Poets for Haiti is a series of “traveling benefits” organized by Louise Crawford and Michele Madigan Somerville.

The first event is tonight, March 22nd at 8PM. Poets/performers Sharon Mesmer, Joanna Sit, Wanda Phipps, Roy Nathanson, Bill Evans, Ellen Ferguson, Christopher Stackhouse and more will read at the Old Stone House in Washington Park in Park Slope (Fifth Avenue and Third Street).

Your donation of $10. will go to Doctors Without Borders.

Poster by Good Form Design. Photo by Hugh Crawford

Toni Morrison, the author of “Beloved” is coming to Brooklyn for Medgar Evers College’s 10th National Black Writers Conference, a  four-day literary event, which begins on March 25. This year’s theme: And Then We Heard the Thunder: Black Writers Reconstructing Memories and Lighting the Way.

Medgar Evers College’s Center for Black Literature and the conference organizers have put together an impressive roster of events, which include both local authors and writers, agents and publishers from America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

A long list of discussions and readings include  “Politics and Satire in the Literature of Black Writers” and “The Impact of Hip Hop and Popular Culture in the Literature of Black Writers.” Also:  “Impact of the Internet: Blogging, Publishing and Writing” and  “Editors, Agents, Writers and Publishers on the Literature of Black Writers.”

Professor Brenda Greene, who runs Medgar Evers College’s Center for Black Literature, says the conference is targeted toward the general public. as well as writers, scholars, editors, agents, faculty, and students of all ages.

While most of the events are at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights, other events are being held throughout the borough, such as a poetry reading with Chin and Willie Perdomo at the Brooklyn Public Library’s central branch in Grand Army Plaza. Here’s some information from the conference’s website:

The Tenth National Black Writers’ Conference, first presented in 1986 as a result of the visionary leadership of the late John O. Killens, will be held March 25-28, 2010. Toni Morrison, will be the Honorary Chair. The theme of the National Black Writers’ Conference is And Then We Heard the Thunder: Black Writers Reconstructing Memories and Lighting the Way. Through a series of panel discussions, roundtables, author readings and storytelling, the National Black Writers’ Conference will use the metaphor of thunder, memory and light to examine the historical representation of the literature of Black writers and the representation of new and future directions for contemporary and emerging literary voices.

… The 2010 Conference will prove to be a “first” in that this premier Black writers’ event will have the distinction of celebrating its tenth anniversary while being chaired by the prize-winning renowned Black author during a time when the first Black American president is in the White House.

Dear Louise:

For the first time in our nation’s history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.

Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:

Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.

Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.

And we’ll finally start reducing the cost of care — creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.

But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.

It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.

It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.

And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.

This is what change looks like.

My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.

This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.

Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.

We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we’ve faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right — and actually create the change we believe in.

Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama



Here is the schedule for the day:

9AM: Pre-Parade Mass
 at Holy Name Church
245 Prospect Park West (between Windsor Pl & Prospect Ave)

12 Noon: Parade Assembly Point: Prospect Park West & 14th St

12:45PM: “Re-Dedication Ceremony” to the Heroes & Victims of 9/11 – WTC
At Prospect Park West & 15th Street, before Parade “step-off”

1PM: Parade Route
 down 15th St to 7th Ave
Along 7th Ave to Union St
Up Union St to Prospect Park West

Street Closings

Seventh Ave. between 15th and Union Sts. and

Prospect Park West between President and 15th Sts.

Both streets are closed noon to 5 pm Sunday.

AFTER Tina Chang puts her 7-month-old son, Roman, to bed, she pads, barefoot, about three feet over to her office, where a desk cohabits with the changing table. She opens the window to take in the sights and sounds of her neighborhood, Park Slope — men arguing on the street, neighbors sipping wine on fire escapes, apartment lights twinkling. She opens a spiral notebook from the 99-cent store and begins scribbling. One night she started with a recipe for black bean sauce, another with the first line of a rejection letter from a literary journal, another with a to-do list.

“Then something takes over,” said Ms. Chang, 40. Over days, weeks, months, her stream-of-consciousness musings grow into poems like “Birthing a Boy”:

My child was once a thought and he had

no name, locked in the stall of my making.

The child was housed inside me for a long time,

held still in water, his limbs floating on a screen,

fingerprints intricate as aerial maps.

