September 2015 – Page 3

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015

The Procaccianti Group still grinding employees for profit

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Hotel workers at the Providence Hilton and Renaissance hotels in downtown Providence are still working without a contract, and are still experiencing work-related injury and illness at rates 69% higher at the Hilton and 85% higher at the Renaissance Hotel than the national average.

Last night workers rallied at the Providence City Hall entrance used by Providence City Council members to let them know that The Procaccianti Group (TPG), the company that runs both hotels, is literally grinding profits out of the long term health of their employees.

People work so that they can maintain their health and lives, not so that those lives can be used up by greedy corporations that value profit over people. What TPG is doing is deeply immoral, which is why the boycott of all TPG hotels is so important. The utter disregard displayed by the Rhode Island General Assembly towards the plight of these workers and their rights has been sickening, and a stain upon our state.

Mike Araujo, on his way to receive his Progressive Hero award from the RI Progressive Democrats of America for his work with the Restaurant Opportunities Center and the One Fair Wage Coalition, stopped by the hotel workers’ protest to lend his support.

September 17, 2015September 17, 2015

Just how racist are ceramic mammys and sambos?

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It’s been a year of enlightenment for some of us white people, thanks to the horribly illuminating videos of unarmed black people killed by police – nothing new for the African American community, but no longer something the rest of us could ignore.

Black Lives Matter made sure we didn’t miss this moment – reminding us that we as a country have acted as if black lives don’t matter quite as much as white lives and that we have failed to come to terms with the terrible racial injustices upon which we have built our nation.

It’s against that backdrop that I noticed some ceramic “mammys” and “sambos” in the window of a consignment shop the other day in my town of East Greenwich. I was startled. Can these caricatures of happy slaves actually be for sale – at 20 percent off no less – right there on Main Street?

“You treat them as a precious thing. It’s a part of history, a part of American history,” said Lynda Peters, owner of Consignors, the shop on Main Street. Peters said about half of the people who buy black memorabilia from her are African American.

“What are we supposed to do with it – throw it all away?” she said. “Then it’s lost forever.”

Her store is hardly an outlier. This kind of mass-produced racist kitsch can be found everywhere it turns out.

“It’s a huge market,” said Nanci Thompson, owner of Briarbrook Antiques, an auction company in East Greenwich. “Just check eBay.”

Indeed, a search on eBay for “Black Americana” turned up 15,853 items.

Thompson likened the mammy ceramics to Nazi memorabilia – shocking but a reminder of where we’ve been.

“We should not forget that this happened,” she said. She said she has sold lots of African American memorabilia over the years, but said she draws the line at Ku Klux Klan items, which she referred to as “nasty.”

There are those who think all such items are nasty. In her book from 1994, “Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture” (Anchor), Patricia A. Turner refered to such items as “contemptible collectibles.”

Turner is black; Thompson and Peters are white.

Jim Vincent, head of the Providence branch of the NAACP, is black. For him, it’s the context that counts.

“If the person is trying to sell this artifact because of its historical nature … I see no problem with that. If someone is trying to ridicule a whole group of people, I do have a problem with that.”

Vincent does not own any of these mass-produced items but he acknowledges that “people might want to purchase it as a part of history, as negative a history as it may be.”

He added, “There are numbers of collectors, black and white. I don’t know white collectors but I do know black collectors. They’re trying to educate the public to our sordid past.”

James Alexander of West Warwick isn’t having it.

“To me it’s inexcusable for this type of, ah, ‘memorabilia’ to be displayed and or sold in this day and age. There’s no excuse for people to still cling to that as a memory,” said Alexander, who is black and has worked in community development for 50 years. “From my background, having grown up in the segregated South, that’s not how I would react to something like that.”

It’s more about what’s not been saved or memorialized that troubles Providence writer and producer Reza Clifton, who is black.

“One example I can think of, with roots in Rhode Island, is Sissieretta Jones, a famous opera singer who traveled the country and world, but for whom there is no archived recording, and who died ‘penniless.’ She was certainly alive at a time when talented white singers were being recorded and archived, so why not Jones? Why is it that ‘Black Americana’ art, with its racist intents and depictions, could be archived, restored, and passed around even today, while a talented singer – who represents something we can be proud of – was either denied access or deemed unworthy of salvage?”

Clifton said she thought black people might collect Black Americana because there is nothing else to collect (i.e. the nonexistent recordings of Sissieretta Jones). “What else are we to collect if we want to memorialize ourselves, our families, and our history?” she said.

And she equated the collection of mammys and sambos by some black people to the use of the n-word and bitch by others.

“There are many people who feel like, in using these words, they’ve reclaimed what have historically been negative terms. At the same time, there are some people who still feel like the words have strong, derogatory meanings because of their original uses and users,” she said. “I feel it’s important to leave room for both philosophies – especially when the work has been done to understand their origins.”

Phillip J. Merrill, who is black, is a historian, writer, appraiser and collector from Baltimore. He has made it his life’s work to use historical objects to teach Americans about our slaveholding and racist past. Merrill laughed when I explained my discomfort upon seeing the black ceramics.

“All of this material reaches the audience in different ways,” he said. “It’s shocking when you see it in a shop window, but this is an old conversation. It’s an old conversation with new meaning, because of the Black Lives Matter movement and because we have a black president and a black first lady.”

And Merrill thinks that’s a good thing even if it makes some people uncomfortable.

“I meet people who are furious – ‘How dare you want to show and talk about stereotypical artifacts from the past!’ In order to understand how we got here, we’ve got to go back and look at the past. So many of us don’t want to tell it like it is,” he said. “All of these artifacts play a tremendous role in helping us deal with the past.”

As for me and my own personal awaking, Merrill had this to say: “You were sleeping like Rip Van Winkle and now you are awake. You should have been awake a long time ago. You were intimately involved with this.”

September 17, 2015September 21, 2015

Friedrichs: The death knell for public sector labor unions

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It is no secret that this country has a miserable record in terms of labor unions. After the passage of the Taft-Harley Act in 1947, a bill that both exiled the Communist Party members that had been the backbone of organization drives in the 1930’s and ’40’s and put multiple prohibitions on labor union actions, they went into a decline.

So-called ‘Right to Work’ laws were rolled out across multiple states and infiltration by the mob created a culture of union bureaucrats who were inept, racist, and disconnected from the majority of their membership, instead set on currying political favors and enriching themselves. Now comes a new case to the Supreme Court, customized and written specifically for the anti-union majority sitting on the bench, that could very well serve as the death knell for public sector labor unions, one of the last great bastions of union activity in a job market that is overwhelmingly non-union.

On September 4, 2015, plaintiffs in the case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association filed their petition with the Court. On page two, under ‘Questions Presented’, they ask two questions that come from the dreams of a free-market Libertarian:

1. Whether Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Education, 431 U.S. 209 (1977), should be overruled and public- sector “agency shop” arrangements invalidated under the First Amendment.
2. Whether it violates the First Amendment to require that public employees affirmatively object to subsidizing nonchargeable speech by public-sector unions, rather than requiring that employees affirmatively consent to subsidizing such speech.

The power of those two questions may seem obscure to the uninitiated, but they are the death sentence for the public sector unions.

The first part to be understood is the meaning of Abood, a case that has underwritten public sector unions and their rights for a generation. In that case, a group of Michigan teachers filed suit and claimed their free speech rights were impinged on because the union was collecting dues to engage in activities they did not agree with, collective bargaining and political endorsements. The Court found in that case that dues collection for collective bargaining did not infringe on free speech and that, while there were issues regarding free speech and union endorsements of political campaigns, the plaintiffs had failed to properly articulate their differences with the union, thereby nullifying their complaint.

Now comes Friedrichs. In last year’s Harris v. Quinn, a case the public was distracted from by the concurrent Hobby Lobby decision, the ground was laid in a ruling that essentially gave a huge opening for a future case by Justice Alito, who wrote:

The Abood Court’s analysis is questionable on several grounds. Some of these were noted or apparent at or before the time of the decision, but several have become more evident and troubling in the years since then.

