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papermoonloveslucy · 7 years ago

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LUCY AND ANDY GRIFFITH

S6;E8 ~ October 29, 1973

Directed by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Robert O'Brien

Synopsis

When Lucy meets a charismatic man (Andy Griffith) raising money for underprivileged youth in the park, Kim decides to investigate to see if he's really who he says he is.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter)

Guest Cast

Andy Griffith (Andy Johnson) was a former music teacher. He began his screen career in 1948 on variety shows hosted by Ed Sullivan and Steve Allen. In 1955 he was nominated for a Tony Award for his appearance on Broadway in No Time for Sergeants. He also appeared in the 1958 film version of the play. In 1960 he appeared with Danny Thomas on “Make Room for Daddy” as Sheriff Andy Taylor and the character was spun-off into his own series “The Andy Griffith Show.” He stayed with the show until 1968. That same year he appeared on “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Special” on NBC with Lucille Ball. He also appeared as Andy Taylor on two episodes of “Gomer Pyle: USMC.” In 1971 he starred in “The New Andy Griffith Show” which lasted only one season. He had another hit series in 1986 with “Matlock” which ran until 1995. Griffith died in 2012 at age 86.

Sid Gould (Policeman) made more than 45 appearances on “The Lucy Show,” all as background characters. This is one of his nearly 50 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” Gould (born Sydney Greenfader) was Lucille Ball’s cousin by marriage to Gary Morton.

Randall Carver (Henry, left) began his career in 1969 and is best remembered as John Burns on the first season of “Taxi” (1978-79). This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball. He was 27 years old when he appeared in this episode.

Rick Kellman (Jerry, above right) played Lucille Ball and Bob Hope's son in the film Critic's Choice in 1963. He started acting at age 6 and is best remembered for playing Randy in “The Dennis O'Keefe Show” (1959-60) and Tommy in “Our Man Higgins” (1962-63). A year after this appearance on “Here's Lucy” he left show business.

The character's name is not spoken aloud, just listed in the final credits.

Hank Stohl (Bill Adams) began his career in 1959 and was the voice on the radio on “The Waltons” from 1977 to 1980. This is his only appearance with Lucille Ball.

Bob Whitney (Stage Manager) appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). This is the second of his five appearances on the series.

The character has no lines. He tallies the donations on a chalk board at the end of the episode.

Marl Young (Conductor) was the musical director for “Here's Lucy” as well as making several on-camera appearances when the shows included live music.

Vocalists: Nancy La Mar, Rosemary O'Brien, Dave Anderson Stuart, and Marvin Robinson

The musicians and others in the park and restaurant are played by uncredited background performers.

In March 1965, Lucille Ball interviewed Andy Griffith for two installments of her CBS radio show “Let's Talk To Lucy” while he was still playing Sheriff Andy Taylor on TV.

Six Degrees of Lucy! Although none of Lucille Ball's TV incarnations ever came face to face with Sheriff Andy Taylor, they traveled in the same TV world:

In 1959, the year before Andy Taylor met Danny Williams on “Make Room for Daddy”, Danny Williams and family met Lucy Ricardo and family on a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”

Keith Thibodeaux, who played Lucy Ricardo's son, Little Ricky, played Opie's pal Johnny Paul Jason in 13 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” between 1962 and 1966.

Gomer Pyle, who lived in Mayberry, joined the Marines and was spun off in his own series “Gomer Pyle USMC” when he made a brief appearance on “The Lucy Show” in 1966.

“The Andy Griffith Show” had a sequel series titled “Mayberry RFD” starring Ken Berry, a protégé of Lucille Ball's who had appeared on “The Lucy Show” in 1968.

All of these shows were filmed on the Desilu backlot (formerly RKO, later Paramount).

Don Knotts, who played Andy Griffith's bumbling sidekick Deputy Barney Fife, guest starred in “Lucy Goes on Her Last Blind Date” (S5;E6). Some other “Lucy” actors who frequently showed up in Mayberry include Hal Smith, Parley Baer, Norman Leavitt, Amzie Strickland, Dub Taylor, Stanley Farrar, Will Wright, Herbie Faye, Jonathan Hole, Byron Foulger, Tol Avery, Reta Shaw, Lurene Tuttle, Ruth McDevitt, Ruta Lee, Jay Novello, Ross Elliot, Maxine Semon, Herb Vigran, and Sid Melton.

There are some very basic similarities between “The Lucy Show” and “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Both Griffith and Ball used their own first names, which consist of four letters ending in ‘y’ and also appear in the title.

Both characters have spouses that died before the series' begins.

Both have children and faithful sidekicks.

Both started filming in black and white and eventually aired in color.

Both shows ended in early 1968 only to be re-born in the fall as newly-titled shows: “Here's Lucy” and “Mayberry RFD.”

The Christian overtones in this episode are unusual for this series. A few weeks earlier Kim jokingly said that they missed church on Sunday!

When Lucy and Andy are in the same shot together it becomes visibly clear that Lucille Ball is being filmed by a camera with a filtered lens to soften her look, while the other camera remains unfiltered. The contrast is especially noticeable when Lucy is standing next to Andy in the motel room and goes in and out of soft focus depending on which camera angle is used.

The show opens with Andy and his back-up singers performing “I'll Fly Away” by Albert E. Brumley. First published in 1932 it has been called the most recorded Gospel song of all time. Andy passes the hat for donations for his Right Path Youth Camp in Northern California – only getting thirty eight cents.

At a local restaurant, Andy Johnson tells Lucy that after he came out of the service he became a Sheriff. Lucy responds with disbelief: “A Sheriff!” Although he had left the role of Sheriff Taylor in 1969, Griffith would play him again in the 1986 TV movie “Return to Mayberry.” He would play another Sheriff on “Adams of Eagle Lake,” a 1975 police drama that lasted just two episodes on ABC. The two episodes were later issued on DVD under the titles “Deadly Game” and “Winter Kill.”

Andy tells Lucy his fiancee Alice ran off with his best man Charlie.

Dressed in her downmarket blue jeans, Kim says “What do I look like? Jackie Onassis.” Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929-94) was first mentioned in “Lucy Visits the White House” (TLS S1;E25) in 1963, when she was First Lady of the United States. She married Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis in 1968.

On Bill Adams' TV show, Andy and his singers perform “I'm Gonna Write a Song” by Jerry Reed and released in 1973. They raise $464.00 for the Right Path Youth Camp – quite a step up from their initial take of thirty eight cents!

