcerating and warehousing human beings, can be transferred via scholarships and financial aid to those students they are saying are in need. And believe me, as a parent who put three through college the hard way, under the Bush Pataki regime, where you got no love and much less aid, I totally understand where they're coming from. 

But, it doesn't have to be either/or or neither/nor – it can be both and. Of course, selfishness having been the hallmark of the legislators for such a long time, I'm sure that thought never occurred to them. Rather than making it work for everyone, they'd rather stand on the necks of those who, for once, have a shot at a decent life, under the guise that someone else just might be deprived. 

Really???

Thus far, the Governor has managed to balance the budget, cut the fat, get the job done, with little to no bleeding. However, there are always going to be those who look to poke holes in a good concept, no matter how positive it is.

I for one stand with the Governor in this issue and think the sooner the program is implemented statewide, the better. 

Kudos to Governor Andrew Cuomo for this concept. Looking forward to many other states buying a clue as well. It takes New York to lead the way.

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson




 

Does Culture Have Relevance to Higher Education? Of course it does - Statement to the New York City Council Committee on Education

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson


Does Culture Have Relevance to Higher Education? Of course it does
Statement to the New York City Council Committee on Education
Tuesday, March 8, 2011

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson


Paraphrasing educational psychologist, in "The Concept of Guided Participation"
the concept of guided participation highlights that cognitive development occurs in a social context while extending sociocultural theory beyond language-based dialogue. College student’s cognitive development is an apprenticeship of sorts that occurs via guided participation in social activities with companions, mentors and organizations who support and stretch their understanding of and skill in using the tools of the culture.

Academic or extracurricular centers provide a vehicle for guided participation that focuses more centrally on the interrelatedness of students and the broader society.

While “guided” does not necessarily mean face to face interaction, it does provide exposure and experiential opportunities. For example, a student working on a research report in isolation is still “guided” by the faculty, staff, librarians, classmates, the publishing industry, parents, the broader community who help shape the writing of the research report as a cultural activity. Tying culture to the relevancy of what the student has chosen for a major or for his or her life’s work is also an important function of the MEC college, as it is with any of the other CUNY campuses.

Ironically, Italian students are provided with more than ample opportunity to tie in their cultural heritage from Italy to those who early on came to the US for a better life. It shows a great deal of pride in the maintaining of newsletters that are clearly Italian oriented; programs and activities that reach out to the Italian community; programs that are based on traditional Italian rituals. Italians don’t have any problem with having Italian-American programs.

But when it comes to AFRICAN-AMERICAN, or AFRICAN-CARIBBEAN, or AFRICAN oriented programs that are designed to enhance the lives and educational experiences of AFRICAN-AMERICANS - PROBLEM.

Why? What is the issue with our having the same enlightened programs and activities - even a newsletter - that speaks to the cultural uniqueness of people of AFRICAN HERITAGE? Would it not be the same as those of Italian heritage?

Didactically speaking, the instructional implications are these: “Informed by a sociocultural perspective, learning is thought to occur through interaction, negotiation, and collaboration. While these features are characteristic of “cooperative learning,” what sets instruction that is informed by sociocultural theory apart is that there is also attention to the discourse, norms, and practices associated with particular discourse and practice communities. The goal of instruction is to support students to engage in the activities, talk, and use of tools in a manner that is consistent with the practices of the community in which students will interact, as our future scientists, mathematicians, historians, politicians, etc.

Now, somehow the foregoing concept appears to be perfectly clear and acceptable when it comes to the non-Black society, but appears to be problematical when it comes to those of us who are Black. Why is that. What is the problem with CUNY, from whom the foregoing was paraphrased, can’t make the extrapolation?

When I interviewed the late Percy Ellis Sutton, former Boro President of Manhattan, founder of the Inner City Broadcast Company, entrepreneur, intellect, political figure, hero, I asked him what stood out most in his mind as the motivating factor for so many things he accomplished: he responded that his father had made it a policy to keep them (his brothers and sisters) with so many great Black people of accomplishment and intellect. He thought that having met Carter G. Woodson when he was a kid, and learning of so many things that Black people had accomplished - even back in the day - also inspired him to go beyond the mediocre.