From there, he went through a litany of flaws that essentially defined what would be required of a future case to void Abood. The New York Times wrote then:

The majority in Harris saw things differently. Making workers pay anything to a union they oppose is in tension with their First Amendment rights — “something of an anomaly,” in the words of the majority. But the real anomaly lies in according dissenters a right to refuse to pay for the union’s services — services that cost money to deliver, and that put money in the pockets of all employees.
Once selected by a majority of workers in a bargaining unit, a union becomes the exclusive representative, with a duty to fairly represent all of them. That is the bedrock of our public and private sector labor laws.
Unless everyone is required to pay for those services, individual workers can easily become “free riders,” taking the benefits of collective representation without paying their fair share of the costs. Not only dissenters but any employee who wants to save a buck can “free ride.” The net result may be that the union cannot afford to represent workers effectively, and everyone suffers.

In plain terms, the unions would be prevented from garnishing wages to pay dues used for operational costs, instituting a nation-wide Right to Work regime. It would be the end of the public sector labor unions as we know it. And even though he wrote an opinion on marriage equality that is now being nationwide in wedding vows, Justice Kennedy is a staunch libertarian, having sided with the majority of Alito, Thomas, Scalia, and Roberts on Harris.

This is a decision that would have an impact as resounding as a thunderbolt. Almost every federal, state, and municipal employee is part of some union. Professors at Rhode Island College and University of Rhode Island are unionized. The janitors, cooks, and other staffers are likewise. Public school teachers, bus drivers, even the mail man is in a union. After decades of union-busting privatization efforts, the Court would be delivering the anti-union movement not just a gift but a platinum-and-diamond-encrusted victory crown. And because the only remaining unionized jobs are private, that would either result in a mass-privatization drive or a high employee turnover rate as middle-class employees with families retreat to the private sector for better jobs.

What result this would have on the coming election remains to be seen. Hillary Clinton has played a major role in the decline of labor unions in this country, though for reasons that can only be called sheer insanity, the AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka has indicated his refusal to back Bernie Sanders and has previously tampered down on union members involved in the Sanders campaign. While I have my own criticisms of Sanders that I am not shy about expressing, the Friedrichs case could prove to be the Hail Mary he needs to pull a miracle and sink Clinton come time for the all-important South Carolina primary, a heavily-African American state who most pundits think will halt Sanders for good. If Sanders were smart enough to make this into a campaign issue, he could create a few surprises still.

This Court decision may prove to be one of the most devastating in a generation, Dave Macaray at CounterPunch was not jesting when he wrote “It’s no exaggeration to say that for the American worker, “Friedrichs” could be as significant as Dred Scott.” But within the wreckage of a major defeat could lay the seeds for an American labor union renaissance. After decades of oafish leaders who make political decisions that benefit them more than workers, the American worker could turn a defeat into an opportunity to redefine unionism as we know it. The future is in their hands.

September 17, 2015September 17, 2015

As the fast continues: Educating Raimondo on climate change

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PeacePeoplePlanet — Peter Nightingale at the State House (Photo by Pia Ward)

“You can’t negotiate with a beetle. You are now dealing with natural law. And if you don’t understand natural law, you will soon.”

Oren Lyons, a member of the Onandaga Council of Chiefs, quoted by Mary Christina Wood in her book Nature’s Trust, sums up what’s wrong with our self-absorbed political system and its failure to deal with our planetary climate emergency in referring to four million acres of Canadian forest wiped out by beetles now thriving in warmer winter temperatures as a result of global warming.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, our dear governor Gina Raimondo was too busy for an unscheduled intro to the laws of nature. Too busy to interrupt paying back time for her campaign debts, I guess. Thanks, ProJo, for your perfectly timed editorial Familiar Odor. But please remember: Gina is an honorable person; so are they all, all honorable people.

Maybe Gina was doing the hard work of making sure that Providence will not be left behind, as—in city after city—we build what Frank Deford calls “Athletic Taj Mahals,” monuments for the “filthy rich.” Thanks, Frank; you nailed it: Spending Public Money On Sports Stadiums Is Bad Business. But do not forget that Gina is an honorable person; so are they all, all honorable people.

We The People who do not revolt against systemic corruption are the problem.

Since August 31, I’ve been trying to make an appointment with Gina to deliver a basic physics message. It took until September 13 before I got a reply: “Once again, thank you again for being in touch,” pretty pathetic writing that I should have received within three seconds rather than after two weeks, but no appointment.

The web site of the Office of the Governor is totally dysfunctional, but, dear reader, I’ll spare you details. I just wonder, why should we trust people to run a state if they cannot manage a web site? Of course, the problem in Rhode Island is not small-scale incompetence; broken democracy is what we are dealing with, but it’s not Gina, for Gina is an honorable person; so are they all, all honorable people.

Pia Ward, my dear friend, is the engaged artist who made the black-and-white photographs in this post. Pia and I went to Gina’s office on Wednesday to deliver a pizza, a lunch skipped in support of Beyond Extreme Energy’s No-New-Permits fast in DC.

Of course we were told that web site was not the way to make appointments with the governor. We have to follow procedures, no matter how many people have their lives destroyed or put their lives on the line in DC and elsewhere in the nation. We are but a nuisance and who cares about Terry Greenwood?

One of Gina’s aids, who dutifully took notes of our story, instructed us that I had to go home and to make an appointment I had to send an email to the gubernatorial scheduler, Kelly Harris (Kelly-Harris@governor.ri.gov). Never mind that we were already at the State House; the important work for corporate America and the filthy rich should never be interrupted, for they are all, all honorable people.

Report from the No-New-Permits fast in DC

**Fasters occupying the side walk for an overnight at the FERC Gates of Hell in DC.**

Ted Glick of ChessapeakeClimate.org and one of the Beyond Extreme Energy water-only fasters in DC had the following exchange with Norman Bay, the chairman of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Ted asked if the chairman would come down to receive the five copies of the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, on September 25th at noon. Bay said he would consider it. We all know what that means, but let Ted speak:

Then he stopped and we looked each other in the eye. He told me that he respected what we were doing with the fast and the commitment it showed as far as our beliefs. He said he felt this type of action was a good type of action.

However, he went on to say that he really had problems with us disrupting their monthly meetings and asked if we would stop doing that.

I responded: “How can we do that when there’s no change at FERC as far as permitting gas pipelines and fracking infrastructure, one after the other, with virtually no exceptions.”

His response: “These are just pipelines. We’re a regulatory agency. Blaming us is like blaming the steel companies that make pipes. It’s the production of the gas that you need to deal with.”

Keep up the disruption, my friends; irritation makes pearls. Dear reader, if you ever have to explain Hannah Arendt’s “banality of evil,” this exchange would be a perfect starting point.

Events for the rest of our fast

Following up on the pledge to do three Ramadan-style fasts centered on each event in RI, Wednesday’s visit to the State House got Beatrijs, my wife, and me restarted fasting on Tuesday, after a one-day interruption. The following will get us to Friday, the 25th, when Beyond Extreme Energy will end its fast:

Peace Fest RI, Kennedy Plaza, Saturday, September 19, 2015, 1:30pm-4;30pm
Rally for People, Peace and Planet
URI International Day of Peace on the Quad 10am-3pm

Of course, it’s not too late to call Gina’s friends at Invenergy to tell them that fracked gas is not clean and that they should cancel the fracked-gas power plant proposed for Burrillville. Just keep in mind that Gina signed a contract with Invenergy, but Gina is an honorable person; so are they all, all honorable people. We The People are the problem, we who think that the next fully-scripted ElecToon will bring system change.

Oh, yes, how about that pizza we took to the Gina’s office? As anticipated, it ended up feeding hungry people on Kennedy Plaza.

September 16, 2015September 17, 2015

Tuesday to Tuesday arts and entertainment calendar

RIFuture is a fine institution that has made important contributions to the Rhode Island news culture. It is our hope that this new feature – the ‘Tuesday to Tuesday Arts and Entertainment Calendar’ will bring a lighter side to the fare. As we begin the autumn, I’m open to tips and press releases regarding the events you or someone you know may be holding in the next few weeks. Feel free to e-mail data to me at andrew.james.stewart.rhode.island@gmail.com.

MY PICKS
Here is my selection of events that you should definitely consider checking out this week.