The TV camera is labeled ‘KBEX COLOR.’ KBEX were the call letters for fictional TV and radio stations. They were used in many TV shows and films, including in Desilu’s “Mannix” and “Mission: Impossible.” They were first used on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy Is Really in a Pickle” (S5;E15) and most recently in "Lucy, the Wealthy Widow" (S6;E4). Starting in 2005, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) started using KBEX for actual broadcast stations. Similarly, the 555 telephone exchange is used exclusively for fictional numbers seen in films and television. Here, the telethon number on the chalkboard is 555-8732.

Lucy Ricardo also meet a charity organization in a public park in “Lucy's Last Birthday” (ILL S2;E25). They were called The Friends of the Friendless.

Recycling! The exterior plaza where Andy sings in the first scene is the same one used for the gallery courtyard in “Lucy and Danny Thomas” (S6;E1). The red booth in the restaurant also makes the rounds. It has been seen many different restaurants throughout the series.

Character Consistency! Lucy says that Kim works for a talent agency. In “Kim Cuts You-Know-Whose Apron String” (S3;E24) she said she worked for a Public Relations firm.

“Lucy and Andy Griffith” rates 1 Paper Heart out of 5

This is an unusual and awkward episode – not funny or serious. The chemistry between Andy and Lucy is given short shrift in favor of Kim's suspicions about his veracity. When she allows Andy (an older, single man from out of town) to bring her to his run-down motel room things just get weird. Then he turns her over his knee and spanks her with his slipper, and things turn from weird to uncomfortable. This sort of thing might have passed for funny in 1953, but not in 1973. She leaves the room through a window (luckily they were on the first floor) after writing on the mirror in shaving cream “You are a nice man.” Huh? There's also an undertone of religion (gospel songs, mentions of 'the Lord'), something that Lucy meticulously avoided throughout her television career. The only exception to this unpleasantness is the brief scene where Lucy schools Andy in how to relax on television. This must have been something that Lucille Ball did when coaching young actors as part of the Desilu Playhouse. There are so many ways Andy Griffith could have been used on “Here's Lucy,” but this seems the least satisfactory showcase for his talents.

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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Vivid details emerge on Ukraine as impeachment quickens

https://apnews.com/30c493831f4740debc7e8f3431830be2

Vivid details emerge on Ukraine as impeachment quickens

By LISA MASCARO, MARY CLARE JALONICK and LAURIE KELLMAN | Published October 15, 2019 10:22 PM ET | AP | Posted October 15, 2019 11:20 PM ET |

WASHINGTON (AP) — The impeachment inquiry is revealing vivid new details about the high-level unease over President Donald Trump's actions toward Ukraine, and those of his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as the swift-moving probe by House Democrats showed no signs Tuesday of easing.

The testimony from the witnesses, mainly officials from the State Department and other foreign policy posts, is largely corroborating the account of the government whistleblower whose complaint first sparked the impeachment inquiry, according to lawmakers attending the closed-door interviews.

One witness, former White House aide Fiona Hill, testified that national security adviser John Bolton was so alarmed by Giuliani's back-channel activities in Ukraine that he described him as a "hand grenade who is going to blow everybody up."

Another, career State Department official George Kent, testified Tuesday he was told by administration officials to "lay low" on Ukraine as "three amigos" tied to the White House took over U.S. foreign policy toward the Eastern European ally.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, despite intensifying calls from Trump and Republicans to hold a formal vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry, showed no indication she would do so. She said Congress will continue its investigation as part of the Constitution's system of checks and balances of the executive.

"This is not a game for us. This is deadly serious. We're on a path that is taking us, a path to the truth," Pelosi told reporters after a closed-door session with House Democrats.

With Ukraine situated between the United States' Western allies and Russia, Pelosi noted the inquiry raises fresh questions about Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"All roads seem to lead to Putin with the president," she said.

Democratic leaders had been gauging support for a vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry after Trump and Republicans pushed them for a roll call. Holding a vote would test politically vulnerable Democrats in areas where the president is popular.

Trump calls the impeachment inquiry an "illegitimate process" and is blocking officials from cooperating.

But several Democratic freshmen who are military veterans or had careers in national security before joining Congress spoke up during the meeting Tuesday, warning Pelosi and her leadership team a vote was unnecessary and would be playing into Republicans' hands, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the private session.

The inquiry is moving quickly as a steady stream of officials appear behind closed doors this week, some providing new revelations about the events surrounding the July 25 phone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It is on that call that Trump urged Zelenskiy to investigate a firm tied to political rival Joe Biden's family and Ukraine's own involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

In a daylong session Tuesday, House investigators heard from Kent, who was concerned about the "fake news smear" against the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump recalled in May, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.

Kent told the lawmakers that he "found himself outside a parallel process" and had warned others about Giuliani as far back as March. He felt the shadow diplomacy was undermining decades of foreign policy and the rule of law in Ukraine and that was "wrong," said Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.

Connolly said Kent described the results of a May 23 meeting at the White House, organized by Trump's acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, where three administration officials — U.S. ambassador Gordon Sondland, special envoy Kurt Volker and Energy Secretary Rick Perry — declared themselves the people now responsible for Ukraine policy.

"They called themselves the three amigos," Connolly said Kent testified, and they said as much to Zelenskiy in Ukraine when they visited.

Kent also told them that Trump, through the Office of Management and Budget, which Mulvaney previously led, was holding up military aid to Ukraine while pressing Zelenskiy to investigate a company linked to Biden's son.

"He was clearly bothered by the role Mr. Giuliani was playing," Connolly said.

In 10 hours of testimony Monday, Hill, the former White House aide who was a top adviser on Russia, recalled to investigators that Bolton had told her he was not part of "whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up," an apparent reference to talks over Ukraine.

She testified that Bolton asked her to take the concerns to National Security Council lawyer John Eisenberg.

As White House lawyers now try to learn more about the handling of the Ukraine call, Eisenberg is coming under particular scrutiny, said one White House official. He was both the official who ordered that the memorandum of the call be moved to a highly-classified system, and the one who involved the Justice Department in a complaint from the CIA general counsel. The latter caught the attention of the president, according to the official.

Giuliani said Tuesday he was "very disappointed" in Bolton's comment. Bolton, Giuliani said, "has been called much worse."

Giuliani also acknowledged he had received payments totaling $500,000 related to the work for a company operated by Lev Parnas — who, along with associate Igor Fruman, played a key role in Giuliani's efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation against Biden and his son Hunter. The two men were arrested last week on campaign finance charges as they tried to board an international flight.