Henry Louis Gates is a distinguished professor of African American History at Harvard University. Director of the WEB DuBois Institute for African and African American Research. What do you think would happen if suddenly Harvard University declared Dr. Gates not relevant to Harvard? There would be a hue and cry that would be heard around the world. Why does Pollard, Goldstein, Johnson and Herschenson think that we would sit quietly by and state that the members of the Bunche DuBois Center, that the Center for NU Leadership, are no longer relevant to the Brooklyn Community and that they can just destroy and dismantle it with impunity? They are only hired by the CUNY System - they don’t own it. And they do owe a responsibility to the Brooklyn Community, and the broader general community of greater New York City to abide by and provide for the same sociocultural programs as Harvard does.

Roger L. Green represented District 57 in the New York State Assembly, which comprises Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Park Slope and Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was first elected in 1980, and provided stellar service to his constituents until he stepped down in 2006. · In 1983, Coretta Scott King and labor leader, Cleveland Robinson asked Green to serve as the New York State Political Coordinator for the Memorial March on Washington. It was during this period that Green authored the bill that established the New York State Martin Luther King Holiday Commission and the New York State Martin Luther King Institute. In 1985 and 1986 in conjunction with the founding of the National Holiday, Governor Cuomo signed these bills into law.

· From 1986–1991, the New York State Martin Luther King Institute trained more than 1000 high school and college students through its Ella Baker Academy. Students participating in this program learned the theory and practice of non-violent conflict resolution. Students were also provided with an opportunity to study civil rights and human rights social history.

In 2006, Green retired from the New York State Legislature . Shortly after, the Chancellor of the City University of New York and the President of Medgar Evers College, appointed him as a Distinguished Lecturer. Green currently teaches a course that explores the historical significance of the freedom amendments, 13th , 14th , 15th and 19th Amendments, and their influence on state and local government.

Roger Green was/is also the Director of the Dubois-Bunche Center on Public Policy, a think tank dedicated to advancing best practices in law, policy, and community covenants that advance social and economic justice for urban communities within the U.S. and throughout the African Diaspora.

ROGER GREEN’S presence at Medgar Evers College is as relevant to Brooklyn, and Henry Louis Gates presence is to Harvard University. Dr. Gates W.E.B. DuBois Center for Africana Studies is relevant as is the Bunche DuBois Center. The BUNCHE-DUBOIS Center at Medgar Evers College must be reinstated under its original leadership immediately and without prejudice. They must be made whole.

Congressman Major Owens, now a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration at Medgar Evers College, retired from Congress at the end of his term in January 2007, and was succeeded by Yvette Clarke. The Congressman received his BA from Morehouse College and a master of science degree from Atlanta University; and was a librarian before entering politics. He was elected to the New York state Senate in 1974.

He authored the treatise on Communiversity, which is the contract that Medgar Evers College and CUNY has with the Community.

In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, replacing the retiring Shirley Chisholm. One of his achievements in the House was the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Owens district included low income areas of Brownsville, a large Hasidic area of Crown Heights, the heavily Caribbean areas of Flatbush and East Flatbush, and the upscale neighborhood of Park Slope.

Major Owens received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues. For those who don’t remember, the character Mark Richardson in The West Wing, a show no longer on the air, is believed to be based on Owens. Richardson plays an African-American Congressman from Brooklyn who looks a lot like Owens.
Owens is nicknamed the "Rappin' Rep" since he writes raps. His rap songs are often political and liberal in nature.
Owens is also the father of actor Geoffrey Owens, best known for playing the role of Elvin on The Cosby Show. (wikipedia)

An intellectual and pragmatist of the highest order, Congressman Owens called himself the Education Congressman, and firmly believes that an education is not just didactic, but the sum total of what can be brought to bear culturally as well as intellectually. He believes that Pollard and CUNY have violated the concept of COMMUNIVERSITY, the tenets upon which Medgar Evers was established.

Carter Godwin Woodson, a Black historian, author, journalist and the founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, was one of the first scholars to value and study Black History. He recognized and acted upon the importance of a people having an awareness and knowledge of their contributions to humanity, and left behind an impressive legacy. A founder of Journal of Negro History, Dr. Woodson is known as the Father of Black History (wikipedia)

Convinced that the role of his own people in American history and in the history of other cultures was either being ignored or misrepresented among scholars, Woodson realized the need for research into the neglected past of African Americans. Along with Alexander L. Jackson and three associates, he founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History September 9, 1915, in Chicago. (wikipedia) Now I cite Dr Woodson because it is apparent that neither the CUNY administration, nor Dr. Pollard are familiar with these issues or concerns.

