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The Wheels of Progress

The other day, the Dr. and I were down in D.C. for a little R&R and time with her family.  We had gotten a nice hotel (thanks Priceline Negotiator), part of Dr.'s birthday gift, staying right off New Jersey Ave. in town.  Leaving the cold rain of New York, we decided to enjoy the warm weather and spend most of the morning strolling from Columbia Heights, down through U Street and around the Shaw neighborhood.  There's some great views of the town from the heights, and the row homes remind me of south Brooklyn, little patches of grass that bring some color to the grey stoned stoops.

While walking down 9th Street NW, back to the hotel, a woman passed us with a tire that must have ust blown out.  She was an older woman, and after her attempts for help were met with little kindness, the Dr. decided to extend an offer to help change the tire.  I was less in favor of this idea, since neither of us own a car. {I got yelled at once by the guy behind the glass at a petro station after trying to fill a car up with guess and continually resetting the pumps.  If I couldn't even fill a car up with gas, how could I possibly change a tire?}.  Good spirited as she is, I folowed her across the street and we proceeded to act like we had some clue of what we were doing.  {I grew up watching NASCAR, so it couldn't be that hard, right?}.  

This post isn't so much about how to change a tire--though make sure the jack is on the steel part of the frame, or else the side door will bow out.  Rather, while trying to explain what I do to the woman I had a sense of clarity. Usually, people look at you kind of weird when you tell them you work for a think tank.  So, I usually have to find some real life experience to explain.  While tightening the lug nuts onto the spare tire, I started to think about the metaphor as progress in motion, like the wheels of a car.  There's been a lot of talk around jump starting the economy, and I think this is probably what was going through my mind at the time.

anyways, immigration is one of the key areas I focus on, and there's been a lot of talk on how immigrants play a vital role in our economy and to ignore them is like losing a lug nut on the tire.  If loosened, the tire begins to shake and the alignment begins to pull you off course.  You might still have four lug nuts, but you're going to find that the ride is pretty rough unless you tighten the fifth (immigration).

In order for us to pull ourselves out of the mudd that is the economic slowdown, we're going to need to have all the  lugs as tight as possible.  The chance for comprehensive reform is rising again for the pro-immigrant movement, and the opportunity  to bring about real change for an issue that has needed real solutions for years seems finally on the horizon.

The reality is that true comprehensive immigration reform will help the entire nation move forward carrying the standard of progress.  There are those who argue against reform and push back against the contributions that immigrants bring to our country and our economy.  Clearly, they've forgotten our past as a nation.  Like a hub sparking itself across the pavement, the immigration policies had a blow out some time ago.  You can't expect to go nowhere with a blown out tire, unless you want to really mess up your car.  For the almost 12 million immigrants who reside in our country, there's been little success at going anywhere in America.  

My family first arrived in Boston in 1631, long before there were any cars, and hardly any buggies.  Progress has made things a lot more difficult since then.  {Have you ever tried to blow out a wooden wheel?}.  But, too, it's made things easier; well, unless you have to drive through modern day Boston.  Anti-immigrant agendas have made it so difficult to integrate into our country, that we've lost the founding values of our nation.  All it will take is some creative minds and a will fueled by the desire to make America the Land of Opportunity once again.  There will be push-back.  For every action, there is a reaction.  But for every action, there's also momentum that didn't exist before.

So, if a stranger will trust a blind man to change her tire on the side of a busy road in D.C., then America should trust its perfectly sighted visionaries (politicians) to find a way to get the wheels of progress moving again.  You can go round, and around, and around all day long, retredding like a tire arguing that comprehensive immigration reform is going to get us nowhere. But, you're not going to go anywhere unless you put all four wheels on the street and pop the car into drive.  And if reform means having an extra 12 million folks ready to help push you off, then the wheels of progress are going to have pretty good momentum behind them.

Immigration Reform On The Horizon: Change we can All Use

Opportunity is the light that illuminates the path taken by immigrants. Yet, it, too often, is extinguished by the will of the majority who seek an opportunity of their own. This has become clear during the past six months, since the economic crisis weighed its heavy burden onto the shoulders of Americans. Nevertheless, millions of immigrants continue their sojourn toward becoming active members of our society, and laying the groundwork toward progress. 