Trump's team won't comply with the Democratic inquiry. Giuliani and Vice President Mike Pence became the latest officials refusing to cooperate, saying through their lawyers they would not provide information requested by House Democrats as part of the impeachment inquiry.

The chairman leading the impeachment investigation, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said the stonewalling simply bolsters the charge that Trump is obstructing Congress.

"The case for Congress continues to build," Schiff said. He said Defense Secretary Mark Esper told investigators Sunday that he would comply with a subpoena request, only to be "countermanded" by a higher authority, likely Trump.

Sondland, whose text messages with other diplomats are part of a cache released by Volker and made public earlier this month, is scheduled to appear for an interview Thursday.

The interviews Monday and Tuesday, like the others conducted by House impeachment investigators, took place behind closed doors. Republican lawmakers have aimed their ire at the process, saying witnesses should be interviewed out in the open.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats were trying to "cancel out" Trump's election with the march toward impeachment.

Five more officials are scheduled this week, mostly from the State Department, though it is unclear if they will all appear.

Michael McKinley, a former top aide to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who resigned last week, is scheduled to testify Wednesday. McKinley, a career foreign service officer and Pompeo's de facto chief of staff, resigned Friday, ending a 37-year career.

Once Democrats have completed the probe and followed any other threads it produces, they will use their findings to help determine whether to vote on articles of impeachment.

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Michael Balsamo, Eric Tucker, Matthew Lee, Padmananda Rama, Andrew Taylor and Alan Fram in Washington and Jonathan Lemire in Dallas contributed to this report.

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xtruss · 5 years ago

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Palosi says Trump’s Ukraine actions amounts to ‘Bribery’!

By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick

Thursday 14 November, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are refining part of their impeachment case against the president to a simple allegation: Bribery.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday brushed aside the Latin phrase “quid pro quo” that Democrats have been using to describe President Donald Trump’s actions toward Ukraine. As the impeachment hearings go public, they’re going for a more colloquial term that may resonate with more Americans.

“Quid pro quo: Bribery,” Pelosi said about Trump’s July 25 phone call in which he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a favor.

Trump says the call was perfect. Pelosi said: “It’s perfectly wrong. It’s bribery.”

The House has opened its historic hearings to remove America’s 45th president, with more to come Friday, launching a political battle for public opinion that will further test the nation in one of the most polarizing eras of modern times.

Democrats and Republicans are hardening their messages to voters, who are deeply entrenched in two camps.

Trump continued to assail the proceedings as “a hoax” on Thursday, and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy dismissed the witness testimony as hearsay, at best second-hand information.

The president, who said he was too busy to watch the initial hearing as it was televised, caught up in the White House residence Wednesday evening and tweeted along with a Fox News morning recap Thursday.

As the Trump impeachment hearings go public, House Democrats are refining the case against the president to a simple allegation: Bribery. Meanwhile, Republicans are dismissing the testimony so far as hearsay, at best second-hand information. (Nov. 14)

The president flatly denied the latest revelations. During Wednesday’s hearing a diplomat testified that another State Department witness overheard Trump asking about Ukraine investigations the day after his phone call with Kyiv.

“First I’ve heard of it,” he said, brushing off the question at the White House.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that a second U.S. Embassy official also overheard Trump’s conversation.

While Trump applauded the aggression of some of his GOP defenders, he felt that many of the lawmakers could have done more to support him and he pressed that case with congressional allies ahead of the next hearing, according to Republicans who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations and were granted anonymity.

On Friday, Americans will hear from Marie Yovanovitch, the career foreign service officer whom Trump recalled as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine after what one State Department official has called a “campaign of lies” against her by the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

At its core, the impeachment inquiry concerns Trump’s July phone call with Zelenskiy that first came to attention when an anonymous government whistleblower filed a complaint.

In the phone conversation, Trump asked for a “favor,” according to an account provided by the White House. He wanted an investigation of Democrats and 2020 rival Joe Biden. Later it was revealed that at the time the administration was withholding military aid from Ukraine.

“The bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance in return for a public statement of a fake investigation into the elections,” Pelosi said. “That’s bribery.”

It’s also spelled out in the Constitution as one of the possible grounds for impeachment -- “treason, bribery or other and high crimes and misdemeanors.”

During Day One of the House hearings, career diplomats William Taylor and George Kent delivered somber testimony about recent months.

They testified how an ambassador was fired, the new Ukraine government was confused and they discovered an “irregular channel” — a shadow U.S. foreign policy orchestrated by Giuliani that raised alarms in diplomatic and national security circles.

It’s a dramatic, complicated story, and the Democrats’ challenge is to capture voter attention about the significance of Trump’s interactions with a distant country.

With a hostile Russia its border, Ukraine is a young democracy relying on the U.S. as it reaches to the West.

Trump’s reelection effort raised more than $3 million on the first day of public impeachment hearings, and campaign manager Brad Parscale announced it now hopes to raise $5 million within a 24-hour span.

A spokesman for the national Republican Party, Rick Gorka, said there’s been a surge of volunteers and the response “we’re receiving from the field has been tremendous.”

Trump, who was set to headline a rally Thursday night in Louisiana, remained out of sight for most of the day and was monitoring a mass school shooting in California, according to aides.

Behind closed doors this week Pelosi reminded Democratic lawmakers of the importance of presenting a “common narrative” to the public as the proceedings push forward, according to a Democratic aide.

“We’re in Chapter One of a process,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., a member of the Intelligence Committee conducting the inquiry. The challenge, he said, is educating Americans about what happened “and then explaining why it matters.”

Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire, Laurie Kellman and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.

— Associated Press

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stephaniefchase · 8 years ago

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Bajan Newscap 1/24/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers! Here is your daily newscap for Tuesday 24th January 2017. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT) or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

BLP DEMANDS ANSWERS ON STATE OF NIS - The Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) is demanding to know the true state of this island’s National Insurance Scheme (NIS) in the wake of concerns raised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year that it could become insolvent. “The people of Barbados need to know whether their hard earned contributions to the NIS will be there so that when they retire they will be able to enjoy a pension and other benefits that are rightfully theirs,” Opposition spokesman Dwight Sutherland said in a statement in which he called on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Minister of Labour and Social Security Dr Esther Byer-Suckoo to provide answers to the people of Barbados. While accusing the ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) of using the NIS as its own “slush fund” and levelling charges of abuse against the current administration, Sutherland, the Shadow Minister of Labour and Social Security, further demanded to know: “What is the true state of the reserves of the NIS? What is Government doing to address increasing payments to the scheme to ensure its longevity? [And] why has the Government been deducting contributions from Government workers money weekly and monthly and not paying them into the NIS?” Without giving any details on the outstanding rent, Sutherland pointed out that the issue was first raised back in 2014 by businessman Sir Allan Fields at the time of his retirement from the NIS board. He therefore made it clear that the BLP was not interested in having the matter descend into “a political dogfight as other important issues have. “This is too crucial a matter. Indeed, given the state of the country, no useful purpose is being served when the Government’s rabid pit bulls, hounds and salmon-tot retrievers descend to savage people who raise matters of public interest, but not deal with the substantive issue. At the end of the day Barbados loses,” he said, while insisting that NIS funds were not to be used “willy-nilly” by Government. (BT)

