Category Archives: Race Relations

Where The Sidewalk Ends, Racism Begins *

December 6, 2013Ambalavaner Sivanandan, E.W.F. Stirrup House, No Skin In The Game, One Grove, Racism, The Color Line, The Colour Line, unpacking-coconut-grove, Wall, Wall of Shame, Where The Sidewalk Ends Racism BeginsHeadly Westerfield

Where the sidewalk ends. If you’re Black, you might want to stop right here.

Some day you simply must take a stroll southbound on the west side of South Douglas Road in Coconut Grove, Florida. Walk from Grand Avenue past Washington and Thomas Avenues and the Frances S. Tucker Elementary School.

On your left Thomas Avenue jogs and Charles Avenue [on which the E.W.F. Stirrup House anchors the other end of the street, near Main Highway] ends; although Charles has an odd little western dogleg that can’t be seen from SW 37th Ave, aka Douglas. Crossing Charles Terrace, a street that only runs two blocks west and not at all east, you can’t help note the serene, stark beauty of the Charlotte Jane Memorial Park Cemetery on your left. While distracted you almost walk into a wooden fence as the sidewalk abruptly ends.

The wooden fence hides a cinder block wall that runs from this point west for two long blocks. The wall was built for one reason and one reason alone: to keep Black Coconut Grove out of White Coconut Grove. The sidewalk ends for one reason. Racism begins.

This wall represents the historic COLOUR LINE that divided the Black backyards on Charles Terrace from the White backyards along Kumquat Avenue. To heighten the sense of segregation, none of the streets along Charles Terrace were allowed to link to Kumquat Avenue or any of the White streets to the south or west.

The Coconut Grove Wall of Shame™ is not unlike the wall in my home town of Detroit known alternatively as The 8 Mile Wall, The Wailing Wall, or the Birwood Wall. A search on the Googalizer for the 8 Mile Wall turns up references, history, as well as tons of images. However, one has to go digging to find any images or references to the Coconut Grove Wall, the history of which is being buried like much of the history of West Grove.

A CAPSULE HISTORY OF THE 8 MILE WALL: Back in the ’40s the Wyoming-8 Mile neighbourhood was mostly farmland; while the city’s northern border was already established at 8 Mile, it hadn’t been developed yet. However, there was already a Black enclave in the area from earlier times. During The War Years Detroit was experiencing a war time boom and housing was desperately needed. Meanwhile, a developer wanted to build in the Wyoming-8 Mile area was having trouble getting Federal Housing Authority loans for the new tract due to the perceived undesirability of the adjacent Black. The developer struck a deal: It would build a 6-foot wall to separate the Whites from the Blacks. The Black folk could have their side of the wall and would be redlined out of the other side of the wall, and a lot of the rest of Detroit, for that matter.

Related: The Detroit Riots

Pic from Racial, Regional Divide Still Haunt Detroit’s
Progress, an excellent All Things Considered on NPR

The main reason you will find thousands of pictures of the 8 Mile Wall is because parts of it have been reclaimed and decorated with gayly painted scenes of iconic Black historic moments.

The 8 Mile Wall no longer divides Black from White; White Flight has seen to that. Both sides of that wall are now predominately Black in a city that is now almost entirely Black, except for all the new carpetbagging hipsters gentrifying huge swaths of Motown. But, that’s another story for another day.

The Coconut Grove Wall of Shame is of a slightly later vintage. The following comes from a much longer article — about the much longer COLOUR LINE that has West Coconut Grove hemmed in TO THIS VERY DAY. There are two distinct sides to The Wall, as Miami New Times writer Kirk Nielsen called it 15 years ago, when he asked and answered the musical question, “How can you tell where white Coconut Grove ends and black Coconut Grove begins? Just look for the barbed wire.”

In 1946 the Miami Housing Authority approved construction of a 25-acre tract of small single-family homes for low-income blacks on Charles Terrace, west of Douglas Road. By the time the houses were completed in 1949, workers had also erected a concrete block wall along the southern boundary of the new development. As reported by the Miami Herald (and cited by Marvin Dunn in his new book Black Miami in the Twentieth Century), the city planning board required the wall in order to provide “suitable protection” for the white neighborhood. A Florida Supreme Court ruling three years earlier had rendered illegal Dade County’s segregation of black residential districts. But that didn’t stop the city from putting the wall up.

Brown and weathered, the concrete block barrier still runs a quarter-mile, from Douglas Road west to the Carver Middle School parking lot. Six feet tall, higher in some places, it divides the leafy back yards of Kumquat Avenue on one side from the tree-starved lots of Charles Terrace on the other.

Lou-vern Fisher, who moved to Miami with her parents in 1936 from Georgia, bought one of the single-family homes next to the wall with her husband back in 1950. She still lives there, with a daughter, granddaughter, and grandson. “We enjoyin’ the wall,” says the jolly 73-year-old retired maid. “They put it here for a reason. And you know the reason. To keep us from going over there,” she wags a finger, letting off a loud gravelly ha-ha-ha.

Another section of the Coconut Grove Wall of Shame™ along Charles Terrace

However, get this: When the same wall became inconvenient for the White folk of Coconut Grove, a small section of it was torn down:

While Father Gibson’s petitioning [in the ’50s and ’60s] failed to inspire city commissioners to topple the wall, the fears of white parents proved far more effective. In 1970, the year Carver Middle School (then Junior High) was racially integrated, the western end of the wall was demolished, allowing a one-lane road to be paved from Kumquat Avenue to the school. White parents had demanded that southern access to drop their kids off because they considered the other route, down Grand Avenue in the black Grove, unsafe.

This isn’t unlike how (at around the same time, in fact) the polluting incinerator nicknamed Old Smoky was only closed when [White] Coral Gables — the town that racism built — started to complain, despite years of complaints from West Grove residents. As I like to tell my followers on Twitter and facebook, “History is complicated.” Racial history even more so. I will will be documenting the Coconut Grove Colour Line more fully as time goes on, but thanks for reading the first inn an ongoing series.

That doesn’t mean we can’t Rock Out while waiting for the next exciting episode. Listen to a speech by Ambalavaner Sivanandan set to music by Asian Dub Foundation.

Crank it up!!!

* With apologies to Shel Silverstein

The Day I Met Bob Marley ► Part Two

September 25, 2013Babylon By Bus, Bob Marley, Chris Blackwell, How Jamaica Conquered The World, Island Records, Reggae, Roifield Brown, Toronto, U.S. CustomsHeadly Westerfield

As Part One of The Day I Met Bob Marley ended, I had just been given word by my boss at Island Records that instead of going to the two Bob Marley concerts at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall, I was being sent on a secret mission to New York City. You’re on the honour system that you’ve read Part One before continuing.

When Bob Marley and the band arrived in Toronto, the entire Island Records of Canada staff — all 3 of us — headed on over to Convocation Hall for some meeting and greeting, and for me to pick up the audio tapes. These live concert recordings were of the first 5 dates on the tour and had been smuggled into Canada by the band. Now I had to smuggle them back into the United States.

The dressing room at Convocation Hall was about 15’x15′. When we arrived we could barely see across the room due to all the ganja smoke. Marley and the band had a lot of friends in Toronto’s Jamaican community and they had already delivered the sacramental herb. My first shock was that Bob Marley was no taller than I am. I had only seen pictures and videos of him on stage and he seemed like a giant. Yet, he must have clocked in at 5’7″, or so, because we were standing there looking eye to eye. And that’s when the spliff came around to us.

Did I say spliff? This was an uber-spliff. This was the spliff to end all spliffs. Imagine something the size and basic shape of a baseball bat, with the fat end — the business end — — the burning end!!! — as big around as a softball. It tapered to a point and the whole thing was wrapped in a newspaper.

As I stood making pleasantries with Bob Marley, the spliff came around to him. Bob, being polite — or maybe just because he was testing me — passed it to me. Well, I was no rookie at this, and had been know to inhale, so I grabbed that sucker and took a good haul.

IT WAS THE HARSHEST THING I EVER INHALED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!

