Brouhaha-ha-ha
From the East Side Monthly, Letters
Protect ALL Our Houses
To the Editor:
Regarding Kathryn Laferte's response ("The Pleasures of Plastic," in the January issue of East Side Monthly) to my original letter, l want to say that my point is not concerned with the pros and cons (aesthetic, structural, or otherwise) of aluminum siding. It is about the right to economic self-determination and free expression - the very ideals upon which Roger Williams founded our state.
All homes are "historical" by definition - the designation of a particular neighborhood as an "historical district" is merely a strategy by which a DOMINANT HISTORY for that area is established and to which all community members, regardless of their actual historical backgrounds, are expected to conform. Such thinking is, at its core, a vestige of colonialism.
A history of architecture cannot be truthfully considered without an understanding of the human dynamics that shape the ebb and flow of design, construction, renovation, adaptation, and preservation. A three-decker Fox Point aluminum-clad tenement house purchased in the 1970's by a family of immigrants from Cape Verde is as much a part of the history of this city as a well-preserved East Side Victorian. Both merit preservation. Home owners in any and all neighborhoods should stand to benefit from tax incentives for home improvement with 1no special consideration given to color choice or materials preference. To create additional tax incentives for specific types of historically-correct renovations available exclusively within selected so-called "historical neighborhoods" (where property values and incomes are typically higher) is only another means of providing ADDITIONAL tax breaks for those already in upper income brackets.
The structural frame of a building is as much shielded from the elements by aluminum or vinyl as it is by wood. The writer betrays her ignorance of construction materials and structural engineering by making the uninformed statement that people who decide to go with vinyl and aluminum siding have houses "rotting away under all that plastic". However, more distressing is the snobbery and condescension in her supposition that anyone not in sync with her sense of proper architectural fashion is negligent and incapable of responsible home ownership.
Finally, in her myopic view of the supposedly burgeoning tourism industry, Ms. Laferte has apparently confused Providence with Main Street in Disneyland. Frankly, her chilling Speilbergian vision of Providence strikes this reader more as a depressingly nostalgic shrine to les temps perdu than the vibrant city I know and love. Providence is a place with a sense of maverick spirit.
Of course we should respect the past, but we should not place the history of our art and architecture in conflict with freedom of expression and the natural creative energy that springs from the diversity of human cultural experience.
Maurice Methot
50 Summit Ave.
Posted by John Twomey
Posted at 07:03 PM | Politics | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Shots Fired
Today, as I puttered about my house in Mt. Hope, deep in a peaceful Saturday afternoon reverie, I jolted to my senses and was again reminded of where I live by a very loud gunshot, which sounded quite close, as if it came from less than a block away, most likely up near the Crossroads (corner of Camp & Cypress) or down Camp a bit in the direction of the public housing on Pleasant Street, given how sound carries and richots in the winter air.
My 10 year old dog, Molly, who is healing from surgery on her leg, jumped off of the couch and ran to hide in the bedroom. By doctor's orders her movements must be severely restricted; I lift her on and off the couch. I jumped to the window to see if I could see anything but there was nothing to be seen.
CouchMolly
All law abiding taxpaying citizens of Mt. Hope are victims of the drug related gang violence that the City cannot seem to muster the will to stop: everyone who startled at the sound of the gunshot, Molly who was so scared she jumped down on a surgically repaired knee, and myself, who was shaken out of a peaceful activity to be reminded that at any moment a bullet can come through one of my windows and end my life or the life of one of my loved ones, all because our City Officials, elected and appointed, don't have the guts (Guts? Let's face it, I'm implying "cojones", "balls.") to address these ongoing crimes for fear of the need to address the issues of race and violence and poverty.
Instead they function as enablers.
The gunshot reminded me that I had planned to post a small article that I found buried in the Rhode Island section of the Providence Journal on February 9th. You can read it below in its entirety.