NIS “SOUND” – There is no crisis with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). Furthermore, says Minister of Labour and Social Security Dr Esther Byer Suckoo, it is doing well. Byer Suckoo spoke to the DAILY NATION yesterday in response to a stinging press statement by shadow minister of labour and social security Dwight Sutherland (right), who called for the Government to reveal the “true state” of the fund. “Two recent International Monetary Fund reports – last year’s Article 4 report on Barbados, and National Insurance Scheme Reforms in the Caribbean – together with the 14th Actuarial Review indicate that the NIS’ expenditure now exceeds its contributions,” Sutherland charged in a press release. (DN)

ONE MORE TERM - Expect a three-peat! Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has issued a strong warning to his political opponents that the general election battle is yet to begin. And even before he makes the much-anticipated announcement, Stuart has attempted to put a nail in the proverbial coffin of the Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP), whose fate he suggests is already sealed, since his ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) is assured of a third straight victory at the polls. However, Stuart, whose Government has recently been on the back foot over its management of the economy, seemed in no hurry to announce the date for the election, which is constitutionally due by next year. Instead, he exhorted DLP members “not to grow weary”, while telling them, “you have nothing to be ashamed of” in the face of growing opposition to his Government’s policies and programmes. The Prime Minister therefore appealed to party supporters to remain steadfast in their support for his administration, saying: “Don’t get distracted by a lot of the incoherent noises you hear from time to time. Those issues are going to be settled on a date that I will determine. “We will rout our adversaries and put them to flight,” he said to the cheers of party supporters. (BT)

ST. LUCY THE BEST – St Lucy has Barbados’ lowest crime rate, leads the island with God-fearing people, and has the surrounding sea to prove it, claims Member of Parliament Denis Kellman. However, Kellman told the congregation at the Crab Hill New Testament Church of God that despite the abundance of law-abiding residents, the parish needed to retain its police station because the very sea which attests to the religious nature of the people was also being used by outsiders to enter the parish to commit crimes.“When you hear about crime levels or problems in St Lucy, it is not necessarily the people in St Lucy, it might be that a couple were able to come and influence a few, but it is not the majority,” Kellman remarked to the congregation that included Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and a number of Cabinet ministers who had attended the service in observance of the birthday of National Hero Errol Barrow, who was born on January 21, 1920. Kellman waxed lyrical about the parish he represents, invoking Jesus Christ to make his point as he linked the waters surrounding St Lucy to the residents’ belief in religion. “Jesus spent a lot of time in the sea, not in a swimming pool. While he was there he carried Peter with him; that is why we have [St] Peter next door to convince you all that we are very religious. You can judge a parish by their churches,” he continued, noting that the Church of God was located “in the middle of Crab Hill” but “you don’t hear anybody complaining for the joyful noise the church is keeping”. “When you come here this morning to Crab Hill, you do not come to what other people will make you believe that this is some parish it has some blight or something,” Kellman said. (BT)

IMF TO DECLARE HAND IN APRIL - The Central Bank will give its latest report card on the Barbados economy today, but Barbadians have to wait until April for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reveal its hand. Yesterday, without mentioning Barbados by name, director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, Alejandro Werner, said the good news for tourism-dependent Caribbean countries was that there would be “a continuous growth in the demand for tourism services” this year. Overall, the Caribbean economy is projected to grow by 3.9 per cent this year, up slightly from 3.7 per cent last year, and the forecast is for four per cent growth next year. Werner gave his Regional Economic Outlook Update for Latin America and the Caribbean in a blog published on the IMF’s website and during a 40-minute press conference webcast live from Washington yesterday. (DN)

AKANNI YET TO BE REINSTATED –The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is said to be on the verge of industrial action over the non-reinstatement of its president Akanni McDowall to an acting senior post within Government, after he was unceremoniously reverted to his substantive junior position last year. Earlier today, an NUPW source told Barbados TODAY the union had already issued an ultimatum to the Personnel Administration Division and that the matter was about to come to a head. The NUPW is accusing Chief Personnel Officer Gail Atkins of failing to honour the decision taken during high level talks late last year that involved the Solicitor General and representatives of the various trade unions, that McDowall must be paid for acting as Health Planning Officer 1 since his removal was deemed to be illegal. The source also pointed out that based on the agreement reached at the meeting, the CPO was required to reinstate McDowall. However, the source, said this decision had not been honoured either. In fact, the source said the only action taken was to re-assign the officer who had replaced McDowall in the acting post. Calling it political victimization, the union had cried foul over the action taken against McDowall, who has been carrying the union’s fight to the Government on several matters, including its outsourcing of jobs at the Sanitation Service Authority (BT)

BLAME THEM – Economist Sir Frank Alleyne has listed poor work ethic, complicity by trade unions and “irresponsible” politicians and the “aborting” of the national productivity board for the less than favourable productivity levels here. Addressing last Friday’s Democratic Labour Party lunchtime lecture at the party’s George Street, Belleville, St Michael headquarters, Sir Frank charged that some union leaders were encouraging unproductive workers whose only interest was in receiving a pay cheques. “Lots of people use the union because they want pay and no work . . . . Not all of them are like that but too many are like that. They want to be paid for turning up and they don’t have to be in the union,” he said in his presentation on Fiscal Consolidation in Small Developing Economies. “Our very strength 20/30 years ago now is one of our greatest weaknesses. And I dare say we have some irresponsible politicians who will encourage people in this foolishness to turn up but not for work. They must go out in the road in the midday sun protesting. So there is a lot we have to deal with,” Sir Frank said. “If that was done and follow through [and] properly managed we would never be in a situation today where when you look back at the last 20 years, pay increases but ahead of productivity improvements. What that has done to us is put us at a competitive disadvantage . . . . It meant that it gave the rest of the region an opportunity to beat us in our own markets right here in Barbados. That is what it means. By aborting it you created an environment where people started, some areas of the trade unions, some leaders had the opportunity to introduce into bargaining tactics of the middle ages,” Sir Frank explained. (BT)