I started coughing — no, choking — and Bob Marley thought it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen in his entire life. My second shock about Bob Marley: He giggled like a little girl. A happy, infectious, crowd-affecting laugh that had me laughing, even as the tears streamed down my cheeks. He put his arm around my shoulders and rocked at the waist with laughter. So did I. I took a 2nd haul, which was more successful than the first, passed it back to Marley, and then we got on to business.

The tour manager handed me my charges: Five, two inch, 24-track audio tapes in cardboard boxes, making it a loose stack almost a foot high. Today this could be put on a thumb drive. Back then this was the only available storage device. My mission: take these tapes, fly them to New York City on my lap, and put them directly into the hands of Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records. The tapes are to never leave my sight. The tapes are not to be x-rayed. I am to give them to no one other than Chris Blackwell. Most importantly: When crossing the border I must never admit that the tapes contain live concert recordings. No one knew what the duty on such a thing might be and no one wanted to admit these tapes never should have been smuggled into Canada in the first place.

I never like to leave a smoke-filled room, especially one with Bob Marley in it, but there was only so much time to make my flight to New York. I grabbed the awkward pile of tapes and took them my car, one of a series a of Volkswagon Beetles I owned in the day, with the most amazing sound system in it for the day. It was like sitting in a set of headphones. I slipped in the cassette Bob Marley and the Wailers “Live! and cranked it up as loud as I could stand. If I was going to miss the concert at least I could have a concert in the car.

Crank it up!!!

When I arrived at short term parking the shuttle bus was just pulling up. I grabbed the tapes and started running to catch it. The lid of the box on top of the pile caught the wind and flew open, papers flying all over the place. I dropped the tapes I was carrying and started chasing the paper around the parking lot until I got them all. As I grabbed the last one I watched the shuttle bus pull away.

The papers were all 8.5 x 11 photocopied sheets, with all the recording info for each track written in hand. I realized 2 things immediately: 1). There were no other copies of these documents, I had the originals; 2). How can I say I don’t know what’s on these tapes if what’s on these tapes is written on pieces of paper and stored right with the tapes? I opened all the boxes, took out all the paper, folded them up and put them in my pocket, and waited for the next shuttle bus.

Pearson Airport was a lot smaller in those days. Then, as now, travelers pass through U.S. Customs at the Toronto airport. Before you are funneled to your gate, you must satisfy the U.S. Border Patrol in Toronto. Once you pass that checkpoint, you are technically in the U.S. I managed to satisfy the officer on identity and citizenship, but, as you have probably guessed already, got tripped up on the tapes, which I refused to allow them to x-ray. This is an approximation of how that went.

“You’re more than welcome to examine them, but my instructions are they cannot be x-rayed because that would destroy what’s on the tapes.”

He examines them and satisfies himself that the tapes are just tapes, but he’s never seen 2-inch audio tape before, so he’s a bit confused.

“What’s on the tapes?”

“I don’t know. I’m merely a messenger.”

Now he’s really confused.

“Hang on a second.”

He brings another U.S. Customs guy who is higher up the food chain to look at the tapes.

This guy examines them and satisfies himself that the tapes are just tapes,
but he’s never seen 2-inch audio tape before either, so he’s a bit
confused, just like the first guy.

“What’s on the tapes?”

“I don’t know. I’m just a messenger.”

“Hang on a second.”

They both go off to have a private discussion in a room with a window that I can look into. I see them drag a few more Custom agents into the room. A huge discussion ensues and I’m starting to wonder if I need to proclaim my ‘Merkin citizenship to get into ‘Merka with these tapes.

All this time the clock is doing its thing: Tick, tock, boys! Let’s get it on. I’ve got a flight to catch. All the time they’re quite pleasant and I’m quite pleasant, but I’m starting to get insistent that I have to get to New York City by a certain time. I know there is only a 2-hour window before Chris Blackwell has to fly to London with the tapes. If I miss that connection I might have to fly to London to deliver the tapes and I didn’t pack for that. For that matter, I didn’t pack for New York City. All I was carrying were the tapes.

Meanwhile, I missed my flight while these custom agents were arguing amongst themselves. It turned out that what was causing the delay is that they had to charge me duty on the audio tape. However, there were no references to 2-inch tape in the Big Book of Import Duties. They couldn’t let me into the States before I paid duty on the tape, but they didn’t know what to charge me.

Remember when everyone didn’t carry a phone in their pocket? The next argument I had with them was that I had to use their phone to call the office to get further instructions now that they caused me to miss my plane.

“You can’t use the phone while you’re here.”

WAIT!!! WHAT???

I argued that it was their dithering that made me miss my flight. I’m just a courier. I not only need further instructions, but needed someone from the office to rebook my flight if they still wanted me to effect delivery. That was a 15 minute argument that I finally won, as I got louder and louder. Eventually I got Kathy Hahn on the phone in the middle of what was a very hectic day for her. She said she’d take care of it. However, she needed a number where she could call me back.

“What’s the number here?”

“You can’t have people calling you here!”

However, they said I could use the phone as much as I needed while they sorted out their problem. I had just successfully turned the U.S. Customs’ telephone into my personal office. I made several more quick calls and then waited for about 15 minutes more minutes before one of the geniuses at U.S. Customs had a breakthrough of his own. Since the book gave them the duty for a cassette tape, which is an eighth of an inch, why not multiply that by 16 to get the duty for a 2 inch tape? We all celebrated that an answer to our conundrum presented itself. Now came a new conundrum.

“How long is the tape?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? And, we’re not laying it out on the ground to measure it.”

“Is it 50 feet?”

“Yeah, sure, okay, let’s say it’s 50 feet.”

They took out a calculator and starting hitting the buttons. “Fifty feet, times an eighth inch, times 16 equals . . . “

I can’t remember the exact price of the duty, but let’s pretend it was $34.72. I had $35.00 in my pocket, just enough to pay the duty, but not enough left over for anything else. I paid the duty and called the office. Kathy had managed to book me on another plane to New York. However, what would have been a conversation with Chris Blackwell lasting an hour and a half, would be reduced to a half hour.

My new flight was delayed 15 minutes getting off the ground and I started wondering whether I would end up in London before my next sleep. Toronto to NYC is a mere puddle-jump and no sooner than you get to cruising altitude than it’s time to start your descent. I glanced at my watch and realized it was going to be touch and go. Blackwell’s flight to London was imminent and I am already several hours late. Will he even be at the gate to meet me?

When I got off the plane, there was Chris Blackwell right at my gate, looking incredibly anxious. He thanked me very much and apologized that he had to run, but his flight was on the exact opposite side of the airport and he would be lucky to make it. I fulfilled my sacred obligation and put the tapes directly in Chris Blackwell’s hands. As I did so I stumbled through a sentence that might be interpreted as “I’m so proud to be able to work with Island Records,” but probably came across as total gibberish, and then he was gone.

The first and only time I was ever in Chris Blackwell’s presence.

Now what?

I had the company credit card. I could go have a bacchanalian night in New York City on the company’s dime. However, I just happened to look up at the departure board and saw that there was a flight back to Toronto leaving almost immediately. If I made that flight, it might not be a total loss; I might be able to catch some of the 2nd Marley concert after all. Amazingly there were still seats on that plane. I paid for the tickets with the Island Records credit card and boarded almost immediately. The flight got off the ground on time and there were no other delays. For the first time all day things are going smoothly.

We landed at Pearson Airport. where I caught shuttle bus back to the parking lot, jumped into my car, and cranked up the music. Then I raced down the 427 to the QEW, shot across to the Gardiner and then over to Spadina, screamed north, dodging streetcars and pedestrians in Chinatown, and over to the U of T campus. I drove right up onto the sidewalk to the side door of Convocation Hall.

I no sooner pulled up to the building than the doors opened and the audience rushed out, trapping me and my car for the next 20 minutes while a cop argued I couldn’t park there. I missed both Bob Marley concerts. What’s worse, I spent less time with Chris Blackwell than I had Bob Marley and I only spent 5 minutes with Marley.