Police investigate link between 2 shootings01:00 AM EST on Friday, February 9, 2007
PROVIDENCE — The police are investigating whether a shooting yesterday in the Mount Hope area of the East Side might be linked to the shooting Wednesday night of an 18-year-old man in South Providence.Detective commander Capt. Hugh Clements said Andrew Ortiz, 18, was walking along Somerset Street with his younger brother near Hayward Street around 8:10 p.m. Wednesday when a dark colored vehicle came up at them from behind and someone inside fired several shots.
One bullet hit Ortiz in the right side of his lower back. He was in serious condition at Rhode Island Hospital, according to Clements.
About 1:30 p.m. yesterday, two people got out of a light-colored Jeep Cherokee and fired shots at Daniel Lassiter, 31, who was sitting in front of 89 Woodbine St. Lassiter was not hit.
Clements said the police are keeping open “the distinct possibility” that the shootings are linked. “We are following several leads and are investigating more as we speak,” he said.
John Twomey
Posted at 03:03 PM | Issues | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Poem of the Week
the proud
thin
dying
I saw old people on pensions in the
supermarkets and they are thin and they are
proud and they are dying
they are starving on their feet and saying
nothing. long ago, among other lies,
they were taught that silence was
bravery, now, having worked a lifetime,
inflation has trapped them. they look around
steal a grape
chew on it. finally they make a tiny
purchase, a day's worth.
another lie they were taught:
thou shalt not steal.
they'd rather starve than steal
(one grape won't save them)
and in tiny rooms
while reading the market ads
they'll starve
they'll die without a sound
pulled out of roominghouses
by young blond boys with long hair
who'll slide them in
and pull away from the curb, these
boys
handsome of eye
thinking of vegas and pussy and
victory.
it's the order of things: each one
gets a taste of honey
then the knife.
Charles Bukowski
An outsider artist, self-proclaimed "dirty old man" and reprobate, Charles (Hank) Bukowski lived and loved, most of his life, in Los Angeles. He began drinking around the age of ten and began writing poetry at the age of 35. He drank heavily his whole life and was legendary for it, but alcohol could not kill him and he finally died of leukemia at the age of 73.
A longtime friend of Raymond Carver, Bukowski is considered one of the first of the "Dirty Realists" a literary school of which Carver became the best known.
I know of 4 films about Bukowski, a television documentary in the 60's, the movie "Barfly" starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, another documentary in 2004, "Bukowski: Born Into This," and a 2005 film, Factotum, starring Matt Dillon.
Many rock bands and artists draw inspiration from Buk's work, taking band names and song titles from his poems, novels and stories. The Americana singer and songwriter, Tom Russell, created a musical setting of Bukowski's great poem, Crucifix in a Death Hand, on his Grammy winning album, Modern Art.
Posted at 04:19 PM | The Arts | Comments (0)
Lafete's Folly Redoux
On Catch-23 Redoux and Katie Laferte's allegations
“Mount Hope doesn't need fifteen organizations fighting each other. We're talking about twenty blocks here.”
“ . . . rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs . . . ”
I’ve learned to have a sense of humor in dealing with Mt. Hope's unselfish, though ambitious and thoroughly ambivalent citizen activists, because, well, a sense of humor is definitely needed in order to keep one's sanity -- otherwise one would rue the day they ever became active in neighborhood politics.
I think our illogical commenter, Ms Laferte, got caught a little bit off base in her mini-rant mini-skirt, about Mt. Hope neighborhood organizations, and here, she gets picked off base, to use a baseball metaphor.
I’ve been involved in community work in Mt. Hope and with GCCC for many years, and I have experienced no conflict with any other Mt. Hope organizations. The Mt. Hope organizations I know of have separate missions which do not overlap.
For instance, the Ministries do community outreach to poor people using government funds, and the MHNA uses government funds to provide after school programs, while the GCCC uses only member dues to do their work, which focuses on quality of life issues.
Our Catch23 writer says that, “
“Mount Hope doesn't need fifteen organizations fighting each other. We're talking about twenty blocks here.”
And even earlier, in a related statement, she compares Mt. Hope organizations to teenage gangs fighting over turf.
“ . . . rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs’.”
