June 2000

Precinct Community Council To Hold Elections
The 88th Precinct Community Council will be holding elections for all executive board offices at its general meeting on June 20th, 7:30 pm, at Bishop Laughlin High School, Clermont and Greene Avenues. The meetings, which fall on the third Tuesday of each month, are usually held at Emmanuel Baptist Church, St. James and Lafayette Ave. The Community Council provides a forum for residents to get up-to-date information on area crime and other police-relate concerns, learn what the precinct is doing to solve local problems, and voice our own concerns directly to police and city authorities. The Precinct Council system has been in place for some time, but the City has been working to increase its effectiveness in response to the need for improved citizen/police communication in the wake of the Amadou Diallo shooting. LPCA members regularly represent our block at the meetings, but all residents are welcome and encouraged to attend. The Precinct and City officials are well-informed and attentive to what we have to say, making the meetings a powerful opportunity for positive involvement in the working of our neighborhood. Elections are held every 2 years; in order to vote, residents must attend at least 3 meetings in the year before the election.

For more information on the 88th Precinct Community Council, call 718-636-6511.

Central Fulton Cleanup Day

Neighborhood Groups Work Together to Revitalize Commercial Zone

On Sunday, June 11th, the Central Fulton Community Coalition (a collective of neighborhood organizations that includes LPCA, Grand Avenue Block Association, Mid-Fulton Street Merchants' Association and Pratt Area Community Council, in cooperation with the 79th and 88th police precincts and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office) will hold the First Annual Central Fulton Street Community Cleanup. The purpose of this event, similar to the successful cleanup on Myrtle Ave. last fall, is to beautify the neighborhood, and in doing so, stimulate community pride, set the groundwork for future ongoing neighborhood improvement actions, and attract more business to the Central Fulton area.

From 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, volunteers including the Police Explorers will paint over the graffiti on storefront gates and other surfaces on and around Fulton Street between Vanderbilt and Bedford avenues, as well as picking up and bagging street trash. The paint and supplies will be donated by the Mayor's and Borough President's offices, and the painting service will be free to business and building owners who sign permission forms. Refreshments will be served to volunteers at the end of the cleanup by Guytina's restaurant on Putnam and Grand, and commemorative t-shirts will be distributed.

Our stretch of Fulton, which contains many boarded-up or vandalized storefronts, unoccupied buildings and empty lots, could be a thriving shopping district like Fort Greene's Bogolan commercial zone, or upper 5th Ave. in Park Slope; both economically struggling, poorly maintained areas not so long ago.

Come out Sunday morning and help us make it happen! For more information, call Seble Tareke at PACCÑ718-522-2613, ext. 16.

Needful Things 2000

The first Lefferts Place "Needful Things" All-Block Yard Sale of the 21st Century will take place on Saturday, June 24, following a block clean-up that morning. We'll polish up our neighborhood, then bring out all that good stuff that's been piling up in our homes all winter for a block-long marketplace of bargains and treats. A $5.00 donation to the Lefferts Place Civic Association is requested from everyone selling goods.

Call 789-6354 for more info.

Juneteenth: Commemorating a Chapter in American History

Adapted from the Juneteenth.com web site

On June 19th, 1865--two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation officially ended slavery in the U.S.--Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.

Later attempts to explain the two and a half year delay in the delivery of this most important news have yielded several versions, handed down through the years. Often told is the story of a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the enslavers to maintain the labor force on the plantations. Still another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. All or none of them may be true. Reactions to the news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation. Even with nowhere to go, many ex-slaves felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of liberty. North was a logical destination and for many it represented true freedom, while the desire to reach family members in neighboring states drew others to Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. These early free black settlers faced the challenge of establishing a heretofore non-existent status for black people in America.

Recounting the memories of that great day in June of 1865 and its festivities would serve as motivation as well as a release from the growing pressures encountered in their new territory. The celebration of June 19th was coined "Juneteenth" and grew with more participation from descendants. The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date.

After some periods of neglect, the celebration of Juneteenth is once again enjoying a growing and healthy interest throughout the country. Institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum and others have begun sponsoring Juneteenth-centered activities. In recent years, a number of National Juneteenth Organizations have arisen to take their place along side older societies, all with the mission of promoting and cultivating knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture.

Juneteenth today celebrates African American freedom while encouraging self-development and respect for all cultures. As it takes on a more national and even global perspective, the events of 1865 in Texas are not forgotten, for all of the roots tie back to this fertile soil from which a national day of pride is growing.

For more information, visit the Juneteenth web site at www.juneteenth.com.

Pest Update

The good news is that Health Department exterminators have been reported to be working on the rat problem in Crispus Attucks Park and other parts of the neighborhood. The bad news is that a neighbor has been bitten by a deer tick, which have also been found on at least one dog in the area. Deer ticks carry Lyme disease; a serious illness which can be cured with antibiotics if caught early. The sign of a deer tick bite is a small round mark on the skin that looks like a bulls-eye. If you find this mark on yourself, see a doctor as soon as possible for a blood test. Also, check your pets in case they're carrying ticks.

Good And Welfare

Catherine Taylor

Congratulations to all the June Graduates!

We're very proud of you. Special applause for graduates Jasmine Fernandez of #66, who is making the difficult decision between two college scholarship offers, and Mrs. Angeline O'Neill's granddaughter Equabah Gonney.

Happy Birthday to Golden Oldies

Louise Tarant, Catherine Martin, Roberta Hood, Willie Mae Short, Nathaniel Tarant.

Condolences to Elaine Frazier on the death of her mother

Correction

Apologies to Osteen Patterson, who has a new grandson; Joell Tyler Hodges. (Joell was mistakenly listed as a granddaughter in our last issue).

Please notify C. Taylor at 130 Lefferts Place, #3N (718-857-4764) of births, graduations, marriages, anniversaries, as well as illnesses and deaths.

published by the

Lefferts Place Civic Association

Box 473547

Brooklyn, New York 11247

Editor: David Conrad

Layout & Design: David Conrad

Contributors: Catherine Taylor