And, that kiddies, is the story of the day I met Bob Marley. Island Records was very gracious and paid to have me go see Bob Marley and the Wailers in concert at Detroit’s Masonic Temple. I also hooked a vacation in Detroit, my home town, visiting family and friends before I went back to Toronto.

History Is Complicated ► Save The E.W.F. Stirrup Playhouse!

August 31, 2013Coconut Grove, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Color Line, Dana A. Dorsey, E.W.F. Stirrup, E.W.F. Stirrup House, Racial Discrimination, systemic racism, The Colour LineHeadly Westerfield

The Coconut Grove Playhouse anchors one corner of
Charles Avenue, where it dead-ends at Main Highway

History is complicated, real estate history even more so. At one time all the land at the east end of Charles Avenue in Coconut Grove was owned by E.W.F. Stirrup, one of Florida’s first Black millionaires. In fact, Mr. Stirrup once owned most of Coconut Grove, the irony being 33133 is now considered one of ‘Merka’s most exclusive area codes. To honour history I propose the Coconut Grove Playhouse name be changed to the E.W.F. Stirrup Theater.

Follow along: Back in the day, when a man of Mr. Stirrup’s complexion could not get into most movie theaters in the country, E.W.F. Stirrup owned the land on which the Coconut Grove Playhouse now sits. In order to bring culture to Coconut Grove, Mr. Stirrup sold the land on which the Coconut Grove Theater was built in 1927. While the movie theater was practically on his doorstep, that didn’t guarantee that Mr. Stirrup could enter the theater during Jim Crow days. How close was it? Watch:

Less than 300 feet separate the front door of the E.W.F. Stirrup House
from the box office of the Coconut Grove Playhouse, just catercorner

Mr. Stirrup may have been the exception that proves the rule.

It’s quite possible that a man of Mr. Stirrup’s means could have crossed The Color Line easily. It’s within the realm of possibility that he could have walked the 250 feet, from his front door to the Coconut Grove Theater’s box office, and buy a ticket at a time when other Black folks couldn’t. That would have put Mr. Stirrup in the same category as Dana A. Dorsey, who was Miami’s first Black millionaire. Mr. Dorsey was allowed to cross The Color Line as the only Black man allowed to ride on the elevators at Burdines department store. This during the same period when other Black folk couldn’t even try on the clothes in the store to see if they fit. History is complicated.

Flagler Street in the ’40s, with Burdine’s in the background

Like Stirrup, Dana Dorsey made his fortune with real estate. At one time Dorsey was one of Colored Town’s [Overtown‘s original name] largest landholders. When the William Burdine ran into money troubles, he turned to Dana Dorsey for a loan, which allowed the store to survive an economic downturn. From that day on Dorsey was the only Black person who could ride the elevators at Burdines of Flagler Street, until the store was fully integrated after his death. The exception that proved the rule. History is complicated.

SLIGHT TANGENT: How Overtown Got Its Name:

Henry Flagler’s railroad created south Florida

Overtown was one of two Colored Towns in Miami. The older, and smaller Colored Town was a part of Coconut Grove, which predates Miami. Kebo, the name the Bahamians gave their West Grove neighbourhood, eventually became hemmed in by White neighbourhoods. Black folk looking for housing had to look elsewhere, and many settled in the newer Colored Town to the north. This area was designated by Henry Morrison Flagler. As he did through every town he rammed his railroad, Flagler designated the northwest sector to be a Black neighbourhood. This was not as progressive as it sounds. These Black enclaves had a never-ending supply of workers who did the actual backbreaking labour of building a railroad through a swamp. History is complicated.

This later Colored Town became the business and entertainment district for the growing Black community that the railroad brought. Later it provided the hotels where people like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington could find a hotel room after playing for the rich White folk, because they were not allowed to stay in the hotels in Miami and Miami Beach. History is complicated.

Between Coconut Grove in the south and Colored Town in the north is where the fledgling town of Miami grew up. When the folks in Coconut Grove talked about going to the Black entertainment district, they said, “Let’s go Over Town” and the name stuck. The city trying to designate the area Washington Heights,
despite it being on the same sea level as the rest of Miami. Eventually everyone gave in and it became known officially on maps as Overtown. History is complicated.

TANGENT OVER

One other thing links the E.W.F. Stirrup House with the Coconut Grove Playhouse and that’s the rapacious developer I have profiled here repeatedly, Gino Falsetto. Through a property swap, and later what appears to be a shady real estate deal, Falsetto’s Aries Development Group has got its corporate grubby mitts on a 50-year lease on the E.W.F. Stirrup House, although the house must remain in the family in perpetuity.

In an odd coincidence [and everything traced to Falsetto is
filled with odd coincidences] Aries Group also has his fingers in the Coconut Grove Playhouse pie, and has
scuttled more than one previous deal to renovate the Playhouse. Whatever backroom deal the town big wigs have already decided upon, Gino Falsetto is still an impediment to any Playhouse restoration plan unless he signs on.

Ever since Falsetto got his hands on the property he’s done virtually nothing with the E.W.F. Stirrup House, except to allow it to undergo Demolition by Neglect. Last week I posted a video I was able to take of allegedly illegal work the inside of the Stirrup House because the property was left open and the house was left unlocked. There was no building permit, either prominently posted outside as the law demands, or hidden inside the house.

I had been assured that a building permit had since been obtained, but a week later it was not posted on the property. I am starting to wonder if they truly have a building permit. I’m starting to wonder whether they truly have a brain. When I returned on the 27th, the front door on the right was left unlocked again, which you can see in this video:

It’s almost like Gino Falsetto is hoping some accident will befall the house, before he actually has to spend the money to restore it LIKE HE PROMISED 8 YEARS AGO!!! During that time Falsetto managed to find the money and energy to build the monstrosity behind the Stirrup House, the multimillion dollar, mixed use development, with fancy restaurants and valet parking, known officially as the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. Yet, Falsetto has only recently spent the $10 bucks to buy some plywood to board up the upper windows, which had been open to the elements for the last 8 years. Oh, wait. Never mind. That looks like a piece of scrap. There’s no better proof that Gino Falsetto has been a bad steward of an historic community asset. What’s worse, as I keep pointing out, every infraction committed by Falsetto’s workmen is cited against the actual owners of the property, Stirrup Properties, LLC.

One again watch another video which shows how proximate the Coconut Grove Playhouse is to the E.W.F. Stirrup House and recall how both these structures are linked through both Mr. Stirrup and Gino Falsetto:

That’s why I now propose to rename the Playhouse the E.W.F. Stirrup Theater.

Save the E.W.F. Stirrup House and Theater!!!

West Grove Residents Lose ► Polluting Bus Garage Will Go Ahead

August 17, 2013Astor Development, Astor Trolley LLC, Coconut Grove, Miami-Dade Courthouse, Trolleygate, unpacking-coconut-groveHeadly Westerfield

Indefatigable Coconut Grove community activist Laurie Cook leading the protest

The residents of west Coconut Grove had their hopes dashed yesterday when Miami-Dade County Judge Ronald G. Dresnick ruled that a polluting diesel bus garage will go ahead in their residential neighbourhood as planned.

Prior to the hearing about 50 resident of the Grove gathered in the 100 degree heat for a public awareness campaign on the courthouse steps, until they were kicked off the steps and made to use the sidewalk. Then everyone gathered in courtroom 4-2 at 10:30 a.m. to hear oral arguments.

[This was the coldest room I have ever been in. After we all came in sweaty and clammy from the heat, everyone was immediately chilled to the bone and remained that way until the hearing ended at 1 p.m. Meat lockers are not kept this cold. It must be so the law won’t spoil. The court clerk had what appeared to be a blanket pulled over her shoulders. The lawyers were the only ones not disadvantaged by the cold. Now I know why they all wear suits.]

The meat locker called Courtroom 4-2. Can you see their breath?

The legal arguments went on for nearly 2.5 hours and when it was all over the judge ruled — to make a long story short — that he really didn’t have jurisdiction to issue the residents an injunction to stop the polluting diesel bus garage based on the several legal arguments presented.

