Howdy, this is Zoe coming to you from Girl’s Club. Today was really cool, as always. Yesterday Reene said that an author was coming to the club to talk about her book. I honestly didn’t care to attend and listen to a writer because I’m not much a reader. Actually i rarely read for fun. i tend to read only if it’s for school. But surprisingly i had a really good time and now this experience has changed my perpective on a lot of things. so who’s this auother that blessed me with her presence? Tennessee Reed is her name and she is the author of her intriguing book entitled Spell Alburquerque: Memoir of a “Difficult” Student. while discussing her work of art, Ms. Reed was so lay back and relexed and it felt as if i was just talking to my friend. So what makes Ms. Reed and her book so special? Well at an early age she was diagnosed with serval language-based learning disorders. Thus one would believe that the odds are against her. how can an individual with so many disorders write an interesting book? Ms. Reed stated “it took a lot of support.” Her mother, Carla Blank, and her father and publisher, Ishmael Reed, were Ms. Reed’s rock. Like any caring parents, “they did their homework” as Ms.Reed likes to say, about to how care and support their comely child. School was difficult for Ms. Reed nevertheless she made it through gradschool and even fought an educational system that often defined her disabilities as “laziness or stupidity”. with all the negative things in her life, she still did what she loves to do. this leaves me with my final words: if you put your heart and mind to it, despite all odds, you can do ANYTHING. signing off

Yesterday, my group and I went to the Bowery Poetry Cafe to read a book called “Kiki Strike”,  by Kirsten Miller. This book mentioned “underground cities”. We knew there was such things as underground cities but now it was just a matter of fact of finding them. The book inspired us to find underground cities in NYC. The book,”Kiki Strike”, mentioned a underground cemetery called “The Marble Cemetery”. Your probably wondering ” Yea..People are buried underground. What’s  the big deal about being buried underground?” Well in The Marble Cemetery on 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue, you can actually walk through the underground. It’s like a whole little world inside. The cemetery had “underground” tunnels to lead to different tombs. When we saw that the location of the cemetery was close by, we decided we wanted to go check it out because it’s right around the corner !!! Why not go and check it out? We got permission from the Bowery Hotel to go to the back patio that overlooked the back of the cemetery. We all became eager to go check out the actual place so we went around the block to see the entrance of the cemetery. When we showed up at first we couldn’t have access  because only descendants from the buried people could enter the garden. Fortunately, the gardeners let us in because we explained how we were reading a book and became inspired to visit the site. The cemetery gardener was super nice and gave us a tour and explained how the tombs were laid underground. He also explained why the people were buried underground into tunnels because there had been a disease going around that they believed was spread through vapors but the real cause was contaminated water. It was amazing just being in the garden/cemetery because the place was nicely cleaned up and lots of beautiful plants growing everywhere. While we were there, the gardener showed us different types of insects he came into contact on a daily basis. There was beetles, worms, dragon flies, slugs and much more. He also said that at one point there was garden snakes. I’m glad we started reading the book “Kiki Strike” because it inspired us to go explore the city more, there so much we do not know about the city we live in. It was an AMAZiNG experience. We got permission to enter a hotel in which we weren’t even going to stay in AND had access to a restricted to family only underground cemetery. How much better can that get?

Yesterday we went to a café and began reading a book called “Kiki Strike”. Based on what I read of the book, it is about a girl named Ananka who wants to find out about underground worlds. One day Ananka came across a girl in her class who she had never seen before named Kiki Strike. Kiki said something in class the immediately got Ananka interested in her, she said to her principal that when she grows up she wants to be dangerous. Soon after that ananka started following her.
While we were all reading the book Ananka saw Kiki at Marble Cemetery which is on 2nd ave. When we found out it was so close to us we decided to go visit the cemetery. First we went to The Bowery Hotel that had a view of the cemetery. After that we went to the entrance of the cemetery which was locked because only family members were allowed to go in. The thing that was so unique about the Marble Cemetery was that there were no head stones because the graves were one foot under ground. There were stone walls that had marble plaques with the names of the people.