IT’S OUT FAULT - Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite is accusing politicians on both sides of the divide of promoting a sense of backwardness by failing to instill pride in the country’s youth. “It really concerns me, because in many ways we the politicians in this country have taken our people back by not giving them that sense of pride, of ownership, that you have to take ownership of where you want to go,” Brathwaite told a group of mainly elderly people gathered at the Gall Hill playing field in St John on Saturday to celebrate Errol Barrow Day. “Both political parties are at fault in this regard,” he said. The Minister of Home Affairs recalled the period immediately preceding and following Independence when householders and children engaged in domestic animal husbandry or farming to raise money for expenses such as schooling for the young ones. However, he said, those days appear to be gone with the emergence of a more mendicant society. (BT)

DUST AFFECTS OISTINS POST OFFICE –An environmental condition at the Christ Church Post Office in Oistins has resulted in temporary closure of the building from today. It came after 30 workers, including postmen, zipped up their bags and left their posts. They complained of breathing problems which resulted from ongoing renovations. As a result, no mail was delivered to the numerous developments and communities. From tomorrow, people who collect letters or parcels will have to do so at the Worthing Post Office. However, those who want to conduct business transactions can do so at any other post office. The temporary work stoppage prompted a visit from Barbados Workers’ Union officials, including senior assistant general secretary Orlando “Gabby” Scott. (DN)

BAJANS OBESE - No country in Latin America and the Caribbean has a higher obesity rate than Barbados, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The report, Panorama of Food and Nutrition Security in Latin America and the Caribbean 2016, said nearly four in ten Barbadians (36 per cent) were obese. Overall, the report stated, obesity and overweight were on the rise throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and were particularly prevalent among women and children. Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda each with 31 per cent obesity, followed closely as the most obese in the region, both above the average of 23 per cent across Latin American and the Caribbean. It said obesity disproportionately affects women, with the rate of female obesity about ten percentage points higher than that of men in over 20 countries. (BT)

PDC LEADER STAGES PROTEST - When leader of the little known People’s Democratic Congress (PDC) Mark Adamson took to The City Monday in his one man silent protest, his intention was clear – paint as poor a picture of Opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader Mia Mottley as possible. Adamson also sought to link the Opposition BLP to plans to legalize same-sex marriages here, with one of his placards reading, “Do not vote the BLP. They will legalise sex between the same sex”. Displaying other signs which read “Mottley must never become any Prime Minister of any Government of Barbados” and “Mottley is worst BLP leader ever”, the PDC leader continued his offensive against the Opposition Leader. Despite his attack on Mottley, the PDC leader suggested he held no brief for the governing Democratic Labour Party (DLP) either, He said he wanted Barbadians to realize there were “certain issues pertaining to the governance of this country” by both major political parties. He said his party was gearing up for the next general elections constitutionally due next year, contending: “Elections in Barbados are pretty close and as a party the People’s Democratic Congress we must prepare ourselves for that election process whenever they are due.” Adamson was the only PDC candidate in the 2013 general election, polling just 38 votes in St Michael North, won by the BLP’s Ronald Toppin. (BT)

HELP ME - A St Michael resident who has been on remand for the past two months on robbery and criminal damage charges threw in the towel when he appeared before Magistrate Douglas Fredrick recently. When Brian Chuckie Marville of 5A Madison Terrace in Deacons Farm made his first appearance in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court back in November 2016, he denied robbing Peter Deane of a cellular phone worth $1,867 and $500 in cash on October 28. He also denied damaging a car belonging to Garry Blagrove on the same day, and unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on 15-year-old Rynico Martindale on August 3, 2014. However, when he reappeared before Frederick recently, Marville told the magistrate: “I want to plead guilty to all.” With respect to the case involving Martindale, the court heard that the incident occurred when the schoolboy was at Bridgetown Market with his sister and some friends. However, Marville’s guilty pleas were just the start of his problems. Before he could explain his actions and plead for leniency, an unpaid fine imposed in August 2016 came back to haunt him and landed him an automatic six-month prison term at HMP Dodds. “I didn’t pay the fine, Sir, because I get shoot, Sir. I get shoot four times,” Marville told the magistrate who questioned: “How would we have known that?” “Everybody know, Sir. It was in the paper,” the 23-year-old Marville responded. “Sir, I does smoke crack cocaine. I didn’t know what I was doing. I smoke every day – morning, evening, night – back to back and drink alcohol . . . and I really need help. Prison really doesn’t do anything for me, Sir,” he added, even as Frederick pointed out that Marville had a propensity for violence. “I duh so wild I didn’t know what I was doing. I don’t want to go back to society, Sir . . . I want help,” Marville added. The magistrate then sentenced the young man to nine months in jail for the violent incident involving Martindale, to run consecutively with the six-month sentence for the unpaid fine. He was also slapped with a six-month term, also to run consecutively, for robbing Deane, but was convicted, reprimanded and discharged on the criminal damage charge. “Avail yourself of drug rehabilitation while you are in jail,” the magistrate advised Marville. (BT)

ST. ANDREW TEEN REMANDED ON GUN, AMMUNITION CHARGES - A St. Andrew teen has been remanded to HMP Dodds after appearing in court on gun and ammunition charges. Arjay Ricardo Kellman, 19, of Franklyn Doughlin Road, Belleplaine, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, ammunition, cannabis and apparatus. Last Saturday, police executed a search warrant at his home where the firearm, ammunition, and drugs were discovered. Kellman appeared before Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch in the District ‘C’ Magistrate Court on Monday and was remanded to reappear in the District ‘F’ Court on February 1. (DN)

BAJAN JAILED IN UK BUST – A 54-year-old Barbadian drug smuggler who shipped £2 million (about BDS$4.9 million) worth of liquid cocaine into the United Kingdom disguised as oil, has been jailed for 16 years. And the British authorities, who worked on the case, including the intelligence forces, have heaped praise on the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) for its efforts in helping to crack the case. Errol Watson, of Queenswood Gardens in Wanstead, East London, was arrested last July 20 after a flight from Barbados arrived at Gatwick Airport with 18 kilogrammes of liquid cocaine hidden inside three metal canisters. On Friday, July 17, National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators, working with colleagues from the RBPF, identified a suspect shipment coming into Gatwick in a crate aboard a Virgin Atlantic plane. (DN)