To make a long story long: The judge decided he wasn’t going to rule on the Plaintiff’s Constitutional arguments, which were about prior neighbourhood notification (where residents only have 15 days to file a protest) and how one gets word a project has finally been approved. Those approval notices are posted every 2 weeks on a hard-to-find area of the City of Miami’s web site. [I’m net savvy and I’ve never been able to find it.] Furthermore, as I learned in court from the plaintiff’s lawyers, 49% of West Grove residents do not have access to the internet. And, even if they did, they would be required to keep checking the city’s web site every 2 weeks — 26 times a year — in case a building permit has been issued on a project of local concern. It’s a lot like that opening scene of the Hitchhiker’s Guilde to the Galaxy when a work crew arrives to demolish Arthur Dent’s house for a highway bypass. They tell him that he had every opportunity to protest the highway because he could have always gone to City Hall to see the plans:

“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

Another Plaintiff argument the judge rejected was that the Coral Gables Bus Garage would be a “government vehicle maintenance facility” which is specifically EXCLUDED by the Miami 21 Plan for the Douglas Road corridor. That argument didn’t fly for 2 reasons, as I understand it. * Defendants argued that the bus garage is currently owned by Astor Development and, therefore, it’s not government operated yet. Only when Astor Development signs over the bus garage to the City of Coral Gables would it become a government vehicle maintenance facility . . . or, maybe not.

The other argument from the defendant seemed far more arcane to me, but the judge bought it. Lawyers for the defendants argued that under the Miami 21 Plan a commercial gas station, or tire repair place, would be allowed on that site and these places could provide minor repairs. Therefore, it came down to the definition of “minor repairs” versus “major repairs.” Furthermore, defendants argued, a gas station or tire garage would have similar environmental and noise impacts on the neighbourhood. That might be so, but those businesses do not start their day at 5 a.m. and run to 11 at night. Their hours would be limited to whatever the Miami by-laws allow, as in any city, and 5 in the morning to 11 at night would not pass muster. Regardless of those details, in essence, the judge ruled that it appeared to be merely a by-law violation if (when?) major vehicle repairs are done in a place where only minor repairs are allowed.

Nor was the judge swayed by the safety arguments of the plaintiffs. The design of the diesel bus garage, with bus parking and bays in the rear, requires the buses to enter on Frow Avenue and exit on Oak Avenue; both are residential streets, without sidewalks, upon which thousands of children walk to school — to say nothing of all the other residents, some of whom are elderly and infirm, just like in any neighbourhood.

None of the safety or environmental issues — those that most concern the residents — mattered to the judge because those arguments were not legal arguments. Legal arguments are the clauses and subclauses of the written law and the precedents the lawyers can cite for the judge to rule one way or another.

However, what the residents of west Coconut Grove were reminded of, as if they needed further reminding, is that “the Colour Line is the Poverty Line is the Power Line (Ambalavaner Sivanandan, 1923 – ). If this were a White neighbourhood this never would have happened; not because the residents would have successfully won an injunction in court. It would never have come to court because had this been a White neighbourhood the property values would have been such that Astor Development would have never found cheap land to buy in West Grove. Those 9 decades of Systemic Racism are described in the several previous articles on Not Now Silly under the rubric “No Skin In The Game.” People tell me they are shocked at what the series reveals.

Cops Try To Scare Me As I Cover A Non-Protest

August 5, 2013Broward New Times, Cops Gone Wild, Dirty Blondes, Photography Is Not A Crime, Police Intimidation, ProtestHeadly Westerfield

No protesters at Dirty Blondes

The Dirty Blonde protest didn’t come off as planned. I don’t know how many people they expected, but I’m the only one here, except for 2 cops who both took my picture and tried to intimidate me.

To make a short story long:

I went down to the protest out of curiosity and because I had successfully pitched an article to PoliticusUSA on the power of social media. I’ve never seen anything go viral this fast. On July 28th Keeland Dumont posted a 15-second video on Instagram. It showed an alleged beat down of Alexander Coelho and David Parker by bouncers from Dirty Blonde’s Sports Bar. Watch:

Video courtesy Carlos Miller, Photography Is Not A Crime

Alexander Coelho showing his alleged
injuries from his alleged beat down

I became aware the video the very next morning from Photography Is Not A Crime (a website I highly recommend), where Carlos Miller has been updating the story ever since. Then it was rapidly picked up by Broward New Times, but it spread quickly after that. By the end of 29th it was everywhere. Then a “Boycott Dirty Blonde’s” Facebook page sprang up from nowhere, only to have the inevitable article appear because someone (from Dirty Blonde’s maybe?) reported the page as offensive: ‘Boycott Dirty Blondes’ Facebook Page Temporarily Disabled As Response To Bouncer Beating Video Grows. However, the Facebook page was restored the next day as the legit Dirty Blonde’s Facebook wall was first defaced and then deleted, presumably by Dirty Blonde’s which was having trouble keeping up deleting comments. After that the local tee vee stations jumped on the bandwagon and broadcasted the video. From there it spread across the nation and then around the world. A
friend in Canada sent me a copy, as did another friend overseas.

That made the Fort Lauderdale police sit up and take notice. You see they had taken the bouncers word for it because they actually charged the victims before the video went viral. The public outcry — and the fact that video shows that Coelho was clearly (allegedly) cold-cocked and then kicked several times — forced the police to say they were investigating. Today Fort Lauderdale police charged bouncer Arnald Thomas-Darrah with Felony Battery. His alleged partner-in-crime, Jovan Ralfhel Dean, was charged with Misdemeanor Battery.

I am always curious about things that go viral on the innertubes. Why does one thing explode while other equally compelling stories do not? It’s not for nothing I want to know. I’ve been trying to get my campaign to save the E.W.F. Stirrup House to go viral. After several years of trying, I still feel like I’m pissing in the wind. Yet, a 15-second video is dropped on Instagram and it becomes the shot heard round the world by the next day (not that it didn’t deserve the attention it received).

It was this curiosity that brought me to the Fort Lauderdale beach today. I stayed until about 3:30 and, when no protestors came out, I turned my curiosity to something else: Two police officers protecting Dirty Blonde’s from a protest that wasn’t happening. It’s hard to know exactly why the police officers were even there, since there was no protest whatsoever. *

I first noticed them when they strode purposefully towards the bar. They were the only thing of interest at the non-protest, so I snapped pictures of their arrival:

This was the first officer to arrive. I’ll call him Corpulent Cop.

This officer was the 2nd to arrive so he saw me take a pic of his partner.
He pretended not to see me after I saw him see me. He was the1st officer to take my picture.

My first thought was to wonder if they were on the city clock or whether
they had been hired by Dirty Blonde’s to keep the piece. That’s the
only reason I even took their picture. I thought I might ask the police department a question or two and see if that led anywhere. In the meanwhile, I had their pictures.

Nothing to do; no protest to shoot

A few minutes later, when I was talking with with two television cameramen sent out to cover the nonexistent protest, I noticed the first officer taking pictures of me from inside Dirty Blonde’s. I was in the process of wiping my brow with a red handkerchief, so I waved it at him and he waved back. By the time I got my camera out to take his picture he had stopped.

A few minutes after that I noticed Corpulent Cop also taking my picture. I pulled out my camera and managed to take a number of shots of him taking pics of me, like so:

Corpulent Cop taking my picture as I take his.

Taking my picture is clearly an attempt at intimidation. However, what am I to make of his shouted comment as I took his picture, “You are a stupid, stupid man.”

The historical marker at A1A & Las Olas

While I didn’t care he had taken my picture, having him yell what I interpreted as a threat was intimidating. Remember: I read Photography Is Not A Crime almost every day. Every post Miller writes is about some poor schnook
who has been thumped and/or arrested simply because cops felt they could
get away with it.

More and more, due to sites like PINAC, dirty cops
are not getting away with it, but that doesn’t mean I want to be assaulted by a macho cop trying to prove he’s as tough as the bouncers he was sent to protect.

