October 4, 2016, activist Judy Bello gave a presentation at Rochester's Downtown Presbyterian Church. About 50 people were in attendance. Bello has traveled extensively in the Middle East to observe the effects of US military and economic policy on the civilian population. Her latest journey was as part of a US Peace Council fact finding mission last July. This was her second time in Syria since 2014. She has paid similar visits to Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. The 60 minute presentation was followed by an additional hour of questions and answers. The event left an entirely different perspective on the crisis than that presented by mainstream corporate media.
Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli invited the public to offer contract modification proposals to the department that they can use in their ongoing labor negotiations with the Rochester Police Locust Club, the sole bargaining agent for Rochester Police Department (RPD) officers.
“The period to present proposals is not closed,” said Chief Ciminelli. “And again, because we're in contract negotiations we would have to discuss this in executive session but if you would like to sit down with us and discuss specific ideas we're still in a position to take proposals.”
Chief Ciminelli invited the public's ideas on how to change the contract between the City and the Club at a Public Safety Committee Meeting held on September 21, 2016.
The committee meeting, usually held in executive session, was opened to the public after a video showing RPD officers brutalizing multiple people went viral. One individual, Lentorya Parker, was tackled from behind by an RPD officer as she was complying with police orders. The incident happened near Avenue A and Hollenbeck Street on September 15. A sole civilian video of the incident was posted online. The videographer, Clarence Thompson, was arrested for Obstruction of Governmental Administration and Disorderly Conduct even though he was more than 10 yards away from the police and not interfering with their activities.
Watch the Democrat & Chronicle Facebook Live video of the Public Safety Committee Meeting (Rochester Indymedia has it's own footage with better audio–will update soon)
The most recent contract between the City of Rochester and the Rochester Police Locust Club expired on June 30, 2016. According to the contract, the agreement is automatically renewed “from year to year” unless either party notified the other of any “intention to change, alter, amend or terminate this contract.”
If the meeting that took place on September 21 is any indication, then one of the two signing parties is interested in changing the contract. One possible reason for the need to re-negotiate the contract is for the need to incorporate an article pertaining to the use of police BWCs and their associated procedures and protocols for the officers represented by the Club. There are several reserved sections in the BWC policy that have been explained by city officials as pertaining to ongoing negotiations between the department and the Club. Of course, one question to ask is, who is representing the public interest in these negotiations?
Breaking down the current contract
The expired 2016 contract contains 34 articles and two appendices, one on discipline guidelines and the other on hospital and surgical health benefits.
Submitted by Rajesh Barnabas on Wed, 2016-09-28 21:43
This is the first known occurrence of an entire sports team protesting the national anthem in Rochester, NY. The World of Inquiry, School #58 High School soccer team all took a knee during the opening ceremonies of the game against Aquinas. The protests are spreading around the country, first initiated by pro NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Clarence Thompson videotaped a disturbing scene of police brutalizing and arresting multiple people of color on the north side of the city on September 15, 2016. For bearing witness, he was also arrested. Below is a story from the Democrat & Chronicle outlining what happened. The accusatory documents against Thompson, above the D&C story, show what he is charged with and the arresting officer's name and badge number along with other relevant facts from the incident.
I recently connected with Nic and Cat, a duo based in Philadelphia, who have been working super hard for about a year, creating an app for anyone who is LGBTQ+ and is looking for a health care provider. It will be simple, straightforward, user-based, and reliable. A beta version will be available soon, and Nic says, “the more the merrier, because once we’re beta testing we want to have as many reviews on there as possible–that’s what’s gonna make the app useful.”
Submitted by Michael Israel on Wed, 2016-08-10 20:28
Imagine a magic bullet that only needs to be used a few times to treat otherwise treatment-resistant conditions. A bullet that could erase the need for medication. It might sound like science fiction, but such a miracle drug might have been accidentally discovered more than 30 years ago and brushed under the rug by our government.
Alicia Danforth, a psychologist and researcher at LA BioMed, is testing the safety of using 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in conjunction with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) to help people with treatment-resistant social anxiety learn how to overcome their social anxiety. The Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelics Studies better known as MAPS (www.maps.org) is providing the funding needed to conduct this study.
Dr. Danforth made it clear that she was “not attempting to treat autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, but was rather looking at the benefits of using MDMA to treat social anxiety which is only one symptom that affects some people on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) spectrum.”
She chose to study people who fell on the ASD spectrum because they were less likely than people in the general population to be helped by more traditional therapies. According to a report on the MAPS website, treatments that work very well for neurotypical people often fail to provide benefits for people on the ASD spectrum because they have a much harder time than their neurotypical peers in forming a rapport with therapists.
The study, which currently features ten patients, is observing how safe it is to use MDMA, and not the long-term benefits of MDMA. To my knowledge, this is the only study being conducted to test the use of MDMA in helping autistic people overcome social anxiety. Two more subjects are currently being evaluated to see if they can participate in the study. The long-term effects of MDMA are speculative and unsubstantiated at this time. Hopefully, this study will help determine if MDMA will provide long-term benefits to autistic people suffering from social anxiety.