Our Dominican and Puerto Rican Brothers and sisters are embarking on doing for themselves what we as Black people were doing for our selves at Medgar Evers. By the way, in case you did not notice, in case no one told you, our you were not able to observe by empirical observation: MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE IS A BLACK SCHOOL - IT IS BLACK, AFRICAN, AFRICAN AMERICAN, AFRICAN CARIBBEAN, AFRICAN LATINO - it is Black. It is the only Black College in New York.

Dr. Woodson published The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861; A Century of Negro Migration (1918) and The History of the Negro Church (1927); The Negro in Our History.
In January 1916, Woodson began publication of the Journal of Negro History (I grew up on these publications - they were in my home as well as those of my relatives). It has never missed an issue, despite the Great Depression, loss of support from foundations and two World Wars. In 2002, it was renamed the Journal of African American History and continues to be published by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Dr. Woodson worked to preserve the history of African Americans and accumulated a collection of thousands of artifacts and publications. He noted that African American contributions "were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them. “Race prejudice is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind."

In 1926, long before Stevie Wonder, Dr. Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of "Negro History Week", for the second week in February, to coincide with marking the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In the 1980’s after a massive national movement on the part of Black people, Negro History Week became Black History Month and was celebrated throughout February.

Dr. Woodson believed in self-reliance and racial respect, values he shared with Marcus Garvey. Back in the day Woodson also wrote for Garvey's weekly Negro World. Woodson collaborated with such Black luminaries as W. E. B. Du Bois, John E. Bruce, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg (founder of the Schomburg Library in Harlem), Hubert H. Harrison, and T. Thomas Fortune among others.

In 1933 Dr. Woodson wrote The Mis-Education of the Negro which continue to have wide readership - they reprint it every 10 to 20 years, but the message continues to miss the mark. Dr. Woodson was perfectly clear that the only ones responsible for preserving and telling our history was we ourselves. We can share the information, but no one can do the telling or preserving for us, but us. Just as our counterparts at CUNY who have the center for the Italian Students, the Centers for Asian students, etc.

Dr. Edison Jackson made it possible for Carver Bank to have ATMs on Medgar Evers Campus. He obviously had a sense of history and connectedness. Carver Bank was named after famed scientist and inventor, George Washington Carver. William Pollard had Carver Bank kicked off campus and replaced by Citibank -on a Black Campus. Who is CitiBank named for?

The purpose of a college or higher education is both for the practical application of instruction and information, as well as the acculturation and refinement of those who come to the institutes of higher learning. Being in the environs of those who have made their mark in the world, who look like those who aspiring to do so is an inspiration in and of itself, is as important as classroom activities. We live in a dynamic community, not a static community.

What would happen if Hostos College students and faculty were suddenly told that they could not speak Spanish, or they could not have community based programs, or Dominican heritage studies. What do you think would happen?

What if Yeshiva University - not part of CUNY, but you understand the analogy - was told that there would be no Jewish or Hassidic information or influences on campus, and their learned scholars were suddenly evicted from the campus, and all their personal computers were seized, and their hard drives confiscated? What do you think would happen?

What do you expect when this kinds of heinous egregious acts are now perpetrated against the programs at Medgar Evers College. These kinds of moves parallel that of Nazis - and Gestapo actions. They cannot be tolerated. CUNY does not deserve a red dime for any of the other programs until the programs at Medgar Evers are fully reinstated with the originators in place; until those who have worked diligently and tirelessly to bring quality to Medgar Evers: Dr. Zulema Blair, Roger Greene, Dr. Divine Pryor, and others, are fully reinstated to their offices, at full salary, plus compensation for their losses - IMMEDIATELY, IF NOT SOONER.

The perpetrators against Medgar Evers College must go. IMMEDIATELY, IF NOT SOONER. They have set up an atmosphere of hostility and adversity on Medgar Evers Campus, where faculty, students, staff feel threatened and cheated. The Black community stands firmly that the CONTRACT FOR COMMUNIVERSITY must be adhered to.

My statement and I’m sticking to it. ###

Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Presented to the New York City Council Hearing on
Academic Centers for CUNY
March 8, 2011

Please note: that Brooklyn's City Council Member CHARLES BARRON and Bronx City Council Member LARRY SEABROOK, walked out of the hearings in protest when it was discovered that the committee presenting the program for the hearings were all white, without one representation from any of the African, African America, African Caribbean or African Latino Students and CUNY's many campuses.

The Students themselves spoke out at a recently held Spoken Word Event (3/16/11), in depicting the dismantling of Medgar Evers as though they were walking on Medgar Evers Grave, and putting up a gate to keep the Black students away from their destiny.