Even though the gate was locked some of the gardeners let us in to look at the cemetery. While we were there, the head gardener told us how the graves were set up and that the people were buried there during the 1800’s. There was a disease going around and they didn’t want anybody else to get it so they buried them deep underground and enclosed them in stone doors. The gardener also showed us a bunch of bugs which were really disgusting and nobody had a camera so Renee and Jenny had to run there so we could document the experience then write a blog about it. When Renee got there she was really excited because she’s really in to the book. She also held a banana slug which secreted its waste all over her hand.

Today we watched a movie called ” The Garden”. This movie had a great impact on me because I came to realize there are injustices the government commits from time to time. During the 1990’s there was a riot in Los Angeles, California, leaving the city in ruins and in a great mess. There was shattered glass, stores were vandalized, tires burnt all over the place. The violence was so great that it resulted in the death of 57 people and hundreds of people injured. Although it looked like nothing could be done to restore the corrupt city of Los Angeles, a group of families began what would become the biggest urban farm in the United States.

The urban farm was called the “South Central Farmers”. This farm created a sense of belonging to the community because it provided a source of healthy food for them. I really enjoyed the fact that the people cared enough about their community that they cleaned it up and started from scratch to restore beauty to the city. They also created something useful to the people of the community.

It turned out that the land being used as the farm had an owner who tried to take the land back. This part upset me so much because these people had worked hard for this farm and to make it productive and now 12 years later the owner wants to claim it.

I was surprised how the owner gave them 5 weeks to gather 16.3 million dollars to keep the farm. If they didn’t have the money within 5 weeks they would be evicted. I felt so proud of the farmers because they pulled it off, gathering the money by holding concerts and having marches. It was so impressive. 16.3 million dollars in 5 WEEKS! To gather that much money in 5 weeks would take months not weeks!! I was upset at owner of the land underestimated them when he thought that they would not be able to get  the money on time. When they did, the owner, Ralph Horowitz, didn’t accept their money nor give them the land.

Today we watched a documentary called The Garden. The documentary took place in Los Angeles and was about a land owner who had unused land that the City of LA gave to a group of Community Farmers to take care of. Years later he wanted it back but the farmers did not want to leave. There were 347 families who had invested in this garden and they decided that they wanted to fight back. They faced a lot of injustices and went through a lot of trouble. They even raised 16.3 million dollars to keep the garden but the land owner refused to take it.

I think that this situation was horrible. I could see the anger that the farmers had in their faces. They had worked so hard farming all those years and all of that work was going to be ruined in just a matter of days. It was terrible that the city wanted to take the farm out and make it into something useless.

The best part was when I saw all the farmers get together and fight back. They were so strong and they did not give up. It is incredible how they are still fighting over it. It shows me that these farmers really feel strongly about how they were not treated fairly. I don’t think I would have fought so hard but they did, and it gives me the courage to be able to do the same thing.

This morning we saw a movie called The Garden. The film was about a garden in South Central in the city of Los Angeles. The garden was taken care of by the people of the community. The people who used the garden were going to be evicted by the owner of the land. The owners name is Ralph Horowitz. The people had been farming there for over 10 years and now they were going to be evicted for reasons they didn’t know so they decided to fight against Ralph Horowitz.

First they went to the City Council and the Council said that they couldn’t help them because the land was rightfully Ralph Horowitz. But after that, they still didn’t give up and they found out that Ralph Horowitz made a deal with the city and he sold the land for much more than it was worth. He sold it for 5 million and then the city sold it back to him for the same price.