Above in a video interview with Kerry Coleman talking about the police brutality he and his wife experienced at the hands of RPD officer Brian Cala.
On the afternoon of January 19, 2009, Kerry Coleman had called for the Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) for his wife. Instead of the MCT showing up, 10 Rochester Police Department (RPD) cruisers came to his home. Upon opening the door, RPD officer Brian Cala barged past Mr. Coleman into the house.
According to his complaint to Professional Standards Section (PSS), Mr. Coleman informed the officer that he had called for the MCT and not patrol officers. Officer Cala responded, "What the fuck do you want me to do? Take her to the hospital or take your fucking ass to jail?" Mrs. Coleman told the officer Cala to leave her home to which he replied "Shut the fuck up!"
Rochester Indymedia made a post on social media about looking at the last contract between the city and the police union and finding the most egregious sections. We were asked if we had the most up to date version. Rochester Indymedia has FOILed twice since 2015 for the most current contract between Rochester's police union, the Locust Club, and the city, but got no response. Our presumption was that they were in negotiations and were using the old 2013 contract.
In 2015, Rochester Indymedia used the Freedom of Information Law on the city to obtain the base pay for the entire uniformed Rochester Police Department.
We were going to combine this information with the police demographics for 2015 (see the demographic information for 2015), but we didn't have enough variables to make a 1 to 1 comparison.
Some highlights from the November 2015 data regarding the base pay of Rochester police officers are:
Rochester's Pride parade kicked off on July 16 with a theme of "Let's Make Magic." This year it followed a different route starting downtown heading up Park Ave to a festival at Cobbs Hill park.
Professor and activist Wendy Lynne Lee spoke at the Flying Squirrel Community Space on July 21 2016. Lee is a professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, Bloomsburg. The event was sponsored by the Green Party of Monroe County. The talk was about sustainability and how current social and philosophical attitudes make achieving it more difficult. The accompanying photo show showed the effects of fracking in Pennsylvania and world wide climate change. The video includes the full lecture, photos and follow up questions.
Building Leadership And Community Knowledge, known as B.L.A.C.K., held a press conference to address the issues surrounding the arrests of 73 people during a Black Lives Matter protest demanding justice for Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, India Cummings, and “all those who have lost their lives to police brutality and misconduct.” The protest was held on July 8, 2016. Several B.L.A.C.K. members spoke at the conference delineating the organization as horizontal. According to the press release, B.L.A.C.K. is "a grassroots collective created to empower the Black community through education, awareness, leadership development, cooperative economics, social media and tactful action in an effort to combat the many disparities caused by institutionalized racism and white supremacy."
To say we live in scary times is an accurate description of today. Even if we put aside the most pressing issues that the Black Lives Matter movement has brought front and center to the national consciousness, there’s still wars abroad that the USA is involved in (most notably in the Middle East), fascist demagogues making power plays for the White House, environmental degradation, and probably some other global problems I’m forgetting. It’s hard enough to fight the good fight for these issues even when one is completely mentally sound and competent – just imagine though what it’s like when you want to contribute positively towards these causes, only to have your already existing mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc., holding you back.
Having a mental health-related disorder is already perceived as a stigma enough as it is in our society. When it prevents you from working and fighting for the causes you want to fight for, it can feel even more debilitating. However, it’s important to keep in mind that despair solves nothing – while helping to further society’s progression is easier said than done when you suffer from mental health issues, it can be done. You just need to do so in a way that fits within your capabilities and gives you that sense of accomplishment. And helping progressive causes can actually do a lot to help one’s depression, anxiety, etc., because helping others in and of itself is beneficial to the human mind.
With that, here are some ways to help causes such as Black Lives Matter that those who suffer from depression, anxiety, or other issues can do. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, nor is it meant to be one-size-fits-all. There are probably other ways to help progressive causes that aren’t mentioned here, or that maybe your local organizations can come up with. But these are the most obvious methods.
Due to the politics involved with underfunding much needed benefits to our military veterans and frustrations with recent controversies surrounding large charitable organizations, Brock Thrasher, a private citizen of East Irondequoit, has taken it upon himself to start up a small business apparel line with the sole purpose of directly donating a good part of his sales profits to area veterans and the
Submitted by Robert D. Richardson III on Thu, 2016-06-16 08:51
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Traffic Safety Facts Report from the same year, 2.5 million reported intersection accidents occurred in the United States during 2012. In total, the reported crashes resulted in over 680,000 injuries
and 2,850 fatalities. Accidents caused by red light running accounted for 100,000 of those accidents and 1,000 of the fatalities (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 1). With 35% of fatalities coming from a mere 4% of all reported accidents, red light running poses a clear threat to all motorists and pedestrians crossing the street at busy intersections.
