This week I found in my child's backpack a letter from a "Concerned Parent". Apparently, it is circulating around Trinity. Someone went through a lot of trouble photocopying this for so many parents. Trinity has not even started the D.A.R.E program yet. Other schools are done or almost done. I will retype it here:

February 24, 2010

Dear Concerned Parents and Friends,

It has come to my attention that the D.A.R.E. program provided for our fifth grade students in New Rochelle will come to a close at the end of this school year. This is very concerning to me as a parent who has had children go through the D.A.R.E. program. This program provides our children with lessons they will be able to use through middle school and high school when decision making about substance abuse becomes equally as important as getting good grades. Det. Leak and Officer Straehle have worked incredibly hard to build a rapport with our school officials and children. The trust and respect our children earned with these officers will be lost if D.A.R.E. is discontinued.

Tonight at the New Rochelle Public Library one of the Little Rock Nine spoke in the Ossie Davis auditorium. Carlotta Walls Lanier, the youngest of the group, read three passages from her book and answered questions from the audience. The book is A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School and has a forward by President Bill Clinton. It took her 30 years to really speak about her experiences and almost 50 years to start to write the book.

She ironically recalls that as a young black child growing up in the south, she couldn't go to the white public library. She had to use a Quonset hut with the lesser collection of books. She said she appreciates the venue of the library to speak and is pleased that her book has been purchased by 800 libraries and has only been released at the end of August 2009.

Professor Paul Murray, a sociology professor at Siena College, is working on a biography of Paul Zuber, the lead attorney for the Lincoln families in the New Rochelle case. Murray is looking to interview current and former New Rochelle residents who were involved with or impacted by the case.

Murray, a noted civil rights scholar, is a contributor to The African American National Biography, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (Oxford University Press, 2008). He wrote a brief biography of Zuber published (with permission) below:

Zuber, Paul Burgess (20 December 1926 - 6 March 1987), lawyer and professor, was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His parents were Paul A. Zuber, a postal worker, and Jennie Baer Zuber. He attended school in Williamsport through third grade. In 1934 his family moved to Harlem and he was enrolled in the all-black P.S. 157.

In case you all missed this --

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dated: January 25, 2009
Contact: Jim Maisano (914) 995-2826 or Phil Pepe (914) 968-6303

GOP LEGISLATORS SUPPORT ASTORINO HEALTH BENEFIT CONTRIBUTION PROPOSAL

CALL ON LEADERSHIP OF BOARD OF LEGISLATORS TO REVIEW AND PASS 15% CONTRIBUTION FOR HEALTH BENEFITS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

The Republican legislators on the Westchester County Board of Legislators announced their unanimous support today for County Executive Astorino’s plan to require non-union Westchester County employees to contribute 15% of their health care costs.

When the Haiti tragedy struck people took note. The Barnard PTA took almost immediate action. Within one or two days in my daughters backpack came a quick and heartfelt request for donations by the PTA on behalf of Haiti. The note was specific in what was required and the parents really came through.

My daughter was so impressed with the stacks and stacks of cases of bottled water that went almost up the the ceiling and the length of some wall in the school. It was a sight she will likely never forget. I appreciate that she was able to witness this major and spontaneous outpouring of generosity. It made a big impression on her that will likely yield dividends.

One teacher circulated an email requesting boxes. There were so many donations they needed to be packaged. A truck was coming at pick up, could parents bring boxes, she asked. Parents came through with boxes. Sammarco Stone & Supply donated a truck. Teachers loaded the truck. It was an astonishing display of teamwork and generosity.

The teacher later emailed "When I saw all of the boxes ready to go, it made me so proud to be a part of such a caring community."

Editor's Note: This is Part VIII, the last in an Eight-Part series on school desegregation in New Rochelle presented in anticipation of the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Court's Landmark Decision in Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education one year from now.

Previously: In Part I, New Rochelle gerrymanders the Lincoln school district starting in the 1930s to create a "Negro elementary school". In Part II, the Board of Education's hire consultants who recommend desegregation. In Part III, as white voters approve a plane to build a new Lincoln School, black parents mobilize with the help of civil rights attorney Paul Zuber. In Part IV, parents engage in civil disobedience at New Rochelle Schools, Zuber files Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education. In Part V, Zuber presented his case to Judge Irving R. Kaufman. In Part VI, Judge Kaufman made his ruling. In Part VII, the District responds to the Ruling.

Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part I - Early Gerrymandering
Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part II - The Dodson Report

While researching for this project, I read that the school board connected with the New Rochelle church leaders to promote understanding and kindness as the Lincoln children started in their new schools.

In a report by John Kaplan called "Civil Rights USA - Public Schools Cities in the North and West 1962, New Rochelle" he writes "The superintendent of schools also wrote the head of each relighous organization in New Rochelle asking that cooperation with the school board be urged to provide for the proper acceptance and adjustment of the transferrring pupils; he also held meeting with each of the elementary school principals and with the custodial staffs to assure a smooth reception to the transferees."

As I drove up and down the streets in or adjacent to the Lincoln school district I noticed so many churches. Some were handsome and large, others small and intimate, tucked among houses. I tried to photograph as many as I could. If I missed your church, please post a photo of it in a comment.

Shiloh Baptist Church, Lincoln Avenue

Gospel Tabernacle Church on Lincoln Avenue

St. Catherine African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church on Lincoln Avenue

Editor's Note: This is Part VII in an Eight-Part series on school desegregation in New Rochelle presented in anticipation of the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Court's Landmark Decision in Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education one year from now.

Previously: In Part I, New Rochelle gerrymanders the Lincoln school district starting in the 1930s to create a "Negro elementary school". In Part II, the Board of Education's hire consultants who recommend desegregation. In Part III, as white voters approve a plane to build a new Lincoln School, black parents mobilize with the help of civil rights attorney Paul Zuber. In Part IV, parents engage in civil disobedience at New Rochelle Schools, Zuber files Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education. In Part V, Zuber presented his case to Judge Irving R. Kaufman. In Part VI, Judge Kaufman made his ruling.

Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part I - Early Gerrymandering
Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part II - The Dodson Report
Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part III - Frustration Grows

Lincoln School Desegregation Today - Weekend Break

On this the weekend where we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., why not take the time to listen to his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The kids will appreciate it, too.

Have a safe and happy weekend -

Editor's Note: This is Part VI in an Eight-Part series on school desegregation in New Rochelle presented in anticipation of the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Court's Landmark Decision in Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education one year from now.

Previously: In Part I, New Rochelle gerrymanders the Lincoln school district starting in the 1930s to create a "Negro elementary school". In Part II, the Board of Education's hire consultants who recommend desegregation. In Part III, as white voters approve a plane to build a new Lincoln School, black parents mobilize with the help of civil rights attorney Paul Zuber. In Part IV, parents engage in civil disobedience at New Rochelle Schools, Zuber files Taylor v. New Rochelle Board of Education. In Part V, Zuber presented his case to Judge Irving R. Kaufman.

Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part I - Early Gerrymandering
Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part II - The Dodson Report
Lincoln School Desegregation Today: Part III - Frustration Grows