2003-11 Vital Source Mag – November 2003
All Arabs are the Same
By Frizell Bailey Recently, Mhammad Abu-Shawish, local business owner and former Director of Arabian World Fest, was indicted on charges of conspiracy, visa fraud and the misappropriation of $75,000 in federal block grants. For members of Milwaukee’s Arab American community, this is most certainly another blow to their battered public image. People of Arab/Middle Eastern descent are unfortunately learning what African Americans have known for quite some time. The acts of a few can mean big trouble for the many. It has long been the case in the United States for black folk that you are not just an individual, but also a race. Now in post-9/11 America, people of Middle Eastern descent have joined the club. I guess you could call it the “monolithic me” syndrome. All those (fill in the blank) people are the same. It doesn’t take a black child in this country long to realize that whatever successes or failures he or she has will likely be writ large onto his or her race. If a black person does well, he is a credit to his race. If he makes a misstep, it is because black people are incompetent, lazy, violent, et cetera. I can recall watching the evening news with my father and noticing him come under a mild panic if the anchor mentioned some horrible crime to be reported on later. I could tell what he was thinking: please don’t let it be a black person. These days I can imagine an Iranian American child watching his father wince in pain as he watches a news report of some suspected Muslim extremist under investigation for some alleged conspiracy. What he knows, as my father knew, is that these individual crimes will most likely have ramifications for everyone that looks like the suspect. Fearing a possible backlash, the Arab American Community of Wisconsin, Inc. issued a statement in an attempt to distance itself from Abu-Shawish, who is a former member of their board of directors and founder of what is now called Arab World Fest. Joseph Makhlouf, executive director of AACW, expressed his concern in a recent article in the Journal Sentinel. “Since we are the Arab festival and this will be in the paper, they’re going to say that all the Arabs are the same,” Makhlouf told the Journal. “That’s what we’re concerned about. That people will judge us by one person and one action.” Mr. Makhlouf’s concerns, as most would admit, are well founded. We can all recall the acts of violence against people of Middle Eastern descent in the weeks and months after 9/11. In my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, someone tossed a metal trash can through the front window of a Muslim museum. Never mind that most of the staff and a number of members of its board are American-born. The curious thing, of course, is that there were no such attacks on businesses or organizations owned by white men after Timothy McVeigh drove a rental truck loaded with explosives into […]
Nov 1st, 2003 by Frizell Bailey
Bucketworks [Poietis Factorium Maximus]
By The Uncultured Bacterium After wandering the parking lot, you settle on the only nearby entrance — a side door with no sign on it. Inside, you look over what seems to be the loading dock of a warehouse that goes a long way back. On the way in, you say hello to the guard in the security booth, and ask him if you’re in the right place. Cleverly camouflaged behind the dirty glass, it takes a second to realize you’re actually talking to a cardboard cutout. Since June of 2002, Bucketworks has been in a converted factory building at 1319 N. Martin Luther King Drive in Milwaukee. It’s not an art gallery — though it does offer one. It’s not a theater, though plays are produced there. It’s not a craftshop or art studio, though it it’s lavishly equipped for both. It’s not even a party room, though it’s been used for that. In a clever use of the Chaos Theory derived idea of “fuzzy logic,” it can be said that Bucketworks is… whatever you want it to be. Buckets of space in which to play. According to its brochure, Bucketworks offers communal art workshops and emergent learning classes in a wide variety of areas, working with emerging Milwaukee artists to create, exhibit and perform new work, helped along by an all-volunteer staff. The founders of Bucketworks are James Carlson, Alexi Easton and Melissa Merline, who took advantage of an unexpected opportunity and ran with it. Carlson, a self-described tech guy, had the idea, decided to fund it himself, then called his old boss at the 1319 N. MLK Building and ran the idea by him. Turned out that the business was downsizing and the bottom floor was available. He then brought in Alexi, who majored in communications, and Melissa, who has a long background of volunteer work, and will soon be attending Alverno College. The trio now had a very impressive 8,000 square feet of space to play with, along with all sorts of, well, stuff. Stuff that the previous business had left behind, which they now keep in an area they called The Found Objects Library. If you ever saw the episode of The Simpsons where Bart buys a factory and finds himself with all sorts of new industrial toys, you get the idea of what’s in there. They organized everything into three general areas — The Gallery, where works are exhibited; The Playspace, a versatile area that can be a theater, dance hall, party room or mob art creation area (depending on how it’s configured); and the spectacularly appointed Workshop, which is further subdivided into “factories” that cover just about every artistic or creative discipline known to man (though I did note the absence of a forge and foundry). There’s the Sound Factory; the Change Factory, which includes silkscreen equipment; the Thing Factory, which includes woodworking tools — a 50�cale Basilosaurus was under construction when I visited; the Vision Factory for 2-D work in oils, crayons […]
Nov 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
In Search of An Agenda