After that he told the people in the garden that they could buy the land for 16.3 million. I think he told them that because he thought that they wouldn’t be able to raise that much money. But the farmers began to fundraise money to buy the land. They had 5 weeks to raise the money. By the end of the 5 weeks they raised 16.3 million dollars but Ralph refused to sell the land to them. Soon after all of the people were evicted. On the day of the eviction the farmers had a protest in front of the garden and some were beaten and arrested by the police. And they also had to watch them destroy the crops that they worked hard to grow for ten years.

The farmers were devastated. Soon after the city gave them land but the land was under power plants and there was also cement still under ground. Some other farmers started farming again and they sold their crops in a farmer’s market in Los Angeles.

Today was a tasty day I must say. The older girls went to the Astor Center to cook a healthy meal where we were all in for a pleasant surprise. The task at hand was Couscous showered in tomato paste and vegetable oil, baked Turnips, Pita Bread with Hummus accompanied with a simple green salad. All of the groups had different duties; some of us cut the onions into tiny- squared pieces, or washed the vegetables and salad greens, while the rest would make sure the space remained clean. After the hard work each and everyone put into the meal, we finally got to sit down and enjoy the lovely atmosphere. Great food, amiable companionship, today was a good day.

Every Friday, I go to Coney Island with Blanca and the little girls from The Girls Club. Since I am older than the “little girls”, I help watch over them. Blanca assigned me one of the younger girls as my partner. I help keep watch on her when we go to Coney Island and on the beach and make sure she is safe. We have a lot of fun. Some of the other older girls go and help too. We also play volleyball and beach games. Once we played “Steal the Bacon” on the beach. These games are fun. Later on in the day Lou, who does photography at the Girls Club, asks five of the older girls and five of the little girls to go off to other places in Coney Island to take pictures.  While they explore the rest of Coney Island everyone else plays on the beach. The water was freezing cold. My teeth were chattering. Eventually I got used to it. One time it got so cold my lips turned purple. My friends and I jumped over waves. Some of the girls pulled each other to the beach. Also, I covered my friend’s legs in the sand. In the end I got a sunburned. I forgot to put sunscreen on! That was a fun day at Coney Island.

Working on Fridays with the little girls, you get to have a lot of fun and more responsibilities. You have to watch out for them and be sure that they are secure in the place they are. Watching them play makes you happy because you realize that they are having a good time too.  Friday is another day where we can say and share our opinions with each other. Fridays at the Girls Club aren’t like any other Fridays, it’s a special day where we have the chance to go out and let our minds be creative and explore different places. The little girls have their future ahead of them and I believe that they will be very successful in the future.

When we go to the beach it is interesting seeing this girl having fun and not thinking of the problems around them. The first Friday at Coney Island, I did not get in the water but I was brave enough to touch the water with my feet. It was very cold and the girls were so persistent to have fun that they did not pay attention at how cold was the water at that moment.

Working on the mural is fun and easy. You get to work with a peer and put together both creatives to make something big and awesome. Painting is a way to get to people and share your feelings with them. A simple image has its meaning and a meaning has a purpose and it might change the way someone may think about something and wake them up to the real world. You get to use whatever color you want and that’s freedom for me. Working on a mural is really interesting because you feel like you are in charge of something and that makes you feel powerful and important. And I really, really like it.

Every Friday, we go to Coney Island, and it is always fun. We could play in the water, and play games like “Steal the Bacon” and Volley Ball too. I also have a little job and it’s to watch the little girls while they are playing in the water. My job is to make sure that they’re safe and that they don’t go too far into the water. I have fun in the water but sometimes it’s freezing cold and my lip turns purple. I also got a tan. I will always be looking forward to Fridays because it’s always fun going to the beach. As a junior CL, I paint a wall based on a person name “Julia Butterfly Hill.” She loves nature and she saved a tree before. I also work in the art studio, with Blanca, on 3rd street. In the art studio, we make art stuff to sell for the Girls Club. For example, we make newspaper flowers, Popsicle sticks boxes, and paper necklaces. It’s fun to do art in the art studio. I go there everyday after school, up until 5:00pm, then I would go home.