 Opportunity is the light that illuminates the path taken by immigrants. Yet, it, too often, is extinguished by the will of the majority who seek an opportunity of their own. This has become clear during the past six months, since the economic crisis weighed its heavy burden onto the shoulders of Americans. Nevertheless, millions of immigrants continue their sojourn toward becoming active members of our society, and laying the groundwork toward progress. 

I see this everyday in my own neighborhood, as the struggle between present and future come together in search for opportunity. And looking at the message that comes this afternoon from the White House, I remain optimistic that change, though a struggle when first offset, will ultimately strengthen our country.

Obama announced today before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) remains a clear objective for his administration, expressing his desire to change the broken system we currently face. From the early days of his transition, his administration called for real solutions. Committed to the values of community, dignity and opportunity, three key American values that his administration has echoed since the early days of his campaign, it is clear that Obama understands that the immigrant community in our country is a critical part of our larger community. Seeing this today, by his willingness for reform, it's clear that his vision is one that seeks to move us all forward together, particularly during these difficult economic times. This is an important message to grasp, knowing that change in any form often receives resistance; more the reason for us to stand firm in our resolve for real solutions, rooted in our national values that can move us all forward as one nation.  

The neighborhood where I live is quite use to change, and well too familiar with the effects that competing forces have when trying to gain opportunity. Spanning the distance between the Hudson and Harlem Rivers, Dyckman Street is one of the major commercial arteries for northern Manhattan. The dividing line for Washington Heights and Inwood--what have been two historic and uniquely different neighborhoods for Jewish and Irish immigrants, respectively--the two communities now fuse seamlessly together, bonded by Spanish  scribed storefront signs and the warm aroma of beef patties and grilled chicken sold on street corners. It stands as one of the few authentic immigrant neighborhoods that remain in Manhattan, the Gateway of Opportunity for tens of thousands of Dominicans beneath the shadow of the George washington bridge.

Known as the Manhattan Barrio to their families back home in the Dominican Republic, this outpost of the Caribbean often exists off-the-radar for New Yorkers. It's common to here someone from Brooklyn say, "Oh, that's where the A train goes," or, "Wow, the City goes that far north?"

Yet, this neighborhood that doesn't even have a Starbucks stays committed to not loosing its immigrant breath, holding onto its Dominican flavor the same way that it has held on to the old Irish pubs that still tuck themselves between the bodegas along Broadway. Nonetheless, it is still a community that is constantly at risk.    

This past weekend, I was surprised to see the blue plywood taken down at the intersection of Broadway and Dyckman, revealing the shiny new stone and glass facade for a newly built Bank of America.

Now, keep in mind, I have no interest in passing judgement or advertising for a bank that recently launched a radio ad campaign branding itself as the "Bank of Opportunity." Rather, its the growing realization that Manhattan's last affordable neighborhood, where someone can find an apartment for under half a million dollars, continues to deal with the ongoing struggle with gentrification. Still slow in its decline of housing costs, New York City residents continue to seek out places where they can afford to live during a time when their jobs and retirement investments continue to be threatened. For the past year, the housing market dramatically slowed down in Inwood. But as the economy slowly tries to regain its footing, there are those in the Heights of Manhattan who are nervous that they might be stepped on soon by those looking for a new place to dwell.

The fear is real for the thousands of immigrants who stand the risk of being slowly displaced by the rising cost of housing that traditionally happens in revitalized neighborhoods. International barrios are often jumping points for middle class young suburbanites looking for affordable housing in urban cities, drawn to the cost of living and the international fair that breathes on the streets and sidewalks. Meanwhile, families fine themselves forced further into barrios in places like the Bronx, where transportation and other quality-of-life necessities are absent.

Northern Manhattan knows a lot about the pains of real estate and how changing communities often illustrate how transition can sometimes carry a high price in the long run, despite the low cost up front. 