From that moment on I made sure I was not blocking the sidewalk. Prior to that exchange I had been casually crossing back and forth from one side of A1A to the other. From that moment on I crossed at the light at Las Olas so that I couldn’t be arrested for jaywalking. I wasn’t going to give this loudmouth an excuse to harass me, not that he’d really need one. Corpulent Cop could just invent one, like what seems to have happened when police showed up on the evening of July 28th to arrest the victim, Alexander Coelho. The arresting officer claimed that Coelho pushed him. I find it extremely hard to believe that after Coelho had just suffered the beating of his life, he’d be stupid enough to assault a police officer. Yet, he was charged with “battery of a law enforcement officer,” despite all the independent witnesses.

Ironically, as I was leaving I ran into a real protest. People were holding signs in favour of Obamacare.

* Apparently the Dirty Blonde’s protestors showed up after I left.

No Skin In The Game; Part One

March 23, 2013Astor Development, Commissioner Suarez, Coral Gables, Edward Harris, No Skin In The Game, Racism, Ralph Cabrera, Trolleygate, unpacking-coconut-grove, Village West Homeowners and Tenants AssociationHeadly Westerfield

The flyer handed out by the protestors.

Thursday night was another night for divided loyalties and for putting things into stark relief. Let me explain.

In Coral Gables protestors from West Grove were expected to gather at 6PM to protest Trolleygate at the Coral Gables Mayoral Debate at 7PM. Also at 7PM, 3-and-a-half miles away, the Coconut Grove Village Council were expected to gather for its oft-delayed regular monthly meeting.* Trolleygate is a promised agenda item at the CGVC. What to do, what to do? The only viable solution: Go to both, like I did last month with the Coconut Grove Playhouse redevelopment meeting and the Charles Avenue Historic Preservation Committee meeting on the same night, and hope for the best. It turned out that I made all the wrong choices on Thursday night, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Biltmore Hotel

I arrived at 6 at the Coral Gables Congregational Church,
the location of the Mayoral Debate, only to see the first protestors just arriving. This is a beautiful little church which covers an entire block
in the middle of an expensive residential neighbourhood. It’s one small
block away from The Biltmore Hotel, one of the most exclusive resorts in the country.

Being dirt poor, I am always struck by the money on display in Coral Gables. It’s conspicuous consumption on a grand scale. The Biltmore is the physical representation of that. According to the WikiWackyWoo:

In its heyday, The Biltmore played host to royalty, both Europe’s and Hollywood’s. The hotel counted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Al Capone and assorted Roosevelts and Vanderbilts as frequent guests. Franklin D. Roosevelt had a temporary White House office set up at the Hotel for when he vacationed on his fishing trips from Miami. There were many gala balls, aquatic shows by the grand pool and weddings were de rigueur as were world class golf tournaments. A product of the Jazz Age, big bands entertained wealthy, well-traveled visitors to this American Riviera resort.

The Biltmore made it through the nation’s economic lulls in the late 1920s and early 1930s by hosting aquatic galas that kept the hotel in the spotlight and drew the crowds. As many as three thousand would come out on a Sunday afternoon to watch the synchronized swimmers, bathing beauties, alligator wrestling and the young Jackie Ott, the boy wonder who would dive from an eighty-five foot platform. Johnny Weissmuller, prior to his tree-swinging days in Hollywood, broke the world record at the Biltmore pool and was a swimming instructor. Families would attend the shows and many would dress up and go tea dancing afterwards on the hotel’s grand terrace to the sounds of swinging orchestras.

Now I have nothing against Rich folk, per se. Good for them. They got money and aren’t afraid to show it off. Double-plus good for them. As Max Bialystock, in the Producers, famously shouts, “That’s it, baby, when you’ve got it, flaunt it, flaunt it!” However, I had just come from the E.W.F. Stirrup House, currently undergoing Demolition By Neglect so some RICH developer can have his way with the land and turn a lovely and unique spot in ‘Merka into another ugly condo complex. But that’s another story for another day. Or is it? [See Part Two of No Skin In The Game.]

It’s always amazing to me that one only needs to cross an imaginary line on the map separating Coral Gables from Coconut Grove and witness a SPIKE in property values. It’s not something one needs to look up on Zillow. The evidence is right there before your very eyes. From slums to opulence in a few short blocks. Feel free to try it yourself one day. Then ask yourself why.

Panorama of the western facade of only the front
section of the Coral Gables Congregational Church.

Despite it taking up a block, the Coral Gables Congregational Church is still a small church that appears to have been added onto a number of times. From the outside, it appears to be a number of small interconnected buildings, with meeting spaces, chapels, a main church, a FREE TRADE gift shop, and band rehearsal spaces. A lot goes on in those buildings and a lot was going on Thursday night. I walked around the block 3 complete times, waiting for the protest and/or debate to get off the ground and took dozens of pictures of this lovely building. I saw sad people arriving for an Al-Anon meeting and happy people arriving for a wedding rehearsal. In the back of the building I listened to a band rehearse the same 16 bars of a Duke Ellington tune over and over again.

Rafael “Ralph” Cabrera,
posing stiffly for me.

However, the Coral Gables Mayoral Debate was no rehearsal. In this corner: sitting Mayor James Carson. And, in the red trunks, term-limited Commissioner Ralph Cabrera, who now wants the top job for himself. Obviously I have No Skin In The Game, but if I were to vote illegally in Coral Gables, I’d cast my ballot for Cabrera. He is the only politician in Coral Gables who has shown any open concern for the people of West Grove over the issue of Trolleygate. Last year — long before Trolleygate had become a lawsuit pitting West Coconut Grove [David] against the City of Miami and Astor
Development [Goliaths] — Ralph Cabrera was already ringing the [fake] trolley bell loudly
against this injustice by getting it put on the Coral Gables Commission agenda.

When Cabrara saw the Trolleygate protestors, he approached them and introduced himself. He expressed a general apology and said he was very concerned about this project. He thinks the West Grove neighbourhood is getting a raw deal. Cabrera was open in his condemnation, both with the protestors and with me, as I managed to buttonhole him briefly before he headed into the debate. Carbrera knows that none of those people are from Coral Gables and knows that he gains no votes for taking their side. Yet, he did so anyway.

Another gentleman I buttonholed was Edward Harris, a representative from Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez’s office.

Commissioner Bob Welsh of South Miami –not to be
confused with Miami, or Miami-Dade — protesting
against the polluting diesel bus garage.

SLIGHT TANGENT & MEA CULPA: There is a confusing array of governmental levels here, which I keep stubbing my toes upon when I confuse them. Miami-Dade County has its own Commission which presides over 1,946 square miles, the third largest county in Florida in area. However, it’s the largest Florida county in population and, according to the WikiWackyWoo, the 7th most populous county in the entire country. It includes “35 incorporated cities and many unincorporated areas.” Cities like Miami and Coral Gables are within Miami-Dade County, but both have their own city commissions. Coconut Grove, on the other hand, is not its own city, at least not since 1925 when it was annexed by the City of Miami

That’s why my questions to Edward Harris were so idiotic and for which I publicly apologize. When Mr. Harris said he was a rep from Commissioner Suarez’s office, I mistook that for Miami Commissioner Francis Suarez, who represents District 4. Although Harris said “District 7,” my brain didn’t make connection to Miami-Dade Commissioner Xavier Suarez of District 7. Consequently, all my questions were Miami-centric and not Miami-Dade-centric. D’oh! However, it also explains why Harris was speaking in broad generalities like “we’re watching it” and “our role is to learn” from the “voices of the people.” He was very polite to me, despite how stupid I was.

Pierre Sands, West Grove Homeowners and Tenants
Association, arriving with more protest signs.

However, when I asked him if he thought the Coral Gables diesel bus garage will ever open, his answer was pretty succinct. “Not as a bus garage.” He went on to say that while the facility is being built, what needs to be considered is environmental safety and the close proximity to the residents. “We can find some use for the facility.” Thinking I had my scoop for the day, I moved on. However, I realized on reflection (after figuring out the mistaken identity), Miami-Dade has little to say about this bus garage. While the county may sympathize with the neighbourhood’s predicament, the project was green-lighted by Miami Commissioner Marc D. Sarnoff, who worked with an out of town developer behind the scenes to bamboozle West Grove. He did this and then justified not allowing the normal neighbourhood notification to his constituents or the Coconut Grove Village Council.