CYCLIST DIES AFTER CRASH - IN THE SPACE of an hour, two separate accidents involving three minibuses left one man dead and 21 people injured. Speaking on the scene of the island’s first road fatality for the year at Arch Hall, St Thomas, yesterday evening, police public relations officer Acting Inspector Roland Cobbler said lawmen were investigating the death of 35-year-old motorcyclist Robert Hollingsworth. Witnesses reported that Hollingsworth, of Belfield, Black Rock, St Michael, had collided with a minibus driven by Marklee Harris, 37, of Carlton, St James, and as a result lost control of his motorcycle on that section of the Ronald Mapp Highway. With family members overwhelmed with grief on seeing his body, a nearby resident told the DAILY NATION what transpired. (DN)

KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE - Barbados is losing aspects of its community spirit that gave its citizens national pride. This sentiment was expressed by Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite as he addressed the St John Community Awards on Errol Barrow Day last Saturday at the Gall Hill Playing Field. The award programme, coordinated by the St John Reunion Committee and the St John Constituency Council, was initially scheduled for last Independence Day, as part of the 50th anniversary of Independence celebrations. However, due to the inclement weather, it was postponed. Several people from the parish were acknowledged for their outstanding work in the community and wider society. (DN)

STUMBLING BLOCKS IN WAY OF PROJECTS – Two projects involving the historic Block A Barracks at the Garrison and the Empire Theatre in Bridgetown remain stalled because of planning permission and a lack of funding. As Government tries to source the money to retrofit the Barracks, the Town and Country Planning Department has turned down Preconco Ltd’s plans for the restoration of the Empire. It was in 2015 that Minister of Culture Stephen Lashley revealed the former home of the Caribbean Examinations Council – the 1808 Block A Soldiers Barracks at the Garrison – would be refurbished and retrofitted before becoming the permanent home of the National Art Gallery. Two years earlier, the minister had revealed Mark Maloney’s company, Preconco, had been given the contract to restore the crumbling Empire. (DN)

CARLOS LOOKING TO FIND FORM –Carlos Brathwaite, one of the heroes of last year’s West Indies T20 World Cup triumph, is hoping to rediscover his form in this year’s Regional Super50 tournament. Brathwaite will be hoping to make a telling performance with both bat and ball in Barbados’ opening match against Guyana today at Kensington Oval. “For 2017, I want to focus on enjoying my cricket, and continue to prepare well. I know that the results will take care of themselves, as they have in the past in my professional career, and now my focus is to find back that love and joy I had before the performances went downhill,” he said at the team’s last practice session yesterday at the Oval. The Windies all-rounder is also appreciative of having been able to play for Sydney Thunders in the recently concluded Big Bash League in Australia. (DN)

DOTTIN, TAYLER & MATTHEWS SHINE – West Indies star batter Deandra Dottin showed no ill-effects from a three-week layoff due to surgery as she lashed a classy half-century in a Player-of-the-Match performance to help power Brisbane Heat into semi-finals of the Women’s Big Bash on Saturday. Playing at the Gabba in their second game in as many days, Heat defeated Adelaide Strikers on the one-over eliminator after scores were tied in a dramatic encounter. In only her second game since recovering from multiple fractures of the cheekbone sustained in an on-field collision with teammate Laura Harris last month, the right-handed Dottin stroked 51 from 41 balls – an innings that lifted Heat to 127 for six off their 20 overs. (BT)

BAJANS READY TO SHOW PRIDE - Captain of the Barbados Pride Jason Holder is confident his team has what it takes to reclaim the title when they face Guyana Jaguars in the West Indies Cricket Board’s Regional Super50 competition. And while Holder has admitted the team has not played One-Day cricket at Kensington Oval in a while, he expects the crowd support to give the home team the advantage. “A lot of the guys are really looking forward to that. they’re quite excited, and I will expect good crowds at the games. We have avid cricket fans here in Barbados and people who really adore cricket, so we should have decent turnouts. “We have an experienced team with lots of international players. I wouldn’t say there is any added pressure at the moment. We’re all professional athletes, accustomed playing in front crowds, albeit our own home crowd. It’s just a matter of us relaxing, being focused and prepared to do the job for Barbados. (DN)

NORTH WEST TAKE U17 TITLE - Kavian Inniss’ match-winning strike led St Michael North West to their first National Sports Council/Youth Development Under-17 Football title on Saturday. The Deacons-based St Michael North West team defeated their neighbours from the Ivy, St Michael East 1-0 in front of a sizable crowd at Briar Hall, Christ Church to earn themselves a trip to Trinidad and Tobago in April. At the launch of this year’s tournament it was announced by the organizing committee that the eventual winner would be travelling to the twin-island republic in April. (BT)

REGATTA WINNERS RECEIVE SPOILS –Hundreds of competitors, guests and local dignitaries were treated to a sumptuous banquet at Beach House, St James last night to mark the conclusion of the 81st Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series 2017. The prize-giving event not only celebrated the success of the competitors in the fun yet competitive week-long regatta, but also provided the opportunity to pay tribute to the organisers Barbados Cruising Club in association with Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc, and Mount Gay, and the race committee who worked tirelessly to ensure the event ran smoothly. Although the prize-giving party signalled the end of the coastal series and Round Barbados Race, some teams are now preparing for the Antigua Ocean Race – the 265nm feeder race – that starts tomorrow. (BT)

HOLES NOT IN BAGS WAY – Look a hole, a big, big hole What a hole, shun dat hole, a wider hole, a deeper hole . . . . THOSE WORDS from Red Plastic Bag’s (RPB) 1985 hit Holes, which spoke about potholes in the countryside, can arguably be applied to any main or side road anywhere across Barbados these days. The deteriorating state of the highways and byways continue to be ventilated by members of the public and politicians alike. Minister of Transport and Works Michael Lashley has responded with the emergency pothole patching programme, which has seen private contractors working along with teams from his ministry to address the problems. (DN)

