let's paint rio

Just saw this on the Oh Joy! blog, led by artists Haas &Hahn, a project called Favela Painting is transforming the favelas (the notoriously violent hillside slums) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil into a giant, rainbow lollipop--bringing happiness as well as jobs, youth involvement, craftsmenship training, and income into the region.

(before picture)

(and, I love this part, after!)

Visit the site, or better yet, donate!

if I was President

A few years ago, I had the opportunity of hearing musical stars like Shakira and Alicia Keys perform at a Clinton Global Initiative concert event at the Apollo Theater. Watching Miss Shakira shake her belly in front of Former President Clinton was really something. One of the performers, Wyclef Jean crooned, "If I was President..." Creepy foresight.

Due to Wyclef's recent announcement that he's running for Haiti's presidential elections, Haiti's been on my mind recently--thoughts about foreign intervention and salvation, idealism in particular. What does it say about a country when one of its leading candidates is a musical celebrity? I feel like you can't even talk about any political, social, international humanitarian issue anymore without celebrity name dropping--when did actors and singers take over the world? I'm considering my future in this industry, possibly working for future "acclaimed humanitarian philanthropist" Justin Bieber, truly depressing.

One of my favorite This American Life's podcast stories, Haiti is Destiny, by Ben Fountain poignantly captures the turmoil, confusion, and frustration. An excerpt: 

"You know what I've noticed?" he (a Haitian eye doctor) told me at his house, "God gives you 205 years to do something with Haiti, and if you fail he passes it on to someone else. The Spanish had it from 1492 to 1697, 205 years. Then the French from 1698 to 1803, 205 years (sic). Then Haitians from 1804 to 2009, 205 years." So what was coming next? "Maybe a revolution," he answered cryptically, "Or maybe Haiti would survive as a sprawling industrial park for the international aid complex..."

"Poor Haiti," people say, "so primitive, so backward, so far behind the times." I've been hearing about how backward Haiti is for as long as I've been going. But how about this? What if Haiti is ahead of the times? It seems to be on the leading edge of so many current trends--environmental degradation, serial ecological disasters, crumbling infrastructure, a population that exceeds resources, plus a skewed economic water that channels vast wealth to a privileged few while the great majority of people stagnate and struggle. By any objective measure Haiti appears well advanced on the track that the rest of the world seems hellbent on following.

 So how do you feel about Wyclef's candidacy?
---

I'll leave you with this. Thanks to my cousin (and avid reader), I was able to attend the amazing Arcade Fire concert at Madison Square Garden. Win Butler came out into the crowd, and his wife Regine was beautiful.

Lyrics from my favorite song, one that Regine always sings with such fervor, Haiti:
Haïti, mon pays,
wounded mother I'll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrete nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.

In the forest we lie hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.

Haïti, never free,
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm

black gold

(from Black Gold promo)

Sorry, been busy this week attending weddings! It's amazing how many of my friend just out of college are tying the knot, very sweet.

So awhile ago, I did this long post on fair trade, and a portion of it focused on coffee, especially how volatile the market is. A very good documentary that shows you just how that Starbucks grande macchiato got from the farm into your hands is Black Gold.

Global Goods Partners is presenting it tonight, for free and open to the public. Here are the deets:

Tuesday, August 10, 7-9pm
Black Gold
A riveting inside look at the multi-billion dollar coffee industry. 
Location: Birch Coffee, 5 East 27th St, btwn 5th and Madison, in the Gershwin Hotel

[marketplace] color palettes

Blocks we played with as kids, a drawer knob, and a plate to hold eggs. All from Anthropologie Home.

New York to Pokuase

Still no plans this Friday night?

A friend of mine is hosting this fun event at one of my favorite bars, the Red Lion (151 Bleecker St. NY, NY). It features West African dancing, drumming, and other great musical performers.

Money raised will go to the Ghana Sustainable Aid Project, working toward literacy and career training for girls. Please go support them and have an awesome time!

Event details below, 21+ to attend.

Friday, August 6th! Come out to Red Lion Bar on Bleecker Street to hear some great bands, spoken word artists, and other acts, and to learn about the Ghana Sustainable Aid Project! Along with Kofi and Sankofa, performers include Genesis Be, Face Crimes, Ishmael, and many more. Come have a drink and listen to some great music, all for a great cause.

SPECIAL GUEST HEADLINER: Internationally known drum and dance troupe KOFI AND SANKOFA ENSEMBLE will be playing with us. Check them out at www.bak2roots.com

$4 draft beer
$3 shots
$3 PBRs
$13 for a burger and a beer (the burgers are really good!)

$10 donation at the door. Tickets can be bought ahead of time athttps://ghanasustainableaidproject.ticketleap.com/

[marketplace] animals and metal gears

A gladiator bird from Anthropologie, a steampunk trilobite with project instructions (more on steampunk at a later post), and a ram from Burrow Burrow.

So amazing! These are beginning to make me see everything with gears.

And if my dear friend Kat is still reading my blog, I think she (and hopefully you) will enjoy this.

(Wolf skull by Miss Monster) 

modern-slavery museum at the arch

(from Gourmet Magazine)

The price of tomatoes. 

An hour outside Naples, Florida is Immokalee Farms. It produces many of the tomatoes in our supermarkets. It is also a site for modern-day slavery in the United States. The majority of farmers are Latino, one third live under the poverty line. Farmers are lured by the promise of a steady income, but like similar schemes in Southeast Asia, everything--from hose showers ($5 each) to two meager meals a day--costs more than they are being paid. Lucas was supposed to earn $200 a week, but soon his "employer" docked his pay, and after all the "expenses," he was $300 in debt. 

$300 in debt in exchange for a month of ten-hour work days. If Lucas tried to leave, he would be severely beaten. Over the years, Lucas was deprived of $55,000 that he rightfully earned.

This is involuntary servitude, slavery.

When asked if it is reasonable to assume that the tomatoes found in our supermarkets in the winter were picked by slaves, the chief assistant US attorney replied: "It is not an assumption, it is a fact."

(photo by David Albers)

Learn & see more at the Modern-Slavery Museum.

On its nationwide tour, it is making its way to New York City today. For NYU-ers, it'll be at Washington Sq. Park tomorrow. Dates and locations below, see website for locations in other states:

Monday, August 2 
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Ave.
10am - 9pm

Tuesday, August 3 
Judson Memorial Church, 
55 Washington Square South
10am - 9pm

Wednesday, August 4 
Middle Collegiate Church 
50 E. 7th Street
10am - 9pm