9/15
Stretch & Strength at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 12-1 pm, $5
Limber up with the folks at AS220.
9/16
The Work of 19th Century Architect Russell Warren at Linden Place Mansion, 7 pm, $5
This is a fascinating period that is worth learning about. Warren’s architecture can be seen across the state and includes impressive sites like The Arcade and Manning Hall at Brown.
9/17
Movies on the Block: THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS at Grants Block, 7:30 pm, Free
Released a few months after 9/11, this one has a special place in my heart as my favorite Wes Anderson film and includes hilarious performances by an all-star cast like Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Huston, Bill Murray, and Gene Hackman, whose performance here is arguably going to be remembered as his best.
9/18
Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Celebration at Providence Children’s Museum, 6 pm, Free
After a summer loaded with racism due to that idiotic narcissist Donald Trump, the Latino community deserves some celebration.
9/19
Ocean State Oyster Fest at Riverwalk Park, Noon, $25
I may be a vegetarian now, but I know how good a fresh-shucked oyster is.
9/20
Rose Weaver In Hope Street Fall Festival at Hope Street Between Rochambeau Ave & 5th Street, 2:45 pm, Free
A great performance by a talented African American woman behind the hit show MENOPAUSE MAMA!
9/21
Voices from the Back Stairs: Domestic Service in 19th and 20th Century at Governor Henry Lippitt House Museum, 7 pm, $5 Member/$10 Nonmember
The history of domestic service is a little-known yet very important part of our history, especially for those interested in Rhode Island black heritage issues.
9/22
Everett Open House at Everett Stage, Noon, Free
An open house tour with free workshops at the great venue.

9/15
Stretch & Strength at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 12-1 pm, $5

Open Life Drawing at AS220, 6 pm-8:30, $6

Intermediate Ballet Class with Danielle Davidson at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 7:15 pm-8:45 pm, $13 per class/$60 for 6 classes

Hartley C. White Project, CE Schneider Topical, Universal Cell Unlock at Psychic Readings, 9 pm, $6

Vana Mazi, Orion Rigel Dommisse and Wolf Hongos at AS220 Main Stage, 9:30 pm, $6

9/16
Vinyasa Yoga with Julie Shore at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, Noon-1 pm, $5

Open Level Modern Dance at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 6:30-8 pm, $13 per class/$60 for 6 classes

The Work of 19th Century Architect Russell Warren at Linden Place Mansion, 7 pm, $5

Intro to the 35mm Camera at AS220 Media Arts, 7 pm, $45

Rich Ferri & The Wealth on the Water, Bent Knee, It’s a Mountain at AS220 Main Stage, 9 pm, $6

9/17
Evening Yoga at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 6:15 pm, $13 per class; $60 for 6 classes

Movies on the Block: THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS at Grants Block, 7:30 pm, Free

New Urban Arts presents the Work of Jeanne Risica, The Drawing Room, 7 pm, Free

Old Friends, New Directions at Rough Point, 5:30, $10

Public Art Discussion with Lucas Cowan at Machines With Magnets, 6 pm, Free

Broadcasting Live on the Web at AS220 Media Arts, 6 pm, $80

Providence Improv Fest at AS220 Blackbox, 7 pm, $35

Free Speech Thursdays Presents: Providence Poetry Slam at AS220 Main Stage, 8 pm, $4

9/18
Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Celebration at Providence Children’s Museum, 6 pm, Free

Providence Improv Fest at AS220 Blackbox, 7 pm, $35

The Donkeys, Tapestries and Detroit Rebellion at AS220 Main Stage, 9 pm, $8

9/19
Traditional Irish Music Session at AS220 Bar & FOO(D), 4 pm, Free

6th Annual Woony River Ride Bike-A-Thon! at Waterplace Park, 8:00 am – 62-mile ride/9:00 am – 42-mile ride, Individual $60/Walk-Up Registration: $80

Ky-Mani Marley at The Met, 9 pm, $20

Mosaics: Parts and Wholes at Providence Children’s Museum, 1 pm, Free with Museum admission of $9.00 per person

Movement Method Workshop w/ Rupert Isaacson at Jamestown Arts Center, 10 am, $75

PeaceFest RI at Burside Park and Kennedy Plaza, 1 pm, Free

Rhode Island Outsider Art Fair at RHD-RI, 10 am, Free

Walking Tour of New Bedford at Linden Place Mansion, 10 am, Lecture $5/Tour $20

Providence Improv Fest at AS220 Blackbox, 7 pm, $35

Providence Improv Fest at AS220 Main Stage, 7 pm, $35

Ocean State Oyster Fest at Riverwalk Park, Noon, $25

9/20
Core Workout with Daniel Shea at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 9 am, $5

Beginner Ballet at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 10:30, $13 per class/$60 for 6 classes

Intermediate Ballet w/ Stephanie Albanese at 95 Empire Dance Studio, Noon, $13 per class/$60 for 6 classes

Rose Weaver In Hope Street Fall Festival at Hope Street Between Rochambeau Ave & 5th Street, 2:45 pm, Free

Russian Grand Ballet presents Swan Lake at Stadium Theater, 6 pm, $56/$46/$36

PsychoTropics, Living Hour, Apples, Two Brothers @ Psychic Readings, 9 pm, $7

9/21
Intermediate/Advanced Modern Dance at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 6:30 pm, $13 per class/$60 for 6 classes

Aurea: Once Upon a Midnight Dreary at Slater Mill, 7 pm, Free

Voices from the Back Stairs: Domestic Service in 19th and 20th Century at Governor Henry Lippitt House Museum, 7 pm, $5 Member/$10 Nonmember

9/22
Stretch & Strength at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, Noon, $5

Open Life Drawing at AS220, 6 pm, $6

Intermediate Ballet Class with Danielle Davidson at AS220 Live Arts Dance Studio, 7:15 pm, $13 per class/$60 for 6 classes

Adult Coloring at Newport Public Library, 3 pm, Free

Everett Open House at Everett Stage, Noon, Free

Radical Reels at Narragansett Theater at the Pier, 7 pm, $18

Romp of Otters Presents: Rush by Maurice Decaul at AS220’s Blackbox, 7:30 pm, $3 suggested donation/Free with Brown or RISD ID

Bud & Dwyer, The Somebodys, The Johnston Motor Lodge, and Those Manic Seas at AS220 Main Stage, 9:30 pm, $6

September 15, 2015

Anti-stadium groups keep the pressure on in Providence

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Though he stopped short of calling this a victory lap, Tim Empkie, one of the leaders of the effort to keep the Pawtucket Red Sox in Pawtucket, prevent the use of public lands in Providence for a new stadium and prevent any public money from subsidizing a new stadium anywhere in the state, is optimistic that the battle is just about won…

…but the pressure needs to be kept on.

In a rally at the corner of Hope St and Doyle Avenue in Providence, 25 people turned out over the course of two hours to hold signs in an event that was described as not “a protest of any kind, just outreach the public!”

At least three anti-stadium groups, from a variety of political perspectives, were represented at the rally, spurring organizer David Norton to exclaim on Twitter, “Unite the Clans!!!”

A similar rally held last week had just five participants. Organizers hope for even more participation next Tuesday at 4:30. They see signs that Governor Gina Raimondo‘s position on the stadium is evolving, and at least one of the signs echoed a new talking point out of her office, “Take a fresh look at Pawtucket.”

“This effort goes beyond baseball,” said Tim Empkie. “It’s not about just one stadium. It’s about the use of public money for the public good.”

2015-09-15 PawSox Protest 018 — Tim Empkie

2015-09-15 PawSox Protest 003 — David Norton

September 15, 2015September 16, 2015

ACLU celebrates Constitution Day with downtown Providence scavenger hunt

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As the state’s strongest defender of your rights and freedoms, the ACLU of Rhode Island is excited to announce our plans to celebrate Constitution Day this week by hosting a family-friendly scavenger hunt highlighting Providence’s civil liberties history. Constitution Day marks the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787. Americans across the country observe the anniversary by teaching students about the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This year, the ACLU of Rhode Island is hosting a Constitution Day Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, September 19, to teach Rhode Islanders of all ages about civil liberties and local history.

The family-friendly scavenger hunt will highlight Providence’s civil liberties history, and we hope the event educates the public, and especially children and teenagers, about the Bill of Rights and importance of knowing one’s rights.

So, think you know your Rhode Island history? Want to learn how the Constitution applies to everyday life? Put on your walking shoes and head to downtown Providence on your own or with your friends and family on Saturday, September 19, to start the hunt!