LIL RICK OPTS OUT OF CONTEST - The Bajan invasion at the International Soca Monarch in Trinidad and Tobago is now down two men. Since Sweet Soca Monarch Edwin Yearwood and Party Monarch Lil Rick are the reigning local champions, both were automatically entered into the semi-finals of the competition which takes place in Trinidad. Both, however, have decided not to compete. Management for Edwin and Lil Rick confirmed that they were focusing their efforts elsewhere. “He decided to concentrate on performance opportunities within the traditional and non-traditional markets, our local endorsements and preparing for Crop Over 2017,” Lil Rick’s manager Ruel Ward said. He said the Hypa Dawg was hopeful of performing in places such as Africa, Asia, Australia, Spain, Belize and Mexico. Both men have patriotic songs: Lil Rick with Iz A Bajan and Edwin with Home Sweet Home. Ingrid Holder, of Edwin’s management team, said he was not interested in tweaking the song to suit the Trindadian scene. Other local acts slated to compete are Peter Ram (Good Morning), Marzville (Bang Bim) and King Bubba (Calling In Sick), Marvay (Know The Face) and Biggie Irie (Money Well Spent). Biggie Irie said he would be in Port of Spain for the competition. Marvay’s management confirmed his participation and said he was humbled, petrified and excited as it was his first time in the competition. Efforts to reach Peter Ram, Marzville and King Bubba were unsuccessful up to press time. (DN)

EVENT- “A Tisket A Tasket” A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald featuring Kellie Cadogan takes place today at Hilton Barbados at 6:30 p.m. Admission F.R.E.E

There are 13 Days until Girlfriends Expo & Arts Festival (February 4th & 5th) and you can purchase your tickets from Ticket Pal. Well that’s all for today folks. There are 341 days left in the year ;) Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase

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investmart007 · 6 years ago

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PHOENIX | McCain's final statement: Americans have 'more in common'

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PHOENIX | McCain's final statement: Americans have 'more in common'

PHOENIX— Sen. John McCain expressed his deep gratitude and love of country in his final letter and implored Americans to put aside “tribal rivalries” and focus on what unites.

Rick Davis, former presidential campaign manager for McCain who is serving as a family spokesman, read the farewell message Monday at a press briefing in Phoenix.

In the statement, McCain reflected on the privilege of serving his country and said he tried to do so honorably. He also touched on today’s politics.

“Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here,” McCain wrote. “Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.”

McCain died Saturday from an aggressive form of brain cancer. Plans taking shape called for McCain to lie in state Wednesday in the Arizona State Capitol on what would have been his 82nd birthday. A funeral will be conducted Thursday at North Phoenix Baptist Church with former Vice President Joe Biden speaking. In Washington, McCain will lie in state Friday in the Capitol Rotunda with a formal ceremony and time for the public to pay respects. On Saturday, a procession will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and arrive for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are expected to speak at the service.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell paid tribute to John McCain on Monday by recalling their own legislative battles while echoing the late senator’s belief that there’s more that unites than divides Americans.

Speaking from the Senate floor, McConnell says that while McCain served the state of Arizona in Congress, “he was America’s hero all along.”

He spoke near McCain’s desk in the Senate, which has been draped in black and adorned with white roses in his honor.

McConnell and McCain tangled over several issues, including McConnell’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which failed on McCain’s surprise “no” vote. McConnell says serving with McCain “was never a dull affair.”

McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Friday. A private funeral is planned for Sunday afternoon at the Naval Academy Chapel followed by a private burial at the academy cemetery.

President Donald Trump was not expected to attend any of the services.

McCain was a noted critic of Trump, and Trump’s response to McCain’s death has been closely watched.

The flag atop the White House flew at half-staff over the weekend in recognition of McCain’s death but was raised Monday and then lowered again amid criticism.

Trump said Monday afternoon that he respects the senator’s “service to our country” and signed a proclamation to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff until his burial.

When asked about Trump’s response to McCain’s death after the flag was raised Monday, Davis said that the family is focusing on the outpouring of support from around the world instead of “what one person has done or said.”

“The entire focus of the McCain family is on John McCain,” Davis said. “There really is no room in the McCain family today to focus on anything but him.”

In Arizona, high-profile campaigns announced that they have suspended some activity this week.

McCain was just one of 11 U.S. senators in the state’s 116-year history, and on Tuesday, primary voters will decide the nominees in races across all levels of government. There’s also the sensitive question of who will succeed McCain.

Arizona law requires the governor of the state to name an appointee of the same political party who will serve until the next general election. Since the time to qualify for November’s election is past, the election would take place in 2020, with the winner filling out the remainder of McCain term until 2022.

Possible appointees whose names circulate among Arizona politicos include McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl and Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s chief of staff Kirk Adams.

Throughout the weekend, Arizona politicos across all levels of government offered remembrances of McCain. Noting McCain’s death, several candidates, including Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Rep. Martha McSally, who are expected to win their party’s races for the state’s other U.S. Senate seat, on Sunday evening said they would suspend their campaigns on Wednesday and Thursday. Ducey, whose office is coordinating services at the Arizona State Capitol for McCain, will not attend any campaign events between now and when McCain is buried.

Tributes poured in from around the globe. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in English that McCain “was a true American hero. He devoted his entire life to his country.” Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said McCain’s support for the Jewish state “never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom.” And Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, called McCain “a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country.”

McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the U.S. Naval Academy. A pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years. He went on to win a seat in the House and in 1986, the Senate, where he served for the rest of his life.

“He had a joy about politics and a love for his country that was unmatched,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told CNN’s “State of the Union.” ”And while he never made it to the presidency, in the Senate, he was the leader that would see a hot spot in the world and just say, we need to go there and stand up for that democracy.”

By MELISSA DANIELS and LAURIE KELLMAN , Associated Press ___

#Americans #deep gratitude #final statement #implored americans #john mccain expressed #laurie kellman #McCain #melissa daniels #presidential campaign manager #press phoenix #TodayNews

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caveartfair · 8 years ago

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This Nonprofit Is Willing to Bet That Art Can Change the World

2017 ABOG Fellows (clockwise, from top left): Freeman Word. Photo: Jennifer Korman Photography; Aviva Rahmani. Photo: Joe Gaffney; Ashley Sparks. Photo: Courtesy the artist; Rick Lowe. Photo: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Ronny Quevedo. Photo: Argenis Apolinario; Stephanie Dinkins. Photo: Courtesy the artist; Hello Velocity. Photo: Courtesy the artists; Jackie Sumell. Photo: Courtesy the artist; Courtesy of A Blade of Grass.

“The artists we’re working with are interested in actively engaging with structures that impact people,” says Deborah Fisher, the executive director of the non-profit A Blade of Grass (ABOG). That’s a fairly concise way to describe much of the work generated by the group’s fellowship program, which has, since 2013, awarded a total of $580,000 in stipends to artists like Dread Scott, Simone Leigh, and Rulan Tangen.

These artists don’t simply critique power from a distance or within the safety of a museum’s walls—they engage with institutional structures out in the world. That makes the financial support of ABOG even more vital: Socially engaged art comes with its own logistical, financial, and conceptual difficulties. While there is a growing infrastructure to bolster this type of work, the support network is still relatively small; a little money can go a long way.