Ms. Chang is no ordinary journal keeper: She is a college teacher, published author and Brooklyn’s new poet laureate, the fourth person — and first woman — to fill the august, if odd, post. But don’t be intimidated. One of her chief goals is to “demystify the role of the poet.”

The city announced on Thursday that the first phase of Brooklyn Bridge Park — featuring a vast green lawn and a granite front-stoop sitting area located on Pier 1 — will open to the public.

The public and a handful of elected officials — including Mayor Bloomberg, who allocated $55-million in city funds as part of a takeover agreement with the state earlier this month — will enjoy a “Great Lawn” with sweeping views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline, while children will take advantage of a small playground.

The newly opened area will be most-easily accessible from Old Fulton Street in DUMBO.

She feels crazy every time the Oh So Feisty One leaves her rock-heavy backpack in the foyer. How many times has Smartmom asked her not to do that? How many times has Smartmom stubbed her toe on that textbook-stuffed thing?

She also feels crazy when OSFO leaves a trail of towels in the hallway after a shower. For Buddha’s sake, how many towels does one girl need? And why can’t she pick them up?

But it’s not just OSFO. Teen Spirit makes her feel crazy every time he forgets his keys and buzzes at 2 am when she and Hepcat are in a deep sleep. Talk about murderously crazy.

And Hepcat makes her feel crazy, too! It’s like she’s speaking in tongues when she asks him to walk his dinner plate to the sink or load the dishwasher.

She might as well be Linda Blair in “The Exorcist” when she suggests that he make the bed or not leave his dirty clothes on the floor next to the hamper, but actually put them in the hamper.

Crazy.

And when she asks him to shop for dinner at the Coop or just to pick up milk and Tropicana at Met Food, it’s like she’s one of the Oompa Loompas in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

Crazy Lady. The name fits because Smartmom feels crazy most of the time. And she’s starting to act that way, too. She’s been known to rant to herself when she does the dishes — and when Hepcat asks her what she’s saying she just pretends that she’s singing along to something on WNYC.

La La La.

Lately, her eye has been ticking and she’s even been stealing sips of the Sailor Jerry’s rum she keeps in the cabinet.

And it’s all because nobody listens to her or takes her needs seriously. She’s sick and tired of the adolescent rolled eyes, the exasperated stares, the walking away from her when she’s in the middle of a sentence; the not being paid attention to.

Don’t they get it? If something doesn’t change soon, she’s going to be Really Crazy Lady.

Unfortunately, the more she yells, the crazier she feels — and the more they ignore her. It’s like she’s a lunatic babbling on the subway and Hepcat and the kids are those passengers who don’t even look up from their iPods.

And if she doesn’t say anything, they just keep on keeping on with their annoying, crazy-making habits. What’s a smart mom to do?

And that’s when Smartmom had a great idea: She would treat Crazy Lady as just another persona. That way it would be Crazy Lady, not Smartmom, who was nagging her family all the time.

Crazy Lady would be the invisible and irascible houseguest who never leaves. She’d hover over the apartment like a ghostly super-ego making sure that everyone was doing his share.

With Crazy Lady around, Smartmom can go back to being the mild-mannered, loving wife and mother she wants to be. Crazy Lady could be the bad cop.

So the other day, Smartmom told Hepcat that Crazy Lady found his dirty laundry next to the hamper and nearly stashed it in the garbage. “The woman is a little crazy,” Smartmom whispered.

Hepcat looked nervous and quickly put his dirties in the hamper.

Later, she told OSFO that the sight of wet towels in the hallway nearly caused Crazy Lady to seizure. “And that’s not a pretty sight,” she added. OSFO immediately picked up most of her wet towels and put them on the rack to dry.

When she told Teen Spirit that if he wakes up Crazy Lady in the middle of the night, she might pummel him with a coat hanger, he searched his room for his long lost keys and vowed never to forget them.

So far so good.

It really is great to have Crazy Lady around and she doesn’t take up any extra room. Crazy Lady will be a good influence on the household because she’s just scary enough to keep everyone on their toes. Already, she seems to have had the desired effect.

And it’s nice to have super cool Smartmom back, too. Hopefully, she can go back to baking cookies and being everyone’s best friend.

Yeah, right.