We’ll start sharing clues on our Facebook and Twitter at 1 p.m. (Rain or shine). Use them to start a self-guided hunt for landmarks around the city. Once you arrive at a stop, snap a photo (selfies are encouraged!) and share it on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #ConstitutionHunt. Make it to the final location to earn bragging rights and a small souvenir.

Constitution Day Scavenger Hunt

(RSVP On Our Facebook Page Here)

Saturday, September 19

1 to 3 P.M.

Downtown Providence

For more information and official rules, click here.

September 15, 2015September 17, 2015

National Grid lists groups that don’t exist in their Public Participation Plan

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The Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island (EJLRI) has revealed that the “Public Participation Plan” that National Grid submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) contains no actual community groups in its listing of “Environmental, Community and Neighborhood stakeholders.” The two groups that National Grid did included on the list, the South Providence Neighborhood Association and the Washington Park Neighborhood Association, don’t actually exist. Further, EJLRI points out that “dangerous oil and chemical facilities like Motiva, Univar, and Sprague Energy are counted as community partners.”

The nonexistent groups were listed with FERC as part of National Grid’s plan to build a LNG liquefaction system at the Fields Point LNG Plant on Providence’s South Side. The EJLRI and many other environmental and community groups oppose the expansion. The location of the Fields Point Plant, adjacent to low income communities of color, is seen as environmental racism. And investing in methane gas, which has been revealed to be worse for the environment than coal and oil, seems economically and environmentally catastrophic given the reality of global warming.

David Graves, who does media relations for National Grid, responded that, “The stakeholder list was first developed when both of these groups were active in the neighborhood. The list continues to evolve and contacts for various organizations have been, and will continue to be updated. We have not been successful in locating any other neighborhood groups in the area that have an organized board of directors or a published list of officers and, to my knowledge, we have not been contacted by any neighborhood groups asking to be included in the list of stakeholders. Despite that, our efforts will continue.”

Said the EJLRI, “…there are hundreds of thriving organizations in South Providence and Washington Park.”

September 15, 2015

Don’t miss the Progressive Dems annual fundraiser!

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The Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America (RIPDA) are holding their annual fundraiser Thursday, September 17 from 5:30-8:30pm at Ogie’s Trailer Park, 1155 Westminster St in Providence. This year, they’re honoring Mike Araujo of the Restaurant Opportunities Center and the One Fair Wage Coalition with the Progressive Hero award.

In Rhode Island, Democrats have near total control over the state government, yet we see almost none of the economic advantages that other blue states, like neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut, enjoy. Our General Assembly will not pass reasonable gun legislation, moves to prevent cities and towns from raising the minimum wage, passed the biggest tax cuts for the rich in the nation, slips anti-reproductive rights legislation into the budget at the eleventh hour (preventing real discussion around the issue) and is the only Democratically controlled legislature in the country to have passed voter ID.

In short, our Democrats are political and economic conservatives and on core issues of concern to progressives, have more in common with the national Republican Party than the national Democratic Party platform.

That’s why RIPDA’s voice is so important and deserving of support. They are the conscience of a political machine in Rhode Island that would much rather be unbothered by thoughts of the poor and vulnerable. They consistently fight back against the worst abuses of state government, and they do so with virtually no funding, just the dedicated work of a gung ho group of volunteers.

Mike Araujo, honored this year with the Progressive Hero award, worked tirelessly to eliminate the tipped minimum wage, which unfairly discriminates against women and opens them to sexual harassment in the workplace. After a year long battle the tipped minimum wage was increased for the first time in decades, meaning there is still much work to be done, and you can bet that Araujo will be leading that fight. He’s also a terrific speaker and advocate.

So come on down to Ogie’s Trailer Park Thursday night and enjoy some fine food and fine company. Think about joining the RIPDA and moving the Rhode Island Democratic Party out of the hands of neoliberal blue dogs and into the hands of the working class, where it belongs.

There’s work to be done, and the RIPDA is doing it.

Order your tickets here.

September 14, 2015September 15, 2015

FANG activists on this morning’s action at Spectra

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Just before sunrise this morning three FANG (Fighting Against Natural Gas) activists locked themselves to construction equipment at Spectra‘s fracked gas compressor station in Burrillville, RI. Shortly after being released from court in downtown Providence, after being arraigned on charges of trespass and disorderly conduct, I asked Nick Katkevich, Matt Smith and Keith Clougherty about their actions.

In the video below they talk about the action, the reaction of the authorities, and what they hope to say with their political statement.

September 14, 2015

RI ACLU urges PVD to reject exclusionary zoning

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The ACLU has written the City Council of Providence and Mayor Jorge Elorza calling for the rejection of Jo-Ann Ryan’s exclusionary zoning provision.

The zoning, as proposed, would limit students to three-to-a-house occupancy in Zones 1 and 1A of Providence’s zoning code. Affecting areas with large single-family homes, many of the buildings in question can house far more than three people. Exclusionary zoning has major downsides for equity, and is also a big problem for transit, biking, and other non-single-occupancy-driving modes of transportation.

The proposal passed its first test last week when City Council voted 10-3 for the provision. Zoning provisions must pass twice, and either have veto proof majorities or gain the support of the mayor, to become law. Knocking just one vote off the victory margin would allow a mayoral veto, though the prospects of such a veto are unclear.

Read: Ten PVD City Councilors voted for exclusionary zoning

As of this weekend, a tweeted email reply from Elorza representative Evan England suggested that the Mayor Elorza’s administration was leaning towards support of the provision, though the language was vague enough to leave the administration open to changing its position (Hat-tip, Patrick Anderson, Projo).

The ACLU joins critics of the zoning provision, which have included the three “no” voters on City Council, Transport Providence, Greater City Providence, and Eco Rhode Island News.

In the letter to the Council, ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown stated that, “The ordinance’s undue stigmatization of Providence’s students is contrary to the City’s reputation as a robust host to the local colleges and universities. The focus on this one criterion is unfair and extremely unlikely to help resolve any of the legitimate concerns prompting calls for action in the first place.”

The letter cites rejection by Rhode Island courts of similar laws, citing a 1994 Narragansett zoning provision that attempted to keep non-related persons from cohabitating (This answers a question I had had–a reader pointed out that Providence indeed also has such a law, preventing more than three unrelated persons from living together, and wondering whether the zoning law was ever enforced. It must be left over from before such provisions were struck down in the courts). Quoting the judge who rejected the provision, the ACLU letter shows how arbitrary many zoning provisions truly are:

“It is a strange—and unconstitutional—ordinance indeed that would permit the Hatfields and the McCoys to live in a residential zone while barring four scholars from the University of Rhode Island from sharing an apartment on the same street.”

The City Council is scheduled to vote on second passage of this ordinance at its meeting this Thursday, September 17.

A full copy of the RI ACLU’s letter is here.

