This Labor Day weekend, while most of us were enjoying some barbeque, beer, family and friends, tragedy struck in the New York area. A shooting took place near the West Indian Parade in New York City on Monday, which left two police officers wounded and three individuals dead.

Lets break this story down a bit. While people were out and about celebrating this holiday weekend, two individuals decided that they wanted to open fire near a crowded parade, which led to the death of an innocent woman and their own demise.

Was hip-hop to blame? Are young people to blame?

According to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he does not blame the youth for the shootings that took place. He believes that this is a problem the government needs to fix through gun control.

“There are just too many guns on the streets of this city,” Bloomberg said.

In all the craziness surrounding the parade activities, a City Council member and an aide for Bill de Blasio were arrested for an argument they had with a police officer. Councilman Jumaane Williams, of Brooklyn, was handcuffed for marching along the parade route after receiving permission from another officer.

So folks are in the streets shooting and police officers are arresting City Council members? According to the Washington Post:

“Williams had been given permission by a police official to walk along a blocked-off street but was then stopped by other officers, his spokesman Stefan Ringel said. He was held for about 30 minutes before being released, and no charges were filed.”

Commissioner Raymond Kelly has put the city on high alert since the violent outbreaks last weekend. Not only did the area around the West Indian Parade turned into a crime scene, areas in the Bronx and Queens experienced shootings as well.

All of this violence took place within days of the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Instead of mourning the lives lost during 9/11, we are killing more people? This is so sad. This story is one of the main reasons why we need to #PUTTHEGUNSDOWN!! The gun control laws aren’t strong enough and the kids carrying guns aren’t smart enough. We must come together and fight for better gun laws.

Is this 9/11 memorial wine in bad taste?

A Long Island Winery, Lieb Family Cellars, has created a 9/11 themed memorial wine and says that 10 percent of the sales of their 9/11 Memorial Merlot and Chardonnay wines will go to the National September 11th Memorial and Museum.

The price of the wine has been set at $19.11 ,which I think is also another tasteless statement. The retailers will pocket around $6 from every bottle, while the Lieb Family Cellars says an estimated $1.15 to $1.91 per bottle is what will go to the September 11th Memorial and Museum.

“We lost a lot of friends on 9/11. The owners of the vineyard are Wall Street people. For us, it’s something we do to give back,” Gary Madden, the winery’s general manager said.

I’m sure that the winery feels this isn’t in bad taste, but to me, it is. If you really wanted to be charitable about it, all proceeds should go to the fund, not just a small 10 percent. (Full story at NYDailyNews)

What do you think of the 9/11 memorial wine  that costs $19.11 ? It is tasteless or an attempt to raise money for a good cause?

St. Vincent’s hospital in Greenwich Village was one of the few hospitals in NYC that was willing to support midwives who do home births. But now it’s closing, and that means about half of the midwives in New York will either have to stop practicing, or practice illegally.

This is happening because of a stupid law that says midwives need to have a “Written Practice Agreement” from a doctor in order to perform a delivery at home. Then if there’s a problem with the birth, that’s the hospital they go to. This law is totally unnecessary, because midwives obviously have a backup hospital in mind when they deliver a baby at home. Just like you know what hospital you might need to go to before you go skydiving. But for some reason, the law insists on treating childbirth like it’s an illness, not a natural part of human life that most often doesn’t require any time in a hospital.

Why was St. Vincent’s one of the only hospitals with doctors who are willing to sign such an agreement? There’s a huge stigma in the medical community against supporting midwives. Why’s there stigma? No reason except misogyny and greed. The medical profession is in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies, who are rather keen on making sure pregnant women are pumped as full of drugs as possible during childbirth, even when those drugs are dangerous and unnecessary.

We talk a lot about giving women control of their own bodies when it comes to abortion, but what about when they’re actually having a child?  It’s incredibly important to take action now so home birth in NYC doesn’t essentially become a crime. Take action here and protect women’s choice in childbirth!

If you were around Greenwich Village anytime during the end of June, chances are you caught glimpses of flashy colors, costumes and rainbow flags. Gay Pride festivities in New York span an entire week, with parties, parades, rallies, and festivals to celebrate and commemorate a landmark event in gay rights.

This year’s “Pride Week” was awe-inspiring not only in terms of the celebrations put on by the LGBT community, but also in the wider political context of this year’s festivities– especially the parade. With marriage equality a pivotal topic of contention between the gay community and conservatives, this year’s festivities were decidedly more pointed at the issues gays still face, rather than fun and frivolity. It was a widespread hope amongst the gay community that this year’s parade would sway some of the silent or indecisive voices on the issue of gay equality in their favor. The hope for change was even stronger this year than most; adding to the weight of the event was the 40 year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which took place on June 28, 1969, and spawned the Gay Rights Movement in The Village. The riots were, at the time, the gay community’s only response to continued police harassment and raids of known gay bars.

Many in the LGBT community see this anniversary as a bittersweet celebration. While they’ve been both fighting and celebrating for the past 40 years, their rights have been stalled. With no end to the marriage equality debate, many gays see this reluctance to extend these rights as yet another example of the “Separate but Equal” acts against blacks before the Civil Rights Movement.

But the fact of the matter is that since the days of Brown vs. Board of Education, this country has officially acknowledged that there can be no such thing as “separate but equal”. Civil unions do not give gays the same rights that heterosexual couples gain from marriage. At the time of this year’s Pride Celebration, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa were the only 6 states that recognized same sex marriage. This means just over 10% of the 50 US states have passed laws allowing gays the right to marry, and federal legislation has been at a standstill while the debate continues on either side. To make matters worse there are 29 states that have actively and aggressively banned it. The road to marriage equality is long, with no clear end in sight.