Aside from visually skyrocketing land values, these
corner street signs are a visual symbol one has
entered Coral Gables.

One thing that I think is very telling is that a citizen’s group from Coconut Grove thought its protest would have more traction in Coral Gables than with their own Commissioner in their own district in their own city. After all, it was their Commissioner Marc D. Sarnoff that sold them out, not unlike a Modern Day Colonialist. Follow the bouncing ball to see how only the carpetbagging White folk win, while the native Blacks are screwed:

Coral Gables benefits because it gets to off-load a polluting diesel bus garage onto the neighbouring city of Miami [maybe**];
Coral Gables also benefits from all the new tax revenue that a multimillion dollar mixed use development brings from a chunk of land that it currently uses for a polluting diesel bus garage;
Astor Development, tasked by Coral Gables to find another location for its polluting diesel bus garage, couldn’t afford land in Coral Gables, by it’s own admission;
Astor Development thought nothing of finding cheaper land in in the neighbouring city of Miami;
The land is cheap because of it being blighted due to 90 years of Systemic Racism. But that’s another story for another day;*
Speaking of not speaking about racism: Coral Gables has a statistic on its web site proudly proclaiming the city as 98% White (Hispanic qualifies as White);
Speaking of not speaking about racism: It would take a greater Social Demographic Scientist than I to figure out the racial make-up of West Grove. However, if I had to hazard a guess I’d say it was 98% Black;
Speaking of not speaking about racism: Statistics like that are not accidental;
Speaking of not speaking about racism: Oh, by the way, Coconut Grove. No! You can’t have a Coral Gables [fake] Trolly Bus stop outside the diesel bus garage because that’s the free bus that takes people around to all the exclusive shops in Coral Gables. If you want to get there, you’ll have to do it on your own steam;
Miami will receive no tax revenue from said polluting diesel bus garage;
Astor Development wins no matter how this goes. It now believes the 4 parcels of land acquired to build the diesel bus garage is now worth $3.5 million;
Marc D. Sarnoff worked behind the scenes with the developer to play one community group off against to find the best way to get this project through with the least amount of fuss;
Therefore . . .

Okay . . . okay . . . I’ll ask the question that everyone else is too afraid to ask: What is Commissioner Marc D. Sarnoff getting out of this deal? Why else would he sell his own constituents down the river to work in backrooms with a developer to get a polluting diesel bus garage slipped into the neighbourhood almost in the dead of night?

Just as Pierre Sands arrived with a stack of protest signs, it was time for me to zip over to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club for the Coconut Grove Village Council meeting. I should have stayed at the Mayoral Debate/Protest because the rest of the night was tedious. My GPS logged the fastest route to the Coconut Grove Sailing Club, which took me through another opulent neighbourhood before dumping me out onto 37th, where the real estate takes a markedly visual downturn. I’m back in Coconut Grove. I drove past the polluting diesel bus garage and across Grand Avenue. When one is driving east along Grand Avenue you can also see where White Coconut Grove starts.

The stark relief I spoke of in the first paragraph. In Part Two of No Skin In The Game we’ll explore why;
In Part Three of No Skin Left In The Game: The exception that proves the racist rule

* No Skin In The Game; Part Two – An Alternative History of Coral Gables or The Town That Racism Built
** This is still being adjudicated by a court of law and the law is whatever a judge says it is on the day this is decided

A Return To Frow Avenue

March 5, 2013Broken Sidewalk, City of Miami, Frow Avenue, institutional racism, systemic racism, Trolley Garage, Trolleygate, unpacking-coconut-groveHeadly Westerfield

When I was in the Coconut Grove on Saturday, I was so intent on taking pictures of the people celebrating the One Grove mural, that I didn’t notice something that had been right in front of my eyes. In fact, I didn’t notice it until I reviewed the dozens of pictures I took that day.

Part of the reason I missed it was because the cooker/grill had been set
up right in front of it. But, I was also mostly looking through a camera viewfinder. That’s why I returned to Frow Avenue yesterday to take close-ups. Take a look at the
sidewalk adjacent to the mural:

This broken sidewalk is not something new. Clearly it has been disintegrating for a very long time to arrive at its current condition.

Construction continues on the
diesel bus garage, March 4, 2013

To my mind this perfectly illustrates the reality that two Groves exist: Black Grove and White Grove. A sidewalk like this would never be allowed to exist in White Grove. However, because it’s on Frow Avenue in West Grove, this sidewalk can easily be ignored by the City of Miami.

It’s simply more of the same kind of quiet racism that the City of Miami demonstrated in allowing Coral Gables to locate its polluting diesel bus garage in the middle of a residential neighbourhood in West Grove, which (maybe not coincidentally) is being built right across the street from this broken sidewalk.

This is a well-traveled route. Hundreds of pedestrians pass by that sidewalk every day: school children, the people who use the store on which the mural is painted, mothers
with strollers, old people on canes, children riding bicycles . . . you
get the picture. If not, here are a few more:

Maybe “One Grove” is merely a slogan whose time has passed.

Modern Day Colonialism and Trolleygate

February 23, 2013City of Miami, Coral Gables, Marc D. Sarnoff, Trolleygate, unpacking-coconut-grove, Village West Homeowners and Tenants Association, West GroveHeadly Westerfield

To paraphrase Rene Margritte: This is not a trolly

At a lunch meeting yesterday with a Miami developer (who wishes to remain anonymous) I mentioned how my next blog post on Trolleygate would be called “Modern Day Colonialism.”

I started riffing — kicking around the analogy — and compared developers building in Coconut Grove to the original 13 Colonies. Those colonies were really only business charters, set up by the British Crown/Parliament, that allowed the corporations to plunder all they saw and send the bounty back to the home country. Simply replace “Crown/Parliament” with “Miami City Commission” — and “colonial charters” with “building permits” awarded the Modern Day Colonists™ — and the analogy is complete. Once Marc Sarnoff [allegedly] greases the wheels for them, rapacious developers are free to plunder the rich cultural heritage of West Coconut Grove, aka Black Coconut Grove.

By the time I was done riffing I had the rough outline of my next Trolleygate post in my head. Then I came home and read a Letter to the Editor from Carlos Medina on the Miami Herald website that said what I was going to say a whole lot better and in far fewer words:

Miami, Gables practice ‘brick-and-mortar’ racism

I have been invested in the Coconut Grove community for 20 years, as a volunteer, an employee of a business there and a concerned citizen. Moving Coral Gables’ trolley-bus repair depot to the West Grove is an action steeped in historical injustice. Once again, this pleasant community is being treated unjustly, with condescension and with a sense of privileged charity by those in power, whether they are business people or politicians.

What I saw and heard at a recent meeting run by city of Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff was appalling. Sarnoff is on the wrong side of this issue, as are the phantom Coral Gables politicians who sent their lawyer but skipped this important meeting, which was overwhelmingly attended by West Grove residents. Sarnoff’s presentation was self-serving and insulting, publicizing the names of those in need who he so selflessly helped throughout his career.

This is a racial issue of the first order. It is a replay of the playbook from the ’50s and ’60’s used by people with political and economic power to place their ‘inconvenient’ highways, stadiums, garages, depots, hospitals and prisons in the less powerful neighborhoods. Then they would cite “property rights” to sugarcoat such unseemly actions and the sprinkling of “benefits” already bestowed upon the “ungrateful” neighborhood.

That is why Sarnoff’s presentation was so demeaning to our local democracy. He defended Coral Gables, with people who do not vote for him; there was the glaring absence of any Coral Gables politician and a “master knows best” attitude vividly on display. I was moved by the large presence of residents and by the many volunteers who are working like mad, on various fronts, to put a stop to this miscarriage of justice.

I suggest that the West Grove community contact Al Sharpton and Bishop Victor Curry, of Miami’s New Birth Baptist Church Cathedral of Faith International, who sits on the board of Sharpton’s National Action Network. Jesse Jackson should also be informed. If necessary, I am willing to donate funds, time and heart to help make this possible.