If you haven’t contacted your city councilperson and the mayor, contacts for both along with voting records are in the original RI Future profile on this issue, here.

~~~~

September 14, 2015

AIDS Walk RI remembers the past, challenges the future

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Participants and observers of the AIDS Walk RI opening ceremonies were given a treat when Ronald Lewis, activist poet and actor, spoke about the forgotten transgender, women of color origins of the Stonewall Uprising, the birth of the LGBTQ liberation movement. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are only recently being given the recognition they deserve by history, they are true heroines in the ongoing struggle for full rights for all persons, and to be reminded of their contributions ahead of an important walk to raise money to combat the scourge of HIV and AIDS was invigorating.

Do yourself a favor and watch this video.

This year’s theme for AIDS Walk RI was “Keeping Hope Alive” and despite the reality of nearly 100 new cases of HIV being diagnosed in our state every year, there is hope that one day HIV will be eradicated. Dr. Philip Chan, MD, from the Miriam Hospital’s Immunology Center said that giving a positive HIV diagnosis to a patient is the worst part of his job. He talked about the virtues of a new drug, PrEP, a pre-exposure prophylaxis that prevents the transmission of HIV.

Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH spoke of three foci at the RI Department of Health, where she is the director. “We want to continue to enhance partner services, making sure that people know how to stop their partners from getting infected by raising awareness. getting tested and letting them know about PEP ad PREP. We also want to highlight our ‘men who have sex with men communities’ that are disproportionately affected by HIV and syphilis and some of the other STDs… our third priority is also highlighting our youth and our communities of color, where there are higher rates of STDs as well as HIV.”

Members of Hope Harris‘ family gathered on stage to present the “Hope Harris Award.” Harris was a member of the AIDS Project RI board for the last part of her life. She was also a longtime receptionist for the late Senator John Chafee and also served in Senator Lincoln Chafee‘s office. She was known as a kind and deeply religious person who recognized the value of person, without regard to race, orientation or gender identity.

The award was presented to the amazing Paul Fitzgerald, president and CEO of AIDS Care Ocean State. He was the founding executive director of “Family AIDS Center for Treatment and Support” (FACTS) for children with HIV. FACTS was one of the first 13 pediatric AIDS demonstration projects in 1988. FACTS grew into a full-service AIDS organization, and merged with “Sunrise House” to become AIDS Care Ocean State.

Entertainment was provided by the Providence Gay Men’s Chorus, and other speakers included by Mayor Jorge Elorza, RI State Treasurer Seth Magaziner and US Representative David Cicilline. Cicilline lead the event in a moment of silence for Guy Abelson, well-known local philanthropist, who passed away recently and was deeply involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

AIDS Walk RI 2015 was conducted by AIDS Project Rhode Island, a division of Family Service of Rhode Island, and AIDS Care Ocean State.

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015

FANG activists lock themselves to Spectra construction equipment

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Activists opposed to methane gas expansion locked themselves to construction equipment being used to prepare an area in Burrillville for a gas pipeline project early Monday morning.

“I expect them to be arrested at some point today,” said Sherrie Andre, who sent out a press release and photos of the action on behalf of FANG, or Fighting Against Natural Gas. “If not, they are pretty determined to stay there as long as their bodies can hold out.”

Three fire trucks and local police are on the scene, said Andre, but she did not know if the three activists had been arrested or were still attached to the earth-moving equipment.

“Matt Smith of New Jersey, Nick Katkevich of Rhode Island, and Keith Clougherty of Massachusetts locked down with fortified PVC pipes to disrupt construction for the day at the compressor station which Spectra is hoping to double in capacity as part of the AIM project,” according to the press release.

“Spectra Energy, Invenergy and those that support them are on the wrong side of history, we will keep coming back with more people until their projects are cancelled.” said Katkevich, according to the press release.

FANG has waged a high profile campaign against both the Algonquin pipeline project and a methane gas compressor station that Governor Gina Raimondo has hailed as good business expansion for Rhode Island. Both projects would be built on land owned by Spectra Energy in Burrillville.

Andre was arrested for a tree sit at the site this summer and, two weeks ago, Peter Nightingale and Curt Nordgaard were arrested for chaining themselves to a chain link gate on Spectra property. Nightingale was also arrested at Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s office for protesting fracked gas and methane gas expansion. While Whitehouse has been supportive of the pipeline project, he has reserved judgment on a methane compressor facility in Burrillville.

“What happens in Burrillville doesn’t stay in Burrillville. This project hurts communities across the Northeast and climate change is already killing people around the world,” said Keith Clougherty, one of the activists locked to Spectra construction equipment this morning, according to the press release.

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015

Congratulations Steve Ahlquist!

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I know of no journalist more deserving of accolades than my dear friend and colleague Steve Ahquist, who was honored by Rhode Island Pride last night for his impressive and extensive coverage of issues affecting the LGBT community.

Here’s a sampling of some of the posts he’s filed for RI Future over just the past two years that earned him this award.

RI General Assembly still voting on marriage equality – July 9, 2015
SCOTUS marriage equality decision celebrated in RI – June 27, 2015
RI Pride is radicalized – June 22, 2015
LGBT community protests Haven Brothers hate crime – May 4, 2015
Rhode Island needs to repeal its RFRA – March 30, 2015
Experts agree: Criminalizing HIV transmission a ‘backwards step’ – February 25, 2015
Black and Pink sends holiday cards to LGBTQ prisoners – December 8, 2014
Online hookup sites key to combating AIDS in RI – December 4, 2014
Tobin, Stenhouse backpeddle on ‘thorny cultural issues’ – October 27, 2014
SF archbishop’s decision to speak at anti-LGBT rally has RI roots – June 19, 2014
Providence Renaissance Hotel lost its gay-friendly rating – May 19, 2014
Is anti-gay therapist Dr. Cretella a therapist or not? – February 18, 2014
Providence College postpones controversial LGBT lecturer – February 17, 2014
Mass ‘hate groups’ focus attention elsewhere – November 12, 2013
Hate groups not welcome – August 2, 2013
Video: Marriage party at Providence City Hall – August 1, 2013
Marriage equality is here! – July 31, 2013

Thanks for everything you do, Steve, for RI Future and for all the constituencies of Rhode Island and the world that are still fighting for the rights and privileges that you and me were born with. You are both a journalistic superhero, and a hero to me personally.

September 14, 2015September 14, 2015

Rhode Island NOW: We stand with Planned Parenthood

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by Kate Gorton

Ninety-five years ago on August 26, women fought for and won the right to vote. This victory came after decades of defending our intelligence and capacity to make informed decisions, a struggle that continued for many women long after the right was won.

2015 sure feels like déja-vu.

More than ever in recent history, a woman’s ability to govern her own body is under attack. We are tired of the intimidation tactics and malicious statements being made in an effort to turn back the clock on hard fought wins towards equality. We urge all of you who stand for equality to denounce the recent attacks and false claims made against Planned Parenthood. Freedom of religion provides the right to practice your faith without harm; it does not allow individuals to dictate the health decisions of others. Any effort to limit women’s access to health care is a threat to women’s health and their autonomy.

At Rhode Island NOW, we take action to bring women into full participation in all aspects of public and private life without experiencing barriers based on gender, and that includes any barriers to adequate health care. We are not here to address the slander against Planned Parenthood being perpetuated by political activists with feign concern for women’s health. We are here to remind everyone of the facts and the value Planned Parenthood provides to the community.

The vast majority of Planned Parenthood’s resources are spent on providing general health and wellness services, including: screenings for cervical, breast, and ovarian cancer, physicals and checkups, prescriptions for contraception, and testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, which avoids infertility later in life and ensures healthy pregnancies. To claim federal and state dollars are being used for abortion services is completely false. Under federal and Rhode Island state law no public money can be used for such services, therefore all public dollars given to Planned Parenthood go directly to the essential preventive health services laid out above.

It’s ironic. The “pro-life” lobby is surprisingly disinterested in these lives: millions of women, men, and (yes) children are alive and healthy because of the resources Planned Parenthood provides every day. A vote against this agency isn’t a blow to the ominous, faceless threat of abortion. It’s a direct hit to the health of our communities: our neighbors, families, and friends.

The war on women in America is real. The reasons behind it are about power and control, not the health or the well being of women. Rhode Island NOW trusts women, and we trust Planned Parenthood. We stand with them and applaud them for the care and counsel they provide to millions of Americans every year.

*Kate Gorton is a Rhode Island NOW member, writer, and blogger.

September 12, 2015September 12, 2015

Drone store opens amid calls for privacy and safety legislation

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Cloud City Drones, “Rhode Island’s first and only drone shop,” which has been open now for a few weeks, had its grand opening Saturday morning, and was met by privacy advocates from the Rhode Island Coalition to Defend Human and Civil Rights (RICDHCR) calling “for limits on both governmental and non-governmental surveillance to preserve Rhode Islanders’ quality of life.”