Today, Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June in remembrance of the Stonewall demonstration. The annual parade, which is consistently beautiful, fanciful, and crowded with out-of-towners who flock to the city every year to celebrate. The first Gay Pride marches took place in Los Angeles and New York On June 28, 1970, commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Similar marches were later organized in other cities and continue to grow as the Gay Rights Movement advances.

Aren’t you glad summer’s finally here? The recent reemergence of the sun makes me crave days at the beach and nights spent camping. But the recession means that for many (hell, most of us) a vacation simply isn’t that feasible this year.

We should consider ourselves lucky if that’s the worst recession can do. It’s hit a lot of people a lot harder. Every year, the number of families who are homeless skyrocket at the beginning of summer. This year has been particularly bad. People from 10 000 families will become homeless in New York alone this summer, an increase of more than 28% from last year. At last count, that number had already hit 9420—9420 moms, dads, brothers, sisters, and children on the street in one city. That’s A LOT of people—so many, that if you wanted to meet them all, one a day, it would take you more than 27 years.

But numbers are just statistics. They don’t tell the whole story. People do. Like 11 year old Arielle Figueras, who completed fifth grade one day and was in a shelter with her family the next. Or the Dixon family, who were evicted in April, have been separated in various homes since then, and are now reunited on the streets. Families who had found short-term solutions—like staying with relatives or asking the landlord to temporarily take pity on them—are booted out now that the weather is warmer and the kids are out of school and underfoot.

Across the nation, families are becoming homeless faster than any other demographic. PBS estimates that roughly a third of the homeless are families. Families who approach shelters are subjected to intense questioning, metal detectors, long waits, and overcrowding in addition to the stress of displacement and an uncertain future. Many of them are not allowed in the shelter during the day, left to wander the streets. 1 in 2 families are split up and put in different shelters. They are the lucky ones—one third of families are turned away from shelters entirely because of a lack of resources.

It’s a summer ritual that makes you understand why not everyone welcomes summer. . .

Education as we know it is changing. Remember sitting in class and having your teacher yell at you for listening to music? No longer! If Run-DMC has their way, teachers will not only be encouraging music in the classroom but will be bringing in rap and hip hop of their own.

Darryl McDaniels, a member of the pioneering rap group Run-DMC, was invited by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to attend a conference at the Summer Teacher Institute last week. While there, he spoke to teachers that had gathered from across the country about the importance of using rap as a way in which teachers could better connect with their students, saying that rap made school more interesting, relevant, and personal for students. All I can say is, why wasn’t Run-DMC saying this to my teachers when I was in school?

But seriously, he’s got a point. While he admitted that rap can be “raw,” he also pointed out that it is a form of social commentary and as such has the potential to become an educational tool and a medium of expression for kids who might not have another outlet. In his own words, “real hip-hop is information, education, communication and motivation, whether you’re rich, poor, black, white, Puerto Rican. Hip-hop is the total expression of the existence of what it’s like to be alive on the face of the earth.”

So look out students. This September, it could be your teacher that busts into the classroom with a few Run-DMC lyrics of their own:

One thing I know is that life is short

So listen up homeboy, give this a thought

The next time someone’s teaching why don’t you get taught?

( From Run-DMC:  “It’s Like That”)

Where is my money going?

We’re paying more for everything in NYC- including our subway fare going up on May 31st to $2.50 for a one-way ride and to $103 for a monthly pass and now their saying they’re probably going to have to raise it again in June because they didn’t get enough money in state tax revenue- this is a new change, but there’s consistently increasing expensive things like just trying to get a gallon of milk for under $5 anywhere. We’re not saying that we have a problem paying for things- but if I’m paying I want to make sure my money is going to things that actually affect me- like our healthcare and education.

So for the first time in a long time, I can say I support the President’s budget because that’s what it does- it goes to programs I care about.

Check out www.rebuildandrenew.org for more info.

-Jessica L. Pierce

In January, 99Problems broke news on a budget crisis within the New York public transportation system and potentially drastic rate hikes and service cuts (“Too Broke To Go To Work“).
Much to the dismay and agony of many New Yorkers, those rate hikes and service cuts are becoming reality. On Wednesday, March 25th, they were approved by the MTA.

So, New Yorkers and tourists everywhere…here’s what we can look forward to:

-increased price of a single ride from $2 to $2.50 and monthly fares by 20%

-elimination of two subway trains and more than 33 bus services completely

-longer waits for trains and more people on them

-thousands of jobs lost, more dangerous subway stations

There is currently a plan in the NY State senate to pass a new budget that will prevent these changes from taking place. This plan is currently stalled and the Brooklyn League of Young Voters Education Fund is asking for all New Yorkers to speak up and demand fair treatment for lower and middle income residents.

Send a message to New York’s elected officials!

Asthma, the high cost of education, the high cost of food; Annie’s experience in Harlem is ridiculously common. Many of our biggest cities have the biggest problems, concentrated in the communities who have the least amount of clout with the politicians who regulate our lives. For that reason, Majora Carter is an inspiration. She started the Sustainable South Bronx organization to take on industrial pollution in her community and succeeded in changing her landscape and the lives of her neighbors.

Majora Carter stands up for what she knows needs to happen. Selected as an Olympic torch bearer in 2008, Majora Carter got kicked right out of the parade when she revealed a Tibetan flag she had concealed in her sleeve and made a defiant gesture for the world to see.

Solidarity and the unity of our common desire to live in peace and prosperity: we have to work together!