The glaring light of the media that their presence attracts will expose what is going on in Miami. The West Grove is a living witness and survivor of brick-and-mortar racism.

Let the City Beautiful build its oh-so-perfect repair depot within its own boundaries. Let the West Grove residents have some peace. And let Commissioner Sarnoff, who has done many wonderful things for Miami, get back on the right side of this issue and use his talent to protect and preserve the neighborhood of those who voted for him.

Carlos Medina, Miami

Mr. Medina hit the nail on the head. I have been doing research into Marc Sarnoff’s interaction with his Black constituents. It’s not good. “Some people say” he shows a fear of Blacks, citing the size of the entourage he took with him to campaign for office in the West Grove. Apparently Sarnoff would send someone to the door of the house, while he waited on the sidewalk until he knew whether it was safe to approach.

I was at the same meeting Mr. Medina attended and thought I detected a threat from Sarnoff during his presentation. While reading between the lines, it sounded like told the West Grove residents if the neighbourhood didn’t play along with the Coral Gables diesel bus garage being plopped into West Grove, the community would not only lose the $200,000 renovation to a football field, but West Grove might also lose his backing for the current urban renewal projects awaiting City of Miami approval. Was that really what I heard? Nah! It couldn’t be. It was far too naked a threat to be real.

As the newbie to Coconut Grove politics I asked someone who has years of experience dealing with Sarnoff, “Did I see a subtle threat?” The emailed reply:

It was a threat. That’s his standard MO. I call it the Sarnoff Dance. It has three steps, Ingratiate, Intimidate, and Attack. There are three steps to his dealing with anyone he considers a potential threat. First, he strokes their ego, makes them feel like they are his friend, includes them in something to make them feel special. That’s enough for him to get most people on his side. If that doesn’t work, he does them a favor, often something they really need and that may not be quite kosher, to get them in line or shut them up. Like arranging for the football field payoff. If that doesn’t work, he resorts to veiled threats, like you saw at the meeting. Finally, if he still doesn’t get what he wants, he attacks. Like I said, economic terrorist.

When I mentioned how Sarnoff struck me as being extremely uncomfortable talking to the Black community and there seemed to be a large police presence in the room, I got the following reply:

Half of the uniformed officers assigned to the Grove were at the back of the Commission Chambers during the Town Hall Meeting. Don’t think that was a normal thing. I have never seen more than one uniformed officer there, even for the most controversial items. He was extremely uncomfortable, and that is what you were seeing. He usually comes across as very polished and well spoken […]

So far no one is willing to go on the record to allege racism on the part of Marc D. Sarnoff. However, I have been given several promising tips. Eventually someone will go on the record and when they do, I’ll publish it here. Just a reminder: I now have a Marc D. Sarnoff tip line. Feel free to contribute information. All tips remain confidential.

Through The Gates Of Trolleygate

February 19, 2013Coral Gables, Trolley Garage, Trolleygate, unpacking-coconut-grove, West GroveHeadly Westerfield

On Oak Avenue looking south towards Frow Avenue.

Yesterday I popped over to the construction site for the Coral Gables diesel bus maintenance garage, which is being foisted upon the residents of West Grove, to see how far along it’s come since my last visit.

Noticing the gate was open, that’s where I stood to take a series of pictures. Within a a few seconds a workman noticed me. He shouted to a foreman and gestured my way. The foreman started walking over, yelling at me in Spanish. When the message is “Get the fuck out of here” I don’t need a translation. However, I stood my ground and continued to take pictures, but responded “No habla Español,”* which I find amusing for its internal contradiction.

“You have to leave! You can’t stand there!”

“Yes I can. Draw a line between those gate posts. I am outside the line on the public sidewalk. You can’t order me to leave.”

As he closed the gate on my face instead, I asked him what he was afraid of. “I’m not afraid of anything,” was his reply as he locked me outside the gate. That just forced me to take pictures over the top of the fence, just like I have done every other time I visited.

Hey, I didn’t just fall off the diesel bus.

The gentleman on the left is the foreman who yelled at me.

In the pic above you can also see what will be the diesel bus entrances, which are located behind the structure. The gates (where I stood to take the pictures) will be approximately 200 feet west of the main street, Douglas, on residential streets. This will necessitate the diesel buses driving in and out on Oak and Frow Avenues. Whenever I visit this corner I see pedestrians — mostly children — all over the place, walking up and down these streets.

Frow and Douglas is a busy little corner with a lot of foot traffic, again a lot of children. The corner also serves as a convenient meeting place, and there always seems to be a few people standing around and talking. Diesel buses driving in and out will do little to enhance the neighbourhood.

As West Grove waits for the court to rule on its lawsuit, you can help by signing the Change.org petition.

Judge Not ► Chapter One ► Here Come The Judge

October 21, 2012Ayn Rand, Fox News, Fox Snark, Here Comes The Judge, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Judge Nap, Judge Not, Ludwig von Mises, Ludwig von Mises Institute, Today's Fox SnarkHeadly Westerfield

I want you!
To buy my conspiracy theories!

Welcome to the inaugural post of a brand new series for the Aunty Em Ericann Blog. Judge Not is a weekly series appearing (hopefully) every Saturday, which explores the fascinating mind of Judge Andrew Paolo Napolitano, the Fox “News” Senior Judicial Analyst, who is not very judicious.

Judge Nap, as he is affectionately called, not only appears on the Fox “News” Channel, but also on sister station Fox Business Network, that no one ever watches. Judge Nap puts a Libertarian anti-government spin on the regular Fox “News” anti-Obama spin. As he claims on his own web site, written in the 3rd person as if he never met himself:

He is nationally known for watching and reporting on the government as it takes liberty and property.

I would argue that he is more well-known for his braying laugh that comes off as a cross between a horny donkey and a stampeding elephant, which is quite an apt description for the Libertarian he plays on tee vee.

Oddly enough for someone who pretends to care about people’s rights, when Judge Nap was at Princeton University he was one of the founders of Concerned Alumni of Princeton in 1972. The WikiWackyWoo has more:

The primary motivation behind CAP was to limit the number of women admitted to the university. CAP also opposed affirmative action designed to increase minority attendance at the Ivy League institution. CAP also exhibited strong support for Princeton’s eating clubs, which were male-only at the time.

The existence of the organization attracted wide notice in January 2006 during the nomination of Samuel Alito, who was a former CAP member, to the Supreme Court of the United States, as Alito included his membership in the organization on a job application to work in the Reagan administration in 1985. No mention of Alito has been found in CAP files, apart from his own written 1985 statement of membership. Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano was a founding member. Former Senator Bill Bradley, a liberal Democrat, was a member until 1973, when he resigned because of the tone of the organization’s magazine, Prospect. Republican Senator Bill Frist, at the time a recent Princeton alumnus, contributed to a report that labeled the organization as far-right and extremist.

As Judge Nap’s own Wiki entry reminds us: Napolitano has called himself the “Ayn Rand of Fox News” and has also promoted the works of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises on his program.

However, for our purposes, Judge Nap sends out a ton of crap over facebook. When I started collecting screen caps for my Fox “News” Spin Cycle series, I was amazed at the sheer number of things Judge Nap was sending out. He’s a lot like your crazy uncle who sends out all those cat pictures, except The Napster sends out Libertarian memes and wacky conspiracy theories, most often outsourced from Austin Petersen and/or the Ludwig von Mises Institute. That’s why I decided to spin Judge Nap off into a separate series. Let’s get right to it.

But first, an important word from Sammy Davis, Jr.:

Judge Nap spouts off against the stimulus quite often. However honest economists (which would be no one at the Ludwig von Mises Institute) say stimulus money kept the country from sinking into a much deeper depression. That 1900 people are being investigated is less an indictment against the government and/or stimulus than against a corrupt society.

Americans for Prosperity was founded by two Kochsuckers, David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch of Koch Industries. What more do you need to know? Personally, I’d like to know whether AFP pays Judge Nap to speak at these rallies and, if so, just how much.