But that's a separate article for another edition.

STAY BLESSED &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria Dulan-Wilson

SPECIAL EVENT ALERT ADVISORY:

PLEASE NOTE: THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE READING THIS, IF YOU OR ANY OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS OR FRIENDS OR NEIGHBORS OR EVEN YOUR ENEMIES ARE FACING FORECLOSURE, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ATTEND THE UPCOMING NACA FORECLOSURE PREVENTION WORKSHOP IN BROOKLYN AT THE BEDFORD CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH SATURDAY, MARCH 19, FRO 4:30 TO 6:30.

IF ON THE OTHER HAND YOU ARE LOOKING TO BECOME A FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER AND NEED FREE DOWN PAYMENT, CLOSING COSTS AND A MORTGAGE 1% BELOW PRIME RATE, THEN YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE WORKSHOP AT BEDFORD CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FROM 6:30 TO 8:30
BOTH WORKSHOPS ARE LOCATED IN BROOKLYN AT 1200 DEAN STREET, CORNER OF NOSTRAND AVE.; FREE AND OPEN TO NEW YORKERS, NEW JERSEYANS, CONNECTICANS (???) ALL WHO NEED IT - PASS IT ON.

FOR MORE DETAIL, CHECK OUT THE NEXT BLOG POSTING.
STAY BLESSED GDW

Update:CUNY Chancellor/MEC Pres Mock the Memory and Legacy of Medgar Wiley Evers: Attack on Center for NU Leadership and the MEC Black Think Tank

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson (originally published 3/07/2011)

I’m going to start this off with a quote from Dr. Divine Pryor. It’s so heavy I didn’t want to leave it to the end of this article:

“For the past seven years, The Center for NU Leadership on Urban Solutions has successfully created opportunities for people entangled in the law to access higher education as a way to transforming their lives. Our attempt to secure a multi-million dollar grant was only an effort to formalize what we have been doing informally over the past seven years. It’s unfortunate that President William Pollard and his administration could not appreciate the fact that members of the Center for NU Leadership are living, breathing examples of what is possible when an individual decides to transform their lives after making a mistake.

It’s ironic that we can be proud of the fact that New York City has one of the most effective garbage recycling systems in the world, but somehow President Pollard doesn’t believe that a human being can be recycled.” Dr. Divine Pryor, March 6, 2011

Now for those of you who have been following these issues, or who are embroiled in the task of saving the school, the Medgar Evers College situation continues “to get curioser and curioser” - to paraphrase Alice in Wonderland. Speaking of which, given the specious assertions and allegations on the part of CUNY’s legals, one has to wonder what they’re up to really.

It kind of pivots between “here we go again,” and “oh no! Not that stupid stuff again!” You can decide after I outline the facts.

Fact: Center for NU Leadership was founded by Dr. Divine Pryor and Eddie Ellis some 7 years ago to help those who had run afoul of the law, lead better lives by providing them with a college education, so that they could make a positive contribution to society and their communities.

Fact: Dr. Edison O. Jackson, then President of Medgar Evers College, in wanting to provide services to a broader range of the population in and around Brooklyn and the greater New York Area, invited Dr. Pryor to establish an office for the Center for NU Leadership, so that those previously incarcerated who were looking to change their lives could matriculate at Medgar Evers College. Additionally, they maintained an open door policy, so that applicants and participants could come in from the street and be assisted in obtaining the education needed to provide them with career strategies and goals.

Fact: Over the past 7 years Center for NU Leadership has successfully assisted over 200 applicants graduate from Medgar Evers and enter into such arenas as legislative offices, corrections, the court systems, district attorney’s offices and non-profit organizations.

Fact: For such a small staff that’s a major track record - particularly since they are still fully employed, and continuing to make positive contributions to the community, setting a positive example for the youth and peers with whom they interact.

Fact: President William Pollard doesn’t get it. His allegation that the program exposed the campus to criminal elements, which, by the way, has not been a problem in the entire 7 years they have been affiliated with the campus, is a sad indictment on a person who looks like us, has a similar pigmentation, but it all stops there - scratch that surface, and there is something completely different lurking underneath. Howard Johnson, who serves as provost, is equally culpable, as evidenced by his hostile and aggressive actions against Center for NU Leadership, the Bunche DuBois Center, faculty, staff, and students. But, in addition to his not getting it - is the even sadder (read sicker) fact that he apparently doesn’t care.