“Red light running” is defined as a vehicle that enters an intersection or crosses the stop line after the light has turned red. This could include not fully stopping before turning right, passing through a red light after it changes from yellow and going through a red light while other movements in the intersection (turn arrows, pedestrian crossings) are being served (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 1). Several studies have found that red light camera programs reduce the number and rate of red light violations. In the last decade, over 400 cities have utilized these programs to combat this public health concern. The theory is that putting Red Light Cameras at intersections with a noted history of red light violations and recording these violations for prosecution will alter motorist behavior; the threat of a ticket will prevent or reduce instances of red light running. In addition, the change in motorist behavior will ultimately reduce overall accidents and injuries thus promoting public safety (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 2). In April, 2009 New York State passed legislation clearing the way for Rochester to implement its Red Light Traffic Enforcement Program (Bortnick, 2009). Since the program went live in November 2010, 48 cameras have been installed at 32 intersections in the city of Rochester (SRF Associates, 2014, p. 1).
Description of Community
According to 2010 Census data, there are 1,054,000 million people in the Greater Rochester Area with 210,565 of them residing in the city. The Greater Rochester Area is the second largest economic center in New York State, trailing only New York City. Including Enter City which is primarily downtown, there are a total of 36 neighborhoods in the City of Rochester(Rochester, NY Neighborhoods, 2016); for a list and color coded map of neighborhoods refer to the Appendix. The yellow block in the middle is Center City, containing what is considered “downtown.” Areas in green are considered high desirability, high safety and low crime neighborhoods. Areas in red are considered to be low desirability, low safety and high crime neighborhoods.
The color coded map of Rochester reveals a few startling facts. First, the red neighborhoods on the map are all geographically connected to each other. They form “The Crescent;” an area of concentrated poverty representing the highest proportion of black, Latino and immigrant residents. As of 2015, Rochester had more people living at less than half the federal poverty level than any other American city of comparable size with 16.2% of those living in extreme poverty (Crescent of Poverty, 2015). Second, of the 36 separate neighborhoods listed in the Appendix, 14 of them are color coded red. Two neighborhoods the map codes in green (Susan B. Anthony and Brown Square) are mislabeled. On the map in the Appendix, there are two small areas west of Center City identified as high desirability, high safety and low crime. My experience working in these neighborhoods has shown them to be two of the most economically challenged and dangerous.
The Brown Square area includes the “Fruit Belt;” a grouping of streets named after fruits known for poverty, crime and high immigrant populations (Governale, 2015). Located near Sahlen’s Stadium where the Rochester Rhinos play, this troubled neighborhood also contains Enrico Fermi School #17. New York State test scores consistently show School #17 to be one of the lowest performing schools in the state, firmly entrenched in the bottom 1% of all schools for the last decade (School #17- Enrico Fermi, 2016). The Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood has historically been considered part of the Crescent (Crescent of Poverty, 2015), so I added these neighborhoods to those coded in red. That brings the total number of high crime, low safety and low desirability neighborhoods to 16, or 44% of the 36 identified areas.
The Red-Light Camera Traffic Safety Program is contained within the City of Rochester, meaning there are no cameras at any suburban intersections. Of the 36 neighborhoods considered part of the city proper, 16 contain red light cameras. It is important to point out that there are no traffic cameras on Main St. in Center City, and the lack of cameras in one of the highest traffic areas in the County compared to other chosen intersections is alarming. Excluding downtown, 11 of the 15 neighborhoods are considered high crime, low safety and low desirability.
On May 31 2016 a group of about 25 activists met at Rochester's Liberty pole. The action was led by Mothers Out Front, an environmental group advocating renewable solutions to climate change. The timing of the event was in national solidarity for the Long Island-New York City Offshore Wind Project. The project would construct a large number of 300 foot diameter wind turbines 12-15 miles from the south shore of Long Island. The project is a joint effort between Consolidated Edison Co. which supplies electricity to New York City, the New York State Power Authority and the Long Island Power Authority. Hearings were being in conducted in New York City at the same time as the national rallies, and a large crowd was assembled outside of New York's City Hall.
What Islam means to the White Male- Through the lens of a Bullet Covered in Bacon Grease
It’s a little ridiculous that after more than 20 years of being born and raised in the US, having received a proper American education, and chosen to serve a career in the public sector, that I am deemed a terrorist or a demon in the eyes of the White Male. It’s also a little ridiculous knowing that due to the unforeseen nature of terrorist attacks that the White Male feels that he has the privilege to take matters into his own hands. How obscene it is that the White Male believes he has privileges…oh, wait…
You’re right, White Male, I am of the nature of the unforeseen, I am the modest and the hopeful, I am the one you will never understand. For too long, you have maneuvered your way around every person that does not carry the color of your skin or the same genitalia. For too long, you have weakened all other races and ethnicity in your eyes, just so that you may carry on with yourself as you do in 892 other Active Hate Groups that exist in this Country. Staring at a map created by the Southern Poverty Law Center, I’m throwing up in my mouth a little as I noticed a Black Separatist Group is only miles away from my home.
Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.
We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning. We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site. Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"
Editorial Meeting Times / Locations
The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly. We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org. Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.