Ayn Rand appeals to the selfish teenager and those who never grew up emotionally. It’s a proven fact, just like Fox “News” facts.

Oh, I get it. They’re both exactly the same so vote for the Libertarian spoiler Gary Johnston. Yet, they are not the same unless one lives in cartoon land.

Judge Nap is fond of quoting Ludwig von Mises and/or his Institute. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics has a biography of von Mises. What jumped out was:

Mises’s ideas—on economic reasoning and on economic
policy—were out of fashion during the Keynesian revolution that took
over American economic thinking from the mid-1930s to the 1960s. Mises’s
upset at the Keynesian revolution and at Hitler’s earlier destruction
of his homeland made Mises bitter from the late 1940s on. The contrast
between his early view of himself as a mainstream member of his
profession and his later view of himself as an outcast shows up starkly
in The Theory of Money and Credit. The first section, written in 1912, is calmly argued; the last section, added in the 1940s, is strident.

Ludwig von Mises counted Ayn Rand among his friends and contributed articles to the journal of the John Birch Society, as well as serving as a member of its Editorial Advisory Board..

HAW! HAW! HAW! HAW! Ain’t that a knee-slapper? I’d much rather see pictures of cats, truth be told.

When Citizens for a Sound Economy split off into two organizations, one was Americans for Prosperity (mentioned above) and the other was the Dick Armey organized FreedomWorks, which helped spawn and supported the nascent Tea Party. On a side note: A Dick Armey sounds like the shock troops for The Gay Agenda. Maybe that’s why people call them Teabaggers.

What you’re not being told is the “rants” included threats of violence. Judge Nap wants you to think the government is cracking down on people’s rights of Free Speech.

Is there any one who really thinks that U.S. Customs should not be searching people entering the country under certain circumstances? However, Judge Nap wants you to equate this with TSA agents at airports, but these are totally separate issues, no matter how one feels about the TSA.

Every liar on the right wants you to believe that President Obama is coming for your guns. (See: NRA.) And, whatever you do, don’t tell Glenn Beck that the government is coming for his gold.

This is just another of Judge Nap’s reports trying to convince the brain-dead Fox “News” audience that the government wants to lock everybody up and throw away the key, or something. It’s so hard to keep track.

Fox “News” has been trying to create a Catch 22 for President Obama. If he attacks in Libya it’s all an election ploy. If he doesn’t attack he’s weak and will be apologizing to the terrorists before the election. Either way Fox “News” wins. Media Matters has more.

When did the government spending money on infrastructure become evil? Aside from the fact that ‘Merkin infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes, you would think that even Right Wing business owners would want infrastructure maintenance since they might be able to get some of those hefty government contracts. Or have we privatized that too?

Remember when the Right Wing went nuts over using children in politics? I guess Libertarians do not have the same revulsion.

Note how Judge Nap doesn’t explain he’s talking about Medical Marijuana. One area in which I agree with Judge Nap is that he supports the decriminalization of marijuana. Yet, you’ll never hear him say that because it would make the Fox “News” audience’s collective head explode. That’s why he never comes out and explicitly says this and quotes others, while he dances around the topic.

If he’s against drone planes for police departments then he also has to be against police helicopters, right?

Fox “News” has bought the entire GOP, but you’ll never hear Judhe Nap admit that either.

However, Judge Nap is also against government regulation, which includes the Food and Drug Administration. Which is it?

Note there is no law in effect. Judge Nap just wants you to be afraid that the government is taking away your rights yesterday.

Okay, there’s another area in which I agree with Judge Nap. Florida’s newest policy is odious.

If only Mendacious Mitt had followed the rules for the debate that he negotiated he wouldn’t have screwed up so badly on Benghazi.

Judge Nap plays along with the Fox “News” meme that any spending to improve electric cars is wasted. Therefore, let’s keep drilling for oil, which is not a renewable resource, and which fouls the environment in two ways: 1). When there’s a catastrophe like the BP oil blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico; 2). The internal combustion engine pollutes the air.

This is how Judge Nap slyly shows his support for the issue of Medical Marijuana and decriminalization.

Judge Nap wants you to be afraid of the government, so he won’t add to this message that this is ONLY for those who are breaking the law and trading with Iran, in opposition to the severe sanctions imposed by ‘Merka.

Sure, a wooden Bender has so much to teach us.

The people are also entitled to a so-called “news” station that doesn’t lie. Oh well, you can’t have everything.

What would you do, Judge?

Armed posses? What could possibly go wrong?

Judge Nap likens Social Security to a Ponzi scheme. In the same light all of Wall Street is a Ponzi scheme as people get rich just by moving paper around in a big circle jerk.

This is the clearest statement that Fox “News” is building a Catch 22 for President Obama.

A government small enough to be drowned in a bathtub is no good for anybody.

Teleprompter jokes are so old, especially from someone who works in a newsroom and relies on a teleprompter.

From the Wiki:

Milton Friedman considered Mises inflexible in his thinking:

The story I remember best happened at the initial Mont Pelerin
meeting when he got up and said, “You’re all a bunch of socialists.” We
were discussing the distribution of income, and whether you should have
progressive income taxes. Some of the people there were expressing the
view that there could be a justification for it.

Another occasion which is equally telling: Fritz Machlup was a
student of Mises’s, one of his most faithful disciples. At one of the
Mont Pelerin meetings, Machlup gave a talk in which I think he
questioned the idea of a gold standard; he came out in favor of floating
exchange rates. Mises was so mad he wouldn’t speak to Machlup for three
years. Some people had to come around and bring them together again.
It’s hard to understand; you can get some understanding of it by taking
into account how people like Mises were persecuted in their lives.

Here we go again!

This is a total misreading of the statistics. While there is a small disparity, it’s less than in the worforce overall. However, to get to the statistics quoted they do not account for the fact that they are comparing apples to oranges, totgally different jons within the administration.

HAW! HAW! HAW! HAW! While I saw this meme passed around facebook a lot, I think it’s really beneath Judge Nap, who wants people to take him seriously.

People have died, and hundreds are sick, but Judge Nap wants you to believe that the FBI, which acts independently from the White House and has no political affiliation, has only raided the pharmacy as a “political election year stunt.”

The GOP built that.

Judge Nap sent this out so many times. He really must want people to believe it. Does this mean that George “Dubya” Bush was responsible to the attack on 9/11?

Here are more instances where Judge Nap is trying to convince through repetition.

Regardless of what one thinks about the (alleged) terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one has to admit he sure knows how to get the Wing Nuts at Fox “News” apoplectic.

See?

And he’ll keep repeating it until everybody in ‘Merka agrees with him.

And repeating it.

“Value-free foreign policy”??? What the hell does that even mean, except as a different way of saying “Obama is responsible for the mess in Libya”???

The unsullied combination of YouTubery and AssHaterry.

Because electric cars are bad since Big Business has yet to find a way to own all electricity.

This is amusing coming from a former judge. Regardless of what one may think about this case, Ms Plante was ordered jailed for refusing to cooperate with a Grand Jury in the Northwest. The Grand Jury system sucks, but it is a part of the Constitutionally sanctioned Judiciary. What do you think about that Constitution now, Judge Nap?

Finding new ways of repeating the same thought.

Trying many ways of saying the same thing.

Judge Nap and Fox “News” wants you to believe he told the Town Hall participant something different than the ‘Merkin public. However, he merely clarified his statement.

I wonder if Judge Nap was blaming Dubya for the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and was calling the illegal War in Iraq a political ploy.

Yet, the whole Fox “News” constructed case for a cover-up continues to unravel.

This seems to make the case for a retaliatory attack in Libya, but hasn’t Judge Nap already condemned that as election yearpolitics?

Libertarians and the Right Wing want it both ways. They argue for “due process” except when it comes to those locked up in Gitmo. Then it’s “lock ’em up and throw away the key.” When President Obama wanted to shift those trials to NYC the Right Wing, aided by Fox “News,” went ape shit. Yet, that would have been “due process.”