Where Dyckman Street hits the Hudson River, along the southern border of New York City's last remaining primitive forest, rests a small marker noting the site where Dutch settlers negotiated the purchase of Manhattan from its original residents. When the mighty expanse of the George Washington Bridge landed just south of its banks, its winding streets became an icon for the Land of Opportunity, an escape for those trying to make a better life outside the slums of lower Manhattan tenements. And now that New York faces another major turning point in its history, change seems to ring in the ears of local residents, the way that loose change rings when it falls and pirouettes  down stoney stairs.

There's going to be a whole lot of change going around for a whole lot of people in the coming year.  The effects of the economic downturn continue rippling through the streets of Manhattan. The simplicity lived by the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who call distant lands their home demonstrate their perseverance during difficult economic times. MOre the reason why such communities should shine the light not for their own opportunity, but for all of us in America. Immigrants weathered many storms in our history. And it would be foolish to ignore the contributions that millions have to make in our country. I'm not just talking about the economic benefit that can come through Comprehensive Immigration Reform--the surge of revenue that will be released when millions of Americans can finally rise over the obstacles that have held back their acceptance into our communities for many years. I'm talking more, in this sense, of the spirit that lives within immigrant communities, a spirit that has ben there during every challenging point in our history.

In the case of the barrios in Northern Manhattan, it is clear that any reform down the road, be it economic, health care or immigration, must not exclude the light of opportunity that shines from our immigrant communities. The realization of not just immigration reform, but including immigrants in all aspects of our life, is critical. We often suggest here at The Opportunity Agenda that organizations and agencies promote an Opportunity Impact Statement in their vision for progress. In cases like Inwood and washington heights, it's clear that inclusion makes change that stands much stronger in the long run, the way that the ancient elms rise up along the Hudson in Inwood Forest.

Having expounded on this, perhaps in too great of detail, I'm extremely pleased at the news that came out of Washington today.  Comprehensive Immigration Reform is long overdue in our country. For a nation that has long held up its torch for immigrants from around the world, the time is now for treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve. The time is now when everyone is included in "We The People." If anyone has any doubts, let them remember that the nation has said, "Yes we can."

Thousands of stories

seven years of Journalism school (undergrad and graduate), and not once was I required to take an ethics class. It wasn't until I ran off to do the monk thing that I engaged myself with ethics and philosophical pursuits. And, thinking back to Fr. Sebastian's introduction to ethics, I'm still trying to practice the virtue of not exploding spontaneously after Couric's feature on immigration.

Having worked behind the scenes in broadcast news, it's interesting how little of the editorial decisions that producers make ever transcend into the audiences perception. Their decisions are subtle, the kind of things that most people don't even notice. But don't be mistaken, the stories and interviews chosen go through a hard lens several times before they hit the airwaves. For every interview you see, there's probably ten other that got deleted on the desk top during the editing and news gathering stage.

Harping the point at the end of the previous post, it's a shame that producers and managing editors ignore true heart felt stories. Thank goodness for groups like the Movement Vision Lab, striving to make sure that the stories of real humanity are told; not stories of hard-lined rhetoric, but stories that can move us toward a stronger, more solid community that affords opportunity for all.

Check out their recent pos that tells the story of one New American striving to make our country and world a better place.

Couric Crosses the Line

Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor, has begun a series on immigration issues, taking a hard anti-immigrant slant. The Evening News feature, titled: Illegal immigrant births at your expense, looks at undocumented immigrant mothers who give birth in the U.S., thus making their new born children American citizens.

The feature offered no counter balance on why women would choose to have their children born in the United States, if they have a choice at all. It's interesting that the reporter offered little expert advice, asking questions that create a bias view against immigrants to interviewees who have very little ethos in giving any real authoritative answer. Too, the logic behind the Texas congressman, who is looking to abolish the 14th Amendment, frightens me. It makes the U.S. sound almost authoritarian on who can and can't be a U.S. citizen. We might as well take down the Statue of Liberty and sell its guts for scrap metal.