By John Hughes In February of next year, the people of Milwaukee will elect a new Mayor to preside over our city in what promises to be an era of accelerating change. With the role of leadership more crucial than ever, the agenda set during this election, which will frame the debate among voters, is still emerging. In previous issues, Vital Source put four questions to mayoral candidates Tom Barrett, Sandy Folaron, Martin Matson, John Pitta, Frank Cumberbatch and Tom Nardelli. We believe the candidates’ answers to these questions reflect some of the leadership style which they would exhibit if elected. This month, we continue our candidate forum with Marvin Pratt, Vincent Bobot, and David Clarke. For those interested in comparing and contrasting the answers of all the candidates, see the other articles on this website. 1st District Alderman and Common Council President Marvin Pratt will serve as interim Mayor beginning in January, when Mayor John Norquist steps down. He has been an elected official since 1987, and prior to that spent 15 years working in city government. He is a United States Air Force veteran, and holds the rank of major in the U.S. Army Reserve. Vincent Bobot recently resigned as Municipal Judge in Milwaukee’s First District. A former assistant city attorney, he also spent 20 years with the Milwaukee Police Department. He received a Purple Heart Award in 1976 for courage in the line of duty. David Clarke has served the Milwaukee Police Department for 24 years, during which he was commanding officer and captain of the intelligence division. He was appointed Milwaukee County Sheriff in March of 2002, and elected to that post in November of the same year. 1. What specific steps will you take to make the police chief more accountable to the people of Milwaukee? Marvin Pratt: By mid-November our city will have a new chief of police. That woman or man (Ed. Note: Nan Hegerty has been officially appointed at press time) will continue to be challenged to not only keep our streets safe, but to build upon and improve police-community relations. Although under present state law the Fire & Police Commission appoints the chief of police, I believe the key to ensuring that the chief is “more accountable to the people of Milwaukee” is by giving the Mayor the power to hire — and, if warranted — dismiss the chief. Communication is essential. The Mayor, the Chief and the community must take ownership for the type of public safety measures that are enacted. As Mayor, I will work with our next chief to hold regular meetings at the district station level with command staff and residents to discuss concerns and questions about crime. The Police Department’s Community Services initiatives such as PAL (Police Athletic League) are positive, ongoing efforts that, as your Mayor, I will continue to actively support. Vincent Bobot: When I’m elected Mayor the first thing I would want everyone to know is that we are part of a team. […]
Nov 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Eat, Drink, and Be… Healthy?
By Jan Wolfenberg With the holiday season fast approaching, thoughts are turning to festive foods and yummy treats. So often we think that foods that are fun, festive and delicious can’t also be healthy. Not true! Many people incorrectly assume that healthy eating is, by definition, low fat eating. My definition of a healthy food is one that is as close to its natural state as possible. The less processing, the better the food is. “Foods” that can’t be found in nature, or that contain a mile long list of ingredients, are best avoided. While we may fudge a bit (pun intended) on our normal eating patterns during holiday feasts, there is no reason that the foods you choose can’t be both unbearably delicious and healthy too. Let’s start with the main course. Turkey is a perfectly healthy food, if you eat meat. It’s high in good, complete proteins and relatively low in fat. There is a downside however (isn’t there always?). To quote Leslie Valentine of EnvironmentalDefense.org: “… most turkeys (and chickens) sold in this country are routinely fed antibiotics to compensate over-crowded, stressful and unsanitary living conditions and to make the birds reach slaughter weight slightly faster. It’s estimated that more than two-thirds of all antibiotics used in the United States are fed to healthy animals, including turkey flocks.” Needless to say, this isn’t a healthy diet choice. But what can you do? Buy organic. Organic turkey farms ensure the amount of space each bird gets, the access to the outdoors, and the quality of the feed, as well as the absence of chemicals and antibiotics. You can find organic turkeys at natural food stores, at some grocery stores and online — although you’ll need to be prepared to spend more than usual. For those who don’t eat meat, there are vegetarian choices available at health food stores. Tofurky and The Great Unturkey Feast are just two examples. They consist of flavored tofu formed to look something like a turkey breast. I won’t tell you they taste just like turkey, because, frankly, they don’t. I tried one of these ersatz turkeys last year. I’m afraid it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. So this year, I’m going to make a different vegetarian main dish. Who really needs turkey, with all the other trimmings that accompany the bird? To make the rest of the meal healthier, make things from scratch when you can, read labels religiously when you can’t, and choose real foods that are as minimally processed as possible: Bake whole sweet potatoes instead of candied yams. Anything in a can has fewer nutrients than the fresh version, and the marshmallows don’t add anything beneficial. Some brown sugar isn’t a bad thing, and gives that sweetness everyone loves. Veggies — Make lots! Vegetables can be prepared in so many ways. Use all the colors too, as the more color, the greater the quantity of vitamins. And it looks so pretty too! If you must have the classic […]
Nov 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