Fact: Chancellor Goldstein apparently really doesn’t care - about Pollard, about Medgar Evers College, about the Black students, about the Brooklyn Community. He is about the “my way or high way” approach. The only thing is that the strings are showing and the puppet and puppet master are both about to be caught up in them.

Fact: The eviction of Center for NU Leadership on Urban Solutions from Medgar Evers College was heinous and unconscionable. It was based on racism and stereotypes. It was an affront to the men and women who have worked diligently to turn their lives around. And an even greater affront to Dr. Pryor who has dedicated his time, talent, intelligence and energy to developing what the prisons systems could or would not do, a viable program that spoke (speaks) to the needs of those in our community who have been disenfranchised by a system that would rather criminalize them than provide them with the education they deserved.

Fact: The confiscation of the Center for New Leadership’s computers (which they owned outright), and the confiscation of their hard drive was not only egregious, but criminal on the part of CUNY and Medgar Evers College. It not only violates their rights as an organization, but there are certain intellectual property laws, copyright infringement, as well as other rights to privacy that have been trampled in this newest racist attempt to denigrate this organization.

Fact: The allegation of a criminal investigation being their cause for seizing Center for NU Leadership‘s property, as alleged by the legals of CUNY, has no basis in fact. Not only were there no presentations of warrants, or any of the other protocols that would precede a search and seizure procedure, there has never been any necessity for an investigation of any type until the fabrication on the part of MEC’s new administration.

Fact: There is so little regard for Black people on the part of the CUNY administration, that they apparently disrespected the Black elected officials who tried to meet with them to ameliorate the problem and bring, what they had hoped would be a positive solution to a problem that has now mushroomed out of proportion. One community leader stated very matter of factly: “White people having no regard for Black people is not new. We’ve lived with that all our lives. But to have a person who is supposed to be Black, participate in the dismantling of an institution that has been built by the efforts of a community dedicated to educating their youth, and providing them with a legacy, goes to very heart of self-hatred; and cannot be tolerated.”

Fact: State Supreme Court Judge Kramer, who presided over the hearing, Friday, March 4, 2011 in the Supreme Court in Brooklyn, could not believe that the legals of CUNY were refusing to return the hard drive from the Center for NU Leadership’s computers. (Judge Kramer had ordered Medgar Evers to return to NuLeadership computers that the administration had confiscated in
mid-December but that were purchased independently by the center).


Fact: Subsequent hearing date set for April 8, 2011, during which time the CUNY legals will try to make those allegations hold water. While we put nothing past their trying to justify their actions, and prove their allegations (given the nature of the individuals involved), through manufactured evidence, the fact still remains that there is not now, nor has there ever been any reason to seize the materials, equipment, supplies owned and operated by the Center for NU Leadership.

Fact: The Medgar Evers faculty issued a vote of no confidence in Pollard, stating he is betraying the mission of a college presumably dedicated to the academic needs of the urban poor and working class.

Fact: On March 8, 2011, the New York City Council is holding hearings on academic excellence and the necessity of cultural programs to round out the educational millieu. The hearings will be held at 250 Broadway, 14th Floor hearing room at 2:00PM. We are holding a press conference on the steps of City Hall at 1:00pm. Would like to have as many people from the community present as possible.

Fact: MEC/CUNY’s stupidity Brooklyn's loss and SUNY’s gain. SUNY has offered to house the Center for NU Leadership, blowing holes in the allegation that they presented a criminal element on the MEC campus. If there was so much danger, why would SUNY offer them a considerable increase in funding as well as space and support. What Goldstein, Pollard and Johnson have essentially done is deprived the Brooklyn community of an essential program that has provided services for the growing number of ex-offenders who are returning to the community. *(see press release below)
NB: While SUNY will be housing the program on their campus, that should not obviate the demand that a branch of the center be re-established at Medgar Evers with full staff and equipment, immediately, if not sooner. In fact, faculty, staff, programs that were in existence upon Pollard’s arrival, must be completely reinstated and MADE WHOLE, WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Fact: Under the leadership of President Edison O. Jackson, Medgar Evers College had amassed some of the greatest minds in Black culture, politics, history and leadership, including former New York State Assemblyman Roger Green, Congressman Major Owens, Dr. Zulema Blair, Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Dr. Betty Shabazz (deceased), Ambassador Pursoo. It was a magnate for some of the greatest minds and leaders who frequented the campus affording the students an opportunity to be involved in leading edge issues and endeavors. The underhanded manner in which these and others have been treated has left a stain on the schools reputation as a center for higher learning and a magnate for genius.