On Tuesday, ABOG will announce its 2017 class of fellows—solo artists and one collective—chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants. Each will receive a $20,000 stipend along with additional support for their projects (access to a network of fellows, for example). Proposals include everything from incubating sustainable immigrant-run businesses in Athens as part of Documenta 14 (Rick Lowe) to a “musical car race” that explores identity through performances in small Southern towns (Ashley Sparks).

Dancing Earth community artists in performance installation at Hunter Arts and Agriculture Center in Española, courtesy of Moving Arts Española, NM. Photo by Paulo T Photography. Courtesy of A Blade of Grass.

Among the 2017 winners is Freeman Word, who plans to use the funds to develop the Zakatu Madrasa, a community space that will be sited in a to-be-determined location in St. Louis’s North Side. Not linked to any single religion, his madrasa is an educational space, with a library and the opportunity for intergenerational mentorship within the community, with younger members creating and exhibiting artwork in the space (and being paid for their efforts).

Beyond the ABOG award money, the madrasa will depend on book sales and financial pledges from community members. “People will only continue to pay for what they believe is providing valuable service or output to the community,” he says. Word has already received the additional necessary commitments to ensure funding—an important achievement given a concern with socially engaged art is that the projects can leave participants in the lurch if the seed grant dries up.

Word drew inspiration from, among others, W.E.B. Du Bois, Carter G. Woodson, and scholar Jessica Gordon Nembhard, whose book Collective Courage charts the history of African-American economic cooperatives, like mutual aid societies, back through slavery. “There’s a very real tradition I’m borrowing from,” Word says. “It’s not innovation, even if it feels like innovation.”

The past and present fellows I spoke to made it clear that socially engaged art is something of a misnomer; it ignores the simple fact that in in most communities, art is always “created for someone other than yourself,” as artist Rulan Tangen puts it. (An ABOG fellow in 2016, Tangen used her grant for a project titled seeds:ReGeneration, which explored indigenous artistic practices in community gatherings, and culminated in a harvest ritual.)

ABOG stresses accountability and visibility—collaborating with artists to create videos and written materials that describe and document their work. While the organization stresses letting artists lead, the goal is to measure and quantify the success of the projects: Part of the criteria is that the artists are working with communities and stakeholders. ABOG engages in field research, working with the artist to find a third party (a professor, another artist) versed in any given subject area who can document events, speak with local residents, and report on how the fellowship is engaging its target audience.

Grassroots engagement is the hallmark of ABOG endeavours. For Higher Sales, Ronny Quevedo is working in the South Bronx with La Morada, what one might call a socially engaged restaurant (it features activist artworks and a lending library). A group of local teenagers will participate in a 12-week workshop to create a signage for La Morada, dissecting the neighborhood’s history as well as the pressures it currently faces.

The project, Quevedo says, is consciously informed by artists like Jenny Holzer, as well as the wheatpaste-postering efforts of past artist-activist groups. It’s also a refreshingly nuanced way of engaging with the Bronx itself, highlighting the long-standing creative talent that has always existed in a place the art world can often still think of as a “frontier” awaiting artwashing (see Lucien Smith’s maligned “Piano District” branding event, for one example).

Ronny Quevedo, Higher Sails sign for Sergio Grajeda Mechanic, Albuquerque, NM, 2015, digital print in dibond. Photo courtesy of the artist. Courtesy of A Blade of Grass.

Also among the 2017 fellows is Aviva Rahmani, who argues that many entrenched political issues can be addressed with artistic thinking and a focus on human relationships. “It’s a question of how you look at systems so that you’re taking the skills from conceptual art and social sculpture and applying them to a problem,” Rahmani says.

Her installation and performance work Blued Trees Symphony, which began in 2015, blends artistic and legal structures. She has painted trees along pipeline routes, in the hopes of using the Visual Artist Rights Act and copyright law to halt or disrupt the construction of oil infrastructure. (She and her legal team expect the first court case to unfold in Virginia.)

Engaging with the courts or other systems of power is a familiar tactic for ABOG-supported artists. Celebrating the lineage of someone like Mierle Laderman Ukeles—who, since the 1970s, has served as an artist-in-residence with New York’s Department of Sanitation— the group has worked with artists who have partnered with the city agencies and institutions, like the Department of Homeless Services (Jody Wood) and the AFL-CIO (Sol Aramendi).

Admittedly, not everyone is fully supportive of projects that aim for social engagement. Engaging with power poses its own questions, given that agencies and institutions can often be complicit in perpetuating systems of inequality. Critics see socially engaged practice as more of a band-aid than a fundamental shift.

Aviva Rahmani, Blued Trees Symphony, Rensselaer County, New York. Photo by Jack Baran, 2015. Courtesy of A Blade of Grass.

While noting that these points can be valid, Fisher says that “we don’t have the luxury of scrapping these huge institutional systems.” Art, she argues, can push and subvert ingrained systems of power in fresh directions. She points to the collective Hello Velocity, a 2017 fellow that is developing Gradient, a system that lets users pay for purchases on a sliding scale based on their income. “We’re all complicit in capitalism,” Fisher says. “In order to change that we have to reimagine it while we’re living in it.”

They recognize that engaging so overtly with capitalism and commerce is something artists—especially socially conscious ones—prefer to avoid completely. But, said Hello Velocity’s Lukas Bentel, “If you want to talk about something it’s always better to get your hands a little dirty.”

Then there is the additional benefit of deploying art to tackle these problems: It acts as shield for bureaucracies or commerce platforms that otherwise wouldn’t dream of experimenting. Take 2014 ABOG fellow Jody Wood’s project—a mobile van that provided empowering beauty care to homeless people in New York. Or Jackie Sumell, a 2017 fellow, who is creating a “mobile prison abolition unit” that looks to create dialogue between the incarcerated and the wider public. Or Stephanie Dinkins, who is planning to work with people of color to understand how algorithms tend to replicate the biases of society, before ultimately designing a fairer artificial intelligence.

Socially engaged art is always full of contradictions. Its practitioners strive to make an impact—but also tout their ability, and perhaps willingness, to fail. They challenge systems of power—but must work within those systems in order to have real effect. But these points of seeming fissure are actually the source of socially engaged art’s power, not simply as a strategy, but as a form. As Fisher puts it, “Art is a place where we can hold contradictions and tensions.”

—Isaac Kaplan

Cover image: Freeman Word and collaborator. Photo by Julie Kellman.

from Artsy News

#Artsy News

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