Family Day Was A Huge Success At Seth Low Houses As They Prepare To Address The Dropout Crisis, Unemployment, Healthcare, Drugs, Crime, Gun And Gang Violence By Working With The Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council And Their 7 E’s 4 Power Tour, Power 105.1, vitaminwater, Council Member Mealy, The AIDS HealthCare Foundation And Many Others
Reginald Bowman, Charles Fisher, Randy Fisher holding vitaminwater.
“Vote 4 New Hope With The Power In Public Housing”
At the 2015 Seth Low Family Day Event, we caught up with Reginald Bowman, President of the NYCHA City-Wide Council of President and one of the most credible people we have known that is actually on the ground, in the developments using his contacts and skills to make life better for NYCHA residents. We meet a lot of people in NYCHA, but for over 7 years now, this man has made many sacrifices for his NYCHA Family and their ongoing struggle to obtain the support, services, security and economic opportunities needed for residents to live a productive life.
Charles Fisher interviews Reginald Bowman while Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” looks on.
Things are slowly improving in Public Housing thanks to committed leaders like Mr. Bowman, his team, and a host of elected officials who have been leading the charge for decades. We are looking forward to working with Reggie and bringing him the resources to make NYCHA a better place to live for all residents. Yes there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but things are finally moving in the right direction and as a team we will get the job done. We have several new initiatives with Power 105.1, “The Shark” Daymond John, vitaminwater, RavePCS, Hip-Hop Wireless, Microsoft, the Source Magazine and celebrities from the entertainment industry that we are about to introduce to NYCHA through Mr. Bowman that will provide more opportunities for the residents, with a focus on the safety and economic empowerment of the youth and young adults in NYCHA. Let’s get into the interview.
- How many years has Seth Low been doing Family Days?
Seth Low houses has been doing Family Days since the 1960’s.
- What does Family Day mean to you and the community?
Family day is both a celebration and a reunion. We celebrate the meaning of Family and its bonds that go beyond just blood ties, and a reunion of the people who have lived in the Seth Low Public Housing Community and the Public Housing Community of Brownsville for decades.
- What are you doing as President of the NYCHA Council of Presidents to address Crime, Poverty, Unemployment, and Gun & Gang Violence?
It is my belief that the problems of Crime, Gun and Gang Violence, are a direct result of Poverty and Unemployment. We have made efforts to launch projects such as the Brooklyn East Anti-Violence Initiative and create partnerships with the Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council to provide Training and Employment programs, which provide real job opportunities for residents. These initiatives work hand in hand with all stakeholders to promote resident owned business development, and concrete opportunities for alternatives to criminal activities, that are a direct result of unemployment.
- How are relations with NYPD and what can be done to improve them?
As the co-creator of the Safety and Security Task force, a partnership with the NYCHA residents, NYPD and City Agencies, we proactively have worked to address and improve the relationships between Law enforcement and Public Housing residents. The efforts resulted in the changing of the NYPD Housing Patrol Guide, and established an ongoing effort to meet regularly to improve communications and active initiatives between the police and the community. The efforts have a long way to go.
- Let’s talk about the Political Power in NYCHA and the role residents can play in the upcoming Presidential Elections?
I launched the “Vote 4 New Hope” and “Power in Public Housing” initiatives with The Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council in 2008, to organize the more than 200,000 registered voters in Public Housing in NYC to be the deciding vote in Local, State and Federal Elections. According to a Daily News article the Public Housing vote had a very high turn out in New York and did play a role in electing President Obama to the White House. We have proven to be an effective voice as we quietly elected key politicians to office, which is evidenced by the recent investments of millions of dollars in Public Housing by State and City Governments. I hope that we can again use the “VOTE FOR NEW HOPE” power and influence as a strategy in the 2016 Presidential elections and organize with the Music Industry to be the deciding vote in the 2016 elections. We have the votes to do it. We just need to get mobilized and take over the political arena as the youth and entertainment industry has done in the past.
- Why are there so many youth and young adults killing each other in Brooklyn and throughout the city? What can we do about it?
I have no real answer to this. It is my belief that this country’s culture of violence, war and conflict can be researched and blamed for some of this, and the continued mass killings and police killings, everywhere, are all related. I believe that until we realize this is a national problem, with a need for real comprehensive solutions, the violence will continue to destroy our youth and communities.
Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” stands in front of the 7 E’s 4 Power banner holding vitaminwater.
Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” looking buff holding vitaminwater.
- Give me your thoughts about today’s event?
This event was a total success and achieved the objective of bringing people together to celebrate and honor life and be “Reunited With Family and Friends.”
- Any special shout outs for your Family Day supporters?
Special Shout Out to Power 105.1 and vitaminwater, The Seth Low Houses Board Members, the NYCHA Staff, Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council, the Source Magazine, and the Seth Low Houses Family.
Charles Fisher and Randy Fisher stand by the cases of vitaminwater.
Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” works out with 2 cases of vitaminwater; why don’t you try it?
- As you well know we are pushing to get more sponsors involved with NYCHA, this year we have Power 105.1 and vitaminwater, give me your thoughts?
The NYCHA communities generate and spend millions in purchases and it is about time that those corporations give something back to the community and we would like to thank Power 105.1 for being in the forefront of these activities and we look forward to working with the Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council, the station, and their sponsors in the future.
- Give me your thoughts about your ongoing plan to make NYCHA a better place for all residents citywide?
I believe and vision using the economic and political power of NYCHA Communities residents to restore the infrastructure of the facilities and be a force for restoring the ladder of economic and social opportunities that NYCHA is intended to be for years to come.
MEANING OF FAMILY DAY AT NYCHA
Charles Fisher and Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” hold up the banner and vitaminwater with a resident of Seth Low Houses wearing a Worthy Lifestyle shirt and hat.
ABOUT THE MOYNIHAN REPORT AND BLACK FAMILY
The Negro Family: The Case For National Action (the 1965 Moynihan Report) was written by Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a sociologist and later U.S. Senator. It focused on the deep roots of black poverty in America and concluded controversially that the relative absence of nuclear families (those having both a father and mother present) would greatly hinder further progress toward economic and political equality.
Moynihan argued that the rise in single-mother families was not due to a lack of jobs but rather to a destructive vein in ghetto culture that could be traced back to slavery and Jim Crow discrimination. Though black sociologist E. Franklin Frazier had already introduced the idea in the 1930s, Moynihan’s argument defied conventional social-science wisdom. As he wrote later, “The work began in the most orthodox setting, the U.S. Department of Labor, to establish at some level of statistical conciseness what ‘everyone knew’: that economic conditions determine social conditions. Whereupon, it turned out that what everyone knew was evidently not so.”
LINK TO THE FULL REPORT: http://web.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Moynihan’s%20The%20Negro%20Family.pdf
50 Cent and Sharieff “the Fitness Sheriff.”
To lose Weight and Stay in Shape hit Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” up at xreaf@aol.com.
For info on Family Day, the VOTE 4 NEW HOPE Project, the Power in Public Housing initiative, and/or NYCHA initiatives hit us up at: RandyKFisher@gmail.com.
Posted by Charles Fisher and Randy Fisher (Twitter / FB / Instagram @HHSYC).