It's sad that Couric now seems to be fighting for Lou Dobbs' audience. CBS has historically saught older viewers. But I thought part of her placement was to bring in a younger audience during a time when the major networks were all going through nightly news turnover. I had such great hopes for Couric during the weeks leading up to her first CBS show. But now, I feel as though she's crossed a line of journalistic integrity, leaning toward the editorial likings of conservative hard liners, than representing a voice for liberty and equality.

From a values standing, the broadcast media remains a messaging machine that rides over the "Peoples airwaves. Unlike print media, which covers such a wide range of editorial messages, there should be an obligation for broadcast journalism to uphold the community values of our country. In couric's case, the goal is, obviously, intended to divide middle-of-the-road Americans against the millions of immigrants who come here looking for a beter life.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of this series plays out. This feature was edited to make it seem like women came here for the soul purpose of giving birth to their children on U.S. soil. It didn't dare to dive deeper into the hardships that billions--not millions, but billions--face each day, and focus on the dangerous journey for opportunity that only a small percentage of these billions of humans risk taking. The chances are good that children born in many countries outside the U.s. have a greater chance of dying.

Feel free to visit CBS Evening News and post comments letting Couric know that she should tell the rest of the story.

Where lines cross

The northern portion of Manhattan Island is a unique part of New York City. Where most maps end at 125th Street, Harlem, there remains a whole 99 blocks of walk-up tenements and six story apartment buildings as far as the eye can see. And in this sea of densely populated forest of concrete and brick, streets begin to lose that unique New York numbered grid that most people think of when traveling to Manhattan. Lines on maps intersect. And at their cross-roads, neighborhoods are fused together by diverse ethnicity and race.

Inwood, to the furthest north on the island, has the lingering aftertaste of an old Irish neighborhood, now almost completely Dominican, while on its eastern edge are the Dyckman Homes, a public housing project where basketball great Karim Abdul Jabar started playing hoops.

To the south of Inwood is Washington Heights, one of New York's historic Jewish neighborhoods, while home of Mother Francis Cabrini's remains, a popular Italian American Catholic saint, and also the neighborhood where Malcolm X was assassinated.

These neighborhoods are a classic example of both the achievements and the obstacles that have lined the pathway of American opportunity. I was reminded of this yesterday evening while waiting in line at a pharmacy near my apartment in Inwood. Ahead of me, a customer and employee began to get into a fight over incorrect change on an item that was returned. The tension between the two women was heightened when both exchanged disparaging remarks to one another. One person was an immigrant who had difficulty speaking english, while the other person was African American. Their insults rang throughout the store as the customer stormed out with her bag firmly clutched in her hand. And I stood next in line, shaken by the anger between the two.

The lines between racial and ethnic divide are far greater than the lines on the maps that have tried to historically identify them. Eduardo Porter, March 31 New York Times, raised several powerful observations on the difficulties faced when trying to overcome racial and ethnic divides in the United States. Porter stresses the need to find common values to overcome a reluctance that people, in general, have toward overcoming racial preference. Porters angle focused on the abandonment of community support when encountered with diversity. This is ironic, he notes, since we are all essentially immigrants in this country; some choosing to leave the security of their homes to follow their dreams, while others having their dreams destroyed, forced here not by choice but by chains. Yet, in both of these two powerful narratives, the story of American opportunity became the catalyst for families to labor in hopes of greater freedom for their children.

When lines clash, rather than intersect, the road map of our future becomes tangled in our own stubborn humanity, an unhealthy pride that fuels our ignorance and drowns our hope in opportunity for all. It's this unhealthy pride, focusing only on the "me" that keeps us from reaching "We The People."

It's going to take a community to erase the racial and ethnic lines that divide our neighborhoods. Even in neighborhoods that are diverse, there are still lines drawn. And it's not until communities can come together that opportunity for all can fully be realized. Those neighborhoods that have been able to bridge their diversity have crossed these divides. These neighborhoods, like those surrounding downtown Brooklyn or Jackson Heights queens, demonstrate the harmony that can sound out when communities come together. And it is in that harmony where great change can come about; change that can leave us not feeling like we're stuck in line with noplace to go.