Randall Rose, member of RICDHCR, said in a press release that, “Although drones do have legitimate and important uses, Rhode Islanders’ quality of life will suffer if inadequately regulated drones become widespread. Except in an emergency, drones should not be allowed to collect personally identifiable or re-identifiable information on residents without their consent. Drone manufacturers and makers of drone-related software should not be allowed to use data collected by consumer and law-enforcement drones, and should not transfer that information without the consent of the private individuals involved. Drones should be safe, unarmed, and not able to do physical damage. Law enforcement should acquire drones only after a full public hearing, and should use drones only subject to a court order.”

Cloud City Drones proprietor Chris Williams focused on the safety features of the drones he carries, which makes them unfit for spying.

A private detective came in looking for a drone for his business, said Williams, and he wanted to use the drone to peer over fences. “Spying means stealth,” said Williams, “and these things are not stealthy. It’ll sound like a weed whacker in your backyard. That’s number one. Number two, there’s flashing lights blinking all over the place.” A third reason is that you get about 20 minutes of flight time on a battery charge. “It’s not a good device for spying. You’d do way better using a telefocal lens or a telescope.”

Williams thinks drones will be primarily used by hobbyists, law enforcement, search and rescue, prison security and home inspection. In reality, the ideas for drones are just beginning, and he would like to see the market develop and legislation crafted carefully so as to not impact potential sales.

“We focus on drones that have all the safety features built into them.” said Williams, “For example, if you say, Chris, I’ll give you a million dollars right now I wouldn’t be able to fly this drone this close to an airport. There are ‘no-fly zones’ built into drone’s systems. Outside the five mile limit, drones can fly higher. As soon as a new no fly zone comes out, it’s instantly updated. So when Washington DC said no drone flying around the White house, that update was instant. Nobody can fly over it.”

Cloud City Drones is on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick, not far from the airport.

Randall Rose was clear that the RICDHCR action was not, “primarily aimed at criticizing this particular store, which has already drawn some controversy. Instead, the purpose of the event is to draw attention to the failure of Rhode Island’s policymakers to pass much-needed legislation that will adequately regulate drones and other forms of surveillance. Privacy advocates are well aware of the likelihood that some of the drones on the market will be used in harmful ways.”

So far, despite some interest on the part of the RI General Assembly, there has been no legislative action taken on limiting the use of drones or addressing privacy concerns.

September 12, 2015

Food on the Move brings healthy produce to underserved RI communities

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Food on the Move is a new program that brings fresh produce into underserved communities and doubles the value of SNAP benefits for fresh produce. Right now this is the only mobile produce program in the country.

The federal government is watching with “keen interest,” says Amy Nunn. She and Gemma Gorham are program directors of this new way to bring good food to poor people.

Senator Jack Reed, who secured the initial $100,000 investment in the program, said it is based on very sophisticated academic research showing that bringing fresh produce into communities increases healthy eating.

Reed too hopes Food on the Move, “will be a model for programs across the country.”

And Rhode Island is the perfect testing ground. “Fifteen percent of Rhode islanders experience food insecurity,” said Nunn. “The highest rate in New England.”

2015-09-11 Food on the Move 013 Nicole Alexander Scott — Nicole Alexander-Scott

“How long someone lives should not depend on the zip code they come from” said Nicole Alexander-Scott, executive director of Rhode Island Department of Health. She said 85 percent of those making under $50,000 a year do not eat the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables per day. This program is one way “we are going to [impact] social and environmental determinants of health.”

Towards the end of the presentation Dr. Nunn pointed out that many people only get a small amount of money in their SNAP benefits, and that Food on the Move might not reach them until the second or third week of the month. She hopes that many people will be able to hold onto some of their SNAP money until they can reach a Food on the Move location and double the impact of the benefits.

2015-09-11 Food on the Move 015 Amy Nunn — Amy Nunn

September 11, 2015September 12, 2015

Remembering Sept. 11, and the decade it ended

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I was among the many Americans who felt 9/11 indirectly – and yet, how indirect was it? My mother taught at school where a parent was killed in the attack. My high school English teacher’s friend from childhood was a firefighter who was killed. College friends had high school classmates whose parents were killed, or who could recount the smoke billowing over their homes. An innocent man was arrested in the Providence Amtrak Train station in a spasm of paranoia. I saw image after image appear on television screens, read commentary, wrote my own, and tried to make sense of what happened –where were we? Can we wake up?

I was a suburban American child of the 1990s, a decade, in certain ways, for certain Americans, of prosperity and growth. From malls to condominiums, from minivans to MTV, from the Gulf War to Kosovo, from Pat Buchanan to Britney Spears, from Macs to PCs, the 1990s brought with it an explosion of digital technology, an unmatched period of United States power, dreams, and lusts.

What country did I grow up in? Generally speaking -a wealthy one. A place where history had ended – where the great struggles involved fighting consumerism and moving beyond materialism. As a very young activist, I felt that my biggest challenge would be to try to do something for worker rights internationally – how could effects of international shopping be made equitable? How could the rights of workers in China, Mexico and the US be guaranteed?

9/11 shook me. Did we also have to now organize to stop wars? What about worker rights? What about immigration? I have not done enough for my original hope of fighting for workers rights. I’ve been active in education and local work, but 9/11 shook some of my intentions, and perhaps made education a bit more attractive, in the hopes that by promoting an education of history and diversity, less violence would happen in the future.

In many ways, the 1990s saw a continuation of the shiny promises of the “return to order” of Reaganism. Reagan promised an end to the cultural confusion of the 1960s and 1970s- he promised a strong America, a weak welfare state, and a stronger military. His order was based on undermining the social supports – Social Security, Unions, well-funded public universities and affordable higher education- that had produced the Great American Middle Class of the Post War period. Reagan and his cohort believed in the beauty and violence of disaster capitalism – the freedom to grow and collapse, rather the slow stability of well paid, well supported work and education to promote a broadly wealthy society. In exchange for that broad middle class, policies favored the pocketbooks of millionaires and billionaires (and the hopes and chance of becoming a millionaire) – and rhetoric grew of the unworthy or hopeless poor, the corrupt unions against the pure free market, the holy believers against the secular university. There was something comforting in the world of Reagan’s suburbs – but over the decades many suburban homes were paid for with unrealistic mortgages, many families had to work two jobs not out of choice but to maintain a semi-wealthy lifestyle, and many children were forgotten or left to play with toys.

9/11 was a shock to this American urban/suburban world I had grown up in. The America I had known- safe, secure, powerful , isolated– was scared. I remember my mother made me survival packs to take to school in case there was a terrorist attack. I remember an eerie feeling that people in my high school building, constructed in 1925, had experienced many disasters before – World War II, the murders of President John, Minister King, and Candidate Robert Kennedy, the saga of Vietnam, the Gulf War. All these conflicts had happened, and my high school was still there. People in the halls before me had lived and responded to disasters – and life went on. But it was still uncertain, and always changing.

In so many ways, isn’t our national story, our international story, linked to our daily lives? I’ve had classmates who are veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars. I’ve had friends try to join the army, and worry for them has increased greatly because of the wars. I’ve attended protest rallies, lectures, and peace vigils, written letters to the editor, argued with friends and strangers, and tried to make sense of what is going on. I’ve been in an American school building closed because of physical neglect as billions of dollars are spent on war machines and drones. I was in New York City with my best friends the night the Time Square Bomber attempted his mayhem. I’ve written to friends in London following an attempted bombing in Piccadilly Circus. I’ve read poignant essays on continuing on despite the threat of terror, one of the most striking for me being on life in Bombay following a terrorist shooting rampage. My grandparents once visited Italy simultaneous to an airport bombing in Rome during the Years of Lead (when left and right wing terrorists killed dozens, if not hundreds, of everyday people in the pursuit of a cause). Even in hellish times, growth happens when people connect.

Even in pain, people can overcome when they connect. In thinking about the violence and the loss, some people use memories to build walls. Others to connect across barriers. What type of country we become, and the type of people we will be, in the next ten years and beyond, will be greatly shaped by us drawing inward or finding better ways to connect.

September 11, 2015September 11, 2015

Why does Mike Stenhouse want your daughter to get cervical cancer?

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Mike Stenhouse, preserving freedom for white, straight men.

Mike Stenhouse has a talent for finding any cause he can to make himself look important, most recently band-wagoning onto the 38 Studios debacle, and is the Gomer Pyle of the Rhode Island right wing. Whenever I see the Stenhouse name appear in the headlines, I know to lower my expectations by an average of .190 and pull out the tin foil hat.