Who are these 15 organizations, Ms. Katie Laferte; which ones are duking it out; and what are they duking it out about?
I, myself, want you to inform me as I’m a long time member and leader of one of the organizations (GCCC).
And I assure you, Katie, the "kids" don't in any way see their gangs as "ridiculous" -- they see them as deadly serious, as you should, too, as we all should. How many have died?
It seems to me that this Katie commenter cemented herself concretely in an abyss of obese hyperbole, if you know what I mean. In other words, I think she’s got it all wrong.
Our Catch23 commenter asks that:
"The organizer of these meetings has told me she's contacted the GCCC leadership on a few occasions to extend an invitation to attend. I would like to pass on the information to a member who would like to get involved (not someone who would derail the process, but someone who would be willing to attend as a representative of the principles of the GCCC)".
My stance on meeting with other organizations at the request of CATCH is that it would be a waste of our time unless they provided GCCC with a clear agenda.
If CATCH had a concrete proposal for the GCCC organization asking GCCC to perform a certain function for them or aid them in a specific area or task we would have looked over the request carefully, put it to our members, and acted on it one way or the other. But we received no proposal, no phone call to discuss issues, just an e-mailed meeting announcement with no agenda.
Since my wife, Irene, was battling cancer at that time, all such insignificant activities, as GCCC leaders, we just put insignificant requests on the back burner.
GCCC categorically rejects Ms. Laferte's allegation that a rift exists between any Mt. Hope organizations and challenges her to prouduce evidence of her unfounded manipulative, delusional, and paronoid accusations.
But we (you) can certainly create a rift if you so desire!
But we did ask a GCCC member to represent GCCC at a CATCH meeting; Ellen Baver, and Ms. Baver left that CATCH meeting in tears after being viciously attacked by the woman who works at the Learning Center, Ann Marie Ready, and from someone from the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association, a Mr. Carvallho,, and Ms. Devine, all for Ms. Baver’s writing a letter to the editor of the Providence Journal and the East Side Monthly expressing her point of view as a Mt.Hope mother, parent, and resident who walks Camp Street on a regular basis.
See the July 7th post, Pro Jo Editorials = Two of a Kind -- Does Mayor Get It? : the comments made under that post, using names like Kangroo Communique, et al.
Ghastly behavior!
I’m appalled at the gall of these people.
To publicly attack and criticize someone for exercising their right to free speech, their right to voice their political opinion? To verbally attack her out of the blue in front of all the other people present at the meeting.
One person implied, (in what I consider a manipulative lie) that Ms. Baver's letter offended Mt. Hope's youth -- can you countenance such an outrageous accusation -- who did Ms. Baver's letter offend, the youthfull drug dealers on Camp Street?
Another person told Ms. Baver that she intervened to keep somone from burning down her, the Baver's, house! Can you imagine?
Ms. Ready, Mr. Carvhallo, Ms. Devine, write your own letter of dissent to the editor, for Christ’s sake--voice your disagreement in the public forum like Ms. Baver had the courage to do.
Cowards! Cowards all!
Ms. Baver reported to me that she was totally unprepared for such a vicious, personal attack and that it really shook her and her family up. She left their meeting in tears and was upset for days afterwards. Ms. Baver is one of the Mt. Hope residents and GCCC members who has worked the most courageously, and unselfishly, for positive change in Mt. Hope.
What way is that to treat someone whom you invited to participate in your meeting?
I wish I had been there --I really, really wish I had been there.
Despicable behavior! Shame, shame, shame on all you who participated!
Since my wife, Irene, successfully beat her cancer (she’s cancer free, thanks, to all of you kind people who inquired) she has attended every meeting of CATCH. She has not yet heard of a proposal for GCCC from CATCH.
So what’s the deal, Ms. Laferte?
What have you and CATCH got for the GCCC?
What are you calling for?
You sat right next to Irene at the last CATCH meeting, and you had every opportunity to follow up on this Catch-23 post of yours, yet you were as quiet as a little mousey. Are you mousey by nature?