Fact: Under the tyranny of Goldstein, Pollard and Johnson, more damage has been done to revert the campus back to pre-Jackson days when the school was floundering for an identity and direction.

Fact: If the Brooklyn Community, and the greater New York Community, the elected officials, and the students, parents, and faculty, don’t act immediately and take a stand for Medgar Evers College, the dream and goal of a COMMUNIVERSITY will have been destroyed, right along with so many other important programs and institutions we and our predecessors have fought long and hard to establish in the Black community. THAT MUST NOT HAPPEN.

Fact: My father used to say, “there’s nothing worse than an educated fool, or the person who knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.” There is also nothing worse than a people or a community who will sit idly by and allow the educational and cultural future (and present) of their children to be trampled on, with out taking a stand.

QUESTION: NOW THAT YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Contact and support the MECCoalition@gmail.com

Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

PS: I could not close this article without quoting someone else that Ive admired for a long time, Dr. Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral in California. He always spoke about "Turning your scars into stars." And to me that is precisely what Dr. Divine Pryor has been doing with the Center for NU Leadership on Urban Solutions.

*IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS, I'M APPENDING IT TO THIS BLOG:

Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions Finds
New Home at SUNY Old Westbury College


Brooklyn, N.Y. – In a visionary move, SUNY Old Westbury College, under the leadership of its president Dr. Calvin O. Butts, has invited the Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions to leave embattled Medgar Evers College (MEC), relocate its operation on the Long Island campus and open a SUNY satellite site in Brooklyn, thus allowing them to continue working there. The leadership of the Center concluded that as long as President William Pollard and Provost Howard Johnson are in charge of MEC, they will never provide a favorable work environment for them. Senior officials at SUNY Old Westbury say that NuLeadership has accepted their offer and submitted a detailed proposal which “is being given serious consideration.”
The invitation by SUNY Old Westbury allows the college to extend its reach into New York City, through Central Brooklyn, and to provide greater opportunities for its students to acquire internships, engage in community oriented research and have an urban office that serves as a direct pipeline for future enrollments. In addition to the invitation from SUNY, NuLeadership has received offers to work with one of the largest labor unions in the city and to further collaborate with a faith based academic institution. Both these offers are being considered as part of an integrated and comprehensive restructuring of their capacity building.
The move to SUNY comes on top of two outstanding Court victories for NuLeadership in its multi-count lawsuit against CUNY which is pending in Brooklyn Supreme Court. The suit challenges CUNY for their illegal attempt to evict the Center, invasion of the Center’s privacy, theft of their computers and confiscation of personal and intellectual property. In a stunning defeat for CUNY and Medgar, the Honorable Justice Herbert Kramer refused to grant their motion to dismiss the case. Instead, he granted the Center for NuLeadership, represented by attorney Ron McGuire, a temporary restraining order against the eviction, declared the seizure of their computers unconstitutional and ordered CUNY to show cause. The case is scheduled for additional hearing on April 8, 2011.
The Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions is headed by Dr. Divine Pryor, Eddie Ellis, Kyung Ji Rhee and Chino Hardin, who are all plaintiffs in the lawsuit. It is the first and only public policy, research, training, advocacy and academic Center in the country, conceived and operated by formerly incarcerated professionals. It was established ten years ago as an inter-disciplinary forum for scholars, policy makers, legal practitioners, law enforcement, civil society leaders, clergy and those previously incarcerated who are seeking to influence and impact urban contemporary social, economic and criminal justice issues. Its innovative policy and advocacy initiatives cover both adult and juvenile systems from a community level perspective.
According to Dr. Divine Pryor, executive director of the Center, “this move to SUNY is a major achievement. It is a natural evolution that allows us access to the state university system. Since our involvement with the criminal justice/punishment system is both national and statewide, our moving to SUNY Old Westbury greatly and further facilitates the work.”
The Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions will continue and expand its public policy development, lead the national debate regarding the need for a “nu-justice paradigm” in the adult and juvenile justice systems, and offer instructional services, counseling and support to the formerly incarcerated community in Brooklyn and throughout the state, with a special focus on those seeking higher education.
Eddie Ellis, co-founder of the Center for Nuleadership noted, “We have worked with SUNY Old Westbury’s President, Dr. Calvin Butts and Vice President Hakim Lucas, for many, many years. Their commitment to justice policy reform, system realignment and support for the social service work of our Center has deep roots and is a perfect fit. We are honored to accept their invitation. The possibilities before us are unlimited.”