For those of you just tuning in, Stenhouse has a long record in trafficking in racism, sexism, and just plain stupid. He is the champion of astro-turfed fake populism that promotes a rich man’s agenda, with private funders who talk a big game but are not brave enough to show their faces in public, leaving us instead to deal with this pompous has-been and a select few frothing-at-the-mouth Know-Nothings who are so revved up they should not be allowed near sharp objects, along with a great majority of good-intentioned people who sadly do not realize they have been played by a con man.

There was the time that he claimed HUD was Stalinism, a lunatic bit that was really about making sure those brown people from Spanish are not allowed to afford decent living conditions. Or the time he said Rhode Island had outlawed light bulbs, which really was about him denying climate change. In moments of desperation when I loose hope, I have to simply remind myself that Mike Stenhouse exists and moronic statements fall from his mouth like sand in an hourglass.

Now we have Mike out on the trail again, promoting a notion that is as stupefying as it is dangerous. Apparently Mr. Swing-and-a-Miss is revving up parents by trying to encourage them to not get the HPV vaccination for their kids, insisting that inoculation against cancer-causing genital warts will bring about all sorts of huge side effects and infringes on religious/personal autonomy. Of course, when you ask Mr. Stenhouse about that ultimate issue of medical freedom, abortion, he has no problem signing his name to petitions calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Apparently Mike wants government so small it can fit inside a woman’s tumor-encrusted cervix. That also would mean that someone affiliated with his whacked-out agenda is getting some action, but I digress.

Any baseball manager would avoid these stats like herpes!

Is there something wrong with the HPV vaccine? The CDC says 8 percent or fewer people who are vaccinated with Gardasil experience side effects. By contrast, the American Cancer Society says that 4,100 women will die from cervical cancer in 2015 out of the estimated 12,900 diagnosed with it. Likewise, HPV is one of the most common-occuring STIs known to medicine. Not being a woman, I am personally unclear about how it would feel to have tumors growing on that particular part of my anatomy, but I highly doubt it is like walking in a quiet green meadow (a space akin perhaps to outfield when Mr. Stenhouse takes the plate).

The anti-vaccine crowd has existed for some time now on the fringes of the internet, populated by hoaxers, hucksters, and a Kennedy. Yes, they are the gift that just keeps on giving, for it was that doofus Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. that began the whole idiocy about children’s booster shots causing autism with an over-wrought and under-thought article for Rolling Stone (they don’t, and the original doctor that proposed that theory was later stripped of his medical license in the UK). How a washed-up and perpetually silly GOP prima donna ended up in the same clique as the one of the Cape Cod Commissars is anyone’s guess, but it becomes obvious as the days go by that Kennedy and Stenhouse need the attention or they might be forced to do the unthinkable and get real jobs.

The fact I even have to write about this topic is probably leaving my editor befuddled. I can hear Bob Plain now, “what in the name of good gravy do RIFuture readers care about this fool?” I keep looking at the MOVE TO TRASH button longingly as I write this. But here’s the rub: Stenhouse has people falling for this nonsense! There is a group of parents who are actually saying NO to the vaccine just as the school year is beginning and those hormone-addled teens at risk for infection begin to mix and mingle in the hallowed halls of education. And while I do think that Tea Partiers have been a tumor on the body politic, I certainly would not wish cervical cancer on their daughters. And I am likewise all in favor of religious liberty, I think it’s totally wrong that France forbids Muslim women from wearing the hijab. But this is not an issue of religious liberty, it is a con.

I have listened to Stenhouse give an interview on B101, a veritable ode to obnoxious self-importance and false panic that is going to result in kids being put at risk for a chronic illness that cannot be cured. He begins with a lot of obfuscation and nonsense about the issue being ‘very complicated’ and that the vaccine causes more trouble than genital warts, both of which are demonstrably untrue. “Why should Rhode Island be just the second state in the nation to mandate this and why should we have been the only one to have done it by executive fiat?” Batten down the hatches, Gina Raimondo’s apparatchiks arrive at midnight! The Block Island Gulag nears completion as we speak! We get conspiracy theories about the CDC, who historically are too underfunded to do much of anything, the argument that an STI has nothing to do with sexually-active teens, and even a segue into teacher union bashing and advocacy for home schooling.

Mike wanders way into right field when he compares poor Sen. Josh Miller, who is in fact Jewish, to a Nazi, a not-so-subliminal message that brings to mind Mr. Burns ordering “Smithers, release the hounds“. I knew B101 broadcast the golden oldies, but I had no idea they also gave airtime to 1950’s-era John Birch Society soap operas. Next thing you know, Stenhouse will be rambling on incoherently about fluoride in the water supply and how Keynesian economics are a Commie plot while TC and Kristen get a traffic report. Why no one is going after the radio station’s broadcasting license after spreading false information about a communicable illness to the public and promoting violence toward an elected official is itself a small scandal.

The HPV virus is not like pubic lice or gonorrhea, it lasts for the rest of your life and can result in cancer. If a woman infected with the virus goes into labor and delivers a baby through a cervix that has HPV warts on it, the baby can be blinded. If the newborn comes into contact with the warts in utero, they can risk of blood infection and suffocation caused by warts forming in the air passage. You want the freedom to inflict this on infants? Stay classy, Stenhouse.

In all likelihood, Mike has discovered the cause of vaccines after making a fool of himself protesting the Affordable Care Act. And into the mix he has pulled people who would otherwise vomit if they knew his wretched agenda, folks who are also going completely nuts for Bernie Sanders and were counter-protesting the anti-choice rally a few weeks ago my colleague Steve Ahlquist covered. This thing has grown some serious legs and is making people who usually would make sane decisions team up with the perfect example of the village idiot.

So I am not writing this as a report on Mike Stenhouse as much as a public safety bulletin.

The young women of this generation are being given the opportunity to once and for all be nearly rid of the pain caused by cervical cancer. The underlying logic of the opposition to Gardasil is not liberty, it boils down to the usual nonsense about pre-marital sex and whether women should have control over their own bodies. Even if you are a parent who is trying to encourage chastity until marriage, you should get your daughter vaccinated, one cannot be certain that a rapist wears a condom. And considering that 1 in 4 women in college experience some form of sexual assault before graduation, this is a real issue to take into consideration, not false-flag alarmist drivel. As for qualms about personal autonomy and government over-reach, I agree that those things exist, but not in this instance. I am all in favor of a public discussion of reducing the Pentagon budget and closing eight or nine hundred of the foreign bases that make up our tottering imperial footprint, especially considering that we could clothe and feed the homeless while giving free college tuition to everyone if we spent our money on sensible things. But mandatory mass-innoculation against potentially fatal illnesses is part and parcel of a responsible social safety net. The people who say otherwise are those who need the wider population sick and distracted so they cannot properly participate in our democracy and raise these real concerns. Thankfully, Rhode Island has a high percentage of inoculations caused by the fact that, lucky for us, Stenhouse’s brand of idiocy is not as contagious as HPV. We can be proud of that fact and should encourage that trend to continue.

Stenhouse may have repackaged this to sound like ‘freedom’, but cervical cancer is not liberating. It is a painful, sad illness that takes too many women at too young an age. No woman deserves a potentially lethal illness because they have sex outside of marriage. If Mike Stenhouse wants genital warts, more power to him, I will pay good money to see that snuff film. I will even volunteer the labor to film and edit it for free, putting my Film Studies BA to a good public use. But he has no right to insist others, particularly minor children, be made susceptible simply because he needs to score a few political points. So talk to your friends, share this story with vaccine opponents, encourage young women to get vaccinated, and let’s make Stenhouse strike out here as badly as he did in the big leagues.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Following the publication of this story, some readers have come forward and argued that the human papilloma virus clears up. This is a true statement, genital warts can clear up on their own. However, as with every other virus known to man, once it is in your body, it does not go away. If one’s immunity were to weaken, it could result in a recurrence of warts. It also does not serve as a guarantee that the virus will not cause cancer at a later date. The CDC recommends everyone get vaccinated to avoid this disease.

September 11, 2015September 11, 2015

How Richard Cosentino died in Providence police custody

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Richard Cosentino died in the custody of Providence police on Sunday. The way the police describe his death leaves a lot of doubt. Even from the police’s story, which is pretty much the only version we have, it appears they treated him too harshly, and he didn’t need to die.

Like many of those who have died unnecessarily at the hands of police, he suffered from mental illness. But when he came to the police’s attention on Sunday morning, he had committed no crime, nor was he acting strangely. He was just dealing with a problem that plagued all the residents of his apartment building: an elevator in the building that kept breaking down. In the wee hours of Sunday morning, the elevator in his building had gotten stuck between floors again, with him inside it. He tried to attract attention the same way a lot of people would, loudly requesting help. Another resident heard him and called 911. That brought in firefighters and police. Soon after the firefighters got him out of the elevator, Richard Cosentino was arrested and put in a police car where he died.