Here is another Laferte quote from the Catch-23 post:
“The much maligned CATCH program has held a series of meetings since the spring about "affordable housing." The fallout of these meetings is the idea that all Mount Hope organizations should get together and talk to one another, to develop trust and accountability and really try and deal with the various problems people perceive in the neighborhood rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs’.”
What do you mean, “The fallout of these meetings . . . “? Should we all be in our “fallout” shelters?
And by the way, Ms. Laferte, who told you Mt. Hope organizations don’t have “trust and accountability” -- or are you making that up?
CATCH, Ms. Laferte? Who? Empty rhetoric, Ms. Laferte: we await proof?
Has anyone observed anything like a gang war between Mt. Hope organizations?
I think Ms. Laferte needs to stick to organizing neighbors and community residents to clean up the empty land trust lot that blights the view from her house: she has organized at least two such clean-ups, calling them “Community Cleanups”, when in fact they only cleaned up the filthy part of the community that she could see from her front window:
I participated in one of her so called “Community Clean-ups, and I felt used and dirty afterward. And I vowed, never again.
There are many kinds of community activists -- Ms. Laferte is one kind.
Some people are only involved in CATCH because they think they can have some minor input into the affordable housing that is going into Abbott Court, the Walkway off of Knowles Street where Ms. Laferte lives. CATCH should be aware of such motives.
As far as for CATCH, none of the three principal organizers lives in Mt. Hope, nor have they invested financially in Mt. Hope. Only their meeting moderator, Ms. Devine, is a Mt. Hope resident, with a financial commitment to Mt. Hope. She is a professional in social work for Miriam Hospital. I wonder whether she is the CATCH front person only because she lives in Mt. Hope and only becaues she is a person of color.
In fact, most of the people involved in CATCH and the Mt. Hope Empowerment Network are what I refer to as Professional Liberals. They draw their paychecks either from the government or from organizations that draw funds from the government for social services. It is important for their careers, for their resumes, to be involved in something like CATCH.
I call it resume building.
Although these people all have an ulterior motive, I believe that these people strongly, honestly believe that they are doing good.
They just cannot tolerate anyone who disagrees with them.
I do.
I personally, strongly disagree with them.
Believe me, liberals are less tolerant than conservatives, and I am in no way a conservative, but I believe Professional Liberals are the least tolerant of all, as evidenced by their attack on Ms. Baver for voicing her opinion.
I consider the leader of CATCH to be Dr. Peter Simon, of the Health Department, and I wish he had the courage of his convictions to confront his associates for their viscious and unconsionable attack on GCCC's Ms. Baver.
I think CATCH, or now, The Empowerment Network, can do some good and bring some needed services to people who need them. I hope they can bring some of their ideas to fruition.
GCCC remains ready and willing to work with CATCH: we simply await a written proposal explaining what CATCH is all about and what role they wish GCCC to play in their plans.
I strongly believe that GCCC should be operated in a professional, legal, business-like manner. CATCH should approach GCCC with these principals in mind.
I respectfully ask CATCH if they have plans that include GCCC, please forward them in writing to us, or simply call us up on the phone, or e-mail us, and fill us in on the details. GCCC is open to considering any projects that will benefit the entire Mt. Hope community, as expressed in our Mission Statement.
GCCC also remains willing to reach out to the Mt. Hope learning Center’s Ms. Ready and to the MHNA’s, Mr. Carvhallo and to CATCH to work toward common goals benefiting Mt. Hope: but we strongly believe that the individuals who attacked Ms. Baver owe her an apology for their vicious and unconscionable, personal, ad hominem attack on her at the winter, 2005, CATCH meeting.
Yeah, one must have a “mind of winter” to behold “the nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.” To quote Wallace Stevens.
And, oh yeah, one must have a mind with a sense of humor, otherwise, well . . .
Drug dealers still operate freely right around the Crossrroads, Camp & Cypress, within sight of the Police Department's District 8 Substation -- it takes both a "mind of winter" and a "sense of humor" to tolerate that!
John Twomey
Posted at 02:24 PM | Politics | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