As often happens in these dubious deaths in police custody, police are putting out negative information about the dead person. They say that Richard Cosentino had a criminal record, having been arrested in 2011 for larceny and tampering with a vehicle. He pleaded no contest to the tampering charge, and we don’t have more details about what exactly he was accused of doing in that case. Was he a danger to others? Was he another of the mentally ill people, like Darius McCollum and others, who are tagged with criminal records even though they didn’t mean any harm? It’s significant that his neighbors use the word “nice” repeatedly in speaking of him. One neighbor described Richard Cosentino as “A nice guy. He didn’t bother nobody. He’d sit out and talk to himself sometimes.”

I know the police see him as a criminal. And I can understand how it might have attracted a suspicious police response in the past when he’d go outside at night, talk to himself, and so on. But even if his relationship with the police in the past wasn’t the best, that doesn’t mean we should dismiss him as a wrongdoer. Let’s look at why he was arrested.

Police say that they responded to Carroll Towers apartment complex at 243 Smith St., following a 911 call at 4am Sunday from a resident there about another resident who was “causing a commotion in an elevator”. I wish Cosentino’s calls for help hadn’t been interpreted that way: “causing a commotion in an elevator.” In any case, firefighters and police went to the building after Cosentino’s neighbor called 911. The firefighters got him out of the elevator after turning off the electric power. His interaction with the authorities didn’t go well afterwards. According to Providence Police’s Major Thomas Verdi and Colonel Hugh Clements, Cosentino appeared “agitated” and was “highly intoxicated” as soon as the elevator doors were opened. That’s how they perceived this person who had just been through the traumatic experience of being stuck in an elevator in the middle of the night. Look, I know he had some mental illness, and I’m sure he did appear agitated after being stuck in the elevator, but none of that is his fault. With better training, the authorities might not have jumped to perceiving him in that way when they found him inside the elevator.

The police also say that Cosentino refused to comply with them and with firefighters. If that’s what happened, I don’t think he’s really to blame for that given what had just happened to him. I don’t believe they should have arrested him over that. The compassionate thing would have been just to let him go, since he had clearly just been the victim and wasn’t doing any harm. Too often that’s not how police treat the mentally ill or others.

The other side of this is how Cosentino perceived the authorities. To judge by the police’s description, he wasn’t quick to see them as friendly — in fact the police hadn’t been friendly to him in the past, and the police’s story of his death makes it sound as if they didn’t even start out friendly to him this time. It’s quite possible that, as police said, he refused to comply with something they told him to do. And even if he was correct in deciding that the authorities on the scene weren’t friendly to him, his mental illness may have led him to misinterpret things in a worse light. For instance, given the negative interactions he’d had with authorities in the past, he may not have seen them as his rescuers. After the traumatic experience of being stuck in the elevator in the wee hours, and then realizing that he would soon be dealing with police who had treated him negatively before and who weren’t particularly friendly to him now, I even wonder if he mistakenly perceived the authorities as being more the cause of the elevator problem than the solution.

Fear is important here. Even those who don’t particularly suffer from mental illness often feel fearful when police approach and don’t feel that their own innocence will necessarily protect them from police. The situation where firefighters are rescuing you from a stuck elevator, with police waiting among them, is one which many people would find challenging and scary to deal with, whether one has a mental illness or not. Since this is something that plenty of innocent people would feel, it’s worth thinking about how typical police attitudes and behaviors contribute to it. Is it a good thing when we have a police force behaving in ways that inspire so much fear in the innocent? I can certainly believe that Richard Cosentino was “agitated” as the police say, like many people with or without mental illness would be in those circumstances. And maybe he did fail to comply with the police in that kind of situation that isn’t easy to deal with. But that still doesn’t mean he should end up arrested. And in particular, he didn’t have to die.

We don’t have an official cause of death for Cosentino yet. According to police, Cosentino went into cardiac arrest soon after police took him into custody. Cardiac arrest isn’t a heart attack — instead it just means that his heart stopped beating, and it can be caused by a number of things, including the violence of an arrest. People have gone into cardiac arrest after being Tased by police, or after being hit in the chest. Eric Garner died when he went into cardiac arrest after New York police placed him in a kind of neck hold. So it’s worth considering very seriously the possiblity that Richard Cosentino may have died as a result of whatever kinds of physical force were used in arresting him.

Was Cosentino violent with police or firefighters? The police haven’t been too clear about that. They say he was “combative.” But the way police use the word “combative”, it doesn’t necessarily show there was any violence (for example, here, here, here and here). We’ve already heard that Cosentino wasn’t complying, and it’s not clear whether the description of him as “combative” amounted to any more than that. There is also a claim that Cosentino “assaulted” the fire chief who was on the scene, but that claim hasn’t been substantiated; WPRI News says that their sources say they’re not sure the firefighter was ever actually hit. So I don’t know what to think when the police say that Cosentino “began fighting.” I’ve seen many cases in Rhode Island and elsewhere where officers use force against someone who wasn’t violent, and then the police turn around and say that the victim began fighting. This has even happened to innocent people who are just trying to walk away from police, like Kollin Truss in Baltimore who was beaten and wrongly accused of being violent after trying to walk away from an officer. Sometimes you just have to let the innocent person go.

Richard Cosentino was forcibly taken into custody inside his own Providence apartment complex. The police claim that they didn’t hit him. They do, however, admit using physical force against him: they say they decided they had to “physically place him into handcuffs”. But although they occasionally claim that Cosentino was the one who began fighting, I don’t know if that’s really true. I take very seriously the possibility that he wasn’t violent, but police perceived him as “combative”, “agitated” and noncompliant, and decided to forcibly arrest him. There is some video of what happened, but — significantly — the video hasn’t been made public.

Once he was arrested and taken into a police car, Cosentino asked for medical treatment. Police admit this, and again it shows that they used some force on him. It might have been better if the police made his medical treatment more of a priority. Like Eric Garner in Brooklyn, who said “I can’t breathe” and went into cardiac arrest after being placed in a neck hold, Richard Cosentino in Providence went silent and went into cardiac arrest after asking for medical treatment. He might have lived if he had been taken to a hospital immediately. Police say that firefighters gave Cosentino at least a little medical treatment on the scene. But he really needed to be in the hospital.

After he asked for medical help — his last words, perhaps — he seems to have remained in the police car for some time. It’s worth looking at the timeline. This situation started with Cosentino noisily calling help from inside the elevator, followed by a 911 call which according to most news stories occurred at 4am Sunday. A few of the media stories on Cosentino’s death say that the “rescue call” was at 4:30am Sunday, not 4am; maybe 4am was when the 911 call was placed and the big incident with police and firefighters on scene happened around 4:30. In any case, Cosentino and the authorities got into their confrontation, and he was arrested and placed in the police car. He asked for medical help, and it’s clear it didn’t take long for him to ask, because the police say that he went silent shortly after being arrested. So very soon after being arrested, he said he needed medical help. A little after 5am, he was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital. The death itself occurred in police custody, so it seems he died in the police car before he even got to the hospital. Would he still be alive if he had gotten to the hospital at 4:45 or earlier, instead of staying in the police car after “he went silent”?

As one of his neighbors said, “Cosentino had mental health issues but wouldn’t hurt anyone” and “was probably distraught from being stuck in the elevator. The neighbor said it may have helped if Cosentino was put into an ambulance instead of a police car.” There is no reason to think Cosentino was armed or dangerous.

Media coverage has emphasized that Richard Cosentino’s death is under investigation by the Providence police department itself, as well as by the state police and Attorney General Peter Kilmartin (a former police officer who is police-friendly and has not been good at supporting police accountability). So there are several different investigations, all with police in charge. But investigations alone are not enough. The neighbors who knew Cosentino are shocked. If officers used unnecessary force here, they need to face consequences that are more serious than a full-pay retirement.

The public needs to see the video. And it’s long past time for better laws. Police need better training, not just in dealing with the mentally ill, but in dealing with all who are vulnerable and all who are likely to be mistakenly perceived as dangerous. There should be mental health workers on every police shift. Especially when dealing with elderly, mentally ill, or disabled people, police should try to de-escalate and avoid arrest, seeking peace instead. Handcuffing people in these groups should be a last resort (and should often be done with handcuffs in front of the body, not behind). The Providence Community Safety Act needs to be passed, and the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights needs to be repealed. Accepting a tiny bit more risk to law enforcement is worth it if it prevents unnecessary deaths like Richard Cosentino’s.

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